Hi! I know we already saw a bit of Holly’s emotions in the fic (Nightmare Night? I think?) But all of the talk about the character aspects has me more curious about her emotions! So what are they like and how have they been holding up with… everything?
Well, Holly has a variety of emotions. We've met some of them. Others we haven't. 😉 I think many may not be surprised at this, but the first emotion to enter headquarters was Curiosity.
Curiosity is very thin, tall, and has black skin (the pigment black). Her hair is galaxy star colored and it's length depends on how intrigued she is at the moment. She constantly is at the control panel giving Holly suggestions and nudges.
She's read the user manuals at least a hundred times through and regularly rereads them (just in case she missed something). Unlike many emotions, she takes trips downstairs but she can never stay away for very long because she's always coming up with new things she wants to try with Holly. Yes, mailing Holly was Curiosity's idea.
Happy and Sorrow came next. They are twins and arrived at the same time. They are very close and it is their shared goal to protect Holly emotionally. When they work the panel it usually means big emotion times. They both are stout bald characters who wear overalls. Sorrow is blue. Happy is yellow. They are both teddy bears and the sweetest of the emotions.
Fear and Distaste arrived next, though Distaste is always arguing that she was first. Fear is a skinny purple twig with a huge mustache who wears a suit. Distaste is of average height and build and likes wearing a witch hat, glasses, a dress, and heels. These two fight like cats and dogs. You'd think it'd be Distaste who was the main bully, but it's actually Fear. Fear has a tendency of coming up with excuses to kick Distaste off the control panel (He thinks her job is kinda useless).
Distaste gets her revenge in very creative ways though. Sometimes she even gets Curiosity, Surprise, or Anger to join in on the revenge pranks. Once she tied Fear up and sent him down the memory retrieval shoot on Curiosity's suggestion to see what would happen (this is how Curiosity started taking those trips downstairs after they confirmed he could get back to headquarters after going down).
Surprise takes her job seriously. She's a white (the pigment) short woman with violet hair who wears white pants, a lacey blouse, and a fedora. She is where a lot of Holly's mischievous side comes from. She and Curiosity spend a lot of time together. Surprise also adores Happy. Often, because Curiosity can't explore downstairs as much as she wants, Surprise will go down and find something interesting to share with Curiosity. So, she's gone from headquarters a lot. But every time she comes back, she makes sure to jumpscare someone (usually Fear).
After Surprise came Anger. She's a short, red, stout woman who always keeps her black hair in a bun and wears a dress. Anger would like to spend more time on the control panel. She did for a bit until Guilt came along. Then, there was a big falling out early on in Holly's childhood between her and Guilt. It was before Connie, and it was vicious. Ever since then, Anger has been doing her own thing, mostly spending time alone, recalling and watching old memories and stewing about them. The only one who spends a lot of time with her is Distaste. They talk, though Distaste is dodgy about what it is the conversations are on. Distaste says it's personal and then thumbs her nose at whoever is asking. Happy is afraid that some day Anger is just going to lose it and transition into Rage (transitioning is when an emotion becomes so intense that they kinda Pokémon evolved to the next level). But with Connie around, things have gotten better, so the others are hoping things with Anger will be okay.
Guilt is dark blue and tear drop shaped with a large nose. He wears a black dress shirt and pants. He has a tendency to collect memories in an enormous backpack he carries around. Often times, he'll use these memories he collects while he's at the panel to strengthen whatever point he's trying to make with Holly. He is VERY blunt, sometimes to the point of being cruel, though he doesn't do this intentionally. He doesn't pick up on social cues very well but is passionately dedicated to protecting Holly. He and Fear work together well. They have the same kinds of concerns they want to protect Holly from.
Connie (short for Conscience) is not an emotion, but she holds the same authority as them. She arrived just as Holly was becoming a teenager around the age of 12 and is what Holly's talent is linked to (so if she's gone, so is Holly's talent). To a limited degree, Holly and Connie can communicate, though that may be the wrong word to describe it as Holly isn't aware that Connie is a distinct being.
Whenever Holly uses her talent she essentially asks Connie for a specific memory and Connie recalls it for her. Connie spends equal amounts of time in headquarters and downstairs (she takes the train, unlike Curiosity. Connie arrived after the Fear tube incident). While downstairs, she manages the aspects and organizes the ever expanding headspace so it is easy to find a memory when it is requested. Connie has also set up an automatic system attached to the panel in headquarters that gives Holly a soft nudge whenever anything familiar but uncommon shows up (it filters out a lot of day to day stuff).
Also, despite not being an emotion, Connie is the leader of Holly's group of emotions. She tends to negotiate and direct when there is conflict. She keeps Curiosity from trying things that are TOO chaotic. (Yes, mailing Holly was bad, but it wasn't as bad as some things Curiosity has wanted to try. Connie has to pick her battles.) She is pretty good at stopping Curiosity from being too impulsive and helping answer her questions without involving dangerous experiments. Connie gets along with all the other emotions pretty well.
Before Connie showed up, headquarters was a lot more chaotic and contradictory. Curiosity and Happy tried their best to lead, but neither of them really wanted the job. So everyone was happy when Connie arrived.
As for how the headspace is going . . .
Fear: Uhhhh, guys how are we doin'?
Distaste: Just peachy. It's not like after that bozo demon invaded Holly's head, he didn't actually fix the whole problem or anything. First, there were still ink or oil or whatever spills in the Soul Lake. And now, instead of a bright, multicolored shimmer, the lake is a sickly yellow and all the colors have blended! It's only her soul. It'll be fine! /sarcastic
Surprise: 😏 You just don't like the demon because he tried to feed you to the Hungry Tower. Stars! I wish I'd been here to see it! That is the last thing I'd have expected! Heck, seeing people in here at all would have been absolutely revolutionary!
Curiosity: I wonder how that works with their mind spaces? It's a mind space inside a mind space. Does that mean their emotions shrink? Do they feel the same while they were in here? Or did their minds just enter Holly's mind? I mean, according to the others, their bodies were still there when their minds entered Holly's headspace. And if it was just their minds, were their souls included? If the Tower had eaten them, would their bodies have become soulless or mindless? Would they have died?
Sorrow: Don't say that! That would have been terrible! It would have been sad enough if we'd lost you or Connie.
Guilt: You're lucky Anger tackled you out headquarter's window after she was infected, Curiosity, or you'd have gotten the chance to go into the Tower and been eaten. You're dumb enough to have walked right in.
Connie: We're doing our best. Not everything is back to 100% but were doing well enough. And we're going to continue to heal. 😊
