Tales from the SMP

Fandom
Name:	Tales from the SMP
Abbreviation(s):	TftSMP, TFTSMP
Creator:	Karl Jacobs
Date(s):	January 1, 2021 - March 2022
Medium:	Minecraft Server(s)
Country of Origin:
External Links:	Reddit
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Tales from the SMP was a spin-off/side series to the Dream SMP created by Dream SMP team member Karl Jacobs. It was created to have an episodic stand-alone format, with the premise being that the character Karl Jacobs was a time traveler, who has visited many times within the timeline of the Dream SMP, from its earliest past to its farthest future. As a side plot it was also revealed that like other characters on the Dream SMP, Karl suffered increasing memory loss whenever he time traveled. The episodes generally revolved around several inter-twined themes, the people Karl met within said timeline and their adventures, Karl's attempts to use the small information he gains to, in his words, "keep bad things from happening" and "right wrongs", and his exploration of the odd realms which contain the gateways that he time travels through - those being The Inbetween/The Other Side. These are later revealed to be ambiguous or malevolent to him, to have their own agenda, both being controlled by the omnipresent deity, DreamXD, and two demigod-like beings, both voice acted by Jack Manifold. The show ran for 2 seasons.

Notable Episodes

These are a quick summary of the episodes that seem to have spawned the most fan interest and/or fanworks. It is an incomplete list and additions are welcome. It will also contain spoilers.

The Village that Went Mad - A starter episode with elements of testing things out and being a little rough around the edges, where Karl Jacobs acts as a "DM" for his other friends, leading them through a version of the old game Mafia/Salem/Werewolf (that Among Us is based off of) where some of them are assigned as murderers, doctors, or other roles who help decide who in the "Village" lives or dies that night, and the other "villagers" have to decide or discover who's who.

The Lost City of Mizu/The Lost City of the Depths - Karl finds himself in the far future, off-guard and wary, taking on the fake name "Isaac". He finds himself among a village of fisherfolk, who somehow find a book mentioning a lost underwater settlement. They soon find it and discover for themselves that it is indeed a lost underwater city, now abandoned and now serving as a museum and library for the Dream SMP area's past (which for Karl is the present). The city itself is under the caretakership of "Ranbob" (played by Dream), a descendant of Ranboo. This history is shown to be a mixture of humorously, laughably inaccurate and accurate details and factoids, as shown in several of the books within the library section, with the city showing its true danger afterwards, leading to the demise of several of the accompanying fisherfolk. Ranbob finally reveals that he, like most people, idolizes something—that of course is a certain "Dream"—and then plans to kill the rest of the party. Karl then "wakes up" back in the present.

The Masquerade - Karl goes to the past once again, and visits a mansion owned by a very snobby billionaire Sir Billiam III (played by Technoblade) and his unnamed butler (played by Ranboo and called "The Ranbutler" by fandom). They afterwards plan and put on a upper-crust guest list called the Masquerade Ball, which as they soon find turns into a complicated murder mystery afterwards, with winks and nods at the genre in general. Near the end of said mystery, it's then revealed that Sir Billiam and possibly his/the butler are servants of a younger version of "The Egg" - a murderous, malevolent mind-controlling force from the main Dream SMP series. Out of all the released episodes so far, this was deemed the episode both with the most popularity, as well as having the most procured written fanworks out of it.

The Wild West - In another snapshot of the past, Karl visits an Old West-esque setting (and town), where the bar and The Bartender are being terrorized by a group of bandits, often calling themselves "the democrat party haters". Karl helps train The Bartender and some of the other townsfolk defend themselves against the aforementioned bandits.

The Haunted Mansion/The Mansion - Karl and some of his other friends in the future visit yet another mansion, this time haunted by Jschlatt's effervescent ghost.

The Pit - In another snapshot of the future, Karl meets the Emperor Porkius (played by Technoblade), of a large empire, and learns they will be holding a series of gladiatorial competitions to pick the next general. Karl is offered, and becomes the cameraman for said event. Among the competitors were Bartholomew (Jack Manifold), Gennie (Hannah Rose), Jackie (played by Tubbo) and Ran (played by Ranboo). Jackie ends up winning all the competitions and is told by Emperor Porkius that he must now kill all of his former opponents to prove his mettle and become a general. He protests at first, but does agree; a final battle commences, and he ends up successfully killing each one of them. Porkius then discovers that Karl somehow has botched the camera footage leaving a black screen with only sounds. He orders Jackie to kill Karl. The two acknowledge they feel different around each other and are linked somehow, but Jackie goes to kill him anyway, but moments before Karl gets the inevitable final blow, he time travels back and wakes up. This is the episode that the fic Bishop's Knifetrick is based off of.

The Maze - In the far future, several people, including Karl, wake up after being transported together into a maze. Through a video screen, Mr. Cicle (played by Charlie Slimecicle, and due to Slimecicle's long life/immortality in Dream SMP canon he may actually be, albeit ambiguously, the same person as Slimecicle in the main DSMP realm) who seems to be held there against his will as well, guides and instructs them through the maze. The team loses many members, either killed or trapped in the maze, some seemingly as a condition of moving forward. Upon finishing the maze, the remaining members of the party are informed that they didn't actually "win" the maze as there were many hidden exits or escapes they didn't see along the way, and must embark it again tomorrow. In a more extended scene than usual —Karl then time travels to the realm of The Inbetween/The Other Side and has a long conversation with the god DreamXD and the two "demigods" of the aforementioned temporal locations where they confirm their influence over these other realms and offer their own conflicting theories about Karl's memory loss.

Example Fanworks

Fan Art

by summerxp08

Fanfic

• Bishop's Knifetrick

Fan Songs

• The Other Side - by Precious Jewel Amor
• Turn Back Time & Tell Your Story (extended version) - by Derivakat

Animations and Animatics

• TftSMP The Masquerade as a Horror Trailer - by NaBaNaNaB
• Sir Billiam's Iconic Quotes Animation - by Emmyembarossa
• Cause I'm a Liar - by Cassandraa
• TftSMP The Lost City of Mizu Animation - by Patatas
• Mr. Cicle - Tales from the SMP Animation - by Butterfly-colors
• The Pit Animatic - by F-Dela-Pena