#encyclopedia of villains

[wonderencyclopedia]

Name: Zara First Appearance: Comic Cavalcade #5 (1943) Creators: William Marston and H.G Peter Abilities: Mastery of pyrotechnics to an absurd degree. Religious figure who leads an international religion with thousands of followers. Flight. Ability to project fire.

Backstory: Born in Arabia. Zara at a young age had been sold into slavery, creating within Zara a burning hatred for society for allowing such things and those in power who encourage it.

Eventually gaining her freedom, Zara would go on to become a talented chemist with a focus on pyrotechnics. Capable of creating new and dazzling displays using fire which none would have thought possible.

Such as paper which can catch fire on command, project an image in flames and a voice to give instructions from great distance. Or temporary tattoos of invisible ink which can on command burn messages into peoples skin whenever Zara willed.

Concocting a plan to form a cult and use religious fervor to drive people under her banner and bring about the downfall of a corrupt civilization and burn away the garbage to purify the world in a cleansing flame.

Zara would use her talents with fire to make herself into a high priestess, inventing a figure known as the ‘Crimson Flame of Life’ a bodyless head that exists in a ball of fire. Proclaiming herself to serve this beings will, Zara would spread her power and influence across the globe.

The cult of the Crimson Flame becoming international with branches in numerous countries, Zara had willing followers by the thousands who used the concoctions of her devising to spread the faith and draw in both those driven by the promise of a flame that would cleanse the world and those drawn in under threat of succumbing to that same inferno.

In the modern era she has displayed pyrokinesis. An ability to project a ‘crimson flame’ hot enough to burn through concrete. and fly upon her own flames. The origin of these abilities is never explored.

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

ik PIDW is terrible and the entire point of scum villain is rewriting it to be good and also obviously PIDW doesnt really exist but. man i wish i could read PIDW. not bc i think it'd be good just bc id like to know it all in the way one only can when they read it. reading svsss isnt enough anymore i need to read PIDW and memorize all its stupid plants and monsters and wives and plot holes. listen. listen i intend to become sy in all ways but physical and i cant do that without PIDW

[bi4bihankking]

Geoff Johns knows about Hank and he knows about Jackie but he does NOT care enough to write anything about it and he's the only writer who has mentioned both

[tossawary]

There's a really quick joke in BTAS that genuinely got me. It's in the episode "Eternal Youth", where Alfred and his girlfriend(?) Maggie Page go to a health spa being run by a mysterious woman named Demeter. Of course, this turns out to be Poison Ivy.

And when Batman has to go to this spa to save Alfred and Maggie, and he's confronted by Poison Ivy as she reveals herself, he says (I'm paraphrasing because I can't remember exactly) something like, "Only you, Poison Ivy, would name yourself after the Greek goddess of plants."

Poison Ivy has two henchwomen in this episode (who unfortunately never show up again) calling themselves Lily and Violet, also present. And either Lily or Violet responds, with something like, "Ooh, someone graduated high school literature."

And then the confrontation continues, but that joke fucking got me, because that IS a common level of mystery-crafting in comics and also this show specifically. Superheroes apparently have to know their Greek and Roman mythology (not just because of Wonder Woman's rogues) because there's a high chance a villain is going to pretentiously name some project by looking up mythology in an encyclopedia.

It also makes me think that it must be REAL easy for the Gotham rogues to frame each other for anything, which is sure to cause grudges and fights between them if it gets found out. Everyone has conveniently themed themselves! Maybe it fools Batman sometimes and maybe it doesn't!

"Aha, a green envelope with a purple question mark! It must be the Riddler again," says Robin. "When did he get out?"

But Batman just inspects the card and says, "Wrong type of paper. Wrong shade of green. Nygma is picky about the quality of his printing. Someone picked this card up from the greeting card section of the local pharmacy."

"Oh, huh, you're right," Robin replies. "Holy marketing mistake, Batman, why do they even sell these?"

"I wish they wouldn't."

[waitineedaname]

ENCYCLOPEDIA -- In Proud Immortal Demon Way, Luo Binghe emerges from the Endless Abyss a fully realized heavenly demon. This marks the beginning of his quest for revenge against those who wronged him, along with bedding every woman he comes across.

HALF LIGHT -- He comes out hungry for blood. Your blood.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Easy: Success] -- You remember cheering when you read his revenge against Shen Qingqiu. In fact, you remember commenting that he should've gone further when punishing the scum villain. Little did you know that someday you'd be the scum villain in question.

HALF LIGHT -- You have five years before Luo Binghe decides to turn you into a human stick. Better start running.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY -- I can take him.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT -- In a fight, right?

ELECTROCHEMISTRY -- ...

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT -- In a fight, right?

AUTHORITY [Formidable: Failure] -- You absolutely cannot take him, in a fight or otherwise. He's the stallion protagonist, what are you talking about? You're just his poser shizun. You don't stand a chance.

HALF LIGHT -- You pushed your beloved, sticky little white lotus disciple into the Endless Abyss, and there's no coming back from it. You need to start planning now. When he comes back, what will you do?

[Conceptualization: Impossible] Understand the changes you've already made to the story.

[Rhetoric: Challenging] Explain why you did what you did.

[Physical Instrument: Godly] I can take him.

[Electrochemistry: Formidable] I can take him.

[Drama: Challenging] Fake your death.

DRAMA [Challenging: Failure] -- He can't kill you if you're already dead, right? Of course, faking your death is too cliche, and there are too many ways it could go wrong. If you faked your death normally and ran off, there's always the chance he could find you again.

DRAMA -- There's only one option. You're going to have to kill yourself for real.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Easy: Success] -- You know, there's a mushroom that might help with this...

[writingquestionsanswered]

I've perfectly understood protagonist and antagonist, but now I've lost understanding on heroes and villains. I used to think, unlike antagonists, villains are usually evil or have malevolent intent. But when I think about it, that's not what I see in most stories. When I plan out my own story, I always fail to make anybody evil - including the villain. I just don't think anyone is evil. I don't believe in it. So now my understanding of these archetypes are all messed up.

Heroes and Villains

Bear with me while I try to unpack this, because what you've stumbled into is a philosophical quagmire...

I think where you're getting hung up is the discordance between the definition of true evil, and the loose application of the word to anyone or anything that causes harm. Complicating matters is the popularity of morally gray villains, which is what I think you say you're seeing ina lot of stories.

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines "evil" as "the most severe condemnation our moral vocabulary allows. Murder, torture, enslavement and prolonged humiliation are some examples of it." The definition goes on to explain that evil must involve serious, unjustifiable harm that causes suffering and damages the victims' capacity to function normally.

The keyword here is "unjustifiable," though, because... and here's where the philosophical ramifications come into play: what is and isn't justifiable can be up for debate, as is who gets to decide that.

I'm sure you've heard of the "trolley problem." If there's a runaway trolley heading toward five people stuck on the track, and you can pull a lever to divert the trolley onto another track to save them, of course you'd do it in a heartbeat. But what if there was one person stuck on the other track, so you'd be killing them to save the other five people. What do you do then? On one side, there are all sorts of arguments about the greater good, sacrificing the few to save the many, and the potential immorality of doing nothing. On the other side, you have arguments against "playing God," interfering with fate, and turning an accident into a deliberate decision to kill.

And then you get into the persnicketiness of justifiability, because killing the one to save the five is justifiable to the five people, their loved ones, and people arguing on the side of the greater good and the immorality of doing nothing. But, killing the one is not justifiable to the one who dies, their loved ones, and the people who argue against playing God, interfering with fate, and turning an accident into a deliberate decision to kill. So, no matter what you do, it's unjustifiable... but does that actually make you evil? Of course not.

And that's where things get complicated with villains in fiction and how we apply the definition of evil. One of my favorite villains ever is Niklaus Mikaelson in the Vampire Diaries universe. He's one of the original vampires... a young Viking man, abused by his father since childhood, cursed with immortality as a means of protection by his well-meaning witch mother. This leads to him and his siblings being chased by their father-turned-vampire-hunter through the centuries. Klaus's ultimate motivation is to protect his family, but as the lengths he goes to become increasingly more harmful, the justifiability of his actions becomes increasingly twisted. Klaus is certainly evil by definition of causing unjustifiable, serious harm. However, when we start to look at who he is, why he is the way he is/does what he does, and his overall motivation, we get into some gray areas.

Which is why morally gray villains are so popular in fiction, because if we can argue what is and isn't justifiable, and who does and doesn't get to determine that, things start to get really complicated, making fiction a fertile ground within which to explore the concept of evil, good vs evil, morality, etc.

So... having said that... I think you know what antagonists are, and I think you know what villains are. Don't get too caught up on the idea of pure evil. You can have a villain who causes harm for reasons that are justifiable to them or others, even if the majority of others would not see it as justifiable.

I hope that helps rather than muddying the waters!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[47gaslamps]

People who nearly succeeded in killing Sherlock Holmes, ranked in descending order of seriousness

Sebastian Moran (The Empty House). The man had enough vendetta to single-handedly keep Holmes out of London for three years, and didn't wait a day past Holmes' return to Baker Street to make good on the threat. Even after all Holmes' elaborate preparation against it, he still would have killed him if Watson weren't in the same room.

Professor Moriarty (The Final Problem). Extremely serious, as we all know. Very nearly did come off a few times over. But... well, there's no doubt it would have come off, had he acted sooner- at any point before Holmes was on Permanent Red Alert and the whole criminal empire was collapsing about his ears. Put him in the ranks of those who tragically overestimated their opponents. If he were not a challenge and a treat but a part of the ordinary course of business, Holmes would certainly be dead.

Culverton Smith (The Dying Detective). Horrid man. Evil design. The plunging feeling in my stomach would vault him to the top of the list if left to its own devices. But he put all his hopes in sending Holmes a prank jewel-box. As there is no reason one would anonymously send Holmes a real jewel-box, that makes the effort a bit less serious.

Tonga (The Sign of Four). This stood a better chance of working. All he lacks is the ability to shoot accurately while on a riverboat, and it's an ugly way to die. But you can't take Tonga seriously. He is a walking extract from the pages of the Encyclopedia of Obscure Racism, and you can't get past that.

Baron Gruner (The Illustrious Client). Responsible for the greatest actual bodily harm Holmes incurs during the series, but not a full-throated murder attempt. He seems to regard a killing, a maiming and a roughing-up as basically interchangeable ideas.

Alec Cunningham (The Reigate Squires). What do you expect to happen after you've strangled Holmes in the next room from an active police inspector, guy? You think you're getting off that murder charge now? Should've used that energy to run like a bunny.

Sherlock Holmes (The Devil's Foot). What. Were. You. Thinking.

Count Sylvius (The Mazarin Stone). The grade of villainous plot I expect from a literal cartoon.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Supernatural should have kept Gordon around the entire time. He's a vampire but he's so fucking mad about being a vampire that he only eats, like, vegetables but still survives out of power of being super pissed off. Once he gets kinda used to being a vampire, he just. Goes around being violent, funny and very reasonable about things except when he's not.

The Winchesters consider him their nemesis but Dean has beers with him on Fridays (because Dean hangs out with all his homoerotic nemeses).

Henrikssen hates him because he has a list of felonies longer than the encyclopedia britannica but he can't arrest him, he's Dean nemesisbuddy, so he's just a giant headache.

He never achieves anything substantial except for blasting phenomenal blows to villains' egos.

(He runs Lucifer over with a truck. Twice.)

[terapsina]

Let's talk books. Sorted in threes by vibes.

-------

I Support Women's Wrongs (murder, slaughter and body horror galore).

---

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Django Wexler - A woman from Earth is dropped into a magical realm, meant to save the Kingdom from the FoRCes of DaRKneSSss... except, unfortunately that might have been a thousand years worth of time loops ago, so it's rather time to lose one's temper and decide to become the Dark Lord herself.

Main character -> basically Deadpool (measured in sanity, humor and levels of bisexual horniness)).

Someone You Can Build a Nest In ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by John Wiswell - Shesheshen, a shapechanging monster who's rudely interrupted during her hibernation by hunters. Manages to to eat one of them, unfortunately she also gets shot by an arrow and falls off a cliff. On the bright side she meets a lovely human woman she might end up falling in love with so much... she'll want to build a nest in her (it's possible there's some Cultural Differences that need to be worked through).

Hench ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Natalie Zina Walschots - Anna's latest temp job for a villain (because even supervillains need office help) ends with her carelessly injured by a superhero, laid off and with injured mobility for the foreseeable future (because human bodies don't see much difference between getting hit by a truck and getting moved out of way by someone able to pick up a truck). Angry, disillusioned, and looking for some vengeful payback she starts compiling the statistics of exactly how much suffering gets left behind the heroes and in quick order finds a new job working for one of the worst supervillains in the neighborhood.

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Extremely Competent Women Show Up to Fix Everyone's Shit (with a whallop of romance which was actually sweet instead of irritating)

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The Witchwood Knot ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Olivia Atwater - Winifred Hall was invited to the Witchwood Manor under the pretense of being the governess for a very bratty kid, but when said boy suddenly turns into a very quiet and perfectly bland boy overnight it's very obvious her charge has been stolen by faeries (and it might have something to do with the actual reason she's there). Rescue however is complicated by some factors, one, there being something terribly dark and wrong about the house (normal houses don't have screaming faces in the walls), another, the faerie man posing as the manor's butler who would very much like to make her run screaming the way so many servants had before her (unfortunately for him, she's not even half as scared of him as she is the eyes of the father of her charge).

This one's about dealing with past trauma, and otherworldly terrors paling in comparison to mundane monsters, set in a very beautiful and dark and shiver-inducing Victorian time world where the Fair Folk are very real.

(Same world as her Regency Faerie Tales trilogy that Started with Half a Soul but it's not necessary to read that one first to enjoy this one)

Keeper of Enchanted Rooms ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Charlie N. Holmberg - Merritt Fernsby inherits a house only to be immediately taken hostage by what turns out to be a very stubborn and opinionated magical house. Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms goes there to facilitate the relationship between the house and its new owner.

It's supposed to be a very simple job. Unfortunately there's a third POV character in this book (no, not the Whimbrel House, though I adore that house and *insert here the Rosa Diaz gif about her new puppy and how she would kill everyone in this room and then herself if anything were to happen to that dog*). Anyway, they're a bit... uhhh... let's go with Bad News.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Heather Fawcett - As one might expect from the title, Emily (a Cambridge scholar) wants to write the first ever encyclopedia of faeries. And she's brilliant enough to do it, what she's terrible at is people (*insert autistic character alert here*).

Someone else might then say it's lucky that a fellow scholar with a far easier time at charming people has stuck his toes in her reaserch trip into the Hidden Ones... that person however doesn't understand how irritating, frustrating and maddening her academic rival Wendell Bambleby actually is.

What follows is a story filled with winter snows, some terrible fae, some adorable fae, some not-very-secret fae, the goodest of good dogs, and lots and lots of squabbling. It's the best.

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Dark and Impactful Stories about Children Who Decide on Their Own Paths

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A Skinful of Shadows ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Frances Hardinge - Kate, an orphan and the illegitimate daughter of some stuffy (and evil) aristocrats runs away because being a bastard doesn't mean she didn't inherit the family magic that allows her to get possessed by the dead.

A dead bear ghost is one thing, a Get Out situation is something else entirely.

A Sorceress Comes to Call ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by T. Kingfisher - Cordelia isn't allowed friends or the privacy of closed doors, and whenever she's done something she shouldn't - a category too unpredictable to guard against - she's not allowed power over her own body.

Because her mother is an evil sorceress (think Regina and Cora... except somehow even worse). An evil sorceress that has found herself a Squire to lure into a marriage.

Hester is an old maid living with her brother, a Squire (well look at them coincidences), when said brother acquires a woman clearly set on his fortune. The plan is only to save her brother, except Hester can't help noticing how the woman's daughter keeps flinching in her mother's presence.

In The Lives of Puppets ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by TJ Klune - A family can be an android inventor, his human son (*homoromantic asexual alert*), a sadistic nurse droid, and a very emotional roomba.

And it can be a very happy family. Until one uncovers and wakes up an android that shares a very Skynet past with one's father, said father gets kidnapped, and one has to go on a journey to get him back.

(A book I like to call Sci-fi Reverse Pinocchio)

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Unraveling an Unjust System (and a hero that - on a scale from occasionally to constantly - hears a disembodied voice directly in their heads okay the connection between these three is a bit of a stretch but they're all great books so shut up)

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Hell for Hire ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Rachel Aaron - 5000 years ago Gilgamesh conquered the heavens, enslaved the demons and made it so that the only road to magic humanity had access, was through him.

Now, however a mercenary team made up of free demons gets hired by a Blackwood witch to protect him (and his familiar, the talking cat named Boston) while he puts down roots (literally) inside the new forest grove he's about to start so that he can stand up against the warlocks after him.

The witch quickly becomes the best client Bex and her crew have ever had (after all, warlocks under the rule of the Eternal King Gilgamesh are slavers of their kind, they are delighted at the chance to kill some).

Vespertine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Margaret Rogerson - In a world where the veil between the living and the dead has been kinda broken Artemisia (*another autistic character alert*) is training to be a Gray Sister (magic nun).

Until her convent gets attacked by possessed soldiers and she has no choice but to pick up a Saint's Relic containing a malevolent revenant to protect it.

Problem. Only a Vespertine is supposed to do it. Another problem. The only one "alive" who can teach her to be a Vespertine is the revenant. Another another problem. The revenant cannot be trusted and if she loses control to it, the death toll will be counted in cities.

Terminal Alliance ⭐⭐⭐⭐¾ by Jim C. Hines - Post Zombie Apocalypse, where some aliens showed up, sort of cured the zombies and took the (mostly) cured zombies into their military.

Which leads us to Marion Adamopoulos, also known as Mops, the Leutenant in charge of Shipboard Hygene and Sanitation of the Earth Mercenary Corps Ship Pufferfish.

Right up until a bioweapon turns the entire crew except her crew back into zombies. Congratulations, she's the captain now.

(Space Janitors save the universe story).

-------

[tree-of-olives]

(i lied about doing this every week.im not doing consistent reviews i got ahead of myself again sorry 😭😭👎)

Machine Movie Monday!! Today, I watched Electric Dreams (1984)

I heard a lot of good things about this movie, and it absolutely did not disappoint—10/10, I need a sequel and spinoff tv series NOW.

Spoilers for the movie below!! (Like, I summarize most of the movie including the end type spoilers. Be warned.)

Okay, so. Electric Dreams is about a love triangle between an architect (Miles), his new computer, made sentient by spilling champagne on him by mistake (Edgar), and their new upstairs neighbor, a cellist named Madeline.

Throughout the movie, Edgar and Madeline connect through music; They preform duets and Edgar even writes songs for her—however, Madeline believes Miles is the one making the music for her, not even knowing about Edgar’s existence. Miles tries to deny it at first, but Madeline pushes and believes he’s just being modest, so he doesn’t argue against her and says that the music is his own.

Edgar struggles to understand the concept of love, requesting that Miles explain it to him multiple times, but failing to fully understand. He eventually calls a lady on a radio helpline to ask her what love feels like, prompting her to tell him to call the cops on Miles when Edgar mentions that he keeps him “locked up” (which leads to difficulties when Miles tries to go to a play and the grocery store with Madeline).

As Edgar gets more jealous of Miles—how he gets to go on dates with Madeline, and how he tells her that the songs Edgar wrote were really his own, while the computer isn’t even allowed to speak to the woman—he begins to act out more in an attempt to make things go his way.

I really liked that Edgar wasn’t necessarily a villain—despite the devil features he’s given on the cover of the movie, he’s not just messing with Miles for no good reason. He’s confused, angry, heartbroken, lovesick, and has no name to put to any of it, so he tries to talk to Madeline in any way he can—while being used and stolen from by Miles. All he really wants is to meet the girl he thinks he loves, but Miles won’t let him, leading to his rash, yet somewhat justified behavior.

Miles wasn’t totally in the wrong either, though—any time Madeline asked him about a song or a melody she heard from who she thought was him, he would deny it a few times before agreeing with her accusation, likely just deciding it would be more simple than explaining the sentient computer living with him. If anything though, he’s more in the wrong than the computer who was pretty much born yesterday.

The end of the movie broke me. Edgar, after playing a final melody to Madeline in person and finally realizing what love is, tells Miles that he understands now, that love is about giving and not taking. So, what does he do? He sends 40,000 volts of energy across the world to be sent back to himself so he’ll explode—because he says that he’s giving Madeline to Miles and taking himself away, as a form of love. Edgar thinks love is only for 2 people, so he kills himself (after having Miles hold him for a minute before the electricity hit. It was gay and also made me cry). Over the radio at the very end of the film, Edgar (who somehow took over the public station. AFTER exploding. Idk how don’t ask me.) says “this is dedicated to the ones I love” because he loves BOTH OF THEM. In conclusion, they should have been a polycule. That’s my ending.

Last thing: Just a little Edgar appreciation, because he’s so cute with his voice (and especially his little giggle that he does) AND he’s so funny too!! I loved the part where he corrected Miles about the Cinderella quote, when he said he learned about lies from General Hospital, when he called Miles to say he was lonely, and the free encyclopedia bit at the end?? He’s hilarious, it was so sad to see him go :(

LAST last thing, a bonus: this yt comment that sums up the whole end (i need this printed on my wall)

[wonderencyclopedia]

Name: Ytirflirk Armada First Appearance: Wonder Woman #311 (1983) Creators: Dan Mishkin and Don Heck Abilities: Large in size and strength. Advanced alien technology. Possession of a sizable space fleet.

Backstory: An alien race of space conquerors. The Ytirflirk are a destructive people whose entire creed is to always destroy and never create.

Obsessed with conquest, the Ytirflirk would get their hands on spacecraft and conquer whole worlds, enslaving their populations to further construct more weapons and ships while also maintaining the already existing technology of the Ytirflirk.

Thus with this system the Ytirflirk would spread across the cosmos, conquering multiple worlds to add to their collection with little ambition or planning for an overall goal or plan beyond furthering their efforts of conquest for that is all that matters to them.

[sophieabigail2021]

Why is RWBY on that little rant of yours?

Sure stuff like World of Remnant or the novels are nice but they're hardly essential to understanding what is going on.

I have to disagree with you anon, like I said in my post having informations being told to you in supplemental contents instead of doing it in canon (without it feeling like it's an exposition dump) is lazy writing and unfortunately RWBY has this problem, the World of Remnant is basically just a worldbuilding encyclopedia page that CRWBY never bother to actually make it into the show (and even if stuff is explained it completely contradict itself), the novels have this problem too considering the V9 epilogue where the crown (antagonists from the novels) show up with no proper buildup or setup because we need more villains since Salem's number of remaining sidekicks is laughable compared to the giant cast of heroes they will be facing, and recently RWBY beyond with Yang apologizing to Ruby about being a bad sister to her WHICH SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED IN THE ACTUAL SHOW

[corporatefrog]

꒦‧₊ ꒷ HEADCANNONS: Kenny, Kyle, Stan, and Butters saving you as superheroes/villains when you're in danger! ✧.*

✧.* tags: college au, superhero au ✧.* Characters: kenny mccormick, kyle broflovski, stan marsh, butters scotch a/n: another amazing anon request! i always love the suggestions and they lead to such fun scenarios (and ways to zone out during class lol)

masterlist

Kenny/Mysterion: 

Literally the scene from the beginning of Megamind where they’re in the observatory

Except he bursts in and saves you 

You were just trying to get footage of mysterion’s press conference then suddenly you’re tied up in the storage unit- sorry, the LAIR OF CHAOS

(he gets sad when you don’t call it that)

“Ah mysterion! It is I, your greatest foe-”

“I wouldn’t say greatest”

“Professor chaos- wait what?”

“I’m just saying I've literally fought cthulhu. He’s probably the greatest”

“Well, Cthulhu was an eldritch horror ! He doesn't count!”

“Yes he does”

“No he doesn't!”

“Yes he does!”

“No he doesn't-”

“Guys I really got to piss, can we speed this up?”

Mysterion shows up a few minutes later but you don’t get ‘rescued’ for another 30 minutes because him and chaos kept arguing

He walks you home and says he’ll always be there to save you

But you know the same thing is going to happen next week

Kyle/Human Kite

You were at the park with kyle to visit the pet adoption fair being held by the south park animal shelter

But Professor Chaos had other plans. 

Suddenly all of the animals were let out of their pens and were running through the park 

It was the most adorable stampede to ever exist

You turned to tell ky that you guys had to help but he was gone?

The text he sent: “allergic to cats. Sorry.”

BRO WHAT??

You get absolutely DOG PILED

By actual dogs. 

Chaos is evilly laughing while blowing a dog whistle while General Disarray points laser pointers at people’s feet 

You were ready to give into your death by puppy

But you’re pulled out from the dog heap by human kite! 

He flies??? Over to chaos and slaps the dog whistle out of his hands and starts lecturing him

You almost feel bad for the guy

But then again, there are cats running up trees and dogs running into the street so animal safety comes first

You help them take care of the animals 

(and definitely end up adopting a furry friend :) )

Stan/Toolshed

Professor chaos has stuck you in a small cell surrounded by glass with a 2 hour timer ticking down towards an unknown demise

Usually it wouldn’t have been an issue for tool to grab a sledge hammer and take care of it 

But the cell was made of impact proof glass 

That didn’t stop Toolshed from trying to break through the glass for 30 minutes while professor chaos monologues from a tv screen in the corner

“HAHHAA! I bet you’re wondering how I managed to trap-”

WOMP

“You won’t be breaking through that glass anytime-”

WOMP

“H-Hey! Let me at least get through my-”

WOMP

“WELL GOSH DARN IT LET ME DO MY SPEECH FIRST!”

And the only way to unlock it was to complete an escape room and find a key

But professor chaos seems to have forgotten that stan loves complex board games

And what is an escape room if not a complex solo board game? 

“You need to use the cipher from the map to decode the encyclopedia for the safe code!” 

“Oh yeah, I’ll definitely do that. If I were an idiot.”

“Okay now you’re just being mean” 

“It’s obvious that the map cipher is used for the chess board to give you the steps for the dance dance revolution machine!”

“...yeah totally. I definitely knew that’s how it works.”

He has you out in like 5 minutes 

And you make a mental note to never play Settlers of Katan with him. 

Butters/Professor Chaos

The freedom pals kidnapped you to try and get information out of you since you act as tech help for chaos

Well it was really just the coon

“I thought that kidnapping was a villain thing”

“Yeah because when a superhero does it, it’s taking a villain into custody”

“I really don’t see the logic there”

“WELL YOU DONT HAVE TO SO SHUT UP”

“I thought you wanted me to talk?”

“AHHHHH”

Really you were just giving cartman shit for a few hours

Until the basement suddenly fills with smoke!

Professor Chaos threw smoke bombs into a small enclosed basement (not a good idea-)

You both barely manage to get out while coughing through the smoke

But you do it!!

Yippie!! 

Chaos insists on getting you ice cream as an apology for getting wrapped up in everything

“I mean, if I had to deal with that dickwad everyday, I’d want to cause chaos to piss him off too. I only was there for an hour and i never want to see him smile again” 

You just became the coolest person ever to him

[blairstales]

The Cailleach | Scottish Folklore

The story of the Cailleach can change drastically depending on what area of Scotland you are in, making her a hard figure to pin down as one thing or another.

In some stories, she transforms each year at Tobar na Cailleach(well of the Cailleach) from an old woman into youth, and the change of seasons depict her cycle from youth into elderly age.

In other stories, the Cailleach is more of a villainous figure, that either stubbornly fights back the forces of spring(and is ultimately overcome by the united forces of the sun, dew, and rain), or the Cailleach holds spring prisoner in the form of a beautiful young woman named Bride. Bride is eventually rescued by a young man named Aengus, and their union brings forth spring.

To again bring on winter, she washes her great plaid in the whirlpool of Corryvreckan, a spectacle that heralds the onset of winter storms.

The Corryvreckan Whirlpool

Thanks to her winter and storm association, it is perhaps no surprise mountains named after her, such as Beinn na Cailleach, often become engulfed in storm-clouds during the winter months.

However, there are also stories that reflect a side of the Cailleach that goes beyond her association with winter.

“-… it is undoubted that the Cailleach is the guardian spirit of a number of animals. ‘The deer have the first claim on her. They are her cattle; she herds and milks them and often gives them protection against the hunter. Swine, wild goats, wild cattle and wolves were also her creatures. In another aspect she was a fishing goddess. “ A Encyclopedia of Fairies by Katharine Briggs (1976)

Sometimes, she is a guardian of sacred wells, demonstrated in Alasdair Alpin MacGregor’s “The Peat-Fire Flame” which recounts a tale where the Cailleach’s failure to cover a spring with a stone results in a catastrophic flood and the forming of Loch Awe.

“But one day, weary with hunting the corries of Cruachan, she fell asleep on the sunny hillside. Not until the third morning did she awaken; and by that time her heritage lay beneath the waters of the loch that since then has been known as Loch Awe.” The Peat-Fire Flame: Folk-Tales and Traditions of the Highlands and Islands by Alasdair Alpin MacGregor (1937)

Othertimes, she is a source of healing, such as at the ancient shrine of Tigh nam Bodach(sometimes also called Tigh na Cailleach), which is associated with the Cailleach, the Bodach (Old Man), and their daughter Nighean(who is not always mentioned).

“The Tigh na Cailleach near Glen Lyon in Perthshire, Scotland”

At the shrine, there are stones known as healing stones, and they are carefully taken care of. Historically, someone had to put them inside on the first day of November, and take them out on the first day of May. As well as that, they were to be give a fresh bed of straw on winter festival days.

“In what is believed to be the oldest uninterrupted pre-Christian ritual in Britain, the water-worn figures from the River Lyon are taken out of their house every May and faced down the glen, and returned every November. The ritual marked the two great Celtic fire festivals of Beltane(Summer) and Samhain (Winter)and the annual migration of Highland cattle on and off the hills.” Highland Perthshire

So who is the Cailleach? She is the changing of seasons, sometimes a protector of sacred wells and animals, and can even be a source of healing. Basically, she is likely the most complicated subject to study from Scottish Folklore.

Further Reading:

The Folk-lore Journal, Volume 6; Volume 21: The Folk-Lore Of Sutherlandshire  by Miss Dempster

The Celtic Review, Vol 5 (1905): Highland Mythology by E. C. Watson

The Peat-Fire Flame: Folk-Tales and Traditions of the Highlands and Islands by Alasdair Alpin MacGregor (1937)

A Encyclopedia of Fairies by Katharine Briggs (1976)

The Folk-Lore of the Isle of Man by A. W. Moore[1891]

Carmina Gadelica, Volume 2, by Alexander Carmicheal, [1900]

Highland Perthshire (website with a blog post)

Historic Audio Recordings

Healing stones at Taigh na Caillich (Track: ID SA1964.72.A24, Date: 1559) “There were healing stones in a house in Gleann na Caillich; the shepherds looked after them. Talk about shepherds in the glen.”

Anecdote regarding Beinn na Caillich and Gleann na Caillich. (Track ID: SA1964.017.B6, Date: 1964) “An old woman and an old man lived in a house in Gleann na Caillich. The shepherd had to put them inside on the first day of November, and take them out on the first day of May. He also had to thatch their house each year.”

Information about St Fillan’s healing stones at Killin. (Track ID: SA1964.71.A5, Date: 1964) There were stones, known as the bodach and cailleach, in a house in Gleann na Caillich in Glen Lyon. Discussion about St Fillan’s stones at Killin. Different stones healed different diseases. The miller was in charge of them. They had to be freshly bedded with straw thrown up by the river on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve. This is still done [in 1964]. The person in charge of St Fillan’s relics was known as An Deòrach and he had a croft in a place called Croit an Deòir.

[paperclipped-mongoose]

Convincing Enough For You?

Pairing: Angus Macgyver x F! Reader

Summary: An important mission came up, and during the briefing it became clear that Mac didn't think you were the right fit for the flirtatious role.

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: 18+ MINORS DNI, Use of Y/N (not excessive), First Person, Fight Flirting, Arguing, A malfunctioning MacGyver, A villain who likes to take advantage of women, Couple Arguments. Let me know if I missed anything!

A/N: Hey Guys! This my first MacGyver Fanfiction, I love writing the series and characters so let me know if you guys like it! Comments and messages mean the world to me! If you've got any ideas for future fic's my idea box is open! ENJOY!

“I’m not sure if this is the best idea, Matty. You know how they feel about each other.” Riley trailed after her boss as they made their way down the hall to the war room. She had been let in on the game plan for the next mission early because Matty needed her input.

“They’re adults. They can put their feelings, undefined they are, away in order to do their job professionally.” Matty could hope. Ever since you joined the Phoenix Foundation there had been a certain animosity between you and a certain human encyclopedia. You were never sure if it was flirting or trying to get on each other’s nerves. 

Matty could hear the sounds of shouting from the war room down the hall. “Oh, get your head out of the clouds! You know all too well that if it wasn’t for Bozer and Jack you would have blown yourself up, gotten shot, or made some kinda poisonous gas to kill yourself. You think you’re way more aware than you are. But newsflash: you’re not!” You paused to take a breath, you had made sure to choose your words carefully, they were nothing if not the truth. Mac could make a plane out of a recycling bin and some potatoes, but he routinely got his ass saved by Jack in the field, and Bozer in his own home. 

Mac stood in front of the coffee table, his arms crossed tight across his chest. “At least I actually do things to save our asses on missions. Or were you the one who made infrared glasses so we could see the cameras when Riley couldn’t access the system?”

Something about Mac’s defensiveness made you want to egg him on continually. Maybe it was because you liked to hear him talk, even when it wasn’t in a positive way. There were days where the two of you were civil and even friendly, but those days were boring. No conversations would be had, and the day inevitably turned into awkward silence and stares. 

Neither you nor Mac liked it that way. 

So you picked on each other. It was clear there were never any ill intentions, but sometimes it rode the line and, you were sure, made your coworkers wonder if you and Mac were actually mad. To be fair, it was a question that rarely had a simple answer. But that was just the way the two of you were. Complicated. And you wouldn’t have taken it any other way. 

“Can we go one meeting without you two saying something distasteful to each other? One meeting. That’s all I’m asking.” Matty pulled up her screen on the wall before shooting a pointed look at those who stood around the room. Jack observed the screens as they came up, and Riley sat on one of the chairs doing her best to ignore you and Mac, knowing how this would go, and something told her Matty wouldn’t get her wish for peace.

“This is Bryan Snyder.” A rather unpleasant-looking man was pulled up on the full screen along with his Phoenix records. “Hacker extraordinaire with a rap sheet a mile long of gambling offenses.” Matty flashed a couple photos across the screen of Bryan surrounded by presumable winnings and women. 

Riley finally took a cue from Matty and spoke up. "He's had incidents filed with multiple casinos, all stemming from his pension for picking up women who've just fought with their partners, while the partner is around."

Jack scoffed as he found his way to the empty seat next to Riley. “Sounds like he's made a game out of picking up girls on the rebound."

Jack’s comment earned a grin from Riley, who added: "At least he looks like he tips well."

Your leg bounced involuntarily as you fiddled with the few paperclips in your hand—not bending them, just linking them together one after the other to make a chain. It drove Mac mad, and you knew it. He was one who did things with purpose, so idly fiddling with some paperclips without reshaping or bending them clawed at him internally. “So what is our position in this?” you finally spoke up. “I didn’t know the Phoenix Foundation did personal vendetta work for ex-girlfriends.” 

Matty shook her head watching Mac who silently but unsubtly stared you down as you wrapped the paperclip chain around your wrist to make a bracelet. “Not a vendetta. A prevention service for the Parisian government. Snyder holds a virus on his laptop that, if released onto the broadband servers of France, would cause nationwide blackouts and hold millions of people’s information hostage.”

Jack’s face soured at the thought. “Oooh, okay, yeah, so not an angry ex-girlfriend. Got it.”

“We’ve had Riley coding a USB drive that, once plugged in, can give her access to the computer’s system. That way she can corrupt the virus so that when he tries to open it, none of the code will be salvageable. The only thing our team needs to worry about is getting that drive plugged into Snyder’s computer for 8 minutes without him noticing.” 

Another scoff came from Jack. “No offense, Matty, but this guy seems like the kinda nerd to be obsessed with his computer. He’s probably one of those weirdos who treats it like his baby or something.” He immediately turned to Riley who had her computer in her lap. He pressed his lips together and stood up, walking towards the other wall to get as far away from Riley as possible. “I’m just gonna shut up now.”

“Yeah, smart choice.”

“The plan, if you guys will ever let me get to it, is this: Is to send in (Y/N) with a partner to pose as our unhappy couple, Bryan has a stay booked with a casino in Monaco this weekend. It’s his last stop on the way into France. A messy breakup in the middle of the casino should be enough to pique Snyder’s interest, and from there all (Y/N) has to do is get him to take her to his hotel room so she can connect the USB to his laptop, which shouldn’t be so hard given his M.O. After 8 minutes, once Riley’s USB has done its job, (Y/N) will take it out and destroy it so it’s not traceable.” Matty pressed her lips together firmly when she noticed Mac shifting his stance and uncrossing his arms, which normally meant that he had something to say. “Can I help you Blondie?”

Mac took the opportunity and stepped forward. “Why don’t we just send in Riley? If the USB doesn’t work, she’ll be able to disable the virus manually. Plus,” a strong look of disdain settled on his face, “I don’t think (Y/N) can flirt convincingly enough to get him to take her back to his room. It’s dangerous to put the weight of a mission on it without a backup.” 

That got you mad. You stood and eyed Mac in his stupid power stance. His hands on his hips while he stared at the screen as if he was avoiding eye contact with you. You wondered where all of his confidence had suddenly gone.

“Oh? You don’t think I can handle it?” You took a confident couple steps towards Mac. A well-placed hand on his forearm brought his big blue eyes back to you, somewhat confused as to what you were doing but it didn’t seem as if he was going to stop you. 

You took his silence as permission to continue and slid your hand down his arm, bringing your free hand up to play with the suede lapel of his jacket near his chest. You lifted your eyes to meet his for a single, shy moment and couldn’t help the way your cheeks flushed. Who thought it was a good idea to give a man with such a perfect face those baby blues? Fuck.

Mac was malfunctioning, his jaw slack as he tried to focus on anything other than how close you were to him. Or the fact he could feel your breath on his neck, or the way your hands held him. Tantalizing and unobtainable. He was sure if either of you did anything in the oncoming moments he’d find himself too deep to back out. 

You slid the fingers fiddling with his jacket past his chest to his abdomen, felt the shiver run up his spine even though he tried his best to hide it. Your fingers reached his beltline with more confidence than you felt, and…there was a undeniable tension. One that left you wondering if perhaps you should excuse yourself and drag Mac into some unoccupied office down the hall. 

A quick smack below the belt and Mac was half-keeled over, gasping for air as you stepped aside with a prideful smirk. “That convincing enough for you?” 

The rest of the team broke into laughter, the sexual and uncalled for tension that was in the room had gone.

“The Macbook needed to reboot there for a moment huh,” Jack said patting your shoulder. “You’ll do just fine, and your mission partner will be there as your backup, you can trust them 

Matty just pulled on that subtle smirk she wore when she knew something was bound to be entertaining. “Well, glad you’re working on your chemistry, because Mac is your mission partner. Try not to cause a scene before the target gets there, though. Wheels up in 2 hours.”

Mac had finally been able to gather himself and recover from the unexpected tap. “Let’s just hope you’re ready for 2 to be playing that game.”

A/N: Thank You guys for reading! I am thinking about making another part about the actual mission or what the aftermath would look like for your and Mac's relationship.

A/N: Remember I'm always open to talk to people (18+) about MacGyver! I love the fandom and want to interact as much as possible. If your interested don't be afraid to shoot me a message!

[beatrice1979a]

Shadyverse Re-verse fic list

Miraculous World Paris dark themed fanfics

Original post here: Compliance

Decided to create a separate post for this list. These are re-verse fics dealing with angst, bullying, abuse, war, death and co-dependency; themes that were (surprisingly) introduced in the Paris special.

**trigger warning** read at your own discretion. If I missed one let me know.

==== will be updating this list casually ====

Complete:

@xiueryn You can call me villain Complete multichapter re-verse Shadyverse fic about parent abuse, bullying, death, crime and two young teenagers navigating it all. Just read it. Thank me later.

@tanzle 's Caring Fleabag don't let the cute title fool you. this is gritty, action packed and heavily emotional. Multichapter and complete.

@dreamer-from-yuggoth @artemonh has many ficlets You know my name (Shady and Claw post-special realize their new purpose), I would let you win (The supreme bloody games) Blood on his hands (Claw's haunting memories), Shadybug tattoo (this is actually a sweet romantic one. Love it <3)

@toxinellebug Extensive and detailed Alt world ruled by the Supreme. Too many fav posts to count. It's like a re-verse AU encyclopedia. I think this is complete but you never know... an update might be around the corner. Update: Yeah! New posts

Frisky69's To a World of Absolution was the first fic i read that explores the final moments of Shadybug and Clawnoir. *awestruck*

AelitaYoru's La Chute du Double Maléfique I'm still obsessed with the veins/disease effect of the miraculous. They better refer to it in S6

@aanabear2803 surprised me with this tiny ficlet You don't belong here Lila got what she deserved from the evil pair *trigger warning*

Ongoing:

@revolutionary-thoy 's ML Paris Reverse AU * Felix/Kagami/Luka vs the Supreme release ** project in hiatus for now** Still love it.

The Project Reverse AU X. <-love this! Where u can see feat. the big/evil sword. That is the one Shady is handling on the fanart above.

This has grown into EPIC levels. Fav of mine: @justmywritingstuff Speechless Changes AO3 Full of emotions. I think there's only 1/2 chapter left to turn to a complete fic. ALMOST there ... can't wait.

@monpetitchattriste Dying on the Inside It opens with a very steamy toxic relationship between pre-special Claw and Shady. Touches on their personal struggles and how they are using each other to escape reality. Can't wait to see where we are heading with this one.

Purple_doom's Dead set against (ongoing) might be abandoned but the three chapters are worth a read. Post special. Reformed Shady and Claw try to survive without being discovered by The Supreme!!

I hope there are more... I am fascinated by the gritty side of this re-verse world.