#tiol abby

[nightmaretherabbitsideblog2]

Abigail "Abby" Lambert

She's a beautiful woman in a suit-

[thatonecrookedsmile]

I decided to re-read the bendy books because it's been a while since I read them.

[wynandcore]

I wish I could reverse, reverse

And stop the hourglass

Because the earth is spinning ‘round the sun too fast.

[inky-scientist]

Knowing Joey Drew, it's possible that Abby actually wrote their play from the book "the angel and the devil"

I wouldn't be surprised

[magicicephoenix]

Hey, if you're still doing color palettes, how about Youth with a younger Henry and Joey?

Sorry if you're not.

younger henry and joey with youth

thought of the scene in TIOL where they first create bendy! and yeah i know abby was also there but this isn’t about her

[inkdemonapologist]

Last night on the Sammyserver that idea of "was Joey's personality also being corrupted by the ink" was brought up in the context of, if we go off TLO, then what feeling in Joey would be enhanced by the ink? So obviously I had to ponder this, and man... I think if I were to pick a TLO-Style Ink-Enhanced Emotion for Joey Drew I'd actually lean towards….. insecurity?

It's the thing he most wants to hide -- that he could ever be anything other than confidently competent -- and It's a part of him that gets worse and worse the deeper he gets. In TioL, he's obviously spilling his weirdly insecure bragging everywhere, but in the stories he tells we see enough of a version of him that like…. had genuinely good friends, who liked him, and it just seems like he couldn't have always been that bad. But we do see he was always insecure under his confident persona, that he didn't like people poking at whether he was good enough or rich enough or smart enough, and he admits in the book how much this bothers him.

Then we get to DCTL and he's obsessed with proving himself. He's throwing this huge party and insisting to Buddy that he's "gotta make them all think… gotta make them all KNOW" that he's still important. His most blatant moments of overt sexism -- the weird importance he places on being "manly," and his claim that Abby can't possibly be as good at business as he is -- are in extreme contrast to his comments about Abby in TioL, and his own history of being raised by a mother who ran the business side of things. While you could read his comments in TioL as empty virtue signaling, I think it's a lot easier to read the DCTL moments as Joey sliding into something gross that he didn't used to believe, in order to justify himself and make himself feel bigger in a moment when he felt his reputation being threatened. In TLO he's EVEN MORE DESPERATE, getting so weird and passive-aggressive at this party over some kid not recognising him, and Bill takes one look at him outside the party and can plainly see he's "new money" that's trying way too hard to flaunt his wealth.

In the end, that building, raging insecurity overtook everything, made everything seem like a worthwhile sacrifice in order to Stay In Control… and eventually, it took a once-charming man and made a fool out of him, just as the ink took Sammy's desire to serve and be loved in return and transformed him into a joke.

[reanimationstation]

Saw your reblog about misogynism & people not liking female characters and I'm agreed w Adrienne saving the day with Bendy female characters

Rose and Constance are great protagonist

Dot is AWESOME deuteragonist and even with being created as Buddy's supporting character she's *equal*. She's not "plain girl for male protagonist" type of deal

Abby Lambert is so good. People barely talk about her bc she's more interesting in TIOL and it's Joey book but i ADORE her even with little time in books that she has

In vanilla Bendy games i really love Twisted Alice/Susie Campbell but i should note that she deserved more focus (only in my opinion)

+possibly less "woman hates another woman for being fired" (it looks to me like they lowkey dropped it but. It was kinda here in ch3)

I'm all for women who are far too gone but can still have sympathetic angle. I do feel like devs suffer with reflecting it in writing tho

Audrey is good enough (would appreciate better writing at places but yk). I'm biased because i have hyperfix on her lol. Idk i love her little character moments and Erin did great job at changing tones when it was needed. If Adrienne got her even as side character in some book, she'd greatly benefit from it.

Allison Angel is more enjoyable in DR (to me) but she's more developed in fanon

Allison Pendle on the other hand. . . Erm. I wish she was more than Alice's second VA if you get me

Anyway I love women in Bendy👍 Bendy's funny deal is that a lot of characters suffer from lack of development and they're not only female. *Stares at certain male characters*

YES YES YES TO ALL OF THIS.

all the girls in the books are fantastic and are genuinely such charming characters. they're well written CHARACTERS and i feel like sometimes people forget that writing a women is writing a PERSON but Kress never really does that and i appreciate her so much for it.

i need to appreciate Abby more i love her dearly i just don't think about her much. she's so good, i wish we got more of her but i get that it's Joey's book.

MALICE/SUSIE HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL AND SHE DESERVES BETTER WRITING. i love her so much but gosh her writing could be better. especially in batdr like queen im so glad you're here but what ARE you doing here. can we get more of your character struggles, a little insight into how thats going maybe?? and yeah the hating another woman cause she was fired is a bit touch and go but i feel like with the right writers they could make it work. they unfortunately do not seem like theyre trying to do that

i do love Audrey i just have problems with some of the batdr writing. like how she kinda just goes along with whatever opinion she needs to have to move the plot along and at times i was like WHY ARE YOU SIDING WITH HIM/DOING THIS but thats not her fault. she has her good character moments and yeah Erin did a fantastic job voicing her. and she would REALLY benefit from being written by Kress, you're right. a lot of the characters would (cough susie cough)

ill be so real i barely remember any Allison Angel moments in either game IM SORRY THEY JUST DONT STAND OUT IN MY BRAIN </3 i do agree that shes better in batdr tho

ALLISON PENDLE THO. she needs more screentime in the books outside of being Very Pretty and Kind.

‼️SLIGHT FADE TO BLACK SPOILER‼️

in FTB though i really REALLY liked her characterization, with how she was tired of being expected to be the entertainment when she's a guest. it felt realistic, and makes sense with what little else we know about her. I need more private moments with her, ones where she isnt putting up a mask to perform, because only then we'll see what she's really like. and shes SO sweet with Rose, i really adore thar scene in general.

SPOILERS OVER

BUT YEAH WOMEN IN BENDY MY BELOVED. I think a lot of it is that most of them come from the books, and Adrienne is REALLY GOOD AT WRITING COMPELLING CHARACTERS. everyone she got to write for got an improvement in their characterization, not just the women. some of the male characters desperately needed it. anyways put more well written ladies in the games challenge

[cosycaracal]

hands you this

[mwolf0epsilon]

It was quite sad to admit, but Abby had gotten used to the grinning devil following her around like it was her very own shadow. Annoying of course. No doubting that. But in this warped version of the studio she could barely recognize? Well... It was normal. The ONLY normal she knew. And better stick with the devil you know than the one you don't, right?

Still... This rancid parasite that insisted on poking her? Teasing her with little pranks and disgusting little dances that left their path stained? Resting it's jaw on her head or shoulder? Holding her with those goopy arms and giggling at things only it knew? It was so very Joey Drew but also not quite, which only served to annoy her further.

"You're not him." She spat out once, when the damnable thing felt particularly playful. "You're not my friend."

"But I am." It giggled back, the voice was exactly Joey's, but she knew this thing wasn't him. It was an echo of him.

"No you're not. My friend died the moment he decided to play god." She looked away from the grinning devil, disgusted with it. "You're a revolting beast. No better than a lowly tapeworm trying to burrow into my gut."

"You're so very silly Miss Lambert. It's why you're still one of my favourites. The little angel on my shoulder~"

"Tsh... You never had one of those." He would have needed a moral compass to have one at all. No, Joey only had the devil on his shoulder, and she was looking at it. And god did she hate how much the company actually kept her going...

TioL has given Abby Lambert a spotlight I can't ignore, so I present you my design for her. A very unique looking Lost One. She's a favourite target of the Saboteur for... Sentimental reasons.

[koalas-koalas-everywhere]

Ok BUUUT. The fact that Abby and Henry were apparently friends first, and that, while she clearly liked Joey, it was Henry that made her spend more time in the bookstore is. A fact.

[lucky-dreamfisher]

Queer Subtext in The Illusion of Living - Part 5/5

It’s time to address the elephant in the room: Henry.

Joey tries very, very hard to ‘no homo’ his relationship with the man:

“His presence was helpful, I can happily admit, but his absence was even more so. Not having him at the studio ended up being one of the best things that could have happened to it. Of course, the funny thing is, I couldn't have not had him without having him in the first place. Just like you can't appreciate the light if you haven't spent time in the dark, so too does a person's absence become clear only if he has been around.” TIOL, page 154

“A letter from Henry. You might not think I'd keep such a thing, but I do. I have no ill will toward the man as you know. Him leaving, as I said, was the best thing that could have happened to the studio. His letter reminds me of that.” TIOL, page 218

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

The only hint we get regarding Joey’s true feelings for Henry is the following note by Nathan:

“NateA: Joey has always been a professional person, far more so in many ways than me. That is why this section of the book is so forgiving of the man who abandoned the studio he helped create. Joey can't help but see the good in people. That being said, as a good friend of Joey's, I know that Henry's departure was a great upheaval for him and a great personal betrayal. Joey never truly forgave Henry, and I don't think he should have felt obligated to. The fact that Joey is so gracious in this part of the book is a reflection of his incredible generosity in allowing Henry Stein to be stainless in the eyes of history. I think, had he lived longer, Joey might have in later years called it his greatest illusion.” TIOL, page 155

I’m very surprised by the harshness in Nathan’s tone here. Especially since Henry appears to believe that he and Joey have parted on good terms, and Joey admits that they have continued to exchange letters for a while after Henry’s departure. We’ve also seen Henry’s note to Joey in the game, and it comes across as warm and supportive:

It really doesn’t sound like anything ugly happened between him and Joey. So then why are both Joey and Nathan convinced that Henry is a monster?

While I can believe that Joey is pathetic enough to consider anyone who slights him his worst enemy, Nathan comes across as a more level-headed person. So for him to voice his approval for Joey’s petty grudge must mean that he knows something that we don’t. But what could it be?

Honestly, nothing else comes to mind except for romantic heartbreak. It’s the only thing that could justify a man holding such a deep grudge for so many years. This isn’t Joey’s first friendship that grew apart over the years - his army friends have moved on with their life as well. It’s a normal part of life and there’s nothing in TIOL that would suggest Joey is unable to cope with that. We also know that the studio did fine for quite some time after Henry’s departure, so it’s not like Henry left Joey deep in debt. Henry wasn’t even the only animator at the studio:

“When the studio opened I surrounded him with artists of all skill levels, and the Writing Department had its own de facto leader in Mr. Hemmings, and so the whole of Creative was well managed for that first year of the company before I had to part ways with Henry.“ TIOL, page 155

And so we’re left with only one rational explanation: that Joey isn’t so much hurt by Henry leaving his job, as by the fact that Henry left specifically for the sake of his marriage.

Try as I might, I found no reference to Linda in TIOL. Even though Joey claims to have been friends with Henry for many years, he makes zero mention of ever having met Linda. While there are some hints that Henry wasn’t yet married to her at the time when he and Joey opened the studio together (such as the fact that he claims he hasn’t seen her in “days” even though he presumably slept at home, implying that he and Linda weren’t living together at the time. A shopping list among his notes in the Handbook also suggests that he cooked his own meals, which would be unusual for a married man with a demanding job), the two were already a couple by then, and must have known each other for a while already. Surely, as Henry’s friend, Joey would have met her?

Even when talking about Henry leaving, Joey uses a cryptic language:

“Henry left for his own reasons, and the correspondence between us became less and less. To be honest, it was almost like a weight off when he left. He had grown more sensitive as the studio became more successful and giving him pep talks had become exhausting for me. All the good qualities he brought, the hard work and diligence, were being undermined by a restless need for something different. Something that wasn't Bendy. I will never understand that drive. Bendy was and is perfection.“ TIOL, page 177

In DCTL Norman claims that Henry left to spend time with his wife. Why doesn’t Joey say that? It doesn’t make him look bad to admit that an employee left to enjoy a quiet family life. It’s almost like he refuses to acknowledge Linda’s existence at all. Like it’s too painful for him to speak of her.

Perhaps the “personal betrayal” that Nathan is referring to is related to Henry choosing a real family, over the “studio family”, and the possibility of having a real child, as opposed to a fictional one?

The symbolic image of Bendy as a child shows up multiple times in the game: for example the drawing from Henry appears to depict Bendy, Alice and Boris as a happy family, with Bendy holding onto their hands like a child would:

There’s also Alice using a womb imagery to describe the ink machine:

And of course, the final monologue is centered on Henry’s choice to pursue a family:

That monologue is very interesting if we assume Joey to be gay. Because a gay man would never have been able to follow Henry’s road. Gay!Joey could never choose to have a real family with a man he loved, because that option was denied to him by the homophobic society he was living in. The studio is the closest thing to a family that gay!Joey could ever hope to have. 

And evidently, that was not enough for Henry.

If Joey’s indeed gay, that must have felt incredibly unfair to him - knowing that he had no chance of happiness in marital bliss from the start, through no fault of his own. This would explain his desire to create a real, living, breathing Bendy, no matter the cost, just to prove to Henry that Joey’s “child” can be just as real as the one Linda could give him.

“Bendy was Joey's child, and he felt just as strongly about Bendy as I feel about my flesh-and-blood son.“ TIOL, page 2

This idea of an illusory choice very much resembles the choice between the Angel Path and the Devil Path in Chapter 3. It’s the only choice that Henry ever gets to make in the game, yet no matter which way he chooses, he still ends up in the same corridor. Some of the golden messages highlight his helplessness:

The symbolic meaning of the choice between the Angel and the Devil also shows up TIOL. There’s a scene in the book, where Joey writes a play about an Angel and a Devil fighting over the soul of a human man. Eventually, the Devil confesses that he doesn’t want the human to make his choice, because then one of them would have to leave. The play was supposed to end with the man making his choice, but according to Joey they lacked a third actor, so the ending was never played out.

I believe that the play is symbolic of the relationship between Henry and Joey, specifically with regards to Henry choosing a relationship with Linda over his friendship with Joey.

There are several reasons that lead me to believe this:

The human in the play making a choice between the Angel and the Devil is reminiscent of Henry choosing between Devil Path and Angel path in BATIM.

The play highlights that the Devil is on the left side of the human, while the Angel is on his right side:

“ANGEL: Spending my time with a devil has been an enlightening experience. Working with you over these years with you sitting on that left shoulder, so far and yet so near, all our debates, they were invigorating for the spirit. 

DEVIL: I won't miss you! Fighting all the time, trying to trick you into agreeing with me, trying to push you off that right shoulder of yours. The violence and the anger. I won't miss it at all!”, TIOL page 89

Much like the Devil Path is on the left side in the game, while the Angel path is on the right side:

The Devil is obviously a stand-in for Bendy. Joey even dances on the stage at one point, and one of Bendy’s nicknames is “The Dancing Demon”. Joey also claims that the Devil from the play was an inspiration for Bendy:

“Let's start with the basic idea of a cartoon.You need a main character. Someone who has adventures and who the audience relates to." I did. I needed that. I needed a character who didn't just reflect the general population back to itself, but a more exciting version. I had no interest in moralizing, besides I didn't think moralizing was particularly realistic. People don't see the world as one populated by do-gooders. I thought of the angel in my play. She could never be a lead character. The devil on the other hand…” TIOL, 165

The fact that Joey claims the ending was never played out is strongly reminiscent of the missing ending of the Tombstone Picnic

It’s possible that Joey is lying about the ending not having been played out, to hide Henry’s role in the success of the play, much like he removed his part in Tombstone Picnic. After all, what would be the point of writing a play for 3 actors, when you only have 2? Why not ask someone to play the 3rd?

Although the play itself is centered more on the relationship between the Devil and the Angel, rather than their relationship with the human, there is still a strong queer symbolism in the play:

“Abby shifted nervously next to me the whole evening. She was in a dress for the first time in a long time, white and soft. I was pleased she'd come in character. For my part the only red thing I owned was a garish bow tie, so that was all I was able to contribute visually.” TIOL, page 82

The angel is played by a woman, who usually wears men’s clothing, but of course, the Angel being a symbol of Christian values couldn’t possibly be portrayed breaking the gender norms. She had to wear a dress, though Abby is clearly uncomfortable in it. She’s essentially performing heteronormative feminity. Next to her we have Joey as the Devil, dressed in a red bow tie, which as I’ve mentioned in the first part of this analysis, used to be a symbol of homosexuality. 

This contrast between the uncomfortably heteronormative Angel and flamboyantly queer Devil is striking. It’s also very much in line with the views of the society in the 1920s. For something to be the symbol of purity and goodness, it has to be heterosexual, and the Devil is queer, because he’s also the symbol of sin.

That symbolism could be indicative of Joey’s own internalized homophobia. Back in his army days, his friends used to bully him for breaking gender norms. Joey likes to present himself as the hero, who was easily able to outsmart the bullies, but many of his later remarks in the book and in DCTL show that some of that attitude has left a deep mark on him.

The symbolism could also be intentional. Joey boasts about having personal ties to Noel Coward, a real life gay playwright, who was known for his many affairs with men, and for putting an ungodly amount of queer symbolism in his works:

“The old woman took a liking to me, and she was nice enough. Besides, her connections were incredible. She knew everyone, she even had the playwright Noel Coward come to stay with her whenever he was in town.” TIOL, page 144

There’s a lot of evidence pointing to the play being symbolic of Henry’s choice between his relationship with Linda and with Joey. But it’s also symbolic of Henry’s choice between Bendy, and a real child. The studio family, and a traditional family. Heteronormative relationship vs a queer relationship. 

Although there’s no indication in canon that Henry might be bisexual, he doesn’t need to be. The game has beaten into our heads that the “choice” is an illusion. Henry was never going to choose the Devil, or at least that’s what Joey believes. Although we’re never told what choice the human in the play was going to make, we’re told that he was supposed to be dressed in white, which suggests that he chose the Angel. 

“(The door stage right opens. A man all in white enters calmly and chooses a seat, brushes it off carefully and sits. He takes his hat off and holds it gingerly in his lap.) (Quiet.) (Curtain.) THE END” TIOL, page 91

That might be why the Devil in the play confesses that he doesn’t want the human to make his choice, fearing that one of them will have to leave once such a choice is made:

“DEVIL: You think he has made a choice? 

ANGEL: It is possible. 

DEVIL: Do you think he might be all bad? 

ANGEL: I hope he is all good. 

DEVIL: If he is all bad, my job here is done. If he is all good, you can go home. 

DEVIL: Strange. If we win we also lose. You would think that would be something I would find delightful. 

ANGEL: You would think I would love to make such a personal sacrifice.” TIOL, page 89

The line about a “personal sacrifice” is very interesting in this context. The Angel and the Devil clearly care for each other and for the human, and don’t want their relationship to come to an end. Though the Devil in the play seems to make gestures that the audience interprets as romantic in nature, Joey insists that it isn’t the case:

“I leaned in and placed a hand on Abby's knee. There was a gasp from someone in the audience, but I knew Abby wouldn't be flustered by it. That wasn't the nature of our relationship.” TIOL, page 89 

It makes me wonder if perhaps Linda and Joey used to be friends at some point, and both competed over Henry’s attention.

There’s a much overused trope in fiction where two men compete over a woman, which ends up ruining their friendship. It would be really interesting and subversive to see a man and a woman competing over a man instead.

EDIT: I can’t believe I forgot to add this part:

"Joey, thanks for coming," said Henry, approaching from behind us. I turned to look at him He had dressed up for the event but every item of clothing looked slightly wrong. The sleeves of his shirt a bit short, his vest a bit long, his tie askew. He smiled, though, with such confidence that I couldn't help admire him. I still do.” TIOL, page 160

Joey fell for Henry’s smile, how romantic!

“We watched in silence as he worked. Despite his lack of genius, to this day, I will always say that watching Henry work was a real pleasure.“ TIOL, page 173

“It's fascinating. Henry was never the showman like I was. He didn't tend to be easily remembered by those who met him when we did business. I was invariably the face of the company, the one introduced first at a gala, the one to whom people slipped their business cards.Yet in the end he ended up setting up camp in this small corner of my memory. I can't deny that he is tied to the creation of Bendy, to the creation of the studio itself. That at one time, in one small apartment, one too warm evening, we had shaken hands. That once upon a time we had been partners. He'll always be there, in the dark recesses of my mind. Always linked to me that way. Funny how the forgettable man is now forever in my mind” TIOL, page 177

[adobe-outdesign]

TIOL LIVEBLOG: PART 2

Happy Birthday BATIM let’s celebrate by reading about Joey’s lies

Spoilers under the cut:

Part 2, Chapter 1

Nominating this chapter for the best opening of anything, ever

I wonder if this had anything to do with him trying to shove Buddy off the stage balcony in DCTL

I like how this book dips into Joey’s psychology, but it’s just just “lol he’s crazy and evil”. It actually goes into how he sees the world and how that affects his actions, and in turns ads to his characters. Good stuff.

You know this is a good memoir when Joey just casually mentions someone trying to commit suicide in front of him as a child and then never brings it up again

Part 2, Chapter 2

"I am very humble” *NateA: no

You can tell this is in-character because I occasionally start reading it in Joey’s voice unprompted

I need Joey and Wally doing Albert and Costello’s “who’s on first” routine pronto

LET’S THROW PEANUTS AT BOTH OF ‘EM

The foreshadowing in this book is [chef’s kiss]

Part 2, Chapter 3

Glad to see Abby again. I was wondering if any of the DCTL characters would ever appear again

“if women and people who don’t look exactly like me have what it takes, then they’ve got the job” Joey said nb rights

Joey dealing with the toxic masculinity of the other guys is you’re once-per-liveblog “Joey is gay” moment

also him reading Dickens after discovering he made his stuff so long because he was paid by the word is like, really funny

Joey: [says anything] *NateA: no

Slightly off topic but I am the only one who thinks that the whole “I think therefore I am” thing doesn’t make that much sense or

Part 2, Chapter 4

While “art can literally transform the world” is obviously referring to the ink creatures, part of me wonders if it has something to do with the weird ink realm the studio is in

Henry: [creates literally everything Joey profits off of] Joey: yeah he’s okay I guess not a genius like me though

I wonder if Henry ever got a chance to read this

I love how bold-faced Joey is with his lies. Not even hesitation, just “lmao yeah I made these, but I’ll let you think whatever you want despite the fact that you’re wrong”

I like how Joey’s talking about his complex philosophy but it boils down to “just lying a lot”

Joey said turn off your damn phones in the movie theatre

Part 2, Chapter 5

Abby has strong lesbian vibes, just tossing it out there. both in personality and the gay fashion sense

Used my “Joey is gay” comment too early because Abby mentions a date and literally has to tell him that it’s not that kind of a date and not to go running for the hills lak;f

mlm and wlw solidarity

“Only rich people like these romanticize having nothing”

god abby is so gay. sorry I’ll shut up now

“the queen of the peacocks” is Joey aware that a peacock is male (female is a peahen) or is this just him being gay again

This book is really funny. not really in a “intentionally telling jokes” way, more of a “Joey’s snark is amusing” kind of way

“too many people write novels these days” says Joey, writing a novel

you know in some ways I actually think Joey’s got more of a ego than Bertrum does, and he’s literally a big head

As others have pointed out, Joey playing a devil and wearing a bow-tie is probably a reference to the Ink Demon

not gonna lie, this play kind of slaps

Joey: if I kill someone does that count as entertainment

Not sure if it was intentional, but it strikes me like Henry’s supposed to be the man in this play

TL;DR: Really enjoying this so far; it’s giving really good insight into Joey’s character and manages to be really entertaining. Also Joey is gay

[thatonecrookedsmile]

More progress being made. I finished re-reading The Illusion of Living this past Friday. It's a nice book. 👍 This was the last of the Bendy books in this "marathon" that I'm doing which I had already read previously and now I'm rereading, meaning that I'm kind of up to date when it comes to rereading all the books that were released until December 2021. But the race is not over yet. Soon I'll start Fade To Black, and (technically) I'll finally be up to date.

Just to continue my chain of posting about the books I finished (at least, the main ones that I really wanted to read) here it is…something I did at the beginning of March, on the night when shit went down. (I hope you know what I'm talking about). I saw the tweets first hand, I was there! Right at the damn moment. And it was..something reading those tweets alright. If the image above doesn't show it, my mood that night and the next 1-2 days wasn't so… great. You might read this and think I'm exaggerating, but that night especially I, uuhhh, I didn't feel good! And this image (and maybe 2 more posts I made that night) are the results of that. (And to think that a week before this happened, I had finished rereading DCTL after a long time. Talk about better/worse timing than this)

At least, if you want the bright side of this, it's that even after that day, I decided to continue with my book marathon, and I don't regret it. I was down that day, but I wasn't out yet damn it!! and I'm still not. (I don't know if this sentence makes a lot of sense, but you get my point)

As a bonus, here's something I did the night I got to the part where Henry is first mentioned in the book (you can consider this as a representation of my reaction when he's first mentioned, both for when I read TIOL for the first time in 2021, as now in this rereading)

Feat. canon Henry design and my fanon design for him (I wanted to include him here + I still read this book with my fan-designs in mind)

[inkskxtch]

do you wanna talk about TIOL and DCTL i just finished both books and am .... very late to the BATIM party HDFSGHFDS

YES PLEASE I DO I DO!!!!

I love talking about the books so much, I really like how each character feels a little more personified now rather than just a voice? And the addition of characters like Abby and Buddy too, I love em I love it

There’s so much I could talk about you’re gonna have to be a little more specific 😅 ask anything tho and I can probably ramble on about it!!

[multi-level-shipper]

What I saw happen in TIOL: Joey got drunk at a party, ate all of the appetizers, called bertrum fat, fell out of a window and landed in a sticker bush, woke up, puked, then fell into the fountain. Abby dragged him home by the leg instead of leaving him on a park bench XD

-Nathan A. 

[youllallriseintheink]

Rank everyone's parents best to worst? (Include supporting crew)

I'm not gonna do everyone, because I don't have headcanons for everyone's parents. But I'll do the ones I do have an idea of. From best to worst:

Abby: her mother was a badass who took over her husband's business after his death, raised two extremely resilient kids, and taught Abby to follow her dreams and to not take shit from anyone.

Sammy: They did a great job getting him to come out of his shell when he was little and fostering his musical talents. And they tried to make him less spoiled, even if it didn't totally work.

Allison: Allison was tough to raise, and they did their damnedest to set her on the best path.

Shawn: I've always imagined that Shawn had a great family, and they supported him being trans- extremely rare given the time period.

Susie: Susie's father was the single parent of four kids. That alone is praiseworthy. And I say he raised a good kid.

Buddy: she's clearly trying really hard despite their background.

Joey: they did their best. It's not their fault Joey grew up to be a monster, and honestly by the way TIOL made it sound, they deserved better than a son who saw them as mere characters.

Henry: parents were good people. They gave him a lot of freedom, trust, and responsibility. Nothing very remarkable about his youth.

Grant: Mixed bag. They (mostly his father) had some ugly beliefs they left him to unlearn, but they were also very supportive and loving parents.

Thomas, Bertrum, Dot, Emma: I have no idea, but I think they were decent.

Wally: I don't have a lot of ideas about his parents, but Wally clearly grew up to have loose moral principles (laziness, stealing, irresponsibility) and likely lacked support in finding his talents. So, they were probably way too lenient and not very present.

Nathan: they raised Nathan Arch. Enough said.

Norman: his father was great. His mother... kind of lost it once he died. If it were just judging her, I'd put this below Jack's.

Jack: Jack was starved of attention and support growing up. Even when he was going through some really rough periods with bullying, loneliness, and depression, they did little if anything to help. But he was physically taken care of, at least.

Lacie: Lacie's parents were addicts that physically neglected her at times. She probably suffered some verbal or even physical abuse and she ran away to live with her sister as soon as it was an option.