#QSMP analysis

[miscellaneoussmp]

Despite its flaws, the qsmp had really good representation, especially for communities often under or misrepresented in popular media.

There were a decent amount of genderfluid/genderqueer/nonbinary characters, mostly through the Eggs/Federation Employees/Other NPCs, but there were players like Maxo and Mike who use mutliple sets of pronouns. Pepito had no pronouns in English but preferred masculine pronouns/terms in Spanish. Most people referred to Richas with masculine terms, yet Pac and Mike affectionately referred to Richas as their daughter multiple times. Leo and JuanaFlippa openly had name and pronoun changes to reflect their gender identities. There was even discussion of preferred names with Lullah, who, as far as canon goes, is a cis character. There were openly accepted instances of cross dressing, that weren't even made into a big deal. Famously Mariana and Foolish, both masculine characters, are referred to with feminine terms. Mariana is referred to as Charlie Slimecicle's wife, and Foolish is referred to as grandma by both Richas and Pepito.

There were multiple aspec characters and multiple instances of queerplatonic/ambiguous relationships. Jaiden was very openly aroace. Her and Roier said they were partners. Cellbit came out as ace because he was worried that Roier wouldn't find their relationships fulfilling without sex. Roier responded that sex didn't matter to him in their marriage. Pac and Mike, who canonically share a soul, never defined their relationship and went with whatever people called them even if that defining word was boyfriends, despite Mike being aroace. Also, Mike had a nontraditional relationship in his relationship with Mine. Their relationship being that of goddess and devotee. Maxo openly had sex with Pierre while being an ace character. Empanada was an openly ace child character, and that was very accepted. Not to mention all the characters who could be interpreted as some form as aspec.

Qsmp also showed off many different forms of families. Platonic co-parenting basically defined the qsmp as we know it. Single fatherhood defined both Bad and Fit as characters and showed them having healthy relationships with their children. The rocky relationships of Charlie Slimecicle and Mariana and Maxo and Pierre were treated as serious parts of their stories despite the silliness also present in their relationships.

Sorry for the rambling, I just think that the qsmp is praised for its representation of queer relationships without mentioning its other forms of representation.

[rhiaarrow]

Ramon's comment abt being able to see in HD again once he could put on his Create goggles made me realize.

They put that kid's glasses, that he's worn for almost a year, behind a paywall!

We watched today as he ran face first into a GLASS DOOR at the museum. What else has that kid been doing for the past couple weeks?

Could he even see the fireflies he was befriending or were they just glowy blobs in the sky to him?

Is that why he's just been spending the days farming away at the scrapyard, because it's easy to see the crops change color when they're grown?

This kid has just been unable to see since they arrived in this part of the island because his glasses were blocked behind a fucking paywall xD

[gz-missfit]

Imagine you're Bagi

Imagine you know this man, he lives across the river.

You've known him to be nothing but kind when he offers you advice, help and items. You see him be praised as an amazing father confidently taking care of 2 eggs, never asking or needing help to keep them fed.

His house is comforting and he always keeps his doors open to your and your friends antics.

Then suddenly you're confronted with his suffering, seeing his body split apart and a substance that looks like the void itself pouring from him, he doesn't mention it. Moves like it's not even there, there's no fear in his eyes.

But his kids look at you with tears prickling at the corners of theirs, begging for help or something.

Then, then you hear them argue, this man you've known by nothing but laughter and warmth and kindness and smiles sounds broken as he apologizes to his daughter, who you know loves him, for yelling at her.

You can't even imagine the sound of his voice yelling.

There's silence for a bit and suddenly those kids return. Scratched, bruised, tear stained faces staring at you looking guilty for even attempting to find someone to talk to.

And they tell you a lot, they're confused themselves about most of it.

They tell you how this man who you've only seen hug raised his sword at them with a purpose, tell you how the man who's voice rings with laughter spat venom at them through words he decided to lace with poison.

Tell you they've been haunted and hunted for so long that they don't even bother saying a time frame.

And you stare at these 2 kids, and the currently empty home of the man across the river who's been Nothing but joy and kindness and warmth and comfort and you wonder.

How long has he been suffering under it all

[lilliancdoodles]

I have so many feelings about that create discussion at the end of fits stream.

Fit has no interest in create. So in his mind it’s not worth the 20k to unlock it. He can use that money to buy other things and not have to worry about it. It hasn’t even crossed his mind that if it’s locked for him it’s locked for Ramon. He so causally says “yeah I’m not getting Create, that’s 20k we’ll have over everyone else” and Ramon was right behind him. He’s a smart kid he knows what the financial situation is on the island, and Create is a massive ask. So he doesn’t mention it. It probably hurt a lot hearing that. One of his greatest interests and he wasn’t going to have access to it, but money was tight and he didn’t need it so better to save their money.

But Fit happens to bring it up. He goes small cause he knows how much it is. 20,000 coins. He doesn’t want to be a burden, but he answers. With the smallest head nod, yes create is locked for him if it’s locked for fit. And Fit tells him that if that’s the case then they can make it work. He’ll get create for Ramon and maybe by his one year birthday they’ll have it.

I get that. I understand that so much. Wanting things but knowing it’s way too expensive. Your parents can’t afford it, you don’t want to be a burden. They’re already doing everything for you, it feels selfish to ask for this too. But that’s Fit’s baby boy made in heaven by god himself. He knows how much create means to Ramon and as soon as he knows that he has to get create so Ramon can have it, he’ll do it. It might take a bit, but it’s worth it for Ramon.

[atthebell-moved]

i think my favorite thing about walter bob and a few other not-cucurucho federation workers is that everyone kind of wants to be mean to them bc they hate the federation but they also really want to be nice to the admins playing them bc they respect how much work they do, which is how you get everyone trying to adopt walter bob, cellbit immediately feeling bad for shouting at the cook admin, and tazercraft, despite being literally imprisoned, being pretty nice to the guards, bc behind it all it's just admins trying to do their jobs. this is also why you get them all deciding that the federation treats their workers poorly (not a bad assumption) and that they deserve sympathy for being stuck working for it

[magicalmanhattanproject]

okay so like. it's important to me that fit's prosthetic arm Fucking Sucks. there are prosthetics in mcyt settings that function almost identically to the limbs that they replace and his is Not One Of Them. it's a simple design he came up with himself that he usually makes out of diamond and wool painted grey to look like more durable steel models but he can make it out of wood and leaves if he has to (and he has)

it's important to me that it's ruthlessly practical. it has exactly two purposes. 1) keep people from realizing he's actually disabled by his disability and 2) hold totem. he's lucky that in 2b that's not much cause to be doing anything else with your offhand so the illusion doesn't need to stand up to much scrutiny

it's important to me that fit's prosthetic arm is dangerous. not in the sexy way, pac. it has two functions. hold and release. on and off. it's not made for holding a child or a lover. it's meant to hold a totem that can only be broken by death. the only two pressure options are nothing or bone-shattering.

it's important to me that this is a realistic fear he has. it's important to me that he teaches ramón and ramón teaches the other eggs to always approach him from the right side. it's important to me that phil already knows to. it's important to me that bad always positions himself between fit's arm and any eggs and fit notices and fit is more grateful than hurt because better two lines of defense than one.

it's important to me that he refuses any new prosthetics. the one he has works. it does its job. he does his job. he doesn't want a prosthetic he doesn't know how to service himself. he loves ramón. he trusts ramón. it's him and ramón against the world. and it's important to me that for all the long, bitter fights ramón had about how he could make fit an arm that's a thousand times better than the one he has, there's part of ramón that's grateful he knows fit has both his arms to deal with whatever comes after him when they're separated. fit certainly wouldn't accept an arm from any of the other genius engineers around him.

it's important to me that fit has genuine and well grounded reasons to be afraid of trying to touch someone without the intention of hurting them. he's lucky that ramón isn't a touchy kid (it's important to me that ramón could have been a touchy kid) but he has no idea how to go about touching a lover.

it's important to me that pac can't even touch the metal hand without fit flinching away like he's been burned. its important to me that fit doesn't think he's capable of anything except destruction. it's important to me that fit is trying to take baby steps and the whole time all he can think about is the part of his body that's physically unable to do that.

it's important to me that fit builds good things anyway

[bloodpen-to-paper]

When Juanaflippa died, she was the first. No one knew how to react. Charlie and Mariana expressed the rage, the denial, and it was a spectacle of roleplay followed up by a wacky trial made for laughs. At this point, the rest of the server were still getting used to their eggs, so only Charlie and Mariana felt that twinge of pain from losing an egg. But when you remember Juanaflippa, you remember an explosion. A marvel.

Next Trump died. Maxo made you feel heartbroken with the image of a grieving father wallowing in misery and self destruction. But it was all still early, and most people didn't even notice. Trump died from neglect. Dan never saw him after adoption day. The server didn't come together like they did Juanaflippa. It was all very quiet. To this day, not many people in the community could tell you anything about Maxo's kid. About how hard his father bargained for his life between the gods. About how he failed. Trump was a whisper in the wind that only his father and those who watched him could bother to hear.

Then Tilín. At this point, the server was becoming more accustomed to the eggs. They were becoming attached. When Tilín died, it was depressing in every sense of the word. Quackity was somber, he barely spoke a word when he heard what had happened. A grave was built for Tilín by others with a heavy heart. There was no spectacle, and this time most people were involved in some way. Luzu came on to meet Tilín, and had to deal with that grief of being told his child was dead, something so heavy on him that he shut down completely. In life and in death, Tilín was the embodiment of sadness.

Bobby. The first death since Tilín. The first death in a long time. Everything had changed for the server. The eggs are their babies, their world. Everyone gathered to grieve Bobby, because they're a community now unlike ever before. But its different this time, they aren't there to witness a marvel from a distance, or grieve in sympathy. Bobby was a celebration. Music and dancing and memories. Toasts and cheering his name until the final moment. And having a final clap in his name after. Bobby was life. Because they're all scared now, terrified for their children. But they know what to expect this time. They're ready. They knew not to watch Jaiden and Roier grieve from the sidelines, they knew not to turn their backs on the two, and they would be sad but by god would they be happy as well. The server celebrated Roier and Jaiden, celebrated Bobby, and accepted his death with his name being shouted into the sky.

[gingersp1ce547]

Q!pac’s goal of becoming his best self, a stronger version of himself being displayed by this new archer skin makes me feel crazy because look

Look that the similarities between these two skins. The crossbody strap that covers up the logo’s of their shirts. Fingerless gloves on their right hands and a more bulky almost gauntlet like glove on q!pac’s that emulates q!fits prosthetic arm. The jeans.

Q!pac’s idea of his best version of himself is one so innately and intimately tied to q!fit as if to say that he cant fully be that version of himself without q!fit.

[totem-but-shark]

I have to give props to foolish for the way he plays qfoolish because whether intentionally or not he really sells the vibe of an ancient immortal character, though not in the expected sense. Where other immortal characters may become jaded by a life so long qfoolish is literally just chilling, he's seen it all before and so can't be shaken so easily. Moments that to other mortal characters are earth shattering are just another Tuesday for him, funny even.

Despite this he's no less enthusiastic for life, he wakes up every morning and simply lives, as he has done for an unknowable amount of days prior.

It's fascinating, hes able to roll with every punch and shrug off every struggle with a laugh. Why should he be upset? in the grand scheme of everything he's lived through it's not even a blip, why cant it be funny instead?

But this makes it so much more impactful when he DOES care, the rare moments where he is affected are heart wrenching when contrasted with his usual easygoing happy-go-lucky laissez-faire attitude. There's something raw and human to me in the way that for however long he's lived he still feels, he loves and grieves. He still lives and so he still feels.

Anyways stan an unbothered king

[atthebell]

cellbit really drilling in the point that ALL the eggs' deaths were reversible and the federation could've done something for any of them at any time but didn't and let them stay dead & let the parents suffer

[kadextra]

We got the names of more Federation departments to add to the list!! 🎉 here’s all of the ones we know now:

Census Bureau

Design Bureau

Genetics Department

Department of Convivial Condition Observation

Department of Subsistence Monitoring

Department of Permanence Surveillance

Department of System Analysis

now I’m gonna try and break down the new egg ones

“convivial condition” basically means “happiness condition.” remember how with the original eggs at the beginning it was meant to be a test for the parents, where the happiest egg by the end would win them a prize? its changed since then, but the federation has continued to observe the eggs’ happiness levels (like with the cookies) and also use them to observe the happiness of the islanders/keep them in check

“subsistence” means to survive by one’s own support. considering how pomme and tallulah were just left in the wall alone for who knows how long struggling to survive, this makes sense. probably to see how an egg left in a condition like that would develop- this does imply the hope egg, who was also left alone to survive, is the deceased member of that group. and yes these eggs are also probably used to take note of islander ability too

“permanence” is the state of being stable and long-lasting. em sunny and pepito were stuck on hellish purgatory island and lived. their conditions are being monitored as a result, and they are currently being used to “stabilize” all the traumatized parents (especially the ones who had lost an egg before)

system analysis is pretty self-explanatory. analyzing the system of the experiment/island processes, for further development. it’s different from observation, monitoring, and surveillance. though I’m not sure what that means for richas and the unknown egg or why they’re glitching, it’s worrying

[rainecreatesstuff]

something I really really love is the difference between qFit’s and qPac’s reactions to qTubbo’s fears about morning crew.

Like, Fit still cares about Tubbo a lot, still considers him and Sunny family, still loves them, but is so so frustrated by Tubbo acting the way he is. Which makes sense for him. I think that Fit has experienced loneliness enough to recognize it in others, but has experienced the typical loneliness of being physically alone. For him, loneliness is having nobody to watch your back, and seeing others have connections and attachments and aching for that. So for him, when Tubbo starts acting out after he and Pac don’t hang out with him for one day, of course he sees it as Tubbo being childish and frustrating.

And then later, we hear him talking to Ramón about how a friendship needs to go both ways. If Tubbo wants to be friends, he needs to reach out too. He can’t leave all the work for Fit. He sees Tubbo’s loneliness, and asks why he’s not coming to them.

Versus Pac, who I think is much more familiar with the kind of loneliness Tubbo is going through. Pac has had those experiences of being surrounded by people and feeling like you’re in a glass cage, watching everyone else interact while you’re just stuck. He sees Tubbo lashing out and sees it for what it is — an attempt to lessen the hurt of them growing apart by pushing it himself. While Fit strikes back at Tubbo, downs him, Pac just watches thoughtfully. Talks to Fit and Bagi about how they can make Tubbo happy again.

I think Pac understands a little bit better why it’s so hard for Tubbo to be the one to reach out. Gets that, when you feel like someone doesn’t care, it’s a lot easier to leave them be than to try to force that relationship to continue. It’s a lot easier to just wait in silence, to be less of a burden or annoyance, and if they really want to be friends, they’ll come to you.

And Fit’s not, like, bad for not getting it like Pac does. I think, to some degree, Tubbo needs to have somebody who’s not gonna let him stew in self-pity and try to rescue him every time. He needs somebody who’s gonna force him a little bit out of that comfort zone, that’s gonna make him realize that he’s constructing a self-fulfilling prophecy by hiding himself away.

And he also needs someone who’s gonna knock on his door at 10AM and wrap an arm around him and say Hey! We’re going to do this thing! And you’re coming too! I am specifically inviting YOU because I want to spend time with you! He needs someone who’s gonna see his rejection sensitivity for what it is and tell him he is loved and appreciated.

he needs both these things in moderation, and Fit and Pac are gonna be there to give him that. Maybe not perfectly, right now, because the emotional tide’s still high and they are trying to navigate the shift in dynamic.

But eventually, they’ll get there.

[rhiaarrow]

You wanna know who the only Regularly Active English Speaking streamer who doesn't have a really heavy story arc that's to a climax right now/some point in the next week or 2?

Foolish.

Tubblings are dealing with a revived qTubbo who's just a bit wrong

Ghosties have no idea what's happening with our freshly reincarnated cubito

Crows are waiting for what's gonna happen with the Enderpookie

Huevitos are worried about the upcoming deadline in a week

Jerries are waiting for more qTina demon lore

And the Doozers are just om ing their way through life unphased. Rolling along with Foolish's subtle character rp without a big plot currently looming over their head like the unbothered kings they deserve to be xD

[shikai-the-storyteller]

I've been thinking a lot about Leonarda's not-death ever since it happened back in April.

("What death?" you might ask, to which I say: "EXACTLY!")

Back in mid-April, Vegetta and Leonarda were mining together in a one-block wide tunnel. A mob (a Petriman) got between the two of them, and Vegetta told Leonarda to step back while he took care of it. At this point, they'd spent enough time together that he trusted Leo to listen to him.

Instead, she was killed by the same sweeping edge bug that killed her siblings.

-

Vegetta's reaction here is what's really interesting to me. Unlike most other parents on the Island, there are no shouts or tears – only a very brief "Hmm" and then silence. He very quietly takes stock of the situation, saying "Vegetta, no" and wondering aloud why Leo didn't defend herself. In chat, Foolish says "It was a bug, right? LAG" to which Vegetta slowly responds "Yes, lag. Bug." (Despite this, Foolish still asks "WHAT HAPPENED" in chat, though Vegetta doesn't reply).

Instead, he creates a slightly wider space in the tunnel where Leo's body is. He continues quietly taking stock of the situation, wondering why Leo didn't defend herself (which is what necessitated his intervention). She'd been lagging a lot that day, and he figures that must be the cause, and eventually when Leo re-appears out of thin air in the middle of the cave and collects her stuff, she confirms that the lag got to her and that's why she didn't fight the mob.

Now here's where things get interesting:

Vegetta checks the tab list. Online, it's just him, Leonarda, Roier, and Foolish. He quietly tells Leonarda "The body has already disappeared, and without a body, there is no crime. Nothing is happening. Did you die?" Leo shakes her head, and Vegetta shakes his head too, and in the kind voice he uses sometimes with Leo, he says: "I believe you have not died. Where is the body? It isn't anywhere, no mija. If it was a mistake, it was a mistake."

Leo says: "I saw Diosito (God) pa, and I was scared. God, what am I doing here?" and Vegetta laughs, telling her it's alright. Leo says "No pasa nada (don't worry / nothing happened)" and Vegetta says: "And the people who are watching us have not seen it either." To Foolish and Roier, he messages: "Secreto."

And the funniest thing about this is it worked.

Not a single person spoke about it. I saw this entire event go down live and I didn't see a WHISPER of what transpired among fans. I can't even remember if the QSMP official accounts talked about it (they sure didn't mention it in Vegetta's recap of the day). We could discuss this in meta terms of course– Leo was having known lag issues that day, Vegetta's beloved by the admins so of course they're willing to turn a blind eye rather than slap a "?" over Leonarda's life on the Eggstatistics, but meta talk isn't what I'm interested in here.

I'm interested in q!Vegetta, the weird "god-adjacent" aura he's got, and the way the universe bends to his will.

Before he took a break from the server, Rubius seemed to be a caretaker for the Eggs who died (for example, he was present when Maxo, Quackity, and Mariana & Slime said their final goodbyes to Trumpet, Tilin, and JuanaFlippa). Because of his role as an "angel" and some of his dialogue during the early days of the server, it's not a stretch to say he probably came to collect any Egg who lost a life. I can imagine he did the same when he saw Leonarda die – that is, until Vegetta said "And the people who are watching us have not seen it either." Realistically, we know Vegetta was saying this to Chat (and possibly the admins as well), but again, we're looking at this from an "in-universe" perspective.

I wonder if Vegetta was aware of Rubius' role, and this was his way of telling Rubius "No. I won't allow that to happen." We know Rubius has a soft-spot for Vegetta (and we also know that Rubius was cast out of heaven several months later) so it makes me wonder if these two instances are connected.

Either way, this isn't the first time the laws of the QSMP universe have bent for Vegetta, and I certainly don't think it'll be the last.

Rubius or no, Leo didn't die that day.

Vegetta made sure of it.

[fizzyorange-v2]

just talking to my friend in dms about how at first when q!charlie started calming down from his rampage i was kinda upset cause i WANTED a full villain arc i wanted blood and rage and a massacre but then I kept watching and realised how much of a fucking idiot I was to underestimate charlie slimecicle’s rp skills like that. because charlie isn’t just playing a character hell bent on righteous revenge for his daughter, he’s playing a character actually grieving that daughter.

it’s obvious now that i think about it that the initial revenge plot to kill all the eggs and his repeated self affirmations that juanaflippa isn’t gone and that it can all just be reset are clearly just him entering the denial and anger stages. and that later scenes after the rest of the server finally backed him into a corner and calmed him down and he had that heart wrenching scene looking at juanaflippa’s photo, asking for a literal trial for her life and soul back and then that whooooole bar scene, that he has then entered the bargaining and depression stages.

Because the truth is, q!charlie doesn’t actually want to kill anyone (except Mariana lolll), he especially doesn’t want to kill any of the eggs! All he wanted was to be a good dad. And I think that that’s part of the reason he as a character failed so hard to actually tangibly hurt anyone during this stream. He was a mess, crying screaming yelling clawing trying to do something, anything to save his daughter. Anything to fix it all. That scene of him failing to break into Phil’s house haunts me.

But I think there’s something especially tragic that before Juanaflippa, q!charlie probably was the kind of character to hurt others without caring, he seemed to have no idea about empathy or healthy relationships before her thats for sure. He’s literally already killed TWO eggs before this, so causally and with such ease. But his love for his daughter improved him, and it changed him, and it made him just enough of a better person that when that daughter was taken from him, suddenly even to save her he can’t fucking do it anymore.

I also really appreciate how everyone else on the server reacted to him too. They didn’t at all treat him like some big bad scary villain like I originally would I’ve expected. Sure they were understandably wary and protective, but every single one of them weren’t so much angry at him as… WORRIED for him. And it really helped put it in perspective that this isn’t some guy going on a hashtag villain arc, but immersed me in oh fuck. This is a guy that just lost his daughter. And all his friends and fellow parents know. And they aren’t scared of him, they’re concerned for him. They aren’t full of fear… but pity. Because they know. They know what he’s just lost. And they understand. And they’re trying to be there for him.

And Charlie despite all the grand speeches and diabolical plots and not so carefully placed land mines… doesn’t really care how he gets Juanaflippa back, as long as she’s with him again.

Just man,,,, the way Charlie performed this character’s grief is so fucking stellar and SO fucking excruciating. The part that genuinely broke me was in that photo scene when he said: “i'm sorry flippa... i thought i could change something- i thought i could undo it, thought i could make it right... now i see that there's no way this can be made right...” which already fucking ow ow OW and clearly him finally exiting denial/anger straight into depression but then he whispers THIS FUCKING BIT: “it wasnt even on purpose… i know that... it doesnt make it better… what do i do juanaflippa?” LIKE FUCK!!!! FUCK!!!! OKAY!!!!!

Anyway massive props to everyone for the rp today but ESPECIALLY charlie for this agonisingly accurate and visceral depiction of grief that I somehow was NOT expecting. I thought we were going to get villain arc egg massacre angst and instead we got father mourning his daughter trying futilely to do anything to bring her back angst. I’m never fucking recovering from this one.

[qtubbo]

I feel like Chayanne and Tallulah’s emotional and social wellbeing were sacrificed in-exchange for total physical safety. They are incredibly isolated from the other eggs, (both show signs lacking social development, while Tallulah’s is more obvious it is definitely an issue for both) and have no one to really rely on outside of Phil. Both have really intense feelings of neglect, Tallulah’s of being abandoned completely out her control and just swept up by the next person willing to take care of her, and Chayanne’s of feelings like in a way he’s at fault for Missa not showing up that he isn’t good enough for him. They have very different emotions towards their neglect and just can’t rely on the other for emotional support, and Phil isn’t emotional aware enough to give that to them.

The only similar feelings towards neglect literally puts them at odds with each other, believing Phil prefers or pays more attention to the other, and once again they can not go to each other for this. There was so much anxiety over them (and especially Tallulah) getting hurt once they properly stuck with Phil they just stopped leaving that circle. Phil doesn’t want them to either, it’s understandable due to previous experience with egg death but is still a flaw and overall harmful to Chay and Tallulah’s social wellbeing.

Chayanne and Tallulah need people that understand them, and are able to comfort them on a more direct level. They honestly just need more people in their circle, more eggs, and people they can wake up for to spend time with. They’ve been on a downward spiral for months, and the isolation they’ve been experiencing has only gotten worse. Barely anyone even really knows what Tallulah’s like just thinking she’s a sweet princess, and there’s no one telling Chayanne that he doesn’t need to give everything for his siblings. They need more people at their door.