#griffin has said he doesn't know all that much about him or his backstory so

[seefasters]

it makes sense for both beef and emerich to live in usetuben - beef is a has-been arm wrestler and emerich is a scientist who's responsible for like. most of hardlight technology but has been largely forgotten and cast aside by his peers

we have no fucking idea why montrose is in usetuben though. it goes with his personality and general character that we know nothing about him but also, why usetuben? he could probably be anyone and work at any layer. he's a fan of ephemera, why not work there? i think the only connection he has with like, the nostalgia theme thats going on in usetuben is his relationship with the animatronic family

so either he also used to be someone else and is now cagey about his past, or theres something else going on

[zone-of-truth]

I think Taako's character is the most interesting case in terms of a character study because the way he changes is very very dramatic. Fandom-wise, this is why there is such a stark contrast between early Taako designs and later Taako designs, and also part of why he is so popular. For Merle though I think the first big change we see with him is when his patron deity is changed to Pan. Clint obviously had a more solid idea of Who he wants Merle to be by that point, but I don't think things completely fall into place until the character choice is made to give Merle children. That choice isn't made until after the Eleventh Hour. Possibly before but if that’s the case, Griffin wasn't aware of Clint making that character choice. I think it being so long though for Merle to develop a strong backstory narrative is why he hangs loose in the minds of many.

Not that Merle doesn't have a personality. Like he does and it is part of why I love him so much, but his backstory just sort of cements what kind of character he is. His relationship and dillema with Pan is made more interesting with the knowledge that Even with kids, Merle didn't know what he was doing and didn't have faith in his connections with others. Even when Merle isn’t explicitly following the choices of others, we see a lot of his character is rooted in him not having faith in himself.

To use them as an example, Magnus and Taako have certain mantras associated with them. "Magnus rushes in" and “Taako's good out here." Then you have Merle who doesn't necessarily have one in the podcast, but is repeatedly described to be the one who follows behind. You see a funny switch in The Suffering Game where Justin, Travis, and Clint all say respectively, “Taako rushes in!”, “Magnus follows him,” and “Merle’s good out here.” I’ve seen art occasionally that uses this as Merle’s “mantra” (though definitely not as commonly associated with him as “I cast Zone of Truth” is). Each phrase and the commonality of it being said really just summarizes their characters. Magnus is bold, direct, and confident. His catchphrase was established in the first arc and it is repeated by himself, his player, and the other players. Taako doesn't really use his and is notably used less than what Magnus yells, but it still shows that Taako is unworried, flippant, and nonconfrontational. Merle has no catchphrase he says often, but we SEE him follow behind. We SEE him reluctant to make his own decisions and being content with going along with the group. We SEE him follow what others are doing, even if he never verbally comments on it. His actions show much louder than his words.

Merle wasn’t there for kids for a long time because he was paralyzed by fear and and a lack of faith in himself. Merle continuing to dislike and distrust Angus when Taako has always liked him and Magnus quickly warms up to him just shows how… unfamiliar he is with kids. He doesn't know how to treat children and he doesn't know the effect of having an adult you look up to treating you poorly. Growing up as well it was Merle’s father who kept pushing the Pan faith onto him and as an adult, Merle is pretty agnostic before his character arc is resolved. He starts out as a cleric for Pan because that’s what he was surrounded with growing up and then his faith in Pan falters after The Crystal Kingdom (we see the peak of this in The Eleventh Hour). Merle seems to be just… burned out from worship after all the bombardment as a child. Clint has said Merle is insecure about his place on the team but the fact he treats Angus as another adult is telling about his relationship with his kids and his own insecurity.

The thing is though… Merle didn’t experience that kind of self-doubt during The Stolen Century. At least, we didn’t get to see much of it. He’s less in the shadows of others and more exuberant and unapologetic. With John, we see him telling him what’s what. He has an appreciation for life and a kindness we do not see as often in the arcs before. And fittingly… we see him say to Angus that he’s alright in Story and Song. In the same arc, we see him finally resolve his relationship in Pain.

Merle is a follower because he lacks faith. His lack of faith leads to him doubting his own capabilities and self-worth, leading him to lash out at Angus and avoid the responsibility of taking care of his children. This is just a vector of Merle caring so, so much. He cares deeply about others and what they think of him, which is why he doesn’t like Angus and projects onto him but also why he behaves the way he does in The Stolen Century: he doesn’t want to be any other way if it means his family believing he is someone else. He cares deeply about his children, which is why he returns to their lives but also why he left them in the first place. He didn’t think he was good enough and he didn’t think they deserved him as a father. He cares deeply about his ideals and beliefs, which is why he comes around to Pan and stops his meetings with John but also why he chooses to be a follower for most of Balance. He doesn’t want to be rejected.

[tickldpnk8]

Distant Mirrors Reread: August

So here’s the thing, I kind of hated this story the first time I read it. It didn’t seem to give much to the overall plot. I don’t know enough about ancient Roman history to understand the allusions, but I knew that I didn’t care for the rape undertones.

But I’m rereading the comics carefully for any hints to the ending or for any world-building clues, and I was shocked at just how chock-full this issue is. So this recap is way longer than I thought it would be. (and this is also why it took me longer to pull together)

On Dream's Ravens

We get an introduction to another of Dream's ravens in this issue: Aristeas of Marmora. So as far as I can tell, the order for the ravens we know by name is:

Lucien/Lucienne Aristeas Jessamy Matthew

What's cool about Aristeas is his connection to both Apollo and Griffins. If he existed, he was a poet who lived in Ancient Greece and he shows up in Herodotus' The Histories. It's said that he appeared 240 yrs after his death to ask for an altar to be set up to him and the god Apollo...who he had been living with as a raven since his death. The poem he is attributed as having written describes the "far North" where griffins guard gold among other things. Which is likely where Morpheus got his Griffen to guard his castle...as said Griffen tells Matthew he was hatched in the fictional Arimaspia mentioned in the poem.

We get this entire backstory (minus the griffins) summed up for us in just 3 lines of dialog where Augustus asks the raven who he is and follows it up with "the poet, who became Apollo's raven?" when Aristeas introduces himself. I totally missed this when I first read this issue.

On the nature of gods

Gods are born of the Dreaming and return to it when they "die". This gives a bit of a different color to the conversations we saw in Season of Mists. When gods (such as Bast) die—presumably from lack of believers/worship—they return to the Dreaming. In a sense, all of Morpheus' petitioners were seeking favor with their creator. Or at least one who has the power to unmake them. Including Loki.

And then there's the fact that Morpheus tends to get mixed up with Apollo since they have similar attributes. See the reference to Aristeas above, but also this panel:

This is a great little snippet that I think serves no other purpose than to explain why popular Greek myths list Apollo as Orpheus' father when in the comics it's Morpheus. And to maybe make space for the Endless within the larger pantheon of pantheons.

And this panel was interesting because it implies that Morpheus takes counsel from the Roman pantheon. In it, he's explaining why he is coming to Augustus to help him plan for Rome's future. And says that the god Terminus requested that Morpheus help Augustus.

Terminus is the god of boundaries and is usually depicted as a bust on a boundary stone. As far as I know, he doesn't have any relation to existing Sandman characters and doesn't appear again in the overall story. So the question I have is how much overlap is there in this universe between the Greek and Roman pantheons? How does this pantheon relate to his relationship with Calliope and the Greek gods?

On the nature of Dreams and the Dreaming

It's in this issue that we finally get an explanation of the Gates of Horn and Ivory. Augustus explains that dreams come through 2 gates. The dreams that lie come through the gates of Ivory, while the true dreams pass through the gates of Horn. This notion is something that Gaiman borrowed from the Ancient Greeks: it first appeared written down in The Odyssey.

It's interesting to me that he mentions having false dreams every spring. I can only assume he's referring to the dreams we see of his childhood rape(s) and how scared he was. And that makes me wonder upon this second reading what he believes to be lies about them: maybe the incident(s) didn't happen? Perhaps, but I think it's more likely that he no longer sees himself as being a victim.

There's also a lot of discussion around what makes Rome great and how power is conferred on it's leaders. There's this lovely line where Augustus states that leaders are motivated by dreams.

I think Dream would definitely agree with this statement, and I think we'll see more of he's willing to prove his point in the next issue. The idea is that dreams are powerful motivators. And it's interesting that Caius Augustus Caesar, of all people, is saying that powerful leaders are motivated by dreams...when some folks might suggest that those who gain power might be motivated by desire/lust for power. (cough, Desire, cough)

And he talks a lot about dreams in this issue. There are lots of allusions to them in his figures of speech. For example, he talks about the 2 possible futures of the Roman Empire and how it could expand into lands the Romans have barely Dreamed of. In general, I can see how someone who puts so much faith/power/meaning in dreams might be assisted by Dream himself.

A Day to Live

And Morpheus does help Augustus plan away from the watchful eyes of the gods. He suggests that August take a day every year to not be Emperor.

It's got a nice symmetry with what Death was already doing at the time: taking a day off every century to not be Death. Sure she describes it as experiencing Life, meeting her own self, becoming closer to the beings she is in service of, etc etc. But at it's core, she's take a day to not be herself (at least in part).

And in turn, it also has a nice symmetry with what Morpheus eventually does with Hob: take a day off to essentially not be Dream. In sitting and listening to Hob's stories, the Prince of Stories becomes the listener instead of the storyteller.

So yeah, a jam-packed issue, and I found I enjoyed it a lot more while clue hunting than I did on my first read-through.