#Wilbur actually played into Dream’s manipulations eventually

[sing-me-under]

I think the thing that bothers me most about how criticism perceives the fandom is that a lot of them treat c!Tommy as like a y/n of an abuse victim rather than his own character. Like, yes it’s valid that you are upset by his decision and that you would rather he have done something else but like… that’s not what what c!Tommy was. c!Tommy’s choice was his closure as best suited to him because trauma isn’t universal and people aren’t a monolith.

This is a mild follow-up to a post I made earlier about c!Tommy’s story being a coming of age and overcoming a child’s black and white world view. It’s buried in the many many other posts I’ve made, but the key point I’m elaborating on here is that c!Tommy’s entire character arc was completed when he chose to understand Dream as a person.

Tommy has always been extremely self-aware, defending himself rather than accepting pain. Tommy was aware he didn’t deserve the blame placed upon him, and he was aware that he didn’t deserve to be hurt. He knew that the justification others claimed was flimsy at best, especially when he was treated worse for things others did too. He was fully aware of this and fought back.

However, just because he knew he didn’t deserve it didn’t mean he understood it. If the things he did “deserved” to “punish” him worse than others, then surely there was a reason for why it had to be him. Without any other possible explanations, Tommy determined that the reason behind his suffering was because Dream was obsessed with his very existence. It wasn’t his fault. It was because Dream was evil.

To c!Tommy, c!Dream had always been a force of absolute evil, an inescapable monster who hurt needlessly. To anyone, being hurt for things beyond your understanding is inevitably scary. The belief that no matter what he did, Dream would hurt Tommy because it was Tommy, nothing more, nothing less. Tommy only ever wanted to feel safe and happy, and he would do fucking anything to escape the inevitable pain. The prison wasn’t the safety barrier he could rely on anymore, and death especially wasn’t an option for escape as long as Dream (and Punz) still had the knowledge of the revive book. The fear that at any moment for any reason, The Unfathomable Evil would hurt him only worsened Tommy’s mental state and paranoia until he was barely husk of a person.

The abstract is scary. c!Dream perfectly embodies the existential fear of the unknown. This was how everyone perceived Dream, not just Tommy.

Tommy, endlessly afraid but so compassionate and kind, chose to free the server of the Pure Evil at the cost of himself. Even though he knew he didn’t deserve it, he still believed his very existence was the crime itself.

When Tommy chose to understand Dream at the very end, it wasn’t understanding out of the sake of compassion. It was his compassion that allowed him to understand for the sake of his freedom. He finally understood why Dream had chosen him to hurt, to abuse, to torture. c!Dream is a terrible person, but he was a terrible person with the very human understanding for why he chose Tommy. Tommy was just the wrong person at the wrong time.

In my previous posts, I emphasize that Sapnap was the one to aid Tommy in killing Dream that very first time all those years ago. No one was happy under Dream’s iron grip, but it just so happened that Tommy was the first one to win against Dream. It didn’t have to be Tommy. It could have been anyone else, but it just happened to be Tommy who received Dream’s ire first.

And that was freeing. It was clarity, a weight lifted off of Tommy’s shoulders. He knew he didn’t deserve it, but now he understood that he wasn’t being hurt simply because he existed. This was no longer some abstract unknown that would hurt him just for the sake of his very existence. It was a real, tangible reason with a real human motive. It was a problem Tommy finally had control over had he just understood sooner.

That’s not to say Dream wouldn’t have still been an manipulative piece of shit, but at the very least Tommy wouldn’t be paranoid and confused and scared out of his mind, obsessed that Dream was obsessed with him. But they could have come to an understanding sooner, before Dream truly became the Evil Villaiin everyone made him out to be, before everyone turned against him, before there was no turning back.

[blushrem]

In this post I want to go over Dream’s character, motivations, and relationships. The goal here is to outline just how tragic c!Dream’s story is. I have to mention this post is a GIANT. I mean it, it is 1.7k words. I couldn’t get too in depth, I mostly did a lot of more general observations whilst reviewing some surface level history of the smp. this post is one giant love letter to the smp, so its just A LOT or brain rot lmao. also i am a dnf account so ofc there is some dnf analysis in there too because of course there is

before reading, please be careful, while I do not go in depth, there is mentions of abuse, torture and manipulation. this post is mostly for fun and because was very in my feels after the finale, so take everything with a grain of salt

The Beginning :

The SMP was created by George and Dream on April 24th of 2020. It was not at ALL a role play server, if my memory serves me correct, the server was made so George and Dream could explore the new nether update. It wasn’t just Dream and George forever though, soon after its creation a few more friends joined them: Callahan, Sapnap, Awesamdude, Alyssa, Ponk, and BBH.

Tommy’s arrival on the SMP marked a significant change. Dream made it clear that while the server didn’t have any strict rules, griefing wasn’t something he wanted. And Tommy did just that. He griefed homes, burnt down Ponk’s lemon tree, and caused general mayhem. After many arguments between members, as well as Tommy’s literal fucking arrest (for killing georgenotfound of course) Dream literally tried banishing him from the mainland of the smp until Tommy convinced him otherwise. Dream eventually stole Tommy’s discs as a rebuttal to Tommy’s behavior. This kicked off an entire new era of its own.

The Disc Wars :

This arc can be summed up with hijinks between Tubbo and Tommy v. Dream. It’s definitely the most lighthearted dsmp arc, and a lot of fun. This is especially remarkable considering that this very arc of the story is the catalyst for preceding incidents in the story and character motivations. By the end of the disc war, after much battle, Tommy crafted an ender chest, and hid his discs away.

L’manburg (Hamilton the Musical) :

There are a lot of key factors with the creation of L’manburg that I feel are especially important. Firstly, L’manburg was created because Wilbur wanted drugs to be legal. which. Is hilariously insane. Dream wanted a peaceful little server and Wilbur showed up and turned the server into a breaking bad episode. Secondly, they wanted to split apart from the Dream smp. Once the war actually started, the battle was brutal. L’manburg lost its first life from Eret’s betrayal (something Eret was tricked into by manipulation on Dream’s part) and the war wasn’t looking good for them. However, Tommy and Dream agreed to a duel.

If Tommy wins, they get their independence, but if he loses, they not only lose independence, but Tommy loses mellohi to Dream. And Tommy loses. But in a shocking act of selflessness, Tommy offers Dream both disks for L’manburg’s independence, surprising Dream. In an even more shocking turn of events, Dream actually agrees, l’manburg is granted its independence.

The most notable takeaway from this arc is the way Dream began looking at himself. This is the point in the story where he really began to be painted as the villain, and Dream wore the role well, he really leaned into this idea. He was ready to play the villain to get what he wanted. He might not have gotten L’manburg under control, but he got the disks. I think that this moment, where Tommy handed over the disks for L’manburg is the moment Dream started getting an idea about the attachments people on the server have.

Manburg :

Dream’s role during Manburg was flip-floppy to say the least. He started out helping Pogtopia, unable to fully contribute because of peace treaties. Dream was one of Tommy’s closest allies in the beginnings of Manburg, helping him grief Eiffel Tower after Sapnap accidentally killed Tommy’s cow, Henry. Furthermore, Dream willingly gave Tommy Mars, Sapnap’s fish, as leverage and helped battle for Tommy. Dream didn’t always stick with Pogtopia, as he later admitted to Tommy that he was for himself and aids Manburg with supplies, but aids Pogtopia with a little bit of protection after Wilbur agrees with Dream for wanting to destroy Manburg. * It’s also important to note that this was when Dream was given the revival book by Schlatt to aid him in the war. Dream ends up going out of his way to supply Wilbur with TNT and also manipulates George and Awesamdude into putting the Manburg flag on their shields (Sam ends up removing it, but George is indifferent to the whole ordeal). Dream continues jumping from side to side, as well as picking a fight with Sapnap. Eventually, Dream dethrones Eret and crowns George. Quackity out right questions George whose side he's on, where George deflects a lot. Ultimately, Dream aids Manburg in the war and the traitor is revealed.

Dream wanted L’manburg gone, after Tommy gave up his discs for the new country, Dream saw just how much power it had over him. If Dream could control L’manburg, or completely get rid of the place that caused his home to become so divided, then that's a win. Even after the war, Dream chased more control, the only thing Tommy could have as L’manburg was being rebuilt to its last life: the disks. 

Interestingly, I find Dream’s actions surrounding George really compelling. Dream was able to play out a fantasy now that George was king of the greater smp. George was safe (despite assassination attempts), Dream was always there to protect him… and buy him flowers (? hmm). He could keep this one thing, this one precious relic from a time where everything was perfect, safe and away from everything else. George already secluded himself from most trouble, usually just going along with Dream, so George was the only sanctity Dream had. 

(George being dethroned is a bit more complicated to talk about, simply because that really just happened because George didn’t want to be too involved in lore at the time, so I’m mixing my own headcannons in for this one.) I think Dream ended up dethroning George because of all the threats George actually posed. George was leverage that people could have over Dream, he was obviously Dream’s sweet spot because he was one of the only people Dream hasn’t had trouble with. Even Sapnap broke out into many fights with him and was subject to Dream’s manipulation, unlike George. So, George was dethroned and he lost his faithful knight, and wouldn’t be getting him back. George ended up finding comfort in a god that sounded like Dream. George and Dream aren’t so different in the fact that they want things the way they used to be, they want each other. George dreams and yearns for a time where they goofed around the smp, and its clear Dream has always wanted the same.

Exile :

After Tommy and Ranboo burnt down George’s house, Dream was ready to reap punishment. I’ve always gone back and forth on whether I believe Dream jumped to such an extreme punishment just because he wanted an excuse to isolate Tommy or because he went after George. After seeing the finale, I believe it's a mixture of both, but it definitely parallels Tommy’s first imprisonment after killing George. After Tommy covered for Ranboo and lashed out during his trial, Dream finally was able to do the one thing he wanted when Tommy first joined, banish him. Completely isolate him. The big difference now is the amount of damage and change the server went through since then. I think Dream took all of his anguish out on Tommy with all the ways he abused him. Tommy served as Dream’s punching bag as well as his pawn, this was Dream’s best attempt at gaining complete control and he wasn’t going to let it slip from his grasp. I’m not going to go in depth with the abuse that occurred during this time, I recommend reading or watching a much more detailed analysis of this specific arc because I personally don’t feel that I can give this arc the justice it definitely deserves. 

Prison :

We now know that Dream meant for Tommy and Tubbo, and the rest of the server to see all the attachments that Dream had in his base. His imprisonment, everything, was planned. It was one giant power flex and it showed just how much control Dream wanted to have over everyone. He gave them the feeling that they had won, only to later take it away from them (should be noted that nothing of George’s was there). More importantly, I think it’s important to address the torture Dream endured whilst he was actually in the prison. That was never part of the plan. Dream was an increasingly troubled character, given more power than any person should have, but the abuse he received in the prison broke him down further. Abuse should not be solved with more abuse, despite Quackity disguising his brutal torture as vengeance for Tommy, when in reality it was just a way to get information about the revive book. Dream left the prison, never being the same.

And everything after... : 

Dream continued to fight with Tommy, continued to threaten him, and continued to experiment with human life. I genuinely believe Dream began losing his mind and lost all value in what life means. The three lives system, something so ingrained into the way the smp worked, was completely dismantled and destroyed by the end of season one, now meaningless. Dream wanted one thing, he wanted what he once had, he wanted the server to be one big happy family. He made desperate attempts to keep it that way and ultimately learned that brute force and manipulation got him much farther than anything else did. Very early on, he was painted as the villain, but even as Tommy pointed out, his past self was still in there.

In Dream’s attempt to gain everything he had back, he lost everything. He lost his items, his home, and his friends, he lost the family he had been yearning for. Dream admitted, absolutely broken, that he didn’t want to be alone, yet continued to isolate himself. He genuinely believed that all of his pain, all of the suffering, isolation, everything, was going to be worth it because one day they were all going to leave together and be happy, without fear of death. Within seconds he lost everything, he tore his whole server to shreds, promising himself he’d tie it back together, only to lose it all in one singular moment.

It was never worth it. Dream was at his happiest in the beginning, with George, before the world was pillaged by its occupants.

[fictionfixations]

Writing From Experience except i get really personal

so.

ive met the concept of.. writing based off of experiences or things youve done

like uh, theres this fic im reading where theres two camp counselors in a summer camp

and the writer went to summer camp

ww

I could try? i dunno its an idea, but I have fuckin 4+ docs of unfinished works and oneshots that I still gotta do but I dont have the motivation????

but the thing is is that nothing ive done is book worthy- it is not chobblesome

I mean, I dont do anything.. I play games all day and stay inside???

Uh. I've been to a wedding but it was boring and I don't remember what happened

I've gone out of state before and plan to go out of country (except I've been procrastinating for years) but I dont remember anything about it

I mean. I've been in foster care before ? People write a lot of foster care stories and like.. I mean I somewhat remember what it was like, but it was only for a few days and I only went to one home before eventually coming back to my actual home with my parents n stuff ? it was kinda a situation that I actually didn't understand or comprehend because I was pretty young but now I kind of do? It was kinda a little more serious then I thought as little kid me..? (uh.. the police got involved and it was a huge fucking mess. I got to be in a police car tho and they bought me mcdonalds so that was fun.)

There wasn't.. anything interesting that happened there. It would be boring. Bro so many foster care fics are about the teen and I'm just sat here with my POV of the child u-u

i mean though... sure.. children are kinda dumb, i wont sugarcoat it

itd probably get annoying fast

uhm. the only other thing i guess would be interesting is.. well nothing really, its just that I have a shit load of trauma packed into me that would make a bad and very triggering fic

TW: Mention of gr00ming, miNOr aaAaAAA mention of the act of kermit sewer slide sobs

um. it doesnt really affect me anymore because I've just kinda gotten used to it, but so. grooming. woo pair that with manipulation

hold on let me just find a character and traumatize the fuck out of them haha wooo does that count as dead dove do not eat? if i .. do a really dark fic where a character goes through ..what i did, except i just overdramatize it a little bit and exaggerate a lot to the best of my ability (i still have DMs of that time lmao but I don't think I can ever get used to those, it kinda makes me very uncomfortable.)

would it even be readable? I dont fucking know

The thing is is that everyone thinks that minor/minor sexually is fucking wrong

and I'd agree

but then I can't really ventfic lmao imagine I get hate for doing minor/minor even though its a fucking ventfic where I project onto characters -

lMAOOOO also probably really cursed

but then so id have to do it to an adult.. ?

bro which fandoms am i in that have a toxic relationship that i can write?

like nONe

unless i made one up??

bro sobs

actually i think the guilt tripping ive gone through has been done before in a disc duo but its like 'but arent we friends' or some shit like that in somewhere?? idk

would you guys be okay if i did a ship fic? i dont i cant do OCs man

but i dont know if ill even do it its just thought.

bro the toxic thing that comes to mind is dream and wilbur because dream being a manipulative piece of shit while wilbur is one of like the only characters i can and am comfortable writing the POV of besides the MINORS and then theres hermitcraft with its really healthy community sobs

i dont think wilburs boundaries are even comfortable with nsfw??

bro i dont even know if i can write anything sexual, ive never done it before

id probably write it as anonymous but not dream and wilbur?? id ont fucking know

how do i ventfic if i dont have a people

i mean jschlatt and quackity- is that pumpkin duo? id ont fucking know

they're... toxic..?? ive never written either jschlatt or quackity but you know the deal, jschlatt would probably be the user and quackity the victim.

oh fuck why can i just imagine it i can see it. (why does it work?)

fuck

agh

im.. probably going to have to reference back to the DMs to remember how things went and trigger the shit out of myself

my mental health boutta go to shit haha

anyway im gonna just... if i ever write it i'll try to put it on anonymous

i dont know

my first anonymous fic woo. and kinda trauma dump ig

i dont wanna be shamed for like

i dunno.

beIng a SLUT hAHAH -

oh i think i reached uncomfortable territory for me.

i think though that

it would probably be a dead dove

honestly thinking about it

trying to write minor on minor makes me feel sick

thats funny

guess adult on adult it is .

thats not really any better

also i dont know quackity or jschlatts boundaries sobs

do i just not do sexual shit? i dont fucking know

nevermind their boundaries arent really comfortable with that sobs

quackitys fine with fanfic but jschlatt i dont think it issss ??? GUYS HOW DO I DO VENTFIC WITHOUT INTRUDING ON A BOUNDARY

and i just

bro theres like no other character im comfortable with writing

do i really want to say 'fuck it' and just do it anyway? well no not really???

how do i find characters i can project onto but not ocs because i cant do that (ocs wont help me, honestly the thought is just worse in my head aaAa)

sobs.

[helliontherapscallion]

Why Couldn’t it Have Been Me?

Part 2

Paring: Wilbur Soot x reader (past), Ghostbur x reader

Disclaimer: This contains major spoilers for Tommyinnit’s 4/29 lore stream

Warnings: swearing, violence, death, near death, cheating, 4/29 lore stream, grief, blood, injury, panic attack

Word count: 6,737

(A/N): So in this, you’re Schlatt’s twin and Puffy’s your older sister. Also, sorry for any mistakes, I typed a good 2/3 of this on my phone

This was your own personal hell: being trapped within cement walls with your ex fiance, your asshole of a brother, and a Dream wannabe that seemed to never lose any energy. Your life was like a trope in a novel alive you would’ve liked, however being cursed to live in it made you absolutely loathe any and all mention of it. 

Alive you would’ve killed to hang out with your brother again, not the one that turned to the bottle. Alive you would’ve craved the sweet melodies that streamed from Wilbur’s mouth. You would’ve swooned and maybe, just maybe, you would’ve forgiven him. Alive you would’ve perhaps liked this ‘Mexican Dream’ guy, you would’ve perhaps become the best of friends. 

However you despised the three locked up with you with your whole heart. 

Your ex fiance was someone you adored. Hell, you even idolized him when you were alive. The Wilbur you knew was sweet, loving, attentive, and just all around someone that you swooned over. You could still remember how your heart exploded when he first asked you out under the setting sun by the ocean. You remembered every song he's written for you, every word and rhythm by heart, even after all these years. 

You remembered how you felt your heart completely shatter when you found the songs he had in his drafts for someone that wasn't you. Someone by the name of 'Sally'. After a heated argument you had broken up with him, taking the engagement ring off from your finger and throwing it deep into the ocean. You stayed on L'Manberg's side even after all that, too loyal and proud towards the country you helped forge to drop it. You wouldn't let some stupid boy or rabid tyrants prevent you from raising your beautiful nation up from the ashes.

That had been your downfall. You should've listened to Puffy and left the country behind when you had the chance, now you paid the ultimate price for your deep rooted loyalty and devotion towards independence. And your sacrifice didn't even matter in the end! Your deranged ex blew it all to smithereens. If you didn't despise him before, you absolutely did after your dumbass twin told you about his little 'escapades' while you were gone.

Every little thing Wilbur did, no matter how small it was, made you hate him even more. Every time he would shuffle those damned cards, it made you want to rip them to shreds and throw them across the train tracks. Every time he would sing or even breathe, you wanted to strangle him. You were absolutely certain that Schlatt felt the same. 

Oh, your twin was a real card. Always boasting about how his horns were bigger than yours (who even cares anymore? Yours grew in first anyways), telling the others about your shortcomings through crude jokes, even going as far as fighting you through headbutting; you could still feel the pain of being beaten to death before respawning immediately. Schlatt hadn’t known that you respawn even in the afterlife, so you knew he was serious about killing you. You just wanted Puffy, she was far more tolerable than your twin. 

The rustling of his suit jacket and his small grunts and pants resonated within the walls as he did various forms of exercising. You now knew about all of the differing variations of a pushup and you hated yourself for listening to his explanations. He would beg you, Mexican Dream, and Wilbur to stand on his back while he did his endless routines. The only one to readily take him up on that offer was Mexican Dream.

That man was arguably the only one you slightly tolerated, and you said that very lightly. He was still annoying as all hell, but he was a new face. Well, one that you didn’t know well enough to have a grudge against while you were alive. It was slightly refreshing, in a sense. When he first got here, his songs, stories, and humor gave you a nice break away from Wilbur’s depressing songs and Schlatt’s crude jokes. However when you spend eleven years trapped in a cage with one person, everything they do becomes the bane of your existence. 

You were running out of things that kept you sane in this dump. You've read the same novel, counted the same ceiling and floor tiles (32 ceiling tiles and 57 floor tiles exactly), traced the same cracks in the walls, temporarily killing the same cellmates, you've done anything and everything that this cesspool had to offer. You've done everything billions of times over, a never ending cycle of monotony. 

Tommy joining your group of miserable has-beens was perhaps the highlight of your fifteen, almost sixteen, years spent in this shithole. Though he finally dropped the brave facade and showed just how broken down he was after everything he’s been through, having him around was the saving grace to your sanity. He told you how your sister was, how your nephews were, and most importantly what you missed. You knew about all of the events leading up to Mexican Dream's death, but you were left in the dark with everything past that. Ender, you missed so much since you died; It baffled you how much you missed. 

When the train actually stopped at your cell instead of just passing by and it's doors opened, you were just expecting another poor soul to be dropped off here. You could imagine everybody's surprise when none other than Dream stepped out of those doors. The nephew that had betrayed you without a second thought, that had murdered you, that had your severed head displayed on his mantle (you weren't sure the truth of that last statement, Tommy has a habit of over exaggerating. Though, Schlatt did say that your body was found with a missing head when you first forced him to tell you what you missed). Tommy talked to you about how he died only once, so you knew just what your nephew has been up to. It infuriated you knowing that your adult nephew was manipulating and abusing this young teenager.

While you were releasing your pent up frustrations on the masked man, he merely brushed past you and drug Tommy into the train by the arm. You could remember Wilbur banging on the doors begging for Dream to return his little brother and his angered screams echoing down the railways as the train sped off back towards the land of the living. 

Lucky Tommy, he got to live out the rest of his life and actually age. You and your crew of intolerable jesters were stuck together once again. 

Everybody was silent for a few months, reeling at the newly discovered fact that Dream could actually resurrect people. During those three months, they were quiet and tolerable. In a way, the talks that came out of it was like one of those family therapy sessions your older sister would hold in the living room (you remembered how she would grab you and Schlatt by the horns if either one of you refused to go). You would kill to attend one of those therapy sessions again, and this is the closest you were going to get to it. 

You all talked about the things you regretted most while you were alive. Mexican Dream's was that he didn't protect his girlfriend Mamacita well enough. Schlatt's was choosing alcohol and power over his family (tears were especially shed over Tubbo, he really did regret abandoning him to be raised by you). Yours was that you were too loyal to a cause that would be absolutely decimated a short while after you sacrificed everything for it. Surprisingly, Wilbur's was that he had hurt you.

He had begged and groveled for forgiveness, telling you that he just didn't feel that special connection with you anymore. That didn't take away from the fact that he was seeing another while you two were still dating and that he blew up your life's work. He had stolen everything from you, and you would never forgive him for that. 

After you made your thoughts on him completely clear, he had started treating you like you treated him in the last few months. Tension was building up between you two that had laid dormant for thirteen and a half years like a rope pulled taut about to snap.

Everybody had slowly returned to their annoying selves slowly but surely. Schlatt resumed his workout routine, Mexican Dream had started loudly singing and ranting about Mamacita's everlasting beauty again, and Wilbur eventually started up his solitaire and songwriting once again.

The three of them made you want to rip off your twisting horns and shove them in your ears in hopes of muffling them, but you knew that whomever put you here would restore your hearing and make your horns regrow. You knew that first hand after you spent a couple of years alone in this hellhole; breaking your horns off by repeatedly banging your head against the dull stone walls in a manic state was never fun. The regeneration of the keratin only slightly stung, it was like you were a kid and they were growing in for the first time again. 

You felt your eye twitch as Wilbur sang about that damned train for the umpteenth time since he arrived. It’s always ‘train this' and ‘train that' and quite frankly you were sick of it. You were sick of him. 

“Shut the fuck up about that damned train,” Schlatt seethed. You never once thought you would ever agree with your twin, but here you were nodding in agreement and shooting a glare at Wilbur’s direction. The brunet merely stopped his singing and reshuffled his cards, the sound making an ugly cacophony and grating at your ears. 

“Not my fault you two don’t want to talk to me. I’m just making due with what I’ve been given.” He dealt the cards out in piles and started yet another game of solitaire. Seriously, how many games of solitaire can one play before they lose it? You supposed that you’d find out soon, Wilbur has been playing that monotonous card game nonstop for thirteen and a half years.

“Yeah, let the hombre chill! I like his music.” The masked man reached up to stroke his goatee, the scratching sound further penetrating your focus on your book. 

Everything was quiet before Mexican Dream's voice pierced it, "hey, did I ever tell you guys how beautiful my Mamacita was?"

"You told us millions of times, fuckface. You narrate entire love letters daily, so how could we not know how 'beautiful' she was?" You complained, not once looking up from your book. Schlatt snorted to himself and returned to his workout. Mexican Dream crossed his arms in anger, cursing you out under his breath. Wilbur merely glanced at you and rolled his eyes. "You know, I'm tired of your bitchy attitude. Let him talk about Mamacita, it's not his fault every time you think you love someone it fails." 

Your grip on your book tightened impossibly. If it were physically possible, the book would be crumbling to dust in your voice grip. You practically see red as you slowly dog-eared the worn page you were on and put your book down. 

"Oh shit," you heard Schlatt mumble and move away from you, Mexican Dream following suit. When you both were alive, your anger was always something you knew Schlatt feared. However, you knew that he's never seen you this angry; nobody has. The majority of what you've been holding in for almost fourteen years is about to be unleashed. 

"You know what I'm sick of, Wilbur?"

"Oh, do enlighten us."

"I'm sick of each and every single one of you. You three have been absolutely intolerable ever since you arrived. I was doing just fine alone and the universe just had to fuck everything up for me, just like it always does."

"There you go again," Wilbur laughed sardonically, "making everything about yourself." He gathered his cards and shuffled them repeatedly. 

"I make everything about myself?! Do you even hear yourself? Mr. Oh-I'm-such-a-disappointment-to-Philza, you wallow in self pity twenty-four seven! You fucking write every single song about yourself!”

"I didn't want to come here, okay?! I didn't think it was gonna be like this! God, I might as well be in hell with you here." 

"Believe me, my hell started fourteen years ago when you guys started showing up," you growled out, your ears flattening to the sides of your skull.

"Have you ever stopped to think that you're our hell? All you've done since we came here was complain and be a massive douche to all of us." He fluttered through the deck more and more as the argument escalated, the noise making you want to scream until you tasted blood.

"I'm the one that's in the wrong here? You fucked up my entire life. He," you pointed at Schlatt, "keeps beating me to death. And he," you jutted your chin towards Mexican Dream, "never shuts the hell up… Would you stop with that damn deck?! You're literally so fucking annoying." 

He narrowed his eyes, "make me."

A mixture of an animalistic growl and a guttural scream left your lips as you charged at him, your head tilted downwards so he could feel the brunt of your horns. He moved out of the way just in time, the side of your horn brushing against his arm. You crashed head first into the stone wall before you stabilized yourself and looked at the brunet with seething hatred. 

He was staring at you in shock, "how're you-" You used his shock to your advantage, throwing a right hook at his face. His head whipped to the side and his body followed, sending him to the ground in a heap.

"How am I still conscious? I'm a ram hybrid, dumbass. What'd you expect?" You huffed angrily before you pried the cards out of his hand and stalked over to the tracks. 

He scrambled up to stop you, but before he could even reach you, you held the deck over the tracks and looked down at him. You could just imagine how your horizontal pupils were blazing with fury. 

You reveled in the betrayal and animosity gleaming in his eyes as you dangled the thing he held dearest in this hell over the railroads. If you were to drop them, he'd never be able to see them again.

"We promised not to touch belongings on our first day here!" He yelled at you, his hands wrung in front of him nervously hiding the slight tremor. "Our first day here?" You scoffed, "the last time I checked, I was here for two years before any of you showed up." You gestured around the room in one angry swipe, the cards slipping slightly with how sweaty your hands were. It was then that you saw the fear in Schlatt's eyes. Good, that bastard should be scared of you. "If anything, you all are in my domain."

Wilbur flinched at the sight of the cards slowly slipping out of your hand, his breath hitching and panic stricken across his features. Mexican Dream stood up from his place and put his hands up. He was slowly approaching you like you were a cornered wild animal, making sure that you saw his every move. 

He nervously chuckled, "let's just put the cards down and have a nice talk. Doesn't that sound better than this, mi amigo?"

You shook the cards once again, taking in Wilbur's silent anguish with glee. "I'm not your friend, I'm anything but. Don't tell me what to fucking do or else that picture of Mamacita is the next to go."

"...Okay, you're in charge, man. Do what you want." He reluctantly sat back down next to Schlatt. The ram was watching in fear, yet it looked like he was entertained with what was happening. You couldn't blame him, the last interesting thing that happened was three full months ago when Tommy was taken. That and you probably looked feral at the moment.

"You understand that if you drop those, they're lost forever right?"

You threw your head back and laughed, "of course I know, why do you think I only have one sock? I already tried that shit out before you came." You hummed to yourself in thought, then grinned. Wilbur was going to love this.

While you shuffled the deck, you kept a close eye on the movement happening inside the cell. Another perk to being a ram hybrid was that you had a nearly 360 degree scope of everything around you. The only movement happening was the panicked breaths from Wilbur, good. You huffed in amusement, "alright Wilbur, let's do a card trick. I'd ask you to pick a card, any card, but I don't want to risk you fucking shit up again. So, I'm just going to draw for you." You drew a card from the middle of the deck and showed it to him. "The eight of clubs, how fitting." 

"(Y/n), I don't know what you're getting at, but if you don't give me those cards right now-"

"Shut it, I'm not done. I'm going to shuffle this back into the deck, watch the hands." You kept eye contact with him as you shuffled the cards rigorously, the card you pulled long since hidden with the slight of a hand. After a bit of shuffling and reshuffling, you had sneakily put the card between the two halves and bridged them until the cards were in one pile with the eight of clubs on top. 

You chuckled and pulled the top card, once again showing it to him. "Is this your card?"

He nodded slightly, never once taking his eyes off from the deck. "Yes, now give it back to me!" The angry and anxious undertones were like music to your ears.

You tapped your chin in thought, "hm, I don't think I will. You've taken so much from me, it's only fair that I get some revenge." Without another word, you threw the cards behind your head and smiled widely at the sound of the fluttering down to the tracks. 

Wilbur launched himself forward with a frantic yell, his hands flailing to catch all of the cards before they were lost forever. He only succeeded in catching a few. 

His breath shuddered as he stared at the three cards in his hand: the five of diamonds, the four of spades, and the seven of hearts. The fate of the universe was on your side for once, perhaps preternaturally so. 

"You- do you realize what you just did?!" He spun around to face you. If humans could froth at the mouth, a full waterfall would be streaming through his gritted teeth. His eyes held the rage of a man that had just lost everything in one singular instant, the resentment swirling in his dark brown orbs. Several veins were bulging in his face and neck, painting the skin in a red hue.

You walked over to your book and plopped yourself down. "Yeah," you said with a nonchalant shrug of your shoulders. You opened up your book and started reading it again, leaving the man to his grief. 

Everything was quiet once more much to your delight. Though you read this book from cover to cover thousands of times, enough to know most of the words by heart, you were never able to fully enjoy and immerse yourself in it with them around. You took this time to reclaim your designated corner and spend some quality time reading. 

You spent hours with your nose buried deep in your book, savoring the peace. That was until it was snatched out of your hands and ripped away from you. You looked up in slight shock at the sight of Wilbur snapping it shut and walking over to the tracks. 

No. No. Nononono he can’t. That was the only thing keeping you sane. He can't just get rid of it when he's done so much towards you when you were alive. 

A wail left your mouth as you tackled him to the ground, your arms wrapped around his midsection. He crashed to the ground with a grunt, his forehead smacking against the painted yellow stone. You straddled his back and ripped the book away from him, throwing it across the room and away from the tracks. 

You grabbed a fist full of his hair after yanking off his beanie and tossing it into oblivion with his precious cards. You pulled his head up and leaned close to his ear, "you try that shit again and your hat and cards won't be the only things lost to the void." Venom was seeping through your every word, "do you understand me?" 

He merely jerked his head to the side, colliding it with your nose and mouth. You shouted in surprise and let him go in favor of holding your aching nose. You could feel the warmth of the blood pouring from it. Through teary eyes, you looked up at Wilbur as he grabbed your book and flung it against the wall of the opposite side of the tracks. You scampered to the edge and watched in horror as it disappeared into the void. 

Without warning, you were forced to the ground, a hand holding you by a horn and a knee between your shoulder blades. You struggled before a dark chuckle was heard, "if you keep moving, you'll slip! Do you really want that?" You begrudgingly stopped, realizing that he had all the power in this situation. If he wanted to, he could just slide you off from the platform and toss you away like throwing a piece of paper into the trash.

"Good, you're not as stupid as you were earlier today." He slid you forward, holding your upper body over the tracks by the horn. You came face to face with the swirling abyss that was the void, small shapes appearing from your eyes adjusting to the sudden lack of visual stimulant. Your breathing picked up as he lowered you slightly, "you don't wanna do this." 

"No, I do. Thirteen and a half years of having to be around you was hell, but the shit you pulled today just put the icing on the cake. Do you have any last words before you go?"

You grunted as he shook your head slightly, a slight pain coming from the base of your horn. "Fuck you." 

"How appropriate, now let's see if you'll come back this time. It'll be our fun little science experiment!"

He dropped your horn without a care in the world, sending you plummeting to your demise. A terrified scream ripped it's way out of your throat and you screwed your eyes tightly shut in preparation for the void. Your body came to a jerking halt as you held your breath, preparing for… whatever awaited you. However, nothing came.

You cracked open an eye only to be met with the uncanny inkyness, the invisible mist freezing your face and its frostbitten arms opened wide for you. But you never fell into its embrace. 

Instead, you were pulled back onto the platform. You laid on your stomach with your horn supporting your head staring at the wall, tracing every single nook and cranny of the bricks. Your chest heaved as you greedily gasped for air. You never thought you'd be so relieved to see the cement walls you've been trapped in for over a decade and a half.

You were once again pulled up into a now sitting position and leaned against the wall, your back touching the cool cement. Across from you, you saw Mexican Dream pinning a struggling Wilbur down to the floor. Wilbur's crazed eyes met you, piercing through your very being. However, that didn't affect you in the slightest; you almost were just wiped from existence completely, you stared into the abyss and it stared back at you.

You felt… strange, to say the least. While icy fear and adrenaline coursed through your veins, you felt warmth blossoming in you at the same time. It was like the void was an actual person, politely giving you some form of relief from the hell you've been subjected to for over a decade and a half. It was so welcoming, not terrifying like you initially thought it was. When your fingertips grazed its surface it felt freezing to the touch, yet you felt the staticky power it was showing you. In that split moment of touching it, you had already accepted the power it held over you. 

A hand softly slapped your cheek, "c'mon, (y/n). Talk to me." Your eyes drifted lazily to your twin. He was extremely pale, his eyes frantically searching your face for any sign of responsiveness. When you looked at him, he visibly relaxed. "It was so… so beautiful, Schlatt."

"Yeah, what the actual fuck did you just say? You almost just- just died for good dumbass." He looked at you incredulously, you could just see the cogs in his brain working hard to process what the hell he was seeing. 

You looked back at Wilbur, he had stopped struggling slightly and was instead looking at you with a hint of confusion shining through the crazed daze. Mexican Dream tilted his head, the mask skewing slightly to the side of his face. "Thank you, Wilbur. You've shown me that there's… there's more to this hellhole than suffering. There's beauty in the darkness." His struggling had come to a complete halt, now staring at you with the most confusion you've ever seen from him. You also saw a very small hint of fear from deep within his irises.

A calloused hand gripped your chin and forced you to look back at your twin. "What are you on," he hissed lowly, "the stuff that's comin outta your mouth right now is actually batshit insane. He almost just permanently murked you and you're fucking thanking him." 

"I haven't felt this at ease in nearly two decades. I feel ethereal, Schlatt, and it's all thanks to him." You let your eyes drift over to Wilbur. Giving him a content smile, you nodded your thanks at him.

The next few days went by tensely for the others, eyeing your every move and keeping you away from the ledge. You had only peered over the ledge once since then, it was just so alluring to you. It was nothing, yet everything at the same time. Mexican Dream had pulled you back to the opposite end of the room by your horns. The part that disturbed the three men was that you said absolutely nothing about it. You didn't even struggle against it, you just laid limp and let it happen. 

With each passing second you spent away from the void, the feeling of utter peace was rapidly draining from your body; instead being replaced by icy fear, paranoia, and the realization that you were almost completely swallowed whole by the void. 

After coming back to your senses, you didn't allow anybody near you. Your instincts going haywire and screaming that they were going to hurt you if they came close. The last time Schlatt tried touching you, you damn near took his finger off. They didn't bother trying to approach you anymore, instead glancing at you from the corners of their eyes. Wilbur was perhaps the one you feared the most, you knew that if he didn't hesitate to toss you away the first time, he would surely do it a second time. He spent most of his time staring at you, you didn't know if he was zoned out or not.

Everybody was against you, you knew it. You just knew it. They were plotting to toss you back into the void. That thing- or was it an entity? Whatever it was held a power over you that you didn't know was possible. That trance that it put you in, the craving you felt, was something that was repeating like a broken record in your mind. You could still feel the void calling out to you, it was terrifying. 

You spent most of the time huddled in your corner staring at the fingers that had grazed the textured nothingness. You could still feel the buzzing and popping of the power on your fingertips, that inky residue staining your skin wouldn't come off. No matter how hard you scrubbed, scratched, or scraped, it would not leave your body. It was freezing.

The oncoming train screeching to a gradual stop was perhaps the only thing you fully acknowledged outside of your safety bubble in days. You watched in shock as it stopped at the platform. The doors opened with a fwoosh, fog pouring out onto the smooth stone floors. 

Out stepped Dream, the smile etched into his cracked mask sent chills to your core. Next to him was… was another Wilbur? How in the name of Ender was that even possible? 

This Wilbur was different though. This one was desaturated. This one didn't have an insane glint in his eyes, this one had grief shimmering in the tears that steamed on his cheeks. This one was broken compared to the well established man against the wall. This one was defenseless. 

Dream shoved him to the center of the room, the man falling to his hands and knees. Sobs escaped his mouth as steam left his skin and drifted along the sides of his face before dissolving into the air. 

"Got a new plaything for you guys, this one isn't as… fun as Wilbur is though." Dream's head turned towards you before it tilted. "What happened there? Did our dear little (y/n) get too close to the void?" 

"They are none of your concern, pandejo," Mexican Dream seethed at his counterpart from his position next to the train. "Why are you even here, man?"

"Oh, I'm just here to make a trade. I'm afraid that I'll have to give you guys Ghostbur here in exchange for Wilbur."

Wilbur stared at him with pure hope and glee springing up in his eye for the first time in over a decade. "Really?" 

Dream chuckled, "yes, really. What, do you really think I'd lie to you?" 

"I don't know, ya smiley freak. You've been known to fuck people over." Schlatt scoffed, his ear flicking in annoyance. 

"I'm telling the truth this time. Wilbur, come with me." 

Stars shone in his eyes as he reveled in the sight of the open train doors. He followed the masked man with a skip in his step, ecstatic giggles leaving his mouth as he boarded. 

Anger flooded you as you purse your lips together and you darted towards the train. The doors were closing already, if you could just- 

The door shut with a clank, blocking you from freedom. Your clenched fists banged against the window, glowering at the sight of Wilbur's happiness and Dream looking at you with a wave.

"You fucking bastard! Take me, he doesn't deserve it! He threw his goddamned life away, you're wasting your time with him!" Your angry shouts were ignored by the two however as the train once again started moving with a small hiss. 

A frustrated scream left your mouth as you pummeled the iron with your fists as it moved. If only you could find a train car to jump onto- 

Now. You leapt from the platform towards the junction between two of the train cars. However, your leap of faith was set to a halt midair by Schlatt holding your upper arms. You thrashed against him, desperate to get back to the land of the living, desperate to leave this godforsaken hell called the afterlife, but once again, you were torn away from what you were trying to achieve. 

You fell limp as you watched the last train car pass the platform and disappear down the tracks and into the void. The next possible time it would show it’s face would be in a few months if you were lucky. You let him take you back to your corner, your feet limply being drug against the floor. After you were plopped back down, you stared at the clone of your ex. You were pretty sure Dream said that his name was ‘Ghostbur’. What a strange name, yet you supposed that it was fitting for Wilbur’s apparition. 

“Are ya done with your little ‘moment’, (y/n)?” Schlatt was kneeling in front of you, his hands prepared to grab you if you made a run for it. Though his tone was annoyed, you could detect the very small worried undertone of his voice. 

You nodded and watched as he took a seat next to you, also staring at the newcomer. This is the closest he’s sat next to you in years. 

“...What do you think of the clone over there?” You hummed to yourself, “he looks pathetic, but I think that might be the only thing he and Wilbur share.” 

Mexican Dream took a seat next to you, slinging an arm over your shoulders. Normally, you would’ve shrugged him off, but you were too emotionally drained to do so. “Si, he does look kinda weak. But I think our new hombre here has promise.” 

“Promise for what?” Schlatt snorted. Mexican Dream hesitated, “...I don’t know. This is gonna be interesting, mis amigos.” 

“The party’s just begun, boys. Buckle up, this is gonna be a wild fucking ride.” You mused to them, unsure of what the future would hold with the newcomer. Though after a couple of years, you were sure you were going to hate him; that is if he’s nothing like his clone. Ender help you if he’s anything like Wilbur. 

As you stared at the broken man, you couldn’t help but wonder: why did he get to go back? As far as you were concerned, psychopaths like him do not deserve a second chance at life. If anything, it should be you boarding that train. It should be you getting a second chance. He was the one that so readily threw his life away while you had yours ripped away from you.

One continuous thought was circling in your mind: why couldn’t it have been me?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You wrung your hands together as you anxiously waited for Tommy, Ghostbur, and Friend outside of Pandora’s Vault. Ranboo and Tubbo sat next to you in the grass, giving you silent comfort with their presence. You were mainly worried for your boyfriend, his worst fear was Dream using the resurrection book on him. You had calmed him down from a panic attack prior to meeting up with the teenagers, begging him to let you go in his place. Of course, Ghostbur being the caring and brave soul he was, wove you off and ensured that he’d be okay. 

When you saw someone emerging from the portal, you leapt to your feet and steadied your head on your shoulders before you examined the people emerging. Except you only saw a human and a sheep, no ghost. 

Tommy looked pale and on the verge of tears as he led Friend towards you. Before he spoke, he used his sleeve to wipe at his tears. 

“Hey, Tommy! How did it- where’s Ghostbur?” The enderman hybrid stretched his usually slouched back to peer at the portal, keen eyes searching for any sign of movement. 

“I think he’s dead… He’s dead!” 

Tubbo tilted his head and looked up at the blond in confusion, “well, yeah. He’s a ghost. Of course he’s dead.” Ranboo nodded in agreement, “yeah, he can’t die again. That just isn’t possible.”

You said nothing (not like you could in the first place, your head wasn’t connected to your body), looking into Tommy’s eyes inquisitively. They were chock full of panic, grief, and fear, staring down at the lead in his clenched hands. 

“No, no you don’t understand, it’s not that he’s dead… it’s that Wilbur’s back.”

“Hold on, the Wilbur that blew up L’Manberg? That Wilbur?” Ranboo peered down at him incredulously. “Yes! C’mon, he- we gotta get to L’Manberg.” 

He spun around and led Friend towards L’Manberg, walking quickly with a purpose. You, Ranboo, and Tubbo followed. You hugged your head close to your chest, your eyes peeking over your arms. It was always something you’ve done whenever you were scared or worried about something. You heard stories about Wilbur from your nephew, if the stories of his insanity terrified you, you’d hate to see the man in person. 

“I was about to kill Dream, and- and Ghostbur died. Dream revived Wilbur… Fuck!” Tommy walked faster, L’Manberg far off in the distance. With one hand, you grabbed the blond’s attention and finger spelled, ‘are you serious? He’s actually gone?’

“Yes! How many times do I have to explain this?! Ghostbur isn’t with us anymore and Wilbur’s back. Wilbur’s back and we’re absolutely fucked.” He turned on his heel and resumed his beeline towards the crater in the wall. No, he couldn’t be gone. This was just a cruel prank they were pulling on you, right? 

Tubbo put a comforting hand on your shoulder, giving you a small sympathetic smile. You leaned into his touch slightly and carried on, stepping into the makeshift staircase behind Tommy. 

You moved your arms to cover your eyes as you stepped aside to make room for the other two teenagers. You heard a voice; it sounded exactly like Ghostbur’s voice, yet it sounded... off. You however remained hopeful and uncovered your eyes. 

The man that stood there certainly wasn’t your boyfriend. Everything about him was just so wrong. The emotion in his eyes, his clothing, his smile, his stance, his hair, everything. This was a completely different person. This was Wilbur Soot. 

“Hello again.” His eyes flicked around your group, his gaze lingering on you for longer than the rest. You noticed that he was staring at your neck, but that was okay. You were used to it; everybody did that. What you weren’t used to was the revulsion that flashed in his eyes. The eyes that once lovingly stared at you and reassured you that he’d love you even with your… condition were now filled with disgust. 

That was what broke you, the tears that you tried to hold in came streaming out like a waterfall. Stinging pain hit you as the water worked its way through the cloth of your uniform onto your arms, leaving steam floating upwards towards the cave ceiling. You phased through Ranboo’s body and made a mad dash towards your sister’s house. You needed her, you could feel a panic attack brewing inside you. Usually you would hate to be a bother to your older sister and Ghostbur would always calm you down, but now he’s…

You pushed that thought aside and focused completely on getting to Puffy’s house in the distance. You phased through the door without a thought to knock, frantically beginning your search for Puffy. 

You looked everywhere, but you couldn’t find her. Unable to cope any longer, you fell to your knees in the middle of the living room and hugged your head to your chest, your face being pushed against your uniform. Your shoulders shook with silent painful sobs, the only sound in the room being the sizzling of your skin. 

Why couldn’t it have been you? It should be Ghostbur standing there in that cavern, not Wilbur. This was completely your fault, you should’ve gone instead of him. You should’ve volunteered quicker than he did, you shouldn’t have let him talk you into it with his soothing words. Now because of your complete and utter cowardice, he was stuck in the afterlife once again. You were never going to see him any time soon. Your other half was ripped away from you because of your inaction. 

Between sobs, your lips repeatedly formed the same phrase: why couldn’t it have been me?

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- ⟒⋏⎅⟒⍀⋔⏃⋏ ⏃⋏⍜⋏

𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚝

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: philza, techno, Wilbur,(next few only mentioned)Mexican dream, schlatt, dream

𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊��𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚜: they/them

𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: fire, death, arson, betrayal mention, being used, reference to drugs, slight cursing

𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜: translation vvvvv

Can i be enderman anon? anyways now that's all out of the way. God reader getting revived unexpectedly by dream? it's like - a really badass antagonist god that gets pulled out of the underworld, calling dream their "saviour" (but in a more satirical way instead of genuinely seeing the masked man as their hero cause in the past they've most likely called everyone that helped them their mighty helper to the point where the title feels overused and undesirable). They roamed the lands of the smp, bringing terror and hellfire across the overworld, letting their kept in rage stroll free. They end up in the tundra, the burning flakes of ashes getting lost in the harsh piles of snow. They happened to have stumbled upon the cottages of two immortal gods that they may or may not have used to know. Wonder what'll happen? i would like to see your take in this.

 - enderman anon

AHHH IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG I DONT KNOW IF YOULL EVEN READ THIS STILL BUT TY FOR THE REQUEST IT ISNT THE BEST QUALITY IM SORRY :[[[

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You almost don't recognize the sensation of grass against your calloused and rough hands. You were in the void playing solitaire with Schlatt and Mexican Dream, and the next thing you knew you were suddenly pulled harshly by the back of your collar, falling on your spine. The looming mask of Dream is what stood above you, but he looked different. Longer hair, smelly, wearing a stained lime green jumpsuit with ‘0001' sewn into it and covered in cuts, scars and bruises. But before you could even question why Dream was suddenly there, he stepped back into the void, the void slowly surrounding and consuming him the further he went backwards. His now bony hand is still tightly gripped onto the back of your shirt, so while struggling your body is also enveloped in darkness. All it took was one blink and there you were on a patch of grass, staring at the pale blue sky.

"Huh."

Was all that came out of your mouth. You were still shocked at the turn of events that just happened, but no longer grounded. A running river nearby stunned your senses. How long had you been dead? It felt like years, but when you look around at the familiar forest you died in, not much had changed except for a couple newly planted saplings here and there. The swirling ashes you remembered before you died had all settled and compressed into the soil.

The river showed a strange reflection of yourself- your features have clearly sunken into your skull and there's a streak of white hair coming from your scalp along with words in fancy gold letters on your arm reading,

"May thy woes and hurt of the past no longer eradicate the upwards of this lost souls future. Allow thine to be praised by Ender themselves and be granted another chance at mortality."

Scrubbing or picking at your arm did nothing, so onwards you went walking along the forest to what you remember being a bustling "community".

Each mound of dirt you saw only brought memories of your death, of the place and people who sought to treat you like you were disposable. And now that you’re alive, you hate that they technically ended up being right. Your death; alone in a forest. Running away from the unexpected attacker, ashamed and too prideful to die in the prying eyes of your enemies. It fills you with rage, all the lives taken by your hands and for what? You weren’t overreacting, you knew that for sure. And before you knew it, you stole some fresh flint and steel from a random chest and got to work. 

You had always wanted to touch the fires you set. The soothing feeling you got from watching wood burn to char and ashes satisfied you. And it made it all the more euphoric to know it was trees of your manipulator's land. Running across the land, with flames as far as you could see when you looked behind you. The heat swirled around your neck and went into your nose, but the feeling was muscle memory at that point. You were still riding your high when a voice reached out to you, luckily when you were finally calm.

"What- Y/n? Hold on, is that really you Y/n..?"

You spin on your heels to the familiar manipulative British voice of a person you haven't seen in a long time. 

"Wilbur?! Man, I haven't seen another person's face other than those two addicts in a while- you look different." 

His eyes much like yours are sunken deep into his skull, purple-pink bags under his eyes and dull skin. Wilburs shocked lips fade into an opened mouth smile when he walks up to you with his hands momentarily confused on what they should do. Eventually, his right hand settles on clasping your left shoulder, giving it a friendly squeeze.

“Y/n it is so good to see you! You look quite different yourself, wouldn’t you think-? Oh, look! We’re matching!”

The grey streak in your hair seems to make another appearance when Wilbur briefly smacks it with his middle and pointer finger. 

“Ay, it’s nice to see you too Wil, but back up for a second alright? I've got something to ask you by the way…”

Wilburs head peaks in interest, urging you to go on.

“I’m guessing that little streak in your hair wasn’t a fashion choice- and if it was it’s a bit strange- but how’d you get it? You died when you blew up L’manburg! I mean c'mon, people don’t just, well…REVIVE!”

He starts to walk. You aren’t quite sure where, but stumbling along with Wilbur while his arm is draped lazily atop your shoulders seems to suffice. 

“Ahh Y/n, you’d be surprised. The most WONDERFUL thing happened, actually! Years and years in my hell of a train station; do you know who was at the subway door when it finally opened, Y/n? Dream!”

“Wh- Dream?!”

Appalled, you try to stop in your tracks but fail when wilburs arm is still pushing forward. His storytelling voice dies down to curiosity and excitement.

“Wait, did he save you too? He did, didn’t he? Oh, this is wonderful!”

Wilbur emits eagerism and you suddenly realize what you could do with his desperacy to be socially accepted. Putting on the most exaggerated and animated voice, you speak. 

“Oh my god yeah! Gosh, that Dream guy is my hero! Thanks to him, I get to have another chance at living again, and isn’t that just…swell.”

In all honesty you didn’t really try hard to sound sincere but by the look of Wilbur, it seemed to work just fine. 

“Right?! I’ve been meaning to visit him in the prison if you’d like to tag along with me the day I go? I’m sure he’d love to see you, since he revived you and all.”

Oh, you were sure Dream wanted to see you. He wants a boon- a trade. Why else would he revive two of the most historically significant people on the server if not to make some sort of deal with them? Sure, Wilbur is as gullible and carefree as ever but you at least still had scraps of mental stability and level-headedness that made you all the more a force to be reckoned with. Not to mention Wilbur doesn’t know that Dream killed you, but telling him that now would blow your act. You decide to keep your thoughts to yourself.

“Yeahh, sure! I’d love to go, just tell me when.”

And that’s the end of that conversation. The two of you walk to wherever Wilbur is going. It honestly surprised you how he couldn’t see through your apathy. From what you remembered, he was keen on being wise about people and their intentions but you guess years and years in hell do things to a person.

Somehow, you’re stuck in your mind for long enough that only now do you feel the sharp winter air making the hairs on your arms and legs stand straight up. 

“Wait, snow?”

The tundra was a drastic contrast to the void you were once in with schlatt and Mexican Dream. Instead of black as far as you could see, it was a blinding powdery white. 

‘Mexican Dream would’ve liked it here, probably would have tried to snort the snow like coke.’

You weren’t built for the snow, though. Hell- you didn’t even have a memory of anyone living in a tundra when you were alive! Why was Wilbur even in the tundra? You didn’t have the energy to ask, still feeling brittle and tired, back aching from laying on the dry dirt longer than expected earlier. 

“Yeah, just figured I’d show you around! Plus I already need to grab a couple things from an ender chest and this was the closest by. I’m a very busy man, after all.”

But why were there so many footprints in the snow? As far as you knew, Wilbur was the only one who lived out in the tundra- and he didn’t seem like the active type at all. There were strange shapes as well, large hooved footprints. However, all thinking comes to a halt at the same time Wilbur does.

“We’re here! You might see some familiar faces cause I live with people.”

Well, that answers the footsteps as well as the tall red-caped piglin hybrid giving leftover bones and raw meat to a polar bear.

“TECHNO! TECHNO, HEY!”

He tenses up for a second, you could tell he wanted to be left alone but that didn’t really bother Wilbur. But you recognize him. The name and the apparel- that guy is Technoblade. The same Technoblade who stood by your side while the two of you blew L’manburg up for the last time, and now the Technoblade who resides in a cottage shrouded in snow.

“Technoblade?!”

Hearing your voice being carried by the crisp winter air, he turns around immediately to see you and Wilbur a few feet away. Techno stood there dumbfounded, but he didn’t know why. He wasn’t particularly joyed or ecstatic to see you, but he was at the very least happy to see an old ally back. 

“Y/n? Oh my god, now we’ve got TWO of you? We don’t have room for another one, alright?”

For some it might be hard to see the meaning behind his words. Luckily you’ve talked to him enough to where you can tell he’s being playful.

“Don’t worry, I’ll just build directly on top of your house. Besides, who WOULDN'T want to be near me 24-7?”

“Me-“

“Oh f*ck off.”

You would’ve thought that that was Wilbur due to the similar accent, but there was something off. The slight gruffness and age, yet still succeeding in sounding mellow.

“Phil! How’s my favorite old bird doing?”

He gives you a face. Not a happy one like you expected, rather a face that says ‘really?’ Probably because of the old comment. The two of you briefly hug, Phil’s tattered wings stretching out slightly.

“I’m doing alright, are you okay? Here, would you like to come in? It’s pretty cold outside, you probably haven’t seen snow in a couple years.”

He wasn’t wrong after all. You were freezing your toes off and were itching for lemon tea. The kind Phil used to make when he, Technoblade and Dream discussed plans on destroying L’manburg. Ah, the good ol days…

“Of course! We’ve got a lot to talk about- you still have that old chess board?”

“Yes, but first you have some explaining to do about the fire over in that tree, Y/n. You just got back and you’re already burning down forests?!”

“Did someone say fire?”

Techno has an eager stride in his step once he also looks back to see the raging lights of orange and red in the nearby forest.

“Don’t worry Phil! It’s just- ahh, a controlled burn..?”

Your tone of voice is unsure when a black crow shoots down from the sky into the snow in front of you. It’s left wing is charred and has smoke dancing from the burn. Philza looks at you with a stern glare.

“Oh my f*cking god…that’s it! We’re all going inside now, you too Techno. I don’t want you and Y/n going on a rampage.”

[zeta-in-de-walls]

Tommy and the role of ‘hero’

Hey, this little essay is discussing how Tommy’s character has struggled with being called a hero and hows it’s been a significant part of his character arc for Season 2 of the SMP. It’s not a title he ever gave himself yet it’s a title he’s burdened with all the same. 

Funnily enough, I don’t recall Tommy ever being called a hero before Technoblade’s damning speech on Nov 16th, where he compared Tommy to Theseus. 

Tommy you just did a coup. You just did a hostile Government takeover and then immediately instilled yourself as President. And then you gave it to your friend but that’s still a tyrant Tommy.

But the thing about this world Tommy, is that good things don’t happen to heroes. Let me tell you a story Tommy, a story of a man called Theseus. His country, well his City-State technically, was in danger and he sent himself forward into enemy lines. He slayed the Minotaur and saved his city. You know what they did to him Tommy? (”What did they do?”) They exiled him. He died in disgrace, despised by his people. That’s what happens to heroes Tommy. The Greeks knew the score. But if you want to be a hero Tommy, that’s fine. 

Do you want to be a hero, Tommy? Then die like one!

Technoblade’s speech is a frustrating one at first. It begins by essentially calling Tommy a power hungry tyrant despite that being far from the truth - Wilbur was the one who formed the Government and Tommy rejected power. He trusted it to Wilbur who then chose Tubbo. Schlatt wasn’t even killed by Tommy, he died of a heart attack after being abandoned by every one of his allies so it wasn’t even really much of a takeover at all and it wasn’t Tommy. Yet this speech was entirely directed at Tommy.

But the latter half is different, accusing Tommy instead of trying to be a hero who thinks he’s saving the world and that he’s doomed to have a bad end. It’s interesting as never has Tommy claimed to be much of a hero. Tommy’s always just fought for the things he cared about. Indeed his response to Techno’s speech suggests the same.

“I’m not the hero. No one’s the hero! We’ve got L’Manburg for each other.”

But of course, Techno’s words stick with him all the same. Particularly the bit about a tragic end as Tommy becomes very, very aware of his own mortality in the arcs that follow. To Techno, a hero seems to be a naive figure who tries to do good but is destined for failure and tragedy. 

But there’s another path Tommy fears even more. One that he’s witnessed firsthand. Becoming the villain.

Let’s be the bad guys. Tommy, why not? Our nation’s gone. our nation’s far behind us, Tommy. Let’s blow that motherf*cker to smithereens. Tommy, I say if we can’t have Manburg, no one - no one can have Manburg! ...L’Manburg.

This is a new era! We burn the place to the f*ckin ground, I want no crops to grow there ever again.  I want f*ckin mycelium and cobblestone, it all covered, Tommy. I want it all gone! 

Tommy, let’s be villains.

Wilbur was Tommy’s hero. He loved Wilbur dearly and wanted nothing more than to be a good right-hand to him and make him proud. But when they lost L’Manburg and were banished, Tommy saw Wilbur changing, saw him giving up home and deciding he’d rather destroy the thing they’d worked for and blow it all up. After Wilbur made this speech, Tommy argued, making it clear he was entirely against his plans. Even saying that it wasn’t the moral thing to do. He said not to give up hope, that everyone wasn’t against them and that Wilbur’s ideas were reckless. But he stayed with Wilbur and continued to support him, hoping that he could convince him to change his mind. Tommy failed. And Wilbur died.

So, the Tommy at the start of S2 just wants to go back to his old life, a simpler time where he doesn’t have to worry about L’Manburg anymore as it’s in safe hands and he can focus on his personal concerns once more - like his music discs. He doesn’t want to be a hero or a villain, he merely wants to be happy again in a world without Wilbur. 

But there’s someone else watching him. Dream. 

I think it’s no coincidence that Dream wanted Tommy exiled by his own people. I think he was deliberately trying to make Techno’s speech into a reality. Dream had become rather obsessed with Tommy and treated all their interactions like a fun game where he played the villain and Tommy, the hero. It’s not a narrative Tommy himself liked but all he could do was play along. 

Dream had him exiled and this seriously pushed Tommy to his limits. On the first day, Techno briefly visited and asked him why he was still trying and he answered that he always gets back up and he would keep on fighting Dream. But as his exile progressed he slowly lost his will to fight. Slowly Tommy stopped believing that his exile would ever come to an end and that people still cared. 

In exile Tommy had a lot of time for reflection. Here’s something Tommy says days into his exile when he’s begun to lose all hope and is starting to accept that maybe Dream’s his only friend. 

Everyone always tells me I was the- the hero of this server. The one that came and f*ckin fought Dream - the only one that ever spoke back to him. But maybe I was just... maybe this was just meant to be. 

Tommy’s got complicated feelings about being a hero. To him it means standing up to Dream, never giving up - that’s what he believed people expected of him. But in his exile, he began to give in to Dream. He begins to express how no one cares and that the only reason they ever pretended to care was when he had status - when he was part of L’Manburg. There’s this implication that he felt like people only cared about him when he was being the selfless hero. When he was trying to be selfish for once, causing trouble like he used to and wanting to focus on his personal disc war rather than on L’Manburg, he got exiled. (Of course, this is Tommy’s biased perspective not how others actually viewed him.)

Tommy eventually escaped his exile, finding renewed courage to fight against Dream. Except, he’s still scared and uncertain and feels confused about Dream. He feels lost and clings onto Technoblade for support. 

With Technoblade, Tommy starts to feel more like himself - but Techno also influences Tommy, turning him more against his friends. (I think Techno’s character genuinely thought they didn’t truly care about Tommy, likely not realising how much they had also been manipulated by Dream.) Technoblade gently encourages Tommy to be more violent and wants him to help blow up L’Manburg. 

This is where Tommy’s fear about becoming more like Wilbur come into play. Tommy did not want to become a bad guy - he’d had nightmares about it even. But in his time with Technoblade, after how helpless he’d been during his exile, being given some power lead Tommy to start lashing out more violently, he began to get more aggressive - alarmingly so even. Technoblade’s path was one of revenge, dealing with his own pain by causing others to suffer (for noble goals, fighting corruption etc I don’t want to get sidetracked though this is about Tommy). Technoblade’s presence was helpful to Tommy, helping him to get over much of his fear but he still lacked in agency and still felt lonely knowing he hadn’t made up with his friends.

Tommy finally came to his senses at the festival, where he realised he was fighting his best friend and putting his personal attachments - his discs - over Tubbo. And that was wrong. He realised he was becoming just the sort of person he didn’t want to be - he had been on the path to becoming like Wilbur. And he rejected that path. He wasn’t going to be a bad guy. Just because he was hurt didn’t justify hurting others. So he reconciled and once more committed to protecting L’Manburg, having put his personal desires aside. It seemed like he’d put himself into the role of selfless hero yet again.

And he failed. Again. 

Dream tells him how it was a fun game to him. And how their story was not over. Tommy though, had become extremely tired of it. He didn’t want to play Dream’s game. 

They meet up again. And again, Dream talks to Tommy like he’s important - like he’s the key to everything. He wants Tommy to play the role of hero and has been manipulating events for a long time to keep pushing him, to keep taking things from him. Being a hero, which Dream believes Tommy wants, simply means playing along with Dream’s narrative.

Tommy, you want to be a hero, right? You want to be the hero of the server. And every hero needs an origin story, right? Batman had his parents, Spiderman had uncle Ben, you have Tubbo, right? 

In the end, Tommy refuses to play Dream’s game anymore though. He called for help and got saved by everyone else. Then he killed Dream twice and had him locked away for good.

And once more, Tommy decided to do things for himself again. He decided to live peacefully, working on a project, talking to various people on the server and trying to avoid making waves and getting into any more conflict. It’s a good end.

He rejected Wilbur’s path and he defied Technoblade’s predictions and he didn’t lose his best friend to Dream. And now Tommy’s trying to avoid playing the role of hero anymore. It’s not a title he ever gave himself but one thrust upon him. Yet it’s one he’s keenly aware of. And one that, despite everything, he can fulfil.

Tommy’s arc has been in some respects about defying the expectations of others - but he also can’t help but fight for the things he loves. He realises his troubles were not that his friends didn’t care or that he had to play a role but that his life was being controlled by Dream and now he’s free of that. No longer is he so weighed down by expectations but when there is a sufficiently threatening enemy, he has not lost his determination to challenge it. 

[dreamsclock]

“You know what I’m a slut for? When a character visibly drops a ruse. Like, the way their face changes the moment they give up a facade and reveal themselves.“

OOOOHH BOY THEN DO I HAVE A CONCEPT FOR UUUUU.

can you imagine that the “ghostbur” that has now come back in the lore is actually just wilbur who escaped the void / was fused back into ghostbur / switched places. wilbur is now acting in the place of ghostbur, trying and succeeding in making people still think he is the innocent little spirit that haunts the smp.

and so, the next time he sees dream, dream being dream of course, notices the tiny difference in ghostbur. his stance, the way he always seems to radiate a smug aura, the way his smile doesn’t seem quite oblivious anymore,

but most importantly, dream notices his eyes. his eyes resemble a void,  just.. empty. dream stares and stares into his eyes and almost loses himself. like a deep, deep well that you can’t see the bottom of. 

they strike up a quite boring conversation and eventually dream snaps and tells him he doesn’t like this little charade. that he’d rather not play games with him anymore, he’s sick of it now, thank you. wilbur, not giving in so easily, keeps up his ghost shtick and feigns confusion and oblivion. dream just gives him a long, deadpan look and wilbur thinks he’s tired of the act now, too. so he drops the facade and ..

”well, thank fuck someone realized. that high pitched shrill voice effect bs i had to keep up was soul crushing.”

”go fuck yourself”

LMAOAO IDK HOW THIS WENT FROM DRAMATIC TO THIS BUT I HAD FUN NONETHELESS

————————————

WOOOOOO I LOVE THIS IDEA SO MUCH !!! ghostbur as c!wilbur is actually one of my favourite theories of all time KBDKFDK, and the idea of him just,, dropping the mask one day around c!tommy or c!dream is SO good oh my god, i can’t get enough of it :D

warnings: death, ghosts, possession (sort of), burns, prison arc themes, manipulation

“You’ve been in here for quite a while, haven’t you, Dream?”

Dream stiffens, but otherwise doesn’t react, at the sound of Ghostbur’s voice, soft and high and vacant. “Hello,” he says, neutrally, not looking up, “it’s been a bit since I saw you.”

Ghostbur floats closer, and his edges are hazy, blurred round the sides: or perhaps it’s him just blurring the world in comparison, because the yellow of his sweater and the brown of his hair have never seemed sharper in comparison to the obsidian cell. 

“I’ve been wandering around the server,” the ghost replies simply, sitting cross legged in front of Dream and studying him in childish wonder that makes Dream’s skin crawl at the hungry fascination of the gaze, “trying to make myself useful. I like being useful, you know.”

Not quite sure how true that is, Dream lets his head lean back against the wall, finally looking at Ghostbur through half-lidded eyes. “Why are you here?” He asks instead of responding, and the world hums when Ghostbur touches a burn on his arm. It doesn’t hurt in the slightest - the ghost’s fingers are too cool for that - but it’s not pleasant, either, and makes his chest clench sharply. “I didn’t think Sam would let you near here. Didn’t think I was allowed visitors.”

Ghostbur seems fascinated by the burn on his arm, lifting his arm closer to the light to examine it properly. Dream lets him, pliant, because the gears are turning in his mind and he knows they’re playing a game here. 

“Does it hurt?” Ghostbur asks him. 

Dream draws a breath in, smiles behind his mask when it smells like gunpowder and cigarettes. “No,” he says, “we’ve both had worse.”

He meets his gaze, and only then does Dream realise how hypnotic it is: the ghost’s eyes are dark and bottomless, spiraling deeper and deeper into nothing, into the void, and there’s a voice inside his mind that whispers just listen, just stop and go quiet and compliant and everything will be okay he can help he is good he is

Dream knows what he is. Good isn’t quite the word he’d use.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Ghostbur says softly, and Dream forces a raspy chuckle, turns his head away to avoid looking too deeply, “you don’t sound quite like yourself anymore, Dream.”

“You’d know all about that, right?” Dream asks. “You can drop the act, Wil. The cameras are off.”

Ghostbur mimes confusion, brow furrowing, head tilting, but Dream isn’t fooled. “The act?”

“Stop playing.” Dream pulls his hand back, cradles it to his chest. Now there’s nobody touching it, it aches - throbs and itches under his touch, freezing, too cold to be natural in a cell surrounded by lava. “I’m sick of playing for once.”

And Ghostbur sighs, rather long-suffering, dramatic, and lets his face drop. It falls into something Other: something not quite dead, not quite human, but so un-Ghostbur that it makes Dream want to laugh. Maybe he does: the sound slips free from his lips, dry and tired. He should have expected this.

“Alright,” Wilbur chuckles, cracking his knuckles and getting to his feet, “I guess if there was anyone I couldn’t fool, it would be you and Tommy.”

He shoots Dream a smile that would have been friendly on anyone else. Dream doesn’t smile back. Wilbur’s smile has too many teeth. 

“Hello, Dream. Thank God you realised. The whole high pitched shrill voice I was doing was really beginning to get on my fucking nerves. I don’t know how others put up with it.”

Dream stands too, never one to be in a powerless position, though it hurts: his whole body aches and is too warm, except from the arm Wilbur had touched, which is ice cold to the touch. “We didn’t,” he tells him, candidly, “put up with it, that is. It was less annoying coming from the real Ghostbur. You made it worse.”

Wilbur grins. “You’re not happy to see me?” He asks, hand going to his heart. “A little bird told me you were desperate to see me. Something about wanting to break out, or something like that, I dunno, I didn’t really pay much attention.”

It’s a lie. Both of them know it. Wilbur always pays attention, always, and it hasn’t changed now: there’s still a hunger for knowledge burning in his eyes, and it makes Dream more than a little uneasy.

“Maybe,” he says evasively, “I think we could work together after you get me out.”

Wilbur tilts his head. “And if I got you out of prison, you’d help me.”

Dream doesn’t miss a beat. “Yes.” He allows a tight smile. “And if you get me out, you won’t ever have to pretend to be Ghostbur again.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” Wilbur grins. 

And then Wilbur is shaking his hand, and then Dream’s skin is cold, so cold, and he thinks he might have just made a deal with someone worse than the Devil.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Dream,” Wilbur says with a gleam in his eyes, “let’s get you out of here, will we?”

Dream accepts the cold creeping up his limbs, and tells himself very firmly that he won’t regret this.

[systematicmasspoisoning]

Who is Sam's prison for?

If you're not up to date in DreamSMP lore, Awesamdude, resident Redstone expert, was paid stacks of diamonds by Dream to make an inescapable prison. It is located in the ocean next to Bad and Skeppy's mansion and is VERY large. Supposedly it will be using Elder Guardians to keep a prisoner from mining out due to Mining Fatigue. Even if the prisoner dies of hunger, they will respawn inside. This brings up the question of how

1. they force the prisoner to click a bed inside the prison

2. how they keep the prisoner from breaking the bed.

Regardless of the mechanics of the second one, I think the first is a clue as to who Dream will trap inside the prison. Consider the 3 canon deaths lore. He has used the threat of permanently killing Tommy to get the boy to comply and click on a bed in Logstedshire. So a 'permanent death if you don't comply' is definitely an effective tactic but ONLY for people with one life left.

The main two options are Tommy and Tubbo (or Philza). Or, Dream is planning on knocking another one of his potential opponents, such as Quackity, Fundy or Techno, down to one life in the time it takes to build the actual prison.

Quackity and Fundy aren't big enough threats yet, although Quackity certainly has the potential to be a threat, in this season of the SMP, El Rapids isn't big enough of a threat yet.

Most people would assume Dream's biggest enemies on the server are Tommy and Techno. Techno's role in the grand scheme of things is, as of now, undetermined. However, as Techno is one of the authors of this SMP season, he likely has something up his sleeve. He is currently 'retired' alongside Phil in their Antarctic Empire skins in a snowy biome, but he has made appearances in Tommy's streams to mock the boy for getting exiled (just like Techno predicted with the Theseus analogy.) An alliance between the sleepbois is possibly in the works, but right now, both Tommy and Techno have made it clear there is still a lot of animosity between them. So I don't see Techno, and by extension, Phil becoming much of a problem for Dream (for now.)

Tommy, on the other hand, has been visited by Dream almost every stream while Tommy is exiled; Tommy has been manipulated by him, gaslighted and threatened. Despite making the very real threat of giving Tommy his final death, Dream has stopped Tommy from any, um, self-harming actions. Dream told him "I need you alive." Narratively, that means that Dream has plans for Tommy (they are, after all, each other's main antagonist). But Dream has also said that Tommy will remain on exile for a long time and he told Bad and Sam as they were building the prison that he doesn't intend on using the prison on Tommy (unless he begins to act up was implied.)

Because Bad and Sam (and Eret) are working with Dream, I would assume imprisoning anyone from the Badlands is out of the question. But I think it's interesting how Sam is the primary leader of the building project.

Dream said that Sam is the only one who will totally know the ins and outs of the prison. So that possibly means Sam is the only one who would know how to escape the inescapable prison. The interesting thing about Sam being included in this storyline is his connections. He and Tubbo are very close, and Sam is also friends with Tommy. Its not long of a stretch to assume that Sam's storyline might eventually lead to HIM breaking out whoever Dream imprisons. Tommy, for now, is out of the equation, so who does that leave?

Tubbo. Someone who many people are now considering Dream's puppet. Dream has been laying on the manipulation lately, playing chess with him, complimenting him and trying to increase the wedge between Tubbo and Tommy. You would think Tubbo is safe, so long as he remains pacifistic and continues to make decisions that are to Dream's benefit. But there are things going beyond the scenes that we, the audience, need to consider. The script.

Symbolism and chekov's guns have been sprinkled into the story line for a long time, and it feels as though the roleplayers have upped the ante. It's hard to think about Ghostbur' compasses without crying, but I literally can't stop thinking about what they mean. When it comes to the duo, despite their estrangement, Tommy still considers Tubbo one of the most important things in his life. He placed the "Your Tubbo" compass right beside his discs in his enderchest. Meanwhile, Tubbo held his "Your Tommy" compass in his offhand nearly all stream today. They still care for each other, obviously, but think about one of the reasons Tubbo exiled Tommy in the first place.

He felt like Tommy was choosing the discs over everything else. He felt as though the discs were the only thing Tommy cared about. There has to be a resolution to this. It's been shown by the story that the discs and Tommy's other obligations (L'manberg, his friendships) cannot coexist together for long without it driving a wedge between them.

Tubbo has been streaming more Among Us lobbies and modded Minecraft lately. When he comes onto the server, he nearly has nothing to do. He loves big project and building houses, but as of now, Tubbo has so little materials to even bother making a home and his largest project, the ocean monument, has been placed on the backburner while Sam builds the prison. Its almost....its almost like Tubbo is preparing his audience and for a period of time where he has no reason to be on the SMP. If he's imprisoned, that's not very good content to watch, is it? I also noticed that Dream pointedly did NOT tell Tubbo about the prison today, instead referred to it merely as a 'project.'

My biggest theory is that the prison is for Tubbo. Tubbo is complacent to Dream now, sure, but Tubbo is very, very smart, and- most importantly to Dream - he still has one of Tommy's discs. And Dream wants it.

When talking sweet to Tubbo no longer works, I think the prison will be the next best option. Its possible Dream will frame Tubbo for some crime (foreshadowed by how Quackity and George tried to frame Eret for Karl's murder), or someone will threaten to overthrow Tubbo and Dream will bring him to a 'secure location' to protect him. Tubbo is very nervous about losing his one life, as exhibited by the safe room under the L'mamberg podium, and other comments about his fear of becoming the next Ghostbur. Dream said that he would protect Tubbo if someone tried to overthrow him. The only threats to Tubbo's current presidency is El Rapids. Ranboo is willing to wait until the next election to become president, but Quackity has shown a strong willingness to do terrible things in order to get power. In Quackity's war against Eret and Dream, Dream made many, many references to Tubbo being a better leader, possibly sowing jealousy in Quackity's mind. Sapnap, George and Karl, as apart of El Rapids also have a bone to pick with L'manberg and may also play a part in further separating Quackity from L'manberg and fueling his desire to be the most powerful nation on the server. Absorbing New L'manberg could be the next step.

Dream could pretend to protect Tubbo by bringing him to a 'safe location', the prison, and getting Tubbo to willingly set his spawn inside. Once it comes to light that it's a prison, with Dream his captor, Tubbo will have to make a decision. Give Dream the disc in his enderchest, or stay imprisoned. Freedom, or the disc, a compromise that has been made time and time again on this server.

I think that Tubbo will hold out and allow himself to be imprisoned, while Tommy returns from exile to make a prison break, with the help of Sam. I doubt that will end well, knowing Dream.

I also think at some point, one of the boys will need to bend. Either Tubbo choses to give up his disc to Dream for freedom, or he decides to take the disc with him to his grave. Its basically the Exile decision all over again. Life/freedom, or the discs/war. Selfishness vs. selflessness.

The two boys are learning throughout this current arc to be more like the other. Throughout his Exile, Tommy will learn to be self sufficient and has had to make big sacrifices consistently as Dream blows up the progress he's made. He's learning to chose his own life over property. Meanwhile, Tubbo (although he's only streamed on the SMP once so far this week) has already shown regret for exiling Tommy, and inherently by choosing to launch a war campaign against Techno, he is learning to chose war and bravery over peace and cowardice. He will gain an appreciation for the disks and/or recognize with greater understanding what they mean to Tommy. Maybe he will learn to care deeply for his compass and learns how willing he is to wage war if the compass gets stolen. It's about the symbolism - its what the object means that is worth protecting.

I think Tubbo will die protecting the discs. Or, Tommy will tell Tubbo to give it up. This is a better ending, in which Tommy will learn that the discs represent is his friendships. And, according to Ranboo, they also represent power, according to Ranboo. But on the server, according to Wilbur (when he asks Tubbo to spy for him) people have always represented power.

To Tommy, in this arc, I hope he will learn that keeping the discs is not worth losing his best friend.

[darlington-v]

I know different interpretations of a work are generally enriching and cool... but c!dream villan interpretations is like how to tell me you only watch Tommy without saying you only watch tommy.... which would be fine but its not a great place to be making statements about the whole nature of the dsmp lol

Wild speculation, but sometimes I wonder if like, because the dsmp didn't really start as a narrative, and a lot of fans don't nessecarily enter it expecting a narrative, but then there is one and the fandom is really discourse heavy and everyone is sort of excpeted to have an opinion while maybe not expecting to form one from the begining or not having a ton of experience with narrative in a way that would "expect" them to have an opinion or not take things at face value??, I don't know if I explained that well at all... and I don't really even think thats right nessecarily... but like wow sometimes some of the takes about power and government and villany...

Honestly, it makes sense!!!

I think something interesting is like.... looking at how animatics have shaped the like tone and culture of the fandom essentially. Like, an interesting fact that I didn't really fully grasp until SUPER recently is like...

c!Wilbur out the gate admits he is manipulating c!Tommy. Like his first youtube video on the Dream SMP he admits his goal is to manipulate c!Tommy and people like c!Tommy into helping him achieve a potion ("drug") empire to monopolize on potions because there were a lot of people on the server who like to min-max, which is to put all of your effort into this one specific skill essentially. so like... i know minecraft doesnt have a skill tree but if it did, it would be putting all your points into that one specific branch of a skill tree. So he wanted to exploit the labor of all the TommyInnits to.... maintain a Potion Empire.

THIS IS A LONG POST BC I GOT CARRIED AWAY SO BUCKLE UP

And I don't think a lot of the fandom who joined later on knows this. I certainly didn't until like a week or so ago? Like... I knew c!Wilbur had been manipulative from the start because I'm a mod of (shameless self promo incoming) @dsmpanalysis and we have a lot of different POVs in that mod team and discord and we talk about it really frequently. I joined the fandom as someone who was really big on L'manburg ESPECIALLY crimeboys, and have turned into.... *gestures vaguely to my blog*

And ngl I owe a lot of it to @1-michibiki-1 in terms of c!Dream "Apologism" but all of the mods there have expanded my thoughts and views on the storylines of this narrative.

My application consisted of like largely essays about like... how I think Dream was the villain but he was meant to be the villain because you don't get any insight into his character WHICH.... IS A FAIR ASSUMPTION AT FIRST GLANCE. People are easily villainized when you cannot get a glimpse into their thought process. It's easy to dwindle someone down into this flat character and starting out I knew Dream didn't stream the SMP on purpose.

And I personally came to the conclusion of "Oh! So Dream is supposed to be the villain." However as the story continued and I learned more about what Dream went through I began to realize that... it's more than likely a form of a red herring. My opinions on this were immediately solidified when I watched Ranboo's 2 MIL stream because both Ranboo AND Dream agree on enjoying red herrings.

There have been MANY times were Dream has said that c!Dream is a complex character and he's not a wholly evil guy and there have been times where the narrative has honestly just proved that.

Anyways, what's important though was that... I learned most of this from other people who were more focused on c!Dream rather than myself. Eventually I shifted from c!Tommy to c!Ranboo and c!Techno after c!Tommy betrayed c!Techno and I began to realize.... everything I learned before hopping in wasn't exactly what it seemed.

Part of this is because I'm older, I heavily identify with c!Techno's sense of loyalty and philosophies on government, but I especially identify with the anguish c!Techno voiced in... a lot of lore but especially the lore around Doomsday.

I'm not 16 anymore. I don't always feel wronged by adults, or older people in my case, whenever they absolutely have done something wrong by me, but I do feel wronged by my close friends. I also felt like c!Tommy's sense of loyalty didn't line up with mine after what felt like him constantly flip-flopping and refusing to understand c!Techno's morals on government didn't line up with his.

In short, it was easier to identify with Tommy in these animatics versus in the actual stream content because c!Tommy is played by a 16 year old. I'm not a teenager and my line of thinking doesn't entirely line up with people that age anymore. It's harder to place myself in the same shoes of someone's OC who is played closer to their actual age, because I'm not that age.

Regardless, I was still on the c!Dream is a villain train. I wasn't ever like... c!Dream is repulsive I hate him, but I was like omg hot villain lad go brrr.

Even when the first like... mellohi, panic room, Ranboo lore stream popped up I thought "Oh! c!Ranboo corruption arc?"

And I was excited because I really wanted this shy, nervous character to turn into villain buddies with his good pal c!Dream. I'm a total sucker for villains and corruption arcs and all that good shit.

SO I STARTED GETTING REALLY INTERESTED IN ENDERSMILE. I'VE BEEN ON ENDERSMILE SQUAD OUT THE GATE. NOT THE SAME WAY I AM NOW, BUT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED THEM TO TEAM UP.

So... upon not really keeping up with c!Dream and being relatively??? indifferent? I don't think I started arguments on c!Dream back then, but I might have. But I remember like... starting to participate more whenever c!Dream came up and looking more into Dream's character BUT ESPECIALLY TALKING WITH OUR SERVER'S C!DREAM SPECIALIST MICHI ABOUT DREAM A LOT MORE.

And because Michi has been a watcher since day one and was a DTeam fan rather than a SBI fan, she was able to provide me with more information on how the server worked pre-Tommy but especially pre-Wilbur.

Now, you could definitely argue well Michi probably has clear bias but it made sense to me when I looked back on how the storyline had been constructed and was going along, and everyone in the server talks a lot about our own biases and how we want people to maybe not lean so hard on them. Michi would also provide like anecdotes on what had happened and I'm sure links were probably provided at one point but the point was I felt like Michi had no reason to lie or manipulate how the story was told and if she did, eventually someone would have pointed it out because... Group of like... right now it's around 20 or more analysts but I don't remember how many at the time there were. POINT BEING, WE'VE ALL GOT POINTS TO PROVE AND IN MY EXPERIENCE NOT MANY OF US HAVE BEEN SHY TO PROVE THEM.

So if anyone ever had any differing opinions they would be talked about and we literally had and still have discussions.

REGARDLESS.... I DIDN'T FACT CHECK IN DEPTH BECAUSE I THOUGHT PEER REVIEW WAS ENOUGH WHEN YOU HAVE LIKE HOURS UPON HOURS OF STREAMS TO WATCH.

Anyways. Eventually I started paying closer attention and looking more into c!Dream lore but only recently have I started to triple check before speaking about c!Wilbur lore because I know everyone has biases and while I did trust everyone's thoughts and analysis in the discord, whenever I make essays I typically like it to be largely air tight and if theres a mistake, I want it to be because I forgot not because I just trusted what was said. Plus, I wanted to get down to the specifics of how Wilbur had always started with manipulation on the mind.

SO I WATCHED HIS FIRST VIDEO ON THE DREAM SMP.

AND WHAT I WAS NOT BY ANY MEANS EXPECTING WAS WILBUR TO SAY WORD FOR WORD, VERBATIM,

"SO WHY DON'T I START AN INDUSTRY WHERE I USE THE TOMMYINNITS OF THE WORLD TO WORK FOR ME, TO CREATE THINGS THAT THE MIN-MAXERS OF THE WORLD WILL WANT."

Like... this is in no way an attempt to like hardcore villainize c!Wilbur like everyone does Dream, it's just more so to like REALLY outline how far off a lot of fandom interpretation of c!Wilbur is....

Because of SBI focused animatics.

Now, when I joined I watched A LOT of animatics that really highlighted like... Wilbur being this self-loathing JD-esque, "I destroyed it because I had to because the world was against me because no one loved us, Tommy" type of character. At least... that's what it came across as.

And it definitely highlighted the fact that Tommy was a victim, which he is. He is undoubtedly a victim and no not even any dream apologist can change my mind otherwise. Tommy, despite being an instigator sometimes, didn't deserve the abuse he received.

But these animatics never shown the fact that c!Wilbur started L'manburg as a shady ploy to exploit people like c!Tommy and vilify c!Dream so he could have power.

And that was easy because Dream and Tommy had wars before. They had spars and pranks and here's the plan to take back my disks and here's the plan to out smart the thieving little child etc etc.

And all of the animatics I watched never mentioned this. Neither did the recaps though. The recaps gave the events flat out, there didn't sound like there was bias, and honestly I don't really know if there was rather than like... a lack of nuance. And it's hard to provide a recap with that much nuance in a short period of time for a youtube video, to be perfectly fair.

However, this creates a perfect formula for entirely rewriting the history of a server. c!Wilbur quite literally fucking succeeded TO A META LEVEL. He slandered and ran smear campaigns against Dream and like he even does that with Sapnap in the beginning. But what's crazy is that it transferred over into the meta! Most of this fandom understands Wilbur as a victim of mental illness, and yeah maybe? He definitely wasn't mentally well by the end of pogtopia, but he never started out with honorable intentions. L'manburg was never a victim, only its citizens. The TommyInnits of the world.

I just think it's like... such an interesting case study. Because this is like... an opinion like shared by at least half of the fandom, but the vilifying of c!Dream is shared by MOST of the fandom I would argue. Which is like even more crazy for me because that was c!Wilbur's goal!!!

LIKE I GO INSANE WHEN I THINK OF THIS BECAUSE HIS REACH IS JUST TOO POWERFUL. HE'S NOT EVEN ENTIRELY REAL, JUST A MANIPULATIVE PERSONA OF SOME BRITISH GUY.

And I mean... maybe people who have watched Wilbur's video on the SMP still maintain this idea that Wilbur wasn't always the bad guy, but honestly... I wouldn't be surprised if their introduction was still an animatic. Like bias is hard to check and I'm not going to lie I could have sworn I watched both Wilbur's AND Tommy's video on the SMP in the beginning and yet I STILL was a ride or die for tragic yet on some level still honorable Wilbur and a resilient Tommy.

Like... upon watching Wilbur's first video... possibly again I was surprised because I thought I did watch it like right before I even started watching the streams and yet I was still so invested in c!Wilbur as this tortured anti-hero.

It took 6 months of... not being in an echo chamber, full of multiple different people of different ages, different stream POVS, and people who joined the fandom at different points in time.

IDK IF THIS WAS EVEN ENTIRELY RELEVANT IT JUST FELT TANGENTIALLY RELEVANT AND THIS WAS SOMETHING I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT FOR A HOT MINUTE AFTER LIKE WATCHING WILBUR'S FIRST VIDEO AGAIN.

TLDR;

SBI CENTRIC ANIMATICS HAD A LASTING AFFECT ON THIS FANDOM AS IT'S HARD TO GO BACK AND ACTUALLY CHECK THE NARRATIVE FOR SOLID FACTS FOR YOUR OWN INTERPRETATION BASED ON THE FACT THAT THIS NARRATIVE SPANS OVER HUNDREDS OF HOURS WORTH OF TWITCH STREAMS.

[radioactive-mouse]

/rp

ok yknow what my opinions on a lot of characters have shifted since doomsday but i stand my goddamn ground as a tommy apologist. tommy as been put through so much, and throughout all of it he’s been told that it’s his fault. this happens to a lesser extent during season one because tommy is considered a hero by most of the server. tommy is put on this pedestal where he’s constantly expected to be selfless and brave and passionate and a good leader. it’s tommy’s job to lead the revolution, even if he’s still a child. and in the end, as he sees it, he fails. even if they won the war. even if he couldn’t have known wilbur would still burn it all down. tommy still thinks that he failed these people. and this is just the start of tommy blaming himself for things that are not his fault. and i think, even if he mocks it, tommy genuinely took some of techno’s speech to heart. good things don’t happen to heroes.

so by the start of season 2, tommy is done being a hero. tommy wants to heal. tommy wants back the things that are precious to him. and then the second he stops being the hero everyone expects him to be, people start turning on him. the second he steps out of line, dream takes his chance to isolate tommy. tommy is immediately villainized for an accident, (something most other people on the server have done to a far worse extent on purpose) and then exiled from his home by his best friend. tommy is passed immediately into dream’s hands, who drills it into his head that if he could just behave then this server would be peaceful. l’manburg is so much calmer without tommy around, anyway. it makes sense why they got rid of him. dream wanted to break tommy just because it’s fun. because he can. he only had to get tommy out of l’manburg, and that could have been the end of it, but it wasn’t. and the horrible thing is that nobody helped him. the only person to visit him and genuinely try to dismantle dream’s manipulation was ranboo. bbh saw him a few times, saw the state he was in, but (as much as i love him) his gifts were always attempts to make things seem better on a surface level rather than actually getting tommy out of an abusive situation. and it’s not just bad. lazarbeam saw him in that state. quackity saw him in that state. fundy saw him in that state. niki saw him in that state. and none of them thought for a moment that maybe their distrust of tommy was misplaced, maybe this child is being hurt and needs help. and when tommy finally gathers the strength to leave, the first person to find him his techno.

while i love techno and i think he legitimately grew to care for tommy, he also... doesnt handle the situation with much grace. techno offers tommy shelter (something tommy desperately needs. after all, he’s being hunted.) only if tommy helps him destroy l’manburg. and tommy doesn’t want to do that, understandably, but he doesn’t have much of a choice, does he? so tommy goes along with techno’s plan, convinces himself that it’s fine, he can do this, he won’t like it but he can, until he eventually reaches his boiling point. until tommys forced to face the damage he’s caused head on and is horrified with himself for doing this. when tommy says he’d rather be with tubbo, there’s no guarantee that tubbo would accept him. tubbo could’ve passed tommy right back into dream’s hands and tommy wouldn’t have stood a chance. but that was a risk he was willing to take, because maybe everyone would have been better off without him destroying everything, right?

tommy is terrified of being a villain. he doesn’t want to be the next wilbur, he doesn’t want to be like technoblade, he wants to help people and feels horrible for the amount of chaos he always seems to leave in his wake. but that’s what tommy thinks he is, and that’s what most of the server seems to think too. so when tommy’s forced to lead the charge for doomsday, he can’t be a hero anymore. he doesn’t remember how. and these people don’t trust him in the slightest, they see tommy as the cause of all their problems as opposed to a scared, traumatized child who’s been blamed for too much that isn’t his fault. tommy can’t lead an army that doesn’t trust him, and doesn’t have the fire to conjure the same passion he could during the pogtopia revolution. they all split off into their own groups, their own sides, and tommy can’t hold them together anymore. and when doomsday rolls around, even if they never stood a chance, tommy still sees l’manburg’s destruction as his failure. and so does everyone else.

i know we’re all a bit sick of the discs being mentioned. but i think really the reason why tommy’s so fixated on them, is because they make his suffering mean something. tommy’s trying to convince himself that it’s always been for the discs. always. and once he gets them back, then no one has to get hurt anymore. tommy can’t face the reality that it’s never been about this discs, dream’s never hurt him because of his discs. dream has toyed with him and killed him and manipulated him and driven him to every possible edge but never let him jump just because it was fun. because he was bored. because tommy’s the most interesting part of his game. the second the discs are out of play, dream will find some other way to control tommy. dream won’t just... stop. and that’s what’s so horrible about this. tommy’s always been suffering for the sake of dream watching him suffer. and unless the people around him acknowledge that and do something about it, that’s exactly how tommy is going to stay.

[enders-and-eyes]

okay so in the lore, george has his first encounter with lore man around 24 to 48 hours before the election. lore man begins to scuffle with him, but george wasn’t fighting back. suddenly, ranboo appears and basically says that it’s not a fair fight if george doesn’t also scuffle. here’s the thing, they continuously refer to him as ranboo, never giving him another name. while wilbur is playing lore man, ranboo is just his own character. that means that george and ranboo canonically met months before dream allowed ranboo into the smp. this presents an incredible fic opportunity set in the exile arc where ranboo sees how badly tommy and tubbo are both doing (and notices how dream is manipulating all of them) and teams up with george to take dream down and save the server.

but wait, let’s make this even better:

-george doesnt wanna do shit until ranboo eventually Makes Him and they decide to assemble a team in order to defeat dream behind the scenes.

-they recruit jack manifold (because he’s good at stealthy plans), sam (because hes been building the prison and doesn’t like what dream’s been up to), callahan (because they can), and— for some reason— hbomb

-originally they were going to recruit niki, but she wasn’t at her base and hbomb was, so they’re kinda stuck with him now

-whenever they’re making plans, jack will pull out a jukebox and start playing villainous music. he also sometimes goes on long monologues and nobody on the team can get him to stop

-hbomb is constantly in the maid dress and asking george how he can help with the plans while calling him “master.” several times, george has fully left a planning session because he didn’t want to deal with it

-hbomb is always their distraction when they’re trying to sneak into somewhere. when the person he’s distracting gets suspicious, he jUST GETS EVEN LOUDER

-whenever hbomb has to do a distraction that includes any type of suggestive themes, he yells at ranboo to look away or makes one of the other team members cover ranboo’s eyes (because ranboo doesn’t have eyelids)

-hbomb and sam both have very big, nice homes and so they get into Passive Aggressive Fights about who’s house is nicer like they’re suburban moms

-jack is the only person on the team who isn’t afraid to go off on someone and so he’s just constantly begging the team to Please Have A Backbone For Ten Seconds So We Can Help Tommy And Tubbo

-callahan has come close to killing everyone on the team several times because he’s fucking tired of their bullshit. half of the team can’t understand sign language, but he’s always furiously signing at them that he hopes they choke

-george has Actual Human Feelings about tommy’s exile and everyone tries to help him but they’re all very bad at emotions. at one point, ranboo just quietly suggests he go see puffy for therapy

-tubbo is very concerned because ranboo and jack are sneaking around a lot. when he asks them what they’re up to, jack says he’s building a hotel and ranboo says he’s building a rival hotel and now they have actually build hotels or else tubbo is gonna see through the lies.

-they find dream’s house and end up scouring it to figure out clues of what his plans are, but george ends up having a very quiet moment where he reflects on who his friend has become while everyone else fucks around and laughs at dream’s decor

-there is not a single moment where the team is able to be serious because one of them is Always On Their Bullshit, even when they’re in the middle of schemes.

if i ever get the motivation, i swear i’ll write this fic lol

[appleflavoredkitkats]

Does Fundy use the dreams to benefit the casino?

GOOD QUESTION!!! I’VE NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I’M GONNA MAKE THIS LESS ANGSTY BC I HAVE A FUN IDEA IN MIND

tw: gambling, manipulation (?) of customers, drinking, dissociation

/dsmp rp

after fundy does accept quackity and schlatt more into his life, he eventually does tell quackity about his nightmares on one of his off days.

instead of comforting him outright, quackity jokes that he can make las nevadas thrive more knowing that fundy can easily predict the future. fundy doesn’t dismiss the joke, actually playing off of it, but after a few rounds of mindless joking, they kind of realized that they CAN actually profit off of it

it is kind of become fundy’s coping mechanism for his nightmares because he used to view them has awful and scary, but after much help from quackity, fundy actually does begin actively looking for the benefits of his dream

fundy has a very acute memory so whenever he dreams of something, he writes them down immediately and discusses them with quackity and schlatt (who actually listens to him!)

while fundy never expresses it outright, he does feel safe telling quackity and schlatt about his dreams because they never dismiss him!! they always try their best to rationalize what fundy sees to not only predict the future of las nevadas, but so that they can also make fundy feel safer and less scared of his nightmares?

these are the following things they were able to do because of fundy’s dreams: 1.) they found out about purpled and punz’s money smuggling scheme because apparently, they were able to trick a drunk sam into telling them vault secrets about the place 2.) slot machine predictions. quackity does manipulate his customers because. well, money, and fundy feeds into that by giving some of the customers the worst slot machines with the worst reels. 3.) fundy also uses it for good tho!! during hold’em games, he can see everyone’s hands, so when he knows if a person is gonna lose, he does give subtle hints like facial expressions and comments just to warn the person to not bet at all. 4.) it helps him predict whenever wilbur and dream plan to visit the place because, while they aren’t always violent, they’re kind of las nevadas’ competitors as they’re both power-holders of the server

and i think the most important of fundy’s predictions is that sometimes, when schlatt dissociates and drifts off, fundy and quackity can easily find him.

even if fundy views his dreams as scary sometimes, he can at least guarantee the safety of those he cares about, and that’s enough for him.

[dreamsmp-au-ideas]

Okay, so, I’m an absolute fool for the Immune AU. Something which has only been strengthened by more recent streams with Sam really becoming Tubbo and Tommy’s tired Dad as well as Tommy at the very least having what looks like a true immunity (jury is out on Tubbo). When I have the time I fully intend to write an Immune AU fic! I just have a couple additions I want to make.

I think Karl and Foolish should absolutely be Immune as well. In fact, to me it feels like they should have been the ones to build the portal but they had to stay behind to make sure the others got to the other side safely. This adds in a lot of interesting angst potential since the characters of Sapnap and Karl are technically canonically engaged. I strongly dislike shipping when the people playing characters share so many similarities with the characters themselves, but I think in honor of it technically being canon there’s room to forgive if people want that kind of angst. Otherwise it can just be regular angst over having had to leave Karl and Foolish behind. Maybe just making Karl, Quackity, and Sapnap a really close platonic trio instead for the people who still don’t really want to involve any hint of shipping, canonical to the story or not.

Another idea I’d like to purpose is the idea of partial, full, and pseudo immunity. Full immunity is found in the people like Tommy or Sam who outright are ambivalent or hateful towards the egg. Even locking them into the room with the egg for hours on end wouldn’t change their opinion (just significantly piss them off in the case of Tommy). Partially immune people are the ones like Puffy or Skeppy who find the strength to resist it but will slowly wane over time if they’re exposed to it too much. We can even add Punz to the partial immunity list and add in hints of the overprotective mercenary big brother au, possibly being more loyal to Tommy than the egg but ultimately loosing his life to protect the group. Finally we have the pseudo immunes like Eret and in my own opinion Tubbo. Either they’re so loyal to someone that they can refute the egg or they have a special blood line that gives them some protection, but their ability to rise above the egg’s manipulation is more so through sheer force of will than an actual immunity and even they too eventually start to crumble. Hell, maybe Tubbo stayed loyal to the very end and Punz sacrificed himself to give Tommy and Tubbo an extra week together so that Tommy could come to terms with things.

If you’re looking for SBI hurt/comfort then make Techno pseudo immune because of chat and Phil partially immune. Techno could hold out super long and we get an emotional heart to heart between Tommy and Techno only for Techno’s greatest weapon against the Crimson, Chat, to become his greatest weakness as the Crimson figures out how to make chat be quiet and in turn lulls Techno into its grasp. Phil on the other hand might have partial immunity but after being captured is tricked by the Egg into thinking that it can bring back Wilbur (which it kind of does by capturing Ghostbur and reviving a super messed up Wilbur.) Where as Pogbur was mentally ill, he genuinely loved Tommy. The first time Tommy confronts him in the button room there’s tnt under the room and it’s implied Wilbur doesn’t press the button because he doesn’t want Tommy getting hurt. He got really sick at the end, but he still loved Tommy. While I am all for an evil and abusive Wilbur during the Pogtopia arc within certain aus (cus sometimes Villain Wilbur is fun), canon Wilbur really was just sick and while that doesn’t excuse all of his actions, it speaks to a redemption arc and it isn’t fair to demonize him if a fic wants to go the route of him being sick instead of a villain. Crimbur would be the exact opposite. Only further edged on by a now sick Phil essentially trying to “repair” his family as a twisted way to make amends to his two youngest (something we might even see mirrored in an infected Techno who could perhaps realize how fucked up some of his actions were. Like offering to sell Tommy back to Dream for the favor, bluff or not it wasn’t a chill move y'all.)

I have a couple more interesting ideas/plot points that I would love to share, but, well, since I’m actually planning to turn this into a fic it wouldn’t be any fun if I spoiled everything. If this tumblr’s curator is chill with it I wouldn’t mind dropping a link here when the first chapter goes up.

~Snapdragon & Firefly

[genesisrose74]

okay but imagine this... dream smp but college au. or avatar au. or fantasy au--

OKAY HEAR ME OUT: multiple kingdoms set in a fantasy realm ALFKWLFKS—

Be prepared cause this might be long, but here’s how it would go:

Dianoia: Dream’s kingdom; prides itself on its knowledge of magic paired with elite strategy -> very powerful and controls a handful of other regions in the land, so they’re quite feared by many. Dream always wears his facemask into battles or intense meetings, but will take it off for banquets, balls, etc. just to be more charismatic. Turns often to his trusted comrades Sapnap and George whenever the kingdom must make a diplomatic decision. Punz (military captain), Callahan (head scholar) and Hbomb (main technology whiz) are also well-involved with maintaining the prowess of the kingdom. Purpled is a noble with very good relations to the king’s court, so he gets to kinda do his own thing in return for helping out the empire if he’s asked.

Antarctic Empire: dual rulers Phil and Technoblade, BECAUSE YOU KNOW HOW IT BE -> an absolute fucking unit when it comes to producing the most modern artillery, lots of advancements in transportation, (trident travel, polar bears, etc. - a whole bunch of ice-related modes of movement within the kingdom because it’s very efficient and there’s plenty available - as well as good air tech as a nod to Technoplane and Phil’s expertise with elytras). Techno is being taught by his father how to rule properly, but it’s evident he’s got a good touch when it comes to learning to be a good king. Despite his icy exterior (one that contrasts his father’s usual jovial nature), subjects of the kingdom are very fond of the heir. Phil also has two other sons :3 I wonder...

Maluterra (aka Badlands) -> BBH, Skeppy, Antfrost, and Sam. Bad is ringleader, but each main member plays integral roles in the maintaining of the lands. Very well known for their Robin Hood type strategies. They’re pretty rogue and non-traditional in comparison to other established empires, but because of the strong threat they pose if they were to ally with another kingdom, they are often recognized and invited to take part in diplomatic discussion with the powerhouses. Negotiation is occasionally difficult if BBH has his mind set on something. Most of their territory is in woody forest areas, where the sun only reaches certain parts of the ground floor because of the overarching treeline. While at first intimidating, every member is quite warm-hearted as long as you don’t cross them. The structures and places in which they live are very redstone-technical as a result of Sam’s contributions.

Southern Grove -> Eret’s kingdom, which is a very strong specialist in magic and the understanding of natural properties. Located in an enchanted forest area, a ways off from Maluterra boundaries. In order to learn more about magic and its abilities, Dianoia finds much interest in the smaller region. Eret has made it known that they are not a fan of the attention whenever the larger kingdom gets a bit too...overbearing. Home to some enchanted creatures and mayhaps an infamous red haired dryad named Sally who are often very sweet and helpful if you lose your way in the forest. Niki is also a member and is basically like an adopted sister to Eret, and he brings her along to events all the time as she’s very charismatic. People often regard her as the Lady of the Grove due to her vast knowledge of the place and its people.

L’manburg (duh) -> a fledgling city-state that’s fallen under the eye of Dianoia, established by the younger two sons of the Antarctic Empire, Wilbur and Tommy. Located on the outskirts of the Southern Grove, teetering on the edge of territory dominated by Dianoia. On Tommy’s sixteenth birthday, he was permitted to travel outside of the AE to choose what he wanted to focus on as he neared adulthood, and eventually decided to join up on Wilbur’s own journey. When he reached territory near the Grove, he finds that Wilbur had started a family with one of the dryads some years prior, but for reasons his brother doesn’t discuss he lost his lover and is left with a child. When they officially establish L’manburg as their own “kingdom”, Dianoia makes claim that they’re still part of their empire’s territory and therefore a subject. There are a few power struggles concerning the status of L’manburg.

Aarderidge -> That’s right bitches, Tubbo is a prince who’s been living as an orphaned child after the tragic passing of his father a few years prior. Since he is 16 and not of due age to currently take the throne into his hands completely, he’s permitted his father’s former consultants to assist him with leadership until he turns 18. While not the most prosperous kingdom, they are still a respected region because of their strong and friendly bonds with other leaders. They’re quite skilled at archery and horseback, and have very well thought out strategies whenever a rare conflict arises. Unlike a large percentage of the population and quite contrasted to what he’s known of his family’s heritage, Tubbo has magic abilities that allows him to manipulate plants and other organisms - which not many are aware of - and this additionally helps him form connections with animals. May or may not have some healing abilities he’s attempting to harness as well, but only very close comrades know about that. He’s incredibly intelligent despite having a happy-go-lucky aura about him, and it makes him very beloved by the people. Karl is an appointed noble who’s very good friends with Tubbo and who often visits the boy.

End Kingdom -> Not too much is actually known about this place, except for the fact that their people were mostly decimated in a disaster situation some time prior. There’s a living tale that a dragon used to protect the land, but its unclear if that rumor is true. Currently unkown how to access the old kingdom that is now in ruins. There’s a figure that lives amidst the inhabitants of the Southern Grove, who the region’s leaders secretly care for, with unassuming eyes that are never seen outside when it rains. Wonder what that’s about.

I’ve been thinking about this AU for a FAT MINUTE (and maybe been daydreaming myself as a daughter of the Antarctic Empire king dskjfdsk) and it’s only gotten more intricate every time I consider it. I kinda love it ngl, so I mean if anyone wants to like...talk about it with me...i mean 👉👈 Also, if anyone knows where the FUCK to put Quackity in all of this, I’d really like to hear it because I’m a bit stumped.

[horrorisunknowntoyou]

I know you pretty much just posted ‘The blade Lives On’ But whenever you have the time could you do a pt. 2 with y/n and dreams son just breaking into prison to see dream or whatever chaotic shenanigans those two might end up doing, possibly technos reaction to y/n hanging out with dreams son or just general HC’s. All platonic of course. Feel free to ignore this request or take as much time as you need on it, no rush. I just found your fics recently and I love them so keep up the great work!!

Omg thank you so much 🙏 it means so much to know that , that’s the nicest thing someone has said to me. It’ll my pleasure to write this for you. ] 

The Blade and Trickster 

 Breaking into the prison wasn’t as bad but it was very timing consuming as they studied the blue prints and find a entrance through there. Spirit ( his nickname) had to squeeze though and basically climbed through the vents and kicked the vent opening. To the surprised of dream who jumped up , spirit perked out “ hey dad, I’m here to break you out cause mom told me to and he’s very angry at you cause you got imprison on date night. “ Y/n was in the background laughing at the explanation but the funny thing is it’s true. 

Dream just stood there and snicker “ that sounds like your mother , well break me out then. “ Spirit lends a hand out and help him up as they climb out the vents and enter pearl the rest out. Y/n took out her sword and broke the hand cups off dream . “ we better hurry before anyone noticed you gone mostly Sam, and the new “world leaders” in the smp.” 

Dream looked at y/n and perked up “ Now , now what’s your reason for helping me for? Did your brother sent you? “ Y/n glance up and then looked forward “ No, I did it under my occurred and second you owe me a favor. Also spirit is my friend so there’s that too. “ Dream hummed in response as he followed behind walking to his secret house/hideout which took forever but he memorized the path like the back of his hand. There stood George fidgeting to see if there coming back yet and sees them dock up in the boats , he smiles and runs over to dream tackling into a tight hug almost knocking him over. “ Woah , Woah George! It’s okay , I’m okay “ he hugs him back and smiles walking back inside the obsidian fortress. 

Both spirit and y/n got very nicely rewarded for there part mostly spirit as he has no chores for 3 months , and such. 

Head-cannons

1. You and spirit are pranksters and play pranks on the others mostly the world leaders. There people who take control certain lands like there eret , bad , ranboo , Tommy , tubbo , dream? , Wilbur when he got revived. And such and they hate it especially Tommy. 

2. Dream is weirdly genuinely nice to you and spirit like no manipulation or anything , I mean you make his son happy and such and protect George when he ask so your okay in his book. 

3. You and Tommy and tubbo don’t have a good relationship with each other and there obvious tension as you grew up under different life styles. So you would always butt heads with each other along side spirit. 

4. Spirit was your partner in crime and you both made an agreement and such on what to and not do. For no betrayals and such , because each other’s know there caregiver ( techno , dream ) will bring hell against each other if they found out. 

5. You two would buy out Nikkis bake good and go to the top of a hill and eat them like there no tomorrow and have stomachs aches. 

6. Dadza and techno eventually met spirit but it was awkward and both of you wanted to leave but eventually it was pretty chill and mutual with each other. 

7. You actually sleep over George’s house with spirit and such , George is pretty sweet with you and would show you to sapnap and such. You’ll Get to train and up you skills and just hangout. 

8. You both like going on adventures , you once spent a whole day Looking for a woodland mansion to steal stuff etc. 

Techno’s reaction 

Techno wasn’t too suprised and was pretty okay with it, at most he was hesitant over it and wants you to be okay as your his little sister after all. But once you explained it all he was perfect fine. 

“y/n if dream ever makes you uncomfortable or tries anything , I will personally get out of retirement and beat him myself for you. I’m serious , I don’t want him to do anything to you. Alright?” You know , meanwhile dadza look like he almost had a heart  attack hearing that, probably cause old man is tired of him but you reassured you okay and gave him lots of hugs. 

[pparkerpoetry]

Face Reality (Part 6)

Title: The More the Merrier (and a whisper of who he once was)

Summary: Tommy brings home one. Ranboo and Fundy bring another. Sam knows that his kids are going to give him grey hair by the time they all decide to settle down, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

(but the additions bring questions. questions bring up a past. the past is never a good thing.)

WARNING: brings up past suicide attempt

Part 1 Part 7 Masterlist

______

Tommy stood above a large obsidian grid, staring down at the hole that had once been his home. It was all gone, now, and he couldn’t even manage to summon tears. It was too sudden for him. Too new. 

He hated everyone who had done this to him. He hated them all, how each one had abandoned him in their own way. He knew some of them didn’t have a choice, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. 

He hated Technoblade. He tried to, at least. He’d finally gotten back a small form of family, only for a second fuse to be lit. He was accused of stealing gifts, accused of betrayal for fighting for his home, fighting for the last connection to Wilbur, fighting for a place in the world that hated him so much. He hated his brother for making him fight when he should’ve been able to be a kid.

He hated Philza. Not his dad. He had been left alone, so young, with nothing to cling to but the promise of seeing his father again. A promise that was broken. A promise that was only fulfilled years and years later, once Tommy had been raised by war and violence, feelings numbed by loss and pain. Philza hadn’t been the one to raise Tommy, Wilbur was. And Wilbur was taken from him. He hated Phil for giving him the gift of flight, a constant reminder of his family that he would never be able to get rid of, that no one even bothered to find out about.

He hated Dream. He really did. Tommy had been manipulated, and broken down, and tricked, but no one had learned of it. He was alone, and Dream stood by his shoulder to oversee the ruins that he’d torn down. The ruins of what? Tommy’s life? His mind? His wings, messy and missing feathers from the explosions? Tommy hated Dream with a passion, but by then, the anger had gotten so hot that it numbed him. He felt nothing but the pulse of his heart that sometimes he wished wasn’t so loud. Maybe it’d all be easier if it stopped.

But, most of all, he hated himself. He hated that he’d just let it all happen, and he hated that he still breathed the air, however dusty and blood-scented it was. The only thing he felt that was stronger than the hate now was fear. Not for himself. 

Where was Tubbo? Was he okay? He needed to get to Tubbo.

Tommy woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavy. He was alone in his room, meaning that Fundy had probably gone over to Ranboo’s. He almost followed, but his mind was hazy and he needed someone else. He needed someone that wasn’t there, but maybe if he left-

Could he leave?

Of course he could. This wasn’t exile. Dream wasn’t here. Dream was in prison. Dream wouldn’t hurt him anymore. Dream couldn’t. Could he? 

He needed to leave.

Tommy clambered out of bed, feet hitting the cold floor and he paced over to where he kept his boots. His hand ghosted over his coat, but he left it behind. He needed his wings out. The coat would slow him down. He got outside as quietly as possible, hoping that he didn’t wake up anyone. The grass was shining with dew, and it would’ve seemed almost mystical if he’d bothered to notice it.

Instead, he unfurled his wings. They weren’t in the best of shape, as they hadn’t been preened in a while. Had they ever been? He couldn’t spend time thinking about that. He needed to leave. Tommy paused for a moment, relishing in the breeze ruffling through his feathers before he leapt up and caught the wind, flapping his wings to gain height. 

It had been a long time since he’d flown. He usually didn’t, what with Dream’s no-flying policy, but Dream couldn’t stop him now. He didn’t think anything could stop him. He needed to go.

Tommy ignored the large black prison that came into his view, and focused on the suddenly brisk wind that hit his face and made him cold. Maybe he should’ve brought that coat. He let his mind wander until his feet hit the snowy ground, making a slight crunch that shook him from his thoughts. 

Maybe he was imagining it, but he could’ve sworn that he heard yelling as he neared Snowchester. The closer he got, the more a feeling of dread pooling in his stomach. As he got closer, he could hear it.

“Why now, after all this time?” That was Tubbo. Was he okay? Hurry. “I thought we were friends! I thought that everyone was peaceful! Why stop now?”

Another voice spoke up. “Well, Niki left, so I figured that it was over. But then, I thought about it. I acted. I faked everyone out, got an alibi. No one will even think I was here. I want to kill Tommy, but that would be too kind. But what better way to make him suffer worse, than by killing you?”

Tommy didn’t have time to register who it was before his blood ran cold. He broke into a sprint and burst into the cottage, throwing his wings out to protect Tubbo from the sword that was brought down. He didn’t have any weapons, but he needed to save Tubbo.

He felt the blade slice the feathers on his wings, and the soft trickle of blood that followed. 

He opened his eyes and saw Tubbo, cowering, blood on his face and eyes shocked. He knew that whoever was threatening him was still there.

Tommy turned around.

Jack Manifold stood there, sword still loosely held in his hands. 

“You want to kill me?” Tommy rasped, voice rough from the sleep that he’d woken from not that longs ago. “You’re gonna need more than a sword. I’ve tried.” Jack looked horrified, and Tommy managed a broken grin. “That was a while ago, though. Maybe it’d work now, but no matter how many times I killed myself back then, I kept coming back. Some cruel trick that Dream played, probably.” The blood was flowing from his wing heavier now, and the world was tilting. His brain was fuzzy. 

He didn’t remember falling on the ground or when Tubbo moved to look at him, but it happened. Tubbo looked scared. He was saying something that Tommy couldn’t hear. Why was Tubbo sad?

“Don’t be sad.” Tommy mumbled. “Ask Sam to make you hot chocolate. It’s the best. It’ll make you happy.” Why was Tubbo crying?

__________

Sam didn’t expect to be woken up very early, and even if it was, he wasn’t expecting it to be Tubbo calling him. He reached across to the nightstand and grabbed his communicator, accepting the call.

“Hello?”

Tubbo sounded like he was crying. “Sam! Thank God, Sam. Tommy- Tommy’s here and he’s bleeding, Sam help him, please, Sam what do I do? How do I stop it?”

Sam was fully awake now, leaping to put on his shoes. “Put pressure on the wound, Tubbo. You need to breathe, bud. Where are you?” He heard Tubbo take a few deep breaths.

“We’re in Snowchester.”

Though Tubbo couldn’t see it, he nodded, and grabbed his trident. “I’ll be there soon, Tubbo, okay? Breathe. Do you want me to stay on call?”

Tubbo said that he didn’t have to, so Sam ended the call and left the house. He looked up and was grateful to the rain, which would let him travel much faster.

He reached Snowchester and didn’t stop running until he saw Tubbo and Tommy. He thought the wound would be on Tommy’s body, but instead, the blood was all dried on his feathers. Was he even qualified to work with wings?

Sam considered calling Philza, but instead he did some quick research, stuff about blood feathers, or something. He wouldn’t bother Phil. There was no reason to bother Phil. He didn’t particularly trust the winged man, either.

Tubbo was still shaking, so Sam knelt next to him. “Hey, Tubs, I need you to breathe. This isn’t as serious as it looks, okay? It’ll heal. Tommy’s going to be okay.” It would take time, but it would be fine.

Eventually, he got Tubbo to calm down, and he moved to Tommy. He had probably just passed out from exhaustion, because Sam had been noticing he wasn’t getting much sleep. The feathers that had been broken weren’t all bleeding, and the ones that were had slowed. Tubbo had done well in putting pressure on the wounds, so there really wasn’t much he could do, other than get Tommy back home. 

It took some thinking, but then Sam began to move. Using some bandages that he’d brought, he folded Tommy’s wings and bound them into a sort of sling, then gathered Tommy’s long limbs into his arms. He stood up, and went to leave before he noticed Tubbo still trembling in a ball on the ground.

“Hey, Tubbo?” He waited until Tubbo looked up. “Do you want to come with me? I’ve got a spare room that you can stay in as long as you want.” Tubbo didn’t need to know that it was actually for him.

Tubbo stood up shakily, and nodded. “I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

Sam managed to hold Tommy with one hand, and held the other out to Tubbo. Slowly, they made it home, where they belonged.

When they opened the door, Fundy and Ranboo were waiting anxiously. They wanted to ask questions, but they stopped when they saw Tommy, passed out and thrown over Sam’s shoulder. There were more important things to worry about. 

Sam put Tommy back in his bed, and went to tend to Tubbo. He had some cuts that he had been trying to hide, but Sam noticed that type of thing. He had to, with the collection of self-sacrificing people he was housing.

Once Tubbo was all set, Sam let him go to Tubbo’s room. They’d been separated long enough. Sam left and went to where Ranboo and Fundy were waiting, questions barely pushed down.

He answered them as best he could, but soon enough, he was passed out on his bed, ready to sleep for another few hours.

Being a brother- dad? Was exhausting.

_________

Tommy woke up, ears blearily looking around. A head of brown hair was tucked into his side, and as he laid there, the memories came flooding back. He sighed, and went to put a wing around Tubbo before realizing that his wings had been bandaged. He stifled a groan, but it woke Tubbo up anyway.

“Are you okay?” Tubbo asked, and Tommy winced. He hadn’t meant to spill his guts on everything that he had felt back then. He hadn’t meant to open old wounds.

“I’m fine,” Tommy smiled, but he could tell Tubbo didn’t buy it. 

“But do you know it’s okay if you’re not?”

Tommy hugged Tubbo, melting into the hold. They stayed that way for a while, and they didn’t say anything when they felt their shirts getting damp or the way the other’s shoulders shook. They had each other, and they always would. 

They always would. They were one constant in their lives, but had yet to realize that the other constants were waiting in the living room.

A few days later, once Sam had declared that Tommy’s wings had healed enough, Sam removed the bandages. He winced at how awful the feathers looked, though they had been cleansed of any blood. 

“Hey Tommy, is it alright if I try to fix these? They look like they haven’t been organized in ages.”

“Sure, I guess.” Tommy shrugged. 

Tommy didn’t know what he’d been thinking it would feel like. Even if he thought he did know, he would’ve been wrong.

The minute Sam had started laying feathers flat and just touching his wings, Tommy melted. He tried not to, but it just felt so nice…

Sam chuckled. “Do you like this?”

Tommy wanted to yell at him for making fun of him, but all he could do was let out a soft crooning and hope that he was still sitting up. His mind was already half put to sleep, but if he fell asleep the feeling would stop. He needed to stay awake.

He leaned into the touch a little bit too much, he supposed, because Sam called someone over for Tommy to lean on instead. He buried his face into the chest of whoever it was, and- was he purring?  It was more a slight growl, but of contentment, and he gave a little whine when Sam stopped preening his wings. 

He continued purring when the preening started again. Part of his brain thought he was making a fool of himself, but the bird part of his brain overruled it. 

Eventually the actual preening stopped, but he complained so much at the loss of contact that he guessed they started up again, not actually doing anything, just stroking the feathers. Soon, his mind was gone and all he wanted was more of the nice feeling he felt. Was it safety?

When the movement of feathers stopped again, Tommy sleepily turned around. It was a little awkward, considering they were on a couch, but he curled into the side of whoever had been preening him. He didn’t even remember at this point, but he trusted them. 

Sam looked down at the mess of blond hair that was on top of him. Not crushing, but it was unexpected. He couldn’t stop the audible “Aww,” that he let out, because the normally stoic young man had just turned to mush the minute Sam started touching his wings. 

Sam knew that once Tommy woke up again he’d hate how vulnerable he’d been, but a part of him was just happy that it’d happened.

Tommy’s wings moved around Sam, and he could do nothing but grin widely. Maybe taking care of his boys was worth it, despite the fact that he’d go grey within a year. 

Tubbo stood by, laughing, but lifted Tommy’s legs and sat down. Ranboo and Fundy joined later, though there wasn’t a whole lot of room on the couch. Ranboo squeezed in beside Tubbo and Fundy curled up over them, and they all napped in the lazy heat of the afternoon.

Sam almost drifted to sleep, and the thought that he had before he did was that there was one more person that he needed to save. His job wasn’t quite done yet. All in due time, though. 

All in due time.

____________

It was another few days later when Ranboo got out of the house. He took Fundy with him, because they were working past their issues. It was taking time, but they were almost there. 

They went into the forest to chat, just about their feelings in general, and it was a little cooler in the shade anyway.

“I just…” Fundy was saying, “I felt so upset, since everyone had abandoned me. We used to be such good friends and it really hurt when you took off too, only to return and be accepted no problem, when I had to fight tooth and nail to even hang out with them a little.”

Ranboo nodded. “I was really stressed out, since you were so angry and Niki was too, and I thought that I finally had people who cared about me, then I heard them talking about how they wanted to use me to their advantage. I figured if they didn’t love me, no one would, because they were the only ones to ask if I was okay after everything.”

Fundy looked pained. “But I did love you. I do.”

Some poor memory of a smile passed over Ranboo’s face. “You didn’t really show it though, did you?”

It was quiet, then, as they both sat in the grass, reminiscing of times that really weren’t better. 

Fundy spoke again. “Maybe we should focus on the future rather than the past. Move on, work on forgiving rather than arguing whose right or wrong.”

Ranboo went to agree, when the sound of twigs snapping was heard behind them. A young man stumbled into their clearing clutching his side, only to collapse with a grunt. They saw the shock of blond hair and thought it was Tommy, but he was missing the telltale dark wings. Regardless, they rushed over and turned him over. 

“Purpled?”

He only responded with a groan, and Ranboo moved his hand to check on the clear wound that Purpled had been hiding. The hybrid sucked air through his teeth and hissed in sympathy. 

“I haven’t seen Purpled in ages,” Fundy said worriedly. “How long has he been alone?”

Ranboo met the fox’s eyes, but didn’t acknowledge the question. He didn’t want to think about it. “I’m going to pick him up. We need to bring him back home.”

“Is that safe? Can he be moved?”

“We don’t really have a choice, Fundy.”

Purpled was far too light, once Ranboo had lifted him, and they went as fast as they could back to the base. If they had listened a little closer, or focused on something other than the injured boy, maybe they would’ve heard the slight noises of someone else in the woods behind them. Watching. Waiting. Following.

They made it to Sam’s house. Their home. Sam had seen them coming, and he saw something on the treeline behind his boys. He opened the door for them. “Get him inside, I need to deal with something first.” He had said, grabbing his armor and weapons. 

He had locked the door behind them.

Sam walked into the forest a little ways, then stopped. “I know you’re here. You might as well show yourself.” It was silent except for the occasional gentle leaf blowing across the ground. He stayed for a moment longer before leaving. He would investigate later, if he remembered to.

Sam let himself fall into the routine of cleaning and dressing Purpled’s wound, and once he was done, finally breathed for a moment. He had to smile, because he was safe. His boys were safe. All of them. He’d saved them all, and he would let them have the childhood’s that had been unrightfully stolen from them. 

When he left to tell the others that Purpled would be fine, he saw Tubbo asleep on Tommy’s lap, with Tommy laughing at him. Sam grinned and leaned against the door frame. 

“I don’t think you can talk much, Tommy. You were gone the minute I touched your wings.”

Tommy spluttered indignantly. “That’s not true! I am a big man! I don’t need your help!”

“Would you like me to do it again, though?”

Tommy quieted and looked up. “Yes please.”

Fundy and Ranboo, who had wandered into the room, laughed at that, and so with permission from Tommy, all three of them began to groom his wings. Tommy was a purring mess within seconds, and the afternoon was spent waiting for their new addition to the family to wake up.

They all had questions that needed answers, but their family was more important.