#technoblade character analysis

[lilyminer]

Thinking about how all throughout his time housing c!Tommy in the second half of his exile c!Techno was routinely running into c!Dream, but hiding Tommy from him. Techno kept secrets from one of the only people who was usually on his side, not working with him nearly at all. But it was worth it to Techno cuz in his eyes him and Tommy were finally on the same side against a common enemy(Tubbo)!

But then after a single, quick reunion, Tommy turned his back on him, stood with Tubbo again against everything Techno knew about Tommy’s experiences (not much, but that ain’t his fault). And once again Techno was the feared enemy surrounded by people who hated him, even the kid he had given so much to protect.

While I’m sure the story would’ve been different if Techno knew the full extent of Tommy’s exile, it makes perfect sense to me that Techno would go back to Dream. He had already gone through the execution, seen the effects of Wilbur’s death, lived through Manburg, L’manburgs influence still plagued his life and threatened his security. He was retreating back to those he could trust and knew would look out for him, not look at him like a monster or a weapon.

Sorry guys I know it’s been a long time since I brought up this morality debate but I still think man’s was so valid.

[tobi-smp]

you know, with hindsight now what it is I really do think a more literal reading of c!techno's chat would have helped his characterization a Lot

and mind you, this was originally intended to be the case, and very well may have been intended all along even if it wasn't usually emphasized within the lore

and don't get me wrong, I Get why it fell out of favor within the fandom. it coincides with a Very storied ableist trope that demonizes DID and disorders adjacent to it, and Can be spoken about in a way that is essentially indistinguishable from it depending on the word choice.

but the thing is ! not only does it not Have to be an allegory for DID, I straight up don't think it is At All.

because we Know what it's an allegory for. It's His Chat. there's technoblade playing the game, and there's the thousands of people watching with expectations and wants that he's compelled to meet (or, at the very least, pacify through Entertainment).

and this makes much Much more sense when conceived of as Supernatural. be that spirits, gods, demons, or anything that could fill that role. separate entities that, for whatever reason, only techno can sense the presence of and be affected by.

and of course, to an extent this is true for all creators. everyone had an audience that they were meant to entertain and the choices they made were influenced by that fact.

but technoblade came in with a Very distinct set of expectations that heavily impacted the choices he was Expected to make and the kinds of stories that he could tell. he was more or less a living legend in real life just as much as he was in roleplay, and these things were inherently connected.

and it's like !

when c!technoblade says he was peer pressured into killing tubbo at the red festival he Is technically talking about what happened within the roleplay. schlatt was demanding it from him, there's a sort of pressure there. but schlatt was also the dictator they were set to kill, and techno has never had any trouble fighting people he considered a dictator before, and certainly not Schlatt of all people.

but he WAS being peer pressured By His Audience. by thousands of people, most of which were demanding blood Because It Was The Expectation, because it'd be Fun.

out of universe technoblade made the decision he thought would be the most Entertaining, and he was right! consistently he made choices that would let him do the most bombastic Spectacles possible. And It's Great. he's Excellent at pulling dramatics and making a compelling scene that give other people room to work off of. in that sense I'd consider techno an Excellent actor, and I have to imagine that he was fun to work with.

the problem is when you then have to justify it from an in character perspective, grounded in those mushy things like Feelings with characters that can be traumatized and sustain lasting damage, Especially Without acknowledging the out of character incentive.

mind you, it's not Impossible to Create a backstory that could justify it. why a character as consistently powerful and feared as technoblade would feel pressured to kill an ally by someone he not only Can kill but Wanted To Kill. why a character as seemingly secure and in control as technoblade would lash out the way that he does to perceived betrayal, and yet consistently puts no weight onto having killed and permanently scarred an ally that trusted him.

what that'd need is tragedy. a storied history of being hurt and having to survive. building up To an untouchable god from a much much more vulnerable position. Long Lasting trauma that's lead to this deep insecurity and paranoia. and that's Possible and that's Compelling.

but it's just not in the text.

not only did we never learn basically Anything that c!technoblade was up to pre-series, we actually know Less by the end than when we started because of the sbi retconning.

it's a Theoretically Possible interpretation that's technically never Contradicted by canon, but would have to be created by scratch. it's a compelling idea for a fan fic (and one I'd like to read) and it's compelling for a theoretical recontextualization of the character, but it's just not In The Text.

meanwhile, we have the video above.

we have the Objective Fact that technoblade's decision making was often subject to the rule of cool (very Very effectively) to entertain his audience.

and most compellingly, these concepts Don't Need To Be Separate. in fact, in my opinion they're Stronger when you put them together.

because the thing is. it's Difficult to imagine techno as ever being in a vulnerable position. he is just Objectively more powerful than everyone else on the server, both in real life And within the lore. How could he have ever been afraid when he was stronger than anyone and everyone combined? when we saw with our own eyes that techno could face nearly the whole server at once and win.

but he Is a tragic character, at least he's meant to be. and that tragedy makes much Much more sense as something Inward.

technoblade as a character who Needs connection, who Needs stability, who Needs security, who Needs friendship and community and Love. but Lashes Out, Obliterates to the core of the earth, because of something that's not only out of his control but that other people Cannot Understand.

how do you explain to a child that you killed their best friend because a chorus of the undead called for his blood and you (in all the glory that he'd idolized) were unable to do anything but comply? how do you explain to that child that you beat him senseless in a pit as the restless dead jeered and laughed?

That's interesting. That's Compelling.

technoblade is idolized like a god, feared like a force of nature, and in an instant cut himself off from nearly everyone who'd considered him an ally. and that seems to be a pattern, over and over and over again. he's left isolated, and in return he faces retaliation, and in return he's always Waiting for retaliation.

and what do you say to someone who wants to kill you for being a monster? that it's Fine Actually because you only did what you did because you have a curse that compels you to? that the supernatural guided you to destroy their homes and kill their people? (rip jack manifold you will be missed)?

That Doesn't Quite Help Your Case.

technoblade as someone who is beholden to this literal cycle of violence and Loses those things that could ground him, community, stability, People, as a result. who Tries to overcome this very fact (to become a better person, in his own words as per the clip above), but is pulled back into it as a consequence of his own actions.

that's a tragedy !! that Makes Sense. that allows him to be Both this force of nature that other characters have to survive And A Person Who Is Hurt By The Same Conflict.

"I'm a person!" that fear of dehumanization makes So So Much More Sense when you see technoblade as someone who Already fears himself. who fears being a monster, who fears losing control, who has faced isolation again and again and again.

and, importantly, it doesn't have to be anyone else's Fault.

by making the source both Internal and Completely External (something that none of the other characters have any awareness or control over), you can Have techno as a tragic character without demonizing anyone else Or erasing the impact that c!techno had on them.

and in that sense, it Can be an allegory for mental illness, but not in that direct "oooooh how scary he hears voices" kind of way that people fear it looks. but in that sometimes people Will do things that can hurt others while not feeling in control. anger and mania and paranoia, things that you can't always Control and yet that impact that you have on other people still Matters.

and the answer to that is, often, vulnerability and accountability.

I think a lot about technoblade isolating himself so near entirely from the rest of the server, and slowly gathering a support system Back by the end. and I Really Do think that framing of it through this lens is a Very impactful way of breaking it down.

tubbo, tommy, wilbur, ranboo, niki, I think they'd All understand not feeling in control. lashing out, maybe even feeling justified in the moment, but hurting people they care about and furthering their own isolation.

There's Something There, and it's already In The Text. it just needs to be expanded on.

and why not do that ourselves now?

[valentinesworld4ever]

c!technoblade is so misunderstood it hurts, often characterized as a weapon, maybe an anarchist at most but he's much more, he's a conflicting character, his empathetic personality (especially towards animals) is often overshadowed and that's a sad part of why I dislike fanon techno, i personally interpret him not as a violent individual rather an ill one, he's skilled, calculating but the bloodthirsty voices he possesses is his downfall, the silent scream between his calculating side versus the these voices is a big reason why I hate that he's viewed from a place of ego and anger rather than from his true self, a big part of his later character is wanting to stop the cycle that tommy is trapped in, but that's why he's so conflicting, at times he's passive, yet in another he's violent, it's just sad how one sided the fanbase thinks he is versus how he actually is

A/N; I'm not THAT much of a techno fan so I struggled a bit but I think I got what I wanted out :3 and also request me a dsmp character to analyze 🤑🤑

[becauseplot]

The recent announcement of the qsmp election event and q!philza confirming in canon that he is an anarchist kinda rattled something that's always been sort of spinning around in my brain: the fact that both c!emerald-duo (from DSMP) and q!philza (from QSMP) have had their lore tied in with the lore of the Antarctic Empire on SMPEarth. The thing about c!emduo and q!philza is that they are (as mentioned earlier) full-blown anarchists who vehemently oppose government in all its forms, but ae!emduo were, in fact, the co-leaders of an empire.

Now I don't actually know an awful lot about what went down on SMPE (from what I understand, it just sort of...ended?), but like, bear with me here---imagine SMPE is a world of actual empires: citizens, kings, soldiers, armies. A world capable of full-scale war. ae!Phil and ae!Techno are the leaders of one of the most powerful empires in all the land. Then, flash forward some years (decades? centuries?) later, and they're both anarchists completely disillusioned with government as a whole and actively fight against it when they see fit.

What happened? What happened between the birth of the Antarctic Empire and the beginning of the DSMP/QSMP that made them completely give that up and start to oppose what they once supported? 

Was it something they witnessed? One too many peaceful villages burned, one too many mangled bodies found beneath the rubble, one too many of their own men imprisoned, tortured for information, then left for dead?

Was it something that someone did to them? A beloved friend caught in the crossfire of a war; an ally they thought they could trust sticking a knife in their backs in an attempt to seize the Empire for themself; a foe that was simply too strong, too ruthless, too power-hungry to be defeated, much less reasoned with?

Or was it something that they did? Something they did that, for the first time, made their own stomachs turn. Made them question if it was all worth it. Made them realize that it never was. Were they ever at odds? One person begging that they halt their progress immediately while the other doubled down, insisting their actions were justified. Did they fight about it? Threaten the other with arrest for treason? Threaten to leave the other and never, ever look back?

What was the final straw? What makes an emperor become an anarchist?

[redraven393]

so I have this AU Idea about Tallulah being a new member of the Blood God cult after being convinced by the Voices that linger on to keep an eye on Phil.

Tallulah was fed up with being the most vulnerable one on the island and then decided to reach out to the Voices in hopes of gaining strength and power to protect herself and her family.

Tallulah knows about the Voices and the Blood God from the bedtime stories that Phil likes to tell them

I want to expand on it so bad cause Tallulah has so much potential for Angst ya now, I was afraid to do it cause it might not make sense for her own characterization

but, looking at the vods rn I think it might work. __________

I remember Tallulah being so weak back then that Phil always told her to run while telling Chayanne to fight, while on their Big Adventure, Phil always made sure to have her in his sight, and Tallulah herself woulda always stay by him most of the time.

but now Tallulah can hold herself easily against many dangers, when mobs were surrounding her Phil let her handle the hoards of enemies herself and then congratulated her for her victory. She now often wondered on her own and Phil was okay with letting her out of his sight.

something changed, maybe it was the first kidnapping, maybe the time they spent away in Egg Islan, or maybe it was all of it.

but something most definitely did.

Tallulah is no longer that young and fragile little girl.

Phil just thinks that this is a part of her growing up

but what if it's not only just that? it has been a while since the Voices demanded and pestered him about giving his son to the Blood God's teachings.

maybe they have given up?

or maybe they have a new target they want to pursue?

maybe they already have what they want

[itsnotmystic]

Something something something about the juxtaposition of Wilbur telling Tommy they'll fight with words vs Technoblade telling Tommy the only universal language is violence.

Like, people put them together as villains for blowing up L'manberg but their characters are literally so different. cc!Wilbur and cc!Techno both did such an amazing job at writing their characters.

[x-i-l-verify]

「Dream SMP Daemon AU 」

    ⚔ TECHNOBLADE + ALEKSAIX (BROADSWORD) ⚔

Piglins, as denizens of the Nether, do not have daemons as Overworlders do. Rather, their souls take the form of weapons, called morai-kelul ("forged-self"). Morai-kelul come in all shapes and sizes, from swords, knives, spears, bows, maces, hammers, sickles, clubs, chains, brass knuckles, and many, many more. When a piglin child reaches the equivalent of one year of age, their main adult caretakers, blood-related or not, will bring them into the village forge, and begin construction on the child's morai-kelul in a very sacred series of rituals that take months to complete. The construction always involves at least some amount of gold, a spiritual, coveted metal to piglins. Once the weapon is forged, it is named for an aspirational virtue or concept that their caretakers wish to impart to them, such as "bravery," "insight," "candor," etc.

As the piglin grows and changes over time, however, the first morai-kelul forged by their caretaker(s) will eventually break. This happens to everyone at some point in their lives, and is a very painful event mentally and emotionally. When this happens, the piglin must construct a new morai-kelul with the pieces of the old one, which always takes a form different from the first. A spear might become a dagger, an axe might become a crossbow, a sword might become a shield, etc. Outside of this event, morai-kelul are indestructible by most normal means unless their piglin dies, in which case they become a normal, inanimate object.

Unlike Overworlders and their daemons, there is no limit to how far a piglin can travel away from their morai-kelul, and they can summon them from over great distances. The only exceptions to this are traveling from the Nether to the Overworld, the Overworld to the End or the Nether, or traveling between servers; if a piglin tries to go between servers or dimensions without their morai-kelul, they will instantly become like a zombie, with a living body but no conscious mind.

Piglins have no issue with touching each other's morai-kelul. In fact, it is common for piglins, especially the children, to go up to someone with a really cool-looking one and ask to hold it so they can examine it more closely. However, the morai-kelul must be handed to them in order for them to hold it. For example, if Philza tried to pick up Aleksaix off the table or off the ground, he would not be able to; Technoblade would need to hand it to him in order for him to carry it properly. Mates swap morai-kelul during their wedding ceremonies, and fighting with someone else's morai-kelul is considered the highest show of intimacy and trust a piglin can display.

Morai-kelul do not speak with an audible voice like facets such as daemons do. Rather, they communicate in projected feelings and images. Normally, only its piglin half can communicate directly with it, but if it is being held by someone else, it can communicate with that person as well. They also are always referred to as "it" rather than with gendered pronouns.

Technoblade is wary, blunt and insincere. Aleksaix embodies his idealistic, sensitive, trusting side.

~

NAME MEANING "Aleksaix" means "responsibility" in the piglin tongue. It is rather uncommon for piglins to freely tell others the name of their morai-kelul without knowing them well first, so Technoblade has taken to saying the name of his is Orphan Obliterator as in inside joke. Very few people are familiar enough with piglin culture to call him on this.

~

SOURCES I took this concept and many ideas surrounding it from this person's concept for Asgardian daemons, so credit where credit is due.

[nomsfaultau]

Bro I just started reading your fic like three days ago and I’m already on chapter 14 BUT BRO THIS SHITS CRAZY ITS SO FUCKING GOOD YOUR TECHNO CHARACTERIZATION IS MAGNIFICENT

I love how everyone is trauma trauma mental health disaster angst and then Techno “voices in he head” Blade is out chilling with his inner demons. The Foundation tried to get to him and he was like ‘bruh thanks for the offer but I’m good’

He’s so wonderfully comfortable with himself and his flaws. Well I mean he’s an awkward dork, but still. Of course he’s downplaying his own trauma since that’s how he rolls, but overall he’s having an alright time while causing huge problems for everyone else lol

Shows up 150k words late to the fic in the middle of a disaster with a potato smoothie:

“Hullo did I miss anything?”

[anarchy-and-piglins]

do you have more c technoblade analysis? your thoughts are really well articulated and usually i agree with you

i wasnt there for dsmp stuff so you can talk about anything you’d like

Oh boy, I have a ton of cTechno thoughts all the time, but I feel like I'm bad at pulling them out randomly unless people want to ask/hear about anything specific (which, for the record, I very much embrace; I love cTechno lore questions)

HOWEVER, you're in luck today. Because I did have thoughts this morning!

Specifically, I am thinking once again about cTechno's conversation with cTubbo about the Red Festival during their Saving Michael stream.

Techno's situation during the Red Festival is kind of interesting to me because we know it is a fight Techno would have lost, and thus he decided not to engage with it. We see this as a returning character trait. Techno isn't only a good fighter, he's a smart fighter. He's not reckless.

That is to say, cTechno and ccTechno have both confirmed that in the case of the Red Festival, Techno pulled the trigger on Tubbo (AFTER trying to get out of the situation, dissuade Schlatt of the entire affair, and stall for time so their allies could come help, none of which worked) because he knew that if he refused, then he'd be entering a fight he could not win. He would not have been able to keep Tubbo and himself safe against a crowd of armored and armed people, especially as Tubbo was completely without weapons and armor. The most likely outcome would have been for them both to just be killed anyway, or maybe if they're lucky for one of them to die and the other escape.

And Techno only has one life.

Now, a few characters (mainly cTommy) do believe Techno could have fought his way out of that situation easy-peasy. The problem is that Tommy is in this case wrong. Again, both cTechno and ccTechno confirmed he could not have won, and in fact, we see that Techno's health dropped significantly and he almost died, leaving him to flee, and that is after shooting Tubbo. So yeah, no way would he have made it out with both of their lives intact. (Sadly, some of the fandom also decided to take Tommy's word for it despite cTommy being extremely wrong in this case but that's another post)

Here's why I'm talking about all this. During the Saving Michael stream, Techno apologizes to Tubbo about the events of the Red Festival, but these are the exact words he uses:

"I should have been willing to die for my beliefs back then"

This line still drives me up the wall and makes me chew the isolation /pos. Techno isn't saying he would have survived the Red Festival. He's not saying that he lied about being able to win that fight. HE'S SAYING HE SHOULD HAVE TRIED ANYWAY EVEN IF IT KILLS HIM.

And this comes literally minutes after he admits he only has one life.

Techno's 'belief' in this case is in reference to anarchy, obviously. I could write full dissertations about how Techno's understanding of the concept that is anarchy evolves to be more nuanced and complex throughout the dsmp, and how it is one of my favorite arcs, and why it makes him such a compelling character, but the main point for this post is that Techno got others involved in his cause.

Anarchy is not just Techno's thing anymore. It's the Syndicate's thing. Techno's friends. And one of Techno's defying character traits is that while he's not reckless, he's very much willing to put himself in danger for his friends. So now he feels that he should have put himself in harm's way during the Red Festival because that's what he would do now, after his character development.

He's not apologizing for being unable to save Tubbo - because he still doesn't think he'd be able to, and he's probably right about that. He's apologizing because he has one life and he was unwilling to sacrifice it. But now he is.

[lilyminer]

Hey y'all, here's some more Emerald Duo character headcanon writing. A bit of a throwback since I haven't done this in a while. For anyone not caught up on my weirdly elaborate headcanons/sorta au, I made up a whole 3000 year timeline for the life of c!Philza, and most of it is sad cuz I'm an angst writer :) You don't need to know much about my headcanons for this tho, just go with the flow. Enjoy.

Like The Spring Thaw

The reign of the Antarctic Empire was a turbulent time, not just for Phil and Techno of course, the political conflicts, scarcity, and relentless environment was a constant onslaught against all the people they ruled over.

Philza and Technoblade's friendship was new, at least by an immortals standards. Techno had been so young when they first met, brought together as allies on the grand battlefields of a war neither of them really cared about. Win? Lose? It didn't matter. Techno was there to try to tame the influence of the blood god hidden deep inside his brain. Phil had been fighting to forget at first, to forget what he's lost, the home, the community, the friends. But nothing builds a bond like fighting for the same cause. Techno gave him something to fight to protect again, after all those years of not having time to take anyone under his wing. So once the war ended the two decided to try to bring peace to a divided world full of conflict.

They had their laughs, taking over the whole world via a bureaucratic loophole, yeah people got pretty pissed at them for that. But something about having a group of people to take care of again helped Phil fix some broken part of himself he left to fester years ago. He was still, and would surely forever be haunted by the memory of his long and winding path in life. The screams of those who had taken shelter in his temple as it was raided became a echo forever reverberating through his head as he slept. But now, instead of nearly being smothered in his sleep by his fellow soldiers, furious at his habit of giving away their position, there was a gentle knock at his door, a friend who's head was filled with much the same noise there to make him a tea and chat away the nightmares.

That castle became home. Sure he was forced to maintain a persona faker then any he'd worn before and the cold and exposed machinery made binding his wings out of the way a must, but they lived a life of plenty. Phil began to enjoy the cold, at home above the layers of ice and frost. Eventually, it became easy to ignore the small and inconvenient plights of his people. Without even knowing it he became the kind of ruler he swore he'd always hate. The apathetic king who saw violent gangs of thieves roaming the countryside as a non-issue. The monarch filled with so much hatred they allowed two armies to needlessly fight for decades. With a uncharacteristic lack of his usual foresight he was among those tyrants now, and so when reports came from the fishermen on the outskirts of the empire that a deadly plague was whipping out every man, woman, and child, the duel emperors brushed it off as yet another mild health issue. Just like the last illness, nothing to worry about.

And in the blink of an eye it was all over. Him and Techno watched in horror over the course of a handful of weeks as the treatments they knew had no effect on this illness. Their advisors locked them away in the castle, hoping to protect them but it only made the helplessness worse. Their doctors, nurses, midwives, wise-folk, and scientists dropped like flies. As they made the decree that all must evacuate the death-cursed city it seemed less were alive to hear it by the minute. All supply lines and social structure broke down, their empire fell to ruin while their backs were turned.

Him and Techno evacuated. Like cowards.

They were hated for a time, scorned for their inability to save their people. But not nearly long enough for Phil. At times he felt the need to remind people, even as generations passed. How could death on such a scale be forgotten? He had truly become what he hated all along, not even brave enough to fight back on others behalf. His lady was his world, but it pained him to know he had become the omen of death that he had been accused of being. Techno didn't speak much anymore, but he knew that similar feelings must be bubbling up for him as well. The two were more similar then they cared to admit.

Soon Techno was on the road again, Phil settled into a cottage all his own, but it was far too lonely. He began to feel better day by day, year by year. He laughed to himself when his crows once filled with wanderlust returned home with stories of the fearsome warrior of the blood god who opposed governments of any kind. It seemed Techno had taken a far more proactive approach to the beliefs he too had felt solidify after their great failure. He hoped the memories didn't haunt his old friend like they did to him. He did nothing with the pain though, no actions of great conviction, which he knew would make it worse in time. But his cruelty had been transformed back into the compassion he had been missing all these years along the way. With it, he felt any remaining pride he had for his days of leadership fade. The days he spent alone filled his old soul with the soft and tender warmth of a hearth fire. It was time to move on, he had sought out those who hated him for long enough. At the very least it was time to unbind his wings. It was time to fly again.

[mossy123302]

I am not exactly entirely good with character or relationship analysis (A reason why my dumb fox head is aroace because I am not good w/ navigating romantic relationships)

So this is just my best effort writing the dynamic Q! Philza and Q! Missa have.

I do like to headcanon, like others, that Philza is indeed aroace, but not in a way, that like he doesn't understand what platonic or romantic means. Sure, it's funny to tease Philza about it, but it's also true that close friends could very much do so. I think Philza is quite aware of what is romantic and platonic, he knows the boundaries of it. I mean Philza is literally married to the Goddess of Death (implied) Kristin. It's more or less that Philza doesn't simply care for such labels. (I very much hc that Philza could probably be genderfluid, like me- Peeposmile)

It's something Philza even mentioned in the live stream when talking about the deities in hardcore world. It's something they don't care about and just vibe with whatever they're vibing with. They don't care and I think Philza is the same in that mindset. He just doesn't care, and will be blunt about it, if he needs to actually talk about it.

Philza seems to deeply cherish those that are ... similar to himself from what I can tell. I don't fully watch Fit or other POV to get a clear understanding of Phil's relationship w/ others so I'm sorry if I don't include them, same with Technoblade. I've recently started watching mcyt again and I don't want to talk about something I don't have a full understanding of.

Anyways, Phil deeply connects with those that share similar traits to him in some regard. Techno whose the Blood God, who clearly has an understanding of death, war and loyalty and this clearly shows via Missa too. Missa, while not a fighter, does understand death and how important it is... He literally is a gentle grim reaper. He understands death much clearly, because his mother is also a Goddess tied to Death as well. Missa is also fiercely loyal to Phil and his children, because honestly, he was so busy! He didn't have to return to Quesadilla Island but he did because he cares about Phil and his children, quickly adopted Tallulah and he hadn't even seen her yet.

Whoever Phil trusted and guards with his life, Missa will guard that person with his life as well. Of course, unless, we talk about BadboyHalo then that's another discussion LOL. Such a mess between the demon (?) and grim reaper.

Anyways, we know how much Phil values such loyalty that, I cannot remember what Tubbo said, but he immediately locked Tubbo out of his own home because of what he said about someone and while despite implied flings with others. Philza never spoke about others the way he speaks about Missa.

Their relationship definitely...crosses the line of platonic and romantic. I can see why it would be considered queer platonic relationship, but also at the same time, it's like there is some line being breached which makes everyone raise an eyebrow cause sir, what do you mean platonic-

Philza is clearly...possessive over Missa, because the way he got so defensive when Bagi mentions Antoine (right?) and Missa should date. Philza didn't have to get so defensive, because Missa already immediately denied. Philza could have kissed anyone else, like Fit, but chose Missa instead. He even demanded Tall Missa to the admins, got jealous over any shipping fanart and acts like he's fine and doesn't miss Missa at all. *Coughs in* "I'm going to f*cking off myself. Did Missa log on again?!" (Side eye Philza)

Like he's done lots of things that makes everyone just raise an eyebrow- Philza is fooling no one but himself (& Missa)

I also enjoy the lore Missa has going on with accepting that he is indeed a part of the family and isn't alone. Missa had just lost Spreen, and suddenly, he had no one but the Angel of Death as his assigned partner. Missa must have felt so unmatched compared to Philza because what could he even offer to the family? He had nothing but his music and kind words, which is everyone that Death Family wanted. Missa brought a different change to the family that makes them be vulnerable, to not be so serious all the time and to actually just relax and be like a family that's just on vacation.

I mean, and just talking about loyalty and kindness. Missa never gave up... He fought his way back, despite getting taken away by wolves and suddenly Badboyhalo being so cruel. He always made sure his family was safe and always brought something for them.

Didn't Missa say he got lost because he tried to find a gift for Philza?! Like...the commitment to find a perfect gift for Philza, and still returning (sure, without the gift). While it's hilarious, Missa doesn't run away because of his wet cat behavior. He runs away because he doesn't want to put his family in danger, he cannot fight as well as others can. He relies on others to fight for him and then he jumps in to help, but because the time zone doesn't allow such things. Missa is forced to run.

And Missa is good at it. He will run as far as he can, if it means his family will be safe. He isn't running away from his family, but the danger because at the end of it all, he will return back to his family, no matter how long it takes.

And Missa casually admitted to Chayanne that he needs Philza more than he realized, the same way Philza realizes he needed Missa but didn't dare admit, whether it is out of fear or something else that he couldn't voice it. But Philza clearly showed it through his actions, that he brought/dragged Missa to Rose's Sanctuary before they went to sleep forever. He didn't have to do so, but he did... indicating their bond is much deeper because Rose's Sanctuary is literally a pocket dimension that no one cannot access.

Missa has access. Now he sleeps eternally with his family...

Also their whole dynamic just being Sun/Moon. Fated to never see each other at times, until an eclipse and yet...they still leave signs to let the other know that they're still remembered. This also brought to my attention how Missa is afraid of the sky, while Philza yearns for the sky/to fly.

You think The Sun (Philza) misses the Moon (Missa) so much, because of how far they are, instead of just not seeing each other. The Moon clings to Earth, because they're afraid to go beyond...to something unknown while the Sun cannot stay still, and yearns to burn and be free.

Deathduo/Pissa has me on chokehold.

I do hope this was an interesting analysis, I'm not very good at this..honestly it's probably just me rambling if anything.

[negativepeanuthoarder]

I'm really sad abt Technoblade so I wanna share my favorite Technoblade moment and it's the "The Main Character of the DreamSMP" video. I rewatch that thing all the time :(

second favorite would be the duel analysis video!!! I just like hearing him talk :(

[antimony-medusa]

HELLO DSMP ENTHUSIASTS

I am come to you with my hat in my hand to tell you about a Fun New Event *jazz hands* that's running this fall that I am trying to lure people into. Ahem.

So Fic In A Box is one of the major multifandom fanfiction exchanges, so it runs on the People Submit Tags To A Tag Set > Everybody Signs Up With Ships They Want To Write And Want To Receive > Assignments Go Out > Work For Two Months > Reveals Once Everybody Gets A Gift. However, it has some interesting fun quirks which make it really fun and which is why I'm trying to lure DSMP people into it so I can match on DSMP plz plz plz.

First thing: It's a 10k exchange. You get two months to write it, but everybody makes or recieves (unless you have to drop) a 10k gift or equivilent. Don't you want a 10k gift? Come onnnnnnn do ittttt.

Wait, Equivalent?

Yes, this is point two. One of the things Fic In A Box is famous for is that you can opt into a whole bunch of rulesets, and they break everything down to 1k-equivilent increments, and so you can get 7k of fic, and 2k's worth of propoganda posters, and 1k worth of podfic, for example. 4k of birth chart analysis of your fave characters, 6k of in-world cost analysis spreadsheets. 2k fic, 8k worldbuilding headcanons. This ruleset is CRAZY in terms of the sort of stuff you can opt into, I encourage you to take a look at the tag set, it's everything from dress-up game to art remixes of your existing fic to in-world reddit articles to interactive fiction to poetry to gifsets to costume design. I'm personally looking at in-world RPF and in-world social media for DSMP and chortling madly as I imagine.

So wait, you might get one 10k gift or you might get several smaller gifts?

Yes, point 3. The other thing Fic In A Box does that they're famous for is swaps, which is where you look at all the sign ups in a handy app, and you go shopping among them, and then you go to the mods and say "I want to do 4k on my original assignement, and 2k of usernamealpha, and 3k of usernamebeta, and 1k of usernamthree" and they say "i'll see what I can do", and then the mods run everybody's requsts through the single most complicated spreadsheet in the world to make everybody's requests balance out to 10k, and then you get little micro assignments to work on over the two months.

This means both that if a 10k fic seems daunting, you can write a couple smaller gifts and work up to it that way, and also, though this isn't like something to plan for, if life gets bad you can do partial defaults and just turn in your 4k, you're not *necessarily* on the hook for 10k.

So now you're seeing why I want to recruit more DSMP people, eh? Currently I'm only matchable with one person. Please sign up. I want to do swaps. I want to set myself four impossible assignments. JOIN MEEEEE. Sign ups are open until September 3rd! Message me for more information and I will happily infodump and explain at you!

(more about the tag set and thus the stuff you can request/offer under the cut, cause it gets long)

There are like over a thousand individual fandoms in the tag set to choose from for your sign-up, and in addition to SMPEarth, QSMP, 3rd Life, Hermitcraft, Empires, and Outsiders SMP being in the tag set, this is the list of DSMP tags has SO many options, (some may not be to your taste but then you can just not offer them and wash your hands of it)

Clay | Dream & Eret (Dream SMP)

Dream/Philza/Technoblade (Dream SMP)

Dream/Technoblade (Dream SMP)

Eret & Floris | Fundy (Dream SMP)

Eret & Niki | Nihachu (Dream SMP)

Eret & Technoblade (Dream SMP)

Eret & Toby Smith | Tubbo (Dream SMP)

Eret & Wilbur Soot (Dream SMP )

Karl Jacobs/Quackity (Dream SMP)

Karl Jacobs/Quackity/Sapnap (Dream SMP)

Karl Jacobs/Quackity/Sapnap/Wilbur Soot (Dream SMP)

Niki Nihachu & Philza & Ranboo & Technoblade (Dream SMP )

Niki Nihachu/Technoblade (Dream SMP)

Noah Brown & Eret (Dream SMP)

Philza & Ranboo & Technoblade (Dream SMP )

Philza & Technoblade (Dream SMP )

Philza & Tommyinnit & Wilbur Soot & Technoblade (Dream SMP)

Philza/Technoblade (Dream SMP)

Quackity & Schlatt & Tubbo (Dream SMP)

Quackity & Tubbo (Dream SMP)

Quackity & Wilbur Soot (Dream SMP)

Quackity/Wilbur Soot (Dream SMP)

Ranboo & Tubbo (Dream SMP)

Ranboo & Tubbo & Michael the Piglin (Dream SMP )

Ranboo/Tubbo (Dream SMP)

Sam | Awesamdude & Quackity (Dream SMP)

Sapnap/Quackity (Dream SMP)

Sapnap/Technoblade (Dream SMP)

Solo: Eret (Dream SMP)

Solo: Quackity (Dream SMP)

Solo: Technoblade (DSMP)

Solo: Tubbo (Dream SMP)

Solo: Wilbur Soot (Dream SMP)

Technoblade & Wilbur Soot (Dream SMP)

Technoblade/Wilbur Soot (Dream SMP)

TommyInnit & Tubbo (Dream SMP)

Tubbo & Michael the Piglin (Dream SMP)

WB: Access to Creative Mode (Dream SMP)

WB: Any (Dream SMP)

(NOTE: WB tags are all Worldbuilding tags, and they mean that you want a fic or a gift that focuses a concept more than a relationship)

WB: Las Nevadas (Dream SMP)

WB: Manberg (Dream SMP)

WB: New L’Manberg (Dream SMP)

WB: The Cyberknife Conflict (Dream SMP)

WB: The Lives System/Revival Book (Dream SMP)

WB: The Syndicate's Operations and Logistics (Dream SMP)

Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit (Dream SMP)

So there is a BOLD assortment of tags to pick among, SURELY on that list you can find at least one. Technically to sign up you only need one relationship! They ask for three fandoms or they won't hold the exchange for you if you need to be pinch-hit (if your original gifter needs to drop), but if you're willing to take that risk, you can fully and legally sign up with an only-crimeboys or only-tntduo signup!

So! Shoot me a message or reply if you have questions! Join me! Fic in a Box!

[mmavey]

WOOOOOOO PLEASE VOTE I FOAM AT THE MOUTH TO WRITE LITTLE SCENES (I will prolly get to all of these at some point, these are just in order of how soon I plan to do them based on the results!!)

THANK YALL <3

[technoblade-gift-exchange]

Technoblade Gift Exchange Rules:

Hello everyone! This will be a secret-santa style Technoblade-themed gift exchange!

Sign ups for the fourth Technoblade Gift Exchange are NOW CLOSED!

Pinch hitter sign-ups are Here

Schedule:

Sign ups open: December 1st to January 1st

Assignments by January 7th

Confirmation that your assignment was recieved by January 14th

Drop out deadline Feb 14th so that pinch hitters can be assigned

GIFTS DUE BY FEBRUARY 28TH

Gifting week: March 1st to 7th

RULES FOR PARTICIPATING: 

 - Must have DMs open 

 - Must tag your recipient and this blog in the eventual post and use the tag #technoGiftExchange

 - DM me immediately if you don’t think you’ll finish your gift. want to withdraw, or have issues with the assignment

- Must check in or respond to the check in from me within two days.

- Your gift doesn’t have to meet all requests from your giftee but it does have to meet at least one point.

-BE KIND. This exchange is to celebrate the Technoblade community. If you dislike something, block it and put a note in your sign up, don't put other people down.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS: 

- Art (1 drawing: created to a standard you would normally post as “finished” or character sheet: minimum 2 sketches and one outfit with detail) 

 - Writing (1k+ words) 

 - Playlist (1-2 hour-long playlists) 

 - Moodboard (2 boards) 

 - Web Weaving (2 boards, depending on length) 

- Character analysis (500+ words)

[mellorphic]

In Defence of c!Niki - a Four Part Analysis of Every Arc

People who didn’t watch C!Niki see, in the fandom, a big sister type character with girlboss energy who wants to kill a child. Niki isn’t that. She has a well-written narrative which focusses a lot on her relationships with others.

PART ONE: c!Niki’s Early Days

PART TWO: c!Niki’s Rebellion

PART THREE: c!Niki’s Disillusionment

PART FOUR: c!Niki’s Healing (you are here)

With the nuke plot to kill Tommy and everything that happened post-Doomsday, things seem bleak in terms of Niki’s character. But despite her words and her feelings, her actions show the audience that she does truly have some trust, some hope, some love, left inside of her. Buried deep down.

After all - she still wears Wilbur’s cloak. Despite all of her talk, and how much Niki blames him for a lot of things, it’s obvious that deep down she doesn’t really believe he’s the root of all evil. She still cares about him and misses him, otherwise she wouldn’t wear his cape.

Like Tommy, Wilbur is another scapegoat for Niki’s anger and pain. But she doesn’t actually hate him. She never did.

She was conflicted but she still loved him, she still cared about him, and it’s completely healthy and perfectly fine for her to have mixed feelings. It’s good that she’s not pushing it away and that she’s processing it. Her anger is justified, even if Wilbur hurting her wasn’t his goal.

HBomb and Niki were close, especially in Manberg, and when he tells her that he’s leaving the SMP, Niki asks for some way to keep in contact. She still values the people who have been kind to her, holds them in high regards and has attachments and trust towards them, no matter how much she may claim she doesn’t trust or care for anybody.

That stream was also when Techno offered for her to join the syndicate, but she doesn’t immediately except the offer, saying she’ll get back to him and speaking to her chat (writing in her diary).

N: I don’t trust anyone, y’know, I don’t know if I can trust Technoblade. But he seems like he’s one of- y’know, the most, I guess, hurt people by Tommy? Because he did get betrayed by Tommy.

As an inniter main I do have to say that I personally don’t believe that Tommy betrayed Techno but it is understandable why Niki, who had no idea about what happened in Tommy’s exile or what he was doing with Techno, would believe this to be true, especially as the narrative of him betraying Techno fits with what she believes of Tommy.

But that isn’t the part I want to talk about in terms of her healing - she may not trust Techno but she has compassion and empathy for him and what he’s gone through. That part of Niki is still in there, even if she doesn’t realise, and it shows she isn’t beyond healing.

Despite everything, it’s still you, and all that.

A lot of Niki’s time in early season three was spent in her Secret City, turned Secret Library, where she was on her own and didn’t want to go outside, with insomnia and night terrors when she did sleep. But while building, she had a lot of time to reflect on her feelings and actions, and began to distance herself slightly from Jack’s plans to murder Tommy. She was of course still friends with him, but she was realising that killing Tommy wasn’t what she wanted and coming to terms with the fact that it wasn’t his fault.

When she was on her way to meet Techno, ready to join the syndicate, she talked about him in her diary.

N: i don’t actually want to kill Tommy. He.. he’s just a child, and in the end it’s not his fault. It’s not Tommy’s fault that Wilbur left me, and it’s not Tommy’s fault that he… Wilbur… <sigh>… Wilbur- it’s not his fault! It’s not Tommy’s fault, and it’s not anyone’s fault, y’know? And I feel I’ve made myself a lot of.. a lot of enemies with that. So I wanna make it up.

Her ability to recognise her wrongdoings shows so much progress. I literally love her.

And she joined the Syndicate because she was finally able to see that there were people on the server who wanted her around. I don’t like some writing choices of most characters in the syndicate but I do think that in character this was the healthiest choice for c!Niki to make - she felt genuinely seen and heard by those in the syndicate and she’d trusted Ranboo for a long time, who wasn’t formally there when she joined but she thought he was.

It’s important for Niki to have that because she still finds herself frustrated with people who she thought she was close to, that don’t speak to her.

N: I-I don’t know what’s with Puffy, Puffy-.. hasn’t talked to me. She-she just doesn’t talk to me, she doesn’t talk to me! And I can’t deal with it anymore when everyone’s just not talking to me!

Puffychu. I miss you.

At the same time she has a lot of internal conflict about joining.

N: am I sure I want to do this? Am I- do I- am I sure I want to do this? Oh, I don’t know.. I don’t know.. I don’t know what to do.. I’ve never actually spoken to Ph- wasn’t- wait, no, wait- Ph- Phil was the person who killed Wil. Wh-wai- what am I doing here?! Wait. <laughs> am I sure I want to do this..?

….Remember when she made a promise? She still has her loyalty. Niki is still as loving as she always was, she still cares for Wilbur as much as she always did. It didn’t change.

N: on one side, Phil was the person who killed Wil, on the other side.. Wil was already long gone. The Wilbur I know, he was long gone. The Wilbur Phil killed blew up L’Manberg, and that’s- that’s where it all went wrong. So- yes, yes I want to do this.

Niki didn’t change, it was just the circumstances around her that changed, and now she’s taking the power back by surrounding herself with people who care about her and distancing from things that hurt her. Unfortunately people often have to take responsibility for a healing process they never should’ve had to go through in the first place. That’s exactly what Niki is doing and she never should have needed to but it’s great that she is.

N: … I will finally have a place to go again, right?

Throughout Niki’s time on the server she has always been the person to put her differences with people aside. It first happened with Eret and it happened with Techno and Jack and now Phil.

Niki’s Syndicate Code Name is Nemesis, based on the Greek Goddess of Retribution. People say she’s just a Goddess of Revenge but it’s a lot more like Justice, she often punished people for their hubris, an example being Narcissus. I love this for her and the context to it relating to her Manberg arc and it fits because she has a strong moral compass. While a lot of people connect this to the rocket duo arc I think it’s important to also look at it in the context of her past and it shows that she’s definitely reconnecting with that, compared to before where she wanted to push it away.

When she learnt Wilbur was revived, Niki was angry. She was upset he hadn’t come to speak with her after it had already been a few weeks and she was worried that he was planning something. Niki said a lot about manipulation and how she wasn’t going to be manipulated again and hoped that Tommy, Tubbo and Jack wouldn’t get manipulated either which shows us how she felt about the things that happened on November 16th - again, she trusted him not to blow it up, she literally hid the TNT from everyone else because that’s how much she trusted him.

I don’t actually think she was manipulated by Wilbur but it’s clear that at this point in time she felt like he must’ve manipulated her into trusting him.

But Niki was given a lot of time to reflect between that and when Wilbur actually spoke to her. And it’s clear she had been reflecting because the conversion she had with Jack after Dream escaped also tells us she’s come a long way.

Before we get there, though, this stream itself shows she’s been reflecting on things, too.

N: I’m not gonna blame it on Techno, I’m not gonna blame it on other people again because I always did that! I always blamed your mistakes and your betrayal and you hurting me on other people, <goes through nether portal to her Secret Library> and look where it got me. It got me nowhere.

When the syndicate got Dream out of the prison, Niki was not doing that for him. She was doing it to help Techno because of his favour, and to help Ranboo. The fact that it resulted in Ranboo’s last death had Niki distraught.

N: Dream had a favour, he held a favour over Techno.

J: Great! That’s between them.

N: but he’s my friend!

J: wasn’t I? Wasn’t everyone?

N: You’re still my friend, Jack!

J: do you have any idea where I’ve been? At all? For the past, like, three months?

N: no, I was waiting..

She’s gone from saying she doesn’t trust anyone and doesn’t want to be involved with anyone to actually being able to admit that she still cares about people and that they’re her friends.

J: it was fine that no-one else came, but you were the one person that agreed with me on things. You were the only person-

N: but how was I supposed to find you? Because you just disappeared. You disappeared out of nowhere.

J: but did you even try?

N: no. I didn’t. I didn’t..

She doesn’t beat around the bush - she admits it, and she sounds genuinely sorry for it, but she’s also telling him that he did hurt her too. Him leaving was exactly what everyone else did but Niki’s not angry this time.

N: why does it have to be like that? Why can’t we all-

J: it doesn’t have to be like that! But it can’t not be like that here. We can’t change the ay this place works. And that’s why I left.

N: why not? Why can’t we change this place?

J: what happened when we tried to make change, Niki?

N: …I know. I just think, I wanna give people a second chance, Jack.. and I want you to be here with me, giving people a second chance.

She’s regained her optimism and her hope, and I think the syndicate and the time she’s spent reflecting is why. Niki is genuinely opening herself up again, metaphorically in the sense of her being ready to let people in and give them second chances, but also physically, leaving the Secret Library more often to spend time with the Syndicate.

N: I had to help my friends. These are the people that took me in when I had nobody.

J: you know you could’ve always came to me.

N: you were away.

I love rocket duo sm.

And back to Wilbur. When he finally came to see her, Niki said everything she wanted to say to him, everything she needed to say, and heard him out when he spoke - and finally, Niki got her apology. That was all she wanted, and after that it was like they were back to how they were before, just goofing around. Niki got back what she’d missed. People wanted her to beat him up but I never understood why, because not only has Niki never been a character to use physical violence, she also never hated Wilbur as much as people make it out like she did. She was hurt, of course, but she never really hated him.

While we’re here.

N: why did you never come back?

W: … I was sick.

):

During Niki’s finale we see the full extent of her healing process. She’s able to have fun with Phil and bake with him, and able to immediately trust Kristin upon meeting her, and she hasn’t been able to trust anyone that quickly since the start of L’Manberg.

Niki is a character whose healing process meant getting back to a place emotionally that she was in before the trauma she experienced but as a final note I’d like to say that this isn’t the only way to heal and it’s not the only valid one. For a lot of people, getting back to the place they were in before their trauma is impossible and that doesn’t mean they haven’t healed, it just means they’ve grown in a different way.

The effect Niki’s trauma had on her was that it didn’t bring any change to who she really was, it just made her hide behind walls and anger and defense mechanisms. Her healing process meant breaking those things down and the Niki underneath was still the same.

Of course, the finale left her with many loose ends but that’s okay. People have loose ends. It’s more realistic for not everything to be tied up in a nice bow, especially when endings are a cause of an abrupt event like the server reset that meant she didn’t have time to tie things up. This is how things happen in real life too - most endings aren’t planned for.

Overall I think she’s an underrated character with a big heart and a character arc that shows cc!Niki’s potential as an actress and a writer, as well as a personality that brings a lot to the world of the Dream SMP canon as a whole.