#Versus: The Lost Ones

[aroaceleovaldez]

i have suddenly become obsessed with a theme that HoO established but never proceeded to extrapolate on, which is:

You are Percy Jackson, and you have been swapped with a boy who was allegedly everyone's favorite person, but they have decided to replace him with you. They just met you. You stand next to his best friend and the people he's known his entire life. In his home. In his cloak. In his place. They stopped looking for him.

You are Jason Grace, and you have just found out you have a long lost sister who completely replaced you in her life with this girl you just met. Your lives and personalities are mirrors. She is you, living the life you were robbed of.

You are Annabeth Chase, and you have just become starkly aware that you have been inhabiting the void left behind by your best friend's long lost brother. You and Luke were just replacements for him. Now you have to look him in the eyes when he has nothing and know you took that life from him.

You are Piper McLean, and you have just found out your relationship is fake and built entirely on the memories of Annabeth Chase. You have been given a boyfriend when hers has been taken away. You have no idea how much of it is real or not but regardless you feel like if your relationship isn't exactly in their image that you have failed.

You are Leo Valdez, and you have just learned that you are the echo of your great-grandfather. You are not your own person. You just exist to be a mirror of him. A doppelganger. An actor and stunt double facing all the danger he never had to but wearing his face. To be there for his best friend decades later simply because he couldn't. You are playing a role. A seventh wheel and a pawn for a goddess who carefully sculpted your entire life for her own purposes.

You are Hazel Levesque, and the only reason you are alive is because your brother couldn't save your his sister. You are a consolation prize. An apology. Your existence here is misplaced in every way but you inhabit it anyways.

You are Frank Zhang, and you are a shapeshifter. Inhabiting your own body feels strange and clumsy when you could be literally anything at any time. You are anything and everything and live your life with the simple certainty of knowing exactly how you will die.

[nicojoe]

Thanks to everyone who sent me a message about the Variety article & Charlize's quote re: TOG 2. I've been kind of on and off social media lately, and I have to admit that this entire situation has left a really bad taste in my mouth.

Time to ask Netflix some VERY uncomfortable questions. Why were other movies filmed at the same time/after The Old Guard 2 *not* shut down during post-production if an executive shakeup is to blame? What made TOG 2 so different? Why was it the only film apparently affected?

Is it the fact that it's directed by a black woman? female-led? racially diverse? features prominent queer characters? what's the correct answer? i'm curious because the Netflix films released in the last few years (ie: the Rebel Moon movies, Heart of Stone, etc) have been almost universally panned.

[phatcatphergus]

I was thinking about how Tubbo keeps his rose in his backpack versus how he always kept his funeral flower in his offhand. I wasn't sure why he wouldn't want to keep the flower that Fred gave him in his offhand because surely that one would mean more, right?

I actually think it's a symbol of Tubbo's depression and how he hides it. When he had the funeral flower in his hand, he was sad and didn't really try to hide it. He didn't shower, he was incredibly reckless, and purposefully hurt himself multiple times. That flower was out where others could see, much like his emotions and mental state at the time.

The rose is different. The rose is hidden away and kept safe. Tubbo is seemingly better, he's "showered", started being more mindful of his actions/surroundings, and isn't purposefully hurting himself. But he's still hurting and in a poor mental state that many of the eggs have called him out for. He is still experiencing depression but it's well hidden.

Tubbo kept the funeral flower out because he felt like he had a reason to display his mental state. he figured that if anyone asked and saw how badly he was doing, he had a reason to feel the way he did.

On the other hand, Tubbo doesn't really have a reason to keep feeling like he does after Fred returns. Fred isn't dead, so what is there to be upset about? He hides the rose. He doesn't want people to ask because he doesn't have a reason (in his mind) to still feel the way he does.

Both flowers directly represent how he handles and shows his mental health to others on the island. The funeral flower was out for everyone to see and the rose is only known to exist by a select few people.

[divinekangaroo]

falling - pettiot - Peaky Blinders (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

PART ONE - DAY ONE

Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9

PART TWO - MONTH ONE (Or Maybe Month Two, Or Three)

Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Ch 12 | Ch 13 | Ch 14 | Ch 15 | Ch 16 | Ch 17 | Ch 18

PART THREE - A YEAR (Or So)

Ch 19 | Ch 20 | Ch 21 | Ch 22 | Ch 23 | Ch 24 | ??

A Modern AU take on Tommy's immediate return from military service, and the period between his demobilisation and the start of S1.

(Tags shall be progressively updated)

.

Tommy Shelby/Lizzie Stark, Tommy Shelby/Freddie Thorne, Arthur Shelby, Polly Grey, Ada Shelby, John Shelby, Johnny Dogs, Various Lees, John Shelby's Children, Zhang, S1E1 Red Dust Girl, Sergeant Moss | Alternative Universe, Modern AU (ish), No iPhones (yet), Awkwardness, Age Difference, Disassociation, Miscommunication, Banter, Fast Food Vendor of your Choice, Pre-Season, Past Trauma, Flirting, Have I Met You Before, Heckling, Cars, Drug Use, Past Childhood Trauma, Mrs Shelby Lives, Gender Role Dynamics, Small Neighbourhoods, Past Greta Jurossi, Brotherly Dynamics, Sibling Dynamics, Class Issues, Attraction, Casual Sex, Car Sex, Military Transition Program, Wilful Medical Noncompliance, Melodrama, Illegal Bookmaking, 90s Fashion, 2000s Fashion, Slow Reveal, Slow Burn, Coming Home, Dysfunctional Family, Lasting Legacy of Catholicism, Bad SMS Etiquette, Gang Activity, Domesticity, Booty Call, Guilt, Shame, So Much Marijuana, Arms Dealing, Crimes & Criminals, Ill Informed Economic Theorising, Wanking, Ethnicity, Stereotyping

.

[quiverpaw]

they invented old men so i could be happy

[mermaidsirennikita]

in romcoms today you get like this chaste kiss at the end while they sorta get together

in Notting Hill (1999), the leads kiss, have a little thing without fucking and then she leaves for her douchey boyfriend, meet up again way later and have a wonderful time and FUCK, then there's an issue and she leaves again, and then Hugh Grant walks through several seasons while Ain't No Sunshine plays, then there's another little misunderstanding moment + a grovel from her, THEN a RACE FOR YOUR LOVE bit

and not once was I bored, I was iNVIGORATED throughout it

[unofskylanderspages]

Did you know? Trigger Happy's guns bears a slight resemblance to Maverick REV-6s, a toy made by the toy brand of NERF.

[bnesszai]

i am having many thoughts on how Dazai's humanity has shifted from his pm days to now, at the ada, and how this has effected his relationships with various people in different ways and i--

[dorkousloris]

also spooky season is NEAR....

me vibrating to draw anita as luigi......is NEAR........

[comediakaidanovsky]

okay so we all know the “the belt corrupts” theories but have y’all considered that maybe it’s the scarf? mjf isn’t like that, he’s just been exposed to the scarf’s influence for so long that it’s poisoned his mind completely. punk stole the scarf and kept it for like a week, and then his entire life spiraled out of control. even now he hears it whisper to him at night and freaks out and posts shit on insta stories. if mjf wants to break the curse he needs to realize that the scarf doesn’t love him and destroy it. scarf versus career match. all in london main event. total bloodbath

[mejomonster]

On that Zhao yunlan and Luo wenzhou comparison point... Zhao yunlan might be more like fei du. At least as far as the whole:

Rich family (but Zhao yunlans is admittedly more mildly rich and influential like Luo wenzhou's, not like CEO rich)

Easily read as demiromantic (I mean fei du has 1 maybe 2 crushes ever and it takes years <3 I feel you babe. Zhao yunlan meanwhile has the issue of trying to find love, oh I feel u babe, but people never love him back or he can't click with them and it is sure Partly he's a workaholic who does secret ghost hunting work so like he has a big secret chunk of his life he hides which hurts attempting to connect. But also the whole process of going out, being a flirt and trying to optimistically date people, only to end up sad love didn't work out. I guess one could say he likes people physically attractively fast cause hey he sees Shen Wei and is like I GOTTA lock that down, murderer or not. But I'd counter maybe he's allosexual, and/or you know that whole lovers in past lives thing is working under the surface lol with a Lot of years of soul loving shen wei helping the odds.

Flirts and goes with acts of service and cute words (all 3 Zhao yunlan, fei du, and Luo wenzhou go this route actually) but their lovers are stronger and Also do this type of flirting and if both of a pair are trying to manhandle, their lovers win.

[cosmojjong]

crazy to me how i perceive my korean vs how others perceive it

[neverendingford]

.

[the-kneesbees]

"this sounds perfect you guys!" my entire section has not successfully played this piece once.

[emeraldcreeper]

You don’t realize how integral staring at a lake is to your mental health until the option is back on the menu and wow I fucking love lake

[augustinewrites]

“what’s on these?” megumi asks, holding up a box of memory cards.

cleaning day always unearthed all types of lost and forgotten items. sometimes it was clothes long forgotten in you and gojo’s closet, other times it was the kid’s old books or toys. you knew every inch of your little apartment, so most times you could identify any mystery items that came up.

“i don’t know,” you hum, plucking a card from the box to inspect it a little more closely. the only hint as to what’s actually on it seems to just be a date.

2006

…and it’s in gojo’s handwriting.

curious, you pop one into the video player and turn on the tv. the kids join you on the couch, clearly eager to entertain any distraction from your cleaning crusade.

when the screen flickers to life, a familiar courtyard comes into view.

you can’t help the gasp when haibara comes into focus…but then you see satoru standing standing across from him, arms spread out.

“who is that?” megumi asks, pointing at haibara.

you think of the bright smile of the boy still lingering in the edges of your memory and tell him, softly, “an old friend.”

“suguru!” gojo shouts, looking towards the person holding the camera. he’s all messy hair and wide smiles, exactly how you remember him in his youth. “make sure you get this one!”

geto grumbles about how he’s paying attention, and suddenly you remember exactly what this is.

“ah, these are from when yaga would make us record ourselves practicing cursed technique application,” you explain as a haibara lines up a shot with a pencil.

the pencil hits gojo in the face, gifting him a small cut on his cheek. “ah, shit!”

behind the camera you can hear nanami and geto laughing as haibara apologizes profusely, and shoko comes over to practice her healing. you come over too, holding a cloth.

“don’t pout,” your younger self says, reaching up to wipe a thin trail of blood from his cheek. “you’ll get it next time.”

as soon you turn away, you hear geto snicker and the camera suddenly zooms in on gojo’s face.

he’s blushing.

“ugh,” you hear him groan behind the three of you, finally finished cleaning the bathroom. “are we done cleaning yet?”

“we’re taking a break!” tsumiki tells him, as megumi pops another card in.

gojo ignores megumi’s protests, stealing the spot on the couch next to you and wrapping an arm around your shoulders with a smirk. “move your feet, lose your seat.”

tsumiki, angel that she is, moves over so her brother can sit on your other side as the video starts.

this time, gojo is the one recording, holding the camera out so it’s pointed at his own smiling face. “haibara versus nanami, round one!”

you feel your boyfriend stiffen beside you, looking over to see an odd look on his face. “oh, fuck—”

“jar,” megumi says flatly.

he glares at the kid, and is about to get up when you stop him. “wait! i want to watch this!”

he slumps back, throwing an arm over his eyes as he groans dramatically. ignoring him, you watch the fight play out, which ends with haibara whining whilst in a headlock.

you hear geto’s murmured commentary off camera as nanami releases his classmate, expecting the video to zoom in on the victor.

but it drifts a little to the left, where you’re laughing with shoko on the sidelines.

“so obvious,” geto scoffs. the video wobbles for a moment before being pointed directly at the tips of satoru’s shoes, then ends abruptly.

when you glance over at satoru, he’s pulled his sunglasses over his eyes as if they can hide his pink cheeks.

the next videos are similar. memories of your past viewed through a different lens, showing you things you’d never picked up on when you were living them.

some moments you watch with an aching heart. like when suguru leans close to you and makes a joke at satoru’s expense, or when you reach up to ruffle haibara’s hair.

(moments with cherished friends proving that the grief of losing them never got any lighter as you moved forward with your life, but at some point you’d just gotten used to carrying the weight.)

but what might be most interesting is seeing yourself in satoru’s eyes.

his focus, whether he was the one holding the camera or not, always seemed to drift to you. for all the times he’d denied crushing on you in your early years, the camera proves otherwise.

the way he peeks at you shyly as you fix your hair before a fight.

the way he reaches out instinctively whenever you’re knocked backwards.

the way he smiles brightly whenever you laugh at one of his jokes.

the way your gaze would occasionally meet his, and his smile seemed to come naturally.

“okay, that’s enough for tonight,” satoru announces, shutting the tv off and shooing the children away. “go clean your rooms, you freeloaders.”

you stand, looping your arms around his neck before he can run away. smiling, you gently pull his glasses off, tossing them onto the couch.

“hey! those are gucci—”

you shut him up with a kiss, feeling the way his lips curve upwards against yours. “i love you, you know that?”

blue eyes meet yours, the pensive look he’d been wearing melting into something a little softer. something reserved for you. “you’re obsessed with me, i know.”

you simply laugh, letting him dip down to give you another kiss.

(because you’d had his heart in your pocket long before either of you had realized.)