so don't forget, you are stardust.

kendall roy’s limo pre-meeting hype up mix

“Executive-Level Business”

tom wambsgans sad girl era

roman roy

daddy’s little knife - shiv roy

a million pieces- kendall roy

you’re my third oldest friend…

Human Thing

tomshiv failmarriage

the dog in the cage - roman roy

and then there's roman, whose abuse at logan's hands has had the opposite effect: it's nearly impossible for him to even conceive of himself as a real person with agency and value. while logan's 'tough love,' as he'd call it (although most psychologists would call it 'abuse'), towards ken and shiv was motivated by his desire to actually make them live up to their potential, and to increase their value by instilling (what he viewed as) 'positive qualities' into them, logan's 'tough love' for roman was motivated by his desire to beat the wrongness out of him. rather than trying to add anything positive or bring out the best in roman, logan's priority when dealing with roman was trying to get rid of (what he viewed as) the 'negative qualities' inherent within him. and when he couldn't, he sent him away to military school. ken and shiv were taught to live up to their respective potentials, connor had to teach himself how to live because no one else did it for him, but roman wasn't taught anything -- he was only taught how not to be. because while the others were lacking qualities logan desired, roman was innately, uniquely, entirely wrong. it wasn't a matter of making roman into the man logan wanted him to be so much as it was unmaking roman into something logan could look at without feeling sick. because roman is abnormal, unforgivably so. he's broken, fucked up. he's not made right. real people, normal people, don't act like this, feel like this. everyone else is a person and he isn't, so he doesn't count, not really. while logan shaped the identities of kendall, shiv, and even connor, all he did for roman was convince him that he's not enough of a person to have one, that all he is and all he'll ever be is Wrong.

(this got really long so the rest is under the cut!)

Oh dear. Several months late, but here we go. This will be a broad term overview of mando armor in canon at the moment, not an exhaustive list. Feel free to skip “materials & history” if you’d just like some more concrete guidelines and refs! 

(Remember to click on the images for a better look!)

Material & History

A Small Intro Course

Mandalorian armor is supposed to be made out of beskar, an alloy (and yes all beskar is an alloy in disney canon (at least as of May 2021), like steel for example. Yes even “pure” beskar). The secrets of how to make it is limited to the Mandalorians, and the materials used to make it are most likely limited to Mandalore or the Mandalore system. It’s been in confirmed use as an armor material for at least 900 years & can take straight blaster bolts or hold off the circulating energy blade of a lightsaber for short periods of time, possibly until the beskar heats up enough to loose its integrity, but the heat would most likely cause serious damage to the wearers body before that.

Beskar armor is most often inherited, passed from generation to generation and reforged to suit the current wearers needs. It’s seen as passing down the history, the battles and the will of those who have worn it before and making it your own. However the material is rare, possibly because the mines have run dry ages ago (old EU), or because war and/or the New Mandalorians stopping production. The Empire interfering by taking over Mandalore and trying to get their hands on as much beskar as possibly and then later “glassing” the planet while hunting its only known creators surely did not help either, in any case.

This means that not all Mandalorians had access to the material, or at least large enough amounts to make a full suit of armor. This lead to the make of “impure” beskar that can take less of a brunt & armor made of other metals such as durasteel. This is most likely what makes up the majority of Din’s kit, beyond the helmet and possibly the chest piece, when he’s introduced in S1 and he still wears pieces that might be one of these materials as of Season 2. 

Characters like Sabine Wren, Bo-Katan Kryze and Boba Fett all inherited their armor from their aliit  (clan/family) through several generations and it’s most likely already pure beskar based on its age and how it reacts to blasterfire.

The armor is most often painted and there are various designs and colors that indicate personality, achievements or allegiances, but that would have to be another post. (Would anyone like a post on Mandalorian armor fashion? Because I have thoughts)

Helmet

Let’s start from the top. The helmet, aka the bucket. The buy’ce.

In the “modern” era it’s usually a helmet with a rounded top and some kind of cheek indents. It has a T (or occasionally closer to a Y) shaped visor that obscures the wearers face. It also contains a large amount of technology that allows for various visual filters, binoculars, built in comms and audio enhancers (allowing for near perfect 360° hearing in the old EU, as possibly shown by Din Djarin in the new), among other things. The earcaps seen on most modern styles of helmet allows for various specialized attachments, like rangefinders.

The styles of the helmets vary between clans and eras, but there’s a few distinct modern bases that are pretty easy to identify as Mandalorian and worn by all major Mandalorian characters. 

The Boba Fett, based on the original helmet as seen in the OT, and worn by basically every male character with various types of cheek indents, ridges and the like. Some are thinner or longer, but the base of the design is still very clearly the OG Boba Fett helmet. T visor, sharp slope indent that takes up the entire cheek, long ear caps & a brow ridge.

Visual Reference

The Nite Owl, based on the helmet worn by Bo-Katan and the Nite Owls in TCW. It has a cat eyed Y visor and a more of a cut out cheek indent style, or simply a less severe smaller curve under the visor ridge (the area painted red on Boba Fett’s helmet). 

Visual Reference

The Kast, is the rarest so far only seen on Rook Kast & the Maul-aligned female Mandalorians. It slopes slightly inwards below the uniquely shaped T visor and has no ear caps.

Visual References

And finally, some mandalorian helmets with slightly more unique shapes and/or shape combinations that put them outside the general easy to identify pile.

From left to right, The Armorer, Paz Vizsla, Pre Vizsla and Fenn Rau:

Chest, Neck, Back & Shoulders

As with everything else, there are various styles for these pieces of armor, but here are some basics.

Breastplate

Most commonly visibly segmented into three big parts, two on the chest and one below, with a small diamond shaped heart piece in the middle. The heart piece design can also been seen on Mandalorian clothing and architecture. In The Mandalorian these parts are generally attached together to give the armor a more solid look, but they are still distinguishable. Before the fall of the empire several female mandos favoured a more solid two part design that interlocked with their neck piece and had a thin rectangular bar instead of a classic heart piece. During the clone wars women of the faction supporting Maul (mostly clan Kast and clan Saxon) used a semi-connected two part design with six smaller pieces trailing down the stomach, three on each side. There are also various other designs with solid one part chest pieces, but most at least have a variation of the heart piece in the middle, as seen on Paz Vizsla. 

The chest piece usually does not go below the navel, for bending over reasons.

Neckplate

Either two pieces on the side of the neck, or a longer single piece that goes in front of the neck & sits over the collarbones. Both of these variations are usually semi connected to, or line up with where the backplate ends.

Shoulders

Bell type, like Din Djarin & Axe Woves wear. The Classic, aka the style worn by Boba Fett, Ursa Wren & most grunts. And finally a slightly rounded middle ground, smaller than the Bell but sits over the shoulder and is often favored by female characters like Bo-Katan, female Mauldalorians & Sabine Wren.

Backplate

Usually as long as the chest piece, used to protect the back and to mount jetpacks, and other useful things, on.

Jetpack

Technically not a piece of armor, but sometimes armored. Comes in various sizes and styles.

Visual References

Vambraces & Handplates

Vambraces

Both forearm protection and weapons. Developed to give a Mandalorian that extra edge when fighting stronger opponents. To that goal, they’re often fitted with various attachments such as flamethrowers, retractable blades, shield emitters, repulsors, grappling lines, magnets, missiles and various types of darts, including the whistling birds seen in The Mandalorian.

Handplates

It’s a plate that goes on your hand. Nothing more, nothing less. Can of course be fitted with various other weapons, as long as they fit.

Visual References

The Codpiece, Buttplate & Hip Plates

Ah yes. Well.

All pieces are usually worn tucked underneath and/or attached to the waist sash/girth belt/belt.

Codpiece

Look, it’s a codpiece. It’s there to protect your sensitive parts. There are less bulky variations for people who can do without the extra space. Those are often segmented. Some wear more of a lower stomach plate. Others don’t bother, or only wear theirs when they might need it since I imagine it can be a bit uncomfortable to wear day to day.

Buttplate

It’s a plate that goes over your butt. And I mean just above, not on. Din has one, Boba has one. It’s a thing. Why? Because bruising you tailbone hurts like hell.

Hip Plates

They’re plates that go on your hips. Only confirmed sighting has been on Din, but we’ve also got some good shots of them because of this so I put them in anyway.

Visual References

Thighs, Knees, Shins, Ankles & Feet

Varies from completely covered to almost no armor at all. On one end you’ve got Jango Fett, and on the other you’ve got Boba Fett. Ironic, in a way.

Thigh plates

Generally sit either on the front of the thigh or on the outer sides. The outward style thigh plates are more form fitting and allow for holsters to be mounted directly onto the plate, this was popular during the Clone Wars era. The front facing plates are often different sizes, possibly depending on your dominant hand/how you prefer to hold your weapon of choice.

Knee armor/pads

For knee protection, unless you’re like Boba Fett, then they’re also dart launchers. In the old EU the darts were laced with neurotoxin, but that seems to have been removed for new canon. Sit nebulously in the knee region.

Shin, Ankle and/or Boot plates

Over your shins, ankles and feet, for all your literal ass kicking needs. Comes in various types including but not limited to: boot caps, ankle plates, shin guards and of course full on greaves.

Visual References

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Dinner is a very intimate thing. Anyone can go for coffee or a drink, but you agree to have dinner with someone, that’s different. It has a meaning. You really see people when you watch them eat - Wong Kar Wai

Chuuya and Dazai are one of the most heavily discussed partnerships in the manga. The two of them are clearly set up as foils the same way Atsushi and Akutagawa the main character and the main rival are. However, while Atsushi and Akutagawa are “different, but the same” in a way that makes them come into conflict the partnership between Chuuya and Dazai reads differently to me. Rather than “different, but the same” its “Different, but desires the same” as both Chuuya and Dazai desire to live as human beings but go about achieving that in completely different ways. 

For more analysis on “Double Black” or “Soukoku” and their connection to “Ningen Shikkaku” or “No Longer Human” the author Osamu Dazai’s most famous work, read under the cut. 

Finding a purpose to live. It’s existentialist, so while it does suggest that life is inherently valuable just because it is, it also explores how people need to search for a reason to continue to hold on, because life is tough y’all. The series opens with a desperate, starving orphan saving a person from committing suicide, and the person he saves then helps save him.

The difficulty and necessity of human connection. Human connection is what offers many of these characters a path forward after their lives have been shattered. 

Abuse and trauma recovery. Many characters have been abused or otherwise suffered trauma. There’s an ex-war medic who was essentially a child soldier, a child who was experimented on by the government, a child everyone locks up because they think they’ll be better off dead but can’t quite kill them, a child who was chained up and abused their entire childhood, and orphans who scrabble to survive the streets in the slums. No one snaps out of their trauma; it’s a slow and realistic process for them to recover from incidents that essentially had the world telling them that they are worthless and the world would be better off without them. 

The pain of the “stray dogs” aka the outcasts of society. It relates to the theme above, but every single character is basically someone society threw away and/or exploited. Be it because they were abused, orphaned, experimented on, did too much, tried to kill themselves too many time, are traumatized from war, etc. Yet it affirms their humanity and even criticizes the “dog” aspect in the character of Akutagawa Ryunosuke, who has titled himself the mafia’s “hellhound.” Yet? Look at his profile and what it lists him as disliking. 

It’s a not-so-subtle way of criticizing how society treats and beats into people that they don’t matter. 

Redemption. The entire series is basically a redemption arc for one of the main characters. Characters you never thought would be redeemed in early arcs find that redemption via their connections with other characters, and the shifting of circumstances (again, it indicates circumstances have a massive impact on a person). No one is too far gone, not ever. Literally no one, even the character I feel pretty certain will be the final villain–he right now has some potential for good, but I don’t expect him to use it. 

Hello! So one of my favorite aspects of their relationship is indeed how they challenge each other to grow. I wrote about this a little bit in my shipping post here, and @linkspooky​ wrote about it in her metas on Akutagawa’s arc and Atsushi’s arc. 

tl;dr: they need each other to grow. They are very much two sides of the same coin, yin and yang. 

Akutagawa needs Atsushi to challenge him on his view of life, so that he can come to appreciate that human life has value. Because Akutagawa’s lashing out and murder is similar to Dazai’s previous antics in the mafia. He doesn’t value life because no one has ever valued his. He grew up a dog of the streets, and we know from the short story “The Heartless Cur” that everyone considered Akutagawa “inhuman” as a street child. Yet, the other children depended on him (a Chuuya/Sheep parallel). And still they were killed, and brutally so, and then Dazai killed those who killed them to recruit Akutagawa. All Akutagawa has ever known is people killing the weak to assert their right to live. Kill or be killed. And if no one’s life matters, then he doesn’t have to face the painful, vulnerable, childlike part of him still asking why his life didn’t matter as a child on the streets, why people wrote him off as a heartless cur, why he isn’t enough. If life is trivial, then Dazai leaving him hurts less than it would if Akutagawa accepted that he mattered and what Dazai did was wrong. 

But again, as Link wrote in her meta, Atsushi challenges this. He thinks life matters. Yet, Atsushi needs Akutagawa to challenge him as well, and honestly I think Akutagawa understands Atsushi better than Atsushi understands him at this point in time (to be fair, there are reasons for that). He’s the one who let Atsushi use his cloak and Rashomon, after all. 

Atsushi and Dazai both put each other on pedestals of sorts. Dazai views Atsushi as a second chance, but this is flawed, because Akutagawa is also an orphan literally asking to be saved and by him. Atsushi sees Dazai rightly as the man who saved him, but needs to comprehend that Dazai is really, really flawed. (I say this as someone who loves both characters.) Atsushi’s hatred of Akutagawa, in addition to like, being fairly justified in some sense, is also a way of protecting himself from this reality, and a way of assigning himself worth. Because Atsushi does value life, but he doesn’t really value his own. He’s constantly hurting himself to protect others, but to the point where I side-eye. And he’s noted to dislike himself, yet he still wants to live. If Dazai is good and thinks he has potential and worth, then it’s fine for Atsushi to live. That’s his logic. But it’s fine fo him to live regardless. 

(this sounds like i want dazai to go down or something; i don’t. i love his mentee relationship with atsushi; i just want it to be challenged so it can grow and find and even surer foundation of true understanding, knowing the worst of somebody, and still loving them)

As for romantic feelings… canon or fanfic?

The answer to both is that yes I think it’s possible. In terms of canon, though, I don’t believe it will go that way. I don’t think BSD does romance very much, but I think Kyouka and Atsushi might end up together like… in a timeskip epilogue. That’s not a commentary on where I’d like it to go or anything, but merely what I think the story has laid groundwork for. 

That said, I think shin soukoku is endgame, even if platonically. The main emotional energy of the series is between the two of them, their relationships with Dazai, and original soukoku. 

(For an explanaton of the term ‘emotional energy,’ see here.) Atsushi and Akutagawa’s partnership, their conflicts and team ups and growth towards understanding each other, plus as they are both portrayed as the future of Yokohama… that is what the story rests on. Every single arc thus far has ended with them. Their fight over Kyouka in the Port Mafia Arc, the team up against Fitzgerald, the team up against Pushkin, and this arc will surely end with them too. 

Ranpo is the character who more than anyone else symbolizes the Detective Agency:

Not only was the agency created specifically for him, but even superficially he is the one among his colleagues who mostly fits the classical image of a detective.

This is made clear since his introduction where he wears clothes one would normally associate with a typical detective and where the name of his ability is shown to be “ultradeduction”:

Because of this, the chapters centered around him are often metaphors or foreshadowing of what is going on or will happen to the other characters or even to the agency as a whole as @hamliet (who helped out also with other thoughts) pointed out.

At the same time each one of his cases is used to explore his character and to make him slowly progress in his personal arc.

ft. Nikolai Gogol. LONG POST! Also spoilers for the novel/manga if you haven’t read it already/haven’t caught up yet.

Here are some thoughts I have on certain parallels between Crime and Punishment and Fyodor Dostoyevsky in real life and as portrayed in BSD, also some speculations as to how this book and the real Dostoyevsky might have inspired his BSD version.