now that episode four is here, let's talk about mutsumi, mortis and...

now that episode four is here, let's talk about mutsumi, mortis and their DID within ave mujica! another thread by a DID system

if you haven't seen our previous thread about this subject, you can find it here with a bunch of details about mutsumi and mortis having DID in episodes 2-3:
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the main point i want to touch on here is introjection. "what is introjection?" introjection is when a person unconsciously or consciously starts to adopt the habits, attitudes, or behaviors of other people around them

introjection can happen to anyone, but it presents very differently within systems. in the case of systems, "introject" describes an alter type in which an alter is based on an outside source. this can be fictional (called fictives by the community)

or it can be someone in real life (called factives in the community). sometimes, introjects are not sourced from one person/thing but instead combine the behaviors and habits of many outside sources to create one alter. mortis definitely does this specifically with soyo & sakiko

mortis copies a lot of sakiko's phrasing over the course of the episode. her speech about keeping ave mujica together and their destinies being intertwined is word for word what sakiko said with crychic back in mygo's third episode
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perhaps the scariest time mortis copies sakiko's phrasing is when she says that mutsumi is "already dead," copying sakiko saying that the weak version of herself has already died in ep13 of mygo. mutsumi is just asleep, but mortis still mirrors sakiko's choice of words

mortis mirrors sakiko in other ways too. at the end of episode three, her curtsy move on the live show is a perfect copy of what sakiko does as oblivionis before starting an ave mujica performance. mortis even copies sakiko's inflection during this speech in ep3

sakiko isn't the only person mortis is taking after though. mortis also copies soyo at times. the most blatant example is the meltdown she has at the end of the episode when the others tell her that ave mujica is over mirroring soyo being told crychic is over

mortis also does a few things to copy soyo's physical behavior such as crossing her fingers to say no to someone. she also has her hand on her chest during the group photo, perfectly matching soyo's photo in her primary piece of stock art
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this makes a lot of sense. to mutsumi, sakiko and soyo have both been sources of support and love. mortis is mutsumi's protector, and she is mimicking and imitating the people who have brought mutsumi comfort and safety in the past to help her out now too

mortis' behavior throughout this episode is all fueled by her desire to protect and help mutsumi even if her choices are a bit misguided. she is a protector alter, meant to look after her system and keep it safe. she thinks the best way of doing that is keeping ave mujica intact

but mortis' actions are sometimes misguided and spiral out of control. she is doing what she thinks is best, but that may not actually be the most appropriate thing to do at any given moment, and her misguided attempts to help mutsumi ultimately cause the group to disband

another thing to note is that mortis tends to act much younger than she is bodily. this is very common in systems. different alters can have different ages that are older or younger than the body, and that seems applicable to mortis here

systems also tend to be a lot shakier on age in general. systems and alters can be prone to age regression and acting younger than they actually are. this is particularly interesting with mortis because of the history we know mutsumi has

from a young age, mutsumi was pushed into the spotlight as the child of two celebrities. the wakaba home feels impersonal and barely lived in, empty and very "adult" in a strange way. this is in stark contrast to mutsumi's inner world which is all plushes and toys

her alters present themselves as toys with mortis showing up as a doll. to me, all of this implies that mutsumi had to grow up too quickly and never really had a childhood as she wanted. as a coping mechanism, mutsumi's headspace is full of everything she wanted

and as a result of all of that, mortis comes off as somewhat immature and childish. she may not be a child alter specifically, but there's something strange going on with her age, and she very distinctly does not talk or act like she is fifteen years old

mortis' childish behavior also shows in her handwriting. mortis is clearly the one writing here given the time this came out as well as the young, clunky handwriting featured on her card
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this is also a sign of skill regression, something that happens often in DID. if one alter has experience with something but another has never done it, then switching may lead to regression of that skill. alters are literally different parts of the brain activating,

so some of them are skilled at things that others are not. in mortis' case, she cannot play guitar like mutsumi. her body has done it before, but mortis does not have all that experience that mutsumi does, making it much harder for her even though she is willing to learn

i want to say that mortis and mutsumi have been honestly great representation so far. the only thing i would critique is the choice of "split personality" when referring to mortis. this is a very outdated choice of phrasing, though it is accurate to what people--

who know nothing about the condition would say. this is something i have heard many times when talking about plurality to people for the first time, so even if it's not the best choice of words, it feels fitting for the circumstances

i really don't want anyone to hate mortis for her behavior in this episode or in general. this show is doing a great job of showing her as a three dimensional person with her own flaws and strengths, and that is amazing and far more than representation of DID is usually given

mortis might be flawed, but she is not evil by any means, and i love her to pieces. she is misguided but wants the best for mutsumi and ave mujica at the end of the day. i look forward to seeing what she does next.

and that should be it from this thread. i hope you all enjoyed. if you want to ask more about DID both in connection to or outside of ave mujica, my ask box is open for questions. great episode this week. mutsumortis remains very real forever