cain--complexed

[cain--complexed]

a mildly comprehensive post about cain complex

(this story contains pretty heavy themes but I will try to keep it vague for the sake of this post. if you'd like content warnings please check the tags! these are serious topics, please treat them as such.)

tldr: cain complex is a story about shrike vicario, someone who is still dealing with the after-effects of a heavily abusive childhood + young adulthood, after his abuser's sudden death by his hands, attempts to reintegrate himself back into society but finds the only way she knows how is via shady illegal means.

character descriptions below cut, if you are curious about the setting itself and the other stories that take place, please check out the carrd.

SHRIKE CAIN VICARIO - genderfluid man-adjacent thing (he/she/they/it) - 36 years old - Luciferian Chimera

Shrike is extremely quiet and reserved, seldom speaking unless it's called for. He comes across as very...Strange. He was raised in rural West Virginia, his father was a game hunter, and his mother too affected by postpartum psychosis to work. He is the younger of two siblings, his oldest sister is Cyta and his older brother's name is unimportant. His birth was completely accidental which led to a feeling of contempt from his parents.

Believe it or not, Shrike as a child was very meek and scrawny, not hitting that 'Luciferian growth spurt' that most children in his species type did. which, among many other things, made him a target for bullying by his peers, which caused him to drop out of school in just 1st grade and become heavily dependent on his siblings. He has never returned to school since.

As he grew into a teenager, his brother took on the 'role' so to speak of his primary abuser. Isolating him from the world at large. Due to this, he became emotionally, mentally, and physically stunted. As he matured, he began to rebel and would sneak out while his brother was at work to meet up with friends in the neighboring cities. Interacting with others like Ikurou made him start to see his brother for what he truly was - his abuser. One day, after a large explosive fight, Shrike killed his brother. Shrike's sister assisted him in covering up the murder as an accident. With that, he fled his old home to start his new life with his wife, Annette, and their son and is trying to pick up where he left off in developing his social skills. He operates a business under the label of a butcher but his real professional entails several dirty, illegal jobs.

ANNETTE MARY-ANN VICARIO - cis woman (she/her) - 38 years old - Human

Annette was born to two hoarders in Kentucky. Living In a trailer on a large patch of land, due to the sheer amount of stuff in her parent's house she really had no room to live comfortably. So she found herself escaping to the houses of her cousins (Plural, she has so many cousins.) She really has no possessions of her own, just her childhood cat and a backpack of things she hauled around with her everywhere, so she developed a habit of stealing from everywhere she went. The cops in that area were very well acquainted with her even as a teen.

As she grew up, she dropped out of high school. Feeling nothing but contempt towards the system she decided she did not care to partake and began stealing things to make ends meet. She would steal car parts, possessions, anything. Then she was drafted into the escorting business where she remained for a good number of years right up until she and Shrike decided to get married. She still has a habit of stealing to this day.

Annette cannot hold a job for the life of her. She bounces between new ones constantly because she impulse quits or gets fired because she's got a good awful work ethic.

IKUROU STEELE - cis man (he/him) - 39 years old - White Oni

A lot of Ikurou's childhood he downright refuses to elaborate on, but many signs indicate it was far from perfect if not downright harrowing. All most people know is that he was born in Indiana. He was a volatile teenager, lashing out at almost everyone around him and getting in deep shit with the law before he was only 16. Around 18, Ikurou dropped out of school entirely and cut contact with his parents. Being a skilled bassist he played a lot of shitty local shows to scrounge up enough cash to get his own dingy apartment but at these local shows, he was scouted by another musician - Ismael. He wanted Ikurou in his new, up-and-coming band. The two proceeded to form a long-standing toxic co-dependent friendship that was sure to lead to mutual destruction. Ismael got Ikurou hooked on several substances, namely cocaine.

After a few long years of harsh stress from Ismael and using Ikurou as a personal attack dog. Pushing him so hard he'd play until his fingers would bleed on stage. It lead to Ikurou finally snapping and freaking out which Ismael kickstarted a domino effect that lead to his freakout being heavily publicized, resulting in an industry-wide blacklist. It left him jobless and to top it all off he was evicted from his apartment and became homeless. In one last act of desperation, he called some of the few people he knew before he made it big and that was Shrike and Annette.

As of now, Ikurou lives in Shrike's basement bedroom as he attends rehab, deadset on bettering himself. His main goal is to finish rehab and get a job so he can finally get a cat.

KASVI AO - trans woman (she/her) - 36 years old - Angel

Unlike the rest of the cast, Kasvi had a very loving upbringing. Born to two loving parents who were immigrants from Las Paradeisos who settled down in Upper middle-class Ohio. Nothing horribly eventful happened to her as far as she can remember - That was until her father was diagnosed with brain cancer, the severity missed several times over by his doctors resulting in a life expectancy of 2 months. As she visited her father in hospice she made a promise to him that she'd carry out her dream to be a teacher just like he was.

As Kasvi started attending college, she grew into a social butterfly of sorts. Big into parties, making lots of friends, and even had a few boyfriends here and there...But when she was just about ready to graduate, she got involved with another man who she split from after just around 2 months due to his massive array of red flags that popped up as their relationship progressed. Little did she know that after their breakup he became deeply infatuated with her to the point of obsession and began to relentlessly stalk her. After his obsession peaked, he attacked her in her home. The attack was so brutal she lost a wing and an arm, the other wing becoming non-functional due to trauma, leaving her unable to fly. She was thankfully found after her attacker fled the scene which resulted in her survival however she was now disfigured and became deathly afraid of the world around her.

With the resounding support she had gotten from others, especially her friends, her coworkers, and her family, she decided after years of staying inside she wanted to finally get out there. Kasvi's attacker was put to death after he murdered & attacked a string of other women, Kasvi herself was present at his execution, and seeing him finally die cemented that she was no longer afraid. She now is back working full time and involves herself heavily with Ikurou. They sleep together often but insist they are 'just friends'.

SIDE CHARACTER TIME (keeping these short)

Cyta Dolores Vicario - cis woman (she/her) - 41 years old - Luciferian Chimera

Shrike's eldest sister. She is wracked with unspeakable amounts of grief. Turning to religion and painkillers to cope with the tragedy that was her family and how she couldn't do anything to stop it despite being just a child herself. Believes her primary worth is taking care of others. Vacillator love style. Many, many ex-lovers.

Ismael Jacob Desdemona - cis man (he/him) - 33 years old - Vampire-Incubus hybrid

A self-absorbed dickhead. Portrays a loveable, quirky e-boy persona to his many fans but in reality, a silver-tongued manipulator with the media and his bandmates wrapped around his finger. His parents are industry veterans meaning he is a nepo baby who was spoiled rotten his entire life. Hooked on lots of party drugs and is a chronic sex addict but believes it'll never catch up to him because 'Rockstars never die!'. God should kill him.

Beryl Eve Locke - cis woman (she/her) - 42 years old - Sparkle Demon

A long-time friend of Cyta. Spiraled into drugs and harmful sex work after Cyta was forced to move for college and just recently managed to crawl her way out. Lives with Cyta as she's terrified of the outside world. Met Ikurou in rehab and is like a 2nd older sister to Shrike.

Maxwell Vicario - dumbass Fortnite baby (he/him) - 10 years old - Cambion

Shrike and Annette's son. Despite who he was raised by he has had a very loving childhood so far. Every person in his life is dedicated to making sure Maxwell has a proper, fun childhood like they never did. He fucking LOVES Pokemon dude.

Everyone is FUCKED UP in some sort of way, yet they all love each other very much. except for Ismael fuck that guy #Ismaelisoverparty. Expect some more of these for my other stories. Much less text-heavy because a good few only have a small main cast. Thank you for reading! I would love to continue doing lore dumps like this. asks are also appreciated if you feel like it 👍

[cain--complexed]

concept art for a lovely fleshy lady of mine

[cain--complexed]

pause. shrike-posting time.

[cain--complexed]

Polar City World Basics

i suppose i should give a quick rundown on the general setting...to preface this, i'm aware there may be some fallacies in how my world operates and stuff. I'm not very smart - so bare with me! also I know this is cringe. I know.

quickest tl;dr - this is a world where monsters and humans inhabit the world together in (supposed) harmony. While there are many fantasy elements at play, the main focus of these stories is typically grounded in reality and based on the human experience. while these characters may be some fantastical race like an angel or demon, they are just another person trying to survive in a dog-eat-dog world.

longer stuff under the cut!

why is it called polar city? i don't know I named it this when I was like 12 and I kinda don't wanna change it ever. (yes. I've been working on this shit since I was in elementary school. isn't that scary? I'm sure you can sense some of the elementary school vi edge in there somewhere.)

Anyway, here are some regions to get us started I guess

TERRA or Earth is the surface world where people like you and I live. The Earth's surface! It's very rich in biodiversity, and magic-centric areas are pretty common, especially when they are home to races that practice high forms of magic (like elves or something). Honestly, pretty basic...

LOS PARADEISOS or Heaven is a large city on an archipelago of cloud-based islands, constantly moving as the clouds make their way around the Earth's atmosphere. Los Paradeisos is not a state of the afterlife but a resting place for all things Divine. Many Gods have stationed themselves up in the clouds to conduct business, and many have been cast out. The culture is largely described as ‘carefree’ and ‘artsy’. Murals, statues and fountains litter any city you may visit in the large archipelago. Their artistic scene thrives, yet a good handful of Divinians aren’t very keen on the working life some below may have, while other places may view Divinians as a bunch of hedonistic slackers.

URBIS INCENDIO or Hell is a large city far below the earth's crust in nested in several large caverns. The ever-burning city is surrounded by steep crags, lava springs, and molten rivers. Grand and industrial/gothic in its architecture, this is the place where many Luciferian monsters are born. The scorching heat may be enough to drive the average Terra-Dweller away. The city is layered, with a subway system that goes down and up. 9 layers - or 9 circles. Most Luciferians work cut-throat office jobs, as a strict work ethic is something most people there hold in very high regard. In exchange for strict working lives, the Luciferian nightlife scene is...Intense. Lots of clubs, casinos and adult-oriented places.

Also, there is no real 'beef' between Luciferians and Divinians. At most, think of it as cities with rival sports teams. And remember! There is no “Good” species in Polar City. Angels can be deceitful and treacherous, while Demons can be kind and polite - so on, so forth.

thats the basics i guess? if you have questions, feel free to ask; you know the drill.

[cain--complexed]

꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦ . ꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦ . ꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦

hi, i'm vi. this is my oc-centric blog. ☆ my main art account is @butcher--bird ! ☆ she/it/they ☆ 20 yrs old

please note that my projects do not shy away from very upsetting, disturbing, and distressing topics. please consume my work responsibly. ☆ people who sexualize traumatic things/violence will be blocked on sight. ☆ please keep overly sexual comments about my characters to yourself.

꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦ . ꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦ . ꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦

Polar City is the world all this mainly takes place in! you can read about it here.

the carrd ☆ the toyhouse world ☆ lore tag

꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦ . ꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦ . ꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦

Here are my current stories! Listed in the order i work on the most.

⤷ Cain Complex - About a man beaten down by life, now tries to cope with the sudden death of his abuser, who held him captive for nearly 3 decades, as he tries to reintegrate himself back into society with the only skills he knows that may or may not be morally bankrupt.

⤷ Technostress - A mentally unwell man tries to grapple with a terrible mix of internet addiction and mental illness with copious self-destructive behaviors. Little do they know that an internet-based entity is feeding off their misery and making their life worse for her own amusement.

⤷ Red Thread - A cryptozoology and paranormal enthusiast becomes dedicated to travelling the Americas to prove the existence of various cryptids and urban legends.

⤷ American Idiots - Focused on the 'next gen' of the Cain Complex cast, a group of monster teenagers try to navigate growing up as outcasts in the current year.

⤷ Hotel California - In a rural town in California, multiple reports of missing persons have been springing up in and around a shoddy abandoned hotel. A private investigator is sent to investigate. He finds himself being tailed by the god of death, who is looking into this herself. 

⤷ Vampire Church - a meek vampire woman who was the first victim of the prolific “Father Of Vampires”. She finds herself wrapped up in his shenanigans after he desires to be closer to her, calling her his ‘sacrificial lamb’. Little does she know, he is a cultist. Leader of a sect full of Sex and Death, where only his favorites will end up being infected like she was over a century ago.

⤷ Bitchcraft - A collective storyline that follows the lives of a handful of the state of Flordia’s best witches and their experiences that follow, All teachers or staff at a school for young children with magical capabilities.

꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦ . ꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦ . ꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦

have a character you like? feel free to send an ask about them! ☆ occasionally I post about characters who are not mine, but belong to this world / are relevant to certain stories.