#yywihh analysis

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Might be a hot take maybe not but I for one am extremely glad that the Nimona movie did not go with the original plan of making the director secretly bald or making her secretly a goblin like in the comic

Like no shade to those stories I adore the comic and I'm sure that movie would have been fantastic in its own way but I'm glad that that's not the direction they took. The idea of physical attractiveness corresponding to morals goes back a long time and was most prevalent in the west during the Victorian Era, when a person's appearance was believed to represent who they truly were inside. So a beautiful person MUST be good and kind and an ugly person MUST be evil. It was and still is extremely harmful.

We still see it today in tropes like the one that the Nimona movie was going to use-- "Beautiful Good Person is Exposed for their Evilness by Exposing their Ugly Appearance"-- this trope is most associated with A Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

But in reality, the "ugly" people who are forced to hide their true identity, to pretend to be something they're not, who have to go to great lengths to look a certain way so people won't despise them, those usually aren't the people calling the shots and leading powerful scary organizations.

Not like a pretty white woman with a kind, trustable face. Someone who has spent their whole life being able to manipulate others based on being perceived as unassuming, that's a much better depiction of the Director and all she represents in my opinion.

#nimona #yywihh analysis #nimona 2023 #the director #nimona graphic novel

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I am always losing my mind over this scene from the comic when Nimona is rampaging through the city, killing people and Ballister and Ambrosius have their trillionth Little Argument of the series.

More specifically I'd like to focus on how Nimona has at this point tried to kill Ballister by breathing fire on him and already killed like. Everyone working at the Institution Facility they were at and probably a great many civilians and Ballister says that, if he's able to calm her down, he is going to pretend like it never happened. A testament to the bond and love between them.

But he says this to Ambrosius.

Ambrosius who has been waiting for him to "get over" his betrayal for fifteen years. A ridiculous favor to expect. But imagine how it would feel to have just come off a conversation about how what you did can't ever be forgiven and how things can never return to the way they once were with the person you love. And then they express their willingness to immediately forgive someone else, who did arguably worse, to them and to others, than you did.

It's obviously a different situation. What Nimona did comes off as more of an outburst than a betrayal. But I don't think Ambrosius would see it that way.

And this is the moment he decides to fight Nimona, believing fully that he will be killed. He doesn't care if Ballister gets him the device or agrees to help him because he has no intention to survive. He intends only to keep her occupied long enough to maybe save a few more lives, hoping to buy enough time for someone to maybe figure out how to kill her. He intends to try his best, but I don't think he was arrogant enough to believe he would live. Especially based on the later line, when Ballister insists that he WILL die,

"I've never done anything good in my entire life. Maybe I can't stop her. But I have to at least try."

Ambrosius heard that the person he loved was willing to forgive someone else, but not him. He's already lost the job he sacrificed this relationship for. This is the moment he decides he wants to at least die a hero, the moment he decides to carry out his thinly veiled suicide attempt.

#cw suicide attempt #Super interesting also how Nimona takes his role in the movie #the role of “sacrifices themselves to eliminate a more serious threat and almost dies” #nimona #ambrosius goldenloin #goldenheart #ballister blackheart #nimona graphic novel #ballister x ambrosius #blackloin #yywihh analysis

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The line "you always did remember things as better than they were" hits harder when you realize Ambrosius is directly shown to have trauma-based selective memory.

#nimona #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister blackheart #nimona graphic novel #yywihh analysis

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I was thinking about the pre-joust and post-joust dynamic between Ambrosius, Ballister, and the Institution and I think I realized something

It's implied in the comic that Ballister, to some degree, didn't care that much about being a Knight when he was one. I think Ambrosius thought he cared less than he did, it had mattered to him, but there had to have been a reason the Director was willing to throw her most talented Knight under the bus, getting him maimed and fired.

I think Ballister was critical of the Institution. He took pride in and had fun being a Knight but he asked too many questions, made too many comments, thought too critically of the situation he found himself in. That's why Ambrosius says "Everyone knew you were going to be the one to go bad" at the bar. The Institution was suspicious of him because he wasn't naïve, like Ambrosius was. The Director literally STATES OUTRIGHT that the reason she wanted Ambrosius as the Champion was because he was naïve and susceptible to their influence and the literal second he starts to think critically and be like "wait uh ma'am it's kinda not okay to taze people to death isn't that. Like. Against our values??? We are supposed to be the good guys???" She's like "you're no longer of use to me"

And I think the reason that there's such a discrepancy has to do entirely with their backstories. Ballister was purchased by the Institution as an adolescent. He was sold by his father and bought like a commodity to pay off a debt. The Institution took him away from his family in exchange for debt relief. They trafficked him when he was well old enough to realize that he was being trafficked.

Ambrosius was an orphan, and judging from the fact that he knows literally nothing about his parents he must have been orphaned as an infant or extremely young toddler. He hadn't had any prospects, money, life, or privilege (he is. Very Much Not Like his movie counterpart lol) and the Institution took him in from whatever orphanage he'd been pattering around at for his early childhood. They, in his mind, gave him the opportunity to make something of himself.

Ambrosius worked hard and idolized the Institution while Ballister didn't put effort in to his Knight training and he criticized them

Because Ballister believed the Institution trafficked him. Ambrosius believed the Institution saved him.

#nimona #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister blackheart #nimona graphic novel #yywihh analysis #nimona analysis

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Rolling on the floor rn but I just learned about Eric Edson's 9 "likeability traits" for which a character needs just 5 or more to be perceived by the audience as likeable, and Ballister Boldheart the man the myth the legend has ALL OF THEM

1. Courage? It's literally in his name ffs

2. Unfair injury? Arm chopping is not a love language. Neither is being framed

3. Skill? We literally saw him take on a whole platoon and know he graduated top of his class

4. Funny? "Boo! I'm a ghost-- hahaa sorry" he's fucking hilarious

5. Just plain nice- literally the whole time. Kind lovely wonderful man is kind lovely and wonderful.

6. In danger? I would consider LITERALLY EVERYONE BEING OUT TO GET YOU danger

7. Loved? Ambrosius and Nimona would die for this man

8. Hard working? It's literally confirmed in the line "you were better and worked harder than all of us."

9. Obsessed? This one is the most debatable but becoming a knight was clearly an objective he was obsessed with completing. It kept him from questioning the Institute even when he knew they maimed and framed him.

Ballister Boldheart is THE most likeable character

#i dont necessarily agree with Edson's list #for example it implies my own personal Babygirl Ambrosius Goldenloin (comic ver) is not likeable #Its missing a few very important likeability traits such as “twink” and “cuntinesss” #however I am howling that by these metrics Ballister Boldheart is #in fact #the most likeable character of all time #yywihh analysis #nimona #ballister boldheart #nimona 2023

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I don't think people talk nearly enough about how similar Ambrosius and Nimona (Comic Ver.) Are

Like on the outset yes, they are extremely different most particularly in their values. Ambrosius values righteousness, conformity, "goodness", and power while Nimona values chaos, individuality, justice, and loyalty. But who they are and how they act is pretty similar

They both tend to not take things seriously (even when in a very serious situation) but have explosive outbursts of anger or rage when they feel vulnerable. Ambrosius blew up Ballister's arm because he was scared of the Director's rejection and angry at Ballister for winning. Nimona tried to kill Ballister because she was scared he was going to harm her and angry he'd betrayed her trust by telling Ambrosius about her kryptonite.

They both frequently act childish in addition to Nimona actually experiencing involuntary age regression. While we don't see Ambrosius do this per se, we do see him revert back to the mindset of past parts of his life with seemingly little to no awareness that he is not currently existing in that space (I'm referring to the prison scene where he fondly reminisces about teenhood with Ballister like they are still friends without seeming to be aware that they are NOT, even when Ballister says this). So to headcanon that he would experience involuntary age regression isn't a stretch but maybe I'm reading too far into it who knows anyway

They both have outbursts (that hurt people they care about) that they struggle or completely fail to take accountability for

They both had nobody else but Ballister but were so woefully unable to regulate their emotions that they drove him away resulting in years of separation

If we drag movie Nimona into this comparison, both she and C! Ambrosius made one final, suicidal attempt of a grand gesture to save the day in the end fully viewing themselves as a monster and viewing dying to save the world their only path to redemption.

While I don't think they'd get along, I think they would come to understand and eventually respect one another. I think Ballister would see these similarities between the people he loves and that's how he'd know he could get them to coexist.

#idk maybe I'm off the rocker rn I'm taking narcos for My Liver is Enlarged And They Don't Know Why Disease making my tummy hurt #but like i think they're very similar actually??? #is it just me or are they both kinda bpd coded??? based on my research idk #nimona #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister blackheart #nimona graphic novel #nimona 2023 #yywihh analysis

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I know I said I think Ambrosius would be supportive of Blackheart reconciling with Nimona and I stand by that, however I don't think that would be the case at first.

Think about it, Ambrosius probably assumed (since Ballister told the press) that Nimona was dead. He'd feel bad that Ballister lost his friend but coming off the end of the comic he'd likely still see her as a volatile, unstable monster. He had expressed to Ballister that even if she was calmed down, he firmly believed that another attack would be inevitable and therefore anything less than killing her was putting more people in danger.

This means that at some point Ballister, if he had any interest in having an honest relationship, had to tell him she lived.

We the audience know that on some level, Nimona is misunderstood albeit heavily flawed. Ambrosius does not. All he saw was her regularly go against Ballister's orders to murder his men, turn into a dragon, mercilessly slaughter hundreds of innocent people, and then rip him to shreds.

And just-- imagine what a fucked up conversation that was. Imagine the ANGST. Imagine how absolutely completely terrified Ambrosius would feel because she's still alive, it's going to happen again, and this time I won't be able to stop her, and countless more people will die. The terror of knowing the creature that disfigured and disabled you is still out there, possibly wanting revenge for stealing away its only friend. And then feeling like you can't even be upset about it because you KNOW you already don't deserve the kindness you're receiving from the person who you hurt, and they loved that creature for some reason.

Imagine how Ballister would feel, because he knows Ambrosius has a right to be afraid, he has been deeply physically and mentally traumatized, he knows he has a right to be angry because he was hurt, but at the same time he wouldn't be able to stand hearing Ambrosius say vindictive things about his little buddy who he knows was no more in that moment than a scared, angry, neglected child. Imagine the ambivalence and the anger and the guilt.

I think eventually they'd come to an understanding and they'd both be more supportive of each other in that issue but man. That conversation? Woof.

#nimona #ambrosius goldenloin #goldenheart #ballister blackheart #nimona graphic novel #ballister x ambrosius #yywihh analysis #nimona analysis #yywihh comic hcs