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dsmp-analysis-showdown · 1 year

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Analysis 7

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The moment c!Eret turned traitor

In the days leading up to the L'Manburg Independence War, both sides engaged in intimidation campaigns.

On L'Manburg's side, Tommy and Tubbo went around and placed signs in Sapnap (27:19), Punz (35:30) and Dream's (43:30) houses trying to bribe each of them in order to get them to back off from the war. In addition, Tommy and Fundy placed signs in different languages along the prime path which all said "The green bastard will die" (x). (Eret and Fundy also dug the floor underneath Dream's house to bedrock level. They intended it as a prank unrelated to the war (x), but Dream thought they did it as part of their intimidation campaign (x)).

Dream Team's intimidation campaign looked a bit different. It, arguably, decided the entire outcome of the war.

Before the infamous “White Flags” speech, Dream and Sapnap (later joined by George) first started their campaign by burning down the entire forest surrounding L'Manburg. Next they built TNT cannons and shot a warning shot which hit one of the walls of L’Manburg. After building tall cobblestone walls and covering the lake with stone, they at last left signs threatening L’Manburg to surrender.

During the entire time this is going on, Eret has been running around inside the walls (metaphorically) putting out fires, both for what physical damage happened as well as the attacks on morale. In both cases they’re rather ineffective, unable to stop the Dream Team from acting and always having rather weak comebacks.

*In response for the lake getting covered in stone* Eret: “I was meaning to fill in this water.” (x)

However between all those quips, one statement stands out as different from the rest.

Eret: “I've made a severe and continuous lapse in judgment.” (x)

Eret said this shortly after they’ve been chased away with swords and arrows from their attempts to sabotage Dream and Sapnap’s TNT cannon while the two were firing their warning shots. Where all other statements before and after it tried to put on a bravado of strength, this statement portrays them as being the one in trouble, trouble that they would have a significant issue getting out of.

By itself this moment wouldn’t mean much. Nothing more than a simple joke in the heat of the moment. However, some stuff Eret says later recontextualizes this moment’s significance.

Much of early DSMP had unfortunately been lost (with Eret’s vods in particular suffering heavily from this), however due to the amazing work of some of this fandom’s archivists some parts of Eret’s pov of the Independence War had been salvaged. In it they discuss their motivations for turning traitor:

Eret: “We [L’Manburg] were against a force we could not fight, I truly just saw the brighter way.” (x)

Eret: “[The L’Manburgians] said ‘what have you done for us?’ and I got them all their armour, I built this castle, I did-” *laughing* “I did most of the stuff.” (...) Eret: “So I did everything, I was like, well, we’re gonna lose, I’m gonna dip.” (x)

Out of all the times Eret talked about it, this moment is the most reliable source we have, unbiased by the passing of time or changed perceptions. We see there that one of their biggest motivations, along with getting the land and resources the Dream Team offered, is that they thought L’Manburg didn’t stand a chance against the Dream Team.

With this context in mind, we can see just how much of an impact Dream Team’s intimidation campaign had on Eret, and by extension on the war as a whole. After all, if Eret didn’t turn traitor, L’Manburg’s independence war would’ve looked completely different.

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#round 1 #contest submissions #c!eret #c!dream

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dsmp-analysis-showdown · 1 year

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Analysis 3

This analysis is participating in the Analysis Showdown, click here to rate it! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A self-made god invites a nonbeliever to prayer

INTRODUCTION

The interaction I’ll be analyzing this round takes place on 11/16/2020, between c!Tubbo and c!Dream, who I’ll refer to as simply Tubbo and Dream from here onward. Prior to the beginning of the war, Tubbo spends time running around gathering supplies for the approaching battle. He and Dream interact at the Holy Land and then briefly engage in armed combat. Dream kills Tubbo and the interaction ends. The full clip spans about 35:58 to 48:02, though the bulk of what I’ll discuss takes place roughly between 42:00 and 47:00. When cc!Tubbo uploaded the VOD of this stream, he cut the first hour (approximately), so as far as I know the clip I refer to is only available through third-party recordings of the original stream. A recording of the full stream can be found HERE. All timestamps that aren't hyperlinked occur within this stream.

Essentially, my argument is that this clip reveals a lot about both Tubbo and Dream’s attitudes towards religion (prior to the introduction of DreamXD months later, which I don’t have room to discuss this round.) The interaction expresses Tubbo's and Dream's specific theological perspectives, which are diametrically opposed but, strangely, not incompatible.

INTERACTION SUMMARY

The actual clip is quite brief. It starts around 35:58 where Tubbo says aloud to himself, “Is anywhere safe?” At 36:46 Tubbo decides to go to the Holy Land, because Dream presumably can’t hurt him there. When he reaches the Holy Land a minute later, he expresses comfort: he thinks he’s safe, he thinks he’s “in the clear.” At 39:20, Tubbo catches sight of Dream lurking nearby but when he addresses him directly, Dream vanishes, leaving Tubbo in a state of panic. He reappears moments later and offers Tubbo a shield banner which Tubbo accepts but then immediately returns, fearing it’s a ploy to misidentify Tubbo as the traitor. Tubbo remarks that he finds Dream’s body language — his stillness specifically — creepy. At 42:12, Tubbo accidentally steps outside the boundary of the Holy Land and Dream sets him on fire. Tubbo douses himself in water and steps back into the Holy Land. Dream leads Tubbo into the church and types a message, “Let’s pray before today” at 42:47. Tubbo responds, “Y’know what, sure. Enemies on the battlefield!” Tubbo gets behind the podium, saying he will deliver a “seminar” (bless him, I’m 100% sure he meant “sermon.”) At 43:00, Tubbo receives a donation telling him that his enemies “have a secret base near the Twitch Prime church,” which he acknowledges with a “What?!” At 43:04, Tubbo begins his sermon.

Abridged sermon transcript:

Right! We’re gathered here today. Dream, even though we’re enemies, you’re here. (He evangelizes about Twitch Prime. It’s an advertisement. Dream rings the bell rhythmically as Tubbo speaks.) Worship and pray. Every prime is a bell ring, you know the drill. Welcome to church, everyone! (With manic humor) I’m not a sellout! Who said sellout? That is just not true. …Run an ad, why don’t you? No, no that crosses the line. (Tubbo reads some names from donations and subs.)

Dream rings the bell for every incoming Prime from viewers. At 46:25, Tubbo announces that he’s broken his sub goal and he and Dream exit the main chapel room of the church. As they pass through the church lobby, Tubbo jokingly asks whether he and Dream should “bathe” in the pool of holy water near the entrance. Dream doesn’t respond, leaving the church in silence. At 46:35, Tubbo (again, with a joking tone) says he’d like to “take a dip” and walks through the holy water fountain. Then, Tubbo follows Dream out of the church but walks within the border of the Holy Land, stating that once he crosses the boundary he will be “in peril — immediate danger” (47:00). He loads and readies his crossbow and attempts to make a “quick getaway” but is immediately chased down by Dream. He fires arrows at Dream as he runs away, but his shots miss their target. He jumps into water to swim away and is slain by Dream. Interaction ends at 48:02.

ANALYSIS

There are a couple of interesting ways this interaction might be interpreted, but the questions that intrigue me most are: 1) Why does Dream bother following the rules of the Holy Land? And 2) Why does he suggest they pray together? In order to answer the first question, we must determine whose rules they are; in order to answer the second question, we must determine who/what the characters believe they are praying to.

For some background context --- Dream and Tommy founded the religion of Church Prime together a few months prior on 08/23/2020. On that day, Dream declares himself a “god,” comparing himself to both a prophet, a divine spirit, and a messianic figure (2:05-2:16). The church building itself was later constructed by Punz, Eret, and Sapnap, who stated that it was “a peaceful church” that he did not want associated with violent acts (29:25-29:30). Dream threatens to execute other characters for breaking the no-killing-on-holy-ground rule, notably when George injures Ponk on Ponk’s baptism day (1:02-1:08). While Dream is responsible for conducting baptisms in the church’s early days (ex: baptizing Ponk), worshippers eventually assume that duty later on (ex: Sapnap, Karl, Punz, and Callahan baptizing Tina). Interestingly, Sapnap asserts on one notable occasion that a religion isn’t a true faith without worshippers, and therefore worshippers actually constitute the greater authority, asking Dream with mild bitterness at 00:00-00:07, “Who built this church, Dream?” It’s a rhetorical question. Sapnap built the church and is invoking his own authority. So overall, we’re presented with a somewhat contentious view of church authority: Dream posits himself as a divine figure and clearly draws a sense of authority from that declaration, while members of the congregation (Sapnap in particular) are quick to voice and exercise their own clerical authority. All of this begs the question: to whom do the rules of the holy land belong? The answer is: the rules belong to whoever is willing to enforce and respect them — which, as I hope I’ve demonstrated, includes not just Dream but a number of others as well.

This leads into the next question: if church authority is derived both from its founders (i.e. Dream and Tommy) and its congregants (Sapnap, Karl, Ponk, Tina, Callahan, Punz, etc etc), who/what divine force does that authority serve? In other words, when Dream and Tubbo pray together before the 11/16 war, what do they believe they’re praying to?

Tubbo, I’d argue, is praying to nothing. This is all a joke to him, and a grim joke at that. Earlier in the stream, he expresses despair and even nihilism in the face of Dream’s combat prowess, saying, “He literally doesn’t even care. That’s how powerful he is!” at (30:42-30:45). Tubbo also expresses premature defeat, asking, “It’s over…Why bother fighting?” (30:37-30:52). Tubbo’s tone throughout the whole encounter is morbidly jovial, bordering on hysteria. He suspects he will die the minute he leaves sacred ground — Dream demonstrated this when he set Tubbo on fire after he accidentally stepped outside the Holy Land at 42:12. He doesn't even know what a sermon is called, and he doesn't care to! He is a man marked for death. He steps into that church with the foreknowledge that his prayers will not be answered, so why bother praying with sincerity at all?

So what does Dream believe he’s praying to? At first glance, it’s hard to say. Aside from a few cryptic chat messages, Dream remains nonverbal throughout the entire exchange, silent as the grave. He is without a doubt weaponizing the laws of the Holy Land (and by extension, the religion it represents) as an intimidation and entrapment tactic. He follows Tubbo closely (as Tubbo says around 33:22-33:25, “Dream makes such a badass stalker…He’s just unsettlingly good at it”), threatening him with violence at every turn (27:30-29:47) and killing him once already that day (29:47), essentially herding him into the only area where Tubbo can reliably take momentary shelter, guiding him like a shepherd leading a lamb to slaughter. Dream doesn’t have to obey the laws of the Holy Land (there is no force physically preventing him from harming Tubbo) but doing so works in Dream’s favor because it reinforces the illusion of safety that makes the Holy Land easy to weaponize. As Tubbo acknowledges, his adversaries have a secret base nearby. Though it’s never stated outright, there’s evidence to suggest that the base is located nearby specifically so Dream and his allies can use the Holy Land as a trap. People fleeing combat will come there seeking asylum, and in this way the church (ironically, given later events in the server) becomes a prison — and a death row prison at that. But using the church as a wartime entrapment strategy doesn’t necessarily mean that Dream doesn’t pray here with earnestness. On the contrary, I’d argue that Dream wouldn’t have suggested the prayer if he didn’t think it mattered. What is he praying to? He’s praying to him. Dream is, as he says on 08/23/2020, “a god.” God invites his enemy into the church that he founded, invites his enemy to pray to a divine authority he views as himself, and slays that same enemy immediately afterwards. Dream is sacrificing Tubbo on the altar of his own ambitions. Dream here acts as both deity and officiant.

In this paradigm, we have holy ground as a symbol representing diametrically opposed (and yet not entirely incompatible) theological perspectives for Tubbo and Dream respectively. For Tubbo, the Holy Land is a place where injury and death are not possible but doom is. For Dream, the Holy Land represents a set of rules that aren’t worth breaking and, conversely, an opportunity to enact the doom of his opponents. Tubbo’s perspective is an inherently nihilistic one: nothing matters, so he might as well pray! No god will save him anyway. Dream’s perspective is that there is power in ritual, the same way there is power in strategy. What is strategy if not a kind of ritual? Note that both these perspectives posit the self as the ultimate arbiter of fate: as far as Tubbo’s concerned, he will only survive if he’s quick enough to escape (he isn’t.) And as far as Dream’s concerned, gods are real insomuch as he himself is one, or at the very least he can be if he commits to the theological bit hard enough; he decides his own fate and the fate of those around him.

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#round 1 #contest submissions #c!dream #c!tubbo

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