episode six has arrived! here's an analysis of mutsumi and mortis'...

episode six has arrived! here's an analysis of mutsumi and mortis' DID in ave mujica episodes five and six by a DID system:

here's the master thread i have on this:
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and here's the episode four thread specifically:
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starting with episode five's post-credits scene: mortis has been alone in control of their body for the month since ave mujica's disbandment. this called being "front stuck" and refers to an alter being unable to switch out for some reason or another

in this case, it is because mutsumi has gone dormant. dormancy refers to alters going to sleep and being impossible or difficult to contact. mortis is trying to bring her out though, using ballet shoes and mutsumi's guitar to try and return her to front

the ballet shoes and guitar are both examples of positive triggers. positive triggers are good things that are associated with an alter and then pull them to front. mortis is surrounding herself with things mutsumi enjoys so that she can bring her out of dormancy here

mortis being stuck in front for this long is clearly not what she had planned, and she is starting to struggle with it. in systems, switching is healthy and important. asking one alter to handle regular life alone is a very bad idea and can stress the system out significantly

and that seems to have manifested as psychosis here. obviously the ballet shoe isn't actually a phone, but mortis has been front stuck for so long that it is causing her to actively fall apart. having psychotic episodes is unfortunately common when an alter is stuck for too long

in episode five, soyo slips on a doll in mortis' bedroom. it is drawn in the same style as mortis, and it's easy to assume this is the original doll that inspired mortis' creation in the system. this also confirms that mortis is an introject
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the really interesting part here is who the doll looks like: sakiko. mortis taking after sakiko's mannerisms happens for a reason. it's because mortis is based on sakiko. protector introjects are based on those who are perceived as safe and can protect the system

mortis is a protector, and to mutsumi, sakiko has always been safety. so it makes sense that mortis would take after sakiko. i'm willing to bet that mortis more directly mirrored sakiko in appearance in their inner world prior to the start of ave mujica where she changed her name

now for episode six! first off, i want to point out that mortis has been left almost entirely alone for the month since ave mujica unraveled. the most contact she has had with the outside world is food being left outside her door, and no one has truly checked in on her

we already knew mutsumi's parents were neglectful and didn't really take care of her, but this is more proof. mortis has been isolating and falling apart for a while, and nobody has even come into her room to see that it has been trashed completely

mortis states in episode six that all she wanted was to protect mutsumi. i've said before that mortis is a protector, and she flat out says it here. mortis can't reach mutsumi on her own though, so she persuades soyo to help her with waking her up again

during the scene where mortis is coloring, she seems somewhat childish. age in systems is often kind of shaky, and that seems to be true with mortis too. both mutsumi and mortis seem to be age sliders, or alters whose ages can fluctuate up and down

during episode three, mortis tells mutsumi about their childhood memories. mutsumi appears much younger here, and this could be a sign of her age sliding down. mortis seems to be an age slider too, sometimes seeming very adult (her speech at the end of episode three)...

and sometimes seeming very childish. i want to say that i do not think mortis is a child alter. it's kind of hard to explain, but i know what child alters are like, and mortis just. doesn't feel like one. she feels more like an age slider than anything else

i want to point out the scene of mortis, raana, and the cats. this is a super tiny detail, but sometimes, animals have different reactions to different alters. we obviously don't know how the cats would have reacted to mutsumi, but i still think it's a cute detail

mutsumi finally wakes up when she sees raana play guitar, making it sing the way she always wanted to make her own guitar sing. we flash into her and mortis' inner world next, showing mutsumi now appearing as a doll sitting on a stool in front of many television screens

it looks like alters who are not fronting in their system present as toys. mutsumi never really had a childhood due to growing up in the spotlight, so it makes sense that her inner world is one lined with imagery of childhood with dolls and other toys. it's comforting to her

it seems like mutsumi and mortis share more memories than it was previously thought. mutsumi sees everything that happened while she was gone fairly quickly and still understands it well, leading to me thinking their amnesia is not blackout but instead just very disjointed

mortis insists that she will handle everything, but mutsumi says that it's "too much." mutsumi knows that either one of them handling everything is too much for them. mortis reached the point of psychosis when front stuck while mutsumi spiraled into insomnia

mortis, however, is determined to continue protecting mutsumi however she can. it might be smothering her, but mortis doesn't care. she wants to do right by mutsumi, and that means keeping her away from sakiko in her eyes.

mortis and mutsumi in this episode struggle a lot with in-system conflict, specifically because of their different opinions about ave mujica and sakiko. mortis thinks sakiko is all bad while mutsumi wants to be with sakiko more than anything

alters have different opinions about things all the time, and this often becomes strained when they are pulling in opposite directions regarding trauma specifically. mortis thinks staying away from sakiko will protect mutsumi while mutsumi wants to be with sakiko again

the two exist at polar opposite ends of what should be a nuanced discussion, and that is the main source of conflict between them. they start to argue out loud about what to do, shouting at one another when talking in their inner world doesn't seem to get the point across

alters can argue with each other out loud. we talk to ourselves a lot aloud even when we're not in a heated debate. it's normal for alters to talk to each other out loud. normally, it isn't in a public forum like this, but mortis and mutsumi have been pushed really far here

mortis thinks staying away from sakiko will protect mutsumi. in her eyes, sakiko is the reason mutsumi broke down. to mutsumi though, sakiko is her best friend and someone she wants to be with no matter what. neither is willing to meet in the middle on this

and that, combined with mortis' previous issues with psychosis, prompts them to shout at one another in public. mortis thinks sakiko is going to hurt mutsumi again and is determined to protect her even if it keeps her from ever coming out again. it's twisted but still protection

soyo steps up to ask that the onlookers not record the altercation because of how mortis reacted to a phone earlier in the episode. being recorded is a trigger for mutsumi, and this may have helped mortis to press her as far away from front as possible

mutsumi isn't dormant this time though. she's still awake, just unable to reach front fully. mortis believes she is protecting mutsumi by doing this even as mutsumi tries to reach front and talk to sakiko

it's possible for alters to lock each other out of front, and it often happens during points of major conflict. mutsumi and mortis cannot see eye to eye on the sakiko issue, and that leads to mortis trying to push mutsumi out so she can handle this herself

but it's not that simple, and they both know it. mortis starts to cry at the end of the episode. she doesn't want to do this but thinks mutsumi hating her while staying safe is a fine price to pay to ensure she does not break down again. mortis' main loyalty is to mutsumi

and she is determined to keep mutsumi safe by any means necessary. even if mutsumi hates her for it, mortis will do it. this is a very common mentality among protectors, but much like in this episode, it can be a source of conflict in the system

and once again, i want to highlight that mortis is not evil. she genuinely thinks she is doing what is best by mutsumi. she's not a child nor is she an evil mastermind. she's a nuanced person just like everyone else in this show, and i know she'll come around soon enough

thank you all for reading. here's a link again to the master thread. and if you want to see more content like this, you can follow me or ask any DID questions you have in my ask box linked in my bio.
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