hmmm.........infume..........hmmmmmm how does gaining hearts affect him..........hmmmmmmm
i haven't seen much on the potential angst of gaining hearts so like... basically i am going to go over what happens when players gain/ lose hearts and how infume is lowk guilty about some of the hearts.
okay i remembered belladonna addict's heart transfer concept for lifesteal and i love it so here's the fic with the premise !!! it's awesome, check it out!!!
i was greatly inspired by it, so this is a lifesteal world version of it
players swallow hearts (they are around 2cm by 2cm, it's lifesteal magic that you gain them)
they can be displayed on your forearms with extra hearts going on the back after the ten
if hearts are given willingly / are organised fair 1v1s, they don't cause much scarring
if they are obtained through betrayals, killing naked players, 2v1s etc., the more hatred attached, the more bloody & bruised they look on the player. it looks especially awful if it was recent.
each player has their own unique hearts that correlates to their skin colour pallette (joel smallishbeans has a shrek one, saps has one with a smiley face)
losing hearts can feels losing apart of yourself (generally)
eating hearts can cause euphoria/ adrenaline
players can lowk farm aura by having customised arrangements to show off the hearts
the difference between lsw and normal lifesteal is that the extra hearts from killing three-heart players are black & unnatural while events (e.g. scavenger hunt) are gold (the obnoxious kind).
again, show some love to bella & the geniuses who thought of this idea originally.
now, HOW DOES INFUME'S STEALING GO?
awful.
he started off with 10 hearts w/ polar bear symbols on them while being a mixture of blue & white.
he loses 3 hearts to terrible deaths. awful. he feels awful. which makes him want to get more to fill the empty holes in his arms.
so he goes for kills.
one of the kills is when he first 2v1s matter_melon. the heart tasted like...melon and had an iridescent sheen to it, but infume could only register the gratifying relief. another heart on his back-- 12 chances to die instead of 11. it was so much more secure. but the heart bruised and ached at infume's shoulder, a constant reminder that the kill was unfair & unjust. they did jump him in the lava, afterall, so the heart has a mild searing sensation. it settles lopsided & ugly where infume covers it with his chestplate. he doesn't want to see it.
when he hears of matter_melon wanting to 1v1 him, his instinctive reaction is accept. why? it was a prime fight for spongs or someone desperate to third party. why take the risk? but his shoulder aches and there's this thing that stirs in his stomach that he can't pinpoint and-
he accepts.
matter_melon is better than he expected. faster. stronger. it shouldn't have been a surprise-- he was mentored by peentar and even if he was young, lowk3y won playoffs at 14, so anything was possible.
after melon's shield broke, infume finds himself oddly nervous. but nerves are for losers. he is a serious pvper.
when he lands the final hit, and blood splatters on the floor, melon's heart lays there. gleaming.
infume tries to swallow it down but it feels like a fish bone in his throat, and his mouth runs dry from trying. he has to ask saps for a health potion to even get it down.
it settles down without scarring, and the aching from his shoulder has ebbed-- matter_melon was a good sport & the fight was fair. but the pit in his stomach grows.
is this guilt?
speedrunners never truly felt guilty looting villages or punching piglins. however, this was a real player!
infume swallows once again, his throat gaining friction. he tugged his chestplate tighter. pvpers were stronger than feelings. it was a dog eat dog world, melon just got the short end of the stick.
yes, infume thought. he deserved it.
it was lifesteal. not ranked. he should just grow up.
everyone saw him as victorious that day. that was good.
and he swore he resisted flowtives with all his might, when flowtives attacked him to avenge melon. he swore he did!
and the hearts with green melon stripes still gnawed at his skin, but it was more bearable.
Other scenarios:
a) probably displays the golden hearts he got from Advancement hunt on his arms. he is proud :3
b) the heart he had from evbo is probably warm
FINAL THOUGHTS:
lsw! infume is such a strange character because does he just want to kill?? is that his only purpose??? it seems like that sometimes but i guess i tried to make the character more sympathetic as lsw is probably his first experience of killing with consequences :3
idk about his other kills tbh
side note: this will not become an infume blog. nothing against him, just notice who is in the pfp, m'kay?
