To Comfort The Moon
A lil doodly comfort crumb from this AU. I swear it's more lighthearted than this! ....Mostly, anyway.
Usually, comments like that slide right over Moon, it doesn't really bother him, that day was just a bad one, and the kids weren't feeling as nice as they usually do. It happens. And they know they have each other to just be there! They're not alone.
Most of the Daycare space is canon compliant, with a few extras just because; in this case, Moon's Nap Corner! While most kids prefer being outside of the little nook, some feel safer inside, which is why it exists :)
I was debating whether to add the other important guys in this comic, but decided that this moment happened prior to their intro, or there are plot related reasons they're not here! It doesn't really matter... ^^'
Under the cut is the comic without dialogue! I feel like it's still understandable without it, and I kinda prefer it anyway, so I decided to post! Anyways, see you when I actually introduce the others correctly! (Aka post their refs) :>
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"You're Just Sitting On The Train" - Double MV Analysis
There's a conversation between the two main character's in a podcast I love called Red Valley which reminds me of the imagery in Double.
"You know when you're on a train, and it's held up, and you're just stuck in the middle of a field while they get the leaves off the line or whatever, and you're going to be hopelessly late, there might be awful consequences to get stressed about but... there's literally nothing you can do about it. It's not your fault. Hopefully you've got a book or something. You're just sitting on the train."
The conversation in context with the scene is about being able to put your problems and stresses, like being late for work, on someone else's shoulders. Let them take responsibility for what's going on so you can feel some relief. It got me thinking about Mikoto and Orekoto (who I'm just going to call John thanks to Neoplasm) and I want to talk about what I think the meaning of it is!!
Trains have many, many different meanings - like almost a ridiculous amount of different interpretations can be made - but I think the meanings that are the most important while talking about Mikoto are trains representing the passage of time, destiny and loneliness.
Loneliness:
While on a train, or waiting for one, you are surrounded by people. However as shown here, most keep their head down and don't speak unless spoken too. It gives a sense of loneliness, you are surrounded by people yet completely alone.
I think this could apply to Mikoto's situation and was possibly a stress factor for him. It is implied from his T1 interrogation questions that Mikoto was popular enough, knowing a lot of people either now or back in high school, but he doesn't seem to open up to any of them. He's alone in the big city with nobody to talk to. He lies to his mother that everything's okay in their phone call and bottles up his stress. Because of this he is dependant on John to function : "But if you persist, I guess it's my job to keep things on an even keel."
The Passage of Time:
This shot showcases how long the train actually is, it flies through each carriage insanely fast, blurring slightly from the speed alone.
It's been extremely clear since T1 that Mikoto suffers heavily from dissociative amnesia, something that is a very common symptom of DID, and I think the fact this shot blurs could be representing that.
Trains representing time and how humans view the passage of time is probably one of the most popular ways they appear, we tend to think of time as one thing that moves forward constantly in a straight line, similar to an uninterrupted train on a train track, but for Mikoto (and John) time is blurry, hazy. It may seem like things move too fast to keep track of (pun not intended) or individuals with DID can sometimes describe it as feeling like you're missing hours, fronting in a place or room you know you weren't in before and being unaware of the events that led up to you getting to this point.
This feeling of missing hours is relevant to this specific scene as after the camera moves through the train the first person we see is Mikoto - not John, who was in the doorway.
Destiny:
Trains are always headed to a specific location so they can also be associated with life's journey, or in other words, fate and destiny.
Both Mikoto and John are shown as the passengers on their train, not the conductor. They are not in control over life's events, just sitting on the train and this is extremely stressing - especially for Mikoto. John says things like : "another day with that hardly barely there of a smile // You're going to break // You're overdoing it, you're already broken". Mikoto seems to find it hard to deal with life's events, aka the train ride, and perhaps feels like the end destination is unattainable at times of stress.
This point is stressed further imo by the fact that we can't see outside. The windows of the train are either white or black for the majority of the MV, sometimes light or 1 image makes itself known but never a full image of what's actually outside.
Bonus: The Train's Maps!
The map's of the train are shown glitched out, also possibly hinting to the feeling of the train's final destination being unattainable, or could also be referencing hazy memories, but I think this specific detail is about John.
We see the maps glitching out when John sings the lyric : "I don't even know the reason why I'm here." [Future Mars I now know this was Mikoto singing but um.. my overall point still stands.] I think the maps glitching could represent the feeling of the loss of purpose.
John was 'born' in order to protect Mikoto, to help carry the burden of whatever is stressing him so much, yet instead of helping Mikoto he ended up being scared of him ("hey, now I saved you right? So why in the hell are you crying?") and it was John's actions that landed them in Milgram - an environment that Mikoto finds extremely stressing, to the point of there being a chance he goes dormant in T3.
Trains are created to arrive at a certain destination, so a train with no idea where it's going (glitchy maps) has lost its purpose.
Despite being an alter 'born' to protect, John has accidently caused Mikoto more harm when he tries, so he questions his role in the system.
Edit: Journey into the Subconscious
After staring at the MV a couple more times I think there's one more train theme I forgot to mention that fits here too, which is that trains can sometimes represent a journey into the mind.
I think there's a chance that the train could represent the system as a whole, or more specifically headspace. The only people on the train are John and Mikoto and the fact we never see what's outside gives a sort of surreal, dream like atmosphere, almost as if this was happening in an environment with no psychical appearance.
The lyrics sung in Double seem to be more directed at Mikoto than the actual audience, and from the last line "I'm so sorry" we can deduce that this song is something of an apology and explanation of John's actions that he wants Mikoto to hear.
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broke: Will hates being a healer because it makes him feel weak when compared to the fighters
woke: Will loves being a healer because his entire sense of self-worth depends on helping other people
bespoke: Will loves being a healer because it allows him to skip camp activities and just be a little shit in general.
Does he have to monitor Nyssa in the infirmary for two hours because of a minor burn? Not necessarily. But is it preferable to cleaning out the stables?? Absolutely.
Is there technically a less painful way to set a broken bone? His father is literally the deity of healing, so of course. Does the owner of said broken bone (who has been particularly annoying this week) know that?? Well, why would they need to when good old Will is here to heal all wounds?
Was Will an accomplice in the prank against the Ares cabin? Yeah. Is Clarisse aware of that? Probably. Will she do anything about it? To the head medic?? Will hopes for her sake that the answer is no (see point 2)
(also the self-worth things but like. whatever)
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sometimes i feel like swapinverse deviates too much from the concept i originally had (which is that character A goes through events that lead them to having one or more traits of character B) but then i remember that this is all not canon and this is MY CANON and it's all artistic liberty and i have free reign to change things if i think they're too boring or i just want a different aesthetic
nooo stop you can't change logic about the tree of feelings and make it so that the villagers are less hateful as a result to nightmare (melpomene :3) and then also have inspiration from greece that's weird- SHUT UP!!!!! if i want them being named after greek muses and gods and wear drapy loosely inspired clothing then i WILL!!!! normal dreamtale is too boring anyways it's just the sun and moon themes. there's a point where you can't just squeeze in sun and moon symbols without it getting repetitive and trashy
noooo stop you can't completely change the events of xtale/underverse and basically make cross (crash xD) a different character- YES I CAN!!!!!!!!! i mean like what the hell would even happen to xtale if ink didn't exist anyways. xgaster would kill himself?? THAT'S BORING and i needed to find a way to keep xgaster alive so cross can at least somewhat come fron xtale. anyways crash (and also siphon but he's a completely different story that doesn't deviate TOO much) feel very outlierish to me in terms of what they do (since they don't directly do what their character B traits are, those are just a byproduct of their actions)
nooooo stop you can't give killer angel motifs and make him wear a random ass blindfold for no reason- YES THE FUCK I CAN YES I CAN!!!!! i didn't even have a reason for this i just really wanted him to be angel themed when i came up with the NAME savior (what's the opposite of killing? life. okay but i can't just fucking name this killer "liver" that's weird. i can't name him VICTIM either that's just strange especially considering this character concept. so what else is there? i could use kill on its own and search up antonyms. the strongest antonym of kill on thesaurus.com is save. boom SAVIOR) and then i RAN with the savior concept because if i'm gonna have a character literally named savior with a warped savior complex then i might as well go all in on the angel motifs because im out of ideas on unique design concepts
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