happy birthday to my literal biological children

I think that Bobby would’ve absolutely despised Pepito from beyond the grave (Roier is HIS dad, hello???) But, when he saw Pepito go down in that dungeon just the same way he did months and months ago, Bobby couldn’t help but sit by Pepito’s side and hold his hand as he briefly entered the afterlife:

“Stop crying,” Bobby tells him.

(Pepito is technically older than Bobby ever got to be, but, like, fuck that.)

Pepito, dead and waiting to respawn, keeps crying. Like a baby. Ew.

He gets onto his feet and runs to Roier’s corpse and shakes it to no avail; after all, Roier is dead and respawned, and Pepito is a ghost. Ghosts can’t do much.

Bobby rolls his eyes and goes to yank Pepito to his feet. And then he starts swearing as Pepito stands, turns, and pulls Bobby into a hug.

“Ew, no, get off!” Bobby protests, pushing at Pepito’s shoulders.

But Pepito doesn’t.

“I’m sorry,” Pepito sobs, confusing the hell out of poor Bobby.

Bobby frowns. “What? No, shut up.”

Pepito shakes his head. “I already stole Apa Roier. Now I stole your death!! I’m a Bad Pepito.”

Vaguely, Bobby remembers hearing Roier tell Pepito way in the beginning that Pepito would die just like Bobby did. He was always looking at Bobby’s statue, and at Bobby’s art, while standing in Bobby’s Castle.

Bobby wrinkles his nose. “Literally shut up. You didn’t ‘steal’ Apa from me, I’m still his son, okay?”

Pepito whimpers. “Okay…”

“And you didn’t ‘steal my death’ or whatever, that’s stupid. You died. I don’t think you wanted to, so you didn’t mean to die this way. So there.”

He sticks his tongue out. Pepito considers just for a moment before tightening his hug and smiling and sticking his glasses into Bobby’s chest, the bastard.

“You’re soooo smart!” Pepito says.

Bobby pauses. First time he’s ever been called smart. When he was alive, almost everybody just thought he was an annoying troublemaker, which he was. But… smart?

Bobby smiles to himself- careful not to let Pepito see- and he finally returns Pepito’s hug.

“Take care of Apa for me,” Bobby tells him. “He’ll need a hug when he comes back.”

(Of course, Bobby is referring to his Apa being in Rat Prison, but Pepito can’t know that. Ghost Rules and stuff.)

Pepito nods, and then he finally respawns.

Good riddance!

…But maybe Bobby doesn’t hate him.

probably i just said it but i want to say it again:

- don’t apologise if you don’t know english.

- yes, english is the most common language on the internet but you are not forced to know it perfectly.

- your own language is beautiful.

- non-english people make a huge effort to write in English everyday on this website.

- support non-english people and don’t make them feel bad if they do not know English. 

- actually support all the languages.

- spread more language diversity on Tumblr.

thank you. 

also just a quick note from me

i’ve seen people making posts about stepping back from the community or leaving completely, due to the rocky last few weeks, and i just want to say that i support you 100%!

i’m proud of you for putting yourself first and detaching (whether temporarily or permanently) from what no longer makes you happy, just as the admins have! i - and many many others - support your decision like we support those of the admins.

should you wish to return to the community in the future, we’ll be here to welcome you back with open arms, and if you don’t return - we wish you the best and we’re grateful for your contributions and the time spent here!

and if you are still in the community and still worried about what’s going on - that is absolutely valid! fear of the unknown is perfectly natural, and we’re all here to support each other. however you’re feeling is perfectly valid.

x

Quite a few of the egg admins have mentioned that they use tumblr so on the very slim off chance any of them see this I just want to say thank you so much for the hours and love you poured into these wonderful characters that have meant so much to so many people. Your hard work never went unnoticed here and we’re all incredibly grateful we got to watch your characters come to life 🩷

When all the QSMP members were talking to YD & Kong about Korea on Friday, there was a new person in Phil's chat who said "Thank you for being interested in Korea."

And... man. That really got to me.

Many of us are used to seeing our cultures get ignored, appropriated, mocked, or commercialized and bastardized past the point of recognition, so seeing big creators and their fans genuinely being interested in who we are and things we grew up with makes me so emotional.

I loved seeing people celebrating Dia de los Muertos on the server because that's part of my culture, and seeing all the other cultural events and festivities QSMP has hosted makes me so happy because I get to see OTHER fans be excited about sharing their culture too. I never knew about Festa Junina or many of the other events before this server, and I likely never would have without it

QSMP provides fans and creators with the opportunity to learn more about different cultures and interact with people from around the world. I've learned so much this past year, and I'm grateful for the wonderful experiences this server and community has given me.

💕 Happy 1st year of QSMP 💕

support women in the twitch scene this month. always do that ofc but especially recently please put energy into uplifting them and sending them love and supporting them and really hearing what they have to say. not JUST when there are these serious topics, though those are important- but also their passions. their creative projects, their community and their career. support them for who they are and not just what they’ve been through. women are not just their abuse or simple survivor stories.

these are their communities and they speak because they want to better them, and it’s been especially rough lately so just do what you can to show support. misogyny has been rabid and i think they deserve more kindness and discussion not just based around on how they’ve been hurt by others

The legend etoiles have a good break my favorite pickle guy

Etoiles is going to be on a break for a bit! Translation from @EtoilesUpdate on Twitter below

Hey team, I owe you some news. It’s kind of shit right now, my mental and physical states are worsening like crazy and it’s the consequence of never stopping before i think + my bechamel body, and it’s the first time that so many dark thoughts are running through my head but my body can’t take it anymore and it’s making my head explode, it’s making me super irritable and i’m not the person i’m supposed to be. I’m not going to go into detail but I’ve checked with a doctor and it’s becoming urgent. These last few months with the Louvre, the USA, the Parc des Princes, there’s been so many things and you know me, when you say everything is fine and you’re goofing around all the time you forget the essential lmao. Thank you immensely for your support i’m not complaining my life is dreamy, it’s just me making mistakes and not handling it properly so i’m taking an indefinite break from streaming. It’ll take the time that it takes and maybe it won’t be that long but I don’t see myself coming back if i’m not perfectly well to make you forget your routine because you deserve a perfect entertainment and I also need to take care of myself it’s important ❤️ Take care, yeah I speak english too because i’m not forgetting you my dear internationals todo bem 🥰

(Translation thread & Etoiles's original tweet)

Hey fellas I dont wanna alarm you or anything, butttttttt......

NEW KOREAN CREATORS TOMMOROW?

let's be prepared to show them all the love in the world <3

Translation of a summary of Q stream made by @/Bunseki_Gaby on TWT :

- Q will be more involved in the server's decision, and they are still making changes step by step with the well being of the team in mind.

-It is not a fast process

-People in management have been fired for doing things without his approval, this was done for the well being of the future of the team.

-There will no longer be individual update account because of a lack of capital (money available)

-Roleplayers (incl Eggs) will be away from the server TEMPORARILY until they achieve a correct way of integrating them under fair conditions (again, it's temporary).

-Just because the server might open does not mean changes are not being done, these changes will take time.

-Pay attention to the official statement that is coming since there has been incomplete info floating around about the decisions and changes.

-Individual lore will depend entirely on the creators and the administration will not intervene UNLESS ASKED TO.

-Again the changes are structural and there are still a lot of things to fix, so pay attention to future updates

-Since the integration of the Korean CCs was already anticipated, the server will open tomorrow ONLY to welcome them, but let's remember that they have not finished making changes and there are still a lot of things to do.

-Understand that these changes are difficult and if people stop supporting or watching the project he will totally understand.

-Since people who were fired from the administration were doing thing without his knowledge which not only affected the administration but also the finances...

-He comments that without those changes, the project would not have lasted much longer.

-They have to make drastic changes to restructure the server so they will slow down the pace of the server, which is why there will not be update accounts (at least for now), and there won't be volunteer positions.

-Again the fact that there are no more eggs or NPC is temporary because they are starting from scratch and they will integrate them again little by little as they find a good economic viability.

Finally he says that : " He has a personal commitment to the QSMP and will be working step by step on the structure until everything start working correctly"

As stressful and uncertain as the situation with quackity studios is, I’m… cautiously optimistic? Entertainment as an industry is notorious for mistreating workers, and that goes doubly so for decentralized internet productions; which is a much newer industry and therefore under regulated. I genuinely think there is an opportunity here to set an example for how these situations are handled, one that could have repercussions on a much larger scale than just one minecraft server. The potential for a positive impact here is massive and I hope all parties involved take advantage of it.

Another thing

you might feel bad for quackity now that an actual union is getting involved and threatening serious repercussions

this really is to be expected and treating mayor projects like QSMP as bussinesses not just little projects should be standard

best case scenario this really shows to people everywhere that online workers deserve rights and have ways to act and the QSMP doesnt need to shut down but has mayor changes

if the QSMP makes it through and has a mayor restructuring it would be amazing to have such a cool project be run well

so the french striking and saying they won't be involved until the workers are treated fairly is the right thing to do and i'm incredibly glad that they're willing to openly put their own participation in this project on the line to stick up for the little guys, but also please remember that this isn't an issue of the french versus quackity

they were already talking to quackity to try and fix this before the news broke and he was already talking back. he went live and promised to pay for everything himself out of pocket if he had to including shutting down his passion project if he couldn't pay for it fairly.

the french are right to wait for results and not just take him at his word, but also they're optimistic and i think we can be optimistic too

this is a problem that everyone wants solved and everyone wants to work together to solve and everyone has the tools to solve. it's not going to happen immediately and i would rather things be done slowly and correctly than anything be rushed and done wrong, but this will be better for the qsmp overall.

i believe that things will get better! Fair working conditions woooooo!!!!

Transcript for Quackity's recent stream

[Quackity start talking around 1:03 in, but before he speaks you can hear him breathe and sniffle a little]

Quackity: Hello everyone, uh…uh, I'm just waiting for enough people to get here. This is a very important stream. So I'm just going to wait a little bit.

Quackity: Um…[sharp intake of breath] Hello! I hope everyone is having a good night. I'm doing an urgent stream. Only to keep everyone updated on everything that's happening.

Quackity: I wanna apologise for this scuffed stream. I'm not on any of my set-ups right now, I wasn't expecting to stream right now so I don't even have a camera. But I wanna to let everyone know, that I've been out and I'm catching up on a lot of matters right now…

Quackity: Including a statement, that was just now, made without my approval.

Quackity: I've been notified, about an ongoing situation regarding Quackity Studios and I want to address it. Please bear with me as I'm barely catching up on a lot of these matters.

[He sniffles again]

Quackity: One gathering is that volunteers for Quackity Studios: are not being paid and are being given too many hours of activities.

Quackity: I wanna let everyone know that I was aware of a voluntary position, and I was under the assumption that there was a process volunteers would go through, to integrate themselves to the team with a fully paying job. What I was not aware of, is to what extent and conditions were being required from the volunteers.

Quackity: And I wanna thank everyone who brought this to my attention, because it is very clear to me that I need a much deeper involvement in the administrative part of my team. Something I have not been very involved with recently.

Quackity: I'm gonna perform a deep investigation, personally, on this matter as to see exactly what's happening. But one thing is very clear to me.

Quackity: There are going to be very drastic changes in QSMP moving forward. From the administrative perspective, and from the creative perspective as well.

Quackity: My responsibility relies on knowing what is happening in the project I am running. And for not being more involved? I want to deeply apologise. This should have never happened, and I am extremely disappointed.

Quackity: From here on out, I wanna make one thing clear: Everybody involved in Quackity Studios will be paid. And if at any point my own funds are not sufficient enough to pay workers or maintain the project? Then the QSMP cannot continue and it will close down. That's how committed I am to this project.

Quackity: So I wanted to make that extremely, extremely clear as to where I stand on this.

[Quackity in the next line sounds choked up]

Quackity: And this…n-next topic is very difficult for me to process, and it's an extremely sensitive thing, and I was waiting for the correct time for me but…that can wait, no longer. And I need to let everyone know that Wilbur is no longer a part of the QSMP.

Quackity: Lastly, I wanna thank everyone for their patience. This…year…has been very turbulent…for me. And I'm going to be very open; it's been one of the saddest years of my life.

Quackity: I'm trying to move forward and give everyone the best version of myself, and I'm very, very sorry if I've disappointed you.

Quackity: But…nonetheless, I gotta keep moving forward and I'm gonna keep working hard and I'm going to do what's right. And I wanna make this very clear.

Quackity: So thank you everyone. And um, yeah, I hope everyone has a good night. Thank you.

thank you jaiden <333

it's as if you never existed at all

Okay, so with Quackity Studios tweeting about adding new people and the need for tolerance and patience with people who don't speak English, let's just take a second and have a chat about what that's gonna look like.

First: you will hear things or read things on the translator that hurt or offend you.

This is inevitable. Do not immediately post about it. What you need tolerance for is hearing things that hurt or offend you and what you need patience for is figuring out of malicious intent was present or if this is a hill worth dying on right now.

As an example, we're pretty sure at this point that Korean is gonna be the next language added. The second person pronoun in Korean sounds a lot like the n-word in English. The n-word in English, if you're not aware, is like the single most offensive slur we have. It's not something that you want to hear unexpectedly. But also, if we get Koreans, they're gonna be using the word for "you" and English speakers are gonna have to be able to tolerate that.

On the other side of things, Korean has a complex system of honorifics and addressing someone without an honorific would be considered very forward and intimate at least if not very rude. None of the QSMP languages have honorifics though and only French really retains formality* so no one else is going to address them with honorifics unless they specifically explain it to people and walk them through it. That will probably be weird and uncomfortable for them and they're going to have to be able to tolerate that.

*Spanish and Portuguese do technically have formal vs informal but it's disappearing quickly in both of them.

These natural cultural clashes and pain points are going to be harder to overcome since we also know that at least some of these creators won't speak English at all so they can't just switch to English to helpfully explain things to us easily in a way we understand. We're going to have to deal.

So here's the thing: just because there can be cultural miscommunications and mistranslations, that doesn't mean that people can't also be assholes. How do you distinguish between the two?

Step One: Assume good faith. Assume that everyone in a given encounter is trying to communicate respectfully and compassionately and that a failure to do so can be overcome

Step Two: Don't get involved. Especially not in Twitch Chat. Two or more people trying to communicate through a language barrier does not get easier when they're also trying to wrangle hostile viewers.

Step Three: Are you sure you heard what you thought you heard or saw what you thought you saw? Did the translator fuck up? Is it a word that just coincidentally happens to sound like another word? If this is the case, the streamers can ask for clarification or use another tool and get it cleared up. Keep watching and see if they do.

Step Four: If they did say what you thought they said, are the streamers handling it? We had a thing a while back where Bad called some friends, including Bagi and Etoiles, uncultured because they didn't get a reference he was making and Etoiles was like "bro I'm French" and Bad apologized. That should have been the end of it, but I had to see people arguing about it for weeks. The problem was solved in 10 seconds.

Step Five: If the person is doubling down, are you sure this is something you can fix by yelling about it on Twitter or Tumblr? Would it be better to let people who actually know them talk to them behind the scenes? Pierre made a few missteps in the beginning of the server, Quackity said they had a chat, Pierre hasn't misstepped since. It's just easier to sort things out in private, one on one conversation than yelling at someone in public.

In short: it's fine to take note of behavior in case patterns start to emerge in it, but yelling on social media about how so and so is the worst person possible is not constructive.