Mceraki - Meraki

Weekly art 11: Frends :D

Ok am I the only one who doesn’t really like how the fandom treats suitcase? Specifically some of the people who want her to win.

Everywhere I look I’m seeing “suitcase deserves to win because she’s been through a lot”, “suitcase should win she had hallucinations” etc, when her ENTIRE ARC was centered around rising above that.

In episode 16, Baseball went easy on her when she revealed she was having hallucinations, and that’s basically how a lot of suitcase fans are treating her, as if her trauma is a reason for her to win/give her a break, like it’s a REWARD or something. Nickel didn’t treat her like a friend and took advantage of her, and her arc was becoming confident and standing up for herself, BREAKING FREE OF THE EXPECTATIONS EVERYONE HAD OF HER, and now so many people are just ignoring that & belittling her character, putting those expectations BACK on her like nothing changed, and it’s just so infuriating??

ofc the majority of suitcase fans aren’t like this. But I’ve seen a lot of youtube comments especially do this. And it’s sad bc it’s just COMPLETELY fundamentally misunderstanding her entire character. By saying suitcase should win PURELY bc she went through a lot of shit you are running over her character development with a bull dozer and it is Not Okay.

Suitcase is my bbg and u should take to heart what MePhone said at the end of ii16, (might not be exact) “who will win, the strong one or the weak one? Which is which?” Both Knife and Suitcase went through very different things, their arcs mirror each other and that is what is beautiful about it!! ppl should recognize that although she isn’t perfect she should NOT be patronized just because of her character. She is there to WIN and COMPETE, she is on equal level to Knife, and is not there to be pitied by her fans.

So. I have some things to say about this scene, and in particular this piece of dialogue between the finalist duo and cobs.

I've been thinking about how inherently unsettling the way cobs says this is - "you both are safe", "there has to be a winner". cobs basically views the show as if he was the one who made it, and treats the contestants like characters. he has shown through 'killing' the contestants that he does not see them as real people, and acts like he’s the show’s... producer or director, toying with/manipulating MePhone and seeing himself as pulling the strings behind the curtain. Brian Koch said during one of his livestreams that he even has favorite 'characters' (Knife and Cheesy), which just dehumanizes them more.

So the fact that Cobs is talking about how he basically has plans for the season finale, to give it a ‘proper ending’ - plans for Knife and Suitcase, when he doesn't even view them as real and simply as just an extension of MePhone's immature nature, cannot mean anything good. He's keeping them both 'safe' only to finish the show, which who KNOWS how he intends to end it!! Maybe he hangs the finalists and the other contestants' safety over MePhone's head, blackmailing him into coming back to Meeple Headquarters. Maybe he pits the finalists against each other in some messed up way, maybe even violent! Maybe he manipulates the duo into being infuriated at mephone, and he leverages that anger against him. Would he even let them go back to the hotel?? They're stuck in Meeple Headquarters basically, stuck with HIM.

Cobs is essentially showing that he is in control now, that he intends to end the show HIS way. He even explicitly SAID that the only reason they aren’t in danger (from MePhoneX) was because there 'has to be a winner'. And for me that just gives off extremely Unsettling Vibes.

Idk if this makes any sense - basically, the knifecase duo are probably in trouble, and I am ANXIOUS to see what cobs is cooking up for them.

sometimes i need to remind myself that i'm writing fanfiction for free and i'm allowed to have a shitty sentence or two

real writers don’t have writer’s block because they never start writing in the first place.

To all his friends

Black cats are lucky. (via leahweissmuller)

Some personal design notes I made for comics speech bubbles and on dialogue!

Conclusions were drawn from their dialogue sounds and manner of speech in general in addition to my personal flair and interpretation.

And here's an incomplete list of mental notes on actually writing dialogue for characters:

Curly

expresses genuinely what he feels and what he means, though he's reserved and leaves a lot unsaid

casually playful and whimsical when talking to others or commenting on things

smooth talker

speaks delicately and de-escalatory when faced with a stressful situation

using british slang on occasion, yeah?

Anya

often encouraging or reassuring those she talks to

teasing, witty and playful with anyone not named jimmy

stutters when speaking to those named jimmy but outside of that, speaks smoothly with enthusiasm

speaks with implications, basically says iconic deep meaningful shit in a non-direct way

Swansea

mean, harsh, sarcastic and taunting

like anya, he says some deep shit but in a poetic and direct way

reminds me of Disco Elysium dialogue in terms of vibes

speaks grandiosely

" ain't, goin', el capitano, downstairs longnose, hear hear, ol' codger, rumb-a-tumblin' " very fun to write

Daisuke

unfocused, emphasizes words, informal

speaks at the same time as he thinks, most of his dialogue feels like a stream of thoughts

filler words like, totally like everywhere man

Jimmy

dry, spiteful and bitter remarks, always sounds like he's annoyed at everything

no whimsical or heartfelt comments about anything

uses metaphors and veils his words, spinning them in ways to fit his goals. twists his own words as well as others'

steals phrases from others

persuasive