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injusticetwofanportfolios · 7 years

Text

Hello, Everyone.

Hi there, I’ve been watched a lot of youtube footage for Injustice 2 and it’s got me thinking; “What if certain characters were guest fighters?”

So, just for fun, I’m gonna write some fan-made guest-fighter portfolios showing certain characters I add being given intro banter, clash quotes, arcade ending narrations, and so on.The only rules I will give myself is that I’ll only use characters from published media, so no fan characters. and I will personally only write portfolios on characters I know about. Oh, and when writing lines for the fighters already in Injustice 2, I will stick strictly with how those characters are portrayed in that game personality-wise.

If you have a character you’ve been fantasizing as being playable in Injustice 2, you may ask me if I have plans for writing about them or write a portfolio yourself and show it to me via the private message system.

Now, to start out, let’s go with Toriel from Undertale. Let’s see how this fire spell-flinging Goat Mom fares at being in a superhero fighting game. I’ll start with a hypothetical website bio and battle intros and add more later.

Edit: also, I may reblog some posts after updating them.

Toriel

“Even one death can be too many.”

After her people were freed from countless years of underground imprisonment. Former Monster Queen Toriel chose to simply live a quiet new life raising Frisk, the human child who helped free the Ebbot Monsters. But nothing could have prepared her for learning, to her horror, of humanity struggling to heal from the wounds left by the Regime’s tyranny. And when Brainiac’s invasion occurred just days after her people’s return. Toriel is determined to use her flame magic to keep both humans and monsters from suffering neither Superman’s tyranny nor Brainiac’s collection.

Battle Intros

1st and Third line animations: Toriel simply enters the stage and says her first line while an Undertale-style dialogue box opens reading “Toriel Blocks the way!”. After her opponent says the second line, the dialogue box closes up and Toriel says the third line.

2nd Line animation: Camera shows Toriel in the middle of calling someone on her cell phone, she hangs up after noticing her opponent and says her second line while pocketing her phone.

Vs. Aquaman

Toriel: I heard you hurt a lot of people when you joined Superman.

Aquaman: I won’t be judged for defending Atlantis.

Toriel: Then consider me on jury duty.

-------

Aquaman: You’re in a fight you don’t understand.

Toriel: Brainiac’s attacking Earth and the Regime’s still at large, should be enough reason for you to be in it.

Aquaman: You might think so.

--------

Toriel: You remind me of my ex, Aquaman.

Aquaman: But unlike Asgore, you can’t intimidate me.

Toriel: “Unlike you, Asgore’s trying to redeem himself.” Or “Yet you’ve been fearing Superman before we came to the surface.”

---------

Vs. Batman

Batman: Why should I trust you?

Toriel: Frisk wants what you want, and so do I, Batman.

Batman: We’ll see.

----------

Toriel: I’m not really comfortable with this, Batman.

Batman: I need to know what you can do.

Toriel: Then forgive me if I make this quick.

------------------------

Vs. Atrocitus

Atrocitus: Asgore’s mistakes still anger you.

Toriel: I won’t join you, Atrocitus.

Atrocitus: “Do not deny your rage!” or “you waste a precious resource!”

-----------

Toriel: I may still be angry at Asgore, but my answer is still ‘no!’

Atrocitus: You would make a powerful Red Lantern.

Toriel: I decide what to do with my rage, not you!

------------

Vs. Bane

Bane: I expect Mount Ebbot has strengthened you.

Toriel: I find that hard to believe, Bane.

Bane: Prison forged me into a god among men.

-------------

Toriel: What a miserable creature.

Bane: I’m actually quite content, cabra.

Toriel: Batman has my sympathies for putting up with you.

Vs. Black Adam

Black Adam: You abandoned your species.

Toriel: I left Asgore to protect any humans who fell.

Black Adam: Yet the fact you’re out here tells me you failed even there.

------------

Toriel: I can’t ignore the blood on your hands.

Black Adam: You’re no match for a god.

Toriel: Shu’s Stamina can’t protect your soul, Adam.

----------

Vs. Black Canary

Black Canary: So, how’s Frisk?

Toriel: They’re alright, How’s Connor?

Black Canary: Being a good little hatchling for the sitter.

--------------

Black Canary: It’s a look, I’ll give you that.

Toriel: I’m not sure I’d look good in spandex anyway.

Black Canary: Point taken

--------------

Toriel: Batman insisted we practice.

Black Canary: I've got a list of things to teach you.

Toriel: By all means, Dinah, teach me.

--------------

Vs. Blue Beetle

Blue Beetle: Shall we duel, your highness?

Toriel: Technically, I’m no one’s queen anymore, Jaime.

Blue Beetle: That’s a shame, I’ve only heard good things about you.

--------------

Toriel: I don’t like having to fight, least of all having to fight children.

Blue Beetle: Hey! I’m old enough to drive!

Toriel: Somehow, that’s not helping.

------------

Vs. Brainiac

Toriel: Your pointless cruelty ends today.

Brainiac: Your power cannot touch me.

Toriel: My magic only needs to ‘touch’ your soul.

---------------

Brainiac: You fail to see mercy in being collected.

Toriel: To my people, it would only be like Mount Ebbot all over again.

Brainiac: But I bring deliverance.

----------------

Vs. Captain Cold

Toriel: I’ve lost loved ones too..

Captain Cold: Don’t give me your sob story.

Toriel: Why not? You’re using yours to justify siding with Grodd.

----------

Captain Cold: Fire and ice…

Toriel: At this point I’m tempted to melt that gun.

Captain Cold: Maybe I’ll freeze your hands before that happens

-----------

Vs. Mr. Freeze

Toriel: Can’t you see the harm you’re causing?

Mr. Freeze: What I do, I do for Nora.

Toriel: You think she’d want this from you?

---------------

Mr. Freeze: Could your magic cure Nora’s illness?

Toriel: I’m sorry Victor, it won’t on her condition.

Mr. Freeze: Then you are of no use to me.

----------------

Vs. Catwoman

Toriel: So you’re working for Batman now?

Catwoman: Everyone deserves a second chance.

Toriel: (skeptical) I hear this is technically your third chance, Selina.

-----------------

Catwoman: I only take from people who can afford it.

Toriel: Batman and the police seem to think otherwise.

Catwoman: Well, I guess even you can’t argue with Batman.

---------------

Vs. Cheetah

Toriel: What a miserable creature.

Cheetah: (scoffs) I don’t need your pity, Toriel.

Toriel: Know that you’re getting it anyway, Cheetah.

-------------

Cheetah: I hear Frisk is challenging prey.

Toriel: I promise you won’t get to find out.

Cheetah: Then I promise your dust will coat my fur.

Vs. Vixen

Toriel: So Vixen, do Ebbot Monsters count as in The Red?

Vixen: I can’t tap into your power with the totem, but yes.

Toriel: In a small way, I find that comforting.

------------

Vixen: Save the really hot stuff for bad guys, okay?

Toriel: I don’t use more fire than I need to.

Vixen: Should make for one hell of a fight.

Vs. Cyborg

Cyborg: You’re a couple of revs out of date.

Toriel: Jokes about my age? That’s almost disappointing.

Cyborg: you won’t feel that way in a second.

---------------

Toriel: Think of it as your rehabilitation, Victor.

Cyborg: I’ll never get over Metropolis.

Toriel: There are better ways to deal with grief.

------------

Cyborg: This ain’t even your fight, Toriel.

Toriel: I’m here to get you to break off this Regime.

Cyborg: Hell freakin’ no!

Vs. Grid

Toriel: Why are you here?

Grid: In destroying you, perhaps I will gain emotion.

Toriel: Some people who murder tend to lose emotion, Grid.

--------------

Grid: Your magic gives you control over the field of battle.

Toriel: Perhaps you could say I give new meaning to a ‘scorched earth’ response? Heh?

Grid: I wish I could be amused by that line.

Vs. Deadshot

Toriel: Is someone hiring you to try to kill Frisk?

Deadshot: Sorry, Assassin/Client privilege.

Toriel: (Glares) I’ll personally see that you and your client give Frisk an apology.

-----------

Deadshot: I’ve never hunted goats before.

Toriel: Not sure you’d want to want to hunt one that shoots fire.

Deadshot: Eh, I’ll try anything once.

-----------

Deadshot: Think you’d scream like a goat if I shoot you?

Toriel: I have absolutely no desire to find out, Mr. Lawton.

Deadshot: Now I gotta know.

Vs. Doctor Fate

Toriel: What can you tell me about the fate of my people?

Doctor Fate: You will share the same fate as humanity.

Toriel: Well, at least I know no one’s sealing us in a mountain again.

-------------

Doctor Fate: your children defied fate to free your people.

Toriel: ‘children’? You mean it wasn’t just Frisk who breached that barrier? What are you talking about?

Doctor Fate: I already said too much…

Vs. Firestorm

Firestorm: Magic vs Science, the ultimate showdown.

Toriel: More like fighting fire with fire.

Firestorm: Let’s see which of us burns hotter.

----------

Toriel: So what’s it like for the two of you to share a body?

Firestorm: It’s like thinking in stereo.

Toriel: I’m not positive, but I think I know someone similar….

Vs. The Flash (Barry Allen)

Toriel: Batman insisted we practice.

The Flash: Can’t run from a fight, can I?

Toriel: There’s no shame if there are better options, Barry.

----------

The Flash: I gonna say, I’m amazed at what Frisk has done.

Toriel: I’m sure they’ll be happy when I tell them you said that.

The Flash: After this bout, I might save you the walk home.

---------

The Flash: Think you’re fast enough?

Toriel: We both know ‘slower’ opponents have hit you before.

The Flash: Can you be intimidated? Just this once?

Vs. Jay Garrick

Jay Garrick: This old timer could teach you some things.

Toriel: I’m much older than I look, Mr. Garrick.

Jay Garrick: Then let’s see what you got to show for it.

------------

Toriel: So you rely on speed? Not much else?

Jay Garrick: This’ll be over quick, chum.

Toriel: Even Frisk needed more than speed to get past me.

Vs. Reverse Flash

Toriel: Your pointless cruelty ends today

Reverse Flash: Tormenting people serves a purpose.

Toriel: “Then I think I’ll enjoy seeing that ‘purpose’ reduced to ash.” Or “The line won’t fly with any judge, Thawne.”

-------------

Reverse Flash: Even in my future you monsters have been a pebble in my boot.

Toriel: I’m guessing you’re here to wipe us out?

Reverse Flash: It’ll be a small comfort for being stuck in the past.

Vs. Gorilla Grodd

Gorilla Grodd: Humans must disgust you.

Toriel: If they did, why would I adopt Frisk?

Gorilla Grodd: They’d serve better as a slave than your ward.

-----------

Toriel: I can’t ignore the blood on your hands.

Gorilla Grodd: Man has oppressed apes for centuries.

Toriel: Apes hardly fare better with you around, Grodd.

Vs. Green Arrow

Green Arrow: I left my universe for this?

Toriel: I’m guessing you don’t have monsters where you’re from?

Green Arrow: At least not of the cuddly pun-loving type.

----------

Toriel: Your choice of weaponry is most curious, Oliver.

Green Arrow: I know where to place my shots.

Toriel: I’ll just have to keep my guard up, then.

----------

Toriel: Your choice of weaponry is most curious, Oliver.

Green Arrow: Dinah thinks my weapon is just fine.

Toriel:Then unlike your foes, I’ll trust her judgement.

Vs. Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)

Toriel: Batman insisted we practice

Hal Jordan: Here to see the master at work?

Toriel: More like ready to put you through… the ringer (giggles slightly)

------------

Hal Jordan: I guess you heard; Guardians want Frisk as a Green Lantern.

Toriel: You can tell the Guardians Frisk’s mother said ‘no’.

Hal Jordan: Pretty much the reception I expected.

Vs. Green Lantern (John Stewart)

Toriel: It suddenly occurs to me I rarely see professionals as superheroes.

John Stewart: You ain’t exactly a seasoned crime-fighter yourself.

Toriel: Fair point…

-------------

John Stewart: Where did you come from?

Toriel: My people were sealed underground for millennia.

John Stewart: I’m almost afraid to ask why…

-------------

John Stewart: Frisk would make an excellent Green Lantern, Toriel.

Toriel: You can tell the Guardians Frisk’s mother said ‘no’.

John Stewart: That’s gonna be a problem….

Vs. Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn: Hey good lookin’!

Toriel: Surely you could go for better than an old goat like me..

Harley Quinn: Learn how to take a compliment, sweetie!

-----------

Toriel: Batman insisted we practice.

Harley Quinn: How about slaps and tickles in ten paces?

Toriel: (nervous laughter) hehe.. interesting idea, I think?

----------

Harley Quinn: I’m workin’ for Batman now!

Toriel: No need to convince me, Quinn, I already trust you more than Diana.

Harley Quinn: Hah! Makes me wish she heard that!

Vs. The Joker

Toriel: What a miserable creature..

Joker: Could you be any more melodramatic?

Toriel: I’d take it over your sick jokes any day.

-----------

Joker: That’s quite the petting zoo you live in.

Toriel: Except you can’t afford the price of admission.

Joker: How adorably misinformed…

-------

Vs. Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy: I know about Flowey.

Toriel: Whatever you’re planning with him, I won’t allow it.

Poison Ivy: You don’t have a choice in the matter.

-----------

Toriel: I can’t ignore the blood on your hands

Poison Ivy: The Green must be restored.

Toriel: Batman has my sympathies for putting up with you.

------

Vs. Robin

Toriel: Care to justify betraying your father and his code?

Robin: Because he’s spectacularly wrong!

Toriel: And what if you might be wrong?

---------

Robin: You’re burning the wrong bridges.

Toriel: I’ll burn more than that if it keeps the Regime down.

Robin: Not as long as I’m around.

---------

Toriel: So what kind of mother was Talia?

Robin: No woman could surpass her.

Toriel: I wager it’ll be easy to best her in disciplining you!

--------

Vs. Scarecrow

Scarecrow: The humans you failed to protect still haunt you?

Toriel: I can’t dishonor them by lying, so yes, Scarecrow.

Scarecrow: I can work with that….

----------

Toriel: (coughs from accidentally inhaling fear gas) What…. is this…?

Scarecrow: Welcome to your nightmares made real!

Toriel: Then forgive me if I make this quick.

Vs. Supergirl

Toriel: Kara… your name sounds similar to the first human I adopted.

Supergirl: That a problem?

Toriel: Let’s just say I’ll try to keep this professional.

---------

Supergirl: I’m still learning my way around.

Toriel: Then we have that in common at least.

Supergirl: Let’s see what else we have in common.

--------

Supergirl: So you monsters attacked Frisk, then adopted them?

Toriel: We already resolved that problem, Supergirl.

Supergirl: I’ll be the judge of that.

-----------

Supergirl: So you monsters attacked Frisk, then adopted them?

Toriel: Didn’t your cousin declare war on the planet that adopted him?

Supergirl: Kal didn’t set the best example….

--------

Toriel: If you want, I can take you in, Kara.

Supergirl: Thanks, but the Kents already volunteered.

Toriel: That’s a pity, Frisk would’ve liked having you around.

Vs. Power Girl

Toriel: (distracted) That outfit… is most.. interesting……

Power Girl: Eyes up here!

Toriel: I messed this up, didn’t I?

-------------

Power Girl: What Earth did they snatch you from?

Toriel: My people were sealed underground for millennia.

Power Girl: Aren’t we a couple of misfits?

Vs. Superman

Toriel: So you must be Superman

Superman: You sound disappointed.

Toriel: Frisk told me you used to be better than this.

------------

Toriel: You still have much to answer for.

Superman: Who are you to judge me?

Toriel: A mother of a child whose heart you broke!

-----------

Superman: I took one life to save millions

Toriel: Even one death can be too much, your Regime is proof of that.

Superman: Do you even know who I killed?

----------

Superman: I took one life to save millions.

Toriel: Care to explain your attacks on Gotham and Metropolis then?

Superman: (voice gradually trails off to suggest doubt) I needed to stop insurrection….

---------

Toriel: You made a mistake killing the Joker.

Superman: I did it for Lois!

Toriel: “And look what you’ve turn into!” or “That same rage nearly made Asgore like you.”

-----------

Superman: Your magic doesn’t frighten me.

Toriel: Keep up that thinking, and you’ve already lost.

Superman: (condescending tone) Is that so?

---------

Toriel: I look at you and suddenly think I’ve been too hard on Asgore.

Superman: What give you that idea?

Toriel: Unlike you, Asgore’s trying to redeem himself.

Vs. Bizarro

Bizarro: You Bizarro new worst friend!

Toriel: (tries to imitate Bizarro’s speech) Uh… Me dishonestly prefer being new best enemy?

Bizarro: Bizarro-vision make you happy!

----------

Toriel: I’m not sure how to deal with you.

Bizarro: Me fight for lies, injustice, a-merry-can way.

Toriel: Talking like that is just one reason you’re hard to help, Bizarro.

Vs. Swamp Thing

Toriel: You’ve got to let us monsters rebuild, Swamp Thing.

Swamp Thing: Not at the expense of the soil.

Toriel: “Then know you’ve left me little choice” or “Frisk told me you were a compromiser!”

---------

Toriel: I thought all monsters were sealed in Mt. Ebbot.

Swamp Thing: I’m of no relation to your people.

Toriel: Guess I should’ve figured as much.

---------

Swamp Thing: Keep your distance from me.

Toriel: Something the matter?

Swamp Thing: Fire is no friend of mine.

Vs. Wonder Woman

Toriel: Hippolyta desired peace for the world.

Wonder Woman: As does her daughter.

Toriel: On her behalf, I’ll reteach you what you’ve forgotten.

---------

Toriel: Frisk used to be a big fan of yours, Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman: ‘Was’ a big fan?

Toriel: You disappointed them when you lost your way.

---------

Wonder Woman: You’d be wise to surrender.

Toriel: (incredulous) Does it look like I care what you think?

Wonder Woman: You’ll care when I make Frisk kneel before Kal.

----------

Wonder Woman: The Regime created peace.

Toriel: Humanity living in fear is NOT peace!

Wonder Woman: You’ll learn to see it our way.

---------

Toriel: You betrayed humanity AND Frisk’s faith in you, Diana.

Wonder Woman: Would it be so hard to trust us again?

Toriel: Forsake the Regime if you want to talk trust.

Vs. Darkseid

Toriel: Are you here to hurt Frisk?

Darkseid: Whatever I can’t control, I must destroy.

Toriel: (in a low, yet angry tone) Then I’ll see you endure achieving neither, Darkseid.

-----------

Darkseid: I will break you for Granny Goodness.

Toriel: My fire has other ideas.

Darkseid: Mine is the fire that forges stars.

Vs. Red Hood

Toriel: You’ve been walking a very dark path, Jason.

Red Hood: I’m the cure for a sick, sad world!

Toriel: You sure it’s not the Lazarus talking?

------------

Red Hood: Ra’s Al Ghul saved my life.

Toriel: I suspect Ra’s sees you as a pawn.

Red Hood: Not on my watch.

Vs. Starfire

Toriel: I don’t like having to fight, least of all having to fight children.

Starfire: I think we both know reluctance won’t help with this fight.

Toriel: Then forgive me if I make this quick.

--------

Starfire: You know, I think Papyrus and Frisk would make good Titans.

Toriel: That’s kind of you to say, Starfire, but I should still say ‘No.’

Starfire: You’re not the first mother to say ‘no’ to Titans, Toriel.

Vs. Sub-Zero

Sub-Zero: The Lin Kwei would benefit from your powers.

Toriel: I somehow find that insulting.

Sub-Zero: You misunderstand my intentions.

------------

Toriel: Fair warning, my fire magic can hurt your soul.

Sub-Zero: It will be met with unrelenting cold.

Toriel: Then forgive me if I make this quick.

-----------

Toriel: I can’t ignore the blood on your hands.

Sub-Zero: Only bloodshed will save this realm.

Toriel: “The Regime already proved folly in that line of thinking” or “Just ask Frisk, there are always better options.”

Vs. Black Manta

Black Manta: What the hell do you want?

Toriel: After seeing the people you’ve harmed, what do you think?

Black Manta: I think you just dug your own grave.

----------

Toriel: I’ve lost loved ones too.

Black Manta: I buried my heart with my father.

Toriel: There are better ways to deal with grief.

Vs. Raiden

Toriel: Seems now we both bear the burden of protecting our worlds

Raiden: It is a burden few are fit to carry.

Toriel: For Frisk’s sake I’ll bear it as long as I have to.

-----

Raiden: I sense great power within you.

Toriel: Power I intend to use to keep Earth out of both Brainiac’s and Superman’s hands.

Raiden: You require training to defend it.

Vs. Black Lightning

Black Lightning: We’re both teachers and parents, Toriel.

Toriel: And if what I’ve been doing is any indicator, we’re technically both superheroes.

Black Lightning: What else do we have in common?

-----

Toriel: Batman insisted we practice.

Black Lightning: Can’t pass up a chance to learn.

Toriel: “True, even teachers should know when to be students” or “I know I shouldn’t either, Black Lightning.”

Vs. Hellboy

Toriel: Did the B.P.R.D. send you after me?

Hellboy: Gotta do what I gotta do, pal.

Toriel: Then know you’ve left me little choice...

--------

Hellboy: How do you plan to beat me, lady?

Toriel: Simple, is your soul fireproof?

Hellboy: Guess we’ll see about that.

------

Hellboy: You should meet my friend, Liz.

Toriel: She from the B.P.R.D too?

Hellboy: You’d love her, she’s a real fire-starter.

-------

Toriel: You’ve lived peacefully among humans, yet you feel like an outsider?

Hellboy: Never been sure where I belonged.

Toriel: Perhaps you can find a home among my people, Hellboy.

Vs. Atom

Toriel: (half-jokingly) I’ve got a ‘small’ thesis i want to test, Dr. Choi.

Atom: (chuckles slightly) And what might that be?

Toriel: That I can track your soul even when it’s sub-atomic.

-------

Atom: Fighting is easy if you know physics.

Toriel: Never thought about that, but it does make sense.

Atom: Allow me to demonstrate, Toriel.

Vs. Enchantress

Toriel: Release June before I make you do so!

Enchantress: Would you rather be my new vessel, Toriel?

Toriel: Even if I lose, you‘ll only get a pile of dust for your trouble.

-----

Enchantress (June): I can’t help it, she has to be let out!

Toriel: (in a resassuring tone) Stay calm June, I can get you out of this.

Enchantress: Okay hero, let’s play ‘save the world’.

Vs. Leonardo

Toriel: So where are you from, exactly?

Leonardo: The New York of a different Earth, why?

Toriel: Just wanted to know if you were a monster or not.

---------

Toriel: Batman insisted we practice.

Leonardo: Sparring always starts on time.

Toriel: (slightly reluctant) Some of us are less accustomed to this than others, Leonardo.

---------

Leonardo: I’m guessing you’re a mutant too?

Toriel: My people were born from magic, not mutation.

Leonardo: That’s a new one...

Vs. Michelangelo

Toriel: I can safely say I didn’t see this coming.

Michelangelo: Think it’s time to reboot your console.

Toriel: Whatever that’s supposed to mean...

------

Michelangelo: Let’s skip this, I’m starving.

Toriel: Tell you what, I’ll bake you a pie after this bout.

Michelangelo: Sounds awesome! count me in!

Vs. Raphael

Toriel: Need anything before this bout, Raphael? a talking to? a slice of pie, perhaps?

Raphael: I’m complicated, alright? lay off me!

Toriel: How curious, Chara once said the same thing....

-------

Raphael: New York pizza is the best, am I right?

Toriel: (teasingly) I don’t know, Frisk always told me I make the best pies.

Raphael: You’re definitely gonna have to show me and my bros!

Vs. Donatello

Toriel: I can safely say I didn’t see this coming.

Donatello: Or maybe you’re sleeping off a pizza coma?

Toriel: If so, I’m not letting Undyne pay for dinner at Supah Salty again.

------

Donatello: How are you engineering a win?

Toriel: Simple, is your soul fireproof?

Donatello: Seriously miscalculated that one...

Mirror Match Intros

Player 1 Toriel: I can safely say I didn’t see this coming.

Player 2 Toriel: This whole multiverse thing does feel surreal, doesn’t it?

Player 1 Toriel: Just looking at you feels hard to wrap my head around.

-------

Player 2 Toriel: Need any help with Frisk?

Player 1 Toriel: Don’t you have your own Frisk to look after?

Player 2 Toriel: Yes, but I think they can have a duplicate for a friend…

--------

Player 1 Toriel: So, what’s different in your universe?

Player 2 Toriel: No Mount Ebbot, and I’m raising a teenager named Kris.

Player 1 Toriel: Now I’ve got to know more.

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latestnews2018-blog · 6 years

Text

For IGTV, Instagram needs slow to mean steady

New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/for-igtv-instagram-needs-slow-to-mean-steady/

For IGTV, Instagram needs slow to mean steady

Instagram has never truly failed at anything, but judging by modest initial view counts, IGTV could get stuck with a reputation as an abandoned theater if the company isn’t careful. It’s no flop, but the long-form video hub certainly isn’t an instant hit like Instagram Stories. Two months after that launched in 2016, Instagram was happy to trumpet how its Snapchat clone had hit 100 million users. Yet two months after IGTV’s launch, the Facebook subsidiary has been silent on its traction.

“It’s a new format. It’s different. We have to wait for people to adopt it and that takes time,” Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom told me. “Think of it this way: we just invested in a startup called IGTV, but it’s small, and it’s like Instagram was ‘early days.’”

It’s indeed too early for a scientific analysis, and Instagram’s feed has been around since 2010, so it’s obviously not a fair comparison, but we took a look at the IGTV view counts of some of the feature’s launch partner creators. Across six of those creators, their recent feed videos are getting roughly 6.8X as many views as their IGTV posts. If IGTV’s launch partners that benefited from early access and guidance aren’t doing so hot, it means there’s likely no free view count bonanza in store from other creators or regular users.

They, and IGTV, will have to work for their audience. That’s already proving difficult for the standalone IGTV app. Though it peaked at the #25 overall US iPhone app and has seen 2.5 million downloads across iOS and Android according to Sensor Tower, it’s since dropped to #1497 and seen a 94 percent decrease in weekly installs to just 70,000 last week.

Instagram will have to be in it for the long haul if it wants to win at long-form video. Entering the market 13 years after YouTube with a vertical format no one’s quite sure what to do with, IGTV must play the tortoise. If it can avoid getting scrapped or buried, and offer the right incentives and flexibility to creators, IGTV could deliver the spontaneous video viewing experience Instagram lacks. Otherwise, IGTV risks becoming the next Google Plus — a ghost town inside an otherwise thriving product ecosystem.

A glitzy, glitchy start

Instagram gave IGTV a red carpet premiere June 20th in hopes of making it look like the new digital hotspot. The San Francisco launch event offered attendees several types of avocado toast, spa water and ‘Gram-worthy portrait backdrops reminiscent of the Color Factory or Museum of Ice Cream. Instagram hadn’t held a flashy press event since the 2013 launch of video sharing, so it pulled out all the stops. Balloon sculptures lined the entrance to a massive warehouse packed with social media stars and ad execs shouting to each other over the din of the DJ.

But things were rocky from the start. Leaks led TechCrunch to report on the IGTV name and details in the preceding weeks. Technical difficulties with Systrom’s presentation pushed back the start, but not the rollout of IGTV’s code. Tipster Jane Manchun Wong sent TechCrunch screenshots of the new app and features a half hour before it was announced, and Instagram’s own Business Blog jumped the gun by posting details of the launch. The web already knew how IGTV would let people upload vertical videos up to an hour long and browse them through categories like “Popular” and “For You” by the time Systrom took the stage.

IGTV’s launch event featured Instagram-themed donuts and elaborate portrait backdrops. Images via Vicki’s Donuts and Mai Lanpham

“What I’m most proud of is that Instagram took a stand and tried a brand new thing that is frankly hard to pull off. Full-screen vertical video that’s mobile only. That doesn’t exist anywhere else,” Systrom tells me. It was indeed ambitious. Creators were already comfortable making short-form vertical Snapchat Stories by the time Instagram launched its own version. IGTV would have to start from scratch.

Systrom sees the steep learning curve as a differentiator, though. “One of the things I like most about the new format is that it’s actually fairly difficult to just take videos that exist online and simply repost them. That’s not true in feed. That basically forces everyone to create new stuff,” Systrom tells me. “It’s not to say that there isn’t other stuff on there but in general it incentivizes people to produce new things from scratch. And that’s really what we’re looking for. Even if the volume of that stuff at the beginning is smaller than what you might see on the popular page [of Instagram Explore].”

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom unveils IGTV at the glitzy June 20th launch event

Instagram forced creators to adopt this proprietary format. But it forget to train Stories stars how to entertain us for five or 15 minutes, not 15 seconds, or convince landscape YouTube moguls to purposefully shoot or crop their clips for the way we normally hold our phones.

IGTV’s Popular page features plenty of random viral pap, foreign language content, and poor cropping

That should have been the real purpose of the launch party — demonstrating a variety of ways to turn these format constraints or lack thereof into unique content. Vertical video frames people better than places, and the length allows sustained eye-to-lens contacts that can engender an emotional connection. But a shallow array of initial content and too much confidence that creators would figure it out on their own deprived IGTV of emergent norms that other videographers could emulate to wet their feet.

Now IGTV feels haphazard, with trashy viral videos and miscropped ports amongst its Popular section alongside a few creators trying to produce made-for-IGTV talk shows and cooking tutorials. It’s yet to have its breakout “Chewbacca Mom” or “Rubberbanded Watermelon” blockbuster like Facebook Live. Even an interview with mega celeb Kylie Jenner only had 11,000 views.

Instagram wants to put the focus on the author, not the individual works of art. “Because we don’t have full text search and you can’t just search any random thing, it’s about the creators” Systrom explains. “I think that at its base level that it’s personality driven and creator driven means that you’re going to get really unique content that you won’t find anywhere else and that’s the goal.”

Yet being unique requires extra effort that creators might not invest if they’re unsure of the payoff in either reach or revenue. Michael Sayman, formerly Facebook’s youngest employee who was hired at age 17 to build apps for teens and who now works for Google, summed it up saying: “Many times in my own career, I’ve tried to make something with a unique spin or a special twist because I felt that’s the only way I could make my product stand out from the crowd, only to realize that it was those very twists and spins that made my products feel out of place and confusing to users. Sometimes, the best product is one that doesn’t create any new twists, but rather perfects and builds on top of what has been proven to already be extremely successful.”

A fraction of feed views

Instead, it was ignorable. IGTV didn’t get the benefit of the home screen spotlight like Instagram Stories. Blow past that one orange button and avoid downloading the separate app, and users could go right on tapping and scrolling through Instagram without coming across IGTV’s longer videos.

View counts of the launch partners reflect that. We looked at six launch partner creators, comparing their last six feed and IGTV videos older than a week and less than six months old, or fewer videos if that’s all they’d posted.

Only one of the six, BabyAriel, saw an obvious growth trend in her IGTV videos. Her candid IGTV monologues are performing the best of the six compared to feed. She’s earning an average of 243,000 views per IGTV video, about a third as many as she gets on her feed videos. “I’m really happy with my view counts because IGTV is just starting” BabyAriel tells me. She thinks the format will be good for behind-the-scenes clips that complement her longer YouTube videos and shorter Stories. “When I record anything, It’s vertical. When I turn my phone horizontal I think of an hour-long movie.”

Lele Pons, a Latin American comedy and music star who’s one of the most popular Instagram celebrities, gets about 5.7X more feed views than on her IGTV cooking show that averages 1.9 million hits. Instagram posted some IGTV highlights from the first month, but the most popular of now has 4.3 million views — less than half of what Pons gets on her average feed video.

Fitness guides from Katie Austin averaged just 3,600 views on IGTV while she gets 7.5X more in the feed. Lauren Godwin’s colorful comedy fared 5.2X better in the feed. Bryce Xavier saw the biggest differential, earning 15.9X more views for his dance and culture videos. And in the most direct comparison, K-Pop dancer Susie Shu sometimes posts cuts from the same performance to the two destinations, like one that got 273,000 views in feed but just 27,000 on IGTV, with similar clips fairing an average of 7.8X better.

Again, this isn’t to say IGTV is a lame horse. It just isn’t roaring out of the gates. Systrom remains optimistic about inventing a new format. “The question is can we pull that off and the early signs are really good,” he tells me. “We’ve been pretty blown away by the reception and the usage upfront,” though he declined to share any specific statistics. Instagram promised to provide more insight into traction in the future.

YouTube star Casey Neistat is less bullish. He doesn’t think IGTV is working and that engagement has been weak. If IGTV views were surpassing those of YouTube, creators would flock to it, but so far view counts are uninspiring and not worth diverting creative attention, Neistat says. “YouTube offers the best sit-back consumption, and Stories offers active consumption. Where does IGTV fit in? I’m not sure” he tells me. “Why create all of this unique content if it gets lower views, it’s not monetizable, and the viewers aren’t there?”

Susie Shu averages 7.8X more video views in the Instagram feed than on IGTV

For now, the combination of an unfamiliar format, the absence of direction for how to use it and the relatively buried placement has likely tempered IGTV’s traction. Two months in, Instagram Stories was proving itself an existential threat to Snapchat — which it’s in fact become. IGTV doesn’t pose the same danger to YouTube yet, and it will need a strategy to support a more slow-burn trajectory.

The chicken and the IG problem

The first step to becoming a real YouTube challenger is to build up some tent-pole content that gives people a reason to open IGTV. Until there’s something that captures attention, any cross-promotion traffic Instagram sends it will be like pouring water into a bucket with a giant hole in the bottom. Yet until there’s enough viewers, it’s tough to persuade creators to shoot for IGTV since it won’t do a ton to boost their fan base.

Fortnite champion Ninja shares a photo of IGTV launch partners gathered backstage at the press event

Meanwhile, Instagram hasn’t committed to a monetization or revenue-sharing strategy for IGTV. Systrom said at the launch that “There’s no ads in IGTV today,” but noted it’s “obviously a very reasonable place [for ads] to end up.” Without enough views, though, ads won’t earn enough for a revenue split to incentivize creators. Perhaps Instagram will heavily integrate its in-app shopping features and sponsored content partnerships, but even those rely on having more traffic. Vine withered at Twitter in part from creators bailing due to its omission of native monetization options.

So how does IGTV solve the chicken-and-egg problem? It may need to swallow its pride and pay early adopters directly for content until it racks up enough views to offer sustainable revenue sharing. Instagram has never publicly copped to paying for content before, unlike its parent Facebook, which offered stipends ranging into the millions of dollars for publishers to shoot Live broadcasts and long-form Watch shows. Neither have led to a booming viewership, but perhaps that’s because Facebook has lost its edge with the teens who love video.

Instagram could do better if it paid the right creators to weather IGTV’s initial slim pickings. Settling on ad strategy creators can count on earning money from in the future might also get them to hang tight. Those deals could mimic the 55 percent split of mid-roll ad breaks Facebook gives creators on some videos. But again, the views must come first.

Alternatively, or additionally, it could double down on the launch strategy of luring creators with the potential to become the big fish in IGTV’s small-for-now pond. Backroom deals to trade being highlighted in its IGTV algorithm in exchange for high-quality content could win the hearts of these stars and their managers. Instagram would be wise to pair these incentives with vertical long-form video content creation workshops. It could bring its community, product and analytics leaders together with partnered stars to suss out what works best in the format and help them shoot it.

The cross-promo spigot

Once there’s something worth watching on IGTV, the company could open the cross-promo traffic spigot. At first, Instagram would send notifications about top content or IGTV posts from people you follow, and call them out with a little orange text banner atop its main app. Now it seems to understand it will need to be more coercive.

Last month, TechCrunch tipster Jane Manchun Wong spotted Instagram showing promos for individual IGTV shows in the middle of the feed, hoping to redirect eyeballs there. And today, TechCrunch researcher Matt Navarra found Instagram getting more aggressive by putting a bigger call out featuring a relevant IGTV clip with preview image above your Stories tray on the home screen. It may need to boost the frequency of these cross-promotions and stick them in-between Stories and Explore sections as well to give IGTV the limelight. These could expose users to creators they don’t follow already but might enjoy.

“It’s still early but I do think there’s a lot of potential when they figure out two things since the feature is so new,” says John Shahidi, who runs the Justin Bieber-backed Shots Studios, which produces and distributes content for Lele Pons, Rudy Mancuso and other Insta celebs. “1. Product. IGTV is not in your face so Instagram users aren’t changing behavior to consume. Timeline and Instagram Stories are in your face so those two are the most used features. 2. Discoverability. I want to see videos from people I don’t follow. Interesting stuff like cooking, product review, interesting content from brands but without following the accounts.” In the meantime, Shots Studios is launching a vertical-only channel on YouTube that Shahidi believes is the first of its kind.

Instagram will have to balance its strategic imperative to grow the long-form video hub and avoid spamming users until they hate the brand as a whole. Some think it’s already gone too far. “I think it’s super intrusive right now,” says Tiffany Zhong, once known as the world’s youngest venture capitalist who now runs Generation Z consulting firm Zebra Intelligence. “I personally find all the IGTV videos super boring and click out within seconds (and the only time I watch them are if I accidentally tapped on the icon when I tried to go to my DMs instead).” Desperately funneling traffic to the feature before there’s enough great content to power relevant recommendations for everyone could prematurely sour users on IGTV.

Systrom remains optimistic he can iterate his way to success. “What I want to see over the next six to 12 months is a consistent drumbeat of new features that both consumers and creators are asking for, and to look at the retention curve and say ‘are people continuing to watch? Are people continuing to upload?,’” says Systrom. “So far we are seeing that all of those are healthy. But again trying to judge a very new kind of audacious format that’s never really been done before in the first months is going to be really hard.”

Differentiator or deterrent?

The biggest question remains whether IGTV will remain devout to the orthodoxy of vertical-only. Loosening up to accept landscape videos too might nullify a differentiator, but also pipe in a flood of content it could then algorithmically curate to bootstrap IGTV’s library. Reducing the friction by allowing people to easily port content to or from elsewhere might make it feel like less of a gamble for creators deciding where to put their production resources. Instagram itself expanded from square-only to portrait and landscape photos in the feed in 2015.

“My advice would be to make the videos horizontal. We’ve all come to understand vertical as ‘short form’ and horizontal as ‘long form,’” says Sayman. “It’s in the act of rotating your phone to landscape that you indicate to yourself and to your mobile device that you will not be context switching for the next few minutes, but rather intend to focus on one piece of content for an extended period of time.” This would at least give users more to watch, even if they ended up viewing landscape videos with their phones in portrait orientation.

This might be best as a last-ditch effort if it can’t get enough content flowing in through other means. But at least Instagram should offer a cropping tool that lets users manually select what vertical slice of a landscape video they want to show as they watch, rather than just grabbing the center or picking one area on the side for the whole clip. This could let creators repurpose landscape videos without things getting awkwardly half cut out of frame.

Former Facebook employee and social investor Josh Elman, who now works at Robinhood, told me he’s confident the company will experiment as much as necessary. “I think Facebook is relentless. They know that a ton of consumers watch video online. And most discover videos through influencers or their friends. (Or Netflix). Even though Watch and IGTV haven’t taken the world by storm yet, I bet Facebook won’t stop until they find the right mix.”

There’s a goldmine waiting if it does. Unlike on Facebook, there’s no Regram feature, you can’t post links, and outside of Explore you just see who you already follow on Instagram. That’s made it great at delivering friendly video and clips from your favorite stars, but leaves a gaping hole where serendipitous viewing could be. IGTV fills that gap. The hours people spend on Facebook watching random videos and their accompanying commercials have lifted the company to over $13 billion in revenue per quarter. Giving a younger audience a bottomless pit of full-screen video could produce the same behavior and profits on Instagram without polluting the feed, which can remain the purest manifestation of visual feed culture. But that’s only if IGTV can get enough content uploaded.

Puffed up by the success of besting its foe Snapchat, Instagram assumed it could take the long-form video world by storm. But the grand entrance at its debutante ball didn’t draw enough attention. Now it needs to take a different tack. Tone down the cross-promo for the moment. Concentrate on teaching creators how to find what works on the format and incentivizing them with cash and traffic. Develop some must-see IGTV and stoke a viral blockbuster. Prove the gravity of extended, personality-driven vertical video. Only then should it redirect traffic there from the feed, Stories, and Explore.

YouTube’s library wasn’t built overnight, and neither will IGTV’s. Facebook’s deep pockets and the success of Instagram’s other features give it the runway necessary to let IGTV take off. With 1 billion monthly users, and 400 million daily Stories users gathered in just two years, there are plenty of eyeballs waiting to be seduced. Systrom concludes, “Everything that is great starts small.” IGTV’s destiny will depend on Instagram’s patience.

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technicalsolutions88 · 6 years

Link

A glitzy, glitchy start

IGTV’s launch event featured Instagram-themed donuts and elaborate portrait backdrops. Images via Vicki’s Donuts and Mai Lanpham

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom unveils IGTV at the glitzy June 20th launch event

IGTV’s Popular page features plenty of random viral pap, foreign language content, and poor cropping

A fraction of feed views

The one big surprise of the launch event was where IGTV would exist. Instagram announced it’d live in a standalone IGTV app, but also as a feature in the main app accessible from an orange button atop the home screen that would occasionally call out that new content was inside. But in essence, it was ignorable. IGTV didn’t get the benefit of being splayed out atop Instagram like Stories did. Blow past that one button and avoid downloading the separate app, and users could go right on tapping and scrolling through Instagram without coming across IGTV’s longer videos.

Susie Shu averages 7.8X more video views in the Instagram feed than on IGTV

The chicken and the IG problem

Fortnite champion Ninja shares a photo of IGTV launch partners gathered backstage at the press event

The cross-promo spigot

Last month, TechCrunch spotted Instagram showing promos for individual IGTV shows in the middle of the feed, hoping to redirect eyeballs there. And today, we found Instagram getting more aggressive by putting a bigger call out featuring a relevant IGTV clip with preview image above your Stories tray on the home screen. It may need to boost the frequency of these cross-promotions and stick them in-between Stories and Explore sections as well to give IGTV the limelight. These could expose users to creators they don’t follow already but might enjoy.

Systrom remains optimistic he can iterate his way to success. “What I want to see over the next six to 12 months is a consistent drumbeat of new features that both consumers and creators are asking for, and to look at the retention curve and say ‘are people continuing to watch? Are people continuing to upload?,'” says Systrom. “So far we are seeing that all of those are healthy. But again trying to judge a very new kind of audacious format that’s never really been done before in the first months is going to be really hard.”

Differentiator or deterrent?

“My advice would be to make the videos horizontal. We’ve all come to understand vertical as ‘short form’ and horizontal as ‘long form,'” says Sayman. “It’s in the act of rotating your phone to landscape that you indicate to yourself and to your mobile device that you will not be context switching for the next few minutes, but rather intend to focus on one piece of content for an extended period of time.” This would at least give users more to watch, even if they ended up viewing landscape videos with their phones in portrait orientation.

from Mobile – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2o9VBgD ORIGINAL CONTENT FROM: https://techcrunch.com/

#Technical Solutions #SEO #Online Earning #Youtube Marketing #Android Developer

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sheminecrafts · 6 years

Text

For IGTV, Instagram needs slow to mean steady

A glitzy, glitchy start

IGTV’s launch event featured Instagram-themed donuts and elaborate portrait backdrops. Images via Vicki’s Donuts and Mai Lanpham

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom unveils IGTV at the glitzy June 20th launch event

IGTV’s Popular page features plenty of random viral pap, foreign language content, and poor cropping

A fraction of feed views

Susie Shu averages 7.8X more video views in the Instagram feed than on IGTV

The chicken and the IG problem

Fortnite champion Ninja shares a photo of IGTV launch partners gathered backstage at the press event

The cross-promo spigot

Systrom remains optimistic he can iterate his way to success. “What I want to see over the next six to 12 months is a consistent drumbeat of new features that both consumers and creators are asking for, and to look at the retention curve and say ‘are people continuing to watch? Are people continuing to upload?,'” says Systrom. “So far we are seeing that all of those are healthy. But again trying to judge a very new kind of audacious format that’s never really been done before in the first months is going to be really hard.”

Differentiator or deterrent?

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/2o9VBgD via IFTTT

#IFTTT #iraidajzsmmwtv

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theinvinciblenoob · 6 years

Link

A glitzy, glitchy start

IGTV’s launch event featured Instagram-themed donuts and elaborate portrait backdrops. Images via Vicki’s Donuts and Mai Lanpham

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom unveils IGTV at the glitzy June 20th launch event

IGTV’s Popular page features plenty of random viral pap, foreign language content, and poor cropping

A fraction of feed views

Susie Shu averages 7.8X more video views in the Instagram feed than on IGTV

The chicken and the IG problem

Fortnite champion Ninja shares a photo of IGTV launch partners gathered backstage at the press event

The cross-promo spigot

Systrom remains optimistic he can iterate his way to success. “What I want to see over the next six to 12 months is a consistent drumbeat of new features that both consumers and creators are asking for, and to look at the retention curve and say ‘are people continuing to watch? Are people continuing to upload?,'” says Systrom. “So far we are seeing that all of those are healthy. But again trying to judge a very new kind of audacious format that’s never really been done before in the first months is going to be really hard.”

Differentiator or deterrent?

via TechCrunch

#IFTTT #TechCrunch

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fmservers · 6 years

Text

For IGTV, Instagram needs slow to mean steady

A glitzy, glitchy start

IGTV’s launch event featured Instagram-themed donuts and elaborate portrait backdrops. Images via Vicki’s Donuts and Mai Lanpham

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom unveils IGTV at the glitzy June 20th launch event

IGTV’s Popular page features plenty of random viral pap, foreign language content, and poor cropping

A fraction of feed views

Susie Shu averages 7.8X more video views in the Instagram feed than on IGTV

The chicken and the IG problem

Fortnite champion Ninja shares a photo of IGTV launch partners gathered backstage at the press event

The cross-promo spigot

Systrom remains optimistic he can iterate his way to success. “What I want to see over the next six to 12 months is a consistent drumbeat of new features that both consumers and creators are asking for, and to look at the retention curve and say ‘are people continuing to watch? Are people continuing to upload?,'” says Systrom. “So far we are seeing that all of those are healthy. But again trying to judge a very new kind of audacious format that’s never really been done before in the first months is going to be really hard.”

Differentiator or deterrent?

Via Josh Constine https://techcrunch.com

#TechCrunch

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