#techno apologist

Since the recent events following the second L’Manburg Festival and subsequent war, I’ve seen many, many hot takes surrounding the nature of Tommyinnit’s character on the SMP. Some of which annoyed me to the point where I felt compelled to sit down and actually write this. I’m going to only be highlighting the most common complaints or questions I’ve seen, one by one, in hopes of providing a better understanding of Tommy’s character for anyone interested. (I also briefly discuss Techno and Tubbo’s characters as well.)

If you’ve said similar things to what I’m going to be discussing below, please know that it’s perfectly understandable how you’d come to these conclusions. Some of these aspects of Tommy’s character are not always obvious; especially if being watched from another streamer’s POV. This may become quite lengthy, so bear with me for now.

“Tommy’s motives are all over the place. He can’t decide whether he wants the discs back or not.”

Tommy is actually one of the most motivationally consistent characters on the entire Dream SMP. Even Techno, someone completely confident in their ideals, does more motivational flipping than Tommy. From the very start of the story, Tommy has always cared for three things; L’Manburg, Tubbo, and his music discs. However, him caring for something is not itself a motivation. 

Surprisingly enough, his motivation isn’t even just, ‘Get my discs back,’ like many assume it is. Tommy’s one true motivation, since the end of the Independence War, has always been, ‘Keep things the way they are now.’ 

Tommy’s one fatal flaw is that he is resistant to change and refuses to let go of the past. This is seen through all of his actions and words; in all conflicts involving him. This flaw is the drive to all of Tommy’s mistakes. Burning down George’s house, an action which resulted in him getting exiled, was done out of a desire to pull pranks the way he used to before the first war. His friendship with Ranboo started because Tommy said he reminded him of Tubbo, back before he was President. 

Tommy still talks highly of Wilbur because he chooses to remember him as the wise, kind mentor who cared for him. This motive is the reason he defends L’Manburg so fiercely; it’s his memory of a better past. This is why he holds grudges more often than any other character; especially refusing to forgive Techno after he killed Tubbo during the Manburg Massacre.

It’s why Tommy falls under extreme distress whenever Tubbo or Quackity tell him that something will never be the same again. This motivation is entirely formed from an underlying desire for peace and comfort, something Tommy has been denied since being forced into a life wrought with war and death. To accept change, to Tommy, is painful and terrifying. But he will only ever truly be happy when he finally learns to let go.

“Why do the discs matter so much to Tommy? They’re not actually worth anything.”

Tommy’s discs are much more than just any ordinary pair of music discs. They were never important for their material worth, but for what Tommy was willing to sacrifice in order to keep them. Tommy is entirely what gives the discs their value. 

Tommy also commonly operates under the Sunk-Cost Fallacy, wherein he’s invested too much of himself into something to just abandon it, even if it’s causing him problems. This mentality is a huge piece of what keeps him tied to both L’Manburg and to his discs. He’s sacrificed too much at this point to simply let them go. If he admits the discs are worthless, then he’s admitting that he wasted all this time and effort, just to keep them.

The discs also act as a constant source of hope for Tommy because they are directly tied with his motivations as a character. They’re something he’s had since the very beginning. They’re something he used to listen to with Tubbo on their shared bench. 

To Tommy, they symbolize a life before war, filled with comfort and peace. They are a love letter to his country and his late mentor Wilbur. They are a physical representation of Tubbo’s companionship. They are the only thing, besides L’Manburg and his best friend, that gives him the hope that he can one day return things to the way they used to be. 

This ideal, paired with Tommy’s refusal to let go, has left him ruthlessly pursuing the things he’s lost. Not his music discs, but his peace and comfort, his friendship, his country, his mentor Wilbur, and his life before war.

In his desperation to hold onto his prized possession, it has only hurt and pushed away the people that love him. If Tommy continues to ignore this reality, while still refusing to resolve his major flaw entwined with it, he will lose all that the discs had once stood for. He will lose his country, then his friend Tubbo, and then he will lose himself.

“Tommy never grows or learns from his mistakes. This makes him a badly written character.”

Characters do not have to constantly learn from their actions to be well-written. Tommy is one of the best examples of this. The fact that his growth is infrequent is the entire point of his character; it’s completely stemmed from his fatal flaw. 

By addressing himself, he would be accepting change, something that terrifies him; something he stubbornly resists until he is absolutely forced to confront it. Contrary to popular belief, Tommy knows when he makes mistakes, but he pretends to be ignorant as to avoid facing reality. He digs his head in the sand despite knowing better, puppeteering the person he used to be during happier times, now gone.

In spite of his infrequent growth, the idea that Tommy still hasn’t learned anything isn’t quite correct either. Tommy, as of the last three plot streams, has shown incredible character development. By giving up his discs again, he had finally demonstrated that Tubbo is more important to him than his possessions. Speaking as a makeshift leader, he put aside his issues with others to rally them together against a common threat, something which Tommy had never been able to do before. He owned up to all of his mistakes openly, apologizing to everyone he’s ever hurt in one place. 

He apologized to Tubbo after they were reunited and came to terms with the fact that Tubbo was forced to exile him without choice, finally forgiving him. He was kind to Sapnap and learned how to be his friend after months of bitter rivalry. And these are only a few examples. This isn’t to say Tommy has overcome/fixed everything because he clearly hasn’t. There are still major things Tommy needs to work through that remain unaddressed, the biggest being his complicated relationship with Technoblade.

“Tommy only cares about himself. He does everything in his power to be the hero, always putting himself in the center of attention, especially during Doomsday.”

Tommy, since the start of the L’Manburg War for Independence, has never set out to be a hero. Not once. He may fall into the role of the protagonist, but his identity as a hero was pushed onto him by others. Giving up the discs was his only option during the Independence War. 

So when Wilbur called him a hero for it, Tommy said he didn’t feel like he was. During the November 16th War, Tommy again said he didn’t feel like a hero because he had lost what he thought was everything at the time. During exile, Tommy certainly knew he was no hero. And upon reuniting with Tubbo, he admitted to feeling like the farthest thing from it. That he’d hurt everyone and all he wanted to do now was fix it. 

The day before Doomsday, Tommy only took a leadership position because no one else was willing to, filling the role for Tubbo, who was crumbling under pressure. He had no choice but to try to bring everyone together, or fight alone. Most viewers never saw this during Doomsday, but before the battle, almost everyone who had vowed to fight alongside L’Manburg had abandoned them the very next day. They were convinced it was going to be destroyed either way, no matter what they did, so they chose not to see it through to the end; ultimately leaving Tommy and those who remained to fight a losing battle, alone. 

After about a third of the way through the battle, it became clear to everyone that they could do nothing to win. One by one, everyone stopped fighting and stood by to watch their country go up in smoke. Tommy was the only person on the battlefield who refused to stand down and give up. And so he took over the role as leader again, trying his best to keep them alive, to keep Tubbo hopeful; to keep fighting, no matter what. 

However, what most people don’t realize, is that this isn’t Tommy trying to be a hero or force himself into the spotlight. This is Tommy trying to convince himself to keep going. Because whenever things start to look hopeless, Tommy simply chooses to ignore them. He puts on a happy face and soldiers through it because that’s all he knows how to do. Tommy, at his core, is someone who wants peace through stagnation. He doesn’t want to fight, although causing the occasional friendly conflict is how he finds fun. He doesn’t set out to purposely hurt others. 

Tommy may come across as self-centered, but this is because he is an extremely extroverted character. He finds energy and joy in the attention of others, both good and bad. It’s why he’s always seeking the approval of others and, oftentimes, will destructively insert himself into another person’s life in order to find it. 

Out of every character in the story, Tommy is the most drawn to praise and positive reinforcement. He is constantly seeking out mentors and friends because Tommy needs someone else to help him feel confident in his own identity and abilities. It’s why Wilbur was such a positive influence on him. His boisterous confidence has always been a front because if anyone were to actually hurt him, he knows it will make his self-esteem crumble instantly. 

This is part of why Dream’s manipulation was so effective against him. By isolating him, he’s left without energy and looking to another person’s guidance. Tommy outwardly may seem independent and rude, but just under the skin, he’s unconfident and lost when he’s by himself. Tommy will only grow from this flaw when he finds his own identity and inner confidence; when he finally learns to be okay with being alone.

“Tommy goes to the festival solely to get his disc back and then tells Tubbo to give it away immediately after. That doesn’t make any sense.”

Before the screaming match between the two friends during the second L’Manburg Festival, Tommy had been in exile, manipulated by Dream for long enough to lose his will to carry on. It is because of him that Tommy’s reality becomes distorted, long after fleeing from his abuser. This mangling of ideals leads Tommy to subconsciously believe that L’Manburg and Tubbo are unsalvageable. 

Therefore, the only thing he has hopes of retrieving are his discs, which are easier to manage than the latter two things. And so Tommy does reprehensible things at the behest of Techno in a vain hope of getting them back, going so far as to kidnap and torture for them. This ultimately culminates in a confrontation between the ex-friends, quickly turning violent. It is in this violence that we see Tommy has sunk to his absolute lowest point in his journey. 

Swinging his axe, he nearly kills his friend as he delivers a string of words that cause the room to silence instantly. He says the discs were always worth more than his friend. Within the quiet of the room, Tommy is forced to reflect on everything he’s done. How he kidnapped and tortured Connor. How he accidentally drowned Fundy. How he traumatized Ranboo. 

And now he’s hurt Tubbo, the one person he has always sought to protect; someone he vowed to never hurt. This realization causes Tommy to break. He’s so ashamed of himself that he can’t look at anyone. Tommy knows now that he is worse than anyone he’s ever hated. 

With pain in his voice, he tries and fails to apologize to Tubbo in the moment. The only way he knows to redeem himself now is to prove to Tubbo, after everything, that he can still put the discs aside. And so he does.

I’ve seen a lot of viewers idolizing c!Technoblade and saying it didn’t make sense that Tommy left him in the end. I watch Technoblade’s streams, but also everyone else’s. I think there’s a lot of overlap in viewers who idolize him and those who don’t have any context other than what comes from his character’s POV. As someone who has watched all POV’s here is why I disagree that “Technoblade has done no wrong” “Techno helps everyone and just gets betrayed” and “Tommy backstabbed Techno!”

I disagree with all of these statements and I don’t think c!Technoblade is a victim despite his personal monologue insinuating that. Let’s start at the beginning.

Technoblade joined to help Wilbur and Tommy with the intention of taking down Shlatt. He preached for anarchy and chaos. Although he was clear about the from the beginning, the people he was allied with didn’t agree with that. Wilbur was driven to that point AFTER Technoblade had already been allied with them. Tommy NEVER wanted to “destroy all government” his goal was always just to take down Shlatt and return to his home. Technoblade ignored the wishes of his only two allies and continued to entertain the idea in his own head of completely destroying L’Manberg. That was never an agreement, he made that decision on his own AGAINST the will of his only friends, Tommy and Wilbur.

Technoblade, on the other hand, was keeping secrets from them. He had withers prepared before they even put Tubbo in charge. Behind all of their backs he conspired with Wilbur and DREAM to destroy L’Manberg just as soon as they’d won it back. That is betrayal. No one betrayed Technoblade because they never promised him anarchy in the first place.

This is where his narration becomes unreliable. In his speech he brings up making all the gear for his new allies and then them betraying him when they used that gear to take back L’Manberg. He called that a betrayal even though it was CLEAR FROM THE BEGINNING WHAT THEIR INTENTIONS WERE ( the beginning being when Quackity and the others joined Pogtopia to help Tommy and the intentions being stopping L’Manberg’s destruction by Wilbur and ending Schlatt’s administration ). Technoblade calling this a betrayal is delusional.

The second thing his character is unreliable about is his “retirement.” When Technoblade set withers upon L’Manberg he caused pain and destruction, but also ultimately committed crimes against L’Manberg. He also vowed to them before disappearing into the wilderness that he would continue to destroy the government. When the Butcher Army arrived at his doorstep asking to answer for his crimes he claimed to be in retirement. Fleeing from a crime scene and then not committing crimes for awhile doesn’t excuse you from the original crime. Butcher Army coming for Technoblade was not entirely unreasonable the way c!Technoblade paints it to be. Technoblade was a war criminal and a threat and it made perfect sense for them to pursue him. Putting Phil under house arrest crossed a line, but going after Technoblade was not unreasonable for L’Manberg to do.

As for Technoblade’s relationship with Tommy in particular this is something that c!Technoblade is completely deluded about. Pogtopia days, Tommy did consider Technoblade a friend. The one thing that changed that was when Technoblade worked with Wilbur and Dream to BLOW UP LMANBERG. The ONE THING Tommy fought for, at least at the time. Technoblade dropped Tommy as soon as he realized that working with Wilbur and Dream (behind the backs of Tommy and everyone else) would get him his personal goal of anarchy. He betrayed Tommy first when he made that decision.

When Tommy holed up in Technoblade’s basement, Tommy stayed because Techno told him that he’d help him get the discs back. But Tommy was clear with Techno the whole time that he didn’t want to do anything to hurt Tubbo. Tommy always said no to plans that would hurt Tubbo, Technoblade would brush him off constantly and say things along the lines of “we’ll work out the details later.” Tommy never budged on not wanting to hurt Tubbo, despite Technoblade’s constantly insisting that Tubbo is bad and didn’t care about Tommy.

Technoblade was breeding anger and feelings of betrayal in Tommy in trying to convince him his best friend didn’t care about him, the same thing Dream was doing the weeks before while Tommy was in Logstedshire. Convincing Tommy that he didn’t really belong in L’Manberg was the only way to make him pliable and useful to both Technoblade and Dream. By pushing on Tommy that he should leave his friends (L’Manberg) behind, they were turning him into a bad guy. A person only motivated my personal gain (the discs) and that cares for no one.

After threatening Fundy, Technoblade told Tommy that he finally had respect for him. Finally believing that Tommy didn’t care about his old friends in L’Manberg anymore and was solely motivated by the discs, he revealed his plans to destroy L’Manberg. Tommy never agreed to this and was frankly horrified that what happened between him and Wilbur was happening again. He had no where to go and stayed with Technoblade but expressed clear discomfort in Techno’s plans to destroy L’Manberg.

Now for what Techno calls “Tommy’s final betrayal.” When Tommy stands by Tubbo at the community house and leaves Technoblade. To show why this was completely justified on Tommy’s part I’m going to draw comparisons to one of my favorite works of fiction: Avatar The Last Airbender. At the end of Book 2: Earth Zuko betrays Iroh and returns with Azula to the Fire Nation. Zuko’s time there makes him realize that he cares more about doing the right thing and being the PERSON HE WANTS TO BE than staying with his family and hurting people. Tommy leaves Technoblade for the same reason Zuko leaves Azula. Tommy does not want to be the type of person that would stay with Techno.

Tommy and Tubbo were in a screaming match. After Tommy regurgitated line after line that Dream and Techno had been feeding him. “You left me to die!” and all that jazz about choosing L’Manberg over him. The thing that stopped it was Tommy saying “ Those discs were worth more than you ever were!” Everyone went silent. Tommy stopped everything and realized that he had become a deplorable person and he was saying things he didn’t really mean. Caring more about discs than his friendship w Tubbo was Dreams plan all along and exactly what Technoblade had been feeding him. Tommy dropped everything to stand by Tubbo because he was mature enough to realize that he was the farthest he had ever been from the person the wanted to be, and the closest to being the villains he had been fighting his whole life. Whether it was intentional or not, Technoblade was the person who drove him to become that person. Dream started it, but Technoblade finished the job.

Technoblade felt betrayed, Tommy left him. But it was the only thing Tommy could do and still hold on to the person he wanted to be. Tommy cares about his friends, Tommy has been with L’Manberg since the beginning and has always done what he could to save those he cared about even if it meant personal sacrifice. That’s who Tommy is. The Tommy that Technoblade wanted to be allies with was a person who would help hurt and destroy L’Manberg. Someone who cared more about discs than his lifelong friends. That Tommy never really existed, he was always uncomfortable with Technoblade’s revenge plans. If Technoblade really listened to Tommy, and cared about what he thought, he would know that Tommy could never be the cold heartless person that Technoblade could use to achieve his personal revenge on L’Manberg.

Ultimately, the Tommy that Technoblade needed to help him and/ or stand by and watch him destroy L’Manberg doesn’t exist. It goes against everything that has been established about who Tommy is and what motivates him. To stay true to himself, Tommy could not possible stay with Technoblade and become a stubborn, cold hearted, vengeful person.

That “betrayal” was the most mature decision Tommy has ever made in canon and I WONT STAND BY AND LET YALL SAY IT WAS UNJUSTIFIED JUST BECAUSE IT WASNT WAHT TECHNOBLADE WANTED.

Any fellow Eret apologists in chat?

This is just a joke since my friends say that I’m an Eret apologist

I agree but that’s not my point here-

tommy: hi i escaped from my abuser and i am going to rob you

techno: wow okay but what if you were on my side and helped me destroy your home country? we can get those discs you like back but not be friends

tommy: fuck you actually. don’t destroy my home

techno: oh nvm. we can talk about it later. want to get the discs?

tommy: yeah

techno: okay we’ll just commit minor terrorism while we’re there. i am sure i can change your mind about anarchy

tommy: okay i’ll listen to you becaused im traumatized. i am sure i can change your mind about l’manberg

techno: actually i lied im still gonna destroy l’manberg. im telling the truth now cuz i like you now

tommy: look im pretty used to that by now. ill only not yell at you abt it cuz i like you too now

techno: sweet

tommy: wait fuck actually this is just like all those terrorist guys who traumatized me. i love my friends too much to do this. im sorry i still love you tho

techno: how the fuck could i see that coming?! me and your abuser are going to blow up the country together now, because we both happen to have the same goals, only im somehow not evil