#will shaxberd

[windsweptinred]

Watching 'The Sound of her Wings' again. As you do...Where in 1589 Hob gives his whole speech about Eleanor, Robyn and this is what I always dreamed heaven would be like. Including the line "My first son born in 200 years, that I know off..." Proceeded by Dream immediately turning his attention back to Will Shaxberd...

And my twisted little mind went, lol... That would be funny. What with Hob having Ferdie's Warwickshire County accent. Aka, Shakespeare County. And both Hob and Will sharing the same propensity to loud mouth themselves into Dream's attentions. And Will, if the rumours are to be believed, being as much of a bisexual rascal as Hob is. (Don't let the big twink eyes fool you).

Imagine, Dream's being incognito keeping tabs on Hob and any Hob sprogs over the generations. And is mentally like... I'm just going to hang out with your Great Great Great illegitimate Grandson who is conveniently right over there. Since you're sooooooo 'HAPPY' without me. Come Will, I shall call you Hob the Second. Your job is to stare at me with the same utter devotion he used to.

Jump to 2022

Death: When are you going to tell him? He has a right to know.

Dream:..............When the stars are correctly aligned.

#dreamling #hob gadling #dream of the endless #will shaxberd #will shakespeare #Giving Will some nice headcannons #Cause we pick on him way too much #Poor will 😆

[mxcat777]

So what if

Dream is sort of Shakespeare's patron, right? So would that make Shakespeare on of His™? And if so, would he reside in the Dreaming after his death instead of the Sunless Lands?

'cause if so. Consider.

He's still writing. (A lot)

He keeps up with modern literature, but keeps writing (at least mostly) in Early Modern English (that's it, right? Do I have my lit facts straight?). Imagine his recent plays littered with slang, disney references, (un)subtle references to shit that was based on his stuff that he either loves or hates, both are good.

He's kind of a favourite of Dream's. The same way Lucienne and Jessamy and The Corinthian are. He can get away with saying shit, because if he offends Dream he can turn around and start sprouting some poetry at that vain-ass bitch and all is forgiven. (In the worst cases it takes a new play about his royal majesty the Dream King and how generous and benevolent and regal he is)

Fishbowling happens, not sure what Will would do, the plot bunny didn't care.

Dream is back, all is well, he goes to the New Inn, Hob and Dream are now officially Friends.

They meet up more bc friends see each other more often than once a century. Oh yeah friends also know each others' names and such. So Dream tells Hob a bit about himself.

At some point he's like, hey hob u wanna see the dreaming?

Hob's like yES PLz??

Hob gets a tour, and from that point on usually gets the option at night to dream normally or visit the palace.

On one fateful night, Hob decides to take a stroll through the library, goes looking for Marlowe's shelf, because he kind of wonders what other stuff that genius would have written had he lived longer.

Only to (maybe literally) bump into, you guessed it, Will Bloody Shaxberd.

He stares.

Will goes 'hey'.

And then Hob goes somewhat feral.

(no he is not over it, sue him, he's allowed to hold a grudge.)

He goes off on a rant about, see, ofc ur still plagiarizing marlowe he was so much better i can't believe dream left me for you you useless twat you couldn't write shit without him so why did you get the fucking privilege of living with him and knowing him for fucking centuries i had to fight 600 years for his bloody name and i'm guessing you got it right that first meeting hm?

And Will goes oh shit it's you! And then cuts Hob off with a "you're so right! I was an absolute shit playwright before your friend helped me!"

And Hob is... Understandably lost. This was not how it went in his head.

And then Will continues, I was so nervous the time right after that meeting, I knew he was some sort of supernatural being, no clue what though, he's really not good at introductions, is he, so I sort of assumed you were too, and I was waiting for your revenge for stealing your date away, recently found out you're actually human, albeit immortal, and it was not a date, though, speaking of, have you sorted yourselves out yet?

And Hob, quite understandably even more baffled, sort of gapes for a bit.

Before very nervously denying anything of the sort.

Will just stares.

And goes, bruv, you weren't subtle then, still aren't now, spare everyone else the UST, please, for the love of god, you two need to fuck post haste.

And Hob is like, hahaha, eh, yeah, nope, fun seeing you, BYE.

So Will sighs. And goes to see Lucienne, as any sensible person would.

Lucienne sighs as well. At which point Will steps to Dream himself.

"My lord?" "Yes, William?" "Forgive my directness, but so as not to risk any misunderstandings, what exactly is your relationship with Hob Gadling?" "We are friends. Why do you ask? Is that not clear?" "Well, to be perfectly honest, m'lord, I assumed you were... Involved™." "We are not." "But you'd like to be though, right?" "You dare presume to know-" " I dare presume to know what attraction, romance, love, all that looks like, sire. I must do, after portraying it in my plays for over four centuries. After writing several hundreds of sonnets on the topic." "I-" "In my humble opinion, my lord, it is a good match. He understands you, you continue to fascinate each other, he can provide a safe place where you need not be monarch for a moment. And of course, you are quite obviously attracted to one another sexually." "WILLIAM SH-" "Oh calm down! I'm certainly not judging either of you!" "...he is attracted to me?" "..." "Is he?" "YES! Lord give me faith! Kiss him! Go to him and teleport the both of you onto a bed! Or if you want to be sappy go slow and bring him a rose, but please, for the love of the collective sanity, do something!" "But how do you know? What if you misunderstood? What if it is unwelcome? I cannot lose him!"

At which point Will turns around, leaves the throne room, goes back to the library and rant to Lucienne

"I swear I'm going to write a play about them, just to point out how stupid this is. I feel compelled to call it a tragedy, but I think it needs to have a happy ending, otherwise Lord Broodphius would get stuck on the but what if it does end in tragedy, so I suppose a comedy would be fitting, but then again, this is too painful to watch to qualify as a comedy. Tragic comedy? Comic tragedy? I'll figure it out..."

And Lucienne is like, if you'd like to perform it properly I'm sure there are a few dreams who would be more than willing to help out, take on a role.

Hob comes back to the Dreaming a few days later and finds Will up to his elbows in paper, reference books, thesauruses and rhyming dictionaries (handy things those), and empty mugs and the like.

Will looks up, somewhat manic, and is like, Hob! Great! Just the person I wanted to see! Would you help me, please?

Hob's like, sure? Kind of apprehensive, but he gave everything some thought and decided that as long as he could go on dunking on him, he could let go of most of his jealousy (cuz that's what is was, he's mature enough to admit)

Will goes, Awesome! Tell me about you and Morphius! How do you see him, what's your story, I only ever get bits and pieces from his lordship, so I'm in severe need of some context...

And Hob is somewhat suspicious, but he indulges him, and really, telling the story comes too easy, so he gets into it completely and doesn't even notice when he starts slipping into rants about Dream, about how beautiful, and magnificent, and misunderstood, and kind, and way-out-of-his-league-but-god-dammit-he-went-and-fell-in-love-with-the-bastard-anyway he is

And Will takes studious notes.

And then goes like, so some of the sonnets I've written were with you two in mind, you wanna give me some feedback? (Ahem, sonnet 24/29, some others work too, undoubtedly, but I am no Shakespeare expert, unfortunately)

And he does something similar with Dream, maybe citing Hob's dislike of him as the reason he wants to know more about him without having to bother him overly much, like, I want to set things right between us, but I need to know more about him to do that, will you help me, m'lord

And he does

And Will just sits back and takes notes as Dream also spirals into a passion fueled rant about Hob

And all those notes end up in the eventual play

Auditions for the roles happen when Dream and Hob are out on a Not Date™ in the Waking.

There are surprisingly many auditioning for Hob's role, and surprisingly little for Dream's

Until Will points out that Dream would probably be more offended by an unworthy portrayal of his Love that of himself, at which point some of the dreams bow out entirely, bc Will knows how vain their lord is, so they decide not to risk unmaking and tactically retreat

Will is in his fucking element, it's been way too long since he's properly directed a play!

Eventually Will comes up to the Mutually Pining Idiots like, hey m'lord, Hob, I've written a new play, and I've been working with some of the dreams to make it happen, do you want to see??

So they watch. They watch as two absolute fucking idiots stumble around each other, everyone on and off stage can see how stupidly in love they are except for them, and both start sweating profusely when they start recognizing their own words quoted back at them.

The end of the play is something of a direct call-out and a plea from the dreams to please just talk to each other, fuck and get married, preferably in that order, but they're not picky.

Then everyone leaves them alone for the Conversation that is most likely going to happen.

Will stays behing hiding unobtrusively in the shadows tho.

He's not about to let all his work go to waste if these idiots ty to play it off again. He will lock them in a broom closet if he has to, watch him.

They don't.

Luckily.

There are like three sentences total spoken. Then they're aggressively making out.

Will leaves the room very content about his matchmaking skills.

And hey! He got a good play out of it, if he does say so himself!

#the sandman #dream of the endless #dreamling #dream #hob gadling #the sandman netflix #centennial husbands #dream x hob #hob x dream #morpheus #morpheus x hob #hob x morpheus #will shaxberd #hob hates shakespeare #plot bunny #i say bunny #but at this point it's a hare #this got long #and way out of hand #honestly it just started with hib stumbling across shakespeare in the dreaming #and ranting to him #and will being surprisingly mature and such #then this happened #lucienne #and will #just sighing over these #idiots #together #mutual pining #idiots to lovers

[notallsandmen]

Reading up on Christopher Marlowe, and found out that he died at the mere age of 29 under mysterious circumstances: during some kind of brawl, Marlowe was stabbed above the right eye, killing him instantly.

Marlowe was considered the foremost dramatist in London in the years just before his mysterious early death in 1593 (4 years after the Dream’s and Hob’s meeting in 1589), after which Shakespeare succeeded him as the pre-eminent Elizabethan playwright. Are we sure that Dream merely commissioned two plays from Shaxberd and not just, you know, asked the Corinthian to shiv his strongest competitor? 😂

#the sandman shaxberd bashing #hob hating shakespeare is my favourite dreamling trope #will shaxberd #william shakespeare #men of good fortune #the sound of her wings #hob gadling #dreamling #dream x hob #christopher marlowe #marlowe #the sandman conspiracy theories #the corinthian #corinthian #the sandman neil gaiman #the sandman comics

[gaylordlady]

Robert fucking Hob Gadling really had the nerve to be jealous of Will Shaxbeard, after showing his boyfriend friend acquaintance that he was the side piece after 200 years of going on dates.

#morpheus #the sandman #2022 #hob gadling #dream x hob #dreamling #immortal husbands #william shakespeare #will shaxberd #episode 6 rules

[murderzzz]

Just noticed how both Sandman and Good Omens have an episode on Shakespeare (Shaxberd). It’s almost like they were written by the same person or something…

And if you consider that they’re both in the Gaimanverse, then Dream was literally making Hob jealous within years (weeks even!) of Aziraphale and Crowley standing in the Globe and listening to Hamlet.

#chills #good omens #will shaxberd #the sandman #the sandman netflix #hob x dream #dream #dreamling #aziraphale x crowley #aziraphale good omens #crowley good omens #hob gadling

[soundsfaebutokay]

Idk what sort of deal Morpheus did with Will Shaxberd, but I don't think Shaxberd even needed magical intervention at that point. The most beautiful mysterious man in black you've ever seen comes up to you, tells you you've met before but "men forget in waking hours" in a voice like sin, then asks you about your deepest heart's desire while pinning you with that intense gaze—you're an overdramatic bisexual poet, what other inspiration do you even need???

#Dream of the Endless #Will Shaxberd #The Sound of Her Wings #The Sandman #The Sandman spoilers #my faves #has anyone giffed that scene yet?? #if that poor unsuspecting twink didn't realize he was bi before that night he certainly had a revelation #and if he already knew then his revelation was that he is even more bi than he previously suspected #(I'm so sorry Hob I'm so sorry your date just ditched you like that)

[theitcharchives]

In a world of Hobs and Dreams and Shaxberds having their shenanigans, I am the forgotten Marlowe also ditched in 1589 but with no lamb and a broken leg

#the sandman #dream of the endless #hob gadling #will shaxberd #and #kit marlowe #william shakespeare

[arcacestar]

love how they just implied that something happened with Dream and Will freaking Shakespeare and just decided not to elaborate.

like were they besties, did they made a deal, what deal did they make,

"did you barter his soul?"

"nothing so crude"

w h a t does that mean dream, were you his wingman? did you two 👀👀👀👀 like buddy you have the social skills of a 3 day old bag of wet half cooked lettuce, what did you do to the poor man?!?!?

#poof suddenly hes not a shit playwright anymote #did he swap his soul #i want to Know #the sandman #that episode was So fruity #dream of the endless #hob gadling #will shaxberd

[phantasmagoricalullaby]

So I looked it up and in the 1589 scene where Dream leaves with Shakespeare, Will is a 25 year old man who has been married for 7 years and has 3 children.

Just saying.....some food for thought and all that.

#the sandman #sandman #the sandman netflix #the sandman 2022 #the sandman tv #dream of the endless #the sandman morpheus #dream the endless #lord morpheus #the sandman dream #dreamling #Will Shaxberd #hob x morpheus #hob gadling #dream and hob #dream x hob #dreamgadling #dreamhob

[wyvernquill]

Now, this may be obvious to others, but I haven’t seen much discussion of it here on Tumblr, so I thought I’d draw some attention to it!

In my n-th rewatch of the 1389 scene (I keep checking and re-checking the details for accuracy in my fics), I noticed something interesting towards the beginning of the scene: I think Dream was about to “poach” Geoffrey Chaucer, similarly to what he did in 1589 with Shakespeare.

It’s subtle, but you can see Death and Dream pause in front of his table, listen to their conversation, and Dream is noticeably interested - and why wouldn’t he be, Geoffrey here is practically catnip for the Lord of Stories! So he steps closer, he leans in, we can even see him open his mouth as if to strike up some conversation about those “tavern tales”...

...and then Hob Gadling says “Look, I’ve seen death”, and both Dream and Death stop in their tracks, and the scene proceeds as we all know and love it.

Now, I really adore this little moment for multiple reasons:

1) I suspect Death planned this. She dragged Dream into the tavern and led him over to Chaucer’s table, and was going to make her silly little brother talk to a promising storyteller in the waking world for once - but then they found an even more interesting human to spark Dream’s curiosity instead, which, still a win in Death’s book.

2) It’s just so Dream. Of course he wouldn’t be able to resist a storyteller in the wild, of course he would be drawn to that conversation. Of course he would do his whole “oh, is this your wish then?” spiel and play patron of the arts for a little while. This is what he does and is, which only makes it more interesting that he then turned towards Hob instead (and didn’t talk to Chaucer after, I’m pretty sure we see Dream leave at the end of the scene?) Which brings me to

3) IF ONLY HOB KNEW. Hob “probably still mad at Shakespeare for stealing his date once” Gadling would be OVER THE MOON to know that Dream of the Endless snubbed Geoffrey Fucking Chaucer to talk to him, albeit only because he mocked Dream’s sister within earshot. Please, somebody tell him, it would be the highlight of his century, I just know it.

#the sandman #dream of the endless #death of the endless #hob gadling #the sandman meta #dreamling #the level of detail in this series is astonishing #i keep discovering new fascinating tidbits every time #so much storytelling in blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments like this #and gosh i really want hob to find out about this now #it'd give him a massive ego boost i'm sure #gadling (1) - chaucer (0) #let's forget about will shaxberd (1) though #he doesn't count #(look at me making an original post that isn't art for once)

[landwriter]

ok i know we've seen oodles of hob hating shakespeare and i've seen some good meta on hob NOT hating shakespeare because he is kind and doesn't hold grudges, but i would like to offer a secret, third option: hob sort of resenting shaxberd and being a bit petty about it until time passes, the bard dies, and hob watches with a smugness that fades to irritation as the original sense and sound of his words are forgotten. there is surely a kinship there too - both their lives were forever altered by The Stranger.

The original pronunciation of Shakespeare’s sonnets and plays has been his cause lately - he considers the Bard of Avon a sort of friend, given their mutual acquaintance, and feels a protectiveness over his works. He couldn’t bear the grudge of being walked out on for long - he had, after all, received the greater boon. And if Will was going to be immortalized in word instead of the flesh, it only was fair that they read his words correctly. Hob had gone to a production of Romeo and Juliet in 1890, in part sulk and part nostalgia, and had been appalled to hear the reverent and over-serious way the players said their lines. Received pronunciation, thought Hob, ought to stay on the BBC and away from the boards. It was like trading a crackling, warm, fierce little hearth for the flat and soulless glow of an electric bulb. And at least half the jokes were ruined. He’s gotten a reputation for it lately, and at parties, he’s always asked to do a soliloquy or sonnet or two, the proper way. It feels like drinking something hot and comforting. He’s just very careful to take a long swallow of his actual drink after, taking the time to gather himself, making sure that when he speaks again, he sounds like someone born in the late twentieth century.

received pronunciation had been named and around for longer, but indeed began to sound like it does today in the late 19th century! i believe in a plurality of Shakespeare headcanons but i hope you like this one. also tagging @auressea who sent me the video about shakespearean pronunciation that caused this whole mess 💛

#the sandman #hob gadling #meta #shaxberd thoughts #wip excerpt #the death of - #you guessed it gang #the death of translation #anyways saw another shakespeare post on my dash and wanted to share my thoughts that absolutely nobody asked for!!! #hob defending the original intent and integrity of will shaxberd out of proxy loyalty to his stranger #just feels RIGHT #dang i just love meta so much

[secondjulia]

A recurring question

Hob, is that another anti-Stratfordian tract in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Fuck you. It's an anti-Stratfordian tract and I'm happy to see you!

#Ferdie Friday #Ferdinand Kingsley #In the AU of my heart Hob just gets a kick out of people doubting Shakespeare because he's still mad #and also because that crap playwright Shaxberd DID cheat even if it wasn't with anyone put forth by the leading anti-Stratfordian theories #Tom Sturridge #Dreamling #Hob Gadling #Dream of the Endless #Sandman #Sweetbitter #midsomer murders

[notallsandmen]

When (not if, when) Netflix gives us an episode of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I really hope we get to see it from Shakespeare’s POV, because the man is about 5 min from a nervous breakdown throughout this issue

#Just look at Dream here #This issue had both of them regretting the patronage #the sandman shaxberd bashing #william shakespeare #will shaxberd #Dream Country: A Midsummer Night’s Dream #a midsummer night's dream #sandman comics #the sandman comics #Dream of the endless #titania #Auberon #Oberon #neil gaiman sandman #sandman neil gaiman #neil gaiman

[hexgirlnatural]

hc

shakespeare died in his sleep and is now a resident of the dreaming

hob doesn’t know until he visits lucienne in the library one time and that bastard shaxberd is just. there. chilling. reading twilight or something.

hob is so shocked he wakes up immediately and refuses to fall asleep again for 3 days

dream is alarmed when he notices his absence and rushes to look for him in the waking bc something terrible must have happened to hob

but no he finds hob teaching his class as usual with a gallon of coffee and on his most passionate anti-shakespeare tangent ever

#bonus: dream and will are actually kind of friends and he told him all about hob #and will has no idea hob hates him #and was actually really looking forward to meet the guy the king of dreams and nightmares is simping for #dream of the endless #hob gadling #hob vs shakespeare #dreamling #the sandman

[yoolkon]

Nothing can really distract them from their dates now, not even a whole kitchen disappearing into outerspace.

(But that would never stop Hob from worrying about another will shaxberd incident at the pub)

#the sandman #dream of the endless #hob gadling #matthew the raven #the sandman fanart

[avelera]

A twist on the 1589 meeting, but what if Hob had acted fast when he spotted Dream’s interest in Shaxberd and instead of just getting jealous, he’d invited Will and Marlowe to their table as well?

Shaxberd is only barely getting started as a playwright. Hob and Marlowe seem acquainted. They might well have accepted the invitation to all dine together. It would be a natural thing to do at a tavern after all.

Because now I’m imagining the look on Dream’s face when this starving playwright he’s trying to cruise lights up at the prospect of the banquet laid out in front of Hob thus robbing Dream of his convenient escape. And from Shaxberd’s point of view, this is Hob’s guest, right? Hob is clearly a man of some importance and it would be rude to drag his guest away to talk business. Especially if it means a free meal of such quality.

So anyway, this is how Dream got stuck at a four hour long dinner with Hob, Kit Marlowe, and Will Shaxberd over some rather excellent mortal food and a much better time than he ever expected to have and frankly being more than a little pissed off about it and how Death might have been right that hanging out with humans can be fun.

It’s also the story about how Hob got 10x more answers than he ever got before out of his stranger by dint of the longer time together and how awkward it would be for Dream not to answer some of them with two other people present ruining the mystery of it all. It’s also how Hob figured out that Dream likes talking about art and so Hob was able to switch gears in time to actually have a conversation with Dream that didn’t make it look like Dream he would rather gouge his eyes out than listen to another word. Hob might not be the artistic sort but he’s not totally incapable of analyzing a play about a man making a supernatural bargain with the devil, and everyone at the table loved Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus.

And it’s the story of how Marlowe figured out in .2 seconds that an otherworldly creature was at the table with them and subtly helping out Hob direct his questions for best possible effect, and how both Marlowe and Shaxberd got a rich patron out of it.

#dreamling #fic prompt #1589 #I’m already writing a 1589 fic of a different stripe but this idea tickled me #free to a good home