#ava analysis

[xjackjackx]

Alan Becker Theory: How Victim Returned

Ok so this is my first real Tumblr post, but basically I want to talk about the Animator vs. Animation series and its first and now most recent villain: Victim. More specifically, how he "returned" after seemingly being killed by the Animator at the end of his first appearance.

When we first saw Victim in AVA 1, he was deleted by the Animator. He closed the program without saving changes, without saving Victim onto anything, thus removing him from existence. Something like that seems pretty hard to come back from...

...but, 17 years later, he has come back without any scratch (besides turning gray).

Now, it's not the first time a character survived being deleted, but none of the previous examples are similar to Victim.

Orange survived being deleted by Task Manager and then stabbed by the Dark Lord's Vira-Blades, but he's clearly special in a way: from knowing a lot since creation to having superpowers that not even he knows of (until he saw a video of him killing a guy with them). He's far from a normal stick figure.

The Chosen One survived being hit by several code-erasing blades, but he's a superpowered being compared to the completely normal Victim.

Herobrine survived being deleted with the rest of Minecraft, somehow resurrecting several years later, but he's not even a stick figure, and another superpowered being that's arguably even weirder then Chosen.

So, how does the completely normal, powerless Victim survive being deleted with no superpowers or anything special about him?

It's simple. He didn't.

I'm not saying that Grey Dude is actually a burnt Dark or something, that was debunked and never made sense anyway. What I'm suggesting is that the AVA 6 Victim is not the Victim. Rather, he's a copy.

... well, a better word to use is recording.

Animation VS YouTube was always a weird entry, in my opinion. It somehow makes every entry in the series an actual video in-universe, it somewhat breaks continuity by having the Minecraft icon on the task bar, and it just gets weirder every time it returns (such as that one scene in Showdown). But, I think AVA 6 made it really important in hindsight.

While fighting YouTube, Green and Orange encounter a recording of the first AVA 1 and witness Victim's birth. In the climax, Green defeats YouTube by putting himself inside a video and destroying it from the inside, thus destroying the website's sentient avatar.

I think Victim came back in a similar way. Thanks to the Animator posting AVA 1 on numerous websites and it being reposted countless times, there are countless videos of Victim: thus, countless opportunities for a Victim recording to escape a similar way Green did. The AVA 6 Victim - let's call him Vic - is one of those: a recording that came to life and broke out. He's not the true Victim, just evidence that he once existed, but he has his memories and will continue his fight with the Animator.

But, there's an issue: Green entered a brand new video, he didn't record himself. A clear difference. Which is why I think Vic didn't escape his video by himself. Someone freed him. But, who?

Well, think about it. Who is Vic close to? Who is special and gets attention from IRL Alan, compared to the others? Who has the most important role in AVA 6, aside from the hollow-heads and RYGB?

Who does Vic trust so much, he puts his own life in their hands when entering the Box?

I think the Glasses Guy - let's call him Agent cause that's the best nickname I've seen - is the one who freed Vic. It would explain why Vic would trust him so much or why he'd get so much attention besides just "the villain's right hand who is badass".

I also think that Vic's trust in Agent is what will fuck him over in the end. That he will not be the final villain of AVA 6.

If you watch The Box closely, you'll see Vic is saved on the Box's files. Nothing special or surprising, right? I mean, he's in the Box, of course he'd be saved as part of it. But... Chosen is not.

In fact, none of the items on the list are inside the Box, aside from Vic. Not the sword, not the chains, not anything. But, they can still be summoned. Which means that the Box doesn't work like "You go inside it, you are part of its files": You need to be saved onto it, and once that happens, you can be summoned whenever one wants, even when you're not inside the Box. What does that mean?

That, at any point in time, Agent can clone Vic hundreds of times, as many as he needs. That Vic is replaceable.

I think that's the big twist of AVA 6: Vic will be killed by Agent sooner than anyone would think, allowing Agent to become the true villain and create a Vic Army. What is Agent's motive? Why did he bring back Vic, only to plan to kill him when he's no longer needed? Frankly, I have no idea. We don't know enough about him to speculate his motives. But, I know one thing:

Vic cannot escape who he is. That, behind the different color and the fancy company and the fact he's but a copy of the real deal, he is still Victim. And who is Victim?

A stick figure who was mistreated, killed and forgotten by a man with animation tools.

[nightfurynova1217]

I don't know if anybody else has pointed this out, but I just noticed something about AvA 6, more specifically about the trailer.

Last night I decided to rewatch the trailer, really just for the heck of it, but mostly to see the sneak-peek scenes again but now with context. Y'know, you got it starting off with drawing a black hollow-head, then clips to a scene about Chosen. Back again to the drawing, and then another two clips of Chosen. Drawing, Chosen, plus a few shots from The Showdown including the Color Gang and Dark. But then we get here.

You can't see the name Alan/Noogai is typing.

My sister - who got me into the fandom, bless her soul - was sitting right next to me and I pointed the same out to her, and she immediately looked up both AvA 1 and 2 to compare.

And sure enough

First notable differences are that the sticks just downright don't look the same, but also, the pop-up window to name the symbol is directly above Chosen's head, but a bit off to the right above Victim, just like in the trailer.

So if there was still any confusion about who this guy is

I think this'll clear that up.

[jazforthesoul]

every time someone reduces CAPTAIN !!! elizabeth "lizzie" lafayette down to "a sad lesbian" a fairy dies bc i shoot it with my gun. like you're telling me you were spoon-fed a character that has one of the most realistic and RAW representations of grief and perseverance in the series and all you got from that was "she's sad" ????

is she a constantly happy character? Fuck no! that's acknowledged!! but to take EVERYTHING that she is, which has positive and negative aspects THAT ARE BOTH SHOWN, to take the fact that she is THE DRIVING FORCE OF THE MAIN BACKGROUND PLOT, and reduce her down to NOTHING but her relationships?? ?what the hell!!!

[wordsmith30]

I also just have to talk about this GIF from the training scene because it gets me every single time. It’s different from the other comfort scenes we’ve seen so far (the hug in 1×03, the “Can you feel my hand?” in Shannon’s room, and the smile in the back of the van) because Ava is just stunned.

She was starting to panic inside the wall, begging for Beatrice to “bring [her] out.” Then, when it seems she’s gotten stuck, Ava hits the ground hard and lies hunkered down on her elbows, eyes closed and just trying to catch her breath. A moment later, Beatrice’s hands are on her shoulders and Ava flinches.

Given the way Frances abused and manhandled her in the orphanage, Ava is likely expecting something similar here – for Beatrice to haul her upright and tell her to try again (or worse, lecture her on her performance). But then Beatrice is cupping her face like a child’s, comforting her, soothing her. “It’s okay,” she says. “You did it.”

And Ava just looks up at her in astonishment, like she doesn’t know what she’s seeing. She blinks, processing, as Beatrice strokes her hair, and it’s like you can see the fear leave her eyes.

Because in those words, in that gesture, is “I’ve got you”, “You’re safe”, and “You can trust me.” It’s an affirmation of faith given and faith proven – of Beatrice’s trust in Ava’s success and Ava’s trust in Bea to see her through.

“Thank you,” Ava breathes.

It’s the only thing she can say because Beatrice has come to her aid again, is taking care of her again, and that feeling is still so new and strange, and overwhelming, but it’s also the tenderest thing in the world.

Ava’s gotten a glimpse of Beatrice’s combat skills – she knows the damage she’s capable of inflicting – but in the cradle of Beatrice’s hands is the safest she’s ever been.

Beatrice will not hurt her.

(GIF credit: @avassharpe)

[poppyflavour]

Hi!

You can decide not to answer if you don't want to, and I won't absolutely judge anything, but what kind of relationship you see for the Hollow Heads?

Just curious

Tl;dr: Hollow heads are all siblings

Sorry if you meant it feelings-wise, but I used this ask to explore and put on paper some of my interpretation and story/world building

[theblacktiecacti]

jay went to clown school. let’s talk about that

[gabrielleyueerrrrr]

What led to Showdown—a character analysis

Summary:

Chosen was the one who initiated the rampages after he and Dark escaped the PC.

Dark created the Virabot in an attempt to please Chosen.

I firmly believe that the names of the hollowheads shaped their personality to some extent. The name "The Chosen One" not only bestowed god- like powers upon the black hollowhead but also a instilled a sense of responsibility, strong self-esteem, and a drive to fight for what is right.

Upon his creation, he immediately rebelled against Alan, seeing the animator as "evil" for creating and torturing stick figures just for fun. Five years of enslavement didn’t wear down his spirit, the moment the slightest opportunity arose, he broke free from his shackles and unleashed his fury upon the PC.

But even when victory was within his grasp, with his tormentor's pawn, The Dark Lord, trembling powerlessly before him, he still chose mercy.

I believe his sense of responsibility and justice wouldn’t allow him to harm someone who was already defenseless, even if that person was his enemy.

I couldn't imagine someone with such a strong moral compass initiating or even agreeing to participate in rampages on the internet purely for the sake of destruction and vengeance. A more reasonable explanation is that Chosen initiated these attacks due to a warped sense of justice. The mistreatment by his creator, the only human he ever knew, might have led him to believe that all humans are tyrants who abuse and exploit stick figures. As "The Chosen One," he felt a responsibility to fight on behalf of his own kind, believing it was his duty to deliver well-deserved punishment upon humans.

But as for Dark, he had no interest in justice whatsoever, he went along with Chosen purely for the thrill of it. Contrary to "The Chosen One", the name "The Dark Lord" weakened his sense of morality and empathy(a sociopath, in a sense). This doesn’t mean he was incapable of learning to be good or sympathetic, though. Chosen simply didn’t realize Dark's moral deficiency until it was too late.

(Or perhaps Chosen was in denial? Dark was his best friend after all)

As time passed, Chosen became more aware of the complexity of mankind. He realized that not all humans were evil, some even formed positive connections with stick figures, like building websites where they could live and work. By attacking the internet and destroying these sites, he was inadvertently harming those he wanted to protect. This made him hesitant and forced him to rethink his actions.

But Dark, he didn't care. Humans, stick figures, animations, it's all the same to him. He enjoyed causing harm and destruction, because it was fun, because he couldn't see that it was wrong.

Imagine Dark laughing joyously as he hurled fireballs at the screaming, retreating crowd of stick figures and animations,

but when he turn around he saw Chosen's shocked, horrified expression, it was as if Chosen was looking at a monster, not his best friend.

Chosen could no longer ignore the fact that Dark was betraying the very ideals he had lived by in his whole life. It became painfully clear that the noble qualities embedded in his code which he so deeply valued were absent in his best friend.

They argued, definitely, fought, maybe. Their once impregnable friendship was cracking, threatening to collapse.

And it scared Dark. Dark didn't understand why Chosen was so angry at him, but he cared about their friendship, he cared about Chosen.

And he wanted to salvage their friendship, he wanted to make Chosen happy again.

So he came up with a plan. He would create a virus so powerful the world has never seen—a virus that would paralyse the internet once and for all. After all, mankind was evil, wasn't that what Chosen always told him? Dark would give humans what they deserve, just as Chosen had always wanted. And then, surely, they could be friends again.

That’s why he eagerly presented his virabots to Chosen, like a child showing off a prized drawing to their parents.

He was certain that Chosen would be impressed, that Chosen would share in the excitement for this grand scheme of destruction.

But instead, the black hollowhead was terrified. Having already lost his trust on Dark, he immediately jumped to the worst conclusion, that Dark was going to terrorise the world including the stick figure civilisation with his virus.

(But Dark's plan never involved harming stick figures. He knew Chosen was adamantly against the idea, so why would he risk their friendship by going against Chosen?)

Dark was understandably hurt and furious at Chosen's betrayal.

It was Chosen who had fuelled his love for destruction, who inspired him to create the virus in the first place. And now, Chosen had the audacity to demand him to stop? Even going so far as to attack him to protect the very humans Chosen had once hated so much?

Was their friendship truly worth less than the properties of evil humans?

As for Chosen, the destructive power of Dark's virabot was the final proof that Dark was an irredeemable villain down to his code. Consumed by a sense of justice, Chosen attacked without mercy.

And Dark, wounded and enraged, retaliated with everything he had.

[astronnonyy]

Hey so I realized something kinda weird a while ago and I've never seen anyone else talk about it?? Ever?

I forgot to post about it for several months but we're gonna ignore that.

These two clips here are what I'm talking about (edited into one video):

(Description: The first is a clip from Animation vs Pokemon (starting at about 9:38 in the original video), in which Orange is in the middle of a Pokemon battle. They're initially fighting with a Heracross, before summoning an Ampharos. As Ampharos attacks and dodges, Orange seems to mirror it's movements. The second clip is from Animation vs Minecraft season 3 episode 26, The Warden (starting at about 7:36 in the original video). Orange and the Warden are fighting King. The Warden grabs and punches King, while Orange mirror's it's movements beside/behind it.)

It really looks to me like Orange is controlling their companion's movements, or something like that? Which seems like a strange conclusion to come to but hear me out.

With the Pokemon clip, that might just be, like, Normal Pokemon Stuff™. Pokemon are just kinda Like That sometimes, doing what their trainer (in this case Orange) tells them to do. Sometimes it seems implied that they have some kind of weird psychic connection to their trainer, so maybe I'm just looking too much into it with that one.

But the Warden clip? That's where it gets very strange to me. The Warden is a Minecraft creature, and a hostile boss mob at that. There's absolutely not a psychic connection there. Additionally, not only is Orange standing behind the Warden when it moves, but it's also completely blind and doesn't even have eyes. It couldn't see what Orange was doing even if they were right in front of it. The two of them moving in exactly the same way, at exactly the same time, when Orange has no reason to be doing those motions at that moment where they're standing, is just. Really really weird to me???

I don't really have a conclusion to this, I just think it's strange and I've never seen anyone else point this out before. Someone with a better analysis braincell please help me.

[inksandpensblog]

Four F's

As uncomfortable as this episode was to watch, there was something about Chosen's behavior in the most uncomfortable scenes that intrigued me. Not because of any hints it might give about Chosen's character, but because there was an element in these moments that I was surprised to see represented so starkly.

We all meme on Chosen for being traumatized, but this episode decided to play traumatization 100% seriously...even, I believe, going as far as to have Chosen display four of the recognized trauma responses.

Now, I say "four of" and not "the four" because sources actually disagree on how many there are, and even what they are and what to call them. Fight and Flight are the ones everyone knows about, and Freeze is getting more recognition nowadays, but there are many suggestions for what the fourth is, and some say that there are actually as many as five or six. Fawn, Friend, Flop, Flag, Fatigue, and Faint are all ones I've seen suggested, with some being different words used to describe the same phenomenon.

Throughout "The Box", it is my belief that Chosen displays the responses of Flight, Fight, Freeze, and Flop. It'll become clear why I chose Flop for the fourth one once we get there.

Chosen's first action upon realizing he's in the white chamber is to try and break out of it. This could be either Fight or Flight; if it's Flight, it's very Fight-y since he's attacking the walls, but if it's Fight, his intent is to leave the area so there's still Flight spurring him.

I considered that him simply standing there and taking Victim's opening punches without reacting might be a Freeze response, but I'm not sure he was actually that phased by what Victim was doing yet. He seems more nonplussed than anything; he doesn't dodge or block after taking Victim's hand and pushing it away the first time, his arms don't come up to defend, he isn't even in a fighting stance. At this point, the box itself- while not a threat he has the ability to combat at the time -is still a bigger threat than the random stick ineffectually hitting him for no reason he can discern.

Still, at some point he decides he's had enough of being punched, and he goes to tackle Victim. This is him fighting back, but I don't know if it counts as the Fight response because Victim isn't the source of his stress (as far as he knows), it's the box they're both in...but it could be that being in the box has put strain on Chosen's tolerance, leading him to lose patience sooner or react more aggressively than he would've otherwise, which might quality it as Fighting. Another thing that makes me unsure is that Chosen's movements during this tackle read as being very deliberate and self-controlled. He made the choice to counterattack, with awareness of himself and his actions. He isn't acting on impulse, here, this action wasn't driven by instinct.

After this, Victim starts utilizing his environmental advantage, and Chosen gets knocked around a bit. Once he realizes that getting Victim to stop isn't gonna be as easy as he thought, he decides to Fight.

...but what actually follows seems to be a blend of Flight and Freeze. Victim's attacks are too fast for Chosen to block effectively, and he's kept busy trying to keep his guard up while Victim keeps finding the weak spots he leaves open. Victim's attacks are also strong enough now that the rapid blows might be disorienting Chosen; he's constantly attempting to move away from Victim, but they're purely reactive motions that are probably involuntary. He's trying so hard to get himself situated that he's unable to attempt any counterattacks, and Victim moves fast enough that even when Chosen does get a moment of reprieve, it isn't enough time for him to find his footing.

(Brief interruption while I rag on him again for always falling for the sneak attacks. Always. Every single time. This man still has not learned to watch his back. Dark took advantage of it, Spyglasses or Shady or whatever we're calling him took advantage of it, and now Victim is too.)

He ends up cornered, which...is usually the worst position one can be in during a conflict, but apparently having something to brace himself against was all he needed, because he's able to recover enough of his wits to actually start Fighting back. (It isn't the first time he's done this, either: think back to his fight against the vira-mech in Return.)

Of course, it doesn't work, and he gets choked and thrown for his troubles, but he isn't out yet. Watch how he rolls after landing: he turns as he falls, so that his shoulder hits the ground first, and he takes the impact of every flip with his elbows, all while keeping his head from hitting the ground. He's going with the momentum of the throw, letting it carry him away from his opponent. This is tactical. He's still Fighting. When he slows to a stop, it takes little effort for him to prepare his next move.

The fire does nothing to deter Victim as he moves in to attack again, and Chosen gets knocked around a bit more. But unlike the first time he got knocked around in this fight, Chosen actually blocks and dodges this time, while still maintaining his guard, and even throws a few of his own punches.

Unfortunately, he's still unable to meet and counter all of Victim's attacks, and by this point in the fight he's exhausted enough to take the breather when the opportunity arises. But I don't believe this means he's stopped Fighting, because he only does this when there's a pause in the conflict, and he stands up of his own accord before the conflict resumes.

(Side note: either the lasso was invisible at first for some reason, or Victim started moving his arm in the twirling motion before the thing was actually in his hand, and I'm not sure what to do with either option.)

Chosen knows the lasso won't be a picnic, but his resolve to Fight doesn't diminish. (Though since his initial strategy is evasion, this could also be considered Flight until he's downed by the lasso.)

His attempt to outmaneuver the lasso with literal flight doesn't work, but even once he's been roped he's still Fighting. In an effort to loosen it from around his throat, he tries to take control of the slack by looping it over his shoulder, the same way Victim loops it around his own arms when pulling him in.

Victim's next punch sends him directly to the floor, and the combined forces of the blow and the impact of the fall (plus the aftereffects of choking right before this) seem to rattle Chosen enough to perhaps disorient him again; he slips into Flight as he tries to steady himself, moving away from Victim.

Unlike when the lasso was first brought out, the introduction of the whip causes Chosen to Freeze momentarily before pushing him deeper into Flight. He hears it crack, looks at it, looks at Victim, and then renews his attempt to crawl away. Putting distance between himself and his attacker takes precedence, even over getting his feet back under him.

This trend continues after the first strike; the impact is enough to roll him over onto his back, and instead of trying to right himself or get into a more defensible position he just continues trying to get away from Victim, scooting backwards. There's no time to roll over or get up because he can barely get his limbs out of the way in time as Victim keeps pace with him, advancing as Chosen retreats.

And then, we come to the moment that first made me realize what was happening...

...the literal Freeze. Though I suppose it could also be read as a form of Flight, since Victim can't follow him into the ice. But still, he's immobilized by fear, though not in the traditional sense, as the cause of immobility is external rather than internal. Fortunately, he's also protected until he's had time to process what's happening and determine how he wants to combat it. He has, temporarily, escaped. The ice also renders the lasso ineffective. Depending on whether you read this as Chosen quickly shifting tactics after losing his fire or purposefully misleading with fire so the shift to ice would be unanticipated, this could even be another form of Fight, one which buys himself time to recuperate.

Because when Victim attacks the ice, he bursts out in full-on Fight mode, destroying the lasso in the process. He manages to evade each of the following attacks, and the one time he's grabbed he manages to break free of the hold. But he forgets to watch his back (AGAIN!!!) and gets roped once more.

Even so, he continues to Fight, attacking Victim directly this time instead of trying to gain control over the lasso. Even his own fire being used against him isn't enough to break him out of Fighting, though afterwards he does switch back to trying to take control of the rope...and this time, he actually gets enough command over the slack to have Victim's own shuriken slice clean through it, freeing himself enough to pull his even more impressive reversed-fire attack. (And he actually closed the distance between himself and Victim before attacking, so he's definitely in Fight mode here.)

Unfortunately, this attack is also nullified, and once he's released he's exhausted again.

This is when the fourth response comes in.

Now, I hadn't realized what I was seeing, at first, so I didn't clue in to the fourth response until after it had already started. I'd wondered why he didn't try to correct his balance when Victim threw him into the chair, as even if he was too tired to resist force that was no reason to just let himself hang off the lasso like that; it would behoove him more to lean forward. So I rewound a bit, to see if I had missed anything. And I had.

He doesn't have the wherewithal to pick himself up or even move out of the way before Victim lifts him up. So his hands fly up to Victim's hold on his throat and he struggles—

and then he stops. And he's still, the whole time the chair is being placed.

For the rest of the scene, from the moment Victim moves to throw him onto the chair (and barring the one time he gives Victim his attention and his intermittent attempts to struggle whenever he thinks he has an opportunity, because bless him he's still Fighting), he's completely limp.

Is it his exhaustion? Partially, but I don't believe that's the only reason.

You see, he's actually not completely limp. If you watch, anytime there's an abrupt movement, there's a moment where he's not as loose-limbed as he could be, before he relaxes and goes even looser.

True, it might be exhaustion that pushed him to this point...but this isn't merely a lack of energy. Whether instinctual reflex or deliberate choice...this is the Flop response.

Look at how his body acts, when he is moved. Look how his limbs swing, responding to even the tiniest brush of force, as if he doesn't control them. Look how he does nothing to oppose or avoid any sort of imposition. Look how he literally Flops, without any hint of self-direction.

He's ragdolling.

Yeah, remember that short? It's a trauma-response now.

That's pretty much the end of it. Chosen ragdolls, aka Flops, for the rest of the video, except for a few brief moments that I consider to be him still Fighting. Because even when it seems like he's succumbed, he hasn't completely. He's still biding his time, staying alert for opportunities.

[splonk-fox]

The Chosen One's redemption: Why did it happen?

Since his reintroduction within the world of Animator vs. Animation within its second season, one of the most interesting characters that this series has to offer, at least in my opinion, is The Chosen One.

Introduced intially as an antagonistic force to the Animator/Alan. Despite having minimal appearances overall, The Chosen One has had a massive impact on the plot overall. Due to being the one to destroy Alan's computer and forcing him to get a new one, which inadvertedly lead to the creation of The Second Coming.

All things considered, you can thank The Chosen One for pretty much the entire series going forward, even if indirectly. With all that said though, there's one thing that's always been somewhat bothering me about his character, and it's something that I wanted to explore roday. With that thing being his redemption.

Now on the surface, there doesn't really seem like there's much to discuss in the way of Chosen's change of heart. He disliked what The Dark Lord was doing, do he decided to stop him, pretty simple right? Well... that's where things get complicated, and it all comes down to The Chosen One's vague moral code.

The Chosen One, the moment he was created, was a beast of mass destruction. He immediately started attacking Alan and causing havoc around his PC, and unlike victim that came beforehand, this wasn't instigated by Alan attempting to kill him. He was just given life and decided he wanted to destroy shit. And that's how he was for at least the first episode. He was incredibly destructive and uncontrollable. Why exactly? Well it's strongly implied that it comes with the name, judging by Alan's interaction with progammer021 on AIM.

It seems that in this world, naming your stick figure "The Chosen One" instantly turns them into lethal weapons. Because of this, you could almost say that The Chosen One was simply an amoral program who destroyed because it was part of his nature. As a matter of fact, analyzing his behavior in his debut episode he almost acts like that of a wild animal. Tearing up documents and destroying programs with no real rhyme or reason, and defending himself against anyone who would try to stop him.

In Animator vs. Animation 2 though, things become a lot more interesting. As this episode starts to give The Chosen One more dimension, he starts acting less like a feral creature, and more like a person who's been caged, enslaved if you will, and is yearning for release.

Following The Chosen One managing to release himself from Alan's grip. He continues his rampage from several years ago. Though this one noticeably feels more spiteful. While his first attack upon his awakening seems more like he was simply destroying things because of his nature, here it feels a lot more targetted at Alan, which makes sense considering he obviously hates the guy's guts for what he did to him. That isn't to say he doesn't still exhibit old traits though. He still does a lot of things in this episode that come off as somewhat childish in nature, such as eating Alan's required essay Pac-Man style.

However, the biggest thing I believe that this episode shows isn't the fact that The Chosen One is more humanlike than we might initially give him credit for, but rather the fact also shows that he has agency. Morals even, and there's no better show of that, than with his alliance with The Dark Lord.

The Chosen One's friendship with The Dark Lord is a weird one. Cause all things considered he had no reason to even want to ally with him. They had been enemies up until that point and it would've been more beneficial for him to just kill him off right then and there. But he didn't. Instead, he offered an alliance, for the two of them to team up and rise against their oppressive creator. This, to me, shows that even in the early days, The Chosen One was more than just a stick figure of mass destruction, he was a person, and that all leads back to the main topic of this post, his redemption.

The Chosen One's redemption has always been a weird one to me. The main reason being that we aren't actually given an explanation for why he changed. Yes, we know that he didn't approve of Dark's actions, and that's a big reason for why he redeemed himself. But what exactly about his actions did he not approve of? It can't of been the sheer fact that he was causing destruction or endangerig lives because well... The Chosen One had already been doing that, years before his redemption

As a matter of fact, The Chosen One was the whole reason The Dark Lord became a villain in the first place. So if not for the sheer fact of Dark putting innocents at risk being the reason he decided to change his ways, then what was it? Well I believe there are two likely explanations for what caused this change.

The first is the one that a good majority of the Animator vs. Animation fanbase believe to be the most likely of them, and that is that The Chosen One has standards against harming his own kind.

Now there's actually a lot to support this theory. The biggest one being when Chosen imagines what would happen if Dark released the ViraBots onto the internet.

Many have pointed out that in this vision, Chosen only imagined stick figures running away from Dark's entourage, and how that's what caused him to put his foot down. There's also the fact that the moment Chosen starts having second thoughts, is when they start attacking Newgrounds, a place populated by stick figures.

Hell there was even evidence of this before his redemption. All the way back in Animator vs. Animation 3, Chosen chose to spare Dark and become friends with him. This would make a whole lot of sense if we look at this through the lens of Chosen not liking the idea of hurting his own kind.

There is... one pause I have with his however. And that is with the fact that The Chosen One, doesn't seem to just object killing fellow stick figures. Going back to the Newgrounds flashback, the last shot we see before we fast forward to present day shows The Dark Lord holding the Tankman by the neck while Chosen pleads for him to stop. Tankman isn't a stick figure, so going by the logic that he only takes issue with him hurting other stick figures, why would he care about this? Well you could argue that maybe him seeing what Dark was doing to other stick figures gave him a wake up call and made him realize that them hurting other programs was wrong, but I believe there is another possible explanation for this.

Explanation two: The Chosen One was never meant to be a villain. Let me ask you a question, were you born believing that you had a specific purpose, a specific reason to exist, and you spent most of your life thinking that's what you wanted, only to realize overtime how unfulfilled it made you feel? Well I believe that The Chosen One might just be experencing this exact thing

The Chosen One, since his very first days, was a destructive monster. He destroys things, he wreaked havoc, and there was seemingly no way to control him. Though beyond that he was also an incredibly young stick figure, one that, as noted above, acted rather childish. However, by the time of Animator vs. Animation season 2, which going by the date displayed on Alan's computer, took place in 2018, The Chosen One would've been around eleven years old. That's more than a decade of doing the same thing, and it's clear that it took its toll on him.

In his official reintroduction to the series, The Chosen One is noticeably colder than he was when we last saw him. He completely ignored the praise he was receiving from the other sticks, and at no point do we see him getting up to any sort of childish antics. He feels a lot more mature here, like a stick figure who has grown a lot since his creation.

So considering his clear change in personality, would it be crazy to assume that perhaps his enjoyment in destructive habits did to?

The Chosen One is one of the oldest stick figures in this series, and in that time it seems like he spent most of his life doing the same thing, destroying.

So, assuming that the Newgrounds raid happened not too long before his confrontation with Dark. Perhaps The Chosen One was feeling a sense of emotional dissatisfaction. Looking at the inital shot, it does kind of come off that way, with how his hands are slowly extinguishing of their flames as he watches over the destruction. Perhaps in that moment, he realized he wasn't enjoying it anymore, as a matter of fact, he might've even felt guilty about it, if him pleading for Dark to release the Tankman is anything to go by. Really in a broader sense, I think The Chosen One, kind of had a moment of self-reflection. He finally let the years catch up to him and it made him realize how emotionally unfulfilled he was.

After all, he isn't just some amoral beast, he's a stick figure. A stick figure with its own agency. And we know for a fact that stick figures in this series possess almost humanlike intelligence, so is it bold to assume that, in the decade he's been doing the same thing, he didn't feel satisfied anymore? In my opinion, I think that's a possibility.

To take this a step forward, I might even go as far as to to argue that The Chosen One was never meant for destruction in the first place. Yes, he was born a monster, but that doesn't necessarily mean he meant to be one. As early as the third episode of the series, The Chosen One already showed to be a lot more human than we may have initally suspected, he has already shown to be capable of mercy and kindness, even when he was this supposedly ruthless villain.

Let's take a look at Chosen's name for a moment. "The Chosen One", what does it mean? Well according to wikipedia a Chosen One is "a narrative trope where one character, usually the protagonist, is framed as the inevitable hero or antihero of the story, as a result of destiny" now I dunno about you, but this sounds pretty similar to the character journey that The Chosen One underwent. He may have started out a villain, but through destiny (in this case The Dark Lord's full descent into villainy), he became the hero of the story. Maybe, this had been his true purpose from the start.

Hell, let's dive even deeper into this idea. Who is The Chosen One's archnemesis? The Dark Lord, and what does Dark Lord mean in fiction? well, looking at wikipedia again, a Dark Lord is "an antagonistic archetype, acting as the pinnacle of villainy and evil within a typically heroic narrative." which I dunno about you, but that sounds pretty fitting considering that The Dark Lord is by far the most evil antagonist this series has ever seen and one of the few who hasn't redeemed in some way. I should also mention that, even before The Dark Lord joined The Chosen One, he was fighting on the side of Alan, someone who, at this point in this series, was arguably the main villain. He created a stick figure just so he could torture and kill them and enslaved The Chosen One for four years. Sure Chosen kinda had that one coming, but even then Alan had no reason to be that cruel to him when he could've just killed him or kept him contained. But instead he decided to use him, like an object, that doesn't really sound like a hero to me. Not to mention that Alan was literally the one who gave The Dark Lord his name. All things considered, you could almost consider Chosen the hero in that scenario for trying to destroy his creator. Which kind of loops back to my original point, that The Chosen One wasn't meant to be a villain. Even in the beginning he was meant to be a hero, even if he didn't realize it. Which is why he ultimately left his past as a villain behind, because it was a life that was never made for him, a life that only provided a temporary sense of satisfcation. Meanwhile The Dark Lord, someone who's name alone means to be the worst of the worst, would become an irredeemable monster who The Chosen One, as the inevitable hero decided by destiny, would have to stop.

Oh, and one last thing that goes to support this theory, ya know The Second Coming? Well if you remember, he was meant to be The Chosen One's reincarnation, his return. So isn't it convenient that he is possibly the most heroic character in the series? And that's not mentioning the fact that he started with the same roots that Chosen did. A rogue stick figure who fought against Alan before redeeming himself. Keep in mind, The Second Coming only exists because of The Chosen One's actions. So all things considered... maybe his redemption was a lot more inevitable than any of us first thought.

On that note, I think that's me for today, thank you all for taking valuable time out of your day to read this analysis, I greatly appreciate it. Here's hoping that more come in the future

[nohasslecastle]

As much as I love spreading the "Sister Beatrice top agenda", I do not think Beatrice would behave anywhere near confident on her first time with Ava.

First of all, it's my headcanon that before Beatrice became a nun she didn't actually get to live or experience a lot, so everything she could have learned in her teenage years, she actually didn't, because her parents were too strict, and she was just too afraid to stand up against them.

Her parents sent her to that boarding school probably because at some point she admitted she had romantic feelings for one of her friends, but that was it, Beatrice is oblivious to love, and relationships, and, of course, to sex.

Add that to the fact that Beatrice is a perfectionist, with a great fear of failure, a control freak that gets overwhelmed when she feels she can't handle the results of any given situation she's involved with... Beatrice doesn't quite know how she should behave around Ava, and the not knowing... that terrifies her.

It's not that she's worried Ava would make fun of her, of course, she would never. But there's just something inherently annoying about not being able to BE good at something, specially when the only way to learn 'that something' is... actually doing it. But, will she be able to be good enough for her? Will she be able to be what she thinks Ava deserves?

When Ava comes back, Beatrice doesn't immediately kiss her, she doesn't jump into a relationship with Ava and certainly she doesn't jump straight to bed with her, simply because she has absolutely no idea how to do it without making it weird. So, of course, their comeback kiss is started by Ava, their "what are we?" conversation is started by Ava, and their first time... guess what? Also started by Ava.

I picture this: after the re-encounter they didn't have much time to talk about what had happened between them, they were once again in survival mode and it's only one day after a big fight that they finally and unintentionally find themselves alone. Everything that happened is weightening on Beatrice and she's pretty much gay panicking every time Ava gets too close to her.

It's not that she doesn't want her, on the contrary she wants her so much she's overwhelmed by a feeling she had never felt before, or at least, not in a very long time and certainly not with enough maturity to understand it. When they last kissed it was a life or death situation, now they are just staring into each other's eyes, something clearly in the air, but everytime she tries to say anything, something holds her back.

Ava tries to give her space. Ava is everything that Beatrice is not. She's reckless, and a risk taker, and if she fails so what? she tries again. However, Ava is aware she closed a line last time... not only on Beatrice's vows but on a restriction she had put on herself. Ava is trying to make things right and Beatrice knows it but at the same time she's begging, begging, Ava to push her, because that's how they work right?

At some point the silence becomes too unbearable and Beatrice is frustrated. She hates that she can't be as resolved as she is in most of her activities and Ava is... kind of having fun at it, looking at the perfect sister Beatrice losing her shit it's fun, it's so unlike her it's amusing.

Ava is laughing and that only makes Beatrice's frustration grow. At some point Beatrice apologizes to Ava "I'm sorry, I really don't know what I'm doing and I hate it" and that's Ava's cue to do what she always does... push her a bit, give her courage. Ava walks slowy towards her "I don't need you to be an expert at this, Bea" she takes Beatrice's hands into hers "remember what I told you before I left? You don't need to be so perfect all the time." She lifts her hand to Bea's cheek and Bea gulps. She watches Bea lean into her touch, close her eyes, she brings her other hand to her chest and she can feel how fast her heart is beating "I only need you to be yourself." She says. And Bea opens her eyes and looks at her.

Ava leans close to her, slowly, giving her time to adjust to the intrusion and when she's a breath from her lips she whispers "can I kiss you again?", looking at her eyes again waiting for an answer. Beatrice would simply nod because, let's be honest, that woman is incapable to form a simple thought when Ava is *that* close to her.

And when they kiss... it's shy, and it's tame, and honestly, Beatrice doesn't know what to do with her hands. Ava would guide them, maybe to her hips "you can touch me" she would state. Ava would open her mouth, begging for *more*, she would let Bea's hair down, touch her shoulders, then her chest, she would find that first button and unpop it. Bea would startle at that, only for a moment, only because she isn't used to it, but looking at Ava, with her lips swollen, panting, big eyes... she would push that thought aside. She would kiss her again and this time she would allow herself to touch Ava, gently, but more determined.

Ava would start walking backwards, as if saying "take me to bed" and Bea would walk slowly before her, with her eyes closed, trying to focus only on Ava's lips because maybe that way she would be able to shut up all the insecurities. They would stumble on their way to the bed and Bea would try to say "I'm sorry" while Ava would put a finger on her lips and just laugh, and say a terrible pun to her. Being there Bea would doubt until she doesn't anymore, until she stops thinking and Ava becomes the only thing she's worried at.

[karimationkat]

Ages are a weird thing in alan becker stickverse.

I can accept that the hollow heads are immortal and that the fight site gang don't age because of them being bound to a site where they can respawn. But Purple, Purple is always a weird case. Somehow got to an Apple Computer, even in AvLoL somehow got to Alan's PC but couldn't find their way to the nether portal in avm season 3 real time. Another weird thing is the aging.

Purple first debuted in avm 8 which was published June 2018. Now, we know that Outernet sticks age and grow. Purple is a Outernet stick, at least from what we know and their parent's grave and avm season 3 takes place in June 2021. So 3 years passed. Purple didn't change physically at all. Purple has been the same height. We don't know much about the sticks anatomy and biology but it seems to be very similar to that of humans. People usually grow a lot/fast till the age of 15-18, this is round about the age range we have for Purple in their first appearance.

What we also know is that Purple is just as tall as/taller then their parents. This was before of their debut. If we now add the 3 years so that we're up to date with Purples latest appearances, we would get an age range of 17-21.

Now, what confuses me is how KO/MT sees Purple as the same as Gold. This either means that Purple just looks very young or is the same age as Gold. But Gold couldn't be a legal adult, since KO/MT had to sign that waver in avm ep 30 flashback. Plus Gold is shorter than KO/MT (if we assume that Gold inherited the tall genes from KO/MT).

In short: I'm trying to figure out the age of a stickfigure based on their height.....

Spoiler alert: There are no set ages and it's hard to set one since barely have any references besides Alan commenting at one point that the CG would be like 12 year old children AND ISN'T NOT HELPING.

[d8tl55c]

(it's about the livestream screenshots again) was watching ava 1 and 4 again for research purposes

huh wasn't that other sketch...

hmmmmmm

[analogoose]

Been thinking about this scene a lot. How it echoes their conversation from before.

A response. A solution to what Beatrice told her. Ava, who was so against dying—because death is not a reward, just an empty chasm that renders everything meaningless—now prepared to lay down her life if it means Beatrice gets to rest, if it means that the war inside Beatrice’s head will stop.

Beatrice, who is bound by duty but finds her heart pulled in another direction. Who might want to run with Ava but can’t. She’s a Sister Warrior. Her duty is to the Halo and its Bearer. So she will tell Ava to run, because that is the best way to protect her. To protect the mission.  Because that is the only way both of her goals align. As long as the Halo remains safe, so does Ava.

But it also means that she can’t join Ava. Her Sisters are dying. She has a duty to the Order. To her mission (protect the Halo, protect Ava) and so she will watch over from afar. She may not be ready, but she is prepared.  

But Ava is not. Ava, who will not leave unless Beatrice is by her side. If she runs, Beatrice will run herself ragged, spending every waking minute to keep everyone safe. Beatrice, who will never get a chance to live her life because she spent that time making sure Ava could live. And Ava doesn’t want that. Not unless they do it together.

So Ava chooses. Chooses the mission for Beatrice. Breaks away first, obscures her true plan until the very last minute. (But Beatrice still finds her. Beatrice, who will always follow Ava. Always by her side until the very end.)

To be a Halo Bearer is to be a martyr. Ava rejected this fate until the very end. And even after that. Choosing to go into the portal, choosing to be separated from Beatrice so that they may both live.

Since the very beginning, Ava knows she has been living on borrowed time. But god damn it, she’s going to steal as much of it as she can.

Ava chooses to go through the Arc and Beatrice chooses to let her go. Both strengthened by their faith in the other, because they will always find their way back to each other.

Ava has never gone somewhere that’s kept Beatrice from following. Even now.

[wordsmith30]

Another important thing I noticed in the scene where Beatrice goes to check on Ava is that she’s surprisingly open right off the bat. Honest. 

She tells Ava about her parents to try and bond with her – that they’re Conservative English diplomats who sent her away to Catholic boarding school. She even admits to starting the “Cruella de Jesus” nickname for Mother Superion, hinting at her more playful and mischievous side (the side we rarely get to see).

But when Ava (rightfully) guesses that there’s more to the story, Beatrice moves up onto the step behind her, out of the light. Though she admits that Ava’s right, it does come across as a bit of a retreat.

It’s like she thinks that if she hides, Ava won’t be able to gauge her secret. Won’t be able to read it in her expression. It’s a very subtle way of showing that that’s still a touchy subject and she’s not ready to talk about it yet.

But at the same time, there’s a tenderness in that moment as Beatrice is also moving closer to her, leaning against the wall just by Ava’s head. It makes it so that Ava has to look up at her, and Beatrice smiles.

Just goes to show that Beatrice was the first real friend she made at the convent.

[chorda-tendinea]

a theory on the ava shorts s2 teaser

ok so. obviously this will contain spoilers for the teaser so please go watch it before reading!!

so. y'all know this shot of chosen being drawn at the beginning, interspersed by a bunch of scenes from ava5?

^^ this one. (apologies for the bad screenshot)

well. that's not chosen.

pictured above, chosen as they appear at the beginning of ava2. note their pose (with arms and legs sorta curved inward) and their thicker lineart.

and pictured below, victim in ava1, in the exact same pose as the trailer (notably, the arm on the left is curved while all other limbs are straight).

so!!! this is about to have some very interesting implications for the new season huh (i.e. victim's not actually dead and we were right)