I Don’t Know Why That Affected Me So Strongly, But I’m Watching A Youtube Video On Disasters On Lake

"I know who you pretend I am. I'm not him. Shen Jiu died, alright? That qi deviation killed him." Pleading. "I'm all that's left. You're all that's left."

Hesitation. "Then what is this? Where is this?"

"You're here with me." Soft.

"Where am I, if not with Xiao Jiu?" Grief.

"Here." Sorrow. "With me."

We played “Spot the Sculptures” (at Lee County, Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsHiyHtljUP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=oubxbzx0ihmk

5th grade graduation pics 😭😭 good times #graduationpictures https://www.instagram.com/p/BuNhnbkn3p2/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=5f4wpacq3f86

black history show pt 2!! 😋😋 #dancing #music #blackhistorymonth https://www.instagram.com/p/BunIoYeHItB/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1kaafjpegda2t

A section of the Berlin Wall, raised in 1961 and knocked down in 1989. Taken on July 7, 2018. (at Newseum) https://www.instagram.com/p/BoZDHvUHlzR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=9m07siqle0rc

I dunno when this was taken but i decided to post it cos it’s pretty 🥰 https://www.instagram.com/p/BtOo8kHHUgZ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=9bhcd1v6ygzp

Between the numerous System notifications that were finally starting to clear out and the implications of what he's learned, Shen Yuan felt dizzy.

He can tell that the other Shen Qingqiu is absolutely serious about marching over to Yue Qingyuan and murdering him. He had averted the initial crisis but now he had prevent a crime from happening while trying to wrap his head around the fact that, apparently, a person named Shen Yuan, who was also potentially him, had existed in some other world. And was brothers with Shen Jiu.

Did that mean there were other versions of himself who read the same novel but ended up in different places and in different bodies? He had been making shit up on the fly when he had told the Original Goods that he had escaped the Qiu and was pretending to be Shen Jiu, but for all he knew, it might have been true after all. It made something in his stomach squirm to think that a version of himself might have been the one to hurt Binghe.

Before he could continue to contemplate this, Shen Qingqiu-- that was confusing-- Shen Jiu shook him gently by the shoulders.

"A-Yuan, get your head out of the clouds. I can't believe you still do this, how have you gotten this far?" The other peered at him closely, identical green eyes flicking between his own. Despite his frown, Shen Yuan could tell he looked worried. With a lowered voice, he asked, "You look pale. Is it System again?"

Shen Yuan blinked. Wait, was Shen Jiu also another transmigrator? How did he know about the System?!

----

"You're not me, are you?" the other Shang Qinghua casually asked with a small smile. His eyes were dead. "I can tell. You're someone else."

"I don't know what you mean." Shang Qinghua smiled back, though he was pretty sure he was glaring daggers at the other. He did not come this far to have his cover blown by this slimy version of himself! He had to strike first. "Hm, how's your friend? The one from the North."

His alternate's self's smile dropped immediately. It gradually returned when he said, "Like you don't know." He smirked. "Come now, Feng-er. You and I both know that you've always followed in your gege's footsteps. This is no different."

Shen Qingqiu was doomed.

He stood still, fluttering his fan nervously and trying to avoid catching his counterpart's, the real Shen Qingqiu, glaring eyes from across the room. Instead, he idly observed the other Cang Qiong Mountain Peak Lords, trying to spot the differences between the ones he knew and their alternates.

Liu Qingge had brought back a strange artifact from one of his hunts to the monthly Peak Lord meeting. It was a mirror, rimmed an ugly tarnished gold, topped with a decoration that was shaped into an unidentifiable creature with ruby red eyes.

[Important Artifact Detected: Red-Eyed Sphinx's Mirror! Quest starting...]

Shen Qingqiu had been trying to remember where it might have appeared in PIDW when the surface of the mirror suddenly began to glow a dull yellow. It quickly brightened until it obscured everyone's vision.

And then, there stood another set of peak lords across the room, facing them down.

System, what on earth is going on???

[Quest started: Lost Long Spirit in My Reflection! Other characters have been transported to this universe. Host must find a way to send them back without revealing his identity as a transmigrator.]

WTF? I didn't agree to this!

[Good luck!]

System??? Get back here!

While the two Yue Qingyuans and Xu Qinglis conversed together to try to understand what had happened, the other peak lords had begun to mingle with each other, curious about their counterparts.

Shen Qingqiu tried to suppress his panic, sticking close to Shang Qinghua. His Yue Qingyuan occasionally flicked his softened gaze towards the alternate Shen Qingqiu, likely noticing that the other still acted as he used to before his qi deviation. In fact, several of the peak lords he had gotten to know over the years were sending some looks at the other Shen Qingqiu.

With the original goods right there, how long would it be before something exposed him as a fraud?? What if he was confronted about why he acted so differently?

[Host must avoid having his identity exposed. Being revealed as a transmigrator will result in Host being immediately sent back to his old body.]

Yeah, yeah, same shit as always!

Looking to his side, Shang Qinghua seemed to be experiencing the same threats, desperately looking away from the more dead-eyed Shang Qinghua across the room who, luckily, was barely paying him any attention.

Fuck, what do we do?

---

Shen Qingqiu continued to glare at the Other Shen Qingqiu in the room. The other Shen Qingqiu was so obviously a fraud, he could tell within minutes of being here. While his alternate seemed somewhat familiar, he didn't act like him at all, his mannerisms were all off, and despite the attempt at keeping a poker face, Shen Qingqiu could tell that he was nervous. Probably at being caught out.

His alternate self had likely been replaced with a bodysnatcher or some sort of spirt, if they truly were supposed to be the same person. Was everyone else stupid, or had they had their brains sucked out by a Heart Mouthed Lobster-Squid?

Or maybe they simply like the bodysnatcher better and didn't bother to investigate.

Shen Qingqiu's face became stormier, turning his glare to the Other Yue Qingyuan, wondering if he had felt happier once his precious Xiao-Jiu had vanished. The other Yue Qingyuan's face grew even more pathetic. Tch. Typical.

"That stupid System--" Shen Qingqiu nearly snapped his neck in looking at the bodysnatcher upon hearing his murmur. The fraud, upon noticing his sudden attention, clammed back up and looked away. But Shen Qingqiu knew what he heard.

Xi Tong.

He hadn't heard those words in years, not since--

He stepped forward, scanning the other once more. Upon a second, more thorough look, Shen Qingqiu realized that he grew more familiar. He wore his hair in the way that Shen Qingqiu wore it, but looser and less severe. His eyes were clearer and lighter, with hints of a smile, despite his nerves. He occasionally quickly glanced up and to his left, as if seeing something there, before bringing his attention back to the room at large.

No. It couldn't be. He was long dead, despite Shen Qingqiu's best efforts. Even if the fake had some similar things about him, that doesn't mean--

Shen Jiu had once had a brother, besides Qi-ge. Slightly smaller than him, despite the fact that Shen Jiu passed him along as much food as he could when on the streets. He smiled so much despite their circumstances, and was so kind despite Shen Jiu constantly telling him that he was making himself a target. But he looked so, so similar to Shen Jiu himself. They could have switched their clothes and looked exactly the same, if one didn't notice the difference in their demeanors.

His brother has also always been a little odd, talking to himself and arguing with an imaginary friend that only he could see named Xi Tong. One of the reasons that they survived as long as they did on the streets was due to the inexplicable knowledge that his brother seemed to have. Somehow, his brother knew about the various plants or small animals that they could hunt and sell for a pretty coin in the markets. Shen Jiu never asked, not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

But his brother was dead. He had died years ago, in the time during when they were in Qiu's manor. During a punishment for Shen Jiu's attempt to get them both to join Wu Yanzi; he had switched their clothes and taken Shen Jiu's place and died for it. That had been the final catalyst that made him set the manor ablaze and escape, mourning his brother's death as his fault for daring to be free. Cursing Qi-ge for not coming back for them.

Dazed and his vision dim, Shen Jiu took another step forward, and another. Hope, something he thought he had killed off long ago, slowly rose in his chest.

Had his brother survived in this world? Had he managed to escape alongside Shen Jiu? Or had Shen Jiu died in his place? Dimly, he can't help but think that the world would be far kinder if that were the case. If his brother had made it to Cang Qiong Mountain and became a peak lord all on his own and still managed to keep his smile. If he didn't have Shen Jiu dragging him down with him.

The other Shen Qingqiu, not having noticed his approach, laughed at something the other Shang Qinghua said ("Wonder if Shang Qinghua is a traitor here, too," Shen Jiu thought dimly). His laugh was the same. He rose his fan to hide his face, but Shen Jiu noticed how his nose crinkled, and his eyes nearly closed in delight, exactly like--

"A-Yuan?"

“you’re gonna be okay Buck, they’re gonna need you. I love you kid.” I’m KILLING myself let’s all KILL OURSELVES

Radcliffe

Tom felton was asked what he wanted to steal from the Harry Potter set (via daddy-drarry)

(≖‿≖)

I am also a sucker for your top 10 worldbuilding posts so here's another one: top 10 times the media got some TMI on Victor and Yuuri's relationship (and does it include Victor drunkenly revealing they switch to tabloids and Chris' speech at the wedding about where they've done the nasty?)

The wedding was strictly family and friends only so Chris’speech never got made public (Yuuri would have died if it did!) but there havebeen several incidents where the media learned a lot more about Viktor andYuuri than they ever expected.

Top 10 Times The Media Got Some TMI On Victor and Yuuri’s Relationship:

10) Once - when Yuuri was competing in the Four Continentsand Viktor was on the side-lines to cheer him on - during the warm up Yuuri waspracticing his quad flip over and over to make sure he got it right whileViktor was doing an interview at the side of the rink and the reporter sort ofoffhandedly mentioned ‘oh, Katsuki has been doing jumps for a while now and hedoesn’t even look tired, I guess it must be true that he has really goodstamina’ and Viktor just went really dreamy eyed and said ‘yes’ whilecompletely ignoring the interviewer and gazing at Yuuri. And the reporter andthe camera man just ended up looking at each other like ‘should we finish theinterview or just let him keep daydreaming about his sex life?’

9) During the season after the end of chapter 14 Viktor’sexhibition skate was the Stay Close To Me duet and afterwards one of thereporters asked Yuuri ‘were you ever concerned about doing the lifts during the routine?Were you sure Nikiforov was going to be able to hold your weight or were youworried he might drop you?’. And Yuuri was just like ‘No, I had faith in himand we already knew he could lift me up pretty easily anyway’ which he probablywould have gotten away with if he hadn’t proceeded to go bright red afterwardswhen he realised what he’d said and everyone who watched it was like ‘we kindof really want to know but at the same time we probably really don’t.’

8) After Viktor finally retired he was doing a jointinterview with Yuuri and one of the reporters asked him if he was concernedabout maintaining his physical condition now that he wasn’t competing anymore becauselots of athletes have a hard time adjusting once they stop such vigoroustraining regimes. And Viktor was just like, ‘I’m sure it won’t be a problem, I’llstill be getting some pretty intense regular exercise even if I’m not traininganymore’ and winked at Yuuri and Yuuri started blushing really badly while allthe reporters went into minor meltdowns

7) Once they ended up being caught by reporters a few daysafter Viktor’s birthday when they were out taking the dogs for a walk and itwas mostly fine but one of the reporters asked Yuuri what he had given Viktoras a birthday present and they both went bright red and Yuuri sort of mumbled ahurried and fake sounding answer that probably wasn’t even in English andpractically sprinted off. No-one ever found out exactly what Viktor’s ‘present’was but there was a lot of speculation and the general consensus became thatYuuri Katsuki was probably a lot kinkier than anyone ever expected and ViktorNikiforov was a very lucky guy.  

6) This one came in a series of tweets from a fan who was inan upmarket hotel bar which basically consisted of, ‘oh my god Viktor Nikiforovis in the same bar as I am what should I do?’ ‘He’s sitting alone do you thinkI should go and talk to him? Would it be weird to ask for his autograph?’ ‘Iwonder why Katsuki isn’t with him, it’s the off season I thought they’d betogether’ ‘Oh my god I just noticed he isn’t wearing his ring what does thismean?’ ‘He just started to talk to a guy who sat down next to him and he’sbeing really flirty oh my god.’ ‘Is Viktor Nikiforov having an affair????’ ‘Help,red alert I’ve just seen Viktor Nikiforov in a bar chatting up some random guywithout his ring on what do I do?’ ‘Oh wait a minute the guy he was talking tojust turned around and it turns out it was actually Katsuki after all. Panicover.’ ‘Wait a minute Katsuki isn’t wearing his ring either, they can’t haveboth lost them at the same time can they?’ ‘They’re acting really weirdlythough and they’re dressed differently too I’m confused but I don’t want to interrupt’*several minutes pause* ‘Well something I definitely didn’t expect to happentonight was finding out that Katsuki and Nikiforov are apparently into roleplay but you learn something new every day.’

5) After being apart for a long time during the skatingseason they finally reunited at an airport and it was all very dramatic andViktor ended up kissing Yuuri really passionately for a really long time. Andwhen they broke away Yuuri was like ‘that reminded me of our first kiss, afterthe competition in Saitama.’ And Viktor was like ‘I did a lot more than just kissyou then solnyshko’ being all sly and flirty and then they both sort of frozeas they realised that A) they were in a very public airport which is not a goodplace to be heavily flirting even if you have been apart for several months andB ) Several people were not so discreetly filming them. And that was how theworld learned exactly when and where Viktor and Yuuri got it on for the firsttime.

4) During thefour continents after they first got together Viktor ended up doing the thingin he did in the anime where he tied Yuuri’s laces and kissed his skates whilebeing there to support him. And at that point their public relationship wasstill only a few months old so while the reaction was mainly positive therewere still some assholes who were salty about the whole thing including one trashytabloid reporter who cornered Yuuri after his skate who was obviously a die-hardViktor fan and didn’t like him or their relationship at all. And while Yuuri isusually quiet and shy and likes to keep as much about their relationshipprivate as he can because he doesn’t want the world butting in, he also isabsolutely savage when he wants to be and after going through so much tofinally get together with Viktor he is not willing to take any shit fromanyone. So the reporter was being really bitchy and asking questions like ‘don’tyou think it’s a bit degrading to make Viktor Nikiforov get down on his kneesfor you?’ and Yuuri just really calmly said ‘not really, he likes it too much’,smiled and walked away. The video clip of it happening has several millionviews.

3) At one point Viktor and Yuuri were on the beach atHasetsu and Viktor took a picture of Yuuri in his boxers (they had forgottentheir swimming stuff but got too hot and went to cool off in the sea) andnothing else while laughing on the beach. And while 99.9% of the comments wereall along the lines of ‘goddamn’, ‘please step on me’ and ‘Yuuri Katsuki with hisshirt off is a gift to humanity’ there were a couple off assholes who werecommenting on the stretch marks on Yuuri’s thighs. Because he was a naturallychubby kid with a lot of puppy fat and went from that to a lean athleticteenager in a very short space of time so he has them although they’re not thatnoticeable. And Viktor doesn’t usually care when people are rude to him onlinebecause there are always a few shitty people out there but it really pisses himoff when someone insults Yuuri. So when someone tweeted him like ‘you’re reallyhot, why do you bother with someone with ugly stretch marks like Katsuki?’ he respondswith ‘I love every part of my boyfriend including his marks. I especially liketo kiss them every night when his thighs are wrapped round my head.’ whichpretty much shut all the haters up there and then. Yuuri hit him with a pillowfor it afterwards but he was secretly kind of pleased.

2) The day after one of the major competitions Yuuri wasgiving an interview and the interviewer asked ‘now that the competition is overhas the tiredness set in yet and are you ready to go home or are you stillriding high on the adrenaline from last night?’ and Chris, who happened to bewalking past at that moment, was just like ‘well he was certainly ridingsomething last night but it wasn’t the adrenaline.’ Yuuri’s expression after hesaid it became a popular reaction picture for when someone looks like theyphysically want to die of embarrassment.

1) The incident I mentioned in a previous ask where a tipsyViktor ends up getting interviewed by a tabloid reporter when his tongue islooser than usual so when she asks ‘are you the top or the bottom in yourrelationship’ aka the question everyone else wanted to ask but was way toopolite and respectful to, he just winked and said ‘why pick just one.’ And thatwas how the world found out that Viktor and Yuuri switch.