#the sandman appreciation post

[10holmes]

So, I just binge-watched

The Sandman.

(Disclaimer: I have not read the source material (yet) but intend to. I'm merely talking about the TV show and what I read the stories and characters and their relationship and gender identity as)

Alright, so first things first: The first episode and intro immediately got me hooked! And that is saying something because not many shows achieve that

I'm often forcing myself to continue through them because I've heard the show's overall good or I saw gif sets of a later point and really want to get there...

But this was not at all the same here. The sandman definitely is one of the few shows that immediately grabbed my attention and held onto it tightly (so much so that I finished the whole season in one sitting... uuups) - God-tier show right there!

Next: The costume design, the overall setting and scenery, the animations and visual effects, the camera movement angles and lighting effects and just the composition and overall aesthetic of this show was magnificent!!!!

It just left me gaping at my screen because it was done so beautifully and felt so real and palpable! Good stuff and definitely 100% immersive!

(Aside from that one diner episode where my attention shortly drifted... but hey it was late and I'm currently feeling a little under the weather sooo forgive me...)

Now, on to the story. I loved the progression of it all and the continous build-up of suspense, as well as the way all episodes connected but also stood well individually, and that there was always room left to wonder and play detective trying to figure out what was going on, how the characters were related, and also what the characters true personality and goals and intentions are!

Especially the Nightmare wanting to be a dream was so nicely done, the way the viewer was told they were or had to be bad and up to no good, but then the first point of doubt occurred knowing that they were actually helping so how could they be bad?! In the same way there was one episode that really made me question whether Morpheus wasn't going to be the overall villain after all.

I really like this kind of story telling where you can't yet be sure who's really good and well-meaning and whose devious... And, speaking of which, in any way I liked, how the show made it clear that everyone had a reason for everything they did, even or especially for the bad stuff, and that they were ALL flawed and morally gray and not clearly good or evil. (Aside from Death my love and icon, who's 100% perfect and could do no wrong)

Damn I really dig that play with unclearly-cut morality so hard!!!

Then, let's go in to the individual characters and relationships.

As I already hinted at, Death my beloved, you are utterly gorgeous and have my heart!

Morpheus, the definition of broody, black-haired, blue-eyed male character my 25-year-old same as my past 14-year-old self still swoon and droll over. (OMG that deep voice!!! Please spare my ovaries!)

Johanna Constantine (or Clara Oswald? Hello is that you?) - just a female badass, spactacular, so hot and gorgeous it was not the hell fire that made me fan myself during that epsiode. And I want to be held at dagger point by her as well please!

The Fates - I couldn't have wished for better representation of these three almighty goddesses! So well done! (Nothing against Hercules, but what the fck Disney?!)

The biggest shout-out goes to Desire and Lucifer - my personal enby icons!!! Seriously, these two are non-binary to me, I have not read the source material yet and I'm only referring to the show, but please if I'm wrong let me bath in that amazing feeling of nonbinary represantation a moment longer!

They are both so beautiful and like, imagine what a power move it would be to make Lucifer enby because they're a freaking angel and angels don't abide to "human" laws anyway and as celestial primordial beings why would they adhere to a construct such as gender anyway? Yeah Lucifer is nonbinary. You can't change my mind.

Now, I don't know how to say this and hope this does read like I intend it to. You know how in most new "popular" Netflix productions they make sure to finally include queer characters and then it's basically just one or two and it feels a bit forced and like they only did it for morality points like "look here, we're now diverse and LGBTQ inclusive!" but it just feels a little off and overall lacking or stereotypical...?

With The Sandman, the queerness felt right. Just right. Natural. It was just there and belonged there and that's it. It got the same attention and note the het pairings or allusions did and wasn't shown as something special or new. It just was.

And I loved that so much. Because that's what good representation is supposed to look like. Not pointing with a neon sign at it but letting it appear normal and natural and unquestionable within the narrative. It's just there. Period. 🙏🏼🌈

Talking about pairings... Another thing I liked is how this show allows for so many pairings and ships right from the start!!!

Seriously when episode 1 rolled in I thought this was going to be an enemies to lovers arc between Morpheus and the Corinthian.

(still would read it as such and ship them...)

Then we moved over to Johanna Constantine being introduced and fuuuuuuck the chemistry between her and Morpheus was insane!!!! Being stuck in BL hell for such a long time I thought a het couple (other then Zutara and Lokane or Beefleaf (if you stretch it) ) would not do it for me ever again. But Morphanna might just have given me new kicks and writing juices for a het couple (no I have definitely not already scoured AO3 for fics for them).

Also you can easily make it a throuple if we reverse Rachel's tragic untimely passing (I'm still crying over here... That shit really hurt... ) 🌈❤️ and why not add Hob Gadling to the mix as well and it's a lovely polycule 😍👌🏼(though I personally read Morpheus and him as platonic first and then maybe later developing into romantic love (season 2?) but somehwere on the asexual and aromantic spectrum)

Also what in the ever loving fck was that??!!

I don't know if shipping them would count as incest seeing that they are siblings but holy freaking moly that was one spicy scene.... (that did definitely not give me several day dreams and WIP ideas and the urge to read fic for that ship...)

So now, how to finish this super long-ass post that somewhat escalated... Well, as you may have noticed I really was overwhelmed by this amazing show and am currently developing a new hyperfixation that hopefully won't interfere with my ongoing XueXiao and VegasPete brainrot... So yeah, let's see how it goes from here^^

I swear, I forgot a shit ton of other stuff I wanted to say and add (I mean I could write an essay alone on Lucifer and Death and Morphanna...), but let's leave it at that for now^^

Again Disclaimer: This was written with only my TV show understanding of the characters and relationships if its wildly off of canon then so be it.

[stormboundstars]

I absolutely adore that Niko Sasaki's contribution to the Dead Boy Detective Agency isn't any kind of special powers she could've gotten from being possessed by parasitic little gods, but rather it's just her— with her innate curiosity and kindness, her love of love, and the earnestness and sincerity in which she says or does something.... ooooh I love her so much my best girl !!!!

[dead-patrol]

ily all but for the love of god neil gaiman had absolutely nothing to do with the creation of any characters in the series other than the boys. he wasn't even the person who made edwin queer.

[densewentz]

DenseWentz’s End of '23 Commission Information

Alrighty guys!! Ol' Dense has to pay some dental bills so lo and behold my ever-rare commissions are opening back up!

I am open to drawing both fandom and oc content. You can check out my art tag here or my instagram for more examples of my work.

For full commission and contact information check here

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Commission slots are limited and will close again in a few weeks so if you’re interested be sure to contact me with your concept and your references!

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Let's make some art!

[auroral-melody]

i love sandman because it's this dark fantasy about the dramatic bad decisions of a being who is literally the concept of dreams personified, and the whole time under his billowing, dramatic black cloak, he's got on a t shirt and skinny jeans

[kittynannygaming]

Wings

I've always wondered: "What Death's wings look like?" She was born after Destiny (their father's son) and before Dream (their mother's son) and I thought she could be a bit of both. Death is the end of a time and her domain is the sunless lands.

For Death Appreciation Week, entry #8: The Sound of Her Wings

[ID: Death of the Endless /played by Kirby Howell-Baptiste/ shows her wings. Some feathers and calamus are golden, make of sand of Time. Most of her wings are made of plasma -purple, blue, pink, red and a bit of black-, containing a bit of the vastness of space, domain of Night.]

@orionsangel86

[kulapti]

Matthew is a professional. Nov 2022, pencil & krita.

[bludpudding]

playing dress up with princess

[jazzy-a]

I know we all focus on the crazy, insane cosmic stuff that Destiny's book foretells.

But I don't think we give enough credit to the fact that that also means there are these silly little events in there too.

Destiny, reading about the growing threat of Lucifer: ...

Destiny, flipping a page: ....The Cubs will go all the way again this year.

[gourmet-trash]

As others have pointed out, I too reject "token straight friend Rose Walker" and instead give you "bad taste in women Rose Walker"

The first time it happens, Hob doesn't say anything. He doesn't even acknowledge, outwardly, that he noticed it at all. Between the Inn and his teaching job and, oh you know, just several hundreds of years of being around children and young adults, he can confidently say he has at least some modicum of knowledge on how to interact with them.

So, the first time, he doesn't say anything. He's cool like that.

He also doesn't say anything the second time.

But the third time he watches Rose Walker making figurative heart eyes at Johanna Constantine, of all people, he can't help himself. He also can't really pretend he doesn't see Rose so busy gawking that she misses the rim of her glass and splashes cider onto her jumper. She's sitting right in front of him at the bar, after all.

"Doing all right there?" he teases, passing a few napkins across the bar.

Rose grabs the proffered napkins quickly, visibly flustered while she dabs at the damp spot on her chest. "Just, uh, clumsy, I guess."

Hob snorts softly. "Or distracted," he says, lifting his eyebrows when she jerks her head up.

"...I don't know what you're talking about!"

Hob makes a little "sure you don't" humming sound and picks Rose's glass up to wipe it down for her while she deals with her jumper. "It's cute," he insists, even though he knows from experience that most young adults don't like to hear it. And judging from the face Rose makes, she's no exception.

It almost makes Hob laugh -- Dream makes a very similar expression when someone tells him he's cute.

For Rose's sake, he swallows down that particular amusement and sets the cider back in front of her. "It is! But you might want to work on being a smidge less obvious with the staring."

Rose clears her throat, passing the damp napkins back across the bar when he motions for them. "...It's that obvious?" she asks slowly.

"Little bit, I'm afraid," he says, smiling apologetically.

Rose groans at that and drops her face into her hands. Hob only just makes out the muffled, "Do you think she noticed?" that follows.

Hob glances to the corner of the Inn where Jo has roped some sorry sap into a game of darts. It's not going well for the lad if the jeering of his friends is anything to go by. "Mmm...she's a little distracted, so probably not this time."

"This time?!" Rose repeats, lifting her head out of her hands to balk at him.

"You've been very obvious about it, poppet."

"And you didn't tell me!? I can't ever come back here!" Rose hisses.

Hob bites back his amusement -- poorly, judging by Rose's narrow expression. "I promise it isn't that big of a deal."

"What is not that big of a deal?"

The next few seconds are spent by Hob and Rose startling, someone bumping the glass between them in the process, and then both of them frantically trying to catch said glass before it spills more cider over the bar. When the glass is upright again and they turn accusatory stares on the King of Dreams, sitting at the previously empty barstool at Rose's side, his expression is nonplussed if not vaguely amused.

"You know, one of these days you're actually going to give me a heart attack or something. And then you're gonna have to explain to Auntie Death why she's here," Rose points out.

"I will take that under advisement," Dream drawls, more obviously amused by then. And when Hob leans over the bar, he obligingly tips his head a bit to accept the kiss dropped against his temple.

"Hello, love. Please don't give any of my patrons heart attacks at the bar."

"I will endeavor not to," Dream assures him. But the scuffle over the cider has not distracted him, and he repeats, "What is not that big of a deal?"

"Nothing!' Rose says quickly -- too quickly -- before Hob has a chance to deflect with a bit more tact. "Hence, not a big deal," she adds, snatching the glass off the bar and taking a long drink.

Dream watches her for a moment, no doubt taking stock of the damp spot on her jumper and the blustering, before turning to Hob, expectant.

But Hob has not been a snitch for many, many years, and he is not looking to revive that particular character trait this century. He flashes Dream a smile and leans back from the bar, already grabbing a cocktail glass. "How about we try a French 75 today?"

Dream purses his lips, though Hob suspects it has more to do with his question being very obviously ignored and less to do with their ongoing game of "make Dream try a new cocktail every time he comes in until Hob finds one he actually likes."

"Hob." 

He hums to acknowledge he heard him, considering the gin he has on hand.

"What are you not telling me?"

Hob grabs one of the bottles. "That I don't think you're going to like the French 75."

He turns his back to fetch the champagne and to hide a grin when he hears an annoyed little huff from the other side of the bar. Dream would deny huffing, of course, so undignified. But he huffed. He was huffy.

"Rose Walker."

"No," Rose says shortly, setting her nearly empty glass back down. "Look, no offense Uncle Morpheus, but it's seriously not a big deal, and it's also not something I wanna talk about. Okay?"

It is not, apparently, okay. Hob can tell the second he turns back around, spots the telltale sheen of emotion in Dream's eyes. Rose probably did too, which is why she's very pointedly looking down at the last of her cider rather than at her Uncle. Because they have come a long way since the rocky start of their relationship, but Hob knows better than most how fiercely Dream wants to nurture this relationship with his niece and nephew, almost despite himself. 

And bless him, but jumping straight into teenagers and young adults, nevermind the complications of a crush, is a tall order for anyone, much less the anthropomorphic personification of dreams. He definitely hasn’t had as much hands on time with young humans as Hob. Or if he has, he’s…rusty, to say the least. 

"You were comfortable to discuss these things with Hob, but not with me?"

Rose groans outright and turns on her stool, however reluctantly, to face Lord Shaper. "No, actually, I didn't want to be talking about it with Professor Gadling, either. So if we could all stop talking about it and pretend this never happened, that would be great!" she said, shooting a pointed frown in Hob's direction for good measure.

He holds his hands up in as placating a gesture as he can manage with a lemon twist between his fingers, and Dream glances between them for a moment before, with obvious reluctance, inclining his head.

"Very well," he says. "It is not my intention to make you uncomfortable."

"Thank you," Rose says, less terse, and Hob sets another cider in front of her at the same time he passes Dream the French 75. Dream eyes the cocktail with no small amount of distrust and Hob can’t help but laugh.

"Oh, come on, don't make that face before you've even tried it."

"Yeah, they're not bad. If you don't like it, we can switch," Rose offers, and while Dream does not look anymore convinced that he'll enjoy the beverage, or that he'd prefer Rose's cider, Hob can tell some of his proverbial feathers (well, currently proverbial, but sometimes more literal?) have settled. 

Heaven help him, but he does so adore this impossible, mercurial creature.

At their encouragement, Dream does eventually take a sip of the cocktail. And while his reaction is not quite as strong as it had been to the martini from last week or the Alabama slammer which, admittedly, Hob had only made as a means of getting Dream to say Alabama slammer, he is clearly not impressed.

"What do you think?" Rose asks, amused.

"It is...palatable," Dream says after a moment, and Rose laughs when he lifts it for another reluctant sip.

"Don't drink it if you don't like it!" she protests, waving for him to put the glass back down, which Dream does with something not unlike relief.

"Starting to think gin might not be your thing," Hob says, glancing over when the bell over the door jingles. He smiles and waves a hand that way. "See? Cor can use the door."

"Didn't you say he broke into your apartment through a window last month?" Rose asks, smirking when Hob shushes her.

But, by that point, Corinthian is close enough to hear. And to reach around Dream to pluck the French 75 off the bar. "And guess who finally got the damn locks on his windows repaired after that?"

"That is not a good reason for breaking into my flat!" Hob protests.

"It's a perfect reason for breaking in! I could've stabbed you in your sleep!" Corinthian argues.

"You have stabbed me in my sleep!"

Corinthian chuckles over the cocktail, half draped against Dream's side, who shifts subtle to make room for him there. "I have done that," he agrees.

"You've what?" Dream says, turning a frown on Corinthian who waves a dismissive hand.

"Metaphorically," he lies, before sidestepping out of the conversation by leaning around Dream again to flash a smile down the bar. "Well, hey there, Rosebud."

Rose, whose attention had drifted back in the direction of the darts game -- new bloke trying his hand now and losing just as spectacularly -- turns quickly back around. "Hey! Where's Jed?"

"Dropped him off at the movies with a couple friends."

Rose frowns. "...What movie?"

"One that I'm certain Jed and his friends were able to buy tickets to themselves, of course," Corinthian says breezily. Rose narrows her eyes a little further.

"If Jed has nightmares all week, it's gonna be your fault."

Corinthian makes a little noise of disagreement over his drink, and Hob starts wiping down the bar to keep himself useful while they bicker. And to avoid letting Dream pull him into any further interrogation about the whole stabbing thing.

"Technically, that would be My Lord's fault, wouldn't it?" Corinthian says, motioning at Dream between them, whose suspicious expression has not wavered.

Rose rolls her eyes. "You know what I mean!"

"Uh huh. Didn't know you were so into darts, Rose."

Hob pauses his cleaning to glance up between them, Rose visibly flustered and Corinthian's eyebrows lifted high above his sunglasses while he sips Dream's drink.

"What?" Rose eventually says, and Hob doesn't wince but it's a near miss. Poor thing, she's usually better toe to toe with Cor in one of his more meddling moods.

"You know what I mean," he drawls, and Rose snatches her cider up to chug. Again.

Rose knows what he means. And Hob knows what he means, even if he's not entirely sure how Corinthian himself knows. But Dream, sitting between the three of them, clearly does not, and he misunderstands rather wildly.

"Would you care to play darts, Rose Walker?" 

"That's a great idea!" Corinthian insists while Rose coughs around her drink. "That gal in the corner seems like she's pretty good, I bet she could talk you through the rules."

And then Dream turns his head and his attention alights on the darts game already happening. "Johanna Constantine is here?" he asks, looking back to Hob for confirmation.

"She's a regular these days, yeah," Hob says, and he'd argue that Dream doesn't stand from the stool so much as he pours himself from it, too liquid in his movements for the human shape he wears.

"Then I shall have to introduce you, Rose," he insists, and Rose only manages a token, squeaked protest before Dream is ushering her towards the darts game.

Hob swats Corinthian with the towel he'd been wiping the counter with. "That wasn't necessary," he points out, trying very hard to tap down on his own amusement.

"Sure it was! This way Dream can figure it out himself, and then he can be the one to tell her there's no way in hell we're gonna approve her trying to date Johanna fucking Constantine."

Hob laughs despite himself and leans against the bar, smiling when Corinthian takes up Dream's abandoned stool to meet him halfway. "She is a grown woman, you know. We can't stop her from trying to date who she likes."

"We can sure as hell try."

"We can do that," he agrees, leaning in to return the quick, sharp kiss Corinthian dips in for. "Does he know how to play darts?" Hob asks, glancing towards the corner when Corinthian leans back.

"I have absolutely no idea." [ ← prev ] [ next → ]

[sbd-laytall]

This moment is something I really appreciate because it shows how, yes, Sandman is an adversary, but he does have morals and will not tolerate abuse.

Spider-Man (2016) #238

[merry-andrews]

Something I made for my friends over Discord :3

[unabashednightmarepizza]

Hello folks, how are you all doing? To be honest, this year had been one hell of a crazy year for me!

The Covid-break, then the summer holiday where I almost lost my mind bevause I simply don't understand physics, then the new school year starting and it being the sign that this year was gonna change my life so much based on how much I study and how well I will do in the biggest exam of my life... I'm grateful for every single one of them but the one thing I'm grateful from this year was having a good health and starting this account/ writing.

Some of you started following me through my anime related works, some started with Stranger Things, some Sandman and some for my crazy obsession over King Baldwin IV but no matter how you stumbled upon this blog, I want to say thank you for loving and always being there silently and showing your supports!

Hopefully all of you would stay here and enjoy what I will write for the next year! I have some plans and hopefully, I will complete them all!

So, as the year slowly comes to an end, I would like you all to tell me your stories, what you think of my works or what you believe will happen in them next, ramble, vent etc.

I want as much as people to leave the negativity of this year and just be happy here, celebrate new hopes and such- considering if the new years doesn't come with a World War III- and so that we get to know each other better!

Finally, I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU AND HOPE THAT YOU WILL SPEND A BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING NEW YEAR JUST AS YOU GUYS ARE!

*runs to eat popcorn and chocolate happily*

P.S: I'm still looking for mutuals here by the way, I feel like I'm being a douche but don't hesitate to writw to me!

P.s.s: @daddyjackfrost happy new years dear friend!

[moon-andstardust]

BAMF Lucien

[b-plot-butch]

[ID. meme image of a white cat in despair. its eyes look impossibly teary. end ID]

Johanna Constantine: It wasn't the devil he had locked up, was it?

Dream:

[bludpudding]

there was absolutely no reason for this scene to start like that