Dream SMP
Cultural impact
Cultural impact
---------------

The Dream SMP garnered a large following and a popular [fandom](/wiki/Fandom "Fandom"), with hundreds of thousands of viewers turning up for live events. Its storylines are analyzed in documentary\-style videos, such as those of [MatPat](/wiki/MatPat "MatPat"), who describes the series as "narrative storytelling through the lens of gaming". Broderick also attributes the Dream SMP's unprecedented success to how its story is showcased, describing it as being "a profound idea \[that] essentially turns viewers into their own directors, hopping through streams to see which version of the story they want to focus on". In September 2021, Benjamin Herold of *[The Hechinger Report](/wiki/Teachers_College%2C_Columbia_University "Teachers College, Columbia University")* said that the Dream SMP "helped millions of kids stay connected to the social world" during the COVID\-19 pandemic.

The server's storylines have inspired [fan art](/wiki/Fan_art "Fan art"), [fan fiction](/wiki/Fan_fiction "Fan fiction"), [animations](/wiki/Animation "Animation"), and online [musicals](/wiki/Musical_theatre "Musical theatre"). Although unusual for an online creator, Dream encouraged fan fiction to be written about him, stating that it ultimately helps his career. One notable fan creator is Sad\-ist, an animator from the Philippines who illustrates events from the server's story set to music and dialogue clips.

An offhand joke post on [Tumblr](/wiki/Tumblr "Tumblr") made at the expense of the Dream SMP fandom led to the creation of a fan\-made server with its own plot and lore, known as "Penis SMP".

On July 24, 2021, the flag of L'Manburg was spotted at an [anti\-vaccine](/wiki/Anti-vaccine_activism "Anti-vaccine activism") protest in [London](/wiki/London "London"), next to a [Donald Trump](/wiki/Donald_Trump "Donald Trump") flag.

### In pop culture

*The Verge* described the Dream SMP as a "worldwide phenomenon", with Dream SMP fans creating mass amounts of fan fiction, fan art and fan songs. A notable fan work, *Heat Waves*, which is a Dream SMP\-related fan fiction series hosted on [Archive of Our Own](/wiki/Archive_of_Our_Own "Archive of Our Own"), reached the top three in kudos on the website. It is named after the song "[Heat Waves](/wiki/Heat_Waves_%28song%29 "Heat Waves (song)")" by [Glass Animals](/wiki/Glass_Animals "Glass Animals"), and is suggested to be one of the reasons the song topped the [2020 Triple J Hottest 100](/wiki/2020_Triple_J_Hottest_100 "2020 Triple J Hottest 100") countdown in Australia.

"Dream SMP" was listed as a genre in [Spotify Wrapped](/wiki/Spotify_Wrapped "Spotify Wrapped") in late 2021\. The genre encompasses fan\-created music about the events of the server, music made by Dream SMP members, and music used in Dream SMP streams, but largely was used as a catchall for music by YouTubers with similar fanbases. The artists that are part of the genre include Glass Animals, Wilbur Soot, [Toby Fox](/wiki/Toby_Fox "Toby Fox"), [Derivakat](/wiki/Derivakat "Derivakat") and [Alec Benjamin](/wiki/Alec_Benjamin "Alec Benjamin").

The server was visited by several notable guest stars, including [KSI](/wiki/KSI "KSI"), [Vikkstar123](/wiki/Vikkstar123 "Vikkstar123"), [LazarBeam](/wiki/LazarBeam "LazarBeam"), [Ninja](/wiki/Ninja_%28gamer%29 "Ninja (gamer)"), [Lil Nas X](/wiki/Lil_Nas_X "Lil Nas X"), [Pokimane](/wiki/Pokimane "Pokimane"), [Corpse Husband](/wiki/Corpse_Husband "Corpse Husband"), and [MrBeast](/wiki/MrBeast "MrBeast"). MrBeast staged a game on the server by hiding gift cards worth  for Dream SMP members to find, which streamer [Tubbo](/wiki/Tubbo "Tubbo") won.


Who analyzes storylines from The Dream SMP in documentary-style videos?