Shawn Flynn (Analysis)

Shawn Flynn (Analysis)

Let's talk about my favorite JDS weirdo!

We first hear Shawn's voice in Bendy and the Ink Machine, but Joey also mentions him in Illusion of Living in passing.

Joey mentions two things here, firstly that Shawn does "an excellent job." I know Joey lies more than a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar, but considering the fact that JDS is held together with duct tape and rubber bands, I'm inclined to believe him here. After all, how the hell could they keep up with demands (so much so that the Alice dolls were overstocked) if the foreman fucked off constantly.

Joey also says that Shawn's "creativity knows no bounds." Makes sense for his position, but also helps confirm that Joey does think highly of him in terms of his work. On a personal level, though, maybe not so much.

Based on Joey's insistence for perfection, we can infer that Shawn, like many, was just trying to do his damn job, and Joey blew his lid when things weren't exactly to his liking.

Shawn also mentions that the Alice merchandise wasn't selling well, and offhandedly proposes that they may have to melt the remaining stock down in order to get rid of it. Pretty self-explanatory tape, all things considered.

(The Bendy Wiki also mentions that he has a Dublin accent. I am not at all an expert on ANYTHING Irish but I did find out that Jacksepticeye is from Offaly, Ireland (Midland/East Ireland) and Dublin is also part of East Ireland, so...I'm assuming this is correct.)

There is also an easter egg with the Seeing Tool in BATIM written over Shawn's audio log, though this is mostly a nod to his voice actor.

Anyway, onto Boris and the Dark Survival.

In BATDS, Shawn mentions that he bought a new belt, (a one-of-a-kind toolbelt apparently,) and it was stolen immediately the next day. The perpetrator was a Gent employee, and they very brazenly wore it around right after stealing it. We aren't sure who this employee is, that's mostly speculation. But I don't think that's the point- this odd anecdote represents some of the first seeds of distrust being sown between JDS and Gent employees.

This brings us to Dark Revival.

Funnily enough, I find Shawn's departure from the studio much more interesting than his actual time employed there.

Firstly, Shawn mentions that Joey took it well when he decided to leave. Between the shift towards Gent's experiments and new technology, the funding from Gent, and the sudden irrelevance of having Bendy merch going out in droves, it's possible that Joey just didn't care.

Shawn also seems to give zero fucks about Joey's opinion, based on his Dark Revival and Bendy audio logs, which I find fucking hilarious. Not the first disgruntled employee, but certainly the most confident when faced with Joey himself.

He mentions wanting to find a cabin upstate, see some open sky, and start anew with his family. Overall it seems like leaving JDS gave him a more hopeful lens on life.

But the MOST headscratching thing about his parting audio log is the last few lines;

"But before I go, I've made one last toy. A little parting present for the factory lads. Let's see how long it takes them to find it."

We never hear from Shawn again, so we have NO IDEA WHAT THIS MEANS LMAO. Leave it to Shawn to be mysterious for no apparent reason.

However, there is a possible connection to be made. In the Heavenly Toys area, there's a factory output sheet slapped on one of the walls.

The last column mentions a "Bendy Starface Stuffed Toy", which we've never seen presently. There was only one ever made, and after that it was immediately discontinued.

I don't know why it would be listed at all if Shawn did leave the Starface Bendy as a gift, so this may all be a dead end. (I'm also aware that this might be a "Scarface" reference, although I really don't know what that has to do with anything.) Regardless, I find it a weird coincidence that Shawn left a single toy behind, and Starface also seems to be a completely unique Bendy toy.

TL;DR Shawn Flynn is cool and might have left an Among Us plushie at the studio for his co-workers

Monty Gator is Bowser-coded and that's all there is to it

Joey Drew is Gay and there's no way around it (Pt 5)

So what about the women in Joey's life? Well, we hear a fair amount about two women in particular- Lottie, and Abby Lambert.

First, there's Lottie, a telecommunications girl who befriends Joey. She takes a quick liking to him, but Joey seems to have an aversion to any displays of affection she shows him.

In fact, he claims to "not have time for girls" in general, and this seems to be his reasoning behind not pursuing Lottie romantically.

Immediately following this...watertight explanation, Joey goes on a little side quest. See, Lottie notices odd initials on his boots:

She goes on a long search to find the previous owner, updating Joey with her findings often. However, she gets very down on herself when the effort seems to lead to nowhere, and grows weary as many of the men she's been sending messages to are continuously reported dead.

Note how Joey responds to her more somber attitude as the days go on:

He creates an elaborate lie in order to "solve" the mystery, entertain her, and spare her some of the pain of her depression.

It seems the "I don't have time and I'm too selfish" excuse doesn't really hold up. How odd, I was quite sure Joey Drew was being honest and introspective here.

This story gets even weirder, though. Nathan points out via footnote that he couldn't ever find the correspondences between Joey and Lottie- so the legitimacy of this tale is immediately called into question.

If it is completely fabricated, then Joey literally made up a story in which he keeps 99 feet away at all times from an extremely attractive and sweet woman who was very interested in him. If this is the case, it also seems to be some hardcore fishing for cool guy points. Joey comes out looking like a saint, AND he doesn't actually have to go out and catch girl cooties.

This brings us to the end of Lottie's tale, so let's talk about the (only?) confirmed real woman friend of Joey's.

Abby Lambert is the initial artist friend that introduced Joey to Henry. She seems to be his closest woman friend and confidant, and he ends up trusting her to run the art department as a whole.

Notice both her and Joey's reaction when she invites him as her date to an art salon.

In the middle of the skit they perform at said art salon, Joey takes a second to emphasize that they were just friends- an already stated fact.

It's all fake, but even during something so simple, he still makes it a point to clarify that they aren't involved romantically in any way.

If Abby and Lottie are anything to go by, he has a weirdly hypervigilant attitude when it comes to romance with women.

Regarding Abby specifically, here's more food for thought.

While not outright stated, Abby is very queer-coded herself. She's outside the "norm" for women at the time, both in wardrobe choice and attitude. She has a commanding presence, a streak of "rude" humor, and seems to be uncomfortable in dresses, preferring not to wear them at all if she can help it.

While there is no outright confirmation of her sexuality or identity, she sits outside the strict male/female roles of American society at the time.

This has no bearing on Joey's sexuality in a direct sense, but it still does beg the question: could there be a reason why Joey felt more comfortable around a woman who was not as rigid in her gender presentation? He doesn't seem to care that she wears men's suits, in fact he seems to be drawn towards her differences rather than repelled by them.

Even if there is no gaydar involved in how they found each other, there is a marked difference between the women Joey keeps close (Abby), versus the women Joey does not keep so close (Lottie.)

Now, to attempt to end this juggernaut. How about I cram in some odds and ends in the final part? Because yes, believe it or not, there's STILL MORE.

Part 6>

whiplash

he's so cunty

i loved the home-a-phobia update

Bonus Lokix in the distance ready to square up

I think I downloaded the wrong Lethal Company...what is this... 😓