Soley's Side Blog

At the beginning, OJ says:

"We can't let this simmer. Fan didn't even think to consult us before telling everyone their whole way of life is changing. He's picked up a lot of influence, and that kind of power is a disaster waiting to happen."

What he's saying is interesting because he's technically right. Fan does seem to have a lot of sway over how the other characters think and act. When Fan said that they all needed to leave by sunset, because of what he saw in his dream, hardly anyone questions whether or not their situation is actually this urgent. However, OJ's being a bit hypocritical, because it's not like he, Suitcase, Cabby, and Fan consulted the wider society before bringing the game back. That would definitely count as "telling everyone their whole way of life is changing", so it's not fair to put all the blame on Fan as if he’s the only one who’s done this. Also, OJ seems to think that Fan is actively trying to manipulate others, when that hasn't been shown to be the case.

Suitcase then says:

"I hate that we're even having this conversation. Fan is our FRIEND. Why do we have to act like we're above him?"

Suitcase sees Fan (and everyone else) as being equal to the OSC members, and she is worried about the three of them toeing the line between "being a leader when necessary" and "taking total control of the situation". She's essentially worried about the three of them doing what OJ believes Fan is trying to do. I also find it really interesting that she says "Fan is our friend" instead of "Fan is my friend". She probably said "our friend" because she sees OJ and Cabby as being in the same position as her, but "my friend" is a lot more accurate. OJ has never been shown to like Fan, and Cabby and Fan had a history of not getting along well in s3. Whereas for Suitcase, she sees Fan as a close friend, and has always been very emotionally invested in his wellbeing in s4. She's also shown up to support him a few times throughout.

In ep2, when Marshmallow is upset at Fan for being concerned with the game right after Poppy shows up, Fan is unsure in his response to her.

Suitcase jumps in and talks to Marshmallow about how the game will be different this time, wanting to reassure Fan and help him feel more confident.

Then in ep3, Suitcase is initially unsure about whether or not the challenge is actually safe, but eventually decides to let it continue because she sees potential in Fan and Test Tube’s strategy. There’s also the part of this episode where Box, after getting selected for her team, talks about how “nothing can rip this game away from her now”, and Suitcase hopes that she won't have to do that to Box.

Suitcase knows that she is the one who has the power to rip the game away from Box (and Fan and everyone else), and I think this is a major reason she lets the game continue at all. She doesn’t want to have to tell anyone “no, it’s not safe to compete, you have to be done”. She would also feel like she was “above Fan” if she cancelled the game.

Another moment is in ep4, where she is by far the most upset when telling the larger group about Fan’s condition.

She probably feels like Fan’s near death is her fault because if she didn’t let the game continue, there wouldn’t have been an elimination, and the same chain of events wouldn’t have played out. This isn't really her fault at all, and I feel bad that she seems to be thinking this way.

Overall, she wants Fan to have a fair chance with hosting the game and doesn’t want him or anyone else to be disappointed, because the two of them are very close friends, leading her to side with him in a way that OJ and Cabby don't.

Anyway, back to ep6. Cabby says:

“I see where you’re coming from, OJ. Fan has a tendency to… jump to conclusions. I’ve experienced it firsthand. He also is… low-key kind of annoying sometimes. But he’s not looking for power. He has good intentions in a desperate situation.”

Cabby sides more with OJ than with Suitcase. In fact, she doesn’t even acknowledge anything Suitcase just said. However, unlike OJ, she gives Fan the benefit of the doubt, believing that he thinks he’s doing the right thing. Also, the phrase “good intentions in a desperate situation” sums up the season pretty well. It applies to Fan bringing back the game, to everything the OSC has done, even to (from their perspective) MeTag taking Poppy to the cliff in ep4. I also think that as Suitcase stares down at the handcuffs (which were being packed up for future use) during this part, she’s thinking of how the handcuffs were used against others during the season, and how it was done under the guise of “good intentions”. She’s remembering how they were used against her, and realizing that the OSC has turned into something she’s never wanted to be a part of.

Then, OJ says:

“If we don’t say something now, we’re going to regret whatever it grows into later. I’m going to talk to him.”

OJ, also not addressing anything Suitcase said, brings up his point from before, about how Fan is just going to become more and more powerful. Again, “If we don’t say something now, we’re going to regret whatever it grows into later” doesn’t just apply to the three of them talking to Fan. Suitcase likely also thinks that if she “doesn’t say something now” about her role in the OSC and what she wants her future to be, she’s going to “regret whatever it grows into later”, and that’s why she speaks up in this moment.

Suitcase responds by saying:

“Fine. Well, maybe you can talk to him about becoming the new third OSC member because I’m staying here.”

When I first watched this part, I was surprised at how quickly she seemed to change her mind about wanting to leave, especially since it means quitting the OSC. Thinking about it again though, I can see several reasons she quits. For one, like I already said, she thinks the OSC has turned into something she doesn’t want to be a part of. Also, though I don’t think either of them mean to do this, OJ and Cabby also aren’t listening to her, and not being listened to is an all-too-familiar struggle for Suitcase. There’s also the issue with how she views leadership in general compared to how OJ and Cabby seem to view it. As for why she doesn’t want to leave, it’s primarily because of Knife.

Cabby responds:

“What?! Suitcase, why would you ever s-”

And Suitcase says:

“Just think about it. Or have you all already forgotten about him? I have to go.”

Here, Cabby does her part to try to reach out to Suitcase and understand her, similar to how she tried to understand where Fan was coming from. But, Suitcase was past the point of wanting to listen. As she is leaving, she thinks of her and Knife’s shared experiences during the movie, and how she would be leaving him behind forever if she left. She can’t bring herself to leave, to abandon her friend, despite knowing that it’s really her only choice.

In the final moments of the scene:

As we see Suitcase walking away, we get a really interesting shot of OJ and Cabby watching her go. Cabby looks sad, but not surprised, as if she knew that something like this was going to happen eventually. OJ seems mildly annoyed, or maybe in shock that she just quit. I don’t think that either of them were trying to push Suitcase away, or that they had any ill will towards her. I think things were just never going to work out forever for the three of them. It’s especially sad for Suitcase and Cabby, since they have a lot in common and likely could’ve become good friends in different circumstances.

Sketches vv

Someone might need to confiscate 3d modelling from me soon bc I canNOT stop myself

I think I'm improving though! At the very least I'm def discovering new techniques and approaches with each model. Imo the hands are better now 😭 and I was able to get a more dynamic pose and expression! Also he turned orange on accident but it works, sooo good for me ig!

Trophy was a great case study on how to work the faces on non-cylindrical surfaces. Thank you @questmacintosh for requesting him!

I'm gonna try to model as much of the II cast as I can and if I ever get the chance to print them out that would be sick. So as I've said before, if you have a request for who I do next, let me know!

Also little update, I gave Cammy a face! Here are the models I've completed so far, I'm hoping to keep everyone relatively to scale (thank you II IV FLA files >>). You can tell Soley has been somewhere when the character got one eyebrow...

Someone might need to confiscate 3d modelling from me soon bc I canNOT stop myself

I think I'm improving though! At the very least I'm def discovering new techniques and approaches with each model. Imo the hands are better now 😭 and I was able to get a more dynamic pose and expression! Also he turned orange on accident but it works, sooo good for me ig!

Trophy was a great case study on how to work the faces on non-cylindrical surfaces. Thank you @questmacintosh for requesting him!

I'm gonna try to model as much of the II cast as I can and if I ever get the chance to print them out that would be sick. So as I've said before, if you have a request for who I do next, let me know!

Also little update, I gave Cammy a face! Here are the models I've completed so far, I'm hoping to keep everyone relatively to scale (thank you II IV FLA files >>). You can tell Soley has been somewhere when the character got one eyebrow...

of course, this doesn't invalidate anything pepper feels about her, this was supposed to be her moment (and, to my memory, magnet was making it seem like she was going to let pepper announce her idea), but i don't think she did this out of malice or to bring attention to herself. in fact, there are moments where it feels like magnet is uncomfortable with too much positive attention (which i also can very much relate to — even though we thrive on attention, positive attention can also be a source of guilt and a feeling of being undeserving because hashtag inferiority complex).

idk man. magnet is such a complex character, and i think she shows that side of dpd that can come off as self-serving/attention seeking. i love it!!

for the part where they pick teams, it would make more sense for them to have chosen their own teammates, since most, if not all, of the contestants have friends in the game, or at least preferred teammates. but then fan and test tube decide to make completely even, fair teams, because having people be picked one by one means someone is gonna be picked last, which (according to them) is too uncomfortable and mean to be a part of the game

then, when they choose their team names, they can't just create a name that their whole group (or most of the group) likes/agrees on, they have to include all of their initials so that everyone is equally represented by it

they're trying so so hard to make this a positive experience and distance it from the other seasons that they aren't really letting anyone be even mildly uncomfortable (while also ignoring when people actually are uncomfortable) that nobody's really given any room to mess up, own up to their mistakes and become a better person, despite that being the entire point

I'm gonna drop my random II analysis thoughts bc the OG post prompts some ideas in me

I love over-analyzing media even if I miss or misinterpret some thingss

Anyway

It's def been really interesting to see the direction Fan and Test Tube and even the OSC have taken with the game since I feel like their decisions (informed by their own limited experiences/perspectives) have honestly made it not as effective as it really could be??

Ofc in II everyone in that society's got some kinda baggage related to competition so the characters that don't agree with the game are understandable, but, speaking generally, I think the concept of a competition game to build life skills could totally work. Work well, even

Like the OSC values are seen as important for a reason! At first I'd think they could be doing almost any kinda challenge and still learn all those things, bc they genuinely make you perform better and help you achieve your goals

But that only applies if there's some semblance of non-artificial cause-and-consequence within that controlled environment

This ramble is getting long but now I want to go into how effective I think each challenge was at their supposed goal of letting the contestants grow... looks like it's getting even longer

Ep. 2: "Cob Mentality," The word-guessing challenge

I love this challenge, but I feel like it would've made more sense to make the listening portion not a twist? Making it a second-half reveal feels more punitive than rewarding and defeats the purpose imo. Like instead of leveraging the point incentive to create contestants that now know new things about each other and have practiced listening skills (long-term benefits), they have contestants (namely Jack) who haven't practiced anything and are just frustrated at the loss.

It seems like Fan and Test Tube wanted to make the lesson hit hard (short-term effect), but the heavy-handedness only made it less meaningful

Ep. 3: "Run the Risk!", Team name bonus challenge + the race challenge

I hadn't thought about the name one before but yeah no instead of the natural conflict and thus conflict resolution that comes with team names, they made it a numbers game for the sake of representing everyone. As much as I find this challenge and resulting team names fun, I wonder if there were other constraints they could've applied to make it still a challenge while also giving the contestants more ownership over their own team identities

As for the race, I also feel like it had potential. Needing to communicate and understand another's perspective when they don't have the same perception/information as you would make sense as a skill to train

But again, the game ends up being counterintuitive. There's a lot of content in this episode demonstrating the questionable nature of this challenge to teach about communication or safety, and I hope this is all intentional to highlight the problematic parts of the way the competition is being conducted

Like

When Circumspect reaches the end of the footrace, Pepper attributes their success to her being an "expert at following blindly," rather than any actual communication

Tea Kettle questions the safety of driving blindfolded

Go Big or Be Last drive past the finish line quickly and stop abruptly, to concerned expressions from Suitcase, Fan, and Test Tube (they still place second, effectively being rewarded for unsafe behavior)

Conversely, MeTag attempts to communicate in a creative way that's adaptive to their abilities (through touch), but this just leads to failure

Ep. 4 and 5

These ones are interesting to compare/contrast as well since the hosts change and I think the challenges are more effective in some ways, indicating some issues with how the game was previously structured, but this is getting way too long.

But yeah overall I hope the cracks showing in the competition system are intentional! The writers have definitely demonstrated some characters growing from the system but that doesn't negate the issues that have also been highlighted! At least I hope it doesn't in the end

I used the transcripts on the wiki to make it, and I marked the lines for each character with tally marks in a notebook, and then used that to make tables in google docs (I probably should've used google sheets, but I realized that way too late)

Season 1 results:

This was basically what I expected the lines to be like, MePhone had a lot more than everyone else. I also ranked the amount of lines they had in this season from most to least

Season 2 results:

Taco had 71 lines in Truth of Flare, which is a record for most lines for one character in an episode

I'm glad Suitcase had the most lines, she's my favorite season 2 character

Season 3 results:

I also ranked all of the contestants by most to least lines (pre s4)

I expected Nickel, Balloon, and Paintbrush to have the most lines, since they were the only ones that competed in all 3 seasons.

made an animatic for my personal favourite song in I.I