#dapduo neg

[argcicle]

7, 16, 24, choose violence ask game, dsmp :3

hell yea!! linny I always trust you to choose violence :} /lh

7: what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

boring answer, dream (his cc counts as fandom to me /gen). it’s also a little bit of canon due to the finale, but I realized before that when I found out how inhabitable 90% of his fandom is because they’re cc stans

however, for choose violence answer I’m going to say both fundy and ghostbur. I don’t really hate their characters, but I hate talking about them which is a large part of enjoying characters for me.

for fundy, he just doesn’t really get discussed outside of his comedic moments. it’s either that or a small group of people who hate him. before researching for an au (the election one we’ve discussed :]), i didn’t even realize fundy had lore besides being Wilbur’s failson /hj

for ghostbur, it’s very similar. except for discussions specifically about his dynamics with other characters, he’s mainly just an extension of tommy & rev1vebur’s arcs. I think his flaws and obsessions get lost in translation, which is frustrating because I think that concept of his happier demeanor vs how he weaponizes it in stressful moments is the most interesting part of him. this one is to a much lesser extent though, because he still gets analysis

16: you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

oh I talk about this a lot; WHOLESOME DAPDUO. I ship them, but there’s a lot of content for them that just glosses over how imbalanced the dynamic is. to me, it doesn’t feel like dapduo when they’re both so happy-go-lucky. I actually do like some wholesome stuff, but only if it’s like after a quackity redemption arc

24: topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

honestly, the debates on if phil’s a good dad. a lot of topics cause big arguments, but any time I see a phil apologist against a phil hater I expect an airstrike /j. I don’t follow his character much so I don’t have much of an opinion on it though lmao, I think he tries his hardest in the super important things but a lot still slips through the cracks and he might not realize how important they are.

[alienssstufff]

I NEED you to stop posting Dapduo angst, I am taking negative mental damage, I am crying on the floor. (Just kidding please keep doing what you do)

I haven’t in a bit minute but just for u I shallll uvu

Remember c!Dapduo almost having a canonically healthy friendship. C!Dapduo are healthy not that they ‘complete eachother’, but see eachother eye to eye. This vision is broken by c!Slime’s death, the power dynamic bends by c!Quackity’s paranoia and desperation to salvage what he and Slime had: comfort.

But that’s not it it gets worse. by Slime’s absence, and Quackity’s actions - the dapduo vision is distorted in a way that neither of them can live without the other. Quackity losing his motivations (and sanity), Slime (who has spent so much of its conscious life with Q) loses itself.

C!Dapduo who ‘complete eachother’ in the worst possible ways 😔

[ifievertoldyou]

thaw!dapduo enneagram analysis

-thaw!slime 

in my mind, thaw!slime is a 7w8. this can be proven by looking at all of the instances of him in the story, as well as using the presence of charlie being expected to be an unhealthier, less stable version of him as a way to assume how slime himself would act if put under stress.

7’s stance is aggressive, which means that he moves against others and focuses on what he wants/needs. thaw!slime isn’t afraid to speak for his own interests, as seen by how he threatens soot when he thinks that he had killed quackity. he wanted revenge, and he wasn’t afraid to go after it.

his triad is head/fear triad; the head triad is how one goes about navigating what they view as a dangerous world. in the e7’s case, they distract themselves from harsh realities by keeping themselves constantly moving and focused on other things we see this particularly with thaw!charlie when he tries to distract himself from all the changes he’s going through with the festival, but it can be presumed that thaw!slime would do this too, considering how similar the ccs are to their characters.

e7s disintegrate to 1s when under stress, and this can also be seen in charlie "becoming" more critical of people, including quackity, as well as him acting more pessimistic and anxious over things, and him working so hard to avoid (disintegrating 7) and, eventually, find solutions to (fully disintegrated to 1) his points of anxiety.

harmonics are how people go about handling conflict. in slime’s case, he is a positive harmonic. those in the positive harmonic put emphasis on bringing light and avoiding negativity, and prefer making everything okay again. i will go into more depth about e7’s particular positive harmonic in the tritype section.

object relations are how we are affected by particular wounds. his is frustration, which is about the frustration that one feels at not getting their needs met. this will also be delved deeper into in the tritype section.

with ego structures, which are conscious fears, choices and motivations. for the e7, this is constantly planning what should happen and getting frustrated when it doesn’t.

additionally, there are trap structures, which are things that the type does too much of. tying into the ego structure, idealism is the trap that e7s fall into, constantly planning how the future should ideally go, and being disappointed when their perfect plan doesn’t turn out perfectly, then starting all over again.

there’s also passions, which are desires that unconsciously tempt the types. for e7s, this is gluttony, which causes them to be scattered and excessive because they’re constantly searching for pleasure, so they’re prone to going too far into the pleasureful side of life and not enough on the less fun parts.

now here’s a list of some attributes from the e7’s trait structure that i think fit for thaw!slime/charlie: open-mindedness, hedonism, laid back attitude towards others, rebellious, but still very diplomatic to authority, anti-conventional, more connected to ideals than reality, repression of pain and refuge in pleasure, belief in one’s own wisdom, persuasive, smoothness hiding aggression, persona hiding their anxiety

i also think that thaw!slime has a 721 tritype. this tritype is also known as the people-focused one/the enthusiast.

it has a double positive harmonic (7 + 2). 2 makes him focus on the good in others and himself and amplifying it, for example, how he naturally thinks the best of quackity, and how he managed to see the good in foolish, even when he had lady death’s mantle and was incredibly cruel. 7 is him actively avoiding negativity by using momentum from fun experiences, focusing instead on the playful and fun thoughts, so as to avoid the frustrations he feels with the world. again, this can be seen with thaw!charlie trying to distract himself with the festival, or by focusing on the beauty of the city, to avoid his thoughts and worries about the changes he’s been through.

he is also double frustration object relations (7 + 1). frustration stems from not getting needs met. in object relations, the frustration of 7 means that he seeks the need of comfort and stability through exciting experiences that are shallow enough that he doesn’t have to deal with anything too complex or difficult. and for a 1, the frustration type entails that he protects himself from the frustration of people not following the rules by becoming the ultimate authority on what’s right and wrong. we can see this first in thaw!charlie with his obsession with everyone following the rules, and how he immediately points out to glatt how he shouldn’t be in las nevadas, which feels very much like something that thaw!slime would do too. we can also see a glimpse of this in how he’s genuinely confused over why the others wouldn’t be comfortable with quackity’s diet because in his mind, this is completely moral and allowed, since that’s what slimes do too. his morals are absolute, and he can't understand why people wouldn't follow the same rules he does.

his tritype’s stance is double dependent/compliant (2 + 1), which also is very relevant. for example, he follows the rules and social standards. even if it’s not what he wants, it’s what he considers to be right. he also focuses a lot more on others’ needs rather than his own, as seen through thaw!charlie “lying” to not concern quackity about why he’s acting so off, as well as by thaw!slime himself, with how he was willing to stay in his quackity form to hug thaw!charlie for as long as he possibly could, just to comfort his kin.

-thaw!quackity

in contrast, thaw!quackity is an 8w7, which, as you may notice, the type is just an inversion of thaw!charlie’s 7w8. so what’s the difference?

well, while they definitely share traits of each other, for example, both dislike being controlled and are fairly rebellious in nature, though e8s are more outwardly rebellious and naturally distrust any authority, while e7s are much more diplomatic with authority and dislike hierarchies regardless of where they stand in them. e8s also care far more about having power in things, while e7s don’t care for power as long as they have freedom (sound familiar? ;])

the wings indicate that they share some traits, for example, the e7s with 8 wings are more intense and bold than their 7w6 counterparts, and 8w7s are far more active and aggressive than that of 8w9s, but are still ultimately more of the former type than the latter.

quackity’s tritype is an 863. this is a double aggressive stance, double attachment object relations, and double reactive harmonics. slime has one aggressive type in his tritype, that being his core e7, so he’s assertive in his right to have fun, happy experiences, while e8s are assertive in setting their personal boundaries and e3s are just more aggressive in reaching their goals. thaw!slime has a double compliant stance, while quackity has one compliant type in his tritype, which is the e6. again, this is the one compliant type that slime doesn’t have in his tritype, just like how the only aggressive type thaw!quackity didn’t have in his tritype was a 7. e6s focus on building a secure environment for themselves and others, while e2s find security in meeting others’ needs before their own, and e1s find security in following the rules.

for object relations, quackity is double attachment, while slime is double frustration. slime becomes the ultimate guiding force for things and chases exciting things so that he feels more secure in his place in things, while thaw!quackity does whatever he can and acts however he needs to to get unlimited adoration and love from others (3), and also creates plans and maps to the detriment of his own inner faith (6) (think: how he second guessed his gut feeling with the second ram).

despite all the differences, e7 and e8s are actually very similar enneatypes, they’re both aggressive types, as stated before, and are visionary types who aren’t afraid to engage in conflict (even if to different extents). also, their passions are incredibly similar, with e7’s being gluttony, and e8’s being lust, both of which have to do with an excess of something that is good when in moderation. and finally, both dislike feeling controlled by others and their expectations. 

hopefully this all makes sense, and thank you for making it to the end, let me know if you have any questions ^^

[transofthecicle]

INTRODUCTION-POST.jpeg LOADING...

LOADED SUCCESSFULLY !

Hey chat ! One could say I'm a pretty cool, goopy guy. I'd say I'm a pretty rad, goopy guy ! B}

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ME ::

I'm a Charlie Slimecicle fictive, apart of a self diagnosed system. Our "disorder label" isn't very bold, so we like to just call ourselves a collective.

Being a fictive, I particularly come from the DSMP-ERA of things.. at least, that's how I like to look at it, so Dapduo related topics are particularly special to me! :) /pos

My main pronouns are he/it/slime, but hey ! don't let that stop you! I'm a fluent guy, and I'm happy with letting anyone use any pronouns for me that one sees fit. You can even just call me Charlie the whole time!

My source memories are awful, and I don't have an in-sys sourcemate either, so—in advance—if I speak to an out-of-sys sourcemate, I'm sorry if I can't remember source memories to a T (in the situation of which they're asked about). I'm a recently formed goop, you have to be easy on me !!! </3

My collective is insanely disorganized and [mentally ill], so forgive me in advance if i respond slow, or out of pocket. :( (can you tell i apologize a lot ?!! AHAHAHH..hah...)

HALT, ! B4 YOU FOLLOW ! !!

I come from a RADQUEER system, so there will be points where i will reblog or have conversations about radqueer topics. (transx, paraz, you get the gist.)

I come from a collective with AuDHD, so my line of focus, communication skills, and opinions are very oriented, and generally all over the place. I only say this so one can be aware of it in later conversation.

DNI IF YOU AREEE.. . !! !

* I mean, generally just a meanie / anti. If you're going to go against someone's views simply because you don't agree with their 'morality state' then go away !!! My collective is accepting of any and all, and if it's something we do don't understand/ are familiar with? We're all happy to learn! /gen in conclusion, we're not ones to argue with others.

* y[onger] than 14 and o[lder] than 21 (chrono / bodily)

* pro-contact (we're pro-consent, and also stand by legal laws based on state, country, ect., and are very firm on the legality of things.)

* only here to dislike my content and start something. whaaaat?!! if you don't like something, then ignore me ! shoo, with you ! /silly

THE LESS IMPORTANT ONES .. . ( INTERACT W / CAUTION SECTION )

* doubles and irls are typically okay, but they make me antsy since I'm used to only one of me ! but I'll still okay with saying hi or having casual conversation once in a while !!! :D

* people who support certain cc's ... our hosts feel very negatively about certain content creators, and usually pushes people who still support them to the side. if you need specifics, don't be afraid to ask !

QUICK, BEFORE I DIP ! here's tags i use for reblogs and stuff !

#🦠⸝⁠⸝⁠⸝ . REBLOGS - self explanatory !

#🦠⸝⁠⸝⁠⸝ . SLIMIN' AROUND - rambles or more public interactions.

#🦠⸝⁠⸝⁠⸝ . GOO GOOBIE ! - ask responses !

#🦠⸝⁠⸝⁠⸝ . HAHA ME FR. - identities !

#🦠⸝⁠⸝⁠⸝ . MAAAANN. - stances, general "tone" for "damn, dude!/pos"

#🦠⸝⁠⸝⁠⸝ . SLIMY DOODLES - my drawings !! :D

so yeah, you could say I'm pretty rad.

CATCH YA ON THE FLIPPITY FLIP !!!

[normalaboutcemeraldduo]

Pinned post time babey

Alr so.

You guys can just call me emerald (I’m too lazy to think of a better fake name)

My pronouns are he/it + some others

I love making headcanons. Dude. Please send me headcanon requests for any dsmp character and about any topic.

Some characters and duos that I am especially normal about (<- lies)

C!Technoblade

C!Philza

C!Tubbo

C!Wilbur Soot

C!Eret

C!Georgenotfound

C!Quackity

C!Fundy

C!Tommy

C!Slimecicle

C!Ranboo

C!Niki

C!Emerald duo (Phil and techno)

C!Beeduo (Tubbo and Ranboo)

C!Tnt duo (Wilbur and Quackity)

C!Peer pressure (Techno and Ranboo)

C!Bedrock bros (Tommy and Techno)

C!Clingyduo (Tommy and Tubbo)

C!Bench trio (Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo)

C!Crimeboys (Tommy and Wilbur)

Idk their duo name but puffy and niki

C!Dapduo (Slimecicle and Quackity)

C!Sunshine duo (Techno and Niki)

C!Allium duo (Tommy and Ranboo)

And a LOT more. I have a problem /hj

Tagging system:

Just shitposts that’re unrelated: #emeraldsillyposting

Specifically mutual related posts: #emeralds moots!!

Headcanons: #emeralds headcanons

Dsmp rambles: #emerald rambles

Dsmp analysis: #emerald analysis

Ask box stuff: #emerald asks

I’ll probably add more idk

DNI/DNF/BFYI + other important info under the cut

BFYI:

I ship some of these characters/duos (emerald, tnt, bee, puffy/niki, and dap are really the only ships on here) , I DO NOT SHIP CCS.

I’m a minor (16-18), if you are 18+ you can int but don’t dm me

I’m autistic, and have other neurodivergencies. I will be using tone tags a lot, and I also need tone tags. Please don’t infantilize me because of this

Please please please just don’t send me /neg stuff about anyone unprompted (cc dream is an exception /hj)

This blog is not for discourse or drama at all, it’s just for me to be silly

I do reserve the right to not answer asks

I will just block people without warning.

I’m queer and trans, and will likely talk about it. I also headcanon a lot of characters as queer and trans

DNI/DNF:

Wilbur supporters

If you ship ccs/poppy(blr/twt/whatever)/proshippers

Cc Dream/Dteam fans, stans, and supporters

Under 14 and over 21

Dream smp antis, I don’t want to deal with y’all

People who fake claim ANYONE. I will not tolerate that, you can’t tell if someone’s faking anything from a tumblr post

NSFW blogs, especially about ccs, but also about anything really

Any cc’s who might by chance find this blog /lh, if you do interact idrc but also it feels better if you just Don’t

TERFs. Fuck all the way off. Trans people exist

General dni (homophobia, racism, etc.)

I DO NOT SUPPORT WILBUR SOOT. FUCK HIM AND WE SUPPORT SHELBY HERE. HE CAN PRY C!WILBUR FROM MY COLD FUCKING DEAD HANDS, THAT CHARACTER IS MINE NOW AND NOT HIS.

Note: this entire post is subject to change, please keep that in mind! I will post about it if it does change ^^

[freyfall]

yknow I was also going to mention the specific differences between LN4 and LN5 and how that affects your reading of the canon but i forgot to before I hit post. also that's a huge can of worms. but I'm gonna open it

so LN4 spends its ENTIRE story setting up for change. it sets up quackity and slime's relationship with slime asking questions and poking holes in quackity's logic, with quackity beginning to falter, building a friendship and trust between quackity and slime, and then giving quackity consequences to his earlier actions - the very thing that'd been building the entire time. (I constantly think about the "is it worth it? revenge?" "no." interaction in this context.)

LN4 ends with quackity mourning the loss of slime, loss of the friend that was questioning him and encouraging that self reflection, he hasn't just lost power anymore, he's lost love, he's lost friendship. this is reinforced by LN4 including the big fiancés blowup RIGHT before having purpled kill slime, too. LN4 is the big lore stream of "quackity's consequences." this is quackity's rock bottom. the ending is hopeful and bittersweet, "in life or in possible death, know that I will fulfill our legacy." personally, I think that this implies that quackity will take the lessons that slime taught him (which weren't, like, overtly said - but you have to take into account what the questioning and pushback against q's logic meant) and, eventually, change.

on the other hand, LN5's core message is that quackity hasn't changed. it shows that no one on the DSMP has changed, that everyone is going to continue this cycle of power seeking and revenge forever and ever. quackity takes exactly none of the lessons that were given to him. he builds a whole slime army, dream and punz and purpled come to seek revenge, and it absolutely blows up in his face. slime takes an entire 180 and comes to kill both purpled and quackity. everyone is focused on revenge, AND AGAIN it ends with quackity not learning any lessons and doubling down on las nevadas and how it will rise even so.

SO. the question becomes: do you ascribe by the message of LN4, or the message of LN5? if you ascribe by LN4, you're much more likely to be favorable to romantic interpretations of qsicle. (again, "in life or in possible death, know that I will fulfill our legacy." if I put the shipping goggles on for a moment it's like oh wow that's gay asf.) And then I find that those who ascribe by LN5 tend to have more negative interpretations of dapduo in general. also like. slime literally kills him. don't think slime really wants to fulfill that legacy anymore LMAO.

so yeah! that's the ~extra meta~ about it.

saw a post the other day about how the dsmp fandom doesnt pay attention to any of quackity's relationships other than the romantic ones (also specifically shitting on quacksicle) and tbh while I think it's a valid point to talk about because quackity has so many other important relationships, you do realize that his romantic relationships (at least the arguably canon ones - specifically referring to fiances and schlackity though I guess you could argue tntduo but I'm personally not arguing that) like, completely inform a major part of his character?????????? It's about like. showing vulnerability to people and getting screwed over for it.

AND, perhaps the key part here, is that quackity and slimecicle follow in this pattern of quackity showing vulnerability to someone he has a close relationship with and then that relationship falling the fuck apart. so I don't know if it's necessarily off the mark to say that, in a sense, quacksicle was implied to be the same strain of relationship that q had with schlatt and karl and sapnap (and perhaps also wilbur) and that may or may not be romantic.

like, a platonic reading of it isn't incorrect (in fact it is probably the MORE correct version if I'm being realistic about cc intentions, etc) but like, the subtext isn't NOT there imo. Shrugs

anyways the op was right in that the entire other half of q's character is heavily informed by his nonromantic relationships - like. the entirety of LN (foolish, fundy, PURPLED) everything with the prison (sam, DREAM!) and also the friends he had in earlier dsmp days (tommy, eret, p sure bbh, this list can be added to but I wasn't a big early q watcher so this is all I got). (also, like, tntduo, but tntduo exists in the weird grey area yknow.)

anyways I love c!quackity and all of his relationships. they're all so fucking good

[wonda-cat]

The End of Las Nevadas; A Beautifully Made Stream with Nothing to Say

(All names are in reference to the characters unless stated otherwise.)

While glossy, well-shot, and technically impressive, the Las Nevadas Finale leaves a lot to be desired in ways I haven't seen anyone mention—sporting flaws in its foundations that stretch farther than just its story development.

In no particular order, I'll be breaking down each part one-by-one to hopefully shed some light on things I've felt alone so far in noticing.

Pacing

This stream was undoubtedly beautiful; making great use of snappy transitions, a fantastic set of shots, and several well-edited montage sequences. cc!Quackity's lore has always been lovingly and painstakingly crafted. However, while it is stellar in the visual and editing department, it still stands to grow with regards to its pacing. Previous episodes have suffered from slow pacing in some areas, but this episode seems its polar opposite.

Each scene and line races past, only to be bogged down with extremely elongated establishing shots that could've been trimmed in half. Every plot moment doesn't give itself time to breathe and exist as it cuts to something else that speeds by just as nauseatingly. The ending especially reflects this as, once Quackity has lost another life and the country is damaged, there's a few speedy lines of closing exposition and... that's it.

That's how it all wraps up. It doesn't let the audience take in what happened or question if it's something repairable or even wonder how Q would react to the fallout. We're just told the result, flat and plainly, and then it's closing credits.

On the flip side, the scene where Ranboo and MD talk takes up an absurd Ten Minutes of the runtime (time which could've been used to develop other plot beats, which I'll mention later) where they don't mention much of anything important. It drives the story momentum to a grinding halt.

Scenes which did take their time to breathe were Calamity Duo's intro scene, the moment where Punz and Purpled negotiate, and Charlie's speech to Q in the hotel, followed by Q's death.

Music

Even with these moments of pacing brevity, there's still the prevailing issue on top which is this stream's use of music. Previous Las Nevadas episodes have executed their music cues well when they were necessary (all of cc!Quackity's montages excel at this), and it was because they understood the necessary balance between when to add music and when to leave the scene silent.

Music, when used effectively, can aid the tone of a scene. However, when used clumsily, it can fight against the tone set by the dialogue and actions of the characters. Oftentimes, silence can be more effective than any music ever could be because it leaves the dialogue and story to speak for itself and allows the audience to exist in the moment with the characters.

Throughout the entire stream, there was not a single moment of silence. Every moment was accompanied by music and about half were in active odds with its tone.

The most prevalent of these were the pieces accompanying Quackity's visit to Charlie's grave, Quackity's death, and Charlie's speech, all of which would've greatly benefited from silence, as the music ends up distracting from the moment, drawing more attention to itself than it should.

Story

While other Las Nevadas episodes have followed the standard Three Act structure, this one... does not. A conflict is introduced on Quackity's end and is never followed up on. There is no second-act low point; the period where the protagonist should be at their most hopeless.

And because there is no main-staying conflict (even harking over from previous episodes), the climax of the stream feels especially weak. Although it does call back to previous hanging plot threads, like Charlie's disappearance, Dream's quest for revenge, and Quackity's plans to open the casino, it still leaves the stream feeling meandering and pointless.

It says an awful lot that I've seen more discussion over a single speech and two lines of dialogue ("How to BE human. How to THINK like humans.") than any other aspect of its story.

By breaking its content down step by step, the sheer bare-bones development becomes apparent—The episode opens with a flashback, which delivers information the audience already knows. Then we're introduced to the grave scene, which hints at an off-screen moment between Charlie and Quackity that is never called back to (something which centers around the key to the city, an item which has no significance other than to be inserted into the episode for merch purposes.)

Again, it re-establishes information the audience already knows—Quackity cares a lot for Charlie. Then we introduce the main conflict; Quackity opens the country and no one visits. Thus, he makes a plan to genetically engineer citizens.

However we never see them used practically to solve this problem, so the conflict initially sparking this development turns the solution pointless. Then we get a scene of Punz convincing Purpled to aid Dream to torture Quackity by using Charlie to get to him. This sets the stakes.

(It also implies that Dream's offer to Foolish didn't go through? I suppose this is yet again another moment relegated to off-screen development, which would've only benefited the audience to actually see, unless this plot development is later touched on in Volume Two. I won't hold my breath.)

Then we get an... unrelated scene of Ranboo and MD that doesn't develop the plot—something which was most definitely added last minute (probably at cc!Ranboo's request.) Suddenly, we jump to post-Charlie's shift in character, where Dream appears with Punz and Purpled with absolutely no buildup.

During this scene, Quackity calls on Foolish for help and all the genetically engineered citizens are released and instantly solve the conflict at hand, quashing the tension flat. Then Charlie has his speech, throwing both Purpled and Quackity from the hotel. All of this, concluding on Las Nevadas' destruction (which turns out to not matter because... we were told so through exposition), and Quackity decides to forgive all of his enemies.

If picked apart, it becomes obvious just how thinly stretched the plot is and how many vital scenes of buildup are simply missing entirely. We never get a scene of Charlie coming back to himself and having his intentions twisted by Dream—even if the reveal implies Charlie was aware of everyone's motivations to use him from the get-go. We never see a moment of Dream and Purpled's trek to Las Nevadas, signalling to the audience of their arrival and amplifying tension.

We never get time to settle on Quackity and Charlie's reunion, which was rushed through (another unfortunate thing, since it's been highly anticipated for almost a full year now.) We never see how the genetically engineered citizens actually solve Q's population problem.

All of this is Necessary buildup to bring cohesion to the narrative, and would've even alleviated a lot of the pacing issues. It is especially egregious how script-driven and transplanted the slime army was to the story because it was introduced solely to dig Quackity out of a narrative hole. The conflict of Las Nevadas' population seems contrived specifically to put a roadblock in the way of Dream succeeding in his plans, because the audience is more than aware of how perfectly capable he is of this.

Therefore the conflict and Quackity's decision to create genetically cloned citizens feel as if they were puppeteered cartoonishly to be an easy solution to a later narrative conflict. All of which, unfortunately, decimated the tension of the scene because there was no time for Quackity to realistically feel in danger.

Dream

It goes without saying that Dream used to be one of the most intimidating and formidable villains in the story's history. Just the simple act of him logging on used to fill thousands of audience member's hearts with fear. However, with the unending bout of lore hiatuses and the dragging on of the Prison Arc, followed by another period of nothing, it has left a damper on the formidability of him as an antagonist.

This was dug even deeper with his rather lackluster attempt at revenge on Quackity, which goes wrong in a very... flat way. Since we're never shown what Charlie was told to do, believe, or say, the audience is left in utter confusion as to what Dream planned to use Charlie for to begin with. Even if he was only meant to emotionally toy with Q, Dream doesn't say a thing to Charlie, who stands behind Quackity and does nothing for a good few minutes.

Then when the slime army comes to attack, Dream just... gets instantly overwhelmed? And instead of going after Quackity again once the hoard is dead, he just resigns to blowing up Las Nevadas a teeny tiny bit.

Certainly not a Doomsday attempt, which is what the audience has come to expect at this point—overkill. That is Dream's specialty. However, he doesn't.

Once the destruction is over, Dream doesn't pursue Quackity further, despite going to LNVs with the sole intent of capturing him, dragging him off, and torturing him to death; along with destroying everything and everyone he loves. In the end, this is yet again the script pupeteering the actions of the characters.

The writers need Dream to not succeed, or else they can't carry this conflict over into Volume Two. And if that's not what they're planning to do then the question of why this happened will only multiply.

Charlie and Quackity

The dramatic shift and decay of this pair's respective characters and relationship is this stream's second greatest detriment, just shy of its empty story content. Quackity's decision to create a genetically engineered body of citizens because he misses Charlie and wants people who are "just like him" is startlingly out of character, shatters the perception of Dap Duo's friendship foundation, and presides on a logically flawed premise.

Quackity is a character who is naturally protective of those who are weak, innocent, or who remind him of himself. He goes out of his way to self-sacrifice for them, and this is especially true with Tommy and Charlie. Quackity knows that true friends are rare for him and are something special and meant to be cherished, even if he closes himself off, pushes them away, and pretends not to care.

It is possible to buy Quackity missing Charlie enough to create copies of him, however this has no real buildup. There's no turn to the more extreme and dramatic to overcome his loss. And worst of all, it is specifically the loss that is de-emphasized in favor of a short-term solution to a problem wholly manufactured by the script to later solve the central conflict.

It comes out of nowhere and is gone just as fast. On top of it, its implications are troubling as Quackity has shown an urge to control things, but never to this degree and not this heartlessly. This change for the worse can work, certainly.

A gradual change for the worse or the better is what character development is all about. However, this change is instant, jarring, and again, has no buildup. The cruelty of this action is also never addressed and Quackity's inclination to it is never foreshadowed (most likely because it was never meant to be dwelt on, as it's only added to the story to thwart Dream's plans.)

There's also the deeper implications of Quackity genetically cloning beings that are meant to be "like Charlie." It implies that Quackity has always seen Charlie as someone mindlessly obedient and disposable—someone who is more like a pet, than an actual friend, when we were consistently shown otherwise.

Quackity started off initially planning to use Charlie's naivety to his advantage to get him to spy for him. However, as time went on, he formed a genuine connection to him, and thus dropped this initial plan. Instead, because he came to trust him and care for him as a friend, he chose him as the inheritor of all his work. In a backwards way, he tries to teach Charlie everything he knows.

Not manipulate him, not lie to him—tell him exactly how Quackity himself sees the world and how he wishes Charlie to see it too; because he wants Charlie to be safe and because he wants Charlie to keep his nation safe. He comes to see Charlie as someone human, and when Charlie is hurt, Quackity dives in after to save him at the potential expense of his own life. When Charlie dies, it destroys Quackity.

How could it not? That was his first true friend he'd made in a long, long time. However, with this new development, it shatters what was previously established, showing that Quackity only ever saw Charlie as someone who could be made again, who was nothing but a follower (despite teaching him to be a future leader); someone who he never saw as human.

There's also the majorly overlooked issue of him searching for the perfect follower in "someone just like Charlie." Sure, Charlie was naive and went along with many orders, but he consistently questioned Quackity. He consistently took apart the logic of his arguments, his lessons, his ideals.

He laid them down, piece by piece, in a way that left Quackity to question himself. Charlie was never a perfect follower, and Quackity knew that. He made mistakes, he disobeyed, he never once stopped asking "Why?"

If Quackity knew him well enough by then to be destroyed by his death and disappearance, then why did he expect that making another version of Charlie would create someone perfectly obedient and mindless? Why did he see Charlie in this way when both him and the audience knew otherwise?

Then we have the issue of Charlie's dramatic shift in characterization. Because we were never shown what went on between Charlie and Dream, we have no reference for how or why this shifted Charlie's demeanor. We have no reference for his epiphany or how he "woke up."

Even if it's imperative for Charlie's realization about Q to remain a secret for a plot twist, it begs the question of why Charlie ever greeted Q at the restaurant or decided to stay with him when he knew that Quackity was "a bad person" from the get-go (something which he knew Quackity was aware of already feeling. In Charlie's only POV stream, he asks Q if he thinks of himself as a good person and Quackity replies "I don't know." It's not something Quackity needs to be told, because he knows and he struggles with those thoughts already.)

As pointed out before, Charlie has always been capable of questioning Quackity's rules and reasoning, so why not tell Quackity about how terrible he thought he was all those months ago? Why not be upfront with him, as he was about everything else? If Charlie never actually liked Quackity or anything that was happening, why would he proclaim to trust him upon first instinct?

Why would he live in denial of Quackity's mortality, as if hoping he'd stick around forever? It also seems especially out of character for him to go out of his way to physically hurt Quackity—someone who once risked his life to save his; someone who only ever wanted to protect him and trust him and give him everything he'd ever worked to earn (regardless of the means.)

There's simply not enough buildup to warrant that sort of payoff because we never got to see that change occur in Charlie.

The (hollow) Theme of Revenge

In the previous Las Nevadas episode, we were shown Quackity's gradual change for the better under Charlie's influence. Despite being his leader and mentor, it was Quackity who had the most to learn from Charlie, who questioned Q's morals and lessons in a way that Quackity had to confront. Quackity, like Tommy and Wilbur and Tubbo and many others, was taught "lessons" stemming from violence.

They were physically hurt by people who were stronger than them, who did this as a way to force them to grow. However, the things learned from this practice were traumatic and unhealthy and actively stumped their growth on their journey to being better, kinder people. It was only because Charlie opposed Quackity in a non-violent, non-confrontational manner that Quackity was more susceptible to learning and growing and doing so without closing himself off and being afraid.

He effectively learns that revenge is never worth the price in one of the most powerful scenes in Quackity's entire arc; where the two friends talk as they stand on the Needle's balcony and overlook the country. The question is asked if revenge is ever worth it and Quackity finally, after so long, answers truthfully—"No. It's not."

To finally hammer this home, Quackity loses Charlie because Purpled decides to seek revenge for a previous misdeed. He sought revenge and he succeeded. It finally rings clear, that because Quackity had acted in the same way Purpled had in the past, he is forced to see himself from another perspective—from the eyes of someone who reaps what they've sown.

He can ask himself, again, was this worth it? Quackity again says no, and doesn't seek out Purpled to repay the favor because he finally sees what Charlie had tried to tell him. This is a perfect demonstration of this theme, and I'd argue, it is the only well-executed moment regarding revenge in the entire Dream SMP storyline.

Unfortunately, this is all horribly undermined by the later development of Charlie returning and violently killing Quackity (someone who'd never wronged him further than his dishonesty and opportunism, both of which he regrets.) Quackity's selfless act of diving into danger to save Charlie is purposely ignored; repaid by a callous, out-of-character act of revenge, which serves nothing. That's not even getting into the issue of Charlie's act of revenge belonging solely to Purpled, because despite Purpled's actions being tied to Quackity, they are not Quackity's fault.

If this logic were applied appropriately in every aspect of the story, then Quackity would not be considered at fault for the Butcher Army—it would be Techno, because he "started it." Shifting the blame of the cycle of vengeance onto the person who caused the initial injustice also completely undercuts the actions and responsibilities of every person involved in sustaining a conflict. It also de-emphasizes the strength and kindness it takes for someone to forgive and be the one to end the cycle.

While Quackity's death is poetic and well-shot, it says nothing. Charlie follows the lessons he himself had questioned to be flawed, despite having free will. And if this was because of Dream's influence, we will never know because it was never shown.

To add insult to injury, this act of violence is what forces Quackity to change for the better, and give everyone who wronged him a letter of reconciliation. This destroys every other moment the Dream SMP has laid out thus far regarding its collective theme of violence; that it will never teach anyone anything good, useful, or healthy. It will only cause trauma and hurt and leave people to unlearn the good and moral code they carry with them.

Instead, the message here is that violence was actually Quackity's wake-up-call, instead of the perfectly fitting scene between Q and Charlie of the two simply... talking, as friends. Violence being Quackity's "teacher" is much less powerful and it's intensely at odds with the rest of everything established in his arc.

For the sake of spectacle and shock, we've received a message of revenge so hollow and meaningless that it manages to say Nothing At All.

Minor Issues

These have no bearing on my opinion of the stream, but I haven't seen anyone point these out yet.

During the Calamity Duo flashback, the ending of it is a smash-cut to the destruction of Las Nevadas. The destruction shown in the clip doesn't match what actually happens nearly an hour later, with the former taking place at night and containing more fire than explosion. Quackity was also never physically present at the destruction, so it's a mystery as to why that little tonal shock was included to begin with as it spoils the ending of the episode (even if it may have been obvious going in.)

Purpled's motivations for kidnapping Charlie were because he... wanted to kill him. Okay. Why not just kill him when you first found him? Why not kill him at any point on the way back to your hideout? Why did you have to kill him in a very specific location where Quackity would never see it? Wouldn't it hurt Quackity worse if you killed him around Las Nevadas where Q could find him quickly? Even if Purpled was afraid of Q being notified via chat message, he didn't have to bring Charlie all the way back to the main area to do that.

During the montage where Quackity gives letters of reconciliation to everyone, he leaves one where Wilbur had sailed away. This implies that Tommy told Quackity that Wilbur was gone. Again, yet another scene that happened off-screen that would've only benefited the audience to actually see.

Conclusion

While beautiful and well-made—as cc!Quackity's streams always are—the issues with story, pacing, music, and characterization leave this stream a disappointing sendoff for the end of Quackity's character in Volume One.

It is painful to see it end like this, as Quackity is my favorite character, second only to Tommy. That isn't to say there isn't something to like in this episode, but it is a far cry from the height of its predecessors.

I hope to see better from him in the future, if there ever is better to come.

[ladyddanger]

c!quackity: this will be long and a lot

😇 A headcanon about their religion/lack thereof

👻 A headcanon about what scares them

🦾 A disability headcanon

💝 A headcanon about their love language

💔 An angsty headcanon

👗 A headcanon about their clothes

🔪 A headcanon relating to fighting/violence

🍫 A headcanon about food

🎭 A headcanon about what they lie about

😭 A headcanon about the worst thing that happened to them

Hi aqua! I’m gonna give some long answers so buckle up.

😇 Religion: Quackity doesn’t believe in any kind of god. He realized there was nobody there when he prayed for help over and over and nobody came. During Manberg he still went to church every Saturday because of the high population of religious people in Manberg. Schlatt himself was a man of the prime and it looked good in the press so they went. Tubbo believed in the prime very strongly. He and Quackity would go to church together sometimes just the two of them, usually late at night when it was dangerous to be in the White House. The last time they prayed together was right before Tubbos death at the festival. The last time Quackity was in a church was right after Tubbos death. He screamed and swore and tore down the alter. Finally Quackity fell to his knees in the ruins and prayed. He would be most perfect man on earth if only XD would bring Tubbo back safe and unharmed. Nothing happened. Tubbo was still gone. Quackity avoids churches now.

👻 : what scares him? Being helpless. Every single time it happens Quackity swears never again. He will never ever find himself in that position again. And it keeps happening. After Schlatt when Wilbur blew up La Manberg, after La manberg with Techno, after Techno when Tommy died and Quackity couldn’t protect him. When Slime died. When Slime killed him. It makes Quackity sick every time he thinks about the moments where he was weak and scared and couldn’t protect himself. He has nightmares. Some of them based on memories others based on fear. In the most common nightmare that’s not a flashback Quackity is pinned down and slowly drowns unable to move or fight back. Sometimes he can hear his friends screaming for help and he dies knowing he’s failed them. Completely unrelated he’s started avoiding water.

🦾 disability: on a lighter note Quackity had to learn how to fight after Techno took his eye and slime pushed him off a building. Foolish offered to help him so they spend an hour every morning training. Foolish has spent hours teaching Quackity how to move and fight again. It took a long time and few awkward conversations for Quackity to accept that Foolish’s help wasn’t a favor he needed to pay back. Foolish enjoys it even through Quackity is not a morning person by any means. Quackity pays attention and he’s a quick learner. Besides being a god can be a bit lonely and even through Foolish would never admit it, it’s nice to wake up and know you’re going to spending time with a friend someone for an hour every morning.

💝 his love language:

I have two ideas pick you favorite:

ONE 🤗

Quackity’s love language used to be touch. He would curl up on Schlatts lap and fall asleep or play with his hair while he was working. Now it’s gifts. Quackity would do anything for the people he loves. He built Karl and Sapnap a whole city just for them. He used to buy Slime all these expensive history books becuse he knew how much Slime loved them even if they where a pain to get. He buys all his employees lunch and ice cream every Friday as a thank you. This is definitely not a trauma response or a desperate effort to show he can be useful.

TWO: Quackity’s love language still is touch. He had a flinch response to any kind of touch after Schlatt. He claims he’s gotten over it and which is code for forcing himself out of it. Quackity wasn’t weak or broken or traumatized thank you very much. He constantly draped himself over Karl and Sapnap to prove just how not broken he was.

💔angsty headcannon: Once Quackity and Schlatt got in a fight in Manberg. It got so loud and violent that somone called the police. Quackity ended up with a broken wrist but was too scared to go to the hospital. Especially because they would have questions and Schlatt had already convinced the cops everything was alright. Schlatt had told Quackity many many times nobody would believe him, that they would just think he was lying for attention. Tubbo ended up setting Quackity’s wrist for him wrapping it up with strips from one of Tubbo’s shirts and way too many healing potions. It didn’t really heal right and it still hurts when it rains

👗 a headcannon about his clothes. Quackity makes dozens of little pockets in his clothing to hide weapons. You never know when you might need them! He also refuses to get rid of said weapons. When he was “visiting” Dream, Sam had make sure Quackity didn’t sneak any unauthorized weapons inside. In response Quackity kept finding more creative ways to hide them. It got the point where Sam had to spend twenty minutes patting Quackity down. The first time Quackity said “at least take me out to dinner first Sam.” it was funny. The fourteenth time was a lot less funny. Quackity seemed to almost be more amused by Sam’s annoyance then his own jokes.

🔪fighting: Quackity fights like fucking wild animal. He bites and puts his fingers in eyes and spits. He’s been known to literally bite someone in the throat for pissing him off. He’s not a good fighter but he’s good at holding off bigger and stronger people for long enough to be able to sneak away.

🍫: food: eating disorder tw! Quackity has a terrible relationship with food. In manberg Schlatt was constantly commenting on his body. Quackity was never fit enough never, never thin enough his ass was never fat enough. The press constantly mocking him and his weight didn’t help. So Quackity stoped eating at all. It was about Schlatt and his comments Quackity would make his husband proud even if it hurt. It was about control. In this way Quackity had perfect control over himself and his body. He called all the shots. It was about suffering. It felt good to be hungry it was the kind of pain he could handle. Quackity healed a little bit after Manberg when he started dating Karl and Sapnap and gained back a lot of weight. However he’s started to relapse in Las Nevadas especially with Dream out of prison and Schlatt walking around as a ghost.

End Tw

🎭 what he lies about: Quackity lies a lot about a bunch of little things. He makes a show of himself in Las Nevadas. Even his laugh is staged. The biggest lie he told recently was about slime. He told Sam for weeks that he has been off on meetings every night. Sam started to get suspicious when Quackity returned obviously upset. So he followed Quackity out of Las Nevadas and to a grave. He watched Quackity sit next to a picture of Slime and light a candle tears slipping down his cheeks sobs shaking his shoulders. Sam left and never mentioned it again.

😭 the worst thing that ever happened to him: after Schlatt during the first few days of New La Manberg Quackity went to hospital for his wings. It had been months since Schlatt had clipped them and they where incredibly painful. Tubbo went with him. They made a pact that Tubbo would go for his burn scars if Quackity would go for his wings. It was more for Quackity’s benefit because Quackity was terrified of hospitals after one too many Rosemary Kennedy jokes but Quackity let Tubbo think he was tricking him. Because honestly he wanted Tubbo there. Quackity sat and very calmly explained that he had an partner who had hurt him and cut his wings. And to his complete surprise the nurses believed him. They ran a bunch of tests and came back in and he just knew based on the doctor’s face. They were very sorry but thanks to the damage to his wings and how long he had waited to get help Quackity would never fly again. Quackity took it well. He thanked them politely and took the card for a therapist that he would threw away the moment he got home and told Tubbo he was fine and dropped him off at the White House. Then he drove as far out as he could and screamed until he couldn’t make a sound anymore.

[nepolabotomy]

c!dapduo are absolute excellence. And for reasons a bit more complicated than may you think.

they are one of my all time favorite friendships and dynamics to come out of this server. i mean considering I’m gonna have to tell my therapist about the numerous dreams iv had about them that has to mean something right. Maybe it’s just the autism. I’ll get back to you on that.

More importantly: you’re probably thinking right now “but cherry! c!dapduo arnt that complicated! Why are you here about to write some extensively long meta about them when you could devote that time to more meta about the Deep, complex, Intricate, Muddled, (insert more neutral but negative leaning adjectives here), probably unhealthy dynamics on the server instead!!” And to the imaginary person iv just made up I say: maybe I want to talk about a nice friendship.

In a borderline grim dark world like the dream smp, there’s something very refreshing about two people who love and care about each other, bring out the best in one another, have a genuine desire to protect one another they express Honestly and Openly.

I like thinking so much about these two because it makes me Happy. Shocking for this server I know.

Also quackity and Charlie are damn good writers!!! I wanna talk about it. People have this idea that only ‘sad’ things can be deep and it makes me really upset. And hey maybe I’m proven wrong in a few days when Quackity’s final lore stream comes out and c!Charlie was evil all along or some shit but until then I’ll happily die on the hill that Things don’t need to be sad and negative to be complex and thought out. Just because c!Dapduo have a healthy friendship doesn’t mean it rules them out of being well written, meaningful and overall complex. And I think it’s a silly sentiment to have regarding the two both individually and in regards to their friendship.

I think truly what I love about these two comes down to what their friendship does for c!Quackity. I remember discussing them recently with someone and made a comment about how important it is c!quackity sees his past self in c!charlie- and they had replied that ‘c!quackity also sees his past self in c!tommy and c!tubbo as well and it’s reflected in the advice he gives the two of them’.

The important distinguisher, and what makes c!dapduo so important is that their dynamic isn’t just c!quackity giving advice he would to his past self- such as what he does with c!clingyduo. It is him learning to accept and love his past self all the same.

Something important about c!quackity is his hatred of his past self. His regret and bitterness is present in his distrust for others yes, but a portion of his distrust comes from hating his past self.

He views past him as being weak, pathetic and he hates him so much for putting up with hurt. For rolling with the punches and being willing to come back for more. He hates his big heart, he hates how trusting he was with it, he hates how he has to hurt so much now because he was a ‘coward’ back then. Why is he suffering consequences from a coward who’d stick by someone for a bit of validation and feeling of importance?

These are all common thoughts abuse victims have. (Especially ones who are coded with BPD, this isn’t a ‘c!Quackity has BPD’ dissertation so I won’t get too into that for now). To be angry and upset regarding how they didn’t leave when they could.

His last straw wasn’t even about himself and his mistreatment; was about the thing he made.

And This isn’t even factoring in the abandonment that happened later.

Long in short of it is that c!Quackity hates his past self. His advice to c!Tommy and c!Tubbo comes from a place of hating what he was and wanting to ensure these two don’t have to deal with those repercussions in the future. His advice is rooted in exactly what he’d say to his younger self: Don’t trust anyone. You only have yourself.

And that’s where c!Charlie comes in.

c!Quackity extensively spends his time with c!charlie drilling the lessons he’d give his past self into c!charlies head. He tells him to not trust people, don’t form attachments, bind your self worth to the nations and power you achieve from them, etc. But the problem is everytime c!Charlie questions them; he grows guiltier of doing it.

It starts to feel *wrong* to imply c!Charlie should be punished for his kindness, for his trust, for his heart. He feels almost guilty about it, it reads in his tone.

And that’s what makes c!Charlie different. Their friendship is not just c!Quackity giving advice he’d give his past self to c!Charlie. This is reconciliation with the past self. 

c!Charlie’s whole journey with c!Quackity is not just reopening his heart to friendship or reminding him what Las Nevadas was built on (c!Qs love and care for his loved ones). It is a gateway for c!Quackity to reconcile with the past him he hates so much.

to look himself in the eyes and say “It isn’t your fault. You should’nt blame your heart and your care for others as the reason people took advantage of you. It’s not bad to trust others, it’s not bad to love, it’s not *your fault* you were taken advantage of.” 

That is one of the biggest pieces of development c!Charlie brings out in him: forgiveness of the past self. And it’s reflective in their journey together.

c!Quackity wants to protect c!Charlie just as he wished someone would protect him too; without having to shun c!Charlies kindness or make him feel inferior for his trust.

But unfortunately he fails.

He fails and there is no denying it is In part his fault. Sure. He’s grown and learned to move past vengeance but you can’t op out of the cycle of revenge you started. And c!Charlie pays to prove that.

But he doesn’t let his anger fester. Or grow Bitter. And Hateful towards himself because he grew attached and someone punished him for it. He wouldn’t throw away his friendship with c!Charlie for the world. Even if it hurts now. It’s the happiest he’s ever been. So whenever c!Charlie may be, in life or in death. c!Quackity will work to placing them together in history. As a final statement to how caring about things and loving other people is always worth it. That casino is to say to the world, and maybe to the guy who hates his own heart, and who hates the love he holds for others: it really was all worthwhile to love in the first place.

You can see this reflecting into what he tells c!Tommy. His initial advice of ‘don’t trust anyone’ turns into:

“If there's one thing I found out, it’s that it doesn’t hurt to have a person who has your back. I'll be that person for you, Tommy.”

It’s good to trust. It’s good to love. Yes, be wary of who you trust and value yourself first but to love and trust others is a great thing. And I’ll be here for you if you need someone to Trust.

That’s what his past self would have wanted to hear. That’s what his past self should have heard. Someone say

“I will be here for you. I will protect you with everything I have, be it my sword or my words or the people I know.”

Just as he told c!Charlie just a bit ago.

Ah this got me a bit teary to write. c!Dapduo’s friendship really is so beautiful and important. This theme of an abuse victim reconciling with their past self and coming to learn a lesson that can heal a heart as bitter as it is full.

I like it a lot. And no matter what happens on Saturday, their friendship will always be so important to me. It makes me happy. It makes me smile. It makes me cry. And anything that can do that will always hold a special place in my heart.

No TL;DR;im not reading all that; congratulations; or I’m sorry that happened; this time. You are legally obligated to get the full c!dapduo realness. But I hope you enjoy

[itsoverfeeling]

Okay so. Ideas are forming:

Pumpkinduo?? Might end up leaning towards neg (sorry the song's just like that) but may just be a recounting of events too

Last life?? I've been trying out life series fics and this feels perfect tbh

Dapduo?? Possibly leaning into quackicle

Quacknap?? Again leaning towards neg/angstiness

This song isn't completely kind to lovers. But it's not completely negative either so. If yall have thoughts or a preferred pairing. This is the time to influence my brain

WAIT NO PERFECR IDEA

[ladyddanger]

Tw// disordered eating, suicidal thoughts. All dsmp/ rp.

The way their president handles his best friends funeral is a point of pride for the people of Las Nevadas. “See?” They say as he stands by the casket draped in their flag, head bowed in prayer mouthing the words by heart. “See how calm he is? How dignified? He doesn’t make his sadness a spectacle.”

It is a point of personal pride for Quackity that he doesn’t fall apart when his best friend dies. He is determined not to become the next Schlatt or the next Wilbur so he makes speeches and runs Las Nevadas well, he throws out all his alcohol and locks the doors to the unused rooms he made for his lovers and throws the keys into the ocean. Quackity takes pills to avoid the nightmares and forces himself to get up every morning and shower. He dresses well and smiles and laughs in interviews with the press. He is boyish and charming and witty. It works for the most part.

Quackity was always a good actor because that’s what politics are, acting and Quackity has been acting since birth. He fools himself sometimes when he plays his own interviews back, looking for mistakes instead of sleeping an old habit from Manberg. The Quackity in those pictures looks so happy and confident, nothing like the face he sees in the mirror.

Even he when is fooled for a moment Quackity feels gross, most of the time he wants to claw his own skin off. He can’t bring himself to eat everything anymore. He feels powerful when he is at his worst dizzy with hunger because he is doing this to himself it’s his choice to do this to himself he has control for once

Quackity looses enough weight to make Sam frown at him and say nothing because the last time Quackity screamed at him. He looses enough weight for some of the share holders, Schlatt’s old friends to comment. They tell him he’s never looked better, eyes lingering on his body a bit too long. Sometimes Quackity thinks about just blowing up the city. Wiping everything to the ground including himself. game over no redos.

Quackity would never do it no matter how many times he dreams of oblivion.

A sick part of him is envious of Wilbur because he fell so quickly they couldn’t catch him. Wilbur lost his mind and Quackity feels there must be some relief in losing yourself completely. He is jealous because at least for Wilbur it was quick and not this slow suicide. That’s the truth and not the words that Quackity would ever use because he’s a coward and he always has been.

Quackity would never blow his city up matter how how tired he is. He hurts people yes fine but at least Quackity doesn’t run from it into his fathers arms, and a lot of fancy ways to say I’m sorry without meaning it or run to half empty bottles and kisses on bruises with false promises of never again. There are a lot of things you can say about Quackity but he is not a coward and he never has been.

Quackity is very dignified at Charlie’s funeral. He plucks one of his feathers to lay on the casket as is avain tradition and speaks calmly and doesn’t cry a single tear. He doesn’t make a spectacle of his grief. His people are proud.