Aspen

I do things and write stuff, or maybe I write stuff and do things | They/Star/Xe | pfp by @Ayooevy on twt

[appleswan]

SCRUTINIZE OUR SECRETS READER INTERACTIVE POLL

What should Pearl Do?

Confront Grian

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Voting ended onJan 12

[appleswan]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Read my fanfic It's a time travel fix it. Because I still have a lot of feelings about the vsmp ending. It's Roommates centric, the roommates are thrown back in time and I make them even more sad and pathetic. That's it. That's the fic.

[perkeia]

Tim did not appreciate Steph and Cass’ impromptu just dance session while he’s working a case

[silly-bees]

Do Not Enter.

Co-written by silly-bees & appleswan. A canon-divergent Vampires SMP fanfiction that details Pyro & Shelby's life after they are cured. They go to college, fight their guilt, and learn to be alive again.

Summary:

"I can't go back," she whispers, "there's nothing left for me there."

"There's nothing for you here either," Pyro points out.

"I know that. I know I can't stay here. I know I have to move on and leave." Despite the way she strains, she cannot keep her voice from cracking. "But I can't go back. I can't be the crazy, weird girl anymore. I can't be stuck in that town—"

Pyro cuts her off, and his suggestion makes all her frazzled, unraveling thoughts pause. "You could… uh. You could come back to the University with me?"

Or, freshly cured and freed from the control of Scott Goldsmith, Shelby Shubble and Jack V. Pyroscythe must learn to be human again.

Language: English

Wordcount: 5,914

Chapters: 1/?

Fandoms: Vampires SMP

Rating: Mature

Categories: Gen

Characters: Jack Pyroscythe, Shelby Shubble, Scott Major(mentioned)

Relationships: Shelby Shubble & Jack Pyroscythe, Shelby Shubble & Scott Major, Jack Pyroscythe & Scott Major

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Pyro lives AU, Toxic Relationships, messy relationships, Pyroscythe and Shelby are siblings in my heart, Dubious Morality, Blood Drinking, Blood and Violence, Mild Gore, Body Horror, College, they go to college, Vampires, Vampire Turning, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, He/Him and They/Them Pronouns for Jack | Pyroscythe, POV Alternating, Shelby Grace | Shubble-centric, Jack | Pyroscythe-centric, they're all traumatized, Healing, Trauma Recovery, Alternate Universe - College/University, Pre Vampires SMP: Episode 7

https://archiveofourown.org/works/74990056/chapters/195941561

[appleswan]

Spreading propaganda

I think that if Louis was still alive he'd have lowkey cult leader vibes. Like I do think he'd be a genuinely good person. I think that he genuinely cares about people, and that Oakhurst ends up a place for people to stay, relax, and recover from whatever ails them in the moment. I also think that people... don't leave Oakhurst. And if someone does? You don't talk about them ever again. But that doesn't happen because no one does.

I think Louis would have the right kind of charisma and vibes to be a cult leader, and I think some of the people have a cult like mentality, I do not think it was intentional. I do not think think Louis has a cult. But I think he could. If he really wanted to. Owen would be right by his side as an executioner for Louis if he asked. But Louis is good, so he doesn't ask.

I think Owen still kills people who piss off Louis too much. And then they just don't bring it up.

But yeah lowkey cult leader Louis and Lowkey cult Oakhurst while not actually being a cult. If that makes sense

[silly-bees]

[appleswan]

Some fun Post Canon headcanons!

Pyro haunts the crypts/castle of Oakhurst, and Moonrot are the first to notice. He's super angry and hell bent on revenge at first, which is why his soul lingered. They convince him (through multiple tea parties) to let go of hatred and he just becomes this really silly ghost guy. After a few decades pass eventually Moonrot bring the New Yorkers (Scott, Drift, Shelby, and Abolish) to a tea party with Pyro and after some much needed conversations end up amicable. They go visit him every time they visit Avid's grave and Cleo/Pearl will help Pyro write letters back and forth with said New Yorkers.

Because Pyro isn't attached to either heaven or hell and rather the earth, but he's still dead, he can flit between the two. He tends to pester Owen and Legs, and keeps track of the time they have between fights. Every time they last more than a day he reports it back to whoever comes to visit him.

He also becomes really good friends with Louis, much to Owens chagrin. Like him and Louis become besties, and Pyro definitely uses that to ragebait owen in the worst ways. But because Pyro's soul isn't in hell Owen can't do anything about it.

"Y'know what Louis told me?" "What?" "Should have been a better person, then you'd know."

He learns the story of every single person that Owen killed and uses that to make him feel like shit. He kinda fucks with Legs. And when Avid eventually ends up there he doesn't really care. He just thinks rage baiting Owen is fun.

[appleswan]

Vsmp Episode 8 Spoilers On Owen and Abolish

First and foremost, V!Owen got the ending that he narratively deserved and earned. He got his cheap death, running away from his problems only to learn that his sins follow him no matter where he goes. And Louis was there, so he Had a chance at redemption, he didn't Have to be the monster he made himself. He made his grave though and he must lie in it.

And please note that these are my initial thoughts having only watched Owen and Abolish's final episodes. These are also rushed thoughts because I have a volunteer gig I have to go to soon.

Narratively V!Owen got what he deserved. As a fan I would have loved to see him redeem himself and travel the world and work with Abolish rest assured I will be eating up EVERY au fic that comes out.

We had Abolish and Owen as a duo for like 20 minutes, and I'm already obsessed. I think the only reason Owen was more willing to talk to Abolish than he was Legs is because he had no previous relationship with Abolish. Like Legs and Owen had some weird shit going on, and yeah it's probably doomed Yaoi mostly but to ignore how important the other was to their Oakhurst narrative is dismissive. Because Owen was supposed to be Legs' salvation, Owen was a pity project that Legs wanted to use to atone for the sins he had committed. On the other had Legs was supposed to be Owen's community, the one person he could turn to for comfort and and shoulder to lean on. They built each other up into pedestals, idealizing what could be and never lingering on what was -- the reality and truth of the situation, that they're both awful people who didn't want to be awful anymore. I think in a perfect world, they would have realized that that's what drew them to each other. But it's not a perfect world, it's a really messy world.

Abolish was nobody. Like for 6 episodes he wasn't 'important' and I say that as a VAbolish fan. He was the shadows, always lurking. He made no friends, he made no enemies. There was nothing for Owen to project onto him. He was not cruel. He was not kind. So when Abolish spoke, Owen couldn't twist his words. Owen couldn't see something that wasn't there, because there was nothing else there. When Abolish mirrored the words that Legs had said, Owen couldn't take it for anything other than Abolish's truth.

And I do want to briefly add that I don't think that the conversations with Abolish and Owen would have went down the same if Ren had not killed Owen. If Owen had been a level 3 vampire, the finale would have been very different for him. I don't doubt that Owen would have still died and been dragged down to pay for the horrors he enacted, but I don't think it wouldn't have been as peaceful of an end. He wouldn't have gotten the choice that he so desperately needed (V!Owen so totally has PDA autism btw, different long post for a different time)

If Abolish and Owen had been closer in the first place, I genuinely think that Owen could have been redeemed and he would have let himself be cured. because here's the thing. Owen was so hell bent on his own misery, he could not truly see the people reaching out to him. he held onto grudges, and projected feelings onto others that they were not experiencing to validate his own suffering. But like I said earlier, there's nothing about Abolish that you can twist. There's nothing that you can distort. Cleo went "You cobwebbed shelby. You stuck down a silver block. you killed her." And you know what Abolish said? "Yes. yes. yes. I did do that. Sorry habit." And like, how can you twist that to be malicious? How can you say that's anything more than a soldiers instincts.

Abolish is the person who could have helped Owen. No one else. There's not a single soul on that server, who had the right personality to properly shut down all of Owen's incessant victim complex bitching. Abolish didn't feed into it. He didn't stoke the flames, but he also didn't smother the embers. He understood Owen was hurting. He understood what it was like to have everything taken from you. He understood what it was like to be given a single chance, a boon. Abolish gave Owen a choice. He made sure that Owen left knowing that there was good out there.

Also that's fucking assisted suicide but that's a conversation for laterrrrrrr.

[appleswan]

I do think it's important to note that V!Owen is creating his own misery at this point. Like I'm not kidding when I say that his outsider/reject mentality is just a mentality. If you watch anyone else's perspectives in the coven you can see that they have genuine moments of reaching out to Owen, and it seems like that Owen has genuine moments of connecting back with them. He has this really awful impossibly soft voice that I like to believe is him being vulnerable enough to voice thoughts that aren't stewed in this victim complex he has going on. Like when he says to Avid "you're just a kid" before taking Avid off to his death, and he has a similar moment with Drift in episode 7 that I can't remember the wording of off the top of my head.

He refuses to actually let himself be happy.

He kills Avid and has a moment of bonding with Pyro, and yet from his perspective he's still holding grudges. "I want to kill you so bad." Like dude! You could have had everything you wanted. You could have had a place to belong.

And sure Pyro's "you hold no power over me" thing might not have been worded wonderfully, but that was also Pyro trying to say that they are equals. That he is not afraid of Owen in the same way that he was scared of Scott. That was an olive branch. That Owen didn't even think about reaching out and clarifying and starting a new.

It's residual trauma from his childhood, sure. But he wants to be miserable. He wants to be proven right, that no one is good. That only Louis mattered. He wants to die, but won't because then Louis would truly die too.

If V!Owen allowed himself true community. He would heal. And V!Owen doesn't want to be healed. He doesn't want to be happy. You cannot save someone who doesn't want it. V!Owen has given up on life. He has no hope. He does not see what's right in front of him. And it's sad. And it's awful. But it makes for a damn good character.

[appleswan]

I was right By the Way

That finale was foul, and I'm not going to say anything more than that FOR NOW I have a lot more thoughts after finishing Owens POV but I also have like... a normal person life I have to live so thoughts will likely be in a tumblr post Tomorrow or later tonight

[kixrru]

Vampires SMP ep. 7 spoilers V!ABOLISH MY FAVORITE LIL GUY!!!!!!!!! poor shelby tho :C This scene was so cool and also so brutal.

[appleswan]

Hypothetically, if Louis hadn't died before the events of VSMP -- V!Owen would be fucking WHIPPED. He would not go two seconds without bringing up his husband. Like yknow how obsessive Pyro is in the early eps about bringing up Scott? Owen would be worse. That's not just his sire, that's his fucking husband, the greatest mayor of Oakhurst. The only good person to ever exist in Owen's eyes. And you're gonna damn well respect that.

Like wife guys, but worse.

[appleswan]

I do think it's important to note that V!Owen is creating his own misery at this point. Like I'm not kidding when I say that his outsider/reject mentality is just a mentality. If you watch anyone else's perspectives in the coven you can see that they have genuine moments of reaching out to Owen, and it seems like that Owen has genuine moments of connecting back with them. He has this really awful impossibly soft voice that I like to believe is him being vulnerable enough to voice thoughts that aren't stewed in this victim complex he has going on. Like when he says to Avid "you're just a kid" before taking Avid off to his death, and he has a similar moment with Drift in episode 7 that I can't remember the wording of off the top of my head.

He refuses to actually let himself be happy.

He kills Avid and has a moment of bonding with Pyro, and yet from his perspective he's still holding grudges. "I want to kill you so bad." Like dude! You could have had everything you wanted. You could have had a place to belong.

And sure Pyro's "you hold no power over me" thing might not have been worded wonderfully, but that was also Pyro trying to say that they are equals. That he is not afraid of Owen in the same way that he was scared of Scott. That was an olive branch. That Owen didn't even think about reaching out and clarifying and starting a new.

It's residual trauma from his childhood, sure. But he wants to be miserable. He wants to be proven right, that no one is good. That only Louis mattered. He wants to die, but won't because then Louis would truly die too.

If V!Owen allowed himself true community. He would heal. And V!Owen doesn't want to be healed. He doesn't want to be happy. You cannot save someone who doesn't want it. V!Owen has given up on life. He has no hope. He does not see what's right in front of him. And it's sad. And it's awful. But it makes for a damn good character.

[appleswan]

I would like to know how much time has canonically passed in the events of Vampires Smp. It feels too short for each episode to be however many minecraft days take place in the episodes. Because I know at least episode one is at least 2 full minecraft day/night cycles. But also Apo recently suggested that 6 months had passed (that or that she's abandoning the military) and that feels way too long.

And I think that my takes on the series and characters change drastically depending on how much time elapsed between episodes, and also just in the episodes themselves.

[perkeia]

He keeps saying he’s stretching

[appleswan]

VSMP episode 6 spoilers

The humans got their shit together, and I think that's mostly because Abolish decided to lock in and actually take action rather than confining himself to the shadows. No one expected him, because he allowed himself to lie low and present as not a threat. Each episode I flip flop between which faction I think is going to win, and this episode it definitely seemed as though the humans would.

Why?

The vampires are fs heading towards a coven civil war, they're breaking into factions and that's way obvious when they're all gather around the table. Cleo and Drift, Scott and Shelby, Owen and Pyro. The problem is that the vampires are all too proud and too stubborn. While their emotions are heightened they cannot put aside grudges, they cannot put aside differences, they cannot accept any slight made against them. Owen and Pyro killed someone Scott saw as his own, and that will be paid back in turn (despite Scott's insistence that it was just a bad move strategically. And while he's not wrong, Avid was definitely a drain on limited resources considering when they're all full strength they can't breed animals for a reliable food source. It honestly wasn't good but it wasn't terrible). Scott vowed to kill everyone. The only way the vampires win atp is if they all as individual factions turn the remaining humans.

And that's not happening.

Why is that no happening?

The indomitable human spirit or whatever.

The humans are willing to put their differences aside. They're willing to ignore differences in ideology and method. It doesn't matter if you want to cure the vampires, or if you want to kill the vampires. They have to work together, and they have to work as one. They know they have to operate as a single unit, or else they're doomed. Desperation, and the willingness to put their own pride aside, is what's going to bring them to victory.

When they work together they are efficient. They overtook what was it 3? 4? beacons during the episode. If the vampires don't get over themselves they're doomed.

Also the Veylockes are SO TOTALLY AN EQUIVALENT TO THE VAN HELSINGS AND I FEEL SO VINDICATED BC I WAS SAYING THAT SINCE THE BEGINNING

[plague-arism]

//vampires episode 7 ramblings about v!scott

I don't usually post my thoughts but I have SO MANY. I'm very bad at explaining and expressing them though so be warned.

Something that I need others to understand is that v!Scott is not at all a perfect new parallel to v!Owen. No, he is not raising hell and plotting revenge because his lover & his everything (v!avid) died. He's raising hell because his authority and plaything was taken from him. Scott Goldsmith is a selfish man who's so far disconnected from humanity, and he discovered a trace of it in himself again from Avid. He needs control, power, fear, and worship. As of the end of ep7, he does not have that. Pyro is following Owen and neither of them respect Scott anymore.

Scott is taking revenge not in Avids name, but for the disrespect they showed by breaking Scott's boytoy without his permission or knowledge. Scott reassured Avid the entire episode there was nothing to worry about. He directly ordered Avid to stay put and to have Owen and Pyro follow him to the obelisk. All of that was brushed off. He's lost his authority & I'm so expecting Owen/Pyro to try and claim Scott's place as coven head.

Does Scott love Avid? He was starting to. He admits that. Id argue Scott is one of the most reliable narrators, he tells the audience exactly what he's thinking and when he's lying. He's not perfectly reliable, he cares about the coven, even if he doesn't admit it. It just feels disingenuous to say that he's acting entirely in Avids name. He is selfish, evil, and a tyrant. AND he cares about those closest to him, but he acts entirely in selfish interests and on his emotions. Let's not forget that he and avid were willing to sacrifice the other in veinbound 💀 Hes going to kill everyone for himself more than he is for avid. But it's easier to admit it's for love instead of that you're losing control/authority. He's one of the most reliable, but still not reliable.

Anyway I love v!Scott and I've been defending his sins since day 1 and will continue to do so. I hope he, Shelby & Drift murder pyro in the worst possible way (mostly really want Drift or Shelby to finish him off. I think someone that pyro doesn't see as a much of a threat permakilling him would be so perfect. Let his hubris be his downfall)

[jade-or-smthg]

college au? sleepover? halloween party? why not ALL THREE AT ONCE

i have thoughts about this college au feel free to invade my inbox <3