#the many aspects of Dream

[tickldpnk8]

Season of Mists Reread Ch. 5

World building! world building! world building! This is my favorite issue in all of Sandman! There is so much going on and so much to dissect. Plus, some political maneuvering! So let’s dig in.

So why is Season of Mists my favorite? All of the mythology/pantheon tie-ins. We see so much world-building even just with Chapter 3. We see glimpses of Norse mythology, DC’s Order and Chaos, Japanese mythology, and Egyptian mythology. Plus, the hierarchy of angels but through DC’s Silver City with distinct Judeo-Christian undertones. Oh, and fairies! I’m here for all of it! But since my reread is specifically focused on Dream’s nature and clues about the ending of Sandman I didn’t see coming, I won’t focus on each of these characters. Instead, I’ll focus on how each interacts with Dream and how that affects their surroundings.

The room where it happens

Late at night, each delegation meets with Dream in the throne room (his chambers?) and each time it does, we see slight shifts in how the room is arranged and how Morpheus appears.

Going in order, we first see Odin from Norse myth:

Morpheus’ throne is what appears to be a short stool or stump on top of a tall boulder. Drapes are in the background and his throne sits on the floor surrounded by candles. Morpheus himself wears what appears to be a dark tshirt, black jeans or pants and likely boots.

Next to visit is Princess Jemmy, and the panels for her visit are very sparse. This could be a design decision considering how the action is on the page, but I wonder if Chaos brings a void to whatever space they are in. Morpheus has the same outfit as before with Odin.

After Chaos, comes Order (fitting?).

We don’t see his throne at all, but the candles are now elevated on sconces. The drapes remain in the background. Morpheus has donned his long collared coat/robe…presumably over his tshirt/jeans combo.

And then this is where things get really interesting, because the above could all be considered Western mythologies of a sort. We next have Susano-O-No-Mikoto:

Not only does the throne room change, but so does the art style: Similar to what we saw in Chapter 3 when introducing Order and Chaos. Everything flattens out into a comic book style of a woodcut print. The green curtains are now the foliage of a tree and Morpheu’s throne is almost a suggestion of a tatami mat on a raised platform. His coat/cloak are now traditional Japanese dress and his bedhead hair even seems to be tied up in a traditional hair do. Or at least it’s drawn differently. And in a close-up shot, we see that Morpheus’ facial features are now different too:

After him, we see Bast from the Egyptian pantheon and this one gets interesting:

Dream’s throne room again transforms into what can only be vaguely described as Egyptian as we see snippets of the yellow sandstone walls and this stone seat that seems to have suggestions of hieroglyphic panels or at least a sunburst. Morpheus is back in this all encompassing robe and in other panels we see his western-looking face.

But this panel caught my eye where Bast says that she prefers Dream in cat form because she can read his thoughts better than when he “wears a human head.”

Bast, of course, has a feline head on a human body. So I got the sense that she has the option of seeing either Dream’s feline aspect or his human one. It’s never explained if this is because she’s seeing him surrounded by other humanoid deities, because Dream can control which aspect she can see, or if it’s because she is leaning into her own humanoid aspect and not her cat one. It doesn’t seem to imply that Dream can shapeshift, but it doesn’t rule it out either.

And then we have Azazel: the majority of this conversation seems to take place in a hallway:

Which appeared to be next to the same staircase Odin took up to the throne room. I’m not sure what it says about their relationship or how demons view Dream, but by the time the conversation is at its end, they are back in the Egyptian view of the room:

As for Dream’s outfit, it appears to be the same peplum cloak he wore to hell, which might be the same cloak he was in for a while now.

A last note on all of these: notice how Morpheus subtly (or not so subtly) exudes power in each of these audiences. For the most part, he's above each supplicant and looking down on them. Or he exudes it in other ways (nothing says power like a series of peplums flapping in the breeze you conjured).

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown

I was also struck by this scene:

Depending on your interpretation, he could either be dropping or throwing the Key to Hell down the stairs to his throne. I'm inclined to think he dropped it. It really reminded me of some of the scenes in the Lord of the Rings movies with the ring: there's a real weight to this key that makes it just plonk on the floor. This really helped to set the mood of how much the ring key is weighing on his mind at the end of all of these audiences.

[bleedingthroughthestatic]

Morally Grey Professor/Scientist/Academic Sugar Parent Dom who will let you buy or do anything on their dime IF you research and present it well enough. They will be the one to grade your papers and presentations and will also debate with you both for the fun and to see how well you can follow up or defend your position.

You want those expensive new shoes? You gotta look up the brand, their history, where the shoes are made, how they are made, where to get them, the price, and give an argument *why* you should get the shoes.

Bonus points if your research then piles on/loops back on itself as you further curate your interests and passions. "This relates back to my essay on-" "for further elaboration, look to my article on-" all while also seeking your Dom's approval and praise as they make each 'assignment' harder as your skills sharpen.

[episodes-without-incident]

Will get caught up when I can, but just needed to let y'all know that I dreamt last night that Karina referenced Cascada.

[hunxi-after-hours]

The waiter looked toward Mu Sichen, and seeing that Mu Sichen was currently forcibly pinning the bartender to the bar, immediately scampered over and asked: "Town mayor, master, guest, Jade Emperor, Buddha, the Lord on High, God, is there anything I can help you with? After he finished, he muttered to himself: "Weird, why did I just say ‘town mayor'?"

the escalation of titles here really is something akdjskjd

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Rakesfall

scifi/fantasy

collection of short fiction with a loosely connected narrative following two people reincarnating across time, from the past to far futures

explores various narrative styles

commentary on colonialism and how people interact with fiction and narrative

[doctorbrown]

MCFLY JULY ‘24 ⸺ 「 11 / 31 * BAKING JOEY'S CAKE 」

October 24, 1985, Twin Pines Timeline

Do you know how embarrassing it is when the whole town knows your Uncle’s a criminal, Mom? It sucks!

It wasn’t your Uncle’s fault, Linda. He got involved with the wrong people a—

And went to jail! Ugh! I can’t even pretend we’re not related because we’re the only McFlys in a hundred miles!

Lorraine sets the eggs down on the counter, wrenching a sigh from deep within her soul as she stares down into the empty porcelain bowl. Somewhere beyond the thinning haze in her mind, a sneering voice asks why she even bothers. Why go through the trouble of baking a cake, only to put the kids through the same song and dance as the last time? Joey wouldn’t make parole—you know that—and in a year, three years, five years, whenever they scheduled the next hearing, they would go through the same hopeless endeavour all over again, forcing her to suffer the looks of disgust and disappointment thrown at her from her kids.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Her and George, the kids—

She dumps the first cup of flour in the bowl and watches it settle.

Finding even a small shred of optimism to combat the pessimistic voice in her head proves a Herculean task and she glances out over the bowl and into the living room, to the backs of the heads of her three children seated on the couch.

Dave turns, catching her eye, and Lorraine throws him a weak smile that he acknowledges with a nod before muttering something to Linda and Marty that she can’t hear over the television.

She would have to try for them.

This will be the year Joey gets released, she tells herself, compounding lie upon lie, building a shaky wall in her heart between reality and this flickering hope because something has to go right for her family. Difficult as it was, she would cling to it, willing God that the news in the morning would be favourable.

That her little brother would come home to their mother's chocolate cake recipe.

Poor Marty hadn’t seen Joey since he was a kid and he adored him, always so full of life and sunshine every time Uncle Joey showed up, bursting into fits of giggles and laughter when Joey would scoop him into his arms and raise him high above his head—she misses those days.

She misses a lot of things, things she fears she never truly even knew.

Lately, Marty just seems—

Lorraine reaches for the glass that’s always there, always within reach—her one constant companion throughout the years—and chugs until she’s drowned every one of those thoughts in liquid fire.

Functionally numb, Lorraine sets to work, burying the last thirty years underneath generous heaps of sugar.

[shynetyme06]

Human dreeem

Og dream belongs to joku

And (a lot of) the adult outfit design is by u-kun18

[finisnihil]

If you are writing/designing for something based off Greek Mythology and you give Apollo fire hair I will send an eagle to eat your liver

[misterradio]

i think factory pomo will always be my sweetheart aesthetic i just love the geometric stylings. i always used factory pomo style clip art in school projects i thought it was suuuch a cool style.

looking thru that website... memphis jr is also great, kind of similar geometric style with brighter colours. i even used to have the toy used as the example image, and for some reason images of LSD:DE are used as an example lol

[rivalfortune5768]

Sometimes we'd love nothing more than to ramble under the stars.

So sit with us for a minute, look up, outside your window, past your roof, out the door of your tent, whatever it may be.

We think a lot about the way we're perceived, it's something that gets drilled into you if you get put in enough speech therapy classes growing up, for a long time we cared a lot about it, then later not so much, and now we're not entirely sure honestly!

Sure, it's easy to say "we can't say this thing, it will give the wrong impression" and it's easy to not think, and follow it up with "sorry, our words aren't working right now. This is what we were trying to express:", but it's another thing to keep it running like a background process, like a private server. To keep the train on time and manage each of it's stops, you know?

Sometimes you are seen in a way that makes sense, and is close enough to reality that it is effective and there's no reason to clarify, but you want to because you want to be Known and Understood. You don't clarify unless a safe chance presents itself, you need time if the train goes off the rails to put it back on, either to keep the appearance of a tight ship, or to explain what the cargo's been all along. You do your best to give free tickets to the people who will ride the train for fun, unhidden, just to see your smile reflect the moonlight.

There is a point to us rambling into the void like this, we promise you, and we hope that the people we intent to speak about it to will hear it from us at some point. Until then, pull someone you love aside, take them for a walk, and ask them if you can talk about something and express yourself clearly, no mask, no paint, no obscuring void, no veil. Maybe it'll go bad, maybe someone will reach out and hold your heart just like you want them to, maybe you'll have a good laugh over why you were so worried about it in the first place.

Revel in unblemished honesty with the people who care about you, love them and treasure the way they make you feel, and remember you don't have to hide from them.

[aelswiths]

SCREAMING CRYING SOBBING

she feels so betrayed that she's looking at him with the most devastating and heartbroken expression. there are literal tears in her eyes. she has just walked in on the most emotionally devastating situation because its just proof that no matter what alfred will always trust uhtred and never trust her in the same way and I am sobbing and dying and SCREAM

[jvzebel-x]

the Damar Hamilin situation is horrific for a lot of reasons, obviously, but it still just... i am honestly at a loss for words at how the NFL is&has been handling it.

like, this wasn't a mistake or an accident, this was a function of the game&a clean play. there was no foul, as far as i could tell or have heard. an extremely healthy&well trained young man almost fucking died as a function of the game, &the NFL is not only trying to deny their callousness at the event in general:

they have got whole cardiologists on deck trying to explain what happened like it wasn't a CLEAN HIT THAT STOPPED HIS HEART ON NATIONAL TELEVISION:

[image text: From your perspective, what are the possible causes of Hamlin's cardiac arrest?

Dr. Baggish: There's a long list: there are genetic and congenital abnormalities which could be at play, I know there's been speculation about the blunt force from the tackle, but I would say that it's really premature to make any speculation. In fact, to jump to a conclusion would be a mistake. The diagnosis of commotio cordis, for example [which refers to a fatal disruption of the heart rhythm from a blow to the chest], is what we call a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning other things have been eliminated. We would never conclude that unless other factors have been ruled out. /text]

this shit is fucking evil.

[superat626]

An offering

Also known as the impossible group shot

[archersgoon]

topher is sooo fucking wishy-washy 99 times out of 100 but when it's time to lash out at tesadora? oh he's there

[kashmirichaiwithmehr]

.

[tellmegoodbye]

What would 911: Sunshine* look like?

*Texas = the Lonestar state, Florida = the Sunshine state

LEMON!! This is my dream!!!

And yes 911: Sunshine is absolutely what I would call it!

Okay so first of all, location! I think the city a spinoff would most likely take place in is Miami, but in order for me to really personalize this (it's my dream, I do what I want) I'm going to switch things up and have this take place in my city: Tampa!

This location is interesting for many reasons, but mostly because of its layout and it being on the bay. The city itself is probably where most of the show would take place in terms of emergencies, but there's a lot going on here for a city on the smaller side! Of course, there will also be opportunities to see the rest of the bay area. (Tampa is the city, Tampa Bay is the region)

Here are some potential locations/ideas for emergencies

Skyway Bridge. Visually, it's just stunning, and yes many people are scared to drive on it. It collasped once over 40 years ago and it has safety mechanisms to prevent such an event from happening again, but I'm sure a 911 spinoff would get creative and find another way to make something go wrong.

The airport. Like 3x08 except worse because I have a chaos brain.

The arena where the Tampa Bay Lightning play.

Busch Gardens (a theme park)

Pick a beach. Any beach.

Literally tons of forest area where there could be a wildfire. Also tons of natural springs and rivers where you could have accidents.

Toursists. There is never a shortage of snowbirds being idiots in these parts.

Ybor City. There's a LOT of history here. It's also just a really cool place to explore. They have parades here (I've been in a few of them!) so maybe something goes wrong there.

Alligators. 🐊

Now lets talk major disaster arcs. 911 OG has earthquakes and tsunamis, Lone Star has ice storms and tornadoes, and 911: Sunshine would have a massive hurricane arc.

We kind of have an interesting history with hurricanes in Tampa Bay, at least in my lifetime, where every time we're about to get hit it shifts last minute and everyone who evacuated inland ended up being directly in its path. This happened with Charley in 2004, and Ian in 2022. Both made landfall in the exact same spot after shifting away from the bay area, which is kind of eerie.

I'd say a disaster arc like this would have one finally directly hitting the bay, and it would be a lot like the tsunami in 911. Very angsty, similar scenarios where peolpe go missing, and potential for the kind of water rescues Marjan was talking about doing back in Miami.

One little fun fact before I go. This doesn't apply to the city of Tampa, but I absolutely had to share this. If you venture out into the rest of the county like where I live, the firetrucks and ambulances are a lovely highlighter yellow! Or is it green? I've never been able to tell.

Don't ask me why. I have no idea. 😂