Like I genuinely think Eret's lore and the way he does rp is so important for the dsmp as we know it. He was one of the first L'manburg members, he did the first ever betrayal/spy arc, HE MADE THE MOST ICONIC LINE IN THE DSMP. "IT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE."

Also on a more technical stand-point, the button room was probably the first time for so many people, including me, where we realized"Oh shit they are actually going to do something with this." It was improvised too. While I don't really have a preference on lore and don't really think improv is possible anymore, the way Eret and the older members used to do lore was sooo cool.

Ive talked about it before but so many people kinda just half-ass lore and then tie it to Tommy and Wilbur in the hopes that they carry it, and when Tommy and Wilbur require ppl to participate, they just stop and leave their fans on a sour note.

BUT ERET DOES NOT DO THIS. She has a stable and well-made story that stands alone for them but also is interwoven with everyone else's not just Tommy's and not just L'manburg's. Cause she could of fallen down that trap where ppl just hyper-focus on L'manburg, but she was a key player in the red banquet and the Revengers. Two (relatively) newer plots.

"I did everything and it wasn't enough, we weren't going to win so I left."

Eret doesn't act like someone who just lost hope, if Eret truly only switched sides because they thought l'manburg never stood a chance, why make a deal with dream. Why laugh in l’manburg faces, why boast about their victory and sit on a golden throne?

Sure lost hope was apart of all of this, but it wasn't the driving force

I also want to know why Dream promised him friendship, and why Eret makes a point to include it regularly in the terms of their deal.

Eret was surrounded by people who admired him in l'manburg. Tommy was the driving force of a lot of opinions in l'manburg because he liked to shout loud and clear about his opinions for everyone to listen. Tommy has always worn his emotions on his sleeve, ( We also see this later as he shouts directly at Eret about trust and how land and power wont get him anything. Even fundy goes on to say "he's mad, but not as mad as tommy." It's no wonder Eret seaked Tommy's approval most, because Tommy was the one who constantly told Eret how much it hurt.) - and Tommy had such positive opinions of Eret, he admired them so much, possibly on par with Wilbur. And they had a deep connection with Fundy too, which proved itself to be just a strong as they were the first to reconcile after the betrayal. Tubbo and Eret were often seen as brothers, and while Wilbur and Eret never explicitly spent much one on one time together, Wilbur did speak fondly of him. So why did dream offer Eret friendship if they already had so much of it? Could this have been the first signs of dreams manipulation? Who knows what c!Dream told c!Eret in that meeting that started it all. Even on the first days of Eret joining the server and l'manburg being founded, Dream seemed eager to get Eret on his side with public in game messages.

But it's not all down to Dream in these scenarios.

Eret built the majority of the l'manburg walls, even on the very first day of being welcomed into l’manburg Eret was put to work. Clearing out a hill, placing blocks, grinding for gear. And sure Eret gets thanks from Wilbur and compliments from Tommy, but past that first day nobody really gives Eret a second thought. Nobody looked at the l'manburg walls and remembered, "yeah Eret built those" They think "oh l'manburg built those '' but nobody views Eret as part of l'manburg so really, Eret was forgotten.

So there is an argument that Eret could have betrayed l'manburg because she wasn't being treated fairly/being recognized for her contributions. However, Wilbur and Tommy were so in awe of Eret, Tommy mostly, and put Eret on a massive pestle. So I do genuinely believe that Eret betrayed them for greed and power, as much as I want to pretend it was Dreams manipulation, while it may have played a part, Eret was also fully aware of what they were doing, and why they were doing it. Eret was power hungry and greedy and wanted status. Something she never would have gotten in l'manburg. And while she states it was “the merciful way out” for the remaining citizens, the statement itself is also a contradiction of those moments on the battlefield where Eret would chime in with the others shouting "no mercy".

"Eret your a traitor and a bastard" "oh I know"

"Eret I hate you alot" "Understandable"

[ Erets reactions to the people of lmanburg stating their dislike for him, only 11 days after the initial betrayal. ]

I really just want to see that one moment of regret that starts it all, where Eret thinks of his actions and wishes he could take it all back. Because there is no remorse on this final day, on the day of independence Eret believes it to be a victory. I want to see the moment, the sentence, the second of Erets first regret. Like what changed for this downright power hungry, vengeful, mistreated villain want to make amends for every bad thing they've ever done? Eret turns from this loud, prideful king, to a meak, regretful pawn. And I just wanna know man, I want to be able to see the full story played out in front of me and see every single feeling of doubt that leads Eret to wanting redemption.

I want to talk about why cTechno and cEret's apologies were taken differently by cTubbo.

(Disclaimer, as usual, when I say the names, I only mean the characters. If I intend to speak about the creators, I'll say cc before. This also does not represent my emotions on any of the characters or streamers.)

Also I'm watching from Tubbo's POV.

Right. So let's get right into it.

I think it's important, when talking about this, to take the order and context into account, and to understand what is spoken. So, first, let's look at all of Techno's apology and understand why Tubbo trusts him again after it.

First, let's discuss the context leading up to this. And this, obviously, starts with the jailbreak stream where Techno is a known ally and friend to Ranboo, and was the one to approach Tubbo and tell him about both the death and the kidnapping. Taking off his armour, in fact, something I've spoken about as the armour shows how defensive or open someone is depending on how often they wear it. In that moment of almost vulnerability, Techno takes off his armour and tells Tubbo the information. This is how he probably knows Techno is telling the truth, amongst also knowing it's not in Techno's character to kill someone without like... A government involvement or something. From there he was the one to suggest finding Michael with Tubbo.

This alone would put Technoblade into a dubious trust as someone with a common goal. Tubbo understands the motivation, and this allows him to put a little bit of his trust into Techno since what else can he do?

Now we go into the saving Michael streams and they are right to business. They get their goal in order and this especially would affirm to Tubbo especially that Techno is set on getting Michael back. The fact that Techno is just as trusting in Tubbo to get this done probably helps as well.

Oh and then the fact that Tubbo is trusted with an Axe from Techno. Not only do they joke about the irony of Techno sharing an axe, but this is an axe that is worth more to him than the Axe of Peace ever was. This, again, builds up more trust. That Techno is willing to trust Tubbo with one of his strongest weapons, given to him by one of his closest friends.

Now. We skip a little bit to get to the apology.

First off, Tubbo first says he is the one who owes Techno an apology.

And the first thing Techno says? "For what?". In Techno's mind. Tubbo doesn't need to apologize.

He then follows up with "is it for the whole war thing? Because that was both of, you know, I used to be a menace." Techno immediately shifts blame onto himself. He is acknowledging what he himself has done, and, at the same time, he's also basically telling tubbo that he doesn't need to apologize for anything.

And then Tubbo suggests turning over a new leaf, because of their aligned views. This is a new thing. They have acknowledged that they have both done bad things to each other, they are willing to put that aside for this common goal.

Obviously, Tubbo's own execution has not been dealt with in conversation yet. Which means they're probably avoiding it. Knowing how these two are.

Now we go to when the apologies continue after they meet Eret, and I'll go over the necessary context for Eret when I tackle her apology.

I think an important thing to note is that the thing that started this, is Techno pointing out that he and Eret were the ones to kill Tubbo. He took that responsibility himself.

And he instantly goes to mention the festival, before being interrupted.

It's here that Tubbo questions whether or not he is being led to his death.

And Techno starts back, taking the first place in talking, and he mentions the festival again. And he mentions how he "wouldn't go to this much work" and you can't deny the merit behind that.

If Techno really wanted to kill anyone, he would probably do it as soon as he could. He has the ability and power to do so.

And then what does he do? Immediately takes responsibility for the festival. Techno takes the blame for Tubbo's death that day. He says it was pathetic of him; that he should have died for his beliefs. And then he explains the reason why he didn't; because he comes from a place where he only gets one life. Techno admits there and then, whether intentionally or not, that he was scared to die.

Techno also promises to never make the mistake again as Tubbo forgives him.

And now to Eret. Because I think this is really interesting how this exactly parallels Techno in the opposite way.

So. Context again. Tubbo goes into talking with Eret as "they are the one who stole my child". Not to mention that Eret is literally sat on a throne, looking down at them when they start this conversation. You don't want to get me started on camera angles that are unintentionally building character in the dsmp. Also. Eret laughing after Tubbo's "where the fuck is my child"? Probably not a good look... Learning that Eret doesn't have Michael, but instead trusted Sam (the man who killed his husband) with Michael is adding more distrust. Not only that, but Eret not knowing where Michael would be moved to after Sam said "I can keep someone safe, I can make a place for Michael to be safe"? Like. That's something I would hope they would have asked the coordinates of.

And obviously, without any prior motives or trust building before now, there is no wonder Tubbo thinks Eret, the person who led the L'manbergians to their death using a lie, may be lying about this.

And then, acknowledging that he killed Tubbo, she says "we'll let bygones be bygones" which... Coming from Eret, may sound a little bit like they're saying Tubbo did something to him. That's typically who says "we'll let bygones be bygones"; people who have been treated bad by the other person. Not the other way around. It's this sentence that causes Tubbo to back away very quickly from the two of them and have a little freak out about being led to his death.

Eret has to be prompted and asked before saying sorry.

It's no wonder that Tubbo says he's still pissed at Eret after Techno's apology.

And it's now that Eret explains their side of things. Saying how she thought betraying L'manberg would stop the fighting, saying how he's learned about how important the relationships are.

Tubbo seems suspicious at this, and can you blame him? Again. This is someone who has apparently learned this yet had to be prompted into an apology. This is about an act that happened who knows how long ago and yet they've remained silent all of this time.

I understand a little with Techno and Tubbo's silence with each other, they murdered one another (if you count the use of a totem as still killing someone before it works). They would want to avoid each other. They actively have bad blood in every version of L'manberg that techno had participation in ever since Schlatt's appointment as president.

Eret has, for the most part (and as far as I know) stayed away from all of that. There isn't bad blood there.

In honor of the anniversary of the betrayal I decided to write a little about c!Eret’s motivations, beliefs and leverages for manipulation.

Disclaimer: all of this is about Dream SMP characters only, not the ccs (unless stated otherwise). I forget to add c! sometimes but unless there’s a cc! before the name, you can assume I’m talking about the character. Also just my personal opinion mostly, aka how I choose to interpret Eret’s character. It might honestly oppose that thread cc!Eret wrote about their character in some places, I haven’t reread it in a while. If you have anything to add or argue against, feel free to, but be respectful. Also I’m using they/them only for Eret in this essay so it’s consistent and less confusing.

Also also, warning for mild c!Dream critical / neg (and, in particular, discussions of him manipulating people). If that’s not your thing, read carefully or don’t read at all. 

// manipulation

I talked about this on twitter but I feel like it’d also be fun to post here

We don't know if Eret approached dream, or if dream approached Eret. But I’m going to assume dream approached Eret first in this situation because it was the last person people would expect to betray lmanburg. Dream played to Eret’s sense of "the greater good" and their hope of achieving peace. He purposefully asked Eret for help instead of Tommy, whos a loose canon, or Tubbo who has a very strong sense of loyalty, or Fundy who wants to prove himself as more than Wilbur’s son. Being king was just something used to sweeten the deal of betrayal. The deal in itself wasn't manipulation, but Dream promising peace when his objective is to keep the conflict and to hold power over others was definitely putting Eret in a weird spot where he had power, but was still seen as a subordinate by Dream, and that power dynamic was pretty obvious. 

When Eret became king, they never really had any power. This was apparent. Dream made Eret king in hopes he could take care of the normal ruler duties, while Dream himself could actually be in charge without saying it. EG If Dream just declared himself as king, it could start outright rebellion and open defiance. Whereas you leave Eret in charge, youre free to do what you want. 

Now as a victim of manipulation, I want to say the definition has been kind of scewed. We used the term during exile, which WAS what was happening, but we can't just throw the word around for every unhealthy relationship. The best example of manipulation in this scenario is Tommy and Dream, Dream trying to convince Tommy that hes his friend, but then also getting rid of the invitations, forcing him to throw away his items, and wanting complete and utter control of every move he makes, etc etc. An example of an unhealthy and abusive but not manipulative relationship is Quackity and Schlatt (despite the power imbalance and Schlatts abuse, we don’t see Schlatt try to gaslight or manipulate Quackity, same with Fundy and Tubbo). 

We never see Dream try to pretend to be Eret’s friend, but we do see the power dynamic, Dream isn't nearly as controlling of Eret as he is to Tommy, but ig that's because to Dream, Eret is disposable. We see this during the dethroning, it is very possible that Eret could have lost one of their lives whilst running away from Punz and Sapnap (?). Dream doesn't use manipulation to control Eret, but rather power and influence. So we see a very toxic relationship between Eret and Dream, and that Dream only sees Eret as a pawn in his sick twisted mind game.

This isn't to undermine Eret's experiences though, this can still be very traumatic. And Eret sees situations like Tommys and thinks "well it wasn't nearly as bad for me, so why should I look for help," when in reality it's put a lot of stress on them, and affects their relationships with characters. EG Eret tending to isolate themselves after Dream is put into prison, and they're desperate to bring Wilbur back because they think that if he comes back, everything will be better, and that not only Eret but everyone around them would be happier and back to the way it was before everything happened. Not reaching out to their friends, and even going away to god knows where for a month or so. Erets in denial about all of this because they think that just because others had it worse than he did, what happened to him surely cant be that bad, right?

I don’t watch Erets streams much, but I’ve been watching the DSMP since the first disc wars and Erets character has always been such an interesting character to me and it’s no question his role on the SMP was (and is) incredibly important.

First his role on the SMP

I honestly don’t think The SMP would be the same without her. His iconic line “Down with the revolution boys it was never meant to be” was the start of when the SMP really began to change. That line was so powerful that It’s no coincidence how often his line is repeated and used. Before the sides were clear L’manburg = good, and Dream = bad, but after Erets betrayal the the sides and moral of the characters started to mix and appear more gray. Every character could could now be seen as the hero in there story and the villain in someone else’s.

Next there character...

Since Eret betrayed lemanburg for the crown and she has been trying to gain back there trust ever since. Dream essentially said he holds all the real power and being king is nothing more then a meaningless title he could easily take away and give as he pleases (and he did!) The crown and king position is essential worthless Eret realized she betrayed her friends for basically nothing. He has been trying to be redeem herself ever since with offering Wilbur and Tommy a place to stay after they got exiled (and then being rejected), siding with Pogtopia (it cost him his crown for a bit), trying to revive Wilbur (got brushed to the sidelines) and that’s not even mentioning him and Fundys whole relationship where she basically cares for him more then his own dad . I feel like Eret sees the crown more as a chain. Where she can’t take any sides or risks losing it again. She is even willing to take the crown off to join when ranboo and Philzas said monarchs aren’t allowed allowed in the Arctic Empire (philza resurrection stream). Before she would refuse to take her crown off and expose there white eyes, but there were willing to do it at the drop of a hat to join them in helping resurrect Wilbur.

it’s all good!! i just wanted to make sure :)

as with all characters on the smp, eret fails to align with any specifically good or bad category. depending on whose perspective you watch or what side you align with, eret may at any point appear good or bad. however, just like anyone else, he is morally gray! This is gonna be the spoiler free edition in case you wanna read without spoilers. Essentially, he did some bad things and the main plot of his storyline has been trying to make up for it. i think his character is interesting in terms of a redemption arc standpoint :D hope this helped!

spoilers under the cut!!