Do you have any Delta and/or Beta headcanons?
I like to think their system operates somewhat similar to a fusion from Steven Universe. Most of the time they are Delta —and appear to be like a singlet.
The reason for this is because Sans is legitimately struggling to operate as only Sans, as separate from the Bravery soul. So for awhile, Sans and the Bravery soul were fused together as Delta, because it gave Sans the bravery to continue functioning.
Eventually, however, it fell apart. I’d like to think it started actually when the bravery soul started remembering more about his previous life—and he could no longer simply function as just Bravery.
Perhaps this was also around the time when either Color and Epic seemed to drift more away towards Killer and Cross, or even around the time they moved out.
With both Beta and Sans struggling so much separately and unable to maintain a fusion, they decided to seek out therapy for themselves and figure out how to work together.
Because now that Beta was gaining more..individuality and self awareness i suppose, developing more but also remembering more, their teamwork was also starting to fall apart.
With time and effort, the two manage to learn to find balance as separate individuals sharing a body, and a mind, and a life.
And they start using their fusion as Delta as a way to find comfort and stability, to try and be closer too, instead of just purely as a last restore lifeline because they couldn’t Sans was struggling with depression and PTSD and the Bravery soul was not just a fully separate, developed individual capable of functioning without Sans in the body fused or blended with it.
Everyone out in the external multiverse will refer to them as Delta, regardless of if they’re actually fused together or not. But as home, in private, with their friends and family—they alternate between their names as Beta and Sans, and Delta when they’re not just Beta or just Sans.
I like to think the animals in the Chromatic Crew household can definitely tell the difference, too.
I also like to think that Delta doesn’t often have amnesia barriers between their two halves, even when they’re not fused together.
There’s still definitely dissociation of course, particularly when encountering a trauma trigger for either Sans or Beta that either triggers one to the front immediately or destabilizes the fusion, but most of the time it’s mostly “emotional” amnesia.
I like to think that, unlike Color, Delta doesn’t have a headspace. Whenever the two aren’t fused and only one is fronting, the other usually is watching from the backseat or is “asleep,” as they describe it.
They have always had pretty good internal communication, but during episodes of intense dissociation, they will verbalize their back and forth conversations out loud to each other.
It helps them to stay focused and grounded, even if they have to block out and ignore the external world and its people for a brief moment—and even if that causes people to give them weird looks if it ever happens in public.
Color has never once found these moments strange, even back when he wasn’t aware of that they were two, not one. He would literally just sit and journal while the two just talked to themselves out loud. At the most he would find the sounds of their voices and breathing grating and annoying and would literally just get up and walk away mid conversation.
Delta enjoys sparring with Cross and Swap, I feel. Delta was also the one who encouraged Cross to join him in participating in the Omega Timeline’s Coliseum, and two of them have earned a reputation as a duo.
I like to think that although the Coliseum is Beta’s favorite location in the OT, Grillby’s is actually Sans’.
It was actually on Sans’ idea that Delta first told Color about the existence of that Grillby’s and was the one who suggested going together, hoping to both help his friend and maybe attempt to connect and bond with Color this way. Unfortunately for them both, it didn’t turn out as they were both hoping for.
The food was amazing. But nothing else was anything approaching familiar for Color. Delta had to tell him what his favorite food used to be, and Color thought the jukebox was on the left. He doesn’t remember if Grillby’s ever had a vending machine or not. Delta still goes to this restaurant occasionally, but it somehow felt lonelier than usual—even though he could feel that his two halves were still there with him.
Beta had a panic attack the first time he fronted alone in the body, and the sounds of bones clinking and rattling together still sends him into hyperventilating.
Delta likes retro-gaming, thanks to Beta’s half of the fusion. Inspired by Color’s tendency towards hoarding and collecting—specifically photos, journals/notebooks, and music records in Color’s case—Delta also started tentatively collecting older video games and consoles.
Unlike Color who enjoys being on the move after years of being forced and confined to one location, Delta is used to being on the move—both as Beta, but also as Delta traveling and hopping between AUs.
They’re trying to get used to being in one steady location in the Omega Timeline, and trying to allow themselves to trust the stability. Starting with trying to make their home seemed lived in, and allowing possessions that aren’t purely for survival’s sake.
Delta also got the actual delta and beta symbols tattooed somewhere on their body, perhaps around their collarbone or hands. It looks like this:
Not only is it just the symbols of their chosen names together on their shared body, not only are these symbols commonly used in math and science—and so those who love mathematics, science, engineering, etc. may choose to get these symbols as tat—but according to Google, the delta symbol spiritually means;
“In a spiritual context, the delta symbol (Δ) is often associated with change, transformation, and the Holy Trinity, particularly within Christian traditions, and can also represent the concept of a divine ternary or triad.”
And the beta symbol not only means this, but can also means something like;
“In a spiritual context, "beta" can refer to the second letter of the Greek alphabet, often used to denote something secondary or a stage of development, and can also be associated with brainwave activity during alert, focused states.
In Hinduism, "Beta" signifies a term of endearment used by Nimai to address the cowherd boys as his sons, highlighting a deep, affectionate bond and a sense of familial connection within their community
In neuroscience, "beta" brainwaves (12-30 Hz) are associated with alert, active, and focused states, such as when solving problems, making decisions, or engaging in critical thinking.
While not a universally accepted spiritual term, some interpretations link "beta" brainwaves to a more active, external focus, contrasting with the more relaxed, inward-focused states associated with alpha and theta brainwaves.”
I was also thinking that, maybe to remember and honor Frisk, they got the alpha and/or epsilon symbols tattooed on their body, too.
The Alpha not only goes with the Omega—Chara—but is said to represent a beginning, so together they represent “the beginning and the end.” The epsilon is even used to refer to children sometimes. You can find that here.
(Also side note, according to this, “In music, more accurately in jazz, delta represents a major seventh chord.” And I feel that’s something along the lines that Color said to Delta sometime after their first meeting. Because Integrity knew it.)
But I was also thinking maybe Ultratale/Vitaltale Frisk could potentially be nicknamed Theta, because it’s apparently a symbol of death and Thanatos in Ancient Greece, but that felt a little too on the nose. And I didn’t feel like doing extensive research into every Greek alphabet letter at the moment.
And of course, Frisk died in their AU and never went into the Multiverse like Beta and Sans did, so they of course don’t officially have a nickname. So perhaps Sans just gets whatever letter makes him think of them.