Webcomic / Acid Soup

Lowry Lewis, in her usual attire

In a strange world where even one's past and self are malleable, Lowry sets off in search of what she's lost.

As one might perhaps expect, she ends up finding more than she bargained for.

Acid Soup is a surreal Interactive Comic, created by Fractal. Lowry Lewis, a young woman suffering from memory theft and a forced personality change, wants to break up with her terrible boyfriend Reiss, but she needs to fix him first. On her way, she gets involved with the all-female rabbit gang, the Sukebun; a demon, a couple of angels, and other strange beings; and her ex-boyfriend, Rabies, as well as his scheming new fiancée, Jolene.

Be forewarned: this story has prominent themes and graphic depictions of abuse and violence, as well as some NSFW content.

The Questden page is here, and the first thread can be found here.

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Acid Soup contains examples of:

• Abusive Parents: Jolene's mother hit her, and was very hostile to the idea that her daughter might not be straight.

• Aloof Big Brother: Bronsted is a straight-edge, no-nonsense businessman who shows disdain for Lowry's life choices. However, he does genuinely care about her, and shows concern when she reveals how much of her memory she's lost.

• Amnesiac Lover: Lowry to Sweat. The latter's inability to communicate properly keeps her from finding this out for a while.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Sloane asking her mother whether it's the Junkyard that's at odds with the Sukebun, or Jolene that's at odds with the Oyabun. It's effective half because Sloane isn't supposed to know about that, and half because the way she does it reminds Jolene a little too much of herself.
• Asshole Victim:
  • Reiss. While not much has been seen of his old personality, it's a wonder that Lowry is putting in so much effort to restore him.
  • Johnny, the dog that Nanako mulches with her bat. She doesn't like being called a dyke.
• Badass Longcoat: Lowry wears one over her underwear, though it's more out of reluctant adherence to social norms than fashion.
• Bears Are Bad News: Ne is a bear, although he's more of a Jerkass than a villain. He's a competent thief, though, and even Jolene notes that he shouldn't be underestimated.
• Black-and-Grey Morality: Even the sympathetic characters in this story have no compunctions about casual murder.
• Black Widow: Rabies is Jolene's fourth husband, and it seems like he'll be the last.
• Blood Is the New Black: Nanako returns from her expedition to Ne's completely soaked in blood. Too bad that she smashed a rival gang member instead of her real target... while wearing gang colors.
• Blood Lust: The Mortician offers money in exchange for their blood donation service.
• Body Horror: Sweat's amorphous, eye-covered, malleable body, which is always covered in sweat.

• Cannot Tell a Lie: Angels are not capable of lying, though Belial clarifies that they are only bound by what they believe to be true, meaning that they can still be wrong.
• Capital Letters Are Magic: Taking and Having are very powerful verbs in Acid Soup. A person can Have a seemingly unlimited number of things with them, including nonphysical concepts like memories and skills, and store or withdraw them from Hammerspace at will. Inversely, anything that can be Had can be Taken; for example, Lowry Takes the emails that Ne shows her, without any need for a physical medium to store them on. These actions are also very literal; Rabies Took Chidori and Nanako's eyes, but not their ability to see, so they aren't actually blind. It can get confusing.

• Chaos Architecture: The city has a tendency to shift around, which can make navigation tricky unless you have an up-to-date map. It's not safe to travel outside at night, though whether that is due to the changing architecture or something else is unclear. One unique exception to this is angelhomes, which never move around. This is both a blessing and a curse; you'll always know where it is, but the changing environment around it can lead to some Bizarrchitecture.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Nanako has shades of this, given her hatred of Lowry. The Rabies incident makes it more understandable, but it seems like she had always resented her for being so close to Chidori.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Sweat, with its nigh-incomprehensible metaphors and archaic, sometimes poetic language, it can be very difficult to understand. It seems to be aware of this, and doesn't seem to be capable of normal communication, much to it and Lowry's frustration.

• A Day in the Limelight:
  • Interlude: Rabbit Soup is a chapter from the perspective of Nanako, who up to this point had been a fairly minor character.
  • Interlude: Dog Soup takes place from Jolene's perspective, after the dinner with Lowry and the Sukebun.
• Deadpan Snarker: Belial. It helps that everything he says is in all-caps, though since he communicates telepathically, it's hard to tell what exactly it sounds like.
• Deal with the Devil: Cain will make a contract, in exchange for a raw chicken and a $20 iTunes gift card.
• The Dreaded: Rabies is this to several characters, especially Sweat. Being murdered in an attempt to save Lowry from him left a serious mark, if Belial's account is anything to go by.
• Drool Deluge: Tunamouth, Lowry's old coworker. Not actually drool, per se; somebody replaced his voice with a lake.
• Exposed Extraterrestrials: Sweat and Belial both go around fully nude, though nothing explicit is showing. Cain, however, does wear clothes, so it seems to be an angel thing.
• Eye Scream: Rabies has a thing for taking out eyeballs.

• Faceless Eye: A variation: Gretchen Gott has an eyeball for a head.
• Family Theme Naming: Lowry and Bronsted Lewis are named for Johannes N. Brønsted, Thomas M. Lowry, and G.N. Lewis, three chemists who independently devised and proposed theories on acid-base reactions in 1923.
• Fan Disservice: The shot of Nanako sobbing over the bathroom sink, naked and still pretty coated in blood from that dog she killed, is pretty heart-wrenching.
• Fantastic Racism: Lowry's family were not happy about Lowry dating Sweat, and it seems like most people find angels off-putting.
• Gayngster: Chidori and Nanako are dating, though their relationship has become fraught in recent times.
• Glass Eye: Jolene has ping-pong balls with x's drawn where her pupils would be.
• Gratuitous French: The first time Lowry sleeps over at its apartment, Sweat wakes her up with babbling about suffocating babies in French.
• Hartman Hips: Lowry's got a pretty sizable set of hips, though they're usually concealed by her bulky trench coat.

• The Hedonist: Belial seems to fit the bill, since his stated reason for becoming mortal is "cheeseburgers, acid, and ass." He seems to be pretty content.
• Hell of a Heaven: Heaven, according to Belial, is incredibly boring; he likens it to being an amoeba.
• Heroic B So D: Nanako goes through this after having to slice off a chunk of her own ear.

• I Hate Past Me: Pre-theft Lowry was much more emotional and naive. While she regrets how hard it is for her to relate to people now, and resents the changes having been forced upon her, she's not nearly as fond of her old self as most of the people around her are.
  Lowry: "I was... fucking annoying."
• Immortality:
  • Appears to be more-or-less the case for the ageless "ascended" angels. Almost Complete Immortality, because they can only die by being killed and eaten by another angel.
  • Resurrective Immortality applies to angels who have become mortal, as they can choose to remake their body after being killed.
• Interface Screw: After Nanako cuts off part of her ear as penalty for killing the dog, all of the action suggestions are misspelled variations of "i want to go home."
• Japanese Delinquents: The main aesthetic of the Sukebun, with a bit of Yakuza mixed in.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Whoever took Lowry's memories had very particular interests: everything from her relationship with Sweat to moments of friendship with Chidori to two years of art school. It's been suggested that it might not have been just one person, either.
• Meaningful Name: Rabies, a monstrous, violent gang leader who happens to be a nasty-looking dog.
• Memory Jar: The Mortician has a jar of unsorted memories for sale, which strongly resembles a jar of marbles.
• Neighborhood-Friendly Gangsters: The Sukebun offer protection to Lowry, Gretchen, and others, seemingly without need for payment.
• Never-Forgotten Skill: Until Bronsted brought it up in conversation, Lowry had no idea that she used to be an artist, and a pretty good one at that.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Gretchen finds the idea of being in a girl gang really romantic, though she's not necessarily drawn to the violence. Nanako accuses her of being a kinkster.
• No Mouth: Ne has no mouth on his face, but does have one on each hand.
• Non-Human Head: Reiss replaced his head with a computer after someone stole it.

• An Offer You Can't Refuse: Jolene sends Lowry a series of saccharine texts inviting her to dinner at the Junkyard. Halfway through, she clarifies that it's actually a demand, and if Lowry doesn't show up she'll be hunted and gutted like a fish.
• The Ophelia: Doesn't apply to any particular character, but the symbolism of Ophelia is brought up frequently. Chidori and Nanako have a painting of her hanging in their apartment, and Jolene muses about her to Boris. Apparently, Lowry used to draw and paint her all the time before somebody stole her memories of being an artist.
• Our Angels Are Different: Formerly immortal beings with alien physiques and even stranger psychologies, who have to murder and eat an arbitrary amount of other angels to gain physical forms in the first place. They tend to be left to their own devices most of the time.
• Our Demons Are Different: Well, it's only one demon. Cain apparently got fired from his job in hell, but aside from his demonic powers and contract offers, he seems like a mostly normal guy with a fondness for Beyoncé and Japanese rhythm games.
• Perpetual Frowner: Lowry, in sharp contrast to her formerly cheery self. Chidori and Nanako also qualify.
• Perpetual Smiler: Junko has always got a big grin on her face, even when she's threatening to put your head through a window.
• The Power of Blood: Sweat's blood, or ichor, has healing properties, and refreshes Lowry after her trip to the Mortician. According to Sweat, it has intimate connotations.
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: Sweat, of all people, gave a great one to Rabies before their fight: "with your actions you have asked me for death and i in my infinite mercy cannot refuse you." Unfortunately, it didn't quite end up that way.
• Psycho Poodle: Jolene, who mixes a high-class air of refinement with manic and unpredictably sociopathic behavior. It's mostly an act, and she's far more sane and grounded than she lets on.
• Reluctant Hero: Discussed; Ruri tells Lowry that she makes a good one in Jolene's narrative. It's not a good thing.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: Most of the time, Lowry walks around in her underwear, only throwing on a trench coat for modesty (although she just leaves it hanging open anyway). This is another aspect of her personality change, as she no longer cares about her appearance.
• Shrinking Violet:
  • Before her theft, Lowry was much more vulnerable and emotional, as seen in some of her recovered memories.
  • Whisper, The Mortician's shy and beleaguered magical assistant.

• Southern Belle:
  • Sloane is a well-mannered, adorable young lady. She also takes after her mother.
  • Gretchen certainly seems like one, being soft-spoken, demure, and ladylike. She and Sloane start hanging out at some point.
• The Stoic: Sada, the Oyabun's first lieutenant. She's either neutral or scowling, although her expression is almost always hidden under her Cool Mask.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Whatever parts of Lowry's mind and personality were taken included her "ability to give a shit." While she's not quite The Sociopath, it's put a damper on her empathy and ability to feel emotions.
• Transferable Memory: In the world of Acid Soup, memories are a pretty lucrative trade, physically appearing in the form of colorful marbles. Lowry trying to figure out the number and nature of memories taken from her, along with who's responsible, comprises much of the plot.
• The Unintelligible: Tunamouth, given that every time he opens his mouth, a waterfall pours out of it. Doesn't keep him from trying.
• The Unsmile: Lowry gives one to Whisper while trying to be nice to him. It's very... toothy.
• We Used to Be Friends: Chidori isn't happy about Lowry's change in personality, especially since she more or less abandoned her after Rabies tore out her and Nanako's eyes as revenge.
• "X" Marks the Hero: Lowry has a little X over her left temple, apparently left when her apartment got broken into.
• Yubitsume: The Sukebun's penalty for screw-ups is a variation, where the guilty kobun must sever a portion of her ear for forgiveness. Kei, one of the rabbits met later, is missing one ear entirely and half of the other. Nanako goes through with it in Chidori's place after the botched hit on Ne, and it's difficult to watch.

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