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lovelytonys · 5 years ago

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100 great things about megamind

basically i just watched megamind and wrote down everything that made me go “hey that’s good”

1. The opening monologue slaps I literally do not care about your “cliches” it’s GOOD

2. “8 days old and still living with my parents...pathetic right?”

3. The idea that Megamind is inherently good since his origin story should have been his dad saying he’s destined for “greatness” but the greatness got cut off uwu

4. Literally just the fact that Megamind was about to go to the Rich Nice House and his destiny changed at the last second,,,everything about this movie makes it a cinematic masterpiece

5. “A baby! How thoughtful!” “yes yes I saw it and thought of you”

6. “While they were learning the itsy bitsy spider I was learning how to dehydrate objects and rehydrate them at will”

7. When you hear the Bad to the Bone guitar riff kick in,,,,,,heck yeah babey!!

8. J.K Simmons is here! yeah!

9. Will Ferrell’s voice acting is literally SO darn good like even just from the beginning,,, the funny affectation of whatever kind of accent that is,,,,,the expressiveness of literally everything he says,,,,,I’m not actively a fan of Will Ferrell or anything but he just did a good job ok

10. “His heart is an ocean inside a bigger ocean”

11. Idk why but I just love the phrase “you fantastic fish you”

12. Metro Man is such a fun character. Like. A hero who shouldn’t be a hero, but he just….is one? Someone who’s idol-worshipped and, despite his grandeur, doesn’t exactly deserve it?

13. MEGAMIND’S CHARACTER DESIGN IS LITERALLY SO GOOD like the vivid colors of his skin and eyes? His COSTUME? His hilarious proportions, between the giant head and the skinny & scrawny everything else? Superb, you funky little alien

14. All dialogue between Megamind and Minion is god tier by default

15. The twist on “damsel in distress” where yeah the girl gets kidnapped but she is so not distressed and has the intellectual power in the situation as she roasts Megamind at every turn and he can’t combat anything she says

16. “Oh potato tomato potato tomato”

17. “I’m shaking in my BABY SEAL LEATHER BOOTS”

18. THE ENTIRE EXCHANGE BETWEEN MEGAMIND AND METRO MAN ABOUT JUSTICE AND REVENGE AND THE MICROWAVE OF EVIL AND WARRANTIES

19. “Can someone stamp my frequent kidnapping card” “You of all people know that we discontinued that”

20. The way this movie manages to SO effectively establish character while diving right into the action and keeping with a fun, fast pace? The world & characters are set up incredibly well AND the start of the journey/ “break into the new world” hits at a brisk 20 minutes? Lovely work, Dreamworks

21. When Highway to Hell kicks in with the lasers and Megamind dancing at the police,,,,,this is nothing short of priceless

22. “Imagine the most horrible terrifying evil thing you could possibly think of and multiply it…..BY SIX”

23. When you’re a supervillain who takes over the city and you say “let’s just have fun with this” to the citizens

24. *whispering behind the door* “now slam the door really hard!” *snickering like a 12 year old girl* “move they can still see you”

25. “Did you think this day would come?” “No, no not in a million years, not ever...I mean yes”

26. “That’s called a window, sir. All the kids are looking through them”

27. Crazy Train is SUCH a nice touch, the fade into Alone Again Naturally is great. The use of music in this movie is absolutely A+, MEGAMIND DID IT FIRST AND GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY AIN’T SPECIAL (jk gotg you’re so special ily)

28. The images of Megamind’s destruction & deterioration of the city are so creative and funny

29. *to a desk toy bird* “What’s your vacuum like?”

30. “GOING OFF THE RAILS ON A CRAZY TRAIN SIR”

31. Haven’t yet mentioned how lovely the animation of Megamind’s face is! Every single frame, he’s so expressive

32. Mispronunciation of words like “school”, “Metro City”, and “melancholy”

33. This voice cast in general is so good like it’s not just big names phoning it in for an animated movie, they’re fully into it

34. Real Bernard doesn’t get much screen time but he’s hilarious

35. “Typhoon Cheese”, whatever that was gonna be

36. The juxtaposition in body language & facial expression between Real Bernard and Megamind Bernard,,,,,actually just the way Megamind’s physicality is transferred to the other characters he disguises himself as. Great stuff

37. Megamind’s off-the-walls high energy is so fun and electric

38. “This is a bad idea” “yes, a good idea for the greater good of bad” “maybe it seems good from your bad perception but from a good perception it’s just plain bad” “oh you don’t know what’s good for bad”

39. Ollo? Oh, hello

40. “I’m just yelling at my…..mother’s urn”

41. Megamind and Minion just saying “code” before things that aren’t in code. This movie is so good with its running gags, they don’t feel like “oh haha they used that joke again!” they feel like inside jokes between the characters I love it

42. Megamind fighting himself as Bernard while complimenting himself, COMEDY GOLD

43. The various occurrences of random life-altering things happening on a whim to the wrong people, like Hal getting the superpowers and earlier Metro Man being molded into a hero and Megamind landing in prison as a baby

44. The forget me stick

45. Space Dad and Space Stepmom

46. Every character Megamind inhabits always retains Megamind’s eyes

47. MR BLUE SKY PLAYING OVER HAL’S DISASTROUS TRAINING SEQUENCE AND THE FALLING IN LOVE SEQUENCE THAT INCLUDES DONKEY KONG AND MEGAMIND WEIRDLY TEXTING ON A FLIP PHONE (gotgv2 who? Don’t know her)

48. Roxanne’s positive influence making Megamind genuinely want to make the city better uwu

49. ROXANNE AND METRO MAN WERE NEVER A COUPLE! Lovely trope subversion

50. Tropes in this movie in general are so fun. This isn’t some uninspired genre parody. They don’t just subvert tropes in the exact way that you’d expect. I feel like the way that this movie plays with the superhero genre often feels unique and creative

51. Bernard’s character design kind of slaps tbh. The turtleneck, the hair, the glasses, all very nice

52. When Hal calls Roxanne “a really good looking one I’ve got my eye on” like she’s meat or something as opposed to Megamind valuing her personality…..makes ya think u know

53. T h e b l a c k m a m b a a a a a

54. “Maybe I don’t want to be the bad guy anymore!” and Megamind & Minion’s subsequent falling out that served as a precursor to the disastrous date with Roxanne- it happens pretty much exactly halfway through the movie. Some people look down upon following structure to a T, but sometimes it’s satisfying when a movie perfectly follows structure and this movie’s structure is flawless

55. “Good luck on your date” “I will” “That doesn’t even make any sense” “I know”

56. Right after fighting w Minion when Megamind looks in a cracked mirror and frowns at his reflection but then changes into someone else, into Bernard, and then smiles? THE CINNAMON TOGROPHY, THE STORYTELLING

57. When Hal is just an incel whose feeling of entitlement is framed as disgusting and he’s not supposed to be sympathetic and Roxanne’s rejection of him is not framed as evil but rather completely justified? VERY epic of them, this movie would have SMASHED the pop culture scene if it came out today

58. The GRAVITY of the part when Roxanne accidentally reveals Megamind in the restaurant is so powerful that I can STILL barely watch it even though I’ve seen it so many times

59. The part that immediately follows where Roxanne shuts down Megamind is SO well done. Roxanne is giving out some harsh words to our dear protagonist, but she is not framed as the bad guy. The great thing about this scene is that they let Roxanne call out Megamind on how he’s been a jerk and she gets to be RIGHT. How very cash money of them! The emotion here isn’t anger at Roxanne because she’s ~being mean~ to Megamind. It’s a sting over the fact that she’s right, and the heartbreak over the dramatic irony of us knowing that Megamind is becoming a better person and Roxanne having no idea. Now Megamind is left with a decision that will show who he truly is on the inside: he could either retreat back into safe, evil ways for the rest of time because it’s easier to be bad because then no one expects anything from him and rejection is easier to handle, or he could ultimately choose to grow from this and recognize how he was wrong and how he has to change. The execution of this midpoint is exemplary.

60. “Do you really think I’d ever be with you?” “....no” the delivery of those lines is so good

61. “You were right! I was….less right!”

62. The Black Mamba is a god tier costume and the fact that it has its own theme song in the score makes it at least 6x better

63. WHEN BACK IN BLACK KICKS IN YEAAAHHHH (Iron Man who? Don’t know her) (Iron Man was already out at this point but how fun is it that this movie used TWO iconic mcu songs)

64. Megamind in the giant suit playing with cars

65. Hal SUCKS I love how much the movie wants you to hate him

66. The difference between Megamind and Hal/Titan/Tighten is so interesting to watch. How Megamind is the self-proclaimed “bad guy” but he’s not even out to do serious damage & it’s just a game to him, while Hal is out for blood but was created to be a hero

67. “Now it’s time for witty banter” “AAAAAAAAA” “I’m not really sure where to go with that”

68. “I’M CALLING A TIME OUT”

69. Twisting the Kryptonite trope by having Metro Man make up the copper weakness

70. “Does he have a hideout? A cave? A solitary fortress?” lol I understood that reference

71. “OW! MY GIANT BLUE HEAD!”

72. Metro Man’s confession scene is so good. Really, how often do you get a hero who feels that he was forced into being a hero? That’s usually a villain trope. Does the hero ever realize he doesn’t want to be a hero….and actually quit FOR GOOD? Again, the trope subversion is awesome

73. “I have eyes that can see right through leaaaaaaaad” that’s my favorite song

74. “You left the city to HIM! No offense” “no I’m with you”

75. “There’s a yin for every yang. If there’s bad, good will rise up against it.”

76. “I say we just go all GANGSTA on him” ms tina fey i would die for you

77. Megamind turns himself in to the police, the fact that he willingly submits himself to the punishment of being a villain at this point is a lovely and stirring way of showing the sense of justice he has deep down and showing his character development

78. When Roxanne gives Megamind a desperate & compassionate pep talk over live tv no matter what it means for her reputation :*))

79. When Megamind has 88 life sentences

80. “I. Am. Sorry!” *dramatically slides down door*

81. Megamind’s heartfelt and regretful admission of all his mistakes that brings his character arc to a head? Lovely

82. “Good luck” “WE’RE GONNA D I E! Hahahaha!”

83. “There is no Easter bunny, there is no tooth fairy, and there is no queen of England.”

84. MEGAMIND’S EPIC ENTRANCE BY COMING OUT OF HIS OWN MOUTH

85. “Oh you’re a villain alright. Just not a super one.” “Oh yeah? What’s the difference?”

86. P R E S E N T A T I O N

87. METRO MAN THUNDER CALVES

88. Again with the green eyes continuity! Love that!

89. “Going somewhere? Besides jail?” *flies in a fancy pose*

90. When Megamind is ready to let everyone think Metro Man is back but Roxanne wants to see the real hero :*))

91. “This is the last time you make a fool out of me!” “I made you a hero, you did the fool thing all by yourself” SICK BURN

92. “There’s a benefit to losing. You get to learn from your mistakes”

93. WHEN THE DEHYDRATION GUN COMES IN CLUTCH

94. Minion being a drama queen lol comedy peaked in 2010

95. Minion’s Little Face

96. “GET BACK YOU SAVAGES” “Sorry he’s just not used to positive feedback!”

97. “Destiny is not the path given to us but the path we choose for ourselves”

98. When Megamind gets to parallel Metro Man’s entrance from the beginning of the movie and everyone cheers for him :*)) and he adds his own fun little twist by making a villain joke

99. “Megamind, defender of Metro City” “you know? I like the sound of that!”

100. Name a better villain to hero story. YOU CANNOT. Cinematic excellence. I am never disappointed.

#I DO NOT DESERVE RIGHTS #lovelytonys personal thought

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bewareofchris · 7 years ago

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“morally gray”

i saw a post the other day, as is how these sorts of posts usually go. I saw it and it said that one of the things to-do in making a morally gray character was to make it seem like their way of doing things was the only way to achieve a greater good. (It also implied that morally gray folks were antagonists.) I just disagree with this on a kind of chill level because it’s not how I’d do it.

Here’s my list of to-dos

1. Establish Morals.

This was literally the make it or break it part of creating a morally gray character because you can’t have a gray area if you don’t have your own defined white and black area. This is usually done by having a person who is Bad (usually an antagonist) and a person who is Good (usually a protagonist) or just an easily understand system of Bad and Good.

(I’m suddenly reminded of Megamind here because Metro Man was supposed to be Good and Megamind was supposed to be Bad but instead you get the can’t take no for an answer kid as the real Bad, and the reporter lady as Good and honestly that movie deserves 100% more love than it gets.)

While we’re here lets go ahead and point out that you cannot rely on the morals of real life to hold true in your fictional universe because Morals change with the narrative. (That’s right, even Morals are subjective. Look at shows like Hannibal where even though they are genuinely terrible people, you still really hope that Will and Hannibal survived. Or fucking BBC Sherlock where Sherlock is literally the worst but folks still root for him.)

Morally Righteous Characters are classic heroes and will behave according to What Is Right usually Regardless of the Personal Cost (see: Steve Rogers, Bill Denborough (the kid from IT), hell, even probably Optimus Prime).

Antagonists are VERY USEFUL in establishing Morals. They don’t always have to be villains that eat babies but they are generally the sort that would cheat on their boyfriends and lie under oath.

If you skip this step you’ll literally end up like Hemlock Grove where inexplicably I find myself feeling bad for Roman fucking Godfrey of all people who murders and rapes people just because, but, you know, he tries not to. There is no moral good or moral bad in Hemlock Grove. Therefore characters like Roman who might otherwise be gray (or morally corrupt) end up just swimming around in shit, being undefinable in the narrative despite being objectively terrible.

2. Define “Gray”

once you know what is right and what is not right, you’ll need to figure out what is in the middle. This is subjective as I found out when I tried to list any character I thought really was ‘gray’.

Literally all I came up with was Gregory House from House MD because he is full willing to berate, humiliate, trick, drug, punch, betray you in the name of saving your life or just being your pal but he is still portrayed as the protagonist and revered by the narrative to be an unorthodox force of Good in the world. But he’s an addict and an asshole.

(Also one of my OCs who wouldn’t walk away from an emergency situation but also wouldn’t help a lost kid find their Mom in the grocery store because his primary drive is entirely selfish. He’s delightfully morally gray because of this.)

3. Do NOT make it seem like the morally questionable methods are the only correct ones

look we all know Steve God Damn Rogers ran off despite being ordered not to, infiltrated an enemy base and saved a all the POWs and that’s great. It’s not morally gray at all. It’s not framed as morally gray, it’s not portrayed as morally gray because despite being told NOT TO DO IT it’s not morally gray. The Correct, Right, Truly Moral thing to do was to save those people. And our boy, our Classic Hero, did what he had to do. The narrative outright says its the only thing that could possibly have been done. (Same thing with the dumbass drowning himself at the end of the movie.)

by that same logic, however, Pennywise the Dancing Clown, truly believe that his actions are 100% the only way things should be done. He is totally convinced he has to terrify and eat some kids. Luckily (for all of us) the narrative makes him the villain. We get Bill Denborough and the rest of the losers to be our hero.

but in Hannibal, the narrative allows Will fucking Graham to kill folks and make origami and fun statues out of their corpses. Will fucking Graham goes off the deep god damn end and does 100 questionable as fuck things and the narrative frames them in such a way as you believe he is doing the right thing because he is trying to capture Hannibal. Hannibal kills an entire house of folks with a hammer and you think to yourself: yes this is good. This is Correct. Because the narrative tells you this is the only way.

but going back to our pal, House, even if every fucking episode ends with all the little ducklings and enablers going back to the miserable junkie to solve the case, they do exist to continuously tell him that he’s going to hell because he’s so unethical and immoral. You know, even if you’re rooting for him, that what he’s doing is wrong (or you should).

as soon as you, the writer, tell the readers that this Character Had to Do This For the Greater Good you change the system of morals your story operates under

(for instance, any fucking cop procedural in production will literally use lethal force on any criminal for any reason at any time with or without justification and we, the audience, are therefore expected to think this is Good because they are Cops and the now dead person was a Criminal Who is Bad. This is fucking appalling; this is vigilantism. It is not justice. It is not even a little bit Morally Right. But that doesn’t matter because ye olde cop procedural has deemed it Morally Righteous to shoot a dude and so he is shot. End of story.)

I just, can’t say it enough. You are God of the universe you write, if you write it to say THIS IS THE ONLY CORRECT PATH then it is THE ONLY CORRECT PATH and you, as God, who created the world, hath spoken unto the people, it is Totally Okay to [insert the action you were trying to make morally gray before]

Morally Gray only exists in a world where there is the Morally Correct path and there is the Morally Incorrect Path and your character kind of swerves back and forth between the two of them depending on what best meets their needs at that moment.

#on writing

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anna-muse · 3 years ago

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Idk if it's me or if the time really has gone by fast, but it feels like yesterday when you said you didn't feel like writing aoy but here you are now, dropping a brand new chapter out of nowhere like the queen you are! ❤

I really do wonder what else your megamind has in store for these two babies because clearly at this point I can't find a goddamn solution to this freaking mess. 😭 There's so much I need to say but sure thing is, I did suffer a lot while reading! If I had to describe it with one word, it'd be intense...

“Ah, you’re here!” Deok-su interrupts, and you all look over at him.

He’s smiling for the first time since you got here, and when you follow his line of sight and see the reason why, your heart sinks.

It’s Bong-cha.

I knew it would happen, I never trusted him. I mean, of course he had to invite his favorite girl in that dinner.

Smiling, you return his kiss and ignore the voice that sings loud and clear in your head — the real reason you’re staying.

Deep down, you’re making the decision for Jimin… Bong-cha is the obvious choice. And you want him to see it too. You know you’re subjecting yourself to more digs from Deok-su and it’ll be far more embarrassing because he’ll be praising Bong-cha, and he’ll be doing it on purpose. You’re smart enough to have figured it out

— Deok-su has invited Bong-cha to show Jimin just how different the two of you are, and it’s exactly what you need Jimin to see.

I don't think that just saying “I've felt so bad for her” will do justice to what I really felt for oc at this moment. But she's SO strong, I mean I could never...

Deok-su raises his other brow, clearly surprised. “Your father works at J.P. Morgan?” he asks incredulously.

“Yes, my father,” you reiterate purposely. Jimin smiles proudly when you do so.

“Ah, I presume he must’ve known someone who worked there, they would’ve pulled a few strings to get him the job,” Deok-se assumes mockingly, and you’re quick to put him in his place:

“No, actually. There’s just some things that money and status can’t get you.” Deok-su’s face almost drops but you carry on. “My father is a good man and that’s always reflected well on him.”

Honestly, this was my favorite part, obviously! No need to explain why... 😭❤

The words catch in Bong-cha’s throat and she swallows. She has no idea what is going on between Jimin, you, and Deok-su, but whatever it is, she doesn’t want to get in between it. “Might I have some time to think about it?'' She gets out meekly.

Hopefully, Bong‐cha will respect oc & Jimin's relationship and will be a part of the solution. I have a good feeling about her, she just seems such a nice woman with dignity. I mean, pretty please...

“Well the CEO of your company,” Geun-woo says almost mockingly, his own frustration at his grandpa showing, “is crazy in love with someone else so it’s either me or no-o—“

I love Geun-woo so much! The way he stood up for Jimin was so brave! 💗 Best character ever and he clearly didn't deserve that slap omg 🥺

Deok-su looks out towards the empty lawn in the direction that Jimin had gone. “I know,” he says. “I was never counting on him to make that decision.”

Pil-woo looks at his dad with a confused expression. “What?”

Deok-su turns to him, his lips almost turning up into a smile, and if Pil-woo isn’t mistaken, he looks… melancholic. “Jimin and you were both right,” Deok-su says quietly, “Y/N is a smart girl.”

Okay, I'm trying hard not to dislike Deok-su and even though I want to feel sorry for him as I should, I can't. He just makes it so difficult. Jimin was right when he told him that oc is better than he'll ever be as long as he keeps thinking like that.

This old man's been bragging about his good reputation, his company & how he's managed to be successful without any help and I would appreciate it if he was doing it the right way. Don't get me wrong, I just believe that respect has boundaries. Respect is earned, not entitled no matter what age.

Anyway, ty for sharing your beautiful work Amelia! You're so talented, I'm in love with your writing and you know it, there's no need to worry, ily 💗💗💖💘💘

All of You | 05

pairing ↠ ceo!jimin x reader

genre ↠ friends to lovers | arranged marriage AU (fluff, angst, smut)

word count ↠ 11,416

18+ | warnings ↠ classism, prejudice, reader experiences anxiety, loads of angst. honestly this one is just super painful with fluff in between from our sweetheart aoy!jimin

summary ↠ Park Jimin is your definition of perfect. He’s talented, handsome, and dedicated to everything he does, making him the man of your dreams. But what happens when you both wake up one day and realise that’s all you had together… a short dream?

A/N. sorry it took so longgg :/ i’m in a love hate relationship with my writing and atm i’m seriously reconsidering my status as a ff writer. also apologies in advance for any mistakes :s

The words ring through Jimin’s head, rendering him speechless while Deok-su just stares at him.

I want you to marry Bong-cha.

Keep reading

#jimin angst #jimin fanfiction #park jimin series #ceo!jimin #amelia 💗

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setepenre-set · 7 years ago

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Code: Safeword (chapter 23)

Pairing: Megamind/Roxanne

Rating: M (for sexual content and language)

Summary: Roxanne calls time-out on Metro Man day before the death ray happens.

Additional tags: alien genitalia; a rather surprising amount of plot; sex and social justice

AO3 | FFN

tap…tap tap

Minion blinked groggily, frowning as consciousness slowly dawned.

tap tap…tap

What in the world…?

tap tap tap…tap

His bleary eyes focused on the brainbot in front of him—number 98, he thought. It tapped once more on the glass of Minion’s sleeping tank, and then, seeing that he was awake, retracted its arm and bobbed excitedly in the air.

“Bowg,” it said, eyestalk moving rapidly.

The brainbots behind 98—quite a small flock of them, really, echoed the sound.

Minion glanced at the clock on the tankside table—six in the morning, no reason for the bots to be up and agitated this early unless—

Oh no, was Sir working this early again? If so, that meant he wasn’t sleeping properly—but then, that wasn’t really a surprise, Minion thought bitterly. The—fixation on Miss Ritchi, and the way she’d decided to tell him that his feelings didn’t matter, the way she seemed determined to keep stringing Sir along for as long as possible—well.

“Bowg—”

“Yes, yes, all right,” Minion said, calling his suit over to the underside of the tank so he could transfer to it. “I’ll handle it; don’t worry.”

There were more brainbots in the hallway outside his bedroom—what had Sir been doing to get them so excited?

The moment after he wondered this, Minion realized what the bots were so agitated over.

Because a ripple of laughter floated faintly out from the kitchen and into the hall.

Feminine laughter. And then distant sound of Sir’s voice, saying something to—

Miss Ritchi. She was here.

Minion narrowed his eyes, working his jaw from side to side in anger.

What was she doing here? If she didn’t want Sir, then she should at least have the decency to let him be.

Sir had ordered him not to interfere between him and Miss Ritchi, but really, this went beyond the bounds of acceptability. She shouldn’t be here, keeping Sir awake when he should be sleeping; it was hard enough getting Sir to take care of himself without her making things worse.

“Bowg bowg.”

Minion stomped down the hall towards the kitchen.

“Minion!” Miss Ritchi said when he stepped into the kitchen, having the audacity to look pleased to see him.

“Minion!” Sir said, looking happy, too. “You’re awake!”

(of course, he looked happy now; it was later that the misery would hit him, later after Miss Ritchi had blithely gone on her way)

“Yes,” Minion said, “Sir. The brainbots woke me. They seemed agitated.”

Sir and Miss Ritchi were seated at the kitchen counter, both of them in pajamas. Both of them in Sir’s pajamas. More brainbots were hovering around the two of them. Number 228 was hovering especially near to Miss Ritchi.

Miss Ritchi laughed.

“Yeah, I don’t think the brainbots used to having me around, yet,” she said.

(yet?! yet?! ohhh how dare she)

“Yes, I’ve been meaning to update their programming,” Sir said, gazing at her with an expression of adoration that was absolutely painful to look at.

“Sorry they woke you up, Minion,” Miss Ritchi said, and took another bite of toast.

Sir had made the toast, Minion was fairly certain. It had that sad, singed appearance, and the butter was all clumpy from when he’d put it on after the toast had already gone too cold to melt it.

Minion smothered the automatic urge to offer to cook her something a little more edible. She deserved to eat that piece of toast.

“What are you doing awake this early, Sir?” Minion asked, pointedly ignoring Miss Ritchi’s apology.

Sir, who had been staring at Miss Ritchi, jumped.

“What?” he said. “Oh—ah!—Roxanne—has to go to work.”

Miss Ritchi made a noise of agreement and put down her toast, wiping her hands on a napkin.

“I should probably go get dressed, actually,” she said, standing up and taking a quick drink from her coffee cup—probably to wash down the burnt taste of the toast. “Otherwise I’m going to be late.”

Her gaze flicked over to Sir and she raised her eyebrows just slightly, a smile playing around the edges of her mouth.

Sir stood up quickly.

“I’ll come with you!” he said.

Miss Ritchi smiled and led him past Minion and into the hall.

Bot number 98 hovered in place near the elbow of Minon’s suit.

“Bowg-bowg?”

Minion growled under his breath in frustration and went to clear the table with dark thoughts in his mind.

Megamind shut the bedroom door and Roxanne immediately pushed him up against it, kissing him with a force and urgency that made his knees feel weak.

She broke the kiss.

“I really,” she said, “wish I didn’t have to go to work right now.”

“So do I,” Megamind said breathlessly.

Roxanne’s gaze flicked down to his mouth and she made a sound of frustration, almost a growl. (Megamind felt his knees go weak again.) She stepped back and turned away, pulling the sweater she was wearing over her head and dropping it onto the bed, picking her bra up from the floor and slipping it on.

“Help me with this?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at him.

(help her with…?)

“Oh—” Megamind said in pleased surprise, realizing what she must mean.

He took a step forward and reached for the sides of her bra, hooking the clasp for her. She smiled at him over her shoulder and he leaned down to press his lips to her shoulder.

Roxanne made a low humming noise.

“Tease,” she murmured.

Megamind bit his lip, smiling, and stepped back from her to sit on the edge of the bed.

It was—it was very—exciting, watching Roxanne get dressed. Not exciting in the way that watching her get undressed was exciting, but still—it felt—

—it felt sort of like it had felt last night when she’d let him play with her hair, when she’d drawn on his back, or when they’d eaten breakfast together this morning. Like something—

Megamind gave a breathless laugh. Roxanne, slipping on her skirt, looked at him inquiringly.

“—we’re dating,” he said in amazement. “We actually—we—”

Roxanne took a quick breath and then a slow, small smile started to curve her lips.

“Yeah,” she said softly. “Yeah, we are.”

“I get to be your boyfriend,” Megamind said, pressing a hand to his cheek, feeling how wide his own eyes must be. “—oh my god, Roxanne; I am so happy.”

Roxanne took another of those sharp little breaths and swallowed visibly.

“I’m glad,” she said, “because I am—I am so happy that I get to be your girlfriend.”

Megamind made a noise of sheer, overwhelming joy and fell back onto the bed, closing his eyes blissfully.

His sweater, the one that Roxanne had worn, was on the bed, still, half underneath his body. Megamind glanced at it as he sat up.

Roxanne was buttoning her shirt now, still smiling a little to herself. Megamind looked over at the sweater on the bed beside him again and then touched the material, stroking his fingers over it. Roxanne had been wearing this, just a handful of moments ago, and maybe he was imagining things but he could swear that it was still a little warm from the heat of her body. And he definitely wasn’t imagining the way her scent clung to the sweater. (god, that was intoxicating) He wanted—

—and he could, couldn’t he? He could do that; he was allowed—

He unbuttoned his pajama shirt quickly and slipped the sweater on instead.

When he finished pulling the material down over his head, Roxanne was looking at him again, her head tilted questioningly.

Megamind ducked his head, feeling himself blush.

“—it smells like you,” he said shyly.

Roxanne’s lips parted. For a moment, she was very still, just looking at him, and then she crossed the distance between them in a few swift strides and took his face in her hands, tilting it up as she bent down to kiss him firmly. Megamind reaced up and wrapped his hands around her wrists as he kissed her back. After a long moment, she broke the kiss, leaning her forehead against his.

“—I love you so much,” she said. “And you are making it very difficult for me to get to work on time.”

“I love you, too,” Megamind said.

Roxanne kissed him once more, swiftly, then let go of his face and straightened up. She gave him a mock stern glance and Megamind gave her his best look of innocence. She laughed and started to put on her shoes.

“I left your key on the bedside table, by the way,” she said.

Megamind blinked and then moved to lie on the bed again, on his stomach this time, so that he could reach the bedside table. There was a key there; he picked it up and turned it over in his fingers.

“To your apartment?” he said, breathless again as Roxanne made a wordless noise of confirmation.

She had given him a key to her apartment. They really were dating.

“—the Lair is coded to your genetic signature,” he blurted out, realizing he’d never actually told her that. “The entrances—they’re set to let you in, specifically. It’s not a key that you can—hold in your hand, but—”

“I figured it must be something like that,” Roxanne said, finger-combing her hair. “Just—just out of curiosity, when did you re-set those?”

“…uh,” Megamind sat up, folding his fingers around the key, feeling the sharp edges of it, feeling himself blushing. “They…were sort of…always like that? For you?”

Roxanne’s hands went still in her hair.

“Wait, always-always?” she said. “Kidnapping-always?”

“W-well—well it was easier that way!” Megamind said quickly, giving her the excuse that he’d always given Minion. “Not having to—not having to go through any security protocols—when we were bringing you inside the Lair for a kidnapping—”

Evidently Roxanne was harder to fool than Minion, because she gave him an unconvinced look, arching an eyebrow. Megamind winced, dropping his eyes, holding the key tightly in one hand, twisting the fingers of his other hand in the sleeve of the seater.

“—I used to imagine—” he swallowed. “I used to imagine that someday you’d—you’d be—interested enough—t-to find the Lair. And that you’d—that someday I might look up and—and you’d be there…”

He looked up at her, now; Roxanne was looking at him with an expression of such sheer affection that it felt like a bright knife, cutting to the soul of him.

“Is this another one of your fantasies?” she asked, voice gentle.

Megamind made a face.

“Sometimes. Sometimes with the—but sometimes you’d just…just be—” He ducked his head, then looked up at her again, through his lashes, and smiled wryly. “—I just really wanted you to like me, Roxanne.”

She moved to him again, bent down to take hold of his wrist, and then pulled him to his feet.

“I do like you,” she said, and kissed him, chaste and gentle. “I like you—love you—so much. I think—” she kissed his cheek, “—that you are—” she kissed his other cheek, “—amazing.”

She kissed his lips again, the hand that wasn’t holding his wrist going up to cup his face, and then pulled back, rubbing her thumb over his cheekbone.

Megamind took his free hand and placed it over her hand on his cheek, leaning into her touch.

(a key to her apartment was in his other hand; she’d given it to him, and she thought that he was amazing.)

“—I—I believe you,” he said wonderingly.

(she actually thought that about him. she actually loved him.)

Roxanne took an uneven breath, her fingers tightening on his wrist.

“Good,” she said, voice soft.

She leaned their foreheads together, and Megamind felt—

(centered anchored safe she loved him)

“—don't think this means that I’m going to stop telling you, though,” she said after a moment, leaning back to look at him, and he laughed.

Roxanne squeezed his wrist and then let go, and he let her step back from him.

“You,” he said, watching her, “are so incredibly, perfectly fantastic, Roxanne.”

Roxanne, bending over to pick up her purse, paused from a moment before straightening up, a serious, uncertain expression on her face.

“—Megamind—I—you—last night—,” she said, “—what you said last night, about—”

She stopped and Megamind tipped his head and made an inquiring noise.

“—ah, about—” she she looked away for a moment and ran one hand through her hair, “—about—the unions.”

“The unions?”

“Yeah, what you said about—about you helping them strike at Scott Technology,” she said, “I was wondering if anyone at the unions actually knew about you helping.”

“Oh—a—a few of them knew,” Megamind said, “some of the leaders. I had to make sure, you see, that I was able to coordinate my attack with their strike—make sure they didn’t run when it started—”

“And they knew it was you?”

Megamind frowns, blinking.

“Knew it was…? Oh! Oh, yes, they knew, yes; I hadn’t invented the disguise watch yet, so I—had to approach them as myself.”

“Excellent,” Roxanne said. “Could you give me their names? I want to interview them. They’d still be around, right?”

“Most of them are retired, now, but they’re all still alive,” Megamind said. “I have their current addresses on file somewhere; I make it a point to keep tabs on them…”

“That’s perfect,” Roxanne said. “Send those to me after I leave?”

“Of course.”

Minion glared balefully at Sir and Miss Ritchi when they returned to the kitchen. Neither of them noticed, though, as Miss Ritchi put one hand on Sir’s shoulder and leaned in to kiss him, quick and casual, like he belonged to her.

“I’ll see you after work,” she said, smiling at him, and then she stepped away and turned to Minion with a smile. “See you later, Minion!”

Minion didn’t answer, just folded the arms of his suit and watched Sir watching her go.

Sir didn’t even notice Minion’s disapproval, staring after Miss Ritchi as the sound of her footsteps faded. There was the distant sound of her stepping through the holographic entrance and then there was a long silence.

Minion cleared his throat pointedly.

Sir just continued to stare in the direction that Miss Ritchi had gone, looking a bit like he had a concussion.

“Sir. Sir.”

“Mmm,” Sir said absently, still not looking at him.

“Sir,” Minion said sharply, voice loud enough that Sir jumped and finally turned towards him.

“Huh?” he said, still looking dazed.

“I really disapprove of this, Sir,” Minion said, voice stern.

“—this?” Sir said, blinking at him.

Minion made a noise of frustration.

“Miss Ritchi,” he hissed. “She was here. And she was wearing The Sweater.”

(Sir’s favorite sweater, an ugly orange thing that he refused to let Minion throw out, no matter how ragged it got. Sir was terribly attached to that awful sweater, and he’d given it to Miss Ritchi to wear and this was very. very. bad.)

“…sweater?”

“Yes! The Sweater! The sweater that you are now wearing right at this very moment; come on, Sir! I need you to at least try to think about what you’re doing because—”

“Wh—no! No no no!” Sir said, flapping his hands. “No! Minion! Minion, you were right!”

Minion stopped.

“I was right?” he said slowly.

“Yes!” Sir said, “Minion, you were right! I was—less right—” he laughed, suddenly, “—wrong,” he said, “I was—I was wrong, I was so completely wrong!”

He laughed breathlessly.

Minion blinked at him.

“Wrong about…”

“Wrong about Roxanne! She does love me, Minion; she said so!”

Minion’s fins moved in an involuntary flutter of surprise.

Miss Ritchi said—?

“…and did she say why she told you before that she didn’t?” he said cautiously, not wanting to give into false hope.

“She didn’t!” Sir said, face absolutely lit up. “She didn’t say that, that wasn’t what she meant, before; I misunderstood—she misunderstood what I—we were both—we were both confused about—”

Sir cut himself off with a laugh and wrapped his arms around himself.

Minion’s fins fluttered again; he felt his eyes going wide.

“What—really, Sir?”

“Really! She loves me!”

Sir laughed, lifting his arms up and spinning in a quick, blissful circle.

“Sir—Sir that’s wonderful!”

“I know! Ohhh, I have never been so happy to be wrong in my entire life,” Sir said, hugging himself once more. “And she’s coming back! After work! Ah!—brainbots; I need to reprogram the brainbots so that they know she’s—and! And Minion, did you know that there are more than just two genders; did you know that?—oh! I need to tell the brainbots, that, too; I’ll add that to their programming—need to look something up for Roxanne, first, though—”

Sir gave one last laugh—almost an evil cackle, except much, much happier, and bounded out of the kitchen, the brainbots trailing after him in an interested swarm.

Minion closed his eyes for a moment.

Things were—things were going to be all right.

Sir was happy; he was happier than—than Minion had ever seen him. And Minion was—

—well, he felt more than a little guilty now, for letting Ma’am eat that terrible toast Sir had made.

But! But she was coming back; he could make something special for dinner tonight!

“—knew it might be illegal, of course,” Bob Hays said, giving the camera a defiant look. His wrinkled, callused hands tightened into fists on the armrests of his chair. “But we were desperate, and we knew that, every time the union had struck before, the Scotts had broken the strikes—so when he offered to help us—well, we figured we didn’t have anything to lose—”

“—gave some money, to hold the workers over during the strike,” said Harry Welsh, and shook his head. “Figured it was a trick, but they voted me down—glad that they did, way things turned out—”

“—made us agree to hold the strike demonstration that day, insisted that we promise not to abandon the strike no matter what,” said Joe Conner, with a laugh. “We all thought—well, to be honest, I think we all thought we were gonna be a distraction, so that he could be somewhere else, doing something without being noticed.” He laughed again. “Could’ve knocked me down with a feather, when that big robot suit came crashing in.”

“So Megamind specifically planned the battle at Scott Technology around the strike and the demonstration, then?” Roxanne said, and Harry Welsh nodded. “It seems a bit odd, though, after going through all this, that he started off the battle by insulting the striking workers…”

Harry laughed.

“He knew what he was doing. Him saying that is what made Mr. Wayne Scott give that nice speech of his, about what hard workers we were, and how we should be treated fair.” Harry grinned at Roxanne. “Oh, yes, I reckon he knew just what he was doing.”

“Are you okay?” Palak asked, watching Roxanne gratefully attack the iced coffee and doughnuts she’d brought to the table for the whole team. “You seem kind of…”

She trailed of and hesitated, obviously not completely sure what Roxanne seemed.

(Roxanne didn't blame her; Roxanne didn’t even know how she was, really; she—)

Happy. She was happy, damn it; she was. She was happy and she was dating Megamind and she was not at all freaked out about the fact that he apparently thought she was a perfect, impossible-to-live-up-to ideal.

She was—she was being irrational. And surely he couldn’t really mean it the way it sounded, couldn’t—

She’d almost said something to him, that morning in his bedroom, when he’d watched her while she got dressed—when he’d taken of his own pajama top and traded it for the sweater that she had been wearing because it smelled like her. She had tried to make herself say something to him, when he told her again how perfect she was, had tried to make herself say—

(Megamind I’m not perfect not really)

or—

(when you say that I’m perfect it scares me because I know I can’t live up to that)

or—

But she couldn’t do it. The words stuck in her throat and she couldn’t make herself say them, and so she’d ended up just asking him about the union leaders instead.

(Roxanne didn’t want to have to fall off her pedestal, didn’t want to have to face Megamind’s inevitable disappointment and heartbreak and shock.)

Palak was staring at her, Roxanne realized. Actually they were all staring at her, watching her out of the corners of their eyes like they were afraid she was going to shatter into sharp pieces and shrapnel at any moment.

“I’m fine,” Roxanne said, giving them her best and most unconcerned smile. “Just—didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, you know? Probably should have asked you to get me a bigger coffee.”

None of them looked—really convinced by that, but they did let it go, so Roxanne counted it as a win anyway, and half-listened to Lisa describe the really terrible date she’d gone on last night—

“—three drinks in and she’s telling me all about her ex-girlfriend, which, you know, okay,” Lisa said, “I’m just thinking ‘please, god; don’t let her start crying’, but then—but then!—”

Roxanne finished her doughnut as Lisa’s story wound up to the conclusion, “—so it turns out the ex-girlfriend wasn’t quite as ex as this girl thought, and it was all a misunderstanding, but I didn’t get punched in the face and least her girlfriend paid for my drink.”

Everyone laughed; Roxanne wiped her fingers on one of the paper napkins, picked up her coffee, and stood. Lisa, Karen, Palak, Connie, Katie, and Xavier, all of them not even close to finished, looked up at her.

“I think I’m gonna take a walk around the block, the rest of break,” Roxanne said. “If I stay sitting too long I’ll probably end up crashing.”

She raised her coffee to them in lieu of a wave and walked towards the door, avoiding their eyes.

The walk, of course, was just a ruse.

There was a little bookstore, just a couple streets over from the KCMP building; Roxanne strode there rapidly, finishing off her coffee.

She’d thought this through already; had actually thought of it on the drive from the Lair to her apartment, this morning. So she already knew what she wanted, as soon as she walked in; she just had to ask the girl behind the counter to point her in the right direction. The shop even had gift wrap.

The purchase only took about five minutes total, and then she was stepping out of the bookstore and ducking into an alleyway, out of sight of any passersby. She looked around swiftly, checking that she was, in fact, alone, and then pulled her de-gun from her purse and quickly dehydrated the packages. Then she stuffed the cubes and the gun both back in her purse and arranged her compact and her various lipsticks to hide them.

She ducked back out of the alleyway and took off walking in the direction of the station.

The painting in the window of the tiny art gallery a few shops down caught her eye as she was walking past, and she stopped to look at it.

It was—intensely compelling: layers of deep blues—nearly black at the bottom of the painting, brushstrokes in different directions to suggest a frenzy of movement—and then grayish blues slashing down diagonally from the top of the canvas. And on the left side of the canvas, bright against the dark blues, was a small speck of white with a kind of hazy halo around it, like a light seen from a distance.

(and something about it reminded her of—something…)

Roxanne stepped into the art gallery.

There was a girl with pink hair working behind the counter; she smiled at Roxanne when she came over.

“Can I help you, ma’am?”

“Yes,” Roxanne said, “that—that painting in the window, the one with all the blues…”

The girl’s smile went less professional and more genuine.

“Lighthouse in a Storm?” she said.

“—is that what it’s called?” Roxanne asked.

“Yeah,” the girl said, “it’s—one of mine, actually; I did it a few weeks ago.”

(the cheap poster tacked to the wall of Megamind’s bedroom, the one of a lighthouse; that was what the painting had made her think of)

“It’s gorgeous,” Roxanne said, “and if it’s for sale, I’d like to buy it.”

“All right, so what have you got for me?” Roxanne said, leaning against Karen’s desk.

“There’s a couple more people who have called to request interviews,” Karen said, “but—”

She hesitated and Roxanne gave her an inquiring look.

“—but there’s also something that I found,” Karen continued, opening her desk drawer and pulling out a file. “After the interview with Met—Wayne Scott, I did a search for Megamind’s early records. I found juvenile offense records, paperwork for his name change—his name is actually legally Megamind, did you know that?—and I also found—”

Karen put the file on the desk and flipped it open, turning it around so that Roxanne could see the contents.

“—this.”

A newspaper clipping.

“Hometown Boy Makes Bad,” Roxanne read the headline.

And below that, a photograph of—

Roxanne took a sharp, appalled breath.

“Oh my god, but he’s a child,” she said, shocked. “What kind of person publishes something like this about a—he can’t have been more than nine.”

“Yeah,” said Karen, “and there’s more of them, too.”

Roxanne flipped the clipping to the side. There was another beneath it.

Metro City’s Bad Boy Sets School Suspension Record

Megamind was a young teenager in the picture that accompanied this article. He was looking—glaring, really—at something out of the picture, his head turned so that his face was half in shadow.

(Jesus, he looked so young; no facial hair and the soft angles of his jaw and chin.)

Roxanne flipped through the rest of the contents of the file—article after article, all of them detailing incidents from Megamind’s teenage years, all of them written to make him sound as bad—as dangerous—as possible.

“There’s that time gap between the first one and the second one,” Karen said. “I looked up the records; he was listed as homeschooled during that time. The articles start up again after he begins high school. And they’re all sort of—there’s this—they seem—”

Roxanne shut the file and looked up at Karen, whose face was troubled.

“—wrong,” Karen said. “They seem—wrong. Somehow. I don’t—”

“Because you don’t write stuff like this about a child,” Roxanne said, feeling hot and cold at the same time. “He hadn’t even been arrested yet, for most of these. He was a child.”

“There’s another gap in the articles,” Karen said, “from when he was fifteen. And a missing person’s report. And then the articles start up again about two months later. He disappears again when he’s sixteen, and then four months later there’s that first article about him being a supervillain: Battle of the Century. Roxanne, I think there’s—I think there’s something wrong here.”

“Yeah,” Roxanne said. “There is, isn’t there.”

“If this was just one newspaper doing this, I’d wonder if it was somebody with a personal grudge,” Karen said. “But all of these newspapers? I mean, I don’t want to get all conspiracy-theory, but…”

(Metro Man needed a supervillain. I think the Scotts must have known that, too—their newspapers were always very—)

(their newspapers were always very—)

(—when I was expelled from ‘Lil Gifted—)

(—the Scotts—)

“Do me a favor, would you?” Roxanne said, pushing the file back towards Karen. “Look up who owned all of these newspapers, when these articles were being published.”

Karen nodded.

“…yeah,” she said, “yeah, I can do that.”

Roxanne stopped by her apartment on her way back from work, just long enough to pack a change of clothes for tomorrow. She had one more shop to visit; luckily it was on her way to the Lair. Roxanne dehydrated the last of the packages when she got into her car. It would be easier to carry that way, and she really wanted to surprise Megamind.

When she stepped through the holographic entrance and into the Lair, Roxanne could hear the brainbots’ mechanical barking; it sounded like a very large group of them, all in one place. She followed the noise to the workroom and—

—caught her breath.

Megamind was standing in the middle of a swarm of brainbots, still dressed in the orange sweater, his hands upraised and his face upturned. He was smiling and laughing, apparently unaware of Roxanne’s presence. The brainbots were moving in a graceful, swirling cloud around him, the electricity in their braincases flashing, their glowing eyestalks shining as the whole swarm of them spun around Megamind like—

(like a galaxy spinning around its center)

“Bowg.”

Roxanne’s gaze shifted over to the brainbot that had broken from its brethren to fly over to her.

“Hey, 228,” she said, recognizing the shape of its spikes and fins.

“Bowg!”

228 gave an excited little wriggle in midair and Roxanne laughed and reached out to stroke its braincase.

“Yes, I’m happy to see you, too,” she said, petting it.

228 gave another little wriggle beneath her hand, but the move was more controlled this time—it was trying to be careful with its spikes, Roxanne thought.

“—actually, 228, I wanted to ask you to do something for me,” Roxanne said.

“Bowg?”

“Maybe you could ask the other bots, too—Minion said you have an auto-record function,” Roxanne said, “and I was wondering if maybe you could try to find some really nice footage of—of your daddy for me.”

228 moved to hover in front of her, its eyestalk held at an inquisitive angle.

“Nice footage,” Roxanne repeated. “Videos of—of your daddy being nice; could you do that for me?”

228 hovered in front of her for a long moment, its metal jaws working like it was thinking, and then, very clearly, it moved its eyestalk up and down for her—a nod, Roxanne though.

“Thank you,” Roxanne said, and 228 took off, bowging, for the brainbot swarm.

“Roxanne!”

Roxanne’s eyes shifted down to Megamind again; he was looking at her, smiling even brighter than before.

(Roxanne’s heart did a sweet, painful little flip at the sight of his smile)

She laughed and half-ran towards him, the brainbots parting to let her through. He caught her waist as she reached him, laughing too, and then he picked her up and spun her around in a circle.

Roxanne threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

“Hi,” she said breathlessly when she finally pulled away.

“Yes,” Megamind said, sounding just as breathless.

She laughed.

“I—I mean—! Yes, oll—hel-lo, yes,” Megamind said, laughing with her.

Roxanne give him another quick kiss, both of them still smiling.

The clanking sounds of Minion’s suit made her look over Megamind’s shoulder.

“Hey, Minion,” she said, grinning at him.

“Hello, Ma’am,” Minion said, looking almost as ridiculously happy as Roxanne felt. “Dinner should be ready in about an hour.”

“Ooh, you cooked?” Roxanne said.

Megamind, still holding onto her, turned them so that they both were looking at Minion, now.

“Yes,” Minion said dryly, with a pointed look at Megamind. “I cooked, this time.”

“The toast I made for breakfast was completely edible!” Megamind protested.

Minion rolled his eyes affectionately and ducked back into the hallway.

“Yes,” Roxanne said, patting Megamind on the shoulder indulgently, “you did a good job with the toast.”

Megamind gave her an amused glance, clearly able to tell that she was being overly generous. Roxanne laughed and let him go, stepping back so she could hop up to sit on the nearby lab table.

“So what did you work on today?” she asked. “Did you update the brainbots?”

“Ah! Yes, all updated on their behavioral programming as regards to you,” Megamind said, hopping up to sit beside her on the table, his body half-turned towards hers. “And I also updated the gender section of their informational matrix, based on the discussion that we had last night!”

Roxanne turned towards him, too.

“The—gender section?”

“Oh, yes,” Megamind said, gesturing. “Their previous programming was based on my assumptions about gender; I wanted to make sure they knew the real full range of options—”

Roxanne blinked.

“Do the brainbots…choose their own genders?” she asked.

“Gender and names, yes,” Megamind said, “although even with all of the options, most of them still choose ‘it’. And most of them—you look surprised.”

“Oh!” Roxanne said. “Well—well, I mean—I always just sort of figured that you’d made them all boys, with the one pink one as a girl…”

“Oh, no,” Megamind said, shaking his head. “No, I don’t make them anything; I wouldn’t feel comfortable forcing—that’s why I call them numbers, to start with; they’re meant to pick out their own names.” He made a face. “But most of them just end up picking the numbers I give them anyway; I’m not sure why—”

“Well—you get used to answering to something,” Roxanne said. “Do some of them pick out names?”

“Occasionally, yes,” Megamind said. “Spikeless, Edgar, Teacup, Pinky, Tribble—”

“Pinky is—”

“The pink one, yes,” Megamind said.

“Is Pinky a girl?” Roxanne asked, reaching for Megamind’s hand so she could play with his fingers.

Megamind’s fingers twitched in surprise when she picked up his hand, but he let her do it, spreading his fingers obligingly so that she could toy with each one in turn.

“No, it turns out Pinky is a they,” he said. “They were very excited about the informational matrix update, by the way; thank you for that.”

Roxanne laughed quietly and Megamind gave her a curious look.

“What?”

“Nothing, just—you told the brainbots,” she said.

(he was so sweet it made her heart ache)

“Of course I told the brainbots,” Megamind bemusedly, tipping his head. “I explained it to Minion, too, when he made us lunch. He wasn’t as excited, though; Minion doesn’t really—care so much about gender divisions, you know?”

“Mm," Roxanne said, lacing her fingers with Megamind’s. “What gender is number 228?”

Megamind’s eyelids flickered for only a split second—sorting through all of the bots and their genders, Roxanne realized, and she’d never even questioned that he would know them all.

“228 is a they, too.”

“If Pinky was never meant to be a girl,” Roxanne said, “then why did you make them pink?”

Megamind grinned at her.

“Pinky is the distraction bot,” he said, and then added, at Roxanne’s questioning look, “They’re the fastest bot, the one with the quickest reflexes. And their bright coloring means that everyone is automatically looking—and aiming—at them, which keeps the queen bot safe.”

“Queen bot?” Roxanne said. “Queen as in chess, or queen as in bees?”

Megamind gave her a look of gleeful adoration.

“I love your mind so much,” he said. “Queen as in bees. The brainbots interface with each other constantly, and the connection goes deeper when I need them to do more complex, coordinated tasks. The queen bot is the one who runs the communications network interface, and the additional processing requirements tend to make their reflexes slower. Hence Pinky.”

“The queen is a they, too?”

“Hm? Oh! No, no, they—the brainbots actually take turns being the queen; it’s a position, not a name.”

Roxanne made a noise of understanding, then tipped her head.

“The communications network interface—is it like a hive mind?”

“No, it’s—each bot definitely has its own separate, private thoughts,” Megamind said. “It’s more like—the interface is more like an extra layer of communication, like—like how body language is an extra layer of communication over verbal interaction for humans! Only it’s more—detailed than that, and like I said, when groups of the brainbots are engaged in highly coordinated, complex tasks, the interface layer gets—louder? For them? Pushed to the front of their minds, instead of the back of their minds. Does that make sense…?”

“Less like the Borg and more like a Vulcan mind-meld,” Roxanne said, nodding.

Megamind laughed delightedly.

Roxanne grinned at him. Megamind’s laugh—his real laugh, not his evil one—was so beautiful.

“Only less about sharing emotions,” she added, “and more about exchanging information.”

Megamind nodded, still smiling.

“Exactly.”

Roxanne rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand, enjoying the texture of his skin.

“What do you do,” she said curiously, “when a bot doesn’t want to do its job?”

Megamind looked surprised.

“Oh, I don’t assign them jobs,” he said. “Not—I give them a chance to try different things; some of them like helping Minion around the Lair, some of them enjoy assisting me in assembling machines—the ones that patrol the city and the ones that help me fight Metro Man do it because they think it’s fun. I wouldn’t ever make them fight if they didn’t want to.”

Roxanne raised his hand to her lips and placed a quick kiss on the back of it. Megamind’s fingers twitched in hers and she smiled at him.

“And some of the older bots are sort of—mmm—retired, now,” he continued. “They just—stay around the Lair, mostly, and play a little, nap a lot of the time…”

Older bots…Roxanne took a sharp breath.

(—if I jumped—Zero wouldn’t get fixed.)

“Do you—do you still have—the first one?” she asked.

Megamind went perfectly still for a moment—of course he could probably tell what she was thinking—and then he took a breath.

“Yes,” he said. “Would you—would you like to meet her?”

Roxanne swallowed, feeling tears start in her eyes, pushing them down.

“Yeah,” she said, “yeah, I would.”

Megamind held her hand as he led her through the maze of his inventions, through the oddly shaped shadows cast by giant spikes and gears and oddly-shaped machinery. He stopped in front of something Roxanne thought might be the Lair’s electrical generator.

“Zero,” Megamind called softly. “Zero; would you wake up for a minute? There’s someone here who wants to meet you.”

For several moments, the two of them just stood there, waiting, and then a brainbot emerged from behind the generator and hung in the air, looking down at them, its mechanical eye moving over them slowly.

Zero was a little smaller than the current brainbots, Roxanne saw—her braincase and her mechanical jaws both. The teeth of her mechanical jaws fitted together perfectly, unlike the teeth of the current brainbots, and her four mechanical arms seemed longer and thinner than the arms of the new models. They reminded Roxanne of the tentacles of a jellyfish. She didn’t have any spikes or fins on her braincase, and her mechanical eye was just a bit larger than that of the newer brainbots.

“This is Roxanne Ritchi,” Megamind said, voice gentle, looking up at Zero. “She wanted me to introduce her to you.”

Zero’s mechanical eye focused on Roxanne, looked her up and down slowly. Roxanne had the distinct impression that she was being judged. And then the bot floated down slowly to hang regally in the air before them. The shutter of her mechanical eye closed in a long, slow blink, like the eyes of a pleased cat.

“Zero,” Megamind said, “this is Roxanne Ritchi. Roxanne—this is Zero. Bot Zero-Zero-One, to be exact.”

“Bowg,” Zero said, inclining her eyestalk gracefully.

“She has so much personality,” Roxanne said said. “Ohh, you’re beautiful, aren’t you? Such a pretty lady—”

“Very pretty and very spoiled,” Megamind agreed, reaching out to run his free hand affectionately over Zero’s braincase. “Aren’t you, Zero?”

Zero narrowed the shutter of her mechanical eye and nipped lightly at his fingers. Megamind laughed and stroked over her braincase again. She pushed up into his hand, blinking in that slow, pleased way again.

“Can I pet her?” Roxanne asked.

“She might let you,” Megamind said. “Hold out your hand.”

Roxanne held her hand up, palm up, showing Zero, who looked over at it, and then at Roxanne’s face.

And then she moved her braincase beneath Roxanne’s hand.

Roxanne stroked her hand over the glass, watching the electricity crackle beneath her palm. Zero blinked her shutter slowly and Megamind made a pleased noise.

Tears prickled again at the backs of Roxanne’s eyes.

“Thank you,” she whispered to the brainbot.

“So if you were working on the brainbots’ programming all day,” Roxanne asked casually at dinner, “does that mean that the giant robot for my last kidnapping isn’t finished yet?”

She glanced sidelong at Minion, who, sure enough, was getting ready to answer.

Megamind made a noise of outrage.

“Minion! Do not answer that!”

Roxanne laughed and Megamind turned to her, gesturing threateningly with his croissant.

“You! You are a terrible, devious woman, Miss Ritchi! The evil plot of the final kidnapping is a surprise!”

“Come on, Megamind; not even a hint?” she asked, looking at him and widening her eyes, leaning a little closer to him.

“Temptress!” Megamind said, laughing and trying to glare at the same time. “I already told you about the molecular composition for the new fuel I invented for the machine, and that is all you are getting!”

Roxanne turned appealingly to Minion. He grinned at her.

“Sorry, Ma’am,” he said. “I guess you’ll have to wait.”

Roxanne laughed and took another bite of lasagne. Megamind made a startled noise and she looked over at him; he was staring off into he distance, his fork held loosely in his hand, as if he’d forgotten it.

“What?” she said.

He jumped and looked at her.

“Ah! The—the mechanism for the—I just realized I need to fix—”

He cut himself off, shaking his head and glancing away from her, the fingers of his other hand twitching restlessly against the tabletop.

“Do you need to work on something after dinner?” Roxanne guessed.

He looked at her again with a guilty expression.

“I don’t mind, sweetheart,” she said. “You work on things; I do know this.”

“It—it shouldn’t take long,” Megamind said, still looking uncertain, “it’s something small; it’s just that—” he made a noise of frustration, “—I know if I don’t fix it, then it’s going to drive me crazy all night and I want to be able to concentrate and enjoy being—”

“Hey,” Roxanne said, touching the back of his hand reassuringly, “really, Megamind; it’s okay.”

“I should just let you see it,” Megamind muttered, his mouth twisting. “I’m being stupid.”

“No, you’re not,” Roxanne said firmly, and he looked at her. “It’s nice that you want to surprise me, Megamind. I was just teasing before; I don’t mind waiting.”

“…are you sure?” Megamind asked.

“Very sure,” Roxanne said. She smiled at him, remembering the dehydrated cubes she still had in her purse. “I’ve got something that I need to work on, too—a surprise for you, actually.”

Megamind’s eyes went wide.

“I—I have a surprise?” he asked.

Roxanne bit her lip, smiling.

“Yep,” she said, “but you don’t get to see it until after you’ve finished fixing the mechanism thing.”

She raised her eyebrows teasingly and Megamind’s face lit up.

“Ooh! Ooh, do I get a hint?” he said eagerly.

Roxanne laughed.

“After you wouldn’t give me a hint? I don’t think so, Megamind!”

She turned to Minion as Megamind spluttered indignantly.

“Fair’s fair, right, Minion?” she added sweetly.

Minion grinned at her.

“Minion!” Megamind said.

“I’m afraid I’m gonna have to side with Ma’am, this time,” Minion said.

“Betrayed,” Megamind lamented melodramatically as Roxanne snickered. “Betrayed by my own Minion!”

He sighed pathetically. Roxanne rolled her eyes at him and stole his croissant.

***

Megamind hurried through fixing the regulator mechanism on the final kidnapping battlesuit. He didn’t want to keep Roxanne waiting any longer than necessary, and—and! She said that she had a surprise for him!

(was it—was it a sex kind of surprise? he didn’t think she would have mentioned it in front of Minion, if so, but he really wasn’t sure how this—he wasn’t sure how dating worked.)

Megamind put away the tools, wiped his hands on a work rag, and went to go find Roxanne.

He looked in the kitchen first; that was where he’d left her and Minion both. Only Roxanne was there now, sitting at the kitchen table. She was typing on her laptop, a cup of tea at her elbow, and Megamind stopped in the doorway, arrested at the sight of her.

Roxanne looked—she looked comfortable; she looked like she belonged here. She—

You are dating Roxanne, Megamind thought again, for about the thousandth time today. The thought wasn’t any less amazing and unbelievably wonderful this time around.

Roxanne looked up at him and her face lit up in a smile.

“Hey,” she said, shutting her laptop and standing.

“Wow,” he breathed, without meaning to. “I—! I mean—um—”

Roxanne laughed, moving towards him.

“You’re such a dork,” she said affectionately, and leaned forward to kiss him.

Megamind kissed her back and then broke the kiss, skipping backwards quickly.

“Sorry! I’m—kind of dirty, with the whole—mechanism—thing; I should—”

“Let me take a shower with you?” Roxanne suggested, smiling slyly. “And then I’ll show you your surprise after.”

Megamind froze.

Roxanne’s smile turned uncomfortable and she stepped back.

“It’s—okay if you don’t want to,” she starts, “I—”

“It’s not that I don’t want to!” Megamind said quickly, hating that look on her face, hating that he’d make her look like that. “It’s—it’s just that—okay, so full disclosure, on my planet, bathing together was kind of a marriage thing so I feel weird doing that without telling you. Sorry.”

Roxanne blinked at him.

“Bathing together was a marriage thing,” she said slowly.

Megamind winced.

“Sort of—I think so—yes,” he said.

“Like a—like something you only did together if you were married?” Roxanne asked.

“Um. Yes, but—also like—also like getting married?” Megamind ran his hands over the top of his head in frustration. “I think, anyway, but like I said, the information I got was—very incomplete—”

“Okay,” Roxanne said, “and so showers together had the same function?”

“I don’t—I don’t know; I’m not sure showers even were a thing, there,” Megamind said miserably, fingers curling around the edges of his sleeves in one of his stupider nervous gestures. “They just seemed—I don’t know; they just seemed too similar for it to be okay for me to—to do it without telling you.”

Roxanne’s eyes flicked down to his hands and Megamind felt himself flush with embarrassment. He dropped his own eyes.

(god, he was so ridiculous, pathetic, didn’t deserve—)

“Thank you,” Roxanne said, “for wanting to make sure I knew, Megamind.”

Megamind looked up again at her. She was looking at him a little uncertainly, biting her lip.

“Is it—is it just that you were worried about me not knowing?” she asked. “Or does—does the idea of showering with me make you uncomfortable? It’s okay if—I’m not—I’m not going to be upset with you if it does make you uncomfortable—”

“It doesn’t,” Megamind said quickly. Roxanne still looked a little unsure, so he added, “I—like I said, it’s not even that—showers weren’t even a thing, I just—I just worry. About doing things—I don’t want to do something without your—without you knowing.”

Roxanne’s expression changed from uncertainty to something soft-edged and filled with love. She stepped forward again and reached for his hands, curling her fingers around his, still twisted in the material of his sleeves.

“I do know, now,” she said, looking at him steadily. “Okay?”

Megamind took a breath, and then another, and then he loosened his grip on his sleeves, sliding his fingers between Roxanne’s instead.

“Okay,” he said, “okay so—would—would you like to take a shower with me, Roxanne?”

She smiled at him.

“Yes, I would.”

...to be continued.

notes: I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter! Thank you all for the lovely reviews on the last chapter; I really appreciate them so much.

#megamind #megamind/roxanne #code: safeword #fanfiction #this chapter sfw

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shortnotsweet · 4 years ago

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This is such a funny but also very clever connection, because Jun Woo is, like Hal Stewart, a deconstruction and satirical take on the concept of the “nice guy”, the friendly, non-threatening underdog who supports the female protagonist and is inherently more “deserving” of the more flashy, conventionally attractive or successfully renowned male love interest who serves as a red herring (Vincenzo, who in this narrative is Megamind, but in Hal/Jun Woo’s perspective, is Metro Man). It plays into the narrative that the underdog is somehow entitled to the main protagonist’s eventual affection, and was deserving of it because he is nice, and there is some sort of transactional relationship going on; if a man is nice, then getting the girl is this sort of retribution, or justice, that he deserves, and is symbolic of his assimilation into whatever competitive society or industry that he was previously failing in before.

As such, he forms a rivalry and competitive relationship with the red herring male love interest, who is usually richer, more attractive, and more ungrateful. This relationship is evocative of the nice guy’s resent and deviation from a material society that has rejected him. Thus, the narrative reframes itself around the underdog’s wants, desires, passions, etc. while reducing the female love interest - Roxanne, or Cha Young - to a vehicle in which the nice guy orchestrates his revenge on and integration into society.

Be nice. Get reward. Reward is girl.

Luckily for us, Vincenzo the show is smarter than that. Cha Young is unique, self-possessed, and just as much a main character as the titular protagonist is, maybe even more so. While the show definitely has its issues - in one episode, locking her up in jail for the majority of its runtime, and in another, using homosexuality as a prop (at best), to name a couple - in terms of its love triangle it is actually a clever and relevant subversion that allows for interconnected, multi-faceted characters in a way that a regular, reciprocal love triangle probably wouldn’t have, that would lack the aspect of societal commentary that Vincenzo does offer, overtly and occasionally in more subtle areas.

The reveal - the best reveal - is that the nice guy was part of the establishment all along.

The idea that an underdog is a marginalized person with more sympathy and ability to respect his fellow marginalized, objectified female colleague is a lie. Hal Stewart is a narcissistic incel who doesn’t need a girlfriend, but therapy and a whole jug of respect women juice. He helps to enforce and perpetuate toxic-masculine ideas while also causing further chaos because he is not a hero, but the toxic-masculine narrative he follows creates the illusion of a hero’s journey. His inability to handle rejection is a sign of his immaturity, and the sort of psychopathic engrained rage of an entitled man who feels marginalized when in reality, he was never marginalized to begin with. He is a man throwing a tantrum who believes that his tantrum is dignified.

In Jun Woo’s case, he is literally a member of the wealthy elite, who has orchestrated the deaths and cover ups of multiple researchers, civilians, family members, activists etc. and the show’s narrative on class divide, or, at least, the struggles of the lower class against the power and privilege of the rich who abuse their power (the tenants versus those that try to uproot them, the corporations that hide the truth and silence civil rights activists, the small law firm fighting to uphold justice against the old, corrupt establishment, etc.) clearly illustrate that Jun Woo is embedded in evil incarnate - not just evil, but systematic and institutionalized evil. Eat the rich. His duality - as someone who is both genuinely goofy and humorous, who admires creativity and women with passion and drive, as opposed to his underlying sociopathy, murderous tendencies, clinical narcism and lethal resentment - serves to embody the alter-personas of the rich.

There is always a dark underbelly to extreme wealth, and the ability to switch between personas is a crucial and insidious one, one that preserves the status quo in the eyes of the public, and one that the rich might even buy into themselves. Jun Woo’s acting ability and commitment to his roles - something the antagonist shares with Vincenzo and Cha Young - is a transformative, deceptive kind of evil superpower. The difference is that the roles that Vincenzo and Cha Young take on have become part of their identity, and while lies, are more honest in that way. It is human nature to create facades as reactions in order to defend ourselves. Jun Woo’s false-identity is one that he is aware that he has created, but he lives vicariously through it, regardless. It is a role that is intended not only to use people, but to hurt people.

This detachment boosts his ego and likely gives him a sort of god-complex; he can play at being the intern, a role that gives him freedom and access to a relationship he would’ve never performed otherwise as well as a perfect position to spy on others and a removal of a target on his own back, but he also still holds the power in his hands, and nearly the moment that Cha Young, the primary recipient of his persona and the only audience member that really matters to him anymore, quits the firm, he relinquishes the role and reveals his own power. Unlike with Cha Young, with this persona he does not have as much to gain with the rest of the law firm, and he doesn’t care about facilitating any kind of personal relationship with them. What matters to him, and has mattered all along, is power. That is the real persona of the nice-guy.

Jun Woo believes he is perfect, talented, charismatic, and superior to his brother through the legitimacy of his birth. He is implied to have a mother complex and he resents his father for cheating on his mother with a woman of lower status, and resents his younger brother by extension. He is aware of his own darker side, and revels in it, but also doesn’t seem to mind pretending to be the kind, haphazard intern, at least when Cha Young is around. He likes tricking people, and feeling smarter than them, but can also manufacture a sort of intimacy with Cha Young under the guise of friendship and his own persona, which undoubtedly makes it easier to gain her trust. Jun Woo is a dangerous breed of person who is not afraid to pull off a long con. He can flirt with Cha Young and goof off around her, can admire her talents, can be there for her when her father is killed (by him, albeit indirectly), and be the only friend from her old firm who’s still there for her. Even though her leaving was unplanned and clearly not what he wanted, there is a sort of maneuvering to his attempts to remain close to her; he was genuine when he said that he missed her the moment she left the firm. If Cha Young is isolated, then he can be her sole confidant - if only it weren’t for Vincenzo, that meddling Italian lawyer.

Maybe Jun Woo genuinely believes that Cha Young brings out the best in him, the real him, or maybe he just likes to pretend that she does, as another power play. Maybe he admires her talent and grit, and she is the most entertaining in an office of fools, and he wants to eventually seduce her to the dark side. Or he wants to preserve her as what she is, and to protect her, as evidenced by him attempting to pull her out of the Babel situation multiple times. Maybe he wants to own her. Whatever the reason, whatever it is that he feels for her isn’t real love, at least not in a healthy, altruistic sense. He’s a foil to both Cha Young, but especially Vincenzo. Both are:

Powerful men who wear a lot of masks and specialize in adapting through personas,

Were orphaned, with a complicated relationship with the concept of family,

Have a (seeming, in Jun Woo’s case) respect for women in their field, or female characters in general (they both respect Cha Young, Jun Woo is partial to his mother and seems to respect Ms. Choi more than their boss for being more capable, and Vincenzo has a rule against harming women and children, despite having no qualms about killing those ‘who deserve it’),

Appreciate the spectacle of a good show and theatrics,

Manipulate and coerce people within their line of work,

Have killed and could kill again, and -

Are both in love with Cha Young.

He likes Cha Young, maybe even respects her, but he loves her for what she is rather than who she is, and is willing to surround her with collateral damage - the life of her father, the settlements of those she wants to testify, her freedom, her other relationships, etc. and is more than willing than to insert himself into her life regardless of what she wants or what’s good for her. Jun Woo’s character twist is so effective because it also calls the bluff on the viewer themselves. His actor does a fantastic job, has convincing range, and really sells a person who dances to himself in empty hallways and is genuinely amused by his crush’s antics - with someone who is coldly manipulative, full of rage, and is a general sociopath.

As a viewer, we can believe it, and it is all the more terrifying because monsters like this live among us, and look and act exactly like us. How can we tell the difference? It’s difficult, especially if they’re as well camouflaged as Jun Woo is.

vincenzo vs. megamind: the love triangle

thank you to all who engaged with my post and motivated me to write about this! buckle up, because it’s likely to get wild.

firstly, a disclaimer: i wanted to draw a comparison between the way the love triangles in vincenzo (2021) and megamind (2010) are executed. this post is not meant to imply any plot similarities between the two pieces of media, just similarities on the basis of vibes, some character aspects, and the basic structure of the love triangle. my brain just saw a clear connection and now it won’t leave me alone until i explain it, so here goes!

now if you haven’t watched megamind, an animated feature film by dreamworks, i really really recommend that you do, firstly because it is simply a great movie in terms of characters and plot, and secondly because of the humour and iconic lines like “what is the difference between a villain and a super-villain? presentation!”. to briefly summarize the movie, it centres around the villain megamind, who finds himself in the position of a hero after defeating the hero of his city and creating an even bigger villain than himself who endangers everyone.

the first reason i see a similarity between megamind and vincenzo is that both artworks ask similar questions: what makes a hero and a villain? can a villain be accepted and loved if he fights against a bigger threat by using his dirty methods? the second reason is the overall tone of the pieces: both lean heavily into the dark comedy genre. and the third, and most important for this post, is the position of the main characters within the love triangle.

let me first establish the connections between the characters in the two pieces. vincenzo reminds me of megamind, because he’s also coming from a background of “villainy” or at least moral greyness, and part of what drives him to want to be a better person are his growing feelings for cha young, which mirror megamind’s arc of changing for the better after falling in love with the reporter roxanne ritchie. now roxanne is sadly mostly a side character within megamind, a kind of token of the hero’s status as the hero, so i’m only linking her to cha young because they’re both the main female protagonists in these pieces (cha young is miles above roxanne both as a protagonist in her own right, a fully developed character, and someone who revels in her moral greyness, so i wouldn’t call them similar at all).

now the similarities between jun woo and his megamind alter ego are far more fascinating. he’s the equivalent of hal stewart - roxanne’s less experienced co-worker, who accidentally inhales a pill which gives him superpowers and, driven by his ambition and non-existent moral compass, becomes the villain titan. while hal’s transformation from a goofy, awkward side character into a terrifying villain is quite literal, jun woo’s transformation is only the shedding of a mask. nevertheless, he occupies the same position in the story as hal/titan - first as an annoying but harmless sidekick with unrealistic expectations towards the future development of his relationship with the female lead, and later as an unhinged psycho ready to commit any atrocity to get his way.

so how does all this fit into the love triangle? firstly, both vincenzo/megamind and jun woo/titan are romantically interested in cha young/roxanne, but she returns only the feelings of the protagonist. (in that sense, both pieces don’t feature a true love triangle, which is amazing because i loathe them). secondly, both pairs of characters handle their relationships with the female protagonist in the same way: vincenzo/megamind gets to know her and falls in love with the entirety of who she is, while jun woo/titan admires the persona she puts on in public (as opposed to her truer, private, vulnerable self) and wants to win her as a kind of trophy without any respect for her own wishes and feelings. there is scene in megamind that illustrates this really well: titan kidnaps roxanne and drops her from a great height just to catch her, claiming that the fact that he’s saved her from the danger he himself put her in means that she has to now be with him. the other similarity i expect to see between him and jun woo in upcoming episodes is how they both handle rejection: titan immediately turned violent and threatened megamind by kidnapping and attempting to murder roxanne. i also believe that both jun woo and titan are similar in the way they don’t value their love interest’s life enough to protect it if it doesn’t suit their interests anymore. sure, jun woo has been “sparing” cha young thus far, but i for one am convinced that his only reason to do so is that a tiny, self-involved part of his brain still believes he has a chance with her. as soon as he realizes that she’s inevitably in love with vincenzo, i don’t think there’s a line he wouldn’t cross to make her suffer for being something other than what he imagined she would be. and of course, i expect jun woo, like titan, to be disposed of by the end of the series like the piece of garbage he is.

what does all this tell us about the likely development of the love triangle in vincenzo? pretty much nothing new. i expect jun woo to apply the usual boring tactics to try to harm vincenzo and cha young’s relationship - offering misinformation or the kind of information that would do the most damage (e.g. the photos of vincenzo’s victims). do i think this tactic will be effective? hell no. i fully expect my love cha young to process it and move on. but i’m also prepared for jun woo to begin using cha young to get back at vincenzo, and i don’t think any “feelings” he has for her will stay his hand any more - in fact, his jealousy is likely to explode into more brutality aimed at the people he considers himself hurt by, no matter that he had no claim to cha young’s heart or life choices to begin with. but whatever he does, it’s only going to provide more dramatic backdrop for our protagonists’ growing relationship, and help them leap over what few barriers they still keep between each other all the more quickly and inevitably.

#vincenzo #wow a comparison between Vincenzo and...megamind? It’s more likely than you think

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