It's interesting how in the sister's rooms, one girl has only plushies, because she desires friends, and the more competitive sister has only trophies as her main focus.

I feel like Darcy just wants to be a kid, while Marcy feels like she has to be what the adults around her are molding her into.

4:55 I think about this a lot. Everything about this 30 second segment. Girl ends up in the hospital, and they ask "Is your arm okay?" and "Why would you pick today of all days to do this.".

"I will nuke my own country Because God wants us dead." That was some heavy stuff. This is such an incredible animation and story. Only 9 mins yet you really get a connection to the characters

darcy asking “what does this have to do with tennis” broke my heart

I think that in the portal, the bunny when Darcy was in the portal represented Marcy and the cat when Marcy was in the portal was supposed to be a representation of Darcy. Both were the ideal versions of themselves to the other. With Darcy, she wanted Marcy to spend time with her and with their mother, on the other hand, Marcy wanted them to be a team.

I love how the cat and rabbit represent both sisters, the rabbit representing Marcy while the cat represents Darcy. When Darcy enters “Paradise” she is met with a rabbit, a rabbit that has the same eye shape and the same onesie color as her sister (Marcy). Also when Marcy enters “paradise”, the cat also shares the same similarities as her sister, eye shape, and how the cat is on her side on the tennis court. Marcy and the cat BOTH hold up the trophy. honestly I just love everything about this animation ❤

For me, I interpret this animation as a story of greiving. After their mother's passing, Darcy gets consumed by escaping reality through drugs and getting to see her mother again, while Marcy gets consumed by tennis to ignore the pain. She breaks stuff to relieve emotion, but in turn hurts her mother by destroying their house. I like how this short film doesn't end with a clear solution on how they should grieve, only that Marcy realizes she has a problem and to set their differences aside because life is short in the end

I didn’t notice this the first time through but Darcy gets prescribed stronger drugs as the story progresses. The first drug she’s given is for “emotional turmoil.” The drug she ODs on is for “chronic despair.”

Anyone's going to talk about how Marcy's angel is her mum and her devil is her?

Theres something about the twins in the counselling room that throws me off a bit. Darcy draws her dark thoughts and feelings, and Marcy throws the crayon box instead of drawing.

the lack of dialogue forces people to assume what is happening, and I love that because it speaks to each person in a different way, and touches each of them in a way that it wouldn't touch anyone else.

The poor things. Molded by their absent mother, the guilt and shame. Never cared for, tended to by therapists and coaches. What was supposed to “fix” them only made it worse.

Does anyone else find the ending absolutely heartbreaking? Both sisters finally realize that they need help and that they need to support and take of each other, but they never get the chance to because of circumstances completely out of control. They could’ve had time to heal and actually had a fighting chance to recover, but everything fell apart before it could even start.

I like how both girls go through the portal and experience different things to show their different fantasies, like one seeing her mom, and the other winning a tennis match.

i love the subtle sound design of the tinnitus sound in the hospital that stops when they hold hands

I don't have any theories. I have only a thought. The last scene was immensely sad. In the face of imminent death, the two sisters quickly hugged each other with faces of regret. Right there and then, their short lives, how wrongly they spent it, how they treated each other flashed before their eyes. They both realized they can only forgive each other and be there until the end.

the part where the girls are being made to do a photoshoot in skimpy clothes and marcy asks how it relates to tennis.. that hurt

jeez, vewn really doesn't shy away from really grotesque topics like child exploitation, really shows how much they care about the message they're trying to get across without having to hide too much because "people can't handle it"

I doubt any will see this, but that line at 5:03 really hit me hard. “Why did you pick today of all days to do this.” Last year I had an attempt on my life, and was taken to the hospital at 1 in the morning by my mother and my sister. My sister, while not my twin, treated the entire situation with so much apathy and bitterness towards me, telling me I was stupid and selfish and even demanding I apologize for what I did to myself, all because she missed work and missed her twitch stream. It just really touches my soul in a way I didn’t know could

the saddest part of it all is they just wanted their mom back.

The whole thing justs... I have no way of explaining it. It's the unique style, impressive, eye grabbing angles, exotic use of colors, drug use, abuse of children, it's everything. It makes me feel so uncomfortable, yet so impressed.

4:55 "hey darcy… how you doing? Is your arm okay?" lmao I love that voice actor

I don't know how to explain it, but as someone with severe depression and anxiety, all of vewns videos speak to me so clearly. I understand how it feels. It's unsettling, but in just the right way.

EDIT: To abbreviate and expand my old interpration: I feel this is about stages of grief, with Darcy always being at least one stage ahead of her sister. Marcy is still in denial in the beginning, trying to keep herself busy, while Darcy falls into depression and tries to bargain on how to feel motherly love again. Marcy eventually has to face her trauma. In the end, I like to think that both twins have found comfort in having each other and can move on with their lives (although it is unclear whether they will still have a world to live in afterwards). ---------------------------- (old) My take: Both twins miss their late mother and both "choose" different ways of coping with the loss. Darcy falls into depression , which she tries to combat with pills. Marcy tries to distract herself by playing tennis. Both twins want to experience motherly love again and they need each other in order to do so, but fail to play the role the other twin wants them to play. Darcy wants to be comforted by her sister (represented by the bunny in the portal). Marcy wants her sister to play tennis with her and succeed (represented by the cat in the portal). The devil on Marcy's shoulder is trying to protect her from her emotions and from falling into despair over her mother's death like Darcy, which is why it encourages her to distract herself with tennis and to destroy the statues vaguely resembling her mother. The angel doesn't want this, as it recognizes you can't run away from trauma. After her sister crashes, Marcy's trauma catches up with her as she enters the portal. The devil tries to stop her from encountering her emotions and trauma, only for Marcy to realise that she has been stopping herself from processing her trauma, hurting her sister (devil stomping the cat) and herself (the devil punching Marcy) in the end. In my interpretation, both twins have now realised that they need each other to process the loss of their mother. At the end, they could try to climb the fence and commit suicide, but instead, they embrace each other, meaning that they haven't given up on each other, even if the world has given up on them.

Some things to note: -Darcy dresses up in a cat onesie, which looks visibly blue upon entering the so-called portal. Marcy, on the other hand, has a pink bunny sitting in the corner of her room which is visible at 4:20. Darcy also has cats filling her room. The animals each twin encounters within the portal represent the other and, more importantly, how they wish their counterpart acted. Darcy desires a comforting companion, and her experience in the dream world mirrors her crayon picture at 1:13, while Marcy desires a partner to help her achieve her dreams. -Marcy's room is filled to the brim with trophies and, in many ways, is an exemplary image of a goal-driven person. She is neat, tidy, and has pictures of her family which build on this idea that she wants to see Darcy as a partner and/or companion. Darcy, however, is a stark contrast to Marcy in that she seems disinterested in appearances altogether and instead just wants worldly comforts. Her room is messy and is devoid of any trophies despite the fact that the twins compete together and, therefore, should share trophies. Despite Marcy's wishes, Darcy doesn't view tennis the same way she does and likely never will. -The title likely refers to the world found within Darcy's portal or alludes to the fact that both twins presumably die at the end of the film, since the outside world is full of chaos, turmoil, and disappointment. The fact that they live in a large mansion is probably a red herring and employed for the sake of making this clear. -Marcy's personal demon performs a lot of the actions her real-life counterpart does in the waking world. She smashes sculptures, hides from the angel who resembles her mother, lashes out at Darcy, thrashes herself, and eventually takes on her appearance as a whole. Marcy is striving to act more like her mother and as a mature individual but, in doing so, ultimately does the opposite by placing value on the wrong things. Even in the dream world, we see that it is Marcy's demon which resembles herself that ultimately destroys the image of her mother. Instead of comforting Darcy after her accident, Marcy goes on a rant about their competition and mourns the loss of her would-be victory and not her sister, a mistake which she fixes at the end of the video by making up with her sister and accepting things as they are. -Both sisters struggle to deal with the outside world in manners that are not self-destructive and, at the end of the video, embrace the outside only to presumably be destroyed.

I've watched this several times and seen several interpretations, but there is one point I haven't seen mentioned yet... The bunny represents Marcy and the cat represents Darcy. That's pretty clear. When either girl is in the portal realm, they're doing what they want to do most with their sister. Darcy wants to revive their mother and spend time as a family, while Marcy wants to forget about their mother and just play tennis and win the championship. Idk I just haven't seen anyone else mention this and it seems like an important and clear point. There also seems to be dying houseplants scattered through the mansion. I think this represents how the twins are dying on the inside, and how the doom of the outside world seeps into their lives. I have a sneaking suspicion the state of the outside world may very well have played some role in the death of their mother as well. A reason for this possible connection.

i know it's been two years, but I absolutely love how scale and space is portrayed in this and how insurmountable the world feejs! even simple stuff like doorways and beds feel like they tower over the characters and the damn exaggerated prespecitves capture the feeling of hassagaa bassahahgaaha so damn well ! especially the therapist scene, which comes so early that it sets up the whole prespetive and makes you in turn notice all the stuff more since such an extrme example is used to early

Marcy and Darcy took their separate routes on coping with their mother’s passing, but by the end they realized they needed each other.

the fact that i got to watch this for free

1年前に見たときと抱く感情が違っていることに驚いた。1年前はハッピーエンドだと感じたが、今は本当に悲しい物語だと感じた、涙が出る。

I love how small the twins feel in this. It really does showcase how powerless they are in it all. They're tennis stars who are forced to compete and do questionable things against their will. They can't even get help because their therapist doesn't care. You have adults who are massive compared to them showing that power difference and even the mother who feels monumental which does incapsulate how much the twins clearly valued her and how important she was. Then you have the outside world which isn't spacious but incredibly cramped showing such a oppressive feeling which imo puts it all onto place how much of a wasteland the world is. The outside doesn't allow them space to exist while the inside is so big that they are non-existent. And then you have their rooms which are the only places outside of the tennis courts which feel like they're perfectly sized to the twins. Genuinely really insane use of space to do visual story telling.

I liked how each of their “dreamscapes” showed the twins’ love languages in respect to their deceased mother, like how Darcy just wanted her mother’s touch while Marcy thought she needed success to earn her mother’s love.

-country waging war -nukes flying -OUR TOP STORY: GIRLS FORFEIT TENNIS Bro.

This came out the day my dad passed away. It helped me so much with the grief and for that I will be forever grateful for Vewn.

"What does this have to do with tennis?" "Dont ask stupid questions marcy"

“Million dead after nuclear accident” “Nuclear Scientists say ‘whoops’ and run away from-“ So happy that I read that

"we're supposed to be a team" "did u even think about *me* at all?" i have no words this video is insane

1:41 ugly crying rn because you can see darcy struggle a little to open the bottle, this is because of the built in child proof lid. This, along with the vast size difference between them and the adults, is such a subtle yet powerful detail displaying the fact that, despite everything, marcy and darcy are only children. Two little girls, though having each other, who are all alone in the big, wide world.

The fact that this video is nine-and-a-half minutes long, yet I've been thinking about it for weeks shows it's good art. Also, the art style! I love how dry this feels, beautiful job.

God, the “did you even think about me at all” while you’re hooked up to machines

My interpretation "Just because it's paradise in your home, doesn't mean it's paradise outside or in your mind."

5:20 this bit will always make my eyes water and send chills around my body

Holy shit (watched this while very high), the ability to convey Years of tragedy, trauma and connection, along with all the emotions that goes along with it. To do all that in 9 minutes and 30 seconds, with less than 20 words spoken the entire time. From the different eyes, to their specialized experience in the Portal. So much attention to detail, so much love and artistic passion portrayed in something so simple yet so convoluted. This is amazing.

“coach, what does this have to do with tennis” “don’t ask stupid questions marcy”

This felt like watching a feature film.

5:34 Really hits hard. It really shows how not only everything in the house is broken and destroyed, but their innocence as a child are gone.

世界(国)の終わりに姉妹で苦痛と現実から抜け出し、仲直りしたのが好き。

I love the detail of how Darcy's drawing doesn't look like a pentagram until we see it from the therapist's angle.

My interpretation of this was: Marcy and Darcy both lost their mother, and have developed some extreme mental health issues because of it. Marcy uses tennis to cope with this trauma, and Darcy uses medication to help with her disorders and to seemingly feel better. However, because of this, both the girls often go too far with trying to cope with their mental health issues (Darcy overdosing and Marcy constantly beating herself up over the tennis competition.) I think the "portal" was a metaphor for what the medication does to Darcy, with the side effects being extreme hallucinations which probably made her feel safe. Because of this, Darcy overdosed. You can also see Marcy using "the portal" after overdosing as well, so this further backs up what i'm trying to say. We even see them BLEEDING OUT OF THE NOSE as a side effect of the medication. I also think the nuclear war thing wasn't an actual nuclear war, and instead, a metaphor for the girl's deteriorating mental health, getting worse the closer they are to suicide. At the end, the girls are shown at the top of the roof, near the edge, when a nuke dropped on the both of them. Instead of jumping off, this is how the end of their lives were portrayed. (We even see a "don't jump, you have so much to live for" sign.) And besides, if there was a nuclear wipe out, why isn't anyone reacting to this? Why did the nuke drop on both of them, specifically, instead of somewhere else? But that's just my theory, and what I saw personally.

This is the 3rd time I have ever cared so much about characters in a piece of media. Throughout the entire piece, I cared so fiercely for both of the twins. I wasn’t huge on animations like this, but my friend showed me this channel and it changed. This animation will always hold a special place in my heart. I enjoy the little details here, where Darcy only spoke once, and that was in paradise. I also like how the animals in paradise represented the twin that wasn’t currently in paradise. (For example, when Darcy was in paradise she befriended a rabbit and when Marcy was there she befriended a cat.) I like that you can tell of this because of their room color schemes/the vibe they give off. And the fact that they each had something that represented the animal. Marcy had a rabbit stuffed animal in her room, and Darcy had a bunch of cats stuffed animals + a cat onesie. I also love that even when at the end of the film before they both died due to the nuke, despite the fact that they had little to no differences you could still tell who was who. (At least on my part, or it could’ve been just where Darcy had a head bandage on.) I also loved how the angel on Marcy’s shoulder was implied to represent her mother. (Considering the fact Darcy and the rabbit had summoned her + the pictures of her had blue hair.) And I also presume that the devil that stayed with Marcy throughout the film more than likely represented herself, since near the end when she gets beaten up by it, it goes from a demon to a girl in a ponytail that is wearing a demon hoodie. I really enjoyed how the “angel and devil on the shoulder” thing was taken to a whole other level here, and this is my favorite piece of media I have ever seen. Thank you so much for releasing this masterpiece Vewn. :)

8:56 "Dont jump you have so much to live for"

I love how she animates. It’s messy but also *so* pretty

"Coach.. whats this got to do with tennis?" "Don't ask stupid questions."

2:12 ここの天使と悪魔の喧嘩好き過ぎる…

I have now watched this >20 times, done a presentation about it for one of my classes and think it might be favorite 10ish min film. My favorite detail is how at 3:17 Marcy's devil's fingers move a frame before Marcy's does. I kinda feel like I connect to Darcy, other than the drugs obv. Overall 12/10, my highest rating.

Angel: Your doing so great! But it’s time for a break now Devil: That is not a winning attitude! Angel: *BONK*

There is a high pitched ringing sound starting at 8:03 when Marcy wakes up at the hospital that stops as soon as she holds Darcy’s hand at 8:47. It’s like they are finally on the same wavelength and understand each other. They find peace within and between each other and that discordant noise that was always present just faded away.

Bro something is off how after darcy wakes up in the hospital, the coach’s reaction. He tries to act caring for a split second, his face and vibe, he quickly drops the act, and asks “is your arm okay?” Showing he really only cares if shes able to play or not. Just found it interesting

The track "Mommy" made it into my top 100 songs of 2023.

It hurts seeing the “why are you being so selfish” kindove response to her depression. The fact that nobody truly understands their pain and acts like everything is their fault is so upsetting to me.

People taking pills: imma drink water with this Those twins taking pills: crunchy munchy

ai will never, and i mean never, replicate or do as something human as this

7:44 i just realised there's a stabbed cat, an ouija board, and another dead cat in the background.

just now realizing that the angel looks like their mother...

He didn’t ask “Are you okay?” but instead “How’s your arm?”

Someone Who's been through withdrawal seizures From anti depressants The hospital scene with your family Being a mix of you can still work right and what the h*** is wrong with you but with seemingly no concern hit really hard Amazing video though I still think it shows how 2 people in the exact same environment Can take extremely different paths and be happy Also love the picture that said Sisters by chance friends by choice

I finally understand what the portal world represents, we all know that the bunny is Marcy and the cat is Darcy, but if you look at how different they act to each other it’s obvious that the portal world shows what each wants out of the other, Darcy wants Marcy to spend time playing with her and Marcy wants Darcy to focus on what they’ve worked for with no breaks

8:27 this scene is simultaneously really cute and sad,, their little waves look so timid and childish despite everything they’ve been through

When marcy ods, it seems like shes blaming herself for everything because the demon kills her mum, hurts the cat which represents darcy and then starts to beat marcy up too. When the demon changes to be marcy in a demon suit, it implies that it was marcy all along and so marcy is the reason her mum died, marcy is the reason her sister od’d and marcy is the reason shes as beat down as she is now and is the reason she isnt mummas little girl as much as she wanted to be. her mum and her internal angel look extremely similar showing that her moral ground was based off what she thinks her mum would want but she never got validation from her mum so she ended up just scrapping it and thus blamed herself for everything because she didnt succeed as much as she thought she should.

I’m someone’s twin sister and this is fucking haunting. As a girl the “what does this have to do with tennis” bit made my stomach drop and as a sister the way they made up before the bomb dropped without saying a word was absolutely stunning. We’re not at this point and hopefully never will be, but it’s weird how clearly I see myself and my brother in Marcy and Darcy. These animations make me feel things I couldn’t begin to put words to. I binged a bunch of them in the same day when I first found the channel and I was in such a weird mood I kinda floated around my house for the next couple of days. Thank you for this masterpiece.

日本語字幕がついてくれてとても嬉しいです❗️❗️ 他の作品にもついたらもっと嬉しいです…🤫笑 英語は勉強したてだけど頑張って他の動画も楽しく見させてもらってます❗️✨

Man the sexualisation of the young girls was dark and hits hard. Its truly sad that this is our reality.

It's terrifying. Is disturbing. It's wrong. It's reality.

I like the part when she said “it’s twining time!” And kicked the other guys nuts

at 2:08 you can see that even marcy’s side of the sink is clean while darcy’s is messy. i love the attention to detail

It's not like I understood everything, but I kind of feel it

There are already a lot of comments on meaning so I'll try to highlight a few things I think people should focus on: a). The story's about how the two girls are grieving with the loss of their mother; Darcy becomes reclusive, depressed and turns to escapism in drug use (also looks for a way to bring her mother back with the satanic ritual stuff) while Marcy tries to distract herself from her negative emotions with tennis (supposedly because it would have made her mother happy) and it results in her lashing out at the things around her b). The cat represents Darcy and the bunny represents Marcy and they each express what they want from the other twin with their experience inside of Darcy's portal c). Marcy's devil represents her avoidance from her emotions and consequently her self-destruction; it's why the devil destroys everything she's worked for in the portal, she realizes she's been her own enemy and her refusal to accept her mother's death has been the real thing destroying her happiness (if you look at the scene with the trophy, her smile fades as soon as she gets it because she realizes all she's really wanted was her mother's affection again)- it's also why the devil seems suspicious of everything in the portal and actively avoids facing the portal mother's affection, it would have to come to terms with the fact she's dead d). All of the imagery everywhere of hedonistic representations of drugs, sex, and religion are all to represent avoidance of death and the various ways people cope with death; whether it's escapism, a belief in the afterlife, or a materialistic fixation like the one their coach had on money with his exploitation of the girls e). The final scene where the girls clearly had the option to commit suicide represents their final acceptance of death and so instead of trying they decide to enjoy the time they have left with each other. They find the affection they've been longing for this entire time in each other

Ugh the amount I cried at this is unreal, I sent it to my therapist. Thank you for making this.

My dream is to someday make art like this

This is incredible

moral of the story: don't exploit your damn children

How is this only 3 years old? Feels like an old internet gem

2:36 I love how in this clip, darcy is shown to be very obviously smiling, while marcy is in a more nervous expression, but in 3:42 , the expressions seem to be swapped. I don't really know what this means, but it's pretty interesting.

Moral of the story: don’t chew anti-depressants

Never thought I’d see a demon waterboard an angel

You'll never see this, but this is the most incredible thing I've seen in a long time. Thank You.

Two years later and this is still my favorite video on KZfaq

Everyone in the comments is talking about the meaning, but can we talk about how she took that pill with no water?

Honestly like, the color palette and the art direction is so glorious. The fact that there are no straight lines and everything is so crooked really emphasizes how unstable these characters are emotionally.

Darcy: *cutely snorts pills like cocaine*

Paradise!? That looks like they just went through hell

I love how the shoulder angels start off as a quick gag but then later on play a bigger part in the story

Demon: That's not a wining attitude. Angel: *bonk*

had a breakdown after watching this because of how tortured i am with my own thoughts and how i also just want to escape into a comfortable place and it feels like drugs are the only way to do so sometimes. But then also i am still just a kid, sitting in a dark room alone. No friends, no family, no escape. Just a room full of rot. Anyways i love this animation and especially the art style and this inspires me to make art showing my own struggles with mental illness. thanks for existing

"I can't really count the number of times I've watched this but I completely understand what the characters are saying and conveying, I feel like darcy is me lol

I just noticed that the animals in the portal mirror the other twin (Darcy sees a pink rabbit that has Marcy's eyes and Marcy sees a blue cat with Darcy's eyes) there's so much fucking symbolism I love this video.

President: *talking about destroying his country* Everyone: just another Saturday.

Hurts so hard because they're just children. Wanting to be comforted loved and cared for. Initially we would judge Darcy for her addiction but when we learn that it's because she wants her mother. we begin to understand it. It got really sad when Marcy also joins in. It makes me wonder what the hell is this stupid therapist doing? He seems to target vulnerable people and gives them drugs so that they can come back continuously and pay all the money they have, because they're cornered by this abuse.

with the time that passes i grow as a person and i watch this multiple times and i realize how much stuff i have missed