Thoughts on Tubbo & Quackity Argue about Las Nevadas
/Unless otherwise said I am talking about the dsmp characters/
Can we please talk more about the Tubbo & Quackity Argue about Las Nevadas stream because I have been brain rotting about it literally since it happened originally 7 damn months ago.
I have rewatched the vod multiple times and it gets me every single time. The tension, the brewing conflict, two former allies who don’t know each other anymore.
Everyone does such a good job at portraying complex characters that have real weight.
Quackity who tries his hardest to come across as determined and strong, but is motivated more by desperation and fear. Shifting the arguments against the outpost back and forth, trying to use his argumentative skill to overpower Tubbo. Trying so hard to compensate for his well-known lack of combat skills.
Foolish and Purpled, mostly standing in the background. Acting more as props for Quackity’s arguments than anything else. Both physically and emotionally more removed from the conflict, from Las Nevadas in general.
Las Nevadas as the backdrop, gleaming in gilded gold and inch-deep sand. A reflection of Quackity himself, a carefully constructed yet shallow mask.
Ranboo, much less familiar with Quackity, and the past he and Tubbo share, comes across as lighthearted. “Are you really threatened by two children?”, he says as they all stand in full netherite armour, Tubbo with his inventory full of potions. One small trip away fron stacks of TNT and a literal nuclear weapon. His view of himself and Tubbo as equally non-threatening, acting almost playfully.
And finally Tubbo. No longer willing to be pushed around, just like Quackity. Uncomfortable with conflict but even less comfortable with compliance. Trying hard to hold firm, but visibly struggling to do so against the aggressively wordy presence of Quackity. Knowing that while Ranboo is on his side he is not helpful here. Tubbo knows much more about Quackity, but his vision is obstructed by time and distance and trauma. Still, Ranboo is his partner, someone to protect. Tubbo will handle it, he has to. To keep his family safe, to keep his sense of self safe. He is no longer willing to be a pawn.
I could go on and on but this initial start of the cookie outpost conflict is a standout stream for many reasons, from great acting to humor, but it especially shines in its character work. This Tubbo and this Quackity in particular are fundamentally different than their younger selves, the differences stark. In fact, they mirror each other in many respects.
This stream is also a great insight into what amazing performances cc!Tubbo has provided time and time again, especially if supported by others. He really did a fantastic job! (Also the fact that he said he was doing lore for the transcript accounts and Tubbo lore enjoyers ;( /pos)
•I still firmly believe that Techno is doing his best to support Tommy and I can see that he is actively trying to help Tommy through his trauma.
•Now hear me out, he isn’t perfect
•But, I think that’s because he’s trying to toe the line of being at least a little bit mindful that Tommy has been having a hard time and traumatic experiences
•But also knowing that in his position, Techno would absolutely hate pity
•And added to that Tommy is exactly the type of person to hate being pitied, to hate being seen as broken or weak or as if he can’t do things anymore
•So I think that while it may not be the kind of healing or help that maybe we would imagine
•I do think that the interactions on stream are showing that Techno is doing his best to help Tommy heal and move on
•Despite any other agenda that Techno might have
•I firmly believe that Techno has Tommy’s back right now
•And Techno would not hesitate to go to war for him
And, finally, here I am with the final part of my little Overly Long Analysis 3 parter!
You can find part 1 on Sapnap's stream [Here] and part 2 on Tommy's stream [Here]
As always I'm talking about the characters unless explicitly stated otherwise, and the dialogue is color-coded, so we'll have: Jack, Niki
Analysis under the cut!
This time we're talking about Jack's stream THE DARKEST DAY | DREAM SMP LORE because my boy popped off and deserves the highlight.
The stream starts a bit after Jack's meeting with Tommy. All the colors in the stream are muted, and the music is somber, most likely to indicate both Jack's feelings on what has just occurred and his overall mental state.
He starts off by explaining that he never expected Dream to actually get out. That he thought the man would forever be in prison.
"Why the fuck would someone break him out? It's like everyone on the server, all at once, seem to forget how bad that he was. Everyone at once just kinda didn't care! I was the only one who chased after him! Everyone else ran for a bit, hit him a couple of times and went 'Well I did what I could'"
First thing: to Jack it's literally inconceivable that anyone would want Dream free with how much hurt he's caused. And for the rest, we know that he isn't right. Sapnap kept chasing after Dream and even confronted him again alone n Tubbo's vault. Sam kept looking for him as well, and Hannah and Boomer did too as far as I know. But Jack split up from them in the Nether after Eryn refused to tell anyone which direction Dream had gone in, so of course, he wouldn't know that. And his frustration at everyone only grows.
"And this isn't like Tommy, you know? Where everyone seems to see him as some sort of god, or some sort of hero, or the person we should protect, despite everything he did. Everyone is aware that Dream was the enemy! No one's on his side! Some people are neutral but... everyone knows what he did! And yet someone went in there and broke him out!"
It's interesting to see the difference between how Jack sees Tommy and how he sees Dream. Because obviously he hates both, and his view on both is rather distorted. But the main difference is that his hate for Tommy is personal. He hates him because he feels like he was abandoned by him and because Tommy killed him. The harm Tommy caused was mostly personal to himself, despite how he tries to spin it most of the time. Meanwhile, his hate of Dream is mostly dependant on the man harming everyone else. And hate for Dream should be a given in his mind, because, unlike with Tommy, everyone should be aware of what he's done.
He then heads towards the crater of L'Manburg.
(Bad and Puffy left a statue as a present)
The statue they left him was really appreciated by Jack. Especially considering how abandoned and forgotten he feels.
"It's like everywhere you go on this server someone's watching" (paranoia?)
"I just wanted to make sure everyone was okay. Which is stupid! 'Cause no one would have done it for me!" (more resentment and feelings of abandonment)
"But I look back on places like this [L'Manburg's crater] if it would render and *sigh* it's like... despite everything, I can't let anything to happen to them. Despite them letting everything- everything happen to me I can't stand back and let people fall victim to their own poor choices! It's like- it's like I'm- I'm the only one whom I'm allowing to deal with consequence. Every time someone else is in danger I... I- I step in"
This is Jack having the revelation that he's been trying unsuccessfully to be a hero all this time. Perhaps not so explicitly, but he's always been trying to help and save people in his mind, by either fighting by their side (like on Doomsday or the 16th) or by trying to fight against those he views as dangerous individuals (trying to kill Tommy and now fighting against Dream once more). And this ties back in the fact that no matter how resentful he is Jack still cares, and he feels extremely conflicted about that.
"If I could save everyone like I tried to I'd at least feel fulfilled, but... I don't feel even remotely fulfilled, I feel stupid" (lack of fulfillment and self-isolation are his biggest problems from a mental health perspective)
Coming back from the crater Jack stops for a while to watch Phil, Ghostboo, and Tommy move around.
"Tommy's screaming about how he's in danger and now everyone stops what they're doing and helps him, like they always do" (This seems to be truer for how Jack treats Tommy than for how the rest of the server treats him. Jack was the one who put aside his resentment to help out both on Doomsday and the Disc War Finale. I wonder who Jack's resentment here is truly aimed at...)
Jack also seems to have a distorted view of how the initial war went down. Thinking that Tommy took a whole "nation of people who didn't know what they were getting into" to war, one they couldn't win, for "two pieces of vinyl" which really never happened. Once L'Manburg began Tommy always tried to keep the Disc War personal. He only ever gave up his discs for the Nation, never put them above it. It's interesting to see how twisted Jack's view of the events is. Jack's also under the impression that Tommy started the war himself, which, again, wasn't the case.
"And even this time! After all he did to me, after I told him what he did to me, he turns to me and asks for my help. And I'd be stupid if I did it! Stupid! Because, at the end of the day, I'll just get dragged into the next battle. Dream's coming for him, he's made that clear. I don't- he's not crazy, he knows what he's getting into"
Honestly, this is why I was saying that Jack's frustration feels more directed at himself than at anyone else. He's the one who keeps hesitating when it comes to Tommy asking him for help. He's the one who's unsure of what to do. Because, from his perspective, it would be stupid to help. Helping Tommy only results in war, death, and destruction in Jack's mind, and yet he can't just outright refuse to either. And it's also interesting that Jack interpreted Tommy's request for help as him asking Jack to help him against Dream when it was actually a request for Jack to help him build the walls.
"Dream made it clear he's never gonna kill Tommy. That was apparent. That was the whole reason I was gonna kill him a while ago! To get back at Dream and Tommy at once" (character recognizing Dream's obsession with Tommy in canon once more)
"I wish they'd [Tommy and Dream] leave everyone else out of what they're doing, you know? That's Tommy and Dream's battle and if they want to go off and fight, they can go off and fight. But no one else should have to deal with it" (again, he has a pretty distorted view of things, thinking that Dream would leave everyone else alone if Tommy fought with him by himself. Which, for one thing, Tommy right now simply can't do, and for another, wouldn't stop Dream from going after everyone else for power)
"Yet saying all of that, every single thing I said, everything I just said tells me not to go and help him. But in that moment when he turned around and said 'Jack i need your help'... I still don't know if I'm wrong in not saying yes" (And here it is. The admission. The reason why he's so frustrated and so conflicted despite everything)
"You know I don't remember Tubbo ever going to war with anyone" (Disc war, L'Manburg independence, Pogtopia, Butcher army, Doomsday, Disc War Final, Cookie Outpost conflict, Jack has quite the warped vision of Tubbo as well)
"Or Technoblade deciding that he really has it in for Niki" (Not for Niki specifically, but he did go to war against L'Manburg on two occasions. Definitely hated Tubbo in particular for a while too)
"Then there's that, isn't there? Niki. You know what? When I went into exile when I took myself off to New Manifoldland and decided I'd never come back here, there was always this idea- this... I don't know what it was but... I kinda hoped that being the person I was closest to she'd notice I was gone, you know? And- and search and- I don't know- show up in the middle of the desert and say 'Hey Jack, come home'. I don't even know where home is anymore. It's not there and it's definitely not here anymore. And then, during all of it, all of it, the one person I kinda hoped that I could trust, I hear them say that she set off the withers! That she was there to help Dream get out of the fucking prison?! Like- like she doesn't remember what we spoke about!"
Needless to say, Jack is also extremely conflicted about Niki. He feels abandoned once more, possibly since she joined the Syndicate. He was hoping that at least she would go searching for him, because, despite Jack's tendency to self-isolate, there's nothing he wants more than a community. And, of course, she didn't. He also feels betrayed because of her participation in Dream's escape, especially since it used to be him and her against Tommy and Dream. That's how it all started for them. It feels like a betrayal of his trust, despite how long they haven't spoken in.
After that Jack gives a speech about how no one should decide on their own who gets to live and die and that people should think more about doing their own thing.
"You can't agree with me that Tommy was the problem and then not see that Dream was the problem too! They're two sides of the same fucking coin, I've always said it!" (Reiteration of Jack's peculiar world view)
Jack decides that he needs to go speak with Niki. On the way, Jack mentions how he doesn't understand Niki since she's been "starting on that anarchy bullshit" as he put it. Because she switched from doing certain things with him to doing the exact opposite.
He also comes across Kinoko Kingdom and marvels at its beauty, and at the fact that it's not in ruins. Past that he arrives at Niki's secret city and finds her there.
"What were you doing at the prison?" "I- Just what I was told, Jack. I had to help Techno, Ranboo was stuck in prison. Trust me, I- I didn't want it to happen, it was the last resort. We- we- it was the last resort! I- I didn't-I-" "But why does any of that matter?! It doesn't matter who goes to jail, Dream is number one priority" "Ranboo is dead! Ranboo is dead!" "Ranboo is dead?" "We had to save him! We tried to save him!" "And how did that go?" "No one- no one-" "Nothing is more important- nothing is more important than keeping Dream in there, and you know that! You know that! If you were with me on Tommy of course, you gotta be with me on Dream!"
A few things to talk about here:
1) For the people thinking that the Syndicate freed Dream because they cared about how corrupted the prison was, you have the proof here that at least one of the members couldn't give a f*ck about that. She literally only cared about Ranboo being in there. (We also know that Phil's reason wasn't that either, because he made that clear).
2) To Jack, Ranboo should have stayed in prison if it meant also keeping Dream in there. As a matter of fact, to him, there's nothing more important than keeping Dream in there. A failed rescue mission especially shouldn't take priority over keeping him locked up in his mind. Meanwhile, for Niki it's the opposite.
"Who knows if we were right with Tommy...? I don't know anymore Jack. I don't- I-" "What do you mean? Maybe we shouldn't have killed him, but you can't- you've got to agree that- you got to agree that he was in the wrong!"
Niki mostly moved on from their old way of thinking. She was hurt in the period of time when she agreed with Jack, and she was misdirecting her anger. Jack didn't realize that though, and it hurts him to know that they can't see eye to eye anymore.
"Dream had a favor. He held a favor over Techno. We had to-" "Great, that's between them!" "But he's my friend" "Was I? Was everyone?" "You're still my friend Jack" "You have any idea where I've been? At all? For the past, like, three months?" "No, I was waiting"
Jack's philosophy is pretty much everyone for themselves. And it tends to clash a lot both with his desire to help others and with his desire to be helped by others. It's an interesting internal conflict. It's also what causes him to think that Niki should have left Techno to deal with his favor alone, but he still wishes that she didn't let him deal with his own problems alone.
"How was I supposed to find you? Because you just disappeared. You disappeared out of-" "But did you even try?" "No, I didn't. I didn't. But I had my own things to deal with Jack, you know?" "What, like breaking Dream out?" "You- Jack you think that you are The Person and that everyone else is selfish, but- think about the things I had to do, I had to go through things too"
This is a core part of their conflict. Jack has abandonment issues, and he was only really close to Niki before leaving. So her admitting that she didn't try to search for him hurts him. But Niki had already established her own friendships when he left. As she said, she had her own things to deal with (her feeling on Wilbur's revival, possibly Techno's imprisonment, her own mental health). It's an interesting conflict of "when should you put yourself above the need of others"?
They keep talking about this and Niki explained that she didn't act with the intention of helping Dream break out, she was only there for Ranboo. Niki also mentions that Jack could have been there, to which he responds that being there never did him or anyone else any good.
"I made this place so that people like us have a home, that people like us have a family, Jack" "Well, what happens next time? What happens next time, when Technoblade has to call in another favor? Will you run off and help him again?" "Probably" "Then I don't want a part in that!"
This time we have another conflict of ideology. Jack doesn't want to be involved in any more conflict, and he knows he would be if he was involved with Technoblade, even second-hand involvement. Because, at least from his perspective (which, as always, isn't quite correct) in the Dream smp you are judged based on the actions of those you associate with. Niki seems to want to change that, which is why she insists that Jack wouldn't need to be associated with Techno just because he's staying in her city.
They talk some more and Niki brings up the fact that governments are the problem on the server (which, at this point makes very little sense considering that there aren't even any governments left?). Jack entirely disagrees with that, even mentioning how the anarchist group making laws against governments is turning into another government by itself (which, by the dsmp definition of government as a small group of people making laws isn't even wrong).
"The amount of times that you will run away from yourself is okay! But please, please remember that there's always a place that you can come back to, and I'm so incredibly sorry that I hurt you" (I think this was a nice quote to sum up Niki's offer)
"Jack you're my friend, you're my best friend, and you will always be, okay? I will always be on your side. Even over Techno's side! Even over- over- I don't know, I don't have many allies" (Rocket Duo moment for the soul)
"I'm sorry too. I- I didn't think about anyone else when I was leaving and to preach about everyone else being selfish is- well it's- I don't know. It makes me a hypocrite I guess" (Self-reflection and healthy communication, honestly these two may have one of the healthiest dynamics on the server)
Niki then gives Jack a book, so he can write the coordinates of where he is staying and give them to Niki, so she can always know where he is, since he already knows where she is.
"Please don't share these [the coordinates] with anyone. Even- Tommy still wants me to help him and- look, I don't know if I should but I- I wanna make that choice by myself" (Recognizing his own tendency to easily get pressured into things, Jack has done quite a bit of self-reflection this stream)
Jack leaves after this to get the coordinates for Niki.
"I'm still mad but, I don't feel like I can blame her anymore. I wasn't there for her, I guess. And the Syndicate were and I- I guess when you're that lonely it's- it's enticing regardless of what they stand for. I can't- I can't blame her. It doesn't mean I agree with what she did! She's wrong and she's put all of us in fucking danger"
Oh, this is a neat little parallel to Tommy's situation with Phil I hadn't noticed before! Both Tommy and Jack forgave the other person on a personal level after coming to an understanding of them. They forgave the other person for harming them specifically but without forgiving the incident as a whole. Tommy doesn't forgive Doomsday, he forgives Phil. And Jack doesn't forgive Dream's escape, he forgives Niki.
"I can't remember the path home. If I can call this home. It never really felt like it" (Again, lacking a sense of belonging)
"I still don't know what to do about Tommy. And it's really eating me up inside, 'cause I know I'd be stupid to help him, but every time he asks I feel bad if I don't" (I wonder how long it'll take him to understand that the reason why he feels so conflicted is that he still cares. Really a nice honest talk between these two would benefit Jack so much)
Jack arrives in New Manifoldland after quite a long travel through the Nether. He doesn't find Jessbee, the pet he was living with there, though. Through the grief for the loss, he realizes that out there isn't where he belongs and he decides to actually write down the coordinates of the place for Niki.
"I feel quiet but there's just- there's so much on my mind, you know? I don't know whether to help Tommy, I don't know- I still don't fully know whether I'm right in trusting Niki but... I got no one else left" (this is basically a summary of all of his internal conflict this stream, nice)
"Peace is all I want" (another parallel between him and Tommy. Always looking for peace, but never able to find it)
Jack goes and gives the book to Niki and then the stream ends.
Hello everyone! How long has it been since one of my Overly Long Analysis?
God, I missed being able to do this, so, to celebrate, this one will be a 3 parter on yesterday's lore!
As always I'll be talking about the characters exclusively unless stated otherwise.
The Dialogue is color-coded so we'll have: Sapnap, Eryn, Michael, Punz, Tommy, Sam, Jack, Dream
Everything under the cut
First up is Sapnap's stream: Late Thanksgiving Stream On Dream SMP (LORE) FINALE because after the last 2 streams my boy deserves to be in the spotlight
Starting off strong with a "wtf is happening, why is Sapnap like this?". In all seriousness though, they were just messing around and having fun at the start. Sapnap, Punz, and Callahan just goofing off together.
Sapnap canonically hates NFTs. George is still sleeping.
Dadboyhalo moment, reminding his kid to feed the horse he stole properly.
Eryn may have just joined Kinoko Kingdom. Karl is canonically watching Over The Garden Wall (good choice).
The bell in the Prime Church is gone, which could become an interesting detail for later.
Glad to know that Sapnap's first instinct when seeing any type of pet is still murder.
"Why is he [Dream] in there? I've barely gotten the whole- why is he even in there?" "He's in there because he didn't pay me enough" "He's in there because he did some fucked up shit Michael" "What- what did he do?" "He wanted to control everyone on the server and he, well, he tried to take everyone's-"
We finally got someone trying to explain to one of the newcomers what Dream has done. It's interesting that Punz immediately made it about himself while Sapnap was trying to explain that Dream had hurt everyone.
"Okay Michael fine, you wanna know- you wanna know why he's in there?" "Yes" "He's fucked up, alright? He was my friend but he's fucked up, okay? He wanted to control everyone" "So do you think he should be in there?" "Yes" "For how long? (...) Because I never got a straight answer. I don't know what he did past trying to control people" "He did fucked up shit. You see this fish [Beckerson] Michael?" "Yeah?" "You see this fish? Beckerson? He took- he tried to take Beckerson from me. Beckerson! You know who Beckerson is?!" "I don't know who Beckerson is" "Beckerson is the first pet on the server" "And he tried to take- why?" "Because he wanted to have power over me like he wanted to have power over everyone"
I apologize for cutting out Eryn's lines here, but this is rather long as is and he was mostly just agreeing with Sapnap. That said it's really interesting to see Sapnap try to explain everything, mostly because we finally have someone who is trying, but also because he has such a unique perspective on things. He used to be Dream's friend and still cares about him and it hurts him that Dream would try to have power over him. It hurts him to know what kind of person his friend became.
And Michael's skepticism makes sense in the situation. As he mentioned, he never actually got an explanation about anything. He never got specific actions, just general statements on why Dream's a bad guy.
"But I still love him, Michael! I still love him" (reiterating the point that Sapnap never stopped caring)
"Listen, listen, Michael, you just need to listen to the man, he said he's [Dream] fucked up-" "And what did he do to you? What did he do to you?" "I- I don't know. I'm just in it. I'm just in it" "So you are blindly following then?" "No no, I just, Michael, I just don't care" "But have you heard any other opinions?" "I mean, I mean. At the end of the day Michael..." "I don't think you've heard any other opinions"
I think this one was a really interesting exchange. Both of them are new and both of them are completely ignorant to the history of the server, but it's interesting to see how differently they approach their lack of knowledge.
Eryn doesn't really care that much. Just in general. The two things he seems to care about so far are chaos and Tommy. Everything else is just generally inconsequential to him. Whether Dream is actually a bad guy or not it doesn't impact him.
For Michael it's the exact opposite. He wants to get to the truth, that seems to be his main character drive. He isn't satisfied with just adopting someone else's opinions on the matter, especially not if he's not provided with any compelling reason to do so.
And it's very clear that they don't understand each other. They're talking past each other because to both of the the way the other has of dealing with life is inconceivable.
"Michael, even though Dream is fucked up I still care about him-" "Do you?" "But he's gotta stay in prison" "For how long?" "I don't know. As long as it takes for him to stop being fucked up"
Another little thing I wanted to point out here: Michael keeps asking how long Dream deserves to be in prison for, because that's how it normally works. You serve your sentence and that's it. And that's how some people in the fandom seem to view it as well. But, here's the thing, Dream wasn't locked up to be in prison. He was locked up because he had the Revive Book, otherwise, he would have been killed. The prison was the only option for him to stay alive because nobody on the whole server felt safe with him being out.
"He took away everyone's most prized possession! He took away my fish, he took away Tommy's Axe of Peace" (...) "I think he took Tom's discs also" "Oh yeah shit, you're right, that's way more important. He took away Tommy's discs" "Yeah I heard that one" "He tried to take Skeppy, he tried to steal Skeppy!" "He tried to- he took Skeppy. He took a whole ass person!" "He took him and put him in a box" "That's fucked up he literally kidnapped Skeppy" "Okay, like, Michael, he- he- he put Skeppy in a box to control Badboyhalo" "See nobody had explained that part to me, that is pretty fucked up. Now that I think about it maybe it's good that he is in there [the prison]"
Okay, 3 things I want to quickly say about this:
1) Sapnap recognizing the importance of the discs out loud is so important to me. Just anyone that isn't Tommy recognizing that, yes, they've had a huge impact. They are important even if they're pretty basic items.
2) Eryn is surprisingly knowledgeable for someone who generally doesn't care to ask. I'm guessing he probably learned about the Skeppy cage and Tommy's discs off-screen. No idea if it was from stumbling on the attachment vault or from Tommy himself.
3) To all of those thinking the Skeppy cage was just a silly bit with no consequences: how does it feel to be so wrong? Because that's what convinced Michael of the fact that Dream should probably stay in prison. Because everyone here was pretty horrified by Dream's actions.
"Micheal, Michael, Michael, from what I've heard, from what I've heard he bombed an entire country just for the shits and giggles" (okay, he definitely learned his information from Tommy because Tommy was one of the few who heard Dream's spiel about destroying L'Manburg because it was fun)
Eryn actually mentioned seeing the 3/4 Syndicate members and finding it rather shady, so it's nice to see that that had consequences.
Niki joining trying to be as casual as possible and immediately making everyone suspicious because none of them had heard the alarm yet and she mentioned it unprompted. That's a big fail right there.
Sam comes in yelling at everyone to go toward the prison and finally, they actually do. Tommy also arrived. There's a bit of fighting where everyone suspects Sam of lying to them about Dream's escape.
"Tommy, Tommy, I wouldn't lie about this Tommy" (immediately going to reassure him instead of everyone else. Awesamdad moment)
"Tommy, where are you?" (Sapnap also looking for Tommy to keep him safe)
"If Sam isn't kidding and Dream's actually breaking out this is the worst possible fucking thing that's happened" "This is- this is not a fucking joke guys" "Tommy, Tommy calm down" "Don't- don't fucking tell me to calm down Michael, you don't know-" "Tommy they don't know, they don't know. They don't know Tommy" (general noises of confusion from Eryn and Michael) "Excuse me? What is wrong with Dream?" "They don't know, I've tried to explain it to them" "Eryn, You don't think Dream's that bad?" "I don't- I haven't met the guy!" "We just have not met him, we don't know" "Okay, you fucks listen to me: no matter what anyone tells you on this server, Dream- Dream is the worst man on this entire server. He's done thi- he's put me in exile, he's left me to die, he has killed me! Just- he's put me through shit that no one should ever see just for the sake of his own fun, alright?!"
So proud of my boy for being able to finally explain how much Dream hurt him even while having a full-blown panic attack. This is the closest he's ever gotten to mentioning the abuse as well. Also, Sapnap supporting him all the way through while also trying to explain that the other two aren't doubting him out of malice but just genuine ignorance.
"No nononono we, we know Sam Tommy and Sam- Sam doesn't fuck around like this" (Sapnap acting as the voice of reason after everyone started doubting Sam once more)
"Eryn, Michael, listen to me: if Dream comes near you, if he interacts with you, he is not a good man, alright? He'll dig his claws into you and manipulate you from within. Please, whatever you do, listen to me right now if he gets out then everything is gonna turn upside fucking down, alright?"
It's really fascinating how Tommy describes things. Wilbur's brand of manipulation is an insidious little thing, a bug crawling into your brain and making you take wrong decisions. Dream's brand of manipulation is more overtly destructive. It claws at you from within and warps your perception of the world, turning it upside down. Tommy's speeches are always really simple and direct, but they get the point across wonderfully.
"Sapnap just let me stay with you- let me st-" "Just stay with me Tommy, he won't be able to get you if you're with me" (Sapnap once more acting as a shield to protect Tommy from Dream, a nice callback to the Disc War Finale)
Dream, Techno, Connor, and Ranboo come out of the prison and Sapnap doesn't hesitate a second to start attacking Dream and yelling at everyone to help Sam.
"No I can't get hit by him [Dream], not again, I can't go through this" "Tommy stay back, just stay back" (In case anyone doubted that Dream's abuse towards Tommy was also canonically physical, here's your answer. Also Sapnap taking a moment from his fighting to help Tommy calm down)
"Michael, Eryn, listen to me, if he [Dream] makes any contact with you, if he makes any- any- any measure to interact with you do not believe anything he says. He's a manipulator and a liar" (Tommy still focusing on getting his point through to the 2 new members since they'd be more vulnerable to Dream's manipulation)
Sapnap mistakingly killed Cottonball and that's the first time you can hear instant regret for killing a pet.
"Don't focus the Wither, focus Dream!" "But the- but the Wither will destroy everything" "Who gives a shit, Dream will do way worse!"
Reminder to everyone that Jack hates Dream more than literally everyone else on the server. He was there to see him destroy everything time and time again, he was there to fight against him on Doomsday, he's seen what happens when Dream is free, and Jack is willing to get some of the server destroyed if it means avoiding that.
"Niki was spawning Withers! I knew she was a fucking part of this Punz, I told you" "Yeah, what a fuck?" (I suppose that even working with Dream, Punz wouldn't have known that. Either way, Niki managed to fool no one from the start)
They meet up with Hannah and Boomer again when chasing Dream and the Syndicate and Hanna is immediately in favor of killing Dream. I didn't remember whether she had an opinion on him or not but guess that answers the question.
Also, there is another bit of infighting where Eryn is saying that they should leave Dream and the rest alone, he mostly doesn't understand what's happening and is decidedly confused. On the other side, Punz, Sapnap, and Hannah are very vehement about NOT leaving them alone because they are aware of what they'd done and don't want a repeat of that.
"I know where he [Dream] went but I'm not telling you guys" "Why would you not tell us?!" "I don't think we should kill him! Everyone deserves redemption!" "Eryn, you were not fucking here to make that call!"
Jack being based as f*ck once more. The problem with Eryn's line of thinking here is that he doesn't know. Much like Phil or Techno his actions are based on ignorance. He doesn't know Dream, doesn't know if he'd even want to redeem himself and he doesn't know what he's done. And Jack is right, Eryn wasn't there, that isn't his decision to make.
Also, Michael's makes a point here that he is also interesting. He understands why Eryn is struggling with this decision because he too is ignorant. He never met Dream and it's hard to make a decision while they're under so much stress. But also he thinks that, after Tommy's speech especially, they have to at least keep tab on Dream's whereabouts even if the two of them don't intend to kill him.
"There's no time for this shit! Did you not here- Tommy not fucking get through your that he's a- what he's done?" (I have such a hard time thinking that this guy is supposed to still be one Dream's side with how upset he sounds about them not taking Tommy's words seriously enough)
The group splits up and Sapnap decides to only take Punz with him to fight Dream as they're the only ones who may have a chance.
"Who would be first on his [Dream's] agenda?" (Yeah, wonder who. I forget sometimes that the only people who are aware of Dream's obsession are Tommy himself, Quackity, Sam, and Jack. And now maybe Phil if he connects the dots)
They split up once again at Punz's insistence, and I'm guessing here is maybe where he meets up with Dream? Someone who watched his pov can tell me.
"We need to tell- Eryn doesn't know. Eryn, Dream is gonna be the worst person you ever fucking meet. He used to be great! He used to be my best friend, but he's changed. He's not the same. Just be careful, if you see him don't fight him. You won't stand a chance"
Honestly, I really appreciate the fact that Sapnap is one of the few characters that keep trying to solve the misunderstandings in the server instead of just not communicating. And, since he's not sure if he got through Eryn, he simply wants him to stay safe. He's not mad about it, just concerned. It's refreshing.
"Do I really have to kill my own best friend?" (Sapnap trying to come to terms with his own promise)
Also, Sapnap is convinced that Ranboo is one of the people who helped Dream escape. And he was the one to tell Tubbo that Dream escaped apparently.
"Are you a Dream apologist Sam?" "I'll kill you" (Welp, that answered that question)
After Sam arrived the group (made of Hannah, Boomer, Eryn, and Sapnap) started questioning him on how he could let this happen, with Hannah also bringing up that she's disappointed in him for that.
"I don't know anyone might wanna get him [Dream] out because he manipulates people, that's what he does! That's what he's good at!" (Sapnap proving once more that he knows why Dream is so dangerous)
"Where did Tommy go? I hope he's okay..." (There are 2 things Eryn cares about, I'm telling you)
Sam confesses to Sapnap that he thinks there is a mole amongst the guard because Techno couldn't have known how to break into the prison like that. So Dream has managed to create mistrust among them even without realizing so by giving Techno the blueprints. Apparently, even Sam doesn't suspect that Dream would go after Tommy immediately, huh.
"I know where he's gonna go" "Where?" "Sapnap I know where he's gonna go. Where is- who has his stuff? His armor?" "What armor?" "Oh no. I'm gonna go where- where the bunker was, where we arrested him. You try and go find somewhere else" *Sam leaves* "His armor. His armor. His armor? I know where he's going- I know where he's going next! He needs his shit!"
They figured this one out about 20 minutes too late. Still, though, they both managed to put their emotions aside long enough to think logically. It's more or less expected from Sam by this point, but it's impressive from Sapnap considering that he's usually a lot more on the impulsive side. Meanwhile this whole stream he's been a constant voice of reason.
Sapnap remembers that Tubbo was the one to take Dream's armor and heads to Tubbo's secret vault. Of course, he gets there in time because Dream was way too busy tormenting Tommy at this time, and manages to get everything from there, even wearing Dream's own armor.
Dream does in fact go to the vault as Sapnap suspected, even if he's already armored.
"Sapnap! Sapnap it's great to see you! Do you have my armor?" "Yeah, I do. I've everything" "Give me it. Come on" "Don't think I can do that pal" "What do you mean?" "I don't think I can just hand you over your armor. Why did you guys- why did you get out?" "Eh. It's my armor, I'd like it back"
Dream's tone just shifts drastically as soon as Sapnap refuses to comply with his demands. It's the closest we've seen Dream act like he does with Tommy with anyone else.
"I don't know Dream, I'm not gonna lie it kinda- it kinda feels good on me. Dream, I told you to stay in there [the prison], didn't I?" "What are you saying?" "I told you to stay in there, why did you get out?" "What do you mean why'd I get out?" "Why did you get out?" "What did you want me to rot in- I was getting tortured! Did you want me to rot in prison forever?" "You were getting tortured? Who was torturing you?" "Yeah Quackity was torturing me" "Quackity was torturing you? What do you mean he was torturing you? Like literally torturing you?" "He was trying to get the revival book and so he was torturing me" "The revival book? What revival book?" "It's a long story" "Do you have it on you now?" "No, I don't. Just give me my stuff. Give my stuff and I'll leave, I'll be out of here"
Taking another break from transcribing this long-ass dialogue to point out a couple of things here:
1) Sapnap, much like Tommy, is immediately sympathetic to Dream for what he went through, showing once again that the torture was not something anyone on the server approved off, no matter how much they dislike Dream, or, in Sapnap's case, how much he thinks that Dream deserves to be locked up in prison
2) This is not the first time that someone who was at the Disc War Finale seems not to know about the book, despite the fact that Dream having that was the literal reason why they locked him up instead of killing him, which makes me wonder if people thought that Dream's revival powers were something he simply had instead of having been acquired from somewhere else
"What are you planning to do? I think I deserve to know" "I was planning to leave and get away and just be away from everybody" "You're just gonna leave and get away and live on your own? Away from everyone? That's your plan?" "Yes, if you give me my armor I'll do that. I'll go away" (...) "Dream I can't do that"
So, of course, we don't know what Dream's actual plan is. We don't know the details of it, nor his end goal. But, considering the fact that, at this point in the stream, he already spent quite a bit of time psychologically torturing Tommy and telling him that he would make him immortal it does seem extremely likely that he's lying to Sapnap.
And, since I know some people are wondering if that was just Tommy's hallucination, right after this conversation Dream gives Techno the Axe of Peace that was previously buried in Logstedshire. He had to have been there and we as the audience have no reason to believe otherwise as of now.
Either way, Dream gives Techno his ax back in exchange for him and Tubbo leaving and blocks himself and Sapnap in the vault with some obsidian he had.
"Dream! You're not the person- you're not just gonna live off in a little cottage in the middle of nowhere, are you?" "Okay, you're right! Look, I won't, I'll live here but I'll be peaceful everyone- everyone will see that" "Dream, I would love that, I really would. That's all I want. But that's not you. And the fact that you broke out of that prison is just a testament to that"
There are a couple of things to note here. For one thing: Sapnap saw right through all of Dream's deception. He's aware that his old friend is a liar and he doesn't let his promises deter him. But also one thing that's very clear all throughout this interaction is how much he still cares about Dream. So much so that Dream being out and being peaceful is all he wants. And he has to go again his own affection for his best friend to stand his ground because that's the right thing to do.
"Dream, you left me behind once before, I'm not giving you the opportunity to do that again" (The difference in perspective. Dream and Sapnap both claim to be the ones who've been abandoned. I'm inclined to agree with Sapnap here though, Dream abandoned him when he gave a speech about how he only cared about controlling Tommy)
"What have you been up to the last couple of months Sapnap? How about the last year? What have you been up to?" "Working on a kingdom. With Karl. And George. You remember George, don't you?" "Ah, kingdom, where is that located at?"
If anyone remembers this is the way Dream fishes for information about people's attachments. He did the same with Techno when they were talking in prison, only this time it's made a lot more obvious with the intention of being intimidating. After all, what Dream is after right now is his armor, not Sapnap's attachments, and he's more likely to falter if he's nervous.
"I bet George misses you a whole lot" "I bet he does" "He definitely never talks about you, I'll tell you that much" (Sapnap is trying to use a similar tactic to Dream's here, trying to hit him where it hurts. Sadly for him, he gets no reaction since Dream hasn't really cared about him or George for a long time now)
"Dream, if you want it [the armor], take it off my dead body, I'm not handing it to you. You can say you're trying to negotiate with me all you want, I'm not budging" (This was just cool)
"If I give this to you I don't even wanna know what you're gonna do"
Deciding that that's probably a fight he can't win since Dream doesn't have that many resources at the moment, and even less after he used some to torment Tommy, he decides to change tactics, get out of the room and threaten Kinoko instead.
"If you really wanna live that way in a house, in a cottage then you don't need this armor, just go and do it. But I'm not giving you stuff that's gonna enable you to hurt other people, not again Dream"
Once again, Sapnap is being extremely rational in this stream. He realized that Dream really wouldn't need weapons and armor if he was telling the truth. But he isn't. And Sapnap can see right through him.
Dream still manages to evade Sapnap's chase and leaves him telling him they'd see each other again.
Sapnap heads back to Kinoko and meets up with Karl to try and explain everything. Karl disagrees with Sapnap actions saying that he believes that Sapnap has made Kinoko a target.
They end their conversation agreeing that they'll have to prepare. Make a watchtower, get more people, and so on.
Sapnap throughout this stream truly impressed me. He managed to keep his cool for the most part and think before he acts, which brought him to both be able to predict Dream's next move as well as to be able to see through the bs. It's also interesting that, while Dream most likely doesn't see Sapnap as an equal, he still sees him as a definite threat, at least pvp-wise.
It makes me really curious to see what kind of role Sapnap will cover moving forward.
