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Not me rewatching The Thundermans and realizing that Max Thunderman wasn’t, in fact, the same thing as that one utterly infamous and dark and soul-wrenching villain whump fic.

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T.W: mentions of EDs, mental disorders, romance and sexuality.

Now, my idea is:

in this universe, 15 years has passed from the events of The Thunder Games episode, Max and Phoebe are adult people with a career and they are well-known in the superheroes community: Phoebe is a very respected superhero, and the youngest super president in the Hero League’s entire history, Max had previously worked as a hero with Phoebe, but then decided to dedicate himself to inventing, and is now the equivalent on an irl aerodynamic engineer (There are ideological and psychological reasons behind Max’s decision).

What the Hero League and the entire community of superheroes has noticed is: more and more kids from heroic families are manifesting a will to become supervillains; they start by isolating themselves from their peers and their families, committing crimes and alienating themselves from school activities.

Psychiatrists, psychologists and educators have found some patterns:

- They are almost all males;

- Their age range is 14-20;

- They are usually kids from wealthy families;

- During their lives, they usually experienced bullying, isolation, and social ostracism;

- They usually have an IQ categorisable as higher than the average;

- They register higher levels of anxiety and depression than the average, and usually, they have low self-esteem and a manipulated self-image.

Most of these kids won’t become actual supervillains, and it’s extremely rare for them to commit violent crimes (They usually focus on cybercrimes, robberies, vandalism, and they often manifest bad behaviours in school [They sabotage buildings, interrupt the class or skip them]), but they are extremely dangerous for themselves: these kids are extremely vulnerable to suicide, depressive disorders, OCD and girls and young women who live this condition often manifest disordered eating behaviours or actual EDs.

Because they spent crucial, formative years of their lives isolating themselves from the World, their emotional development starts freezing in the age in which they started developing this condition: a 20 years old young adult who developed this condition at 14, is still, socially and emotionally, a 14-years-old teenager; most of these kids never had strong friendship, they often struggle with connecting with their peers, usually preferring relationship with adults, in this way they are more vulnerable to grooming and exploitation; they don’t know how to behave when they are exposed to sex and romance.

But why?

It’s 2033: food, houses and transports have never been so expensive, the unemployment rate is extremely high, and these problems are combined with the increase of the demands that the society, in which our characters live, requires: you have to be the most qualified, the most productive, you have to be The Best, “Mosts have been left out, why would you be the special one?”. These economical difficulties have escalated in higher crimes rates, meaning that superheroes now have to deal with both supervillains and regular criminals, at a lower pay.

These kids live these pressure in families that are considered literal humanity’s saviours, they are superheroes, they are in museums and there are statues that portrait them!

School in the Hero League is highly competitive, kids are divided in courses based on grades: there are classes for “stupid kids”, classes for “average kids”, and classes for “the smart kids”! Heroes are trained to think about the action, not the meaning of it, not the goal: you have to save that victim, because saving is important, not necessarily the victim. You are a hero because you saved three hundreds people from a villain’s attack, but no one cares about the three hundred people.

Because of these reasons, kids develop this mentality of: “The greatness of the gesture is important, not the positive outcomes of it”, leading them to think that it’s more important to do the “Biggest thing” than the “Fairest thing”.

Now, in this fic, Max has to follow the rehabilitation process of three “aspirant supervillains” kids, trying to inspire them with his experience; during this journey, Max will have to review his beliefs, his self-esteem issues, confront his villain phase and his relationship with his parents and the idea of success, self-worth, and love.

I SWEAR, I never thought at a fanfic in which Max’s fear of failure and his villain arc is project in a hypothetical, dystopian The Thundermans universe, in which “superheroes” kids wanting to be super villains is a systemic social phenomenon created by capitalism and Hero League’s high competitiveness and toxicity!

I MEAN NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - GUYS, PLEASE GIVE ME THE BRAVERY TO WORK AND ACTUALLY WRITE THIS FANFIC!

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Now, a year ago, I wrote a school essay about my teen years, and like… would you like to read the part in which I talk about Max and this fandom? It’s pretty much a NiFi delirium, but still

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The clothes, in general, seem to have a more neutral, Earth tones focused palette (There’s a soft brown, a warm grey and a black), probably because they want to give her character a sense of maturity, since she in an adult.

They seem very elegant and professional, as well!

(What I think is Max’s wardrobe seem very formal as well, because I believe that the black thing behind the T-shirt could be a jacket.)

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That’s fine, everybody likes different things, that is beautiful!;)

I think that this song really explains how Max feels towards the phase!

“Sing, for that is all that you can be/ Sing, for that is how they can believe/ Sing, for that is how you chase your dreams”: I interpret that “Sing” with “Try to show them what you are capable of”, his actual abilities and his good side, I really think that Max kinda tried to be seen as talented, as good, especially in the first season

(“For that is all that you can be” [“If you are not a flawless, glorious hero, you are not worthy of love”], “for that is how they can believe” (They can believe that he is valuable!), “for that is how you chase your dreams” [dreams = recognition, attention]),

but when he starts to feel like his attempts aren’t enough (“And scream, I am not a song”: “I’m not a flawless, glorious hero” [the song]),

we have a transition from “Sing” (express your qualities) to “Scream” (“Do your worst, tell them that you are a villain, that’s the only way, they aren’t going to see you if you don’t scream that you are here!”: “Scream, for it's the only way they hear”),

“Scream, to overcome all of your fears” (fears = being the second best, not being loved and appreciated);

“It scares me to know I might be a simply product of my own convincing lies”:

it’s pretty straightforward, the villain phase!

“Forcing, forging, faking”: the “careless guy” mask;

“Afraid to keep on searching for a chance in vain” (his continuous failures with Dark Mayhem);

“To keep relying on something that might even not be a part of you”: Max isn’t a villain, it isn’t a part of him, and he knows, especially in Season 3, that it isn’t a safe role anymore;

he tries to externalise this truth, but he doesn’t know how to break free from this role, now if he isn’t “The guy who wants to be a supervillain”, he is nothing [“To be able to externalize and change the paradigms”]).

Max doesn’t want to be “The Second Best”, he doesn’t want to be “Forgotten”, that’s one of the reasons behind the phase (“I am trying desperately not to be forgettable” and “I am trying desperately not to be what I’m denying”); he isn’t seen by the other people, especially his family, his struggles aren’t noticed (“What I am hiding under the stars”: the “confident bad boy” facade.)

“Afraid, of being forgotten,

thrown away;

afraid, of being gone without a trace”:

(“And what are my choices, uh!? Be the Second Best at being good? Or be The Best at being bad? And I want to be The Best.”: this is pure fear of being forgotten, being “forgettable”; Max grew up in a society in which he saw statues, movies, shows about his own parents! If you aren’t “unforgettable”, then you are nothing.)

“Betrayed”

(“In case my family turns against me…” [Orginal Prankster])

“Afraid not to be more than just a name” (“I want to stand out!” [“Phoebe vs Max”]; Max wants to be more than a “Thunderman”, he wants to add his value to the World and create something significant!)

“I am dying to live with the monsters within my soul” (Max embraces a so-called dark phase because he thinks it’s his only option, he bases his identity on his flaws becoming the flaws, “I’m dying to…”: it isn’t easy for him, it’s unnatural, but he wishes it could be his true self!)

Hi! As I said, so glad you are back! 💗

“Forgettable” (Daydream XI), is literally the Max Thunderman’s anthem, in my opinion! Both the lyrics and the genre fit him really well!

Thank you! =)

I checked out the song and I have to admit it's really not my kind of genre, but I do see how the lyrics can relate to some of Max's internal struggles!

Here's how I would interpret it (maybe your interpretation is very different):

Max is indeed a superhero. And not only because of his powers or his parents or anything like that. That's important, but the main point is that there is a part of his personality that leans towards certain aspects of heroism (actually that would be quiet interesting to discuss - aspects of heroism as presented in the Thundermans...). Simultaneously he despises the idea of being a superhero within the norms dictated by the superhero council (of course the competition with Phoebe "to be the best" superhero is also part of the problem, but its root lies deeper than that). As Max doesn't see a way (he eventually starts to see one in season 4) to still be a superhero outside of these norms, he tries to convince himself, that the whole hero thing is not meant for him and turns to what he sees as the given "polar opposite", being a super villain, even if it is against his own nature. Interestingly enough, Max has exactly the same problems (constraints of freedom (obeying Dark Mayhem), acting against his own better knowledge, faking parts of his personality etc.) he had to face in the hero community. In the end he neither wants to be a classical superhero, nor a classical super villain, but also not a classical teenager (he still wants to use all his abilities and skills for something that makes sense in his mind). He knows exactly what he doesn't want - but not what he truly wants.

And I think that the lyrics of the song kinda resonate with that overall thought.

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THE SKRUNKLIES!!!!!!!!!

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We need:

Phoebe Thunderman’s character development: why does she want to be a superhero? How does she feel about being seen as the perfect girl? What does she think about herself on a deep level?

Appreciate. Max. Thunderman’s. Work. And. Skills. Please! I want a confident Max, who knows his worth and is supported in his community, the guy deserves that!

It’s still a kid show, but like… a more intense family moment in which everyone understands why certain things had happened?

I’d like to know more about Billy, Nora and Chloe! Character development for them! (And please, let them spend more time with the twins!)

More representation because it’s 2023???

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Okay.

Shit.

Like… hmm… like… wow.

@jawira707 I missed your blog so much, like you don’t even know 💗💗! So glad you are back!

THEY ARE MAKING A THUNDERMANS MOVIE ON PARAMOUNTPLUS! IT’S CONFIRMED! KIRA IS THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER! JACK SHARED THIS POST SO I’M VERY POSITIVE ABOUT HIM BEING IN IT AS WELL! IT’S HAPPENING OMG.

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Max Thunderman will invent a machine that creates time loops, and say “And if we fail?”.

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I love you 2006 kids who just discovered MBTI theory and they are now obsessed with their fellow Ne Dom fictional characters please make this fandom come back to life.

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Max Thunderman and Villain Whump? Yes.

Fanfic ideas

If you write any of these please tag me for credit and/or so I can read it 🥰.

Fluff=💞

Angst=💔

Angst with fluff ending=💔💞

Villian Max is injured but his superhero family doesn’t speak to him except Chloe has had enough of not being able to see her older brother so she teleports to him and sees he is injured and teleports him back to the family so they can help (💔💞)

Max is kidnapped and used to lure Thunderman or Electress to the kidnappers (💔💞/💔)

Max and Oyster going on a cute date (💞)

Max has a fever but pretends to be normal cause he doesn’t want to appear weak [and he thinks no one would care] but Collosso becomes fed up with Max harming himself so he goes off at the others for not noticing and they end up taking care of him (💔💞)

Max and Hank get in a huge argument and Max runs away (💔💞/💞)

Kid!Max doing literally anything (💔/💔💞/💞)

More will be added if I think of any. I will also cross out any that have been made but that doesn’t mean you can’t also make that one, I would love to see how different people write these 🥰!

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Phoebe: Are you… tired?

Max: … no…

Phoebe: Did you stay up all night, right?

Max: …

Phoebe: Did you stay up all night inventing?

Max: …

Phoebe: Oh no, did you stay up all night trying to find out something completely useless for your life?

Max: I know all the existing informations about the reproduction of bedbugs. It could be the end for you and all the people you love.

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Queer teens born between 2005 and 2008? Are you ready to enter in your nostalgia era and stan Max Thunderman?

Yeah, you definitely are!