A Treatise In Defense of c!EmeraldDuo

because everyone thinks I'm a fucking weirdo for liking things to actually feel canon and make fucking sense.

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First of all, I'd like to preface this unholy rant from hell by reminding everyone that in no way shape or form should ANYONE harass creators with their headcanons or do or say anything crossing their boundaries. Let fiction remain fiction and far away from them. But also, a little reminder that everyone often forgets... fiction does not equal reality. Let me repeat, FICTION DOES NOT EQUAL REALITY.

I can't tell you how many times I've been ostracized in different little mini communities for seeing c!EmeraldDuo as anything more than platonic (queerplatonic). It's just fiction, if I have private headcanons they literally don't affect anyone around me because I KEEP IT TO MY FUCKING SELF. I don't push my bullshit onto my friends or anyone else in my vicinity.

But also, fuck the fandom for half of them seeing c!SBI as canon and ostracizing people who believe any different when it was never fucking real. SBI believers are the people who most stare at me with horror if I see emduo as what it actually is in canon or, god forbid, queerplatonic or more in my headcanons. A very very important thing to note, SBI was the CONTENT CREATORS. NOT THEIR CHARACTERS. IT WAS ALWAYS JUST THE CCs. The only canon blood relationship among those CCs in the DSMP was Wilbur being Philza's son and the others were NOT blood related. Another note, Wilbur did NOT have and NEVER had the final say in constantly pushing SBI onto people when he was part of it.

The mischaracterization of Techno's character—because of all the people mindlessly jumping onto c!SBI as real (when it wasn't)—got SO BAD that Techno literally had to make a statement saying he wasn't comfortable with the c!SBI headcanon and that he wanted his and Philza's characters to be old friends.

Because it does destroy his character.

Let me explain.

Let's begin with the CC's first meeting in Minecraft Monday 10. Don't worry, I'll tie in how this is relevant to their DSMP characters in a bit. In MCM10, Techno was paired with Philza by the organizers of the event in order to try to nerf him from being able to win, since he was really, really good at Minecraft Monday. But the event organizers had no idea that Philza was nearly as good at minecraft in general even if you don't count pvp (which he does know, just not as much as Techno). He was such a good support for Techno (who knows how to supply his teammates with gear and protect them instead of just fending for himself) that they won the entire fucking thing with Philza almost having as many points as Techno. Their friendship started that day, though they'd only heard of each other before.

Secondly, SMP Earth. SMPE happened after MCM10, and Techno and Philza immediately teamed up, creating what was known as the Antarctic Empire. They both founded and defended it, with Philza immediately attempting to execute anyone who came onto their land as soon as Techno gave the word (or even sometimes before he said anything). That kind of blind loyalty is not to be underestimated. This is not even considering that Philza had immediately begun gathering huge amounts of resources and materials for their empire, to the point that upon his return to their home base even Techno was intimidated by how much Philza had collected and said 'We choose good allies, chat'. Not to mention the main point of the video this all happened in, them taking over the entire world map. Just those two, together, with planes and then with boats once the planes were taken away. They refused to disband the Antarctic Empire when put on trial for taking over nearly every pixel of land on the map of the server.

Now, to tie this in to DSMP lore, were you aware that Philza builds his character off ALL his experiences in minecraft? ALL of them? And yet he wasn't the only one who brought up the Antarctic Empire as having happened. Techno had an Antarctic Empire outfit that he and Philza both put on during one of the DSMP arcs. They even had custom Antarctic Empire shields made for their use in the DSMP.

Now let's turn our attention to their titles/things they refer to or are referred to as in the lore. The Blood God and the Angel of Death. Even if Techno isn't the Blood God himself, he is made functionally immortal by that entity and the kills the voices demand. Philza's character is a bit more complicated, him always undermining his own power and functional immortality, his own granted by the Goddess of Death.

Let's jump forward to the first QSMP for a moment, in which Philza canonically refers to his death in the five year hardcore world as the only time he's died. He also refers to many things involving Techno, making them canon to his entire life arc as a minecraft character. He has made canon almost everything his character has experienced with Techno, from MCM10 to the Antarctic Empire to the DSMP.

Philza and Techno's characters are both functionally immortal, Techno's arc only stopping because of the creator's death.

Can you see why it's a problem for all of that depth and backstory to be reduced to "being Phil's kid"?

He was never Phil's kid in the lore, despite half the fandom pushing SBI just as hard as Wilbur did when Techno didn't even want that. Their characters have always been old friends, their arc slowly building from Minecraft Monday onward.

Let's jump back to the topic of loyalty. Can you really see every family as loyal to one another? Do you know how many fucked up families exist? Take Wilbur blowing up L'manberg right in front of Phil, for example. No amount of family loyalty and Phil warning him not to do it kept him from doing it in the end. But does Phil need a reason to protect and support Techno? No, no he doesn't. And yet he does it anyway. Does Techno need a reason to protect and support Phil? No, no he doesn't. But he fucking did so anyway. Because loyalty isn't about family at all. The kind of loyalty their characters have for each other is way stronger than any "familial" bond. I'd even go so far as to say their characters are extremely queerplatonic with each other, Techno blindly trusting Phil with his life despite being a very distrusting person in lore and Phil refusing to reveal Techno's position even when being threatened in his own home in L'manberg. They literally built houses connected to each other.

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MY c!EMERALDDUO HEADCANONS IF U EVEN CARE:

Ever since they met, sometime during the events of the Antarctic Empire, Technoblade and Philza formed a sort of primal pack bond, one being part piglin and the other part crow, but both feeling that strange, primal connection that made Phil instantly loyal, and Techno reciprocate that fierce loyalty. Their friendship was more than friendship, something deeper than a stupid complicated human romantic relationship. Neither of them understood it at the time, where the loyalty unto death that they had for each other even came from. All they knew was that that was their person, and nothing could separate them, not even death. I say "not even death" because of their functional immortality. Over the years, their bond only strengthened, while others squabbled over items and property, they lived together quietly, keeping each other warm in long winters. Small acts of love that could not be quantified easily into anything solid or complete. Firewood at doorsteps. Techno's protectiveness of more than just his cabin. Phil's wings wrapping around Techno on cold nights. Dinners in each other's cabins. Falling asleep in the same bed. Philza didn't need any more than that, though he knew without a doubt it was something like love. Techno didn't understand and felt awkward about the concept of human relationships, avoiding it like the plague, but the first time someone else showed too much interest in Phil, something in him stirred dangerously. He'd never claimed Phil, feeling like something as permanent as a piglin claim would be unwelcome in their uncomplicated steadfast loyalty. He fashioned a pair of thin dangling gold earrings with an emerald on the end of both, giving one to Phil. That glint of gold being worn by Philza soothed something in his piglin instincts that he couldn't voice or describe. It was a claim without being a claim. At some point, Philza let Techno groom his wings. Despite it being a fairly intimate act, Philza felt comfortable and safe with Techno's touch. Techno's strange instinctual urge to maintain his hoard was soothed by being allowed to run his fingers through those dark feathers. He was gentle, too gentle, like even somewhere in the depth of his instincts he understood this was something intimate. It wasn't terrifying like human relationships, it was something... something else. Something he liked. It was Phil trusting parts of himself with him. Everything was right in the world if Phil was comfortable and safe.

More to come bc I am STARVED for canon-feeling EmeraldDuo headcanons.

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Pub: 19 Apr 2026 14:53 UTC

Edit: 25 Apr 2026 18:53 UTC

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