No pressure, but do you think you would write something for in space with markiplier or are you officially retired(tm) from mark egos content? Ik I'd read a new story if you felt like writing it.
I wouldn't be opposed to writing a story if some inspiration sparked! I really enjoyed iswm and all the nuances that make it a very Mark kind of story, I think more than anything I want to get my grubby little english major hands on it and over analyze Mark's writing styles and motifs. There's such an oddly fatalistic sense of hope to his story-telling that I find really distinct and interesting. Actually I might just... do that now... I apologize in advance.
If we think back to the ending of wkm, it wrecked me emotionally. I remember being struck by how depressing it was, this sense that as soon as those characters entered that house there was no hope for them. They were going to be warped into these caricatures of themselves to become plot devices in a larger story that was out of their control. They lost Everything, even themselves. It's not *bad*, it's powerful in a way, but it's pretty hopeless. But, in the context of the greater story, it's a perfect way to begin.
Then there's freaking wmlw where we see how this spiral of nonsense and half-remembered stories has taken its toll on both Wilford and Abe. Will chooses to embrace the madness - as is crucial to his character and something I've always loved about him - and accepts it. It gives him his power and agency, it makes him a reality breaking disco dancing anomaly, and it's great. He's a tragic character who either doesn't know he's tragic or can't be bothered to care because he'd rather be having fun, and I Love that. Abe on the other hand, is genre aware and not only plays into it but is almost a slave to it, but when Will offers an alternative, at least for a while, Abe accepts a chance to step out of his role. It's the beginning of this idea that hope persists even in a world gone mad.
Damien, then, offers a much more... Violent approach to the same concept when Celine yeets an ax at Actor, and I love her for that. I think we all do. Celine tries to spare her brother of the knowledge of what's happened to them, and by doing so, she traps him in a similar way that Abe was trapped in wmlw. It's only when the dam breaks and it all comes flooding back (pun intended) that we see Dark take agency in a grim sort of hopeful(?) vendetta. It's a darker (heh) version of the tone set by wmlw, and it works for telling the story of our would-be villain. I like that it sets a contrast of how these characters respond to the hopelessness of wkm, and they are somewhat of opposing ends of the spectrum that we can measure our own response by later down the road.
Following that, ahwm seems the hardest to pin down. There was less of a solid story arc in that one as Mark was clearly trying to achieve a different goal with that project. It was his first big series backed by YouTube and needed to draw in a larger audience who might not have background knowledge of his prior storytelling projects, so it seems to stand alone as far as tone goes. Of course we get that hallway of all the wkm character portraits and then Dark does his usual monologuing, it introduces the idea of taunting our apparent freedom in the choices we are given, but they're all choices handed to us by Mark. I'll also mention Yancy and this concept of not wanting to be free. Of course it's played mostly as a joke, but I think it's probably one of the more on the nose metaphors for this overarching concept. But at this point, we've fully defined this concept of being relegated to a role within a story we don't have *real* agency in along with the choice of choosing to remain in that role or to break out, and that's the important part.
Because OH BOY iswm flips that on its head. I've watched part of Mark and Amy's watch-through/discussion of iswm (not all, i don't have that kind of time, so if anyone wants to fill me in on any important lore dumps mark gave, feel free), and I like that Mark made the point of forcing us to make our first decision alone. It hits the nail on the proverbial head that this project is about choice more than any other before it. Creating a better stream of storytelling by always driving us forward rather than forcing a restart every time we "die" is Genius, and was executed spectacularly in part one. Our choices are always thrown back at us, whether good or bad, the underlying message of "Don't give up" is beautiful when paired with the foreknowledge of previous stories.
Our role as Captain puts the weight of our decisions into start relief. "The universe is littered with the corpses of your failures" like calm down, edgelord, but also, yes, it is. Our choices matter because they effect the people around us within the story. The way that we meet Lady for the first time at the *end* of our story, the way that we see so harshly how our choices change them, that's forcing us to take responsibility for how we play the game with the role that we've been given. So it's not the "role" itself that's the bad guy, is it? Wilford is at peace with his role in all this, Abe hasn't changed when we run into him briefly, and our small glimpse of Dark sure seems in-character for him. It's not the role that's the problem, it's what you *do* with it.
So here's my big point. The thing that gets me, and most people I would assume, about iswm is the way Mark reacts throughout the story. He's our touchstone. We're used to this nonsense, same way Wilford is when we come across him, but he's accepted it, he's moved on. He offers us a break from the decision-making because he sees that as the kindest thing he can do. We're largely unaffected by the weirdness mostly because we're a viewer, outside of the story and with the ability to walk away at any time. But whether walking away or ignoring the choices, that's not how we save the day. You save the day by choosing to keep going and to hold on. Mark, on the other hand, has been going and going and going and failing all the time, the monotony of failure and loneliness, of being relegated to this fate of repeating this catastrophic loss, that's PAINFUL. It's poignant, and like every other character who has faced a similar issue, he breaks under the pressure.
But unlike wkm, unlike wmlw, unlike Damien, it doesn't *end* with the character breaking, compromising on their morals, or giving in to the madness of it all only to be continually swept along by a story that doesn't care, by choices that only make things worse. It ends with us holding on to Mark, putting an end to the cycle, and giving these characters a truly happy ending. It's so beautifully hopeful, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since I saw the ending to part two. Genuinely, I cannot say enough about how much I love the storytelling in this project and what it says about the power of the choice to hold on.
TLDR: iswm is very good, and if given the opportunity, I will continue to rant about it. The world is a broken and depressing place, but we are not trapped in the story, we are free (and often chaotic) agents who can choose to keep going and holding on and I have to believe that if we do, something good will come of it.
Also, thank you anon for letting me get this rant off my chest!
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