#fundy realizes that tommy never hated him for being different—he hated him for reminding him so much of himself

[scvrllet]

The parallel between

Fundy and Wilbur’s “Why did you die?” // “I was very sad” // “Why couldn’t we walk away? Just you and me?”

And a possible Tommy and Phil’s “Why did you leave?” // “I wasn’t happy” // “What did we do? Why weren’t Wilbur and I enough to make you stay?”

i adore both of their characters so much. both c!tommy and c!fundy are just so alike in retrospect of having a loved one they looked up to and saw as a father one day simply leave them and they, just a confused and lonely child, not understanding it all because why wasn’t i enough why couldn’t we have left and start anew together why wasn’t i enough for you breaks my heart everytime

[redorich]

to those who carried on

A fic for @petrichormeraki​ and their Hermit!Tommy AU.

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The hermits know Tommy as a quiet young man who is very sad and contemplative. The more time they spend with him (against his will, but they know he needs the company) the more they learn of the little details. His favorite block is cobblestone, he likes building towers, and apparently his favorite woman is the Queen. They don’t ask why he wears a smiley mask even though he never seems happy. They don’t ask why he hides important things in his ender chest. They don’t ask why he wears a shattered compass on a chain about his neck.

(Once, he died in lava and lost his absolute mind. He was so upset about the compass that he didn’t even mention the stack and a half of diamond ore he had on him. Xisuma ended up manually rolling back the server just so Tommy could have it back.)

As time goes on, the tremors in Tommy's hands grow lesser. His dull blond hair seems a bit brighter, his bruises fade quicker, he doesn’t look quite so skinny-- he spends his time serenely building, resource gathering instead of running and fighting. He has a sense of humor under all that trauma, which the hermits unfortunately find out after another massive-scale prank war thought to be instigated by Grian actually turns out to be Tommy's fault.

Tommy starts swearing more. Doc gets the stink eye from Stress for this, but Doc insists he’s never once sworn around the young man. (That’s an absolute lie, but it wasn’t anything Tommy hadn’t heard before. Tommy thinks Doc is remarkably unoriginal in his cursing. He does take note of the German ones, though.)

Inviting Tommy to PvP minigames can be touchy, they learn. He likes to fight, but he fights like an animal with nothing to lose. Grian once chanted, “It stays in the pit!” and everyone present had to spend the next five minutes wrangling Tommy’s soul back into his body from wherever it’d floated off to.

Tommy likes to glide with his elytra. He claims he’s never had one before, but he flies like such a natural that a few people have their doubts. On a dark desert night, with dark blue eyes watching the night sky, he confides to Cub that it reminds him of the way his dad used to fly. He hates rockets, though. He does not confide to Cub that it reminds him of what his brother did to his best friend. He says enough that Cub can guess, though.

Scar gets fed up with Tommy’s creeper holes and makes Tommy help him fix them. At first, Tommy has no clue why Scar is breaking out things like coarse dirt and birch leaves and making the ground all fancy, but he’s not afraid of a little hard work and Scar makes it fun. He learns a lot about terraforming that day, and awkwardly comes back a few days later asking if Scar needs any more help terraforming. Tommy still hasn’t built a real base, not by Hermitcraft standards, but the small hill he’s built his dirt hut near now has a very beautiful, if amateurish, waterfall. He doesn’t tell Scar about this, but Scar finds out anyway. Tommy wakes up one morning to find that someone has left a shulker box in his house. Instead of iron-gripped paranoia, he just feels wonder that someone would give him a gift-- to the hermits, a single shulker box is nothing. To Tommy, it’s everything.

The shulker box contains coarse dirt, birch leaves, and a silk touch shovel.

Tommy helps Xisuma mine a giant hole in the ground near bedrock, because he realizes that he’s never thanked the admin for getting him his compass back. Well, that and the fact that instamining with a haste two beacon and an efficiency five pickaxe is a novelty. Xisuma lets him keep the cobble, since everyone knows it’s Tommy’s favorite block, but also insists he keep some of the other blocks like andesite and diorite. He pats Tommy on the head and tells him to talk to Bdubs about building a house some time. Tommy nods. He's taken aback by how tall Xisuma is, completely contrasting his mild nature. He reminds Tommy of Wilbur, on one of his good days before... Before. Not Ghostbur, though-- the admin is much too alive.

Tommy waits too long, so eventually Bdubs comes to him. The man is silly and outrageous, playing everything for laughs and unexpectedly tender. Bdubs plays up how beautiful he thinks Tommy’s hideous dirt shack is, then offers to help him build a house that’s better. For Tommy, building a house means settling down, accepting that this is his home now. Bdubs doesn’t know this. Tommy builds cobblestone dicks while Bdubs tries to lecture him about depth and block variation. Nothing gets done and Bdubs feels like he might have failed, but come next week Bdubs is flying over the area and sees the dicks are gone; so is the dirt house. In its place is a spruce-and-cobble cottage nestled near the tiny waterfall. Off to the side, he’s made a cozy doghouse for his fox, Theo. Bdubs doesn’t know how close that fox came to being named Fundy.

He spars with False, and she very pointedly does not mention how his stances are uniquely suited to a piglin. There’s only one renowned fighter who’s a piglin, after all. It's Tommy’s story to tell, if he ever does, why he’s seen enough of the legendary Technoblade’s fights to pick up on his stances, yet he’s not experienced enough to know that they don’t suit him. Instead, False gives him different stances suited more for tall, skinny people like the two of them. She’s got blond hair and blue eyes just like him. (Not that she’d know. She’s never seen his eyes, hidden behind his mask as they are.) Every now and then, he imagines her as an older sister, and the one time he says so, she smiles. When Tommy’s at home, looking at his own distorted reflection in his waterfall (he’s improved it since he built it), he muses that their eyes aren’t the same, their hair colors are subtly off. It’s close enough, he thinks.

Stress dies from fall damage and Tommy goes out of his way to pick up her stuff, because the hermits do these things out of the kindness of their hearts. The thought never even crosses their minds to steal. It crosses his mind. He doesn’t do it. Stealing from Stress would be like stealing from Niki.

He shows up at Cleo’s base unannounced and demands to see the “cool shit”. He is appropriately enthused by the giant armor-stand-bugs. She tries teaching him her armor stand magic, but it doesn’t really sink in. It’s okay, she assures him, most people don’t have the knack for it. He does, however, learn that buttons make excellent decorations. He also learns how to braid hair, bribed by ice cream. He is terrible at it, to the point where Joe has to come by to help the two untangle her hair so Tommy can start again. Watching the two bicker over capitalism and six million armor stands and a whole host of other inside jokes he doesn’t get, he thinks he’s starting to understand what friendship is supposed to be like. Joe and Cleo don’t see him clutching his compass. He and Tubbo weren’t too far off from this, given their circumstances. Maybe...

Maybe Tubbo can be forgiven.

Tommy makes minigames of his own, ones that don’t just kill you and steal your stuff. He builds things that are pretty instead of just functional, brews potions with Stress and only calls them drugs once (again, upsetting her is like upsetting Niki. Best not done), and sets up chicken bombs above people’s bases instead of just lavacasting them. (As Grian saw the hundreds of chickens slowly raining down upon his mansion, he got such a peculiar look on his face that Tommy feared he’d fucked up. The shorter, stronger (much stronger oh god why is he so strong despite being so small) man nearly crushed Tommy’s lungs in a hug, proclaiming how proud he was of Tommy. Tommy was proud of himself for not accidentally murdering Grian out of reflex. Was this what healing was like?)

Yes. It is what healing is like. Tommy knows this because that wound gets ripped open again. Tango shows him how to build the most obnoxious redstone-powered noise machine the two can think of. Tango digs a small pit, and asks Tommy to throw down his axe. Suddenly, Tommy’s in Logstedshire again; it’s not Tango asking, it’s Dream. His hands don’t shake when he tosses his axe into the pit, followed by his sword and his armor. It isn't until he’s placed the TNT down that Tango grabs his wrist and asks him what he’s doing. Tommy’s eyes clear enough that he can see past the blond hair and freckles. Tango isn’t green, he’s red. He's shorter than Dream, and his worried eyes are unhidden. Tommy shudders, then tells Tango everything.

Tango has no pity for Tommy, just understanding and sympathy. He doesn’t push Tommy to talk about it, but when Tommy’s done telling his story, Impulse and Zedaph show up. They all pretend that Tommy’s voice isn’t hoarse, that they all didn’t conveniently happen to look away when Tommy took off his mask just long enough to wipe his eyes. The men bake a cake together, fool around with honey blocks, and don’t talk about it.

Tommy knows very little about redstone, considers himself more of a builder and a fighter than an engineer. Still, Mumbo’s living base is inspiring, and Tommy often hangs around the man’s industrial district just to watch Mumbo work. Mumbo knows that Tommy hasn’t purchased a day pass, but it’s nice having someone around to talk to while he works. It’s not like Tommy is stealing anything. (Tommy totally steals from Mumbo’s industrial district storage system. The man’s farms are so efficient that he doesn’t even notice, so Tommy assumes it’s fine. What Mumbo doesn’t know won’t hurt him.)

Lava still isn’t his favorite thing in the world. He stays far away from it, instead of imagining what it would be like to hurtle towards it. Ren doesn’t really notice this, but he does notice that Tommy doesn’t seem to like his mustafarian base. On a spur-of-the-moment whim, Ren whips up some absurd plotline in which he is a lone weary traveller seeking refuge at Tommy’s base from strange alien overlords. The two have fun together, and the young man cracks more absurd jokes about it than the hermits have ever seen him do. When Ren leaves a week later to return to his own base, Tommy keeps being absurd, if a bit more subdued without someone to play off of. He builds a shrine to the “prime log”, which grows more elaborate each day. Beef and xB pretend to be his acolytes, despite having no clue what a “twitch prime” is.

They can’t see his face, but the smile in his voice is a far cry from the despondency he once wore like a heavy cloak. He is so much more animated and alive, full of motivation. He builds an entire island in three days, and hand-delivers an invitation to each and every hermit for his beach party. Everyone shows up, even those with packed schedules (Iskall) and those with introverted tendencies (Etho). Tommy is nearly moved to tears when they show up in groups of twos and threes, as though he hadn’t expected anyone to come. There aren’t enough chairs for everyone, but there is more than enough cake to go around. Tango brings drinks, Impulse brings meat to barbecue, and Zedaph makes an elaborate jump-powered grill. Keralis brings way too much confetti and several handfuls of cheap, obnoxious party noisemakers. Stress brings Tommy a crown made out of alliums. It shines far less than his brother’s gold crown, and it’ll die in a few days, but he wears it all night and keeps it in his ender chest until it withers away.

He spends five days teaching himself to make flower crowns. Even his best attempt is awful, nowhere near as pretty as the crowns Stress makes, but when he gives it to her, she takes off the one she was wearing and wears his until it falls apart.

He dies fighting a creeper on Grian’s behalf, and doesn’t even panic, because he trusts that however many times he dies, no matter how stupid or ignominious or revolutionary or important, Xisuma will always let him respawn.

He spends a grand total of nine diamonds to buy a single plot of land in the shopping district. He builds a cute little bench facing the sunset, with warmly glowing street lights on either side and a small garden. At the end of the bench he places a jukebox, and buys every single disc that Beef’s music shop sells, including Pigstep. He sits on the bench while Mellohi plays and watches the tiny silhouettes of his friends flying in the evening sky. Tommy looks alone on that bench, even if he seems happy, so sometimes other people stop by to sit with him. Scar declares the bench area a public park, since everyone likes it so much, and refunds Tommy his nine diamonds straight from the throne.

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Reasons to Appreciate the Pet War: A List (aka more shameless Pet War propaganda)

Yeah, I’m not done plugging for this underrated arc. 

A lot more attention has started to be given to the Railway Skirmish recently, but I’d also like to draw attention to the other arc that happened in between the Revolution and the Inauguration that’s also quite under appreciated!

 Especially because Fundy’s become a lot more appreciated for his acting recently (as he damn well SHOULD BE) and Sapnap’s becoming a major player in the current arc with George’s dethroning

I WILL SHOUT AT THE CLOUDS SOME MORE for more people to watch this arc. 

The start of it on Tommy’s end was also included in the “We actually scammed Dream” video, so if you’re trying to catch up on lore for this Disc War arc anyway, I’m just sayin...might as well, right? :)

---

HERE’S THE LIST:

- Backstory for Coconut 2020. Want to know why Fundy hates Sapnap so much? This is why. Also Fundy and Niki worked as a pair in the Pet War as well, setting up their partnership for Coconut

- The first big plotline that Niki was ever involved in, actually!

- Introduction of Tubbo’s Stress Relievers and other iconic moments

- You get to see Angry Niki scaring the hell out of Tommy

- Tommy: “Why are you pretending to be a fucking fish, Tubbo?!” 

   Tubbo: “Bloop.”

- Foreshadowing for the Battle of the Lake (the swapping hands of Mars/Beckerson, the death of Harold, etc.)

- You get to see Villain Fundy

- You also get to see Protagonist Fundy (since Tommy’s usually the protag)

- The spiritual predecessor to the Battle of the Lake Pet War, the Panda Pet War and the Final Pet War

- Tommy and Tubbo Hivemind 

- Tommy, Tubbo and Quackity Hivemind

- Did I mention it ends with an epic duel?? And Fundy built a massive arena?? And Tubbo refereed the duel with dramatic music playing in the background?? 

- Both Fundy and Sapnap have great character development! Two underrated SMP members, two great character arcs!!

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Watch list order :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7nTzE51Ybw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHAQbdiJcco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMHrY-MSn6o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b24SEkrEtwk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P6N61nhzvw (Fundy’s POV)

https://youtu.be/m4Yk_rssERQ?t=4 (Tubbo’s POV)

Quick analysis section ‘cause I can’t resist below (skip to avoid spoilers!) with a quick summary as well, if you don’t have time to watch the whole thing

Niki forgave Sapnap quickly for his crime, but Fundy refused to let his rage die down and had Sapnap’s pet, a fox like himself no less, killed by Niki (as he couldn’t kill his own kind - yeah, you thought Ranboo was the one with species lore? Fundy has some too! It’s great :D) and Sapnap retaliated.

Fundy played a cruel pet-killing game with Punz, throwing a bee into fire, that shows that he and Sapnap perhaps aren’t as different as one might think. Fundy thought the just thing to do would be to fight fire with fire at first, but the more pets that get killed, the more retaliations that happen, the grave-destroying, the more you start to realize that the cycle of revenge is never-ending.

So in the end, Fundy and Sapnap decided to end it fairly in a duel. Sapnap won and started to turn Fundy’s game back around on him, but ended up not doing so to stop stoking the metaphorical flames for good while also extinguishing the literal flames of their choose-a-pet games.

Symbolism, everyone!

All the fire symbolism and the expressions they use “stoke the fire,” “fight fire with fire,” etc. also tie in very nicely with Sapnap’s brand of being an arsonist who loves fire, as well as Fundy who canonically gets reborn in flames like a phoenix. They’re both flames put against each other in battle. They’re fires fighting other fires guys this just makes so much SENSE

Plus there’s a nice callback Niki made during the Season One Finale about Mushroom reminding her of Fungi.

She still remembers :’)

[grimm-goblins-blogins]

DSMP Headcanon

Puffy constantly has glitter in her hair and no one knows how it got there not even her.

Puffy brings chocolate milk for Tommy when ever they meet up.

Puffy has tattoos of the constellations on her back that start at the bottom of her neck that goes down to the bottom of her thighs.

Niki loves to trace the constellations on Puffy.

Philza preans his wings and Technoblade sometimes helps him when Phil is really tired.

Technoblade talks in his sleep in old piglin.

Eret has gold speaks covering his torso and forearm.

Technoblade and Eret get along pretty well but everybody thinks that Techno hates Eret.

Ranboo has little stubs of where wings would grow when they got older.

Tubbo washes Ranboo's clothes for them.

Tubbo continously writes random things all over his arms but no one can read it cause his hand writing sucks.

Tommy has a bunch of stuffed animals but hides them cause he says its not "manly"

Tommy basically never washes his clothes or bathes so he smell like a wet dog who was swimming in polluted water.

Whenever Tommy falls asleep Wilbur or Tubbo would try to wash the clothes he had worn the days before.

Technoblade and Phil bathe together cause Techno tends to forget what he's doing and Phil doesn't like water.

Techno forgets stuff alot and has a bunch of notes on his walls and arms to try to help remind him.

Ranboo and Tubbo never had a proper wedding it was just signing papers with Ponk as a witness.

Puffy has a bunch of peircings but rarely wear them.

Technoblades bed is a mess. Thats all. Its bed is just a mess.

Niki wears a bunch of rings and all of them were gifted from her friends.

Niki, Technoblade, Phil and Ranboo all make jewelry together.

Fundy doesn't know if he hatched from an egg or Sally birthed him.

Wilbur took Sally's last name when they got married, them also being in an open relationship.

Puffy and Sally had been dating, Sally having been her first mate on her ship.

Fundy eats raw eggs and raw meat alot and it concerns the humans because they don't realize that its normal for fox-base shape-shifters.

Wilbur is a human-base shape-shifter, Sally is a salmon-base shape-shifter and Fundy is a fox-base shape-shifter.

Ranboo and Tubbo cuddled consistently and it annoyed Tommy but Ranboo dying Tommy started feeling really bad about getting upset about it.

Ranboo gave Techno, Phil and Niki all matching bracelets.

Niki messes with Puffys hair all the time and Puffy loves it.

Technoblade trains at ungodly hours of the night when it can't sleep.

Eret talks in his sleep, sorry I don't make the rules.

Tubbo doesn't get sick very often but Ranboo always worried that he would be out in the cold and end up getting sick.

Niki tried to teach Eret how to sew but it just ended up with Eret having bandages all over their hands.

Ponk and Sam both bathes at ungodly hours of the night, the only difference is that Ponk takes care of herself and gets all pruned up and Sam uses 3 in 1 body wash and doesn't even get all the hair stuff out.

Phil knows how to sew and it extremely good at it.

Technoblade will eat almost anything but he especially likes spicy foods.

[katnip225]

So remember that au where the dream smp is a comic book in the manhunt universe. Well more of that. This is what manhunt!Dream thinks of each character. Now I will just be using the real names but in the comic the names are different. Not doing the tales of the smp characters. Might also get some backstory for Manhunt!Dream

Techno - As stated in my prev post, this is Dream's fav character. He has regularly copied ideas from him. He loves all the pets that Techno has. And how no matter what Techno always follows his beliefs. Might also remind him of his childhood rival.

Phil - finds the character very funny. The 3 months thing. Through does have some very good serious moments like Nov 16th and Doomsday. The guy is clearly not perfect but he really has a hard time hating the guy. Only time he did hate Phil was during Doomsday for letting Friend die and hurting Ghostbur.

Wilbur - easily his 2nd fav. The way his fall was done. It was so heartbreaking. Then his revival. To find out about being alone for 13 years was rough. Dream feels for the guy since being on the run is very lonely. The only people he talks to is when the hunters get close enough for banter. He really hopes that Wilbur gets the help that he needs.

Ghostbur (yes counting this as a different character) - loves the guy. so sweet and just wants to help. Through feels very sad because of the memory thing and the blue. Plus the speech that he gave on Doomsday.

Tommy - this kid can't catch a break. He feels so bad for the kid. Tommy is a good kid that overall does not mean harm. The only thing that Dream hates Tommy for is killing the cat. Dream likes animals and while can understand why Tommy did it, still found himself crying over the cat's death. Dream always wanted pets but his life before on the run was rough and now there is no way he will get one

Tubbo - another kid he feels sorry for. Dream feels bad for Tommy but for some reason Tubbo hits harder. Maybe it is because Tubbo reminds him of one of his neighbor's kid. They are pretty similar in personality from what he remembers. He was sad when the neighbors moved. The scene of Tubbo crying hurt so much. He really wanted to jump into the comic and comfort him.

Ranboo - Easily his 3rd fav. The memory book. The ender walking. The weird connection to main bad guy. The begging to be locked up in the prison. Plus love the marriage to Tubbo. Really hopes they can talk to each other. This comic needs one healthy relationship that lasts. Reminds him of this enderman hybrid that helped. Found the kid lost in the woods and badly hurt. So helped get the kid back to help then took it to the village with the nice baker lady. It was a nice village so hopefully the kid is okay.

Michael - yes doing their son. Super cute. The in comic reason for keeping Michael inside is for safety. I like to imagine there is a small mini series of Michael playing pretend or sneaking out to meet the other kids.

Fundy - neutral. Does not like him but does not hate him. Through is curious about the seeing the future thing. Wonders if this is his god's blood in work. (in the comic, Wilbur is confirmed to be a demigod. Only Phil and Techno know about it but it was confirmed)

Yogurt - cute kid. Hangs out with Michael when he sneaks out.

Puffy - a cool pirate and therapist. Kinda wish that she was his mom. He does not have any parents but he feels like Puffy would be a cool mom. She went feral when Foolish was killed.

Niki - reminds him of a baker he meet once while on the run. This was before he was well known so he could risk being seen. She gave him some free cookies and gave him a discount on the bread when she saw that he did not have much money. Super sweet and nice but also not one to be messed with. He saw how that baker handled an attempted robbery. Sad to see her wanting to hurt Tommy but was so happy that she is healing.

Jack: Feels bad for the character since he is put through so much. Even had to crawl out of hell.

Karl - love the guy. The time travel spin off series is super cool. feels bad for the losing memories things.

Quackity - flip flops between feeling bad and hating the guy. Quackity has been through a lot and Las Nevadas is cool. But he is just doing what the main villian did. Please just heal so you can be at peace. Hopefully him and fiancés will get back together

Jschlatt - great villian. hated the guy. Also reminds him of his neighbors. The father. Through was a much better person. Actually wanted to give a better life for his son (Yes in this au, DadSchlatt is a thing and he is a good father)

Purple - felt bad for the ufo being blowen up but does not feel anything towards him.

Punz - He respect the guy. Reminds him of a mercenary person that once was after him. Through stopped after realizing that the pay was not worth all the chase. Needed to be payed more

Ponk - felt bad for losing his arm but otherwise neutral for the character

Skeppy - over all neutral. Nice guy and feels bad for the possession thing.

Eret - liked the guy then hated the guy then went back to liking him. Glad the character was making up for the whole betrayal thing.

XD - does know what to make of this character. Through does not trust the god with George

Drista - a fun character that can cause a lot of chaos. Would want as a sister. Yes he might get attacked by a fork but hey he already has a younger brother.

Kristen - not much is known about her. Only that she is Wilbur's mom (in the comic, Wilbur does say his mom is a fridge but I am going on what Phil said. Which is that Wilbur got confused when Phil pointed to the fridge which had a pic of his mom)

MD - fun guy. So sad to see him die. Was really helping Tommy

Mamacita - another fun character through has not been seen since MD's death.

Sally - in the comic Sally is a shapeshifter through the writer wanted them to be a fish. Their editor refused to allow that. Not really shown much outside flash backs. I go back and forth on how good of a mom she was. So if she was good then Dream liked her. If not then he hates her.

Slimecicle - very confused. not like conflicted. Just confused.

Sam Nook - like him. Only one he trusts Tommy with. If he could becomes friends with Hunter!Sam would totally ask if he can build something like Sam Nook

Sam - really hates the dude. Does not care that the main bad guy asked Sam to build it. Sam has control so everything is Sam's doing. Plus the whole thing with Ponk. Part of him does remind dream of Hunter!Sam but that was earlier in the comic. Hunter!Sam would never hurt his partner (Yes Hunter!Sam is dating Ponk)

Ant - again the character remind him of Hunter!Ant. Through overall neutral. Does feel bad for the whole possession by the egg thing

Sapnap - hopefully gets back with Quackity. The dude really gets the short end of the stick. Also reminds him of Hunter!Sapnap. Through hopefully his relationship goes better then dsmp!Sapnap (yes Quaickity and Karl are his boyfriends)

George - reminds him of Hunter!Geroge. The weird dream comics were funny. feels bad that the character can't tell what is a dream and what is real.

Bad - again remind him of Hunter!Bad. Only reason why Dream does not hate dsmp!Bad is because he is being possessed by the egg. He did not like Foolish being killed. Also finds it sweet that the character was willing to do something for Skeppy. (yes. Bad and Skeppy have the same relationship as canon)

Dream - is a great villian. very evil. Through as stated before. Does not like the prison treatment. Does see himself in the guy but it is like all his more negative traits were turned up to 1000. Through Dream is lonely and does not make attachments, there is one he can't get rid of. Since that attachment is why he is doing all of this

Foolish - can probably tell he really likes Foolish. reminds him of his younger brother. Foolish being killed was the one time he needed to put the comic down and take a break.

that is everyone. There are a few more that I really don't watch so have no idea what Manhunt!Dream's opinion would be.

[chitto]

dreamsmp but its soul eater

part one of maybe more (?)

part 2

note: for the uninformed soul eater is anime/manga series about a world where some people can turn into weapons such as a sythe, sword or pistols (i use those examples as they’re the main weapons on the show). these weapons have a partner called a ‘meister’ who wields the weapon in combat. a weapon can change between human and weapon form and can sometimes be both at the same time (making their arm into a sword etc.) a meister and weapon pair are deeply bonded with trust and your other stereotypical anime stuff. (weapon and meister pairs don’t always have to be deeply bonded and in no way are any of the trust elevated to a romantic level, SHIPPERS DNI). 

- tommy’s the double bladed sword with tubbo as his meister. at first tubbo thought the two bladed sword was too big and bulky but he grew better at it. he’s able to spin it around with ease, intimidating any foe. they have one of the stronger bonds between weapon and meister because of the friendship they had. it helps make the two of them a very powerful duo, not to mention a 5’5 teenager running at you with a giant double bladed sword yelling profanities is a pretty terrifying sight. during the exile, tubbo didn’t participate in the butcher army as he felt incomplete using any other weapon. 

- wilbur and schlatt had a rocky relationship. it started well, they were pretty powerful. there was a level of trust bedded deep below their constant bickering. wilbur was a gladius with the meister schlatt. they had defeated many evils. until the election. their trust was fractured. wilbur and niki, both weapons, began to wield each other, neither one having a true meister. schlatt wouldn’t wield anyone but would make quackity the battleaxe do any dirty work for him. after the two died, they found eachother again. neither of them could remember their pasts but they felt familiar to each other. now the revived glatt uses ghostbur as his weapon, if the two ever need to fight. 

- sapnap is the meister to both karl and quackity, twin battleaxes. at first there was lots of debate over who sapnap should use as his weapon as battle axes are large and can be hard to use in tandem, but sapnap shut down the argument by showing that he was strong enough to wield the two of them at the same time. because the three of them are engaged, their more compatible than most. however, 99% of the time, they have maybe one brain cell between them that bounces back and forth from person to person. but when they’re motivated they can be an admirable opponent. (sapnap personally believes his weapons are the coolest out of everyone else’s) 

- when karl time travels, he wields himself as a weapon. he notices that james and mason were meisters, while drew and jack were battle axes. they feel familiar. 

- george is a sythe with dream as his meister. the two originally hated being paired up, dream complaining that a sythe was awkward in battle and george flat out saying dream got on his nerves. but they improved, as did dream’s sythe skills. but, when dream’s motivations started to go downhill as he became more and more unstable, george abandoned him. george was worried dream was going to start using violence and didn’t want to be a part of it. for the disc wars, dream used his own standard weapon, that he once tried to spin like a sythe before realizing george wasn’t with him. george hasn’t visited dream in prison out of fear and disappointment. george believed dream could do great things, that they could have done great things together. not this. 

- ranboo is his own weapon. ranboo’s unknown side is made up of weapon material, meaning he is able to call himself as a weapon. this stemmed from him always being alone, on his own side. he had to learn to protect himself and not rely on others for help. but, fighting using his own body proved detrimental as any hit his weapon took, he took as well. when he started to open up to fundy, who is a bastard sword, he started to become ranboo’s weapon. they trusted each other. until doomsday, when their differences of opinion broke their bond. fundy ran away and ranboo was reminded of why he was his own weapon. you can’t trust anyone. 

- phil and techno are a meister weapon pair who have been working for ages. techno, a broad sword, was one of phil’s only friends. the two had been defeating things like the ender dragon and complex governmental systems for as long as they could remember. there was never a thing they wouldn’t do for each other. on an adventure once, phil had gotten injuried. nothing life threatening but it was still enough for the excursion to be called off. since then, techno has been adamant about keeping phil safe. he didn’t know what he would do if anything happened to him. 

- niki the trident and meister jack manifold are a new weapon/meister duo on the server. the two of them came together after doomsday, both realizing that tommy (and tubbo by proxy) were the problems on the server. they swore that together, they would cause ultimate chaos and anarchy. they bonded on being pushed aside and overlooked. their power comes from their disregard for most people. they’ve been walked over by almost everyone on the server. they both understand it’ll be difficult to take down tommy and tubbo, so currently the pair is training for the day of reckoning.

[mcmactictac]

Pt. 4, final part of songs that remind me of DreamSMP characters! I’ve included a link to a Spotify playlist below that has all of the songs that I’ve mentioned in the previous parts so you have them all in one place! I also have a few more below that I didn’t get to include in the other parts!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0D7Ubbq5FHZmFnxBqzk1S6?si=RqfSlxU-RU27Qn-niXh-wQ&dl_branch=1

Tommy: Can you feel my heart by Bring me the Horizon

Tommy angst enjoyers this one is for you !The drop in this song feels like falling, and I love it for the end of Tommys exile. For the fanfic enjoyers out here it really has the energy of Tommy in the nether, talking to someone as he is struggling. I’ve seen some wonderful art done to this song, and read some great fics that remind me of it!

“I’m scared to get close, and I hate being alone. I long for that feeling to not feel at all. The higher I get, the lower I’ll sink. I cant drown my demons they know how to swim”

Sweet Hibiscus Tea by Penelope Scott

I know this is a basic Tommy choice but it just fits so well for him. The desperation and raw emotion within the song reminds me so much of his character. The build up, the voice cracks, it’s the song of someone who lost everything and is tired of being what everyone else needs.

“And I’m not your protagonist, I’m not even my own. I don’t know anything, I don’t even know what I don’t know. And If you look outside you’ll see, disintegrating trees. The artificial way the sunlight bounces off the waxy leaves. My heart catches on every thorn, you’re already halfway out the door. And I’ve never looked so old, and I have never been so cold. And it is 85 degrees, I don’t know what I need”

Wilbur: Eight by Sleeping at Last

Wilbur said that he inspired his character after this song, and I find it really interesting to look at his character through the lense of this song. It provides a different perspective that adds more depth to his character, which I love. All of the lyrics in this song fit him perfectly, which is really rare when finding songs.

“But I can’t let you see all that I have to lose, and all I’ve lost in the fight to protect it. I won’t let you in, I swore never again. I cant afford to let myself be blindsided.”

Icarus by Bastille

Honestly this song could apply for many different characters. I’ve seen Icarus compared to many different characters, and all of the explanations are very interesting. I prefer it for Wilbur or Tommy, but it’s very flexible for everyone. The message of flying too high and working yourself until you break, which can cause everything to come crumbling down.

“Icarus is flying too close to the sun, and Icarus’s life it has only just begun. This is how it feels to take a fall. Icarus is flying towards an early grave. You put up your defences when you leave, you leave because you’re certain of who you want to be.”

Fairytale by Alexander Rybak

I love looking at this song with the perspective of Wilbur singing it to L’manberg. Something that he knows he can never have again, but can’t get the idea out of his head.

“I’m in love with a fairytale, even though it hurts. Cause I don’t care if I lose my mind, I’m already cursed”

Fundy: Rät by Penelope Scott

This is another choice that fits a lot of people, but after being used, forgotten, and let down by everyone in his life no one really recognizes how much of a broken kid he is. Thinking of him singing this song to Wilbur, realizing that he’s been used, and that his father was not the great person he wanted him to be.

“I loved you, I loved you, I loved you it’s true. I wanted to be you and do what you do. I lived here I loved here I thought it was true. I feel so stupid. I feel so used”

Niki: I’d rather Drown by Set it Off

Honestly? Niki deserves to be genuinely pissed off and mad at Wilbur. He hurt her really badly, and she is entitled to be properly mad about the fact she trusted him and he left her alone. This song does a great job expressing the frustration and anger you have when someone genuinely hurts you.

“Burn the bitch down, I never will cross that bridge again. I can not trust you easily or think that I’m the only one. I never let people in, and up have you to remind me why. So baby burn the bitch down, I never will cross that bridge again, I’d rather drown.”

Techno: I Gave you All by Mumford & Sons

When Techno is committed to a person, he dedicates all he has to helping them reach their common goal. This could be in relation to Pogtopia or to Tommy, but he feels like no one cares about him despite all he gives to them. He is used only for what he can give for others, and people will inevitably leave him once they get what they need. This song captures that frustration with being used, and wanting to be appreciated.

“And you rip it from my hands and you swear it’s all gone. And you rip out all I had just to say that you’ve won. Well now you’ve won. But I gave you all. I gave you all. I gave you all.”

Dream: Big Shot by Billy Joel

What’s a Dream song without a little gaslighting and manipulation? I love this song, and when you think of it like Dream talking to Tommy and convincing him this is all his fault for wanting to be a “Big man” it makes it WAY more interesting.

“Yes, yes you had to be a big shot, didn’t you? You had to open up your mouth. You had to be a big shot didn’t you? All your friends were so knocked out. You had to have the last word, last night. You know what everything’s about. You had to have the white hot spotlight, you had to be a big shot, last night.”

Early L’manberg crew: Believer by Imagine Dragons

I just really love this song and think that it fits the energy of all the suffering and pain L’manberg went through and it doesn’t fit one specific character, but fits everyone generally.

“Pain! You make me a, you make me a believer, believer. Pain! You break me down and build me up believer, believer. Pain, oh let the bullets fly oh let them rain. My life, my love my drive it came from. Pain, you make me a you make me a believer, believer”

(On a totally unrelated note if any of you are IT fans I highly suggest watching Rockwell IT’s parody of the movies. They do a cover of this song and the harmonies are amazing!)

And that’s it! I might update the playlist, but I think I’m done writing out the explanations for the songs. If this is the first part you’re seeing, I have three other ones posted that include some of the characters I missed in here! If you liked this, go check them out!

[votederpycausemufins]

The bots are all fixed!!! Well, they are physically. Mentally is another question which we’re not covering hahahahahaHAHAHA! also wack, no smp members. @petrichormeraki @helleborusangel

“There, that should do it. We might want for someone to test it out in the near future, but it does look like it’s fixed.” Xisuma spoke as both of the bots powered back on. “I can see why we had trouble before. It looks fine if you’re not actively looking for that problem specifically.”

“Thank you very much Xisuma.” Mumbo said, checking both of the bots over for his own peace of mind.

“Of course. I also got a response from Biffa in the middle of it all, and while he’s not willing to share all the details of his past, he was willing to give a few notes. As these two are player entities, natural world magic is going to help them adapt more to that. He’s willing to come visit in a few weeks to see the two of them if you’re all okay with that.”

Mumbo looked over to Grian who nodded. “That’s more your guys’ call. You both knew him much longer than me. I mean, we interacted of course and he seemed nice, but you know better.”

“Well X, I think that would be lovely.” Mumbo replied, looking back to the admin.

“You know, is it just a family thing to like people in pink, or is it just coincidence.” Grifter spoke up, making everyone look over at him exasperatedly.

“Did you have to follow us in here?” Mumbo groaned, and Grifter just nodded, feathers coming off of him as he moved from stray ones sticking to his clothes.

“Too many chickens outside. Inside’s safer. Besiiiiiiides it’s less boring in here. And I’m the one who even knew what was wrong with your kids. Also yeah, you fixed it, no need for testing.”

“You’re not lying, are you?” Grian asked, crossing his arms.

“Of course not. What would I get out of lying about it?” Grifter shrugged. “They also look like my little pumpkin rolls, so why would I want to hurt them?”

“Didn’t your version of Jrum try killing ours?” Mumbo said with a frown.

Grifter just scoffed. “I told him about the bug! He was going to make sure your kid respawned correctly. I just needed some help and for you not to know. It worked out in the end, didn’t it? It only didn’t work out for those asshole admins and me.”

“Speaking of, Tommy’s old world has a console now. Well, a console other than Grum. Is the hels version the same?” Mumbo asked, genuinely curious, though the smile that Grifter gave worried him.

“Weeeell, the short answer is no, it’s got a new admin. The longer answer is that the new admin is meee!”

“You?!”

“I’m sorry why you?! I’m not the admin here! I’m not even opped!”

“I know you’re fucking not.” Grifter rolled his eyes, pulling a stray feather off of his sweater. “Our worlds are parallel but they aren’t one to one equals, dumbass. And we’re not just influenced by the shit that happens here. May I remind you that I was a Listener when Deevo and Evo started while you only became a Watcher when it ended. Or at least close to the end. And my boys were born before you built these two. The worlds sometimes force themselves together, like NPG staying around when I was gone and my boys not functioning until yours were around or… you know… Tommy being pulled to Hermitcraft after Theseus ran off to Helscraft.”

That got everyone’s attention. “Wait, is that why Tommy doesn’t know how he got here?”

Grifter smirked. “Yeah. After Nightmare got killed, Thee got the admin powers. He was pissed over things and ran off looking for me. Of course I was imprisoned and Dad wasn’t letting anyone near me, so the best he could find was season five. Member changes are always a forced thing, so I guess something pulled Tommy here to fix it that way.

“But wait, won’t that…” Grian trailed off.

“Shove you into the SMP? Fuck no. I’m admin, but I’m not gonna live there. I’m a Listener, I can check on things while living in Helscraft. Besides, things are different with NPG around. I mean, unless I kill him-”

“Don’t you dare!”

Grifter huffed. “I wasn’t gonna! Despite how much I hate him, he was the one person caring for Sense when he was all alone, so I’ll give him that. So no death, maybe just some torture. Anyway, I’m sure you’re visiting, so it balances out. Probably.” He finished with a shrug.

“Oh joy of joys.” Mumbo groaned while Grian looked so done with the world.

While all of this had been going on, both of the bots had completely powered on. At first they just took in their surroundings, staying quiet since it was clear others were in the middle of important conversations. Then they saw each other.

With everything that had happened, the two bots had barely been in each other’s company, and when they were, they were at each other’s throats. Jrum was the first to look away in shame as he could remember most of what happened clearly, but Grum was a bit fuzzy on a number of details. He hesitated, reaching out towards his brother a bit, before just pulling his hand back.

When it seemed the conversation was coming to a close, Grum got Jrum’s attention and used his screen and hands to signal something before looking over to their dads. “Um, Dads?”

Mumbo and Grian both looked over to Grum when he spoke up. “What is it Grum?”

“Could… Could Jrum and I have a bit of time alone? To… talk with each other?”

The pair looked to Xisuma since it was his place. X nodded before helping to lead them as well as Grifter out of the room and to somewhere else.

For a few moments, both of the bots were quiet, just sitting there, unsure what to say. Then Jrum started up the conversation. “I’m sorry for being mad at you. I got all upset at Dad getting upset at family, but then I was doing the same thing.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I was the one who started things. You reacted to my actions and were influenced by those red plants.”

“Yeah, but Dream was messing with you and made you be mean!”

“No he didn’t.” Grum replied, which confused Jrum for a few moments before Grum elaborated. “I started realizing something was weird and I panicked. I was worried I would do something really bad and hurt you. I didn’t know what exactly, and I also wasn’t sure if I could safely tell you. I knew if I said something kindly or nicely asking us to distance ourselves, nothing would work until I explained more. And I didn’t want to have to deal with you asking to stay because I didn’t want you to go either. So I just sort of… let myself be mean. I can’t even blame it on someone else. It was me and only me.”

Jrum was quiet, just processing what his brother had said. Then, after a few seconds, he scooted closer and hugged Grum. “Then that’s not your fault! You didn’t know what was safe to say, and that’s because the admin was - don’t let Daddy know I said this - Dream was a piece of shit!” Grum paused before giggling a bit, not expecting his brother to say that. “What? It’s true!”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just… nice to be with you again.”

Jrum smiled and hugged a little tighter. “Yeah, and now we’re gonna be closer because we went through trauma together! Speaking of which… how long do you think we can milk this?”

Grum pulled away from the hug to rub his ‘chin’. “Well, Dad is more likely to notice we’re up to something, so only a week or two with him. But if we play our cards right, we can keep things going with Daddy for a month. Maybe even more.”

“What? That long?”

“Well, we sort of got stuck in a time displacement bubble for a month all by ourselves and got controlled by different things. We would need to be careful and not make it seem like we’re having a relapse, but if we have a, quote unquote bad day, we can definitely get a lot out of it.”

“I’m going to build a new shop.”

“Good idea, so many people will want to support us. We might even get a discount on some land in Aquoo town. From Scar and not Bdubs of course.”

“Of course, we have more sway over Scar.” Jrum nodded.

“The question is what to sell.”

“Yeah, that part’s gonna be a bit harder. Hmm, maybe a gardeni-”

“Nope! Absolutely not!”

“Ugh, rude. Hmm… Odea two?”

“Ooo, good idea, good idea. It also sounds like we could get some interaction with the SMP after this, we could outsource there. I mean, we already have the connections.”

“Oh definitely. Speaking of, I kinda said Fundy could come visit Hermitcraft a while ago. Do you think that would be allowed?”

“Oh easy. We can even get Michael and his dad to come too.”

“Yes! I’ve always wanted an actual playdate! And this time I won’t be almost killed by a clone!”

“Let’s find our dads and ask?”

“Definitely!” Jrum nodded, and the two bots jumped off of where they were sitting and went looking for their parents.

“Leave me alone Lynn.” Grian grumbled, wings puffing up.

“Not until you tell me what a Listener is doing here!” The other Watcher gestured to Grifter, who was giving her a smirk.

Grian sighed. “Basically I’m making sure he doesn’t destroy everything by keeping an eye on him. Unfortunately that means he needed to come here while I change some records.”

“Really? You changing records? I thought I’d never see the day.”

“Oh shut it. Remember that Watcher I asked about? You couldn’t find anything but I kept looking into it and found two unknown Watchers.”

“And let me guess, you figured out who they were. Was one of them Eyes?”

Grian half shrugged. “Yes and no? Uh, so both of them are my kids and Eyes is like… part of my one kid?”

“Oh you’re an idiot.”

“Hey hey hey! He’s not just an idiot, he’s also a dumbass!” Grifter spoke up, getting glares from both Watchers.

“But seriously. You used Watcher magic to build them?”

“I didn’t think I did! I mean, I guess maybe? But Mumbo was in charge of the redstone and the redstone was the mayoral reservoirs and that’s what was technically using magic.”

“I’m going to have to tell someone about this.”

“Okay. Can you just try to make sure it’s someone that’s not going to completely freak out?”

“Hmm, no promises.” Lynn replied, and then walked off before Grian could say more.

“Oh I like her.” Grifter smiled. “So how do you know each other?”

“She’s the Watcher that was in charge of at least part of the world I grew up in.”

Grifter nodded. “Well I would love to hear the stories she got from there. But that can wait. Where are we going now?”

“Records room. I need to officially list my boys as Watchers and then get their data transferred to their names.”

“Ughhhh that sounds boring. Where’s the cool stuff?”

Grian just groaned and led them to the records room, needing to give excuses to a few Watchers here and there on the way. He was able to quickly grab the needed files since he already knew where they were. Correcting the names was easy enough since they were currently unknown and waiting for the answer. Correcting other forms was harder though. Normally a Watcher had their name officialized before doing much work. Maybe once or twice based on the situation, and that was the case with Jrum seeing as how his only real use of magic was when Grian himself had triggered it. But Grum had a lot more.

Every time Grum accessed the mayoral reservoirs, he was really looking into all the political data that the Watchers had gathered over the years. That alone would be a hassle, but the fact that there was extra paperwork for accessing certain sub categories was causing more issues. Normally you needed permission for data on destroyed worlds, but of course Grum managed to bypass any blocks and get right into the data. And since he was unlisted, it had caused some more logging errors.

Grian half contemplated just flipping the table he was at. It would send paperwork everywhere, but a quick bit of magic would fix it, and it would feel gratifying. But then again, Grifter was here, and who knows how he would react. And Grian expected a worse case scenario there. “Okay, can I trust you for like three minutes to go tell Mumbo it’s going to take a while here?”

Grifter’s eyes lit up a little and he nodded. “Three minutes! Got it!” Grian immediately regretted it, but before he could say more, Grifter was gone.

Mumbo glanced at his communicator for the time. He expected Grian would take a while, but he also hoped he wouldn’t be gone too long. Plus, he was also worried that if the bots were left alone too long, they could get into trouble. He was just about to go check on them when he heard the sound of them running in his direction. 

Mumbo couldn’t help but worry about why they were running until he actually saw them. With everything that happened the past few days, his mind kept trying to jump to the worst outcome, but the moment he saw the boys smiling, it calmed him down.

“Daddy! Can we invite people over to play?” Jrum asked, looking hopeful.

“Even with everything that happened, we managed to make some friends. It would be nice to thank them by letting them get to visit here.”

“And I kinda said someone could come visit and they’re kinda our cousin and he knows Auncle Iskall so please please please can they come visit?”

“And Michael was nice too. I didn’t get to interact too much, but he seemed rather nice.”

“Pleeeeeaaaaaaaase!”

Mumbo tried to get them to calm down. “Alright, alright. I’m sure the two of you could use some time to relax and have fun. We just need to wait for your dad to come back so he could get them. It may also be a while since I’m sure he wants to wait for Tommy to want to come back too.”

“Okay! We can wait!” Jrum agreed. “Can we go check the shopping district until then?”

“I’m not sure. I should wait for your dad to come back.”

“But we are perfectly able to go on our own.” Grum pointed out. “And even if something were to happen, the shopping district is so commonly filled with others that another hermit would assist us should there be trouble.”

Mumbo hesitated, but then agreed. “Alright, but see if Iskall is home and then ask them to take you there. I don’t want something happening on the way there.”

Jrum was happy to agree, but for a moment, Grum hesitated, their screen changing a bit. “Could we possibly ask Uncle Scar instead?”

“I’m… not sure he’s around. Grum are you sure you should be going?”

Grum nodded. He didn’t want to leave Jrum alone again. “No. It’s fine. W-We can go see Auncle Iskall.”

Mumbo didn’t look completely convinced, but Jrum’s pleading look got him to look away for just a moment. “Alright, alright. Go on before I change my mind again.”

“Thank you!” Jrum smiled and started pulling Grum away. Grum followed behind, though he still looked reluctant, so once they were in the air, Jrum looked back to his brother. “Oh come on, we’re not actually gonna go get them. We’re just going to say we couldn’t find them and since Daddy didn’t give us a second option, we’re just going on our own.”

Grum nodded. “Thanks.”

“Oh don’t worry! To be completely honest, I completely agree with Grifter about chickens right now and feel like I’ll strangle and turtles I see! I sort of don’t even want to see Professor Beaks any time soon!”

“Is that about the-”

“Yeah it’s about the flipping egg!”

“Sorry.” Grum apologized and Jrum made them land so they could hug each other.

“It’s fine. We already went over a bunch. Life sucked, but apparently that’s like… a family thing. I kinda want to give Daddy trauma though just to make it equal.”

“I think he has enough from dealing with us all.”

“Hmmmm you’re probably right. Okay let’s go scam Scar!”

The two of them eventually reached the shopping district and Aqua Town. It took a little bit of searching, but they eventually found the mayor. He already wasn’t the best and giving good prices for his land, but the fact that he was also up against two traumatized children, one of which he slightly feared, didn’t help his case. In the end, he got seven diamond blocks from the bots and Grum happily started building the new shop. 

Jrum went back and forth between the plot and Odea to figure out prices and stocking the place. He was glad to see Grum was happy, and then even more when he saw their dad flying their way. “Dad! Dad! Over here!” Grian heard Jrum and flew down, landing next to the bot. “Look! We’re making a new shop!”

“Oh really? What are you going to sell?” Grian responded, and Jrum had to keep from frowning. The tone of Grian’s voice sounded off. Jrum’s best guess was that something bad happened with whatever he had been doing and he was upset at that, but Jrum also couldn’t be sure.

“Well, it’s going to be a branch of Odea. I’m hoping that if we’ve got lots of people visiting that aren’t all amazing builders and redstoners like everyone here that they’ll want to buy Daddy’s designs! And since everything is moving to Aquway Town, we’re having a place here so it’ll get noticed!”

“Oh, that sounds like a great idea! And it looks like someone’s gotten really far with building already.” Grian looked up to where Grum was standing on the scaffolding, placing blocks down.

“Yeah! I’m glad he looks so happy! Oh! By the way! When you pick up Tommy, can you also ask if Michael and Fundy want to visit? I kinda said Fundy could and then I think Michael would like it too. If his parents have to come along, I wouldn’t mind. And they’re Tommy’s friends so that way he can have people visit too!”

Grian smiled sweetly. “Oh of course we can do that! I’m sure Xisuma would be fine with it all!”

“Yay! I can’t wait!”

“Welp, I’m going to go check on the rest of Aqua Town!” Grian said, starting to walk off. “I don’t want to get too far while I wait for Tommy’s message.”

“Yeah oka- wait. Dad, what did you call this place?” Jrum asked, catching that Grian used the real name of the area.

“Uh… well I better check on Barge Co.! Eep!” Grifter started to back up, but then jumped as an egg was thrown down next to him, followed by another, and then yet another. “AHH! It’s Poultry Man! Run away!!!”

Jrum looked up to see that the eggs had come from Grum, who quickly signalled a sorry to Jrum, which the bot quickly accepted. Grum ended up gliding down to join his brother and the both of them dealt with Grifter, somehow managing to send the helsmit back to Grian, unintentionally making their Dad groan as more paperwork appeared for him.

[pparkerpoetry]

Face Reality (Part 4)

Title: Set the Past Aflame (and in the ashes let memories linger)

Summary: He wakes up feeling warm. He's not in the End anymore, but will this world be any kinder?

Maybe for once, it'll let them be kids. Maybe it'll let them forgive everyone. Maybe it'll let them heal. Maybe it'll let them be a family again. But then again, Ranboo's always been a dreamer.

Part 1 Part 5 Masterlist

Ranboo woke up on a bed. A bed? He hadn’t had a bed in years. Not since the little shack in the cold, but surely he wasn’t there. No, it was too warm to be there. It was too loud for him to still be in the End, though. Far too loud. Where was he?

Opening his eyes might tell him, he figured.

It took more work than it probably should have, and he seriously considered just letting them fall back closed and sleeping for another few hours, but his mind was already up and ready to go. His body would follow eventually, but for now, it was sluggish and unwilling to do anything. 

“Hey, Ranboo, you up? Or are you just moving cause you’re having another nightmare?”

The sudden noise made his eyes snap open, to stare at who was at his bedside. It was Tommy, of course. He opened his mouth to respond, and only at the last moment remembered to speak in English.

“Why are you so loud?” His tongue felt like lead, heavy and irritating. His throat hurt, but he didn’t think he could bear to look at water right now. “Where am I?’

Tommy scrunched his eyebrows together. “You’re at the cottage, I had to carry you back because you slept the whole time. Big man, I’m whispering. Are you alright?”

Ranboo wanted to laugh, but it’d been so long he wasn’t sure if he knew how. “You carried me? How’d you get through the portal? And I’m fine.”

“Some guy with wings opened it. Are you sure you’re okay? You were super light, You’ve been having nightmares and stuff and speaking all enderman-like and we have to make sure to be quiet around you. It’s fine if you’re not okay, I get what being alone can do to you. You just gotta communicate with me.”

Ranboo exhaled slowly. He wouldn’t cry. It would be useless.

Tommy must’ve sensed his reluctance to answer, so he changed the subject. “Phil’s on his way back now with Techno, they left this morning for a trip because they figured you’d be out for a little longer. I stayed behind, and messaged them a few hours ago because you were sleeping lighter.” There was a heavy silence after that, until Tommy broke it again. “Say, why’d you leave? Did it all just get too much, or did you not want to stay here?”

Ranboo swallowed thickly. He didn’t want to answer, to tear the family apart, but Tommy needed to know. “I think I just snapped. I’d lost my only home, and when Phil brought me here, I thought I’d get a new one, but... “ He paused, fingers fiddling with his sleeve. “I overheard something that I wasn’t meant to. It changed my perspective, and in the heat of the moment, I just… I left. I was going to just run away, but I thought of the End, because that’s where I came from originally, so I went there looking for… comfort.”

It went unsaid that he didn’t get it, but Tommy didn’t need for it to be spoken. He’d seen the city of endermen, angry and disgusted by the hybrid. 

He hesitated to ask, but something told him he needed to. “What’d you overhear, Ranboo?”

Tears welled up in Ranboo’s eyes again and he closed them as he spoke. “Technoblade and Phil were talking about their new syndicate, and what new members to include. I was going to just go in the house, but then Technoblade mentioned me, so I waited. He said they should include me, use my memory issues to their advantage, and let me go feral and all endermen-like on whoever they wanted, so that the blame couldn’t be traced back to them.”

“That’s awful.” Tommy whispered.

“And Phil…” Ranboo smiled ruefully. “He just agreed. He didn’t bother to mention that the man who was mad at his younger brother for using him as a weapon was going to do the exact same thing to a teenager. I realized that I wasn’t going to get what I wanted there, I knew Fundy hated me, I knew Niki was still consumed by grief, and Tubbo, well… Tubbo had you. And you had Tubbo. You just needed to know it, and I would get in the way of that. So, I left.”

Ranboo had opened his eyes by the end of it, and Tommy opened his mouth to say something, but the door creaked.

“Boys? We’re home.” 

Ironic. They weren’t boys anymore. They were boys when the wars raged on, raised in the midst of screams and pain. They weren’t boys now, once the white flags had been put up, once the sound of explosions stopped ringing in their ears. They were men, now, but the adults that had watched them grow had yet to acknowledge it, had yet to notice how badly they ruined their childhoods. Would they ever? Would they ever take responsibility for the long nights that were spent awake because their dreams were haunted by death and famine? Would they?

“Hey, Phil.” Tommy said dully. 

Ranboo turned towards the door, and his gaze met the eyes of the man that he hadn’t seen since the day he left. The man that was part of the reason he left. Not that he knew it, though. Why would he?

“Hi.” Ranboo said, barely noticeable. 

“Hi!” Phil responded, smiling. “You doing alright? You’ve been out for a while.”

Ranboo didn’t answer. He just looked at his hands, which were still red and raw, the skin uneven and bumpy. His face was better, the marks from his sorrow now only raised lines after having longer to heal. They were pink and grey, depending on which side they were on. But his hands- his hands still ached, they were still new wounds, a constant reminder of how badly he was doing. How much he had suffered, all on his lonesome, not even an animal companion to spill his feelings to. He was forced to face his failure, every single time he looked down. 

He could’ve said something about how badly they hurt, all the time, but he didn’t. Phil didn’t care enough, it’d be useful to pretend that he did. That’s what got him into this mess in the first place. So, instead of saying how he felt, he lied. 

“I’m okay.”

Tommy gave a slight huff, but got up to say hi to Technoblade anyway, leaving the other two alone.

Ranboo stayed as quiet as possible, flinching at all of the noises that Phil made as he made himself busy in the kitchen. If the older man noticed, he didn’t do anything about it. The silence was tense and uncomfortable, but maybe it was all in his mind. It wouldn’t be the first time. 

Not much happened until dinner came around, and though Ranboo saw all of the food placed out, he couldn’t bear to eat it. 

“You gonna eat something, big man?” Tommy asked, mouth full of food. 

He hesitated. “I, uh. Haven’t eaten in a while. Endermen don’t really… need it.”

All movement stopped. Though it felt nice to his ears, Ranboo could feel the pressure of the eyes on him. 

“Hm?” Tommy asked. “Say that again?”

“Well, I mean, I was there for a while, I was gonna run out of food eventually,” he stammered. “I discovered I just, I just didn’t need food.”

There was nothing for a moment, then Tommy moved some food to his plate and continued his meal. Ranboo did his best, but he could only bear to eat a few mouthfuls.

The only noise for a while was the clinking of forks on the plates, until Tommy’s communicator buzzed. He took it out to look at, before humming and standing up. 

“What is it?” Technoblade asked.

“Tubbo needs me back. C’mon, Ranboo, we gotta get going.”

Phil made a small noise. “Maybe it’d be best if Ranboo stayed behind…”

Tommy glanced between his family members and spoke tensely. “No, I think he’ll come with me, you okay with that, Ranboo?”

He didn’t want to be left behind with Phil. Or Technoblade. 

“Yeah. I don’t have anything with me, so I’m all set.”

“Oh,” Tommy said, “I actually brought some of your stuff. I couldn’t carry all of it, but I grabbed some of it.” He motioned to a small bag in the corner near where he had woken up. 

Ranboo got up awkwardly, and took a hold of the bag. He didn’t look in it until he and Tommy were on borrowed horses on their way back to (what he assumed was still) Snowchester. In it were four collars, each with a different name from his pets, his old mis-matched gloves, his old memory books, and his crown, which he hadn’t even noticed was missing. He closed the bags, and noticed his hands again.

“Hey Tommy, do you have any bandages to cover these, so everyone doesn’t have to see them?”

Tommy nodded and tossed the bandages to Ranboo, and chuckled a bit. “You know, I haven’t told anyone else that you’re back. Tubbo knows, but I’m not sure he’s expecting you to come with me.”

Ranboo didn’t have another response, and just wrapped his hands. It hurt a little bit, but he couldn’t find the strength to care.

Maybe Niki would.

As buildings came into sight, he finally let his tears fall that had been hidden for so long. He never thought he’d see them again, and though more than a few of them were singed from wars past and maybe a few that he hadn’t been a part of, he couldn’t help but feel that he was finally home. Everyone had said that L’manberg wasn’t a place, but a people, and Ranboo couldn’t help but feel that it was the wrong sentiment for him. The people didn’t care about him. The trees, the foliage, the bricks that had been faced with such love, they did.

Ironic. Like everything was in his life, nowadays.

When he had stopped crying, they finally reached the other snowy biome after going down a long highway that he barely remembered. There was a lone figure standing at the end of it, as if waiting for the arrival of Tommy.

Tubbo looked older. They all did, to be fair. However, whereas Phil’s hair was just a bit more grey, Technoblade moved with a bit more caution from old wounds finally catching up to him, and Tommy had lost his signature loudness, Tubbo had gained a reckless sheen to his eyes. Ranboo wasn’t sure if he liked it, but when he clambered down from his horse, Tubbo smiled at him.

“Hey Ranboo, glad to see you back. Did you get even taller?”

Ranboo smiled, a bit awkwardly, after having gone so long without any sort of positive expression.

“Maybe, I mean I was kinda… embracing my enderman side a little more.”

He made sure to slouch a little more than he had been. 

They all entered one of the buildings, and Tubbo took something out of a chest. “Here, Ranboo, I figured I’d make this for you for whenever you came back.” In his hands, he held out a beautiful leather journal with a delicately made quill, a much better quality than the raggedy ones in the small bag that he clutched. 

“It’s for me?”

“Yeah.” Tubbo said, and pulled Ranboo into a hug after the journal was safely stashed away. “You know, I’m really glad you’re okay. I thought for a minute you might not be.”

Ranboo gave Tubbo a wary smile, mind going back to the feeling of a sudden pulse of electricity hitting his body. “No problem? I don’t really know what to say.”

They had a good stay in Snowchester, but it only lasted a couple of days until Tommy decided to message everyone else that Ranboo had been found. He didn’t know what he expected, but utter silence wasn’t it. Maybe he expected at least one shocked response, maybe a tearful one, maybe… well, at least something, after being gone for who knows how long. Ranboo still wasn’t sure the exact amount of time.

It didn't matter. Niki was on the wooden path, and when she turned to look at the sound of horses approaching, her face became pale. Ranboo noticed that her hair was a different color than he remembered it, but then again, he remembered different times.

“Tommy wasn’t kidding?” was her first question, when they dismounted and walked closer. She placed the basket she was holding down and went over to Ranboo, one hand taking his and one moving to cup his face. “Oh, Ranboo, what happened to you?”

Ranboo didn’t like how his eyes closed when he felt her fingers against his scars, how he leaned into her touch. He’d missed his older sister. Did she miss him?

He didn’t notice when he gave off a soft enderman chatter.

Niki’s gaze fell to Ranboo’s hands, covered in bandages. “Boo, you need to do these differently, these aren’t going to do anything-” and, as she unravelled them, “Oh, Ranboo…”

She looked at his fingers, or claws, that should have been long with the time he’d been gone, if not for how he broke them. He hated how disappointed she was, looking at the red and maroon skin that was still sore and sensitive. He hated that she didn’t bother to ask why he did it. He hated that she had left him all on his own right when he was at his lowest just so that she could exact her revenge, but as much as he tried, he couldn’t hate her.

She pulled Ranboo into a hug, and as much as he wanted to just stay in her arms forever, she let go first and said that she had to hurry home to Puffy. Perhaps that was another story that he’d never learn.

As he left to follow Tommy, he probably wouldn’t’ve heard her last words if not for the way his hearing had changed. 

“I’m sorry I gave up on you.” Her sweet voice, full of sadness that would never be fixed, filled with a fire that had been quenched. She’d had her revenge, but it left her cold and full of regret. Not for what she’d done, but for the hurt that she’d caused because of it.

Ranboo wasn’t sure which hurt more- the fact that she acknowledged that she’d given up on her younger brother but did nothing to fix it, or that she thought that he didn’t need to hear her apology. At that point, he would’ve given anything to hear her apology, but instead of turning around, he flicked his ears forward and kept walking.

She’d given up on him long ago. He was starting to give up on them.

“Hey, are you alright, man?” Tommy asked. “You’re going all misty-eyed and shit.” 

Ranboo managed a weak grin. “Yeah. Just a lot of memories.” 

He’d thought that they’d go home after that, but a shock of orange fur occupied his peripheral vision. When he turned, Fundy stood there, and neither could tell if he was shaking with sorrow or rage.

“So you’re back?” Fundy started. His fur was more vibrant, now. He’d gotten taller, more sleek. His eyes a little beadier. “You just couldn’t leave well alone?” 

“I guess not.” Ranboo said. He didn’t want to fight with Fundy. He didn’t hate Fundy- he was just tired. Not tired of something specific, just tired of everything. Tired of it all. 

“You were better off gone, Ranboo. You left, and I finally- I finally wasn’t left behind or forgotten, because they all figured it’d be easier to forget about you, instead.”

“Was I?” Ranboo chuckled, ignoring the scratchiness at the back of his throat. “I was going to die there, Fundy.”

The fox bristled at the blunt words, and hesitated, but he was stubborn. Just like his father. “Just yell again. Leave me again. I thought we were friends, Ranboo, but then you left? What kind of selfish, shit friend does that?”

Ranboo ignored the pressure building up behind his eyes. “I think we both have issues to resolve before we make things better between us, Fundy. Don’t make me fight with you. I never wanted to hurt you.”

Fundy turned to re-enter the forest. “Yeah, well, that’s what they all say, isn’t it. I suppose I’ll see you around at some point, though, if you aren’t gonna disappear again. Bye, Ranboo.”

Ranboo couldn’t muster up a response to his once close friend. It was too painful.

Tommy watched the whole interaction. “You got some baggage too, huh?” The pair rode their horses a little further and in the distance they could see the gaping crater that by now was old and settled. Tommy sighed, almost wistfully, but with a hint of something else. “Don't we all, buddy.” He patted Ranboo on the back, and kept going.

In hindsight, it was pretty remarkable how mature Tommy had gotten in the time Ranboo was gone. Where was the impulsive, reckless child that Tommy once was?

Was he shivering in an old, rickety bed in a ravine as the lanterns creaked and arguing could be heard from down the hall?

Was he still holding his breath next to one brother while the other threatened his best friend’s life?

Was he facing withers after seeing his brother murdered by his father’s hand, wondering if they ever even were a family?

Was he still staring down a pillar in exile, wind whipping through his hair as the cold air struggled to make it through his lungs, losing the hope and will to keep breathing?

Or, maybe, was he standing in a dark room, ceiling far above him, watching his abuser put a sword to his best friend’s throat, for good this time, completely unaware of anything other than the way that their eyes met, one accepting and one horrified?

Ranboo didn’t know about half of those events, but sometimes it makes you wonder. It makes you wonder what would’ve happened if the children, now adults, would’ve gotten their childhood.

Ranboo shook his head to clear it of thoughts and hurried to catch up with Tommy.

“You know, it really is okay to be all sorts of messed-up.” Tommy said, seemingly out of nowhere. “It really is. I mean, take a look at me, and I’m still kicking.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah!” Tommy grinned, steering his horse off of the wooden path and over to a space of rolling hills. “Hey, follow me.”

Curiously, Ranboo got his horse to obey.

Before he knew it, he was standing in front of a hollowed-out hill, wooden door still there but slowly rotting away, cobwebs living in the dark crevices that he could barely see. It was an old house, if you could call it that, abandoned and lonely. Kind of like himself. 

It was George’s old cottage, from long ago. “This is where it all started huh?” Ranboo asked, a smile finding its way onto his face despite all that had happened. 

Tommy nodded, digging in his pocket for something. He pulled out a black lighter, slightly rusted along the edges but still functional. “For old time’s sake, yeah? What d’you reckon?” With a laugh, a genuine laugh, from Ranboo, Tommy handed over the lighter. “I did it last time. It’s your turn.”

“We’re not gonna be in trouble?”

“No. I don’t think anyone really cares for this place anymore.”

With steady hands, not shaky ones, Ranboo took the lighter and moved it so that it lit a small flame. “Are you gonna want this back, or can I be dramatic with it?” He was starting to feel the adrenaline, a giddy feeling spreading through his body.

“Ah,” Tommy said, “I only kept it ‘cause of you being gone. But now I’ve got you back, I don’t need it.”

Ranboo’s hand found its way into Tommy’s, and he stepped forward slightly to drop the flame, a whoosh going before the past was set afire. They stood there for a moment watching it, though it was pitiful compared to the first one, because it meant everything to them. It meant their freedom, it meant their safety, it meant that they could revisit the past without it spitting in their faces. Tommy pulled his hand away from Ranboo’s roughly.

“Tag, you’re it!” He yelled, pushing Ranboo’s shoulder and running off quickly. He was tall, but his long legs would be no match for Ranboo’s.

The hybrid only laughed. “How old are you?” He retorted, before breaking into a sprint and trying to tackle the blond.

Amidst their roughhousing, they failed to notice as others would step up to see the fire and two men, the ghosts of their childhoods standing and watching the cottage burn, although this one a meager one, and smile fondly. It wasn’t the right time now. They’d make amends later.

For now, they’d let the friends play and enjoy the peace that they’d sacrificed so much for.

[musical-in-theory]

Caught in the Crossfire

Chapter 1: Dealing with the Devil

Wilbur took a deep breath as he stepped out into the crisp night air. It had been a few days since he had last come out of the ravine Tommy dubbed ‘Pogtopia’. The cramped space between the walls and the stale, dim lighting were already starting to take their toll on him. He felt it in every time the arrow wound on his shoulder ached. He felt it in seeing the emotion slowly fade away from Tommy’s expression. 

He slid his favored beanie off his head and carded his hands through his, frankly, tangled and grimey hair. Even during the war for L’manburg, Wilbur prided himself on keeping up appearances, looking like the leader his men needed him to be. But now as he gazed up at the stars he hadn’t seen in a week, appearances didn’t seem to matter near as much. 

Wilbur laughed to himself bitterly. Because, well, that wasn’t quite true, was it? No, appearances mattered even more now just in a new way. He could feel himself wearing a mask every day, and he could feel it slipping now. He wore the mask of the General, the President, the guy who always had an answer or a plan. He wore it for Tommy and Tubbo. They needed to know that he was still in control of the situation. Or at least, they needed to think that he did. 

In truth, Wilbur hadn’t had control of anything since that damned election started. Every step of the way, his oh-so-brilliant plans slipped from his fingers like sand, and he watched his sandcastle kingdom crumble in front of his eyes. His plan to have a single party election? Dashed away by Quackity and George. His plan to have his old friend JSchlatt come to his aid? Went up in hellfire. His plan to just rest for one fucking moment in the country that he poured his everything into? 

Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. Gods, he was tired. So tired. But he had to keep going. He wouldn’t allow himself to give up. He was the man that won against Dream, a metaphorical god amongst men. Losing to one of his oldest friends… it won’t happen. The only question left was how far was he willing to go. 

Wilbur sighed and thought back to the boy who was currently sleeping soundly in the ravine beneath his feet. He wanted to use the same tactics he used to end the first war, but those tactics had nearly cost him his little brother. Wilbur shuddered as the image of Tommy close to bleeding out in his arms crossed his mind. No, Tommy wouldn’t be the one to sacrifice anything this time around.

He needed a plan. As much as he would have loved to put off making one and just adjust to the new situation, he knew that Tommy would ask about it sooner rather than later. Wilbur couldn’t afford to not give an answer when he did. That’s why he’d taken the risk to come out of the ravine in the first place. He thought maybe the change in scenery would help him think. In Pogtopia, it almost felt like there was a fog surrounding his head and clouding his mind.

He was wrong, of course. “Although it’s not like that’s anything new,” he thought sarcastically to himself. The breeze reminded him of the chill that was ever present underneath the ground. The moon provided about as much light as the lanterns did. The worst part of it all is that the steady drips of stalactites and the creaking of their wooden paths were merely replaced with the chatter of crickets and the hiss of the occasional creeper. 

Wilbur hated the sounds of creepers. The hissing was a precursor to the dreaded crescendo of an explosion waiting to happen. It was an omen of needless destruction coming soon. It all rattled in his head, ravaging any thoughts that fought to survive in its torrent. He was a man of melodies, not senseless noise.

“Well, look what we have here. A bit of a bad time to start taking night walks, don’t you think Soot?” A hooded figure jumped down suddenly from his hiding spot amongst the tree branches. His posture radiated an arrogance that could only be attributed to one man.

“Dream.” Wilbur’s eyes narrowed at the masked man. He took a few steps back and felt the pommel of his sword dig into his palm. He silently cursed himself for not staying vigilant. Just because Schlatt’s men had given up on their search didn’t mean that he was safe. 

Dream could easily see the fear and tension present on the former general’s face. He chuckled a bit, but most of it was muffled by his mask. “The one and only.” He stalked over to Wilbur and began circling him as a predator would his prey. Dream didn’t even have a weapon on him, and yet they both knew who had control here. Wilbur couldn’t help but think that this must be how the Dream team felt during Manhunts. 

Nevertheless, he tried to stand his ground. “What do you want? I highly doubt the mighty Dream is prone to midnight walks alone outside of your own territory.” He put as much venom into his voice as he could muster. Fearful or not, Wilbur couldn’t forget how he put an arrow in his baby brother.

“What do I want? Oh come on, Wilbur. Don’t be so predictable. But I guess I’ll humor you a little.” Dream began walking away from Wilbur, then stopped and turned back. “Well? Are you coming or not?” 

Wilbur knew that nothing good could come from indulging in whatever conversation Dream wanted to have. Wilbur may have been the better wordsmith, but Dream held the authority and could manipulate their discussions in whatever way he wanted. He knew this, but Wilbur realized that for the first time in at least a week, the noise and the fog had disappeared. 

Before he knew it, Wilbur was walking alongside his old enemy underneath the trees. They remained in a hesitant silence for a bit, or at least Wilbur did. Dream seemed to be perfectly comfortable leading them to some unknown destination. Dream side-eyed his new companion. “You’ve been gone for too long, President Soot-”

Wilbur cut him off quickly, “Not President anymore, I’m afraid.” He schooled his expression in a vain attempt to cover up how much it stung to hear that title again.

Dream laughed. “You’ve really given up that easily?” Wilbur opened his mouth to refute, but Dream continued, “Doesn’t matter. I’m here to change that. Like I said, you’ve been gone for too long. The Wilbur Soot I fought against didn’t just lie down and accept his fate when things got tough.”

Wilbur glared at him. “Is that what you think I’m doing?” 

“I think that you’re lost. You’re lost in your own head, confused and wandering around until the right idea comes to you, instead of going out and finding it. When I said that you’ve been gone for too long, I didn’t mean that you’ve been away from L’manburg. I mean that the you that never stopped coming up with ways to be a legitimate threat to your enemies has been gone. You let yourself get complacent in your position. Now that it’s gone, you’re floundering.”

Wilbur shook his head. He hated to admit it, but Dream actually had a point. In their war against each other, he had plans, backup plans, and adapted to every situation that was thrown his way. Getting thrown out of his country should have been child’s play in comparison to having the ground beneath his feet blown to smithereens. Yet here he was, struggling to come up with anything.

Something was still stuck in the back of his mind, however. Wilbur walked a bit faster and stood in front of Dream, effectively stopping them both. “Why should I even trust you? Only a month ago, you wanted L’manburg dead and gone. Now you want to convince me to take it back. Sorry if I’m not buying this whole ‘altruistic’ act, you’re putting on.” Wilbur spat.

Dream laughed again. “I never said there weren’t strings attached. Soot, you and I have a common goal now. You want Schlatt out, and so do I. I signed a treaty with you, because I trusted you to uphold it. And I know you trusted me to do the same. We are men of honor, in that way. Schlatt is way different. Destroying L’manburg was out of the question the minute the war was over. Consider this to be damage control.”

The masked man casually walked around Wilbur and continued on their predetermined path. Annoyance shot through Wilbur as he stood watching Dream’s retreating silhouette. When did it get so bright? He looked back towards the darker part of the forest, the part closer to Pogtopia, before catching back up to Dream. 

Wilbur had to squint a bit to see Dream next to him. He didn’t think he’d been walking for too long, but it must have been morning with how light it was becoming as well as the rising temperature. Dream seemed unaffected, but it was always hard to tell with the mask and the hoodie. 

Dream turned a bit to face Wilbur. “I’ll say it again, Soot. You’ve been gone for too long, and Schlatt’s already ten steps ahead of you,” he said as he stepped out of the woods. The light nearly blinded Wilbur as he looked out at the scene beyond the cliff he stood on. L’manburg was on fire. The flag was burning into ash with stray flames finding their way to the wall. The wall itself was haphazardly torn down, as was his beloved camarvan. Everything he fought for, everything that he used to make a home was being destroyed before his very eyes. 

Amidst it all, Wilbur could see three people standing near the flag’s base. One had a torch. Time felt like it stopped all around him as he saw that it was Fundy, Niki, and Eret. His son, his best friend, and the traitor that started it all. 

Wilbur fell to his knees as the smoke and dust swirled around him, intermingling with the fog that had enveloped his head since he first stepped foot into that godforsaken ravine. His once home burned in front of him, and yet no warmth could breach the ice that invaded the ex-President’s veins. 

He flinched as a hand on his shoulder brought him out of his stupor. Wilbur looked up at Dream. Although he couldn’t see his face behind the mask, he could feel his eyes trained on him. “All that work, all that sacrifice, and look where it got you. Powerless and watching from an outsider’s perspective.” Dream took back his hand and leaned against a nearby tree. “I never took you for someone who just waited in the wings, letting things happen all around you. Are you really the same guy I fought and lost against?” 

Wilbur tore his eyes away from the destruction of his nation and let them fall upon the masked man. Something dark and ugly settled into his chest as the weight of Dream’s words hit him. Was he the same person? Did he even want to be? The Wilbur that won his nation was the same man that lost it so easily in his arrogance. 

Dream must have sensed his confusion because he continued on, “You can be better than that. You can become what I should’ve been in order to take back what is rightfully yours. I’ll help you learn from my mistakes, but in exchange you’ll need to follow my orders to the letter.” He pushed off the tree and held out his hand toward the fallen leader. “Do we have a deal?”

Wilbur’s mind screamed at him to not take the opportunity in front of him. It shouted at him accusations of Dream’s imminent betrayal. How many times had people turned his backs on him already? His own son had even taken the trust Wilbur placed in him and tore it to pieces right in front of him. 

But that same line of thought kept him desperate for any sort of help, any sort of assistance that would be offered. Even if the one offering was an old enemy. Wilbur’s eyes hardened in his resolve, and he lifted his hand to meet Dream’s. He helped Wilbur to his feet and promptly shook his hand. The voices fell silent, and a bitter smile found its way onto Dream’s face. “Alright then, shall we get started, President Soot?”

“With pleasure.”

Thank you so much for reading! I’m going to work hard to get the next chapter out soon. Thanks to @the-ruler-of-rabbits for beta reading this for me!

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