Ghostbur was so much more than Wilbur Soot's ghost.
He was so much more than a shadow, a reflection, a husk of the past. He was a being of love, compassion, and a curious desire to learn.
And he loved everyone around him, and he just wanted to be a friend. To fix the mistakes made by the man he couldn't even call himself, to somehow remedy the past with the endless compassion in his heart – and the beautiful passion to write and to read.
Ghostbur deserved the world, and what he got was the end.
He was already tragic in that, despite his best efforts, would never gain an identity. That he would always be "Wilbur's Ghost" – the weird ghost with a high pitched voice, the weird ghost with the naïveté of a small child. He was never "Ghostbur" – a person. A person who likes to write books, a person who loves the color blue, a person with a heart so big it ended up being his end.
And now he's stuck in a limbo that was never his own to begin with. Forever reminded of his mistakes, forever sobbing to himself, desperately hoping someone will rescue him.
Forever tormented, forever weeping.
And he will be forgotten.
But he will never forget them.
Has it ever sunk in for you that – This is it? This is it for Ghostbur. This is the end of his symphony, this is the last page of the story that wasn't even his life.
Have you ever took a moment to look at the big picture? Do you think you'll ever look at him the same, knowing what fate he'll be punished with?
There's just something about Revivedbur that's just. So Fucking Compelling.
Let me try and pin point what.
First off, let's be honest with ourselves – we all expected him to come back worse, didn't we?
I mean, what else would we expect from the man who cried and screamed into his pillow behind closed doors, the man who played hide and seek with his own depression?
What else would we expect from the man who silently held the crushing weight of the world on his shoulders, the man who suffered silently for what felt like years behind a smiling face and a barrier of flowery words, the man who suffered and lost so much he shattered into pieces?
I can tell you what we didn't expect.
We didn't expect euphoria, we didn't expect happiness, we didn't expect genuine joy from the man who once wanted nothing but death.
The man whose only desire was a sword through the heart and the end of his symphony – the end of his life –
Now a man who cries at the sight of the sun after an eternity of waiting for warmth.
Now a man who wants to re-live all the simple pleasures of life, Now a man who laughs and jumps and giggles at the simple sensation of feeling alive, Now a man who wants to hug the sunrise like he'd hug his brothers –
"One thing led to another and I was the president of a nation, losing it due to my own insolence (. . .) short-sighted naïveté, disregard for my fellow citizen who I claimed to love so much; and a dark, twisted understanding of what is possession and what is my right."
For anyone who doesn't know, this was a quote from Wilbur's podcast (first episode, quite a lovely podcast. 10/10. Big Vibes) where he talked about his smp character for a bit.
It really made me... think. A lot.
It's really cool! Especially since it came from Wilbur himself. No one could understand his character as well as he does, after all.
It gives us a bit of insight, even if its so little.
And my silly little Wilbur sympathiser ass saw this and went "❗"
So everyone sit down. It's time for my silly little thoughts.
(Sorry if this is a bit incoherent and rambly whisuenehs I think about this man So Much.)
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First off, something I picked up on is that the quote is mostly about his Presidency.
But the last line specifically – "and a dark, twisted understanding of what is possession and what is my right."? – Seems to heavily reference his fucked up perception due to his downward spiral.
The quote also implies that Wilbur's spiral started during his Presidency. (he definitely wasn't mentally stable. For example, it's pretty likely he had smiling depression during his time as President.)
And something else I also want to mention – before I start picking this quote apart like an absolute madman – is how it's phrased.
How Wilbur uses "I's" and "Me's" to talk about his character, as opposed to "He's" and "Him's".
To me? It felt like he placed himself in his characters shoes. As if, in that moment, he was his character.
It gave me the vibes of c!Wilbur reflecting on himself – after it was all over, after the damage was done.
And if that's the case – for a character who hated himself – maybe that's why its worded the way that it is.
And yeah, I'm definitely reading into this silly little off handed comment too much. He was describing a self insert, after all.
But it's food for thought, at least.
So without further a do.
*cracks fingers*
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"One thing led to another (. . .)"
"One thing led to another" implies that c!Wilbur never planned for leadership, and much less presidency.
Think about how he was thrusted into war, into the position of General. How he had so many crushing expectations placed onto his shoulders.
The hopes, beliefs, and lives of his men were all practically in his hands.
Or how about when he declared himself President? How many took it as a fancy title, as he in turn quickly began to let it define him?
Or how he drowned himself in work – how the overwhelming pressure made him scream and cry into his pillow behind closed doors?
Wilbur wasn't ever qualified for leadership. How could he ever be ready for the consequences that came with it?
"—and I was the president of a nation, losing it due to my own insolence (. . .)"
For anyone who doesn't know – insolence, by definition, is "rude and disrespectful behavior."
...Sound familiar?
I think it might be a reference to how during the revolution, he was cocky and confident – snappy and charismatic. And that confidence in turn heavily provoked dream.
However.
"Losing it due to my own insolence"
Emphasis on losing.
It seems to lean more towards the elections arc, rather than the revolution.
During the wake of the elections, he started to grow more distrustful (Due to betrayal) –closing himself off in the process.
He became distrustful and demanding – tense and dismissive.
A man once snappy and naïve, now bitter and cold.
"— short-sighted naïveté"
It's no secret that Wilbur was naïve. Blindly trusting, idealistic, passionate – I could go on.
He had no idea as to what he was even doing – let alone what he was getting into.
The starry eyed man who made L'manburg was a man blinded by hubris; so caught up in chasing his 'Big Dream' he blindly disregarded all the consequences for it.
How he was so thrown off balance by the war – how he crumbled, fell apart.
How his inexperience brought them all down – how he never fought a day in his life.
He never saw the bigger picture. He lacked foresight – never seeming to acknowledge the future and it's effects as he was so stuck in the moment.
"— disregard for my fellow citizen who I claimed to love so much;"
Now, many people would read this as unsympathetic. To some, it might imply he never liked them at all.
And that would be incorrect! Wilbur loved his citizens – his son, his little brother, his friends — he held a lot of care for them. He adored them.
But he also made a lot of broken promises.
Broken promises of freedom, of liberty – Broken promises of a better future.
He never upheld those claims in the end.
And.
"Disregard." To ignore.
Perhaps this implies how he disregarded what the rest of the L'manburgians thought during the elections. How he was stuck in his bubble – stuck in his "I Know What's Best" mindset.
He thought he knew what was best for L'manburg by holding and rigging the election. Thought that only he was deserving of the title of "President."
Remember how the debate upset him to the point he was speechless – because for once in his life, he had to listen to someone else? for once in his life, he was the one getting talked over?
Wilbur lost sight of the people in his endless chase of his impossible idea of freedom.
The task to build the perfect utopia he always wanted, led him to ignore the very people living in it.
"—and a dark, twisted understanding of what is possession (. . .)"
I think this line references L'manburg. One of the definitions of possession is ownership.
How he attached himself to L'manburg, how it was an extension of himself— how he fell apart when he lost it all.
How the anthem went from "It's" to "My"
Some may call it malicious – villainous, even. I think it shows some sort of. Desperation. Dependency. An unhealthy coping mechanism.
L'manburg was an extension of himself, his everything. He broke when he lost it.
I also think this is well into his spiral, with the wording of "dark and twisted".
So yeah. "—and a dark, twisted understanding of what is possession (. . .)" In my eyes, is about L'manburg.
"—and what is my right."
This one makes me think.
It could be interpreted as "what is right" and "what is my right".
Allow me to elabortate:
"What is right"
Self explanatory. The spiral, the paranoia — Wilbur saw L'manburg's message be tainted and came to the conclusion that the only way he could save it is by destroying it.
His views were extremist, and while he predicted a lot of the fuck ups— he just never had an appropiate solution. Christ! he broke down and decided – "I need to get rid of L'manburg, and I need to die."
"What is my right"
This. This makes me think.
His right. What does that entail? human rights?
How he dehumanized himself to play a role in his symphony? how he was so stuck in the goal of ridding it all, ending his symphony, playing the villain — that he didn't even know who he was anymore?
What The Fuck Was That: A very spiteful attempt at analyzing "Meet the latest resurrected gentleman of L'manburg" because god is dead and I killed him
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A lot of people like myself have been left very very confused by this recent stream.
Truth be told, watching it live was nerve wracking as fuck my dudes!
It felt like everything I thought I knew about this absolute bastard of a man who haunts my silly little analysist dreams was completely thrown out of the window in favor of either confusion, panic, rage, or somehow all of the above!
But never fear! After rewatching the vod a total of three times fueled with nothing but the burning rage and spite I have in my silly little Wilbur sympathizer heart – I now somewhat have my shit together!!
BASICALLY!
Today, I will be sitting down and trying to pick apart and analyze whatever the fuck that shitshow of a stream was for your absolute entertainment value.
So if you're still reading this god awful introduction and are ready to subject yourself to the horrid sights of Tea Using Her Brain™ —
Be my guest :)
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This rage essay will consist of a total of four sections.
Our first point being,
1. Someone's a little TOO mentally ill
I think as a general consensus for not only this analysis, but for the entire stream itself – is that it's important to remember that Wilbur is still very very mentally ill.
And while he may not be nearly as self destructive or suicidal as he was back in Pogtopia –
Wilbur is still dealing with those effects.
Shit like extreme cases of paranoia, depression, self loathing, and the odd phenomenom of viewing your reality as a fucked up narrative designed to twist your suffering into a literary tragedy doesn't dissapear out of thin air!
Not only are those effects completely untreated – but he also has the added trauma of being stuck in a dingy death train station in complete and utter isolation devoid of any stimuli for a good 13 years of his life!
This Man Is Not Okay!
And despite how much he claims he's better and generally seems happier – It's pretty likely he's still riding the euphoria of being alive, and is possibly dependant on it.
Wilbur seems to be in somewhat of a state of denial – such as by pretending he's perfectly fine and dandy, creating yet another persona to hide from his crushing amount of baggage, avoiding confronting his issues and instead making apologies he himself doesn't fully understand, or, i dunno—
Baring second hand witness to the abuse and manipulation his younger brother went through by the hands of the man he now views as his hero, and dismissing it in favor for his ideals? perhaps choosing not to look into it?
Or is it the apathy and desensitization to not only his own – or his brother's – but everyone's trauma?
or maybe it's the refusal to see past his own theatrical ideology?
Say, remember how he said not to think too hard about things?
This newfound euphoria won't last forever! It's only a matter of time until Wilbur has that wonderful slap of reality where it all comes crashing down!!!!! :D
2. He's a mushy mother fucker
Moving onto our next point!
Now, you might be a bit confused by the title. Allow me to elaborate!
Essentially, Wilbur is straight out of Literal Hell, right? To paint a picture for you – imagine being stuck in your own personal limbo for 13 years in complete isolation and darkness, left with nothing but your own spiralling thoughts as company.
Sounds fucking lovely, I know.
Now, imagine you are suddenly pulled straight out of that limbo and back into the real world more than a decade later on your end, in a fucking blink of an eye. Needless to say, it must've been jarring as shit.
What I'm trying to say is —
Wilbur's still adjusting to Being Fucking Alive.
Not only that, but he's desperately trying to find any sort of direction in life – trying to get back on his feet seemingly as quickly as he can.
He's like the fucking equivalent of a baby giraffe trying to walk for the first time in life – only managing to consistently trip and stumble over like the utter fool he is.
And despite having a strict ideology – his thoughts and worldviews are still underveloped and have yet to inevitably change the more he adjusts to his new environment.
As of now, though? His mind is most likely just as fucked up and scrambled as it was on his final days.
His brain is just mfin scrambled eggs man.
3. Theatre kid morality: gone wrong
It's pretty apparent that Wilbur still holds a very very black and white mentality.
Comparing it to season 1, it was normal for the setting they were in! Everyone held those views, everyone played their roles of "good guy" and "bad guy"!
But comparing it to season 3? It's... tragically out of place.
Wilbur believes that true power is gained from violence. He recognizes the existence of meaningless decorative power, and he recognizes how broken and meaningless "government" on the server actually is – and yet, he is not self aware enough to realize that there are other forms of gaining power on the smp – such as charisma – and that his ideals are inherently flawed.
Not only is his moral compass incredibly skewed – but his entire perception of reality is.
To him, life is some sort of "Narrative" he and the people around him have to live up to. He views the world in fancy archetypes and literary titles – He is a villain, Dream is a hero, Eret is a traitor, Quackity is his rival. L'manburg is his unfinished symphony, he has to obey his Chekov's Gun, and he needs to tell a story.
It's not only his entire ideology, but it's also a coping mechanism.
Why accept that you're broken and in pain, when you can turn your anguish into a performance no one will ever forget?
4. Funky ass contradictions
Hoh boy, here's what you've all been waiting for.
Essentially, Wilbur's been constantly contradicting himself throughout the entire stream.
He's been making consistent contradicting statements all in the same confident tone, thus making it incredibly difficult to analyze and understand.
There's a lot of different opinions regarding his contradictions – ranging from bullshit like "manipulation" and the possibility that he was straight up lying.
Allow me to throw my own two cents in –
To put it simply, Wilbur is very conflicted as of now.
The biggest example of this is his conflicting feelings about Dream. Logically, Wilbur should and would hate Dream for what he did to Tommy during exile – even so far as to expressing wanting to disembowel him.
However, that hate towards clashes against how he views him. It's possible Wilbur could feel like he owes Dream some sort of gratitude. I mean, why wouldn't you be eternally grateful towards the person who saved you from your personal hell? Not only that, but while Wilbur may not necessarily like Dream – it's evident that he respects Dream.
Remember how I said Wilbur's headspace was equivalent to scrambled eggs? That heavily applies regarding his contradictions. If his thoughts are scrambled, his speech wouldn't be any better now, would it?
Revivedbur tends to think out loud. He says whatever is on his mind, generally has a bad brain to mouth filter, and has difficulty properly articulating himself and what he means, thus resulting in something completely different in what he says.
A big example of this is the comments regarding L'manburg;
“Tommy, I’ve made an oath of not lying now that I’m alive again. So I’m gonna come clean to you with the truth. Uh…one thing, I didn’t actually care about L’manburg, I just cared about – you know, sticking it to the man. Actually, I cared about L’manburg for the sole reason that I could use it to stick it to the man. You ever sticked it to the man, Tommy?”
While I wasn't able to find all of the transcriptions, I found the most important one.
Wilbur never cared about L'manburg? Absolute bullshit. Wilbur loved that nation with every fiber of his being! he cried for that nation! He bled for that nation!
Truth be told I had to think about this quote for days, despite having the answer all along.
Wilbur never cared about L'manburg's land, he cared about the people and what it stood for.
He never cared about the van, he cared about the fond memories of his brother tied to it. He never cared about the walls, he cared about the effort of a friend joining a cause. He never cared about the land, he cared about the people who built that land.
It didn't matter what land it stood on, its name, or even its flag – it was the people who put their heart into it.
Wilbur never blew up L'manburg, Wilbur only blew up its remains.
So this is where I come back to – "Revivedbur has difficulty properly articulating himself and what he means, thus resulting in something completely different in what he says." –
“Uh…one thing, I didn’t actually care about L’manburg, I just cared about – you know, sticking it to the man. Actually, I cared about L’manburg for the sole reason that I could use it to stick it to the man. You ever sticked it to the man, Tommy?”
"I never cared for the land L'manburg was on, I cared about the ideals it stood for. I cared about challenging an oppressive authority for our rightful and deserved freedom. Actually, I cared about L'manburg for the sole reason it was a revolution."
Take that with a grain of salt. But I think this is closer to what he actually meant.
“L’manburg was a tool. It was a great tool, it worked, you know. It divided so many people, man (. . .)”
I'm bringing this quote as another example of Wilbur's silly little scrambled eggs brain. But this. This was the one that stumped me.
L'manburg was a tool, huh? Tool for what? "Sticking it to the man"? Well, we all know what that's supposed to entail.
It divided so many people? Well, Wilbur created a side in the first place – his side – or perhaps he is referring to the electoral fallout?
I think this line specifically is an example of not only his poor wording, but his tendency to speak out loud and say whatever he has on his conflicted mind through his awful filter.
I think this line might be from a place where he was negatively thinking about L'manburg in the moment.
It's no secret Wilbur lost hope and declared L'manburg dead in his eyes down along the line – who's to say he wouldn't switch back to a similar mindset with his jumbled headspace?
“I’ve seen it all, you’ve had your little strifes – this isn’t the first, right, Tommy. Tommy, do you remember when you got sent into exile? Yeah, I remember. I was there, Tommy. I was there. I was there – I was in the cage of that little ghost’s fucking head. Every single step you and me took – look at me, Tommy, look me in the eyes – every single step me and you took, I was there – I was there! I had no control of what was happening, I’ve no idea what was being said, but Tommy – I’ll tell you what – if I was there, and it wasn’t that stupid shell of a ghost instead of me…I would’ve struck down Dream right where he stood. We would’ve disemboweled him. We would’ve disemboweled him together.”
“Tommy, I’m not – I wasn’t blind, I saw what he was doing to you, Tommy. I saw. I saw what he was doing to Tubbo – I saw what he was doing to me. (. . .)”
So I'm gonna be going back to his views on Dream for a moment.
These lines strike me as genuine. Not only because it was confirmed that Wilbur really was angry at Dream's treatment of Tommy – But there's also something I haven't mentioned regarding this;
Tone.
Y'all ever notice how Wilbur switches his tone – actually, his entire demeanor – depending on his genuinity?
A big example of this is the contrast of how Wilbur acted around Tommy most of the stream – with a loud, cocky and confident persona. But the moment he was alone, he switched into a quiet, somber, burdened man.
"He's a good kid. He's a good kid."
It's about the little things, innit.
“But you know what, Tommy? I wasn’t there. I wasn’t there, was I. We had Ghostbur. Ghostbur was there instead, right. And you know what the issue is, you know what the issue is? After seeing Ghostbur interact with Dream, I realized that no, Dream is not the enemy – Dream is not the enemy!”
“This world was not supposed to be inhabited by a people of this caliber – Dream is the hero! Dream needs to be let out of here! Dream’s not in prison for being a horrible person, Dream’s in prison because he dared to try and stop you all. He dared to try and stop you all from gaining all this power, because the minute I was gone, there was a vacuum, there was opening, and everyone just seeked to get in there! And Dream was the only one who stood up to them and told them not to, Dream was the only one who held my seat for me. He held my – he kept it warm! He kept my throne warm, and you guys didn’t like that, so you threw him in prison! And if Dream died instead of me, I would be in there right now.”
“So Tommy, you should thank that I wasn’t alive to attack Dream when we got exiled! You should be glad we had little, passive Ghostbur, because now Dream’s in there, and I’m out here, baby.”
And this is where he switches again, and the contradiction occurs. I've already went through this above, but I'll point out that Wilbur seems to have a very flawed thought pattern here.
This is where his flawed ideals of literary titles kick in once more. Wilbur seems to believe that Dream took his place as the story's villain – therefore "keeping his throne warm."
He also makes incorrect assumptions he genuinely believes are true. Such as his belief that by some logic, he was supposed to end up in the prison; and that the events that occurred he deemed as necessary and ultimately "the best route" – as he's out, and Dream's in. Or the insistance that he and Tommy would've been exiled together.
It's just another example of his flawed thought process and how jumbled up that silly little mentally ill noggin of his is.
And while I can sit here all day trying to rationalize and pick apart quote after quote like a madman, I'm pretty sure you've got the gist of it.
—
Wait. Holy shit you read all of that? Damn. Poggers.
Take this with a grain of salt!! This is just my silly little interpretations of this god damn nightmare of a stream. I'm open to any add ons!!!
That being said. I am going to lie down. Holy shit. Holy shit it's done I can rest.
You've come far, dear traveller – take a them as a reward.
heres my thoughts on the "he molded like clay" comment!! it really scratched my brain and stumped me a bit as an advocate of "wilbur wasnt manipulative!!! home boy was just Extremely unstable but hurt him in different ways!!!!"
such an odd comment.... i like to connect it to that ranboo comment.
this is just my silly littlr speculation/my thoughts that i thought id share to my silly little blog during my silly little science class cjjckdks
was casually brainrotting that one tntduo scene from a while back with trick my beloved and then i suddenly came to a conclusion that has Probably been reached before but shshshshs
anyways here's my take on the "fellow outsider" line
my question is why anyone is taking anything c!wilbur says seriously right now. like. he just came back from the dead?? after 13 YEARS??? also. we literally just got canon information that he lied to phil in his letters. why would he start telling the truth now.
oh, yeah. no. anon This.
"i'm gonna stop lying." absolute bullshit right there.
we all need to remember that wilbur is fresh out of literal Hell—still adjusting to living. he's definitely not as stable as he claims, and he's trying to find some sort of direction and what to Think.
he's very conflicted as of now—especially regarding his feelings towards dream.
he also thinks out loud. he's got so much going on in that silly little conflicted nogging and he's had an apparent tendency to just. say what's on his mind. as incoherently as fucking possible. it's like his brain is like a mush he's desperately trying to mold.
he's definitely lying about his feelings towards l'manburg. wilbur was always a character who's actions speak louder than his words, and was always a character that—ding dong!—Fucking Represses and Lies and Hides his Silly Little Feelings!!
