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inksandpensblog · 6 months

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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.

#did I headcanon that Chosen would ragdoll as a trauma-response during his time with noogai? yes #did I want that headcanon to be validated by him actually ragdolling as a trauma-response in canon? no #animator vs animation #ava the chosen one #ava tco #ava the box #ava 6 #analysis #this took three hours to compose

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