blinks at you

quasar || all pronouns || adult || trapped in block people hell pfp/header from the 2023 JWST photo release

[luna-azzurra]

The thing about a good character flaw is that it has to be the same thing as their greatest strength just turned up too high. the person who loves deeply and therefore controls. the person who sees everything and therefore trusts nothing. the person who is so loyal they lose themselves. there are no clean villains and no clean heroes and once you understand that in fiction you can't unsee it in people. everyone is just their best quality at the wrong volume.

[vampostingtime]

This sounds weird but you seem to be knowledgeable about this sooo

Could you maybe summarize what Drift and Shelby’s relationships with Scott consisted of? I want to write the closest thing to a fix it fic (aka Drift gets the hell out of the cult in the future) but I don’t have time to watch the actual videos

honestly, I don't think I'm the best person to ask since the only pov out of those three that I watched full episodes of is drift, and I dropped her after session 6 (right as she was getting chummy with the cult). also, not sure exactly what you mean by what their relationships "consisted of"? but I'll see what I can do

drift was turned by scott because scott chased her down the stairs during a fight (where she was running away begging for her life and not holding a weapon. keep in mind he uses the "it was a fight" excuse to justify why he turned her from here on), and although she initially is horrified by this and recognizes that scott is in the wrong for assaulting her (her saying "how could you?" to him, after which he says "quite easily," as well as later in the town confession circle noting that "[the problem] is scott. scott got me."), she has one conversation with scott at the start of session 6 (even if you don't watch the full episode, watching that is the best way to get a feel for how their dynamic works imo. watch it on 1.5x speed or something) where he completely disarms her and gets her questioning where she wants to go. this added in with other factors like her friends pushing her into the cult (cleo, her roommate, shelby) and fears about the town (which :| even if the town could go downhill the castle is ALREADY BAD) as well as drift's focus on her own survival culminate in drift joining the castle. drift also focuses a lot of her reasoning for why she likes scott on his appearance, frequently bringing up how attractive and well dressed he is. in session 7 scott insults her outfit and encourages her to wear his clothes and still has a dismissive comment about how her lack of red isn't as "statement-y" as his and shelby's clothes even if he tries to backtrack. she copies shelby's attitude on how to deal with scott and has the line that I hate in the finale where she says “this is where you turned me. I thought it was the worst day of my life but actually it was the best.” then drift goes off to travel with scott and shelby but at an unknown point goes to live on her own, and they visit oakhurst every year

I don't have as many specifics on shelby and scott because I haven't seen their povs. what I do know is that they were roommates, and scott made the plan to turn shelby and would have turned them if pyro hadn't dealt the final blow, and scott takes advantage of pyro "stealing his food" (which he continues to call shelby when referring to this moment TO THEIR FACE AFTER THEY EXPRESS THAT THEY DON'T LIKE WHEN HE DOES THAT) by putting the blame of shelby's turning onto pyro. that way the brunt of shelby's complicated feelings are towards pyro, and scott can continue to be her cool roommate who gives her nice clothes and lets her live in the castle and is so nice to her. scott refers to her as a pet once I'm pretty sure, and implies in session 7 that her friendship with him is less impactful on him changing for the better than romantic infatuation. they live together post canon because shelby promises that they'll be good. there's also the out of canon idea that shelby marries scott because as a woman she'd have no financial independence and shelby (and maybe drift) is completely financially dependent on scott which is. horrifying.

anyway I hope that's at least something to get you started. I wish you luck on getting drift the hell out of there 🫡

[vampostingtime]

YESSSS THANK YOU TRUANT. pointing at this

[mx-abyss]

Drew vaguely affectionate vampires copperduo in the Dead Wood to cheer myself up and hopefully get into gear to finish more of the Vampires cast before Pantheon SMP starts.

Yes, V!Scott got a new fit, he's not going to only wear one thing in his wardrobe.

Also some wips I haven't posted here yet.

Scott Goldsmith Afterlife × Vampires Edition (I could yap about this one)

Shubbledrift playing billiards at Ren's pub (if things had taken a more peaceful and pragmatic turn)

And V!Scott can just pop bats out of his skin and whisper what they hear back to him, (particularly disobedient fledglings.)

[that-truant-heart]

Pyro is standing silently in the background the entire time btw and it's kind of the punchline (ha) of this whole scene. If your beaten dog bites someone and has to be put down just get a new one 🙄 omggg it's not a big deal.

[needlebeetles]

actually fucked that the last things Shelby and Pyro said to each other before she killed them were about Scott.

[vampostingtime]

back with anotherrrrrrrrr transcript this one is the talk at the castle between apo and shelby (and owen) in session 5 and it is a doozy

it's such a doozy that I didn't finish my final check over the transcript so sorry about that. I also changed how I did interjections like halfway through

find it fascinating that shelby asks what apo's doing in town in the first place. apo is the first vampire to not immediately side with the other vampires.

notably they confirm themselves dead here with the heartbeat thing, then when owen shows up he asks if apo is dead and she doesn't give a sure answer

shelby's proposal that everyone stays in their own settlement to avoid conflict is immediately challenged by owen admitting that he's going after the townsfolk on purpose to kill/turn them

shelby is one of the few characters to learn that apo was non consensually turned. this is confirmed by owen, and I don't think she ever says a word about it after this, even when at the end of this episode scott is victim blaming apo openly. shelby also victim blames HERSELF in this transcribed conversation ("I was pretty stupid running out there with them in the first place.")

shelby cutting owen openly saying that he lied about his backstory

interesting how shelby switches to saying "you burned my house down" when one-on-one she said "they burned my house down." lumping apo in with the nonspecific townies when around owen

the window crack moment in owen's pov is almost treated like a comedy beat in shelby's pov

the last part is just kill line after kill line for apo holy shit she's on a roll

[thempregguy]

category of blorbo called "technically i like them but fanons obsession with them to the exclusion of other characters pavloved me into having a negative reaction whenever i see them"

[emptyblissdotmp3-deactivated202]

[foxinahole]

thinking about goth au again and very much loving the idea that Scott would realize (one way or another) that the black lipstick Abolish wears isn't actually black lipstick because no brands sell it and immediately scours the start-up space to fund the first makeup brand he finds under the condition that they make actual good quality black lipstick because what the fuck

[areafae]

In an effort to remind myself I can do whatever I want forever, I let myself get distracted again and wrote a snippet for my bloodloathing divorce au

****

He had intended for his stop into town to be brief. A quick check that there was no one who needed his services immediately, and then he could make his way up to the Castle — whatever was left of it — get what he needed, and never set foot in this cursed place again.

He had said that last time. Never again. That night under a Blood Moon when he had given in to his fury, and finally said no more. He'd said he'd never return.

Then he got the news.

Scott Goldsmith was dead.

Fucking finally.

He should have gone straight to the Castle, when he had seen the scorched ruins that had once been Oakhurst. But there had been voices, and he had been drawn in by them. That was how he ended up stuck socialising, blending in with a mismatched collection of strangers who had all arrived at the ruined town at the same time, for different purposes. An odd occurrence, certainly, but Legundo had more important things to concern himself with. So he smiled, and introduced himself, and answered questions, as all the others were doing. He withheld a grimace as a loud, young person just about threw a handful of garlic bulbs at him — he hadn't expected to have to deny the existence of vampires so suddenly upon arrival — and offered assistance to a quiet, also young noble who claimed to have been abandoned by his family. And the whole time, he waited. He just needed a moment to slip away, and get up to the Castle, and then he could be gone. But every time there was a break in conversation, every moment he thought he had an opportunity, someone else pulled him into their discussion and he was trapped once more.

(And he couldn't help but note that the young man in the butler uniform seemed to be in the background of every conversation Legundo was dragged into).

He thought he might finally have an opportunity, when he noticed the butler was being distracted by the garlic-thrower and the farmer, but just as he was about to slip away he heard a voice that would have made his heart stop if it had been beating at all.

"Well isn't this a sight for sore eyes?"

Venom filled Legundo's mouth. It took all of his centuries of practicing self control to stop the vicious snarl that wanted to rise in his throat.

He was supposed to be dead.

"Oh, do you two know each other?" another voice asked brightly, as Legundo turned slowly to face the approaching figures.

Beside the young girl with the too-big glasses, was the man who could have been Legundo's redemption, but had become his ruin.

Goldsmith was smiling ethereally, his eyes on Legundo filled with he same hunger he had always watched him with. His bright, teal eyes. Not red. And his hair, that had once been so devoid of colour it had glistened like starlight, was a shocking, unnatural blue. Every sign of Goldsmith's immense power was stripped away from him.

He wasn't dead.

But he wasn't fucking far from it.

Legundo wondered if the idiot with the garlic might have a stake.

"Stay the fuck away from me," he hissed, when Scott made to step towards him.

That certainly changed the mood amongst the others, who had begun to gather around when they heard the red headed girl's question. Legundo saw someone shift closer out the corner of his eye, and was not surprised to see it was the butler. (Though he wasn't sure why a butler would need so many concealed weapons).

His fury, as always, did not deter Scott. He smiled wider, and pressed a hand gratefully to his own chest, like Legundo had offered him a compliment.

"Missed me that much, did you, my dear?" he said sweetly.

Legundo was going to kill him.

"I'm leaving," he snapped back, and turned on his heel. Scott would try to stop him, he was sure, but if he didn't leave then, there would be bloodshed. So he strode out the ruins of the town gates, at a speed he didn't normally let himself reach in sight of humans.

Scott did not follow him.

It was only when Legundo all but slammed into an invisible wall deep in the forest that he realised why.

The furious scream he let out startled the crows from the trees around him.

He was trapped in Oakhurst.

Again.

[areafae]

ok but imagine: established Bloodloathing as starter vamps

No solid thoughts on the details, but like they are definitely Divorced (maybe literally)

For some reason Legundo has been drawn back to Oakhurst. Maybe he hears Scott is dead, and there was something that Scott had that Legs wants from the ruins of the castle.

So he walks into town and is blending in, playing the kind, skeptical doctor, getting along with people.

and then Scott arrives.

Scott: 😍😍😍✨✨Legundo✨✨😍😍😍

Legs: If you take one more step towards me I will rip your smug face off

Scott: awww I missed you too😘

the townsfolk have NO IDEA how to deal with that energy

I just think it would be very funny

[areafae]

ok now I’m thinking like, Scott gets revealed to be a vampire, but the whole asleep for 600years thing hasn’t come up yet, so Legs is still incognito.

and I’m just imagining a conversation in town like

Cleo: so, he’s your ex?

Legs: yep.

Cleo: and yet, you hard committed to the “vampires aren’t real” bit.

Legs: Call it wishful thinking.

[areafae]

Thank you @mytoomanybookstoread for lovingly crafting me some blorbo torment

“he’s not equipped to do couples counselling or divorce court” lol Abolish’s “I’m not paid enough for this shit” level gets freaking tripled here

abolish and legs’ dynamic would be so funny pre vampire reveal too. Because rather than getting Abolish gently coaxing the Doc to be a little more open minded about the supernatural, we’d have Abolish just dropping subtle lines that hint that he knows *exactly* what’s going on with Legs and Scott, and he is both threatening and sympathetic.

[areafae]

Absolute tomfoolery from everyone here I fucking love it

[areafae]

Tags from @totally-lyrical

Horrible toxic polycule yessss

[uncannyfig]

To Sever a Bond (Excerpt)

For reasons that will become clear very soon, I've decided to post Abolish's POV from To Sever a Bond onto Tumblr. Congrats to anyone who hasn't been able to read my stuff because they don't have an ao3 account - now's your chance!

What happens to a fledgling when their sire dies?

Abolish was well educated on sire and fledgling bonds. He had read most of the organization's available text on the subject and had discussed the topic with numerous colleagues in his time working in the field. He had seen bonds take hold (both consensually and forcefully) and he had seen bonds sever. On one instance in particular, he had lost a partner when their connection to their sire was broken unexpectedly during a dicey encounter with a coven of enemy vampires — their temporary pain paralysis had left an opening for the enemy to rush in and finish them off with a stake before Abolish could interfere.

The point was, Abolish thought he knew the risks associated with agreeing to become Legundo's fledgling.

He was wrong.

Abolish sits at the base of the town's central tower, mere yards away from where the holy beacon pulses — its harsh waves grating against Abolish's senses. He could step away — move himself just outside of its range of influence, closer to where the remaining vampires and Pearl are conversing.

But he doesn't.

If he doesn't have the persistent scratching of the beacon's power to focus on, he will be forced to pay attention to a far more unsettling feeling. Hesitation. Doubt.

Is this right?

Abolish had always prided himself in his ability to make difficult decisions quickly, and accept whatever consequences followed with grace. He knew how to calculate outcomes, prioritize logic, and mitigate risk — he was good at it. He got the impression the doctor was similar (ignoring the obvious blind spots that were his own self preservation and Owen, of course). Even though years working with patients away from a military conflict had certainly softened Legundo, Abolish could still make out the shadow of the soldier he once was.

So when Legundo had turned him and the connection between the two of them fused into place, the emotional flood that poured from the bond had surprised and nearly drowned Abolish.

There was so much fatigue.

There was so much self hatred.

There was so much regret.

It was the regret more than anything else that had truly shaken Abolish. It was an unfamiliar feeling, and it had taken every ounce of self discipline to not react.

Legundo had noticed his distress, of course. Abolish was too inexperienced and too overwhelmed to possibly attempt to hide anything from his new sire. The emotions rushing down the bond had slowed, and the Doc had planted his hands on Abolish's shoulders until the fledgling could stand without swaying.

"You're going to be okay, I've got you," the Doc had said, repeating similar phrases until Abolish's primary emotion had shifted to one of annoyance. The Doc had smiled, sensing the change, and finished bandaging up his arm (Abolish had not reminded him that it wasn't needed — the bite wound would heal into a scar in a few minutes).

Then Martyn and Ren had died, and the wave of painful emotions returned.

It had taken longer for Legundo to recover after that. In his defense he had tried prioritizing keeping as much away from Abolish as possible; however, it wasn't enough to stop Abolish's mind from feeding off the foreign thoughts.

Am I being selfish?

"Abolish, be careful. Be good," the Doc had said, just before he took Cleo's hand and left the town.

Is this good?

Abolish stands abruptly and walks into the tower, closing the door behind him. He doesn't want to be near the others when it happens. This deserves respect. It deserves privacy.

And it wouldn't be necessary if you weren't afraid.

He had been offered vampirism before. Multiple times, in fact (some in more nefarious contexts than others). He always had the same response: too much paperwork. It generally got a laugh, and allowed the conversation to move on. It was a logical answer. One most people expected from Abolish.

It was also a lie.

Yes — there are good vampires, and there are bad vampires. Yes — there are good people, and there are bad people. Yes — being a vampire doesn't inherently make you a bad person. Yes — many of the most important people in Abolish's life are vampires. He knows all of this. He truly believes all of this.

… And yet.

There is a small part of Abolish's psyche buried deep — so incredibly deep — that was locked away years ago when he was taken in by the man (the vampire) who would become the closest thing Abolish has to a family. It contains the memories of a child who learned the fate of his parents — the knowledge that the thing that killed them was a creature of the night. A creature that, up until that point, had only existed in horror stories and fairy tales.

A child that asked, "how can I become the monster that killed my family?"

It is illogical. Abolish knows this. Up until now, he had gone out of his way to make sure he never needed to confront that small part of him still driven by emotion.

But now a man, a good man, is going to die for it.

Abolish sits on the staircase, staring into the pulsing light of the beacon. Perhaps the power making his skin crawl has nothing to do with the vampirism at all. Perhaps it can sense his hesitation. His guilt.

And yet, he can't bring himself to do anything but wait.

When Legundo dies, Abolish does not allow himself to cry out. He does not allow himself to seek comfort. He does not allow himself to flinch. The pain is penance for letting his fear control him.

And now, it can never control him again.

[vampostingtime]

legs's death boring as hell 😭

[blockcat-safari]

Oh, very stupid concept incoming but, bear with me: Weekend at Bernie's style vsmp shenanigans

One of the humans get turned, but for whatever reason the vamps absolutely cannot admit they've done this, but it takes three days for a human to turn

Solution? Pretend they're still alive until they revive as a vampire

[blockcat-safari]

"We are literally in the middle of a truce," Scott says. "Do you get what that means? No killing, no desecrating, no turning, none of," and he gestures loosely to the grisly tableau before him, "this."

The coven collectively considers the corpse dumped on the table between them.

The doctor is very dead.

Owen scowls, which isn't particularly noteworthy, since he's been scowling since he dragged the cadaver into the castle. "It's not like you intended to keep the truce," he mutters.

"Sneaky. We were meant to be sneaky about it," Scott says. "Not whatever weird three-day waiting time your bloodline has going on!"

Owen proffers a perfunctory growl at the insult, but it's somewhat distracted by the very deceased elephant in the room.

"Maybe the humans won't notice–" Pyro says.

"Of course they'll notice," drawls Scott. "What, do you think they'll somehow miss that their doctor has taken a weekend sabbatical? Congrats, Owen, I hope your temper tantrum was worth it."

"He started it."

"Let's just drop him down one of the crypts," Pyro says. "He's human. Old. It's not so unlikely that he missed his step and broke his neck."

"The beacons bring the humans back when they die, idiot," Owen retorts. "If you could try to keep up at the back there, that'd be great."

"Do the..." Shelby falters, but already there is a strange tone in her voice, like she's sidling up to an idea and trying not to spook it. "Does town actually know he's dead?"

"I hardly killed him in the town square."

Scott hums. "You two do seem to keep vanishing off together."

"Only," and Shelby definitely sounds like she's sneaking up on the Lesser Spotted Questionable Idea with the world's biggest net, "we could just... keep it from them. That he's dead." She registers the expressions of polite skepticism, and barrels on. "I mean, I know he's dead, but he's not, like, dead-dead. He's not going to decompose. I read it in a book once, where there's these two guys, and their boss invites them to his home, only it turns out he's hired a hitman to take them out, and–"

Shelby realises she's losing her audience.

"Anyway, it worked out for them, and they weren't even dealing with a supernatural corpse."

There's a belated pause.

The doctor remains so very, very dead.

"Humans can't even hear heartbeats," Scott says, after a long moment.

"Oh, you cannot be thinking about actually trying it," Owen snaps.

"Then perhaps you should've tried thinking before turning the good doctor," Scott replies, dangerously pleasantly. "Be thankful we're willing to clean up your mess. Now, you and Shelby can escort our guest back to town, and make sure he, ah, settles in okay."

Owen makes no attempt to hide his displeasure. "Why us?"

"Well, I can hardly show my face about town," Scott says innocently, "and Pyro seems to make the mortals uneasy, although I can't imagine why."

Pyro makes a face that's clearly aiming for disgruntled distaste of the humans, but landing closer in embarrassed territory. The whiteless eyes do little to buffer the expression.

"But they appear fond of Shelby," and Scott's voice softens, betraying the sentiment isn't town-specific, "and as for you... well, it's known the doctor has – well, had – a soft spot for you. I'm sure you can convince the townsfolk you're staying only out of mutual concern."

Owen is less sure.

There is a note in Scott's voice, however, that brooks no arguement. And thus, he later finds himself hauling the dead weight of the doctor, alone, while Shelby skips alongside him.

He's even less sure he wants to try.

"And you killed him," Scott finishes, in that same perfectly amicable tone.

"You could help, you know."

"But we need to convince the town that you care," Shelby says, eyes wide and almost managing to sound wholly sincere. "Anyway, he's too tall for me to support his other shoulder. I'd drag him the whole way."

Owen eyes Shelby. Scott has mentioned, in that off-handed, understated way of his, the nature of the literature she gravitates to. He wonders, warily, if she's planning on drawing inspiration from real life.

"Don't make this... weird."

Shelby blinks innocently. "I'm not."

"I'm only doing this to avoid the truce being broken."

"Right."

"I don't care about the doc."

Now it's Shelby's turn to eye her companion, gaze slipping to the corpse propped up by adjoining shoulders. She starts to speak. Falters. Tries again, and is visibly working to keep a straight face. "I promise you I will not be the one to make this weird."

[alkemylabz]

when the setting/location in a story is also a character in itself

[girl-blorbo-polls]

Has your girl blorbo canonically grieved?

Yes, defining component of her character

Yes, focus of a significant plotline/arc

Yes, focus of a subplot/side story

It’s implied/referenced but never depicted in the text

It’s plausible that it happened but it’s never referenced

Will probably only really happen post-canon

Highly unlikely to have happened

She died before she could grieve 😔

Nuance

Remaining time: 2 days 1 hour

[chessb0r3d]

Analysis so bad you don't even know what it's talking about anymore.

[chessb0r3d]

What??

[whereispearlescentmoon]

Wha- did she confirm she won't make a weekly pov??? Did she say why?

I'm a couple streams behind right now but I assume she said it on stream on Monday given that that's when I saw people start posting about it. Since I didn't watch I don't know if she said why.

[whereispearlescentmoon]

Okay I'm watching her VOD rn she's said that she's doing it because she wants to try something different and to keep things about her character secret until the end.