How it feels to play God in a dream.

What is c!Dnf?

Dnf is, of course, the relationship between Dream and George. Their relationship is undeniably romantic despite this never explicitly being stated. They engage in both romantic and "sexual" activities throughout the many vods and are seen as a couple by multiple of the other characters.

To make their relationship easier for people who don't know much about George to understand, imagine shipping Dream with himself. George, like Dream, is a character who prioritise power and control above all else. They both believe that the only way to achieve peace is by forcing everyone to return to the original ways of the server. Both characters struggle to understand the needs and wants of others when it doesn't benefit them. And they both use manipulation in order to achieve their goals.

Dream and George are both extremely intelligent characters who are able to work together without planning anything. Because they usually think so similarly, they tend to disregard each others feelings or thoughts when they contradict. They believe they have full control over each other, even though they don't. This is most obvious during the dethronement conflict.

Dnf's care for each other is undeniable. While Dream hides his feelings from the server pretty well following dethronement, George doesn't. Post-prison Dnf is the hardest era of their relationship to understand due to the lack of interactions between the characters. That being said, this doesn't mean they ever lose care for one another. The finale confirms this.

People often over-simplify the relationship between these characters in fics, art, and even analysis. Typically George will be seen as just another one of Dreams victims. And while George is a victim of Dream's behavior, she is far from being an innocent one. In fact, due to how she views Dream, it's clear that she doesn't see herself as a victim of him at all. Other times, Dream will be the sole victim. This is rarer, but not uncommon. Many people potray George as someone who dislikes Dream for his actions or his beliefs. As I stated before, their beliefs are shared between them so it’s once again an incorrect potrayal of their dynamic.

To truly portray Dnf correctly, pitting them against each other or denying their affection for each other is never an option. Despite their relationship being toxic it is never loveless. If you ever write them in a way that permanently severs their friendship then you'll never be able to write them accurately. That being said, there is a way to have conflicts between the characters since they do clash a few times.

The foundation of c!Dnf.

In the early days of the smp, George and Dream lived peacefully. Although there were conflicts between the original members, they were almost never between the two of them. The only time Dream and George were truly at odds was during George's "Tyranny" era. During this short era, George made very op armor and weapons and used them to "terrorize" the other members. No one could fight back against her because she was stronger than everyone else. So Dream killed her and confiscated her things. Eventually she got them back and there was no issues between the two of them.

This event is, in my opinion, one of the key moments of Dnf's dynamics. It's the first event where Dream is willing to go against George. And it's in a situation where she has power over him. This is very important to note because it is a pattern in their relationship.

Two more early smp events that I believe really set up Dnf's dynamic are Tommy's first exile and the burning of Ponk's lemon tree.

Tommy's first exile happens shortly after he joins the server. Tommy kills George and steals her things before being killed by Dream. After this, they both become aggressive. They take him to the courthouse for a trial. When he escapes, he kills George a few more times before once again being killed by Dream. Afterwards Dream chooses to exile and then ban him from the server.

Throughout this conflict, both characters move as a unit. They aren't talking in a vc (confirmed by Dream) so their only communication is through mc chat. Something a lot of people miss, are the parallels between this exile and Tommy's second exile. In both situations, there's an issue between Tommy and George and Dream steps in. Once Dream steps in, he seems to take control of the situation but George is still in the background pulling strings. In this situation, George is actually the first one threaten Tommy with a ban. Dream simply repeats the threat and follows through with it.

This is also an example of Dream overreacting whenever George is attacked. This is one of the bigger examples, but Dream is known to become aggressive and attack on George's behalf. It's one of the reasons characters hesitate before attacking George later. It's also why no one comments on Dream's overreaction with Tommy's second exile. To them it makes sense because George was already established as someone important to Dream. And I'll get more into that later.

The burning of Ponk's Lemon Tree is an early case of George being granted special privileges. After Ponk griefed George's base, her chat suggested that she burn down Ponk's lemon tree. When George asks Dream if she should, he tells her that she can. So she burns down the lemon tree close to the Community House. After this, someone in the chat mentions the bigger tree. Dream takes note of this message and tells George that she should watch Ponk's vod and find the tree. Once George finds it, he kills all his chickens while Dream laughs. Once Ponk logs on, Dream tells George to quickly set fire to the tree in order to do more damage.

As mentioned before, the court house does exist and is in use by this point in the smp. Despite that, Dream chooses to allow George to take matters into her own hands. He also encourages George to find Ponk's bigger lemon tree despite her being satisfied with burning down the smaller one. It's not normal for Dream's character, even at this point in the lore, to start bigger conflicts unnecessarily. This is another example of him making an exception for George. Dream backing George's action also seems to be the reason Ponk doesn't retaliate the way they do when Sapnap burns down their tree later.

While all of these instances are tiny on their own, they are important to understanding the greater dynamic between the two characters. Not only does it create a pattern of Dream treating George differently from the others, it also shows why George perceives him as a protector later on. The early days of their relationship are also important since they make it clear that these are the times they look back on fondly. The times they want the server to revert back to. It isn't just because it was "simple" or "peaceful" but because nothing disrupted the status quo.

It's also important to understand why a slight against George was considered a slight against Dream for so long. You can't understand a lot of the relationship and conflicts between characters without understanding this first.

How does c!Dream view c!George?

When I talked about the foundations of cDnf, I talked about how early conflicts established simple aspects of how their characters interact. I also mentioned how these early conflicts shaped the way they're viewed by the rest of the server. Now I'm going to dive more into how they see each other.

While deciphering this from the vods is incredibly difficult, once all of the pieces are together it's actually really easy to understand. Due to the nature of their characters, they are forced to see people through a lense of "Ok, how does this person benefit me?" Because they were the first ever characters on the sever, they could only benefit each other through teamwork. They had to work together in order to survive without any weapons or armor. Because of this, they saw each other as equals.

There's a noticeable shift in how they view each other once the smp becomes established, though. George is a weaker fighter than Dream and she tends to mess around more often. This puts her in more conflicts. Naturally, Dream aids her in these conflicts since they've established themselves as allies. However, this also changes George's position from an equal to someone beneath Dream. She, possibly without knowing, puts herself in a position where she must rely on Dream's strength and resources for survival.

The power George (and Sapnap in some instances) give Dream is the power that he later latches onto. He doesn't put himself in a leader role, he's pushed into it. George uses Dream to end conflicts by running to him whenever she finds herself in trouble. This is why Dream was seen as the leader by other characters later. This is why the server became the DreamSmp and the "team" part fell back. This is why he believes he must insert himself in ever minor problem on the server.

When George falls behind Dream, it doesn't go unnoticed by him. The way Dream talks to and about George during the L'manberg war shows a small shift in how he views her. George is inactive on the server in the time leading up to the war. While Dream and Sapnap are building cobble walls around L'manberg, Dream mentions that George was approached by Tommy and Wilbur. He claims that they tried to get her on their side, but he isn't worried because George is on his side. What's interesting about this is, when George joins, Dream actually asks if she's on his side. She then says that she doesn't actually know what's happening. Dream gives her the basics and George laughs when he lists the members of the country. Dream explains that she's laughing because she's wondering why she'd ever team with them.

This interaction is significant in understanding how Dream views George because it establishes something that will later become a pattern. Dream making a decision on George's behalf without consulting her about it. This was the first sign that Dream no longer saw George as an equal, but as a follower. He's decided that their goals align without actually confirming that with her.

Following this, another interesting thing happens. The Lion King plagiarism.

What stands out about this event, is actually Sapnap and not Dnf. As established before, George barely understands what's going on. Because of that, she hasn't assisted him at all with the preparations for the war. Sapnap on the other hand, has been assisting Dream since the very start of the conflict. So why then, did Dream choose to promise the land to George? Well, it's established in Dream's conversation with Punz later in the SMP, that he defines loyalty as having not ever gone against him. Since Sapnap went against Dream during the Disc War, he's no longer fit to take over the server in an event where he's no longer around. But, since Dream sees George as someone who shares his ideals, she is fit to take over if something happens to him. We'll come back to that later.

Throughout the stream where both these events take place, Dream is still treating George primarily as an equal despite chipping away at her autonomy. He even trusts her to guard him when he enters L'manburg to place signs. Granted he also knows that Eret isn't a threat. There's a large shift in his treatment towards her during the actual war, though.

The now deleted and near impossible to find behind the scenes footage of the L'manburg war from Punz's pov shows a harsh change in Dream's treatment of George. George is, obviously, the least prepared for the war which results in both Dream and Punz handing her anything she may need. At a point, Dream asks George to follow him because he thinks she's the most likely to die. George says she isn't going to die and Dream replies with "hopefully" before showing her a chest that contained extra weapons and armor.

There's another event from the second part of this video that shows clips of the actual war. When Wilbur logs on, Sapnap says he could one shot him. George repeatedly tells him to do it, while Dream tells him not to. George then says that she's going to start shooting and Dream once again tells her not to. When Sapnap starts shooting again, he seems to think that George is the one shooting. He says "What part of follow my lead, George, do you not understand?" and George quickly snaps back with "You can't control me." This is followed by silence then Dream says that George is the "only optional member of this team"

These two events establish something new about how Dream views George. The first being that he sees her as weak. At least in comparison to himself, Punz, and Sapnap. This isn't a rare opinion and is shared between most of the server. It's just worth pointing out because it lines up with another point of mine. Dream tells George that she is the only optional member of the team. The statement could be put off as just a joke, but I think it's more than that. The way Dream planned out the war made it near impossible for them to lose. He'd gotten all of their plans from Eret and already predicted exactly how it would end. Truthfully, he didn't need George to win the war. Punz and Sapnap are stronger than her and got wayy more kills. George's presence, truthfully, added nothing to the team or Dream's plan.

That being said, George's presence did matter to Dream. George being on his side mattered to Dream. And that's a big difference between Dnf and every other friendly dynamic Dream has on the server. Punz? Sapnap? Technoblade? They matter to Dream largely because of what they can do for him. All of them are strong fighters who constantly have resources that Dream can borrow. Being friends with them doesn't only provide Dream companionship, but also ensures that he is always on the winning side.

So, what value does being allies with George actually provide Dream? Well, power itself. As I said before, what originally gave Dream power was George insisting on running to him whenever a conflicts arose. George is, and always has been, the only character who is dependent on Dream having control. Dream sees George as someone who is weak. A follower who needs his charity to even survive on the server. The absolute control Dream has over George makes her predictable, easy to understand, and comfortable to be around. That's what makes her special to him. That's why having her on his side matters.

Now, this is all early smp Dnf and while this all carries into their later interactions, the proof for that comes from a much more complex part of the lore. The King George - Dethronement era of c!Dnf is where a lot of debate about them comes from. This is where people start to argue that George didn't matter to Dream as much as he pretended she did. The truth is, you can only begin to understand what happened here if you understand how these two characters perceive each other. So! I will be talking about this arc specifically in part 2 where I'll also be talking about George's pov.

For now, I'll skip to what happens after these events and talk about Dream's view of George prior to and during prison arc.

George and Dream hang out a few times in the period between exile and the disc finale. This shows that, despite what people say, they did not stop interacting because of the dethronement fallout. While nothing outside of their normal banter happens (aside from Dream being a bit more violent), it is important to note that the two of them were still friends.

We don't get a lot from Dream during the prison arc, but we do know that he wants to see George. He requests her presence on 2 occasions, once during Bad's visit and again during Sapnap's. It's also implied that George is who Dream's thinking of when Tommy asks him who he misses the most, though he could've been thinking of anyone. This at the very least shows that she's in his mind. While it could be argued that he only wanted to see George in order to get her to help him escape, this is unlikely. As we already established, Dream doesn't really see George as capable.

The only other point where Dream outright mentions George is after his escape from the prison. This is, of course, during his conversation with Sapnap. There isn't much to gather on his feelings towards George from this conversation. However, I do think it's important to note that he doesn't seem at all surprised by the idea that George misses him. His small pause after Sapnap says that George never talks about him implies that he's much more surprised about that. Him refusing to acknowledge Sapnap's words and instead changing the subject back to his armor suggests that maybe Sapnap's words got to him a bit.

I'd also like to point out that that part of the conversation isn't the only time George is brought up. Sapnap uses her name twice to try and get a reaction out of Dream. This goes back to my other point about how the other characters acknowledge George's importance to him. Dream refusing to talk about George during and after the prison arc may be due to his fear of people he cares about getting hurt. George is Dream's biggest and most vulnerable attachment, so making it too obvious that he still cares is dangerous for both of them.

That being said, I'd like to move on to the finale. The finale gave us a lottt to chew on when it comes to Dnf, all things considered. One of those things being a sign with George's name being one of the few fully legible signs in Dream and Punz's little hideout. There's a lot of interpretation for this sign, but the easiest explanation is that the two of them were planning to use George to destroy Kinoko. Not only does this line up with George's dream, but it would match the other sign that says "Purpled, Quackity, Las Nevadas" (iirc I literally can't find the pic </3) The other name on the sign with George's seemed to be Sapnap's, so it would line up since Dream threatened Sapnap. That being said, it could also be because Dream and Punz planned for George to be one of the first people they approach with the offer to share the revival book's knowledge. This also makes sense because Punz is one of the few characters who knows that George still cares about Dream.

Either option makes it clear that Dream still wants George on his team and hasn't actually stopped thinking about her. He most likely still considers her an ally since, unlike him and Sapnap, they haven't had a true falling out.

Now onto my last and final point: Tommy's limbo during the finale. Limbos change based on how you die, and Tommy dies after claiming that Dream was the same (still evil and craving power) prior to getting the revival book. Tommy then claims that death is something substantial before Dream kills him to prove otherwise. I feel like, too many people interpret this moment incorrectly. And this is because to understand this moment, you have to understand Dnf.

Dream seemingly kills Tommy, again, to prove him wrong. But I argue that Tommy saying that death matters isn't why Dream chooses to attack. That isn't the point of the conversation they're having. They're arguing over whether what Dream's doing with the revival book has a purpose. Whether his quest for power matters at all. Dream is arguing that what he did ensures that everyone can live and be happy forever. While Tommy is arguing that in his quest for power he denied himself the ability to ever be happy. He tells Dream that if he would've focused on the present instead of power than they could've even be friends. That's when Dream claims that Tommy ruined the server and made that impossible. Dream blames his need for power on a need to control Tommy (and people like him) and stop them from ruining the server. That's when Tommy claims that Dream was always the same, that he spent his entire life chasing power. And When Tommy says that, Dream tries to interject but Tommy keeps talking and tries to make his point about death being serious. That's when Dream gets aggressive. That's why Dream kills him.

And why does that matter to Dnf? Easy. Tommy dies, because Dream was annoyed at the fact that Tommy truly believed that he was always evil or chasing power. The vod chosen to prove Tommy wrong isn't one that features Sapnap, or Sam, or Ponk, or Alyssa, or any of the other og members. It would've been sooo easy for the vod to be a community house building stream or even just DTeam fucking around. Those vods would've been easy to understand for both Tommy and the audience. Instead we see the first ever Dsmp stream. A stream that only features Dream and George. This is important because, as I mentioned, there weren't any conflicts between the two of them in the beginning. Dream wasn't chasing power because there was no power to chase, and no one to have control over.

The rest of the finale really drives home George (and Sapnap's) importance to Dream even after everything. Dream all but completely confirms that everything he's done and planned to do was worth it because it meant in the end he'd live forever with his friends. Everything would be simple the way it was in the early days. Before Tommy and his friends ruined it all. I think this alone makes cDnf a core dynamic to Dream's character and understanding his actions in retrospect.