FAULT: an SCP SBI AU

Philza: The Zilant. Is the immortal concept of fire and fury, which pretends to be a dragon, which pretends to be a human. Maintains his personhood by attaching himself to mortals he calls his ‘Collected’. Currently: Tommy, Wilbur, The Blade, and Tubbo. Additionally, Philza is very intent on keeping any promise he makes and was kept in the Foundation exclusively because they’d captured his Collected and made a deal. Gives great dad advice, except when the advice is ‘let me murder them for you <3’

Tommy: The Instigator. Has a blood red liquid on his hands that grows when he’s scared. When people touch it, they become aggressive to anyone but Tommy. At low TI-Red levels this leads to things like bickering, but it escalates to physical violence and brutality. When TI-Red levels consume him and he thinks he’s going to die, he summons The Blade. Lived as a normal human and met Wil, Phil, and The Blade after a summoning at 15; visited the homeless guys occasionally till the Foundation captured at 16. Abandonment issues, highly touch starved, used as a Thaumiel. Collected Tubbo.

The Blade: The Blood God. Is a massive boar behemoth with voices in his head. When attacked (or if there’s an orphan), becomes The Blood God, who will bend the universe to ensure he wins. The Blade only comes back when the challenge has been completed. Grew up as a monster in the woods, but pulled himself up out of the voices, figured out what was him and what was The Blood God, and established his own personhood. Somehow has a college degree, met Phil and Wil during a gap year. Loves gardening and murdering people for Tommy. Also managed to come out of the Foundation the least traumatized, iconic. 

Wilbur: Soot. [tags are noms Wilbur or scp Wilbur if you want to block] His legs magically rearrange so he is the tallest humanoid in the room. Oh also the void in the side of his face that eldritch abominations claw their way out of. Was basically a feral starving child till ~14 when Philza forcefully adopted him. A chronic insomniac with a heart of gold and a tongue of silver, held together despite the inherent contradictions between being a supreme survivalist and a drama hoe. Memory issues because he represses basically everything. 

Tubbo: The Pollinator. Is a honeycomb skin suit for approximately 400,000 bees. Uses they/them we/us pronouns, because they are a Hive mind/system containing at least three humans: a Little, a Foundation employee, and a lawyer/farmer. Tubbo grew up mostly normal, albeit in secret. The most recently captured by the Foundation, and a staunch pacifist. This causes them to be at odds with Philza, who did a few murderous rampages too many, and The Blade, for the reason above and also because he destroyed their legs. But they stick around because they’re attached to Tommy. 

Where Hearts Roost. Fairy tale AU, Tommy and Wilbur break into witch Philza's cottage and get adopted. Sweet, hurt/comfort, themes of learning to trust. Complete.

The Altars We Sacrifice Our Futures On. Wherein Tommy is sacrificed to The Blood God, except he isn't an orphan so Techno awkwardly adopts him and is awful at parenting. Very funny and fluffy with some dark humor mixed in. Complete.

To Return the Favor of Raising Me. Zombie apocalypse where kid Techno struggles to lead Tommy, Niki, Tubbo, and Ranboo in killing survivors to feed their brains to zombie Philza. Techno develops insane beef with Kristin, who tries to rescue the kids to her survivor compound. Heavy angst, MCD (duh Phil is a zombie), lots of traumatized children. Complete, Fandom Trumps Hate prompt.

Shred Your Wings to Make You Ours. Wing fic! Predator bird Philza shreds prey!Techno’s wings and shoves him in a hole to eat later. Only problem? Philza is a sleep deprived new dad, and accidentally brings Techno back to the nest. Now the only way Techno can survive is to pretend to be a predator, too. A literal Dead Bird Do Not Eat fic- as the whole premise is cannibalism birds.

Always at His Side, Never in His Sight. OSMP + Philza’s FlowerFall. Queer royalty AU with lots of bedrock bros angst. Tommy is struggling with insecurities, aromanticism, and growing gender dysphoria, and elects to cope with invisibility potions even as side effects grow worse. Adopted crown prince Techno dodges assassins, wrangles structural inaccessibility, and accepts his role as a martyr for Tommy. Angst/comfort with fun Origin social world building. Complete. Fandom Trumps Hate prompt.

Of Feathers and Fawning. (or ficlet here) Where Tommy is an avian and during exile his abuser takes advantage of his instincts to manipulate him. Angst heavy, deals with suffering and recovering from abuse. Complete.

Rise up and make this city glow. Young mage Niki gets conscripted invited to learn magic! Her mentor, Technoblade, had far more reservations. Hard not to, after being broken down through endless crushed rebellions. Is Niki the spark that can finally fan the flames of revolution? Complete. Fandom Trumps Hate prompt.

Lord, what fools these mortals be! Fantasy AU, Winter Court Fae Queen Kristin and King Philza try to kidnap SBI. Wacky hijinks with dark portions. Some themes of bodily autonomy, subtle manipulations, absurdity of the fae. One chapter left.

Lighting Lanterns to Bring You Home. Mythology AU where Techno is a Harvest/Revolt god that is killed every Winter Persephone style, Wilbur a Festival/Dissent god. Heavy tragedy. Themes of self change, coping with grief. Abandoned with outline.

One shots:

Where do Babies Come From? Modern AU where Philza picks up homeless kids. My first fic everyone say awww.

Worth far more than your weight in gold. Monster Hunter Techno goes after Philza, who is a raven-dragon-kenku, for taking Tommy. Phil can only talk through redacting others sentences. Monster/culture worldbuilding. Hurt/comfort, distrustful bonding. Themes of learning to value yourself, discrimination, communication.

116 East Normal Street. Human Techno bonding with his neighborhood, who are all not-so-secretly from very different genres such as 'magical girl' or 'noir detective' or 'invading alien'. Most light-hearted thing I've ever written tbh. Themes about suburban isolation but it's buried in there.

A ghost is a tragedy reliving itself. Fault AU where they are abstracted into short horror stories.

Pigmalian.exe. Technoblade is a war robot and Philza is the scientist who made him. As Philza nurtures Techno to sentience, the robot struggles with the meaning of agency and friendship. Angst and Bonding.

Vlogger and the Vampire. Parasocial? Paranormal? Why not both? Vampire emerald duo when Philza nabs a new angry fledgeling. Fandom Trumps Hate prompt.

Ficlets:

Reverse ‘The Lambs Wolves Wear’. Lambs!AU where Philza is the one replaced by a monster (angel) and his children have to navigate it.

Sandduo makes ‘The Lambs Wolves Wear’ even more tragic. “Wilbur” shows up after Philza already killed “Techno” and “Tommy”. Pure angst ensues. Complete.

Waxing and Waning. Goddess of Death Kristin tricks Philza into becoming an icarus figure, only, sun god Tommy has never been embraced before. Complete.

Civilian. Philza finds a team of child superheroes and begins to get worried about their safety. Time to take it into his own hands! Complete.

Reverse Mafia Kidnapping? Tommy kidnaps Crime Boss!Philza. Chaos ensues. Complete.

Paragon of Justice (or whatever). Superhero Techno takes the fall for Ranboo to get tossed in jail the same week villain Wilbur gets caught, too. When breaking out of jail, villain sbi decide to take a plus one! Complete.

A Study in Brood Parasites. Dark!Kristin is a brood parasite bird that plants her chick, Techno, into Philza’s family. Only, she becomes enraptured watching Philza care for his family. Surely he won’t mind if another brood parasite infiltrates his family…. Complete.

Under-The-Bed. Tommy has a brand new monster under his bed. And maybe, if he’s nice enough, Techno will protect him from the monsters over-the-bed. Complete.

Murky Depths. Tiny Merman Techno gets rescued from polluted waters by a giant Kristin and put into a fish tank to recover. He is very Andy about this. Complete.

Do you need help drowning, darling? Vampire Hunter!Techno gets only partially turned, and is in deep denial about it as his health gets worse and worse. Luckily (?) for him, vampire Philza just decided to infiltrate the hunter compound.

Your Heart in My Hands. Fledgeling Tommy isn’t integrating with the coven well :( he keeps trying to escape. But now that Philza has found the reason he was running, all he has to do is lock Tommy in a room with Tubbo until he’s turned…or consumed. Almost complete.

The Blood God and His Fledgeling. Hyper Depressed ancient vampire!Techno finds the reincarnation of Theseus, the man who refused to turn thousands of years ago. While he won’t turn Tommy without consent….he’s not above forcing the issue. Honestly kinda abandoned.

Beast and Boy. Techno is a giant monster that’s been terrorizing the town for years, but when gravely wounded limps off to die. Tommy, however, just got a new puppy!!! And is very determined his parents won’t find out about the puppy under the house. Complete.

Bunnyblade’s 5-step Plan to World Dominance. Lab bunny Techno escapes, only to fall in the TOTALLY NEFARIOUS clutches of Philza. BUT WORRY NOT! The feeble might of a random civilian is not enough to Bunnyblade’s terrible schemes! …but might postpone them for a carrot break. And some petting. Comedy.

Shoot to Kill (I know you will). Cyber punk. Death lottery reaper!Phil tries to chase down Techno, but is thwarted by the principles of anarchy. Complete.

Hibernation. au where techno doesn’t really hibernate for weeks at a time; he just thinks he does because his ‘friends’ drug him for long periods of time to help him learn how to 'lower his guard'. Complete.

The Hero of Their Dreams. Abused!Tommy finds escapism through his dreams, where he is the beloved hero of a fantasy world. And the people in his dreams will do anything to ensure Tommy never wakes up to the horrors of their reality. 5/6.

In Case of Malunion, Carve Through Bone. Collab with Sohr and Apple. Archeologist!Philza is a modern reincarnation of an ancient trio deity who unwittingly revives Technoblade and Kristin. Through a road trip of museum heists, Techno and Kristin start gathering up the shattered pieces of Phil's deitihood. Piece by piece they replace the mortal. Complete.

I've Heard It Both Ways (from The Voices) Psyche Au where Techno claims he has visions from The Blood God which helps him solve murder cases. Uh huh. That's what he's going with. Tommy (Lassiter) is having none of it. But after Skeppy (Mr Yang) captures them both, Tommy might not like the truth he finds. Complete.

The Evertrue Pull of Home. Birds use magnetic fields to navigate. Dark Kristin decides to blast his head with magnets so Philza has no compass home. Bedrock bros try to rescue him.

Can you love me, if I pretend? Human Techno finds refuge in an origins community by pretending to be a bunnyborn. It goes. Badly.

AMESMP

Context, I'm on an origins server playing a scientist phantom named Cessation.

Failure Analysis Log 3 is a fic told through a series of scientific contents regarding Wickburn Asper working on the Ancient City portal, trying to get into the afterlife. Tragedy, yuri (?!), horror.

Ame Smp intro, Seft (Cessation's phantom kid), Pod-cast posts 1, 2, battles, i'm like super behind explaining anything man gooood luck.

Their ‘reset’ point is whenever they slept last, and so Cess is constantly insomniac so if they need to they’ll have a couple days to prepare and stop whatever is going to happen. They do genuinely have no other powers and are a very squishy human, so had to get very clever to defeat enemies. Particularly Díi, who has killed them the most of any villain. As a villain who gets more powerful based on secrets and mistrust, she's particularly horrific to Cessation who holds so many reset timelines in their head. Everyone else thinks Díi isn't too much of a threat...because Cessation keeps undoing the worst of her deeds.

There is no Civilian secret identity; Cess 100% doesn’t allow themselves rest in any capacity because then they’re failing the People. That workaholicism wouldn’t permit any self outside of dedication.

Which starts to crumble when they meet Seft. Their new sidekick, the one whose power allows her to go unnoticed, forgotten in battle. Cess isn't keen on her becoming a hero so young, but figures that if unable to become a hero, she'll just become a vigilante and then have zero support or safety. Cess resets endlessly to make sure Seft is never hurt.

(Only, they always seem to fail somehow; getting bruises they never remember)

((Only, Seft doesn't want to be a hero at all))

Sohr is a vigilante, a valkyrie swooping into battle and decimating villains and heroes alike. Sohr and Cess've got their ideological differences, but Cess doesn't care much about rounding up vigilantes unless they’re causing harm. And they see Sohr as one of the more competent and effective vigilantes. They don’t personally kill. On purpose. But mistakes happen in the field and only Cess gets to redo until it’s perfect. They've worked together a few times, particularly because Sohr has a soft spot for Seft.

Sohr also has a heated rivalry with Knell, who is obsessed with stealing crafting tables. Knell has one goal in life, and it is ultimately a fairly benign one compared to what other villains cook up. Only, Knell is descended from S+ tier villains, and definitely has the powers to match. Cess doesn't encounter her much; usually only in timelines where half the city is dead at her hands. But it only takes a reset and a gift basket full of crafting tables, so it isn't too bad.

Lastly, Capri is the kid of two heroes who have gone mysteriously missing. Unfortunately, it was during one of Cessation's few sleeps. Capri insists they're alive even as the hero organization looses hope.

Fortunately, Capri is right. Unfortunately, Capri is right. His parents were kidnapped by Knell's family, who lead an immortality-granting cult that tried to torture the heroes into joining. And when Capri tries to rescue them, they are brutally murdered.

Cessation should have dodged better. Or not at all. One of the two. It will be a lot more painful, trying to heal something so severe instead of just reseting. Nearly a career ending move, their performance will be suboptimal for months. A lifetime, maybe, especially if handled by an untrained vigilante.

Cess is kinda waiting for a moment Sohr leaves so they can reset the little ‘dying’ issues, but she is incredibly vigilant in attending their extensive medical needs. They can’t just do it when her back is turned, because Sohr stripped all their gadgets and weapons. Nominally for medical access, but they both know why she doesn’t trust them.

So, Cessation tries to wait for her to fall asleep. Turns out she’s just as big an insomniac.

Maybe they start bonding a little. Starts out sharing stupid insomnia anecdotes. Talking a little bit about hero vigilante stories, but Cess skips over heavy handed stuff, not preaching about hero ideals or anything like that. But Cess isn’t always. The best about remembering which timeline got finalized. Maybe once or twice mention things that never happened and tries to chalk it up to blood loss.

Sohr is increasingly not fond of how caviler Cessation is about mortal wounds. She doesn’t like Cessation’s counter arguments about rest time costing civilian lives, because Sohr doesn’t quite see why that’s Cessation’s problem. And isn’t their performance going to suffer for constant stress?

And Cessation, who has dedicated their every waking moment to the public, hesitates. They still believe whole heartedly that every second should be serving the greater good, but…if they’re already going to reset this adventure, this time right now doesn’t count? Does it? It won’t be wasted time. What’s the worst that can happen?

They’ll suck up medical agony to talk to her a bit longer.

The tiny crushed civilian part of Cess starts to burble up in a way it only ever did around Seft. It scares them, at first. But. That is okay. Sohr won’t remember. They aren’t on the clock yet, time frozen in a dying timeline. It’ll be enough for Cess to cherish the memories. Only, memories are the only thing that escapes. And when Sohr carefully presents Cessation with a feather, explains just how important it is for elytrians to claim those in their flock. That she wants Cess to be One Of Hers.

They won’t have it, when they reset. Their hands tremble as they accept it. Cessation can reforge this friendship in a different timeline. It’s- fine, that’s fine. They’ll get it in a permanent timeline. One that won’t leave them permanently injured.

Cessation can only stay awake so long. The insomnia gets too bad and the hallucinations start to become an actual problem. Worse than they usually permit because. Maybe they didn’t want to leave this timeline yet. Maybe it was nice to not be constantly jumping through missions. Cess really needed to reset before they fell asleep here.

They don’t want to scare Sohr. But she won’t remember. So when her back is turned, they down the cyanide capsule. And immediately hack it back up, realizing it was replaced by melatonin.

Hiding the spit up gummy, Cessation begins frantically considering how to get her out of the house long enough to find a means of resetting.

Knell gets a text from an unknown number detailing a massive shipment of crafting tables. Like GIANT. Since Cess has details on the hero agency planning how to protect it. Cessation ‘warns’ Sohr of this heist.

And, given they now know the Sohr feather Knell has means they aren’t clear cut nemesis, Cessation makes sure to outline just how badly the security measure will wreck Knell.

Sohr flies at once. Immediately drugs Knell and carries her back. But that’s all the time Cess needed.

Cess that can still barely walk and is starting to worry about permanent chronic issues if they don’t reset. Tearing through the house trying to find their gadgets and getting nothing.

Cess gets out of the safe house. Sees they’re atop a tall tower in a quaint historical building. And sighs in relief. So that’s what Sohr meant when she said it was impossible to escape. And Sohr’s arms are full.

Sohr shakes off the premonition. Later, she reluctantly ends up on the same side as Cessation mid a battle. The villain should've known better than to get on her terf. And maybe she doesn't mind Cessation thinking she's here solely to save lives. But any rapport she builds is purely to get any heat off her back, or make sure they're taking care of sidekick Seft.

There isn't any Seft here to protect this battle. So why is she so tense? Why does she give Cess cover fire? Why does she rush into the fray just to distract a villain for them? Why does her blood run cold when she sees the death lazar charging up at Cessation's exposed back?

(Last time, she hadn't screamed at them to move so fiercely her throat scraped raw. This time, they were already dodging before she even made a noise.)

The fact she suddenly cares for a hero, for a threat, is distinctly unnerving. But it's not like Cessation has powers, let alone anything mindcontrol related. And it's certainly not anything more than a gut impulse.

Sohr doesn't dismiss paranoia, she can't afford to in her line of work. But she lets it simmer, patient for more clues. At a surface glance Cessation acts no differently, certainly isn't trying to reinforce the fond feeling. That would've driven Sohr straight up the wall with suspicion. But they're as quiet and sharp and professional as ever.

...on the surface. Their body is a different story. And for people like them whose lives are kept in the body, all their strength mistakes past future survival wound up tight, it tells Sohr everything. Cessation doesn't brace around her anymore. Like she isn't a threat. like she's been neutralized.

It isn't as if they don't talk to her mid-work. They'd certainly tried the silent act the first few times, but after a few years of sparse encounters that is long gone. Cessation is friendly, but only insofar as they are 'friendly' to civilians. It is part of the job. And even as they're the same as ever, Sohr senses something dammed. Controlled. They're holding something back.

It's a small detail. A slip-up. A passing commentary about nothing at all, innocuous save for the fact it reveals that Cessation has been in her safe house.

What really betrayes Cessation is the fact that when they saw her charging at them, their head flipped, searching for an enemy behind. That sort of instinctual trust just can't be faked.

The full force of an osprey's dive slams Cessation into a wall, cracking with the impact. Sohr rips down their mask, determined they won't escape her so easily. (What does that mean? What the hell does that mean? Why is she scared of a mask?)

Perhaps it was shock from the surprise attack, from their brain rattling at the blow, but for some reason it isn't when Cessation is being mauled in a back alley that makes them panic. It's when the sweet chloroform sinks into their nose. Cessation bucks against her, hurling the light elytrian easily. But they can't run from her speed. Sohr latches onto their back, shoving the rag into their mask and yanking sharply to gag the fight. Pulling so tight metal digs into skin. For the agonizing minutes it takes to fully kick in, they stagger, clawing at the mask. The frantic scratching of a dog, so unlike the usual erudite sophistication of their battles.

For a hero, kidnapping may very well be worse than death.

They're scared. Painfully so. Yet, she can't shake the feeling Cessation isn't scared of her.

Once unconscious, Sohr scoops up the quarry in her talons and takes to the skies. To the safe house that apparently isn't so unfamiliar to them.

The first thing Sohr removes is the mask. Nominally so they can wake up from the chloroform. Yet the first thing she does is scratch out a hidden compartment and rip out the cyanide. Cess is the type of person to keep cyanide in case of capture. Who is so terrified of being interrogated, tortured, brainwashed. Who sees their death as the best outcome for their sake, others' sake.

Cess is also the type of person to refuse to take it, when it's Sohr. And those two anathema points circle each other in her head.

Second, Sohr texts Seft a heads-up that Cessation will be staying with her a little while, and will be returned perfectly safe. Third, she gets to work stripping a gadget hero of every last defense.

When they wake, Sohr is horrifyingly calm. "I won't harm you. I don't know why I'm averse to that, but I am, and I'll listen to that. But anyone who comes for you is another story, aren't they?"

Cess snorts. "No one is coming for me."

Sohr grows furious at the insinuation. And then the anger deepens, since she shouldn't be umbraged on a hero's behalf. It only worsens as they immediately launch into an appeal about how they need to get back out on the field, lives are at risk.

Cessation is an uncommunicative brick wall. An infuriating, uncommunicative brick wall, who seems at worst a little antsy about some research reports they are meant to be finishing right now. And as they shrug, stonewall, and slip through the conversation, evading her questions, Sohr sours. It plunges as Cessation tries suggesting it's cause she's sleep deprived, once again tipping their hands to reveal a terrifyingly intimate intel on her.

Frustrated, Sohr lets them go. Let's everything of them go. He feelings her worries her confusion. Sohr steps out of their life wholley, flying away the moment she sees them.

Freeze when the report comes on the radio. Struggle to breathe when only two of the three missing heroes are found. Blitz across the city in a blinding terror when the operator scoffs that Vi and Flicker got caught by someone so nonthreatening as Díi.

Cessation gets there fast. Capricious gets there faster.

After Capri lost his hero parents to villains and negligence, like hell is he letting Vi and Flicker meet the same end. He throws himself endlessly at Díi’s lair, which bristles to deadly fashion at the threat of anyone taking what’s his.

And Cess doesn’t have their com. And no back up is coming because no one else knows how powerful Díi is because Cessation ensures they never find out. They don’t see the endless timelines washed in blood shed; they think Cessation is enough to deal with her.

Cess watches as Capri kills himself over and over to save Vi and Flicker. Their coworker’s kid. The last thing Cessation has of them. And they’re watching his suicidal march against their worst nemesis. Charging into the hostage house no matter how they beg him to let them handle it. Because to Capri? As a hero, it’s Cessation’s fault his parents are dead. Why should he expect them to save Vi and Flicker?

All Cess can do is help him. (No matter how many loops Cess searches, there’s only ever one sidekick in Díi’s capture. Where is she? Why can’t they remember her face?). Behind the scenes, dismantling the teeth of Díi’s traps until Capri thinks he’s getting through flawlessly. But he doesn’t find Vi, chained up and blind folded, toyed with on the verge of ease and terror to maintain Díi’s powers predicated on distrust and secrets and fear.

He finds Flicker. Happy go lucky Flicker, who cheerfully walked into a trap of her own volition. Who loves it here, staying with Díi and Vi and Via. They’re pod. Why would she ever want to leave?

Now it’s Capri’s turn, to fail to save someone. No matter what he says, Capri can’t convince her to leave. He can’t save Flicker. (He can’t save his parents).

But he doesn’t give up pleading with her when the monstrous jaws of a mechanical lion gouge out his chest. He doesn’t give up when he lays a single hand on Flicker and a spore burst grows giant mushrooms through his arms, severing arteries. He doesn’t give up, when he scoops up Flicker and runs and gets hunted down and eviscerated by Díi, Flicker still happily smiling in the haze of viscera.

Cess knows toxic determination better than anyone. And unfortunately, they realize that the only way to get him to stop is to make him. So in the final time loop, Cessation lets him get hurt, badly. So hurt he physically cannot persist, and they can only drag his barely conscious body back to the hero base for repair.

They sit at his bedside, vigilant, for days. Waiting for the second his eyes flutter. Waiting for the proof they haven’t failed him, too.

But Cess can only reset so far back. They kill themselves immediately, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s already gone when they wake up. It takes several loops to figure out where he is before he gets to the hero agency and obliterates it. Dozens more to figure out precisely how to thwart his arrival. They endlessly curse drifting off at Capri’s bedside because they simply can’t go back far enough. They can’t stop him before the anger spirals out, they can’t convince him not to agitate injuries, they can’t stop him.

Cess is more than accustomed to that failure by now. And so they plunge into the fray. Cess doesn’t want to hurt him. They know why he’s attacking. But the problem is he doesn’t get the catharsis of killing them.

It’s….no different than the other times Capri killed Cess. Right? Functionally it makes no difference whether they reset for his sake or if he forces them to. It’s- fine, it doesn’t matter, it won’t matter once they get this right.

“It’s your fault! You thought they were dead! You all thought they were already gone! Why shouldn’t I kill every single one of you?!? Maybe then you’d understand how it feels to be that alone, with the whole world thinking you’re crazy, only to end up even more alone because your negligence killed them!”

what’s really breaking them down is Capricious’ ravings. Not one word Cess gets in can defend them from his accusations about being responsible for his parents’ deaths, for Vi and Flicker’s kidnapping and brainwashing, for what is her name where did it go how can I claim I love her. Because what is there to say? He’s right.

And so they die. And die. And die.

It’s not atonement. It can’t be. They can’t ever go back far enough to make things right. All Cess is doing is coming back to their graveyard to stop a villain.

If only their death could be enough. If only it could be the sacrificial blood to cleanse this hurt. But it can’t ever satisfy Capricious. Still Cess finds themselves sweeping a hand to encompass the carnage, screaming, “Kill me! Not them. At least pretend to believe you’re doing this for revenge. You can’t change the past. You can’t fix this.” I can. I’m the only one who can and I’m not enough. “And you can’t fix this by making more children crying at funerals.”

That’s all the villain Capricious is to them. The kid crying at the funeral. Capri’s cries ringing in their ears, but also in the days after his massacre when they’re too exhausted to throw themselves immediately back into the next timeline. They see every funeral they’ve ever attended for the people he’s killing.

“You couldn’t have done better than what you did at the time.” But I could have. But I didn’t.

Capricious is gutted by the recognition of the civilians he’s slaughtering, realizing how many Capris he’s making. Cess builds a solid loop of quelling the civilian casualties. But it doesn’t stop Capricious’ loathing for the complicit heroes. Cess replays the destruction of the hero agency so many times.

Until finally, they see no other option.

“No one can save everyone. And you don’t under stand the depths I’ve gone to only to learn that lesson. The only thing you’re doing, Capri, is killing the one chance you have of getting them back.”

And for the first time ever, Cess explains the portal.

Thematically it’s about going back. Getting something that was lost. Doing something right no matter how many failures lead up to that.

Cess is desperate to find a way to expand their power to get past the sleep reset. Get back years before, to some disaster they couldn’t save everyone from because of inexperience. Maybe the first time they ever died. Some villain attack that they survived that no one else could. That they don’t realize they could’ve prevented because it was the first time Cess came back. They didn’t know what they could’ve done better.

But they do now. And they’re obsessed with getting back to that day. Fix everything they’ve ever done wrong in the past decade. More than get Capri’s parents back, they can solve the world.

Philza: The Zilant. Is the immortal concept of fire and fury, which pretends to be a dragon, which pretends to be a human. Maintains his personhood by attaching himself to mortals he calls his ‘Collected’. Currently: Tommy, Wilbur, The Blade, and Tubbo. Additionally, Philza is very intent on keeping any promise he makes and was kept in the Foundation exclusively because they’d captured his Collected and made a deal. Gives great dad advice, except when the advice is ‘let me murder them for you <3’

Tommy: The Instigator. Has a blood red liquid on his hands that grows when he’s scared. When people touch it, they become aggressive to anyone but Tommy. At low TI-Red levels this leads to things like bickering, but it escalates to physical violence and brutality. When TI-Red levels consume him and he thinks he’s going to die, he summons The Blade. Lived as a normal human and met Wil, Phil, and The Blade after a summoning at 15; visited the homeless guys occasionally till the Foundation captured at 16. Abandonment issues, highly touch starved, used as a Thaumiel. Collected Tubbo.

The Blade: The Blood God. Is a massive boar behemoth with voices in his head. When attacked (or if there’s an orphan), becomes The Blood God, who will bend the universe to ensure he wins. The Blade only comes back when the challenge has been completed. Grew up as a monster in the woods, but pulled himself up out of the voices, figured out what was him and what was The Blood God, and established his own personhood. Somehow has a college degree, met Phil and Wil during a gap year. Loves gardening and murdering people for Tommy. Also managed to come out of the Foundation the least traumatized, iconic. 

Wilbur: Soot. [tags are noms Wilbur or scp Wilbur if you want to block] His legs magically rearrange so he is the tallest humanoid in the room. Oh also the void in the side of his face that eldritch abominations claw their way out of. Was basically a feral starving child till ~14 when Philza forcefully adopted him. A chronic insomniac with a heart of gold and a tongue of silver, held together despite the inherent contradictions between being a supreme survivalist and a drama hoe. Memory issues because he represses basically everything. 

Tubbo: The Pollinator. Is a honeycomb skin suit for approximately 400,000 bees. Uses they/them we/us pronouns, because they are a Hive mind/system containing at least three humans: a Little, a Foundation employee, and a lawyer/farmer. Tubbo grew up mostly normal, albeit in secret. The most recently captured by the Foundation, and a staunch pacifist. This causes them to be at odds with Philza, who did a few murderous rampages too many, and The Blade, for the reason above and also because he destroyed their legs. But they stick around because they’re attached to Tommy. 

Lord, what fools these mortals be! Fantasy AU, Winter Court Fae Queen Kristin and King Philza try to kidnap SBI. Wacky hijinks with dark portions. Some themes of bodily autonomy, subtle manipulations, absurdity of the fae.

Lighting Lanterns to Bring You Home. Mythology AU where Techno is a Harvest/Revolt god that is killed every Winter Persephone style, Wilbur a Festival/Dissent god. Heavy tragedy. Themes of self change, coping with grief. Abandoned with outline.

Where Hearts Roost. Fairy tale AU, Tommy and Wilbur break into witch Philza's cottage and get adopted. Sweet, hurt/comfort, themes of learning to trust. Complete.

The Altars We Sacrifice Our Futures On. Wherein Tommy is sacrificed to The Blood God, except he isn't an orphan so Techno awkwardly adopts him and is awful at parenting. Very funny and fluffy with some dark humor mixed in. Complete.

To Return the Favor of Raising Me. Zombie apocalypse where kid Techno struggles to lead Tommy, Niki, Tubbo, and Ranboo in killing survivors to feed their brains to zombie Philza. Techno develops insane beef with Kristin, who tries to rescue the kids to her survivor compound. Heavy angst, MCD (duh Phil is a zombie), lots of traumatized children.

Shred Your Wings to Make You Ours. Wing fic! Predator bird Philza shreds prey!Techno’s wings and shoves him in a hole to eat later. Only problem? Philza is a sleep deprived new dad, and accidentally brings Techno back to the nest. Now the only way Techno can survive is to pretend to be a predator, too. A literal Dead Bird Do Not Eat fic- as the whole premise is cannibalism birds.

Always at His Side, Never in His Sight. OSMP + Philza’s FlowerFall. Queer royalty AU with lots of bedrock bros angst. Tommy is struggling with insecurities, aromanticism, and growing gender dysphoria, and elects to cope with invisibility potions even as side effects grow worse. Adopted crown prince Techno dodges assassins, wrangles structural inaccessibility, and accepts his role as a martyr for Tommy. Angst/comfort with fun Origin social world building. 1 more chapter.

Of Feathers and Fawning. (or ficlet here) Where Tommy is an avian and during exile his abuser takes advantage of his instincts to manipulate him. Angst heavy, deals with suffering and recovering from abuse. Complete.

One shots:

Where do Babies Come From? Modern AU where Philza picks up homeless kids. My first fic everyone say awww.

Worth far more than your weight in gold. Monster Hunter Techno goes after Philza, who is a raven-dragon-kenku, for taking Tommy. Phil can only talk through redacting others sentences. Monster/culture worldbuilding. Hurt/comfort, distrustful bonding. Themes of learning to value yourself, discrimination, communication.

116 East Normal Street. Human Techno bonding with his neighborhood, who are all not-so-secretly from very different genres such as 'magical girl' or 'noir detective' or 'invading alien'. Most light-hearted thing I've ever written tbh. Themes about suburban isolation but it's buried in there.

A ghost is a tragedy reliving itself. Fault AU where they are abstracted into short horror stories.

Ficlets:

Reverse ‘The Lambs Wolves Wear’. Lambs!AU where Philza is the one replaced by a monster (angel) and his children have to navigate it.

Sandduo makes ‘The Lambs Wolves Wear’ even more tragic. “Wilbur” shows up after Philza already killed “Techno” and “Tommy”. Pure angst ensues. Complete.

Waxing and Waning. Goddess of Death Kristin tricks Philza into becoming an icarus figure, only, sun god Tommy has never been embraced before.

Civilian. Philza finds a team of child superheroes and begins to get worried about their safety. Time to take it into his own hands! Complete.

Reverse Mafia Kidnapping? Tommy kidnaps Crime Boss!Philza. Chaos ensues. Complete.

Paragon of Justice (or whatever). Superhero Techno takes the fall for Ranboo to get tossed in jail the same week villain Wilbur gets caught, too. When breaking out of jail, villain sbi decide to take a plus one! Complete.

A Study in Brood Parasites. Dark!Kristin is a brood parasite bird that plants her chick, Techno, into Philza’s family. Only, she becomes enraptured watching Philza care for his family. Surely he won’t mind if another brood parasite infiltrates his family…. Complete.

Under-The-Bed. Tommy has a brand new monster under his bed. And maybe, if he’s nice enough, Techno will protect him from the monsters over-the-bed. Complete.

Murky Depths. Tiny Merman Techno gets rescued from polluted waters by a giant Kristin and put into a fish tank to recover. He is very Andy about this. Complete.

Do you need help drowning, darling? Vampire Hunter!Techno gets only partially turned, and is in deep denial about it as his health gets worse and worse. Luckily (?) for him, vampire Philza just decided to infiltrate the hunter compound.

Your Heart in My Hands. Fledgeling Tommy isn’t integrating with the coven well :( he keeps trying to escape. But now that Philza has found the reason he was running, all he has to do is lock Tommy in a room with Tubbo until he’s turned…or consumed. Almost complete.

The Blood God and His Fledgeling. Hyper Depressed ancient vampire!Techno finds the reincarnation of Theseus, the man who refused to turn thousands of years ago. While he won’t turn Tommy without consent….he’s not above forcing the issue. Honestly kinda abandoned.

Beast and Boy. Techno is a giant monster that’s been terrorizing the town for years, but when gravely wounded limps off to die. Tommy, however, just got a new puppy!!! And is very determined his parents won’t find out about the puppy under the house.

Made For War. Technoblade is a war robot and Philza is the scientist who made him. As Philza nurtures Techno to sentience, the robot struggles with the meaning of agency and friendship. Angst and Bonding. Complete.

General

Both species don't have feathers around their mouth for hygiene.

Evolutionary, they follow the

Their teeth are convergent evolution. They are not the same as mammal teeth.

We are ignoring the fact their flat faces are not the most aerodynamic.

Head wings are to increase mobility and the face aerodynamic problem. Somewhat similar to dragonflies where they have a lot more aerial precision, but doesn't allow them to hover.

Languages are grouped by Order. Some portions are instinctual, others are learned.

Avians

Avians are passarines. There are multiple species of Avian. Technoblade is based on colorful songbirds, but doesn't have a specific source.

Omnivores. Diet includes fruit, nuts, fish, insects, grains. Become more herbivores during migration because they can store long term.

Technoblade's feathers mimic the spears of a crown, with his back similar to cTechno's blue cape. His shoulders are very fluffy to mimic the fur of cTechno's hood, and because it's winter.

Evolved for long distance migration across the ocean. Their arms were primarily an adaptation for holding supplies during migration, but have found new purposes with the invention of society.

Because of their long head wings, Avians can't wear typical shirts. They also don't have a concept of chest modesty. The halter top is a way to carry more supplies while flying, and has a net interior. The sleeves are to keep their arms warm during migration. (and to mimic ctechno skin).

The long head wings make them incredibly agile in flight. Combined with their incredible endurance, if they can survive the initial attack they tend to do well.

Walk more upright than Elytrians since they don't have to counterbalance the same magnitude of wing.

Like to wear shiny stuff like gold.

Baggy drop pants to trap heat and because they don't tend to walk too much.

Can sleep with only one half of their brain while migrating so they're able to keep going.

Good mimicking abilities.

Elytrians

Elytrians are falconiformes.

Elytrians don't typically do the de-winging thing, it is a learned behavior within Philza's area (much like Eleonora's falcon). They find arms very useful for tearing while clutching the prey in their feet talons.

Nearly exclusively carnivorous.

Elytrians live further south of Techno's species, and migrate about a month after they've passed through.

Their general diet does not typically consist of Avians but instead other birds, or terrestrial prey like deer or smaller. They only eat Avians during migration/hatching season, targeting exhausted migrators.

The main hunting strategy is divebombing at incredible speeds. If they miss, they might pursue it little bit, but have a lower success rate.

As such, they have small head wings to avoid getting in the way of aerodynamics.

Small head wings also mean they can have more of a shirt! Tend to have sleeves, and don't cover up the chest because there's lots of fluffy feathers there, particularly in females. They don't have boobs. They're birds. That's. That's not how that works.

Females are larger.

Giant talons for ripping and shredding.

“No, really, it felt like you licked me. Worst kiss of my life.”

“Yeah? You get many of those, big B?”

“I plead the fifth. It’s not my turn, anyway.”

“Do believe it’s mine,” Philza confirmed. “All right, Tubbo. Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” they hummed. Philza had a penchant for really weird dares. Watching Tommy chug an entire glass of Red was not on the top 10 worst things they’d seen, but, like, barely (and also because of Philza). 

“What did you mean by ‘best tasting friend’?”

“Oh,” Tubbo said, looking relieved. “Tommy has a ranking system for which of his friends taste the best. Since Mr. Bacon over there apparently was all false advertising, we’re number one now.”

“Mr. Bacon!?” The Blade spluttered.

“What!?” Philza screeched. The pair shouted at Tommy a bit, demanding answers. Tommy looked incredibly annoyed, an expression he pinned on the Pollinator as he refused to answer any of the many questions. 

Wilbur just looked thoughtful. “What is your order? Cause I always put Phil pretty close to the top, since lizards are sort of like chicken in flavor and texture, once you get past the scales. Though scales are wonderfully crunchy. I think he’d be a delicious fried chicken.”

“I would never, not in my entire life, eat a lizard,” Tommy declared decisively. 

“You’re missing out~”

“No. Die. Also, what ranking am I?”

“I can’t eat you. The Red would start a void war.”

“Yeah, well, it’s all hypothetical, innit?”

There was an odd terrifying expression on Wilbur’s face, intense but not particularly aggressive. “It’s really not.”

The group paused. “Ooh kay, that’s enough out of you, Mr. World Eater,” Philza said. 

“No!” Tommy protested. “You can’t brush aside the fact he legitimately plans to vore us!”

“You hypocrite!” Tubbo protested. “You have a cannibalism ranking too!”

“But mine is funny. Also, it’s my turn.” Tommy glowered at Tubbo. “Right,” Tommy said, words sharp. “You best choose dare, Tubbo, since you don’t even want to know what I’ll make you admit. Now. Truth. Or dare.”

Their antenna flattened, looking properly admonished. “Dare.”

“Give me honey. I need it after the Ordeal you put me through.” Tubbo complied, and then a round followed where everyone just demanded honey from an increasingly harried Tubbo. 

“So, Wil. Is Tubbo up in the ranks for you?” Tommy asked curiously. 

“No.”

“No?”

“You gotta remember, Tommy: the bone crunch is half the fun.”

“Philllll make him stooooop.”

“You’re the one who asked him, mate. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”

Tommy turned to The Blade. “Phil is picking favorites again,” he whined. 

“No he isn’t,” the pig snorted. “‘Cause if he was I’d be winning.”

“Collection isn’t a contest.”

“Sounds like a last place mindset to me.”

“Stop it, you know you’re all equal in my eyes,” Philza said sagely. The group settled down, grumbling. “Except for Tommy, he’s a brat.”

In the ultimate betrayal, Tubbo nodded. “Tubs! Big T! No!!! You’re siding with them???”

“Sorry bossman, it’s true.”

“I am not a child!”

“You’re literally turning to adults for protection!”

“Well, adults and Tubbo,” Wilbur corrected.

“God! We’re muffining 21!! Why can’t anyone remember that??? Or…or, muffin. Hold on we gotta do maths.”

Tommy snorted. “Are you adding up the humans-”

“Yes we’re adding up the humans! Now shut up we’re trying to do arithmetic here. Um. Muffin. Yeah! Like a hundred and seventy! We’re 170, respect your elders.”

Wilbur shrugged. “Sorry it’s hard to remember cause you’re smaller than Tommy.”

“No we aren’t!” They looked down at their chopped off limbs. “Huh. Ok, so we are now.”

“NUH UH!” Tommy burst in. “I was taller before.”

“We were mentally counting the antenna into our height the whole time. We were taller from you from the start! But now that The Blade has taken, oh, two feet off of us, you’re taller. Just in time for Wilbur and The Blade to be taller than you. You’ll never be the tallest now!”

“No!!!!! Wait, what about Phil?” Tommy considered the dragon. “Phil, you’re picking dare. Come compare heights with me.” Despite it not being his turn at all, Philza shrugged and complied. “Come over. Tubbo. Measure.” A small bee conga line appeared to measure them back to back, and when Tommy stepped away he was flabbergasted to realize he was taller. Like, significantly. “What??? How are you that short? What the muffin.”

Philza canted his head. “Have you not noticed?”

“No, you’ve always been taller than me”

“Well, sure, until you grew”

“I grew???? that might mean I’m now actually six foot— I mean even taller than that! Why did no one tell me?”

The Blade shrugged. “I literally cannot tell for the life of me all of you are tiny it’s like asking me to compare toddlers. Anyway. Hey. Hey Wil. I was counting the antler crown.” A blink, and Wilbur’s legs were longer by approximately ten inches. “Hah, still got away with it for years. All that time, and I was secretly- wait. Wait. You rearranged my memories???? How are you— but I still know the conversation we were having. But— every single memory of you, Wilbur, you’re taller again. That’s just rude.”

Wilbur shrugged. “Should’ve kept it to yourself, then. Now, I believe it’s my turn. Dad! Truth or dare! …Muffin, coward I see. Okay, what’s the weirdest Collected arrangement you had?”

“Oh, probably the pet one.”

“You were…a pet?”

“Well, from his perspective he had a pet dragon and from my perspective I had a pet king. Ok…so there was this sultan who started a mixture between a zoo and an oddities museum. And one day I showed up, cause I thought it would be funny. Guy immediately goes ‘what are you’ and I just respond with what roughly translates to ‘auditioning’ but also kinda meant ‘making an muffin of myself’. Dude thought it was hilarious, so I basically spent two decades being the palace dragon, lounging around, eating grapes, roasting stuff at banquets as a party trick. Good times, good times. I think the subjects got angry he was spending so much on albino elephants and fake unicorns and stormed the joint. He managed to weasel into exile, and basically chilled in what surmounted to a beach resort picking up random oddities for the rest of his life, which I’m pretty sure was his life goal to begin with.”

[part where I didn’t write reactions; honestly how do you react to that]. 

Tubbo declared it their turn, as if the entire concept of the game wasn’t dissolving. They grinned evilly at The Blade as they forced him to pick. Nervously, the boar picked truth. This became a blatant error. “Soooo. When was the last time you cried?” 

If Tubbo was wanting something embarrassing, they were sorely mistaken. “Um. That would’ve been when the Foundation shot out my eye and blinded me for months. 

Any vindictive mischief Tubbo had begun with drained rather quickly. “So. Did they…did they do regeneration tests to you, too?”

“Mmm. regeneration tests. I remember that clearly, it was the first time I’d been in the Foundation. Got summoned to them vivisectioning Tommy, and there was this chunk of his bicep missing. Took me ages to figure out why, so it stuck with me. Then they sawed off my dew claw during a post-battle sleep and, well, puzzle pieces fell in place.” 

Tommy frowned, then tugged down his shirt collar across his shoulder. There were a few faint scars, but one stuck out, sort of a silvery box outline. The skin inside was a little rough. “Huh. Forgot that’s what it was from.” Wilbur tugged up a short sleeve, finding a similar patch. Philza didn’t have one, naturally, nor did Tubbo.

Philza raised his hand. “I got a question, if we’re getting serious now.” To everyone’s relief but Wilbur’s, he turned to his son. “When did you last sleep a full 8 hours?”

“I don’t. Five hours in a night is great. In a row is a miracle. I didn’t sleep good before, even. Always woke up at the slightest hint of danger.”

Philza frowned. “Dare: Go to sleep.”

“Hah! It’s not your turn!”

“I think it’s mine,” The Blade said softly. His eyes immediately fell on Tommy. “What was the worst way they summoned me?” Wilbur interrupted in confusion. The rest of the group turned to him, realizing he had no idea. He’d been too far removed from the situation to ever learn. “Wilbur, do you remember how the first time we met Tommy was because he got scared and summoned me? Well, the Foundation was fond of replicating that.” A quiet and horrified oh slipped out, and everyone turned back to Tommy, expectant.

“It was…” his face screwed as he searched his memories. “I don’t…I don’t try to remember how they do it. It sort of blurs together anyways. But there was this one time…and, and they didn’t do it again,” he insisted. “It was just the once. But they sat me in a room with a table and chair. And I remember thinking, ‘hey it won’t be so bad,’ since there wasn’t any…weren't any weapons, or water, or anything. Only one person, though they tended to prefer that. Completely covered, of course, so I couldn’t stop them from hurting me. And…oh. I didn’t realize the memory was so clear. They had this little needle on the table, filled with this sort of fluid. Almost clear, but there was this brown tint to it. They ordered me to summon The Blood God, and I didn’t, because that’s not how it works. I think they did that so they could feel like I was resisting or something. Like what they’re doing is the last resort. I dunno. And then they stuck it in my arm, and said it was poison, and that they’d give me the antidote once I’d summoned him.” Tommy paused, swallowing roughly. Crimson crept up his forearms at the retelling. He kept a light tone throughout, like someone describing the weather for the day. “It acted really slowly at first. I just sat there, swinging my legs. But I was sweating a lot, and then I realized that wasn’t me just being stressed. I was just covered in this sheen of sweat, it was gross. My mouth felt really dry, too. And then my chest got incredibly hot. Like fire ants under my skin, biting all my organs. I fell pretty quickly afterwards, just shaking on the floor. By the time I started puking I guess it was enough to convince me. I made the ring, summoned The Blade. 

“And then. And then the person tried to give me the antidote, but I guess it looked like they were attacking? I don’t know. But The Blood God killed them, so they couldn’t give it to me. It broke in the fall. And so they sent in another person, but they got killed too, and I think I was just spewing blood by that point. Everything felt like it was on fire. I think eventually they sent someone in with a needle that managed to survive them being murdered, and a voice came on the intercom telling The Blade how to fix me. Except it didn’t sound like English, but I think that’s about where the other hallucinations were starting so I dunno. I was shaking really badly, he tried to pin me down but it still didn’t work really great. The needle left one of the weirder scars I have. 

“They put me in some sort of medical ward after that one. Hooked me up to some kind of blood transfusion, since I’d lost so much of it. They uh. They didn’t try that one again. Guess it was too much of a hassle.”

..........man that was even more rambly than I remembered-

2. everyone makes up a scnario and 3. how it goes

Tommy makes a scenario where they all have to be his best friend forever and ever or the earth explodes or something. This turns out. Horribly. Mostly because the implicit threat is actually insane to deal with.

Tubbo makes a scenario where they all have to prove they can be good people. Everyone fails. Including Tubbo.

Philza's scenario is that they're all immortal, and wondering how they'd change over that time span. Tubbo Collects a LOT of people. Becomes an army in one with insane number of skills and knowledge. Kind of a walking library. Tommy gets real messed up over the deaths and is incredibly clingy about the other 4. The void gets REALLY FREAKED OUT about their permanant gateway, which would be really nice if wilbur wasn't now like, perfect and 100% committed to twarting the void, no reason to use them since his golden rule policy dissolves with the single question of "what are they gonna do, kill me? lmaooo". Void is perma trapped with a host that won't ever release it and has centuries of learning control. Very angy about that. Flipside, The Blood God can chill out cause his vessel won't be destroyed, and ends up having a way healthier relationship with The Blade.

4. Yes, the scenarios usually are nicer than their actual lives. And getting questions about themselves is just flattering.