#admittedly the Vasilisa fairy tale is a very versatile one it looked like

[camping-with-monsters]

Oh goodness, how peculiar of a fate for Vasilisa the Unfairly to undergo…

Once a rather simple young girl living under some unfortunate circumstances with an estranged family, Vasilisa was living typically. Along with her she carried a comforting character in a doll she was granted ownership to many years ago before she entered her new life with a new, yet rotten old family. We’d want to hope for an outcome that Vasilisa could have triumphed through and gave them what they had coming, but that outcome was not meant to be in this retelling. The wooden doll was spoken to be a charm, and should she ever depart with it, she would become vulnerable. Most would have laughed if they knew of such thing. But Vasilisa truly believed in the idea. But after an order from her kindred not of her blood, several wrong turns and a misstep left the girl and doll on separate paths by mistake. And the mushrooms of “The Spotlight” took the opportunity to claim the victim with the unfair advantage when the chance was presented, and thus, the girl with all the unfair outcomes piled onto her was left in an even more unfair and ragged state of zombified-like mindlessness, carrying the weight of an assumed horrible form…

Though one may mistake this unfortunate end to be death, Vasilisa is not all gone. How else could the parasites have a host if their host had not at least a little bit of life still burning inside? She’s merely only half-dead. Enough of her life essence remains within the form, but she’s left with quite the protrusions nowadays in an extra arm and what certainly looks like a second head taking on some kind of skull-faced mushroom imagery. Alas (or maybe thankfully) it’s not quite its own thing. Vasilisa seems to be able to maneuver the protrusions as if they were natural to her own body, the growths having just a sliver of personal control. Perhaps those mycelium veins and her own spinal cord intertwined close enough to give her free movement. So even though her body’s weighted over and she mostly walks with a limp saunter, and her voice sounds babbled and incoherent, it’s at least safe to say that she’s become used to this and isn’t suffering. Having surprisingly gotten used to this, she’s found ways to fit in, including even discovering the fiery glow of her own mushrooms.

As for what this means for the strangely Stringmates, narrowly escaping their own dance with death in The Spotlight has captured the interest of Vasilisa’s fungal instincts. Though she doesn’t seem to come off any friendlier than the rest of the aggression they experience there. She’s just as close as the rest of them, it appears. So despite everything, she’s just another assumed obstacle in the way of the Fruit of Rebirth, more adamant than the rest of The Spotlight to bring this trio of disturbance to the ground to decompose with the woods. At least, that’s the easiest conclusion to come to. Perhaps there’s still a chance that isn’t the case. In fact, it’s possible something the Stringmates have been looking for is closer than they realize…

And maybe… something someone else has been looking for, too…

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HUGE thanks to @pazam for helping pitch this character idea when I was bringing up a potential concept!! I know I’ve posted her before, but here’s the official reference and bio!

She has 2 refs cause I made one to visualize what it looks like when she uses her glowing abilities. Also she does kinda have a problem with her face leaking a lot like snot, spit and tears. It doesn’t hurt her or bother her too badly, sometimes she doesn’t even notice. Maybe spare hee a handkerchief…? Might do the trick.