FAULT: an SCP SBI AU

This is an au that has consumed me. This blog will just be a terrible mess of whatever I’m stuck on for the week, likely with little explanation and heavy spoilers. Anyway, the general vibe + anomalous properties are below cut:

Commissions: Writing and Art. Starts at 5$

All Nom commissions are prompt gifts for donations to charitable causes, such as the environment, social justice rights, or victims of wars. I will not cover topics of romance, sex, or write about George, Dream, or Wilbur.

Writing: Base 5$ gets a minimum of 300 words. 10$ 1,000 word minimum, 20$ 3,000. I also have no self-control, and there is no additional payment if the prompt is amazing and I break the world limit.

Drawing: Base 5$ gets a drawing in full color. 'Animatics' start at 40$ for a verse, and the price increases for color.

Project Guide

The tag 'crumbs to tide you over' is how I organize ficlets, wip sippets, and fic announcements. Personal tag is something to nom on. Wilbur tags are noms Wilbur or scp Wilbur if you want to block tags, and my PR response to that is here.

Ao3 fics:

Fault. The titular SBI SCP AU. SBI trapped in the Foundation. Lots of angst, large exploration of trauma, dehumanization, moral philosophies, and messed up found family. Tags are fault au, fault memes pog, sbi scp au, fault analysis, etc. This is a whole series and has many associated works. Long Fic.

>Also Where, then, do your loyalties lie? for AU where human Phil works for the Foundation and tries to free kid SCP Tommy. Complete.

Mandatory Family Reunion. Techno kidnapped by criminal dark SBI and handles it very poorly AU. Heavy dark em duo. Explores different types of abuse, motivations, delusions, and how love causes harm. Tag is Mandatory Family Reunion, sometimes mfr. Long Fic.

The Lambs Wolves Wear (Ficlet is here; starts at the Reveal and currently goes further than the ao3) Fully dark SBI where Philza's children were replaced by monsters. Demon "Tommy", changeling "Wilbur", and ghost army "Technoblade" are violent and traumatized, their tensely conflicting infiltration motives jeopardizing the lives of everyone in a twenty mile radius. As they experience love for the first time, will the wolves in sheeps clothing be tamed? Tw for abuse and horror. Long Fic.

Way more below, those are just my main projects ^-^

During exile week, Tommy’s abuser takes advantage of the fact, acting nice and doing traditional avian parental behaviors like cooing or wing grooming. They’re way too intimate and make Tommy uncomfortable but as time goes on and he’s starving for affection (and doesn’t want to get punished) Tommy doesn’t resist like he used to. It’s relaxing, or is until the fingers combing through his feathers stop and he remembers to shudder.

During one grooming session, his abuser asks to keep some of his feathers to wear. In avian culture that’s a very intimate familial practice, a mixture between a claim to signify a close bond as well as a promise to carry the person as safely as their own two wings. Tommy’s gut rolls at the thought of his abuser wearing his feathers, and he can’t tell if it’s excitement or dread. But he’s learned not to say no by then, and tries not to flinch as his long pretty primaries are cut. 

An impulsive little stab of happiness shoots through his chest every time he sees his feathers fanning out of his abuser’s mask. He automatically feels a little safer when he sees the feathers, which the rest of Tommy is kind of freaked about. He’s starting to lose his grip on what’s him and what’s his instincts, even if his abuser keeps assuring him to trust his gut since listening to his stupid ideas is what got him in this mess in the first place. The negging is still happening of course, Tommy being weak and too fragile and useless to be able to fly. A chick like him isn’t safe on his own. Tommy doesn’t leave because something inside him is terrified of abandoning the ‘nest’ even though his real home is in L’Manburg.

After putting his stuff in a pit, Tommy accidentally stands too close. The blast catches him. Not the first time, one caught him a day or two ago and he rounded upon his abuser, cursing him out rather stupidly. But now Tommy drops to the ground, feathers fluffed up and pupils dilated as he freezes on the spot. The only movement he can manage is to reach for the man who hurt him in the first place. His distressed chirping noises are only capable of ceasing once he’s in his abuser’s arms. Or rather, his guardian’s embrace. Afterward, Tommy follows him everywhere, until he’s scolded at the nether portal, forced to wait until he comes back. It’s hours before Tommy realizes what he’s doing. The separation is agonizing.

He’s finally imprinted. Took the brat long enough. But Tommy is finally, finally in the palm of his hand, instincts ensnared in a chokehold.

This line chokes me up. The distance of calling your past self with a third person pronoun, marking how far you’ve come, the progress of healing simultaneously making the past seem foreign, distant. And yet at the same time there’s this unending grace for that past self, giving mercy to a younger you for being hurting and scared and lashing out. Looking back having grown so much it can be easy to loath that distant, other you. But instead you show that past you kindness he because he wasn’t given kindness then, either.

so it my birthday's today, and in honor of such occasion, i will be the one to give the gift of content to the starving technoblade stans

enjoy this headcanon

Not even in death.

Medicine has advanced like crazy and so it’s super hard for most people to die. Philza is an Angel of Death meant to thin the ranks. He’s hella rich because when the death lottery lands on wealthy people, they bribe him. And sometimes he doesn’t take the offer so the next bribe is way bigger (or that’s what he says, sometimes someone is so despicable he won’t be deterred no matter what). A few rich guys pick up on it and try to boost PR like crazy to seem like they’re one of the good millionaires, which is enough for Phil to justify it all to himself.

Meanwhile, Techno is a broke anarchist with a gaggle of brats he’s teaching principles of resistance and mutual aid to, becoming a cornerstone of his community through his work. Which means, he’s causing a lot or problems for the elites. They want him gone, and they want him gone fast. Only, Techno keeps wriggling out of jail, be it by legal or illegal measures. Quackity’s got loopholes on lockdown so the longest Techno’s ever been in is three months, to return the favor of Techno hooking him up with connections to a really good dentist.

However, there is a system where prisoners get their name in extra times, to harshly enforce the consequences of repeated offenses. Meaning, it’s deeply lucrative to try and criminalized types of people that you don’t like because it increases their chance of just dying. And for a young broke anarchist stirring up trouble….there’s a lot of incentive to get him reaped.

But. Heh. Someone didn’t tell this loser Angel that Technoblade never dies. Techno isn’t given a heads up of course, but he lives his life paranoid enough that when Phil tries to get the drop on him, he barely evades. Leading to a chase. Leading to a very public chase, which may or may not involve Technoblade tossing lots of insults one liners and comebacks at Phil. On live television. And getting away.

Philza is rather publicly humiliated, though is more disgruntled by the fact he’s failed a mission for the first time. So he tries to kill Techno again. And again. It’s even harder now that techno has a heads up though. Phil grits his teeth and asks for the Look Out system. It’s not common, but not unheard of, for an Angel to botch a mission. Not that Phil has ever needed it. Basically it’s a reward put out for a confirmed spotting of the death marked, and an even bigger one for bringing them in. Not killing them tho, the gov doesn’t want the populace having means or experience in death, or the bad PR of killing the wrong guy. So now, the overflowing population is also on the look out for Techno.

The group’s strategy radically readjusts once they realize Phil is not pure evil. Not that Techno is ever going to trust a COP, but, maybe they can use this.

Philza glides through the tall city towers on mechanical wings, his shadow coasting ominously over the crowds below. Superstition promises bad luck at minimum when an Angel of Death passes over. Ridiculous, Philza only targets death marked; he’s not a serial killer by any means. His DNA scanner runs wild, until suddenly pinging on one figure out of thousands. Swooping into a dive he nearly starts a chase on Techno—

only to get abruptly stopped by Ranboo clinging onto him full force tackle wailing about having lost a family member to an Angel recently. Phil tries to fight them off but he’s already lost Techno in the crowd. (Just why is the crowd sheltering him? Don’t they want the reward?) Anyway he figures Ranboo is in on the Techno protection scheme, because increasingly a lot of people are rallying behind Techno in a unified front despite all the elite propaganda attempting to suppress favor for him.

So Phil sits Ranboo down and is like, no, the system is fair, think about the consequences, it’s a more peaceful death than disease or war or famine, etc etc propaganda that fades into a genuine attempt at grief counseling.

Ranboo: why not give people like a month’s notice to get everything in order.

Phil: Techno had a heads up of five seconds and look where that’s gotten us.

The real guts of the conversation is the argument about the wealth disparity of targets. Phil tries to argue that there are so few targeted because they’re already a minority of the population, Ranboo countering with the bribe thing, Phil retorts about the philanthropy he’s inspired, but finally goes quiet when Ranboo slams down a journal detailing all the records showing how fake and surface level it was. Data Phil didn’t have, or overlooked, maybe purposefully.

Phil: ….. nobody escapes death, mate. Maybe it’s not fair to individuals, but it’s the fairness society needs to persist.

Ranboo: what if it was your family, though? Your friends?

As mocking and humiliated as Phil was by the ‘Techno never dies’ taunt, it’s almost relieving now. Techno lives on in a million stories, all the lives he’s touched. He’s revolutionized the community into something supportive, and that won’t be lost even when his life is.

And then on a hunt, Philza actually manages to hit Techno. He swallows his heart in his throat, realizing he’d relied on Techno never dying than he thought. Techno had already been off his game, he should’ve realized as quiet as the man was.

Philza chases the limping techno through the streets, corralling him somewhere more private so he can save techno, but knows techno just thinks it’s so he won’t be martyred. Phil increasingly screaming with worry in his thoughts but can’t say anything bc monitorization. He approaches Techno slowly like a cornered animal, weapons lowered but prepared for an attack. Techno is nothing like himself when scared, quiet and desperate and blinded with pain to his usual cleverness. Soon enough he’s cornered in a backend with no where to run - or, normally he would, but not with that bloody sizzling mess of his leg.

Philza crouches down, moving slow as he prowls toward his prey. Philza’s wings spread out to block Techno’s escape, or any civilians from seeing what occurs. The cameras too, he prays.

“I’ll make it quick,” he announces while shaking his head silently. The death marked only curls into himself in pain. Was he always this small? Sure Phil knew he was barely of age from the file but prime he was tiny. Philza…didn’t have anywhere he could take techno for help. In the months he’d been chasing the death marked, he’d been increasingly aware of the contrast between Techno’s unending support network and his absolute jack all, but it’s never felt so real realizing he has genuinely no one that can help him with this.

Phil peels off the makeshift scrap armor techno has on his leg, injecting a hyper-adrenal syringe and praying the temp meds help him manage it. He’s trying to use soothing touches but can’t much gauge how it’s working, or if techno is scared of him, if he’s- if he’s still conscious. So gently, Phil peels off Techno’s helmet. He’s…nervous. Phil has to memorize his target’s features through pictures and videos because Angels aren’t meant to get the wrong person. Hell all their weapons are DNA based to ensure it. But he memorizes, he doesn’t get familiar. Cant stomach it. And he’s seen a Lot more of techno than usual, mugshots of his casual smirk, snapshots of him laughing with friends. Phil isn’t ready to see the real Techno, scared and dizzy with blood loss, because it’ll make this seem real. The familiar face pasted over his walls, bone white in death. Because Techno is so painfully familiar, now. Maybe the only person in the whole world that Philza has.

Niki flinches at her name, biting down on a scream. But she hisses out: It's worth it. Every delay on the bounty is another life saved.

Phil: kid kid no hang on, I'll get you to a hospital, pay for it and everything--

Niki: You already planned to destroy my life by killing him. Techno is all I have.

And Phil is suddenly seething. Because it's such a disservice to everything Techno has ever built that it's vile to him, to imply that Niki wouldn't be cared for. That Techno hasn't single handedly built a community that cares in the pit of a gutter. That all his work would've been in vain. That Techno isn't beloved by everyone, including Philza.

Which is about when Techno's steel boot slams into his temple. Philza curls into himself, accepting the exploding pain of Techno stomping his ribs in. No point calling for help, no one would come running. He doesn't deserve it anyway. A befitting end for an Angel of Death. The world slips away into black.

He doesn't expect to wake up. Least of all in Techno's safe house chained up to 11. He's bleary and feels naked without any weapons or armor or gadgets. The world is a weird blur of blotchy pain and bright lights. But as he's catching a sea of angry people he recognizes, the only thing phil can think is. "where are the books"

wh. "technoo lifkes boocs. gets twitchy withoubem."

Then, as his brain cells start connecting one to the next, Philza is terrified for how niki is doing. Relentlessly asks about her condition, starts spitting out what all his medical supplies is and how to use it so she's okay. Which leads to the anarchists having a lot of side eye, since they thought that would only happen with some death threats.

At first the anarchists were wanting. well information, weapons, the look of fear in Phil's eyes as they realize he's at their mercy. Maybe a lil torture for catharsis, since it's not like that gets info. But now they're staring down a pathetic mess and are like. hmmm. okay so this guy is about 5 minutes away from flipping sides maybe we can work with this.

Now techno. Techno techno techno. Quite honestly, philza has made his life a living hell. Of course Techno’s laid back joking attitude meant he could banter back and forth no sweat, but a large part of that was also just plain public image control and trying to make sure his enemies couldn’t tell just how on the back foot he was. Techno had his entire LIFE detonate, has been couch surfing endlessly while scared witless he’d be getting friends hurt for him, hasn’t had a full nights sleep in ages, paranoid out of his head, and just had his little sister shot. So YEAH. Not team Phil that’s for sure!

Niki tho. Well she hates Phil too cause she was also on the run and saw how bad it affected techno. But she also saw how bad Phil reacted when hit, even before he realized it was her.

Tommy tho remembers the way that Phil gave him a bunch of money, and Ranboo thinking about how Phil actually sat through and had a real conversation with them, being kind and polite albeit wrong.

So with some time and a lot of conversations, they eventually convince Phil that Techno's lottery was rigged by the elite. doesn't matter if it's true or not tbh, but it works with Phil trying to frame himself mentally as a good person. So they decide…why not return the favor? Repay a visit to those wealthy who duped Phil in pretending they were a net positive to society.

Oh my god perfect ctommy song.

“Settled in, had a plan/But I never factored in/Everyone else saying goodbye”

For the deaths and betrayals and just losing so many people but being desperate to hold on.

“This ghost town is making a ghost, making a ghost of me/I promised myself I'd learn to be the one who leaves/With no more roots to tie me down/It's just a different kind of lonely”

Exile. Do I even need to explain exile. Walking away from everything and everyone. L’Manbrg haunting his ever step and brining him closer to his own death. The pure aching loneliness.

“They shake me off and ask why I bother/The answer is simple/My father, his father/I come from a long line of people who believe in things like/Flowers that grow in the cracks in the street”

CWilbur and Philza as the clear line of people who raised him. The reason he can’t let go and desperately clings to his home and friends. Wilbur along the destructive line, of destruction working its way into the rigid structures of a pre-etablished country and creating his own thing, roots sinking in and cracking asphalt over time. Philza as the flourishing in the dust, rebuilding on the crater and making it beautiful, the way he seeks a challenging place and then thrives, flowerfall for hcs. But along Wilbur’s lines too with his anarchy.

its normal to use your non-human friend as writing material

So…

You want to get into the Dream SMP, but oh no! There’s eight months of extensive and event-filled history to catch up on, and dozens of highlight videos to watch that don’t always include everything, and pages upon pages of detailed Wiki articles…where do you start!?

Well, I’ve created this to summarize the events of Dream SMP Season One into a single post as a sort of “narrative timeline.”

I’ve also included the dates of the events to the best of my ability, so that everything is in (mostly) chronological order.

I’d highly recommend also checking out the Wiki for more detailed descriptions of the big events if you’re interested. 

Happy one-month anniversary of the Grand Finale!

Enjoy!

—

Note: Some dates, but not all, are taken from VOD upload dates, and Tommy’s VODs are usually uploaded a day later than initial broadcast, so they may be slightly inaccurate. Dates marked with * are the dates the VOD was uploaded, in cases where I am unsure of the original broadcast date.

—

The Early Days

April 25th: 

The SMP started out as an ordinary survival server, and was often referred to as “the survival world” on early Dream Team streams. The first eight members to join the SMP were: Dream, George, Sapnap, Badboyhalo, Ponk, Alyssa, Callahan and Sam, though Sam took a hiatus until the events of the Election Arc. The Community House was the first thing to be built in the center of a lake. 

It was in this period that Beckerson and Mars were named from donos (the various named knicknacks in the Community House are also from donos), Dream tamed a white horse named Spirit, and Sam tamed Fran. There were also several other various pets like dogs and foxes that were tamed by the members.

Some notable events from this period include: the construction of the Court House (and subsequently Sapnap and George’s murder trials there), Dream building the wooden path, George texting Dream’s mother, Sapnap’s Famous Storytime Stream (in which Spirit died due to mobs), and the burning of Ponk’s first Lemon Tree due to a conflict with George.

There was also a running joke that Callahan and Alyssa were dating (they aren’t)

Tommy’s Arrival

Tommy joins July 4th. Tubbo arrives shortly after, with Fundy a day after Tubbo.

The day of Tommy’s arrival:

Tommy joins the SMP. His first day, George and Dream get him to stand on a crafting table and he subsequently murders George and takes from the Community House chests. Dream and George put Tommy on trial in the Court House. After a brief manhunt, Tommy is banished 2,500 blocks away (the first of three exiles) in the snow and is ordered to stay there. He fails to comply and is briefly banned before Dream lets him back on. He chooses to settle on a hill next to Ponk’s Lemon Tree.

The Disc War: Start of the Disc Saga

Taking place from July 9th* - July 11th*, though there were various events/conflicts relating to the discs that happened before and after this time.

After listening to two discs, Cat and Mellohi, with Tubbo on a bench while watching the sunset (VOD: July 8th*), Tommy considers the two discs to be his most prized possessions. 

This event is considered the first major war of the server, and the Disc Saga would continue to have developments throughout the rest of Season One.

The events of the first Disc War began due to another conflict between Sapnap, Ponk and Alyssa. Punz and Tubbo were also involved. Tommy ended up siding with Sapnap, and much vandalism and fighting happened before Dream logged on with the intention to stop it. 

Tommy and Sapnap murder Dream, and Dream steals Tommy’s discs in return, threatening to burn them unless Tommy returns his gear. Tommy, Tubbo and Sapnap end up combining forces to murder Dream and take back the discs, which Tommy hides under his base. Dream spends time off stream digging up the entirety of Tommy’s land in search of them. 

The rest of the Disc War proceeds with Tommy and Tubbo working repeatedly to take back the discs from Dream. It only ends when Tommy crafts an Ender Chest to put the discs in.

This was also around the time that Fundy’s Socializing Club was built, which later led to a brief conflict taking place there. 

(It was also during this time in the middle of the Disc War that Wilbur joined a call with Tommy and asked Dream out on a date to Pizza Hut, with Tommy speaking in game chat as Wilbur’s wingman. Dream says yes, George gets jealous on Twitter, and the infamous Vlog plot starts. It would go on from July to October.)

Schlatt and Wilbur

July 12th: During a short conflict between Tommy and Tubbo over the death of Tubbo’s pet bee, Tommy burns down Tubbo’s house. Wilbur logs onto the server to act as Tommy’s lawyer. 

On July 17th, Schlatt gets whitelisted on the server without Dream’s knowledge and Tommy spends a day with his idol. The SMPLive Cuck Shed is recreated in Dream SMP, and Tommy listens to the disc Blocks with Schlatt. People trend #kickschlatt on Twitter. Both Wilbur and Schlatt log off the server “permanently,” Wilbur by choice and Schlatt by banning (as Dream didn’t know who he was). Tommy gains ownership of Wilbur’s ball house.

Also worth mentioning is Eret joining July 19th.

The L’manburg War for Independence (aka “Revolution”)

This was a relatively short but very consequential arc, taking place from July 24th to August 2nd, a little over a week in total. It is the second major war of the server, and the first to be faction-based.

July 24th: Wilbur joins the server again.

He decides to start an empire with Tommy. He builds the Camarvan (aka “hto dog van”) in a remote part of the woods and recruits Tommy to help create artificial scarcity in the server’s drug market by stealing everyone’s blaze rods. This isn’t taken too kindly by other members, especially Sapnap. One thing leads to another and they decide to mark out a tiny square in the woods to declare as an independent country. Tubbo joins them, and he and Tommy sing “Hallelujah” to a tilled patch of dirt (this melody would later become the L’manburg National Anthem). They also recruit Eret to help build. They decide on a name: L’manburg, and also don revolutionary skins.

Dream comes over, displeased by this, and declares war. His side consists of Dream, George, Sapnap and Punz, though the L’manburgians attempted to convince George to their side due to his Britishness. 

Eret builds the walls, Fundy joins the revolution after logging in within the walls and being very confused, Wilbur claims Fundy as his son. Tommy constructs a fight club beneath his house and, after poorly speaking Dutch to Fundy, goes down the path placing signs in various languages saying “the green bastard shall die!” as propaganda to Dream’s viewers of various nationalities.

July 31st: 

Dream and Sapnap log on during one of Dream’s streams, inspect the area, and go through a multi-step plan to demoralize the L’manburgians: they burn down all the trees around their land, lavacast a huge cobblestone wall just outside, construct obsidian TNT cannons around the walls, and fire several TNT blasts into the country, destroying part of the hotdog van’s roof. George joins the call, gets filled in on what’s been happening, and assists in the chaos. Eret, the only L’manburgian online, is helpless and can only meekly protest in game chat. As a final message, Dream and Sapnap set fire to Tubbo’s house (the second time) and Dream gives his famous “white flags” ultimatum. 

August 1st:

The ultimatum’s war date was pushed back a day due to Twitter drama. The final evening before war, Dream, after doing his serious stream, logs onto the server and blows up Tommy’s land with TNT, exploding part of the beloved Cuck Shed. Wilbur, in VC, tells Tommy to return the favor to Dream, but instead, Tommy chooses not to fight fire with fire. Impressed, Wilbur makes Tommy his right hand man. Eret joins Dream’s side around this time.

August 2nd:

The day of war comes. Dream’s side goes to Tubbo’s jungle base to kill Tubbo repeatedly. There’s a brief conflict at the Power Tower. Wilbur logs on - the L’manburg side is grossly underprepared. They meet at the Embassy and exchange fire with the Dream SMP members. After Dream seems to retreat, Eret suggests they return to L’manburg, saying he has a “secret weapon:” Eret has been grinding for items.

He leads them down a long tunnel into a blackstone “Final Control Room.” The chests are empty, and Tommy pushes a button in the middle of the room, wondering what its function is. The redstone doors slide open and Dream’s men ambush and kill all of them, leaving them with nothing.

After speaking with Wilbur, who refuses surrender, Dream returns to L’manburg and lights a piece of TNT at the entrance, triggering tons of TNT that had been laid beneath the ground beforehand to ignite. Tommy leads everyone into a final bunker. As one last chance at independence, Tommy challenges Dream to a bow duel for Mellohi. George and Wilbur have a short exchange in which they reflect on their Pizza Hut Date, wondering how they could end up like this, with their men fighting each other on opposite sides. Wilbur tells George he should have been on their side as a British person. Eret too.

Tommy and Dream take ten paces and fire at each other on the Prime Path.

Tommy loses the duel.

Instead of giving up just Mellohi, though, Tommy asks Dream if he could give up Cat as well in return for “technical independence.” Dream agrees. Wilbur declares independence again, putting himself as President, Tommy as Vice President, and Tubbo as Secretary of State. Eret, meanwhile, is declared king of the Dream SMP. 

YOOOOOOOOOOOO…you know the rest.

Jack Manifold is whitelisted. It’s a silver-lining ending.

Harpies and Pig-headed Monsters