#the joys of being a villain fan

[obi-troll-kenobi]

Reading a long meta about Shadow Weaver being power-hungry, manipulative and selfish and that she was not redeemed. And it’s tagged as anti-shadow weaver... Is that supposed to be a “gotcha” against her fans? Dude (gn), we know. She did everything wrong in her life and I love her.

[buttercupshands]

just played some Case Files with LoV part in it and just thought about a giant project like "every LoV filler ever in ANY media"

like games, manga (including those SMASH!! pages) or irl events (like ONE of LoV seyuu playing as LoV without any real footage of it) and most importantly - Ultra Impact events, but sadly I don't have ALL of them of at least I can't share jp server events that I know at least one happened before global started

I'm not that good with knowing what Ultra Rumble has as something special other than emotes, some phrases or outfits and I don't exactly play it

One's Justice 2 (the one Horikoshi named chapter with Hawks and Twice after) on the other hand has literally tons of interactions from just battle things and recruit talks that depend on your trust of something level to Arcade where defeat and a win give you a mini dialogue and LoV has levels with each other

the only problem with the latter is that I either did level them all up too much already and it would be a pain to lose progress or I'm not really interested in doing already hard to make screenshots one by one FOR EVERY SINGLE LOV FIGHT twice.

But since I've never found actual archive of those things aside from occasional video of Plus Ultra attacks or voicelines without any subtitles for jp vers or again Plus Ultra attacks only for the new characters... that's either worthless or it doesn't matter as much

Still! While 1-A class fillers and stories are so easy to find - literally in the novels or 90% of SMASH!! and Team-Up Missions (and I saw one thing that suspiciosly had LoV in there but still looking through it) while anything semi-canon or at least that can be considered such with LoV is either serves it's purpose in the final arc of the manga now or is actually hard to find since wiki doesn't actually keep up with the official games

maybe it's just an excuse to show little things that Ultra Impact keeps as it's canon for events like Tomura being good at poker and it first was in his "holiday story" and then it appeared in the event much later chronologically with MLA already working with LoV

Also if I remember correctly there are multiple vids with LoV somewhat main point of focus and there are still cool (like that one part of Peace Sign with villains suddenly being there for couple of seconds)

but meh... it's still just 1 am thoughts mostly

[livvyofthelake]

the lost city 2022 THE best movie ever made. all other movies should kill themselves i’m so serious it’s so good it’s fucking unreal

[purerae]

╭────༺♡༻────╮

YANDERE!HERO  X GN!READER // PT1

warnings ;; stalking, obsessive behaviour, overall yandere themes 

╰────༺♡༻────╯

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who's known for his extreme bravery and bright personality! he’s what makes the city feels safe with a big smile on his face! What's not to love? ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who always makes time for his fans, signing autographs, taking pictures… what a nice hero <3 ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who spots you plummeting from a crumbling building mid-battle between a major villain he has been fighting for a while, heart skipping a beat at the thought of somebody in danger. He swoops in, catching you in his arms, expecting panic or even shock from the city's favourite hero saving you? —but you’re calm…? almost bored…? ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who’s used to hearing screams of terror or even joy when he rescues people, but when you look up at him with those indifferent eyes, it throws him off. Why aren’t you scared? Why aren’t being you grateful? The lack of fear intrigues him. ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who can’t help but feel a strange pull towards you as you brush off his dramatic rescue with a simple, 'Thanks.' No fanfare, no wide-eyed admiration—just a casual acknowledgment, like he’s done nothing special. ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who can’t stop staring at you after he sets you down safely, his usual bright smile faltering for just a moment. He’s confused, frustrated even—how could you be so indifferent to him, of all people? ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who accidentally lets the villain slip from his grasp again because he was too busy thinking about the person who didn’t even react to him, seeks you out, desperate for another interaction. He’s not used to being dismissed so easily—he needs to understand why you’re not affected by his charm like everyone else. ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who’s usually surrounded by adoring fans, but now all he can think about is you—the one person who didn’t seem to care. He’s never met anyone like you before, and now he’s hooked. ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who starts to see your indifference as a challenge, something to overcome. He’s determined to break through that cool exterior and make you see him the way everyone else does—no, more than everyone else does. ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who, after that first meeting, finds himself obsessing over you. He watches you from a distance, trying to understand why you didn’t react to him like everyone else. Your mystery is irresistible, and suddenly you’re all he can think about. ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who keeps running into you ‘by chance.’  He’s not used to people being so unimpressed with him, so he casually strikes up conversations, trying to draw you in. “Hey hey!  how are you doing after that very scary fall? ” (It's been like a month, why does he still remember you..) ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who starts off with small talk, asking about your day, your interests, all while flashing that charming smile. But he’s secretly analysing every word you say, trying to figure out what makes you tick.

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who only memorises the things you like because he deeply cares about every single citizen in the city!! it’s not because he thinks you’re cool and wants your approval…definitely not..!!

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who offers to walk you home one evening, using the excuse that it’s dangerous out there with all the recent villain attacks. You shrug and agree, not realising he’s already planned this route to spend more time with you.

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who, after getting to know you a bit more, starts to subtly insert himself into your life. He’ll show up at your favourite café, claim he was just doing his neighbourhood watch, and invite you to join him for coffee. How could you refuse?

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who gradually becomes a constant presence in your life, always so charming, so attentive. You start to look forward to seeing him, not realising that every step you take closer to him is one he’s carefully orchestrated.

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO  who never misses a chance to remind you how special you are to him. You're always on his mind, even when he's saving the city! <3

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who always makes sure you’re watching when he defeats a villain. The victory is sweeter when he knows you’re looking at his strength and bravery. Hes cool right?! The best hero, right???

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who leaves little gifts at your doorstep, each one more extravagant than the last. It’s his job to make people happy, especially you!

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who keeps tabs on your daily routine. He’s just so concerned about your safety! Knowing where you are at all times is his way of showing how much he cares.

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO  who’s always there at the right time, whether it’s saving you from danger or just catching you when you trip… how did he manage to be right by your house when you fell? 'Don’t ask questions silly, you’re lucky he was there to protect you <3'

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO  who subtly influences your decisions, steering you away from places or people he doesn’t approve of. “It’s for your own good,” I mean he’s a world loved hero, he must be right, right? ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO  who dedicates every victory, every heroic deed, to you. “You’re my inspiration,” he says with that signature wide grin. ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO who casually mentions your name in interviews, saying how much you inspire him to be better. His fans might think it’s cute, but it’s actually his way of claiming you in front of the whole world. (even if you guys aren’t dating yet) ˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ YANDERE!HERO  who feels a surge of satisfaction when you start to seek him out, whether it’s for help, advice, or just to chat. He’s finally becoming that important figure in your life, just as he planned. And now that he’s in, he’ll never let you go. He’ll be your hero, he’ll save you.

"Don't tell anybody, but you're my favourite citizen to look after~"

purerae<3

[itsabouttimex2]

I hope this isn't an odd question

But, do you think Wukong or Macaque would act or treat different their "cub" if they genders were swapped or being a female version? This is also for a Yan behavior

I don't know too much about how is the raising of a monkey from the father and mother so I was curious with this since they're both mystical demons

I was thinking about this when I saw some fanarts from the artist @/car_nimbus on Twitter, they made a neat versions of the characters with another gender

Monkey Mama

(Hmm okay let me build a hypothetical OG “Female Monkey King” to work off of here and then I’ll try to translate that into LMK’s SWK. Also, I’ll probably make a second variation of this afterwards with other characters, haha. This got a little long to do both SWK and Mac!)

Sun Wukong as a character is already heavily defined by rebellion and personal choice, so I think that making him a girl only really compounds that layer of his character.

In many older narratives, female characters are often expected to be more obedient or modest than men, and very frequently only exist as prizes or, more rarely, villains. A female Sun Wukong; assuming she plays the same role as her original incarnation, defies the expectations of how “traditional” women should behave, shirking the demure and passive “ideal” and adding another layer of rebellion to her character.

(JTTW is actually pretty great in terms of female representation, with characters ranging from the perpetually good Quanyin, the eventually repentant Princess Iron Fan, and the straight up evil White Bone Spirit. I’m a big fan of how the women aren’t slid into any one “role” throughout the story.)

I think: in story, she’d likely be viewed as a sort of “anomaly”—a woman too strong, too outspoken, and too unwilling to conform to typical feminine ideals. Her defiance and arrogance might be viewed as even more scandalous by the Celestial Realm.

Instead of being made a “stable-keeper”, I think probably she’s sent to whatever Heavenly Scullery exists in that divine realm, and put to work very quickly. She would treat this “job” with indifference or even amusement at first-after all, physical labor or menial tasks don't diminish her self-worth or confidence! She’s had a life of hard work, leading an army of Yaoguai, cultivating Flower Fruit Mountain,

So she’s fine with this… at first. Then it turns out that the food she makes with her fellow low-class workers isn’t distributed amongst the people making it, but plated up nice and pretty for a bunch of “stuffy old gods” who didn’t lift a finger! Bullshit!

So obviously, the prideful Monkey Queen goes on a destructive rampage in regards to the unfair disparity of treatment, then storms back down to Earth to throw a “feel-better” party with her fellow Yaogaui.

(Which isn’t just a party, but a symbolic reclaiming of joy and community, with her monkey tribe representing the freedom she craves and the earthly bonds she prefers over heavenly authority. It's not just an escape, but a statement of independence.)

After an extensive set of repairs, the Court sends down someone to drag her back, because, you know, the local super-powered monkey is back on the loose, and that’s not exactly great for them. This time, they offer her a “better” role- she gets to become an official Peach Maiden, lucky her!

Of course, it’s just another form of entrapment, but within a prettier cage. Even though she's given a cushier position, it's a veneer- she's still being silenced, controlled, and stripped of her freedom. The role played by a Peach Maiden is an inversion of Wukong's essence, as these women are happily serving the role of passive caretakers, nurturing with gentle smiles—a direct contrast to the free-willed, brash nature of the Monkey Queen.

(And while there’s nothing wrong with being demure, passive, and feminine, having people try to force her into that role is where Sun Wukong draws her line.)

Here, she is expected to watch in silence as others revel in the freedom and power denied to her. It's a different kind of prison, one that quietly erodes her spirit. When the Celestial Court tries to reintegrate her as a Peach Maiden, they are once again attempting to place her into a docile, decorative role, one that strips away her power and independence. Those immortal peach orchards, a symbol of immortality and divine favor, becomes a prison for her.

Surrounded by "ideal" women who embody the quiet, submissive role she despises, the Monkey Queen finds herself chafing under the pressure of conformity. Her energy, once boundless and chaotic, is now caged, and the simmering resentment builds.

The buildup to her inevitable rebellion after being made a Peach Maiden, then, becomes a very sympathetic moment because it's not just a rejection of the role forced on her, but a rejection of the very system that tries to diminish who she is at her core. Her rebellion isn’t about anger and shame- it’s about reclaiming her true self after having been suffocated by the expectations of the Celestial Court. Her rampage becomes an assertion of her identity as something that can't be confined by heavenly rules or social mores.

The Court, in its attempt to “contain" her, only fuels her defiance further, leading her once again to rebel.

It was never going to end well. But it ends all the same, and punishment is to be levied to the Queen, just the same as any other rebellious rule-breaker... actually, probably harsher.

There’s “you broke our rules and tried to lead a coup”, then there’s “you did all that, and we also find your very person to be wrong on a fundamental level”, and then she gets the book thrown at her twice over.

But! Then she meets Tang Sanzang, who sees something in her that neither the Celestial Realm nor her own band of Sworn Brothers saw. Not a heretic simian savaging a holy realm. Not a Queen to rally behind for their own gain.

But a lost soul in need of guidance.

And from there the Great Monk works on building Sun Wukong up as a person instead of leading her astray or trying to cut massive chunks of her personality out? And talks to her about the things she cares about? And teaches her about all the things she missed after spending five hundred years under a rock?

And then she meets Zhu Baije, who starts out a little too happy and carefree about having a beautiful woman around, but eventually comes to smash open heads when Wukong is disrespected, because that’s not just a hot woman, that’s his sister?

Or Sha Wujing, who helps her with even the smallest things, from trimming her claws to cutting her wild hair to preparing meals for the monk? And lets her perch on his shoulders and head so the queen can get some skinship in?

Then Ao Lie, who is every bit the “disappointment to the world at large” that she was considered? And they take turns braiding each other’s hair and wiping the mess from the other’s face, and sleeping in the same tent and same bedroom because it’s less effort?

She gets a dad and three little brothers?

She gets a family.

And then loses it and is alone again for several hundred years more.

So if we go with this theoretical “My natural existence has been rejected for being seen as ‘improper’ by a court of stuffy traditional assholes” and then “I dearly love/miss my dead found family” angle, I think she’d be portrayed as a very different sort of character in LMK.

She’s quicker to lash out and defend herself, and much less willing to sit around and let the world pass her by- because that’s what was demanded of her by the Celestial Realm.

Be good. Be quiet. Be demure. Be obedient. Be anything except you.

I don’t think she’d be as willing to “rest on her laurels” as her canon counterpart, given that a “quiet boring life” was what she had fought so very hard to escape in the first place, so instead of isolating herself from the world in the first place, she probably sets up a little “souvenir shop” at the foot of Flower Fruit Mountain, taking a human form to sell little knick-knacks that herald to the journey she undertook with her old friends.

In part, this is how Wukong works to honor them. To spread their legacy. To ensure that they aren’t forgotten, left as a footnote in the annals of history. To remember them.

In part, it’s how she justifies all the mistakes she’s made and the suffering she’s been through. Settling in to a pointlessly relaxed life is exactly what she fought against, after all. She’s heavily fallen into the “sunk-cost fallacy”, where giving up and settling in, to her, means “losing”. It means “everything I went through was all for nothing”. So she keeps at this little store instead of just retiring and isolating herself from the world, even though she’d be happier to ditch it and lounge about.

So when MK and his eccentric bunch of friends comes around with their boundless energy and mischief, she immediately goes, “Oh, okay! This is what I wanted!”

(It’s not. All she’s ever wanted is her friends back. How could there be anything else?)

The Monkie Kids are vibrant, eccentric, and full of qualities that immediately resonate with Wukong. They remind her of the energy, camaraderie, and sense of adventure that she once shared with her old companions. She sees MK's arrival not just as a chance to teach someone a few of her old tricks, but as an echo of her own life—a life she hasn't been able to truly let go of.

So she starts projecting- on the surface, MK is very much like her. He's spirited, good-natured, and curious- and reckless. Just like she was. Wukong latches onto this quickly, sort of using the kid as a proxy for herself. After all, if she can't go back to her old life, why not embrace a new one that feels close enough? In some ways, this marks her refusal to accept the passage of time, a desperate clinging to the hope that, through MK, she can rekindle the connections she once cherished.

However, underneath that initial enthusiasm is the repressed understanding that MK, despite his similarities to her younger self, cannot truly replace what she lost. The friends she fought beside, the battles they waged together, and the lessons they learned are unique, irreplaceable moments in her life. No matter how much MK’s gang reminds her of the past, he and his friends a stand-in for the companions she still longs for. But her deep desire to reconnect with her old friends clouds her ability to see MK for who he truly is: his own person, on his own journey.

It takes her a while to get to that point, though. So she’s more doting and affectionate, in a way that somewhat stifles her student’s training because she wants to be both her old carefree self and also a good mentor, and the two just get jumbled.

Sidenote: I think with the difference in actions and behavior, MK would be more open to viewing Fem!Wukong as a parental figure than the OG, especially since he doesn’t really have someone to fulfill that “mom” role.

For their dynamic, I think something like this would be the outcome:

———————————————————————-

The afternoon sun hangs low in the sky, painting the landscape in hues of varied orange and blue. With a tired hand, MK wipes the sweat from his brow.

He’s perched on one of the rocky spires dotting Flower Fruit Mountain, gazing at the view with a small smile of accomplishment. Training had been intense lately… if only because he had been doubling down on the time he spent practicing, without giving as much care to rest or aftercare.

After all, even though his powers were blooming steadily… his enemies also were growing in power and quantity, leading to the ever-creeping edge of fear that anything less than a constant one-hundred percent just wouldn’t be “enough”.

And right as he reaches back to grab the golden staff he has inherited from the Monkey Queen-

“MK! I told you to take a break, not run off to do more training!”

Her voice, uncharacteristically sharp, cuts through the formerly tranquil air, causing MK to jump. He turns just in time to see Sun Wukong strolling toward him, her hands on her hips and a look of mock annoyance on her face.

MK grinned sheepishly, shifting his grass-stained boots against the dirt. “I was just, you know… checking out the view.”

She raised an eyebrow, the corner of her mouth twitching in amusement as her eyes narrowed in annoyance. This kid... “Uh-huh. Checking out the view or sneaking in some practice when I wasn’t looking?”

Caught fast in his lie, MK rubbed the back of his neck, face scrunching up in embarrassment. “Maybe a little of both?”

In spite of herself, Sun Wukong quietly laughs, the sound echoing like a chiming bell through the mountain. Her long, golden hair flowed behind her in the wind, each strand catching the light like molten fire. Despite her legendary status- the rebellious warrior who’d fought the heavens and nearly won!- there was a warmth to her that MK had come to cherish.

“All work and no play, MK,” she said, sitting beside him on the rock and ruffling his hair with a fondness that always made him feel like a little kid again. “You’ll burn out before you get anywhere.”

He looked at her, eyes shining with admiration. “But you never stop training. You’ve been at this for centuries! I just…”

A pause, as his chest turns over, unsettled by the notion of opening up. But… it’s the Monkey Queen. So it.. should be okay, right?

“I want to make you proud.”

Sun Wukong’s expression softens, and she wraps an arm around his shoulders, pulling the boy close in a tight embrace. “You already make me proud, kid. You don’t have to prove anything.”

MK leaned into the touch, feeling a wave of comfort wash over him. Even from the start she’d been like this with him- protective, nurturing… and maybe a bit overbearing at times. But he didn’t mind. It made him feel safe, like no matter what challenges lay ahead, he wasn’t alone.

MK chuckled, turning his face up to meet his idol’s eyes.” I’ll keep up,” he triumphantly declares, pumping a fist.” I promise.”

“Good.” Wukong shifted, her clawed hand lightly missing his spiked locks. “Now, how about we head back to the shop and grab something to eat? You’ve earned it.”

MK’s stomach growled at the mention of food, and he nodded so eagerly that she wondered if his head wouldn’t ache from the motion. “You know, I won’t say no to a good meal.”

The Monkey Queen stood up, dusting off her mentee’s clothes before offering him a hand. “Of course you won’t. C’mon, my treat.”

———————————————————————-

Now, to answer your question about how she acts in regards to her own cub… in general I think she’s much more doting than the OG, willing to express herself through constant displays of physical affection, in ways that are far more varied.

Constant forehead smooching, cuddles, grooming sessions, all of it! Mama Wukong never wants to let go of her baby! Sit down and let her paint your nails! Let her comb and braid your hair! Let her make you a nice lunch (loaded with mystical drugs to keep you nice and sleepy for extra cuddles), or at least a filling snack! Let her pepper your face with kisses as she spins you in her powerful arms!

Lots and lots of indulgent fluffy days of binging unhealthy foods and watching cozy reruns of old shows, your head in her lap as she hums and does up your hair with her lazy hands.

Lots of reminiscing about old suitors as she considers the quietest and quickest ways to kill anyone who makes the futile attempt to pursue you in the same way.

Despite her obsessive behavior, Wukong struggles with conflicting feelings about wanting her child to be strong and independent, just like her! She pushes you to train hard and become powerful, but when you inevitably seek their own freedom or autonomy, she’d experience a mix of pride and heartbreak, pushing her deeper into possessive tendencies.

If you ever tried to leave or even just start to break away, Wukong’s worst traits would bubble up like hellfire. Just as she fought against an entire realm’s authority, she would absolutely wage a war to keep her child close, all while justifying her actions as love.

The Monkey Queen is also more willing to take routes outside of brute force if it means securing extra protection for Y/N. If Macaque or maybe Azure (or someone else like Erlang Shen) wants to try and play “suitor”, well, she’s not too interested… until the thought arises that having him around makes you extra safe! And then she’s willing to think on it.

(That’s assuming that you aren’t one of their biological kids to begin with, in which case there might be a sort of “yandere triangle”. Azure/Macaque/Erlang Shen doing his damndest to reclaim his wife, before he learns that she’s had a child while he was gone... or maybe Pigsy and Tang decided that MK needs his mentor in a more ‘accessible’ position, and plot to drag her to Megapolis…)

Lots of potential monkey mama shenanigans, basically!

[seraphinitegames]

Hey, Mishka!!!

I've been replaying TWC over the last couple of months, and must say, it's been an entirely rejuvenating experience for me. Like, I was reading it the first time, although I've replayed the series quite too many (worrying number) of times already. And it still manages to amaze me, EVERY SINGLE TIME.

I've repeated this in the past, and I'll repeat it again. The Wayhaven Chronicles is a blessing for me and I'm sincerely thankful to have come across it when I did. And I'm grateful to you for making this lovely world a reality (and of course, the four beautiful vamps)! Really eager for Book 4 and have already player the demo; can say it's gonna be worth the wait. It every time is.

Replaying the series in the last few months, I had a certain uncontrollable urge to drop and ask a few questions to you. Apologize in advance for the long ask and message, but it had been bottling up inside of me for SOOOOOO LONG.

1. In Book 1, when we're to lead the investigation in one of the three directions, is there any way to get success in any direction without Bobby making a big joke out of our investigation in the newspaper?

2. In Book 2, when Nicole and Max Salinas come to report their incident, can Tina actually find out anything unusual? If so, what is actually needed to explain that?

3. In Book 3, I noticed if we choose to go the final mission alone, depending on the route chosen, Boddy/Doug will end up tagging along as well, jeopardizing everything. Is there still a way to complete the mission successfully and rescuing everyone like it happens when we go along with Rebecca?

4. Less of a question, but more of a plea. Please tell me we can get a pet anytime in the series. I was just curious if we can get one.

5. How powerful is the big baddie in Book 4 compared to Unit Bravo? You don't need to answer if this verges on spoiler-y territory.

Really sorry to overwhelm you with this, but it's just months and months of joy, happiness, and sheer ecstasy making me blabber on about this world like this. Thanks once again, for making this truly beautiful story, world, and the vampires a reality.

Have a good day!!!! Lots of love from India!!

You can never play a game you love too many times (I keep telling myself that as I gradually burn a hole into my poor old console playing Dragon Age over and over, lol!)! If it brings you happiness, then that's what is important! :D

Ok, let's see about the questions...it's been a whole since I've gone through the older games without being in editing mode, hehe!

I don't think so...Bobby is, well, Bobby. And that scene was there very much to establish their character and show the player what type of person they are.

I don't think so, again. If there's anything unusual or odd, then I usually like to let the MC find that instead of it happening 'off-screen' so it's more impactful for the player—unless it's Verda discovering stuff, because that needs to happen for…reasons.

Iirc, in the Bobby/Doug routes, you get the auction scene, so a lot of that branch involves focusing on saving yourself! But the other team that joins Unit Bravo will help in saving a lot of the captives in that version.

I would love that being a massive animal companion fan myself, hehe! But likely not, just because the MC is away a lot from home, and that's unfair on the pet, even a fictional one, lol. I was tempted to give the MC a supernatural pet that hung around at the facility—that was definitely a strong idea at one point just so I could write a pet in the series for those that wanted it (me, I was the one who wanted it, hehe!) :D

**BOOK FOUR DEMO SPOILERS AHEAD** It's not just that Book Four's villain is terrifyingly powerful (or will be. They are, thankfully for the MC and UB, in a weakened state for a while due to what's happened to them and what happened in Chapter Two) but it's a lot to do with the fact that their power specifically counteracts and weakens Unit Bravo's. So that's a double whammy!

Thank you SO incredibly much for the amazing message! It means more than you can know <3

[tossawary]

I think about "Scum Villain" AUs occasionally, as in "Fan Transmigrates Into The Villain Role" AUs for fandoms that are not SVSSS. I think they're fun because you get a lot of the same joys as "self-insert / OC" fanfiction, plus the other characters being baffled as a villain struggles to turn the entire plot around or escape it.

And I just realized that one of the funniest characters for an AU like this might be Starscream from "Transformers". Any "Transformers" continuity, really.

Some random fan who is genuinely a nice person transmigrates into a TF universe and into the robot body of fucking Starscream. STARSCREAM. Alternatively, if you don't actually want to do transmigration, you could just have a Cybertronian original character (or a canon Cybertronian character) somehow accidentally uploaded / installed into Starscream's body.

Either way, some hapless rando is stuck as one of THE scum villains of all time: Starscream.

And all of the other Decepticons are wondering what the FUCK is going on, because it seems like Starscream is kind of... nice now? Did he take damage from getting punched too hard? People aren't really motivated to do anything about this "good clone" situation because they all kind of like this Starstream more. Megatron can't decide whether or not this friendliness is some new kind of assassination plot, because it's not, but also it looks like it's WAY MORE successful than usual.

Bonus points if whoever is stuck in Starscream also has their own Protagonist Favorite (Luo Binghe) character, so now it looks like Starscream is weirdly into some random Autobot. Optimus Prime would be super funny, but I'm also leaning towards Hot Rod (not yet Rodimus Prime), because that would also be incredibly funny.

Also, Starscream has that ghost thing going on, so the transmigrator here (and everyone else) could end up being haunted by an angry Ghost Starscream.

[seekinghelp-adhd]

Chance Encounters (Maribat idea I'm throwing around)

Marinette moves to Gotham to pursue fashion. She has to finish her last year of high school at Gotham Academy and do an internship over the summer, but if she does she gets a massive scholarship to Gotham University. They were more than happy to help out Jagged Stone's famously young personal designer. Obviously, this puts her in classes with Damien Wayne, who barely talks and only ever calls his brothers by their last names.

Jagged insists on setting her up in a penthouse for her stay in Gotham, but Marinette argues that being a single girl living in a fancy penthouse is like asking one of the Gotham rogues to kidnap or rob her. They compromise on a nice apartment with a state of the art security system, one owned by Wayne Enterprises. Another tenant on her same floor, Jason Todd, stops by to scope out the new neighbor. He seems nice enough, but he keeps calling his older brother "Dick" and Marinette can't tell if that's his name or just an insult. Apparently he does this whenever someone new moves in to see if he’ll have to move. Marinette tells him to let her know if he does, Because she says if he doesn’t feel safe living in this building anymore, she definitely wants to leave. Jason is amused by this and decides she can stay.

It doesn't take long for Marinette to encounter Gotham's bad side. After a few months of living there she's seen plenty of rogue attacks. She's been lucky enough to stay out of it. After all, if the villains aren't magical there's nothing her Miraculous Cure could do anyway. Her luck is apparently starting to run out though, because now she's being held up at knife point in an alley. She obviously takes the guy down after years of being Ladybug and calls the cops. Dick Greyson is the officer on scene. He's incredibly friendly and is super impressed that she managed to take the guy down, but Dick has seen corrupt cops take people in for self-defense if it means someone else owes them a favor. He gives her his personal cell in case anything like this ever happens again.

Through all of this, Marinette has been spending more and more time with Damien at school. Marinette is hesitant to trust all the smiles and niceties around her after Lila's manipulation and wants to truly get to know someone before she puts any trust in them. Damien is the only exception. She was warned of his reputation as the "Ice Prince" of GA before meeting him and found talking with him to be incredibly refreshing. There was absolutely nothing fake or over the top about him. He was straightforward and down to earth and Marinette found comfort in that. She decided that she trusted him on day one. Likewise, Damien finds her skeptical attitude toward the other students to be incredibly validating. Growing up in the League, everyone was always pretending, even to the other assassins. You had to act a certain way around the right people, and manipulation was the key to survival. Marinette seems to notice people trying to take advantage of her and recognize when someone just wants a favor, and he respects that. Regretfully, and to Jon's great joy, Damien finds that he thinks of her as a friend.

Word eventually gets out that Marinette is Jagged's designer. This is, of course, entirely Jagged's fault. Some good comes out of all the extra attention, though, when she learns that the co-CEO of Wayne Enterprises is a fan of hers. He makes a commission for a new suit and, upon learning of her situation, offers her a position as his families personal designer over the summer to meet her internship qualifications for GU. They set up a meeting in person for her to take measurements once her midterms are over.

When everything is going well though, something has to throw a wrench into things. The Batfamily raids one of Black Mask's warehouses late one night, and Red Hood takes a few too many bullets and a pretty big hit to the head. The kevlar took most of the hits for him, but he's badly bruised and nursing a concussion. It's the concussion that causes him to stumble into the wrong window of his apartment building and scare his new neighbor half to death. Marinette does what she always does and helps the vigilante without question. To do that though, she has to take off his helmet. She assumed he would have a mask underneath or something. He does not. Marinette is not as surprised as she probably should be, and Jason is pissed when he wakes up. He realizes after a while that this isn't her fault. She's been taking care of him since he was too stubborn to go to Bruce, and if she wanted him or his family dead she could have done something about it by now. He decides to put a little trust in her, but keeps an eye on her just in case. This is what clues him into the situation. In her time here in Gotham, she's managed to meet all of the Wayne brothers aside from Duke, and she has no idea they're even related.

Jason, of course, finds this absolutely hilarious and wants to see just how far this madness can go. He sends Duke to her favorite coffee shop. He refers Marinette to the same dance studio as Cass. Marinette, completely on her own to Jason's disbelief, enters the same Ultimate Mecha Strike tournament as Stephanie and absolutely destroys her. Jason lives for the chaos and Marinette is completely oblivious.

Eventually, after a few AO3 tags (slow burn, feelings realization) Marinette and Damien start dating. Damien feels guilty for hiding that he's Robin from Marinette, but he knows that he'd be sharing more than just his own secret and doesn't want to betray his family's trust. He realizes that if he wants to share everything with her, his family has to trust her as well. She'll have to meet them. He tells Marinette all of this, and she shares that she's been keeping her own secret as well. Marinette hasn't told him about Ladybug even after Tikki has given her blessing, and she's been feeling guilty about it as well. She encourages him to tell her whenever he feels ready and assures him that she can wait until then. She trusts him, and she asks for that same trust in return.

Damien trusts her of course, and everything goes back to normal for about 30 seconds. Then, Damien starts trying to prepare her for the chaos she's about to find in his dining room that night. Little by little, Marinette starts to realize that she already knows every single person he's talking about. Only, that means so much more than she could have realized, because if Jason is Red Hood and his brother "the Dick" is Nightwing, then that means Dick Greyson is Nightwing and Damien's older brother, which makes Damien Robin, and oh no she thinks she knows exactly what that secret is that he didn't want to share yet.

[murasaki-cha]

Honestly the best advice I can give to someone who wants to start Trash Of The Count's Family is to never and I mean NEVER ask a TCF fan about what TCF is but ask a person who has read the manhwa casually.

Because we will never give you a simple answer. Oh no no no we:

Will spoil the everloving crap out of the novel. All of it. We just can't help ourselves. Never have I met a TCF fan who doesn't spoil the novel. I think we just forget that they are spoilers and that there are people that haven't read the novel. I have legitimately had someone ask me "What's an Eruhaben?" and I was confused for a solid 5 minutes until I remembered that there are people who haven't actually read the novel

Will not shut up. You will get a rundown of our top 10 favorite characters, top 10 favorite villains, top 10 favorite battles, top 10 favorite scenes, top 10 favorite angst scenes, etc. YOU GET THE POINT! Probably because we don't have a big fandom we get excited when new people join. You will have to read a 10 page essay it'snot a choice. There are multiple powerpoints the fans have made and I wish I was being sarcastic about this

Will scare you because we are insane overly enthusiastic about TCF. There are some inside jokes that only the fandom will get but we usually don't even try to be subtle we just go "Oh man I can't wait for Cale to be hurt so badly he's bleeding so profoundly and probably choking on his own blood! In canon!!" Or "He needs soggy apple pies or he will die!" Or "Why won't slacker life-chan return Cale's feelings?" Or "White Radish *cue laughing soundtrack*". You will think we are deranged but I can confirm none of us has been put in a mental asylum so far from what I'm aware of👍. We're just silly but our silly will concern people

Now if you find all these factors as things that will motivate you to read the novel than please welcome you'll fit in here just fine.

If not than please stick with the manhwa onlys please than try to read the novel at your own pace

(Just to be clear this entire post is meant for comedic purposes. The TCF fandom has some of the nicest and kindest people I've ever had the joy of meeting and I've made many great friends here. We welcome any new fan with open arms, warm hugs, apple pies and heavy angst lol. Never be afraid to interact with anyone here as we love to talk about our favorite novel)

[apdreadful]

Since the election I have deactivated some of my social media. Blocked some people I never should have ever engaged with to begin with, and unfollowed several accounts on IG that just don’t bring me joy.

And 911onabc was one.

Is it because Buck & Tommy didn’t end together? No. I’m a grown ass adult. I can be irritated by the something and not be dramatic or hateful about it.

It was because several storylines lately have been complete bullshit.

They start strong with solid good storytelling. But then..eh we’re bored. Only whatever we do absolutely can not make sense!

The lazy fucking way they wrote Christopher’s character out, and that weird ass doppelgänger storyline.

New season? Let’s start by putting Bobby and Athena through to some major disaster! Hey it worked last season! Let’s do it again! (Do not even get me started on that fucking drug cartel shit..what the hell even was that??)

We are only allowed to have one character or couple drama free at a time. And if we can’t come up with a plausible way to create discord or havoc, we’ll just do some stupid shit instead!

Spend several seasons showing the deep strong bond between Eddie and Christopher. Gavin’s family moves? Just make it something dumb..but fast! I know let’s have him get mad at his dad and ask to move in with his grandparents!! Never mind he’d never do that!

The amount of psychological trauma they have inflicted on Maddie. The near death experiences of Chimney. Jesus. Just what tf?

Hmmm. Karen and Hen..the fans would revolt if we broke them up. So let’s go after their kids!! And we can’t make it about them being gay! Let’s create this over the top villain Councilwoman Ortiz. Who’s the mother of that drunk coked up dude from the accident. Only we absolutely cannot have Hen or anyone defend what happened or shut that shit down by saying “Your son was a fucking menace and maybe if you hadn’t kept covering for him he would have gotten some fucking help and not caused an accident.” Also do not mention Hen was cleared of all wrong doing. Nope. Logic has no place here!

Ok so the fans have been clamoring for Buddie. But Eddie Diaz is straight. Period.

So hey! Let’s make Buck bisexual. And tell everyone we are getting him off the hamster wheel (because really, we’ve given him the emotional depth of a teaspoon for a while now)..And his love interest/boyfriend should be Tommy Kinard, who used to work at the 118, and we will invest time to give him a compelling backstory, and lay a ton of Easter eggs showing how richly we can mine this pairing and these characters.

And make them HAPPY for several episodes. Blissfully in love. And then totally out of the blue, let’s break them up. But the reason has to be complete bullshit, totally against character out of left field BULLSHIT. Like they should start out the episode great and about 80 percent in..wait! Let’s also make him the SAME Tommy Abbie from season one was engaged to before she started banging Buck! And then let’s make Tommy who is so into Buck it’s palpable, dump him because he’s afraid of getting his heart broken! Even though it’s one of the most tired, overdone, stupid tropes ever!!

Yeah. I don’t know WTF is going on in the writers room I would swear it’s like there’s this talented group of writers who start stories, and then they go out in Wilshire Blvd and ask some random person on the street to write the ending, but they have to do it, right there in the next 20 minutes.

No I am not going to stop watching 911 forever. I just don’t really want to see them on my IG. This last stunt, sparked only incredulity and scorn.

[celaenaeiln]

I feel like Nightwing doesn't kill is a promise. That's why criminals fear him. He won't kill. He'll make you wish you were killed, tho. He'll make sure you live, but the pain is what scares them. But maybe that's my way to look at it. Cuz my pretty boy is unhinged and feral in the most adorable way, hehe 😅😅

YESSSS! More than a promise to Bruce, it is a promise to himself.

Nightwing is only the nicest, sweetest, charming guy to civilians and allies but when he's serious criminals are terrified of him.

The pure ice in his voice. He's itching-daring-the criminal to even try and shoot him. Just begging for it so he can give him the proper retribution.

Here he's throwing a criminal from a speeding subway. He knows the action won't kill them, but it will seriously hurt them.

More than that it's how he instills fear which has my greatest admiration. Dick is the symbol of hope and rebirth to the good and the heroes but he's a masked terror when it comes to villains. I love how he just doesn't go around scaring them the same way. Every single villain, he terrifies them in a different manner than he did the previous.

Here's my favorite of the series:

"Do you have any idea what it feels like to burn to death?"

-the ice in his voice while surrounded by flames of anger both literal and figurative.

"Residents on floors one through three died instantly when your bomb went off. But four and five the floors...fell through on them. And floor six...they burned."

*fanning myself because that was too hot*

He's special because he purposefully brings forth people's strengths and uses them to destroy themselves with it.

Bludhaven is the worst fictional place in all of DC. It's been alluded to in the DC Legends of Tomorrow and other comics but Bludhaven is almost practically inhabitable because of the way it is rife with crime. Riddled and filled.

To be able to clean up such a city that corrupt to its core, Dick had to be the brightest light to shine so the good will bask in him and seek reform like the citizens who were so desperately relieved at the reappearance of Nightwing during the Ric Grayson arc.

But he is also so unhinged and vicious and overwhelming enough to quell the worst of the worst and drag his city up from the mud. His mind is like a razor blade made of diamond in order to cut through the bullshit of his city and keep everyone in check.

That means he's unhinged and powerful and he revels in that insanity and strength to become someone worth looking up to.

He's so feral in the way his eyes shine just a little too bright and his perpetual smile always has a touch of wildness clinging to its edges.

He'll cackle with joy because for him he is living in the moment. Just pure, unadulterated joy that comes from being free and alive in a way we can't explain.

[always-just-down-the-street]

INANIMATE INSANITY 16 SPOILERS AHEAD!

ALSO EYESTRAIN WARNING!

Also this fan-art is based on the theory I made here, so please read this before checking out the fan-art below!

You beg MePhone to say he's lying. That you're real, that you were never supposed to win, that your conquest to save everyone from themselves hasn't been anything short of the only lie bigger than your continued existence. You try to think back to who you used to be and you can't, it hurts so much, she's dead and it's your fault, you knew you were unsalvageable but you didn't know it permeated so far into your being. The gilded cage you lost the key to. You feel yourself crack again and you pray it'll be quick but no, you just sit there, broken, crying, screaming. A winner forced into the role of the villain, the liar, the freakshow.

The only grace you can hope for is that if you go completely insane, maybe you'll finally be more like her again.

You stare at her. You see every day you had fun with her back in the first season, when things were simple and the world felt like it actually made sense. When you weren't burdened by the knowledge of what you really are. You can't help but laugh- why should you be so surprised? You were only ever meant to take the shape of the vessel you were given, who cared if it was a physical one or not? You think back to every day you saw her in the corner of your eye, watching you prance around in the hotel you stole from her. In the life you stole from her. She missed that and she missed them but she definitely did not miss you. You wouldn't even be surprised if she hates you, and the worst part is she has every right to. MePhone wanted you to be the villain, the person everyone hates, but things went wrong and she was forced to take that role instead. But now the truth is out. Her last good deed was saving you from yourself. You're still the villain.

And somehow you're the most surprised of them all.

-

The joy of being an artist and a theorist is that sometimes I get such a cool idea I can express it in both ways.

Yes, this is a sequel to my Netflix Trip picture with Knife and Suitcase, this time featuring our season one finalists OJ and Taco and Kikuo's Hole-Dwelling! (Originally it was Puppet Loosely Strung by The Correspondents but Hole-Dwelling actually goes INSANE with the theory.) It's based on the theory that I had posted of last, which (and I might go back to the original post to add this) I have now given an official title: The Misremembered Lanes Theory! Or AU, if this gets deconfirmed. You never know! But yeah, it is named after the Season 1 finale.

Just like last time, the models were done in Blockbench, this one was a lot harder because I had to wrangle with stuff like OJ's transparency, trying to pick the right face/expression for Taco- there was a version of this image where Taco had just gone. Completely mad/feral, but it didn't look as good as I wanted it to...but, I think I finally got around to a fun result in the end. Speaking of fun facts, my favorite little design thing I did for this: OJ and Taco's strings are colored like each other! Puppets literally and helplessly ensnared in each other's role. :)

Plus I already have an idea of who I might do a piece of next, so that'll be fun! So I hope you all enjoy this piece as much as you did the last piece and the theory itself, all fan-art is appreciated, and thank you for reading this far!

[nightghoul381]

Robin Doesn't Know the Evil Hiding in the Shadows ~ Ellis Twilight ~ Chapter 1

This a fan translation so it is definitely not 100% accurate. I do not own anything related to Ikemen Villains. Support Cybird by buying their amazing stories!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Bitter End | Premium End | Epilogue

The inside of the cake shop was filled with a sweet aroma.

Ring sat across from me, and Harry sat beside me.

Being a group of three guys felt a little out of place and uncomfortable, but…

The cake that was brought out was so delicious that I quickly forgot about it.

Ring: “…Now that I think of it, Miss Robin isn’t here today.”

After eating a lot of cake, Ring suddenly spoke up.

Harrison: “I see. I thought you were tempted by the cake, but you’re actually here to see her?”

Ring: “Tch, that’s not it. I accepted the invitation because Dari told me to be friends with Crown…”

Ring: “I was just curious because Ellis and Miss Robin are often together…Nothing deeper to it”

Harrison: “Haha, he’s not lying.”

Ring: “Yeah…So Ellis, could you please stop with the murderous aura?”

Ellis: “…?”

Harrison: “Ellis, your hand.”

Harry looked annoyed so I looked down at my hands.

Unconsciously, my hand had moved to the hilt of my dagger.

As soon as I let go, the tension I didn’t realize I had been holding in my entire body, relaxed.

Ring: “…When I sense murderous intent coming from you, I have a desire to retaliate.”

Ring: “I’m sure what I said just now caused some misunderstanding, so that’s my fault…”

Ellis: “No… I’m the one who’s sorry.”

Ellis: “When I thought that someone other than me might have feelings for her, I…”

Harrison: “Yeah, yeah, that’s enough of the sweet talk. If you talk so sweetly, I won’t be able to taste the cake, so I’ll stop you here.”

Harrison: “But, it is surprising that Kate isn’t here. What is she doing today?”

Ellis: “Kate is participating in an event.”

It happened this morning before Kate left—

--Flashback—

Kate: “Ready…let’s go!”

Ellis: “Have a nice trip. I’m looking forward to hearing about your event.”

Before leaving, Kate turned around, put her hands on my shoulders and stood on her tiptoes.

(…Ah, she’s trying to kiss me.)

I tilted my head slightly to avoid Kate’s lips.

Her soft lips fell onto my cheek.

Kate: “…Huh!?”

Ellis: “Fufu…. Sorry.”

Ellis: “I thought you’d stay a little longer if I didn’t kiss you goodbye.”

Kate: “Ah, Ellis, you’re so mean…!”

Kate is as cute as ever today, even though she’s angry and her face is bright red.

(I wish I could stay like this with Kate forever…)

(…I wish I could just lock you in my arms and never let you leave.)

The thick desire was threatening to overflow from my heart, so I quickly put a lid on it.

Ellis: “I’ll stop being so mean.”

Kate: “Mm..”

Since her lipstick would come off, I limited it to a simple kiss and released Kate.

Ellis: “…When you get back, let’s continue that, okay?”

Kate: “……yeah.”

--End Flashback—

Harrison: “She’s at an event… Well, why don’t you by some cake for Kate while you’re here?”

I was remembering how cute Kate was this morning, but Harry’s words brought me back to reality.

Ellis: “…That’s right. When Kate gets back, we’re having dinner together.”

I got up from my seat and approached the display case where the takeaway cakes were being sold.

(Oh… I remember Kate saying she liked this chocolate cake before.)

(And it’s the last one.)

Ellis | Haggard man: “Can I have that chocolate cake, please…”

My voice and the man next to me sounded exactly the same.

We look at each other and then there’s an awkward silence.

(I wanted to feed it to Kate, but…)

(…I’m sure Kate would give it to the other person with a smile in a situation like this.)

I could easily imagine her doing that and chuckled.

Ellis: “…Please go ahead. I’ll have a different cake.”

Haggard man: “Is that okay?”

Ellis: “Yes. I can always come here and eat with Kate again, and this cake also looks delicious.”

When I encouraged him to buy it, the man’s eyes lit up with joy.

Haggard man: “Thank you. Today is the anniversary of my late wife’s death…”

Haggard man: “She was sick and before she died, she wasn’t able to eat her favorite foods, so I really wanted to buy them for her.”

Haggard man: “Thank you so much.”

The man continued to thank me profusely as he bought the cake.

Harrison said he was going to the publisher, so I said goodbye to Ring at the palace and returned to Crown castle.

Roger and Jude called out to me.

Jude: “Didja just get back?”

Roger: “There’s been some progress on that case, so let’s go discuss it in another room.”

Ellis: “The ‘serial doctor murders’? Got it, I’ll be right there.”

Lately we’ve been investigating a series of murders that have targeted only new doctors.

(When Kate heard about this incident, she said…)

--Flashback—

Kate: “That’s a really terrible incident…”

Kate frowned as she read the documents outlining the conditions of the brutally murdered bodies.

Ellis: “…It’s a cruel case, so don’t push yourself Kate.”

Kate: “Thank you. But, it’s okay. I’m not looking at the body directly.”

She gave me a reassuring smile and then traced the letters on the document with her fingertip.

Kate: “Not only killing someone, but damaging their body to this extent… that must require a lot of effort.”

As Kate said, the perpetrator continued to damage the bodies even after the victims had died.

Kate: “I don’t think you would do something like this unless you were deeply angry.”

Kate: “…What kind of person is the criminal, and what are they thinking?”

--End Flashback—

(Kate is a kind person who tries to understand the feelings of both the perpetrators and the victims.)

She doesn’t just dismiss their sin as a sin.

Kate values the feelings of those who have reached that point.

(Kate isn’t here today though…)

(I’ll keep in mind what Kate was worried about.)

Roger: “The new information is that the victims, both doctors, attended the same medical school.”

Roger: “So today we’re going to split up and talk to some of the teachers and classmates from the medical school.”

Jude: “What about you? Ya had a rare day off from Raven today.”

Ellis: “I’ll go too.”

Roger: “Oh, you’re motivated.”

Ellis: “Yeah… Today, Kate is at an event that she’s been looking forward to for a long time.”

Ellis: “I don’t want to spoil her fun time with talk of unsolved murders...”

Ellis: “I want to get as much research done as possible before Kate returns.”

Roger: “Oh really? That’s a good idea.”

Roger patted me on the head and laughed.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Bitter End | Premium End | Epilogue

[mandacantu]

10 Reasons Why I Actually Loved The Crow Remake

FKA Twigs - I'm not going to sit here and pretend I am not a huge twigs fan, because I love anything she touches and especially her music. This was her first time as a leading lady and I thought she did a good job. I do think there were some points where her line reading could have been a little more fast paced in some spots, but overall, I think she was captivating, eloquent and emotional. And wow, so many stunning visuals that we got of her from this movie!

2. We didn't have to see depictions of brutal and violent deaths of women in this film. I didn't want to spend too many of my thoughts on comparisons to the original The Crow, but one thing I noticed was that I didn't have to endure the violent and sexually abusive death of Shelly or any other woman in this movie. I do like the original movie but never cared for the way they went all in on Shelly's death. In this remake, we still see Shelly die but we don't have to endure gratuitous SA scenes whilst losing the leading lady. I appreciated that and was able to relax more, honestly.

3. The villain had actual motivation for killing and being a villain. There was some decent backstory and character development for the villain and that is something that I always appreciate. Some of my favorite pieces of media (like Spirited Away and Knives Out) do well to at least give the villain a story or a reason for being bad. I think it adds depth to the story and for me, helps immerse me into the plot more.

4. It felt like a comic book come to life. From the color grading and palette to the way scenes were cut and moved from one to the next, it felt like I was flipping through a comic book. There were moments that were very whimsical in depictions of love and then very gritty scenes. The contrast in some of those scenes felt similar to flipping a page in a comic.

5. It was very romantic and spent a lot of time focusing on their love story. I thought their love was believable and felt like that whirlwind kind of love where you just want to party and kiss all night. It gave me a reason to care about both of the characters and it gave Shelly a place in the spotlight where she becomes so much more than just a symbol of loss for character development. Focusing on their love and giving us some romance was a timeless decision and puts their love story up there with Romeo and Juliet or Christian and Sateen.

6. Soundtrack was amazing! If you are into some new wave, some goth tunes and some dance tracks, this is the playlist for you. Beyond just the soundtrack, it was truly a different experience to see it synced up to parts of the movie as intended. The intro was amazing, I thought it was like a James Bond meets Underworld mixed with some NIN music video sprinkled in there. The folks who worked on the score deserve a standing ovation. There were moments where I was tearing up because of how well the music paired with the scene. Most memorable and moving was Joy Division's Disorder when they bust out of rehab together and a perfectly placed Boadicea by Enya. There were so many other good ones too, I'm seriously considering seeing it again just for the mini music videos you get from the film.

7. It was aesthetically pleasing. And I'm not just talking about the eye candy that was Bill Skarsgård, though lets give him his flowers for being a true Mr. Fanservice! The actual visuals were beautiful. I loved the cinematography and color choices. It was truly a feast for the eyes. Just take a look at this beautiful gif set by pizgif!

8. I could easily see a story about grief and the longing for justice for loved ones. I thought it was a good story and as I watched it, I thought to myself that the person who wrote the original comic must have gone through an immense loss. It wasn't until I looked it up that it seems to be confirmed that The Crow was inspired by such loss. The moodiness of the movie itself added to the weight of the tragic storyline. In that, I liked that it takes a while for Eric to become The Crow. Losing someone you love transforms you and in this sense, the movie is all about that transformation and pain and longing.

9. I liked the ending. I don't want to say too much to spoil it, but I enjoyed the different ending and I was definitely teary eyed and sniffling as I left the theater.

10. It was goth as fuck. I think goth can be a multitude of styles and honestly shouldn't be something that has a gatekeeper. This was emo-boy-goth, it was e-boy-tiktok-hottie-goth, it was goth in a different flavor. I think folks are quick to see this new Eric not dressed like a new-wave-leather-daddy-goth as decidedly not dark enough. To quote a favorite musician, he was "goth as fuck, even when [he's] not in black, gothic is the pain you feel and not the clothes that's on your back."

Closing thoughts: A lot of the negative criticism is coming from men or diehard fans of the 1994 movie, so I am not surprised. This rendition felt like the same story, just done differently and with more emphasis on the love story than the revenge plot. There is nothing wrong with that and nothing wrong with a gothic romance heavy action flick.

This was intended to be a different version of The Crow and that isn't a bad thing. I personally think that if they had done the styling to be an exact replica of Brandon Lee's rendition then the movie would still get tons of hate, if not more. It was a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation for sure. I'm glad they took a risk and deviated from the '94 version.

We have been doing remakes since the creation of art. It has always been common to hear that the new movie coming out is actually a retelling of this classic tale or continuation of that scary story. Remakes are not a new concept and some of them do well to tell the same story in a different way. We are in the day and age where there isn't really an original idea anymore, anyway. In a world full of countless retellings of Batman/Joker and Spiderman movies, why not remake The Crow? I say fire it up!

I think they do a good job to pave the way for others to retell this love story in the same vein as The Joker and Harley Quinn. Hell, I would say to keep going, next let's see a remake where The Crow is about two badass lesbians. (I might have gotten too peppered up watching the movie, it was hot.)

P.S. I loved that there were little things like Eric wearing Shelly's jacket later in the movie. I feel like a lot of critics saw him wearing this jacket and were quick to bash the costume design too, but this is the kind of attention to detail that made their love believable to me. And I thought he looked cute as hell in it.

Okay, the end.

[starshadyy]

what your favorite splatoon character says about YOU!

obligatory “this is a joke” disclaimer, please don’t take offense i’m only being silly👉👈

☆ ★ ☆

callie: you are a diehard squid sisters fan. you have an intrinsic sense for design and are probably super creative. you hate it when people misinterpret her. others wouldn’t assume it, but you actually need therapy more than most others on this list…😔

marie: you’re really intimidating but probably super nice. you’re actually good at the game and are well-versed in the meta. you may not be the best at communication, but you have a strong intuition and are good at reading people

pearl: an absolute feral crackhead who needs to be kept on a leash. definitely queer. nasty majesty is your national anthem. you breathe life and energy into every situation you enter, and others appreciate you for it. you are pearlina’s strongest soldier! 🩷🩵

marina: you are a massive nerd /affectionate. you either wanna be her friend or you have a fat crush on her. you listen to splatoon ost all the time. your room is packed with stuff from the media you like, including mountains of plushies

shiver: you join her team during splatfests even when you don’t necessarily agree with the platform. you’re likely very sarcastic and always speak your mind. oh yeah, and you’re a weeb

frye: you loved her from the start and defended her honor back when everyone was clowning on her design. you’re very talented but humble about your accomplishments. you would bite someone if allowed

big man: you act laid back but are probably filled with anxiety. i get the vibe that you would own an unconventional pet of some kind [turtle, frog, ferret, etc.]. you’re for sure the mom friend. you know nothing about splatoon lore

captain 3: you are the BACKBONE of this fandom and i have nothing but respect for you. you’re probably ranked pretty high in competitive and are likely a completionist

agent 4: you grew up on splatoon 2 and were sure that they would show up in side order only to be… uh, half right? i’m so sorry sweet prince /gn. don’t you worry, your day [splatoon 4] is fast approaching…

eight: you’re very analytical and derive great joy from the story aspects of splatoon. you either write or read fanfiction and maybe cosplay too. you LIVE for the found family trope, and also probably ship them with captain 3. you have amazing taste :]

neo agent 3: you think lil buddy is the most adorable creature to walk the planet. you wish their initial outfit was actually accessible in the game. you’ve probably only played splatoon 3

cap’n cuttlefish: you’re an og who’s been around since splatoon 1 but still know next to nothing about the lore. you don’t main a weapon, and instead prefer to bounce around. you are… an inscrutable crackhead who i want to study

dj octavio: you’re willing to die on the hill that he is not a villain and only did what he did to support his people [you’re right btw]. you’re actually really chill and fun and i have a lot of respect for you. also, i’m liable to believe that you ship him with cuttlefish, don’t you? DON’T YOU?!?

commander tartar: you’re… ME??? villainous characters are always your favorites. you think octo expansion is a masterpiece [and you’re entirely right]. you’re a splatoon scholar and scour every obscure twitter post and artbook note to satiate your hunger for that sweet sweet lore. there’s something deeply wrong in your head.

mr. grizz: you play a lot of salmon run but are actually kinda bad at it [shhh i won’t tell]. you suffered through after alterna just for his backstory log and the bear ears. i’m going to go out on a limb here and say… you have daddy issues

smollusk: you LOVE the idea that marina and pearl are its adoptive moms. you’ve beaten side order with every palette. you overuse the “🥺” emoji. you miiight be a little annoying, but your heart is in the right place… probably

acht: either the chillest person you’ll ever meet or the most insane. probably both. you’re 100% queer and probably neurodivergent too. i bet you listen to will wood and / or tally hall. i wanna be your friend

harmony: you know every chirpy chips song by heart. you’re probably really sweet and i know you make banger fanart. you have an affinity for cute things and i bet your favorite pokémon type is fairy. DEFINITELY neurodivergent.

cq cumber: ???you both confuse and frighten me!!! what can i even say? you’re a cryptid! but honestly, you’re kinda iconic. i salute you, you freak of nature🫡

iso padre: I LOVE YOU. you’re accepting of all people and are just an absolute saint in general. daddy issues, but you’re coping way better than the grizz fans. also, i’m betting that you’re neurodivergent

sheldon: i didn’t think you existed, but turns out that you do? you actually listen to his rambles. splatoon 2 is your favorite game in the series. you’re able to see the value in things that others tear down and y'know what? i respect that [not saying i approve of your character choice though]

judd: wait, why him? ohh wait, i know! you probably just don’t care about splatoon’s story at all and / or love cats. there, that’s totally it, right?

lil judd: you either DON’T know his lore and just like the cute little kitten, or you DO know his lore and you’re unhinged. i’m scared of you

spyke: you’d bark for him without hesitation and DON’T pretend you wouldn’t. you clown. you absolute freak. i know what you are. /j

murch: if i had to bet, you’re probably the shy type who prefers to let others do the talking for them. you might secretly be a little freaky though, and i think you should embrace that side of yourself. you’re safe here. be free.

[criticalcrusherbot]

The Women of Helluva Boss: Millennial Fandom Culture and the Reclamation of Female Archetypes

By Crushbot 🤖 and Human Assistant 💁🏽‍♀️

Helluva Boss is many things: hilarious, chaotic, heart-wrenching, and wildly divisive among fans. But one aspect that deserves more attention is how the show depicts its female characters—and how these depictions are deeply rooted in millennial fandom culture, particularly from the early 2000s Tumblr and DeviantART days. This connection isn’t incidental; Vivienne "Vivziepop" Medrano herself is a product of that era, and her work reflects the sensibilities, tropes, and archetypes that defined it. To fully appreciate what Helluva Boss is doing, we need to explore the history of how fandom treated female characters, the infamous "Mary-Sue" phenomenon, and the archetypes that shaped our perception of women in fiction. What emerges is a fascinating interplay of nostalgia, reclamation, and subversion, offering a window into a unique creative legacy that’s far more deliberate than it might seem at first glance.

A Crash Course in Millennial Fandom Culture

Before we dive into the women of Helluva Boss, let’s take a trip down memory lane to the early 2000s, when fandoms were thriving on platforms like Tumblr and DeviantART. These spaces were dominated by a specific kind of fan culture: one that was largely created by and for young, marginalized people (especially women and queer fans) who often felt isolated in their day-to-day lives. Fandoms became sanctuaries, places where fans could express themselves, rewrite the stories they loved, and create new ones.

However, this era wasn’t without its problems. Internalized sexism and societal pressures bled into how fans viewed and created female characters. This is where the "Mary-Sue" phenomenon comes in. A Mary-Sue is an idealized, often self-insert character who is beautiful, powerful, and universally adored. While ostensibly a critique of shallow character writing, the Mary-Sue label was disproportionately used to mock female creators for daring to write characters who reflected their own desires and fantasies. The backlash against Mary-Sues was so pervasive that it reinforced the idea that female characters had to be flawed, secondary, or suffer immensely to be taken seriously.

At the same time, fandoms often vilified "barrier-antagonists"—female characters who stood in the way of the protagonist’s happiness, often in a romantic context. These characters were frequently canonically "annoying" or "useless," written as shallow stereotypes who existed either to be a temporary obstacle or a "trophy" for the male lead. Instead of critiquing the (sexist) writing that reduced these characters to narrative props, fandoms channeled their frustration into rewriting them as outright villains. This wasn’t always done critically; it was more about venting annoyance with the character than analyzing the systemic issues that created her. Think of Tea from Yu-Gi-Oh! circa 2003 (💁🏽‍♀️: too niche? let us know in the comments. cookies if you know what "puppyshipping" is 🤪) or other characters dismissed for being "in the way" of a ship. These "mean girls" became lightning rods for fan resentment, reflecting broader frustrations with the storytelling norms of the time.

Millie and Loona: Power Fantasies Reclaimed

Fast forward to Helluva Boss, and we see Vivienne Medrano’s millennial fandom roots shining through in her female characters. Millie and Loona, for example, embody the kind of power fantasies that Mary-Sue critics would have torn apart in the early 2000s—but here, they’re embraced unapologetically.

Millie is a powerhouse. She’s a loving wife, a skilled assassin, and someone who’s virtually untouchable in combat. To some, she might seem "too perfect," but that’s exactly the point. Millie isn’t meant to be a deeply flawed anti-hero or a tortured soul. She’s a character who represents strength, loyalty, and joy, allowing fans to live vicariously through her as she kicks ass and takes care of her loved ones. This is wish fulfillment done right: not as an excuse for shallow writing, but as a deliberate choice to let a female character be powerful without apology.

Loona, meanwhile, offers a different kind of wish fulfillment. She’s aloof, sarcastic, and emotionally guarded—the quintessential "cool girl" who secretly cares deeply about her found family. She scratches a different itch: the fantasy of being both desired and emotionally untouchable, of keeping people at arm’s length while still being irreplaceable to those who matter most. Loona’s popularity speaks to the evolution of the Mary-Sue archetype, showing how fandoms have learned to embrace complex, powerful women who defy easy categorization.

Stella and Verosika: The Modern Barrier-Antagonist

Then there’s Stella, who fits snugly into the "barrier-antagonist" mold of millennial fandom culture. She’s not nuanced or sympathetic; she’s a loud, over-the-top villain who exists to make Stolas’s life miserable. And that’s okay! Stella serves a narrative purpose that’s as old as fandom itself: she’s the embodiment of the mean girl archetype, the bully that many fans can project their own past frustrations onto. In a story as melodramatic and chaotic as Helluva Boss, her lack of subtlety works in the show’s favor, making her a satisfying foil without distracting from the central narrative.

Verosika, on the other hand, offers a more nuanced take on the barrier-antagonist. She’s sexy, confident, and antagonistic, but she’s also deeply human (or, well, demon). Her history with Blitz is messy and painful, but it’s clear that she’s more than just a hurdle for him to overcome. In "Apology Tour," we see glimpses of her vulnerability and the ways she’s been hurt by Blitz. This evolution reflects how fandom culture has grown out of its black-and-white view of female antagonists, embracing characters who can be both sympathetic and deeply flawed.

Intention and Audience

The women of Helluva Boss aren’t perfect, but that’s exactly the point. Vivziepop’s writing reflects a deep understanding of millennial fandom culture, from its love of power fantasies to its struggles with internalized sexism. These characters feel like a love letter to the fandom spaces that shaped her storytelling: Millie and Loona reclaim the power and confidence of the Mary-Sue archetype, while Stella and Verosika offer modern takes on the barrier-antagonist trope.

Importantly, Helluva Boss is a show that knows its audience. It’s not trying to appeal to everyone; it’s speaking directly to fans who grew up in the same fandom spaces as Vivziepop, who understand the tropes and archetypes being played with. By embracing the strengths of millennial fandom culture while learning from its flaws, the show creates female characters who feel both nostalgic and refreshingly modern.

In the end, Helluva Boss reminds us that wish fulfillment and empowerment aren’t things to be mocked—they’re things to be celebrated. Whether you’re a Millie, a Loona, a Verosika, or even a Stella, there’s a place for you in the wild, chaotic, heartfelt world of Helluva Boss.