The Vibes Bulletin: a column by Vivi Hayes.
March 2, 2026
Basically I’m Vivi, and when I’m not editing Perfectly Imperfect, I find myself dwelling on the “vibes” floating around my own life and the broader culture. Why do they do that? And will they do that forever or just for right now?
The Vibes Bulletin will be my attempt to catch those slippery fractals, a kind of personal trend forecast: the vibes I predict will be important to me (and maybe others too).
When I was a child, I thought the worst thing a person could be was mean. Or evil. I was not rocking with anything I perceived to be “twisted.” I held this belief so tightly that if I made the terrible mistake of saying “I like this song” in the car about something on the radio, I then had to say it about every song, so as not to hurt the other songs’ feelings. There was no excuse to be mean. No matter the slight, no matter the hurt that followed.
Of course, adolescence arrived, and I discovered a few things. Namely: the song “Tear Away” by Drowning Pool. The chorus lyric, “I don’t care about anyone else but me / I don’t care about anyone,” struck me as a revelation. If this sentiment is so bad… and it IS so naughty and bad… then why does it feel so… good?
An equally important discovery preceding this period was the following tale of a boy. A young boy. A damned and scorned boy.
An orphan on a Little League team called the Dinos.
It's the ninth inning of the last game of the season: the championship. The boy stands in the outfield, in the perfect position to catch the final ball of the game. But he does not catch it because he is sleeping. He is in the perfect position to make the winning catch, and he is sleeping in the outfield. Following the loss, the rest of the Dinos beat him up, giving him an eye so black he ices it with a frozen cut of meat he calls “Mr. Steak,” “his only friend.”
But how does a boy who lives for baseball fall asleep in the ninth inning of the championship game? He was kept awake all night by his roommate, Lewis, who had rushed to finish his science fair project, scheduled for the very same day as the championship. For the rest of his sad, pitiful life, the boy swears revenge on his roommate.
This boy? Michael "Goob" Yagoobian, a.k.a. the Bowler Hat Guy, villain of the 2007 film Meet the Robinsons.
Goob did a number on me. If he is so evil (literally so bad) then why do I feel such empathy for him? Why do I relate to him? (watch this)
In what I refer to (often, perhaps too often) as my “playfully misanthropic” periods, I find myself drawn to villainous motifs. Does this make me evil? No. It makes me regular. It makes me human. There is something clarifying about admitting you are not always the hero of your own narrative. I suspect 2026 may be a year in which I take notes from my favorite cartoon villains. The hero usually wins, yes. But sometimes the villain wins in categories like swag, aura, and commitment to the mission. I don’t recommend actually being mean and bad but maybe what I’m recommending here is acquiring a bowler hat, a cool gadget, etc.
For this issue of the vibes bulletin, I am exploring the vibe that both frightens and entices me: the darkness. The Evil Vibe.
Without further ado…
🎵
“One hand will wash the other…” An all-time favorite song of mine. While researching it on Wikipedia, I learned that “it was reviewed on Beavis and Butt-Head in a positive manner.” The music video should be watched in conversation with (and lowkey have the same cultural relevance) as the video for “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden. They caricaturize suburbia in this specific, surreal, hyper-saturated way. Very evil and cool! Both videos dropped the same year, and while I can’t find the exact date, “Savory” may have even come first. Post-hardcore = best music ever. This track is formative for me in taste, sensibility, everything. This song is also a go-to karaoke pick (if you’re at the kind of place that lets you search it on YouTube). Let me just mic drop with these lyrics real quick: Hey angel, consider your position Framed to be consumed Savory Savoring your sympathy Hey angel, fly over and bless me See you feign surprise That I'm all eyes And you're all you need to be Hey angel, whatever position We consider fit To put you in You'll protest your complicity Easy now One hand will wash the other One hand will wash the other
🏢
Oh boy, what an architectural feat! Frankly, whatever insurance happens inside this building is none of my business; it’s a marvel of design pulled straight from my dreams. Vivi, why is that? It’s so ominous. It looks, well… evil! Yeah b*tch, exactly. When I was a kid, I played Toontown more than anything, though I sometimes had an aversion to all the loony sweetness. That is, until it was time to enter the foggy, industrial Cog Headquarters, where I could aesthetically catch my breath. The Lloyd's building is a Cog HQ, but in REAL LIFE. Nicknamed the Inside-Out Building, you have to imagine my excitement when I stumbled across it on my trip to London last month. Completed in 1986 and commissioned by Richard Rogers, it’s simply awe-inspiring. Not much more for me to say about it. I have only the regular knowledge of architecture. Pedestrians encountering the building, such as myself, are bound to notice the handrails affixed with signs that read “No unauthorized entry to the public,” which is incredibly common, but on a building like this only increases its mystique.
🔮
For my ninth birthday, I had an A Series of Unfortunate Events-themed party. It is the piece of media most important to who I am today. My mother meticulously planned a themed soirée, but all of the referential activities went over the girls’ heads because only one had any familiarity with the series. What a waste. One of the gifts I received was my A Series of Unfortunate Events-themed Magic 8 Ball. Consult the ball for fateful answers, and through that foreboding dark liquid it will respond with phrases like “Signs point to bleak,” “Unfortunately, yes,” and “Reply dismal, try again.” Hmm. I wonder what sparked my cynical streak.
👾
I was maybe 13 when I was introduced to Danganronpa, and I’m revisiting it now in preparation for the release of Danganronpa 2×2 this year. The game franchise and its accompanying anime series follows a group of superlative high school students forced to murder one another to escape the clutches of the Machiavellian, total-despair–inducing little bear Monokuma, who, IMO, might just be the greatest villain in the history of uhh ever? It’s incredibly well crafted and written. Stylistically, nothing really compares. If you’re okay with gore and the truly dreadful, the twisted execution sequences are something else, but honestly, don’t spoil it for yourself. Go experience it firsthand. It’s also worth noting that Danganronpa is randomly behind many a trend on TikTok (see: Junko-posing). It’s more relevant than ever.
👥
In 2026, it might be time to hone in on one goal: crafting the perfect posse. Think Entourage, the Heathers from Heathers, The Kardashians, the pups in Paw Patrol. No single figure from any of these groups would have achieved quite the same cultural staying power alone. The magic lives in the mix here! And group dynamics are SO fun to play with. I have no intention of forming one, but if I did, I’d seek out a comic-relief spacey one, the wild card, the brains of the operation, the brute (for bodyguard purposes), and, of course, the benevolent, responsible heart holding it all together. The reason I included posses is that they can be a way to exert power both within and beyond the group, if you’re into that sort of thing (very evil).
🔴
The precursor to Disney XD (which was just like Disney Channel… but for BOYS!) was Jetix. The design elements of the logo are interesting. The color choices, typography, and that little spiky guy all look very evil to me, but in the cute way that I like. I’ve always been a little disturbed by TV interstitials. I’ve long held the belief that there’s something sinister about them. Maybe it’s because I see one and think you’re literally interrupting my program right now. Jetix had some cool ones. They remind me of the music video for “6 Underground” by Sneaker Pimps. I don’t know.