I've been thinking about the post-chapter 5 discourse around Susie's relationship with the dark world - where the (more or less) obvious theme prediction is that centering her life around escapism so much will be very unhealthy for her - and I have an alternative theory on this idea now.
My theory is that actually, toby fox is trying to frame this situation as a GOOD thing.
It's very easy to look at her literally living in the dark world and be afraid that it's a trap or is going to backfire, but today this situation reminded me of real-life situations that are analogous to hers: online fandoms*.
*(this theory might also work for other types of communities but stick with me)
There are so many stories of people who talk about their fandom being their lifeline, about making friends, having something giving their life meaning and happiness, improving them as people, and sometimes literally saving their life. As soon as Susie entered the dark world, she was given the chance to make friends and have something to really make her happy for once, and she has been improving as a person (and a lot of it was simply just giving her a proper chance)! Her literally living there seems like an analogy to how these people cling to their fandoms as their lifeline, pouring every spare moment they have into it, and it gets them to a BETTER place as a result, despite the fears of going too far; it seems quite often, that this simply doesn't end up being the case.
There's also further similarities between these dark worlds and online spaces. There are so many people out there in the world that we never get to see, never would get to talk to or even fathom that they exist, other than a vague feeling of the world being a big place with a lot of people in it. But when we enter an online community, those people suddenly come to life for us. We all get a name and an avatar, giving us form, and share an experience together that we enjoy, our dark worlds. Often some of those communities we close for good, but sometimes we keep some of the friends we made while still in them...our recruits? :) And then we find new fandoms and start the whole thing over again, just like Kris opening new dark worlds that hold new adventures and new friends. Toby hard-pushing the idea that the Darkners are real people and not just "objects" really makes a lot of sense in this context too. To some people, the internet is just a screen, but we know we are talking to real people, even if it looks a little different.
Susie living in the school dark world is giving her a home where she had none, friends when she struggled with making any, and a chance to be the better person a part of her already wanted to be, even when no one else in her "real" life saw her as anything worthwhile. Sure, she still has another life she has to maintain, and dark world food doesn't actually keep you full, but she has OTHER needs that ARE being met. And I'm sure many of us can relate.
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