thinking about c!dream earlier on in the server just makes me sad man. like, c!dream has never been a perfect character. he's always been flawed, always been a bit of an asshole, always had control issues. but also he knew that. he tried to work on that. he and tommy were friends, despite being flawed people with their own issues that would bump into conflicts because of the ways that they differed. c!dream tried, god, he tried; he wasn't even on the server, when the drug van happened, and walked into a place with someone who was practically a stranger to him building a wall and calling for war and having turned half the people dream knew against him, apparently, for no reason that he could've known at the time, and he had looked straight at tommy and tubbo and asked if that was what they really wanted when wilbur told them that there was no such thing as dual citizenship. he tells tommy when he has to sell a disc for spirit's leather even though tommy had surrendered the discs to him at the end of the revolution because he knows it'll matter to him. he and tommy truce, multiple times, and c!dream gets tangled into conflicts that literally don't involve him repeatedly and gets targeted Because He's Dream repeatedly and he plays along with that trivia contest and he gives gifts to fundy and tommy after terrorizing them a little for fun and he plays along with the dreamon thing and he keeps getting pulled into fights that weren't his but tries to make them a little more fair when they get him involved. he fucks around with tommy and they have fun, they're friends, and when he and wilbur look like they're in danger dream is one of the first to find them and lend them real, practical, valuable aid. he calls himself "Big D" in that book and he tells the man that wrote him as a tyrant that he doesn't want to be a villain in the story anymore. he asks tommy if he's okay, and watches that kid's back when he walks alone and unarmed into manberg, and fights with him at the battle of the lake and all of that is thrown back in his face as being a lie. half the intial community structures that exist were built by him; the community house, the nether portal and hub, the prime path. during a time where every other piece of leverage got burned or killed (rip the casualties of the pet war), dream was kind of known for being one that could be fairly traded with, that would minimize permanent damage. the kills in the final control room were originally to strip lmanburg of their gear, which he had kept in a chest so it could be returned to them after the war.

like no c!dream isn't perfect at the beginning of the server. yes he's kind of a jerk sometimes, kind of an asshole sometimes, kind of neurotic most of the time. but god dammit like c!dream does try to mitigate the worst of his control issues, when they flare up early on; the initial disc war ends with tommy getting his discs back as well as a stack of diamonds, in exchange for a netherite chestplate. he's a flawed character and he's still someone pretty friendly on the whole to most of the server, he's also kind of just known for being a little weird. he gives gifts randomly. he fixed creeper holes, and houses, and went along with bits. like whatever im a c!drolo c!dream woobifier and i admit it lol but for as much evil as he ends up doing, pretty damn consistently early on, he's . friendly? kind? funny? helpful? their neighbor. their friend. c!dream isn't just some stranger that flew off the handle; he's someone they knew and lived with who had his actions taken in bad faith because the goddamn story said so and kept fucking trying anyway until he believed the lie too. like he was just a guy!! a guy they knew and lived with!!! like my god

https://www.tumblr.com/bleue-flora/748747057390649344/now-after-covering-the-past-events-dream?source=share

I kind of think he losed this power on some point. One of his reasons to start the experiments with the book was to undertand the why death now had a new meaning with the three lives thing. It'll make sense that if he losed his admin Powers he would be more motivated to go for it when he literally losed Powers and we know how much power issues and insecurities he has. Losing this also adds some angst bc imagine losing Even more power and control over your own server?

Or was bc of story convenience bc there's not story if he bans half the server

Or maybe both

Hmm… that is one reasonable explanation, which as you point out would be a good reason to be studying the revive book and striving for answers and knowledge. As far as control and power over his server I might have to disagree. Mostly because, I don’t think control and power are really what he wants or his main focus. The “power hungry need for control” and “his server” mentality comes from a performance he gave as the villain, playing the role Tommy and Wilbur cast him in. So, I don’t think he really thinks of the server like that, except perhaps in a more protective way of wanting people to have a happy home. If controlling the server was his motivation then I think his choices would have been different…

Regardless, it does bring up the fascinating conundrum - if he lost his op power, when did he lose it? And why did he lose it?… was it when he was murdered in the cave? Was it when people started turning against him (ya know like Santa Claus in elf XD)? Was it when the Egg appeared? Was it when he died in the staged finale and that’s why he couldn’t tp out of the prison?……

It really does always come back to George…

Tommy kills George -> Banishment

L’manberg tries to claim George’s land -> War

George is part of Manberg’s cabinet -> Dream switches sides

George keeps getting murdered -> Revive Book

Tommy burns down George’s house -> Exile

Dream used to give George red roses before he left -> Egg

George doesn’t come to visit -> Jailbreak

George leaves Dream -> Dream bullies guy in Exile, Community House blows up, Doomsday, Staged Finale, Pandora’s Vault

Quackity hurts George’s feelings -> Las Nevadas Finale attack on Quackity

George thinks the dsmp is no longer fun -> Reset

To be fair, while Techno and Dream are similar in motivation and strength. I think it is a little unfair to say Techno is more stable than Dream. While not untrue, I think it is more noteworthy that Techno never was an enemy of Wilbur. While Techno did face targeting propaganda it was largely Quackity. And I think that while we can all agree Quackity’s manipulation is good, it’s not to Wilbur’s level. Not to mention, that the villainization of Techno was largely possible due to the mindset Wilbur had left behind.

Stability is also just not as important as allyship. Techno started on Tommy’s and Wilbur’s sides and even though they technically should have been the bad guys in that scenario, a huge majority of the members joined their side. So, Techno started on the “good guys side” and he streamed his pov giving him more likability from the members and fans from the start.

And even when he became the “bad guy,” not everyone was against him. Even Tommy who was betrayed, treated Techno better than Eret after the first war. In fact, without Quackity I think L’manberg probably wouldn’t have gone after Techno. Because later when Quackity is no longer focused on Techno but Dream instead, notice no one is really gunning for Techno. I’d go as far to say that if Techno had been in the situation Dream was in in the staged finale, I don’t think people would have treated him the same. For many reasons which I won’t go into here, but most notably Wilbur.

Quackity’s manipulation never lasted, he never had a full grasp on people, mostly because his manipulation was based in the assumption that people want what he wants, which just isn’t always true. Wilbur however, his influence outlived him. Even while he was death people still looked down upon Dream, and Techno never was Wilbur’s target so Techno was at a huge advantage there. This allowed him to gain actual allies. Techno was also advantages in the fact that he had Phil, a friend from before whose relationship was strong even when they stood on opposite sides to begin with. This is something Dream never had, no one remained Dream’s friend or ally reguardless of which conflict. Sapnap and George certainly didn’t.

So while sanity and spiraling play a role, their role in the story is much later. A lot happens before Dream begins to truly spiral and to say that that spiral is a big difference between them I think negates the circumstances that caused the spiral.

In the same way, I’d also like to point out that Dream does push back against the dehumanization. Over and over and over again. Long before Techno arrives, and long after too. He doesn’t just roll over. He doesn’t accept it till much later. Who’s to say that if Techno had been fighting it for as long as Dream had that he too wouldn’t have given in.

It’s just a little unfair to blame Dream’s mental stability for their different paths. There are lots of things that are similar between them, but Dream isn’t an insane version of Techno, nor a version of Techno if he had spiraled. And Dream is not a version of Techno who made worse decisions.

It’s the logical way they see the world, the bigger problems and picture the others do not see that makes them alike. It’s their strength and ability to conjure fear that makes them the same. It’s their drive, dedication and intensity, to mine obsidian or for netherite for hours, it is their conviction and prowess that is comparable. And for those reasons, cc!Dream would have an easier time playing Techno than someone else because I don’t think he would be able to enjoy the lazy chaos of some of the other characters nor the intricate building of others, it would be a real challenge for him.

Reminds me of how dream said that if he had to swap characters it would be c!techno because of how similar they and their goals were

yeah!

like, at the end of the day, they both wanted the same thing: peace and their friends to be safe and happy.

genuinely, the biggest difference was the amount of support they each got and the fact that c!techno was a lot more stable. he's been through a lot, he genuinely has some deep trauma. it's just techno has a much stronger sense of self. he pushes back against the dehumanization, where dream accepts it.

so dream spirals. he spirals hard and he keeps spiraling because no one is helping him, least of all himself. where techno begins to spiral, does try isolate himself, but he's much more certain of who he is and he has at least one steadfast friend at the start of that spiral. he's able to walk himself back. where. dream doesn't. he can't.

and i do think techno saw that a bit, he offers dream a place but man. dream is so deep in his fear and his stress, he can't stop to accept that place. he dances on the edge of maybe. he builds a house. but he can't step away because he's terrified and the spiral plan is all he has now. he's got to see it through and maybe he'll be able to fix everything! so he destroys the house.

gods, i love these two.

your fics have started to jumpscare me when i see them on ao3 bc now i go "wait, i aware of who this is!" get percived idiot (affectionate)

I need you to know you are rewriting my understanding of the dsmp.

Oh?… Well, happy to enlighten. :) It’s good to know my insanity has made an impact. So uh… have I converted you to c!Dream apologism yet? Or do I still need to try harder? ;D

Honestly, I’m kinda dying to know what understanding you’ve gained or if something specifically has made an impression - between lore, theories, and analysis I have covered quite a lot…

Now after covering the past events, Dream references in the finale [here] it is perhaps only fair I also cover what Tommy says, specifically this line which I feel like we don’t talk about enough.

[28:17] Tommy: “The first day I’m here what do you do, you fucking banned me! You send to me to the Antarctica!”

Because the thing is, Tommy could've been just referencing Dream trying to banish him as his sentence after killing George and breaking the rules [17:05]. A sentence, Tommy blatantly ignores and doesn't follow instead going on to break even more rules and public property.

But his highlight of Antarctica means he's referring to Dream's attempts after just trying to force him to leave, where he straight up teleports Tommy 1,000 blocks away to the artic - making Dream's op power of teleportation canon.

Even further, Dream /gives Tommy many beds [clip of one example] so he will set his spawn and stay in his banishment in the artic because he continued to kill himself to end up at spawn again (huh and suddenly Dream's surveillance during Exile makes so much more sense...) - meaning that Dream can /give people items canonically.

After this, Dream does literally ban Tommy from the server.

And given that it is something he does to Schlatt later it does seem to be implied that - banning too is canonical. In fact, in the later stream that begins the disc wars, he even threatens to do the same thing to Sapnap - [50:18] Dream: “You’ll be banned for a week–” (should he burn Alyssa's house down) which given it's a threat that’s taken seriously and he's using it to enforce rules in a canonical war, I'd say that it counts as lore.

Dream’s op is canon.

Tommy’s words in the finale make not only getting banned, but also getting teleported to Antarctica lore, which means Dream is canonically op-ed or at the very least able to /tp, /give and /ban and like do we even realize how big that is? What that means? It implies that from the beginning, Dream has access to commands, presumably all commands or at least a bunch of commands… and oh how that paints lore in a whole new light…

Dream, I have so many questions…

I've had this thought in my head for a while.

Dream wakes up with his heart racing in his trustworthy space surrounded by obsdian that protected him, he did not understand what had happened only remembering small fragments of the nightmares he had had.

Think about him waking up every night or early morning in the same way, scared and shaky with only vague memories of what had woken him up so intensely.

Sometimes he dreams of him and his friends (his family), peacefully building the community house, laughing and joking like in the old days until Dream climbs on the brick structure to place the rest of them, when he least realizes he is falling and before hearing the sound of his head suffering from the impact he wakes up with his heart racing.

Sometimes he dreams more abstract things, he is in white spaces where every time he walks there are red footprints, or sometimes he is eaten alive between the fangs of a dog, sometimes he cannot speak or produce any sound, drowning in words that he cannot release or shout, sometimes He is at the bottom of the sea sinking like another weight, sometimes he holds a sword and there are the corpses of those he loved the most (and loves, he still loves them)

He is confused with no memory of what caused him to wake up, but only knows that he can't go back to sleep after that because his heart feels painfully heavy.

In the end, after a while of the exact same thing happening, he stops trying to sleep.

This. This is why I love him (ok one of the reasons ;D). But the fact that he just keeps going despite everything. He should be long since insane and crazy, and yet he still has a fair grip on his sanity. His memory, his logic, his prowess is still pretty dang good even after everything. Enough even to give clingy duo a pretty good fight, enough to make c!Sam and c!Quackity afraid of his retribution.

Over and over we see him beg for his life, even in the moments when he’s lost all hope. After everything, he still wants to live, he still keeps fighting even when he’s forgotten what exactly he’s fighting for.

What an example. And because he kept going despite the utmost suffering, it pushes me to keep going too. If he can deal with c!Quackity then maybe I can deal with my life…

The post-prison arc has some crazy moments, but honestly the craziest part for me is that c!Dream is still like. Functioning. How well he's functioning is debatable, but just think about it—just think about how insane his living conditions had been for an insane amount of time. Think about every single thing he must have survived. How the fuck do you bounce back from that? How are you still able to walk, to hold a conversation, let alone pick up a weapon again? How do you find the strength to shove it all far enough aside to keep going?

experimenting with new styles; happy with how this turned out (￣∇￣ﾉﾉ"

you can tell blitz is my favourite pet lmao

Sam pearls into the cell suddenly, startling Dream, who jumps back almost dropping the book he’s holding, “Ahhhhh. Stooop, I could’ve dropped my croissant.”

Sam rolls his eyes, “You don’t have a croissant.”

“I could if you gave me one.” Dream mutters, with an almost hopeful edge.

“I’m not giving you a croissant, Dream… Unless—unless you give me the revive book. Then I’ll give you a croissant.” Sam offers with reluctance like it physically hurts him to even consider feeding Dream anything but raw potatoes.

“No, then you’ll just kill me.” Dream huffs.

“I won’t kill you, Dream. I’ll let you stay in here.” Sam counters gesturing at the boiling, tiny, isolated cell, constantly oozing purple from almost all sides as if it’s some luxurious vacation home he’s offering on a game show.

Dream snorts in amusement before reenacting the iconic dance and lyrics, “Why the fuck you ly-ing? Why you always ly-ing? Mmm—Oh my god, stop fu-king ly-ing~”

Sam turns away, gripping his trident with white knuckles, clearly annoyed, “I’m not lying.”

Then as he’s leaving he turns around and tosses a raw potato. Dream ducks just in time for the spud to miss his head and smash into the wall with an explosion of mush.

Dream yells across the lava to Sam, “What the fuck, Richard?!”

He doesn’t bother addressing Sam for another, he knows he won’t get one anyways.

dsmp au where everything is the same but c!dream just continuously makes vine references when c!sam checks on him

next is the rainbow, right?

I think about this all the time

doomsday as a deliberate choice for c!techno is so important, honestly. because he tried working with people to take down the government (manberg) and tried to convince them it wasn't the way both through words and violence. when that didn't work, he removed himself completely and chose pacifism.

and that didn't work either! they still came for him, they still unjustly executed him. but worse, they threatened and hurt those he cared for. so he chose, willingly, deliberately, to destroy the government. to reduce it to ashes and rubble and nothing more.

and the thing is, that did work! it finally got his message across. no more government. for all intents and purposes, techno had won.

but he still decided to change his tactics, to find a better way of doing things. he told c!niki that's not what he wanted to be known for, that's not what anarchism is, it was just him and he wanted to change. and so he did his best to do just that, forming the syndicate and attempting to do things in a better, more peaceful way.

that's what it's all about, what techno's story is all about. learning and growing and changing and how you don't have to lose to try to be better, that being better is something one should always strive for.

Does it bother anyone else that they called c!Schlatt a president and c!Dream the tyrant?… like isn’t c!Schlatt the tyrant? Didn’t c!Dream kinda just get naturally elected as the authority of the server by everyone?…

Also

Las Nevadas Arc - c!Quackity, c!Foolish & c!Awesamdude:

Las Nevadas is just a perfect name.

It immediately reminds you of Vegas. It's some cool-looking initials to stamp on documents. But I love how it literally outright refers to snow—a constant reminder that it's still cold here, that the desert is fake and it's glaringly obvious to everyone with open eyes. Even to c!Quackity himself. It's a brilliant reflection of how none of this is real, there's no heart here, no matter how hard people try to make it a home. Las Nevadas was doomed to fail from the very moment it was named.

Yes. The answer is yes, cdream, I do like to see you suffer. XD lol

(Ok, for real though, what was your answer? And how did cdream take the news?…)

I had a dream in which I was talking to cdream from my daydreaming and I feel very strange and guilty now because he was crying and asking me "what did I do to u? why are u doing this to me? do u like to see me suffer so much?"