ave mujica's portrayal of mutsumi and dissociative identity...

ave mujica's portrayal of mutsumi and dissociative identity disorder (DID): an informational and analytical thread by a DID system

we have DID and have been aware of our system for over four years now. we've done other analyses of plural characters in other media we enjoy. we have also written about our experiences extensively both in prose and poetry. so we're sharing the knowledge with this thread

what is dissociative identity disorder (DID)?
DID is a mental health condition in which a person has multiple identities. these identities are known as alters, and they exist within a system. alters change who is fronting (controlling the body) via switching

as you would expect from the name, DID involves a lot of dissociation. it is thought to be the most extreme form of dissociation: creating multiple identities within the same mind and body to handle overwhelming circumstances or severe trauma

DID is highly correlated with childhood trauma and trauma-based disorders like (C)PTSD. it is also often comorbid with other dissociative disorders like depersonalization (detachment from one's mind and body) and derealization (detachment from reality)

symptoms of DID include:
- separation between a person and their emotions
- believing people and things around you are not real
- an unstable sense of self or identity
- memory loss or amnesia
- time loss (due to dissociation)
- sudden, stark shifts in personality and identity

throughout all of episode two, mutsumi is dissociating. she says barely anything and is always staring ahead with that glassy-eyed look. this is true in the wakaba home, at interviews, and during the photoshoot

it looks like she isn't entirely there during most conversations. this is what dissociation looks like to the outside viewer. she isn't focusing at all because she's not really "there" mentally to focus on what is happening

when leaving the studio in this same scene, mutsumi's movements are stilted and unnatural like she has forgotten how to walk normally. this is also common with extreme dissociation: regular motion is stifled by the heavy degree of distance between body and reality

mutsumi's dissociation stare doesn't just come up there though. it is very present throughout the rest of the episode. she's glassy-eyed during the photoshoot, so much so that the photographer takes note of it. she is not focusing, and it is clear

there are other shots spliced in between the photoshoot showing mutsumi sitting near a window and worrying. her eyes are glassy again, but there's something else: if you look outside the window, you can see time is visibly passing as the lighting changes

mutsumi is worrying intensely in some shots, but in others, it looks like she feels nothing at all. this is a detachment between mutsumi and her emotions. this specific phenomenon is called emotional amnesia, something that happens often with DID

emotional amnesia involves a person not remembering how they felt during a traumatic situation. being unmasked and facing the fallout of it was traumatic for her, and mutsumi is dissociating the pain away, leading to time loss

and nowhere is the time loss better shown than the cut at the end of the photoshoot scene. it is somewhat abrupt, suddenly jumping to mutsumi laying down in her bed. she looks as if she is waking up, but she has clearly been active throughout the day to get there

just before this jump, the audio grows distant and distorted. dissociation can cause distortion of noise as part of its detachment from reality. voices become garbled, and the camera grows softer and softer until it fades away entirely. this shows derealization clearly

after coming to, mutsumi gets off her bed in a confused daze. she ultimately goes to the basement to hug her guitar instead of laying in bed. it does not seem like this is the same mutsumi who laid down. she switched between the photo shoot, and now, she is switching back in

this isn't the only example of amnesia in this episode. there's one other strange cut near the end of the episode when mutsumi is changing into her mortis costume just before the live show

the camera flash noise here is important: in episode two, the camera flash is the signifier that mutsumi and mortis are switching. a loud flash is the last noise we heard in the switch during the photo shoot

and now, it's the noise that shows something changing in mutsumi just before the live. when it cuts to her face after the flash, she seems completely different: no longer breathing heavily and suddenly composed

immediately afterward, mutsumi is on the stage, and she is clearly confused by how she found herself there. mutsumi switched back in after arriving on stage, but she doesn't know how she got there because she was not in control at the time

so after episode two, mutsumi has already shown intense dissociation, derealization, depersonalization, a separation between herself and her emotions, time loss, and memory loss. that is all damning evidence that she has DID, but episode three has even more as we meet mortis

mortis is the missing piece of this puzzle. she is mutsumi's alter and protector and the reason for the memory and time loss. the camera flashes in episode two were because mortis was switching in and taking control when mutsumi grew too stressed and dissociated

switches happen often because of an outside stressor or trigger. in this case, mortis is taking over to protect mutsumi from what is going on. mutsumi is unaware of mortis' existence until episode three though and is instead confused about what is happening to her

during mortis' explanation of mutsumi's life, there are a few things to note. when mortis presents the show, she does so through mutsumi's body, but her mannerisms are very visibly different from what we are used to seeing from mutsumi

different alters often have different mannerisms and voices. it's not obvious if the system is masking, but if they let themselves show it, then it can be obvious when a switch happens. and this version of mutsumi is very clearly NOT mutsumi

the dollhouse shot is also interesting. a doll version of mutsumi resembling mortis is downstairs with her parents while mutsumi herself is upstairs and panicking. mutsumi is having an out of body experience and does not see herself as being in the room (derealization)

the entire show of mutsumi's life can be interpreted as mortis giving full access to their memories to mutsumi. mutsumi has amnesia around stressful periods, and mortis remembers in her place. now, mortis cannot hide anymore and is showing mutsumi all she has experienced

throughout the episode, mortis is trying to convince mutsumi to give her control of the body in full. switches before were somewhat unpredictable, but mortis wants a consensual changing of places so mortis can protect mutsumi from then on

for us (and likely for many others), being triggered or stressed may not automatically result in a switch. sometimes, it means the alter fronting will get "stuck" and not be able to switch out. that seems to be happening with mutsumi, doubly because she fears yielding her control

so mortis keeps pressing it, and mutsumi keeps dissociating. mutsumi doesn't respond when nyamu arrives at her home. as sakiko and umiri come in, mutsumi spaces out of the conversation entirely to listen to mortis and the other dolls talk instead

mortis is very clearly not malicious. she even hugs mutsumi's shoe during their exchange. mortis wants to look after mutsumi no matter what it takes. mutsumi will break if she keeps going on like this, so mortis vows to take care of her however she can

mutsumi only comes back to reality again after umiri calls her name a few times. this shows how intense her dissociation was while she was communicating with mortis. to systems with poor communication, talking to other alters can result in heavy dissociation as shown here

it's worth mentioning now that when mutsumi sees mortis and the other dolls, she is accessing "headspace," the inner world where alters can see and speak with each other. this world exists in the system's head, and they use it to communicate

it is not the world of reality as we know it: this is a place in mutsumi's mind, and there is a stark difference between it and the basement of the wakaba home. this isn't really a hallucination; it's mutsumi accessing headspace to speak with mortis and the others

notice how the others in the room (sakiko, nyamu, and umiri) entirely disappear when mutsumi is speaking with mortis and the others. mutsumi is retreating into headspace, a place the other three cannot access, so they do not know what she is seeing or hearing

mutsumi's next major bout of dissociation is during the conversation on the train platform. the others are arguing, and mutsumi is having a flashback to the breakup of crychic. she begins to panic and hyperventilate, the audio distorting... leading into yet another strange cut

the train goes by, and when the camera next focuses on the ave mujica cast, the entire train ride has passed in a blur. mutsumi has switched out again, but she came back after the train ride. she then starts walking home in a dissociated daze, barely aware of what she is doing

during the final piece of the episode, mutsumi finally agrees to let mortis protect her. mortis offers mutsumi an umbrella, and mutsumi accepts it. mortis swallows mutsumi whole, and the camera cuts over to show that "mutsumi" has completely changed

this is not mutsumi's voice nor are they her mannerisms. however, the mannerisms perfectly match mortis' interpretation during her recounting of mutsumi's past earlier in the episode. mortis has switched in, and we are seeing her acting as herself for the first time

i want to take this chance to say that mortis is NOT evil. her "swallowing" mutsumi is honestly a very accurate interpretation of what switching can feel like sometimes, especially if it's the first major switch in a long time. mortis is not evil. please do not call her that.

but wait, there's more! there's evidence outside of episodes 2-3 too! let's look at intermissions for a second. all translations from here on out are from seine (@/hanamukes) so go check those out if you're interested in them

first, a brief look at symbol ii: air. we've theorized for a while that this song is about mutsumi to some degree, and if you read these two chunks of the lyrics specifically, you can see it. the repetition of "it's not enough" also feels a lot like crychic's breakup flashback

the language about puppets here is loaded since mutsumi's alters all present internally as dolls and plushes, ie, puppets

this one refers to a pretty universal experience with DID: your head being constantly noisy. since there are so many people talking at the same time about your life, everything is always loud, which fits in perfectly with this

in relation to this screenshot as well as the previous one: nobody talks directly to a disembodied voice like this. it's only mortis. you could see this as mortis talking to mutsumi or vice versa, but either way, this is clearly symbolic of their dynamic, especially in ep3

mutsumi cannot guarantee that the her of the past and the her of the present or future will be the same. this is because of her intense dissociation but also because there are multiple alters who could be called "mutsumi" by the outside world

intermissions done. for one last section: visual clues that should have cued us in that something was up. first, we have the carousel shot from killkiss. there are two mutsumis consistently in this opening, and this does not happen over and over with anyone else

next, her killkiss card. it is split in half by the dagger, but on top of that, this card is not symmetrical save for the masks. mortis' side of the card is holding mutsumi's hand if you look closely at the center of the card. this hinted at mortis being separate from mutsumi

here's another shot of mutsumi with a mirror of her close by. her reflections behave very differently from umiri's elsewhere in the opening, and when paired with the other mirror imagery,,, it's pretty obvious what this means

this shot in georgette me, georgette you is very clearly depicting mutsumi and mortis reaching through the mirror for each other

take a look at this gif splitting mutsumi in half

the final speech in the episode by mortis is very clearly about taking mutsumi out of front too. mortis is letting mutsumi rest by taking control of their shared body. the speech is vague to others, but to us?? it is very clear of what it means, and it's very accurate too

and i think that covers it. whew. thank you for reading to the bottom of this long thread. i'm really happy with the way ave mujica has portrayed mutsumi and mortis so far. i have high hopes they're going to treat them well going forward

i have an evidence board here for all of the evidence outside of episodes 2-3 in one spot here for your convenience:
also if you read this far, i write fic and also did something about mutsumi and mortis that you can find here: archiveofourown.org/works/62256227
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for the people who wanted to be tagged: @seifukunoningyo @tamiloveslesbos @asoryuusex

also one last addition: system flavored shitposts for your enjoyment
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okay i lied one more thing
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here's an analysis of ep4 and the DID content found in it!

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here's the DID analysis thread for episodes 5-6!
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almost forgot to add this! here's the analysis of episodes 7-8!
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