Swatch Dream/Nonconformist is a strange, obtuse story set in an uncharted universe where each planet is divided up by a dimensional grid.
It stars a main character whose name often starts with the letter "R" and has a star-like symbol on their clothing. Each of them are on a different planet, which are inhabited by strange beings whom many have the power to use GC (Game Cards) and gain the aid of Menagerites. There's also stand-in versions of humans, Mannequins, who...don't exactly give the main characters a particularly good time.
As the story goes on, it becomes increasingly obvious that there's more to their roles in this universe, as the star-symbols seems to have different properties for each of them.
The "seasons" of the story & their respective main characters are:
- Unknown Karma (Wicked Prince): Ray Muncher
- Eldritch Monopoly (Unfeeling Queen): Reynard M. Dice
- Starless Schizoid (Strange Joker): Zachery/Raphael Simon
- Eco-Psych Paradise (Dissociate King): Raleigh Crimson
- Nu World Orca (Artificial Cups): Vrai Pygma & Agara Nights
- Lilliputian Gospel (Paranoid Bishop): Alberto B. Calx/"Richard"
- Morpho Miracle (Idiot Knight): Arawn/Rydeen
- Blackout Heaven (Deviant): Shax
- After the End: There are various hints of something that occurred in the far past that put the universe into its current state. It's also implied that there were far more varied races & species. Morpho Miracle shows what truly happened. It's not good.
- For starters, Arawn/Rydeen is possessed by an unknown being that sets him on the path to defeat an upcoming threat, which could end up creating a disaster powerful enough to destroy the planet. However, the Mannequins decided to unleash a higher power that ends up benefiting them at the cost of most other planets and races across the universe, while also making said entity and the upcoming threat to essentially break into pieces, causing them to only exist via the star-symbols, indirectly causing the misfortunes of the main characters. Also, said "unknown entity" was basically one of the few things giving hope to the Clergies and Hybris in this universe...
- The end result is that many races in this universe have now been taken to...somewhere by this thing, and the normally diverse planets now resemble barren landscapes straight out of a Salvador Dalí painting. And part of the reason this happened was because of the Mannequins taking advantage of Arawn/Rydeen's innocence...
- Oh, and before all this, the Mannequins used to be human beings...who found the means to assimilate their own race so everyone can be exactly the same, and killed anyone who had an issue with that.
- Arc Symbol: Stars.
- Big Bad: Each arc has a different one.
- Unknown Karma: Carrie Muncher/Flower Princess
- Eldritch Monopoly: Reynard The First/Catastrophe Kingside
- Starless Schizoid: Para Clover/Smile Paragon
- Eco-Psych Paradise: Wake/World-Selling Poseidon
- Nu World Orca: Galatea Pygma/Betty Talos
- Lilliputian Gospel: Addie Dyes/Shadow Broadcaster
- Morpho Miracle: Hatchet (kind of)/The Goetia King of the Mannequins
- The Blank: The Mannequins defining physical trait, though some have a basic shape in place of their "face".
- Central Theme: Nonconformity, or the lack of it. The main cast are put onto a set path that prevents them from truly creating any meaningful changes to their lives, and these "rules" they must follow mainly exist to benefit the Mannequins. They're also some form of a supernatural creature, which the Mannequins see as bastardizations of themselves.
- It shows the effects of being forced to conform to certain rules throughout ones life, especially if they're forced onto someone. For example, Ray becomes more distant and introverted than he usually is, Reynard starts off with little to no empathy for others (to the point where he was initially okay with destroying the planet), Zachery/Raphael is disillusioned with others for their constant praise to towards him yet unwillingness to see how damaged everything truly is, Raleigh feels like an alien amongst everyone else (which doesn't help that he also deals with lots of paranoia being transgender), Vrai starts off mostly irredeemable and sees the whole thing as a power fantasy while Agara is just trying to do his job, "Richard" he can't find his own life meaningful from deviating from that path, and Arawn/Rydeen is confused about their own identity while unintentionally playing a part in screwing things over for everyone else.
- The Chosen One: Played up to its logical extreme. The "villains" of the stories HAVE to be defeated by the main characters, simply due to their star-symbols with no other justified reason. And their symbols will often create some sort of misfortune for the sake of "character development", along with altering fate & causality to give them abilties to ensure this happens. The characters often show apathy/fear/confusion/frustration at the fact that they're the ONLY ones that can defeat the "villains". Even with further information, no one knows where the star-symbols came from, and if someone or something made it, they likely did it with the intent to make them suffer as much as possible, making this closer & closer to a Cosmic Horror Story.
- We later find out that there is a source of the star-symbols...but the two entities it came from did it as a result of being shattered and put onto the hapless main characters. And before that, they either had to complete their role or choose to do nothing for eternity, despite having aversions to this. Their form as the star-symbols seems to be them trying to find other options, although this has the unintended effect of making the main characters and others suffer, playing into the Mannequins' favor. Meaning that even some higher beings have no idea what to make of this.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character:
- Ray Muncher is a downcast and mentally troubled Clergy, who simply wants to live the rest of his life with his father-like Menagerite, even after all the suffering he endured from the Mannequins. Unfortunately for him, his star-symbol forces him to encounter & create conflict, no matter what. While he doesn't become a full-blown villain, he becomes more emotionally distant from the other characters, to the point of outright avoiding them.
- Reynard M. Dice is a nihilistic college student & Cosmic Abnormality who initially wanted to live a rather mundane life before heading to defeat the ruler of his home planet. Unlike Ray, Reynard openly states his disdain & apathy for others, sometimes giving them a lengthy speech to put them in their place, and is far more okay with using violence. His violent nature comes from the effects of his star-symbol, which causes those around him to gain the urge to kill him or make him suffer. His nihilism is to the point where he initially planned on destroying the planet after defeating the ruler, since the Mannequins will only continue to make things worse. He also knows his star-symbol will force him to win anyway and doesn't believe in anything, including himself.
- Zachery/Raphael Simon is a homeless Laity with strange traits and preferences, yet is overall kind to others who aren't actively trying to kill his sister & friends. He's often regarded as a paragon by others, though this is due to his star-symbol causing him to receive praise regardless of his actions. Because of how this was affecting his relationships, he allowed himself to let others walk all over him, eventually making him damaged & homeless in the present.
- Raleigh Crimson is a trans-male Bio-Kidd who feels like an alien due to having different beliefs & traits than what is often considered right by most of society, yet still wishes to make the world a better place without using extremist methods (something which a few other characters, some who are also trans, are guilty of). Part of this is due to being forcibly pulled from his home Filter to the "real" one, simply because his "real" dad saw him with the star-symbol and decided to trade his own son for a "better one". His star-symbol forces him to "be an usurper". He also likes wearing a variety of different clothes.
- Vrai Pygma is a crude Reincarnation who has no qualms about killing and harming others for the sake of his power fantasy, making him stand out from the other protagonists by mostly being completely unlikable. Agara Nights is a water-based Clay Ruler who is simply trying to do his job and rebuild the planet to its former state, and is forced by the rules of his own race to protect all forms of life, including Vrai.
- Ablerto B. Calx/"Richard" is a Weakling Child "converted" into a Ghost-type Cryptid, meaning he's on a lower plane of existence than those of his race. Due to the chaotic state of society, he's an overall neurotic individual who often lets his paranoia taint his judgement & perception of others. His overall views of his allies ranges from admiration to downright fear (which is not completely unwarranted). This is what causes the Big Bad to easily manipulate him. The full effect of the star-symbol can't activate as well when he barely exists, so they have to "guide" him to defeat the "villain"...who is Richard's own father. And unlike previous antagonists with the star-symbol, he and his family didn't do anything remotely wrong.
- Arawn/Rydeen is a volcano-headed & prideful Demonic Entity, and is possibly the goofiest main character so far. He often makes dumb and outlandish decisions based on the current moment. He's essentially what would happen if Gilgamesh was in the role of the protagonist. His idiocy and child-like mindset is just a result of the star-symbol, which means we never see what Arawn/Rydeen is truly capable of nor see his real self. It also comes in handy with doing everything to favor the Mannequins without ever questioning/realizing it. Which he's punished for despite having a trait that prevents him from fully realizing why this is wrong until its too late. Combined with the fact that he's straight up possessed by another character, and he has lots of trouble coming up with his own identity.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The main plots have some... interesting similarities to real-life issues.
- Unknown Karma: The way how the Mannequins treat the Clergies is very similar to controversies regarding how some children are depicted in the east.
- Eldritch Monopoly: The Big Bad of the story arc mainly got to where he is now due to the Mannequins allowing him despite clearing showing shades of being The Caligula. He also bastardizes an unrelated race simply so the Mannequins can feel justified in everything they do. Hmm.
- Starless Schizoid: The way how Laities & Darksides are treated by the populace and their own church, which is mostly caused by the Big Bad using religion to make "normal" people feel better about themselves while making them forget about it is basically how the government decided to approach the HIV/AIDS epidemic throughout the 70s-90s.
- Eco-Psych Paradise: The world is divided into cities and is currently in an abnormal state due to a trend that causes varying amounts of damage to the environment and other Filters, and those that blindly support the trend ultimately just care about how they benefit from it, despite several instances showing how useless it is.
- Nu World Orca: The way the Reincarnations are handled by the Big Bad is not unlike how companies will take advantage of people's nostalgia and yearning for escapism in order to take money (and sometimes, more than that), even if it means creating a toxic mindset that will ultimately damage themselves and others.
- Lilliputian Gospel: The world is ending. Or, at least, it appears that way to everyone due to the Big Bad and those taking advantage of the situation, often by creating media that amplifies paranoia to the point of creating a mass hysteria. In reality, the populace is really only making worse via their own actions, even with outside influences.
- Morpho Miracle: The story hinges on the fact that the main character's race is dying, but he still has to protect the Mannequins despite everything they did. Instead of uniting the two races together like in more idealistic works, the Mannequins ultimately allow his race to die off while essentially leaving him in the dust, and decide to go to other planets, believing any form of killing for their "ideal utopia" is justified and is fated to happen. Um...
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Starless Schizoid arguably manages to be happier than the other endings, since the cast are able to find loopholes to defeat the real villain & make their lives better, something which is usually next to impossible in this setting.
- Friendly Ghost: The Menagerites are strange ghosts that help the person they were assigned to.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: The planets and places on them tend to have ominous names, often for a good reason.
- Would you like to live on a planet named The Cemetery Planet?
- Jigsaw Puzzle Plot: Oh god...
- Scenery Dissonance: Yes.
- Spiritual Antithesis: To JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The Central Theme of that series is fate & the supernatural, and how humanity can fight against both. The Joestar-family has a star-birthmark that indicates that they're fated to fight against evil. Most of their names also begin with "Jo". Swatch Dream is about supernatural beings who can't fight against fate, and how the Mannequins are "fighting back" due to their own bias. Besides having star-like symbols and similar naming conventions (names that start with/contain the letter "R"), there's initially no apparent connection between the main protagonists. Later information makes their whole role into something of a Cosmic Horror Story.
- Surreal Horror/ Surreal Humor: Regularly bounces back and forth between these.
- Take That!: The stories are often satirical takes on common things in the world.
- Nu World Orca is essentially a jab at how people in general behave on social media, along with people's obsession & elitist mindset over nostalgia. The most obvious is Vrai, who "proves" that his childhood memories make him better than others...by bastardizing unrelated children.
