i’ve decided to post what i had from that traitor phil au i was working on back in april as a oneshot, so here’s the full fic outline so i can link it at the end
tl;dr the full plot would have been that phil would start out intending to betray techno and actually turn him into the butcher army, but after the execution realize he really cares about techno and decide to swap sides, choosing to be the friend techno believed him to be all along
phil arriving in lmanberg and killing wilbur, seeing technoblade, speaking to new lmanberg about what happened
no one really seems to know exactly what caused wil’s downward spiral, and those that saw it firsthand either dont want to talk about it or aren’t there. eventually phil talks to quackity and quackity tells him that wil’s spiral started about when techno showed up, and if they can bring techno down, they can avenge wilbur
phil going after techno in the arctic, finding him building his house. gets roped into helping him (maybe explain here why phil is acting as he is), get to know techno
see him shapeshift into human form once the house is done and realize he’s wilbur’s age
helping build the bee farm
going to the village and seeing techno would rather trade w the villagers than act out the senselessly violent character they told him about
probably mentions that carl is his most important horse
gives phil the compass at the end of their first real meeting so phil can come back, inscribed with “Techno’s Compass” on the back, so phil starts calling him “techno”
several meetings, techno trusts phil w information such as
only has one life
hears voices and is trying to be less violent (hence throwing his all into his friendship w phil)
had something short written for this area
“Y’know, if you let the snow pile up a bit more, mobs’d stop spawning,” Phil says, though he doesn’t process the words until they’re already out of his mouth. He only just stops himself from straight-up slamming his hand over his mouth, though after a moment, he realizes he doesn’t regret the tip as much as he thought he might.
Technoblade, for his part, only nods.
“How deep?” Technoblade asks.
“About, uh,” Phil says, and for a second, he considers lying. He could tell Technoblade something too short, allowing mobs to spawn when his guard is lowered. He could also say too high, letting Technoblade risk freezing.
He balks at both ideas. Technoblade isn’t stupid enough to fall for either, for one, and besides, the idea of Technoblade suffering either fate feels… wrong, somehow. Something in Phil’s gut turns as he imagines the man collapsing in the snow, just feet from his own home, felled by some creeper he hadn’t thought there’d be any risk of spawning. Worse, Phil finds he hates the idea of coming to visit, only to find Technoblade’s frozen corpse half buried in the snow.
Phil’d… like to see it himself, he decides. A death message in chat just doesn’t have the same flair as hands-on revenge, even if he caused it.
“Another layer should do the trick,” Phil says, “Just don’t pile it too high. Don’t want to freeze.”
phil shares w nlm that techno only has one life. he also shares that techno is trying to live as a pacifist. he tries to argue that he believes techno may well have changed, and he’d like to get more information, but is ignored. he doesnt share about the voices
techno gives phil the friendship emerald once a stable trade is built up. emeralds mean loyalty, they cant be used for weapons or tools. they’re only used in totems. emeralds symbolize truth, which isn’t something that is lost on phil
phil’s very aware of the emerald in his ear when he hands over Techno’s compass to the Butcher Army
he tips dream off about the upcoming execution
he helps build the stand—he stalls so that dream has time to help and makes the would-be manner of death quick and painless when asked to finish
he sends a crow off to warn techno the day of
he tells himself that with tubbo and ranboo there that techno will be able to talk to them and prove he’s changed, that techno will be able to fight them off, that it’ll all be fine
all the way up until the butcher army comes back and they have techno
resignation, steely determination, and then he looks up and sees phil and its open and honest fear. For Phil’s Sake. and lmanberg decides to try to kick techno while hes down by telling techno that phil betrayed him
i also have a bit for this
Phil hears the crowd before he sees them. Quackity, Tubbo, Fundy—he recognizes their voices easily, shouting at the top of their lungs as they come up the street. That doesn’t surprise Phil, as they’ve never been quiet.
What worries him is that they’re cheering.
A group returning from getting their asses handed to them by the Blood God wouldn’t return home cheering.
Phil steps out onto his balcony, his heart in his stomach, and that is his first mistake.
Technoblade is in chains. His head hangs low, long hair half out of the same lazy bun he’s been wearing it in for weeks, strung around his face in a curtain that cannot hide the resignation set in his jaw. He’s unarmed and without armor, dressed down to the casualwear Phil has gotten so used to seeing him in. It’s damp with sweat, though at the least, he doesn’t seem injured.
Phil’s second mistake is speaking, an almost involuntary expression of shock.
“You actually got him,” Phil says, and Technoblade’s head snaps up.
Phil braces for rage. He braces for hatred, for the well-earned vitriol of a man betrayed. He braces for the fire that has razed nations to the ground, that has reveled in bridges aflame and smoking. He expects Techno to despise him.
What he sees is fear. Techno is terrified, but not for himself—he’s scared for Phil, of all people, even with the end of his life looming black against the night sky just a few steps away.
“Phil!” Techno calls, and he yanks on the chain, dragging Ranboo a few paces with it, “What’d they do to you?”
It burns so much worse.
techno goes Hard Into Denial. shouts that theyre all lying and they must have tortured phil or theyre trying to hurt techno more in his last moments and declares he doesnt believe them and tells phil he knows better
This Is All Very Bad For Phil’s Conscience
phil doesnt know about the totem--even when punz hops in he has no idea, when the lever is pulled, that they’ll be able to do anything. he thinks hes going to watch techno die, and have the last thing techno says about him is ‘i believe in you wholeheartedly’ even though phil’s hand may as well have been on the lever
techno escapes and runs away without looking back and phil decides, if it isn’t too late, that he wants to be the person techno believes he is
its also how phil sees tubbo being truly corrupted by power (esp considering tubbo shot him) and knows hes like. this is what happened to wilbur. this is what this place does to people
techno comes back for phil a few days later. nothing to find him by except gentle tapping at phil’s door and the tell-tale heat-haze shimmer of invis. no armor, unarmed, in the middle of enemy territory. its a show of trust and a blatant test. “Are you with me?”
techno’s very much looking for proof on either side. did phil betray him? is phil actually his friend? this is the big moment of truth for him. but phil’s still wearing the emerald, and he takes the hand techno offers, and against all good sense techno chooses to trust him
techno asks a little about it and phil tells him they used wilbur’s memory to make him. techno doesnt ask anything else
techno’s sort of. hes aware something is sus w phil. but he has to believe that phil is his friend, since he has no others and he really likes phil, so hes believing phil isn’t a traitor. not... a particularly healthy mindset tbh
tommy stuff, rebuilding the techno and phil friendship as techno prepares to attack lmanberg
being able to actually talk to tommy and ask tommy about what happened to wilbur helps settle that part of phil that’s been wondering all this time
techno comes home after the green festival alone and tells phil that tommy betrayed him. this is another test, just slightly. as he tells phil there’s this slight edge of “but you wouldn’t do this to me, right? you’re not going to betray me, right?” and phil is able to like. as he comforts techno abt the betrayal hes able to assure techno who he chose. esp when the idea of destroying lmanberg comes up and phil is right behind him
doomsday is a way for phil to declare, officially, where his loyalties lie, to completely get rid of the place that wanted to make him technoblade's enemy, to get rid of the place that drove wilbur over the edge. and techno sees phil's insistence with helping him at doomsday and hes like. ‘i never should have doubted phil, hes always been on my side’
after doomsday phil considers not telling techno. he Does Not want to talk about this sort of thing w techno but also he thinks he needs to, bc techno doesnt rlly freely share emotional needs anymore like he used to, techno cant seem to let himself start trusting ranboo, and phil cant make himself build a house on techno’s property because he feels too guilty
techno approaches phil about the syndicate and phil comes clean. he cant in good conscience join this organization w techno as techno’s most trusted right hand if he doesnt
its like. its earth-shattering for techno, but at the same time, techno knew all along
techno comes away with the idea that phil may have started w lmanberg, but phil chose techno, something no one else has done
