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cocogum · 22 days

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Yugo’s ambiguity.

I love to think that the reason why Atone is nonbinary despite being an extension of Yugo is because Yugo physically LOOKS ambiguous when he’s older.

Like my guy looks like an accurate angel if it took human form, not female but not male either. He looks very much like he’s in the middle.

If it wasn’t for the fact that we saw his upper body being exposed in Toross’ world and heard him speak, then I genuinely think that he could’ve been perceived as neither gender or a mix instead.

And his wakfu wings (or antlers as I like to call them) clearly emphasize the angel look even more!

If someone were to take his hat off and build his body to make it look like Grougaloragran’s human body, then we would have the embodiment of ambiguity.

No joke, I genuinely believe Yugo has the face for it.

Even when we see him from the back of his head, we can’t tell if this is a guy or just a girl with short hair.

*This scene was the only one I could find where we get a distinct shot of the back of his head in his adult form*

Every eliotrope gets something from their creator no matter how small or big that physical or mental trait is. Whether it’s his lust for fighting (Bouillon), his cockiness (Sidaire), his stubbornness (Oropo), or even his belief that he can do what he must to properly lead (Ripulse).

*I would’ve actually mentioned the female eliotrope who was in Oropo’s group as well and related a trait of Yugo’s to her but since we didn’t get too much of her in the episode, like even knowing what her name was, I didn’t include her in the enumeration*

So who’s to say Atone doesn’t represent a mental trait of Yugo’s but rather a physical trait?

It would make sense given how Yugo doesn’t actually think he identifies as nonbinary but simply looks ambiguous without even realizing it himself.

I just love to think that’s the case because Atone has honestly been making me wonder what he could have possibly gotten from Yugo. Eliotropes are at their core alter egos of Yugo. They have at least one thing that connects them to him. Like broken glass fragments that complete a mirror when they’re all put together. And Yugo is that mirror.

Atone is an extension of Yugo’s ambiguity and it makes perfect sense.

Yugo has such a good complexion but it’s so vague at the same time that I can definitely see how he could be interpreted as imprecise just by his face alone.

An angel taking human form is exactly what comes to mind when I think about him 💕

So by that logic, having Atone being nonbinary would not only give us a wink at Yugo’s unspoken physical ambiguity, but it would also give us a copy of Yugo if he had been entirely identifying as nothing concrete.

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bugsbenefit · 3 months

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"i just want byler to happen, Mike's sexuality doesn't need to be defined for that" is all well and good but doesn't acknowledge that it would actively devalue byler

for a ship to be compelling and universally enjoyed (not just by a subset of fans who's been hyperinvolved with the ship for years) it needs to be built up and executed well... which means BOTH characters need to have depth and a coherent character arc in order for people to get why the ship is happening and why they should root for it

if we never even get insight into the most surface level "did he even like El romantically at some point" questions, his character is absolutely fucked forever. goodbye main character Mike, Will might as well date a random new guy then if they were to reduce Mike to an actual prop with nothing worth exploring on screen. Byler would have no hit to it and would be a waste of a childhood friends to lovers and mc/mc romance

just Will having a compelling arc with his sexuality isn't enough to carry the ship if the other party gets brushed off with a "he likes Will back so we don't care about anything else he's got going on". especially when Will thinking Mike was straight so he had no chance with him was a main plot point of the previous seasons. Mike can't just suddenly do a 180 with no further explanation without it being bad writing. that's just the fact of the matter. byler would be rushed and bad writing if it was executed like that, no shipping goggles or love for their characters would change that

if you "just want byler to happen" and want it to be done in a way that doesn't have people hate it you DO actually want Mike's sexuality to be addressed. because one requires the other to happen

#byler happening needs both Mike and Will to have good writing to justify how we ended up here #in an 80s small town setting they'd both already have a queer arc needing to be explored #but in Mike's case it's even more on the nose because the idea of him Not being queer was specifically what caused so much conflict #for Byler in s4 #if Mike's sexuality is just brushed over Byler would objectively be another ship that had potential in theory but sucked so bad in canon it #fell through

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rotdot-com · 9 months

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Begging people to realise tma's themes of agency and control extend to characters other than Jon

#thinking about melanie again #jon completely robs her of agency in s4 and she is (justifiably) angry at him #and the fandom just. acts like he's done nothing and melanie is just this awful cruel person #tbh i think if melanie and basira were male they would be afforded so much more leniency in what they did #disclaimer I love jon he is absolutely my favourite character but good lord he has done a lot wrong that a lot of people don't acknowledge #and basira and melanie have both done bad things too obviously but god they aren't constantly out to get jon #tma #the magnus archives #melanie king #jonathan sims #t.txt

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olyphant-tim · 1 year

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JUSTIFIED – 4x05 “Kin”

#timothyolyphantedit #justifiededit #tvedit #justified #dailytvfilmgifs #televisiongifs #cinematv #userkk #usermarshal #not a fan of the S4 hair but when it gets all FLOPPY ;____;#gifs*#**

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eury--dice · 2 years

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guillermo deserves to stake nandor right in the chest

#even more so now. like always but it just became even more justifiable #wwdits #what we do in the shadows #wwdits s4

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beevean · 2 days

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A theory I've read more than once is that this one frame of Lenore entering Hector's cell for the second time is proof that she is not actually enjoying what she has to do:

The wiki describes it as such: "Lenore has a sad expression when entering the dungeon to visit Hector the second time."

Also this, from a comment I found:

Like for example when she goes to meet Hector the second time, you can see sadness on her face when she is walking alone in the dungeon, but as soon as she approaches Hector she puts on a smile. I.e. may be she already knew she had to use the ring at that point and felt bad about it but didn't want Hector to realize that. A lot of such small animation details really provide a glimpse into what the explicit writing was lacking.

Okay.

First things first: I doubt she has the ring in mind already. It's hard to tell because Lenore pulls it out of her ass with zero foreshadowing whatsoever, but with the way it was framed, the ring was likely a direct response to Striga's idea of buying mercenaries to make Hector unnecessary, which comes later into the story: Lenore even uses the information she eavesdropped from Striga as a way to lie to Hector about her loyalty to the sisters. In theory it makes sense, because Hector needs to be reliable to be allowed to live, but the ring is... a very poor solution the more you think about it, because it only addresses one of the many logistic problems that come with forcing Hector to make an army of Night Creatures, and it's not the dead bodies/living livestock paradox. And going with the story, it's unlikely Lenore was already thinking of raping the ring into Hector: why would she waste time interrogating him to understand what he wants, then? She could have already started flirting with him. Then again, why even try to gaslight him into obedience and appreciation if she planned to brute-force her way in anyway... ah whatever, moving on.

Second: that expression honestly doesn't look sad to me. I would be willing to give the interpretation some credit, because she's looking downwards which can be a sign of sadness, but after that one frame, she switches to this expression:

Now she looks mildly pissy, like the idea of talking to Hector is just soooooo annoying, ugh. She even has the sassy cocked eyebrow lmao.

Of course that can't be it, so I propose the most obvious interpretation: she's serious and deep in thought. That is because their first encounter ended up disastrously: Hector assaulted Lenore with the intent of threatening her, which pissed her off, and she assaulted Hector by beating him to an inch of his life, which is not the best way to win a pet's trust. So she's most likely thinking the best way to approach him again.

And I'll even praise a small detail: the first time Lenore fed Hector, she made him crawl towards her to eat from her hand. The second time, however, she tosses an apple to his feet. Both gestures are demeaning, but after that incident she seems to be more cautious towards him, and being more careful into manipulating him. I'm honestly surprised that her final solution is stupid as fuck when she can be intelligent when she wants to. real reason she's hector's soulmate: both of them have braincells like christmas tree lights :V

Third: oh, my good shipping friend, do you want to talk about explicit writing?

These are not freeze frame bonuses. The scene lingers on this expression on Lenore's face as Hector is screaming in pain over the ring she put on him.

So, you're willing to believe Lenore didn't want to use the ring but felt forced to because in one frame she has an expression that mildly looks displeased... but somehow you ignore this blatantly sadistic reaction? This screams, at the very least, "haha, sucker, I've won"; but add to this that Hector is visibly and audibly in pain, shocked and scared at the curse overtaking his body during a vulnerable moment...

This ties well with how she beat Hector to a pulp not just out of self-defense, but because she wanted to feel strong and powerful when surrounded by people who underestimate her - the writing might imply that she was offended that Hector too saw her as vulnerable and stupid, but she was explicitly laughing and mocking him while showing off her strength (a strength she doesn't display when, say, Isaac enters her cage: he easily intimidates her). You might read the implication that Lenore spoke about Hector so disgustingly to the sisters to be taken seriously as a vampire mistress and didn't actually want to dehumanize him, but explicitly, even ignoring the forced pet play that showed she had fun treating him like a dog, she reduced him to a "problem to be solved" when complaining about her woes, and when she could have apologized or explained herself she minimized or doubled down on the harm she caused, never once expressing any remorse or doing anything worthwile to make up for it (like, for example, talking about the ring and how it's a shame Hector is only there because he has no choice because she feels they'd be good friends without it: that would imply guilt).

One frame might paint her as a reluctant villain only trying to make everyone happy and being stuck between a rock and a hard place, but multiple scenes paint her as a vile bully and abuser who enjoys feeling in power and control, whether she uses kindness or harm to achieve her goal.

I'm sorry, subtext can absolutely enrich the understanding of a story or character, but not when it actively contradicts the text.

Do you want my personal example? I'll play the same game. When Isaac attacks the castle, Lenore goes to rescue Hector first thing, instead of checking on Carmilla. For one moment, she even looks torn on where to go:

This shows that she cares about him quite nicely and believes his safety is the first priority, without having to spell it out - no declataration of love, no "you're too important to me", the action speaks for itself. However, there is also her reaction when Hector severs his fingers to get rid of the ring, after he explains that "command and control flows through [him] to Lenore here and to her friends":

It could be simple disgust because, well, there's a severed finger and pools of blood lying near her. But I also see what the commenter saw in that frame in S3: sadness. Defeat. Lenore has lost control of the Night Creatures. She can't do anything to protect Carmilla and the castle. And she has lost control of Hector, who has gone behind her back and is protecting her at the expense of her sisters and home. She's powerless. Everything she has worked for went up in smokes and was pointless. Which, as it was shown and told, greatly bothers her. (this is also why I believe her suicide makes sense for her state of being, an opinion apparently not shared by her fans)

This leads to my interpretation which is something that more people need to learn, and the reason I keep eviscerating this character because the writing and the fandom piss me off something fierce: abusers can care about you. They can care about your safety and well being, they can want what (they think) it's best for you. What makes them abusers is that they place more importance on their own need of control. Lenore wanting to save Hector because she has grown close to him and finds in him someone who listens to her doesn't at all erase in the slightest all the harm she has caused him: which, I reiterate, includes lying to him and taking advantage of his feelings and need for love to trick him into sex with the objective of placing a slave ring on him, and enjoying his suffering when she won - and when Hector called her out on this, her response was "YOU WERE HAVING FUN".

At the end of the day, she has never stopped behaving like a vampire, a creature whose definition of love is "acting to keep something with you for as long as you can". Even in her most wholesome scenes, like this one or the one where she pleads for more of Carmilla's patience, it's easy to see at the core of it all a need to control the situation and people involved, and reluctance to admit her needless cruelty. This is nuance, not "she's actually good deep down, pls ignore all the sexual abuse because it was for Hector's own good 🥺".

On one hand, it's true that when you do character analyses, you will always be biased, because you come in with your ideas and preconceptions. I am biased too, of course, you can tell. On the other, it's dishonest to cling only onto the most convenient hidden details to look like you have fully understood the text, when you dismiss the most obvious ones that are so obvious you have to actively try to.

#anti netflixvania #lenore thoughts #i am *so* tempted to tag the character this is the most i've analyzed her lol #ofc she *does* become a reluctant villain in s4 because oh no carmilla is insane now!#but that was stupid #and besides as i always say s3 lenore and s4 lenore are not the same character #see? this is what makes understanding lenore so hard and why there's still discourse #this is not 'nuance' or complexity. she's just wildly inconsistent™#i want to see what everyone is seeing but i feel like i'm reading an alien language #also yes i re-read the script to find the scene where striga talks about hiring mercenaries #her point makes sense #and making sure that hector won't raise an army against them in no way solves the paradox of using dead bodies to do so #as. you know. forcing him to do the work carmilla dragged him there for. since he stalled for six weeks without consequences.#i hate that fucking ring it is so fucking pointless and stupid #sure cool shipping symbolism but it breaks apart faster than this show's writing #it only exists to justify a rape scene that gets brushed off by the story and its fans and god it's abysmal

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