u/drowning-in-dopamine

I was thinking of how I might change the story if I were making an adaptation, and I had some ideas that I'd be interested to hear your opinions on, as well as any other changes you would like to see in an adaptation! Disclaimer that this is coming from someone who mainly focuses on Tubbo and Tommy’s perspectives.

1. Have Tubbo not say “Let the festival begin!”

Especially at the beginning of the story, Tubbo is easily influenced, and he follows authority figures such as Wilbur and Schlatt. Because of this, when Wilbur asks him to decide whether or not he should blow up Manberg at the festival, although Tubbo says there are better approaches, in the end he agrees with Wilbur and gives the code phrase. But I think this would be a good place to let Tubbo's character grow for the following reasons:

A) This would not diminish the 'follower' aspect of Tubbo’s character. He demonstrates it before this such as when he accepts the job from Schlatt and tries to hunt down Tommy, and it’s an ongoing struggle for him.

B) Protecting L'Manberg becomes a big part of Tubbo's motivation later, so much so that he's willing to exile Tommy over it. This could be a way to show that aspect of his character early on, and this also makes him look like a good choice for President in the first place.

C) Although he struggles to stand on his own, a situation like this in which all he has to do is not say a phrase is a believably small way for him to start to break away from that. If Schlatt getting suspicious if he doesn't say it is a concern, he could just play it off like he misspoke and say "Let's begin the festival."

D) It wouldn't affect the outcome, as Wilbur was unable to find the button. I do like the moral ambiguity in the original of Wilbur pushing the responsibility of the choice onto someone he thinks won’t be able to challenge him, however this aspect is not lost in the change either because Wilbur still believes Tubbo will be his yes-man. And when he’s proven wrong, it could further show Wilbur's destructive bent if he tries to do it anyway despite receiving a clear signal from Tubbo not to.

E) There’s something satisfying to me personally about the idea of Tubbo wanting to protect the people of Manberg, and then immediately being executed by some of those same people.

2. Have fewer people visit Tommy during Exile Arc

The point of this arc is that Tommy feels totally isolated, which allows Dream to manipulate him into thinking he’s his only friend and breaking his spirit. And while the arc definitely works, I feel like there are too many instances of people visiting, bringing gifts, or otherwise communicating with him. This cheapens the sense of isolation for Tommy, and he has to claim it’s out of pity to dismiss these efforts even though people insist it’s not. I think it would be cleaner if some of the less meaningful visits were cut.

3. Make the chess scene a real scene

During Exile Arc, cc!Dream and cc!Tubbo play a chess match on Fundy’s chessboard, not in character. I think that if adapted as an in-character moment, it could have been tense, interesting, and thematically fitting for the point in the story they were in. Dream is pretending to be an ally of L’Manberg and says he respects Tubbo as president, but is really trying to manipulate Tubbo to get the disc in his possession, and his ultimate goal is to destroy L’Manberg. Tubbo accepts the tenuous peace with the Greater Dream SMP, but he and his cabinet are secretly planning to assassinate Dream at a festival. With both of them strategically trying to get the upper hand while still acting friendly and polite towards each other, this could be perfectly reflected in the chess match as they try to outwit each other and make remarks with double meanings. It’s even coincidentally fitting that Dream plays white, which moves first, and Tubbo follows as black, indicating that Dream is one step ahead, and Dream wins the match.

4. Have Tommy fully side with Technoblade on the destruction of L'Manberg before coming back

After committing terrorism together against L'Manberg, Techno acknowledges Tommy, saying he “might not be completely useless” and “I actually have the slightest trace of respect for you, maybe not as equals, but I think you’re worth being honest with.” He then reveals to Tommy that his true intention is to destroy L’Manberg completely. Tommy doesn’t agree with this, but then Techno says, “You could actually be, dare I say it, a friend,” to which Tommy responds, “You know that’s all I ever wanted from you.” Techno dropping the f-word here feels like a big moment, because having been through the worst of exile, that's the thing Tommy craves most. His friendship with Tubbo is at its most broken point, he’s realized Dream was never really his friend, and the whole server seems to have abandoned him. So Techno acknowledging him as a friend, even in this heavily qualified way, must feel like kryptonite to Tommy. It would make a lot of sense for Tommy to side with Technoblade despite what misgivings he has, and agree with destroying the nation that cast him out. But I’d only want to temporarily push his arc further in a ‘villainous’ direction before bringing him back to the same realization he has during his confrontation with Tubbo, that he doesn’t like who he’s becoming. I really like how he foils Wilbur in this way by turning himself around.

5. Change the reason Tubbo and Ranboo get married

This relates to my personal interpretation of Tubbo and Ranboo’s marriage, and if I were making an adaptation I would clearly imply this.

A) The marriage happens fairly quickly after Tommy is killed in prison.

B) Tubbo and Ranboo are both good friends with Tommy, and his death causes them both a lot of grief.

C) Tubbo has a pattern of coping with grief and trauma by repressing it, acting like he’s fine, and focusing on something else.

• CA) After being killed with a firework by Technoblade, he reacts passively, says he forgives Techno to keep the peace, and betrays no sign of how deeply traumatic this is revealed to be later.
• CB) He’s very quiet as he takes in the destruction on Doomsday, and the next day he pivots to creating his new country Snowchester and putting the past behind him.
• CC) When Tommy dies, Tubbo doesn’t act very outwardly emotional, instead he focuses on building a grave and investigating the cause of his death.

D) Even before Tommy’s death, both Tubbo and Ranboo have had notable losses of things they relied on in their lives. Wilbur, Eret’s betrayal, L’Manberg blowing up multiple times, Ranboo’s memory book, and both of their homes. Both would feel a need for something comforting and stable to rely on again in a world that keeps burning them.

Ergo: Tubbo and Ranboo’s marriage as an impulsive decision out of grief, clinging to each other trying to fill the void Tommy left, that from there would grow into real love for each other. This complicates their relationship, makes the fallout of Tommy’s death hit harder, and adds a layer of uncomfortable half-truth to Tommy’s jealousy thinking Tubbo replaced him with Ranboo.

6. Don’t have Jack blow up the server

The way Jack causes the nuke to misfire comes across as pointless stupidity. His goal is to kill Tommy, which is why he reprograms the nuke to hit Tommy’s house. But given that Tubbo is currently having a very obvious breakdown over the fact that he is going to have to kill Tommy for the greater good, which Jack clearly understands, verbally confirms, and encourages Tubbo to do it since it serves his ulterior motive, it seems unbelievable that Jack wouldn't just leave the nuke alone and let Tubbo do the deed. If Jack doesn’t mess with the nuke, most of the server members survive, and since Season 2 never happened I don't think there's any point in a reset. I’m not sure what the best ending is in this case, but I like the idea of Tubbo surviving with Michael, because symbolically a parent with a child represents hope for the future.