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dragon-kazansky · 12 days

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Heart of the Dreaming

Morpheus x Female Reader

Soulmate AU

You are the daughter of Rodrick Burgess. You find out about the "demon" in the basement and decide you want to see it. Things take an unexpected turn when your soulmate connection is made with the man you find down there. You are the one he has been waiting for, and you're being taken away from. Not for long. Dream will protect his soulmate.

{Masterlist}

{Previous Chapter} - {Next Chapter}

Chapter Three - Mr Sandman

☆☆☆

Dream woke up in his realm. He was home at last. He had been away for far too long, and he had missed his home. Not only that, a familiar face was here to greet him. Lucienne. She was always so loyal to him.

"Lucienne."

"My lord, you're home!"

She helps him up to his feet, and he turns to look at the grand gates of his realm. Home.

Lucienne and Dream walk toward the gates. Before he can open the gates, Lucienne speaks to him. She looks rather forlorn. "Forgive me, sir, but the realm, the palace, they are not as you left them."

The gates open, and he can see what she means. His realm was falling apart. The sight pained him. "What happened here? Who did this?"

"My lord, you are The Dreaming. The Dreaming is you. With you gone as long as you were, the realm began to decay and crumble."

"And the residents?" He asks softly. "The palace staff?"

"I'm afraid most are gone."

"Gone?"

"Some went looking for you." Lucienne tells him.

"And the others?"

"They thought, perhaps, you had grown weary of your duties, and..."

"What? Abandoned them? Had they had so little faith in me? Had my own subjects not known me?" He asks. He didn't want to believe his people would abandon their realm, their home. He certainly hadn't meant to.

Morpheus and Lucienne headed toward the palace. There was debris everywhere. His kingdom was crumbling around him, and he hated it.

He stood in his throne room. There wasn't much left of it. This room had once been so beautiful and put together, designed by his hand. Now, it was a ghost of what it used to be. Shattered glass and stone covered the floor, crunching under his feet as he walked.

Lucienne watched her lord as he took it all in. Though she had stayed to look after the kingdom, there was only so much she could do. Without Dream, the kingdom couldn't last. If an Endless abandoned their realm, it would fall apart and eventually fade.

Morpheus picked up a shard of glass from beneath his feet and held it in his hand. He raised his hand and tried to summon enough power to rebuild his throne room. The debris began to rise from the ground, but it was taking all his strength to even do that. Eventually, he felt go and collapsed to the ground. He was too weak.

"You need rest and food, and perhaps a bit more rest, and then you'll be at full strength."

"No. Not without my tools." He picks himself back up.

"Your tools?"

"My sand, my helm, my ruby," he lists.

"What happened to them?"

"They were taken from me. By my captors. And then taken from them. I know not where. Nor what I am without them."

He sits down on the steps of his throne and looks up at Lucienne. He needed to update her on you. He reaches for his wrist and rubs his scar gently.

"Lucienne, there is something I need to tell you about."

"Yes, sir?" She stands there and gives him her full attention.

"There was someone in that house. Where I was trapped. Someone I need to get to." He looks down at the star scar.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you know of soulmate bonds?" He asks her quietly.

"Soulmate bonds?" She sounds rather surprised by his questions. He's never really brought up anything like this before. "I understand that some humans believe their soulmates to be the one they connect with the most. A special connection is made between two people. Something special."

"What do you know of soulmates regardless the Endless?" He asks her.

"Sir?"

"It's rare. It's so rare that only I have one." He tells her. "This scar," he rubs his thumb over it, "is my bond with her."

Lucienne listens with great interest. She wasn't aware such things were real, just a feeling some people got.

"She is down there now. In that house. I saw her." His voice has softened. He seems to be away with his thoughts. "She came down to see me, and something happened. She relieved her scar. It burned into our flesh, and I knew who she was immediately. It would seem she stopped ageing and her brother kept her locked up in her room, much like I was locked up in that basement."

Dream felt angry. Angry for being trapped for so long. Angry that the people who kept him caged had gone and done the same thing to you. Angry that he couldn't have stayed to convince you to take his hand in that one moment. Not that he could blame you. You didn't know him. He saw your fear.

He would make it up to you, he promised.

"I need enough power to return to the waking world so I may get her and my tools."

"You need rest."

"I have little time for that. Please, Lucienne. Is there anything lf mine in the Dreaming? Something I created."

"There is one thing."

☆☆☆

What he did to Gregory was not something he wanted to do, but it had to be done. He would forever be sorry for what he did. He would make it up to Cain and Abel for taking their friend from them.

Next, he needed to summon the Fates. They were not easy to summon, but Dream knew exactly what he needed to do.

Three questions. Three answers.

"My first question. I had a leather pouch filled with sand. Where is it?" He asks.

"It was sold. In London. Last purchased by a magic user called Joanna Constantine."

"Constatine. I knew a Constantine, but that was 300 years ago. Does she still have the sand?"

"Dream. You know better than that. You get one question and one answer."

"My apologies. My second question. My helm. What happened to it?"

"It was traded away to a demon. For the amulet of protection."

"To which demon was it traded?"

"One question. One answer, love."

"Last question. My ruby. Who holds it now?"

"Your gem was passed from a mother to a son."

"Where are they now?"

"You have asked your questions!" The Fates disappear. Morpheus is left standing alone with all the answers he was given.

The egg he picked up was the only thing not taken by the Fates, mainly because it was not for them. He left they with Cain and Abel as his apology for Gregory.

Now that he knew where his tools were, to an extent, he could leave. His tools could wait a little longer. He had one more trip to make before them.

You.

He needed to find you, and there was only one way he could do that. He returned to the dock and looked back down into the waters of dreams. This was how he found what he needed for the Fates, and it also how he will find you.

"Please, sir, be careful." Lucienne looked at him with concern.

"I shall. I will not let myself be captured again."

"I mean... can you trust this woman? She is one of them."

Dream looked at Lucienne over his shoulder. "All will be well."

Lucienne had nothing else to say. She watched him disappear into the waters again.

The waters were still rough and dangerous, but he still had a portion of his power within him, which he would use to find you. You should be asleep by now. He needs to find your dreams.

You were the clearest thing in those waters.

☆☆☆

You hadn't slept in hours. The dream man had been gone an entire day already. You had spent the whole day in your room just thinking everything over.

Paul had spent the entire beside Alex.

Sleeping sickness. That's what he called it. The eternal sleep. Alex wouldn't ever wake up again. You couldn't bring yourself to care too much. Alex hadn't been your brother in many years. You had long since learnt to stop caring.

You felt tired. Your mind was tired.

How long had you been staring at your ceiling? You had lost count. Your eyelids were staring to feel heavy, that much you knew. You had tuned out the rest of the house.

Before you knew it, you were dosing off.

You gave in and fell asleep.

You were dreaming. Not of the basement this time. No. Now that he was free and gone, you should have known he probably wouldn't appear in your dreams again.

This time you're in a garden. Your garden. You're 11 years old again. Your father is about to start his ritual. However, this time, you're not in your room. You're down there with him. The men in robes surround the circle. Rodrick looks down at you, his haze stern and cold.

"Watch."

You do watch. You keep your eyes on the summoning circles. Tonight, your father was going to try and bring your brother back by bargaining with death. It sounded crazy. Of course it did. No one comes back from the dead. No one.

You're afraid. The ritual had begun, and you hate it. Your father doesn't even try and comfort you. Of course he doesn't. He doesn't love you.

A figure appears in the circle, and you have to force yourself not to scream in fright. The figure is wearing a long cloak that covers him fully, and on his head is a strange mask. At least, you hope it's a mask.

Your father has the mask removed after taking its things. Is this death? You can't see his face clearly. It looks like a man, though. He doesn't move or make a sound.

You run. You have to run. Whatever it is, you don't want to be around it anymore. You run as fast as you can. The house seems so much bigger than you remember it being. You go round corners and don't seem to be any closer to your room.

You run straight into someone. You scream. You no longer sound like a child. You look up and see the man standing there. He's wearing a black coat now.

"Wake up."

His voice is deep. Unlike anything you'd heard before. Your heart was racing and you had frozen.

"Wake up."

"I can't."

The man lifts his hand up toward you, hand out like the night he escaped. You remember it all because this is a dream. He takes a step closer and you move back, tripping over nothing and falling to the ground.

You gasp and sit up in your bed. Your breathing is uneven, and your heart is racing. Sweat clings to your skin.

You freeze.

Slowly, you move your eyes to the left and then find yourself scrambling off the bed and as far away from him as possible. You keep your back to the wall as you stare at the man in your room.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" You ask, panic definitely setting in.

"I am not here to hurt you."

"Why are you here? Why did you come back?" You ask quickly.

"I am Lord Morpheus, but you can call me Dream. That is my true name."

"Dream?"

"Yes. I came back here for you," he says quite firmly.

"Me? Why? I wasn't the one that kept you trapped down there. I didn't hurt you. I had nothing to do with anything!" You sound quite urgent. Desperate. You're clearly frightened.

"I know."

"Then why? Why are you here?"

"I came for you." He puts it so simply.

"Why?" You ask again.

"Your wrist. Let me see it."

You automatically cradle your wrist to your chest and look at him with a wary expression. You know exactly what he wants to see.

You hear him exhale quietly and watch as he lifts his arm up. He pulls up his sleeve and shows you his wrist. You gasp softly at the sight. Slowly, you bring your wrist up to his and look at the matching scar.

"What is it?" You ask softly.

"Our bond. You are rare."

"Rare?" You look up and meet his eyes. They're so blue.

"You are the soulmate of an Endless," he tells you. "My soulmate."

You can't help it. You burst out into laughter. Dream looks very confused by your reaction. Of all things that could happen, he didn't think you would start laughing.

"That's insane."

"I do not understand," be watches you curiously. His confusion only deepened.

"What the heck is an Endless?" You ask.

"I am. I am one of seven. We exist because you know deep down we exist. I am the king of dreams and nightmares. The Sandman, if you like."

"The Sandman?" You scoff softly. "He's a fairytale."

"Perhaps." He looks almost amused.

"And, what? I'm your destined partner or something?"

"In a sense."

"Absolutely not," you tell him, inching along the wall carefully. If you could reach the door you could find Paul.

"You are rejecting me?"

"Sure, if that's how you want to put it. I don't want anything to do with any of this."

"You came down to the basement," he says, though of course you already knew that. It was you, after all. "Were you not curious?"

"Well, yes. My father had summoned something, and it was living under our house. I wanted to see, but I wasn't expecting you. Then you looked at me and I was scared. What did you do to me?"

"Nothing."

"You must have!" You exclaim. "Look at me! I should be about 85 now. Do I look 85 to you?"

Dream doesn't move from where he stands as you slowly inch around the room toward the door. If you run, he'll let you, but if he can keep you in here, he will try.

"No."

"You did this to me!"

"Not intentionally. This happened because of our bond. I cannot stay here. I need to find my tools. I want you to come with me."

"Why should I? I don't understand any of this. Please." You look sad. Afraid. He doesn't want you to be afraid.

"I will not hurt you. I want to take you to my realm."

"Your realm?"

"The Dreaming," he clarifies.

"I'm so confused..."

"I understand. Everything will become clear if you come with me. You must know. You must feel it. That burn."

You look down at your wrist and run your fingers over the star softly. "Yeah. I feel it. You really mean everything you said? That we're fated or something?"

"Yes. It is unfair, I understand. You haven't been given a choice."

"Why me?" You ask.

"I do not know. I cannot question Destiny. I can only hear what he has to say, and I believe this is part of it."

"Destiny? You speak like that's a person."

"He is. My brother."

"Dream. Destiny. Death?"

"Yes. My sister."

"Oh... So, Father really was trying to summon Death. He got you instead." Some things were starting to make sense.

"Yes."

You look at him, less frightened now, but still full of questions. He could see it in your eyes. If you wanted to ask them, he would answer, but not here.

He raises his hand.

"Come with me."

"Where?"

"To London. I must get my sand."

"Sand? You really are the Sandman?"

He nods his head subtly.

"If you come with me, you'll never be locked away in a room again. You can come and go as you please."

Freedom. He is offering you freedom.

"In your realm?"

"You will be safe there," he assures you.

You close your eyes and think about it all. Alex wouldn't be a problem either way now, but you could be free of this house. Free of any trace of your father and all the things he had done. Free from your past, your imprisonment in this room.

Dream holds his hand out again. You stare at it. He is your one chance to get away from the Burgess name.

You take his hand.

☆☆☆

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#heart of the dreaming #morpheus x reader #dream x reader #the sandman #female reader #dragon writes

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silence-burns · 2 years

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Back

Fandom: Sandman

Dream of the Endless beheld the ruins of his kingdom and for the first time in over a century, he felt truly powerless.

The feeling wasn't as unfamiliar as it would've been before his imprisonment, but the sheer scale of it felt overwhelming. The glass that had held him captive was created to keep him away from his realm and away from using his powers. It was as simple and as brutal as most human inventions tended to be, but in its simplicity it failed to change who he was. Cut off from the rest of the worlds, he remained the same.

But here, back at the remnants of the Dreaming, Morpheus was no longer certain who he was. What remains when you take away the power, realm and subjects from the lord of it all?

Morpheus no longer knew the answer.

He sat at the stairs covered in dust and rubble, and patiently waited. Lucienne offered to check the palace grounds in hopes that anything awoken would come back along with him. It was a futile hope, he knew. The connection he felt with everything that was left was weak, but enough to let him know how much was truly gone.

Dream stretched his hand over the shattered marble again. His will pulled on the stone, but it only shook slightly before falling again. Whatever power he once had that shaped every part of his realm, was gone.

Footsteps echoed in the empty hall. It wasn't Lucienne.

You stopped a few feet away from Morpheus. You hadn’t changed much since the last time he saw you.

"I heard the news," you said with a shrug. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything. I just wanted to see if maybe Lucienne grew a sense of humor after all this time."

Morpheus scoffed, but felt no real joy. "I suppose I'm as close to a joke now as I've ever been."

"That's not what I meant. I'm glad to see that you're actually back after all this time. It's just that the thought of it before I saw you felt so… unreal. More than the dreams usually do, I mean, my lord."

"Don't call me that."

What lord was he, without a realm to rule over? Through what power was his position secured, with his belongings stolen?

"Sorry. It feels awkward otherwise."

You hadn’t been a part of his realm for long before he disappeared. Morpheus still remembered the day Death had brought you to him with a smile as mysterious as it was confusing, and refused to elaborate further. Morpheus allowed you to stay if that was your wish too, but had always wanted to ask his sister about her true motives.

The Endless rarely intervened with each other's realms. It wasn't unheard of, but called for careful understanding.

"Why didn't you leave?"

That seemed to puzzle you. "Why would I? I was offered a place in your realm. Where else would I go, dead and alone?"

"There are other realms. Most of my subjects didn't have an issue leaving."

You knocked a pebble to the side. "I like it here, even now. Besides, I wanted to see you come back. Things changed when you were gone. We played cards with Lucienne for a while, both terribly, before those disappeared too."

Morpheus didn't reply. It felt strange to talk again, to have a small, simple conversation with nothing being demanded from him. No responsibilities to take care of. Just a few moments being offered, and taking away his worries with bad, lowly attempts at humor.

He felt a finger poking his cheek.

"Sorry," you said with not an ounce of apology. "You looked like a statue there for a moment. You should be careful, or you'll be mistaken for one. Rub some dust over that jacket, and you'll have the right color. Maybe pose a bit."

Morpheus just looked.

"Or we could rub a bit more and give you a ghosty, ghoulish appearance and scare people. I'd sell my left kidney to see Cain react to you emerging mysteriously from the mist. Abel would probably just cry, and Gregory follow him, but I bet it'd still be worth it. There are a few of us remaining in the Dreaming and I'm sure they'd like to see you, you know, your not-lordship?"

Humans, even a former kind, were absurd, fascinating creatures.

Morpheus stood up from the stairs. The destruction and chaos around him remained the same, but somehow, he felt as if some weight had been lifted off his chest. The loss was tremendous, but not all was gone. The rest could be rebuilt.

"Thank you," Dream said, and the stars in his eyes shone just as brightly as the first time you met him.

Your smile warmed something where his heart should've been. "You're welcome."

"Dream."

"Dream?"

"That's what you can call me."

"So dreams really do come true… That's quite fitting, actually. But let's go now, shall we? We should let the rest know they can come back."

#morpheus x reader #sandman x reader #morpheus x you #dream x reader #dream x you #sandman x you #the sandman #the sandman morpheus x reader #morpheus imagine #the sandman imagine

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bi-bard · 1 year

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Don't You Ever Tame Your Demons, But Always Keep 'em on a Leash - Dream of the Endless Imagine [The Sandman]

Title: Don't You Ever Tame Your Demons, But Always Keep 'em on a Leash

Pairing: Dream of the Endless X Reader

Based On: Arsonist's Lullabye

Word Count: 1,889 words

Warning(s): physical pain

Summary: (Y/n) has always been able to see and hear the dreams of other people. At first, they felt tortured by such a gift. However, when they catch the attention of the ruler of the dream realm, a new connection is made and relief is finally offered.

Author's Note: This one feels a bit like a stretch, but oh well.

HOZIER [2014] WRITING CHALLENGE MASTERLIST

--------------------

I remember when I first heard the whispers of a dream that was not my own.

Well, the first time after I was able to create lasting memories.

I was five. I was lying on the couch with my mom while we watched some silly movie that I never did remember the name of.

And then, the whisper. Quiet. It almost tickled my brain. I looked at my mom. She wasn't speaking, but I could hear the mumbling.

It was in another language. At my age, I couldn't even tell one word from another, never mind ever know how to place it. I looked to my mom again. I asked her why one of the women in the movie was talking so funny. She asked what I meant, I explained, and she was confused.

It took three occurrences of me asking why there were "funny voices" on the TV for my parents to sit down and talk.

I spent a few years going from doctor to doctor. Everything was fine. Well, that's what the doctors said. My parents weren't convinced.

I spent a lot of my childhood and teenage years in my room. I didn't like getting questioned. It was always about what I was doing or what I heard.

There was a while when I thought maybe I had a purpose.

Like I was meant to help people somehow. I gave up on that dream when I realized that I couldn't figure out who anyone was, so I couldn't help them.

I waited.

I spent forever coping and trying to hide from whatever was in my head.

There were days when I would barely hear anything. And there were days when the voices were so loud that I thought that I was going to lose my mind.

I was never able to stop it.

I stopped trying at about 20 years old.

I just... dealt with it. No purpose for it or way to stop it. All I could do was survive with it.

That didn't change until many years later.

I didn't fully understand where I was. I didn't know about the dream realm being its own plain of existence. But I found myself walking into some large throne room. It felt like I needed to be there. Like it was the right place for me to be.

"Hello?"

My voice echoed against the stone walls. I looked up at the ceiling. It was a moving image of space. Stars and swirling colors. Beautiful.

"Excuse me?"

I jumped when a voice pulled me out of my thoughts. There was a woman standing off to the side. I took a deep breath.

"Who are you," she asked.

"(Y/n)," I said. "And you?"

"Lucienne," she replied.

"Hi," I waved awkwardly. "Sorry, I don't... I don't really know where I am."

"You don't know?"

"No," I forced a chuckle. "I just... It felt like I was supposed to be here."

"I brought them here," another voice spoke up. We both looked to the stairs at the end of the room. "I apologize for how long it took for me to do so."

"That doesn't change that I don't know where I am or who you are."

A grin teased the edge of his lips as he walked down the stairs to meet me. "My name is Morpheus. I am the ruler of this realm."

"And this realm is..."

"The realm of the dreaming."

I laughed. I couldn't really help it. A man looked me in the eye and told me that I was in the realm of the dreaming, and he was in charge. It was hard to believe.

Both of them furrowed their eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, but... you weren't expecting me to believe that the first time you said it, were you?"

"I have yet to have many people question me."

I slowly nodded. "Well, why did you... bring me here?"

"Your power," he said. "You can hear the dreams of other people."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I tensed a bit. My parents had been firm in the belief that I shouldn't tell anyone about my gift.

"Is that so," he asked.

I didn't respond.

He stepped closer to me. I kept my eyes fixed on his. I refused to offer any indication of fear.

His hands moved up. He stopped them just next to my temples.

"May I?"

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"I believe it may help you."

I gave him a skeptical look before hesitantly nodding. What was it going to hurt?

His middle and index fingers touched my temples. My eyes closed for a moment as the voices in my mind slowly faded to silence.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes again.

"What did you do," I asked.

"Offered a temporary solution," Morpheus explained. "They will return when you leave here."

I slowly nodded again. I was starting to believe what he had told me before.

"It must have been so loud," he continued.

"Sometimes," I shrugged. "I... I never thought I'd experience silence like this."

"I am sorry that I did not intervene sooner."

"Why... Why did you?"

"I want to help you control this gift on your own. It will allow you to find peace by yourself."

"You could do that?"

"I hope so."

I grinned at him. "Okay."

I spent the next few weeks in that very room.

It was strange to think about how I was spending my nights in some other world trying to use some power that had haunted me for so long. Not to mention that those nights were spent with the ruler of that other world.

I had lied to my mom about it. She had asked about if anyone had found out and I shook my head and said no. I hated nothing more than the guilt twisting in my chest, but I didn't know how to explain it without her thinking that it was a new symptom.

Regardless of my guilt or how strange the situation was, it was working.

It was getting better. I was able to spend time in beautiful silence without Morpheus's interference. The first day that it happened, I almost cried. I had never known peace like that.

I remember how tightly I hugged Morpheus when it happened. He chuckled as I did. It was a huge milestone.

I was hopeful. I was finally taking steps forward that I didn't think were possible. It was a miracle.

Maybe my hope was why it went wrong.

It was easier to believe that I was to blame. Because if I wasn't to blame, then who was? I would rather know who to target my resentment and anger at than accept that some things are entirely out of my control.

No. I could never accept that some other entity with no connection to me would ever torment me in the same way I was capable of tormenting myself.

I had been walking home from work. I had just gotten through my door. And then, it was like a tidal taking down the wall meant to keep it from flooding the town.

Like drums. Slowly building. Voices crept up on me, louder and louder. I tried to ignore it. I tried to control it. I couldn't. It was a choir of screaming people. Wants and needs and silly dreams all overtook every part of my mind.

I remember the pain in my head growing. A dull ache turned into pounding. It was overwhelming. The tears welled in my eyes as a sob tore through my throat. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know who to beg for help.

My vision started to blur. Black dots filled the space that tears didn't.

I stumbled to the couch, putting my hand out to find the cushion before my vision went entirely dark and I fell onto it.

I collapsed on the floor of the throne room as soon as my mind escaped the waking world. The hard stone made my knees ache, but my focus couldn't even acknowledge that feeling. I let out a sob as I tried to cover my ears. It didn't work.

"(Y/n)..."

I could barely hear Morpheus's voice over the growing chorus. My nails dug into my skin as I felt my head pounding.

Another sob escaped me. The walls of the throne room shook with my pained cries. Morpheus didn't pause at the disturbance to his realm.

He knelt in front of me.

"Please, make it stop," I begged. I wanted to shout over the voices, but nothing escaped me other than some broken whisper. "Please."

Morpheus's hands touched mine. He gently guided my hands away from my head. I was shaking so much.

"Please..."

"Shh," he spoke quietly. "I am going to help you. I promise."

Two fingers from either hand pressed against my temples.

The volume was going back and forth. Like he was fighting against another force. I just kept my eyes screwed shut and fought the urge to reach up and claw at his hands or my face or anything else.

And finally, it was over.

A heavy sigh of relief came out as my body seemingly went limp.

Morpheus's arms wrapped around me, holding me close to his chest as I cried.

"I am so sorry," he whispered. "I pushed you to test these gifts. I led you here. I am sorry."

I didn't reply. I was too focused on getting my breath to even out. I didn't think it was physically possible to be exhausted in the dream realm. But here I was, feeling like I was on the brink of losing consciousness.

I slowly pushed myself to sit up again. I looked at Morpheus. My heart almost broke clean in half at the look of guilt written on his face. I moved forward and hugged him properly. One of his hands cupped the back of my head as his other arm wrapped around me.

"I am going to keep you safe," he promised. "I will never leave you to cope with this power on your own. Not again."

I closed my eyes and hid my face in his shoulder.

"I am so sorry."

"I forgive you," I replied. "I never blamed you."

He leaned back slowly. I grinned at him. He grinned back at me.

He stood up, taking both of my hands to help me follow his lead. "I am going to find a place for you to be at peace."

"Are you going to stay with me," I asked as he led me out of the throne room.

"If you will let me."

I nodded. "I would be much happier if you stayed with me, Morpheus."

His smile only grew.

The rest of that evening was spent in some comfortable silence. I laid back in a field of grass, taking the first calm breaths I had taken in hours. Morpheus sat next to me on the grass.

He would look at me from time to time. There was a cautious look on his face. I would grin at him. I knew that he was scared that what he had done wasn't enough, so I didn't stop him from trying to watch over me.

And that may have been the most peaceful night I had ever experienced.

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#morpheus fanfiction #morpheus imagine #morpheus x reader #dream of the endless x reader #dream of the endless fanfiction #dream of the endless imagine #the sandman x reader #the sandman imagine #the sandman fanfiction #sandman imagine #sandman x reader #sandman fanfiction #dc imagine #dc fanfiction #dc x reader #imagine #fanfiction #x reader

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orionsangel86 · 1 year

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So, if you don't mind, I was thinking about that asshole who was rude on your Thessaly post by insisting that Morpheus is meant to be a bad person. I'm curious if you could expand on why you think he's not. I keep going back and forth on my own rereads, especially since the Thessaly relationship and The Kindly Ones writing seem to try and push in a "he IS a bad person" direction. I can't tell if my arguments that "he's just flawed and mentally ill" are fangirl goggles or legit interpretation.

Hey! I don't mind. So when I first got that comment, initially I thought the response was genuine, because it's been a while since anyone has responded to one of my posts in a bad faith way. I frantically tried to wrap my brain around the idea that I had missed something somewhere and that I was supposed to view Morpheus as a "bad person" because even after The Kindly Ones that has never been my interpretation. I then realised the response was just a bad faith troll from an asshole and felt relief that I wasn't wrong.

But I suppose it's all up to interpretation.

The issue is really with what you consider makes a person inherently good or inherently bad. It reminds me of that line in Good Omens:

“It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”

Because I genuinely think this line has inspired a LOT of Neil Gaiman's characters, whether human or not.

I also get a bit wary nowadays when certain sections of fandoms start labelling characters, especially protagonists as "bad" because that causes a slipperly slope into accusations of "if you like this character YOU PERSONALLY are a BAD PERSON" (Example: OFMD fandom and the forever bizarre reaction to the character of Izzy Hands).

Dream is not bad. He is not good either. He is entirely neutral. He may occassionally do things that may be considered bad, depending on your perspective, but he also does a lot of good things as well. How do we weigh him on a scale of judgement? Are we to act as his judge and jury for every decision he makes in the comics? I suppose we could do, if we wished to, such is the fun of analysis, but I think the end result would again depend on the perspective and morals of the individual reader.

But I will at least give my own interpretation. I'm putting on my Anubis hat and weighing Dream's heart against my trusty feather. Let's see how he does. Under a cut as its long.

I personally think that for a character to be labelled as "bad" their actions and motivations must cause harm, whether to individuals or larger groups, without them showing any care or concern for those they hurt, in their pursuit to achieve their goals.

For example, Lucifer in The Sandman is still a "bad" character even though there is a LOT of "Sympathy for the Devil" type of perspective in The Sandman. Ultimately Lucifer is still selfishly motivated. He doesn't care about the souls or creatures that reside in Hell, and he certainly doesn't care about humanity. When he kicks everyone out of Hell in Season of Mists it causes havoc on Earth, and leads to the death of at least one child that we know of. It is implied that he does far more damage than is explicitly shown.

Thessaly, as previously mentioned, is definitely a bad character. She is entirely motivated by her own selfishness. She doesn't give a shit who she hurts, or the damage she causes in her persuit for revenge in Game of You. She is cruel and malicious and yes, also a TERF. She does not show any empathy or consideration for any character at any point, and honestly, even her little speech in The Wake comes across as crocodile tears.

Desire is a more complex character but still falls on the "bad" side of the scale because Desire also shows very little regard for others when playing their games or implementing their schemes. Desire is going to do whatever they want regardless of who might get hurt because like Thessaly, Desire doesn't give a fuck about your feelings. Desire is cruel. This is stated textually. Desire's motivations are also usually selfish. The only time I found Desire remotely redeemable was in Overture. Desire saved the universe. Though it is made clear that the only reason they saved the universe was because they wanted to keep living in it. It's worth noting that even though Desire is very much "bad" I absolutely adore them and consider them one of my favourite Sandman characters.

Now to Dream. Unlike the above mentioned characters, Dream's motivations are rarely selfish. Even in The Kindly Ones, I believe even if you interpret the whole thing as Dream's own elaborate suicide plan (which is only one limited interpretation) I don't believe he ever meant for as many people to get hurt as they did, it's just that he found himself in an impossible situation where things escalated to a point of no return. Also, since most casualties were Dream's creations, arguably he probably assumed that either he, or his successor, would simply recreate them once the situation was back under control.

Dream is a lawful neutral character. He has his rules and he must abide by them because "I contain the entire collective unconscious, without my rules it would consume me. Humanity would be consumed." (I know this is Netflix!Dream talking but I'm still gonna use it cos its such a good line).

The big difference between Dream and the above characters, is simple. Dream cares. He cares about everyone. He cares about literally everyone - the entire collective unconscious of the universe and he is so bursting to the brim with care and love for them that he is buckling under the weight of all that care. It is what is destroying him and it is WHY he is so depressed and so susceptable to making bad decisions on a small scale.

Every motivation of Dream's is for the greater good. When he sees what John Dee did with his ruby, he is almost crippled by the guilt of it. He blames himself for giving the ruby so much power that it could corrupt a mortal that much. He is easily swayed by Constantine to give Rachel a peaceful death, even though at first he doesn't think about it, it's not like he laughs it off and walks away - like any of the above mentioned characters would do. He listens to Constantine and agrees to show that compassion.

When he realises he once again has to kill a Vortex - something that is part of his duty as Dream of the Endless, something that is very much carved in stone as one of his rules, he still hesitates, even though he knew what happened last time and all the pain he suffered because of it. A fundamentally bad character who does not care would not have hesitated in killing Rose Walker.

In Brief Lives, whilst his initial motivations were selfish, he realised that his trip with Delirium to find Destruction was causing harm to others. When he realised that people were dying because of their quest, he put an end to it. He hurt Delirium in doing so, unintentionally, but his reasons for stopping weren't because he was bored, or because he had given up on finding Thessaly, it was because people were getting hurt and he didn't want to be responsible for that anymore.

When you look at Dream's actions on a wider scale, he is a good character. It is only on a more personal level that his flaws start to show through.

Where Dream's behaviour gets bad, it is usually because he has been hurt, and when he is hurt, he acts like a petty child throwing a tantrum. It is when his cruel side comes out, and its when he is most like Desire.

Nada is the most obvious casualty of this side of Dream. She rejected him, he threw a tantrum, and condemned her to Hell for hurting him.

Calliope tells Dream that she believed the "old you would have left me here to rot." We don't know how true this is, even in the comics, but the idea that there once was a version of Dream who might have discovered his ex wife was being frequently raped and abused whilst imprisoned and bound to evil mortal men and refused to help her simply because she left him is horrifying, but as I said, we don't know if it is or ever was true.

Ultimately, on the small scale, all it takes is for someone to tell Dream that he is in the wrong for him to relent and accept his misgivings. Constantine called him out on Rachel, so he did what he was asked to do. Calliope didn't even HAVE to ask for him to free her in the comics, he just showed up and saved her without question. When Death told him what he did to Nada was "shitty", he immediately put plans in place to make it right, even though doing so was risky and put him and the Dreaming in danger.

Even the situation with Orpheus, whilst seemingly harsh on Dream's side, his son told him to his face "you are no longer my father" and so Dream, hurt and with wounded pride, walked away from his son and refused to look back - but he still arranged for the priests to take care of him.

His choice of Thessaly as a lover is messed up, but he was messed up at the time. My view as mentioned in my previous post is that she was a rebound. They make it clear in the comic that he never approved of her murderous ways (and I have no doubt that he would also dissaprove of her transphobia, even if not mentioned explicitly).

In The Kindly Ones I don't view the situation as Dream being a bad person. I view it as everyone else being bad. Dream is caught in a huge cloud of depression and shitty circumstance and he is unable to free himself from that situation, and even when others can sense his desperation and pain, no one actually helps him. Dream's biggest flaw in The Kindly Ones, in my opinion, is not asking for help.

Because he is prideful, because even after all he has been through, he could not shake off that pride. It went full circle, he was back in his glass cage refusing to ask for help. Only this time, the glass cage was his realm, his subjects, his role as Dream of the Endless, and he could not change himself enough to free himself without making the drastic worst case decision.

My hatred of The Kindly Ones as a story, is not because I think it does a disservice to Dream, but because it does a disservice to every other character involved. By the end of that particular story, I hated every character who WASN'T Dream. Because I desperately wanted one of them, ANY of them, to actually help him. To see past his stubborn pride and hold him in their arms and shake him until he saw sense. Because the message in that story seemed to me to be that people are inherently selfish and so wrapped up in their own lives that they won't help you when you need it most. That there isn't even a point in asking for help. So what's the point?

But then I am fully aware that my feelings are complicated and partly projecting onto the characters and the story and well, that's all not really relevant to the point of this post except to ask you all to take my opinion with a grain of salt.

So back to your original question. I don't think Dream is a bad person. He is flawed, he is a character who when pushed to the limit will do drastic stupid things, but then wouldn't we all if pushed to our absolute limit? He is extremely depressed and buckling under the weight of the collective unconscious. All that unchecked emotion carried within him, and it is literally killing him.

So when weighing his heart against the feather of judgement, I think I can forgive him some bad behaviour towards some ex lovers in the grand scheme of all he has done. As flawed characters go, he's hardly the worst, and the feather is still heavier than his heart.

#The Sandman #Dream of the endless #sandman meta #sandman comic spoilers #morpheus #The Kindly Ones #sandman analysis #asks

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withoutyouimsaskia · 2 years

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Remember Me, Special Dreams

Part XIV.

GIF: Originally posted by @imironstark

Summary: Self-insert. You're having trouble with recurring night terrors and Morpheus pays you a visit. (Title from the lyrics of Placebo’s Special Needs)

Warnings: language, angst, mentions of night terrors.

Word Count: 1.5k

A/N: I decided to go against my usual rule of avoiding horror films to watch Velvet Buzzsaw (purely for Tom Sturridge!) and now I’m worried it will show up in my nightmares... The things I do for you Tom! I'd love to know, have you ever watched a film for an actor alone? Hope you enjoy this next part (it made my eyes go all misty when I wrote it...) Have a good evening, all my love, Saskia <3

Sandman Masterlist

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"Y/N!"

You recoil as your boisterous colleague all but shouts in your face, bringing you out of your work related reverie.

"You're coming out tonight, right?”

You quickly hit save on your document and swivel your chair around to face them.

They are perching on bare space next to your keyboard. Between the invasion of your space, and the wall behind you, you begin to feel uncomfortably boxed in. Yet maybe that is the point.

"Umm..."

"Please, honey." Out come the puppy dog eyes. "You haven't been out with us in so long."

You are squirming like an introvert in an improvisation drama workshop but you do it internally; there is no way you are going to let them know how much they are triggering you right now.

"I guess I could go for one drink." You compromise.

There's a squeal of delight that causes several people to stare at you both from across the open plan room. You long to turn invisible.

"Okay, so we'll be in reception around 17:30. And don't even think about changing your mind and sneaking off home like you usually do."

They waggle a finger at you in teasing admonishment.

"I don't sneak off," you say quietly.

"You kinda do, honey. Have done every day for months. Everyone thought it was really weird."

What you really wanted to say in this moment was: Well, next time, everyone should mind their own fucking business.

But instead you go for the more diplomatic: "I had a lot going on at home."

Their expression is the epitome of pity. "Oh, honey. You want to talk about it later?"

You almost laugh out loud. There was no way you were ever going to tell anyone you worked with about your break up and how it led to your encounters with The Sandman. In fact, it was probably better to tell no one in your life about Morpheus.

It has been 19 nights since you had seen him last. As predicted, you have really missed him and your thoughts often stray to his wellbeing.

Was he doing okay after all that he divulged to you? Had it actually been a good move to put distance between yourselves?

In your most regretful moments, you reassure yourself that he has at least Lucienne and Matthew to talk to, if not others. But it's a difficult task with the guilt that surfaces every time you think of his forlorn face.

You know that guilt is one of your all-consuming emotions; it was just trying to convince your taunting inner voice that the guilt would be much keener if you were a proven distraction for him.

You give your colleague a jokey answer: "Talk about my problems on a Friday night? Definitely not."

They laugh way more exuberantly than your reply called for but at least you are moving the discussion in the right direction. A direction that hopefully meant they would leave you in peace to finish your lukewarm cup of tea and continue your research.

Taking advantage of the lull in words you jump in with a conversation closer.

"So, I'll see you by the front desk at 17:30?"

"I'm so excited!" They sing, grabbing your hand. "This is going to be so good for you."

You plaster on your best fake smile. Perhaps if you tried hard enough, you might actually enjoy yourself. And if not, then at least you would be able to say that you had shown your face.

***

The bar round the corner from your building is heaving with people dressed in a similar category of attire to you: Office wear. Completely appropriate. Somewhat restrictive. Devoid of self-expression.

Lanyards hang from 90% of the necks you can see; the only real splash of vibrancy in a sea of charcoal grey, pallid white and navy blue.

You stay close to the colleague who coerced you into coming and sip at an orange juice while trying to follow the group’s conversation through your mild anxiety.

About 45 minutes in, there's a delight filled vocalisation that grabs your attention. A couple walks hand in hand towards a party of people already situated at a large table. You catch glimpses of their side profiles between the heads and shoulders of other individuals.

One of the pair, you realise with a sickening drop of your stomach, is your ex.

You shouldn't be surprised to see them here, this is their local. It was where you met, glued to your seat in the corner at your office Christmas party while your colleagues insisted loudly from the bar that you needed another drink.

You had already had way more than you could handle by that point, walking the line between drunk and sick, when a stranger sat down next to you with an unopened can of tonic water in their hand.

You had thought in that moment that maybe they were a guardian angel sent to save you from your tipsiness, and when you started to find you had things in common, you were truly convinced that something celestial was afoot. You had talked for hours into the early morning and texted all the next day. Moved in within six months and broke up just after two years.

Nosiness getting the better of you, you leave your memories and adjust your standing position to get a better view of them and their new partner.

Everyone is standing up and hugging in turn and then something happens that makes your brain stop processing.

The proffering of a left hand towards the centre of the table.

A left hand adorned with a glittering engagement ring.

The very same one that had been presented to you some 5 months earlier.

That was all it took for them to move on and propose to someone else. 5 months.

You can't bear to witness anymore.

Your ears can't ignore the situation however.

“Let me see it!” A voice cries, followed by a chorus of swooning.

The excited sounds in response to the diamond set band of silver echo in your mind as you walk towards the bathroom.

Sobs bubble up as you twist the lock on one of the stalls.

A multitude of sorrowful emotions are enveloping you, yet you are unsure as to why. You had turned down the marriage proposal. You had said no to trying for a baby. You had ended things. And despite that you can’t help but feel betrayal and grief at their rushed actions.

You begin to question whether it was always just the idea of settling down that most appealed to your ex. And if that were true, did they ever sincerely want you. Or were you, like their new partner, just a means to an end. There would be no way of knowing without a direct confrontation and you definitely don't want to do that. You need to leave as soon as possible.

With blurred vision, you're reaching into your pocket to find your phone and order a taxi. You normally walk home from work but you don't think it wise to do so in your current vulnerable state.

The app estimates 30 minutes; usually you would stay inside for the duration of taxi wait times however you cannot stand the thought of being spotted by them.

You slip outside and stand in the summer evening sunshine.

The ride home is painful. The driver keeps chancing looks at you in the rear-view mirror. Not surprising really, you haven't stopped sniffling since the moment you flopped down onto the back seat.

You manage to squeak out a sentence of gratitude at the other end.

Despite it being only 19:30, you know that you need to tell Morpheus of your threat-inducing situation to the Dreaming immediately and so your rush to get to bed is feverous.

Outerwear is discarded in the hallway, makeup quickly removed and pyjamas thrown on. Skincare and teeth brushing is a tad less hasty however, you end up in bed within 15 minutes of entering the door.

You call his name in a broken whisper.

“I’m really sorry. Something’s happened.”

You close your eyes and wait.

The cottage materialises around you with its crackling fire and pattering rain.

Morpheus is there instantly, forgoing formalities, entering the space without knocking on the door.

He stops a few paces from you.

You can instantly feel his soothing energy; combined with the tranquillity of your surroundings, you know you are safe yet you can’t stop the anguished noises you make every time you take a breath.

He moves slowly, watching you cry, approaching like you are a baby deer that might bolt at any second.

Morpheus speaks your name tenderly.

You look up at his beautiful face, the expression on his features a reflection of your own pain portrait.

He is feeling for you.

Desperation to be held by someone takes over all logic. You practically throw yourself into his personal space.

As with all physical contact that has been initiated by you in previous times, he stiffens in the initial moments.

But you keep your arms around his neck regardless. You need to be close to him.

Then, slowly but surely, he begins to emulate your stance.

The feeling of his arms snaking around your back has your eyes closing in relief.

"Can you stop the nightmares again, please?" You ask shakily.

"I have already done so," he whispers as he pulls you further into his embrace.

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"Welcome to the inner workings of my mind. So dark and foul I can't disguise. Nights like this, I become afraid of the darkness in my heart."

Taglist: @pinkcyclewitch @layla2-49 @shoidy-cat @silverhart93 @boofy1998 @dotieeee @ponyboys-sunsets @fangirlmary @littledollll @fatimakinney @jamiethenerdymonster @rosaren2498 @mr-sandman-bring-me-a-dream @madiebear @sandman-33 @sallysal9 @asiludida164

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megalony · 2 years

Text

What have you done

This is yet another Morpheus (Sandman) imagine, not requested, but I hope everyone will like it and feedback is always amazing. Thank you all for the comments on my Sandman imagines so far.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem @butlegendsneverdie @langdonzvoid @jennyggggrrr @rogmeddows @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout @deaky-with-a-c @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac @vousmemanqueez-blog @jonesyaddiction @milanosaurus @httpfandxms @saint-hardy @7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls @mrsalwayswritex @rogerina-owns-me @hellsdragon @im-an-adult-ish @crazylittlethingg @allauraleigh @onceuponadetectivedemigod @ceres27 @avyannadawn @dreaming-about-fanfictions

Masterlist

Summary: Morpheus and his wife have to go to Hell to get his helm back and an accident happens.

Enjoy.

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This wasn't a domain anyone would wish to rule.

With a deep sigh and a heavy chest, (Y/n) tried to keep her eyes focused on the crumbling path at her feet, making sure she didn't fall from the ledge they were walking round or stand on any remains buried beneath her feet.

At least in the dreaming the surroundings were pleasant to look at, the greys were glittered with stars in the sky and diamonds beneath the feet. Dark blue mixed in with the blackness, creatures of all colours painted the realm and so many of the valleys and fields used every colour imaginable.

Deep down beneath the surface, hidden away from the rest of the realms was Hell. The black colours were thick as fog with hues hanging through the air and smoke that got in the lungs and never seemed to cease. The sky was dark with tinges of blood red and smoke, reflecting the fires that merged throughout the realm. Bodies of those who had served their eternal time were built into the ground, the mountains, the stones, everywhere was the remains of those who were sentenced here.

The purpose of this realm was something (Y/n) could understand, but actually being down here witnessing it made her conscience uneasy. How was someone to rule this realm eternally? How slowly did time pass down here compared to up in the dreaming or the realm of Desire? Even Death was a brighter soul than any down here and her job made time fly away.

A shudder ran down (Y/n)'s spine at the thought of being here any longer than necessary.

Her purpose was to give people love in their lives, no matter how big or small. She gave feeling to every human being on the planet, just as Morpheus was connected to them and gave them inspiration and dreams. Neither of them were suited to even walk in this realm, even if Morpheus' look did make him blend in down here.

Relief sagged at (Y/n)'s shoulders when she could see the palace just further ahead of them. It was such a trek down here since they couldn't just turn up using the sand, they were Endless, they needed to be invited into another Endless' realm and that meant making the long walk to get into Lucifer's Kingdom from the doors at the start.

Moving her focus, (Y/n) kept her eyes on her husband instead of her feet, her attention raking over the thick velvet padded coat he was wearing that swayed and fanned out behind him in the breeze like a train on a wedding dress. His hair didn't move half as much as his coat but each strand was going its own way in the hot breeze from the thousands of fires created all around them.

"Venus!"

The breath (Y/n) drew in became a sudden rock in her throat, an obstruction she couldn't budge which caused her to cough and freeze at the same time.

No one had called her by that name for thousands of years.

There were many names for each Endless, Morpheus was mostly known as Dreamer, King of Dreams or the Sandman. (Y/n), for her duty and job of creating and destroying Love, was known by most humans to be Aphrodite. But there were some beings that related her to Venus- especially when it had been the time of the Romans. But no one nowadays knew she had been known by that name, a name she didn't associate with anymore.

No words could pass the lump in her throat even when her mind started to scream when a hand reached through the metal bars on her left and grabbed her wrist tightly. The mountain they were walking round had a passageway inside leading many on a trek down into the depths of Hell.

Some paths led people on their path to redemption, some were on an endless walk to nowhere, others were endlessly walking through fire or falling through the flames. Whoever was holding onto her now was not on a good path.

A frown etched itself onto Morpheus' stoic features causing his brows to furrow and a darkness to form behind his eyes.

His head slowly twisted to the left to look over his stern shoulder as his hands clenched into fists at his sides and Matthew stopped flying above him and perched down on the floor at his feet.

Who was calling his wife by that name? Who here in Hell was even wanting to talk to his wife?

"Venus, please, please set me free! Save me!"

"That's not within my power."

With saddened eyes, (Y/n) tried to work out who this being was who was holding onto her like a lifeline. It was a human, not any sort of God or creation or external being, but if the humans passed away then the Endless lost their connection to them. This human had been dead a long time, her features were deteriorating, wasting away from her journey along the scorching stones and through the pits of fire in Hell.

There was nothing (Y/n) could do to take people out of here, that wasn't what she did nor what she should be doing. If people were here, it was for a reason.

"Forgive me-"

The woman's gritty yet desperate voice cut off when a hand landed on top of her wrist and clenched it tightly. Morpheus wasn't surprised that she didn't recognise him, no one really looked at him and thought of their dreams or nightmares, it was a blessing to him to be able to walk amongst them and not be noticed. (Y/n) on the other hand, was the embodiment of Love, people loved in different ways but they always knew when the Goddess of Love was around them.

They saw her how they imagined her so they always recognised her.

"Forgiveness won't set you free, there is no end to eternity." Morpheus' voice wasn't harsh, it was soft and rather soothing as if he was trying to send the woman into a slumber to calm her down.

He uncurled her fingers from (Y/n)'s wrist before taking his wife's hand and gently tugging her closer, signalling that they should keep walking.

"What we do... it shouldn't end with humans being down here."

(Y/n) leaned her head against Morpheus' arm and curled her free hand around his lower arm, attaching herself to his side for both their comfort. They brought love, laughter, imagination, ideas and beyond to all who had their dreams and love. (Y/n) couldn't see how their efforts would have an ending like this, with people burning down in Hell for an eternity or for a hundred years or more. They didn't inspire and push them just for them to come down here.

"We give them the inspiration, the emotions and drive, it's up to them to wield it as they choose."

Morpheus hated to think that some of his best creations could lead a human to be wandering down here. But after a while, it was best to see things how they were, humans had their own free will. Dreams and Love may push them in certain directions but they will always do as they see fit.

Darting her eyes to her left, (Y/n) looked up at Matthew who slowly lowered himself down until he was able to hop along with the couple when they entered the kingdom. He didn't like where he was, he'd never been down here before and had been hoping he never would of had the chance to.

"Hello Dream- oh, and (Y/n), what a surprise this is." The smile that flooded Lucifer's face made (Y/n) shiver internally. It looked so crooked, so sugary sweet and fake all at once, it was almost revolting how hard it was for her to try and seem pleasant when she was appalled. It was also unnerving that her attire was unnaturally white, it made her stand out to her people and her servants that she was the one in charge, this was her domain. But it looked so wrong, the only splash of neutral colour in this realm was her.

Morpheus clearly didn't like the way Lucifer looked his wife up and down, she was searching for anything she could see and use as a weakness and this was her realm, everything was to her advantage here.

With a gentle yet possessive manner, Morpheus moved his left arm that was holding onto (Y/n) until he had her standing behind him. There was something in the air that told him this was a hostile environment. He knew it was going to be hard to get out of here with his helm but he had his ways and he had to get it back.

"This is no special visit-"

"Oh, have you come to join forces then?"

Morpheus couldn't help but let a smile slip onto his face at those little words. The amount of times he had been asked to join forces with such a place as this and every time the answer was always no. His feelings on this matter were the same, this was no realm he wanted to be joined with. The dreaming was joined to Love and that was the only connection he was ever willing or wanting to make.

"I have come because my helm of state was stolen from me, and I believe one of your demons has it."

"Well, which demon? Name it, and we will have it brought here."

She knew very well that Morpheus didn't know which demon had stolen it from him, all he knew was that his helm was here and he was going to get it back and take it with them to their realm.

He had had enough of the games Lucifer liked to play, it wasn't fun nor was it entertaining when he had things to do and places to be. Reaching into his pocket, Morpheus pulled out the small, itching bag of sand and crouched down to the floor. A smirk pulled at his lips as he slowly poured a reasonable amount of sand onto the marbled floor before standing back to his full height and standing in front of (Y/n), hiding her from Lucifer's sight.

The demon soon appeared in front of them all with the helm in his arms, though (Y/n) couldn't see him properly with her husband standing guard in front of her. She knew why he was being so possessive down here.

Hell wasn't a place (Y/n) liked to be for last time she had been down here, Lucifer hadn't played fair and had let one of her demons hurt (Y/n). She had only just managed to get out and make her way back to the shore of the Dreaming realm, washing up on the sand merely weeks before Morpheus had been captured. He thanked his stars that he hadn't been captured when it had happened.

"Dream, darling you don't have to do this." Reaching her hands up (Y/n) placed them on Morpheus' shoulders as she whispered the words against his neck. He didn't have to play this game with Lucifer, there were other ways they could get the helm back.

"Well Dream, he has chosen me as his champion... you know, you could have your wife as your champion-"

"And have her attacked by your mongrels? Why don't I send your demon-"

"Dream! Win this and get your helm back, I'm fine." (Y/n) pressed her lips to Dream's neck, feeling the muscles tense before relaxing beneath her touch. She couldn't have his anger getting riled up, it had been hard enough before to stop him from coming down to Hell after she'd been hurt. A fight right now when he was in a vulnerable position of needing his helm wouldn't make things any better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She cheated.

She wasn't playing fair and she was about to hurt Morpheus so she could win the game and keep him down here in Hell. All this because one of her own people was a thief and couldn't have the will to give up what he had taken. Something which the demon clearly didn't know how to wield anyway.

"Mistress-"

"Matthew don't call me that." (Y/n) hissed back at the raven who took it upon himself to perch on her shoulder as not to talk and distract their master who was at work. She couldn't have him calling her that, it made her sound like an old wench or someone having an affair or the likes of that.

"My Queen?"

"Oh please don't." A shiver ran down (Y/n)'s spine and her lips curled in distaste. She wouldn't be able to have Morpheus calling her that if she could hear and see Matthew saying it too. It sounded wrong coming from the raven who only had the right intentions at heart.

"Call her out, the game will end won't it?"

"She won't let us leave, cheating or not."

(Y/n) shook her head more to herself than Matthew before she crept forward towards the pair. They were absorbed in what they were doing, to them the room was darkened in a sheet of black and all they could see was the other one trying to become the victor. (Y/n) was unnoticed as she sneaked around to the python that was slithering closer to her husband.

She knew this trick. Lucifer's python would poison Morpheus and let his guard down so that she could win the game and he would have to stay here.

"My Lady don't!"

Matthew flapped his wings at his sides in utter panic just as the word 'hope' passed through Dream's lips. Without hope, there would be nothing, eternity could not beat hope for what would eternity matter if there was no one to live through it? Life would not continue without a sense of hope and strength.

Morpheus could feel his strength and health returning to him by the second as he slowly rose to his feet, a smirk playing on his rouge lips while his eyes focused on Lucifer who had officially lost the game.

He wasted no time in snatching his helm back from the demon who was still unwilling to part with it simply because he had managed to take it and now claimed it as his own. The small smile of victory was present on Morpheus' face as he spun on his heels, looking over at Matthew before looking at his wife, surprised to find that she had been standing behind him.

"Love? What's the matter?" He didn't like the look in (Y/n)'s eyes which were almost drowsy like they were drowning in the sea.

Her lips were pressed tightly together and her hands were scratching up and down her arms which were trembling. Why was she shaking? He had won, there was nothing to fear, everything had worked out just as he knew and thought it would. There was no way Morpheus would wager his soul to being down here in Hell if he thought he wouldn't win the game and get out of this place again.

Leaning to his left, Morpheus set down the helm near Matthew before he advanced towards his wife with narrowed eyes and a stern expression on his lips.

"Love?"

The corners of his lips twitched when (Y/n) held her hand out towards him as if he wanted to smile but couldn't bring himself to out of panic. His fingers gently cupped the back of her hand and smoothed over her soft skin before he tilted his head down to try and see what she wanted to show him.

Blood.

"T-the snake..." (Y/n) knew he would know what she meant, the snake Lucifer conjured up had to be something that she tried to use against him to win the power game. It didn't take a genius to know that the snake had been poisonous, even if Lucifer had gotten rid of it now before Morpheus to see it as (Y/n) wasn't the one who was supposed to be bitten.

"What have you done?!" The words roared from his lips like a beast escaping its cage when his head twisted round to look at Lucifer who was stood near back to the window. Her expression was a mix of defeat and smugness, not knowing which expression to show as either way something was going to happen now.

"Sir, she needs help, we have to leave."

Matthew rose from his feet, his eyes briefly managing to capture his Lord's attention before Morpheus was struggling in his pocket for the pouch of sand he had hidden there. The remnants flowed through the cracks between his fingers before he thrust them in the direction of the demon who first stole his helm.

"Oh, Dream,"

The words 'Sleep in eternal darkness' rattled past his lips before he turned to look at his wife.

It was clear she wasn't well, her head had become too heavy for her to hold up on her own any longer and all (Y/n) could do was allow her head to flop against her husband's chest and her body to fall into his arms. Even subdued by illness like this, Morpheus found that she still looked the embodiment of grace and beauty. But she was Love, she could make the dying beautiful and the most evil look like pure heaven to the right person.

Morpheus crouched down to his knees with (Y/n) encased to his chest, one arm around her waist and the other resting on her back so he could sprinkle sand around them both to take them back to their own realm.

"This isn't over." He spat the words with as much venom as he could muster before the sand engulfed them and he was cuddling his wife to his chest, keeping her safe and still until they were on the tiled floor of the hospital that rested at the edge of the realm.

"Alright my beloved, you'll be okay soon."

Doing his best to hold her up, Morpheus stood to his feet and tried to keep (Y/n) upright in his arms but it didn't seem to be going so well. He had no chance to look round for a doctor before her trembling fingers were latching into the collar of his shirt and yanking it down towards her to get his attention.

His head rolled down in her direction before he shuddered at the sight he was faced with. A steady flow of blood was trickling down from her nose, coating her lips in what looked like red paint that smudged when her hand swiped against her skin. The puncture marks on her hand were swelling and turning dark shades. But splatters of red flew out along the floor and coated Morpheus' clothes when (Y/n) coughed, spraying blood as she did so.

The slightest, quiet moan she let out made his heart squeeze and rip in half in his chest. She was in pain, she was hurt and ill because he had allowed her to go with him to Hell. Well he was going to make Lucifer pay highly for what she had done this time.

(Y/n) closed her eyes, curling up against her husband when he effortlessly scooped her into his arms, resting his lips to her temple before whispering something against her skin. Whatever he said did the trick in sending his wife into a meadow of red flowers and diamond blue lakes so she could rest while he took care of her.

"I've got you, my beloved."

#morpheus #morpheus x reader #imagine #the sandman #sandman x reader #dream #dream x reader #dream of the endless #dream of the endless x reader

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azi-sings-calliope · 10 months

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Hi! For the “Give Me a Character” Meme, how about Lord Morpheus himself, Dream? 💭

Oooh boy. Oh boy. Thank you so much for asking this, cos this is gonna be a ride.

*spoilers for the entire sandman comics, long post, be warned*

I consider Dream's character to be a can of worms except some are real worms and some are gummies.

In this post I'll talk about themes of what he was owed, what he owed others, hope, and the inherent agony of his existence.

Thoughts on Dream:

I think he was doomed from the start.

So. Morpheus is a character who I consider to be deeply realistic. Now, this is gonna sound strange, but allow me to elaborate.

Dream was created as an embodiment of hope and wonder in a universe that consistently destroys it. (This is just my interpretation). He's told he's omnipotent but comes to learn there are rules that bind him like any other creature.

But he's hopeful. So he forms relationships, loves, hopes, but the universe is wired against him, his function, and by extension, all the Endless.

So, these experiences make Dream bitter. He hates the universe, the mortals that resemble the ones he used to love, and Desire (we know why).

Now, like so many other beings, he's nearly hopeless. He's heartbroken and vengeful and cruel. He throws himself into his work. I think he's never able to do it fully. This is because he doesn't show himself to mortals, tries not to care about them, when his entire existence is meant to help them.

His work and detachment shows him how powerful he is. He becomes entitled, and I think that some part of Dream, whether that be conscious or unconscious (ha), feels as if he is owed something. Owed a stable function, owed some form of compensation for the agony of his existence.

But his work is what he exists for, he cares about it deeply, obsessively. Then he gets captured. In my interpretation, this imprisonment is when he realizes that he will never get compensated. It will always hurt. He's depressed, and hits the point of exhaustion, anhedonia. He realizes he's not invincible, his work can be compromised, he's owed nothing, and he spirals. He's obsessive again, he hunts for his tools, punishes people.

He jumps from obsession to obsession, trying to ward off creeping grief and apathy.

Through the help of other characters and the reality of who he once was, he begins to believe he can change.

He gets faced with his crimes, like Nada, and is hit with who he once was, and does what he can to fix the injustice he committed against her. At this point, he believes in change, in improving himself.

But then shit hits the fan, and in an attempt to help Delirium and Destruction, to get them what they are owed, he has to kill his son.

Orpheus is a point in his past that carries great grief, but moments - which are rare in Dream's life - of love and happiness. And he has to destroy that part. He gave Orpheus what he was owed.

He has atoned for his sins, and in doing so lost what he loved. Those sins always needed to be atoned for, but there was no other way to do it. Which is why I said he was doomed from the start.

His past sins, his change, his obsession with his function have left him hollowed out, exhausted, apathetic. I think of that Bilbo quote, "I feel like butter spread too thinly over bread." I think that's how Dream feels in the end.

As I've said a lot, Dream represents hope in a way. And he lost his hope continuously.

The universe beat him down, he beat himself down, he beat others down to the point he didn't have anything in him left to hope.

He believed he was owed compensation for his pain. He ended up giving others what he owed them.

(I interpret Daniel as a hopeful version of Dream, solidifying the whole hope message of the serious. But considering this is about the Morpheus aspect, I won't get into that here.)

Onto the thing I said at the start about him being realistic, while of course Morpheus' eternal existence is hard to relate to, I look at him, a being in that much pain with that much power, and be unable to do anything about it, and I think, how could you not be like that?

So, to sum up, a character who was destroyed by the universe, became cruel and vengeful, had to atone for their sins which were near inevitable by the very nature of their existence, then had to give up the unimaginable to atone for them, and in doing so lost everything and didn't care, because that was how much Hope lost his hope.

Dream was doomed from the start.

On that cheerful note, onto the other points!

Who I ship him with:

Dream x therapy

I love Morphienne, like I said before, it's just such a beautiful relationship built on trust and mutual respect and admiration I love it so much.

Dream and Calliope, please, they were so cute together before and during Orpheus, and they need to heal together.

And last but certainly not least, Dream x Lucifer. Now I have no platonic explanation for whatever Dreams description of them during Season of Mists was, but there was several layers of grief in that interaction. Plus they have great chemistry.

Non-Romantic otp:

Basically, all the ships but platonic, except Dream x Lucifer. I'm not picky.

But imma be honest and say Matthew, or, hot take, Bast, if she ever got over that crush. I just think their mutual love of cats would be adorable.

Unpopular opinion:

Even though I listed my ships, those are just wishful thinking. I think before Morpheus gets into another relationship, he needs to do some serious self reflection and improvement. I think canon proved jumping into relationships is something Morpheus' has a problem with. I don't think I'll be able to read a fic that immediately starts as a love story, and disregards Morpheus' flaws. (That being said this is just my opinion, all fics are amazing) His problems won't be solved by another person, no matter how cute they are together. He needs to work on himself.

What I wish had happened in canon:

This is actually difficult, because I genuinely think Dream's story is absolutely integral, and his character arc is mapped out exactly how it should be (in my opinion).

However, I wish there was a scene, maybe several, maybe a plotline, of Dream and Calliope working through their grief together. I would also like a scene, in the Kindly Ones, where Dream says goodbye to Lucien/Lucienne, because I think their relationship was too deep for it to go unsaid.

Well, I hope you liked my very cheerful answers, thanks again for asking!!

Note: everything I said was my interpretation or opinion.

#the sandman #dream ask #mild character study?

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ohraicodoll · 2 years

Text

Figment | Chapter 2

(gif credit: sic-vita) Chapters: 2/7 Fandom: The Sandman (Comics & TV 2022) Rating: Mature Relationships: Dream of the Endless | Morpheus/Original Female Character, Dream/Reader Characters: Dream of the Endless | Morpheus, Original Female Character, Matthew the Raven, Lucienne Additional Tags: Mix of TV Dream and Comic Dream, Spice a little later, kinda enemies to lovers, Cause Dream likes when people backtalk to him, lots and lots of tension Summary: She had only been able to enter other’s dreams two years ago, but she knew the rules.

Don’t interfere with the dream. Don’t create anything in another’s dream. Don’t destroy anything in another’s dream.

Chapter 2

I was being paranoid.

The first week after seeing the mystery man I downed whatever caffeine drink I could find. Just an ungodly amount of caffeine and sugar that kept me up late and then had me crashing hard. Forcing a crash meant I didn’t dream as much and if I didn’t dream, maybe my little transgression would be forgotten about or unnoticed.

When my body started to get used to the caffeine and I found myself nodding off while typing, I started googling things like intermittent sleeping and if sleeping medication staved off dreaming. The answer was no. So I took to napping a couple hours at a time for the next few weeks, but never a full night's rest.

I was thinking about the mystery guy too much and because of that, I kept seeing him in the brief dreams I did have while napping. He peered into the glass window of the café I sat at while a cat served me coffee and a human girl napped on the floor. When I walked across the branches of 100-foot-tall trees, I could feel those black endless eyes following me from far below on the forest floor. As I walked on the ocean floor with a large jellyfish chatting my ear off, I could have sworn it was his reflection I saw on the surface of the water, large and looming.

Thinking too much about something could bring it into the dreaming and since I was so anxious, he was going to appear of course. Right?

The intermittent napping wasn’t working unless the goal was to give me bags under my eyes the size of a bean bag chair. Another downside was that I was an adult that needed to work an adult job that required focus, which was not something I had.

After sending the same email to the wrong person three times in a row, I gave up and decided to take a sick day halfway through lunch. A girl had to eat and getting fired for fucking up an important document and emailing the wrong vendors wasn’t going to help the situation. I was going to have to sleep. This wasn’t sustainable and it’s not like that was actually the Lord of Dreams!

Of course not.

I splashed water on my face in the bathroom to try and shake off the increasing numbness I’d been feeling. It was disconcerting how much I’d been feeling this way in the past two years. Almost like the real world was the dream and vice versa. I felt like a shadow and after the few weeks of restless days and nights I’d been having, I wasn't even a solid shadow. I was thin and flimsy and my skin was looking a bit more faded.

My coworkers were chalking it up to the breakup but honestly, I hadn’t even thought of Thomas that much. Which probably said something in itself about how attached I had been in the relationship. He’d tried to stop by the office since I’d blocked him but luckily, we had a receptionist who gave me the heads up and he was told I was out of town for a conference. Jennine was a real one.

Hoisting my bag on my shoulder, I began the walk back to my apartment fifteen minutes away. The plan would be to go home, get some sleep, and if I dreamed I would stay strictly in my own. I hadn’t gone into anyone else’s since Thomas because no way was I risking that, but maybe if I was being watched I could act like I was completely normal and he’d move on.

Completely normal and not able to go walking around people’s dreams or remember them during the day or able to break your ex-boyfriend’s dreams out of drunken anger. Normal. I could do that. I had years and years of practice before two years ago, I could totally do that.

Pausing at the crosswalk for the lights to switch, I ran a hand over my tired face. Everything was a blur around me, barely registering, and the combination of heat and humidity from a passing Summer rain pressed onto me.

I was exhausted but anxious, the two pulling my brain in every direction. There was no telling how long I could keep this up. If that was the dreamlord and he was onto me, he was far more powerful than I was. He was already outlasting me. But what exactly did I do wrong? I didn’t ask for any of this.

A loud bird caw right above my head made me jump, startled, a few seconds before I realized my foot had slipped off the curb and into the street right as a semi-truck passed by. The world came back into loud, sharp focus and the truck blared a honk as it drove passed and my heart raced.

Blinking, I looked up to find a very large raven perched on the streetlight above me. It’s head quirked and then it fluffed up its feathers.

My heart was hammering and hands shaking from the close call, but I couldn’t help myself from staring at the bird. For a second, I wondered if I was dreaming and the raven had been trying to warn me.

“Thanks for that,” I muttered under my breath then shook myself, starting to walk forward as the walk sign turned on.

I needed sleep. I had thanked a bird. And I definitely had most likely hallucinated it bowing its head with a look of understanding before it took off into the sky.

_________

The forest was cold and foggy, the treetops so large and encompassing that I couldn’t even see the sky if I tried to in the utter darkness. My breath was coming out in ragged breaths, small puffs of white blowing in the cold.

I was in a nightmare. I hadn’t had one in so long, but the sleeplessness and exhaustion had probably brought it on.

My heart was thumping loudly in my ears and the sounds were so loud around me. Tiny snaps of branches. The chittering of bugs and night creatures. I swallowed and tried to calm myself. I couldn’t wake myself up if I wasn’t calm.

Something was watching me. I could feel its eyes on my back like heat searing my skin. I knew I shouldn’t turn, shouldn’t look behind me, but I couldn’t help it. Holding my breath, I slowly turned my eyes to look over my shoulder into the darkness of the forest. For a second everything was quiet and still except for the soft rasps of my frantic breathing.

Then eyes appeared and then more eyes, hundreds of eyes and dozens of mouths smiling dangerously in stark relief against the black void. I could see the slight inky movement of tentacles reaching and grasping the trees around it.

And then it started to run or whatever version of running a giant mass of eyes and teeth and tentacles could do, grabbing whatever it could to pull itself forward. It was so fast, so very fast and cackling and it rushed towards me.

I took off running.

The monstrous thing laughed, trees breaking under its grip as it bulldozed forward. I flew, hopping over broken logs and dead leaves. My feet were bare, each slap against the forest floor like sharp spikes through my heels, and all I had on was what I had passed out in, jeans and an oversized shirt. The cold stung and the small branches easily tore through the thin fabric and sliced up my skin.

It was gaining on me. I knew it. I wasn’t a runner, never had been, and even in this dream world I could feel the sharp ache in my sides that reminded me of that fact. I tried to choke out a cry for help but the cold ate the words away. There were eyes in the forest, eyes all around me, pressing in against me in the darkness. No moon, no stars, only a void and the cold.

There was a door ahead in the distance. I almost sobbed in relief and tried to force myself a little farther. If I reached it, I’d be safe. It couldn’t follow me through into someone else’s dream. There were rules to the creatures that inhabited the dream world and unlike me, they had to follow them.

Tears stung and I could feel the sharp bite of a dozen little cuts all over my body.

Just a little bit more. The monster laughed louder, closer, teeth gnashing.

My body slammed into the wood of the door, the impact reverberating through me and my own teeth slamming together as I desperately reached for the door handle. It turned easily but when I opened it, my stomach dropped.

It didn’t lead anywhere. The frame stood on its own and the other side was only more forest except now there were rows and rows of doors on either side like a hallway without walls. I shook, sobbing, and ran through grabbing the next door’s handle on the left.

Empty. I grabbed the one across. Another empty frame. Another and another. Each one led nowhere but gaped wide back into the dark forest like a never-ending taunt. There was no escaping.

The monster was so close and I could see the thrashing of its tentacles whipping around in the darkness. It was so big, impossibly huge as it came closer. I screamed in frustration and fear as one by one the doors led nowhere. Closer and closer, the mouths talked in a chorus of echoing voices, calling my name and mocking me.

Could I die in a nightmare? I had heard about some that were so scared in dreams that they gave themselves a stroke. I had heard of sleep paralysis and then there was dying in your sleep from unknown causes. And I was more aware in dreams, could feel the echoes of them in the real world. Could it kill me?

I shook another door knob in rage and screamed at it, watching it swing back into the open air.

Tentacles wrapped around the frame of the main door that had led me here, no longer running but curling slowly and dragging its body through. So many eyes, wet and roaming all over its body and taking me in. The mouths were fanged and sharp and grinned at me.

“...so ssssscaaared….soooo aloooone…” its mouths whispered, the voice sliding along my skin like thick, sticky tar.

I backed up, staring at this monstrous creature with disgust and terror. I couldn’t even feel the pain of sticks stabbing the underside of my feet, the small droplets of blood welling up and staining the forest floor.

It was only a few yards away now, grasping empty door frames to pull itself forward, body squeezing and filling the narrow corridor between doors.

I kept stepping backwards, away, but not sure where to run or if I turned around and tried more doors it would grab me and rip me to shreds with all its teeth. Wake up. Wake up! The words pounded through my head. My back hit wood and I could feel another door at my back. End of the line. I desperately reached for the doorknob blindly and let out another sob when it didn’t even open. Locked.

Of course.

“...nooo…where…to..runnnnnnn” the monster hissed mockingly, chuckling as it towered over me.

It lunged. I screamed.

The door opened behind me and arms yanked me back harshly, my body falling backward.

I was still screaming when the door slammed shut and dissolved, leaving me in nothing but an empty black void.

There was no light, no sense of ground or sky or walls, but I could see perfectly. I was shaking so badly. The arms wrapped around my waist let go unceremoniously and I fell to my knees, heaving in deep breaths and shuddering with how hard I was sobbing. It took me a while to understand that I was out of the nightmare, that I was safe. I think. But finally, shaking and face completely wet with tears, I forced myself to sit upright and look over my shoulder at the person who had grabbed me.

The stranger. There he was, standing in the void, towering over my hunched form.

Instead of a peacoat this time, a long inky cloak flowed around him like flickering shadows, flames dancing along the edges. He blended in with the void, made of pure darkness and moonlight. His skin was so pale, like marble, and his hair was a mess of black surrounding a face sculpted sharply from porcelain. But those eyes. Black, pure black, with twin stars staring directly at me, drilling into me. It hadn’t been a trick of the shadows back in the bar.

“It’s you,” I whispered breathlessly.

“So it would appear,” he replied, soft but powerful, like silk in thunderstorms.

The momentary relief halted, fear returning to flood my veins. I wasn’t sure if I should stand, stay kneeling on the ground, or make a run for it. But where could I even go? He quirked his head almost like he could read my thoughts. Could he read my thoughts?

I settled for slowly pulling myself off the floor, my legs weak from the effort. My clothes were torn and shredded from dirt and blood and the dew of the fog, hair matted to my face and neck. But I tried to at least stand with some dignity even if my feet felt like they’d fall off.

“You-,” I licked my lips and could taste coppery blood, “You’ve been in all my dreams lately.”

His face was an unmovable mask as he peered at me with those black eyes, “I have.”

“You’re the dreamlord,” it came out a shaky whisper, as if speaking it out loud would cause the door to burst open and the monster to come in. But he heard me, the barest twitch of a raised eyebrow.

“It seems you do, in fact, know of me,” he replied, almost mockingly, “So I can also assume you are not as ignorant as you try to seem about what you have been doing in my realm.”

I winced, hands balling into a fist at my side. I was scared and nervous and intimidated but there was this feeling deep down of indignation that I wasn’t sure about, “I vaguely know of you, but I didn’t think you were real. Just nonsense adults tell kids.”

“I assure you I am very real,” his words held weight as he took a step forward, “I am Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, and Lord of the Dreaming. And I believe, little dreamer, it is time we had words.”

I blinked and suddenly, my clothes were back to normal. No sign of damage or blood or dirt from my run through the forest. I couldn’t feel any of the scrapes and cuts anymore, though there was still a ghost of pain from where they had been. I was whole again, in one way at least.

Morpheus stepped forward, a good head taller than me and radiating a power I could feel all around me, “You interfered with another’s dream- a dream you should not have been able to access in the first place. And now you seek to hide from me.”

I swallowed, staring up into those bottomless eyes, and tried to find my voice, “I…did, but not on purpose!…I- I mean not the interfering part, I did enter another’s dream and I did try to hide but-”

One of his eyebrows raised as I bumbled my way through an explanation, “I did intend to enter the dream but I was drinking and I was upset and it wasn’t my best moment and before I knew it I was breaking things and-”

“Enough,” he cut me off. “You knowingly entered this man’s dream?”

Shrugging halfheartedly, I sighed, “I didn’t know it was going to be his, but I did know it was someone else’s dream. It’s…something I’ve been able to do for a couple of years. For some reason, before that, I couldn’t even remember my dreams, much less mess around with them.”

His jaw clenched and eyes danced away, a move so subtle I probably wouldn’t have noticed it if he wasn’t hovering over me. “There were…circumstances that kept most away from the Dreaming for a long time. Even thus so, a dream walker has not entered this realm in centuries and for good reason,” Morpheus spoke.

The term dream walker rolled in my head, settling in as if to yes, “Yes, yes, that’s what we are.”

But I frowned, the fear and tension starting to become an even tenor, almost like my body was getting used to being high strung and therefore it was less intense. Afraid but not as much. Dream was intimidating and powerful, but something itched in the back of my head that whispered, “He’s only a man.”

Dream walkers had been around though. My grandmother had said she had the gift when she was a kid and that it ran in the family. She wouldn’t have known about it unless she had done it herself so that was a lie.

“Or maybe they all learned how to not get caught,” I mumbled absentmindedly before realizing I had said it out loud. The implication that he’d been outsmarted, that they’d been under his nose and he didn’t even know it.

His eyes instantly returned back to mine, a flicker of anger in them as the twin stars burned red. And that pleased me for some reason. Like I, a mere mortal, was able to get a reaction from him.

“I am the Dreaming,” he practically growled, “This is my realm and you deliberately have broken my laws. Mortals cannot traverse through other’s dreams.”

“If that’s so, why can I?” I snapped back. It was like an out of body experience. The exhaustion and anxiety and frustration from the last few weeks of pushing myself to the limit to hide from him had it all rearing up. He’d caught me, there was no more hiding, but is what I did so reprehensible?

“I didn’t ask to be able to do this. It just happened and you know what, I’m not sorry,” I bit out, straightening myself out and standing taller, “Yes, I did go into another person’s dream but I didn’t know it would be Thomas’. But even then, that asshole deserves to have his little fantasy smashed to bits.”

It had to be delirium that was propelling my mouth, because I’d gone insane. Morpheus’ lips pursed and those twin stars flashed in his eyes as he stepped closer, bearing down on me.

“You dare-”

“For two years, I’ve been a good girl and didn’t interfere once,” I cut him off, anger roaring in my ears, “I do it one time and you’re acting like I might as well have killed someone. So how about we call that fucked up little nightmare that tried to eat me a slap on the wrist, I agree to not mess with anyone again, and call it a day because I am tired of turning around and seeing you in every corner of my dreams.”

He stepped forward again, so close I could feel his breath on me. Power rolled off him, his cloak whipping around our feet angrily. The flames from the inky fabric did not burn as they danced off him and brushed against me, the cloak sliding along my skin whispering of dreams and nightmares and stars and shadows and stories so ancient. In the vastness of the black void we stood in, he seemed darker than the mind could fathom.

The Dream King glowered, otherworldly and beautiful and full of fury, and glared down straight into me with hot anger, “You deem to tell me what I should do, little dreamer? You have no idea the games you play. The Dreaming is not your playground to do as you like and I am not yours to command.”

I raised my chin, “What is dreaming if not a place where you can play out your fantasies? I didn’t hurt anyone and I don’t see how I’m yours to command either so we’re done here.”

The corner of Morpheus’ lip twitched in unamused humor. “Impertinent little thing,” he whispered coolly, so close to me I could feel it.

“Well you’re really going to hate this,” I muttered, craning my neck to stare back directly into his eyes, almost a challenge.

I could see Morpheus knit his brow as he tried to guess at my words but by the time his mouth formed the shape to yell at me, I’d already quickly whispered out my command.

“Wake up.”

There was no melting away. One second, I was staring up at an angry ancient being and the next, I was jolting upright and breathing hard. My hands gripped the bedsheets, straining to ground myself in some way in the real world. I was awake, the room was whole and empty. No cuts on my feet, no swirling black cloak. No black void, no angry Morpheus. Safe.

I cupped my face in my hands, groaning loudly as my skin settled into normal gravity. I could still feel that anger roiling inside me but reality was taking hold, dousing it quickly in ice as the realization of what I’d done settled in. I hadn’t been drunk this time, had only been fueled by exhaustion, sleep deprivation, and the fear from the nightmare. But still, I had yelled at the Dream King.

I had essentially yelled at him and then shut a metaphysical door right in his face. What was wrong with me?

I was so fucking dead.

#the sandman fic #the sandman fanfiction #the sandman fanfic #sandman fic #sandman fanfiction #dream of the endless #dream x ofc #dream x fem!reader #dream x reader #morpheus x ofc #morpheus x reader #morpheus x fem!reader #the sandman #series: fragments #fic: figment #morpheus

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teecupangel · 1 year

Note

I honestly adore your yew branch series on AO3 and saw your Tumblr just now.

Seeing as you also posted for other DC crossover stuff what is your opinion on AC x Sandman crossover? I think it would be pretty cool if Desmond either woke up as a citizen of the Dreaming or as one of Morpheus' ravens (maybe Matthew?)

What do you think?

Thank you! I’m happy to know you adore my Yew Branch series :)

Other DC crossover ideas:

Desmond gets adopted by Batman

Desmond becoming John Constantine Problem (1/2/3/4)

As for an AC x Sandman crossover, I was thinking if I should make this full on Sandman lore gets added to AC world or if I should make this Desmond gets sucked into DC verse and make it Sandman-centric.

Then I thought… let’s make it vague instead so you guys get to choose if this is Sandman lore added to AC world or not. (If it is, the idea is the Endless are not related to the Isus in any way, they predate them and are the personification of the core concepts of the universe. However, the Calculations are connected to them in some way)

Anyway!

So the idea is Desmond becomes ‘connected’ to the Endless after dying to save the world. And I know you want him to become a citizen of the Dreaming or one of Morpheus’ ravens but… see… there’s one Endless that would be more… ‘attracted’ to Desmond in a way:

Destiny.

Considering Desmond is the chosen one and his entire life has been one long intricate planning by the Isus to ensure that Desmond is born and raised in a specific way and no matter how long or far he ran, he still became an Assassin just like his parents wanted him to be, Desmond is pretty much the poster boy for Destiny.

One might even say that Desmond could be consider a ‘personification’ of Destiny.

But Desmond hates that. Destiny is the reason why he died. Destiny is the reason why his ancestors, the people he come to care for so much that he sometimes isn’t sure anymore if he cared for them because he saw and felt their memories or because he wished he could be them instead of being Desmond Miles, had to go through so much suffering.

Destiny is the very antithesis of what the Assassins try to protect: freewill.

So he ran away.

And he finds solace in Dream’s domain.

There is something peaceful in being one of Dream’s citizens. Of being in charge of providing sweet dreams.

Hopeful dreams.

But Dream is… well, Dream. Dream can provide nice dreams or nightmares. Dreams give people hope to continue living.

But Dream won’t go against the eldest of them, Destiny.

And it is during Desmond’s time as one of Dream’s citizen that he hears of another. An endless who abandoned his realm.

Destruction.

And so, Desmond sets out to find Destruction, hoping Destruction would give him a clue or perhaps even a way to get away from Destiny once and for all.

Unorganized Notes:

Destiny acts more like an aloof parental figure who thinks Desmond is having a rebellious phase. Destiny doesn’t hate Desmond and knows Desmond would come back. It is Desmond’s destiny after all. (What Desmond’s destiny though in relation to Destiny, no one knows, but Dream theorizes that Desmond is meant to be Destiny’s successor which horrifies Desmond)

Dream takes Desmond in and lets him give people hopeful dreams. Desmond finds solace in Dream’s domain while talking to Desmond makes Dream have a better understanding of what it means to be mortal. Dream usually appears to Desmond as an eerie pale man but Desmond is never frightened. He does like to joke that Dream needs to get some sleep. It does not make Dream laugh.

Death and Desmond have a friendly relationship and Death actually thinks of Desmond as an old friend because he has the memories of three other people. In Death’s eyes, Death has already met Desmond more than once. During the birth and the deaths of his ancestors and his own birth and death. However, Death is also on the side of Destiny, in the sense that there is nothing Desmond can do. For the sake of their friendship, they don’t talk about it.

Desire… well… Desmond hates Desire because, every time Desire visits, Desire always takes the appearance of one of his ancestors. Because they are Desmond’s greatest desire after all. The desire to give his ancestors a happier life. The desire to be like them. The desire to make their sacrifices mean something. The desire to meet them. The desire to… Desire knows all that and uses them. Desire has the greatest chance of pushing Desmond to do what they want but Desmond also has the shortest temper when dealing with them.

Despair makes Desmond feel uncomfortable because of how peaceful he feels whenever Despair is around. Despair finds Desmond beautiful because he holds so much despair inside him. The despair and grief of his ancestors and his own despair and grief. Desmond holds so much despair in him than any mortal should have. “But I’m still here. I still want to live.” “And that is what makes you beautiful, Desmond Miles.”

Delirium… Delirium gives Desmond a headache. Whenever Delirium speaks to Desmond, it’s always about random things and then there would be a sentence or even just a few words that makes Desmond believe that Delirium knows more about Desmond’s situation than Destiny does. On the other hand, Delirium loves Desmond because… well… Delirium is the absence of sanity and Desmond’s Bleeding Effect ‘delights’ her to no end.

Destruction… wellllll… Destruction is Desmond’s end goal so they wouldn’t interact until the very end of this plot. It actually took a while for Desmond to learn about Destruction because all the Endless prefer to call him “The Prodigal” or the “Lost Brother”. Honestly, Desmond wasn’t given any information about Destruction and the Endless believe that he had mistaken Destruction’s actual duties for something he thinks he can ‘use’ to escape Destiny. They believe (other than Destiny who remains quiet) that meeting and talking to Destruction would be the event that Destiny is waiting for so that Desmond would accept his… well… ‘destiny’.

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irritatedbookshrew · 2 years

Text

Thoughts on Hell (and yes, more trauma)…

That episode. Oh, THAT episode.

Episode 4 was probably the one I was looking the most forward to because it leads into my favorite story arc (Season of Mists) of Sandman’s run.

It did not disappoint.

**SPOILERS AHOY**

NADA. I was shrieking like a banshee to see her in her cell! Everything about that moment was beautiful and tragic and illustrates part of who the old Morpheus was (and still is, though he will work on it). The pettiness, the hurt, and, once again, betrayal in Dream as he says it has been 10,000 years and he still has not forgiven her.

Dream doesn’t nurse his grudges. He feeds them entire buffets and then puts them on steroids.

I am expecting that we’ll see the backstory of Nada and Dream in season 2. I can’t imagine Netflix won’t go ahead with a second season at this point, and it is key information for the understanding of just what went on and how unjust Nada’s punishment is.

Here’s the thing—Morpheus does not like being stymied. He’s arrogant, ruthless; he can be petulant and petty. Nada didn’t just deny him. She threw herself off a cliff because she’d been placed (by Desire) in an impossible predicament. If she stays with Morpheus, she’ll be going against her own responsibilities as Queen of her people. If anyone should understand and empathize with that, you’d think Morpheus would, right? No. Nada tells him that she has to do this, that even though she loves him, she must do what is right, even though Dream tells her the consequences awaiting her.

He could have let her go. He could have stayed away from Hell. And yet again, she refuses him because mortals were not meant to love the Endless. She is protecting him as much as she’s protecting the world. But Morpheus can’t see that because he is hurting, in pain, a man in love with a woman who loves him too.

So when she denies him that final time, he punishes her. Because he CAN’T punish Desire. First, the Endless can’t shed family blood else the Kindly Ones come to call. Second, Dream holds himself above the juvenile machinations of his younger siblings. His pridefulness makes him a prime target for Desire who wants nothing more than see him lose that arrogance. And since he cannot hurt Desire, he chooses to hurt the one person he can—Nada.

In hurting her, he’s hurting himself.

It's a shallow excuse at best. Because Desire doesn’t care—that’s not what Desire is.

Dream’s decision is compoinded by the fact that even after his captivity, he still sees fit to keep Nada in Hell. Morpheus is clutching at his pride, at what little strength he has when he goes to see Lucifer and Lucifer knows this—why else would he be thrown in Nada’s path? How would it look if Dream forgave Nada now? He needs to get his helm back, he needs to ask a sovereign for it after he’s been humiliated and hurt, he needs to project strength. If he asks Lucifer for a favor (hey, could you please release my ex-girlfriend from 10,000 years of torment, LOL, my bad) with nothing to bargain with and no real power, he’d be up a creek without a paddle.

Morpheus is such a fascinating contradiction. So self-aware and so blind. Holding himself aloof when what he longs for is connection. Unable to say what he wants without twisting it around a thousand different ways. He embodies the dreams and delusions we tell ourselves in order to pretend we are in control, better, stronger, invulnerable. Because he does all these things throughout the comic.

When does Morpheus relent? When Death calls him on his bullshit. He has chosen to remain blind, to marinate in that hurt from 10,000 years ago. He could have forgiven Nada at any point. He could have tried to understand instead of just focusing on his own wounds. Trauma is messy, as is heartbreak. Morpheus failed in his duty to kill Nada and he lives with that failure as well. He failed in his responsibilities. With Nada, if affected the waking world before it could affect the Dreaming but that was enough.

I don’t think it was coincidence that Dream runs across Nada in Hell right after he sees what the Dreaming has become in his absence. She’s a reminder of his failure. Another reason he cannot forgive her in that moment, not when the trauma of what was done to him is too fresh in his head.

I am not a Morpheus apologist, btw. I’ve always thought him a delightful prick. I just really enjoy picking him apart. And this is Dream at his shittiest.

#dream of the endless sandman #sandman #the sandman #comic #neil gaiman #trauma #thinky thoughts #meta

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dragon-kazansky · 6 days

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Heart of the Dreaming

Morpheus x Female Reader

Soulmate AU

{Masterlist}

{Previous Chapter} - {Next Chapter}

Chapter Seven - Burgess curse

☆☆☆

"You have to wake up."

You're not sure exactly what happened or who that man was, but you were afraid. Dream wasn't opening his eyes, and you didn't know what to do.

Matthew stood next to you, looking at you both. You couldn't tear your eyes away from the unconscious Dream.

"So, uh, I have to ask..." Matthew started. You glance at him, but only for the briefest of moments. "Are you two... close?"

"No."

"You seem kind of close."

"We're not." You curl up into a ball and take some deep breaths. You're not sure what's going to happen if he doesn't wake up.

"But he was worried about you."

"Look, Matthew... it's complicated. I'm his soulmate or whatever. It doesn't mean anything. The only reason he is tagging me alone is because of that. Once we're done here, I plan to leave. I don't know where I'll go, but I'll figure it out."

"You're not going to stay with him?" Matthew caws.

"No."

"Maybe you should."

You look down at the raven again. You're sat there talking to a bird waiting for the Sandman to wake up. Nothing is making sense, and everything is overwhelming. You just wanted to rest.

"Why don't you get some sleep. I'll keep watch," Matthew offers.

You feel like you would rather stay awake, but you csnt dent how tired you were starting to feel. Matthew seemed trustworthy, and after everything that's happened, you needed to trust in something. Maybe this was your new normal, after all.

After a few hours, Dream wakes. He opens his eyes slowly and takes a moment to gather his thoughts together. He remembers being in Hell and then coming to get his ruby. When he touched the ruby, he could tell something was wrong.

Morpheus pushes himself up with a soft groan. Matthew hops into view and looks up at him.

"Matthew."

"Uh, my lord." Matthew bobs his head down into a bow. "We were worried about you."

"We?"

Matthew turns his head and looks over at where you're sleeping. You're curled up against the wall. Dream gazes over at you. This is the quiest you've been since he rescued you.

Morpheus moved over to you quietly and took a moment to admire you. You're very pretty.

He thinks back to what you said to him. You dreamt of him when he was trapped. As you lay there in front of him now, he wondered what you dreamt about now.

He raised his hand toward you, feeling tempted to touch you gently, but you began to stir, and he took his hand back quickly.

You wake up and turn your eyes toward him. "You're awake!"

"Yes." He watches you push yourself up into a sitting position. He wanted to ask how you were doing but resisted. "The ruby?"

"Gone. There was a man. He came and took it. I don't think he saw us, but he's gone. I'm not sure where."

Morpheus looks at you. You had stayed by his side. You could have left at any point, but you didn't. That meant quite a lot to him, but he wasn't about to tell you that.

"I can find the ruby. It has been altered, but I'll be able to find it. Come." Morpheus leads the way out of the storage unit.

You get up by yourself and take a moment to look down at Matthew before following Morpheus out of the storage unit. You have no idea just how much time had passed while inside there. It took a while for Morpheus to wake again. You can tell he knows more of his power is gone. He is weaker than he was before. The ruby has robbed some more of his power at seemed.

You find yourself outside a diner. The place was in disarray. Something had clearly happened here. Morpheus glances at you and then steps inside. You follow him quietly.

People lay dead in the middle of the room.

You stand by the door as Morpheus approaches the man sitting at the counter alone.

"Hello." The man sighs. "I'm John. I'm glad you're here. The power has gone out. So there's no TV, and no one left to talk to."

"What is it you think you're doing?" Morpheus asks.

"Saving the world from its lies."

"The ruby wasn't made for that."

John gasps softly. "Oh, you're the Sandman. My mother was right. She said you'd be coming for it."

"You must return it to me so that I can repair the damage you have done." Morpheus tells him.

"I'm not giving it back to you, it's mine."

"It is harming you, John, and your world."

"It's revealing the truth," John says softly. "This is the truth of mankind."

"No. You're wrong. This is the truth of mankind."

Morpheus shows John how these people he killed lived their lives. What they did. What they dreamed about. How they lived. He took all of that away from them.

Kate dreams of running away where no one could find her. Garry dreams of proving his father wrong. Bette dreams of creating something that would matter to people. You feel sorry for all these people. Their hope had been taken from them.

"The ruby is hurting you, John." Morpheus says to him. "It has too much of my power within it. It stole more when I tried to use it."

"Then perhaps if I use it to steal the rest of your powers, I will be the King of Dreams." John says.

You frown.

"Your mother... what was her name?" You ask.

John's eyes turn to you. He looks like he only noticed you now. You don't think much of it as you watch him closely.

"Ethel." Dream answers for him.

"Your father..." You look at John. "My word..."

"Do I know you?" John asks.

"No. No, but I... I think I know you. Sort of." You tell him your name. "Rodrick was my father too. Though you didn't know him. I did. I lived in his house for many years."

"You don't look old enough," he comments, suspicious of your words.

"No. I suppose I don't." You glance down at yourself. You had almost forgotten you had long since stopped aging.

"Did he love you?"

You look up at him in slight shock. You didn't think he'd ask that. "No."

"I see." John takes a moment to look at you. Really look at you. "We are alike then."

"Are we?"

Dream is cautious of the other man. He doesn't quite like this conversation topic. This man could use you against him if he was clever about it. Dream didn't want to take any chances.

"I think so, yes." John nods.

"I don't want power," you tell him softly.

"I'm want to expose the lies."

"Lies?"

"People turn a blind eye to the truth. They pretend not to see it and live in a fantasy just to make them feel better. Wouldn't the world be a better place of everyone was honest?"

"Honesty is important, but so are dreams. It is not for you to decide what people do and don't do." You look at him firmly and raise your hand up. "Give me the ruby."

"No." He shakes his head. "I know what you're trying to do. I won't let you."

You want to take a step closer to him, but Morpheus reaches out and grabs your wrist gently. He pulls you behind him gently.

"If you would rob a Dream lord of his power, you shall do so in his realm. In dreams."

Just like that, John is in the Dreaming. You have no idea where you are. You assume this is his realm. This is your first time here. Everything felt strange.

While John chases his past through dreams. Morpheus prepares to deal with him.

John comes to the throne room. "Is this your palace... Dream Lord? Is this your throne... King of Lies? Well, it's mine now!"

John raises the ruby in his hand. The palace begins to crumble. "Are you watching? Can you see me?" The palace continues to burn away. "Using your own powers to burn away your lies."

"You must stop." Morpheus appears with his helmet on. "It is not too late to save yourself."

"Oh, you think it's me that needs saving?" John says.

"Your father stole the ruby from me and cursed you with it."

"You mean he blessed me with it." John raises the ruby up again. "Your reign ended when my father captured you. Your kingdom is my birthright."

"No!" You shout, but he doesn't listen. John is killing Morpheus with the ruby.

"Your power resides within me."

Morpheus falls to the ground, curled up, unable to fight back. "How does it feel to know I hold your life in my hands?" John asks.

"You're hurting the dreamers," Morpheus says, grunting in pain.

You can not go to him. Morpheus has made it so. He didn't want you hurt at the hands of John Burgess.

"Well, it's time they woke up! Your life and your lies end now."

John crushes the ruby. Everything around him is gone. He did it. He killed the Sandman, or so he believes.

"Thank you, John."

John looks up to find himself looking up at the Dream Lord. He is standing on his palm, feeling so small compared to this Dream Lord.

"But I killed you."

Morpheus speaks. "You destroyed the ruby and released the power inside it. I would never have thought of that. I'd forgotten just how much of myself I had placed in the jewel."

"Are you going to kill me?" John asks.

"I could. Perhaps I will. But the dream stone was not made for mortals. And it came to you through no fault of your own. So, no, John. I will not kill you."

☆☆☆

You stand in the throne room and gaze up at the large coloured windows. A lone throne sits at the top of a set of stairs. Dream stated he had to deal with John and that he would be back soon.

You turn with the sound of footsteps behind you and find Lucienne coming over to you, Matthew flying over her head and landing beside you.

"Welcome," she greets you.

"Hello."

She looks at you for a few moments, taking you in. This was her first time seeing you. She was curious about the woman fated to her king.

"Will he be long?" You ask softly.

Lucienne lifts her head up a little bit and town answers. "I don't think so."

"I see."

Silence fills the space between you both again. You're not sure what else to say to her. You just wanted to talk to Dream about what happens now. He has his tools.

"A room has been made for you," Lucienne tells you.

"A room?"

"Yes. Where you shall stay. If it is not to your liking, you can tell Lord Morpheus, I am certain he can change it to how you like."

You don't have the heart to tell her you don't intend to stay, but never the less you nod. Lucienne takes you to your room.

You enter the neatly decorated place. There's a bed, a dresser, a vanity table, and a chair next to a stained glass window.

"You can wait in here until his return," Lucienne suggests.

You say nothing and walk over to the bed, taking a seat on the night sky bedding. Lucienne looks at you once more before leaving you alone.

You sigh and lay back on the bed.

You had a feeling nothing in your life would ever be the same again.

☆☆☆

@deniixlovezelda - @missdreamofendless - @kpopgirlbtssvt - @meganlpie - @thoughtsfromlayla - @ladyjbrekker

@mwaaaaaugh - @bluespecs14 - @intothesoul - @lady-violet - @navs-bhat - @krahk - @oldsoulmagic

@rubyrose2014 - @lorkai - @roxytheimmortal - @star-maker-rain-dancer - @intothesoul - @gemini-mama - @whotperlinda

@dreamingblueberries - @the-shadow-of-aurora - @novavida - @blackgirlmagicforever

@permanentlyexhaustedpigeon88 - @hopshusushi - @sloppyzengarden - @thecraziestcrayon -

#heart of the dreaming #morpheus x reader #dream x reader #the sandman #soulmate au #dragon writes

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danwhobrowses · 2 years

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The Sandman - Quickfire Thoughts

So after a series of sporadic binges between Netflix tussles I've finished The Sandman. Having gone into the adaptation of Gaiman's comic fairly blind I had barely any expectations, but here's what I thought of it

Spoilers for the show of course, you were warned

As much as I don't want to invoke the wrath of Gaiman - who also frequents the tumblr - negative points for not fitting Enter Sandman in the entire show.

A strange observation but, is it me but ever since Game of Thrones Charles Dance seems to only do small or low-screentime roles now; Godzilla King of the Monsters, Dracula Untold and now Sandman, he's great but because he's great it's curious that he doesn't do many long-term roles

Dream's casting was great, and props to Tom Sturridge for carrying an aura of menace and power in the first episode while butt naked

One of the very few things I knew of The Sandman comics was ol' toothy eyes, The Corinthian, and boy howdy was Boyd Holbrook fantastic, he's one of the five characters, including Sturridge as Dream, I feel dominates every scene they're in, he's a great charismatic but manipulative villain

The Gregory stuff made me sad, the show did have a fair amount of moments where it's meant to be sad and uncomfortable, but at the same time I don't want to be that sad or that uncomfortable

Liked the river scene, it's super artsy and dark. I wish we had more of that from this series, stuff like in this gif where Dream is as chilling as any nightmare he created, would've liked to see more of the Fates too

I do love some Jenna Coleman, been a fan all the way back since she debuted on Emmerdale, but, it didn't feel like her role in her episode was enough to necessitate the Constantine nod. Jenna could've been a regular sorcerer, or even an immortal Johanna. I dunno I think I just kinda hoped to see Matt Ryan reprise as John, especially since DC is killing the Arrowverse. Maybe DC didn't wanna play ball or Neil has S2 plans for her, but we needed more of Jenna to establish Johanna.

Speaking of potential Season 2, Hell. The Hell Episode was great, mainly because of standout no.3: Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer. Tom Ellis' Lucifer series wasn't something I quite got into, I heard rumblings of it ending dumbly, but Christie's Lucifer is amazingly sinister but in a quiet way, they know who they are so they don't need to threaten, but there is that twinge of sadness and longing that Dream exploits in their Oldest Game

Though 'anti-life' felt like a cheat, I did like the Oldest Game. The wink nudge of Lucifer picking a direwolf but then, by my interpretation, Morpheus choosing hope to corner Lucifer into submitting rather than become something that would diminish their own hope. Matthew the raven gets props as well for giving Morpheus the inspirational pep talk

24/7 was one of those cases where it was a great episode but one I was greatly uncomfortable with, sometimes my own fault like forgetting that Bette's son is in college. But this does explore why John Dee's views on a perfect world is twisted and the Ruby is not safe in his hands, I did feel especially bad for Bette

Oh, John Dee is no.4, David Thewlis man. As much as Dee was unnerving, apathetic, and calculating, Thewlis did a great job in showing the childlike innocence that had been contorted by his sheltered life and manipulation, there is poetic irony that he wants a world of honesty but consistently deceives himself.

Episode 6 was perhaps my favourite, among my comic knowledge was the presentation of Death in Gaiman's story as a joyful punk rock girl who is full of life, Kirby Howell-Baptiste did a great job. I did of course feel extra sad when she approached the cradle, instant thoughts of 'no, not the baby!' in my mind, I don't know enough of her character to wonder if she still feels burdened by the abruptness of some people dying but there can be time for that later

What made it my favourite though was the Hob storyline, it was just nice and wholesome really and it explored more of Morpheus' ever-shrinking distance from humanity

The Vortex storyline I wasn't as sold on as the 'Morpheus reclaims his powers' storyline, it was still good but it did sit in the real world more than the fantasy

I enjoyed the whole house of people and Lyta, and how they all supported Rose in her search for her brother, plus the connection with Unity to merge the storylines together

Probably what made me not so connected to the Vortex storyline in spite of it having the Corinthian be the main villain is the nature of the Vortex, we're told very little about its nature and the 'I don't know' answer does feel weak, she is powerful just because

Morpheus also seems to take two steps back on his character development too, to go from Death telling him that they are not better than humans, should learn to take people's help and him accepting that he and Hob are friends to 'I will use this Vortex, a threat to the dreaming and waking world entirely just to bait some rogue nightmares' and also dismiss Gault's suggestion that even nightmares can change and want did feel like he was undoing his own work

Didn't quite like the Rumpelstiltskin vibe he was giving out with saying he'd come for Lyta's baby too, there could've been at least a bit more compassion or explanation, instead it served as a 'misunderstanding' trope to distance Rose from Morpheus

The ending was solid, albeit one which could've used a bit more explanation. Desire was a character we saw so little of - much like Cain and Abel, whose dynamic reminded me of Hilda and Zelda in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - and even though we have them outright tell Despair that they are the mastermind of Morpheus' imprisonment and the Vortex arc, we don't actually see any of their actions, just an off-comment by Unity that clocks Morpheus in on the deception.

I feel like, while Gaiman may've intended to keep the audience out of loop, it may've served better to see Desire perform at least one action that guided the plot around, even if it was just to twirl a fake mustache, and explain how they intended to use the Vortex to be Morpheus' undoing, since there seems to be rules for not killing an endless' kin not established in the series (that I recall anyway) was the plan, but since I don't understand what that would lead to it's hard to understand the threat.

Overall I liked it, going in mainly blind I do have my questions but we had a great cast all doing really well, and I want to see more of it, so it laid some strong groundwork we can hopefully build towards.

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ilovewhiteroses · 1 year

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The comparison of The Corinthian and Cassidy

Hello there! I hope everyone is doing fine! In this post I looked at the similarities and differences between The Corinthian from Netflix's Sandman and Proinsias Cassidy from AMC's Preacher (they are originally from DC comics). I did this because I love both men and I thought it would be interesting to take a little closer examination at them 😀

DISCLAIMER: This post features mentions of violence, horror and adult themes so do not read it if you are under 18! Also, spoilers for both shows.

NOTES: - I never read the comics, this post is about the show version of the characters (as it is mentioned above). - Keep in mind that these are my views and opinions therefore they may differ from yours. - I didn't go into depths, I wrote in general terms. - At the end of the post I listed the sources that I used and helped me in this writing. - The most important: All this was written for simple fun, please, no mean comments! 😇

THE STORY: Sandman: Morpheus, the personification of dreams and one of the seven Endless, is captured in an occult ritual in 1916. After being held captive for 106 years, Dream escapes and sets out to restore order to his realm, the Dreaming.

Preacher: Jesse Custer is a hard-drinking, chain-smoking preacher who, enduring a crisis of faith, becomes infused with an extraordinary power. He embarks on a quest to better understand his new gift and literally find God, alongside his trigger-happy ex-girlfriend, Tulip, and new vampire friend, Cassidy.

THE ACTORS: Boyd Holbrook: American actor known for Narcos, Logan, The Predator. Joe Gilgun: English actor known for Misfits, This Is England, Brassic.

THE CHARACTERS: The Corinthian: He was a tall, blonde and charming nightmare who escaped the Dreaming. Despite being old (in the show he was thought to be around 130, although I think he was much older), his desire for freedom and independence was more similar to a rebellious teenager. When he broke free, he enjoyed life and killed people for pleasure over the years and he was notable for his sunglasses, due to the fact that he had no eyes just a pair of small fanged mouths in place of them.

Proinsias Cassidy: He was a roguish, dark haired (but was blonde in season 4) former human, who turned into a vampire in 1916. Cassidy was around 119 and since he had nothing better to do in the world, he also enjoyed life: he was drinking, used drugs and slept with people. Similarly to Corinthian, he had sunglasses but only wore them rarely. He killed animals when he needed blood and only killed people when he felt he was in danger or felt threatened. He was notable for not having fangs unlike other vampires (season 1), but this was changed in later seasons.

SUPERNATURAL POWER: The Corinthian: Consuming the eyes of his victims allowed Corinthian to view their memories and thoughts.

Proinsias Cassidy: As a vampire Cassidy was immortal, was able to consume deadly amounts of drugs and alcohol without feeling the negative effects (although he passed out a few times when he got really drunk) and had superhuman strength at the beginning of the series.

MOTIVATION: The Corinthian: He left the Dreaming to see what the world had in store for him, but mainly to taste what it was like to be human.

Proinsias Cassidy: Unlike The Corinthian, Cassidy had no real motivation, he was just out there meeting people, having fun and drinking.

DRESSING STYLE:

The Corinthian: The Corinthian was always dapper, sharply dressed and usually wore white and cream-colored outfits, plus the essential sunglasses. When he killed someone, miraculously his clothes never got bloody.

Proinsias Cassidy: Cass had a rather chaotic fashion style, which meant that he wore whatever he could have find on his way, most of the times clothes that did not go together. In season 1 for instance, he was wearing items from the church’s collection box. When it came to murder, unlike The Corinthian, Cassidy's clothes got quite bloody and it didn't seem to bother him.

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TITULAR CHARACTER: The Corinthian: Corinthian had no friends and he didn't seem to need any. His relationship with Morpheus, at least to me, seemed more like a creator/creation one, but at the Cereal Convention, when Morpheus confronted him, Corinthian looked like a rebellious teenager who was angry at his father so there maybe was reference to a father/son connection

Proinsias Cassidy: Since he used to be a human, Cass longed for friends, but was a lonely soul because, being a vampire, he saw his friends - whom he cared about - die and that meant he had to look for new ones. Upon meeting Jesse Custer the preacher in the first episode, Cass considered him early on as his best friend.

LOVE / ROMANCE: The Corinthian: He was not in love with any human, he just flirted with and was having sex with them to fullfill his needs. Although this didn't mean he was incapable of falling for someone whom he would have had find interesting. I think what he needed was rather appreciation. He never got it from Morpheus but we saw him enjoying the adoration and applause he got from the killers at The Cereal Convention.

Proinsias Cassidy: Over the years, Cass, quite possibly, had several romantic affairs with humans and became the father of numerous children. In the show, we saw him falling in love with Tulip - who happened to be Jesse's girlfriend-, and dated Eccarius, the vampire cult leader in season three. While The Corinthian used flirtation to manipulate people and get what he wanted, Cassidy's feelings seemed genuine when he showed attraction to someone.

GROUP OF FANS, FOLLOWERS:

The Corinthian: The Cereal Convention, while it suggests that it was a convention for cereal lovers, was actually a convention for serial killers where Corinthian was asked to be the guest of honor.

Proinsias Cassidy: Les Enfants Du Sang was a cult of vampire wannabes, lead by Eccarius (a real vampire, who turned out to be a killer). He showed Cassidy what vampires were capable of, for example, flying among the stars, controlling minds and transformation.

VILLAIN / ANTI HERO: The Corinthian: He was a sadistic killer, basically the villan of the season. Despite of being the bad guy, Corinthian himself killed several bad people: - Miss Rubio (after she repeatedly refused to let Rose see Jed) - Barnaby and Clarice (the abusive bastard and the spineless wife who was too scared to help Jed) - Fun Land (a child molester who tried to get Jed)

Proinsias Cassidy: Cass wasn't a villain but did some horrible things in the past (assault and battery in Las Vegas, attempted murder in New York). Like Corinthian, Cass also killed some bad guys: - The vampire hunters (who wanted to kill him) - Eccarius (who murdered the vampire enthusiasts) - Frankie Toscani (who tortured him)

DEATH:

The Corinthian: Well, technically he didn’t die in the first season, he was unmade by Morpheus and has the chance to be remade, to return.

Proinsias Cassidy: He committed suicide by walking into the sunlight in season 4.

SOURCES: AMC Netflix Wikipedia tvtropes.org preacher.fandom.com/wiki/Preacher_Wiki sandman.fandom.com/wiki/The_Sandman_(TV_series) Google Images boyd-holbrook.com/photos showme-yourfears.tumblr.com kissthemgoodbye.net

#boyd holbrook #joe gilgun #the corinthian #cassidy #sandman #preacher

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thenightling · 7 months

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Spookiest moments from the first season of The Sandman

Since we are only two days from Halloween I have decided to compile the spookiest and creepiest moments from the first season of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman from Netflix. I will be providing video clip links whenever possible for this list. 10. The fate of Rosemary in episode 4 and perhaps all of 24/7 (24 Diner in the comics and audio drama). This particular story isn't really scary to me but it is very gory and I know that is scary for a lot of people. The gore actually kind of bored me but that could be because I'm very desensitized to gore from watching too much of things like American Horror story. The part of this story that actually does catch me off guard is the changed fate for Rosemary. You get so worried for her and her dog. The way the story was changed was definitely an improvement (in my opinion) but you get so worried for her, that I have to count it as a spooky moment. By the way, Sandman fans so heavily approved of how Rosemary's fate was changed that just today I saw the phrase "I was hoping they Rosemaryed her." used by Sandman fan.

9. Poor Jessamy's death. Jessamy's Death is one of the most gut wrenching moments in The Sandman. What makes it all the worse is the hopeful music playing while her plan to rescue Morpheus is set into motion. And then, just when it looks like she's about to free him... she gets killed very suddenly right in front of him. It's startling and heartbreaking at the same time. It leaves you feeling chilled, disappointed, and also pitying Morpheus for his reaction. The emotion conveyed by Tom Sturridge as Morpheus in that scene, without uttering a word, is incredible.

8. The banishing of Hector Hall's ghost to the Afterlife. When Morpheus banishes Hector Hall's ghost, Hector looks like he is decomposing right before our eyes. No wonder Lyta Hall mistakenly thought of it as Morpheus killing him. 7. Funland and his death. Funland is a creepy predator attending a serial killer convention. HIs death is a creepy moment because you think Jed and Rose had just been rescued but really they are now at the mercy of the rogue nightmare, The Corinthian. 6. Johanna Constantine's Nightmare. Much like with DC"s John Constantine, we get a tragic flashback of what happened in New Castle, where a Dark Magick obsessed father (treated much like a drug addiction) opens a portal to Hell and accidentally invokes something. The demon claims an innocent little girl while Johanna Constantine is trying to banish the demon. 5. Johanna Constantine exorcises a demon. Here Johanna Constantine banishes a demon but the one who is possessed is not who she suspected. (Though many of us saw the twist coming.)

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4. Death comes to collect a soul. This isn't really "scary." In fact it's sweet. But there is an underlying creepiness to knowing the end is near and the mystery of what comes next. Here we see Death (Morpheus's sister) come collect an old man and take him to the afterlife. Though this isn't necessarily scary it can still be disturbing.

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3. The summoning of Morpheus. Roderick Burgess and his coven, The Order of Ancient Mysteries, attempt to invoke The Grim Reaper and get Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams by mistake. The invocation scene is pretty intense but I must admit I actually think the audio drama version is better. It just feels more intense, more foreboding, or maybe that's because my mind has to come up with the visuals. It's definitely longer in the audio drama version, mind you.

At the exact moment that Morpheus feels the pull of the summoning spell, he was confronting the rogue nightmare, The Corinthian, who Morpheus meant to uncreate for having been roaming The Waking World and killing mortals.

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2. Invoking The Hecateae. After Morpheus escapes his captivity he has to track down his tools that had been taken from him by his captors. This includes his ruby amulet (a conduit for his powers), his battle helm (he never actually goes into battle but it's a symbol of his authority), and his pouch of dream sand (He is The Sandman after all). Having no clue where his tools have ended up Morpheus is left with no choice but to seek the aid of the Three-in-one. The Three-in-One represent the triple Goddess, Hecate (Goddess of Witchcraft and magick), The Fates, and the furies (divine vengeance against those that spill family blood). The Hecateae are fickle and dangerous and very powerful.

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1. The Oldest Game. Morpheus vs. Lucifer. Many people would tell you that there's nothing creepier than a depiction of The Devil. In this scene Morpheus challenges Lucifer to a sort of duel to win back his helm, which had been stolen from him during his long captivity at the hands of mortal sorcerers. The challenge between Morpheus and Lucifer is known as "The Oldest Game" which some might recognize as the Wizard's duel from The Sword in the Stone or even the version from The Raven starring Vincent Price and Boris Karloff as rival sorcerers. If Morpheus wins he gets his helm. If Lucifer wins Morpheus (and by extension the dreams of mortals) become enslaved by Lucifer.

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#Youtube #The Sandman #Neil Gaiman #Sandman

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orionsangel86 · 1 year

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I've written extensively about how the ending of Sandman has questionable implications, but damn, your response to that other post really made me think about the questionable implications of the start too. Like, it really does basically say "solitary confinement can be a good thing that leads to reform." Which. Yikes.

Then again, for a cosmic entity I guess there are very few other ways you could get through to them. And years of confinement for a billions of years old entity isn't the same as it is for a human because of the difference in timespan involved. But still... it's like when American TV shows started trying to make torture look good and heroic post 9-11.

It's EXTRA bad when taken in conjunction with the ending implications. Like, together it boils down to "solitary confinement is good thing because it made Morpheus reconsider his impact on the world, and thus he killed himself to make the universe better, which we should be happy about." Which is one HELL of a take to have!

It's really difficult to not find these interpretations when analysing the source material. There is some eyebrow raising stuff in the Sandman comics that I wonder exactly what Neil was trying to say with them.

I think a lot of these more controversial interpretations boil down to the concept that Morpheus is not meant to a relateable and human character. He is meant to be other, he is meant to be fundamentally flawed and unable to change who he is because he exists in such a way that human minds simply can not comprehend. The tragedy of the story however is that he DOES change, he DOES improve and he does so in such human ways that we as the readers easily slip into relateability and start viewing Morpheus as human when he fundamentally is not and can not be compared on our level.

I think its an issue the comics try to explore, and in some ways they do it well, whereas in others they fail because by encouraging people to care for Morpheus, to root for him as a protagonist, the comics ask us to see him as human - because we can only truly relate to characters on a human level. But the comics constantly go out of their way to remind us that he is not human, and therefore are stating that we should not care for him in human terms. It's a contradiction in my opinion that doesn't quite work the way its perhaps intended to.

It's not the first time that Neil Gaiman has struggled to get this concept across to his fans. Look at Good Omens. Every single ask Neil got about Good Omens for a long time after the show first aired was asking him to confirm things about Aziraphale and Crowley on a human level. I lost count how many times Neil would answer with a variation of "They are not human they are an angel and a demon".

The Sandman comics also get confusing because when they slip into Morpheus's own POV, we get his own thoughts on what he is. He is a personification of dreams. He is not "living" a "life" because he simply exists to serve the dreamers. He does not get his own "story" so he cannot relate to any characters in the stories over which he rules. We have to be careful when interpreting things from Morpheus's POV though, because most of the time its utter bullshit, but whilst we are in his POV it is portrayed as absolute fact. I fully believe the reason why so many people hate on Morpheus and easily dismiss him as a dreadful character who deserves all the shit he gets put through, is because they are taking what Morpheus believes about himself as truth.

The comics make it very clear that Morpheus' time imprisoned in the glass cage is good for him, that it triggered his change. That it gave him the chance to sit and think on the way he has behaved over the past centuries. It is basically putting him in one big time out. Go sit and think about your behaviour and perhaps you will learn to be a better person. On a human level this is indeed a horrible message.

Morpheus isn't human though, and it is clear that before his imprisonment he wasn't a very nice creature. The Men of Good Fortune comic is a good indicator of that. His behaviour in 1889 is appalling but in the comic this behaviour is clearly due to his seeing humans as lesser than him. He is insulted by Hob daring to suggest that he needs a friend, and I think it is also heavily implied that were he not imprisoned all those years, he simply would not have met Hob in 1989 once free on principle.

The show interestingly enough takes a completely different approach to this, but thats for a separate post.

My point is, I don't think Neil as Morpheus' creator views him in human terms, and I don't think he would have viewed Morpheus' imprisonment as some meta commentary on solitary confinement being an appropriate punishment that leads to reform. I think its much more nuanced than that. We can also interpret it as a commentary on how trauma can be a trigger for change. Morpheus is a victim of trauma for sure, and I certainly don't believe that the comics are advocating for people to suffer trauma in order to become better people, just that perhaps it can change your perspective.

It's a difficult topic and I am not sure I have explained my thoughts too well here so apologies for that. I think if its any consolation the show seems to be taking a different approach to the comic and I think the show also implies Morpheus began changing before his imprisonment. It helps as well that the show also seems to leaning heavily into the notion that we can and SHOULD view Morpheus in human terms, and relate to him and empathise with him. The show has already made him far more human in many ways, so I am curious to see how those changes will affect later comic stories.

#sandman meta #dream of the endless #sandman analysis #sandman comic spoilers #the sandman

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