#which y'know isn't correct but it's kind of based of him to want to be a crab

[onefey]

purely based on the various creature motifs on his clothing/armor and the fact that the one boss we see him summon personally is a giant skeleton, i think zant is very interested in zoology and anthropology. and i think he probably had several published theories (prior to the whole coup thing) on the natural effects of the twilight realm on its native fauna, and how the twili would further evolve based on it. and he kind of saw the whole "shadow beast" evolution as the endgame in a like "well the realm is trying to do this to us anyway so is it even correct of us to try and prevent it" kind of way. what i'm saying is that zant's philosophy is basically someone saying "if carcinisation is going to happen naturally anyway then let's all just become crabs NOW and get it over with"

[daandyli0n]

alright, so! some design fun facts for my versions of the Withered Animatronics

@that-darn-clown if you wanna see these

In General:

the original Freddy's Band was based off of toys from Henry's childhood.

the names have been changed heavily from the plushies, though: Teddy, Theodore, Dawn, and Cooper.

(Un)Withered Freddy:

based off of Teddy, a stuffed bear with buttons pre-sewn in.

has a pencil mustache

general vibes were supposed to be "tough guy that you might mistake for a criminal, but is actually just fatherly boss type of guy."

suffered the least amount of overall damage after being withered

the part of his endoskeleton that controlled his left eye weakened over time, causing the eye to "roll around" a bit.

voice box is very damaged, though: music and voice comes out heavily distorted and glitchy, to the point it's nearly impossible to understand.

(Un)Withered Bonnie:

based off of Theodore (the OG, not the one he made for Sammy), a stuffed rabbit that also had buttons pre-sewn in.

based roughly off of country and rock singers in the 70s (Henry's a southern country dude to me, y'know?)

vibes were "jokester rock star dude who is Definitely not gay for the lead singer (Freddy)." also meant to be kind of a dick. a likeable dick, though.

suffered the most damage after being withered. no one knows how he got that damaged. they think he was likely vandalized, though.

can't speak clearly; think UCN, voice and speech is heavily distorted and nearly unintelligible, but speech can still be made out.

shambles/limps as he walks due to his legs being more rusted, as well as having stability problems in general.

shirt was pinned down using the buttons, and then tore off; what happened is unknown

(Un)Withered Chica:

based off of Dawn, a stuffed rooster that Henry had initially believed was a hen until "corrected." still treated her as a hen though.

due to this, as you can guess, Chica is meant to be canonically transfem.

supposed to give off "young southern woman who takes no shit from anyone and cooks for everyone just because she wants to" vibes.

Henry ignored any questions about Chica being trans for years, and justified the tailfeathers on what's supposed to be a hen as a "design choice" (which isn't wrong, to be clear. he's just purposefully being vague).

eyelids + lashes fell off, giving her a permanently wide-eyed look.

"wrist" joints rusted and "hands" fell off

beak joints became weak and started falling apart, leaving her with a permanently gaping mouth.

apron 🥰🥰

(Un)Withered Foxy:

based off of Cooper, a stuffed Fox that was constantly falling apart when Henry was growing up

yellow eyes and stuff was based off of Henry's mom replacing the eyes with yellow buttons.

pirate because he asked Michael for a theme for the ""antagonist""* and that's what Michael picked.

* not really that much of an antagonist, think Rolfe from the Rock-Afire Explosion but if you mixed him with Doofenshmirtz. basically he'd just annoy everyone with his pirate schemes, but they were all buddies.

nobody knows how Foxy got that damaged.

his peg leg is straight up Ripped Off.

so is his eye

attacks by running through the hall on all fours like a dog and then propelling himself and lunging into the office.

eyes are very sensitive from his time in the dark, more so than the others somehow, which is why the flashlight works so well. no one knows why his eyes are so much more sensitive, though.

people think Foxy tore himself apart somehow (due to his more erratic behavior compared to the others post-MCI), or that someone vandalized him for some reason.

[wernher-von-brawny]

I think most of us know -- or will eventually figure out -- that the real point of contention isn't biology, but behavior.

The goal of conservatives and other authoritarians is to make people obey authority; and if who you are is in conflict with the precepts upon which they've based their authority, then to make you deny who you really are.

Or as they so often put it, to "respect their authority".

People with secrets are compromised, and compromised people are easier to blackmail and bully and control.

And if you happen to be in the business of doing big crimes, people with secrets to keep are less likely to speak up or expose you. In that way, compromised people are good for business.

Electroshock therapy isn't meant to "cure" homosexuality; it's meant to torture homosexuals until they capitulate to authority, and conform to whatever conservatives have enshrined as "correct" or "proper" or "decent" behavior.

They want submission and obedience, and a public expression of fealty and servitude, and once they have that, well then closeted conservatives are free to indulge and even celebrate their deviant urges, as long as it's done out of sight.

Maybe some of the poors don't know about these special privileges, but it's pretty much an open secret amongst the higher classes -- and clergy (ZING!).

I mean, fuck, in 1988 (-ish?) it came out that there was a vast gay pedophile ring that existed solely to service Congressional Republicans.

It appeared as a major headline in one newspaper for one day, and was never mentioned again -- at least until Jeff Gannon showed up at a White House press briefing and pulled a shit-ton of focus on himself by decrying those who disagreed with Bush's War On Terror as "divorced from reality", which invited inconvenient inquiries into his past before he quickly disappeared back into anonymity… but that's a whole other story.

I've come to imagine that 1988 headline as a power play of some kind, briefly floated in the media in order to extract a payoff, and then locked back in the closet.

Y'know, like how Putin invaded the Crimea, and then threatened to release Russian satellite photos of 9/11, and the very next day Angela Merkel and another head of state flew to Russia, gave him the deed to the territory, and Russian photos of 9/11 were never heard of again.

But anyway -- back to my point: in summary, conservatives know gay is real, but have cultivated bigotry against it because that bigotry can be weaponized as a tool of social control.

And they ain't giving up that tool -- that "heritage" -- without a fight.

They know it won't but they cannot handle what they can't understand. These are the same people that refused to wear masks during a global pandemic and died from COVID.

[dynamightmite]

It's my own fault for going on reddit to read people's opinions about the manga (I'm sorry in advance, this is gonna be long) but I swear to God if I see one more half-assed hot take about someone hating Bakugo that effectively boils down to "overt violence being casually dismissed bad" I'm going to start smacking people over the head with a newspaper.

Like. Yeah, bro. That's literally it. I mean, it's kind of hard to talk about the violence inherent in the system without, y'know, showing you the violence inherent in the system. It's almost like Bakugo was being used as a vehicle to get that message across from an early point (Deku vs. Kacchan 1, specifically) in a way that is mitigated by circumstance so that it can later be dissected and eventually forgiven.

The entire purpose of characters like Bakugo and Endeavor is to show the audience the cracks in Hero Society's shiny facade that will eventually lead to its downfall. In fact, it's framed as being inevitable; hero society actively selects for competetive, ambitious, powerful people, and the obvious end result is heroes like Endeavor. Like what Bakugo could have been without intervention. The implication, however, isn't that characters like Bakugo and Endeavor are inherently evil, but began from a point where their actions and goals were understandable, if not admirable, but eventually devolved based on the encouragement they got from the system.

The big difference between them is Endeavor is a character who didn't recognize the flaws in hero society until it was too late, whereas Bakugo did. Unlike Endeavor, Bakugo is designed to be forgiveable. He's a child, he's placed in a situation that frequently encourages violence between unpracticed children who have questionable control of their quirks, he's got a quirk that can almost exclusively be used as a form of excessive force, and he has a lot of personal issues that stem from the society he grew up in.

Like it doesn't strike you as relevant that Bakugo attacking Midoriya was put in the context of them being in a facility designed for children to fight in, at a school specializing in teaching children to fight as part of their future career? Under supervision of an adult hero who chose not to stop them from fighting when he could have? When Midoriya and Bakugo both have equally destructive quirks and, if they had actually wanted to kill each other, they absolutely could have, considering Bakugo's control of his quirk and Midoriya's comparative lack? You don't think maybe, just maybe, there was an underlying purpose to that?

Now, Bakugo is supposed to be like Endeavor in the sense that you see how, from a young age, these types of people can appear and become heroes despite their flaws and the dangers they can pose to the people around them, and why it is so important that they have some kind of early intervention to prevent them from taking advantage of a position of authority for their own gain. Can you imagine if there was no Midoriya for Bakugo to measure himself against, and find himself lacking? If nobody showed him how to hold himself accountable? He probably would have ended up being the kind of hero who only cares about winning in the sense of coming out on top, rather than doing so to protect people. Instead, the manga basically provides a step-by-step instruction manual on how to evaluate your life choices and appropriately atone for past misconduct. It has Bakugo choosing to work towards compassion and empathy as a motivator, as opposed to following Endeavor's path towards attempted greatness, which is framed as being the correct choice, because, well—it is.

"But the narrative sometimes still glorifies violence—" for fuck's sake, yes, I know. And guess what, it does become convoluted by the narrative's mixed attitude towards violence. I am not the first person to acknowledge that a lot of BNHA's worldbuilding and general themes contradict each other, nor will I ever be the last. Horikoshi is not exactly a master class on writing critiques of society, okay, and a pacifist superhero story has some fundamental problems that aren't really addressed or worked out in the manga. None of that negates how important it is to have a main character like Bakugo, who visibly and consistently struggles with trying to learn how to be a good person in a system that is set up to allow him to succeed without having to make any real changes to himself. That matters. Not only because it shows the flaws in hero society, but because it helps acknowledge how baked-deep societal ideologies can become, and how incredibly difficult and unrewarding it can be to break out from them. If all the characters were like Deku—ready to throw himself out of the mold at a moment's notice and be aggressively compassionate all over everyone—there wouldn't really be a conflict for the story to deal with. Just because Bakugo's character development can be painful at times doesn't mean it's not important for it to occur the way that it does.

[hello-nichya-here]

If Iroh doesn't acknowledge Azula as a victim of abuse, that means he can't relate to her, therefore Iroh either wasn't abused by his family or he was abused in a different way from Azula. Or maybe the truth is he just doesn't want to understand her. I really don't get why he's more sympathetic toward his brother who mutilated his beloved nephew's life. Like, what is he thinking, exactly? Perhaps his reasoning isn't supposed to go side by side with logic, but rather with feelings or sth. Here are my only guesses why Iroh doesn't care about Azula

1) She reminds him of his younger self that he wants to forget (which I don't even think has a point in saying how much is unfair to Azula)

2) She's a "hindrance" to Zuko

Sexism??? Idk. Actually no I don't think Iroh is a sexist based on his interactions with other women we saw so I'm not counting it, but you're welcome to correct me.

Iroh is not dumb enough to not comprehend what kind of situation Azula is in, but he's selfish enough to do zero shit about it. And for the ppl yelling "he was protecting Zuko from her" bitch pls. Azula didn't harass Zuko from the day she was born yet even when she and Zuko were children and their relationship wasn't so fucked up (which Iroh totally could have interfered with after he came back from war and even prior to that) he didn't give a shit. This man never cared about his neice, even before they became enemies. (No, the doll was not him showing her love lmao) Tell me then, if Iroh genuinely wants to guide Zuko on the right path and shield him from misfortune, why has Iroh never tried to pit Zuko against his real abuser, Ozai? Or do you want to tell me that Azula has somehow abused Zuko more than him? Why, throughout Zuko's whole journey, has Iroh never told his nephew that the way he was treated by his father, was wrong? Honestly I wouldn’t bash Iroh sm if he set Zuko against both of them yet here we are. Like really, Iroh? You think if Zuko puts her in her place and murders her, he's not going to lose it and be relieved or vice versa? You think making kids nemeses is going to lead to any good? Wisest character", my ass.

Warning, this is gonna be LOOOOONG and I'm gonna answer to your questions along with this ask I got from @profoundkryptoniteblaze after I pointed out another flaw of Iroh's because there are some points you both brought up that can be combined.

***

"If there was ever any moment in which Iroh could be seen as endangering Zuko, it was that one - hell, Iroh realizing he almost got his "son" killed was probably why he was following him during "The Chase" and tried to reason with him in "Lake Laogai."

Y'know it really gets me thinking if Iroh never learned anything from indoctrinating and sending his own son to death and only realizing the wrong of his actions after having lost him. Iroh let his other son chase after false hope and waste his life, exhausting himself physically and mentally for three years and was never shown trying to pry him away from Ozai or the FN's toxic mentality. Later he helped Zuko chase and almost capture the avatar at the north pole, the latter would've been frozen to death as a result had it not been for Aang's sympathy (honestly not just Iroh and Zuko but the whole world is lucky that he's so patient and compassionate) And then Iroh calls Zuko out for his recklessness in "Lake Laogai". Like what, weren't you the one who-- ah nevermind. I've only scratched the surface about how Iroh failed to guide Zuko and yet neither he, nor Zuko, nor the fandom seem to realize it.

***

To really understand the issues with Iroh, we need to look at the context behind his actions BOTH in universe and in the sense of "He is a fictional character and can be whatever the fuck the writers say he is."

Iroh as a result of issues with the writting

When Bryan and Michael were still toying with ideas to figure out what story they wanted to tell, Iroh was NOT the character we saw in the show. He was originally meant to be a twist villain who was intentionally giving Zuko terrible advice, to make sure he would never capture the Avatar and be able to come home.

That idea was scrapped and replaced with Iroh being a grey character. He was likeable, nice, and even kind, but he was on the wrong side of this conflict. He could be wise, but he could also give Zuko bad advice, the difference being that he didn't mean any harm and genuinely wanted the best for his nephew. He is far from perfect, but there is more than enough evidence that he can redeem himself.

Then, the writers thought of ANOTHER Iroh. One that had already gone through his redemption and is as perfect as a human being can be. This was the Iroh they decided they wanted.

The problem is that they only realized that was what they wanted in book 2, once they had decided that Azula would be both Aang and Zuko's antagonist, meaning the audience had already seen the morally grey Iroh, and thus they couldn't just go back and rewrite the story with that new version of Iroh in mind.

So, they had three options:

1 - Throw their new idea in the garbage can and stick with the one they had already spent over a season developing.

2 - Give Iroh a deep, complicated, time consuming character arc to lead him from point A to point B. This woudly likely force them to have more than jus the three seasons they were planning, and was a bit of a high risk, high reward situation, since it'd be hard to make a grey character naturally become basically perfect, but it could pay off if they did it right.

3 - Retcon the past season, acting like Iroh was ALREADY perfect and thus didn't need that major character development, pretending he had always been working behind the scenes with the White Lotus to end the war and never acknowledging that he spent all of book 1 trying to help Zuko capture Aang.

Bryke chose option three, and when we combine that with the fact, to this day, they don't seem to realize that Azula is an abuse victim and child soldier, makes Iroh's flaws and antagonism towards her a bug instead of a feature, since he is now meant to be perfect instead of a deliberately flawed character, whose opinions should NOT be taken as absolute truth.

Iroh in universe

When it comes to the Fire Nation royals, we need to remember that, on top dealing with the cicle of abuse, they're also fighting two wars - one against the nations they're invading, and other amongst themselves, to see who will be Fire Lord - that made their already fucked up family even worse.

Ozai tried to steal his brother's throne, and to assure her son wouldn't die, Ursa had to help him commit treason by killing the Fire Lord and usurping the throne of the rightful heir (Iroh). And Zuko, even though he loved Iroh, didn't recognize the fact that his father had no right to throne until the series finale. He went so far as once referring to himself as rightful heir to the throne due to being OZAI and Ursa's son - and that was while he was banished and being hunted down by Azula, who is either the Fire Lord's heir or the usurper's heir depending on whose side you're on.

But why would anyone side with Ozai? Simple: the Fire Nation has a noticeable pattern of thinking ANYTHING is fair in the fight for power, which makes sense considering they're imperialists that think the whole world belongs to them just because they said so.

THAT is how Iroh was raised to see things. Sozin, his gradnfather and Fire Lord, decided that he could murder his best friend, kill 1/4 of the world's population, and take over territory that belong to the other nations just because that was what he wanted to do. Azulon followed in his footsteps, and had no problem sending his own son into the battlefield - something Iroh also did, and then paid the price.

Lu Ten's death shook him to his very core - but it did NOT make him change sides. Neither did Ozai stealing his throne, nor him disfiguring and banishing Zuko. He was so passive by that point that Ozai just allowed him to stay in the Fire Nation, and even be a part of war meetings.

In said meetings, no woman was ever present, because the only three female warriors we see are Azula, Mai and Ty Lee (a princess/prodigy and two noble girls who are best friends with said princess). The only other women in see in anything close to a position as part "Fire Nation army" was the female guard that Iroh befriend AND the guard at the boiling rock. We also know that Azula would have been the first female Fire Lord ever, which all but states that, even if Ozai had been the heir and Azula had been his eldest child, the throne would have still been Zuko's, because women don't get to be rulers in the Fire Nation. It is very likely that being married to a ruler and having his heirs is the highest position a woman could have in their society. Royal and important, sure, but always in a supporting role.

This, obviously, affected Iroh too. While he doesn't really seem to think anything of women being warriors (which makes sense considering he spent life attacking other nations, and thus probably fought women sometimes - we saw women fighting in the Southern Water tribe and let's not forget the Kyoshi Warriors), we cannnot forget he did things like take advantage of the fact that June was paralized to show that he CAN be a bit of a dirty old man, and that his idea of a perfect gift for AZULA of all people was a doll.

However, that doll also reveals something important: Iroh DID once view Azula as a child, and as someone he had some sort of obligation to - hence him being "fair" and getting her a gift too since he had gotten one for her brother.

But the main problem when it comes to Iroh and Azula's relationship (or lack there of) is also clearly already there: Iroh has no idea who his niece is as a person, and assumes he can figure that out by just using some concept of what she "should" be like, based on her position in their society.

At that point, she is just a little girl. Little girls like things like pretty clothes, playing with dolls, and talking with their friends. Not something he can relate to, but not something that gives him a reason to hate her. She is also a princess, and thus important, worthy of praise and respect, and to be protected by all - just not as much as she would be is she were a prince.

But as we know, Ozai sees things differently - but that doesn't exactly means he sees Azula for who she is either. She is the second child, like himself, meaning she is not meant to inherit anything, only support her older brother. She is also a prodigy and incredibly smart, which could make one wonder if maybe she wouldn't be a better Fire Lord than the actual heir. Ozai was projecting onto her from the moment she was born, hence him naming her after the Fire Lord - after his abusive father that never gave a damn about him.

And that leads to another thing that makes Iroh not as perfect as the fandom sees him: Ozai's dynamic with his own children mirrors how Azulon raised him and his brother. One was the good for nothing child, the scapegoat, the disgrace of the family. The other was the golden child, the one who was absolutely perfect - because they HAD to be. Let's not forget that Azulon's idea of defending the rights of his favorite son involved making him grief both for his son AND his nephew. He also didn't give a shit about the fact that Ursa, Azula and especially Zuko, the one whose death he was ordering, had nothing to do with this shit. Azulon believed EVERYONE had to pay because ONE person fucked up.

This suggest that, even being the favorite, Iroh likely got screwed over by his father many times, and his continued support of him until his death AND the fact that he NEVER said a single negative word about him suggests Iroh is looking at Ozai's treatment of Zuko and Azula, seeing their own dynamic with Azulon in it, and thinking there's nothing wrong with it. I've said it many times, but he is the classic case of "That's not abuse! My parents did that to me and I turned out fine!" when they're not, in fact, fine.

Either way, due to still being too broken after losing his son, he isn't interested in this proxy-rivalry with his brother. But he did develop a genuine bond with Zuko - the first-born. the "heir", the son his brother looks down on. Which means he is sort of having a "passive" role in this weird dynamic, while Ozai is holding all the cards, and likely believes that Iroh is only "choosing Zuko's side" because he is also a "useless" son who just happened to have the luck of being born first.

For many years, Iroh isn't acting, he is reacting. Ozai wants the throne? Fine, let him have it, it's not like Iroh is in any condition to actually deal with that kind of stress anyways.

Ozai is playing favorites? Not great, but hey, isn't that what ALL fathers/Fire Lords do anyway? Either way is not like he has the authority to tell his brother how to raise his kids. It's too late for him to fight for the throne now.

Zuko needs someone to help him on his doomed mission to capture the Avatar? Fine, Iroh will go with him. He likes the kid.

The Avatar IS alive after all and Zuko is actively hunting him down? Well, those were the Fire Lord's orders, guess they must capture him.

Zuko wants to go capture the Avatar alone, in enemy territory, at the risk of freezing to death if he doesn't find some decent shelter? Well, it is his mission, he calls the shots.

Zuko is upset that his father doesn't love him? Why not tell him that Ozai DOES love him, and that's why he banished him? There's no way this could backfi- WHY WON'T ZUKO LISTEN TO HIM? WHY IS HE BELIEVING AZULA'S OBVIOUS LIE THAT OZAI WANTS HIM HOME?

But then we have the chain of events that make Iroh snap out of it: Zhao tries to kill Zuko, then kills the moon, and, finally, Ozai sends Azula to capture them.

Nearly losing someone he loved again, having his nation do something ungodly dangerous and stupid just to win more power, and then being actively hunted down forces Iroh to wake up and be the Dragon Of The West again.

But he did not heal. He did not change his mentality. He never understood just how horrible of a situation he was put in by his father - and that he is essentially giving into Ozai's game, in which they use Zuko and Azula as a way to hurt each other.

And we have the final piece of this puzzle: Azula is now, officially, his and Zuko's enemy. She is Ozai's heir, is trying to capture them, and her goals are to help the Fire Nation win the war - something Iroh can no longer accept.

He changed sides, but in his mind it is still "Us VS Them", and Azula now happens to be on the side of "Them." She is a soldier of the enemy, and can rival Iroh's chosen heir.

She is in the way, and in a war, people like Iroh are expected to either capture or kill "obstacles" like her. So, he does that, and expects Zuko to do the same, for his own good, because this is war, and if they don't win, they'll be at Ozai's mercy - and we know he doesn't have much of it to offer.

She is also someone who is going against what is "right." She is rebelling against her uncle and true Fire Lord, as well as her older brother and future ruler. They are above her in the Fire Nation's laws and social hierarchy in every way (status, age, gender, etc), and yet she is supporting a traitor who stole the Fire Lord's throne. She needs to be reminded of her place, and she can either accept that or deal with the consequences.

It never occurs to Iroh that it doesn't have to be this way, because this is all he has ever known.

[tiredassmage]

7 & 8 for the swtor asks? :)

Saving this for after work was the correct choice (and also I overslept, oops >.>) bc bOY WERE WE BUSY. So thank you, this kept me a bit more sane, lol.

ask list here!

7. Which player voice actor is your favorite and your least favorite?

To probably no one who has seen an ounce of my content ever, I'd listen (and... have... by playing) to the Male Agent for hours. I think I'm up to 3 male agent ocs and the urge to make more? Constant. Inescapable. More than likely inevitable, tbh. I'm a glutton for the punishment of Imperial Agent story, apparently. Just leave me where I lie, there is no saving to be done.

Female Smuggler gets an honorable mention as well because I adore her. I adore the humor of smuggler. I adore the sass, the take no shit.

THEY HAVE THE RANGE!

Anyway, my least favorite is... probably either of the Jedi Knights, I think. Side by side, they don't feel as distinguishable from one another as some of the other classes. The job is done; I've played both at least through the class story and I wouldn't mind doing it again just looking at voice acting, but I feel like other classes have a bit more pop and variety. Or maybe I've just played my Knights too predictably akdfnlksdnflsdf.

8. Name your top favorite companions.

Oh man. Oh boy. How do I pick??? Y'know what, maybe I'll choose violence. Maybe I'll pick my favorite from every class. I've played them all. I could do that. (It's just as daunting to consider as it may be to read.)

Preface: I think my faves are largely story-based in my reasoning - I like their story, I like how they're engaged in the story, etc. Very rarely do I swap companions because of a felt need in gameplay given everyone's capability to do anything, but I have done so for story reasons.

Okay, I decided I'm insane enough to try to pick one from each, so since that's quite a list, find that beneath the cut:

We'll start with Agent, my beloved, and Vector. The Friend The Agent Needs. No more need be said. I want to hug them. I hope he's having a good day. One day, I'll do his romance, too. Dot stop playing male agents challenge. (I'm such a creature of habit.)

Bounty Hunter's a tough call because I found myself fond of practically the whole damn crew. Real found family vibe. Idk if I love one of them so much over the other as much as I just appreciate the crew's dynamic overall so, so much. The level of interaction and mingling with the crew just felt so much higher or hit so much harder than a lot of the others that I'd rank BH as a class story relatively high on my list solely for companion interactions.

For Sith Warrior, again, to little surprise if you've heard me open my mouth, Malavai Quinn. Ironically and slightly unironically my "he did nothing wrong" bastard. I'm, unfortunately, so incredibly attracted to this smart idiot of a man. The repression of feelings to explosion of passion and dedication in his romance is chef's kiss kind of shit. They're lying if they're trying to convince me that this man isn't a disaster bisexual. He's just. So insanely pretty. I'll forgive him even if I ever make a character that won't.

I think Talos is probably my favorite Inquisitor companion. Whoever said we were robbed because we don't have an Inquisitor x Talos romance in-game? You're so right. Dude has a cool name. Love this history nerd. He's so incredible. I am so pleased he was still being bright and bubbly on Elom. Miss him.

Trooper is hands down Elara. Constantly tip-tapping like a very excited, happy dog when I see I can talk to best girl. I love her story. Her romance is incredibly sweet. She's the single thing that got me through a 2nd Trooper playthrough.

Smuggler's another no competition in favor of Bowdarr. I want to give this Wookie so. many. hugs.

Kira Carsen for Jedi Knight. Again, no competition. The friendship is so, so sweet.

And Jedi Consular is a tough one to round out on. I have a lot of love for basically the whole crew, but I think I'll have to go with Qyzen for being bestie original MVP. I'm so glad we get to build a friendship with him because I don't think we get to see Trandoshans in quite this same light anywhere else in the game.

And also Theron Shan. I can't do this list without him. Sir, I'd die for you. Sometimes you're an idiot and I love you. Insert, after all, why shouldn't I romance Theron again meme here.

Honorable mention to Major Anri. I'm love her. If I have to fuck with her directly in saboteuring of the Empire, I'm going to feel SO many emotions. Keep me in your thoughts kan;fladnkfl;dsf.

[thekimspoblog]

MFs seriously out here saying A DROPPED PLOT POINT ABOUT ICE CREAM is symbolism that the story was "neatly wrapped up".

Y'know, Stanley Kubrick, it gets to a point where making your audience look for GREEN OBJECTS in a black and white scene isn't auteur and clever anymore. It's just fuckin stupid. Try-hard and insulting, to be more precise. Ice cream of any flavor is one of life's little niceties, and you need the job so you can afford the nice things, but having the job paradoxically keeps you away from the nice things you wanted. That part's pretty easy to interpret- among other reasons, because that's what HALF the symbolism amounts to.

But he likes mint because "GREEN = MONEY"? I dunno man; that doesn't sit right with me. Can't it just be because Jimmy is fun and spontaneous so of course he likes exciting flavors? Can't "green/mint = youth and springtime"? CAN'T IT BE BECAUSE GREEN IS ONE OF THE FEW COLORS OF ICE CREAM WHICH IS BOTH POPULAR AND VISUALLY INTERESTING TO FILM??? I don't mind how much style-over-substance this show is, but it's starting to piss me off when they won't just own it already. Like... look me in the eye and tell me that if Jimmy's favorite flavor had been strawberry, the showrunners wouldn't be pulling something out of their ass about how "PINK/RED = BLOOD". Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, y'know? Don't get me started on how Kim telling Jimmy to leave the mint off her sundae is weak-ass foreshadowing when homegirl looks dead into the camera 2 minutes later and says she's willing to scam for money even if she knows it might blow up in her face.

Don't get me wrong! I might be bitching, but I am glad, @kingoftieland that you post these. Even if every new Fun Fact just further convinces me that the writers somehow failed reading comprehension for their own show. And/Or are sometimes just overthinking it… And/Or they wrote a ton of smutty Breaking Bad fanfiction and are trying to pass it off as something deeper than it is. AND STOP SAYING "EVERYTHING IS WRAPPED UP!" Saying a thing doesn't automatically make it true. You spent 5 seasons explaining in excruciating detail how and why the modern justice system is fundamentally broken and then buttoned it with a rushed morality play about the "bad guy" improving himself by obeying the Law.

👏🏻Your Analysis 👏🏻 Did Not Support 👏🏻 Your Conclusion. 👏🏻 You Have 👏🏻 To Try 👏🏻 Again! 👏🏻

Jimmy asks for ice-cream because he still sees himself as a winner in this situation. We see him eating ice cream later, implying he is correct in this belief. We see him still being called "Saul" and being treated with respect in prison, so thematically he still gets the ice cream. We weren't expecting another mention of the mint-chip, so why would we be suspicious of its absence? It's not like they went out of their way to specify that only kind he can access inside ADX was vanilla. And even if they did... who cares?! No green; wow, very symbolism. Much deepness! Not to mention "The Game" is basically just capitalism, so unless you're suggesting Jimmy stay in prison because at least that gets him a roof over his head and three meals a day, I don't really see how "staying out of it" is a viable option. People kinda need money to live, remember?

But Buddy! Are you SURE you want to open the show up to interpretations based on what we AREN'T seeing? Because I hate to break it to you, but there were way bigger dropped plot points than prison ice cream sandwiches! By this logic, I can string together: Shirley Hartland from (4x09), Lois and Bobby from (5x01), an offhand comment from Huell in (5x07), the two scenes with Kim's mom in (5x06) and (6x06), and the unnamed CFLA client in (6x13), and from this draw the conclusion that Kim had an abortion sometime off screen, probably around June of 2004. I mean I'm going to interpret those dropped plot points as all tied together anyway, because that's what I choose. But my point is how am I crazy or grasping at straws for reading that kind of stuff into the story, when THIS is level of moon logic the show's creators want us to read into the cinematography! I don't normally do this... but fuck it! I'm playing the Death of the Author card. You guys can have your characters and plot back when you can prove you have any clue what you're doing with them.

Why does Saul really want that MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP ice cream? 🍦

[lokigodofaces]

Me in 2017: I am a perfectly straight person

Me in 2018: I might have a crush on a girl I am a perfectly straight person, why would you ask, why would I be anything else?

Me in 2019: Okay, I have a crush on a girl. Okay. Okay. That's a thing. Oh my gosh, I hate this, this is so stressful! Maybe it is just her, just the one person I've been attracted to that isn't a guy? I've been attracted to a bunch of guys, but she's the only girl I've been attracted to.

Me a little later in 2019: Okay, okay, okay, I think I have a crush on another girl. Okay, this is scary, this is scary. But I like her. I want to hug her and spend time with her! Yes that is somehow different than just wanting to be friends with her.

Me a little later in 2019: Okay, okay, okay, I've calmed down a bit. Let's just accept the facts: I am apparently attracted to guys and girls. I sometimes look at some girls and want to kiss and hug and hold hands and do general romancey stuff. No, I do not want to have sex with girls. No, no, no. Yes, I want to have sex with guys, I want to have children. I guess that makes me biromantic heterosexual? Okay.

Me a little later in 2019: Maybe I do want sex with girls and I'm in denial? I mean, I hugged a girl today and I felt so warm and wanted to keep hugging her, and I did notice her breasts against chest, and that's supposed to be arousing or something. I guess I'm not heterosexual, and am in fact bisexual.

Me in 2020: Wow, I am getting a lot of asexual stuff on my Pinterest, which is a little weird. That demisexual one though, I can kind of relate to that.... Wait a minute. No sexual attraction until after an emotional bond. I was friends with [REDACTED] before I liked her, I was friends with [REDACTED] before I liked him, I was friends with [REDACTED] before I liked her, that one girl I thought I had a crush on I didn't actually have a crush on, I just thought I did because I was all panicky and thinking about girls in romantic ways. Huh. Maybe I am demisexual? I mean, I have to be, right? I don't think I'm allosexual anymore, but I can't be fully asexual, not if I want to have sex.

Me a little later in 2020: Okay, apparently asexuals can have sex, can enjoy it, can seek it out. Huh. That was the one thing stopping me from considering myself as asexual, so I guess I'm biromantic asexual. Also, all those fictional and celebrity crushes I had? Weren't crushes, I convinced myself they were crushes because people are supposedly supposed to have crushes like that.

Me a little later in 2020: Okay, but I was right earlier when I thought I was demisexual. I did only only get crushes after I had a good friendship, all three times. So maybe I'm demiromantic biromantic asexual? I don't know, I think I might be overthinking it.

Me a little later in 2020: Okay, maybe I am demiromantic? I don't know.

Me in 2021: I think I am demiromantic. I'm gonna go with being demiromantic. If I'm wrong, oh well.

Me a little later in 2021 (aka right now): Wait, am I bi? I know I'm attracted to guys and girls, but bi isn't the only mspec label. Am I pan? Omni? Ply? Okay, polyromantic just does not sit well with me, but in a different way than the no-I-can't-possibly-be-gay feeling I had when I was in denial. So I'm gonna take that as a no, I am no polyromantic. So that leaves me with biromantic, omniromantic, and panromantic. Well, I can rule out panromantic, since pans are supposed to be genderblind, and I do feel a little different in my attraction to guys and girls and enbies. And, yes! I am attracted to enbies! I have a crush that is enby! Granted I didn't know until recently, but I learned pre-developing feelings, so this isn't me confusing them as a girl. But the information is still pretty new, and I keep accidentally using she/her and girl for them (I am so sorry [REDACTED] I am so sorry), so I might still just be attracted to them because my brain still thinks they're a girl (literally I keep having to delete shes and hers here to put in theys and thems, I am so sorry). But regardless of that, biromantics are capable of experiencing attraction to enbies. The definition of biromanticism is romantic attraction to two or more genders. And I haven't had a lot of contact with anyone outside the gender binary, just them and a couple others. So how would I know if I'm omniromantic, y'know, attracted to all genders? But ultimately my demiromanticism seems more important to my attraction than anything else. All the people I've been attracted to needed a strong emotional bond. And the ones that I lost quickly had less of a bond with me. Even the ones I don't have a crush on anymore (feelings are like that, especially in high school) I'm still really close with. So based on that you could assume that bond matters more than gender, but since I am not perfectly genderblind it is not unreasonable to assume I am omniromantic. But I'm still not sure. Besides, no one knows I'm questioning and people are giving me biromantic stuff for my birthday, and biromantics can be attracted to all genders as well, so maybe I should stick with that? But I'm a perfectionist so part of me really wants to get this nailed down.

Me at the same time in 2021 (aka now): Okay, but people can be greyromantic and demiromantic at the same time, right? I know I'm demiromantic, but what if I'm greyromantic? So the idea would be that I need an emotional bond to form attraction, but I also get attraction considerably less than alloros and other demiros, correct? Well, it seems like I get crushes less than my alloro friends. And it even feels like it happens less than my demiro friends. So maybe? But I don't want to jump to conclusions since I really don't know what everyone else is experiencing.

In case any of you wanted to know what it can be like figuring yourself out. It often takes years and lots of anxiety.

[pyrten]

DAZAI OSAMU : QUICK CHARACTER STUDY

(At 3 AM in the morning and that's why it's messy, all over the place and generally, shit.)

Majority of the characters in BSD are morally grey, Dazai included. I'm unable to categorise characters into good or evil, which is what makes BSD really nice to watch.  

Majority of the instances, whenever I have an opinion on someone like Dazai, it's mainly based on their actions. I'll make an exception for his case because I believe he speaks the truth sometimes. 

It's seriously difficult to believe what someone like him says. His weapon is his intellect and his tongue. He could say this and do that instead. Obviously he isn't good at combat, but he could say something and have you on the hook.

He's cunning, sly and in general: a liar (sometimes). As for psychological manipulation… well, it's not something to be looked down upon since it's in our everyday lives.

DARK ERA

He has a more serious aura and was far more suicidal compared to ADA Dazai. He barely flinched when a bullet grazed his cheek. 

I won't even sugarcoat the fact that Dazai is an asshole. 

The way he treated Akutagawa is wrong. The training may have made him resilient, but his mental health isn't in an okay shape. In the end, he even upped and left him without an explanation (although, I think Akutagawa has an idea of why he left).  

Remember when he fired at the GSS captain? If I didn't count wrong, it was 13 shots (my dude over here desecrating a corpse). 

(I couldn't find the GIF of him shooting the corpse, so this is as close as I can get)

He does poke fun at Chuuya, and you can perhaps say that he does some good (but we've only seen a single good deed so far…).

He recognized that Chuuya was being manipulated by the Sheep and in his own way gave him a push. There was the part* when Shirase was talking and it zoomed in on Dazai, who had a wary, analyzing look on him. 

It's clear that the Sheep is quite dependent on him. They believe that Chuuya will be there to save them whenever they fuck up (ex. crossing the river to steal booze, when they know it's near the PM HQ, in result, getting a few of their members captured). They came looking for him to put it simply, beat up and save their comrades, which points towards the fact that they are using him for his ability. 

Shirase also said:

"People who hold more cards than others have a responsibility. Fulfill your responsibility as the one with the trump card called an ability."*

Which again, further points towards the fact that they are using him for his ability and somewhat guilt tripping him. 

Dazai later adds his own input.

"Amusing. You guys are truly amusing. He's by far the strongest among you, but he's like a sheep being stared down by wolves." 

Called out. 

It then changes to show Chuuya's face. Honestly he looks on guard, and I think he knows what they're trying to do, but it's a can of worms he would rather not open, y' know?  

Dazai then later says once more when Shirase is trying to convince Chuuya to kick the PM's ass.

"Give it a rest. He has the freedom to choose how he uses his ability. Even a child would understand that. There's no argument." 

And as a final attempt to convince Chuuya, he pulls the old guilt trip card, which Dazai and Chuuya ignore. 

"Don't forget, Chuuya! The Sheep who took you in when you had no identity and nowhere to go! 

When all of this is happening, Dazai knew Chuuya was being manipulated, and he also watered the seed of doubt with his actions, and in the end the Sheep turned their backs on Chuuya, which led to Chuuya joining the Port Mafia. 

I can say this was a small good deed, pulling Chuuya out, but the choice was Chuuya's and he just gave a push. 

ARMED DETECTIVE AGENCY

Dazai isn't a naturally kind and virtuous person, but he's trying, for Oda (oh boy).

The way he handled Kyoka's situation wasn't all rainbows and confetti. 

I have a feeling he's trying to look at the bigger picture, to save people (perhaps because he blames himself for Oda's death, but I'll set that aside temporarily due to the time), but his methods aren't... nice. Atsushi has gotten hurt multiple times, Akutagawa too. In some ways, I suppose I can understand some things are unavoidable, but still. 

Compared to how he treated Akutagawa, he's far better with Atsushi. He's treating him the way Oda treated him. 

Atsushi has a completely different mindset compared to Akutagawa. He's a selfless person, he fights injustice. If Dazai tried to treat him the way he treated Akutagawa, I can confirm that isn't gonna turn out good. 

Besides, he's trying to become a better person. That, and he owes Akutagawa an apology.

From this part onwards, these are all flash thoughts that I wrote quickly because I'm falling asleep by the minute.

FLASH THOUGHT #1 :

Now that's over with… I don't particularly have anything to add on. So I'm going to move onto… uh, how do I word this, facade?

I said above that his weapon is his intellect. It's clear that whatever he has on can be fake, or real. Y'know that goofy, playful Dazai we all know. 

He's probably able to control his every movement and actions. Like, I cannot imagine Dazai doing something ACCIDENTALLY. Imagine that, someone who can control his own heartbeat, doing something accidentally (unintentionally, he never meant to do it, yeah that would be surprising).

But then again he's human… despite being a strategic and tactical genius… so yes, him doing something on accident would be interesting to watch.

Now if he miscalculated or like mistaken, uh, like that time, with the hiker, BSD Season 3. Then, yes that's understandable. 

FLASH THOUGHT #2:

Mk… facade and accidents are covered… uh… I'll talk about the power he had when he was 14, Dark Era Dazai.

… He had enough sway in the mafia since he was 14 (correct me if I'm wrong). He was allowed to be the sole witness of the Boss's final wish. SOLE WITNESS. A young boy at the age of 14 was allowed to be the sole witness. 

He was considered to be the youngest executive in the Port Mafia. If so, then why didn't the other executives (during the reign of the Old Boss) fight over the choice to be the witness of the Boss's death other than Mori. Perhaps the Old Boss didn't have executives, but that's unlikely.  

Now, that's something.  

FLASH THOUGHT #3:

Talking about suicide… I think Dazai doesn't want to die, but he does. He's failed so many suicide attempts, some of them being sabotaged, but what about the others. 

Since Dazai didn't have anyone around his age constantly (save for Oda and Ango, but several years later… perhaps when he was 16, seeing how Oda and Dazai knew each other during the Dragon's Head Rush), he only had victories of his missions and such to comfort his loneliness.  

I think that it's practically ingrained in him. 

Dying means winning and losing. Your life is finished. 

If that's the case, dying would mean he lost (but won). It's conflicting and confusing as hell, I know ;-; . I'm trying to explain my thoughts the best I can - . 

When Chuuya came around, his loneliness was, um, calmed, a little. 

Oda died and gave him a reason to live.

I think he still feels a little lonely though.

That's the end. I'll be out like a light in about 3 mins so I'll just, drop a GIF and go before I start pressing anything on accident.

Yep, okay, bye bye.

oh, I forgot the hashtags, um .

Hashtags added.

Good night. :D