Fanfic / Between Dreams and Memories Universe

Due to the nature of the work, unmarked spoilers go for events in the fic which are canon compliant to the Dream SMP, while spoilers exclusive to the rewrite and its lore are marked. You Have Been Warned.

The Between Dreams And Memories Universe is a Dream SMP fanfiction by Salty_Sam, posted on Archive of Our Own. It is essentially an almost direct retelling of the stories of the Dream SMP, with a lot of additional lore and characterization, as well as plentiful influence from SMPLive, SMPEarth, and Mianite.

This fanfic currently consists of three installments:

1. Between Dreams and Memories: A retelling of the events of Season 1 of the SMP, from the L'Manberg War for Independence to the funeral following the Manberg-Pogtopia War, which also goes deep into Jschlatt's backstory and his relationship with Wilbur Soot. Completed.
2. Between Heroes and Villains: A retelling of the events of Season 2 of the SMP. Discontinued.
3. Between the Captain and His Journals: A spin-off based around Captain Sparklez and his adventures.

Please note that the author is aware of these pages' existence, and they are written with her permission. The official Tumblr blog for the series can be found here.

As of February 29th, 2024, the series has been discontinued.

Unmarked spoilers go for events in the fic which are canon compliant to the Dream SMP, while spoilers exclusive to the rewrite are marked.

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This series of fanfictions provides examples of the following tropes:

• Adaptation Expansion: The work features extensive lore for SMPLive, SMPEarth, Hybrids, Dreamons, etc. It also elaborates on background events such as the Potato War and the MrBeast duel, and Love Or Host is canon to this continuity as well.
• Adaptation Species Change:
  • Niki's pet Fungi is a horse instead of a fox.
  • Friend the sheep is actually Schlatt's Spirit.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: The series as a whole serves as this to canon, giving more insight on each character and their backstory, most notably Schlatt.
• Adaptational Badass: Unlike in canon, George fights with Manberg in the Manberg-Pogtopia War, and so does Schlatt.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: Niki, Techno, and Quackity all appear earlier than they first did in canon.
• Alternate Universe Fic: The Contextual Reassignment type, mainly in the form of a lot of additional worldbuilding.
• Ambition Is Evil: Squid Hybrids and Ancestors are said to have this sort of characterization, though the definition of 'evil' may be stretched depending on the individual.
  Hybrids displaying squid traits are often thought to be ambitious and driven – But only because of selfish reasons. A squid Hybrid will often try to gain power or money and become incredibly skilled, but in the end the Nether will deem their skill and hard work rotten, considering their ambition being something it sees as selfish. Ancestors who pass down this trait are similar, although often fail at what they set out to achieve, rendering their endless greed more harmful than beneficial.
• Arc Words: "Partners in crime, till the end of time" throughout the first installment, symbolizing the friendship between Schlatt and Wilbur. This hits especially hard due to the fact that the two end up dying on the same day.
• Ascended Extra: Alyssa and several other server members have a slightly more prominent role in the story.
• Backstory:
  • The events of Mianite are this to Captain Sparklez, which is detailed in Between the Captain and His Journals.
  • SMPLive and SMPEarth are this to Wilbur, Phil, and Techno; with exclusively SMPLive for Schlatt and Connor. Schlatt's backstory, specifically, is retold in great detail during the arc "The Truth" in Between Dreams and Memories.
  • In the fic, Karl was a former member of MrBeast's crew before he settled down in the DreamSMP.
  • "The Village That Went Mad" turns out to be this for Corpse.
• Born-Again Immortality: Characters who die in one world are reborn in a different one, regaining their memories of their past lives through dreams, though a few manage to retain their memories through the rebirthing process.
• Breather Episode: In BHAV, the sections titled "The Entertainer" and "The Game" has Love or Host integrated into the plotline as this, partially to cut through the horrors of Exile.
• Canon Foreigner:
  • Minx doesn't appear on the SMP proper, but is a prominent character in BDAM.
  • MrBeast's crew specifically do not appear in canon, but are seen travelling alongside him in this fic.
  • Sykkuno is outright mentioned by Corpse, though he isn't mentioned on the Dream SMP other than a brief Shout-Out in the Tales From the SMP episode "The Village That Went Mad".
  • Slightly downplayed for TheAustinShow, who appears in a Breather Episode to hold Love or Host with Niki; while Austin has never appeared in the DSMP canon, he was briefly mentioned in the first "Las Nevadas" stream to be canonically dead.
• Chekhov's Gift: The diamond sword Skeppy gifted to aid L'Manberg in their revolutionary war is eventually used to kill Wilbur during the Manberg-Pogtopia War.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • Quackity is first mentioned in Chapter 1 of Between Dreams and Memories, "The Dreams", to be a mysterious and shady individual, then later again in Chapter 10, "The Four (And A Half) Months", as how Eret acquired uniforms for the L'Manberg revolutionaries. He later makes his official first appearance in Chapter 23, "The Letter", and will go on to be a major character in the following arcs.
  • Connor and Charlie are both introduced during the recounting of SMPLive, i.e. "The Truth" arc in Between Dreams and Memories. They eventually reappear as full-on members of the DreamSMP in Between Heroes and Villains.
  • In Chapter 175, "The Funeral (Part 3)" of Between Dream and Memories, Phil explains how gods as Sources include flower nymphs and "a fabled god of the sky and ocean", referencing Hannah Rose and Foolish, who will appear in future chapters as members of the SMP, presumably in the later chapters of Between Heroes and Villains.
• Child Soldiers: In this fic, Tommy and Tubbo are 14 when the L'Manberg War for Independence breaks out.
• Chronic Self-Deprecation: Relvant to Hybrids and Ancestors with a duck trait.
  A Hybrid displaying duck traits is often an individual who carries a great deal of self-hatred. They differ to Slime Hybrids in the way that their doubt or their self-conscious nature often comes from the influence of others, rather than their own opinions. Ancestors passing down a duck trait, however, will often be those who cause such a feeling in others, rather than displaying it.
• Dateless Grave: Downplayed. Schlatt's grave marks his lifespan to be "SMPLive 199X – DreamSMP 202X", though not the specific year.
• Decided by One Vote: The L'Manberg Presidential Election, as it was in canon, except this time, it's quite literally decided by a single vote.
• Demonic Possession: Dreamons attach themselves to a Host and are codependent on each other for survival, though it's more complicated than that.
• Disney Death:
  • It initially appears that Tubbo is killed during the Festival, but he is saved and nursed back to health by Corpse.
  • Schlatt's "canonical" death by alcohol-induced heart attack turns out to be this, though he eventually still dies, but with only Wilbur at his side.
• Doorstopper: The first installment alone clocks in at 176 chapters and 520,700 words.
• Ending Memorial Service: Between Dreams and Memories ends with Schlatt and Wilbur's joint funeral, if the epilogue is excluded.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Clementine the seagull pecks Dream when he visits her human friend, Tommy, in Exile.
• Eye Scream:
  • Schlatt goes blind in one eye after Techno's fireworks massacre at the Festival.
  • As per canon as well, Quackity gets one for being on the wrong end of Techno's pickaxe in BHAV Chapter 102, "The Hog Hunt (Part 6)". It's described very graphically.
• Fatal Flaw: For Eret, it was their greed that encouraged them to betray L'Manberg, though they eventually express regret on this.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Quackity eventually gains the ability to see Minx, a Dreamon, due to their bonding over having to deal with Schlatt's bullshit.
• First-Name Basis: The usage of someone's name, as opposed to their title, is seen as a signifier of trust and closeness.
  • Skeppy signs the shipment of weapons and supplies to the L'Manberg revolutionaries with his name to signify that they can trust him and he supports their endeavours.
  • Eret's Heel–Face Turn as a Regretful Traitor is represented by him re-signing the L'Manberg Declaration of Independence with his name, as opposed to his title as he first signed it with.
• Foreshadowing:
  • All of BDAM Chapter 29, "The Portals (Part 2)", being a page out of the Captain's journals, contains detailed lore explanations about supernatural phenomena associated with the Nether. This becomes vital to the plot later on, as the author's note at the bottom of the chapter lampshades eventually.
    WARNING: AS OF CHAPTER 118, THIS CHAPTER IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO THE LORE AND READERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT IT AGAIN. BECAUSE OF THIS, THE COMMENT SECTION IS FILLED WITH SPOILERS FOR ALMOST 80 CHAPTERS FORWARD. READ THEM AT YOUR OWN RISK.
    • The Captain's Journals Chapter 24, "The Traits", contains all of the information from BDAM Chapter 29 and more, providing even more foreshadowing for characters outside of Schlatt, Techno, and Wilbur.
  • In BDAM Chapter 127, "The Explosives", Tommy catches Techno making fireworks, as Techno explains how launching fireworks directly with a crossbow can cause permanent damage, including and not limited to burn scars, deafness, and blindness. Come the Manberg Festival...
  • Quackity and Skeppy's sections in the ending Chapter 176 of Between Dreams and Memories, "The Memories", feature ample foreshadowing for the next installments to come.
• The "Fun" in "Funeral": Harshly averted as opposed to canon, where no one took Schlatt's funeral seriously.
• Futureshadowing: Plenty of Wilbur's flashback memories to SMPLive are further elaborated on during "The Truth" arc, which gives the scenes more context.
• Given Name Reveal: Schlatt does this to Wilbur during the elections.
• Gruesome Goat: Being the opposite of their Hybrid descendants, Ancestors carrying a sheep trait "will often be a person who put another person in danger because of carelessness, or even ill intent".
• Half-Human Hybrid: Hybrids can be created through exposure to the Nether, or from being descended from an Ancestor.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The first and last chapters are titled after the fanfic itself, while for the chapters in between, story arcs are dictated by a singular title in parts. For example, during the early Manberg Rebellion era, the Pogtopian chapters are titled "The Resistance", while the Manbergian chapters are titled "The Resilience".
• Last Episode, New Character: The Egg appears in the final chapter of Between Dreams and Memories.
• Little Bit Beastly:
  • Fundy is a Hybrid with fox ears, teeth and a tail, which is attributed to his father, Wilbur, being an Ancestor.
  • Schlatt has his ram horns.
• Living Emotional Crutch: An Anchor is a person that their Source loves and cares about that keeps them grounded to reality. Phil is Kristin's Anchor, and Sally was this to Wilbur before she left him.
• Made of Evil: The Nether is described to be this.
  Phil: People in the world are born naturally good. The world itself is filled with that sort of good. But it's the Nether that invades it and creates evil – That's how it survives. Sources are created to carry out that pain that is required – And every Source has a task. The reason Sources are expected to only destroy mindlessly is because those with those tasks are the easiest to spot.
• Mama Bear: Discussed by Kristin in BHAV why Sources as gods were supposed to be taken away from their parents — their mothers, in particular — for training.
  Kristin: The Nether works in mysterious, unusual ways. But most of all, it wants to create a world where all are broken and completely free to be put under its endless control. Harming everyone in its way is something it would, of course, always do. This was just another form of creating a future vessel – A mother who loses a child is more dangerous than any weapon.
• Mellow Fellow: Bear Hybrids and Ancestors are typically "very calm and collected people who are mostly at peace with themselves".
• Mr. Exposition:
  • The Captain explains a lot about the Nether and relevant supernatural phenomena associated with it through his Journal.
  • Phil also explains several little-known aspects about Sources, while Minx and Drista elaborate on how they live as Dreamons.
  • Kristin also gives some input on how Sources and Gods work.
• My Greatest Failure/It's All My Fault: According to The Captain's Journals, several Hybrids and their Ancestors carry traits based on guilt.
  • Ancestors carrying fox traits are characterized by a feeling of regret for "an action they could have prevented and fully knew the results of, however decided to step aside to make life easier for themselves". In Wilbur's case, it was choosing to 'exile' his best friend and adopted brother in SMPLive.
  • Hedgehog Hybrids are described to be "ridden with overwhelming guilt. It is often that they are aware of something they did, or perhaps subconsciously blame themselves for something that happened, which results in them developing the trait". In Connor's case, it is likely something to do with Schlatt as well.
  • Salmon Hybrids are also associated with feelings of overwhelming guilt, but "theirs will always relate to abandoning someone".
• Mythology Gag: The flooding of SMPLive is inspired by Wilbur's "water rising" video.
• Named After First Installment: The series is known as and set in the "Between Dreams and Memories Universe", named after the first book, Between Dreams and Memories.
• Not Always Evil:
  • Dreamons, contrary to what the Captain chronicles about them.
  • Sources, being the predecessor forms of Dreamons, are often regarded as Always Chaotic Evil and ought to be destroyed. Phil flips this idea on its head by stating that this is because Sources with destructive tasks are the easiest to spot, while other Sources are not necessarily devoted to destruction, and are sometimes even called gods.
• Not So Similar: Wilbur and Tubbo. Both of them were faced with a decision to exile their best friend or not, who ultimately gets exiled and are left in an immensely unhealthy headspace for an extended period of time. However, while Wilbur chose to leave Schlatt behind in SMPLive and would live to regret the decision for the rest of his life, Tubbo voted not to exile Tommy at all, making the two distinct in their own right.
• Officially Shortened Title: Each book's title is abbreviated in the tags of Tumblr blog posts, e.g. BDAM for Between Dreams and Memories, BHAV for Between Heroes and Villains, and The Captain's Journals for Between the Captain and His Journals.
• One-Person Birthday Party: As expected of Exile, Tommy's beach party was attended by no one other than Dream, who obviously invoked this as per canon... except the BDAM universe has it be no ordinary party, but Tommy's 17th birthday party.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Every character has a "title" and a "name", with their title, essentially their username or IGN, being a universal nickname for them. Addressing someone with their name, represented by the use of their real life names, is usually seen as a sign of trust.
  • Titles and names are often extremely different, to the point that Karl points out in his narration that his title and name are unusually similar to each other.
  • Even among the mass usage of titles, CaptainSparklez is unanimously known as "The Captain", regardless of where he goes, according to the opening of Between the Captain and His Journals.
    Ever since he was a boy, Jordan Maron knew he was different.
    It wasn't entirely clear to him at first. Perhaps it was his title – Few used the full name, and even as a young teenager, he had soon become “The Captain” wherever he went. In every place he lived when someone asked for a Captain, it was always The Captain.
• Our Demons Are Different: Dreamons can only be seen by their Hosts, fellow Dreamons, and the few people they have a close bond with, and while the Dreamon is dependent on their Host for survival, the Host is also able to survive the unsurvivable due to their connection with the Dreamon. Dreamons can also become bound to a different Host through an elaborate ritual.
• Our Gods Are Different: Gods are described to be "Sources with a purpose".
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • During the second half of the presidential debate, Tommy delivers a cutting one to George that calls him and the DreamSMP as a whole out for starting the War for Independence and gets him to admit he's only running for Quackity's vice president to reduce L'Manberg to an extension of the DreamSMP.
    Tommy: May I start, please? First of all, I would like to formerly apologize for my outburst earlier. But I think I can provide you for a good reason why. At the core, it all boils down to the unprofessional and downright childish behaviour of my debating opponent – Because that's the truth, ladies and gentlemen. George has been lying this whole time, turning this story against me to make me look bad. You may say what you wish about mine and Wilbur's policies, but do you want a liar in your government?
    George: Me? A liar? What do you mean? I've said nothing that was a lie. Not a single thing. I've simply decided to bring up the past of your nation. You advocate for a future with words over violence and yet your very nation was born of violence and suffering. I'm sorry to bring up the past here, but... Don't you think it's a little hypocritical?
    Tommy: Well where is the source of that violence? What does it all boil down to? You're acting as if we up and just started a war for no good reason! Let me remind you, when L'Manberg first formed we offered a peaceful solution. We asked for our land to be granted to us without war. But you refused – You'd rather hurt us.
    George: There was no need for L'Manberg first and foremost. We never did anything to wrong you. We welcomed you to our city with open arms, and you separated yourself and took resources from us we could have used to develop the DreamSMP more. The only way to repair this divide again is for cooperation to start between the two of us–
    Tommy: And what about other bits of the past you never seem to mention? What about locking Tubbo up in his house to make potions for him all the time? What about threatening to burn down our home simply because we wanted to make potions a common resource? What about everything that came before L'Manberg and motivated us to found it in the first place?
    George: You... You lot were trying to topple the system we had in place to keep our city safe. We fought back against what could have left our city in shambles. We did the right thing, and L'Manberg was a disappointing side-effect of that.
    Tommy: And yet, by starting this war, you did the exact opposite. You sent the DreamSMP into a state of ruin, suffering and a lack of leadership for almost five months. The only reason the city stood tall when you returned was because of The Blade, who miraculously showed up and saved us from the forest when you couldn't protect us like you swore to.
    George: If we hadn't fought you would have just carried on with breaking our rules and tearing down our city! Why wouldn't we try to oppose that? The war that followed was unfortunate, but opposition in the first place was what brought us to that point!
    Tommy: So you think we shouldn't stand up for what we believe in? Try to oppose what isn't right? Funny you say that! I thought that was exactly what you and Quackity are claiming to do. And now you're telling me it's a bad thing?
    George: You and Wilbur are trying to create a nation that can never, ever hope to even live up to what the DreamSMP is! If you keep closed forever you can never develop! You'll crash and burn!
    Tommy: Oh? And I thought your win in this election was guaranteed. Now you seem convinced that me and Wilbur will get re-elected. Did something change your mind?
    George: If we win this election we're going to bring L'Manberg back to what it should have always been – Nothing more but an extension of the DreamSMP!
    Tommy: Sorry, big man, but I doubt that will happen with how you're acting right now.
    George: You're such a little... Brat! How did you even get in a position of power?
    Tommy: By keeping my cool far better than an adult can manage to, it seems.
    Tubbo: That's enough! Clearly Mr. GeorgeNotFound has no idea how to debate properly. With how childish and inappropriate everyone here has been acting today I have no choice but to cut this event short! I'm truly sorry for wasting all of your time...
    Tommy: (pats George on the back) Good debating there, Gogy. But try harder next time.
  • Jschlatt tears AntVenom a new one after he insults Philza in front of him.
    Schlatt: Fraud? You sit in an office built with money you got from exploiting the city and yet you call Phil of all people a fraud? Do you know how much that man did for this city?
    AntVenom: Right. Of course. It's the two of you that are frauds. Letting your father take the fall for something you did. What an honourable thing to do.
    Schlatt: How fucking dare you? I can't fucking believe that I used to admire you! You're an asshole! You leech off people and then try to paint them as the bad guy? What sort of person does that?
    AntVenom: It's called business. I thought someone like you would get that, but you don't seem to-
    Schlatt: I used to look up to you. I'd see you up on that stage and I'd imagine being by your side. I even had this stupid little dream where we fought the Ender Dragon together. You know, a fairytale – Because I was just a kid with an idol. A naive kid you used.
    AntVenom: It's not like you were the only one–
    Schlatt: 'But lo and behold, every person I thought to be good turned out to be my enemy. Ted Nivison might be a complete asshole, but at least he doesn't try to hide it. Congratulations, not only did you take Phil away from us, you took my hero away from me.
  • Tubbo gives a brutal one to Quackity after Technoblade escapes his execution and Quackity screams at him for letting him get away.
    Tubbo: You were wrong, Quackity! Attacking Techno was not the right move. Dream got in the way anyway. He was always the problem. I shouldn't have had listened to you! We kicked a hornets nest, pissing Technoblade off! Now we have more to deal with!
    Quackity: What the hell does that mean?
    Tubbo: Come on, it's obvious! I'm not stupid! Maybe I was, initially encouraging this, but... I noticed how you acted around him. That pleasure you took in seeing him so helpless. This was never about the country. This was never about protecting us, or helping Tommy. This was your own sick and twisted wants, some need for revenge! A need to see someone suffer because you did! And look where that got us! We put our people in danger, we made another enemy! All because... Because I trusted you! And I never should have!
    Quackity: Oh yeah? Is that right?
    Tubbo: You are a self-centered, manipulative asshole! …It seems Schlatt taught you well.
• Rousseau Was Right: Phil seems to believe so, saying that people are born naturally good, but the Nether invades the world to create evil.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Occurs due to Adaptational Badass.
  • As opposed to canon, where he isn't involved, George fights Eret during the Manberg-Pogtopia War.
  • At the same time, Schlatt also fights Wilbur during the battle, unlike in canon, where he is drinking himself to death in the Camarvan throughout the entire thing.
• Ship Tease: Most of the canonical romantic relationships have been downplayed or removed altogether.
  • As reflecting canonical ships, Quackity with Karl and Sapnap in Between Dreams and Memories, with the latter two being concerned for the former on multiple different occasions, even refusing to fight each other during the final battle despite being on opposing sides. In BHAV, they are seen to be living in the same house and have Friendly Address Privileges.
  • Puffy and Niki flirt quite a bit throughout Between Heroes and Villains, with Puffy kissing Niki on the hand during their first meeting in Chapter 8, "The New Arrivals". They also go on a date later in the fic, where their respective backstories are explored.
• Shout-Out:
  • The BHAV arc titled "The Hog Hunt" is naturally one to SAD-ist's animatic of the Butcher Army going up against Technoblade. The structuring of the chapters are also closely tied to the animatic, such as how the scenes shift.
  • In Chapter 100, "The Hog Hunt (Part 4)" in particular, Techno's voices can be heard singing "Voices" by Derivakat.
• Slipping a Mickey: Dream puts a knockout drug in Tommy's tea in BHAV Chapter 53, "The Exile – Act 3 (Part 3)".
• Stealth Pun: A meta version. Each fanfiction in the series is titled "Between [X] and [Y]", with "The [X]" being the title of the first chapter and "The [Y]" being that of the last chapter... so the story is quite literally between [X] and [Y].
• Sweet Sheep: Sheep Hybrids are described to be "often caring individuals who feel a great sense of responsibility for putting someone close to them in danger", being polar opposites to Ancestors carrying a sheep trait.
• We Used to Be Friends: Schlatt and Wilbur were adoptive brothers during their time on SMPLive, until Wilbur decided to save his own skin and sentence Schlatt to be 'exiled' in SMPLive as the scapegoat for the floodings.
• Wham Line: Wilbur revealing Kristin's true nature in Chapter 168, "The Unfinished Symphony" of BDAM.
  Wilbur: Takes a Source to know a Source.

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