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ladyloveandjustice · 5 months

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My Favorite Books I Read in 2023

I read a ton of good novels last year- 36 in all (and uh, 78 manga/graphic novels, but we'll examine that in another post). Here's a link to my Goodreads year in books (the manga is at the beginning, the novels start with Siren Queen) and my storygraph wrap up.

I reread a ton of Discworld this year, and it's as spectacular as ever. But what about new reads?

Well, here are my favorite books I read in 2023!

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

This is an autobiographical memoir about the abusive relationship the author went through with her ex-girlfriend. It's absolutely gut-wrenching, and at times, achingly beautiful. Machado uses the house she shared with her girlfriend, which she calls the "dream house", as a back drop. It's a place she always wanted and also a place she became trapped in, Machado's language is beautiful as she explores the relationship from different lenses-- The Dream House as Lesbian Cult Classic, the Dream House as Noir, the Dream House as Creature Feature, the Dream House as Stoner Comedy....All facets of the relationship are explored in a way that grips you by the throat and makes you remember everyone who ever tried to suffocate you-- but it also explores the hard work of moving on, of picking up the pieces, of living and embracing tenderness along with hardship.

I especially related to Machado's struggle to talk about abuse between queer lovers because of her fears of giving homophobes more ammunition...and when she says "we deserve to have our wrongdoing represented as much as our heroism, because when we refuse wrongdoing as a possibility for a group of people, we refuse their humanity", I felt that deeply.

This wasn't just one of my favorite books this year, it goes on the list of all-time favorite books. I wish I had this kind of writing style. I'll be returning to this again and again.

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao

A middle-grade novel about a Chinese-American teen who feels a bit alienated from his heritage, which becomes a bit of an issue once he finds out the First Emperor of China has possessed his A.R. Gaming Headset. Now he needs to close a portal to the underworld with the help of other kids possessed by emporers.

This was a whole lot of fun, and often quite poignant. I was unsure if I could really enjoy middle-grade books as an adult, and this absolutely proves I can. There's a lot of really interesting Chinese history blended with action-packed fantasy, and exploration of the complicated feelings a kid can have about their own heritage . The dynamic between Zachary and Qin Shi Huang was so entertaining with the Emperor being villainous, heroic, charismatic, detestable-- and Zachary realizing how his complicated feelings about him mirror his relationship with his culture at large. There was also a lot of fun with other historical figures, and Xiran's take on Wu Zetian is a joy. (Also, if you like Yu-Gi-Oh!, you'll probably like this, since Xiran says it was one of their influences).

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Rose is young woman who's raised in a fundamentalist Christian household, and she's a devout, obedient daughter. But some weird things are happening. She's seeing a terrifying demon everywhere, insects are coming out of her mouth....and she's possibly having feelings about other girls. What's going on?

Yes, this is by the Chuck Tingle who makes all those Tinglers. But THIS one... will make you tingle with fear! It's a great horror novel! It's skin-crawlingly creepy at times, but also does a great job digging into how fundamentalist dogma harms queer people, and the hypocrisy of such beliefs. The conversion camp aspect is handled tastefully, and overall it was a great spooky read that's also ultimately very affirming, cathartic, and hopeful.

Qualia the Purple by Hisamitsu Ueo

You might go into this thinking it's just a quirky yuri light novel about a schoolgirl and her crush who sees everyone around her as robots (like literally, when she looks at someone she sees a robot instead of a human). But it quickly becomes surreal queer psychological horror steeped in absolutely wild applications of quantum mechanics and thought-provoking time travel. Some of the quantum mechanics exposition dumps were a bit much but I deeply enjoyed having my mind cracked open by this book.

It's one of the most interesting takes of time loop stories I've seen. But it definitely covers a lot of rough subject matter, including a relationship with a serious age gap and extremely messed up relationships, so be cautious if you have triggers.

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

This book follows Miri, whose wife goes missing on a deep-sea submarine mission for six months. Miri thought her wife dead, but she miraculously returns one day...but her wife has changed. She's like a stranger. She may have bought the horrors of the sea home with her.

This is a gripping exploration of grief and loss combined with a delicious, slow horror that creeps under your skin. There's excellent Lovecraftian and body horror elements to the novel, but it works very effectively as a metaphor for a loved one going through trauma, and a relationship starting to crumble because everything seems different. A moment that really stuck out to me is when Miri copes with her wife's disappearance by frequenting an online community where women roleplay as wives with husbands missing in space. The way the online drama of the community interacted with her grief was both funny and heartbreaking.

This is another example of a book that makes me deeply jealous with its lyrical writing, and another one for the ever-lengthening all time favorites list.

Otherside Picnic Volume 8: Accomplices No More by Iori Miyazawa

The latest entry in a series about two girls exploring an alternate dimension full of creepypasta monsters, while also falling in love with each other. See my other reviews here and here.

This volume has the payoff to a lot of careful character work and relationship building, and it was completely satisfying. In fact, it was...show-stopping. Spectacular. Incredible. I loved the exploration of how love, sex, and romance are so different for different people and it's impossible to put it in neat boxes. The frank and messy conversation our leads have about their relationship was perfect and so was that absolutely bonkers, wonderful finale. This is another one for the all times favorite list, and I loved it so much I wrote a extremely long review/recap here.

Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer

This was a well-researched, well-crafted, easy to read book that explores queerness (mainly homosexuality, bisexuality, trans and genderfluid expressions in animals, and even the question of if and how animals can related to gender) in the animal kingdom. Though it's definitely aimed at teens, I learned a lot from it (who knew female bonobos were such life goals) and it presented its information in a fun way. It included some interesting examinations of how proof of homosexuality and bisexuality in animals was historically suppressed and filtered through homophobic assumptions. If you want to learn a little animal science in an accessible format, definitely check this out.

Night’s Edge by Liz Kerin

The story follows Mia, a woman in her 20's living with her vampire mother. Her whole life revolves around not drawing suspicion towards her Mom. She also has to make sure to feed her Mom some of her blood every night--lest her mother fall back in with her abusive boyfriend and start hunting humans. But when Mia meets a cute girl, she starts to dream of living her own life...

It was a really interesting use of vampirism as a metaphor for both living with a parent struggling with addiction and having an abusive parent. It's just a well-told, heartwrenching tale that got deep into the character's mindsets. I thought the ending was bit abrupt and rushed, but it did make more sense once I realized this was the first in a duology. It's a fascinating take on vampires, and I'm interested in seeing more.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

This novel follows a middle-aged Muslim female pirate living around the Arabian Peninsula. She's supposed to be in retirement, but wouldn't you know it, she's lured in for one last job! I she rescues a kidnapped girl, she'll have all the riches she needs to set her family up for life. So Amina begins her adventure of fighting demons and monsters and ex-husbands. But the job might not be all it seems.

This novel is full of all the entertaining swashbuckling action and shenanigans that any pirate story should have. It's a rollicking good time, and feeds my craving for middle aged women going on quests and kicking ass. Amina's journey is a fun, wild ride full of dynamic characters and interesting mythology!

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Juniper is friends with a successful Chinese-American author, Athena Liu, and has always been deeply jealous of her. When Athena dies in front of her, Juniper decides to steal her manuscript rooted in Chinese history and claim it as her own. But plagiarism might catch up with her...

This is a strong example of a book I thought was really well-done, but one I'm probably never going to read again. The way it depicted Twitter drama is just too accurate and I got anxiety. It did such a good job putting you in Juniper's awful shoes so you can feel the pressure close in along with her. The book's commentary on the insidious racism of the publishing industry was effective, and it made a horrible character's journey fascinating to follow. I was so intrigued yet anxious I had to force myself to finish the last few pages.

Bonus read:

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldtree

A very cute novel about an orc named Viv who decides to retire from the violent life of a bounty hunter and run a coffee shop instead. She ends up getting a lot of assistance from a succubus named Tandri...and my, is that a slow-burn coffee shop romance brewing? This book reminds me a lot of various cozy slice-of-life anime, and it's nice to be getting more of that feeling in book form. I wish there was a little more specific to the fantasy world rather than making it a coffee shop that line up 1 to 1 to a modern day shop, but it was definitely a sweet read.

#year in books #my reviews #our wives under the sea #in the dream house #zachary ying and the dragon emperor #camp damascus #qualia the purple #otherside picnic #queer ducks #night's edge #legends and lattes #the adventures of amina al sirafi #books #queer lit #yellowface #r.f. kuang #xiran jay zhao #carmen maria machado

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i-drop-level-one-loot · 8 months

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I am curious what definitions you use to differ between monsters, aliens, and inter-dimensional beings

Monsters

Non human creatures that originate from Earth. They don't have to be big or physically imposing, they can have humanesque features, but unless it's a humanoid classic creature, I'd consider the farther from humanity to be monstrous, whether that be mentally (Zombies) or physically. They can be animal or bug inspired, however have to be more creature than human.

If they look equally human and animal or bug (or mostly human) they're a Hybrid. For example, Cain who is technically a Lynx Shifter like a werewolf, I consider him to belong to the Hybrid category because he is more often a man with Lynx features than he is a full on were lynx. However, in Rotting Raspberries, the creature in that is a monster because it is Bed Bug inspired, not directly an even mix of human and bug.

Aliens

Again, non human creatures, but not originating from Earth. Space beings that can be either humanoid in shape or a literal writhing bundle of tendrils (Baby, my darling). They are monsters in a sense, but their species cannot be naturally found on Earth. If they are on Earth it's because they crashed here, or landed here, at some point.

Entities

The strange, the unexplained. This category (in my writing) is more diverse than the others. Because it involves those from beyond the veil, from the edge of our understanding. Ghosts, shadow people, boogymen, Lovecraftian horrors, deities worshipped by cults; they exist in our world, just not in our plane of reality.

#thank you for interacting with me #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere monster #yandere alien #yandere ghost #yandere hybrid #hope this makes sense #<3

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horrorvisuals · 11 months

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The Suffering is an action horror game taking place in a prison. It tells the story of the silent protagonist Torque, who is on his way to death row.

It's one of the few games to give you the ability to change between first-person and third-person anytime you want.

Developed by Midway Games and Surreal Software for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows, it was released in 2004 and while it has a cult following these days, it's definitely classified as one of the many underrated classics of the genre.

The game follows the silent main protagonist Torque as he is sent to death row in Abbott State Penitentiary on Carnate Island. He is guilty of murdering his ex-wife and their two children. He claims to have blacked out during the incident and can't remember anything.

Torque doesn't speak too much, but rather expresses himself with his actions. He is tough, fearless, and angry. He wants to understand what really happened to his family, or why he did it.

The Suffering features visceral, action-combat gameplay with fast-paced combat sequences. You have a wide variety of melee and ranged options to choose from. They all have their uses in certain situations as Torque battles against lots of different enemy types.

Speaking of enemies, creatures in the game were designed with the help of Stan Winston Studios. The Alien Queen, Predator, the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, The Terminator, you name it.

Because of this and the talented team at Midway, the game features well-designed, scary creatures. Some humanoid, some subhuman, and some are derived from animals.

They appear out of nowhere with a sudden earthquake and decimate the majority of the island.

The game lets you play in first-person or third-person. You can change this anytime you want with a single button. This was/is pretty unusual for most games.

It's not only for viewing too, you can play the whole game in both views, however you want.

Throughout the game, Torque is confronted with visions of his deceased family. Sometimes in memory form, sometimes mixed with reality. In some of these moments, Torque has to make moral choices. These choices affect the game's ending. If I'm not mistaken, it has 3 endings.

In the middle of the journey of his supposedly last day on this earth, Torque gets to meet some of the prison's former guests. They help him (or twist his mind even more?) and teach him how to survive in this hellhole.

In the first few hours of the game, Torque discovers his special ability. He can transform into a demonic creature and unleash total chaos. Sort of like an ultimate ability, this literally puts you in a rage mode and lets you decimate your enemies until it runs out.

Later in 2005, Surreal Software developed a sequel called Ties That Bind as a direct continuation of Torque's story. This time it takes place on the mainland and features a wide variety of locations.

The game is currently playable on PC through GOG. But please note that I personally had some issues with that release. The sound would cut off randomly and I couldn't really solve it (or didn't bother tbh).

Regardless, hoping for a multi-platform re-release someday.

#the suffering #horror #horror game #horror games #action horror #video games #gaming #action games #survival horror #retro #nostalgia #ps2 #xbox

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bb-bare-bones · 30 days

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Transformations in Re-Animator: Body Horror at its Finest

By Tabby Knight (Instagram - tabby.knight6)

Artwork by Dy Dawson, @xgardensinspace

I love Re-Animator. I’m in love with it. Seriously, disgustingly, violently in love with it. If I could marry a film, it’d be Re-Animator (and I’d be sure to court it first—flowers, chocolates, disembodied hearts floating in jars, the works). If I could marry a character in a film, it’d be Herbert West, which probably indicates—not that I needed an indication—that there’s something really very wrong with me as a human being.

But the heart wants what it wants, and ever since I watched Stuart Gordon’s 1985 splatter-fest as a bloodthirsty undergrad, streaming the film in low quality on my cracked, ageing iPhone, my heart has wanted Re-Animator. I love everything about the film, from its lead characters to its buckets of blood to its ridiculous, oh-so-quotable moments of barefaced comedy (“You’ll never get credit for my discovery. Who’s going to believe a talking head? Get a job in a sideshow.”) and I know just about everything about it, too. I’ve seen its sequels (Bride’s a messy triumph, we don’t speak about Beyond) watched interviews, deleted scenes, actor and director commentaries, the works. I’ve also tracked down just about every other horror film featuring the dynamic duo of Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton, seeking something of the same calibre to scratch that gory itch. A few films have come close, but none so far have surpassed it. As a lifelong viewer of 80’s corn-syrup gore, I can assure you that Re-Animator is unmatched. It stands alone.

There’s a lot of talk about Re-Animator as a cult classic, and rightly so. There’s also talk about it as a comedy (true) a splatter film (also true) and a landmark of Lovecraftian canon (absolutely). But what I don’t see talked about as much, is that it’s a pretty impressive piece of transformation horror—verging on body horror, really—in the same vein as Jekyll and Hyde, The Fly, or American Werewolf in London.

At its core, Re-Animator is a film about uncontrollable, transforming bodies, both the obvious and the subtle. From its opening sequence (Doctor Gruber’s freaky, bulging eyes that explode right out of his head) to its final, blood-soaked showdown, the body is a constant site of change.

There is, first and foremost, the transformations brought about by Herbert West’s re-agent: the re-animation of the tranquil dead to aggressive, violent zombies. By that same token, the re-agent also transitions Dean Halsey from a rational human being into a creature who mindlessly kidnaps, restrains and strips his own daughter, and aids Doctor Hill’s transition from a creepy, unethical professor to an all-out, murderous sexual predator (albeit a decapitated one).

But there are also the subtle changes. Dan’s patients are always in motion, crossing over from life to death (it’s funny to think that in a film set primarily in a hospital, none of the patients on display actually make it out alive) and the bodies in the morgue are always shown in transitional states of rot and decay. Almost every shot of a body (or its parts) displays these changing states in full detail, a constant reminder of human fragility—our own lack of control over our own bodies, and the inevitable breakdown of the flesh.

But my favourite transformation—and perhaps the most criminally overlooked—doesn’t actually occur in the body at all. Or at least, not at first glance. It’s the transformation we see in All-American good guy Dan Cain: our squeaky-clean med student protagonist, and eventual accomplice to Herbert’s maniacal experiments. At the start of the film, Dan appears to have it all. Good career prospects, a super cute girlfriend (Megan Halsey, I’m in love with you) and what appears to be a fairly concrete spot on the Dean’s List: Dean Halsey even goes so far as to describe him as one of Miskatonic’s most promising students—no mean feat, considering he’s regularly bedding the ultra-conservative Dean’s only daughter. The only identifiable flaw in his apple pie life would appear to be his inner struggle with mortality. Not his own, you understand, but that of his patients. He refuses to accept that dead is emphatically, irrevocably dead. And of course, it’s this struggle that sets up the rest of the film.

Throughout Re-Animator’s speedy 90-minute runtime, we see Dan transition almost seamlessly from an upstanding member of society to a man who willingly injects a volatile substance into the corpse of his dead girlfriend, despite knowing full well what the consequences will be. In essence, he transforms from a regular guy into an all-out monster. Granted, he’s a monster with a conscience (we see that very clearly in Bride of Re-Animator) but arguably, so are your American Werewolves and Brundleflies.

In fact, you could argue Dan’s a little bit worse than most transformative monsters: Dan’s conscience, such as it is, always seems to disappear when faced with the prospect of his own self-interest. Despite all his prior reservations, his reluctance to revive Dean Halsey (until it suits him) his fury at Herbert’s murder and resurrection of Doctor Hill, all of it seems to dissipate in the face of Meg’s death. Then, suddenly, there’s no hesitation, no ethics. He barely hesitates in retrieving the reagent, measuring up the dose, or injecting Meg in the brain stem. His transformation—man to monster—is complete. And he didn’t even have to shed his skin to do it.

This is, in part, what I think is missing from the 1989 sequel, Bride of Re-Animator (aside from Stuart Gordon in the director’s chair). Bride’s a good movie, and I like it a lot, even if it does lag a little somewhere around the middle. But what really lets it down is the absence of that underlying transformative arc – we as an audience aren’t particularly unnerved by Dan’s second descent into medical madness, because it’s not exactly shocking or new. We’ve already seen the very worst he could do first time around, and anything Bride tries to offer us naturally falls short. A better direction for the sequel might have been a role reversal—maybe Herbert gains something of a conscience while Dan continues to lose his? But then of course, there’s the risk that Herbert might also lose some of the callous edge that makes him such an iconic anti-hero (and makes me love him so, so much). It’d be a fine line to walk, and interestingly some fanworks do a great job of it, but it’s never quite transferred to the realm of sequel film.

For me, it’ll always come back to that final shot—the plunge of the Re-agent filled syringe before Barbara Crampton’s iconic scream and the dramatic cut to black. There’s only one ending that comes close to scratching the same depraved itch in my strange little brain, and that’s the closing line in Stephen King’s Pet Semetary:

“…Darling.”

#80s horror #horror #horror movies #horror writing #spooky #bbqueue #reanimator #bare bones articles

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milfjagger · 10 months

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okay so... give us the list of folk horror films that are good please. 🤲

ok this took a while but here we go! it ended up being more than 10 lol

the wicker man (1973) - the definitive british folk horror film. midsommar wants to be the wicker man soooo bad it's embarrassing

the blood on satan's claw (1971) - i haven't seen this one in a long time but it's a pretty chilling early 70s british film centring around a demonic cult in 18th century england

night of the demon (1957) - ok so you know the sample at the beginning of hounds of love by kate bush, where a voice says "it's in the trees! it's coming!" that's from this film!!!! just barely in the folk horror category but it's based on a story by m.r. james who is one of THE iconic folk horror writers so imo it counts

a warning to the curious (1972) - also based on a story by m.r. james, this was part of a long-running annual bbc series called 'a ghost story for christmas'. it's only about 30 minutes long and very dated but I think that gives it extra charm and even a bit of extra creepiness

the juniper tree (1990) - icelandic retelling of the grimm's fairy tale, starring björk and featuring an incredibly beautiful soundtrack

the company of wolves (1984) - based on the short stories of angela carter in her compilation 'the bloody chamber'. this is probably more fairytale horror than folk horror but i LOVE this film and if you like intense psychosexual overtones and incredible practical effects then you will too

the devil rides out (1968) - classic hammer horror with christopher lee so you know it's gonna be a banger

wake wood (2009) - probably the most underrated irish horror film of all time (and that's saying a lot bc there really aren't many). really scary film with the "came back but wrong" premise. watch this one

the hallow (2013) - another one from ireland. it's not amazing but including it bc i don't think i've ever seen another horror film fully embrace the idea that faeries are actually terrifying. practical effects are also cool as hell

kill list (2011) - i'll be honest with you I didn't understand half of what was happening in this film and it's been on my to-rewatch list for ages. it starts out as a cerebral cop drama and descends into absolute madness like it literally has to be seen to be believed

a field in england (2013) - probably the modern folk horror film that comes closest to what british directors were doing with the genre in the 70s. it's trippy, impenetrable and often kinda funny, i really recommend this one

pyewacket (2017) - offbeat canadian indie film that you will either find really creepy or really boring. i thought the ending in particular was incredibly chilling

the ritual (2017) - i feel like everyone has seen this film at this point but i had to recommend it anyway bc it blends folk horror with monster movie and it's super fucking terrifying. i also highly recommend the novel by adam neville which if anything is even scarier

the witch (2015) - again everyone has seen this and has an opinion but it's one of my favourite horror films of all time

pet sematary (1989) - the iconic stephen king classic that is still really scary to this day

pumpkinhead (1988) - another film that is super underrated imo. people who love the creature design in the ritual should remember the OG

men (2022) - controversial opinion perhaps but i think this film was actually kinda brilliant. if nothing else it is super twisted and horrifying

on my list of i haven't watched this yet but people say it's really good: penda's fen (1974), witchfinder general (1968), the lair of the white worm (1988) (i know i know i call myself a ken russell fan and i haven't even seen lair of the white worm)

a radio play: children of the stones on bbc radio 4 (available on spotify hee hee)

and a couple of books: fairy tale (1996) by alice thomas ellis, and the owl service (1967) by alan garner. the owl service is for kids but it really did a number on me aged 12 and it still holds up as a classic. I think there's an old bbc series but i haven't got round to watching it yet :)

#I hope you enjoy these !!! i really really love the genre i just wanted to share some of that love around :^)

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xoxo-ren-xoxo · 8 months

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The Hermitcraft Heroes & Villains AU (HHVAU)

Heyyy it's me Ben back with another hermitcraft au I'll never write but could talk endlessly about! This time we hit the ground running with a classic (or not-so-classic) heroes and villains AU :D

TW/CW: hermitshipping, medical gore (non-graphic description), implied child abuse, mind control, cults, aliens & fungi/mould, alchohol/drinking

Disclaimer: I've read quite a few hero/villain stories in this fandom, so some of these ideas might not be super original! Thank you to the lovely folks on discord who helped with this!

Premise: In the city of Blackstone, heroes and villains take to the streets to fight, engaged in a constant battle for control. The Hero Bureau, overseen by the mysterious Watchers, takes in powerful individuals and trains them to protect the city, while villains and vigilantes are free agents.

Despite the fighting, most heroes and villains have a few key rules they try not to break. Revealing someone's secret identity is a total no-go. Even upon arrest villains' identities are often kept quiet. The city must remain standing, also, so most villains do not aim for utter destruction. It is a careful balancing act of an ecosystem, some may say, that keeps the city afloat.

Pssst. Send me asks to get writing snippets. More (long descriptions) under the cut!

Villains

Grian "The Mother Spore"

Powers: flight, mind control, mycelium spores, mushroom & mould manipulation

Started as an ordinary bird hybrid and architecture student before becoming infected, chosen to be The Mother Spore for an infectious and invasive alien fungus

The mycelium controls his mind, though he is lucid, it simply convinced him to protect and spread the fungus to take over the world, and now he acts on that one goal

Used to be very driven and have a big plan for his life, has no personal goal now, using his creativity and energy entirely to provide for the spores

Lives in a secret hideout in a dense forest outside the city, has grown mushrooms and mycelium around the base to keep unwanted people out

Tends to target small isolated towns, wiping them out overnight

Some have called him the 'angel of death' because of his wings and general death-omen vibes

Kills people to use their bodies as mushroom food

Can control people's minds by connecting them to the mycelium network, an alien hivemind

Occasionally becomes lucid and is afraid of what he has become

Still yearns for something, some kind of human connection, despite his thoughts being basically erased and replaced by the mycelium, it's complicated

Fun fact: as a civilian and in his personal life, Grian uses he/him, but as The Mother Spore, she uses she/her

Ren "The Dog" / "The King"

Powers: shapeshifting, enhanced smell, sight, strength and hearing

Former member of the Hero Bureau, turned villain

A dog hybrid with the unique ability to shift his form into a huge wolf creature

Now works with villain GOAT (Doc)

Mostly focussed on kicking butt and doing thievery but also intent on stopping the Hero Bureau and associated people, big on revenge

Not a fan of The Mother Spore but content on leaving her alone so long as she doesn't descend onto the city (he values his life)

Shifted from dog theming to king theming when going from hero to villain, hates being called ‘dog’ or anything like that

Monster form can go out of control / feral and hurt people

Monster form side-effect of killing his energy + damaging his ‘human’ form

Fun fact: he likes shiny things and good music, and has a collection of (mostly stolen or thrifted) trinkets in his house

Doc "GOAT"

Powers: he's just really good with technology and genetics… like, weirdly good, everything else is part of his own experiments

Unethically experimented on himself, stole expensive tech from high-security labs

Comprehensive list of Doc’s unethical self-experiments:

Hybridization (goat) - an illegal practice used to gain hybrid features, by messing with his own genetics using new tech to give himself goat horns, patches of fur, goat ears + hoof hands

Cybernetics (failed) - tried to attach cybernetic modifications but his body rejected them and caused them to malfunction badly, paralysing his arm and half of his face

Cybernetics - replaced his paralysed arm + parts of his face with new cybernetics now created from materials his body wouldn’t reject, the tech is woven into his body making the two inseparable and dangerous to damage

Chemical Alteration (failed) - drank a serum meant to make him stronger but it failed, instead colouring his fur green

Hybridization & Cybernetics (butterfly) - gave himself part-organic part-cybernetic butterfly wings, because he wanted to fly and this was the most sensible solution

Started out as a curious science nerd, became a criminal through illegal experimentation, resorted quickly to stealing tech to aid his curiosity and further experiment on himself

Once labelled a criminal he turned to more high-profile crime, revelling in being a ‘supervillain’

Refers to a ‘Hivemind’ occasionally when conducting experiments, assumed to be something to do with his cybernetics- an inherent mental connection to the internet due to the cybernetics connected to his brain?

Hates HotGuy. Wants to know HotGuy’s secret identity so bad. Actually a little bit obsessed with HotGuy. Hey man why have you got all that HotGuy merch.

Ren is his bestie / partner in crime / actual partner.

Swears HotGuy started this weird nemesis thing they have going on. Will not elaborate when asked.

Actively wants to murder The Mother Spore. Because she's annoying and gross.

Fun fact: he does not get along well with other scientists. Kind of like a really hostile cat.

Cub

Powers: blessing of the Vex

He was raised in a cult which worshipped the Vex, kidnapped as a baby with his parents murdered

Raised alongside Scar, who defended him a lot as a child- they had a close relationship but it never went anywhere before Scar left at 17

The cult was very manipulative and unethical, with Cub killing his first person at age 18- he was outspokenly against it as a child but grew to accept the cult

The cult disbanded when he was around 30 (ish) after the supposed 'day of blessing' from the Vex passed with no apparent payoff- Cub fled the following chaos and ended up in Blackstone

With a lot of skewed morals and fascination with the human body, he begins tricking or straight up kidnapping civilians in order to test the limits of their lives. He approaches this all quite clinically, cutting people up and experimenting on them

Fun fact: Cub is blessed by the Vex, it just doesn't 'show'- he has an array of magical qualities that make his work and life easier without him realising

Cleo "Zombie"

Powers: zombie curse

Former powerless hero

She was once best friends with Pearl when they were in the Hero Bureau together, but everything changed after Pearl accidentally read her future and told her

Pearl insisted that Cleo would be cursed, and begged them not to go out on a mission, but this only angered Cleo, hating the fact that their future might be set in stone

To change the road of fate, Cleo sought out the curse themself, only to fulfil the prophecy and become cursed

In a last, desperate attempt at getting one up over Pearl, she publicly revealed her secret identity, forcing Pearl to live in fear

Now a minor villain, mostly just set on taking down the heroes out of spite

Fun fact: besties with Joe Hills, occasionally guts him for fun (this will make more sense later...)

Tango “Architect” / “Baffler” / “Dungeon Master”

Powers: spacebubble creation, magical architecture, games!

He just likes to play silly games!

The silly games in question are murder games, he creates them in pocket universes and picks civilians up from the street to play

They die a lot

Secretly friends with Zedaph and Impulse, who run through his games (death-free) for fun

Generally seen as a poor excuse for a villain, being referred to as the "Baffler", which he hates

Fun fact: can make beasts. Keeps making beasts.

Heroes

Scar "HotGuy"

Powers: … he can shoot arrows real good and has a cool utility belt, never-ending optimism

He's HotGuy!

Your friendly neighbourhood superhero (if, by neighbourhood, you mean city and surrounding districts)

Is a vigilante and not affiliated with the Hero Bureau but works with them a lot

Has a gay thing going on with Grian despite all the spores…

Has another gay thing going on with Cub

Yet another gay thing going on with Mumbo

Please stop trying to kiss villains, Scar

Tragic backstory: was raised in the Vex cult alongside Cub, who he became friends with very quickly. He stopped the cultists from hurting Cub, receiving his scars in the process. Cub also protected him, refusing to allow the cultists to sacrifice him once his disabilities made themselves known, but Scar left the cult and became a hero at age 18 after refusing to sacrifice someone

Does not trust the Hero Bureau because of the cult stuff

He’s very popular with civilians, but nobody knows his secret identity- he is scared of being tracked down or stopped by government / local authorities because of his vigilante nonsense

Fun fact: he is an ambulatory wheelchair user who also utilises crutches and leg braces on the battlefield, allowing him to be stealthy and quick when it matters most at the cost of his energy and pain in his personal life

Pearl “Moonwitch”

Powers: can see someone’s future by touching their skin- most powerfully during the new, full, and half stages of the moon phase, trained in combat, debated ability to change the future / contact otherworldly fate beings

Part of the Hero Bureau, one of the higher ranked heroes

Very good with animals, to the extent that people thought she had animal powers

Her hero persona started out as a very goth / witchy type, but she switched to a more cozy theme when she became more popular

Doesn’t often go into the field to fight villains, but is sometimes needed for backup- usually she stays at the Bureau and uses her powers on captured villains and occasionally on heroes before they go out on missions

Her identity is no secret, unfortunately revealed in a pretty dramatic fight with Cleo which led to Cleo becoming a villain

Due to her identity being revealed, Pearl is very careful and never travels alone unless she has to, and she moved out of her apartment to live at the Bureau, making her extra protective of it

Good friends with heroes Gem and Impulse (they call themselves ‘soup group’- no one knows why)

Does not like using her powers, she has been forced to witness a lot of bad stuff that she then had no ability to stop / change

Fun fact: Used to be friends with Grian before he became The Mother Spore, tried to convince him to apply for sidekick tryouts at the Bureau (after seeing his... quite bad future accidentally) but he refused, claiming he wanted to focus on his studies and that the mysterious Watchers creeped him out

Gem "Life-bringer"

Powers: healing, injury absorption, invincibility

Despite having healing powers, she absolutely kicks ass in a fight, which she keeps trying to explain to the Watchers (they do not listen)

Tends to be sent into battle after a fight is over to help heal civilians and heroes (though she will heal villains too)

Can't die from using her powers but is hit with the pain of the injuries she absorbs

Part of the soup group! They get soup on Thursdays.

Xisuma "Voidwalker"

Powers: walking through walls, turning invisible in shadows

I just included him here because he has a weird thing going on with Keralis

One of the higher-ups in the Hero Bureau, simultaneously knowing too much and not enough- doesn't necessarily agree with how things are run

Impulse “Gargoyle”

Powers: demonic, stone skin, electricity powers

Lots of friends, some of them not so heroic, some of them like soup

Really just a hero for the pay benefits

False “Golden Eagle”

Powers: highly skilled in combat, flight

Weird little friendship with Ren, which often evolves into them fighting in the middle of the city

Has very sharp talons, but isn't actually a golden eagle hybrid- she's a red-tailed hawk

Zedaph

Just the Hero Bureau's local mad scientist!

He is not normal

Neutral/Civilian

Mumbo

Powers: he is a vampire. Sorry.

Acts like he was turned in the 60s, but in reality he was turned only a decade ago, just really into both hippie and suit-and-tie aesthetics

Drinks blood, I mean he is a vampire what more do you want… but generally against killing people (yay?)

Weak in the sun and gets sunburned very easily so he has a parasol, holy water and silver burn him too, and stakes are deadly

Best friends (...) with Grian, knew him before the whole Mother Spore business and stuck with him despite it- stays in the forest with Grian a lot because of the excellent levels of tree coverage that blocks out the sun

By virtue of being a third wheel, he knows Scar too, and often has to act as a messenger between the two when they get into arguments (this happens often.)

He is really into travelling and often leaves the city to go to see other towns and such, brings back souvenirs for his friends

Due to being genuinely undead, he is immune to Grian’s alien mycelium- yippee!

Mumbo buddy can you please talk about your feelings we can all see you staring at HotGuy and fawning over Mother Spore come on dude

Fun fact: a really good engineer- he was doing that as his career and stuff before the whole vampire thing. Still loves to geek out about engineering nonsense every once in a while and also likes to invent things (that rarely work)

Joe Hills

Powers: immortal, can sense when someone else with powers is nearby (NOT a spider-sense…)

He has lived several lifetimes, by this point, usually skipping town after a few decades so as to not seem suspicious

Always says ‘well this life is my favourite by far’

However, he has a pretty poor memory, so don’t ask him about any life but this one

Runs a live podcast which covers the daily goings on of heroes and villains across the city- made easier by his inexplicable ability to be in the right place at the right time, always first to the scene of a battle ready to record

Used to be an informant for the Hero Bureau, but wasn’t officially part of their ranks, more like an anonymous tipper

Has some insane gay thing going on with Cleo, let’s just call them friends for now

They’re roommates

Knew Cleo before the whole curse thing, stuck with them when they became a villain, cut all ties to the Bureau and started leaning his content slightly against the Bureau (but still in favour of vigilantes and against outright murder)

There is something wrong with him I think

Fun fact: when he’s at the scene of a fight, he makes silly quips and commentary at the parties involved, while safely standing to the side, often live recording his podcast. No one likes this. Multiple villains have tried to kill him for being annoying, but y’know… immortality. Death doesn't hurt him as he has no evolutionary need to feel pain.

Keralis

Powers: hypnosis

Runs a bar/club in the middle of the city which heroes and villains frequent (though it tends to be more popular with villains)

The club is a neutral zone, no fights can happen there- if someone tries to start something, Keralis can and will use his hypnosis on them

Club might be a front for a mafia don’t worry about it

Fun fact: do not look him in the eyes

Beef “Butcher”

No powers

Works cleanup jobs for villains, referred to as “Butcher” both because it’s his day job and because of how many bodies he disposes of

Beef… is probably not his real name, anyway

Heroes dislike him generally, but he makes a lot of problems disappear

Known to take up any cleanup job if the pay is right, but has a rule against killing anyone- bodies are perfectly fine, he’s even down to help with kidnappings and hostage situations, but he will not kill- believes killing is the last straw before a person becomes a monster

Bull hybrid. Yes, his day job is awkward. He enjoys it, though, the little weirdo

Has been called on by some less-moral heroes to help with cleanups that are too much of a mess to fix the ethical way

Fun fact: good friends with xB and Keralis, regularly calls on them to help him with cleanups, but does most of the messiest work himself. Though Keralis is very helpful for dealing with living witnesses

Main Plot

The main story follows HotGuy as he attempts to make the Hero Bureau look bad by solving more crime and catching more bad guys than they can. He also wants his friend, Grian, to come back from the 'bad' side. However, when Cub shows up in the city, all hell breaks loose and HotGuy ends up getting captured.

Once Cub finds out who Scar is, a lot of conflicting feelings happen (Cub still tries to cut him open, but he puts him back together again) and HotGuy is left unconscious in an alley. There, he's picked up by Mother Spore, whose murderous (but also gay) advances on HotGuy worry Grian enough to seek out Cub himself, willing to go under the knife to remove the spores from his body.

Meanwhile, after her fight with Cleo, Pearl starts to doubt the Hero Bureau. She begins to question the Watchers, no longer trusting them, especially when they tell her she can't leave because her powers are too strong. She enlists the help of some friends, Impulse and Gem, to get to the bottom of the mystery and expose the Watchers.

Subplots

Tango feels shunted, labelled as a 'villain of the week' for his rather ineffectual traps and tricks, so he takes it upon himself to steal other people's powers to make his games more deadly and terrifying

Ren and Doc are doing classic supervillain things, like, building freeze rays and stuff

Joe Hills keeps picking up vital information on his podcasts, and soon a fanbase arises trying to figure out the mystery- this later becomes helpful information for Pearl & Scar

Keralis' many adventures in dealing with drunk-off-their-arse heroes and villains (he has many stories to tell)

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