#come together america
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
Fourth of July is so funny cuz it’s the one time every year that people decades past their hetalia phase will wake up in a cold sweat and go “there’s only one character I can draw for this day… 👁️👁️💦”
#the haunting sounds of the American theme sneaking up on them the closer it gets to the fourth#like the jaws theme but it’s an eagle screech#eagles don’t even screech the usa’s a sham#this is a very usa centric post#I dunno maybe people in other countries wake up in a cold sweat on their foundation days and go#no… it’s time 👁️👁️💦#shoutout to all my American Hetalia fans waking up today and remembering that they’re hetalia fans#we will get through this together#I hope I get to glimpse fireworks this year#dude last year was such a bummer#I wanted to do sparklers in the backyard but no one wanted to join me so it was just me doing em myself while my family kept trying to#convince me to come back inside :(((#then my dad went hey this year we should get fireworks#NO#no one can have fun cuz you guys were mean to me last year >:(#slash j btw it’s not a big deal I’m just salty lol#when you’re the only one full of whimsy in your family 😔#happy birthday America#get your shit together#❤️🤍💙#hetalia#aph america#hws america#alfred f jones
165 notes
·
View notes
Text
I got the Canada and America nendoroid figures lol
#don’t question my financial decisions please#I needed both of them to be together#I hate that they’re sold separately they should come in one box that says ‘do not separate’#hetalia#hetalia canada#hetalia america#hetalia nendoroid#hws canada#hws america#na bros
51 notes
·
View notes
Text
guys. guys. what if all the americans just decided to go robespierre on his ass. off with his head. please.
#minus the whole becoming the capitalist you sought to destroy#but like. yeah!! guys. if you all came together i’m sure you could make it happen#if i come over there who’s helping me organize this. please#america#robespierre#french revolution#guillotine#off with his head#please. god.#us elections#american elections#us politics#tw politics
28 notes
·
View notes
Text
FACTS. now that’s an au i’d love to see
#what comes to mind is everyone teaming up together in an inspiring moment and then just throwing hands#(although. when people fight people it’s fine but when people fight pokémon it’s ugly)#but also like. eyyyyy this is america i’m about to pull up with a glock#goldie plays pokémon black… 2!!!
19 notes
·
View notes
Text
me adding "it builds the economy" to every answer in business class (I have no fucking clue what it means to build the economy)
#business#School#Business memes#But fr what the fuck does it mean to build the economy#Mf it's not a house???? You don't build that shit????#I'm so good at business#Don't come at me for calling it business y'all I'm still in a year where everything sciency and businessy is grouped together into 2 subs#Dunno if imma do accounting or marketing or whatever yet 💔#Hey if y'all Americans can split math into like ninety different flavors we can do the same with science and business#Why are there so many flavors of math in America???#The fuck is calculus????
104 notes
·
View notes
Text
how is sacrificing indigenous people in america by not voting/voting third party going to help palestinians, can i ask?
#free palestine#tagging bc im looking to fight about it actually#im bouta curb stomp all of you#say it with your whole chest while the cameras on that you want to sacrifice indigenous americans for palestianians.#say it with your whole chest that you're willing to let every minorities lives get worse which literally helps#NO ONE BUT THE FUCKING RIGHT#say it with your chest that you're okay with people in america now being too distracted trying to hold together what little remains#of their crumbling fucking lives than to help whoever the fuck in palestine#WHO IS THIS FOR#WHO ARE YOU HELPING#LITERALLY NO ONE BUT YOUR FUCKING EGO AND HOW YOU WANT TO COME OFF.#YOU ARE A WASTE OF SPACE AND TIME AND YOU NEED TO SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT POLITICS FOREVER.#GO SPREAD YOUR ASS ON ONLYFANS IF YOU WANT ATTENTION N POPULARITY SO FUCKING BADLY JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.
16 notes
·
View notes
Text
House Party
(a Fresh Powder in the Pine Trees story)
.
The house is very easy to spot. The building itself doesn’t stand out in any way on this street full of giant, expensive interpretations of log-cabin-chic. Upper Biling is full of this style of architecture. No, it’s the cars in front of it, in both sheer number and apparent condition. Almost none of them were made in the last decade. Almost all of them are plastered with bumper stickers (Wei Ying’s favorite is the white silhouette of a snowboarder on a chairlift that says “Do you even lift?”).
The music is loud enough that the beat can be heard from the driveway, but not loud enough for lyrics. The combined smell of weed and beer filters through the pine trees from, presumably, the back patio, along with wood smoke and happy voices.
Wei Ying and Lan Zhan walk up the stairs to the front door and scrape their feet off on the snow grate to the right of the welcome mat before entering.
It had been surprisingly easy to convince Lan Zhan to come to the Peruvians’ house party once they’d invited him. He hadn’t previously understood that the invitation was open to pretty much all of the employees at Cloud Recesses, including all levels of management. Once Wei Ying told Diego to ask Lan Zhan in person if he was coming (“make it casual as fuck,” he’d said and Diego had nodded along and delivered spectacularly with a “hey, Boss, you like any particular flavor of fizzy waters? I’m stocking up for the party on Tuesday”), Lan Zhan had a very hard time saying no.
Stepping inside, Wei Ying immediately realizes it’s too loud in here for Lan Zhan. Realistically, it’s too loud for Wei Ying, too, but he’s used to it so he’d live with it for the warmth and the friends. Lan Zhan has no problems with the cold so they decide to keep their shoes on, wipe them off on the ratty, pink towel that’s been laid out like a mat for this purpose, and stay off the carpet on their way to the patio -- via the kitchen, of course.
Wei Ying makes a point of saying hi to almost everybody they pass. Quick little greetings, nothing that will drag him into a conversation, but just enough to make his and Lan Zhan’s arrival known.
He finds Ben and David in the kitchen. David points Lan Zhan to the fridge where he pulls out a can of carbonated water, just as Diego had mentioned (loquat flavored, because the man fucking follows through). Ben offers to make Wei Ying a mixed drink, but Wei Ying begs off.
“Nah. Nothing hard for me tonight,” he says.
“Cool, man,” says Ben, entirely unbothered. “Beers are out back!”
The thing about winter parties in a ski town is you never run out of ice.
As they walk out the sliding-glass door to the back patio, they see there is a berm built around one side of the fire pit area with many varied cans of beer sticking out of the snow. It’s super easy to build your own backyard refrigerator as you shovel over the course of the season. And it’s always fun to see what melts out of it when spring rolls around.
It’s quieter out here, but still very much part of the party. There’s an Alexa speaker playing the same music as is playing inside and a handful of other people out here either to smoke or to escape the noise. They snag a couple of chairs by the beer wall and sit down next to Remy and Elizabeth. They’re both instructors in Juniors’ Club so Wei Ying pulls them into conversation easily, placing Lan Zhan between them and himself so he feels included. And he is included. The women ask him his opinions, they prompt stories from him. They don’t make him feel weird either for being there or for not being there before. It’s good. It’s easy.
The fire is close enough that Wei Ying doesn’t even need to keep his hands in his pockets. He gestures when he talks and it only gets worse the more he drinks. The vanilla porter he’d grabbed when they first sat down is almost gone already and he contemplates his next drink. He’s just decided to see what the fuck Luponic Distortion tastes like when he hears his name.
“Hey, Wei Ying,” it might be Nick from Rentals, “is that an 805 by your head?”
Wei Ying turns his head to survey the cans in the snow, finds the black and silver label he’s looking for, and tosses it easily into maybe-Nick’s waiting hands.
“Thanks, man!”
“You got it!”
Wei Ying turns to Lan Zhan and grins. “Usually I get tipped for that kind of service,” he says with a wink.
“Do you work at a bar?” asks Lan Zhan, head tilting slightly to one side. It’s an absurdly cute look on him.
“Only sometimes. Yanli-jie lets me pick up a shift or two when I ask.”
“Why would you need to ask?”
“She’s not a mind-reader, Lan Zhan.”
Lan Zhan’s eyebrows are unimpressed.
Wei Ying cracks up at just how bitchy he looks. “Okay, sorry, sorry,” he says and then continues, “The resort pays me enough to cover food and rent and to pitch in for the car, but sometimes I want a little extra. So I pick up a shift at the Lotus Tavern and whatever I make in tips, plus some under-the-table hourly, I can spend on whatever I’d like.”
“What kinds of things?”
“Oh, you know what I like, Lan Zhan.”
He’s not sure if he’s matching the heat in Lan Zhan’s eyes or the other way around, but they lock eyes either way. It’s intense.
Wei Ying is so into it.
“Snowboards,” he says finally, still not looking away.
“Mn.”
“Mhm.”
Remy clears her throat subtly. Wei Ying hears it but doesn’t realize it’s directed at him until she says something about her dogs and Wei Ying jolts out of whatever trance Lan Zhan had trapped him in.
“Okay,” he says, “I need another beer.” He stands because suddenly he has all of this energy with nowhere to put it, but realizes that he does not, in fact, need another beer as he’s barely started in on this one, the can still heavy and full in his hand. He doesn’t let that stop his momentum. “Do you want another water or anything, Lan Zhan?”
“I’ll try a beer.”
“You --? You don’t have to. If you don’t want to drink, it’s fine.”
“Can you drive us back?”
“Uh... yeah. I’ll stop after this one,” he says, gesturing with the mostly-full can.
“Then I would like to try a beer.”
“O-okay. Sure. Yeah. What do you want?”
“You’re the bartender. What do you think I’ll like?”
Wei Ying laughs off the flirtation in Lan Zhan’s voice because he is trying, okay? Lan Zhan is stepping outside his comfort zone, even more now, and Wei Ying needs to respect the boundaries that have been set. No matter how hard Lan Zhan wants to make him. It. It, not him. Obviously. Pull yourself together.
Lan Zhan’s lips curl in a tiny, almost-smug smile and Wei Ying knows he’s doing this on purpose. He hates it. He loves it.
“Let’s start you with something a bit mellow. You’ve never had beer before, right?”
“Mn,” Lan Zhan confirms, “I tried baiju once, on my twenty-first. I don’t remember it.”
Wei Ying laughs and says, “Okay. Beer will be easier on you, I think.”
“Mn.”
Wei Ying selects a Fat Tire from the wall and wipes off the top of the can before he hands it to Lan Zhan.
“Alright,” he says after the crack-hiss of the tab being opened, “this is an amber ale. It’s not too hoppy, but it’s not sweet either. It’s a pretty average beer. A good quality, average beer.”
Lan Zhan waits until Wei Ying is finished explaining before he lifts it to his mouth.
He takes a sip -- a tiny sip -- and immediately scrunches up his nose at it.
But he goes again. Another sip, slightly bigger this time. His nose wrinkles only slightly less.
Wei Ying laughs, his smile stretching his cheeks. “You don’t have to like it, Lan Zhan,” he says. “I’ll finish it for you if you don’t want it.”
Something not unlike a pout begins to form between Lan Zhan’s lips and he holds out a finger, “Give me a moment.”
The faces don’t stop over the course of the next few sips, but they don’t seem to impede Lan Zhan’s determination so Wei Ying leaves him to it and drinks his own beer.
He’s adorable, Wei Ying thinks as he watches Lan Zhan, so fucking cute.
The alcohol works fast in him, it seems, as it’s not very long before Lan Zhan begins to slump in his chair. His eyelashes flutter as if trying to stay open. They fail. Wei Ying catches the beer can as it slips from Lan Zhan’s long, loose fingers.
It’s a little bit insane, but Wei Ying thinks Lan Zhan might be asleep.
He lifts the can of Fat Tire and shakes it gently in his hand: half of the beer is still left. Did Lan Zhan really just pass out after half a can of beer? Half a can of pretty tame beer?
Lan Zhan’s lips are slightly parted and, as soon as they are free of the beer, his hands settle clasped together in his lap. The firelight dances across his sleep-slack face and Wei Ying can’t help but stare a little bit in wonder.
He’s aware he should probably wake him. This cannot be what Lan Zhan expected from this night. Not that anybody has even really noticed, but it could be awkward, Wei Ying supposes, to have fallen asleep at a party surrounded by coworkers -- if Lan Zhan is still Lan Zhan and hasn’t realized that he’s One of Us yet.
But just as Wei Ying makes the decision to stop staring and Do Something, Lan Zhan’s eyes blink open.
He looks a little glassy. Wei Ying thinks that maybe he’s just groggy from the surprise nap he just took. But then Lan Zhan looks up at him and Wei Ying knows -- despite the composure he maintains as he rights himself in the chair, despite the perfectly stoic set to his face -- Wei Ying knows immediately that Lan Zhan is -- actually, really, in real life, somehow -- drunk.
It’s in the subtle tilt of his body, leaning toward Wei Ying like he’s leaning into a turn. And then… and then he starts becoming… a little bit… clingy.
It wouldn’t even be noticeable were it anyone but Lan Zhan. Just a few small touches: knees bumping together, elbows, shoulders. Lan Zhan’s full attention focused on Wei Ying. But it’s not obvious to anyone else, it seems, and it’s nice. Wei Ying is enjoying it, possibly a little more than he should. So he’s prepared to just let it ride for the time being. Let Lan Zhan be comfortable with himself for a moment.
That is, until Shawn shows up.
When Shawn walks out onto the patio, it’s clear to Wei Ying that he’s there with a purpose. Wei Ying can even hazard a guess to what that purpose is. He’s not surprised when Shawn spots him and nods before making a bee line for where he’s sitting with Lan Zhan. He is surprised, however, to see Lan Zhan not quite glaring at Shawn as he approaches.
Shawn notices it too and makes a small, uncertain wave of his hand, like he’s trying to convince Lan Zhan that he comes in peace. When nothing changes, Shawn shrugs it off and squats on the other side of Wei Ying’s chair.
Wei Ying knows what he’s going to ask, he knows why he’s getting so close to ask it. The hot chocolate machine in question is still a secret, after all.
“It broke again?” he asks and Shawn nods.
Shawn leans in closer, presumably to give details, and Wei Ying feels Lan Zhan’s hands close around his forearm and bicep. His head whips around so fast, he almost smacks his chin into Shawn’s cheek. Lan Zhan never initiates this kind of touch. It’s jarring and wonderful and so not the time.
Wei Ying turns back to Shawn, schooling his face into a cool nonchalance and trying to block Lan Zhan from his view. He missed whatever details Shawn had given him, but he doubts that it really matters.
“Yeah, man,” he says with an easy smile, “I can take a look on Monday.”
Shawn takes his cue and stands to leave. He says his thanks and grips Wei Ying’s shoulder before he goes. When he does, Wei Ying looks back to Lan Zhan and sees… well…
Since their conversation on the chairlift, Wei Ying has noticed certain changes in Lan Zhan’s behavior. There’s been a playful undercurrent of flirtation. It’s subtle, a look from across the room or a murmured comment by the lockers. This is… not that. This is possessive. Pouty and jealous in a way that seems specifically designed to break Wei Ying into pieces. Hot and suggestive in a way that has Wei Ying’s pulse racing.
Lan Zhan looks like he wants to crawl into Wei Ying’s lap, right now, in front of all these people. And, while Wei Ying would absolutely love that, Lan Zhan has very specifically said that he would not, so Wei Ying needs to… do something. As soon as he can get his brain back online.
“Let’s,” says Wei Ying, giving himself a moment to think, “let’s go for a walk.”
He stands and Lan Zhan looks up at him with eyes like honey. He holds out his hand to help Lan Zhan to his feet and, though Lan Zhan takes it, the man stands with a fluidity and grace that can really only be called seductive. Wei Ying just hopes that he’s the only one to notice. Somehow he doubts that he is.
He pulls Lan Zhan back inside and through the house back to the front door. He makes excuses as he goes but whether anyone actually buys them, he has no idea. He stops by the fridge to grab another fizzy water for Lan Zhan, waves his thanks to Diego, and gets himself and Lan Zhan back out onto the street. He’s fairly certain he manages to play off Lan Zhan’s drunken clinginess as drunken instability, but he’ll probably never know. He just hopes Nie Huaisang will help him out with that one.
-
Wei Ying takes a deep breath as they step off the driveway. The night is cold away from the fire, but Lan Zhan is warm against his side. Their breath condenses into small clouds that waft away in the light breeze.
They walk together down the twisting streets of Upper Biling, past houses that Wei Ying couldn’t even guess the price of, and through neighborhoods that lay almost empty for three-quarters of the year. Summer homes and winter homes to people who can afford five houses and put snow tires on their sportscars.
While they walk, Wei Ying rambles.
It’s easy to talk to Lan Zhan. He’s a good listener, a good friend. When he does choose to interject it’s always with something relevant and often with some new perspective that pushes Wei Ying out of his own spiral.
Or, at least, he is when he’s sober.
Drunk Lan Zhan still listens -- actively even, nodding and humming at appropriate intervals. But he also wanders off mid-sentence to try to climb his way to the top of a very icy snow berm.
When Wei Ying directs him away from the potential death trap, Lan Zhan pouts again, harder.
“Boring,” he says, and Wei Ying can’t help but laugh.
“Oh, ‘boring,’ is it?”
Lan Zhan nods.
Wei Ying laughs. “Is this what you secretly want to be like all the time?” he asks. “Clingy and flirty and cute?”
“I am not cute,” says Lan Zhan, sounding almost offended at the implication.
“You are adorable.”
“No. No, I’m cold and ‘hostile.’” He says it like a quote. Like something he’s heard before. Wei Ying wants to find out who it was who said that and throw them off a mountain.
Since that is not an option available to him, he jokes instead. “Ah, yes. So hostile, Lan Zhan.”
“People are afraid of me.”
Which, annoyingly, is true, but, “People are idiots.”
“You’re not afraid of me?”
Wei Ying scoffs so hard he thinks he might hurt something. “I was a little afraid you were going to jump into my lap and claim me when Shawn was just trying to ask me for a favor.”
Lan Zhan looks at him and hums. It’s not dismissive or in any way negative. A smirk even starts curling in the corner of his lips.
“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” says Wei Ying. “You’re secretly possessive, too.”
“That’s not much of a secret.”
The intersection is one Wei Ying recognizes. If he’s honest, he’s maybe a little lost. But he is pretty sure that up this road is a park that he has walked to with Jiang Yanli, his sister, and Jin Ling, her son. Like eighty percent. Sixty-five. It’s fine. Lan Zhan follows him easily as he steers them toward it.
“Oh no?”
“I’m rich. Doesn’t that automatically mean I’m possessive?”
“I think the only thing that automatically means is that you have money.”
“I don’t want it.”
“The money?”
“It’s my parents’ money. It’s still supposed to be theirs.”
Dead parents are not a super fun topic of conversation at the best of times. At the drunk of times, the tone can get very sad very quickly, and that very much is not where Wei Ying wants this to go. Lan Zhan doesn’t need to get maudlin drunk, preferably ever. So Wei Ying deliberately brushes past that.
“You’re twenty-six. Wouldn’t your trust fund have kicked in by now, anyway?”
“Twenty-seven.”
“Ah?”
There are swings in the park. The black rubber of them is dusted with snow, easy enough to brush off. They sit, turned toward each other still in a way that, once they start swaying a little, causes that awkward torsion in the swing.
“It was my birthday last Sunday.”
Wei Ying’s mouth drops open. “Lan Zhan! Happy birthday! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What would you have done?”
“Whatever you wanted me to.”
“Hm… Whatever I wanted?”
Suggestive. But it’s not Wei Ying’s rules they’re following tonight. “Anything.”
Lan Zhan cocks his head to the side. “You wouldn’t have told everyone?” he asks. “Thrown a big party?”
“No,” Wei Ying laughs, “you’d hate that.”
“But I’m here, aren’t I?”
Oh. Oh no.
Does Lan Zhan think that this is what Wei Ying wants from him? Did Lan Zhan agree to come just because he thought it would make Wei Ying happy?
Oh fuck.
Wei Ying stops swinging and grabs hold of the chain of Lan Zhan’s swing too, turning him, forcing their eyes to meet.
“Lan Zhan,” he starts, “I’m not trying to change you. I just want you to see that you’re welcome here. That people like you. Not that you have to want this all the time. Just… that you can have it… when you want it.”
Lan Zhan’s eyes narrow with something that’s probably skepticism but might be genuine curiosity. He repeats Wei Ying’s words, “When I want it.”
Wei Ying nods hard and fast. And then, “Which you don’t have to! I just--” he takes his hand back and wraps it around his own swing chain. “You seemed so lonely.”
Silence settles between them. It’s not comfortable, but it’s not exactly uncomfortable, either. It just is. The kind of silence in which words are processed. Feelings are processed. Wei Ying doesn’t want to rush it, but there’s an emptiness to it that crawls under his skin.
He pushes against the ground with one foot, swing creaking back into motion.
“But I would never force this on you for your birthday!” He gestures vaguely in the direction he thinks the party might be. “That would be absurd.”
“Absurd?” Lan Zhan’s voice is warmer around this repetition. A genuine question, this time.
“Yeah! Your birthday should be about you. Not anybody else. If all you wanted was to drink tea and read, then you should have that.” Wei Ying shakes his head, “I would just like to have bought you the tea.”
“What if I wanted you there?”
“Then I would be there.”
“What if I want you now?”
Wei Ying tenses. It’s not so much that Lan Zhan’s tone has shifted or his voice has changed. He still speaks with the same smooth baritone, the same stoic serenity, that he’s had all night. But it’s like the air around them charges with electricity. A chill shoots up Wei Ying’s neck. He drags his toe to slow his swing again.
“Ah… haha. Now is a different story. You’re drunk now. After,” Wei Ying raises his eyebrows and shakes his head, still in disbelief, “half a beer...” Like that’s a thing that happens in real life.
There’s a sound like a pine bough cracking under too much snow and then Lan Zhan is standing in front of him. His long fingers wrap around the chains on either side of Wei Ying’s head, arresting his momentum as he looms, beautiful and radiant in the soft light. His eyes are bright with intention. He’s so close, Wei Ying can feel the heat of him.
“Ah… And because you’re drunk,” Wei Ying says very carefully, “I have to stick to guidelines as previously discussed.”
Lan Zhan doesn’t look convinced. He drops to his knees slowly, fingers dragging down the chains. The sight and sound send shivers down Wei Ying’s spine. Without asking, his thighs spread wide as Lan Zhan settles between them. The snow beneath Lan Zhan’s shins crunches and then starts to melt.
He smiles and it’s devastating. “So you don’t want me to…”
Lan Zhan’s palms are hot on Wei Ying’s thighs, searing even through the thick denim of his jeans. Wei Ying bites his lip to keep from whining at the touch. They slide higher and higher until Wei Ying draws on all of his meager self-control and stills them. He takes a deep breath and screws his eyes shut against the stunning vision of Lan Zhan, wanton and willing, looking up at him from his knees.
“Fuck, Lan Zhan,” he groans. “Don’t do this to me. Don’t make me the responsible one. I’m not good at it.”
He opens his eyes and that small, infuriating pout has returned to Lan Zhan’s face. Wei Ying has to take another breath before he can move.
He grips Lan Zhan’s hands and brings them both to their feet. His arousal is obvious in his jeans and Lan Zhan definitely notices, but Wei Ying ignores it, ignores Lan Zhan’s raised eyebrow, ignores the way he licks his fucking lips. (The man is a menace, truly.)
Wei Ying clears his throat against the lust threatening to choke him. He walks Lan Zhan back over to the other swing and gets him sitting down on the cold rubber again. He moves behind him so he doesn’t have to meet Lan Zhan’s eyes, wraps Lan Zhan’s hands around the chains, fingers lingering longer than strictly necessary, then starts pushing him.
The motion is good, distracting. Something to do that doesn’t involve actively ignoring the heat in Lan Zhan’s gaze, the pout on his lips. If he holds Lan Zhan’s waist a little too tight, nobody else needs to know.
When Wei Ying regains control of his body, he lets himself chuckle a little. “You’re probably not even going to remember this in the morning, are you?” he says, watching his breath condense.
Lan Zhan just shrugs and hums a non-committal sound.
Wei Ying rolls his eyes and says, “I bet you only had one shot at your twenty-first.”
The night is quiet except for the metallic scrape of the swing as Wei Ying pushes Lan Zhan in an easy rhythm. He tries not to think about other rhythmic activities and to focus, instead, on the cold air biting his cheeks and on keeping Lan Zhan upright on the little plastic seat.
The cold is good. Sobering. Wei Ying breathes it into his lungs and lets it soothe him. There’s woodsmoke in the air, too, from somebody’s fireplace or backyard pit.
He looks down at Lan Zhan who is listing to the side like he’s falling asleep. His jeans are wet-dark around the knees and down his shins and Wei Ying realizes that he needs to get Lan Zhan inside somewhere before he freezes or becomes too tired to walk. Wei Ying is strong, but he’s not sure he can carry a passed out Lan Zhan up Northwoods Blvd. Or down Northwoods, to be honest.
Wei Ying still doesn’t remember how to get back to the Peruvians’ house from here, but he does recognize this park as the one he’s visited with his sister and nephew. Jiang Yanli’s house is actually fairly close and Wei Ying is pretty sure he knows the way.
Lan Zhan is pliant and amenable when Wei Ying asks him to stand. He’s still listing to the side so Wei Ying gets an arm around his waist and tries to think about anything but the press of Lan Zhan’s body against his own. It turns out to be easier than he thought because the worry takes over. Lan Zhan is cold. He’s leaning hard into Wei Ying’s side and even if he is playing it up a little -- as Wei Ying suspects he might be -- he still needs to get to a bed soon.
It’s only about four blocks to Jiang Yanli’s house from the little park. Wei Ying sees her mailbox sooner than he expects and points it out to Lan Zhan. Wei Ying and Jin Ling painted the little silver and gold stars on it together.
Lan Zhan smiles at them and Wei Ying’s knees buckle, which is sweet, but they’re about to climb the driveway and Lan Zhan still requires support so Wei Ying really has to pull himself together.
Jiang Yanli’s house is huge. Wei Ying always kind of forgets until he’s standing in front of it, but it’s an obscenely large house. The driveway climbs almost fifty vertical feet from the street and the house rises two stories from there. Hidden from street view, the back of the house drops another two stories down the side of the mountain with a wooden deck that gets near-panoramic views of the valley. Floor to ceiling windows in the living room. High, vaulted ceilings. All pine and granite. A fucking elevator.
It’s way too big for a single family but Jiang Yanli married Jin Zixuan, scion of the Gold Peony Resort Jins. A family that owns hotels and golf courses in three countries. Jin Zixuan, himself, owns the Lanling Golf Course in Caiyi Town.
Bad enough he’s a golfer, but Jin Zixuan was a real jerk to Jiang Yanli when they were teenagers and Wei Ying has never forgiven him for it. He can admit, however, that he’s treated her well since he managed to get his shit together and ask her out properly. They’ve been married for more than five years now. It’s fine.
He texts Jiang Yanli instead of ringing the doorbell because children have bedtimes, Wei Ying, and it’s like 11pm and that seems awfully late for a four-year-old to be awake. Lan Zhan curls closer into Wei Ying’s arms as they stand in front of the door and wait.
Jiang Yanli doesn’t text back but Wei Ying can hear movement inside the house and sees a light turn on inside before the porch light attempts to blind him, and she opens the door in her slippers, a pair of sweats, and what Wei Ying assumes is Jin Zixuan’s high school mascot t-shirt. (A wolverine, he thinks.)
“A’Ying?”
Her voice is thick with sleep and guilt churns his stomach until he remembers that he’s not really here for himself.
“I’m so sorry, Yanli-jie,” says Wei Ying, “I know it’s late, I just didn’t know where else to go and hypothermia was becoming a concern.”
Jiang Yanli’s eyes go wide and she takes in the man who may or may not be asleep on his feet in Wei Ying’s arms. “Is he okay?”
“Oh, he’s fine!” Wei Ying says, quick to reassure her but still trying to keep his voice down. “He’s fine. Just drunk. And a massive lightweight. Seriously, I’m never going to let him live this down.”
It’s then that Jin Zixuan pokes his head around his wife’s shoulder, eyes squinting against the (really, incredibly bright) porch light.
“Lan Zhan?” he asks, recognition and concern screwing up his face.
“Okay…” says Wei Ying, looking to his sister. “Why does your husband know my boss?”
Jin Zixuan, not as useless as one might be tempted to think, steps out and gets his arm around the other side of Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan wakes up at the new contact but seems to recognize him and allows this so, together, the three of them start moving toward the guest bedroom, following Jiang Yanli down the stairs.
“We were rich kids on the high school downhill team together,” says Jin Zixuan, and Wei Ying struggles not to laugh.
“See,” he says, “that’s the kind of thing I would have guessed, but I would have done it in a mocking way. You just said that with so much aplomb that I can’t even make fun of you for it now.”
“Oh great, he’s using words like ‘aplomb.’”
Wei Ying can’t actually see Jin Zixuan in their current configuration, but he knows an eye roll when he hears one.
“Shut up, I’m more literate than you are, Business Degree.”
“A’Ying,” Jiang Yanli chides from below them.
“Sorry, Jie.”
They settle Lan Zhan on the guest bed which, because Jiang Yanli is a real adult, is a real bed with a real comforter and far too many useless pillows. Wei Ying kneels to take off Lan Zhan’s shoes which, along with his own, have tracked road dirt and snow all through Jiang Yanli’s beautiful house. Lan Zhan is no help in this, but he does, to Wei Ying’s great relief, agree to take off his own pants.
Wei Ying gets him tucked under the covers and Lan Zhan falls asleep almost immediately.
Wei Ying sets a glass of water on the nightstand. He fishes Lan Zhan’s phone out of his jeans and sets it next to the glass along with a pair of ibuprofen tablets. He has no idea if Lan Zhan gets hangovers or not -- if someone can even get a hangover from half a beer -- but better to be prepared.
Wei Ying takes off his own shoes and carries them with him as he goes to meet his sister and her husband out in the kitchen. He sets them by the door, next to Lan Zhan’s. He tries not to think about his and Lan Zhan’s shoes together in his sister’s shoe rack, like they’re dinner guests or visiting on purpose rather than too drunk and too lost to find their way back to the car.
In the kitchen, Jiang Yanli has a kettle on the stove already and is plating what looks like rice cooker bread, because she is a literal angel. Jin Zixuan is sitting at the counter helping her sort through their many teas. Wei Ying does have to admit that he is a very good husband. Golf course or not.
“Oh no,” says Wei Ying, eyes widening with a startling realization as he sits on the counter next to his sister and looks imploringly at Jin Zixuan, “please don’t tell me he golfs. I like him too much to stop now.”
It’s a joke (mostly) that Wei Ying hates golf. And golfers. Environmental concerns aside (which they really shouldn’t be), it’s a mind-numbingly boring sport. Wei Ying loves to poke at Jin Zixuan with this particular stick whenever it comes up.
Jin Zixuan huffs. “Why would--? Nevermind. He does not golf. You’re safe.”
“Oh, thank god,” says Wei Ying with an exaggerated sigh. He turns to cover up the even more startling realization that he would probably still like Lan Zhan even if he did… occasionally golf. Wei Ying elects to keep that to himself.
The bread melts in his mouth. It’s so delicious that his eyes actually close on their own. She’s a goddess, his sister.
Even though it’s clear that Wei Ying pulled them out of bed, both Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan stay up with him for a little while as he finishes the bread that keeps appearing on his plate and the water that keeps refilling itself in his glass.
“I’m fine, Yanli-jie. I only had two beers. It’s Lan Zhan I’m worried about.”
Which, unfortunately, prompts a conversation about why he and his boss were wandering around Upper Biling together while drunk -- “Not drunk!” -- and courting hypothermia.
Wei Ying is not subtle in his diversion as he directs the line of questioning away from how he feels about Lan Zhan. How Lan Zhan feels about him. It’s not-- It’s not the time for that talk. Not now. Not when Jiang Yanli is stifling yawns behind her hand and Jin Zixuan is still right there for some reason.
If they were friends, though, Wei Ying does have a question for him.
“Were you at his twenty-first?”
Jin Zixuan nods, looking uncomfortable at where this might be going, but still answers, “I was.”
“It was only one shot, wasn’t it?”
There’s a pause, and then Jin Zixuan sighs and nods again, “It was.”
#wangxian#mdzs#the untamed#fanfiction#skii resort au#fpitpt#my writing#for anyone who's never worked at a ski resort just know that loads of mostly college students come up every winter from south america#it's a whole thing#they work at the resorts and get international credit for school#or at least that's how it worked for the ones i knew#they all go in together on these massive fuck off houses and put like twelve people in a four bedroom#but it's kind of a blast#they throw extremely fun parties#and if you're working the next day well that's what the long chairs are for :)#also northwoods is The Most Dangerous Road in my hometown because it's just a straight shot up the hill#who fucking decided that was a good idea in a town that (rather famously) experiences winter??? idk but they were fucking wrong
14 notes
·
View notes
Text
At the moment I'm actively writing/updating/finishing on:
These Endless Days (currently working on chapters 13 & 14) The Only Logical Solution (currently working on the final chapter) When We Collide (currently working on chapter 10)
Broadly am trying to 'finish' 50 Ways to Meet Your Lover, although that is a long work in progress so I'm not beating myself up too much about that! (3 of 50 is a long way to go, but that's the end goal).
For Christmas I'm also looking to update and finish Advent, plus I've got some new Pizzaverse on the go and at least two brand-new Christmas fics I'm hoping to get written for the season, which will be posted under Christmas Time (Mistletoe & Wine).
Aaaaaand at some point I will loop back to You & Me, but I lost alllll my notes on that and need to get back to the storyboard and figure out where I was going with it (and if that still makes sense).
I do have a couple of ideas for continuations, the next part of Hocus Pocus (tentatively titled Black Magic) is one, a second part to A Twist in the Tale, two sequels to Justice is Blonde (National Treasure and one tentatively titled Jury Duty), plus I'd really like to return to The Boys in Blue as I've got a fair chunk of a sequel to that.
#fanfic#fanfiction#darcy lewis#bucky barnes#avengers#steve rogers#wintershock#winter soldier#captain america#darcyland#updates#these endless days#pizza dog#pizzaverse#the only logical solution#when we collide (we come together)#slayerverse#buffy meets the avengers#buffy summers#buffy the vampire slayer#justice is blonde#elle woods#fuckyeahdarcylewis
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
I owe a bunch of fic updates over here — but I think this was a pretty damn cool one IMHO.
Fic in question: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54307036
#ted lasso#ted lasso slash ships#ted lasso fanfic#tedtrent#tedependent#ted/trent#trent crimm#trent/ted#ted lasso/trent crimm#trent crimm/ted lasso#1000 fics#gay Trent crimm#bi ted lasso#get together fics#because are there ever enough Trent comes to America fics?
21 notes
·
View notes
Text
Reasons to Stay
The demons were getting pretty dark yesterday.
My head wasn’t really a safe place.
I think heaven knew I needed some help because outta nowhere I remembered that I had a voucher for one free meal at a food truck nearby.
Found the place and stood in line behind a French lady, while we watched a Venezuelan Woman struggle to make her order in English to a college kid running the fan. It was wholesome to watch that despite the language barrier and the somewhat confusing hand gestures as they tried to communicate, the young man was still able to help the lady get her order, and she walked away with a big smile because she got some yummy food. I then watched a gentleman who was running the wood cooked pizza truck talking with the family running the Thai And Boba truck and talking about swapping leftovers once everybody left. I thought it was sweet that despite the differences there at the food trucks, no matter our cultures, languages, or background, none of these things prevented a small group of people to come together because of the enjoyment of food. I got to eat fresh sushi, sit in the cool grass, with a perfect blue sky as my view.
The new Transformers movie is coming out in a couple weeks. Wild Robot too. Those look interesting.
My roommate knew me well enough to give me a hug cuz she knew I was having it rough.
So yeah, it was a good day.
I think I’ll stick around for just a little longer. 🌱🧡
#just being jayus#serendipitouslyjayus#serendipity247#faith in humanity restored#America is not all bad#We get a lot of different people here that get to come together#I think that’s beautiful#faith in humanity#humans being humans#there are reasons to stay I promise#somewhat vent#God is good yall#humans are cute#food brings us together#Doing this ugly and scared#Movies to look forward to#i have the best moots#i have the best friends
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
Now that I know Halley's Comet was the only (known/visible) comet passing the earth in 1607, the year Jamestown was established, I might actually have to go with 1607 as the year of Amelia's creation instead of the late 1500s. As fun as it would be, Halley's Comet passing over earth the year the first successful English settlement was created in North America, and comets generally being seen as omens/harbingers for things to come, is just to thematic of a concept to pass up. Like this is daenerys targaryen and bran stark levels of prophetic right here, and paired with my headcanon about Amelia being born from a meteorite/shooting star (which comes from meteoriods/cometary debris from a comets tail) that entered the earth's atmosphere, I have literal gold in my hands right now.
#it's all coming together#aph america#amelia f jones#nyotalia#hetalia meta#hetalia headcanons#hetalia#like what a fucking coincidence!!!#and it was in September a few months after Jamestown was established in May like WOAH
20 notes
·
View notes
Text
July 4th is the birthday of Steve "Captain America" Rogers.
The celebrations will be nationwide in the United States of America.
Festivities may include: barbecue or grilling, loud music, your great-auntie's infamous potato salad, games (cornhole, baseball, basket ball, euchre, poker, tug-of-war, which couple will start fighting first, etc.), a body of water (lake, swimming pool, kiddie pool, the pond left in the yard after hours of kids running through the sprinkler), coolers of beverages, almost always some of which will be alcoholic, bags and bags of ice, fireworks displays (professional, amateur, illegal, dumbass, drunk dumbass, sparklers) and many generations coming together to yell and scream with and at eachother, and, always, pictures.
For many people this is an old and treasured tradition. Usually the only time it coincides with the state or condition of America as a country is when someone plays patriotic country music, or misplaced songs which are actually critical of America (Born in the USA, This is America, Living in the USA, Independence Day, Pink House's (Ain't That America), American Girl, American Woman, American Pie, etc.) which is funny as hell. Of course, there can be vicious political arguments as well. That's always fun.
The theme will be red, white, and blue.
Participation is voluntary.
#july 4th#4th of july#fourth of july#not everyone celebrates because they love america#celebrsting does not imply support of how america treats indigenous people minority communities#celebration does not imply support of police the military or foreign policy#if someone doesntvwant to celebrate that is their right and i support it#but here it is similar to christmas some people believe in the religious origins some celebrate to have a good time see family/friends etc#it is one of the rare times when almost everyone is off work and can come together we take advantage of that#just wanted to set that straight
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
So how we feeling about not getting pre-sale codes in our email and watching ticket prices jump from affordable to non affordable in about ten seconds?
#sleep token#pictured is me and what i would do to ticketmaster#i was trying to buy tickets for four people and i couldnt find four seats close together#i found 2 at one point but that was almost 400 dollars and i nearly cried#i am a broke bitch with bills to pay and animals to feed i cant do that mr vessels the first#unless you wanna pay child support i s2g#i mean my expectations were low but i was at least expecting the presale code to hit my inbox come on#cab shoosh#gotta love trying to purchase tickets in america
16 notes
·
View notes
Text
what if I become a Food Network fandom blog and pump out gifsets of alex guarnaschelli and guy fieri. for the bit
#yesterday i took the day off work bc of day 3 of...like my third-ever migraine#y'all who get these a lot. my God. i always think so fondly of you. nothing worse imo#anyway i basically posted up on the couch and watched a whole season of alex vs america#which is incredible#and then because i wanted to save some of it instead of starting another season i switched to guy's ranch kitchen#and around minute 4 of guy's ranch kitchen 1x01 i had a bit of an epiphany#that i was watching a group of friends i do no know basically dick around together in front of cameras#the very thing i am often ranting about not understanding the appeal of#i would submit it's different watching celebrated food-makers make food#than. say. watching a bunch of too-online white people play d&d#or whatever it is they're doing on the low-rent game show network or whatever it is#but like. is it? is it different#anyway. alex vs america gifsets coming anytime. get pumped
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
I can't believe the girls are back. I always dreamed of them reuniting because the way they broke up was so unfair to them and out of their hands. None of them wanted it to happen and now look at them get their flowers! Everyone screaming their heads off, singing the lyrics to every song, going wild like it's a festival, not a concert. Celebs of all sorts showing up, music acts from different generations giving their messages of love and gratitude, etc. People of all genders in the audience (what girl group gets so many guys yelling/screaming girl anthem songs like this especially in Korea? You know 2NE1 and BB were the special groups where they had more of a gender balance amongst their base than any other group)??!?!?! The girls belting out everything live and just. HIT AFTER HIT AFTER HIT AFTER HIT. Their discography is amazing.
Most of all, I love seeing them together, having fun. I teared up watching how emotional they were, with Minji crying and Chaerin trying SO hard not to cry. Bommie just....so much happier than we've seen her in a long time and soaking up the love we have for her. Dara having her dreams come true because there's no bigger Blackjack in the world than her. Them jumping around the stage together.
There's never been a girl group like them before, and there's never been a girl group like them since. Irreplaceable and impossible to imitate. No one has the charisma, the charm, the everything.
#i'm so happy. i've been on cloud 9 since yesterday and i don't remember the last time i've felt like this#lol barring liverpool's league and CL titles and leo winning copa america and the world cup#i love them so much. they've been the soundtrack of my life#15 years of being a blackjack and 18 years of supporting them since they were trainees#god. that's just...that's a huge chunk of my life#and okay so sure MAMA shut down rumors about BB performing this year but a girl can hope#GD's making his first variety show appearance in years#youngbae made his comeback and he's touring#daesung made his comeback and he's finally appearing on variety shows (and on youtube channels too)#and they're coming out to support one another#OG YG RISE#i will die if BB and 2NE1 did stuff together again
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
As someone who has lived in the south where the water trough is anywhere from mildly annoying to actively terrifying, who has lived on a fairly decently sized island where it is indeed absolutely terrifying to be cut off from the mainland suddenly with little to no help from the government for an extended period of time--
After No Man's Land and all the issues that arose then, I'd like to propose the new way of interring their dead would be mausoleums. Possibly especially with Gotham canonically existing on a system of caves. An island made of caves on the East Coast that gets battered by hurricanes almost every year is just asking to get sunk a la Atlantis but its fucking Gotham and i think the Gothamites would raise it from the sea floor again out of sheer spite.
But with mausoleums you:
Dont have your son crawling six feet through packed dirt after inexplicably coming back to life
Dont have long buried coffins and corpses getting flooded/shaken/otherwise disturbed and shunted into the water system/streets/underground reservoirs (or Lazarus Pits, since there's one of those down there too, as if Gotham didn't have enough things wrong with it)
Continues the Gotham aesthetic
Have more places for various characters to have a private mental breakdown in
Have more places for various characters to find ominous warnings etched or graffiti'd on the walls
Have more places for things much older than the mausoleums have been En Vogue™ for to inexplicably appear and send shivers down the spine
The Gothamites are very firm about not really being part of the US. The US kind of looks at the South like we're really fucking strange, and the South looks at New Orleans like they've taken the South and concentrated it, carbonated it, and shook it really hard.
I want the same vibes for Gotham. This is their home. They are weird and stubborn to a fault and everything is on fire and the government is corrupt and the people aren't always good but nobody else understands. No one else ever could. Who else has seen the lights for rescue appear on the horizon only to see the light of death on the waters, ensuring no help would ever come? They are resourceful and violent and resentful but the gods won't help you if you cross one of their own.
#the stoneworkers built Gotham#if it existed in reality itd be a marvel of nature's construction#if No Man's Land went as it did it'd be the metalworkers and stone masons to build the city back up#and with the earthquake everyone would be utterly terrified to dig into the ground. not after having to excavate the subways.#Jason comes back to Gotham and it has Changed.#in the scant year(s?) between No Man's Land and Jason's return there are buildings gone and buildings entirely new#but look like they're a century old. because the stonemasons and metalworkers had to work with what they had.#and what they had was ruins and a lot of them had to work together to piece metal and stone together to make something unshakeable#gotham is the embodiment of the riches and ruins that was the 1920s in America and a lot of the architecture of the time#was either very practical or very maximalist#the Chrysler building in NYC was built in that era and is a shining example of both#so please imagine with me: cobbled stone hewn into fitted shapes‚ held together with radial metal lines curves.#i think later down the line Gotham U would be an architectural and civil engineering powerhouse#Gotham's architecture would be akin to that of a bunker. unshakeable. wind resistant. blast resistant.#composed of materials that make it easy to wipe everything down after a flood and continue on.#after Katrina my centuries old school literally mopped the walls and ushered us back in inside of two weeks#my family and i had been rescued from our island only days prior#shh ruby world building is not always for the tags
4 notes
·
View notes