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victorluvsalice · 1 year

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Valicer Polyship Week, Day One: Road Trip (Modern AU)

Hi folks! Welcome to Valicer Polyship Week! Where every day this week you will get a short Valicer fic based on one of the prompts from the official Polyship Week list, courtesy of @polyshipweek! Today is Day One, and our prompt is “Road Trip” in the Modern AU universe (where Victor, Alice, and Smiler are all human and meet in college in the modern day, or close enough to). This prompt actually ended up being more inspiring than I first expected -- mostly because, after writing it and looking at some of my other prompts for the week, I realized that, completely by coincidence, I’d made all the odd-numbered days (One, Three, Five, and Seven) Modern AU -- and that all of them felt like they were part of the same story. So I decided they were! :D So yeah, this is now the first in a series of stories set during a road trip around England that Victor, Alice, and Smiler take a couple of years into their relationship. (The other prompts are split between the Soulmate AU and the Valicer In The Dark AU I expanded up on last week -- I’ll go into more detail on those when we get there!)

As for this particular story, my specific inspiration was the mention of “car snacks” in the post expanding on all of the possible prompts for Day One and Two, and remembering some road trips I took with my family down to Florida to visit Universal Studios as a kid. Specifically, how much I enjoyed getting Combos (the cheesy pretzel snack) while on those road trips. I figured Alice might like them, and so this fic was born. (And then had to be quickly updated to indicate that these are imports when I confirmed that Combos are made by an American company. :p Look, I had a specific vision in mind, so give me that this random petrol station has the snacks, okay?)

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“Hey, Alice – catch!”

Alice turned, just in time to intercept the bag tossed her way. “These are – ‘Combos?’” she said, reading the name printed across the front.

“Yeah – they’re little pretzel tubes filled with cheese,” Smiler informed her, holding up another, identical bag. “American brand, so whoever works here must be a big fan to import ‘em. I know you like pretzels, so. . .”

“Ah – well, I’ll certainly give them a try,” Alice said, turning the bag over in her hands to read the back. “Marvelously unhealthy for you, I see. . .oh, and there’s other flavors to boot. Pizzeria, Buffalo Blue Cheese – Sweet and Salty Caramel Crème??”

“Really?” Smiler checked the back of their own bag. “Huh! Well, hey, chocolate-covered pretzels are pretty good, so don’t knock ‘em til you eat ‘em.”

“I haven’t tried those either, so I can’t give an informed opinion,” Alice replied. “Maybe Victor might be up for them, though.”

“Might be up for what?” Victor asked, appearing at the end of the aisle holding what Alice suspected was at least one of every candy bar this petrol station offered.

“Up for – uh, actually, I don’t know if you’d have room for caramel crème pretzels,” Smiler corrected themselves, noting his load. “So where’s the chocolate for the rest of us?”

“Ha ha – I intend to share,” Victor said, putting his nose in the air. “And this is meant to last us a few days, you know.”

“Oh, you believe that, do you?” Alice said teasingly. “I know what you and Smiler are like when it comes to sugar – that pile isn’t going to last the hour.”

“I dunno, I think we could stretch it out to two if we really controlled ourselves,” Smiler replied, smirking. They checked their watch. “Anyway, we gotta wrap up and get going if we wanna reach Alton before sunset.”

“Not before we get drinks,” Victor informed them, grinning. “They’ve got an off-brand Slushy machine on the counter, and they offer apple, banana, and strawberry flavors!”

“What – you must be kidding,” Alice said.

“No, I’m serious! I mean, obviously I don’t know if any of them actually taste like the fruit, but. . .”

“Only one way to find out!” Smiler declared, grabbing a bag of what Alice suspected were Sweet and Salty Caramel Crème Combos. “Lead the way, mutual boyfriend!”

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#valicer polyship week #PolyshipWeek23 #valicer #fanfic #human smiler AU #road trip #the valicer road trip #victor van dort #alice liddell #smiler alton #the smiler #corpse bride #American McGee's Alice #yes of COURSE they had to be going to Alton XD #I don't know if they're going to Alton Towers SPECIFICALLY #it's hard to know how to handle the theme park when you've humanized all its roller coasters #but they're at least going to the nearby village #and yes Sweet and Salty Caramel Creme is a real Combos flavor #I was surprised too #we only ever got the cheesy pretzel kind when I was a kid #and I had to make a joke about Victor and his bottomless stomach and sweet tooth XD #and give them all their favorite flavors in frozen slush form #just them having fun picking up some treats before getting on the road again #hope you enjoy!#queued

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superfitbabe · 7 years

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BOY OHHHHHHHHH BOY. What. A. Day. I can already say that I probably ate the same amount of fat this day that I usually consume within a week’s span at college. See, that’s the benefit of living in college–you’re forced to stick to the healthy basic staples, you walk everywhere, you live on a budget, and you pretty much are on top of your game because you’re restricted from all the crazy vegan junk food options! Well, let me iterate that every bite was absolutely worth it!

If you have never heard of this event, the Vegan Street Fair is basically a hugely food-filled and outdoor walk loaded with vendors of all kinds of vegan restaurant chains, vegan brands, influencers, companies, online foods, and food trucks! There are three each year–one in North Hollywood during the spring, one in New York during the summer, and a night fair in North Hollywood during the fall! This year, I attended the fair on March 25th, and I had the time of my life. I cannot wait to be sharing my fully loaded recap of this crazy day with all of you, so let’s get started!

First off, I had to stop by Vegetaryn’s booth to greet Taryn herself, Jasmine of sweetsimplevegan, and Amanda from applesandamandas! They’re all such sweethearts who have inspired me to hop on this vegan journey myself! (P.S. check out Vegetaryn’s site where I got my If Looks Could Kale shirt from a few posts ago!!)

Next up, Yvonne’s Vegan Kitchen! I encountered Yvonne’s blog The Eclectic Kitchen a long time ago in my Instagram journey, and her culinary skills are absolutely phenomenal. She has the most beautiful feed, cookbook, and slew of recipes that will make you HUNGRY and put any Food Network recipe to shame. I ended up buying a chocolate chai cookie that was completely gluten free and made from garbanzo bean flour!

Okay, I contemplated posting about this next dish because looks are deceiving. Now I thought that vegan chicken tikka masala sounded delicious, so I waited a good ten minutes in the line of the Pooja’s Cuisine of India booth to purchase a combo of vegan chicken tikka masala, saag curry, rice and garlic naan. Probably the WORST curry I’ve ever tasted. The saag was salty, nothing like authentic Indian saag, and the tikka masala sauce was watery, bland, and I got five teeeeeeeeny tiny chicken pieces. So yeah, 3 out of 10.

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Anyhow, by that time, I ran into a couple of my vegan Instagram friends, one of them being at the Yoga-Urt booth! While we waited for our soft serve, I hopped across to Cruciferous L.A.’s booth and got a General Tso’s Brussel sprouts sampler of battered Brussel sprouts with the most delicious sauce, chiles, and raw cabbage underneath! Definitely made up for the horror of the Indian food combination that I had earlier, and most certainly prompted me to find a General Tso’s bottle next time I go grocery shopping!

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While waiting in line at Yoga-Urt, my friend Cory and I also encountered of the VeganFatKid! If you don’t know who he is, he’s basically the king of vegan restaurant hopping! I swear, you’ll be inspired to visit all of the best vegan places in L.A. thanks to his feed! I was a little too shy to ask for a picture, but being the sweetheart he is, Cory asked him for me, so we all got to take a photo together! After sampling a couple flavors, we ordered our soft serve in mini cups! Cory got the salted caramel serve and I chose the golden milk rose flavor made with turmeric! Swear to the vegan ice cream gods, this was HEAVENLY. No, BOTH WERE!

I quickly stopped by AFC Soy Foods to taste some mini fried tofu poppers and chose to garnish chipotle barbecue sauce as well. So I absolutely LOVE tofu–heck it’s one of my top three favorite foods–but it’s easy to mess up. Luckily, I adored every single bite of these tofu poppers with the crunchiness on the outside, the softness of the tofu flesh, and the sweet n’ salty and spicy barbecue sauce created the perfect medley of texture and flavors! This was probably one of my favorite samplers yet!

Next was a pit stop of a bakery I’ve never heard of until I actually saw people with these cute little dessert kabobs of gorgeous mini cupcakes stacked on top of one another. I asked a few girls where I could find them, and they pointed to Baby Love Sweetery! I ended up picking a three-cupcake kabob with a unicorn dreams cupcake, a GF churros n’ creme cake, and a GF chocolate salted caramel cake! All three cakes were to die for each in their own way, so it was so hard to pick a favorite! The GF cupcakes were gummier in texture and the unicorn dreams cake was soft and bready like any other perfect cupcake. Delicious! I ended up reuniting with my Instagram friend Cindy who came to join us in the food-ventures! How incredible is that?!

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Three words to describe the next stop: Sweet. Fried. Deliciousness. If you live somewhere with a Donut Friend, then you know what I mean. Cindy got the Strawberry Lab donut filled with strawberries and whipped cream, Cory ordered the mini Compassion Fruit donut, and I picked the Cinnamineral donut! All of these donuts were incredible, but the Cinnamineral has such a quality taste that reminded me of my favorite breakfasts. Guess you could say that I was unfairly biased. Regardless, it was one of the best unhealthy donuts I’ve had in such a long time–sometimes the real deal just blows everything away!

As a detox from those dangerously delicious donuts, we stopped by Ab Sorbets because we were too intrigued by everyone else’s sorbets that we’re served in lemon and orange peels! Cory got the guava sorbet, Cindy picked the peach sorbet, and I decided on the strawberry flavor! Usually I’m more of a dessert-flavor person, but I was absolutely blown away by how creamy, soft, naturally sweet and delectable this was! By far this was one of my favorite treats of the entire trip!

The second to last stop was Treats by B, a vegan bakery that had a spinning wheel with different options to possibly get! I ended up getting the free mystery prize, which was a mini banana bread loaf with walnuts in the cutest bag! The loaf itself was perfectly mild, sweet, crunchy from the walnuts, soft, and aromatic from the bananas! I could resist sharing a couple of pieces with Cindy and Cory, and they seriously loved it as well! I’m certainly finding a way to recreate this recipe back at home!

Finally, I quickly peeked at the Orgain vendor to try out their chocolate nutritional protein shake because I was incredibly parched! Of course, it didn’t disappoint. The shake’s silky and rich texture resembled that of chocolate milk–it was divine! The extra protein was an added benefit as well!

While walking back to where my dad would pick me up, we spotted two somewhat familiar faces from YouTube: Anji and Ryan from HappyHealthyVegan! While I am not subscribed to them, I have seen them in others’ videos, and Cory and Cindy were both fans and friends with them.We ended up taking some cool photos and had an amazing encounter. The couple is so sweet!

To wrap things up, I honestly felt so liberated and open to everything. I said hi to everyone with a friendly face and ate whatever the heck I wanted. Years ago, whenever I’d walk into a convention, I wouldn’t pass on anything that seemed appealing, but I did have an estimate of calories looming in my head to make sure I didn’t “overdo” anything. However, with these kinds of events, it’s a bit of a burden to have to think about the numbers that go into your mouth.

As long as you’re listening to your body–which I absolutely did–then that’s all that matters. Sure, I had a shizzle ton of fat and sugar, but I also healed myself mentally because I said yes to almost everything that I’d avoid in the past. Come on. Nobody would pass on that cupcake kabob anyways.

Vegan Street Fair 2017 BOY OHHHHHHHHH BOY. What. A. Day. I can already say that I probably ate the same amount of fat this day that I usually consume within a week's span at college.

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