#my dsmp bullshit

[not-kayvalencourt]

Let's all put on our thinking caps and see that there is no actual evidence that iskall didn't do anything but his own word. There is, however, massive amounts of evidence that he did.

If you follow me and support iskall (or stress), unfollow me. The bullshit tantrum he just had and the amount of people there are supporting him is actually disgusting. If you genuinely believe him, you need to look up manipulation tactics. He is going to use his fame to get people to trust him, just like he did to his victims.

[posseblr]

A reflection of something long gone.

[pogcicle]

So uh.

The dream situation huh.

[tobi-smp]

you know, with hindsight now what it is I really do think a more literal reading of c!techno's chat would have helped his characterization a Lot

and mind you, this was originally intended to be the case, and very well may have been intended all along even if it wasn't usually emphasized within the lore

and don't get me wrong, I Get why it fell out of favor within the fandom. it coincides with a Very storied ableist trope that demonizes DID and disorders adjacent to it, and Can be spoken about in a way that is essentially indistinguishable from it depending on the word choice.

but the thing is ! not only does it not Have to be an allegory for DID, I straight up don't think it is At All.

because we Know what it's an allegory for. It's His Chat. there's technoblade playing the game, and there's the thousands of people watching with expectations and wants that he's compelled to meet (or, at the very least, pacify through Entertainment).

and this makes much Much more sense when conceived of as Supernatural. be that spirits, gods, demons, or anything that could fill that role. separate entities that, for whatever reason, only techno can sense the presence of and be affected by.

and of course, to an extent this is true for all creators. everyone had an audience that they were meant to entertain and the choices they made were influenced by that fact.

but technoblade came in with a Very distinct set of expectations that heavily impacted the choices he was Expected to make and the kinds of stories that he could tell. he was more or less a living legend in real life just as much as he was in roleplay, and these things were inherently connected.

and it's like !

when c!technoblade says he was peer pressured into killing tubbo at the red festival he Is technically talking about what happened within the roleplay. schlatt was demanding it from him, there's a sort of pressure there. but schlatt was also the dictator they were set to kill, and techno has never had any trouble fighting people he considered a dictator before, and certainly not Schlatt of all people.

but he WAS being peer pressured By His Audience. by thousands of people, most of which were demanding blood Because It Was The Expectation, because it'd be Fun.

out of universe technoblade made the decision he thought would be the most Entertaining, and he was right! consistently he made choices that would let him do the most bombastic Spectacles possible. And It's Great. he's Excellent at pulling dramatics and making a compelling scene that give other people room to work off of. in that sense I'd consider techno an Excellent actor, and I have to imagine that he was fun to work with.

the problem is when you then have to justify it from an in character perspective, grounded in those mushy things like Feelings with characters that can be traumatized and sustain lasting damage, Especially Without acknowledging the out of character incentive.

mind you, it's not Impossible to Create a backstory that could justify it. why a character as consistently powerful and feared as technoblade would feel pressured to kill an ally by someone he not only Can kill but Wanted To Kill. why a character as seemingly secure and in control as technoblade would lash out the way that he does to perceived betrayal, and yet consistently puts no weight onto having killed and permanently scarred an ally that trusted him.

what that'd need is tragedy. a storied history of being hurt and having to survive. building up To an untouchable god from a much much more vulnerable position. Long Lasting trauma that's lead to this deep insecurity and paranoia. and that's Possible and that's Compelling.

but it's just not in the text.

not only did we never learn basically Anything that c!technoblade was up to pre-series, we actually know Less by the end than when we started because of the sbi retconning.

it's a Theoretically Possible interpretation that's technically never Contradicted by canon, but would have to be created by scratch. it's a compelling idea for a fan fic (and one I'd like to read) and it's compelling for a theoretical recontextualization of the character, but it's just not In The Text.

meanwhile, we have the video above.

we have the Objective Fact that technoblade's decision making was often subject to the rule of cool (very Very effectively) to entertain his audience.

and most compellingly, these concepts Don't Need To Be Separate. in fact, in my opinion they're Stronger when you put them together.

because the thing is. it's Difficult to imagine techno as ever being in a vulnerable position. he is just Objectively more powerful than everyone else on the server, both in real life And within the lore. How could he have ever been afraid when he was stronger than anyone and everyone combined? when we saw with our own eyes that techno could face nearly the whole server at once and win.

but he Is a tragic character, at least he's meant to be. and that tragedy makes much Much more sense as something Inward.

technoblade as a character who Needs connection, who Needs stability, who Needs security, who Needs friendship and community and Love. but Lashes Out, Obliterates to the core of the earth, because of something that's not only out of his control but that other people Cannot Understand.

how do you explain to a child that you killed their best friend because a chorus of the undead called for his blood and you (in all the glory that he'd idolized) were unable to do anything but comply? how do you explain to that child that you beat him senseless in a pit as the restless dead jeered and laughed?

That's interesting. That's Compelling.

technoblade is idolized like a god, feared like a force of nature, and in an instant cut himself off from nearly everyone who'd considered him an ally. and that seems to be a pattern, over and over and over again. he's left isolated, and in return he faces retaliation, and in return he's always Waiting for retaliation.

and what do you say to someone who wants to kill you for being a monster? that it's Fine Actually because you only did what you did because you have a curse that compels you to? that the supernatural guided you to destroy their homes and kill their people? (rip jack manifold you will be missed)?

That Doesn't Quite Help Your Case.

technoblade as someone who is beholden to this literal cycle of violence and Loses those things that could ground him, community, stability, People, as a result. who Tries to overcome this very fact (to become a better person, in his own words as per the clip above), but is pulled back into it as a consequence of his own actions.

that's a tragedy !! that Makes Sense. that allows him to be Both this force of nature that other characters have to survive And A Person Who Is Hurt By The Same Conflict.

"I'm a person!" that fear of dehumanization makes So So Much More Sense when you see technoblade as someone who Already fears himself. who fears being a monster, who fears losing control, who has faced isolation again and again and again.

and, importantly, it doesn't have to be anyone else's Fault.

by making the source both Internal and Completely External (something that none of the other characters have any awareness or control over), you can Have techno as a tragic character without demonizing anyone else Or erasing the impact that c!techno had on them.

and in that sense, it Can be an allegory for mental illness, but not in that direct "oooooh how scary he hears voices" kind of way that people fear it looks. but in that sometimes people Will do things that can hurt others while not feeling in control. anger and mania and paranoia, things that you can't always Control and yet that impact that you have on other people still Matters.

and the answer to that is, often, vulnerability and accountability.

I think a lot about technoblade isolating himself so near entirely from the rest of the server, and slowly gathering a support system Back by the end. and I Really Do think that framing of it through this lens is a Very impactful way of breaking it down.

tubbo, tommy, wilbur, ranboo, niki, I think they'd All understand not feeling in control. lashing out, maybe even feeling justified in the moment, but hurting people they care about and furthering their own isolation.

There's Something There, and it's already In The Text. it just needs to be expanded on.

and why not do that ourselves now?

[canary-curse-57]

Worlds Biggest Shoutout to my friends who are putting up with me going bananas over the dream situation rn even though they've never had any interest in the dsmp!!!! y'all are the best and I appreciate you very very much

[rat-rosemary]

Ranboo couldn't breathe. He had fallen into a spiral for seemingly no reason, and now he couldn't get any oxygen in, no matter how hard he tired to follow the square breathing technique Techno had shown him.

Ranboo

"No no no please I can't I cant-"

The walls were closing around him, obsidian burying him alive-

Ranboo listen

Old wounds opening once more, all alone but it felt like he was back in New Lmanburg, screaming and accusations of things he doesn't remember doing-

"I swear I tried so hard I didn't mean it please-"

RANBOO

The next gasping breath he took felt like it was ripped out of him, tears of relief as his form was changed against his will, the shift enough to snap him out of the spiral, like shoving your hands in ice.

Ranboo slumped into the floor, his new wings covering him, soft and fluffy and grounding.

Ranboo

No nevermind, back to panic time. Because that was Dream's voice and Dream was supposed to be in prison and no one was supposed to know about the panic room-

But the room was empty.

"Dream?"

Ranboo called out, his voice rough, cracking embarrassingly

Yes?

"I- Where are you?"

He leaned against a wall,pushing himself up into shaky legs

I'm right here

Dream's voice cooed back, sounding completely directionless. There was something about it that made Ranboo's shoulders loosen, and he feels a bit guilty about it. Dream might be their God, but he's also Dream.

"Here where? Y-You're supposed to be in prison."

Ranboo turned around, covering himself with his wings as he searched the small room. There isn't much to it, there shouldn't be anywhere for Dream to hide in, yet he can't find him. He doesn't even have a couch in here!

I am in prison.

"What? Then. Oh void I have actually gone insane"

A chuckle sounded on his head, and Ranboo felt like something had nudged his mind, a pyscic equivalent of a cat bumping it's head against his forehead.

No, I'm in your head. Don't have another panic attack.

"Wha- How? Why?"

He keeps spinning around, scouring the room. Somehow he would be more relieved if he found Dream now.

You were praying

Dream starts, pausing awkwardly for a moment

Very very loudly

"No I wasn't! I was-"

Panicking. How do you think animals pray to me Ranboo?

"Oh."

Yeah

They fall into silence and Ranboo sits down again, still shaky and unsteady.

It does feel better to not be alone tho. To have the quiet reassurance of someone else with him, even if it's Dream and even if he's not really here.

So... what happen?

"It was... nothing."

It didn't feel like nothing. Ranboo you have no clue how loud you were.

Ranboo squeezed his eyes closed, hiding his face in his hands. Void, this was his personal hell.

"I guess," he hesitated, fluffing up his wings and curling up further under them as he hid his face in his knees, "I've been overwhelmed lately I think? Which is stupid because all the wars are over because- uh."

Because I'm in prison?

"Yes! Or at least they were supposed to be. But everyone is so tense and there's all these politics and ugh! It's supposed to be better now! But it's so scary all the time"

That sucks buddy

Dream's voice had a tilt of dry humor and bitterness that Ranboo didn't really get

I don't know, go take a swim about it? Get away from all this shit?

"I can't swim Dream, I'm an enderman hybrid!"

Of course you can, just-

And then Ranboo was falling over, barely catching himself before he face planted the cold obsidian as his wings and legs dissappear, being replaced with a tail.

"...I'm a seal."

Laughter rang in his head once more, and Dream let go of his form, the tail staying just a few seconds more before splitting back into his normal legs

You're a seal

"And I can just. Do that. And jump into the ocean. And get no burns"

Yes, why would you?

"Well, because I'm an enderman-"

You are. Until you're a seal. And then you're not.

"Oh."

All the response Ranboo got was a small wave of fondness and the mental equivalent of an eye roll. He stood once more, leaning against a wall as he made his way out of the panic room.

From there he walked straight to the ocean, feeling a sticky mix of terror and wonder as he reached the shore.

Dream had left him when he left the panic room, but he once more reached for the god, shaking as he reached the waves bobbing gently against the ice.

With a leap of faith Ranboo jumped in, squeezing his eyes shut as he sank.

Swim

And Ranboo did, opening his eyes and sliding across the water, kept warm by the fur scattered across him. His skin did not burn.

[werenotacoupleyesyouare]

Do you remember when c!Wilbur got brought back to life and the first thing he did was march up to the one person who left him letters, who kept talking to him when he wasn't there, to his kinsman and when they saw each other they stood there in silence for a few seconds before exploding in giggles and then like a step missed on a flight of stairs they discovered that the changes they went through didn't fit into each other anymore and now pressed dangerously on soft flesh and open wounds and

[lasnevadaslaborunion]

I think part of why I'm a little bit softer towards Quackity's finale, or simply unsure of how to criticize it, is that, perhaps more than any other ending we've seen, the meta elements are... very difficult to ignore.

DSMP was a roleplay server. Even at its most highly produced and pre-written, it was still a roleplay server. Moreover, it was a roleplay in which all of the characters shared a name with their player, the lines between the fiction and the OOC friendships were frequently blurred, and very few people had much if any experience with roleplay and its associated pitfalls such as the dreaded "character bleed." That is an environment ripe for joy and excitement. It's also an environment rife with turbulence and wounded feelings.

So, the first thing is that this doesn't just represent an ending for c!Quackity, it represents closing a chapter in cc!Quackity's career. When he got the chance to stream in his native language without fear of being judged or mocked for it, k!Quackity was born. When he embarked on a project that reconciled his two audiences, there was q!Quackity. c!Quackity was a storytelling triumph as far as MCYT goes, but where was he to go next?

On a narrative level, I find it interesting that the two survivors, and the traits portrayed that helped them decide to continue living, represent what were once c!Quackity's best traits - k!Quackity's determination and sense of justice, and q!Quackity's love and desire to connect with others. Combined with c!Slime's parting words of "Thank you for teaching me what it's like to be human," this might underscore a point that c!Quackity was ultimately a learning experience, both for the writer and the other characters. He might be gone, but he still left some positive impact. The ones who came after him chose not to continue a negative cycle.

However, the other snag here is... the other people. Yeah. No need for detail, you know who I mean. The controversies, the racism mentioned above, the legitimately awful treatment of those within and without the DSMP circle. A lot of us won't excuse the writing because of that. And I get it - we, the audience, can easily separate the story from the people behind it. If this were a film franchise or television show, it would be easy to replace the actors and move on. Not so in a roleplay. Not so when the actor and character have bled together so much.

I've got to get a little personal.

Within the last few months, I've dealt with a similar experience - someone who I frequently roleplayed with and who I considered a close friend became incredibly abusive to one of my other friends, to the point where he needed to be distanced from our lives and cut from future plots entirely. Logistically, that is a hard thing to deal with, especially when your character was closely entwined with theirs and dozens of others. But emotionally, it's even harder. You start questioning past interactions, wondering whether the signs were always there. You start noticing strange details in their writing that you know you might be reading too much into, but still make you sick to think about. In extreme cases, the thought of even playing your own character again becomes unbearable, because they were so clearly impacted by the choices of people you no longer want anything to do with.

I had an easier time adapting my character to the new course of events. My other friend, the one who had suffered his betrayal firsthand, nearly had her character disappear alongside his.

Sometimes, people cope with endings the way Tommy did. By saying, "No, I'm going to go back and end on a happy note, because my character deserves that, and the goodness was there." Sometimes, that just... doesn't feel possible. I really truly have to wonder if c!Quackity, for all the pride and care that was clearly taken in crafting his story, was just a holder of too many negative experiences and attributes for the writer to do anything but throw up one last cathartic hurrah and shelve him forever.

I'm not saying it was the ideal ending for c!Quackity. I'm not saying it was perfectly written, or that the absence of certain characters wasn't baffling or frustrating. I'm not even saying people aren't justified in hating how our favorite character's story concluded. Hell, I'm still not sure whether I like how brutal, how final, how bitterly tragic it was.

I'm just saying it's hard for me not to empathize.

[catsandgoodbooks]

So. Punz and George. They're both very much defined by their relationships with Dream, probably more than anyone else on the server. It's hard to talk about Punz without bringing up Dream, and it's hard to talk about George without referencing him either. They have lives, of course, but Dream is always at the forefront of their minds. Punz spent a whole year of their life just waiting for Dream's escape; George dreams away the days even after the jailbreak in a fantasy world of his imagination where everything is perfect and he can be with Dream.

But they don't really have a relationship. They don't talk, especially not about Dream, because that would show that they cared, and George is trying to deny that to himself after the dethronement and Punz cannot allow anyone to consider even for a moment that they are on Dream's side or it was all for nothing. So the relationship they do have, weak and distant as it is, is based on bitterness and perceived betrayals and envy.

George doesn't really think about Punz much. If he did, he'd had to think about Dream, and not his Dream, not the Dream that exists only in his dreams now, but the actual, real Dream. The Dream who dethroned him without a second glance. The Dream he abandoned. The Dream locked away in an obsidian prison, rotting away as George sleeps. And George doesn't want to think about Punz. Not when it pulls him out of his dreams and makes him think about Dream.

When he does think about Punz, though, he's not exactly a fan of them. They betrayed Dream; undeniably, inexcusably, they did. They had his trust, and they threw it away for a little extra bit of money. George would never do something like that. Dream left first, after all. Dethroned George first and told him he didn't care what happened to him. Dream never did that to Punz.

And that's important. Dream never turned against Punz; they were the one who chose to betray him. Dream never quite trusted George the same way he did with Punz, and, in the period leading up to the dethronement, he let George in on less and less of his plans, grew closer and closer to his mercenary. George told himself it was because Dream wanted to keep him safe. After the dethronement, he accepted the fact that Dream just didn't care about him anymore, and that it had been a sign of that.

George tells himself that if he had been in the situation as Punz, if Dream trusted him, he would of never done what they did.

Punz...doesn't have a great opinion of George, to tell the truth. They might of pretended to betray Dream, but George (and Sapnap, and everyone who was there and just watched it happen) is the one who actually did. George left. He left and didn't come back, didn't even show up for the arrest/execution (because that's what it really was, an execution, no use dancing around it). He didn't even go visit Dream in Pandora's Vault, even when he had every chance to, even when he didn't have a plan dictating that he absolutely could not do that. Not like Punz did.

Unreliable. Untrustworthy. Uncaring. Those are the nicest words for what George is, at least to Punz. Dream died, twice, and George was nowhere to be found. Just because Dream had been trying to keep him safe. To make sure people didn't try to target George to hurt Dream. And George just left, like that was an option in this game they were all playing, that none of them save Wilbur had chosen to play, like you could just throw up your hands and say "okay, that's it, I'm done" and leave with immunity, taking everything you've done with you. That wasn't how the world worked. And it didn't matter if George understood that or not, because it still hurt Dream, and that was what was important. Because what George did was a betrayal, and because they were already familiar enough with that to know how bitter it tasted. Because Punz had to constantly pretend and reap what they had sown and deal with this betrayal they had committed - not the one they were infamous for but the one in their heart and their brain and the way people looked at them and laughed with them and the way they had agreed to the plan and let Dream die and the sneaking suspicion they had, growing louder every day, that something had gone wrong and that they had to do something about it but that too would be a betrayal - but George didn't, just because he had been there earlier and knew some people longer. Because people trusted him more and he didn't have to prove how reliable he was and how much he hated Dream and all that.

And because George had Dream's love in a way Punz never could. Dream loved too freely, that much was true, but he flinches at every motion Punz that was a little too fast, a little too sudden, and makes sure to call everything a business arrangement, makes sure they're mercenary and client, makes sure to suppress any little trace of attachment that could get either of them hurt. And, even now, even after George has gone and left, Dream still loves George; Punz isn't too blind to reality to miss it. And they had kinder days together, back before everything went wrong; there were no kinder days for Punz, and there never had been.

Despite everything, they're two sides of the same coin: wishing for something that is no longer reachable, no longer possible, because things have changed and because people have changed. Because Dream has changed, partially due to the decisions they made, and there isn't anything they can do to go back to how it was. Not truly.

And neither of them really care about anything or anyone else. They're not here to fight for ideals or morals, they just want to keep the people they love safe and away from the people who would want to hurt them. They are willing to kill for it, but, because of who Dream is, and because that would put them in danger, they can't. They're not allowed to, explicitly in Punz's case, implicitly by Dream pushing George away. Because Dream wants to keep the people he cares about safe, and that can't happen if it looks like he cares about them or vice versa.

(It's only okay if Dream's the one getting hurt, after all)

[mooni]

does anyone else get really ill when they remember fundy's doomsday arc. it was short-lived and sudden. it was a breaking point that patched itself over. it was laughter and hysterical joy. it was lamenting over the past and well-earned frustration. it was watching what you worked for burn. it was being the one to light that fire. it felt so big. it didn't matter at all.

[oceanwaves-mp3]

whatever.

[zorishy]

I think he didn't do it, because, it wasn't his place to do it, and ctommy would have been more upset at him, if he killed his abuser and tried to play hero for it, which was not something ctommy wanted. If anything ctommy is the type to want others to face justice through time, or take them down but with his brother, in hand, rather than have cwil, do it alone.

I’ve never thought about it like that before. Though it’s a nice idea to think that Wilbur was thinking about what Tommy would prefer he do, I don’t think that’s the case.

If Wilbur really thought about what would be in Tommy’s interest as you said, he would have taken Tommy to the prison to let him get revenge on Dream himself. Instead, what he did was: take Tommy to the prison (despite him being uncomfortable with it), threaten to kill himself in front of Tommy, and make Tommy believe that his discs had been destroyed. All this did was take away Tommy’s agency and traumatize him further. Then, Wil had the nerve to say that he freed Tommy from Dream even though he clearly didn’t.

Discduo’s conflict was never really about the discs; it was about Dream controlling and abusing Tommy by any means necessary. Wilbur didn’t help Tommy. He did something shitty and manipulative to keep Tommy by his side until he left for Utah. I think, in Wilbur’s mind, that if Dream was no longer an issue for Tommy, he wouldn’t need to be protected anymore and would leave Wil behind.

Had Wilbur gone ahead and killed Dream, that would have been a selfless decision that would benefit Tommy at the risk of his own happiness. The fact that Wilbur thought about doing that does show that he has grown, but the choice to ultimately do something selfish prevents me from seeing that stream as Wilbur’s redemption.

Thank you for voicing your thoughts though. Even if I don’t agree, I appreciate the different perspective.

[jess-total-mess]

Hallo Dreblr... >:D guess who wrote 8k in three hours yesterday (my wrist is killing me now) ... this BITCH (points at self)

But that's not what I'm posting about! Why I wrote 8k in three hours is what I'm posting about. Eve (our darling Whump Queen) had this idea where a bunch of the people here on Dreblr ended up isekai'd into the DSMP and broke Dream out of prison. Originally it had more influences from Epic the Musical, using lyrics as code phrases and such

I said "honestly I might write this, if people give me their self-inserts/OCs". And Mint said "if you don't write this I will never forgive you" and I said "then give me your characters!" and people did. And I went into a writing haze

What's the plot? perplexity is a fic told from the POV of DSMP members, as a group of strangers break into Pandora's Vault and free Dream and Ranboo, causing chaos and indulging in violence along the way, and we're starring the following people;

Loyal, as the bee hybrid who offers Technoblade baked potatoes Zue, the blind girl who steals Sam's trident and hits him with it Eve, who has a crossbow and offers Ranboo chorus fruit Bucket, who is actually competent in a fight and a leader Jess, other main medic and one of the people breaking in Mint, Zue's girlfriend and the third person breaking in Rabbit, who is a rabbit person and yeets things and bites

Honourable mentions go to Lobelia, Sif, Vault, Roman, Cala, Akira and Crow, all of whom make brief appearances in the fic.

This fic was a ton of fun to work on; I got to learn about my friends OCs and we all cooked up the escape plan together! Special thanks to Zue for helping me edit and beta read. Everyone got to read the fic in advance and approve their characterisation, so it really was a collaborative effort, even if I'm now in pain (my WRIST)

[aisy15-chan]

head empty & bullshit

I can't stop drawing c!Quackity as Gardevior help guys— so the second comic is based on this comic! And last of my bullshit today ughhh *bite anything*

[alittleemo]

another day in #collectorwins I finally pasted all of the scraps from my high schools doodles into my sketchbook so so glad I finally got to use them <33

[10piecechickenmcnugget]

^ peak character design