#its very funny relating this hard to tubbos character while also being such a fucking techno apologist

[dreamteamfanblog]

Hey so it's been like nine months but one thing I still think is Really Cool about the election is how IMPOSSIBLE it was for good things to happen here.

Now, the baseline premise, first off, that i've gotta establish? Quackity was the only good candidate.

Wilbur was always messed up and his whole plan was to rig the election from the start. Fundy was...incompetent...to say the least, and he tried his hand at voter fraud as well. And, well, Schlatt showed up shooting at the other candidates right off the bat and we all saw how that turned out. Quackity on the other hand joined specifically to prevent corruption, didn't use any dirty tactics throughout, seemed like he wouldn't be completely incompetent, and as we saw later when he turned against Schlatt actually did have a vested interest in making sure the people were okay.

And now that i've established that premise imma make another claim.

Quackity was completely and totally fucked over during that election.

Okay going into more detail now.

I'm going to talk about what may seem like a very irrelevant detail for a bit here. L'manburg's border policies before the election and each parties stance on it. That being the policy that Americans are banned from L'manburg, the way Wilbur argued in favour of keeping it, and the way Quackity opposed it.

Quackity's objection to it is actually super fair.

At the time a lot of people used this as a way to insist Quackity was out of touch from L'manburg's history/culture and didn't care about the nation itself or at least wasn't fit to run it (oh boy is this gonna be important later). Which. Is bullshit. Because he had a damn good point. I often complain about it when characters who don't know the countries history pop in and start taking for granted their history, reasons for existing in the first place, and the reasons behind their policies/stances. However Quackity's complaints about this policy were actually very well grounded. Now, I think it's a more nuanced situation than "nobody who isn't european is allowed, fuck off" vs "open the borders to everyone, nobody's denied access, nobody's denied a place no matter what, uwu" obviously. But Wilbur's stance was the most harmful one present honestly and he literally just fullstop insisted "nobody who isn't european is allowed, fuck off". This is obviously a very dumb rule. Again, while the "oh we're all european and they're....mostly...all americans, lol" observation is funny and a neat coincidence, it's not something to base policy in. Wilbur's argument was basically;

"the americans oppressed and traumatized us!"

but.....no, if we're talking about the Dream Smp faction, three specific americans and two british man oppressed and traumatized you. If we're talking about the independence war specifically in which the Dream Smp faction asserted their ultimate leadership/control and attempted to destroy the L'manburg rebellion despite their attempts to negotiate for independence? Then we're talking Dream, Sapnap, George, Punz, and later Eret. Alyssa, Callahan, Sam, Badboyhalo, and Purpled were all americans who absolutely did not have anything to do with the attacks against l'manburg during the war. If we're talking before the war as well, then while a case can be made that implicates Purpled I guess, it also implicates another european, Ponk, not to mention that Fundy, Tubbo, and Eret were all involved in the initial conflicts on Sapnap's side and only switched over later, so i seriously warn against deciding to extend beyond the war itself to include purpled here or three other europeans end up implicated next to the one new american while there are still four other americans on the server who haven't done a thing to the people of L'manburg at this point in time.

Not to mention later editions to the server like Skeppy, Quackity, and Karl, none of whom were even really on the server at the time of the war if i remember correctly, and didn't have anything to do with what happened to l'manburg. In fact, while i'm not sure about Karl, Skeppy and Quackity were both immediately much more L'manburg aligned than Dream Smp aligned. Quackity was deeply enamoured with L'manburg and never even glanced in the general direction of a dream smp affiliation, meanwhile at this point Skeppy was rather neutral in his allegiances but had never antagonized L'manburg and was in fact openly antagonistic to Dream, holding spirit over his head and even before that scolding him, calling him a colonizer outright, and telling him he was in the wrong during the independence war, and yeah one could argue that it's a point against him that Skeppy had one of Tommy's discs, but how long have people been whining about how Tommy's discs shouldn't be a factor in L'manburg's government generally? Not to mention that Tommy didn't even know Skeppy had his disc at this point. Those are two Americans right there who L'manburg not only didn't have any reason to dislike, but who had aligned themselves with L'manburg's side much closer than Dreams at this point. I'm pretty sure the only reason Quackity didn't formally join l'manburg literally the moment he laid eyes on it is because he wouldn't have been allowed to, lmao, for real his passion for that country kinda baffles me sometimes cause I don't know where on earth it came from, lmao, and while Skeppy likely wouldn't have joined anyway, alienating and outright banning someone who defends your rights and antagonizes your enemies doesn't seem smart in the slightest. There was no reason to make laws that barred the agency of L'manburg aligned neutrals who weren't even active server members at the time of the first war.

That's just ludicrously nonsensical and honestly even just plain unfair. This also extends to people like, again, Bad, Sam, Alyssa, Callahan, most likely Purpled, and probably Karl (i honestly don't remember much about his role at this point but i don't think he was aligned against l'manburg/with the dream smp faction at any point? not taking a hard stance on that one but still.) who hadn't exactly aligned or allied themselves with l'manburg but also literally did not do anything to them. Wilbur's argument that they needed to ban americans because the Americans had oppressed and traumatized them was just..like...not true. Not all or even most of the american's on the server by the time of the election had contributed to trauma or oppression from the Dream Smp, and in fact, nearly just as many europeans were just as guilty of that as the americans.

The policy was unfair and didn't even make sense and has incredibly flimsy historical backing despite Wilbur's attempts to make it sound like every single american had personally oppressed/traumatized them and were inherently against l'manburg's ideals and coveted their downfall. Even the ones who never did anything to them. Even the ones who weren't on the server yet. Even the ones who speak out in their favour.

But what if I told you this law actually did serve a purpose?

Just not the one Wilbur argued?

What's been done there is we trojan horsed in a false equivalence. Ship of Theseus'd a problem, a non existent dynamic, into existence. If you don't know what Ship of Theseus is, it's basically the concept that, if you took a boat (say, the ship of theseus), and replace every board of wood on the ship one by one, is it really the same ship at the end of it. That's what, theoretically, one could do with the L'manburg border issue here. They started with a true statement. The Dream Smp are responsible for oppressing and traumatizing L'manburg and L'manburg needs to be free from them. Well, okay, I notice The Dream Smp are mostly american. The statement can then become as follows. A group of mostly americans are responsible for oppressing and traumatizing L'manburg and L'manburg needs to be free from them. Well if they're majority american then a point can be made that one could just say Americans for simplicities sake surely. Americans are responsible for oppressing and traumatizing L'manburg and L'manburg needs to be free from them. Well then it's easy to justify banning americans. And taking it a step further, you could plug any two names in there, one american and one L'manburg citizen, and even if on its own the sentiment looks absolutely nonsensical, when smuggled in as a Thesus' ship, it may be taken for granted as being factual. Suddenly? Alyssa is Tubbo's oppressor, Sam is Fundy's oppressor, Purpled is Tommy's oppressor, Skeppy is Niki's oppressor, etc. For the most part the specific one on one combinations aren't used often, or at least aren't specifically pointed out (though they do exist to an extent when l'manburg citizens are a lot more ready to shut any given american out of their in group because 'they're on the oppressors side', even when they're not), and is just used as a means to promote general group dependence and rejection of The Other. But it's oh so easy, when a challenge to this idea is presented, to pull out the one on one comparisons.

And I mean you may think I sound like a conspiracy theorist, but...

Wilbur used this mentality to his advantage in the election.

Because the fact that Quackity was an american and Wilbur was a legal member of L'manburg was a point against Quackity in the election.

Nevermind the fact that Quackity was in no way aligned with the Dream Smp faction, had already heavily allied himself with L'manburg, and was not a citizen because he literally legally was not allowed to be on account of unfair border laws. He's still an american, one of them, not one of us.

Now, the specific trait could've been anything, lets be real. It doesn't matter what random attribute Wilbur picked out of the lineup and decided is The Enemy. I mean, european vs american was just the easiest one, but it could've been any random categorization. I mean really, functionally, what does european vs american actually mean in relation to the Dream Smp characters anyway when you really think about it? Some of these characters were canonically born on smp land and have never lived elsewhere, and I know for damn sure none of these characters ever lived in america or europe. Like, yeah, real earth history/geography is like...referenced by characters kinda sorta, but when you get down to it from an in character perspective what does being american or european actually entail? None of these characters live in american or europe? Like, I may have missed the scene where Wilbur ran his plans to form a British Colony by the queen, or like, that time Britain, Germany, and The Netherlands made their official agreement to share this newly discovered territory and allow their citizens to settle it as L'manburg, and if I did then that's on me. But like that didn't happen because none of these characters are citizens of actual european countries. And none of the characters on the flip side are citizens of actual American countries either. Within the context of The Dream Smp characters, european vs american may as well be defined just by how some of us kinda sorta talk in similar ways and you guys also kinda sorta talk in a similar way that's kinda sorta different from us I guess. Having that law in any serious lore capacity is really Weird.

And I heavily suspect Wilbur didn't just coincidentally make a really Weird law choice and decide to die on such an arbitrary hill for no reason....and that it just happened to promote wariness of people outside of his group from those within it and set up an easy us vs them mentality that can be played between his people and All Outsiders (even if the outsiders are characters who have cc's that are european because choosing to be an outsider is said to negate the whole "one of us" aspect of any given person entirely anyway) whenever it may be needed.

Like, for example, if hypothetically a passionate young law student who's loudly calling Wilbur out for acts of corruption and chooses to run a campaign against him....just so happens to be part of the completely arbitrary group labeled The Other....well, he's not one of us (even though he's been involved as long as niki who is considered 'one of us' at this point and he's only not a citizen because the laws wilbur put in place mean he legally cannot be one), he's An Outsider, and he's trying to open us up to other Outsiders, and that in of itself is tyranny! That in of itself Wilbur won't stand for! And he gets to at least put them on even ground, then, because, well, Wilbur may have tried to rig an election, which may or may not be a taaaad bit tyrannical, but Quackity's one of Them and he wants to let Them in so that They can destroy us, and that's just as bad. No, worse, even! This puts the very foundation of our country at risk! Our very freedom and lives! It can't be stood for!

This isn't a hypothetical angle i'm making up, this is...very much an angle Wilbur pulled. It wasn't their entire angle, it wasn't the only angle, but he did bring up Quackity as one of The Other out to destroy them and spun this whole narrative about how he was the actual corrupt one here, that his behaviour was borderline tyranny, because he....wanted a more open boarder policy that doesn't randomly exclude a bunch of people because they don't spell colour with a u or whatever other very vague irrelevant differences that this categorization actually means for the characters in question.

And the reason I bring up the border policy issue at all isn't just to point out Quackity doing good, but also because it kinda goes to show how completely fucked Quackity was in this election.

Even if we give the benefit of the doubt to Wilbur and say he actually thought that policy was a good idea and believed what he was saying about it, the law itself was still ludicrous and harmful, and it still resulted in a very Us Vs Them mentality. I mentioned it earlier myself, Wilbur made a point of being outraged over Quackity's desire to open the borders. Wilbur made a point of implying that the suggestion in of itself was tyrannical, even. This very easily has the effect of making Quackity look like the bad guy. Outsiders are banned, they're banned because they're oppressors, they're tyrants, they've traumatized our people, and they'd be our downfall if we let them in. Quackity himself is actually part of the group being unfairly shut out here, part of the Other, and that was incredibly exploitable given the ideals Wilbur was pushing. Not only was Quackity himself one of these oppressive outsiders, he aimed to let more of them in! And by driving L'manburg's founders out of office no less. "For years, the Dream Smp has ostracized my group of people! L'manburg is not a place of oppression, it is a place of sanctuary for our people! What you intend to do is come into our land and open it up to them! This in of itself is tyranny!" That was Wilbur's stance. And I mean it's all there. "Us" vs "Them", the harsh righteous use of Tyranny as a buzzword he knows will resonate with the people of L'manburg (as well as taking attention away from wilbur's very recent corruption and putting it onto this tyranny that he is outraged about), and while he doesn't explicitly point out that Quackity himself isn't one of them within this speech, his use of "our land", "my people", his description of how Quackity intends to come into their land and open it up to their oppressors. It's all very sensationalist and feels a lot like propaganda via fear mongering if i'm being honest.

And there wasn't exactly much Quackity could do about that. He couldn't have conceded on the point of not allowing outsiders into L'manburg if he wanted to because he himself was technically one, and that, by default, painted him as dangerous in Wilbur's campaigning. And, well, who are you gonna listen to? Our brave heroic leader (and oh boy the donning of l'manburg uniforms throughout the election and consistent references to the war were absolutely meant to invoke feelings of patriotism in wilbur's favour as well), or.....Them™. From the word go Quackity was screwed over in the perception from L'manburg's public by Wilbur's manipulative corrupt bullshit.

And that's not the only way Quackity was pretty fucked from the start either. On top of the first point (which honestly would be a pretty impressive thing to recover from overall)

Just really quick there's the minor point that Pog2020 engaged in more light forms of shady tactics like burning Quackity's stuff or posting fake quotes from him.

But much more pressing, there's the aspect of how the parties eligibility to run was handled.

First off, none of the parties except Quackity's should have even been allowed to run. Wilbur was outed early on for voter fraud which should've been it for him and by the rules of the election neither Fundy nor Schlatt should have been allowed to run.

But beyond that, there's the fact that Schlatt2020 and Coconut2020 being allowed onto the ballot disproportionately effected Quackity's campaign.

I mean honestly while there were all sorts of reasons people had for voting for whoever they voted for....there's not really any denying that the camps were "Wilbur And Tommy" or "Not Wilbur And Tommy". Quackity is bright and passionate and all, but up until this point he's not been a politician. He entered the election to stop Wilbur's corruption, Quackity himself had never really considered assuming a position of power beforehand, and as such the votes he got were honestly primarily more A Vote Against Wilbur than a vote for Quackity in specific. That's not a diss against Quackity by any means, but he didn't actually have some big grand idea of what he'd do as president, nor did he have the sheer star power/influence/historical basis for his campaign that Revolutionary Hero/Current Leader Wilbur Soot did. Quackity's main stance was not being the other guy, the whole reason he joined the election was literally to oppose the other guy. People who voted for Wilbur were probably gonna vote for Wilbur no matter what happened. Maybe a few of them were charmed by Niki and Fundy and switched over there, but even then, the new entries almost certainly didn't put much of a dent in Wilbur's numbers. Why would they? Wilbur had a guaranteed loyal voting base right off the bat. There were absolutely quite a few people who no matter who the other candidates were, would have voted Wilbur. The fact that Wilbur so heavily references and draws upon his revolutionary past and invokes feelings of solidarity/patriotism even to the extent of fear mongering the other major party only solidified this voting base. Wilbur was kinda the de facto vote, even. Quite a few people took a Pogtopia victory for a given here, and the guy who's been running the country and who talks about His Nation as..well...being his nation every chance he gets? That guy's obviously going to feel like the default vote as the popular patriot with a long history behind him. Adding the fear mongering and other techniques used to lower morale/public opinion the other party (like the fake quotes and burning quackity's builds) to the mix and, well, many of the people who didn't vote for Wilbur were most likely doing so specifically because it wasn't Wilbur and for one reason or another they didn't want Wilbur to win rather than making the vote because they specifically liked Quackity. Which means that the addition of two other parties disproportionately hurt Quackity's campaign and not Wilbur's. The two solid sides were Wilbur or Not Wilbur. He had a very loyal base right off the bat who were going to vote for him no matter what, and since he felt like the default and went out of his way to reinforce his status so thoroughly throughout the election, that means most people who voted against Wilbur were very much opposed to Wilbur more than anything, especially since Quackity's main reason for joining and general draw was that Wilbur isn't fit to lead.

I think it's pretty obvious how that was a lot more damaging for Quackity's campaign than it was for Wilbur. Wilbur's loyal base most likely almost entirely stuck to him even with the new additions, however "Not Wilbur" as a position was suddenly split in three different voting options instead of the one it started out with. Niki/Fundy and Schlatt didn't have enough time to campaign or make their stances clear or really garner any chance of winning, mind you, but they managed to snatch quite a few votes, most of which i'm certain came from Quackity's pool. Honestly the introduction of these new parties was kinda the best thing that could've happened to Wilbur's campaign here. The people who adamantly support him or defaulted to him almost certainly mainly stuck with him wheras the people who wanted Not Wilbur to win were likely splintered much more heavily. It was never going to be enough to give the win to Fundy/Niki or Schlatt because of how late the entry was, but it damn well could be enough to seriously damage Quackity's chances. Coconut and Schlatt had a total of 25% of the vote between them. I highly suspect the large majority of these votes would have otherwise defaulted to Quackity, 18% or more of total votes I highly suspect otherwise would've been on Quackity on account of how much more likely Quackity's voter base would have been to switch than Wilbur's at this point in time. The fact that neither Schlatt nor Coconut got many votes- not nearly enough to even come close to winning really- may make their entering seem pretty harmless, but honestly this most probably cost Quackity a possible overall win.

Just for a helpful graphic:

I won't make a definitive claim on whether Quackity or Wilbur would have won without the new entrees (hence why it's 50-50 on the graph even though obviously it probably wouldn't have been exactly 50-50 lmao). But I do believe that the majority of votes that went into the two new parties came out of Quackity's pool, but that could mean anything from an overall 45-55 for Wilbur to a 50-50 to a 55-45 for Quackity. As far as Wilbur vs Not Wilbur camps I can't make an actual judgement here on what the initial projected outcome would have been because we don't actually know how many of the votes for Coconut or Schlatt came out of which original candidates pools. I highly suspect the majority of them were out of Quackity's original pool, because whether you think Wibur shouldn't be leader for the drama or because you genuinely caught onto him being corrupt, you're more likely to vote Coconut or Schlatt than Wilbur's much more loyal base. But of course I also acknowledge that some of Wilbur's voters may have been charmed by Coconut because, well, the L'manburg fundamentalists know Fundy and Niki are a big important part of L'manburg as well and they can appeal to national pride almost as well as Wilbur with that added bonus of their bright innocent energy that probably made some of Wilbur's voters coo over fluffy little Fundy and sweet shy Niki (wilbur's own view of them during the election, though he wasn't so willing to humor them) and their yummy cookies and their own L'manburg uniforms and give them some votes. So I have no doubt Wilbur also lost some points.

Of course I also have no doubt Wilbur may have paradoxically gained points because he was seen as the safest vote for a win and when the two new parties showed up i'm certain at least a few people who were in it for an actual good outcome and not just drama thought Wilbur was better than the new options (namely schlatt, backed by dream) and swapped their vote for Quackity into a Wilbur vote specifically because they were freaked out by the new candidates and swapped to the safest vote they could for a win that wasn't a new candidate because Quackity wasn't stable enough to risk anymore. But note how no matter what, I cannot see this scenario gaining Quackity any new votes despite literally all of the other parties having a chance to do so and Wilbur's voter count possibly even evening out if not increasing paradoxically with about as many or more people than were charmed by Coconut being freaked out by Schlatt and voting for the safest non-Schlatt option.

But note that, in all of that, there wasn't any chance of Quackity gaining any real voter percentage from this. His main base of "Not Wilbur" supporters were splintered. Many of the people who were in it for the drama poured their votes from Quackity to Schlatt who was more reactionary and overtly violent. Many of the people who thought Wilbur was too corrupt were still somewhat L'manburg fundamentalists at least on some level and would have voted for Wilbur's rebellious son rather than Quackity. And even many of those who wouldn't vote for either were likely freaked out enough by the broadening of the pool to flip their votes onto Wilbur (who's win, need i remind everyone, was anticipated, and possibly even taken for granted, by many) in hopes to offset the possibility of a Schlatt win, no longer seeing Quackity as a safe enough vote to risk with the new more overtly destructive wildcard in play. Wilbur was safe, Fundy was L'manburg, and Schlatt was fun. Quackity on the other hand? He still got votes. The second largest fraction, even. Likely for two reasons. First off, while a lot of people impulse flipped to Coconut or Schlatt, most people who thought it through seemed to realize that they didn't have any real chance of winning here and stuck with Pog or Swag. Secondly, many people had already resolved themselves to voting for Quackity so despite the splintering still thought "eh, i already said i'd vote for him, so..". But note that neither of these cases actually allow for new votes. Anyone who knew Schlatt and Coconut wouldn't win anyway and just stuck with one of the two main parties had already made up their mind about who they wanted to win beforehand. Anyone who just shrugged and went "well I already said i'd vote Quackity so why move now?" were much the same. There was no reason to switch your vote onto Quackity now if you hadn't already. If you wanted Wilbur to win before the new entrees then you obviously weren't going to vote for Quackity because you already decided you wouldn't vote for Quackity beforehand and he didn't suddenly become any more safe or native to L'manburg or fun after the new entrees, but if you were going to vote Quackity? Damn right there's a reason to switch. Multiple reasons to switch. To ALL other parties. Twenty five percent of combined votes went to Schlatt or Coconut, Wilbur's numbers likely stayed the same or even increased as well, and Quackity's voter base likely tanked entirely.

Which, you may be going, "Okay? Who cares? Look, who cares why the votes didn't come out in Quackity's favour, they didn't come out in his favour, he lost, the numbers don't change just because we know why they turned out the way they did, and if Quackity bled votes, that's his problem?"

Which, i'd agree with you, if any of this had actually been natural or fair or legal!

If the other two parties hadn't been an option and Quackity had just bled votes for some other reason whether a misstep on his part or because Wilbur made a really good point or because some other unrelated big event happened that shifted public opinion, that would be one thing.

Hell, if the other two parties had been in the run since the beginning- or at least since relatively early on- and everyone had a chance to campaign in a four party race, that would be one thing.

But this? The new parties weren't legal entrees, they shouldn't have been included, and it is specifically because of the illegal entrees of these two new parties that Quackity bled votes. It was artificial, it was manufactured, and i'd go as far as to suggest it was sabotage.

Because something tells me Wilbur caught on to this.

Fundy and Schlatt were both late entrees, entrees that shouldn't have been allowed in, I mean, hell, if Wilbur had succeeded in his plan to close the ballot before anyone else could sign up he was literally depending on rejecting people who tried to do exactly what Fundy and Schlatt did. His entire plan was to refuse to let anyone sign up after it closed because Dems The Rules, Sowwy, and yet he agreed to let Fundy and Schlatt enter as well the day before the election. Wilbur almost certainly knew that his voter base was loyal and had spent his entire campaign appealing to this loyalty so when the day before the election two new parties showed up he likely very much would have clocked that the solid voter base he had that took his win as the default or were specifically loyal to him weren't as likely to splinter, especially not so last minute with such little time for Fundy or Schlatt to do any campaign work, which means that allowing them in was almost certainly at least partially knowing sabotage to Quackity's campaign.

And what Wilbur did next actually makes me even more certain he understood this because what he did next was the smartest move he could have made in this situation, and Quackity's response, in turn, solidifies for me that he knew the score as well.

You see, Wilbur extended the offer of pooling votes with Quackity, however this wouldn't go into effect unless Wilbur lost, meaning Wilbur himself was accounting for the idea that, with these new entrees, there would be shifting votes. However Quackity's push to make this deal unconditional and Wilbur's subsequent insistence against doing so shows who felt they were at more risk. Wilbur felt confident enough in his voter base being in tact even with these two new options that even with the anxiety bringing them in gave him he was more than willing to sacrifice the possible coalition with Quackity if it meant not having to share a potential win wheras Quackity was significantly more frightened and also seemed to recognize that Wilbur still had a good chance of winning popular vote even with the new factor. There's a reason Wilbur felt comfortable setting the condition that the combination votes only went through if neither of them won, he was very much aware that the two new parties would be a massive hit to Quackity's votes wheras Wilbur still had very good odds on account of his more loyal base who very specifically wanted him to win. I'd venture to argue that Wilbur possibly even specifically guessed that Quackity would remain the runner-up when it comes to votes and that he specifically extended a deal to Quackity here, not for the sake of undercutting the other parties, but for the sake of undercutting Quackity. Quackity's voter pool had been shot, that means it's very likely he won't win on his own, however he could be a threat if he formed a deal with another party, which means that Wilbur's best bet would be to offer to pool on the condition that it only go into effect if they both lost, not because he's worried they'll both lose, but because he knows they won't but is counting on ensuring Quackity can't pool with anyone else, knowing that Quackity is still likely to have the biggest chunk of voters of the other three parties. This is functionally the only reason to make the deal he did, if Wilbur was really so scared of the other parties winning he'd have agreed to make the teamup unconditional, and quite frankly there was no reason to think the other parties would even pose a threat honestly to begin with so if Wilbur was worried about losing generally he would have offered to pool with either of the other parties instead.

Of course, though, Quackity also likely knew the score here. Which is why he demanded they make the coalition unconditional or don't pool at all. He knew that Wilbur had the absolute best shot of winning and that making a conditional coalition to protect against the other two parties who were bound to lose anyway would basically be throwing his votes away. He knew about Wilbur's initial attempt to commit voter fraud, he certainly knew about the more open slanderous/threatening/demoralizing behaviour that the other party engaged in to hurt his campaign, i'd be surprised if Quackity didn't catch the bullshit Wilbur was pulling with his fear mongering and appeals to history/patriotism as well as his use of both buzz words and deflection as a two in one when he named Quackity's suggestions tyrannical in of themselves, and I highly suspect Quackity knew the score when Wilbur let two new parties enter the running against the rules of the election and Wilbur's own initial plan. None of it was fair by any means, like, the entire situation wasn't a Wilbur Winning Fair And Square situation, his tactics were dirty at their best and literally flew right into illegal/fraudulent territory multiple times. If Quackity wasn't certain that Wilbur absolutely could not be allowed to lead at the beginning of all this, he certainly will have been by the end of it. But, well, he'd been so thoroughly and unfairly screwed over that he didn't exactly have many options.

This left the only options that didn't result in a solo Wilbur administration open as Quackity siding with Fundy or Quackity siding with Schlatt. If Quackity tried to pool with Wilbur anyway the numbers would likely come back as a Wilbur win and by the terms of their agreement Wilbur alone would take charge, and if Quackity doesn't pool with anyone and keeps his votes to himself then Wilbur is still given popular vote and still goes on to a solo administration. A Wilbur solo administration at this point in time is the worst case scenario given Wilbur has presented as the biggest threat to everyone thus far, meaning Quackity is absolutely forced to choose one of the other candidates to pool his votes with Either of these options weren't guaranteed to work either, and also weren't ideal even if they did.

So at that point it was just a case of running the numbers of which party was more likely to result in a success/which candidate would be least harmful to the people/easiest to mediate the damages of. Cause at this point they both presented as disasters waiting to happen but they only entered the election the day before and there really wasn't time to scope out just how bad they each were or how public opinion was leaning between them.

Right off the bat Schlatt seems like the more traditionally dangerous option. He's a feral drunk mess whos candidacy announcement consisted of literally hunting the other candidates for sport with sharp deadly weapons. And while chaotic violent shenanigans aren't exactly unheard of on the Dream Smp to the extent that one could reasonably expect to be able to rebuild a respectable reputation after a stunt like that, Schlatt hadn't done so, and Quackity's only impression of him at this point was being chased down with a sword by this creepy old drunk guy who randomly on the spot decided he'd like to be president, actually, so....not exactly inspiring a lot of faith here. But at the same time? Quackity had much bigger things to be scared of from the other candidates than some stabbing. And quite frankly Schlatt being so feral and drunk out of his mind may have even been a relief in some odd way compared to the more calculating and aware candidates. Any damage Schlatt did was likely to at least be less ambitious, more upfront, and likely easier to clean up, at the very least. He seemed simple enough. Manageable, even if more than a bit scary.

Fundy and Niki, on the other hand, were...very different. They were much more openly presentable, at least. They hadn't pulled a knife on anyone at least and apparently the bar's that low for presidential candidates around here. By all means they were relatively friendly, even, in their presentation. They were clearly very out of touch and didn't seem to really get the weight of their position, but that in of itself would be manageable. The more concerning thing, however, is that these are people who are very clearly reckless, at least a bit selfish, and had their own agenda as well. Certainly they weren't as sophisticated as Wilbur. However it was very apparent to near everyone that Fundy and Niki weren't entirely here just for the fun of it. The ever present motive of "Proving My Dad Wrong >:3" (and speaking of, the two being such close friends to wilbur doesn't ease the nerves regarding them) as well as their history of blowing conflict out of proportion (*cough* pet war *cough*) and dragging others into it would have been unnerving and quite frankly whether or not Quackity would have been able to mediate it if they got into anything stupid/reckless/selfish like it seemed at this point he'd likely be able to with Schlatt's more simple behaviours is incredibly uncertain and is a reason not to back them in of itself. Not to mention that they very much seemed the least likely winners between themselves and Schlatt from the word go.

Which means Schlatt, as the more popular of the two, is the best bet of preventing a solo Wilbur administration via vote-pooling. So Quackity chose the seeming lesser of two winners and proposed a coalition. A gambit that paid off as they win by one point and this proves to be the only option that would have prevented a solo Wilbur administration.

But no matter what, the election was...actually super fucked. Like. Almost every option was going to lead right back to Wilbur after his dirty campaigning and the choice to allow in two random new candidates the day before the election, and I actually find the whole thing REALLY interesting specifically because of how fucked it was.

#dream smp #dream smp discourse

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My OC's relationships on the Dream SMP

These are all characters, not the actual streamers! <3 It's also not all of them since I don't watch a few of them :) I harbour no hate towards the people behind the characters that I have issues with lmao

Awesamdude - Negative relationship - basically, he let Quackity get away with putting Techno away, let Tommy die and get revived by Dream and then never apologised, and then let ghostbur die and... wtf - Yeah we aren't friends. In another universe, if he weren't the warden, we might get along.

BadBoyHalo - He kinda gives me bad vibes - After the egg stuff I just don't really like to be around him... he killed Foolish and tried to kill everyone at the banquet which I just don't vibe with - I kinda understand why he joined the egg. I mean he was there for Skeppy which I think is ok, but he really went off the deep end. If he redeems himself, I'll be the first to befriend him (cautiously)

Callahan - Alright I taught him some American Sign Language for basic communication - I go and hang out with him whenever I feel like there's too much angst on the server, he's so neutral it's honestly relaxing.

Captain Puffy - We don't know each other very well - I mean I agree with her when it comes to the egg and she seems nice but it's hard to be friends with her when her son is Dream... poor Foolish, though.

Connor - I don't know how to feel about him - I don't have anything against him but... he just seems like someone I wouldn't get along with so I don't hang out with him. He is kinda funny tho

Dream - Ok, ok, he's just an ass - I'm not even gonna list why, you know why... I'm just saying. - I do feel bad for him since Quackity just beats the living shit out of him and he's already in prison so why...?

Dream XD - I fear no man... but that thing... it scares me. - Why his voice do that?? - I avoid him but if he approached me, I would be ok with being his friend, I mean he's a god. If I don't then I might die. Might as well use it to the fullest extent I can.

Eret - I don't really understand why he joined the opposing side during the L'Manburg war - I mean she's cool! I like their outfits and it's nice to have another queer person on the DSMP - I think we'd be good friends in another life, but our friend groups don't overlap very much, so it's hard to hang with them.

Foolish - Little bit scary ngl - Lightning go brrrrrr - I feel really bad for him since he's gotta be related to Dream and he died during the egg shit. That's just cruel. - also I don't really vibe with his personality but I do like to talk to him about his building ventures since I also love to build

Fundy - I feel sooooo bad for him - He's super cute, super sweet, and he just deserves more love - I plant sweet berries around his house to brighten his day whenever I can and I also feed his fox - I love to talk to him and he teaches me dutch sometimes because it's an interesting language. Also, he just deserves a good role model in his life... Like Will kinda sucked as his dad, Schlatt was not a good role model, and his friends don't really care about him. :( - Um also (IRL) he's the reason I started watching the DSMP, I love coding and Dutch so it was a very good mix for me

George - I sleep the opposite amount that he does. - I love his mushroom aesthetic but I stay away from him in fear of Dream XD. - I don't have a lot to say about him since he's not on the dsmp much

Jack Manifold - Yo he's lowkey annoying??? - Give Tommy his hotel back??? He died??? - If he were nicer to Tommy I'd be his friend but he's gotta get his shit together lmao

Jschlatt - Fuck that guy - bruh, he ruined L'Manburg?? - He drinks too much, not surprised he had a heart attack oof

Glatt - Ghost Schlatt gives me such chaotic evil vibes - I enjoy his presence much more than I enjoy his living presence. - I like the fact that he's kinda useless and can't do anything. It's like going to a zoo to see a creature you wouldn't want to see in the wild

Karl Jacobs - I feel bad that he's losing his memory, he's such a fun character. - I like to hang out with him but he makes me sad and also our friend groups do not vibe with each other oof

Niki Nihachu - She's super sweet and absolutely terrifying. - I love to help her bake and its super fun to try out new recipes with her - People really underestimate her and in return for her help with the baking, I help her train her fighting skills.

Philza - DADZA - I get in trouble with him a lot oof, I like to troll people so it happens quite a bit. Also, I take the blame for a lot of the stuff Techno and I get up to as well as with the bench trio. - He taught me how to sew and crochet so I can make my own clothes. I also build with him whenever he asks for help

Quackity - Scared. - He's rude and evil and I dislike him... gambling bad - I like Charlie and I think he's a good influence on Quackity but tbh I feel the same as Techno in this scenario. I am not a Quackity apologist!

Ranboo - I have the same vibe as him. We are one and the same. - I keep an eye on him during his enderwalks, he worries me sometimes. - Out of everyone in the bench trio, we get along the best. I take care of Michael sometimes when he's out doing Snowchester stuff with Tubbo.

Sapnap - I mean I dislike him a little, he throws off my vibe. - He's on the wrong side of everything imo, just stop being weird, big man... - Also I mean I don't understand why he threatened Dream with torture if he ever escaped. Like you don't have to tell him that, just do it? - We have very similar voices (IRL oh no) and so I'll mess with people by doing my best impression of him

Skeppy - One of the many victims of my trolling (with techno usually) - He's fun to hang out with for a while but I can't handle being around him for too long, he gives me a headache - Sometimes I wonder if he's actually made out of diamonds... should I kill him and see what happens?

Charlie (Slimecicle) - BEST BOY I LOVE HIM - HE'S SO CUTE DAP ME UP - Honestly, we get along soooo well, he reminds me of a slime for some reason, hmmmmmmmm - I try to teach him human-ness because if he doesn't want to look like a slime then there's no reason for me to say no

Technoblade - Ah yes the best one on the SMP - He did not like me at first, I can be a bit annoying oh no - Eventually, he got a soft spot for me since we have the same sense of humour and I love to mess with people - I sympathise with him, he deserves so much more than he's getting. - I wish he didn't express his emotions as anger all the time since it really affects everyone. He's got some anger issues and I try to deal with them with him.

TommyInnit - Omg I still find him annoying but I love to hang out with him like Wilbur does. - He needs to learn some boundaries but he is still a kid, so it doesn't really matter. I think people have to stop being little shits to him since his brain hasn't fully formed, like all adolescents. - He's very sweet sometimes and I appreciate his assistance in a lot of random tasks

Tubbo - I am allergic to bees so we can't hang too much - I like to chill with him and Ranboo and sometimes him and Tommy, but I'm always telling Tommy off for being a little shit to Tubbo. - I do not approve of his governmental ways, but his heart is in the right place. Also, why do you have nukes?

Wilbur Soot - Too much government, I do not approve - not a good father - Eventually, he stopped governmenting so whatever, no more animosity from me, eh?

Ghostbur - Awww he gave me blue - how dare he die twice - I love friend, I walked him sometimes. So glad he has infinite canon lives - I wish he had more time on the SMP, he's super sweet and his vibe is amazing

Revivebur - Alright he's kinda cool, I like his hair. - He doesn't have any governmental plans thank god - He's a bit worrying but he hasn't done anything yet. I'll just keep my eyes on him.

That's it, just doing this for fun! I have a lot of things in the works, don't worry! If you're curious as to what I'm working on, take a look at my masterlist (it's on my page at the top where my asks are) If you do have any asks please give 'em to me, I love to write for you guys :)

THANK YOU FOR 80 FOLLOWERS!

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