#literally their motivations and powers are opposites. Omg i want everyone to love me vs NO ONE SHOULD LOVE. EVER

[midnightdemonhunter]

a lover and a......not lover.

[issybettyx]

I’m gonna infodump and ramble about dsmp lore because i’ve just watched all the sad-ist animatics and my brain is making me wanna scream about it

— // spoilers for dsmp, may be dark themes, some content may be triggering for certain readers. Everything is c! , unless otherwise specified

I’m gonna start my ramble with c!technoblade, because in my opinion his character is severely misjudged in several situations. I encourage discussion over this, but also someone got extremely angry at me once over this so as stupid as this is gonna sound please respect my thoughts please and thank you x

Techno joins the game to help out his friends, Tommy and Wilbur, in taking down a government that wronged them.

Reasons he did this:

1. To help his friends when they were in need of a power he held

2. To see the fall of a government - anarchy

3. Knowing him he probably had nothing else better to do

Just him joining the server shows his motives, his beliefs, and his relationships with other characters. He cares about his friends to put his life on the line, and canonically his citizenship in one of the only proper countries.

My man literally said “my friends are in need i’m gonna go help them :D”

And then, he told them his beliefs. He said how he was against government overall and wanted to take the government down, and wilbur and tommy went ‘yep great cool we can work with that’. So, Techno spent days upon days farming potatoes, grinding for netherite and potions and tnt and so so many things to help them take over the most powerful people on the server. Techno spent so much time on these people, he helped them take down the opposition in the war of manberg vs pogtopia.

And then they put a new president in power.

Wilbur and Tommy knew this directly opposed their most powerful ally’s only condition for his help, and Tommy was surprised when Techno betrayed them. Bestie, wake up, you literally betrayed him, ily but also- should’ve expected it.

Anyways, Techno’s like ‘literally everyone hates me, so ima run away to the snow to make them happier and i also can’t be arsed with government i’m gonna live alone in the snow’ and they go ‘hahahah no we’re the butcher army formed to unalive you’ and literally blackmail this man.

Did Techno kinda kill a bunch of people and spawn two withers? Yes. Does he deserve some kind of punishment? Probably. But if he’s literally left your country for the better of you and you actively seek him out to take his life? Yeah that’s not very cool of you man

Oh and not to mention they put his mate on house arrest and stole his things just to unalive him, that also wasn’t very cool.

What was cool however was Techno being an absolute badass and escaping with all three lives anyways. That man was literally in the worst position being blackmailed after trying to be peaceful and still got out alive. Then quackity got stabbed in the face with an axe, which was lowkey deserved seeing as he was holding Carl captive, like don’t bring animals into it what did they ever do to you? The pet war was enough pet stress thank youuuuu

After that was the exile stuff wasn’t it? Tommy’s just escaped from a toxic environment after an attempt on his life seeking refuge in his old friend’s home.

Now, this part is something that I absolutely love about Techno’s character.

Before this point, Techno had been wronged by Tommy. Tommy had gone against him, betrayed him, got mad at him for taking Tubbo’s life despite him not exactly having an option. Techno had no reason to let him stay. Not to mention Tommy hardly asked, he kind of broke in, stole his things and demanded it be his home and tried to kick Techno out.

And you know what Techno did? He offered protection, he offered help, he offered his home and he offered to be Tommy’s friend.

Despite literally everything he still went ‘sure tommy you can stay, and i’ll even help you get your discs back!’

And, omg, when he opened the door to the room with the wither skulls and said ‘no body’s seen this, not even phil’. Oh my goodness, shivers. Techno and Phil are like closest besties, Techno would trust Phil with his life, and he still trusts Tommy to see his hard work before anyone else.

Some would say it was a threat, Techno seeing the threat on this wanted exiled child staying under his roof and wanting to send a message to him to not even try and threaten him or his friends. Like for example when Tommy took Antfrost hostage and made him mine, tried to take Techno hostage and immediately backed off with the threat; Tommy knows how powerful Techno truly is, he couldn’t mess with him.

Personally, I would say it’s quite the opposite. It’s a way for Techno to say ‘i trust you, i’ll protect you no matter the cost’. Maybe that’s just my bedrockbros fluff loving brain, but remember when Tommy and Techno were surrounded by the server and Tommy decided to join them instead of stand beside Techno? And Techno said something along the lines of ‘i’ll fight them all off, you run’. He was literally willing to risk everything to get Tommy away safe, he was worried for him and was going to sacrifice his life.

And after everything Techno did for Tommy, he went back to the people who hurt him and away from the one person who’d offered him protection no matter how much he hurt him in the past.

And that fact, that Techno was going to sacrifice everything for a kid who cared little for him at all, hurts me way more than it should for minecraft roleplay.

I’m gonna be honest and say I have no clue what happened between then and Doomsday. Genuinely, I have zero clue, so I’m gonna watch some vods tonight of between then and doomsday to see how in hells name they got from tommy rejoining new l’manberg and techno, phil and dream blowing up new l’manberg and making it into l’manhole.

Anyways, this is the only part of c!technoblade that i just sit and wonder why he did that.

I’m assuming he was angry at them, angry at the butcher army for trying to unalive him and for putting phil on house arrest. He once said how if someone showed him kindness he would repay it tenfold, but if someone caused harm to his friends they would be absolutely fucked (not his words). They threatened Phil, and therefore they paid for it.

Do i agree with his reasoning? Not really no, but I can see where he was coming from. Spite is a powerful motivator.

His other part of reasoning would be the concept of anarchy, of taking down the government that was telling people what they should do. To be on Tubbo’s side here is literally the only right thing, as much as i love c!techno, Tubbo tried his best to protect his people and build a safe country, similar to early l’manberg but with a significant lack of dictators and discrimination. New L’Manberg was, all in all, a welcoming country, and Tubbo made sure of that.

And then, boom.

Literally it was all blown up.

After doomsday, not much happened for a while really. They just kinda chilled.

Then, you know what was formed? The absolutely awesome and infamous Syndicate, an anarchy group that is so incredible they did nothing but sound awesome. The Syndicate are literally my favourite people ever.

Boom Dream’s in prison, Quackity tricks Techno into going in, locks him in, Techno being absolutely awesome goes ‘how can i make the most of this? I know: gain knowledge’

So that’s what he does, forcing dream to write books on books of everything he knows before finally getting teleported out.

Now, for those who don’t know, Techno owed Dream a favour. Remember how i said Techno got his life threatened by the butcher army and got his horse Carl stolen? Yeah Dream kinda helped him get Carl back, smart move on his end, and made him indebted to Dream. So, Techno kind of had to get Dream out, and also got Ranboo out in the process? We never found out why Ranboo wanted to go into the prison so bad, I have a feeling it was his enderwalking or something but whatever.

Guess who dies? Ranboo. Jeez that was forever ago wasn’t it? Poor Tubbo he deserved so much better.

Then after that it was THE REVENGERS. The best trio ever who literally no one expected;

A traitor, an anarchist and an ex-president.

All joined together to save Michael the beloved, and to be horrible to Sam who literally let a prisoner, albeit a terrible person, be tortured and trap an almost but also kind of not innocent person inside with him (Techno did bad things but not bad enough to be in the main cell of Pandora’s Vault, that place was meant for someone as horrible as c!dream).

The Revengers was definitely one of my favourite streams; three people who are meant to hate each other putting aside their differences for one common goal, and coming out civil. I think it was pretty awesome, character development my beloved.

And that was basically c!techno. In summary, he was caring, protective of his friends, stuck to his beliefs, stuck to his word, strong, and he was able to put aside his emotions for the better of others on several occasions.

C!technoblade is one of my favourite characters, he was developed amazingly, his humour was fantastic. Everything he did for tommy and wilbur was more than he should’ve, he put his all into making sure others were okay even when he hated them. Did he blow up a few people and a few countries? Maybe. But he was awesome, and i find people misunderstand him a lot.

I could talk about c!technoblade for ages and not get bored, he’s so interesting and I could study his every action and continue to say how awesome he is, but we must move forward onto my next favourite character:

C!Wilbur.

Now, the difference between c!techno and c!wilbur is the fact that most of c!techno’s things i picked out were unintentional, whereas c!wilbur was so thoughtfully created and shaped into this selfish lying character.

Wilbur joined and immediately made a drug van, dragging Tommy with him. This drug van was developed into L’manberg, and Wilbur took his role as president seriously, fighting for his country’s independence. But you know who finally gained them independence after several walls and wars? A child who was dragged into the entire thing by his big brother, a child who gave up two of the most important things to him to give his older brother what he wanted most.

L’manberg gained independence, but Wilbur knew he was a dictator. Now, this, in my opinion, is the first time we see the real c!wilbur.

Wilbur says “let’s run an election but make me the only running candidate”, his first proof of manipulative nature that sends his country into literal ruins (butterfly effect is certainly something). Obviously, people are against this, especially Quackity who was rejected citizenship because he wasn’t european. Quackity was angry at Wilbur, and knew the best way to piss him off would be to take away what he built from the ground up.

Wilbur’s like ‘well fuck I gotta play this off’, which is his first time actively lying.

Election in summary: POG2020 (wilbur) gets 45% of the overall votes. SWAG2020 (quackity) loses. But, Schlatt had formed his own government (SCHLATT2020) and formed a coalition government with SWAG2020, together gaining 46% of the vote. Coconut2020 (fundy) gained the other 9%.

Wilbur and Tommy were exiled, Technoblade joined the server.

Now, exile was not easy on Wilbur.

For a while, he’d been sending letters to Philza, his Dad, and had started lying. Wilbur had wrote how he’d won the election, how he was doing well. Why would he lie? Phil’s his dad right? Philza is a caring character, he would love his son and help his son, why would Wilbur lie?

Well, he’d put all of his effort into building this nation, he probably felt weak admitting that he’d lost everything he’d created, how he’d let down Tommy and he didn’t want to admit that.

This was the start of Wilbur’s drive to insanity.

Exile absolutely destroyed Wilbur. He wanted to feel empowered, he wanted to have control. So, he took advantage of those around him.

What Wilbur truly wanted was his country back (though at the end of exile he felt like he had no choice, he felt like it wasn’t his and he gave it up), and he saw Techno offering his help and took advantage of it.

He saw Tommy willing to do anything for Wilbur, following his steps, wanting to become president because Wilbur was a president. He saw Tommy wanting to be the hero and led him in the revolution, made Tommy feel like he was a part of something bigger than himself. Wilbur was in control of Tommy, and he made sure to take advantage of this, making him feel weaker than he was capable of (“you’re never going to be president, Tommy”) so he would listen to and follow his every word and command.

Manberg vs Pogtopia, they win. But Wilbur’s lost all sense of self; he isn’t the courageous respected man he once was, but a shell of him, and he knows this.

// suicide - ends at next double forward slash (//)

Wilbur gets his country back, and he puts Tommy in charge. A child who had to grow up too fast, a child who’s been under his brother’s arm and also his control without knowing, a child who was exiled aged 16 who was dragged into a horrid world full of death and horror.

Tommy had gone through so much, and so he handed over the country to the person he trusted the most; Tubbo.

Wilbur, meanwhile, leaves, knowing Technoblade will betray them in to go to the button room (i swear it has a name i just don’t remember it), where his father - who in fact he’s been lying to for however long - shows up and stops him. His song is etched into wood on the walls, an example of his identity, of his life’s work, of his love for singing and his entire reasoning for living. And his father shows up, telling him to stop, telling him there’s more to life, that his symphony doesn’t have to be unfinished. (“My l’manberg! Phil! My unfinished symphony forever unfinished!”)

Wilbur feels lost and alone. He’s manipulated his friends and lied to his father (cough cough c!wilbur’s two most distinctive traits cough cough). He knows he isn’t his father’s son anymore, he isn’t the kid who won the election, and this guilt eats him up so much he throws his sword at his father’s feet and orders him to kill him.

The country is blown up at Wilbur’s hand. In English Teacher Terms (ETT^TM), this symbolises him ending his manipulative and lying ways. Everything he built, lost, and got back has been destroyed, and his people stare at him as his father takes his final life.

//

Limbo: Wilbur was stuck in a train station for like 13-14 years.

Ghostbur: everything good about Wilbur. For example, his love for his family. Ghostbur spends a most of his time with Tommy, Techno and Phil. He has friend on a lead, the blue of his wool a symbol for how Wilbur tried to help people but his efforts were completely pointless. Ghostbur gives people some blue wool to rid them of their worries. It’s a childish fantasy, it doesn’t work no matter how much he wishes it would. Alivebur did this a lot, he did things that he thought would help others but it just didn’t, but his want to help was still evident, ghostbur just lacks the manipulative negative side of that.

Revivedbur: he immediately starts a new country, it’s all he knows, a form of comfort after years and years of the same horrid thing over and over and over again. He drags another child with him, Ranboo, and finds nostalgia in Tommy’s presence and controllability. When Wilbur was in limbo, Tommy went through hell and back, and it takes ages for Tommy to admit this, showing the lack of trust he now holds for Wil.

The moment Wilbur realises what Dream did to Tommy in exile, he goes ballistic. Wilbur still cares about Tommy, he still manipulates him and makes him do his bidding, but Tommy is still his brother and he still cares so much for him, so much so he’s willing to unalive his ‘hero’ for him. This shows how much he truly cares for Tommy, but i believe this also makes him come a realisation that his presence around Tommy was negative.

He has this moment of realisation where he goes “this kid has been wronged, i need to protect him- but my presence never truly helped him, maybe he would be better without me?”

So he begins his plan to leave. (To utah which totally isn’t an allegory of death, which totally doesn’t correlate to when he lost his final canon life, i’ll go into that at the end) he realises truly how many people he hurt, and he goes around and apologises to them.

Most people prove his point. Most people, the conversations went a bit like this:

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay I forgive you.”

Proving that people so easily fall at the feet of those powerful enough, or at the feet of those they love most.

Despite being wronged, they still hold their love for Wilbur for all the good things he did.

The only person who didn’t forgive him was his son, Fundy, who’d let his hatred for Wilbur sink in literal years ago when he went against them as coconut 2020 in the l’manberg election. Fundy met the same fate as his father, and it made Wilbur realise that maybe he didn’t deserve a better death than his son had.

But he doesn’t want Tommy to know that.

Now, in Wilbur’s latest stream (qsmp day 1), he said how Utah was an allegory to death. And that got me thinking: why would Wilbur lie to Tommy?

As I said previously, two of C!wilbur’s main traits were manipulation and lying. After he was revived, he led everyone to believe that he was a changed man. After everything, after exile and limbo and the burger van, he said how he’d changed.

But he never really changed, did he?

C!wilbur was an example of someone who, deep down, never truly changed. The things that did change, however, was his motivations.

Wilbur continued to lie. He lied to Tommy about Utah, but he said he was changed didn’t he?

In exile, he lied to protect himself. He lied because he felt weak, he felt angry, and he didn’t want anyone to feel like they had more power than he did, that they knew him better than he did.

As a wise man once said, “If you know thy self, and you know thy enemy, you need not fear the result of a thousand battles.” (Or something like that). Wilbur knew that if his enemy, and even his allies, knew him, they could control him, they could see through him and his lies and his manipulation.

But, after Tommy told him about exile, his motives changed from protecting himself to protecting his loved ones. He wanted to protect Tommy, and throughout his whole life there was one thing he knew best, and that was lying.

// suicide - ends at next two forward slashes (//)

So when Tommy asked if Wilbur was going to unalive himself, he said no. He said he was going to Utah.

This showed he didn’t change in his ways; he didn’t find better ways to deal with things. But his motives changed.

C!wilbur once looked at c!tommy and saw a child full of potential. Before he left for “utah”, he looked at Tommy and saw a child who never got to be. So he protected him from the truth, so that any remaining youth in him could be saved.

As i said before with Techno, i could talk about c!wilbur for ages, i didn’t even talk about ‘the wilbur van’ or ‘healthy competition’ or a more in depth reasoning and symbolism behind ghostbur.

However this post is very long, and i’m very tired, and this has taken me like two hours to write and i haven’t even talked about c!tommy and c!tubbo yet, so that is a job for another day. If you somehow read all this way, i am firstly very proud of you, and secondly i hope you enjoyed my somehow brief infodump about dsmp, because i have been hyperfixed on this server for over two years and I never get to talk about it, so yeah :D

C!technoblade my beloved

Subscribe to technoblade

[beautifulterriblequeen]

The Thief and the Tinker, Part 4: Circles and Cycles

part 3

Part 4

Viren: *smirks and plinks Runaan's coin to Ethari*

Ethari, furious: You throw another Moonshadow at me and I'm gonna lose it.

Circles and Cycles

Angst rating: 8/10

Back to Ethari, because we're not done with him yet. Ethari is soft, but he isn't weak. He won't be a willing pawn for Viren. He loves Runaan to the point of invention, and his devotion is more constant than the moon itself. He'll agree to do what Viren says, and he'll be Very Sad. But his spirit is in no way broken. Viren bribing him with the coins containing his family will only have the opposite effect. It'll give Ethari something to fight for.

We could get Focused Chaos Ethari. We could get Angery Trickster Ethari. We could get Rules, What Rules? Ethari. Let him try to steal the coins, try to break them, try to kill Viren, and be stymied at every turn, until he settles and seems cowed. And then all he does is craft his way out of the problem.

What if we are gifted with Iron Man Elf Ethari, who pretends to build a fake Key for Viren, but meanwhile he's really building a coinbuster with whatever he can get his hands on - primal stones, magically imbued gemstones, stolen artifacts, his own arcanum, his own reputation as the Master Craftsman of the Silvergrove. He'll use almost - almost - anything, to stop Viren and free his family.

Ethari may have to choose between those two things, though. And he's a hero, deep down, just like his family, just like his daughter. If he has to choose, he'll choose to stop Viren and save Xadia. He'll pay the same price as his family has if he must.

He'd let Viren think he was motivated purely by wanting his family back, but Ethari is far too steeped in the illusion and sacrifice for that to be all there is to his motives. It's a so-close-and-yet-so-far thing, how he and Viren almost embody the same ideals. Almost. Ethari would take one look at Viren, who just burnt down his whole Forest, he'd see the biggest threat in Xadia, and he'd say anything to get a chance to stop this juggernaut of destruction from getting his hands on whatever that ultimate power really is, locked behind that missing key. If he has to abandon his people and bawl his eyes out to convince Viren he's in, then he will.

And Viren wouldn't make it easy for him. He knows clever when he sees it. He went through all this trouble to persuade Ethari to work with him. He would need to keep Ethari as off-balance as possible to ensure that he keeps working as he should.

Angsty jewelry, anyone?

Viren giving Ethari his husband in pendant form to remind him what he's working for, when Viren and Ethari both know full well that only dark magic can open the hellcoins. Ethari wearing another pendant of his love, except it's not a metaphor this time. It's literally his love, in a coin around his neck.

Viren would love making Ethari stay close to him of his own free will if he ever hoped to free Runaan. Making people bind themselves to you is a big power flex. Remember that TDP stream future-season teaser note about Bait being in a creepy restraint in a future season?

This card is written on in all-caps, so that really could be "Bait" or "bait," or--knowing this show--both. Viren's been using Runaan as bait for Ethari all along. Putting his coin in a dark magic pendant casing for Ethari to wear would be a great parallel for that. Oh god. Oh man.

Maybe he'll stab the coin's scary casing right through that circle on Ethari's chest, right over his heart, make that Iron Man reference really obvious. Ethari also losing his shirt at some point, for angsty Viren-related reasons? It's more likely than you think. I mean... Ethari is literally involved in both forms of forging at this point. Shirt's gotta come off for uhhhh work reasons. And because he's hot. Because of all the forging. Mmhmm. I mean how else are we finally going to discover what his markings look like this is research I swear

I mentioned that I liked god-tier villains, right? Yeah, this is amazing. I haven't wanted to die and ascend over an idea for quite a while, but Ethari vs Viren in a drawn-out battle of wills would kill me in the best way. Especially since, while it looks like they're essentially fighting for who gets Runaan, they're truly fighting a much larger battle with much higher stakes. They're fighting for the future itself. It's an epic struggle between the Narrative of Strength and the Narrative of Love. And we've seen what happens, over and over, when the Narrative of Strength gets to call the shots.

On a meta note: If Ruthari's story arc isn't a love letter from one trauma survivor to another, and on a broader scope to all survivors who see it, I don't know what is. Sometimes life just chews us up and spits us out and we can't stop it and it breaks us. But sometimes we can reach out and grasp the chance to help each other, even after that, even when it hurts a lot, because we know what it means to be loved, and to love, and to want a safer future for each other and for people we'll never meet. The future is worth standing together for, helping each other back up for, fighting side by side for, even if you can't see how it'll end, or even how to begin. We are stronger together, and sometimes we need to fight for our "together" before we can fight for anything else. And that's worth it, every time.

This is glorious, it's beautiful, it's tragic, it's amazing, it makes me want to dance, it makes me want to scream into the void, it makes me want to slap someone with a semi truck. No, someone specific, don't worry, and he super deserves it.

Because Ethari is going to win. He was always going to win. He's soft, and he's clever, and he hasn't forgotten what love means. It's what he's fighting for. Not power, not control. Love. He doesn't want to dictate Runaan's future or anyone else's. He just wants his husband--and everyone else--to have one at all.

So he's going to win.

What thwarting Viren looks like, I couldn't possibly guess. TDP is no stranger to angst, so there will probably be a high cost involved in outwitting the dark mage. Maybe not everyone can be rescued from the coins. Maybe Ethari will lose his life, or his soul, or his vision, or something else really angsty. Viren could even kill him and resurrect him as a smoky craftsman, or a zombie craftsman, or something equally biddable but horrible. The only thing I'm sure of is that Ethari would never willingly make a working Key of Aaravos Ethari as long as there's a chance Viren could possess it. But I do believe that if he gets the right opportunity while he's busy saving the world from Viren's dark intentions, he'll break his husband's hellcoin open somehow and set him free, even if he has to smile at the devil to do it.

Ethari understands the difference between "you can" and "therefore you should." He might sacrifice his own world to save his husband, but he'd never sacrifice someone else's world. That's one of the Moonshadow cultural limits I've noticed: they accept boundaries when it comes to other people's autonomous rights, especially regarding life and death.

These limits could get pushed. Ethari will be under great duress and emotional strain if he goes through this kind of interaction with Viren. And maybe he will choose some dark things. Everyone else has. But I'm placing all my eggs in the basket labeled "Saved By Love." Either I'm right, or I'll get the best angst omelets in the universe. And I do love omelets. A villain invented them, you know. ;)

Another support for Ethari not making the key for Viren: the real Key exists!

Callum has it right now. The plot doesn't need Ethari's key (yet? ever?), but it does need Ethari to learn what he's made of, to stand up for something, or against something, or both at once. And once he learns what he will and won't do and the universe has rewarded his discovery with the return of his beloved husband then Ethari will be ready to take on whatever else the plot has in mind for him.

Depending on the plan, all of these events could happen in S4, as a setup for even bigger things to follow. Viren's wishes can be thwarted here and the show's overall tension will only continue to rise. It would let Ethari flex yes pls his skills so we know who he is, it would show how driven Viren can be for a long-term goal, it would let Claudia saunter further downwards, it would reveal some human/Moonshadow history, and it would resolve the seasons-long tension regarding Runaan's fate, allowing for the cycle of speculation, feels, angst, and Ruthari fanart to begin again. ;) Viren would need to find another way to pursue his long-term goal. And Callum's Key will get a little more clarity on just how important it is to the fate of the world - which will make everything he does, and everyone he talks to, and anyone who knows what he's carrying, intensely important.

Nyx is gonna steal it isn't she, omg chaos birb

To Viren, Ethari was a main course, meant to be devoured and consumed in his lifelong quest for something that will finally satisfy. But to Ethari, Viren was just empty calories to be passed over in favor of ordering his perennial favorite dish, one more time.

Once Ethari escapes Viren's clutches with as much of his family as he can rescue, Viren may turn back to looking for the real Key, especially if someone's seen it recently. Hunting a kid probably seems easier than hunting a full-grown Moonshadow craftsman who just outsmarted him. okay so maybe Nyx stealing it would be a good thing and save Callum's life

Ethari could go on to help repair the Sunforge, or rebuild the Moonhenge, or work on constructing Moonshadow villages in Katolis if he hasn't been ghosted for abandoning everyone after the forest fire. He might build magical devices for any number of reasons, to help all kinds of characters. Hopefully, wherever he goes, he'll have Runaan with him, in some way, for at least a little while. Cycles be like, and I feel like Runaan will not want to remain still for long, for whatever reason. Does he need revenge, atonement, justice, a new body, to find Rayla, to find Ezran? He'll be back in action as soon as he can, I think.

Okay, but, I'm so soft at the thought of a scene where Runaan and Ethari come before King Ezran. The husbands tried to save their people Runaan's way, the old way, and it only continued to endanger them. Following the cycle, as Moonshadows do, was the wrong move. But the son of the last human Runaan killed reached out with mercy and broke a thousand years of suffering and sorrow and hatred. Ezran did what Runaan couldn't: he saved the Moonshadow elves from total destruction. And that, more than anything else in the world, could soften one very broody assassin's heart toward humans again.

What would Runaan do, if his heart truly changed toward humans? What would he say to Ezran? I could see him struggling for a long moment before dropping to one knee to pledge his heart as he once had to do before the Dragon Throne. He doesn't know any other way but to serve. Ezran, reading the whole room and everyone's feelings before he tells Runaan that No, we don't do that here. That he's free, and free means free. No chains, no oaths. Just trust and friendship. He should get to make his own decisions for a change, even though that can be hard and scary sometimes. Runaan being genuinely scared, because that's too much freedom. But he's not alone. He has Ethari, and Ezran, and Rayla, and Callum, and their people, and their allies. And no matter what else happens, the people of Katolis - elven and human - will find a way forward. Together.

part 5

[insertdisc5]

homestuck epilogues stuff

thoughts about the homestuck epilogues, as in, spoilers and theories and things ive noticed by reading it over twice and talking with friend @kravicle while they were reading

this is just a list of theories me and krav came up with ok. also stuff u might not pick up in only one read? we’re just spitballing here 

MEAT AND CANDY TEREZI ARE PROBABLY ONE AND THE SAME

> just didnt see proof they weren't the same lmao, we only get john+terezi's messages from both timelines and she could have gotten messages from both meat!john and candy!john

>time is fucked on her end also so (shrugs)

>(terezi meeting meat!john) "something else is different about him. different, somehow, from how she thought he’d be when she imagined they’d next meet. under all the gore, he smells... too fresh."

>TEREZI: HMMM

TEREZI: YOU SM3LL OLD3R

TEREZI: BUT NOT 4S OLD 4S 1 THOUGHT YOUD B3

JOHN: what does that mean?

TEREZI: DONT WORRY 4BOUT 1T

>"In multiple realities, all [John] wanted for her was this. To be home safe, with all their friends. And now that she’s here, she’s lost."

> (meeting Meat!roxy) "Terezi’s head is filled with stories about a different version of Roxy—the polar opposite of the one standing in front of her."

DIRK’S PLAN PART 1 (free will)

>maybe plans to get Actual Free Will thru ultimate godhood??? also explains why he feels okay with removing free will from his friends- for him, this isnt real free will anyway?

>(dirk talking about kanaya) "What WAS she thinking? What are any of us thinking, really? Who’s doing the thinking, and who’s having the thoughts?

The more you study the question, the more it seems all concrete forms of accountability go up in smoke. Her original thoughts were never that important, and the significance of the idea that she was the one authoring them was always a bit overrated. My mission is to someday clear this all up for everyone. Remove the ambiguity, suck the mud out of the water. It’ll be a lot better that way, trust me."

>to old callie, dirk's plan "[john’s] ultimate sacrifice was made to put the missing keystone in place and avert the supreme dissipation of all that shall be considered to hold truth, relevance, and essentiality."

>although narrator callie thinks this world has some sort of actual free will. says "[john should kiss terezi etc]. it’s wrong to contradict one’s true thoughts and feelings. irrational. unbecoming of an existence governed by free will."

>his plan to give everyone/ultimate gods “free will” will end up destroying canon????

DIRK’S PLAN PART 2 (complacency of the learned, ultimate self)

>complacency of the learned, 12 people attaining ultimate knowledge (=ultimate self), and turning "either insane or evil"

> (candy ending, rose’s POV) "The thoughts in her powerful brain race. What will they name the planet? How long will it take for the ship to arrive? Once the new race has established an advanced enough civilization thousands of years from now, who will the lucky kids be? The ones who get the chance to play what will arguably be the most important session in the history of Sburb?" 

>finding more people to attain ultimate godhood???

>dirk asks terezi to come with him and rose at the end of meat, along with john's body (implied that she did accept-callie!jade points and dave thinks she points both to dirk+rose and john+terezi, callie doesnt prove him otherwise)

>dirk wants 12 ultimate gods for each aspect????

>"If your perception expands beyond the meat sack of your body, then are you really an individual anymore? Why shouldn’t we become gods? Why shouldn’t we become one God."

- (callie speaking) "[John] is simply being barred from ignoring his true thoughts. even without the aid of a juju, he is fortunate enough to be blessed with the only true form of divinity. to be released from the prison of nonsensical inhibitions which so often psychologically hobble the more primitive forms of life."

>callie is probably an ultimate god, terezi should be?? with rem8mb8r?

DIRK’S NARRATOR STUFF

>dirk probably doesnt know hes in a story/that he has an audience (us) "How can I respect a fucking pronoun when nobody can even hear me?”

>does dirk control people by using you-ness? using 2nd person to control, 3rd person to narrate?

>”JADE: and where there is an identity, there can also be an agenda.”

CANDY TIMELINE STUFF

>part of the black hole, a utopia, place removed from reality/canon in some way??? WEIRDO DREAM BUBBLE????

>cut off from canon in some way- dirk and rose cant get to ultimate godhood anymore, john cant use retcon powers

>candy!john mentions multiple times he doesnt think of him and his friends as "real"

>sky in candy!timeline described as more vibrant (VS pre-sburb being described as muted)

>candy!karkat talking to sollux and probably being foreshadowing without knowing: “KARKAT: I THOUGHT THAT YOU TWO LITERALLY DIDN’T EXIST ANYMORE! KARKAT: OR AT THE VERY LEAST WERE TRAPPED IN A DEAD UNIVERSE PERPETUALLY COLLAPSING INTO ITS OWN ASSHOLE.”

>CALLIOPE: we’re all going to be very, very happy. I trUly believe that. ^u^ 

>ROSE: Oh Kanaya, you’re right.

ROSE: We are going to be so astonishingly happy!

>ROXY: omg

ROXY: were gonna be SO freakin happy!

>Dirk in Meat: "Cherubs are fuckin’ weird, I’ll totally concede. Still not sure what makes them tick. What they idealize, what they really want. It all comes across to me as a little cloying. Perfection to them is a sweetness beyond comprehension. Sugar so potent it’s poison to us. To our bodies, to our souls. Like the place she was operating from was a realm of self-construction. A bubble of pure, phantasmal confection."

>end of meat!callie can see into candy!timeline ROXY: they stay home all day with the blinds drawn paintin some weird ass shit on the walls

TEREZI: WH4T?

ROXY: its not as bad as it sounds i promise

ROXY: some of it is like

ROXY: weird and violent??

ROXY: like lotsa nasty purple blood and um

ROXY: nudity????

TEREZI: >:?

ROXY: yeah yikes

ROXY: but MOST of it is cute stuff like... various combos of all of us being happy and gettin married and shit

>obama’s here. god i need a minute

>dirk told gamzee something??? 

“DAVE: wheres dirk

GAMZEE: tHeRe’S nO nEeD tO wOrRy AbOuT hIm. :o)

GAMZEE: YoU’rE gOnNa GeT wHaT’s BeSt FoR yOu. He ToLd Me ThAt, AnD i’M gOnNa MaKe SuRe HiS wIsH mAkEs LiKe A mOtHeRfUcKiNg MiRaClE aNd GeTs TrUe.

[...]

GAMZEE: YoU dOn’T gOt AnY nEeD tO gO aNd CoNcErN yOuRsElF wItH hIs MoRtAl FlEsH bOdY oUt HeRe In ThIs CaNdYcAnE wHiRlPoOl BeYoNd ThE iNfInItE bLaCk WiNk Of ThE wIcKeD sInGuLaRiTy, My NiNjA.

GAMZEE: a SaCk Of MeAt AnD bOnEs In OnE lIfE oR tHe NeXt Is OnLy A mEaNs To ThE fInAl ToTaLiTy ThAt WiLl DaMn AnD rAiSe Us AlL iN bRiLlIaNt ApOtHeOsIs.

GAMZEE: In ThE oNe TrUe LiFe We AlL fLoW fRoM tHe OnE tRuE pEn,

GAMZEE: aNd EvErY hEaD rOlLs DoWn ThE pAtH tO tHe OnE tRuE hAnD.”

> dirk before killing himself:  “ It is the very last moment of narratively consequential action that will happen in this whole, barren world. “

OTHER STUFF

> dirk teaching men about "combat, philosophy, life, love." (jake, dave, obama, not said explicitly but also probably gamzee????) what is UP with that

>gamzee also wanting to teach kid tavros about combat philosophy life love, “to behave the way a mentor does”

>re: john “Your complete lack of remarkability, specific motivation, drive, opinion on where to direct your own fate—these deficiencies are exactly what made you so useful, so susceptible to being endowed with the you-ness I’ve borrowed to satisfy my purposes.”

>at the end of meat, callie in jade's body in candy timeline kills lord english and gets big powers or whatever. cherub stuff

>terezi gets a text at the end of Meat, we dont know from whom (candy!(vriska)?)

>john left letters for everyone in Meat but no one’s found them yet?

>snapchats were probably before the split 

>this whole post makes both me and krav sound like we’re been talking about this for 24 hours straight (we did)