reasons why i find balthazar bratt from despicable me 3 a consistently symbolic character in my life
1) he’s the exact reason i met @scarfgal398, with whom i first created a beautiful and unbreakable bond with before eventually falling in love with, therefore realising another facet of my identity that was frankly extremely freeing: i am also a lesbian
2) it may be just before starting to realise how traumatised i was, but i unconsciously attached myself to him and he became pretty much the first character i still remember knowing i felt a profound level of emotion based around his whole character and story, especially the last couple of times i saw it, and that being one of the main reasons that, no matter what, he still managed to stay pretty much front and centre in my mind for a long damn time and still shows his impact on my life today, even when i couldn’t tell the exact reasons why he wouldn’t leave my mind unlike many other characters i’ve liked in the past
3) one of the first characters i started feeling the most comfortable in openly expressing my attraction towards, because, well, just look at him
(this screenshot singlehandledy killed me and then managed to resurrect my dead body)
4) one of my main favourite colours is purple because of him, especially in the shade that he’s wearing
5) i’m obsessed with just how much he’s surrounded by the bi pride colours which was a strong motivator in headcanoning him as bi, to the point that i wanted to know just how aware any of the people that worked on this film are of this (which i’m guessing they weren’t, i mean? probably just a massive coincidence really, but i think it’s kinda funny nonetheless, besides how important it felt seeing him like this even if it wasn’t actually canon)
6) he’s genuinely terrifying when he needs to be, especially near the end of the film (i’m not lying when i say how much anxiety i had the more he started losing it when he finally reached Hollywood)
7) his animation is absolutely detailed and fluid and perfect, and i’m not just saying that because i find him incredibly attractive, his character design and animation is pure art, i’m telling you
8) at my second and third viewings of the film, i managed to have a panic attack which to this day i still don’t understand the exact reasons for, but it was clearly because of him, and i theorise that it had something to do with the level of emotional impact he had on me besides him being one of the first characters i didn’t feel inherent guilt about showing a clear and open attraction towards after years of feeling ashamed about doing so
9) he managed to stand out as a brilliant supervillain in not only the Despicable Me universe, but also, in my mind, in animation (i know that’s saying a lot, but he felt like he had so much of a tremendous impact, especially personally), and that’s without justifying the crimes he committed despite his backstory; so suiting the vibes he gives off by being a considerably tragic villain of sorts, which is one of the types of villains i really like and find myself fascinated by, since whilst there’s something tragic about them, they’re often incredibly horrible people and despite what happened to them or what their motivations are, their actions most certainly not excused whatsoever, and so there’s also tragedy in the irreversible damage they’ve caused, their own lack of conflict resolution and inability to understand and change their behaviour, especially with how far they’ve already gone despite what others want or wanted to believe otherwise