An analysis (?) of V!Owens Morality in relation to his ending and the afterlife
AKA I had a thought (multiple in fact) and now I've spent the last 45 minuets writing this
I don't think that the idea of a christian-style good and bad afterlife lines up with the overall themes of Vampires smp, however, I do think that it lines up with what V!Owen THOUGHT his story was about. Owen going to hell makes perfect sense if we look at the narrative from his eyes. In his very black and white style of thinking, he saw humans as irredeemable and deserving of death because of the pain they caused him and Louis. But by the end of the series, he had come to realize that Louis wouldn't actually want him to do that. He still believed that his actions were justified, but was confronted with the realization that Louis, who in his mind is the purest example of good that there can be, would disprove. As a way to deal with those two contradicting moralities, he attempted to compromise by dying instead of continuing to hunt the humans, and leaving Legs behind to fulfill his vengeful mission.
BUT, in doing this, he also failed to be "good" anyway he could think about it. He still massacred the town the first time and set it up to be massacred again, which he now knows is not what Louis would want, therefore failing to live up to his standard of goodness. But he also failed to rid the town of humans, leaving his original task unresolved. (also his "Legs kills everyone" plan failed spectacularly, but he doesn't know that). Mix that in with his little "all vampires go to hell" he threw in at the end of the series, OF COURSE he would go to hell. He failed to avenge Louis OR make him proud. His brief time with the people in Oakhurst was enough to shift his view point ever so slightly, not enough that there was any chance he could decide to actually change by the end of the series, but enough to sew a little bit of doubt, or bring the doubt he always had to the front of his mind. He had run out of justification for his actions, but hadn't yet found the possibility for redemption for himself or humanity. So the only thing he could expect from the afterlife was eternal torment.
But he couldn't expect that for Louis.
Owen still believed that Louis is a beacon (ha) of good. Despite his insistence that all vampires go to hell, he didn't believe that Louis deserved it. I would say that his belief that Louis would be next to him in hell was more of a hope for himself rather than an actual belief. One final justification, that it didn't matter if what he did was right or wrong, he didn't have to think about his moral dilemma, because at the end of the day he would get to see Louis again.
But then he was dead and Louis was still good and he was not-so-good so they couldn't possible go to the same afterlife.
Unfortunately for Owen, when you look at the narrative as a whole rather than just his perspective, this whole thing falls apart. Because he cannot imagine redemption is an option, when the entire story of VSMP is about redemption. It's not useful to ask if Legs or Pyro went to heaven or hell, because that's not what their stories are about. Legs committed terrible war crimes but then put in the effort to change and make the world a better place. Pyro was ostracized his entire life, only to be forcibly turned with no support system to fall back onto, so he became the beast he needed to be in order to survive. Neither of their characters can easily divided into good or bad, nor can anyone else on that server. Fucking SCOTT GOLDSMITH got his redemption at the end, and he did the most harm by far (at least in my opinion).
I'm sure Owen would have his own ideas about if the other characters deserved paradise or not because of his religious trauma coded ideology, but the overall narrative is much more lenient. It acknowledges that they are all flawed, complex characters capable of both good and evil. Owen was not doomed by the narrative, he was doomed by himself. He could have had his redemption arc, but would first need to have some significant character development that he did not allow himself to have. I'm not about to headcanon a whole afterlife system into place for VSMP, but it is abundantly clear that the narrative, the universe, or whatever, doesn't believe in Owens way of thinking. He was dragged down to face eternal torment, forever separated from the man he loves, solely because of the same beliefs and unwillingness to change that keep him isolated from the townsfolk and vampires in Oakhurst despite there being several people willing to reach out at first. Both in life and death, he is in a hell entirely of his own making.
Sorry if this was unclear or rambly I had some Thoughts and suddenly had the urge to post them on Tumblr completely unedited
