#tommy or techno are both better examples
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For those interested in AU with Siren Wilbur and Captain Quackity from the lower post
this AU has quite a rich lore and plot, it is mainly based on psychology and is quite difficult to understand, there are a lot of characters and they all went through a lot of suffering. If I talk about EVERYONE then it would take a VERY long time, but I can talk about the main characters: Techno, Tommy, Wilbur, Sally, Puffy, Quackity.
Everything begins with the kingdom of mermaids and sirens in the Black Sea.
A quick explanation about mermaids and sirens.
Mermaids have the tails of river and lake fish, such as salmon, herring, etc. That is, almost everyone, except predators.
Of course, there are always some cases-exceptions, so sometimes there are mermaids with the tails of predators. Also with sirens, sometimes you can meet a siren with a tail, for example, a goldfish (like Tommy).
Mermaids themselves are smaller than sirens, also dangerous, but mostly weaker.
Sirens are always predators, such as sharks, killer whales, piranhas, etc. (Although piranhas live in fresh water, they still belong to sirens that live in the sea). Sirens can use their voice in hypnosis, have very sharp claws and teeth, they are the strongest creatures in the black sea, so there is racism in the kingdom, where sirens humiliate mermaids.
An interesting point: pairs of sirens and mermaids.
Both sirens and mermaids are very jealous and loyal. They can only have one partner for life (or polyamory - 2 partners for life). That is, when a pair of sirens/mermaids dies, the other dies as well. The only way for one of the partners to survive is to have a child.
I can tell more about lore in other answers and posts, because there is a lot, a lot of information (after all, AU is exists more than a year, I came up with a lot lol)
Now plot & lore.
Technoblade is the eldest son, he is a siren with a white shark tail, and despite the fact that he is older and should be the heir to the crown, he joined the ranks of the knights of the kingdom.
Wilbur is the middle son, has a killer whale tail, he became the heir to the crown, so he has a lot of responsibility and interest in his every action. By himself, Wilbur is quite calm and wise, tries to be fair, but sometimes he breaks down and runs wild.
Tommy, the youngest and last son, he is pretty childish and in refers to things from a positive point of view. Wilbur doesn't always share this, and is more inclined to listen to the advice of Techno and their father Phil.
Tommy and Wilbur are often called the sun and the moon in the kingdom.
Sally is a river mermaid with a salmon tail. She, like other mermaids, unfortunately succumbed to humiliation from sirens and even other "privileged" mermaids. In the course of the story, she became Wilbur's girlfriend, which was greatly disliked by the other mermaids and sirens of the kingdom and eventually killed Sally, but Wilbur was able to survive because he had a child, Fundy/Tallulah, by Sally at the time. (I used to think that they would have a son Fundy, but now I think it would be better if it were Tallulah, because then Fundy would be a human child, and Tallulah would be a siren). But even though Wilbur managed to survive, he began to slowly lose his mind and go wild, due to which Phil had to put Wilbur in the kingdom's prison for a while.
Puffy. She plays quite a role in this story because she is a loyal knight of the kingdom and the best friend of the king and his sons. She is quite wise and compassionate, Puffy plays the role of a psychologist in this story. She is a siren, but I haven't decided what kind of fish her tail will be XD
captain Quackity. A cruel and influential man, he has been hunting sirens and mermaids for a long time. He is not a pirate, he is a hunter.
Pirates and hunters are a little different: pirates do not affect the inhabitants of the seas, they attack other ships, and hunters attack both the inhabitants of the seas and other ships.
after capturing Wilbur, the captain will treat him more gently than the other sirens and mermaids, because this is the first time a blue-blooded person has been on his ship. Despite this, he will still be quite cold towards Wilbur, and will try all kinds of methods to find out as much secret information as possible.
By the way, at the moment when Wilbur is on the hunter ship, Stockholm syndrome will happen and Wilbur will start to think that he loves the captain :(
so now there will be a spoiler for the ending:
The ship will be caught in a severe storm, sirens will attack their ship, killing many of the crew and tearing the ship apart. Quackity will drown when he tries to save himself and others, he will be stuck in the closed cabin. Wilbur will look for the captain and then he will find him, but it will be too late.
Wilbur will drag Quackity's body to the shore, there will be a difficult scene with Wilbur tearing his own body to pieces in front of Tommy, who will be hiding behind a rock nearby.
Tommy becomes the new heir to the throne.
The kingdom despises Tommy and Phil for his choice. The kingdom is in chaos, Tommy will have to make up for all his wrongdoings and prove that he is a good king.
Here's the story in a VERY short summary. I wanted to do it in the form of a fanfic, but I understand that I will not be able to, because it's too difficult mentally, I still need to study psychology.
I hope you like the idea if you're still here XD
Also, English isn't my native language, I apologize for possible mistakes in the text.
I hope I haven't exceeded any word limits here...
here is another sketch and art of this AU, which I drew in 2022:
lol I noticed that Quackity is on the right side in each illustration.
TY FOR READING ALL THIS HAHA...
#tnt duo sirens au#tntduo#siren wilbur#siren au#Technoblade#tommyinnit#captain quackity#Tallulah as a siren daughter#royal SBI#Wilbur Tommy and Techno as brothers#sketch#digital sketch#didital art#tntduo fanart
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im going insane so i made a dsmp steven universe au
i have SOOO much lore written down already uhmmm
so there are only two diamonds, kristin is violet and xd is mint because i thought it looked better than straight up green, and they have a very hands-off approach to leadership. the real rulers are the extremely high ranking gems who actually take charge and tell people to do things since all gems are made with an innate understanding of their purpose and their purpose is to . yell at people. im really invested so ill probably make more designs for some of the others, but for now, sbi
philza is an emerald, very different from canon, but an emerald nonetheless. he is a military commander in charge of ships and oversees their crews (tubbo is a nephrite and is therefore under phil's command, for example) he stays mostly at homebase, but has ships of his own. hes also really chill compared to other emeralds so he's a lot closer with his workers, thus
techno, a rose quartz soldier with a sort of jasper like reputation. he is highly respected by his peers and other high ranking gems for his "ruthlessness" but he's just a silly guy. him and philza are close friends despite their expectations as individuals, and eventually run away from their duties and just. hang out i guess. until the lore
wilbur is a labradorite working directly under phil in navigation for him but is also in charge of locating new planets for colonies to potentially start. because of his close proximity to phil, they grow very close, he also knows techno because of this, but theyre a little less close. he eventually runs off as well, finding an old colony with only a few gems still hanging around on it and decides thats his place now (lmanburg is created yippee)(also the other gems still left there are the other members of lmanburg except for eret i think)(ranboo is also there but hes like. abysmal. we'll get to him)(oh and fundy's got a really fun story)
tommy is a rutile, i imagine them being like rubies in that they scout, but with less inherent combat capabilities. tommy works under wilbur, but not under phil(they're different branches of wilbur's work) although he does know of him as well as techno and idolizes them both(mostly techno) he's often accompanied by other rutiles alongside nephrites (usually tubbo and his gang, although he is not a captain himself) for supply drops and other such missions(of course, this is how he knows tubbo, ill draw him eventually and he can get his own little information square)
#dsmp#dsmp fanart#dsmp au#mcyt#mcyt fanart#dream smp#dream smp fanart#philza#philza fanart#technoblade#technoblade fanart#wilbur soot#wilbur soot fanart#tommyinnit#tommyinit fanart#steven universe#steven universe au#my art#gnome's rock au
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Honestly the moment you started talking about SBI with Niki I wanted to gobble it up. It’s perfect, it’s delightful, it brings some balance without sacrificing any of the feral energy. Ideal, tbh.
Also, Niki feeling doubly betrayed by Wilbur bc of the family connection after he blows up L’Manberg and dies and THEN he comes BACK and doesn’t even have the guts to come talk to her, she has to find out from HER BROTHER AND FATHER that he came back. Delightful.
You didn’t ask for this but listen up! I am gonna rant about how fucking underrated Niki is, and how fucking perfect Wilbur, Techno and Niki as triplets are.
Niki is probably one of, if not the, bravest characters on the dsmp. She doesn’t get enough fucking credit as a character, especially in season one.
Niki is such an amazing character though, because she literally influences how other characters act by just being in their presence. There are multiple examples, but many characters tend to act as their best selves around Niki. Tommy treated her with respect and listened to her, she saw the good in the “evil traitor Eret” and Wilbur was able to express some actual moments of vulnerability with her! She’s not a master manipulator, or exceptionally good at reading people. People just naturally fall into place in being better around her.
And then there is the whole election arc. Niki was badass as fuck in the election arc. She proved herself to be a character of loyalty, determination, perseverance, and courage. She openly defied and opposed Schlatt wherever she could. And that was despite Schlatt constantly singling her out and making her life a nightmare. She never faltered once because of her conviction; she knew she was in the right!
At the festival, she proved it yet again when she, without weapons or armor, told Technoblade not to execute Tubbo. This was despite knowing he was doing it on Schlatt’s orders, and Schlatt hated her!
Oh, and about that festival… what made Wilbur actually decide to intervene? It wasn’t Tubbo’s execution. It wasn’t Technoblade going on a rampage. It was when he thought Niki was at risk. Niki was the person Wilbur was willing to risk himself for!
Wilbur and Niki’s relationship in canon is so amazingly thought out (when real life stuff doesn’t fuck shit up for the characters and plot consistency and all that jazz). Like, Niki is one of the few characters Wilbur can be vulnerable with! Niki was so loyal to Wilbur, trusted him so deeply, that when she saw the bombs, she didn’t warn anyone because she trusted him not to use them unless necessary! She wore his jacket after he died (a little annoyed that almost no one acknowledges this, and instead gives that trait to Tommy).
Also, Niki, Wilbur and Techno are a Fire, Water, Earth trio.
Technoblade is Earth. At his best he is an unwavering mountain. He’s sturdy, reliable, grounded. At his worst, he’s an earthquake or a rockslide, causing destruction and chaos as everything is thrown off balance. It’s almost impossible to guess what is under the surface of the earth.
Wilbur is Water. At his best, he’s a still, serene lake. A person capable of clarity and reflection, cool and collected. At his worst, he’s whirlpool, a storm, unable to see things clearly from the rushing water. He’s thrown into the deep end and can’t pull himself out.
Niki is fire. At her best, she is the fire the cooks a loaf of bread, the torchlight when everything is at it’s most dark. She is warm, enthusiastic, bright. At her worst, she is a wildfire, burning and destroying without rhyme or reason. Like a wildfire, she’s likely to burn herself out, leaving nothing but ashes.
And I think that also plays into why Niki’s healing arc worked with Techno (ignore the obvious reason being that CC!Techno was one of the few CCs that actually allowed CC!Niki a chance to do things). Techno could actually ground Niki. When Wilbur and Niki were both in bad places, they were at risk of clashing horribly.
But at the same time, they’re close to each other. And they actually tried to heal with each other.
Also! Niki was one of the few memories Ghostbur remembers! She’s that important to him!
This is like six hundred words of rambling, I need to stop.
But like can I also say that it would be so fucked up for her to watch one of her brothers get killed by her father, and the other two get exiled. Her father had been left disabled by the entire thing (an able bodied angel can fly, C!Phil is canonically disabled. And disability isn’t a tragedy, but the traumatic injury sure as hell was, especially considering he got it trying to protect Wilbur). Only for her to find out that Techno was nearly executed! And she probably thought Tommy was dead too!
Lot’s of angst potential right there!
#niki nihachu#sleepy boys inc#sleepy bois inc#sleepyboisinc#sbi#wilbur soot#technoblade#cherry blossom triplets#cherry blossom trio
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I think it’s very interesting how hyper aware Rose!Wilbur is. He’s always aware of who is and isn’t looking at him. Even in a room full of people he knows that Niki is the only one who saw him leave. It’s almost like checking if he’s as invisible as he feels or he just notices because he’s specifically trying to communicate with Niki despite his father steering him as far away from her as he can in favour of ‘courting’ Tomys.
Side note: I forgot to mention that Phil full names him when telling him to come to his office after giving Tomys the tour. Right after clearly being disappointed. The pressure is on.
[Niki was clever. Terrifyingly so sometimes.] compliments. Also this is clearly a quality Wilbur admires in her and we learn in chapter 3 that this isn’t just something Wilbur thinks because Niki’s his friend and of course he thinks the best of her. She’s very quick to adapt to Tomys and invite him to get close to the point it forces Wilbur to finally get over himself and his childishness because of Niki can see it then he can be just as good or better (it’s that pressure his father puts on him which he then puts on himself tenfold).
[“The son of the Consil uses ‘foul language’?” He asked in an almost mocking tone, putting air quotes around ‘foul language’.] I love this little shit. [“He sure fucking does,” Wilbur joked as the runner rug beneath their feet turned to stone. “Much to his tutor’s disdain and his father’s pride.”] They would get along so well, probably will too once Wilbur gets past *gestures at analysis* everything. Chapter 3 shows that they have a similar sense of humour, but Tomys doesn’t expect that since Wilbur is always putting up a front
Side note 2: gotta love Phil being proud of Wilbur cursing like he does while Techno disappears. This is the uncle Techno content I need in my life.
Side note 3: Tomys being interested in the gardens and knows so much about plants not only tells us the he’s a gentle soul deep down, it’s also foreshadowing for Wilbur and Niki running into him in the garden because of course that’s where he would want to be.
Anyway, I love how defensive Wilbur gets of the ferronnière since he literally sees it as an extension of himself and a symbol of his value to the point he doesn’t think people would know who he was without it. But Tomys as an outsider makes a good point, Wilbur has lived there his while live, surely everyone knows him (and they probably do), but Wilbur has been raised to believe his only purpose in life is to become the next Consul. To believe the headpiece is important. So he has to justify that and all the pressure it comes with by telling himself people need it to recognise him (there’s so much insecurity there, you could fill the entire palace with it).
It’s so interesting how Wilbur focusses on the ‘freak of nature’ part rather than what Tommy is actually trying to say. It’s like he can’t fathom the fact that people would know who he is without that symbol. That they know who his is without that connection to his father. So instead he focuses on Tomys matter and changes the topic of the conversation, consciously or not. (Note: he does not say me, he reaffirms his position. You cannot insult him because of the title he holds, not because he, as a person, should not be insulted. This boy is all kinds of fucked up.)
(2/?) (it’s 2 right? I already lose count)
-🎄
wilbur noticing that niki saw him leave was definitely more about niki herself and wishing he could go talk to her than anything else.
I will say, phil full naming wilbur in that moment wasn't completely out of disappointment. while it partially was, the main reason phil full-named him there was because 1) they were speaking in front of a noble they had both only just met and are not familiar with 2) they are quite literally still In Court. it's more of an etiquette thing even for family members to use full names for one another in formal settings like that one in front of other nobles. as another example, if in that moment niki had walked over to join phil, tommy, and wilbur, it would've been considered inappropriate for wilbur to refer to her as niki and instead would've called her nikanna. again though, this is mostly just a situation-specific rule.
rose!niki is very clever and far more perceptive than people give her credit for. wilbur recognizes this for the most part, which we see in ch 3 in the gardens when niki adapts to talking with tommy like you pointed out. she's good at understanding what kind of demeanor a situation calls for while maintaining her sense of propriety at the same time. this serves her well in situations like in the gardens, because even though she doesn't necessarily like tommy, she knows how to use her manners and make herself seem genuinely warm and friendly towards him without missing a beat, unlike wilbur who struggles more with hiding his true feelings.
tommy is SUCH a little shit and if wilbur were a bit less stressed and had less pressure on him from his dad the two of them would've gotten along like a house on fire from the start. we'll get there eventually though lol.
I always loved the hcs about c!tommy liking plants so you know I had to throw a little bit of that in here. also I definitely went down a rabbit hole researching medicinal plants for that tiny section talking about what plants they have in the garden lol
rose!wilbur has SO much insecurity. tommy was pretty dead on, everyone would recognize him without the ferronniere at this point, but wilbur puts so much emphasis on it it's like an extension of himself at this point. which only goes to show how deeply he's connected being the son of the consil with his sense of self worth.
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What happened to techno is truly saddening, but he’s truly in a better place now.
But there is one thing i would like to mention. Later on in the dsmp lore, techno mentioned how tommy was Theseus, but in all honesty techno fit that story even better.
If you don’t know what the story of theseus is, well lettme give you a summary.
the story of theseus is about a amazing hero from Greek mythology who was considered one of the earliest kings of athens. He is known for killing villains, amazons and the minotaur, as well as many other small battles.
Techno really fits his story the best. Techno was/is known for being of of the best minecraft youtubers there is, which in my opinion he will forever be.
Techno truly did a lot on his journey. Here on this post, i’m going to kinda compare it to his favored greek hero.
Techno is some ways did defeat his version of the Minotaur. Dream. Think about it. In theseus, the minotaur was known of its evil, and how it ruthlessly slayed anyone who dare enter its labyrinth. In ways dream was similar. He is known for his manhunts, quick thinking, and how he plays Minecraft.
In theseus story, theseus claimed he would defeat the minotaur — similar to that of who techno promised to his fans — and would return home glorious. So doing what they both said, they gathered their gear and readied to fight the fight.
Theseus came to the heart of the Labyrinth and also upon the sleeping Minotaur. The beast awoke and a tremendous fight then occurred. Theseus overpowered the Minotaur with his strength and stabbed the beast in the throat with his sword. Techno did this exact same thing. Meeting dream and overpowering him with his own strength and mind.
While in the end of the story of theseus and the minotaur did not happen, techno did return glorious to his friends and family.
But this is not all. Techno did many other great feats, some of which he did subtly or not subtly brag about (dream losing be one of them). Techno faces many other challenges like theseus. Carefully crafting and securing many titles and honors. For example, theseus became a king and techno blade became a god. Both were known for their abilities in combat, but loved for their compassion and honor. Loved for their will to never leave an ally behind, no matter the costs, and to stand up for what they thought the right.
There are ways technoblade was greater than theseus. Dozens of ways actually. Never giving a second thought to help friends, always helping others, and not turning his back on people even when they did.
Technoblade was a great man, and even greater gamer. He shall stand in the ranks with the greek hero’s.
May he find honor and glory in the halls of Valhalla. May odin accept you with the greatest honors and gifts
alex
1999 - 2022
ALL CREDIT GOES TO MONEYONIIS ON TWITTER!!
Link here : https://twitter.com/moneyoniis/status/1542973691256270848?s=21&t=kPpV-z1wORCLr3i7EcUx8w
(and yes, i did get their permission to use their artwork)
also i would like to point out that there will come a time where tommy will be older than techno and skeppy has trained more than him. That’s all.
#technoblade#techno x reader#dsmp lore#dsmp techno#technolovers#technofamily#ancient greek#history#myct#technoblade never dies#minecraft#minecraft yt
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Techno x Tired!Reader
we love headcannons
Another ask from Shroom (aka @shwoomie-woomie) 🤭🤭
Again, the only TW: swearing. Not a lot, but it’s existing. Pronouns: they/them. This stuff is gonna be gender neutral.
💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
You are always tired. Whenever and wherever you can, you sleep. You also happen to be married to The Blood God, AKA Technoblade.
Techno would definitely be understanding and so damn nice about it and even making sure you’re as comfortable as possible. Like, here’s an example;
One time y’all were in a cold ass waiting room and you were laying your head on his shoulder and Techno noticed you were shivering, so he decided to drape his cape over you like a blanket and holds you close. (🥹💖)
And when Tommy teases you about it, you best believe that Technoblade is gonna have him apologizing to you heavily. (👁️👄👁️)
But there’s something else.
You absolutely HATE being woken up. And when you are woken up, you half-asleep will whack whoever and/or whatever woke you up.
And Techno apparently wasn’t an exception.🥲
One day, you were asleep on the couch in the living room of the cabin you both shared. It had been 3 hours since you said you were going to take a 1 hour nap. 1 hour. Concerned, Technoblade decided to wake you up so you could stretch your back n‘ stuff.
When he shakes you lightly to wake you up, he’s surprised when a sleepy hand strikes him. Of course you were barely awake so it didn’t really hurt him.
Despite this you still apologized more than I can count to him. (To which he just holds n‘ cuddles you telling you that it’s okay.)
And ever since then you tried your best not to whack people when they wake up, but the result isn’t that much better. :,).
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A Warrior’s Weakness
This is a fic inspired by this ask! Credit to “Scurry Anon” as I’m calling them for the the idea!
Lee! Wilbur, Ler! Technoblade— PLATONIC!!
Warnings: Swearing, mild panic attack
Enjoy! ❤️
~~~~
Wilbur charged forward with a loud war cry, his wooden sparring sword held high above his head. Technoblade quickly calculated the best counter the the attack, noting all of the possible weak points the brunette had foolishly left open. With one swift move he swept the man’s legs and effectively knocked him to the ground, pointing his own sword down at his twin with a smirk.
“I win again Soot,” Techno teased.
With a frustrated growl pushed himself up and chucked his sword into the dirt, kicking it before storming off toward the house.
The piglin hybrid stared blankly after the musician before shrugging and taking both swords back to the house. Wilbur was usually sour after losing a sparring match so he didn’t pay any mind to the small tantrum he threw.
As the day went along however, the man’s sulky mood lingered. He was unusually quiet, the normal humming or rhythmic tapping absent from his presence. He simply stared into the air in deep thought.
Finally Techno approached Wilbur, who was curled up under a tree with his face in his knees. The man sat down next to his brother and hesitated for a moment before he spoke.
“Somethin’ wrong?”
“Nope, I’m fine.” He mumbled.
Techno snorted. “Bullshit. What’s eating you?”
“Nothing.” The brunette persisted.
“Wilbur, I’m serious. What’s wrong,” the hybrid pushed.
The other huffed in defeat. “It’s just— you’re so much stronger than me.”
“I train more than you.”
“I know, but even Tommy is starting to beat me. I feel weak.”
“You’re not though—“ Techno started, but was cut off.
“You don’t know that!” Wilbur exclaimed. “You’re ‘The Blade’, you’ve never had to worry about being weak!”
“That’s not true—“
“I’m watching everyone else get stronger and stronger while I’m still a weak little shit who can’t even beat his little brother!”
“Wilbur!” Techno raised his voice, silencing the hysterical man instantly. “You are not weak. You’re one of the strongest people I know.”
“You’re—“ Wilbur sniffled “You’re just saying that.”
“It’s true. I’ve seen you fighting zombies and things to protect Tommy and Tubbo. You carried me back to the house the day I broke my leg too, remember? All on your own.”
“I remember,” Wilbur responded. “You were heavy as hell.”
“You still did it.” Techno smiled, taking the brunette’s shaky hands in his own calloused ones. “You’re also strong mentally, ya’know? You can solve puzzles faster than I can blink.”
The musician ducked his head shyly at the compliment and Techno took this as a sign to continue. “Also I do know what it’s like. To feel powerless and all that.”
“Really?”
“I wasn’t born as ‘The Blade’. I used to lose to Phil constantly. It pissed me off so bad,” the piglin said. “But Phil once told me that even the strongest warriors have their weaknesses.”
“I do have weaknesses. And so do you.” Techno stated. An idea suddenly came to him and he smirked. “For example—“
The piglin hybrid’s hands jumped to Wilbur’s sides quickly, squeezing up and down them repeatedly. The brunette squealed, bursting into loud, bright laughter.
“TEHE— Tehehehechno! Stahahahap! Noho tihihihickling!”
“Being ticklish could be counted as a weakness, albeit an adorable one,” Techno explained teasingly, spidering his fingers up to his brother’s ribs.
Wilbur arched his back at the feeling, pushing into the ticklish touches on accident and causing his laughter to climb an octave. “Plehehehease, Tehehech! N-nahahaha!”
“Are you enjoying this? That’s another possible weakness,” Techno continued dryly. “If an enemy starts to tickle you and you enjoy it, they’ll never let you go!”
“Stahahahap teheheheasing!!” The man giggled, his cheeks flushing bright pink.
“Teasing gets you too? Jeez, you’d better hope your opponent doesn’t find out about this or you’re a goner.” As the piglin spoke he tickled all up and down his twin’s sides and ribs, occasionally scribbling his tummy to hear him squeak before continuing.
“Yohohohou dihihihick! Ahahaha!” Wilbur laughed and laughed, never actually trying to stop the tickling over his torso.
Techno hummed. “You’d also better hope no one finds this spot,” he migrated his scratching on Wilbur’s sides to squeezing to his hips, making him cackle and squirm like a fish out of water.
“NAHA TEHEHECHNOHOHO NOHOHOT THEHEHEHERE! MEHEHERCY!” At the plea for mercy Techno stopped immediately, rubbing away the ghostly tingles as the man regained his breath.
Once Wilbur’s residual giggles died off Techno spike again. “You feeling better now?”
“I am, yeah,” the musician smiled softly. “Thanks.”
“Of course, big man,” the piglin replied, throwing an arm over the other’s shoulder happily. “You wanna go team up on Toms?”
The brunette smirked at him. “Fuck yeah.”
Needless to say the rest of the afternoon was filled with childlike laughter and brotherly rivalry, of which Wilbur came out on top in the end. He felt pretty damn strong that day.
~~~~
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So, I mostly talked about this in reblogs because lately I'm more into the Owl House than I am into dsmp, but I'm still interested in the story. Exclusively c!Tommy's story by now, but still.
I want to see it end well. I want it to be satisfactory. I want him to either get a happy ending and manage to permanently get away from c!Dream or for c!Dream to win and for us to get the immortal primeboys ending no one but me wants but that we all definitely deserve.
Before that though, I need crimeboys story to get an ending. And, just like for c!Tommy's ending, I'm really hoping it will be good and satisfactory... but in this case, I doubt it will be.
Both cc!Wilbur and cc!Tommy CAN write. They proved as much before. But they aren't professional writers and this has been painfully obvious from the last few streams.
From setting up plot points that were then promptly dropped and forgotten to making a mess with the timelines and paying little to no attention when it comes to continuity (Link) they have made quite a few mistakes.
And that can happen and it can be fixed (giving any acknowledgment to what is supposed to be canon like mentioning that c!Dream is out of prison or literally, any mention of the events of ho16 would be enough to fix the timeline and continuity issues for example).
But what I'm worried about is a trend we've seen with these reconciliation streams they've done so far. Streams where, inevitably, characters that have no reason not to hate someone else's gut accept their crappy apology that leaves out half the shit the person has done and move on.
We've seen it with the c!Tubbo and c!Techno team up, we have seen it with c!Wilbur's apologies... literally all of them so far (I would only exclude the one to c!Techno because that one was bad for all different reasons, like the fact that it felt like, once again, retconning half the story to make c!Techno look good).
They receive no build-up. The character that is apologizing doesn't even acknowledge half the sh*t that happened but they're forgiven because that's what it's expected. Because every apology has to end in forgiveness no matter what.
And that's exactly what I don't want for crimeboys. Because they have one of the most wonderfully complex relationships in the dsmp and they quite frankly deserve better. Winking at the audience saying "just you wait, that apology you want IS coming, JUST YOU WAIT" is not build-up. We need proper communication and, more importantly, an effort on both sides to do better already BEFORE the apology.
Arguably, c!Tommy has been doing that. He's been helping c!Wilbur the best he can as he has always done, which is why my last point is gonna be mainly about c!Wilbur. He has to show he cares. If not to c!Tommy at least to the audience, at least when he's alone and with something more than nudges at "yeah, an apology is supposed to happen. Hang tight and maybe it will come". And we haven't had this so far, with any of the people he apologized to in fact.
Of course, if we get a half-assed apology we always have fanfictions to lean into, but it would just be a pity. Because as characters they do deserve better.
#dream smp#c!wilbur critical#dream smp critical#dream smp analysis#'long post'#c!tommy#tommyinnit#crimeboys#wilbur soot critical#it's been a while since I ranted about the dsmp huh?#quite a while#still been thinking about this lately
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different anon here, it's gotten to the point where I dont even bother going through the techno tag on ao3 anymore. I have to stick to the techno-centric tag otherwise it's all tommy, and even then sometimes the fics are /still/ centered on tommy. its exhausting
Yeah, character tags are a hopeless mess but so are character-centric tags because newsflash: this fandom doesn’t know how those work either. Hold onto your boots kids, I’m doing a second impromptu AO3 tag guide: character-centric edition. And after that I have some advice for you Anon, but I’m forcing you to read my rant first because I’m thriving.
Let’s start with the basic thing that everybody gets wrong:
Character-centric =/= pov character =/= all the main characters.
Character-centric = the one character the plot centers around.
Now, obviously a centric character and the pov character can often overlap. However, not always. A pov character is just the character whose head we’re in, so to speak. A centric character is the character the fic is about, the One Main Character. For example: if you write a fic that is from Techno’s pov but is all about him finding Tommy after exile and taking care of Tommy and such, then the chances are high that it’s just a Tommy-centric fic.
Which leads me into the second thing: not all fic need to have a character-centric tag. And if they do: one or two MAX will suffice.
You’ll notice that a lot of AO3 fic doesn’t have a character-centric tag. That’s because you should see ‘character-centric’ almost more like its own subgenre, it’s an additional tag used to filter content and say to people “hey, this fic is very much disproportionately focused on this character”. This character is the center of the universe in this fic, so to speak.
Your fic can have one centric character, you can maybe have two if you’re writing about a specific dynamic. (Be wary of examples such as the above post-exile fic though. A fic can certainly be Technoblade-centric and Tommy-centric if it gives them both equal weight of importance in the plot and focuses on them individually as well as together. Not if Techno is just being a Big Brother (tm) who does nothing but care for Tommy and feel guilty about not being better for Tommy the entire story.)
You should not have more than two character-centric tags. The exception is if your fic focuses on a pre-established group in the source material, those often have their own centric tags (SBI-centric, dteam-centric) though AGAIN: only use that one if your fic actually focuses on the different dynamics within this group and on the members as individuals that have a life and agency outside of the other members. Do not tag a Tommy angst fic where the other three SBI guys are only there to take care of him or interact with him as SBI-centric.
“But Shae,” you scream desperately, “what if I write a fic that DOES focus equally on three or more people who aren’t an established group with their own tag???”
That’s great. Just use a combination of character tags, relationship tags, other additional tags and your summary to make it clear who the fic is about. It’s that easy.
As I mentioned above, character-centric tags are used for filtering by people looking for content of their favs, where they’re the MAIN main character. Just like how you shouldn’t tag a character that only appears for a few scenes because people looking for that character’s content will be disappointed, somebody looking for character-centric content will be dissatisfied with a fic where that character is not present for large chunks at a time because you’re focusing on other people for a bit.
There’s nothing wrong with an ensemble cast fic, those are fun to write and read! They’re just not character-centric.
So that was my rant. Now Anon, my advice for you? Sort fic by additional tags + filter out other tags generously. How do you do that? It’s very simple:
Step 1) find a character specific tag for your blorbo. Preferably something you enjoy reading. For example, I frequent tags such as ‘Technoblade needs a hug’ or ‘Technoblade angst’ or ‘hurt Technoblade’.
Step 2) While sorting, exclude the ‘Tommyinnit-centric’ tag. As mentioned above, this fandom doesn’t use tags correctly so this is not a foolproof plan. But I guarantee it makes a HUGE difference. You can proceed to also filter out other tags you don’t like or those that are often used by Tommy-centric writers (’traumatized Tommyinnit’ for example). Theoretically, you can even sort out Tommy’s character tag. Tada!
Disclaimer: Be aware that this is a double-edged sword. The more tags you exclude, the higher the chances are you’re also accidentally excluding fics that would appeal to you and just happen to use Tommy tags. Some of my fics are tagged ‘traumatized Tommyinnit’ or ‘Tommyinnit needs a hug’. My recommendation is to see what your mood is like. Do you want to get a fic to read as fast as possible with minimal scrolling? Exclude away! But if you want to do a more thorough fic scavenger hunt, I usually feel like just excluding Tommyinnit-centric already makes a world of difference even if it doesn’t solve the problem completely.
#asks#Disgruntled Shae teaches the dsmp fandom to use AO3 tags#(yes i tagged the other one with that as well so might as well do this)#(so I can find both easily-
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do you think c!Dream ever physically lashed out at c!techno while they were in prison together? I mean like if he got too close, would he swing at him as a reflex? I’d imagine c!techno would either take a single punch like a champ as c!Dream’s already weak or like,,catch his arm before his fist makes contact. The later would probably lead trigger only more trauma responses from Dream. How do you think Techno would handle it?
/dsmp /rp
Yeah. And on top of what you’re saying, I think Dream probably lashed out at him intentionally, too, in addition to unintentionally.
Reasons:
Dream hasn’t been able to fight back against someone without terrible consequences for a long time. He misses fighting, the physicality of an even playing ground.
Dream doesn’t want Techno to think he’s weak, or soft—he wants Techno to believe he’s capable of violence. He’s strong. This place hasn’t broken him.
Dream is angry at Techno for being trapped here, and for seeing him like this, and for messing up the plan. He knows this anger is mostly irrational—in fact, it’s really Dream’s fault, he knows, he’s the one who was weak enough to write the damn letter, but that just makes him madder. (Hell, the first thing he did when Techno arrived was punch him.)
Dream is used to playing into everyone’s worst assumptions about him. Techno dares to think he’ll be reasonable? Well, he’s got another thing coming.
Techno’s irreverence and minimizations, while typically the type of optimistic sarcasm Dream can understand and see through, sometimes really sting in ways Dream isn’t prepared for. Sometimes Techno saying, “come on, this place isn’t that bad, cheer up, roomie, quit complaining!” sounds too similar to what Sam tells him, how Quackity mocks him, what Sapnap clearly thought of him. Sometimes it hurts to hear that he’s whining for no reason (even though Techno’s right; things are so much better now.) Sometimes it feels too much like he’s just being ordered to keep sucking it up when all he wants to do is scream.
Dream’s been forcing himself to be rational and controlled for so long. He can’t afford to lose control with his abusers. He can afford to lose it at Techno.
Dream’s privacy in one of the most stressful and vulnerable times of his entire life just went from limited to NONE. There’s nowhere for Techno to go; they can’t get out of each other’s hair. If Dream cries, Techno sees it. If Dream gets furious, Techno sees it.
Sam and Quackity and Tommy, and even Bad and Sapnap, have all treated him like he’s a wild animal, one that bites. He doesn’t really feel very human right now.
The last time Dream had a sincere fight was with Tommy and that ended… not well. That was also an example of Dream lashing out physically against someone he thought he could hurt safely, but it was also a lot more sour than with Techno, obviously. I’m not sure Dream is able to articulate to himself the reasons he killed Tommy.
It’s not like he actually wants to kill Techno, or even hurt Techno. He likes Techno, likes him even when he’s getting on his last nerve. Techno’s kind to him. Techno’s funny. Techno’s entertaining. Techno tells him to eat. Techno tells him he’ll protect him from Quackity, that they’ll fight together. (Techno’s arrival made the torture stop.) Not to mention that Techno is an invaluable ally and his only (maybe, maybe, maybe) ticket out of here.
I think Techno would usually handle it with good grace. He’d try to divert Dream’s attention to less destructive outlets. He’d take a punch and laugh it off, and the lack of reaction would sometimes be enough to defuse the whole thing. The fact that Dream obviously isn’t a threat and is obviously posturing is, well, both kinda funny and kinda sad. Dream can tell, which sometimes just makes him angrier: he doesn’t want to be treated with kid gloves.
But the cell is wearing on Techno, too. Sometimes he’s not in the mood to deal with Dream’s bullshit just like Dream doesn’t want to deal with his. Sue him, sometimes a dude just doesn’t want to be punched for no reason. I don’t think he’d hit Dream back, but I could see him overpowering Dream, pinning him or twisting his arm to make him stop—and it would be easy, way too easy. Dream would freeze and go very quiet, and Techno would quickly back off, let him go and try to shrug it all off, and feel awful when Dream retreats to his corner and doesn’t speak for hours. (And feel annoyed that he’s feeling awful for defending himself, but—hey. That’s what this cell does to people, he guesses. He’s not gonna lie, it’s pretty messed up.)
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DSMP as Oh Hellos Song Lyrics
My opinions on which set of lyrics from Oh Hello’s songs match certain DSMP characters
I tried my best to get them all but let me know if I’ve forgotten/missed someone
Characters who are no longer around/didn’t do lore aren’t included. Also super recent lore is being ignored because I cant keep changing this every time someone decides to flip their character motivations dammit
(Im not including variations of a single character unless its a ghost btw. That means for example characters such as lmanburg Wilbur and revivedbur (two versions of one person) are gonna fall under the broad category of ‘Wilbur’.)
Some of them will have explanations, some won’t. If you want me to explain my reasoning maybe I’ll make another post. Maybe I’ll even make on for character relationships one day.
Idk I have crippling anxiety online so I won’t post very often
////
Foolish: Constellations
“I can feel it on my tongue, brick and mortar,
thick as scripture drawing lines in the sand and lay in borders,
as tall as towers,
I babble on until my voice is gone.”
Slime: This Will End
“I will wait for this to end, the back and forth, the battery
for you at last to comprehend,
the kind of love of which I speak”
Niki: Thus Always To Tyrants
“Where I go will you still follow?
Will you leave your shaded hollow?
Will you greet the daylight looming?
Learn to love without consuming?”
Fundy: I was Wrong
“I was born at the dawn of our folly
I was young and stubborn to the bone,
as I took from the tree that was rotting
Ooh~
I took my chance and bit down deep”
Tommy: Theseus
“Whatever kingdom come, it probably won’t come quick,
no mighty clarion to announce it, no single use ark to discard in an instant
like Theseus’s ship, we’ll fix the busted bits,
Till its both nothing like and everything its always been”
(I know Tommy is likened to the hero Theseus because of Techno but I prefer to relate him to the conundrum of Theseus’ Ship instead- If you replace all the parts is it still the same ship? I think Tommy has been through a hell of a lot and probably struggles with the distance that has formed between early lmanburg Tommy and revived Tommy. Idk but I think its a much more fitting comparison than the actual hero. Honestly this whole song works and any part could match Tommy
I could talk about this song in relation to Tommy for ages so I’ll cut it off here lmao)
Jack: Where is your rider
“So bury me as it pleases you lover- at sea or deep within the catacombs
But these bones never rested while living so
How can they stand to languish in repose”
Boomer: Hieroglyphics
“Stamping your heels along with the drum
Praying the serpent's underneath one of 'em
Like there's some villain left to defeat
Instead of a dance with a rhythm and beat”
(I don’t actually know Boomer’s lore so I kinda made a guess on this one from what little I’ve seen/heard. Pls let me know if there are better options)
Philza: Eat You Alive
“Ive seen the true face of the things you call life
The song of the siren that holds your desire
Death she is cunning and clever as hell
And she’ll eat you alive”
Sam: Lapis Lazuli
“I don’t mean to speak so collectively
I know I don’t make it easy to even wanna hear it
What can I say, What can I say, What can I say
'Cause the more I recite it
The more you wanna fight it
The more my language is sounding fabricated”
(Sam is such a nuanced and interesting character who has such conflicting morals and priorities. His relationships are constantly being ruined by his strange reasoning and actions and I think this song conveys this quite well- He’s trying to explain himself but the more he talks, the worse it sounds)
Sapnap: Oh Sleeper
“I see the trail of shoulders I’ve climbed over but
by god I’ll bloody up my hands with everything I am
to cut away the mountains I’ve made and fill the dales below”
(Sapnap fought on Dream’s side in the first war and has conflicts with many on there server but Kinoko is his new start and he’s trying his best to repair old relationships and make up for past mistakes- This song is about overcoming your past to be better and I think it just works)
Techno: Oh Sleeper
“The tables in the Temple will be turned on their side,
and just as it scorches up the dunes
beneath the height of noon
the pillars of the empire will be burned in kind”
(Technoblade and christianity/christ connections go brrrr)
Wilbur: I Have Made Mistakes
“We have lived in fear, we have lived in fear and our fear has betrayed us,
we will overcome, we will overcome the apathy that has made us,
‘cause we are not alone, we are not alone in the dark with our demons
We have have made mistakes, we have made mistakes but we’ve learned from them”
Ghostbur: Pale White Horse
“It was a pale white horse, with a crooked smile
and I knew it was my time
It was the raging storm, of a foreign war
and a face I’d seen before”
Eret: Rio Grande
“May all our tinfoil idols
Lay crumpled on the ground
And our pre-fab Olympus
Divided by the thousand
Oh, maybe im naive for thinking,
That a mountain so stubborn can move
But if im a mountain moving
I think you can be too”
(Eret redemption arc woo)
Bad: Notos
“And every word you shouldn't say
Will come bubbling out of your throat
But you've got no one left to blame
For the things you lost to the winds of Notos”
(Bad’s lore is so cool and nuanced and AHHH I want to shake him violently for making me feel things. I think Bad places a lot of blame on people around him in an attempt to cope with his own bad decisions and actions (mind controlled or not)
Puffy: Notos
“Every inhale I take, swallows the ocean whole, and I am one
With the hurricane, tall as the tide that laps with a rabid tongue
With every exhale, I break you down with a fury, I lay the hills undone
Like a dog gone untamed, bellowing out a river from my lungs”
Ponk: Trees
“Climbing trees; haven't much since we were children
Shaking limbs tend to end up bent and broken
But heartache pales in comparison to love”
Ranboo: Soap
“I’ve heard
If I were tougher
Then maybe I'd make it alive
I got a tender side
I'll need a harder shell to survive
But if seeing is believing
I don't know I've seen a thing grow
Without an open coat
Not without a softness showing”
Purpled: Passerine
“And as I prune my feathers like leaves from a vine
I find that we have fewer and fewer in kind, but
My palms and fingers still reek of gasoline
From throwing fuel to the fire of that Greco-Roman dream
Purifying the holy rock to melt the gilded seams”
Skeppy: On the Mountain Tall
“I know you want me to be afraid
I know you want me to love you
Still the wild wind blows
Up out the grave of an angry ghost
Firing bricks from broken canon and prose
To build a wall so high it reaches the heavens to the sky”
George: Exeunt
“Now I am not the fool I was when I was younger,
Crocodile eyes I have seen how you hunger.
Fluttering your lashes like ashes and embers,
Warm and bright as fire devouring timber,
No, I cannot trust what you say when you’re grieving
So my love im sorry but still I am leaving”
Tubbo: Dear Wormwood
“When I was a child
I didn't hear a single word you said
The things I was afraid of
They were all confined beneath my bed
But the years have been long
And you have taught me well to hide away
The things that I believed in
You've taught me to call them all escapes
I know who you are now”
(go watch the Dear Wormwood Tubbo animatic by knp!!! its the best thing to ever happen to me)
Quackity: The Lament of Eustace Scrubb
“I know that I have gone astray
'Cause when I saw my reflection
It was a stranger beneath my face
It was a stranger beneath my face
But I'll come around
I’ll come around
Someday”
Dream: Hello my Old Heart
“Hello, my old heart
How have you been?
How is it being locked away?
Don't you worry, in there you're safe
And it's true, you'll never beat
But you'll never break”
(im not a big fan of c!dream but I know a nuanced character when I see one dammit and I refuse to reduce c!dream to a simple evil dude. Mans has some strange fucked reasonings behind his actions and its so interesting to see it play out)
Karl: In Memoriam
“It's been a long road, losing all I've owned
And you don't know what you've got until you're gone
And it's a nasty habit, spending all you have, but
If you're doing all the leaving, then it's never your love lost”
Schlatt: Wishing Well
“For my soul, he made an offer
And to the dust again I fell
And oh, that devil's got a hold on me now
Because there wasn't any water in the wishing well”
(not a c!schlatt apologist or trying to find excuses for him, just thought the song was neat in relation to both his status as this big, evil, power hungry president and as someone struggling with substance abuse)
Hannah: Rose
“What's true is like a sickle
It'll cut you to the middle
Your rose is without a thorn
But no, my mouth don't taste of metal
From the pot here to the kettle
I think we got a lot we gotta learn”
(one of the most on the nose song choices lmao. Not 100% on it but couldn’t thing of anything better)
Punz: Eurus
“As Fortuna sits idly by
I spin her wheel with all my might
Crushing my kin for warring-wage
Minted from the ivory of your tooth and eye”
Eryn: Torches
“I got a venom like a snake running out of my mouth
(running out of my mouth, running out of my mouth)
Its got you burning at the stake,
Innocent or not, you’re not a bet I care to take”
(other then his childhood friends, c!eryn strikes me as quite a paranoid, mistrusting character. He’s constantly over-prepared for pvp situations and it makes me wonder about the rest of his backstory..)
Connor: Torches
“And father ignorance will make brothers of us all
(brothers of us all, brothers of us all)
As he sets our torch aflame
Chasing down the flimsy spectres that we co-create”
(c!Conner doesn’t have much lore but he was involved with the prison break and has ties now to the syndicate so he gets a song)
Ant: Bitter water
“Well, I still taste you on my lips
Lovely bitter water
The terrible fire of old regret is honey on my tongue
And I know I shouldn't love you
I know I shouldn't love you
But I do”
Callahan: The Valley
“We were born in the shadow
Of the crimes of our fathers
Blood was our inheritance
No, we did not ask for this”
(callahans lore is so interesting ahhhh like what do you mean he has a history with XD?? What do you mean he’s Tina’s dog??? What do you mean he’s canonically been XD’s pet as well?? *shakes violently*)
Hbomb: Cold is the Night
“Steady is the hand that's come to terms
With the lessons it has had to learn
And I've seen the things that I must do”
MichaelMC: Zephyrus
“Whether by accident or fortune
You and I
We are matter
And it matters
I want to spin something out of nothing
Lead to gold
Spring from winter
Story from moted sky”
Tina: Zephyrus
“I wanna help mother up an orchard
From a seed
Up through sapling
Daughter phoenix, rise”
XD: Thus always to Tyrants
“Every tomb, every sea, spit the bones from your teeth
Let the ransomed be free as the revel meets the day
Let the valleys awake, let them rattle and shake
In the wind that remakes all that time has worn away
Aimsey: Thus always to Tyrants
“I will look for you as the sun rises higher
When the dry bones dance with the timbrel and lyre
There's a wind alive in the valley
It will fill your lungs, if you'll have it”
Seepeekay: Constellations
“Cause like constellations a million years away
Every good intention, every good intention
Is interpolation, a line we drew in the array
Looking for the faces
Looking for the shapes in the silence”
Ghostboo: Cold
“When the bitter creeps in
To bite you whole
A spectre unreflected, oh
it keeps you cold”
#DSMP#Oh Hellos#tommyinnit#dsmp wilbur#tubbo#ranboo#philza#foolish gamers#dsmp fundy#dsmp hannah#dsmp boomer#dsmp seapeekay#dsmp sam#dsmp sapnap#dsmp dream#dsmp aimsey#dsmp xd#dsmp ponk#dsmp eryn#dsmp eret#dsmp george#dsmp techno#dsmp connor#dsmp callahan#dsmp puffy#dsmp niki#michael mcchill#dsmp hbomb#dsmp antfrost#dsmp skeppy
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Okay, I have more to say apparently.
Dream is currently gaining subscribers at an insane pace - I think it’s been less than 3 weeks since he hit 4 mil and he’s already passed 5 mil - that’s crazy.
His youtube content is excellent, producing frequent well-edited, well-executed videos on both his channel and George’s. He definitely deserves to have a lot of fans. The issue is that this fanbase is so fresh that it’s practically impossible to manage and so it’s currently a mess.
An exciting mess to be sure - the fanart and fan animations and even those compilations vids are all lovely. There’s a lot to enjoy. It’s also pretty cool how others streamers are getting more attention thanks to Dream’s audience.
But gosh does it have its dark side.
I’ve seen tons of comments from all sorts of people stating that they despise Dream’s fans. As a fan myself, it’s annoying that this is the case. But it’s more than understandable. A small segment can be incredibly loud and obnoxious and its frankly tiresome. The most frustrating thing is that it is only a small amount of people. Sadly though, when they’re gaining so many new fans, it’s far from insignificant.
I see this as an issue resulting from the rapid growth because unlike many other youtubers, the fanbase is far less established and far less cohesive when it’s so rapidly changing. It’s doubled in like a couple months! Because it’s new and novel, participants are far more loud and active - with time they’ll calm down but by then Dream will have gained millions more subscribers.
Furthermore, they don’t really know how to handle things properly. A good instance is how in their first livestream they clearly didn’t know what they were doing and didn’t have mods or a system in place. Had they grown more slowly they’d have had time to get used to things a bit more but they had to cater to a massive audience from the beginning. When they participated in MCU, it went rather poorl so they started complaining about the events issues and, I think they underestimate how large their audience is, loads fans followed Dream’s lead in attacking the event - contrast with BadBoyHalo who had his issues too but generally enjoyed the event delivering any criticisms in a much more constructive way (though poor Bad is probably especially careful and must be very wary of his fans who actually might be the worst). Overall, I think they’re still learning and its harder for them because any mistakes they make lead to drama. Even when they do little things like attempting to block toxic fans it turns into terrible drama.
I don’t think there’s a good solution to this really. All I can say is to try to always be nice, patient and respectful of others. Try not to encourage acidic behaviour. With time, I expect Dream will get better at managing his fanbase too and maybe Dream team drama won’t be trending on twitter every single day. But maybe twitter’s the problem? It honestly feels like a terrible place for fandom to exist. Creators and fanart sure but actual discourse?
#dreamwastaken#Bad's actually a terrible example of managing a fanbase#his really nice persona has worked against him as his fans have come to enjoy bullying him#its really painful#tommy or techno are both better examples#they're very different but both have good approaches#tommy is very selfaware and tends to mock excessive fan behaviour#he fully embraces being made fun of and turns it into his own style#techno meanwhile deals with everything with deadpan wit#as well as plenty of selfawareness#dreams currently too serious#or fans take everything he says too seriously#when his sense of humour tends towards mocking others a bit more#sorry for the rambly rant#i got carried away a bit#ill go reblog some fanart to make up for it#analysis
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avenging ranboo - 1/29/2022
**disclaimer: i'm very sick so excuse any mistakes/rambling
i don't have a lot of preamble for this post so i'm going to jump right into the points that i want to talk about.
- this stream is a perfect example of why i've always praised cc!techno's rp so highly. this was an arc that cc!eret had written and was excited for and cc!techno put everything into it. he went along with the bits and joked around and made sure to let eret talk when it seemed like she might get talked over. techno's rp etiquette is honestly unparalleled and i'm so proud of him for it. he's always gone out of his way to include people who have felt left out of lore. he took a step back this entire stream and let the others - both people who have felt left out recently - take the lead.
- c!techno's apology wasn't about being wrong, it was about c!tubbo's feelings. knowing that c!techno only has one life, it was completely reasonable for him to go along with what he was told to do. he really didn't have a choice, especially when his allies, c!tommy and c!wilbur, made no move to intervene. the whole situation was impossible for both him and tubbo. and there's probably some level of guilt that techno holds for not doing more as well as guilt around the whole situation, not just the red festival. what more could he have done? was there a way he could have convinced them all that government was the problem and ended it there? he's seen the damage that's been done, all the hurt that's been caused, and techno doesn't want that to happen anymore! he wants things to be better. so he apologizes to tubbo because tubbo is grieving and his close friend's husband and techno cares. he does everything he can to make him feel more at ease, especially considering the situation that tubbo was in. to be clear: c!techno didn't have to apologize for the red festival, he wasn't wrong for it, but he knows the impact that it had on c!tubbo and put tubbo's feelings before his own, as well as any guilt he held onto.
- yeah, the whole putting c!sam into the prison is bad. my assumption is that because it was c!tubbo's choice that c!techno went along with the whole thing. he did have a moment when he acknowledged that it went against his beliefs so it's clear that he knows it's not right. whether or not he did it because that's what tubbo wanted (which is true, imo), personally i'm still going to count that in 'things techno has done wrong actually'.
- c!techno has always been a person of ideals. he's always been someone willing to fight for his ideals. and it's not that what happened at the red festival is some sort of antithesis to his beliefs but that it's just not what techno would do now. c!techno, now, is someone who would do anything for his friends because he's grown past that belief that people will betray and hurt you, that the only person you can trust is yourself. he's not that person anymore. he's the person that stepped up at the green festival, that went willingly into the prison, a clear trap. that's who techno is now. and that is a huge change from where he was back during pogtopia. the red festival would probably go much differently if it happened now, if it happened after all the character growth he's had.
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Internship season is over! I am freeeeeeee! I can ramble again! Whooooooh! (don’t mind me completely ignoring my last assignments and the incoming exam season, it’s fiiiiiinnnneeee)
Anyway, the strings epilogue. Bee, I don’t know how you do this, but your epilogues always make me feel like crying and laughing at the same time. I’ve felt it before, Stars is a good example, but never this hard. It’s the fact that you know things will eventually turn out okay again, but it took a lot of pain to get there and thing will never be the same. It’s the way you never go with a full happy ending. And what I mean by that is that you don’t skip over the pain, you let it play out before giving us (and the character) the reward.
In WF it’s Tommy and Wilbur living on their own and going about their life before Phuk and Techno reach out again. There’s a promise of hope, but the suffering is still there. The trauma is still there. It doesn’t get erased for a happy ever after. The consequences stick.
Same with Stars, you could have let them find Niki earlier. You could have stared at the coronation and off handidly mention who they got her. That would have been a happy ending, but it wouldn’t have been a full ending. And you give us a full ending instead. You give us Wilbur finding Niki, you give us that bittersweet reunion. You give us three lost years but a promise for a better future.
And then there’s Strings. And this one hits particularly hard, because the characters know there missing Something, but they don’t remember What. And again. It can’t instantly go back to being okay. Tommy can’t just go back to his normal life and meet Wilbur right after. So for him it’s 2 year and for Wilbur it’s 5. And in that time both of them are looking for each other without knowing what they are looking for. And Tommy is looking in the right places too. The open mic night.
Also, it took me a while to realise, but it makes sense that everyone from L’manberg moved to Essempi. Their town is gone. So now they are all just roaming around in the same city as Tommy and he knows them, but he also doesn’t. And he doesn’t know why.
What I’m trying to say is, you do bittersweet ending really well. It always hurts, but it always feels rewarding at the end. It feels real. No fairy tale “and they lived happily ever after”. It’s always realistic to the actions and consequences of the characters and the rules of the universe.
-🌲
aaa spruce hello!! i hope your internship went well and good luck with your eventual exams!!! (ik you have another glass ask in here but i am saving that to answer when i am slightly less tired)
this is so nice to hear. I really love writing epilogues, because it's such a nice way to tie off the story and show the consequences of what happened. I feel like for certain stories, you have to show the long term effects of everything to really make the ending stick. sure, you can leave things up to the readers imagination, but why not give them a glimpse of what's happened since the end? you don't have to give full answers, but it gives an ending some room to stand on if that makes sense.
when it came to the stars epilogue, there was no question in my mind that i was going to show the full scene with wilbur finding niki. I wasn't just going to continuously mention her as a character and not give her a proper reunion. also, I knew from the moment i started the fic that wilbur and niki weren't going to reunite until years after the main plot. it just felt like it fit to me y'know?
and then there's strings. again strings is based off a movie, so a lot of the epilogue was taken from that, but I made my own adjustments to it. I won't say what adjustments so as not to spoil anything for those who haven't seen the movie, but I loved the idea of wilbur and tommy being drawn to each other over the years after everything went down. even if they couldn't remember, they knew they were missing something, and they were actively trying to find that missing piece. fate works in funny ways and all that.
yeah not everyone from l'manberg moved to essempi obviously, but the main cast did because it just made the most sense for most people. essempi is a huge city where there's a lot of jobs and opportunities available. wilbur of course was going to move there bc he always wanted to live in the city, which is what pushed phil and techno to follow him since they wanted to all be in the same city. niki and jack were like wilbur and wanted to be in a city as well.
but yes tommy knows them and he doesn't at the same time. they all keep bumping into tommy and he just misses it and so do they. except i will confirm wilbur and tommy did not bump into each other until the night we saw in the epilogue. it was an instant recognition thing for them.
i'm so glad to hear that my endings are like that though. I'm very much the type who wants to write happy endings, but ones that feel earned. that means the consequences still have to exist. it wasn't an easy victory, but that's what makes it more satisfying.
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Misconceptions About Tommyinnit’s Character That Genuinely INFURIATE Me
Since the recent events following the second L’Manburg Festival and subsequent war, I’ve seen many, many hot takes surrounding the nature of Tommyinnit’s character on the SMP. Some of which annoyed me to the point where I felt compelled to sit down and actually write this. I’m going to only be highlighting the most common complaints or questions I’ve seen, one by one, in hopes of providing a better understanding of Tommy’s character for anyone interested. (I also briefly discuss Techno and Tubbo’s characters as well.)
If you’ve said similar things to what I’m going to be discussing below, please know that it’s perfectly understandable how you’d come to these conclusions. Some of these aspects of Tommy’s character are not always obvious; especially if being watched from another streamer’s POV. This may become quite lengthy, so bear with me for now.
“Tommy’s motives are all over the place. He can’t decide whether he wants the discs back or not.”
Tommy is actually one of the most motivationally consistent characters on the entire Dream SMP. Even Techno, someone completely confident in their ideals, does more motivational flipping than Tommy. From the very start of the story, Tommy has always cared for three things; L’Manburg, Tubbo, and his music discs. However, him caring for something is not itself a motivation.
Surprisingly enough, his motivation isn’t even just, ‘Get my discs back,’ like many assume it is. Tommy’s one true motivation, since the end of the Independence War, has always been, ‘Keep things the way they are now.’
Tommy’s one fatal flaw is that he is resistant to change and refuses to let go of the past. This is seen through all of his actions and words; in all conflicts involving him. This flaw is the drive to all of Tommy’s mistakes. Burning down George’s house, an action which resulted in him getting exiled, was done out of a desire to pull pranks the way he used to before the first war. His friendship with Ranboo started because Tommy said he reminded him of Tubbo, back before he was President.
Tommy still talks highly of Wilbur because he chooses to remember him as the wise, kind mentor who cared for him. This motive is the reason he defends L’Manburg so fiercely; it’s his memory of a better past. This is why he holds grudges more often than any other character; especially refusing to forgive Techno after he killed Tubbo during the Manburg Massacre.
It’s why Tommy falls under extreme distress whenever Tubbo or Quackity tell him that something will never be the same again. This motivation is entirely formed from an underlying desire for peace and comfort, something Tommy has been denied since being forced into a life wrought with war and death. To accept change, to Tommy, is painful and terrifying. But he will only ever truly be happy when he finally learns to let go.
“Why do the discs matter so much to Tommy? They’re not actually worth anything.”
Tommy’s discs are much more than just any ordinary pair of music discs. They were never important for their material worth, but for what Tommy was willing to sacrifice in order to keep them. Tommy is entirely what gives the discs their value.
Tommy also commonly operates under the Sunk-Cost Fallacy, wherein he’s invested too much of himself into something to just abandon it, even if it’s causing him problems. This mentality is a huge piece of what keeps him tied to both L’Manburg and to his discs. He’s sacrificed too much at this point to simply let them go. If he admits the discs are worthless, then he’s admitting that he wasted all this time and effort, just to keep them.
The discs also act as a constant source of hope for Tommy because they are directly tied with his motivations as a character. They’re something he’s had since the very beginning. They’re something he used to listen to with Tubbo on their shared bench.
To Tommy, they symbolize a life before war, filled with comfort and peace. They are a love letter to his country and his late mentor Wilbur. They are a physical representation of Tubbo’s companionship. They are the only thing, besides L’Manburg and his best friend, that gives him the hope that he can one day return things to the way they used to be.
This ideal, paired with Tommy’s refusal to let go, has left him ruthlessly pursuing the things he’s lost. Not his music discs, but his peace and comfort, his friendship, his country, his mentor Wilbur, and his life before war.
In his desperation to hold onto his prized possession, it has only hurt and pushed away the people that love him. If Tommy continues to ignore this reality, while still refusing to resolve his major flaw entwined with it, he will lose all that the discs had once stood for. He will lose his country, then his friend Tubbo, and then he will lose himself.
“Tommy never grows or learns from his mistakes. This makes him a badly written character.”
Characters do not have to constantly learn from their actions to be well-written. Tommy is one of the best examples of this. The fact that his growth is infrequent is the entire point of his character; it’s completely stemmed from his fatal flaw.
By addressing himself, he would be accepting change, something that terrifies him; something he stubbornly resists until he is absolutely forced to confront it. Contrary to popular belief, Tommy knows when he makes mistakes, but he pretends to be ignorant as to avoid facing reality. He digs his head in the sand despite knowing better, puppeteering the person he used to be during happier times, now gone.
In spite of his infrequent growth, the idea that Tommy still hasn’t learned anything isn’t quite correct either. Tommy, as of the last three plot streams, has shown incredible character development. By giving up his discs again, he had finally demonstrated that Tubbo is more important to him than his possessions. Speaking as a makeshift leader, he put aside his issues with others to rally them together against a common threat, something which Tommy had never been able to do before. He owned up to all of his mistakes openly, apologizing to everyone he’s ever hurt in one place.
He apologized to Tubbo after they were reunited and came to terms with the fact that Tubbo was forced to exile him without choice, finally forgiving him. He was kind to Sapnap and learned how to be his friend after months of bitter rivalry. And these are only a few examples. This isn’t to say Tommy has overcome/fixed everything because he clearly hasn’t. There are still major things Tommy needs to work through that remain unaddressed, the biggest being his complicated relationship with Technoblade.
“Tommy only cares about himself. He does everything in his power to be the hero, always putting himself in the center of attention, especially during Doomsday.”
Tommy, since the start of the L’Manburg War for Independence, has never set out to be a hero. Not once. He may fall into the role of the protagonist, but his identity as a hero was pushed onto him by others. Giving up the discs was his only option during the Independence War.
So when Wilbur called him a hero for it, Tommy said he didn’t feel like he was. During the November 16th War, Tommy again said he didn’t feel like a hero because he had lost what he thought was everything at the time. During exile, Tommy certainly knew he was no hero. And upon reuniting with Tubbo, he admitted to feeling like the farthest thing from it. That he’d hurt everyone and all he wanted to do now was fix it.
The day before Doomsday, Tommy only took a leadership position because no one else was willing to, filling the role for Tubbo, who was crumbling under pressure. He had no choice but to try to bring everyone together, or fight alone. Most viewers never saw this during Doomsday, but before the battle, almost everyone who had vowed to fight alongside L’Manburg had abandoned them the very next day. They were convinced it was going to be destroyed either way, no matter what they did, so they chose not to see it through to the end; ultimately leaving Tommy and those who remained to fight a losing battle, alone.
After about a third of the way through the battle, it became clear to everyone that they could do nothing to win. One by one, everyone stopped fighting and stood by to watch their country go up in smoke. Tommy was the only person on the battlefield who refused to stand down and give up. And so he took over the role as leader again, trying his best to keep them alive, to keep Tubbo hopeful; to keep fighting, no matter what.
However, what most people don’t realize, is that this isn’t Tommy trying to be a hero or force himself into the spotlight. This is Tommy trying to convince himself to keep going. Because whenever things start to look hopeless, Tommy simply chooses to ignore them. He puts on a happy face and soldiers through it because that’s all he knows how to do. Tommy, at his core, is someone who wants peace through stagnation. He doesn’t want to fight, although causing the occasional friendly conflict is how he finds fun. He doesn’t set out to purposely hurt others.
Tommy may come across as self-centered, but this is because he is an extremely extroverted character. He finds energy and joy in the attention of others, both good and bad. It’s why he’s always seeking the approval of others and, oftentimes, will destructively insert himself into another person’s life in order to find it.
Out of every character in the story, Tommy is the most drawn to praise and positive reinforcement. He is constantly seeking out mentors and friends because Tommy needs someone else to help him feel confident in his own identity and abilities. It’s why Wilbur was such a positive influence on him. His boisterous confidence has always been a front because if anyone were to actually hurt him, he knows it will make his self-esteem crumble instantly.
This is part of why Dream’s manipulation was so effective against him. By isolating him, he’s left without energy and looking to another person’s guidance. Tommy outwardly may seem independent and rude, but just under the skin, he’s unconfident and lost when he’s by himself. Tommy will only grow from this flaw when he finds his own identity and inner confidence; when he finally learns to be okay with being alone.
“Tommy goes to the festival solely to get his disc back and then tells Tubbo to give it away immediately after. That doesn’t make any sense.”
Before the screaming match between the two friends during the second L’Manburg Festival, Tommy had been in exile, manipulated by Dream for long enough to lose his will to carry on. It is because of him that Tommy’s reality becomes distorted, long after fleeing from his abuser. This mangling of ideals leads Tommy to subconsciously believe that L’Manburg and Tubbo are unsalvageable.
Therefore, the only thing he has hopes of retrieving are his discs, which are easier to manage than the latter two things. And so Tommy does reprehensible things at the behest of Techno in a vain hope of getting them back, going so far as to kidnap and torture for them. This ultimately culminates in a confrontation between the ex-friends, quickly turning violent. It is in this violence that we see Tommy has sunk to his absolute lowest point in his journey.
Swinging his axe, he nearly kills his friend as he delivers a string of words that cause the room to silence instantly. He says the discs were always worth more than his friend. Within the quiet of the room, Tommy is forced to reflect on everything he’s done. How he kidnapped and tortured Connor. How he accidentally drowned Fundy. How he traumatized Ranboo.
And now he’s hurt Tubbo, the one person he has always sought to protect; someone he vowed to never hurt. This realization causes Tommy to break. He’s so ashamed of himself that he can’t look at anyone. Tommy knows now that he is worse than anyone he’s ever hated.
With pain in his voice, he tries and fails to apologize to Tubbo in the moment. The only way he knows to redeem himself now is to prove to Tubbo, after everything, that he can still put the discs aside. And so he does.
“The fact that Tommy is still trying to get his discs back after L’Manburg was destroyed is unreasonable and ridiculous.”
Tommy deals with grief in an interesting way, doing something very similar to Techno. His grief almost instantly becomes anger and a drive to prove himself. It morphs into a need for vengeance in response to injustice, always.
After the destruction of L’Manburg, Tommy saying he wants the discs back is a double-sided motivator. The obvious side being: Tommy still needs them to feel comfort. The subtle side beneath it: Tommy is using them as an excuse to find Dream and kill him. To make him pay for helping destroy their home, hurting his friends, and abusing him in exile.
Upon the loss of his home, I’d also argue the discs have only grown more important to Tommy in the aftermath. Typically, in grief, people hold onto things that survive devastation far more than if the tragic event never occurred. If your eldest child dies, one may hold their surviving children tighter. If your house burns down, one may deeply treasure a box of items that survived the flames. Tommy’s desperation after losing so much is entirely understandable.
On top of this, the discs are still the core to Tommy’s fatal flaw. They are what keeps him from achieving total happiness, so him getting over this intrinsic part of himself so easily would make for an unsatisfying character arc. He still has to work for his happiness in order to change for the better.
To add, I’ve seen a lot of people complaining that Tommy is still prioritizing the discs over Tubbo, especially in that moment. And while I mostly agree, there are some interactions that stand out to me as being different between the pair that may imply otherwise. Tommy says a few times that despite L’Manburg being destroyed, he still has something left to lose; each time, turning to look at Tubbo.
This subtly implies that losing Tubbo would be as devastating as losing his home. Tubbo also never voices disagreement over Tommy’s continued pursuit of the item. However, Tubbo frequently does what he thinks will make others happy, so this doesn’t implicitly mean support for Tommy either. Besides these two things, this is still Tommy’s fatal flaw shining through, continuing to hurt others around him.
I only hope Tubbo can learn to stand up for himself and voice his real thoughts to Tommy now, after everything. It would provide at least some desperately-needed closure for Tubbo’s character.
“How could Tommy betray Techno like that? Techno told him upfront what he was going to do.”
While it’s true that Techno was obvious about his plans, Tommy was also just as upfront with Techno about what he thought of it. In fact, maybe even more so, considering Techno attempted to hide them from Tommy for a good portion of their partnership. Whenever Techno brought up the idea of destroying L’Manburg or hurting Tubbo, Tommy would always remind Techno that he didn’t want to hurt anyone. And that if Techno ever did, Tommy would be there to stand in his way. He never once stopped saying this.
Tommy’s two major positive character traits have always been his undying loyalty and his strength to never give up, even in the face of death. Two classically heroic qualities, both of which, ironically, reinforce his fatal flaw. His refusal to change makes him stubborn; stubbornness being the only quality that makes unwavering loyalty and extreme persistence feasible.
Because of these two traits, it was impossible from the start for Dream to completely break Tommy’s spirit and for Techno to get him to agree to anything too extreme. Despite this, Techno already had no hope of keeping Tommy on his side after the events of the day before the Festival. During it, Tommy had asked multiple times for Techno to give his word not to hurt anyone. That they’d only threaten to spawn a wither, get Techno’s remaining weapons in exchange, then leave. That’s it.
Techno avoided directly promising Tommy but still agreed not to regardless. So when Techno chose to spawn the wither anyway, despite Tommy urging them to leave multiple times, whatever trust Tommy had with him went completely out the window. Thus, when the threat was finally real, that Techno would make due on his promise to burn his home country to the ground and slaughter his friends, Tommy intervened. It would be unreasonable to expect Tommy not to stand against him in that moment, especially after his mental breakdown which ensued as a result of him nearly killing his best friend.
Adding salt to the wound on Tommy’s end, Techno decided to also align himself with Dream, someone Techno knew Tommy was afraid of. This might have been a way to purposely hurt Tommy. More likely, it was because Dream and him shared a common goal in the moment and Techno desperately needed allies.
However, the implication of Techno siding with Tommy’s abuser most certainly hurt him, regardless of its original intentions. This is possibly why Tommy kept insisting through Doomsday that Techno betrayed him, avoiding actually telling anyone the reason as to why. If he couldn’t find the words to describe what Dream did to him, even to Tubbo, he certainly wouldn’t be able to tell Techno either.
“Techno gave Tommy everything, only to be repaid with betrayal.”
This statement regarding Tommy is the one I see most often. (It is also the one I get the most heated about.)
Dream’s character is well known for his manipulation tactics against other characters; pitting them against each other, crushing them under his heel, bending their will to conform to his own. It’s what makes him an interesting villain. It’s something fun to discuss.
But is it still fun to discuss manipulation tactics if they’re so subtle, almost no one notices them? This is the paradigm Technoblade’s character falls into. While people know Techno for his laid-back personality, dry humor, and complex motivations, many fail to recognize him as a manipulator. The reason why this is so hard to spot is because it is mostly unintentional on behalf of the character. Dream performs his craft with intention, Techno does it without realizing.
As well as this being unwitting, it is sandwiched between Techno’s actual attempts to connect with Tommy and care for him. Thus, making the manipulation feel less damaging. The only problem is, this still hurts Tommy just as much, regardless of the intentions behind it. Especially after just escaping Dream, Tommy’s reality and sense of identity are horribly distorted. In this vulnerable state, he desperately needs healing and someone to help ground him. This is what makes him even more susceptible to Techno’s influence.
And because it is much subtler, it is harder to notice, and much harder to break free from. Despite Tommy claiming to hate Techno for what he did on November 16th, he still chose to flee to his house because it was the only place he could think of going, as well as being the safest area possible. After the failed execution, Techno mentioned potentially hurting Tubbo through a vengeance plot. Tommy voiced extreme distress over this, to which Techno threatened to kick him out of his house.
Tommy then says he’s fine being homeless because he doesn’t want anything to do with someone who would hurt his friend. This is when Techno decides to weaponize Tommy’s own trauma against him. To be fair to Techno again, Tommy never told him the extent of the abuse he suffered in exile. But Techno isn’t stupid. He knows Tommy is extremely afraid of Dream, and for good reason.
So he tells Tommy that if he were kicked out, he’d be defenseless. That if he were out there all alone, Dream would find him very easily. That Dream would drag him right back to Logstedshire in an instant. He notices the way Tommy reacts to this, how quickly he changes his mind about being kicked out. He continues to use this trauma repeatedly in order to keep Tommy under his roof, no matter how disagreeable he gets about Techno’s plans. He knows he can’t retrieve his weapons alone because he has no leverage.
Therefore, using Tommy like a wild card was a major side strategy. Techno knows it will hurt Tubbo by doing this and may make the President more willing to compromise. In addition to this, many of the strategies Techno utilizes are Narcissistic manipulation tactics, categorized by their intent to keep the victim in a position below the abuser in terms of worth. This includes Techno using the silent treatment as a punishment, something which hurts Tommy since he craves affection from others.
He also attempts to isolate Tommy by telling him he doesn’t need anyone else; that everyone abandoned him during exile (something which Dream has also said.) He tells Tommy that he’s only alive because Techno is there to defend him and supply for him, as well as constantly reminding Tommy to not let any compliments he receives get to his head. These are both meant to make Tommy depend more on Techno and doubt his own abilities. Techno also occasionally engages in subtle gaslighting, attempting to sow doubt in Tommy’s mind about his relationships with Tubbo, Quackity, Ranboo, and Fundy.
It’s also vital to keep in mind what exactly separates Dream and Techno in this regard. The most important thing being that Techno actually does care about Tommy. He trusts him and wants to earnestly help him. He knows Tommy has been traumatized and abused in some way, but he doesn’t know how to help because he’s not that great with people. It also doesn’t help that Tommy is unable to tell anyone what happened.
In the end, Techno really does want to be a shield for Tommy. Despite debating handing Tommy over to Dream, it’s more likely Techno was using this as bait for Dream to waste his favor on something useless. After all, he could always save Tommy, should he ask for him to. Techno’s warnings about Tubbo and L’Manburg also come from a place of love, as Techno was personally hurt by them and wants to protect Tommy by telling him to leave it behind. However, just because something is done out of love, doesn’t mean it’s automatically helpful or good for someone.
There’s no better example of this than in Techno’s most damaging and frequently used tactic: ‘Buy Their Love,’ a technique commonly used on children by narcissistic parents. At first glance, nothing seems wrong. Techno gives Tommy most things he asks for; providing him with food, gifts, protection, and a place to sleep. The manipulation within this arises when the act of kindness is counted as a debt against the person who receives it. That by receiving so many good things, they would be ungrateful to go against their abuser. Doesn’t matter if they emotionally or physically hurt you, they gave you gifts, so you should shut your mouth and allow the abuse to continue.
Whenever Tommy speaks out against Techno’s violent actions or his plans to hurt his friends, Techno would frequently bring up all his ‘good deeds.’ He consistently reminds Tommy that he could’ve just thrown him back to Dream, but he was too kind. That he went out of his way to give him gear, food, and a roof over his head. That he was kind so Tommy should be quiet and let Techno plot to hurt the people he loves. Or else he’s selfish and ungrateful. Or else Techno will take all of his gifts back and leave him with nothing.
Knowing this, it is horrifying seeing people justifying this behavior by mocking Tommy’s character and calling him ungrateful using this very same fallacy. (Especially for those who grew up being controlled by this very tactic.)
It is through knowing Techno’s use of the ‘Buy Their Love,’ method that makes Tommy’s, ‘I am worthy,’ response, not one of betrayal, but one of triumph. This moment is a major positive character change for Tommy for many reasons. When Tommy decides to stand against Techno, this causes him to fall back on his most reliable tactic. He insults Tommy and then asks for the Axe of Peace back. Instead of caving, Tommy refuses.
By keeping the Axe of Peace, Techno’s final gift to him, he is not only rejecting the destruction of all he loves, but he is breaking free from Techno’s manipulation. He says, ‘I am worthy,’ because now he knows his own self-worth. He doesn’t need Techno or Dream to decide it for him. This moment is Tommy finally breaking free from not just Techno, but Dream as well. He is finally free.
“Tommy was only using Techno and never thought of him as a friend.”
Tommy and Techno’s relationship is complicated, which is why pretending only one side was in the wrong isn’t entirely accurate. Their friendship, in summary, is tragic when fully examined; being doomed from the start. Techno and Tommy are brought into conflict often because they are simultaneously so similar and so different. Techno and Tommy both deal with grief in the same way. They both long for a life of peace and comfort. They each long for companionship, hold their ideals in kind, and are both naturally resilient in the face of adversity.
Yet, their personalities and courses of action are polar opposites. What makes this friendship one of tragedy is the fact that not just Techno, not just Tommy, but both of them, actually thought the other was their friend. They had each wanted to be the other’s friend since the day they’d met. Tommy never stopped wanting to impress Techno and get on his good side, even if his methods annoyed the target of his affections. Him calling Techno ‘The Blade’ was never meant to dehumanize him; it was a title of adoration.
Along the same spectrum, Techno is a character who generally longs for friendship, but pretends not to after a lifetime of hurt. He’s been burned too many times, and so he chooses to stay alone. Techno is generally very reclusive and awkward around others, so when he likes someone or cares for them, it’s noticeable from a mile away. Their friendship has a very brotherly dynamic, and the fact that Techno allowed him to stay in his house, implies Tommy is a step above pretty much everyone else but Phil. Putting up with Tommy’s shenanigans is itself a sign of affection.
However, when their goals come into conflict and the two start to drift apart, they deal with this in massively different ways. With Tommy devastated and enraged, and with Techno withdrawn and hurt, once more burned by someone he slowly learned to trust. They were once both friends, neither one was pretending. Yet, both of them thought their companionship was unreciprocated.
On top of this, both Techno and Tommy were using each other. Techno used Tommy to get his weapons back by manipulating and lying to him. Tommy used Techno to protect him from Dream and get his discs back. They each hurt the other and refused to listen, both shouting valid complaints at the other that they refused to hear.
Their relationship is also deeply affected by the themes of vengeance in the current arc, which is something I haven’t seen many people talk about. Most of the current conflicts this past month have resulted from characters being unable to forgive, resorting to revenge as a way to cope with loss. L’Manburg was the first to initiate this, through the influence of Quackity. The Butcher Army was formed to punish Techno for a war crime he committed. And while this is perfectly reasonable, what isn’t is the way the incident was orchestrated. It was an unchecked abuse of power to execute someone without a fair trial, as well as punishing Phil, who was not involved whatsoever.
This was also particularly unfair to Techno, as many projected their anger at Wilbur onto him. Even Tommy did this, finding himself unable to blame his late mentor, so Techno was the next best option for him. However, it was Techno’s response to this that was interesting. He chose a path of vengeance, the same way L’Manburg did, after vowing to live his life as a pacifist. By doing this and following through, he hurt everyone, not just the people he claimed needed to pay for their actions.
Instead of just picking the weed in the garden, he set the entire flower bed on fire. Through L’Manburg’s destruction, he gets what he wants. He destroys their government, but he also scars the earth and shatters the sky. He leaves uninvolved people homeless, deeply hurting Ranboo, Eret, and especially Ghostbur. Philza turns to vengeance as well, taking his anger at the death of his son out on people who do not deserve it.
Tubbo, a day before the second Festival, was given another chance to seek revenge when Techno had spawned a wither on their land. Instead, all Tubbo could say was, ‘We do nothing … It’s pointless, vengeance. It’s poisonous.’ By doing this, he has managed to be a bigger person than even Techno was, with the strength and maturity to turn the other cheek. And now with Tommy’s plan to kill Dream, the conflict continues to escalate; only ending where forgiveness begins.
It’s sad to think, if Techno didn’t choose a path of vengeance and Tommy was strong enough to tell Techno how he really felt, the two might have remained friends. Who knows? Maybe they still can.
“Tommy was the one in the wrong. Techno was right to destroy L’Manburg.”
Techno is a lovely character. He’s well-written, engaging, funny. He has many values and quirks that are generally relatable and interesting. His motives are deeply understandable and sympathetic. And yet, he is perfectly capable of being evil, in just the same way that Tommy can be deeply flawed despite being the protagonist.
I’m sure most people already know that Technoblade is a villain. Or more accurately, a tragic antagonist. Techno (the streamer) knows he is and he’s having fun playing that part. Just because a character is morally in the wrong doesn’t mean their values and ideology don’t have merit. The best character I could compare Techno to is Thanos.
They have completely valid concerns and points, but it is the way in which they go about achieving their goals that makes them into evil people. And despite this, many will still agree with them, even after they do something reprehensible. Contrary to popular belief, Technoblade’s tendency towards violence isn’t a good thing, no matter how you look at it. Even Techno himself knows this, that’s why he decided to reform and become a pacifist with Phil. He was not a good influence on Tommy, on top of also manipulating him.
Techno caving to hatred and vengeance makes him no different to the resolve of the Butcher Army that pursued him. It is precisely the fact that he went on to destroy the home of not just Tommy, but also Ranboo and Ghostbur, that puts him in the wrong. He is allowed to despise all government and remove himself from it, but the moment he decided to insert himself into someone else’s country and take their home from them in order to destroy it, he abandoned an integral principle to his own values.
This principle being: ‘Choice.’ The act of letting others be free to decide what they want for themselves. It is a huge component to the concept of anarchy, the freedom to choose. And yet Techno robbed this from, not just the ruling powers that hurt him, but individuals who were not even involved in the first place. He justifies this by saying it’s for their own good, that he’s helping; while acting in a self-serving manner.
In his anger, he became the punisher, stooping lower than L’Manburg has ever gone. There is also the issue of Dream weaponizing Techno to destroy the one thing that has been a thorn in his side since the very start, manipulating Techno’s grief to achieve his goals. Tommy’s biggest sin in the Doomsday War was standing up to Techno and getting in the way of him hurting his friends and destroying his home.
This isn’t to say Tommy is perfect, because he still hurt everyone he ever loved. But the only way he knew to redeem himself was to fight for what he knew was right. And so he chose to fight alongside his best friend, Tubbo. However, just because Techno is in the wrong doesn’t mean others are wrong for wanting to side with him, or by finding joy in his ruthlessness. The biggest appeal of Techno is the fact that he opposes people like Tommy.
He knows how to put people in their place and it’s satisfying to watch. Some people love rooting for villains and it’s entertaining to see a being with so much power crush everyone else down so effortlessly. Especially because it’s so easy to sympathize with Technoblade. Sympathetic villains are the best kind; where they have understandable motivations, relatable flaws, people they love, and something they can lose. Dream is a villain you love to hate. Technoblade is a villain you hate to love. Simple as.
Despite the destruction of L’Manburg being either devastating or fantastic depending on who you are, there is one major good it has done. It has pushed Tommy more towards the completion of his character arc. By losing one of the three things he loves, it will be impossible for him to pretend any longer. He will be forced to confront reality very soon. It all depends on whether Tubbo will have to die first for him to finally see it.
#dream smp#character analysis#tommy innit#tommyinnit#mcyt#tubbo#technoblade#techno apologist#tommy apologist#long post#dream smp meta#dsmp tommy#dsmp tubbo#dsmp techno#tubbo dream smp#tommyinnit dream smp#technoblade dream smp#dream smp roleplay#tw gaslighting#tw manipulation#tw emotional manipulation#dreamwastaken#dsmp dream#philza#philza minecraft#dsmp philza#dream team
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[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
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