orionsangel86 - Tumblr blog

[orionsangel86]

Review: Dead Boy Detectives [Season 1]

Audience: 16+

Stars: 4.7/5

dear radish,

I LOVED this show. I felt so alive at the end of it. Go watch it!!!

Things I loved:

Found family

Tied to the Sandman universe but tells its own story in such a wonderful, engaging way

The way our titular dead boy detectives Edwin and Charles have been through the meat grinder, but still want to help others. The way they keep each other afloat omg. Precious.

A LOVE TRIANGLE THAT I ACTUALLY DON'T HATE OMG. I know who I'm rooting for though ;)

The way it doesn't shy away from depicting violence. Because the world IS brutal, even as there's pieces of light in it.

Crystal finding strength through the past women of her family. Loss of memories as a metaphor for how the slave trade stripped Black Americans of their history and identity (maybe). And the empowerment that comes with reconnecting with one's roots/lineage.

Pacing. Look, I admit it. I'm someone who often watches shows at 2x speed. Well buddy, this show moved so fast that I felt no such compulsion to speed it forward. Possibly because the show's creators needed to fit so much within just 8 episodes. But they pulled it off!

Niko's room is full of manga and anime posters, and I loved that for her.

Spoilers:

I HOPE NIKO COMES BACK IN SEASON 2 ARGHHHHHH.

WAS THE GUY IN THE FISH DESTRUCTION???

Night Nurse redemption arc I'm readyyyyyyy

CHARLES IS A BI-KING CHANGE MY MIND

[orionsangel86]

I want all of you people to know that the Cat King gave Edwin a Lily Flower, which is deadly for cats but it symbolises rebirth, condolences, commitment and purity of adoration and love.

Cat King gave his crush a flower that's deadly to him to pay his respects and express his commitment.

Oh, I will not shut up about them.

[orionsangel86]

I think I understand you better now. Ooh, do tell me all about me.

+ bonus:

[orionsangel86]

DEAD BOY DETECTIVES (2024) I 1.01 - The Case of Crystal Palace

[orionsangel86]

#fellas is it gay to gaze intensely at your best mate to the point you lose track of everything else

[orionsangel86]

I know its a big spoiler, but can someone excellent at gif making please make a set of the second Sandman cameo person in Dead Boy Detectives so we can appreciate the scenery and everything about it please pretty please? It was so gorgeous and I'm still reeling at getting to see that place.

[orionsangel86]

NIKO SASAKI AND EDWIN PAYNE Dead Boy Detectives (2024-)

[orionsangel86]

"The Sandman" fanart

Screen wallpaper... and yes, the poppies again. Don't think I get over it soon ^___^

[orionsangel86]

I didn't believe it at first but after watching the show, Dead Boy Detectives was so obviously crafted to be catnip for the Tumblr girlies(gn), cause like. Homoerotic ghost detectives. Sassy psychics. Weird girls. Witches. A literal cat king. Sad twink that's actually a crow. Hot goth lesbian butchers. Slowburn ft. immortal beings. Gay confessions in hell. This show was crafted in a lab for us, and I LOVE IT. Go watch it if you haven't already.

[orionsangel86]

Saz's Sandman Masterpost

Hi there! It's about time I sorted out this blog and put all my Sandman posts in one place. If you're new here, I adore the Sandman in all its forms and my blog has become a bit of a love letter to this masterpiece of media lately. I mostly write meta analysis, love to discuss the work and the characters, and occassionally try my hand at running fandom events. My ask box is always open and I am always happy to answer any questions about Sandman so please do reach out to me if you like my meta :)

I welcome all fans of The Sandman here, though I can occassionally be NSFW so if that's not your jam make sure you have "NSFW" tag blacklisted. I'm a multishipper of the firm believe that Dream of the Endless should be passed around the other characters like a bowl of goth candy. I don't tolerate ship hate. It's all good here my loves.

I have a fairly decent tagging system. I tag all ships, characters, fanart, meta discussions, fanfiction, etc. You can find the list of common tags below.

My Meta Analysis

Masterpost of Dreamling meta - this is an eight part highly detailed analysis of Dreamling in the show and how it differs from the comic and audiobook, with a focus on how queercoding was used to emphasise a deeper relationship between Dream and Hob.

Hob Gadling - A Queer Romantic - a meta about unreliable narrators, Jim/Peggy and Hob's queer potential.

The Problem with Thessaly - an opinion piece on this problematic comic character and how the show could solve this issue.

Lucienne/Lucien - How the Librarian Became the Chief - a thorough analysis of Lucienne's character in the show and how she differs from the comic and makes everything so much more hopeful.

Tales in the Sand/Men of Good Fortune - How a small swap in story placement can drastically change the tone, and foreshadowing.

Dream of the Endless - A Romantic Fool - a deep analysis about Dream and his love of romance

How to Adapt Orpheus - Theories and discussions about how the show can navigate that particular element of the comics.

How to Adapt Orpheus x 2 - definitely worth reading all the discussions on this one as well.

Shipping comic!Morpheus and merging characters in the show - can I hear it for Morpheus/Pharamond PLEASE!

A Collaborative Post about Morpheus as the villain of the story

Could Morpheus ever be content to be single?

Morpheus and Sex - an analytical point of view

Obsessive Desire - Their complex feelings for Dream - an answered ask about the siblings relationship. (I have a draft meta in the works elaborating on this that I can't wait to finish).

Fandom Events

#Death Appreciation Week - To celebrate the release of Dead Boy Detectives which guest stars Death of the Endless, I ran a Death Appreciation Week where anyone could submit fanworks focused on Death. Follow the tag on my blog which also includes a lot of reblogged older works of Death, or follow the main tumblr tag to see just that work created for the event.

#Sandtober2023 - For inktober 2023, I ran a Sandman themed inktober event which was a huge success and inspired hundreds of amazing Sandman art pieces. You can check out the Sandtober2023 main tumblr tag here. I am probably going to run this event again in October 2024 so watch this space nearer the time for that! :)

If you have any ideas for Sandman fandom events you would like to see please send me a DM.

General Blog Tags

I have a relatively consistent tagging system on my blog so to cover the main ones:

#The Sandman - literally every post about the Sandman will include this tag, so if you are a loyal mutual from fandoms past and you want to block this tag you won't see me cluttering up your feed with Sandman stuff (and thank you for still following me even if you're not a Sandman fan!)

#Dreamling - tag for the Morpheus x Hob Gadling fandom ship. I will tag all things Dreamling - fanart, fanfics, fan theories, crack posts, gifsets etc.

#Sandman Meta - any analysis about Sandman will be tagged with this. This includes both my own analysis and reblogged analysis.

#Sandman Comic Spoilers - I tag for any posts that include Sandman story information not yet revealled in the show. In case there is anyone left on Tumblr who hasn't already been spoiled for this 30 year old comic story.

Character Tags - I generally tag for any characters I reblog or post about. So if you ever want to search for posts about a specific character, you can just find the character tag in my blog. For example #Dream of the Endless or #Johanna Constantine

Ship tags - like with character tags, I always tag fandom ships. Usually by the most popular fandom name for them. #morphanna #Gaultienne

Other fandoms - I will also always tag other fandoms. I have a very long running #destiel tag, I also tag for #good omens and #ineffable husbands and I will always tag the show name, abbreviation, and ship names for any other fandoms.

Other tags - I do try to tag for content warnings where I can, but usually only extreme things. Then again, it is rare for me to post about triggering content. Even squicky content is unlikely to be found on my blog. If you ever come across something on my blog that you feel isn't tagged appropriately please just DM me and I will correct that.

A bit about me

If my blog intro hasn't covered it so far let me clarify here. I am an adult, in my 30s and have never stopped being a passionate fan about the things I love. You don't stop loving things when you hit a certain age, you just find you have less time to devote to your hobbies because of work. I am a professional with a full time job, I come here to relax and unwind. I have been in fandom far too long to be remotely interested in fandom drama. Ship wars do not interest me. Weird anti-sex anti-kink purity policing has no power here. I am fiercely anti-censorship. If I hear the word "proship" in a negative sense I will roll my eyes and assume you are a minor who has been horribly mislead by puritanicals. I don't tolerate hate, accusational bullshit, bullying behaviour, cult-like fandom worship, or any form of fandom policing. I have no time for "big name fans" and the culture around them. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and the trauma. Learn your fandom history lest you be doomed to repeat it.

I do not engage in performative social justice. I have my beliefs, my politics, and they generally revolve around the concept that people should be fucking decent human beings and let people be free to live as they choose. Don't come at me for not yelling about the next big world ending event. The world is always ending, people are always dying, there is always a genocide happening, its fucking exhausting. Just do what you can in your actual lives, donate where you can manage, provide support to those in need, and vote out the bastards who fucked it all up.

If you've read this far and are still here welcome! I hope you love my blog and want to be fandom friends. Come send me an ask, a DM, reply to my posts, engage with my meta, and just generally scream at me about Sandman. I always love it when people scream at me about Sandman. :)

[orionsangel86]

Bast and Desire! Yeah I wanna read THAT fanfic lmao. I'm glad we've settled on the Cat King's parentage!

Loooove him!

Completely smitten, down horrendous, lost to the rizz sauce. You open the dictionary to check the words "pathetic meow meow" and he is there.

Child of Bast and Desire. Prince of secrets and lust. Imprisoned in his little town away from prying eyes for the other Endless can never know.

But then a skinny British tease popped up and he had to be a DIVA

[orionsangel86]

I dunno if the lore is different from the comic, but seeing as Hob turns up in the Dead Boy Detective comics and interacts with them just fine I reckon he'd be able to see them without problem.

Also I think its established that anyone with strong links to the supernatural can also see ghosts right? I kinda feel like Hob has been around for long enough and mingled with supernatural things for long enough that he'd be able to see ghosts. But thats just me.

I hope they get a season 2 and that they can maybe adapt the comic issue about Hob. It would be so fun to see him turn up in DBD!

Dreamling gang, how are we feeling about new Sandman TV verse meta.

I'm only two episodes into Dead Boy Detectives, but they've made it clear that a near death experience gives you the ability to see ghosts. So given that Hob Gadling has died at least once could he see the ghosts?

Or being the only thing, besides Death herself, that is impervious to death, would he be annoyingly incapable? (Like how in most fanon he's the most unmagical person alive)

Looking forward to the consensus!

[orionsangel86]

Calliope ain't lying okay. He's not just good in bed, he's canonically the BEST in bed.

Dream of The Endless (Lord Morpheus), from The Sandman

Please reblog for a larger sample size.

[orionsangel86]

[orionsangel86]

[orionsangel86]

@nualaofthefaerie what have we started?!? 😂😂😂

YOOOO MASON IS ON BOARD!

@nualaofthefaerie tweeted this after we were geeking out yesterday about how much Lukas Gage reminded us of Desire and I joked that he was Desire's child.

Listen I am full on headcanoning this into reality. That Cat King was faaaar too much like Desire for me to ignore it. Huuuuge Desire vibes!

Clearly Desire themself agrees with us!

So what are we thinking? Talk to meeee about this! Who is the other parent? Lukas Gage is a child of the Endless with 9 lives and whole host of magical powers and probably a lot of parental issues twisting him up. Is Desire a good parent? Highly unlikely lol. But you gotta admit it makes for excellent fanfiction. :P

[orionsangel86]

Still on my soapbox about this because I fucking can't get enough.

Okay so lets talk about the Cat King! Does he have a name other than Cat King? Regardless, he is a handsome, sexy, charismatic and confident character. When the boys first meet him, he is dismissive and mimics boredom and states that he doesn't care about them or their case - but this is soon shown to be a front.

He displays a range of abilities throughout the show, including:

Shapeshifting

Teleportation (of both himself and others)

Time Manipulation

Can compell you to speak the truth

Possibly has the ability to manipulate people into feeling lust and desire for him

Can cast spells over objects to inact his will on people

Not immortal but clearly doesn't age.

Has 9 lives - presumably once the 9th life is done he will die.

These are some pretty heavy powers to possess. We know next to nothing about him other than he is the Cat King in this particular small town, but given his abilities and what we know of this universe, it seems fair to link him to either the Gods, the Fae, or the Endless.

Similarities with Desire

From the moment he appears on screen the comparison stood out to me.

He has golden cats eyes which do not change even when he shapeshifts (yes okay the eyes are cat's eyes but its very reminiscent of the golden eyes of Desire)

He has a lovely gender non conformity in his wardrobe choices. The boy can rock a skirt that's for sure. Certainly seems apt for a child of a nonbinery entity

"My Kingdom is all about Want and Pleasure" - is someone trying to emulate their parent?

He actually transforms himself into people he thinks Edwin desires - whilst not a trait Desire is known to have, it certainly seems like something they COULD do if they wanted to.

"I'm a fair and consensual Cat King" - as much as this is true, is this a case of like parent, like child with the kinda rapey "if I want something I'll have it" attitude because trapping someone against their will and implying sexual favours will free them doesn't exactly scream that you are "fair and consensual" and whilst Desire never did anything truly rapey in the show - they glossed over the whole Unity situation - we all know Desire in the comics hardly respects consent.

the general link between Desire and Cats - Desire literally dresses as a cat with a swishing tale and twitching ears. Clearly cats are creatures Desire likes.

So could the Cat King be a child of Desire? Well I think its totally possible! He seems like the kind of character that would have major daddy issues/mommy issues/general parent issues lol, and Desire is certainly the type of creature to totally neglect their kids and make them feel pretty terrible about themselves. So that could totally be a really fun dynamic to explore.

It does beg the question who the other parent would be. I think some form of cat God or Goddess would make sense. Lady Bast? lol. Perhaps she got bored of waiting for Dream and had a whirlwind affair with Desire instead?

Or perhaps his other parent was a simply cat spirit or cat fae that coupled with Desire for a short while.

Whatever the answer, I really like this headcanon, think its really fun, and hope that fandom embraces it in future fanfictions because I would LOVE to imagine a meeting between these two and how that may go down.

And who knows, with Mason on board maybe we can get some canon exploration one day! If everyone watches Dead Boy Detectives so we get a renewal that is!!!

YOOOO MASON IS ON BOARD!

@nualaofthefaerie tweeted this after we were geeking out yesterday about how much Lukas Gage reminded us of Desire and I joked that he was Desire's child.

Listen I am full on headcanoning this into reality. That Cat King was faaaar too much like Desire for me to ignore it. Huuuuge Desire vibes!

Clearly Desire themself agrees with us!

So what are we thinking? Talk to meeee about this! Who is the other parent? Lukas Gage is a child of the Endless with 9 lives and whole host of magical powers and probably a lot of parental issues twisting him up. Is Desire a good parent? Highly unlikely lol. But you gotta admit it makes for excellent fanfiction. :P