#searching the depths

[angelofthepage]

Happy Birthday Sammy Lawrence! I can't believe it's been seven years since BATIM Chapter 2 came out, that feels unreal. Decided to celebrate by drawing some are of Jack, Sammy, and Bella from Searching the Depths: The Heart of the Studio. Nothing says 'good birthday in the cycle' quite like a cucpcake and your found family being safely with you. This piece also comes with a video essay, where I talk about why BATIM Chapter 2 is so meaningful to me.

[inkabelledesigns]

Sorry for coming in so late! Can I get a snippet from Searching the Depths? Or Drew's Last Hope? Thank you!

No need to apologize Nemo! I'm happy to see you. ^^ Hmm, I've been debating what piece would best suit your ask, but I think I'd like to give you a snippet of Drew's Last Hope.

So, context: Drew's Last Hope is the tentative title for the BATDR section of Searching the Depth's story. I consider The Heart of the Studio to be mostly BATIM, Richard the Keeper to be the interlude between BATIM and BATDR, and then we get Drew's Last Hope. Here's a snippet with Audrey and Bella, from inside of Lord Amok's prison. (Programming note, this was heavily inspired by Hermes in Epic: The Musical.)

The sound of slow applause echoed from the back of the chamber. “I have to say, I underestimated you.” 

Audrey jerked her head around, the voice surrounding her, but she couldn’t place where it was coming from. “Who’s there?!” “An ally, if you’ll have one.” A gleeful cackle pierced the air, as the candlelight danced across the rocky walls of her prison. Forming together, a shadowy figure pried itself out of the wall. It was none other than the shepherd she’d run into before. 

“You! What are you-how are you-” She stammered. 

“Shhhh.” The shepherd laughed as she sauntered over, putting a hand on Audrey’s shoulder as she put a finger over her own mouth. “My dear sheep, we wouldn’t want them to hear us, now would we?” She giggled. “Did you really think they could keep us contained?” 

“I-augh.” Audrey shook her head and tried to catch her breath. “How did you get in here?” 

“Took the back route. The front door would’ve been faster, but uh, I don’t think Amok would’ve liked that.” She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “What, you’ve never Flowed through a wall before?” 

“That…was Flow?” Audrey looked her up and down, her eyes scrunched together in doubt, and maybe just a little bit of fear. “But…why? How can it do that?” “Simple. We don’t like staying cooped up. Gotta learn to get away.” She smirked. “Porter really didn’t tell you anything, did he?” “No…” Audrey sighed and looked to the ground. She closed her eyes and shook her head, clenching her fists. “He was off pretty quickly, and I didn’t think to ask���how do you know him?” “Oh, we were roommates, once upon a time.” She leaned against the wall, resting a bare foot against its stone. “We took him in when things got hectic. He helped us find supplies, we helped him stay alive.” 

“So…you’re friends then?” Audrey cocked her head to the side curiously. 

“Something like that.” She smirked. Somehow it felt less cocky and more…genuinely playful. “Porter’s practically family at this point. Then again, there’s very few people here I wouldn’t say that about…” She looked to the ground and sighed, shaking her head. “I know every lost one, searcher, and toon like the back of my hand. But I don’t know you. And I’ll be frank with you, Audrey.” She stuck her hands in her pockets as she looked up at her, ever so slightly menacing. “Your first impression left something to be desired. What’s your story?” 

“My…story?” Audrey took a step back, her arms slightly raised, as if ready to defend herself.” 

The shepherd nodded. “You aren’t like anything I’ve ever seen. You came in here and immediately started thrusting souls back into the puddles. And, well, if I’m to be brutally honest, you’re making my life harder.” The shepherd narrowed her eyes. “Why are you here? Were you sent to torture us further? Or are you really that unaware of the power you hold?” 

[blossoms-phan]

it is 4 in the goddamn morning but I remembered this and couldn’t rest until I saw it again so here we are

[bnunybusiness]

Got any photographer bunnies/bunnies with cameras?

Anon, this is an oddly specific request but you're not gonna believe this

[pentragonart]

„Roommate education“ (japanese reading direction ⬅️)

Wolfwood is a social healthcare worker and Vash an unidentified being (alien?Birdman?Angel?).

[magical-girl-coral]

Canonical evidence of every Fear and Hunger S ending in the Termina

Happy Ending

Cahara's sword in "Happy Ending" is the Sabbath sword you can find at the church. While it was said it was developed by Vatican city in the 1700s, this is also the same city that secretly did human experiences on innocent people to get closer to the old gods so chances are they were lying about this too.

If I had to guess, Cahara used his massive wealth to create weapons against creatures of the night and some of them somehow ended up in the hands of Vatican knights. Maybe one of his family members decided to start their own knighthood against monster and it massively backfired.

The true God of Fear and Hunger

While originally I was on the fence on this one thanks to ending C II, the Kaiser's flesh form was what sold me. That, and the fact that he mentions in his monologue before you fight him how he roamed the earth while out of his mind fits perfectly with Le'grade's derangement after D'arce resurrects him.

The only thing I'm bothered with is how D'arce doesn't have any hints of her existence in Termina. You'd think she'd get at least one name drop if she was the one who brought the Kaiser back from the dead.

The Enlightenment

The ending I'm the happiest is the most canon has got be Enki's just because of the lore drops we get from his skin bibles. It's interesting to note that Enki knew the God of Fear and Hunger was originally a nameless girl and that she was already a demi god thanks to her mother.

It also said that "[The God of Fear and Hunger] was the pure representation of fear and hunger, not spoiled by even a glimmer of hope", which is odd cause the player can and should bring the girl her doll and knife to make her more useful in battle and to make her feel lighter with the situation at hand.

It makes me wonder who brought the girl down to the depths if they made it obvious she was never getting out.

God of Ultra Violence

It's pretty much an open secret now that August is a descendant of Ragnvaldr thanks the cannibalism trait in his soul tree, his friendship with moonless and how the only contestant he truly open ups to is Abella, the only other person from Oldegård. I didn't even notice until I wrote this post that they both even have the exact same hair in their profiles.

It's also nice to know Le'grade is still getting his ass handed to him by a guy who not only got to get the title of a god before him, but also by the clan he build after he escaped the dungeons. Truly a massive L. We love to see it ❤.

[tarisilmarwen]

"Thrawn only joined the Empire to help the Chiss!"

Okay sure but have any of you bothered to self-examine why Thrawn chose to join the Empire instead of, say, the Republic, when that was still around? Or why he didn't chose to throw in with the Rebellion, put his tactical mind to use helping them overthrow the Empire quicker?

Could it be... perhaps... that maybe he values the Empire's military strength... more than he cares about the authoritarian tyranny with which it oppresses its own people?

Is it possible that he thinks the Empire's main problem is that it isn't effective enough, too much politicking getting in the way of sound strategy, but if he's around (and in charge) he can guide things so that those annoying little wrinkles (AKA the pockets of discontent and rebellion and fully justified anger at their rights and freedoms being trampled on) are all smoothed out and the overall Imperial machine is better, more in control of its assets, a stronger more unified bulwark against the outergalactic threat of the Grysk or the Vong or whatever.

Is it perhaps just a bit self-centered of him to only care about the Empire's ability to service his own goals and desires and be apathetic (at best) to the way it makes people suffer daily under its inherent systems? The Twi'leks and Wookies being constantly kidnapped and sold into slavery? The careless industrialization of arboreal worlds? The socialization and absorption of all private industry, forcing everyone to work through and with the Empire if they want to work at all? The systematic persecution of anyone remotely Force Sensitive? Is it not the mark of some kind of soul rot to be aware of all of that and go, "Yeah, but I don't care, they have the bigger guns, which is what I need."?

Maybe... just maybe... Thrawn has some Machiavellian tendencies and opinions and maybe this just might... make him not entirely a good person?

And maybe y'all should think about that before you come back and whine about his portrayal as a villain, as if all he has to do is explain to people that he did everything for a good reason and he gets an automatic narrative pardon for all of the shit he did while Grand Admiral that still needs to be addressed and answered for.

[lewisinho]

dive to survive coming february 23rd

[morhido]

Follow up to this post:

the shoes are VERY necessary, clancy!!

[xanderscollection]

[artbysupercres]

...what happened to the previous fisherman?

Finished playing through Dredge and I absolutely loved it from start to finish. I cannot recommend it more highly.

[angelofthepage]

3 New Chapters of Searching the Depths: The Heart of the Studio

Order of Operations

Frankly, I'm Outta Here

Hell's Bell

I have been waiting so long for this set to be ready. Two short chapters, and one long one. Folks, it is time, we are getting into the meat of this story, with what may be my favorite chapter of the adventure so far, Chapter 18: Hell's Bell. I hope you all enjoy this Bendy fanfic! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one!

[inkabelledesigns]

18 and 25 for the writer's ask meme!

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

For Searching the Depths, I had it in my old drafts that there was a secretary that knew Sammy had a sweet tooth and kept candy in her drawers specifically for him. It has absolutely no bearing on the plot whatsoever, but it's a really nice detail and it's still a part of the world lore, regardless of whether or not I choose to call it out again later.

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. I'm going to put this under the cut, because it's a little long, but oh boy I have so much to say about this. I'm going to give you a dialogue exchange, also from Searching the Depths, for a chapter that's a long way from being released, something that happens within the ink realm that absolutely tears me to shreds.

Bella cried out. "I didn't know it was REAL! I-I never would've messed with it if I had, I swear-" 

"Kid, why are you apologizing? You did the right thing." Jack asked. 

"We don't know that!" Sammy hissed. "We had a plan, a way out! Now everything is thrown out the window! We have to start from square one and we're running out of time!" 

The more he barked, the more she shrank away from him, unable to meet his gaze. 

"Things weren't any more certain before and you know it." Jack crossed his arms. "Even with the same events repeating over and over again, Joey STILL had all the power. If it's not his story anymore, then he's not in control. And that gives us a fighting chance!" 

"Oh please, like that'll stop him." Sammy huffed. "From where I'm standing, our future is more uncertain than ever!" 

"Well then we'll just have to do our best and make it better, won't we?" Jack held his hands on his hips. "Sam, come on, look at her. She didn't mean for this, ease up will ya?"

"I'm with Jack on this one." Bendy piped up. "If we're really gonna play the blame game, I'm the winner here. None of this would be so dire if I hadn't gone meddling." 

"My lord-"

"No, Sam…it's true. I wouldn't even be your lord if I hadn't poked around where I shouldn't have." He sighed. "But I was a young idea back then, I had to grow up, make mistakes." He looked at Bella. "Same goes for you."

She sniffled as she looked back at him. "This is more than a mistake. This is a critical error. I can't- I helped do something even worse than what you were already going through, that's- it's unforgivable."

"...He tricked you, just like he did all of us." Jack looked at her sadly, connecting the dots. "Found someone desperate to exploit. You…at least you tried to make something good out of it. It's more than I can say."

This entire sequence is so near and dear to my heart. I have been trying to find the right way to introduce the concept of Bella finding out she's trapped in a story for the longest time, but one of the things that's changed within my drafts is that it's her draft of the story that she's in. I realized along the way that I'm not interested in writing the story of BATIM beat for beat, I wanna put my own spin on it and have some events that aren't in that original. So having a naive artist mess with the cycle without realizing she's affected real people on the inside until it's too late? Now you're talkin'! And now that the ink has claimed its newest victims, there's so much in store for everyone in its grasp.

This conversation was originally very exposition-y, some parts of it still are, with Bendy as the one to explain what's going on, but it's grown so much to be so much more. For one, Jack got an upgrade to main character trio status. He wasn't even in this scene originally. Two, Bendy and Sammy got a major characterization glow-up that I am so grateful for. I love how angry Sammy gets here, his frustration in this and the text that surrounds it is really fun to write. He's an interesting mix of his human self and his prophet self, and having Jack know how to navigate this angrier side of him is great. They bounce off of each other REALLY WELL. Also Bendy, gosh, Bendy has so much more to lose and so much he's already lost when it comes to this. He mirrors Henry's feelings of thinking this is all his fault (something something like father like son), but instead of trying to take on everything by himself, he's being open and honest about his feelings and relying on his allies for things he can't do alone. He's shown a remarkable amount of growth as I've gotten to know him more.

I can say the same about Bella. She's another character who sees herself as a responsible party and grows paralyzed when she's not sure how to fix it. She has a significant lack of belief in herself, which was important to show early on, but with these three by her side, she'll learn that she can be so much more. This is a character that life just kind of happens to, she feels no control over her situation, and it's true, there's a lot she doesn't have the power to do. But there's a lot she can do with what she has, and I can't wait for her to figure that out and forge her own path with these guys. She may be helpless and crying now, but that's not gonna be the case forever.

Thank you so much for the ask! This was the first one in my box, but I had to really think about it before I was ready to answer. I'm still accepting submissions for the writer's ask game if any of you wish to join me for some fun!

[in-tenebris-et-in-solitudine]

Is this what life is supposed to be? Is it just full of pain?

[prince-liest]

Hi Prince! I recently discovered your 666 Live on Air series and it was... kind of life changing? I've been questioning if I was aroace for a long time to be honest, and the separation between kink and sex, and the way Vox & Alastor's relationship developed through the series... I don't know, but something really hit home! I've also never in my life been so jealous of fictional characters hahaha. (1/2)

I managed to rope a friend who's never seen Hazbin into reading it with me so that was also fun. They're also afflicted with curse of feeling Intensely Seen now! Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that it's probably going to be one of my favorite series ever! Which feels really weird to say about PWP but oh well!!! Tysm for writing it and sharing it with the world <3 I hope you're having a wonderful day! (2/2)

Aw, thank you so very much, anon! Writing the series was a lot of self-exploration for myself as well, both in terms of aroaceness and in terms of, as you said, the whole "kink isn't necessarily sexual to everyone, even if it's sexual to someone else" thing, and I'm really happy that I did whatever the positive equivalent of catching other folks in the crossfire is, hahaha.

I didn't set out with the intent of seeing other people, but I think fundamentally we are all human and often have very similar experiences, so I'm so very pleased to contribute to a sense of community and shared self-exploration! Thank you, and I hope you have a lovely rest of your day as well!

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

I seek knowledge, I must know, what show is your white whale?

Fame L.A. It ran for 22 episodes back in 1997/98, was never released for home viewing and now is practically lost media bar a few clips online. I have spent many an hour searching the depths of the internet for it, nada. There are traces of where it once was hosted, but all those links are now completely defunct.

My only hope now is that someone recorded it on vhs back when it was broadcast and will eventually rip it and put it in the VHS vault on the internet archive or something (or, I work out how to get a hold of stuff from the Broadcast Archive in the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm because they have the full run of it, but it's not publicly available, you have to have a research reason as to why you want to view it, and then you can only view it on their equipment in the library to boot!)