The Archons Watch Over

the archons watch over

just finished reading tumoasd and this is how im coping with it

(please rb its very swag of you!!! :D)

"You are a walking second place medal."

This line.

This fucking line.

I've seen posts about it before, but it always seems to be overshadowed by Quackity's "I don't think about you at all," which yeah, king shit, but like, I feel like, despite how much it clearly gets under c!Wilbur's skin, I don't think it cuts as deep.

Because yeah, obviously it rings true with things like Qauckity needing Schlatt to win the elections, Only ever being the vice president, Las Nevadas being forever in L'manburg's shadow, but what makes it so cruel is the fact that it demonstrates that he got onto the fucking board.

A second-place medal isn't a sign of failure, it's a sign of inadequacy, the physical embodiment of not-quite. c!Quackity isn't a failure. Hell, looking at his history objectively, he's accomplished almost everything he's ever set out to do. He wanted to beat Wilbur in the elections and then he did. He wanted to build a nation, and he got it done. He wanted power, and he fucking got it. He's more than earned his medal.

But he's never won.

All the victories he's managed to nab along the way have been superficial. Yeah, he managed to beat and exile his main political rival, but then he got stuck in an abusive marriage with a dictator that went against all his views. He managed to build a bright gleaming nation, but it's empty, soulless. He managed to capture c!Techno, but he paid for it with one of his lives.

He's tried to be the charismatic president who promised to revolutionize the server, he's tried to be the no-nonsense vice president who looks after his people by any means necessary, he's even tried to be the cold, detached, calculating villain. But all of these have backfired because as much as he'll try to be like Dream, or Schlatt, or Wilbur, he's only ever going to be Quackity. He's never going to be able to beat them at their own games. He's always gonna end up second best. Good, but not perfect.

It's enough to drive a girblogger mad.

c!eret redesign things !!

the embroidery habits of one tommy careful danger kraken innit

(reblog pls&thx!!!)

just realised Tommy has always been the imperfect right hand man - follows orders until he knows it's better not to. Wilbur only lets him come to the revolutionary surrender on the promise he won't start anything, and then he secures the duel that eventually wins them L'Manberg by disobeying direct orders. when he's with Techno (which isn't stated to be a right hand man relationship but they certainly aren't equals) and he charges into the community house conflict and loses the disc and Techno's trust, it ends up being the better choice in that situation than staying with Techno and betraying his ideals. and when Tubbo tells him to keep the disc and let Dream kill him, he hears the order, hesitates, and runs the other way, keeping Tubbo alive long enough that they both make it out alive. even in the case of Wilbur blowing up L'Manberg, he stays with him but refuses to back that plan - even when he says yes, he's standing beside Wilbur, not reaching for the button himself. Tommy's disobedience is often cited as one of his traits that irritates other characters, but it's actually one of his biggest strengths: knowing when to trust his own judgement.