#THE ARGUMENT HE HAD WITH Q ABOUT EXECUTING RANBOO!

[boygirlctommy]

sketch from a screenshot from the green festival aftermath

[lasnevadaslaborunion]

Ayyo it's Potentially Controversial Opinion Hour

I love the spectacle and drama of the Butcher Army arc as much as anyone, but I genuinely believe that c!Techno having a trial was an incredible missed opportunity

Would it have been rushed, possibly rigged, and a foregone conclusion that led to an execution anyway? Well... probably. But hear me out.

In this version of events, the Butcher Army is a little harder to misconstrue as a one-dimensional evil. At this point, they're trying to maintain a sense of order and fairness, even though those foundations are clearly falling apart at the seams due to fear of outside interference. New L'Manberg's escalation of violence occurs far more gradually, and we see elements of both the nation's fading diplomatic roots and increasing desperation for security in its methods for confronting war criminals.

On the other hand, c!Techno is acutely aware that this is a mere formality that is unlikely to change the cabinet's decision, that the odds are stacked against him. He is frustrated by what he sees as proof of government corruption, even more so when c!Phil's testimony in his favor is completely dismissed. It's almost more insulting than if they had just killed him. He spends a good portion of the trial joking and not taking anything seriously, before the state establishes its case in earnest and obliterates arguments he barely bothered to make; it's at this point that he goes all-in and we get one of his famous speeches. This sudden eloquence unfortunately does not endear him to his captors. His ideals do not waver, and neither do theirs.

c!Quackity acts as the prosecutor, of course. He gets a chance to go full lawyer mode and just lay out every detail of c!Techno's crimes. Communication is his greatest strength, after all, and the one area where he is on equal footing with the server's greatest fighters. If c!Techno is eventually sentenced to death but escapes his execution and kills c!Q in that duel anyway, this infuriates c!Q even more than it already did; once again he attempted to resolve a crisis the civilized way, and once again he was not only unsuccessful, but left humiliated and overpowered by an uncaring threat. He will never make the same mistake twice, never trust anyone's good intentions, never invoke the peaceful rule of law against those who will not respect it. His only option left is to fight dirty.

As for who the defense attorney would be, my first thought was c!Ranboo... but then I wondered, what if they offered the job to c!Niki? She was there during Pogtopia, and knows c!Techno's history (does this make her a stronger candidate, or is it believed that she will argue only halfheatedly?). This gives her a chance to do something else significant leading up to L'Manberg's final destruction, and offers more buildup to her joining c!Techno. It also furthers her arc about feeling like no one listened to her, that she was all alone after c!Wilbur's suicide. Like c!Techno, she believes that her position is not an honor or a serious attempt at fair representation for the accused, but merely an illusion of justice. c!Niki resents this. Regardless of her feelings about c!Techno's actions, she pours all her energy into his defense and holds her own.

c!Tubbo oversees as judge. He is frightened of c!Techno, equally reluctant to incur his cabinet's disapproval, and insists on handling the situation calmly and logically. He will be better than c!Schlatt. He needs to be kinder, wiser, fairer than his predecessor. He needs to prove that he can deliver the justice his people want, the way the nation's founder would be proud of. But as the arguments from both sides become more heated, as the details of L'Manberg's destruction are hashed out, as his own gruesome death is narrated to him and presented as evidence of c!Techno's bloodthirst and hypocrisy, detached impartiality becomes more and more difficult to maintain. c!Tubbo cannot bear this joke of a trial any longer. He silences the court and makes his decision.

Now, I doubt this would change anything substantial about the overall trajectory of Season 2. The cabinet still tries to hunt down everyone on their hit list. c!Techno is still mad about being executed, opposes the government on principle, and destroys L'Manberg. c!Niki still has her breakdown and burns down L'Mantree. c!Fundy still turns against his father's creation before isolating himself in the wilderness. c!Ranboo is still disillusioned with the server's conflicts and rejects the idea of choosing sides. c!Quackity still loses faith in the ideals of diplomacy he once held dear and turns to violence to survive. c!Tubbo still cracks under the weight of his responsibility and sacrifices his reputation, integrity, and nearly his life to live up to those expectations.

But holding a trial turns the Butcher Army into an explicit ideological and character-driven conflict, instead of a mostly physical one. It smooths out a lot of character arcs, gives more screentime to those who were ignored before, and gives everyone an obvious opportunity to clarify and defend their beliefs.

So yeah. I just think it would have been really cool

[cmyknoise]

you know what hurts? 

when tommy stole charlie, wanting linda back, and foolish told quackity, quackity just told him to give linda back, that he knows tommy and he’s acting out because he’s going through stuff. that’s yknow, kinda wholesome and shows that big q still cares quite a bit about tommy. 

what hurts is what he says in passing during that conversation. he mentions he’s worried about tubbo and ranboo because he ‘doesn’t know them that well’, when...honestly i’d argue that big q may know tubbo more than he does tommy. 

he knew tubbo during the l’manburg era, just like he’d known tommy. they did the whole drug ring thing together. tubbo was a part of that. 

then the election and schlatt’s presidency. quackity was the vice and tubbo was schlatt’s right hand man. through streams they talked a lot. they interacted so much. they built stuff together and vented and talked, hell quackity covered for him a few times. the tunnel to pogtopia? quackity kept helping and pushing tubbo’s innocence and trying to get schlatt to stop investigating. he even helped build the tunnel, saying it was his ‘day off’. 

during the execution, when quackity realized what schlatt was doing, he tried to talk him down from it. hell, during the manburg v. pogtopia war, before it, tubbo and quackity had a talk and had contemplated running away together- y’know, how tubbo and tommy had before?

then you have tubbo’s presidency. sure, tommy was the vice president, but remember the moment tommy was given that title he stepped down. quackity was, really, tubbo’s right hand man. all of his decisions he would discuss with quackity. he did the whole butcher army thing with him, he was one of the first to ask if big q was alright after techno killed him. 

then you have doomsday. quackity helped as best he could, they had their arguments over ranboo sure, and quackity stepped down as being a part of the cabinet, but he said he’d still be a friend and an ally. he told him to look out for himself and be wary of who he trusts and to stand up for himself. he helped in doomsday and left (presumably to start nevadas).

he came back during the final disc confrontation. he came back just to hug and build up both tommy and tubbo, giving them motivational words. when they were rescued by everyone? quackity told dream that he fucked up, he was one of the few out of the group who spoke, and he spoke near first. he wore nothing, no armor, and he did anyway, and he stood to protect them. 

and sure, it’s been a few months, but for quackity to say that he doesn’t know them that well?

foolish wasn’t around for a majority of this, so he could just be telling this to foolish, he’d not know any better, but why? 

why is he lying about knowing tubbo? honestly he’s probably one of the only people, save for tommy, who has been through and experienced a lot of what he has, along side with him!

is he lying for whatever reason, or does he really think that being with ranboo has somehow changed him that drastically? what is he hiding or thinking? because honestly he probably knows tubbo and what tubbo went through when he was alone during the presidencies better than anyone else. 

[dogin8]

MATE THE MORE I THINK ABOUT IT THE LESS IM ON LAS NEVADAS SIDE IN THIS “war”

like. okay. both c!ubbo and c!q’s issues come from trauma, they just WIDELY conflict. c!tubbo doesn’t feel safe without walls, c!q doesn’t feel safe with walls

c!q wants las nevadas to expand, alright. c!tubbo wants his outpost, understandable. maybe c!tubbo shouldn’t have built it so big and so close to las nevadas, but technically, it isn’t c!q’s land! and.. c!q didn’t seem like he was going to expand IN FRONT of the sign until c!tubbo’s outpost. a little sus

c!q didn’t establish borders and he was trying to manipulate c!tubbo to get what he wanted. and yeah, c!tubbo is hiding the fact that he really just wants to scout out possible conflict and not actually wanting to be around the people. they’re both technically wrong.

it’s a circular argument, what they had.

i want las nevadas to thrive, but to be honest, i might agree with c!tubbo more.

That's fair actually!!

I'm not sure I'd entirely agree that c!Quackity is manipulating c!Tubbo just because he's not really hiding anything or playing dirty at all he's just like "Im not comfortable with you expanding in that direction and I'm not a huge fan of you having the outpost but just that wall I don't like and I'm already hemmed in on a lot of my other sides too" if you know what i mean, he might be wrong for that which I totally accept I'm just not sure I would go as far as labelling it manipulation if that makes sense

(big disclaimer: I haven't watched quackity's vod or fully watched Foolish's vod yet so they might put a different spin on things)

Maybe I'm just wishfully thinking but I really want to believe that c!quackity really cares about c!tubbo and c!Tommy

Also, and this ones more subjective, it felt like he seriously respects c!Tubbo in their argument, he didn't really talk over him and he didn't treat him as "just kids" like c!Ranboo was saying and honestly c!Quackity treating the outpost and the wall like it's a big deal i feel like is a sign of his respect for Tubbo, he recognises that Tubbo is actually a person who he'd rather negotiate with than fight idk

there is just... a LOT going on with this border dispute lmaoo I can totally understand why people would argue for any side (but i don't like how people have started to think c!Quackity was always evil, like he was actually against c!Tubbo's execution :((((

[fuckyouquiznak]

Jschlatt's Return

= Future developments in the Dream SMP plot (theories)

How does resurrection work?

• According to Philza and Eret to revive someone his ghost must be killed in the same way he lost his last canon life (that would also explain why Glatt and Ghostbur came back online recently).

• We also know they may need a totem and the knowledge of the resurrection book, which is now kept somewhere out there in the server, considering Dream said he didn't have it physically in prison with him. (He also said he destroyed it, but do we trust him? Absolutely not)

• We didn't see Tommy's revival from Dream's point of view, so it could be that Phantommy actually appeared and Dream easily killed him on the same spot of Tommy (maybe using the clock or his mask as a totem idk), but we still don't know what kind of information the book provides and how resurrection really works.

What is going to happen?

1. Quackity and Sam

• Quackity's last stream made pretty clear Big Q's intention of taking the book from Dream using all the means possible.

• However, despite the torture, Dream won't give any information. First of all he doesn't like Jschlatt, because he finds him annoying and boring (not like Wilbur) and second, of course, he knows the book's knowledge is the only thing that prevents other people from killing him. And then again, why should he give away the same power that made him a god? Quackity won't kill him without the book, and he is used to pain. Moreover he'll have some company at least.

• Quackity won't give up. He will keep visiting Dream everyday and will eventually start to like making him suffer.

• Sam instead will feel more and more guilty for what he made possible and for the person he became. He has changed since Tommy's death. He had promise to protect him and then he failed him. And then everything went wrong. He likes to believe that Dream deserves this for what he did to Tommy, but he is not sure that's the right way. Sometimes he even feels sorry for him, especially after Quackity's visits. After all Dream is just a broken person. Isn't he?

2. Tommy and the boys

• Meanwhile Tommy goes to Puffy's therapy sessions and opens up about his traumas and fears. It's hard, but it really helps having someone to talk to. Especially now.

• Since he returned to the server he has felt so lonely.

• Everyone treats him differently. Some people see him as miracle and keep asking inappropriate questions. Some others pretend nothing happened. For few of them the server just moved on; for others he is still dead.

• Even so he can't focus too much on himself right now. Stopping Dream is much more important. If Wilbur comes back... he doesn't even want to think about what he is capable of.

• They need to kill Dream, but Tommy is still too scared to come back to prison or to even touch a sword. Every time he suffers a damage he can't breathe: it's like it's happening all over again.

• He can't stay at his house anymore, on the ashes of L'Manburg, nor at his hotel, which is in Jack's hands, and he doesn't want to be alone (it reminds him of exile).

• He'll pass the time at Ranboo and Tubbo's, meeting Michael and working out a plan to kill Dream.

• In Tommy's stream Tubbo showed him his investigation report, pointing out that both Foolish and Ranboo were online when someone damaged the prison (before Tommy's dead).

• Tubbo obviously blames Foolish, nonetheless Tommy understands that something in Ranboo is corrupted.

• He tries to warn Tubbo, who underestimates his friend's words, thinking he might just be jealous of their relationship. They fight. It's a huge argument.

• "It's like you don't want me to be happy" Tubbo screams, shaking his head.

• "I don't want you to be happy without me" as soon as these words leave Tommy's mouth he immediately regrets it.

• Tubbo stays silent for a while. He seems disappointed: "You've changed".

• Tommy tighten a fist. "That's what death does to people, Tubbo, it changes them".

3. Kinoko Kingdom

• At the end Tommy will leave Snowchester and will move into Kinoko Kingdom (he liked the sign of the "free stuff", so why not?). Tommy there is welcome.

• He explains the Wilbur situation to the others, but then something bad happens.

• Hanging out with Sapnap, they talk about Ranboo and Dream's friendship and about how he acted when he received the ":)" message.

• It turns out Ranboo is guilty for the explosions in the prison that kept Sam busy during Tommy's visit to Dream.

• Tommy shows Tubbo the evidences.

4. Platonic Divorce

• After that, the platonic husbands will go through a "divorce arc".

• "How could you?" Tubbo can't help crying and screaming. "I trusted you".

• Ranboo wishes he could do something. But he is scared. He doesn't remember any of that. Did he really help Dream? Why? He doesn't...

• "I kicked out Tommy, my best friend, when he most needed me because of you! I think you should leave".

• Tubbo goes back to Tommy, apologizing. "You were right". And as much as he hates Ranboo, Tommy is broken-hearted seeing his best friend that hurt.

• However he can't help smiling when Tubbo says: "Guess it's just you and me against Dream like it has always been". It's selfish, but he really missed his best friend.

5. Connor's betrayal

• Sam talks with Connor about his doubts related to the all 'torture thing'.

• Connor tries to comfort him and decides to visit Dream with Quackity.

• Dream is relentless: "That villain arc you sewed for yourself is nice. But I won't tell you anything. And the book doesn't exist anymore, now. You can control every book in the server. It will not bring it back" saying these words Dream keeps his eyes on Connor. "The only way to find it should be... be able to travel in time"

• Connor freezes.

6. Karl's arrest

• Karl finds the resurrection book during one of his travels.

• He immediately plans to give it to Tommy, but when he comes back, someone is waiting for him in the library.

• "Well, look what the cat dragged in" Quackity stays still, his arms crossed, next to Connor and Sam. They all wear armours. "So it is true. That's a huge secret you have, Karl"

• The library behind them is destroyed. Books lie on floor ripped. They were looking for it.

• Karl puts the book of Necromancy back, his voice shaking as he realises Sapnap and George aren't there. "What are you doing here?" He asks, making eye contact with Connor, who quickly looks away, ashamed.

• "I'm sorry, Karl" he whispers "But Jschlatt is my friend"

• Quackity walks slowly towards him. "Give me the book, Karl". He has a creepy smile on his face. Is that even the same Quackity? This one looks different.

• "Quackity, you don't have to-"

• "Don't tell what I have to do. If you refuse, I might have to declare you under arrest"

• Karl holds the book tighter. If he gave him the book... no, he can't do that. For Tommy's sake, and for the rest of the server. If the book has the power to revive Wilbur... it must be destroyed. He grabs his sword, ready to fight.

• Quackity looks disappointed "You didn't give me another choice, man" he says, before killing him and taking the book from his inventory.

7. Dream and Karl

• Karl is later taken to the prison and put in Dream's cell.

• "Well, green boy, seems like you service is no longer required. However, I want to keep having fun with you. I'll revive Jschlatt, and then I'll execute you publicly. Enjoy your last hours: I got you company" Quackity leaves with a victory smile on his face.

• Dream looks horrible. He is covered in blood, his body painted by new scars. Karl has never seen him like this. His hearts are low and he hasn't eaten in days.

• Dream is the first one who speaks: "You found it".

• Karl freezes. What does that mean? "I though I had hidden it too well" he keeps saying, washing his blood away. "Maybe I should have really destroyed it"

• How cool would it be if Dream actually hid the book in the timeline? He couldn't burn it. Otherwise if he died no one would have revived him. So he just hid it where only Karl could find it.

• So yes, Dream knows Karl's power because he has a similar one. And yes, the prison was actually built for Karl (that's the only theory I care about).

• "We are not that different, Karl. Forgetting the people you love.. I know what it feels. I can help you controlling it. Have you reached the In between yet?"

• What if Dream is the one leaving Karl books and suggestions about his travels?

• They spend some time together and they surprisingly get along well. It's like someone finally understands.

8. Sapnap's lore

• Sapnap finds out Karl has been arrested, but he doesn't know why. He is angry.

• He faces Quackity who giggles. "Apparently there are a lot of things we don't know about Karl" but he doesn't tell him Karl's secret.

• Quackity and Sapnap break up (I won't ever be over Quackity's stream with El Rapid)

• Sapnap joins the children group. They are breaking into prison, right? He needs to save Karl.

9. Escape from Pandora's Vault

• Tommy, Tubbo, Ghostbur and Sapnap manage to break into Pandora's Vault when Sam and Quackity aren't online.

• When they arrive in Dream's cell, he is talking with Karl.

• Sapnap, horrified, takes Karl away from him. He doesn't trust Dream anymore, not after what he did to Tommy. He is sure it's his fault if Karl is here now.

• Dream can't help smiling when he sees the little party there. Especially when he sees his best friend Tommy. He tries to get closer.

• "I'm gonna kill you man. What the hell-" Sapnap punches Dream away. The anger and the resentment spread all over his body. They didn't deserve so much pain. Maybe the server will be a peaceful place without him. "You killed Tommy and then you gave Quackity the book- you"

• Karl stops him, defending Dream. "Sapnap, please. He didn't give them the book. I was the one who did".

• Everyone hold their breathe. What? Why? Wasn't it burned? How did you...

• "We need to get him out"

• Tommy grifts his teeth: "No way he is coming with us". He tries to grab his sword trembling and gagging, but it's too much. He can't... that place...

• Dream steps away. "Oh, you came to kill me" he whispers. "Do it. I'll be dead by tomorrow anyway"

• "You can't die yet!" Karl screams.

• "C'mon, Karl-"

• Dream smiles. "Don't forget who you are, Karl. And don't stray from the path. The SMP needs you more than you know" (= Dream is the one who leaves Karl notes about time travelling in the In Between :])

• "We don't have much time, guys"

• "Yeah, Tommy you don't have much time. Are you going to kill me? Or are you too afraid?" Dream starts teasing Tommy. "I bet you can't do it, right? You're too weak. And down deep you know you love me. We are best friends after all, aren't we?"

• Tommy doesn't react. He is as pale as a ghost, his eyes wide open.

• Tubbo steps in. He can't look at Tommy like this. He hates Dream so much. "Stay away from him". Looking back at his life, Dream has always been responsible for the bad things happened to him. The discs, L'Manburg, Tommy's exile, his death...

• Dream raises his eyebrows. "Tubbo, how's Ranboo?"

• It happens in a moment. Tubbo just loses control and kills Dream. Don't worry Dream's stans he'll come back one day. Bigger plans for that greenboy.

10. Resurrection

• They all run away.

• That same night Jschlatt is publicly revived. "¿Por dónde empezamos?"

• Quackity, Sam and Connor stay behind him.

• "Tonight our country has faced a loss. Four intruders entered the Pandora's Vault, killed Dream and helped the prisoner Karl Jacobs escape. Sapnap, Tubbo, Tommy and Ghostbur are now officially wanted. Dead or alive."

End of the season? Maybe?

How does the server react?

• Tommy, Tubbo, Sapnap, Ghostbur and Karl are criminals. They become nomads for a while. Samnook gives them an hand.

• Tommy keeps thinking about what Tubbo did. They really didn't talk about it after the break-out. Tubbo just pretends nothing happened.

• Karl and Sapnap aren't talking neither. And when they do they fight.

• The only happy one seems to be Ghostbur, who is excited to be on a vacation with the boys.

• Dream's ghost (Specdream? Nightmare?) appears to Ranboo, who is alone in a self-exile because he doesn't want to hurt anyone. Dream's ghost would be much more like Clay, so he won't be that dangerous like c/Dream (cfr. Ghostbur and Wilbur). But still it would be insane to see those two hanging out.

• Jschlatt and Quackity open their Casino, helped by Jack, who sells the hotel.

• After Dream's death and the destruction of Kinoko Kingdom, George takes Quackity's side. He is sure Sapnap killed Dream and he doesn't know how to feel about it...

• Philza, Techno, Eret and Niki, wanting Wilbur's return, will do the same (they need Ghostbur btw). Techno in particular will hunt the fugitives.

• Puffy and Fundy, contrary to them, will try to find Ranboo and the others in order to stop Jschlatt and Quackity.

• Wilbur and Dream meanwhile are having so much fun in the afterlife.

Even if solitaire is not chess

[vvictorik]

The conversation on the obsidian grid is my favorite bit of lore cuz how tense and impactful it was and barley anyone talks about it because of Techno and Tommy’s fight

Tbh if Tubbo and Tommy splits up during doomsday to have separate fights it would have been cool and given more perspectives like Tubbo confronts Techno and gives Tubbo a chance to be like fuck you to techno this is why I was justified

and Tommy keeps everyone else together fighting withers. and then the obsidian grid conversation

But yet that conversation is one of my favorite bits and everyone ignores it

The only thing about this ask that I wanna touch on is the "fuck you this is why im justified" bit only because I wanna clear up my thoughts on that

Here's the thing. Initially I thought replacing Tommy with Tubbo in regards to the techno confrontation would make a really interesting argument due to their complicated history. But, knowing Tubbo? I don't think it would have happened. Not like that anyway and definitely not there. The big grand scale argument over a dying nation trying to justify why he's in the right? That's not him. At the end of the day, Doomsday wasn't about petty fighting and "im right your wrong" for him, it was about protecting the nation he helped build. Tubbo is largely always on the defensive; he protects, he guards. He will do whatever is necessary to keep as many of the people he cares about as happy and safe as he can. Yelling at someone when the destruction is already in motion doesn't help anyone; it doesn't change anything.

As a viewer, we got the angry Tubbo we wanted when he yelled at Big Q for wanting to execute Ranboo before doomsday, and I think that scenario works much better for him because there's purpose there. (Additionally, Tubbo was shutting down throughout doomsday, so I dont imagine he had the capacity to try and deal with Techno's stubbornness)

I've changed my thoughts to wanting to have seen a Techno and Quackity argument, since they'd fought directly after the execution which was the direct cause of doomsday and Quackity was the spearhead of the Butcher Army. It just makes the most sense. They even did speak directly after Techno's argument with Tommy, it just wasn't very long and didn't hold too much weight imo

[ruby-whistler]

Okay so as my ask got pretty confused I will try again and put it in another way.

All names is c!, unless said otherwise.

They don't have parallels as characters, they're so different, but they have(had) similar character arcs.

The point of everyone once saying "Tommy is next Wilbur and Tubbo is next Schlatt" (with witch I don't agree from beginning), because of their character arcs in New L'Manberg.

Tubbo is president, who exiled one of old citizens, organized a public execution(almost twice) and put nation before people in it.

But BECAUSE he is different to Schlatt, he refuses to go further in that. He refuses to execute Ranboo and saying if Q do so it would be treason, he chooses people before L'Manberg and he never wanted to execute Techno in a first place.

Tommy was exiled, lost everything he had, he was losing his mental health and he ask Techno for help.

But BECAUSE he is different from Wilbur, he refused to go down further, he refused to blow up L'Manberg, he still see lifeline in his friends, in Tubbo, he chooses to fight for them, not against them.

They had similar arc, but refused to go ways, that choose their "predecessors" choose.

But I don't have arguments for Ranboo-Dream and Purpled-Techno, I don't remember what I was thinking back then and I literally just woke up. x)

- coffee anon

yeah! it’s more like narrative foils but parallels also fits in a certain direction. i think ranboo is too caught up in caring about people/personal issues (memory stuff) to give his all to the cause while dream literally lost everything that mattered to him fighting for the cause. it’s not a positive/negative thing, more a thing of dedication. we’ll see how purpled’s arc goes - so far it’s been pretty similar, but it might also branch off at some point! thanks for explaining :]

[nebitri]

Hey just curious whose perspective you watched on doomsday? Because I watched Tubbo’s POV live and it was devastatingly sad.

He realized they were screwed from the start when he found the blown up supplies, he was called into battle completely unprepared for the fight and yet did his best anyway to fight by Tommy’s side and then when the TNT fell he was completely speechless and kept looking at L’Manburg as bombs fell and blew it to bedrock. He was literally in shock but still managed to fling himself in front of one of Technoblade’s rockets to block it from hitting Tommy and when everything was over he had to tell Ghostbur is was gone beyond repair. Techno doesn’t pay any attention to him because it was pointless. He was already broken and his country was gone. Techno even shoots him a couple of times. And Tubbo doesn’t do anything because he’s completely numb. You can tell by his face. His character has always needed time to process.

Doomsday was meant to be a shitstorm because it was literally doomsday for the characters. It’s structure is pure emotional turmoil for everyone involved. It isn’t a culmination of storylines. It’s a major event that Dream instigated and no one that wanted to, had the power to stop him. Even if the characters weren’t prepared for it, Dream made it happen and forced everyone to just watch. As for ramification… they are both in prison now so… /j 😅 I understand how it doesn’t feel like a “cohesive whole” but it was a traumatic experience not closure for the “L’Manburg arc”.

Techno’s speech to Tommy was amazing. “I’m a person!” How does that make him look unflattering? He was upfront with everyone from the very beginning that he was there to destroy the government and that wouldn’t change. Techno and Tommy are literally unstoppable force meets immovable object. And their argument while all the tnt was falling around them was very cinematic. And just added to all the emotion of the scene. Techno did get betrayed and he was going to get executed. His anger is justified. It’s very tragic. It’s tragic for L’Manburg. By the end half the OG members had said “It was never meant to be”.

I wouldn’t even call it a “team up”. Techno and Dream completely did their own thing during the fight and didn’t even talk afterward. Everything is very grey in the DSMP so it’s hard to label one character as the villain and although we knew Dream was very villain-like during this time, the rest of the DSMP didn’t. No one knew what went on in exile and didn’t know who blew up the community house.

Big Q’s character had an entire flip-flop monologue before joining the fight. He was going to leave, then he wanted to stay because he felt too loyal. He had to fight Techno one last time. And when it turned out he was completely helpless, he was miserable. But he got closure by leading the group in singing the anthem one last time. We got big character steps from Quackity in Doomsday.

Niki’s breakdown was completely developed. She was already bitter and disheartened. She had that entire conversation with HBomb and Fundy before the main doomsday stream. She put amazing thought into her character’s actions and she delivered beautifully.

Same with Fundy. He had an hour long monologue before doomsday about his characters thoughts and how he decided L’Manburg was beyond help and how he wanted it destroyed. He blew up the supplies and then bragged about it to Niki and HBomb.

Ranboo - what was Ranboo even supposed to do? He was still so new when Doomsday happened. He was as shocked as every one else when the fight started. He had been yelled at the previous day by all the other characters and there was no way he could fight against Techno or Dream. No one brought his drug van argument up again because it literally doesn’t matter anymore. L’Manburg is gone.

And Ghostbur got one of his best lines in that scene with Phil. There were a lot of good lines in doomsday. And it does affect Phil, so much that he wishes Alivebur was back because Ghostbur would never understand his reasons to destroy L’Manburg ( reasons that have only been mentioned in passing btw and that I think will come up in canon soon)

In conclusion of this essay… um, Doomsday is actually one of my favourite streams so I just thought I’d share some of my fav moments.

Disclaimer: this is all from memory, I didn’t double check specific lines so I’m sorry if something is misphrased.

what in your opinion is the best and worst written stream/arc?

Doomsday is the worst. That's not even a competition. Doomsday sucks and is an EMBARRASSMENT.

I've written a billion different things about it, so I won't elaborate too much, but it's disorganized, it's messy. It's supposed to be the culmination of Techno’s arc, but his main antagonists the Butcher Army and more specifically Quackity never even matter - instead the entire event is focused around Tommy and Techno having a screaming contest almost completely divorced from everything that was built up throughout Techno's storyline.

Tubbo doesn't matter. Quackity doesn't matter. Even though they were ostensibly the main targets of Techno's ire and the leaders of L'Manburg, they do barely anything.

It's a tonal mess. It's this weird cross between a lowest point and a climax, which makes Techno come off as very unflattering in addition to him teaming up with Dream - a creative decision that still astounds me to do this day - who, at that point, occupied an unambiguous villainous role. But Techno doesn't read like a villain - his entire storyline frames him righteously, so this decision is just so confusíng and bad.

It's not even framed as tragic or ironic. It's just like "Wouldn't it be hype if Dream and Techno teamed up?" and then they never questioned any of the ramifications, no thoughts head empty-style.

It's chokeful of so many different parts and ideas that never coalesce into a cohesive whole. Niki's breakdown was a striking moment, but barely developed beforehand. Same goes for Fundy.

Ranboo had this whole "L'Manburg was a drug van", an idea that's never picked up or developed upon, which makes it just sit there like a barely noticeable fart.

Doomsday is so bad, it warps around to being kinda interesting in how messed it is. I don't think anyone involved in the writing process had any idea about what do with Doomsday.

It's just like a bad car crash of storylines.

For the best arc there are many potential candidates, because contrary to popular belief, I like a lot of Dream SMP.

There's the Las Nevadas-episodes, the Season 2-Finale, the Green Festival.

But my favourite has to be Schlatt's inauguration.

It's just such a game changer for the storyline. Like, they could have just had fun shenanigans between the Dream Team and L'Manburg for all eternity, but they were more ambitious.

It's the turning point where the story grew more serialized, more dramatic, more sincere. Everyone was on-point during that stream; it's like the opposite of Doomsday, everyone knew how to play their part and keep a consistent tone.

Special shoutout to Tubbo, whose perspective was so effective in establishing the drama and tragedy of seeing L'Manburg change right before his (and the audience's) very eyes; it's symbols torn down and replaced by a crueler regime.

Speaking of which, Schlatt is the best character, I don't know how many more times I have to repeat that.

He's fun, he's bombastic, he's comedic, he's threatening, he's so cruel and has so much fun being cruel, but he has so much flair doing it.

His speech is still my alltime favourite moment. It's immaculate.

Also, he's hot.

[vtinesday]

THEY BASICALLY HAD AN ARGUMENT WIH BIG Q AND AFTER THAT BEE DUO LISTENED TO MALL TOGETHER AJD TUBBO TALKED ABOUT HOW BIG Q WANTED TO EXECUTE RANBOO BUT TUBBO DEFEND HIM AND THEN CONTINUE SAYIBG HE GOR EXECUTED

TUBBO TOLD RANBOO ABOUT THE EXECUTION