Yelling into the Void

Snowyh2o’s side blog for Dream SMP brain rot + some art, mostly watching Foolish and Bad streams and a proud member of dreblr

[sumwan]

BadBoyHalo talked about the cut Dream SMP finale on stream and elaborated a bit more on the Egg's part in it (Eret also showed the script of the finale here already). The idea would have been that DreamXD would restart the server cycle whenever massive events happened, which caused people to lose most of their memories. The Egg itself was a creation of the endless timelines and not of DreamXD and was able to feel whenever the cycle reset again, which would make it lose its power and influence. Bad had a headcanon that DreamXD pulled in people from different timelines and universes so they could be his playthings.

Transcription:

BADBOYHALO: Basically, the Egg is a creature that was created within the Dream SMP— So, this—mind some of this is, like, my headcanon. That was planned on being, like, actually brought out into the lore. But the way that the Dream SMP, like, headcanon universe existed. Like the canon that we were going for, like, the ending. The original ending we were having planned…. was to have it end with the revealing that DreamXD was this— You could look at him as the god of the universe that everybody had existed in. And that what would happen was, canonical massive events, like nukes going off and things like that, would reset the cycle.

The way that the server was gonna work out, was there was gonna be like a massive attack on DreamXD. Where they were gonna go to the End and confront him. And upon confronting and trying to kill DreamXD, they were going to get to the point where they were going to potentially beat him. But right before beating him, they were going to kill him— or try to kill him, but he would reset the cycle.

Basically, my sort of headcanon within the Dream SMP universe, is that it was all— People from various timelines and universes and places would essentially be pulled in by DreamXD in order to be his playthings. Basically put into this universe specifically so that DreamXD could mess with them.

And so the reason for like, in the Eggpire arc, the characters' memories of like previous lives and things like that, is because they had all existed to some degree or another. So they had all essentially lived multiple lives within this specific universe. Within what you would say is the Dream SMP universe.

So the Egg is a creation not of DreamXD, but of the endless timelines. So essentially the Egg is trapped in this never-ending cycle of constantly feeling the timeline shift. And every time the timeline gets reset, the Egg gets re-buried and has to be rediscovered in order to continue its influence. Essentially Sam Bucket was trapped—

So the Egg is immune to the cycles. But the cycle resets the whole world. So basically, when the cycle resets, the Egg is reburied, re-gone, it's in a different spot again. It loses its power. And essentially DreamXD would reset the cycle when certain things happened. Where, like, the universe would become corrupted. The Egg would at some points take control. And try and, like, go crazy and brainwash people, etc, etc, etc.

What would have happened is, when DreamXD resets— So you basically had the nuke going off, and you had the Egg being confronted at the same time happening as the other group would have been attacking DreamXD. So DreamXD gets attacked again, and that's when it resets. So the cycle gets reset at some point. And that would have led into Dream SMP season 2. So that's essentially what was the plan before Dream SMP season 2 never happened.

There were essentially tons and tons of cycles that were happening. And that's why you had people who had multiple memories. Could remember, like, past lives. Because every time DreamXD would reset the cycle, it wouldn't necessarily everything.

[cdroloisms]

not to interrupt the drestivities but dr3 art ? pog ?? <- is thinking about them (prisontrio) again 

ft. some silliness + the inspiration (thanks angela) under the cut

Keep reading

[dreamhot]

it's time for direct action

[theminecraftbox]

Can we talk about the dehumanization in c!Dream’s monologue? He isn’t comparing himself to a person who was threatened, who was hurt, and whose family was in danger. He is comparing himself to an animal. He isn’t giving himself any kind of agency—only that of instinct.

And he is saying, look, even snakes are treated better than I am. Even animals are afforded the dignity of having their motives questioned.

“Unless you’re saying that I’m not a person.”

[dreamologisth2o]

The thing about snakes is, and the thing I really like about cc!Dream’s metaphor, is that snakes don’t like to bite. Snakes don’t want, to bite. Especially those with venom.

Biting is risky, biting is a last line of defense. A snake will do literally everything else before that, to scare the danger away. They’ll puff up, flatten themselves, open their hoods if they have one, open their mouths, make themselves look bigger, more threatening. They’ll hiss and buzz their tails and make noise and back up. And when everything else fails, they bite.

And sometimes biting is the only thing that works. It’s the only thing that sticks.

And maybe a snake that just bites is a snake that’s learned that nothing else works.

How long did it take for c!Dream to finally learn that nothing else works? How many other things has he tried? How many other times has he failed?

When does a snake become a snake that just bites?

[lostinmcyt]

“There are some snakes that just bite. Pure evil. But they weren’t always that way. You made them that way by treating them like that’s what they always were.”

I am blasting this specific quote into minds of everyone who has EVER had the audacity to argue against us when we said 'he wasn't always like this'

[dreamupdates]

Dream tweeted on his priv !

[hiding-in-the-vault]

What? Me drawing a Different Character? Incredible

[dreamologisth2o]

That Time When You’re Offered a Job by the Very Same Guy You Just Tried to Mug

(For the redtaxproject, a scene from my personal superhero AU :))

“I’ll kill you, y’know?” Tommy grumbles, scowling up at the man through the bag of groceries he’d been given to carry.

“Mmhmm.” The man hums, completely unbothered as he continues leading Tommy to… somewhere. The man had said he was going back home, and that Tommy could join him for a meal if he wanted— so long as he helped carry the groceries. But even Tommy wasn’t dumb enough to bring a stranger who’d just threatened to kill and rob him back home.

It’s probably a trap, or something. Tommy’s probably gonna die, in the basement of some weirdo’s house, with no one to mourn him. If he’s lucky the man will just take him back to child services, or the police. If he’s unlucky he’ll end up as a lab rat and buried six feet under.

But the offer of a warm meal was too tempting— he hadn’t eaten anything decent in days. And honestly, it’s not like he’s got much else to lose is there?

Nothing to lose except my freedom and my life, Tommy thinks, sardonically.

“I’ll kill you, y’know,” Tommy repeats. “I’ll stab you in your fucking sleep and rob your house blind.” He glared, staring intently at the man as they continued down the darkened streets.

The man turned, a small, little smile still quirked up on his lips— and Tommy scowled harder. It pissed him off, how unbothered the man was, how— how amused he seemed to be at Tommy’s threats which. Well. Considering how unafraid the man was when Tommy was armed with a fucking knife, it probably shouldn’t be too surprising that he didn’t find Tommy very threatening at all.

“My name is Dream.” The man, Dream, says. And Tommy almost trips over his own feet at the suddenness of it. Barely managing to avoid falling face first onto the hard concrete and crushing the bag of groceries in his arms.

What?

“What?”

“Call me Dream.” And— yup, the bastard was fucking laughing at him right now.

Tommy scowls, harder— his face feeling sore from the effort of making his displeasure known. And checks his bag to make sure nothing had fallen out or gotten crushed accidentally.

“What’s your name?” Dream asks, and Tommy flips him off, stomping down the street ahead of him before stopping when he realized he didn’t know where to go.

Dream laughs, quiet, like that stupid grin, like the way he moves, like his almost silent footsteps and how he’d effortlessly disarmed Tommy, before Tommy had even realized what was happening. He hates the way Dream presents himself, quiet and unassuming. Like he’s not a threat. Like he’s not the most dangerous fucking thing around for the next hundred miles.

Why was he following this bastard again?

Right, food. That’s why.

Tommy’s stomach growls loudly at the reminder, and he instantly feels his ears grow red in embarrassment.

“Haha, don’t worry, we’re here.” Dream says, stopping next to him. Tommy looks around, and then at the door Dream had turned to. It was one of those side entrances that led directly to the second floor of a building. There wasn’t much else to it, the door being plain and undecorated, save for a tiny smile sticker next to the peakhole.

Well, it’s not like there would’ve been much room for decorations, considering the way it’s been sandwiched between an office building and, what? Tommy squinted up at the sign of the building next door, just making out the letters for “Kitten’s Kafe”. A cat cafe.

Tommy turned back to Dream, who had set his bags down, and was lightly searching his pockets for the keys, before giving up and fishing one out from underneath the cafe’s welcome mat.

Huh. Tommy thinks, that’s interesting.

“Just give me a second to put things away and get something warmed up.” Dream said, catching Tommy’s attention again as he opened the door. “You can pass me the bags and—“

Not letting the man finish, Tommy immediately pushes his own bags into Dream’s hands and rushes through the door, up the stairs.

“—take off your shoes!” Dream finishes behind him, and Tommy pauses at the top of the stairs to kick off his shoes before opening the second door into a rather spacious living area and kitchen combination.

Quickly scoping the space out, Tommy takes note of the large windows to his left. The blinds were closed, but he guessed it wouldn't be too difficult to shatter and escape through if need be. The fall would be about— two stories, Tommy guessed. Not too bad, but dangerous if he landed wrong.

Moving past the living room Tommy found a short hallway. It led to a dead end, splitting off left and right, with the left turn ending at a door, and the right turn extending further down into the house. Before he could take a step further though, Tommy felt a hand grab the back of his shirt and lift him up, like some unruly cat, or raccoon.

“Hey!” Tommy yelped, even as he was set back down in the living room. “What the hell was that for?!”

“Nothing nothing, just thought you’d like to know that the food’s ready.” Dream says, holding up his hands placatingly. ….holding up his empty hands.

Whipping around Tommy quickly took in the sight of a steaming grilled cheese on the kitchen table, a plate of bacon and a glass of warm milk next to it. The bags of groceries were piled on the floor next to the fridge.

He blinks, feeling like the world had skipped a beat, like a broken record. But the bags were still piled by the fridge, and the food still sat steaming on the table.

When he looked back, Dream was already making his way to the abandoned groceries, sorting through their contents and putting them away. Tommy continued staring, slack jawed.

“How— Wha— What the fuck?! How the fuck did you do that?!”

“How did I do what?” Dream questions, head tilted but not turning away from his work.

“That— ALL THAT.” Tommy yelled, pointing incredulously at the food. Belatedly, the smell reaches him and his stomach began protesting when Tommy didn’t start stuffing his face.

“Oh uh.” And Dream stands, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “You were kinda just staring at the window for like, a good minute or two. I didn’t wanna bother you so I went and heated up the food.”

Tommy continued to stare. Dream looked away, hand dropping.

“Do you uh, do you not want it…?”

“Are you fucking kidding me of course I want it! Just. How do I know you’re not trying to trick me?” Tommy squinted, settling down in front of the food, carefully sitting on top of his hands.

“What, you think I poisoned the food or something? If I wanted to hurt you I’d have done so in that alleyway— not bring you back to my house.” Dream scoffs, putting the last of the groceries away and throwing the extra bags under the sink.

Moving around the table, Dream sat down in front of Tommy, and crossed his arms.

“Look, if you really want, I can take a bite and prove it’s not poisoned or anything—“

“No! No, it’s fine. I’m not fucking Snow White ok? I don’t need you to prove shit.” And to back his own words Tommy finally let himself reach out and take a bite of the grilled cheese.

It’s good. It’s better than good. The bread was slightly stale, and the cheese had solidified within the sandwich, but it’s the best fucking thing he’s had to eat in weeks. Before he’d realized it, the grilled cheese was gone, his stomach comfortably full for the first time in, who knows how long it’s been.

In front of him, Dream seemed to relax, that stupid smile of his back on his face.

Tommy shot a suspicious look in his direction, before grabbing the milk. He sniffed it, shrugged, and tossed it back quickly. Then snatched a piece of bacon to chew on.

“Do you have a place to stay?” Dream asks. Tommy shoots him a look, swallowing.

“What do you think, bitch?”

Dream blinks.

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to ask. And my name is Dream.”

“Nah. Your name is now Bitch Boy. Cause you’re a bitch.” Tommy grins smugly, very proud of his comeback.

“Do you always insult the people who give you food?” Dream grumbles, smile finally dropping.

“No-pe!” Tommy grins further, emphasizing the word with a pop. “Just you Bitch Boy!”

“Great.” Dream mumbles, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tommy paid him no mind, carefully using his last piece of bacon to gather up the grease left behind on his plate.

“So, are you gonna tell me your name, or should I keep calling you Kid?” Dreams asks, raising an eyebrow as Tommy licks his plate clean.

“I’m not a kid. I’m a big man. A full grown adult if you will.”

“Whatever you say ‘Big Man’.” Tommy flipped him off, then looked under his empty plate, as though more food would suddenly magically appear if he just checked.

“You got anymore food Bitch Boy?” Tommy asks, looking down the center of his empty cup. Staring intently at Dream through the glass like it was a telescope.

Dream’s expression seemed to twist, warping weirdly through the glass, and Tommy found that he much preferred this to the man’s actual face.

“Hey!” Tommy yelped, hands reaching out towards his cup as it was snatched away. When he looked up, Dream’s smile was gone, a faint frown marring his face.

It was strangely less irritating.

“What?” Tommy snaps, when the silence dragged on for too long, and Dream blinks. Shaking his head and schooling his expression back into a smile. Tommy scowls.

“Stop that.”

“What?” Confusion flits across his face.

“That.” Tommy repeats, pointing at Dream’s face until the man goes cross eyed. “Your face. That fucking smile or whatever. It’s fucking creepy.”

“What?” Dream says, incredulous. A hand instantly going up to cover his mouth. Something defensive settled over the man.

“You heard me. I said your smile’s fucking creepy.”

“I—! My smile is not creepy!”

“Could’ve fooled me.” Tommy scoffs, rolling his eyes. “It makes you look like fucking a serial killer, or a super villain or some shit.”

“Wha— I do not look like a serial killer!”

“So does that make you a super villain then?”

“No!” Dream sputters, scowling at Tommy.

With a grumble, Dream gets up and grabs the empty plate and cup, bringing them to the sink in the kitchen. Tommy quietly watched him wash the dishes from the table.

“I was going to ask,” Dream starts, breaking the silence. “If you needed a place to stay.” Tommy looked up, but Dream wasn’t paying him any mind, attention focused on the cup he was scrubbing clean. He wasn’t smiling anymore, Tommy notes smugly, but he also wasn’t frowning. Instead an oddly flat look had taken over his face, like Dream wasn’t quite sure about the expression he should make.

“...and what’s it to you?” Tommy responds, defensive.

“Well,” Dream drawls out, hands still scrubbing at the cup. “I own the cafe under us, but we’re a little understaffed at the moment.” Setting the glass aside and shaking his hands dry, Dream finally looks back at Tommy. “So I was wondering if you’d like to spend the night here, in exchange for helping out around the cafe tomorrow.”

Tommy squints at him, instantly suspicious.

“How do I know it’s not a trap?”

Dream rolls his eyes, picking up the plate and drying it with a cloth.

“We’ve been over this already. If I wanted to do something to you I would’ve done so in that alleyway, not bring you into my house and feed you.”

“So? You could just be doing that to lower my fucking guard!”

“What?” Dream shakes his head, setting the plate aside, hand rubbing at his forehead. “Look, kid,” Tommy scowls. “Big Man, whatever. I’m not gonna do anything to you, and I’m not trying to either. I have somewhere to be tomorrow, so I can’t help manage the cafe and there’s only one other person who can come in at that time. It’s handleable but I’d rather not overwork my only employee if I don’t have to.

“If you don’t like the offer, feel free to leave and go back to wherever it is you’re staying. I’m not gonna make you stay and force you to work or whatever.”

Tommy considers this, and then considers Dream, blank faced with the slightest downwards twitch of his lips. He looked tired, Tommy notes. The way he’s ever so slightly slouched. How he’s subtly leaning his weight against the counter.

He looks defeated. Which just feels wrong on someone who could kick his ass blind folded and with both hands tied.

Which, speaking of…

“Teach me how to fight.”

“What?” Dream blinks.

“I said, teach me how to fight.” Tommy reiterates, puffing his chest out in emphasis.

“I’m not gonna teach a kid how to use a knife.” Rolling his eyes, Dream turned to put the cleaned dishes away.

“Well, yes you are.” Tommy huffs, getting up and moving to stand in the man’s way. “Because if you don’t I’m gonna walk on out of here and you’re gonna have to live with the guilt of kicking a homeless kid out of your house.”

“So you admit you’re a kid?” Dream asks, quirking an eyebrow, lips twitching reluctantly up.

“No! I’m only using that as an example!” Tommy exclaims, appalled at the very suggestion that he was anything less than an adult.

“Whatever you say.” Dream shakes his head, heaving a sigh. Setting the dishes back down, the man began messaging the bridge of his nose, taking in a deep breath.

“I’m not going to teach you how to use a knife—“

“Hey—!”

“Because you’re gonna get yourself or someone else hurt and I don’t want the police coming to me when someone inevitably gets stabbed.”

“I’m not gonna stab anyone, just threaten them a little with my amazing knife skills.”

“But,” And Dream looks at Tommy, considering. “If you decide to help out at my cafe, I won’t say no to showing you some self defense moves after hours.”

Tommy perked up.

“So you’re gonna teach me how to fight?”

Dream turned away, finally placing the cleaned dishes into the cupboard.

“I didn’t say that.”

“Uhhhh, yes you did.” Grinning, Tommy walked up to the man, poking him lightly in the side. Dream twitched. “You definitely fucking said you’d teach me how to fight.”

“No, I said I’d show you a few self defense moves.” Dream nodded, “Very different things.”

Tommy wasn’t listening, instead doing a silent victory dance in his head as he dashed around the counter, back towards the hallway.

“Hey, slow down there kid.” Dream says, snatching Tommy by the back of his shirt before he can turn the corner. “I need to set some ground rules.”

Tommy makes a face at that, sticking his tongue out childishly, but didn’t make any moves to run when Dream set him down again.

“Ok, first of all, don’t steal anything. Hey! I’m being serious. My other employee sometimes spends the night here, and he’s got his stuff lying around in the guest room. The other guest room is full of junk and you’ll be staying in his room for the night. So don’t touch anything that doesn’t belong to you.

“Second, the shower’s down the hall. You can use the stuff that’s in the room, but I’m expecting you to put everything back where you found it, ok? Also, please don’t flood the place. It’ll be a nightmare to clean up.

“Third, you’re not allowed in my room. You’ll know when you see it. If you need anything just, knock. But if I find you snooping around in there then the deal’s off. Am I clear?”

“Yes yes! No stealing, no griefing, no going into fucking the end– can I go now?” Tommy squirmed under Dream’s gaze, trying his best to look on his best behavior.

“No going into the– what?” Dream shakes his head, a little confused at Tommy’s turn of phrase, before patting his shoulder. “Yes, ok. You can go. Just don’t forget to get ready tomorrow, we open at 10am!”

“Yeah yeah, see you in the morning bitch!”

OMAKE:

“And that’s how I found myself working at this cafe.”

“Wait, so you didn’t have to lie about your age and pester him for weeks?”

“What?”

“What?”

[overthinkingfandom]

Protagonist Paradigm Exemplar - A character analysis of Tommy

(Part 1)

/rp /dsmp

The topic of Tommy’s hero complex is a discussion that pops up every now and then in fandom. 

The discussion is often framed around a couple of specific moments: The time Techno asked Tommy whether he wanted to be a hero on Nov 16, and the time Dream accused him of wanting to be one during the Disc Finale. 

Many people rightfully point out that being a hero is the last thing Tommy wants. He isn’t someone who’s praticulary driven by justice to protect the weak and helpless. Nor is he looking to be the person to swoop in and save the day, praised and admired for his heroics. In fact, he would probably be more than happy to never be involved with a war or a high stakes conflict for the rest of his life. 

However, by focusing so much on those two specific moments the discussion gets railroaded in a particular direction. One that focuses on the idea of “hero” in the context of Theseus and Greek heroes.

Yet that’s not the only possible meaning the word “hero” can have. A lot of people use it as a synonym for the main character of a story. The protagonist. To be clear, despite being used interchangeably by many, protagonist doesn’t mean “hero”. It doesn’t even mean “good guy”. It merely means “main character”.

Having said that, we know Tommy doesn’t think of himself as a hero like the Greeks, but does he think of himself as a hero like a protagonist?

Tommy: “What if- what if the protagonist over there had a family bond that you simply couldn’t comprehend due to your loneliness on this server and lack of family, so he had to stick with him even though there might have been a slight amount of reluctance in there. Also, he’s had some pretty hard times over these past few months, such as exile uh depression uh lots of terrible things so maybe you should go light on this protagonist.”(x)

Yes. Yes he does.  

This protagonist complex is something which accompanies the character from his very first days on the server and affected much of his development throughout the plot, but the true origin of Tommy’s protagonist complex started before even that. 

It started with the very conception of the character.

Roleplay has always been a part of DSMP’s identity in one way or another. However, back when it first started it was more along the lines of a sketch comedy or a sitcom rather than the epic character-based tale we have today. The ccs would log on and play their personas, bouncing off each other and causing all kinds of shenanigans before eventually resolving it. There was no script to follow, instead the plot was formed through a combination of roleplay and improv etiquette. 

It’s no surprise then that many of those personas took on qualities of the archetypes common in sitcoms. Those archetypes are more than just a collection of personality traits, they often also indicate the role a character has in the joke so it’s easy to fall into them naturally when looking to create humor through character interactions. The influence of those archetypes can be seen most clearly in Tommy’s character, but they also helped shape many of the other characters who grew from their streamer’s persona (like Tubbo, Fundy or Ponk, to name a few).

For cc!Tommy, his persona was a mix between what the industry calls Loveable Loser and what Tv Tropes calls unsympathetic comedy protagonist. 

Loveable Losers are common sitcom protagonists. They’re those characters who are driven by their want for something, and in their quest for getting that want they’ll manage to go about it in all the wrong ways. Most of the humor with them comes from their impulsive ideas that are bound to get them in trouble as well as their ability to dig themselves deeper once consequences come knocking. The archetype is very much defined by the character losing, and making that loss as hilarious as possible for the audience. 

Which is why it’s a natural fit for the unsympathetic comedy protagonist trope. Despite the name, the trope isn’t about characters who are so hateable no one could sympathize with them. They’re about characters who make it easy to laugh at their misfortune when they bring it upon themselves with their harebrained ideas or by being a jerk. 

Of course watching such a character would get tiring fast, so the “loveable” part comes in to balance it out. Whether through their charisma, hidden heart of gold or just an otherwise adorable or cool manner, the character endears themselves to the audience with their charm and makes it fun to watch them, not just to watch them fail. 

cc!Tommy relied a lot on what makes those archetypes function in his streams. There was this routine he would do in the early days of the server. He would log on, hatch up a zany scheme (often one which involved getting power, scamming someone or scamming someone in order to get power) and set about implementing it until something went wrong or he provoked people enough that they decided to retaliate.

What followed next was sure to be hilarious. With everyone else also being some shade of asshole, it made it easy to laugh no matter whether our loveable loser ended up bemoaning losing all of his stuff in the conflict again or if he somehow managed to overcome all the obstacles in his way and emerge victorious. 

Part of what made this routine so compelling is that it gave cc!Tommy a great way to generate conflict and keep things exciting. Conflict, as we all know, is the bread and butter of stories and indeed that’s what his streams ended up feeling like. Like a story where things were happening, rather than just people hanging out on a live stream. 

When cc!Wilbur joined the server the roleplaying really went up a notch. The scope of the bits increased. No longer did they fully revolve around minecraft mechanics - with the main sources of conflict being stolen items or murdered pets - but now they were also about drug monopolies and rebelling countries. 

The comedy show aspect was still there but it existed alongside other kinds of stories being told. Sometimes more literally than others. It’s well known that during the Independence War cc!Wilbur and cc!Tommy were constantly referencing the musical Hamilton, with cc!Wilbur taking on the role of the mentor character, George Washington, while cc!Tommy adopted the role of Hamilton, the main character himself. 

However, unlike the sitcom archetype cc!Tommy played up to that point, the character of Hamilton embodied a more heroic archetype. The impulsive sort, who doesn’t think before he acts but has his heart in the right place. Who despite all his faults still wants to do the Right Thing. You know the one.

That archetype wasn’t hard to incorporate into Tommy's existing characterization. He was already impulsive and not prone to much thinking. He had enough Pet The Dog moments to show that he did indeed have a golden heart underneath all of his many flaws. The only problem was the part about doing the Right Thing.

You see, sitcom characters don’t often concern themselves with the morality of an action, at least not anything beyond what could get them into trouble. Philosophizing too much about Right and Wrong tends to kill the humor, especially when the characters are all assholes to one degree or another. As such, the archetype doesn’t have many internal values associated with it in that regard. 

The heroic archetype… also doesn’t have many values associated with it, surprisingly enough. It wants to do the Right Thing but once we start looking at specific details they get a bit scarce. Heroic characters rarely fight because of a specific ideology. More often than not they do so because they have some kind of personal stake in the issue. Those who do fight for a specific ideology tend to be portrayed somewhere in the range between a well intentioned extremist and a villain. 

Still, there are some commonalities which tend to emerge. Power is Bad, unless the Right People have it. The status quo is Good, or at most it was Good until the villains made it Bad. FIghting for the personal is more heroic than fighting for the utilitarian big picture. Etc, etc…

Yet, where in most heroic characters those values are baked into the personality (to various levels of success), with Tommy’s character they’re tacked on top the sitcom archetype. Something which creates a lot of dissonance between what the character says he values versus what his actions show he values. 

The combination of those two archetypes creates another interesting aspect to it. Both of them are commonly seen with main characters. It makes it easy to look at Tommy’s character and see him as a protagonist, if only because of how familiar that kind of character is. It doesn’t help that cc!Tommy plays into that familiarity because, well… 

cc!Tommy: “Until the exile arc my character was basically just me cause I just assumed I was the main character.”(x)

However, DSMP is not a book or a movie. It’s a roleplay, it has no main characters. Or alternatively, everyone is a main character. Everyone is complex and three-dimensional, with their own agendas and internal worlds that don’t revolve around any other character. Furthermore, it’s a story told live on a minecraft server. The cc’s ability to make the world of the story bend over backwards for the sake of the plot is pretty limited. While stuff can be arranged, it’s not common. 

So what we end up with is a character who acts like he’s the main character, expects the story to revolve around him like the main character, but isn’t actually the main character. 

What we end up with is a character who has all the makings to be someone with a protagonist complex.

Of course, just because a character has the potential to develop a protagonist complex doesn’t mean they will. While those OOC reasons planted seeds, it’s really the plot and the character’s history which really made Tommy’s protagonist complex blossom.

We see those seeds in the way c!Tommy acted during the pre-L’manburg era. From the very beginning he viewed himself as set apart or more important than other people, whether it be by thinking he’s above rules he himself set(x) or by barging into meetings and talking over people to insist his issues were more important than whatever problem they were dealing with(3:43). At his worst, he went so far as to completely disregard any problems people had with him(x).

We see it also in the way he approaches morality, thinking he’s always a good person(x) or in the right(x) regardless of circumstances, as well as judging if someone is his friend by whether they’re on his side or not(x). Protagonist centered morality is what happens when a story treats everything the main character does as Right simply because they’re the main character. Usually it’s a meta trope, used to discuss the narrative, but here we see that Tommy believes in-universe this is how the world works. 

Yet that belief is not confined to a single trope. Just in general Tommy seems to believe that life runs on narrative conventions. 

Is it any surprise then that when Wilbur came on the server, spinning tales of evil tyrants and heroic revolutionaries, Tommy believed him wholeheartedly? 

Tubbo: “Wait what made us in the right to begin with? Maybe we’re the bad guys.”

Tommy: “No because we’re the funny guys and they’re always in the right.”(x)

Not only did the stereotypical story make sense within his existing worldview, it came from Wilbur. Wilbur, who was Tommy’s guiding light. The one he trusted to point him in the right direction and hold him back if he goes too far. His mentor in all but name. 

So when the time came to create and fight for L’manburg, Tommy threw himself into playing a persona that would fit the role of heroic underdog revolutionary that Wilbur’s tale laid out for him. As a result, L’manburg lies in the core of the persona he builds, in more than one way.

There are the obvious moments, like the ones we see during the Independence War where Tommy acts for the sake of L’manburg. Nothing says “heroic main character trying to salvage a hopeless situation” quite like butting into the leaders’ surrender negotiations(x) or making the fate of the entire country lay on his shoulders in a one on one duel with the enemy leader(x). Even the character arc Tommy acted out during all of it, of learning to believe in something bigger than himself and act on that belief - to be selfless for a change - fits the heroic persona he was playing.

(And it is playing rather than a genuine arc. Tommy shows a few notable moments of change, such as when he refrains from griefing Dream’s house or gives up the discs for L’manburg’s independence, but there’s no consistent followup on them later down the line. He continues to grief others and even ends up endangering L’manburg in his quest to get the discs without so much as reflecting on those acts. No actual internal change came from this arc, not even one that Tommy ended up backsliding on. 

As cc!Wilbur said: “[Tommy] flips his values radically based on tiny non-emotional changes in his environment.”(x) For this reason, I’m describing him as acting a heroic persona which fits his situation rather than say he’s a heroic character with flaws.)

There are subtler ways in which L’manburg influenced Tommy’s protagonist complex as well. One of the first real values Tommy picks up, the values that actually stick with him and consistently influence his actions, is that L’manburg is Good. A value which was only reinforced by him trading the discs to secure its freedom. After all, his discs were Good, right? And if he gave them for L’manburg’s sake that must mean that L’manburg was also Good. Good enough to be worth his precious discs. 

But more than that, L’manburg only existed because of his discs. Because of him. Or at least that’s how Tommy saw it. More than once he brought up how he gave up his discs for L’manburg(x) in order to argue that it’s worth preserving and keeping. In fact, it can be argued he felt entitled to L’manburg for his role in its creation. 

On the flipside, feeling like L’manburg is his meant that any attacks against the country felt personal, like they were attacking all that Tommy did in order to preserve the country. And considering how L’manburg has been in the center of most conflicts on the server up until it got blown up for good, that made Tommy feel like all those conflicts were personal to him. Even when the other side's desire to destroy L’manburg was completely unrelated to Tommy. 

This only reinforced the mindset that he was the one at the center of the story, the one the narrative of the world orbited around. A mindset that eventually led him to proclaim, “This server wasn’t about- this! It wasn’t- It was about me and Tubbo fighting Dream!”(x) when he saw the world moved on and changed during the month he was stuck in prison and/or dead.

(For the sake of not being misunderstood: Yes, Tommy said that because he was freshly traumatized from the events of the prison and his death. No, this does not contradict what I just said. That trauma didn’t create the sentiment behind this quote, it just brought Tommy to a mental state where it became a problem.)

We see Tommy’s possessiveness over L’manburg most obviously after Schlatt wins the elections. When Wilbur does his bad guys speech and asks if he’s the villain for trying to overthrow Schlatt, Tommy answers that he isn’t because “we started L’Manburg and… we should have won that vote.”(x) Even after Wilbur challenges him, correctly pointing out that Schlatt’s appointment is completely legal, Tommy continues acting like Schlatt usurped the throne of L’manburg away from its rightful heirs. 

Yet for all of the ways in which Schlatt threatens Tommy during the Pogtopia arc, the one who truly leaves his mark is WIlbur. 

Much of Tommy’s protagonist complex can be traced back to Wilbur’s influence in one way or another, an influence that is inextricably linked to the way Tommy sees him as his mentor. Despite being more self aware about it, Wilbur also acts like life runs on narrative conventions. This reinforced Tommy’s own belief, both because Tommy adopted a lot of Wilbur’s mannerisms but also because Wilbur treated him like a protagonist. 

Wilbur: “And here’s Tommy. Here’s the man of the hour himself, Tommyinnit. The protagonist is finally here.”(x)

He even went out of his way to put Tommy in the spotlight sometimes. Such as when it was time to kill Schlatt and Wilbur decided to give Tommy the “honor”, despite there being people (like Niki, Tubbo or Quackity) who have an equal or greater claim to that honor due to being personally victimized by Schlatt(x).

But Wilbur’s biggest influence came from his downward spiral. “Let’s be the bad guys,” He told Tommy, “let’s blow that whole thing up!”. In that moment Tommy’s mentor died, stepping out of the story and leaving in his place a threat he had to contend with. 

Like any mentor dying, this too forced the “hero” to stand on his own two feet rather than rely on someone else. It’s at this point in time that Tommy really internalizes the role. If Wilbur kept talking about being the Bad Guy, Tommy - who wants to stop him - is by implication the Good Guy. 

We see it in the words he chose to use when arguing against WIlbur. “[Blowing L’manburg up] isn’t the moral thing to do,”(x) He told Wilbur when they first discussed it. A sentiment he didn’t express a few days before when he wanted to torch Manburg to the ground to avenge Wilbur’s honor after Fundy disowned him as a father. 

Tommy: “Wilbur, take one look at Manburg. Cause it ain’t no more!”(x)

Because really, it’s not that Tommy suddenly gained a conscience about property damage. He didn’t. Even months later he would suggest blowing up the community house and had to be talked down(x). Rather, it’s Tommy retreating further into the “heroic” role in order to distance himself from Wilbur’s “villainous” role. 

(Ironically enough, it’s at this point where he embraces the “heroic” role the most that he starts to reject the narrative Wilbur creates for him. The one that places him as the most important person. The one that would place Tommy as the president.)

Wilbur’s tales worked too well, and by the time Pogtopia came Tommy bought into the myth of L’manburg just as much as he bought into the myth of his discs, in a way that was independent of its origin. Seeing Wilbur - the man who came up with the idea and taught it to Tommy and bolstered his faith when it faltered. Seeing that man trying to shatter the myth and go against it shook Tommy to the core. It would’ve been like seeing Tubbo trying to burn his discs. 

The more Wilbur spoke about destroying L’manburg the more Tommy dug his heels into the opposite position. If Wilbur wanted to blow it up, Tommy made sure to not allow a block to be out of place, even if he needed to grief Manburg as a distraction(x). If Wilbur went around calling himself the villain, Tommy would pull out the most stereotypical heroic arguments regardless of how relevant they were to the situation(x). 

All of this, in addition to Wilbur’s death, left a deep imprint on Tommy. So much so that even months later he talks about the way Wilbur’s “let’s be the bad guys” line rings through his head when he tries to sleep(x). The ghost of that experience haunts him and even without Wilbur around Tommy tries to distance himself from being the “bad guy”.

However, it’s important to note that there’s a very specific kind of “bad guy” he tries to avoid. The image of the “bad guy” Wilbur evoked in his speech and downward spiral. Image being the key word here. 

For all he talks about not wanting to be the bad guy, he sure doesn’t mind taking the same actions said bad guys take. That double standard is there in many of his actions, but we can see it even with his objection to Wilbur’s plan to blow up L’manburg. I’ve already talked about how he’s not really opposed to property damage, but one may argue that the thing Tommy took issue with was abandoning L’manburg rather than the way it was done. 

Except later in the day, after Wilbur made his speech and Tommy argued with all those pretty words, Tommy considered the very thing he condemned Wilbur for. 

Tommy: “So you have all the discs?”

Tubbo: “I believe so, yes.”

Tommy: “So- Sit with me, Tubbo. Right now we could- I mean we could run away from here and we’d never have to- We have everything we ever wanted.”

Tubbo: “We have everything we care about.”

Tommy: *resolute* “No. We can’t. We’re here for L’manburg. We’re not giving up now. We’re gonna restore it.”(x)  

While he ends up deciding not to, the way he frames those two situations is very different. With Wilbur he framed it as a moral issue. But when he himself considered the idea, Tommy framed it more along the lines of whether it’s worth it to fight. Not because L’manburg may not be worth saving, but because the fight is hard and they may lose. 

What we see here is Tommy’s protagonist centered morality from the early days after it has been entangled with the myth of L’manburg and the heroic role Tommy has been playing all this time. By the time the events of Pogtopia finished, that mindset grew much worse. 

This was not helped at all by what came next.

Exile.  

Exile did many things, but most importantly in the context of Tommy’s protagonist complex, it cemented Dream’s role as an irredeemable evil villain. Where before he saw Dream as his arch nemesis but still could accept the good sides in him (to the point where he seemed genuinely surprised that Dream wasn’t on their side during for the Pogtopia-Manburg war(x)), now the resulting trauma clouded over any attempt to see Dream outside that role. 

Something which Dream abused mercilessly.

In order to pull off the Disc Finale the way he wanted to, Dream had to make sure his actions won’t be looked at too closely. Many of his actions and mistakes would make anyone familiar with his methods raise an eyebrow simply by how stupid they are for achieving his stated goal there. That level of scrutiny wasn't good for someone who relies on information warfare as much as Dream does. 

So for the sake of masking his goals and win conditions, Dream played into Tommy’s existing expectations. All of which were colored through his belief that the world runs on narrative conventions with Tommy as the protagonist. 

Confirmation bias is a powerful tool and we see Dream continuing to adjust his persona to give Tommy exactly what he expected. “Why?” Tommy asked, and Dream answered: “The server will be at peace now.” “Couldn’t you just do it to me?” Tommy continued, and Dream changed tracks: “This is much more fun.”(x)

The way Dream went about Doomsday was in large part because he needed to establish his supervillain persona before the Disc Finale so it won’t seem like it came out of nowhere. As soon as he got his hands on Tubbo’s disc, Dream switched from his normal, more reasonable demeanor to that of a blatant villain. The more stereotypical the better. 

From Tommy’s POV, this didn’t seem like an abrupt change but rather Dream taking off the mask and showing his true colors, confirming what he always thought about him.

Techno: “Dream, Dream, what’s our plan for tomorrow? Why did you give them a full day? We could’ve been back there in like thirty minutes, Dream.”

Dream: “Well, it’s like an evil villain thing, right? Like you give them time and then-”

Techno: “Ah, an evil villain thing. Cringe. Been watching too much anime.”(x)

In fact, everything from exile up until the Disc Finale served to confirm and reinforce Tommy’s perception that the world runs on narrative conventions. Not necessarily because all of it was meant to cause that impression, but because thinking this way made it easier for Tommy to cope with all he has been through. 

Tommy: “I fucking miss when times were simpler. When all I had to worry about was defeating one big green guy.”(x)

Seeing the world through narrative conventions allowed Tommy to make sense of things. There are certain ways in which stories go. Consistent arcs and patterns that show up over and over again. If Tommy is the protagonist and Dream his antagonist, that makes the way forward clear. He can rely on tropes and countless other stories told before to figure out what’s going on and put it in context. 

But it’s also something that brings comfort. Stories are neat in a way that life isn’t. The good guys win, people learn to be better and once the bad guy is taken down everything is resolved. Tommy held on to the hope that once Dream was defeated, it would all turn out alright, even when Dream’s defeat didn’t logically solve the problems he was facing(x).

Dream’s supervillain persona being so stereotypical and generic made it easier for Tommy to believe in it. It played into two of his beliefs at the same time. Both that life runs on narrative conventions and that Dream is a mustache twirling villain. He had no problem believing Dream would monologue his actual plans or have an evil lair where he puts his schemes on display, because that’s just how villains act, right? 

And if Dream is the evil villain and Tommy opposes him, that makes Tommy the hero right? The only one, by choice or by fate, who’s capable of stopping the villain’s evil. 

Tommy: “[Dream] was just here to make sure- ‘cause I’m the only one that will thwart him. I’m the only one that Dream’s scared of.”(x)

As a result, Tommy ends up defining himself in large part through his opposition to Dream, which has the same effect as his desperate attempt to distance himself from Wilbur and the “villainous” label he chose during Pogtopia. Only by comparing himself to Dream he also exacerbates his tendency to think he’s always in the right. After all, when the bar for “evil” is set as low as Dream placed it, any lesser fault comes across as inconsequential. 

We can see the results of how much he defined himself in his opposition to Dream in him saying that he feels like he has no purpose without Dream(x). We can also see it in his mindset in exile. In fact, this mindset is what allowed him to escape exile in the first place, which is another reason why it’s so hard for him to let go of that mindset. 

However, it also opened him up to being more easily manipulated by Dream. Someone who always says no is just as easy to manipulate as someone who always says yes, the key is just presenting your goals as the opposite of what they actually are and then watch the victim rush to be a contrarian. Lying to Tommy also became significantly easier by abusing that persona and narrative conventions to get him to believe it. 

Something the Disc Finale shows perfectly. Dream set up the confrontation and played the villain to a T, allowing Tommy to get a storybook ending while giving Dream exactly what he wanted. 

This storybook ending marks Tommy’s “completion” of his hero’s journey, and unfortunately it also marks Tommy’s protagonist complex being fully cemented.

[cdroloisms]

posting this just in the nick of time - my submission to the tommy tax project XD 

i thought i’d actually make something - albeit a bit messy - bc reposting smth old just felt lazy. something something about how they say to never meet your heroes but never tell you what to do about loving them 

(aka: still thinking about c!tommy in inconsolable differences. orz.) 

[dyinginlava]

c!Tommy, Exile, and Loneliness: an Analysis

By someone who watched every stream live and is not a fan of the fanon interpretation — redtaxproject analysis

Exile, for all its importance to the story of the Dream SMP, is often misunderstood and misrepresented by the fandom — exaggerated into a far darker storyline than you would expect from an arc that included the main villain stripping on a log for Twitch subscriptions. Much of this ultimately comes down to the focus on c!Dream as the villain, seeing him as the cause of all c!Tommy’s suffering — meanwhile ignoring both c!Tommy’s arc up until that point, and the various contributions of other characters that make the arc what it was.

To understand how exile affected c!Tommy’s, we first need to understand how the events leading up to exile affected him — he did not go into exile as a blank slate. Beginning with the events of November 16th 2020, there’s the perceived betrayal of both c!Technoblade (turning on the Pogtopians after realising he’d been lied to) and c!Wilbur (setting off the explosives after saying he wouldn’t). This is followed only a few weeks later with the situation that led to his exile — a seemingly inconsequential bit of griefing escalated by politics, with people he thought were his friends turning on him (with c!Quackity and c!Fundy specifically showing a willingness to only side with him when he was likely to win and/or it benefited them).

After losing two of his closest friends, c!Tommy then had to face the fact that c!Tubbo, as president of New L’Manburg, now had split responsibilities and had to prioritise the country over his best friend. Both of these factors together influenced c!Tommy’s mental state going into exile, making him feel abandoned by his friends. This was only amplified by the presence of Ghostbur through most of his exile, constantly reminding him of c!Wilbur’s death.

Now that we have established how the events leading up to exile affected c!Tommy, we can discuss the exile itself. While a common complaint about the arc is that, despite claiming to be alone, c!Tommy is visited regularly, this claim misunderstands why c!Tommy felt alone during exile. For the duration of exile, c!Tommy could only be visited by others — he couldn’t choose to visit someone. This is highlighted when he is unable to go to see the community Christmas tree — while someone builds a Christmas tree for him at Logstedshire, it wasn’t the same as going to see one himself. There’s also the fact that c!Tubbo never visited him.

C!Tommy also comes to view others visiting him as a form of pity, which explains one of the more controversial parts of the arc — c!Tommy dropping c!Jack Manifold in lava when he comes to visit him, lashing out and killing him. Both of these factors are shown with his attempt to hold a beach party (inviting others rather than waiting for them to come) and his response to no-one showing up, which is to deny.

All of this, however, is not to discredit c!Dream’s actions during this arc. The main mistake fanon makes when considering c!Dream is in the belief that he is good at manipulating people — in fact he is quite terrible with it, usually failing in most cases when he tries to persuade someone to do something with words (as shown during the El Rapids conflict and the dethronement of c!George). Instead, where c!Dream excels is in the manipulation of events — taking advantage of things that have happened for his own goals (such as using c!Tommy’s griefing against him), and setting up situations by predicting how others will act (such as staging the disc confrontation).

While his overall plan is still unknown, during the exile arc, c!Dream’s main goal appears to be driving c!Tommy and c!Tubbo apart, separating them physically and mentally, in order to create a situation where he would be in possession of both discs. In order to achieve this he spent his time hindering c!Tommy’s progress, highlighting the fact that others had turned on him, and constantly reminding him of the consequences of returning to the main SMP area. Even when c!Tommy left Logstedshire and hid from c!Dream, his goal was still achieved as c!Tommy teamed up with c!Technoblade — which may have been part of his plan all along.

Finally, we can discuss the events leading up to c!Tommy escaping exile. As a result of everything discussed above, c!Tommy begins to spiral, resulting in suicidal thoughts and apathy towards harm (such as letting mobs attack him). After c!Dream discovers his hidden stash of items, and destroys the progress he’s made, c!Tommy appears to be contemplating suicide — until he realises that the limitations of his exile are, effectively, all in his mind, created by fear. He could always leave at any time.

So he does.

[restnowyourhardshipisover]

Flourish

A redtaxproject one shot

Summary: Tommy asks a question with an answer that can be told easily but only understood through experiance.

Tommy and Sapnap lean against the wall of the community house, exhausted. Sapnap’s sporting new bruises and Tommy needs to do something about the knife in his calf. Ponk ran away with most of their gear. So Tommy also needs to solve that later. Or make someone else solve it. Probably make someone else solve it. He tears into some bread, passing half to Sapnap. Not dealing with lost armor or weapons right now though. He’s tired and he’s never needed those things.

He and Sapnap having been duking it out for the better part of the afternoon. They were both spoiling for a fight, so they fought. Everyone else had the fucking nerve to be busy. Dream’s hibernating or some stupid shit, Tubbo wanted to do redstone with the fucking baby furry and Tommy couldn’t drag him away. Wilbur thinks that fighting is an “international incident” or some bull crap.

So he and Sapnap had fought over something. It wasn’t important what, except for that obviously Tommy was completely in the right and Sapnap was stupid and mean.

But they were both bone tired now.

Tommy looked over, and unbidden the question rises from his tongue. “So… what does it feel like to kill someone?” Casual as if he were asking about the weather. As though the question wasn’t as heavy in his mind as being buried under snow.

Sapnap looked confused and offers a chuckle “You killed me like, 5 minutes ago?”

“No.” Tommy shook his head to tired from their fight to muster frustration “Actual murder-kill. The canon shit. You killled Tubbo when you fucking cheated and had Eret.”

“We cheated? You…” Sapnap huffed, cutting off to considered for a moment, “It’s not different. We killed you and Tubbo plenty during that fight. I don’t even know why you’re so convinced that one counted.”

-

Tommy throws Jack into lava and thinks nothing of it. Latter, Tubbo tells him Jack really died. But Tommy thinks Jack is just a liar and a pussy. It doesn’t feel like he killed anyone.

Obviously he’d be in the right if he did. Because Tommy was upset and Jack was a dick and a traitor.

It was just so rude. Tommy had done so much for Jack. Jack was subordinate, he’d taken Jack under his wing. And now Jack was being a right prick about everything for no good reason.

Everyone understands that it’s okay for Tommy to do things, he’s traumatized after all.

But it didn’t feel different. It didn’t feel like anything.

It doesn’t feel like anything. Tommy has pushed people into lava before. He does it all the time. Because it’s funny. Because he’s annoyed. Because that’s how the server works. It’s normal. It doesn’t feel different. People laugh and try and push him in in turn. He screams at them for it. And they all laugh.

-

This isn’t the first time Tommy has gotten Dream on his knees. This isn’t the first time Tommy’s won or had control. But it’s supposed to be special. More. It’s the Axe of Peace. It’s everyone finally seeing that Dream is the wrongin and everything Tommy’s ever done is right.

And the disks. He has the disks back and really nothing has ever mattered like having the disks mattered. Having the disks means things are good. Not having the disks means things are bad.

It is special. It has to be. It feels like the world finally understands.

And Tommy cuts through Dream. A clean swift executioners strike through the neck. Like he’s done a hundred times before. Netherite slices bone like butter with the weight of Tommy’s expert swing. Then Dream respawns. And Tommy cuts through him again. And Dream’s whining like a bitch begging in mortal panic, spilling his deep dark secrets. Like he’s sure the next death will be a real one.

But it doesn’t feel different. It doesn’t feel like anything. There’s no satisfaction. No magical intrinsic knowledge that that one was different.

He doesn’t want to remember that dying is the same way. That it doesn’t feel like anything special.

[stabbysideblog]

Bigger Smaller Apogee

Tommy has always been shorter than Wilbur.

But the past doesn't always guarantee the future, people change, people die, and people, worst of all, revive.

Link to ao3

!fic below cut!

Tommy has always been shorter than Wilbur. 

“Hey Big Dubs, look what I found!” Tommy yelled from somewhere in depths of the impossible labyrinth that was his dirt hut, his voice bouncing around until it found Wilbur in the entrance kicking some rocks into line. 

“If it’s not wood, I don’t want it!” Wilbur yelled back. He should have known the hazards of letting Tommy wander off to gather materials; the kid gets distracted like it’s a competition and he needs to be first. 

“Oh, I think you will!” Tommy said, emerging from his portal of a backdoor lugging a book almost as thick as his arms and as large as his chest. 

“No, Toms, what the fuck is that?” Wilbur says. prepared to dismiss whatever dusty history book Tommy had managed to dig up. 

“It’s our scrapbook! From SMPEarth!” He dropped it into the floor with a loud WHUMP–dust and dirt kicking up and causing both of them to cough and wave the air clean “We- well I mostly, I asked you to add to it but you were a busy man. It has a bunch of pictures from back them, c’mon Will can we please go through it? Pretty please with lots of rainbow sprinkles that are banned because they taste too good?”

One look down at Tommy’s face and Wilbur knew the day was a bust; better to indulge him now than regret it later. “Fine, let's see what’s in this book. Pull up a table and chairs.”

-    -

“Wilbur-”

“What. What could you possibly want to bother me with at this time of night, Tommy?” Wilbur dragged his hands down his face, charcoal marking his eyebags. “You know I use this time for planning.” He places a rock on the map he was studying, turning to give Tommy his full attention since he wanted it so badly. 

Tommy shrank under the gaze of his president but pressed onwards. “I was just checking up on you, I can barely sleep, Tubbo is mumbling about crystal pvp, Eret keeps getting up to ‘check the walls’ whatever that means and Fundy-”

“What’s wrong with my boy?”

“Nothing, he’s the only one who’s actually sleeping.”

“Good. If you want to help, you can get me some water. My throat is parched.”

“Okay, close to any breakthroughs?”

“What part of fetching me water involves interrogating me?”

“I’m not interrogating you, I'm asking questions!”

“And not getting my water.”

“Fine, I’ll get your water–but once you have a eureka moment, I’ll know first, right? Since I’m your right hand man?”

“That’s what it means, doesn’t it?” 

-

“What, Tommy.” The voice was tense, gruff; one wrong step and it would likely turn into a lecture. Wilbur was crouched in an outcropping over Pogtopia, the smoke from his cigarette lazily drifting into the ceiling.

Tommy looked up at him from the ground, brushing off some ash that had fallen on his shoulder. “If you fall from there, you’re likely to break your neck and die.” His words lacked their characteristic charm, instead coming out snippy and tired. 

“So? Would that be so bad? Catch.” Wilbur flicked his lit cigarette at Tommy. It twirled smoke patterns in the air before bouncing off the teen’s forehead and being stomped out on the ground.

“Wilbur! Be more careful! The pathway is wood–you could have burnt this place to the ground with all of us inside.”

Wilbur squinted his eyes at his partner in exile, affixing him with a withering glare. “Do not talk to me of burning shit down. If I wanted this place gone, it would already be rubble. Do you understand?”

“Yessir,” came the rather meek reply. 

“What?” 

“Y- yes Wilbur, I know if you wanted to destroy everything, you would just do it. You say that every day.”

“Maybe I haven’t made myself clear.” Wilbur climbed down the side of the ravine, simultaneously more graceful than his haggard appearance would have you expect and more clumsy than he’s ever been. He dropped in front of his teen companion, holding himself to his full 6’6 height. “Do not talk to me like that. I used to be a good man, a strong man, until it was all FUCKED by my own hubris over some vote that was never supposed to mean anything!” 

“But we’ll get it back right? We- we- we have Tubbo and Niki and-we aren’t just alone in this Wilbur. You can still be president again.” 

There was a distant look in Wilbur’s eyes, the kind of look he got before hurting something, or when he was hiding something from Tommy. “Yeah, yeah Tomms. Good talk, I’m going to bed. You should also.”

“I will, Wilbur.”

Wilbur patted Tommy’s shoulder, leaving a grey smudge on his shirt, and wandered to his sleeping quarters in some section of the cave. As soon as he was out of earshot, Tommy crumbled. He hated the way Wilbur made him feel small like that, like he wasn’t enough. 

-

When the explosion happens, several things hit him in quick succession. The first is the ripple of fear that the grime coating him was part of his best friend, pulverized into a fine dust; the second was the drain of failure that he couldn’t keep an eye on Wilbur and stop him. The third, and most intense was relief. 

-

When Ghostbur comes, he’s shorter than Wilbur, his lower half a translucent mass. For the first time ever, Tommy is taller than Wilbur. 

“Tommy!” The new vice-president startles, almost tripping into the cavern under the blossoming country. “Be careful, you almost fell! I don’t think that is very good. Falling.” 

Tommy shrugs. “I’d probably be fine,” He catches himself and points at his chest with his thumb, puffing it out with an overexaggerated swagger and pulling his lips into a cocky grin. “I am a mlg master after all, any fall is trivial to me!”

The ghost laughs, curling in the air. “I believe you Tommy, I… don’t remember why I wanted to talk to you. But that’s fine, because it’s always nice talking to you” The ghost turns and drifts away, off to help out around the country. He loves helping, doesn’t he. Bitterly Tommy adds a now to that sentence. He loves helping now.

-

“Don’t be sad, Tommy, I’m not sad at all.”

“You don’t understand W- Ghostbur you can’t be sad. You’re like those shitty paper towels in the commercials, all of the liquid just runs right out of you. I'm a strong paper towel that 9 out of 10 households recommend. I can hold it all in.” 

“Well I can pretend I'm a soggy paper towel, what does it feel like to be wet Tommy? Usually I just melt in the rain.”

“It feels like,” He looks around the untamed unknown island, too loud with all manner of night creatures and too quiet without the sounds of a community  “Like being trapped on an island, No it feels like falling but you’re never going to stop, that you'll be s- wet forever and you’re scared of when you’re not wet anymore because then you’re dead or broken.”

“Well I’m dead and it’s not so bad” the ghost floated gently up and down, never higher than the teen despite his slouching. 

“Yes but you’re not Wilbur, Wilbur is dead and you’re alive.”

“I'm a little bit like wilbur”

“Whatever, I’m going to bed Ghostbur, don’t bother waking me up.” He turned away abruptly, breaking off the conversation.

“Oh, okay! Get lots of sleep, I’ll work on our set! Lads on Tour!”

-

“Tommy, Do we have to do this?” 

“Yes” came the stern reply, the careworn teen not bothering to look up from where his potions were brewing.

“But you told me, Dream is a not so good guy and now I have to be in the cell with him?”

“Ghostbur.” He sets down the satchel of blaze powder and turns around to face the hollow ghost of his former mentor. “Do you care about me?”

“Of course Tommy! I know I care because when you smile I smile” The Ghost smiled earnestly floating a smidge lower. 

“Good, so you want to help me right?” Tommy clenched his fist eyes flicking in the direction of the green bastard before landing on the idea of Wilbur. 

“Yes but-”

He was rising to his feet now looking down at the ghost righteous indignation painting his speech “And you know Dream KILLED me right? With a fucking potato!” 

“I-” The ghost retreated into itself pulling its hands into the thick sleeves of its sweater. 

“So you are going to help me get revenge on that bastard and free the entire server from- from his grasp. Unless, you don’t actually care?” His eyes were sharp and wild searching for any sign of betrayal.

The ghost shook its head shrinking underneath the raking gaze. He had a feeling this would not be a memorable conversation. “I’ll do it Tommy, because I care about you.”

The look turned his stomach in a way he was scared to analyze. It didn’t feel right making someone- even if that someone was Wilbur, feel like that. He turned back to his potions, the last invisibility almost bubbling over unwatched “Good.”

-

“Tommy, why aren’t you smiling? I’m back!”

Tommy looked up at Wilbur, arms spread to encompass all of existence in his wingspan. He looked down at the unsuspecting  smp. He wished he was bigger, he wished he was braver, he wished he was faster, he wished he was smarter. Above all he wished Wilbur was smaller. 

[kenjo-arts]

End of the line

[dreamologisth2o]

That Time When You’re Offered a Job by the Very Same Guy You Just Tried to Mug

(For the redtaxproject, a scene from my personal superhero AU :))

“I’ll kill you, y’know?” Tommy grumbles, scowling up at the man through the bag of groceries he’d been given to carry.

“Mmhmm.” The man hums, completely unbothered as he continues leading Tommy to… somewhere. The man had said he was going back home, and that Tommy could join him for a meal if he wanted— so long as he helped carry the groceries. But even Tommy wasn’t dumb enough to bring a stranger who’d just threatened to kill and rob him back home.

It’s probably a trap, or something. Tommy’s probably gonna die, in the basement of some weirdo’s house, with no one to mourn him. If he’s lucky the man will just take him back to child services, or the police. If he’s unlucky he’ll end up as a lab rat and buried six feet under.

But the offer of a warm meal was too tempting— he hadn’t eaten anything decent in days. And honestly, it’s not like he’s got much else to lose is there?

Nothing to lose except my freedom and my life, Tommy thinks, sardonically.

“I’ll kill you, y’know,” Tommy repeats. “I’ll stab you in your fucking sleep and rob your house blind.” He glared, staring intently at the man as they continued down the darkened streets.

The man turned, a small, little smile still quirked up on his lips— and Tommy scowled harder. It pissed him off, how unbothered the man was, how— how amused he seemed to be at Tommy’s threats which. Well. Considering how unafraid the man was when Tommy was armed with a fucking knife, it probably shouldn’t be too surprising that he didn’t find Tommy very threatening at all.

“My name is Dream.” The man, Dream, says. And Tommy almost trips over his own feet at the suddenness of it. Barely managing to avoid falling face first onto the hard concrete and crushing the bag of groceries in his arms.

What?

“What?”

“Call me Dream.” And— yup, the bastard was fucking laughing at him right now.

Tommy scowls, harder— his face feeling sore from the effort of making his displeasure known. And checks his bag to make sure nothing had fallen out or gotten crushed accidentally.

“What’s your name?” Dream asks, and Tommy flips him off, stomping down the street ahead of him before stopping when he realized he didn’t know where to go.

Dream laughs, quiet, like that stupid grin, like the way he moves, like his almost silent footsteps and how he’d effortlessly disarmed Tommy, before Tommy had even realized what was happening. He hates the way Dream presents himself, quiet and unassuming. Like he’s not a threat. Like he’s not the most dangerous fucking thing around for the next hundred miles.

Why was he following this bastard again?

Right, food. That’s why.

Tommy’s stomach growls loudly at the reminder, and he instantly feels his ears grow red in embarrassment.

“Haha, don’t worry, we’re here.” Dream says, stopping next to him. Tommy looks around, and then at the door Dream had turned to. It was one of those side entrances that led directly to the second floor of a building. There wasn’t much else to it, the door being plain and undecorated, save for a tiny smile sticker next to the peakhole.

Well, it’s not like there would’ve been much room for decorations, considering the way it’s been sandwiched between an office building and, what? Tommy squinted up at the sign of the building next door, just making out the letters for “Kitten’s Kafe”. A cat cafe.

Tommy turned back to Dream, who had set his bags down, and was lightly searching his pockets for the keys, before giving up and fishing one out from underneath the cafe’s welcome mat.

Huh. Tommy thinks, that’s interesting.

“Just give me a second to put things away and get something warmed up.” Dream said, catching Tommy’s attention again as he opened the door. “You can pass me the bags and—“

Not letting the man finish, Tommy immediately pushes his own bags into Dream’s hands and rushes through the door, up the stairs.

“—take off your shoes!” Dream finishes behind him, and Tommy pauses at the top of the stairs to kick off his shoes before opening the second door into a rather spacious living area and kitchen combination.

Quickly scoping the space out, Tommy takes note of the large windows to his left. The blinds were closed, but he guessed it wouldn't be too difficult to shatter and escape through if need be. The fall would be about— two stories, Tommy guessed. Not too bad, but dangerous if he landed wrong.

Moving past the living room Tommy found a short hallway. It led to a dead end, splitting off left and right, with the left turn ending at a door, and the right turn extending further down into the house. Before he could take a step further though, Tommy felt a hand grab the back of his shirt and lift him up, like some unruly cat, or raccoon.

“Hey!” Tommy yelped, even as he was set back down in the living room. “What the hell was that for?!”

“Nothing nothing, just thought you’d like to know that the food’s ready.” Dream says, holding up his hands placatingly. ….holding up his empty hands.

Whipping around Tommy quickly took in the sight of a steaming grilled cheese on the kitchen table, a plate of bacon and a glass of warm milk next to it. The bags of groceries were piled on the floor next to the fridge.

He blinks, feeling like the world had skipped a beat, like a broken record. But the bags were still piled by the fridge, and the food still sat steaming on the table.

When he looked back, Dream was already making his way to the abandoned groceries, sorting through their contents and putting them away. Tommy continued staring, slack jawed.

“How— Wha— What the fuck?! How the fuck did you do that?!”

“How did I do what?” Dream questions, head tilted but not turning away from his work.

“That— ALL THAT.” Tommy yelled, pointing incredulously at the food. Belatedly, the smell reaches him and his stomach began protesting when Tommy didn’t start stuffing his face.

“Oh uh.” And Dream stands, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “You were kinda just staring at the window for like, a good minute or two. I didn’t wanna bother you so I went and heated up the food.”

Tommy continued to stare. Dream looked away, hand dropping.

“Do you uh, do you not want it…?”

“Are you fucking kidding me of course I want it! Just. How do I know you’re not trying to trick me?” Tommy squinted, settling down in front of the food, carefully sitting on top of his hands.

“What, you think I poisoned the food or something? If I wanted to hurt you I’d have done so in that alleyway— not bring you back to my house.” Dream scoffs, putting the last of the groceries away and throwing the extra bags under the sink.

Moving around the table, Dream sat down in front of Tommy, and crossed his arms.

“Look, if you really want, I can take a bite and prove it’s not poisoned or anything—“

“No! No, it’s fine. I’m not fucking Snow White ok? I don’t need you to prove shit.” And to back his own words Tommy finally let himself reach out and take a bite of the grilled cheese.

It’s good. It’s better than good. The bread was slightly stale, and the cheese had solidified within the sandwich, but it’s the best fucking thing he’s had to eat in weeks. Before he’d realized it, the grilled cheese was gone, his stomach comfortably full for the first time in, who knows how long it’s been.

In front of him, Dream seemed to relax, that stupid smile of his back on his face.

Tommy shot a suspicious look in his direction, before grabbing the milk. He sniffed it, shrugged, and tossed it back quickly. Then snatched a piece of bacon to chew on.

“Do you have a place to stay?” Dream asks. Tommy shoots him a look, swallowing.

“What do you think, bitch?”

Dream blinks.

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to ask. And my name is Dream.”

“Nah. Your name is now Bitch Boy. Cause you’re a bitch.” Tommy grins smugly, very proud of his comeback.

“Do you always insult the people who give you food?” Dream grumbles, smile finally dropping.

“No-pe!” Tommy grins further, emphasizing the word with a pop. “Just you Bitch Boy!”

“Great.” Dream mumbles, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tommy paid him no mind, carefully using his last piece of bacon to gather up the grease left behind on his plate.

“So, are you gonna tell me your name, or should I keep calling you Kid?” Dreams asks, raising an eyebrow as Tommy licks his plate clean.

“I’m not a kid. I’m a big man. A full grown adult if you will.”

“Whatever you say ‘Big Man’.” Tommy flipped him off, then looked under his empty plate, as though more food would suddenly magically appear if he just checked.

“You got anymore food Bitch Boy?” Tommy asks, looking down the center of his empty cup. Staring intently at Dream through the glass like it was a telescope.

Dream’s expression seemed to twist, warping weirdly through the glass, and Tommy found that he much preferred this to the man’s actual face.

“Hey!” Tommy yelped, hands reaching out towards his cup as it was snatched away. When he looked up, Dream’s smile was gone, a faint frown marring his face.

It was strangely less irritating.

“What?” Tommy snaps, when the silence dragged on for too long, and Dream blinks. Shaking his head and schooling his expression back into a smile. Tommy scowls.

“Stop that.”

“What?” Confusion flits across his face.

“That.” Tommy repeats, pointing at Dream’s face until the man goes cross eyed. “Your face. That fucking smile or whatever. It’s fucking creepy.”

“What?” Dream says, incredulous. A hand instantly going up to cover his mouth. Something defensive settled over the man.

“You heard me. I said your smile’s fucking creepy.”

“I—! My smile is not creepy!”

“Could’ve fooled me.” Tommy scoffs, rolling his eyes. “It makes you look like fucking a serial killer, or a super villain or some shit.”

“Wha— I do not look like a serial killer!”

“So does that make you a super villain then?”

“No!” Dream sputters, scowling at Tommy.

With a grumble, Dream gets up and grabs the empty plate and cup, bringing them to the sink in the kitchen. Tommy quietly watched him wash the dishes from the table.

“I was going to ask,” Dream starts, breaking the silence. “If you needed a place to stay.” Tommy looked up, but Dream wasn’t paying him any mind, attention focused on the cup he was scrubbing clean. He wasn’t smiling anymore, Tommy notes smugly, but he also wasn’t frowning. Instead an oddly flat look had taken over his face, like Dream wasn’t quite sure about the expression he should make.

“...and what’s it to you?” Tommy responds, defensive.

“Well,” Dream drawls out, hands still scrubbing at the cup. “I own the cafe under us, but we’re a little understaffed at the moment.” Setting the glass aside and shaking his hands dry, Dream finally looks back at Tommy. “So I was wondering if you’d like to spend the night here, in exchange for helping out around the cafe tomorrow.”

Tommy squints at him, instantly suspicious.

“How do I know it’s not a trap?”

Dream rolls his eyes, picking up the plate and drying it with a cloth.

“We’ve been over this already. If I wanted to do something to you I would’ve done so in that alleyway, not bring you into my house and feed you.”

“So? You could just be doing that to lower my fucking guard!”

“What?” Dream shakes his head, setting the plate aside, hand rubbing at his forehead. “Look, kid,” Tommy scowls. “Big Man, whatever. I’m not gonna do anything to you, and I’m not trying to either. I have somewhere to be tomorrow, so I can’t help manage the cafe and there’s only one other person who can come in at that time. It’s handleable but I’d rather not overwork my only employee if I don’t have to.

“If you don’t like the offer, feel free to leave and go back to wherever it is you’re staying. I’m not gonna make you stay and force you to work or whatever.”

Tommy considers this, and then considers Dream, blank faced with the slightest downwards twitch of his lips. He looked tired, Tommy notes. The way he’s ever so slightly slouched. How he’s subtly leaning his weight against the counter.

He looks defeated. Which just feels wrong on someone who could kick his ass blind folded and with both hands tied.

Which, speaking of…

“Teach me how to fight.”

“What?” Dream blinks.

“I said, teach me how to fight.” Tommy reiterates, puffing his chest out in emphasis.

“I’m not gonna teach a kid how to use a knife.” Rolling his eyes, Dream turned to put the cleaned dishes away.

“Well, yes you are.” Tommy huffs, getting up and moving to stand in the man’s way. “Because if you don’t I’m gonna walk on out of here and you’re gonna have to live with the guilt of kicking a homeless kid out of your house.”

“So you admit you’re a kid?” Dream asks, quirking an eyebrow, lips twitching reluctantly up.

“No! I’m only using that as an example!” Tommy exclaims, appalled at the very suggestion that he was anything less than an adult.

“Whatever you say.” Dream shakes his head, heaving a sigh. Setting the dishes back down, the man began messaging the bridge of his nose, taking in a deep breath.

“I’m not going to teach you how to use a knife—“

“Hey—!”

“Because you’re gonna get yourself or someone else hurt and I don’t want the police coming to me when someone inevitably gets stabbed.”

“I’m not gonna stab anyone, just threaten them a little with my amazing knife skills.”

“But,” And Dream looks at Tommy, considering. “If you decide to help out at my cafe, I won’t say no to showing you some self defense moves after hours.”

Tommy perked up.

“So you’re gonna teach me how to fight?”

Dream turned away, finally placing the cleaned dishes into the cupboard.

“I didn’t say that.”

“Uhhhh, yes you did.” Grinning, Tommy walked up to the man, poking him lightly in the side. Dream twitched. “You definitely fucking said you’d teach me how to fight.”

“No, I said I’d show you a few self defense moves.” Dream nodded, “Very different things.”

Tommy wasn’t listening, instead doing a silent victory dance in his head as he dashed around the counter, back towards the hallway.

“Hey, slow down there kid.” Dream says, snatching Tommy by the back of his shirt before he can turn the corner. “I need to set some ground rules.”

Tommy makes a face at that, sticking his tongue out childishly, but didn’t make any moves to run when Dream set him down again.

“Ok, first of all, don’t steal anything. Hey! I’m being serious. My other employee sometimes spends the night here, and he’s got his stuff lying around in the guest room. The other guest room is full of junk and you’ll be staying in his room for the night. So don’t touch anything that doesn’t belong to you.

“Second, the shower’s down the hall. You can use the stuff that’s in the room, but I’m expecting you to put everything back where you found it, ok? Also, please don’t flood the place. It’ll be a nightmare to clean up.

“Third, you’re not allowed in my room. You’ll know when you see it. If you need anything just, knock. But if I find you snooping around in there then the deal’s off. Am I clear?”

“Yes yes! No stealing, no griefing, no going into fucking the end– can I go now?” Tommy squirmed under Dream’s gaze, trying his best to look on his best behavior.

“No going into the– what?” Dream shakes his head, a little confused at Tommy’s turn of phrase, before patting his shoulder. “Yes, ok. You can go. Just don’t forget to get ready tomorrow, we open at 10am!”

“Yeah yeah, see you in the morning bitch!”

OMAKE:

“And that’s how I found myself working at this cafe.”

“Wait, so you didn’t have to lie about your age and pester him for weeks?”

“What?”

“What?”

[dreamsclock]

NOT ME FUCKING UP C!TECHNO’S BEST LINE I’M SORRY BESTIE

[carpedzem]

hi sparrow

[dreamsclock]

PEOPLE HATE ME GENSRS FOR REAL ..