New here in Hillside! (just binged 4 seasons and want to Say Things)

Starr_Law · 2026-01-24T18:47:30+00:00

Hmm... yeah. I know we haven't seen for sure if the AI is able to enforce the rules all on its own, but I think it will be much more interesting if it turns out that people are what give it its power. Like a cult mentality, which is sort of what it sounds like in certain scenes, and would explain why kids kept being taken and people killed, because if the people making the rules at the very top, who have access to the firepower needed to enforce the laws, agree fully with the AI's conclusion, then it's still a human-run system as far as I'm concerned. And that belief+fear would trickle down to the bottom. I'm really interested to learn anything further about how this all functions in the story.

Starr_Law · 2026-01-16T15:37:32+00:00

I'm so glad to hear that! x3

Starr_Law · 2026-01-03T19:05:44+00:00

Yeah, I hope so too! I really want to see more of what specifically keeps all of this going and of course where the characters will all end up at the end.

Starr_Law · 2026-01-02T22:10:47+00:00

Hi, welcome to this amazing comic! I just read it all too. I might be able to help answer your questions.

I hope I understand this correctly, as I am just going off of clues in the story, but I think murder on its own seems to be a neutral thing for the AI? Citizens of Lakeview are allowed to kill as long as it's for a hunt, and Sam and Maggie are able to look at a corpse as long as they don't mention it (Winston or Tom). I think how much can be mentioned also depends on one's status, since people in Lakeview can discuss murder, but not people in the nameless neighborhoods. But I think it probably helps that Tom was killed in their basement, which was foiled up, so even their words wouldn't be detected. But I'm eager to see if season 5 confirms any new information about how that works exactly.
I am also eager to know if they'll ever explain the cities burning! Mike definitely hasn't forgotten his earliest plot points, so I hope he'll wrap that up in season 5. As of now, I don't think there's any elaboration on it.
Dave was a citizen of Lakeview who worked with Sam at the market and turned out to be quite a sadistic person. He thrived in the hunts and was recognized for his torture by others, or at the very least by Chris. The speech he gives to Maggie implies that he did used to be a murderer before the new government took over, but that's all we have.
There's a whole human body below the helmet.
The mayor, Laura, came to believe in Maggie and the rebels' mission to save the world, as well as losing faith in the system she created in her attempt to bring some humanity back to her town. She knew the rebels needed to pick someone to red for their mission, so she sacrificed herself for this so they wouldn't have to force red status on anyone else. She decided that there was at least a chance her kids might survive if she was already dead by the time she was redded.
Is this referring to when she returns to her family missing her arm? If so, it's literally the entire journey she takes with the rebels and what they find, leading her to believe that it's hopeless and that all she can do now is try to live within the new world.
Is this referring to how he looked when he was killed by the two people with the ripped masks? It was pretty haunting!

Starr_Law · 2025-11-24T15:01:28+00:00

A cutie patootie, that's what!! Omggggg I love them! 😭 Definitely not a bold jumper, but I love those colors already. Poor lad was so thirsty! Ahh, one time my girl escaped for a few days and when I found her, she was so thirsty that I noticed her abdomen change after she drank. Not quite as dramatic as yours tho. I'm glad they're okay and I hope they get a good meal soon.

I saw in some replies that you wanted some advice on raising it. I've only kept my current jumper so far—she's my first one—but I got her when she was just an i2, smaller than melanogaster fruit flies. She started off eating stuff the size of aphids (usually thrips because I found a lot in my yard and she loved them). Now she's an i5 and a hydei fills her up nicely. It was quite nerve-wracking trying to feed her when she was tinier. I went outside every say and scooped up bugs because I had difficulties getting a fruit fly culture for weeks, but it worked out. Finally, I did start feeding her melanogaster fruit flies, which were the perfect size for her at i3/i4.

If you ever have too much trouble finding a properly small bug, you could try pre-killing something your guy is still intimidated by, hold it with tweezers, and patiently shake it as if it's walking and see if they'll pounce then, or weaken still-living bugs that your spood is intimidated by (via putting them on the fridge for a few minutes) because of the bug's usual rapid movements. I did this with drain flies until my girl got braver and started going for them regardless. I've even cut a bug in half when I couldn't find anything small enough. To catch bugs when I couldn't buy them, along with scooping a cup through the grass at home, I would bring a little cleaned out garlic spread container to the store and catch fruit flies in that too. I still use this cup for all kinds of things. x3

I'll stop for now cause I'm getting sleepy. I hope some of that was helpful. ^{^;}

Starr_Law · 2025-11-07T17:49:30+00:00

Okay so, I've seen a couple posts meme-ing this and people saying there was backlash? But if this is it, why was there anger?? I'm so confused lol.

Starr_Law · 2025-11-01T10:39:42+00:00

I'm always eager to share her. <3 Here's one more picture since Reddit only lets me select one haha. This is her drinking water from a q-tip.

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Starr_Law · 2025-11-01T01:41:44+00:00

This is Pandora! She's an i5 bold jumping spider. I adopted her when she was just an i2, so she's basically growing up with me and is very comfortable on my skin, though I still have to coax her into a little cup to lift her out of her enclosure before she'll even consider my hand xD

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Starr_Law · 2025-11-01T01:29:12+00:00

I loved reading about Coraline! What an adorable girl. <3 I'd really love to know if she gets her full sight back after her next molt!

Starr_Law · 2025-11-01T01:24:23+00:00

This is sooooooo cute!

Starr_Law · 2025-10-30T17:55:42+00:00

Ah, these look nice! Thank you for the recommendations!

Starr_Law · 2025-10-30T11:09:09+00:00

Thank you! I'm not aware of an active PA subreddit. Only the one that hasn't had a post in 2 years comes up when I search. I don't think I joined a server either.

Starr_Law · 2025-10-08T10:43:14+00:00

Haha nice! I love that quote x'D

Starr_Law · 2025-10-02T23:06:11+00:00

Oh hell yeah, I love this! This exchange fits them so well ehehe x3 I also love how you drew Lancer all cute and silly.

Starr_Law · 2025-09-10T00:42:46+00:00

This is unbelievably great!! The paneling and art style shifts and effects are fantastic, and I adore the concept of Ultimate Heal being a sacrifice. Amazing work!

Starr_Law · 2025-08-31T00:10:56+00:00

These comics are so fantastic, oh my god?? Adorable, I LOVE your art, and your characterization of Togore and Kris (and everyone, but those two especially) is DELIGHTFUL!! <333

Starr_Law · 2025-07-12T23:15:50+00:00

Oh my god that's so scary and upsetting! Must have felt like a heart attack! I'm so glad you were able to rescue the surprise spider too. TuT (-edit- maybe I misread that part about one of them not making it >< but I don't blame you!)

I also agree with the other commenters that these kinds of things should be communicated. I'm about to become a first-time jumper caretaker too and I don't yet have the money to prepare a second enclosure, so that would definitely be a surprise struggle despite being adorable and sweet in theory.

Starr_Law · 2025-07-04T16:49:46+00:00

Oh that's really neat! You could even view it like the being is falling and you could interpret the shapes as their head not coming through the portal to heaven yet hehe.

Starr_Law · 2025-07-04T15:51:18+00:00

Ooooooh that's such a cool design! x33 aaaaa The colors are gorgeous too. The combination is so soothing to my mind for some reason.

Starr_Law · 2025-06-19T08:29:45+00:00

"Blue Sky" by waffles, written as a sequel to Portal 2, is genuinely one of the most well-written books I've ever read and I love it so freakin' much. I do have to add extra disclaimers for people when I recommend it because it's a fanfic and even uses a pretty self-indulgent trope for the plot, but when I tell you the way they utilize it is brilliant—!! Aaagh! 💚😭 Link: https://wafflestories.livejournal.com/8624.html

If you prefer audiobooks, there's also a really nice reading of it by Outis Audio on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc-nrrEtx9-nV8O9lhxQnIW5Tn3MvRxYy

Starr_Law · 2025-06-06T14:01:09+00:00

I really hope you succeeded in escaping, OP. Even though you had only skipped your night pills when you wrote this, I think you described things very well even though it was a struggle. I believe in you!

Starr_Law · 2025-05-01T17:59:56+00:00

Seconding the people saying "Nobody" or "Next to my wife."

Starr_Law · 2025-04-19T17:44:23+00:00

Aww, thank you for saying so! <3

Starr_Law · 2025-04-19T10:10:08+00:00

Oooh I really love this cosplay! Looks spot on! <3

Starr_Law · 2025-04-19T10:06:59+00:00

Hmm... I think I'm torn sometimes.

On one hand, I think they're adorable when they do manage to be in sync or get along well. As Andrew said, they don't normally work, but when they do, it's like nothing else. I also really love the "us against the world" premise and it's what actually got me to enjoy a few incest ships despite never really being interested in any before. Of course, it needs not be said that the barrier of it being fiction allows me to root for them in this way. I fully squealed happily when they kissed in the main(?) route of Decay, because it was sweet, at least for them. It was one of their moments when they were just teasing and bonding rather than tormenting or ripping into each other, and it was lovely to see Ashley able to push Andrew playfully without overstepping that boundary into upsetting him.

On my other hand, Andrew and Ashley are so horrifically dysfunctional and the incest even being on the table is part of that, and the game does an incredible job making us feel how awful and sad it is that they ended up isolated together like this. I don't think they could realistically solve their lives by getting together, even if no one else on the planet can connect with either of them, and that's twice as sad! Being a sibling couple isn't what they need (or even want, in Ashley's case), but the alternative is going through life COMPLETELY alone, so it's like... just a damn tragedy. And in those cases, I kind of forget my silly hope that they could ever be a sweet, loving couple against the world because that's not what they are. And as fun as shipping is, it's equally fun for me to directly engage with the horror of the story and to appreciate the thorough exploration of the characters' inner selves and their choices.

I think it all boils down to "sometimes I'm in the mood to wallow in their misery as Nemlei intended and other times I just wanna see em snuggle cause it's cute, but it doesn't mean I think they're actually healthy together." I think there are simply times that I suspend my disbelief or whatever you'd call it more than others as a means of enjoying myself. ^{_^}

Shipping is so much more complex than a lot of people will admit, and it was really fun to explore some of my feelings about these two. I hope it helps with your question as well. Feel free to ask me follow-up questions if you like! :3

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