#Cyberchase Buzz

[beesgav]

I'm a little surprised I haven't seen anyone do this before

[11cleyvaart]

This toxic relationship that came back to me after years of it being asleep. Felt like drawing them for the fun of it, been years since I have.

[festerjesterr]

something something that trope where one thinks the other dies/is extremely injured/etc and goes apeshit

[miki-13]

Also, Buzz needs therapy particularly for his self esteem and doubt.

Because a lot of the conflict between him and Delete lately have been centered on Delete separating from him. But because Buzz feels like Delete would be better off without him, it creates a loop of Delete vibing with someone or something different, worrying about being left alone or forgotten and Delete coming back because he couldn't leave Buzz behind.

Yet Buzz remains with Hacker and can't even imagine leaving with Delete. Why? Most likely because he doesn't believe he could thrive like Delete does and bond with people like the cybersquad. He'd always feel inadequate.

So yeah, Buzz in therapy.

Also Delete.

Things that would fix Buzz and Delete:

gay relationship

a union

things that would not fix them:

pretty much everything hacker’s ever done to get them to cooperate

[king-minty]

[moecartoons]

It's still the month of Love so here's a dump of Chip ship sketches. [Buzz and Wicked under the cut]

[Sorry for the vary in quality.]

Internet cookie to those who know the reference

I had to sketch this one quick tonight </3

Been holding onto this one for a while 😭 Thanks for scrolling 💜

[ravenlynclemens]

hacker's internalized homophobia

[tuhhadkeryo]

Purple Liquor

I figured I'd start posting a bit more of my writing here :)

The near empty bottle of vodka dangled uselessly from his fingers. The glass neck was slimy with his own slobber. Hacker had lost control of his basic motor functions a long time ago, but his grip stayed tight on the only thing that gave him life right now. 

His mind was bleary. His thoughts bounced dully inside of his pounding head before it seemed like they fell out. If he tried to collect himself, all he would hear inside his mind would be the laughter. 

He’d lost. Again. 

He didn’t even know why he’d felt so surprised.

And so he simply chose not to think. The bottle tilted up and moisture reached his mouth. The taste was long dulled by his drunkenness, but his throat burned as he swallowed sloppily. A satisfied sigh left his chest.  

He clipped his shoulder hard on the doorframe. Was that doorway always so small? He stopped to glare at it beside him, but his gaze couldn’t seem to focus. His eyelids were so heavy. Hacker wasn’t even sure which way this door led to until the bitter cold air of his prison invaded his nostrils. 

Boots stumbled and dragged on rough ground, catching on pebbles and jagged roots. He peered down his nose at the puffs of vapor from his breath until he felt cross eyed. 

Purple used to be his favorite color. But purple on the ground, seared across the sky, painted across the landscape…Hacker could puke looking at it now. Or maybe that was the alcohol. 

Another hard swallow of the liquor. It could quite possibly be from his current state, but the mountains ahead of him stretched awfully far into the sky. He sneered. Their stature was impressive, but the rock was soft. Crumbling. They wouldn’t even be a landmark soon. They - Mount Rigoletto, Etney, and Julius, despite being supposedly immovable statues of nature and code, served no better purpose than trodding ground for the matted-fur mountain goats that shat upon them. 

Hacker wretched at the thought of the goats, his mindless wandering harshly interrupted by the primal need to bend over, clutching at his spasming core. This whole dismal site displayed similar traits. The trees bore no fruit or leaves of any kind, but they refused to be felled, stubbornly holding fast to the rock-hard ground. The acids they had soaked in over time made burning them fatal. 

The moonlight flashed against the glass, the bottle lifting once more. There was no heat or life-giving sun rays here. Only dry, treacherous ditches where there used to be streams of water. 

“This miserable piece of lint site,” Hacker spat, wiping vodka off his chin with a rough swipe of his knuckles.

He took some kind of misstep and swayed on clumsy feet. He glanced about the barren area, hoping nobody had seen, taking care not to twist too fast. He felt dizzy. Yes, he was alone. Hacker tried to chuckle but all that came out was a wheeze. He’d forgotten he’d sent Buzz and Delete away. 

Why should they stay? This dismal desert place was all he’d ever rule, and his subjects, hairy, smelly goats and sand spiders. No, they could leave him alone, just as he’d always be. 

Hazy memories overtook his vision. Empty threats, broken promises, meaningless lies, uncontrollable anger. Even with all of his determination, his intelligence, and cunning, he always was sent staggering back to fall onto the rough, lifeless, purple ground. 

Shaking green hands raised the bottle to his lips. The moon’s reflection in the glass stung his eyes, making them water. Nothing quenched his need to drown himself. Through the moisture in his eyes, he could see that his liquor was all gone. 

A guttural scream split the air. The glass flung from his cold, nearly numb fingers in a burst of violent rage and shattered upon the dirt. The crunching of the shards against the ground amplified his uneven footsteps. The sound filled him with hatred. Why, he probably looked like a cad, like a toddler learning how to walk, like…a drunk. 

“I’m not drunk!” Hacker yelled. 

But Hacker knew he was. He just couldn’t see right, no matter how he squinted. His insides churned and his movements didn’t feel like his own. And he was alone. 

“I’m not drunk!” he bellowed again. He didn’t even know why. 

Not even his own voice would echo back to him from those shadowy purple mountains. 

He sunk to the dirt, an overwhelming flow of emotion rising in his chest. He watched his own fingernails scrape through the pebbles, trembling as his hands lifted the powdery soil. His hands, built for work from building, to delicate circuitry, to binding difficult metals, now as useless as the mirage of wildlife in front of him. His drunkenness only worsened the shaking and loss of control from his power depletion. His eyes stung again as dread built to a knot in his throat, a harsh truth realized. He fit in here. 

Hacker whispered so quietly he hardly was even sure he said it out loud. “I belong here.”

The air felt still and tense as Buzz watched the larger cyborg’s shoulders shudder. Sobs reached his audio receptors even from this distance. While he was no stranger to his boss’s fits, it still felt wrong somehow to watch as Hacker sank impossibly closer to the ground. He should’ve thought to hide their alcohol somewhere after this scheme’s failure. 

“Buzzy…shouldn’t we go help ‘im?” Delete’s voice was a harsh whisper. 

Buzz glanced beside him. The younger bot was curled up tight against the rock, trembling from fear and from the freezing wind that was particularly vengeful today. He peered over the top, wary of their boss’s wrath should he catch them despite his wish to comfort him. 

“Nah. ‘Da boss told us to leave. He wants to be alone.” 

“I thought he fired us.” 

Buzz rolled his eyes. “He always says ‘dat. He just wants to be alone.” Hacker had sounded particularly meaningful this time, his tone strangely depressed and his order missing a malicious threat. But the bot was trusting his experience to guide him, and that meant that soon the boss would forget all about that. 

Delete looked at him in confusion. “Then why’re we here, if we’re not helpin’ ‘im?” “We are, Dee-Dee. He’s plastered right now, so he’ll need help soon, after he’s done cryin’ and all ‘dat.” He looked back to the borg curled on the ground, far enough away that he remained ignorant of their presence, and close enough that they could hear shaky whimpering. “Y’know, after the cold gets to ‘im more. When you drink a whole bottle a’ licker it gets hard to remember where you’s at. You wouldn’t know, you’s never been drunk.”

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberchase: Scientific Study from 1998 (2/3)

Here's a link to part 1: https://www.tumblr.com/vikenticomeshome/790108386630991872/cyberchase-scientific-study-from-1998-1?source=share

Alright, let's continue where I left off.

BEGIN

Buggs: This a drawing of Buggs, who works for the evil Hacker. Buggs is messy and always argues with Delete. Buggs doesn't like to work and is always looking for shortcuts. One way the kids trip Buggs up is by putting temptation in the way - Buggs can't resist candy, a TV, a videogame, you name it. Buggs and Delete are nasty and mean, but they're also goofy because they are a bit stupid and lazy. They usually make mistakes and make the Hacker really mad.

END

Does he have a zit on his face? And are those supposed to be hairs sticking up. What?

Was there anything that our fourth-grade audience liked about him?

BEGIN

(14) Like everything

(12) Like nothing

(8) Teeth sticking out; sharp teeth; big; match his meanness

(7) Antennas - cool shape; like they are in Dexter's lab on Cartoon Network

(4) Feet - small; cool tiny little shoes; stupis so fanny

(4) Can't resist candy

(4) Name - villains sometimes called Buggs in movies

(3) Can't resist video games

(3) Personality

(3) Hands - 3 fingers

(2) Eyes - look mean; aren't attached to his head

(2) Looks cool

(2) Mouth - big for candy that he can't resist; lips huge

(2) Short - like me

(2) Likes TV

(1) Way he is walking - looks like he is jumping or something

(1) Eyes - green, different

(1) Looks like description - bad, mean, looking for shortcuts, spy-looking

(1) Funny

(1) Big neck

(1) Sunglasses

(1) Arms - small

END

With fourteen kids saying that they like everything and twelve kids saying that they like nothing, he proved to be a divisive character.

But what did they hate about him?

BEGIN

(11) Like everything

(12) Mouth/Lips - too big; hangs out; doesn't fit face

(8) Limbs - don't fit his big body; looks like a fly

(5) Feet - too little; make a claw; make wheels for a robot

(5) Name - doesn't sound mean; make it Bug

(4) Eyes - should be same

(4) Pimple - remove; make bigger; make bigger or take off

(4) Like personality but not looks

(4) Too short; too plump; too round

(2) Spikes on body - remove; hair in armpits

(2) Antenna- look like a beehive

(2) Looks like dog

(1) Should have bad breath

(1) Wear a mask

(1) No neck

(1) Teeth - dorky

(1) Needs five fingers

END

The big point of criticism here was definitely his body proportions. Thankfully, the show-runners held firm, and we got the Buzz that we know today.

Alright, here's Delete.

BEGIN

Delete: This is a drawing of Delete, who works for the evil Hacker. Delete is fussy and a neat freak - always concerned about personal appearance. Delete has a terrible short-term memory because of electrical discharges that bounce between Delete's ears. Buggs gets mad at Delete for just about everything. Buggs and Delete are nasty and mean, but they're also goofy because they are a bit stupid and lazy. They usually make mistakes and make the Hacker really mad.

END

I don't ever remember Delete's poor short-term memory being part of his character in the proper show. Maybe the show-runners were concerned that making it one of the major traits of a villain would be mean to real people who had such a condition.

I don't have the condition, but I can give my thoughts. I think they could have made it work. The show leaves the mean-spirited stuff to The Hacker. As it stands, Delete gets plenty of love from the community. This site would have probably been divided over whether such a thing would count as positive or negative representation for people with disabilities. The only prominent disabled character that I can think of is Baskerville with his Kyphosis (hunched over back).

I don't remember him as a neat-freak in the main show, though this did come up much later in the Buzz and Delete shorts.

So, what did people like about Delete?

BEGIN

(14) Shoes

(12) Like everything

(10) Name - good for a bad guy cuz destroy bad guys; cool; or maybe 'Devilman;' or maybe 'Shift' or 'Chip'

(10) Electricity - lightning bolt

(9) Like nothing

(8) Wire - funny; tail; hearing aid

(5) Looks like real metal

(5) Teeth - cool; sharp

(4) Hands - really, really cool - looks like arthritis; like combs; like an E

(3) Bow tie

(3) Antennas

(2) Eyes - same size

(2) Looks like an alligator

(2) Eyebrows - go up

(1) Lazy

(1) Funny

(1) Glasses

(1) Mechnical

(1) Posture

(1) Creative

END

So, we get some lore explaining that even the designers didn't know what the plug and wire on his back were for. At least one of the kids proposed that it was a hearing aid. I know that, before hearing aid technology was miniaturized, they used to have a pocket control box with a wire leading up to the ear-piece. Perhaps some of the kids had family members who used the older style of technology.

And then, one of the kids suggested that Delete's hands showed signs or arthritis. Why did Delete attract so many disability head-canons?

Now, what did kids not like about Delete?

cw: r-slur

BEGIN

(17) Hands - too small; weird; too stiff looking; look like axes; look like deer antlers; look like rakes; should have white gloves of so neat

(13) Like everything

(9) Wire, Tail - remove; don't understand function; retarded

(2) Arms - too long; too straight

(4) Teeth - more of them; robots don't have teeth

(4) Shoes - don't look like robot; John Travolta shoes

(4) Bow tie - change or remove

(3) Electricity - looks stupid like a W

(3) Looks like alligator

(3) Legs - too short

(2) Nose - too big

(1) Is he supposed to be a be a boy or a girl? Delete sounds like a boy. (says female)

(1) Green stuff around antenna

(1) Can get killed too easily

(1) Looks like a cricket

END

"[Delete] can get killed too easily"

- Unknown fourth-grader's analysis of proto-Cyberchase, 1998 I love that line.

I'm a bit confused by this other line.

(1) Is he supposed to be a be a boy or a girl? Delete sounds like a boy. (says female)

What does that "(says female)" at the end mean? Did the person conducting the survey state that Delete was a girl, or did one of the fourth-grader's head-canon Delete as a girl?

Also, can any John Travolta fans back up the claim that Delete stole his shoes?

But I've kept you waiting long enough. Let's get to the two (yes, two) proposed designs for The Hacker.

BEGIN

Hacker: These are two versions of Hacker, who is the main villain of the show. He's wicked; he's smart, and he wants to rule all of cyberspace and take the power away from Motherboard. He makes fun of everyone and likes to play scary and wicked jokes just for fun. He has a huge ego. He thinks he's the greatest and wants more and more power. Hacker doesn't do the dirty work though. He sends his henchmen, Buggs and Delete, to do the jobs he won't do.

END

Well, now, this is weird to look at. In the end, the kids didn't strongly prefer one design over another. Both of them definitely give mad scientist vibes. While they both have the cape and the pocket full of pens, it's clear that Hacker's final form was most influenced by version #2. He has the bigger chest, as well as the tinier waist and legs.

Obviously, the head got a major re-design. He would not have been the same without his massive chin.

So, let's see the likes and dislikes for Hacker #1.

BEGIN

Like

(8) Cape

(7) Looks mean/evil

(4) Has big brain

(4) Head - big, bald

(2) Shoes/Boots/Feet

(3) 3 Pens/Things

(2) 4 Fingers, Hand

(2) Bracelet on arm

(2) Eyebrows, in V

(2) Eyes slant in

(2) More like a man

(2) Nose - Big/Long

Belt

Legs

Lips - like Buggs

Mole - ugly

Mouth

Neck

Pants

Skinnier than #2

Dislike

(4) Pimple, mole - looks like witch

(3) Jaw drops, long chin

Big head

Big nose

Fingernails look like cat

No personality

Too few hairs

Too many pens

Too skinny - should look more powerful

Too straight neck Too wacky

END

For comparison, let's see what they had to say about Hacker #2.

BEGIN

Like:

(5) Bright, Looks like he's thinking, Brainy

(4) Looks evil

(4) Nose - long, flingy

(4) Cape

(3) Looks like fish/shark

(2) Belt

(2) Eyes - wide open

(2) Teeth - sharp

Cute

Looks like he could fly

Pants

Pens - 2

Sneakier

Dislike:

(3) Looks like fish

(3) Legs too short

No brain

Nose

END

They got alot more feedback on Hacker #1 versus Hacker #2. I agree that the design for Hacker #1 looks more like a human, while the design for Hacker #2 looks more like a fish. The cape got plenty of love.

While nobody said it for this table, I see Hacker #1 as more of a frail old man, and I see Hacker #2 as more of a physical threat.

Alright, that's all of the character discussions taken care of. I'm going to make my third post to deal with the story discussions. That's where the surprise that I mentioned earlier comes in.

[cartoondrawer]

(P.S, these aren’t my final sketches and these aren’t all the villains!)

[bopplez]

Bunch o Hacker and gang doodles I've done recently! Still tryin to decipher if I wanna use smoother lines or pixels when it comes to my linework so that's why there's a mix of both XD Will make a page dedicated for my AU and Cyberchase eventually wa

[beesgav]

these two gotta unionize

[knightmareaceblue]

Cyberweek 2025 Day Three: Chase

Oh no! Doctor Marbles has been kidnapped!...again! But don't worry, the Cybersquad is on the case! Is it weird that Marbles being kidnapped was the first thing I thought of for this prompt? Anyways, went with a fun cartoony style on this one. Enjoy!

[princess-draws]

For @cyberweek

Cyberweek Day 1: Redraw

So I decided to redraw from the Poddlevile Case episode!

This is actually better than the traditional one that I draw two years ago 😊

[solosergiohd]

Professor Rupert Marmalade IV and The Hacker

The Bad Guys × Cyberchase

[teachyouhowtodothesponge]

They are doing online bullying or something. A bit of a lazy doodle this morning but I love these henchmen sm. Cyberchase is a legendary show ngl.