#these ARE the death fandoms after all-

[wispisstillverybored67]

All Star Apologies

"A body has been discovered!! Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin!"

______________________________________________________________

This search has been nothing but a waste of time.

So a bit of base for this. Out of all of us, 1 of us has apparently died. I refuse to say whom at the moment. And this asshole bear thing had recently announced a motive; there will be an obscene number of lire waiting towards any one of us that manages to kill, and escapes freely. Naturally, this created something of a schism between us among us in La Squandra di Esecuzione, the professional hitman team to the boss, the ones with the shitty payment from said boss, and La Unita Speciale per Boss, said boss’s personal guard. Nero has chosen to keep quiet about this fight, while Doppio explicitly said that he won’t take sides on this, with what the woman he loves on the other side as well. So us hitmen (and the little one) decided to go look for the body as someone disappeared. Because wherever he, whoever he is, did the crime shouldn't be that far, right? Who's he? Oh, no one in particular. But I am the only woman in this group, so everyone else is a man. Hehehe...

After about half a day of searching, we all just gave up. And by "we", I mean me, Melone, Illuso, Doppio, and perhaps Nero himself. Well, Nero says that he won't stop the search, and chided us for giving up, but a: his tone is just dripping with weariness, and b: he "excused himself" in the bathroom, and won't get out (I heard faint crying noises too so he's not helping his case). So our group is heading back to our rooms. Actually, I think the others should be heading soon enough, it's almost time to check in. 'Cuz if they don't in about an hour or so, they'll end up like a pincushion just like Carne. What was it called again...? Oh, I don't wanna know! At least being temporarily Stand-less has it's perks. I do NOT wanna clean up the Notorious goo mess.

"VoUlEz-VoUs CoUcHeR aVeC mOi," That's a French phrase. We got told that because we gave up quickly. Only France gives up easily. Do you think the boys know what that means? Hell no. Illuso is the LAST to know. "The hell's that supposed to mean...?!"

"Will you sleep with me," I remarked, annoyed.

"The fuck?! No!" He exclaimed, horridly.

"No, not like that. The phrase means 'will you sleep with me'," Why would I want to do you? Don't get any ideas. "Melone, don't even try,"

"Alright alright..."

Pass through the hallway, then take the door on the left. I guess the search would go on the next day. Now I told you this before, that two of us are missing from each group; the lovebird duo on our side, and the medic and his human pet on the other side. One of them may be dead, while the other is perhaps looking. I wonder where the place is being powered from.

And then.

It happened.

*fwush!* The power blew out. Uh, does my GBA need charging? Guess not.

"...Dammit," Whenever the power in the building goes out, Melone is almost always is the first to go. Do you seriously use that computer while you're walking? You do, don't you ya freak. "Okay, okay, now where's the fuse box?" Planning to turn it on again, I suppose? I guess I could tag along. The other two would follow with.

"On the other end of the hall with Izza's room," Wonder how'd Illuso find that out, poking around in the incinerator I guess? "Hey Paulla, do you have a flashlight?" someone asked sheepishly. It was Doppio. Of course it was.

Without saying anything, I turned on the little backlight in my GBA. That should suffice. Or maybe not, who knows. But with this, we took a detour to the boiler room. Who even flipped off the switch, anyhow? It can't be because someone's planning a murder... yet.

Let's see. Monopad ping the door, then file inside. Find where the box is... unless you get hit with something squirming at the legs.

This caused a bit of a ruckus among us 4, because we couldn't see what was there, and it was too dark to stray even WITH the GBA light. The fuse-box SHOULD be somewhere... right?

"Aceto, let go of me," I complained to the little guy, who currently had his arms and legs wrapped around my top half. He doesn't budge. Man, for a so-called "Ultimate Bodyguard", he sure is un-threatening now, isn't he? Look around, see what's there.

"...There it is!" Illuso was triumphant after all. It was wedged on-top of the incinerator chute itself. I would've thought it was on the other side of that and the boiler, but I guess not. And with a flick of Melone's wrist and switch, the lights turned back on. Chattering all the way in the dining room came all the way to here. Ah well, the stampede should awaken in... 30 minutes or less. So without further ado, let's turn off the GBA and go back to our rooms like intended. Until...

We saw it.

In broad daylight (not literally).

Gelato was bound up extremely tightly and gagged on the floor, but he's still alive. Blood stains all over the floor and walls, and whatever happened to him had his face absolutely stained with tears (still crying, I may add!). A piece of paper that read "PUNISHMENT" was taped to his forehead. Handwriting is unlike anything I've seen in the last 2 days. What the hell happened in here? Was he the one that kept bumping into our legs? Why didn't he try to make any noise indication that he WAS here? Ugh... it's getting really hot in here.

"The fuck?" "What the-?!" Half of us were more reactive than others.

"Why are you just sitting there, watching this?! GO HELP ME OUT HERE!!" Melone scolds me in a moment of wild uncharacteristic fear.

"I'd love to if he'd stop SQUIRMING!" I complained in the back. Melone can handle it on his own. ...Aren't I forgetting something?

"Hold on hold on," I think Illuso noticed it too. "If Gelato's over here, then what happened to Sorbet?" Motherfucker, you're right. Ugh. Those two NEVER leave each other's presence for too long, if I didn't know any better, I'd think they were just having sex in their room.

"We'll look for the other one later. Now come on! Help me get this off of him!" Yeah, that gag is done on WAY too tight. One wrong move earlier, and he'd already be dead through suffocation. "Aceto, go get Nero-chan," Stained blood has better iron generations in it, right? Oh wait, he doesn't have Metallica on hand. But I think that wouldn't matter, he's always got something sharp on hand. "You got it, Paulla!" At least he's eager. "Let me see what's up here..."

Whatever happened to him, he's rendered to a shell of fear and nerves, a far cry to his usual self. You know, I'd expect this to be slightly more from the other one, not him. I took off the taped note, revealing a moderate gnash on his forehead, most likely from hitting one of us, or the wall. I wonder who should go look for Sorbet, with us handling the other one. Does he even know that he's here? I don't think so. Why is he not looking for him? Can he look for him? Is he still alive, even?

"Okay, howzabout we go look for the other one, y'all? Does that sound good?" I don't know how to comfort people. Much less people in this position. Still, as I picked him up, at least his cries were softened a bit. Listen, just WHAT do you want me to do?

"Uh... you guys?" Hearing Doppio's sheepish voice again can't be good. From afar is even worse.

"Aceto..." We all (surprisingly) began. The other two had corrected themselves, since only I call him that. "Uh, Vinegar..."

"What happened to Nero?" Not even I could've torn off his gag.

"No, not that, just..." He looked back to where the others were, as if he was remembering that something came up. "Come over here really quickly! You guys have to see this!" He shouted, then ran back to the others.

We all gave each other a glance, feeling dread settle upon us. Maybe they found the other three... I sighed, then we all went over to where he told us to go. The gym gates open to reveal...

Sorbet's spliced up corpse.

The Ultimate Opera Singer has been killed.

Sectioned into 39 pieces, and dipped in formaldehyde for preservation, his face is permanently twisted into a gape of pure agony and despair. I would've showed this to little Gelato, but he's already unconscious, as I had checked. Or is he? Eh.

*ding ding dong dang* What the?! The loudspeaker came on... Don't tell me it's-

"A body has been discovered!! Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin!" *Fwush* An announcement came on from the big screen in the gym room. It was that jackass bear. How come he didn't announce it before, when the group had most likely found it? Probably just to rub it in our faces...

We all faced the artistic corpse again, all in various faces of either horror, disgust, or fear. Even those among La Unita aren't hiding their shock. Well, most of us, at any rate. I, who can't feel anything at this time, and the now found duo for the special unit, Dolcio and Secco. I'd expect that those two aren't very worried either. As a surgeon, you'd have to expect the worst in damages. And I'm assuming that human pets simply don't GAF. Of course, one COULD use it for... discerning evidence.

Illuso is the first to leave, quickly dashing towards the nearest trash can to gag in. Doppio and Pesci refuse to look at this, clearly too terrified at this to continue looking. It's strange. I can sense everyone's despair, but none of us have our Stands, and that was a plus from Smooth Criminal, so what gives? None of us say anything the whole time, I just fake being horrified to suit the others. Hardened assassins, running about like children stumbling upon 2 month old leftovers in or out of the fridge. Look at us... who'd have ever thought? At least Nero is out of the bathroom now, so we can get Gelato un-bound-and-gagged with. Oh! I see a lighter on the stage! That makes this even better! And since he's unconscious... that makes it easier for us to do so without interruptions. Just gotta make sure the smoke doesn't hit him. Once he's freed, we can squeeze an answer out of him.

We had to go to sleep soon enough, so Nero and the others grabbed up the pieces of Sorbet, and moved it to the stage. Investigate later, that sounds better. When the guys went to leave once they were finished, I went to grab the lighter over there. Make sure to tilt his head back so he doesn't inhale the smoke. Doppio is the only one to linger. I motion for him to go help me out here, so he held up the body carefully on top of the stage so I wouldn't have to bend down.

*click!* Steady now... Don't move much. Watch the flame. I'm so glad Gelato doesn't have messy hair! Halfway done. Hmm...

"Aceto,"

"Yeah, Paulla?"

"Do you know what's going on here? Does the boss, like... know that we're stuck here?" On the hitmen's end, we were just chatting in the hideout, but when I went to go get a drink, the others fell unconscious. I soon joined their fate once I got back to the other guys. We all woke up in here alongside the unit.

"I've tried calling him, no go. I wonder what happened to him?" Worried about him? Well, I guess that is rather like you...

"What I want is for this to wrap up quickly. Destroy the bear thing, or wait until someone tries to get us," ! He's waking up! Almost done, you hear? The weight radiating from him in the boiler room is coming back!

"GUYS! HE'S AWAKE!! GELATO'S ALIVE!" I tried to call out for the guys. "NERO?! TIANZO?! HELLOOOOOO!!" Tianzo? Tiziano? Whatever. He's the only one not named Aceto that I talk to in the unit. Doppio himself went to go fetch the guys for the discovery. I had to go carry him again carefully so the others could see. But what happened next is a different story.

What did he see then? You'll figure it out. What we saw then, however, were fireworks.

A screech hits the room, loud, discordant, despairing. A violent and horrified yell, at the sight of something that caught his eye in the stage. The stage where we kept his husband, or rather, the corpse of his husband.

"AREEEEEEEEAIIIIIIIIHHHHHH!!!"

Oh, this is gonna be a long, long day. And now my head hurts...

[jamyleebrown]

Sketching this was like an itch that I had to scratch.

[tea-cat-arts]

Shen Yuan getting transported into pidw isn't "the system punishing him for being a lazy internet hater," but instead representative of "step 1 of the creative process: getting so mad at something you decide to go write your own fucking book" in this essay I will

[lunarriviera]

BONUS:

[mxtxfanatic]

Mxtx, creating a beautiful and well-rounded female character that appears only briefly: Hey, isn’t it fucked up that this character who is so important in the world of this story and to the people that knew her can only be known to you, reader, through flashback memories because the people in power were willing and able to sacrifice her in their never-ending quest for ultimate dominance? Do you feel the constant grief over what could have been had her potential not been killed in its infancy? Do you understand that you as a reader are mourning in the same way that her loved ones she’s left behind are, knowing that the world has been changed for the worse by her premature death? Doesn’t it suck?

(English-speaking) Mdzs fandom the bane of her existence (probably): Killing women in stories can have no other meaning than that you hate women, so this was a misogynistic choice, actually.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 351

Bruce is Exhausted. Capital E and everything. He can feel himself get older, even with how Gotham’s aging worked. So perhaps it was less getting older, and more of his body finally rebelling against the abuse he put it through night and day. 

Way too many old injuries flaring up and bones full of steel aching. The issue, really, is that his kids are starting to complain about the same things. And if they’re actually complaining about it, then it’s bad, that’s just how everyone in the family is. 

They make a fuss about each other’s injuries, but don’t so much as talk about their own unless it’s an active issue. So. It’s a big issue. 

Which meant actually wrangling them to the doctors…

[crazy-fangirl2524]

Wymack, Bee, Nicky and Kevin are so underrated in regards to how fundamentally they helped Andrew. Without them Andrew would never have anyone to even take a chance at him. Without Wymack, he wouldn’t have college and exy, without nicky he wouldn’t even have a “home��, without Bee, Andrew’s mental state would have been way way worse, and without Kevin, Andrew wouldn’t have a purpose.

Neil may be the catalyst and Andrew’s main reason to actually live. But these four people (and Aaron) are Andrew’s cornerstones, his foundation, are what’s holding him up before Neil josten even existed.

[whetstonefires]

Hey here's an angle on the Jiang family dynamic and its impact on Wei Wuxian that I haven't seen discussed:

Wei Wuxian grew up seeing Jiang Yanli routinely having her agency cut off and denied in both large (betrothal) and small ways. That were largely tied up in her gender, sure, but this was also a family containing Yu Ziyuan. A daughter in this household had every chance of having her gender treated as of secondary importance.

She just had to earn it.

The way Jiang Yanli was hemmed in and her potential as an independent actor dismissed was at least as strongly correlated with her failure to be a powerful sword cultivator.

So Wei Wuxian's total refusal to let anyone know that he'd lost access to his cultivation and his violent reactivity against being diminished or condescended to during his Sunshot-to-death period, when before he was pretty immune to being looked down on, could have a lot to do with having been presented with this clearly labeled diagram of how your personhood gets stripped away when you are, by the standards of your society, disabled.

[muiromem]

Kathryn Janeway - "The Fates"

The Moirai of Greek myth. The youngest, Clotho - the spinner who controlled life, choosing when a person was born and weaving their thread of existence. The middle one, Lachesis - the allotter who measured out the length of this thread and decided a person's destiny. And the eldest, Atropos - she who was inevitable that ended a mortal's life, cutting the thread and choosing the manner of their death.

[venuslove-28]

reply to this post w costumes u think ur faves would wear and i might doodle em !!

[zeddylux]

250 million dollars. That is an INSANE amount of money to pour into an animated series to pour into any series for that matter. To put it into context Moana 2 which is one of Disney's newest projects and is much anticipated has a budget of 150 million dollars. And Arcane took them 3 years to make. Now I'm not saying that the writing choices are excusable or again the messy pacing of Act 2 especially but think about how impossible it would be to make a profit off Arcane with the current streaming model. Again it doesn't excuse laying off workers, artists, WRITERS but Jesus from a buisness standpoint this is all just insane to look at. I'm not really sure what my point is here except that I can understand the 2 season limit....the writing less so. Idk I just think it's important to remember that there's always more going on behind the scenes. That everyone is doing their best but damn. Maybe they flew too close to the sun.

[erenfox]

MAN SCREW NEWTMAS OR SONYARIS OR ANY OF THOSE RELATIONSHIPS

CAN WE TALK ABOUT NEWT AND SONYA INSTEAD BECAUSE HOLY FUCK I'M SOBBING 😭😭😭💔💔💔

[aha-my-villainous-thoughts]

It's all about them.

(I'm just a big ole ball of happy mush at the moment, I love our blackbonnet boys 💜)

[totheidiot]

"i am gay" "i am straight" okay??? i'll bring the rain??? i'll bring the wind??? i'm the mighty hurricane???

[13eyond13]

love it when a character that's hard to read intuitively for you has like a dedicated fandom interpreter who can just glance at their blank face in a panel and then give you a 3k word essay on their innermost thoughts & desires & fears and neatly tie it back into the themes & whatnot as if it's the most obvious thing in the world

[aphel1on]

not sure how to phrase this but something i have been ruminating on recently is that xue yang is strangely fragile. obviously he is also incredibly resilient. he survived, and continues to survive, impossible things. he has a million barriers between himself and the world, but none of this actually matters when it comes to what he feels. everything is personal to him. everything pierces straight through all that armor and goes right to his battered heart, the heart that no one else believes he has. that even he is not fully cognizant of. the world strikes and strikes and strikes and so he strikes and strikes and strikes back, even (especially) when the wound is something other people would not think worthy of retribution.

xue yang would never realize this- would be outraged at the concept of it- but the way everything, everything is something to rally a defense against is in itself a form of fragility. he does not know how to let go of things, or let them pass him by. passivity is death. so he is ruthlessly cruel and violent. he projects himself as a lunatic untouchable by anything you might possibly do to him, and on some level he even believes this. but in actuality he is one raw emotional wound. he never learned to separate himself from his emotions, much less process them. the volatility is not so much insanity as it is the constant lashing out of an animal in a trap, and the trap is the world, and the trap is himself, and he is never going to get out. and like so much else, this pain is just part of the background radiation of his life. it hardly registers. to be able to register the hurt, you would have to be able to register a time in which you were not hurt.

i feel like it is a fragility that could blossom into such tenderness, given exactly the right set of circumstances. how at the very first touch of softness in his life he fell into a domesticity from which he never recovered. how much was there, still, to be salvaged from the cruelty. on some level i am always thinking about the little apple bunnies. about the meal for daozhang and the straw in a-qing's bed.

it was too little, too late. it shattered like glass when the world intruded back in. but the tenderness was there. no one, least of all xue yang, knows what might have happened had it been unearthed in him any sooner.