#the aftermath (Dream SMP)

[quacktities]

I feel like the appeal of C! Quackbur (to me at least) is just how versatile it is as a ship and the range it has.

You want a subtle rivals to lovers, mutual pinning and longing but one of them is repressing his own feelings because he hates himself too much to let someone get attached to him ship dynamic with a political backdrop? You want longing gazes, knowing looks and the unspoken truth that, maybe, just maybe this relationship and understanding between them goes deeper than either of them let on or want to admit? BOOM. Lmanburg election arc Quackbur!

You want all of that but with more tension, high stakes, mental illness, a very "forbidden romance" vibe with an enemies that have been in love with eachother for a long time but can now finally be on the same side and possibly act on their feelings dynamic (but theyre doomed by the narrative so it was never going to work out. Or maybe it will, who knows. Maybe this time they find solace in eachother. Maybe this time Quackity stops him before its too late. Maybe this time it doesnt end in flames. Who knows. Its up to you really, if you keep telling the story over and over again, maybe this time they get their happy ending here and it doesnt have to be a tragedy. Your choice really). Pogtopia era C! Quackbur!

You want fucked up grief and angst and reminiscing on the past and being haunted by what could have been? You want seeing the spectre of your dead friend (if he was truly your old enemy, why does he feel like a past lover to you) and wondering if maybe he remembers everything you both went through the same way you do and if maybe his heart aches when he sees you the same way yours aches when you see him but you know he isn't the same and you'll never see the old verison of him ever again... but hes here... as a ghost.. and that has to be worth something right. (Is it a miracle you can still see him or are you forever being tormented by what you can never have?). BOOM, Butcher arc C! Quackity and Ghostbur (or Aftermath C! Quackbur as I call them)

You want all of that, but hey. What if we brought back the guy. What if it didn't have to end in death? What if they could reunite and speak again after everything? Would they even get along? You want the culmination of years of pinning, grief, hurt, and mutual obsession? Do they truly love each other, or have they fallen in love with the idealised verisons of each other they have in their own heads? Maybe this time, they'll actually get their shit together and talk. There really isn't anything stopping them now, other than themselves and each other. Maybe C! Quackity finally finds someone who respects him, is dedicated to him, and can engage with him on the same intellectual level in C! Wilbur. Maybe C! Wilbur finally finds someone who makes him feel human and can challenge him and his more self-destructive behaviours while still loving him in C! Quackity. Maybe this time, they get to understand each other, and they get to heal. Maybe this time, it's not too late, and sure, they dont have the healthiest relationship, but they're working on it, and they're okay for once. Just this once. Maybe. Or maybe you don't want that. Maybe it is too late for them. Maybe they'll never have what they once had, and they're both left with bitter hatred and longing for the past that grows weaker by the day as the rose tinted filter starts to fade. Maybe they make each other worse. Maybe the closest they ever get to being close to each other is by hurting each other. Maybe the only times they hold hands are when they're catching each other's bloody fists. Maybe they're both too far gone now. Maybe they've hurt each other too much to ever be vulnerable with each other. Maybe it's just too late for them. Maybe it was never meant to be. You want a joker card ship dynamic that can either end in healing and a happy ending or in an even more fucked up tragedy? Or both! Why not. BOOM. Post revival C! Quackbur

[simplepotatofarmer]

Fandom: Dream SMP Rating: Teen & Up Warnings: Graphic Descriptions of Violence Characters: Technoblade, Dream, Philza, Quackity, Awesamdude, Niki, Ranboo, Michael the Piglin, Punz Status: Complete Word Count: 113,279 Additional Tags: hurt/comfort, fluff, aftermath of torture, graphic descriptions of torture, dissociation, panic attacks, portrayal of cptsd, not canon compliant, disordered eating, angst with a happy ending, amputation, platonic affection, animal abuse, rivals duo centric

Summary: techno has always been a soft touch when it comes to stray animals. he has an entire menagerie to back that claim up and so when he finds a rabbit in the woods on the brink of death, he brings it home and tends to it.

but there’s something about the rabbit that’s familiar and now techno has to figure out what exactly his act of kindness has gotten him into.

link to fic

[voidpidgeon]

My drawings for @dreblr-gen-big-bang, I was working together with @x-i-l-verify, and you can check out her fic here! Perfect for all whump enjoyers ;)

In a timeline where players are not whitelisted to the Dream SMP until they reach the age of majority, there is no drug van, no L'Manberg, no Doomsday, no Disc Finale, and no Pandora's Vault. However, in the aftermath of Sapnap's latest bout of troublemaking, the Egg awakens and establishes its empire, and despite the server's admin debugging the virus down to bedrock, the Dream SMP now has a brand-new public enemy number one.

(or: Due to one simple rule change at the Dream SMP's creation, BadBoyHalo is now the reviled and distrusted villain of the server instead of Dream.)

[anonymous-dentist]

Hi, I’m A.D., I’m a historian, and let’s talk about the nuclear bomb and why the one that exploded at the end of QSMP’s Purgatory Event probably didn’t kill all that many people upon initially exploding.

The nuclear bomb, as everybody knows, has only ever been used in a war twice. Both explosions were caused by the United States in their war against Japan at the tail end of World War Two in one final terrible last ditch attempt at ending the war through any means necessary.

Pictured above are the atomic explosions at Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right.)

These are big huge clouds, which makes sense! Nuclear weapons, on average, have the strength of somewhere between 10 and 50 megatons of TNT. Hydrogen bombs, meanwhile, are WAY worse, with the first test coming in at a whopping 10 MILLION tons of TNT.

To put it in Minecraft terms for all you nerds out there, imagine Doomsday from the Dream SMP and how it razed an entire nation to bedrock level by using somewhere in the range of 20 stacks of TnT (if I’m remembering correctly.) A nuclear bomb, in these terms, would have blown L’Manberg up something like eight times over and then some.

So that’s. Bad. Right?

Well, here’s the QSMP’s bomb as was constructed by our favorite depressed detective, q!Maximus:

This bomb, notably, is underground. It was never dug up, it was just moved somewhere else. It isn’t above ground, and it never left this room. Watch the cutscene back (linked here), the bomb never left the room.

So this is where underground nuclear testing comes in.

Underground testing began in 1951, and it remains the only form of scientific nuclear testing not banned by the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963.

No big surprise, a lot of early underground tests were conducted by the US out in Nevada, where they kinda tested nukes legit fucking EVERYWHERE in the desert for a long time. Below are some photos, just for funsies:

What’s important about underground nuclear explosions is that they actually end up releasing less radiation into the atmosphere than regular nukes do. What happens beyond that depends on whether or not the radiation remains contained.

A contained explosion’s aftermath:

And an uncontained explosion’s aftermath:

There hasn’t really been many negative biological effects reported from these underground tests, which is really saying something considering how close to nuclear blasts the US had its guys at most of the time (see below)

The worst you got out of the underground tests was some radioactivity in cows’ milk, which is NOTHING compared to the effects of the above-ground nuclear testing at the Nevada Site:

So… what does this mean for the QSMP?

Well, if we’re going off of historical and scientific precedent, legitimately nothing substantial happened to the islands of Purgatory. There’s more of a risk of dying from the pre-established radioactive rain disaster effects as well as the earthquake and meteor disasters.

Fun fact! Underground nuclear explosions usually registered as weaker than actual fault line activity, aka actual earthquakes.

If Maxo’s nuke was dropped from above, the devastation would be greater. Nuclear fallout is no joke; even today, cancer rates in the American West are still pretty high from the above-ground testing conducted at the Nevada Site. The Bikini Atoll will never be the same after all the testing the US did there, either.

But, because this nuke seemed to have gone off underground, I can safely assume that the damage done to the islands above was minimal at worst. Maybe there’s a radioactivity leak, but everybody staying on the islands had already experienced radiation up to that point.

It’s important to remember this because several characters did stay behind on the islands, and the fandom is assuming them dead because, well. A nuke went off. But those characters aren’t dead yet (outside of q!Maxo, who was possibly directly above the nuke when it went off and thus would’ve been hit full-force by the explosion.) Many were on the beach, far from the the nuke. They’re fine, and you can prove it with history!

TLDR; the nuke from the end of Purgatory was assumedly set off underground, which would have negated a lot of its potential damage, so everybody’s fine except for the unfortunately deceased q!Maxo

[missycolorful]

I know there's often complaints about the c!Syndicate and how they didn't really do a whole lot, that their existence almost felt pointless because they didn't do anything. Not even regarding how Techno's condition and then his passing severely affected this storyline, I think these complaints sorta misses the point of what the Syndicate became and why people like this group so much.

Like, yes c!Techno initially created it in the aftermath of Doomsday, a way to ensure no governments were being formed or used to hurt or corrupt others. He gathered others who shared the same beliefs. They had even gone to Snowchester to ensure that nothing suspicious was going on. And before his passing, cc!Technoblade had wanted to work on that plot involving Cyberknife, to give the Syndicate story a bit more meat. Which would've been great, yes.

But then you look, and you have all these moments of them just... they're just bonding; if not as a group, at least in sections: the streams of Technoblade and Phil connecting with Ranboo, Techno and Ranboo becoming mentor and mentee, Technoblade's birthday party. And then you hear how the Syndicate really mattered to these characters: how Niki was beginning to heal around those who made her voice feel heard, Ghostboo saying that Phil and Techno did care for and love Ranboo, Technoblade outright stating he had friends now thanks to the Syndicate.

And then there's the last Syndicate stream, which I think also sums this up well. There's no Syndicate meeting, no talks of taking down any governments. It was Philza and Niki making a cake. It was Philza panicking over hearing voices, and Niki being a physical presence for him when he seemed to be lacking one at the time. It was Kristin finding the members of the Syndicate and taking them someplace safe. The Syndicate made it to the End, alive and not necessarily okay now, but someday.

And it's just... yes, I would've loved to see more concrete stories of the Syndicate combating corrupted governments and tyrants. But just because they didn't serve their initial purpose as much as we anticipated, does not mean that this group coming together was pointless. If anything their story is a solid example of fighting against a constant narrative in the server; the cycle of power and revenge.

Cause I think about Las Nevadas. People who banded together who, for the most part, did not make deep connections or find comradery. Or even if they did, things fell apart (only Foolish really stayed with Quackity by the end of the Las Nevadas lore). All because Quackity lost himself in his quest for, well, power and revenge. Las Nevadas could've been more than Quackity's need for control and power, but it was never able to reach that point.

Then you look at the Syndicate. Where from the start of the Syndicate's creation, Techno made sure everyone in the Syndicate was equal, that no one was in control of another. Where they never sought violence, wanting to only resort to drastic actions if they believed a location was a threat to others. Where they celebrated Technoblade's birthday and took pictures and had cake and were just friends. I just think there's something a bit profound, intentional or otherwise, in how the Syndicate may have tragically been underutilized, but the group wasn't just an anarchist group. It was a group of people hurt by a nation coming together and not actively seeking any goal toward gaining power or control over others. Yes, they wanted to fight against power. But they also wanted to just... be.

Just something I think about when of the few who managed to survive the Dream SMP, the ones who managed to escape with their lives were the ones who formed this anarchist group, a group that people say didn't do much, and... yeah, they're right, but isn't that a good thing?

[bleue-flora]

I don't see it as a retcon I see it more as like the aftermath of s2 so like

Everyone basically regains their memories somehow

C!discduo choose to separate from each other despite remembering both old and new memories. The memories of them as friends, and the memories of the past as enemies. I imagine c!dream finds c!punz and leaves with him to another smp.

c!Tommy goes back to dsmp with still some kind of missing memories which is why he thinks he only has one life?. Maybe he mjsrembers the nuke too. C!Jack remembers though.

everyone else pretty much didn't return to dsmp and moved on

This is cope for me but I choose to interpret this like in this way cuz I rlly liked the og ending.

But see now that’s even more speculation and head canon than canon. So we are forced to fill in the gaps for this one conversation to make any lick of sense. It’s not the “og” ending it’s THE ending. People are so desperate to retcon it because they dislike it… As I mentioned before this would not only undo the clingy duo and staged duo finale it’d undo the Eggpire finale, because that breakfast item was on the track of world domination and had killed everyone so unless the world is covered in vines which I haven’t seen pictures of, then this retcons that whole group of ccs’ lore too and the fancy videos they made, which again not only doesn’t make sense but also is disrespect to the ccs who put time and effort and thought into their lore endings. Two ccs logging on the server and having a conversation a year later doesn’t get to undo that. And the fact people would even consider so, just highlights how much people hate the finale and how many people didn’t watch all the lore.

[x-i-l-verify]

Title: After All, This Is Who We Are Fandom: Dream SMP Rating: Teen Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: Gen Characters: Dream, BadBoyHalo, Skeppy, Technoblade, Philza, ItsAlyssa, Awesamdude, Dream SMP Ensemble Status: complete Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dehumanization, Fantasy Racism, Whump, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Relationships, Hugs, Headcanons, Worldbuilding

Summary:

In a timeline where Players are not whitelisted to the Dream SMP until they reach the age of majority, there is no drug van, no L'Manberg, no Doomsday, no Disc Finale, and no Pandora's Vault. However, in the aftermath of Sapnap's latest bout of trouble-making, the Egg awakens and establishes its empire, and despite the server's admin debugging the virus down to bedrock, the Dream SMP now has a brand-new public enemy number one. (or: Due to one simple rule change at the Dream SMP's creation, BadBoyHalo is now the reviled and distrusted villain of the server instead of Dream.)

link to fic

link to my BigBang partner's art

I wrote a thing for the @dreblr-gen-big-bang! Took me 3 and a half months but I did it. ;v;d Pls go check it out if it sounds cool to you.

[dingbatnix]

I have the curiosity and wish to know about the following wips

Maneater

Dough

Untitled document (X5) the 3rd one :3

Axolotl

Hostage

Clingy

Dragon

This all peak my interest GREATLY!

Alright, finally getting to this one!! Letsa go!

Maneater: I think I've spoken Abt this one before, but y'know. Dream is a man eating giant, and he, George, and Sapnap run around collecting people who have been sacrificed to him. They start the smp (village in the mountains) that way, and try to live a happy life. The king of the country is amassing an army to hunt dream down, tho.

Dough: one shot, borrower Sapnap falls into some cookie dough that Dream is making. Whoops...

Untitled doc #3: Dream noms Tommy sometime after he escapes prison. Tommy spends his time cussing Dream out and listening to the man break down into panic attacks and general aftermath of torture stuff. Lost of snark and feels between the two of them.

Axolotl: Sapnap finds Dream, a small axolotl hybrid, suffering in the care of Quackity after the server deemed Dream too dangerous to run around on his own. Sapnap takes Dream to his house, puts him in one of his old fish tanks, and spends his time struggling to help Dream recover.

Hostage: (eddsworld) Edd gets kidnapped and held hostage by an unknown group with two other men, Paul and Patryck. Turns out they were all kidnapped because they're all close friends with Tord, who is the leader of an organization called the red army. The three of them need to escape together, but...an experiment gone wrong via the people that kidnapped them ends up with Paul and Patryck smaller than Edd's hand, and he needs to figure out how to get all three of them out alive.

Clingy: One shot, George is clingy when he sleeps, which ends up kind of dangerous for a borrower Sapnap. Oof.

Dragon: Sapnap is a dragon, and he has a human friend named George who freed him from captivity a long time ago. Well, George gets kidnapped by a giant named Dream (who just likes to troll people, really) and Sapnap spends months hunting them down while Dream and George end up bonding. Eventually, they'll form an odd trio that has all sorts of adventures.

Now, idk if any of these will be fully written, but hopefully one day.

Taglist cuz why not:

@brick-a-doodle-do @i-am-beckyu @da3dm @kayla-crazy-stuffs @local-squishmallow @skullsnbruises @munchkin1156 @gt-daboss

[alpinefrsh]

Yippee!!! It's finally finished :D Description:

After miserably losing in an air hockey tournament with the turtles (and Casey Jr), Tommy finds himself saddled with the punishment of last place; washing dishes for the rest of the month. But in the aftermath of sending sending Philza's crow back to the DSMP with a bundle of letters addressed to old friends, Tommy can't seem to stop catastrophizing. Every stretch of silence is another opportunity for thoughts about Tubbo's reaction to his letter to creep in and all Tommy wants is to stop thinking for a little bit. And what better way to distract himself than to run away for a few days?

AKA, Tommy desperately tries to evade his problems by running away, only this time he doesn't get kidnapped as a result (instead, he finds that he and Casey Jr are a little more alike than he thought).

[rebelpeas]

Quackity gets the call on a Thursday, walking home from the grocery store in the rain. His cousin Tubbo, who he hasn't seen in years, needs a place to stay. Quackity's got an empty room and free time this summer, and he's not about to let Tubbo bounce between foster homes the way he did as a teenager. Not if he can help it.

-- ( or, quackity and tubbo, kitchens, cousinhood, and the aftermath. )

my fic for @mcytblraufest! 8.4k, chapter 1 of 2 posted july 17th. mind the tags!

[simplepotatofarmer]

Fandom: Dream SMP Rating: Teen & Up Warnings: Graphic Descriptions of Violence Characters: Technoblade, Dream, Philza, Quackity, Awesamdude, Niki, Ranboo, Michael the Piglin Status: in-progress Additional Tags: hurt/comfort, fluff, aftermath of torture, graphic descriptions of torture, dissociation, panic attacks, portrayal of cptsd, not canon compliant, disordered eating, angst with a happy ending, amputation, platonic affection, animal abuse, rivals duo centric

Summary: techno has always been a soft touch when it comes to stray animals. he has an entire menagerie to back that claim up and so when he finds a rabbit in the woods on the brink of death, he brings it home and tends to it.

but there's something about the rabbit that's familiar and now techno has to figure out what exactly his act of kindness has gotten him into.

link to fic

[calamari-minecraft-corner]

Chapters: 30/?

Fandom: Dream SMP

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Relationships: Clay | Dream & Original Female Character(s)

Characters: Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Alexis | Quackity, Sam | Awesamdude, Original Female Character(s), DreamXD (Dream SMP), Jschlatt (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot

Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Pandora's Vault Prison, Dimension Travel, Texting, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Fluff, Prisoner Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), POV Original Character, Violence, Aftermath of Torture, Implied/Referenced Torture, Warden Sam | Awesamdude, Manipulative Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), A lot - Freeform, Mentioned Dream SMP Ensemble, Chatting & Messaging, text, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, POV Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Every now and then, Slice of Life, Platonic Cuddling, Past Torture, Torture, POV Multiple, bug horror, being force fed centipedes, Centipede horror, Revival Gone Wrong, Personal Limbos (Dream SMP), Goat Hybrid Jschlatt (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot's Personal Limbo, Jschlatt’s personal limbo, Angst with a Happy Ending, Body Horror, Murder, Assisted Suicide, Suicide, dream does revival crimes, Unethical Experimentation

Summary:

After noticing an ominous app on her phone, Wren couldn't help but to be wary of where it came from. That is until her power went out and she ended up seeing a message from a complete stranger. Little does she know what she dragged herself into, and how terrifying the circumstances are when she had replied.

[antimony-medusa]

Fic Recs July '23

What did I read this month? Aufest released, and I made it through the end of Extreme timed exchange, and there have been some WONDERFUL ones. Not entirely DSMP, even though I am Still That Way, but yeah, it's still a lot of Emduo. I Am Who I Am. And we have some TNTduo and QSMP in there too!

The Fics - 15k and under

O'Death by InsomniWillow Fandom: QSMP | Quackity SMP Rating: G Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Ángel Missael Castañeda Vega | MissaSinfonia/Phil Watson | Philza Tags: Arranged Marriage, Religion, Winged Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt/Comfort Length: 1/1 chapters 2,950 words.

It's a Phissa arranged marriage! Missa-POV, about a death cleric being betrothed to the Emperor of the Antarctic Empire, and it goes into religion, and it's SO CUTE. I love it.

how to get a month behind on your paperwork in three easy steps, by Beans_McGee Fandom: SMPEarth Rating: G Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Technoblade & Phil Watson | Philza Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Recovery, Missing Scene, Kidnapping, (aftermath of), Diplomacy, (arguable), Domestic Length: 1/1 chapters 2,440 words.

Beans always writes just incredible Emduo, and this is no exception. And it's just a wonderful slice of life of after a kidnapping, where Phil has busted ribs from CPR? I learned about broken rib recovery! I got to read about my guys and I learned about injury-induced pneumonia!

disaccharide by fensandmarshes Fandom: Dream SMP Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Technoblade & Niki | Nihachu, Niki | Nihachu & Jack Manifold, Niki | Nihachu & Fundy Tags: Non-Linear Narrative, Memories, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, The Syndicate (Dream SMP), Baker Niki | Nihachu, Complicated Relationships, Character Study Length: 1/1 chapters 1,010 words.

Beautiful c!niki character study, through memory and baking.

burning gold, by bonesandthebees (bonesandcacti) Fandom: QSMP | Quackity SMP Rating: Teen and up audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Wilbur Soot & Tallulah (QSMP)Alexis | Quackity & Wilbur SootWilbur Soot & Phil Watson Tags: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Magic Apocalypse, Monsters, Post-Apocalypse, Wilbur Soot is Tallulah's Parent (QSMP), dadbur, Wilbur Soot is Not Okay, Wilbur Soot-centric, Tntduo have divorced energy despite not having dated, Blood and Injury Length: 1/1 chapters 10,367 words.

I am a sucker for Post-Apocolyptic QSMP, and this is a really good one focusing on Wil and Tallulah. We get a glimpse at a whole swath of the cast, but the core is the wil and tallulah relationship, and it's wonderful. And COOL WEIRD MAGIC APOCALYPSE.

Multifaceted, by edgarallanpoestan Fandom: QSMP | Quackity SMP Rating: G Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Charlie Dalgleish | Slimecicle/Osvaldo Palacio Flores | ElMariana, Charlie Dalgleish | Slimecicle & Osvaldo Palacio Flores | ElMariana & JuanaFlippa (QSMP), Charlie Dalgleish | Slimecicle & JuanaFlippa (QSMP), Osvaldo Palacio Flores | ElMariana & JuanaFlippa (QSMP) Tags: Charlie Dalgleish-centric, Alternate Universe - Professors, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Song: Jort Storm (Slimecicle), Bickering, Family Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Mentioned Alexis | Quackity, Mentioned Bobby (QSMP), Mentioned Tilín (QSMP), Good Parent Osvaldo Palacio Flores | ElMariana. Good Parent Charlie Dalgleish | Slimecicle. Good Significant Other Osvaldo Palacio Flores | ElMariana, Betaed, never used that tag before woag Length: 1/1 chapters 8,729 words.

Slimariana are professors! And nemesis's! And their students know they hate each other! And also they are married and love each other! What's gonna happen when the truth comes out? This was just full of adorable bickering and family moments and I loved it.

sometime before the sun comes up (the earth is gonna crack), by Odaigahara Fandom: QSMP | Quackity SMP Rating: T Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence Relationship: Ángel Missael Castañeda Vega | MissaSinfonia & Phil Watson | Philza, Wilbur Soot & Phil Watson | Philza, Chayanne & Tallulah (QSMP) & Phil Watson | Philza Tags: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Reality Bending, Quesadilla Island (QSMP), Stranded, Dragon Chayanne (QSMP), Human Tallulah (QSMP), Happy Ending, Art Length: 1/1 chapters 10,892 words.

And we are back at it again with the QSMP Post-apocolyptic, but this one again with a really cool apocalypse I dont want to spoil.

The thing worth doing well done, by WheelCoveredInEyes Fandom: QSMP | Quackity SMP Rating: T Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Rayenne Guendil | Etoiles/Tarik Pacanhan | Pactw, Noah Brown | Foolish Gamers/Rayenne Guendil | Etoiles, Rayene Guendil | Etoiles/Francisco Miguel | ForeverPlayer, Rafael Lange | Cellbit & Rayenne Guendil | Etoiles, Charlie Dalgleish | Slimecicle & Rayenne Guendil | Etoiles, Darryl Noveschosch | BadBoyHalo & Rayenne Guendil | Etoiles, Rayenne Guendil | Etoiles & Pomme (QSMP), Rayenne Guendil | Etoiles & Baghera Jones Tags: Gift Giving, Flirting, Minecraft Mechanics, Death Mechanics (Minecraft), Murder Flirting, First Aid, Acts of Kindness, acts of service, Crafts, Parenthood, Etoiles-centric, Kissing, First Kiss, Sparring, The sweeping edge glitch (QSMP), QSMP server polycule, implied polyamory, Blood and Violence Length: 1/1 chapters 6,949 words.

I have loved what I've seen of Etoiles on QSMP, and this is absolutely fantastic Etoiles writing, in a series of 8 vinettes focusing on his relationship with other people. Wonderful characterization and writing, this is so good.

sowing the seeds we reap, by Odaigahara Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP, 3rd Life SMP Rating: Teen and up audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence Relationship: Charles | Grian & Ryan | GoodTimesWithScar Tags: Alternate Universe - Fae, Forced Bonding, Soul Bond, Cultural Differencesm First Meetings, Ryan | GoodTimesWithScar Needs a Hug, Captivity, Oaths & Vows, Happy Ending Length: 1/1 chapters 6,211 words.

Oh absolutely fantastic desert duo, in a world I just went WILD for the worldbuilding of. They are fae! They are fae and they're bugs! A wonderful grudging respect and relationship unfolding from both Grian and Scar, and delightful cultural differences.

The Fics - 15k and Up

solving counting sheep, by Bee_4 Fandom: Evolution SMP Rating: T Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationship: Charles | Grian & Jimmy | Solidarity, Charles | Grian & Jimmy | Solidarity & Martyn Littlewood | InTheLittleWood, Charles | Grian & Martyn Littlewood | InTheLittleWood, Jimmy | Solidarity & Martyn Littlewood | InTheLittleWood Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Winter Soldier, Alternate Universe - Watchers, Agender Character, Trans Male Character, Trans Jimmy | Solidarity, Agender Grian ,Body Horror, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Brainwashed Charles | Grian, Watcher Charles | Grian, The Watchers are Evil (Evolution SMP), Watchers (Evolution SMP), Grief/Mourning, Blood and Gore, Loss of Identity, Identity Issues, Listener Jimmy | Solidarity, Listeners (Evolution SMP), Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Dysfunctional Relationships, nonstandard watcher takes, Temporary Character Death, past major character death, look whether they’re dead is a matter of philosophy, Post-Canon kind of. SEE: THE CANON DIVERGENCE, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, accidental misgendering, Accidental Deadnaming, (the deadnaming is more allegorical than literal but i thought the warning would be appreciated), POV Character Uses It/Its, Hurt/Comfort, also i promise despite the mumbo tag this is very much an evo fic not a mislabeled hc one, Bittersweet Ending Length: 12/17 chapters 54,858 words.

Oh man like, mind the tags, this one is gonna make you weep into your tea, but also, oh BOY it's so good. I just wrote 27 of dehumanized human weapon recovery so you know I like it, and Second is doing the same thing, except SAD. But every time Three want something or has opinions or is sarcastic I cheer wildly for its recovery, and AHHH I love it. I love the whole group. What a wonderful group. I wish them so well. The ending is gonna have me crying on main probably. It's still updating, but it's in daily updates, so it's gonna finish soon! I keep being told that it's gonna destroy me so I'm PREPPED. And it was part of the big bang so there's art too!

washed up, by monsterloot Fandom: DSMP Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Wilbur Soot/Quackity, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit Tags: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Unhealthy Relationships, Alternate Universe - Actors, Dream SMP Ensemble are Actors, Drug Use, Past Abuse, Flashbacks, Suicide Attempt, Suicidal Thoughts, Implied Sexual Content, No Smut, Bipolar Wilbur Soot, Tommyinnit has PTSD, Wilbur Soot is not Fundy's Parent, Adopted TommyInnit, not by phil, Vomiting, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, past quackity/jschlatt - Freeform. Food Issues Length: 2/? chapters 19,178 words.

So this is a Bojack Horseman AU for TNTduo I think? I never watched Bojack so I'm not sure, but like. Put that warning on the top. It's just SUCH a good tntduo character study. Do I think this is going to end well? No idea. Am I along for the ride while Wil drives his life off the road? Absolutely.

The Great American Novel, by astronomeridian Fandom: DSMP Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Quackity/Wilbur Soot Tags: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - World War II, Manhattan Project, Screenplay/Script Format, Period-Typical Homophobia, Explicit Sexual Content, an indulgent amount of nuclear physics, Embedded Images Length: 1/1 chapters 25,220 words.

Okay so if you're over 18 and you like TNTduo you should read this fic so so so hard. It's so good. I can't talk about the structure without spoilers but the structure is SO well done there's flips in it that make me go insane. The way the whole thing pays out is incredible. The characterization is top-notch. Like, note the tags, it's not a happy ending, but it's an ending that hits like a fucking hammer. And there's BALLER art and web weaves attached.

A Necromancer and His Blood God, by Anonymous Fandom: DSMP Rating: Teen and up audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Cults, Necromancer TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Tommy is a vegan necromancer, Dehumanization, Child Abuse, Blood and Injury, Violence, Families of Choice, Bonding, Hurt/Comfort, Tommy is straight up not having a good time, Techno is somehow the patron god of a cult, Alternate Universe - Magic, Bedrock Bros, BAMF TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), hyped to be able to use that tag, BAMF Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit-centric (Video Blogging RPF) Length: 6/7 chapters 31,128 words.

Tommy is a vegan necromancer— he can only work with plants. And this wouldn't be a problem, except necromancers are in short supply, and he just got kidnapped by a freaky cult, who wants him to ressurect their god? oh no.

[bleue-flora]

Welp, I think it’s time for some brain rot don’t you?

So, I noticed in my rewatching, I think awhile ago but I kinda forgot about it until recently, something interesting. After prison, most notably right after with Punz, Dream mentions an island -

[5:35] Dream: “I would have had us go to the island to be fair but I just thought it’s a little too far so…”

And like, what? What island? Do they have a secret island? Is that where the lab is? Is that where Dream’s house is? Has anyone else picked up on this line, like am I crazy or did he just mention a staged duo hideout?!

Then in Daedalus he mentions going to an island again, this time saying ‘metaphorically’ -

[12:30] Dream: “I was you know on an island you could say.”

Sam: “On an island?”

Dream: “Well yeah just you know—metaphorically”

Sam: “What—what? What island were you on?”

Dream: “I wasn’t actually on an island. I was just metaphorically I was on an island but.”

Which… what does that even mean? And why would he tell Sam that?… Unless he didn’t mean to answer Sam but did out of ya know… habit and then had to cover up by saying it’s metaphorical so Sam doesn’t go out looking for the island. I mean like, otherwise why mention a metaphorical island in the first place and then fail to go into it any further?… like… Dream, what island?!

[ao3feed-crimeboys]

Hiding in plain sight

by Honey_Tart17

“Thomas hurry up!” Tommy hears his social worker yell, Tommy lets out an annoyed huff as he closes the car door while swinging his backpack over his shoulder, grimacing as he feels his ribs burn with pain at his movements.

Tommy walks inside the house, hitting his shoes against the door mat, snow falling off the shoes before Tommy walks further into the house, making his way to where he can hear two voices in the living room.

“Tommy this is Phil,” Clara states, motioning for Tommy to come closer with her hand. Tommy does as she wants, walking over so that he’s stood next to the woman and looking into the blue wide eyes of the man named Phil.

Phil looks the boy over for a moment, taking in the dark purple over his right eye, followed by the now yellow bruises on the right side of his jaw, along with his split lip.

Words: 3888, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Dream SMP

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Characters: TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Phil Watson | Philza, GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Cara | CaptainPuffy, Grayson | Purpled (Video Blogging RPF), Niki | Nihachu, Sam | Awesamdude, Eret (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Jschlatt (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream's Sister Drista (Video Blogging RPF), Noah Brown | Foolish Gamers, Karl Jacobs, Charlie Dalgleish | Slimecicle

Relationships: TommyInnit & Phil Watson | Philza, Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit, Sam | Awesamdude & TommyInnit & Original Character(s), Hannah | Hannahxxrose & TommyInnit, Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Ranboo & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Alexis | Quackity & TommyInnit, Jschlatt & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Alexis | Quackity/Jschlatt

Additional Tags: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Panic Attacks, Anxiety Attacks, Families of Choice, Sleepy Bois Inc as Found Family, Dark Sleepy Bois Inc, Protective Sleepy Bois Inc, Possessive Behavior, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Vigilante TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Hero Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Manipulation, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Blood and Torture, Blood and Gore, Blood Loss, Trust Issues, Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Aftermath of Torture, Aftermath of Violence, Body Horror, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Feral TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Domestic Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt No Comfort, Kidnapping, Morally Ambiguous Character, Insane Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Oblivious TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit Needs a Hug (Video Blogging RPF), Therapy, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Mentioned Dream SMP Ensemble, Enemies to Friends, Friends to Enemies, Character Death, Depression, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism

[the-arctic-commune]

Belief and Activism in Media

Or, why Technoblade is the villain.

Before we get started, I want to acknowledge my debts. I owe the seed of this post to.... someone. Probably at least a year and a half ago, a post in Techno’s tags about this topic is what got me thinking about it. I particularly owe that poster for linking this wonderful article [x], which dives into the topic with more detail and broader scope. I highly recommend reading it if you’re interested. However, that was, as I say, many months ago, and I have no idea who the poster was. So if this topic seems familiar to you, please let me know so I can give credit where it’s due!

Now, let’s set the stage. I brought this up in relation to the Red Festival. In particular to the climax of the Festival, in which Technoblade, under threat by Schlatt and his administration, was forced to kill his ally Tubbo.

This was, shall we say.... controversial.

Both within the server and without. Tommy fought with Techno over the murder/execution multiple times (strangely, perhaps, Tommy was much more distraught than Tubbo in the immediate aftermath, but that’s a different post), and it was still being brought up as late as the “Rescuing Michael” streams, when Technoblade apologized to Tubbo for the incident. The fandom, meanwhile, has spilled a great deal of ink discussing whether this was an acceptable or even justified action on Technoblade’s part.

In relation to this incident, and more broadly to the often-controversial actions of Technoblade and his fellow anarchists on the server, I think there’s a very interesting way to understand why many people were (/are) so vehemently adamant that Techno made the wrong decision.

Anarchy, you see, is villain-coded.

(This post is going to be heavily discussing mainstream media in the US, particularly media produced by Hollywood, Disney, and related giants. If you go to smaller producers or other cultures, you will certainly find plenty of counter-examples to what I’m about to say, but hopefully we can all agree that Hollywood has a big impact on what many English speaking audiences expect from stories and media, and that this is a big portion of the Dream SMP audience.)

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Part 1: Activism Is Evil

The article I linked above is “Outlaw Kings and Rebellion Chic,” by Alister MacQuarrie for the New Socialist on March 27, 2019. It discusses the phenomenon of the non-ideological hero.

Mainstream media loves rebellion, but it doesn’t want to discuss why we rebel. Heroes rarely have a defined cause, ideology, or even plan for the future once tyranny is overthrown. Instead their motivations are vague notions of “freedom” and “justice,” defined mostly by how the villain is preventing them, and their greatest victory is a promise of return to “normalcy,” a presumably-democratic and prosperous society but we don’t have to get into the details.

Villains, in contrast, often do have a defined ideology. In common storytelling wisdom, heroes only react; it’s the villains who provoke them by acting, and thus the villains who need a cause to fight for or an ideology to drive them.

Ideology, then - the simple fact of having beliefs about the society and politics around you - becomes a feature of villains, while heroes promote an artificially constructed non-ideology, a vague liberal-centrist position which licenses reaction but not action and tolerates change only insofar as it doesn’t make anyone uncomfortable.

You see this in the trope of the activist who goes too far - a side character who the hero must prevent from causing harm, because they care too much about their cause and, depending on the story, may be willing to sacrifice life or morality to get it. You also see it more prominently in the trope of the villain who has a completely rational reason to want to tear the system down - and also is totally ok with murdering babies and kicking dogs, so the story doesn’t have to engage with their philosophy and it’s fine to just kill ‘em and leave things the way they are. To “engage” with current activist movements, issues of climate change are filtered through the ecoterrorist; issues of racial justice are filtered through the extremist or separatist; and so on and so forth.

“The Legend of Korra” is possibly the most absurd example of this trope in popular media. Multiple season villains in this TV show are activists whose ideology is then twisted into cartoonish evil in order to avoid actually engaging with the critiques they present.

The Season 1 villain is Amon, leader of the Equalist movement. He and his followers critique their society’s prioritization of benders (in-universe magic users); benders preferentially control the government and military and even, due to their unique skills, have access to job opportunities that non-benders are barred from. This leads to non-benders having little say in society and being more likely to live in poverty; the Equalists want to change this.

Also they commit multiple acts of terrorism and kidnap benders to forcibly strip them of their powers. And Amon is actually secretly a water bender which means he’s a hypocrite and we don’t have to listen to him anyways. The Equalists are defeated and the problem of non-bender inequality is never mentioned again.

Season 3 introduces Zaheer and his fellow anarchists. They fight for freedom and wish to tear down the governments of their world; they assassinate at least one major world leader. Also they want to brutally torture the protagonist Korra to death. For, uh, reasons. Anarchy! Once they’re defeated discussions of freedom and tyranny are completely dropped; oppressive empires are good because anarchists are worse.

So hopefully you see what I mean. In mainstream media, belief and activism are the domain of villains, and thus they are villainized.

A character who comes onscreen speaking of tyranny and revolution is not to be trusted. If someone cares enough about their ideology to become an activist and fight for it, they’re almost certainly the bad guy.

And, to the vague change-averse liberalism that Hollywood likes to project, few ideologies are quite so ideological as that of the radical anarchist.

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Part 2: Compromise Is Never An Option

Ok, so you can probably see the seeds of what I’m arguing here, but there is one slightly tangential point that’s important to bring in. Because there are things that the “non-ideological” hero is allowed to fight for: life and friendship.

These are usually supposed to be the highest priorities of the hero, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing! Heroes fight to keep people safe, especially their friends, and they don’t compromise. One for all and all for one; we don’t trade lives.

No matter how hopeless the odds, heroes are supposed to keep fighting, and they must refuse to sacrifice for their victory (unless it’s self-sacrifice, which is usually ok). This is what motivates them in absence of any more sophisticated ideology; the villain kills or threatens people, so the hero defends them.

In “Star Trek,” Spock repeatedly insists on the Vulcan adage that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. This is treated as cold and alien, and is something he’s supposed to give up as he learns to value and rely on his friends. It’s all right when it’s self-sacrifice (Spock subjects himself to lethal radiation to save the ship), but it’s not all right when it sacrifices others (the rest of the crew rejects Spock’s concerns when they decide to risk their entire ship for the sake of a few crew members).

In “Star Wars,” Lando Calrissian betrays the heroes to Darth Vader. He does this because he’s responsible for an entire city. Darth Vader and his Empire have threatened Cloud City if he doesn’t comply, and they are far too powerful for Cloud City to fight off on its own. Lando can betray his friends, or he can let millions of his citizens die. The choice, though hard, seems obvious, but the narrative still treats it as an unconscionable betrayal. It’s only once he seems to truly regret his actions - and thus to, at least tacitly, admit that he should have let his city die rather than betray his friends - that he can be redeemed.

So: heroes don’t sacrifice, and they don’t compromise. They’re supposed to always keep fighting, no matter the odds. After all, they’re in a story. Victory will come, no matter how improbable.

Right?

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Part 3: Technoblade’s an Anarchist

When he first logged onto the Dream SMP, Techno (IRL) had a plan. He needed a way to fit himself into the narrative, distinguish his character, and explain his presence in the story. So he decided that he would play an anarchist, someone who had come to support his friends in their fight against Manburg’s tyranny.

This started out as a pretty media-typical portrayal of anarchy as an unprincipled “the strong survive” approach (see his pitch to BBH), but quickly evolved into an actual, principled, self-consistent ideology, as IRL Technoblade seems to have taken an interest in the philosophy.

Genuinely, Technoblade’s portrayal is probably one of the best depictions of anarchist politics I’ve ever seen in popular media. But most people’s expectations are based on the caricature of the philosophy that is usually presented, and the one he started with.

So I argue that many people were simply primed to assume that Techno was, narratively speaking, a bad guy. He wasn’t solely fighting for Wilbur or Tommy - he was fighting for their cause. He had beliefs to fight for outside of his loyalty. And in the tropes of popular media, that made him suspicious.

(Of course, in one sense this is correct! He did end up abandoning the Pogtopians when their victory put them in power, and thus in conflict with his ideals.)

At the Red Festival, killing Tubbo a was an indefensible act not because killing in general is wrong (that would be pacifism and thus ideological and suspicious), but because it wasn’t the act of a hero. A hero would have found a different way. No one ever seems to be able to say what that “different way” should have actually been, but it doesn’t matter: our sense of narrative justice says that there must have been one because it’s what a hero would do. It doesn’t matter that, in-character, Technoblade has no idea he’s a hero; he should operate like one, and he’ll make an incredible last-minute escape because that’s how stories go. How the story does go is replaced with how the story should go. Never mind that in MCRP a single misclick could completely upend such a story.

.

So Technoblade gets double strikes. First, he’s an “activist,” which is narratively suspicious. Second, he doesn’t operate as a hero (at least early on), placing no trust in deus ex machina to save him and his friends.

In the language of narrative tropes, Technoblade is “villain-coded,” especially prior to his “retirement arc.” His actions at the Red Festival are particularly villainous, both because he, essentially, gives up and because he expects his friends to share his dedication to their cause.

That makes it quite easy to end the analysis with Techno as the bad guy!

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To be clear, though it’s probably been clear throughout, I’ll end by saying that this isn’t a perspective I agree with. The media’s vilification of activism is something I greatly dislike. Technoblade as a hero with a radical cause is an enormous part of why I liked his DSMP story so much.