One thing about episode seven that I think is fascinating was the fact that it actually made Scott sympathetic.
One of the most interesting character choices regarding Scott Goldsmith was the fact that he, unlike pretty much every other character on the server, had basically nothing in his backstory that gave you a reason to empathize with him. At pretty much every opportunity that he had to give this character a proper reason to be the way he is, Scott chose not to. This character's lore is basically just, "Rich jerk intentionally gets vamped so he can continue to be the worst because it's fun." This choice was also, fantastic, as it both made Scott an amazing contrast to pretty much everybody, Owen and Legundo in particular, and also just generally added to his 'Pure Evil Diva' vibe. In episode Seven, however, there was a shift. For the first time in this series, Scott was honest to god, humanly sympathetic.
What specifically makes this interesting to me, is the way that he was made sympathetic. Typically, the way a character is made sympathetic is via their backstory. A perfect example of this is with our beloved Owen, the king of sad backstories. What makes Owen, and characters like him, sympathetic is the circumstances that led them down their path. Sure, Owen is a horrible person now, but when you look at how he was treated, at what they did to his lover can you blame him? These characters generate sympathy by pointing to the fact that the monster you see now was once a person like you. That they didn't want to be like this. But what choice do they have now?
With Scott in episode seven however, he is made sympathetic in pretty much the opposite way. After Avid's death, we see for pretty much the first time in the series, Scott was emotionally affected by something that happened. He was genuinely upset, sad, angry about Avid's death, particularly once he found about how Pyro and Owen were responsible. Scott has been playing this series incredibly blasé, treating everything very casually, and why wouldn't he? He's a millennia old vampiric lord, 12 humans causing a fuss is nothing. Sure the Coven's fun, but they're just toys. While he generally wants them to be safe. he doesn't respect them as people, they aren't really allowed to be inconvenient. We see this shift slowly, as Scott alludes to actually enjoying this family. This is brought to the forefront when Avid dies. Scott is forced to reckon with the fact that he cares. That despite everything, despite all he has done, he is a person. That he rages, that he loves, and that he grieves. Unlike with other villains, unlike with Owen, we are told to took at this man, and recognize that he is no monster. He is as human as the rest of us, right now.
im also going to be so incredibly for real. seeing scott with that bow on the fight at the wall was actually terrifying .
he hit 9 out of every 10 shots he did with the DING of confirmation, and the ones he missed he did because other vampires were jumping infront of his shots
also, arrow hits seem to be the best way for a vampire to work around humans being near silver blocks, since the damage is there and they dont get affected by it
AND ALSO from all of the vampires he was the one who actually managed to kill a human today, and he did itavoiding getting lowered from level 3 while also not consuming all of his blood bottles
every single other vampire pov i watched (not cleo yet) ended episode 7 with less than ten bottles of blood on them and scott has over two dozens of full bottles and the meat of over a dozen animals
i know scott will not kill owen and pyro immediately. like he said he's not on the business of weakening "his" side while another side wants him dead
but i do think that owen and pyro are either not truly grasping what might happen now
i dont think either of them truly grasped that avid had people, and that those people might take action on them.
and im just saying it shelby shubble saw it fit to maybe.... take a few stabs at mr jack von pyroscythe well.... i wouldn't be mad at them.......
and also. i do think both owen and pyro did not notice the one reaction to them killing avid that might actually cost them their survival after the humans are gone. i do think they were both so wrapped up in their own emotion and what they thought was right they actively ignored the ripples that would spread from the kill
and they both seem to either forget or not know or understand that scott will be absolutely willing to go with them to a fight, let them do most of the work, let the fighting get them low on health without him havi g to do nothing and then take it from there
again, every regular life series scott watcher can tell you his buggest strength isnt on pvp. it's patience. it's on being a carrion bird and swoping in to take kills at the appropriate time
Day 1 Scott Goldsmith fan here, and my loyalty has only gotten stronger through the horrors. May he continue to Gaslight Gatekeep Girlboss his way to victory.
Level 3 vampire designs! Hehe I had a ball drawing these guys. I love me some fancy villain-esque fits. Bit of a design breakdown below the cut!
For Scott, I pretty much just did my own rendition of his level 3/afterlife skin. The main thing I wanted to do was keep him relatively “human” in comparison to the others, specifically compared to the likes of Pyro(and Avid, who I’ll finish designing once I get to see his level 3 skin). Scott is a threat not because he’s particularly violent or aggressive, but because he’s affable and charismatic, he’s someone who can easily endear himself to people. That, combined with his apathy towards the well-being of others makes him a manipulative powerhouse, so I wanted to keep him almost human, to give him a face which you could see lowering someone’s guard.
With Owen, I wanted him to be less extravagant compared to his contemporaries. He’s dressed in fine, but simple clothes, with a more overall dark palette, to match his more dour and somber tone. I gave him longer, more expressive ears, because he’s a much more emotionally driven character, and I wanted him to be more expressive. I also made him short, both because of vibes, and because it increases the contrast between his silhouette and Scott’s.
Pyro is probably the most monstrous of the vampires, which is especially fitting for him, given his backstory, and the way he’s been so quickly judged by many of the townsfolk. He’s a lot less well-kempt than the others, which is due to his more rough mental state and his tendencies to take some big risks and throw himself into battle. He also has a bit of jewelry, reminiscent of his beloved sire.
Shelby’s outfit I designed to be somewhat princess-like, partially because of her tiara, and because of the way she’s treated in the story. She’s sort of viewed by the town as a victim in need of rescue, someone who’s only with the coven because she’s been manipulated and lied to. Like a princess in a tower. But of course, while Shelby has been lied to by the coven, she knows their cruelty. She’s aware of how they hurt people, and how they intend to do so again. She’s no fool. I gave her and Scott some similar design elements, as a nod to their bond.
Apo’s design is the one I took the most liberty with, mainly because while I love her canon design, I really wanted to give her another fit, it’s only fair she gets a new one too! So for this one, I really wanted to contrast her original design, as she went to level 3 after a major shift in her character. I gave her a mostly white outfit, both to help her standout from the others, and as a contrast to her darker original outfit. She’s gone through a lot, and a big thing I wanted to communicate through her design was the idea that this is not the Apo who arrived here on the first day. I nixed some of the elements I had given my previous iteration of her design, because while I love a good flower crown, Cleo then got a new fancy crown, and combined with Shelby’s, I felt there were too many crowns going around(and that design was mostly just me having fun putting stuff I liked on her, so I decided to reel it in a bit, hehe).
Cleo is pretty similar to her actual design. I just generally tried to give her the same elegant vibe as the fancier members of the coven, but with different elements that show how she’s not of the coven as the rest.
After many arduous hours of labour, i managed to make VSMP character refs for everyone!! Lots of love to @hiephs for their incredible ref sheet, it was such a lifesaver!!
I didn’t need a third set of references on my Vampire SMP fanart streams but here we are.
Jokes aside, these are all so good and I think this is the sort of thing I need to do for all of them so I can draw them each quicker for future fan art.
Keep making amazing and inspiring art. One last thing though, where did you find their skins for the references?
After many arduous hours of labour, i managed to make VSMP character refs for everyone!! Lots of love to @hiephs for their incredible ref sheet, it was such a lifesaver!!
titsay
theartofmadeline
stormborns
jacobvanloon
blakekathryn
