When you try to make an intelligent oc from an academic background, but you’re a dumb-dumb and don’t understand smart people things

STEM SISTER SCUFFLE: ROUND 1 MASHUP 5

Dr. Olivia Octavius (Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse) vs Ms. Frizzle (The Magic School Bus)

Dr. Olivia Octavius is a Quantum Physicist and Roboticist!

Ms. Frizzle is a Science Teacher!

Why you should vote for each contestant:

Dr. Olivia Octavius:

""If you stay in this dimension too long, your body’s going to disintegrate. Do you know how painful that would be, Peter Parker? You can’t imagine. And I, for one, can’t wait to watch." I love deranged evil women she is the character of all time to me"

"Dr. Olivia Octavius, also known as Doctor Octopus, is the secondary antagonist of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. She's also known as 'Liz' by her friends, one of them being Peter Parker's aunt May. She is an evil scientist, CEO of the science research & development company known as Alchemax. She's the scientific advisor for The Kingpin's inventions to open up portals to other dimensions. She's an evil woman in STEM girlboss."

"feral :)"

"Oh I heard you like mad scientist girlies???"

"I know she’s evil but I love her shes so cool. Have you seen her. I support womens wrongs <3"

"MILF. Evil. What more does she need? wowza"

"shes not the best shes the worst and she owns it. milf i mean. who said that"

"I mean. just look at her. she has the robo arms, the awesome hair. also if I recall, she's also been in science educational videos for kids"

"Proves herself as a competent fighter able to take on multiple spider-men at once, plus rocks the mad scientist look"

"Successfully works as a kids' science show presenter while also being a supervillain and working on sketchy projects. Is an absolute dork about her work and about cool phenomena in a way that's really endearing right up until she threatens to lock someone up to slowly die so she can study the phenomenon that's killing them. Probably put bugs in the microwave as a kid to see what happens.

Yes she did get hit by a truck in the fight and disappear but I fully believe she lived and ended up in some other universe.

1. She's a supervillain, she's definitely been hit by a truck before. 2. Out of everyone fighting in there she's had the most experience with this sorr of thing. While missteps are possible she would be going into it with some idea of what the risks are and how to deal with them. 3. Isekai truck trope 4. If she did end up in another universe she would totally find a way to keep herself stable there. She's got science knowledge and robotic limbs built for crime. 5. I like her and I think it would be really funny.

Why did I make this part mostly ""no she isn't dead"". It'd still be funny even if she was dead tbh.

I cosplayed her once and that is irrelevant to the poll but idk. She's fun."

"it's so rare to have female mad scientists in media like her, she's a role model to girls who want to commit crimes against the spacetime continuum everywhere. she's very important"

"She's really cute, too bad about all the murder and stuff :/ Women's wrongs, amirite?👍"

"She has a "For Science!" attitude that makes most male mad scientist look sane and safety minded. I would gladly be her intern/minion. <3"

"is only here to do science for Nefarious Purposes. science without any regard for moral cost. idk i love that this character type gets to be a milf for once. we love to see an evilgirl winning"

"mad scientist lady. cool as hell hair. evil girlboss."

"She's evil. She's evil and I love her"

"Evil milf with giant robot arms that loves chaos."

"Mastered multiple disciplines, managed to break barriers between dimensions, which even in superhero realms is a bit impressive. STEM girlies should be allowed to go a little evil/feral/unhinged. as a treat."

"She is evil! She is sexy! She employs usage of soft robotics into her prosthetic tentacles, is the head scientist at Alchemax, and quite literally built a machine that creates a portal to alternate dimensions! Get you a girl that can both make educational science videos and also rip open a portal to alternate dimensions under dubious moral conditions."

"she's sooooooo cool"

"She is a girlboss she tried to make a portal and while she’s a villain she isn’t the Evillest out there… babygirl head scientist Her glasses are shaped like octagons :3"

Ms. Frizzle:

"*gestures at entire magic school bus series*"

"Embodies the true spirit of scientific discovery: barely-contained chaos."

"She is very knowledgeable about a wide variety of sciences, and uses that knowledge to further the educations of many people. Teachers deserve the world; they do so much for so little in return. (shout out to Mrs. Goates)"

"She loves science and loves teaching kids about science. I love her. Idk I saw she only had one submission and that made me sad so now im here submitting her"

"She is an icon and has cool earrings"

"SHE'S SO COOL!!! She's so smart and so fun and genuinely just an icon. ALSO she has a little lizard on her shoulder. I saw an ask abt the submissions for Ms. Frizzle and the sender was the only person who submitted her.. I couldn't let this go. ALSO one of my professors irl called herself the irl Frizzle and she's a doctor of biology so make of that what you will"

Ray, light of my days, yes I'm going to start all of my asks like this lmao

Today in broad daylight I got into an argument over how parasocial relationships replaced religion in the modern world (which is a hill I WILL die on) with a complete stranger, because they threw their ass into my conversation and I'm just that kind of lunatic.

So I'm pretty sure I'm right, because death threats, leaking information (sometimes information that can get the other killed) and all the other things I'm sure I don't have to introduce you to are the results of the same kind of blind adoration and needless cruelty that the cults of today and churches of... well, sometimes still today used and use to this day to kill, torture and exploit their own people or even people who have nothing to do with them. The same kind of blind following of the loudest idiot that got the Witch Trials and the Nazis going, just to give examples everybody knows. And I'm not even exaggerating about the severeness and seriousness of the cultism of it all.

And then you personally bobbed into my thoughts and refused to leave, like a particularly stubborn buoy outlasting a hurricane. Mostly because what you and us (your followers) have isn't really a true parasocial relationship.

You're aware of us, take the time out of your day to interact with us internet gremlins, you answer our questions and help us through emotional distress and we try to do the same. You're both one of us and the one we look to (sometimes) when we have something sad, or excited or any other to share.

What I'm trying to say is that you played in the dirty internet sandbox, made a castle out of - probably not completely, but who knows where's the sand's from- shit and opened the door to invite us in, made food for us and dined with us. We're here because you're one of us but also a little more.

You kind of became a Small Gremlin God of Small Gremlin Us without wanting to or knowing it and it's absolutely hilarious, because we're here with our ideas and questions and what else, like we're collectively some sickly victorian child asking mother for the last of the dessert and you let us have it because you know we won't last 'til the 'morrow.

In other words we're here wriggling around like salted slugs on their last breath chanting "ONE OF US! ONE OF US!" without noticing that you're chanting with us, you not knowing we're chanting about you and us not knowing you're in the crowd instead of wherever else you're supposed to be.

Just, it's really fucking funny and your character as a person makes a person think. In a positive way. Because I also absolutely love you and what you're doing here.

(AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! *mad scientist muttering* *overthinking on max*)

Sorry for the novel lol, idk how to stfu like usual😭

Also you made several good points and can I just say I deeply enjoy the little fox den we've all created here together. And I love you too and I enjoy your rambling.

@miss-midnightt , @the-main-characters , @gmanwhore , @ghostlyplacetobe

MAJOR LORE DROP FOR LOCK IN CANON.

[ aka me, Crow, letting my oc, Lock, be happy for once in canon and actually have an okay relationship with her dad! Yippee! ]

Lock has a 4 year old daughter named Amaris. She's been a single mother for as long as she can remember, but once she began dating Sera, she was grateful that she was no longer alone in raising her 4 year old girl. Also. Your selfships with her is canon. To me. In her lore. So when she first met you as well, she was so overwhelmed with love and care that she probably ended up crying because holy shit there's people out there who actually love her. Wow. It was actually when she met you that she realized that she's pan and poly. Her daughter Amaris of course took this really well, and was so so so happy that she had more people to bethwte for her and her mom and just absolutely loved and still loves to draw you guys things, including Sera because she really really really loves everyone who her mom loves!

When Amaris was born, both her mom and her dad were there, but her father soon left the both of them and left Lock to raise Amaris all by herself. Keep in mind, this was during Lock's time in SOLDIER as a first class so she already had a lot of stress on her from that, so while she was out doing her missions with Sera (assuming they were partners in canon), Amaris would either be left in the Turks care or Hojo's care while she was gone. Surprisingly enough, when she was left in Locks father's care, (Hojo's), Hojo was actually really nice to her and tried his best to be a good granddad to try (not really) and make up for lost time. This resulted in Hojo gaining a bit of Lock's trust back. Because everyone deserves a bit of character development every now and again. Also, another thing to note is that Amaris does not have wings like her mother does, however, she still has the Celestial blood in her veins, meaning when she's old enough to use Materia, her Materia will be enhanced and made stronger due to her genetics. It's unknown how exactly the Celestial blood works with Materia, but Hojo suspects that it's because Lock's blood is also transfused with Jenova Cells, and because Lock had an offspring, those genetics were transferred down to Amaris. Yet another thing to note, the birth of Amaris wasn't forced on her by Hojo, Hojo didn't even have any plans to have Lock create an offspring because, yknow, just because he's a mad scientist, doesn't mean he doesn't have any morality or humanity left in him for his daughter. He still loves her, but, in his own way I suppose. He also really loves his granddaughter Amaris to bits, when Amaris came along, that's kind of when he realized that oh. Life is precious. Even my daughters. And then he toned down the experiments and now he's actually trying to be an okay dad! Yeah. I know, before, originally, he was supposed to be a shitty person to her, but like, I'm giving him a fraction of a heart, some morality and reasoning behind what he did to Lock, after killing Starlight he went into a spiral which meant he did things he shouldn't have, and then Amaris came along and saved her mom's life, and without even realizing it, fixed (kind of) Lock's relationship with her father. Good job, Amaris!!! We love you!! Anyways, if Hojo is the one watching her at the time, he will show her all around the lab, all of his experiments (probably shouldn't be showing those things to a child, but it's Hojo, when is he ever thinking of these things??), his machinery and whatever else all while carrying Amaris around on his hip, straining his back but that's okay, because sacrifices must be made. (as one does with a toddler), he'll even actually take a break from his work just to read a picture book with Amaris (much to his disappointment because he wanted to read a book on Quantum Physics, but *sigh* he supposes it wouldnt hurt to read a picture book), or even colour or draw with her which is really rare because this man literally never stops working. Also, every now and again he'll let Amaris wear his lab coat. Why? Uhh, because she's an adorable child, and who can say no to such a cute face??? Also, Lock likes to take Amaris for shoulder rides and fly around with her wings, Amaris loves it. Lock tries her absolute hardest to try and take care of Amaris, and with everyone helping her, it makes it much easier, Amaris is never deprived of love, she has so much love. everywhere.

Also, a little bonus: Lock and Amaris have a Holland Lop Rabbit named Snickerdoodle and an Australian Shephard Puppy named Charlie!

Snickerdoodle [Female]: (Obviously not my picture)

Charlie [Male]: (Once again, not my photo)

- Charlie and Snickerdoodle are really good friends, Snickerdoodle tends to think that Charlie is her baby and tries to take care of him like her own. It's cute. I promise. But Charlie tends to think that Snickerdoodle is either a really soft pillow or a play thing. Don't worry. Charlie doesn't hurt her.

- Snickerdoodle is a rescue from the SPCA in Midgar, she was found near a dumpster which at the time was on fire, she was rescued and brought into care, she wasn't injured, but she was already a domesticated rabbit so they couldn't set her free into the wild. She was most likely previously abandoned by her previous owners. While Lock was off duty, she decided to stop by the local SPCA and take a look, that's when she met Snickerdoodle and immediately fell in love. Snickerdoodle now has a very loving family and home. Charlie of course, when he first met Snickerdoodle, he immediately decided to play with her, which in turn, Snickerdoodle let him do so because she was tired, and then Charlie tuckered himself out and fell asleep with his paws covering Snickerdoodle's back.

- When Amaris first saw Snickerdoodle after Lock came back with the rabbit, she instantly ran over and started petting Snickerdoodle, bombarding her mom with loads of questions which in turn Lock responded as best as she could. And if Amaris asked too many questions, she'd just either give her a cookie to shut her up or send her to either Sera, Sephiroth or Zack.

Spongebob love list. Best characters who and why. Let's gooooooooooo

mr krabs :] because he is funny. and most importantly. he is shape. he has done a lot of irredeemably cruel things and i'm not going to pretend thats not true, however ummm... i think he's funny so i will overlook this. plus i think his positive qualities more than make up for it especially now that they're being focused on more than they used to be - he is a loving father and father figure, willing to spend thousands for those he loves when he is emotionally fulfilled, and i love the way he can be so protective and kind to kids. the fact hes depressive and insecure but constantly works hard to be confident and stable for his daughter is so ♥♥♥♥♥

karen. shes square :) i like squares. but most importantly shes funny. she can be an absolute sweetheart, capable of kindness and love, appreciating those around her, and often exhibits these traits! it's literally only plankton who brings out a cynical, jaded, and cruel side of her - usually because of the ways he can be so casually cruel to her at times. but for the most part she's an absolute delight - she more often than not chooses to be kind and do good when given the option, and that fascinates me. krabs and karen are like, imho, THE most complicated characters because everything about them is so layered and makes perfect sense when you think about everything we know about them too hard. and i like to do that, so... yeah <3

sandy cheeks she is so cool she is a genius she is a scientist she is a jock she is a cowboy she is a martial artist she is so much and shes gonna be funny as hell while doing it. i like characters who are both conceptually interesting as well as being funny in execution and she really nails it. ngl out of everyone who got flanderized before getting their character rerailment she really benefitted from the flanderization cuz in terms of personality and behavior she was kinda plain in the earlier seasons - not that she was perfect and devoid of flaws but i really think she actually got funnier with the flanderization. making her a mad scientist who believes in the forces of good and doing the right thing was so fucking awesome. i love that she can be a hothead and short-sighted and an egomaniac and a control freak who thinks she can do whatever she wants because she thinks she knows best or has good intentions... idk its more relatable and funnier

larry!!!! hes nice and his tits are huge. need i say more? i probably should. i love how reasonable and down to earth he can be, i love that he's like... almost the most stable person in bikini bottom, and how it contrasts with ambient insanity of the rest of the town. he's a hothead who is aware of his own flaws and works hard to keep them under control, he tries to avoid lashing out at others or making others feel bad about themselves, he tries to be supportive and protective and - idk i think larry is neat!!!!!!!!

pearl is such a realistic depiction of a teenager its crazy. being a teenager is so crazy and a lot of writers who create fictional teenagers dont seem to remember what it was like to be a teen and don't understand the psychology of a teen but consistently they really nail it with pearl and the way shes such a complicated person who intentionally whittles herself down because she's insecure about her place in the world and wants to fit in and she has such a diverse breadth of interests that most fictional teenage girls wouldnt even consider but she does because sometimes teenage girls really do just like those things!!! idk!!!!!

squidina is more of a stereotypically cartoonish nerd but in a way that i think is really fun and charming like she contrasts with the characters she interacts with in such fun ways and she's just so self-assured and confident in what she likes and who she wants to be no matter who tries to put her down that i just can't help but adore her. she's so on the ball its shidiculous.

its hard to think of things to say about spongebob that hasnt already been said a thousand times before, in a thousand different ways that are infinitely better articulated and more to the point than whatever im going to say. but that he is a character that hillenberg fought with nickelodeon over to be a character who is a self-sufficient adult who is also childish and optimistic, but also more self-aware than he leads on, who is capable and reliable, whose naivety does not belay stupidity - who is dedicated, and loyal, and actively chooses to never give up, who can be stubborn and snarky, and is unwaveringly kind and understanding... that he can be annoying, that he may annoy people around him with his idiosyncrasies, but still be someone who is loved and adored and considered valuable and worth fighting for - all of these things and more at once... is just... so groundbreaking and meaningful to exist as a protagonist for children, that they need not dread adulthood, that they need not give up on their optimism and hope and kindness, and that their flaws don't make them lesser - AAAAAUGH THE CHARACTER EVERRRRR he's not my FAVORITEST character ever, and there was a time in my life as a child i actually detested him, but as ive gotten older ive learned to appreciate him and what he stands for and i love him as a protagonist so much

grandpat is mean :) but in a funny way. i dont know how to articulate it better than this. he fucking sucks in a way that rocks.

I posted 570 times in 2022

That's 570 more posts than 2021!

136 posts created (24%)

434 posts reblogged (76%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@7000f1

@akkivee

@averagejakuraienjoyer

@knowyourwrights

@flingpoly

I tagged 496 of my posts in 2022

Only 13% of my posts had no tags

#hypmic - 108 posts

#hypnosis mic - 74 posts

#legsbian containment zone - 52 posts

#ramuda amemura - 42 posts

#i see ramuda i reblog - 39 posts

#jyushi aimono - 21 posts

#sasara nurude - 18 posts

#jakurai jinguji - 17 posts

#hifumi izanami - 12 posts

#samatoki aohitsugi - 12 posts

Longest Tag: 136 characters

#i think it’s going to be fling posse and mad trigger crew because they’re the ones most deeply tied with the “take down chuoku” rhetoric

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

83 notes - Posted August 30, 2022

#4

i love the shuffle divisions, particularly jakurai and ichiro’s teams.

jakurai’s is saburo learning what it’s like to have parents via hitojaku being divorced-but-still-in-love dads. the board game was too funny guys it’s like when your mom starts telling a story about your dad at family game night that he doesn’t want you to hear. died when jakurai said he called hitoya “heaven the magic king” because he respected him and you could tell he was genuine about it. saburo experiencing the same turmoil as rei (third wheel)

ichiro’s is ichiro hanging out with two intimidating 6′1 guys who are actually afraid to ask for more ketchup. like rosho could fuck you up and has a death glare comparable to samatoki and jyushi looks like That when he’s in full vkei but both of them would rather send ichiro up to tell the mcdonalds employee that they asked for no pickles

104 notes - Posted July 26, 2022

#3

a family doesn’t have to be a mom and dad and some kids. a family can be three really close brothers, a yakuza who hates bugs and vegetables, the yakuza’s younger sister who could beat the absolute shit out of you, a cop who has committed almost every crime, a navy vet who lives in a tent out in the woods, a doctor who used to be a hitman, his assistant/son, a host who is afraid of women, literally just some guy, a fashion designer who is a clone made under incredibly dubious circumstances, a writer who is stealing his twin brother’s identity, the twin brother, a gambler who is actually the prime minister’s son, a monk who bites but might be the greatest person ever, a visual kei musician who cries a lot and loves his plush pig but is also ridiculously strong, a cringe fail lawyer with a pompadour who rides a motorcycle and can breakdance, a comedian who can probably see your soul without opening his eyes, a math teacher with stage fright, and a conman who is definitely not a mad scientist

152 notes - Posted October 22, 2022

#2

sasara nurude is the scariest hypmic man let me elaborate

unkillable (like just in general)

he has nearly the same typology as ramuda (entp...)

beat the shit out of samatoki

no one knows whats going on inside his head except for maybe rei

keeps his eyes closed. he looks almost identical to gin ichimaru and that alone terrifies me

clown

no seriously. you literally cannot embarrass him. man clowns himself whether it's for money or not. he'd be in the top three most bullyable hypmic characters with jyuto and hitoya if he wasn't impossible to bully.

you physically can't lie to him. he can see your soul even with his eyes closed

catboy

he's from osaka i do not pick fights with people from osaka ever.

5'8

wears the most atrocious outfits on a daily basis

born on halloween

he's not like other hypmic characters like rosho, jakurai, doppo, etc., who are only scary when they're angry. this man will choose violence at any given time if he wants to.

230 notes - Posted August 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

one of my favorite things about hypmic is how integral hair colors are to the character design. their hair colors all mean something and they’re so deliberate.

yamada brothers all have black hair to match their normal ass names and remind you that they are, really, just normal kids.

samatoki and nemu have white hair to contrast them. i could talk forever about how samatoki and nemu are designed to directly contrast ichiro but that’s for another time. jyuto is the Normal One, hence the normal brown hair. rio is ginger just to remind you that he’s white lmao.

all the members of matenrou have dual-colored hair to match their dual personalities, with a more normal color of hair layered over the more absurd one. this is important, because their more socially acceptable personality is what they are more like most of the time. (they are autistic) people perceive them as completely normal functioning adults before finding out that they are, in fact, not at all normal.

ramuda is pink because of his chuoku affiliation BUT! there’s more! his hair is dual-colored, but fades to purple rather than having a hard switch from pink to purple. much like i said about matenrou, the dual hair color is indicative of a dual personality. ramuda’s dual personality is different from matenrou, however, because the distinction between his cute persona and his darker persona as his real self kind of doesn’t exist. instead of drunk jakurai, host hifumi, or angry doppo, which are all not the true personalities of the matenrou members, dark ramuda and cute ramuda are equally the real ramuda. gentaro has brown hair so not to clash with his clothing, but also to emphasize that he’s supposed to be more of a narrator-type character, to fade into the background and let the story unfold, to finish his brother’s work and then vanish as though he were never there. dice’s hair is blue to oppose chuoku’s pink and his mother, while still being a link to her, and to contrast ramuda.

kuko’s hair is red, and i like to believe that it’s supposed to be like fire, connecting him to his sun motif but also to ichiro, who is often associated with fire. i sound ridiculous, but let’s keep going. bringing back the dual-colored hair i talked about before, jyushi’s odd hair color is outside, completely opposite from matenrou. jyushi’s chuunibyou personality only appears around people he doesn’t know, or doesn’t feel comfortable around (like a mask. autism), so naturally his hair’s eccentric accents are outside, rather than inside. hitoya is yet another case of the Normal Guy, but this time i want to say it’s because of jakurai. hitoya’s hair color is so incredibly common and average, two words i believe hitoya hates. you know who has a unique hair color? jakurai. hitoya is average, jakurai is not. sorry i get more insane the further down the post goes.

sasara is like ramuda, and i hate to break it to you, but we don’t actually know sasara that well. he’s definitely a many-layered character, and the fact that he will hide what he’s thinking and put on the mask of a silly guy makes me believe that his hair going from dark to light is deliberate. rosho is yet another dual-colored hair case, but he’s special because he’s only got a few streaks of lighter purple. these few streaks sort of symbolize how he gets when he’s mad, or maybe even how he’s a completely different person speaking to a crowd versus speaking to an individual. there’s nothing i can say about rei that i didn’t cover with the buster bros.

this has been division all-stars posting with leg, stay tuned for more. i am writing this while incredibly tired so assume any error i make in my grammar or typing is a result of that.

237 notes - Posted October 19, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

I really liked Bride of Re-Animator like ok. It was never gonna be as good as the original. The original managed to be a fantastic little horror piece put out by a studio that exclusively shits out garbage. But I think, as far as straight-to-video sequels go, Bride was a good fucking time.

The visual effects definitely weren't as good as the first one, the stop motion was good and the effects on the bride were amazing but everything else really fell short and probably could've used more fake blood or goo or something. That head with wings Jesus Christ. It is one of the worst things I've ever seen.

The story too is shall we say thin, but you can never go wrong with a Frankenstein tale. I think going the bride route was a perfect next step and that part of the movie in particular I think is the strongest. The business with Hill almost didn't need to be in the movie, and the cop shit just took up time. But the bride parts were great, because they played off of the strengths of the actors and felt like the real mad scientist movie you were here to see.

I think the acting was solid, the minor characters weren't as strong as in the first but Jeffrey Combs and Bruce Abbot really shine in this one. Combs in particular brings such an energy to Herbert that I absolutely love, especially when he's giving that speech to Francesca about how he gave the bride life, it's as good as any non-straight to video movie. And I know, I know I'm biased because I love Jeffrey Combs. But I am right.

I do miss Barbara Crampton in this one tho like Fabiana Udenio and Kathleen Kinmont definitely are good in their roles and Kinmont in particular is AMAZING as the bride, she brings such an interesting physicality to it and I think she was one of the best parts of the movie. But the lack of Crampton was definitely felt, she's such a presence in other full moon pictures, but I understand why she didn't want to do one of these fucking movies again lmao.

The directing in this one defo isn't as good as the first, like Yuzna tries his best and I think some of the shots are really good esp like when Dan picks up the bride and it's almost like the pieta in a way, or when he falls to his knees at her feet and she's like standing above him radiantly, I think those were really good. However in the original Stuart Gordon, though definitely insane, has a certain almost subtlety that this one lacks. Like some scenes in the original have very little dialogue and only motion, and I think this one has potentially too much dialogue, which is a failing that I know sequels are wont to have (the lost world comes to mind with this issue). It's not that it's done badly, and there's some creativity, but not as much as with Gordon. Even just with the placement of the camera like in the original the placement of the camera created some really fun shots like when Herbert is decapitating Hill, whereas in this one most of the shots are just showing you what's happening. There's not much for different points of view other than when it's focusing on the gore, and some of the cuts are really quick and jarring.

Overall, I had loads of fun watching bride of re-animator, and if you're a fan of the original and as obsessed with that freaky little twink as I am, then you'll probably like bride. Not as good as the original, but how can you beat a classic?

So over on patreon Trevor asked for my take on the Addams Family and I grew up LOVING the Addams family movies so here we are. Instead of doing a straight up style interpretation, I decided to do a full on design challenge, using the characters as bases to make a black southern gothic Addams au. I actually drew the kids first, using the character bases of Wednesday and Pugsley to create some delightful kiddos I'm calling Sunday and Blanche. I of course then redesigned Gomez and Morticia into Carlisle and Mortesha.

The Addams have a very specific high aristocratic goth aesthetic (they've got a butler and nobody really works among other things) so in this re-imagining I wanted to go with vibes that run a little more middle class/upper middle class.  I thought it would be interesting to think about what would be considered weird and off-putting in an entirely different culture, and how being a big ol' goth is way less controversial than it used to be.

I tried to keep this short (HAHAHAHAHAHA) so I didn't spin off into an essay about villain coded families, black people in the horror genre, and normalcy as it pertains to social survival, but just...bits of that are in these designs and lore. Keep that in mind.

Also I made the kids twins because they've flip flopped in age so much in different media and also twins run in my family (i'm the daughter of one). And let's face it, I'm pulling a lot of their southern gothic traits from living as a southern goth so *shrug*.

10 thousand pounds of lore incoming loooooooooool.

The Parents

From the moment he saw her he knew that there was a 50/50 chance of him either never making it out of that swamp alive or marrying the figure that was creeping out from under the distant willow tree in a black cocktail dress. The third time she found him trussed up in one of her traps, he complimented her rope work and asked if she'd like to go out sometime after his head wound stopped bleeding.

Or while it was still bleeding.

If she was into that.

Some kids and a mysteriously burnt down Piggly Wiggly later, their love is still as strong and inescapable as a bear trap in a sink hole.

Carlisle Guillermo (now Addams through marriage but I wanted to give him two first names for a name since Gomez has two last names) makes a vaguely described living practicing ‘law’ around town. A loophole king, people come to him from miles around with contracts signed in blood, fights over chunks of hair buried in their rivals’ yard, dehydrated primate hands, memories that seemed like dreams until the evidence of their happenings became too real, and other regular Legal Items asking for counsel which he is all too happy to give. For a price. Sometimes that price is a homemade pie and sometimes it’s a million dollars, depends on who you are. Whatever you’re asked to pay it’s worth that price, and if you try to scam him out of work or he just plain doesn’t like you? Well. He knows how to twist a contract better than anything at the crossroads.

And he always gets his due.

He doesn’t just serve the local (living)humans though, there are many things that need proper legal representation in this day and age. You wouldn’t believe how many city councils try to build on sacred burial grounds even after he lets them know that his ghostly clients are totally gonna haunt the FUCK out of the ensuing shitty condos and curse their families for all eternity. At least 50% of his energy goes towards dealing with real estate bullshit.

Carl is an excitable and good natured(?) man who loves his family, cigars, dancing, and his many knife-based hobbies. People find him very charming once they get past the feeling that they’re talking to a sultry gator badly disguising itself as a human. I didn’t put a ton of deep thought into designing him, mostly I wanted to make a middle aged dude who looked like he would have been voted ‘most likely to smooch the literal devil’ in high school. Tbh he probably has, but no demonic ex’s can compare to his lovely wife~

Mortesha Addams(her name was already perfect so I just tweaked it)is a woman of many talents. A self proclaimed homemaker, she prides herself on a greenhouse full of Concerning Foliage, a beautiful wasp apiary, and a coop full of what are probably chickens that she keeps for what are probably eggs. She’s also an avid creator of the outsider art that can be seen around the estate. She has taken on the family business of selling her homemade goods in a little stall by the road just outside the swamp with her mom, and makes pretty good money doing so. A surprising amount of poison gets bought in quaint southern towns.

Speaking of poison, people who come out to the edge of the swamp to buy it are usually carrying a lot of secrets around, and Mortesha knows most of them. It’s not like she pries the truth out of people, it just so happens that many nervous hellos eventually turn into the tragic backstory power hour if she’s alone with a client for long enough. She supposes that’s just how people are. Despite the fact that the Addams are very active in the community (whether the community likes it or not) she especially, as a direct descendant of the first Addams matriarch, is seen as…Well not an outsider because the community feels A Certain Way about outsiders and despite it all the Addams are their people, but maybe something like an exception. They feel like whatever weirdness they’re hiding can’t be weirder than any given Addams, so they get a little loose with their words.

This is amusing to her, since Addams’ don’t naturally keep the kind dramatic secrets that their surface level prim and proper neighbors do. It’s much more fun to openly talk about those things.

Do they have a sadly decrepit yet terrifying grandma up in the attic? Yeah, like three. They got a tv, all the creepy porcelain dolls they could want, and they’re close to family. Where do you keep your gram-grams?

Any bodies buried on the property? Yeah some, but most are thrown to the gators.

Any creeping through the balmy summer night with ill intentions? Yeah dude, everyone loves a nice family stroll.

What about dangerous forbidden love? If an adult Addams isn’t incorporeal then they’re either queer or in a torrid romance with some person/thing mysteriously drawn to that awful swamp. Sometimes both at the same time. Most times actually.

Mortesha would know.

The current head of the Addams family is just as outgoing as her husband but a lot quieter and harder to read. She never really seems to get mad about much and always has a genteel smile for everyone whether they deserve it or not. A seven foot tall human shaped “Oh, bless your heart”. A perfectly composed Lady even when she’s, oh I dunno, burning down a Piggly Wiggly. You know. A regular southern mom. Chat her up at the hair salon for 50% off a jar of wasp honey with your next purchase of a mysterious but foreboding packet of herbs.

Designing her was pretty easy because I just drew a lankier Grace Jones and called it a day. I had some problems with her outfit simply because if we were going HARD southern gothic then she’d probably be wearing a white/cream dress with a fuller skirt but I thought keeping the silhouette and the black was more important. She’s supposed to be an anti southern gothic southern gothic character anyway. A woman who looks like she has a million secrets who is actually the most open person you could meet. For better or worse. The red hair came from a coloring error that I really ended up liking (my mom had red hair her whole childhood that only darkened up in high school so I can buy that an Addams can be naturally fire engine red) and the veil was to get more of that classic Morticia silhouette in there.

The Children

Sunday and Blanche are the twin children of Carlisle and Mortesha Addams. Some say the Addams clan got their cursed homestead when a wealthy local businessman made a deal with the devil and lost, leaving his grand mansion to his least favorite maid and cutting his losses once he realized that the swamp would do everything it could to drag the house into the water and take what was owed with its horrible curse. Others say that the family has just always squatted there and no one really cares because man, fuck that particular swamp. Have you been in there? Absolute horror show.

Anyway.

Blanche is the more outgoing sibling and quite the engineer/mad scientist in the making. He started going grey at 2 weeks old but considering he was also rocking some extra fingers, toes, and a tiny tail (he takes after his dad), his parents just put it on the 'not life threatening' pile and decided not to worry about it. He's the kind of smart that teachers find utterly infuriating, less a dog eagerly learning and obeying commands and more a hyena who keeps teaching itself how to pick locks. He has a few friends in his school's robotics club (which they honestly allowed him to make so the school could contain his... creations) but mostly hangs out with his sister exploring the swamp. They find all sorts of neat things in there! wedding rings, suspiciously lumpy garbage bags, cloaked cultists who can't read private property signs, it's an adventure every day!

Blanche is all about experimentation with his creations, his look, and his tether to this mortal coil. Is lipstick a cool thing to try? Let's find out. Can he get out of a strait jacket fast enough after being pushed into the depths of the swamp by his sister? let's find out. He's not dead yet and confused local doctors can attest to the fact that he's rarely attained more than a bad bruise so he's pretty set on continuing to kiss rattlesnakes on their cute little heads and have his sister practice her knife throwing at him until that fact changes.

Blanche is very much a country goth. Cowboy boots (customized by his mom), knife, and lighter are daily accessories. He likes to wear the crusty swamp jewelry they find (the rust adds a splash of color!) and despite appearances he does try to keep himself neat. He's just got  natural Grunge Colors and a tendency to wear clothes he likes until they fall apart. Pugsley always seemed the most modernly styled to me (which might just be because little boys clothes have been the same for a long time) so I wanted Blanche to be the most purposely fashionable Addams. Everyone else is goth by nature, but he's the only one truly familiar with goth as an alternative fashion.

I got really into designing Blanche because honestly, I find Pugsley to be the most boring member of the family. And he was hard to design! I had to mess with his vibe a lot to get him looking how I wanted. I know he's supposed to evoke an " 'evil' little boy next door who's parents never reign him in", but that's just goth Dennis The Menace.  I's 2020. We can at least go queer goth Calvin.

Sunday was much easier to design. Wednesday was my favorite as a child (of course) and I really wanted to keep the spirit of her look while adding things like billowy sleeves (it gets HOT down here), big poofy twists instead of braids, and a nice tie. She's a professional after all, been running the local pet cemetery since she was 6 and the previous groundskeeper met with an unfortunate accident after telling her that tarantulas don't have souls. Her specialty is creating beautiful naturalistic animal funerals similar to those that Maquenda (https://linktr.ee/artofmaquenda) makes, and she takes pride in creating miniature dioramas of her subjects after each burial which she uses as a kind of 3D catalog for future clients.

She really wants to try out her skills on humans one day. Well. Publicly try out her skills. Lotta random bodies float into the swamp. None of them have turned down her requests for diorama models so far. Most seem downright flattered. Plus, she usually figures out which graveyard/crime scene they floated over from and gets her parents to give them a lift back. She'll even help enact terrifying revenge from beyond the grave on whoever put them there if she's not, y'know, busy.

Besides arts, crafts, and pet based funerary arrangements, Sunday is an avid lover of archery (any ranged weapon really), books where little fantasy adventure animals die dramatic deaths, and history. She is That Kid who eagerly raises her hand when asked who Christopher Columbus was and ends up being sent out of class after 15 minutes for making 'a scene'. Her favorite party trick is just picking an item in the room and talking about how it relates to either some obscure historical figure with a buck wild life or a horrible disaster. At least one charity pancake breakfast ended with children in tears after her vivid description of the Great Molasses Flood of 1919.

Social-wise, while Wednesday is the girl that people ask to smile because they think she'd, "look so pretty", Sunday is rarely asked anything at all. People just kind of assume from her quiet nature (in between horrible history facts) that she's angry all the time and that she hates everyone. This is untrue. She hates some people but she's ambivalent to most everyone else and even downright friendly if you bother to talk to her like a person instead of a terrifying cryptid. Like, she IS a terrifying cryptid but she's also a little girl.  

That’s about it for now. One day I might do the other family members but for now I’m happy with the four I’ve redesigned. Making an au! Lurch in a family that doesn’t do butlers could be interesting. Over on patreon I put forth that he could just be Motesha’s mute little brother (similar bone structure) but Amy Crook had the nice idea of quote: “ a mysterious "cousin" that "helps around the house" whose origins are both long in the past and faintly unsettling. He's good for lifting heavy things, like that tank of propane you're about to throw into the burning Piggly Wiggly... “ which i now consider canon. Who's kid is he? How old is he? Not important. Anyone willing to commit arson with you is family.

Annnnyway.  This challenge was a lot of fun! I love indulging in AU’s.

The Neanderthal Man

Since I'm taking a break from fishmen, I might as well let Bigfoot catch up a bit.  The Neanderthal Man isn't exactly a Bigfoot movie, but it’s along the same lines and its entire starring cast has MST3K pedigrees.  Robert Shayne was in Indestructible Man and Teenage Caveman. Richard Crane was Rocky Jones, Space Ranger! Beverly Garland was in Swamp Diamonds and Gunslinger. Even the composer, Albert Glasser, wrote music for Invasion USA, Last of the Wild Horses, and almost all of MST3K’s Bert I. Gordon movies.

Some little mountain town in the middle of the Sierras (which the Portentous 50's Narrator takes some trouble to tell us is a primeval place where 'the defacing hand of civilization has fallen but lightly') is having a rash of saber-toothed tiger sightings!  At first these are laughed off, but when the game warden himself sees one cross the road in the middle of the night, it's time to do something about it.  The warden shows a cast pawprint to Dr. Ross Harkness in Los Angeles, who is interested enough to come up and see for himself. Local Mad Scientist Dr. Groves pooh-poohs the whole thing, which is enough to tell me that we're not dealing with a local cryptid here.  Somebody is making prehistoric monsters.

So... I may not have actually run out of movies, but I seem to be running out of plots, because this is a remarkably similar movie to Monster on the Campus. The major difference between the two films is that Dr. Blake turned himself into a caveman by accident, while Dr. Groves here is doing it on purpose.

Another difference is that Monster on the Campus' story, while silly, was linear – events escalated in a way that felt logical, and there were reasons why things happened when and where they did.  By contrast, The Neanderthal Man feels like a first draft.  At the beginning of the film, we're dealing with the saber-toothed tigers that Groves has been creating by injecting cats with his de-evolution serum.  We hear about these slaughtering game and livestock, and it seems like only a matter of time before they move on to human beings.  The beginning of the film is quite upfront about the fact that Groves is responsible, too, as it is only mildly mysterious in its depiction of one of the creatures escaping his lab.

Sometimes the saber-tooths are represented by an actual tiger, usually filmed from behind or at a great distance so nobody has to put the prosthetic teeth on it.  They do have prosthetic teeth, but they're only visible in a couple of shots. Imagine being at a bar and some guy tells you his job is sticking fake fangs on real tigers for a caveman movie!  For close-ups, there's a hilarious puppet head that looks like the sort of thing you'd see mounted on a frat house wall as a joke.  The director had the sense not to linger on this in motion shots, but later we see still photographs Groves has supposedly taken of his experimental subjects and they're even stupider-looking than we imagined.

Anyway, this goes on for a while with rising action, as the game warden goes to get Harkness and they manage to shoot one of the animals, only to have it vanish from the kill site when they try to show it to Groves (the movie never bothers to explain how that happened, incidentally. The ending suggests that the creatures change back when they die, but there's definitely no dead kitty cat at the scene, either).  The whole movie could easily have just had the cats and their creator as the antagonists, perhaps even ending the same way as Dr. Groves proves his work to the other characters by injecting himself. That's not what happens, though.  Instead, the story mostly forgets about the cats one we find out Groves has also been carrying on human experiments.

(Before himself, Groves' first experimental subject was his disabled Latina housekeeper.  Another series of photos show her half-transformed into a cavewoman who for some reason is wearing drag queen false eyelashes.  And as long as I'm talking about the movie being gross and bigoted, there's a bit where a woman is violently raped.  This happens off camera, but the audience is not allowed to entertain any illusions about it.)

The problem is that before we see him give himself an injection in the arm, we have had absolutely no indication that Groves has been giving his serum to anything besides the cats! Cats are stealthy, cryptic creatures and if one of those has been seen wandering around killing things, then surely a full-on caveman beating people to death would not be able to stay out of sight!  If what we were seeing were the first time Groves had tried the formula on himself then that would be an explanation, but his notes reveal that he's been doing it for so long that he's on the verge of losing control of the transformation and permanently reverting to a pre-human status, as indeed he does for the climax.  Much like the stupid dinosaur in The Beast of Hollow Mountain, the movie's main monster is given no build-up whatsoever!

There's worse yet, though.  The main characters, Dr. Harkness and Groves' daughter Jan, are barely involved in the 'caveman' part of the plot. They get phone calls about the various murders that Groves is committing in caveman form, and they snoop around the lab to figure out things the audience already knows.  The same story could have been told without them, perhaps with the game warden and the hunter as protagonists, and it would probably have been more interesting. The script also repeatedly has Dr. Groves wander in and bluster about how the tiger sightings are hallucinations and tall tales, which seems a little unnecessary when we already know he's responsible. The film-makers can't seem to decide whether they want us to know that or not.

Dr. Groves wears glasses.  Maybe the reason his primitive alter-ego is angry and breaking shit (although it does politely open and close the window it climbs out of, which made me laugh) is because it can't see. This is also my theory about why the Hulk smashes, and what do you know?  In Avengers Endgame he's got Hulk-sized spectacles and only smashes when he's told!

The direction of The Neanderthal Man can probably best be described as 'serviceable'.  It shows us what's going on, but doesn't particularly add anything to the proceedings.  The 'Neanderthal' mask is immobile and uninteresting, not much better than somebody's Party City Sasquatch costume.  Even the eyes are just painted on, meaning the poor guy in the costume can’t do much because he can’t see where he’s going.

The dialogue is often very strange, with characters talking like they're in a Jules Verne novel. If only one person did this, it might seem like a character quirk – it works for Dr. Groves, for example – but it's everybody. Seeing the cat carcass is gone, Harkness declares, “I refuse to believe in the supernatural!  There must be some logical cause and effect to this unholy adventure!”  Groves' fiancee Ruth berates him for ignoring her, saying, “I want you, the man I once knew!  The good companion, the cheerful friend.  I want the happiness we once found in each other.”  It's bizarre to listen to, and often audibly awkward for the actors.

Monster on the Campus was kind of trying to be about how humanity must choose to evolve away from our inner savage, although the finale didn't bear that out.  There's a scene in The Neanderthal Man in which this movie seems to be trying to go in the opposite direction, saying that we were never savage to begin with.  Dr. Groves is speaking to a panel of scientists about the size of the brain in various 'primitive' species of human.  He points out that by the time we reached Homo erectus we were already working with four times the cerebral jelly of a chimpanzee, and argues that our ancestors would have been recognizably human in their behaviour and problem-solving capacity.

(Amusingly, his chart of human evolution includes Piltdown Man, which was proven to be a hoax literally a few months after this movie's release.  What makes this even more tragic for the writers is that their list of primitive humans seems to be the only place where they actually did any research.)

The problem with Dr. Groves' theory is that he already knows it's wrong. We soon learn that he's been experimenting on himself with his serum for a while already, and his notes show that he knows very well he regresses into a near-mindless animal.  The movie does not even try to reconcile these ideas.  If Groves were continuing his experiments in the hope that perfecting his serum would give him a more accurate reconstruction of ancient man, that would be one thing, but the script never goes there.

So now that we've had two 'man turns into caveman by injecting science juice' movies, of course I have to ask which one is better.  Monster on the Campus wasn't a good movie but it was definitely an improvement on The Neanderthal Man in several respects, and although I don't have any way to find out for certain, I suspect it was an intentional remake.  It's definitely more entertaining and gets bonus points for including the Meganeura dragonfly, but nothing in it is nearly as funny as The Neanderthal Man's fake tiger head.  I guess if you're gonna watch one or the other, stick to Monster on the Campus, but if you're gonna watch both, start with The Neanderthal Man and do them in chronological order, the better to spot the inspirations and references.

Before I go, a fun paleontology fact: current thinking is that the saber-toothed cat's eponymous fangs actually didn't show when it had its mouth closed!  There are zero cave paintings or ancient sculptures of a saber-tooth cat with teeth visible, and when scientists looked at the structure of the enamel in the canines, it suggested that in life the teeth were hidden by big, fleshy, St Bernard jowls.  Google 'smilodon lips' and behold how this looks fully three hundred percent more ridiculous than you're imagining.  I love nature.

Haha hey remember that post I made awhile back, speculating on what a bad idea it might be to fuse dead things in the godless Frankenstein fossil machine

Meet White. He is a reanimated corpse. Two of them, actually. Or more like 1.5. [And I whipped up this half-assed partial reference sheet in one night instead of sleeping, so don’t look too hard at the chickenscratch lineart and visible guidelines, and kindly ignore the total lack of shading as well as any other messy jankiness.]

White is a product of me wondering not only about what happens if you NecroFuse a human with a Pokemon, but also what happens if you make it even worse and specifically fuse that human with a Pokemon capable of mega evolution. Because canon seems to imply that mega evolving is at best deeply uncomfortable -- and at worst outright agonizing -- for whatever creature is going through it.

Character Lore under the cut. Lots of text:

White is one of actually multiple undead guys who got mashed together with bits of dead Pokemon. They’re science experiments, so they've got the dex numbers of the Pokemon they're spliced with tattooed on the backs of their necks, and those numbers were treated as their names In The Evil Science Lab.

In his Original Life, White [and some of his buddies] got gored to death by some escaped Horrible Fucking Monsters that were accidentally [...and then not-so-accidentally] created via Two Pokemon At Once In A Fossil Resurrection Machine, because hey, it is SUPER easy to think you got Just One Thing's Bones from an excavation dig but then later you realize that Some Of Those Bones were from something TOTALLY different that just died in the same place. It happens. So, some Fossil Scientist People accidentally resurrected an Abomination, realized they fucked up pretty fast...and then started wondering if they REALLY fucked up or if this is Cool, Actually. And then the team of Science People split into two Morality Factions, with one half being like “This is unethical as shit, we need to make sure this doesn't happen again because it's not natural so who knows how this poor fucked up creature is suffering” and the other, cooler half being like “WE NEED TO DO THIS AGAIN RIGHT NOW BECAUSE SCIENCE. IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES HOLY SHIT.”

Cooler group splits off from the Horrified Group With Morals, and they promptly use their Science Knowledge to Construct More Machines and Make More Monsters. Doesn't take too long for them to realize, however, that Abomination Pokemon are stupidly hard to control, because not only are they suffering, their masters obviously don't care for their wellbeing, so Revolt Inevitably Occurs and they escape to wreak havoc upon the nearest congregation of townspeople. They promptly maul some people to death at a nearby local rock concert, scientists chase after them to clean up the mess, realize “Oh Shit, Manslaughter Charges Impending”, and then realize...

Science Guy 1: “...Hey, what happens if you put a dead person in the fossil machine?”

Science Guy 2: “Hey, people probably listen better than Pokemon. We can, like, TALK to people.”

Science Guy 3: “Lads, I got a stellar idea just now. And we got plenty of Dead Guys to start with right here! Great way to hide the bodies too, probably.”

This goes approximately as well as you would expect, and precisely as ethically. A smashing success!

However, because they Fucking Died, the reanimated Newly-Monsterized dudes do not remember shit about who they were pre-resurrection. They're not technically even the same people, they’re more like clones. They've been remade. So, all they know now is Science Lab Life, and they have no initial attachment to eachother aside from "that other guy is also a Science Experiment Person just like me, so Same Hat @ Labrat Neighbour ig", in spite of several having been friends or even family prior to death. They also just...don’t know/remember things in general. They are fresh blank slates. And to a morally-bankrupt team of scientists, that’s perfect! They can train these guys to behave however they please!

...However, people might be People Instead Of Animals, meaning they can be Reasoned With And Manipulated And Coerced far better than animals due to their far better communication abilities with the Science People, but...there is Still A Problem in the sense that Holy Shit, A Person Can Only Take So Much. You can only treat someone as "Experiment [number]" for so long, blatantly putting no value on their life outside of The Value Of Scientific Research, in spite of literally basically needing to raise them like a normal child due to the Lack Of Memories issue. Eventually they're not gonna be able to take that anymore and they are gonna Fucking Leave, too. And they’re gonna be much harder to track down than the rampaging Pokemon were. Impossible, actually, once they’ve ripped out their tracking chips.

So then there's just these monster dudes, who don't actually know what they are because they weren't ever told anything more than necessary to get them to cooperate with Tests And Experiments, just Escaped Into Civilization and having NO idea how Anything works. Fun! Especially considering how, at first glance, these just look like Normal Dudes. Their monster bits either aren't apparent or just look like funky body modifications.

They've also got Science Things in them and they Don't Know What The Fuck Those Things Even Are. They've just got these little Devices in/on their chests, and they were never informed of the exact functions of them because there's no reason to explain to the experiment What Is Happening, just that the experiment needs to Hold Still and Cooperate and Now Do This, Now Do This, Now Do That, Good Job That's Enough For Today, etc.

Those devices contain both key stones and mega stones.

If you were a Mad Pokemon Scientist, you would most certainly be interested in the mega evolution phenomenon. What would YOU do if some of your Undead Fusion Experiments happened to be spliced with bits of Pokemon known to be capable of mega evolving? You’d kill two birds with one enigmatic set of stones, that’s what you’d do. Your Frankenstein Experiments can even TALK to you and tell you exactly what they are experiencing when you run tests on them! It’s perfect!

So, if a rock-bearing monster’s heart rate goes too high, part of the little device, which is a barrier between one type of rock and the other, opens up and Exposes One Rock To The Other Rock. Which exposes the monster to the Rock Energy Reaction. The greater the stress, the higher the dose. And I’m sure you can see the snowball effect that’s gonna create, at least the first time or two.

They were INTENDED to eventually be made to Physically Fight With Eachother to gauge the effects of The Rocks™️ when the Guys With The Rocks are under Stress and need to Do Some Self-Defense. The Science Squad was basically trying to suss out the Actual Purpose of mega evolution. Because mega evolution is weird -- it puts ENORMOUS stress on the body of whatever is undergoing it, so the hypothesis was that its true power is probably drawn out best via a perceived life-threatening situation, like it’s a type of hysterical strength, because what else would cause a need for that kind of ability. And aren’t ethics a bit overrated?

So, there’s our premise. White is just wandering around without any particular purpose outside of never ever going back to Science Hell, and he has no clue what the funny little doohickey buried in his chest does until it activates one day and absolutely fucks him up [...as well as everyone around him. Mega Absol radiate an Aura Of Sheer Terror that can literally scare people with weak hearts to death if they’re not careful.]

And now, some Miscellaneous Character Info:

The bit about Lots Of Death happening at a rock concert specifically was important. White was actually the vocalist of the band that was playing. He doesn’t remember that now, but he still loves music and has the same strong vocal cords. And THAT is important because White is partially an Absol now and Absol naturally learns Perish Song. These Fusion Monsters are absolutely capable of using Pokemon moves, though whether they’re aware of this is a different matter entirely. Imagine what happens when they end up tapping into those abilities accidentally.

That band was a relatively-unknown little local band. White was by no means anywhere near famous. Very few people even realized he was gone, and most of the ones who would have noticed also ended up Equally Unalive.

That black stuff between the belts on White’s arms is mesh. Like, stocking mesh. It gets Ripped The Fuck Apart when he goes Mega Mode and his arm fur gets Extra Spiky. Hence one stocking being a bit tattered in that reference pic. He frequently has to replace those things, they are fragile.

“How did White get his name if he doesn’t remember his original name and didn’t have a real name in the lab” I am glad you asked! Post-escape, he eventually encountered a situation where someone asked him what his name was, he bluntly told them “I don’t have one. I am #359.”, they said “Well That Is Not A Name, I need something proper to call you”, and he was just...Super Apathetic. So, the other person picked out the name “White” just based on the fact that White’s hair is white, and he just shrugged and rolled with it.

As you can see in my Incredibly Quick And Rough Sketches, the backs of White’s shirts are open to accommodate that huge amount of fur that bristles out into false wings when he goes Mega Mode. Because his Actual Normal Hair is relatively long and overlaps with that fur, it blends in with his Actual Normal Hair and doesn’t look too odd [when it’s down]. Probably mostly because nobody’s expecting it to be anything OTHER than Perfectly Normal Hair That Just Happens To Be Very Long.

White does not particularly like violence. White does not want to beat you up. He will, though, without a bit of hesitation, if there’s some logical reason he feels like it’s the most practical course of action. Being essentially raised by Cold, Emotionally-Sterile Scientists With No Care For The Wellbeing Other Living Beings uh, tends to affect a guy a little bit. White has a bit of an internal dilemma regarding “It would be efficient for me to just Harm This Other Person to defuse the current situation, because attempting nonviolence will be overall more risky somehow” vs. “Holy shit it feels bad when I hurt people. Why does it feel bad when I hurt people. Is it...SUPPOSED to feel bad when I hurt people?? No one ever felt bad for hurting me.” He Figures Out How Empathy Works Eventually. He is a good guy at heart. He is a Monotone Snarker, but not actually Cold or Malicious at all.

If an Absol can do it, White can probably do it. He has incredibly keen senses and a STRONG ability to Detect Impending Doom. He has exactly the amount of Supernatural Absol Powers you would expect. He is also stupidly physically strong, way more so than he appears to be.

White can’t punch people. Look at the fist he’s making in the pic, he’s doing it wrong. If you punch someone like that, you WILL break your own thumb. That’s not a Revving Up To Sock Someone pose, he’s just tense. He’s using his thumb as a buffer between his long-ass Sharp As Fuck claws and the flesh of his palm. If White tries to punch anybody, or just makes a proper fist at all, he will impale his own hand on his nails. Like, all the way through. He CAN slash straight through things like metal and bone with those claws, though.

White...is unsettling. Completely accidentally, and unknowingly. He just radiates an Aura Of Intimidation [...or Pressure], even when not in Mega Mode, that scales depending on his mood. Just being near him tends to put people and Pokemon on edge. Thus, he’s generally avoided.

The latter point is especially unfortunate, because White’s preferred method of Socializing and Bonding is to just kind of quietly hang out in the same room as whoever he is trying to Socialize and Bond with. He just wants to, like...chill out Near A Buddy and watch a movie and share a bag of chips or something. His social skills are predictably not good.

The photo set you reblogged of Yusuf and Niccolo helping throughout time just filled me with so many happy feels and it made me realize that it seems so common in media with immortal couples that they take breaks from each other and reconnect after a few decades. Which is a great trope but seeing these two that seems to have been attached at the hip since the day they met just fills me with all the heart eyes.

(I haven't read your fanfics for them yet. I know I'm a bad fan but if it helps I havent been able to read anything since all this started but while writing this ask I got the feeling that all this rambling I spewed out is a big theme)

Hush. Bad fan nothing. We all are coping with this stupid, awful year in different ways, some of us by escaping into fandom and some of us being unable to engage with it and some of us doing both or anything else. You certainly don’t owe me or anyone any obligation to interact with our content, fic or otherwise. So just to have that there on the top. You’re good, hun. :)

ANYWAY, thank you for giving me a chance to meta a bit on the boys and their relationship and to have a window into what my brain looks like pretty much 24/7 these days. (I blame them.) I keep thinking about all the ways this couple is depicted in the TOG film and how lovely it was and how unusual it is for me to have an OTP where I actually love them in canon and don’t need to violently disavow it in order to create AU fan content with just the characters. (See: Timeless, Game of Thrones, pretty much any show I’ve hyperfixated on at some point.) I love AUs anyway, because that’s the way my brain works, but the fact that I can also enjoy canon just as much is rare for me and for a lot of us. I saw a post somewhere remarking on how the fanfic for Joe/Nicky isn’t fixing anything, which is usually the point of transformative fanworks: we take something that canon atrociously fucked up and fix it. But in this case, all our interpretations are based on actually appreciating the way they’re presented in canon and wanting to enjoy that and uphold it, and that -- especially with a couple like this one -- is shocking??

Like. Despite my historian gripes about the occasionally incongruous details for their graphic-novel backstories (which are the only things I HAVE fixed in my fics), I’m just... deeply appreciative of the care which everyone, writers and actors and all else, put into depicting Joe and Nicky and their relationship. And god YES, one of the things I love the absolute MOST is that they’re a loving, faithful, committed, happy married queer couple over centuries, and that seems to be the case for as long as they’ve known each other/ever since they got together. (See Booker’s “you and Nicky always had each other.”) These fools can’t sleep apart from each other even when they’re stuck on a freight train in the middle of nowhere, they flirt like teenagers at dinnertime and even when they’re strapped to gurneys in a mad-scientist laboratory, they make out to enrage bad guys and also because they’re just still that goddamn into each other after all this time.

I think it was Marwan Kenzari who pointed out that there’s simply no way to truly state the depth of their knowledge and devotion and commitment to each other. They’re 950 years old. They have known each other since they were in their thirties; they’ve been husbands for literal centuries. There is no way anyone else in the world could possibly come close to replicating the kind of bond they have with each other, and neither of them have ever had any inclination to look, because why would they? Especially with the fact that queer couples in media, even otherwise sympathetically portrayed ones, often have Drama and Third Parties and Promiscuity and whatever else (because of the tiresome old canard that Gays Equal Hypersexualized!), and Joe and Nicky don’t need or want ANY of that. There’s no urge to make their relationship a cheap source of soap-opera conflict. It’s the rock and the center and the core of both of their lives, and everything they do stems from that.

There have been some great metas/comments on how neither Joe and Nicky are sexualized, they dress like stay-at-home dads during quarantine (Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli are both objectively gorgeous men, and they’re out there looking like that, god bless), and the viewer is never invited to goggle at or fetishize their relationship. There are no leering or exploitative camera angles on anyone, and their expressions of love aren’t posed or intended to titillate the audience, they’re just solidly embodied and natural and lived in. It’s never bothered to be stated clunkily in dialogue that they’re a couple; we just see them exchanging looks and smiles in the early part of the film, and then we see them spooning on the train after the mission in Sudan, which confirms it.

At every turn, the narrative celebrates the kindness and love shared by the Immortal Family, the individual characters, and Joe and Nicky, especially and explicitly in queer form. The villains of the film are also defined by how they react negatively to that love. @viridianpanther​ had a great meta on how Keane as a villain is especially set up to menace Joe and Nicky as the narrative representation of toxic masculinity, aggressive heterosexuality, and the usual “Kill Your Gays” trope that we’ve all come to wearily expect. But instead, after that scene where Joe and Nicky fight Keane, Nicky is shot and comes back to life in Joe’s arms rather than dying permanently like we probably all momentarily expected, and then Joe gets to FUCKIN’ BREAK THE NECK of the guy who enacted that violence.... good GOD. The first time I watched it, I almost couldn’t believe it was happening. (This goes for the whole film, but especially that scene.) Like... when do we get that?? When do we EVER get that???

Obviously, there are so many stereotypes, whether visually or in behavior or character traits, that could have been assigned to a gay Italian character (excessively dramatic, effeminate, fashionable, etc) or a gay Arabic/Muslim character (explicitly announcing He’s Not Like Those Muslims, having to actively reject his heritage to make him more palatable to westerners, being tormented over being gay, etc) and Joe and Nicky subscribe to none of those. I get very emotional about Joe referring to Nicky as the moon when he is lost during the truck scene partly because it’s SUCH a common motif in Arabic love poetry. To call someone your “moon” is a beautiful way to say they’re the light of your life, and since the Islamic calendar is obviously lunar and the holidays, months, and observances, are set by the phases of the moon, this also has a deeper religious significance.

I don’t know for sure if they did that on purpose, but it it’s a lovely and subtle way of showing us how Joe clearly doesn’t have an issue with being both queer AND Muslim, and is able to draw on both facets of that identity in a way that a lesser narrative would have denied him. And that is just really wonderful. Yes, we’re seeing these characters when they’ve had centuries to settle into themselves, but there are plenty of writers who would have forced those conflicts artificially to the surface, rather than letting them be long in the past. It’s the same way when you watch a film set in the medieval era, it wants you to know that it Is Set In The Medieval Era. Cue the filth, misogyny, racism, violence, etc! Rather than it being a lived-in reality, it has to be jarringly drawn attention to, and I’m just so glad they didn’t do that with Joe and Nicky. And for them to have met in the crusades and fallen in love??! Come on. That’s just rude. Rude to me, personally.

Anyway, this was a rather long-winded and feelsy way of saying that these characters are constructed, acted, and written organically in such a way that you hate to even THINK of them being separated, and it’s not because they can’t function without each other, but because they are two halves of a whole. We also see that the characters themselves can’t stand being forced apart: Joe’s freakout in the truck scene when Nicky briefly won’t wake up, Nicky making sure to tell Joe that he’s glad he’s awake in the lab, the whole post-Keane fight scene that I talked about above, the way Nicky fights ferociously to get to Joe when Merrick’s stabbing him, etc. For that to be given to the queer couple, where the strength of their love and devotion is reinforced as one of the emotional goals of the story, and for that queer couple to be written in the way that Joe and Nicky are, both individually and as a unit, is just so very rare.

Because yes, there’s plenty of drama and angst and pain in their lives, but there’s none at all in their relationship, and that’s what fans keep telling TV writers the whole time: they WANT to see the couple confront things as a unit, rather than being kept on tenterhooks the whole time and forced to go through manufactured or artificial drama. It would feel especially wrong for Joe and Nicky, who have known and loved each other for 900 years. The fact that their respective actors also put so much care and love into them is very obvious, and makes me feel even luckier that they’re played by people who clearly get them and honor them and know what they’re doing.

Basically: of course Joe and Nicky have been with each other the whole time, and of course we’re all drowning in feelings over it, and I feel very blessed that this ship exists, and I very much need the sequel ASAP. Thanks.

Fic or Treat!

Or, damn, there really aren’t a lot of fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving seasonal TAZ fics, huh?

Right, but in all seriousness, I wanted to create a TAZ fic rec list for the fall/Halloween season. Per my aforementioned point, some of these are not strictly speaking related to either of those things, but fit in a more tangential spooky/eerie/supernatural way. But these are all authors I’ve read things from and whose writing I enjoy, so I hope you do to. As always, mind the tags, and kudos and comment to support these folks!

So, without further ado, in no particular order (I am literally rolling a d10 for that):

1. The Robots of Maureen Miller by AlwaysAmused ( @simplyaskeleton )

A little goofy, a little angsty, a whole lot of accidental robot murdery. Featuring disaster scientist Maureen Miller and a battalion of equally disastrous robots. What could go wrong? Really, Baines, what could possibly go wrong? Baines? BAINES? I guess you’re just going to have to read this good good fic and find out!

2. dancing in a swirl of golden memories by everqueen ( @everqueen12 )

So you’re on my page, so I’m assuming you like TAZ. Also a fan of Over the Garden Wall? Here’s Kat’s OTGW AU fic for a Taakitz week of old. If you’re not familiar with Kat’s work, this is one unknown I’ll yeet you into myself, because Kat is a delightful author. A is for awesome which is what Kat is, B is for boys lost in the woods, C is for comments are the best, and D is for dear God I don’t know how to end this bit!

3. Rest for the Wicked by BoPeepWithNoSheep (@thisiswhyidonthaveatumblr)

This is one of the ones that is really not fully on with the Halloween theme, but Bo can write the creepy and the unsettling so delightfully well that... well, my list, my rules. So there. It’s good fic! A particularly creepy look at what happens when a new antagonist pops up after the world has been saved and they have a little too much interest in Lucretia. Hm. HM. (Mind the tags!)

4. Draw Me Forth from the Otherside by TaraHarkon

1880s post-Civil War spiritualism and seances with Barry, Lup, Taako, and more? YES. As it’s Tara, you can of course expect that more to include the Wonderland twins. Ghosts and spookiness abound, and as always, Tara is an excellent writer.

5. The Clone in the Back Room by M_Logolepsy (@lonelyjournal-keeper)

So who was left with questions about Garfield growing a Magnus body? Who DIDN’T want those questions answered? Great! Enjoy Mads’s fic about Garfield through the Balance arc, where she absolutely fucking nails just how unnerving all that is and makes you laugh while doing it!

6. A Chill Wind Blowing by DragonWrites

Jen herself calls this one a ghost story, so fair game for this list. What happens when the crew of the Starblaster dies during the century? Is our dear Captain really haunting Barry’s denim-clad ass? How is Jen still the best Davenport writer out there even when she kills him? HA! Like I’m spoiling this good good fic for you!

7. Not Your Usual Round... by Jairephix

Definitely the shortest fic on the list, but Briar setting Wonderland and Haunted Doll Watch on a collision course made me cackle with laughter. Absolutely nails the sibling energy.

8. (I Put a Spell on You) And Now You’re Mine by ceilingfan5 (@ceilingfan5)

Chances are you’ve seen some of Larissa’s shorter work floating around the taz fic tumblr world, and I am here to assure you that her work is always that good! Hello fluffy Halloween Taakitz goodness - this is probably sweeter than  the whole of that Orange Creme Halloween Oreo display in the Fantasy Target!

9. In This Town (We Call Home) by Hoothootmotherf_ckers (@hoothootmotherf-ckers)

Didn’t ship Ren and Noelle before well guess what now you do because of this good good sweet fluffy Halloween filled fic featuring girlfriends Ren and Noelle celebrating their favorite holiday. This fic has the feel of eating candy while cozy under a blanket on the couch watching a Halloween movie while you’ve got a cinnamon pumpkin candle burning and I love it so much.

10. stepping back to golden days by Hoothootmotherf_ckers

Another fall fic from Shell, this one focuses on Magnus and Lucretia and their good good sibling energy and also just absolutely fucking oneshot my bisexual ass with the image of both Magnus and Lucretia in flannel shirts with rolled up sleeves. It’s so very fluffy and you get to run around and see all your favorite characters happy and enjoying nifty fall activities and this one is like wearing that flannel shirt out to go pick a pumpkin and eating local caramel apples and popcorn.

Now go forth and enjoy these good good fics! Stay safe out there, and Happy Halloween!

Well in that case, if you could design anything from a place in heartland to a random character, what would be the hardest part?

“Would” be? More like what was the hardest part 😭 Cuz, I’ve done both before. But, I’ve been forbidden from posting specifically about the some characters anymore. 👁👄👁 Which, regardless of how I feel, is just how it is. The only real “hard part” to me would be deciding what to do in the first place. Cuz when ur character designs range from stuff plain stuff like this:

All the way to completely random like this (bruh some of these aren’t even one-offs, and others ARE, and another is supporting. Like??):

Then there’s the actual main characters [NOT PICTURED] It’s like, “oh god where do I start?”

At least until I remember that I can do almost whatever I want and it nearly doesn’t matter how crazy it is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Because, if this anime can have a a mosquito ninja, a jellyfish man, and a little girl living with a giant dog that she makes TALK and duel articulately somehow—- and have all that and then some handled completely straight—

Then me making up a dueling gang does illegal card trading doesn’t sound too out of place, does it? Let alone a full on pirates who park their house boats in the river— or a mad scientist that loves robot animals who runs entirely on eating candy. Something tells me whatever I make doesn’t even matter. (Tho if I made up a raunchy cocaine slinging whatever tf character who fights with guns then it starts to veer into “unfitting” territory, I think…) This is an anime still marketed at kids. As needlessly dark as things get in the original, this isn’t adult swim either.

As for making up random places within the boundaries of Heartland City, It’s harder to say. I’ve made up random character houses, and elaborated on the more “run-down” back areas of Heartland City seen only once or twice. I even had a cemetery. And we don’t really know if there’s any nearby municipalities or anything that’s pretty normal for any major metropolitan city, or even neighbors. But we’re not getting into that, I’m staying strictly within the bounds of this city.

I think… the hard part might be trying to determine the nature of the city first before making up a location? Because, personally I don’t wanna make up a place that feels impossible for it to have? If that makes sense. It’s a big place. But it’s also a big futuristic, industrial and colorful place that we’ve seen maps and overviews of. I mean, it’s so industrial that in no images or maps seen and despite being on a coast it has no beaches at all. It’s just all ports and harbors. Which, for a city apparently hinged on tourism and entertainment seems wild we haven’t seen one. At least, until the location is considered more.

SO ON THAT NOTE LET’S MAKE UP A BEACH!!

Since this is a fictional city in Japan, an island nation, there’s obviously beaches elsewhere. Either in another city or the countryside. But, I’m still keeping myself limited on Heartland City itself not having an immediate usable “coastline” for recreation. Also, side note: We don’t know if the city is bordering seawater or freshwater. There’s not exactly any way to know for sure.

It probably could be either one. But, I’m willing to bet that based on the cities known geography from further outwards, it’s mooore than likely seawater. Probably a bay more specifically based on the overall curve of the coastline. And according to a map, this coast is on the east-side. So, from here on out I’m gonna run with that mindset.

ANYWAY! Heartland City has amusement parks and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say it has resorts. Maybe there’s an artificial indoor-beach. (Which, upon making this up, I learned that up until 2017, used to be an actual thing at the Seagaia Ocean Dome in Miyazaki, Japan. Which lmao holy shit.)

And tbh? I can see Heartland City having something EXACTLY like this. If not even more elaborate since this is fictional and set in the futureee oooo~. Even this design already looks like something Heartland City would have. I would not be surprised in the slightest. So, this would be a good point of reference to start from if I did want to expand on this idea :0

Or, alternatively, if we want a real beach, maybe making use of the public transit that exists can be something. Maybe people have to travel elsewhere… ORRR…. 😳 Perhaps miles outwards, there’s a little island…?? How about Heartland City offers a ferry system to this supposed island with the pretty sandy beaches and whatnot 🥺?

Or even more alternatively, a hypothetical island or islands is man-made because Heartland is always constructing something. (That and excessive, if the indoor beach idea wasn’t excessive enough) For some real life reference, places like Tokyo created man-made islands within their bay and redeveloped them into recreational use. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if Heartland City has recreational man-made islands, but y’know, were always meant to be recreational.

Anyway, I think this is the kind of mindset I get into. Hardest part with characters?? …It depends on what wants to be accomplished. With places?? …Same thing. Except I tryyy keeping in mind the location and economy of the city. It’s a fake city set in a country that actually exists, set in a futuristic universe where conflicts and security is hinged on a card game even children can bypass. I’m probably not gonna be throwing in any grand canyons up in this place that hides a secret underground sex ring where they trade cocaine. Let’s not be silly 😩😩

Now a clown faced fortune teller living in an abandoned castle-like-mansion who uses ygo cards to tell the future and idol worships a character he’s never met? Absolutely— -

mr. mind, da worm

INHALES. EXHALES. Anon I am so sorry for what you have unleashed. This is gonna be long.

I’m putting it under a cut actually because this is getting ridiculous. The special interest is TANGIBLE. Also this is sooooo embarrassing so I’m sorry in advanced.

First impression

THIS IS THE CHARACTER OF ALL TIME!!! THIS IS _THE_ CHARACTER OF ALL TIME, PLANKTON’S INFLUENCE!!? HOW COME I DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT HIM UNTIL NOW!?!?!?

This discovery was made on October 18th, 2020, when one of my dearest friends showed me a picture of him to lure me into getting into DC and I took the bait! Hook, line AND sinker. ^_^

I don’t know what anyone expected from the person obsessed with Scalpel TFA.

Impression now

He Is My Favorite DC Character I Love Him So Much.

My favorite version is Justice League Action because he has the best design out of all of his canon ones, and he is funny.

Uhh the Rebirth version, I like the direction they took with him!! I love the name Maxivermis!! I love the fleshed out backstory they gave him because I think if any villain should have a tragic backstory, it should be the villain that is literally an insect and I am NOT joking!! Yes I get it’s about the absolute absurdity of him being an insect and a villain, but I’m an entomology freak!!

Enough of fleshing out the clown!! It’s worm time!! I like the parallels they kind of tried to give between him and Billy in it too? I just don’t love that he’s not an alien anymore. That’s part of the appeal!

The version of him I love the most besides JLA is... Uhh, well, my personal version of him that I made. (: The ideal Mr. Mind!! The tragedy of his backstory from New 52, while still keeping him an alien! Not the exact same backstory but it’s STILL tragic, giving it connecting threads to J’onn’s backstory (you thought I could resist the venus and mars parallels!?). Keeping his insect characteristics while still letting him have his little glasses!! The best of both worlds!!

Honestly I feel like a lot of loving DC characters is... plucking your favorite parts from various continuities and creating your ultimate version of the character.

I think Mr. Mind has a lot of potential to be an interesting character, again I know it’s like... he is an evil worm hehe but UGHHH OK I LOVE BUGS SO MUCH AND I THINK WE CAN DO MORE WITH THEM!! I want to write a new version of him that explores the potential the concept of the character has...

It’s very similar to why I love Killer Moth so much, he is a character with a lot of potential and even the root of their characters I think is that they’re tired of being stepped on and underestimated, all packaged in a bug theme.

Anyways, Plankton was always my favorite Spongebob character so I hope that explains everything.

Favorite moment

Every moment he has in JLA. The whole episode with him and Superman and Lobo was so good. He’s so... casual. He’s just like HEHE I am a stinker. (: And Superman is like rolls his eyes. That was good I loved that.

Comics I still... have much to work through. But I did like in the Magiclands comic when he tried giving Billy the whole WE’RE NOT SO DIFFERENT YOU AND I speech. And I have like... no context for this, but I had read that bit where he... is with Superman and trying to talk down Lex from doing something super evil?? I liked that. (I also know that’s apparently not the original Mr. Mind but one of his children who is basically just him again and retains all of his memories)

Also the DC Super Friends comic where instead it’s Super VILLAINS and he is at the mad scientist convention!! LOOK AT HIM!!

By the way I cried when I saw him for the first time at the end of Shazam.

Idea for a story

Me, holding a folder full of papers and it’s all of my Mr. Mind development notes. Let’s not make this post longer than it already is.

Unpopular opinion

I think they should stick to him being an alien. That’s probably not an unpopular opinion. He’s not a popular character to begin with.

Also I prefer his basis being more off of caterpillars rather than worms, but I think from the beginning that’s what they were going with. I’m just a caterpillar lover and very specific.

Favorite relationship

Okay. Okay... A lot of this is uhhh stuff I made up for my own version of him and that universe.

So I hope it comes as a shock to absolutely nobody that him and Scarecrow naturally occur to me as a duo. I hope no one is surprised I saw the dubious lanky nightmare chemist and the evil science bug and said “Hold On. (:”

I’m not gonna delve into that too much mostly because I’m EMBARRASSED... but I think a guy obsessed with fear would see a ghastly evil little caterpillar, a BUG, which many people are afraid of!! And I think he would be like... hmm yeah I like this guy’s style actually.

And then there is The Possibility Of Parallels Between Him And J’onn And Superman. Admittedly, in my own writing I’ve found him more compelling as an enemy to them than of Captain Marvel!! My version of him retains him being the last of his kind (I haven’t read the comics where it actually happens but I know how it happens in canon verse I thiiiiink), but the cause is different. Very different. They are in similar situations... But Mr. Mind! Well, he is a very troubled caterpillar.

But also I want him to have a villain decay arc and become Billy’s accidental uncle.

And recently I’ve started fleshing out my version of Mr. Atom more and he’s ended up being the Toxitron to Mr. Mind’s Scalpel... which is to say his robot son. Like Doofenshmirtz and his robot son.

Favorite headcanon

Okay, I’m sorry, I’m the most embarrassing man on the planet. Yes I headcanon him as trans and gay.

Otherwise again this is a point where the post would get WAAAAYY too long because I have thought so much about him and my version of him.

Superpower TS Fic Recs

[***Let me know if I’ve missed anything on the Content Warnings!]

[**Do Not Ask Authors for Updates!]

[*Leave these authors Comments, please and thank you!]

What You Can Stand by manyfandomsonelog

Status: Incomplete, Work In Progress

Summary:  Virgil tried so, so hard to avoid becoming a supervillain. He really did. But when your superpower is literally manifesting a person's worst fears, it's a hard thing to avoid. Still, he really, really tried. Even when his own parents feared him. Even when the whole school feared him. Even when he hated himself and his Propensity so much that he wanted to give in. He might've succeeded, if he hadn't met him- Roman Reyes, AKA Roman Spectacular, AKA The Prince, AKA the worst thing that has ever happened to him (which is saying something).

Relationships: Prinxiety, Logicality 

CW: Psychological stuff, nightmares, bullying, physical harm, spiders, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, brief discussion of racism, self-hatred,  bomb, explosion, blood, injury, bad/abusive parenting, imprisonment, fire,  homophobia, pedophilia mention, discussion of child abuse, evidence of physical abuse, sexual innuendo, anxious thoughts, death, funeral, flashback, reference to sex, fairly aggressive arguing and yelling, public speaking, secondhand embarrassment

My thoughts: My quarantine savior!!! I started the fic like a week into quarantine, so I really mean that literally. The characterization is absolutely fantastic--I love seeing all of them interact. It’s so natural and fun and interesting. The plot is also just wonderful--one thing keeps happening after another and these guys just cannot seem to get a break. The pacing is awesome, and whether it’s a character or plot chapter, you just can’t look away. Log is such a fantastic writer and a wonderful person, so if you like awesome prinxiety, superpowers and secret identities, trust and betrayal, humor and angst, you really need to read this one! 

Rewind by ravenclawicecream 

Status: Incomplete, Work In Progress

Summary: When a group of superheroes show up to kill him, it's just another Wednesday for Virgil Messana. After five years of being on the run, he's used to the idea people want him dead. That fact is just an unfortunate side effect of having the power to destroy everything you touch. What does surprise him, however, is when he finds himself agreeing to join those superheros and become part of the team. It's not long until Virgil learns that all the heroes have chapters of their lives they'd rather keep unpublished, along with events they'd rather not relive. And, as he spends more time with the team, he realizes that he may know certain members much better than he'd originally thought. Virgil longs for a moment to figure everything out but by then it's too late. He's already caught up in a bigger scheme; one where they no longer have the power to control their own destinies. With every movement monitored and every action proven to be calculated, the lines between allies and enemies blur, leaving Virgil caught in between. When the stakes are inevitably raised, the remaining heroes must do all they can to change the future of the world. But time has always been a cruel master, and sometimes the only answer is to rewind.

Relationships: Loceit, Logicality, Prinxiety, Remile

CW: Major Character Death, Murder

My thoughts: Gosh, I wish this one got more love. It’s probably the MCD tag, so understandable, but also take into consideration the time travel tag and perhaps give it a chance? I feel like this fic is setting up for so much, and I cannot wait to see how it all goes down. I have so many questions for this fic which is always a good sign (so many that I may have freaked the author out with my WALL of questions on chapter three don’t worry about it /j). Please. Read. This. 

Powerless by patentpending 

Status: Complete

Summary: “People like us,” Logan had once remarked to Virgil. “Are statistical anomalies.”(Almost) Everyone in the world has powers. As for those who don’t, well, they’re such a small part of the population - only 0.04% - why would anyone care about them?Ever since he realized what people mean when they call him Powerless, Virgil Sanders has tried to fight back against the system that oppresses people like him, Patton, and Logan. When Patton’s bakery is targeted in a hate crime, he finally snaps. With the help of a mysterious sponsor, Virgil becomes a villain, ready to remake a broken society. The only thing standing in his way is the world’s most Powerful (and infuriatingly charming) superhero: The Prince, who is hiding the fact that his gilded life isn’t as perfect as it may seem.

Relationships: Prinxiety, Logicality, Roman/Female Fanon Character 

CW: Classism, Unreliable Narrator, Thinly Veiled Criticism of Society,  emetophobia, violence, gun mention,  implied suicide attempt, dub-con, mentions of blood, graphic depictions of a riot, non-graphic description of a wound, possessive and abusive behavior, kid being kicked out of the house by parent, kidnapping, kinda torture (?), body horror, gore, graphic descriptions of injuries, emotional abuse, police brutality, pain and injury, burning building, swearing, vomiting, murder, panic attack, dysphoria, misgendering, minor character death, major character death, self deprecating talk, mentions of suicide

My thoughts: Well, doing a TS superhero rec without Powerless is just treason. I don’t know--I’m trying to figure out a way to describe it and instead launching up to pace around the room with an instant replay of different scenes in my head. I mean, the grocery store chapter?!?! This stuff lives in my head rent free. The characterization, the banter, the tension, the motives--I can’t describe it y’all. Just, if you love yourselves (love yourselves, please <3) then just go read it. Or reread it. Do that for yourselves. 

Waterspout by Greenninjagal

Status: Complete

Summary: "Hail!” The boy says all smug smiles that Virgil immediately hates. “You’re Recluse aren’t you?”As if there was some other spider themed weirdo who clung to buildings in their free time.“No,” Virgil says, because he can. *** Virgil finds himself stuck on the side of a building in a rainstorm and is helped by an annoying-admittedly attractive-guy.

Relationships: Prinxiety

CW: Mild cursing, storms

My thoughts: This one is very cute. Virgil is a spiderman-like hero who went up a waterspout, and down comes some rain trying to wash him out. Roman comes to help, they banter a bit, and, maybe, there’s a little surprise at the end. I would not mind more of this AU. In fact, I would love it. But that should not discount how wonderfully made a oneshot it is either. The author wrote it perfectly for the length it is, presenting the charm of the characters, great plot and symbolism, and left me wanting more at the same time. Definitely go check this one out. 

Technically. It’s A Secret by supervillain 

Status: Incomplete, Work In Progress

Summary: Virgil Storm, the adopted son of a reality TV star with telekinesis was born without a power. That's been a problem for him all his life. His only friend is Patton Vega, his only chance at romance the irritating Cros Corson--until he gets a job at a top-secret facility, playing babysitter to a bunch of kids with dangerous powers and even more dangerous minds. Kids who happen to be exactly his age.Yeah, this is going to be a piece of cake, especially when the enigmatic villain Believe (aka Roman Torres) takes a liking to Virgil. And even worse, when Virgil starts to more than like him back. Pull in some evil mad scientists, a plague created to decimate the world, a murderous villain, an obnoxious stalker, and the greatest Kinetic the world has ever known, and you're in for a hell of a ride.

Relationships: Prinxiety, Logicality 

CW:  Anxiety attacks, arson, murder, minor character death, blood, spiders, being eaten alive, falling, death, sleeping, fighting, cop mention 

My thoughts: I’m behind on this one, and I wanted to catch up on it before I posted this rec list. Today is the last Friday of the year though, so I decided to just go ahead and do it. I love this fic a ton so far, and I can’t wait to read more. I can tell the author put a lot of thought into writing the world and characters, and that the plot is interesting and deliberate. There’s mysteries unfolding which intrigues me So Bad. It’s a super interesting one, so I’d say go read it!

What are some of your favorite horror movies? I feel like the ones you reblog are super interesting ones I haven't heard of before!

oohohohoho okay thank u so much for this ask i am basicaly always willing to go a little off the rails abt my fav horror films :) this got a little long so i'm putting it under a read more!

i'll mention some of my probably less well known favs here because i think talking about movies like that is more interesting and it's always fun to find a good movie you'd never really considered before. i tend to mostly gravitate towards horror comedies and films with interesting practical effects, so that helps lead me to stuff that's not quite so mainstream

ok so first off, probably my fav horror film which i DEFINITELY recommend is behind the mask: the rise of leslie vernon (2006). it's a meta horror comedy that's two parts mockumentary and one part actual slasher - the first 2/3 of the film is a student film crew following a guy (named leslie vernon) who wants to be the next big slasher a la freddy or jason (who are real people who existed in this universe) as he shows them the tricks of the trade and how he's setting up the place where he plans to make his killing debut, and the final part of the film switches to a more typical slasher type setting as the crew's conscience sets in and they get involved to try and stop leslie. i think it's a really fun film that you can tell had a lot of love and effort put into it. it's funny and the characters are enjoyable and it includes a character played by freddy krueger himself, robert englund which is always a bonus. my one friend who's really into horror films (including some really weird obscure shit) actually hadn't heard of the film before i convinced him to watch it with me and he loved it, so it's always something i try to recommend to people - especially since you can find the whole film on youtube. they also did a comic a couple years back which i haven't been able to read but it seems pretty interesting!

another fav of mine which is kind of a guilty pleasure is slumber party massacre 2 (1987). this one isn't actually a particularly good movie per se (it had a budget of $500,000 and grossed $1.3 million) but i personally find it really enjoyable due to some good practical effects, decent characters, and just how batshit crazy it gets - the killer is literally a leather-clad rocker who kills people with a giant drill attached to the end of his guitar, and he gets a musical number. where else am i going to get that but in this film? despite the kinda sleazy sounding name it's really not that bad and i personally think it's the best out of the spm trilogy (which iirc was created as satire), all of which were written and directed by women! also just look at this dude. i am obsessed with him.

probably my second favourite horror and also likely the most well known on this list as it's absolutely a cult classic is re-animator (1985) which i've been posting about a lot recently lmao. it's a (very loose) modernised adaptation of hp lovecraft's story herbert west - reanimator and i just think it is a delightfully fun movie to watch. it's just this gay little mad scientist and his well-meaning assistant/roommate (oh my god they were roommates) dan doing fucked up little experiments with this serum herbert made to try and bring the dead back to life, except it really doesn't work as he intended it to. it's funny and quite gory and has some pretty good practical effects which is always a bonus in my book. herbert west is a little fucking asshole and at one point he vibe checks a dude with an oversized shovel and then uses it to decapitate him with blood splatters galore. warning for a brief but very distasteful scene including aforementioned severed head (which has since been reanimated) and a naked lady, in case you haven't heard of that infamous scene which was really Not Necessary.

there's also from beyond (1986) that i've been reblogging stuff from recently which is another lovecraft adaptation (from a story with the same name) made by the same people as re-animator and starring mutlitple of the same cast members as well, including the actor who played the titular herbert west playing a main character in this film too. this movie is fucking weird man, it's just strange. my fav horror youtuber (scaredy cats) called this film "a horny puppet nightmare" in the video he did on it and that's definitely an apt description. there's uhhhh a lot of things wrong with this movie and it is DEFINITELY not for everyone but i enjoy it mostly for the cast, how batshit crazy it is, and also the effects. every monster in this movie (and there's a few) is so wet and slimy looking and i am obsessed with it. one dude basically turns himself into a gooey almost penis shaped monster it's so ridiculous there is so much going on in this movie like what the actual fuck.

leaving off this post here because i think if i say anything more it'll be completely unbearable and i think i've already said too much lmao so uh

tl;dr i largely love weird and funny movies which are often low budget and of....questionable quality that aren't as well known as more mainstream movies and i def recommend behind the mask: the rise of leslie vernon, slumber party massacre 2, and re-animator in particular if you're into this kinda thing!