#vark (ram)

[randomly--accessed--memories]

After the other Vees get Vox back from the hotel, they give him significantly more freedom of mobility than he used to have. He’s not supposed to leave the tower unaccompanied for his own safety, but he can move around the tower itself freely and will go on outings with Val and Vel on occasion. All of Hell knows he’s alive now, and he’s stabilized significantly since his stay at the hotel, so there’s no point in keeping him locked up anymore.

Vark is a huge help whenever they go out. He keeps Vox from wandering off, helps ground him in the moment, and serves as a pretty effective deterrent to prevent anyone from approaching them uninvited. Vox might start picking up responsibilities around the tower too, eventually. Depending on how stable Vox becomes, Velvette may even find/create a show for him to host that matches his new, spontaneous, high-energy style of presenting. Having a job to do makes him happy.

[redladydeath]

Would Vox ever be like genuinely really happy with the Vees even on his less good attention/memory days? He may not know what's going on but it doesn't stop him from having fun/enjoying himself? Maybe discovering Vark over and over again, experiencing the joy of finding out you have a pet that's both of the animals you like so much. How would Vel and Val feel about that

Yes. Those are the times when all the work they put in actually feels like it matters. It’s often very bittersweet, but seeing that Vox is still capable of enjoying life sometimes means that there’s a point to this arduous, never-ending journey. Even if he’s not going to get better, he can still be happy, and that’s a goal that’s actually within their reach.

[tremendouskoalachild]

“We have you surrounded, Scarlet Skulls!” Vark bellowed, striding through the cloud. Ram suppressed a groan. This guy even had a voice amplifier built into his gas mask. “Your only hope is surrender!” Tep Tep poked her head out and said in a singsong, “Come quietly and I’ll grant you a swift and painless death!” Vark carried on. “Come quietly and I’ll—Hey!”

- Escape from Valo, chapter 30

i may have said this before but i fucking love Tep Tep.

[voxuli]

Sometimes even nothing to work with could be something. Once Vox gets past the initial shock of seeing his husband, he remembers who Al is. He had learned, slowly and oft through trial and error, that sometimes what Alastor didn't say was just as important as what he did. Sometimes even moreso.

Vox takes note of a few factors in his RAM: one is the fact that Alastor's response is lacking in bite. No teasing him for stupid questions, no disdain for the goofy, slobbering animal between them (he strongly suspects that if they had ever agreed on getting a pet, it wouldn't have been anything like Vark). The other is the glimmer of light caught by Alastor's ring when he gestures.

Vox is not entirely sure what this means, exactly. Not yet. But he is certain it means Alastor didn't come looking for a fight.

Far from it, actually.

And that in and of itself was something he'd thought was confined to his wildest dreams, after Alastor left. It's almost enough to make him want to offer his hand and forget the entire matter entirely, because his husband is back.

Almost. And maybe he shouldn't, but Vox's curiosity, his uncertainty—paranoia, even— is next to impossible for him to ignore.

"... Vark," he admits after a second, eyes flickering fondly to the hellshark. Almost sheepish. He knows exactly what Alastor is going to make of that. "His name is Vark. He's about four years old."

"Al... Look, I'm not saying I'm not happy to see you and welcome you back. There's just that, mmm, little matter of where you were, in fact, not living here for seven years." His smile is pained.

The mask of his smile slipped into place easily. It'd been hard to stay fully dressed all day in life, but in death it'd come to him much easier. With the additional seven years where maintaining it had been vital, Alastor could keep up the façade of relaxation. The relief at seeing Vox was so overwhelming he could just about sob, if that as an action he were inclined to. Instead he relaxed; Vox was far too good at reading his microexpressions. Alastor wouldn't give him anything to work with.

"Vox," he held his staff behind him with one hand, chest puffed out and proud as ever. It appeared as if not a day had passed, even wearing the same clothes as when he'd disappeared. He gestured to the room expansively, ring glittering on his finger, "I live here, of course. Granted I wasn't expecting to come home to such a charming little watchdog. What's its name?"

Distract, redirect. Attention elsewhere, see only what Alastor wanted him to see. It's a game that Alastor was good at; even in the airwaves the stag was unreadable, acting as if he'd just come home from a pleasant stroll.

[randomly--accessed--memories]

Thinking about the times Val and Velvette voluntarily let Vox out of his rooms and take him to visit the sharks. He’s always so thrilled to “meet” them. It’s nice, sitting on the edge of the tank and watching Vox play with them, bombarding them with disconnected shark facts all the while. There’s still a bittersweet element to it all, but at least he’s happy. They’ll take content, grounded-in-the-moment Vox over terrified or violent or completely-removed-from-reality Vox any day.

[randomly--accessed--memories]

Vox will scratch at his arms and torso until he bleeds or leaves gouge marks when significantly distressed. The function of this behavior is to externalize the mental turmoil he’s experiencing, reenact the traumatic event, and provide sensory stimulation/distraction. It’s not something he intends to do, and a lot of the time he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it.

He’ll also occasionally try to shatter his screen or hit his hands against his head, but that’s intentional; he’s either trying to free his “real” head from the TV, get rid of the unwanted model, or is acting out of frustration with his brain.

In the tower, Vark would try to distract or redirect Vox whenever he began hurting himself. At the hotel, they haven’t really come up with a strategy for dealing with it yet (although it happens less often there than it did in the tower, thankfully). Charlie learns the hard way that it’s not a good idea to try to grab/restrain Vox when he’s like this.

[randomly--accessed--memories]

A couple months ago, I had the idea of assigning the RAM cast Tarot cards, but never did it. @voxaholic reminded me of that idea tonight and I decided to actually go through with it this time.

[randomly--accessed--memories]

Vark’s responsibilities

Be a companion for Vox (and the other Vees too, as needed)

Distract Vox when he starts getting distressed or self-injuring, either by playing or guiding him to a new room/activity

Guard Vox and the entrance to his suite (to keep unwanted people out and Vox in)

Break Vox’s fall when he collapses from low battery

Howl to alert people when there’s a problem

Try to keep Vox moving on his sedentary days and still on his restless days

Post-hotel, accompany Vox on outings with the Vees and keep him from wandering off

[randomly--accessed--memories]

Velvette starts spending more time with Vark after Vox is taken to the hotel. Vox being gone makes Vark anxious and destructive, so sometimes he needs Vel or Val to sit with him in order to calm down. Velvette used to sort of resent Vark because of how Vox and Val immediately made him tackle her when Vox first got him, but she's warmed up to him a lot over the past seven years– he does his job of helping Vox so well. Velvette's life is so stressful and noisy nowadays, it's nice to be able to just sit in silence with another being that she knows misses Vox as much as she does.

[randomly--accessed--memories]

Do you think Vox lets Niffty ride Vark around like a pony?

If she ever visits the tower and wants to, sure! She's gotta be gentle though– he loves that shark more than he loved his actual son.

[randomly--accessed--memories]

Vox has a unique relationship with Vark. His perception of him is as changeable as it is with everything else in the tower, but he's only been afraid of him a handful of times. Throughout all the different delusions, Vox consistently recognizes Vark as safe and as his pet. He usually takes Vark's appearance for granted, not fully processing him as a hellbeast, but not perceiving him as a normal Earthly animal either. "Land shark" and "dog" are still potential interpretations though.

[randomly--accessed--memories]

Vark became very accustomed to Vox’s mood swings during their years together in the tower. One minute, Vox would be totally oblivious to Vark’s presence, and the next, he would be on the ground playing with him in a more affectionate way than he’d ever done in the past. One moment, Vox would be docile and receptive to Vark’s attempts at prompting him, then suddenly he’d be swept up in a panic/rage, his distress only increasing as Vark tried to nudge him towards his coping tools. It didn’t make sense to Vark at first, why his person was suddenly so volatile, but he eventually grew accustomed to it, learning to sense when he was needed and when he had to give Vox some space.

[randomly--accessed--memories]

If Vark was able to escape V-Tower, do you think he would be able to hunt Vox down to the hotel? Would he be able to stay or would Alastor tried to get rid of him or something like that? Would Vox want him to stay?

I don’t think he’d be able to get very far because he’s so obtrusive and the route through the city is so dangerous, but it’s a cute thought. Vox would be overjoyed to see him again (he’d probably recognize him; they spent every day of the past seven years together and Al wouldn’t have thought to put a mental block on Vox remembering his pet of all things). Alastor wouldn’t particularly care. It’s a weird situation and could be some kind of “trap” by the Vees, but he doesn’t see much harm in it. Vark’s a non-sentient hellbeast; it’s not like Alastor couldn’t destroy him in an instant if he wanted to. The real issue here would be that Vark’s been trained to attack people who get too close to Vox, so the hotel would be in chaos for a while as they try to decide whether they should let Vox keep his incredibly destructive pet.

[randomly--accessed--memories]

Random thought: One of Vark's jobs is to break Vox's fall when he collapses from running out of battery after who-knows-how-long. Afterwards, he's supposed to howl until he gets someone's attention; they'll come in, carry Vox to his bed/charging station, and plug him in to recharge.

[randomly--accessed--memories]

Thinking about the changes Val and Vel would make to the tower over the years to keep Vox safe:

Completely clear the floor Vox lives on, along with the two adjacent floors. The tower is already sound-proofed, but it’s good to be safe. No one can access those floors without a key card.

All the windows in the tower were already shatter-proof and capable of being frosted, so that’s taken care of.

For the first couple years, completely shut off/take away all the electronics connected to the grid in Vox’s living space so he can’t zap through them and end up somewhere else. Eventually, they develop an insulation method and it becomes safe to let him around functional, non-battery operated tech again; he can go inside them, but he can’t pop out on another floor.

Figure out what type of furniture/items they can give him that will entertain him/make the room less bare, but that they won’t mind replacing constantly.

Put Vox’s important, irreplaceable personal belongings on one of the neighboring floors so they can easily get them on a good day, but he can’t accidentally destroy them on a bad one.

Teach Vark to guard the elevator whenever Vox doesn’t need him. Also, make sure that his and his siblings’ augmentations that make them resistant to electrocution are always up-to-date.

Try to figure out a way to help Vox tell that time is/days are passing. They might get too dejected to keep pursuing this one though.

Fireproof everything. Thank God the sharks are hellbeasts and can only be hurt by hellfire.

[randomly--accessed--memories]

I know we're having fun meme time rn but I cant stop thinking about service dog Vark 😭 what are his tasks?? Probably like deep pressure therapy for when Vox gets agitated and upset but what else? Do they train him on which rooms are off limits to Vox so Vark can distract him from wandering into those? Lead Vox places like the kitchen at certain times so he can have something close to a regular daily rhythm (that might help his time perception actually)?

Those are good ideas! I'm not actually familiar with the complexities of service animals, so I can't contribute a ton, but I really like the off-limits rooms and daily rhythm ones! I'd be slightly concerned about deep pressure therapy given Vox's powers, but hopefully he augmented Vark to be resistant to electric shocks even before the mindbreak happened.