This is kind of an analysis/ramble thing so it's gonna be long!! Put it under the cut.
⚠️!!small tw for brief mention of violence and/or severe injuries!!⚠️ (mostly implied for the violence, but still.)
Thinking about how much Rule #4 - Fish Inside A Birdcage fits Silver G. in multiple ways. With him feeling trapped behind the issues with his body, which he's had for his entire life. Everything just sorta made it even worse, leaving him feeling more trapped behind his physical weaknesses. (Ex; legs, ribcage, throat, face, lungs, etc.)
It can even fit with how he is mentally. Feeling trapped in his own state of consciousness because his mind "works differently," or "being broken." From either experiences he's had in the past, or just- how his thinking process is in general.
Due to these "differences" and difficulties in life, he feels as if he doesn't exactly belong. And that's exactly what Fish In A Birdcage is about, supposedly.
The "brother" figure in the song could very well actually represent a sister figure, once seeing it through Silver's perspective. Yes, I'm talking about Blue. We love Blue here!! <3
She's always made him feel like he's belonged, as he sees her in an empathetic and understanding light. They've both been through a LOT, and yet they still find comfort within each other. Yes, there's- definitely some things hidden from one another, but, hey. Nobody's legally required to tell someone EVERYTHING. It's not that they don't trust eachother-- they very much do have strong mutual trust.
Then again, the "brother" in the song could also represent Double. As he's quite literally seen almost everything Silver has, during the time that the two were stuck in the same body.
But I like to think it represents both of them.
Silver counts on his siblings to be his wings and eyes when he's behind due to a physical or mental difficulty, as both of their comfort and understanding help him feel less trapped in his capabilities.
Sorry if- I'm refraining from just simply using the term disability. I don't have anything against it at all, but I simply just- I'm not ENTIRELY sure if it fully counts - as I haven't done enough research. So if someone could please help me with that, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm just being safe, as I don't want to misuse the meaning. <3
Otherwise, I do think Rule #4 - Fish In A Birdcage can fit very well with Silver for multiple reasons, although it's mainly how he feels trapped within his physical disadvantages.
Hence why he RARELY turns his "illusion" off. For his face? He was never able to get any sort of professional medical help with it- as it was just wrapped in bandages and left like that, so it wouldn't cause him to potentially die of blood loss.
Due to his jaw damage, without the illusion, he's barely able to speak, eat, and drink. It does affect his breathing a little bit, since his nose is just- gone, basically. Since- a majority of the skin/flesh/muscle is gone around his mouth/jaw/right side of face in general, he has a lot of trouble just- controlling what does what.
Now that I think about it, he shouldn't have even SURVIVED losing half of his face. ESPECIALLY without medical treatment, and the fact that he lost it from a CHAINSAW. No fucking idea how he survived.
Anyways, I'm going off topic and rambling-- moving on.
I mainly picture Fish In A Birdcage as Silver feeling trapped behind the damage in his leg, face, and ribcage.
He can't even do simple things just as standing and breathing without being in pain. Same thing with walking, as he's developed a pretty bad limp. If he runs too much? Risking practically losing his leg, dealing with the immense pain that constantly comes from it, along with what feels like constant gunshots to the ribcage to him. He's less capable of doing what he enjoys and wants to do because of this, which gives him a small sense of hopelessness and a feeling of not belonging.
I- wouldn't be surprised if he had full-on collapsed from these problems before. But - Silver can find a temporary escape from his "cage" through his robotics. Take HIBI, for example. It's a fairly large robot, built for doing things like running, and communication. Both are things he struggles with in daily life. So, he often pilots it. Although, most of the time.. he just ignores his pain, and risks making things much worse.
But.
Blue & Double are able to help him outside of that, making him feel like he can belong despite all this. He's been left permanently damaged, so he never TRULY has an escape. But he can find what feels to be temporary ones through his siblings. Relying on them to be his wings and eyes.
At least having the hope that in another world, he has escaped his "cage."
Sorry this was so long, I'm currently typing this at 5:06 AM, with no sleep. Yes, I did go to sleep after this. Just wanted to get all this off my mind and ramble for a while, since it's been on the mind for a few weeks now. If anyone's reading this, please let me know your thoughts and opinions. ^_^ /nf
