let's talk about ave mujica's DID representation with mutsumi and...

let's talk about ave mujica's DID representation with mutsumi and mortis from episodes 9-13! a thread by a DID system!

first off, here's the master thread with links to all of my other threads:
x.com/__digitaldream…

going into episode nine, mutsumi and mortis are in significant conflict. mutsumi wants to reunite crychic while mortis wants to reunite ave mujica. both of them have staked their identities on opposite bands in their desperation for survival, putting them at odds

mortis is learning how to play ave mujica's music behind mutsumi's back. mutsumi doesn't want her to, but mortis keeps practicing both with and without umiri. mortis asks if mutsumi wants her to disappear, and mutsumi does not answer, prompting mortis to continue practicing

their conflict here is a fairly common one for systems: the desire to front and be more present in life. different alters want to make their life theirs and end up alienating and fighting each other in the process. that's exactly what mutsumi and mortis are doing here

mutsumi believes she can only survive if there is crychic. mortis believes she can only survive if there is ave mujica. they do not know how to coexist, and so, they spend their time fighting for control, and in doing so, they isolate from the world and their friends

mortis is learning how to play the guitar to try and revive ave mujica, but she cannot quite replicate mutsumi's playing style. mortis is an incredible actress, able to imitate anyone and anything she desires, but she can never quite perfectly capture mutsumi's spirit

umiri points this out when mortis shows her the songs that she can now play. mortis is still determined to learn how to play the music though so she can bring back ave mujica even without needing to go through mutsumi first

mortis and mutsumi's conflict is making their amnesia significantly worse too. mutsumi switches in after mortis was with umiri, finding herself on the train in a daze when mortis drops her guard. in system conflict often makes amnesia notably worse, and that is true here

i will say that i don't think this was a case of blackout amnesia. i think this was mutsumi being a bit disoriented right after switching, which is a very common experience. when she realizes what mortis did, mutsumi decides to take matters into her own hands by talking to tomori

mutsumi and tomori go to the planetarium together, and they talk about crychic's seemingly inevitable reunion with uika. mortis is terrified by the thought that sakiko wants to reunite crychic because she is scared of disappearing

meanwhile, mutsumi is doing all of this because she is scared of disappearing if ave mujica returns. she begs tomori to reunite crychic, and the scene jumps to mutsumi strangling mortis within their headspace because she knows this could make mortis disappear

mutsumi and mortis begin to struggle over the guitar, both of them wanting to claim it, and by extension, control over their life. mutsumi ends up tripping though, falling over the edge of the imitation of ave mujica's stage within their mind along with the guitar

the crowd of mutsulings (the other less defined alters in the system) burst into applause at the fall of mutsumi. a lot of them lost their roles in their shared life when mutsumi took over as host, and they believe this could be a chance for them to return once more

mortis fears that she has killed mutsumi and runs away from tomori in panic. in truth, i would say that this was another dormancy, but it was not something mutsumi entered willingly. she went dormant when she did not want to, "disappearing" from her life in an instant

mortis feared disappearing in this way and no longer being needed, and now, she has doomed her beloved mutsumi to the same fate. mortis unravels and picks up the ballet shoe to try and call for help, but there is no answer or salvation for her or mutsumi

the argument at ring the following day pits sakiko and mutsumi against umiri and mortis. sakiko is trying to keep mutsumi from vanishing while umiri is doing the same for mortis. sakiko wants to help mutsumi, believing that reuniting ave mujica will only make her suffer more

sakiko definitely prefers mutsumi to mortis, and she is willing to stand up for mutsumi in a way she does not for mortis. if one of them is going to suffer, she would rather it not be mutsumi. umiri has another opinion: that they can coexist and that ave mujica will let them try

mortis, meanwhile, is distraught because her role is gone. mutsumi's role involved playing the guitar, and mortis' role was to protect mutsumi. without mutsumi, mortis fears she has no purpose. she thinks she will disappear next, and the thought terrifies her

so mortis vows to fill the shoes mutsumi left behind for her: the role of mutsumi wakaba. mutsumi-chan is not the same as the world's perception of mutsumi wakaba. the latter is an idea while mutsumi-chan is an identity who mortis holds dear to her heart

if mutsumi-chan is gone, then mortis will become the performer and fill the role of mutsumi wakaba. she will mask and live up to the expectations of others... but mortis wants to make sure she is able to live and hold strong, and that means reuniting ave mujica

mortis acts as mutsumi and tells sakiko that they can reunite ave mujica instead. however, her performance is not perfect. it may fool the rest of the band, but nyamu has spent weeks studying mortis' performances and calls her out on acting as mutsumi immediately

going into episode ten! being called out by nyamu splinters something in mortis, and her act comes undone almost immediately. she cannot perfectly imitate mutsumi, and she bursts into tears when sakiko presses her for information about what happened to mutsumi

mortis blames herself for what happened to mutsumi but is trying to say that it wasn't really her fault when asked. she cries from guilt and is escorted out of ring by mygo and umiri to go back home and rest

as a brief aside, i want to talk about mortis' masking here. when it comes to masking, systems tend to conform to a single idea of an identity to make sure they are not uncovered. mortis has not really been masking up to this point, and this is the first time she really tries

a lot of systems call this single masked identity a "singletsona" since it's when they're pretending to be a singlet. the alters conform to this consistent idea and try to act as much like a singlet as they can so as to not be caught and called out on their act

but masking is rarely ever perfect. even alters who are great at acting or masking are going to make tiny mistakes, and nyamu is able to call out those small mistakes in order to prove that mortis is masking. there are differences between alters even when they're masking

it's just that most of the time, people don't know what to look for, so they don't see it. they can't fool nyamu though, and she sees right through mortis. when called out on masking, mortis breaks down and gives up on trying to hide who she is entirely

sakiko comes to the wakaba manor to speak with mortis, instructing her to imitate playing the guitar. if mortis is not experienced enough to play for ave mujica, then she will have to pretend. sakiko expects mortis to mask, proving it when she calls mortis "mutsumi" instead

mortis fears that she will not be able to do it, but sakiko insists that she try. mortis agrees to imitate playing the guitar, masking and putting on a show for the audience at ave mujica's shows. she remains uncertain though, the only one to not verbally agree to sakiko's pact

mortis tries to continue learning the guitar even though she cannot perfectly imitate mutsumi. nyamu asks if she intends to mask forever, and mortis says that she has to. the world does not want mortis; it wants mutsumi, and she knows that

mortis has never completely been wanted for who she is. she is an intruder upon her own life, always seen as an echo of mutsumi and never as herself. she has no choice but to act the way the world expects of her. that is what it means to play a role as an alter

when nyamu says that she loves mortis, she does not know how to respond. she wishes nyamu had said it to mutsumi and that it was enough to convince her to stay in ave mujica. mortis cannot conceive that nyamu meant it for her and not mutsumi

back in ep3, mortis said that mutsumi never had anything on her own. she never had anything for herself. in many ways, that is true of mortis too. she has her role of looking after mutsumi, but what else is hers? what else describes mortis as a person? she does not know

i held off for so long on making this thread because of imprisoned xii. i wanted to be sure i knew what was going on here. a lot of people feared it was fusion, but i view it more as reconciliation as mutsumi and mortis finally make an effort to understand each other

umiri proposed the idea of them living together in ep9. neither one of them has to die. they can be there together. mortis doesn't want to live in a world without mutsumi, and so, she decides to be with her even if it means risking plunging into dormancy and disappearing

their body begins to play the guitar as mortis dives in after mutsumi, getting closer with her and unlocking the muscle memory of playing guitar in the process. the lyrics of imprisoned xii describe mortis and mutsumi's relationship too: a desire to be accepted and wanted

there in the darkness, mutsumi and mortis come to an understanding. they make the guitar sing together, recognizing that they need each other. mortis risked everything to comfort and save mutsumi, and they emerge from the darkness together to perform as one

a lot of people feared this was fusion when it happened, and i'll admit that it scared me too. now though?? i see this as alter yuri. they need each other, and they love each other. "you're mine, you're mine." "i want you to know how much i need you so." these alters are yuri

i only have one other comment for ep10. mutsumortis imitates umiri's little twirl during crucifix x. i like to think of this as them introjecting traits from their friends. also it's just so fucking cute. umimutsumortis can be real if we believe

episode eleven doesn't have anything other than mutsumortis being bug eyed little babies in the background of one shot. so let's skip ahead to the end of episode twelve which i think only confirms that the scene in episode ten was not fusion but salvation and reconciliation

near the end of ep12, we see flashes of all of the characters in the cast in exactly one scene. despite this, mutsumi appears in two scenes: one with soyo and one with nyamu. i believe the soyo scene is mutsumi while mortis is in the scene with nyamu. each character appears once

mutsumi decides to plant a new food in the tsukinomori garden: bitter melon. it's similar yet different from her regular cucumbers, a sign of growth. she is similar to how she was before, but she has changed because she has accepted mortis' influence on her life

mutsumortis comes downstairs to the studio in the wakaba manor's basement where nyamu is practicing for their next show. her cadence seems to match mutsumi, but her performance is strong just like mortis' would be

their scene in ep10 has strengthened their communication significantly, allowing them both to be present during this scene, though i think mortis is doing more acting with nyamu since that's more in her wheelhouse. nyamu certainly recognizes mortis' acting skills

since she says that she won't be losing to them. the performance as mortis (ave mujica character) involves masking as mutsumi to some degree since she originated the character, but it's still mortis saying this in my eyes, and nyamu's reaction feels like proof

now to episode thirteen! the songs show a lot of switching back and forth between mutsumi and mortis. you can tell which one is around by the way the corners of their eyes are pointing. if it's down, it's mutsumi. if it's up, it's mortis

mutsumi seems to be playing the guitar most of the time since she still knows more about it than mortis, but mortis is flashing smiles and winks at the camera to prove that she's still around. their switches are quick and seamless, a sign that their communication is strong now

during the intermission, nyamu dances with mutsumortis, dipping them after a twirl. mortis takes charge to switch their positions, and nyamu recognizes this for what it is immediately. she knows the difference, and a risky move like that just screams mortis

their speech during the intermission says that they are there because of many deaths. mutsumi and mortis are there because they are the roles that managed to create lives for themselves, leaving behind those who came before them

they never asked for this, and yet, this is the way they exist. it reminds me a lot of their water speech from one of the live shows: bubbles fade away each day, and they are never quite the same from day to day, but there they stand even in the face of it all

the last spotting we get of mutsumi and mortis is during the bows of the live show. mutsumi holds up a mirror, and we can see mortis smile into it. their body is not smiling, showing that they are using the mirror to reflect the alter not in control like in ep7

i thought this was going to be my last thread, but i think i'm going to do one more reflecting on the portrayal of mutsumi and mortis' DID throughout the entire show. i have a bit too many thoughts to cram into a thread already covering the last third of the show lmao

so i'll be back soon enough with my thoughts on the entire show. until then, if you liked this analysis, check out the master thread at the top of this thread. you can also shoot me a follow since i post about ave mujica and DID all the time. thank you for reading, everyone!