#HAVE YOU WATCHED/READ SANDMAN?

[chaoticsoulsword]

Hey. Hey. Quick question.

How can you be an ofmd AND a Neil Gaiman fan when you’re a TERF? Are you sure you’re consuming the proper media or are you plain stupid?

In any case, too many TERFs on my dash today, so let’s wrap it up for the night because I’m tired.

Block these two users here:

/neiltheyrehomosexuals

/vintage-bentley

A quick scroll and you’ll see: transphobia, biphobia, aro/ace erasure/bias and tons of other stupid bs.

Neil Gaiman and David Jenkins would hate you 👍

[dawn-the-rithmatist]

Obsessed with authors like Naomi Novik whose books always seem to say “no, fuck that, there is another way than cruelty, and we do have a choice to be decent, and not choosing it isn’t a burden but a cop out.”

Authors like Neil Gaiman whose books seem to say “we are all simply human, and that is so valuable. This world is worth more because we are in it, when we choose to notice and care”

Authors like Brandon Sanderson whose books say “We are all a little broken, and there is strength in not turning away from us, and there is pain in healing but there is also strength and hope.”

Seriously, these folks do more for my faith and hope in this life than any religion ever has. I don’t have the words to describe it yet but just. Warm cup of apple cider held close to the chest on cold autumn night?? That’s the best I got

[the-pianist-from-accumula-town]

Inktober Day 1: Dream

That's right, I'll be doing Inktober! Will I be able to make it until the end? Only time will tell.

[m0e-ru]

oh god it’s this dude again (dude who is god)

[gen-is-gone]

We are all of ten minutes into dead boy detectives and I'm already deeply confused by the timeline

[merculuros]

their real dynamic

[thedreadvampy]

every so often I discover new things I'm unhappy with about the Sandman adaptation and each one is pettier than the last

what do you MEAN the word battle is between Dream and Lucifer? no it's NOT. it's between Dream and Choronzon who's acting on Beelzebub's behalf it's about the petty politics of Hell which is in large part what Lucifer finds so tiresome.

also why does Dream have human eyes give that bitch some contacts or Something

[i-miss-lotor]

Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with love for humanity and sometimes so sad with how bad the general view on the race is. I keep looking back on that one panel in Sandman and it's just. So much. It means so much to me. People can be so kind and full of wonder and beautiful ideas if we can just let them grow.

[librarygraveyard]

long fuckin update

wow. hi.

so, uh, updating as i read got away from me because i just started...tearing through books again. i have some backlogged notes that i wanted to make into posts, but a one-two combo of ADHD meds and rediscovering the many, many magics of the library, but particularly the “oh shit, that library book is actually due, i have to read it before that date even if i can renew it because if i dont read it NOW i never will” deadline-imposed executive functioning really knocked me straight into like, 10 books at once.

all that to say: 1) i finished My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry (Fredrich Backman) and it has perhaps become my favorite book of all time. definitely an oomph of a book in the best way. i wanted to write a more thorough post about it, but i was knocked out by COVID, so i went on to read 2) coraline (neil gaiman)! i’d never read it, and i think if i’d read it when i was a bit younger i’d have loved the adventure and suspense of it, but given that i read it a) after i saw the movie in college (adore the movie) b) as a 23 year old, it fell firmly in the category of “i’m glad i’ve read this. i am very glad this book exists. i am also very glad the movie exists, if only because i feel like the soundtrack adds and because coraline should forever have blue hair and a yellow raincoat.” 3) then i read As the Crow Flies (Melanie Gillman), which is a graphic novel about a teen kid at a church retreat, and while the art is stylistically lovely and the story tries to do some interesting things, it felt like it ended at least two chapters too early? There were a lot of unanswered questions despite the nuances, and the kids are supposed to be 13-14 and they read like 15-16yos, in my opinion. It was less than I thought it would be, given how critically acclaimed it is---but I often find anything intersecting religion and queerness in an interesting way seems to receive critical acclaim (and critical ire) if it’s executed decently, because that’s what’s “interesting” now. 4) Then The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman) --Another Gaiman I’d never read, and this one I found delightful; it’s slightly episodic as it tells a coming-of-age story, and yet also explores themes of loss in life: loss of community loss of family, change of family dynamic as a type of grief, and loss of home---even if as a temporary displacement---as its own grief, and how grief is in itself a form of longing, and how that longing can’t always be fulfilled with an exact replacement, but how life is yours for the living and as long as you are alive you are in motion and you have potential, and to die is to end that potential. you have completed all the changes you will make in yourself and in the world. i even named a spotify playlist around this theme, and captioned it with a quote from Silas, the main character’s guardian: “face your life; leave no path untaken”---“You're alive, Bod. That means you have infinite potential. You can do anything, make anything, dream anything. If you can change the world, the world will change. Potential. Once you're dead, it's gone. Over. You've made what you've made, dreamed your dream....That potential is finished." 5) by the time I finished TGB I had finally tested negative for COVID and recovered in full, so I was able to pick up Spinning Silver (Naomi Novik) from the library. And oh. Oh my fuck??? I want this book for Christmas. Someone please get me this for Christmas. I saw the first page posted on twitter, which is how I found out about it at all and got hooked in the first place, but to go from that to an incredibly intricate story that balances so many arcs??? I mean, does she do it perfectly? No. There are absolutely some questionable points where I wonder if the plates are going to fall. There are absolutely some dropped threads that, yes, the world is richer for them having been hinted at, but also, given the tightly-woven story with so many threads so carefully developed, dropped, and continued at later points, it is weird to get to the end and go “Wait, but what about...????” My friends and I had a long conversation about SS last night---like, two hours long, and this being a full month and three books on after I finished it (and they read it ages ago), so I’ll spare you the analysis. But, the aspects of magic in the book, the commentary on work as proof of magic and economics as power and opening the door to both self-power and social power and that itself being magic; the political commentary and EVERYTHING going on with Mirnatius and Irina individually and as an arranged, very political marriage; the mythology of the world...yeah. yeah. if there’s anything i would recommend you on this list wholesale not knowing you, it’s Spinning Silver. 6) then, Sensory: Life on the Spectrum (Rebecca Ollerton) had come out, so I worked my way through that---it’s a comic anthology entirely from autistic artists talking about various parts of their experiences. I found it mostly to be geared toward autistic acceptance/narratives surrounding “life sucked. then i got diagnosed with autism/learned autism exists and realized im Not shit, im just Neurodivergent,” which is a fantastic resource to have and i’m very glad it exists, but the comics that stood out to me the most in the anthology were the ones that deviated from that structure. The two most memorable comics in the anthology, to me, was one that used pocket watches (the artist’s special interest) as their central imagery, and one that had circulated around tumblr that discussed neurodivergence and non-negative self-injury using stylized fruit characters. I would mostly recommend this anthology to someone who is new to the autistic community, or to neurotypical people.

7) i hit a bit of a slump after this (because how the fuck do you follow Spinning Silver?), but I was literally like, 85% through a reread of Norse Mythology (Neil Gaiman) via audiobook from a road trip I went on in May, with only about an hour and a half left to listen. So I wrapped that up. I had never listened to the audiobook---the first (and only) time I read Norse Mythology i began it just before my flight home from college......and then I devoured it across my two flights home and two flights back, despite my return flights being at like, 6AM. Hearing it in Neil Gaiman’s voice and cadence definitely brought the stories he was telling to life, whether on the winding back roads of Tennessee or in my living room while I finished an art project for a friend’s very, very belated birthday. 8) the last and latest book I’ve finished is Turtles All the Way Down (John Green), which was good, and then the last two pages absolutely knocked me flat on my ass. it was like, “oh, this is a good YA book about mental health, and there’s nuance without losing sight of the fact that Mental Illness Is Fucking Hard To Live With, and everybody feels 16, and---oh my fuck WHAT” so anyway. no spoilers, because to spoil it would be to ruin your chance to get knocked flat, but Turtles All The Way Down for YA book about living with mental illness of all time.

--- in December, I set a goal for myself to read 12 books in 2022.

...I read eight of the ten books I’ve completed this year since September. 

Four of those I read in one (1) month with COVID.

I was prescribed ADHD medication at the end of August. 

this isn’t the blog where I yell about all that, but... i cannot imagine how different college could have been for me. how different my life could be.

anyway, meds are an access need.

[theskoomacat]

observing the gomens situation like a dad watching football nervously from the other room

[yary-t]

Me: *watches something*

My brain: ok now how can we turn this into Dreamling

Some Dreamling fics I'll never write:

That one His Dark Materials gifset inspired fic: Mr. Prince of Stories tries to declare his love by doing something they both heard in someone's story (maybe overheard during one of their weekly meetings at the New Inn). The significance of the gesture goes completely over Hob's head. Dream ofc thinks he's been rejected. He sulks. Misses their next meeting, and Hob, now aware of the fishbowl incident, freaks out. He has no reason to assume his friend is staying away due to anything he did, after all nothing out of the ordinary happened except the whole Dream putting a sweet into his mouth that’d been odd, so the logical conclusion is that Dream got himself kidnapped again. Cue completely unnecessary rescue mission.

The Newsreader au: Dream as a major newsreader struggling with depression, Hob as a producer. The fishbowl corresponding incident is Dream having been captured and held prisoner while covering a warzone, after which he stopped going on the field.

Altered Carbon au: Time and Night are meths. When people who should be beyond reach start turning up real-deathed, people who work for Endless Co, they increase security for all family members. Dream gets a security team, plus a personal bodyguard--a bounty hunter by the name of Hob. Dream does get targeted, and it turns out the killer has a specific bone to pick with him--it’s the Corinthian, a man who’d worked for Dream for years in the hopes of rising above his station, only to be carelessly tossed aside. Dream starts off very selfish, but ends up learning to give a crap about the people beneath him.

Chess (the musical) au: Dream is the USSR player (he has the views expressed in “Nobody's Side”* and “Where I Want to Be”**), Hob is the cocky British champion. They bang, fall in love, and Dream defects. 

Merrily We Roll Along fic (this would work better as a parody musical or maybe even a gifset, not a fic, but oh well): their meetings told backwards, starting from the 1889 fight, interspersed with the lyrics from the opening song*** and the transitions the ensemble sings (with the dates changed ofc), drawing heavily from that meta about how Dream’s reactions during each meeting informed how Hob chose to spend his next century in the hopes of being able to impress him in the subsequent meeting. And then an epilogue set in the present with them making up because I’m not as cruel as Sondheim

*Such a good song for Dream feeling trapped in his role:

Now I'm Where I want to be And who I want to be And doing what I Always said I would And yet I feel I haven't won at all Running for my life And never looking back In case there's someone Right behind to shoot me down And say he always knew I'd fall

**well, the chorus, anyway, not the bit about the singer’s current boyfriend:

Everybody's playing the game But nobody's rules are the same Nobody's on nobody's side Better learn to go it alone Recognize you're out on your own Nobody's on nobody's side

***The whole thing is so clever:

Dreams don’t die So keep an eye on your dream—

And before you know where you are There you are

Time goes by And hopes go dry But you still can try For your dream

Tend your dream…

How does it happen?

Dreams take time…

Once it was all so clear

Time goes by…

How can you get so far Off the track? Why don't you turn around And go back?

[readingwriter92]

Oh boy guys guess who just refound the bleach soundtrack…

[ifeelfreewithoutmyshoes]

I am once again baffled by peoples bad takes online

[phoenixshallrise]

Can nobody see nuance on this site? Yes, Neil Gaiman is a famous author who has, surprise surprise, just been accused of horrible and awful things. “Burn his books” “if you watch good omens you support genocide”. The world is not black and white. Let’s look at the facts:

Neil Gaiman is very rich, very famous, and a very cishet guy

Neil Gaiman is very vocal about his support of transgender people

Neil Gaiman fingered his son’s 22-year-old Nanny when he was 61, when they were in a legal sexual relationship

The journalist who broke the news is a transphobic radfem and the sister of Boris Johnson

The podcast discussing this story with the is very anti-BDSM (something very much present in the relationship between Neil and the first victim)

Texts and emails between Neil and Scarlet (one of the women) were expressions of mutual sexual desire/enjoyment

The two women said they were both in their twenties when the respective sexual relationships began, with Neil several decades their senior (61 with Scarlet and mid-forties with K)

The victims have accused Neil Gaiman of raping them via digital penetration and have shared very similar stories

You are not a horrible person for still liking Neil Gaiman media. Stop telling people to burn their copy of good omens. Stop telling people that reading the Sandman means they support genocide. Stop turning this into a chance to spread antizionism. Stop trying to get David and Michael to speak on this. You don’t know anything except what has been written. You do not have the moral high ground.

Take a deep breath and get off of tumblr.

Go touch grass.

(edited because of wording)

(please see my other post where I reblogged with more info)

[neil-gaiman]

Hello Mr. Gaiman. I have been a fan of you since I was a kid and watched Coraline a million times on repeat. It encouraged me to take on my first book in English (I am not a native English speaker), which later encouraged me to study English literature. So a big thank you for that!

I have just started reading the Sandman before I dive into the Netflix show. But I have noticed that you refer to ‘witchy’ things in a way that proves that you are very well informed on these matters. Popular media tends to limit itself to: “Oh, let me pull a tarot card for you - ah, the Hanged Man, you will die soon.” Which irks me gravely.

But, more importantly, I have just finished reading an article on the Pendle Witch trials, featuring none other than Alice Nutter & Alizon Device… Needless to say, my mind was blown, shortly after my jaw dropped to the floor.

These things are quite popular now, but still rather hard to find reliable information on, so I was wondering how that research went for you when you wrote these works over 30 years ago?

I do apologise if this question has been asked before!

We read books. They had books before ever there was an internet.

[vroomvroomwee]

Crowley is Lucifer

(Ok I know some of you don't believe this theory but I highly suggest you give this a quick read anyway. I tried to make it short and easy and I'll be going chronologically, from s1 all through s2)

- First, let's get this out of the way, Lucifer and Satan aren't neccesarilly the same person. Even in the show the devil that appeared in s1 has only ever been reffered to as Satan, not even once as Lucifer.

- In the bible Lucifer was the one to tempt Eve with the apple, and who do we know that does that in the show. Crowley is literally THE snake from Eden.

- An obvious one perhaps, but the red hair is also a giveaway

- In the bible Jesus was tempted by the devil for 30 days, in the show Crowley says "I showed him all the kingdoms of the world", so that's another role Lucifer has that Crowley had in the show

- It's well known (even mentioned in the Sandman) that Lucifer was the most beautiful of all angels, and our demon is played by no other than David Tennant

Now on to season 2 because there's a LOT to unpack here

- He litterally started the engine of the universe which was one of Lucifers roles

- He's the first to say "let there be light", which is pretty fucking huge since that is Gods line

- "I worked closely with upstairs on it" even in the first scene they're telling us Crowley is an angel of very very high rank

- He fell for asking questions, which is litterally what Lucifer fell for, for questioning God. This in and of itself should be a pretty big indicator. "I only ever asked questions"

- Shax: "a miracle of enourmous power only the mightiest of archangels can perform"

Crowley: "How do you know I didn't do it"

And Shax just... doesn't counter that. She looks even skeptical, as if it COULD be a possibility, unlike Uriel who says to Aziraphale don't excpect us to believe you did it. Shax litterally doesn't shut the option down which confirms Crowley has the power not only of an archangel but of the mightiest kind

- In the bookshop with Gabriel/Jim he says "I don't remember. It [gravity] seemed like a good idea when we were all talking about it"

- "You're welcome to come in, you might even spot an archangel" don't tell me this was Crowley just egging Shax on and not being sneaky

- The fact that he could sense the demons coming. "Somethings wrong""It's coming in waves", when Aziraphale couldn't. It could be a demon thing but we saw Sandalphon, an archangel of lower rank, in the first season mention "something smells evil" so obviously angels can sense demons too, they just have to be powerful enough. And keep in mind Sandalphon was already in the book shop for quite some time, Crowley sensed them even before they had arrived (he also sensed the hell hound who was some fucking miles away)

- The.fucking.folder. "You have to be a throne or dominion above" and this dude opens these clasified documents like it's nothing. If this isn't an indicator of his high position as an angel I don't know what is.

- He's worked with Saraqael, another very high ranking angel

- "I'm the only first order archangel in the room"... and the camera imediately pans to Crowley, and for anyone who's read the book and watched the show you know that rarely anything is coincidental

- When the Metatron says they can't lose another prince of heaven. This... this fucking line. So it's relatively well known that Gabriel and Lucifer are brothers, and if Gabriel is one of the princes of heaven I wonder who the other one could be. "Two princes of heaven". And the Metatrons words were very careful, he doesn't say lost as in heaven can't find him, he says it in the context that they won't be sending Gabriel to hell since they won't lose another prince to downstairs

- In the bookshop when no one can identify the Metatron he turns to Crowley who imediately recognises him. Now you have this dude, who's literally on top of the angel hierarchy and is responsible for running heaven and the connection to God themself, surrounded by archangels and a principality you spoke to face to face with just a few years ago and... none of them can tell who you are, the only one who does is the literal demon. That tells us that Crowley has not only seen him in this form, but has probably worked with the Metaron himself personally. "Always asking damn fool questions", 10 million angels and he remembers what this one particular angel was like 6000 years ago

- Crowley is also very reluctant to reveal his identity as an angel. Now if he were just an ordinary angel of no real significance he wouldn't have a problem revealing his name, but... if his name was one that's the literal representation of all evil in this world, then it is understandable he keeps it a secret, in fear he might scare Aziraphale away

- And I wanted to leave the best for last. So you remember in the book when Crowley has to sign his name to start Armaggedon, and Hastur tells him "no, your real name" after which he reluctantly writes it. Now in the book we never see him write anything, but in the show we see him write a sygil, something that looks very mich like an L. An L... A FUCKING L. And now I wonder how this theory didn't come up sooner.

(Also he can fucking stop time, like dafuq)

Edit:

- "Oh looky here it's Lucifer and the guys" we all thought he was talking about someone else, he's just refferencing things other angels have said about HIM. FUCK

- I keep seing people saying Crowleys memories were wiped because he couldn't remember Saraqael and Furfur. But I think people forget, demons lie. He's lying to make them think he's not that angel they worked with, that he's not Lucifer. (In season 1 we hear him a few times refferencing his life as an angel, so he does remember most of it)

- Also saying if the Raphael theory were true then as showrunners they would have mentioned him somewhere for those not that familiar with the bible (or don't read much fanfiction). The refferences for Crowleys past are so so vague that it would be too sudden and confusing if he were Raphael. But there is one name that everyone is familiar with, no matter who you are how old you are or where you're from, a name that needs no introduction.

Edit 2:

- Back to him being the most beautiful angel, I don't think it was ever quite explained how every single demon when they're in hell looks... awful, but Crowley doesn't. Beelzebub has the spores all over their face, Hastur the maggots and the sh-, Dagon the scales etc. But Crowley doesn't, not even when he's in hell, he's always just so, well, pretty.

- I saw a few people asking about how Lucifer started the rebellion and Crowley wouldn't do that. I think it's the same Crowley who wouldn't get stuck in traffic after creating the M25, or the same Crowley that wanted to call Aziraphale after bringing down the entire London network, "you told them you invented the spanish inquisition, and started the second world war""so the humans beat me to it that's not my fault", "so all this is your demonic work?""no, the humans thought it up themselves nothing to do with me"

- Also I think Satan's in charge of hell not Crowley the same way the Metatron's in charge of heaven and not Gabriel (and who can very easily demote angels if he so wishes)

Edit 3:

- like some of you pointed out Lucifer is also known/means Light-bringer. And Crowley was the first to say "let there be light."

- The file he opens with Muriel is Gabriels file, a class A archangel, so if he knows the password to that it means that either he's on the same level as Gabriel, or above him.