hi!! saw your post of DID Chosen (am I allowed to call it that??) and I have been curious ever since, apologies if any of these has been asked before
https://www.tumblr.com/thevalleyoftriumph/757624875107090432/so-um-for-those-who-arent-in-the-ava-community?source=share
^ Post I'm referring to just in case
What are your characterisations of Chosen, Beast and Killer like?
Going off of Killer not recognising Dark in the post, it was Chosen fronting in AVA3 yes? Who was fronting during showdown?
Going once again off the post Beast is non-verbal/ mute/ straight up doesn't know how to talk, is that why he resorted immediately to violence upon returning from Alans PC? Assuming that was Beast
Was Chosen co-conscious during showdown? Simply watching as someone else used his hands to tear his best friend apart? Or did he come back to find his life destroyed, and best friend killed, with no idea how any of it happened
Also, what are Chosen, Killer's and Beasts pronouns? I assume they differ from eachother. And are your Chosen and Dark siblings?
Sorry I'm aware this is an insane amount of questions, apologies if it is overwhelming
Final thing, all I know about DID is from DissociaDID (may be spelled wrong) on YouTube, and I have no idea how trustworthy of a source they are, nor have I watched them in years, so apologies if any of the terms/ information I have here is out of date or proven false
Anyway, that's all, hope you have a good day :]
hi oh my god anon i love you. sorry i just really adore getting asked about stuff i love yapping and youve offered me a LOT to talk about, please expect a MASSIVE wall of text. like i mean it the wall is huge and took me like, an hour or two to type up. you opened the floodgates anon.
FIRST THINGS FIRST ☝ never apologize for being curious it is the most wonderous trait a person could have. i have spoken about some of these before but mostly in the replies or dms of people and thus it is perfectly okay by me to ask for me to repeat them here. secondly your questions are not at all overwhelming in fact i got very excited to answer once i realized how much youve asked. thirdly your phrasing is pretty accurate yes! ones you used are def pretty common, and i appreciate the willingness to be corrected - lots of phrases [though not specifically the ones you used, i mean more generally] are picked up and dropped by people for a whole variety of reasons ranging from comfort to accuracy to current knowledge, so being open to being corrected is a wonderful mindset to have when going into something youre unfamiliar with ! <3
anyhow, answers to the questions, numbered to each, under the cut ^_^ and just for ease im also going to actually type like a normal human being just this once lol. last warning here if you click "keep reading" youre in for a MASSIVE wall of rambling!
1: What are your characterisations of Chosen, Beast and Killer like?
I'd say my characterizations aren't anything too far from common interps, mostly regarding Chosen.
Chosen is a relatively soft spoken and monotone individual. He's prone to getting lost in thought a lot, especially when in conversation - he likes to think things through very much before speaking. A stick of few words, he likes being simple and blunt. He has a very hard time trusting people, but when he does, he trusts fully and deeply -- he is a very, very loyal person once that trust is earned. Even if someone he trusts does something to cause him to become upset with them, such as with Dark, he is willing to hear them out. Despite this, he's also very rash - much as he loathe to admit it. He may not speak without thinking, but he very much acts without thinking, sometimes even doing something without realizing it at first. This leads to a lot of things bad - such as him shoving Dark from the console in the flashback. He acts in ways he thinks he should, consciously or not. He's also got a bit of Dark's stubborness - once he sets his mind to something, it's a very difficult task to get him to back down.
Killer is, despite their name, very different from what you'd assume. They're a relatively happy person, all things considered, and despite having trust issues of their own, often tries to see the best in people. They're also a more ""casual"" fronter, bordering on co-host, as they usually end up in front for more minor things, or even just incidentally after they wake up. They're quick to adapt, usually masking as Chosen in these cases, but are equally quick to relax in safe environments and be more themselves. They're very talkative, and love learning about any and all topics that interest them. They also fidget a bunch - often with the ends of the body's scarf, or with their bracelet, gloves, belts, whatever is closest. Despite all this, they're also quite jumpy - they are primarily responsible for internal things, especially regarding their memories, and thus holds quite a few negative feelings and memories that they'd all rather not have. And yet, somehow despite all of that, they have a hard time with people. Like shown in the comic, Killer isn't always in front, and doesn't have access to nearly as many memories as you'd think for someone with their "role." In fact, they had no idea Dark existed until the very moment in that comic, which in my mind takes place years after Dark and Chosen ended up living together. How on earth they managed to go that long without meeting him, well your guess is as good as mine. I'd say it's a mix of good timing [or bad, depending on how you look at it] and generally "better" circumstances not requiring them to switch in as much as they previously had to.
Beast... Beast is a whole other can of worms, honestly. It's a general wildcard. The result of being treated inhumanely and without compassion, Beast is someone who is stuck in fight or flight mode for it's whole life -- and it's response is anything BUT flight. It is aggressive to anyone outside of the system, and anything it could see as a threat to their safety. Like I mentioned, it doesn't really speak - internally, it can't, and externally, it just forgets that the body isn't limited like it is, so it ends up silent. This leads to a lot of body language - it is incredibly expressive, and has a bit of a staring problem when it's not actively trying to maul something. Honestly if I drew sticks with eyes it'd totally do that thing that cat eyes do in the dark where it just looks at you super ominously from the shadows lol. Anyways, despite this, as I will always reiterate when talking about Beast's personality, it is not malicious. It is not evil, and it is not trying to hurt people on purpose. It is, first and foremost, protective and scared. It does not know HOW to calm down, or how to feel safe, because every time it's ever fronted, it has been faced with progressively worse and worse circumstances. It is determined and protective, and willing to go to great lengths to protect the system -- and perhaps, one day, if it can heal enough to trust others, it would do the same for them. If you thought Chosen was loyal, then you haven't seen Beast at its absolute best.
2: Going off of Killer not recognising Dark in the post, it was Chosen fronting in AVA3 yes? Who was fronting during showdown?
You'd be correct, for the most part! During the beginning of AVA3, when Chosen was still imprisoned as the ad-block, it was primarily Beast - thus, the chains on it's design, and its seeming unawareness of them. Then, once freed, Chosen had essentially force-fronted into co-front with Beast to fight his way out, eventually allowing Beast to sorta "pull back" out of front over the course of the episode - probably when Chosen and Dark team up. [And for clarification - when I mean "pull back," I mean sorta slowly being pulled from front in a switch. I'm not ever really sure how to describe what it feels like to slowly not front instead of being forcefully switched out, but this is how it makes the most sense to me. I'm sorry if it makes absolutely zero sense to anyone else lol]
As for who was fronting during Showdown, I'll admit that I haven't entirely decided. Initially for sure, during the flashback, it is 100% Chosen. Even during the early fight scenes it's primarily him - he's not being completely overpowered or even threatened with complete death [as, at the very least in my interp, Dark never intended to kill Chosen, just incapacitate so that he could go through with his plan. He only started striking to kill with the CG, but not Chosen - never Chosen.]
However, I'd say Chosen and his systemmates were, after a point, REALLY fucking blurry for a lot of that episode. Rapid switches that left them disoriented and dizzy and much slower to react than they'd usually be. When Chosen goes back to Alan's PC, that is when it's not necessarily unclear anymore. I'd say at that point particularly, Chosen has pulled away enough for the sorta blurry mess in front to be exclusively Beast and Killer, with Killer being busy masking as Chosen to get rid of the Virabot, but Beast being sorta hovering ominously over their shoulder internally thanks to the SEVERELY negative associations with the desktop. Killer's masking would probably have slipped a bit at seeing the CG, mostly out of personal shock at learning about them, but they would've left back to the Outernet before they could really think too hard about it.
The rest of the episode, especially when Chosen is seen overpowered by Virabots, is totally 100% Beast IMO. The situation of being contained, restricted, overpowered and in danger - life threatening to them, even if Dark never intended for it to be that way - it was much too similar to their early days on the desktop. Thus, Beast VERY solidly force-fronted and in doing so with taking complete ""control"" made it so neither Killer NOR Chosen were there for the ending of Showdown. A lot of the actions done once TSC came back were just done out of shock, and a very rare show of trust - TSC had shown Beast that they were willing to fight to protect them, collectively, even if it was really in response to their friends being harmed - protect one, protect them all, if that makes sense. TSC had removed the threat, and thus, Beast had sorta filed them away as one of the very few ""trustworthy"" sticks - even if it's not necessarily trust, it's the closest thing to it.
3: Going once again off the post Beast is non-verbal/ mute/ straight up doesn't know how to talk, is that why he resorted immediately to violence upon returning from Alans PC? Assuming that was Beast
Beast totally had a hand in it, yeah. Despite it and Killer being relatively equally "there" so to speak during the return to the PC in Showdown, Beast did have a MASSIVE influence on their collective actions. Killer fought because it knew it had to prevent bad things from happening, while Beast fought because it was the ONLY thing it knew to do to prevent bad things from getting WORSE. That is to say you're pretty spot on there lol
4: Was Chosen co-conscious during showdown? Simply watching as someone else used his hands to tear his best friend apart? Or did he come back to find his life destroyed, and best friend killed, with no idea how any of it happened
As briefly explained previously, Chosen wasn't the only fronter for a lot of it, and got completely booted out of co-consciousness after a point. Thus, while he knows logically that he fought with Dark, and when he DID front again, he could connect two-and-two together and realize that Dark got fucking murked, you're right to assume has remembers VERY little of the in-between and the specifics.
In fact, quite a few memories from even the co-conning were instead "given" to Beast and Killer. That's not exactly how it works but it's the best way I can describe it, based off my own experiences with co-conning with others -- sometimes you just don't end up getting the memories if there's multiple people in front, for one reason or another.
Anyhow, yeah, most memories of that day are kinda stuffed in the metaphorical closet. Chosen knows something happened between him confronting Dark and him ending up at home on the couch with a hole in the 2nd floor walls, but he just.. doesn't remember any of it. He can make the connections - he can look out the window and see the result of TSC's final blow to Dark from their house, after all. He can tell Dark isn't just hiding out somewhere. He's forgetful, not a fool. But he doesn't know what happened in the fight, or necessarily who killed Dark, and honestly Chosen's internal communication with his systemmates is absolute shit and there's no way in hell Killer OR Beast are leaving notes about a Really Traumatic Event in a journal for him, so his ass is NEVER finding out unless someone tells him.
[Which, to explain why he knows of TSC's powers in Wanted in that case, on some occasions memories do get ""passed"" from alter to alter. This is usually done in the case of "filling in" for the host, for example, where the alter requires information that another alter had taken in. This is commonly seen in situations where, for instance, a system is out at the store, but whoever entered had switched out for one reason or another, and the new fronter needs to mask as the other one to finish their task without "giving away" that something happened. This isn't the most common thing for Everyone I'd say, but it happens with my system sometimes, and also happens with some of my system buddies too. Thus, in my mind, it happens to Chosen too sometimes. It doesn't ALWAYS happen! Ie, that time Killer had no idea who Dark was. But it Can and so I'm portraying it here lol.]
5: Also, what are Chosen, Killer's and Beasts pronouns? I assume they differ from eachother. And are your Chosen and Dark siblings?
They do, yeah! While I've seen some systems sorta default to one or two sets of pronouns collectively, a lot of alters DO have preferences for pronouns pretty commonly. I mean, I myself vary wildly from some of my systemmates, a lot of whom, for example, use she/her, but I myself don't at all! It's honestly pretty interesting to see the differences, from a curiosity standpoint.
Anyways, back to Chosen. I would once again like to state that these are my personal headcanons and also I don't own Killer OR Beast, I'm just giving them character, and thus not everyone may agree necessarily.
Chosen: He/him primarily, but doesn't mind they/them too. He's kinda like that one tweet that's like "I think I'm nonbinary but I have a job so idc about that right now" in a way lol
Killer: They/them. Has a very wavery sense of identity though, so it's not like they'll get mad or anything at other pronoun usage. They honestly encourage people to get a little fun with it.
Beast: It/it's. Not in a dehumanizing way, but in a reclaiming sort of way.
Lastly, in my interp of Chosen and Dark, they are indeed siblings, yeah! I really adore the headcanon of all 4 hollowheads being siblings, it makes me incredibly happy, so it's like that in pretty much all of my interps/AUs. If it's work done by me, you can probably assue Chosen and Dark are related lol.
anyway yeah that's about it i'd say :] once again i love you so very much for asking questions, and i hope these answered them and didn't just run you in circles for twenty minutes ! i do have a bit of a habit of just yapping on and on and not being very clear, so if anything doesn't make sense or if you want me to expand on any points, or even if i've just repeated or even contradicted myself, then feel free to point it out or ask anything else! ^_^
what were darks thoughts during showdown, specifically about chosen/killer/beast
did he know who threw the initial punch? who tried to stop him sending the virus?
did he realise it was beast fending off the too-many-virabots? what did he feel when he realised he'd managed to trigger them out? make it deem it needed to take over the situation?
and assuming dark is still alive, what do you think they feel about showdown looking back on it, and knowing how much hurt they caused to their best and only friend(s)
oh man anon you've got nooo idea how badly i wanted to draw a response to this but my visual artblock is so bad rn im so sorry. i did get a bit carried away writing this however ☝️ because i am dramatic ☝️
I think for a lot of Showdown, neither are exactly thinking clearly enough to really stop and consider what's going on farther than just their stance on the whole thing. [I specify neither because I don't think it's exclusively Dark or Chosen's fault that Showdown went the way it went; they both just kept making mistakes at every turn together lol]
At first, Dark is confused, maybe a bit irritated at being stopped. He thinks what he's doing is not only deserved, but the right course of action, and doesn't understand why Chosen - who did indeed throw the first punch in trying to stop him, something he did know as it happened, even if it was more of a subconscious knowledge than actively thinking about it - doesn't understand why he tried to stop him.
Over the course of it, he becomes less confused and more frustrated, maybe bordering on angry. The two are definitely arguing the whole time they're fighting, shouting in the air, especially once Chosen comes back from the PC to confront Dark.
As for how he felt about managing to actually trigger Beast out unintentionally .... he doesn't realize it the second it happens. He's not even really paying attention to Chosen after the Virabots keep him busy on the ledge. He's actually just sort of talking for a bit when he's flying closer, arms crossed, glancing around, talking very animatedly with his hands in the air as he tries to once again argue his point, though much more exhasperated and angry than before, not really thinking about what he's saying.
But then he realizes Chosen's stopped responding. Usually he'd be arguing back, even if he's busy deflecting a hit. And Dark- Dark sorta stops, because he's sure he didn't send that many Virabots at him to keep him from talking back? It was just a few out of all of them, so what's the deal? He can't hear sounds of fire anymore, Chosen's not fighting back, so what..?
And he sorta trails off, maybe calls out Chosen's name once or twice - who knows, maybe he was just speaking too quietly to be heard? - before sorta tilting his head and.. staring. He knows a few "tells" that the others have - small, minute differences between them that he's learned over the years to spot.
And he's just kinda looking them over, and he-- he starts noticing. Things. The way "Chosen" is tense, as still as possible despite the occasional pull from a Virabot. The unnerving silence, a heated glare, grit teeth and an almost snarl.
And he thinks - he goes, "no, okay, that's wrong." But he knows, the more he looks, that that isn't Chosen anymore, he knows that that's Beast. And you can kinda see it on his face when the realization sorta hits, and he actually sorta jerks back a bit in the air - because he knew this fight of theirs was bad, one of the worse ones they've had, but he didn't think it was this bad. He didn't realize he'd ended up doing something bad enough for Beast to have been triggered out. And he sorta thinks about everything he's done this fight, trying to pinpoint exactly what he'd done, and- there. Right when Chosen get's overwhelmed. He's sure that's when it happened. When else could it have?
And I think that, had this been early enough in their relationship, or maybe even now if he had been too far gone in his anger to have noticed, maybe then he wouldn't have thought too much about it. Just a consequence he'd have to deal with later, and he's much accustomed to consequences.
But now? After what he'd been told, after what he'd been trusted with knowing? After the years spent learning to avoid doing things that cause exactly this? Over a fight where he never intended to actually do any real damage to Chosen in, just stall long enough to get his plan over with?
Well, he's upset. With himself. For letting it get this bad, and especially for doing exactly what he'd promised to never do.
But he can't exactly think about it for too long, since this is around the time Second and the CG step in - and then that thoughts gone, and replacing it is more irritation at being interrupted, and the rest plays out as we all know it does. He'll apologize after he's done here. Make it up to them somehow later, have a long talk with them about this.
As we all know, this apology will never be able to come ☝️ because he Dies SO Badly ! However. Let's indulge in denial for a minute ^_^
I think after Showdown, if Dark survives, he's on his own for a long time. Most of it is involuntary, of course - if he could go home he very much would, after all. But he's on his own regardless as he goes through the process of recovering from getting his ass oblitorated in a "fight," and thus he has... quite a bit of free time now.
So he gets to thinking. Over and over he thinks about that day, about where he went wrong in his plan for it to go so far south so fast.
At first there's anger - how dare Chosen try to stop him? Does he not care about what they'd gone through, anymore? Does he not care that it could still be happening out there? Is he not angry, does he not want his right revenge?
Then there's guilt - he shouldn't be thinking that way about Chosen. He knows that. He knows that Chosen most definitely had his reasons, and that if Dark had just listened, then maybe he'd at least know them.
More anger - why should he be sorry for just trying to do something right for once? Chosen pushed him - clearly he wasn't open to convincing. Chosen, Killer, Beast - they took their side that day, it's not Dark's fault they faught over it.
More guilt - and he hates that, hates the feeling of it constantly nagging at him every time he tries to justify himself. Hates the way he thinks back to the part at the cliff edge, when he doesn't see Chosen anywhere in them anymore, only the angry and distrusting Beast. Hates how he feels bad about everything about that day. Then he hates that he hates the feeling.
He spends a lot of time like this - flipping between angry and guilty. And let's be clear, I'm once again not pinning all of the blame on Dark. Chosen and the others do a lot of thinking themselves after this. But those three have a support group to do it in, an outsiders perspective that helps level them. Dark is going through this completely isolated - and thus takes a lot longer to come to terms with everything and realize what he'd done.
All together, he's upset. At himself for hurting his closest and only friend[s] like this, and at them for fighting what he thought was the best course of action. He's upset at the CG for butting into something that he feels had nothing to do with them. He's upset that the day ever happened to begin with.
[Then he finds the "Wanted" fliers on Chosen one day, maybe on one of his many sneaky trips into the city for supplies to bring back to wherever he's staying. He rips as many down as he can - because god only knows they don't need this to deal with too - but he knows, almost dully, that it's no real use.
He's in the city the day Chosen is chased through it. He's almost tempted to flag him down and help - but he's sure that'd make the situation so much worse, and by the time he makes up his mind to do it anyways, Chosen's already long gone, the Mercs not far behind. The only thing Dark can do his scurry home before someone recognizes him, too, and then he'd really have a problem on his hands.]
Helloo o/ I'm the anon from earlier who sent you many many questions about your system chosen
Very glad that my ask wasn't overwhelming because I approach with yet more questions >:] get ready
Does Dark know Chosen is a system? Or a part of a system? Unsure of the correct way to call it. What does he think of each of them if yes?
I can see Dark talking excitedly about a shared interest with Killer, Dark loves Chosen dearly but its. Difficult. To get a bit of emotion out of him. Killer though? Once they feel comfortable around him I can see them allowing themselves to become more expressive/ easily excited
"Beast had sorta filed them away as one of the very few ""trustworthy"" sticks" <- quote from the answer you gave to my first ask.
I'm guessing Dark was also in this list yes? Beast was co-conscious during AVA3 if i remember correctly and so saw Dark was willing to help and defend. Even if Beast didn't trust them 100% it didn't think of them as a threat right? Maybe even considered him an ally
And if yes, Dark was on the Trustworthy list, what about the virabot thing made Beast decide "Hmmm no he's an enemy actually"?
I wonder how Killer unmasking around Dark for the first time went, and whether that's how Dark found out his brother is a system
Has Killer ever jumped 10ft in the air because they were startled by the toaster? And if yes, how long did it take for Dark to stop laughing
Has Beast ever come out mid spar? Realises they're mid combat so rushes out to protect and-
And Dark realises he's not fighting who he was before, Chosen doesn't look at him with infinite distrust. Killer doesn't stand both ready for combat and to flee at a moments notice (Beast wouldn't flee, but despite that, I think its always ready to).
Dark just backs away slowly I think, lowering his hands and doing everything possible to communicate he's not a threat. This allows Beast a bit of extra time to take in what's around, just incase its missed something in its initial assessment and. And they're both wearing handwraps, Dark's taken their bracelet off and whoever was here before Beast tied their jacket round their waist. Beast doesn't need to protect here, but it does now need to apologise
I'm guessing Beast remembers it can speak while fronting from time to time right? Even if it feels Odd. I've got the mental image of Dark cooking something for himself, except Beast ALSO likes it alot alot and Dark just hears "Please." from behind him. Turns around to see Beast staring at him like its trying to beam the thought directly into Darks mind. They understand, and Dark maybe even gets a "Thank You" after the foods made. Idk, I like small things like that, if Dark doesn't know Chosen's a system then its just a small couple What-If's or What-Could-Have-Been's
Also, what is a Singlet? I cant remember where you used the word but I am unfamiliar with it
Also also, VERY happy that my terminology is correct, that whole ask I was terrified that I was aggressively wrong about something and was going to end up being incredibly rude
Also ALSO also, I am giving Beast a mug of hot chocolate and a weighted blanket. It deserves to relax
Breaking this up into more than one ask because tumblr is angry with me
WOW. HI!!!! OH MY GOD. HELLO. you are literally the most bestest person ever for being so curious and allowing me to speak so much WOW okay let me break all this down.
putting everything once more under a cut, but a breakdown here is i FIRST go through unrelated things such as helping a bit with your confusion on terms and meanings, before getting into the actual AVA stuff, so if anyone wants to skip that, there Is gonna be a linebreak ^_^ a lot of it is just definition talk so its probably boring if you already know this stuff lol. if youve come just for the headcanon, feel free to skip down to it! <3
FIRST ! since you were a bit confused, i would like to say; DID specifically stands for "Dissociative Identity Disorder." It is probably the most well known of the disorders that would constitute as being a "system" disorder, if you will. In the past it has been referred to by other things such as MPD, or multiple personality disorder, but that is since considered inaccurate and incredibly out of date.
OSDD, or Other Specified Dissociative Disorder, is another dissociative disorder as the name implies. In one specific case, is similar to DID in that a major symptom is the forming of distinctive parts - or alters - but has enough differences that it's been classified as it's own thing [though iirc, some professionals are debating if the distinction is necessary? Honestly I'm not a psychologist so I can't really comment on that part, but I felt it was worth noting that this was brought up once or twice.]
The distinction here is this; DID is usually diagnosed when there are at Least two distinct "parts" to a person, often being two [or more] entirely seperate people, and is paired with amnesia. This is not at all everything to do with the disorder, as it's a massively complex disorder with plenty of symptoms, but it is this specific symptom set in its most basic explanation. OSDD however can vary! OSDD-1 is specifically defined by wikipedia as when one is experiencing a "sub thresh-hold" to DID. There's way more "types" to OSDD, and as such I am not nearly equipped enough to talk about 2-4, but chances are if you're speaking to a system who has it, they will usually have either OSDD-1A, or -1B. These two aren't technically real diagnostic terms, they're moreso used to describe a set of symptoms. 1A is defined as having less disticnt alters than DID or 1B. 1B is specified by a lack of complete blackouts, aka amnesia, though they may instead experience grayouts and emotional amnesia. To be fair in at least my case specifically, grayouts are pretty common rrrregardless? But honestly that might just be a My Own Thing issue and a case of overlapping symptoms than anything else, so don't take my word for it entirely lol I get complete blackouts and grayouts and its soooo miserable helppp [I'm being lighthearted in tone on purpose you're allowed to laugh ^_^ /gen]
Lastly, the term "singlet" is an unofficial term that a lot of systems online use to refer to people who do not have alters. I'm like 99.9% sure it's like, never used in a professional setting, but I'm also Not a psychologist, again, so I have no clue if it's ever used offline. It's not anything negative, just a descriptor term the same way many other descriptor terms are used :]
Okay that's about it for explaining things. If anything else confuses you for any reason please don't be afraid to ask! And if you wanna look into it yourself, all I'll say is use literally anything OTHER than social media for research, there's a crazy amount of misinfo, especially on Tumblr or Tiktok.
Onto the questions and scenarios -- for questions, I will once again copypaste and bold them. For scenarios, I'll probably end up putting in a screenshot [with IDs, don't worry] for clarities sake.
1: Does Dark know Chosen is a system? Or a part of a system? Unsure of the correct way to call it. What does he think of each of them if yes?
For a very long time, Dark had NO idea Chosen was part of a system. [And either descriptors work, I honestly use both depending on which sounds less clunky at the time lol].
Dark had just assumed Chosen had some odd "quirks" here and there for ages, and didn't really push too hard whenever "Chosen" ended up getting really quiet, or more jumpy. I def agree with your HC that Dark probably doesn't have very many interactions [if any at all] with sticks outside of Chosen, so at most he just assumes this is normal.
Of course eventually, they do end up telling him - it takes a lot of effort on their part to build up the courage to do it and not immediately chicken out, because this is a Pretty Personal Thing after all, but like. Dark takes it so much better than they were expecting? And he's also very open to accomodating the other two with very little issue. Even if it takes time for Killer [and even Beast] to relax enough around him, and even if he does still have some trouble telling who's-who at first, he does try his best. At the end of the day, the three are his family, and he DOES care about them.
While we already know [or can at least infer] what he feels about Chosen, he does have different thoughts about the other two. You're 100% right this part specifically:
Dark and Killer do have quite a bit of overlapping interests, they realize once they get to talking to each other! They honestly bounce off each other scarily well, and are the type of people to start a stupid bit as a joke and just keep adding onto it for like, twenty minutes. For the most part, Dark's perception of Killer is positive! He's also gotten a bit into the habit of being A Bit Obviously Noisy around the house once realizing Killer's issue with being snuck up on or surprised - previously, Dark was unintentionally VERY quiet. He's naturally sorta light on his feet, lacking footsteps most of the time, and ends up startling most people. After both a discussion and accidental event, he starts trying to be more purposefully loud in their home, especially if he's somewhere Killer can't see, or has to be behind them for one reason or another. Nothing anything TOO loud - no slamming doors or footsteps, no yelling, just casual noise. Jewelry that clacks together or just humming a song.
With Beast, he's more cautious. He understands its purpose, and why it's there, and for the most part, Dark doesn't really.... saying he doesn't mind makes it seem like something it's not but honestly I can't find a better way to word it. He doesn't mind its staring or its lack of speaking, and I'm also gonna pull up another part you said because honestly while I initially wanted Beast to be 100% quiet I'm a massive fan of this little scenario and so I'm adopting it into my worldview immediately;
So yeah Dark is like, completely on board with Beast's more odd traits, once it actually is able to relax for once. I'd say Beast is probably the one Dark knows the least just by way of it rarely ever fronting outside of the more dire circumstances. He knows enough from what he can piece together from his own memories of it, plus any resulting messages from Chosen and Killer depending on how much they know about it at that point in time. However, if asked personally and privately, Dark would express a bit of sympathy, maybe worry for Beast. He understands what it's like to be seen as a sort of... villainous person - not to the severity that Beast had been treated, but he can sympathize. And while he leans into it, he knows that it's the last thing Beast - or Chosen and Killer for that matter - would want for themselves. He sometimes wishes he could do more to help it, but often refrains from trying, knowing that any pushing could absolutely do more harm than good at this point, no matter how much he wants to try. It's a tricky situation, and it's a very unsteady trust they have, and he's not willing to rock the boat too hard and end up hurting the three. As I love to say about my favorite antagonist characters; he's a villain, not a monster, he's got standards lol
1.5: Assuming Dark DOESNT know Chosen is/ is apart of a system (still don't know the correct way to call it), how does he react to switches? Or Killer and Beast in general?
Switches, in general, are meant to be pretty covert of a thing. If all goes right, no one should be able to tell, at the very least not right away, that a switch occured. Thus, before Dark learned about everything, a few little things did tip him off as to something being a bit.. off with "Chosen." He'd notice a lot of forgetfulness of things that happened literally yesterday, or sudden preferences doing a complete 180 into something else, or, like you mentioned, complete silence all of a sudden. If it's a big enough and sudden enough change then he would definitely notice how odd it is and just kinda file it away for later, thinking "oh that was really strange, maybe I should ask about that?"
Yeah honestly all of this is pretty accurate to how that'd go down pre-knowing. Like I said Dark definitely hasn't interacted with very many people [if anyone at all] outside of Chosen and thus does think this is probably normal to a degree, but the first few times [more like a couple hundred times] it DOES kinda hurt a bit and cause some confusion before they can work something out for it.
2: ...I'm guessing Dark was also in this list yes? Beast was co-conscious during AVA3 if i remember correctly and so saw Dark was willing to help and defend. Even if Beast didn't trust them 100% it didn't think of them as a threat right? Maybe even considered him an ally
Oh yeah, for a while after it was able to let go of the constantly moving train of thought that consisted exclusively of just "protect" and "danger," it did for a long time consider Dark trustworthy enough to feel safe around and to relax, even if it was just the tiniest amount. It's almost always on guard, but... well, surely it can let Dark watch its back just this once, right? It was a sort of "well, you're not hurting me, and we are fighting the same guy, so......." sort of allyship at first. It probably definitely helped that for a long time between AVA3 and Showdown, Dark and Chosen probably had pretty relaxed lives outside of the whole tormening the internet thing. They probably didn't really do anything that'd warrent the feeling of danger in their free time, so on the days when Beast would be the one jolting awake at night, it'd be able to, slowly, calm down. Plus, with Dark being so open minded about things that help Beast instead of hurt it, and the way the other two seemed fine with him, it did begin to trust him.
2.5: And if yes, Dark was on the Trustworthy list, what about the virabot thing made Beast decide "Hmmm no he's an enemy actually"?
Oh god, the Virabots. Yeah that whole thing was a complete MESS for the three honestly. It was less the presence of the Virabots themselves and moreso the actions that Dark had made them do against Chosen specifically. Until then, Chosen was mostly cautious about them - he knew they could be dangerous, but at that point still believed he could talk Dark out of his plan. Along with this, Dark is kinda the worlds most emotionally constipated guy ever, and has ZERO skills in talking about his plans and feelings without requiring people to do a five page deconstructive essay to decipher what he means about it. To Chosen, the second that first Virabot ended up trying to actively kill him, was when the seed of doubt kinda bloomed. He was worried then, and had the idea that yes, Dark is still a killer, he is destructive, always has been, and is fully capable of hurting him - or worse, if he somehow got the upper hand. Chosen knows this fact very, very well. It was quite literally their first ever interaction.
But he still wanted to believe Dark wouldn't do that.
Until he got quite literally dogpiled, of course. I'd say the second Dark started actively sic'ing Virabots at him was the moment that Chosen pulled back and Beast shoved itself into front going "okay, this is serious, this is not the person we trusted, because our Dark wouldn't hurt us like this." It was vehement denial mixed with a sort of bitter "I told you so" feeling. It saw this coming, it let its guard down, it trusted someone, and now it was being attacked by something it could barely take on as one, nevermind tens, maybe hundreds. It was being attacked by Dark. So it had to fix that mistake and remove the threat at the same time, if that makes sense.
^ Literally 100% you read my mind anon this has totally happened before, especially more in the early years of the two living together. You described this really well actually, and the way you described Beast's stance - ready for combat AND read to flee at a moments notice - is exactly how I picture it;; it's always ready to fight back and lash out, but moreso in that cornered way where it's obvious it also sorta wants to book it after getting enough hits in to where it'll be confident that whatevers after it Isn't Moving Towards It anymore.
I really don't have much to add to that scenario because you are literally so correct I am shaking you by the shoulders [positive tone] this is SO REAL RAAGH. Yeah ^_^
Honest to god yeah that's probably exactly how he ended up knowing. I think like I mentioned earlier, it's kinda a case of a bunch of little things adding up before they eventually tell him any details that help with understanding, but before that Dark definitely has his suspicions and it's totally because of Killer 😭 Unfortunately bro is NOT very subtle if they're not putting their focus into masking /j
It'd probably be something small and inconsequential and silly, really. Something simultaniously dumb as hell but also a massive show of trust, y'know? I'd have to think more on the details but I like to think that as Killer gets more comfortable, and more sure that they don't have to pretend to be Chosen to still be safe, they let go of the masking little by little, with small things - maybe a preference in food or drink here and there, or small comments about interests that they know are much too distinct from anything Chosen ever expressed liking before. It feels more natural the more they do it, before they eventually forget to mask around Dark, because it feels more comfortable to them being themselves.
Oh yeah for sure. 5 minutes at least, paired with that sorta laughy halfhearted apology for laughing, followed by the occasional snort or huff or laugh every few minutes after that whenever Dark thinks about it for the rest of the day. Killer is not mad at the laughing but they are in fact waiting for the day they can do the same towards Dark ☝ every day they hope he trips stupidly [JOKE]
3: Who was fronting during The Box? You mentioned Chosen during Wanted, and I'm assuming its either him or Killer during the beginning of the box. But once they realise they're trapped? When Chosen turns to Victim in the episode? I can see that being Beast. I know shifts aren't always easy to spot but if Beast was going to come in at any time, it was when they realised they were trapped.
You're pretty correct here; for a lot of The Box, it's primarily Chosen, though Beast is definitely doing the metaphorical "hovering ominously in the back" thing thanks to the chase and injury sustained during Wanted. It's not quite reaching the "feeling like their life is in danger" levels at this point, but it's close and Chosen is feeling very dizzy, thanks.
You're also very correct in your assessment that realizing they're trapped is what, primarily, causes Beast to switch in; collectively, they have a VERY bad history with being trapped or imprisoned. Honestly I feel like they're actually pretty claustrophobic - I don't really see anyone mention this too much, but when Chosen got caught by the firewall in AVA2, he LITERALLY gets locked up inside a little box. It's probably cramped and dark and obviously unbreakable. That 100% left an impact on him - and in this HC, his system as a whole never really escaped that being a triggering thing.
To Beast, it feels very obviously trapped - cornered and contained much like it had been when it first formed. To it, this isn't a fight to JUST protect, but a fight to save their life. It feels genuinely like that, even if it wont die here, it'll just be imprisoned all over again, chained down and used for anothers gain. And it wants anything BUT that. It will fight tooth and nail - quite literally, might I add - to get out of there, because it believes that the second it gives up it is over for them. It has no idea what Victim wants from it -- and so it defaults to that Victim wants to fully and entirely kill them.
4: Speaking again of the box, when they realise that they are NOT beating Victim, does someone elbow Beast out of the way? To try and escape? Because fighting has proven entirely futile? Or is someone co-conning (I assume that means co-conscious) with it and convincing it to pull away, since in the original post, Vic was talking to Beast while 'Chosen' was tied up on the chair
[You're right, co-conning is short for co-conscious ^^]
Honestly probably yes? For a good while it's still fighting back, or at the very least sticking around to take the brunt of whatever Victim is throwing at them - being a protector doesn't only mean physically, it also means mentally. Sometimes things may not hurt someone on the outside, but could wreck them on the inside, and they need someone more equipped with dealing with these things - or, more crudely, Used To dealing with these things - to take over.
When it becomes apparent that Beast cant fight its way out of this, someone - though I haven't really settled on who - definitely tries to front to try other methods of escape. Maybe it's Chosen, maybe it's Killer, honestly realistically they wouldn't even be able to tell either under all that stress. There's definitely someone giving passive-influence to try and escape though. Beast is determined to intimidate Victim, and to keep the others from having to experience anything rough, but... it's a bit hard to stick around when everything in your body - externally, and internally - is screaming for you to get the hell out of there, in one way or another. In short it's having an awful time and unfortunately the others are there for the ride /j
5: Beast comes out when they're trapped or in a fight for their life, but does it (and the others) have any positive triggers that will draw them out? I've heard of music being used, or toys, maybe also food? Idk, but if you have something in mind for these three I'm curious what it is
Oh yeah positive triggers can definitely happen with systems! At the end of the day they do still trigger out an alter so it can still be pretty disorienting at first, so I will say it's mostly [at least and my and my friends cases irl] only used either when we are completely okay with it [both system-wise and alter-wise] or when whoever's in front is having a rough time and kinda needs a break, but doesn't exactly want to stress anyone else out via a negative trigger, if that makes sense.
However comma ! That does not mean I can't give positive triggers to my little guys here. Because I do think they deserve good things.
You're right in that things like music, toys, and even food are really common ones, at least in my experience and from what I've seen. Sometimes it can also be certain people! It really varies quite a bit, so when developing a headcanon that relates to that, there's quite a bit of wiggle room lol
I think it'd be slightly different for these three depending on who it is;
Chosen would probably have some related to music, and maybe a more niche one related to welding. Music because I feel like he's the type of guy to get comfort from listening to songs he loves on loop, and welding because he probably heard the sound a lot while Dark was working in his little workshop, either on the Virabots or on other such projects. [Sidenote, welding as a sound is something I'm actually pretty fond of myself, but if anyone's not a big fan of the sound of sparking, or repetative "buzzing", you probably won't like it if you look it up lol. It's not too loud on video, but I can see how it'd get annoying or give someone a headache.]
Killer is definitely the more food oriented one in all honesty. Maybe even specific books it's read? Certain meals that it enjoys are primarily it though - maybe things that it's made with Dark that it has a positive association with? Or things that it's tried once or twice, REALLY loved, and ended up always snagging front when they eat it because of that association. That kinda thing lol.
Beast is... kinda tricky to think of actual positives for? Not because it doesn't enjoy anything - honestly I think it's the type to enjoy slow and relaxing activities that it doesn't need to put a lot of thought into. Moreso because it's hard to pin down anything that would actively trigger it out just to experience. I am open to suggestions here! But for now I'll probably have to leave it at just, if it has any, it hasn't found out what they are yet </3
6: Can they feel the emotions of the other alters? I'm guessing they can feel the emotions of whoevers fronting, because physical sensations, but if someone was fronting and the other two were hovering over their shoulder so to speak, would they be able to tell how they feel?
Unrelated to this question but I had no idea emotions were a physical sensation that people felt until like, a few months ago, like it was just baffling to me it's kinda funny now that I think abotu it.
ANYWAYS; honestly I'd say yes, to some degree! Passive influence is pretty common in a few systems - you'll probably hear it talked about similiarly to how you asked about it, along with people saying something like, for example, they couldn't decide what to order from a restraunt, but someone else in the system wanted [this meal], and thus there was that passive influence to get it. Not sure if that makes sense but that's basically what that can feel like - and since it applies to things like opinions sometimes, it can also presumably apply to emotions!
It'd be less of a "they can feel each others exact thoughts and feelings about this thing if they're co-conning" thing, and more of a, for instance, "Chosen doesn't have any real strong feelings about the show they're watching, but Killer on the other hand really likes it, so Chosen feels a bit of that secondhand enjoyment and positivity towards it." Sorta an ambigious background feeling if that makes any sense. They do share a brain and body after all, so sometimes things do get passed and shared that way. [This one is super projecty based off my own stuff lol, I cannot count the amount of times someones ended up passively influencing me on accident when we were stuck co-conning. It's almost comical /j]
Okay I think that's all once more, I started writing this literally as soon as you sent these in and it's been nearly 2 hours so I've probably talked your ear off [talked your... eyes out? How does that phrase translate into text. Much to think about ...] but once again literally thank you so much for being so curious, and it's really not an issue that you've sent such long asks!!!
I adore talking about this headcanon a lot. I've said it before but this HC means a lot to me as a system; we don't get a lot of representation [nevermind good representation] so a lot of the times I like to try and find a character I feel it would fit the best, and then delve into it there. This HC is very very special to me and has a very special place in my heart, so seeing not only so many people accepting and positive about it, but also your own massive curiosity and engagement, really makes me happy!
Plus, ever since I posted this HC ages and ages ago in the community I've seen a ton more pop up every once and a while. It does make me pretty happy to see HCs like this be so widely accepted and appreciated. Along with that, I've also seen other systems in the fandom get super excited about this HC!!! And I'm just so so so happy that my silly little headcanon about sticks in this guys head can make other people feel more seen. I think it's the highest compliment to anything I've ever made. :]
went back to compare the refs to that first art that got me hooked on your au
i saw beasts ref and was like "huh. Hadnt realised its neck was like that
But now that i know what im looking for, yeah i see it easily
Also !! My tiny hc of beast also having a chain round its ankle was right. Always nice
Anyway. Dont really have a whole lot to say other than your designs are super cool
(Dear god i just realised how tall Beast would be if it stood to its full height)
Have a good day!!
hehe yeah! my beast design is based off of that ooone really niche picture of it from the discontinued avam card game! i remember seeing it ages ago [maybe 2 yrs now?] and just falling in love with its design and being SO sad it was never used anywhere. drawing its neck all funky is so fun! i really do love strange and odd character shapes
and yeahhh!!!! the ankle chain <3 referencing that time chosen had a ball n chain around his leg in ava..... beast unfortunately has a lot of that leftover, but it doesnt notice atp </3
anyhow thank you so much!!!! <33 im so glad you like my silly little designs it means tha world to me,,, [and yeah no beast would be crazy tall.. tall and scary but always trying to look small. theres a metaphor in there somewhere.]
not COLORED refs, but i do have sketches yes! ignore the tdl cameo in the chosen fullbody, that ones lineart for a full cast lineup that i ... have not finished. also its missing a line for the right glove SHUT UP ITS A WIP 😭... ILL FIX IT LATER..... SNIFFLING
[also note for killer; the sketch is kinda fucked, but their hands and lower forearms are covered in burn scars! its less obvious w the sketch and would be More clear in a colored drawing but. im lazy af]
I’ve a hc that second simply comes to visit after showdown, to make sure chosen is alright, I’m curious what everyone’s thoughts is on that
He’s on beasts “yeah alright I trust him” list, but beast trusts him in combat, what about regular day to day things? Just hanging out? Eating sandwiches? That’s gotta be different right?
And chosen and killer, do they like him? Are they envious of him? Does one like him more than the other?
How quickly do they realise that uh. Second doesn’t remember how showdown ended. And who realises first?
Idk idk there’s a lot that can happen and I’m curious of your hc’s for it. Going to bed now. Goodnight
HEHE GOODNIGHT ANON!!! thank you dearly for the Even More questions <33 i hope you have a very nice sleep
as usual, responses are under the cut ^_^
1: How does second meeting chosen go?
Oh man okay. So like, if we don't count the brief meeting before the final fight, and then the little bow interaction after, then the two would've officially met sometime later I'd say? Somewhere between Showdown and Wanted for sure, I'm a sucker for the hollowheads actually interacting lol.
I'd say it'd be a very big "hey wait a minute what the hell are you doing here" moment at first, before Chosen just sorta resigns himself to the fact that Second is probably going to just keep dropping by to check in every once and a while whether he likes it or not [and if he's secretly fine with it because it's an excuse to actually clean up the house and keep the kitchen stocked instead of wallowing in his room all day well then that's his business and no one needs to know that damn it]
I think out of the three, Killer is actually the most trusting, and actually pretty fond of Second! Chosen is close behind, but he's got a healthy dose of respect for the guy after seeing them in action so there's a bit of "man you could totally kick my ass if you felt like it. That's cool I think. Please don't do that actually." in there lol. For the most part they like Second after a while, and warm up to them.
You'd be right to assume that it's definitely different with Beast though! Beasts little "trusted people" list can be pretty solidly split between "ally in combat" trust and "genuine everyday trust" , and while that does slightly spread to the others [ie, Chosen can respect and appreciate Second, but was a bit hesitant at first thanks to Literally Everything] it's mostly seen in Beast. Honestly if it saw Second again outside of a battle it'd probably briefly think "oh shit is something happening do I need to like. Attack someone. What's going on why're they here" and it'd take some time to unlearn that association with them.
Despite all this, though - despite eventually warming up, Chosen is shockingly the most hesitant to actually start liking them to any degree. Killer does the fastest, mostly because they're probably the only extroverted person there to match Second's energy, and Beast is next up solely because of previous reason to trust them, but Chosen?
Sure, he knows Second is on his side. He knows they're doing this to be a decent person and to be nice. He knows they literally saved him and their friends. But despite logically knowing that Second is [mostly] harmless, he cannot stop the instinctive fear that comes with the whole "watched this guy murk his best friend/brother like it was NOTHING" thing. It's not major, in comparison to a lot of things. It's not even enough to prevent him from interacting with Second, especially not in polite company. But it IS enough for him to be on edge for a while.
Though again, after a bit of time passes he does end up putting a lot of his real genuine trust into Second. They are the first person the three think to go to for help, after all. That is, at the very least, one thing they agree on.
To add on; I think Killer likes Second for their creativity, Chosen likes Second for their kindness and eagerness to help others, and Beast likes Second for their strength and their loyalty to their friends [mostly because it relates to the need to protect those it cares about.]
2: How quickly do they realise that uh. Second doesn’t remember how showdown ended. And who realises first?
I'm gonna be so honest it's either Killer or Beast who put two-and-two together first. Killer because any time they bring it up to ask Literally Anything, Second just kinda politely nods along with this confused look and they know damn well Second's just playing along and has no idea what they're on about. Killer is pretty observant when it comes to other sticks and their feelings [probably the only emotionally aware alter there lol]. Beast because, well, surely someone that powerful would be displaying that power as much as they can, right? Be it as intimidation to ward off anyone wishing to do them or their loved ones harm, or maybe just as a casual brag, or even just for stupid everyday tasks. Anything to use the power given, anything to acknowledge it and the things they've done. To Beast, the only way it makes sense that they wouldn't is if they didn't know.
Chosen finds out literally the day of Wanted just like in source simply because I think it's a little funny lol. He's got his suspicions before that but he mostly just brushes it off as like.. trauma blocking the memory Mostly out like how his own memories do.
So like, while I don't know the FULL amount of time between Showdown and Wanted, let's just for the sake of discussion say it was about ehhh a year or two. Not saying I think it did but just for timeline purposes - feel free to stretch this out or compress it depending on the time You Personally think was between it.
With this in mind; if Chosen finds out during Wanted two years after Showdown, then Killer and Beast probably realize at first that somethin' ain't right with Second over the course of 8 or 9 months after Showdown, and ACTUALLY figure it out 2months after the 1st year passes [or 14 months after Showdown if that's easier for you to visualize]. Compress or stretch that timeline as you see fit bc timelines in AVA are a mess lol, but regardless; Chosen's a little slow on the realization here because it'd be funny.
This next half of the post isn't in response to any question and is just misc. rambling about anything that comes to mind about these guys interacting because you got me Thinking-
-but I just like the idea of Second meeting Killer and Beast and Knowing That That's Happening. LIKE IDK I feel like they'd end up getting along individually after a while. Second would probably be a little perplexed at first before just going No that makes sense carry on ^_^
I also like the idea of Beast, having since decided that Second is worth trusting Personally [which would take a hell of a long time considering the last time it trusted someone outside of battle it ended with Dark dead [presumably] somewhere and new issues regarding bugs/spiders.] had taken one look at Second, and one look at the CG, and went "no absolutely not you cannot go out fighting things as self taught fighters your stances are WRONG your punches are WEAK and you are NOT PROTECTING YOUR MIDDLE. Get INTO the sparring room I am TEACHING YOU PROPER TECHNIQUE" lol. Very aggressive signing and glaring. Chosen and Killer are in full support of this but for different reasons [Chosen just prefers the people he knows to be safe and able to protect themselves, Killer is silently cataloging as much as they can about the others' fighting styles]
Anyway I just think Beast is so used to itself knowing how to properly fight AND Dark knowing how that when it sees self taught fighters who are half its size and used to video game mechanics vs actual living experience, it just short circuits and briefly forgets that it's supposed to be scary and intimidating and instead is like Okay I gotta fix that they're gonna get themselves killed and that's gonna be REALLY upsetting for us. It's like when people joke that they were in the middle of a breakdown and then someone says something so baffling that they just. Stop crying. It is the FUNNIEST thing to me.
"He'll apologize after he's done here. Make it up to them somehow later, have a long talk with them about this."
Assuming Dark did not execute cg/ they weren't there/ SOMETHING idk, and Dark was able to patch a very beaten and unconscious Chosen up and drag them back to the house, how would that conversation go?
Would Beast take one look at Dark and attack him? Even if Killer or Chosen want to try diplomacy?
Would They (one of the alters) wake up, realise their still in the house with the guy who is stronger than them and has harmed them, and book it? If so would Dark follow? Or let them leave
Would they wake up to a note? Would one of them rip it up before the others have a chance to see it?
Would they TRY diplomacy, only for the argument to immediately resume
Theres so many possibilities, none of which can happen since Dark was blasted to kingdom come, BUT we can imagine for a moment
Oh man the convo would go so horribly so badly. Like let's be so honest Dark is the worst person to have a genuine and emotional conversation with he does NOT know what he's doing he's almost worse than Chosen 😭
I've never actually thought about this particular scenario before [as in it's actually like.. never crossed my mind somehow] so I can't really say for absolute certain what would happen, BUT . Let's indulge.
I think you're pretty right that if it were Beast still in front when they wake up, it'd probably immediately assume it was still in danger and attack Dark - that, or it'd absolutely book it the first chance it got, since it's not really looking for a repeat of the Virabot part of that whole thing. Sometimes it's just gotta do what's safest, and that doesn't always mean fighting back - sometimes it means retreat.
I think Chosen would still have some sort of faith in Dark and would like to stay and hear him out - and Killer by extension would, too, in a way. But both would be extremely hurt by everything and can be just as stubborn as Dark when they want to be, so it'd be pretty hard for them to not end up cutting him off a bunch to put their points in.
I think however, aside from Beast, Killer would also probably think about leaving. Maybe not forever, but definitely long enough to go sit outside and think about things for a while. They'd probably slip out when Dark is busy and he just comes back to them gone and briefly freaks out lol.
Honestly I'm certain the argument would just start back up eventually unless something changed REALLY fast you're totally right about that. These guys are sooo bad at emotions and Talking Things Out that it's almost comical if it wasn't borderline depressing.
HOWEVER ☝️ I think even during another argument, for Both of them their fight would just constantly be lingering in their minds - especially through Any Other Future Argument, the thought always rears itself back around. They're cautious of their actions, both of them - neither wants to get close during an argument anymore. If, say, Chosen instinctively tries to get closer - he stops, pulls back, then continues with what he was saying. It would do neither of them good if it got physical again, in fact thats the last thing EITHER of them want, so they do everything physically possible to remove even the possibility of an accident if they end up disagreeing about ANYTHING. No matter how small.
IDK THERES JUST SO MANY WAYS THIS COULD GO AND COULD EFFECT THEM ALL IF THEY DON'T HAVE THE TIME POST-SHOWDOWN TO HEAL FROM THEIR ISSUES. They love each other dearly and are each others best friend but they're also both so so so badly traumatized people and need a therapist SO much. So badly. Alas there's no therapists in the Outernet who work with cybercriminals who had a hand in nearly destroying their world unfortunately. 😔
i am here to propose a positive trigger for Beast
Pressure
You said it'd like the weighted blanket yes? I propose that extends to all pressure ever
Maybe it scooches over to the front because it can Feel something odd, and that usually ends up being a searing blow to the ribs or a kick to the head or something Bad.
But it gets there and its just a weighted blanket, or someone leaning against them. Whether its because theyre comfy or they feel safe or simply because they nodded off and thats the way they fell
Either way, i think Beast would like it. Its calm and safe and honestly? Feels nice
Bonus bit of silliness:
"Wh. What is. Oh, its nice actually. No move out the way killer you ate my sandwich earlier i deserve this"
OUHHHHH I LOVE THIS YES..... IM APPLYING THIS TO MY WORLDVIEW IMMEDIATELY YOURE SO RIGHT!!!
its pretty fitting too .... i think itd definitely be pretty fond of things like that... this is so big brained thank you so much anon i love this