Alright, I caved and wrote a thing for the bloodloathing divorce au (aka: the doc's toxic trainwreck of a polycule) @areafae has spearheaded. A part of me really wanted to keep going, but I promised myself this was going to stay a ficlet because I have so many other things to work on.
He is talking to the damn lumberjack again.
His doctor attracts quite a bit of attention from the humans of Oakhurst. Under ordinary circumstances, Scott would take great pleasure in watching his sire work. He wields his charisma far differently than Scott (and it is charisma, despite his doctor's insistence otherwise — manipulation for the betterment of those around you is still manipulation, when all is said and done), and Scott doesn't believe he'll ever tire of seeing flickers of the tactician he has only heard distant tales of subtly maneuver his way through the lives of mortals. It is no easy task working in such close proximity to humans without their survival instincts pinging that something is off, even more so when the vampire in question is a doctor. And yet, his sire has gained the respect (if not the trust) of most of the people of Oakhurst with a delicate ease.
His doctor's interactions with the lumberjack are different.
There is a softness to the conversations that Scott has not heard from his sire in centuries. He always had a weakness for individuals suffering from complex chronic conditions (and Scott can smell the disease seeping from the lumberjack's skin, despite his attempts to cover it with bandages and ointments), so Scott isn't exactly surprised by this outcome. It helps that the boy could be considered handsome. Nothing compared to himself, obviously; however, if one could look past his gaunt features, his unmanaged hair, and the mingling scent of sickly bodily fluids mixed with earthy remedies… well, he is fine, Scott supposes. He cannot fault his sire for being smitten by this helpless, pathetic creature. Besides, it is not his sire's social dance that he finds so vexing.
It is the lumberjack's.
You don't know him.
The lumberjack is an oddity in Oakhurst, and not just because of the ailment plaguing his form. He prefers to keep to himself — wandering into the woods alone despite the protestations of the other townsfolk. He is temperamental and distrustful of others — a distrust far greater than the base suspicion all the mortals held on some level towards the other strangers of the town. He keeps conversations to a minimum, and he lashes out towards anyone who makes an attempt to touch him, even as a friendly gesture.
But with Scott's doctor, he changes. He no longer retreats into the perceived safety of the woods or his own cabin — he stays. His words are still defensive and sharp, but he speaks. With time, he even allows the vampire to inspect his wounds, and when the sight is not met with revulsion or pity, he melts.
But you aren't seeing him, are you?
Scott knows how to read people. It is a skill he possessed long before he was blessed with his sire's gift of immortality, and one he has continued to hone to perfection with centuries of practice. He does not know this boy or where he came from, but he can tell one thing: when the lumberjack looks at Scott's doctor, Scott's sire, he is not seeing the vampire. His gaze holds awe, hope, and, most importantly, recognition.
You don't deserve his attention.
Despite Scott's faults (which he will openly admit to having — he is not delusional), he saw his doctor. He saw his raw intelligence, both as a physician, but also as a strategist. He saw his ability to seamlessly switch between kindness and sternness in a way that allowed his patients to feel heard while educating them on how to keep themselves well and safe. He saw his moments of hypocrisy — extending grace to those around him while punishing himself for those same failings. He saw his anger. He saw his endless stubbornness. He saw his love.
He sees all these things now.
Why won't you look at me?
Perhaps his doctor needs to see the lumberjack stripped free from the patient — to see the boy for what he truly is when all of the little pieces of pain and hurt are peeled away. Perhaps the lumberjack needs to see Scott's sire with a fresh perspective, free from the limitations and burdens of a mortal form.
Perhaps this act will simply shatter whatever slivers of affection Scott's sire still, despite everything, holds for him.
really love a corruption arc where the character is trying way too hard to make it work but they're in over their head and it's uncomfortable and embarrassing and they're swallowing their own puke every time they do something awful and damp with sweat and trembling but insistent that they can do this, they want it, they're not a child, but it's like they're playing dressup in clothes that are too big for them and trying to convince their own reflection in the mirror that they fit and it's just no fun to watch at all
+ then they find inside them a capacity for cruelty far more upsettingly vicious than anyone could have imagined and decide that because they enjoy how unafraid it makes them feel for the first time in as long as they can remember it must have been their true nature all along instead of something that had to be starved in the dark until it grew desperate enough to claw its way out 🙂↕️
Alt version, timelapse, and rambles below the cut!
Yall they have me in a death grip. I found the picture below while scrolling Pinterest and I thought it was PERFECT for them.
One thing that always gets me about their relationship is that Legs often purposely looks past all the bloodshed and the murder that Owen has done in order to keep pushing to save him and it keeps putting him in increasingly dangerous situations. Owen really is this man’s blind spot and I LOVE IT. I’m so incredibly proud of this piece y’all. This is my first *big* piece of MCYT fanart and it’s one of those pieces that make me go “I made that????”
I shared the sketch I did for this piece yesterday and this is basically the same piece inked with the exception of Owen’s face. It gave me a lot of trouble but I think the changes I made made it so much better.
I know we like to joke about characters who are fake idgafers (people who pretend not to care but actually care Very Much) but I think Abolish Veylocke is one of the rare actual idgafers. The only things he cares about is his job and his own convenience despite his moments of understanding and empathy and we should talk about that more
like to me he is the perfect example of an empathetic character not really being sympathetic or even kind. He understands why people act the way they do, he's just deeply irritated by it when it interferes with his work
V!Owen is a person with rich emotional depths that primarily serve to drive him and everyone he comes into contact with towards horror and violence. the horror is that he is doing this because he cares and the tragedy is that he is the architect of his own suffering
V!Scott is an incredibly shallow person who gives up evil the same way a normal person gives up tacos. the horror is that it was always this easy for him and the tragedy is that he never had a reason to try before this
