Just having a lot of thoughts about the Calliope episode of The Sandman while rewatching!

I love the part where calliope reminds madoc that Erasmus said that writers are liars, he responds by saying ‘not all of us.’ It so clearly reminds us of the ‘nice guy’ rhetoric, of ‘not all men.’ He’s not an evil liar of a writer like Erasmus, he’s a good dude! He feels bad about keeping her prisoner! Obviously he’s a Nice, Sensitive Guy™️! He’s clearly trying to separate himself from erasmus, suggest that he’s not as bad, even as he is doing the exact same thing.

I love the part where she asks for freedom and he tries to convince her that he’s not free either, trying to compare their suffering. All of the things that make him not free are consequences of his own decisions and actions, and she’s being held captive. Reminds me of all the guys who crawl out of the woodwork every time a woman tries to explain some difficultly of life under patriarchy to remind her of like.. the draft or whatever to say men have it hard, too.

It also reminds me of that painting the Revenge of the Muse and how creative men often use their art/artistry as an excuse to mistreat the women in their lives. All the constant promises of ‘one of more book’ reminded me of all those men whose wives/girlfriends make constant sacrifices for his career, always told their turn is coming, one more book, one more promotion, one more year, before they can pursue their dreams.

The way the narrative and Dream constantly centers Calliope’s agency. Morpheus appears and asks how he can help, when he appears he centers her suffering as worse than his, and her pain hurts him. Stops his revenge as soon as Calliope asks even though he’d clearly like to continue torturing this dude. He allows her to set the tone for her freedom. When she tries to thank him for saving her, he says that he only answered her call, giving her credit for saving herself.

Also the casting! Melissanthi Mahut really captures Calliope’s ethereal power- that she is a queen, a goddess - while still able to show her vulnerability and fear. (Which was one of the things I liked most about Tom Sturridge’s Dream in the first episode). Arthur Darvill so convincingly playing the ‘nice guy’ that you half expect him to do the right thing but then he never does.

New wallpaper check?

( if you save please like or rb )

Can we talk for a moment about the character of Johanna Constantine? Clearly, Jenna Coleman did a brillant job portraying the character, as always.

And I know the show must follow the comics, but can you imagine for a second if Netflix had chosen to cast John Constantine in the role instead? And that John would have been portrayed by his greatest interpreter Matt Ryan?!

Imagining Matt and Tom playing together would be sodding mind blowing! The way John acts with Dream's personality would be downright hilarious! Add Matthew’s witty comments to that, and that would be the best show ever. I just want to see these two on screen together. 😂

Dream of a Thousand Cats

Am I saying this will be your new favourite show? That it will make you smile and shiver and puzzle and delight? That it's something really special? That it will ease the pain of waiting for other shows to happen?

Yes. I am saying that.

It's SO good. And it starts in three weeks...

"My Lord, you are coming back, aren't you?"

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Thoughts

After having the conversation multiple times about how many people (myself included) had stopped writing for years until the Sandman on Netflix came along and grabbed us by the neck.

And after watching the screaming reactions to Good Omens season 2, (and all the meta and analysis and thoughts about plot structure, and suggestions for what makes sense for season 3.)

I have decided that Neil Gaiman's secret agenda is not the screaming or the angst.

I think his secret agenda is to make us all WRITE.

Family Dinner Theater

Sandman Inktober Day 19 (dolls/puppets) gets to see Desire having some fun at Dream's expense 💕

Temple of Divine

No matter what i do i somehow always return to The Sandman for some reason.

Another Sandman post, this time about the Sound of Her Wings episode…

First of all, Kirby’s Death is just A+ casting, she’s incredible in the role, I hope I get to see more of her if we get a second season.

But honestly I’m just thinking a lot about how funny the dynamic between Death and Dream. How these are two of the most incredibly powerful beings in existence, and yet together they have the same squabbling affectionate dynamic of an exasperated older sister and her grumpy little brother.

Both actors in their portrayals do a really good job capturing their divine power, the wisdom and presence, while also letting them be really silly, petty, and almost childish together. Kirby manages to nail not only being the downright ethereal personification of Death and all the Self-possessed regality of it all, while also being the loving but exasperated older sister trying to lecture her moody younger brother.

And Tom’s Dream, who we have seen carrying himself with the presence of one of the most powerful beings in existence, gets to be a slightly annoying baby brother, whiny and angsty and slightly childish at times.

And of course, that’s exactly what it’s like. Sibling relationships really are like that, you can grow older, more mature, change, evolve, but no one can level you quite like a sibling. No one else can make fully grown humans fight like children, make the Endless squabble and whine and call each other idiots, but also no one can know you quite as well, or give you such profound wisdom.

I love how in the scene where Death offers to let him tag along on her work, he acts all casual about it about going with (he’ll come with, he supposes) but you can tell he really wants to go, and even though she pretends the offer is light you can tell she’s really hoping he’ll come along.

And just…. Isn’t that the perfect encapsulation of messy sibling relationships, to have what ends up being incredibly profound moments and conversations together a while you’re just… running errands together. (As an aside, I also love how she tries to feed him (she just wants him to eat his fruits and veggies.)) As an older sister myself I have also been known to try to impart wisdom on my younger sibling while running small little errands with them, buying them little coffees and treats when we’re out to make sure they’re fed while I do. (Weird to relate so strongly to the literal personification of Death, and yet here we are.)

same energy tbh.

flips the fishbowl like an hourglass

He does.

It's SO good. The Dead Boy Detectives starts in 2024 on Netflix. It's funny and smart and so good.

(Also, it's absolutely part of the Sandman universe. You'll see.)

I don’t think I could talk about The Sandman on here because, like, Neil Gaiman is here, just hanging out. I’d be like “Oh, I like how they visualized this one scene, it was different from the comics but I don’t think they original comics visualizations would have worked in live action “ or whatever And then Neil Gaiman might appear like “Yeah, we were having trouble figuring out how to do that scene until one of our production designers had a vivid hallucination while eating a 3AM Gyro purchased from an all-night food truck outside the Bass Pro Shop pyramid” and I don’t think I’m ready for that experience. Alternatively, I could say “Dream is a little too scrungly to be a classic Tumblr Sexyman, but he is prime meow-meow blorbo material” and Neil Gaiman might appear and say “Yeah, we were having trouble figuring out the exact ratio of Sexyman, poor little meow meow, and Blorbo, but the final characterization appeared to Tom Sturridge in a vivid hallucination while eating a 3AM Gyro purchased from an all-night food truck outside the Bass Pro Shop pyramid” and I don’t think I’m ready for THAT either.