#bendy: ftb

[mickeys-malarkey]

Happy Ink Demon's Eve week, y'all~! These'uns are a coupla my personal favorite pages (especially the 2nd one)~! 🥰✨

A Love Letter to TMATM + the Rest of Bendy by Domino Effect Part 2/8:

“Skunks & Cowbells 1”

“Skunks & Cowbells 2*”

*Yes, the 2nd is also obviously newer. 😝 I COULDN'T EXCLUDE MY OTHER FAVORITE BOOK ON PLANET EARTH!! 💕

1 • [You are here] • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8

[mickeys-malarkey]

Omigosh I'm screaming roflol— just four pages in and:

“If I saw good in everything, then why had being called a word I didn't understand fill me with fear? Shouldn't I have thought it was exciting? Me, the incurable optimist? Maybe I was more complicated than Mother understood.”

Methinks the fandom hath birthed a new repeated theme into the Bendyverse: “why the frick do(es) he/she/they think ____ when ____ happened/is true? Pretty sure it's more complicated than he's/she's/they're thinking, hint-hint.” 💀💀💀

BENDY - FADE TO BLACK PREVIEW

Source:

[reanimationstation]

I'VE BEEN WANTING TO DRAW SAMMY AND ARCHIE INTERACTING FOR A WHILE....technically i already have, but i wanted something more serious. i just think sammy is going to have some Thoughts once he finds someone Like Him.

he's crawling because he's workshopping trying to be less intimidating to new sheep by making himself lower to the ground. its not working. i'm also drawing sammy more realistically to reflect how early in the cycle it is

[creationandcalamityau]

Archie Carter REAL!?

Yes, Real.

I don't think I have ever mentioned that I might be this man's biggest fan. Like I actually. Just as of yesterday gave him a tag on AO3 (YOU'RE WELCOME!) Does like anyone even know who this dude is? He's also in BATDR. He's going to be in the fanfic, and not just a random one-time appearance. He's kind of important. I LOVE YOU BENDY NOVELS

[thatonecrookedsmile]

"Gaze into the space between the pixels on the screen There, you’ll see a place between the signal and the screams Feel the oscillation of the crystal in your dreams Just switch off your brain and let it sizzle in the beams"

-----

It took a matter of months to finish this drawing. (/j, it only took. 2 weeks? I think? maybe a little less,but that's an approximate)

It's been a while since I made a digital drawing. So far between April and now I have focused more on traditional drawings with digital coloring. These are (mostly) cool to do,but it's nice to go back to full digital every now and then. This is one of the cases where the original idea and the final result don't differ that much from each other,but there was still a certain evolution from when I conceived the drawing and how I ended up doing it. The Main Thing of the original idea is still here,I just expanded it a little.

Also,the lyrics at the beginning are from "Tune Into The Madness" by The Stupendium and Dan Bull. Great song,and one that I was listening to a lot at the time I was reading the book (and much earlier too). Because,you know. Mix of horror and TV. It made sense. (And yes,I know this song is about a totally different game,and the TV context in both stories are very different (as far as I remember, it's been a while since I played LN2) but I thought the lyrics could match the drawing anyway + it's my chance to recommend peak, so yeah) Listen to the song, it's very good! (The video do contains flashing images and lights tho,so viewer discretions is adviced)

Also,alt. versions without the text,because I thought that without the text it looks good too (+ you can now see Bendy's face)

[mickeys-malarkey]

Update: yes, my copy came, and omigOSH I'M SO HAPPY!!

Everything they changed in the BATIM section is so consistent with my theories with the extremely exciting “exception” of:

They kept Allison & Tom's wedding invitation!!

Forgive me, I've just gotta infodump about this or I'mma explode; my bestie still hasn't watched a BATDR playthrough so I gotta be careful of spoilers with her—

I wasn't sure if they would keep it because, on the one hand, taking it out would be consistent with how Nathan Sr. seems to have tried to change Henry & Allison's Official Story™ in BATDR to make Joey a perfect Schrodinger's redeemed saint/irredeemable monster depending on which part of his lies you wanna believe, control Henry & Allison, and add icing to Joey's torment cake by allowing Henry & Allison to still be friends in the Ink World while Joey has to continue playing the Decoy Villain role he doesn't want now that he's permanently trapped in his Bendy body due to his human body dying. And, on the other hand, everyone who took the Memory of Joey's story to mean that everything we've ever known about Henry & Allison has definitely, officially been completely retconned and replaced with the new story would take its removal as 100% confirmation of this so-called “retcon” because it would mean the removal of Allison saying, in 1952, that Joey's studio is the reason she & Tom met, and the resulting implication that the Memory of Joey lied about Allison having met Joey sometime in the 1960s, her surname having already been “Connor” when that happened, etc. So, the fact that they kept it in says a lot— in real life, it reconfirms for the third time that no, Henry & Allison's stories have not at all been retconned!!! Meanwhile, the in-universe implications for it still being included and also the render of Tom being deleted are equally exciting considering my theories on:

Allison having always been Nathan Sr.'s employee rather than Joey's and having been used to keep Joey in line just as much as to destroy Susie and make her desperate enough to agree to becoming Alice.

Nathan Sr. having orchestrated the ink pipe explosion that infected Sammy in DCTL in order to punish Sammy for trying to help Joey when he (and Jack) realized what Nathan Sr. was doing to him and the studio and also to punish Joey for daring to accept Sammy's help/“trying to ruin his game of Murder Puppets” by having a conscience.

The events of TLO having happened because the events of DCTL knocked sense into Joey & Allison, they were trying to get Bill's dad's help escaping Nathan Sr., Nathan Sr. found out what they were doing, and he decided to force them to come back to him by orchestrating Bill's “death.”

Joey having declined the wedding invitation because he knew Nathan Sr. would be there and he was literally in hiding trying again to escape him after JDS shut down.

Nathan Sr. having orchestrated Gent's downfall as well in order to punish Allison for failing to draw Joey out of hiding so that he could get his claws back into him (and having predictably framed Joey for it and confused the heck outta Allison because that's literally just his standard abuser “villainize & gaslight your victims” M.O., of course he's gonna do that).

Nathan Sr. having orchestrated Evan's death partly to ensure that nobody could fact-check Archie's story in FTB.

Nathan Sr.'s biggest history-editing project being the editing of everything and everyONE related to Gent (including/especially Tom and what events he, specifically, was and wasn't involved in/responsible for) so that he can cover up his own involvement in events by distracting us with his newest Decoy Villain: Alan/Allen Gray/Grey, who doesn't even seem to actually be a Real World human but instead a Child of the Machine created from a combination of pieces of the souls of multiple Real World humans just like Audrey, Big Steve, Heidi, Archie, etc. etc. etc.

And many other things related to those theories!! Definitely adding an Updated Employee Handbook section to my joint analysis of FTB, BINR, and oddly now also BATDR's achievements because wowzah do those things look to be significantly more lore-heavy than BATIM's were/translation of the BATDR Archives into a list of reading comprehension questions. 😝

Hey gang! Today is the release day for the updated version of the Bendy Employee Handbook. I went on a trip to my local Barnes and Noble and found it, there was only one on the shelf.

The way this was advertised was that it was the old handbook plus new information to act as a game guide for Dark Revival. My reason for picking this thing up was less about what they added and more about whether or not things would be changed from the original version. To no one's surprise, things were in fact changed! But not in the ways I expected. I'd like to make a post talking about it later, I've got a lot of thoughts.

That said, if any of you have questions about this book, feel free to pop into my askbox and ask them. I've gotta get cooking (literally, I'm making bacon soup for dinner shortly here) but I'll try to answer later this evening or tomorrow. A reminder, please try to tag your spoilers for this book if you post about it. There's not really a lot to spoil, but you know me by now, I care about letting people experience things at their own pace.

[ask-the-devilish-darlings]

I think one of my favorite things that Ftb confirms is that Bendy and Norman have had beef since the beginning

[jo3ydr3w]

TLDR: Get rid of the Bendy Wiki mods and get new ones that know the material, because this shit is fucking ridiculous at this point.

Bendy wiki is ONCE AGAIN full of IDIOTS who should be removed from being mods because they have ZERO clue what they're doing.

Image source: Bendy: Secrets of the Machine

It VERY CLEARLY isn't.

The letter gotten is from Joey himself.

Image source: BENDY: SECRETS OF THE MACHINE - FINDING INSANE SECRETS… by Dawko

This means it is set BEFORE Bendy and the Dark Revival as Joey is revealed to have died in that game.

Image source: Bendy And The Dark Revival FULL GAME (No Commentary) by BabyZone

2. Gent is in control of this game.

Image source: Bendy: Secrets of the Machine

It being controlled by Gent proves that it happens BEFORE Bendy and the Dark Revival.

Gent itself shut down in October 1952 as Rose states while talking to Dot in Fade to Black. "He [referring to Evan] left Gent to follow Mister Drew. I wouldn't trust him." "No, he left because they shut down. He was quite miserable about working for Joey." "They shut down? When?" [...] "Last fall, October, I believe."

Fade to Black is stated to take place in January 1953 in the Prologue. "If you were to walk down Broadway in January 1953." 3. The letter saying Riley was hired states working at Joey Drew Studios, and the termination letter states being terminated from Joey Drew Studios.

Image source: BENDY: SECRETS OF THE MACHINE - FINDING INSANE SECRETS… by Dawko

Joey Drew Studios shut down in 1948, as Dot states while talking to Rose in Fade to Black. "Joey Drew has a television show. But they shut down his studio. I know that for a fact." "The animation studio. Yes, that shut down a few years ago." "Yes, 1948 to be percise."

There is ZERO proof that it happens AFTER Bendy and the Dark Revival. All the proof proves it happens BEFORE.

TLDR: Get rid of the Bendy Wiki mods and get new ones that know the material, because this shit is fucking ridiculous at this point.

📷

[ruinationz]

twitter enjoyed the rose design

[king-of-vertigo]

"And I couldn't look away

From the angel on the stage~"

wanted to draw @reanimationstation 's Evan angel design cause he's really neat :DD

((currently drowning in ftb brainrot cause I finally finished the book--))

lyrics are from Rule #7 - Angel Tango by Fish in a Birdcage

[salpho]

I've come to realise there may be a positive to the decanonisation of the Bendy novels.

Despite the negatives, such as the sheer amount of development and work put into them being brushed off as non canon, I think this allows for more opportunities for storytelling in canon.

Chapter 1, first ever audio log in the series by Wally Franks. He talks about how Joey was "trying to appease the Gods", Norman in chapter 2 mentions him having "peculiarities", etc. We never had this expanded upon from my knowledge, books or games (Fade to black isn't quite right as Joey seemed to go insane After the studio's closure so Wally couldnt have experienced this), for example.

I can't think of anything else currently but I'm sure there's more. Again, I hate the fact the books were removed from canon and it really did take more story away than add opportunities for new ones. The fact I could think of one thing so far is a testament to how negative this was. I really do hope they create good enough stories. Even the best wouldn't make up for this decision, but I'd rather something of good quality than bad or as flawed as batdr at times.

[mickeys-malarkey]

How I classify:

Headcanon: there's little to no reason for me to think this – at best I'm going off Vibes™ – but it sparks joy for me to think it, so I choose to think it.

Theory: I think this because I think it's the most logical interpretation of the subtext, even if I 10K% despise it.

Headcanon/theory line straddler: I have this gut feeling that's just. So intense that on the one hand I feel like maybe I'm just imagining things, but on the other hand I just can't shake the idea. It just makes so much sense. Is this intuition? Pareidolia? What's happening to m—?

Probably the most perfect example of this difference for me is: Bendy's identity.

Used to have a theory that he was alive the whole time, maybe from the very first time Henry drew him. Love the idea, my bestie & I are still writing a fanfic around it. But it's only a headcanon to me, now.

For those who don't know, my current theory is:

Joey, Wilson, Mr. Gray/Grey, etc. never were and still aren't the real villains, it always was and still is Nathan Sr. (now better known as the Memory of Joey), who not only has been puppeteering them but has also been slowly editing history to put all the blame for his own crimes onto them, as well. He's tryna use Wilson & Audrey as weapons to destroy Ink Demon/Bendy/Real Joey or, failing that, keep him trapped in the time loop and at odds with his real friends forevermore, all without getting his own hands dirty nor besmirching his own reputation… If he can get rid of/silence them, too, that's a bonus!

Ink Demon can talk now because Real Joey's soul was tethered to the soulless Ink Bendy by a failed ritual and he was unable to go to the afterlife when he died, and he's symbolic of Joey's toxic-because-of-trauma side that Nate Sr. abused and manipulated him into thinking = Helpful/Powerful/Desirable/etc. The Keepers stole Bendy's voice, specifically, to symbolize how Nate Sr. silences & villainizes his victims, because he's symbolic of Joey's good side that Nate Sr. abused and manipulated him into thinking = Helpless/Weak/Undesirable/etc. Bendy tiptoes away during fights with the Lost Ones instead of trying to “help” as Ink Demon because he knows he's lucky if he can control himself in that form and he doesn't wanna hurt his baby girl.

Audrey's “devilish” default Banish power was inherited from Daddy Joey-Bendy and is symbolic of the maladaptive coping mechanisms she inherited from Joey through generational trauma (and a bit of the weirdness of her soul being made from a piece of his and a piece of Daddy Not-Actually-Fake Henry's). Her merging with Ink Demon to stop herself from bleeding out and then choosing to reset the time loop once she sees herself hurt someone who reminds of her dad is symbolic of her processing her memories of Joey/grief over his death, coming to terms with the fact she inherited his toxic traits, and deciding to follow in Joey's footsteps by continuing trying to break the cycle of trauma/abuse and “do better next time.”

You're allowed to like as many different interpretations of a story as you want and also believe that the actual story means something entirely different.

[wally-franks-stan]

More of the Devil’s Diagnosis! This time featuring Rose and Evan :]

Evan is fine. He is not putting ink in him (he is)

Rose and Evan’s designs by @reanimationstation :] (though I did change up rose’s hair)

[angelofthepage]

Renegade Rose: Return to the Cycle

I got hit with a brilliant idea for a potential Bendy fan game that focuses on characters from the books. Most notably, I'm focusing on the cast of Fade to Black, so if you're still spoiler dodging for that entry, here's your content warning. Disclaimer, I am not a game developer and have no idea how one would feasibly create this, this is all just for fun as a hypothetical. (That said, if any fan devs are interested in this concept, my DMs are open, would love to chat with you.) Now, let's get on with the show!

Let's set the stage:

It's been a few years (maybe 1956 since that's when the VCR was invented?) since Rose and Ollie Sorenson’s daring escape from Joey Drew's twisted cartoon world, the Cycle. Ollie is well on his way to becoming a teenager, and Rose has been trying to move forward with her life. But no matter where she goes, the hallucination of Bendy follows her, and the guilt of losing Evan and Archie still eats at her soul. 

By some miraculous chance, Rose ends up with a VHS tape with a recording of the Joey Drew Show on it (maybe she recorded a rerun, or maybe she found it in someone else's junk/the library discards). The special TV has been unplugged for years, and her 3D glasses are snapped in half. But she wonders if maybe, just maybe, there's a way to go back and save them. So she tapes the glasses together and pops in the tape to see if her access point is still there. And sure enough, she's got a way in! 

With the help of Ollie and Dot, Rose makes it her mission to rescue Evan and Archie from their inky fates. Will she be successful, or will she find the ink pulling her under?

Gameplay:

I imagine this would work well as a first person action adventure experience that's mission based. (That said, upon consulting friends, I've had the suggestion for a Nancy Drew visual novel styled game, and that feels like it would be fun and maybe more achievable if I tried to make it real.) It has elements in common with BATDR, but the world isn't quite as open. Taking some inspiration from FNAF Security Breach Ruin and FNAF Help Wanted 2, Rose puts on her 3D glasses to dive into the cycle, which is our primary environment for exploration. In the cycle, she travels through a variety of areas to look for Evan and Archie, encountering a cast of quirky characters, some known fan favorites, and some new. On her quest to find them, Rose finds several items to help her solve puzzles and leave notes for her friends/mark her path. 

Rose’s central hub is in the living room of her real world house. Here, she can consult Ollie and Dot, look through notes of things she's seen on her adventure, and equip items to take with her into the cycle. That said, some of the horror would come from having something in the real world that shouldn't be there. The farther Rose goes, the more her hallucinated Bendy shows up. Sometimes he's there to tease her, and sometimes he has helpful hints about how to traverse the cycle. (Keep this in mind for later, this will be story relevant.)

While having the VHS tape means Rose can enter the cycle whenever she wants, there is a limitation. She can only stay in the cycle for as long as the tape runs for. This means she has to get in, complete her objective, and get out. Given this game would have some puzzle elements, I would feel bad putting someone in a time constraint to solve them. So rather than taking a Hades or Splatoon 3 Side Order approach, I'd rather let the levels themselves take however long they need to. The time limit wouldn't be imposed until Rose has completed her objective, where it's a mad dash to get back to a designated safety area (like Joey's office) so she can take off the glasses and get out. Think of it kind of like Pizza Tower. It could also lend itself well to some close encounters running away from monsters at the end of a mission. It would be interesting to use the Little Miracle Stations as a potential safe area to pause and exit the cycle mid-mission, given the ad for them that exists in BATIM Chapter 5. (This is the thing I wouldn't know how to translate if this was tackled as a visual novel instead.)

I’m tempted to throw something in here with closing your eyes as a mechanic, given the scene in FTB where Ollie walks back up to the entrance by imagining he’s walking on clouds. Letting Rose have one moment to do something impossible by focusing and using her imagination would be great. It would take a lot out of her, having it as a once-a-mission kind of deal might make sense. 

Another mechanic is the tape player. Per the Fade to Black moment of Joey talking to Rose ala the tape player, Rose being able to communicate with Dot or Ollie would be useful. It could work as a hint system, but it also works for plot elements. Using the tapes as a walkie talkie of sorts would also be interesting for having some interference from our antagonist, or for keeping in touch with allies we meet along the way. 

Characters: 

Rose Sorenson: Our ever optimistic protagonist. Rose looks on the bright side, but more importantly, she’s driven. While other Bendy protagonists have endurance and magical powers to help them along, Rose has her wits and a strong imagination.

Ollie Sorenson: Rose’s little brother who has been through a lot. Ollie is a good kid, he means well, but he’s getting to an age where his whole world is changing. As his sister embarks on this heroic quest, he’s feeling like he’s brave and strong enough to take on the cycle and lend a hand too. This may get him into more trouble than he bargained for. 

Dot Lastname: Former writer at Joey Drew Studios, Dot is a curious soul who lost everything. Having never been able to find her friend, Buddy Lewek, she’s harbored so much guilt. Making sure Joey can never hurt anyone again would leave her satisfied, and being able to locate her lost friend would be even better. She agrees to help Rose one more time, in the hope that maybe, just maybe, Buddy is still alive. 

Buddy Boris: Since getting dragged down by the hands of the ink demon, Buddy has found himself trapped in the body of Boris the Wolf, struggling to maintain control. Upon encountering studio newcomer Rose, his memories are hazy. But the more she tells him stories of the past, the more he starts to remember. Buddy can’t speak verbally, but he can communicate through drawings and writing on the wall. (Need to have a moment where he hears Dot through the tape recorder and recognizes her, gotta have it be a little heartbreaking).

Evan: A former employee of Joey Drew’s and Gent, Evan is a big grump with big dreams of innovating the world. He’s a foil to Rose’s endless positivity with an air of irritation, but he means well. Except for trying to dismantle and steal the ink machine, that was a bit foolish and morally gray. Evan met his fateful death at the hands of the ink demon in Fade to Black, but as other characters have shown us, those who die in reality can end up reborn in the cycle. Where is Evan, and what has he become? Is there a way to bring him back home? 

Archie Carter: A mysterious Englishman who ended up as a lab rat for Gent, Archie is desperate to put an end to their reign of terror. Having gone from being suspiciously not human to a faceless ink creature, Archie sacrificed himself for Rose not once, but twice. He’s already encountered so many horrors in the studio. What kind of state will he be in if Rose finds him again?

The Projectionist: The monster that was once Norman Polk has caused a fair share of problems within the cycle, but perhaps he’s not as monstrous as he seems. After all, he’s only defending what’s rightfully his: a pile of ink hearts. (It could be fun to have him as a monster, then have Evan help repair his speaker so he can communicate with the group, showing he’s more confused than he is hostile.)

There are others I'd like to include of course. There's people like Jacob from DCTL that would make a fun ally, might be indulgent and put my “Abby Lambert is a perfect Alice” theory to good use. Depending on how far along Joey is, maybe there's an early attempt at Audrey somewhere in here. Maybe there's Wilson! There is a very small chance of Wilson, it's not likely, but I'm considering it. Twisted Alice showing up? Definitely considering it given the timeline would be fun to play with.

That's all I've got in my notes so far. Whether this ends up as a real fan game or stays as a concept for a fic/au, it's been really fun to brainstorm, and I want to keep playing with it. I feel like we're onto something here.

[reanimationstation]

I FINALLY FINISHED THIS. I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS LINEUP SINCE NOVEMBER. BEHOLD.

i had so so much fun designing and drawing all of them i LOVE drawing the casts of these books

[ask-buddy-lewek]

⚠️BATIM: FADE TO BLACK SPOILERS BELOW!!!!⚠️

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Spoilers below for the new book: be warned ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

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Last chance these are pretty big spoilers….. ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

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Is anyone gonna talk about how RIGHT BEFORE FTB came out, the meatly literally said none of the books are directly cannon - then the book goes onto explain the CREATION OF THE LOOP YOU’RE STUCK IN DURING THE FIRST GAME!!!

(NOT DIRECTLY CANNON MY LEFT FOOT, MEATLY!!!)