#I still don't think he works on a strictly aesthetic level and my brain is on FIRE trying to work out why exactly that is

[marypsue]

A two-sentence thought/observation I had about Stranger Things’ Vecna is ballooning into a several-page thesis on how to construct a memorable villain, visually/aesthetically, and you are all going to hear about it. Eventually. 

#and I am having a fucking BALL #i'm still not finished season four (yeah STILL) but even with the spoilery stuff I've been unable to avoid #and the growing hints that all the apparently random disparate aesthetic elements are connected by Lore(TM): #I still don't think he works on a strictly aesthetic level and my brain is on FIRE trying to work out why exactly that is #(the very very tl;dr version so far: no coherent primary aesthetic element linked directly to a recognisable silhouette #+ also just Too Much additional visual elements with no clear throughline) #(a good memorable visually compelling villain should have a Hierarchy of iconography. this guy's just got a constellation) #(if you have to tell a story about why the visual elements are all connected and you don't have One that people can look at and go #'oh yeah that's that guy' #then your villain is not aesthetically coherent or memorable! sorry!) #anyway. i'm going to write a post once i've got my thoughts together so i won't rewrite that post in the tags here #but yeah brace yourselves. a very enthusiastic amateur breakdown of Why Certain Villains Are Visually Iconic #(And Why Certain Others Failed At That) #(and not just the one mentioned in the post either) #coming soon to a tumblog near you