#it's friday and I don't want to work shhhhh block game rambles

[qsmprambling]

While I think the admins will see the fandom appreciation for Fred and make them a positive figure regardless of any previous plans, with the current situation between Bad, Tubbo, Fred and Ron, I think it would be a really cool twist if the letters with Fred are a manipulation, either by the Federation higher ups, or by Fred themselves.

The Federation have manipulated people through messages before, so the idea that the letters were discovered but then continued by someone else under the pretense of being Fred isn't impossible to imagine (look at what happened with Cellbit and the code sword research). There is also the possibility that the letters may have never come from Fred in the first place.

But Fred could also be doing the manipulation as well, because Fred is an A rank worker. They don't get that rank for nothing, they get that rank for conforming more than the B-D workers, for being less unique, for aligning more with the Federation's design and values (something, it is worth noting, that Bad knows about because of what Ron told him, but Tubbo doesn't know because the books he found mention nothing about that). So who is to say Fred wasn't told to keep in contact, and followed this order without issue to see what info they could get from one of the islands newest troublemakers?

Fred did show them the maze, which appears to have given the islanders access to more info on the Federation which you would assume they wouldn't want, but the Federation also tasked Jaiden to clear the Bluebird Dungeon, another old Federation facility which also gave them more information. So, it is still possible...

I don't know, I just think it would be a really cool twist on it's own, but also at the moment Tubbo does not fear the Federation, and it would be impactful for him to be shown how they can manipulate, control, and harm people (or make them 'fall in line', as Cucurucho said about Tubbo to Jaiden). It would also just be such an angsty twist that in an attempt to help what he saw as an innocent Federation worker (Fred), Tubbo was being manipulated and instead threw another innocent victim (Ron) into harms way. That the kidnapper was the one who was actually keeping the innocent person safe, and the person who tried to help his friend actually caused them harm? THE DRAMA!