#Let's Not Talk About The Cogs...; Toon Verse

[muse-soup]

((Tag dump.))

[universal-kitty]

   My self-inserts for Bendy and the Ink Machine~! Let’s go! Thanks for asking me about this, @robotarmjokes!!

HUMAN VERSE

Your average animator named Rachel. Glasses-wearing, brown hair that parts down the middle, dark green eyes...and often found in their work outfit. (Hair in a bun and casual clothes- t-shirt and pants- with an apron over it. For the ink stains, of course.)

Joey Drew accepts just about anyone...provided they’d want to work with him in the first place. When they begged him to look at their portfolio, well... A look through ended up assuring a job, much to their delight.

Works among the inking section of the cogs that are Joey Drew Studios. Thus, their apron that’s often gently splattered with the dark liquid.

Tends to be lowkey and not very talkative, but gets along with Henry Stein, Allison Pendle, Shawn Flynn, Ernest Craft, and Daisy Lindel. (The latter two being OCs of mine.)

Their favorite creation of the studio’s? Probably Alice. “I like the way she sings... She’s got such a lovely voice to her! Like a songbird.”

Also has a crush on Sammy Lawrence... Though with the guy being such a shut-in, you’d be hard-pressed to find them together.

...Though the more Rachel protests to wiggling into his time, the more they hang out, later down the line.

It turns into Rachel showing him their personal projects, even allowing him to flip through their sketchbook freely. (Though he’s never seen their notebook, filled with notes, more art...and drawings of him, as well as love notes.)

Sammy gets to vent to them about music, often getting to be the one who sees the idea or clarity for a project strike him, urging to finish that old one or start up a new one. It’s their great pride to help him, as they’ve said a few times before.

They do end up dating later down the line... Though most at the studio didn’t know it, even after they started coming to work together. They kept their private life, well, private.

Though they were living together and even bought a house together with their pooled savings; the extra rooms were morphed into an art room and music room, to settle with their interests.

Both of them credit each other as the other’s muse. That’s where the rumors began that the two might be dating. (Though they were behind on the news, of course.)

Joey Drew Studios collapsed not long later, much to Sammy’s frustration. Both were worked to the bone, but also had to make payments, so... A potential job-hunt wasn’t up either of their alleys. Though Rachel was determined to try, despite the odds.

One day, he snapped. Said he wouldn’t come back until he figured out what happened to the studio.

...He never did.

Depending on the timeline, Henry might find Rachel, lost in the studio, trying to find Sammy. In others, they’re the one who Joey called back...and now have a few time-loops of their own.

TOON VERSE

In another world, they are someone different... Meet Kathy the Clumsy Kitten! A creation of Joey Drew Studios (specifically by Ernest Craft, but Joey Drew has since taken all the credit for her creation, much to Ernest’s chagrin) and one of the more...quietly loved characters of the series.

Kathy started out as “Kitten” and with the design below:

In these early days, she had no voice to use. Instead, sound effects would play to denote her emotions; like soft chimes when she cried or the zing of a piano when surprised.

However, people thought she was another demon with her ears looking like they did! As well, despite her feminine appearance, a lot of comparisons between her and Bendy soon arose...

To combat this, she was quickly redesigned to look more...original. The design settled on this less than a year later:

...and that’s the design that’s always been used since!

Update notes: inside of ears drawn, fur tufts on face, and a tail added.

It was also with this design that Joey gave Kathy her now-defining character trait: being a literal scaredy-cat. Easily spooked and, of course, very clumsy.

She’s known to be bullied by Bendy, terrified of Boris, and good friends with Alice, despite the fact her clumsiness has inconvenienced Alice quite a few times in the various episodes that the studio has produced.

She also considers Joey Drew a father figure, Daisy Lindel a mother figure (especially since Daisy would end up being Kathy’s first VA), and Ernest someone spooky....!!

She does also have quite a bit of trust with Sammy Lawrence, though; his music and ramblings often lull her to sleep.

There’s also ANOTHER toon-friend she has named Aki... Aki the Grimmest Reaper, as they call her. (Joey Drew Studios did a trade with a Japanese animation studio at the time. Not only did they work on a short for the other studio, but made a character for the other studio to use; Aki was from the Japanese animation studio.)

Though... The biggest problem by far? Kathy’s got a crush on Bendy.

And now, we get verse dependent~! As there’s two ways things work out......

With Bendy: It takes some vague scolding on Aki’s behalf and clarification from Alice before Bendy realizes that Kathy isn’t as much of a welcome mat as she is just a pushover to the person she likes. Which is. Him.

It’s embarrassing on both sides, but hey~! Bendy’s got charm, yeah? He does his best to lessen the tricks and instead provide little hearts he cuts out of pink (or red) paper and flowers he steals under other people’s noses.

It’s made her a good bit more clumsier at first, what with all the surprise flattery from her crush, but once Bendy finally went all out with asking her to be his lil lady... Well, she actually got better. Still clumsy, but not as bad as she used to be.

They’re a heartrendingly sweet couple. She showers him in praise and affection (which he adores) and- once the show’s all said an’ done- spends time cuddling with her after. It’s...really nice and something Kathy loves to do with him.

However, this has not stopped Bendy’s love for dancing. He even purposefully got thicker shoes so he could waltz or dance in any way he pleases with Kathy. So why thicker shoes? So that way, when she inevitably steps on his feet, he won’t feel it as much!! (It’s embarrassing, but that did make her laugh, much to his delight.)

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With Alice: ...Or on another hand, Alice ends up gaining a crush on her best friend and shy little kitten. And you know what? If Bendy won’t treat Kathy right, then Alice will!

So she does, finding Kathy, taking her to the best spot Alice knows, and holding both of her hands as Alice confesses to liking her. It surprised the life outta Kathy to hear, but-!! .....Well, it’s not like she doesn’t want to date her...

It’s an uncertain thing at first, with Kathy getting to see Alice in a new light. Alice takes it slow in response, though in what feels like no time at all, they’re one of the cutest couples of the studio!

It’s not uncommon for Kathy to still try to help out with Alice’s performances, mostly in regards to setting up. Though her clumsiness still makes Alice pretty nervous... It’s too easy for her to trip up on a stray rope and make everything fall apart like dominoes!

Though on a sweeter note, it’s not uncommon to hear Alice singing and find her cradling Kathy, singing the kitten toon to sleep and guaranteeing only the kindest of dreams.

Alice has mentioned matching outfits someday... Kathy’s still flustered by the idea but very, very much up to it.

Finally..... Some additional notes. ;>

INK DEMON VERSE: Daisy eventually gave up her role voicing Kathy, giving it to her daughter, Clara Lindel. However, the young woman didn’t work as Kathy’s VA for very long. The character was her favorite of the show, so it was incredibly heartbreaking for it to end so soon... However, when Joey Drew sent that letter, asking for a callback? Of course she wanted to go!

...Not knowing what awaited her when she got to the studio.

She’d awake later, no longer a human. But a mix of ink and soul.

She’s more “Clara” at first. But as time goes on, that personality- that person- melts away, more and more becoming “Kathy”... Neither of them want this. But neither of them can stop it, either.

Though it’s also why they try so desperately to help Henry to escape; if they can’t be helped, hopefully he can... Right?

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Though there is technically a thing where I ship Bendy with literally me. No universe-fitting self-insert stuff.

This started due to needing to get my teeth worked on and me being super anxious about it. I needed someone to be with me. Someone small, protective, easy to hold and with wit to make me feel better when scared... I latched onto Bendy, since BATIM happened to be my main special interest at the time.

It’s also where this artwork came from: 

So... That’s a thing, too! So it doesn’t quite matter if you call me Rachel, Aki, or Kathy to him, technically.... Though you do get a different answer during F/O Takeovers when asked about him and Kathy!

Have one more art for reading all of this, slkfdjsk