#but that along with being a techno apologist??

[zeb-z]

reading a really good dsmp fic that’s semi-canon: 😁😊😚

author very clearly does not like cSam: 😯😔🫡

author very clearly is a cTechno apologist: 🥶🫠😶

#yknow the tik tok audio that’s like ‘light slap with something that’s like Oh Drats’ #and then ‘heavy slap with something significantly worse’ #yknow when you read a fic and it’s like yeah it’s a great idea and so far well done but you can tell they don’t consume media critically #like. it’s like listen I understand the sam thing considering their clear love for Ranboo #i do I get it he’s not a good guy he’s meant to be disliked right now #but that along with being a techno apologist?? #like. painting Sam to be as bad as Dream is … it’s a choice #so is clearly being sympathetic to techno at the same time and having Tubbo forgive so easily but yknow #we can’t all be perfect #one of those twt users that are like ‘dream escaped I can’t believe Sam did this :(‘ as if techno didn’t actively break him out #like. yeah sams not perfect he’s not even a good guy right now I’d say. but fuck did we watch the same thing?? #anyways :) #dsmp #mcyt #technoblade #awesamdude #z speaks

[tobi-smp]

this is more an observation than anything, but there’s this strange discrepancy in how apologists who Also like c!tommy treat canon vs how they interact with other characters.

there’s this tendency from (mainly) dream and techno apologists to soften either the depiction of canon events or the relationship between those characters and c!tommy by taking focus Away From the conflict between them and using another character as a scapegoat.

with techno this will often be a reframing of the situation as l’manberg or quackity or tubbo or wilbur (individually or all together) being the Real Evil that pushed tommy and techno against each other. sometimes it’s a miscommunication born from someone else’s actions (usually wilbur’s back during pogtopia), sometimes it’s tommy needing to learn that techno was right all along (that his friends are all evil or toxic, or on the lighter end that it’s just l’manberg as a system that’s making everyone act out), sometimes it steers away from the personal conflict between them entirely to present the other party as unabashedly evil.

and the ridiculous thing about this is that it’s a narrative that could Easily work, if people recognized that we Have a canonical manipulator and abuser that intentionally sabotaged tommy and the relationships he had with other people through lies, manipulation, and outright abuse. that that Same person has been manipulating techno since his introduction to the series.

and it gets progressively sillier to see people staunchly refuse to use dream as that scapegoat for the tension between tommy and techno’s relationship as we get more and more information about what dream was up to behind the scenes at the time (such as dream being an Actual serial killer canonically [Link])

and then with dream himself there’s this obvious Defocusing on exile, on tommy’s death, or on the logsted chase scene. it’s interesting when you see this line, because Yes there are some people who just fully pretend like dream didn’t do anything wrong while still Liking c!tommy and their dynamic together. which is a sight to behold.

but more commonly you’ll see people who recognize dream as a character who did bad things, but they won’t focus in on What those bad things were. there’s a Playing Up of dream’s sympathetic nature (real or otherwise).

this was obviously felt the strongest with dream being in prison. with aus and fic and “predictions” exploring the possibility of tommy and dream “repairing their relationship” because dream was so pathetic and sad from what quackity had been doing to him that tommy had no choice but to take care of him (and in turn we don’t have to think about the ways that dream would take advantage of that dynamic, because we aren’t Thinking about the specifics of what dream did to tommy). 

which, of course, was largely dropped after dream’s escape From prison. but with that came more interesting framing in terms of animatics and fanart.

people trying to juggle framing dream’s escape from prison as a triumphant moment, while Also having to balance the fact that he Is a villain without digging into the details of What It Is Exactly That Makes Him Villainous (or risk ruining those triumphant and sympathetic aspects).

I’m not going to name names, but the example that brought this to the forefront to me was a fan song that used lines and imagery that intentionally called back to logsted (referring back to not only his past abuse of tommy, but him chasing tommy down to torture him after his escape), but specifically within the context of a triumphant I Win song that presented dream as sympathetic throughout. it would’ve been perfect as a pov song if it’d been self aware.

there’s this need to soften the details, to pull away attention from the ugliness of dream’s actions, in order to either present him as a sympathetic character worthy of redemption or to revel in him as a Fun Campy Villain without being bogged down by the severity of his actions (which, I’m living proof that sanding his actions down isn’t necessary for loving the character).

which of course means that those same people will emphasize the villainous actions of other characters to compensate for the Lack of attention on dream’s actions. quackity and sam are the obvious scapegoats (with tommy being the largest scapegoat for the fandom as a whole, but I digress), but wilbur is of course twisted into the main antagonist of the series before his death. 

which is strange when you look at a character like ranboo, even coming from the same people.

you’ll have people producing art and writing and meta about dream tormenting ranboo, fully embracing the psychological horror aspects of ranboo’s arc with dream front and center in it, and then turn around around and soften dream’s actions towards tommy until they’re just a footnote.

and it’s interesting to me, because it’s not actually Better.

obviously within canon we don’t know the nature of ranboo and dream’s relationship together. we don’t know if ranboo is helping dream willingly or how aware dream was of ranboo’s memory problems. we don’t have any of the details, so it’s not appropriate to put it on the same level as dream’s relationship with tommy.

but it’s Also true that when you have fan depictions of dream intentionally brainwashing a minor to force them to commit crimes (including the death of one of his closest friends), that’s uh. not Not child abuse! it’s a very different Kind of abuse but it is still Abuse.

but dream’s relationship with tommy is the one that has those stigmatized connotations associated with them, while his relationship with ranboo is couched in terms used in fiction. they’re able to revel in Psychological Horror without having to sidestep “abuse.” but there isn’t actually anything Different about dream’s actions here, they’re the same person with the same motivations, the difference is that they’re afraid to revel in the horror of his actions in one instance and not the other.

there’s something about the horror dream inflicts on ranboo that makes it feel like a Safer horror to fans of both characters, as opposed to fans of dream and tommy, even when those fans are the same people.

and then of course with fans of ranboo and techno there’s no awareness that there’s any potential conflict here at all. people were reveling in syndicate content, presenting them as best pals who’ll have each other’s backs for the rest of time, in the immediate aftermath of ranboo joining the syndicate because he didn’t trust techno not to kill his family. which was one of the funniest juxtapositions I’ve ever seen.

#I don't even know what to tag this one #long post

[apple-but-sour]

Hi, since you are a C!Dream apologist I was hoping you could help me with this request. (If not that's fine.) I have a moot who is a C!Dream apologist, and she has created an OC who is C!Dream's twin sister. According to my friend her oc is working with C!Dream and her skills are as a builder, "not big like Foolish's, but cozy and decorated like you would see in those youtube video images.", like my friend says her oc would have some skills in pvp, but not in the "big leagues" like C!Techno, C!Phil and C!Dream.

So I'm not a C!Dream apologist, I don't really like the character. But I wanted to surprise my friend with a small fic of her oc and C!Dream interacting. But I don't know enough about C!Dream to give what is accurate to her for this fic. So I wanted to ask you since you like the character. How would C!Dream interact with a twin sister who is in on his plans? Especially one who has less pvp skils then him? Would he see her as an equal, or betray her like he did C!Sapnap and C!George?

Sorry for the weird question, but thanks for reading this far if you did.

Hi! I'm not that great when it comes to characterization in fanfic but I'll try and help to the best of my ability. I'll be sharing parts of my c!Dream interpretation going off the assumption that your friend has a similar interpretation.

The number one thing about how c!Dream treats his allies is that he is very very protective of them. Take c!Punz, for example. c!Dream decided to stage a public betrayal between them specifically so that people wouldn't take the grievances they have with c!Dream out on c!Punz. This was done to protect their plans, but also to protect c!Punz. c!Dream takes most of the heat when it comes to the mutual scheming between him and his allies and prefers the server not knowing he has allies at all.

When it comes to c!dteam, I do not see the dethronement as a betrayal from c!Dream's side. I don't want to get into analysis of that interaction here but the simplified version of how I see this is the following: both c!Sapnap and c!George felt insecure in their relationship with c!Dream for different reasons. Instead of properly addressing those insecurities (whether he could at all is another question) c!Dream decided to use the public spectacle that was the dethronement to cut ties with his friends (for the aforementioned reason: he didn't want people to take the grievances they have with him out on his friends). I don't think his care for them ever went anywhere, just the public ties. He'd rather they hate him than they be in serious danger from being known as his allies.

Now let's get to the actual topic at hand: how would c!Dream treat a twin sister who is in on his plans.

To be honest, I have a hard time seeing c!Dream letting someone like the described twin in on his plans specifically out of fear of the danger she'd face, but since them working together is part of this AU, let's just go along with it. He'd likely attempt to first genuinely cut ties with her, similarly to what he did with c!dteam. Use an argument they have for that reason, or cause an argument so that she wouldn't want to associate with him anymore.

When that doesn't work (maybe she knows him well enough to see what he's really doing and call him out on it, maybe she somehow proves she's very capable, smth doesn't let it happen), he'd definitely publicly cut ties with her in a manner similar to how he did it with c!Punz: she'd still be on his side, but the server wouldn't know about it. He'd then do everything to keep their connection a secret. I'd imagine he'd be even more protective of her than he is of c!Punz and c!Ranboo because she's family and, being his twin, they likely have a very deep bond.

One way I think the relationship might differ from c!Dream's relationship with his allies is that he'd feel more secure in it. c!Punz and c!Ranboo are in on the plan because they are interested in its final outcome, they all want a united server with little conflict. The twin sister would likely be invested in The Plan not only because of her interest in its outcome but also out of the desire to support c!Dream as a person. Because of this, there's less chance of betrayal in c!Dream's mind. He might be more open with her about his struggles because he's less afraid of his weaknesses making him seem incapable as a leader (though he'd still be very reserved. at the end of the day it's not only fear that makes c!Dream unwilling to discuss his feelings and struggles but also the fact that he has trouble processing those things).

When it comes to the more minute details of their interactions, I don't have much to offer, but you can try analyzing the interactions between c!dteam from the Community House era as a point of reference on how c!Dream behaves when casually interacting with people he trusts (playlist of the first DSMP VODs).

If you want some conflict in the relationship, depending on what the twin's personality is like, one cause for argument could be her finding c!Dream too overbearing in his attempts to protect her (c!George in dethronement style). Though from what you've shared maybe your friend just wants a wholesome chill dynamic.

I could try and ramble about a few more things but this is getting a bit long lol. I hope this has been helpful!

#apple answers #anon #this ask is like the cutest thing ever it made me smile SO HARD when I first read it #get u a friend who'll write fic tailored to your interests even if they don't share said interests #also anon you better pray your friend doesn't follow me lol

[sunlitmcgee]

Being a c!benchtrio apologist post outpost arc is so hard you guys don’t get it

Because it’s like this, yeah? C!benchtrio? as a group? Babies. Baby boys. My 3 little block sons. My darling baby dolly boyo boys. Love them! Wish to parent protect and nurture and watch them grow big and strong!!

But then we have c!Beeduo. Then we have them ditching c!Tommy as soon as c!Wilbur came along. Then we have c!Tubbo laughing at c!Tommy’s grave while he buddies up with c!Techno. Then we have c!Ranboo working for c!Wilbur in the van and neither of them reevaluating their choice to block c!Tommy out of their lives. Then we have c!Ranboo doing jack shit during exile. Then we have c!Tubbo not caring about c!Dream being out. Then we then we then we then we thenweteheeehehehj

I am like....a concerned father. I am a concerned father, a C!Tommy is my son. I keep dropping him off at school and wishing him a good day with his friends. His friends are so cold and sometimes I’m not even sure if they’re friends at all. I watch them play and laugh when I come to pick him up. They seem nice, I guess. But There is A Doubt there and it hurts it really fricking hurts i am in pain where are they where are my sweet boys where’s the cbeeduo that loved chommy and were there for him no matter what where they go who took them who took my boys and replaced them with these brats please please please ccbeeduo please fix fix ur ocs fix them and make them better again because I’m this close to having A Fit over it and it’s just AAAAAAAA

h but yeah. The struggle of loving cbeeduo while still wanting to wring their necks sometimes for being awful to ctommy. Truly it is the greatest test of a c!benchtrio main. Truly it is.

#dream smp #c!tommy #c!tommy apologist #c!ranboo critical #c!tubbo critical #c!beeduo critical #c!benchtrio apologist #rambles #mentioned violence #I suppose? #unsure how to tag still working on it

[ao3feed-crimeboys]

Strings of Fate

by LuckyAngevil

They all managed to get along for so long, their strings growing brighter and gaining more colours as they spent more and more time with each other. They joked about being like a family, with Techno, Wilbur and him as siblings, Phil being their dad.

They were all so close.

…Until they weren’t.

or

Tommy can see threads that connect soumates.

Words: 1969, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 3 of SBI WEEK FICS

Fandoms: Dream SMP, Minecraft (Video Game)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Phil Watson | Philza, Wilbur Soot, Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF)

Relationships: Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit, Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, One Big Happy Family, Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Threads, Red String of Fate, but its just string of fate, Strings of Fate, TommyInnit-centric (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit Needs a Hug (Video Blogging RPF), POV TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Reconciliation, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Author is a TommyInnit Apologist (Video Blogging RPF), SBIWEEK2022, SBIW_D3

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/39969129

#IFTTT #ao3feed #wilbur soot #tommyinnit #crimeboys #crime boys #crimebois #crime bois #mcyt #This is

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

[Transcript: January 10, 2021] Lore Resources: Dream Omegle Thread

THREAD SUMMARIZING MY CONVERSATION WITH DREAM ON OMEGLE TN !!!!!!! :D

[There is a clip included with a section of the conversation]

Note: this is 100% /srs! I asked him if I could record and he said yes BUT i forgot i had my headphones in so i only got about 4 minutes of out 10 minute conversation recorded:( im heartbroken LOL but i remember all the important bits and the clip i posted proves its real LMAO

- he said he liked my merch (i am wearing dream merch) and asked when i got it – i said Christmas and he was like yeah right before it sold out then! - i asked if i could record and he said yes that’s fine! - he wasn’t anywhere near the usual dream smp era because he was farming for more god apples

- he asked me how my day was a couple times to give me time to think of questions to ask WAAAAAAH - i told him i got on omegle on a whim because i was watching old speedrun streams, and he laughed and said it must be an old stream because he hasn’t streamed in a bit - we talked really briefly about tales of the smp and he said he had a lot of fun with it today even if he wasn’t roleplaying LMAO - we talked a LOT about his dsmp character in relation to being a “villain” and his motives and stuff!

- i asked him if he believes that there’s anything redeeming about his character, and he talked quite a bit about how he believes that his character is definitely a villain, but he’s always had this sort of goal of everyone getting along, but he does a lot of bad things to achieve that goal. we agreed that it was like his character has a sort of “ends justify the means” mindset, but his means have warped over time to the point where gaslighting and manipulating people has become justified in his mind to achieve his ideals.

- he also talked a lot about how it’s all about audience perspective about who is seen as redeemable and who isn’t. his biggest examples were tommy/techno and dream/schlatt - for tommy and techno, we see them do bad things but we also see a very personal perspective via their streams. “tommy can do really DUMB [laughs] stuff, but because he streams everyday you see things from his characters perspective and you can sympathize.” similarly to techno, you watch from his perspective and get his more meta thoughts, so it’s easier to sympathize

- we talked about this through the lens of “apologism” briefly too – people who watch techno primarily are more likely to be techno apologists and be positioned against tommy, and people who watch tommy primarily are more likely to be tommy apologists and be positioned against techno/dream

- he said this plays really well into why he thinks he and schlatt are the best villains on the smp (he also called pogtopia Wilbur a villain!) - because he and schlatt don’t/didn’t stream the smp, you don’t get that personal connection to the character and you don’t see their more mundane moments and their thought processes and stuff. it’s a total mystery to the viewer their goals/plans/thoughts unless they say it on someone elses stream, so it’s harder to sympathize and it also makes them better villains

- he talked a LOT about how what he likes about so many characters on the smp is how most of them aren’t “good” or “evil” – they’re very morally gray and do bad things for good reasons, or good things for bad reasons. he especially holds this as true for dream and schlatt, but he definitely though that the two are pretty evil people LMAO

- i realized that i had my headphones in and none of his audio was recording. he was very sweet and sympathetic WAAAAH - he said THE NEXT 10 DAYS we find out more about his dsmp character! he hammered the 10 days thing in VERY hard so expect dream lore soon

- he was like “whats a good conversation idea” so i could get something interesting actually recorded 🥺 - i asked who on the smp he’d like to see more lore from, and he was VERY emphatic about both ranboo and niki! - DREAM CONFIRMED THAT RANBOO WAS HALLUCINATING THE CONVERSATION WITH HIS CHARACTER IN THE PANIC ROOM!!!

- “um, well, here’s the – it’s a hallucination, so it’s not […] you’d probably have to ask ranboo for the best explanation, but it’s like ranboo talking to himself. dream is – dream is not there. you’ll have to wait for further streams to get the exact explanation. but like, dream’s not there gaslighting him into thinking he’s hallucinating, it’s like a voice in his head.”

- i thought that THAT was very interesting because of the implications of how dream got ranboo’s memory book, what the smiley face in the book means, and the further implications for ranboo’s and his characters and he said that that will all be explored as the lore unfolds and to look out for it!!

- he said he was gonna go talk to some other people, and that it was nice talking to me!!:) i told him i was probably gonna go freak out to my friends and he laughed and said he hopes i have a good rest of my night!! and that’s the summary of our convo:) literally this was a highlight of my life thank you so much @dreamhangout @dreamwastaken for talking lore and dsmp!dream with me! you were so sweet while i was SO nervous and unprepared and didn’t know what i wanted to say JSNXJSNXNDXJDN i just love you very much and will literally treasure this convo forever even if it was SOOOO scuffed. thank you so much again <3

#dream smp transcriptions #dream smp #reference #long posts #i've been meaning to post this for a while 'cause it's an important lore resource but #speedran finishing the transcription today lol #this fandom really likes its discourse huh

[memoryboy]

you don’t understand how badly i need awkward family dinners with phil, wilbur, tommy, and ranboo. phil being an apologist for both wilbur and ranboo but very obviously not wanting tommy there, wilbur trying not to be obvious about how much he dislikes the kid his dad basically adopted, tommy just smoldering, and ranboo trying to be nice to wilbur while still defending tommy from him and phil.

ranboo’s there because he’s phil’s son-figure/neighbor. tommy gets dragged along by wilbur, even if phil doesn’t want him there. techno’s just hibernating. tommy pokes him with a stick.

#wilbur soot #ranboo #philza #tommyinnit #dream smp #dream smp spoilers

[a-wild-rosette]

Hey saw your 'Ranboo Negative' post about how you don't think he's a good character? (i'm sure that's what you said) and i was wondering if you wanted to expand on that?

(no pressure i'm just not the biggest fan of him either and like hearing people who agree with me lmao)

Hi anon my beloved.

I don't usually write crit but I'm mad enough today so :D here we go :D

So I'll admit that his entire like, enderwalk mystery and such doesn't engage me as much because mystery isn't my most favorite genre and I just feel like there are too many questions and mysteries keep piling up on top of each other. But like, that's probably just a personal preference thing.

But like on a character development, especially emotional and the way the character interact with the world? Yeah not into that. Here's why.

1. People excuse his actions too much and there is literally no consequence on Ranboo for his actions whatsoever.

c!Ranboo is the type of person who is nice, but not kind. The kind of person that stands for nothing and therefore falls for nothing. Instead, other people suffer the consequence of his actions.

Like Ranboo gave Techno back his weapons and stood by and watched at people were tortured by Techno and Tommy. Twice, may I add, with Fundy - one of Ranboo's supposedly closest friends, and Connor - an innocent bystander. No one ever calls him out on it, and he can go on and deny what he did (or didn't do, more like) was not bad. Or like the whole ordeal with Doomsday. He basically talks a big game of being loyal and choosing people, but in Doomsday the only person he chose was himself and his own safety.

He betrayed L'Manberg. He left Tubbo and Tommy to fight for their death even though he said he was going to fight with them. He abandoned every other person who cared about him, only to go and team up with the people who destroyed the country of the FOUR PEOPLE who had always wanted to protect him (Tubbo, Tommy, Niki, Fundy). He refused to pick a side, and by that, he picked the side of the tyrant. In the face of injustice, inaction is an action in itself. But yeah, while everyone else lost everything, Ranboo has everything to gain. He has powerful allies, a home that he can fill to the brim with richness, and in the end, everyone who he has hurt? Tubbo goes out of his way to protect him against Quackity's (reasonable, albeit quite harsh) criticism. He's still friends with Tommy, you know, despite being friends with one of the dudes who blew up Tommy's country. Even Fundy and Niki still care about him in the aftermath. He didn't lose anything - everyone else in L'Manberg did.

Somehow, he never had to stop and reconsider his stance on everything and who he supports, he never had to stop and considered "hey, maybe i'm not as good of a person as I want to be". AND HE COULD DO IT because no one calls him out on his action (or inaction, more like). It's always "oh no he's a victim because he has memory issues". Cool motive, still murder :) He's still a person with autonomy, and "peer pressure" is still not a good enough excuse to hurting people. And you know for sure that, even if Ranboo hurt someone *again*, it's gonna still be "justified" by whoever he didn't hurt :) (Not naming names here but it starts with Ranboo and ends with apologists). Actually, just look at the outpost situation with Las Nevadas right now :D

You see, Ranboo can do things that are really just... frustrating at best and downright annoying at best, and the amount of people going hearteyes at him still is enough to overwhelm any meaningful criticism in character :)

2. In fact, the consequence of Ranboo's actions fall onto other people. Or like, people justify Ranboo’s actions by demonising other characters. C!Ranboo does this too. 

Not just other people blaming Ranboo's actions on him being "peer pressured", Not just like, people getting hurt because Ranboo didn’t support them. But Ranboo himself pushing the blame on other people to maintain the view that he was blameless. 

c!Ranboo wants to be a “good” person so bad that he went to a lot of length to justify himself, blaming any wrongdoings on other characters, putting himself in the victim role to explain away his actions. He wants to be a good person, a “reasonable person” who would bring “peace” to the server and resolve conflict, but he refuses to actually do the hard things, because being “good” means taking a stance, being “good” is hard and needs effort, efforts that Ranboo does not have the drive to put in. So instead, he chose the easier thing: explain his actions away. He wasn’t bad, he couldn’t control other people’s actions. He was just a victim. Oh no! 

Like when he called Fundy a coward for wanting to team up, for “choosing people, not sides” - the exact things Ranboo preached. Like when he yelled at Tommy for when his plan to kill Dream failed, even though he and Tubbo helped Tommy without ever trying to stop him or make him more well prepared. He denied any of his involvement in any plan that went wrong and pushed the blame onto the people around him. And even in the Las Nevadas dispute just now? He also subtly hinted that Tubbo was the one who made the decision, not him. He’s the reasonable one here. As if he didn’t help Tubbo. As if he didn’t antagonise Las Nevadas right along his partner. 

And I would be more lenient with this trait if it weren’t also supported by literally everyone around Ranboo. Like, take the time when Phil told Fundy he had “a lot of redeeming to do” and expressed that Tubbo also had things to make up for, and then compared Ranboo with them as the poor, manipulated victim. Deliberation or no, that comparison push a narrative between Ranboo and Tubbo and Fundy, between the “good” victim and the “evil” perpetrator. Or, like, take the times where everyone blames c!Dream for manipulating c!Ranboo, even though there is no hint about that actually happening. Ranboo’s “victim” narrative keeps being reinforced, which, again, gives him no space and no dissonance to actually reconsider his stance. 

3. There's no stake for c!Ranboo's character.

When L'Manberg was still around, Ranboo clearly showed his loyalty didn't lie with the country. He had no emotional connect to the place, and he failed to see how the country meant so much to the people who built it and fought for it and saw it rise and fall. Even his emotional connection to Tubbo and Tommy was chalked up, by himself, as "they were nice to me, so i'm nice back". Relationships, in season 2 at least, were just a tradeoff of favors and niceties to Ranboo, and whether it was the case or not, Ranboo convinced himself that was the case. This gave him a detachment from *everyone*, because at the end of the day, the emotional stake wasn't there, loyalty was not in ss2!Ranboo's vocabulary.

And right now? Ranboo is in full life, he has a whole chest of totems. The closest thing he has to a stake is Tubbo and Michael, but like, meta-wise? I don't think Tubbo is dying anytime soon, and Michael is also probably safe because no one would be cruel enough to use Michael as a plot, when cc!Ranboo and cc!Tubbo are clearly really attached. Ranboo is rich, powerful, with a powerful husband, and a whole fucking lot of plot armor. And while, yes, his attachment to Tubbo and Michael is a positive development (and the *only* positive development actually), it's also paled a bit when Ranboo is still allied with the people who destroyed Tubbo's home, not to mention he was there against Tubbo when the Syndicate threatened him. The emotional connection between him and Tubbo was still not strong enough for Ranboo to reconsider the people he supports.

I’m gonna be patient for now, but honestly the way the character is being excused over and over both in canon and by the fandom is really frustrating to watch. 

#dream smp #dream smp analysis #c!ranboo critical #long post #rose's analysis

[businessbois]

i think the thing that frustrates me about some (not all i know some people wanna see funny pig man blow shit up and i respect that) techno apologists is that they don’t see anything anyone else says with nuance and take everything techno says as the truth. they’ll go into techno’s choices and morals and how he truly cares but is hurt all the time, but they be like “tommy says ‘blade’ tommy bad.” like i saw tommy’s line about “the discs being worth more than you ever were” used as proof that tommy dehumanized everyone and like,, tommy so immediately regretted and didn’t mean that, as evidenced by the fact that the very next thing he did was tell tubbo to give dream the disc. he even said he was becoming someone he wasn’t and didn’t want to be. people jump through hoops to defend every action of technos but literally dont peer into any other characters any deeper.

no other character gets viewed with this certainty of being Absolutely Correct All the Time. when wilbur was lashing out believing that “nobody was on their side” and trying to blow up l’manburg, nobody viewed this as a good thing. when tommy was committing his minor acts of terrorism notably with connor and fundy, these were not good things. when jack manifold and niki are planning to kill tommy, this is not a good thing to do. all of these characters were hurt but, “that doesn’t doesn’t excuse their actions” and they “shouldn’t take the fucked up shit that happened to them on other people.” (these are quotes from when tommy was apologizing to the people he hurt)

techno commits major acts of terrorism, takes multiple canon lives, and declares that “the only universal language is violence” but someone everyone wants to act like he’s justified and the victim?

techno gets to say “you wanted power. you wanted to be the hero” to tommy who just gave up the presidency and shouted that “im not the hero. no ones the hero” and everyone just takes that? he gets to say “i would have fought the world for you” like twenty minutes after going “hell no i won’t fight dream for you”?? he gets to answer tubbo’s accusation of “doesn’t that make you a tyrant yourself?” with “the ends justify the means” like What the Fuck Dude??

techno is hurt and techno is Wrong about how he sees tommy and the other members of l’manburg (ex-members whatever) he is not right when he says that tommy “the horse brothers!” “if there was a hug button, i’d press it” “all i’ve ever wanted was to be called your friend” innit only saw him as “the blade.” he is not right in saying tubbo “i just want everyone to get along” underscore is a tyrant. he can be wrong. that’s okay. other characters are. tommy is so wrong all the time and i wrote this stupid ass essay to go to bat for him. tommy wants to use an evil egg for capitalism purposes. i say “i dont support your actions and i want better for you, but go funky little raccoon boy.” treat techno the same.

#tommyinnit #c!techno critical #dsmp analysis #i just chuck a lot under the analysis tag #dream smp #mcyt #obligatory: i like techno's character #i mean i use a c!phil negativity tag and a c!techno critical tag #im down for straight up hating c!phil but not c!techno

[blockgamepirate]

I think the biggest missed opportunity with the Dream SMP story might actually be the way they kinda completely dropped the actual Dream SMP faction from the plot entirely?

I guess it still technically exists but like, it just has no relevance? At all? It seems like every now and then Eret tries to make it mean something and everybody just ignores them. Idk.

And I feel like there was SO MUCH build up and potential that was wasted because of this.

(Content warning for some criticisms of the canon Dream SMP storyline, even though I do actually like it in many ways, yada yada, disclaimer: I don't actually hate the DSMP, obviously, and these are just my subjective opinions which other people might not agree with at all and that's valid)

1. This is actually my biggest criticism of Doomsday in the narrative sense. There was all this foreshadowing all throughout "season 2" of how Dream was going to use his power as the shadow leader of the Dream SMP to crush New L'Manburg, how that was supposed to be the whole reason why Tommy was exiled, and I thought it was going to be a whole big reveal where Techno was going to find out that there was this bigger threat out there that was worse and more powerful than New L'Manburg and that he'd been wrong to dismiss Dream as "just a guy".

But that just never happened, and Dream somehow along the way lost the support of EVERYBODY except Punz, and he in fact did become Just A Guy. For all his schemes (which... I still don't understand what their point was) and his personal power, he just kinda lost all his influence. And even now pretty much all he has going for himself is the book. Somehow Techno was retroactively proven right, and I might be a Techno apologist but I don't like that, actually, I feel like it was such a missed opportunity to complicate the story and make it more interesting.

Also Doomsday was frankly kind of anticlimactic from Techno's POV and I think what it desperately needed was a twist or a complication of some sort. I mean technically there were some for certain individual characters? I guess? But not for Techno and not anything that would have been relevant for like multiple perspectives rather than just one or two. It was so straightforward, they just fight for ages and the Doomsday trio win. It's big and impressive and there's lots of explosions and action, but it's not an interesting story. It needed a twist.

Idk, everything about the story just went into a much more individual and interpersonal direction. The big scale stuff and the societal and political aspects of the story which were a huge part of Wilbur's storytelling in the beginning got kinda left aside as an afterthought, and I just feel like it makes the plotlines less interlinked and less interesting. And it kinda ends up making a handful of popular characters the focus because there isn't a bigger story that everyone would contribute to.

2. Imagine if there had been an actual war between NLM and DSMP? Like all the drama of friends being stuck on opposite sides and everything, like there was a whole thing that was hinted at with Puffy struggling with the fact that she was already loyal to the Dream SMP, but Niki was with New L'Manburg, and how that might come between their love... and then it went nowhere and Puffy just kinda sided with New L'Manburg anyway. And it's not like Dream couldn't have played the destruction of the Community House agaist Tommy and New L'Manburg! It could have been a plausible rallying cry for the otherwise fairly uncommitted faction. And thrn LATER everyone finds out it was Dream all along, but only after the war already started and battles were already fought.

What the sequence of events here would be, I'm not sure. I might make a separate post about that.

3. While we're talking about factions, imagine if the Badlands had actually been a significant player too, like that could actually have been an interesting conflict with both Dream SMP AND the Badlands trying to become the dominant faction and New L'Manburg just trying to survive. It would also have made New L'Manburg a lot more sympathetic in comparison, rather than just being basically the only faction that anyone cares about.

4. Obviously Eret's entire character, I mean that one is kinda important. Like I said, they're the one who is ACTUALLY TRYING to make this faction still have relevance, it's just that nobody cares.

---

... Other than the Egg, I guess, but the Egg was just not given the weight it needed either. (I still think the Egg should have destroyed the entire Spawn area or made it unlivable for the un-egged people, that way it would have had a concrete effect on all or at least most of the characters, even those whose players didn't wanna get egged themselves.)

(Or something like that.)

And I just feel like Dream was a much more interesting character when he was the power behind the throne, when he was actually influential and respected and could leverage his influence into asserting control over the server. Now he's kinda just a comic book villain. He's just an individual bad guy who has like one minion and the only source of power he has is a magic book that can bring people back to life and it just feels like he could probably be easily beaten through the power of friendship if he actually showed up again. Idk, I just find this whole set up so boring. I guess maybe I'm just tired of fantasy nonsense conflict, I'd prefer something more grounded (which I feel the early plotlines kinda were, all goofiness and Minecraft logic aside.)

Maybe once we know more about Dream's actual plans it'll make more sense but I just doubt I'll be invested in it even then. This is just not how actual bad people act in real life, they don't throw away all their social power and go muahahaha I'm evil and intentionally get themselves locked up in prison for some unclear elaborate ploy to do.... something??? That's some Loki/Joker shit, that's what villains do in comic books and comic book movies. If someone does try that in real life they generally just kinda fail because these are not good ideas.

(The justification for the staged finale better be good enough to explain all that nonsense.)

---

I mean I guess it's partly just me being sad that so much of the stuff I was looking forward to and that I thought was going to be relevant somehow ended up getting dropped. Because I *liked* the direction I thought the story was going. I liked the Dream SMP vs L'Manburg thing, I liked the Badlands as a concept, I liked Niki's City as a refuge from all the factions and governments, I liked Techno as the anarchist terrorist, I liked Eret's power struggle over the Dream SMP faction with Dream, etc.

I'm not saying that the story couldn't have evolved from that, I'm fine with the focus and setting changing over time, I just wanted to see those themes actually pay off in some way first! I think the only one that actually did was the Techno thing. And even that could have benefited from things being more complex, like I said, and New L'Manburg not being literally the only country that's actually plot relevant.

But maybe that's just me, idk.

#looking at this post now #it's kinda unnecessarily rambly and pointless #but whatever im posting it anyway

[dystopiandilfs]

The DreamSMP is told in different perspectives meaning the person you watch is automatically the hero and anyone they disagree with is a villain. That's literally the whole point of the server it's all about perspective. That's why it's interesting.

For example people who watch the members of the Eggpire see that the Egg is the villain, they're watching the victim and there's no real hero.

Watching Techno puts Techno as the hero Tommy and Tubbo as the biggest villains whilst Dream is a chaotic but trustworthy ally.

Watching Niki makes her the hero, L'Manberg the villain, Karl her biggest threat and Techno her ally.

The reason most people see Dream as the villain is because nobody sees his perspective which is how most superhero movies are. Nobody is actually a hero or a villain it's all about perspective and persuasion.

If you look from Dream's perspective he and his friends made rules and they all lived by these rules and everyone was fine, Tommy broke the rules was understandably punished for it then he turned that into Dream being a villain.

Interestingly Dream is the only consistent character. He's the only one who's motive has remained the same the only thing that changed was how far he was willing to go to get there. His motive has always been to be a big family, it's why the og rules were put in place, it's why he tried to stop people from separating, it's why he detached himself from everyone, he made everyone hate him so they all finally agreed on something. He told Tubbo and Schlatt that the biggest problem was nobody could agree with anything. He told Sam and Bad that the closest thing to a full server agreement was that people who did wrong got the correct level of punishment which is why he commissioned the prison. (This was just before the egg was discovered). He told Punz he just wanted a happy family again and that he was doing something that everyone would hate him for which is why Punz had to pretend to be against Dream. Then he blew up the community House which ruined the final relationships he had left with the og members and Captain Puffy as she'd given him the tnt (and the obsidian)

Even from day one Dream's goal was for the server to be a big happy family, he made deals with the strays like Schlatt and Techno, he created favours with the influential members, he destroyed everything that was separating and secluding people, he did all these big things to attempt to bring people together (For example Hbomb said the closest the server has been ever was during the rebuild of L'Manberg after Wilbur and Dream blew it up). After discovering that it wasn't enough he made himself the common denominator. If everyone hates Dream it was something they all had in common.

Literally everyone else has had multiple end goals. Techno's was originally to destroy governments but then made his own under the guise of it being a club. Essentially Techno got blinded by control and power, got overwhelmed and tried to leave only for the butcher army to reignite his thirst which is when he decided to blow up another government. He'd changed his mindset, he wasn't going to go after the new government but they went to him.

Tommy tunnel visioned towards Dream making him the villain after Dream stole his discs eventhough Tommy stole his and George's fish, nobody in L'Manberg saw Dream as their biggest threat until he made a deal with Eret even then they were more concerned about Eret. Just as Wilbur started to see Dream as the biggest threat instead of Eret, Schlatt came along and suddenly Dream was providing Wilbur and Techno with supplies, Tommy still saw Dream as the villain but was now busy with Schlatt. Once again Tommy's main goal was stopping Dream as the villain he created but constantly sidetracked to fight other battles.

Bad's perspective is interesting because a large chunk of it is down to manipulation and corruption. He was on Dream's side until Badlands was created that's what made him start to change. Before Badlands Bad didn't really have a clear goal (other than Be Gay Do Crime. /j) His new and more consistent goal is down to Egg manipulation but is the longest he's had the same goal in mind.

Ranboo tried to be neutral and not pick sides however that in turn gave him multiple enemies. All based on perspective. From Ranboo's pov he wasn't picking a side and was a victim to the voice, most people's perspective he was a double crossing traitor. Only Dream and Tommy knew that Ranboo blew up George's house and that was used by Dream to get Tommy exiled but to also get Ranboo away from the biggest defective person, the biggest rulebreaker.

Literally you can't call someone a villain on the DreamSMP unless it's Dream purely because it's based on perspective (and opinion) you however can't use Dream's acts on the DreamSMP as real irl things (that's just fucking weird)

Character apologists aren't a thing. You can be a sympathiser but not an apologist. However just because someone is defending their character it doesn't mean they're enabling it. If someone likes Dream and defends his character it doesn't mean that they're enabling abuse or terrorism. At the end of the day it's a bunch of teens, young adults and Philza having fun roleplaying on a MINECRAFT server with friends. They're not condoning anything that their character does, they're not excusing it. It's just a role. Let people defend their favourite characters. Let people have a different opinion to yours. It's literally the whole point of the SMP.

#dreamsmp #dream smp #dreamwastaken #georgenotfound #mcyt #sapnap #badboyhalo #tubbo #karl jacobs #philza #technoblade #ranboo #quackity #tommyinnit

[grace13star]

In canon, c!Wilbur was a depressed, paranoid, self-destructive, and suicidal man who, in trying to protect the people he cared about, did the wrong thing for the right reason. So why has fanon turned him into some irredeemable villain?

I think it has a lot to do with how this fandom views morality- and it's not just a Wilbur problem. Every time a character makes a questionable choice, chat spams "VILLAIN ARC!!!" and hundreds of theories pop up about how this character is bad, actually. It goes as far as fans blatantly ignoring canon in order to justify their "evilness." For instance, despite cc!Phil stating multiple times that his character is not related to c!Tommy in any way, people still use his treatment of Tommy to call him a bad person and dad. C!Puffy is not canonically c!Dream's mother, but people still use their out-of-canon joke as a way to call Puffy a bad person and say she "abandoned" c!Dream.

c!Wilbur canonically blew up L'Manberg in a misguided attempt to protect the people he cares about. But since he did a bad thing and called himself a villain, he must be evil for evil's sake. Some people even go so far as saying he "must have been evil all along" and they go back to watch the original vods and take jokes and lines out of context in order to say he was evil. Despite saying he lies all the time, they take his words at face value, thinking that since he said he's a villain that he must be, despite all his actions towards getting rid of said "villain". Guys, he literally killed himself to get rid of the thing he thought was hurting everybody. He saw how the power L'Manberg had was corrupting people and he knew how bad it could get, and his solution was to get rid of it. When c!Tubbo rebuilt L'Manberg, he was proven right when c!Dream used the power against Tubbo in order to force him to exile c!Tommy. This isn't an excuse for any harm he did cause, but only a defense for him being called evil or a villain, when his intentions and motivations are good.

It's interesting to see how the fandom switches up with characters. While some of them become irredeemable villains, the other half become innocents who can do no wrong.

For example, c!Niki literally tried to kill Tommy with a nuke, but because she stopped trying to kill him, she's good now. Ranboo has also confirmed that his "Enderwalk" self is just himself with all his memories, and he helped Dream. But because he can't remember it, he must be good. Techno helped blow up L'Manberg two times and he isn't called a villain nearly as much as Wilbur is, despite him actively going out of his way to hurt and kill people both times.

Even Dream is given way too much credit. Despite all evidence to the contrary, fans and apologists make up backstories and reasons for why child abuse is okay, actually (/s), and he was called a villain a few times which means the only acceptable response is war...I guess?

Guys, there's this thing called gray morality. It means that people can do bad things and still be good people, and it means that people can do good things and still be bad people, and it means that not everything is black and white. No one is entirely evil. No one is entirely good. If you're gonna analyse a character don't make things up, don't make them worse than they actually are, use actual evidence, and for the love of god, know what the words you use mean. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people call something manipulative and then it's just two people having a normal conversation. When you're analyzing a piece of media, especially one like DSMP where there are many perspectives, you can't only watch one and make definitive statements about a character. Erasing nuance and basically the entire character in order to make them "evil bad man villain" ruins what is so great about this story.

#wilbur soot #dream smp #dsmp #dsmp character analysis #character analysis #fandom analysis #dsmp fandom critical #c!dream critical #but is it really critical if its canon #tommyinnit #niki nihachu #c!niki critical #kind of #c!ranboo critical #also kind of #c!technoblade critical #c!dream apologists neg #tw suicide #tw suicidal thoughts #mental health #c!captain puffy #c!philza #anyways i wrote half of this in my head during swim practice and then typed it on my phone

[tobi-smp]

it’s still the tommy-apologist holiday here in the states, so let me say something controversial:

doomsday wasn’t a mutual betrayal between technoblade and tommy, technoblade’s feelings were hurt and he has the right to feel that way but he was the one that had been overstepping tommy’s boundaries from the beginning and got hurt when tommy tried to pull himself back.

tommy only agreed to an alliance on the condition that they’d be causing “minor” terrorism in l’manberg, that l’manberg Wouldn’t get destroyed and that tubbo wouldn’t be hurt, which tommy reinforced multiple times. technoblade intentionally let him believe in that lie when he had no intention of upholding those terms because he Specifically wanted to change tommy’s morals to the point that he’d eventually agree with it. techno may have done this because he genuinely thought that it’d be a good thing for tommy, but it wasn’t his right or his Place to decide that he could do that, especially as time went on and he realized how unstable tommy currently was ("Oh my god, you just have no freewill whatsoever." - technoblade to tommy during dream’s first surprise visit to techno’s house).

technoblade revealed that he’d been lying to tommy about this this entire time, which tommy would’ve had the right to get angry with him about. again, I cannot stress enough that this is technoblade revealing that he’d lied to tommy and had been using tommy to help him get ready to destroy his home, whether technoblade actually needed tommy’s help or not is irrelevant because this makes tommy complicit and changes the entire circumstances around their partnership. This was an actual act of betrayal, the betrayal of tommy’s trust.

it didn’t go that way however, because techno Did successfully manipulate tommy here (and it is manipulation, whether we want to think of it that way or not). techno presented l’manberg in a purely negative light (insisting that tubbo specifically was a bad person who’d never been tommy’s friend), he encouraged tommy’s more violent coping mechanisms, and then when he thought tommy was far enough along he revealed what he’d wanted to do while insisting that he Trusted tommy now and holding the idea of genuine friendship over his head. (”You could actually be useful. You could actually be, dare I say it, a friend.” “That’s all I ever wanted.”)

none of this means that techno didn’t genuinely like tommy or that he wasn’t genuinely trying to look out for him, but tommy was blatantly coerced into joining techno’s cause here when it’d been explicitly against his boundaries. tommy Never wanted to destroy l’manberg, he wanted a relationship that he felt safe and wanted in, he wanted to be happy. techno presented himself as someone who cared about tommy, and then he presented tommy helping him destroy l’manberg as the key to his friendship when he was literally the only person that tommy had (and had made sure to emphasize that). of course tommy agreed.

tommy had tried to convince himself that he was okay with techno’s plans, but as soon as he’d genuinely hurt tubbo that illusion was shattered. he realized then and there that on a moral And emotional level he could not stand to see tubbo hurt without seeing himself as a monster. tommy’s reaction here was inward when it so easily could’ve been outward, could’ve been outward anger at the man who railroaded him into this situation despite his wishes, and it just wasn’t.

at this moment tommy Still trusted techno, he was honest with techno immediately and was Clearly having a breakdown. techno’s reaction was immediately the offensive (asking tommy if he “really wants to do this” doesn’t count as giving tommy a fair chance, especially when techno has Seen and talked tommy down from his panic attacks before), tommy was immediately Dead to him while Tommy was still willing to make a compromise (tommy thought that techno would be receptive to a compromise because he’d been tricked into thinking he was getting one before, but he wasn’t and techno would never settle for that).

techno presented himself as someone that tommy could trust and rely on (and particularly as someone who’d be patient with him during his breakdowns, which the confrontation at the community house definitely was), that’s Why tommy was honest with him and Why he’d felt comfortable enough with him to say how he felt in plain words as best as he could (compare “I’m worse than everyone I never wanted to be” to “Wilbur wasn’t so poggers” and it’s immediately obvious what I mean). On Top Of techno (falsely) presenting tommy’s participation as a choice, he’d already made tommy participate by getting tommy to help with the preparations before telling tommy the truth about what they’d been preparing for, tommy had already been complicit before he could make an informed choice. it also goes without saying that techno immediately partnered with dream with no remorse. that’s strike two and three of betraying tommy’s trust.

tommy had been trying to reach techno all throughout doomsday, it wasn’t until it was over that tommy had been completely disillusioned with techno. his conclusion was that techno had Never been his friend because he could not imagine someone who cared about him ever reacting to that situation the way that techno did or hurting someone who He cared about in the way that techno did.

and even then, even despite all of that, tommy Still cares about him even if he Does genuinely still believe that technoblade never cared about him.

when you actually look at the situation it’s technoblade tricking a traumatized teen into helping him destroy something that techno knew was important to him while further straining tommy’s relationships with people that techno knew he still cared about (by intentionally withholding information) and then getting so explosively angry when tommy tried to pull back that he made him the main focus of doomsday despite the people who tried to literally murder him also being there.

tommy hurt techno by deciding that he couldn’t let him hurt his best friend or destroy his country without severely damaging his own mental health and self worth After he’d made it clear that this was a moral boundary for him.

that’s not mutual at all, there is literally nothing even about their actions towards each other or the power between their dynamic. they were Mutually upset, they were not Mutually betrayed.

#dream smp #technoblade #tommyinnit #tubbo #dreamwastaken #technoblade critical #c!technoblade critical #meta #long post #ask to tag

[lostfieldranboo]

hello and welcome back to me overanalyzing one (1) line from one (1) youtube video

so around 4:33 of technoblade’s “the main character of dream smp” video (here) he says something specific. it’s something that i passed over at first, both live and in the video, but recently i started thinking about it again.

“this is where we plotted the first revolution on the server, to overthrow schlatt.”

the first revolution on the server.

this could be understood as the first revolution involving techno, but since we now know that wilbur was also lying to phil through his letters for the entirety of the pogtopia arc...

it’s more likely that techno genuinely just doesn’t know.

whether this was techno not finding out about the l’manberg revolution entirely or being given a warped view of the situation, there’s a large chance that he genuinely just.... doesn’t know. i personally think the second is more likely, but i personally haven’t rewatched the pogtopia vods in a few months so i might be wrong.

and i’m not a techno apologist or anything, but looking back on pogtopia era specifically (as well as doomsday, possibly) with this in mind kinda just... makes things make sense? of course he went along with wilbur’s plan to blow up the country, he doesn’t know what was lost for it. he goes along with the people he joined the server to help (wilbur and tommy) and then chooses the one of the two that makes the most sense to him based on what he knows.

but, if techno somehow managed to go through the entirety of pogtopia without finding the real information, there’s every chance he still doesn’t know at all. i mean, who would tell him? phil and ranboo, who weren’t on the server until after manberg was gone? niki, who he’s only spoken to a few times in canon? tommy, who spent his time with techno avoiding thinking of l’manberg as home? ghostbur, whose memory couldn’t be trusted at the best of times? dream, who wanted his help to destroy the country?

this sentence is from late january. post-doomsday. he didn’t know how l’manberg started when he helped end it.

and isn’t that just a little bit ironic, huh. 

#technoblade #dream smp #dsmp #mcyt #l'manberg #jay talks #was rewatching the video today and had some THOUGHTS huh

[dreamsclock]

As a C!Dream apologist, I hate when people say we defend his actions in the exile arc or think that L'manburg was the problem all along. WE ANALIZE HIS CHARACTER. THAT'S ALL WE DO.

there’s a weird thing in this fandom where a lot of people boil favourite characters down to agreeing and validating everything they say and everything they do - as if every single character hasn’t done something that can’t be excused or justified.

and i think it comes down to a lot of the fandom’s view on morality - the weird demonisation of the ‘villains’ of the smp, from straight up despising c!dream and his apologists/fans to the vilifcation of c!enderwalk to the way so many split up “l’manbur” from “vilbur” and “revivebur” like they’re not all the same person and treat them entirely differently - a lot of the fandom’s moral compass is pretty black and white, which is unfortunate, because it means they view characters in the same way. characters like c!tommy and c!tubbo tend to be woobified, and all their actions excused away, while characters like c!techno and c!dream are vilified to hell and back without a chance to be forgiven or redeemed for their actions.

it’s unfortunate, because cc!wilbur has made it explicitly clear ALL the characters are incredibly morally grey - and we see this time and time again in the series! but a portion of the fandom - a big portion of the fandom - tend to try and excuse or justify their favourite characters’s actions and words (c!tommy killing c!jack, c!wilbur’s treatment of c!tubbo / c!tommy, c!quackity in ,, everything he’s ever done LMAO /hj), while c!dream / c!doomsday trio apologists, i’ve noticed, tend to view their favourites more critically, acknowledging the bad and good they’ve done, and often view the other characters in the same light.

this isn’t to say “c!doomsday trio apologists = smart, everyone else = dumb” LMAO, because i’ve seen some takes like this FROM doomsday trio apologists about c!tommy and co, which i also don’t agree with. overall, i think it’s important to remember all the characters are flawed and all apologists have different views / opinions on things. some will try to justify every single one of their fave’s actions, some will openly criticise and condemn their fave’s actions but still be apologists for them. every apologist is different - and the open condemnation of c!dream apologists for being “abuse apologists” is exhausting.

it’s honestly why i’ve stopped going on twitter and analysing c!dream so much: i got tired of having to write a disclaimer i didn’t support his actions or child abuse :’) the double standards in this fandom are exhausting and overwhelming and i’m very glad i’ve found this little corner of tumblr where i don’t need to do that ! :D

#dream smp fandom critical #dsmp fandom critical #long post

[abumbledbee]

Fundy’s reaction to Michael

If you missed it, yesterday during stream Fundy and Philza were introduced to Michael, Tubbo and Ranboo’s adopted son. If you haven’t been following Tubbo and Ranboo’s storylines, they recently canonized their marriage and have decided to take the zombie pigman baby they found on Ranboo’s first day on the server as their child.

This stream I will argue is canon. Their interactions tiptoe the line of bits and canon at times, but the hostility Phil shows towards Fundy is very much canon, as well as a few other moments can’t be considered anything other than canon because of their importance. Though it was never confirmed, I’ll be writing this analysis taking their streams as in character moments.

Fundy begins their interaction by sneaking onto the snowy commune Phil, Techno, and Ranboo reside at, with a plan to build a dirt shack to live in as a “prank”. He says at the start of his stream that he wants to slowly build up a full house in the commune secretly over multiple streams. Ranboo spots him instantly and once cornered Phil immediately gets angry. He says Fundy’s lucky he didn’t kill him on sight for his part in the Butcher Army, and it’s clear their relationship despite blood ties is fully negative on Phil’s side. Fundy is quick to say it was because of peer pressure and points out Ranboo was also part of it, but Phil says he’s forgiven Ranboo because his memory problems make him easily manipulated.

Tubbo crashes the party and non-canonically kills Fundy. They all tease Fundy and play a game for him to get his stuff back, which ultimately ends up with Fundy getting everything back and Ranboo extending an invite to Phil to meet Michael. Fundy tags along despite not being invited, and Tubbo and Ranboo have a heated discussion over whether they want to let Fundy meet Michael or not. They tell Fundy and Phil both that they got married and Michael is their son, and Fundy immediately loses interest and says he doesn’t want to go but ends up following anyways.

On the way there Tubbo mentions how Phil would technically be Michael’s grandfather since Phil is his ‘unbiological father’ (per tubbo’s wording) and they jokingly say Michael will be his only and favorite grandchild. Fundy laughs it off and keeps reminding Phil that he has a grandkid already, himself. Phil ignores him and tells Tubbo Michael likely will be his favorite, because his other betrays him every second he gets. They pause on their travels and Phil tells Fundy that he has a LOT of redeeming to do before Phil will consider them related again. It’s clear he is holding a lot of anger still about the Butcher Army, and he’s directing most of it at Fundy.

Tubbo asks why he isn’t getting the same treatment and Phil tells Tubbo “Don’t make me start, I’ll deal with you later.” It’s clear that Phil is treating Tubbo better despite Techno’s harsher feelings towards Tubbo (government-related hostility) over Fundy, and I think it has a lot to do with their family ties. Phil is technically closer to Tubbo relationship-wise than Fundy despite being biologically related to Fundy, and I think it gives Tubbo an edge, even if Phil doesn’t mean to. Having had a part in raising Tubbo, even reluctantly, still means he’s given favoritism. The way he spoke to both of them felt like he was telling Fundy he has to find his own way to redeem himself, but Tubbo he’s willing to try and talk to without negative feelings taking over. I also wouldn’t question for a second that Ranboo’s relationship with Tubbo makes a big difference too, as we’ve seen Phil literally call himself a Ranboo apologist earlier in the stream and it’s clear he cares for him a lot. 

They arrive to Snowchester and are introduced to Michael, who is upstairs in the nursery Tubbo and Ranboo built for him earlier on Tubbo’s stream. It is incredibly clear how attached they are to him from the start, both from how they speak to him to how lovingly decorated his room is, including 3 family portraits of all three of them together. They introduce Phil to Michael as his grandfather, and Fundy as his cousin. 

Fundy along with Phil are both a bit speechless at the start, which is to be expected as they weren’t aware Michael is a zombie pigman baby. Fundy asks where they found him, and starts questioning their parenting almost immediately. He asks why Michael can’t go outside and tries to open the windows. Him and Phil both begin to question their parenting methods, scrutinizing everything they can.

Tubbo warns Fundy if he opens a window again he will kill him, and Ranboo in retort to Fundy’s criticism asks him to remind them all of what experience he has with parents. I think it’s super interesting that Ranboo was the one to say that, as he’s usually not someone who openly confronts others. It’s a great reminder both of the tension he still has with Fundy, and how emotionally attached Ranboo is to Michael. Phil makes a joke about Michael being patient zero for covid and Fundy laughs and continues it, and Tubbo kills him again for insulting their kid. Fundy tells him if he comes back and any of his stuff is missing, he will hurt Michael. Phil takes some of his armor and purposely waits to see what Fundy does, but luckily Fundy realizes and doesn’t hurt him.

They leave on a mostly positive note, except Phil accidentally kills Ghost Squeeks when a creeper he made explode trapped it under ice. On Fundy’s way out he also accidentally sets off a creeper and Phil makes an offhand comment that “It runs in the family” and Fundy is overjoyed to hear Phil refer to him as family.  He then runs off to the snow commune again and starts working on his shack.

Fundy’s constant badgering of Tubbo and Ranboo’s parenting was a really odd thing I hadn’t expected from him, considering he isn’t a parent himself. I can understand Phil doing it, but Fundy was actually the first to start questioning them, and even went as far as to threaten Michael. Later when he finds a zombie jockey and his chat suggests he be a playmate for Michael, he says no because he hates Michael. A part of me wonders if this isn’t an underlying jealousy that Fundy himself might not even recognize. It was almost like seeing a happy, and so far very functional, family ticked him off and he immediately started trying to find flaws in their parenting. Like he needed proof that they weren’t as good as they seemed. It felt like he wasn’t handling the idea that there could be a child on this server that wouldn’t have parents that choose raising a nation over a child, that there could be a child who’s surrounded by proof of love at all times. It makes his building of the dirt home by Phil’s base all the more sad. In my opinion, Fundy is using this “prank home” as an excuse to be close to Phil again, his only blood relative remaining and the only source of possible affection he has left.

#c!fundy #fundy #philza #tubbo #ranboo #michael #character analysis #meta #dream smp #pls take this with a grain of salt i didnt watch all of fundys stream #so i mightve missed more parts of him talking about michael after he left #phil and fundy being the ones introduced to michael was such a great choice just for the fact that they both have such complicated family #dynamics #family dynamics #also yall went crazy my phil analysis is almost at 900 notes ty i doubt this will get anywhere close lol but enjoy!