Karma Karma Special Chapter

Anything and everything, both in they way I think he can be any hybrid and in the way he can be all, like a inhuman/chimera

Maybe one that poses as a human too, but there are still tiny features that aren’t human, or animal

Debate!

sanctuary

living on the edge of the frontier, techno is used to many things wandering onto his land. that includes dream, an outlaw who is looking for some help and a place to hide.

rating: teen & up characters: technoblade, dream tags: western au, tending to injury, blood, alcohol

written for @nekioe for the @rivalsduogiftexchange! i hope you enjoy! <3 <3

The horse’s head hung low to the ground, sniffing the ground but making no move to nibble on the grass that poked out stubbornly from the dirt in sparse clumps. It was a white horse, grey on the nose and lower legs, and it wasn’t Techno’s horse. He stood in the doorway with his tin mug of coffee in hand, staring at the horse. Even at a distance, he could see the foamy sweat around the straps of the saddle if he squinted a bit. He didn’t need to squint to see the drops of blood in the dirt or the splash of red on the saddle blanket.

“Huh,” he said and took a sip of coffee before turning back inside. He set the mug down on the table. His gun and holster hung of the back of the chair and he picked it up. The leather was well worn and supple and buckling around his waist it was second nature. Through the greased paper window, Techno could see the horse, still in the same spot, just as blurry as when he had seen it the first time.

Outside, the sun was coming over the ridge and Techno squinted as he approached the horse from the front. It lifted its head but made no attempt to move away even as he patted its neck. Sweat covered its neck, chest, and flank. The horse had been ridden right to the edge of exhaustion, the sign of either a reckless or desperate rider. Judging by the blood, Techno thought desperate. The blood left a clear trail to his barn but he took the time remove the saddle and bridle from the horse.

“You just stay right here,” said Techno, giving the horse one last pat before following the trail of blood left on the dusty ground.

The barn door had been pulled closed. Blood was smeared on it, a partial hand print that the owner had attempted to wipe away. That struck Techno as odd. They had made no other attempt to hide their presence so why try to clean up the blood on his barn? He put one hand on the hilt of his gun and pulled the door open, letting light pour inside.

A gun was pointed right at Techno’s head.

The hand holding the gun was bloody and shaky and attached to a man, propped up against a bale of hay. His other hand was pressed against his side, holding a rag that likely used to be another color but was now reddish-brown. The lower half of his face was covered by a black bandana with a curved white line embroidered onto it, like a strange smile.

“Seriously, Bawaajigan?” Techno let go of his gun. “You’re gonna break into my barn then point a gun at me?”

An annoyed snort followed by a low wince of pain left the man. He lowered the gun.

“I—I told you, stop calling me that.”

“It’s your name, man, I dunno what to tell you,” Techno said with a grin. He crossed the distance between him and the man in three large steps. He knelt. “Did ya go and get yourself shot again?”

Above the black bandana, the man rolled green eyes. His forehead was shiny with sweat, blond hair sticking to his skin.

“What, sad it wasn’t you? Again?”

“You’re the one who wanted that duel, Dream.”

“Heh. Yeah—Yeah, that’s fair.”

Techno shook his head, grin softening into a knowing smile. The moment he saw the horse, he had thought his day would go something like this.

“Lemme see how bad it is.”

Dream slipped his gun into the holster that was strapped to his leg and finally pulled the black bandana down. Techno could count the number of times he had seen the whole of Dream’s face on one hand. He frowned a little as Dream pulled his hand away from his side. Dark, almost black blood slowly oozed from the tear in his skin.

“It didn’t get anything important,” said Dream.

One of Techno’s eyebrows shot upwards as he pulled a clean handkerchief out of his pocket.

“You sure about that?” he asked, pressing the handkerchief as gently as he could to the bullet hole. Dream drew in a sharp breath, air whistling between his clenched teeth.

“Well, I mean… No, but I don’t think it did.”

The words sounded uncertain and tight. Techno clicked his tongue. He wanted to ask what had happened, who had shot him this time and who was going to come looking for him. It was unlikely that anyone would come here; the last time he had been spotted in public with Dream, he had been twenty paces away. Techno’s hand felt around Dream’s side, looking for the exit wound. There was none.

“Good news,” Techno said as he leaned back on his heels, “you’re right – for once – and it didn’t hit anything important.”

The corner of Dream’s mouth twitched.

“Go to hell,” he said. And then, with the air of someone who already knew the answer, “What’s the bad news?”

“I’m gonna have to dig that bullet out.”

Dream closed his eyes for a moment. The blood had slowed to trickle, his body doing its job to keep him from bleeding to death. It wouldn’t matter if the bullet was left in to shift or break apart and seep lead into his blood.

“Yeah, I thought so.”

His eyes were still closed and Techno took this moment to look him over more closely. Blood had soaked his shirt and the waist of his pants but also near the hem of the opposite side. His knuckles were scrapped and his cheek was puffy and yellow, the sign of a newly forming bruise. 

“Alright. Well, I don’t want to go diggin’ it out in my barn so how about I help you inside?”

“Yeah, sure.”

With a deep sigh, Dream finally opened his eyes and began to push himself upright. His hand slipped a little on the loose straw covering the floor of the barn. Techno grabbed his shoulder to steady him before unceremoniously shoving his hands beneath Dream’s armpits and pulling him to his feet. A string of curses were muttered but Techno ignored them, wrapping an arm around Dream and letting him lean against him. The first couple steps, Dream was stubborn, trying to walk without assistance but by the time they had left the barn, he was fully leaning on Techno. He squinted in the sunlight.

“I left—Spirit should be out here, somewhere,” he said.

The horse had wandered a few feet, closer to pasture where Techno’s horses were, and was grazing. He would have to be put up but for now, exhaustion and the fact the other horses had wandered over to the fence to graze closer to the newcomer was working in their favor.

“He’s right there,” said Techno, nodding his head towards the fence. “He’ll be fine. I’m gonna stop you from dyin’ on my land and then I’ll go put him up, alright?”

Dream nodded. His jaw was clenched and his fingers dug into Techno’s arm hard enough to hurt as they climbed the stairs up to the porch. Techno almost made a joke about how he wasn’t going to drop Dream, if that’s what he was worried about, but decided against it.

“Your house sucks,” Dream said as he stepped onto the porch, breathing heavily.

Techno snorted.

“At least I have a house, Dream.”

He used his shoulder to push the door open. The bedroom was straight ahead, the door already open, and Techno steered Dream in that direction. It would mean a change of blankets but he needed a relatively flat surface.  

“You’re such a bastard.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Lay down,” Techno said.

Dream did what he was told without argument, though he tried to prop himself up on his elbows to watch Techno dig his leather medical bag out of his trunk and only fully laid down when Techno returned and pushed him back down. He grumbled a little then but it seemed to be all he had the energy for. Techno sat on the bed and the mattress creaked.

“Pull your shirt up a little.”

“You better not mess this up,” said Dream, pulling his torn and blood stained shirt up.

The buckle on the leather bag had long since broken and Techno pulled out a few items – clean rags torn into strips, a pair of thin metal tongs, and a bottle of whiskey – and set them on the crate serving as a night stand.

“Pfft, I’ll remind you that you came to me, man.” He uncorked the whiskey. Dream eyed the bottle warily. Carefully, Techno poured some over the wound then wiped away the blood with one of the rags. He glanced up at Dream, face beaded with sweat, and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”

Lifting his hand, Dream wrapped his fingers around Techno’s wrist, his pale skin in stark contrast to Techno’s brown skin, and squeezed.

“I—I believe you.”

It was earnest and Techno inclined his head towards Dream before picking up the metal tongs. Dream let go of his wrist in favor of balling his fists into the wool blanket as Techno began his work. He found one large chunk of the bullet fairly quickly and discarded it to the side. The other two pieces were harder to find and Techno paused a few times when Dream made a pained sound, reaching out to place his hand over Dream’s for a moment. When he had finally gotten the final fragment out with a bit of twisting and pulling, Techno poured more whiskey over the wound. Dream hissed out a quiet ‘god damn’.

“Anything else I oughta take a look at?” asked Techno, glancing down at the blood on Dream’s leg.

Dream shook his head.

“N-no, I’m fine.” Techno paused in the middle of rinsing his hands off in the basin and cocked an eyebrow. Dream huffed. “It’s nothing I can’t handle, okay? I’m fine.”

Drying his hands off on his pants, Techno pulled out another strip of the makeshift bandage. He slipped a hand behind Dream’s shoulder and guided him up. A pained wince was bit back as Dream glanced at Techno sheepishly.

“I believe you, alright, I believe you,” he said. Without being told, Dream lifted his arms up so that Techno could wrap the bandage around his abdomen a few times, pulling it taut enough to help stop the bleeding but not too tight to be uncomfortable. “D’you want to tell me what happened now?”

The expression on Dream’s face was serious, hurt, and he looked away. There had only been a handful times that Techno had seen Dream’s face but the times he had, the other man had been grinning. The change was disconcerting.

“It was an ambush. I—They’re probably going to come looking for me. I figured, you know, I figured that they wouldn’t look here.”

Techno pat Dream on the knee and then handed him the bottle of whiskey. Now he grinned as he took a swig, face scrunching up as the alcohol burned his nose.

“Well, I’ve never been one to kick an injured and homeless man to the curb,” Techno said, nudging Dream a little with his knee. “You can stay here as long as you need.”

“What—You’re a son of a bitch, Techno.”

Techno’s smile stretched wider.

“That sure is a funny way of sayin’ ‘thank you’, Dream.”

A long, resigned sigh was pulled from Dream.

“Thank you.”

me writing cc!Dream: he’s broad-shouldered and tall, with fluffy hair and warm, mossy green eyes

me writing c!Dream: he’s a pathetic drowned cat of a man who’d be taken out by a gentle breeze

Honestly, the situation with Tommy and Dream is ridiculous. There is so much wrong with everything going on.

Like it all started over a meme. Let that sink in. this is over a meme.

And yes, Dream shouldn't have said that word but, not only is he on the spectrum, he has been called that word along with countless other slurs and offensive things over the years and never had a tantrum. And neither have we as Dream fans! I've been told to unalive myself so many times for being a Dream fan to the point I'm numb over it. Yet Tommy's fans can't handle a meme. I feel like that says alot.

But I think its crazy people never expected him to snap. Like back anyone into a corner and they're gonna fight back eventually. And the poor guy had enough. So yeah, him "crashing out" was completely valid in my opinion. He's finally letting out the years of suppressed frustration.

Not to mention how Dream is the only person who showed any evidence and yet he's always called a liar. Yet Tommy NEVER shows any proof of his claims. Yet people believe him. Which honestly blows my mind. And for Tommy to say Quackity is fine and Dream isn't is insane. Like Q has just as many allegations that are not proven wrong and everyone just ignored it.

And Tubbo and Ranboo obviously siding with Tommy is expected but with how much Tubbo keeps contradicting himself is ridiculous.

I think that they both need to cut contact and move on. It's not worth all the fighting and chaos between fanbases.

Now im curious which loop is your favourite? Which one is your least favourite?

i think my 'least' favorite is the one where c!techno accidentally lets c!sam know he's onto him. he's trying so hard to figure out where c!dream is being held and who is doing this and he finally gets a lead on sam but he makes one tiny mistake and sam realizes their cover is blown and he kills dream immediately. it sucks because he almost had it, y'know? and he also realizes he messed up so he feels really guilty about the fact his actions led to dream being killed. which was going to happen regardless but he still feels bad.

and my favorite is also a kinda sad one, funnily enough!

but there's one where techno realizes according to reports the 'john doe' was alive when dumped so he thinks that maybe if he gets there early enough, he can save dream that way. he goes off what info he has, waits all night. calls the police and ambulance immediately. it doesn't work, though, and sadly dream still dies. but he does die being comforted by techno which clearly means a lot to him. he even thanks techno for finding him and smiles a little.

i like it because it's sad but you know it'll be okay. and for a moment, dream gets to have someone comfort him. i always have a happy ending, for anyone worried, but i also love a bit of angst and hurt/comfort.

syndicate dream au my beloved

big agree! have a snippet from the Big syndicate au i’m writing !!

warnings: threats, implications of torture/abuse, betrayal, violence

“It’s not Dream,” Techno replies tersely, “you sound like a broken record, Quackity.”

But Quackity is a lot, lot cleverer than anyone gives him credit for: razor sharp eyes cut to Techno instantly, and he tilts his head, smiling. It’s not a nice smile - Techno’s stomach curls in defensive anxiety almost instantly, and without thinking about it, he checks his inventory to ensure a weapon is in close range.

“Interesting,” Quackity says, a little too brightly to be as innocent as he seems, “you seem set on defending Dream, Techno. Why is that?”

Techno keeps calm, doesn’t even bother looking at Ranboo, who is hovering beside him, clear stress in his features. “Dream’s too smart to not remove an obvious base like this. He might be on the run, but he’s not an idiot.”

“Don’t you think it’s a sign?” Quackity points out, expression cold. “It’s clear that he’s left a sign for us: this is supposed to be a warning of things to come. It’s not as if he has anywhere else to stay, too.”

The thought of Dream, curled around his polar bear, grinning for the first time in a long time, accepting his cloak and never taking it off again, has Techno’s eyes narrowing, protectiveness kicking in (not that he’d ever admit it). “Oh, yeah, because the guy who can’t run or fight is going to be leaving signs for us to catch him,” he says sarcastically, “good idea, Quackity, smart thinking.”

“You heard Ranboo though, Technoblade.” Quackity doesn’t sound pleased, drilling in on this point; God, Techno thinks, he might have to reveal Dream’s whereabouts sooner rather than later, this isn’t what he’d planned at all. “Dream attacked him last night, he’s very clearly able to fight, and he’s very clearly got a fucking plan in mind. I just want to know why you’re defending him so strongly.”

Quackity’s gaze could have cut through stone. It’s a good thing he’s never claimed to be stone. Techno considers Quackity briefly in one quick contemplative glance. 

“Because he’s under Syndicate protection,” he says evenly, ignoring the way Ranboo’s shoulders hunch in stunned disbelief and ignoring the expression that cuts itself off from Quackity’s face, “and he doesn’t need to camp out here. Because he lives with me.”

“What?” Ranboo asks, voice quiet. “Techno, he’s- he’s dangerous. He doesn’t care about anarchy. He wants control of the server again, you know that.”

You whisper to Ranboo: trust me

And the expression on the kid’s face doesn’t change, but he swallows, stepping back, and Techno internally thanks any higher power listening (not that he thinks there is one). He can explain everything to Ranboo later: right now, however, every iota of him is focused on Quackity and the worrying time the younger is taking to reply.

“That’s a very interesting thing to say,” Quackity says lightly, but there’s something cold and cunning in his voice, something sharp that Techno doesn’t trust in the slightest, “why would you do something like that when you know all of the fucking shit he’s done to all of us?”

Techno shrugs, forcing carelessness into the gesture. “He’s been helpful to me before,” he replies idly, “I don’t see why I can’t keep him. It’s like prison without the, you know, government control and total removal of his rights.”

“It’s what he deserves.”

Red hot rage rises to the surface. “It’s what nobody deserves. You’re smart. You know that.”

Quackity steps back, smiles, one hand coming up to his scar. It would have been self conscious if it hadn’t been a threat. “You think he doesn’t need that?” He asks. “You think he’s safe enough to be allowed full autonomy without consequence?”

“I think it would be pretty hypocritical of me to start stripping him of his rights, considering I’m also sort of guilty of blowing up a nation and taking lives. A lot of us are.” A reminder of Dream standing next to the lava, staring down into it, has bile rising in his throat. He’ll be damned before he lets Dream go back to prison. “He’s different, you know. Something changed.”

“Careful.” Quackity says, and it sounds friendly, feels like a warning. “You don’t know that he’s changed. It could be an act. You know, it’s the quiet ones that can be the most dangerous. The ones you don’t expect. You understand that, right, Techno?”

Techno stares into Quackity’s eyes, wonders when the other had started wearing such heavy armour and carrying such dangerous weapons. He doesn’t remember that cold cold gleam in his eyes always being there.

“Yeah,” he replies evenly, “I understand perfectly.”

what's your favorite thing to write on fics? and what's you favorite thing about all the menber of cdoomsdaytrio?

good question!!! i like writing things that are bittersweet and tragic. i like complex emotions and multi-level relationships. i like writing small gestures and everyday activities that reveal a lot about a character and their mindset. i like writing characters who change their minds. i like regret. and i really like medical stuff :)

as far as The Boys:

cdream: he holds his cards close to his chest, and i use that trait as a narrative tool in all of my fics. when cornered or challenged, he's childish. his words can hit hard, but they can also be stuttered and slurred and borderline nonsensical. he tries to reason with everyone. he likes to make deals, but he's bad at it. he wants to be understood, but he doesn't want to open up.

ctechno: i like how genuine and Himself he is. as opposed to the systems and governments that he hates, he's always really straightforward and addresses the grey area that he sees. he really cares about people. he doesn't want to fight, but he sees that fighting can do good, and he's good at it. he loves very deeply. he's protective.

cphil: i keep philza's immortality in mind with every scene i write, and i think that's a lot of fun! he's wise, but he's kind of detached from every situation he faces, and he takes mistakes to heart because he feels like he should know better. writing phil is such a fun thought experiment, and he can be silly and crude at times too.

Given that the “If YouTubers Were Honest” video seems to be the breaking point talked about by both Dream in his stream and Tommy in his recent podcast, I kinda wanna talk about it a little more for a second.

(note: I haven’t seen the podcast because I refuse to pay and missed my opportunity when it was on YouTube but here are a couple summaries/transcripts of both it and Dream’s stream from two different pastebins).

First off, personally, I don’t even find the video funny. (I mean the best part is arguably the Philza rap, but anyways.) Clearly, Dream was massively hurt by it, as he says in his stream and as evident by the scathing text messages he evidently sent to Tommy afterwards. But I don’t think it’s hard to see why he’d be hurt. It’s already a painful situation, he’s already under fire from fans and then this just makes it worse. Dream and his family are currently dealing with doxing and scary things, meanwhile Tommy thinks it’s a good idea to make a video joking about it? wtf. That’s messed up any way you spin it in my mind. You can say the qsmp fans were the people coming after Dream but we know this isn’t true, you can say the video didn’t make that big of a difference but has 2.2 millions views so I hardly think so. If we know anything about the internet it’s that often humor goes over peoples head.

The biggest argument made by Tommy that is also mentioned by Tubbo recently, is that the video is satire, and a joke so it was supposed to be funny and not taken seriously. But here’s the thing, satire is based on truth. It’s using irony, sarcasm, exaggeration of truths widely known in a humorous way to humiliate someone or a group of people, often to point out a flaw or corruption and such. One of the most famous satires is A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Smith which suggests that in order to solve the problems of poverty in Ireland the poor should butcher their children and sell them for food for the rich. This is ridiculous, but also based in truth right? Ireland was actually dealing with poverty and starvation as a result of over population so why not eat the children. Technically, as ridiculous as it is, it is still based on truth even if an extremely over the top answer crazy reasoning. But technically speaking, it would solve the issues that exist. That’s part of why it works to make fun of the corruption and poor logic of the elite and politicians, as well as their callousness toward the suffering people of the lower class. Satire is the extension of irony and irony is based off of the truth. Dramatic irony is when the audience knows something the character does not which makes what the character does problematic often in a funny or tragic way. If you’ve seen Wicked then a foreshadowing dramatic irony in the song “The Wizard and I” is about how ‘there will be a day where all of Oz celebrates her and she’ll be so happy she can melt’, which the audience knows is pretty true from The Wizard of Oz, only her melting is her death and all of Oz celebrates that. It’s truth, that’s what makes it funny or tragic and satire is just the extreme extension of that.

What Tommy did, was not the truth. He lied, something Dream specifically points out as a main problem he had with the video. Tommy didn’t do satire, he wasn’t highlighting a specific flaw in Dream and Quackity or irony in the situation, he just painted a narrative that wasn’t true and used that to make fun of Dream. That’s the problem with it, that’s why it’s hurtful and not funny (in my opinion). It’s missing the satirical elements of irony and sarcasm that come from being clever with the truth. And that’s why Dream was hurt by it because Tommy made a video lying about a situation where people were already rallying against him, to an audience who already hates him. Tommy just straight up made fun of Dream for laughs in one of the lowest points in Dream’s life.

Even further, what’s also flawed with the argument that it was just a joke is what Tommy says in the podcast

“He didn’t expect Dream to snap at him over the “If YouTubers Were Honest” video. He used that video to test Dream because he had many friends telling him that Dream’s a bad person but Tommy told them no and didn’t believe them. After he posted the video, Dream sent him a very long angry message that was full of horrible words, which made Tommy realize Dream’s a bad guy.”

Tommy didn’t expect Dream to snap? But also did it as a test? Seriously?! Oh let me see how far I can make fun of Dream until he snaps at me and when he does this confirms he’s a bad guy… it’s just a joke my ass, you didn’t just make a video for laughs, you made in your own words to test Dream and your friendship, furthermore to test how far you could push him until he snaps (<- huh wouldn’t you know, isn’t that a familiar idea…). During a time when you know his mental health is suffering and he and his family are being actively doxxed. That’s just insane. That’s like… like… it’s so wild I’m struggling for an analogy… it’s like kicking a starving animal to test how dangerous it is and then after it finally bites you, labeling it a danger society…

In summary, Tommy didn’t make a satirical video joking about Dream, he performed a humiliating skit about Dream, making fun of him. In order to test if Dream would snap at him and then labels Dream a bad guy when he does…

A dreblr secret santa for @sapnapstummy!

Fun fact: Rabbit and pig has different fur changing seasons and usually pig blows their fur so it came off much faster (?). Idk, just thought that is interesing.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the silly rivals! They are definitely sharing one common braincell >.<

Also, big thanks to @dreblrsecretsanta for organising the event!

not married not dating not friends but a secret fourth thing (outlaws running a city while searching for their missing kid)