Philza Finally Got It

Q!Phil is neurodivergent, you cannot change my mind

god i can’t stop thinking about how the (core) death family really is such a well fitting puzzle that when even one piece js gone it shows and affects the rest :(

like the death family is incomplete without qmissa, he carries such a huge role in the emotional wellbeing of things, he shines were qphil lacks; the death family is incomplete without qphil, the man consistently keeping the kids alive and fed, he can keep the kids alive but he struggles with the things beyond it, things beyond mere survival; and the kids, we saw how thoroughly their absence affected qphil and qmissa, how tallulah sleeping alone at her old home made the bunker feel so empty and incomplete, how without chayanne this little family would’ve never been formed in the first place. they all fulfill roles that no one else can perform in their place, tallulah and qmissa carry the artistic side and emotional knowledge of the family, qphil and chayanne carry the survivalist aspect of the family with experience and cooking. the family has had to adapt to the absence of members in the past, especially when the kids disappeared, and the toll it takes shows so clearly every time. they are only truly complete with each other, they are a family with so many troubles and ailments that could so easily be fixed by just them all being present, and yet they’re cursed to always miss one. they are always stuck adapting and filling roles to make up for an absence, and crumbling under the pressure each time

Also. Okay so I absorb most Phil lore from the tag (went check todays vod bc *chefs kiss* u go birb boy) and I noticed something-

All the fucking promises he made today. All to people he loves and he has been seeking support during these days

He promised Forever he'd be there to try and wake him up everyday

He promised Tubbo to keep him updated on the situation, in case anything new was discovered

He promised Missa he'd be there when Missa logged in again, he promised Missa he'd be there

And now he's locked away, without leaving a warning, fleeing mid panic and only moved by emotions, leaving practically everything behind just like the kids did

He gave the Federation a cage

They paid back in the same coin

It starts in his wings.

It’s a slow, creeping thing-a fleck of purple here, a tendril of oil-slick black there- that moves, ever so ominously, from the ends of his ruined feathers to their still intact bases. He barely notices at first. Really, the greed is no different than normal and shinies are shinies.

But it starts in his wings.

Phil’s pleased with the new backpack; it’s nice and roomy and his wings, while still cramped, have never felt stronger. That’s one thing to thank the Federation for- that their gift has actually helped him to heal. It’s maybe helped a little too much, actually, because… well, his wings are black, yes, but not that black. Not that odd, flat, oil slick color and never with any purple…

It’s his own fault, really, for not noticing sooner. He should have known the Enderking wouldn’t give up so easily. By the time his next molt comes in with feathers just a little too long, a little too dark, a little too not there, it’s far, far too late to save himself. The best he can do is run hard and fast and hope against hope that he can get far enough away to not be a danger to the ones he still remembers how to love.

He should have known it wouldn’t be enough. He’s a creature of flight, after all, and this sickness began in his wings.

Something I gotta give props to Red Team/ Team Bolas is that even though they are doomed, they all are on the same page

After the first day, Etoiles mentioned and some people here said that it was kinda rough in the beginning for blue and green team, especially when picking their leaders.

Blue has Tubbo, Pierre, and Bad which are three people who would want to be leaders/know how to do things. And Tubbo and Bad having beef in the past probably didnt help.

Green team has Forever, Bagi, Etoiles, and Quackity who are again are people who want to be leaders/know how to do things. But also add Max and Antoine who can be silly, but also know how to do things, it probably got messy (keep in mind that i only heard from other ppl)

Then we have Red team, who knows they are fucked. They have Philza, Baghera, Cellbit, and Foolish who are great leaders, but they know that this is survival/PvP. If I remember right that they were kinda like “uh so Philza or Cellbit?” and was the first team to pick their name and leader.

Then after that, they all communicated and just let each other do their thing which I think really helped. Foolish mentioned this after with Tina that they didnt try to tell each other what to do or become actual leaders. They just were like “hey imma make some bread.” “Okay im in the ocean looking for ships” etc etc

Also Slime being a strategist and jumping into other peoples calls was so smart and playing to his element. And as soon as they realized that Carre was a god at PvP, they cheered him on and Cellbit helped communicate with Carre more clearly. Philza using his Minecraft knowledge and scouting for world generated boats and stuff to get more loot and telling everyone.

They all let each other do what they want and played to their strengths. It probably helped that it was a small team and in terms of lore, the characters had things conflicting with each other, but they still respected each other highly.

And when it came down to them fucking giving up, they were 100% on board and even wanted to change their skins and just roleplay it out. They stated over and over again, they didnt want to break up the team at all. They know they were fucked, but didn’t want anything to change.

I need to watch the other Povs to see the other teams, but goddamn. Team Bolas my beloveds. I hope they fucking lose it and get worse <3

R = Rose (well, it's probably her), E = The Ender King

R: Long ago, E: A lifetime ago,

R: there was a child of the sky… E: there lived a man who fancied himself an explorer. . .

R: whose feathers were as dark as the night, of wings E: who flew with angels' wings,

R: that span across the Heavens. E: as vast as the endless Void.

R: He would take flight, possessing an unwavering spirit E: He soared wherever his whims took him,

R: and journeying through the unknown with a brave heart. E: claiming the treasures and secrets of the unknown as his own.

R: Day by day, E: Time after time,

R: he overcame trials and tribulations, an unwavering soul. E: he fought through trials no person was ever meant to survive.

These opening lines match so closely and it makes the differences in wording and tone very noticeable and interesting.

Rose (I'm just gonna assume it's her, alright) calls Phil a "child of the sky", the Ender King a "man who fancied himself an explorer". Rose is older than the Ender King and she's a protector, she views him as a child. The Ender King is scornful of others doesn't care about anyone but himself and views Phil as a man but immediately implies that Phil himself doesn't understand himself as well as he understands him.

Rose refers to the wings as "dark" but for the Ender King dark wings are kinda obvious, I mean what other kinds of wings are there, right? Instead he focuses on the comparison with angels, because feathers are kind of an alien concept for him, maybe, idk.

What Rose sees as "unwavering spirit", the Ender King sees as "whims", what Rose sees as journeying with a brave heart, the Ender King sees as conquest of the unknown. I think both are majorly projecting here lmao. They're describing themselves more than they're describing Phil.

Rose stresses Phil's unwavering soul "overcoming" trials, the Ender King sees them as battles to be "fought", maybe with a hint of grudging respect for Phil's success against all odds?

The rest of the text in each letter is less obviously mirrored, but the broad lines are still the same:

Rose describes Phil’s misfortune as seemingly having no clear reason, it’s just something that happened and it was a tragedy, but there's still hope for him. She focuses on his feelings of sadness and the way his presence was missed.

The Ender King blames Phil and sees this as some sort of divine punishment for his greed, again projecting his own faults onto Phil, that can only be escaped through redemption. This is clearly how he sees his own predicament now. And he draws that connection himself, explicitly.

I think by this point it's obvious that Rose views Phil as a child (her child?), the Ender King views him as a reflection of himself.

Rose only mentions herself off-handedly, doesn’t make a big deal of herself and even tries to dismiss her identity as unimportant. She only expresses her familiarity with Phil and that she feels his pain and wants to help him. She assures him that they will meet again (not realising that her message ended up being everything but comforting for him, oops.)

The Ender King talks about himself almost as much if not more than he talks about Phil, and only sees Phil’s value in his relation to himself. He makes a big deal about being THE ONLY ONE who can help Phil, which he offers to do, in the most condescending way possible. ”to grant you the peace of mind you so desperately seek”, okay dude.

And of course the way he addresses Phil is full of mockery where Rose's is full of gentle praise. It's interesting that he calls Phil by name, though, while Rose only addresses him by the same sobriquet she used in the beginning, "child of the sky".

It's also interesting how Rose seems to focus a LOT on Phil's wings, but it's hard to say if this is metaphorical or literal (or both). The Ender King's letter definitely makes it sound more like it's about Phil's mental state, him seeking "peace of mind". Rose also sort of touches on something related to that with the comment about his memories, but that's kinda it. The Ender King refers to his derealisation episodes very bluntly. Although I don't think either of them mean the problems with derealization is the thing he needs guidance for, considering they're BOTH actively making it worse with their messages.

If I were to guess, it's probably about him losing his memories and getting trapped on Quesadilla Island? idk. Possibly also the wings but I'm starting to lean towards the wings just needing to heal on their own and he probably doesn't actually need help with that.

Anyway, there are a lot of differences between the letters, but there are also a lot of core similarities: both of them are in a way treating him as a child, or a naive and childish person, both of them recognise his pain, both of them offer guidance and relief for said pain, although one through "faith" and one through "redemption" (oh boy there's a lot to say about that particular contrast that one could maybe make some real life comparisons about...) and although Rose does it a lot more, both of them associate him heavily with his wings.

I feel like there's also a certain level of respect for him in both letters, paradoxically. You wouldn't think that from how you have this almost coddling tone on one hand and mocking and condescending on the other. But they both describe him as a larger-than-life figure, almost like a mythical creature or a legendary hero (hero in the ancient sense of the word). And the way they BOTH emphasize the unfathomable vastness of his wings in such similar ways also doesn't seem coincidental. That's not how you (as a god) describe a mortal man, that's how you describe a fellow divine being.

(Honestly, these descriptions almost sound like he's a personification of a natural force, like he isn't just like the night or like the darkness, he is the night, he is the darkness, he is the void. What else would have wings that stretched out across the entire sky?)

And of course they both ultimately see him as someone worthy of their divine guidance.

I'm so excited to see if the other deities send him their own messages, I can't wait

Thinking about how phil has the same insecurities as missa.

He isn't smart enough for the enigmas. He isn't strong enough to fight off the codes. All he thinks he's decent at is looking after his kids. So he sticks to what he knows. And the one time he makes a move against the federation? He's captured. Because he wasn't smart enough. And he can't escape because he isn't strong enough.

"I'm sorry you're father's a fucking idiot, Chayanne."

Some Bolas Rojas as found family headcannons for y'all:

Baghera particularly looks to Phil as a father figure. Because of how she grew up she hasn't really had a good parental figure before and Phil is another bird person who just radiates parental energy. I imagine him teaching her about some of the bird person things that she never learned because she grew up in the Federation. Also, Phil sees another Avian who is struggling and just goes into protective dad mode.

Cellbit has protective older sibling vibes. I like to think that he would be the first one to seek revenge. The amount of murder and such greatly increases when he's in charge. Like, no one can hurt your found family if they're dead. Still, he thinks things through the most of everyone. He has more murder plots than anyone else but they're the least impulsive and most well thought out murder plots on the entire team.

Phil tries his hardest to be there for the team (his children) in any way possible but he's still dealing with a lot mentally. Cellbit tries to make sure he's taking breaks while he and the others try their best to take care of things. It doesn't always go well because they're so chaotic but at least Phil isn't working himself to death. Phil also just genuinely cares so much. Like he's right there whenever there's any sort of problem. Supporting his family as best he can 'til the end.

Jaiden and Slimecicle have such chaotic sibling vibes. They intimidate others with their sheer insanity. Like, they're manipulating and waging physiological warfare. They're the siblings that get into intense fights but are still somehow besties. They go about everything in a contradictory yet balanced way. No matter what Jaiden is somehow able to turn any situation into something beneficial. On the other hand, Slime is just suffering. Like, he's somehow able to make anything metaphorically blow up, but in a good way. So unpredictable than no plans against Bolas work. It's like aggressive optimism and devastating pessimism combining into a dumpster fire that is also the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. So, yeah, heavy sibling vibes.

I honestly am not quite sure how Foolish fits into all of this. He's like the most and least sane at the same time. Just kinda there. Absolutely part of the found family though.

Pretty much everyone is so down for murder except for Phil. Whenever he goes to bed it just becomes murder hours. Some of them start out with all the intentions for it but not enough battle skills to pull stuff off but the others pretty quickly teach them what they need to know. This is a murder cult but only after their dad goes to bed.

Bolas becomes the most defensive team. As they continue to grow closer they get really protective over each other. After everything that happened around their original base the new one becomes practically a fortress. No one can get away with attacking one of them. This definitely helps with the impression of not being the most powerful while still being the most feared.

I haven't included Carre in this just because I don't know much.

This might be controversial but i am not found of the Phil and Sunny drama that has been happening

In like story kind of sense, like i know they can do whatever they want with their stories but as a viewer i am just not to found of it

Becous for example I adored the conflic between Tallulah and Sunny becouse it was so tragic and intresting, Tallulah not trusting Sunny after the nightmare of being separated from her family on a strange island, and Sunny who just wanted to be liked, not understanding why Tallulah dislikes her. It's an intresting conflic from both sides

But Phil's drama with her is just a bit stupid to me, it's literally miscomunication, like it's just that. The whole conflic would be almost completly solved if they just talked. Becouse Phil is just being Phil and being a bit dense, and Sunny is going though it, thinking she is judged and disliked.

And it's a bit uncomortable, becous Phil straight up doesn't know he makes her upset he is kind of just like that? And if they just told him he would stop, boom, no more conflict. Like the solution is so simple

And seeing a character I like by potrayed as some cruel asshole who likes to trauma dump on children just makes me feel weird.

Especially becouse Phil usually doesn't take his rp that seriously, only usually with the egg disapearence he has been more serious. Like he usually is just light on rp and more just jokes around.

Personally i am not too found of the direction Sunny's admin is taking this in, becouse that admin is so good, Sunny is a wonderful character and it's all thanks to very good rp and character making by the admin, but this conflic is just so one sided and easy to fix that watching it is just anoying honestly.