#sandman fic recs

[tryan-a-bex]

WIP Game

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

14 incryptids -- this is my Sandman crossover with the InCryptids series by Seanan McGuire, which was already on the list last time this game went around. I didn't make progress yet but had some new thoughts recently so! We will see!

16 Vortex -- also old! This was my attempt at The Dream Vortex is Dream's succession plan instead of a disaster. @best-wishes did it better in Vortex Street, which I love so much she gifted it to me!!! So anyway, I may not come back to this one, but I did mention it in Death is not easy to cheat, my newest fic! Playing this tag game had to wait until it was posted, so it's not in my wips anymore!

41 ineffable lackeys -- Muriel and Eric from Good Omens, I've written a bit of meta and a vignette or two, but I'd love to pull it together into something I can post on ao3

43 rose and barbie -- this is for the sandman femslash weekend, and it's late! But it's next on the list!

44 FBD fishbowl rescue -- yes I write fanfic for Fuckboi Dream but I'm not going to post it until the fic is finished. or at least until the parts I've written about are past.

49 android vacuum -- for monsterfuctober, based on Obstacle Report by @karalynlovescake.

Oh fuck I totally failed to follow instructions! And you can't even send requests for snippets because there's generally nothing written until it's all finished. Well then. If you want to beta read any of these when they're done, let me know!

@mallory-x @seiya-starsniper @sleepsonfutons @aetheltrythh (no pressure) and anyone else who wants to share, what are you currently working on?

[fishfingersandscarves]

i'm excited to show dream's board book for To Be Brand New by @dsudis for @the-centennial-husbands-bigbang (dream's helm lenses are made with reflective paper! so irl you can look at yourself on the page)

link to the high rez illustrations

[issylra]

DREAMLING AU↳ loyal knight and true by @tharkuun

The second time Sir Robert Gadling came to court, following an invitation for an exclusive tournament, was the first time he met the crown prince. His name was Dream, and he was known already as He Who Heralds the Stars, and Hob wanted more than he had ever wanted before. Hob knew instantly that he would spend the rest of his life at Prince Dream's side, but first, he had a tournament to win.

[bakerstreethound]

Casually going to add in my beloved @roguelov because anything they write for the Sandman is wonderful and the imagery and dialogue is always top notch and sublime 🫶💕

Anyone have any recommendations for Sandman fics for me? Some plot, shipless or Dream/Hob, and beautiful language? I've seen many in this fandom, but haven't followed new stuff coming up in the last few months.

[gabessquishytum]

Imagine Werewolf Hob being a normal wolf and gets sent to a school for service dogs and he passed w with flying colours. His first owner? A young man who was a vampire but had chronic pains as well as PTSD from being kidnapped (his chronic illness was caused due to him being kidnapped by Burgess.) and Hob immediately falls in love with him as soon as he sees him.

Wonderful news, I ended up writing a mini fic for this whole AU! It's actually going to be a series where I'll explore things like Hob’s training, Dream’s recovery, and of course their developing relationship! The first fic is more of a slice of life/introduction type thing, but I hope it brings everyone some joy! You can find Good Dog on AO3 now!

[blakbonnet]

Fic Recs For Getting Over Writers' Block:

To me, the only way to get over the writing horrors™️ is to read some good fucking prose. Even if the summary of these fics doesn't appeal to you, I'd suggest reading them purely for their tactile prose that somehow gets the brain working again.

General Block Breakers:

Magpie by yellowmustard

Skirts and Barbells by @petrichorca

Malleability by jazzxdaffy

The Nest That Hope Builds by @red-sky-in-mourning

Grounded by @forpiratereasons

So Long Seabird by @adamarks

Find Your Stede Voice:

Adventures of a Leggy Blonde by @palavapeite

Find Your Ed Voice:

You Belong in that Home by and by by @alchemistc

Stealing Romance by skrifores

[quibvsposts]

a small tribute to the wonderfully written ‘Hounds’ by @xx-vergil-xx

thank you for writing something so amazing for this fandom ))))

[lichanicksstuff]

I love the "Hob taking care of Dream" motive, but what about the canonical "Dream having a soft spot for one stupid human"? Them being weird together, talking about things that nobody understands? Dream just being happy he has someone who doesn't care (know) about his status and powers? Hob being bloody stupid, reckless and making tons of mistakes because that's who he is? And Dream not caring about that? Because that is his friend? What about that?

[nynevefromthelake]

“Is this what you wanted?”💫 Inspired by If I Please You by @moorishflower it s a such fascinating and beautiful story

[mandoriana]

I Could Be Pretty (funny) by grayskiesandstars

Charles deserved perfection. Edwin wasn’t perfection, no matter how hard he tried to get things completely right every time. How could he be perfection?

He wasn’t even pretty.

~~~

or: Charles likes to draw. Edwin likes to write. They both believe that they are unworthy of each other.

The Case of the Looping Boy by NobleDragon

When Edwin escapes Hell for the first time, in the year of 1989 in his schools basement, he never thought he would be a detective. In fact, he never thought that his first case would be something he would ever solve nor be something that he would never tell of.

Edwin never thought that he would have to solve a ghost looping his own death over and over, ending with the boy dying from the cold and thrown stones in St. Hilarion's dusty attic.

Terrible at keeping secrets (5+1) by ASingularSadSoggyPringle

AKA 5 Times someone finds out Edwin is a demon, and 1 time he tells everyone.

Edwin crawls out of Hell on the day Charles Rowland dies- it ties Edwin to him in a way he can't explain, or admit to Charles, at risk of exposing himself as not what he seems. He doesn't want to lie, but he doesn't want to lose those closest to him, either. Too bad he's terrible at keeping secrets, and it seems they already know.

i'm not free at all (my heart is like a haunted house) by halffulljampot

“Are you okay m’am?”

Beatrice Payne looks up to see a young man, a young ghost in fact, standing in front of her. She has seen the decades slowly turn since her death and so would guess, based on the ghost’s attire, that he originates from the 1980s. He really is very young. A similar age to her son when she lost him.

*****

Five times that Beatrice Payne and Charles Rowland talk about Edwin without knowing it and one time they do.

Become So Numb by snowkatze

Charles never manages to convince the Night Nurse to let him rescue Edwin.

boyfriend jacket by skadii

Five times Charles gave Edwin his jacket and one time Edwin stole it.

You said, “I’ll never leave you alone” by Aster_Flower114

A 2 part fic where Edwin and Charles both have to turn into their orb forms to recharge their energy. The story of Orbwin and Chorb.

a world without you (isn't meant for me) by fairest

When Charles finally finds him after what feels like hours of searching in the endless stretches of hallway, he is not expecting a second boy.

Or,

Simon accepts Edwin's offer.

The Case of the Living Ghost by Creepypasta_fander

When a spell goes wrong on a case, Edwin finds himself living again. Despite his best attempts to find a solution to this problem before the night is out, he must eventually succumb to the functions of a normal, living body

back to back they faced each other by ShanaStoryteller

The Night Nurse has a theory about Charles.

Everyone has favorites

[tianasficrecs168]

The Sandman Fic Recs

Magnolia35: Moonflower (Hob/Dream) • "Hob has to do a double take because Dream is crying; big, ugly, hiccuping sobs that wrack his skeletal frame to the point where Dream looks like a leaf in the wind. The raven that’d been following the man the last time they met— Mike or Martin or Matthew or something— pecks at the guys shoes. The story of how Hob Gadling starts a pub, beats up a god, stares down Death, falls in love with Dream of the Endless, and amasses a small army of fidget cubes. Not necessarily in that order.

TinyButFierce: "Into Darkness and Howling (I'll Keep Him From Drowning)" (Hob/Dream) It was beginning to sound like Roderick Burgess had something or someone trapped in his basement. Hob was starting to wonder if he should do something about that.

MonstrousRegiment: “The Uses of Adversity” (Hob/Dream) What led Hob Gadling — at the time known as Robert Stranger, because he’d been in a permanent state of pettiness from 1889 to about 1904 and now he was stuck with it — to the dank, cold, and dark basement of the Burgess house on March of 1957 was not so much coincidence or fate as it was curiosity. Yeah. Cats isn’t the only thing it kills. Alright, wait. Back up. Let’s start from the beginning. It was 1957 and Hob Gadling was, by no action or choice of his own, sort of — it’s a bit embarrassing — a criminal master. Not mastermind! He hadn’t planned any of it. Honestly.

CeruleanHeart: - “Darker, Still” (...) (Hob/Dream) When Dream doesn't show up for their appointment in 1989, Hob decides to devote a part of his immortality to looking for his mysterious friend. He is dedicated not to wait and hope for another century for the slim chance of seeing him again. Even if he has to bribe, lie and steal, use every trick in the book he's learned in the past 600 years, he will find him. After over a century, Dream has almost given up on the hope of ever escaping his prison when help finally shows up in the form of someone least expected, compelling him to re-evaluate the nature of his interest in an old acquaintance.

Snits: - “Country Roads (Take Me Home)” (Hob/Dream) • Hob and Dream go back to Hob's for a nightcap. While they're there, they address some trauma, and Hob finally learns the name of the man(-shaped being) he's known for seven hundred years.

Sonhoedestrazao: “These days of dust” (Hob/Dream) There is something different about him, though his appearance is identical. The curious part of Hob Gadling, the one that ensures that his wish to live persists through the ages, can’t wait to figure out what it is exactly. (Or: the New Inn encounter continued.)

Sonhoedestrazao: “Stuck in a season” (…) (Hob/Dream) Hob Gadling opens his eyes in the year of our Lord of 1889, in a tavern that he somehow knows no longer exists, among people long dead. Alone at a table for two, he leans over and says to no one in particular, “He’ll be back. You’ll see.” (Or: how to deal when your nameless friends keeps appearing in dreams and a talking bird approaches you with dating advice.)

Majestickasztan: “Painted by sorrow” (Hob/Dream) • When Hob looked up and found his oldest friend looking back, he was, one could say, taken aback. But when you're immortal and things go according to your expectations, life gets very boring very quickly, so he couldn't bring himself to complain. Not that he wanted to. He was pining for this guy since 1489, after all.

KatieKat527: “Perchance to” (Dream/Hob) • Hob Gadling muses on modern advancements. Only as they pertain to a sleepy morning in bed with his “stranger.”

Newfandomnewpseud (Broodthaers): “A Mug’s Game” (Dream/Hob) Hob Gadling teaches history, flirts with Death, gets a boyfriend, and accidentally breaks the laws of the universe.

Brackets (…) means it's still being updated/not done/WIP – and I'm paying close attention to it

Zeros with a strikethrough (000) Disappeared off the net (I still have a doc of it saved somewhere)

A black dot • means it's a one-shot

Ship with + means it's either time travel or dimension hopping – something along those lines

A heart ♡ means it's focused on Sexy times (it's pure filth PWP)

[fishfingersandscarves]

2 years later and here's another cover for hounds by @xx-vergil-xx

[issylra]

DREAMLING AU↳ let me down easy by @valeriianz

“... Mr. Gadling will be your photographer today.” Hob hears Morpheus’ shoes scuff and halt on the wooden floor before he turns around, taking a deep breath and holding it as he finally meets Morpheus’ eyes for the first time in five years.

[aetheltrythh]

The first known Dreamling fic

Yesterday, I came across this Dreamling fic: All Hearts, Which I By Lacking.

Very special - it was written in 2003.

It's amazing how it foreshadows some of the common themes of the post-Netflix fics. Yet, it's also very different. Which makes sense because both Dream and Hob are different in the comics, so this is a good window into how people perceived them before the show. I will never be sure how I would see them because I only read the comics after the show :-(.

It's just that even though the fic is beautiful, the ending is very sad for me. F*ck, I am still sad today.

P.S. If anyone knows of an even earlier fic, feel free to share it.

[gabessquishytum]

Morpheus is a well know and incredibly talented figure skater who recently switched coaches. Hob has no idea why Morpheus left his previous coach, Roderick Burgess, for little ol’ him, but he’s excited for the opportunity to work with a skater he’s always admired. Dream is amazing at what he does so he’s also confused why he’s always so critical of himself and self depreciating.

Then the first time Morpheus falls during training he just sort of… stays down on the ice. He doesn’t seem all there when Hob goes to check on him. Turns out Morpheus is waiting to be hurt/punished for his mistake because that was how Burgess “motivated” him.

Morpheus doesn’t need much help as a skater, so Hob has decided his new job is to help Morpheus heal and build back his confidence (and maybe learn to be loved along the way).

I love this concept so much, and I just have to recommend a certain fic which matches this prompt quite perfectly. Rewrite the Stars by @arialerendeair features coach/skater Hob, lowkey traumatised skater Dream, and the most amazing descriptions of trust growing between two people ❤️ I'm a huge fan!

I'll add my own little response - I LOVE the idea of Hob being less of a technical coach and more of a supportive friend? Dream doesn't really need anyone to tell him how to perform a quad or choreograph a routine, but he DOES need someone who will get him out of bed on his bad days, bring him hot chocolate and high protein snacks, and praise him for every little thing he does right. Hob is essentially Dream’s emotional support animal at this point and he's just really fucking happy to be there, okay. Seeing the first ghost of Dream’s smile is better than winning any competition in the world. He's never going to leave Dream out on the ice, ever ever again.

[alexxuun]

Alex you can't make that post and not expect me to ask for (sandman but also any other fandoms) fic recs 🙏🙏

This is so not fair because all of them are so good and I can’t fit them all into one ginormous post 😭

Saint Morpheus by @landwriter (E| 11k). I’m absolutely bias with this one but c’mon! Hob worshiping dream like a saint is everything. Also by landwriter: The many lives of Hob Gadling (M|20k).

If I could recommend @moorishflower entire sandman fics collection, I would (and I am). Some of my favourites are Maybe sprout wings (M| 91k), Wolf and I (E| 12k, also bias with this one) and If I please you (E| 112k). Praise the long fic.

Giving Sanctuary by @avelera (E|170k) Oh god, they are dads grieving together… also by Avelera: Banana Daiquiris (T|4k)

Unrelated Dreamling Size Kink Shenanigans series by @gabessquishytum (E| 6 works so far). Love me a good monsterfucker hob and BIG DREAM.

High enough (you got me good) by @delta-pavonis (E|11k) the erotic nature of weapon demonstration.

As the world came to a halt by @enchi-elm (E| 4k) humanity’s functionality getting absolutely wrecked because of a certain Endless duo and Hob is caught in it.

When I do count the clock that tells the time by @minisgatewaytoinsanity (E|9k). Dream walked out in 1389 and never met Hob until 2022. Hob repair clocks for a living.

White Knight by @gfawkesphoenixchokingonashes (E|22k). Hob has insomnia and Death knows just who to ask.

Holding On While You Slip Away by @acedragontype (E|33k) trans hob and his long immortal life. How could I not recommend this one.

the silent sounds of loneliness (best of my love) by @serenailith (E|11k) Recluse Dream and Uni student Hob here to help him out of his funk.

Bloodshot and beat by Otterwise (E|7k). Post-apocalyptic Dreamling… this one was quite something.

If you’re looking for a fantastic Hobrinthian fic with a dash of Hobrintheus, And if I get burned, at least we were electrified by @seiya-starsniper is the way to go! (E|41k)

London, 1777: A Study in Purple by Temve (E|4k) rarepair Hoblethros my beloved.

I would add more but this is quite a bit already (and still not enough). For other fic rec, I would have recommended some amazing Daredevil fics but that’s probably reserved for another post. Absolutely amazing read! Go forth!