Disclaimer: Don't own, either Victorious or Festivous. Still, something for the season.
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Jade watched as her family did their normal Christmas ritual, Festivous. Her father had little appreciation for a commercialized holiday dedicated to family and gifts, and instead had embraced traditions that dated be, it seemed, to the late 90's, and now colored the pale girls life in so many ways.
Her brother worked to make sure the whole environment was ready, a task routinely handed off to the youngest. Jade had done that the first year she celebrated this holiday, a cruel task to assign a three year old. However, it was tradition, and now Max had his hands full cleaning and polishing the Festivious poll, and unadorned aluminum poll that stood out like a sore, reminding them all about the meaning of the season.
Dinner would be whatever meatloaf dish her current mother could whip up, assuming she didn't break down and make her own. It was served on a bed of lettuce, the sauce now acting as the dressing for the vegetable. Jade may not have liked this particular dinner, but it wasn't for how it tasted, but what it represented. An affordable, reasonable dinner to break up the evenings festivities. Jade had been lucky, her step mother had bought two pre-cooked loafs on sale, and the warming instructions included a microwave. They'd be okay for this evening.
The seventeen year old just wanted done with the evening. However, she knew they were just barely beginning. After dinner came the airing of grievances, something little Jade had felt was unfair. She still did, but that was mostly because when she was little, she'd have had a hard time remembering what issues she had with each person. Oddly, that part was what helped her become a writer. As soon as she was old enough, she started keeping a journal, because dairies were for losers and fairy princess. While the original purpose was remembering grievances, because every member of her family had loads, it blossomed into some place for her to write ideas, thoughts, fantasies, and that led to her being a witter. Plus, her father constantly reading it was what led both to her learning stage magic, and her spot in Hollywood Arts. 'Took me forever to realize he was behind the pamphlets, cause lord knows he was against that school…'
She did admit, one thing was fair, and that was each family member, along with any guests, should Cat ever decide to come back, was allowed to air out their grievances. 'Poor Cat went running into the night. I had to go get her, bring her back. I swear, Frankie risked what limited sanity he had left coming to get her. Then again, he showed up during the fun part.'
Next was the feats of strength, and they were a dark twist on the original. The father had to be pinned, among other feats of strength. However, the way they did it was her father would select two people, and they'd warm up with displays of their physical strength. Frankie had walked in to see Jade bending the Festivous poll, while her older brother, Brock, was lifting the couch. He got Cat out of there before the two broke down to actually wrestling, something Jade did far better now then when she was three.
'I used to always lose, back when it was youngest to oldest. Of course, once your out, you sit and watch as each older individual had their shot at pinning dear old dad. Of course, he never made it easy on us, nothing was free, and many a night we'd while away the hours trying to tucker him out enough to pin him. Funny, the intimidation parts grew as we got stronger. Scary how freakishly strong we are, and with the exception of Brock, none of us look it.' Blue eyes scanned the six foot one, three hundered pound frame of her brother. 'And that was when we learned that the head of the household could just surrender, rather then be mulched by whichever of his progeny had succeeded in winning the right to face him first. Funny how that came up so late, AFTER his last wife discovered just what I was capable of. Honestly, in this family, you learn to fight dirty. Brock may not use it, and the man is going to collage on a wrestling scholarship, but we know all the tricks. No holds bared in this family, and tapping out is encouraged, cause we love the idea of owning someone. Gee, I wonder, is that where my vengeful streak comes from?'
After the ritual combat that made up the feats of strength, the evening was done, sorta. There was a tradition of the Festivous Miracle, like the day their dad got the new job, and could afford to find a new wife. However, to Jade, the real miracle was that she wasn't forbidden to do Christmas exchanged with her friends, just as long as they were an exchange. 'Our family doesn't owe anyone anything. Plus, we take care of our own, even if it's borderline illegal how we do it. NO mater, cause I've always had what I need, and this janked up holiday, it's helped make me stronger. Honestly, I have no idea if either Brock or me would be the person we are today without it. Now, how do I get Beck to try this again…' The smile was wicked. 'Nhhaaa, boys just not into original ancient traditions. Maybe Vega? Love to wrestle her….' Her mind went sideways for just a second as something deep withing her rebelled against her more destructive impulses. However, it was Festivous, the season for the rest of us. For those against the commercialization of a religious holiday that itself stole from so many other holidays. Jade was just happy to partake in one of the newer traditions, as her brother queued up the movie Religulous, a movie seemingly made for this holiday. Jade settled down for the annual tradition of examining religion and maybe tearing it down just a touch, something they'd been doing since the movie was available on DVD back in 2010.
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Festivous comes from Seinfeld, the show about nothing. I felt that the traditions fit a certain someone. Thoughts?