sbk forever

hi I’m the pal. web and I were talking about how it’s both uncomfortable whenever the vampires’ higher tier appearance changes are romanticized AND when they’re demonized

the cult and sausage are constantly ooh-ing and aah-ing each other’s “upgrades” and focused on conventional attractiveness and clothing changes. this romanticization serves to draw attention away from the horror of having your body irrevocably altered beyond your control, instead praising how “cool” everyone looks. it’s bread and circuses, a gilded cage

meanwhile, characters like ren often overly criticize the later tier appearances of the vampires, dehumanizing them and considering their changes repulsive. this frame serves to portray the vampires’ uncontrollable changes as worthy of scorn which they. can’t really control. it’s disheartening to hear from (for apo and cleo) someone who’s supposed to be an ally or even a friend

I never wanted to be you.

Final girl Apokuna.

Want to Stay - Chapter 8

Despite everything, Apo and Legundo make it out of Oakhurst alive.

Aimless, a cured Legundo accompanies a lost Apo home. They do their best to keep living.

---

Apo and Cherri take Legs to the spring festival.

For day 284, we have CANON AUTOPILOT !! LETS GOOOOO!!!!

and what if they lived through it?

because the thing about vsmp is that its full of characters who've caused mass amounts of death. Scott, Owen, Legundo, Cleo, Abolish

They all have varying reactions to it. Some feel guilt, others decidely do not

Scott doesn't care at all and wants to do more violence for fun, Owen feels justified and like he's right to murder more people. Abolish's job is violence, and he won't think twice.

Cleo feels horribly guilty despite not having any say in actually killing anyone, and Legundo has spent decades attempting to help as many people as he can because he has to try, even after all of his sins

And then there's Apo.

Apo hasn't killed anyone, further distancing her from other characters like Pearl, Avid and (kind of) Pyro

But Apo's seen death. So much death.

It's hard to understand the context and depth of the atrocities these characters have committed. For most of them, all we have are numbers. Hopes and dreams and livelihoods reduced to digits.

For characters like Shelby, these are distant horrors. Owen can look her in the eyes and talk about the slaughter of murderers and innocents alike, but Shelby can ignore it till someone she knows is dead. Only then does it become real, and it doesn't last.

But Apo?

Apo's lived it.

We don't know how well she knew all of the people who died, but considering they were likely her unit, she must have ate, slept, trained and worked alongside them for months to years. They were her friends, her community! She heard them talk about family back home, about dreams for the future, watched them open letters from childhood sweethearts. They did the same for her.

And if you know anything about Apo, you know how deeply they cared for the people of Oakhurst. Caring is in Apo's nature, no matter how much grief and pain and trauma.