#Sandman spoilers

[writing-for-life]

Only Hope (!) calls you out like that…

Since I’m currently in the process of writing the mother of all “H/hope in the Sandman”-metas, just a couple of random panels about Hope, Dream and Desire. This one, obviously everyone talks about quite often…

And this is doubly important since this happens after a certain 1889 meeting, but before the fishbowl. So Dream didn’t have the experience of being captured yet that furthered his change. And yet, his reaction to her is very different than the reaction to Hob (also: Can we talk about the symbolism in Hope reaching out her hand, touching him and his allowing it?). Because she is Hope.

(And innocence I dare say—she is a child for a reason.)

But the panel hardly anyone ever talks about is this one:

That’s Hope saying the exact same thing to Desire. And they have the same reaction. And she calls them out on their bullshit in exactly the same way. (And again, can we talk about the symbolism in asking Hope to join you and her replying she will come with you? That’s more than just the obvious “We’re saving the universe and you stand for the afterlife”, which is also a biggie, but that’s for the other meta). Because she is Hope.

Both Dream and Desire are so lonely (I’d hazard a guess she could say this to all the Endless btw). And they both cope with it in such maladjusted ways. But they let a child call them out like no one else is allowed to call them out. They bristle, but they don’t overreact like they do with others (especially Dream). Because she is Hope.

(And all of that’s to say: She is the personification of H/hope, not any of the other side-characters that commonly get hope projected on them. And D/dream(s) are hopes and always will be because she touches/d them.)

[lukotacon]

The Sandman + Onion Headlines

[katyjane91]

Imagine Death comes to collect your mortal soul and her emo brother is just standing there like 🧍‍♂️

[dee-is-for-lots-of-things]

yes pathetic little man thats exactly how u should sit

[maikhiwi00]

Wow. You're as good as your... friend there.

THE SANDMAN 1.06 | The Sound of Her Wings

[fuckyou-saidtheraven]

Bruh the fact that you can feel Morpheus’ anger through the screen. You can see him tremble with rage as his voice becomes cold hard steel. We already knew Neil was right about what he said about Tom’s gravitas, but that scene was on a whole other level. Even I was terrified, Jesus Christ.

And you contrast that with how gentle he is with Calliope. How upset and terrified he is for her. How he actually begs her to accept his help, because he cannot bear to see her in this situation a second longer. How scared he is she’ll refuse out of pride as he did, because he’s been there and he knows the regret that comes after, and because he sees her imprisonment as so much worse than his. Because he knows Calliope, and it horrifies him that something like this has happened to her.

And at the end, you can really tell how part of him still loves her, and regrets so much about what has happened between them. Because like all his lovers, he’s given her a piece of his heart, and that will never change as the millennia go by. And for chrissake, their relationship lasted long enough for him to marry her, to father a son with her. To raise him and watch him grow up and be there with her and the rest of the Endless on Orpheus’ wedding day. And for Morpheus, even after thousands of years of bitterness and sorrow and regret, to come to her aid and demand she be freed, and to tremble even as she talks of forgiveness and presses her forehead to his cheek.

[fanbynature]

Death:🔆😀🌈🌷eating her apple happily 🍎✨😊 🌼

Dream: ★⋆ 🕷️🔪🕯️  𝐸𝓂☹︎ moping mode on ⛓️🕸️ 🥀

[breadrollsequel]

A collection of rare Dream Sandman smiles for research purposes

[thelightfluxtastic]

Are folks ready to admit Neil Gaiman was right about the eyes thing? Like, he said on his own Tumblr that it was for the acting performance (which matters a lot more for a long-form show). And the night-eyes look great and impactful when they make their appearances! But yeah, considering Morpheus is *completely silent* for the first 40 minutes of the first episode, and had to do a lot of acting *entirely with his eyes*, it works impeccably well.

Seriously though shout out to Tom Sturridge for the micro expressions. You know the era of tumblr where people would read paragraphs of meta into a character blinking? He does that. Manages a whole range of expressions without ever leaving the address of "slight pout".

[sonlikesleep]

Accidentally made them diptychs

[gaimanneil]

“I’ll tell you what, I’ll be here in 100 years’ time. If you’re here then too, it’ll be because we’re friends.” -THE SANDMAN (2022-) // “We are an angel and a demon. We have nothing whatsoever in common.” -GOOD OMENS (2019-)

[writing-for-life]

Dearest,

I wonder, how much affects Dream the DAY dreaming of humans and what’s the amount of influence Desire has on it?!

Thank you in advance for answering my question.

J

Hello friend 👋🏻

Daydreaming is totally under his purview, like everything that is tied to imagination, hopes (!) and wishes.

I guess there is a shred of overlap between Desire(s) and Dream(s), but dreaming is the unreal. It can maybe be the seed of desire though: the impulse to wish for and then want something so badly you go after it to make it real. Desire has a much more physical, real component to it—perhaps it’s best called “striving”?

But I guess that’s why we have Overture, which really goes into that relationship quite deeply. Because only Hope, Dream and Desire together could save the universe. None of them could have done it alone. To me, there was always something in there about Desire taking care of self-preservation (the survival instinct, if you will) and Dream, who usually keeps the boundaries between unreality and reality in check, pulling the ship into reality (making the dream real, if you will, which he usually doesn’t because he is unreality—that’s why it tires him so and nearly destroys him, that’s why he is weak enough to be captured). But Desire basically kicked his arse into gear. And actually saved his arse, too, because this is the third attempt—he didn’t make it in the other two (put them in that get-along-shirt is what I’m saying, and I will not tire of saying it).

But it was Hope who inspired the dreamers. She is the most important puzzle piece (and Dream *knows* it, and so does Desire, and we have many, many panels to support that). And ignored by parts of the fandom to a fault, both as a character and a concept. The girl didn’t even have a tag on Ao3 until I created it 😤

I have a whole meta about her (or rather H/hope in the Sandman) in the making. Because she’s important, she doesn’t stop existing after the reset because her spirit prevails, right into Exiles.

I said what I said 😉

So to bring this to a conclusion: Those two idiots could actually be a dream team if they’d get over themselves. They go hand in hand, but they’re also distinct. And the same could be said for (day)dreams and desires. They’re distinct, but they can also bleed into each other.

@klarahimmeltheendless ask answered

[whatsupspaceman]

the corinthian is THE character ever. motherfucker has sauce for days. he’s a nightmare personified chilling on earth. he drives a convertible. he eats eyeballs but he doesn’t even do it with the teeth he has in place of his eyes. he charms everyone he meets. he’s a keynote speaker at a serial killer convention. he was even gay.

[dcmultiverse]

Thank you, Lightbringer. The Ruler of Hell is honorable, indeed. I will not forget this. Honorable? You joke, surely. THE SANDMAN (2022- ) | 1x04: A Hope in Hell

[disc0bandit]

Delirium's "gallery" is just me messing about to figure out how to colour things again, sorry

[tennant]

THE SANDMAN (2022-) —  “Sleep of the Just” (1.01)