#xe once again overanalyzing story from block game

[planetplutoxe]

As an avid staged duo enthusiast I really loved that recent lore gave us so much content all at once. I especially want to talk about their dynamic in the last stream of the finale. (I'll probably talk about their duo a lot more later on too bc gotta love morally grey character dynamics)

The more and more we learn about staged duo the closer they seem. Out of all the relationships in the server theirs is one that seems to have the most trust. They quite literally trust each other with their lives. Dream shares the information of his only leverage on his server with Punz. Punz sticks to and trusts Dream's plan and is still waiting and ready for him after prison despite it taking longer than planned. Punz helps Dream get revenge on Quackity.

Dream and Punz during the finale seemed to have pretty much the exact same goals and motivation. Knowledge. Power. Bringing the server back together. Even Tommy said Punz was basically a "second Dream".

However, the scene with c!Dream, c!Punz and c!Tommy in the prison starts to reveal a lot about how their immense trust and similarity with each other is not necessarily a good thing. Trust and being able to rely on each other is incredibly important but there is a huge difference between that and being dependent on one another. Dependence is normal in moderation but I would almost call them codependent on one another (in a way where they both push each other to be worse people).

When George and Sapnap are brought up Punz says "but he has friends, I'm his friend" and says that "he (Dream) is always pretty happy". I think Punz knows Dream's not as happy as he was before. The moment Tommy starts to get through to Dream, Punz is quick to try and shut it down. I don't think this is only because Punz wants power, I truly think he cares about Dream. But he cares so much that he's willing to drag Dream back down in order for them to stay together.

I think it could also have to do with Punz being the only one who has stuck with Dream this whole time. So he feels like he has to protect Dream from making the mistake of turning back to his friends that left him and siding with Tommy, the person Dream considers to have ruined his life.

I also think Dream probably does something similar. He tells Punz about the book, leading both of them to gain an obsession for knowledge. He wants to live forever with Punz and anyone else who is willing to follow his ideals bc if everyone is in agreement and there is no conflict or nations then no one can leave and he won't ever have to be alone.

Anyway in conclusion for this post I think c!Punz and c!Dream are both heavily misguided people which prevents them from having a truly healthy relationship or being a good influence on one another. (but allows them to have a pretty cool villain duo dynamic)

Here is an old Punz (supposed to be stagedduo but haven't gotten to the Dream part yet) wip to go together with this "analysis". Also this is from before it was revealed that Punz knew the revival book so... I totally manifested it.

[planetplutoxe]

Something about how funny it is people cheer when the "hero" ambushes the "villain" at his weakest, purposefully pointing out how much weaker and slower than normal he was, and then not only killing him anyway but celebrating it.

And then the same people freak out when the "hero" apologizes to the "villain", NOT to excuse abuse, but to humanize the both of them.

There are no such thing as heroes and villains. "Heroes" make mistakes and "villains" are capable of good. Strictly categorizing someone as either one dehumanizes the both of them.

Saying Tommy is incapable of doing wrong and has no reason to apologize for anything, to not let him take a moment to self reflect on how he can change, is denying him humanity too.

Because humanity is imperfection.

And everyone, "heroes" included, have a right to it.

[planetplutoxe]

OKAY CONTINUATION TO MY POST FROM LIKE A FEW DAYS AGO TIME. (was gonna post smth like right after about it but uh...)

Anyway don't need to read the last one first, just went more into detail of why I picked the characters I did and how I think their reasoning would work.

Basically, I had an AU type idea where Sapnap was the who went in the prison with a plan to kill Dream instead of Tommy. He would enlist help from some of the strongest people on the server who have been able to take him on before, Sam and Punz.

Sam helps them into the prison, leading them in the direction of the main cell which is where he would assume Dream would be staying. They run into him in the hallway close to the main cell that has all the smaller cells (near the place tommy found him in in the finale).

Dream would act surprised about their visit despite being warned by Punz earlier in order to prevent suspicion.

"Sapnap? What the hell is all this?" Punz and Sam would have their crossbows aimed at Dream while Sapnap approaches and talks to him one on one.

"I said I would kill you if you escaped Dream. I can't just keep letting you destroy the server we built together. I won't let you hurt anymore people, including Kinoko." Sapnap would get closer, drawing his blade, Nightmare, and pressing it against Dream's neck.

Dream would look at him wide eyed and let out an unsettling laugh.

"Heh, so you brought the backstabber who put me in prison and the warden who let me get tortured in that same prison for what, fun? Or are you worried you won't be able to actually do it?"

Sapnap would only look back at him with a mix of sadness and disgust. But there was something else more prevalent in his eyes. Determination.

"I'm not afraid to kill you Dream. I want to. That way all of this can finally just end. I only really brought Punz and Sam because I have no idea who you are anymore. I don't fucking know what you're thinking or planning but I know it's not good."

He looks down for a second and sighs. He looks around the room before dark brown settles back on bright green. He repositions his weapon before proceeding to continue, this time with much more emotion in his voice.

"We used to be brothers Dream. You ruined that. You valued, what, ruining Tommy's life over our friendship? Over George's friendship? You left us Dream, in an effort to chase power and control you lost us and didn't look back. You know why I have to be the one to kill you? It's the least I owe to my brother, because if he saw himself now, he would want me to do this too."

Sapnap takes in a deep breath, looking Dream right in his eyes, finally ready to slit the throat of his ex-bestfriend. He knows it's what he has to do to set them both free.

Dream looks back at him, a bit startled. He knew Sapnap wanted to kill him, but this was different. He didn't feel scared like he should've, he felt relieved.

"I hope we can be brothers again in another life-"

Sapnap is about to finish the movement of his blade before he feels something sharp press against the back of his head.

It's Punz.

(will add more later, I should probably make a hashtag for this so they lineup easier but idk what I would call it ;-;)

[planetplutoxe]

I offer you all a staged duo angst headcannon:

What if only characters who wanted to restart got amnesia and those who were happy with what they had and want to continue from where they left off remembered everything?

And what if c!dream chose to start over and c!punz didn’t?

(Quick drabble based on this headcannon below)

Bright light faded and ear-piercing ringing dulled as Punz regained consciousness. The first thing they noticed was the soft ground below him. Not like the hard obsidian that he fell onto in the prison. Their head pounds, something doesn’t feel right. It takes a few tries, but Punz eventually opens his eyes. Stinging a bit as they try to adjust to the sunny field lying in front of him, something they can barely remember having ever seen on the server.

“What the fuck did Tommy do this time” Punz hurriedly mumbled under their breath while quickly getting on his feet. Everything ached so much it was like he had just fell off a cliff.

Which he would know from personal experience funnily enough. One of the many deaths they experimented with while testing the limits of the book.

His head turns side to side, eyes darting around, hoping to spot a bright green sweater, a mask, a sign, something. They don’t know what Tommy did or where they are but they do know Dream has to be around somewhere.

This is all just a minor bump in the plan. Once he finds Dream they can hunt down Tommy and Tubbo together and continue right where they left off. Punz hesitates at that thought, okay... maybe not exactly where they left off. He can remember moving towards Dream, wanting nothing more than for him to agree, to nod, to return the look Punz gave him and smile. But Dream stayed silent. He stood still with his head switching between looking at Tommy and Punz before deciding to hang low and stare at the floor instead. The look Dream briefly gave him, however, was not the one they wanted. Not the smile they so desperately wanted to see again. It was sad. It felt almost pitiful even. Like he had just told Punz their dog had died. Before Punz could dig themself deeper in that memory, he hears a familiar sound. One he missed so much. It was Dream’s laugh. Not the crazed maniacal laugh Punz grew used to, but the genuine one that Sapnap and George had heard so much. He approaches towards the sound and sees bright green and red in the distance coming toward him.

“You’re such an idiot Tommy, of course I have a house. We literally share a base!” exclaims a voice Punz assumes is Dream, but why would he be so happy talking to Tommy? They stare confusingly at the two getting along, Dream wasn’t even wearing his mask. What the fuck is going on. Distracted by... whatever the hell it was he just saw, they didn’t notice Dream approaching them.

“Hey you okay?”

Punz looked up at Dream and realized how different he looked. His scars were healed over, his eyes shined brighter and something about him just felt... happier. Seeing Dream like this made Punz feel happier too.

“Are you new here too? My friend, Tommy, and I have a base not too far away from here if you need somewhere to stay.”

Punz froze. He looked up, hoping something on Dream’s face indicated that he was joking. But Punz knew he wasn’t. It all started to make sense.

Dream lost his memory, he didn’t remember the book. He didn’t remember the plan. He didn’t remember Punz.

But Dream was happy. He was happy with George. He was happy with Sapnap. He was even happy with Tommy.

And Punz will never be enough.

[planetplutoxe]

I wonder, why does c!Dream always have those long villain monologues?

I mean most of time when he does them, he's in a position of power. He could easily just execute his plan or kill whoever but he always talks so much that it gives whoever he is talking to time to get out of the situation.

My theory is that it's all part of his villain act. I mean, his character is known for making big elaborate theatrical encounters such as the disc finale (literally why staged duo name exists). I feel like most characters incorrectly read this performance as it making him more evil and sinister. But I think it's all mainly just a giant bluff to make it seem like he's more of a villain just like how the server wants him to be. The epitome of "if everyone already thinks I'm the villain why not play one".

I think he acts like this classic movie supervillain but he doesn't want to be evil. What he does want, however, is the feeling of power, or to put it better, to not feel powerless. If people are going to perceive him that way anyway, why not have fun with the portrayal. Why not take advantage of it as a means to an end.

But I feel like especially with and after the disc finale, most of the threat Dream poses is just what he says. He says he would kill Tubbo but doesn't. He says his plan was to lock up Tommy but, as it's later revealed, Punz coming in was part of the plan. He said he would keep killing and reviving Tommy after escaping prison but let him get away to Phil despite how easily he could've killed Tommy if he wanted to. When Sapnap wanted to fight Dream when he was trying to get nightmare back, Dream could have easily gone to Kinoko like he said he would. He could have probably also easily fought Sapnap.

I think Dream's encounters (with tom and sap) after the prison were mainly to scare them to ensure his own safety. To prevent them from thinking he's weak and vulnerable because he knows how much the two want to kill him. (and clearly judging from the finale, Tommy is not against fighting someone at their weakest point). The only people he actually tries to kill is Sam and Quackity. Which is mainly because they tortured him first.

Dream will do evil things but he doesn't want to be an evil person. He doesn't want to actually do anything unless others act first. He will keep up the façade of being plain evil because at least that way people won't want to mess with him.

If people already think he does things for no good reason then enforcing that narrative allows him to put his actual plans into action. By enforcing what the server already thinks, that he only cares about making Tommy's like hell and is inhuman, he made them also think Punz switched sides.

Dream is dedicated to bring about his idea of what peace for the server looks like. He wants to be the hero. But if he has to play the villain in the meantime to get to that goal, then so be it.

[planetplutoxe]

After seeing so many people comment on the way discduo ended i feel the need to take this into a psychology and criminology perspective.

A common complaint I saw was that Tommy was the one who apologized when dream and punz should have been punished in order to have a better message about abuse.

The thing is, Dream had been punished multiple times throughout the story for his actions. So has Tommy. Dream went to jail, Tommy went to exile. Tommy got isolated and tortured mentally which Dream thought was deserved for his actions. Dream got locked up for a year and tortured physically which Quackity and Sam thought was deserved. A common theme between Tommy, Dream and even real life is that punishment often does not equal reform. Tommy continued to try and create nations, continued to break the rules, continued to put the discs first no matter what Dream did. Whether it was when he got banned or when he got exiled. Dream follows this same pattern. His friends left him because of his manipulative and destructive actions and plans. The whole server teamed up against him to throw him in prison. After all that, despite his goal always wanting to not be alone, he continues to go after Tommy, Sapnap, Sam and Quackity with the same manipulative mannerisms. Which effectively kept on driving himself further and further away from redemption. In real life the likelihood of prisoners to do crime again after being released is insanely high. Especially in regions like the US where the prison system focuses more on incarceration than rehabilitation.

Of course punishment is still an essential way of holding people accountable and setting a point on what is and is not ok. However punishment has already pretty much been the only solution for everything in the whole story of the server. In the forms of revenge, isolation and war.

A main trend I see with c!dream (which also applies in real life as well) is he continues to do bad things because everyone refuses to see him as more than a villain. This is obviously deserved from some characters but even new people who barely know dream are quick to antagonize him.

I honestly think the way it ended was very well done and kind of refreshing. I do feel like it’s also important for me to point out that obviously Tommy didn’t have to be the one to apologize to Dream. But i think the fact he did shows so much growth. For his character and for their relationship. C!Tommy is typically painted as a naive and stubborn child but him taking the step to try and end things with Dream properly gains a lot of respect from me.

It’s seen that rehabilitation already starts to work. It catches Tommy so off guard because he realizes no one in the server has tried just talking to each other before. Obviously Dream is still skeptical but lowers down his guard for the first time ever with Tommy. The first time they made actual healthy progress is when Tommy finally decided to stop poking because Dream will always poke back.

Instead of continuing to poke and elevate each other out of spite, they found their commonality. That they both at the end of it are simple people who are tired and want to go back to the time where they could be happy with their friends. This realization is too late but provides maturity and closure to the end of their conflict. They ended their cycle of self destruction with collateral damage to the whole server ironically by doing that one last time.