#that there's a lot of dismissing techno's feelings

[drmslastmorning]

Sixteenth Day Event Prompt:

Dream breaks Technoblade's trust in prison

A lesson on trust.

Characters: Dream, Technoblade

Words: 5.2k (one-shot)

Warnings: panic attacks, canon typical violence. nothing big.

During Technoblades stay in the prison, Dream gets a little desperate to prove that he is not to be trusted.

Being with Technoblade has lifted Dream’s spirits. It's lifted them a bit much for his taste, honestly. Considering everything the other has done has been quite simple: Exist, take up already sparse food, talk far too much bullshit and annoy the hell out of him. He's not a fan of how easily the piglin hybrid can read him.

Technoblade’s involvement itself is calculated: it's within the plan, it's accounted for. He hasn't accounted for the way he'd make him smile, and distract him from the hell that is the prison.

That shouldn't be a problem in and of itself, Dream measures. He can stay focused regardless.

He doesn't know if the company is within the plan. Of course, Technoblade would've been involved eventually: For the exchange of a favor. But he's been here for a few weeks now. At least, that's what Dream presumes from what little sense of time he's gotten left. He couldn't know for sure and the realization that he couldn't tell leaves his tail swaying nervously. It's somehow easier to sit with your thoughts on your own. Correction: it's easier to ignore them on your own. It's easier to dissociate when someone isn't constantly chatting or snoring your ear off.

Dream doesn't sleep. Technoblade does it far too much. He guesses it's how the other planned on passing the time, and it's not really a bad bet. It's not like there is much else to do. It gives Dream something to do: Study everything there is about Technoblade. Not really intentionally, of course. He's not intending to stare, but could you blame him, when he's the only positive interaction he's had in so long?

The piglin hybrid sleeps messily. Loudly . He eats a lot, and he knows just how to get on his nerves. Though, he guesses he was already well aware of the last two. They've shared a few meals and more arguments.

Dream's passed out only very few times in the time Technoblade has been here, to the point the latter is unsure he's seen it at all. He prefers it that way.

"What are you, anyways?" Rings the question and Dream knows the other didn't miss the way he flinches at the sudden sound. "W-what's that supposed to mean." He says it like a dismissive statement, much less like a question. It's clear he understood exactly what Technoblade means, but doesn't intend to respond unless further clarified. He knows he doesn't pry. "Y'know." Pink hair messily falls over his shoulder. He undid the braid a while ago, and redid it at least 20 times since then.

Dream does know. The pen slips out of his fingers and he curses under his breath as it draws a messy line across the paper, him desperately reaching for it not helping.

"I don't," he lies, "you're distracting me."

Technoblade raises an eyebrow, toys with a potato that he's sure is going to start growing mold within the next 24 hours. "Species-wise, of course." While Dream's gotten a very good look of the other, the piglin hybrid has been kept very.. in the dark, to say the least. Dream makes sure to hide his face, and Techno hasn't attempted to catch a glance whenever he was distracted enough. He'd feel like he's intruding, if he did. Surely there's a reason he always wore that mask, after all. It's rude, he's concluded. "You haven't really let me catch a glance."

"What's it matter to you?" He mumbles, retrieving the pen and annoyedly smudging at the ink that's now splotched all over the paper. Smudging it more isn't really helping, weirdly enough.

"It's something to talk about, Dream." 

"I don't feel like talking."

"I know. You never do. It's kinda your thing." He snorts.

"That's-- that's not true. You know that's not true. I just- You already made me ruin this whole page."

"Put that thing down for 5 minutes, Dream. I'm pretty sure we've got plenty of time for you to finish that."

It looks like he's right, but somehow, sometimes Dream fears, he might blink, and Technoblade might disappear into thin air. 

"Fine." Dream hisses through gritted teeth, closing the book to set it aside. He leaves the pen amidst the pages to keep note of where he was. "Your tail reminds me of Ranboo’s." Techno remarks, and as if on command, it whips against cold obsidian and then curls up to hide behind his back. "What- are you just going to- analyze things about me?"

"Well, you're not telling me."

"That's still, like, weird." Dream argues, shaking his head. Something about it makes him really uncomfortable. Something about it is something he didn't account for and it makes him nervous.

"Man, you've been eyeing me up and down the entire time and I can't even catch a quick glance." He snickers at the immediate physical rise he gets out of Dream. 

" WHAT?? " Oh, that blush is obvious. "I've- You're an idiot, I've literally-" Dream stumbles over his words, messy locks not disguising enough of his face to hide his expression. 

"You're- You're stupid. You're just- you're just saying things. That's not even true!" 

"I don't know bro, for an innocent man you're getting real defensive."

"I'm not-- That's not-- I literally have not been doing that." Defeatedly, Dream taps his foot against the obsidian, knees dragged to his chest.

"Uh-huh." Technoblade nods, beginning to redo his braid for the third time that day. 

"Fuck yourself, seriously, Techno. I don't even know where- where you got that from."

"Maybe from the guy who's been eyeing me up and down."

" I HAVE NOT??? " (Dream’s heart beats in his ears and it tastes bitter and it's uncalculated and it makes no sense and he has to remind himself to breathe.) And it beats. And it beats. And it beats.

"So, what are you?"

"You're not going to let me live that down, are you?" Dream responds, annoyed. "I'm curious and bored." Technoblade answers, too honestly. Too honestly for Dream’s taste. Dream hasn't planned for this. Dream doesn't like the way he sees through him. "The answer- the answer is going to disappoint you, then." He gnaws on his lip for a moment. "Because I don't- I don't actually know ."

Techno raises an eyebrow curiously. He snorts. "You seriously don't, huh?"

"Yeah- uh- why the hell- why would I lie about that?"

"Uh, I mean, you've got the same tail as Ranboo." Techno deduces. "And he's an Enderman. I think?" He shakes his head. "But you're also not really letting me see anything else."

"You're being weird." Dream pushes, hiding his face in his knees.

"Not any weirder than you."

"Can I see your face?" Techno asks, and is surprised by his own question.

"What???" Dream returns, almost instinctively letting more hair fall into his face. 

"Your face." He presses, shifting with his coat. "I wanna see your face. It's been so long since I last did."

"Why?"

"Curiosity." Technoblade shrugs, feigning disinterest. Maybe he's just curious. Maybe there's more to it. Dream hates the way he can't tell and he hates the way it makes his heart beat and he hates the way he squirms uncomfortably and he hates the way the proposed intimacy makes him feel and he hates it.

Dream catches his heart in his throat and chokes it with both of his hands.

"No." He responds, met by a dejected, "awwwh", from the piglin hybrid. "Just a quick glance."

"No." He repeats, with more tone in his voice.

"Just a quick one."

"I said no." Dream cringes, crossing his arms. "It's not like I've never seen it before." Techno shrugs.

"Be satisfied with that, then."

"What's the big deal?"

"We're not friends, Techno." His tone of voice seems insincere, but he wants it to be true. They aren't friends. This is purely transactional. Technoblade is here to rescue him on account of a favor. Something is going wrong with whatever he's got planned and now he's trapped here for the time being. It doesn't mean anything. 

"Ow." Technoblade shuffles, moves as if something stabbed him. It's dramatics, Dream reminds himself. He's being dramatic. "First off, that hurts." It doesn't, Dream reminds himself. It's theatrics. It's to pass the time, it's to make him feel secure, it's to fool him, it's to- he doesn't know. Make him forget the plan?

"Second off, it's rude. I thought we've been having a real bonding moment here." Technoblade doesn't mean that, Dream reminds himself. "Well- boohoo." He fiddles with his fingers, with the book in his hands. "We're not friends." He has to emphasize that. (lest he forgets. lest he forgets that that too, is part of the plan.)

"I thought we were." Techno reiterates. "I mean, you've been watching me sleep. Would be real weird if we weren't friends."

"Oh my God, Technoblade. I have not-" He cuts himself off, rolling his eyes. He gives up. It's obvious he's just trying to get a rise out of him. He doesn't understand the point. It's distracting. It's going off the plan. It defies everything Dream did this for. He feels dizzy.

"C'mon Dream, I know you're still grumpy I keep calling you homeless, but I'd say we're friends."

"I'm not- I'm not homeless." (you're the one who kept not believing me I've got a big house filled with Redstone.) The thought makes him laugh bitterly.

Techno raises an eyebrow at the clear silent conversation Dream just had in his head. Some voices tell him something, but they sound drowned. The lack of food is beginning to mess with him bad, Techno eats a lot normally, so while he's not opposed to the potato diet itself, he's really been trying to cut down. If not only to not take away the little food Dream has.

Techno really doesn't like the way Sam clearly doesn't mind feeding him as much - considering he literally even gave him cooked potatoes when he asked for it. (it's all to starve Dream.)

"I know, I know. We're roommates right now, remember?" He snorts, which leads into an amused grunt, then translates into him holding out a baked potato in Dreams direction. "You want some?"

"... What."

"It's baked. Should be better than uh, y’know, the ones you've been chowing down." He gestures at Dream’s stack, which is honestly beginning to show mold.

"Why- how is it- where did you-" Dream stumbles and he looks so extremely bewildered Techno can't help but sneak a little fond smile. (Dream doesn't recognize it as such. His gasping heart categorizes it as him making fun of him.)

"I asked and Sam gave them to me. Under the condition I don't give you any."

Dream frowns. Deeply. He shakes his head. "Under the condition you don't give me any." He repeats, in a tone that makes Techno sick. Wipes the smile off his face and replaces it with a frown. "Hey man, it's not like Sam's gonna know."

"He'll know ." Dream reiterates, shaking his head. He feels sick. Sick. Sick. Resisting everything in himself to not knock it out of Techno’s hand.

"I mean, I'm not telling him. Are you?"

"If- if he asks , if I-if." He stutters over his words, he despises the frown on Techno’s lips. He's not disobeying Sam for some stupid- some potatoes. He could handle himself. The clear favoritism gets to his head, and he needs to turn away so he doesn't just grab the potato and throw it into the lava. Or better yet, he's throwing himself in it next.

Techno sighs. "Alright, man. Just thought I'd offer." He rolls his shoulders, then wordlessly eats it. He's honestly worried Dream might just starve to death one of these days. He certainly doesn't look good.

Dream’s heart beats in his ears. He wishes he could bang his head against the wall until he made a big enough hole for it to escape. Wishes he could reach through his own mouth and pull it up by its bits and pieces and squeeze it until there is finally no feeling left.

In the end he does none of that. In the end he frowns at Techno and doesn't say anything else. In the end he reaches his hands into his hair and tugs until he feels a few strands coming loose. 

"You're- driving me crazy." He hisses. And it's unreasonable. And it's a weird mood swing from the Dream who was just confused then horrified and is now- maybe jealous isn't the right word, but he doesn't find any better ones to describe what he is feeling. Speaking of feeling, he hates the way his heart jumps in his mouth when Techno looks at him with that stupid snort. That stupid big nose ring, and those stupid big ears, and those stupid big tusks that hang upwards out of his mouth and-

Breathe. Breathe. "Man, I'm just being friendly." Techno says and it snaps a cord. "You're not! Friendly. You're A- annoying , you're, you're taking up already sparse food, you're, you're clearly being favorited by- mi- by the wa- by Sam -" He tugs and he tugs and he tugs and maybe this way he can get rid of this stupid long hair. "All this has achieved is- you're just stuck here now, too . Why the hell didn't you realize it was a trap? I didn't want you to get involved! You have- you- aaaaah!" He groans, frustrated, tired, exhausted, hungry, and for the first time in the while he's been stuck here he seriously wishes he had died already.

It's stupid. It's such a stupid thing to want to give up over. (was any of it even worth it? was any of it even worth it? was any of it even worth it? was any of it even worth it.) He thinks he hears Techno say something but it's dampened by the dread that's surrounding him. Maybe he's having a panic attack. Maybe he's having two. Maybe three. four five six seven eight-- he's been doing so well holding himself together but now he's crashing he's falling apart he's grasping at the pieces of a knocked over 3D puzzle and it does little to put it back together.

He's been doing so well smiling and talking with Technoblade whenever Quackity wasn't here he's been doing so well and he's been doing too well and it's exactly why he's tripping all over himself and falling and falling and falling --

It's a harrowing realization. That scaling any mountain is going to involve so much tripping and falling in the future. And it's more harrowing to him that he's decided to do it all alone. It's better that way, he tells himself, but for a moment, Dream would rather be dead than alone.

Maybe, if he gave up, while Technoblade, while Quackity- while it's- while he's not- while- while there's someone there- while he's not alone- while- if he gave up now, at least someone would be by his side while he did-

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. In, and out, and Dream hears a voice, guiding him, and he's breathing.

Breathe. Breathe. He closes his eyes. It's dark, and it's orange from the light of the lava and he's just barely catching himself. 

When he opens his eyes again, he can breathe again. He sees pink strands and his first instinct is to--

He reaches out and tugs on Technoblade’s already messy enough braid. "Ow! Is that the thanks I get????? Ow- ow- Dream that hurts-" And he tugs and he tugs and he tugs and it's enough Technoblade has to stop awkwardly hovering his big hands around Dream's and instead grab onto them, halting the other’s out-of-nowhere violence. " Good ." Dream hisses, and it's venomous, it's almost- uncharacteristic. Techno pulls his eyebrows together and frowns. "You good? You had a little- panic attack there. And now you're attacking me! Scandalous."

Momentarily, Dream is taken aback by the piglin hybrid’s antics. Only momentarily, because as soon as he manages to wipe the way his expression cringes at his own actions off his face, he's back to pulling his hands out of Technoblade’s, taking one, two, three, too many steps towards the lava and almost falling backwards into it. He stumbles, and has to catch himself on the side of the wall. The lava is sizzling so closely behind him he's unsure if some of his hair, or his clothes might already be catching fire. He nudges just a little bit away from it, although he really wishes he could just let himself fall backwards. 

He could, he reckons. No better time than now. No better time than when he's not alone with Sam and Quackity with the warden and sir with the violence and torture and-

His head spins. Technoblade says something again but hovers awkwardly out of his reach. Good. Good. This is better. That's how it's supposed to be. Transactional. As soon as they're out of here Technoblade will abandon him. That's how this was intended. He'll make himself heavy enough of a burden that even Techno will hesitate to dare put that strain on his back. That hesitation will be enough, he hopes. He is sure it will be enough. He closes his eyes, breathing. He should breathe, Technoblade is right. He opens his eyes again and his eyes search for Technoblade, who's looking at him with such a stupid expression of pity (and concern and worry and so many things Dream isn't sure he's identifying right and so many things that Dream hopes he is wrong about.).

Dream prays he is wrong about these things. Because God strike him down if he is right. God if he has to face that possibility.

He isn't sure how much time passes. He isn't sure how long they're just staring at each other. 

--

"You better now?", Technoblade says after a long silence, attempting to approach him. Very slowly. As if he's afraid Dream might just stumble backwards into the lava if he startles him like a scared deer. Bitterly, Dream laughs. "Yeah", he catches himself, "Sorry."

"Nah, it's okay. You have the strength of a toddler."

" WHAT??? " That gets to Dream’s head worse than Technoblade probably intends it to, when Dream stumbles over himself and almost catches fire on the lava. Techno snorts, lifting a hand to move it in a manner that's supposed to make him calm down but is only irritating him more. "You're- you're fucking insufferable, Technoblade ." Dream draws a breath through barely parted lips and for a moment he wants to cry. 

The piglin sighs. "You know, I've been really patient, but you're making me curious. What happened? Since when are you so-- dead set on pushing everyone away? I mean, I heard Punz betrayed you, which must've sucked- but, Dream, I clearly don't mean you any ha-"

"Fuck off, Technoblade."

"Eh?"

"Fuck off." He reiterates, and he is so, so close to ending it all he needs to remind himself that part of the plan is that he stays alive. Part of the plan is that his heart keeps beating. Maybe he can respawn at least though. It's bitter. He threw himself in that lava a lot when there was nothing to do and the pain of burning alive was, funnily enough, the only thing keeping him sane. "We're not friends. We're not roomies. We're not- You weren't supposed to be here. You're so fucking- stupid- walking into that obvious trap."

Technoblade's vision swims, before it refocuses on Dream and he raises an eyebrow. "Dream- You do know I knew that, right?"

"Right. Right. And that's why you haven't gotten out. That's why you're still stuck here with me annoying me and trying to get under my skin all the goddamn time-"

"Well, I mean, some things went wrong. I'll be out here in no time, though."

(I, I, I, I, I)

I, I, I, I, I

It echoes in Dream’s head. He stares. " We ?" He whispers, it's hopeful, it's meek, and it's such a sudden change from the way he was just yelling.

"Uh, yeah. We. You're getting out of here, Dream."

They exchange looks. Stares. He's too busy reading every pore on Technoblade’s face to be distracted by the fact that he's doing the same to him. He stares at Technoblade’s pink eyes as if they have the answer to every question he's ever had. He hears his heart beat again and has such a visceral reaction to it; he bites down on his lip, balling his fists.

"I don't believe that. I don't trust you for a second."

The piglin hybrid sighs, toying with his coat to his braid, undoing it, since Dream messed it up anyways. "Right. I'm really beginning to believe that." 

Dream thinks he hears sarcasm in that tone but he's not sure. He's not sure of any emotion he reads on Technoblade and it horrifies him. Quackity is so much easier to read: and Sam isn't too difficult to read too, he'd say. They're pretty similar, he'd concluded a while ago. 

Quackity wears his heart on his sleeve. Observing him is like you're reading a picture book. Whereas with Technoblade he isn't quite sure he's got a heart in the first place. He isn't sure what he thinks of that conclusion. He isn't sure it's logical. Maybe it makes no sense to interpret it that way, he can't justify dehumanizing Technoblade to himself, but neither can he the way he got addicted to burning in the lava.

"What exactly am I supposed to do to make you-- ' trust ' me?" The Blade speaks up and Dream continues watching him for another roughly 20 seconds, not breaking eye contact. He's finally noticed that he's also eyeing him over and it makes something akin to horror crawl down his back. It settles on his spine and whispers to him. He can't make out exactly what it's saying but he knows it's gripping at the edges of his heart. It's digging its nails in and the only reason it's yet to bleed is that they are still in. Like a stab wound, it'll bleed so much more once removed. But it's bleeding either way.

Either way leads to death.

"Want me to prove I trust you? Do a little trust-fall?"

Dream’s face cringes at the way Technoblade snorts. "I- what - no way- I don't trust you and even if you trusted me, there's no way I can- catch you- in my current state."

"I'm going to be honest, Dream, I don't think you would've been very capable of it previously, either."

"You're----- You're really trying to make me hate you." Dream mumbles, kicking the floor, in a similar fashion as to he would before, and Technoblade takes it as a positive sign. He smiles fondly and it irritates Dream to no end.

The piglin hybrid shrugs. "Eh, sure. I'm not sure I can convince you otherwise, anyways." 

Something stings but Dream can't identify it. Briefly, he wonders if the other feels something like that, too. Then he crosses that thought out, because he knows that the Blade doesn't own a heart that feels. 

His brain rationalizes the dehumanization in a desperate attempt to drown his own feelings. It's not rational and he knows this, but he's horrified that if he looks at Technoblade like he's a person for too long he might forget the plan.

He wants to choke himself out for going down this path alone. But it's the only way to keep them safe. (dehumanizing Technoblade isn't keeping him safe. it's the very thing that's ended him up in this position. the very reason he can't just sit in his cabin and rest. The very reason he's right here and associated with Dream is because they're the same, the same, the same .) 

Dream can't read Technoblade. But maybe he just doesn't want to. Maybe the other is written in a foreign language that Dream couldn't possibly have knowledge of in his young and naive years.

The admin sighs tiredly. 

"You can't. I don't trust you and it's not like you truly trust me either." Dream huffs a laugh. "You trust me to keep you alive. For my own gain." He gestures at the lava, then at Technoblade. "Since I'm not going anywhere without you. But maybe you will just leave without me."

Techno frowns. Even to Dream it's obvious this conversation is getting tiring. Maybe he's beginning to regret getting under his skin, maybe he's regretting constantly running his mouth, maybe he's considering just going to sleep for the rest of his stay here. Dream doesn't know because maybe after all this time, he's finally forgotten how to read. He isn't even sure he can read himself anymore. 

"I mean, yeah, maybe I will. You're not really making it enticing to take you along." Techno exhales heavily, running a hand through his hair. "I'd say you should know I wouldn't actually do any of that, but maybe I misread you."

None of that sounds like anything Technoblade would say. Good, Dream thinks, he's listening. He's not completely dense. He's not completely naive. Of course, the plan is still for the other to take him along. "W-well, you've got a favor to pay back. Technoblade pays back favors."

"Uh-huh."

"And that's all this is."

"Right."

Dream can't decode the bitter way Techno nods. He doesn't understand the way his throat slowly closes up and he feels like he's choking. He concludes it's been plugged by his heart again and he hates the very way the Blade puts even his organs in a disarray. It's irregular. Makes no sense.

"R-right." He repeats Technoblade’s word, glancing away. 

"Hey, you let me see your face."

"No I didn't."

"You did." 

"I didn't fucking allow you to." Dream crosses his arms, frowns. Techno shrugs, looking at Dream again. The other doesn't look away. "Yeah, but you're still letting me look."

It's not fair. It's not. It's not fair. He can't even rebuke that one. He's tired.

"You've got a lot of freckles." Techno muses, with such a stupid, stupid fond smile. (this isn't part of the plan. Isn't part of the plan.) "Your cheeks are- fuzzy." He snorts and Dream wants to deck him in the face. ( shut up. Shut up. Shut up .) "And your eyes rat you out."

Don't get him involved. Don't get him involved. Stick to the plan. Don't do that to him. Stick to the plan.

It's not worth it. If he changes the plan now- he can't. The plan has to be the way it is. Punz is bad enough. This is bad enough. Dream suddenly feels so powerless that it's crushing.

"And what stupid things do you think they're saying?"

"I don't know." Techno shrugs now, taking a step towards Dream. Cautiously, as if he fears he might startle him and send him into the lava. "Maybe they're desperate." He guesses, stops just out of Dream’s reach. Dream bites his lip bloody.

"Yeah. Desperate to get you to shut up. Get things under control and get us out of here." He grumbles, fists balling. (for a moment, he imagines himself reaching his hand into the lava, cupping it, and then throwing it at Technoblade. He wonders if his hand would last enough for that, or if the lava would burn through quicker. He wonders if that could kill him.)

He wonders how much of it would hit Techno, or if he'd dodge. If he'd call him insane, or if he'd be worried. If he'd be worried for his own safety, or Dream's, or both.

"I'm at it! I'm at it. Someone's really impatient." Techno lifts his hands defensively. "You're the one who designed this thing so- inescapable." Dream licks the blood off his lips, tail flicking behind him. "It'd kind of defeat the purpose if it wasn't." 

The piglin hybrid only nods. Dream only returns a nod. They're silent, observing each other as if they are reading a book.

Dream decides he needs to rip his pages out of Techno’s book. He takes a deep breath, looks directly at the other’s face. 

"Come over here." He croaks out, embarrassed, clears his throat after. "Come here." He repeats, clearer now.

For a moment, Dream hoped he'd see hesitation in Technos gaze. He sees something, Techno does need a second to listen, but he doesn't see hesitation. He doesn't know what he's seeing. (Worry? Care? Concern?) Concern, for his own or Dream’s or both of their safety.

Technoblade listens and everything in Dream’s body was hoping he wouldn't. He'd hoped he wouldn't. But now he's standing in front of him, left of him lava bubbles. It's hot and unbearable to him, but Dream knows it's like second nature to the piglin hybrid. 

"Do you trust me?" Dream asks, it's flat. The croak in his voice disappeared, it's just cold now. He can't read the expression on Technoblade’s face. He doesn't like the way he frowns. He doesn't like the way he has to break his neck to look him in the face when they are so close together. 

"What's this?"

"No, shut up, answer the question." Dream shakes his head when Techno tries to gain knowledge on his intent. That won't work. That won't work. He made a plan and he's sticking by it.

Techno sighs. Rolls his shoulders. Then nods. Smiles. "Yeah, well, I do."

(I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do. It repeats in Dream’s ears until it turns to venom until it takes over every part of his brain until he can't hear anything else until it tastes bitter and bile and he wishes he could throw up.)

Everything in Dream hoped he'd say no. Everything in Dream hoped he'd say no.

He doesn't breathe for a good minute. Then he holds out his hand. His hand, small, burned, injured. There's little cuts and scars everywhere. He still has all of his fingers, but he is afraid he won't soon enough. "Okay. If you take my hand and close your eyes, do you trust me to not hurt you?" He continues, and his heart deflates when Technoblade listens. He hoped he wouldn't.

He hoped he'd make a snarky comment and refuse. But he doesn't even give him a snarky comment. The piglin hybrid's hand almost completely engulfs his own and Dream feels so small and helpless and weak, all of a sudden. It's like Technoblade is unknowingly pulling the carpet out from under his feet. It's like the obsidian beneath him disappeared. (The hand-holding is weirdly comforting and suddenly Dream wants to abandon everything he thought of, everything he planned. if he could just fall forward and-)

He grips Technoblade’s hand. Harsh. He's not sure where he draws the strength from, considering he hasn't even eaten one potato today. And he isn't even sure he ate one yesterday. He squeezes it, and for a moment, it may come across comforting, or comfortable, or-

Then he violently tugs on the other’s hand. Then he draws both of them towards the lava. Then, suddenly, both of their hands are touching lava. (Dream's barely is. Technoblade’s hand engulfs his almost completely, but he's probably more fire resistant than he is. He braces himself, grits his teeth, burn, burn, burn, burn, everything in himself is screaming to take it all back, to reverse time, to-)

"Let this be a lesson not to, in the future."

#ask #sixteenth-day-event #crivals #rivalsduo #cdnb #cdreamnoblade #dreamnoblade #cdream #ctechno

[dr3amofagame]

been thinking about post-prison c!dream again and i feel like ... characterizations of him after pandora smtimes can lean vindictive. and it's not like there's no proof for this being the case, lol, this man has quite a few angry speeches post-prison about getting his Revenge! and such, and obviously has Feelings about the whole being left to rot and be tortured thing. that being said, i think it's worth pointing out how what a character thinks they believe and what their actions show can have some...pretty apparent discrepancies, and i think that c!dream's stated desires to take his revenge as well as a "us against them, you're either with me or against me" viewpoint of the server as a whole don't necessarily match up with his behavior post-prison

for one, i think it's worth pointing out how often c!dream's anger in these cases is obviously emotional to the point of incoherence--it's often been stated that his speech in the logstedshire chase scene screams of projection in the midst of a panic attack, which, i mean? yeah? he's making assumptions about what c!tommy thinks and basically repeating what c!quackity said in that cell almost word for word and making the kill-and-revive-you-over-and-over-and-over threat that he definitely wasn't going to go through with (though, is kind of interesting retrospectively considering we know that he literally did that to himself). then there's his rant to c!sam in daedalus one which literally includes his threatening c!sam with c!quackity, a claim so absurd that c!sam himself points it out as making no sense. and then there's his speech with c!quackity where he says he's going to torture...las nevadas? as in, the country? dream that's. dream it's a country. it can't feel pain. dream.

in this, a clear pattern is established where a lot of these angry threats are...bluffs. hot air. even if c!dream is genuine when he makes these threats, they're really not plausible (like, uh, please tell me how youre gonna convince quackity to torture sam for you king.) and it's not like c!dream doesn't have a pattern of being A Whole Lotta Bark when you have him in a position where he feels cornered, either. but with this, there's a precedent that's established where c!dream's threats, particularly threats where he's literally just listing shit out like that, should be taken with a grain of salt. less evidence of true plans and more an attempt to bare his teeth at you until you back the fuck away.

of course, this in itself isn't enough to claim that all of his claims of more vindictive actions should be dismissed. that being said, across the board, when you look at c!dream's actual actions post-prison...well, the amount of actual revenge this guy gets is. very small. very small. in fact, contrary to what one might think due to his paranoia and the huge breach of trust that had happened as a result of the prison, c!dream actually seems quite willing to establish connections with other people--friendly interactions, even alliances to a certain degree. looking at the following list of interactions w/ people post-prison:

He immediately gives the axe of peace to c!Techno in Snowchester after they part ways at the Arctic Commune--though the lack of favors between them indicates that there's no real explicit reason to call on each other in the immediate future, he does show very clearly that their parting hasn't made himself unwilling to cooperate with c!Techno at all.

Punz is self-evident--he speaks with his ally and reaffirms that the plan is still on track (a plan made before the negative effects that prison had on his. uh .everything)

The aforementioned conflict with c!Tommy, where he makes a lot of threats in ways that seem like a pretty damn deliberate mirror of c!Quackity and makes no effort to follow through on, particularly in tems of the killing-and-reviving shit and keeping tommy in exile and whatever else he was saying there

The interaction with Sapnap, where he is clearly gauging c!Sapnap's reaction and flees shortly after things appear to grow in hostility, once again making overtures at a threat that he will never follow up on (even considering he could very easily follow Sapnap to find Kinoko and could as such attack it quite simply even with just, a couple flint & steels tbh)

An interaction with Eryn where he makes no effort to be hostile at any point, hiding behind his shield and then exchanging items when Eryn offers them. The entire time, c!Dream's actions are defensive and purposefully nonthreatening and at no point does he attempt to engage a fight--even when not asked for payment, he gives a valuable item in exchange. Clearly more an attempt to be friendly than any outright hostility, though he is also obviously wary.

Daedalus also quite self-explanatory--again, it should be emphasized that letting Sam go in any capacity with any lives is explicitly an act of mercy. Left alone, Sam would have died in the prison for good; he set his spawn in the prison, a fact Dream would've known when he escorted him out. He makes a lot of threats, including some that are quite incoherent, and at the end he kills Sam once and then escorts him out of the prison grounds alive. Interestingly enough, conversations in Daedalus also seem pretty explicitly from a perspective of trying to get c!Sam to understand him in some respects--like, c!Dream isn't seeking division here. Even in consideration of the fact that he needed to get the keycards, c!Dream's continued emphasis on trying to get c!Sam to see him is...interesting, in view of how much of what went wrong being explicitly because of c!Sam's betrayal.

He warns Bad and Skeppy away from the prison shortly after beginning to reside there on a permanent basis. He gives them quite a sum of gifts (iirc, a block of netherite and a totem of undying) despite firing arrows at them; even though he has a reason to be aggressive towards c!Bad as one of the prison guards (something both c!Bad and c!Skeppy point out) he makes no effort to kill them and outright gives them valuable items while warning them to stay away from the prison

scrapped lore, whenever it was meant to happen, was an obvious "revenge" attempt against quackity...which goes, badly. a clue into the State that he was in in terms of his revenge quests. also, whatever interaction he has with c!wilbur later, obviously c!Wilbur doesn't end up worse for wear physically from it.

In inconsolable differences, c!Dream is more preoccupied with keeping a "feeling" of power over c!Wilbur over taking outright control over the room and therefore complies with c!Wilbur's orders. He does attack, but despite having more than the necessary means to kill both c!Wilbur and c!Tommy while he's there, does not do so. Neither does he manage to keep them trapped in the prison, something that he absolutely could've done if he so chose. Instead, he values a (imaginary) symbol of his continued alliance with c!Wilbur over any kind of hostile action, imprisonment, or killing of either person (and explicitly values c!Wilbur's life over just about everything, there.)

In his interaction with c!Foolish, he's outright trying to get c!Foolish to consider him beyond what other people have said about him. He's trying to establish some form of an alliance and offers...well, quite a lot in order to have one (in order to have a five minute warning of c!Quackity's location. like, he's putting himself in c!Foolish's service quite explicitly here, offering to become his hitman or bodyguard). He's obviously wary, but also obviously trying to be friendly and largely interacts with c!Foolish by trying to establish a rapport, not by trying to threaten him into something or attack him in any way. Even with c!Sam, the amount of outright threatening behavior from c!Dream isn't all that large--mostly, he's being petty? You could make an argument about c!Dream's vague threat to c!Sam's island, but clearly Sam loses no lives from Dream in any interaction they might have after they leave the summer home.

I consider the whole interaction with c!Aimsey canon bc literally everyone was playing as their characters there--c!Dream outright goes out of his way to try and protect a total stranger here with no obvious personal benefit. He literally inserts himself into the conflict to try and prevent c!Aimsey's death, which is kinda wild for someone to do as someone who allegedly wants people to die on the server. He attacks (and even kills c!George) c!snf here, but it's all in a scene where they get distracted from their whole "blowing shit up" moment because they want to chase c!Dream, and c!Dream specifically uses very little melee combat here--a lot of ranged stuff, which is far from his specific specialty. Further, there's a scene in this fight where c!Dream is acting entirely defensively, backed up against a wall with his shield in front of him as c!snf attack, and at the end he just runs away--all behavior that doesn't seem to be about killing anyone or profiting from anyone's deaths in any way.

LN5, threats similarly nonsensical, and he dips as soon as things start going south. For all of his seeming confidence, he's not the one that continues the chase in an attempt to kill c!Quackity, and the fight evidently freaks him out considering how he ends up not realizing he's being stalked by c!Tommy and then hides in the prison for a solid while (while still being stalked by c!Tommy)

Despite apparently wanting them to decide who to die in the saw trap (which had a premise that is frankly, quite hard to believe), c!clingy are given the exact items that could've facilitated their escape. He certainly could've killed both or one at any point in time, even if he wanted a message to be spread to the server (something easily done with one guy)--instead, he monologues at them, then conveniently leaves so that they can get away (and they could've with the literal items he gave them if tommy didn't burn their food.) When c!Tommy returns the following day, c!Dream makes it clear he expected both of them to have gotten out

Despite being clearly unable to stand c!Tommy, blaming him for most if not all of his problems on the server, and outright saying to c!Tommy that c!Tommy would never agree to help him (after they had a shouting match literally one day ago), gives quite the sales pitch to get c!Tommy on the same page as them.

I'm probably missing stuff, but you get my point--even when presented golden opportunities to kill off a player post-prison, c!Dream doesn't take it. He outright spares c!Sam when he could've easily died from the Revengers' tactic. When meeting with strangers, he prioritizes establishing a friendly rapport with them through things like gifts over, in his distrust, treating them badly so that they're scared of him and therefore don't fuck with him yadayada. His behavior, instead of exuding an aura of anger and vengeance and vying for destruction, tends to send a message of trying to be outright unthreatening, please-don't-attack-me. He's not going everywhere holding his big fuck off axe, he's seeing a new person and ducking behind his shield.

Oftentimes, I feel like this quote is pulled or paraphrased from No Way Home to show how c!Dream has become distrusting of people, vindictive, post-prison

And if that means we have to kill everybody— and ev— everybody that doesn't wanna go along with what me and Punz have to say? Everyone that doesn't want to figure it out? Then, fine! You can be simple-minded and you can die simple-minded. But! If you wanna actually know what's going on in this world, and you wanna fix it, and make it the best that we can be, and live forever? Then they can join us.

And while I'm not saying we should dismiss the whole quote as just being disingenous bluffing, I think when taken into the context of post-prison c!Dream's actions (or, well, c!Dream's actions as a whole) as well as his actions in the finale itself (such as his appealing to c!Tommy in the next stream), rather than putting the emphasis on the idea of "everyone who disagrees with me should die," c!Dream seems far more preoccupied with the idea of trying to find people who are willing to work with him to "fix" everything. People who will help him make it so that they can "live forever"--a desire he expresses in the fourth finale stream as well.

like, it's not to say that c!dream isn't vengeful. he is. i mean, i'd say moreso than vengeful, he's angry--just like how a lot of his overtures at friendliness are so deeply rooted in fear. the prison made him angry and the prison made him scared, and the anger has to be repurposed into revenge because revenge is power that he certainly didn't have when he was on his knees begging for mercy. but far from being closed off and unwilling to work with other people post-prison due to his experiences in Pandora (which. would make sense. i mean. like, he was left in there, and tortured, and betrayed. anger and revenge and a general distrust towards everyone and a desire to destroy a world that condemned him would be very easy to understand in this scenario), i'd say c!dream's interactions with people post-prison scream of a general lack of a desire to actually go through with killing people. hell, he even revives c!tommy--c!tommy! who just killed him! who c!dream outright blames for like, basically ruining his life! when revivals are literally apparently destabilizing the universe!--shortly after killing him. generally, he meets people who are dealing with him aggressively with a desire to flee moreso than with murderous intent (in genuine finale 2, for example, this guy was sure more focused on running the fuck away than he was on killing either of c!clingy), and even moreso deals with other people on the server by acting defensively and even in a manner that seems deliberately designed to get them to be more willing to work with him, or at least deal with him in a friendly way. despite his paranoia and how deeply pandora cut as a betrayal and his obvious wariness towards all people as a result (there's hardly a single interaction on the list above, after all, that doesn't have c!dream's obvious fear of people leaking all over the damn carpet), he seems to be much more focused on the idea of finding possible allies than he is on the idea of killing everyone possible.

which, i mean, makes sense. as he himself states:

#c!dreamisms #dreblr #c!dream #long post #my guy ... #c!dream. C!DREAM. #sorryi have so many damn opinions

[modelbus]

MODEL HELP-

i just typed a long ass message and it all deleted itself-

question, do you think you want to do another part on cut chaos? No pressure ofc, but I’d be cool! (I have a bunch of ideas for it I’ll send seperate (maybe) feel free to ignore them but like free crappy inspo man)

Request: Y/N is a part of SBI but they aren’t treated that great by the fandom or really the rest of the group. Its not like SBI MEANS to disregard the ‘hate’ towards Y/N like its nothing but they tend to dismiss or just ignore it, of course, they are still really close and care about Y/N, it still just hurts a little that they ignore it. But where the creators don’t realise they’re neglecting their friends emotions, the fans? They are fully aware they constantly joke about Y/N being the worst member of SBI. They are fully aware they also always ‘joke’ about forgetting Y/N exists. They are fully aware that despite Y/N being in as many if not more ‘SBI’ streams or videos than the other creators, they act as if they’re not actually a part of SBI. They are fully aware many of them aren’t joking when they say Y/N is not a member of SBI, or when they say they wish Y/N would stop showing up to streams. They are fully aware that the main ‘joke’ people think of when they think SBI is something along the lines of; “Whos Y/N?” or “Y/N is SO the middle child of the SBI, we all forget them!” or “Y/N? Ohhh you mean the one that’s annoying but its not funny!” .. When the SBI are streaming bedwars 2v2v2’s with a random viewer each game and that viewer happens to end up on Y/N’s team (and be an asshole) they, of course, decide to complain that out of every member they could be teamed with, they got the worst member of SBI! (Even though Y/N and techno practice pvp together regularly and the only person in SBI Y/N can’t kill is techno) While Y/N does what they always do and laughs it off with a SICK comeback (despite how much it hurts when they realise they expected that kind of reaction to being teamed with them), the rest of the SBI seems to snap as though that was their final straw (starting with tommy yelling ‘THATS BULLSHIT’ or smth) and all collectively go on a rant about how shitty most(?) fans treat Y/N, to Y/N’s surprise most of all of the fives chats are agreeing..? Y/N starts to realise maybe they aren’t as hated as they thought.. and maybe, just maybe, they are a lot more loved then they realised.

MODEL I’M SO SORRY MY REQUESTS ARE ALWAYS SO LONG-

Its funny how I’m not motivated to write actual fics but I can write 800 word requests-

LOVE YOU AND YOUR WORK!!!

✨🌌🌙 Annon-

I’d love to write more for Cut Chaos! My writing has been all over the place lately because I’ve been really busy (school stuff :/) but I do enjoy writing for that (not-so) little series

Pairing: Gn!Reader X CC!SBI (Tommy, Techno, Phil, Wilbur)

Found Fury

You aren’t unfamiliar with the term unwanted. If anything, you’ve burrowed yourself a home in the word, splitting it in two. Accepted yourself for what you are.

Quite honestly, if there was a record for ‘most hated SBI member’ it’d go to you. Actually, it wouldn’t, considering how most people don’t even see you as a member of SBI. The forgettable middle child, adrift alone.

There wasn’t much you could do except accept it.

Bothering the others with it was unfathomable. Besides, they’ve surely seen some hint of it. They aren’t quite that blind, even if Wilbur and Techno do wear glasses. And, seeing as how they haven’t said a word… maybe it’s best if you didn’t nag about it.

It’s not that you’re partial to the so-called ‘suffering in silence,’ because you really aren’t. But you’re uniquely acquainted with brushing things off, pretending that your friends’ continued silence doesn’t sting and that being excluded from the group isn’t heart-wrenching. In the end, who really cares what strangers online think?

You can ignore the messages in your inboxes. The emails to your professional email asking if you’re really a part of SBI. All the replies to all your posts. Every fucking comment on every video you’re in.

Sometimes, it piles around you so high that you can’t see past it. Words strung together to form sentences that rephrase ‘Who even are you’ a thousand times. Or the more creative, ‘How do you manage to be unfunny AND annoying’ mixed with a side of scorn. It’s worse when it trends on Twitter after a stream, but who are you to complain?

After all, you’re just lucky to be following SBI around according to Twitter. Blessed to be in their fucking presence.

For the most part, you just hire more mods. And they’re pretty strict with bans, so your chat tends to err on the positive side. Everyone else’s? Well, let’s just say there’s a reason you don’t have their chats open.

Today is no exception.

Bedwars with viewers, everyone being randomly set into 2v2v2. Tommy’s idea, although he’s lost every round that Techno wasn’t on his team. That was mostly due to you sneak attacking him while he targeted Techno, but still.

“POTATOMAN!” Tommy shouts, practically bursting your eardrums. “YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE!”

“Christ, mate.” Phil laughs.

“…my ears…” Techno mourns quietly, making both you and Wilbur laugh.

“We’re getting in! We’re getting in!” Tommy says excitedly, and everyone spawns into their teams.

Your heart sinks when you realize you’re with the viewer on white team. Their character, a potato in a suit, stares at you as you walk backward to collect iron and gold from the generator.

You’ve been lucky up until this far, always getting placed with one of the others. Logically, you knew you’d eventually be placed with the random, but part of you still hoped. Still dared to relax into the game.

Potatoman’s character stands there for a few minutes, and you buy wool with your iron.

“Funnel me the gold, Tommy.” Techno says calmly.

“No! Fuck off! This is my gold!”

“You’re just going to walk off the edge with it!”

“No I won’t! When have I ever?!”

“Last game.” Wilbur inputs.

“Wha— I was pushed! That’s different!”

A message pops up in game chat, and your eyes flick to it for a moment, too busy with building a bed defense. When you realize it isn’t Tommy’s death message (it would’ve been really funny, let’s be honest), you do a double take to read it.

<Potatoman> My luck omg

Your eyebrows raise. For a split second, you dare to hope that the viewer is a fan of yours. That they want to be on a team with you. Hope is a dangerous thing; it just makes things worse when it dies.

<Potatoman> Stuck with the worst member &lt;Potatoman> Not even a member fr lmaooo

Ah. And there it is.

Seeing the messages doesn't hurt; it's the fact that you knew to expect it right from the start.

That's not to say you're even the worst member, because in PvP you're a God. Hell, you and Techno train it all the time for fun! Even Tommy cheers when he gets teamed with you in PvP games like this. Being teamed with you for Bedwars was a pretty good thing, in theory.

Always in theory.

Because somehow, someway, you're never liked enough. Never enough for the viewers in general, even. Too annoying, too loud, too imperfect, too showy, too quiet, too anything. And you know to expect that feedback rather than to expect any semblance of compliments.

"At least the so-called 'worst member' didn't walk off the edge, unlike someone on my team." You quip, targeting your words at the viewer.

"Heh?" Techno asks.

"Oh, uh, nothing-"

"Look in chat." Wilbur interrupts.

There's a pause, then:

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!" Tommy screams into his mic. "WHAT THE HELL?!"

"I'm agreeing with the kid here." Techno sighs.

"Actually, we really should talk about how the fans have been online. It's not even a recent thing." Phil says, his calm a stark contrast to Tommy.

"I've seen it a lot too. Let's be clear; everyone here is part of the Sleepy Bois. I made it, I make the rules." Wilbur declares.

"You did not make it!" Tommy protests, but Wilbur doesn't stop for him.

"To make it clear, we won't tolerate any hate of anyone in this group, especially not to the extent that we've been seeing recently."

Your eyes glance over at your chat, already stunned, only to have your jaw slacken when you see that your chat is spamming hearts and "YESYESYES."

"Guys, you don't have to... do this." You try.

"I'm pretty sure we do." Techno deadpans, and you can practically imagine the optifine zoom on his character's face he's probably doing/

"The fans treat you like shit, and we're all tired of it." Wilbur agrees. "It's stupid."

"They're all internet assholes." Tommy chimes in, this time at a reasonable volume.

"So from here on out, anyone who says mean shit to you gets banned. From all of our chats." Your eyes go wide at Phil's words, and you quickly pull up his and Tommy's streams to see what their chats are saying.

But... that can't be right. The outpouring of agreement can't be right. The fans all hate you, you know this. There's no way they're agreeing with Phil, Tommy, Techno, and Wil.

So you open Wilbur's chat, then pull up a YouTube tab for Techno's stream too.

Agreement floods every chat, and for just a moment you can't breathe. You were the supposed forgotten middle child, the one nobody cares to stand up for. But that was wrong, wasn't it?

You are part of the Sleepy Bois, and you're just as deserving as everyone else. Of the fans, of the support, of being able to open chat and not see overwhelming hate.

Of being loved.

#dsmp #mcyt #mcyt imagine #tommyinnit x reader #tommyinnit x you #wilbur soot x reader #wilbur soot x you #philza x reader #technoblade #philza #tommyinnit #wilbur soot #sleepy bois inc #sleepy bois fanfic #sleepy bois inc x reader

[simplepotatofarmer]

yeah like they'd be competitive over really dumb thing and slowly go back to they normal rivality. It's a slow procees and that's why they still being rivals about small things it's so important bc Even if he changed the way ctechno treats cdream hasn't and that means a lot for the teletubi

PD: ctechno win your title back!!

exactly!!

dream has changed but it's a lot easier to be yourself, to feel like yourself, when people are treating you normally! and techno gets that. i think sometimes, to the outside, it probably feels like he goes too far to the 'don't talk about it' side but i also think dream appreciates that because techno does care that he was tortured (he brings it up quite often to people who aren't dream), so it's not actually dismissive. it's just how techno is and how techno is trying to make dream feel better.

and he will. techno is a champion napper and dream doesn't realize this is techno's dastardly plan to get him to sleep more.

#loyal answers things #rivalsblr #rivals duo

[bonesandthebees]

wilbur hates the wilderness survival adventure. tomys says it's time to suck it up and try. his paranoia then tomys being like *checks nonexistent watch* can we do fire things now. wilbur just broke down .2 seconds in and tomys 'i've done this randomly lost in the wilderness before' ione finds the wood. ah this is great. shows cool character things as well as a little forced bonding already fantastic.

'When i was a kid", Wilbur bit back the urge to remind him he was still a child' the banter is there i can feel it. not there yet but ah well i can dream.

the leg. yeah tomys is way more experienced than wil in this at least in terms of how to handle a wound. but of course the history shit helps - great 'application of skills' wilbur. techno would be proud. anyways splint making time.

'i'm not going to leave you willum' aw thanks tommy. promoting the brotherly bonding i see. yeah it's because he saved your life but you're just a kind boy and trying to tell paranoia supreme over here that you're dragging him back there.

wilbur keeps getting surprised. bro you brushed him off basically immediately as a naive mischievous little brat. only you to blame for that part. then you jump into finally seeing him as being worth the effort in getting close because you had to actually be in a life-threatening situation to truly start the bonding. try seeing beyond your own self-gain for a little bit.

ayo phil POV???? man this guy in general is my favourite, like yeah i appreciate the well-written wilbur but phil's always gonna be my blorbo no matter how fucked up he is. my mans loves his kid. ooooh boy whoever sent the bandits is fucked now. phil's going to tear them apart haha. - :D

man when you phrase it like that it really is hilarious. wilbur really did just break down and lose his mind .2 seconds into being lost in the wilderness. tomys is 13 and handling this shit better than the 19 year old. he's such a cushy palace kid 😭

oh the banter will get there

see kids history tests can be very relevant to the real world

"paranoia supreme" 😭😭

to be fair wilbur wasn't just dismissing tommy for being a little shit (although that was a lot of it) but also because he's been supporting niki for the throne his entire life. he's definitely been peeved at the idea of the plans the two of them have had since childhood being ruined so quickly

PHIL POV YESSSS I really do love writing in his pov he's such a fun character to explore and rose!phil is especially interesting for me. phil's going to kill a bitch for this :)

#ask #:D anon #rose ch 7

[supernovaa-remnant]

@sioster

karo, I'm gonna put the responses to your ad aeternum asks under a cut just bc I posted the fic not that long ago and don't wanna, like, majorly spoil it for anyone who hasn't had the time to read it yet but wants to (also bc it's finals season and so many people are busy)

(also putting under the cut because wow these got really long actually 😭)

wilbur never calls the dream from his timeline marzenie. it would feel unfair, I think. unfair to both of them. because as he does get to know the dream of his timeline, he really does come to care about the other, but he's kinda swamped with this guilt of worrying he's just using dream as a replacement? at least for a while, he is. (swamped with guilt) so, he finds ways to keep them separate in his mind.

marzenie is the nickname he gave to the alternate timeline dream. marzenie loved the nickname. wilbur's not going to take that away by giving it to someone else. besides, it was always meant to be a way to differentiate the dreams, anyway.

he has all sorts of loving nicknames for the other dream—he has more time to find these nicknames. darling, sunshine, starlight, love, etc. but never marzenie. marzenie will always belong to the dream who was enthralled by the beauty of the earth, who was the first in a very long time to hold wilbur, who bantered with him and danced with him and *sobs* yeah </3

it would be a bit complicated, a bit messy, but ultimately good, I think. there's bureaucratic issues in starfleet wondering if wilbur bringing marzenie to their timeline breaks the prime directive. some (who don't like wilbur being in starfleet due to his ancestry) would fight extra hard to dismiss him from starfleet. wilbur's crew would fight hard for him, though. so would the manhunt. so would others. and, in the end, considering the literal time agency hasn't come to say wilbur messed up the timeline by doing so, they can only assume it's okay.

there's a lot of grief, too. from marzenie. they didn't really have a lot of time to discuss it in the 21st century, but marzenie has lost pretty much anyone he's ever known and loved. there's joys with getting to know versions of sapnap and george and others who are alive, but they're still different versions. and the versions of the people he loved who are dead are still gone. and the versions of people he loved who are alive are still gone. and maybe he felt that those alive only saw him as something broken, but he still cared about them.

so, there's a lot of grief. but wilbur is there. and wilbur loves him. and it was either live with wilbur and the grief or be erased with his timeline and leave wilbur alone, and marzenie would always choose to stay.

there's other complications (marzenie was a captain in his timeline but has no starfleet training—he ends up on the syndicate as essentially non-starfleet personnel). there's also complications with this timeline's dream. and this timeline's dream team. and this timeline's manhunt. and where marzenie fits with them. complications with wilbur's relationship with this timeline's dream, too.

but, ultimately, it's good. marzenie bonds with the crew of the syndicate when he's figuring out what to do when he's not a captain in a war. he learns to bake with niki. he also spars with her. he gets close to techno. they also spar. he loses a fair amount. he continuously pushes wilbur to discuss the complicated relationship wilbur has with techno. the human members of the crews are people familiar to marzenie. he likes to get to know these versions. he convinces wilbur to sign up for therapy. he signs up for therapy himself.

it turns out he gets along really well with dream. they reach a point where they just start introducing themselves as twins. dream's parents include him in family dinners. dream's siblings just say they have another brother. george eventually transfers to the manhunt. the entire dream team complains about marzenie staying on the syndicate but in a light hearted way. the crews of the two ships get really close, actually, and they find lots of excuses to rendezvous. congrats they've unlocked a new level of friendship

things with wilbur and marzenie are really good. they explore the earth together. they take shore leave together and travel. they cuddle and write songs. when marzenie decides to write a book, wilbur reads it and gives advice. they adopt a cat together. they peel oranges for each other. it's all really soft and domestic. and they love each other and they love their friends and they heal together. and everyone's really happy.

(anyway, I think some days wilbur would wake up after extremely vivid dreams (pun not intended) of the above scenario. he'll have incredibly vivid dreams of a universe where marzenie was never shot. and a lot of the dreams take inspiration where he's found himself in life—the crews of the syndicate and manhunt get close. they hang out a lot, actually. wilbur writes more music. wilbur goes to therapy. wilbur gets a cat. when the ships meet up, wilbur & dream often cuddle together at night. etc etc.

but I think the dreams with marzenie would be so vivid, that for a moment he'd wake up and wonder where marzenie was. on especially bad days, he wakes up with bleary eyes and, for a moment, thinks this timeline's dream is marzenie.

and he feels incredibly guilty afterwards. and in particularly bad days, he holds dream close and says "I love you" over and over again with emphasis on the "you" just so dream knows. and dream doesn't fully understand, but dream knows wilbur's been through a lot, and he knows healing isn't linear, so he just holds wilbur close and repeats the same words to him)

#my computer logged me out of my computer when I was in the middle of writing this post :/ #anyway thank you for asking abt them karo <33 I love talking abt my fic lol #ad aeternum #c!dreambur #writing from the void #stella answers #karo sioster

[aro-throughyourchest]

I would very much like to hear your trans Wilbur headcanons!

OHHHHHHH boy I’m not on my computer so this might not be as fast as I want it to be but sit down so you can strap in I’m just getting started

(For context even pre-transition we’re gonna use she/he/it pronouns and both identifiers.)

Uhhh trans-typical trigger warnings. We’re not just getting into the “cosmetic” shit of being trans.

So C!Wilbur for years before his death: egg. I made an edit about it that which is in my bigender wilbur tag but anyway yeah. Girlie was deeep in the closet. She was envious of all the people who got to live the life they wanted and feel bad about it or completely oblivious to it. (c!Eret came out to it and bro didn’t even fucking realize just died a little on the inside and thought it was transphobic.)

She’s so attached to a nonexistent “manhood” that she’s actively pushing herself further in the closet, because men are big and strong and tough and she’s leading a country, so if there’s any doubts about being a man there’s definitely no time for that! (Which there aren’t, so she’s good.) It’s never liked armor and always brushed the idea off, and if it visualizes itself in a dress every once in a while and would love to model one, or pretends his coat was just was a little bit longer, then no one needs to know. And he doesn’t need to understand.

Pogtopia just turns it up to eleven. Its body is wrong and that’s bad, and she keeps visualizing herself like a man, like Schlatt, and crying. But also a lot of it is also the normal crying? And this kind of crying is different from the crying she usually does, the crying that Tommy doesn’t know how to help and the crying that Techno suspiciously says nothing on. There are no mirrors in Pogtopia. For good reason. There are mirrors in Schlatt’s office.

Something is wrong he can tell, something is wrong. And she doesn’t know what it is, and it scares the living fuck out of her.

Fast forward a few years into limbo, Wilbur is fiddling with her shirt and suddenly a thought: hey, what if I had tits. Like actual ones? The thought just takes him so far off guard, it stops fiddling with its shirt entirely, dropping it in the embarrassment. What the fuck?

The thoughts continue like this and with no one to talk to, Wilbur can literally do nothing but self-reflect, and oh my God does he want to wear dresses? Does she want long hair? It’s stuck in the body and with limbo allowing no recluse, he mourns.

It suffers like this for a while, eventually concluding, “I am what I am,” but it’s still not an answer. It’s just a dismissal.

Wilbur doesn’t bring it up when Tommy follows him into to limbo, too busy occupied with having someone for the first time. And if she lets a few things slip that Tommy definitely doesn’t catch uhhhh who knows.

Revival drags him back to life. And suddenly, his body has weight again, he can feel the warmth on his skin, and the air in between his lungs, and it’s everything he ever wanted. Then crash.

All the pieces he tried to forget over limbo just come hurtling back like a bullet train. Too loose shirt, hair that doesn’t feel right, too masculine, not what he wants- What he wants?

This is all too much, he can’t figure this shit out on his own.

Despite himself (herself?), she goes to find Eret. Niki might kill her, and going to his son about this, it just simply couldn’t take. It remembers sixteen years ago, when they came out to Wilbur. Or was it a year? Fuck.

Either way.. Breathe tepid and heart racing, he knocks on the door to Eret’s museum. She opens, and God, this just isn’t worth it. It turns to run away and feels a hand on its shoulder. Something cold runs up the spine of his back, and she immediately smacks the hand away, fully ready to blow her top. Then it falters. He’s ready to walk off, call this a bust and just go home, but then Eret speaks: “Wilbur?”

God.

“…Can we talk about something?”

Surprisingly, the first thing on Eret’s mind wasn’t Wilbur’s coming out. (Crazy, right?) They talk properly about all the shit that’s happened with conversations they really needed to have, Wilbur definitely cried a few times, tried his best to not start arguments, but somehow, he went in for an explanation and came back with one of his oldest enemies by his side.

What he thought would be a small talk eventually blossomed into her first real reconciliation.

He’s so anxious to try on a dress, a dichotomy from the confident, suave Wilbur Eret once knew, but as she slipped it on, her eyes lit up. Eret brushed out its hair for it, pulling the lower half of it into a ponytail and talking about how fast Wilbur’s hair already grows. Its heart swells with pride.

Bigender. That was the word. She rolled it over on her tongue over and over again, bigender. It fit. Its identity wasn’t black and white, no one or the other. Because yeah, sometimes he was a guy, and sometimes she was a fucking girl. God.

#DSMP #dream smp #c!wilbur #wilbur soot #bigender wilbur #the_eret #eret #button duo #I’ve got no headcanon trans name for c!Wilbur pulled from lore so come up with one if you like #!

[lutawolf]

Hello Mrs. Luta,

I wanted to thank you for your analysis of TharnType. To be honest, TharnType is my least favorite Mame adaptation (nothing to do with the consent issues, I just don't react well to Type's personality due to personal issues), and your commentary makes me see so many things that I have not seen talked about or that I have not thought of. One thing especially caught my attention, and I apologize in advance if I say it clumsily, as English is not my first language. I also would like to warn for mention of SA and victim blaming. I wanted to jump back on something you pointed in your commentary of episode 2, when you talk about Techno's reaction to Type's anger, and how it is thrown back in his face in his own situation with Kengkla. I find is very interesting because the entire mess with Kengkla was enabled by Techno's brother, Technic. And Technic himself has his own behaviour thrown back in his face in his own romance in his own novel, "How to Change" when his first sexual encounter with his future partner happens when he is drunk off his ass. There is a cycle of getting punished for victim blaming and ignoring potential or actual victims, and it is easy to ignore or to dismiss as "Haha funny. Have a taste of your own medicine". But it is there and I wonder if Mame put it there deliberately. I just wanted to have your opinion on that. Of course you do not have to answer and feel free to ignore this ask if you find it inappropriate. Have a good day and all the best to you and your family.

Hey love!!!

Thank you for this ask because yes, this is exactly what I was trying to express. MAME purposely puts all these layers and connects all her books. She isn't writing for anyone but herself and the survivors who understand her. When you realize that, a lot of dots connect. I mean a lot.

When you put the parts together, it tells a narrative that many of us recognize. Which is why I personally find her work so powerful. It makes many people uncomfortable, but that's the point. You can't erase and ignore history and the bad things that happen. Doing so makes it more acceptable. Recognizing and discussing, like we are doing now, are what bring change.

Another thing to pay attention to is that MAME is clearly outlining in her books that our biases dictate who we consider a victim. That we have a tendency of not wanting justice for all. Only for the people we deem worthy.

Thank you. Hope you are having an amazing weekend.

#luta question and answer #luta talks tharntype #MAME

[thefearfulheart]

Small little bit of lore on my au in the works right now

I call it Colour Factory because I can’t name things for the life of me

Walton Darling (or CF as I will call him for the time being) inherited The Factory from his adopted ‘Father’ that mass produced a hallucinogenic called Colours that made users feel extreme happiness in short, controlled burst and is a extremely addicting substance, causing shifts in moods and personality the longer the user takes it. It’s a common chemist brand in stores and is highly recommended as a cure for depression or to eliminate anxiety for many user, allowing them to access a short lived experience that leaves them coming back for more of Colours in the end. Its a short lived experience that capitalises on users need and desperation to have a cure for their negative emotions, making them crave the techno coloured vivid emotions that overtake them every time they have Colours. It’s a liquid substance that comes in a variety of colours that have a iridescent appearance to them and is a flavourless substance that can be added to any any food or drinks in the end.

Colours is extracted from a extremely rare fungus that is nursed in…living, breathing bodies of people that are kept in a comatose state, allowing for it to be continuously harvested in bulk degree. Colours also needs to go through a vigorous and thorough fermentation and treatment process before it can be allowed for commercial use. They also…need to test it through a wide variety of test subjects of ages and conditions through either willing means…or unwilling means.

Money can buy a lot of things…and nobody will think twice about a missing homeless man or two in the end.

The end justifies the means in the Boards eyes.

The Board are a panel of directors that are involved in overseeing the The Factory and that’s it operation is running smoothly in the end. There are several other Factory’s but, the main one that Walton runs, is their largest factory to date and has the biggest production lines that the others can’t hope to compare to in the end. It’s one of the oldest as well and has been standing before the new Board took over in the end as well. It’s a large, behemoth of a building with a thick colourful smog coming from the smokestacks every single hour of the day and it almost seems to be watching the employees…as if it is alive.

There were, speculations of course, of the Factory actually being a sentient being but those rumours were dismissed by the Board in the end.

There is still that feeling of a oppressive gaze constantly on the employees back in the end…watching, waiting and hungering.

CF is the new director of the The Factory now and has replaced his father on the Board, as well as being the main leading scientist for Colours. CF, while moving out stuff from his late fathers office, eventually found a experimental Colours formula and test vial that was left behind from him. The formula was found half burned into the fire place while the experimental liquid was completely destroyed except for one that CF decided to test on himself as the control variable in the experiment to see if it would do anything, being completely immune to Colours himself. It had a…extreme effect on him that he’s been attempting to recreate the formula through the half-burned notes that was left behind ever since. Pouring his time, when not making the Board happy, and efforts in trying to recreate it while going through test subject after test subject to make sure that it would be fine for him to consume.

CF is…or was emotionless until he had that unique taste of Shimmer (as he calls it) that it made him feel so many terrible things, as if his own being was enflamed and his mind burned when he used it. He was a quiet being with a serious, no nonsense nature that strives for perfectionism over everything…until he had Shimmer. Shimmer changed his quiet mannerisms into a whirlwind of volatile, vivid emotions that left him so hunger for more of that feeling. He still a very cold individual but now he has a wicked temperament that almost anything can set him off if he’s pushed to the point, along with being more aggressive and manipulative to get what he wants when talking with people. People are tools that he can use to get to his own goal in the end in the literal sense…Shimmer needs to ferment somewhere and he doesn’t want to use his own body as the incubator for it.

He was 25 years old when he first had a taste of Shimmer and is now, roughly, is 32 years old. A lot of things have changed in The Factory during the seven years that passed every since CF consumed Shimmer and many…modifications have been made to improve production and performance in the factory.

The most cosmetically change to him would be that his once dull amber eyes now shine with a iridescent light in them and he always seems to have a half-smirk forming constantly on his face now…it worries the staff and, to a point, concerns few members of the Board.

People are now more disposable to him if he can perfect his sought after Shimmer and he will use any means necessary to make sure that he

Expect, of course, the head of the Board Ronald Doraline.

He actively encourages and funds CF research into Shimmer so they can make it into a commercialised product like they did with Colours and make bank on it, while CF is trying to perfect Shimmer so he can experience that one-of-a-kind feeling again when he first had Shimmer. CF is constantly wanting to feel that wild whirlwind of emotions that he felt and he chases after it in a desperate flurry in order to feel anything in the end.

He’s never felt something like that ever since then.

#welcome home au #welcome home #Colour Factory AU #i can’t draw but I am going to write on this a bit more when I can #well I hope people like the idea of it at least

[strangebruisesinc]

I am a 5'6" biological female, I use she/her/they pronouns(god that sounds cringey), have medium length dark brown hair, and turquoise/greenish eyes(i don't really know what color they are), and I wear black glasses with clear rims. I have what most would describe as the 'pear' body shape with larger hips and B cup breasts. I tend to wear baggy, comfort-first sort of clothes with the occasional dress and one piece.

My zodiac signs(If you care) are Virgo(sun), Libra(moon), and Virgo(ascendant). I also have the INTP personality type.

Facts about me:

I have been told than I have a high maturity level for someone my age(but I laugh at dumb jokes so idk if I believe them)

I enjoy cracking jokes about anyone and anything, NO ONE IS SHIELDED FROM MY COMEDIC WRATH

I am kind, polite, relaxed, have a dark sense of humor and generally low self-esteem

I try to be open-minded, and am always looking to improve my talents and relationships with those I care about

Critical and suspicious of literally EVERYTHING (especially myself)

I can be insensitive, petty, and sometimes even knowingly dismissive of my faults, and try to blame others instead

I lie a lot more than I'd like to admit, but try to make up for it and improve

I come from an primarily Christian family, my favorite season is winter, and I would like to create other forms of art other than writing at some point

I used to have what could be considered a phobia of insects/bugs, but it has become a lot mild over the years

I mostly enjoy physical affection more so than verbal, but if worded in certain ways that can touch my heart, I will prefer the latter, and you will have acquired a loyal ally (I respect the power of words, I am a writer after all)

I am what is described as a HSP (hyper sensitive person, look it up if you're curious)

I have a condition called Exotropia (aka drifting eye) in my left eye that has been corrected through 3 surgeries (but I still have to wear glasses in order to maintain it).

A firm believer that nothing is truly impossible, and that people hate most in others what they hate in themselves

Confused by everything 24/7… EVERYTHING

Likely on the autism spectrum

Likes: Being helpful, alternative, rock, and techno music, order and peacefulness, making people laugh, Sci-Fi media, writing/creating, tarot cards, D&D, anything to do with the diversity of personalities, psychology⁰

Dislikes: Being a burden, country music, drama and chaos, low effort creative endeavors, hypocrites(ironically), closed minded people, bad grammar, things not going my way, extremely religious people, weird internet trends and phrases (ex: pogchamp, dummy thicc, boomer, etc.), most of tumblr, Twitter

And that should be most of the important stuff (just so I don't get carried away)! I am very interested to see who you match me with!

Thanks so much! That's a lot of useful information! Now with that being said:

I match you with:

Sollux Captor!

Now hear me out

I feel like you two both compliment and contrast well

I definitely hc him as the type of person that a lot of people misread because of his initial aloofness

Also Short King™

I also hc that he doesn't verbalize as much as others because of his speech impediment, so I think your lean towards physical affection would initially pull him in

Also? HUGE grade A nerd. Would indulge in literally anything you would like and would have in common

I feel like he's definitely been a Dungeon Master a couple times and would want to set up a D&D match with you

I think Sol struggles with sarcasm and getting people to take him seriously so it would be refreshing to have someone there for him that could just listen yk.

1000000% offers to clean your glasses for you

Dark humor? That's what he got his master's in, babe.

Bro can and will sit and joke back and forth for hours.

Sollux is definitely on the internet most of his life, so I feel like anything you'd be confused about he would have at least 5 different answers for it, bros a walking encyclopedia.

Bonus: your song!

I imagine he'd listen to stuff like Midwestern emo rock, so have Peach by The Front Bottoms!

I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for the ask!

#homestuck matchups #homestuck x reader #homestuck #tumblr sexymen #sollux captor #hs sollux

[femmesandhoney]

hey as someone from Detroit who actively lives in Detroit that post comes off as dismissive of our efforts to rebrand ourselves as a midwest tourist destination after the auto industry moved away from Detroit and took all its jobs with it. We have cool and historical places (as we are the birthplace of motown, techno, and arguably american punk rock), art, history, and science museums, good food of all different ethnicities, local live music, and our riverwalk which was voted the best in america by USA TODAY for the third year in a row. Beyond the gentrified spaces there is so much magic in Detroit and we wish people would stop just instantly assuming we live in a fucking shithole because it's actually fucking great

hi anon, you're assuming a lot about my feelings about Detroit based on one off hand joke about American tourism specifically for non-Americans. I am correct that people traveling abroad to the US will most likely not put Detroit on their lists of must-go places no matter how nice of a city it is. I'm sure there are people who do see the beauty of the city and plan a trip there, but I think a lot of tourists will go to places like California, Florida, NYC, Washington DC, and general national parks and monuments out West.

As someone from Milwaukee who loves the Midwest, I don't think badly of Detroit at all lol, I think we have beautiful culture and nature, but most tourism towards the city will be marketed to other Midwesterners or Americans. Did i ever say its a shithole? Did i say i hate Detroit and think its a wasteland? No, so don't put words in my mouth.

#like i would love to visit Detroit given the chance lmao #but its definitely not want tourists often come for

[missycolorful]

I always find it so interesting that a lot of Doomsday takes desperately seek that history be considered when mourning the country. And it’s not a totally inept ideal, given how some people like Tommy and Ghostbur value memories of old and cling to them when mourning what was lost. I can see where that value lies. They have good memories there.

It’s just that, when it comes to the present, and the standings of the country now, and whether or not New L'manberg is bad, history isn’t enough.

It’s like… how we say we shouldn’t do the exact opposite. By that, I mean we hold the common belief that one’s history should not m carry too much weight when they are a good person in the present, as in they changed and are better than they were years ago and do not hold bad beliefs they held prior.

So, idk, even barring my conflicted feelings of old L’manberg, why does the cruelty of a corrupt nation not matter just because it was good at some point? Because even then, L’manberg died on Nov 16th and has not risen from its grave. The new one is a cruel mockery of the old.

Like “oh Techno and Phil should learn more about L’manberg’s beginnings to see where that value stood and what it meant them.”

And I’m sorry, but this just… it isn’t enough. Because this implies that that would matter. To them or those who hold contempt for NLM. But it does not. Because to say this is telling me that people believe that Doomsday was 100% emotionally driven, and thus the solution would fall into place if everyone just calmed down and had a moment to think back on old L'manberg. Which was not true in the slightest. There IS emotion taken into account, but we can’t dismiss there is LOGIC to Techno and Phil’s reason for Doomsday. To pretend emotion is solely at the core completely disregards a lot about these characters, their ideals and values, and their experiences and how said experiences played into those ideals.

Techno’s history with the country is complicated. He came into it in the midst of conflict. He knows very little about any good that L'manberg held. And really, with the Red Festival, the 16th, the Butcher Army, the Green Festival, Techno has had continuous bad experiences associated with the country. And his viewpoints have solely taken in a lot of the damage done at the hands of the country, such as Tommy's exile, Wilbur's own destruction, et cetra.

And he didn't feel safe with New L'manberg still kicking, thanks to the Butcher Army. He tried to talk them down, reason with them, tell them that he wanted to pacify. But they weren't listening. At this point, what else is he supposed to do? Assassinate the president? Which already happened (kinda sorta) and led to another leader coming in that was slowly corrupted by the system? Do any of us really think that NLM would be willing to talk to Technoblade with mutual respect and understanding? You may try to say "yes," but deep down, I think we know that that option was never on the table. So, feeling unsafe and seeing that government has done more harm than good for these people, Technoblade took action.

Then we have Philza, who again, there's talks of "oh, let him hear about the history of L'manberg, he'll hear them out." Except... Philza DID know about it. Or he THOUGHT he did. He has those letters, the letters that spun L'manberg's history into something more positive as opposed to the suffering it caused and the damage done. He thought things were okay with Wilbur and the country he was creating. It was why he was willing to DEFEND L’manberg on the 16th against the Withers. It was why he was willing to build back up what was destroyed. He interacted with its citizens, helped in a lot of ways that honestly, some people seem to forgot. He was a big part of New L’manberg’s beginnings. Even if he proclaimed he wasn't really a citizen, he was still very much a present figure in helping rebuild it.

It was why the gradual corruption he witnessed burned him so much. Tubbo, someone who he somewhat respected and even initially praised for his work on LMN, admitted to him that he used money from his citizens for personal gain. Fundy, his own family, bonded with him then continuously scammed him and much worse, hovered the fact he was family over Phil’s head as he and the Butcher Army raided his house. He almost DIED by Tubbo’s hand aka state violence?? He almost saw the execution his best friend, in such an unjustly, vile way. He WITNESSED ALL OF THIS. Despite trying to give it a chance, he told them that he felt his loyalty was not earned. And they failed to give him any reason to give his utmost loyalty to them. They simply provided a man, who has seen many nations fall in all of his years and seen corruption creep into every crevice, more ammo in his beliefs that "this is the right thing to do," to help those suffering at the hands of a torturous nation.

This isn't even taking into account the damage L'manberg has done to its own founders and other citizens. I won't go too deep into it, but while Doomsday was traumatizing, I refuse to pretend that L'manberg didn't hurt pretty much everyone in close proximity of it. And all of that pain, all of that trauma, all of that everything, are we really going to disregard all of that, all because "oh, no, it was good at one point, don't be mean to it now."

Why is history important when the present is so ripe with wrongness? When the country that stands is nothing like the one that they once cherished? What does blowing up this new one matter when L’manberg has been dead for so long, when most of its people had defected elsewhere and was such a negative for pretty everyone else that had remained? Memories of old that hold sentimentality aren't bad or wrong or invalid, but if memories are the only good thing they have of a current country, then... just... why let a corpse run ragged?

#l'manberg critical #lore discussion #dream smp #i saw twt talking doomsday and am feeling feelings #mimi rambles

[dr3amofagame]

ctechno was not the nice dude everyone wants him to be

oooh interesting take lmao. im gonna insert a courtesy "c!techno is generally a good person and does good" disclaimer bc like, c!techno is generally a good person that does good and cares about people and gets ridiculous amounts of hates for stupid things all the damn time, for the record, but also ... i cant say i dont get what you mean in part?

i think there's a phenomenon with c!techno sometimes where people can make him either too much of a paragon or strip him of too much agency in a way that's weird to me. i mean like, "he's canonically 3 years old" jokes aside, this guy isn't someone whos just doomed to be taken advantage of everyone unless they "respect his boundaries 🥺🙏" and can't assert himself at all and whatever, yknow? like, he can AND DOES assert himself when he thinks it's necessary. he can AND DOES act like an asshole sometimes!

like c!techno is a full, well-rounded character. he gets too angry sometimes and does shit he regrets. he has to make efforts to change. he has feelings, he gets hurt, he lashes out. he's too dismissive sometimes because he copes with shit through humor. he isn't perfect, and that's ... a good thing? it's a good thing that he's a full well rounded interesting character with flaws. but at the same time, pointing out said flaws and treating them as flaws isn't damnation!

like, for example, right, it's perfectly understandable for him to feel used and betrayed by c!tommy. was he also kinda mean to c!tommy in the aftermath in a way that can be pointed out? i mean. yeah of course! and like, of course he was grieving and hurt and in a lot of emotional pain when c!ranboo died and did that probably play into his attitude towards c!dream post-prison break? absolutely! was stripping a guy that is literally being chased down by his literal torturers and a server of people who want to kill him of his armor and telling him he can keep a weapon For A Favor and then going "awwh we didnt get him to use his necromancy powers :/" absolutely still kind of a generally asshole-y thing to do? i mean, YEAH ???? like, if they werent doing that bc of some kind of plan, that was still kind of a jerk thing to do? in a way that's very understandable, because c!techno is a character that becomes more of a jerk when he's stressed and in emotional turmoil. and this isnt about damning him or condemning him ... but i don't see the point of erasing said moments either.

shrug anyway i think c!techno overall was a pretty damn nice dude and a good guy and im kind of trusting that u dont mean this in the same way as certain c!techno takes ive seen back in the day that felt like crucifying him every time he made a joke that broke the fourth wall aSKFJLasf. c!techno should've been meaner, actually, for the record. and it's so awesome that he put c!sam in a prison and cask of amontillado'd that guy, GOD BLESS

#my asks !! #dsmp hot takes #uhhh idk should i tag c!techno critical ? #ill do it but i dont think im being critical AJKLSFJASL he's a good guy he's also like. a guy and not a perfect paragon #disk horse #c!techno critical

[simplepotatofarmer]

there's a point in the prison podcast stream where c!techno and c!dream are talking about religion, specifically church prime, and techno says that because dream doesn't believe, he's a heretic and not profiting off it.

in response, dream lowers his voice and says, 'but i'm profiting off of those that do.'

and the thing about that moment is, combined with the earlier bit with the potatoes where c!dream asked c!techno if burning the potatoes hurt him, it feels like dream is merely playing the role of the villain.

which he is but because techno doesn't see him that way, doesn't treat him that way, dream comes off like some edgy myspace status. it's theatrics. he sounds like he's doing a really bad joker impression.

and that's not to say c!dream isn't cruel or that he hasn't done terrible things because he has. he obviously has. those things are blunt, clinical, strategic. but when it comes the act of being the server's Big Bad, the attempts are often so over the top and stereotypical, that to a lot of people, it's just like 'okay dream' or techno's 'strange green man' description. because they haven't experienced the actual cruelty. it makes sense that, for example, c!tommy buys into this act because he's experienced dream's cruelty. that act is designed for tommy in the same way that dream's over the top cruel speech towards c!tubbo at the green festival hit on a lot of tubbo's insecurities and from that perspective, it was intense.

i just find it very interesting because it was always something that felt vaguely off to me with c!dream's actions, not just the vault and its impracticality, but overall. the fact that as soon as that act isn't working or someone pushes back on it, c!dream seems to drop it immediately. like a mask that's no longer useful.

you can also see a bit of the same switch in c!dream's perspective. he hides from c!seapeekay or backs away, crouching as if he's concerned about what might happen (that body language giving him away) but as he's speaking, he's dismissive, calling cpk a 'peasant'. his words imply that he looks down on cpk and that he poses no threat. it's an act, however. just like his attempts to get c!techno to see him as a tough/bad guy. just like the vault and the final confrontation.

it makes me want to know more about who c!dream really is.

#yeah yeah i deleted it and i'm reposting it now #i thought of something else i wanted to ad #add* and i'm insecure about my posts lately #loyal does meta #technoblade #dreamwastaken #dsmp analysis #dream smp #dsmp clips #c!tommy #c!tubbo #seapeekay

[bonesandthebees]

And now onto obsessing over the story itself. God Wilbur and Tommy are just babies in this. It’s good to see they still have some childlike wonder after all those near-death experiences. Also, they are very terrified and it makes them even more clingy.

Puffy doesn’t seem to mind. The AE weren’t expecting 2 teens and definitely not the youngest being the crown prince. It’s kinda funny how quickly everyone figures out that Wilbur is in charge, but it also makes sense given that he’s the oldest and was flying the shuttle.

Then we have Phil and Techno. I haven’t seen enough of them to figure them out (obviously). But they are very interesting and a lot better at politics than the boys are. I’m also not sure whether they do have pity for the princes or if they are just playing with their food. Maybe a bit of both.

Anyway, negotiations with Tommy are gonna be fun. I feel like I might need to make a cuss word count. Rip Wilburs sanity trying to keep this on track. You will be missed.

-🌲

YEAHHHHH SPRUCE ANON I WAS WAITING FOR THIS

they're still kids :( still wanna see the cool ice city even if they're fearing for their lives bc, like, who wouldn't?? and yeah, the AE weren't expecting anyone to come to them for asylum, let alone two teenage princes of the wealthiest planet in the entire galaxy. especially not two teenage princes that are attached at the hip because they've been traumatized to all hell and back

also, let's be real. if you see a nineteen year old and a fifteen year old traveling together you're gonna figure out pretty damn quickly the nineteen year old is in charge regardless of royal status

haha... phil and techno are so fun for me to write in this. I'll give you a hint: it's leaning more towards playing with their food lmao. wilbur and tommy are still political adversaries and neither one of them is just going to dismiss that just because they're kids. this is a great opportunity for the AE, and phil especially knows that full well. he's not going to let something like this just slip through his fingers :)

you'll definitely need to make a cuss word count there's going to be so many fucks dropped

wilbur's sanity lasted all of five minutes rest in peace

#spruce anon #ask #the stars and their children

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Shootout at Lokhandwala (Lakhia, 2007)

You gotta hand it to a movie that knows the difference between depiction and endorsement well enough that it goes out of its way to let you know it endorses what it's depicting. The movie is based on a real-life gun battle between cops and gangsters in a Mumbai suburb. We open with a reporter doing a broadcast from the location in the aftermath, asking about the implications of letting cops have free reign to use hardline tactics, and spend the rest of the movie having these questions dismissed at every opportunity. It uses a flashback structure where three of the leaders of the unit, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) that apparently was inspired by the LAPD's SWAT teams, are questioned about their methods and their handling of the situation. We get some historical context around Sikh terrorism after Operation Blue Star, and if you're hoping for any nuance or sensitivity around broadly depicting an ethnic group or religion as violent extremists, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Questions about torture and lack of due process are responded to with speech after indignant speech, occasionally cutting to the bad guys doing bad stuff to justify the unit's actions. Attempts to end the climactic shootout with less bloodshed are laughed off, as the mother of one of the criminals is chided for pleading for her son's life, and a criminal who was captured alive is repeatedly shot in full view of TV cameras. And at the very end, we get caption showing the impact of the ATS on reducing crime and noting that the 1993 Mumbai bombings happened the same year the unit was dissolved. (I'm obviously shedding a lot of the nuances about the particular situation here, but imagine if a Hollywood movie stated outright that civil liberties were to blame for 9/11.) Some movies are sly and subtle about stacking the deck. This one is not.

The style here is very much in the vein of mid-2000s Bollywood filmmaking. The desaturated sepia tone signals that this is serious "based on a true story" business. We get the requisite musical numbers, although only one (set in a teahouse) feels at one with the movie's overall look. The look is heavily influenced by what can be called "nu-metal" cinema. The camera moves more than it needs to, shaking and whipping about almost arbitrarily. The cuts come more often than they should and are excessively flashy. The movie piles on "extreeeeeeeeeme" guitar and/or techno music to let you know something is exciting, or qawwali-style wailing to underline its emotional beats. I don't think minimalism is inherently a virtue, but I can imagine a better version of this movie that was just the shootout, that let the unfolding situation make its points instead of spelling them out, that didn't try to punch up every emotional beat or thrill, that would map out the geography of the setting or the climax, that would actually hold on the standoff and the moments in between the gunfire to build tension.

Still, the movie manages to be pretty entertaining in spite of itself. While I found the performances of the villains less than convincing (the actors are too photogenic and soft to buy as cold-blooded killers, although the actor playing the lead gangster, Vivek Oberoi, pulled off playing a gangster much better in Company), Sanjay Dutt, Arbaaz Khan and Suniel Shetty are quite effective as the cops, bringing a certain amount of texture and gravity to their men of action. The banter between Khan and Shetty, the former annoyingly verbose in multiple languages, the latter a lunkhead who can't bring himself to apologize to the missus, is the one thing that feels organic in the movie. And while the action isn't particularly well shot or edited, there's a lot of it, the gunfire a near constant presence on the soundtrack during the climax, deployed with a certain jaunty rhythm.

#film #movie review #shootout at lokhandwala #apoorva lakhia