#i particularly love the part of that story where they ride the ferris wheel & are looking out over the city so wanted to include an ode it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mammon-sama · 4 years

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The Purgatory Hall Boys Are Bad at Road Trips (Fanfiction)

I just *clutches chest* really love the boys at Purgatory Hall and felt they needed more spotlight so here they are being big dummies on the road. Oh, I also posted this on AO3 here.

Title:

The Purgatory Hall Boys Are Bad at Road Trips

Summary:

On a R.A.D-sanctioned road trip to the Caverns of Degeneracy, the Purgatory Hall boys prove that they have just as many brain cells as the demon brothers (read: none).

Genre:

Humor/Fluff/Slice of Life

Rating:

Word Count:

6870

Hour 0

Our story begins just outside the gates of Purgatory Hall, where two of its three non-native Devildom residents stood near a rather expensive-looking, immaculately-maintained vehicle.

The short, prone-to-fits-of-righteous-anger one yanked behind him a wagon, which was piled high with duffel and overnight bags, all made of a stiff white and gold fabric straight from the Celestial Realm.

The other, older man, who never left home without a mysterious smile and his magic wand, too, tugged the handle of his own luggage—although his was a wheeled backpack which sagged due to the weight of the approximately seven-hundred souvenir keychains from around the Human World that he had clipped onto it.

The pair were waiting for their third friend—who, in every sense of the word, was an angel—as together they were planning to embark upon a new R.A.D tradition, which the Demon Prince Diavolo had appropriately christened—Our Annual Road Trip to the Caverns of Degeneracy (A.R.T C.D for short). The Caverns of Degeneracy were on the far outskirts of the Devildom, over six-hundred-and-sixty-six miles away from the R.A.D campus, and yet, for some asinine reason, Diavolo had decided that they were the perfect spot for hosting the academy’s yearly Bleeding Hearts Festival.

(Many of the Student Council Officers and faculty had wagered that the Demon Prince had just wanted an excuse to take a road trip—a phenomenon he had recently been introduced to through one of Leviathan’s video games.)

Diavolo himself planned for his personal driver to ferry him and his butler, Barbatos, up to the Caverns a day early so he could begin preparations for the festival and encouraged all students to find their own means of transportation in order to get to the event on time.

The R.A.D Student Council Officers—all of whom resided in the House of Lamentation—had decided to pile themselves into Asmodeus’ tour bus (he had bought it specifically because once he became a famous DevilTuber, he would need it to do meet-and-greets with his fans and also because it had a “bear-y adorable design”) and drive down together.

As the Purgatory Hall boys had no modes of transportation to call their own, Lucifer had graciously allowed them to borrow Mammon’s Demonio 666 Lexura (fits had ensued à la the secondborn but were ignored), which both Luke and Solomon now hovered around.

However, as Solomon poked and prodded the vehicle, commenting admiringly under his breath at the paint job, the young angel peered nervously at the sorcerer’s backpack.

He cleared his throat, bent on sounding as polite as possible—but failing miserably—and said, “Solomon, er—are you the one who’s bringing our road trip snacks?” He followed this with a silent please say no, please say no, Father please let him say no.

Solomon raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were bringing them.”

Luke dropped the handle of his wagon. “No! I would’ve made some snacks if I had the time but I was helping those,” he gagged, “wretched demon brothers pack using some low-level Celestial Realm magic.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Solomon said, snapping his fingers. “I just remembered that I volunteered to make the snacks, but Simeon heard and immediately offered to do it for me. Then he sent me on a bunch of errands to buy groceries, but it felt more like he was trying to get me out of the kitchen.” He laughed at the last part and shook his head because there was no way that such a criminally calm angel like Simeon would be that underhanded.

“No!” wailed Luke, yanking his hat off and clutching it to his chest in despair. “Don’t you know what this means?”

“It means you don’t like Simeon’s cooking as much as you let on,” decided the sorcerer with a smile at Luke’s theatrical display.

Luke shook his head so vigorously that Solomon had to hold in a laugh based on how much the angel looked like a chihuahua shaking itself dry. “For trips, Simeon only makes the most nutritious, most energizing food.” He screwed up his face in disgust as he seethed, “The most disgusting food.”

“The stuff Simeon cooks for dinner isn’t particularly unhealthy and you seem to like that just fine,” pointed out Solomon.

Luke frowned. “Yes, b—but I’m talking about real healthy stuff here, so we’ll all have lots of energy throughout the trip! L—like entire salads squished between two pieces of bread and ‘yummy morsels’ of banana slices dipped in cashew butter and drizzled with mung bean and coconut water paste!” He gestured toward himself. “Look at me, Solomon! I was made for jam-filled pastries and perfectly-iced cakes! No—not,” he shuddered, “health foods.”

“You’re serious? He’s really going to bring that kind of stuff?” Solomon’s eyes widened. “I guess I should’ve given in to my gut intuition and made some pork pies as backup snacks. ‘Snackups,’ if you will.”

Luke could feel bile rising up his throat at the thought of Solomon’s cooking. “Er—no, I don’t think that would’ve been necessary!” He spotted a figure exiting Purgatory Hall. “Oh, look, there’s Simeon, now; we can just ask him what snacks he brought.”

“And then burn them,” finished Solomon.

The younger angel gave a scandalized gasp at the comment as Solomon nodded at Simeon, who walked closer to the pair.

A lone celestial blue suitcase trailed behind the elder angel as he beamed at his traveling companions. “Is everyone ready?” Before waiting for an answer, he turned toward Luke with a gaze that was almost motherly in nature. “And has everyone gone to the bathroom? We only have a day to drive to the Caverns of Degeneracy and I want to see some of the Devildom sights along the way. I even brought an instant camera to take pictures.”

He pulled out from his cape pocket said camera and an enormous stack of printed DevilmapQuest directions and began to rifle through them, trying to decide which of the landmarks and tourist destinations he wanted to visit most.

“S—Simeon! Why did you have to stare at me when you asked if we all went to the bathroom? I may be young, but I at least know that I should go to the bathroom before long car rides!” He then blushed and handed Solomon his wagon handle. “A—and that being said, I—I have to go to the bathroom.”

As he ran inside, Solomon peered over Simeon’s shoulder at the map sheets and laughed. “You know, most of these directions are online.”

“I know, I know,” admitted the older angel. “But reading the directions off of a D.D.D requires knowing how to operate one, and you know I’m not too good at that.”

Solomon smiled and said, “That’s fine, then. We three will take turns driving and meanwhile, one of the two who aren’t behind the wheel will navigate.”

“Haha, you’re aware Luke can’t drive, right?” asked Simeon, turning to give Solomon a look that cautiously strode the line between tolerant and what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you.

“Well, I guess he’ll be the one giving directions, then,” replied Solomon, without missing a beat. He couldn’t help but silently add he’ll be doing that, either way.

As Simeon continued to sort through the DevilmapQuest papers and double-check all the items packed in the messenger bag slung across his shoulder, Solomon began to load everyone’s luggage into Mammon’s car. He couldn’t help but envision himself playing Tetris as he carefully arranged in the trunk the seven blocky bags that the group had among them—six of which belonged to Luke, who packed as if he were planning to change his clothes at least twelve times a day.

His own backpack—and Simeon’s messenger bag—would be staying with the trio in the cabin space of the car. He hadn’t felt the need to pack nearly as many outfits as Luke and most of his bag consisted of medical supplies, while Simeon’s was supposed to be filled to the brim with road trip snacks.

Speaking of snacks, Solomon felt his mouth turn dry as he mulled over the healthy monstrosities that Luke believed the older angel had created in place of actually palatable food. He turned to Simeon. “Er, Simeon—what’s on the menu in terms of snackage?”

“‘Snackage?’” Simeon laughed. He pat his messenger bag and said, “Let’s see, well, whenever I go on long trips, I try to make foods that provide a lot of energy, since we’re going to need it—especially you and I, as we’ll be driving. Here, I made dried, salted edamame and roasted chickpea trail mix, almond-butter-and-white-bean-stuffed dried dates, and oatmeal-honey-sesame-black-bean balls with dried pineapple, coconut, and avocado.”

Solomon did not like how many times Simeon had mentioned “beans,” for as far as he was concerned, road trip food was junk food exclusively. He took a deep breath and carefully twisted his mouth into a smile. “That sounds well … delicious. Ten out of ten.”

“Excellent. Now, where is Luke?” Simeon peered behind them toward Purgatory Hall, where a munchkin of a silhouette now appeared. “Ah, there he is.” He tossed Solomon the keyring Mammon had tearfully given him the day before. “Mind starting the car?”

Solomon nodded and after examining the gaudy charms that adorned Mammon’s keys, he clicked open the car and stepped toward the driver’s seat door. “I’ll take the first shift. It’ll take us fifteen hours of sheer driving to get to the Caverns of Degeneracy, so we’ll take three-hour turns.”

As Solomon yanked the car door open, something tumbled out of the front seat. He jumped back, and Simeon and Luke rushed toward the commotion.

“M—Mammon? What are you doing here?” exclaimed Luke.

Simeon laughed, his brows furrowing in confusion. “Hoping to hitch a ride?”

Solomon had to swallow his smile when he saw the almost-comical tears that ran down Mammon’s face. “Did your brothers leave you behind?”

“N— no! They’d never leave without me, The Great Mammon!” Mammon hastily wiped his nose before sprawling his hands over his Demonio 666 Lexura. “I just couldn’t fathom leavin’ my beloved baby for so long! I had to say goodbye!”

“Speaking of saying goodbye, you do know that Asmo’s bus already left a few minutes ago, right?” asked Simeon. “I caught a glimpse of them before I came out here and they were already on the road.”

Mammon’s face paled. “Wh—what? They wouldn’t! Wait—of course, they would! Those bastards!” He immediately turned into his demon form, planted a kiss on his car’s hood, and sped off into the horizon.

“I suddenly understand what the term ‘speed demon’ means,” commented Luke as he watched Mammon’s quickly disappearing form.

“I sure hope he manages to catch up to them,” Solomon said, rubbing his chin. “Anyway, everyone, pile in. It’s time to get this show on the road.”

Hour 1

After they had driven well out of the bounds of R.A.D’s campus, Solomon announced, “All right—first item on the agenda—”

Luke raised his hand from the back passenger seat as he strained against his seatbelt. “—What’s an ‘agenda?’”

“Oh. An agenda is basically a list of things we have to do,” explained Solomon.

Simeon’s eyes widened in concern. “I didn’t know we had an agenda.”

Solomon nodded gravely. “Oh, yes—an unwritten road trip one. And the first thing on it is picking some tunes.”

Again, Luke raised his hand. “I have a suggestion! I have a suggestion!” From the pocket of his shorts, he drew out a CD case labeled 1001 Hymns to Praise Him. “This album is my personal favorite.”

Solomon began coughing violently in attempts to cover his laughter, while Simeon smiled and took the CD from him. “That’s a great idea, Luke, but how about we play this when I drive, and when Solomon drives, he’ll pick the music.”

The sorcerer handed Simeon his D.D.D, keeping his eyes on the road as he instructed, “Here, go to my Akutify account and play my Travel playlist. Hope you guys don’t mind that I managed to export my entire Spotify account onto Akutify, so we’re going to be listening to Human World songs for now.”

It took Simeon seven tries to carry out Solomon’s orders, but before long, “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys blared through the state-of-the-art stereo system of the Demonio 666 Lexura.

Luke was silent for a few moments before he innocently asked, “I don’t understand, Solomon. What do they want ‘that way?’”

Solomon shook his head. “I’ve been trying to figure that out for years.”

Hour 2

It didn’t take very long for Simeon to discover the first location on his list of places to visit along their trip.

“The Maw of Beelzebub,” Simeon breathed, taking in their dark, ashy surroundings from the passenger seat. “I’ve seen it in pictures when I researched for TSL, but I never fathomed I’d get to see it in person.”

Luke pouted as Simeon exited the vehicle. “Don’t tell me we’re going to see those dumb demon brothers.”

“Nope,” Solomon said, unbuckling Luke from his seat, despite the vehement protests from the little angel. “The Maw of Beelzebub is a chain of three volcanoes, actually. The two smaller ones that form the ‘eyes of Beelzebub’ are active, but the huge, massive one that we’re going to walk across by way of that bridge,” he pointed to a shaky overpass that was suspended over a volcano crater a thousand miles wide, “is dormant. However, you can still see the enormous pool of lava bubbling inside. Tourists like to drop things down into it—and of course, it disappears into the molten lava—which is why it’s named after Beel because no matter what you feed him, he’s still hungry as if he’s never eaten.”

“Remind me again, then, why we’re walking across it?” Luke asked as the trio wandered over to the entrance of the precarious bridge.

Simeon looked at him curiously. “Don’t you think it’s exhilarating, Luke? To be so close to something so much bigger and powerful and dangerous than yourself?”

The younger angel pondered that for a moment before deciding, “Father is so much bigger and powerful and dangerous than me. I think that’s enough.”

Simeon laughed. “So it is.” He wiggled his fingers under Luke’s hat to rumple his hair. “But let’s go see it, anyway.”

Hour 3

“Psst,” Luke hissed, “Simeon.” The elder angel seemed to be too enthralled by the latest song in Solomon’s playlist, “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction, to hear him, so Luke reached out to poke his shoulder.

If he wasn’t strapped to his seat by his seatbelt, Simeon would’ve jumped about fifty feet in surprise. “Ah, you startled me, Luke. Did you need something?”

Luke adamantly refused to meet Simeon’s eyes as he flushed and muttered, “I have to go.”

“Don’t worry, Luke—there’s no shame in needing to go to the bathroom,” assured Simeon.

“There is when you just went ten minutes ago,” mumbled Solomon under his breath, but he swerved into a gas station, nonetheless. “I guess we’re due for a tank refill, anyway.”

Simeon put up his hand. “You paid for the gas last time—let me do it, especially since Mammon left explicit instructions that his car is supposed to be ‘fed’ premium gas only.”

Solomon grinned cheekily. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He followed Luke, who had already gone into the gas station convenience store. “I guess I’ll just have a look around, then.”

However, before he got more than a few feet into the store, he heard someone whisper-screaming his name.

“Psst! Solomon! Over here! Behind the candy stand!”

He followed the voice, only to find that it belonged to Luke, who was very much not in the bathroom and rather ripping open a packet of fruit snacks.

“Whoa, I didn’t know you had it in you to employ the much-loved five-finger-discount,” Solomon said, nodding appreciatively. “Considering you’re an angel and all.”

Luke stared at him with blank eyes. “I don’t know what that means, but these were in my pocket from earlier!” He motioned for Solomon to come closer and poured a few of the gummies into his hand. “This is my last pouch—eat them fast. They might be our last bit of yummy food before we have to eat Simeon’s nightmares.”

Solomon bobbed his head, before dumping the fruit snacks into his mouth all at once, savoring their sweet taste. He gestured toward Luke. “Do you always keep those on you?”

The angel’s offended gasp could be heard by all the demons in the convenience store. “I’m a ten-year-old, Solomon! Of course, I keep fruit snacks in my pocket!”

Hour 4

It wasn’t that Simeon was a bad driver. It was just that driving in the Devildom (and the Human World) was very different from driving in the Celestial Realm.

Here, in uncontrolled intersections, it wasn’t customary to say “hello” to the drivers rolling to a stop in all directions. Even stranger, the traffic lights weren’t celestial blue, gold, and white, but rather red, green, and yellow!

Luke, who had discovered a “2020 Devildom Rules of the Road” manual crumpled inside one of the cupholders, was forced to bark instructions at the eldest angel, all while offering condescending commentary on how imbecilic the rules of driving in the Devildom were.

“Simeon! Listen to this! In the Devildom, you have to obey the posted speed limits, or else you’ll get in trouble!” realized Luke.

“Wait—you don’t have speed limits in the Celestial Realm?” Solomon asked.

Luke replied smugly, “No, because angels have the sense to know how fast they should or shouldn’t be driving.”

“Wow, that’s honestly impressive.” Solomon grimaced as Simeon ran through another red light. “Remember, if the light is red, then you have to stop.”

Simeon offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I’m so used to remembering that blue means ‘stop.’”

Solomon slunk low in his seat, knowing better than to rile up the angel, who was rumored to have a feisty side when he got angry. “I just hope the police or whatever they have here don’t catch us for breaking so many traffic laws.”

“What’s a ‘police?’” asked Luke.

“Oh, you know … people who are supposed to make people follow the laws and stuff,” replied Solomon. His eyes widened. “Do you not have a police force in the Celestial Realm?”

“The Celestial Realm is a perfect world, Solomon,” answered Simeon. “We don’t need police.”

Hour 6

Solomon didn’t know that he could get sick of songs. Sure, he got tired of the “Despacito” remix after the first dozen times it was played on the radio—but he meant real music.

“Amazing Grace” in particular.

Luke’s favorite album, 1001 Hymns to Praise Him, really should’ve been called 1001 Ways An Angelic Choir Can Sing “Amazing Grace” because Solomon swore about ninety percent of the songs on the album were just renditions of the classic hymn sung by different groups of angels.

And this seemed to bother neither of his driving companions, who crooned along to the choir in heavenly tones—it seemed to be a prerequisite for angels to be divine singers—without missing a beat.

He hadn’t even known all the words to “Amazing Grace,” but now he could recite all six verses on demand. He fought the urge to smash the “eject” button on the CD player, but he worried that Luke would throw a fit or Simeon would look at him with a stare so full of disappointment that Solomon would be willing to throw himself off a bridge just to rid himself of its gaze.

But one could only hear the line “amazing grace, how sweet the sound,” so many times.

He had to do something.

“Hey! I have an idea!” Solomon chirped. “Let’s make up our own song!”

He had to fight the urge to smack himself upside the head. Why did he say that? He had no ideas for potential song lyrics!

“I like that!” Luke pursed his lips, deep in thought. “Here, let’s have the first lines go like this: ‘Father, You are all that I need!’”

Simeon used one hand to snap out the beat, and continued, “‘Father, listen to my creed!’”

Solomon sighed.

He did not know if this was any better.

Hour 8

“Luke, wake up. We’re here.” Solomon couldn’t help but layer on the desperation thick as he shook the younger angel awake, despite the fact that they were in no danger whatsoever.

Luke shot up, trying very hard to hide the fact that he had been drooling all over his shoulder. He rubbed his sleep-filled eyes. “What? Did we beat all the other demons here? Are the Caverns of Degeneracy as hideous as I imagined?”

Solomon unbuckled Luke’s seatbelt and dragged him out of the car. He snickered, saying, “We’re not at the Caverns, yet.” He gestured toward their surroundings, which now consisted of precarious cliffs and rocky crags instead of the open road of the Devildom.

Simeon stood a few feet ahead of them and turned around, spreading his arms wide in wonder. “Welcome to Sinner Falls!”

Luke stared at the dark stone formations. “I don’t see any waterfalls.”

“That’s because Sinner Falls isn’t a waterfall,” Solomon explained. “You probably better know it as ‘the Abyss—’”

“‘The Abyss? ’ Why didn’t you say so?” Luke exclaimed, his eyes glittering excitedly. “The place where demons are tortured for a thousand years during the Millenium has always been one of my dream places to visit!”

Simeon smiled, a little taken aback by the younger angel’s enthusiasm. “If we’re lucky, we might get to see Abaddon, Angel of the Abyss. He’s supposed to be guarding the canyon up ahead.”

“If we see him, do you think he’ll let me call him ‘Abba?’” teased Solomon, even though the remark earned him a kick in the shin and a “He most certainly will not! How dare you even say such a thing about one of the most high-ranking angels!” from Luke.

“Careful now, Solomon,” Simeon warned, as the trio walked toward the deep canyon amongst the cliffs. As far as anyone could tell, there was no end to the inky, suffocating blackness that was visible when looking down into it. He pointed into the canyon. “This is the Abyss—er, Sinner Falls. Us angels cannot pass this invisible barrier—” he pressed his hand out to the ledge of the canyon, only for it to smash against some kind of unseen wall, “—but any human or demon who falls down into it falls for eternity, never to come back to the surface.”

Luke beamed. “That must be why it’s called ‘Sinner Falls!’ Because most humans and all demons are sinners!” Despite this, he grabbed Solomon’s hand to prevent him from wandering too close to Sinner Falls’ ledge (as he was wont to do), because, despite their bickering and mutual pestering, Luke had a soft spot for the sorcerer.

Simeon followed in suit and intertwined his fingers with Solomon as the trio looked down into the great Abyss, wondering if any of their demon friends would be among the many thrown into it one day.

Hour 9

Simeon rifled through his messenger bag, intent on looking for something to eat. He had made sure to pack plenty of goodies and was pleased as to how nutritious the snacks he’d made had turned out. He scooped a handful of edamame and chickpea trail mix into his hand and turned to Luke, who was hunched over a map in the back passenger seat.

“You haven’t eaten anything in over eight hours; aren’t you hungry?” Simeon offered him the bag of trail mix.

Luke gulped, as he beamed and shook his head. “N—no, no! I’m okay!”

Simeon shrugged and held out the bag toward Solomon, who was driving. “Do you want some? I can pour it into your mouth if you want, so you don’t have to take your eyes off the road.”

“As titillating as that sounds,” said the sorcerer, “I’m afraid I’m not hungry at the moment.”

“I guess that’s more for me, then.” Simeon poured more of the trail mix into his palm, but before he could eat any of it, he heard a strange sound.

It was a low rumble, but very, very loud.

It almost sounded like … stomachs growling?

He whirled to face Luke and Solomon and scratched his head in confusion. “Are you two sure you’re not hungry?”

When the pair shook their heads furiously, Simeon raised an eyebrow. He yanked out from his bag the stuffed dried dates and the oatmeal-honey-sesame-black-bean balls. “So … you two wouldn’t mind if I ate all of the snacks?”

“Yeah, sure, go nuts, Simeon,” Solomon assured. He winced as his and Luke’s stomaches rumbled in unison. “You wouldn’t actually have any nuts in that bag o’ treats, would you? Preferably of the chocolate-covered variety?”

“The dates have almond butter stuffed inside them,” pointed out Luke helpfully, although his expression was less-than-enthused.

Simeon raised his other eyebrow. Clearly the pair were hungry but refusing food. What kind of rebellious spirit had gotten into them? Didn’t they know that food was essential to oh, survival? His left eye twitched as he felt a black miasma of rage cover him. “If you two don’t eat, I’m turning this car around. That’s a promise.”

Solomon exchanged nervous glances with Luke at the normally calm angel’s outburst. “Angry Simeon is scary,” he whimpered.

“If you don’t eat, you’ll see just how scary I can be,” promised Simeon with a smile that bordered downright terrifying. He plopped an oatmeal-honey-sesame-black-bean ball into Solomon’s mouth and handed a stuffed date to Luke. “Now, eat your snacks.”

He definitely didn’t miss Luke’s grumpy, “Yes, mother.”

Hour 11

“Solomon, I hate to complain—” which earned a snort from the sorcerer, as Luke continued, “but do you really have to play that now?” He gestured toward the sound system, which, now that it was Simeon’s turn to drive, blared 1001 Hymns to Praise Him. “Seven Lyres is my favorite orchestra and their take on ‘Amazing Grace’ is simply the best!”

Solomon, who had purposely pulled out a reed pipe from his backpack in an effort to drown out the nine thousandth chorus of “Amazing Grace,” sighed and put it down. He knew he wasn’t an expert in playing the reed pipe—in fact, this was the first time he’d ever seen the instrument, but the racket was so soothing.

“Where did you even get that from, anyway?” asked Simeon.

“Found it in my backpack. I didn’t pack it, but considering there was a note attached to it that said ‘Blow,’ I think Asmo put it there as some kind of visual innuendo.” Solomon shrugged. “Now seemed like as good a time as any to play it.”

Luke tapped his chin thoughtfully. “What’s an ‘innuendo?’”

“Something you’re not allowed to make until you’re much older,” replied Simeon sternly.

Luke seemed satisfied with the answer and held out his palm toward Solomon. “May I try?”

Solomon handed the reed pipe over and cocked his head. “You know how to play?”

He received his answer when Luke gestured for him to lower the stereo volume (which Solomon did with immense pleasure) and began to carefully place his fingers over the openings and gently blow into the instrument.

The young angel played masterfully and Solomon would’ve given him a standing ovation if it weren’t for one tiny thing.

“Why don’t you play a different song besides ‘Amazing Grace?’” he suggested.

Luke furrowed his brows. “It’s the only thing I know how to play!”

Hour 12

“I don’t like this place, Simeon,” Luke mumbled, yanking his hat over his eyes. “It looks like something straight from the End Times.”

He, of course, was referring to the town at which’s city limits they stood in front of. It was one of the last tourist spots that Simeon had wanted to visit, and it was renowned for being one of the Devildom’s most haunted ghost towns.

Solomon nodded. “I’m with the Chihuahua. I’m super excited for the end of the world, and even I’m not getting a good feeling from whatever-this-place-is-called.”

“Deathblow Beggar’s Pass,” answered Simeon, ogling the city entrance sign gleefully. “They say it’s the most haunted district in all of the Devildom.” He took a step onto the creaky wooden path that led into the town. “It’s been evacuated for centuries and now, even most demons are petrified to go inside.”

Luke gripped Simeon’s cape so tight, his knuckles turned white. “Then why do you want to visit this place?”

“Don’t worry, Luke,” the older angel said (avoiding the question, which the young angel noticed), laughing, as he tousled Luke’s hair under his hat. “I’ll make sure none of the scary ghosts come near you.”

Luke’s eyes widened. “Sc—scary ghosts?” He cleared his throat when he realized how incredibly uncourageous he sounded. “I—I mean I’m not scared of any g—g—ghosts!”

Solomon and Simeon shared a secret smile at the angel’s feigned bravery, and instead of teasing him, Solomon turned to Luke very seriously. “I strictly deal with demons, not ghosts. How about you do me a favor and sit on my shoulders to be my lookout in case any of those ghosts try to pull anything?”

“W—well if you need my help, I’m definitely willing to offer it!” Luke blushed as he climbed onto Solomon’s shoulders. “It’s my duty as an angel to help humans, after all!”

“That’s the ‘spirit,’” Solomon said. He laughed when he saw the angels’ unamused faces. “Get it? ‘Cause we’re walking into a ghost town?”

Simeon laughed stiffly as to not hurt the sorcerer’s feelings before straightening his posture and looking ahead. He channeled his inner fantasy writer as he declared, “Get ready, everyone! We must put aside our doubts and fears as we charge forward into Deathblow Beggar’s Pass, where no creature has exited without releasing screams that could curdle the blood of the Demon Lord! We might not be of this world, but we certainly can brave its most terrifying sites!”

It would have been a very heroic speech if it weren’t for the fact that not five minutes after the trio entered the city limits, Solomon and Simeon sprinted out, with Luke wailing loudly.

“That was the worst ever!” the little angel blubbered, yanking Solomon’s hair.

The sorcerer didn’t even have enough energy to flinch as he panted, “What in the name of all things unholy was that?”

There was nothing but fear in Simeon’s eyes as he doubled over, trying to catch his breath. “We should’ve known the saloon bathroom stalls wouldn’t be empty.” He gagged. “I never want to see millennia-old demon penis again.”

Hour 15

“Simeon, are we there yet ?” asked Luke for the twenty-first time in the hour.

The other angel sighed. “Almost, Luke. Just a few more minutes.”

“Don’t you have the map?” Solomon pointed out as he honked the horn in irritation at a slow driver ahead of him. “Shouldn’t you know where we are?”

Luke fussed with the multitude of papers that were stacked on his lap. “I only have the stuff for Simeon’s places.” His eyes opened wide in realization. “Wait—how do you guys know where to drive if my maps don’t lead to the Caverns of Degeneracy?”

“Diavolo said as long as we travel along Route 666 until we see the sign markers, we should have no problem getting there,” explained Simeon. He peered ahead and squinted at one of the upcoming signs. “And look—that sign says that the Caverns of Degeneracy are ten miles up ahead.”

“I hope we’re the first ones there,” said Luke. “It’ll be nice to see all the looks on those dumb demons’ faces when we get there before them.”

Solomon pursed his lips. “Speaking of those ‘dumb demons,’ I wonder if they’re all right. We haven’t heard from them since we left Purgatory Hall.”

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Simeon assured. He let out a laugh as he continued, “Assuming they haven’t killed each other already. It must be hard having all seven of them cooped up in one small space.”

“We can only hope,” said Luke solemnly. He paused for a moment as he shimmied as far as his seatbelt would allow him and peered over Solomon’s shoulder to look at what was going on in the front seats. He pointed at the gear shift. “What does ‘D’ mean?”

“I’m not supposed to say that word in front of you,” answered Solomon as Simeon simultaneously replied, “Drive.”

“Oh. What does ‘R’ mean, then?”

Simeon replied, “Reverse,” before Solomon could say anything.

At the elder angel’s preemptive glare, Solomon widened his eyes and innocently said, “I was going to say ‘reverse,’ as in ‘Uno Reverse Card.’’”

Luke turned toward the dashboard. “What’s ‘E?’”

“I feel if I say ‘Evanescence,’ Simeon is going to yell at me, so I’ll just go with ‘empty,’” pouted Solomon.

“Empty what?”

“Gas.”

“So … since that line-thingy is almost at ‘E,’ that means we’re nearly out of gas?”

“Yep.”

Simeon turned around to cover Luke’s ears at Solomon’s next sentence: “Holy shit—we’re almost out of gas!”

The older angel’s eyes promised murder as he stared at the sorcerer, before directing his stare to the fuel gauge. “We’re running on fumes.”

“We need to refuel, stat. Simeon, grab my D.D.D and look up the nearest gas station,” directed Solomon. “I always forget that Mammon’s car is a gas-guzzler.”

“What should I do, Solomon?” asked Luke, eagerly awaiting orders like a baby soldier.

The sorcerer nodded, deadly serious. “Sit there and be cute.”

Luke pouted as Simeon—with surprising speed—brought up a log of the nearest gas stations on Solomon’s D.D.D. “There should be a station three miles ahead.”

Solomon frowned as he analyzed their fuel gauge. “I’m not sure we’ll make it.”

“We have to!” cried Luke. “How will we ever beat those demons if we don’t even make it to the Caverns of Degeneracy?”

“We’ll have to trust that Mammon’s baby is strong enough to get us to the gas station, then.” Solomon stroked the dashboard as if trying to offer the vehicle some kind of encouragement.

And as the car’s fuel began to peter out, Simeon and Luke began to cheer in chorus, “You can do it, Mammon’s car!” while Solomon exclaimed, “You’re a fierce, strong woman who doesn’t need any man to tell you that your fuel gauge is empty!”

After an eternity (okay, it was more like five minutes), the Demonio 666 Lexura finally eked it’s way to the first pump at a Demobil gas station.

As the engine sputtered out, the trio let out a cheer, and Solomon and Simeon shared a hug in the front seat.

“Thank Father we made it!” exclaimed Luke as he unbuckled his seatbelt and exited the car. He pat Mammon’s car. “Also, thank you for getting us here, even if you belong to the scummiest demon in the Devildom.”

Solomon grinned and turned to Simeon. “You spotted the gas bill last time, so I’ll do it now.”

“Are you sure?” asked Simeon. “My TSL royalties are huge, even after I’ve tithed my ten percent. I’ve got no problem paying.”

“Nah, it’s fine—you can go stretch your legs.” With that, Solomon exited the car and began to work the gas pump.

Simeon nodded and together with Luke, walked toward the attached Demobil convenience store. By the entrance stood a higher-level demon, who appeared to be selling bouquets of fresh flowers.

The vendor, who had noticed the pair exit Mammon’s car and had seen Solomon get up to pump the gas, called to Simeon, “Flower for your Mister?” He gestured toward the white-haired sorcerer.

Luke gasped, absolutely scandalized, and huffed, “Simeon would never settle for a human!” while Simeon chuckled, replying, “I’m sorry, he’s not my ‘Mister,’ but I’ll take a bouquet, anyway.”

After exchanging Grimm for the flowers, Simeon and Luke strolled back to the Demonio 666 Lexura, where Solomon was just closing the fuel tank.

“Simeon bought you flowers!” announced Luke.

The angel nodded as he handed the sunny bouquet to Solomon. “It matches your wand.”

“How did you know gerberas are my favorite?” laughed Solomon. “These are great—thank you.” As they all piled back into the car, he carefully arranged the flowers in one of the cupholders and beamed, because God, sometimes the angel was so nice.

The group drove in silence for a few moments before Luke commented, “I didn’t know gerberas smelled like … salt?”

Simeon sniffed the air. “I think that’s the sea. After all, the Caverns of Degeneracy are right along the beach.”

Just as the angel spoke the words, Solomon pulled right into a parking lot that was situated right next to miles and miles of black sand.

Luke cheered, kicking his feet at Solomon’s seat excitedly. “Yay! We’re here!”

Their road trip had finally come to an end.

Destination

After wandering the beach for a few moments, the trio eventually found themselves at the mouth of the Caverns of Degeneracy, which turned out to be several huge caves filled with glowing pastel stalactites and stalagmites. Hellfireflies twinkled in the air, while friendly gentlemanbugs strolled about the cavern floor. Some kind of glittering pink moss had been used to adorn the walls with the words, “R.A.D Bleeding Hearts Festival 2020.”

In the middle of it all stood Diavolo, who was discussing the festival decorations with Barbatos.

As soon as he saw the Demon Prince, Luke raced up and, bobbing uncontrollably, asked, “Are we first? Are we first?”

Diavolo let out a hearty laugh. “Welcome you three! And first for what, Luke?”

Solomon sauntered up and answered, “To arrive.”

“Luke’s been very anxious to know if we’re the first ones here at the festival,” elaborated Simeon, placing his hand on the younger angel’s shoulder.

“You make it seem like it was a competition to get here first—which, yes, you three are,” said Diavolo. His eyes lit up. “That’s an excellent idea, though! Next year, we’ll make the R.A.D C.D a contest to see can make it to the Caverns the fastest! First place will get a coupon for teatime with me!”

Luke wrinkled his nose. “Teatime with you? That sounds—”

“Incredibly fun,” cut in Simeon smoothly. He turned to Diavolo. “Have you gotten any word from those seven demon brothers?”

Diavolo grimaced. “It seems that they’ll be late. Beelzebub ate all their road trip snacks immediately as he entered Asmodeus’ tour bus, so they had to stop for food at every fast food restaurant they could find because he still wasn’t satisfied, Belphegor kept falling asleep at the wheel, and Mammon got so many speeding violations and every time the police showed up, Asmodeus tried to seduce his way out of their ticket, which only earned them more fines and lectures from Lucifer. It’s comic-con season, so of course, Leviathan had to stop at every convention center along the way, and unsurprisingly, Satan’s road rage forced him to get into out-of-car fights with every driver he encountered when he was at the wheel.” He sighed. “They managed to turn a fifteen-hour trip into a twenty-two hour one.”

Solomon smiled as he said, “I guess we should’ve expected that.” His grin grew even wider as he gestured toward his traveling companions. “Meanwhile, we did all fifteen-hours of driving—courtesy of me bending the speeding rules quite a bit when there was no traffic— and saw some of the sights of the Devildom along the way.”

“Oooh, did you manage to get any pictures?” asked Diavolo with an excited gleam in his eye. “I always want to travel around the Devildom but never get the chance.”

Simeon nodded as he pulled out from his messenger bag some of the pictures he had asked fellow tourists to snap with his instant camera. He handed them one by one to Diavolo and beamed at the goofy scenes.

The first one was from when they stopped at the Maw of Beelzebub: Solomon teasingly dangled Luke’s hat over the bridge’s railing while the young angel cried and stomped on the sorcerer’s foot in retaliation. Simeon, meanwhile, tried to rescue Luke’s hat.

The second photo showcased Solomon sitting at the ledge of Sinner Falls with his feet swinging over the bottomless canyon. Luke and Simeon posed obnoxiously as if they were going to fall into the Abyss, even though as angels, they were unable to.

The final picture was the only one he had from Deathblow Beggar’s Pass, and it was of the trio crouched in front of the sign that spelled “Enjoy your stay at Deathblow Beggar’s Pass!”

Diavolo examined the images wistfully. He sighed as he handed the photos back to Simeon. “You three looked as if you made some fun memories.”

The angels and the sorcerer exchanged contented glances and chorused, “We most certainly did.”

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me fanfic #obey me fanfiction #omswd #obey me swd #obey me simeon #obey me solomon #obey me luke #obey me shall we date simeon #obey me shall we date solomon #obey me shall we date luke #adverbslut_writes #fanfiction #fanfic #road trip

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somekindoftuber · 5 years

Text

vld youtuber AU (klance, part 5)

(I apologize if the tense changes all over the place, I’m writing this as a sort of stream-of-consciousness thing because I care more about getting the idea out than writing something that’s grammatically perfect. I’ll probably clean this up and make it an actual fic once it’s all done. Thanks for reading!! :D)

part one | part two | part three | part four

There is a definite shift in Keith’s demeanor after Lance’s last visit.

They play Overwatch a few times a week, and while Keith goes into stern-leader-battle-mode when the game is going, between matches he’s loose, candid. He laughs at Lance’s jokes and makes casual conversation about his job, the garage, tells funny stories about Kosmo. Lance tells Keith stories about the customers he has at the cafe. It’s nice to hear a softness in Keith’s voice that Lance hadn’t heard before.

Keith shows up in nearly all of Lance’s Overwatch videos, even if his mic isn’t recorded. They sort of fall into a rhythm, meeting online every Tuesday and Thursday night to search for servers.

“Y’know,” Keith says one night while they’re in queue. “I wouldn’t have figured you for a sniper type.”

“Eh?” Lance is in his Widowmaker menu at that moment, flipping between two skins to see which one he likes more. “What d’you mean?”

“I don’t mean it in a bad way,” Keith clarifies, and it sounds like he’s smiling. “You just seem like more of a Mercy or a support or something. You’re really…” he pauses. “Generous. Always helping people. Then you get in here and you turn into a cold blooded assassin.”

Lance laughs. “I’ve always played a sniper, though. Gotta have balance somewhere, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

They text a lot. It’s all small stuff, like pet photos or memes (which Keith doesn’t understand 90% of the time and Lance finds that kind of adorable). But it’s nice. Occasionally they’ll both have an early shift, and Lance will text Keith photos of the ancient espresso grinder, captioned “this thing wants me dead” surrounded with skull emojis. Keith’s sense of humor, Lance learns, is dry as cracker juice. He gets a photo of a broken rubber floor mat with the question, “what sound does a floor mat make when it splits right before a fitness class?” Before Lance can answer, he gets another photo of the same mat, this time with Keith’s middle finger pointing soundly at it. “That sound,” says the caption. Lance laughs so hard that his boss yells at him for being on his phone during a shift.

August comes to an end, and Pidge prepares for her final term. Lance helps by assisting in an apartment clean out, getting rid of literal clutter to ease Pidge’s impending mental clutter. Lance tries not to think about how this might be their last few months in this apartment together. He’s really enjoyed living with Pidge - he wasn’t exaggerating when he said she was like a sister. Pidge is an extension of his family, ever since they met at space camp all those years ago. She’d been a tiny, fluffy, indomitable ball of pure snark and Lance loved her immediately. Since then, they’d stuck together, seeing each other through some of the hardest times. Lance had cheered his lungs out when Pidge was handed her high school diploma, and in a few months, he’d see her walk across another stage in a cap and gown to receive her bachelor’s degree in Robotic Engineering.

It made him a little misty-eyed to think about it.

Pidge is playing Stardew Valley one afternoon (how the hell did she manage to make such an insanely profitable farm before the end of year one?) when she casually brings up one of Lance’s favorite fall events.

“You gonna go to the Founder’s Fair this year?”

Lance doesn’t even look up from his phone. “Uh, is the Pope catholic?”

“Good.” On the screen, Pidge’s character gives a bouquet to Penny. Dating everyone but marrying no one: the Pidge method. “Hunk is coming in for it.”

“Sweet.”

The Harborville Founder’s Fair was the highlight of every autumn. Right as the summer was fading away and the air was showing a hint of a chill, Oceanside Park would explode into three days of carnival rides, food trucks, fireworks, and everything in between. It was also the best time of year to surf - they didn’t get much in the way of waves here, but there would always be just enough in late September to rent a board. Lance had put in his time off request a month ago, buttering up his boss with the ‘this might be my last September in Harborville’ sob story. Which was sort of true, even if he wasn’t quite ready to face that reality yet.

Lance felt like he was getting closer to Keith. He wasn’t entirely sure if that was the case, but if nothing else, Keith seemed to finally be relaxing around him. There were one or two times when Lance could almost swear Keith was flirting, but he quickly shoved the thought aside. Nope, don’t go there. That’s assuming things. Assuming is dangerous.

The fair is in a week and to make up for missing work on what will be one of the busiest weekends of the year, Lance is working at the cafe nearly every day. He has more steam burns on his hands and wrists from making lattes than ever, and he thinks if he hears the word “pumpkin spice” one more time he might lose it. He hasn’t played Overwatch all week, too tired from extra shifts to do anything other than zone out to Netflix when he gets home.

He’s got two hours left in his Thursday morning shift, then he’s free for the whole weekend. He can practically taste the funnel cakes now - and the Rancho Alegre food truck, the only decent source of Cuban food in the entire state, will be there. God, he’s going to eat until he can’t move.

The morning rush has come and gone and the afternoon crowd isn’t here yet, so Lance is cleaning up the mess of coffee grounds and cinnamon around his work station when the bell on the cafe door sounds. He doesn’t look up as his coworker/supervisor Romelle greets whoever walks through, too preoccupied with wondering how the hell almond milk ended up underneath the grinder.

“Hello,” says the customer and Lance totally knows that voice. He stops wiping sour milk and looks up.

It’s Shiro. And right behind him is Allura and - oh shit. It’s Keith. He’s here, he’s here in the cafe and Lance had no idea he was coming and he probably looks like shit, overworked with bags under his eyes and his face breaking out from stress and he didn’t even shampoo his hair this morning because he was running late --

But then Keith smiles at him and wow. His hair is down and he’s wearing this black and red leather jacket and it should be illegal to look that good. Especially when Lance is such a mess.

“Hi,” Lance says, hating how his voice cracks. “What are you guys doing in town?”

Shiro is pulling out his wallet with his left hand. “We came for the fair. It was always one of my favorite things about going to school here.”

“Oh,” Lance squeaks.

They’re here for the fair. Lance might get to spend time at the fair with Keith. He forces himself to focus on the present before a dozen fantasies of ferris wheel rides and sharing cotton candy can take over his brain.

They all order drinks and Lance claims them before Romelle can even finish ringing them up. Shiro gets a hazelnut americano, Allura orders a tuxedo mocha, and Keith shyly asks for a latte. Lance can tell he doesn’t go to coffee shops often and makes the drinks carefully. He can’t embellish Shiro’s americano, but he uses chocolate sauce and extra foam to draw a bow tie in Allura’s mug. For Keith’s latte, he sends a prayer to the coffee gods to grant him latte art prowess. It works, and Lance is rounding out rings of coffee and foam, pulling through to form a perfect heart.

He slides the mug across the counter to Keith, who’s eyebrow shoot into his hair. He breaths a little “wow” and blushes, taking the mug and smiling. He’s wearing fingerless leather gloves. Lance’s heart flip-flops in his chest.

The three of them find a table near the window and sit, chatting and drinking their coffee. They’re too far away for Lance to hear what they’re saying, and even if he could, he’s on the clock, and the lunchtime regulars are starting to trickle in.

Would it be gauche to text his evening shift coworker and bribe him to come in early so Lance can leave?

Lance thinks Romelle can tell he’s pouting by the way she sides up to him.

“Hey,” she whispers. “Is that the guy?”

He follows her gaze and sees that it lands firmly on the table where Keith is sitting with Shiro and Allura. Keith looks up at Lance, and smiles a little before turning back to his brother.

“Yeah,” Lance whispers back, feeling his face heat up. “The one with the long hair.”

Romelle lets out a low whistle. “Quite the catch,” she says, waggling her eyebrows. “What about the girl they’re with?”

“Allura?” Lance thinks. “I don’t know her very well, but she’s nice.”

“She single?”

Lance rolls his eyes and starts on the next drink. “No idea, you should ask her.”

It’s slower today and Lance is thankful for it. With Keith in the room, he can’t focus on anything - it’s a miracle he doesn’t catastrophically screw up the drinks he’s making. There’s a break in customers and Romelle comes over to Lance where he loading a portafilter with espresso and waves her phone.

“I’ll make you a deal,” she says, and he does not like that voice. That’s her Supervisor Voice. “I’ll call Ryan in an hour early if you get me Cute Girl’s number.”

Lance puts the tamp down. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

He looks over at the table where Keith is sitting. They’ve all finished their drinks and will probably be leaving soon.

“Romelle,” Lance states. “You are an evil super villain and I love you. Consider that number yours.”

Fifteen minutes later, Ryan Kinkade is walking in and he doesn’t look particularly thrilled about it. Lance takes off his apron and motions at the jar of cash by the register.

“Ryan, you’re a lifesaver and my tips are yours. Thank you!” Lance clocks out before anyone can argue and walks over to where Keith and Co are sitting. He’s very much aware of how he probably reeks of coffee and looks like garbage but does his best to smile anyway.

“My shift is over, did you guys have any plans?”

Shiro smiles and stands. “I think we were going to head to our Air B&B and check in, actually. We could use a breather after that drive. We can meet up for dinner later, if you want.”

Inwardly, Lance lets out a sigh of relief because this means he’ll have time to take a shower and make himself presentable. “That sounds good! Any place you want to go?”

Shiro shrugs. “Is Vinnie’s still open?”

Lance lights up. “Oh yeah, still as good as ever, too! Want to meet there at, uh - “ He checks his phone, it’s barely 3pm. “Around five? We should beat most of the dinner rush that way.”

They all nod and the plans are made. They walk outside together and Lance watches the three of them get into a very nice Chrysler sedan - maybe Allura’s, given how she goes for the driver’s seat. Once they’re gone, Lance heads for his car and books it home. He immediately washes and exfoliates his face, then applies an anti-inflammatory mask and works at cleaning up the apartment. It was already fairly clean since Hunk will be crashing on the pull-out sofa bed for the weekend, and he has no idea of Keith will ever even see this place, but Lance doesn’t want to take any risks.

He shoots Pidge a text to tell her about their plans in case she wants to join. Hunk isn’t due until tomorrow morning.

Apartment clean(er) and his face mask dry and itchy, Lance hops in the shower and scrubs himself sore. Keith is here and will be spending the weekend here and Lance is equal parts ecstatic and terrified. He meticulously goes through his whole grooming routine, moisturizes, swabs, trims his eyebrows, even files his nails. He checks his reflection once he’s done and thankfully his face is less red, the stress acne barely noticeable.

There’s still about 45 minutes until he needs to be at Vinnie’s so Lance takes his time picking out clothes. He settles for a low cut tank top that shows off his collarbones and a beige button down over it with the sleeves rolled up, finishing it off with a pendant necklace and grey skinny jeans. He examines himself in the mirror and frowns a little. Does it look too much like date clothes?

He doesn’t have time to change because then his phone pings and it’s Shiro, saying they’re heading to Vinnie’s a little early. Lance all but throws himself out the door.

Vinnie’s is starting to get crowded, Lance can already see the line forming when he parks. He spots Shiro and Allura easily, their white hair making them stand out. They’d managed to claim a patio table - no small feat - and were chatting happily.

Lance joins them and it’s amazing how welcome he feels in this group, the way Shiro half-pulls a chair out for Lance. Keith is sitting to his right, his jacket draped over the back of his chair, the black t-shirt he wore stretching nicely over his chest. And if he didn’t know any better, Lance could swear he saw Keith’s eyes sweep down his neck and linger.

They ate and laughed and ate more, drinking fancy gourmet sodas. They make loose plans for the weekend - beach tomorrow, then the fair on Saturday, and maybe brunch before they leave on Sunday. Lance educates Keith in the ways of the garlic knot, the most sacred food item on earth. And when Keith shrugs and says they’re “alright,” Lance feigns offense, gasping and clutching his chest.

Pidge joins them later, looking utterly spent from a long day of classes. Lance gives up his seat so she can collapse into it. He kneels beside the table instead, passing Pidge the last of their pizza and appetizers. Keith gives him a look, then scoots over to one side of his chair, patting the other with his hand.

Lance short circuits, looking from the empty side of the chair to Keith’s face several times.

Keith rolls his eyes. “Get up here. That,” he points to where Lance is kneeling, “Is super bad for your knees.”

“Oh?” Lance slides into place, and it’s sort of uncomfortable with half of his ass hanging off the chair, but he can feel heat pouring off Keith’s body with how close he is. “You care much about my knees?”

Keith goes super red. “I’m a physical trainer,” He said, suddenly very interested in his soda. “It’s my job to care. Doing stuff like that will ruin them.”

“Right.”

Lance glances over at Pidge, who had a garlic knot halfway to her mouth and giving Lance the most predatory grin. He glares at her to shut down whatever evil plans she might be formulating.

They finally finish the food and decide to stop taking up a table, bussing it themselves to save the staff some work. Instead of a bar, they decide to head over to Lance and Pidge’s apartment to chill - half because Pidge isn’t 21 yet and wouldn’t be able to join them at most of the bars in town, and half because Vinnie’s was so loud that they’re all craving some quiet.

Lance is so thankful that his past self had the sense to clean a little more. They all sprawl out over the living room, Lance going to pull a chair from the kitchen to sit on so the guests can have the nice couch and Pidge can curl up in the easy chair. Lance offers up the ice cream sandwiches from the freezer and everyone takes one; Allura seems to be examining hers with great interest, like she’s never had one before.

Shiro talks a lot, mostly about what Harborville was like when he and Matt were in college. About their first apartment that should probably have been condemned, the dogs he’d walk between classes for extra cash. Eventually Lance’s cats come out of hiding to investigate, and Keith goes starry-eyed at Batou’s big green eyes and plush grey coat.

Pidge falls asleep in her chair just after nine. Everyone takes a second to coo at how cute she is before Lance bends down to scoop her up.

“Lemme put sleeping beauty here to bed. If she stays there she’ll be sore and cranky when she wakes up.”

He takes Pidge to her room and sets her on her bed, then wrestles her sneakers off her feet, setting her glasses on the bedside table and draping a sheet over her. When he goes back into the living room and sits in the chair he’d removed Pidge from, Allura gives him a fond look.

“You’re very sweet to her.”

Lance shrugs. “She’s pretty much family. Also, I have to do that all the time. I’ve found her face down on her homework out here more times than I want to count.”

They talk for another two hours. Lance feels a little lonely with Keith sitting on the side of the couch furthest from him, but then again, if he was closer, Lance isn’t sure his brain would work. Allura yawns wide.

“I think it’s time we turned in,” she states. “I’d like to get some rest before the weekend starts.”

Shiro agrees. Lance ends up seeing them off in the parking lot, waving as they drive away.

Hunk arrives just after 10am the next morning, armed with bags of groceries to pack a picnic for the beach. He puts Lance and Pidge on an assembly line in the kitchen, making pork sandwiches, vegetable rolls, hummus wraps, crab and radish tartines, potato salad, and chocolate-dipped clementine slices. He’d picked up a package of Lance’s favorite lemon cream cookies and Lance could almost kiss him for it.

With their precious picnic food carefully packed in an ice chest along with plenty of drinks, Lance shot a group text to Keith, Shiro, and Allura to ask if they were ready for the beach. He got confirmation quickly, and they agreed to hit the north shore near the lighthouse, where the sand was rougher but the tourists tended to be a little thinner.

Parking is a bitch but they find a spot, then wait by the trunk for Keith and Co to arrive. About ten minutes later Lance sees Allura’s Chrysler pull in to a spot. They walk over to meet them and Lance is practically bouncing, because 1) he gets to go to the beach, 2) he gets to go surfing with Hunk, 3) he gets to spend time with new friends, and 4) Keith is here. Everyone is in shorts and light shirts, Allura has this big floppy sun hat that is absolutely precious on her, and Keith’s face is shiny with sunscreen. Lance bets that fair skin of his will still be red by the end of the day.

They find a spot that’s decently clear and set up. Hunk, Keith, and Lance tackle the portable canopy that will hopefully keep them all from becoming completely sunburned while Allura and Pidge set out the sand blanket and arrange their stuff to keep the wind from blowing it away. Once they’re settled, the ice chest is opened and sodas and juice are passed around. The wind is strong today but not enough to be a problem for their canopy, and the waves are large and plentiful. Lance eyes the surfboard rental shack a quarter mile down the beach.

Once they’ve had enough of snacking and chatting, Lance gives Hunk fingerguns and they almost take off down the beach together, making a beeline for the surfboards. Rolo is working it as usual and after some searching they find the perfect boards and duck into the changing tent to get into their springsuits. Lance has the white and blue suit up over his hips and was about to pull it the rest of the way on when he remembers that Keith is sitting out there. Ever since Lance learned he was a Crossfit trainer, he’d started running and working out again. He wasn’t in as good a shape as he was when he’d been swimming competitively, but thanks to months of regular exercise, he at least sort of looked the part again. And maybe he wanted to show off a little. So Lance left the top of his springsuit open and hanging from his hips as they went back to the group with their boards.

“Showoff,” Hunk accused while they were still out of earshot of everyone else.

Lance subtly flexed his chest. “So? I worked hard for this.”

When they got back to the canopy, Lance did his best to act nonchalant as he set his board aside and started pulling his springsuit up over his chest. Keith was definitely looking at him. Mission accomplished.

His flirty nature satisfied, it was time to surf. Lance missed this so much, the first step into the ocean water was like heaven. He and Hunk paddled out until the water was smooth, then sat on their boards and waited. They didn’t have to wait long, Hunk caught the first good wave that came their way, riding it out and away. Lance caught the next one, and it was a crazy high. It just felt so good, cutting through the water with his board, turning, riding through tunnels of blue-green. The waves tossed him, wrecked him, dragged his body against the sand below. But every time, Lance would surface, shake it off, and paddle out for another go.

His legs finally started to shake, so Lance hauled his board back to the shore. Hunk was already sitting under the canopy again, changed out of his springsuit and sipping on a juice box.

“I was gonna give you ten more minutes before I dragged you out of the water,” Hunk said.

Lance didn’t reply, chest heaving as he caught his breath. His board hits the sand and he all but collapses onto the sand sheet, his ears ringing.

A water bottle appeared in his periphery. Lance looked up enough to trace the hand that held it back to Keith, who was wearing this cute little smile. Lance smiled back and took the bottle, downing half of it in one gulp.

Pidge starts pulling out food and Lance blindly eats whatever is handed to him, too exhausted to care what it is. It’s all delicious but with how many calories he burned surfing, he could probably be eating stale saltines and they’d taste like a delicacy. He leans back on the sand sheet and basks in the post-surf euphoria.

Lance notices everyone starting to get up. Allura is holding several frisbees with a gleam in her eye, and most of the group is rising to join her. Keith stands and, after fiddling with the collar of his shirt for a second, reaches back and pulls it over his head, letting it drop to the ground.

Lance is instantly awake because holy shit. Keith is ripped. He’s all tight skin and perfect muscles and - oh.

He’d been wrong when he’d assumed Keith’s tattoo was a wolf. It’s actually a lion, roaring fiercely, emblazoned in dark red ink over his left hip.

Keith takes a hair tie off his wrist and uses it to pull his hair up high on the back of his head. He shoots Lance a loaded glance before walking out into the sun to join everyone else for a game of frisbee tag. Lance memorizes the muscles of his back as he goes.

“Good god, you’re so loud.”

Lance sits up and turns to see Pidge, sitting in the center of the sand sheet in her shorts and green rash guard, with her phone in one hand and a cookie in the other.

“I didn’t say anything!” Lance protests. Pidge just cocks an eyebrow at him.

“Not with words, anyway.”

Lance frowns, then dares to look back out at his friends, finding Keith and tracking his movements across the beach.

They empty the ice chest of food and drink and, after several more hours of beach fun, they decide to pack it in and head out. Lance is going to remember this day for the rest of his life - the image of Keith glistening wet as he walked out of the ocean had finally taught Lance the meaning of the phrase “looks good enough to eat.”

Lance is so, so tired. Surfing wore him out but he still played a round of beach volleyball after that, and then swam some more. He’s going to be so sore tomorrow. He drives himself, Hunk, and Pidge back to their apartments to shower and change before they head over to the Air B&B where Shiro, Keith, and Allura are staying. Lance decides on a regular shirt and his favorite jeans, only bothering to put a single layer of moisturizer on his face.

The Air B&B turns out to be a whole house, with a yard and a little deck where they all gather around faded patio furniture as Shiro hands out beers. He gives Pidge a look as she takes one for herself.

“What?” She says as she twists off the top of the bottle. “I’m gonna be 21 in a few months, I’m in safe company, and I’m not driving.”

Shiro just sighs and sits down.

They talk and laugh for hours. Pidge only has one beer before switching to sweet tea, and Lance is a little relieved. He has no idea what drunk Pidge would be like and he’d rather not find out this weekend - he would be cash money that she’d be ornery as hell. Hunk orders some delivery from their favorite noodle place when Lance isn’t paying attention. Keith looks happy as a kid on Christmas with a giant bowl of pho in front of him, and Lance learns that Vietnamese food is his favorite.

They move inside once the sun goes down to keep from bothering the neighbors. Lance settles into a corner of the faded couch, and is too tired to panic when Keith sits next to him. Hunk launches into a story about his last term at school when he almost blew the breaker for the entire engineering building and Lance tries to pay attention, but he’s worn out and Keith is radiating heat like a furnace. Combine that with his full stomach and a couple of beers and he’s so, so sleepy.

Someone is calling his name and Lance inhales sharply, eyes fluttering open. It was Hunk, who’s smiling at him from across the coffee table. Lance is leaning on something warm and solid. He rubs his eyes and looks up.

He was leaning on Keith.

Lance’s eyes bug out but Keith just looks down at him with this tiny smile and a blush on his cheeks. Lance suddenly feels like the room is a million degrees as he carefully sits up.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to pass out.”

Keith laughs softly. “It’s fine.”

They all start to wrap up their stories and conversations. Lance doesn’t know what time it is but it feels late, and since they want to hit the fair tomorrow, they should all get some sleep. Hunk offers to drive home and Lance hands him the keys as Keith, Shiro, and Allura wave goodbye from the front porch.

He almost falls asleep again in the ten minutes it takes Hunk to drive them back to their apartment. Lance helps set up the pull-out sofa, then goes to brush his teeth. He’s practically nodding off at the bathroom sink when Pidge comes up to him and pulls out her phone.

“Thought you should see this,” she says, holding it up.

On the screen is a photo of Keith, and, with his head resting on Keith’s shoulder dead asleep, Lance. Keith is looking down at him and definitely blushing.

The toothbrush stills in Lance’s mouth as he swipes the phone from Pidge’s hand, using his thumbs to pull and zoom. Keith was smiling.

“Please send this to me immediately,” Lance tells her, words muffled from the toothbrush still hanging from between his teeth.

He’s in bed setting his alarm when he gets the text from Pidge with the photo attached. And if Lance hugs a pillow and kicks his feet a little at the sight, who could blame him?

Continued in part 6!

#youtuber au #text #klance

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brideofcthulhu10 · 4 years

Note

YASSSSSSS! Romeo and Juliet is my all-time favorite!

Okay this took all day, so all you guys better love this! This is actually the first part, I will submit the other half in about an hour or two. It really was so massive it needed to be broken into more than one segment. So, after FIVE HOURS of writing, I present for your viewing pleasure

THE TRAGEDY OF MARKO [1/2]

Marko×Fem!Reader

Content Warning! Violence, Gore, Sexual Themes, Offensive Language! Reader's Discretion is Advised!

The idea of being with a human never really sat well with Marko. He wasn't exactly popular with the ladies when he was alive, and now they all just seemed intrigued by his night time allure. Fake the lot of it. Half of them were just going to be a snack anyways, there was no point in getting attached.

At least until Star made a friend.

Cruising around on the boardwalk was second nature, to the point that he knew the place like the back of his hand. With his hands stuffed in his pockets he trotted behind his friend Paul who was determined to get a good spot. These Santa Carla concerts were okay, but finally the big guns rolled in. For one night only the baddest bastards in Hollywood were coming down to tear it up with the citizens of this manky beach town- Mötley motherfuckin' Crüe! Anyone in their way quickly moved, he was not about to miss it.

Honestly the notion was pretty cool, Marko understood Paul's over exuberant glee. Of course it started off with the greatest bang he's ever seen. Fireworks, pyrotechnics, his buddy was just geeking out to the extreme. Halfway through Girls, Girls, Girls he spotted a mass of h/c just swinging through the crowd. Every step was so nonchalantly elegant, which was a rare description when it came to a rock concert. But his eyes just zeroed in on them. No, her. She was giggling with Star of all people, he hadn't even realized the little half-er was there with them. He bit at his thumb, pushing away the tumbles of blonde that fell into his face. A solid THUMP to his shoulder alerted him to reality as Paul cheered as loud as he could.

"THANK YOU SANTA CARLA! AND GOOD NIGHT!"

Had it already been two hours? Marko rapidly shook his head, still floating with each step when Star approached them. Both girls were giggling, panting messes. Y/N. That's what you introduced yourself as.

Paul was praising you for your most excellent head banging skills. When you turned to him he thought his heart might kick up again.

"Awesome to meet you, gorgeous," he teased with a curling grin.

Now it was your turn to be flustered. If this was what all California boys were like you could definitely get used to this. Looking for any excuse to talk to him further you blurted out a suggestion to grab something to eat. Star passed, all that heavy grease was too much for her but she wouldn't mind just following along. Marko on the other hand chimed in that it wasn't too much for them.

Paul watched you two banter back and forth the whole way across the beach and up the steps onto the boardwalk itself. With a casual grin he slumped his arm over Star's shoulder, whispering something low in her ear.

"Ah, shit you know what? I totally forget we promised Laddie we'd take him on the ferris wheel," he exclaimed, Marko cocking an eyebrow. Since when? Paul wasn't for all those slow rides. He knew his best friend. The guy was an adrenaline junkie, usually that boring stuff was Dwayne or Star's liking.

"Oh, um we could come with if you want," you suggested, only to have Star wave you off.

"No, no don't worry about it, Y/N. You two have fun. We'll catch up later."

Before you could get another word in they bolted, leaving you alone with Marko.

"Still hungry," he asked, raising a brow. "Or do you gotta go too?"

"Oh! No, I could still eat." Boy, sheepish wasn't a word you'd use to describe yourself. But something about the way he watched you, it make you feel so nervous. "So uh, Marko right? Have you always lived in Santa Carla?"

"Well, I've been here a while," he casually responded. Talking about his past before turningwas usually a touchy subject. That stuff was best left behind. He wasn't Mark anymore, that guy died long ago. "I guess you could say I've been all over. I used to live in England for a while before I came to America."

"No way, you're so lucky!" You looked down to see you had grabbed his jacket in your excitement, quickly letting go. Whew. Was it getting hot out here or what? "S-sorry, I didn't mean to, um, ya know..."

His snicker was so cute, lightly bumping your arm with his own. "Don't even trip. We all get excited, yeah?" Neon lights made his hair shift colors as you walked through the crowds, stopping at a snack shop that stood out like a sore thumb. It was impossible to miss the big, flashing red sign reading:

"CHARLIE'S BOARDWALK EMPORIUM"

Photos decorated the base of the blue walls with images of cotton candy, caramel apples, nachos and snow cones over an explosion of popcorn. So many options. On your tip toes you waited in line with him reading each of the prices. Deep fried cola? Chocolate dipped bacon sticks? You scrunched up your nose, settling for a basket of chili cheese curly fries and a soda.

"Hey put your money away, babes," Marko interjected. "Charlie doesn't charge for cute ones, right bud?"

He must've been referring to the heavyset Armenian man in a 'kiss the cook' apron, who by the way had no hair net covering the mop top smushed beneath a red baseball cap. All he did was slowly nod, stiffly scooting your order onto the counter. You only ordered a medium, this was massive. "Yes, of course. It's on the house lil' lady," he insisted in a thick accent. It must've been hot in there, he sounded bizarrely out of it.

"You sure have a way with people," you commented, now wedged on the boardwalk steps leading off onto the sand, splitting the gooey mess with your newfound friend.

"Nah, you heard him. Cute girls don't pay," he teased. That rosy tiny hadn't left your cheeks since he'd been with you. Hours passed, sharing stories and finding you two had so many common interests. Marko hadn't genuinely laughed like this in a while, and when it became late in the night he offered you a second chance to hang out. Since then you came visiting every night.

The moment you showed up he felt a breath of air. It didn't take Marko long to introduce you to the boys. The big one with a lack of shirt was Dwayne, you still remembered Paul and Star from that night on the beach. Then there was David. You weren't so sure he liked you. The most he gave you was a disinterested wave, but Marko insisted he was always like that. Eventually he'd have to leave around 10 pm, apologizing profusely.

"Wish I could stay baby, but we got some ridin' to do. Same time tomorrow," he asked, holding your hands in his.

"Y-yeah of course. Oh! Wait wait hold on," you insisted, quickly digging through your pockets. Where was it? Ah! "Here, I got you this."

Nestled in the palm of your hand was a silver scorpion etched on a black coin dangling off a chain. "I remember you said you wanted to get a new earring a few days ago"

"Babe thats awesome!" His gloved fingers plucked the piece, swapping his little skull out for it before modeling it in front of you. "Think you can hold onto mine for a while? I bet it'd look cute on you."

It wasn't hard to sense David growing impatient with you delaying their leave. Maybe because he told you two to hurry up. Right. "Gotta ride, baby." Before he left Marko stole a fast kiss from your cheek, riding away in a flash leaving you frozen. Slowly you opened your palm. The little black carved skull rolled over, looking right at you. Steeling your resolve you took it right by the silver hook and pushed it against your earlobe. The skin resisted, a sharp burn pressing harder until it popped into place. A little blood was fine, you'd be healed by morning. But now there was a whole lot of nothin' to do. Star was at their little hideout, you'd only really seen it once before and didn't have the stones to go there without the boys' permission. Tonight you saw that brown haired guy with them again. Some new guy who just came to Santa Carla named… Oh god what was it? Mitchell? Manny? Milo? Something "Mi"... mmm...mmm-M-Michael! Yes, that's who it was! He was so much more intense and jumpy that the others, but you always got the impression he was a bit... er, lost. He always either had this confused or angry look on his face.

With nothing better to do, you spent the night aimlessly wandering through the coastal shorelines, your feet sweeping over cold, damp sand as you followed hills. You couldn't stop thinking about the jumpy newbie who seemed particularly aggressive. He always gave David dirty looks, but Marko wouldn't tell her who he was.

"Just a guy Star met, babes. Don't worry too much about him, he's just gotta mellow out before he joins us."

You'd walked so far you hadn't even realized there were people up ahead blasting Aerosmith on their boombox, jumping around a crude bonfire like a pack of wild men.

Ugh, Surf Nazis. Pain in the ass California boneheads who practically dominated the waves and the boardwalk. You were ready to turn the other way when a stream of light flew by, one after the other. Five each. Hey, you knew those motorcycles! Ducking down by the dunes you watched Marko swing his leg over the seat, dashing up to a looming tree overlooking the bonfire mosh pit with Paul, Dwayne and David. Michael was there too? You wiggled lower, cautiously staying out of sight just close enough to hear them over the music.

"Initiations over, Michael," David hissed with glee. "Time to join the club!"

Club? Like a biker club or something? Squinting at the tree you nearly feel backward when the image cleared beneath the harsh orange glow. Their ey-e-eyes! They-they were blood red- white even! The way they snickered and laughed sent a blood curdling chill down your back. Marko… that sweet, alluring smile was now twisted into a hideous smirk boasting sharp, pointed teeth mocking the brunette beneath him who shared a similar look of horror. In a flash they fle- THEY FLEW!

Rapidly you ducked down, clutching at your heart. It was beating so fast you thought your ribs were going to break. And then the screams.. those awful, sickening screams! You had to cover your mouth not to cry out in horror as David lodged his teeth into a man's skull. Dwayne howled with delight, tearing another guy in half. They were painted red. Every where, every thing, red.

You almost missed Marko as he snapped their neck, peeling back scalp with ease to devour the wrinkled flesh beneath their skull. Then you couldn't see anymore, it was all tears. They showed no regret, no mercy. Instead they reveled in their kills, throwing the last of the limbs into a flaming inferno like some sort of hellish bonfire.

Bile flooded your esophagus, tearing your hand away to empty your stomach onto the sands beneath you. You nearly cried out, startled when David spoke again to Michael.

"Now you know what we are… and now you know what you are."

What they were?

"You'll never grow old. And you'll never die. But you must feed."

David's voice cut the air like a knife. Your whole body was frigid. For a moment it almost felt like he was speaking to you. Then you remembered the earring still wedged in place, your fingers clawing it out in a frenzy. Dammit! It ripped again a thin stream of blood dripping onto your neck as you threw it on the sand.

Meanwhile Marko watched that coward Michael bolt off screaming. What a wuss. So a few people had to die, not a bad price for eternal youth, dude. He could only laugh at this point, smearing the blood off his mouth. That was a good meal…

"Hey did we miss one," he asked, sniffing the air. There was always a distinct taste and scent between fresh, and old blood. By now whatever was left was either staining them, the ground, or being burnt. He gnawed on a finger bone, looking Paul's way. Might as well hang for a while, they had to make sure the pieces were nice and burnt to a crisp.

"Nah man, they're all barbecue. I getcha though." Yeah he smelled it too. Those assholes were dead shit, fresh blood shouldn't still be in the air. It was undeniable, and soon all of them could smell it

"Its still nearby."

Oh god, they smelled you! Stumbling over sand, you tripped over your own feet and spiraled down to the base of the dunes. Marko was the first to step out. He almost missed the bloody scent, most of it was moving away. The sands still shuddered to adjust to the missing weight, a few foot prints pushed away by sand and wind. But then a tiny… something tapped his boot. Kneeling down, still caked with a familiar scent of fresh blood...it was his earring? Now he could smell it more clearly. Your scent was all over these sands. His heart dropped, realizing why this was on the ground. "Ah shit," he groaned, clasping it tightly in his hand.

×××××

The front door of your home swung as you tore it open. Locks fumbled shut and you immediately made a mad dash for your room. Your mom and dad had gone to the next town over, so it was just you and your dog D/N tonight. Absolutely the worst possible scenario to be in when you discover your boyfriend of the past few months was a murderous psychopath who ate people!

Your heart beat echoed throughout the whole room, you thought you might even faint. Pacing back and forth you tried wiping your hands on your skirt like a madman. It just wouldn't come off! All you could see was red. Just red everywhere. Bloody splattered stained your eyes in shades of crimson. On your hands, your clothes, on the walls, in the air, on… Marko...

Covering your mouth did little to stifle the whimpering, sharp sobs that made your lungs spasm. Marko. Oh Marko.

You'd never seen such cruel delight plastered over his sweet face. Beautiful blonde locks were caked in fresh blood, he was even laughing the whole time. He enjoyed it. Revelled even, in the carnage.

Stumbling over discarded clothes you shut off your lamp, rapidly kicking them away. Naked, trembling you ran into your bathroom. You had to wash it off! It felt like an hour had gone by in the blink of an eye. All you could do was sob under the streams of hot water. Knees to your chest, clutching them close. Maybe if you just stayed there you wouldn't have to face the reality of what you saw.

You were afraid to blink. Every time you did, there his eyes were. Those cold, unyielding white eyes that glowed perfectly in the dark. You stayed planted until the water finally ran frigid. Once your fingers started trembling and your lips went blue you had no other choice but to get out.

Without another word you threw on the nearest clean shirt, a pair of pajama shorts and collapsed onto your bed. Everything you thought he was, was now up in the air. Now you questioned every motive, every kind gesture. That kiss tonight.. He could have been luring you. Maybe he was planning on killing you too. It was enough to bring all the tears back, sobbing into your pillow in the dark until sleep cradled your miserable form.

The next time you opened your eyes, D/N was in a frenzy. Barking over and over. Still groggy you lazily snatched your alarm clock. 2:15 am?? Seriously, D/N? Ugh, bad dog. Probably saw a squirrel or something.

"Y/N!"

Immediately you were snapped wide awake. The fog of slumber was blown away in an instant. For a solid minute you remained utterly still. You didn't even dare to breathe.

It was clear, firm, just outside. Every tick on your clock echoed softly, you almost thought you misheard.

"Y/N please, I can hear your heart. I know you're up there!"

Oh god. Holy hell he found you. Running to your window you felt your heart in your ears. It was so loud, you slowly inched your fingers towards the closed curtains. This was almost out of body. You could feel every step you made. Marko's presence grew stronger as you near the window. Clenching the dusty fabric, you tempted yourself to peek every so slightly. Then you screamed bloody murder. Face to face, a pair of bright blue eyes cut through the night looking right at you.

HE. WAS ON. THE ROOF!

Immediately you shut the curtains! Wait! The lock! Pushing them open you immediately twisted it shut just before he could pry it up.

"Babe please, I can explain!"

"Explain nothing, I am not listening to anything you have to say," you screamed. When he began to move you ran to the other window and locked it as well. He banged his forehead against the glass, still trying to wrench it up. Damn these old houses! The frame had a silver lining! Immediately he tore his fingers away, pressing against the glass. "Y/N, baby girl, come on please let me in!"

It was so hard to look away. "No! I'm not even gonna look at you," you insisted, shutting the blinds. Cute girls eat free? Ha! He probably hypnotized the cashier! Oh god. When he spoke this time you plugged your ears. "I'm not listening! MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB, LITTLE LAMB!"

A sharp huff of air pushed out of Marko's nostrils. This was ridiculous! "You are being such a brat! Just let me in, dammit!"

Nope. More stupid singing. Fine. If you were gonna be stubborn, so was he.

Flying downward he searched for any easy way in. The front door was locked, the upstairs bathroom, the master bedroom, the back yard do- not this one. Slowly the golden knob twisted, rattled, then squeaked open.

Oh boy, now there was a dog!

"Fuck me," Marko groaned, hands in the air with utter exasperation. Of course you had a dog! Why not! Got any holy water too? The big ball of fluff continued to snarl at him. Rolling his eyes, Marko flared his fangs which promptly silenced the snarling muty. "I don't have time for you!"

THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD.

Rapid steps dashed down the stairs where Y/N then skidded to a halt.

You had heard D/N wildly barking, your only plan was to drag him upstairs with you where it was safe. However, once you stepped in the room you could see him standing there in the dark, a silhouette circled by a thin layer of moonlight. His eyes were glowing bright red.

You felt like a deer in headlights. You couldn't budge an inch. A complete Mexican standoff. Both of you were staring at each other.

Marko watched you for any movement, any at all. Then you flinched. "Y/N," he said as he slowly reached out- and you ran. "Wait!"

You scrambled back up the stairs towards your room, almost looking back. Shit he was fast! You screamed the whole way while he begged, nay, pleaded with you to just hear him out.

"You killed them! I saw you," you shouted, lunging for your door. It was just a second too slow as you spun between the frame and into your room. A solid hit from the other side nearly knocked you back as Marko crashed into it, trying to force it open. You were barely keeping in place- except you were. Every time he rammed the door your feet were being pushed back.

"I know! I didn't mean for you to find out this way! Babygirl, you gotta believe me I would never hurt you," he insisted. With one firm push he swung the door wide open, sending to flying onto the floor. Already you were jumping over your bed to reach the bathroom, trying to get behind the door where you could lock him out. "Stop!"

With everything he had he bolted forward and finally got a grip on your waist just before you could get through the threshold. He completely lifted you off the floor! You flailing and kicking did nothing except frustrate him, his grip tightening to where you were struggling to breath. "Let me go! Stop it, Marko, you put me down right now! Put me down, put me down!"

"Enough!" Slamming you down on your bed, Marko quickly grabbed you by your wrists and held them above your head, a knee over your legs to keep you from thrashing any further. "Y/N stop it! I'm not gonna hurt you, you know this! You know me!"

"I know you lied to me," you cried, still trying to look away, writhing and twisting beneath him. You weren't gonna be so easily tricked this time. "How can I trust you?! Everything you told me-"

"I never said I was human," he insisted. "Baby look at me. Look at me!" When you wouldn't he kept your wrists tightly gripped beneath his hand and forced you head to turn his way. "Y/n… please, just look."

This time he wasn't angry. Just hurt. The way he tenderly whispered your name made you want to cry, and just ever slightly you peeked open your eyes. His eyes were… watery. You looked into them, the tints of red faded back into the shimmering sky you treasured just hours prior. "Did… did even like me? W-was I just another me-meal to you," you choked out between hiccups.

"No. No, no, baby," he spoke softly, calloused fingertips pushing away your years. "Babygirl. Please, listen to me. I.. would never, ever, hurt you."

This time it stuck, you could see the sincerity in his eyes. There was a slow diffuse, and now Marko just sat atop you until he was absolutely sure you wouldn't run.

Slowly you sat up, looking at him. It got awkward by this point. But you had to know.

"Marko… what are you," you asked softly. It sounded harsh, but it was impossible to avoid.

"I guess the easiest thing to call it would be vampire," he sighed, looking down at his hands.

"So, I guess you're not 17?"

"Well I mean, not anymore. I was, but I haven't been for… a while."

Your brow furrowed, looking over at him. He wasn't upset anymore. Just calm. "How long is a while?"

Marko seemed physically uncomfortable discussing this. Whatever he had left behind when he turned was something he wanted gone. Slowly you reached over, taking his hand into your own.

"Y/N, listen. I-"

"You swear you aren't going to hurt me," you asked, looking at him. Marko only gave you a soft smile and leaned forward. You didn't have time to react. Only feeling the tender press of his lips on yours.

"I'd rather die."

You cupped his cheek, searching his expression for any signs of lying. Not a word. Not a single piece was a lie. You tasted him again. Salt, iron, soft. There were still little traces of blood that tainted his lips. Kisses deepened into dizzying passion. Your shirt was pulled away.

His jacket fell to the floor with a solid thump. You could feel his fingers prying away the shorts wrapped on your waist. He really was dead. You expected him to be warm, but instead it was cold; almost icy. It sent chills over your flesh.

"You don't have to..," Marko whispered. This was a vulnerable moment. He'd revealed something completely new and frightening.

"I want to," you whimpered. It certainly hurt. All those movies made it look so simple. It pushed in, your whole body tightening until your toes curled. Marko was so tender. To him you were made of glass, he couldn't lose control even for a moment. Wrapping you in his arms he took you away, passing hours away with the most luscious touches he could spare.

Laying amongst disheveled sheets and bedding he held you tightly to him, glancing over at the clock. 4:57am.

Sunrise was in an hour. There's no way he could stay. A closet wasn't exactly light-proof, and the boys might come looking for him. "I have to go.."

The words sunk in your heart. "I know.."

Gently he tilted up your chin, stealing away one last kiss. "Come to the hotel this afternoon. I promise as soon as I wake up I'll tell you everything, okay?"

It was a hard bargain. There was not much else you could do. With one last deep kiss you watched him dive out your window, vanishing into the night. You looked down at your dresser, the earring you discarded now cleanly placed atop it. You'd be sure to wear it this afternoon

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1980s-robin · 5 years

Text

love and ferris wheels

pairing: alexei x fem!reader

fandom: stranger things

requested: yes

summary: reader saved alexei at the fun fair and takes it upon herself to teach alexei about american culture. alexei seems entranced by the idea of an amuesment park and y/n decides to take him to one.

a/n: this was requested as alexei fluff and i had a cute idea, also i made the reader female because i wanted her to explain sexism and have a cute scene about that and feminsm with her and alexei. another thing, i don’t know russian. also i combined two requests, one of them was where reader knew how to speak russian. hope that’s okay. when they’re speaking russian it will be in italics.

warnings: none, minor season 3 spoilers, fluff, mentions of sexism

word count: 2.1k words

When you agreed to help Hopper and Joyce translate Russian for them you had no idea what was going to happen. While you did help them, they still needed to contact Murray for a second opinion. Which led to the Fun Fair. Ever since you caught that the Russian guy Hopper had described seemed to be making his way through the crowd, you quickly moved Alexei out of the way and over to where Murray was standing before everyone was able to leave the fair safely.

After that night, you took it upon yourself to take care of Alexei until he’s able to get on his feet in America and find a place to live. Truthfully, you have no idea how long that could take. America and Russia are at each other’s throats, you don’t feel particularly safe sending Alexei out on his own because you just don’t know if he would be able to make it alone.

You’ve been letting Alexei stay in your house for about a week at this point, and you were finally able to teach him about America’s culture. “Good morning, Alexei.” you greeted, a small smile on your face as you glanced at your new friend. “Good morning” he replied. He was still getting used to living in a domestic environment and rather than being mistreated in a lab, that was another thing. You knew the other Russians were bad to him, but they really hurt the poor boy, he was overjoyed by the smallest things.

As you sat down on the couch he seemed to follow, for the most part, he had tried to copy a lot of the things that you were doing because he wanted to fit into American life as best as he could. “I was reading a book yesterday that was written in Russian about America,” Alexei started, you turned to face him with your eyebrows raised “I gave you that book,” you said teasingly and he laughed a little bit but then he continued. “It mentioned something about sexism and… social issues. What does that mean?”

“It… means a lot of things,” you said, but you really didn’t know where you were supposed to start. “Sexism is basically when someone dislikes someone or treats someone differently for their gender like when people say women shouldn’t be working that’s sexism,” you explained, in the best possible way that you could. “So, it’s like how they only hire men to be guards?” He asked and you tilted your head. “Kind of, if they’re turning down women who are trained to fight just because they’re women.”

“So, do people dislike you?” Alexei questioned and you couldn’t help but snort. “I’m sure there’s some people who dislike me.” You remarked. The day sort of remained like that until a commercial for a new amusement park came on screen. They’d been promoting it like crazy on local stations because it was about twenty minutes away from your home. You didn’t think much, but you soon felt someone poking your side, and then you caught the enthusiastic grin on Alexei’s face. “You want to go there, don’t you?” You asked him, to which he nodded. You let out a laugh and checked the time, it was only eleven and it wouldn’t take long to get there, so there wouldn’t be anything wrong with the two of you getting ready to go to the park.

“Fine, fine we can go.” You said, trying to fight a smile from coming onto your face but you couldn’t help it. Alexei as an incredibly happy and enthusiastic person, being around him could put a smile on anyone's face even if they have no idea what he was saying. You understood him because your parents had these Russian friends that you around from a young age. The adults spoke English but the girl, their daughter who was your age, was homeschooled and only spoke Russian. Most of your time spent with the girl wasn’t talking, but sometimes she taught up Russian words for things, like when you called something a doll and she would tell you what she called it. From then on, she started learning more English as she was integrated into American culture, and you learned more of her language. You weren’t perfect with the language, but you also read quite a few books on the language, which is why Hopper and Joyce called you, but of course they still needed Murray because he was more fluent than you were. At least on things referring to the supernatural, you never thought you would need any of it so you didn’t learn it.

The two of you got into more casual clothing and you got in the driver’s seat of the car, setting down a bag you had decided to bring with some water in it, in the back seat. You could see out of the corner of your eye that Alexei was giddy to go to someplace that he had never been to before. You thought it was nice to see him being so excited about something, as people got older they tended to lose that joy. But you also found it sad, you knew he was so happy and excited about this new culture because of how horrible life was for him in Russia and how horrible it was for him in the lab.

As the two of you arrived at the park, and you paid for parking before parking in the lot, you had taken notice of the fact that Alexei had already picked up the box that the bottles of water were in. You glanced over at him and a smile couldn’t help but spread across your face when he saw his excited expression. “It looks like… it looks amazing.” he said and you couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, just wait until you’re on one of the rides.” You said with a grin before you got out of the car, Alexei following quickly behind you as you approached the ticket booth. As you got to the front of the line you pulled your wallet out. “That’ll be twenty dollars for two adults.” Said the woman at the booth, she looked rather tired most likely from the amount of people that had been coming to the new park since it opened. You handed her a twenty, a smile covering your face. “Please place your right wrist in the booth.” She said and you stuck your right wrist in. She looked to Alexei expectantly. “Sorry, he doesn’t speak English.” You said before you turned to him. “Alexei, put your right wrist in the booth.” You told him and he nodded before putting his wrist in for her to put on the band. You didn’t miss her expression when she heard you speak Russian, but you ignored it.

As soon as you walked in Alexei started dragging you to all different kinds of rides, but you did insist that you saved the roller coaster and ferris wheel for later. By five pm, you two had ridden just about every ride in the park. And you finally led you to a roller coaster, the only one, and the biggest ride in the park. “Can we ride this one now?” He asked and you nodded, rather eagerly. Being with someone as energetic as Alexei encouraged you to let loose and not pretend to be completely serious, you allowed yourself to really enjoy the park.

As you got to the front of the line, you began to feel just a tiny bit of nervousness. You knew that nothing horrible was going to come of this, it was just a ride that was created for family fun and enjoyment. But you still got scared on them, out of fear that the horror stories you had heard about them on the news could come true to you. Finally, you reached the front of the line and sat down, Alexei coming in next to you. “What makes this one different from the others?” He questioned. “I don’t really know, parks promote roller coasters more than the other rides. I think it’s because they’re the biggest.” You answered. He seemed to understand, and very soon the ride started to move, and the cart started slowly moving up the track.

At first, Alexei seemed excited, but as it started getting higher he started getting nervous. “Are you okay?” you asked him, and he looked over at you and nodded. A few second later, you reached the top and the cart started to drop. Just about everyone was screaming, one or two people were laughing. In the heat of the moment Alexei reached over and grabbed your hand out of fear, you didn’t really notice that much as you subconsciously reciprocated.

Once the ride stopped, everyone’s hair was a mess as they all seemed overwhelmed. You then noticed your hand situation. You let go of his hand, opting to ignore it before heading to the exit with Alexei in tow. “Do you want to get dinner?” You asked him, looking back as you walked out of the exit and back onto the main street of the park. “I- Yes.” Alexei said and you led him to the on sight restaurant. Of course, he ordered a cherry slurpee with his meal. As you sat and ate, you both seemed to have an awkward air about you. You didn’t think that he wanted anything more from you than friendship, until he was able to get himself on his feet in America. You honestly didn’t think he understood what holding hands meant, and you didn’t want to be the person to explain it to him. “Do you still want to ride the Ferris Wheel?” He asked you and you tilted your head, of course he had decided to ask you this while you still had a mouth full of food. You quickly finished chewing and swallowed your food, before answering him. “Yes, of course I do.” You said and he smiled brightly before finishing his food. You finished as well and took the tray of food to the garbage before you began walking towards the Ferris Wheel.

He followed after you, before you finally made it to the line. It was rather long. “The line’s not going to go very fast, it’s a long ride and it’s really popular.” You told him, and he nodded in understanding. It was about an hour before you both made it to the front of the time and by the time that you did it was beginning to get dark out, so most of the rides were lit up. As they scanned your wrist bands and sent you on the ride, you both slipped in, you on one side and Alexei on the other. He must of seen how other people were sitting. While you wouldn’t have been opposed to sitting next to him, you knew the cart might have been a little shaky with two adults on one side, and on one on the other side.

About halfway up the ride, Alexei turned from looking at the park in amazement to looking at you, there was something in his eyes that you couldn’t quite place. Perhaps it was doubt. “What is it, Alexei?” You asked him and he seemed to scoot forward in his seat a bit, you doing the same since you expected him to be telling you some sort of secret. However you were mistaken. Alexei’s hand moved up to cup your cheek, something that you easily leaned in to before he leaned in to press his lips against yours. Your eyes widened but you quickly kissed him back. Once you pulled apart, the ride was stopped, and you were somewhere near the top. You could feel someone getting on the ride, so you knew it meant you would be off of it within ten minutes.

“What was that?” you asked him and his cheeks tinted red but he took the book you had given him about American culture from the bag, he must have put it in there. “Chapter five was about romance, I’ve been wanting to do that since we met.” He responded and a grin covered your face. “Do you wanna do it again?” You asked him and he nodded, causing you to move in, this time you both met in the middle. “So you feel the same way?” He asked when you both pulled back again and you snorted at his unneeded question. “Who wouldn’t?” You asked him before you both enjoyed the rest of the ride and went home.

#stranger things x reader #stranger things reader insert #stranger things imagine #stranger things imagines #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fanfic #alexei x reader #alexei imagine #alexei fanfiction #alexei reader insert #alexei imagines #alexei fanfic #dr alexei x reader

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thecarmillacurator · 5 years

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Love Like Fools - Carmilla Fic Review & Recommendation

Title: Love Like Fools

Author: standardusername on Ao3 and @juststandard on Tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13245327/chapters/30298521

Word Count: 69K

Chapters: 14

Rating: Mature (For a few episodes of sex later in the story)

Ship: Hollstein

Tags I’d Assign: #fake dating au #hollstein

Author’s Synopsis: At a Christmas eve party, Carmilla tells her mother she is dating Laura, this isn't true. Laura agrees to pretend she is dating Carmilla for next 5 months.

Another fake/pretend relationship AU

Readability: Prose reads smoothly.

Reviewer’s Plot Summary: Non-supernatural, fake-dating AU. The ‘gang’ are long-time friends who meet up routinely at a local bar. Laura is an anchor on a super-early morning local news show, and is best friends and roommates with Perry. Carmilla is best friends with Perry’s significant other, LaFontine. Danny and Kirsch are part of the group. While the others have been friends since freshman year of college, Carmilla is a relatively new addition. And, she was let into the group with a warning by LaF: Laura was off-limits; the group’s dynamic was not to be endangered by Carmilla’s womanizing tendencies. Incidentally, Laura was sternly warned off Carmilla by Perry as well. And that was fine. For Laura, Carmilla’s endless track of women supported Perry’s warning as wise. And to make it easy, Carmilla also wasn’t interested in Laura. A quick lie of convenience by Carm at a Christmas party thrown by her mother, though, and suddenly they’re long-term fake-dating until a business merger can go through. Cue story where they maybe both liked each other after all.

Review: This one isn’t going to bring any high ups or downs in terms of angst or plot surprises, but it’s a pretty quick, satisfying fake-dating read. It isn’t particularly fluffy. The plot doesn’t make the external forces creating their fake relationship overly dramatic. There is some angst and pain, but it is not gut-wrenching. It is more... calm. At a carnival, you might call this the big ferris wheel of fake-dating stories (that will make sense if you read it), rather than a roller coaster or a kiddie ride. It’s nicely smooth and predictable.

The story is written in third person limited, Laura’s point-of-view.

The Good: The good here is- don’t think this odd- it was nice to see Carmilla’s mother as a positive character for once. Not that we need that in this fandom, because let’s face it, Lilita Morgan is a great villain. But, just once, it was nice for there not to be that sort of devious, there’s-a-devil-waiting-to-destroy-Carmilla or hate Laura thing happening. It was refreshing to have a version of Carmilla’s mother who wanted Laura as her daughter’s mate, maybe even more than Carmilla herself did at first.

Also nice about this story is that ‘low-drama, predictability’ thing I mentioned. Hopefully, no one takes this as a slight, because I legitimately, occasionally enjoy having stories that don’t require too much of me as a reader when I’m going through mentally or emotionally draining times in real life. (Do they call those ‘airplane novels’?)

I will say that what was a little out-of-the-norm here, for a fake-relationship AU, was the relative lack of cliche freak-out either of them went through as the relationship built. Until later in the story, when it hit Act III and the ‘rules of writing’ theoretically required there to be some crisis, really, they both kind of went with it, while simultaneously managing to avoid the opposite cliche of going hog-wild in their blind, mutual love. (You know what would be an oddly genius twist to a fake-dating AU? Have the protagonists slip smoothly into the real relationship all the way through Acts I, II, and III, giving the finger to the ‘we must have a crisis’ rule altogether. The closest example of this I can think of is Fade Into You by aliciameade / @aliciameade , a feel-good Bechloe (Pitch Perfect) fic where, yes, there is some emotional crisis, but the characters literally do end up just going with the flow of the ‘fake’ engagement because they both secretly want it. If you have a Carmilla rec for me like this, send it!)

Finally, I loved the idea of Laura being an early morning news anchor who no one (supposedly) watched. It was an adorable fit for her, and if anything, I would liked to have read more of it in the story.

The Concrit: One or two of Carmilla’s flirting instances with other women could have been left out at certain points: There was almost a point I was ready for Laura to cut her losses and walk away.

Secondly, the writer had two or three really great plot decorations on the wall that could have become great multidimensional facets! The first was Lilita’s personality and desire to see Laura and Carmilla together. With her wealth and enthusiasm (and the threats of “spar” practice? Yachts? Horse riding?) there could have easily been one or two cute fluff scenes put in. Also, the business that was being sold was just so *unusual* for what we see owned by Carmilla’s family in fanfiction that some additional fun could’ve been had with that.

(Hey, speaking of rich, benevolent older women: How about someone write me a Heris Serrano AU? Lilita could play the role of Cecelia, the rich space-yacht owner who hires Carmilla (the disgraced, ex-space commander) as the yacht’s captain, and shenanigans ensue. Some smash-up between hound-hunting planets, inter-system political and business intrigue, and The Most Dangerous Game? Laura could be the Petris to Carmilla’s Serrano, except, you know, they could actually get together in the end. Anyone else out there love a good Elizabeth Moon book? Paksennarion anyone? Dorrin Verrakai? Stammel The Blind Archer? Bunny? Esmay? Arvid? I’m just saying. Hit me up with some Elizabeth Moon love to chat if you’re lonely.)

NEXT IN THE QUE: Yes, we’ve reached that month of Fake-Relationship AUs I was talking about. Almost all reviews for the next four weeks are already pre-drafted and ready to go.

Remember: Please please please… if you enjoy the stories I review and recommend- whether you’ve only just read them because of my reviews or you’ve read them in the past and these rec’s remind you of them- stop by the authors and send them some love. They’ve given a tremendous amount of their time, effort, and passion to provide us with high-quality, free entertainment that keeps Carmilla alive for us. Let’s thank them. (I’m not looking for props, either: You don’t even have to mention this blog; just send them a note or a comment to let them know they’re appreciated!)

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destieltropecollection · 5 years

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Destiel Trope Collection 2019 Day 30: Wing Fic

Entwining Your Broken Parts With My Love | @wildsofourhearts Rating: Explicit Word Count: 5405 Main Tags and Warnings: Dom/sub, Safe Sane and Consensual, Gentle Dom Dean Winchester, sub Castiel, Switching Dom/sub roles, Bondage, Wings Shibari, Emotional Hurt/Comfort Summary: Castiel hates his broken wings and a fading spell has rendered them in their corporeal form. Dean wants to show how beautiful they are to him and to help Cas feel better about them, even if just for a while.

Wing Grooming, parts 1 and 2 | @yourspecialeyes Rating: Explicit Word Count: 3187 Main Tags and Warnings: wing!kink, frottage Summary: Cas needs a helping hand with his wings, but getting him to accept that help takes a little coaxing.

Grooming Instincts | @jemariel Rating: Explicit Word Count: 26153 Main Tags and Warnings: Dean/Cas, Angel mating rituals, massages/back rubs, wing grooming, angel wings, wing oil, Castiel in the bunker, first time, grace kink, grace sharing, mating bonds Summary: There's something going on with Cas. Dean is determined to help him through it, in whatever way he can. He might end up with more than he bargained for. OR: Dean helps Cas scratch an itch. As it were.

Wings and Wishes | @imbiowaresbitch Rating: Explicit Word Count: 2795 Main Tags and Warnings: Porn without plot; light angst Summary: While on a case, Cas takes a hit meant for Dean. Dean confronts Cas when they return to the bunker, and feathers fly.

dream in color | @reallyelegantsharkfish Rating: Explicit Word Count: 5087 Main Tags and Warnings: Wing Kink, Angel Dean Winchester, Human Castiel, Alternate Universe - Angels Are Known, Touch-Starved Dean Winchester, Grooming, Wing Grooming, Wing Oil, Lonely Dean Winchester, Masseur Castiel, Hurt/Comfort ,Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic Summary: The last time anyone did this for him, Dean was young enough that there was no component of lust. Oil didn’t soak his feathers or drip down his ribs then, there was no discomfort from his hard cock trapped in his jeans. Grooming can be an innocent affection, but it can also be more. Cas is a professional, and Dean is a fucking creep.

a fair price to pay | @duustbunny Rating: Explicit Word Count: 57281 Main Tags and Warnings: Slavery AU, Slow Burn, Consent Issues, Past Rape/Non-con Summary: Dean makes the mistake of accepting a rebellious angel slave named Castiel as payment for a job. Selling him is proving harder than he was led to believe. “What did you expect when you got us into this, Dean? That we’d just post ‘angel slave for sale’ on Craigslist and ship him out by FedEx?”

Just a little nudge | @angelneedshunter Rating: General Word Count: 1136 Main Tags and Warnings: wingfic Summary: Dean gets to experience Castiel's wings.

Under a Witch's Spell | @noiproksa Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 6394 Main Tags and Warnings: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Castiel & Dean Winchester, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Castiel, Witch Curses, Angel Wings, Wing Grooming, Angel Powers, Team Free Will, Canon Compliant, Friendship, Fluff Summary: Cas is under a spell and touching Dean seems to be the only thing that can help him focus his powers. ~ Sequel to Angeleech, but can be read separately.

But With the Mind | @pluckydean Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1561 Main Tags and Warnings: Bodyswap, Wingfic, Fluff Summary: Dean gets bodyswapped with Cas and discovers something unexpected.

Tamed | @cas-lost-grace Rating: Explicit Word Count: 39302 Main Tags and Warnings: Wing Kink, Winged Castiel, Mating Bond, Hurt/Comfort, Xenophobia, Bottom Castiel, Slurs, Domestic Fluff Summary: In a world where supernatural creatures are coveted for their powers, and often kept as pets, Dean and Sam are infamous hunters. Known for capturing creatures too dangerous to own and selling the ones that aren't. When they hear about an Angel sighting, they know they have to find this rare and dangerous winged creature. With a help of an Enochian book with instructions on taming Angels, they manage to capture Castiel. When things take an interesting turn between Dean and the creature, Sam realizes he may have made a translation error that will change his brother's life forever.

Runs in the Family | @babybluecas Rating: General Word Count: 1497 Main Tags and Warnings: alternate universe, fluff, kidfic, past minor character death Summary: Dean's new boyfriend, Cas, has been wary about him meeting his child, Claire. Dean gets it, they've only been seeing each other for a few weeks. What Dean doesn't know is that Cas might have more reasons for worry than just a premature attachment.

The Wireless | @almaasi Rating: Explicit Word Count: 58543 Main Tags and Warnings: Alternate Universe - Radio, Carnival, Fluff, Romance, Adventure, Solarpunk, Radio Host Castiel, Fallen Angel Castiel, Psychic Castiel, Journalist Castiel, Castiel in Makeup, Hunter Dean, Smart Dean, Bisexual Dean, Dean Winchester's First Time With a Man, Dean in Makeup, Hunter Sam, Kissing Booths, First Kiss, First Time, Tent Sex, Tattooed Castiel, Angel Wings, Coming Out, Long Distance Relationship, Sea Monsters, Global Warming, Team Free Will Summary: Cas Novak hosts a popular radio show, entertaining hunters with his psychic powers. But, in a world where monster-hunting is commonplace, he harbours a powerful secret: he’s not human, but an angel, surviving in a society unsympathetic to his kind. For six years, Cas has read out news stories describing a particularly impressive man: Dean Winchester, distinguished hunter and accidental prophet of God. Not by chance, Cas meets Dean at a sunny autumn carnival, where Dean’s taken a job at a kissing booth. One kiss - perhaps two - and they’re already old friends, sharing fairground food, a carousel ride, another kiss on the ferris wheel... Finally, safe in the tent Dean shares with his brother, Castiel feels comfortable enough to reveal those unknown pieces of himself. But come morning, bigger events separate the trio: an ancient beast is waking up, and a fearful world desperately needs to be united. Now Castiel has a reason to confess his true nature, broadcasting live on Hunter Radio. Of course, Dean is listening. And it’s only a matter of time before he replies.

Our Garden Home | @almaasi Rating: General Word Count: 36364 Main Tags and Warnings: Fairy AU, Schmoop, Domestic Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Fairy Dean, Miniature Dean, Fairy Castiel, Miniature Castiel, Leviathan Castiel, Winged Castiel, Socially Awkward Castiel, Grumpy Castiel, Living Together, Nesting, Domestication, Seasonal, Gift Exchange, Slow Build, Eventual Romance, Cute Overload, Autistic Castiel, Social Anxiety, Depression Recovery, Family, Food Issues, Supportive Dean, Character Development, Ableism Summary: Flower fairy Dean has caught a thief in his trap. As it turns out, it wasn't a mouse stealing his food. It was Castiel: a hissy, bitey bat sprite with one wing and a forlorn, lonely heart. Dean offers a warm space in his nest, where Castiel can stay until Springtime comes around again. However, Castiel becomes more than just a guest. With a little effort, he helps make Dean's nest a home.

Angel-Mine | @relucant Rating: Explicit Word Count: 4274 Main Tags and Warnings: wing kink, frottage, friends to lovers Summary: Cas exhaled. "When an angel's wings are injured," he said to his feet, "the healing process can be augmented by… grooming, I suppose, would be the most accurate word. Removal of the maimed feathers to allow growth of healthy ones. Otherwise, they're left to fall out alone." He tilted his head towards the nightstand. "As you see." Dean stared at him. "So… that's why I can't help?" he said slowly. "'Cause I can't, y'know… see 'em? Or touch 'em?" "Yes," Cas said, slightly too quickly, and Dean snorted. "You're still a shitty liar, Cas," he informed him. "What ain't you tellin' me?"

The Angel's Widower (WIP) | @60r3d0m Rating: Explicit Word Count: 50823 Main Tags and Warnings: Enemies to Lovers, Slowburn, Hurt/Comfort, Soul Bonds, Claiming, Mating Rituals, Wing Kink, Angst with a Happy Ending Summary: After Castiel dies, the portal to the other world opens and obliterates the universe that Sam and Dean know. Bobby takes them in, teaches them how to survive in a world with new rules and new consequences, a world where humans live in camps enclosed by high walls to keep angels out, where angels will do anything and everything to seduce and lure humans away. Why and to where beyond the wall, no one knows. While Sam struggles to find a way home, a grieving Dean loses all hope. But then one night, while Dean's guarding the wall, in the middle of a snowy blizzard and under the cover of darkness, an angel with beautiful black wings and a familiar face appears. His name is Castiel. And he asks Dean to go with him.

#destiel #supernatural #destielfanficnet #deancasfanficnet #writersofdestiel #destiel trope collection #tropes #wing fic #2019

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allykat4416 · 5 years

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Meme Trip 2k19, Pt. 2

Date: May 18th

Park(s): Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, KY//Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN

I’ve always loved an underdog story. In a world like today, where most parks of note are owned by Six Flags or Cedar Fair, it’s harder for the “Little Guys” to get their foot in the door. I think that’s actually pretty sad, as some of my favorite parks are these smaller, family-owned establishments like Knoebels’ and Waldameer. I also really like the neglected parks in the big chains like Michigan’s Adventure. I think I’m just weird and salty.

But what about a park with humble roots, snatched up by a large corporation and falling victim to an antagonistic fair board and an economic downturn, only to rise from the ashes better than ever? I don’t know about you guys, but that’s the exact kind of place I stan.

I’ve always high-key wanted to visit Kentucky Kingdom since its 2014 reopening. Ed Hart has fought so hard and poured so much of his heart into reviving this park that it makes me want to cheer for them just because I respect the man so much. Plus, it didn’t hurt that I’ve heard KK has more ejector in two rides than Ohio has in two parks. {Having been, I can confirm that’s true.}

I watched them build Lightning Run. I watched them build Storm Chaser. I watched them troll heavily with everyone before announcing Kentucky Flyer. I watched them do all these things, and I yearned and yearned to go. And now, I’ve finally been.

Going into this trip, I’d always been pulling for Lightning Run. It’s the only ride of its kind in the world, and people tend to overlook that because there’s an RMC in the park. I don’t hate RMC as much as I used to after this trip, but I still incredibly hate how the community treats RMC. I anticipated that I would prefer LR over SC, and that did end up being true. I don’t know if I’m soft on this ride because it’s an underdog in a park that’s already full of underdog energy, if it’s because I love the things we’ve done with her character in our story, or what.

Like me, LRun isn’t a morning person. It wasn’t quite what I had expected it to be on our first ride, and I was honestly a bit sad. Not Steve levels of “wow lmao that sucked” because it was still indeed a great ride, but it wasn’t quite as intense as I thought it was going to be. It got more like what I thought it would be after we’d gone through the park, and we ended up riding it three more times after that initial excursion. I don’t like the term “flojector” but if there’s any two rides that I think have it, it’s LRun and Fury. That makes me feel things I’m not sure I want to feel.

It’s short, sweet, and to the point, never wasting your time and a blast from start to finish. The twists and three hills at the end are a choice finale. S-curves, thick ass, give ‘em whiplash indeed. I believe LRun has my favorite first drop of all time too. (If anything is close, it’s actually on an RMC weirdly enough. But I’ll get to that later.) Good on you, Chance. Build a Hyper GT-X in my backyard, please. I love it.

Kentucky Flyer was a fantastic addition to the park’s lineup. It’s got me even more unironically excited for Oscar’s Wacky Taxi. Something about this ride reminded me greatly of Mystic Timbers, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was exactly. I think the best word to describe this ride is “cute”, but not in a patronizing manner. Fetus Mystic or not, it’s a really fun ride and I can’t wait to see a bunch of new coaster geeks in the area come to the hobby from this being their first coaster. Four for you, Gravity Group. You go, Gravity Group.

T3 wasn’t as awful as I was anticipating it to be. The lap bars are what sucks, if anything, and the ride does shuffle very noticeably in a few spots. However, the layout isn’t bad and I see why it was cloned so much; if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. I like the cherry red paintjob as well. Just…please do something about the lap bars. I don’t even mind STR or SkyRush’s! But this, this is terrible.

Thunder Run surprised me. I’d gone in expecting something like Hurler at Carowinds, since it’s just a clone of that ride. I left kind of pissed off that Carowinds doesn’t maintain theirs like that. I do believe there might have been some modifications to the layout because of structural damage when the park was essentially left to rot after 2010. If that’s the case, I understand. But damn, this thing was actually surprisingly good! I’d need a couple of more rides to really say what I think and we had bigger, angrier fish to fry, but that’s all the more reason for a revisit.

Obligatory comment that Storm Chaser kicks the shit out of Steel Vengeance, not that it’s that hard to do. I’d heard it was running a bit sluggish that day, and I can get that. It wasn’t as violent as I’d anticipated it to be, but it was still typical RMC ejector like what I’d had on WiCy or TwiTim. It’s not Lightning Rod, but if you compare any RMC to LRod, you’re going to be disappointed. At least Stormy, you know, fucking had ejector. The trick-track double-up was really neat, but I think the first drop is every bit as good. It’s like Timbers’ drop only better. It’s weird in that it’s better in the front. That seems to be a recurring thing here. Like sister, like sister I guess. We ended up riding this three times since we liked it so much.

Roller Skater was also a really cute family credit, and it’s in a beautiful setting. There isn’t a lot else to say about it. It’s just kind of there for the fetus thrill seekers who aren’t quite ready to take flight on KyFly yet.

The park still has some sense of Six Flags, like a stain you can’t really ever scrub out. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, though. It gives the park more character, and it pays tribute to what its past life used to hold. It’s an interesting park that I’m eager to see grow and hopefully prosper in the years to come. Ed Hart cares so deeply for the place, and it shows.

There were a couple of other enthusiasts at the park that day, and both Roller Skater and Storm Chaser broke down for them after we had left. I don’t know if coasters have souls, but if they do, I tip my hat to those two for being real pals.

Keeping with the theme of family-owned fun, we split the day between Kentucky and Indiana. In another sense, Holiday World was kind of an underdog in this trip with regards to me. I had visited once in October and utterly hated it. I’d overestimated how much progress I’d made in my path to recovery from a prior relationship, and HW had associations with that ex all over the place [being in Indiana, passing road signs from their hometown, them visiting the park multiple times, yadda-yadda.] I’d also had a tough time because of a member of our party who had invited himself to our excursion. I almost fucking killed him on Voyage’s lift hill. But fuck him, he’s a Steve fanboy.

None of that was the park’s fault. Rude people, jealousy, and awful exes aren’t the Koch family’s doing. But it made Holiday World leave a very, very unpleasant taste in my mouth. There were multiple times during the off-season that I didn’t want to particularly come back to this park. I didn’t think I was ready. While yeah, I did have to avoid looking at some of the interstate signs, I know it’s okay to know your limits. We also kept this park very quiet so no one would be a massive cockgoblin and invite themselves at the last minute.

Raven is, as always has been, a pretty solid ride. Not a lot of good coasters opened in my birth year of 1995, but I think Raven is my favorite of that class. I tried to pay more attention to the ride this visit after hearing about the death on it in 2003 and see where that woman lost her life. I definitely understand why it happened where it did, and it makes me feel awful to say that that’s always been my favorite drop on the ride. I feel like I keep saying it, but Raven is in such a beautiful setting by Lake Rudolph and that adds to an already-fun experience to me.

Legend was slated to be down for the day. It was posted on the sign at the front, we’d heard from multiple enthusiasts that he was a sleepy boy, and even the worker at Taco Bell in Corydon told us it was down when she’d visited the other day. However, during our marathon of another ride, we heard talk of them opening Legend for the last couple of hours. Sure enough, we saw a testing train a few minutes later.

We only got one ride and it hadn’t warmed up, so it wasn’t quite as good as I remembered, but I don’t hold that against him. It still feels like a hybrid between Beast and Mystic. We stan Helixes of Death. Legend was really the only ride I remembered a lot from in October, so maybe he just didn’t have as much to say to me as the others did. I’d blocked a lot more from HW out than I think I anticipated myself to.

Thunderbird is easily the best wing in NA (and I’ve done all 4 now, so I can say that. Checkmate, IG twats.) The launch is always a bunch of fun, and I still adore that slow roll at the end. It’s a lot like Banshee’s with ample hangtime. Can KD get one of these to replace what we lost with Volcano? Pretty please? And the little touches like the flickering lights through the queue as well as the launch barn really make the ride a bit more special. We love a dude.

We also rode Crow’s Nest, because God is dead and Starflyers killed him. Since it was so hot out, the breeze was pretty nice. It was also a fun way to relax, unlike the heart attack I’d had earlier on KK’s Ferris Wheel.

Voyage was better this time. I can understand the hype for this ride a bit more now, even though Casie is the only Voyage fan I actually tolerate. Tell me how it stops in the middle of the ride but still doesn’t fuck over its pacing. Tell me how I believe it’s got 24 seconds of airtime. I remember thinking that the night ride was really good, but I had blocked out nearly everything about this ride. I think my favorite part is the twisted section out in the woods with the 90-degree banking. I also was a fan of the tunnels due to the heat! I’m really glad we slipped to the overflow queue to watch it go through one of the final tunnels. Super neat, and I can definitely agree that it deserved to win those Tickets. Even if the Tickets are a scam.

But my favorite part of Voyage wasn’t even a part of the ride itself. It was standing in the queue, realizing I was in Indiana and it was very, very close to the day it all ended. And then I realized… I was perfectly okay. I was with someone I love doing something I love, and everything was just fine. She didn’t have that power over me anymore. She’s gone in every sense. I’m not too proud to say I started to cry in the station. I don’t know why it happened at Voyage, but that ride had been a sore spot and a point of contention for the past 7 months. If there was anywhere to get to that final stage of healing, I’m glad it was at that park and that ride.

I still don’t like it more than some of the other parks I’ve visited [Knoebels, Dollywood, BGW, etc.] but I do appreciate Holiday World a lot more now. Who could hate a place that offers as much free stuff as they do? And how on earth could I hate a place where I was able to finally let go of this pain? I’m glad we had such a positive experience, and letting go of the leftover hurt from that person and period of my life was a recurring theme the next couple of days. If nothing else, this trip helped me put some of those demons to bed. And maybe that’s my own underdog story.

#trip reports

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spyder-m · 5 years

Text

Shumako Week, Day Five: Off the Rails

@shumakoweek Day Five: Nerves

AO3

Summary: It's their first date at Dome Town. Makoto can't help but feel a little bit out of her depth.

A/N: Was at a Black Queen concert on Friday night and have fallen a bit behind. Had an awesome time, though, so it was worth it. I'm not entirely happy with how this come out, but I guess I can always come back to it later. Should hopefully have my submission for Day 6 up in the next few hours also.

Makoto wrung the Dome Town pamphlet between her hands, the pages already worn and crinkled. She concentrated on the sound of the paper crumbling and unfurling, hoping it would drown out the flashing, dissonant cries of speeding roller-coasters and their passengers.

Normally, she would have taken the time to diligently study such a text, wanting to carefully plan out the best use of their time for the day. After Eiko had claimed she would flunk a test on love, she wanted to ensure she was prepared for her first date.

Unfortunately, today, her mind was elsewhere.

This was ridiculous.

Makoto didn't get nervous.

While most her age were rattled simply taking exams, Makoto routinely studied and took pop quizzes always making sure she was fully prepared. Public speaking was dreaded by the majority, often a fear thought of as worse than death. Yet, as Shujin's Council President, she made announcements and MC'd events in front of her entire student body. The practice was routine to her.

Alongside her friends, she had fought down vicious manifestations of humanities darkest desires. Any fear she’d initially felt at the hands of Kaneshiro and her first foray into the Metaverse, melted away into anger as he threatened her sister, and she awoke Johanna.

So, how could something as simple as spending time being alone with another person, a prospect most wouldn’t blink an eye at, possibly make her feel so nervous?

Even if this was unfamiliar territory to her, there was simply no reason for it.

She hadn't been bothered when they'd gone to the movies together, or during their trip to the arcade. They had even spent the past few weeks posing as boyfriend and girlfriend, so Makoto already had several "dates" under her belt. This should have been a cinch.

She supposed it was the night Ren confessed to her in Crossroads that everything changed.

"Hey!"

Makoto jumped at the approaching voice, as Ren jogged up from behind her, his hand raised.

Somehow, he looked particularly, effortlessly handsome today. His button-up shirt hung on his lean frame, hair in its usual tousled state. Though she knew he didn't actually require corrective lenses, Makoto was glad that Ren wore glasses. They really brought out his eyes.

"O-oh, Ren." She greeted. "It's good to see you."

"You too. Shall we go?"

"Y- yes. Let's."

Throngs of people ambled through the amusement park queuing for rides, stopping at stands to buy snacks.

It was difficult for Makoto to disguise her disappointment. For all her fixation on picking the perfect spot for their date, she had managed to overlook an obvious issue. Dome Town would of course be busy on a weekend.

Brushing up against strangers, trying to manoeuvre their way through the crowd. Folding in on themselves trying to occupy as little space as possible. It wasn’t exactly the most romantic environment.

The open air, at least, offered a slightly less claustrophobic atmosphere.

Still, if Ren had been at all phased, he did well to hide it. Even insisting on holding her hand as he navigated through the crowd; not wanting to get separated. While she appreciated the gesture, Makoto was conscious of the thin sheen of sweat coating her palms.

It was still Summer. Perhaps she could chalk it up to the heat.

Lines trailed across large sections of the park, leaving a significant wait for any of the main attractions. While Ren seemed to be content waiting in silence, Makoto worried that perhaps it might be boring.

She fidgeted, trying to think of interesting topic for conversation. But the usual ice-breakers didn’t hold much weight. They were already friends and spent a lot of time together, be it at school or as part of their group. There wasn't much she could ask about that she didn't already know.

So, they remained in silence, Makoto stealing a glance in his direction every so often. Her lips would part, a word half-forming occasionally, but nothing of note ever surfaced.

She hoped that maybe she could blame the uncomfortable churning in her stomach on the ride they were about to get on.

For Makoto, the rush of blood brought on by the rollercoaster shocked wasn't as exhilarating as riding Johanna, or as enjoyable. There was too much out of her control and it did little to quell the sinking feeling in her chest.

Perhaps that was what made her so anxious.

Studying was easy if you had the discipline. The necessary tools were usually given to you in advance, you merely had to learn them. Fighting shadows didn't unnerve her. She was confident in her skills and could rely upon her teammates. Granted, some of their stronger foes had been a different story.

But this... This was different.

With the ride over, the couple took a moment collect themselves. Finding an empty bench in the shade, Makoto sat down, happy to have a stable surface to rest against.

Ren slumped beside her, his legs still quivering slightly.

"Hey, you holding up okay?"

"I'm fine. Thank you, Ren."

"It's just... You've been pretty quiet. Which I know might seem rich, coming from me."

She tried to smile at his quip, but it felt awkward. His attempt to lighten the mood only drawing attention to the tension in the air.

She could still sense his eyes boring into her, studying, as if relying on his Third Eye to unveil something hidden.

Yet, if he noticed anything, he didn’t pressure her.

"Hey, I think I'm going to get some pancakes. You want any?"

Makoto nodded. It wasn't normally the kind of treat she'd indulge in, being one to watch her nutritional intake. But Ren had offered, and the time he'd spend queuing for the vendor seemed like an opportune time for Makoto to gather her thoughts.

Ren strolled alongside her at a leisurely place, hands in his pockets. It was later in the day, and the atmosphere of the park was beginning to settle. Many of the families had grown tired and returned home.

The sun had passed over them, a blip on the horizon, a cool breeze rolling through.

The ambiance was honestly quite relaxing.

It seemed like an opportune moment for Makoto. The kind of romantic setting she'd only read about or seen portrayed in cheesy, blockbuster movies.

It could be her chance to drop a hint about forgetting to bring a jacket, to move closer towards Ren and bask in the warmth of his body.

The kind of thing that couples did.

Yet for as often as the thought arose, she would brush it off. With how closely they had moved against one another amidst the earlier crowd, to bridge the gap between them now should have been simple. Yet each time she would linger a moment too long.

Pace slowing, Makoto’s eyes carried over Ren, taking in his relaxed posture.

Grasping deep within herself, Makoto harnessed the words she felt could best express every stab of hesitance, frustration and unease she felt.

"How can you be so calm about this?"

Ren stopped at the sound of her voice reverberating from behind him. Confused, he glanced over his shoulder, conscious that she had stopped at some point.

"About what?"

"Well," Makoto gestured between the two of them, unsure of how to articulate herself. "This."

"Well... I- I like being with you."

The words trickled from his throat so easily, a part of Makoto suspecting that Ren knew how on edge she felt and was deliberately trying to rattle her. The shock struck her more abruptly than any dip on the rollercoaster's track, enough to distract her from the flutter of delight those words evoked in her.

"Now you're just teasing me." She muttered.

"No, really!" Ren protested, perhaps too loudly, reminded of the time he'd upset her with a light-hearted but perhaps poorly timed robot impression. He cringed as some passersby glanced in their direction before lowering his voice.

"Think about how little time we get to spend together without having to worry about infiltration strategies, or Mementos Requests... That's not even taking into account your Student Council duties, or prepping for entrance exams."

His voice was earnest as he continued, soft and intimate.

"You deserve a little time to relax, Makoto. If being here makes you uncomfortable, we can go somewhere else. I don't mind. I'll do whatever makes you happy, Makoto.

It was a sentiment that she shared, wanting nothing more than to make Ren happy. She wanted everything to work out and for this day to be memorable. Yet, somehow where the idea brought her tension, Ren found contentment.

If she were to worry too much, the moment would pass before she had the chance to savour it. They couldn't become memories if she didn't get to experience them the first time around.

"Well, when you put it like that."

"Trust me, this is easy. Just have fun."

His arm slipped around her, the proximity and warmth of his body a comfort. Smiling, Makoto moved closer into this embrace, suddenly finding the space less daunting.

"Hey, how about we go on the Ferris Wheel? I feel like I've had enough rollercoasters for today."

"You read my mind."

With the sun setting, it would make for perfect ending to their date. A memory they could both cherish.

It was true, there were a lot of things out of her control.

But sometimes the stars would align perfectly.

#persona 5 #p5 #shumako #shumakoweek #shumako week day 5 #fanfiction #ren amamiya #amamiya ren #makoto niijima #niijima makoto #akira kurusu #kurusu akira

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forehead-enthusiast · 6 years

Text

Sunset

Pairing: Ten x Reader

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 2.1k

Summary: Third wheeling isn’t always so bad. There’s rides, food, and the occasional handsome stranger. (I cringed so much writing this I’m sorry if you cringed reading it)

"I am NOT going on that again!"

"Come oooon," you begged, "It's not even a big drop!"

Wendy turned around, a scowl on her face. She wasn't a big fan of rollercoasters to begin with, and a third go was definitely asking too much of her. "Did you forget why we even came here?" She huffed. "If I remember correctly, you said you'd help me with Doyoung!" The man in question was lagging a bit behind, a fresh bag of cotton candy in hand. You whined, too excited to be at a carnival for the first time in so long. "Fine, fine, I get it. What do you even want me to do?"

Wendy beamed, but her smile faded quickly. "You know, I hadn't really thought of anything."

You almost groaned at your lack of planning, but Doyoung caught up. "I got pink flavor!" Wendy grinned and grabbed some, but shot a sharp glare at you, as if to say, "Think of something!" You glared back, but racked your brain until the most obvious answer jumped out at you. "Don't eat too much, there are more rides to come!" Wendy looked confused, but Doyoung nodded enthusiastically, his mouth filled with sugar.

After spinning just a bit too fast on a few more rides, your group arrived at the destination you were waiting for. Doyoung practically bounced into line, and Wendy gave you a quick thumbs up behind his back. It was an adorable ferris wheel, and small enough that you could let them go on alone without too many questions. You moved slowly through the line as the sun began to set, and you praised yourself for timing your impromptu plan so well.

You reached the front of the line just as the sky became a beautiful amber. The carnival worker took your tickets, and you watched Doyoung and Wendy climb into the ride. Doyoung turned. “Y/n, are you not coming?” You gestured to the worker to close the door as you said, “Nah, there’s no room for me. I’ll just get on the next one.” The carnival worker, not being paid enough to care about much of anything, closed the door, and the ferris wheel slowly rotated away. She then turned, and barked, “WE GOT A SINGLE RIDER! ANY SINGLES IN LINE?” You weren’t sure if you flinched due to her shouting or your embarrassment. “Can’t I just go alone?” you asked quietly. “Gotta ask, it’s the rules.” she popped her gum before again shouting, “LAST CALL! ANY SINGLE RIDERS?” You covered your face with your hands, but through your fingers you saw a hand raise in the crowd. The line made way for the hand, which was attached to a guy who looked about your age.

The carnival rider ushered you on quickly, and shut the door as soon as you sat down. You felt your seat begin to move, and you looked up at the volunteer. “Um, hi.” You stuck your hand out. “I’m y/n. Thanks for… joining me?” The boy shook your hand, and replied, “It’s cool! I got to skip the line, so that’s pretty nice. You can call me Ten, my full name’s a little long.” You sat in silence for a moment. Unable to endure it, you searched for anything to say.

“What about your friends?”

He blinked. “Sorry?”

“I-I mean, weren’t you going to ride this with your friends?”

“Oh,” he chuckled, “This is kind of weird, but I’ve been trying to set them up for weeks. This actually worked out great.”

Your jaw dropped. “Are you being serious?” you asked in shock, “That’s what I’m doing!”

You both looked at each other wide-eyed before bursting into fits of laughter. All of your nervousness melted away, and through your giggling, you managed to high-five this doppelganger of a stranger. “Jesus, what are the odds?” he asked as he rubbed his eyes, teary from laughing. You managed to regain your composure, and leaned back on your plastic seat. The sky had just the right amount of clouds to paint a breathtaking background, and you looked at Doyoung and Wendy’s car to see if they noticed, but they were still above yours. You looked back when you heard the boy’s voice again.

“Is that them?”

“Yeah! They better be appreciating the stunning sunset I planned for them.”

“Oh, you planned this? How romantic,” he teased.

“I know, right?” you joked, “I’m, like, the master of romance. That’s why I’m third-wheeling.”

“Can’t relate.”

“Is that so.”

“Of course! It would be so embarrassing to be a single rider on a ferris wheel, after all.”

You reached out and hit him lightly on the arm. “Excuse you! I just took one for the team.” You looked to your friends again, and realized they were still above you. And that they hadn’t moved since you last checked. “Hey, Ten,” you asked, “Is it just me, or is the ferris wheel moving really, really slowly?” which prompted him to look out the window of your car. “So slowly it’s stopped, yeah.” Just as he said so, a voice on a loudspeaker blared, “The ferris wheel has stalled. No need to worry, it should be working soon. Please just remain calm and stay where you are.” You slid down in your seat, not particularly worried. On the contrary, maybe the extra time would allow you friends to become closer.

“You okay?” Ten asked, sincere.

“Hm? Yeah, I’m good. You?”

“All fine here. Your friends must be getting their money’s worth of your sunset, huh?”

You laughed. “Maybe this was just part of my plan too. You need to up your matchmaking skills.”

“Oh, do tell. I could use an expert’s advice.”

“Well,” you said, “you’ve got to really care. Can’t do just anything, you have to put them in a situation you’d fall in love in.” He leaned in, pretending to take notes. “And, then you… you,” you stalled, not actually having any examples to offer. “You just kind of let them take it from there. Talk about how beautiful the sky is, that kind of stupid stuff.” He snorted. “Stupid? You’re not a very passionate expert.”

You pretended to scowl, and challenged him to give some tips of his own. He was no better than you at advice, but was definitely better at fake pouting. You bragged about how you sacrificed cotton candy to let them share it, just the two of them. He countered with his own third wheel story, saying that he purposely fell back during the haunted house to leave them alone, and had to go through alone, terrified. As the wheel remained still, you continued to talk animatedly. You had silly arguments about nonsense, like whose friends were going to be a better couple, who would win at the stupid carnival games, and whether blue and pink cotton candy actually tasted different.

“They’re different, okay? The blue one is blue raspberry, and the pink is-”

“Y/n, I can physically no longer talk about cotton candy with you.”

You leaned back in your seat and pouted, knowing you were right. Ten, sensing you were still thinking about the stupid sweet, changed the topic abruptly.

“What do you think your friends are doing right now?”

The sudden question surprised you, but you thought about it earnestly. “I think Doyoung likes her back, but I think they’re both oblivious to each other’s feelings, so Wendy’s gonna have to be bold.”

“Oooooh,” he put his hands on his cheeks in an imitation of shyness. “Please elaborate.”

“Well. After they talk about the beautiful sky and stupid stuff, Wendy will reach over and take his hand. And then,” you paused dramatically, locking eyes with Ten. “Then she’ll lean in, and BAM! She’ll kiss him.”

“Wow, Wendy moves fast.”

“Well, in reality she’ll probably be super awkward and not do anything, but I can hope. Don’t want to have to tag along on another one of these.”

“Tired of playing matchmaker?”

“How could I not be?” you sighed, exasperated. “Watching them flirt without even knowing, it’s sooooo exhausting. Besides, you weren’t wrong, being the single rider really is humiliating. For once, I want to be part of the super annoying couple in line that makes everyone jealous.”

“How about this then?” he smiled. “If they make you do another one of these, you can invite me next time. Make it a double date.”

You blushed at how casually he suggested it, and hoped the glow from outside would conceal it. “I’m not that desperate.”

“Ouch! My heart!” He clutched his chest. “How could you be so cruel, rejecting me right away?”

“...Tell you what, just in case I become that desperate, I’ll accept your number so I can bring you and we’ll suffer together.”

“I’m honored.”

You handed each other your phones and entered your contact info. You handed his back, feeling a little giddy knowing that such a cute guy’s number was in your phone. However, the sun was almost completely under the horizon, and you were starting to wonder when the ferris wheel was going to be fixed. Ten, apparently, was thinking the same thing. “How long do you think this usually takes?” You shrugged, and found yourself in silence again. This time, though, it felt a little less awkward, and a little more… tense. You looked up to find Ten looking at you, and you reflexively looked away, towards the darkened sky. You opened your mouth without thinking of anything to say. “The sky is uh, really pretty.” Why did I just say that? You panicked internally, hoping Ten wouldn’t notice your choice of topic. But out of the corner of you eye, you saw him smirk.

“Should I talk about stupid stuff, and then you’ll take my hands and-”

“Don’t finish that! I regretted it as soon as I said it.”

“You don’t have to regret it.”

You were about to ask him what he meant when your car suddenly shook. The ferris wheel started moving again. You groaned internally. This ferris wheel hates me. That’s cool. Having lost your chance to ask him, you just made nervous small talk on your way around. Maybe it was just because of how long you’d been sitting still, but the trip around felt surprisingly short. Before you knew it, your feet were back on solid ground. You looked around for your friends, and saw them a short ways away, and… holding hands. You grabbed Ten’s sleeve, and whispered, “Look! My third wheel days are over!” He gasped. “You really are an expert matchmaker.” You snickered, and turned, only to find his face about two inches away. You ceased laughing immediately, and you both straightened up.

“Oh, my friends are getting off too.”

You both looked eagerly to them and searched for signs of success. “She… she’s got lipstick on her cheek! You’re an expert too!” you squealed. “We are great at this.”

“Guess we won’t need to tag along anymore.”

“Oh… yeah.” You realized you wouldn’t need him to join you next time after all.

“Well,” he shoved his hands in his pockets. “See you?” He turned slowly and began walking towards his friends. Knowing if he left you’d never see him again, you struggled to find some way to stop him. To let him know how much you liked talking with him. How much you wanted to talk to him more.

“I-I! I didn’t go in the haunted house today! And I definitely don’t want to go alone! Also I wanted to ride the rollercoaster again! And...” you searched for more to say. “And I want to be annoying in line!”

Ten was perplexed for a moment, but then understood.

“Y’know, I felt kinda the same way. I wanted to try both types of cotton candy. Oh, and talk about how beautiful the sky is, and have someone be bold and hold my hands.”

“G-guess we’ll have to come back,” you stuttered, feigning confidence.

“Well… there’s no closing time on holding hands.” He reached out and took hold of yours. “Now, what did you say came after holding hands? I just can’t remember.”

You blushed at the implication, and suddenly Ten was leaning towards you, and you scrunched your eyes shut hastily. You felt a soft touch on your forehead, and you opened your eyes. “I’m not fake Wendy,” he smirked, “I don’t move that fast. We’ll save it for next time, how about it?” You held back a wide smile, hoping he couldn’t feel your racing heartbeat through your hand. “Fine, but you’re buying the cotton candy.”

#welp #here's some more fluff #love this type of meeting but idk if i did it justice lol #i'm gonna try and experiment more i promise #like with something supernatural or just not soooooo fluffy #ten #nct #nct fanfiction #ten fanfiction #chittaphon #mine

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leighbot · 6 years

Text

day three! up quite early for me! i have no solid plan to keep this going for twenty more days but we’ll see :)

a sappy excerpt from my 50 first dates au (and this also fits my think written prompt for day 11 sooooooo i’m using it)

“I want to get out of the house for a bit,” Zayn says, leaning against the doorjamb and peering into the kitchen where Harry is unloading bags of groceries. Finn is clinging to Zayn’s calf, just over a year old and completely obsessed with his baba. “Been reading my journal and feel kind of…”

“Closed in?” Harry offers, pulling back from one of the upper cabinets.

“Yeah.”

“What colours did you read today?”

“Mostly the yellow one… family.”

“There’s a fair a couple towns over; would you want to go for a drive?”

“Can the baby come?”

Harry snorts. “’Can the baby come’,” he repeats as he walks towards them before bending down to pick up Finn. “Of course the baby can come. He’ll love the lights.”

“And the smells,” Zayn says, already dreaming of fried dough. He wants some with cinnamon and some with strawberries.

“Fried dough,” Harry says, smiling wide at Finn. “Baba wants some fried dough.”

Zayn doesn’t know that he’ll get used to the fact that Harry knows everything about him while he knows almost nothing about Harry.

Harry must realise his thoughts because his smile fades quickly. “Sor-“

“Nope!” Zayn says, a little too loudly as he lifts a hand. “A lot of my last few entries made it clear you’re feeling really… guilty, or sommat, lately. No ‘sorry’ allowed today.”

Seriousness lines the corners of Harry’s mouth as he nods. “I’ll do my best,” he promises. “Want to get ready for a carnival?”

“I’ll take Finn,” Zayn offers, holding out his hands for his little boy. He’s already missing having him in his arms. “Let’s go get ready, baby.”

~*~

Two hours and plenty of fried dough bites later, Zayn and Harry are sat next to each other with Finn on Zayn’s left in a whirly ride. It’s still early in the evening and they’re far from the only family milling around, though the teenagers are starting to come out in full force. “I’m going to pee myself,” Harry laughs around a particularly fast turn.

“That’s cute,” Zayn snorts, keeping Finn close to his side. He’d apologized the first time they rode this ride, when he kept pressing into Harry’s side. He flushes now when he does it again, his own weight feeling heavy where he’s tucked under Harry’s arm. Harry leans in when the ride slows and coaxes Zayn into a quick kiss before the carnie comes around to check that their cart is empty.

“I love you,” Harry tells him.

Before Zayn can think of a non-awkward way to respond, Finn is crawling over Zayn’s lap and pushing at Harry’s stomach. “No!” he says. “No no no.”

Zayn laughs and pulls Finn away from Harry. “Baba’s protector,” he jokes as he stands, shifting Finn to his hip. “Do we want to go on the Ferris Wheel?”

“Yea!” Finn agrees, fisting his hands in Zayn’s t-shirt. He’s tugged it out of shape, the V-neck more of a U-neck at this point, and Zayn tugs it out of his fist with a few kisses of encouragement.

“Gonna need to go shopping soon,” Harry tells him. “You’ve gone through all of your own shirts and now you’ve ruined mine, as well.”

“Your son did it,” Zayn corrects, smiling easily when he looks over to Harry. “Why don’t you just buy more and I’ll snag them from your wardrobe?”

Harry rolls his eyes. “Of course that’s your solution.”

They jump in line for the Ferris Wheel, Zayn bouncing Finn on his hip as the baby begins to doze.

“You’re different today,” Harry notes as they step forward.

“I’m different every day, I suppose.”

“Different-er today.”

“Not so different-er that I know that wasn’t a word.”

Harry blinks before breaking out into a huge grin. “You don’t tease like that very often. You’re fiesty today. Reminds me of the day you proposed.”

“I proposed?”

“That usually takes you by surprise.”

Zayn frowns, turning away. He doesn’t want to think that he would keep Harry trapped in this life but a part of him thinks that Harry already knows this. They shuffle forward in the queue.

“It was the perfect day: we went shopping at a farmer’s market and bought a tonne of fruit and veg. We each had our hands full of things and, at the last stall, you saw a woman selling flowers.”

“What kind?” Zayn asks, enchanted with the story. It’s like he’s being told about someone else’s life instead of his own except that he feels satisfaction in his soul, like pieces of his puzzle are being fitted together and the overall picture is becoming clearer.

“Really ugly ones.”

Zayn laughs, caught off guard. “What?” he asks. He’s too loud for Finn, who wakes briefly from his nap and pouts up at Zayn with his big green eyes. Zayn brushes his fuzzy blonde hair back from his face and rocks him to sleep again.

“There were normal ones, like a daisy and a yellow tulip, but then there were a lot that looked like fancy weeds and a couple that I promise were just leaves plucked off of trees. The whole bouquet was beautiful altogether but really not lovely when you took apart the pieces.”

“Well, stop feeling the need to over-examine everything in your life and maybe all you’ll see are the beautiful, whole pictures.”

“Haha, that’s fair,” Harry says. His hand is a solid weight against the small of Zayn’s back as they step up for their turn. They get into the buggy, one of the big ones where they’re completely enclosed and there’s a bar in the middle of the bucket that keeps them rigged to the machine. Zayn steps in first and doesn’t move much further, forcing Harry to crowd in next to him.

“I wanna kiss you at the top of the Ferris Wheel when Finn can’t yell at you,” Zayn says, his voice barely over a whisper in the non existent space between them. Harry bares his teeth in a playful growl and Zayn laughs and lunges away, mindful of the baby still in his arms.

~*~

They get in their kiss- kisses, really, as Zayn’s lips feel a little chapped by the time they’re disembarking- and Finn doesn’t wake up until they’re walking around the grounds again. They stop for a bit, making up a small pseudo-picnic space on a patch of grass behind one of the rides just before the parking lot begins. They let Finn stretch his legs and toddle between them while he snacks on a fistful of cereal that Zayn doesn’t think actually makes it into his mouth.

“I think we’re ready to go home,” Zayn says a few minutes later, his eyes heavy and the only thing he can think of is resting his head on Harry’s chest and taking a late afternoon nap. Then something occurs to him – he remembers something he saw from the top of the Ferris Wheel. “Oh, no, come on. Let’s go.”

“What?” Harry drags out the word, clearly half-asleep himself.

Zayn gets Finn on his hip and grabs for Harry’s hand once the diaper bag is all packed up. “C’mon.”

Obviously curious, Harry links their fingers and falls into step with Zayn. They cross the asphalt and weave through the growing crowds. The sun is low in the sky and some of the lights on the rides are starting to come on. Zayn can tell the second Harry realises their destination, his footsteps falling faster and his hand holding Zayn’s tighter.

“This is… so cheesy,” Zayn admits once they’re stopped. He drops Harry’s hand to rub at an itch on the back of his neck that he’s pretty sure is just a nervous tic.

“This is perfect!” Harry contradicts, nearly running to hop onto the carousel floor. He grabs onto one of the poles as it stops moving unexpectedly and Zayn hops on behind him to help get him steady, Finn between them as they walk about.

“I know which one you want,” Zayn says, nodding at a blue-scaled dragon hovering above the ground.

“Will I break it?” Harry asks, though he eagerly crosses over and hops on. There’s a second pause where Zayn wonders if he’s still worried about it falling but the whole thing stays connected to the metal pole fixed through the dragon’s shoulders and down to the floor.

“Where should we sit, Finn?” Zayn asks, kissing Finn’s cheeks.

“Dadda!”

“Yeah? You can go with daddy.” Zayn passes him over and climbs onto the animal next to Harry, not realising what it is until he’s slinging the diaper bag from Harry’s shoulder across the horn and noticing that he’s chosen a purple unicorn. “Nice!”

“Baba?” Finn asks, looking the wrong way.

“I’m right here baby,” Zayn calls out. He’s close enough that Finn can reach his hand with Harry holding his shorts so he doesn’t over balance. The music starts a second before the ride does and Harry leans his forehead on the pole of his dragon and watches Zayn. “What?” Zayn asks, wiping at his face as if there’s something on it.

“Just can’t get enough of you,” Harry says simply. “I don’t think I ever will.”

Zayn bites at his bottom lip and pulls out his mobile phone. He turns on the camera. “Say it again,” he orders Harry, smiling when he watches Harry’s performer personality come out in the brightness of his eyes. Harry repeats himself for his audience and Zayn turns the view around so he can see himself. “Me too,” he says softly, smiling wide when he sees Harry’s expression change out of the corner of his eye. “Don’t let yourself forget this right now.” He drags the camera in a swoop around him, capturing the lights and sounds from the ride and the people around them. “You’re in love and a beautiful man loves you right back.”

He stops recording and sends the video to his email immediately, not risking losing this one. By the time he tucks it into his pocket, Harry’s stood next to him and is getting his free hand around the curve of Zayn’s jaw. Ignoring Finn’s babbled protests, Harry captures Zayn’s mouth in a kiss a little too long and wet to be decent for public. “I love you,” Harry says when he lets Zayn go. Zayn laughs and pushes his fingers through Finn’s hair to soothe his jealousy. The ride begins to slow and Zayn smacks another kiss to Harry’s mouth.

“I love you,” Zayn says. He knows he doesn’t always say it, doesn’t always get there each day, but he can’t imagine waking up tomorrow and not feeling all of this right now. “I love you, I love our family, I love how happy we seem despite… everything.”

“The baby and I will be here for you every single day,” Harry insists. “Just like I know you’ll be here for us.”

#it should be obvious but these are 0 percent read over #50fd #zarry #my fic #365 prompts #day 11: dragon

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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DuckTales Season 3 Episode 9 Review: They Put a Moonlander on Earth!

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This DUCKTALES review contains spoilers.

Every so often, from the moment a DuckTales episode begins, I have a gut feeling it’s going to be incredible. That it’s going to somehow reach beyond DuckTales‘ usual greatness. ‘They Put a Moonlander on Earth!’ gave me that feeling from its opening moments… yet somehow went even furthur than I could predicted. Its quality, ironically, was so high it hit the moon.

This episode is one of DuckTales’ best by far. Everything works about it. There’s so much going on but it never feels overstuffed. The jokes all land brilliantly, building on one another with expert precision. It balances nearly ten character arcs (small and large) throughout the episode and they all pay off masterfully. If anyone teaching a course about TV writing needs an example of perfect structure, this episode should be at the top of the watch list.

Penumbra, or Penny, is the center of this episode and she desperately wants to get back to the moon. She can’t stand being on Earth… unlike the rest of her people who’ve all quickly assimilated to human… Duck…. Whatever, life. (The gag with Dewey and Webby feeding Ducks made my brain short circuit so I’m glad the same happened to Penny as well.) What shakes her out of her moon focus is something so breathtakingly simple but still incredibly heartfelt. Her fellow Moonlanders didn’t invite her to a party.

THAT IS SO GOOD AND RELATEABLE. The fear of being left out will drive people to do anything and for Penny that means attempting to engage in Earth fun. She’s bad at it but that gives us a ton of amazing gags of her miserably failing at fun. The car bit was probably my favorite; Penny getting whacked in the face by a bird was pure gold.

All these jokes, in DuckTales fashion, lead to a powerful bit where Penny accidentally admits why she misses the moon. She was pretty much perfect there. She could protect her people. She understood how everything worked. Here on Earth, though? Things are different and she’s not the best anymore. She isn’t in control of everything. What is she without her identity from the moon? What’s her legacy? Ah, the theme of legacy. The overarching theme of DuckTales season 3. It’s been a part of much of the season but it’s at its most effective here. Penny is scared by the future, scared of her new surroundings and wants to retreat into the familiar. It’s understandable but Webby is there to comfort her.

I’m not saying every episode of DuckTales is made better when Webby is there but you know, she always helps. She tells Penny about how, when she lived in the mansion, she was Webby: Expert On All Things McDuck. When she left though the world was scary and different. She wanted to go back to what she knew but with the help of Huey, Dewey, and Louie she was able to become more than that one thing. She became World Explorer Webby and Best Friend Webby! Crucially though, she says she’s still Mansion Webby as well.

This whole scene is just… it made me tear up a little, no lie! It’s a perfect way to show kids (and adults!) that just because you’re known for or see yourself as one thing doesn’t mean you can only be that one thing. You can be so much more; you can break out of the familiar and try new things.

I love this reaches Penny but one brain freeze seems to undo it. Webby’s words are powerful but the brain freeze was the perfect representation of the challenges and fears we face even after we try to break out of the familiar. It can hurt as much as a brain freeze does but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

In a masterful plot turn, Penny finally acclimates to “Earth Fun” by doing it in her own way. Playing carnival games isn’t exactly her style but roller-skating onto a crashing Ferris wheel to save Dewey and Webby? That’s her kind of fun! I adore that in this action Penny begins to adjust to Earth but doesn’t lose her desire to protect and help others. In this moment she’s Moon Penny and Earth Penny all at once.

We can’t talk about Penny in this episode without mentioning THAT line. When talking to Launchpad toward the end she says, “We are not enemies I just do not wish to date an Earth… male.” Combine that with the way Della was acting around her early in the episode PLUS writer/director/story boarder Sam King confirming it on Twitter? Folks, Penny is a lesbian!

First off, I LOVE IT! This is so good. Would I have liked for the show to say it out loud? Of course I would, but knowing this is a Disney animated series I can imagine the intense restrictions they’re under. Getting that line on screen is a victory and I appreciate King addressing that we won’t see much more of Penny this season. I appreciate that setting of expectations! But hey, Disney, let them say lesbian!

Penny’s plot made this episode next level but everything else was great to! Dewey’s desire to be involved in a Dewey Dew-saster was pitch perfect. You think his rivalry with Timmy Jenkins (love they always said his full name) is all in his head but then to get that twist at the end? Jaw dropping.

Launchpad’s imagined tension with Penny? So good! The best gag was him getting on the top of the car (WHILE IT’S MOVING!) and asking her if she’d rather one of the kids drive the car. We also now have the beautiful Launchpad and Penny friendship. More lesbians and straight guys being best friends! You love to see it!

And to top it all off there’s Glomgold! You can never go wrong with Glomgold. The fact he named his Ferris wheel “FLINT FERRIS GLOM WHEEL” is just genius. His back and forth with his new Moonlander pal he just can’t stay mad at gives us yet another DuckTales dynamic I desperately need more of. (When the biggest complaint I have about DuckTales is it has TOO MANY characters I want to see more of, that’s a good problem to have.)

Then there’s all the little details. Della being totally fine with Dewey putting his life in danger. Glomgold’s Ferris wheel model with macaroni. Penny calling Webby “Small Della.” The “Barrel of Monkeys” line. PENNY’S MUSIC MOTIF! Seriously, where can I get a clean recording of that? High quality FLC file. Vinyl, WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO, DISNEY?

Everyone involved in this episode deserves a raise, a medal, and awards. Sam King and Bob Snow for writing. Sam King, Francisco Angones, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow, Madison Bateman, and Ben Siemon for the story. Sam King, Kathryn Marusik, Rachel Paek, and Stephan Park for the storyboards. Sam King and Jason Zurek for writing. You all are legends, particularly Sam King. Your love of Penumbra knows no bounds and thank you for giving us more of her. You’re a legend.

‘They Put a Moonlander on Earth!’ is all time DuckTales classic and rightfully belongs on any list of best TV episodes of 2020. It’s pure gold from start to finish with endless jokes and flawless character development. Plus, that Ducks feeding ducks moment will haunt me forever in the best possible way.

DuckTales Quotes To Make Your Life Better

-“Mom, can I go ride a death wheel at the pier so I can be famous?!” “Sounds awesome!”

-“I must conquer Earth fun.”

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

-“Curse you me ferris me wheel!”

The post DuckTales Season 3 Episode 9 Review: They Put a Moonlander on Earth! appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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gotinterest · 4 years

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Okay, so I don't wanna make this sound like a loaded question, or to make an argument, but what do you think is missing from the Sw/Sh to make it a full game? It has a curry dex to add fill in, the wild area, bike races if you care about that thing, raids etc. The post game could've used a little something else, for sure. But I feel like (not you in particular) this is just a trend people have really latched onto. Compared to previous games, what is missing to make this a full experience?

The thing about SWSH is that the dev team had to transition from a handheld system and graphics to a completely different console and they weren’t given extra time to do that so the dev team had to cut corners in certain places, or cut down the scope of certain things just to get the game out on time, and not really do as much in it.

Everything is smaller with less to do. The routes are much MUCH shorter than they were in previous games. And the towns don’t really have much else in them besides houses, a gym, and a Pokemon center.

For example, in gen 3 you had:

-a completely optional and entirely separate competition structure that was based around pageants for your pokemon

-multiple separate pokemon fanclubs, with different things to DO in those fanclubs (remember the one club where you could change what people thought was hip and cool?)

-a huge department store

-collecting the shells for bells and things

-collecting ash to make glass items

-a casino where you could play minigames

-diving underwater to look in caves, as well as surfing around everywhere

-the weather lab

-the haunted tower that had all the graves

-secret bases!!!!

-the flower shop

-the power plant

-The mystery house

-an art museum

-a maritime museum!

- PC box customization

-hell you could even battle the roaming news crew and give them an interview that you would then see on tv later- compare that to the news crew in SWSH where they just battle you and that’s it.

Compare that to SWSH:

-no minigames beyond the three things you can do in the camp (make curry, play with ball, play with stick thing) and the racing game which is just “eh”

-The only independent, unique, structures outside of the towns are the two daycare places and the Professor’s house. Almost all of the “unique” buildings in the towns are plot related and don’t have anything to do after the plot has used them. There aren’t fan clubs, or multiple labs, or museums, or accessible observatories, or a etc. You can’t even physically go into a lot of the stores.

-you can’t customize your camp beyond changing the color of your tent.

-The routes themselves aren’t particularly fun or interesting. They take you from place “a” to place “b” and give you some Pokemon to battle against and that’s pretty much it. They don’t really have much extra to do or see along them. The routes also aren’t interwoven or connected to each other really.

-Spikemuth doesn’t even have any buildings you can go into! Just the Pokemon center!

-The most fun, creative extra thing you can do is make your league card and put on different outfits. Which is fun! I just wish we had more stuff like that.

Most of the previous Pokemon games felt like they took place in a world people actually lived in, whereas Galar feels paper thin and devoid of anything that doesn’t have directly to do with the main plotline.

Where’s the fanclubs that have NPCs with dialogue that changes as you progress through the story and win battles? Why can’t I ride the big, prominently displayed, ferris wheel in Wyndon? Why don’t the kiosks and little stores in the bigger train stations offer anything besides just a person to talk to and the same store you can find in a pokemon center? Why is the fossil person just a random scientist standing in the middle of nowhere; why doesn’t she have a lab? Why does the vault only have a bunch of tapestries, when we could have a whole big museum dedicated to Galarian history that could then flesh out the region’s history more and you could stick around and look at other things after it’s importance to the main quest has been fulfilled?

Why is there no power plant? No graveyard? Why can’t I go in the hot springs in that one town? Why can’t I go in the lighthouse? Why can’t I explore any of the ancient structures in the wild area? Where are all the extra puzzles and challenges that have nothing to do with the main story? Why can’t I even go into one of the daycare centers? There is a big mansion in Hammerlock, why can’t I explore it? HELL Hammerlock is a fucking CASTLE and I can’t explore it! Most parts of the city are completely inaccessible!

The game is all about becoming a famous trainer. So why can’t I manage a social media account like Raihan and post pictures on Pokegram or whatever and interact with my fanbase? Why can’t I give interviews that I can then watch on the TVs? Why are there no commentators or “sports anchor” types to interact with or do stuff with? Why can’t I do photoshoots with my pokemon for magazines or whatever?

All of this is the sort of stuff I would have been able to do if SWSH had followed the design philosophy of the previous games, and had the time to actually develop it.

The main quest is also very short and underdeveloped. It basically just is the gym challenge. Almost all of the exploration and fact finding and big confrontations happen off-screen and are handled by either Leon or Sophia.

Imagine if you actually had to deal with some of the Dynamax pokemon that randomly started showing up and causing trouble? Imagine if you, Marnie, and Hop ended up investigating Rose while trying to stay in the gym challenge? Like Sophia realized something was going on and had to turn to you guys to actually sneak around places because you were gym challengers and had access to places most people didn’t.

Imagine if the big conflict actually had something to DO WITH the gym challenge, considering the fact that the gym challenge takes up the main portion of the story? Like maybe Rose was using the gym challenge dynamax battles to harvest energy? Or he was using the challengers and their Pokemon for some nefarious purpose? Until literally the end of the game you don’t really have to diverge from the gym challenge to go deal with something somewhere else. And the post-game doesn’t take you to any new locations, either.

I don’t even care about the fact that not all the Pokemon are in the game. There are so many pokemon, not all of them need to be in every game. I can see people being upset about not being able to transfer their old pokemon to their newer games, but other than that those complaints are lost on me. I just wish the level of detail and the density of the content and activities was the same or greater in the $60 SWSH game as it was in the previous $40 Pokemon games.

Sorry this got so long, lol. I actually like SWSH a lot more than many other people do (mostly because I have an undying love for Hop, who is my favorite Pokemon rival of all time), it’s just there is no denying the fact that it could have done with another year or two of development.

#pkmn #Anonymous #long post #ask

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fadingfartconnoisseur · 7 years

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What’s It Like to Tour Chernobyl Today?

When I began planning my trip to Ukraine, I knew I wanted to find a way to visit Chernobyl, home of the nuclear disaster site of 1986.

Chernobyl? You can go there?

Yes, you can. Tours have operated for years now.

But is it safe?

Yes, this tour is. Today, more than 30 years after the Chernobyl disaster, the amount of radiation you experience is very little. Like eating two extra bananas. Radiation is in everything. Some zones around Chernobyl are more affected than others, but you don’t spend much time there.

Why would you ever want to go there?

To experience a time capsule — a genuine ghost town. The people of Chernobyl and the nearby town of Pripyat left thinking they would be gone only a few days. They never returned. The town is now frozen in time and increasingly reclaimed by the forest.

The Chernobyl Disaster

On the early morning of April 26, 1986, workers were running tests to see if the turbines could produce enough power to keep things running in the event of an outage; to test this, the safety regulators were turned off. During the test, the power fell too low (1% rather than the target of 25%), and the power needed to be slowly increased. Instead, there was an unexpected power surge and the reactor’s emergency shutdown was not activated, resulting in an explosion.

More radiation was released at Chernobyl than at Hiroshima in 1945. To this day, Chernobyl is the only nuclear accident that resulted in deaths solely from radiation.

The Soviet Union kept it quiet, hiding the disaster from the world. It wasn’t until workers at a nuclear power plant in Sweden realized that literally everyone was setting off the radiation detector that something was wrong. (That’s an interesting story.) Sweden alerted the international community; Moscow initially denied anything happened, then admitted the accident.

And we still don’t know for sure how many people died as a result. Nuclear groups say 10,000; environmental groups say it’s closer to six figures. Two people died immediately and 29 more died in the following days, but the death toll since from cancer and other radiation-induced diseases has been much more difficult to quantify. Roughly 4,000 children in the region were diagnosed with thyroid cancer, but more than 99% of them recovered.

For more on Chernobyl, see reports from the Nuclear Energy Institute, the World Health Organization, and Greenpeace. For the academic study, see the UN’s report from 2011.

Visiting Chernobyl

There are a few different tour companies based in Kiev. I was hosted on this trip by JayWay Travel and they arranged for me to join a one-day Chernobyl tour with SoloEast Travel.

Our small group tour met in Kiev and we went on to a minibus for the two-hour journey to Chernobyl, watching a documentary about the disaster en route. Some people chose to rent radiation meters that monitored the levels around us, beeping shrilly if the level got dangerously high.

As we got closer, we began to pass through checkpoints where our passports were checked. We were now officially in the affected nuclear zone. Aside from the road into the zone, we were surrounded by wilderness; it’s only when we got closer that we were able to see the remnants of buildings.

Here are some of the places we saw that day.

A car half-reclaimed by the landscape.

This is a town hall of Zalesye, one of the small towns surrounding Chernobyl.

This is not a Chernobyl disaster memorial — it predates it by a long time.

This is the firefighters’ memorial. They were the first line of defense in the disaster and poured cold water into the reactor before their efforts were abandoned. Many of the 29 who died in the first days of the disaster were firefighters.

We visited the electrical grid. Someone pointed out that it would make a hell of a venue for a concert if it had been anywhere else.

The Kindergarten

One of the best-preserved sites around Chernobyl is the kindergarten. Here you’ll find children’s playthings scattered around beds. It felt like the inspiration for a horror movie.

This was also where we could detect a higher presence of radiation on our meters. Nadia had us experiment with them, bringing them down close to the ground (which we were not supposed to touch with our hands) and they began beeping even louder.

Walking into a room and having that doll staring right at you — that’s not creepy at all.

Rows and rows of children’s beds.

A library? Or perhaps cubbies for the children’s things?

Look at those tiny blue shoes.

A doll head and bunny on a windowsill.

Imagine all the children who slept there over the years, never to return, vanished in the blink of an eye.

A Plant That Still Exists

I was shocked to learn that Chernobyl is still home to several functioning nuclear reactors. I assumed that the site was totally shut down; this wasn’t the case at all. Reactor Four was shut down, as that’s where the disaster took place, but the others were vital to Ukraine’s electricity needs and they’ve been running continuously ever since.

A sarcophagus was built on top of Reactor Four to contain the radiation. We were able to view from 270 meters away.

There is another memorial behind Reactor Two.

The Town of Pripyat

The nearby town of Pripyat was founded in 1979 with the purpose of serving the Chernobyl power plant. By 1986 it had a population of approximately 49,000.

Pripyat wasn’t evacuated until April 27, more than 24 hours after the accident. Locals were told to leave and that they would probably be back in a few days. According to locals, most of the younger people were happy-go-lucky about it and didn’t care; it was Pripyat’s oldest residents who sensed that this could be a much more serious disaster than they were being told.

It was deeply moving to walk around this town and see where people lived their lives. So often it would seem like we were walking into the deep forest, only to suddenly be in front of a large apartment building, or hospital, or hotel.

This was perched on the lake — imagine coming here to enjoy a beautiful afternoon.

And the lake itself…it’s as if nothing happened.

This was a school.

And the local supermarket, the signs above the aisles still in place.

The local stadium. Later we watched film clips from Pripyat and it was particularly creepy seeing this stadium full of people, cheering on a collection of athletes.

Lest you forget that you’re time traveling to the Soviet Union, here are some propaganda posters.

The Hospital

The most memorable place we visited on the trip, for me, was Pripyat’s hospital. Here’s what it looks like today.

This was the waiting room, the chairs still in place.

This could almost be an outtake from an HGTV show.

A decrepit staircase led us up to a new floor.

Reports upon reports in the pre-digital era.

An appointment book, likely recently opened among the rubble.

And probably the single most memorable image I have of Chernobyl: lines of empty bassinets.

Our guide Nadia told us that while some visitors think that people have moved items from Chernobyl around (and the creepy dolls in the kindergarten definitely move around), but these bassinets have never moved as long as she’s been a guide.

The Ferris Wheel

On May 1, 1986, a carnival was set to open in Pripyat. The rides were already there at the time of the disaster. The Ferris wheel is the most photographed and perhaps most famous place in all of Chernobyl, post-disaster.

The Ferris wheel up close.

There were bumper cars, too.

So happy and yellow against the blue sky. Such joy displayed in a joyless place.

The Finale

For our final visit, we visited an apartment building that wouldn’t look out of place in Berlin or Helsinki today. We climbed eight flights of stairs until we hit the roof.

From the top of the roof, we saw buildings poking gently through the trees, reminders that there used to be a whole town here. This was a place where people lived, and loved, and worked. And as soon as people left it, it was reclaimed by the forest.

Lessons From Chernobyl

It’s easy to look at somewhere like Chernobyl and think, “It could never happen here” — but it could. In fact, it already is happening. Take a look at southern Louisiana.

If you’ve read the book Strangers in Their Own Land, you’re familiar with the sad state of parts of southern Louisiana. Louisianans continue voting for candidates who promise environmental deregulation. Louisianans vote for these candidates thinking that this will lead to more petrochemical jobs in the region (though a great many of them will vote for the anti-choice candidate no matter what). As a result, their lands and lakes and rivers are poisoned, it’s no longer possible to fish on the lands their families have fished for generations, and cancer rates are skyrocketing throughout the region.

As climate change heats up, we need environmental regulation to protect ourselves and our children so that this can never happen again. After all, what I saw in Chernobyl proves that the planet will be just fine, no matter what happens. It’s just whether humans will be able to survive on it.

The Most Important Thing

If you visit Chernobyl, please remember that a lot of people died as a result of this disaster. Treat this place with sensitivity.

That means that this is not a place for selfies. People on your tour will be taking selfies, I guarantee it, but that doesn’t give you the green light to be a jerk. Be a better person than the idiots taking videos of themselves flailing while screaming, “I’VE GOT RADIATION!”

If you visit with compassion and an open mind, this will be a very fulfilling trip for you.

The Takeaway

I think that Chernobyl is one of the most deeply moving places I’ve ever visited. I spent most of the trip quiet, thinking about everything before me and its implications in the world today.

There was one moment that stayed with me. Someone asked our guide Nadia about how Ukrainians think about Chernobyl today and its legacy, and she replied, “It’s over now, so people don’t think about it much.”

Well. I grew up in Massachusetts, and when I was growing up, our church provided housing to several people from Chernobyl who were going to Mass General for medical treatment. They were dealing with cancer and birth defects as a result of the disaster. So it’s not over for them — not remotely over. I brought this up with Nadia and she listened.

And it got me thinking. Is it a Ukrainian/Soviet attitude to say that it’s over now? Is it because our guide was young and hadn’t even been alive during the existence of the Soviet Union? Is this the attitude we see in Russian literature and art, and even Russian music? Does what she said about the disaster represent the mindset of the region as a whole?

I don’t know, but it’s something to think about.

All I know is that I am deeply grateful to have been able to visit Chernobyl, and I will never forget my day there.

READ NEXT: In Kiev, A Stylish and Surprising City

Essential Info: In Ukraine I was a guest of JayWay Travel, a boutique Central and Eastern European travel company, as well as their local partner JC Travel, for a custom itinerary they built for me with hotels, transfers, and tours. They do custom trips so whatever you’re looking for, reach out to them. It was so nice to not have to worry about transfers, and my guides were wonderful. Contact them directly for tours or other bookings.

I visited Chernobyl through a tour with SoloEast Travel. I was very happy with our tour and would recommend it. Tours start and end in central Kiev and include lunch. One-day tours cost $79. You will need your passport for this trip — it will be checked at several points. Wear close-toed shoes, long pants, and a long-sleeved shirt or jacket. SoloEast also offers two-day Chernobyl tours, where you stay overnight, for $299.

While in Kiev I stayed at the Theatre Apart Hotel, which I enjoyed and would recommend. Rooms from $39 USD per night. Find more hotels in Kiev here.

Don’t visit Ukraine without travel insurance. Whether you get appendicitis and need to be hospitalized, or your phone gets stolen, or an injury means you need to cancel all or part of your trip, travel insurance will help you out. I use and recommend World Nomads as travel insurance for trips to Ukraine.

Many thanks to JayWay Travel for hosting me throughout Ukraine. They paid for my hotels, airport transfers, and tours; I paid for flights, meals, and everything else. All opinions, as always, are my own.

Would you ever visit Chernobyl?

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thementalattic · 7 years

Text

We thought Kate Walker’s journey was over after bringing Hans to meet with the Mammoths, but after a rough time, she’s embarking on another quest, to help the Youkols reach their promised land in Syberia 3.

Genre(s): Adventure

Developer: Microids

Publisher: Microids

Release Date: April 2017

Played Main Story

Platforms: PC

Purchase At: Steam

Good:

Beautiful environments.

Bad:

Disappointing plot and clumsy writing.

Terrible voice acting.

Awkward controls.

Review

I remember my lasting impressions of Syberia 2, those being disappointment at its very open ending, which resolved very little in terms of the storyline threads it had spun, particularly relating to Kate Walker and her family and employers in the US and their incessant pursuit of her.

Syberia 3 opens very soon after those events, with the Youkols, the nomadic tribe that helped Kate on the last leg of her journey, finding her unconscious in the snowy fields. They nurse her back from the brink of hypothermic death but eventually leave her in the care of the doctors at the Valsembor clinic, a small town the tribe approaches on their way to the sacred mating grounds for their Snow Ostriches.

Yes, there’s nothing suspicious about the electric-chair-ish thing!

When Kate wakes up she finds herself in a grimy room in the clinic, with only the Youkol sacred guide with her. He’s been injured, an attack by the local militia took his leg and he’s waiting for a mechanical replacement. But something’s off about the clinic and the staff seems unusually unfriendly and the doctors downright vicious, and it’s soon clear they’re keeping the spirit guide and Kate prisoner. It’s now Kate’s turn to repay their kindness and help them reach their destination.

Those nail textures…

Syberia 3’s plot is about the modernisation of the world and the viability of ancient cultures and traditions in the face of it. The problem is that Syberia 3’s writers aren’t exactly subtle about it and pretty much hammer this point down in the most heavy-handed way possible about every five minutes of the game. Villains even state they want the Youkols to return to the north and abandon their nomadic ways because, “such things have no place in the modern world.” Yet there is no sign as to what sort of problem their migration might mean for them, making their cause vague at best and frankly nonsensical at worst. It’s almost as if the game needed villains but no one bothered to give them something reasonable to pursue.

One of the key lessons in writing fiction is “show, don’t tell,” and in a video game you can use the environment, character animations and even the voice acting to give players important information without drowning them in minutes-long blocks of exposition…which is exactly what Syberia 3 does, the English voice cast not even keeping the emotional intensity throughout, resulting in a monotone that shows just how bored the performers were.

Sure, delight me with 5 minutes of exposition, please!

There is a scene where the daughter of the local clockwork engineer tells you about a nuclear disaster that happened on another town and how the drunkard captain of the large ferry you see rusting at port left hundreds to die there. It could’ve been a simple short conversation giving you the important bits and perhaps even use some camera work to show the state of the captain, but instead you must listen to her drone on, everyone getting increasingly bored.

But to be honest, my greatest complaints when it comes to Syberia 3’s writing are with the characterisation of the Youkols and the wasted story potential.

Youkols, master artisans, great merchants…complete morons when travelling

On the first one, I’m used to dealing with bumbling companions and useless NPCs, but the Youkols take that to a suicidal level of stupidity, often willing to take courses of action that would ensure their demise if it weren’t for the main character taking charge. How did these people do their migrations before?

In Syberia 2 they were skilled and wise and when you read of past Youkols in the Olympia journal in Syberia 3, you read of some amazing members of the tribe which constructed secret tunnels and hid them from the authorities all while being overworked to death in the construction of a new Olympic stadium.

Yes, there’s a giant squid battle…and yes, it’s incredibly dumb

Where is that ingenuity? It doesn’t add up. There is a clear difference between the Youkol of the past game, those you hear of and the Youkols while trading and crafting, and the Youkol when travelling on their migration. It’s almost as if riding drained their intellect. They are morons.

On the other point, even if we skip the purposeless villains, we still have so many threads open and discarded for no reason. A detective shows up at the beginning, intent on taking Kate back, but after a quick escape, her vanishes from the plot, even though he mentions people are looking for Kate for a variety of crimes, up to and including embezzlement.

Environments look great

While Kate is getting the Youkol transportation, they show the villainous Doctor Olga using hypnosis to plant suggestions in the spirit guide’s mind, particularly on giving up on the quest and taking their tribe back north and settle, because “nomad bad” apparently. Yet, this never plays out, he never acts out and purposely tries to derail the migration. He simply does what they all do, point to the player character and ask you to fix things, because they know it’s a video game and thus they must be useless.

Now that I mention all of this, I think of something else. What happened to the setting? Syberia 1 & 2 are clockwork steampunk wonders. It’s an industrial world, where the greatest advance are clockwork automatons. Hell, Hans’ train is another technological marvel. Yet in Syberia 3, the detective has a cellphone, he uses zip-ties to hold Kate for a microsecond and the villains have Helicopters and AK-47s. What the hell happened to this setting between Syberia 2 and 3? Did Kate sleep for 50 years in her coma? Have some consistency please!

So many visual glitches though

The first two games in the series are point & click adventure games but Syberia 3 is a 3rd person adventure where you control the character directly, be it with mouse & keyboard or as they recommend, as Gamepad. I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to PC games and tend to play them all in Keyboard & Mouse configuration, but I gave up with Syberia 3, as all puzzles and interactions feature gestures, such as pulling or turning wheels, and they’re so badly implemented on the mouse that in some cases they become impossible if you don’t have the gamepad, and in some really bad ones, even the gamepad will have you struggling.

At one instance, I was using the gamepad to pull on some levers, shifting gears for an ice-breaker to avoid stalling the engine, and it took me many retries because on pulling down the stick, the game didn’t properly recognise the action and slid left and right before ever considering I wanted it to go down, adding to my frustration.

Best puzzle in the game!

Puzzles for the most part are of the inventory variety and very straightforward, without many curveballs to be honest. If I didn’t know the solution of a puzzle at any given moment, it was only due to not having the right item, not because I missed the logic. While it does take from the difficulty of the puzzles, it does prevent the usual issues of trying everything with everything else, which is something I remember doing in the first two instalments of the Syberia series.

My favourite puzzle is one on reflecting light sources to different destinations and I absolutely adored it and wished the game had spent more time with this kind of challenge rather than depending on inventory-based puzzles. This one puzzle is the most memorable of the entire game.

Snow Ostriches are weird

Visually it’s a mixed bag. The character models are ugly and stiff. If you’ve read my reviews before, you know visuals aren’t ever a point of much criticism as I don’t really care that much about them, but it really struck me just how stiffly the characters moved and how low the quality of the character models was, except for their faces. Faces have detail but hands, legs and fingers have such messy textures that I seriously spent five minutes staring at one of the evil doctors’ fingernails.

But as is tradition in the Syberia series, the environments are gorgeous, with intricate details that tell you so much about the world and its people that it baffles me how they still went with the heavy-handed writing. I love the dilapidated Baranour, with its radioactive zones, the homely yet troubled Valsembor and its dirty clinic with a surprisingly pristine lobby, showing you that the entrance to the building is all about keeping up appearances, to make people believe nothing is wrong.

Evil-looking doctor is evil

The music is another strong point. The environmental music is strong throughout the game and the main theme is just amazing, a beautiful melody accompanied by strong harmonies. Of the entire soundtrack, I love that track the most.

I mentioned the issues with the voice cast above, but it’s not just the monotone exposition dump issue. There is also a severe lack of consistency when it comes to accents. They’re all over the place and no one speaks with a regional accent save for the Youkols, and only because they speak in broken English. Unless we assume they’re all speaking in Russian and the game just plays it in English—or the original French—it marks a severe flaw in voice direction.

Having said so, Kate Walker’s performer Sharon Mann is the strongest part of it all, never missing a beat and pretty much slipping comfortably back into character. I just wish she and her character had a better ending to their adventure rather than another open one that leaves most plot threads open, particularly Kate’s fate.

Doctor Evil is watching

Camera glitches are so common in this game

It’s easier than ever to try everything with everything!

The technology of the setting has progressed in leaps and bounds since Syberia 2

Valsembor is a village of clones.

Foreshadowing right there!

Stairs can become invisible walls at any given time

Love that painting by the way

Gamepad or mouse, this one’s a nightmare

Dog or Ostrich, it’s freaky either way

You’ll have problems even with the gamepad!

Chain goes under the skin, sure…

More camera/visual glitches, superimpose camera feeds. Great…

Even good ol’ Oscar is back

Conclusion

I had big hopes for Syberia 3, but what I found was a messy game that doesn’t seem sure of what story it’s trying to tell and struggles to tell what it has. Characterisation is clumsy and uneven, the ending leaves you disappointed and even the setting seems to have undergone a transformation, and not a welcome one. The gameplay is good enough, but even one great puzzle can’t make up for all its conceptual issues.

TMA SCORE:

2.5/5 – Average!

#Syberia3, a game brought down by poor writing. Our review.

#Syberia3, a game brought down by poor writing. Our review. We thought Kate Walker’s journey was over after bringing Hans to meet with the Mammoths, but after a rough time, she’s embarking on another quest, to help the Youkols reach their promised land in…

#Adventure #Average #Benoit Sokal #Gaming #Kate Walker #Microids #Oscar #PC #Review #Steam #Syberia #Syberia 2 #Syberia 3 #Video game #Youkol

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