Showbiz and Souls Analysis: Alice and Bendy's Relationship
Hello!! This is going to be a very quick/rough analysis of the newest @showbiz-and-souls update made by @biposi - please go check them out!!
Spoilers for the most recent update below
As I was reading, I noticed a couple of things pertaining to Alice and Bendy, more specifically, references to how their relationship/dynamic works. In my last post about sbas, I mentioned that I think Bendy and Alice have a rough relationship due to two of the panels in the previous update:
"Maybe [Alice]'s the 'leader' of the batim trio in this au? But it seems like she might be super insecure about her position in the trio - maybe she's used to bendy getting the 'spotlight' when they perform together?"
So I was on the lookout for more references to what their relationship looked like behind closed doors. And oh boy, I was not disappointed!
In the last update, Bendy took the spotlight from Alice at the very end when he 'thanked' inkwell for letting them perform. Alice had made it very clear before they performed that she didn't want him having the spotlight, and here, the two of them are staring at each other because they both know what just happened - Alice is glaring down at Bendy (rightfully angry), and Bendy's looking at her smugly because he knows she can't do anything about it since they have autographs to sign.
And, when asked if she enjoys her work and likes working with Bendy, Alice says:
She doesn't answer the question about working with Bendy, and he answers that question instead. Honestly, you can really feel the distain she has towards him through the screen in this panel (and the other panel I showed).
When putting all this information together, it starts painting an interesting picture about Alice, Bendy, and their relationship:
Alice is very good at putting on a front. She hides her true emotions behind a curtain of niceties, hiding her true self being a mask. But deep down, she wants to be loved by everyone around her, making her both seemingly very confident and insecure at the same time. She wants everyone to love her, she wants the spotlight to be on her, but Bendy constantly fighting her for it, undermining her, has made her feel less than. At first, I thought Alice's distain for Bendy stemmed from only a deep insecurity, but now I think it might be a little more complicated than that. I think she also hates how egotistical he can be - maybe he's messed up before, but he doesn't want to admit to that, and it leads Alice to think, "He's not as good as he thinks he is, but he's trying to compete with me?!" That sort of thinking leads her to feel less than, and she hates that. Also, they have a job to do! The Devil and King Dice are counting on them! She knows they can't mess up, but Bendy's ego is getting in the way, and it's stressing her out. She can't just get rid of him, though. Again, she has a job to do, so she sucks it up and hides it.
Bendy is full of himself. Like, so full of himself. From the little we've seen, it doesn't seem like he's insecure at all, which is obviously his greatest flaw. We already see him mess up when he says Cuphead and Mugman's name, showing us that his pride is making him mess up their job. He wants the spotlight to himself - maybe he views Alice as a stepping stone, maybe he views their relationship as a friendly rivalry and doesn't see that she actually dislikes him. Maybe he also dislikes her for 'stealing his spotlight'.
This all makes sense when you look at the original game too. The two of them have a... very rough relationship, to put it lightly; they basically hate each other. Twisted Alice thinks Bendy has stolen her spotlight, creating her insecurities and her want to be perfect. In chapter 3, Alice makes Joey destroy all of the Bendy cutouts, saying how the Ink Demon hates when she does that. The Ink Demon thinks Twisted Alice gets in his way. But they can't escape each other because they're stuck in the cycle forever.
Anyways, I'm super excited to see more of the BATIM trio and how their different dynamics flesh out going forward!! This is a super quick analysis that I haven't proof read but I wanted to get my ideas about these two out quickly (maybe I'll make more stuff about Alice because she's my favorite). I don't know if I'm right, but it's fun theorizing, especially about something as interesting and fun as sbas.
Alice Ik you probably get allot of guys (and girls) saying this but I LOVE YOU YOU ARE SO GORGEOUS PLEASE JUST ACKNOWLEDGE MY EXISTENCE AND I WILL WILLINGLY GIVE YOU MY SOUL
