You're WRONG About The Dark VS Edgy Debate

[@PufferfishCreationsOfficial]

Ok, now this is epic! You have no idea how much this means to us! I tip my metaphorical hat to you.

[@ScritRighter]

Congrats on 3k btw lol.

[@TengokuEXE]

Edgy stories tend to subvert, deconstruct, apply cynicism, rebel against, or flanderize tropes, expectations, themes, or itself, with the goal of shock value and the sheer sake of being edgy. Dark tends to focus more on telling a sincere story grounded in it's setting and suspension disbelief, with the goal of evoking some sort of deeper emotion or thought on the story, theme, or message being shown without meta knowledge of other similar stories to contrast it Bad writing aside, if you were to take a bad edgy story vs a bad dark story, the edgey story is likely bad because everything is superficial and can't be taken seriously, while the dark story likely doesn't communicate it's theme/message well.

[@foxfox2149]

Thank you, that was a really good summary of what I was looking for.

[@MadsterV]

you saved me some typing. Edgy is trying to provoke a reaction. Dark is just depressing.

[@attah-odejohogwu9357]

youre explanation is better than the whole video his long winded introspection followed by the brief oversimplified definitions which gave no space for both subjectivity and flexibility was actually painful considering the length of this vid your definition is almost identical to mine and is pretty close to the video by pufferfish creation

[@KrazyStargazer]

I think a Dark story is one where "Goodness" is possible but very hard to obtain. Where as Edgy is just doing something hanious because you can. Llamas with hats is a good example. Sure its funny to see the horrifying things the llama does but after a while it doesnt even phase us any more. But a Dark story sticks with you because you know Goodness is possible and just keep hoping agaist hope the MC will find it.

[@WildSlinger]

Yeah which Llama with hats also showed with the other Llama also not being surprised by the antics as it went on.

[@TheSuffering_Ant_Hill]

AM from I cannot scream so I must mouth oh wait wrong channel-

[@Shadow0.0001]

But goodness being hard to obtain is also tragic. Therefore, the opposite of edgy is tragic. Someone committing something heinous is dark, and a situation where goodness is hard to obtain is also dark. Therefore, edgy and tragic are both subcategories of dark.

[@nitrogenbubbles4555]

I dunno if llamas with hats was a good example to pick considering it is self critical and uses that "edginess" to make a point as the installments progress.

[@Magicghost23]

Goth vs punk

[@BerkfromNuts]

I will take both 😫😩😩😩😩🍆🥵🥵🥵💦💦💦💦😩😫😫

[@LaughDonk]

Hawk vs tuah

[@5GentleGiants]

​@@LaughDonk bruh

[@SummerDream3r]

The Cure!!!!!! :)

[@legendarytronic7774]

​@@LaughDonk GET OUT

[@DarthBiomech]

I think the key difference between edge and darkness is whether the author thinks that dark, violent, or disturbing things are _cool._ Edgelords never indulge in their edginess because they want to say something, anything, they do it because they think it makes them look awesome and mature. Same with edgy works of fiction.

[@thefallenfaith1986]

The "Rule of Cool" trope seems to be a factor in edgy fiction.

[@theplaguedoctor6271]

What if they enjoy being edgy?

[@W-West5555]

That is actually a good definition for it

[@bicepsupreme]

Dark is like when a turn the lights off and edgy is like a sharp knife. Boom, what do I win?

[@B31NG]

this unironically makes sense

[@The_Menendez]

24 hours with diddy

[@Innocent1s]

Thank you Scrit Writer. It's all due to your incredible videos that I was able to muster up the courage to start writing again. No longer is my series on indefinite hiatus! Update : I wrote a whole paragraph now so I'm going to take a short break to celebrate valentines day

[@uboa8060]

"Edgy" as a word has been divorced from its original meaning. It basically just meant what was cool and against the norm of the time. Sonic the hedgehog was edgy, unlike that good boy Mario. But then Shadow was the new cool. That phase of what was "edgy" at the time, the dark, grim, gritty, reality tackling (or sometimes mindlessly devoid of logic) phase of everything was rightfully called so at the time, because it was the new fashion, rebelling against the norms of previous styles of media. But because of that descriptor working so well, it became associated with _only_ that period forever after.

[@chukyuniqul]

Shadow was preceded by the 90s anti-hero, which he's a take on (which I'm not wholly sure how parodic he's meant to be of it at mostly any given time). The villain protagonist-style punisher as well as the poorly written batmans that are just see before but in a funny hat all come from the comic book rush for such characters.Hell, one of the best examples for how to do such a character is the all-star batman and robin the boy wonder series. It started in the mid oughties, yes, but it has all of the hallmarks of poor anti-heroic writing. Point is, much like any culture-maligning tumor, edgy media is the fault of comic books and another reason why their hardcore fans are a blight on society.

[@hydroneeon119]

To me, edgy is just unjustified dark. I'm also thankful to Scrit for constantly challenging my falsely dichotomous view on things, which had been getting pretty annoying to me lately.

[@Personb-yt7hu]

unrelated but invincible is better than the boys in every way, better worldbuilding,more compelling story than pedoracistpedoracist hahaha, source material is admittedly way more fucked up than the adaptation.

[@purvert]

@@Personb-yt7huthe boys is peak

[@sickjoe9174]

Edgy always struck me as performative and coming from a mind that doesn't understand darkness but is intrigued by it. It's someone tryin to be dark but they end up bein all extra about it. Or a mind too caught up in normal people's reactions to the grotesque so they feel the need to engage heavily in shock value as though violence itself isn't shocking enough, which denotes a person that never really engaged with actual violence. "Is violence purely spectacle to you?"

[@the_real_boogeyman]

1:55 they literally mention this in the original video, they say "edgy is always dark, but dark isn't always edgy" whoch I totally agree with

[@NiohArcadia]

Emo vs Goth

[@wv5853]

So being rebellious against tropes is being edgy, hmm so like the knight in shining armor would be the bad guy will the portage is considered more monstrous. Wait a second is Shrek an edge lord

[@WhyYouMadBoi]

Shrek in Shrek 1 is edgy and he keeps a bit of his edge only to mellow out in later films like Shrek 3 and in Shrek 4 he goes back to his edgy ways only to come out of it.

[@twelfthknight]

I would say edgy is intended to excite the audience -- to "put them on edge" as it were. Through things like the spontaneous potential for violence, willingness to break social norms, and/or a sharply challenging attitude to the other characters and/or the audience's expectations. Hamlet is edgy, for instance, built as he is on a murderous revenge plot that will tear everything down the play is built on consideration and anticipation of his anti-social actions. While dark is just the general tonal hue of a character, usually associated with a tragic character arc and heavier themes. Naturally this overlaps with edginess somewhat but is far more broadly applicable. King Lear is a dark character. We spend the majority of the play seeing his decline into depressed madness, most of what we experience with him is bitter regret as he recognizes his folly - to put his kingdom into the hands of the undeserved who stroked his ego - while he''s far too powerless at this point to do anything but wither and die.

[@pluv-ia]

The Eminence In Shadow is the embodiment of edgy, and i love it

[@purvert]

The peak in shadow

[@SirStarToonzy69]

this video helped out a lot, I'd like to see a lot more like these that define how us as writers can turn a looked down upon genre or trope into something new and worth reading.

[@ItsMe_-lo5zg]

Micheal Bay Optimus Prime is a good example of a combination of dark and edgy. The edgy parts added zest, especially when Megatron got dogwalked and lost his head.

[@B31NG]

zesty optimus

[@B31NG]

also dogwalked is absolutely heinous, gonna start usin it more

[@saltyman5603]

I've always thought dark was mostly sad, hopeless, or distressing things happen, and edgy is just portraying dark as cool or good.

[@shiagururdnot2116]

For me dark was more on the serious side while edgy was more ridiculous. And that ridiculousness can be good or bad. Good in a devil may cry or mortal combat where it's so over the top that it's very entertaining or bad like some edgelord who wants to be so dark and serious that he just looks like an idiot. At least that's my take on the debate.

[@x-mighty7602]

Disagree about somethings, but that's natural of the human being. This video helped me a lot. Thanks! Keep up with the good work. I am now a Scritscriber.

[@purvert]

What do you disagree with

[@TheSpitefulSword]

Today, I learned a german word "Subscribe".

[@Higginight]

The only problem with this logic is that it doesn't address the fact that people will call dark things edgy *because* they're dark. To them, anything that even dives into topics that are dark, metaphorically or literally, will get called edgy by association of intentionally being dark, even if it's for the purpose of worldbuilding or storytelling, and not to intentionally *be* edgy. This subjectivity of the two definitions is almost impossible to gauge, and will be perceived differently because of the stereotypes and biases that surround them both.

[@realah3001]

Anyone who says emmience in shadow is bad shouldn’t be listened to

[@kmmahmud7177]

Fr

[@skylarsolar893]

Be hearing persona music today is a good day, also very helpful video!

[@agnuts2799]

A suggestion I would make is to make another video on this topic, but also include "grimdark" in the conversation. Like, most of the things you called edgy in this video seem to fit into the definition of grimdark, to be honest. So I would like to know how you make the distinction there.

[@lunamoona-o5b]

i love the fact that you use DnB as the background music very calming

[@flaksight]

Lovely video. Thanks for using Silent Hill 3's "End of Small Sanctuary" and Aphex Twin's "Avril 14th". I really wasn't expecting to hear them in a video essay about these two topics, and I'm glad to have finally come across them again.

[@skeletonofflavor2716]

It's basically gay son vs thot daughter

[@Chippoken]

Gotta love the outro

[@V1Ultrakilllmao]

I feel lots of people blend these two terms, this is helpful for those people.

[@Ironnuggettoast]

I didnt know V1 Ultrakill liked to write. Oddly fitting to find you on a comment section about Dark vs Edgy. I was thinking about Ultrakill when watching this, I think It falls under the more edgy side of things.

[@Ironnuggettoast]

Gabriel Is edgy because he rebells against the Idea of god after obeying It for so long, meanwhile V1 Is edgy because he gives a statement that “After a point of so much evil, you forgot why you do It and It becomes a routine” much like War without reason. But somehow Ultrakill still manages to be good whilst being over the top edgy- because I guess those topics are understandable considering the situation… So I guess it cancels out

[@Kingcole6]

3:26 "Intentionally edgy" sounds like Madmind Studio in a nutshell as they, more or less, have embraced that reputation after their first couple of releases. The problem I have with them isn't the fact they go full bore with edgy content. That's actually them at their best as they know what they're doing and having fun with it. Rather, it's when they actually bother to tell a dark and dramatic story (looking at you, Paranoid) as they have a hard time pulling it off effectively. When they're being edgy and aware of it, it can be fun (though even I have limits when going down that road). When they're trying to be more serious, it backfires horribly.

[@FunnyBlueBat]

I think it’s safe to say that Arcane is a PERFECT example of a dark story.

[@MasterBotttle]

Good analysis and your own perspective on the differences between Dark vs Edgy.

[@critespranberry8872]

8:53 Not only are people thinking about that, the Official writers of those characters have used that line of logic to justify things like Batman killing because "Oh killing is bad batman but traumatic brain injuries aren't??"

[@erickcabrera2612]

THIS IS WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR, good video 10/10

[@ghastlydreamer]

Dark: "Damn this shit is tragic and I have no control over it" Edgy: "N-No I have to be dark, I MUST be dark"

[@x-mighty7602]

I just wanna ask. What if you make a story purposively edgy to tell the audience that it's not good to be edgy? For example, Shadow the Hedgehog is purposefully edgy. Shadow only acts edgy if you choose to be evil. It never says edginess is cool or much less that it's good. The story attempted to show a message against edginess. Heck, the true good ending is the last story where Shadow chooses to do the right thing: Not desiring revenge. Not desiring evil. Not desiring the end of humanity. Not being edgy. Yeah, it's a subtle thing but you can't say that wasn't the intention of the writers. Oh, and by the way. The "hell", "damn" and "taking candy from a baby" stuff were all added by the US localization. The original JP script has none of that nonsense.

[@ScritRighter]

Edginess makes a statement, but the author doesn't always need to agree with that statement or present it as the truth. There's also a difference between an edgy character in a regular story (like Shadow in Sonic The Hedgehog) and an edgy story (Where the entire world and setting is trending towards edginess and pushing the protagonists to be edgy as well). Edginess can be satirized too.

[@dreamsalongthepath7377]

Thank you for responding to that video.

[@Adoumoui]

I'm thinking dark is dark and edgy is dark but cringe

[@Abcdefg7987-n3z]

Dark can be subtle but edgy can’t

[@purvert]

@@Abcdefg7987-n3zWhy not

[@ieuansmith518]

Call me an idiot, but if you do this to Judge Holden, 21:10 (do it with anything, not just Dragon Ball), he wouldn't be as deep or interesting as he is in Blood Meridian and would be considered an edgy character, but even then, the Judge is kinda edgy. (Please, tell me I'm not alone when I say that?)

[@Shadow0.0001]

I think the inverse of edgy is tragedy, and both are classified under dark.

[@JustGromski]

I think the difference is more simple. Edgy is taking dark concepts and exaggerating them to come off as cool. Often using sinister aesthetics or situations/concepts at nauseam.

[@FrootDeMoN]

0:14 funnily enough, I watched their videos before you made yours. And I found the sence of humor quite Edgey I don't know why lmao It felt like mean=funny to be honest

[@bensherinian3599]

Dark uses its mature themes to help ground the story to a reality with stakes/consequences to it. Edgy takes those themes and throws them in, just because they think acknowledgement of it is all that’s needed.

[@blankmu8397]

7:26 Is that the instrumental to 'Danger' by Etro Anime? DDS fan?

[@arborist3227]

20:20 This was a great video and I truly appreciate this insight, but my monkey brain sees inFamous and I must comment that that was about 40% of the reason I clicked like on this video.

[@mrhalfsaid1389]

Ive always said that dark is inherently difficult, where edgy is inherently nihilistic. I prefer dark to edgy because it is very hard to convince me of good writing when edgyness is the main factor. But i think the best dark stories have at least one edgy main cast member. I am trying to workshop a game story and the main villain is meant to be partiality the embodiment of the curse of hatred. That is obnoxiously edgy, but I'm not using it as some sort of social commentary on how hatred is what drives us or something, because that is an edgy theme with lacking thematic depth. Using it instead as the horrifying monster one must control and use as one uses their mind, becoming a lot less edgy, but still using it to their advantage to make them a genuine monster with anxiety behind their appearance and motives. This is using an edgy character to enhance the dark theming of the inherent nature of human relationships in a dark world where hatred and complexity exists

[@TV_night_Show.]

I think edgy is when over the top gore and violence, dark comedy in unrealistic stations is used in a story. I think dark is when horrible things from reality and more realistic stations, with all most no comedy are used in a story good example "Strange thing about the Johnsons".

[@Alecations]

What if I was right?

[@addgame7961]

I would say that the world that bojack is in has a some edgy elements. For example, the chicken they eats are apparently “peoples” that was lobotomized before birth.

[@yaboiplank6764]

Dark: madoka magica edgy: magical girl site

[@yacinmedjernene]

20:19 Hotline Miami mentioned

[@DietrickHiser]

Psycho pass was a good choice for this video

[@Captain_M27]

Am I the only one who likes that persona 3 (the dark edgy discussion game of the series) music is used in the video

[@senbiche]

SCRIT PLEASE BEAR MY CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ScritRighter]

I dunno why you want a bear sent after your children, but okay.

[@SummerDream3r]

There's a debate? What's this all about? :)

[@2ndai385]

Its about misuse of these qords that has caused us to spiral into subjectivism

[@Nada-nonexistent]

man all this time i though guts was grithith and grithith was gut, well now i really have to go watch it

[@logankelly6807]

I think both dark and edgy can be good.

[@ot7games631]

Goth vs alt or light goth vs alt

[@kharijordan6426]

Edgy: trying to be dark and failing. Dark: fucked up shit happening and it doesn't make you laugh or gives you second hand embarrassment. This is what i thought it was...and i think im going to continue being wrong.

[@ezzy3618]

I see Edge as being , over the topic, more defined ans what is said .while dark is more realistic and honest or what is not said.

[@shuckraxv5258]

The amount of disdain for edgy stories or edgy media here in the comments is actually kind of ridiculous. Just because something is edgy doesn't inherently mean it is bad, I seriously do not understand why people these days have such an aversion to edgy media. I seriously wonder if some of the people in these comments actually understand edgy media

[@vjthehandsome5659]

Dark punishes the good. Edgy rewards the evil.

[@Tabletopcloud20]

Not to debunk your points on Invincible or The Boys, but a lot of what you said does happen in some Marvel and DC comics. Not saying you're wrong or anything. I just felt that i say that because a lot of people think those worlds or perfect utopious where everything works out perfectly. Which isn't the case, believe it or not.

[@birdify3020]

Here surprisingly early

[@Thomas-v9n8k]

Italian man

[@ScritRighter]

boppity boopa

[@FunnyValentineRE4L]

spaghetti vs pasta

[@Thomas-v9n8k]

@scritrighter this is the fist time a KZbinr has replied to me even though I don’t agree on all your points I love persona 3 with my fuuka profile pic I’m righting this to say thanks anyway

[@jeremiahboyd2147]

Peppino vs The Noise

[@sugarzblossom8168]

This is quite early for me

[@NHOLLOW01]

wtf is this take on berserk

[@orchidsalvia285]

My take on dark vs edgy: Dark is when someone truly understands or has lived through the experiences they are trying to portray. Edgy is when someone 'thinks' they understand the experiences they are trying to portray and are a little egotistical over thinking they understand. As someone who's been through some stuff, it absolutely infuriates me when someone calls me or things I listen to 'edgy'. It's straight up offensive honestly. Mocking someone who's genuinely going through their own hell is just adding fuel to the fire. This is what I consider dark. Edgy are people claiming to go through hell just to say that they have, not realizing the true implications of actually going through hell.

[@purvert]

Wait till bro realizes you can be both at once💔

[@Magicghost23]

👍👍👍

[@whoisvendiifr]

New vid

[@MrBlueWaooWaoo]

When I like it it's dark When it's dumb it's edgy Debate settled.

[@viro_the_sheep]

245 views in 41 minutes? fell off /j