#Sandman spoilers (comic)

[alexxuun]

Redrawing their last meeting in the comic in my style. The way that Hob is the only other person (other than Death) who figure out something is wrong with dream is HNGHNG- and “I worry.”??? “You take care of yourself”??? Ok, Hob.

The original page:

[writing-for-life]

The Endless Are Not Their Opposite--They Only Define It

I read quite often, on here and elsewhere, that the Endless are also their opposite (@tickldpnk8 and I were just talking about an interesting thread on Reddit), so I just decided to speed-complete this one and get it out of my drafts before it dies in there (so not as much in-depth as originally planned, but sometimes, you just need to run with it 🤣).

The Endless are not their opposite. They define it. It’s a (in my mind, and I’d love to hear what you think) massive difference. And they define their opposite by their absence. If they truly were their opposite, it would give very different meaning to canon, and if we were to do so, a lot of it wouldn't make sense in my view.

Dream is not also reality. He defines it. He is, and forever will be, unreality. It is his absence that defines reality. A dream that becomes real isn't a dream anymore--it's real. That’s the main reason why pulling the ship into reality in Overture weakens him. If he were reality, he could have just snapped his fingers and make it happen. If he were reality, a lot of his problems wouldn't be... well, problems. The fact he is (a) D/dream is pretty much why all his relationships are doomed to fail. Dreams don't last. Dreams are forever strange and can't be truly known.

Delirium is not also sanity/clarity. She defines it through her absence. And when she pulls herself together like in Brief Lives, it hurts her "muchly". It is immeasurable pain for her because it is what she is not and cannot be for any extended period of time without hurting herself.

Despair is not also hope. She defines it via her absence. As long as you hope, you don’t despair. If Despair were also hope, we would not have 6 issues of Overture very clearly showing us who and what H/hope is. If Despair were also hope, we wouldn't need a little girl called Hope reach out her hand and touch Dream—he would have a sister who could do it. But the only time Despair shows up for him, so to speak, is after he killed Orpheus—make of that what you will.

Death is not also life. She defines it. The fact that she is there at your beginning does not mean she is the one who gives you life. She is there so you will remember her, always (and especially when she takes your hand), hence you will cherish life. She does not directly give life to immortals either--they are immortal because of her absence, because she withholds her gift, like she does with Orpheus and Hob (the Eblis-situation has nothing to do with anything in my mind and is linked to a funeral rite, and we are clearly told it is not something she usually does [“it’s been so long”], or is remotely comfortable doing. It is just that she is the Endless that is most life-adjacent and hence the one who will have to do it. Just like Dream is the most reality-adjacent and hence the one who has to pull the ship).

Destruction is not also creation. He defines it. He is what gives us the blank slate, he is what makes creation possible, he is what starts the cycle and ends it, but he is not creation himself. Keeping on destroying makes creation impossible. There needs to be a pause, a break for creation to come to fruition—the absence of destruction. If he were also creation, he wouldn't create so badly (to the extent that it is canonically turned into a running gag), and being around him and seeking him out wouldn't be an issue. But it is.

Desire is not also hatred (I’m still not sure if hatred is really the opposite of desire, but I’ll run with it because that’s what Gaiman chose). They define it via their absence. You know how Dream doesn’t want Desire in his life anymore after one major spat (whether he had reason to or overreacted isn’t really the issue). And what feelings are often left in the absence of Desire? And what does Desire feel and gets themselves tangled up in because they are pushed away and are basically not acknowledged/desired by their own sibling despite constantly trying to show him they are important (desire is not just a sexual thing, people, get your mind out of the gutter 🤣)? Yeah, about that one… There is definitely a different type of enmeshment here which sometimes seems a bit plot-hole-y to me, but I think that might be down to the fact that Desire is the chosen antagonist (and even that, only to a degree until they aren’t). Even so, it still makes sense.

Destiny is not also freedom. He is the absence of it. All paths lead to the same end. Or a decision you make was the decision you were going to make all along, and what looks like a different ending was the ending that would have happened anyway. And even if you choose, the book will start to make that choice destiny again. Only Delirium knows what’s not in his book, and in this universe, the only true freedom is not bound by any rules, logic or sanity…

[onehundredandeleventropicalfish]

so the netflix show has already shown us two of dream's other aspects, kai'ckul and the king of cats, but one of my favourite things about the endless in the comics is that they have a different incarnation for every single species and culture that has ever experienced them, in this case, if your people dream, you have a personalised Dream

and the comics are also part of the dcu, which means there are a LOT of other species out there to dream

many of these screenshots were taken from one issue which involves a meeting in dream's head between all of his different incarnations, some are just from other places in the comic, but my personal favourites include:

l'zoril, dream god of the green martians

to fill out the superheroes requirement, kryptonian dream

fish dream

flower dream, and tree dream

femme dream, with just as much dedication to not wearing a shirt as her masculine counterpart

bird dream, insect dream, and robotic insect dream

two different kinds of cat person

these funky lil guys

whatever is going on here with the tentacle robot, the teen titans looking motherfucker, the dragon, and the guy in the witch hat (all equally dream of the endless)

a literal stone statue that speaks mostly in egyptian hieroglyphs

and then there's this guy

[lichanicksstuff]

You don't understand how Dream and Hob's friendship in the comic is important to me. They're both men in the 90s. They can't tell each other "omg bestie, ily sm" because it's not how it works for them. Dream is the KING and Hob is a man literally from the Middle Ages, their worldviews don't work like that. When Hob dared to call Dream his friend, Dream was offended. He just couldn't accept how HE can have basic needs like a nice drink once in a while. But after some (a lot) time he realised he also enjoys Hob's company and then met him in 1989 and allowed himself, the ruler of dreams and nightmares, to have a friend. (from now on, comic spoilers) And when he has to go to hell, when there's a chance he won't come back, he meets some people and then he goes to Hob, so he won't be worried he missed their appointment. So he won't be worried about him. Also when he knows he will die soon, he meets with Hob. He meets with him for their last drink. Hob doesn't even know what's going on, he's just suprised and relieved to see his oldest friend. A friend whose name he doesn't even know. A friend who is the only certain thing in his life. They talk like they always do. Because they do know each other for ages. And when Hob says he wants a guy who killed his gf to feel guilty for it, Dream makes the guy feel guilty. He can manipulate peoples thoughts, make them think what he wants them to think, and uses this power for Hob, even if his friend won't know about it. Dream is not a type of person who does things for free. But he did it for his friend. And when Dream walks out, Hob runs after him, telling him he can sense something is wrong and that he is worried about him. And then Dream smiles. He smiles because that situation, their last meeting, is the first time they both showed how much they care about each other.

[pyrecryptid]

Redraw of my first Sandman x Hades crossover with the new BTS pics for season 2!

Click to enlarge for better quality. Bonus simple background under the cut

[the-cloudy-dreamer]

*In narrator voice* THERE WAS IN FACT SOMETHING VERY VERY -VERY WRONG BUT MORPHEUS IS A DUMB ASS WHO DOESNT KNOW HOW TO ASK/ACCEPT HELP

[why-i-love-comics]

Amazing Spider-Man #49 (2024)

written by Zeb Wells art by John Romita, Jr., Scott Hanna, & Marcio Menyz

[disc0bandit]

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

[myrskytuuli]

Sometimes I think that’s a little funny how the sandman fandom fixated into the dreamling ship when in canon they interract so little and seem to be good aquintances at best, but then I remember that the actual, canonical ending of their storyline in the comics is that after Dream’s death, Hob has a dream where he is reunited with the ghost of Dream and they walk off into the sunset together, with and this is a quote from Hob himself: “there’s only one way to end a story, they lived happily ever after.”

Like, Hello!!?? The fuck was that supposed to be??

[ennas-aesthetic]

Men of Good Fortune, all the way to Sunday Mourning

I do love that Jill Thompson devoted at least four whole drawings in the Sandman Movie Concept Art pitch to Hob and Dream's relationship development over time.

Source/Credit.

[nualaofthefaerie]

You wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me 😔

And it's all @neil-gaiman 's fault.

[writing-for-life]

The Truth of Mankind…

…Is Also Dream’s

These quotes are from episode 5 (24/7):

“Garry dreams of proving his father he was wrong about him.”

“Kate dreams of running away where no one will find her.”

[But you do, and we see your star in so many panels of The Wake 🥺]

“Bette dreams of creating something that matters to people.”

You are the magician who became the man, Morpheus. And you are the king who left his kingdom, but not without making sure everyone else would be okay first--perhaps that is a different definition of a graceful ending, but it is graceful nonetheless.

You’re so painfully human, and yet, you are also not 😭

[onehundredandeleventropicalfish]

honestly though i do think dream and destiny have one of the more underratedly funny sibling relationships

do they get along? no, not really! they care about each other, sure, and it looks on the surface like they're on good terms, because there's never any anger in it and they're both excessively formal

but then you actually look at their interactions and it's like watching two kids fight in slow motion while speaking only in a monotone

and my personal favourite - dream gets imprisoned in a black hole, in overture. desire is the only one who cares to do anything about it. but they don't have the power to pull dream out of there by themselves, only destiny has that

so what do they do instead? pull a ship out of the dreaming and drop it in destiny's garden. so that destiny summons him out of there to be like "dude get your shit off my lawn"

[teejaystumbles]

Illustration for @temve's fic Opus 89: Variations on a Dream for @the-centennial-husbands-bigbang!

This was very much fun to paint and I absolutely love the fic! ❤️

[spunchthegoblin]

“Extinction” mini-comic

I finished it! @cosmictapestry ​

[the-cloudy-dreamer]

taking the skrungly entities away from mr gaiman and putting them away on the top shelf until he learns to treat them better and writes them a happy ending (or the bottom of my sock drawer whatever they find comfiest)