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Dimitri Tsykalov, Heart, 2002 Wood, bark, and soil

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Arthur with curls

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🪴🐈‍⬛

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smapril day 10 - hair pulling

Dream does feel a little guilty, even though it was entirely Hob’s suggestion.

"I don't want to owe you anything. I could kill someone for you, but I don't think you need me to do that. So I'll suck your cock, and we don't have to mention it ever again."

His eyes have a fierce glow to them as he speaks, despite his dirty face and sunken cheeks. And Dream can't help but indulge Hob’s need not to feel indebted. It's honestly the least Dream can do, and even though he's filthy and bruised, there's certainly something about Hob that is still attractive. His ragged shirt is showing off an unusual amount of flesh and Dream… is happy to be tempted.

He doesn't think that a few cups of wine and a plate of meat are quite worth what Hob is currently doing. The man's mouth is stretched wide around Dream’s cock and his nose is nearly buried in the neat black pubic hair at the base. He's swallowing around the head and rubbing his tongue up and down the length like he does this every day of the week.

A peep inside Hob’s dreams suggests that yes, he does this often. But perhaps he doesn't usually enjoy the task quite as much as he is now.

He grabs hold of one of Dream’s hands and pushes it towards his own head, until Dream gets the message after a second or two. He wraps his fingers around the (dirty, unkempt) locks of hair and tugs until Hob moans throatily, sending a buzz of sensation through Dream’s body. He leans back into the brick alleyway behind him and Hob shuffles forward on his knees. Like he's worried Dream is going to pull his cock away entirely.

Dream fists his hand tighter in Hob’s hair. Trying to reassure him that he isn't going anywhere. He starts up a few shallow thrusts into the back of Hob’s throat, and Hob moans for him again. A few tears drip down his nose, streaking his dirty cheeks.

If he felt such human emotions, Dream would be ashamed of how much those tears excite him, driving him closer to his peak.

He expects Hob to pull off, to turn his head and spit when his mouth is filled up with cum. Instead, he swallows obediently and presses his head into the palm of Dream’s hand. Seeking comfort, whether it's intentional or not.

He pulls Hob’s hair one last time, using the leverage to help him up to his feet. That fiery look is back in his eyes again.

"A hundred years, then?" Hob whispers. Dream nods - not quite speechless, but certainly robbed of his usual vocal abilities.

"A hundred years." He says. And dissappears, into a shower of sand.

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In 1689, Hob Gadling and Dream meet once more, after Hob has lost everything. That night, their meeting goes on longer than expected when the conversation turns to what it means to live, to lose, and to be the fathers of dead sons. Unable to bear the thought of sending a man who so echoes Dream's own grief back into the night alone, Dream breaks his own rule and invites Hob to stay with him for a time, at least until he can get back on his feet.

giving sanctuary by @avelera

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Michael Zulli: Death, Dream and Hob

Now, I know fandom bends over backwards to make this about Dreamling and often slots its meaning in during/after The Wake (or at least hinting at it because of the meeting with Death), but I honestly can’t see it?

I personally believe we need to step back a bit here and consider that this was painted long before the TV show, and Dreamling wasn’t really a thing (at least not in these epic proportions, plus it was always fanon, not canon), hence we can’t really do art analysis through that lens.

If you just put the 1689 meeting (also drawn by Zulli) right next to it, it becomes, at least to me, so blatantly obvious that it is set in the same timeframe. Hob wears nearly identical clothes, so does Dream (also, some of the original comics have been recoloured).

The woman at the table next to them holding the mask? Hm, there’s a famous artwork by Colleen Doran in which Death holds a mask, and she definitely seems to be listening in here. Which she might, considering the conversation Dream and Hob had in 1689. Could obviously also just be a random person covering up smallpox scars 🤣

In the grand scheme of things, I don’t think it matters so much whether Hob already met Death or not and would recognise her, it’s the symbolism of talking to her at this point more than anything.

So would it be totally outlandish to think the missing glass is also for Eleanor? Hence the red roses as well, because Zulli hardly ever uses red roses for Dream apart from one exception (he does so for Daniel though)—they tend to be blue and always hold connotations to grief, I wrote about this before. Or better: Symbolic for all those who aren’t at the table with him? And that’s why Death is there? Both for those she has taken, but also because this is very obviously the point where Hob is at his lowest and might rethink. 

I think we really have to think about where Hob is in his life here and not erase Eleanor and his kids again. “To absent friends AND lost loves”, right?

And I can’t look at that angel holding the table and not get references to pregnancy/childbirth (Eleanor and the second baby died during childbirth).

As for the raven looking away/pointing away from the table: Foreboding? Because apart from being Dream’s ravens, ravens were also associated with Apollo, who was also the god of prophecy and an oracle himself. That’s why Apollo himself eventually released Orpheus from his existence as one—long story (plus, Aristeas, who was also Dream’s raven, was Apollo’s raven in Greek mythology. Plus Apollo was also Orpheus’ father in some retellings. It’s all interwoven, but I feel the foreboding is a significant thing here for exactly that reason).

And foreboding-foreboding, of course Death and Hob meet again, and by that time, Morpheus will be gone, and the missing glass is also for himself.

I wrote about Zulli and his symbolism a few times, it’s all linked in my pinned post, but the ruins are one of the less subtle references:

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2 for the Corinthian, 4 for Hob, or 8 for Morpheus - dealer’s choice!! Love your art, pal 💛

"So do you still wish to live?"

not taking part in the sandcastle redraw but this idea caught ahold of me because Hob is living the dream of immortality

and if he chooses to stop -

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Sketchy and experimenting time!

Here is an illustration of the first chapter of "Giving Sanctuary", a Sandman and Dreamling fanfic by @avelera .

It begins in 1689, in the White Horse tavern, and I tried to render the candlelight atmosphere we can see in the show. I improvised a lot with my black ink and my watercolors and wanted to keep the sketchy vibes. I had quite a hard time with Dream's all black clothes...

I totally want to draw more moments of this story! Maybe one by chapter? I'll see^^

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Would love to see Hob in palette #3 if you're still looking for requests

How I hope it went in 1689

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little bit from @avelera ‘s Giving Sanctuary

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comforting stranger

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Hob: *is In the rattiest clothes imaginable, at the lowest point of his life, 'I've hated every second of the last 80 years, is threatening to eat a table.*

Dream: *internally* Actually I desire him carnally.

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*turns up the brightness as high as it can go* man I can't believe Hob did a strip tease for Dream in 1689

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“If I had known that I was always doomed to lose him so young…That there was nothing I could do to change his fate…” Dream swallowed and when he spoke again the unshakeable calm of his voice wavered and finally broke, “I would have told him how I loved him, each day when he woke and each night while he dreamed. I would have embraced Eurydice as if she were my own daughter. I would have danced at their wedding.”

“I know,” Hob tightened his arms around Dream. “I know you would have.”

Giving Sanctuary by @avelera

This fic absolutely destroyed me! One of my favourites! Love it! 💕

I had it marked for later and avoided to read it because at the time it was already considerably long and I didn't really have the time for it (I have no self-control I'm hopeless binge reader so it would totally fuck up my schedule). I decided to read it not long ago aaaand then I caught up... to chapter 18 😭. WHY WHYYY WHAT A TERRIBLE TIME TO CATCH UP!?!??!!!

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Three of Swords and The Star

If you've been endlessly thinking about how awful everything is, now might be a good time to take a break and do something nicer.

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I just love the obsession german has with idiomatic little rhymes and alliterations.

Mit Sack und Pack. Glanz und Gloria. Schicht im Schacht. Flinke Füße. Mit Hängen und Würgen. Mehr schlecht als recht. Versuch macht kluch. Klar wie Kloßbrühe. Hätte, hätte, Fahrradkette. Saus und Braus. Ende Gelände.

our speech is full of little flounces and flourishes and tbh it's adorable of us.