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stellocchia · 3 years

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Honestly, I'm a lot harder on and a lot harsher at characters that are in a position of authority.

Like, I'm aware that they're still a person with faults and shit. But I will also be more aggressive about them just because their mistakes have much more severe consequences

It's why I love dragging techno and exile era tubbo.

Tubbo because, yes. He was a child president and was manipulated by dream. Believe me I'm aware and thats a big factor in how I judge them anyways. But he was still the president. He tried to do what was right for his country but most of his decisions were still shit. Still. Great guy. The second that role as president was obliterated all my loathing evaporated.

Techno because.... Holy shit... Holy shit...

Like, you know how much I adored pogtopian techno (please come back. I miss you. Please-) but honestly. Maybe it wasn't just that. Maybe he became so much less likeable when it became clear that nothing was keeping him in check. That his "mistakes" and bad judgement will always go unchecked because he is at the very top.

It's also the reason I've been ready to deck Sam since Tommy was locked in with dream all those months back. I understand that he's still a person. But man. That's so much less of an argument when his incompetence keeps getting my faves killed.

Like. That'd kinda why I have a love hate relationship with cPhil? Because. I think it's hilarious how... Pathetic he is. This man is a tool. It's hilarious how an ancient angel of the goddess of death has no clue what's going on like a senile old man finding out that mobile phones are more than just small portable telephones. "Wait, you can write to people with this?" "What do you mean there's more games than candy crush?" "Internet? I've heard of that on the news! They say people become victims of crime on there!"

Like. Holy fuck. I'd say that I've never seen a more ignorant character in my life but he lives with technoblade so theres the actually most ignorant character right there.... Maybe... Then again, techno DOES know about the pogtopia stuff... Then again... He does gaslight himself so he might as well not have been there at all...

I've gotten sidetracked.

Anyways. Phil is hilariously flawed, incompetent and has never made a good decision since he's joined the server. I'd say inviting in ranboo is a neutral decision... Just because that's too complicated.

So Phil is pretty fun to think about! Until I remember that he's the servers biggest fan of assisted suicide, keeps helping out the tyrants and destroyed most of the servers lifes. Is a fucking asshole to Fundy.... He's just.... Yeah...

And Phil doesn't even have authority the way the others I mentioned had! He just hangs with that one fucker all the time!

So imagine my frustration with the characters who actually do have authority!

Like. Yknow how society's kinda based on the principle of: I limit my freedom (like. Not killing and not stealing. Yes. That's limiting your freedom.) And in exchange I am protected and cared for (people that kill and steal aka harm people like me are persecuted (this is not about how well this gets executed irl. This is a base principle))

With authority it's kinda similar

When you get a position of authority you get freedom and control over something and people have to listen to you. Sam has total control over the prison, people have to respect his authority as the warden. And in exchange you get the responsibility for the things that go wrong. No matter what explanation. No matter how out of control the situation was for you. It's on you.

With great power comes great responsibility and shit.

Idk where I was going with this but in short: I will always be way more critical of the mistakes and faults and flaws of people in powerful positions. So fuck you Technoblade. Go suck a dick.

Yeah, I get your point. I also don't really have anything to add, but I'm the same way honestly. Just, characters that are in positions of power and put up a pretense about being somewhat righteous (like Techno and Phil saying they were destroying a nation and traumatizing everyone involved to "free the people" as if they hadn't just destroyed the lives of the people they were supposed to be freeing...) frustrates me often. Like, I'm fine with someone like Dream because I can openly call him a dick for abusing his power to ruin other people's lives and normally I don't get harassed for it. Same with Quackity actually. Just... everyone else... not really.

So yeah, I guess I'm less harsh with authority figures who aren't depicted as "morally gray" just because talking about their canon actions is generally not considered criticism worthy of harassment... (with the exception of Twitter).

#ladycatland ask #I got a bit sidetracked here #sorry about that one #c!phil critical #c!techno critical #long post

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pandoraborn · 3 years

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Cruelty of the Beast - Part 14

( previous. )

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Characters: c!Quackity, c!Puffy, c!Tommy, c!Dream, c!Wilbur, c!Ranboo, c!Techno, c!Phil Word count: 2019 Content: blood, injury, mild blood loss, talk of war, talk of murder, tommy embraces his dark side, dark!fic,

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Quackity fumbles for the bandages, swearing under his breath. The anger from earlier never faded, and it’s only increasing with each passing moment. He hadn’t been sure what to expect when patrolling the greater SMP, but Quackity had never expected Technoblade to show up and give him another thrashing. He hadn’t succeeded in killing Quackity again, but he had certainly tried. Quackity had managed to flee after receiving a large gash on his arm, but he feels smug over the fact he’d manage to wedge an arrow into Techno’s collarbone.

He’s at the community center, grabbing whatever he can for bandages and healing. His hands tremble too much for him to be effective, but the thought of waking anyone up or disturbing them doesn’t sit well with him. Quackity wants to handle this alone, the others can worry in the morning.

The sound of shuffling comes behind him, and Quackity spares Puffy a quick glance before going back to treating his wounds. Of all the people to come find him right now, he wishes it wasn’t her. Quackity feels like she’s too gentle with the teenagers, wouldn’t see enough reason.

“Quackity?” Puffy’s voice is gentle. “Come with me to Snowchester, we can help you better.” She’s only irritating him more. If only she’d been around earlier, she’d have seen the mess and where everyone actually stands.

“They have Techno on their side,” Quackity says gruffly. “Also, Tubbo is wrong about Tommy.” He shoots her a glare through his peripheral vision. It’s not her fault, but he’s angry at her all the same. “It’s worse than we thought.”

There’s no response from Puffy at first. Quackity dimly wonders if she’s walked off, but he can feel her hands on him a second later. Quackity doesn’t jerk back, he lets her take over the bandaging, but he stares at her with his good eye.

“What are you talking about?” She finally asks. “I think Tubbo would know the most about Tommy, considering how close they used to be. Tommy also wouldn’t willingly work with Techno if he really is working with them.”

“I caught Tommy and Ranboo planting explosives around the perimeter,” Quackity snaps. “Tommy was ordering Ranboo to get rid of me, and then after I accidentally shot him-”

“You shot Tommy?” Puffy’s grip tightens painfully. Wincing, Quackity tries to jerk his arm back, but her grip is holding strong. “What were you thinking Quackity? That’s Tommy!”

“Do you really think Tommy would disappear all this time and not come back with some warped thinking?” Quackity asks pointedly. “He’s with Wilbur, remember?”

“He’s a child,” Puffy protests. “He needed the most help out of all of us, and...” she trails off, biting at her lip. She resumes bandaging up Quackity’s arm, breathing slowly. Quackity watches her eyes glisten with unshed tears. Anger fading, Quackity shakes his head. He shouldn’t be angry at Puffy. She loved Tommy, he knows. Her and Sam and even Eret had all loved Tommy in their own ways, and circumstances had constantly prevented them from actually offering help.

“He said he was tired,” Quackity says, softening his own voice. “Said he was tired of being everyone’s hero, or villain, and just wanted to put an end to everything. I don’t know what that meant, only that something big is coming, and Tommy is putting aside grudges to work with people he hated. He’s with Dream, Puffy, and we have to start treating him and Ranboo the same we treated Dream.”

Pulling back, Puffy wipes her eyes. Her bottom lip is quivering, but she nods. “You’re right. We have...” Her voice trails off again as she clears her throat.

“We have to treat them like the villains now,” Quackity says. “If they recruited Techno, they likely have Phil too. Which means they’re building up an army, and we have to prepare too.”

She nods. “I’ll go tell Tubbo, then. We’ll have to protect Michael.” Puffy turns and leaves, heading in Snowchester’s direction. Quackity watches her go, before turning to leave in a different direction.

He’s going to talk to Sam.

----

“Stop your bitching, Tommy, before we drug you.” Rather than sounding concerned, Wilbur sounds amused. This is massively unfair. Wilbur should be sobbing over his injuries, fretting over how worried he is for Tommy’s life.

Or maybe the fog of pain is clouding his version of reality.

“I’m so tired,” Tommy whispers. “Am I dying?” He stretches his hand out, hoping someone will grab at it. Ranboo lets out a snort before slipping his hand into Tommy’s. He’s grateful for the action, but Ranboo isn’t who he wants. “Wil...Wilby...”

“Tommy you got shot with a single arrow. I know it hurts like hell, but stop dramatizing this and hold still so Techno can pull it out.” At least Wilbur has the good graces to keep Tommy pinned to the sofa. What Wilbur doesn’t understand is that his entire body still aches. The sofa feels warm and sticky underneath him, and Tommy’s thoughts aren’t sticking long enough for him to counter with a witty retort.

Pain-laced eyes meet Techno’s, before sliding over to Phil. It says something to Tommy when Phil looks more concerned for Tommy’s physical health than Wilbur, so he yanks his hand from Ranboo’s, reaching for Phil instead. “Phil... dad...”

"No,” Phil says. “I’m not your father, and I’m not moving closer. You already have way too many people gathered around you. You’d think this was a wake, rather than you getting hurt.”

“I’m dying,” Tommy whines. “I went out of my way to fight Quackity, I stood up for myself, and this is the thanks I get? I even passed out!” Talking makes his hip pulse with pain; Tommy squeezes his eyes shut as he hisses, fighting to hurt to grab at himself to yank the damned thing out already.

“Yes, you did, you were so brave,” Wilbur says. Wilbur is no longer mocking him, at least. “When this is over and you’ve had yourself a long sleep, we’ll treat you to a nice, hot meal.”

“I’m already done.” Techno clears his throat. It takes the group a moment to realize Techno had been standing in place for at least a full minute, holding a blood-stained arrow in his hand. His other hand is pressed against Tommy’s hip to slow the flow of blood.

The realization that Tommy’s ache isn’t the arrow, but the after effect kicks in. Without people distracting him, the pain from the would fully sets in, and he’s yelping loudly in agony. It hurts. The wound throbs just as much as when he was first shot, and he can already feel the edges of unconsciousness creep up in the edges of his vision again. Wilbur reaches down to smack him gently in the face.

“Stay awake, Toms. Don’t go to sleep just yet. Techno, you should have said something immediately, because now he’s actually losing blood. Dream-”

“Already on it.” Dream comes in with bandages and ointments and stuff Tommy is sure he’s never seen before. Techno’s hand pressed against him stings, and dimly, he can feel Ranboo grab his hand a second time.

The time for lighthearted banter is over, apparently. No longer is Tommy milking the pain or trying to ease the tension, now he’s hovering on the edge of consciousness and trying to resist the drowsy pull of sleep. He’s floating again, listening to everyone chatter around him, ignoring the stabs of pain from bandages and oils being applied to his injury.

For the first few seconds, Tommy can make out voices trying to talk to him. He can’t remember what he says in response, but the conversations finally slow. Tommy’s still somewhat coherent. At least, he’s coherent enough to make out the following conversation.

“I’m going to murder him,” Techno mutters. “I don’t like Tommy, but what Quackity did was bullshit. I’m going-”

“Easy,” Dream says. “Pretty by now everyone knows what’s going on, and they’re going to arm themselves. So we have to do the same thing, otherwise we’re never going to get anywhere.”

“We don’t have the element of surprise anymore,” Ranboo whispers. “At least with the explosives. But we still have the dragon.”

“Why was Quackity there to begin with?” Dream asks. “I should have known he’d get in the way.”

“Yeah,” Techno mutters. “He’s always in the way. He’s really good at interfering where he’s not wanted, sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong. Are you sure-”

“You know what?” Dream pauses. Tommy can practically see Dream stroking his chin. “We knew there were going to be casualties. If Quackity is acting as their guard dog, it’s not going to be long before he convinces them to try and track us. We could have people showing up here any day now, because he’s good.”

“So can I kill him or not?”

“I don’t feel good about this,” Ranboo says. “Especially for Tommy’s sake. He and Quackity were close.”

Tommy tries to move. He tries to reach up to grab at someone’s sleeve, but he’s too heavy, especially now that the pain is fading and easing the tension in his body. He does grunt, though.

“Tommy, you can sleep now.” Tommy doesn’t know who’s saying it, but it doesn’t matter. All their voices are blending together anyway.

“He...” Tommy parts his lips and lets out a quiet, ragged breath. “-shot me. Said I was mentally poisoned.” Wilbur cards his fingers through Tommy’s hair. It’s such a gentle, soothing act, and Tommy leans into it. “We’re at war, boys.”

“What are you saying?” Dream asks. “We’re not doing anything you’re not comfortable with. I know those people were your friends.”

“Were,” Tommy mutters. Forcing his eyes open, he focuses his gaze on Dream. “My comms have been open the whole time. Mine, and Ranboo’s. Not once did anyone bother contacting me. Not even Tubbo.”

“They probably forgot,” Phil offers. “I mean, not everyone remembers we have these devices. Or they probably thought yours was confiscated.”

Tommy shakes his head. “I realized something while out there fighting Quackity. I’m always going to be someone’s pity friend. They don’t care that I’m seventeen and can make up my own mind, they still treat me like I’m breaking and need to be kept safe. When I said I’m tired, I meant because of everyone.”

“You’re not glass,” Dream says. “I tried, you always bounce back, on some level.”

“I’m bouncing back now.” Tommy closes his eyes again. “And I’m saying, if Techno really wants to unleash hell, I say go for it.”

“Tommy...” Dream sounds taken aback. Tommy would laugh if he wasn’t so tired. The tables really have turned, haven’t they? “You’re starting to sound like us. You know if you go down this path, there isn’t any turning back.”

“So be it. I died for a cause that ultimately doesn’t matter, and as far as they’re concerned, that me is still dead.”

“You’re fully embracing the villain life?” Wilbur chuckles. “Even though you know what this actually entails? I’m actually a little concerned for your psyche.”

“Yes.” There’s no hesitation in Tommy’s voice. “I already accepted it, but now all I care about is the promise you made to me, Wil. That we’re still together after all this. Alive, dead, whatever the in between or whatever the dragon decides, I intend to hold you to that. All of us.”

A silence settles over the group at large. It’s not hard to figure out what Tommy is giving permission for, or finally admitting to himself. It’s shocking, it’s a twist, and they all know it’s not even defeat anymore. A defeated Tommy never means what he says. No, this is a resolution, a finality to everything he’d been through. Tommy knows that they know it, and no one’s going to speak up against him.

“Alright.” Dream claps his hands. “It’s settled then. We’re going to war.”

“Quackity wanted cruel,” Tommy whispers, letting himself fade. It’d been a long day, and he’s glad it’s finally over. “He’ll see the cruelty of the beast before long.”

#dream smp #dream smp fanfiction #dark!fic #cruelty of the beast #cruelty of the beast ch. 14 #quackity #technoblade #captain puffy #tommyinnit #ranboo #philza #wilbur soot #dreamwastaken #blood mention #injury mention #mild blood loss #tommy embraces his dark side #long post #miishae writes

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flowerbutton · 3 years

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so @listentoeight-calmyourself and i were chatting a while back and we read these posts and went into some very In-Depth Analysis about the characters in the Dream SMP’s chess positions, just which they’d be etc. specifically, we came up with some In-Depth Analysis of tubbo and tommy and, while i’ve sort of forgotten it, i think it could be neat to share it so here

as this post says tommy views himself as pawn. in his eyes, he’s unimportant, not really a key player; he just exists and, at first, he aims to exist happily. now he aims just to continue existing. but he’s just tommy, to himself. again, as the post says, dream views tommy as the king in opposition. he constantly views tommy as the ringleader, the most powerful piece on the board. and again, as the post says (it has a lot of very good points, pls read it), tommy changes. he moves to the other side of the board, and he becomes a queen. everything he does now has weight behind it: his decisions concerning the fight with dream, going to the prison for closure, sacrificing the discs for tubbo, meeting with punz, preventing wilbur’s resurrection - all these hold weight for what happens next in the plot.

but, i don’t think tommy wants to face his change into a queen. he seems to as they approach dream during the finale of the disc war but as soon as dream is locked away, tommy is trying to scrape his way back to being, to himself, unimportant. he completes boring tasks for sam nook, he works towards building a hotel, he just exists for a while, even if everything is changing as he does so. and him going to the prison, i think, can be seen as him trying, once and for all, to disavow that he was ever important - the closure tommy is seeking is the ability to go back to the way things were, to return to a pre-queen position, to become unimportant and free again. and when he leaves the prison, after dying, he comes to terms that it isn’t possible. he is unfortunately a key player now, and he cannot ever shift it away, so he’s working to try and take down the other side.

other evidence for tommy being a queen is that, in chess, it’s the queen’s job to defend their king, even at the expense of themselves. when a queen is taken (killed) by the opposing side, there is a moment of sadness - maybe you didn’t realise you’d left the queen open, maybe you’re mourning the loss of a powerful piece - but the game continues, because the king is still alive. we have seen this clearly with how the smp reacted to tommy’s death. when he died, people felt the loss clearly, even those who barely knew him - there was a moment of sadness. but life continued. the game continued, dream made sure it did, and tommy seems to have realised this in his stream after leaving the prison - everything had continued after he died, nothing had stopped. life went on. tommy is important to so many people, but there’s no stopping the game if he is killed.

but - you know what happens when a king is lost in chess? the game ends, there’s no coming back. tommy’s death was impactful and life continued, but if tubbo died? there’s no coming back from that, for so many people on the smp. for so many people, the game would end, and therefore, even though dream thought tommy was the king in opposition, it’s tubbo. tubbo is the server’s king. he’s loved or, at the very least, respected by loads of people, even by those who don’t agree with his opinions. he’s cared about so many people that i don’t think anyone would be unaffected, really, if tubbo died, and for many, i think that could be the point of no return. tubbo is such a prolific figure in so many people’s hearts that it would be, for so many people, game over.

“tommy would fight!” you argue - but we saw how tommy reacted to tubbo going to die in the bunker with dream. that entire scene was about how dream would have full control of tommy if tubbo died, because tommy wouldn’t have any drive left any more. to tommy, tubbo is the most important person / concept on the server. in fact, tubbo is one of the only people whose orders tommy follows (the other being wilbur). when he’s exiled by schlatt, how much does tommy actually listen to those exile orders? but when he’s exiled by tubbo? he steers clear. during the confrontation with dream, tommy doesn’t hesitate to continue fighting, until tubbo tells him it’s over. tubbo sees that it’s checkmate - i think he even says it, at one point - and it’s only when he explicitly accepts his fate, to die, that tommy even considers the idea of defeat. tommy is the one who suggests running, tommy is the one who asks repeatedly if tubbo is accepting this - “we don’t accept this!” he says. but tubbo is tactical, and he points out that there is no escape. there’s no way out. he’s seen that they’re in check and he’s willing to sacrifice himself (to resign). “who am i without you?”, as moving as it is, makes clear that tommy is accepting tubbo’s willingness to die; he’s following what tubbo wants because tommy follows tubbo. tommy says that he always thought of tubbo as a sidekick, but that actually, he’s tubbo’s sidekick, and to some extent, that’s wrong (they’re both individuals etc), but in some sense, a queen will always follow the word of a king. tommy will always follow tubbo (or, well, maybe not post-death, but that’s another topic).

another example is ranboo - ranboo would die to avenge tubbo! except, ranboo probably wouldn’t; he’d be overcome with grief, he’s got a son to look out for, and he’s already terrified he’s working on dream’s orders. ranboo wouldn’t have the self-confidence to continue after tubbo’s death, at least not in a way that could constitute as a drive to continue. ranboo is not weak, he’s exceptionally strong, but a large part of his strength comes from his relationship with tubbo. their friendship and supportiveness is what gives ranboo is sense of security. i can’t find the clip but doesn’t ranboo admit to tubbo, after his spying on l’manberg, that he didn’t know whether he intended to cause harm or not to l’manberg and to tubbo? (this is the post i found the information from, would love the clip!) and then tubbo forgives him. it’s tubbo’s forgiveness, tubbo’s understanding of ranboo, his support, that gives ranboo more confidence in himself. if tubbo died, if ranboo lost his support network, there likely wouldn’t be the drive to continue.

jack manifold - wanted to kill tommy with the excuse that he thought tubbo would be better off without tommy (also personal reasons, but he did indeed say that). niki nihachu adored tubbo, even if he doesn’t trust her now. puffy, sam, foolish, even technoblade and philza - all are people who, to some extent, respect tubbo. eret and tubbo were some of the first people to reconcile after eret’s betrayal, if i remember rightly, and quackity thinks he’s fantastic. so many people have been touched by having tubbo in their lives - he’s pivotal to how the server is.

the amount of people who show up to the bunker with punz are an example of this. punz came because tommy asked him to, but all those people? niki and jack hated tommy. hbomb hated tommy. at least three key players in that army were not there for tommy - they were there for tubbo. they’d said goodbye to tubbo on that prime path just as much as they had said goodbye to tommy. tommy has negatively affected almost everyone on the server, even by accident - but tubbo? tubbo has made bridges, he’s joined hands, he’s coveted friendships.

and tubbo recognises that he’s important. he gives the speech to rally people against dream, even if it fails somewhat. he’s tommy’s right-hand-man in the final disc battle. dream even says that tubbo is the only way to control tommy - and then dream calls him a pawn. tubbo realises this, and he plays into it. “he called me a pawn? this is checkmate,” he says - but you can’t checkmate a pawn. dream sees tommy as the king, he thinks he’s checkmate-ing tommy - but tommy isn’t the piece about to be taken, tubbo is. tubbo is about to die, at that moment - and tubbo realises this. tubbo, with his tactical skills, with his understanding of powerplays, makes the decision to continue to hide what piece he is from dream. dream thinks he is a pawn, but tubbo is the king. i don’t know why - but it’s usually tactical to hide as much information as you can from your enemy, right?

speaking of tactics, tubbo ends up as the one with the most strength in the game - just like the king. he has people willing to defend him (ranboo, tommy, jack - to name a few); he’s the most tactically-minded of the bench trio, let alone snowchester (lied about what it was to the syndicate, takes ranboo spying on the egg (know thy enemy, information gathering), isn’t afraid to retreat when necessary), and he’s developed freaking nukes as a defence mechanism.

“but his presidency!” you cry - i agree; but the reason he floundered in his presidency? he didn’t trust himself to do a good job. the role models for presidents of l’manberg both ruined the country, and tubbo had absolutely no idea how to properly run a nation. he listened to quackity (butcher army) and to dream (tommy’s exile) because he lacked the confidence to follow through with his own beliefs. except - he develops it, when unconditional support is thrown his way. quackity and dream both were playing their own games, but tommy’s unconditional support during the scene at the ruins of the community house? when tommy stood down, when he remained by tubbo’s side, even after tubbo handed over the discs? that gave tubbo the confidence he needed. they were in their worst time yet, but tommy forgave him for his actions, and so tubbo had the strength to refuse quackity’s plea to kill ranboo. he had the strength to rally the troops. he had the strength to forgive ranboo. because a king is only as strong as those who stand behind him, and tommy was tubbo’s strength.

tommy clings to tubbo because tubbo is his stability, and tubbo clings to tommy because tommy is his strength. tommy will always stand by tubbo in the end, will always defend tubbo for as long as tubbo will let him - tommy is tubbo’s queen, the opposition to dream’s queen. and tubbo will always stand tall in the end because tommy is there supporting him and believing in him - tubbo is tommy’s king, and potentially the true king of the smp.

the real danger is that dream can’t see this - but i bet you a fiver that wilbur might.

tl;dr: dream thinks tommy is the king and tommy used to think he was a pawn, but in actuality, tubbo is the king and tommy is his queen. dream cannot see this. this is all /rp obvs

#dream smp #c!tubbo #c!tommy #tommyinnit #tubbo #meta #character meta #dsmp #//long post #mary writes #please go give those posts some love

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