#idk why my brain said RV AU but it did

[tiny-huts]

The Neverwinter crew gets no love and it's so sad because I'm obsessed with every single one of them and love just a god awful, falling apart at the seams road trip. Open your hearts people

[creampuffqueen]

The Most Magical Place- Chapter One

a/n: alright everyone, here it is! A random pet project that just popped into my brain one day. This is a TLC modern au, plus gen 2, where they all go to Disney World together. Chaos. If this isn’t your thing, sorry? Idk don’t read it then. But I’m excited that I was able to finish the first chapter! Now, the characters mention a lake house a few times, and basically there’s another fic in the same universe I’m working on, but haven’t been as successful at writing full chapters. So hopefully that will come out one day as well! For now, I hope you enjoy this!

~~~~

“Hey, sorry we’re late.” Cinder laughed as she entered the virtual meeting, the faces of all her friends loading up. 

“Badar’s teething right now, and with all his crying Peony couldn’t sleep.” Kai explained further.

“It’s no problem, guys.” Scarlet’s red hair was loose as she laid on her bed, Wolf resting his head on her shoulder. In another frame, Winter was doing the same to Jacin, while in the third Thorne had an arm wrapped around Cress while she nursed their newest little one.

“Speaking of babies, can I say hi to Cassie?” Kai grinned.

Thorne chuckled and tipped the camera, while Cress smiled and covered herself up so all they could see was the baby.

Cassiopeia Autumn Thorne, they called her. A big name for such a tiny baby. Everything about her screamed Cress, except for her hair being the same light brown as her father’s.

“Cress, she’s so precious.” Cinder cooed, as if the infant could hear her through the camera. Little Cassie was obviously nearly asleep, her eyes closed as she suckled.

Thorne tilted the camera away again, and the conversation dissolved into laughter as the friends recounted stories of the day, or the week, or the month.

“I swear, I have never seen a child with less self-preservation skills!” Scarlet said, though her tone was teasing and she rolled her eyes. “It’s like I turn around for one second and suddenly Baylor’s dancing on the roof.”

“Yesterday she started a tree-climbing contest and got both of her brothers stuck in a tree.” Wolf sighed. Scarlet hummed softly, combing her fingers gently through her husband’s hair.

“Well last week Peony tried to slide down the banister while holding Badar. If I hadn’t walked out of my room when I did I could have had two kids in the hospital!” Kai said. 

Winter nodded from her perch, which had become Jacin’s lap. “The kids are restless. It’s getting into the springtime and all they want to do is play outside. It’s a miracle if I can get Evret to focus on his schoolwork.”

“Spring break is coming up for us in about a month, luckily.” Scarlet told the group. “But we don’t have anything big planned, so hopefully the kids aren’t too upset.”

“What dates are your spring break?” Cress asked. “Maybe we can drive over to your place for a day or two.”

“Does that mean I get to hold that baby?” Scarlet chuckled.

As if she knew she was being talked about, Cassie gurgled over the camera, causing both Scarlet and Wolf to start cooing at her.

“Hold that thought, Scarlet. I’m going to go put her down.” Cress stood and walked out of the room, rocking her daughter gently in her arms. 

“You have spring break next month, too?” Winter said, brow furrowing. “We don’t all usually have the same spring break.”

“Ours is next month as well.” Cinder added. She pulled out her phone and opened the calendar app, showing the week that was highlighted in green. 

“Yeah, those are our break dates.” Scarlet’s voice was almost confused as she continued. “We’ve never all had spring break at the same time before.”

Before she could finish her thought, Cress came back in the room, arms no longer full of baby. 

“All three of us have spring break the same week.” Winter informed her. “That never happens.”

“So, are you saying you want to do something all together?” Thorne asked. “Because that’s kind of what it sounds like you’re saying.”

“Do you not want to do something together?” Jacin snorted. 

“You are putting words into my mouth.” Thorne stated, crossing his arms playfully. “That is not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying?” 

“I’m saying,” Thorne continued, “That we might have had some plans for that week.”

“But Cress, didn’t you say you could come drive up and see us?” Wolf questioned.

“Well, the plans aren’t solid ones.” Cress shrugged. “But, we thought that me might take the kids to Disney this spring before it got too full with the summer crowd.”

“Oh, I love Disney World!” Winter laughed. “Cinder and I took the big kids a few years back, and we had so much fun!”

“Yeah, fun.” Jacin retorted. “Veda had a meltdown every single day because she wanted to buy all of the toys. That park is just a giant Disney advertisement.”

“Okay, but Veda was also five years old.” Kai said to the computer screen. “If we went again it would probably be a lot more fun.”

“We’ve never been to Disney World.” Wolf stated thoughtfully. “It’s just always so busy on the farm.”

“Couldn’t you just get Émelie and Iko to watch it for a week?” Winter said helpfully. 

“Well, we could, but what are we even talking about anymore?” Scarlet asked. 

“All of us going to Disney World together!”

There was a long pause in the conversation. All of the friends on the group call nervously glanced at each other, as if gauging their reactions. 

But finally, Scarlet spoke up again.

“We can’t. Paying for seven people going to Disney- it’s just not possible.”

“Hey, resident rich guy here.” Kai said. He normally hated bringing it up, just how well-off he and Cinder were. But now-

“Kai, you don’t have to do that.” Wolf sighed. “Besides, the triplets are little right now, it would probably be overwhelming.”

“Well, I don’t think that Disney is ready for Baylor, personally.” Scarlet joked, trying to lighten the mood.

“No, I’m serious.” Kai told them. Glancing over at Cress and Thorne, he repeated himself. “And I’d pay for your family, too, if you needed it.”

“Why Disney, though?” Cinder snorted. 

“Because I love Disney!” Her husband protested. Cinder laughed and leaned into him, smiling when Kai automatically kissed her head. “And besides, we haven’t all done something together since last year. I mean, Cress and Thorne had time to have a baby before we got all of our families together.”

“Okay, the whole having-a-baby thing wasn’t planned.” Thorne chuckled. “Buy Kai’s right. We haven’t all been together with the kids since the lake house last year.”

“As fun as that was,” Jacin added, while Winter curled around his back to start braiding his blond hair, “I could do with not sharing a house with a dozen children.”

“Same.” Cinder agreed. “I swear, every morning there were at least three kids knocking down our door.”

Cress had a thoughtful look on her face, her blue eyes suddenly distant. Cinder opened her mouth to ask what she was thinking, but Cress’s husband beat her to it.

“Are you planning something?”

“Maybe.” Cress said, almost dreamily. Thorne glanced back at his camera.

“I’m gonna put Cress to bed so she can at least get some sleep while she’s planning.”

“I’m going to be up in a few hours anyway to feed Cassie.” Cress argued, pulling away suddenly and stepping out of the room. She was only gone for a second before she was back, this time with her laptop.

“Ok Cress.” Kai spoke. “You let us know what you’re thinking in the morning, okay?”

The small woman nodded, typing furiously at speeds that made her hands seem like a blur. Thorne said his own goodnight and logged off.

“Well, for the record, I would love to do another vacation with all of our families.” Kai said. “Even if it’s not to Disney World.”

~~~~

Cress called them all three days later, a group video chat from her phone while she walked around her RV, Cassie strapped to her chest and Sage on her hip. 

“Okay, so I did some research- Astra, feet off the couch!- and I managed to find a way for all of us to take a Disney trip together!”

“We’re going to Disney?” Carson cheered from the background.

Cress ignored his question, instead walking over to the cupboard and pulling out a box of crackers, somehow balancing a little kid, a phone, and a snack at the same time, all with a baby on her chest. 

“Cress, that’s great!” Winter grinned. Kai had a similar reaction, and both Wolf and Scarlet looked fairly excited. For Cinder and Jacin, however, they were going to need some more convincing. 

“I got a trip planner to do some calculations and make some suggestions, and it turns out that we can make it a six day trip, and still have three days to spend time at home during the break!”

“So I’d have to take a week off of work, basically?” Jacin asked. Cinder couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not. 

“Jacin, don’t be a party pooper!” Winter protested. “You were already going to take spring break off so we could do something fun as a family!”

“Mommy!” The loud voice came from Scarlet’s end, and the redheaded woman turned around just in time to have her triplets come crashing into her. 

“Okay, I’ve gotta go.” She said to everyone. “I think that it would be fun for us all to go to Disney World together. Just text or email us the details so we know what everyone else is doing.”

“We’re going to Disney World?” Alix asked, just before the call ended. 

“Here, I’ll email everyone what I found out, and we can decide what to do.” Cress told them. She set Sage down on the couch with Astra, handing them both the box of crackers she’d procured. 

And before Cinder could add anything else, Cress had ended the call and plunged her screen into darkness. 

~~~~

“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.” Cinder muttered, yet again, as she and Kai wrapped up two small presents. 

“C’mon, it’s going to be fun!” Kai insisted, yet again.

Cinder tied the bow on Badar’s present and rolled her eyes. “Badar won’t remember a single thing that goes on the entire trip.”

“But Peony will. And we’ll take tons of pictures so he can look back on it when he’s older.”

Cinder just sighed and put the present on top of Peony’s. 

Somehow, in the last month, all of their plans had fallen into place and everything had been confirmed. They were going to Disney World for spring break, and taking all of their kids with them. 

Cress, Kai, and Winter had been by far the most enthusiastic, Scarlet, Wolf, and Thorne admitting they were excited. Cinder and Jacin, however, were insistent that it was going to be terrible, trying to wrangle 14 children of varying ages around Disney’s various parks. 

Jacin and Cinder had been mostly ignored in their protests. 

And the day before, Cress had mailed them all a few things. Their Magic Bands, mainly, so they didn’t have to carry money around the park and could access their Fast Passes more easily. 

But also included in the package: shirts.

Light blue t-shirts that read on the front “Rampion Crew Disney Trip” and said the person’s name on the back. When Cress had told her about making matching shirts, Cinder had thought it was a joke. 

The shirts were sort of cute, at least. The light blue color would go well with everyone’s complexion. 

Years ago, when they’d all met in college, it was Thorne who had dubbed their friend group “The Rampion Crew”. The Rampion was an old RV he’d bought, and during the summer they would travel around in it, drinking and laughing and having an absolute blast. 

Thorne and Cress had fixed up the Rampion when they got married and now lived in it, somehow managing to fit four children comfortably inside. They traveled all over, homeschooling their kids on the road. 

The Rampion Crew was a bit of an inside joke now. All of their children owned a shirt that said “Member of the Rampion Crew since-” and then their birthdays. So Cinder supposed it was only fitting that the Rampion Crew made a reappearance for their Disney trip. 

“Mom, what’s for breakfast?” Peony popped her head inside their bedroom, and Cinder could see that she held Badar on her hip. 

“Fix yourselves some oatmeal real quick and we’ll be out in a minute.” Kai told her, hiding the presents behind his back.

Peony nodded and walked away, talking to Badar as she brought him to the kitchen. 

Kai fussed at the wrapping for a moment longer, making sure everything was perfect, before he and Cinder walked out into the kitchen, joining their children.

Badar was in his high chair, sucking on a spoon as Peony put the bowls of oatmeal in the microwave. Cinder put the two boxes down on the table and got out her phone, pulling up the camera.

Peony sang to herself, her little brother banging his spoon on his high chair in anticipation. When the microwave beeped and the oatmeal was taken out, Peony turned around to stir in some butter and cream when she noticed the presents.

“Who are those for? Is it someone’s birthday?”

“Nope.” Kai grinned. “They’re for you and your brother.”

Peony stopped stirring the oatmeal. She picked up the larger box, seeing the tag with her name on it. Glancing up at her parents one last time, as if making sure she wasn’t doing anything wrong, she pulled off the bow and the wrapping paper. 

Badar peeked over shoulder, still sucking on the spoon while Peony opened up the box.

Inside, the white Magic Band with Mickey Mouse decals was on top of the neatly folded blue shirt. Peony lifted both out, looking them over curiously.

Cinder could see the exact moment her daughter realized what was going on. Her brown eyes widened, her mouth falling open into a little ‘o’ shape.

“Are we going to Disney?”

“We are!” Kai cheered, and Peony’s surprise dissolved instantly into excitement. Cinder was able to snap a few photos of her daughter jumping around, shouting happily. 

Badar, though he didn’t understand what was going on, was still excited by his sister, and he banged the spoon on his chair and screamed with her. 

“BoBo! We’re going to Disney World!” Peony said, using her nickname for her brother. Badar cooed at her, and she pulled him up to kiss his little cheeks. 

It took a few more minutes for everyone to calm down and eat, and Cinder sent the photos to the group chat, with ‘looks like someone’s excited’.

Minutes later, other pictures and videos flooded the chat. The funniest was Scarlet’s text, who sent a video of Baylor and Alix fighting over the Merida dress Scarlet had bought for the triplets.

Seeing the excitement of all the kids, from the biggest to the littlest, was making Cinder reconsider her standpoint, just a bit.

Maybe taking 14 kids to Disney World wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

[gutterballgt]

This is a spin on the detective AU thing, except this is more American mid-west or something (i'm not from the US so please forgive my horrible sense of direction). This is more in vein of 'Alice Isn't Dead'. I was listening to 'In the Pines' in the album Dark Country 2 and 5, and it just struck me. A tired, jaded Raleigh searching for a missing Chuck across the country? (part 1/?) - lanzi

Raleigh doesn’t even need to be a detective. Chuck just upsand disappears one day, and a few weeks later maybe Raleigh just packs up andtries to follow him. OR Raleigh is assigned the case of missing Chuck, andfalls in love with the ‘idea’ of Chuck on the way, and then gradually discoverssome sort of big huge secret. IDK I just like kind-hearted Raleigh on anever-ending quest across the wide country of America, trying to find someonethat might be dead, and (part 2/?) - lanzi

Meeting the characters of the movie along his long trip. Hissearch leads him to some seriously strange places and people and other bizarrethings — an recently-abandoned cabin in the woods, a cave in a pine forestwhere the sun never shines, codenames (insert jaeger names here!!), warningsand etc etc etc. I don’t feel equipped to write something like this since I ama city girl and have 0 experience with the country and open spaces and have noidea how (part 3/?) - LANZI

to capture the feeling of being forever on the go. ALSO thisstory might be suited to some strange supernatural hints too!! who /knows/ whattook Chuck? or even what Chuck /is/? And there could be suspicious clues like'don’t lie to me’ and 'where did you sleep last nigh?’ and vaguely threateningsentences like 'in the pines, the sun never shines.’ HERE HAVE THIS IDEA (part4/4) - lanzi

Heh, I’d like it more if more of it was about Raleigh actually finding Chuck and them trekking through the world together (I can’t help it; I love the way they play off each other when they’re together), but I get what you’re going for. I don’t know “Alice Isn’t Dead”, but I’m sure someone on here does and is currently going “Oh, FUCK YES!” and already making plans.

Frankly, maybe it’s because I’ve lived so close to it all my life (Midwesterner, here) and know that so much of it was romanticized to the point of straining credulity, but I’ve never been fascinated by the American West. *shrug* I don’t hate it or anything, but it’s never been something I’ve yearned for or daydreamed about. I’ve been on a road trip through most of it in an RV, and… meh. It has beautiful and strange scenery in some places, but I hate the sun and hate being hot and pretty much my favorite part was talking to all the Native Americans who were willing to talk with me. They told the best, truest stories, which was probably why I never really got the appeal.

That said, SOMEONE will surely be drawn in by this plot and hopefully write it for you! There’s a lot of mica-glinting truth to be mined from the Great Emptiness out West, so… someone wanna take this one?

[Edited to add: I just re-read that first part of the ask again, and MAN, am I tired today! You didn’t say American West. You said American MIDwest, which is my freaking backyard. *sheepish* Not that we’re any less falsely romanticized and a bunch of terrible bigots who exploited the natives easily as much as anywhere else in the States... *sigh*... so... ugh. ANYWAY.

That said, I still feel like someone else will be able to capture the feeling of this one better because I can definitely see Raleigh wandering alone... but I don’t want him to! *grin* I want them to be together!

And I’m seriously getting a “Horse With No Name” vibe now, and I think that means my brain has officially given up for the day. Gah!]