Most fan made things, when talking about Las Nevadas, talk about the place being a desert and it being hot as fuck as deserts are
But I can't help but crave for more things to use the fact that it's a fake, man-made desert over a taiga where it often snows
The fact that on the surface it'd seem like a normal desert, like you should use light clothing to keep you cool, but as soon as you spent more than a day there, you'd probably find out that its whole appearance is just that: a facade. You'd probably see it snowing at night, maybe some LN crew shovelling snow away even
There's just some big potential in acknowledging that the desert is just what the place shows as an outward appearance, while its core is the complete opposite
And there's so much to be said when the man who made it is Quackity. The man who vehemently claims to not care about people as a defense mechanism because he's been hurt before, while being unable to stop himself from forming strong bonds with people still. The man who spent days cooped up in a library to restore Charlie. The man who awaits for Wilbur's schemes, excited with glasses served for all of them because he's grown to like their back and forth. The man who swears to get revenge when he's learned that the revenge cycle will only hurt him more in the end. The man who wants to seem in control, a leader in his own right and not someone to be put in second place or be messed with anymore, while he's rash and insecure in the face of urgency
There's just so much to be said about Las Nevadas putting up appearances, while being the opposite at the core
what cslime did made perfect sense. its painful and i didn't like it, but it made sense. as much as cquackity loved cslime, he wasnt good for him.
cquackity has gone through so much trauma, loss and betrayal. his attitudes of "trust no one", "humans are assholes", "create no emotional attachments", etc, are a result of all of that, and i don't blame him for thinking that way.
but then he projected that onto cslime. he not only told cslime that humans were assholes, but showed him. and that hurt cslime. a lot.
(im going off on a tangent here but bear with me) my own dad has been through a lot of trauma in his life, and he's put it onto me. he's taught me about the genocide and dehumanization that our people have faced for centuries, but he's gone beyond that and taught me to feel his raw emotions. he gets angry, almost violent sometimes. he's hostile, doesn't show his feelings a lot. and when he does, it hurts us all. the trauma he's been through was absolutely not his fault, but it was his choice to open me and my sister up to his raw, unprocessed emotions when we were so young and malleable. we love and care for each other, and we have a good relationship, but there will always be that trauma that he chose to put onto us rather than healing, and i won't forgive him for that.
in the same way, cquackity felt real love for cslime. he didn't want to hurt him, but instead of coping in a healthy manner, he passed his trauma onto cslime, which was a conscious choice. you are not responsible for what others do to you, but you are responsible for how you treat others.
of course, cpunz, purpled and dream had significant roles to play in cslimes trauma, but cquackity's treatment of him is what started it all.
cslime's anger was completely justified. while killing cquackity isnt the way to settle his grievance, his emotions are understandable.
cslime is not a "villain", he isn't a bad person. he's a broken person who's been subject to the worst parts of others. and now he needs to heal.
This is my analysis post on the final lore stream from September 10th, because I have a lot of thoughts.
Disclaimer! I am a Purpled main, I have watched Purpled from the very beginning, I have watched all of his lore/dsmp streams, keep that in mind while reading. I will be biased.
First of all, I was very conflicted about Purpled. Admittedly from the perspective of a Quackity viewer, someone who always wants the best for Quackity, everything that Purpled did and his choices seemed completely fine. „Villains“ conversing, planning their revenge on the unsuspecting main character, then being bit in the butt by the very thing that was supposed to bring them their revenge. Totally makes sense story-wise! I get it from main character Quackity‘s perspective!
But from Purpled‘s? Why did he steal slime? Why did he team up with Dream? When Punz came to him, Purpled was defensive. He knows of Punz‘s abilities and he‘s very aware of his own. Purpled is good at movement, not PVP. Punz offers him a deal with Dream, Purpled questions why Dream isn‘t there himself. The deal that is offered, is very emotional, very Dream. Very unlike Purpled. Now, I am speaking from the perspective of a Purpled main, I know Purpled‘s character. He‘s not the emotional guy. But, alas, Purpled wanted to hurt Quackity and Slime killing Quackity is the perfect revenge.
The lessons taught are only implied but since we know Purpled to be analytical, critical of his surroundings and cynical we can assume his lessons to be the same. And I‘d like to say that Slime‘s betrayal is the product of Purpled‘s manipulation but I don‘t think so.
Perhaps Purpled gave Slime the tools to analyse his situation, his life so far. Purpled certainly didn‘t know that Slime remembered everything. I think we can hear hints of Purpled in Slime‘s speech, but that may as well just be something I imagined.
The death was pathetic, I won‘t talk around it. Pushed from the edge? Turning your back to anyone? Dying from fall damage? It certainly wasn‘t graceful. This will haunt Purpled forever. I really hope Purpled doesn‘t start a journey of self-reflection. It would be so very unlike Purpled to do that. In his eyes, from what we‘ve seen, Purpled thinks he was in the right. Let him be the morally grey character who doesn‘t care. But still! Even though it fucked him over as well, Purpled basically got what he wanted! Slime killed Quackity! It‘s just that it prompted him into a quest for self-betterment which isn‘t at all what Purpled wanted.
Now, I‘d like to say I‘m a realistic person. I know what I‘d like to happen and what makes sense with Purpled‘s character and I know what‘s more likely to happen in the future.
I‘d like for Purpled to shut down emotionally, to be become bitter and even more cynical. I want him to be angry but instead of showing it I want him to shove it down. I want him to be a ticking time-bomb that is ready to explode. Because this server has ignored him, avoided him, forgotten him. Quackity has destroyed what was his, insulted him, demeaned him. And now he‘s supposed to regret anything? Purpled was completely in the right and he‘s punished for it? He loses his first life like that? I want the next person to come up to Purpled to be killed. I want Purpled to truly recede into the shadows and everyone who dares to come near to be burned.
What‘s likely to happen though, is Purpled will keep lashing out emotionally. He will be childish and defensive, emotionally stunted. This was a blow to his ego. Maybe Purpled decides in spite of everyone to become good now, to stop being a mercenary. Maybe Purpled will become the next little bad guy that wants to take revenge on everyone. Whatever happens I hope he wins.
if you really think about it, c!quackity was smart not to let c!wilbur in.
I mean, if we apply the cc's views on /r c!tntduo onto the characters, quackity has always been more invested in their relationship than wilbur.
and q was (still is) in quite a fragile state mentally, seeking stability by making connections without rly ... making connections.
so when wilbur asked to join las nevadas and started going on abt working with q, and being his servant (fruity behaviour btw), quackity chose being careful and logical instead of letting his heart dictate his actions.
and looking back on it now, good for him. he's been abandoned and tossed to the side by everyone he truly cared for (including wilbur when he blew up l'manberg), so he truly doesn't need that to happen again. and it would've happened again, if he had decided to trust wilbur.
I'm not saying that when he eventually finds out abt wilbur having moved to utah, he won't be upset, but at least he won't be as heartbroken as he would've been if he hadn't kept his distance.
No, not even mcc can distract me from writing angsty dsmp headcanons. This time it’s my thoughts on pumpkinduo as a ship.
(About dsmp character not CC’s)
I think pumpkinduo is a tragic story in that Quackity would have been exactly what Schlatt needed. Quackity is sure of himself, enthusiastic, he has a strong moral compass, and he has endless love and support to give those he cares about. But Schlatt refused to show any vulnerability and ask for help, he blocked out everything Quackity could have offered him in place of antagonizing and dismissing him. He took the option of being vulnerable as an insult, any question of his actions to be a direct attack that couldn’t have possibly come out of a place of loving concern.
And Quackity both then and as his story went on was always looking for someone he loved and loved him back. If feels like he knew what he was attempting to do was hopeless the whole time, yet still held out hope until it became glaringly obvious if he kept it up he’d continue to be on the wrong side of history. The way he spoke to Schlatt in their last confrontation always felt off to me. It feels to me like he hasn’t fully accepted they’re going to kill Schlatt yet. That he’s trying to, if not attempt to safe him one last time, just prove he did in fact care about him.
While no, I don’t think the way c!Schlatt was handled was very well thought out at all. He’s very much a stereotypical alcoholic. I do think it’s a sweet idea to perceive c!Quackity as a person trying to support his recovery. Even if he never did recover in the story.
c!Quackity canonically has a fat ass + why that fact actually has some narrative importance for his character
Yeah I’m making a whole post about the surprisingly controversial size of Quackity’s ass, just, stick with me here. also heads up im gonna stop sayin “c!” and just saying the names but just know im only talking abt characters lol
Anyway. First of all, let’s discuss the opposite belief: Quackity is a flatty patty. It was a running joke on the smp, and it was started by Schlatt the day after they won the election. The days before when they had planned their joint presidency, Schlatt had established that Quackity’s whole value and purpose in the cabinet was for him to be pretty and have a fat ass. Now, do we really trust Schlatt’s judgement? The man was a drunk and just plain abusive. I’m not entirely sure if the other members of the Manburg cabinet joined in, but I know that if they did it wasn’t nearly as often as Schlatt, so he was definitely the spearhead of the “flat ass q” truthers. But, even Schlatt contradicted himself from time to time. He said multiple times, including his death scene, that Quackity and his “fat ass” left him, even though he later said “flatty patty” as his last words. Basically, tldr, i think Schlatt’s opinion is irrelevant and he contradicts himself too much to be taken seriously.
Alternatively, there are multiple scenes of Wilbur being caught staring at Q’s ass, anywhere between the very beginning of the elections all the way to Niki’s birthday party. Once when building the White House, once during the stream “we must get voters”, once when Tommy and Q told him about Plan Ass, and honestly probably a few more times that i just don’t remember right now. I trust him a bit more because hes fruity because he had no reason to make Quackity, his rival, feel better about his body. Plus, they even thought his ass was a solid enough plan to actually try out.
Now for why it matters narratively.
Schlatt changed Quackity and I think we all know that. He belittled Quackity all the time and I believe a lot of the way he thinks is built off of that now. I think he has been put down by people like Schlatt (and even Techno just by not treating him as a real threat) so much that he now has this concept that everyone looks at him that way, like hes worthless and can’t do anything right because all he’s good for is his looks.
I feel like a very important part of this is that he actually does look the way Schlatt initially said he did, but Schlatt then made him think that was what he should put all his worth into and used that information to hurt Q and emphasize that Schlatt was the leader and Quackity was nothing. And obviously, Schlatt calling Quackity stuff like flatty patty did hurt him a lot, because what if it was true? What if Schlatt was right and he was worthless now? It really pissed him off to hear it (and still does it seems) and in that first stream he immediately got to work on a workout thing that would make him have a fatter ass and kept calling Schlatt over to see if he approved or if he was proud. It was fucked up honestly.
Now he’s trying to work past that. He’s trying to be the big powerful guy who can do whatever he wants. We can see that a lot in how he always tries to prove that he could defeat Techno (someone he has a serious grudge against) and can crush Dream’s spirit. Mf has always been obsessed with power, the only difference is that now he has better weapons, armor, and a country of his own. Maybe that’s why he sounded so smug sending Wilbur away. He really thought “thats right, im better than Wilbur, this is my country and its stronger and better and it doesn’t need you.” Plus now he’s seeing that Wilbur respects him as an opponent, so he’s just as addicted to this rivalry as Wilbur is.
Long story short:
1. A few months ago I was drawing Quackity and thought “wait do i give him a fat ass or no” and ever since, I’ve cared about the answer to that question way too much.
2. I’m incapable of writing analysis without ending it with a small touch of tntduo
Fuck it, I feel like I need to clarify why I didn't like the stream.
SPOILERS FOR THE 27/11/21 QUACKITY STREAM
DISCLAMER: I am not saying my opinion is the right one and is just the way I saw the take of today's events. This is all c!.
Admittedly, I didn't have high hopes to begin with, so going in and seeing the cinematic at the start of the stream, I feel like it makes you expect more than you actually got. It's beautiful, the artwork from previous lore teasers, fantastic, it's our first look in the casino the way Q imagines it.
We get so Slime, ok, not unexpected, and hell, the reason why Q thought Slime as perfect to next leader of Las Nevadas is actually good. He's a blank slate, largely unaffected by the previous events of the server.
My first niggle though, is by saying Slime is like himself. Slime and Quackity, or at least Season 1 Quackity don't feel the same. Sure, the DSMP was young and so was there characters, but Q has always felt sharp, darker jokes, he's loud and outgoing, a self-imposed leader. He's never liked to live in someone's shadow so steals the show, but the problem with Slime is that he is Quackity's shadow.Slime isn't a character to follow, but he is a follower, listens to what Q says.
The one thing I did like about the way that Slime was worked with was the fact that he offered an innocent view onto Quackity's teachings, or a view of an onlooker, to be more precise. More than often, it's questions, ways to make Q re-evaluate the way he thinks, it's a good foil, I'll give Slime that.
The plot with Purpled confused me at first, if I'm completely honest. I couldn't tell who it was from the lighting making it seem like he had darker hair plus the purple suit. I honestly thought it was Karl at first until he mentioned the UFO. I may be missing lore, but I don't know where this came from, it feels slightly pulled out of thin air to me, and I'm not a fan from that front.
The Sapnap and Q stuff did genuinely bring a smile to my face, I wasn't expecting Quackity to be so relaxed around Sapnap seeing him again but it definitely was like a breath of fresh air from the denseness of everything else before. I understand why Q would be so reluctant to leave everything behind, especially because he is still under the impression that he was abandoned by them.
The fact that Sapnap was also somewhat trying to get Q to join Koniko (?) Kingdom was sweet, and very in character for him, he felt so kind and chill though that whole interaction to the point Q even dropped his edge and let himself enjoy it all. I liked it a lot, and I feel Sapnap was the strongest character through the whole stream.
The Karl stuff was interesting, and I do wanna point out now that his eyes were yellow/amber compared to the normal light brown which I found super interesting, though it isn't mentioned. It's clear Karl's memory is kinna fucked up, and his whole atmosphere is off, he's not bubbly, he feels distant, almost as if he's under water and the words Sapnap and Q are saying are muffled. He repeats things a lot, he's constantly moving as if he's trying to find himself, to figure out where he is.
He's able to recognise who he's with, and I liked the call-back to the El Rapids era that was through the whole part of this bit of the stream. It feels like Karl can only remember the bad stuff about Q, because that's the one thing he can really strongly recall. and he's pissed. He's angry. He yells. And Q, impulsive, rash, loudmouthed Q, lashes back in tenfold.
This is the difference between Q and Slime. Slime is friendly, he's nice to the people around him, he has a bubble around him that emits something joyful. Quackity, however, can lash out if you so much as phrase your words wrong, and he's very quick to snap and make a judgement on something before he even really even has time to think.
And that's shown wonderfully here, because he's yelling, yelling so much louder than Karl, hoping to scare him into backing down, to become the dominant person in the argument and to make it clear that only he is the correct one talking. Also at this pint, I was expecting Karl to push Q off his house, I really did, the heat of the argument and the position of them was too perfect for it not to in my mind. Missed opportunity.
Sapnap is clearly distressed, he didn't want this, he wanted them to get along, remember one another and hopefully get Q into the Kingdom. Instead he has a huge argument that he's in the middle of and is in no position to break up.
Quackity ends up storming off angrily, he's outraged at Karl, he couldn't win that argument because he couldn't get Karl to back down. Because that's what Q wants when he yells, he wants to scare them into shutting up. And he couldn't win.
Part of me feels like Karl couldn't remember everything that happened to him that day, that or he really wasn't expecting to die when he did. There is a bit of lore, though, that suggests that he may just be bitter at Q, and that's the fact that Quackity congratulated him for effectively dying for that cause. He didn't comfort Karl, just told him "Well done". That's honestly kinna harsh.
But alas, Sapnap runs after Q, he is fumbling for words, he's apologising. He feels bad. Q is still angry at Karl, though, and with Saonap, he's able to use that last little bit of anger to get him away from him so he can go back to his country.
Yada Yada Prison breakout mini bit. Not that relevant right now.
The bit with Purpled continued. The trap was nice, nothing much to say about that barring one thing, I did briefly think it was going to be something to do with Wilbur, since he hadn't shown up yet, and his whole plot with Quackity has been largely neglected in these last couple months to the point where it feels like filler.
But alas, as I said, the trap was nice, it was creative, and it captured Q. I liked the fact that Slime was the one to give away the secrets to Purpled. It shows off a point about Slime that Quackity made earlier, he's naive, trusting, too trusting. Purpled thinks Q has the revive book, and while he doesn't, he still wants it for reasons we don't know of.
They fight, physically this time instead of just words, and it's fun for the minute that they're fighting until Slime gets knocked into the lava. Q followed suit and properly tries to save him, and it shows that Q actually has that spark of humanity in him. That compassion for the people he cares about deep down, and the fact that he does want to care.
He can't save slime, though Slime does seem to give himself up in a way where he has muddled the lessons Q had tried to teach him. It feels like he's having a dignified death where it doesn't call for one, and his opt out was right there. There is something very Charlie about it, I must confess, but it feels wasteful of a life. At least it shuts up Purpled.
One of the nicer parts of the lore stream is that we get to see Q's way of grieving, where he delves into his work, and tries to bring Slime back. He's distraught, he's grieving, but the fat that weeks have past niggles at me again. The whole prison escape looses the sense of urgency it once had, and it makes it feel like it's not a threat anymore, which feels bad for the story because of how much it and the prison are hyped up.
Quackity giving Slime his name is nice, and at least he has one now. and the drop in from Foolish is great, I love seeing him, but here is where another problem sits with me. He says he's been letting Foolish run things/do things for him, which slightly harms the idea that Charlie would only want Q to be in charge of Las Nevadas.
I get that Charlie is out of commission right now, but Quackity also feels like the type of guy to stay terrifyingly true to his word, so giving trust to foolish, it rubs me the wrong way.
The "Legacy" thing leads me to believe that, when Charlie wakes up, he only remembers what Q taught him, and he looses that innocence that he once has before. I really do think that could be the case, and in a way, it could be like a wake up call for Q and the way he runs Las Nevadas.
As much as I have sung some of the stream's praises here, I still dislike it, and though the visual work was great, I feel the ending and other parts were weak to the point where Q started to feel a touch OOC. The truest parts to his character was when he was being loud and rowdy, especially the bit where he talked about Dream early on because it scared Charlie. It felt weak, and I feel back for saying as much because of how exited cc!Quackity was about the stream, but I'm being honest, and those were my thoughts.