#totally true dsmp facts

[t4tpumpkinduo]

🪦 and/or 💥 and/or ♟️ for ask game ^-^

🪦 - are certain characters functionally dead?

i'm not too sure whag this means or how to answer i fear OTL so sorrey. i think all characters are have an opportunity to impact things especially because of the limboisms + ghosts. i guess maybe alyssa? especially cuz her bigger tethers like callahan also aren't around much so theres less opportunity for her legacy/memory to be carried. wait speaking of ghosts where are cvik n clazar's ghosts. hope there's not an evil asshole who would purposely keep them from leaving frm smwhere to make sure they don't tell anyone what he did to them. lol. lmao. l

-

💥 - should c!niki apologize to c!clingyduo?

i mean i think so? cniki did super scapegoat and try to kill ctommy in a slash srs way and as interesting and well written as it was that's still naottttt. v cool. and uhh. also she helped release cdrm from prison. i donnie think she's irredeemable at all and i don't think she had to grovel but. zero concern abt the fact she's directly assisting a group of overpowered assholes in releasing sm shithead abuser who ruined HER AND ALL HER FRIENDS LIVES so he can run around and do it again is pretty crazy. imo. to be clear ☝️‼️ ilove cniki i absolutely do but like. cmon.

-

♟️ - was c!wilbur a dictator for trying to rig the vote?

oiuwhUWGH I'VE BEEN WAITING TO BE ANNOYING ABT THIS. HELLO. OK.

to start, no, i don't think he's a dictator for it at all 👍 i think dictator is a pretty specific thing that people LOVEEE to throw around incorrectly in dsmp discussion. BUT, while he may not be not a dictator, he IS a MASSIVE LOSER 🗣‼️

my hot take abt it is that uhh. i think people tend to have an incredibly reductive view abt cwilbur. specifically in wilburian circles which i've complained abt lots before but. idk the strange incentive to sand down all the shit that makes him interesting or deeper to form this bland, more easily palatable/defendable mush of a character makes me insane in my head.

the reason i bring this up here (and how it relates to my point/the prompt) is: acting like ctommy was solely and selflessly cwilburs only motivation for making lmanberg is. imo. a retcon. if i am to be honest w you. because it's Not Textually True.

like yes, he does deeply, deeply love tommy, that's undeniable. yes, he clearly built it w him squarely in mind but it was also for everyone! lmanberg was a family! his literal actually son lived there. they all loved eachother, they wanted a place for themselves. and it was Also for power and Also sticking it to the man!! (And completely justified to be clear!! he was being smarmy abt it, of course but thts not a bad thing!! he was 100000% right.). not to even mention the cphil letters and what that entails. and to act like it can only be the one that makes him look "the best" is. annoying.

compare to ceret. if we act like ohhh poor baby eret was just manipulated into betraying lmanberg and that's the end of it no need to dig deeper. man shut UP. IT'S LAME. things can be complex! she was manipulated, textually, of course she was, but she was also selfish! she betrayed the people she loved most, and she wanted the crown, the kingship, he wanted power. and of course, you can't ignore that in a server where power is one of the only ways to achieve security, for both himself and her friends, it makes total sense tht she would go for it! it can be multiple things.

another example i'll use is uhh election era q to narrow it down. during the election arc, he super wanted to help people!! he was earnestly pitching that they wouldn't need an iron fist bcs they could just all learn to be niceys to eachother. he really took what ppl said to heart and wanted to make lmanberg the best it could be, away from someone who he thought would abuse his position and WAS abusing his position. and he was also a HUGE TOXICA CUNT. he stabbed people and shot them and was a huge bully, and more often that not was encouraging and participating w cschlatt's more assholey actions when he also. an asshole. because they both are. 😭 q wanted power. again, power = security in the dsmp. so you can rlly understand his throughline. while also going hey, shooting people with horse tranquilizer is also super his own stupid evil little choice. things can overlap.

so to the ctommy is cwilbs only priority there line. if it's all for him. if he secures the country at the expense of two of his little brothers lives.

for the lack of better term, why does he leave it up for grabs for his ego.

there's no power to secure at that point. they won. there's no thing he needs to overcome right now, there's no current threat. (to be clear cdrm is always a threat but at the time no one is really aware how far he's willing to go and the seeds he's planting) and again, i understand that he was paranoid, and wanted validation, but point blank canon this is a fully lucid bad decision.

and even then, if you wanna say ohh well maybe he didn't realize smone could stop him maybe he never realized smone would intervene. that's still. annoying and bad. 😭. to not even give the people the chance? i don't think it's irredeemable At All but it's purpose in the narrative is undoubtedly short sighted and selfish.

even Then, he had another chance to bag it smhow. and he fumbled that too!

(pretty good breakdown of what i will be adressing can be found here, w timestamps -> https://www.tumblr.com/stellocchia/661878977008467969/stellocchia-thespoonisvictory-s1-elections)

in the convo, cwilb offered cq the opportunity to do a coalition w him. his offer is they pool their votes together and whoever gets the most votes in between them is allowed to keep the whole country.

cq calls him out, rightfully, and goes hey man. you can act like you think i have a fair shot all you want but you are out of your dome if you think people will somehow vote for me more than they'll vote for you.

cq even tries to compromise when wil falters, and say why dont we split power and run it together. and wilbur tells him NO‼️ even if you believe that cwilbur believe that cq loves lmanberg, which i do, and even if you believe it when he says that he would be ok w it in q's hands, which i don't considering he refuses to meet him in the middle, q Does calls him out for him. he says yr just using me. this is a scam.

and ctommy and cwilb reply 'YEAH IT IS ^__^" like man cmonnnneudhdjk. and that's what makes cq join cschlatt!

so to cut myself off, no. he's not a dictator mm mm, just short sighted and selfish and unwilling to compromise. 👍 unrelatedly does anyone else think it's crazy that in the canonical pogtopia wins au wilbur was gnna jail schlatt after he lost over "commiting voter fraud" (despite cwilb trying and failing to do that as well) and was just leave him there. like. he was also gnna make cq build a second layer of the lmanberg walls and cq was going to leave a secret tunnel in it on schlatts behalf. huh. what. anyone else think that's crazy.

[acrylic-reverie]

🖋 (I should have sent this before the headcanon thing but it's fineeee)

🖋 Potential Dynamic Ideas | Plots Meme

You're totally fine!! Throws my dynamic ideas at you... mostly DSMP! I'd love to hear your thoughts and preferred combinations too if you'd like to share :D

Rivals Duo ✦ I need more of them!! Gimme the friendly/competitive rivalry, or the enemies with a common goal trope. Times where they have to cooperate and times where they want each other gone -- I'm not picky! I just love the silly dynamics where they're always trying to be better than each other, as if they aren't the best of the best already. ✦ Bonus points if they finally come to understand each other's worth instead of being competitive about it and start to work together instead!

XDNF ✦ We have a roleplay going on with these two already… But either way, they're one of my favourite pairings! I write about them an unhealthy amount and I'll always be delighted to throw them into more dynamics together. There's just something so fun about the relationship of a god and their favourite mortal; one of my favourite dynamics in general is when weaker characters get their hands on a power that they shouldn't have. A mortal learning the consequences of messing with divinity… A god stooping to the level of humans and trying to learn their customs… You literally can't go wrong with this duo.

Canon Deities ✦ There is so much creative freedom with the gods of the server and I'd love absolutely any dynamic involving them! XD and HD, a little bit of Mumza sprinkled in there, even PandasPVP who I'd consider to be a pretty rare muse! The hierarchy of the divine is not spoken about enough... I wanna see the side of them that they don't show to mortals. The behind-the-scenes of their creations, the true extent of their power, even the stupid disputes that they get into with each other.

Drunz ✦ I'm a recent lover of Drunz dynamics and I really want to look into them more. There's so much more to their relationship than what they show on a surface level, what with the fact that they both have egos too big for their little human heads and share a common goal of experimenting with the revivebook. I just know there's darker stuff going on beneath it all because they're too willing to sacrifice for each other... you can't tell me they aren't crazily close to each other. ✦ The angst hits really hard with them, too. Give me all their selfishness within their relationship whether it's romantic or platonic, give me the unintentional hurting because they care too much about their goals to think about each other until it's too late. And definitely give me tragic mistakes that force them into realising just how much they truly care, they're just not letting themselves express it. My sillies.

Awesamponk ✦ I feel like Ponk writers are super rare and I was really excited to see them on your muse list! I'm a sucker for c!Awesamponk's convoluted relationship and I haven't really been able to explore it much in the past. Everything about them is so messy and I love it. All of the emotions that they've had buried beneath the torture that they keep putting each other through... not even Pandora's Box and the Egg could properly tear them apart. No matter the situation, the AU or whatever, these two stick together like glue!

Owen and Oeca ✦ Crossovers aren't everyone's cup of tea, but if you are interested, I think a dynamic between Owen and Oeca would be interesting to explore. Oeca already has a strained relationship with the Owen from his universe. Meeting a second who has no idea who he is? There's so much potential there!!

[kiwibirdlafayette]

hellooo!

you know something that interests me so much, is how Jordan’s perspective is unreliable. Just by the nature of him having an edited pov makes him an unreliable narrator to the audience.

The best example I have of this is why capsize thought they were together. In his pov it comes out of left field, like it makes no sense that she would consider that. But if you go to Tom’s episode, you can see that she literally thinks that because Tom says in chat that him and Jordan are fucking. Like, honestly the comparison of Jordan’s “Girl Problems” ep and Tom’s 81st episode is the best example of that because it frames Capsizes character in a certain light depending on who you watch and because people will usually only watch Jordan’s (because it’s shorter) then it’s a bit of a one sided view.

And I bet you there are season 2 examples but I’d have to rewatch it from someone else’s perspective first before I give an example.

YESSSS NO YEAH EXACTLYY

The unreliable narrator of Jordan's POV is really super interesting because actually like!! you could lore wise outside the meta of edited content ooc interpret it as an intentionally crafted story, where ye!! The whole bit about capsize thinkin thems boyos were together without the context of Tom's comment (which I gen only caught bc I paused Jordan's ep to read the chat when he opened it) makes her out to be a completely different person versus if ya saw it in Tom's POV- in the sense of her to Jordan trying to deflect away from a supposed truth versus her just obvs playin off what Tom was together and them zombiecaptains bein silly

In a way, if ya follow the headcanon from DSMP that chat is personified as an in-universe entity of sorts around the character (like Ranboo's ender particles, the voices of the Blood god to Techno, or Phil's crows); like Jordan got little sparkles floating around him only he can see/hear, the fact that we only see bits of his POV could be like him trying to appeal to them (aka them rampant shippers- show his dynamic with Capsize as they expect which is what leads to the inconsistency in her character) As he goes on he starts to learn to ignore them and just roll how he rolls

(in all honesty i like to abide by the headcanon that the whole "im in love w/ capsize" shenanigans was actually cJordan's dumbass way of deflecting off not wantin to admit he was in love with cTom and was egged on by chat but thats a ramble for another day LMAO)

Also!! thats so true too like I havent watched any other S2 POVs but we kinda actually see it in Isles a lil 👀 Ive been hoppin back n forth between Tom and Jordan's povs for fun during my watchthrough where while the edited v. uncut has been flipped, while you can see all of Tom and Karl's shenanigans uncut in Jord's POV, it still doesnt make any sense the motivations for stuff like him joining Team Ianite unless u can see those interactions he has privately with Dianite (who is also so two totally different people between the two povs). But whats interesting is how like Isle!Tom's kind of unreliable narrator is different in nature from S1!Jordan, where its like the intent between the kind of story either is trying to tell has different motivation behind it ig? ye :D ty for this brainrot btw note I Will put lore to everything and. yeah anyhoozers

[littolsunflower]

Welcome to my blog!!!

I'm Lil! (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠❤

I'm 22, and I use she/her pronouns.

Before anyone gets silly about me being a twitter migrant, yes it's true I wouldn't have made a Tumblr if not for Musk, but I've been on this hellsite since I was 13. This blog itself is actually 4/5 years old, I just had a sideblog sitting unused so I spruced it up!

I write fanfics, there are some older fics on my account for fandoms I'm not active in anymore so here are my active fandoms that I write for:

- DSMP (SFW Only)

- Hermitcraft

Content Warnings for this blog:

- NSFW content

- Shipping (RPF and Personas)

I'm totally open to any transformative interpretations of my work! Like art, podfics, stories inspired by mine, or translations! In fact, PLEASE tag me because I want to see them!! (⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠)

My AO3:

I have a twitter as well, if you need to message me I respond there faster!

https://twitter.com/littolsunflower

Thank you! Be safe and mind the tags!

[esteemedproblem]

Facts #1

Dream doesn’t like hotdog buns and will just put the hotdog on a plate with whatever he wants on it and eat it with a fork this upsets Philza the most.

[theminecraftbox]

/dsmp /rp

More thoughts on the differences between the Dream and Sam prison confrontation, and a hypothetical Dream and Quackity confrontation under the same circumstances. Part one here. 

This time I’m focusing on the psychological differences between how Dream approaches Sam and Quackity, more than the practical differences in how things would play out. 

Dream is viscerally terrified of Quackity on a physical level in a way he is not terrified of Sam. Quackity has committed acts of extreme and bloody violence against him, repeatedly, habitually, until Dream was begging and sobbing and saying horrible, humiliating things he never imagined he’d say; Sam has not done this. Dream can act somewhat normal around Sam (has been forced to, in fact). Normal is fucking obliterated around Quackity.

Sam was a caregiver in a way that Quackity is not, and Dream was forced to trust him in a way he didn’t have to trust Quackity. Dream wasn’t allowed to be openly hostile to Sam, whereas open hostility/total desperate obedience were the extremes Quackity more or less expected from him.

Dream is scared of Sam, absolutely, but his relationship with Sam is a lot more complex in terms of the layers of the actual threat Sam represents when he’s standing in front of him. Sam will feed him/Sam will starve him; Sam will isolate him/Sam will bring him clocks and visitors; Sam will let Quackity in/Sam will stop him from killing Dream; Sam will threaten him/Sam will talk to him; Sam will punish him/Sam’s the only human contact Dream gets. Dream has far more mixed up emotions and feelings than he has with Quackity. Sam’s was a more insidious kind of abuse, less straightforward.

Along those lines: it’s clear that Sam and Dream have had lots (and lots and lots and lots) of conversations, and that while all of those conversations were colored with the innate threat of their power dynamic at the very least, there were plenty that didn’t involve overt harm or violence. This is not true of Dream and Quackity, who never had an interaction in prison that didn’t include physical torture. Dream is constantly expecting pain from him in a way he isn’t from Sam.

Quackity has few illusions about the morality of what he did to Dream. That isn’t to say he has none; he still uses the vicious justification that what he did to Dream was deserved (plus “good” authority/“bad” authority etc). But he puts far, far less stock in this than Sam does. Quackity does not think he’s a particularly good person, or that the things he’s done are good. Quackity is, by and large, fine with this. Dream would not need to walk Quackity through Baby’s First Moral Dilemma the way he did with Sam; if Dream wanted a confession that his torture was fucked up and evil, Quackity would shrug and agree.

Quackity’s sadism was naked in a way Sam’s was not. Quackity’s enjoyment of Dream’s pain was both genuine and an intentional part of the performance he was forcing Dream to endure. Sam copes with what he’s doing by spending a lot of energy on repressing the hell out of the enjoyment he gets hearing Dream scream; Quackity copes by deliberately leaning into it, faking it until he makes it (and he did make it).

The worst things that Sam did to Dream are horribly difficult for him to define. Was it the betrayal, the starvation, the isolation, the lies, the gaslighting, the interrogations, the verbal attacks, the hypocrisy, the torture that Sam didn’t even have the guts to commit himself? It’s a lot of things, and some of those things are more inaction than action. For Quackity, the crime is damn concrete and well-defined and easy to point to—it was, uhhh, the torture. Duh.

The control that Sam wanted (and to some degree established) over Dream was far different than the control Quackity wanted. Quackity wants the book for two simple reasons, each of which is important to him: he wants its power, and he wants Dream dead. Dream knows this. Sam is harder to figure out.

Quackity and Sam both humiliated Dream. They’ve both seen him at his lowest. Sam’s brought him low enough to kneel for him without threats. But it’s Quackity who got up close and personal with him, who broke his body, who Dream called sir. Dream feels horribly violated. He doesn’t want to touch him. 

Quackity is terrified of Dream’s retribution in a way that Sam obviously isn’t. Part of this is that Quackity isn’t neck-deep in denial about the horror of what he’s done; part of this is that he’s intimately familiar with revenge-as-motivation in a way that I truly don’t think Sam understands. The degree of legitimate surprise Sam has when faced with the Revengers and later with Dream’s need for revenge speaks to how he just… doesn’t get the idea of payback.

[petre-chose-violence]

Today on "Bad takes and how to counter them":

(Aka collection of my based takes on)

Mischaracterization of the Syndicate. (and it's members)

(Because I am bored)

/all names reffer to dsmp characters unless explicitly stated otherwise.

"Secret Police" - Their only rule is don't oppress people. Like, that's it. They defend no system and protect no bourgeoisie. In fact, they are very lenient with what regimes they consider worth toppling, seeing as Snowchester still exists.

"The organization in general/any member in particular is Capitalists/Ancap" - They own their own means of production, they work for their stuff themselves, they don't stand in the way of anyone doing the same themselves. Villagers are a game mechanic, as horrible as the implications are, for all intents an purposes, story included, they are not people. That is just how the game unfortunately is.

"They are not friends, they met like 2 times" - Technobirthday Stream is right there, it's called quality over quantity. Also 3/4 Syndicate members were friends for a long time now, only Niki is somewhat new to the group.

"They are the 1%" - *reffer back to capitalist take. There is nothing wrong with having opinions even if you are wealthy/skillful.

Technoblade

"Is violent" - the only non violent characters on the server are Ponk, Ranboo and the new ones. Techno is actually consistently seen trying to minimize casualties of every conflict he was involved in, from the battle of the lake when he suggested Tommy just return the fish, to Doomsday when he made it clear that everyone who doesn't want to die can just leave.

"Doesn't try negotiation" - Except on Nov 16th. And before & after his execution on Dec 16th. And when he stalled for 3+ minutes on the Red Festival. And when he didn't just kill Tommy for being in his house.

"Has no character development" - Over the course of the story he goes All problems can be solved by punching them hard enough, including bad communication. -> Violence sucks actually. Trusting people too. -> Maybe I should try to do a little bit of violence and a tiny bit of trusting people. -> Incredible Violence is Pog when you do it together with trustworthy people. But it's not a good look. Need more trustworthy people. This is more of an ark then 85% of dsmp has. It's like 3 arks cramped together. And we skipped tons of less apparent stuff, like his paranoia.

"Doesn't do mutual aid" - ... to the people he just fought against. And that is a flaw indeed! But other than that? Pogtopia, Tommy, Syndicate. I'd say he's pretty mutual aid-y.

"Doesn't regret his actions" - One) Should he? Two) He does.

"Doesn't loose" - Won once, on Doomsday. Nov 16th, Execution were significant loses, both spiritually and materially.

"Should've seen NLM coming, overblown reaction to Pogtopia becoming a gvt, can't be mad on them for hurting his feelings" - Seen that coming and do what, exactly? Leave and let the rebellion be annihilated? From in character POV, it would've been a "lesser evil" kind of deal. OOC - there is no way Pogtopia could've defeated invisible God-appleded Dream without Techno's stuff. And tactically it would make perfect sense to help one enemy defeat the other and then kick it while it down.

Material side to the side, all of the above would take place if Techno was to learn or acknowledge Pogtopia's true intentions. To my, flawed, human knowledge the only character seen mentioning making a new government instead of Manburg near Techno was Wilbur, who later was all "Total destruction! Anarchy Bros!" so that takes care of that.

And still, if not, if all the evidence was for him to see, maybe yes, maybe Technoblade did know it to some degree. Maybe is lonely, and is desperately clinging to the best resemblance of companionship he've experienced until he could no longer deny its flaws. Maybe he did grow attached to these people he worked with before learning their unfortunate true colours! Maybe he did hope that he just misread some sighns up until when the truth was mockingly shoved into his face! Maybe Mr. "# 2 biggest anxiety wreck ever" couldn't gather enough willpower to confront his comrades about it! Maybe he was head deep in denial! Maybe being forcibly removed from the comfort of such delusion can hurt a little!

DISCLAIMER: If you end up using the a little emotionally charged reading right above remember - it is not, Tommy's, Tubbo's or even, maybe, Wilbur's fault. By that take they manipulated Techno, but they didn't do that consciously or maliciously. Circumstances are just like that.

(If this results in appearance of YandareBlade /srs takes i am going to start biting)

Philza

"Just follows Technoblade" - Fights against Techno on Nov 16th. Joins Doomsday against Techno's wishes.

*conscious decision on the part of the creator to not cover anything Wilbur related, because I'm tired of it*

Ranboo

"Is afraid of Technoblade & Philza" - they had several adventures and tons of fun with them. He willingly remainins their neighbor despite the existence of alternatives. They were the only people he trusted with having Disks. He didn't even trust his husband with that one.

Niki

"Not anarchist, just wants friends" - 1st, whats wrong with that? Syndicate is like the only not fucked friend group organization whose members didn't directly contribute to Niki's mental problems on the server. 2nd, no, have you listened to her recruitment? It goes like this - Techno: "Governments are bad because of xyz", Niki: "True!" Also, she was against Manburg and played a part in destroying NLM, so she has a pretty anti government track record. This whole post.

"Just does whatever she is told" - Her whole Manburg ark is right there, where did this even come from?

[overthinkingfandom]

Cards on the Table - Breaking down the tactics in L'manburg Independence

/rp /dsmp

Much has been said in the fandom about L'manburg's independence. It is, after all, arguably the most important moment in DSMP's history, as the rest of the story wouldn't have existed without it. 

In light of the recent anniversary of it, yes I know I’m late, I wanted to throw my hat in the ring and add something to the discussion surrounding it. However, as the morality of the situation has been discussed to death I'll be taking a slightly different approach to it. 

Due to the nature of the DSMP's medium, the story has many unique quirks. One of those quirks is how realistic the tactics used in the story's portrayal of politics are. The independence conflict is a great example of it. While on the surface things seem to be rather simplistic in nature, there's a lot more going on that’s less obvious.

Both Wilbur and Dream are brilliant politicians who get to show both their strengths and weaknesses in dealing with an equally skilled opponent in this encounter. There’s actually quite a bit to go into, despite their interactions being so short.

When most people think about the L'manburg's independence, they think about the moment the declaration has been written up and the subsequent declaration of war. While this moment is certainly iconic, it's not really all that impactful in the grand scheme of things. Both declarations are the culmination of decisions that have been made beforehand. It's the moment when those decisions were made that really influenced things.

Conveniently, Wilbur and Dream only hold a single conversation about L'manburg before the declarations are drawn up, so we don’t need to look far in order to figure out where those decisions were formed. 

Wilbur has been working on L’manburg, collecting materials and building the wall surrounding it, for almost an hour when he spots Dream lurking. “Get [Dream] into the VC, I need to talk with him. He’s the leader of the other nation, I think we need to have a congress.” (52:44)

Dream: “Hello?”

Wilbur: “Hello Dream. Welcome to our great nation of L’manburg.”

Dream: “L’manburg?”

Wilbur: “Yes. We are seceding from Dream SMP. This is our own server now. This area, just this part [between the walls of L’manburg], is our server.”

Wilbur doesn’t waste any time before getting right down to business and talking about the matter at hand. However, the way he speaks about it here and in the rest of the conversation is fairly interesting. Wilbur is talking about L’manburg as if it’s something which already exists. They are seceding. This is their land. This conversation is merely a courtesy to give Dream a formal notice of their separation.

Yet, a bit later Wilbur shows he knows they need Dream’s acknowledgement in order for L’manburg to be its own entity. Independence is not a concrete thing that can just be taken or created on one person’s whim, after all. It only exists when the people with power agree it exists. 

Wilbur: “Dream, basically all we want from you is just acknowledgement that we are an independent nation now. That’s all we need.” (56:20)

So if Wilbur knows they aren’t independent yet, why is he talking like that? 

It’s because he’s using a salesman technique called an Assumptive Close. Instead of posing it as a question and putting the choice of agreeing or disagreeing in Dream’s hands, Wilbur acts as if it’s already true and leaves the burden of challenging his claims on Dream’s shoulders. He even moves on to ask secondary questions on how Dream feels about having embassies in his land (and notably he frames it as a question, unlike how he frames the topic of L’manburg’s independence) as if L’manburg is already a political entity. 

Wilbur: “Dream, I’ve got a proposition for you. How do you feel about having Tommy’s land being an embassy? Like it’s an enclave in your own land.” (59:01)

Wilbur’s use of this technique has an interesting side effect in that it signals to Dream Wilbur is taking a non-compromising position in this negotiation. In essence saying “L’manburg is independent, take it or leave it.” 

A non-compromising position is the game theory term for when someone goes, "I'm going to do that, this is going to happen and nothing can dissuade me from this course of action." It's a strong tactic which forces everyone to react to that person's position, reducing the others' options into a binary of either accepting that position or rejecting it. 

This is a very common tactic and various manifestations of it can be seen all over history and media. From Martin Luther who refused to recant or compromise with his famous words of “Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise” to groups who cultivate a "with us or against us" mentality to heroic characters who say they would die before giving in to whatever Evil the story focuses on.

This is the situation Dream is facing here. He can either accept Wilbur's assertion that L'manburg is an independent entity by either encouraging them or even doing nothing, or he can reject Wilbur's assertion by acting against it.

As we all know, he ended up choosing the second option but what were his considerations for doing so?

For that we would need to know what his goal was here, something we don't really get a sense of from his conversation with Wilbur. However, he ends up stating what it was in a later conversation with Skeppy. 

(Emphasis added by me and wasn’t part of the original dialogue.)

“Everyone can build wherever they want. [L’manburg] just decided to say that they get to determine where they can build and we can’t and we said well no, you can’t do that. And that’s what the whole war was over.” (31:44)

“[L’manburg] can’t tell us that we can’t go in their land. That’s all we wanted to say. That they’re not independent, they are a part of the Dream Team SMP. They’re just a delusional, small part." (34:26)

Dream lies a lot, so just because he says something doesn't mean it's necessarily true. However, this seems to be genuine. Dream has no problem telling Skeppy “we burned down their houses and blew up the whole land.” (32:36) later on in the conversation, so we can rule out that he's trying to paint himself in a better light, and there aren't really any other reasons for him to lie to Skeppy here about this. 

When looking at Dream's options with his goal we can see the choice is pretty much a no-brainer. 

Accepting is a total lose scenario for him. Not only will it fail to fulfill his goals, it would actively encourage the sort of behavior he doesn't want to happen, as Wilbur would set a precedent that so long as someone insisted hard enough and implied Dream is a bad person he would fold in negotiations and give them what they want.

Rejecting gets him far closer to his goal of railing against L’manburg’s exclusion. Going to war means he has to invest much more effort and resources into his reaction than if he just accepted as well as deal with the risks any war has, however the sheer difference in ability between Dream's side and Wilbur's side make the risk minimal. 

Going to a war he’s pretty sure he can win VS encouraging the sort of thing he disapproves of, isn’t really a hard choice.

This is actually the result of a mistake on Wilbur's part. CC!Wilbur called his character naive (37:49) and he's not wrong. Wilbur has a tendency to act as he wishes and not take into account that people might disagree or retaliate. We see it with him saying they could just ignore the Americans (1:51:17) or during the elections when he told Quackity his scheme and got blindsided by Quackity deciding to run against him. 

Historically, non-compromising positions worked best when the person who used it made sure rejection would be more costly than acceptance in one way or the other. In essence, narrowing down the options for others even more and leaving them only with acceptance. 

Wilbur may have managed to wipe off the table all other options and put pressure on Dream to accept with his use of Assumptive Close, but he didn't do anything to prevent Dream from rejecting. In fact, it seems like Wilbur didn't even consider it as a valid possibility as he outright dismissed it when Dream brought it up as an option.

Dream: “What happens if the rest of the server decides to take over your land?”

Wilbur: “They can’t. It’s literally not how servers- Dream you’re supposed to be smart man, that’s not how servers work. You can’t just take over another person’s server.” (54:33)

But, you may be asking, if it was better for Dream to go to war against L'manburg rather than grant them independence, why did he end up giving into their desire for independence in the war? Wouldn't it have been better if he just saved everyone the trouble and gave it to them when they asked for it the first time? Or maybe Dream’s obsession with Tommy and his discs is just that strong?

We can find the answer to all those questions at Punz’ video where he shows the behind the scenes of the independence war, including some of the planning which went into it from the Dream Team’s side of the war. Specifically, this quote:

Dream: “[The L’manburgians] are never gonna give up. So then in the end the resolution will probably just be, we won but they can think whatever they want, we’re just going to ignore them because they’re essentially like- You want to think you’re independent? You’re not, you’re still part of the SMP, but if you want to think you’re independent, you can.” (9:04)

“They’re never gonna give up.”

Whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter, as this is what Dream thinks and so this is what dictates his actions. Perhaps he’s overestimating his opponents here, or maybe he’s talking about how even if L’manburg is defeated this time they would try again for independence in the future. In either case, it’s clear Dream thinks the best case scenario for him - completely preventing people from fighting for L'manburg's independence - is impossible. 

So, he tries for the second best case. If he can’t prevent L’manburg, he’s going to allow it but only under Dream’s terms. That’s what his “they can think whatever they want” line is all about. He intends on giving them token independence here, something which would satisfy them but wouldn't pose a real threat. Which is exactly what he ends up offering them during the bow duel.

Dream: “Let me just clarify: if you win, we grant L’Manburg independence.”

Tommy: “Alright.”

Dream: “But we recognize it still as a part of the Dream Team SMP.”

Wilbur: “That’s fine, that’s a fine condition.” (40:54)

The token independence thing didn’t work out so well for him. L'manburg quickly grew to be seen as an entity separate from Greater Dream SMP by everyone, and so Dream was forced to concede and treat it as one as well. 

However, despite this part of his plan failing, overall the independence war was a glowing success for Dream. 

By giving L'manburg independence after winning the war, Dream sent a very clear message. L'manburg only gets to be independent so long as they stay on Dream's good side. If they don't adhere to the terms Dream sets out for them? He can and will kick their asses, as the war so aptly demonstrated.

This message is received loud and clear. During his entire presidency Wilbur went out of his way to treat Dream with respect and try not to piss him off. Something he clearly demonstrates a number of times, like when he asked if he should call Dream “king Dream” (59:08) or during the railway skirmish (24:16).

In fact, it can be argued that this message lasted all the way up to Tubbo's presidency. Unlike Quackity, who was perfectly fine with starting a fight with Dream, Tubbo knew first hand what a war against Dream looks like. He knew that they could not win a war against him, especially in their weakened state at the time, and that influenced his decision. 

As Dream once said: "L'manburg can be independent but it can't be free."

[lasnevadaslaborunion]

// small rant + mentions of fictional abuse and victim-blaming of fictional characters

abuser apologists my beloathed. they engage in so much victim-blaming that i made a whole meme to call them out every time it happens, and sadly that meme has seen a lot of use in the months i have been using it 😔

and the d-s-m-p fandom does so much victim-blaming too… i have seen some horrible shit on twitter and tumblr about that, and don't even get started on the fanfics…

even worse is that there are Several characters who are victims/survivors of abuse in the dsmp canon, but so often their trauma responses are used to "illustrate" that they somehow deserved to be treated badly, or are otherwise villainized

ugh, i hate it in this fandom. at least some of us here try to stay sane

Aqua I saw this ask a while ago and put off responding, but god, you're so right.

I don't think I'll ever recover from seeing the take that c!Tommy's exile was just "summer camp rehabilitation." How can you look at a premeditated string of abuses designed to obliterate a person's self-esteem and ability to trust their friends other than the one abusing them, which not only failed to improve their behavior in the long run but also nearly drove them to suicide, and then say, "Ah yes, this is a perfectly reasonable punishment for being a mildly annoying prankster who accidentally burned five blocks of somebody's roof???" (This isn't even getting into the fact that a solid number of those real-life "summer camp programs" are incredibly toxic and abusive themselves. Like, you sure you want to use that as a reference? You sure you want to defend the isolation of vulnerable teens with underqualified supervisors and no consistent contact with the outside? You really see no way that could go horrifically wrong?)

And c!Quackity. My god, c!Quackity.

Manberg c!Q really couldn't do anything right in some people's eyes, could he? If he laid down and silently accepted c!Schlatt's behavior, that means he endorsed the cruelty the president was heaping on other citizens. If he argued and fought back, that means he wasn't really being abused - in fact, it must mean he was the true abuser all along! Bullshit. Now, c!Q is a little shit in the Las Nevadas arc, don't get me wrong, but the string of events that got him there is very well-documented. He's not some super-genius puppetmaster who selfishly manipulates every single person he comes in contact with. He's a hurt and traumatized young man who has taken all the wrong messages from his abuse at c!Schlatt's hands, and from all the wars and abandonment that reinforced those messages. Now he's overcompensating, he's projecting, he's lashing out, he's digging his nails in and refusing to let go of what little he's got. And even then, he's been shown to feel genuine remorse if he subjects innocent people to even a fraction of what c!Schlatt did to him, because surprise! He's not a total monster. What c!Q later became does not make what happened to him in Manberg any less terrible. People can change, for better and for worse.

And you know what? Fuck it, I'll even go to bat for c!Dream on this front. I have very little personal sympathy for him, but nobody deserves torture. Nobody. And it feels... weird to see people taking what's clearly supposed to be one of the darkest points in all three character's (c!Q, c!Sam, and c!Dream) arcs and turning it into some kind of empowering girlboss moment. These are three incredibly screwed up people who have taken out their anger on vulnerable "acceptable" targets to different extents and for different reasons, and who have accomplished virtually nothing as a result. What c!Dream has done to others, particularly to c!Tommy, is disgusting and unjustifiable. What was done to him in Pandora's Vault is also reprehensible. There's no point in arguing over who "deserved" it more, because these two wrongs do not cancel one another out.

That being said, don't even get me started on the fanfic trope where c!Tommy rescues c!Dream and comforts him after the prison arc, or the ones where c!Quackity is villainized to the point of hurting c!Tommy for doing so, despite the fact that his affection for c!Tommy is canonically a major motivation for his treatment of c!Dream. Because those fics are tasteless and out-of-character as hell...

... I'm going to pause now because I need to write a whole ass video essay at some point in the future, and once I start ranting I won't be able to stop

[petcheeatah]

ranting about dsmp fans because it’s genuinely upsetting me to see people say “c!techno is boring” or things like “he needs to lose a canon life” , “he has a victim complex” , or “he always wins” .

i can’t name one thing about him that is boring. he’s a tall pig dude with a deep voice and an amazing skill for killing and plotting. like that’s so fucking cool. no one else on the smp is like that (well, maybe dream and punz are cool at killing but whatever.)

he’s also been extremely original and brought new things to the server: anarchy, hardcore grinding, living in snow biomes, the firework crossbow, CANON CHAT !!, voices in the ‘ed, and good fighting lol.

you dont need someone to constantly face trauma or losses to make a good character. his WHOLE THING is about being the “blood god” and never dying. it’d be way to predictable and bland to take a canon life— especially if it’s from someone he “wronged” (tubbo, quackity, tommy) . people forget he’s not the absolute MAIN character. and idk about you guys, but it’s really repetitive and dry seeing everyone have a “villain arc” or getting killed at some event. we ALL predicted someone losing a canon life at the red banquet, the lmanburg wars, or the other shit. i think it’s so cool how it can’t be him because he’s just too damn good!

some of y’all dont know good writing when you see it. the fact that everyone agrees that certain things should happen means it’s predictable and dull. i literally hate seeing theories on twitter become true because it basically adds nothing to the story !

also the whole “he pretends to be a victim” , “he betrayed c!tommy” , “he killed c!ubbo and pretended it was peer pressure” shit pisses the fuck out of me. how can you pretend to be a victim when you ARE one?? mans was manipulated by c!wilbur too y’know!! c!techno was canonically told that there would be no more governments if he helped pogtopia! he was also betrayed by c!tommy (who admitted it in his recent lore stream !) during the community house debacle. he constantly told c!tommy they would take down new lmanburg, and c!tommy completely followed until the last second, misguiding c!techno and fucking him over.

i really hate it when ppl dismiss the whole peer pressure thing, because it totally makes sense !!! like c!techno had c!schlatt, c!quackity, and whole crowd of people, and loud ass voices in his head demanding him to kill c!tubbo !!! i would fuckin give in too!! it was like he couldn’t see past all of the demands to fully understand what was happening.

and not to be annoying but i never saw this much hate for c!techno until this april *cough* *cough* . but i won’t get into that :)))

[dracoria-azucar]

Supernatural DSMP things that are probably connected and I live in fear of

-- The Crimson

 Literally a man-eating “egg” that’s hundreds of years old and craves world wide domination. It’s sentient but not omnipotent. It makes more sense that it’s actually a plant bulb rather than an egg because of it’s vines, but I mean that might just be meta aesthetic junk. There’s something inside of it? Hatching has been mentioned as something we “shouldn’t worry about”??? Huh.

- Church Prime / Tommyinnit

The holy lands are immune to the growth of the Crimson. The cultists feel unsafe when standing within it’s borders. It’s holy water has been shown to purify individuals exposed to the Egg directly and the armor lining the church walls have been used as “Hazmat Suits”. Tommy, who is one of the churches founders and Prime’s “chosen”, is the only character explicitly CONFIRMED in canon to be immune to the effects of the Crimson naturally. The Crimson has a personal vendetta against Tommy specifically. Dream has a personal obsession with Tommy specifically. Why does this kid have so many connections to freaky eldritch beings.

- Ranboo / Dream

We still have no idea what the “other half” of Ranboo is. Ranboo refers to the state he enters when being manipulated by Dream as the “Enderwalk” which doesn’t clear any of that up! But Dream had a shield in the final disc confrontation that’s pattern mimicked the white half of Ranboo’s skin. And Dream referred to the Enderwalk State as Ranboo’s “other half”? So which “half” is actually Ranboo? And why is the other one inclined to obey Dream’s orders if it’s just a normal Enderman???

- Jschlatt

What the fuck happened to this man. Who the fuck was this man. He just walked onto the server, won a presidency, succumbed to political corruption, became an alcoholic, and then died of a heart attack? Why the fuck did he just HAVE the equivalent of a necronomicon??? Now he’s just gone and seems incredibly reluctant to be brought back. Does he even HAVE any answers? It’s equally likely that the bastard just found the book on the side of the road or some shit. We just don’t know anything about him and may never get the chance. Fuck.

- Ghostbur

WHO IS HE???? Too many people have glossed over the fact that Ghostbur is literally his own character! Alivebur exists separately to this man who looks like him and sounds like him and has 75% of HIS memories? Where did he come from?? The most likely explanation is that he’s technically PART of Alivebur’s consciousness that came back to deal with the unfinished business that Alivebur didn’t WANT to deal with. But we don’t even have any real conformation of that outside of them not being able to be in the same place at the same time outside of Purgatory!!!

- The Inbetween / Karl Jacobs

Everything about this place seems too good to be true. People have already pointed out the aesthetic ties it has to Ranboo’s character. I don’t trust it. It’s portraying itself as a safe space for Karl to learn about his own powers that he has for some reason. “DONT STRAY FROM THE PATH x96″ YEAH OKAY BITCH SOUNDS FINE TO ME?? Totally not the voice of an alternate timeline Karl who fucked around and found out shit that was too much for his human mind to comprehend! 

- Foolish

Mans is just a Demigod, like, canonically. He is a minor deity of life, The Totem God, and he’s just vibing in a desert building a temple in his own honor. He hasn’t DONE anything plot relevant yet? But BBH has made the terrifying implications that KILLING him canonically will grant the killer an extra life???? HELLO????? Please keep my boy away from like 99% of the server thank you <3

[evienyx]

DSMP Citizens POV 3: The L'Manburg Librarian

Got an ask requesting a dsmpsona, specifically from someone who wanted to see a part of this series with @thesmpisonfire and their dsmpsona. Luckily, I follow them, and so I'm well-prepared for this one. I took a bit of liberty with their canon deaths, so I hope that's all right. Mostly that they weren't blown up for the first one.

- - -

DSMP Citizen POV Masterlist

- - -

Everyone knew that the L'Manburg Revolution was a turning point for the server. It marked the first nation separate from the Admin's rule. The Revolution was a celebration when people reminisced in the streets of a freed L'Manburg.

Still, many people failed to remember that there had still been a war for that freedom.

Of course, those who fought in that war would never forget the blood that was shed, the lives that were lost for the sake of their freedom. Included in these numbers was the L'Manburg Librarian.

Also known as Des, the L'Manburg Librarian had been a part of the country since the beginning, joining the nation as soon as word of it reached their ears. Unlike some, the Librarian fought hard and true for the new country's independence, and when a sword was shoved through them as a splash potion of poison ate away at whatever was left of their life, they simply grinned and returned their enemy's blow with one of their own. Their dogs came to finish the job, and then sat with the Librarian as they sprawled back on the grass, watching the clouds pass by with the sun on their face and a smile on their lips until their body finally gave out and the server returned them to their bed, one life ticked off of their count.

The Librarian shuddered, steadied their trembling hands, grabbed their weapon, and sprinted back toward the battlefield.

When L'Manburg's independence was finally secured with VP Tommy's sacrifice of his discs, Des was sure that they cheered the loudest.

For a while, things were peaceful. Des was given confirmation to build a library up within the country, and people donated books or they would gather them themself, building up a collection that stretched to the ceiling.

When the Election arrived, the L'Manburg Librarian didn't care much for it until SWAG 2020's campaign was announced. Suddenly, then, there was weight to the election, and they weren't about to watch the country that they had died for go up in flames without them having a say in it. So, they listened to every debate there was, mulled over the campaigns and what each party promised. They were partial to Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit, of course. President Soot had led them in the revolution. He had build this country with his own two hands, surely he would know how to care for it.

Then, though, COCONUT 2020 announced their candidacy, with Fundy Soot and Niki Nihachu, who promised free cookies and ice cream for all should they be victorious, and Des abruptly knew exactly who they were voting for.

(And it wasn't President Soot.)

When the results came in, though, much to their chagrin, COCONUT 2020 hadn't won. In fact, they had been disqualified entirely for supposed hacking.

It was announced that POG 2020 had gotten the majority, and Des was satisfied, until the word 'coalition' left President Soot's mouth and everything seemed to come crashing down at once.

Des whirled around as ex-President Soot and ex-VP Tommy were forced to flee, the older giving one last shove to his right-hand man before falling to the ground. A moment later, Wilbur Soot disappeared, and a heavy feeling swept over the citizens of L'Manburg. The man who had built their country from the ground up, who had led them all to freedom, was now on his last life.

The L'Manburg Librarian swallowed, listened with clenched fists as the country that they had died for was renamed 'Manburg,' and then retreated to their library. At least they could find solace in their books.

Until, a week-and-a-half later, while Des was sorting their book collection on one of the lower shelves and stroking a cat at the same time, the door opened and in stepped President Schlatt.

"Mr. President," the L'Manburg Librarian said, inclining their head just a bit. After what had happened at the inauguration, they didn't really want to get on this guy's bad side.

"Librarian," Schlatt said, his voice hard. He took another step forward, and Des noticed then Secretary Underscore standing behind the president on one side. Vice President Quackity was nowhere to be seen.

"What can I help you with?"

"Cut the shit, already, I know what you are," Schlatt said, his voice dropping and eyes narrowing. The L'Manburg Librarian felt a pounding in their chest at his words, and leaned back despite the fact that he was not very close to them at all.

"What... What are you talking about?"

"You're a rebel," the president hissed.

"A what?"

"Oh, don't play dumb! You think I don't know what you're doing here in your little 'library,' spreading propaganda, telling lies to the people."

Des blinked. "These aren't lies, Mr. President. They're history books."

Eventually, it seemed as though as long as they stood their ground, they weren't getting banished anytime soon, which was nice.

(Their taxes were still increased, though, the same way that Niki Nihachu's were, and the L'Manburg Librarian didn't find that particularly fair in the slightest.)

Still, despite the whole thing with the taxes and constantly being accused of being a rebel (which Des totally would be, were they not so thoroughly entertained by the Manburg Cabinet), life in Manburg was all right. It was dreary, sure. Everyone seemed a bit downtrodden, everyone walked a bit quieter, their shoulders a bit more tense, but other than that, it was all right.

(The L'Manburg Librarian still cried when the flag went up in flames. They had been there when that flag was first hung. Now it was gone, like it had never even been there in the first place.)

(The number of visitors to their library increased after the burning for a few weeks, and the number of tears shed were enough that Des started just offering tissues at the door.)

(They understood, of course.)

(That was why they did what they did.)

After the execution of Secretary Underscore, one that the L'Manburg Librarian both hated to watch and couldn't look away from, jotting down every detail in a notebook before running as soon as Technoblade turned on the crowd, Des felt that there was more tension in the air than there had been before.

Then, one day, as they went for an evening walk through Manburg, they heard yelling coming from the White House. They ducked behind a pillar, and watched as Vice President Quackity jumped on the President and beat him to death.

"Holy fucking shit," Des breathed. Schlatt's body disappeared, Quackity fled from the scene, and the L'Manburg Librarian found themself a bit disappointed that most of the original Manburg Cabinet was gone. The drama would be drastically decreased, now, and that was one of the only reasons they stayed in this Prime-forsaken country to begin with.

During the war between Manburg and Pogtopia, Des joined up with the Pogtopia forces, if only because they had never been accused of being a rebel by having historically-accurate books when they were under the previous administration.

"Take that, Emperor Fuck-Face!" They exclaimed, laughing as they set fire to a Manburg flag.

"Language!" BadBoyHalo, the head of the Badlands, cried. The L'Manburg Librarian, fully done with everyone's shit and excited to have their country back, raised a middle finger to the sky and dashed back into battle.

They watched as TommyInnit passed the presidency to Wilbur Soot, who then passed it to Tubbo Underscore. Des grinned, wide and a bit manic, as the teenager gave a speech, promising to build the country back better, to heal from the wounds that the previous administration had caused.

Then, they all heard the hissing in the ground below them, and the crowd barely had a chance to run as the nation exploded around them.

The L'Manburg Librarian went at the Withers that Technoblade spawned with a ferocity that surprised both no one and everyone.

It didn't stop their library from being destroyed, though. Nor their house.

President Tubbo, though, gave them government-allocated funds to rebuild, and so they did. And maybe then some. Hey, if the government was paying for it, what was the harm?

Des grinned and wiped the sweat off their brow as they finally rebuilt their library in New L'Manburg. The first night, though, they dropped down the ladder from the second-floor to find someone sifting through their books.

"Uh, hello?"

The face turned to them, and it was that of President Soot. Who was dead. His body was grayed out, save for his bright-yellow sweater and the blue that was splattered across it, the same color leaking from his eyes, so dark that it was as if Des was looking into the void itself.

"Oh, hello!" President Soot said, with all the pep that he hadn't had in life. "What's your name?"

The Librarian was a bit taken aback. President Soot had always been rather supportive of the work that they did, collecting books and keeping tabs on the events that happened, so that future generations could read about the history of their nation. "Uh, I'm Des. Most people know me as the L'Manburg Librarian."

"Nice to meet you, Des the L'Manburg Librarian!" President Soot said. "I'm Ghostbur. You might have known me as Wilbur Soot, but I don't remember much about being Alivebur, so I couldn't really tell you anything."

"Oh. You're dead?"

"Yep!" And with that, the ghost went back to sorting through their books.

"Uh, sorry, the library is closed right now," Des said, moving forward to put a hand on the ghost's wrist. The skin was cold, and they were sure that if they put a bit more pressure, their hand would slide right through him.

"Oh, no, I'm just getting books to take back to my sewer!" Ghostbur said, as if his words weren't absolutely insane. "I'm making a library there. I want to collect all the books on the server, so that they're protected and the history can be read about for generations!"

The L'Manburg Librarian blinked. "There's no need for that. That's what I'm doing. I collect these books so that people can always learn about the country's history."

Ghostbur frowned, looking rather confused. "That's what I'm doing."

And so began one of the oddest competitions. Ghostbur would steal books from Des's library, Des would steal them right back. This went on for months until the day came that President Tubbo announced to the people of L'Manburg that their country had one day left to live.

"Technoblade, Dream, and Philza are all coming tomorrow to destroy our country," the teenage president said to the people gathered. "Get everything valuable, everything that you wouldn't want blown-up, all of your pets, all your friends and family, and evacuate. King Eret has graciously offered all of our people sanctuary. You may move everything to the land of the Greater SMP, where we have erected a temporary campsite for everyone to leave at." The president cleared his throat, and it hit the L'Manburg Librarian just how exhausted the teenager looked. "We are going to be trying to fight against them. Anyone who wishes to join us in the battle, may, but know that there are incredible risks. It is likely many of us will lose lives. We will do our best to keep our nation standing, strong and free." His words were broadcast through the communicators, and the whole of the country could hear them.

Des moved their pets to the Greater SMP that night, not wanting to take any risks. As they called their friends who lived in other nations to assist them in transporting the books from their library, Des did their best to reminisce on the good memories that they all had back before the L'Manburg elections.

"Des," their friends all said for what felt like the hundredth time, "We are not fighting for L'Manburg again. We have lost too much shit, and over half of us have lost a life, and we don't even live there anymore. That country is going to go down."

"Not if we fight for it!" The L'Manburg Librarian exclaimed. "Guys, c'mon! It stands for freedom! You remember how we fought for it in the Revolution! How we built it together!"

"Yeah," their friends said, deadpan. "And we died. Because of Dream. Who is coming with Technoblade, the Blood God, and Philza, the Angel of Death, to blow it down to bedrock."

"Whatever. I'm still going."

Their friends frowned. "Just... don't die, Des."

Des had never been the best at listening.

The next day, in the afternoon, with a grid of obsidian dropping TNT from the sky and more Withers than they could count soaring through the skies, the L'Manburg Librarian launched themself at Technoblade with a scream.

Before they could even reach him, a bomb from above fell on their head, exploding and launching them backward. Their ears ringing, spots dancing in their eyes, Des flew through the air, down, down, down into the crater below. They heard a crack through the ringing, and then everything was gone.

They sat up in their bed at the campsite once the server reclaimed their soul and brought them back, tears streaming down their face and hands shaking. They gasped on their breaths, and their face felt as if it was on fire. Their fingers ran over their skin and felt bumps, scars from the explosion that had rocketed them back into the crater. Des took a deep breath, dug their nails into their palms, grabbed their weapons, and set off back toward the battle.

When all was said and done, L'Manburg was gone. The nation that they had fought for, that twice they had died for, was nothing more than a hole in the ground. There was no rebuilding from this, and the L'Manburg Librarian knew this. They built up a cottage, technically on King Eret's land, moving their books and pets into the new home.

One day, about a week after Doomsday, they returned to the cottage to find King Eret there, standing outside of their door with one of his knights at his side.

"Hello," King Eret smiled, adjusting her sunglasses. "How are you, today?"

Des shrugged.

King Eret hummed. "Well," they said. "I was wondering what you were doing on my land?"

"I lived in L'Manburg," the Librarian said, their voice level, emotionless. They were rather drained. "Fought for it in the Revolution. Died for it. Twice. I... I didn't realize that this was your land. Sorry."

King Eret furrowed his eyebrows, face turning sympathetic. "I did many things to wrong L'Manburg," she said, hands moving to adjust her sunglasses. "Now, it's gone. The least I can do is help the people who used to live here." King Eret offered a soft smile. "Feel free to stay here as long as you like."

Des nodded, their throat a bit dry. King Eret inclined their head before turning to head up to the castle, the knight following close behind.

The Librarian stood there for a moment before pushing open the door to their cottage and stepping inside.

They adopted two more dogs, within the following few weeks, after seeing the animals on the street for a few days. Des focused in on caring for their pets, both old and new, helping both the animals and themself through the trauma that seemed to be a given with living on the Dream SMP server.

A bit after the destruction of L'Manburg, though, the Librarian was sitting in their home, stroking one of their dogs, when there was a sound from the other room, where their books were contained.

Des had learned to not take chances. They grabbed a splash potion of poison, one of harming, another of weakness, and their sword. The dogs followed them as they moved quietly toward the small library where their books were. They pushed open the door, saw someone standing in the shadows, hands reaching toward the books, and immediately threw all three potions.

The Librarian rushed in and slashed at the figure, who just barely managed to raise a shield and stop their blade.

"Leave," Des said. The dogs entered the room, flanking either side of them, growling at the intruder.

"I was hired to destroy everything that remains of L'Manburg," the figure said, and the Librarian recognized the voice as the mercenary, Punz.

"I don't care," they replied. "You are in my house, threatening my property."

The mercenary repeated what he had said.

"I am under the protection of King Eret," Des said, trying their luck at something that they weren't quite sure of the validity of. "And you are trespassing on their land. If you even touch these books, I will be forced to contact the authorities." The Librarian's hand tightened around the hilt of their sword. "And you best pray that they get here before I can finish with you."

Punz was still for a moment before slipping out the open window and disappearing. Des sighed, shoulders untensing just a bit, and they ran their fingers over the spines of their books before leading the dogs out of the room and closing the door.

The Librarian began to borrow money, after that, to build a new library, one with good security. King Eret allowed them to construct it next to the Museum, where the history of the server could all be in one place. In the process of borrowing the money, though, Des ended up accidentally falling into debt with Quackity, the old Vice President of L'Manburg and the current leader of Las Nevadas, a new power on the server.

"It's easy," Quackity said when he confronted them. "You owe me. You work for me, and that will repay your debt. If not, I might be forced to consider... other means."

The Librarian, though, knew what this man could do, and they nodded and took the job.

(Maybe, though, it was also because they wanted a purpose. They wanted something that made them feel the way they had when they lived in L'Manburg.

They wanted a nation that they could care about. They liked living on King Eret's land, but they didn't care about the Greater SMP. The library was still under construction, and would be for a while, especially in order to be secure enough to protect so much history. Des had nothing, at the moment.

And so, they moved their pets over to Las Nevadas in order to work off their debt.

And maybe they also did it because they wanted to start anew.

When they saw Wilbur Soot again, though, alive and well, with a shock of white in his hair, and when they saw Fundy Soot, walking at night in the woods with troubles on his lips and fear in his eyes, and when they saw Foolish, a god who helped others because he didn't want to face his own problems, and when they saw Charlie, a guy who definitely knew how to be a person, they realized something. This nation was for people who had nowhere else to go.

And now, with L'Manburg gone, with a library unfinished and land that wasn't even their own, Des the L'Manburg Librarian counted as just another person on the server with nothing left at all.)

[pineapplesunsetkiss]

Thoughts of Wilbur Lore ... too soon?

At first I was exasperated (but not upset) with the culmination of c!Wilbur's lore. I felt like he was trolling the fanbase. After all, I literally gave myself a headache trying to decipher c u in ut only for it to literally mean "See you around in Utah."

Of course all of us Americans had read that (after we reassured ourselves he wasn't just calling Eret the C-word), but immediately dismissed it as absurd. How niave we were.

But, someone on Twitter pointed out that the final lore was the perfect blend of what all of Wilbur's lore has been -- emotion, high drama, and tragedy mixed with funny and the totally absurd treated as normalcy. And, that turned me around. This tonal clash has never been my cup of tea. I'm always one to smooth over the plot holes, but it has been the overarching aesthetic all along.

As to the serious bits ... of course, I would have preferred for Wilbur and Tommy to sail off into the sunset together -- reconciled and at peace. But, I am not at all surprised that didn't happen. That's never been their style. And, we did finally get THE apology more or less. We still got the catharsis we were all waiting for.

I also understand the magnitude of what Wilbur was trying to convey about the c!Wilbur & c!Tommy relationship. Tommy means the world to Wilbur. Literally. L'Manberg represented Tommy to Wilbur when he created it. Tommy reminded Wilbur of all of the freedom, joy, rebellious spirit, ridiculousness, mischief, victory, and ultimately hubris, rejection, defeat, disillusionment, and despair.

Wilbur falls back into those habits as soon as he's with Tommy. That's why he dreaged Tommy along when he stirred trouble with Quackity, but ultimately, Ranboo's sacrifice woke Wilbur up. Wilbur realized he needed to move on from those habits or he'd continue to hurt everyone around him.

Wilbur said he didn't want to risk losing Tommy by him not accepting the apology. But Wilbur always intended to lose Tommy because he knew that he needed to move on from the constant reminder of L'Manberg and his own failures.

I also think there is possibly a much deeper meaning in Wilbur's "return to Utah." When Wilbur wrote about the endless sands/desert in Eret's book, I immediately thought of both Foolish's Egyptian build and Fundy's desert dreams. The fact that the Totem of Undying chose a desert environment may just be a coincidence. But I think that Fundy's dreams about reality and needing to wake up are key.

So here comes the crazy idea. What if the DSMP is itself a form of limbo that these people are stuck in? It would explain the crazy "dream logic" of the storylines and the fact that it's run by someone called Dream. When the characters have resolved their inner demons so to speak, they have the ability to move on to the afterlife, which is the "endless sands." It could be that Wilbur and Fundy had some special sparks of insight into this situation because they are related to Philza, the Angel of Death (and possibly to Kristin, the Goddess of Death).

When Fundy killed himself he said he would respawn somewhere very far away. I bet he was dreaming of being in Utah when he was being told to "wake up" and that's where he is now. Wilbur updated the book for Eret after his encounter with Fundy (don't know whether that's canon). Now, I don't know whether this DSMP = Limbo/ UT = afterlife holds true for all the characters, but Wilbur indicated that it did for Eret and Tommy at the least. Both Eret and Tommy have mysterious origins, as do many others on the server.

[filthyslashertoad]

Howdy fellow cryptid! I have come to request one Slasher matchup please! I apologise in advance, this is a long one. Strap in!

I am an AFAB Trans.masc. guy that goes by He/They pronouns, I’m also pansexual. My preferred name is Corvinn. I’m Aussie as hell and apparently have a very prominent accent but have been mistaken for a Brit many-a-times, simply for the manner of how I speak [apparently I sound “posh” and “polite” even though I cuss more than a sailor, I mean aight ig lol]. I have diagnosed A.D.H.D., insomnia, and Autism [and a lot of other stuff too but those are the main things], so at times I will go Non-Verbal and too much stimulation bad but also not enough stimulation make my brain play another episode of remembering trauma like it’s the the best show ever so I’m stuck in a constant state of AAAAAAAAA. I started going Non-verbal way late so I don‘t know SL but I will communicate using the notes app on my phone or what is essentially a very confusing and complicated game of charades. I get excited about things really quickly and I get told it’s annoying so I try not to but then that kind of leads to me not showing any outward emotion and that also upsets people. Yes I do stim [flappy hands when I’m overwhelmed with emotion be it positive or other, and playing with my ear lobes or those of a person near me I trust as a comfort thing], I also will twitch on occasion but I’m not sure about it being anything serious because it’s mostly just [sometimes painful] head/neck/shoulder jerks accompanied by grunts, pulling a strained kind of face, leg jerks, and arm jerks. My mental health is not good but I’m really trying to get better and I finally think I’m heading in the right direction. I am also extremely self-conscious of my voice, I think it’s too high.

Information regarding my physical appearance follows as such: I am not tall [*cough*like5’1*cough*], I have short brown undercut hair, on my right eyebrow I have a slit because I was bored but I like it and it’s staying, I have weird bluish-greenish-grey eyes that I swear I will never know the real colour of because they like to pull the good ol’ one-two-switcheroo on me under different lighting, I wear large thick-lensed, thin-black frame glasses due to my rapidly declining eyesight [I’m practically blind without ’em, hehe], I have very-very light freckles on my face [I’m talkin‘ gotta be EXTRA close to see that shit], I have gauges [stretchers, whatever, the things that open your earring holes very big. I have like size 10s I think but I wanna go bigger], I am a goddamn stick [have some average meat on my bones but I’m still a lanky lil shet], and I tend to wear a lot of black clothes with a very punk/alt/grunge style [or I just look like a dad in cargo pants and an over shirt that has just totally given up].

I am an aspiring artist of 7/8 years now, I plan to try and become a tattooist in future. I do both digital and traditional art but I tend to be more digital a lot of the time, and when I do art shit it’s mostly sketching and watercolours. I know how to sew and in fact do sew quite a bit, fun fact I also wanted to be a cosplayer at some point but now I’m settling for making multiple long furbies. I own a sewing machine but I used to do everything by hand. Fear me.

I enjoy things such as the Walten Files, Marble Hornets, Creepypasta, Slasher films [bit on the nose, that one is], Hazbin Hotel/Heluva Boss, DSMP, ARG’s [I suck at them but it’s fun to watch others be good at them], FNAF [I’ve been here since 2016, I will cause a physical altercation if I am opposed], comedy [I’m currently trapped in deeptok...send help], True crime stuff, and Alt-rock/punk-rock/death-metal/heavy-metal/pop-rock/modern rock/emo-rock/skar music [I was raised on Korn, SlipKnot, LimpBizkit, Nine-Inch-Nails, El Niño, and more. I will literally be in a car and someone will put on death metal and I gotta fight to stay awake, that shits a lullaby at this point]. My favourite colour is that purple that‘s almost blue but is too much of a pussy to go through with it, like Twitch purple but a lot more eye-bleedy. I wanna get more piercings like, a viper bite piercing, lip piercing, septum piercing, and a venom piercing. Definitely wanna get tats at some point, have a lot of big designs I want [full sleeves, back, and stomach]. I love rats, cats, St. Bernards [any big dogs rlly], and birds. I used to have a pure black cat, he ded now tho.

I am into a lot of *ahem* things [chokingbitingedgingbeingtieduproughplaymarkingdegredationdominanceplay. Yes I have daddy issues, yes I need therapy]

I enjoy video games and YouTube because those vacuums help distract me from reality. When I’m listening to music I enjoy I will sing along and I cannot be stopped.

I don’t like seafood, rumours, Twitter drama [if I have to hear about one more person being cancelled by a random group of 13 year old white girls over literally nothing I am going to flip my shit😀], country/opera/classical music [to be fair I will listen to classical but it just sends me to sleep, it’s too slow for me, sorry], trolls [I’m fine when it’s harmless and all in good fun but when it gets toxic is where I draw the line], and a lot of fandoms I refuse to name because they are really toxic and will stop at nothing to find me.

So sorry this is such a long one, I hope it’s still okay tho. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, no pressure! Anyway, it’s super la- early. I’m going to bed. Have a nice [insert time here]! Remember to drink some water, munch on a snack [even just a biscuit if you want], and take plenty of breaks! Also, thanks! And no pressure again!

I match you with:

Danny Johnson

Is 100% a bad influence

Encourages you to get every single piercing you've ever wanted

Tries to throw random things through your gauge(or gauge hole...idk)

Secretly wants you to cosplay as him/The Ghostface

Calls you emo and edgy constantly

He doesn't sleep very much so when you can't either he keeps you company

When he hears that you listen to metal/numetal, he starts to listen to your favorite bands so you have something to talk to him about.

[mooza]

why did Wilbur lie to Phil in his letters?

↳DSMP Analysis based on Fundy and Philza's 3/5/21 streams

In this post I will: list reasons why Will might have lied, say how likely I think that reason is and discuss why I believe said reason is or isn't fitting for Will's Character.

Tw: Discussion of Mental health and Suicide (C!wilbur).

Here are some popular possible reasons why Wilbur lied in his letters to philza:

Time travel

Wilbur wanted to manipulate Philza in order to continue down his dark path of villainy.

Wilbur lied to make himself look good because he has a big ego and wanted to make himself seem like a good person.

Wilbur lied to make himself look good because he wanted his father to be proud of him.

He didn't want his dad to worry about him.

Wilbur couldn't face the reality of his situation and decided to tell Phil the reality he wanted.

okay, so moving onto the analysis.

Time Travel

no. That's not how time works. If Karl had changed the past the ''new'' past would be fact and reality would be totally different. Chat just doesn't understand how time works. Not just unlikely, but impossible.

Wilbur wanted to manipulate Philza in order to continue down his dark path of villainy.

There is a possibility that this is true and a lot of people seemed to believe this in the stream chat but I don't think this really fits Wilbur's character. Wilbur did do manipulative things when he was originally alive but he never seemed to be the conniving, wilfully manipulative type of person. Almost all of his morally wrong actions can be attributed to his poor mental health, especially his paranoia. I don't really think that it's fitting for Wilbur to have manipulated his own dad like that for so long but its not impossible. Remember, Wilbur was never a really a bad person and he didn't even do anything ''bad'' until way after those letters stopped.

Wilbur lied to make himself look good because he has a big ego and wanted to make himself seem like a good person.

Not likely. These letters were coming from pogtopia era Wilbur. The Wilbur who wanted to kill himself because he believed himself to be a horrible person. There is no way you can make me believe that this Wilbur believed he was a good person (even though he was) or was actively trying to convince other people he was a good person.

[see his revival and tommy, are we the bad guys?]

Wilbur lied to make himself look good because he wanted his father to be proud of him.

This makes a hell of a lot of sense. Wilbur probably looked up to his dad quiet a lot and It's not too far fetched to theorise that Wilbur grew up hearing stories of his father's adventures and conquests with his old war friend, Technoblade. He knew his dad was be proud of him for starting a nation with his friends and he couldn't bear to to tell him the truth once his life started turning to shit. When some people started to turn against him and he believed everyone believed he was evil, he just wanted his dad to love him and be proud of him. So, he lied to make it seem like nothing was wrong

He didn't want his dad to worry about him.

Again, makes sense. Wilbur had a lot of enemies and probably believed he had even more than he did due to his paranoia and what better way to keep your dad from checking on you to feign normalcy. However, I'm slightly more inclined to believe the previous reason as it seems to fit pogtopia era Wilbur slightly better.

Wilbur couldn't face the reality of his situation and decided to tell Phil the reality he wanted.

Another strong one. I'm personally torn between this explanation and Will wanting to make his dad proud. It makes sense. Wilbur was in a very bad situation mentally and has shown to have trouble facing his situation. It is not unlikely that a suicidal Wilbur decided to tell his dad the reality he wished he was living. A reality where he was well and happy. Maybe it was to give himself small breaks from reality when he was pretending like it was all fine. Maybe it was comforting when nothing else could soothe the intrusive thoughts of worthlessness. Maybe there were brief moments where even Wilbur believed his lies. It can't be coincidence that a lot of the details in his letters are the ones that Ghostbur remembered. The memories Will wished he had.

[Major inspiration from this post]

Please let me know if there’s any spelling or grammar mistakes, I’m badly dyslexic

[esteemedproblem]

Facts #3

Wilbur has a tramp stamp that he gave himself when he was young yes it's bad and he considered getting it tattooed over but with all the drama has completely forgotten it exists