Inside Out reImagined

Anger plans

As Joy and Disgust continued arguing, largely talking past each other, Anger took his leave to the back of Headquarters, and specifically, the section with all the Ideas.

In the end, he still had a singular goal: to oppose Joy, and, if possible, cause her to have an epiphany that changed her for the better. Yet, he soon realized, such an epiphany would have to come from the outside, not the inside: even if every single other emotion — including Sadness — was in on the Bully Prime nonsense, Joy's verbal skills were such that she could take on all four of them at the same time.

And he knew exactly the way to do it. If Riley acted on an Idea that symbolized, for lack of a better expression, that what Joy did wasn't working, then Joy would finally realize that Riley, herself, was no longer listening to her — and be forced to either change for the better or resign to a fate similar to that of Sadness.

Was the specific Idea he picked ill-fated? Almost definitely, and it was possibly one of the most dangerous to ever be used on Riley — even surpassing that time she seriously considered rather unorthodox methods for dealing with the opposing hockey team. Yet, none of it would ever need to be carried out in full; just long enough for Joy to have a complete turnaround.

And besides, as far as ill-fated ideas in Riley's mind went, Sadness being kicked out — something that was executed in full — was so far up top that even this seemed rather innocent in comparison.

The first motion of his plan worked out flawlessly. Joy and Disgust were simply far too engrossed in their argument, and Fear was far too engrossed in keeping appearances for the sake of the outside, and besides, temporary breaks from the console to get something like an Idea or a Daydream weren't even suspicious in their own right.

Yet, just when he thought everything was smooth-sailing, as he walked back, he immediately noticed that Joy, from her vantage point on the high chair behind the console, oversaw all of it — and therefore, any Ideas that he might try to put in without her permission.

Instead, he listened in, hoping to get at least superficial support from either of his coworkers. If he stated what the Idea was outright — or even showed it, knowing how Ideas had pretty distinct shapes and Joy probably got familiar with every Idea currently in Headquarters — he would be laughed out of the room, or worse. Yet, if he interjected in just the right moment, he could potentially capitalize on the sentiment of that moment.

As Joy was closer to Anger's vantage point, it was easier to overhear her, first: "So what if she failed in ways which we didn't even think were possible? Again, we just learned — I just learned — that even the skating part of hockey is more difficult than it seems! And yes, being part of a hockey team might take years... but surely she can at least get to the point where she's just great fun on the ice, and sometimes even catches the puck when we throw it?"

"Right... no. Sometimes, you just can't shake these things, and Bully Prime might not even be cut out for hockey — and that's granting that she has a genuine interest in it." Disgust noted.

Yet, Joy remained undeterred. "So, what's the worst that could happen? She tries skating, can't even keep herself upright after what, five lessons, and gives up? Surely that's not friendship-ending material?"

"Oh, just about the opposite." Disgust promptly rebutted. "She gets a major injury — like, concussion on the ice — and now, she gets a story about how Riley directly hurt her! I took account, she probably won't go to the police or anything, but she still can talk others out of ever joining Riley in her hobby. And I don't think being the only one in the entire school who's into skating, let alone hockey, is something you want, Joy."