#bendy sru

[angelofthepage]

Oh yeah, almost forgot! While making refs for Art Fight this year, I made a proper reference for Jacob for SRU! Behold, my handsome spider tailor son! It is so nice to finally have this together, I feel good.

[bertrumstrousers]

sometimes you draw your pets with your comfort character and who better to hold my little dove than sru bertrum

[inkabelledesigns]

WAAAAAAH thank you so much Noova! My son, oh my gosh I love how you did this so much!

Artfight Attack N°7 Welcome to the Circus!

Another day Another attack, and this time for my dear friend @katalystsstage and her character Jacob from her Bendy AU! I have blast drawing this!

[inkabelledesigns]

Oh yeah, I haven't posted this yet, have I? So you know how I wrote that fic, Trapped in his Web? Well I doodled this around the same time I made it. Meet Jacob, the spider tailor that accidentally turned out a little too handsome! X''''D I really like how he turned out, he's gorgeous. This man is here to be fabulous and spite Bertrum by dressing even better and being a spectacle. And I'm here for it, he's fun to play with.

[realm-sweet-realm]

SRU Norman seems to have a pretty high opinion of his physical abilities. Is he actually as tough as he thinks or is he all bluster? Also, what would he do if I challenged him to a fight?

Physically, it isn't bluster. He's a very strong man. 

That being said he does struggle to admit when things have gone off the rails. Despite being a massive daredevil, he wanted to stay in denial of Bertrum’s misdoings until it was impossible. You could argue that characters like Joey are stronger in character.

As for a fight, he'll take you up on that. He'll go easy on you so you don't get hurt too much.

[inkdemonapologist]

So recently in Abby’s Sammyserver, @bertrumstrousers’s wandered in and announced “Step Right Up AU: Bertrum runs an evil circus” and for some reason this just struck a chord in all of us and we went absolutely feral for several days brainstorming an AU where Bertrum is the one making ink monsters for a freakshow/sideshow/terrifying circus. Please look at his ringmaster bertrum

[Joey design/ Bendy!Joey by @wallyfranksismyspiritanimal, Buddy design by @xraytheredx, Ringmaster Bertrum design by @bertrumstrousers ]

I think Gi is planning to do a masterpost at some point but brief overview of context for these scribbles:

SRU Bertrum’s ego gets the better of him as things get worse and worse, but he really genuinely loves all his inky creations as his children. The circus is like a family to him and he started with the best of intentions.

some roleswap vibes where SRU Joey is working for Bertrum, providing cartoon designs for the ink machine, and becoming Very Concerned when they don’t come out like they’re meant to and start forgetting themselves

how dare u, Bertrum thinks they’re PERFECT, IF UR SO PICKY DO IT URSELF [tosses Joey into the machine]

SRU Susie is WAY HAPPIER here... she looks basically the same as canon, but in the circus, she’s treated as a star, loved and feared and perfect

SRU Sammy, like most of the others, was a sideshow attraction before all this (he’s been missing some fingers and bits of his face from birth, and he’s an incredible pianist) and he’s easy enough to rebrand, so he doesn’t go through the machine... meaning he’s one of the few unaffected by the ink and not losing himself and realising that things are going VERY BADLY. He’s determined to figure out how to help the others and Set Them Free

SRU Buddy’s Sammy-assigned nickname is “Backstage” b/c he doesn’t think Buddy belongs here. Buddy’s not Weird like the rest of them, he’s just a kid who ran away to join the circus.

SRU Jack’s a little person with a BUNCH of performance skills (u might call him a... jack of all trades....) and he and Sammy performed together before the ink. theyre boyfriends your honour

combat was pondering if SRU Joey might have some leftover effects from being a bendy even if he’s changed back.... they are ALSO boyfriends your honour,

[angelofthepage]

You know who else I love in BATIM? Jacob from Dreams Come to Life. I know, odd choice to fixate on, but I can't help it, he's charming. So it should come as no surprise that I have a hand in bringing him and the rest of the DCTL art department to the Step Right Up AU.

This is one of my favorite drawings from 2021. He needs some design tweaks, but this is Jacob in monster form! So because the art department has three primary gents, I've sort of forged a connection between them and the butcher gang. Because they have no last names canonically, I've gone with Dave Charley, Richie Barley, and Jacob Edgars. Yes I put my two faves together, and I have no shame.

Jacob ends up as a spider creature for fairly functional purposes. Bertrum tends to to throw his circus staff to the machine to "improve" them. The costume and make-up department was struggling and falling behind thanks to his exceedingly difficult demands, meaning long nights with too much to do. Jacob is primarily a tailor within this setup, so his spider design complements it. Multiple arms to finish tasks quicker, ability to spin inky webbing should he run out of fabric or thread, it's quite thoughtful. He made the addition of pincushion pauldrons, and he's also discovered he can attach himself to walls and the ceiling in order to get away from people (and drop down to scare the daylights out of them). He's a lot more mischievous, vengeful, and protective compared to his human form, but when you put a guy and his found family through cursed magical ink, can you really blame him?

[inkabelledesigns]

[Bertrum Piedmont is a man of pride, running a traveling circus filled with colossal wonders. But as time goes on, things start to unravel, from a change in management to sacrificing his performers to Joey Drew's magnificent ink machine, for a whole new brand of horror.

Tonight, we get a peek into the Make-up and Wardrobe department, where tailor Jacob Edgars is cleaning up for the night. Little does he know that this will be the last night the room will be this calm, as everything is about to change. But is it a change for the better, or the worse? Who's to say?

Part of the Step Right Up (SRU) AU run by @bertrumstrousers. Read with caution, please be mindful of the content warnings at the top of the fic, they’re there for a reason.]

And THIS is exactly why you should be concerned when I get hooked on an idea, I go WILD with it and stuff like this happens. XD Hope you enjoy the story! Let me know what you think!

[inkabelledesigns]

I think I’ve created a monster. Help. 

Okay okay, in all seriousness, some friends and I were working on AU stuff, and I drew for the first time in a long time, then it got me on a kick and I WROTE like twelve pages of a sequence involving surreal transformations and screaming, and it all just felt so damn good. Gosh did I need that. And I can’t WAIT to share it with all of you! 

[bertrumstrousers]

What if Bertrum had a mini crush on Sammy in the STU au? Kinda like an awakening that he has a thing for men and women

Bertrum definitely likes both men and women—he has had a crush on Tom for years and would have let it be known had it not been for Tom being with Allison!

As for Sammy though, assuming Lacie isn’t in the picture—Bertrum took on a protector role towards Sammy in SRU given the poor impression Nathan gave him at his first meeting, but I think the biggest reason Bertrum never develops romantic interest in Sammy aside from his position as his boss is Sammy’s apparent resistance to bonding with those around him. It even takes Jack a while to get close to Sammy. It doesn’t really bother Bertrum at all, just makes it clear he isn’t going to be a good fit as a romantic partner.

Bertrum also thinks he may have driven a wedge between himself and Sammy by gifting him the usual sweater he knits for everyone who joins the circus. Sammy’s reaction was cold and suspicious to the point where Bertrum was a little put off. Oops…

ETA: there’s also a 30 year age gap between the two of them—Bertrum doesn’t like how that feels.

[angelofthepage]

I know it's probably odd to see "doll customs" as a specific thing listed in my description for a Bendy sideblog, so I'm here to elaborate. Bendy and dolls are a lot more intertwined for me than you may think!

For everyone not in-the-know, doll customization is an art form where you take a doll and make it into a new character of your choosing. Some people opt for expensive resin dolls known as BJDs, or ball jointed dolls, but I do mine using fashion dolls, namely Monster High, but also some others. For me, it's fun to take a well loved toy and give it new life! These are my Bendy themed dolls!

Here they are in "birth order" if you will. The first doll I ever customized was Twisted Alice Angel back in December of 2018. She and Allison were made using Ari Hauntington as a base. Sammy came quickly after in February of 2019 as my first male doll. He's a Porter Geiss with a few body modifications. Allison was Halloween of 2019, she was my first venture into making weapons and helped improve my sewing. Our projectionist, Norman, was Halloween of 2020, he was my first attempt at making a headpiece this complex, and it was such a fun time, albeit a little frustrating. He's actually a WWE Superstars doll.

And then you have Belphene, who's a character from my Bendy fic, Searching the Depths: The Heart of the Studio. She's an America Chavez Marvel Rising doll, and she helped me explore the world of horns, drafting my own sewing patterns, and beading. She was my project for Halloween of 2021, alongside revamping Sammy. Some of the techniques I used originally did not hold up well, he needed some paint touch-ups and got basically remade from the ground up to be my own interpretation of the character, and I'm much happier with him now. I have one other Bendy related doll, my character Bella Ewe (also from Depths), but her doll is currently on the bench until I can fix her up.

My hope is to eventually make more of the cast and then remake Alice. I have a base prepped for Henry, a Tom in progress that I keep going back and forth on, pieces for the Ink Demon, loose plans for Bertrum because holy crow is he a challenge, and my favorite of my current plans, Jacob in the form of his SRU AU spider monster appearance. I don't do BATIM dolls all the time, because I'm more into making original characters, and these projects take a lot of time, but they're mighty fulfilling to do as my Halloween projects.

[inkdemonapologist]

Giandark’s Nathan looks a lot like bertrum since they’re related, but what do you think the bastard catpitalist (cat capitalist) man would look like? 🧐

I assume you mean SRU Nathan! I have no idea if Giandark has a normal Nathan design, haha. The one in that Getting Thrown Off The Train drawing was sort of quickly designed by me, and I don’t know if that’s the design the group will end up going with xD

But gosh, the question of whether to base Nathan Arch on Boswell or not is honestly really interesting to me... 

Because like… obviously it’s always nice when you can tie the human characters into the cartoon world somehow, but Joey doesn’t seem to want to poke fun at Nathan in TIOL -- he sets himself up as being cooler and more insightful, but he does that with everyone, and then when you look at how he writes about Bertrum… well, I think it’s safe to say that if Joey wants to insult someone, he’s not going to hold back, even someone he’s actively working with. There’s some meta indications in other places that Nathan might’ve dropped Joey like a hot potato at some point, but it doesn’t really seem like their relationship had gone sour yet, with Nathan still advising Joey about Bendyland.

Like, realistically, if Nathan is well-known enough, the artists working on the Bendy comics might’ve just caricatured him because he’s a Well Known Rich Guy, but I feel like the implication when you make Nathan and Boswell’s designs similar is that Boswell was an intentional dig at Nathan, and that his portrayal in some way reflects Joey’s feelings on Nathan. I haven’t read Crack-Up Comics for myself (yet?) but my impression has been that the first version of Boswell is a little more oblivious, and after the redesign the portrayal is meaner, so if I ended up basing him on Boswell I’d actually probably look at the 1930s comics? That seems closer to Joey’s feelings -- the idea that Nathan is a savvy businessman or whatever but Joey’s cleverness/insight goes over his head. Alternately, just lean away from Boswell altogether, though I guess when you have Rich Guy With Moustache And Cigar there's gonna be some overlap no matter what haha

Anyway I haven't designed Nathan for my own purposes yet; Joey and Nathan’s friendship(???) is SO INTERESTING TO ME that maybe someday I will, WHO KNOWS, NOT ME