#the cuckoo the sandman

[writing-for-life]

The Portrayal of Womanhood in A Game of You

I’ll be honest with you: Writing about The Sandman with a focus on (queer) women surely feels different in light of the recent allegations.

This meta has been languishing in my drafts for a long time, and since I’m currently clearing the pile, I will still publish it. Mostly because these views are mine and not someone else’s. And also because they’re critical to a degree. However, if you feel that these are topics that you currently find hard to engage with, this is the exit sign (I totally get it).

With that out of the road, let’s talk about the women of A Game of You (and why it was always one of my least favourite arcs, despite the fact that my literary and thematic preferences should have made it one of my favourite ones)…

Gender roles are a central theme in A Game of You. Before the arc even moves into these themes on a deeper level, we already get this:

Barbie tells Wanda that she wasn’t allowed to read comics when she was a young girl. And that immediately struck a chord with me upon my first reading as a teenager: I was allowed to read comics, but I still remember getting the side-eye, especially from boys. Somehow, you didn’t belong to their club (even if you arguably knew more about Batman than they did 🤣). The reason Barbie gives us is that reading comics supposedly rendered her “unladylike” (yes, comics were considered “boyish”, at least when I was a teenager, and this is exactly the time we’re talking about here). But it’s not just about how a girl is supposed to act—it’s also about actively excluding her from something that’s only for men/boys. And while the topic of, “What’s a girl supposed (and allowed!) to be like?” isn’t something either particularly dwell on in that moment, Wanda faces the struggle of having to define and fight for her womanhood daily: As a trans woman, she feels resistance on a constant basis. When she talks about Weirdzos from the Hyperman comics, this is actually a nod to DC’s Bizarro, who could be described as Superman’s shadow (there’s a whole story why they were called Weirdzos instead of Bizarros in The Sandman, but that’d lead too far here. You’ll probably find it on Google).

Close enough to the “real thing”, but always “slightly off”

And Wanda carries the shadow of her biology. All the time. There’s no escape for her, no respite, no true support.

We also see this in a scene with Hazel, one of Wanda's neighbours who lives in a lesbian relationship with her girlfriend Foxglove. Hazel noticed that Wanda has "a thingie." Despite the fact that a lot of “weird” things are happening in those panels, part of that is definitely that Wanda has not fully (in Hazel’s eyes) transitioned:

What is she, exactly (not who)?

And that question gets answered very painfully when Wanda, Hazel, Foxglove, and Thessaly come together to free Barbie from being trapped in the Dreaming. Thessaly is sure she can defeat the Cuckoo that holds Barbie captive. However, she needs menstrual blood to perform a ritual that will allow them to traverse the Moon Road into the Dreaming. During this process, Thessaly insensitively refers to Wanda as a man and prevents her from joining the journey with Foxglove and Hazel (and no, this isn’t about “Thessaly the TERF”—I already made my position on that clear and think that whole discussion needs a lot more nuance than fandom is often willing to engage in).

Maiden, Mother and Crone

Thessaly's statement, "This isn’t your route. It can’t be," further highlights the discrimination Wanda faces on a daily basis. She “isn’t” seen as a woman now, and she “can’t” ever be, even if she had reassignment surgery—Wanda would still be seen as a man by the ancient powers that be.

Wanda's struggle, more than any other character's, highlights the ongoing conflict between self-identity and societal perception of women. And that’s unfortunately still a struggle most women face. But Wanda’s character is particularly poignant because she is repeatedly forced to reaffirm her sense of self, only to be torn down again and again. Even Barbie, who always supports her and would probably never knowingly hurt her, says this when Wanda reveals her childhood name:

“Alvin? That's your real name?"

Please imagine what it must feel like if even the ones closest to you refer to your dead name as your “real” name, even if it’s without malicious intent (of course Barbie makes good on that later, but…).

Wanda can never truly find comfort in anyone. She is constantly confronted with the disparity between her self-perception and how the world views her. Ultimately, Wanda's exclusion from entering the Dreaming (and there’s more symbolism in that than you can shake a stick at—not just because she’s denied her womanhood, but also because she is denied entering a place of hope and possibility, and not least because she is denied being capable and having agency: Thessaly repeatedly acknowledges Wanda is important, and that she needs her help. But that’s on her terms, not Wanda’s) leads to her tragic death: The storm caused by drawing down the moon destroys the apartment where Wanda remains to watch over Barbie’s body.

And that’s why Wanda’s arc in the comics will always stay problematic to me (I don’t know how optimistic I can be for the TV series, because we’ve already seen her headstone in BTS shots, even if her overall arc seems to have changed): Dream grants Barbie a boon, which she uses to save the women in the Dreaming, but Wanda is not among them. There is no saving her—not in this world, not in any other.

Wanda's conservative parents bury her with her deadname Alvin Mann (and her second name adds insult to injury, because it is the German spelling of “man”, as in “male”. And again, I’m somewhat glad they have changed this for the series, as seen on said headstone, because I never got why choosing that name was necessary in the first place. Or let’s say: I get it, but I don’t think it was needed and was layered on too thick. Sometimes subtle does it, sorry).

Why is Wanda so consistently shamed, while Hazel and Foxglove's lesbian relationship is regarded not a big deal (I’m obviously not insinuating it should be, see my disclaimer at the bottom of this post)? Although I have to admit there are things about that one that always rubbed me up the wrong way, too: The dumbing down of Hazel (honestly, most of us were not that clueless about reproduction in the 80s and 90s, lesbians or otherwise), the play on butch/femme stereotypes to then clumsily try to turn them on their heads (which did not work for me), the still somewhat male gaze applied to Foxglove (she didn’t have to sleep naked with her tits on display, did she?), the implication that all women somehow end up as mothers (if they don’t end up dead), even if just “accidentally”… There’s a whole lot to be said about the topic of motherhood, and how it gets instrumentalised in several Sandman arcs, but maybe that’s for another time...

To explore that question, I want to have a closer look at Barbie, who is a (in my view, often clumsy) stand-in for the gender-identity of many (CIS) women.

A quick throwback to The Doll’s House

The first signs of Barbie's identity crisis don't appear in A Game of You, but rather in The Doll's House. She is introduced as one half of “Ken-Barbie”: They finish each other's sentences, Barbie lacks a distinct personality and is completely overshadowed by being a “traditional wife” (maybe not the type of trad wife we think about today, and yet…). The fact that she and Ken share names with plastic dolls underscores the artificial nature of their identities and their relationship.

Barbie's dream-life always felt more authentic and meaningful to her than her waking reality—that’s why she is only a shell of herself when she can’t dream (after the vortex interlude with Rose Walker). She is passive, conforms to her father's expectations of being "ladylike" and adheres to “good” CIS- and heteronormative behaviour. And then, after her divorce, she feels uprooted, shows little motivation and relies on Wanda for support. Freeing herself from her shackles could have been a story of reclaiming her power without the layer of implied loneliness (I’ll get to that). Instead, she needs to suffer for a bit…

Barbie being trapped in her dream world also traps her in a state of passivity: Dreams are not real. You can make them real, but that’s not what she does—they are a maladjusted escape for her. And yet (or maybe rather “because”), instead of directly confronting and fighting the Cuckoo, Barbie smashes the Porpentine (much to the Cuckoo's delight).

Upon waking…

Upon waking, Barbie's personality hasn't changed much from the woman we first met. When she goes to Wanda’s funeral, she struggles to defend Wanda from her transphobic aunt despite trying.

However, she engages in a small but significant act of rebellion by crossing out "Alvin" on Wanda's headstone with her favourite lipstick and writes her real name instead.

Barbie then recalls a dream she had while traveling to Wanda's funeral. In this dream, she sees Wanda not as she was in life, but as an idealised version of herself—soft, more curved, and wearing a pink dress. Death stands beside Wanda, symbolising that she is recognised for who she truly is.

And I get it: The idea was to say, “She was always a woman, even to the cosmic powers that be. Eat that, Thessaly and everyone else.” But there’s also the part of me that wants to say, “You know what? She was good the way she was. Perfect in her imperfection. We didn’t need to affirm her womanhood by showing her as a stereotypical woman.” The use of “perfect” and “drop-dead gorgeous” always really rubbed me up the wrong way in relation to the way she was portrayed in that panel. Because it portrays a stereotypical woman: That’s what you look like if you need to/want to pass. And this applies, sadly enough, to all women in one way or another, no matter what gender we were assigned at birth. But if that scene holds meaning to people, I also get it. My more critical take on it is maybe down to my own history (again: disclaimer at the bottom of this post).

Simultaneously, the destruction of the Land in the Dreaming grants Barbie a newfound independence. She is now alone, without her best friend or the friends of her dreams, but these losses have given her freedom. And for a moment, loneliness becomes the ultimate resolution to Barbie's identity conflict. And I found that idea horrible, I’ll be brutally honest with you:

On the final page of A Game of You, Barbie is shown alone, waiting for a bus to an unknown destination. She reflects on her dream of Wanda, where she had the chance to say goodbye to her past life. For a moment, she stands rigidly still, and that moment feels… really long? Separated from her past and facing an uncertain future, she is free from anyone's expectations or desires. And maybe, in that simplicity, she finds freedom.

And maybe, A Game of You challenges the idea that we have full control over our identities. Our self-perception and how others perceive us are always influenced by external factors. And somewhat, I could never quite shake the feeling the story equates the removal of the ties that bind us (in this case: relationships) and/or death with freedom: Wanda only fully realises her identity in death, and Barbie feels most liberated when she is free from past entanglements and future obligations. Whether that notion is truly rejected in the end is probably down to the reader: Barbie turns and runs towards her bus, heading into a future that, while uncertain, maybe also holds a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately, none of the women of The Sandman get off particularly well in that department, and that is a common theme…

Disclaimer: I write this as a CIS bisexual woman in her 40s who has been in relationships with both women and men for 30+ years. Two of them led to marriage/civil partnership: One with a CIS woman, also bi (we were together for 10 years, 3 of them in a CP), one with my now husband (CIS straight man, married for 10 years, together longer, and we have a kid together). I don’t need to tell you this, but I am because I think it is important to disclose my own bias and experiences as a queer woman in the 90s, which include coming out, experiencing bi-erasure and misogyny from both inside and outside the LGBTQ+ community. As such, they will definitely colour the way I read and interpret A Game of You.

[deconstructthesoup]

In another universe, Rose hires the Dead Boy Detectives to help her find Jed

And maybe it's not the Corinthian who kills Jed's awful foster dad but a certain 80's ghost boy who's dealing with issues of his own

[azulso]

Familiar faces in The Meg 2

[goncharov-propaganda-factory]

i cant believe the moon really is a bioessentialist. neil gaiman was right about everything

[comparativetarot]

Six of Wands. Art by Shannon Hochman, from the Sandman Tarot Deck.

[thelandswemadeofpaper]

@beetleandfox

'The Mystical Vibe'

The 'soft magic', the subtle magic

Thats how I call it, I wrote a few posts about it. Read your posts about Susanna Clarke's magical system and reminded me of it

Also, see the Sandman battle with the Devil, same vibes

About the interpretation and characterization of some beings and concepts.

Principally magical ones and demons (I not including Youkai, they are spiritual non-catholic beings from Japanese folklore. I am not demonizing other cultures), they often got portrayed in two different ways: I am calling them 'subtle' and 'blunt' cuz its kinda fits.

'Blunt' is the most common in animes, portraying beings that can be fought more physically. Many fantasy medieval like to shove mythological beings around with no development, the term 'Demon King' is throw around like a fucking hot potato I swear, the way those being are introduced make them more 'real people' than 'creature' and kinda...weaker in a way.

Ancient Magus Bride is a good exemple of a wonderfull portrait of celtic culture and that 'mystical vibe' of the Fair Folk and Noragami put a cool concept into the whole 'influence people to do evil' thing, even if the latter is not the subtle type.

'Subtle' magic is less superpower and more mystic/fairy tail like. Tolkien was pretty much the first writer to put a mythological race (Norsen Elves) was people, before that they were simple...things? They weren't people for sure, they were...the Fair Folk. (See my post about 'Mystical Vibes', Legendary and All That Stuff.)

You don't imagine those type of people being defeated the 'blunt' way.

Dragon Ball is really blunt in its attempts to show that Ours-Characters-are-OP-as-fuck, destroying planets and universes like its nobody business. DC and Marvel still driving me nuts with their confused Tier levels and infinite number of cosmic-OP-weirdoos-with-generic-names that stop caring about making sense and yet, works with a more poetical touch like Silmarillion tend to give a 'air' of a superiority compareted to the others. The Presence and the One-Above-All are clearly far weaker than Eru, even when all are based on the Christian God.

Like Dustfinger from Inkheart is not just a fire manipulator, he's said to speak the tongue of fire, for fire itself kiss him in the lips. The mystical vibe on this give me the impression that the Fire Release from Naruto and the Fire Alchemy of Roy Mustang would not work on the guy, maybe not even Ryujin Jakka.

Addams Family is pretty much it, the new Wednesday series not much (its too blunt).

Or the Theft of Intagible Things (like fears, ambitions, feelings...) or weapons like...an sword that does Emotional Wounds. Just...mystical vibe.

I...tried to explain. Its complicated, lost myself here. Sorry?

[ohraicodoll]

Saw the prompt post. And your tags. So I'm dropping this in your lap and leaving the rest to your excellent discretion! Any fandom. Any characters.

“you’re so cool.”

Good luck! Have fun!

Thankuuuuu Cuckoo! (I was totally going to do Sandman and Dream but couldn't stop laughing over what his reaction would be without making it ooc. So more TLOU lol)

Hero Worship Joel Miller x f!Reader (Established Relationship) + Ellie The Last of Us 1k Words

“You pull it straight back until the string is almost kissing your lips,” she guided her, watching as Ellie pulled the bow string back with shaky arms, “Elbow in, not out like a chicken wing. And breathe, you’re fine.” The teen seemed to glare at the small target across the way in the makeshift target practice Jackson had crafted. She took a deep breath, released and flinched.

All three of them watched as the arrow hit the target on the edge of the hay bale. Joel chuckled. “That had to be the wind!” Ellie argued, glaring at the older man. “There hasn’t been a single breeze all damn day,” he smirked, looking up to meet her instructor’s eyes over the girl’s head. With an eye roll, she picked up her own bow and took Ellie’s spot to demonstrate, “You keep flinching. If you keep your arms straight how I showed you, the string isn’t going to smack you in the face. Look, just watch.” 

Purposefully, she slowed down her movements and pulled the string back, arrow notched. Joel was right, there was no breeze and the target wasn’t very far away. Much closer than when he’d let the girl practice shooting the rifle. 

Elbows in and stance proper, she released the arrow and watched it sail home to the center of the target. Bullseye. Ellie groaned. “Whatever, you both are show-offs,” she grumbled, glaring at them both now. “Mmmhmm, why don’t you go grab another set of arrows if you’re gonna run your mouth and be a sore loser,” Joel nodded towards the small shack a little bit away where one of the older men kept all the range supplies. With a grumble, they watched as she trudged away, bow practically dragging in her hand. “She’s getting better,” chewing on your lip, she leaned against the wooden fence that acted as a barrier between the shooting area and the danger zone. “Yeah she is, but you know her. Wants to be instantly good,” Joel chuckled and rested his arms beside her, knee raised to brace on the fence, “She’ll get there. Besides, I think she’d rather do this than be at the theater though I do miss the two hours we’d get on our own when she would go.” Raising a brow, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye with a smirk, “Yeah I’m sure you do. Ellie’s trying to persuade me to let her stay in the small house behind the property. She needs her space.” The excuse was almost laughable as only a week ago she had asked to stay in their shared room during a bad storm, blaming her window they had already fixed. His eyes burned into the side of her head, fingers adjusting against the fence until they grazed the skin of her elbow, “Wouldn’t be the worst idea.” She huffed out a full bellied laugh and turned her eyes to him, “Oh please. You’d be at that back window with the binoculars checking on her every second if you let her, Miller. Probably rope Tommy into it too.” He sighed and was the one to roll his eyes this time, “Yeah, yeah. Give it a couple more years of her going full teenager and we’ll see. She drives us nuts enough as is and I’m dreading the day she starts being interested in boys.”

She struggled to fight down a grin, not wanting to break it to him that it wasn’t the boys he was going to have to worry about. With a smirk, they both turned to look at the teen, watching as she talked to the attendant and then catching sight of the young boy very blatantly staring at her not even a foot away. The boy had to be roughly six or seven and stared at her behind large bottle glasses, eyes huge on his tiny face. His mouth hung open slightly, eyes transfixed. Nudging Joel with her elbow, she nodded at the kid and the stars in his eyes. Ellie, her arm full with a new quiver of arrows, turned and almost ran straight into the little boy who hadn’t moved an inch. She looked almost startled, brow furrowed in a way that was too similar to Joel, mouth turned down. It had taken her a bit to not be in full aggressive mode and instantly be on edge with every person that stared at them, but every now and then that tough attitude came out. She didn’t like to be stared at. The kid blinked. The two adults tried not to laugh. “What?” Ellie asked a little harshly, clearly uncomfortable. “You’re so cool,” the boy choked out with a look that was pure admiration. Joel turned his head into her arm and tried not to laugh out loud, pressing his mouth into the fabric of her coat. His shoulders shook with the effort. Ellie almost seemed taken back, unsure of what to do, false bravado gone. But then she grinned and that attitude slid back into place before she leaned towards the kid and seemed to whisper something. They couldn’t hear what she said, but could see her head turn to look at them and nod before pulling back and walking over. The boy’s face stared at all three of them star struck. They tried to act like they hadn’t been watching the interaction and went back to the lesson as normal, didn’t mention Ellie’s little fan or how her shooting got better afterwards as if she only needed a little bit of confidence. It was a moment they didn’t want to intrude on or make her embarrassed about. And a week later when she went to the girl’s room to drop off a newer pair of shoes, she didn’t bring up the kid drawing tucked between some book pages that was obviously from her admirer. All three of them were drawn in crayon, looking larger than life, with the words, “Ellie's family” scribbled at the top.

[bludpudding]

I’ve been thinking about the last scene in DBD.

we see niko and the dandelion sprites huddling together in an igloo in what appears to be a clearing in a snowy forest. 

now, we know for a fact that a game of you is being adapted in sandman season 2. 

in a game of you, barbie travels through a snowy portion of the dreaming called the plain on her quest to defeat the cuckoo.

since we know that ghosts can canonically hide from death in the dreaming (i.e. hector and lyta), is it possible that niko escaped with the sprites to avoid her afterlife? dare I say join barbie on her journey?

is it possible that sandman S2 will also partially be DBD S2?

and this may be a huge stretch but,,,,, possibly something to do with martin tenbones,,,,,,

[peachesofteal]

hi peaches!! Can you recommend some Sandman blogs/authors? I'm getting into the show and got all the way through a fic on AO3 in awe of the writing and characterization, then I checked the author and saw it was YOU. It's amazing to find one of my favorite authors in a completely different fandom!! ❤️

Hi! That is so cool, 🥲 I’m so glad you liked it (I'm curious if it was a tear in your hand?) Anyway, I haven't poked my nose in that fandom recently but I definitely have some recs:

Younger Gods (one of my all time fav fics from any fandom by @cuckoo-on-a-string who is near and dear to my heart)

Aralezinspace @aralezinspace (one of my first moots, ily. Would recommend Pale and Summer Knight)

The First of Many (!!!! @tinypandacakes who also writes for this cracked out COD fandom and her stuff is amazing)

Lady Morpheus

landwriter

today i bury you in me.

All the Precious and Fragile Things @alteon77 (better than a whole ass book)

softestpunk

reallystressedhoneybee @reallystressedhoneybee (I love Falling Stardust, Fortuna, and an Innocent Apple)

Per Somnia

there are so many more but I am a goldfish. Happy reading!

[muffinlance]

I've been arguing with myself for some time whether to ask you this.... This year's (2023) Book Riot Read Harder challenge includes a challenge to "Read one of your favorite author's favorite books." Since you are one of my favorite authors, would you be willing to share with the internet some of your favorite books, please? (I also plan to ask haicrescendo, so don't be alarmed if you see this on their feed, please.)

Have a selection!

Childhood Favorites:

Raptor Red: Utah raptors living their best lives <3

Christopher Pike's The Last Vampire: baby's first introduction to Indian mythology AND baby's first introduction to "how to launch things into orbit, a don't-try-this-at-home primer". Which is a lot for a short YA vampire novel to accomplish, and that's just in the first book. (Remember Me and Witch are my other favs from that author).

The Last Whales: human-made apocalypse from the perspective of whales. You know, some light childhood reading.

Dune: who doesn't like giant sand worms? With bonus Litany Against Fear.

Collegehood:

Watership Down: bunnies and mythology and bunny wars with and without mythology

Sandman: Goth!Death is best Death. The Fiddler's Green's last moments live in my head forever. Boring people with their rich internal lives go brrr. Did they do the Cuckoo storyline in the show? Did they do it good?

The Black Cauldron: classic childhood trauma read

Recenthood:

Middlegame: oh boy oh BOY do I like novel takes on time travel magic via math and wordplay

The Ballad of Black Tom: sure you can summon a world-devouring eldritch horror <3 as a treat <3 (Lone Women by the same author is also deLIGHTful)

A Deadly Education (and its associated trilogy): angry death mage tries angry-hard not to be an angry death mage. Simultaneously succeeds and fails, in equally fantastic ways. (Spinning Silver by the same author is also Very Yes.)

Murderbot: Murderbot Murderbot Murderbot

[thevampiremarie]

ABOUT THE WRITER + MASTERLIST

AUTHOR'S STATEMENT ON PALESTINE

Click on this link if you want a Heartless update

🔞🔞🔞

My fandoms:

The Sandman (comics and tv show)

Call of Duty

Dune

Heartless (Simon “Ghost” Riley x fake marriage!Reader):

masterlist

Also keep an eye out for @cuckoo-on-a-string ‘s upcoming Price x Reader marriage of convenience fic, which is related to Heartless!!! Teaser here.

Summertime Sadness (Simon "Ghost" Riley x second chance romance w/ heavy angst Reader):

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 2 preview

Chapter 3 preview

Chapter 4 preview

treehouse (Dream of the Endless x pregnant!Reader):

masterlist

THE KNIFE OF MUAD'DIB (Paul Atreides x OC!Reader x Chani)

Part 1: Jessica

Part 2: Paul

Part 3: Duncan

Magindara (Dream of the Endless x mermaid!Reader)

Tumblr

AO3

Let The Good Times Roll (Captain Price x sugar baby!Reader):

Part 1

Sneak peak

Sneak peak 2

Sneak peak 3 bcuz I have no self control

[writing-for-life]

Alright so what the hell IS a cuckoo (in the Sandman universe)? Like, was this ever really explained? Are they evil? Are some of them more good/neutral? Do they still look like the people they mimick in the Dreaming once they get to the real/waking world? Doesn't anybody NOTICE that, if they do?

Well, first of all: Since the Cuckoo is basically a nightmare, we have to keep in mind that Morpheus actually created it. He even says, when questioned why it should be allowed to live, that it was basically fulfilling its purpose—a purpose he gave to it.

And that purpose is very Jungian in my view. The Cuckoo is essentially not unlike a parasite, and it latches on to your shadow (your dark side, whatever you want to call it). And it’s down to the dreamer if they defeat it or get corrupted by it. Just like we can be consumed by our shadow (both by giving in to it OR repressing it) or integrate it with awareness so we can grow. The intention is obviously the latter (edit: argh, sorry typo, wrote “the former” by accident. That’s obviously not it), so I don’t think you can call the Cuckoo evil by default (and neither does Morpheus himself suggest they are), but I guess it’s a bit like the Corinthian being created for a specific reason and then developing a mind of his own, so to speak.

The problem with the Cuckoo and Barbie was that the natural course, or the way the Cuckoo usually “matures” (for lack of better term), was interrupted due to the whole Rose/vortex business: Barbie stopped dreaming while being a very avid dreamer before who was deeply connected to the Land, (the Land is only for young girls, but Barbie was connected to it much longer as we all know). And that got the Cuckoo in a way trapped, and then the events of AGoY started to unfold.

That’s at least how I understand it, if anyone has good additions, let us know 🙂

@saiyanblood2 ask answered

[aralezinspace]

8 SHOWS TO GET TO KNOW ME

Tagged by @just-some-random-blogger and making a new post because I can xD

Doctor Who

The Sandman

Avatar the last air bender

Naruto

Pokemon

Ouran high school host club

House of the Dragon

Black Butler

Tagging with zero pressure cuz I love y’all @chromehoplite @cuckoo-on-a-string @undiscovered-horizon @apocalypticromantic666 @lecalcifer @vsenyatargaryen @dotieeee @lilpunkrock @peachesofteal

[borninwinter81]

About me

I thought I should make a pinned post which is slightly more in depth than my bio concerning general interests as I seem to have gained a few followers, and in case any of them have a wish to know!  This is not definitive and will likely get added to over time when I have the thought “how could I possibly have forgotten X”.

Music:          Devin Townsend/Strapping Young Lad/Casualties of Cool Ulver Alcest Agalloch Gojira Cattle Decapitation It’s a safe bet that I’ll probably enjoy anything which could be labelled post-punk or goth, particularly if it originates in the 80s or 90s. Ditto for 90s metal (reminds me of my teen years!) Most classic rock from the 70s or 80s (my parents brought me up on this) Industrial and aggrotech. Classical music, including opera 1950s and 60s rock and roll Many genres of extreme metal, like black metal, death metal, funeral doom, goregrind etc.

Recently a friend has been getting into Black Metal having never listened to it before, and it's been causing me to rediscover my love of that genre as well as find a few new artists that I've never heard before 😁

Authors:  Edgar Allan Poe (also fits under poets) Terry Pratchett Neil Gaiman Stephen King Joe Hill JRR Tolkien Robin Hobb Brian Lumley Clive Barker Way too many more to count – I read A LOT

Poets: William Blake (see my Good Omens/Blake posts here and here) Samuel Taylor Coleridge John Milton Christina Rosetti Walt Whitman

Shakespeare plays (having a literature degree, I feel like I should know more Shakespeare, nonetheless the ones I am familiar with I absolutely love): Hamlet (loved it since the Mel Gibson version, and I have seen many since!) Macbeth Richard II (not only because of David Tennant, but also Fiona Shaw, hers was the first version I saw of it). A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Movies:  12 Monkeys Bladerunner Subspecies movie series Nightbreed (Cabal Cut for preference!) Dredd (2012) Only Lovers Left Alive Pan’s Labyrinth (honestly anything by Del Toro really, but this one especially!) Donnie Darko Franklyn The Green Mile Dark City One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Schindler's List Mad Max: Fury Road (the others too, but this is my favourite) Again, loads more than I’m not listing, I love movies

TV Shows: Good Omens The Sandman Star Trek (all versions, but particularly TNG and DS9) Farscape Blake's 7 Classic Dr Who (I do like the new stuff, but pre-Eccleston will always be my favourite, it's probably a nostalgia thing) Spartacus Black Sails Sharpe Robin of Sherwood

General interests:            Charity shops/thrift store shopping Sewing Crochet General DIY/crafting as the mood takes me, particularly customising items that I buy at charity shops Pencil sketching (relearning to do this, I used to be pretty good when in school!) Tattoos/piercings

[cuckoo-on-a-string]

Brainrot gif trailer to combat bad thoughts

Bad news: Shitty, shitty depression day.

Good news: Gonna write some fucking Sandman brainrot that isn't attached to any of my other stories for shits and giggles. Bards and balls and traded bride shit. With strong possibilities of Nightmare!Dream, because I've been converted, and those responsible know who they are.

Possible ass'o'clock post in true Cuckoo style. Or it'll appear in the next few days. We'll see.

Brainrot gif trailer for shits and giggles:

[dxliriumoftheendless]

waiting impatiently for sandman leaks of barbie in her face paint/ with wanda/ in the cuckoo…..