#avl agents

[nikoldragonne12]

Did anyone notice how similar Kevin and Mel look in these scenes?

[marsbotz]

gruxime makes me a little insaneeeee esp from maximes perspective cus its like. damn. a hell of my own creation.

[garbagefirelol]

Randy being a terrible agent

[luluisgreendraws]

Im always in my cringe era. There is me as the most dumb AVL agent while Gru tries to arrest Maxime Le Mal but oui oui because je suis french the story begins.

[iavulture]

Headcanon and story time (related to Despicable Me 2)

All right, I know everyone is onto DM4 (or rather, a certain cockroach man), but I've been way too enamored with a headcanon that I have stemming from DM2, which has since evolved into an ongoing AU/alternate continuity fic that further explores it in its own way. Ready to hear it? Because this'll be a long one.

(Spoilers for Despicable Me 2 and a warning due to mentions of death. Also, I will rant a bit, not out of outright hate, but because I wish things were handled better.)

*deep breath

I have this headcanon that Silas Ramsbottom is Lucy Wilde's adoptive father.

Yes, this man.

Now, before you think that's ridiculous, before you go "No way, Silas? That big man who was kind of an arse to Gru in 2 is Lucy's dad?", I can explain that, beginning with a personal story.

See, back when trailers for DM4 were being released, I decided to throw in my lot to the Despicable Me fandom for the first time by writing a future fic featuring a grown-up Gru Jr. following his parents' footsteps as a newbie AVL agent. Following that, I also decided to write another Despicable Me fic that is my take on what happened with Lucy's parents, who were killed by a villain when she was a young girl.

Above is the Twitter post describing Lucy's short backstory. This is back in 2015. 2015! Two years after DM2's 2013 release!

Anyway, after seeing that tweet and browsing through Ao3 and Fanfiction.net for Despicable Me fanfics, I was disappointed to find so few fics that explored that part of her life. Yes, I know that Gru is the protagonist of the mainline films, but does it hurt to shed some light on the character who becomes his wife? Y'know, someone who's one half of a couple, and (ideally) just as important as the other half?

Sigh. Of course, we never see this bit about her in the films: not during a conversation between Lucy and another character, not even a mention or a flashback (though correct me if I'm wrong and overlooked a movie that does mention or hint at it; if not, my point stands).

Not long ago, I brought this up with a friend, and I hypothesized that the reason why this was never implemented in some way in the films is because it's too dark for a kids franchise like Despicable Me, even though I can argue that several other kids series have elements that are as dark or even darker than that: my friend brought up Frozen 2 and Elsa dying, meaning you could definitely insert legitimately dark moments into a kids film. Hell, I can bring up The Lion King, which has Mufasa dying to the wildebeest stampede after Scar lets him go, traumatizing Simba; in fact, Mufasa's death impacts Simba even in adulthood, showing that childhood trauma can have an effect even after growing up.

In any case, it IS possible for a kid's film to be quite mature, but Lucy's backstory? Just thrown into the wind, especially in regards to the films after DM2.

Like, can you imagine the effects of such an event on her psyche? What would Lucy think of villains after her parents died? Would she ever have thoughts of revenge? Forgiveness? Would she hide it from her husband, the kids, or even her past dates? (She mentions having gone on a few bad dates in DM2 and that's the reason why she keeps a lipstick taser.) What would her life be like after they died: would she live a mostly normal life, or would she be trained to be an AVL agent at a fairly young age? Heck, would Silas know that her parents died when a villain attacked them, and would he and the AVL do something about it, perhaps avenge their deaths?

So many questions, so much wasted potential.

(Here's me crossing my fingers for a TV series that'll probably never happen, because I think Lucy's past could be explained well in that format.)

But now I'll turn to a much lighter note and the real cut of lamb of this post.

Going back to my headcanon that Silas is Lucy's adoptive father, I noticed something interesting in DM2.

During Gru and Lucy's wedding, notice the number of frills on Lucy's dress and Agnes' dress? They're both the same, and if you think about it, Agnes was the one who was the most enthusiastic about the idea of Lucy marrying Gru, implying she looked up to Lucy in high regard and thus wanted to dress up like her for the wedding.

"But Vulture! What about the note saying 'same color as Lucy's usual attire'? What's that got to do with anything?" That's likely to show how much Gru loves her, to the point he dresses up with the same color she usually dresses up in. You know what Lucy's usual getup looks like? If not, here you go.

Light-ish shade of blue, right? Now, look at this.

Maybe I've taken crazy pills or need to have my eyes checked, but I don't recall seeing any other AVL personnel having something that's just as light blue on them. I'm pretty sure in reality it's all just to help create a unique character design, to make them stand out from the generic AVL agents, but yeah. It's just something that I noticed, there's nothing to officially confirm that Silas and Lucy have some sort of close connection with each other other than they're both with the AVL.

But given my observation of "character dresses a bit like another character they admire or at least respect," you can sort of see why I have that headcanon.

I still find it interesting how Silas is around Lucy in comparison to when he's around Gru, in that he's never actually antagonistic toward her or any of his other spies and doesn't doubt her skills. Of course, since one of them is essentially a former criminal, it makes sense that he'd have some animosity toward Gru. Heck, I'm pretty sure Silas might've even been hostile to Gru way back then after Minions 2 since Silas told Gru to "stay out of trouble, kid," only for Gru to break that promise by becoming a thief anyway. However, given that Silas appears at the wedding and even helps Gru, Lucy and their children move to a safehouse in DM4, it's clear that things got better for both of them.

About the fic that I mentioned earlier in this post, I based it on this headcanon specifically, along with a few others that I wrote down on a list. There, Silas adopts an orphaned Lucy shortly after her home was destroyed by a villain and her parents were killed. Traumatized that she survived but they didn't, she often gets worried and nervous, even having a hard time at a new school. She also has to contend with living with Silas, who has his own problems to deal with, from being in charge of the AVL and a few things from his past, including his own family. (And yes, I did create OC family members, and Silas' relationship with them is... a bit complicated to say the least.)

All in all, I wanted to try my hand at writing something that explores familial themes, struggles, and dynamics, especially since I feel they aren't handled as well after 2. Plus, I get to play with some tropes and elements present in the canon Despicable Me films (and, rather appropriately enough, other spy/espionage works like James Bond), except instead of a(n ex-)supervillain with his adopted daughters, it's with the AVL director and his (fan'verse) adopted daughter.

*sigh* And now this post is done! It's been a long one, but I just wanted to type out my thoughts on a few things related to a fic I'm currently working on and because I feel upset that things could've worked out better in canon.

[myraclezzz]

Gru: “Gru is married to the beautiful and talented Lucy Wilde” (1:31)

Lucy: “Happily married to former supervillan now AVL agent Gru” “aww isnt he handsome?” (3:46)

I love them so much 🥺🥺🥺

[inkangeliguess]

I’m feel like I hit rock bottom if I am seriously thinking about making a Despicable Me/Minions AU so I feel like defending myself before delving to deep into this and confusing people.

I personally can’t stand the minions. They are so annoying and I feel as if they are only used for terrible Facebook memes and fart jokes. The one thing I like about the Despicable Me and Minions movies are their villains. They are either 1. A really cool concept wasted on a minions movie or 2. a character that is so incredibly memeable but only because they are from the minions movie.

A very dumbed down version of the AU is this: Villains are all in prison and somewhat bond with each other over their shared hatred of Gru. AVL decides to send in agent lady to attempt to reform the villains through therapy (that doesn’t really work). Meanwhile AVL is dealing with new super strong villain. Agent Lady not only has a soft spot for villains, but is actually the super strong villain in disguise. Bla bla shenanigans ensue

Mutual sand anyone who follows me, you are completely free to tell me that you don’t care about this idea and I’ll go on posting about something else

[ranminfan]

Hello, I is back 🙂

This term is about to end, and that means I can finally get to drawing again.

So this was an Idea I had for an intro for Fin as a transferred agent in the AVL. I decided to storyboard it a while ago but never got the time to finish it.

idk what style I should render this, either the minimalist one or with lineart. 🤔

[blackthewolf17]

🕴 Vil mi niño hermoso mi dulce princeso. I already missed making art of my son.

I'm a terrible addict to designing my Oc's clothes so obviously I've been playing with Vil's clothes like he's a barbie. But today specifically I want to talk about his secret identity, so...

It is obvious that Vil must necessarily have a secret identity if he himself has proclaimed himself the number one enemy of the AVL and has made multiple sabotage attempts against the organization and its agents.

To which you would think that given Vil's nature (and those conceptual art pieces of a Hotel that I did) it is to be expected that his secret identity is that of a millionaire tycoon or something similar. But as much as Vil himself likes this idea, the reality is that he is fully aware that he cannot afford to be such a public person who is constantly in the eyes of the press (in addition to obviously the AVL). 

So in reality, Vil's secret identity is that of a simple bellboy in a hotel in New York, specifically his grandfather's hotel, the only member of Billie's family who stayed away from secret agents and villains.

[nikoldragonne12]

Agent Nikolett Dragonne, at your service!

I just wanted to have some fun redesigning my chibi persona, as well as I was getting ready for the upcomming Despicable Me 4 movie.

Hope you like it!

By the way:

The circe near my mouth isn't a pigment mole but a scar from acne.

I have dimples despite not smiling that much.

[marsbotz]

havent rewatched dm3 for a while so my opinion mighttttt change but i still think dru was a bigggg wasted opportunity. u cld have done something soooo cool and he was a huge nothing burger

[cartoonygothopossum]

Despicable Me 4

Coincidentally, this movie was released on the same day as my ear, nose, and throat appointment. I had put off watching this movie, since I was struggling to find a streaming service where Despicable Me 3 was available. (Yes, when I watch sequels, I tend to re-watch the previous movies to brush up on the franchise.) My sister offered to take me to the movies sometime, so I ultimately gave in and rented Despicable Me 3 on YouTube. I encountered some spoilers for this movie, but thankfully not a lot.

Even though some people seemed to have problems with this movie, I enjoyed it. I thought it was just as funny and action-packed as the previous three movies. I liked that Silas Ramsbottom came out of retirement to return to the AVL. I definitely preferred him over the woman who replaced him in Despicable Me 3. I couldn't really understand why Gru's new son liked to torment him so much. I get that Gru wasn't always great with kids, but by now, he's a caring family guy! Thankfully, Gru refused to give up on him and eventually earned his son's respect. I just hope Gru Junior doesn't actually become a supervillain.

The new villain, Maxime Le Mal, had a pretty interesting design. On first impression, he just looked like a rich guy with glasses. I was kinda reminded of Maybe from Ralph Breaks the Internet. I found it interesting that a fancy-looking guy like Maxime would not only be into cockroaches, but also be a human-cockroach hybrid! Like, wow! I also liked that his girlfriend Valentina was taller than him. Yeah, she had high heels on, but the height difference looked significant enough that even without the heels, I bet she still would've been the taller partner. Knowing that Maxime was voiced by the same actor who voiced Megamind and Lord Business, it did not surprise me that he sounded like those two characters, but with a French accent. That weapon of his, though, was scary. I mean, as cool as Maxime looks as a cockroach hybrid, I feel bad for anyone who is a victim of his weapon.

While I understood why Gru and his family had to temporarily assume new identities, it was unfortunate that they had to go through a lot of trouble to do so. Gru must've been dying on the inside trying to pretend to be a social guy who doesn't dress in dark colors. It didn't surprise me that Lucy didn't know how to style other people's hair, but it did surprise me that her unlucky client was capable of running and dealing with obstacles just as well as she does! It makes me wonder whether she is a secret agent or a villainess. I felt especially bad for Agnes, who not only had to be separated from her goat Lucky, but was unable to assume her assigned identity. It was sweet when the family returned home, and Agnes finally reunited with Lucky.

I didn't have much of an opinion on Mr. and Mrs. Prescott, but I was not too fond of their daughter Poppy. She blackmailed Gru into helping her steal the school mascot of Gru's old villain school! At least she kept Gru's secret safe, after the heist was accomplished. You'd think that stealing the school mascot would give the villain school a reason to reject the person responsible for the heist, but perhaps the principal didn't know Poppy was involved? Or if she knew of Poppy's involvement, perhaps the principal was proud that Poppy was able to accomplish her first heist.

Knowing that most of the minions left Gru for his brother in the third movie, I wondered how they were able to get involved with the AVL. Given how badly Dru screwed up the heist in Despicable Me 3, perhaps the minions learned that Dru wasn't worth working for any longer? Or perhaps the AVL simply made an offer that the minions couldn't resist? I liked that the super serum made five of the minions more distinctive in their appearances, but alas, the Mega Minions caused too much damage in their attempts to be heroes. They seemed quite happy doing their own individual things, but I liked that they were so eager to come back out of retirement when they were summoned.

It was a relief to see that the effects of Maxime's weapon weren't necessarily permanent and that Dr. Nefario was finally freed from the carbonite he was frozen in. I didn't know how Maxime got returned to his fully human self, but I suppose the staff at the AVL prison had an antidote, similar to the one Dr. Nefario used on Gru Junior. Maxime and Gru's performance of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was fun to watch. Nice to see that Vector was eventually returned to Earth, after being stuck on the moon and Mars. Interestingly, he seemed to be the only one who still got to keep his regular outfit in prison. Perhaps it was because his tracksuit was in the same shade of orange as the prison uniforms. Scarlet and Herb Overkill didn't look much older than they were in Minions. Plus, Scarlet was the only prisoner who had a dress on. Nice to see all of the villains from the previous movies again.

[youngartworkpaintingfan]

Lucy once lost her parents due to villains and after that she joined AVL

Mary's parents were AVL agents, thanks to their support she became an agent, but after that her parents died

(This is my star animation)✨️🌷

[askjonathancrane]

"Greetings from the AVL and happy Easter! (if you celebrate)" -Agent Tear (and villains)

“Oh, well I apologize very much for the late message to this but I do appreciate the fact that you did this for me. These past few days have been rather………tense for lack of a better word, but it’s nothing that I can’t fix. Hope you and the rest of AVL as well as the villains have a nice Easter as well if you celebrate it.”

[iavulture]

It might seem crazy what I'm 'bout to say, but...

Recently I brought up two thoughts about Despicable Me 4 with a friend of mine over on Discord, specifically about Gru Jr. In fact, I've been thinking about it for a few days now, but it does tie into an idea I've been obsessed with to the point that I wrote a fanfic related to it.

… Namely, that Gru's son will be someone special, and that he probably will be an AVL agent when he grows up. Probably in a hypothetical sequel/spin-off series that I personally like to call "Agent Gru" (creative, I know, but just stick w/ me).

Now I know that the movie hasn't been out yet, and that this post could possibly be rendered moot in the future, but why don't we indulge in some speculation, shall we?

Thought #1:

Okay, this is more of an observation than anything, but I found it interesting that Gru Jr. has blue eyes and red hair, just like his father and mother respectively. I've done a bit of digging, and I found out that blue eyes + red hair is apparently a very rare combination of eye color + hair color traits. According to this article, about 0.17% of the human population has this combination, making Jr. unique in that regard.

(I even joked that the powers that be in the Despicable Me/Minions universe saw Gru's family and, after Gru and Lucy did it, really said: "You shall be blessed with a son, and so you shall have children with all of the natural hair colors." Additionally, the powers that be also decided that said son should win the genetics lottery and gave him a rare combination of traits. Which leads me to a question: if red hair is a recessive trait, what part of Gru's side of the family had red hair that led him to be a carrier of that recessive gene? I'm probably just overthinking it, but it's something interesting to think about, y'know?)

Ofc, there's also the possibility that the hair color/eye color might change as he grows up, but I digress.

tl;dr Gru's son is special because of his unique combination of phenotypes.

Which sort of leads into…

Thought #2:

Okay, here's the real meat of my crazy idea/speculation, and it starts with an observation of two characters from DM1 and DM2.

Remember Vector? (DM1)

Or Antonio? (DM2)

You notice any similarities between these two?

If not, I'll say it.

Vector is the biological son of Mr. Perkins.

And Antonio is the biological son of Eduardo Perez aka El Macho.

And bc Rule of Three seems to be in order, Gru Jr. is the biological son of Gru, thus three supervillains (well, more like two villainous characters and one who turned good anyway) are fathers with biological sons.

But wait! That's not the most interesting observation that I have about them. It's actually…

… Where the sons fall on the morality scale, though it's currently debatable where Jr. will lie. So get this.

Vector is a full-on villain, as he's the main antagonist of DM1

I see Antonio as the "neutral" son, bc he's not exactly villainous like his dad; the worst he does is break Margo's heart in DM2, but otherwise he's kinda a normal kid

Which leads me to this idea: what if Gru Jr. is the "good" son of the trio? Like…

I can't see him becoming a villain like his dad once was (remember that Gru stole things in order to try and impress his neglectful mother!), and seeing how he acts around Lucy and how she seems to handle the kids (she's better than Marlena ofc), I kinda see him as a bit of a momma's boy rather than someone with mommy issues like his dad once did. Overall, he's born into a loving family whose members care for each other very much to where the only realistic reason as to why he would become bad is through a bad outside influence.

At the bare minimum, he'll grow up to be an ordinary guy w/ an ordinary life, but I honestly can't see that bc 1) his family circumstances don't exactly add up to an ordinary life (his parents are AVL agents for one thing) and 2) unless Illumination gets tired of the DM/Minions 'verse, I can't see them settling on an ordinary character as a protagonist. I mean, can you imagine if Jr. was the head of a jelly/jam business just like what Gru was trying to do at the start of DM2?

In other words, I don't really believe he'll be a villain or an ordinary guy. Like, there's little to nothing that could possibly lead him to either of those paths, unless something drastic happens in 4 or in another movie that has him. I think it's more likely he'll be actively on the side of good and be smth like an AVL agent like his parents. Plus, and I know this might be a bit harsh in regards to the girls, but I can (realistically) see him being the next-gen main character of the series. At the same time, though, I do hope that he gets to interact w/ his older sisters in DM4 and beyond (whatever that'll be like); hell, in the fic that I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I imagined him and Edith to be in the AVL, with Edith being like a weapons/gadget specialist like Q from James Bond with an additional enthusiasm for fighting (and I also imply that she might've taught him a few things along the way, such as fighting skills).

Oh, and one last thing: considering that Jr. has a scarf like his protagonist parents (I don't count minor characters w/ scarves like Antonio here), it's likely that he will be a protagonist in DM4 and possibly even future movies after it. (Apparently having one automatically gives you a high chance to be a protag in this 'verse? I joke, but y'know…)

So… yeah. Sorry for the long post, but I just had to get this off my chest since it's been nagging me for a little while now.

[myraclezzz]

Agent in the Making (snippet)

Heyy so I'm writing a DM fanfic rn (title above) and it's far from finished since im quite busy irl and only write when im free (or when ideas are actually flowing in my head XD) I was just curious to see some feedback on what little I've written so far! This is my first time sharing something I've written so i quite nervous haha I do hope I get to finish this and for it to won't stay in my WIPS like the rest of my writing hehe :P ========== "Are you out of your mind?" Gru yelled loudly at the woman across the room.

"Director da Vinci, with all due respect but my husband has a point! This is far too risky."

Lucy and Gru are currently in a mission briefing with the recently appointed AVL director. It hasn't been that long since they returned to work ever since they were hastily fired by her. This would be their first field mission in a long while as they were always given analytical and support work since they came back, per the director's order. The mission involves going undercover to an exclusive party hosted by a woman who the AVL has investigated to have smuggled hazardous chemicals hidden in her manor. The event was supposedly a charity event, with all attendees bringing along children. Which brings us back to the present situation.

"Seriously? You just got back on the job and the first thing you do is complain?" Valerie said in a mocking tone with a raised brow. "You took some little girls to help your old villainous antics, what's the difference?" she even sarcastically added.

"This and that are very much different, okay?" Gru argued back, genuinely offended by her unnecessary remark. "Look, why are we even making this longer? My wife and I will not accept this mission, end of story!"

Gru grabs Lucy's hands and heads towards the exit with her quickly following her husband's rapid steps.

Once out of earshot, Gru let go and grunted loudly in frustration. After letting off some steam, he grabbed his wife's hands and looked back at her with an apologetic look.

"Honey, I'm sorry for forcefully pulling on your hand back there but the director today is being unbearable more than usual."

"It's alright Gru, I would've dragged you out of there too," Lucy reassured her husband, tenderly squeezing his hands in comfort."I mean really, using kids for a cover up mission? It's crazy!"

The couple calmed themselves in the small silent space they found together until someone came along to ruin it.

"Excuse me agents," a deep voice suddenly joined in. "The director asked me to pass on these files to you."

"She's really stubborn, ain't she?" Lucy joked at him as Gru begrudgingly took the folder. The man standing before them is Mr. Viktor van Gogh. He is one of their superiors and directly works under the director. However, rumors suggest that even they don't view the new director positively.

Ignoring the comment made by the female agent, he continued to explain. "Not only do we not have a child agent, for obvious reasons, it would be much easier to select someone with existing ties to the AVL."

Gru opened the folder to see a picture of her little girls along with a few information about them inside. A quick skim on the contents made it obvious that the woman had her eyes set on their middle child, Edith. 

"I believe the director has one of your kids in mind for the mission which may explain her unusual persistence..."

Gru suddenly took a step closer to the man in black, passing on the folder to his wife for her to read the blasphemy too. "Hold up, hold your horses! I already refused the mission when a kid got involved and now you're telling me it has to be OUR kid?"

"Your daughter, Edith, has shown to be quite courageous and talented. Should this not lessen your worries?"

That comment pissed off Gru more than he already was.

"Praising our daughter won't make the situation shift, pal!" he says louder than before as he takes another step closer to van Gogh, just enough of a distance to grab his collar. 

Lucy stepped in between the two, attempting to calm her husband down. As much as she despised what she just read, it'd be dangerous to let the situation spiral down further. Still, that doesn't mean she has nothing to say to their ridiculous superior.

"Are you even thinking right? I mean, what kind of parent would just voluntarily put their child in danger?" 

"The risks involved in this mission are low and most importantly, both of you will be there," van Gogh tried to be empathic and reassured them, a different approach from the cold one earlier. He was trying to put a quick end to the matter as he would not hear the end of it if he returned to the director defeated. "If it's a matter of her safety, I believe it all depends on your capability."

Not a single word escaped their mouths as they were too baffled by what they had heard. At that point, the couple was tired of the back and forth argument with their unfazed higher-up. Gru and Lucy exchanged looks at each other for a while. Eventually, Lucy closed the folder in her hand while Gru cleared his throat. They reluctantly nodded in unison at him then everyone went in separate ways.

They've accepted the mission. (much to their demise)

The day went on with the two filled with discomfort. Neither of them are sure on how to break the news to the girls. They dreaded how awful this will reflect on them as parents. 

With work hours finished, they head out to their car to drive home. As Lucy settles in her seat in the GruMobile, she turns to her husband on her left.

"Hey honeybear, do you want to pass by that donut shop the girls love? I saw their page earlier promoting new flavors!" Lucy says in excitement, trying to lighten up the mood. 

. . .

Seeing how it's obviously not working, she reaches out and rests her hands on his shoulder. "Gru, I hate this mission as much as you do but I honestly think this is the best outcome we can expect..."

"I know, this was a decision we both agreed on but..." Gru sighed in defeat, resting his head on the steering wheel. "I am quite confident we can protect our girl but there are just some things that are out of our hands, y'know? And that is what I fear the most..."

With nothing left to say, Lucy grabbed the hand that was on his lap and rested her head on his shoulder. Gru held on to her hand as they both shared the heavy feeling in their hearts. 

After a long while of solemn silence, Gru whispered.

"Donuts would be nice."