#dreamling 1689

[emihotaru]

And this one is done too!

I had a great time painting them, they came quite easily!

Here are 1689 Dream of the Endless and Hob Gadling, from the Sandman fanfic "Giving Sanctuary", by @avelera

Did I said "no more water" in one of my last drawing? I can't remember (I love bath scenes, ok??)

[valiantstarlights]

*turns up the brightness as high as it can go* man I can't believe Hob did a strip tease for Dream in 1689

[avelera]

Sandman Meta: Hob has exactly zero way of figuring out who Dream is (before they reunite)

More than once in a fic I've written from Hob's POV I've had readers note their astonishment that Hob has not yet figured out Dream's identity, even if Dream does not reveal it himself.

Even in fics of mine where Dream reveals his name, like in Giving Sanctuary, I have Hob be slow on the uptake when it comes to the extent of Dream's powers, even things like being able to enter and control dreams, and the reason I do this is carefully considered and based in the fact that Hob would have no way of knowing who Dream is or by extension what he can do.

So I kind of want to take a step back and address in detail just how actually impossible it would be, objectively, for Hob to figure out who Dream is in a world that doesn't have The Sandman comic for him to read to figure it out.

This is, of course, because, from a Doylist angle, Neil's "Dream of the Endless" is not based in any single mythology. Indeed, Dream as we know him is cobbled together from at least three or more different mythological figures, none of which combine to actually form the "Dream of the Endless" we see in the show or read in the comics. The Endless are completely made up for the comic and the Sandman, Morpheus, and Oneiros are all from wildly different mythologies and none of them actually overlap to form the complete picture of who Dream is as an entity in the Sandman show or comic.

So even if someone straight-up told Hob that the person he meets is the Sandman, Morpheus, or Oneiros (btw, there is no singular figure of "Oneiros" in Greek mythology) he would still not be able to put together the full picture of who Dream is. Even if he's given the name "Dream of the Endless" to work with, those words combined don't mean anything on their own if you don't have what an Endless is filled in, because it was made up entirely for the comic. (Of course, a fanfic author absolutely could make up such a book for their fic but it would be a creation for that fic, serving a purpose within that story like to tip Hob off, though I think it's entirely reasonable to make up a book in the Sandman world that goes into detail on who the Endless are. The Magdalene Grimoire, btw, is not that book. It only talks about Death. Death is a figure in many mythologies including the Christian one, but Dream is not. Even Burgess needs the Corinthian to tell him who Dream is in the show, and he's an occultist.)

Couple all of this with Hob's personal experience with Dream, encountering him as part of a wager with Dream's sister Death to see if Hob could bear a life of immortality, you get far more clues that would send him hurtling off into a totally incorrect direction before you'd get anything close to the truth, if we assume only the books available in our world are available to him.

So the reason this is a bit of an irritation for me that there's this idea that Hob has "all the clues" to figure out who Dream is because it smacks of a logical fallacy.

Basically, it's easy to see that the answer to a complicated math problem is "obvious" if someone just hands the answer to you. But challenging people to actually solve it themselves could be quite a bit more complicated. And in this complex formula solving for "Who the fuck is Hob's mysterious stranger?" there's actually so many blank X's of unanswered questions that I genuinely think there's no way for Hob to solve this equation without someone giving him the answer.

Let's go through this systematically, using just what Hob knows as observed on screen in the show.

1389 - a pale man in all black with a ruby at his throat approaches Hob's table and challenges Hob to meet him there in 100 years. He then smiles enigmatically and leaves.

That's it. That's all Hob has to go off of. He never sees Death, he has no idea about the wager. As far as he knows, Dream gave him immortality. It would be the most logical conclusion given that the day before Hob didn't have immortality and the day after, presumably, he does.

1489 - The only confirmation he has is actually seeing Dream there in 1489 and the first thing he asks is, "How did you know that I'd be here?"

Dream does not answer him. Hob takes a few stabs at guessing his identity which reveals his Christian European context: are you a wizard, or a saint -- to be clear, these are two types of human magic users that make sense to Hob for his context. The only other figure he can think of is The Devil. He doesn't ask if Dream is a pagan god or a faerie, he assumes a man with arcane or divine magic, or the Devil.

Dream says that he's not the Devil, much good that would do if he was a Devil who could just presumably lie to Hob, and says he's interested in Hob's experience and implies that he will grant him another 100 years of life. He is sarcastic and unimpressed about Hob's wonder at the world. He doesn't even actually show much interest in Hob being in the printing business. He only shows a spark of interest in Hob's continued desire to live, and then immediately takes off.

1589 - The only new information Hob gets this year is 1) Dream is supremely uninterested in food or the wealth Hob has earned, or his family, and 2) puny little Will Shaxberd, a crap playwright with no shot at becoming anything more, suddenly becomes a famous playwright. He would eventually become a renowned playwright in his day but keep in mind, Shakespeare didn't actually become mega famous centuries after his death. In his day, many people thought other playwrights like Marlowe were better.

My point is, from this Hob doesn't necessarily get even the pieces to determine that Dream likes art. It might seem obvious to us because Dream is Prince of Stories, but that's not the offer Dream gives Shaxberd. He just asks if it is Will's will to create dreams to spur the minds of men. Yes, we know that Dream wants Will to make dreams for him, but in Hob's context, Dream is just asking what Will would sell his soul for, just like he overheard Hob saying he had no intention of dying. From this perspective the only strong conclusion Hob can draw is that Dream grants wishes.

From this, Hob could conclude that Dream is a djinn/genie, or perhaps a faerie, but there is absolutely nothing to indicate he's associated with dreams or literature directly besides a mention of creating dreams nested in the context of asking Shaxberd what he wants, giving him a supernatural gift much like the one Hob believes Dream gave him.

At this point, the domains of Dream's power are very muddled for Hob because he doesn't know Death gave him immortality. So as far as he knows, Dream can give immortality AND make an amateur playwright into the greatest writer who ever lived. Putting these two things together does not bring you naturally to the domain of dreams by any stretch.

(I will note here, that in Giving Sanctuary, I had Hob learn that "Death" is Dream's sister before he learns Dream's name. There, his initial conclusion is that Dream must therefore be Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the one known for wearing black (and not eating seems like a clue with Dream too) my point being that having another, small piece of the whole puzzle still would probably send him flying off in the wrong direction given his cultural context.)

1789: The next time Hob gets any hint that Dream has powers is with Lady Johanna. He uses his sand to show her her, "old ghosts". Note, she does not fall asleep but rather begins to hallucinate.

The Sandman myth has its origins of Scandinavia and it is first written down in in "Der Sandmann" a context that Hob might have access to, if he's very well read, in the early 1800s. By the way, the description of the Sandman in that book bears a striking resemblance to the Corinthian, because he eats the eyes of naughty children, and very little to Dream beyond the use of sand in his magic.

There is absolutely nothing to link the Sandman to Morpheus the Roman God of Dreams, who was made up entirely by Ovid in the Metamorphoses and never mentioned anywhere before that. That's because Neil Gaiman was the first to link those two mythological figures.

And on that note, there is no Oneiros attested to in Hesiod. The mention of Oneiros is actually to the "Oneiroi" an entire tribe of dreams and nightmares who are the children of Night (Nix). There's Hypnos (Sleep) who is the brother of Thanatos (Death) but that is about as close as we get to the Endless in any other mythological source besides the comics. And again, Dream does not put Johanna to sleep, he makes her hallucinate.

1889- Again, there is precious little to go off of. Dream is tight-lipped as ever. The only thing he gives away is that Lady Johanna later helped him with a task, a fact Hob is visibly annoyed and I daresay jealous about, and when he lashes out he refers to himself as, "One such as I."

But "One such as I," only reveals something Hob already knew: that Dream thinks highly of himself. That doesn't actually reveal that Dream is even magical, he could just be nobility or a powerful immortal magic user and refer to himself that way. Hob already knows that Dream is magical, and immortal, and probably some sort of high born or aristocrat. He's probably known that since 1389 given how Dream was dressed and given that giant fuck-off ruby (which actually might make Hob, in that day, wonder if Dream was a relation to the Black Prince)

That's it. That is the grand total of everything Hob has seen of Dream.

Hob in the comic will eventually admit, in The Wake, that he figured out who Dream was on his own. But this is after Seasons of Mist when Dream toasts him in Hob's dream and Hob wakes up with the impossible bottle of wine on his bedside. He has another encounter too with Dream where Dream eventually accedes to Hob's request to make the men who killed Audrey, his dead girlfriend, know who she was. Presumably, Dream makes them dream of her.

So Hob in the comics by the time we get to The Wake has more to go off of to make the link to the Lord of Dreams. Hob as we see him in the show, has had much less to go off of.

Even if you give Hob one piece of the puzzle, like one of the names like Morpheus, or The Sandman, or Oneiros, that still doesn't help give him the whole picture. The word "Endless" would be meaningless. He would have to have read at least three pretty obscure books that span a period of 2,000 years (between Hesiod and Der Sandmann) to get the three books that Neil primarily drew from to combine these figures into the Dream of the comic.

Look, my point is, unless someone gives the answer to Hob, and explains the full extent of what the Endless are, he's got little to go off of. Arguably, not enough at all to solve for "X" as to who Dream is, even if he's given more pieces. This would be a tough problem to solve.

[dsudis]

When Two Become One || Dream of the Endless | Morpheus/Hob Gadling || Explicit || 8/? || 42,282 words

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, Explicit Sexual Content, Fix-It, Centennial Conjugal Visits, Slow Burn, Despite the Fucking, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Canonical Character Death, Poorly Negotiated Bigamy, Death in Childbirth, Stillbirth, Hurt/Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Hand Feeding

On the seventh of June, 1389, Destiny’s book requires that Dream of the Endless marry. His sister Death knows just where to find him a spouse. Hob Gadling is just happy to be here. Dream may have to marry, but he knows how to make sure his marriage lasts at least a hundred years before going down in flames. A marriage, century by century.

Chapter 8: June 7, 1689

[Read the new chapter here!]

Hob and Dream both arrive at their centennial marriage night ready to reconcile, and their plans go off very nearly without a hitch.

[notallsandmen]

[harukaspiegel]

Doodle time! I'm very obsessed with 1689!Dream. I'm sorry.

[strandhai]

☆☆☆

𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖⁣

𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒛𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓 "𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖"⁣

𝑩𝒊𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏' 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔⁣

𝑫𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆⁣

𝑺𝒂𝒚 "𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕-𝒊𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕" 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒆⁣

𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒆⁣

𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝑰'𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆⁣

𝑫𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆

☆☆☆

1689 Hob Gadling: me

Dream of the Endless: creativemayhem_ (IG)

[kydrogendragon]

Relationship: Dream/Hob Rating: Explicit Words: 1606 Warnings: None Ao3 Link

For square B2 of the Dreamling Bingo. Masterlist can be found here.

Dream should not need this. He shouldn’t. He used to be so much stronger before. And now…

Hob’s hand trails down his chest, fingers gliding over pale pink buds. Another hand slides up Dream’s neck to rest against his cheek, turning him into a kiss. Dream goes willingly, letting his mouth melt into Hob’s own, luxuriating in the pleasant friction of Hob’s beard against his skin. Dream groans as another Hob eases down Dream’s length, his nose nestling the soft skin of his inner thigh.

Dream should not need this. He was Endless. Even at the peak of his previous romantic entanglements, he had never stooped to such levels of depravity and desperation before. He can only imagine how Hob would view him if he knew. Surely Hob would hate him, curse him and withdraw any offer of friendship. And Dream would hardly blame him. What respectable friend does this? What friend, before being able to even think of visiting his friend, would need to feel his touch and taste his pleasure to insure that he would not act upon such desires in his friend’s presence? What friend would unabashedly summon up copies of Hob through the ages where they dance to Dream’s command? No…Hob would surely shun him if he knew the truth.

A tongue slides between his lips, coaxing, wanting. Dream lets his body go pliant as he closes his eyes. He lets himself fall into the sensations of warm hands, soft mouths, and the gentle groans and whispers of Hob’s voice around him. In these moments, when Dream lets himself simply be, he can almost pretend these hands are Hob’s in truth, that this is not an extension of himself, but Hob’s mouth upon him. But he knows that such a thing could never be.

His love his poison. His love ruins all those it touches. He knows that these feelings, as they grow stronger and stronger with every day, do nothing but spell his friend’s end. But Dream is not strong enough to stay away. He is not strong enough to reject Hob’s offers of warmth and companionship. So he must do this. This is how he protects his friend, for the little time he can still remain in his company before this gnawing beast within him breaks free.

The Hob of 1689 pulls Dream down and he goes. Dream lies between his legs on the silk sheets of the large bed spawned to life for this purpose. A hand reaches around and turns Dream’s head back to meet his lips. Hob’s hair, wild and long as it was at the time, tickles the edge of his face. 1389 Hob, rugged and daring as he was, nestles between Dream’s legs, biting and sucking each inch of flesh on Dream’s thighs. 1489 continues his ministrations on Dream’s chest where he sits, straddling his stomach, letting his hands and mouth wander and explore. 1798 and 1889 stay slotted against his side, caressing and kissing every inch of skin they can find. The only one not actively touching him is the version of Hob from 1589 who stands perched on his knees beside them, gazing down at the debauchery as he slowly strokes himself with hooded eyes.

Dream worries how much longer this can go on.

This used to be more manageable, more tame. After he and Hob agreed to see each other more often than their prior one hundred years, Dream felt that itch start. The familiar, hungering thing that grew its claws with the pale imitation of a heart he possesses. It pulls and tears and tugs at his essence, sharpening its teeth with Dream’s emotions until it forms the gnawing beast that is his love. It had been smaller, back then. Easily fed scraps of fantasies Dream could fashion in an instant. Brief thoughts of Hob’s touch, of his kiss, of a familiar smoldering glance sent his way. But soon, it grew larger.

As Hob feeds the beast Dream keeps trapped inside of him with such gentle touch and his kind words, the beast grows hungrier. It craves what Dream knows it cannot have. And so the fantasies Dream feeds it grow too. Each meeting, each moment with Hob only fuels it. If he were stronger, he would stop returning to his friend in order to starve the beast out, but Dream is not strong. He has not been in so long. He can only hope to stall the inevitable moment that he breaks and he loses Hob by his own hands. For now, Dream will savor every second he spends in his company. For now, he will do what he can to keep the beast in its cage.

Dream hisses as warm heat surrounds his cock. His hands dart down, tangling themselves in the messy locks he recalls well from that first night in the White Horse. Hob’s mouth stretches wonderfully around him and he cannot help but wonder how the Hob of today would look, clean shaven, but with hair of similar length. The image flickers for a moment, the beard fading in and out, jumping between the first version of his friend Dream had ever seen and the most current. He shakes his head, letting his eyes fall back into the embrace of the other Hobs. There’s a familiar brush of coarse hair on his skin once more and as his head bobs, it adds to the mountain of sensation Dream feels.

He can’t help but wonder, had things been different back then, had he been different, could he have had this? Could he have played the part of the pretty lordling who left his castle for a “tumble in the hay” with the common folk? Would Hob had indulged him? Would he have fallen to his knees in the dark shadows of the tavern and shown Dream the skills he’d acquired already in his short span of life? Or perhaps he would have pressed Dream against the back wall of the tavern and taken Dream for himself. Pressed into the tight heat with a groan and fucked him without care.

As these fantasies he builds for himself grow, Dream cannot help but look back on each of their meetings with a new perspective. He knows well the looks passed between them in 1789. How, had Dream been stronger (or perhaps, weaker), he would have taken Hob’s offer to meet at another pub and the invitation that hovered at the edges of his daydreams. Daydreams of leading Dream into a privately rented room to properly…thank Hob for his protection. Or, perhaps, Dream could have taken him right there, in the middle of the White Horse, their bodies obscured from the view of those who would look over, not that he would tell Hob that. Not in the moment, at least. He would look delicious laid upon table or chair, hair freed of its ribbon, face flushed from the excitement of the fight and from the slowly building climax.

Dream can feel his thoughts leaking into the illusions that surround him, moaning and panting against him. Hands grow rougher, needing and wanting. Breath is hot on his skin as desperate mouths reach and suck. Probing fingers, calloused by time spend soldering ease inside of him. Already, Dream feels his grasp on this moment flutter as each vision of Hob drives him closer and closer to his peak. Their touch flickers with the loss of his control. Heat pools within him. More fingers slide inside, deeper and deeper until textured pads brush against that sweet spot inside of him. Dream’s body seizes, his vision blacking, but the touch, thankfully, continues. It is overwhelming and still Hob’s touch does not stop. None of their touch does until the warmth in him snaps and he spills over the edge. He floats in emptiness, mind blissfully blank, knowing only pleasure.

And then he comes back down. Slowly, he falls back into his bed in the Dreaming. Alone. The dreams of Hob have served their purpose and faded back into dreamstuff. Besides, Dream would not use the likeness of his friend for more, despite how his body craves the warmth of Hob’s body against his own. The air is far too cold now. Too achingly familiar to glass and iron.

He dresses himself with a single thought. The beast inside of him is far from quiet. While it no longer screams from its cage within his chest, Dream can feel it already pushing back, seeking the weakness in its prison. His days with Hob are limited. He does not know how much longer he can hold back at this rate. And that thought only angers the thing inside of him. He should step back, feign reason for being unable to visit his friend today. The risk is too great.

But he promised Hob he would meet him, that he would join him as his “plus one” for the holiday party he is hosting for his work colleagues at the New Inn. And he had been nervous to ask, afraid Dream would reject him. He cannot bring himself to crush the hope and excitement that had been in his friend’s eyes when he had agreed.

Dream lies there a moment longer, forcing the feelings that bubble up in his throat further and further down into the abyss of him. Then, he gets up, swaps his clothes for something more fitting, and steps into the Waking.

Hob opens the door with a smile that shines bright. Bright enough to reach the furthest parts of him. And Dream feels the beast inside of him break free.

[orionsangel86]

Subtext Glorious Subtext! A Dreamling on Netflix analysis in The Sandman - Masterpost

Introduction

Shortly after realising this show was going to become my new obsession, I decided to throw myself into all things Sandman, which meant actually reading the comics (several times over) and listening to the audio book on Audible. The one thing that struck me most after consuming all Sandman media, was how different the tone of the Netflix show was. In particular, the choices made in the show for the Men of Good Fortune sequence in episode 6 The Sound of Her Wings which is the reason I fell head first into shipping Dreamling. The Netflix show portrays Dream and Hob’s relationship in a whole different way to the comic and the Audible book.

Whilst it IS possible to pick up certain moments in the Men of Good Fortune comic which can be interpreted with a queer lense, (the rose, Death’s knowing expression, etc) there isn’t really much to work with until we get to Hob’s dream in Season of Mists (and I’m losing my mind thinking about how the Netflix show will adapt THAT).

The queer coding in the show however is laid on so thickly, it’s difficult to ignore it. Like with most popular fandom ships, the reason Dreamling has suddenly become SO popular, is because viewers all collectively watched this 30 minute sequence, and had the eyebrow raising realisation that this was actually all very romantic and subtextually very queer.

I have yet to see a full meta analysis of the episode, so thought I would write a breakdown of Dream and Hob’s meetings over the centuries and outline how their differences from the comics have had such an impact on Dream and Hob’s relationship. How everything from the tweaks to the dialogue and additional scenes, the acting choices made, music cues, and the use of classic love tropes in TV have all come together to give us a subtextual masterpiece of queer coding and very much turned a friendship into something more. Even if you don’t ship Dreamling, I believe it would be very difficult for anyone versed in fandom culture (and anyone with a good knowledge of film and TV analysis) to ignore just how thickly the queer subtext is laid on.

Besides, its also writer acknowledged that there was intention there among the creative team, whatever they may decide to do with that going forward.

Initially I was going to put this entire analysis into one long post, but it is far too long and Tumblr was getting angry with me for the amount of gifs I was using. Instead I have broken my meta essay down into 8 parts as follows under the cut:

Chapter 1 - A Walk with Death and the Return to the White Horse

Chapter 2 - 1389 and 1489

Chapter 3 - 1589

Chapter 4 - 1689

Chapter 5 - 1789

Chapter 6 - 1889

Chapter 7 - 1989

Chaper 8 - Reunited

I have been writing this meta essay very slowly over the space of 7 months and I would love to know your thoughts, feedback, comments, or questions on it! Tagging those who may be interested and those who have asked to be tagged:

@notallsandmen @academicblorbo @just-cosmere-fan @seiya-starsniper @littledreamling @altair214 @lulusolier @joyce20091234 @zenkitty714 @tickldpnk8 @timeuntravel @marlowe-zara @mr-sadman @duckland

[emihotaru]

Sketchy and experimenting time!

Here is an illustration of the first chapter of "Giving Sanctuary", a Sandman and Dreamling fanfic by @avelera .

It begins in 1689, in the White Horse tavern, and I tried to render the candlelight atmosphere we can see in the show. I improvised a lot with my black ink and my watercolors and wanted to keep the sketchy vibes. I had quite a hard time with Dream's all black clothes...

I totally want to draw more moments of this story! Maybe one by chapter? I'll see^^

[shipposttt]

the Ship of the Day: Dreamling

As always, spoiler warning for The Sandman!

Names: Dream/Morpheus and Hob Gadling

Ship Name(s): Dreamling 

Original Content: The series adaptation of The Sandman graphic novels (debut 1988), The Sandman (2022) on Netflix

Ship info:

The Sandman is a Netflix series based on Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel series, following Morpheus (Dream), who is one of the Endless (much like Desire, Despair, Death, Delerium, etc, etc.) as he escapes captivity, recovers his symbols of power, rebuilds his realm -the dreaming-, rounds up the missing dreams and nightmares, and ends what mortals referred to as the sleeping sickness (where many humans couldn’t sleep and others were stuck in a coma for the course of his imprisonment).

We meet Hob Gadling is an immortal human that we meet through a series of flashbacks within episode 6, alongside one present day scene. The first of these flashbacks depicts how Hob gained his immortality, as Dream and his sister Death go to a tavern in 1389 and overhearing Hob loudly proclaiming that he would never die because he chooses not to. Dream convinces his sister to grant him immortality, convinced that Hob would beg for death if he did so. So as to monitor his experiment, he told hob to meet him at the same pub in a centuries time, with no explanation or introduction. Low and behold, Hob meets him there in 1489, asking whether he made a deal with the devil and who Dream was- though Dream does not give him his name, instead asking him if he still wishes to live, Hob responds “I have so much to live for”. This continues every century thereafter, up until the 19th century:

In 1589 Hob once again responds that he has so much to live for, explaining he had been knighted by the queen, got a wife and had a son with her- Dream leaves him at his table as he hears local poet William Shakespeare talking about his works, instead going to make a deal with him as Hob is left surrounded by the banquet he laid out for his mysterious acquaintance.

In 1689, Hob is starving and eating any food he can as he sits opposite dream, telling the story of how he lost it all- his wife, his son, his home, his money, and had spent the century starving without being able to die following his town attempting to drown him as a witch for his lack of aging. Despite this all, when Dream asks if he still wishes to live, he replies as usual “I still have so much to live for”.

In 1789 Hob bounces back, having gotten involved in the shipping business and the slave trade. Dream advises against such actions, stating that is it a poor thing for one man to enslave another (foreshadowing anyone?). Though he clearly disagrees with Hob’s actions of that century, he restates that the choice is Hob’s, “but would you take that choice away from others”, resulting in Hob saying he will consider his advice. Moving on from this, Hob tries to steer the conversation away from that subject, asking after William Shakespeare and what deal Dream made with him- “What kind of deal? His soul?” “Nothing so crude”, following up by asking Dream for his name and who he is truly since he still knew very little of him despite knowing one another for 400 years. Unfortunately, their meeting is interrupted by Lady Johanna Constantine, who had heard of the meetings of the Devil and the Wandering Jew every century in the tavern, showing them pictures drawn of the pair’s meeting from the prior century and threatening that her mercenaries will slit their throats if they move. She invites Dream to share his gifts of immortality with her, though the pair decline, stating they are no devil and that Hob is not Jewish, and Hob swiftly protects Dream- taking out the two mercenaries with his extensive history of war and battles during his own mercenary life gone past. When Constantine then draws her blade on Hob in turn, Dream blows sand (one of his symbols of power) into her face, showing her her old ghosts, essentially sending her into a nightmare.  This is the first time Hob sees any of Dream’s powers (other than immortality of course). They smile at each other!! (Trust me that is very important because in all honesty Dream looks like a kicked puppy the rest of the time in this show and we see him smile most often with Hob. Though of course this could just be due to their long-term friendship.) Dream reiterates that Hob should remain cautious, even if he cannot die, he can still be harmed or captured (once again, foreshadowing anyone?).

In 1889 they meet once again, with Hob being shown another element of Dream’s powers as Dream is able to know Lushing Lou’s name and some of her traumatising past. Hob admits that he doesn’t believe they still meet up to see if Hob still seeks death, as he doesn’t think he ever will, he instead believes that they continue to do so because Dream is lonely and is there for friendship. Spoiler alert: Dream doesn’t take kindly to this. “You dare… you dare suggest one such as i might need your companionship” “yes, yes I do.” “Then I shall take my leave of you and prove you wrong” ”I’ll tell you what, I’ll be here in 100 years time, if you’re here then too then it’ll be because we’re friends, no other reason, right? … fuck.”. We love the drama, and by we I mean me, I love the drama.

1989… so things didn’t leave off too well the previous century huh… despite it all, Hob still went to their meeting spot, only for Dream to never show. Whilst there, he finds that the building is due to be sold so as to be torn down, with Hob leaving graffiti pointing to “The New Inn”, going back every day in case Dream showed up. Now how dare Dream not turn up!! I cannot believe he truly didn’t believe them friends after 5 centuries!! Yeah, so about that… Do you guys remember the foreshadowing?  And the description of the series following him as he escapes confinement? Between the 19th and 20th centuries’ meetings, Dream was captured and imprisoned by Roderick Burgess, physically unable to leave his fishbowl in the basement (from 1916 to 1988).

In the present day, when he finally breaks free, Dream tracks Hob down to the New Inn:

“You’re late”- Hob       “It seems I owe you an apology, I’ve always heard it impolite to keep one’s friends waiting”- Dream

The scene then cuts to Dream’s sibling, Desire, their statues heart thumping.

Type of Ship: Queer read

Now, though they do not label themselves friends for much of their association (only officially doing so in some of the final scenes of them) and definitely don’t refer to one another as romantic partners throughout the series, fans have consumed this media through a queer lens, shipping the two together. This could be for many reasons. For instance, as previously stated, Dream looks like a sad kicked puppy for the majority of the season, he lights up around Hob, showing more positive emotions, smiling, chuckling, making jokes and just all around acting more human instead of the endless being her truly is- this has been interpreted by fans as him feeling safe with showing the vulnerabilities associated with humanity and mortals when around Hob, which is an intensely intimate feeling to convey. Despite this he is also shown to feel safe showing that he is not human, comfortable in using his sand and showing off a bit in 1889 before the argument. Feelings of intense safety are usually reserved within media for shows of love: familial, platonic or romantic. Now of course it is not familial love that they have so it left fans choosing between the latter choices. Further reasons for fans viewing them as queer is due to them protecting one another, encouraging one another’s safety and literally waiting a whole century visiting a specific inn in hopes that the other would show up. Of course, we cannot forget about Desire, the timing of the scene cutting to them has left many fans seeking a connection between Dream seeing Hob again for the first time and then Desire immediately thereafter knowing that Dream had escaped his imprisonment. This has been interpreted to mean that Desire could feel Dream’s desire to see Hob or perhaps a burst of desire for him when he does see him. Though it is unknown whether this is true or not, and if so whether said desire was platonic or romantic in nature, it was left open ending enough for fans to jump to their own conclusions. Considering Neil Gaiman’s acts surrounding the Good Omens series (book and tv, which I have spoken about in a previous post), fans know he is not hung up on traditional portrayals of love, both in the sense that he is willing to visibly have queer characters and queer love stories prominent in his works and that he is willing to portray romance in a more in depth and complex way than outright confessions of love and kissing behind the bleachers. As such, they are able to confident read characters as queer without fearing it being turned into queer bait, allowing for portrayals such as Hob and Dreams relationship (platonic or otherwise, though im personally hoping it will one day be the otherwise). Of course, all relations between the two could be construed as platonic, with them using terms such as ‘friend’ quite clearly to refer to one another, but fans such as myself are completely free to interpret it romantically. Either way, we can all agree that Hob served spectacularly to humanise the Sandman, Dream of the Endless.

Thanks for reading!! I’ve watched the series a few times and have recently started reading the graphic novels/comics so im looking forward to exploring how the pair are explored within that in comparison to the show!

Admin🦇

[avelera]

Avelera's Dreamling Fic Status Update:

Keeping Sanctuary (subscribe for updates here) - Giving Sanctuary Sequel follows Dream and Hob from the events of the altered meeting in 1689 up to the modern era. (aka, What if they hooked up after the 1689 meeting?) Current word count: ~7,000 words across several chapters. Realistic progress update: 1/10 complete total, Ch. 1 is about 1/5 complete.

(The rest are below the cut!)

Come live with me and be my love - Dream and Hob fall in love during the Regency Era when Dream loses a bet to Desire. Shenanigans ensue. (aka, What if they hooked up after the 1789 meeting?) Ch. 16 is at 2,500 words, probably about 1/3 done. Current plan is to wrap up Part 1 in the next few chapters then create a part 2 which finishes out their "1 year of marriage" on a month by month basis instead of following them day to day like Part 1 done. Probably won't be a separate fic though, just a change of format.

This Rough Magic - My take on "Hob rescues Dream from Burgess" with a twist that Hob ends up on Burgess's radar himself when he picked up some occult magic skills in the hopes of contacting Dream after 1889 and apologizing. Now he has to pretend to be friends with Burgess in order to get them both out of there, because Burgess thinks Hob can help force Dream to give him immortality. (aka, What if they hooked up after the 1889 meeting?) Ch. 9 is about 800 words in. Story is still very much in progress I just have a lot of WIPs, as you can see.

Joke's On You (I'm Into That) - The 1589 meeting goes very different when Hob proposes to Dream, who is so offended that he just can't let the matter go. A very angry, very horny competition kicks off between them. (Aka, what if they hooked up in 1589 when they were both at their absolute worst as people?) I have literally 40,000 words written for the rest of this fic. The problem is, there's big gaps in that first draft I have to fill in and scenes that need to be added. This might be my favorite WIP but it's also the hardest to write with all the smut scenes so it'll arrive whenever I can manage, I'm afraid.

Banana Daiquiris Ch. 2 - Comic-canon compliant (mostly) - Dream fakes his death to go on a vacation with Hob and Destruction. They end up in Tahiti. Destruction plays matchmaker. Hob doesn't know whether to thank Destruction or strangle him. Current word count 6,000 words. I've been playing around with adding on to this fic for ages. One of these days, I'll pull it all together.

Great Triumphs and Tragedies - aka, "Dream Accidentally Cursed Hob with a Normal Life" Fic - Dream learns that from 1689 on, Hob's life has been safe. Too safe. Improbably safe. Nothing bad or extraordinary or even terribly special has happened to him since Dream began to consider Hob his friend. He knows this because during his imprisonment, Hob's life became exciting again and suddenly went back to normal the day Dream was freed. Hob is not convinced that Dream is the reason for this, Dream disagrees. They talk about it. And fight about it. And some things that they've probably needed to talk about for a long time finally get said. (aka, sometimes the author just needs to write their weird headcanon into a 20,000 word fic that's almost entirely dialogue). Current word count: 19,000 words and about 80-90% finished, 3 of 4 chapters written. I'm hoping that posting what I've got will help push me through the final stretch. Real life interrupted for a bit though.

Unraveling Centuries, aka the Hob Amesia Fic - Dream and Hob are dating officially now in the 21st century when Hob gets hit with what seems to be a memory loss curse, shaving off 100 years of his life each day until Dream finds a cure. This effectively grants Dream a walk down memory lane as he is reacquainted with the Hob of each era and, in the process, learns how much longer Hob cared for him than Dream ever realized. Current word count: 40,000 words. Currently writing 1489 (1889-1589 are done) and re-writing the opening. First chapter is posted!

And for fics that haven't been posted anywhere yet (you can subscribe on my Ao3 author page for alerts about them):

"Fairy God Marlowe" - 1589 fixit fic where Hob and Kit Marlowe strike up a conversation while Dream and Shaxberd are talking. Hob and Marlowe talk about plays, and faith, and salvation, and queer love, and what it means to live forever. Hob gets a second chance at a first impression. Current word count: ~5,000 words. Sadly, it's all dialogue in script format. I'd need to convert it into prose to publish which would be a slog. So it's a bit shelved until I find the energy to do so. No, I will not post it in script format, I'm allergic to the thought.

I've got a few other concepts kicking around, but these are the ones that actually have (*does a quick calculation*) over 100,000 words written that I haven't had the chance to post yet?? And it's driving me insane????

Anyway, I should probably pin this post for those curious lol. Feel free to ask me any follow-up questions, I love talking about WIPs even as they ruin my life!

[dsudis]

Sandman fic master post

This seems to be a thing all the cool kids are doing for Dreamling week this year, so I will join in! These are (nearly) all Dreamling stories and series, with exactly one that is totally gen.

Standalone stories:

To Be Brand New (141k, 25/25, Canon-Divergence/Fix-It, De-Aging)

When Two Become One (33k, 7/?, Canon-Divergence/Fix-It, Arranged Marriage)

No Better to Be Safe Than Sorry (3k, Daydreaming PWP)

Which Betokeneth Concorde (1k, Dancing, Sort of)

A Worthy Gift (1k, Gift-giving fluff)

Form and Function (5k, Dream's shapeshifting genitals PWP)

(Everything Looks Worse) In Black and White (2k, Angst and fluff)

Beans on Toast (3k, Domestic PWP)

Welcome Little Stranger (2k, Nightmarish Mpreg-ish PWP)

Held Now by This Love (6k, Bondage PWP)

The Weather Outside Is Frightful (3k, Rainstorm Hurt/Comfort)

Introduction to Goncharov Studies (2k, Tumblr Nonsense PWP)

A Dream of Unusual Size (3k, Dream shapeshifting shenanigans)

An Endless End (3k, Gen! Also Major Character Death! But nice!!)

Licking the Spoon (9k, Touch-Starved PWP)

Series:

The Nightmare Apocalypse (And Everything After)

Everything That Falls Down Eventually Rises (9k, apocalypse)

The Death of a Certain Nightmare (1k, sorry Corinthian)

A Well-Ordered Love Story

Five Stars (4k, Human AU grocery delivery meet-cute)

There Are Rules (5k, relationship negotiation)

You Are Safe (You Know, Now) (13k, birthdays and Christmas)

Never Refuse You

Rock Bottom of a Hallowed Ground (20k, 1689 canon divergence)

A Symbol of Your Exegesis (4k, post-1689)

A Salutary Effect (8k, 1789)

Traces of Your Lifeblood Flowing (7k, 1889)

SOS from an Outpost There (11k, 1920s)

Tell Me I'm Dream, Dream, Dream, Dreaming (7k, 2021)

A Condition of Complete Simplicity (Costing Not Less Than Everything)

England and Nowhere (Never and Always) (37k, kidfic AU)

Down the Passage We Did Not Take (7k, more kidfic AU)

Retired Dream (feat. Time Blindness and Other Challenges)

Adaptive Tea Making (2k, making tea)

Such a Gorgeous Sight (2k, midnight snacks)

The Second Drawer (2k, sex toys)

The Kind of Human Wreckage That You Love (6k, necrophilia)

Dream Problems

Lying in Wait (2k, Dream fantasizes in the fishbowl)

Having a Nice Problem (8k, Dream meets up with Hob)

The Keeping of Promises (9k, belated aftercare)

Texting of a Sexual Nature (2k, beginning a relationship)

[writing-for-life]

Michael Zulli: Death, Dream and Hob

Now, I know fandom bends over backwards to make this about Dreamling and often slots its meaning in during/after The Wake (or at least hinting at it because of the meeting with Death), but I honestly can’t see it?

I personally believe we need to step back a bit here and consider that this was painted long before the TV show, and Dreamling wasn’t really a thing (at least not in these epic proportions, plus it was always fanon, not canon), hence we can’t really do art analysis through that lens.

If you just put the 1689 meeting (also drawn by Zulli) right next to it, it becomes, at least to me, so blatantly obvious that it is set in the same timeframe. Hob wears nearly identical clothes, so does Dream (also, some of the original comics have been recoloured).

The woman at the table next to them holding the mask? Hm, there’s a famous artwork by Colleen Doran in which Death holds a mask, and she definitely seems to be listening in here. Which she might, considering the conversation Dream and Hob had in 1689. Could obviously also just be a random person covering up smallpox scars 🤣

In the grand scheme of things, I don’t think it matters so much whether Hob already met Death or not and would recognise her, it’s the symbolism of talking to her at this point more than anything.

So would it be totally outlandish to think the missing glass is also for Eleanor? Hence the red roses as well, because Zulli hardly ever uses red roses for Dream apart from one exception (he does so for Daniel though)—they tend to be blue and always hold connotations to grief, I wrote about this before. Or better: Symbolic for all those who aren’t at the table with him? And that’s why Death is there? Both for those she has taken, but also because this is very obviously the point where Hob is at his lowest and might rethink. 

I think we really have to think about where Hob is in his life here and not erase Eleanor and his kids again. “To absent friends AND lost loves”, right?

And I can’t look at that angel holding the table and not get references to pregnancy/childbirth (Eleanor and the second baby died during childbirth).

As for the raven looking away/pointing away from the table: Foreboding? Because apart from being Dream’s ravens, ravens were also associated with Apollo, who was also the god of prophecy and an oracle himself. That’s why Apollo himself eventually released Orpheus from his existence as one—long story (plus, Aristeas, who was also Dream’s raven, was Apollo’s raven in Greek mythology. Plus Apollo was also Orpheus’ father in some retellings. It’s all interwoven, but I feel the foreboding is a significant thing here for exactly that reason).

And foreboding-foreboding, of course Death and Hob meet again, and by that time, Morpheus will be gone, and the missing glass is also for himself.

I wrote about Zulli and his symbolism a few times, it’s all linked in my pinned post, but the ruins are one of the less subtle references:

[valiantstarlights]

Back to the Start! Would love to know about that

Of course! 🥰

Back to the Start is a dreamling time travel fic. In 1989, while waiting for Dream to arrive, a muscular red-haired man (Destruction) sits at Hob's table (despite his initial protests). He looks little better than Hob did in 1689, so Hob takes pity on him and orders him a pint and some food.

After eating, Destruction asks Hob what he would do if he found out that the world is ending that day. Hob laughs, but humors him and says that he would want to meet with his dear friend (the one who's running late) one last time so he could say goodbye.

Destruction is silent for a bit, and then he says something like, "Sure, why the fuck not," one-shots the rest of his pint, and tells Hob that he's gonna do him one better: he's gonna get to meet his friend for however many times they met in Hob's lifetime--except it would be backwards.

Hob, still humoring him, is like, "Sounds good." Destruction nods seriously and leaves. Hob thinks about how strange their interaction was.

The rest of the day plays out like it did in the show. Hob goes home, already thinking about the steps he's going to take to keep The White Horse Tavern open, so he wouldn't think about being stood up by his Stranger. He goes to bed, sleeps...

...and wakes up in the morning of June 7, 1898.

I'm not sure how much I should reveal here, but regarding the time travel aspect, it's not so much as actual time travel (ft. Father Time) but Destruction imploding the entire timeline and using the energy to send Hob back. Because the world actually ended shortly after Hob fell asleep on June 7, 1989, and the Endless are packing up the universe.

Ask about my WIPs

[shipsgaysfordays]

okay, let's talk about the 1889 meeting between Dream and Hob

(i'm currently rewatching the episode and just i need to talk about it)

Hob has spent centuries barely knowing anything about the Stranger, he'll ask questions at every single meeting to never get any clear answer as to who the Stranger is. all he has are assumptions, "you know everyone, don't you?" because Dream didn't answer him. and you can see very clearly that Hob was annoyed at Dream deflecting yet again this time, that instead he of talking about himself he talked of Lady Joanna. but, at least he learned something about the Stranger.

for centuries their conversations have really only been about Hob despite his many attempts to learn about Dream.

Hob says "people are almost always better than you think they are. not me, though. still the same as ever." simply being a bit self deprecating, he feels bad for his past actions and he can't see himself as a good man anymore.

Dream says that Hob's changed, because he's seen over the centuries that Hob has changed, he's complimenting Hob by saying that he's changed.

and yet...

the minute Hob brings the conversation around to Dream, at first possibly attempting to return the compliment in saying that the Stranger has also changed. it's an assumption, because all Hob really has to go off of with the stranger is assumptions. "i think it's you that's changed". he doesn't know, how could he? Dream barely lets himself be known by Hob.

and despite this being said by Hob with a smile, despite this being a reflection of a compliment from Dream, Dream's face falls. "how so?" it's easier to see change when you're not the one changing, when you're on the outside.

Hob continues forward with his assumptions, a bit more confidently, possibly overconfident, "i think i know why we still meet here, century after century. it's not because you want to see whether or not i'm ready to seek death. i don't think i'll ever seek death. by now, you know that about me." he's slightly projecting, they've been at this for centuries so Dream must know by now that he won't seek death, right? he knows Hob better than any living person at that time, he must know this about Hob. "so, i think you're here for something else."

this corporeal form of a man has literal tears in his eyes, "what might that be?" (this is possibly the moment when Hob should have realized it was a bad idea to push it)

"friendship." i believe Hob is projecting, that he's hitting the target right on the mark, but he's projecting. maybe i've read too much fanfic or thought about this too much, but Hob is an immortal being who has to almost constantly lie about who he is to everyone, except Dream. except the man who already knows everyone, who sees the best in Hob despite what Hob has done, who drives Hob to be a better man. in 1789 it is very clear that this relationship is of great importance to Hob, the way they act, it's obvious that Hob cares and they are friends in his mind.

and there's been the idea that i've read (because i read a bit too much dreamling fanfic) that, in 1689, Hob says "i've got so much to live for" at least partially because of Dream. now it's probably a better message if he said it on his own account and not because of specifically who he was speaking to. but i've seen the idea that he said it in order to make Dream happy (because Dream is almost never happy, and the last century he supremely failed to impress Dream), i've seen the idea that part of that "so much" is Dream and their friendship. i think 1689 confirms to him that Hob doesn't need to be impressive for Dream to want his company, that Hob doesn't need to be constantly happy, he just needs a will to live (idk how he has it, personally that sounds really difficult). 1789 confirms that Dream can guide Hob into being a better person, that Dream cares for his well-being, and that the Stranger might just finally tell Hob something about himself (Dream was just about to actually give an answer--a shocking turn of events--when Lady Joanna came in and screwed it all up).

anyways, back to 1889, Hob shoots his shot and offers friendship to the only being who could possibly understand him....and then he takes it a step too far, flies too close to the sun, and says, "i think you're lonely". and honestly, i don't see Hob's reason for saying this. not in a "why the hell would you say that" type of way, but like, in my mind, he doesn't have much reason to assume the Stranger is lonely. at this point in time he actively has reason to assume otherwise. Dream mentioned how he knows all of this information about Lou, about how he worked with Lady Joanna again, Hob even gives thought to the idea that the Stranger "knows everyone". so why would Hob think he's lonely? he's projecting. no one can understand Hob's life and a similar situation is probably going on with his stranger. no one can understand except them two. immortality is isolating.

and what does Dream do with this offer of friendship from a person who he does obviously care for, he focuses on what he perceives as an insult. "you dare (call me lonely and say i need your friendship)".

Hob tries to go back on what he's said, on the boundary he's overstepped, "no, look, i'm not saying..."

but he's angered an Endless, he doesn't know it, but he has. he's basically called a huge ego'd God lonely. there's no stopping Dream from being a drama queen at the idea that HE could be in NEED of HOB'S COMPANIONSHIP.

and oh Hob, oh Hob, oh Hob. you just have to be an overconfident cocky bastard, you just have to dare.

and because Dream is incapable of being vulnerable and allowing himself to have nice things such as friendships, he's gotta prove Hob wrong. he announces his leaving.

they stand. Hob moves forward, like he's about to grab Dream's arm or something like that, ask him to stay maybe. Dream swiftly walks past him and Hob grimaces, they've fucked up the only constant in their lives. the only friendship with a being who could truly know him.

walking out dramatically into the dramatically raining night sky and Hob dramatically exclaiming, "i'll tell you what, i'll be here in 100 years' time. if you're here too it'll be because we're friends." (why are you friend zoning yourself man, you're in love) "no other reason, right" (the other reason is that you're in love with each other, why can neither of you idiots see that?)

"fuck." says the man who has just ruined his most long running friendship with the man of his dreams (i think i'm so funny).

and that's my analysis of their meeting in 1889, from Hob's perspective mainly.