#so I grudgingly joined this site

[roguelov]

I know we all like to think Morpheus would taste good but like. What if you go to lick him and it turns out he just tastes like Sand? 🤔

😂😂😂 just straight up warm sand

Adding on you lick him and you quickly pull away coughing because sand is literally in your mouth and you can feel all the crunchy bits

It’s a thing where you can shake Dream and sand always comes off of him (aka salt shaker Dream)

[dotieeee]

Perhaps an unusual spicy idea: a gal sets up everything for a nice evening for herself--candles, aromatherapy, a vibrator, a dildo...only to accidentally re-create some kind of ancient sex spell that summons Desire. Desire is actually amused enough that someone got it right after so many centuries that they decide to play along and help out 👀

OOOOHHH this is an interesting idea!! I haven't written Desire in such a way so I will give it a shot!!! Sorry it took so long!!

***

Everything had been going according to plan. This was a rare day off where you had not much else to do, so you did everything at home you could possibly do to pamper yourself: you tried on that organic hair conditioner you had been saving because it was too expensive to use on a regular day; that tightening, pore-removing face mask you had bought ages ago on impulse; you did your nails (it was abysmal work, but hey, it felt nice); you ordered in a fancy meal and capped it with a glass of that red wine that had been sitting in your fridge since the last holidays. This last bit of me-time was supposed to be a cherry on top of a great day.

Instead, you were backed into the furthest corner of your bed, wide-eyed and frozen in place in disbelief at the human that had appeared in a cloud of red smoke, sat on the edge of your mattress.

They looked insanely beautiful, that was true, but that didn't really help the fact that they somehow got into your room, and they were wearing a latex catsuit with a neckline that dipped to their toned stomach, revealing a taut chest and the most enviable collarbones a person could possess.

And they wore cat ears.

"Having fun, aren't we?"

Their voice was like honey: smooth, sweet, and slightly teasing. Behind those pretty golden eyes was a hint of devious amusement, and those lips, painted flawlessly in crimson, were curled into a smile that revealed a perfect set of teeth.

"Darling, I know I'm drop-dead gorgeous; you don't have to look so gob-smacked," they said with a lilting laugh, tucking a lock of their blonde hair behind their ear with a perfectly-manicured nail. It put yours to shame.

You managed an unintelligble stutter, but you had meant to ask "How did you get here? Who the fuck are you?"

They merely giggled at your pitiful attempt to make speech. "I just love it when they get this flustered.

"I'm Desire, darling, and you summoned me."

You summoned who, exactly?

They seemed to ignore your bewildered look in favour of your little me-time altar, set in an orderly fashion on your little nightstand. They walked over to it, their cattail swinging behind them, inspecting your...display. Candles in varying scents - vanilla, pumpkin spice -

"Jasmine..." your unexpected guest purred, picking up the candle, and toying with its flame with a slender finger.

They placed it back down and inspected a crystal you remember buying at a mall stall ages ago because of the pretty colour. The woman explained what the stone was, but honestly you had nothing but the groceey list in mind you had forgotten what it was called.

"It's called celestite, my dear," they commented in an amused tone, as if they were reading your thoughts. "You mortals, buying anything and everything just because 'it's pretty.'" They flicked their eyes to you and added, "I approve."

To your horror, they picked up something else from the table, something you had hoped they'd brush over. They twirled the egg-shaped vibrator in their hand.

"This was your main event, wasn't it, darling?"

With a giggle that startled you, they launched themselves on the bed, lading on their back, and put their legs up in the air, swishing it back and forth. They held the vibrator in the light like they were inspecting diamonds.

"I'd never thought someone would finally get it right after so many centuries!"

They continued to laugh delightedly as their eyes landed on you, still curled up on the corner of your own bed, still fucking clueless. They rolled on their stomach and propped their cheek up on their palm.

"Something tells me you have absolutely no idea what you just did."

You swallowed the lump on your throat and finally summoned the will to speak. "What exactly did I do?"

Lazily, they tapped the space beside them, urging you to lay on it. For some reason unknown to you, you did as you were told, never once taking your eyes off them. There was something off about them, but it was mesmerzing.

"अहं त्वां याचयामि, अतीव दीर्घकालं यावत् अभवत्। अद्य रात्रौ मां प्रीत्या आशीर्वादं ददात."

They spoke in a language you have not heard of before. They drew a line on your forearm, giving you goosebumps all over. You were quite disappointed when they stopped.

"That was Sanskirt, darling," they explained. "Summoning me. Tell me, before I graced your home with my presence, what was the last thing you said? Don't be shy now, I won't bite." Then they winked and flashed a toothy smile.

You felt heat creeping up your cheeks as you repeated the words, finding yourself unable to look into their eyes. "'I hope I get an orgasm from this, it has been so long.'"

A finger tilted your chin up to look into those golden eyes. That's when it hit you: they were Desire, the very thing you had asked for. You licked your lips unconsciously as you stared into theirs, noting how red they were, and how they must taste like cherries.

"That's the spell. You asked for me, so let's make it worthwhile, shall we?"

The way they whispered so close to you had your insides melting, and you could only nod, totally under the spell of the otherworldly being you had inadvertently summoned. With a hum, they made a swift move to get on top of you and captured your lips with theirs.

Cherries.

Whatever the fuck you did, you were damn sure you'd do all over again.

[roguedoodles]

So, I gotta ask, in these spicy pics do you actually draw the whole thing or is it glowing lightsaber all the way through?

I draw the whole fucking thing then put a lovely lightsaber on top 😂

[nights-at-crystarium]

As a twitter/tumblr user since 2010-2011, I believe I have sufficient grounds to say that currently we as a community are living through the scariest, shittiest time yet. This post isn’t trying to fearmonger, no I’m not leaving tumblr until it literally keels over, but I suggest that we don’t put all our eggs in one basket.

If twitter/tumblr stay usable, great! In the worse scenario, you’d have kept posting on a new platform and stayed ahead of the curve.

This post shares my personal experience with three potential “new”* fandom places, and is aimed to help fellow content creators. I’m an artist fully depending on internet to survive, my reasoning may not apply to you if you’re a hobbyist. Do your own research, it’s always healthy. * Pillowfort and mastodon have been around for 5+ years, bluesky is ~2 years old.

Discovering new people to follow kinda sucks on all three platforms, twitter and tumblr are eons ahead, but, given the recent chaos and uncertainty, I’m willing to be patient, keep posting on those, and feel safer than I would’ve otherwise been. More baskets good, one basket bad.

All three have poor visual customization, don’t expect custom tumblr themes.

This list starts with the least popular, but most human and easy to join, and what I personally trust the most. All three allow nsfw if labeled properly.

✦ Pillowfort is a barebones tumblr. Intuitive, cozy, but currently very, very small. Be patient with its clunkiness or lack of some features, it’s made by an AO3-like team. I’d personally love if the fandom crowd managed to redirect its attention to it instead of the sus bluesky.

Joining: is free, invite-only, but the waitlist is nearly instant.

Lurk around on their official tumblr: @/pillowfort-social

✦ Mastodon, for me personally, is impossible to explain directly. I’ll use several comparisons.

- Discord but all servers can interact. You’re still on a server curated by some human(s) that might tell you what you can and can’t post, BUT, if you don’t like that server’s policy, you can move to a new one while keeping your followers. - Email, users A and B may be registered on different domains, still they can talk. It’s a weird comparison, but fediverse (please I’m not explaining THAT but it’s a good thing) in general looks like another email story: unlike big sites that come and go, it might stand the test of time. - Someone compared mastodon’s structure to xiv’s dc and servers, if you look at its domain names that way, it might be easier to understand.

Depending on user, mastodon may feel gatekeepy/snowflakey. I haven’t spent enough time on there to form a proper opinion yet, but a warning’s due.

An actually good and hopeful thing about mastodon AND tumblr: the two might start interacting in future. Ever lamented that your fav asian artists don’t use tumblr? If they use misskey, or any other place on the fediverse, it might be possible to follow them directly from tumblr in future, and vice versa.

Joining: is free, however some servers close for new members sometimes, and have human moderators reviewing your request.

✦ Bluesky is a twitter without Musk: today’s average internet user reads this, drops everything and already looks to register there. It’s still sus, but people flock to it like crazy. Most likely to become the next big fandom place in my eyes, even if I’m not happy about that.

I personally have no good feelings about bluesky. Same as twitter, which I hated even before the 2018 tumblr exodus, yet the crowd decided to make it The New Fandom Place, and, grudgingly, I had to give up and also join them in 2022. During the year I haven’t stopped despising twitter, yet, I can’t deny that it helped me survive. I estimate half of my patrons, and, hell, even tumblr audience, comes from twitter. So, if bluesky ends up being the next hot shit, I’ll have to keep up because internet pays for my living.

Joining: is free but hell, invite-only, the waitlist is a lie, your best chance to join is a direct invite.

This’s all I’ve got to say for now. If you have a correction or an addition, replies/reblogs are welcome!

Screenshots of the current interfaces under the cut, you may spy on my profiles o/

Pillowfort

Mastodon.art

Bluesky

[orionsangel86]

Just rewatched Calliope episode of The Sandman and it occurs to me that this episode strongly implies that Orpheus is dead and gone??

The Hecate state that he "died in Thrace" (which technically he did in the comics too but he lived on because of Death withholding her gift).

Then when Calliope requests to visit Dream in the Dreaming sometime, in a change from the comics she gives her reasoning as "so we may talk about our son and grieve him properly".

Yet in the comics, it is made clear that Calliope visits Orpheus on the island at least somewhat regularly both before and after her imprisonment. So what she says in the show doesn't make sense unless Orpheus is already dead properly in the show?

But that would be a huuuuuge change to the story so surely thats not the case? I probably missed a lot of discussions about this after the show first came about before I caught the brain worms and had to analyse the comics with a fine tooth comb so I would love to know what others think about this.

@duckland @so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site @notallsandmen tagging for your thoughts as well as anyone else who wants to answer!

[writing-for-life]

The Murphy & His Cool Hat Crack Ship Name Game!

Right, I know I’ll regret this (who am I kidding, but @tickldpnk8 tempted me to write down all the terrible, terrible Murphy and His Cool Hat/Dream x Helm crack ship names I already turned over in my head. But then again, I think she totally banked on the fact I’d do that.

Explanatory note: These are combinations of Dream, Morpheus, Murphy, Endless X Helm(et), Hat, Cool Hat, Cthulhu (because there was some sort of agreement the thing was possessed by Cthulhu or some other Lovecraftian creature). They’re all really terrible (some more inspired than others)—befitting of a crack ship:

Dream:

DroolHat (terrible name, true tho)

DrCoolHat (I don’t even know where to start…)

Drat (Dr. Seuss would love that one I guess)

HelDream (too close to other pairings IMHO)

Morpheus:

Morphelm

Morphelmet

Morpheat (I mean, despite pronunciation-issues, I don’t even know if the associations I’m getting here are temperature- or oral-fixation related—both fine I guess?)

Cthulheus

(W)Horpheus (works with or without the W 🤣)

Helmetheus (has a certain promethean ring to it)

Murphy (they’re all meh):

Murphat

Muhulhu

Harphy/Hurphy (gives me nightmares and indigestion somehow)

Murp(h)elmet

Helmurphy

Endless:

EndHelm

HelmEnd (almost like Bellend 🛎️, very fitting)

Endlet (awww!)

EndHat

HatEnd

EndlessHat (pronunciation is key here)

Endlesshulhu (sounds like bad reality TV)

If all the instigators and (early) adopters want to add their own, we can narrow it down and do a poll 🤣

@marlowe-zara @so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site @roguelov @ginoeh @throwingbread (sorry if I added the wrong people and forgot the right ones, I honestly lost track at some point. Just chime in if you hear the call—the more, the merrier).

[honeybeezgobzzzzz]

𓅨 Hot Springs Heat: Chapter One

Hot Springs Heat: Morpheus has had a great deal of trouble getting you to understand that he is in love with you. When you go on a trip to Germany to visit a spa resort, he decides to make things clear to you.

Warnings: Nudity? (Sort of), Language.

To Note: Morpheus x Female!Reader, @so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site this is for you from THIS post.

Word Count: ~2.4k

Masterlist | Next

You weren’t sure how you managed to get a trip to a hot spring resort in Germany, but you were excited and nearly vibrating in anticipation of the seven day trip. But while you were happily packing your suitcase and wondering what it would be like to enjoy a hot springs, Morpheus was glowering in the shadows. Of course he was pleased to see that you were happy and excited to go on the trip, but he was also very much despondent over your lack of… awareness… of his intimate feelings for you. You were either oblivious, or very much in denial. But in the end, Morpheus could see the truth within your dreams, and wanted you just as much you wanted him.

It was torturous for the Dream Lord to watch as your dreams revealed your innermost desires and bodily beauty. Between the lush sounds that the conjured dream version of him drew from your lips to the way your body shifted and writhed, the way you hungrily kissed his dream self… it was agony to know you craved and indulged in him in your dreams, but not when you were awake. Hence his increasingly broody and sullen moods as of late, and why he was ruminating on the idea of making his desire apparent on this ’spa’ trip of yours. It wasn’t like you could run or have an excuse not to address such a topic.

So Morpheus allowed you to happily pack for your trip in a naive blissful state under the pretense that he wouldn’t be accompanying you. When you held up your bathing suit and studied it, Morpheus’s eyebrow rose. It would hardly cover much, what would be the point of bringing such a garment to a spa? His head tilted to the side in confusion.

“I do not understand why you feel the need to pack such revealing clothes.” He spoke as his forehead scrunched. Wear spas not meant to be enjoyed in the nude this era? Letting out an embarrassed squeal, your hands shot to your chest as you clutched your bathing suit there. What was he doing here?

“Morpheus!?” You questioned, your voice high pitched as you tried to calm your suddenly racing heart down. “You scared the shit out of me!” You exclaimed, stuffing you bikini under a pile of shirts to hide it. Morpheus blinked at you.

“I did not mean to startle you, I merely wondered why you plan to pack something so revealing when you plan on attending a hot springs?”

“Well what else am I going to wear while swimming?” You vaguely asked, returning to the task of stuffing folded clothes into your suitcase. Your answer didn’t give Morpheus his answer. Did mortals not enjoy spas in the nude anymore? Perhaps it was for something else… “I’ll be gone for a week so I’m not going to be around. I’ll still visit the Dreaming though.”

“Indeed,” Morpheus echoed, watching as you shoved your things into the suitcase and zipped it shut. You dragged your suitcase to the door of your bedroom. Eyeing Morpheus, you started to wonder why he had been so broody lately.

“Something wrong?” You questioned, questioning what had upset him this time, given his proclivity for mood changes when angered or saddened. Morpheus’ eyebrow rose. “You’ve been moody lately.”

“Moody?” Morpheus repeated with a soft snort. “I do not get moody.” He totally did, but would never admit it. Your gaze was insistent, so the Endless thought, perhaps, to inform you of his true feelings once again in hopes that this time, you would understand or at the very least, not deny what your true desires expressed. “There is someone I care for deeply and wish to express my true ardor for, but they seem to either deny such existing emotions or simply cannot see what is in front of them.”

He was looming over you, staring down at you with such intense eyes that you nearly combusted into the very stardust that swirled within hypnotic blue. Shit. You didn’t want to talk about this. Not when you were convinced that he was in love with someone else and trying to get advice from you. There was no way that he could be talking about you, so you figured that he was speaking of some other stunning mortal or creature he’d fallen in love with. It was hard enough to have such desirous dreams about him loving you the way you wanted. You’d indulged plenty of times not being able to help yourself… you didn’t need the agony of him dangling such a thing in front of you when it wasn’t yours to have!

Swallowing hard, you cleared your throat and tried to empty your mind of your stupid dreams and hopes.

“So… have you told them? Shown then that you like them non platonically?” You offered, silently hating yourself for offering such advice. He couldn’t be talking about you. He wasn’t. You were just a stupid mortal. Weak. Plain. Nothing special. This was some else. It had to be.

“I believe so,” Morpheus answered thoughtfully. “Surely the gifts I’ve bestowed would indicate my intentions.” Your eyes couldn’t hep but dart over to your bookshelf where all your little knick knacks you had received from The Dreaming and other realms, sat. You were a glorified tourist, surely, Morpheus was just being nice by humoring you. Besides, those were just super cool relics, not jewelry or waxing poetic scripture you were sure Morpheus’ prior loves adored receiving. You didn’t care for fine jewelry, or such poems, you liked your knickknacks. Adored them. Hence the very reason why the Endless showered you with such items to no end. You shrugged and gave your next input, hoping to put an end to this painful conversation.

“At this point, you should just tell them.” Morpheus wanted to sigh. You couldn’t be this oblivious… could you? No, you weren’t oblivious, you were just in plain denial. He’d fix that. He’d fix that very soon.

It had been hard to pick your jaw up off the floor when you arrived at the spa resort. Germany was a beautiful country, hands down you couldn’t deny that, but the country side was breathtaking and the spa clearly took advantage of the views. You looked forwards to enjoying the various springs offered, but according to the brochure you’d been offered at reception, some of the spas were nude spas. You were still contemplating on whether or not you’d take part in that, you’d never been around people openly naked.

But this was a once in a life time vacation so you were seriously considering trying it out. Perhaps late night when there weren’t as many people around. Humming to yourself, you lay on your hotel bed and looked at the different hot springs spots. You were definitely going to avoid the family spas, you were here to relax an enjoy yourself. There were some unisex singles spas, spas for couples to hang out and enjoy, and spas for males and females… and then there were the nude spas. Your friend had told you not, under any circumstances, to come back without trying one out. You would. But you were fairly sure that you wanted to try the woman’s nude spa first, before working up the courage to try the highlight of the resort, the nude spa open for men and woman.

You spent the first three days wandering around the spas were nudity wasn’t allowed, enjoying the hot water and chatting with a few tourists that spoke your language. At times, you felt subconscious about your figure. There were many woman around you that looked like supermodels and had the body to match. It made you so self-conscious... but the insanely beautiful woman were nothing but nice and wonderful to you, giving you all the best insights on where to visit while you were in Germany.

So on your fourth night, after most of the crowds had gone back to their rooms and you’d bravely tried out the woman’s nude hot springs, you finally decided to try out the main attraction of the resort. Starting out in your hotel room, you shed your clothing piece by piece until you were naked. Then you pulled on the satin robe the resort supplied to all guests and tied the ribbon around your waist.

“Okay,” You told yourself while standing in front of the mirror. “You had the courage to join the woman’s nude spa earlier today, this isn’t any different... it’s just unisex... but also the main highlight and the entire reason you’re here.” You were not going to allow yourself to go home before enjoying the hot springs. Period. So with your small bag that had your phone and hotel key, you departed your hotel room and headed for the changing room. Since it was practically eleven at night, there weren’t a lot of people out and about. But despite the lack of guest presence, you still felt nervous walking around in only a robe.

Turning into the female changing room, you were glad to see that there were only two woman, both of which were getting dressed. Walking over to a locker, you put your bag in the locker and set the password before closing it.

“I hope you are enjoying the hot springs.” You spun around with a gasp and flattened yourself against the lockers as your heart pounded in your chest.

“Jesus Christ, Morpheus!” You sputtered out, your eyes wide while you gaped. It wasn’t just that he was in the woman’s changing room, it was that he was also in a robe. A beautiful shimmering black one that reminded you of the inner lining of his coat. “This is the woman’s changing room!”

“I’m aware,” He informed you. “However no other mortals will disturb us this night.”

“Disturb—” You repeated, at a near loss for words. “Morpheus you can’t just use your Endless magic thingy to steer the guests away!”

“I can when circumstances call for such,” He replied to you, eyes softly glowing. “You’ve been avoiding me and misdirecting my attempts at expressing to you the entirety of the visceral emotions I feel for you.” He took a step closer and you swallowed hard, realizing that besides his robe, he most likely wasn’t wearing anything else. Much like you. “You have bewitched my conscious and ensnared my being until all that I desire is you.”

“Uh, I don’t think I’m the person to be practicing—” You were still in denial? Very well, Morpheus would move on the next plan of his. It was a bit forward of the Endless, but called for at this point in time. His fingers went to the sash at his waist and he quickly unraveled it. The moment you got a very nice view of his shoulders and chest you were lunging forwards, catching the falling robe before it fell past his hips. Good god he was sculpted. “Morpheus!” You shrieked at him, face blistered with heat while you looked anywhere but at him or his body. “What the hell are you doing!?”

“Expressing my desires directly since you appear to either entirely oblivious to my intentions or simply deny what you long for within your intimate dreams.” Morpheus calmly exclaimed, his eyes drawing along the bare skin he could see peeking out from your robe. You were trembling, your fingers clutching darkened satin while you struggled not to be overwhelmed by the fact that you were pressed right up against the nearly naked Endless with very little between you. Rather than raise your eyes to Morpheus’ because your brain was ever so slowly connecting what had been in front of you the whole time, you stared at his smooth chest. His skin was literally like sheets of stardust. “I’ve seen your repeated intimate dreams, beloved, and know that you want me just as much as I you.”

“Are we really having this conversation right now?” You asked in a strained voice, your cheeks still very much on fire. “You’re nearly naked and I’m in a robe. We’re not having this conversation right now.” Morpheus couldn’t help the twitch in his lips.

"Given that I plan to undress you completely, I fail to see how you being in a robe prevents me from having this conversation.” It felt like every molecule in your body froze, as did your heart.

“I— Morpheus, I’m not…” You were at a loss for words, your mind scrambling to conjure complete sentences. “This isn’t presentable, I should—”

"Since when have I ever been bound by human standards? Since when has something as meager as presentability determined how much I ache for you?" You were trembling now, taking in the glaring fact that all those times where Morpheus had come to you speaking of the woman that had him all wrapped up, was you. He’d been trying to tell you how he felt this entire time, and you’d convinced yourself that the woman he loved, couldn’t possibly be you.

Morpheus moved a hand to the one just barely grasping his robe. Your fingers twitched beneath his touch, but you didn’t pull away, nor stray your eyes from his. Fingers sliding through yours, Morpheus basked in the way his fingers fit against your warm ones. Perfectly, just as he knew they would.

“If you wish to reject me, you may with but a single word,” His voice whispered to you, slow and sonorous. Captivating. Was this really happening? Did a being as cruelly beautiful and powerful as Dream of the Endless, truly desire you as you did he? Morpheus could still see the lingering doubt within your luminous eyes, and leaned close to your face. “If petty concerns are what hold you back from your intimate desires, relinquish them.”

Those words slipped across your lips in a beckoning call, urging and gentle. You could nearly feel his lips brushing against yours, a sensation you had only experienced while deep within your dreams. Faltering for but a moment, your fingers finally released their grasp on Morpheus’ robe and allowed his slender ones to wind with yours. The Endless raised his other hand to gently glide his fingers across your cheek and push back the hair partially covering your face. Then with just the slightest of movements, his lips finally pressed against yours and dreams became reality.

Date Published: 7/9/23

Last Edit: 7/21/23

Masterlist | Next

[so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site]

New Master-Post of my Analyses/Meta Writing about The Sandman

Had to remake this because tumblr broke links BADLY on my old one. Also, as much as I prefer you all getting to see the rebloggable tumblr versions where you could comment, those are ironically the links tumblr broke and won't let me fix, so I'm just adding the google drive ones below, in reading order. Still feel free to comment/message me anyways!:

The following aren't analyses, but they are Sandman-related art projects I made:

Old Master-Post Here, for reference:

First the in-dash version of the page

Then the "external", on-account version

(This is mostly for my future reference in case the links ever work again so I can go back and edit that)

Tagging those who might want to know:

@serenityspiral @duckland @roguelov @notallsandmen @ambercoloredfox @orionsangel86 @academicblorbo

[valeria-corvinia]

As much as I love Dave McKean - Mirrormask was a masterpiece and his Sandman covers are legendary- his interior panel art is, um, an acquired taste? Or does just “god awful” cover it? Any way, when I saw @so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site [I think? But I’ve just reread their post and nothing about images, so?] was talking about this scene and wishing for a redraw of it, I had to jump in and take care of it.

[notallsandmen]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @reallyintoscience & @beatnikfreakiswriting — thank you darklings❤️

Okay, here we go:

1. How many works do you have on A03?

13

2. What's your total A03 word count?

55,019 (I take so much time writing so few words)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The Sandman, WIPS for Hellblazer, The Hour, The Expanse

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Putting Out Fire With Gasoline, Nocturnal emissions, and its sequel License my roving hands (which I WILL finish so help me god), Dream nonsense (my first awkward fic) Defiling the Sublime (my Honk Zone Magnum Opus)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always! It may take me a REALLY long time, or it may be in seconds. If you ask questions, or write long comments, you will get an essay back! ❤️

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
I don't write whump, MCD, actually unrequited love, love triangles etc. That being said, I love writing angst when I have plans for a happy ending down the road. My angstiest fic would be Disintegration, which made me so sad that I ended it by hinting at a reconciliatory eldritch incubus visitation 🥰

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

The fic that makes ME happiest is Blanket Permission (which I am forever grateful to @quillingwords , for breathing the Purrito into life through her artwork)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, that’s never happened, thankfully.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Hell yes — the kinkier and more historically overcomplicated, the better. I’m particularly invested in relating the smut to history of sexuality and history in general, as well as folklore and mythology.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have two collaborative cross-overs that have been outlined but not yet written: Moulin Rouge AU with @academicblorbo , and Brideshead Revisited AU with @chaosheadspace and @quillingwords. I also have a Joanna Constantine/Death of the Endless WIP that will to some extent be a Sandman/Hellblazer crossover. Also, I really want to write a dreamling The Boat That Rocked smut fic!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. But Fern-Fevered was included in an anthology, which I will never get over

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have started two, but not yet completed them.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?
Freddie Lyon / Bel Rowley from The Hour. Will never get over them

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
Straight up copying @reallyintoscience ‘s response here: I exist in a state of optimism where I fully believe I will finish the few Sandman WIPs I have going.

16. What are your writing strengths?
Weaponised bathos (trying to make the beautiful slip on banana peel)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing incredibly slowly, Overcomplicating/overdoing historical research. My latest WIP has a full-on bibliography…

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I love peppering in words in other languages related to the plot, as easter eggs to come back to, but I always include translations at the end. I spent an inordinate time trying to translate BDSM terminology into Old Norse for Lullaby, which was frankly such a mad endeavour that it should be mentioned as an example of my writing weaknesses…

19. First fandom you wrote for?

In my head: The Hour. Published online: The Sandman.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Putting Out Fire (With Gasoline) — made infinitely better by @mathomhouse-e ‘s stunning artwork!

Tagging some lovely writers (tagging wildly here, as usual only do it if you have spoons for it):

@imnotcrying-ipromise @im-not-corrupted @hardly-an-escape @honeyteacakes @pellaaearien @karalynlovescake @so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site @tj-dragonblade @two-hands-toward-the-sun @secondjulia @cuubism @dsudis @delta-pavonis @academicblorbo @valeriianz @gabessquishytum @aeon-of-neon @edgedancer77

[whatisonthemoon]

Dan Fefferman attends an anti-cult conference

Stranger in an Even Stranger Land: Report on an Anti-Cult Conference

Dan Fefferman April, 2000 Washington, DC

In my capacity as director of the International Coalition for Religious Freedom, I decided to attend the annual conference of the Leo J. Ryan Foundation in Stamford Connecticut. Headquartered in Bridgeport, the LJRF makes no bones about its ties to the now-defunct Cult Awareness Network, which was put out of business by a lawsuit that tied it to an illegal deprogramming conspiracy. LJRF even bills itself as the renewed "Cult Awareness Community." Its current president is Priscilla Cole, who formerly ran the Cult Awareness Network, and several other CAN stalwarts can be found on its rolls.

Of course, it’s no coincidence that the group—named for the Congressman who was gunned down in the Jonestown massacre in 1978—has its headquarters in the town where the Unification Church is well known for its role in bailing out the financially troubled University of Bridgeport. LJRF’s executive director is Julia Bronder, an embittered former UB employee and UC critic.

Human Rights, but for Whom?

The title of the LJRF conference was "Human Rights and the New Millennium." This too may be no coincidence. Our own International Coalition for Religious Freedom (ICRF) sponsored a series of international conferences in 1988 entitled, "Religious Freedom and the New Millennium." Indeed a common thread running through the LJRF presentations was that "freedom of thought" is an even more fundamental human right than freedom of speech or religion. And since cultists can’t—by definition—have freedom of thought… Well, more on that later.

I have to admit that the conference was well run and well conceived to support its organizers’ purposes. I did feel a little out of place at times, especially with people who assumed I was an anti-cultist like themselves. One former UC member was so happy to see me, until I informed her that I was "still in." Another guy angrily accused me of being a private investigator hired by Scientology to harass participants and spy on them. Talk about bad vibes! But the majority of the organizers and participants I met were courteous, if cool, once they learned who I was. Below are some highlights. While many other groups other than the UC were dealt with, I’ve concentrated on what relates specifically to our work.

Accolades from the Adversary

Not to brag, but several speakers made reference to ICRF. They mentioned our four conferences and the cities in which they were held—Washington, Tokyo, Berlin, and Sao Paulo. They grudgingly praised our web site (www.religiousfreedom.com), and the "impressive array" of speakers whose papers we have posted there. A featured luncheon speaker, Prof. Stephen Kent of the University of Calgary, used the ICRF as a primary example of the way in which American new religious movements (NRM’s) are able to influence the American government and academic community. He admitted that ICRF has become an influential participant in the international human rights debate. Another speaker bemoaned the fact that ICRF had been able to get current and former congressmen, government officials, leading academics, and prestigious human rights leaders to join with us.

A special breakout session was devoted to the Maryland Task Force on Cult Activities which we’ve reported on previously in Unification News. The panelists—anti-cultists Ron Loomis, Denny Gulick, and Franz Wilson—declared the Task Force’s Final Report as a victory for their side. These men and other anti-cult activists on the Task Force were later given a special award for their efforts to create and influence the Task Force. The speakers acknowledged ICRF’s opposition to the Task Force, but naturally downplayed our effectiveness in blocking the anti-cultists’ aims. For example, they did not mention the fact that the state’s official task force on "Cult Activities" decided not even to use the word "cult" in its final report. Nor did they mention that one of its members, panelist Franz Wilson, interrupted UC member Alex Colvin’s testimony during a formal task force meeting and threatened him with violence.

Panelist Ron Loomis of the American Family Foundation avowed that the panel’s "agenda" was that "you should go back and attempt a similar effort in your state." But he warned about getting too much press in the beginning. "The best way to do it is locally," said Loomis, because national campaigns attract too much attention from NRMs and civil liberties groups. "Politicians are chicken," he complained. (In Maryland the legislation creating the Task Force was pushed through with almost no opposition voices raised, because our side did not find out about it until it had already passed the lower house and was on a fast track to pass the Maryland Senate. Four previous efforts by anti-cultists to pass similar legislation had failed when both sides were heard.)

Washington Times Targeted

The Washington Times and the WT Foundation were also major targets of LJRF speakers. One session was devoted exclusively to "Following the Money Trail in the Moon Movement." Led by Rev. Fred Miller, the session complained about the continued success of the Washington Times and its influence in conservative political circles. Miller seemed particularly upset by the success of the WTF’s American Century Awards. He named several high level political leaders who honored True Father Moon on that occasion. Miller was visibly disappointed by Jerry Falwell’s presence.

Another focus was George W. Bush. Several speakers mentioned him, believing that Rev. Moon must be a major financial supporter of Gov. Bush, if not directly then through his father. They are hoping to find evidence that UC money is ending up in Bush’s campaign treasury. They also bemoaned the fact that New Yorker seems to be a highly successful financial enterprise and that it has become a Ramada franchisee. Miller even reported on a meeting between himself and Ramada officials in which he sought unsuccessfully to influence them to end the relationship.

The anti-cult movement had been seriously discredited in the 1980s because of its association with deprogramming. It lost several major court cases, and also lost credibility among its mainstream funding sources. Now, however, it appears to have found a new "Sugar Daddy." Bob Minton is a reputed multimillionaire whose primary hobby in life is fighting against "cults." His main passion is attacking Scientology. However, he is also rumored to be a major funding source for the LJRF. Minton was a keynote speaker at this year’s conference, although he seems to have few credentials other than the green kind. He publicly announced that he had purchased 2,000 copies of former deprogrammer (now exit counselor) Steve Hassan’s new book, "Breaking the Bonds," which retails for 24.95. If you do the math, that’s a nice little contribution, and it doesn’t count any other donations to Steve’s new "Freedom of Mind Foundation" non-profit group.

No Hassle with Hassan

Speaking of Steve Hassan, I had several conversations with Steve during the conference. I’ve also been corresponding with him through e-mail. Notice the distinction I made in the above paragraph between "deprogramming" and "exit counseling?" Steve is adamant about making this distinction because deprogramming involves force and exit counseling does not. I think he has a point. I asked if he would be willing to put his opposition to forced deprogramming in writing to the Japanese Christian churches who—sometimes using his earlier books on "mind control" as their justification—are reportedly involved in forced kidnapping of hundreds our UC members. He agreed to do so. The letter says, in part:

"[An anti-cultist minister in Japan] told me this morning that sometimes, albeit infrequently, a family might hold their adult child against his/her will, and then a minister might be invited to speak with them. In my opinion, no minister should get involved in something like this as a matter of policy--even if the cult member requests a meeting in writing…

"I want this letter to stand as a public record that I think that any approach to help cult members should be one of love, compassion, and positive communication, not force. Otherwise, kidnapping or involuntary detention will invariably be traumatic… In fact, there was always another way that would have been less traumatic."

In return for his writing the above-mentioned letter, Steve asked me to clarify to the world community of Unificationists that he is not involved in holding people against their will. I think Steve is sincere in this, although he is certainly wrong in many of the things he says about the UC, Rev. Moon, "mind control," and NRM’s in general. Steve is a former deprogrammer, not a current one. What he does now is called "exit counseling," or in his current parlance "strategic interaction" to "break the bonds of mind control."

Now some of you will ask, "But isn’t what Steve does still really faith-breaking based on religious intolerance?" And I’d have to say yes. He gets paid by people who disapprove of other people’s religion (usually family members) to talk them out of it. And he also writes books and speaks out wherever he can trying to convince people of the need for the service he provides. But technically speaking it shouldn’t be called deprogramming unless force is involved. I’m hoping that since Steve wants UC members to avoid speaking in the present tense about things he did in the past (namely deprogramming), he’ll do the same and stop speaking about things we did in the past as if they were going on today. Watch this space.

Perhaps the most disturbing presentation of the LJRF conference was made by Jim Seigelman and Flo Conway, authors of the book "Snapping," which was instrumental in forming the anti-cult movement’s ideological basis in the late 1970s. Their presentation was entitled "Church vs. State," and it called for a new interpretation of the First Amendment that recognizes "freedom of thought" as the most basic human right, even more basic than freedom of speech or freedom of religion. (Another featured speaker, Stephen Kent of the University of Calgary eerily entitled his presentation "Human Rights vs. Religious Freedom.") Keep in mind that Conway and Seigleman and their cohorts, including exit counselor Steve Hassan, clearly argue that members of the minority religions they call "cults" do NOT have freedom of thought, because the cults have robbed them of it.

Seigelman actually called religion "the Achilles heel of American democracy." And Conway stated that "freedom of thought must be added to the first amendment." The both supported what they call a "judicial initiative" that will establish a "right to freedom of thought" in the same way that a "right to privacy" or a "right to have an abortion" has been established.

But if you unpack the Owellian newspeak, this type of "freedom of thought" simply stands the First Amendment on its head. Instead of "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or abridging the free exercise thereof," Conway and Seigleman appear to say that "The Courts shall interpret the law so that anyone who joins an unpopular religion shall be declared incapable of exercising freedom of thought." The legal and political implications of such a doctrine are staggering.

At its closing banquet, the LJRF gave Conway and Seigelman its highest honor, the Leo J. Ryan Award. The first person they thanked and credited as a pioneer in "this work" was not other than the father of deprogramming himself, Ted Patrick.

[roguelov]

So for spicy headcanon day... I've been enjoying the thought lately that, the more aroused Dream becomes, the more he lets his human aspect slip a bit. Get him really lost in pleasure and his eyes will turn full black with stars, his skin turns paper-white as he temporarily forgets that human skin is supposed to have pigment, etc. The oh so human weight of him on you and the stretch of him in you contrasting with the increasing clarity that he's an ancient eldritch being...🥵

I NEED A MINUTE!!! GODDAMN!!!

Ok ok I would like to add on this! I like the idea that his voice would become layered (like all the voices of the dreamers combined in a way) with more bass and it would just reverberate in your skull and throughout your body. Like he would just hum and your whole body would vibrate, and dream doesn’t notice at all as he completely loses himself in you

[roguedoodles]

Just a man who loves his helm nothing else

@so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site @marlowe-zara @writing-for-life @pavlovianfuckery

(Full Pic Below)

[eirian-houpe]

TMI Tuesday

Welcome to November!

Phew, it’s been a while, right back at the beginning of October to be precise.  Honestly, work has been kicking my arse, and I’ve been too mentally exhausted to do more than come home and play mindless video games. Well, not quite mindless, but...

Anyway, with a new month (and a new year for me), I’m going to see what I can do to change that.  I have my new office furniture (and it helps me feel like a grown up at work), and of course it’s November, and we all know what that means, right...?

NANOWRIMO!

I’m going to participate again this year, like every year, but I’m not going to - or try not to anyway - get bent out of shape if I don’t keep up. The link above will take you to the site in case you feel like signing up to join me.  I will be making my daily progress posts - going to try and be creative about it this year.

With that, I’m also going to try and shake things up a bit here, so that I don’t keep repeating myself day after day. So TMI Tuesday will be a bit of a ‘behind the scenes of Eirian’ kind of thing.

Like I said, work has been kicking my arse. I work as a special education teacher in high school, and as you can imagine the beginning of ANY school year is busy, but considering that I am the only member of a new team that was at my school last year, the other team members are looking to me for guidance a lot of the time.  I don’t mind that, and it’s a great time, but it does mean there’s a lot, a lot, a lot to do.

In other news, and probably related tbh, the twin orcs of depression and anxiety have also been doing their fair share of arse-kicking. Now though, I’m kicking back. Does it mean that I am (grudgingly) embracing ‘the list’ - you bet it does. I’m just hoping there are folks who are willing to remind me to be kind to myself on the days I don’t get to the end of the list. Full disclosure - the monster in my head that gets on my case when I DON’T get to the bottom of a list is why I am super resistant to list-making.

Those I guess are the negatives.  So the positives...

I recently officially took over stewardship (and I like to put it that way) of A Monthly Rumbelling. I have learned to make moodboards - and I love it! 

I have an amazing husband, and my Tumblr family are awesome as well. (You know who you are!)

Writing wise, I want to be working on Disparate Pathways, and after that, I am not sure which fic I will go to for focus, and of course, just because I have a focus fic, doesn’t mean I don’t also work on other fics as well - or at least that’s my intention, so... why not drop me an ask and let me know what you’d like to see updated.  If you drop me an ask like that, I’ll give you a tidbit for the named fic.  How’s that for a fair exchange?

Otherwise, here are some other suggestions for you...

Ask suggestions

Ask something about any of my fics (full list is below the cut). If you want specifics from some fics that are already outlined, you can ask about:

Disparate Pathways, Chapters 46 through 56 All Our Past Mistakes, Chapters 11 through 44 Lover’s Leap Series, Stories 15 through 31 Time’s Curse, Chapters 4 through 10 Laer o Faen, Chapter 27 & 28 Stargate: Atlantis, Harms Way or any of the 20 fics in the series.

Ask something of any of my characters in general or you can get really specific if you like - for example you might want to ask Gold from Pawn Shop a question about a chapter, a thought, a feeling… (the world is your oyster really)

Ask about my process as a writer, what makes me tick,, or even ask about me personally. Almost nothing is off limits.

Also, if you want to see a specific character or fic featured in Three Things Thursday, or Saturday Secret, feel free to send in prompts, if no one does, then either the choice will be random or they just won’t happen at all. I made an analogy for why that might be in a different post about a car stuck in the mud with spinning wheels. Those wheels are still spinning!

Please remember: if you read a fic you enjoyed on AO3 or on Tumblr (not just mine), please take the time to comment and/or leave kudos, and to reach out on TMI Tuesday. It means a lot to the writers and artists.

You can find all my fics currently on AO3 here, and there is a full list under this cut.

Storybrooke’s Best Kept Secret - Rumbelle

Darkness In Hyperion Heights - Woven Beauty au

Seven Tastes - Rumbelle

Tuesday - Rushbelle AU

The Language of Flowers Series - Rumbelle

Disparate Pathways - Rumbelle AU

Scattered - Rumbelle AU

All Our Past Mistakes - Rumbelle AU

What the Actual Fuck! - Sutherelle

Breathe - Rushbelle

The Lover’s Leap Series - Rumbelle

Awakening - Rumbelle

War Is Coming To Storybrooke - Rumbelle

Given No Choice - Rush

Thoughts On A Happy Ending Series - Rumbelle

Darker Hearts Series - Wish!Rumbelle

Modern Wonders - a OUAT/Alice crossover

Time’s Curse - Rumbelle

The Pawn Shop On Main Street - Rumbelle

The Mansion On the Edge of Town - Rumbelle with a side of Jefferson

Cobra: In Your Prayers - Cobra/FatWS/UC:Undercover et al

To See Series - Rumbelle

Nobody Knew (Bingo) - Rumbelle

Secret of the Seas - Rumbelle AU

Butterfly and Phoenix - ST:DSC

Laer o Faen - Tolkien

Ship’s Rats - ST: DCS

I Amar Boe Men Heb - Tolkien

Coming Down - Halt and Catch Fire

Armor of Ice - Halt and Catch Fire

Duath i-Achas Eriol - Tolkien

Balance of Terror - Sleeper Cell

What To Believe - UC: Undercover

If: In The End - UC Undercover

Precious - The Mummy Series

Forbidden - The Mummy Series

Power Is - The Mummy Series

Angel of the Heart - The Mummy Series

Star of the Morning - The Mummy Series

Not Yours To Keep - Foundation (TV)

No Saving Throw - Stranger Things

Here are fics that haven’t yet been started, but are in the Muse’s bucket.

The Miner’s Day Festival - Rumbelle

Aftermath - Rumbelle (with a side of madness)

Saving The Dark One (WT) A twist on a twist of Rumplestiltskin.

Brought To You By The Color… (Red)

Calcul(us)

(In)consistent equation

The Boston Storybrooke Line

Breaking the Waves (Movie AU)

ILP (or IEP) for Rumple.

One Last Wish

In Service to My Son

Playground Games

Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed

“Only Remembered For What We Have Done.”

Librarian: UC

Exquisite Harmonies

[orionsangel86]

Dream of the Endless - A Romantic Fool

After talking to @so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site @duckland and @notallsandmen over on this post I have been thinking about the reasons why I personally interpret Dream as a romantic and think that later Sandman stories have made a mistake claiming that romance and erotic fiction are all the work of Desire alone and not the actual Prince of Stories (and thank GOD Neil Gaiman confirmed those Sandman stories were not canon eh?)

Under the cut because as always it got long. Why I think Dream of the Endless is an old fashioned romantic with a soft spot for love stories.

I mentioned in the linked post that I don’t see how Dream and Desire can keep themselves completely separated when their realms blur so much and when they are canonically probably the two most similar of the Endless even above Desire and Despair (which I think is the reason they clash so much).  It’s also worth mentioning that when it comes to influences over mortals, I don’t think any particular Endless sibling has more of a sway than any other, they all influence us all the time such is their nature and I think it would be very difficult to claim only one Endless was totally responsible for certain things. This is the reason why they like to compete and play games with each other like they did in Three Septembers and a January with the Emperor of the United States (side note: this is one of my all time favourite comic issues and my absolute favourite of the stand alone stories).

So even if Desire does have influence over the romance genre and erotica, I don’t think that would make Dream particularly averse to them, because he is also very much responsible for love stories and stories about love and seems to have inspired more than his own fair share over time.

Starting with the obvious - he was Shakespeare’s patron. No matter what else you say about Dream, he is responsible for inspiring and effectively being the muse for the greatest playwrite who ever lived. Shakespeare’s repertoire includes a whole list of plays with romance and love at their hearts not least of all being:

A Midsummer Nights Dream

What is the one thing you remember most about AMND? The fairies yes? Titania, Puck, Oberon, etc. But the central theme and story of AMND is specifically about love. It is a very sweet story about four mortals who are caught in a love “square” and get lost in a magical forest where the fairies decide to get involved and fix their love problems (with some confusing mess ups in between) and at the same time, it is a story about how the King and Queen of Fairie are having a bit of a falling out and the King decides to play some tricks on his stubborn wife, before ultimately reconcilling with her. The play ends with a triple wedding.

In the Sandman issue A Midsummer Nights Dream. It is revealled that Dream commissioned this play from Shakespeare to be a retelling of events which happened long ago, as a gift from him to Titania and Oberon so that mortals may never forget the fae once they leave the realm of Earth forever. It is also revealled that Dream and Titania were once lovers themselves, though we have no other details about when this was, as Titania refuses to talk about it at The Wake. It is clear however that they are still on extremely good terms, care for each other deeply, and had a very close relationship even after they were lovers before the fae left Earth. Throughout the comics, whenever the fae are mentioned, it is clear that Dream is closer to them than any of the other Gods, Goddesses, or various pantheons we meet. Even though at one point he states that he does not trust fairie magic.

At the end of the day, whatever else you want to believe about Dream, Titania is the only lover of his that he remains on good terms with. So much so that even though she clearly has a husband, he is still gifting her love stories. There is an argument here that AMND is quite mocking towards Titania, who falls in love with a man with the head of an ass, and spends most of the play having sex with him and swooning over him whilst the other fairies look on in horror. I know some people have interpreted this as Dream being mocking and cruel towards her, but I didn’t get this impression at all from reading this issue. Titania appears to be delighted at the play and Dream explains clearly his reasons for commissioning it:

The short version is that Dream commissioned a romantic and magical love story for his ex lover, so that the mortal world would never forget her when she left Earth for good.

Pretty romantic in my opinion.

The Tempest

Keeping to the Shakespeare theme, the other play commissioned directly by Dream is The Tempest. Now, there is probably a whole other meta essay to be written about Dream’s reasons for commissioning the Tempest, not least of all how fitting Prospero’s final monologue is when viewing it as a closing statement on Dream’s own endgame. But this is a meta about romance, and Dream couldn’t even keep romance out of his self-insert human!au original fiction. Like AMND, The Tempest is also a comedy (interesting how both plays commissioned by Dream were comedies when he is so clearly living in a tragedy *sigh*) and like AMND The Tempest includes young lovers who fall in love throughout the course of the play. Whilst romance and love isn’t a central theme in The Tempest, it is still a big part of the story.

I just find it impossible to take a view that Dream would shun romance when he personally commissioned two romantic stories from Shakespeare himself.

The Sandman: Overture - Dream’s Personal Love Story

But this isn’t the only evidence of Dream’s romantic inclinations. The Sandman: Overture also includes some interesting clues to Dream’s views on love stories.

Hope asks for a story. She does NOT request a love story. She simply asks for a story with Dream, that also includes a princess. Given that Dream is the Prince of Stories, and has most definitely had interactions with many princesses over his long life, he chose to instead tell a personal story, a love story, and so we finally get the full love story of Dream and Alianora.

Even though it must hurt to relive it, even though the Cat of Dreams (not gonna spoil the twist) specifically states that they NEVER tell that story, he chooses to tell it to Hope. Not only does he tell her that story, but he ends it with a happy ending - not “happy for always” but “happy for a goodly while”.

The fact that the Netflix show chose to adapt on this love story further, by having it be canon that Dream carved their love story into the gates of his own kingdom - well, that only further emphasises how much he cares for love stories, even his own, even when the truth is it ended badly, and hurt him greatly. Would a non romantic person carve their own love story into the gates of their kingdom? I don’t think so somehow. Because even after all this time, even though it pains him to relive it, he is still a romantic at heart, and cared about Alianora and their love enough to carve it into the gates of the Dreaming.

A Mother’s Insight

Also in The Sandman: Overture, Dream’s time with his mother is particularly insightful. She is the one to point out how alike he and Desire truly are, even though he dismisses the very concept and takes offense (obviously). It seems clear to me that we are supposed to agree with Mother Night on this. She also raises two other interesting points - the first is when she realises Dream’s scheme to get his parents back together in the hopes that it will save the universe. She laughs at him, and mocks him, calling it “one of his stories”. Because even if Dream isn’t exactly the most self aware of creatures (understatement), she is exactly right. Dream, being a romantic, had hoped that his parents love could save the universe. A true epic love story for the ages. It is his romantic ideations that sent him to meet with his parents. Dream’s romantic nature is integral to the story of Overture working. If he wasn’t such a romantic, he never would have sought out his parents, he would have been more grounded in realism, and known that they would disappoint him.

The second point Mother Night points out, is Dream’s desire for a lover, as she offers to make him one so that he might stay in her realm with her. He declines of course, since Mother is simply manipulating him to keep him with her, but that doesn’t mean what she says isn’t true. Dream very much desires a lover. His whole family is aware of this. His love story with Alianora began with Desire sending Alianora to Dream after all. Dream’s wish for love and also romance is an integral part of his character.

Brief Lives - Motivations and Comparisons

Dream’s romantic ideations are also central to the story in Brief Lives since the only reason he agrees to go to the Waking World with Delirium is because he hopes that he may find and reconcile with Thessaly. His fantasies of reconciling with her are strong enough for Destiny to call him out and bring him once again back down to Earth.

Knowing what we do about Thessaly, it is very easy to interpret Dream’s feelings about her, and his romantic ideations about reuniting with her, as not rooted in reality. I find it very difficult to view Dream as anything other than a romantic fool when he is taking road trips across Earth on the small chance he may lock eyes with his ex lover across a street and they may fall back into each others arms like in some fluffy romance novel. He is ridiculous, and this is made clear throughout Brief Lives.

In fact, Destruction definitely agrees with me as well. He calls Dream a romantic fool directly.

Orpheus’s very existence is also a good example of Dream being a romantic. Who else could father a child who becomes famous for his poetry, his songs, and his epic tragic love story. In The Sandman, it is at least implied that part of the reason Orpheus meets his tragic end is because he is too much like his father, and the one thing that is made very clear about Orpheus, is that he is a romantic, with love being one of his main motivations.

I think adding all this together with the comments made about Dream by his own creations, the residents of the Dreaming, as well as his ex lovers at The Wake, it is clear that he is a romantic character, a character who is driven in many ways by his desire for love, and who rather fancies himself as the broody romantic hero (I just KNOW Dream was somehow involved with Lord Byron lmao). Throughout the comic, Dream often denies that he has any needs, any desires, to the extent that he denies that he is even a person, who has a life. He also adamantly denies that he has a story. Yet, throughout the comic, it is made clear that none of this is true. The reason Dream is so often at odds with Desire is because he desires so strongly - moreso than any of the other Endless siblings. It’s because of this that I think he would enjoy the romance genre possibly more than anything else. Romance is a core component of his personality. In comic canon, Dream has been directly or indirectly responsible for the creation of at least five love stories - two Shakespeare plays, the Song of Orpheus, the love story of Dream and Alianora, as well as the story that the African tribe tell their children when they come of age - the love story of Dream and Nada, the tale where their love was so passionate that every living thing that could dream dreamed of their love making.

So whilst the comics never directly state whether or not Dream is a fan of romance novels, his desire for love and romance indicates to me that he holds love stories in high regard, regardless of whether or not his annoying younger sibling has anything to do with them.

Also, not that it really counts for anything, but Tom Sturridge agrees with me. ;-)

[writing-for-life]

The Self-Love, Sex, and Pursuit of the Helm Novels: A Tragicomedy in Three Movements

Part 1~~By the Sea, I Mean in the Dreaming: A Comedy Prelude, where crack ships find their way into Dream’s Library, and absolutely everyone is left stranded.

People, I’ve done it, and I’m scared. This… erm… short trilogy has been sitting in my drafts for ages, and the unhinged Muhulhu post has finally kicked my arse into editing part 1. So here it is without further ado: fourth-wall-breaking madness, secrets about Merv and Matthew you never wanted to know, and the unholy beginning of that relationship (titles inspired by “The Love, Sex, and Pursuit of Happiness Novels” by Steven Paul Leiva).

Here’s a little excerpt, link to full story on Ao3.

And next when it’s edited: Part 2~~Bully For You (Is it sarcastic, or an expression of praise, or something else entirely? Who will ever know…): An Unhinged Interlude, where the Lord of Dreams loses his bearings (no, not those ones), and even Desire needs a stiff drink.

I am tagging the Muhulhu inception crew, but I will need to start with the founding members of the cult: @so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site for indulging my silly ask that kicked this whole thing off, @marlowe-zara who also gave us her deep psychological insight from the get-go and @roguelov who created the first bit of fanart for this monster (and said fanart gets hinted at in the fic—Murphy is desperately trying to figure out which way up to hold that thing to make sense of it. He is a bit slow sometimes).

Further honourable mentions: @tickldpnk8 (whom we have to thank for the HelmLord) , @ginoeh , @rriavian , @4typercent , @windsweptinred , @throwingbread , @tryan-a-bex (for the best drabble ever—now you’ll understand what I wrote about the similar premise, and Lucienne indeed needs a raise 🤣), @zzoomacroom

I also dare to tag @safeuphigh because you know my more serious stuff, and this is definitely not that, and a writer who takes herself too seriously is not a serious writer. Or something like that 🤣

And @rey-jake-therapist because you always get tagged, and just because I can 😜

New weirdos and Muhulhu enjoyers are warmly welcome in our midst!