#i still really love bendy but i don't really understand or enjoy some of the decisions being made

[ghostie-ghoulie]

Hey there! I'm Ghostie-Ghoulie. I have had this app for years and always wanted to post, so here I am!

Currently, I'm obsessed with anything Until Dawn or Resident Evil related. I can't ever shut my mouth about them.

My content will either consist of possible art or my fanfiction about certain fandoms I enjoy.

This is an 18+ blog! So, if you are a minor, please, in the most polite way possible, leave my page.

These Fandoms that I am a part of happen to be:

Until Dawn

Resident Evil (a personal favorite)

Horror movies (Ghostface, Hellrasier, Chucky, IT, Etc)

The Wolf Among Us

Mortal Kombat

Cyberpunk

Arcane

Team Fortress 2

Star Wars

Star Wars: The Bad batch

Ghost (band)

Sallyface

Bendy And The Ink Machine

Spiderman (mostly the spiderverse movies)

Dark Deception

Devil May Cry

More fandoms can be added later!

I will write Smut, oneshots, small imagines, and multichapter stories. I'm a sucker for smut, so you're gonna get that out of me once I finally get the hang of it.

Important note: I only write XReaders for now. I know that might suck for a lot of people, but it is something I heavily enjoy. I know people don't like it (Y/n, I'm looking at you), but the stereotypical cringe XReader stories that drive me up a wall will not be here. I will try my hardest to make the apperence vague, but personality might be a challenge. Though, hey! Everyone needs their practice. I can't go writing an emotionless reader, eh?

The readers I write for will mostly, if not entirely, be gender neutral or feminine. I'm sorry if this is a major letdown, but I do not trust my abilities to delve into a male reader just yet. I most write for male characters in general, and as love interests, but I can write for women when it comes to romance. I am both for ladies and gents.

Another very important note: I have a major history regarding mental health. Stress comes to me easy, and with stress comes heavy burnout. My brain gets fried, and my creativity goes down 6 feet under. All I ask is that you be very patient with me until I recover. This might mean small breaks or long breaks. Requests may be hard to handle, but if I'm ready, I'll think about doing them. You are able to send in asks! I may not be able to do full requests, but maybe some thoughts for a writing I could possibly start off with.

I am very understanding when it comes to emotional and mental related things because I have experienced my fair share of dealing with it. These topics will show up sometimes in various writings. If these bother you, worry not! Warnings will be placed.

This is a page friendly one towards everyone. I do not stand for hate of any kind. Sure, we're through a damn screen, but I still won't tolerate it. So please, no hate or arguments. If opinions differ, it doesn't mean we need to clash.

Characters that I could possibly write for consist of:

Until Dawn

Chris Hartley

Mike Monroe

Josh Washington

Matt Taylor

Resident Evil

Leon Kennedy

Karl Heisenburg

Luis Sera

Jack Krauser

Albert Wesker

Devil May Cry

Johnny Cage

Vergil Sparda

Dante Sparda

Nero sparda

Mortal Kombat

Syzoth (Reptile)

Tomas (Smoke)

Bi-han (Sub-Zero)

Kuai liang (Scorpian)

Liu Kang

Cyberpunk

Johnny Silverhand

Viktor Vektor (he needs more love and attention. I love him sm)

Team Fortress 2

Spy

Sniper

Medic

(Possibly the rest)

Star Wars

Captain Rex

(Probably will write for a bunch of clones, tbh)

Hondo Ohnaka

Darth Maul

Darth Vader

Boba Fett

Din Djarin

Hunter

Crosshair

Tech

Wrecker

Echo

The Wolf Among Us

Bigby Wolf

I think that's all I've really got for now. More of course can be added later to masterlists. I'm just giving you good ideas on who I would love to write for.

(I will probably reform this because damn it looks jumbled, but hey, I'm inexperienced with actually posting on Tumblr.)

[angelofthepage]

Love Requires Sacrifice

"Love requires sacrifice" is one of those Sammy Lawrence lines that hits really hard. This man has given up everything to devote his existence to the ink demon, praying he will be freed from his miserable body. But there is something about this line that is hitting me particularly hard tonight as an enjoyer of autistic Sammy interpretations (and as an autistic myself).

What if "love requires sacrifice" wasn't just about the ink demon? What if it was about Sammy? What if he thought it was a sacrifice for people to love him?

Think about it. He's so irritated when he thinks people aren't doing a good job in his department, has little patience and doesn't want anyone wasting his time. He's something of a perfectionist. He finds so many noises distracting, perhaps even overstimulating. He's annoyed by Joey's constant changing of plans and lack of communication. And who do we know of that seems to like him in canon? Susie seems to have a bit of a crush on him until she thinks he's lied to her, and Jack is his partner in crime for music, but outside of that, does he have friends? Do people communicate with him as more than a co-worker? Does he have anyone notice when he's gone? Do people simply deal with him because they have to? Or is he just another obstacle to get passed? How does all of this affect him, does he want friends? Does he feel loved enough? Or is loving him too difficult for people because of his multitude of peculiarities? Is it a sacrifice to dedicate time to trying to understand him?

That breaks my heart a little bit, because it hits kind of close to home. I've felt very unlovable and difficult for years, no matter how accommodating I try to be, no matter how much I try and change to make myself more palatable. Sometimes I feel like people are simply tolerating me and waiting for me to leave rather than genuinely wanting me around. But ironically, it's through Bendy that I've slowly learned this isn't the case. I don't think I'd ever heard someone tell me that they enjoy my company until I came into this fandom and had people talking to me. And it's not just because of the things I give like it was in other spaces. I'm valued for being me, even the messy parts. I have good ideas and cool skills, I'm fun to talk to, I tell good jokes and listen and engage, And even though I get overstimulated or have a tough time sometimes, even though I get incredibly frustrated behind closed doors, more people get it and are willing to work through it with me. They don't treat it like it's a sacrifice to love me.

In some ways, it's made me realize that I changed so much of myself to try to be someone likable, that I lost myself in the process, I became flavorless. I'm still trying to put my pieces back together, and it's something I feel like Sammy had happen too, losing himself to serve someone else. And I wish I could tell him that he is lovable, and it's not a sacrifice to love him. Are there things he could work on? Yes, it pays to be nicer to people, he could stand to be a better person. But there are many things to love about him just the way he is, and someone out there will appreciate them.

Sometimes a fictional character has something to teach you. I think, for me, autistic Sammys have been a source of comfort, knowing that someone like me can still be lovable. Like he's an asshole, he's not someone I would want to know in real life because he's a jerk to people. But gosh does he make me want to be kinder to myself.

[doodle17]

🧿🔮Welcome to the blog weary traveler🔮🧿

Howdy. The names Doodle17, but you can just call me Doodle.

I'm just a girl who enjoys Drawing, Gaming and a little bit of writing on the side. I also really like talking. A lot. So don't be shy to drop a little message in the ol' askbox. I don't bite, promise.

Been drawing for 9+ years and don't intend on stopping. I use the good stuff for drawing. Sketchbook, pencils etc etc. For digital you can see me use the fantastic Clip Studio Paint.

I love games. Video games, to be precise. And though I may post a lot of one fandom, I'm Multifandom. Meaning I post memes, art and other things for any fandom I like, when I like. I love talking about my current interests, but hey, if you find something I might be into, don't be afraid to tell me about. Like I said, I do love talking.

In case you haven't noticed, this blog is run by a half-wolf-girl and a small cartoony dog looking creature. These are my little characters that I use to represent me. They are both me, yes. Dont ask how, they just are.

Christian in Faith, and welcoming of everyone. But, I'm afraid if you outright harass or threaten Christians, or anyone of any faith for that matter, let's do us both a favor and don't bother me, okay?

I'm sorry, but Politics are a big No No here. This Blog is for Art, memes and goofy things. A serious post or two may come up, but I'm trying my best to avoid that kind of thing.

This blog will have a few icky things, like swearing and violence, some traumatic stuff here and there, and some suggestive content. But I can assure you, you will never see me get involved with any NSFW anytime soon. But if any of the above topics still bother you, then feel free to block tags, or just not interact with me at all. I understand.

In case you need anymore info, here's my card.... Oh wait, that's just a coupon for Chick-fil-A... Hrmmm... Oh well.

I also own a Side-blog based on the popular Bendy Franchise if you'd like to go check that out, if you're into that. @ask-the-devilish-darlings

I hope you enjoy your stay here. Just a more few things before you get started are, Reblogs are greatly appreciated. Not saying you have to but, it'd still be nice.

Hope to see you around soon.

-Doodle17💙💜🩵

[suyangdraws]

Reviving from ink little by little!

Well, how am I supposed say this? Maybe someone still remember me, or maybe your all already forgotten who I was here on tumblr. Because it's been 3 years since I deactivated my tumblr and I got out here of this place. First of all, I apologize for some wrong words on the text, I'm not good at English and I still use the translator to help me communicate with people from other places. Well, my old tumblr was @master-drewart and I used to make fanarts related to Bendy and The Ink Machine, mainly related to Joey Drew. However, I had some complicated personal problems and psychological that discouraged me from continuing what I was doing, and I completely deactivated my tumblr, I even posted a text on my old tumblr saying I was going to deactivate, and with that I stopped drawing for a long time. But now why might I be thinking of going back? I was recently watching a live gameplay of Bendy and The Dark Revival, and, this brought back good memories from when I was addicted to Bendy. At the time we didn't know what Joey Drew looked like, and fans were creating an appearance for him and alternate universes. I remember that I created 4 alternative versions of Joey Drew, and after watching this gameplay I really missed my Joeys that I even consider them as my 2D children, and even today I have great affection and feelings for them. I'm thinking about whether or not I'll go back to doing what I loved. I don't know how the people that I knowed are doing now, if they are still fans of Bendy, if they moved or not, if they left or not, I miss those people too, but I understand that they're not all the same. But if by chance I return to this place, be warned that I have now changed my nickname, Su Yang, because lately I've been really enjoying themes related to ancient Korea. Also, if I go back to drawing Bendy and my Joeys, I will also bring other types of drawings, I don't want to focus on just one thing, but on the things that I like the most and hope all understand.

[spider-xan]

hey! I just enjoy your spidey meta so much, so I have to ask. what spidey comics would you recommend? what are your favorites? I've read a few Nick Spencer and Zeb Wells... but yeah, I can't stomach that. I'm also reading from the beginning, from the 60s of course, but do you have any issues or storylines you especially liked?

Hello! And ty, I'm glad you enjoy the meta!

In terms of Spidey comics I like, I'm definitely partial to the Lee/Ditko/Romita run from the 1960s, even if it might be dated by modern standards, and the Tablet of Time arc during it is overlooked imo, and my readings of other eras jumps around a lot bc I don't have a lot of focus (my niche is Lizard stuff, though I'm still sitting on old Asks about recs for that lol) - but I do really like Parallel Lives as a good MJ story, even if it's the source of the contentious ret-con of her knowing Peter is Spider-Man since the night Uncle Ben died; J. M. DeMatteis' work like The Child Within is basically a must read if you are interested in Harry, and Harry's (original) death in Spectacular Spider-Man #200 is still one of my favourite issues and has a lot of great character work for Peter, Harry, and MJ, and their relationships with each other.

I know a lot of people love JMS' run, and it has a lot of great elements like Peter being a teacher and getting back together with MJ, plus the storyline where Aunt May finally finds out he's Spider-Man and confronts him about it, though the gay joke is a little outdated now, but I have mixed feelings bc it also introduced the mystical Spider-Totem stuff that I don't think fits Spider-Man; that said, it's the last big writer era before OMD and BND derailed Peter's growth as an actual adult by editorial, so it's still worth checking out.

Spider-Man: Blue is another popular series I have mixed feelings on bc I feel like it's heavy on style over substance and doesn't really say anything new about Gwen and the Peter/Gwen romance, but it has nice artwork and is an interesting parallel narrative to the Lee/Romita run if you think of it that way rather than as a ret-con of the Silver Age stories.

A lot of people recommend the original Ultimate Spider-Man comics by Bendis, esp the initial run with Bagley as the artist, or say it's even better than the original comics, and I do enjoy and would recommend it, but not as a replacement for the Lee/Ditko/Romita run when it comes to Peter - imo it's more enjoyable if you approach it as its own thing in conversation with the original comics and as a modern update (which is ironically kind of dated in an early 2000s way now), and some of the ideas are hit and miss; but overall, it has interesting storylines and fun characters, and it's also the basis for most adaptations (yes, even the Raimi films) as much as Lee/Ditko/Romita, so having some knowledge of it is really helpful in terms of appreciating and understanding the choices adaptations after the 90s cartoon often make, up to and including the Insomniac games.

[hall0wedwyrm]

hello im talking about Void Crew again.

This time I wanna talk about some of the dynamics between the characters heehoo. I think that theres such a range of characters that theres lots of different opportunities for things. We got some silly ones, some nice ones... and of course we got some angst lmao

Hero and Bendy are very much 'The calm and serious one who becomes incredibly unhinged around the one who causes the chaos.' They often get into shenanigans, and someone (mostly Gaster or Monika) would say "Hero...? I thought you were the sensible one???" they have been caught having midnight snacks together, especially when Natsuki makes cupcakes. Sometimes Jevil joins them, and makes everything a little bit more violent. (also Bendy and Jevil hiss at each other I dont make the rules) (they do the cat arch thing too-)

Shadow and Spamton have some... odd understanding of each other. They both know that they had a rough past with a scientist, who sort of used them for their own purposes (Gerald's Revenge and Gaster's experiments or whatever he's doing). They both agree that if they get betrayed by a scientist again, theyre gonna destroy together... as a joke... obviously.

Hero and Shadow... all I can think of is "I dont talk to anyone UNDER the average national height." and Shadow responds "I don't talk to anyone OVER IT." They understand each other on the level of 'we kind of deal with the same issues... you wanna team up?' The Ultimate Lifeform and a God teaming up? two very powerful beings? I love it.

Now... for some angst. Sayori really reminds Shadow of Maria. Her unbridled kindness and care for everyone, the way she lights up a room when she arrives. She barely knew anything about Shadow before she offered to help them. Shadow was a little weirded out by it at first, but they eventually got used to it and found it comforting when they would get overwhelmed.

Hero, Natsuki and Yuri. He reads the books that Yuri and Natsuki like, so that he can learn about their interests. Hes genuinely interested in what other people like and wants to know. He even reads some of Monika's poetry that she still makes. Sayori also does this, so sometimes they both enjoy reading together :)

and to wrap up this (longer than I thought) post: Gaster and Hero. They've known each other the longest. "It feels like I've known you forever," kind of vibe. They very much read each other; they immediately notice if the other is acting off, and basically pester the other to tell them whats going on. They argue like a married couple, but they always work it out in the end, and come to a conclusion. They also do the smart-people talk thats mainly about a lot of sciencey things that Gaster likes. (Hero only really knows about this stuff because of Gaster telling him.)

anyway maybe I'll do art for them. who knows. maybe I'll do some lore next actually

[liz-trix]

The Ink Demon

The Ink Demon/Bendy... whoa boy, this one's gonna be a doozy. This one's going to be a bit opinionated since I do personally enjoy how BATIM handled Bendy over how BATDR did, but I will absolutely still give DR credit where its due! Additionally this ought to be taken with the idea that the game is a bit more open ended/world aimed since I don't exactly think my ideal Ink Demon could easily be wedged into BATDR as it currently exists. With that said...

Bendy should be the most powerful and terrifying entity in the game. Describing and talking about this can only get you so far, you need to show it!

If I were to take a crack at Bendy, he would resume his Chapter 3 stance where he would periodically spawn into the physical map and roam around. Bendys' spawn would be notified to the player with the thin screen ink vein filter that appears in Dark Revival. This filter would get thicker the closer he is, both serving as a form of building tension and informing the player to his location.

Bendy himself should manipulate the world around him to enhance his other worldly/demonic form! This can be pulled off in a variety of ways, and leaves a lot of open room for creativity.

Bendy would be blind, reducing his visual line of sight. However, to make up for this sight loss there would be two new mechanics in play.

Those being 2 "rings", they serve as a radius that affects the world and enemies around him.

The first ring is an informational ring, it's massive in scale and serves to be the general area where the world changes. It has a thin inky vein texture akin to the one seen in the first game, anything within this general ring will appear covered in ink, and interactable objects such as levers, doors, and other machinery will become unusable.

To promote fear, light sources will flicker and break, and enemies/NPCs will become cowardly and seek out hiding spaces. (Enemies in this cowardly state will ignore Audrey in favor of hiding from Bendy.) Demon aligned NPCs will choose to either continue walking about openly and/or attempt to approach Bendy. (This first ring would be almost identical to the one from the first game:)

The second ring is the lethal ring. This ring appears within the immediate range of Bendy himself, and appears as a sludge of ink that's constantly dripping from Bendy. Living things within this ring will instantly perish and become consumed similarly to how the Butcher Gang would perish in BATIM. Standing within this ring, even if undetected, will alert Bendy of your location. You are to avoid this! (Note: Standing out in the open would still lead to Bendy pursuing you. The second ring just alerts him if you were to be crouching undetected and directly behind him.) (The second ring would most likely look like the puddle that Searchers take when idle:)

Now for some dev notes. Visually speaking, in-game these rings shouldn't be blatantly in your face since that can easily take the player out of an immersive environment, but they need to also be able to be quick to pick up and understand, too. I choose two sets of rings since I believe they would be more familiar to people who've played the first game, whilst also staying in-character to the Ink Demon, AND providing a quick and clean way to get Bendy to interact with the environment without needing some absurd complex A.I set or tree.

These rings allow for a variety of different behaviors to be tied to them as well, making for an ideally simple system. Creative liberties could obviously be taken with the system I'm thinking of, but I feel like it takes most of the good aspects from each game and mixes them together. I vastly prefer BATIM Bendys' physical presence, but I also really do love the tension BATDR brought to the table. I think a blend of both systems would've been lovely.

I'd love to put these ideas into practice some day. Hmm...

[numberonelittlechild]

✨Introduction✨

Hello, tumblr community! I'm so glad and happily to finally join in! I really wanted to but I really wasn't sure, y'know? so, I'll told ya' a little about me :)

• I'm a 13 year old girl, I love to draw and hangout! I'm into a TON of fandoms, I definitely had a lot of... Fictional crushes UwU...

• I'm still reasoning my cuteness and awesome attractions, but... It's not my priority yet, but i still wanted to enjoy my last 2 years before turning 15-

• I love memes, tickling and more not like a fetish, but I still love the memes :D I love to see the characters I'm attracted to or that I love being apart and seeing them have fun, it makes my heart go: 💖

• English is my main language, I can actually speak Spanish, Japanese, and more X3! But I'm on my way on learning Spanish ^^! So, if any Spanish speaking follower talks to me, I guarantee that I'll understand for the peeps x'3

• I really want to make my own video for one day, but I'm not really sure I'll make it real... But if I can, I'll be proud in the world! :--)

• I'm so used to put icons or emoticons when i I talk, I like to be... Kind of impressive, y'know why? (0___0) Sorry if that bothered ya' when reading anything I say! (^ w ^)

• Please don't like scam that content, I really hate when someone did that (;--;) It's flawless please don't (*^*)...

Now I'll put right here, the fandoms I'm mostly in, or I've been in the universe! (If you request me a meme art, tickle art or a normal art, take in mind that I been only onto these fandoms-)

✨Fandom list!✨

Villainous

The Powerpuff Girls

Cuphead

Dick Figures

The Grim adventures of Billy and Mandy

Spooky Month

Sr. Pelo (in general all his work)

Splatoon

Storybots

My Little Pony

SMG4

Spongebob Squarepants

Pucca

Wow Wow Wubbzy!

The Henry Stickmin Collection

Whatever Happend to... Robot jones?

My Life As A Teenage Robot

Bendy and the ink machine

Animal Crossing

/m/-rage (I've not in a fandom but I like the animations! But that doesn't mean I will support the things that the comic say or some stuff in 4Chan, alright?)

Mickey Mouse

SML

Super Bomberman R

PBS Kids

The Magic School Bus

Super Mario

Lalaloopsy

The Amazing Digital Circus

I didn't remember what more fandoms I've been, but if I remember I'll try to put it right there lamo-

So, that should be all! I'll post my artwork later! (/^ V ^)/

Goodnight, afternoon or day, amazing and charming ones!! (^3^)

[dimonds456]

Totally random question, but I need to ask this to people and you seem very smart when it comes to these things and I want to ask: do you think people should consume media critically? Like, be aware of all its flaws?

Oh yeah, absolutely. I think you should definitely be aware of a story's flaws- both plotwise and thematically- so you can better enjoy the story and engage with it, but that's not to say that media should be only consumed critically. It's entertainment, and if it's bad, then there is still value in it from a purely escapist perspective. But, you should be aware of flaws to learn from and understand in order to really engage with it.

Let me explain. Spoilers for Doki Doki Literature Club and Bendy and the Ink Machine / Dark Revival. Also mentioned is HTTYD: RTTE, Twilight, HP, and Little Nightmares.

I believe that your first watch / playthrough / read of a story should 100% be to enjoy the story and characters, engaging with the worldbuilding and just letting it take you for a ride. Now, some stories will have foreshadowing you pick up on and can figure out, but some stories will be pretty unpredictable going into them, but either way, you're letting a story tell itself.

For example, Doki Doki Literature Club (2017) is a dating sim horror game. For the first hour or so, you might forget the "disturbing imagery" warning at the front of the game, but the further you go on Sayori's path, the more you realize she's been struggling. Depression hits her hard, and she's barely holding on. As the Player, most felt bad for her and wanted to help her in some way, but it was already too late.

By the time you find out what happened, Sayori is dead. For both spoiler purposes and to make sure people who don't know this game and don't want to know what happened to her, I'm not going to say how she dies.

But, the game resets, this time without her in it. She's the heart of the group, and without her, things go to shit, even if the other Club members don't realize something is missing. There's an argument in both timelines, an argument Sayori is able to resolve peacefully in her timeline, but one that tears a deep gash in Yuri and Natsuki's relationship without her. This moment really hits if you engage with the story.

At the end of the game, which I won't say here (again, go play it and engage with the story yourself), you're left to make a pretty massive decision, which you could only figure out that that's what you need to do because of the game's meta look at itself by this point.

When I was first watching a playthrough of the game (I think through Jacksepticeye) I remember it helped me a lot since I was struggling just like Sayori was, and it turned me off from doing harm to myself for a long time. And understanding why goes into thinking about it critically.

Sayori's depression was almost word for word what mine was back when I first heard her talk about it. So, when she [REDACTED], it genuinely scared me. That could be me, I thought. It made me sure that I didn't want to go down the same path, and even helped me talk about my depression a bit more than I had been up to that point.

Does the game have flaws? Hell yes. A lot of the conversations go on a little long (but it's a dating sim, you signed up for dialogue lol), sometimes the scary bits can feel a bit out of place, there's a couple lines of dialogue that feel a bit off, ect.

However, I love DDLC despite its flaws simply because I love the story, it helped me, and it's just a good story with a powerful message. Critically, there are a few flaws, which I take in stride when I replay the game, but it doesn't hurt my experience.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, we have Bendy and the Ink Machine (2017). I remember being absolutely obsessed with Bendy, but looking back, the game is (subjectively) Not Good. So, why did I love it so much?

Well, for starters, the game released in 5 chapters from early 2017 to late 2018. This gave the fandom huge lengths of time to theorize, to fall in love with the characters, and engage with each other. By the time Chapter 2 came out, people already had an idea of what the story was going to be in its entirety because they filled in the blanks. And, we were half right, half wrong throughout the game, because the creators started centering plot points around things the fandom came up with rather than what they themselves came up with.

The primary example is Alice Angel from Chapter 3. In Chapter 2, all there was was one voice log explaining that there was a voice actress who liked playing the role, and a singular poster in which she starred in a short called "Sent from Above." That was it. But, the fans had her design, and without any knowledge of the character herself, suddenly there was fanart, shipping, character dynamics, and emotional attachment. So, the devs behind the game went and made her the focus of Chapter 3 simply because they thought that that's what the fandom wanted.

That was why I loved the game so much. It wasn't the game I loved, but the fandom and the fan stories created about the game.

However, I still have a soft spot for BATIM. I was hyperfixated on it for two whole years, and even had a fan story of my own called Demons Inside, which is still one of my better stories even if there are a lot of major flaws. And, despite how all over the place the game turned out, I still love it.

That's why, back in February, I got the idea to make a BATIM Rewritten video. I'd do something similar to what The Closer Look did for the Star Wars sequels and make a video explaining what went wrong, only to propose my own story and how they should have handled it.

However, that never came to pass. Bendy and the Dark Revival (2022) dropped not too long ago, and because the devs decided to release all the chapters at once instead of separately, there were no fandom points to go off of for this game. They had complete creative control, and used it well. When not doing what the fandom wants, these guys can create a genuinely good game. BATDR did a lot of what I wanted to do with the original, so making that Rewritten video is kinda a moot point now.

Back to BATIM, though, that game has a lot of flaws. Pacing, character inconsistency, introductions, set up, payoff, the whole thing. The voice acting, music, artwork, designs and stuff were all on-point, it was just mostly the story that was a mess lol. But despite that, BATIM and its fandom are like comfort food to me. I still go back and listen to BATIM fan songs constantly, and rewatching old comic dubs is like stepping into an old house. I still like BATIM, even if I constantly joke with my friends about how bad it is.

No piece of media will be perfect. You're allowed to like the Star Wars prequels and sequels, even if I cannot join you on that opinion (I think, it's been a literal decade since I've seen the prequels). You're allowed to like Twilight so long as you recognize that every single relationship in that series is toxic and you should not idolize any of them.

H*rry P*tter is nostalgic to a lot of us and I know I still love it, even if I cannot enjoy it because of what the creator is doing. HP is an exception because J. K. R*wling is an awful human being.

Even my favorite video game ever, Undertale, has its flaws. Quite a few of them, actually. People have complained that the battles get repetitive and it's annoying that they appear suddenly, and you can't choose whether you want to engage with them or not. People have complained about some of the characters, that there's individual character arcs that are bad (most commonly criticized is Alphys' and I strongly disagree, and I will defend her place in this story with my entire online existence), and stuff along those lines.

But, when Undertale made me cry that hard, when it said so many things I needed to hear, when it made me fall in love with so many of its characters, when it made me completely change my ENTIRE worldview... what else was I supposed to do but enjoy it?

Not to say that to enjoy a story, it must impact you, no. You can enjoy any piece of media without it impacting you. But, you should be able to connect with the characters, world, and story no matter what, despite its flaws. The mark of an enjoyable story is one that does that with you specifically. Now whether that's because you're crying or laughing at it is still up to you, but entertainment value ≠ objectively good.

You should be aware of flaws. You should be able to say "yeah they should have introduced Viggo Grimborne much earlier in Race to the Edge than they did, since he would be a much more looming threat" while still being able to enjoy Dragons: Race to the Edge. Recognizing flaws in a piece of media is pretty key to really connecting with it from an analytic standpoint, which I recommend doing with any story to really see how it works as a story.

But you don't have to.

Entertainment is escapism. You should watch or engage with it to let go of reality for a little while. I recommend being aware of flaws so you can learn from them and talk about the story to other people, but you don't have to do that. I've played Little Nightmares... never, but I've watched a bunch of playthroughs and it's a great game. I'm sure it has flaws, but I can't think of any off the top of my head. It's a great game with a lot of atmosphere, and it's told pretty much exclusively through worldbuilding, which is awesome, but I don't know everything there is to know and that's okay.

Enjoy a story however you want to. Everything has flaws, and although they should be taken into account, that doesn't define the experience.

[thevindicativevordan]

Here is a challenge: What would you do with the Legion of Super-Heroes?

Now that is a challenge given all the reboots they've gone through.

Not sure how qualified I am specifically to speak on this though. I like the Legion of Superheroes fine enough, but mainly as "Superman's team" like what the Outsiders is for Batman, or what the Justice League Dark is being positioned as for Wonder Woman. Superman having childhood pals he went on adventures with, except they're from the future and he doesn't remember them because Saturn Girl wiped his memory after each adventure, is a very Superman take on childhood friends that I love. As a separate independent entity I have only casual experience with them. Grew up watching the Legion of Superheroes cartoon and I loved that! Such a bummer it was cancelled in it's second season, if it had gotten to keep running, maybe the Legion would be in better health today. Johns Superman & the Legion of Superheroes arc was my first introduction to them on the comics side, and I love that story. Read the first volume of Waid's reboot and I really enjoyed that, need to track down the other volumes and read them at some point. Read a few of the Silver Age Legion stories, their introduction where they gaslight Superboy is hilarious in how Silver Age fucked up it is. Very accurate to kids behavior though.

But I've never read the Levitz run which is apparently their "Claremont X-Men" in terms of definitive storylines. I've had the big reveal spoiled for me of course, so that kind of put a damper on my interest in reading. The other roadblock is how convoluted their continuity has gotten, specifically when Byrne fucked them up by yanking Superboy out. That was the beginning of their decline as I understand it, necessitating the convoluted "Pocket Universe" work around to not destroy their continuity. That ended up being pointless given they were rebooted down the road anyway, each reboot fracturing their fanbase until what was once DC's most popular team is now a shadow of itself.

Johns "Retroboot" felt like it had the potential to return them to their glory days, but in typical Johns fashion, he never got around to doing a run on them with Gary Frank like he had planned. So they fell through the cracks, and then their teased return in Doomsday Clock ended up not happening because of how long it took Johns and Frank to finish the damn book. Now I'll throw those two a bone and say that Didio probably fucked them over just for the hell of it by having Bendis reboot the Legion again.

Bendis' reboot seems to have gone over like a lead balloon, although he's going to be doing a Justice League vs. Legion of Superheroes arc in his JL run coming up. We'll see how that shakes out. Personally I wish that Bendis had gone with his original intent of this being the 31st Century Legion. I would've made it explicitly a Legion composed of descendants and replacements of the Legion from the 30th who were Clark's Legion. Makes thematic sense right, Jon the Son of Superman teaming up with the kids and inheritors of his dad's Legionaries as they chart their own destiny? Would've allowed Johns to still bring back the Retroboot so you could still have Clark go on adventures without breaking continuity again. But I guess Didio just couldn't pass up the chance at another reboot.

My guess is any outside adaptions will keep the Bendis race changes, but draw on the older versions in terms of stories and characterizations. I don't mind the race changes, a team set in the future shouldn't look lily white, but did we really have to make the electric powered ginger black? Really? Isn't that a little on the nose? Couldn't we have made Cosmic Boy black instead and made Lightning Lad Native American, Latino, or Asian to switch things up and not be cliché? That's my only complaint, especially since it seems to have been changed at the last minute given a promo was put out with regular white LL.

As for what I'd do specifically with them... look what I'm about to say causes me physical pain. But in this current era of DC, I think they need a Batman connection. God typing that out makes me sick. Luckily there's a solution that doesn't involve something idiotic like Bruce's descendant getting on the team because he's just so awesome that they make an exception to the "must have powers" rule, that also solves another problem they have. The Legion needs a "Superman" that's theirs, that they can hold onto no matter what continuity bullshit is going down in the present day with Clark or Jon. How to solve these two problems at once? Bring in Superman X from the Legion cartoon.

His origin from the cartoon is that he's a weapon made to defeat Imperiex, so changing the origin to say he’s a hybrid clone of Batman & Superman just adds on to that. In addition to Superman's DNA, he's also got Batman's DNA, making him the "son" of both. Now you've got a Batman connection that doesn't replace Superman, and doesn't require the Legion breaking itself to accommodate that DC has trained a generation to only give a shit if Batman is involved. Given X was already an angsty moody dude who only cared about his mission, the Batman connection doesn't really change anything major about him and actually compliments him. The specifics of how he came to be really don't bother me, he can be something that Clark and Bruce both willingly made, an illegal experiment like Conner Kent, or whatever. But he gives the Legion a connection to DC's two biggest heroes without them getting screwed by editorial deciding that Clark or Jon should not have been a member and yanking them away.

Frankly I'm kind of surprised no one else has come up with this idea, seems patently obvious to me. While we're at it: give them a cartoon, or a HBO MAX show, something in outside media to get people to care about them again. DC's let the brand languish for so long that I feel like any attempt at a comic revival without an outside media push is doomed to failure at this point. They're going to be showing up in Young Justice S4, hopefully with a focus on the Superfamily to go with them, so maybe that will be the big push they need.

[doodle17]

Look, I love BaTDR as much as the next Joe. It was, in my opinion, very much worth the wait. It's one of the only games I would literally give up any of my prized possessions to experience for the first time again.

One thing I would change about it though, is, well... The Ink Demons design. I honestly don't know why they changed it. It was perfect in BatIM! And the more updated version in some of the early merch designs looked great! I by no means hate his new design but, allow me to explain.

Huge Rant and spoilers below the cut.

His old model seemed more like a "failed attempt" which is what he is. But his Dark Revival model looks way to demonic for me. Because despite the word "demon" in his name, he isn't an actual demon from hell, if that makes any sense.

I mean, I guess His voice matches his new look a little more, BUT I would've loved to see the game with the more bendy-looking Ink Demon. Unfortunately, the new Ink Demon, frankly looks nothing like bendy. It could've been all the experimentation that twisted him into, how he is, I suppose.

I just wished they left his design as it was originally. I'm mean, could you imagine something like this in 3D?

I personally think the new Ink Demon isn't that scary. But this one? It'd be absolutely haunting knowing this feller was stalking your every step. Speaking of stalking, I'm also going to talk about another problem I have with this guy.

Chapter 3 is probably the most disliked, maybe even hated chapter in BaTIM. But believe it or not, it's actually my favorite chapter! Because of the Ink demons mechanic in it.

He is constantly after you in this one, and unlike the rest of his appearances, which are all scripted, he appears at random. Yeah, and it actually feels like he his hunting you. It's terrifying to be walking down a hallway, only for him to appear right in front of you out of NOWHERE.

I was hoping there would be something similar like this in BaTDR, but sadly, we got nothing like it. Instead, it's not even that scary!

In BaTIM, if he saw you, the chase was on. It was a frantic search to get to a hiding spot, or else you were dead meat. And gues what... He never stopped chasing you until you hid or until he caught you.

But in BaTDR? You have a timer. No chasing or anything. Where's the rush of adrenaline to search for a hiding place WHILE he was right behind you, breathing down your neck? The aggressive chase music, as his his foot steps became louder behind you? I would've LOVED this kind of thing in BaTDR! Especially with the old model!

I could even see it playing out similar to the mobile game Granny's mechanic. If you hid, but he saw you hide or you didn't hide fast enough, you'd still get caught, like in boxes, under desks etc. Maybe only Mirachle stations could be the only ones he couldn't get you in, no matter how hard he tried.

BaTDR is a great game, and the Ink Demon is one of my favorite characters. His backstory and behavior is so fascinating to me. And I loved what they did with his story in BaTDR! Especially how they weakened him into his more docile state, which is Bendy.

But, he doesn't look like a failed attempt. He doesn't look like Bendy at all. Again, I'd understand if it was maybe the experiments performed on him that made him look the way he does, but, I don't know... it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth, and a longing in me that just wishes they kept his model how it was... I hope that someday we could get an update that changed his stalking mechanic and model, even though I know, it's unfortunately unlikely.

I hope you enjoyed my rant, I just really has to get my thoughts out there, they've been boiling in my brain since dark revival came out and I had to share.

[thevindicativevordan]

What is, in your opinions, the worst Avengers runs? Oh, and I want them in full detail.

I'll never understand the people who stick with a run they hate, even if it's a franchise they love. I love Superman and Hulk but I've dropped their books when they got too bad for me to bear. So I don't really know the details of the worst Avengers runs, especially since Avengers isn't a franchise I've historically cared about. I'm a DC boy at heart, I like a lot of Marvel characters and stories, but DC's the one I'm most connected to. DC is where I'll occasionally try a terrible run like Robinson's JLA simply because I like the universe and the characters. Only really started following the Avengers with Bendis and Millar, those two were my gateway and I've only read a few runs a long time ago that predated those two.

Modern era terrible runs however?

Waid - Just boring as fuck. Didn't do anything meaningful with the younger Avengers (who left to go form the Champions in Waid's terrible run on that book). Dropped it pretty fast.

Aaron - Everyone calls it shit yet people out there are still buying it. Does decently in sales so I know SOME of you are reading that tripe. I dropped off after Blade joined the team, both Aaron and Snyder were doing their best Morrison impression but I enjoyed Snyder's JL run far more and that's the one I stuck with. Thank Christ the MCU is saving Jen from Aaron's clutches, just praying that Ewing leaving Hulk and notable Aaron shill/fanboy Cates getting the book doesn't mean Hulk will be dragged into that bullshit.

Otherwise yeah those are the only two I really hated. You'd have to find someone who loved the Avengers before the 2000s to really get some rants about how Bendis ruined them forever. Civil War though... one day I might make a post about how that completely fucked the entire 616 MU until the MCU saved it. But that's a ways off.