#id immediately point to tommy

[dancingtotuyo]

Part I

High Infidelity | Joel Miller X Female Reader

Rating: Mature/Explicit

Summary: Tommy gets himself into more trouble than he can get out of.

Tags: Tommy x Reader, Joel x Reader, Tommy's Wife Reader, infidelity, emotional affair, slow burn (as much as you can get for 5 chapters), Tommy goes to jail, Reader has had a child

Warnings: US justice system (it don't work, probably bad understanding of how it operates), mention of drugs & weapons, alcohol consumption, let me know if I missed anything

Notes: when I planned this out, I didn’t realize I’d scheduled the first chapter to drop on Pedro’s birthday! So happy birthday to him!

Shout out to @janaispunkfor beta reading and @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin for letting me scream about this endlessly and shaping this world. Finally, @saradika-graphics for sustaining our fic writers with an endless supply of dividers!

Words: 4396

Series Masterlist | Author Masterlist | Daily Clicks for Palestine & Other resources

You’re asleep, or at least you should be except the phone is ringing and the bed is cold next to you. That’s a bad sign. It always is. 

A small grunt echoes from your gut as bare feet hit the cool hardwood floor. You can’t find the phone before it stops, buried under clothes you haven’t folded, scribbled crayon drawings, and bleary eyes. It starts back almost immediately.

“Tommy?”

“He called me.” Joel’s voice echoes through the line. “It’s bad this time.”

“How bad?”

“He asked for a lawyer.”

You press your palm to your forehead. “Shit!”

“The sitter is on her way to yours. I’m getting Sarah up now. We’ll be there in 10.”

“Thank you, Joel.”

“Of course. See you soon.”  Joel hangs up. 

You roam through the laundry basket for a clean pair of jeans and an acceptable t-shirt. You run a toothbrush through your mouth to freshen your breath. You do your best to push back all the possibilities running through your brain. 

You crack open the door to Nathaniel’s room. Your two-year-old son sleeps tightly, his mop of black curls spread out on the pillow. You want to run your hand through his curls and kiss his cheek, but he’s the world’s lightest sleeper, just like his daddy. 

The sitter is there 5 minutes later, all too familiar with this routine for your liking. Joel ushers in a bleary-eyed minutes later. He tucks her into the spare room bed. Sarah doesn’t ask questions. She’s asleep before he can kiss her head.

You move like the well-oiled machine that you are. He grabs your purse, ensuring the checkbook is there while you say a few words to the sitter. Joel hands you the small black bag and a light jacket.

Doors open before you and close without you touching them. You and Joel are riding down the highway. The windows are cracked, the breeze playing through your hair as street lights play off the windows, growing bigger and brighter as your eyes fill with tears. You chew on your thumb as the thoughts finally begin to take over.  

You’ve felt Tommy slipping these past few months. You’ve tried to ignore it, excuse it. He’s had a hard time adjusting. This is hardly the first time he’s been in jail. It feels like a weekly occurrence at this point, but he’s never needed a lawyer. He’s never been held longer than overnight. 

“Did he say what they got him for?”

“No… he asked me to come alone.”

“Fucking hell.” You run a hand over your face. Tommy’s antics are aging you prematurely. 

“He’s going to be okay.”

“Says who?” You snap. “We’ve been doing this dance for months, Joel! I know he’s having a hard time adjusting, but maybe we’ve been giving him too much room.”

Joel sighs, letting silence fall over the truck cabin. His blinker clicks as you turn into the familiar station. You wonder if the night shift is actually going to fulfill their punch card offer this time. 

Joel has barely pushed the truck into park before you’re out of the vehicle, flying through the front doors. Joel is hot on your heels, not bothering to lock his beat-up pickup. 

Your ID is already on the desk, you don’t even have to say a name. The officer at the front desk doesn’t need your license. He barely looks at it. It’s all a raging formality. They escort you to a room, not a holding cell as you’re used to.

Tommy sits at a table talking to a tired-looking public defender. His head snaps up, eyes jumping from your face to Joel’s behind you. “I told you to come alone.”

“The fuck you did Thomas James Miller!” You say before Joel can defend himself.

Tommy stands to his feet, the chair skidding back. “You’re not supposed to be here for this!”

“I’m your wife! You call me!”

“Or maybe you should be home with your child!”

“Oh, I should be home with our son? And what about you?”

“I’m not having this fight with you right now.” Tommy throws his hands in the air moving his attention to Joel who leans against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. “You were supposed to come alone!”

“What’re you in for?” You ask, not giving Joel a chance to answer. Not that he was going to. He knows not to let Tommy deflect to him when you are around. 

Tommy sighs falling into the chair like a rag dog. Stress lines engrave themselves deep into his forehead.

“Tommy…” A pit drops in your stomach. “What did they get you with?”

“A gun-“

“Without a permit.” The Lawyer speaks for the first time. There’s a roll to Tommy’s eyes. 

“And?” 

Tommy can’t meet your eyes. He shuffles in his seat. 

“Tommy,” Joel says, voice low and gruff. It’s automatic, parental even.

“A couple grams of coke.”

“Fucking hell, Tommy.” Joel hits his head against the wall. 

“I didn’t- I never took it. I promise.”

You take a shaking breath, trying to calm your worn nerves. “So what are we looking at here?” You ask, eyes trained on the lawyer. 

You see Tommy out of your peripheral vision using his pleading puppy dog eyes on you. You square your shoulders determined not to fall for it. They’re the reason you’re in this boat in the first place. 

“Babe-“

You hold up a hand cutting him off, eyes trained on the lawyer. “What are we looking at?”

“Probably Jail time. DA’s office has been cracking down on these kinds of cases the past few months.”

“Is he getting out tonight?”

The lawyer shakes his head. “We have to wait until tomorrow for arraignment and bail.”

“Then, I’ll see you two tomorrow.” You give them a firm nod, exiting the room in a flash.

The Texas air wraps around you as you exit the stale police station. Joel’s pick-up is cool under your fingers, anchoring you to something.

This can’t be happening. You’ve felt him slipping through your fingertips for months, but you wonder if this is it if this is the moment you lose Tommy for good. 

Firm arms wrap around your waist. It’s a warmth you’ve become way too familiar with over the last couple of years. You turn around, letting your tears soak Joel’s shirt as they have so many times before. You twist his shirt in your fists as he cradles your head against his chest. There’s a slight sway in his movements, soothing your wrenching soul. 

“We’re going to get through this.”

“He had cocaine!”

Joel sighs. “I know.”

“I can’t keep doing this. It’s going to kill me.”

“Let’s get you home. Get some sleep.” Joel squeezes you and then guides you into the passenger side seat. “We have a long day tomorrow.”

“What time is-“

“Lawyer said about 11. Wants us to meet them at the courthouse at 10.”

You nod, clearing the tears. “Okay.”

The drive home is quiet. You’re used to Tommy throwing out every excuse in the book, promising he’s going to change. The silence makes you want to scream. How do you go forward? How do you explain to Nathaniel that Daddy won’t be home for a long time? Jail Time. It bounces off the walls of your brain like a gong over and over. 

You’ve done this before. Raise your son alone. Tommy was overseas when Nathaniel was born. You did the first 3 months on your own- or sort of alone. Joel and Sarah spent many nights at your and Tommy’s home those first few months helping you through the learning curve of being a new parent. If you’re completely honest, you’re still doing it alone, but now with a shell of a man to look after as well. 

Joel hands the sitter cash and she’s gone without a word. Your purse and jacket are forgotten on the chair as you collapse onto the couch, holding your head in your hands. The weight of the night threatens to finally break you. 

“Here.” The cool weight of a bottle presses against your jeans.

“Thank you.” You take it, tipping the bottle back in unison with Joel in a quiet ritual. 

“I think I’m just gonna crash on the couch tonight.”

You nod, a humorless huff leaving your chest. “Just like the good ole days, I guess.” 

Joel looks over your profile, catches the wear in your frame, the silent tears slipping from your eyes. The rattle in your chest changes from sarcastic to sorrow and then a sob slips from your lips. 

Joel sets his beer on the coffee table, arm slipping around your shoulders. He pulls your loose body into his side. For the second time that night, your face burrows into his chest. 

“Shhh, I’ve got you, Darlin’. We’ll get through this.” His voice is soft and soothing. His fingers brush softly over your head down to the back of your neck. You fall asleep like that, lulled by the steady beat of his heart. 

You wake up to the morning sun, your body stiff from sleeping on the couch against Joel. He’s up, the smell of coffee wafting toward you. You hear him talking to Sarah and Nathaniel in the kitchen. 

You stand, stretching out your sore muscles in wrinkled clothing following the promise of caffeine. Sarah and Nathaniel sit at the kitchen table with syrupy smiles. 

“Mommy!” Nathaniel yells. 

You force a sleepy smile, kissing his sticky cheek. “Morning, sweet cheeks.” You dip your finger in the syrup on his plate, licking it off your fingertip making him and Sarah laugh. “Morning, Sarah Bear.”

“Morning, Auntie,” She says. “Your clothes are wrinkled.”

Joel’s hand lands on your back and a cup of coffee lands in your hands, sending warmth through your body. The hum in your body is automatic. “Thank you.”

Joel only nods, returning his attention to the pancakes sizzling on the stovetop. You sip on the hot coffee. Joel prepared it exactly how you like it, just like he always does.

 “You hate pancakes.” 

“Yeah, but the gremlins love them.”

“That they do.” You grin, sipping on the coffee again. “Ugh, it’s infuriating the way you come into my home and make better coffee than I do.”

Joel chuckles, flipping two fluffy pancakes onto a plate. He tops them with cut-up strawberries and whipped cream handing them to you with the biggest shit-eating grin. “And pancakes.”

For a minute you forget it all, the impending arraignment, your husband in jail for unregistered weapons and drug possession, the two children sitting mere feet away. It’s just you and Joel and a stack of whipped cream-covered pancakes. Joel who held your hand through labor and helped you with midnight feedings. The man who got you through Tommy’s deployment. The one who always calls the sitter and drives you to the police station when Tommy gets himself in trouble. You and your rock. 

The shattering of glass echoes through the kitchen. “Uh-oh!”

You spin around, taking in the broken glass on the floor. Orange juice leaks over the table, dripping over the edge. You and Joel spring into action, pancakes forgotten. “Both of you stay in your seats,” You say.

Joel grabs the broom before you, sweeping up the shards, his feet already protected in his boots. You turn off the stove, keeping an eye on both children to ensure you don’t add bloodied feet to your morning agenda. 

“Sorry, Daddy,” Sarah says, keeping her feet crisscrossed beneath her. She looked up at you. “Sorry about your glass, Aunt Bonnie.”

You smile at her, handing Joel a towel to soak up the spilled juice. “It’s okay, Sarah bear. I just want you to be okay.”

She nods back, curls bouncing around her face. “I’m okay.”

You sigh, staring at the pancakes on the counter. The whipped cream has melted into a lopsided mound, half of it turned back into cream that soaks through the pancakes. You take a bite, the flavors settling nicely over your tongue even if the texture of the pancakes is slightly off. For a man who claims not to like them, Joel Miller sure knows how to make a mean pancake. 

Your mind plays back to the nickname. Not many people call you Bonnie anymore. Just a few years ago, it had been a constant. Stemming from Tommy’s group of army buddies, they declared you Bonnie for always stealing Tommy away from their group cookouts and whatnot, and Tommy was Clyde due to his propensity for getting into trouble. For whatever reason, probably just to annoy you, Tommy had introduced you to Sarah as “His Bonnie.” So that’s what she calls you. 

Joel empties the remaining shards into the trash can. Several high-pitched clinks sound off until the shards settle. Your fork stirs the whipped cream and syrup together. 

“Pancakes are usually best eaten, not played with.” Joel teases, picking his coffee up to take a sip. His fingers graze your arm as he sets it back down, returning the broom back to its rightful place.

”You don’t even like pancakes.” You furrowed your brow, taking another bite. Whipped cream marks your upper lip. You take another bite. “God, one day you have to tell me your secret.”

Joel chuckles. He leans across the counter, elbows resting against the granite much like yours. He sips on his coffee, eyes watching as you stuff another bite into your mouth. “I’ve got many secrets, Darlin.”

You laugh, mouth full of fruit and cream. “You’re an open fucking book, Miller.”

”I think I could surprise you several times over.” He chuckles. Something sparks behind his eyes like he’s actually keeping something from you. You’ll figure it out. You always do. 

“These are delicious, Joel, but if I take another bite, I’m gonna be sick.”

Joel frowns. “You feeling okay? You don’t have a fever do you?” He presses his fingers to your forehead before you can roll your eyes. 

“Anxiety.”

Joel nods. “You’ve got a little-“ He motions to his mouth.

You cock your head to the side brain not picking up on the obvious signals. He sighs in mock exasperation. Reaching forward, he wipes the whipped cream from your lip with his thumb, pressing the excess to his mouth. The moment catches you off guard, something stirring in the back of your mind as you zero in on the thumb pressed to his lips. 

“You should go get ready.” He says as if nothing happened, taking your plate. “We need to leave in an hour.”

You nod, pushing back from the counter. The weight of the day at hand keeps that moment from playing over and over again on a loop.

”Daddy,” Sarah says. “Isn’t it time for school?”

”You’re going to stay here with Nathaniel and Miss Lacy today. Your aunt and I have some things we have to do.”

”Oh,” Sarah nodded. “Uncle Tommy things?”

You stop, sharing a look with Joel. You’ve tried your best to keep Tommy’s troubles from the kids, but it’s inevitable. Sarah is almost 6 after all. She’s always been incredibly perceptive and observant. 

“Daddy?” Nathaniel asks, looking around. Your heart breaks a little bit. 

Your mind wanders. When will he get to see Tommy again? 

Joel takes the lead when you arrive at the courthouse for which you’re grateful. You’re both dressed in nice clothing. High heels clack beneath you. A tie reaches around Joel’s neck. You hold Tommy’s suit in a garment bag as a guard leads you to an office-like room. Tommy sits at a table with his layer from last night and another man you don’t recognize. They seem to be deep in a serious conversation. 

All three men turn as you enter, making you feel like you’re in the wrong place. You can’t tell if Tommy is relieved to see you or not. A pit forms in your stomach, like you’re not going to like the outcome of this meeting. 

“What’s going on?” You ask. 

The door clicks shut behind you as Joel’s scent creeps around you.

”We’re talking.” Tommy says. 

“About?” You press. 

Tommy sighs, unable to meet your eyes. “A plea deal.” 

You bite your lip, tears threatening to spill from your eyes. This is easier. It’s probably better in the long run, but you’re not ready to face the music. You prepared for court, not a plea deal. Not for Tommy to admit guilt with a stroke of a pen, not a judge in sight. 

“What’s in it?”

”Baby…” Tommy pleads like he wants to make amends right now. 

“What are you signing us up for, Tommy?”

“Two years and a half years. Probation after that.”

You inhale sharply. 

“It’s a good deal,” The man you’ve never seen says. “He’s looking at at least twice that if this goes to court, and he will be convicted if this goes to court.”

You look to Tommy’s lawyer for confirmation. He doesn’t make it obvious but gives you a solid nod. 

“You were about to sign it.” You look at your husband. It’s not a question. 

“Yeah.”

”I’d have appreciated it if you had talked to me first,” you say. 

“You’d have told me to sign it.”

You nod, barely keeping the tears at bay. “Yeah.”

The DA holds a pen out to Tommy. Tommy looks back at you for final permission. You give it, watching that expensive ass pen glides across the paper with Tommy’s chicken scratch of a signature. Your heart breaks with each stroke, crumbling a little more as he dots the I and crosses the T.  

Joel places a hand on your shoulder. The heat spreads, anchoring you to the moment, keeping you afloat as you stare down the barrel of being a single mother yet again. 

Tommy slides the paper back to the DA. He looks them over, tapping them against the table with a satisfied nod as if a family hadn’t been torn apart. 

“You have about 30 minutes before they come to get him.”

”That’s it?” You ask. “We can’t even take him ourselves?”

The DA shrugs like he’s being generous, igniting a deep hatred of him inside you. You don’t even know his name. He holds up the papers before sliding them into his briefcase. “Terms of the plea deal.”

You clutch your fists as he walks out of the room. Tommy’s lawyer slips out with him, and then Joel, leaving just you and Tommy. 

He stands and you finally realize it’s all happening again. You’ll be alone, worrying about your husband though this time for different reasons. 

“Baby, I-” He steps towards you. You don’t move offering zero indication that you register Tommy’s movements. 

He reaches for your hands, but you pull them back. “You weren’t supposed to take the Bonnie and Clyde thing seriously.” 

You fight back tears, turning so he can’t see them. “Pretty sure they both died.”

A humorless laugh leaves your body as you collapse onto a couch, holding your head in your hands. 

Tommy kneels in front of you, slowly peeling your hands from your face, taking them into his. Despite it all, you feel yourself melting into his familiar touch. It only confirms what you are beginning to fear. It doesn’t matter what Tommy does, you’ll always be here waiting for him. He is the love of your life and you would burn the world down to look into his sweet brown eyes and feel his skin against yours. 

You look at him through blurry eyes, sniffing back the congestion gathering in your sinuses. He gives you that crooked smile you love so much, and you feel better despite the weight bearing on your shoulders. The past three years have aged him ten. You suppose time has done the same to you.

Slowly, he presses his lips to your hands. “I know I fucked up. If-” He pauses, swallowing. His thumb plays with the thin gold band on your left hand. “If you’re not waiting for me when I get out I understand.”

You squeeze his hand. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

Tommy snorts. “Easily? Just last week you were yelling at me for putting you through hell.”

“Yeah, well…” You run your fingers through his black curls as you sniff back your tears. “You kinda hold my heart in your hands, Tommy Miller. I don’t think I could get it back if I tried.”

He smiles at you. You lean forward, pressing your lips to his. His hands creep up your thighs as he rises to his feet. Your back collides with the plush back of the couch as your fingers tangle in his long hair. Tommy presses his tongue into your mouth, a smile growing across your face. This is the first taste of your Tommy you’ve had in months, the one you fell in love with. 

The door opens, and before Tommy can pull away, Joel’s gruff voice echoes through the room. “Prospect of going to jail really puts you two in the mood, huh?” 

Heat surges to your cheeks. You’re not sure why. You and Tommy had been caught in much more compromising positions throughout your relationship.

“Gotta get what I can while I’m still a free man.” Tommy grins at his big brother, pressing another exaggerated kiss to your lips. Joel’s eyes move to the corner of the room. Your smile feels a little more forced after that. 

Your thirty minutes fly at lightning speed. They take Tommy before you’re ready. Any energy you gain from Tommy’s affection is drained the moment he’s led out of sight. You barely catch the look he gives Joel.

”Take care of them.”

Joel nods, gripping his brother’s shoulder. There’s a silent exchange between them. “Take care of yourself.”

 A clerk goes over everything with you and Joel. You’re given a strict list of items you can drop off for Tommy at the prison. You don’t process a word, the weight of it all falling on top of you. You came to the courthouse today expecting an arraignment and bail, not to be kissing your husband goodbye for the next year and change. It feels unfair like something was taken from you. 

Joel is the one who keeps it together. He always keeps it together. He asks the questions and makes note of the important things. He secures the horde of important documents held limply in your hands. 

When the clerk says your name for a second time, or maybe a third, you’re not sure, it snaps you out of the fog. Joel’s eyes are sympathetic as he holds out a pen. His single nod tells you he has all the information in his head. You can sign. You don’t have to think. You sign as flashes of Tommy doing the same filter through your vision. 

The pen drops to the table as you push back headed straight for the nearest exit. You feel like you’re in a dream. Joel catches up, tucking everything you forgot under his arm. He grabs your elbow, steering your aimless body in the right direction. He doesn’t ask if you’re okay. He knows the answer. 

You feel like a toddler, wandering and lost, relying on Joel’s firm grip to get anywhere. He opens doors and boots you into his pickup, patting the door once it’s closed. The car is warm from the sun. You fumble with the seat belt, but Joel’s calloused hands are there, guiding your weary bones. 

The ride is silent. You basket in the warm sun, head pressed to the window with your eyes closed. The world feels so far away, but you’re extremely tuned into the heat of the sun, the rumble of the truck on the shitty roads, the blinking indicator light, and Joel’s listless tapping on the steering wheel when the vehicle draws to a stop from time to time, toeing the line between consciousness.

This is just a dream, right? You’ll wake up soon and Tommy will be behind you, drawing random patterns around your stomach hip, or thigh. The past year of your life and the past 12 hours have just been the world’s longest nightmare. That’s all. 

The truck lurches to a stop. The engine turns off with a distinct click. Your eyes blink open slowly. Your stretch out, toes curling in your dress shoes. Joel’s tie lays haphazardly on the dash. His cuffs are unbuttoned, pushed to his elbows, and the top couple of buttons of his dress shirt are undone. He still looks out of place in his dress attire, but a little more like himself. He hadn’t dressed this nicely for your and Tommy’s courthouse wedding. 

Your eyes drift out the windshield. A neon light reflects off your irises. This isn’t home. You look at Joel. “Why are we here?”

His seat belt comes undone with a click, snapping back. “We’re going to go in there and get drunk off our asses.”

”It’s the middle of the day.”

Joel raises an eyebrow at you. 

”Can we just go home?”

”No.”

”Why the fuck not?”

“Because we have a sitter all day, and you deserve a night before the weight of the world falls back on your shoulders.”

”Joel.” You want to go home and crawl in bed.

”This is three times longer than his deployment.” The statement hits you square in the chest. “You need this. Give yourself today. If you don’t do it now, you never will.”

You sigh, staring down the flickering neon in front of you. He’s right. You know he is. You might be exhausted, but it’s tempting. When was the last time you let go? Maybe that one good month you had after Tommy got back? When it was all making up for lost time and shit. 

“We’ve got a sitter for the whole day,” Joel says. “My treat.”

You inhale deeply, allowing the memories of drunken nights past to fill your brain. You can feel the thrum of alcohol already. You haven’t cut loose in a long time unless you count the nights spent at home alone drowning away the world after you’d tucked your son in for the night. 

Your fingers press the red release button of your seat belt. The metal buckle hits the window. “Fuck it. Let’s go.”

Joel smiles, dragging you inside.  

Taglist: @pamasaur @alltheotps @rizzraa @moel-jiller @misstokyo7love @justagalwhowrites @pedritosgfreal

[im-turnip]

I also think Buck was introduced as Evan Buckley, and Tommy assumed that 'Buck' was a family-and-friends nickname. However I'd also like to add the element that when Buck called Tommy to set up the tour he stammered through introductions in the way one does with a crush and introduced himself as Evan, so Tommy assumed that's how most people called him and by the time it was explained to him he was already used to calling him Evan.

I also like to think that Tommy tried calling him Buck at one point maybe a few weeks into dating and Buck immediately snapped his head up like "are you mad at me" and Tommy said no he was just trying something new and Buck said he liked the way his name sounded when Tommy said it so he decided to just stick with Evan

I seen something someone posted (idk who or id link it) that the first time Tommy really meets the Buckley parents (not counting the wedding) for dinner at the madney house he purposefully calls him Buck to prove a point to his parents and I love it

[latetothepartyandconfused]

@sbibingo day 1: superhero au

[ID: traditional drawing, sbi/dsmp fanart. It shows wilbur, philza, techno and tommy from the front, all with neutral expression. Wilbur has black suit, belt and mask that covers the left part of his face and short yellow jacket. Phil has black suit with class on his fingers, green dress, black bird-like mask, head cover with green and white stripes and black/grey cape. Techno has pig mask, red eyes, tan skin and and long pink hair. He is wearing white suit wizh red shods and belt, golden stripes around the edges and fur/fluff around the neck. Tommy has white mask and suit with green triangle on the neck and red stripes on the shoulders and wide red stripe on his right arm. Their superpowers are written next to them. Wilbur has placebo power, Philza flying and healing, Techno enhanced speed, strength and sences and Tommy speed and fire End ID]

I really like kind of reverse hero-villain thing. So the idea with this is basaicaly that you have this world where everyone has superpowers, some stronger than others (the maximum level being 20- that level is extremly rare). Those powers can 'wake up' at any point of life but most comonly between the ages 0 and 25. Now if you have power above the level 12, you are legally obliged to join the hero force. They serve as sort of police/army. They have to live outside of the rest of society which helps to make them into a legends of sorts, they live in often terrible conditions and have to follow strict rules. They go on missions and for every successful mission, they get a reward but for a failed one they are punished. The villains on the other hand are not a unified group. Villain is basically anyone who is not hero but possesses enought power (doesn't have to be magical) to be a threat. They mostly work as individuals or form smaller groups (thought there are some exceptions from that). All of sbi have high level of power. Wilbur's power is placebo power which means you have the power other people believe you have. I believe the other powers don't need explaining Phil is Will's father and Techno and Tommy are niot related to them (age wise Techno is between Philza and Wilbur and Tommy is little bit youger than will) Phil got his powers around the age of 23 but didn't won't to join the heros so he hid them. Wilbur got his power around the age of 19. He told Philza he has the same powers as him as they are often hereditary so he would believe him easily. later he also got fire and low persuassion powers (all from the placebo power). He decided to join the heros but promised Phil to not speak of his powers. From that moment on, his contact with phil (or anyone else) was cut. Phil tried to contact him multiple times but unsuccessfully and after some time he decided that he needs to know what's going on and broke into the place Will was at (turning himself into a villain) Shortly before that, Will caussed failure of some mission and also broke some of the important rules of the heros and was beaten up and tortured as a punishment. When Phil found him he was dying, but he managed to heal him. After that they both became villains. Wilbur knew techno (a villain) from his time as a hero and they joined with him. Tommy is a young hero who is sent to capture the trio. They immediately take liking in him and are curently trying to convince him to join them.

[lemonzestywrites]

Excited for all your wips! I’d love to hear more about the come out fic!

hi there!! this is actually a wip i started after 7x04 as like a little spec come out scene between hen and buck the morning after his kiss with tommy

i really only got the dialogue done but i still really enjoy their dynamic. i still don't know if ill ever get it finished but id definitely love to one day!

The memory of the night prior flutters through his mind delightfully. Of the softness of Tommy’s lips on his, the scratch of his stubble, the smell of his cologne. It’s been nearly 12 hours since, and Buck’s mind is still filled with the aching presence, with every recollection in clear detail. Before he realizes it his cheeks are aching with how much he’s been smiling over this. Over Tommy. Buck shakes his head. He’s not sure how he can really put it into words, honestly though. So instead, he just tries to keep his attention to his locker, knowing if he looks over and Hen sees the smitten look on his face, he’s absolutely done for. (God, when has ever been smitten before?) “I had a good night, actually,” he replies. The words fall with ease and for a moment, Buck is in the clear. But then his mind can’t help but supply the memory once again, of getting kisses senselessly in his own kitchen by one of the hottest men he’s ever met and before he can stop it he’s dropping his head down and softly muttering- “Like a really good night.” Hen laughs, face twisting at the words like she has an image in her head she can’t shake, “Okay, that’s all I need to know,” she immediately replies back. “-No, no. Not like that,” he interjects quickly. “It was just a kiss.” Buck’s mouth snaps shut.  Fuck.  Hen turns to him, a little amused and equally curious. “Former player Evan Buckley is all head over heels for a kiss?” “Formerly redeemed player,” he points out. Hen smiles, turning back to her locker. He can still see the way she’s watching him out of the corner of her eye. “She must’ve been a damn good kisser then.”

[issybettyx]

No one asked for crimeboys so i’m offering crimeboys (it’s actually crimeboys fluff /gen the tags are so offputting)

—— // death, murder, blood mention, weapons. This is not canon divergent, it’s an au, more modern day

“How do I look?” Tommy asked, tugging at the hem of his suit top as he turned, Ghostbur smiling with all the pride in the world.

“You look awesome, Tommy!” He replied without an ounce of hesitation, and Tommy couldn’t help but return the smile. And then, Ghostbur cocked his head to the side, a questioning look on his face as Tommy readjusted the tie. “What’s the occasion?”

“There’s a party, and a special someone is attending.” Tommy explained, not wanting to break the smile on Ghostbur’s face. The Ghost deemed it good enough, however, and simply returned with a hum, fixing Tommy’s tie for him. “You can’t follow, okay? I’ll be back by two.”

And now Ghostbur was frowning. “Two? That’s a little late, will you be safe?”

Well. Safe isn’t exactly the word Tommy would use. It was risky, and he’d be a witness for a murder simply because he attended the party, and so many eyes could be on them.

But it would be worth it. Wil didn’t deserve today, someone needed to avenge him.

It had taken months to find his murderer, and when he told the police about his findings they’d laughed in his face simply because he was 15. Underestimated, angry, and absolutely blood-hungry, Tommy decided he would handle it himself.

So here he stood, knife tucked into his boots and a gun hidden beneath his jacket (just in case, guns are a little loud so he didn’t plan on using it).

The one thing in the whole case that he was unsure of is what would happen to Ghostbur.

Old texts explained that if you took the life of a murderer, it revived their victims. Most people didn’t believe this myth, but Tommy clung to it as if it was a childhood blanket.

“Tommy? You’ll be safe right?” Ghostbur asked again, face unsure as Tommy glanced back at him, immediately giving him a reassuring smile. Lying wasn’t exactly what he wanted to do, but to keep Ghostbur with a smile on his face it was always worth it.

“Perfectly.” He replied, and when Ghostbur grinned, he immediately knew he’d made the right decision.

——

Tommy walked up to the bouncer, fake ID in his pocket and a confident smile on his face that was anything but feigned. The bouncer raised an eyebrow at him, stepping in front of the doorway.

“Name?”

“Tommy Innit.” He responded, watching the man’s eyes flick down the list and sighing when he paused at one point on the page.

“Age?” He asked reluctantly, ticking off his name before looking back up.

“18.” He replied without an ounce of hesitation, and it seemed to work, the man letting him inside without any more questions, stepping aside and motioning to the hallway. Obviously, Tommy wasted no time in walking down it, looking at the walls of paintings.

There was one man that looked familiar, his name etched into a golden name plate below it.

‘Techno Blade.’

It seemed he was in the right place.

Not that Techno had done anything, no Wilbur was quite fond of his twin brother, and Tommy had no plans to be anything but kind to him.

When he was starting to reach the end of the hallway, the music was loud, and the chatter of the crowd was even louder.

Tommy wasted no time in scanning the crowd, letting his feet fall on the perfectly polished wooden ground as he looked.

One person caught his eye, a blue beanie pressed over long hair, a scar travelling up the left side of his face, and when he smiled a golden tooth reflected in the artificial flashing lights. His suit was a deep blue, and his tie was a similar colour, a white shirt beneath it.

He remembered his files saying that was a man named ‘Quackity’, well acquainted with Techno, and therefore would be amazing to know.

So, he made his way over, noticing he was talking with a few other people but not bothering to spare them a glance, making sure Quackity looked him in the eyes before offering his hand.

“Tommy Innit.” He introduced himself with the most confident smile he could manage, “Big fan of what you’ve built in Las Nevadas.”

And then Quackity smiled back. “Why thank you Tommy, that means a lot man.” He shook his hand, taking in Tommy’s attire and smile. “What brings you to The Blade’s party?”

The lie came easy. It was almost scary. “I was a close friend of Wilbur’s and we’ve gotten closer since his passing, so he invited me to meet some of you amazing people.” Tommy explained, and though it was slightly true, Tommy had never spoken to Techno. All he’d done was hack into the club’s system and put his name on the list (in his defence they needed to increase their online security, it’s really not that difficult) after having confirmation the murderer was invited, he made sure to make it his only mission to get there whether he had to befriend Techno or not.

“Oh I’m sorry for your loss.” Quackity said with a frown, and Tommy just gave him a warm smile, before making it confident again.

“Anyways, I’m looking for a certain someone, do you know-“

“So you must be Tommy.” A deep voice started from behind him, making him turn to see The Techno Blade in all of his powerful glory. His staple pink hair was tied into a tight bun on his head, his suit a dark pink with a dark red tie, a black shirt underneath. The even face he always wore remained as he stared at Tommy, no malice in his blood red eyes or his strange frown - smile? He wasn’t sure - and it was, admittedly, slightly unnerving.

“I thought you said you knew him?” Quackity whispered from behind, and Tommy shrugged.

“Good friends, know of him, same thing.” Tommy responded much less quietly, turning back to Techno and offering his hand with that same smile he gave Quackity, “Glad to make your acquaintance Techno Blade.”

Techno stared at the hand for a moment, tucking his own behind his back and keeping them there until Tommy’s hand dropped.

“Who are you?” He asked slowly, looking Tommy up and down. “I don’t think I’ve heard of you before.”

“Ouch.” Tommy replied before he could stop himself, coughing into his hand to hide his embarrassment at blurting out such a thing in such a place. “I was a good friend of Wil’s.”

And that seemed to trigger something.

And somehow, it still wasn’t anger. Techno didn’t look angry, nor did he looked confused, he simply looked… sad.

“Oh, so you’re that Tommy.” Techno said, and if Tommy had never felt relief before then he knew that this was it, his ability to breathe returning to him easily at the fact Techno actually knew of him. “He used to talk to you all the time, wanted to invite you over for dinner one day but he never got the chance.” Techno explained, and Tommy frowned, looking back at Quackity for help, but the man seemed as lost as he felt.

“Wilbur was…” he started, drifting off.

This was something he’d tried before. Trying to explain the man in one word that summed him up. The best one he ever came up with was ‘awesome’, but that never truly explained how much adoration Tommy felt for him, how much admiration he felt towards him, the feeling of content he always felt as Wilbur’s hands danced across the guitar in only a way he could master.

But when Techno nodded, a small smile finally prying at his lips, he knew he must’ve done something right.

“He was.”

Tommy wasn’t sure how he’d ended up in one of the back-rooms, a wine glass in one hand with the other hand picking at strands on his trousers that totally weren’t stolen, opposite Techno Blade, the man simply staring at his own glass of wine.

“You know,” Techno started, and Tommy was so glad he didn’t have to start the conversation, yet a little terrified he didn’t know where it was going, “When Wilbur told me about having a new friend, I didn’t expect you to be a child.”

Tommy took this moment to slam his wine glass down, sending Techno a glare as he smirked.

“I am not a child, I’m 18.”

Techno scoffed, sipping his own wine before carefully placing it down. “You’re hardly 16.”

It was true. Tommy was 16 in two months, but if Techno found out there was a chance he would be kicked out, and he was hardly glad about being a child.

“You really think Wilbur would befriend a child?” Tommy tried, but Techno smirked.

“He wanted to give you a surprise party for your 16th.” Is what he said, and Tommy paused, brows furrowing as a million thoughts ran through his mind.

Did Ghostbur know about this?

Who would’ve been at the party?

Is it still going to happen?

Tommy had a feeling Techno didn’t know about Ghostbur, so he wasn’t keen on asking most of his questions, nor did he really want to entertain the idea any longer than necessary.

“Okay so maybe i’m legally a child, but not at heart.”

The gun still in his pocket proved that.

“Anyone who’s experienced grief knows it’s tricky to be a kid, constantly plagued by the inevitability of death.” Techno went on, and Tommy couldn’t help but think how much of a nerd this man was. It made sense he was Wilbur’s twin, he wouldn’t have pictured him any other way. “And the fact you managed to hack into my system and edit things says a lot.”

Tommy paused. “Excuse me what?”

“My security is some of the best, it was created by my friend Sam, no one can hack into it, and if they can it’s hardly easy to change anything anyways.” Techno explained, and Tommy’s mouth opened in shock. “So when one of my employees was going over the list and read out a name that I’d never heard before, I wanted to meet this amazing hacker.” He looked into Tommy’s eyes, and the boy fidgeted under his gaze.

“Well I wouldn’t say I’m amazing.” Tommy tried, but when Techno smirked again he couldn’t help but sheepishly smile back. “My friend Tubbo taught me how to hack a few years ago, it’s quite simple if you know how computers work.”

They continued to talk. Conversations flowed horribly easily and Tommy hardly found himself thinking about anything else.

Well, he was thinking about the inevitability of death. Or rather the opposite.

A knock interrupted them, and Techno called for them to come in.

And Tommy had to hide his grin behind his hand.

“Hey Tech, people have been asking for you.” Phil asked, looking between Techno and Tommy, the latter trying to stop his hand from grabbing the blade in his boot. It wouldn’t be a great first impression. “Who’s this?” He finally asked, squinting at Tommy as if that would help him in figuring it out.

“I’m Tommy.” He replied before Techno could do it for him, jumping to stand and offering his hand. “You’re Phil Watson.”

“So you’re the infamous Tommy we’ve heard so much about,” Phil said with a smile too warm that it made Tommy falter, the older shaking his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before.” Tommy mumbled with a smile, and Phil laughed back.

He almost forgot about the blood on the man’s hands, but when he did he quickly pulled his hand back.

“Wilbur told me a lot about you.” Tommy lied. In fact, Wilbur had never said much about his Dad, which was a red flag in itself. “You were a good father to him.”

Once, Wilbur had told him how his Dad had given his twin all of his birthday presents and completely forgot they had been born on the same day. He seemed indifferent, if a bit amused, but Tommy had hated the man ever since.

But now he was stood in front of Phil, his blonde hair tied back into a loose ponytail, a dark green suit over a white shirt, his warm smile reaching his blue eyes. At first glance, he seemed like a lovely man who raised amazing sons. Tommy had a feeling only he knew the man had taken his own son’s life.

“I did my best,” Phil replied, looking at Techno then back at Tommy, a conflicted look crossing his face before it disappeared almost immediately. “You were like a brother to him, you know? The amount he talked about you the more i wanted to meet you, I felt like I already knew you,” Phil started, and Tommy’s mind yelled at him to pull the knife from his boot before he lost the chance to, “Looking at you now, however, you don’t seem like the boy he told me about.”

“Death changes people, Mr Watson.”

“Please, call me Phil.”

Tommy hid his grimace. It was now or never.

It was kind of sad that he would lose this growing friendship with Techno so early on.

“Alright Phil,” Tommy started with an amused smile, pulling the gun out of his pocket without an ounce of hesitation. He heard Techno suck in a breath behind him, and he watched as Phil’s eyes flicked down to the gun, then back up at Tommy, his face expressionless. “As your son so expertly explained to me just a few minutes ago, I’m constantly plagued by the inevitability of death, before Wilbur passed it had never even crossed my mind.”

“Tommy-“

“You have no right to speak my name.” Tommy spat back, holding the gun closer to the man’s chest, making him clamp his mouth shut. “So I researched, I found a way to bring Wilbur back, to undo the inevitable.” Tommy could feel Techno’s eyes flicking between him and his dad, an emotion in his eyes that he was unsure of. “And that is to kill his murderer.”

Phil’s face stilled for a moment.

And then he smiled, warm and bright and comforting; Tommy didn’t fall for it, and it seemed neither did Techno, the man unmoving where he sat.

“Why would I kill my own son?” Phil asked slowly, continuing to smile as if the concept was absurd.

But Tommy rolled his eyes. “You hardly knew that he existed, he was a stranger to you.”

“Wilbur-“

“You even try and say his name and this bullet will go through your stomach.” Tommy threatened, and Phil sighed.

“He was my son, I gave everything to make him happy.”

“He may have been your son, but you were never his dad.” When the silence stretched on too long, they finally heard Techno stand, and Tommy had to fight everything in him to not take his eyes from Phil. It seemed Phil didn’t think the same, looking as Techno walked towards them, and stopped right beside Tommy, a fierce look in his eyes.

“Techno?” He asked, voice shaking ever so slightly as the man looked at the ground, biting his bottom lip.

“I knew you did it, but I knew no one would believe me.” He confessed, not being able to look his father in the eyes, “And I also knew I wouldn’t have the heart to hand you over to the police.”

“You know,” Phil started, and Tommy felt the anger in his chest start to bubble, his finger itching over the trigger, “I would’ve expected this from your brother, but never from you, what happened to forever?”

“If I had the choice of forever with you or with my twin brother, I think you know who I’d choose.”

Tommy smirked. “May I?” He asked, and he saw in his peripheral as Techno hesitantly nodded, clearly still conflicted over the topic. But as Wilbur had once said, emotion always overpowered sensibility. “Fuck you.”

The gunshot was loud, but the party was louder.

No one knew who’d killed Phil Watson. No one knew how Wilbur Soot had been brought back from the dead.

No one ever knew much, even when they thought they did. Even when they knew death was irreversible, their knowledge was proven wrong as Wilbur hugged his brothers tight, the nightmare of a train-station constantly replaying in his head like a disc that never stopped turning.

But it wasn’t real, not anymore. And it didn’t matter if he had his brothers in his arms.

The name Phil Watson was forgotten, and no one ever questioned the murder of Wilbur Soot again.

[quotemenevervore]

Mmmmmmmmmmm

Fuck it, shrunken manhunt timeline:

First time, between Sapnap and Dream, getting Dream out of the nether

Second time, Sapnap avoiding him and George and the two finally talk and Dream lets him store him again

Third time was Quackity shrinking by mistake, both Q and Karl’s first time being stored (Karl breakdown arc start) (At some point before or during this would be the first time Sam stores Dream)

Fourth time is when Quackity discovers his storing instincts/abilities, and going feral (around this time id say Sam and Dream’s continuous nom thing is going on)

Fifth time is the fiancés comforting/making Karl rest via noms (the two times he isn’t made completely uncomfortable by it) (at this time Eggpire Bad was getting closer to the point where he noms Skeppy)

Between these times is Q storing Slime for the first time, after being accidentally triggered into instincts by Tubbo’s visit

Sixth time is the game between the dream team, immediately followed by Sapnap shrinking to try and help George’s fear (and accidentally revealing feral Q) (around this time Wilbur would have made his agreement with Quackity about helping each other with instincts, and at some point between this and the next time he visits the fiancé household and teaches them how to preen him)

Between this and the next time Q noms Sapnap to make him relax after he spent all day mining and was achy

Seventh time is Sapnap being caught storing George by Sam, revealing Q as a pred and having difficult instincts

Eighth time is Karl being revealed as a shapeshifter with the ability to store people (and be stored in that form, that fics not done yet)

Ninth time is the feral boys hide and seek game (after which Sapnap and Dream start looking into the latter’s traits and find he’s an axolotl hybrid) (after that, Sapnap is called to save Skeppy from Eggpire Bad storing and trapping him there, and begins the recovery of the family)

Before the XD incident, comes the discovery of the purple potion and Dream nomming George to test it. It becomes common knowledge after that point.

At some point between these two is the XD incident with Sapnap and Dream

Tenth time is likely the Karl traveling incident

Eleventh is when the Karl breakdown arc comes to its close with George forcing all of them to talk to each other and Karl coming clean

Twelve is Hibernation™️ with all the households

At some point after hibernation is when Techno and Quackity finally come to good terms with each other, via each being nommed by the other for their safety and then actually talking.

Thirteen would be Tommy trying to prank Q and failing

Fourteen would be the Sapnap/Tommy incident with the ancient city

Fifteen would be the growing incident where George grows instead of shrinks Dream in a manhunt

The happy fam nom fic is our sixteenth

I think that’s got it pretty caught up? I’ll edit if I missed something

[bonesandthebees]

7 sbi and 8 leaving

7. I am so incredibly happy wilbur has phil and techno. someone to be proud of him. someone whos judgement he respects. someone he's gonna believe when they say they are proud. someone that cares. and someone that respects him and his wishes. sbi fambly has me weak on my knees every time. its finally having those people in his life for wilbur. its so important to me how phil clearly shows that he has the same love and care for wilbur that he has for tommy, treating them the same, just adjusted to what they both need (OH SANDDUO MY BELOVED SANDDUO). not that techno doesnt show the fact he accepts wilbur into their little family too, his own way, say stuff like "we've taught you well" and "kid", showing worry for wilburs safety etc. and like phil, techno and tommy have been this to each other for a while and now theyre also there for wilbur. I mean look how they were immediately ready to get wilbur out of erets reach, expecting he wouldnt want to go back and having a plan prepared to help. and they let tommy go away with wilbur and like yeah they have no right to try and hold him back, but its how accepting of it they are, like they clearly knew tommy will leave with wilbur and they respect it, knowing its the best for them both even tho that means letting them go, even if hopefully for just a while, like that parental/caregiver feelings must be screaming.

and phil calling wilbur MINE to protect just tops it all perfectly, wraps it up in a decorative paper like the best gift, going straight to you heart

8. the option to leave is so dhfhhfhdhd. like yeah maybe it is that easy. just leave. get away from it all. the little "Oh. <i>Oh.</i>" when wilbur realises he can just do that. he can just leave. hes free. fully free to do so kinda for the first time in his life. and once its sure tommy would go with him, its easy. like yeah they have to smuggle through the border and get fake ids and stuff, but after all theyve been though it feels easy. there is a clear solution for his situation. the knowledge that if they manage to get past the borders (a pretty simple tho risky task) hell be fine. like yes he still has to figure himself out but hell be somewhere where he is free to do so and tommy will be there. what more to ask for. its the clearest idea of what will come theyve ever had. and it says that they will be okay.

also than in comes quackity with a suggestion they might be seeing a familiar face sooner than expected, which sounds nice.

and in the end they do it. they get past the border. they leave and theyre safe and together and theyll be okay fjjdjsjsjyj

sbi family is very important in glass for several reasons but especially so wilbur has some basis of caring relationships outside of JUST tommy lol

both phil and techno have accepted wilbur into their family at this point. from the start phil and techno both knew that eret was probably not going to let the pythia go, it was just a matter of the two of them figuring out if that's what wilbur wanted or not. because even though they both had figured out that being the pythia was destroying wilbur, neither of them were going to take that choice away from him. if he made the decision to go back to his role with eret in charge, neither one of them were going to stop him.

but then wilbur confesses that he doesn't want to be the pythia anymore, and all bets are off. both of them started brainstorming escape ideas for wilbur before the palace invasion even happened because even though they weren't certain, they both had a gut feeling eret was going to pull this.

I think techno was the one who pointed out to phil that tommy was definitely going to go with wilbur if he left. and while phil was reluctant, he knows his kid and he knew there was no way he could stop him. and he also knew there was no way wilbur would go without him.

yes the oh!! he can just leave! it always seemed so impossible but the option is always there. to just pick up your bags and go. get out. get away from all of this. the country is dealing with too much chaos of its own to hunt him down. not to mention, again, he's probably gonna be assumed dead from the palace burning down.

[scoupsahoy]

random finale opinions that i need to get out there

1. i LOVE plot armour 🥰🥰🥰 i love bobby being saved by the narrative. that being said 14 minutes is fucking insane and they didnt even really give him the buck coma treatment.... they probably could have if they didn't spend three entire episodes on the cruise

2. tommy has been pretty consistently written as someone who does not understand or really attempt to understand buck since 7x5. more than the daddy kink joke (which was like idk in relatively poor taste but i can see that they were like. flirting) the "your father is alive" was REALLY pointed and completely shifted the conversation from something that could have been serious into something flirty (something something buck and his previous relationships having been very surface-level and falling back on this "comfortably" even though he's clearly aching for something else) it just. that pissed me off WAY more. BUT. that plus the outfit at the bach party and the fact that lou was instructed to call buck evan EXCLUSIVELY is painting a really obvious picture for me that they're going to have a more serious break up which i think is being framed as something good

3. i hate eddies parents as much as the next guy but i understand why they took chris and i think it will be good for eddie to prioritize himself for the first time in his entire life without worrying about emotionally scarring his teenager. again i think this sets up an opportunity for growth and is being framed in an understandable way TO ME. maybe im giving the writers too much credit but this is the found family show

4. chris calling his grandparents in the first place does not make sense to me however. he's never done that.

5. buck not hugging eddie makes sense to me as well. like id love if they hugged sure but every time theyve ever hugged has been eddie hugging buck for buck's sake. buck likes to hug. but he also respects eddie's space and i think he was just like. comforting him the way eddie is most comfortable (shoulder touch, thumb rub) and i don't think it was weird that that's all that happened. i think that this does give eddie room to hug buck when he's ready to

6. gerrard being there sucks but it's giving when bill hader became interim captain on brooklyn 99 in between seasons and then immediately had a heart attack at the beginning of the next season. here's hoping

7. i don't have a hot take about the madney henren stuff other than it should have gotten more time and the abridged season really fucked them for so many of these storylines. i understand the people who think it's bullshit and i understand the people who think it's sweet and i feel like if it was given more time and therefore care it would have been received better

8. cartel bad (everyone agrees)

9. athena. girl. (everyone agrees)

10. in general i think a lot of people hopped onto this show really suddenly expecting it to be something other than what it was. it is a network television show: there are going to be corny dramatic unrealistic storylines and that's baked into the dna of the thing. it's an ensemble television show: it's not the bisexual buck show it's going to juggle storylines that are quite frankly more important and especially in a new-network abridged season, it's going to fuck it up a bit. next season is going to be better because they had more time with it before filming. this season had big ideas and poor planning. idk. people are expecting this show to be the pinnacle of television and it is JUST a television show. i have fun watching and that's sort of the point

i'll let these thoughts marinate but i wanted them to sit somewhere

[swldx]

BBC 0409 4 May 2024

12095Khz 0359 4 MAY 2024 - BBC (UNITED KINGDOM) in ENGLISH from TALATA VOLONONDRY. SINPO = 55434. English, dead carrier s/on @0358z with ID@0359z pips and Newsroom preview. @0401z World News anchored by Chris Berrow. Three Indian nationals have been arrested and charged over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada, which sparked a major diplomatic row between the two countries. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead last June by masked gunmen in a busy car park in a Vancouver suburb. The diplomatic row escalated after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged India's government may have been involved. A hydroelectric dam has collapsed in southern Brazil after days of heavy rains that triggered massive flooding, killing more than 30 people. Officials say another 60 people are missing in Rio Grande do Sul state. About 15,000 residents have fled their homes since Saturday. At least 500,000 people are without power and clean water across the state. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says, “There has not been any movement [in the hostage negotiations] in the past few days. There is a proposal on the table that answers much of the demands that Hamas made in previous rounds of negotiations. Israel made a significant offer in this last proposal that went forward [in which] they compromised on many long held positions that they had taken. It met many of the demands that Hamas had said they needed to agree to a deal, so we believe it’s now incumbent upon them to take the deal,” Miller says. “Hamas is the only barrier to a ceasefire right now and immediate ceasefire, and we were waiting their response,” he adds. Former White House aide Hope Hicks became emotional towards the end of her testimony Friday afternoon during former US President Donald Trump's hush-money trial. Ms Hicks served as Mr Trump's campaign spokesperson during 2016 and was a close confidante. Asked if she would agree that Cohen would protect Mr Trump out of the "kindness of his heart", as the former president had claimed, Ms Hicks replied: "That would be out of character for Michael.'' The US has blamed the Rwandan army and M23 rebel group for the deadly bombing of a displacement camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At least nine people, including seven children, were killed in the strike on the Mugunga camp in the eastern city of Goma on Friday. The Congolese army and M23 blamed each other for the attack. Rwanda, which borders DR Congo, is widely accused of backing the rebel group, which it denies. Thousands of Georgians protested on Friday in fresh rallies against a controversial "foreign influence" bill backed by the government but criticised for mirroring repressive Russian legislation. The presence of pine martens in Northern Ireland has almost doubled, according to a new report. The elusive native mammal had been greatly reduced due to habitat loss and persecution in the 19th century. However, a new survey report by Ulster Wildlife has shown significant pine marten expansion across all counties since 2017. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled Friday honoring the vocal quartet Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons for a career that began in 1962 and included such memorable songs as “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” and “Walk Like a Man.” On his 90th birthday, Valli accepted the star on behalf on keyboard player and tenor vocalist Bob Gaudio, who was unable to attend, baritone vocalist and lead guitarist Tommy DeVito, who died in 2020, and bass guitarist and bass vocalist Nick Massi, who died in 2000. @0406z "The Newsroom" begins. 250ft unterminated BoG antenna pointed E/W w/MFJ-1020C active antenna (used as a preamplifier/preselector), JRC NRD-535D. 250kW, beamAz 315°, bearing 63° . Received at Plymouth, MN, United States, 15359KM from transmitter at Talata Volonondry. Local time: 2259.

[rjalker]

It was a living beetle!

A beetle fully five feet high as it stood erect, a pair of enormous wings outspread. And the head, which was larger than a man's, was the most frightful object Tommy had ever seen.

Jim Dodd would have said at once that this was one of the Curculionidae, or snout beetles, for a prolongation of the head between the eyes formed a sort of beak a foot in length. The mouth, which opened downward, was armed with terrific mandibles, while the huge, compound eyes looked like enormous crystals of cut glass. Immediately in front of the eyes were two mandibles as long as a man's arms, with feathery processes at the ends. In addition to these there were three pairs of legs, the front pair as long as a man's, the hind pair almost as long as a horse's.

can't be bothered to skim more of this to see if it ever says what colors they are but they do have pretty shells

[ID: A black and white illustration with the background cut crudely away, showing a large beetle that stands mostly upright. It has a dark shell with two large white spots on the lower top, and more white blocky markings around the edges. Its head is long and dark with a large eye on either side, and a pointed beak-like protuberance. Its antenne are long and flexible. End ID.]

public domain bug people 01

I don't think these guys were ever given their own species name. From The Beetle Horde, by the incredibly racist Victor Roussoue Emmanuel or however you spell his name.

[mourninglamby]

i dont even know whats going on at twitchcon but seeing the “letters from innittwt” book tommy posted that he got from a fan made me tear up a bit this kid deserves all the love in the world man 

[modelbus]

Face ID

MCYT's included: (all CC!) Dream, Wilbur, Tommy, Sapnap, George, Ranboo

Having face ID in their phones

Dream

He actually suggested to you that you could be his alternate face ID, and you had thought he was joking. He wasn't.

He was really casual about it too.

You had grabbed his phone for something when he brought it up, so you did it immediately when he asked.

"If you want, you can put yourself as the alternate face ID. It'll save you time." "Are you sure?" "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

After that you definitely get asked to do stuff on his phone for him all the time. He's just a little lazy, okay?

More often than not you'd be the one replying to his messages for him, to the point where all his contacts recognized your different typing style.

Wilbur

He's just a little nervous to ask but does so anyways. When you say you'd be honored to be his alternate, he smiles so big.

"What do you think about being the alternate on my face ID? So you can unlock it?" "I'd be honored, Wil."

Unlike Dream he doesn't use you, but he's so bad at replying to messages that you do it for him (with permission).

You also fix his mess of a calendar, because come on.

His phone background was of you two always, but the photo changed, and you always loved to see the new one.

He 100% only changes it to watch your reaction though.

Tommy

You don't even know when your face was put into his phone, but you have a suspicion that he did it when you were sleeping once.

He asked you to do something on his phone for him quickly, hiding his evil grin, and waited for you to notice his home background.

"What the fuck is that?!" "That is the greatest thing ever created." "Is your background seriously sexy Shrek?!"

It turns into a game of his to have you open his phone only to reveal a new horror of a background.

Sometimes he will genuinely ask you to do something for him though, so you never quite know if he's trying to scare you or not.

As retribution you sometimes post tweets from his Twitter.

No matter how many times you remove yourself from his face ID as to end your suffering, you always end up on there again.

Sapnap

This man doesn't even give you a chance to say no. He's just instructing you to put your face in as his ID and leaving zero room for argument.

The sight you're greeted with fills you with absolute disgust though, so it quickly becomes a habit of yours to help him clean his phone.

Seriously, 23 mobile games?

"Do you even play Candy Crush?" "Candy what?" "...Right, deleting that one. What about Merge Mansion?"

He's another one you use your power to post tweets. They're mostly harmless jokes that the fanbase loves though.

Sapnap doesn't care what you do with his phone as long as you don't unpin Dream from his pinned messages. Apparently it's some sort of bromance thing.

George

Dream is the one who gives him the idea when the entire Dream Team is on a discord call. He was talking about how Sapnap is his alternate when George turns to you.

"You could be my alternate. I don't care."

It was so obvious he did care, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. In the end your face gets added.

He slowly starts asking you to do stuff for him when you're closer to his phone than he is until you're able to grab his phone and check the time without either of you batting an eye.

His phone is so sparse and neatly organized, but you kind of like it. Either way you still screenshot it and send them to yourself to post on Twitter later.

There is no touching his social medias, absolutely not. His phone is very important and private to him, so it's a big deal you have access to it in the first place.

Ranboo

War.

You both steal each other's phones and add yourselves just to have access for a social media prank war. His height definitely aids him which is very unfair.

After the war ends neither of you remove each other, so occasionally you post tweets just to watch the fandom explode, which you both find hilarious.

"Did you see what you tweeted last night?" "Did you see what you tweeted?" "...Uh oh."

Then there's the background war of which you compete to find each other the best background of each other you possibly can, which goes absolutely horribly.

If you aren't using each other's phones for war, you're really just checking the Dream SMP discord or something basic like that.

He feels too bad asking you to do stuff for him on his phone despite the fact that you assure him you don't care.

[snailsdraw]

HELLO! i have a super soft spot for your darnold doodles! how about darnold and sasha with tommy?

yes >B) wouldn't pass up an opportunity to draw tommy (and also thank you!)

[Start ID: 7 pages of HLVRAI doodles following an interaction between Darnold and Tommy at the Aux Coolant Tank.

Darnold and Bubby are standing along the edge of the coolant tank, figuring out their next move as Gordon speaks to Benrey somewhere beside them: "Ye-apparently this is something we have to do. There's no other exit." Tommy surfaces from the water and swims back to haul himself out of the tank onto the platform next to Darnold while Bubby decides to take a dive. Darnold offers a hand to help Tommy up, but Tommy doesn't see it as he picks himself up. "Darnold, I found-" Tommy begins, clapping his hands excitedly as he looks out over the tank, "I found a good, this is a good place for Sasha. Look!"

Tommy spreads his arms out to the wide expanse of water in the tank before them: "There's so much water in here! It's as wet as the Mississippi in, uh, April. She'll be really happy here!" Darnold, however, looks hesitant: "Mm…I'm not sure…" "It's very safe down there," Tommy reassures him, taking off his propeller cap and tapping the water out of it, "The OSHA guidelines dictate that there's only, there can only be one Ichthyosaur per coolant system, and I've already- I took care of it, so-" "Guh! Oh god, what is that??" Darnold exclaims suddenly, finger pointed towards the tank. A huge shape emerges from the depths, revealing its spiney back and fish-like tail before diving back under.

Tommy pulls out a shark tranquiliser gun - a crossbow armed with a tranquiliser dart - and fires it at the retreating Ichthysosaur before it is fully out of sight. Darnold immediately throws a hand over Sasha's face, the Gubb still in her makeshift sling, to prevent her from seeing it when the hit lands. The curious little Gubb peeks her head out from behind his hand regardless to take a look. "…That's one too many Ichthyosaurs. I don't think they read the manual at all," Tommy says disappointedly, putting his propeller cap back on. He then continues: "It's all okay now, Darnold. We can let her go free, and-" Darnold still looks unconvinced: "I…I dunno. This still doesn't feel like the right place."

Helpfully, Tommy goes: "Oh! But it checks all your boxes, Darnold! The water is, is clean and free of…of dangerous creatures. She'll have a lot of swimming space, and- oh, oh!" Tommy claps his hands together in realisation, smiling, "And the environment's not irradiated, we're in the Auxiliary Tank! Oh! This is-" "Tommy, what-" Darnold cuts in, but he realises he doesn't quite know how go about asking his question. "Yeah?" Tommy asks. "What…happens…" Darnold tries again to phrase his questions. He pets Sasha in an attempt to concentrate. "What would happen if I didn't stick by the manual?" Tommy gives him a questioning look: "The manual?" "I- I know Black Mesa has a strict code on a lot of things…" Darnold says carefully. "The, uh, alien-handling…what leaves the facility, to name a few…"

"You've worked with HR though, haven't you?" Darnold asks, glancing up nervously at Tommy. The taller man looks away, scratching at his jaw. Darnold presses on, hopeful: "So you would know? What happens to…Could…Would it be possible to take Sash-" Tommy's eyes flicker upwards, attention shifted in an instant. He senses something.

"We should go, Darnold," Tommy says. "We're- we don't wanna get left behind." Darnold sighs. It seems his question won't be answered anytime soon. "…you're right," he relents, defeated, "Let's go, Sasha…" Sasha's attention is seemingly fixed on something towards the doorway as Darnold turns and dives into the tank after the rest of the Science Team. Tommy watches him go, lingering behind for a moment.

He looks up to where Sasha had been looking, to the reason he'd evaded Darnold's question. In the doorway is a tall, angular silhouette of a man in a suit, the unnaturally bright light behind him casting his face in shadows, save for an eye that stares sternly back at Tommy.

End ID.]

Previous story parts found here: [Part 1.][Part 2.][Part 3.][Part 4.][Part 5.][Part 6.]

[theminecraftbee]

random rundown of fic ideas I have on the docket for at some point in the future, if anyone is curious (or wants to take from these concepts to use themselves because these are Long Bois so I’m probably saving them for november):

in a timeline where ren’s kingship immediately goes horrible dictatorship, joe hills accidentally discovers he has the superpower of Time Loop, and sets out to figure out what went wrong, fix it, and save his friends. the trick with this fic, however, is that it would be a single king oneshot taking place entirely over one of the loops, at least a dozen attempts in, and ending with the end of another failed loop. it’s all about the middle bits here.

pearl wakes up as a horrible monster in an unknown laboratory with no idea how she’s gotten there, what she is, how to talk, or what to do from here. fic is about her escaping, piecing together what happened to get her into the situation she wakes up in, and getting back home again, somehow.

xisuma tries to deal with his emotions about season eight. bluntly this one would be about abuse, and reconciling that is the word that describes what happened to you. I’ve wanted to write this for months. we’ll see.

double life cast is mysteriously swapped with their hermitcraft selves, as told from cleo’s perspective as she’s suddenly in a world with a person who claims to be her best friend that she doesn’t remember, on this massive ocean base that she doesn’t understand, trying to just… deal with that. this would be a very focused on “joe and cleo as friends” fic, but with the angle of “cleo wakes up suddenly not knowing who joe is and joe is faced with a cleo who doesn’t have a decade of history with him”. really want to write this in some ways.

vague “something about helsknight because I have ideas about what helsknight is but I have since ditched the fic concept I originally had for the helsknight interpretation I wanted to use so I need to figure out where else I can get it to work and also NOT have him be too much like the man in the striped suit in my recent fic”

rare new techno/sort of sbi fic from me, recycling aspects of a VERY old bedrock bros concept I never wrote. set in a world where people have various minor magical gifts/superpowers, old war god/demon technoblade is retired, thank you very much, and largely haunts a farmer’s market where he’s in a totally normal competition with the other local potato salesman and is maybe friends with the farmer’s market gang (featuring niki and sophie and probably connor along with obviously squid, amongst others). one day however one of his regular customers, out of desperation, summons techno to make a pact, a thing techno hasn’t done in decades. this person is tommy. wilbur is missing. he wants techno to help save him. cue adventure. at some point in my head this was supposed to be a superhero sbi fic send-up so there MAY be superheroes in the background but this has turned way more into the magical realism wheelhouse I reside in over time so you know. maybe not. anyway this is a BIG maybe since I largely sit in hermitcraft these days but I am still fondly attached to “old god techno and tommy, desperate regular human, end up bonding” because I came up with the basics back in november 2020 and have just never have successfully written it and also it’s morphed actual plots and basically every beat but that part like twelve times so we’ll see.

false ends up back in her homeworld, but fwhip and I think maybe shelby also end up there accidentally with her and also it turns out that false’s old world kind of sucks so they have to try to get fwhip and shelby home while false faces internal conflict over whether she stays in her homeworld or goes back to empires. this one relies on knowing a BIT more about false before I’m comfortable writing it though.

anyway I think those are all the main docket ideas for “next big thing second tries to write” but this guarantees none of them because, like, you never know if a new idea will take over my brain between now and november or anything else,

[rnelodyy]

The Exile Conflict: George's POV

So. The other day I wanted to see what persuaded George to testify in court against Tommy for exile, so I pulled up his vod of the day of Tommy’s court hearing to see what was said.

Five and a half hours later, I have combed through the entire lore portion of the vod, analyzed it by rambling into a Discord channel, and I have found some SUPER interesting lore insights into both c!Dream AND c!George. So here is, in chronological order, c!George’s side of the exile debacle.

(this is all rp, names refer to characters, not content creators)

So, not going to lie, I had no idea what happened before I went in. I believed that Dream had talked to George, convinced him to help him get Tommy exiled, and George gave him approval to build walls around L’Manburg. I wanted to see what exactly Dream had said to convince George to let him do all that.

Start of the vod, George learns from his chat that his house got burnt down. He, Quackity and Karl head over there to assess the damage, and while George is upset that his stuff got destroyed, he’s optimistic. He says, “It’s not actually that bad, I can fix this,” and starts clearing out the signs and netherrack while Q and Karl are standing there being unhelpful and teasing him by lighting more fires. So I figured that the conversation with Dream came later.

And then I saw this.

[ID: a screenshot from George’s vod. George is rebuilding his house. There is a chat message from Tubbo reading “dream this goes agenst the treatys (sic).”]

That’s Tubbo discovering the walls. That’s him confronting Dream about them. As you can see by the timestamp, George hadn’t even been live for ten minutes, and he had NO CLUE what happened. I did some more investigating, and discovered that the walls were built THE NIGHT BEFORE, barely an hour after the actual grief took place.

So Dream discovered that George’s house had been griefed, and his literal first response was to build walls around L’Manburg. He didn’t ask George for his input, or even tell him that his house was griefed. He only talked to George about it once George physically went looking for him (and we’ll get to that conversation in a bit because it’s a DOOZY), and I firmly believe that if George hadn’t gone over there, Dream would’ve never said a word to him.

(Sidenote: Karl, at this point in the story, had declared himself “vice vice president”, and REALLY wanted Tommy’s position. That’s why he’s so adamant that Tommy needs to be punished by being stripped of his rank. He even outright tells George that Tommy needs to be overthrown, and the vice vice president should become the new vice president.)

At this point, Karl goes over to L’Manburg and tells George about the wall. From George’s reaction it’s IMMEDIATELY obvious that he has no idea what the wall is about; his first reaction is confusion, wondering how building a wall is helping him. Then, he shifts gears and says that yeah, there SHOULD be a wall! George, at this point, is angry, and willing to accept the wall as his revenge, but is still confused as to what it’s even trying to accomplish.

Karl: Here's what it is. It's two people. That are just obsessed with power. Tommy and Dream. And they're using your ashes, the ashes of your house as a political statement.

Now Karl is wrong about Tommy here. Tommy didn’t grief George’s house to make a political statement, he griefed it cause he thought it’d be funny. However, DREAM is absolutely using it to make a political statement. Griefing the king had never been treated as a serious offense, Eret was robbed blind practically every day by Hbomb and Fundy (the then-president’s son), and they never faced consequences from Dream. Dream had also been going around griefing various structures and trying to frame Tommy for them the previous week, so of course he would jump on this immediately.

So, at this point, George has fixed his house, and goes to L’Manburg to meet up with Karl and see what’s going on. He’s shocked upon realizing the wall is made of obsidian, and goes to find Dream, who is sitting in a hole. Thinking he’s AFK, George pours water over his head, but Dream wasn’t AFK at all, and joins the VC right after.

The conversation that follows goes like this:

Dream: George! Um… I guess just to keep you updated that way you know. [...] Tommy griefed your vacation home.

George: It was Tommy? If I scroll up in the chat, he said “No” when I asked him.

Dream: Well, it’s him. But anyway, Tommy griefed it, and since you’re the king now, that’s like griefing the king’s property, so I decided to build the wall around L’Manburg, and because the treaties are technically void… I just want them to handle Tommy accordingly. (Karl: I agree.) I’m dealing with it for you, don’t worry.

[...]

Dream: But don’t worry! Don’t worry. I’m handling it, I’m handling it, okay?

George: How are you handling it? By building a wall?

Dream: I’m- I’m handling it.

Karl: Dream, in your opinion, do you think Tommy should step down as Vice President?

Dream: Yes. One hundred percent. That’s not even enough.

[...]

Dream: I’m taking care- George, I’m taking care of it, okay?

George: How do you know you’re properly gonna take care of it?! I did nothing wrong, and my house was just burnt to nothing!

Dream: George, don’t worry!

George: I had to rebuild it just now.

Dream: Look! Do you see this?! George, look at how much I’ve already done for you, I’m handling it, George.

George: But this isn’t gonna stop them from ruining my house in the future!

Dream: I know, nono, trust me. George. I’m handling it. I’m handling it. Bye.

[Dream leaves the VC]

(Note, I removed stammering and unrelated tangents for clarity, but didn’t change the meaning of sentences. Please watch it for yourself if you’re curious.)

There is a LOT to unpack here, so let’s start with Dream.

First, his tone during his explanation of Tommy’s crime seemed almost… bored? I don’t think that was bad acting, we know cc!Dream can act, it just seemed like Dream was trying to get the explanation out of the way as quickly as possible to get back to making demands from L’Manburg.

Second, Dream isn’t telling George anything about what he’s planning. George brings up very valid points, like “how is a wall around L’Manburg gonna prevent further griefing?” and “how are you planning to handle this situation?” Yet Dream tells him nothing. He brushes off all of George’s questions, and when George keeps refusing to back down, he breaks out the guilt trip with “Look at how much I’ve already done for you.” Then when George KEEPS asking questions, Dream just repeats that he’s handling it and leaves.

Third, Dream never mentioned he was trying to get Tommy exiled. George doesn’t KNOW he’s trying to get Tommy exiled, the word “exile” won’t get brought up for a WHILE. Hiding his true motives from George and trying to keep him away is not only a huge dick move, it’s also hampering George’s ability to figure out what’s actually happening here.

After Dream leaves, we get this conversation:

George: ...is he just gonna stand here or is he gonna handle it? Dream, go handle it! Karl, how is he- how is building this wall "handling it?" Can you explain that to me?

Karl: I just wanna know, like... I feel like that's handling it. That was the first step in handling it. By him building the wall, it sets a precedent.

George: It is a statement... Like, you mess with George, I... build a wall...? Question mark...? But like... There's nothing stopping them from just coming out of this wall and doing it again.

Karl: Think about it like this, though. It wasn't Tubbo. Y'know what I mean? And Tubbo now has to deal with the fact that his silly little vice president has the audacity.

George: It's just that... I just don't feel safe anymore.

Again, Karl is right on the money, but missing the point. Tubbo SHOULDN’T have to deal with this. This isn’t his problem, and it’s not his fault, this should be between Tommy and George alone.

Then, George gets in a call with the L’Manburg crew. They’re all freaking out, Tommy most of all, and George can barely get a word in before they move VC’s to have a crisis meeting. However, before being dragged into the meeting, Tommy does manage to talk to George quickly.

Tommy: Gogy, whatever happens bro, just remember, me and you, we tight.

George: Rrrright... I dunno- Dream said it was you, why would Dream lie?

Tommy: Cause he's out- he's a menace to society! (Tommy keeps rambling about how Dream is like the Joker before he’s dragged into the meeting).

Is Tommy doing this to try and lessen his punishment, or is he genuinely saying he and George can still be buds? I don’t know, but either way, George doesn’t believe him, Tommy leaves to meet with the L’Manburg Cabinet in the Camarvan, and George suddenly realizes that everyone else left too. He moves VC’s to join them, only for Tubbo to immediately ask him and Karl for privacy. When they refuse to leave, everyone else moves to VC2.

Karl is upset that they’re not treating him like a L’Manburgian citizen, and George sympathizes, trying to comfort him a bit, until he gets a DM from Dream.

[ID: a Minecraft DM from Dream saying “get out of the borders”]

[ID: two Minecraft DMs from George to Dream saying “should karl come with” and “are you going to hurt them”]

[ID: two DMs from Dream saying “just stay outside the borders” and “stay neutral ur king”]

Again, Dream dodges the question. George wants to know whether he’s gonna hurt the L’Manburgians, and Dream just tells him to get outside the borders and stay neutral. This is basic information, a simple yes or no would’ve been enough, yet Dream gives George absolutely nothing.

At this point, Dream is very blatantly disrespecting George’s autonomy by making every decision about how to handle the griefing of his house for him, and refusing to give him even the most basic information about what he’s doing. GEORGE is the victim, yet he doesn’t even get to know what is happening. No dispute over griefing has EVER played out like this, at no point did somebody else take it upon themselves to take revenge for a grief without telling the actual victim that the grief even took place, what their plans and goals are when it comes to the actual revenge, and without the victim being able to weigh in.

This behavior can only have two explanations: either Dream thinks George is completely incompetent and will get seriously hurt if he attempts to resolve this himself… or he’s already started seeing George as another tool for him to use. Remember, this is only days before the Spirit-speech, and a few more days before he dethrones George without warning and - again - without asking him what HE wants. Whether Dream has lost all care for George altogether at this point is impossible to say, but he clearly doesn’t respect George enough to let him know what he’s doing, handle things himself, or listen to his opinions.

Because boy does George have opinions about this.

George: I'm gonna go do my own thing. I'm not interested in war. Okay. I don't want these shenanigans. I'm gonna stand with Dream, 'cause me and Dream... I'm not gonna be hurt if Dream's next to me.

George is a pretty non-confrontational guy. Retaliating against someone griefing his house by surrounding their entire country in obsidian and causing a massive uproar isn’t something he’d do, or would WANT to do. He’s going along with it because he feels like it’s his chance at revenge, he trusts Dream, and every time he tries to do something else, he gets ignored by L’Manburg (not out of malice, but because there’s a MASSIVE DIPLOMATIC CRISIS that needs to be dealt with first).

George, at this point, is starting to get very restless, and tries to vent his anger by taking it out on things around him, while still trying to stay neutral. He threatens, but ultimately doesn’t go through with griefing the L’Mantree, and takes a live fish from the pond under Party Island to drop onto the cabinet as they’re meeting with Dream (which is, admittedly, very funny).

What’s also very interesting is that George is starting to heavily exaggerate how much his house was actually damaged. He started the stream off upset, but optimistic, saying he could rebuild it easily, and took maybe fifteen minutes to fix the house (George isn’t a very fast builder either, not helped by the fact that Q and Karl were messing with him, and he had to replace a wall made out of mushroom stem blocks). But about fifteen minutes after leaving for L’Manburg, he’s claiming that his house was completely destroyed, and that he had to rebuild it from the ground up.

I’m psychoanalyzing a bit here, but I think George is doing this to try and justify both Dream’s actions, and his own anger.

See, griefing on the Dream SMP (as well as literally every single other Minecraft server ever) works something like this. Person A wrecks person B’s shit. B gets pissed and retaliates by wrecking A’s shit. A retaliates against THAT, and so it continues until either A or B gives up and leaves it alone, A and B decide things have gone far enough and hash out a compromise, or an outside influence (usually an admin or another player) forces them to cut it out.

This is likely how the conflict WOULD have played out if Dream never intervened. George would’ve gotten angry and griefed Tommy’s house back, and Tommy would’ve rebuilt it and either retaliated, sparking a semi-lighthearted feud, or ignored it, as he doesn’t really start shit over people destroying his house or stealing from him unless they take something he has a lot of attachment to.

But Dream threw a wrench in that entire dynamic.

Suddenly, George, angry and ready to take it out on the guy who wronged him, is being shoved to the side by Dream, who keeps telling him to stay out of it, that he’s got it handled, that he doesn’t need to worry. George tries to go to Tommy to read him the riot act, but Tommy is already getting raked over the coals by the L’Manburg Cabinet, stuck in meetings and trying to figure out what the FUCK to do next, so he’s too distracted and freaked out to divert his attention to George. Same goes for the rest of L’Manburg, it’s hard to deal with one guy pissed that his house got wrecked when you’ve got a national fucking crisis on your plate.

So instead of a lighthearted prank war, there’s now a diplomatic crisis in L’Manburg, Tommy is suddenly facing the prospect of losing his home and friends and everything he ever loved over what he thought was just a funny prank while being screamed at from every direction, Tubbo has to play the voice of reason in an impossible situation he’s just not equipped to handle because he’s sixteen goddamn years old, and George is just… sitting on the sidelines, hopped up on anger he can’t vent without starting ANOTHER diplomatic crisis, feeling completely helpless while Dream is running around, “handling” the situation, and refusing to tell him anything.

Anyway.

George eventually joins the call, and Tubbo asks him to take them to his house to assess the damage. George tells him that the damage was fixed already, at which point Tommy starts yelling that if it’s fixed, there’s no proof that it ever happened.

Then something very interesting happens. I may be reading too much into this, but I’ve seen nobody bring it up, and I think it’s important to take note of.

Dream: Listen, if you want to, you can review his [George’s] VOD!

Tubbo: Can we review the VOD?

[...]

Fundy: Wait, whose VOD?

Tubbo: Tommy’s VOD, I assume.

(people talking over eachother)

Dream: Nonononono, why would you do that when you can watch George’s VOD? You can watch George’s VOD when he just fixed it. And he saw all the damage. And he’s heartbroken.

This is… Odd. What they’re looking for is proof that a) there was a crime, and b) Tommy was the perpetrator. Why would Dream want them to watch George’s VOD, which just consists of him looking around in the aftermath of said crime, when Tommy’s VOD has undeniable proof that it was him?

This is speculation but… Which would make Tommy look worse, you think? The VOD where he just fucks around on the SMP with Ranboo before breaking into George’s house, taking some stuff, putting up mean signs and making a mess, screaming and putting out an accidental fire, then leaving? Or the VOD where George walks around the ruins of his house all sad?

Tommy’s VOD would prove without a doubt that it wasn’t a politically motivated attack, and that the fire was an accident. It was still a robbery, but… That’s not the worst thing that’s ever happened on the server. It’s not even the worst thing that Tommy has ever done. It’s certainly not exile-worthy. And I think Dream knew that, because in order for him to know that Tommy griefed George’s house, he’d have HAD to have been streamsniping, meaning he knows EXACTLY what Tommy’s VOD looks like.

(Also I wanna point out that George’s VOD wouldn’t have been much better for him, especially since George was only mildly upset and said that the damage would be easily fixable while walking around his house. But I mean, we all know Dream isn’t listening to a single word out of George’s mouth at this point.)

Dream and Tubbo leave to talk in private, and Tommy leaves the call when Quackity and Fundy start yelling at him, so George is left alone once again. He wonders out loud why Tommy can’t just admit it was him. Keep in mind, George still hasn’t heard the word “exile” being dropped yet.

Anyway, George yoinks part of the L’Mantree while the cabinet talks in a different VC. When he joins back, they all take Tommy to court.

I’m not going to describe the whole court case here, because I’m assuming most of you have already seen it, and there’s not a whole lot of other stuff there on George’s side of things (and also it makes me very sad). However, I will be posting some quotes from Tommy that make me think he’s DEFINITELY onto Dream, and has realized this is unfair.

Quackity: Alright, this is a case of the nation of L'Manburg versus crybaby who got his fucking house burned down. (laughter) Tommy: (quietly, very seriously) Except the crybaby has Dream on his side…

Tommy: Listen guys, (inaudible), you do a bit of graffiti, you do a bit of stabbing, that's all fun! That's all fun and games!

Tommy: Dream retaliating by building obsidian walls is absurd! I did no griefing, I only did robbing! I'm a robber!

Tommy: Tubbo there's WALLS around your home! There are WALLS, bro! Tubbo: Yeah, and I'm hoping that this will be enough of a satisfying conclusion to get them torn down! Tommy: BUT WHY ARE THE WALLS EVEN THERE?! You can't just build walls just 'cause I- me and... by myself, I did it- Tubbo: George is the king of the Dream SMP, Tommy. He is the king. This is considered... I don't even wanna know what this is considered. George: T-t-t-t-t-treason. Tommy: (crosstalk) There are massive walls all around, dude. That is a- That's griefing! Surely we should arrest Dream as well!

Anyway, Tommy ends up confessing to keep Ranboo out of trouble, and Tubbo sentences him to probation. This, finally, is where we get our first reference to Dream’s exile threat.

Tubbo: Tommy, I have been advised to banish you. [...] However, that is a very extreme measure, and I'm hoping that we can please both parties by probation.

Except this isn’t telling George anything. He doesn’t know that “advice” came from Dream, or that it was more of a demand, or that the walls are there to facilitate exile. To him, this may as well have come from a cabinet member to threaten Tommy into complacency while in court.

George stays in a VC with Karl, Ranboo and Niki. Ranboo apologises to him for the damage, and George accepts it, says he doesn’t blame Ranboo because he believes Tommy infected or manipulated him somehow, and says he just wants his stuff back.

Meanwhile, in another VC, Dream is overriding the decision of the court, saying Tommy should be exiled anyway.

George missed all of that. He doesn’t know Dream demanded exile, or that he was using the walls to threaten L’Manburg into exiling Tommy, or that he went behind his back and overruled the decision George had agreed to!

George: (responding to a dono) "Sorry about Tommy burning your house down, homie." Yeah, I mean, it sucks. And he's- he's getting punished for it, so it's okay.

George was perfectly satisfied with the probation. All he wanted Tommy to do after that was give him his stuff back. He didn’t think that Tommy deserved even more punishment after that.

Anyway, after joining the call with L’Manburg again, George catches Tommy being yelled at for wanting to get the discs, then laughs at Motherinnit yelling at him to empty the dishwasher.

At this point, Sapnap joins the call. He’s completely out of the loop, and George gives him the short version of the story as far as he understands it. Sapnap doesn’t factor too heavily into this analysis but he does have some… ahem, opinions.

Sapnap: These L'Manburgians, George... They should've learned their lesson the first time around. We dealt with them. (referring to the L’Manburg Independence War) Niki: Hey, don't say anything against the L'Manburgians! It's just... Tommy.

Sapnap: You know, Tubbo's the president. He should really be doing a better job of keeping his people in check.

Sapnap: Tubbo needs to get better control of his people. Ranboo: I think it's just harder to control Tommy than most.

...yeah.

Anyway, Karl is sad and Sapnap and George try comforting him for a while… and then George gets another message.

[ID: a DM from Dream saying “come here”. Under it, a message from Quackity, saying “o_o”]

George goes to find Dream, who returns him the unnamed fish that lived in the pond by his house.

[ID: a string of DMs between Dream and George

Dream: I saved your fish from quackity Dream: been keeping it safe George: how did you get it back!?!?!?! Dream: I robbed him tbh]

Dream then demands that George give him the bits of the L’Mantree. George asks why, but Dream once again refuses to elaborate.

[ID: a string of DMs between Dream and George

Dream: give me the leaves George: why (x4) Dream: I need them Dream: trust]

Here, Dream is doing the EXACT same shit as he was doing earlier. He’s making decisions for George without his input, and refusing to answer even the most basic questions.

Anyway, the lore kinda petered out at this point, Tommy asked for some leather for his book, then Sap, Karl and George hung around L’Manburg for a bit before they got invited to play Scuffed Chess for the last hour or so of the stream.

So what is the takeaway from this?

In my opinion, this is a very obvious sign that Dream doesn’t value George as a friend. He used the fact that his house was griefed as an excuse to bully L’Manburg into exiling Tommy, and not only did he not ask George’s input before he did ANY of the shit he did, he refused to answer even the most basic questions with anything except “dude trust me”.

The way Dream acts here is pretty obvious foreshadowing to his later actions: the Spirit speech, where he screams that he doesn’t care about anything other than the discs (and Tommy by extension) while Sapnap is right fucking there, and dethroning George because him being king is supposedly putting him in danger, while ignoring his protests, dismissing his genuine upset as him just being dramatic, and instead of abolishing the throne (because ANY monarch would be in the same amount of danger George was, and the position doesn’t mean anything anyway), he hands it right back to Eret, because apparently he’s more disposable.

Dream claimed he’s doing all of this for George, but he’s not. George never had a say in any of his actions, never wanted things to go as far as they did, and was purposefully kept in the dark about so, SO many things regarding the leadup to exile. George was expecting to get Tommy back, maybe have a small prank war, then move on. Instead, he became complicit in getting a sixteen year-old kicked out of his home and HORRIBLY abused, ALL against his will.

Dream wasn’t protecting George. He wasn’t defending George. He wasn’t setting a precedent for how to treat the king. George didn’t benefit from this situation, in fact, he suffered from it too, being repeatedly brushed off, having his wrecked home used as political ammunition, and being stonewalled by the guy supposedly helping him.

Let’s not pretend that Dream did any of this for George’s sake. Dream was the only one who benefited from any of this.

*mic drop*

[cinnamin-is-a-star]

The Hermitcraft tag has decided to rank the hermits by how much they want to and how likely they'd win in a fight against them, and while I love hermitcraft very very much and you should watch it, I decided to do it but with the dsmp so lesgo

(this is about the characters btw)

Tommy: 5/10, I feel like we'd be pretty evenly matched, it's a coin toss

Tubbo: 0/10, this man has nukes and more reason to go batshit than almost anyone else on the server id be obliterated in seconds

Ranboo: 5/10, I wouldn't want to fight him but if I did I'd simply aim for the knees and topple him

Techno : 50/10, I'm still salty about doomsday so i would immediately throw hands, he would turn me into dust within seconds and call me a nerd, and honestly itd be an honour

Philza: 49/10, same as Techno but point reduction because he has dad energy and I like my dads alot, and also bird man go brrr

Wilbur: 10/10, tf he gonna do quote Hamilton at me? I'd aim for this JD kinnies kneecaps and he'd be gone in seconds

Niki: 0/10, I would not fight her I'd feel bad and she would wreck my shit

Captain Puffy: 10/10, not because I want to fight her, but because it would be an honour to be slain by this queens blade

Hannah: 10/10, same reason as Puffy except id die faster

Quackity: 5/10, morally I know tortue is wrong, but he's girlbossing so hard that I may not fight him

Fundy: 3/10, I'd feel kinda bad but I would also win very easily, all I have to do is show him a picture of me being happy with my dad and he'd be defeated

BadBoyHalo: 3/10, I would also not willingly fight him, I am aware cursing at him is a good strategy but I'd feel bad

Karl: 99/10, I would obliterate him. Turned to ash on contact. Slight point reduction bc i don't rlly wanna fight him that much

Dream: 10000000/10, I would go for the fucking throat and punt him into the sun on eyesight, sure he can go fast but i have patience. I would destroy this teletubbie immediately.

I know it's not all of them, but I don't what this to be too long