✗ || MORPHEUS

SIDEBLOG | follows back from poxsonmenace

[twxnstars]

TWXNSTARS. ❝ Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot. ❞

AN INDEPENDENT & SELECTIVE DREAM OF THE ENDLESS FROM DC'S THE SANDMAN | PENNED BY JESSICA | SHE/HER | 25+ | ESTABLISHED 2025

✶ CARRD | LAW | DOSSIER ✶

[nightmarecountry]

It paused, clicked its tongue, shrugged. "Well, the door was open." Not that there'd been a literal door, but he had willed himself here and the Dreaming had allowed it: no wall had come up to keep him out, no pain had shot through him to dissuade him from straying further. And Dream, surly as he was, had yet to banish him. The Corinthian sidled closer, its mouths parted slightly behind the shades to take in the strange, familiar scent of dreamstuff that lingered around Morpheus like an invisible shroud. He had always wondered if other dreamkin could taste it the way he could.

"What's, ah... Eatin' you?" A shred of self-preservation made him bite his tongue--quite literally--before he could make a guess. He smiled instead, wide and close-mouthed. Habitually, it took one of its knives from their holster, thumb running along the silver edge without thought. "No-one's seen you, your raven won't talk..."

[twxnstars]

Morpheus had not locked himself away due to anger, nor had it been punishment. The Dreaming had not failed him. His subjects had not betrayed him. No great catastrophe had torn through his realm demanding his attention. There was no enemy at his gates, no threat that required his hand. It was, perhaps, more TROUBLING than that; there was simply nothing left in him to give. There were moments when even an Endless grew tired.

So he had withdrawn. The doors to his chambers had remained closed, not by command, but by quiet decision. Lucienne had brought reports and found her entry denied. Matthew had called his name from outside, only to receive silence in return. Even the shifting halls of the palace had seemed reluctant to disturb him. Yet it was the Corinthian, ever so BRAZEN, that chose to enter and Morpheus, with his unspoken bias, allowed him to do so.

Morpheus’s attention lingered elsewhere for a time, until he felt the mounting urge to look upon his creation, pale eyes first finding the BLADE that he caressed.

❝Nothing is ... eating me,❞ he began, brows drawing near. ❝I am merely taking a moment of reprieve.❞

[desiir]

a   sickening   saccharine   twist   to   lips ,   alike   a   𝑐𝑎𝑡   so   thoroughly   dinned   on   nought   but   𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 .

❝   careful   brother   𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓   ,   one   might   assume   you   aren't   𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍   to   see   me   .   .   . ❞

[twxnstars]

❝Pleased?❞ He repeated, his own countenance remaining carved from SOLEMN stone. ❝That would depend entirely upon your purpose. You have seldom sought my company from affection, and never without some design concealed behind that smile.❞

His eyes, ancient and fathomless, did not leave Desire’s face. They searched not for honesty, for that would have been a FUTILE endeavour, but for the shape of the game already unfolding.

❝Speak plainly, if such a thing remains within your capabilities. Tell me why you have crossed into my realm today. Spare us both the theatre, sibling. I find the ending INVARIABLY less entertaining than you do.❞

[forgaeven]

❛⠀oh, you flatter me, you.  ❜ hob smiles, crow's feet crinkling by his eyes, and he neglects admitting that there is something warm in his chest that blooms by his longest friend's easy praise, his unyielding attention. what a remarkable creature, hob thinks not for the first nor last time, to hold so much presence, and then to somehow spare a little of it to some former flea-infested human he's met during england's muddiest of times.

❛⠀well, i did have an incident with a laptop on fire. then one of my mates broke up and we spent a night tryin' to cheer him up only to lose him through the night and he somehow ended up in faringham. and, oh ! someone brought in a goat last week. they claimed it was for the ren faire, but that's total bullocks, if any. i googled, and ren faire isn't for another two weeks. ❜ hob ends with a finality, huffing, though he does scratch his chin a moment later, pondering.

❛⠀though i did quite like the goat. reminds you from when we first met, eh ?  ❜ the white horse tavern, back when all sorts could be found inside. hob winks, in secret, cheery.

[twxnstars]

Morpheus listened without interruption, as he always had, allowing Hob’s stories to unfold in their own UNTIDY fashion. They leapt from burning machines to broken hearts, from misplaced companions to errant goats with a logic that belonged solely to Hob Gadling, and yet Morpheus found that he could follow each turn without difficulty. It had become familiar over the centuries.

A ghost of amusement SOFTENED the severity of his features as Hob spoke of the goat. The memory it summoned reached back through centuries: the White Horse Tavern, damp air thick with smoke and spilled ale, the noise of livestock and merchants, and one remarkably stubborn man who had declared he would never die.

❝No,❞ he began, inclining his head ever so slightly. ❝It reminds me that, despite the passing of six hundred years, you remain inexplicably drawn to CHAOS.❞ His gaze rested upon Hob for a lingering moment, thoughtful rather than reproachful. ❝And chaos, it would seem, remains equally drawn to you.❞

[twxnstars]

LIKED X | STARTER

❝You should not be here,❞ Morpheus murmured at length, though he made no move to send the NIGHTMARE away, nor did he find it in him to look in his creation’s direction. Not yet.

[ @nightmarecountry ]

[twxnstars]

LIKED X | STARTER

Morpheus’s eyes narrowed slightly, scrutinising the PROVOKING rouge. ❝You are smiling, sibling, which means I am unlikely to enjoy whatever comes next.❞

[ @desiir ]

[twxnstars]

LIKED X | STARTER

❝I have crossed kingdoms, ages, and DREAMS since last we met,❞ Morpheus began, settling into the chair opposite Hob. ❝Yet somehow I suspect your stories will remain the more interesting.❞

[ @forgaeven ]

[twxnstars]

LIKED X | STARTER

❝Do not be alarmed,❞ Morpheus muttered, his voice softer than the NIGHT around them. ❝This is only a dream, and I am its keeper.❞

[ @frombehindpaleeyes ]

[twxnstars]

starter call: like this for me to throw a lil one-liner something at you ✨

[twxnstars]

There’s a cruel irony in the fact that I was about to get my replies done here, but the second I turned my laptop on, it broke. I’ve been waiting on a new one to ship for over a week 😭

[leighanne]

I have a suggestion. You won't like it. Go on.

THE SANDMAN 2.08

[reid-sam]

TOM STURRIDGE as DREAM OF THE ENDLESS/LORD MORPHEUS

THE SANDMAN | 2.04 - Brief Lives

[twxnstars]

❛ If someone annoys you, I’ll just stand behind you and glare. ❜

- Paraklesis, right before crossing her arms over her chest and demonstrating said glare by mimicking his own.

MEME | ACCEPTING

Had it been anyone else, he would have taken offence. The mimicry, the presumption of understanding something so intrinsic to him, would have been met with COLD reprimand, or worse, a silence sharp enough to wound. Morpheus did not take kindly to being imitated. He was not a thing to be copied, nor reduced to posture and expression.

But he knew her. He knew the shape of her intent, the SOFTNESS beneath it. There was no mockery in Paraklesis, no hidden edge meant to provoke or diminish. Only a strange, earnest offering, an attempt to stand at his side in a language she believed he spoke. So, he chose to indulge it.

❝That is not how I glare.❞ He began as he regarded her posture, a frown forming in a way that might almost have been called a pout, but it was unserious, a subtle contortion that hinted at PLAY rather than displeasure. ❝My arms do not cross.❞

[ @ivandra-winters ]

[brokenandlonelysouls]

@twxnstars continued from x

It's not that he wasn't mad, it was just that he didn't have the energy to be angry right now. But there was so much to be mad at him for , Considering he had thought he would never see him again. ❝ Its not that I am not mad at all, I am..., I just don't even have the engery for that right now.❞ After he got some rest, maybe then it would have the energy to be mad at Dream. He had felt like his emotions were being messed with lately with all the we wont meet again stuff and then him showing up. He really had be scared it was the end. Now here he was standing infront of him. He didnt know what Dream expected him to think. Because yes Hob had every right to be pissed. Instead he was much calmer than one would expect in this moment. Anger perhaps would have been the easier reaction.

❝ No I suppose not... , but then take it as congratultions I am not mad at you.... yet.❞ maybe for him it was also words of relief that his oldest friend was still alive. Because he had indeed lost so much, that Dream was perhaps the only constant. The one being and person he thought he'd never lose, yet he'd almost thought he was going to lose all that too. That thought had been the harshest gut punch in all the years he lived. Would that have made him give up this immortal life? No perhaps not as he would always find some reason to go on. But it would certainly be harder, More lonely , more empty. The immortal let out a tired sigh as he leaned back into the couch rubbing his face. It was late an the only other sound was the tick of his clock on the wall of his kitchen. He should have been deeply asleep hours ago. ❝ But thats not to say I don't want to be mad at you for putting me through all that. I know you have your duties and to protect your realm.❞ He guessed it didnt matter, not when there were bigger things. ❝ I thought this time .... I thought I really was going to be alone.❞ Did the lord of dreams perhaps not realise he would be missed.❝ I know the Dreaming comes first...., But I would have missed you.❞ At least he was alive. He tried to wipe away the tears that were quickly forming in his eyes.❝ Besides if you clock out too early, You don't get to see yourself lose this wager. Because I am living forever.❞ He managed a small tired smirk as he sipped some of his drink.

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

[twxnstars]

Morpheus listened without interruption as Hob’s words came in uneven currents, worn thin by exhaustion, threaded through with something far more difficult to face than anger. Fear. Loss. The UNBEARABLE weight of almost. Almost losing him. That, more than anything, settled heavily within Morpheus’s chest.

For all his existence, for all the centuries he had shaped nightmares and woven destinies, it had not occurred to him, not truly, what his absence might carve into the life of one who remained. He understood loss as an abstraction, as a force, as a story told a thousand times. But this, this was Hob Gadling, seated before him, too tired to rage, too worn to even hold onto the anger he was owed. And still, he had been AFRAID.

Morpheus’s gaze lingered on him, taking in the small, human details; the way Hob leaned back, the drag of his hand across his face, the quiet tremor beneath his attempted composure. The ticking clock filled the silence between words, its beat ENTRANCING until Morpheus found it in him to respond, but not without the faintest smile touching his lips. Hob was relentless when it came to that wager; stubborn in a way that quietly impressed the Endless with every passing century.

❝What a tragedy that would be.❞ He quipped, his voice low, hushed, but tinged with AMUSEMENT, something that only lingered a moment before it faded as he regarded the faint sheen of tears gathering beneath the immortal’s eyes. Salt water clinging to skin even after the eyes had been wiped. The despair causing a tightness in his throat. ❝It was not my intention to hurt you, Hob Gadling… I hope you know that.❞

[twxnstars]

X | CONTINUED

For all his years, he had never unmade and remade a nightmare quite like this. Never permitted the remnants to remain. Never allowed fragments of a former existence to cling within the new. His creations were not meant to remember. They were not meant to echo. And yet this one did. Not wholly. Not cleanly. But enough. Enough that something of the first still stirred beneath the surface of the second, BLEEDING through in moments like this.

And so, if the Corinthian’s curiosity drew him to the edges of the Dreaming, to the thinning places, the liminal seams between what was and what was not, then Morpheus could not pretend himself untouched by the same inclination. He, too, was curious. Not in the same way. Not with the same RECKLESS hunger. But it was there. An interest in what this creature might become… and what, perhaps, he already was.

❝Yes. I would know.❞ His gaze held on the Corinthian for a moment longer, intent and unyielding, as though searching for something beneath the surface, some FRACTURE, some truth not yet spoken. Then, slowly, his attention shifted towards the horizon. Searching that, too. ❝The softer places,❞ he murmured, almost to himself. ❝Why are you drawn there?❞

[ @nightmarecountry ]

[twxnstars]

❛ We’re not allies. We’re not friends. We’re nothing. ❜

MEME | ACCEPTING

Morpheus regarded his sibling as one might regard an echo, something that existed, but did not merit pursuit. In the threshold of the gallery, beneath vaulted ceilings that reflected nothing but STARLIGHT, he stood unmoving, hands folded behind his back.

❝If that comforts you,❞ he began evenly, his voice holding neither INJURY nor irritation. It was stripped of both. ❝We are not allies. We are not friends.❞ A faint inclination of his head. ❝You are correct.❞

❝As for nothing…❞ His gaze moved past them then, settling on some distant point unseen. ❝Nothing requires acknowledgment. Nothing demands attention. Nothing seeks reaction. If you wish us to be nothing,❞ his gaze flicked back onto them, his brows raising by the slightest degree, POINTEDLY, ❝then behave accordingly.❞

[ @desiir ]

[twxnstars]

❝ i’m too tired to be mad… so congrats, i guess. ❞ - Hob :D

MEME | ACCEPTING

Too tired to be mad. It would have been easier, perhaps, if Hob had raged. Anger was bright and comprehensible. Anger could be met with COLDNESS, with hauteur, with the careful distance Morpheus had perfected over centuries. But exhaustion; human, soft, frayed at the edges, was far more difficult to stand before.

Morpheus inclined his head slightly, pale eyes studying Hob’s face as though it were a text written in a language he had only recently begun to understand. He had not sought congratulations. He had not even sought forgiveness. And yet the words lodged somewhere DEEP within him. He had won, perhaps. Achieved what he had set out to do. Preserved the order of things. That was what he did. That was what he had always done. But victory had a HOLLOW sound when spoken by mortal lips worn thin with weariness.

❝You believe this to be a triumph?❞ He mused, brows slightly raising. ❝I assure you Hob Gadling, there are no congratulations owed.❞

[ @brokenandlonelysouls ]