Nightmare Fuel / Dream SMP: Season One

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The L'Manburg Independence Arc

• The initial formation of L'Manburg was very lighthearted, with Wilbur's overdramatic speeches, messing around while laying out the borders, and while they are regularly bullied by the Dream Team, in the end, they all pile into the Camarvan, where Wilbur officially declares independence. Then Dream walks in, and hands Wilbur a book of his own.
  Tommy: What does it say, what does it say?!
  Wilbur: Here, we'll swap books... (hands Dream the Declaration of Independance; opens Dream's book) "The Decl–" Uh… oh…
  Eret: What's it called?
  Wilbur: "The Declaration of War"...
  • Shortly after this, Dream sends the L'Manburgians a video message formally declaring war upon L'Manburg. This iconic speech remains as one of the most terrifying speeches ever given on the server, and marks the shift from silly Hamilton roleplay into something much darker.
    Dream: We have NO MERCY! NO MERCY FOR YOU! We will BURN DOWN your houses, we will KILL everything inside your walls, and we will TAKE BACK the land that is rightfully ours, if you do not surrender. I wanna see WHITE FLAGS! WHITE FLAGS, OUTSIDE YOUR BASE, BY TOMORROW, AT DAWN, OR YOU ARE DEAD!
• The Final Control Room trap. The L'Manburgian rebels are led into a tiny underground room by Eret, who claims he's got the supplies to turn the tides of the war. As they all pile into the room, Wilbur opens the chest with his name on it... only to see it's empty. He calls out to Eret, confused, right as Tommy hits the button on the ground to see what it does. And then the exit closes behind them, the walls slide open, and the Dream Team barges into the room to slaughter them all on the spot. And that's not taking into consideration the realistic fear component of the trap (as Wilbur was in there with his son and two younger brother-figures), as well as the fact that most, if all not all of the victims who lost canon lives in the Final Control Room trap (two of whom being teenagers at the time) have PTSD from it.

The Manburg Arc

• Jschlatt becoming president of Manburg.
  • Schlatt as a ruler is terrifyingly power-hungry. He kicks Tommy and Wilbur out (and orders for their deaths on their way out), forces everyone under him to be loyal to him at all cost, throws his allies under the bus, and acts downright abusive towards his subordinates. Not only that, he wants to expand L'Manburg... which would violate the peace treaty between the Dream SMP and L'Manburg. Something Schlatt seems entirely unconcerned about.
    Eret: You're lining up for a second war.
    Schlatt: (chuckles) Maybe I am, Eret. Maybe I am.
    • Said abusive behaviour towards his subordinates go as far as threatening to have Quackity lobotomized. Yes, really.
      Schlatt: If you come to me tomorrow and you're looking as flat as you did today, oh my God, we're gonna have a problem. […] We'll turn you into Rosemary Kennedy if we need to.
• Wilbur's spiral in Pogtopia, where his mental health takes a steep nosedive to the point he arguably starts splitting. When Schlatt organizes a festival, showing a clear break from all the Obviously Evil things he'd been doing before, Wilbur has an existential crisis, in which he realizes that the former dictators of a country coming back to take power again would probably be considered evil. His response to that is to completely embrace that, and he starts making plans to blow up Manburg with everyone inside.
  Wilbur: Tommy, I say, if WE can't have Manburg, NO ONE! NO ONE CAN HAVE MANBURG!
• The entirety of the Festival.
  • The plan was for Tubbo to give his speech and then run, after which Wilbur would set off the TNT under Schlatt's throne. However, as soon as Tubbo finishes his speech, Schlatt and Quackity trap him on the throne by encasing him in concrete. Turns out Schlatt knew about Wilbur's plot and Tubbo's involvement in it all along, and as punishment, he forces Technoblade to execute Tubbo on the spot.
  • Perhaps the most terrifying part is what happens after Technoblade kills Tubbo: Techoblade marvels at the fact that his crossbow killed Schlatt and Quackity with the splash damage, and then he unleashes an onslaught of firework rockets into the horrified crowd, killing almost everyone attending in the span of 2 seconds while laughing like a madman.
  • The simple fact that Tommy, who had been vocally against blowing up Manburg the entire time, starts whispering to Wilbur to push the Button after Tubbo's execution. The kid has finally hit his Rage Breaking Point, and is now willing to let the country he's been trying to get back get blown to smithereens to get his revenge.
  • After Tubbo is killed, Niki starts furiously screaming at Schlatt. Schlatt then decides to yell for her execution as well in retaliation, not only letting an innocent woman get hunted down by an angry mob, but firmly cementing himself as a leader who's willing to use violence to get rid of dissenting voices.
• The TNT room that Wilbur couldn't find during the Festival. A Room Full of Crazy with the L'Manberg anthem scribbled on the walls, TNT laying everywhere in the room and the Button that would have blown up half of Manburg... and Wilbur himself in the process. When Quackity, Wilbur and Tommy visit the room again, Wilbur threatens to press the button right then and there after seeing Schlatt being the only person in Manburg at the time. Fortunately, Tommy and Quackity got through to Wilbur before he managed to reach the Button.
• When Quackity's plan to have a meeting with Schlatt goes south, he, Tommy, and Wilbur flee to Pogtopia... and Schlatt laughs, with an echo that viewers of a certain channel might recall from his stint as an all-powerful god. It really cements just how much power Schlatt truly has, despite appearances.
• Not even Quackity is exempt from getting in on the scarier moments of the server. When Karl gives him heroin without his knowledge, Quackity goes ballistic. He chases Karl down through the forest, all the while shrieking and making noises that wouldn't be out of place in a horror game. Not even standing in Church Prime can save Karl — Quackity kills him anyways. And then Quackity goes right back to being friendly, as though nothing is wrong...
• Quackity attempts to get over his fear of Technoblade... with pretty poor results. At one point, Techno chases Quackity down, quietly discussing how early humans hunted their prey by following their prey until it grew exhausted. It doesn't help that Quackity sounds genuinely terrified, whimpering in distress as he tries to flee.
  Technoblade: Do you feel tired, Quackity?
  • Before that happened, though, Technoblade creates the soul sand cross that is the foundation of the Withers. Quackity doesn't know what exactly it is, but Karl does. What's scarier? Not knowing about the Eldritch Abomination and how the person you're trying to overcome your fear of is able to create one? Or knowing how one can be made and realizing someone you know also has knowledge about it?
  • At one point in the stream, Quackity relaxes in order to thank a donator. He gets his attention back to the game... only for Techno to appear right next to him before using his sword to utterly annihilate a screaming Quackity.
  • Later on in the stream is a brief reprieve of comedy where Quackity tries to cancel Techno for commenting on his skin's off-center face. Techno's response is a simple "I could just kill everyone that witnessed it." It's not the threat itself, but rather that Techno could easily follow up on that threat that makes it so terrifying.
    • Seconds later, Karl pretends to be blind to avoid murder, and Quackity tries to cancel Techno on that as well. Techno responds by hitting Quackity once with his sword, instilling the utter fear of the Blood God into Quackity as he quickly snaps back into place.
  • Quackity later tries hitting Techno, only to find to his horror that he also takes damage due to the Thorns enchantment on Techno's armor. He's utterly terrified to find that Techno could kill him without even moving.
    Techno: The difference in ability is just that great.
  • Quackity's utter horror at the fact that Techno is apparently the second-worst thing to happen to orphans, wondering just what he could have done to earn that rank.^note The truth isn't as terrifying as it could be. The "second-worst thing" is just Techno robbing orphans of their Christmas presents.
    Quackity: W-What did you do to the orphans' parents?
    Techno: That would be the first-worst thing.
  • After the "hunters and prey" discussion, Quackity tries to ask Techno on a date, saying that if it sucks, they won't have to see each other ever again. Techno responds by saying that he could just kill Quackity here to accomplish the same thing.
    Techno: Do you have a death wish, Quackity?
  • Techno's sheer nonchalance about everything as well. He makes threats and follows up on them with the same old monotone voice he'd use to describe a day in school.
• Hell, based on everything above, Techno in general. He's The Dreaded for a very good reason. Even worse, he's well aware of it. And he exploits that.

The Manburg-Pogtopia War

• The Manberg-Pogtopia War; for Schlatt's side, Pogtopia's advance. While Manburg had many competent fighters on their side — including Dream — Pogtopia had them outnumbered by a large margin, especially since the members of the Badlands were teamed up with Pogtopia. It was a Curb-Stomp Battle to the highest degree, and Dream surrendered after just ten minutes of fighting after seeing that Schlatt had been doing nothing but getting drunk.
• The confrontation in the Button room. Wilbur hyped himself up to press the button, finally, until he was interrupted by Philza, who joined the server to try to stop him. The two had an emotional confrontation... until Wilbur finally pushed the button, and all of L'Manburg goes up in a gigantic explosion while Phil watches, horrified.
  • Doubles as Tear Jerker. After the TNT went off, Wilbur climbed back into the Button room, threw his sword at Phil's feet and begged him to kill him. Phil, understandably horrified and still in shock, refused, at which point Wilbur started downright screaming at him to just kill him, until Phil finally does.
  • This was worse from the other L'Manburgians' perspective. They were dealing with Techno's sudden betrayal, the confusion of Phil joining the server, and Dream suddenly resuming the hostilities, when Dream reveals that Wilbur had been the traitor all along. People start realizing they don't know where Wilbur went... at which point the TNT explodes under their feet.
• Speaking of Techno... After Tubbo's speech, everyone began taking down the Festival decorations, but Techno hung back. He suddenly turned around and killed Tubbo with fireworks, declaring that he did not spend weeks planning a revolution for them to immediately install a new government. Turns out there were two traitors in Pogtopia, and Techno proceeds to wreak complete havoc on L'Manburg, to the point where, after the TNT had gone off, he started spawning Withers to destroy whatever was left.
  • Phil's reaction to Techno being the traitor really cements the horror of it all.
    Wilbur: "There is no traitor", [Dream] said to me. And d'yknow what? He fucking lied! He lied!
    Phil: ...wait, what?
    Wilbur: It's Technoblade, Phil, it's Technoblade!
    Phil: Oh my f– The most powerful person on this server is the traitor, are you f–
    Wilbur: Phil? Phil? And he has eight Withers, ready to go!
    Phil: (panicking as he starts to sort through Wilbur's items) Oh my god, I need to get out of here, I need– oh my god, wait, what do you mean? Oh my god!

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