#while hob is sitting there being lowkey smitten and only half paying attention

[wyvernquill]

Today I offer you the following headcanon/scenario: Hob dislikes Shakespeare and criticises him, but not because he's jealous of Dream walking off with him in 1589... no, it's because he genuinely thinks the man was a talentless hack.

Let me elaborate.

Hob does like Shakespeare's plays, and grudgingly admits they're the work of a "half-decent playwright", judging from the 1789 scene. He does appreciate the craftsmanship.

The only trouble: Hob is of the opinion that it's not technically Will's work at all. It's His Stranger who had... well, some hand, at least, in the creation of those masterpieces, and Hob hates that Shakespeare gets the sole credit.

(Now, to be clear, I do think that all Dream did was lend Shakespeare support and inspiration and the power to put his own dreams and imaginations into words. It's absolutely still William Shakespeare's work at the core, and Dream's involvement is hardly much more than in any other story ever written - but Hob doesn't know exactly how this works, does he?)

Imagine his frustration. Imagine people praising Shakespeare as a genius in front of him, and Hob bursting to say "actually, he was total shite until he sold his soul or something to the maybe-devil in exchange for talent". He thinks he's the only human in the world who knows The Truth About Will Shaxberd, and it drives him mad that any attempt to explain it would make him sound like some conspiracy nut.

It's the sort of thing that could drive a man to irrationally hate a playwright and his ill-gotten gains, it really could.

(Which is highly hypocritical of him, seeing as he himself enjoys the boon of that very same maybe-devil - well, his sister’s, actually, not that Hob knows that - but it's aBOUT THE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING-)

And that's how Hob ends up as his university's #1 Shakespeare Hater.

.

And perhaps, Dream eventually explains to him who he is and how his boons work, and Hob suddenly realises he has to revise his entire spiteful opinion of William Shakespeare, who may have had a certain spark of talent of his own, after all...

And then, groping desperately for some reason to cling on to his increasingly irrational dislike of the man, Hob recalls how Will stole his date back in 1589, and breathes a sigh of relief at the realisation that he can carry on hating Shakespeare just as much as before, only now for a different reason.

(Not that saying "I hate Shakespeare because he stole my boyfriend" will make him sound any less like a nutter than insisting his talent came from magical intervention... but, well, it's a step in the right direction, isn’t it.)

#WyHeadcanons #the sandman #hob gadling #dreamling #i'm actually usually of the persuasion that hob thinks of shakespeare as something of a kindred spirit #the one other person that he knows has received Dream's blessing #but this option is just too funny to pass up #he doesn't hate shakespeare for a petty reason no sir #he just really genuinely thinks the man's sold his soul to the devil #committed supernatural fraud #whatever you want to call it #he KNOWS this he has PROOF he was THERE #the man's just a hack who caught the eye of a Higher Power! that's all!!! #hob is so frustrated that he can't convince the world of this #he's fundamentally misunderstanding the situation of course but it makes sense from his point of view #dream would probably be quite offended on will's behalf if he ever finds out #and have a long exasperated ramble about the nature of creativity and inspiration and stories and storytellers #'and ANOTHER THING- are you still listening hob gadling- yes good so-' #while hob is sitting there being lowkey smitten and only half paying attention #having already settled on his policy of ongoing shakespeare disdain #but he likes listening to dream having a bit of a passionate rant