sprite0matic - Tumblr blog

sprite0matic · 5 months ago

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If you hate seeing meaningless AI "art" everywhere then I humbly offer you read through this massive list of all of the symbolism I poured into a MCYT AU fanart that took me 70+ hours to make and is still the most beautiful thing I've ever made and maybe it will restore your faith a little

Image 1

In the first photo, they are all very close together and they are evenly spaced; to represent not only their closeness at the time, but also how there is no imbalance present in the dynamic yet.

However, even in this first image, their future is foreshadowed. Both of Fit's hands are visible - one above Tubbo and one above Pac - however he is only touching Pac, not Tubbo. Neither of Tubbo's hands are visible and his left shoulder is slightly raised, implying that he is lifting/adjusting the heavy camera - quite literally carrying all the weight, doing the heavy lifting, holding them up.

Also:

• Pac has a plaster on his cheek where his cubito had a scar.

• Fit has both his hands, obviously, but bites the nails on the left hand (the same one he will be missing in the future).

• The date written on the polaroid is a reference to the 3 out of 3 morning crew joke. Literally 3/3.

• Tubbo is on the far left side of the image. Not the centre.

Image 2

Not only are they stealing a coffee machine from the teacher's lounge, the fact that you are seeing this (diegetic) recording from a camera to begin with implies they also stole the tapes that caught them doing it.

They are still fairly evenly spaced, even if Tubbo is the tiniest bit behind, and Pac is almost tripping on Fit's shoe. However, Pac throws an enthusiastic glance back at Tubbo, clearly including and appreciating him. Tubbo has his eyes closed, and wouldn't have noticed.

Also:

• This is the last image we see without Fit's arm in a cast, implying he fell and broke his arm during this heist.

• The leg Pac will lose later in life is slightly scratched up.

• Fit is carrying the coffee machine, but Pac is holding on to the lead. This creates a direct line connecting them that Tubbo is not part of.

• Tubbo is on the far left side of the image. Not the centre.

Image 3

While they are setting up their headquarters, it's pretty clear Tubbo is doing most of the work. He has a work belt full of tools around his waist, and a tent peg in his hand. Pac is helping, pulling up the tyre swing, while Fit helps the least.

While Fit and Pac stand in the full sun, Tubbo is in the shade under the tent.

Hard to make out against the background of the bushes, all three of them have a butterfly near their heads. Above and to the left of Tubbo, a bright yellow butterfly with orange patterning that almost looks like sunglasses. To the right of Pac, a cool yellow butterfly with a green patterning that almost looks like a tick logo on a sports shirt. Above Fit, a white butterfly with a black mark that almost looks like a moustache.

On the tyre, they have all written their own names themselves. Fit's handwriting is straight and rough, in all capitals. Pac's handwriting is curved and italicised, in all lowercase. Tubbo's handwriting is round, in an inconsistent case. If you look at the sign that reads "Morning Crew HQ", you'll see that the writing is round, and in an inconsistent case. Tubbo made the sign all by himself.

Also:

• Fit's left arm is now in a grey cast, to mimic the prosthetic he will one day have.

• On top of the mini fridge is the coffee machine they stole. They were, in fact, able to cover their tracks well enough to keep it.

• In the fridge are cucurucho cookies and a cup of purgatory tea.

• There is a bottle of happy pills hiding in the grass.

• On the shelf there is a golden carrot (potato cannon ammo), as well as goggles and sunglasses.

• Pac has another, different plaster in the place of the scar on his face. His leg is still grazed badly, and on his knee he has one blue and one green plaster (Pac e Mike wow wow).

• Fit is wearing those military inspired cargo shorts, in army green. Which could mean anything.

• Even in the little stick-man drawings of themselves on the tyre, Tubbo is still sidelined, off to the left. He is also drawn smaller (less significant) than the other two.

• Tubbo is on the far left side of the image. Never the centre.

Image 4

(Image 4 is probably my favourite individual piece of all of these. Something about the mottled light on their skin coming through the trees, the subject matter and the colour choice I find really cosy and nostalgic.)

It is evening, and they are having a stick fight. Right at the bottom of the image between the grass, you can see a thin sliver of a slab/step, the same ones as in the previous image as they both take place at the HQ. Pac has his back against the same tree that the tent is on.

The date is November 9th, the same day that Tubbo (and Bad, but he's not relevant right now) fought and killed Fit in purgatory while Pac watched. This is a reference to that.

This is the last of the video tapes, and it is paused. Whoever's eyes you are looking through, whoever was watching these videos back, has stopped, and put them down.

Also:

• Fit's stick is shaped like a trident.

• Fit has a green cardigan tied around his neck, as a reference to his cubito's cape.

• Tubbo is on the far left side of the image, sidelined, never in the centre.

Image 5

While sitting and eating together, Tubbo is talking away to Fit and Pac, the former of which being too distracted to pay attention.

It is the first time a split really becomes visually obvious between the three. Between Fit and Pac there is zero negative space; within the image itself, they are overlapping. However, there is a large amount of negative space between Tubbo and Fit. Fit and Pac sit as a unit, Tubbo as an outsider.

Pac, despite being on the other side of the image, is engaging with Tubbo. Fit, however, is only looking at Pac, ignoring the other one, and his cheeks are ever so slightly flushed.

While Tubbo still has a lot of his baby fat, the other two's faces are slightly slimmer than they were in that first photo, and Fit is visibly lankier than he has been. This is symbolism/ foreshadowing for the other two growing up faster than Tubbo, and Tubbo lagging behind, but it's also literal. They're getting older.

Also:

• Pac's leg is yet again, still grazed, and this time his foot is in an ankle strap. (Some children are just very accident prone I guess, lmao). He also still has his cheek plaster, and his Pac e Mike wow wow plasters.

• The polaroid is marked with the date 4.1, the date of the confession. Which could mean anything.

• This particular photo is in worse condition than the first, implying present Tubbo (who owns all of these) has taken a lot more care in protecting that one than this one.

• Tubbo, left, sidelined, never central.

Image 6

(Image 6 is a very close second favourite. I am very proud of the marbled sky and I think you can really feel the wind in this one.)

The last photo from their childhood. The polaroid is marked with 26.7, the day after the first date, and the writing reads "a change in the winds".

Pac wheels a bike that has never shown up before, and it is in the same bright red as the roses in the basket. The bike is a physical representation of him and Fit quite literally "carrying something new" with them, something the colour of a rose. In case that metaphor is lost on anyone, it's a crush. You can see it in how flushed both their cheeks are. (And they will carry it until they are much older, and only then will it become something official, cause even AU hideduo is the slowest of slowburns).

Also:

• In previous photos, Pac would be the one including Tubbo, helping him, and paying attention to him. But now, even Pac is turned completely away from Tubbo, not even looking in his direction, preferring to look at Fit.

• Not only is Tubbo far away from the other two within the context of the image, but he also takes up a very tiny portion of the photo itself.

• Tubbo is waving, calling, but no one is responding.

• Tubbo was always on the left, always sidelined. He was never in the centre. Never the centre of attention. Never centred by his friends.

Image 7

A harsh pull back to the present. All of the colour is gone. All of the fun and non-literal shapes are gone.

You are seeing through Tubbo's eyes. You have been this whole time. He paused the video. Each photo and video you just saw was him looking back on those memories, after receiving the invitation got him reminiscing again. After looking back on it all, he pins the invitation, an invitation to Fit and Pac's wedding, onto the corkboard.

The memory board is old. It was made and put up when they were still kids. You can tell by the very old, worn writing at the top of the board, reading "morning crew 4ever!", in Tubbo's old, round, case inconsistent handwriting.

The three polaroids we just saw are up there, as well as an old drawing of their plans for the HQ, drawn/written by Pac. However, one of the slightly newer (still several years old) additions is a letter from Fit to Tubbo. The letter starts off friendly and kind, before in the mid section, a large portion of the writing is crossed out. Looking closely, you can see that that section is crossed out because the letter begins explaining that Fit and Pac started dating. Tubbo had received the letter, removed the parts that he didn't like (that made him feel left out), so he could pin a letter from Fit saying a bunch of nice things to his wall. He desperately wants a return to the old days. He has been left behind in the past, wishing for glory days that won't come back, and his friends have raced off into the future without him. By censoring half of the letter, he can delude himself into thinking nothing ever changed.

However, him pinning the wedding invitation onto the morning crew board symbolises him partially accepting defeat. He can't pretend this isn't happening anymore. Their relationship is part of morning crew whether he likes it or not.

Also:

• Tubbo has very clearly been picking at his nails, a sign of anxiety.

• The writing on the invitation that reads "Dear Tubbo" is in the same blue ink as the crossed-out portion of Fit's letter. It wasn't originally written by the couple. Tubbo wrote it there himself, to make it feel more personal.

• The wedding is on August 25th, the day of the first date.

• The way Tubbo is pinning the invitation to the board, he is covering up a lot of what is already up there. This represents how he feels about Fit and Pac's relationship; like it is stomping on and cancelling out their childhood, and covering up/ruining the way things used to be.

• On the wedding invitation, the names "Tubbo", "Fit" and "Pac" all form a line, top to bottom. Just like that first photo. However, Tubbo's name is still at one edge, not in the middle, and is leaning ever so slightly to the left.

Image 8

So after pinning the invitation up, he goes for a walk.

He goes back to where their HQ used to be. It seems so different now. Everything is so dead. A tiny scrap of the sign hangs on, held in place by one remaining screw. (The sign that read "morning crew HQ" being almost completely missing is a very obvious metaphor for morning crew being dead). The mini fridge is barely visible in the back, turned over, long since claimed by the grass. A tiny scrap of the rope that once held up their tyre swing now sways in the breeze.

This whole time we have been seeing everything from Tubbo's perspective. We've been seeing through his eyes as he looks back on all of his tangible memories. But this is the first zoom out. This is the first non-diegetic image here.

It's just him. His hair has darkened now, no longer his childhood blonde. His clothes almost completely obscure him. He hugs himself. He's cold.

It's just so different now.

I hope you enjoyed reading, I greatly appreciate you if you did, I hope you found it at least a little interesting :) I put so much thought into all of this way back when

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