The Sandman has The Weirdest Gods Ever

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My absolute favorite quote from the comics is when Dream is about to leave Hell with his newly recovered helmet, one of three tokens that contain his power. Lucifer changes his mind, showing Dream the billion lords of Hell standing between him and the gates, and asks; "What power have Dreams in Hell?" Without missing a step, he answers; "What power would Hell have if those here imprisoned, were not able to Dream...of Heaven?"

I love how Gaimon’s gods are functions of culture, while the Endless are functions of consciousness

I enjoy how the Endless are a giant dysfunctional family, and behave as such: Father Time- stern workaholic, no time for his offspring Mother Night-flakey, and narcissistic Destiny- his father’s son, distant stoic, married to his job Death- compassionate older sister, tries hard to fill the nurturing role their mother abandoned Dream- his mother’s son, brooding, melodramatic, self absorbed, stuck in permanent “Goth” phase Destruction- lovable middle child “fail-son”, who leaves a secure executive position with the family firm to go “find himself” Desire- petty, vindictive, manipulative, sadistic sociopath Despair- terminally depressed, codependent, self-harming, masochist Delirium- the formerly sweet youngest sister, now deeply traumatized

Gaiman’s version of Death is one of my favorite depictions of death in media. She’s actually kind of fun to watch/read about and is understanding when she takes people away, subverting what is usually thought of death.

I often see Death slightly misunderstood. People recognise her compassion, her gentle and comforting nature, her likeability. But they miss her liveliness, her goofiness, her general aura of life. She's not putting on a brave face, hiding pain behind a smile, she genuinely loves humans and her job. She's there for every soul, she gives them rest when the burden of life becomes too much and gives them a friendly face on the other side to ease the pain. Death of the Endless laughs often and smiles even more so, while she's often interpreted as someone who smiles often but laughs very rarely. For example, I can't picture Death from the show going on a 5-minute spiel extolling the virtues of Mary Poppins, saying Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and giggling like she's having the time of her life. Only to turn on a dime, yell at Dream and smack him on the head with a baguette.

Fun fact, encephalitis lethargica, Or the sleeping sickness that kicks of the sandman series is based on the real world events with the illness first being reported in 1917. In universe the illness "ends" in 1989, the same year the first sandman issue came out.

"We are not gods. Gods fade away like the humans that conceived them. We are eternal, we are everlasting, we are...Endless"

You ever notice that while the Endless all have names that begin with the letter "D," Dream's the only one whose name doesn't have an "e" as the second letter. I found that interesting.

This reminds me of the Idea of Evil from Beserk. While it is effectively the closest thing to God in that world, it only exists because people wanted something to blame for all the suffering in the world. It controls destiny and causality, but destiny only exists because people believe it does. Guts' ability to defy destiny in a way also makes sense, because his refusal to accept it is the same as not believing in destiny at all. Interestingly enough, when Zoroastrianism was first founded in the early Persian Empire, Anjra Manyu was basically the same thing. His name roughly translates to "evil concept," but can just as easily be translated to "idea of evil."

Interestingly, Death appears to work slightly differently to the other Endless. She once stopped doing her job because she was hurt by how hated she was. When she did that, people stopped dying. It's interesting that she seems to be the only one who is absolutely essential to her role

Just the quotes of “you don’t have to stay anywhere forever” and “Perhaps that’s the ultimate freedom eh dream lord, the freedom to leave” always echo around my head when I feel stuck in a bad situation, no feeling is permanent and we are only cemented in the roles we chose as far as we let it, such a fantastic series

I love Gaiman’s Sandman, how existentially fantastical yet human it is.

I don't remember if it was Sandman itself but I vaguely remember a scene from some comic where Dream is with Constantine or some other magic user like him and they go to see Martian manhunter for something and Manhunter recognizes him, drops to his knees and starts praying to him because apparently the endless are like gods to the Martians.

I always thought the Endless were sort of what you got before gods - they're what you make gods *about*. Delight becoming Delirium is kinda upsetting though. Like, "isn't everything amazing?" went from being joyousness to insanity in human minds and she had to change with it.

Something I love about the Endless, something I try with my deities, is how they reflect their opposite. Destiny's book where the future is set, is only read by a blind man. He wanders his realm, an infinite maze that changes with your chosen path as you wander through it. Death is not just there when you die. She's the one who brought you to life. An experience she allows herself one day every 100 years Dream brings inspiration and hope, yes. But he also brings horror and fear as a lord of nightmares Desire and Despair are twins. Though desire loves torment while their sister likes to joke Destruction, having abandoned his duties, is now a wandering artist. He's dedicated the rest of his near infinite life to that what he is not Delirium was once, eons ago, known as delight The Endless are my favourite mythological beings and whenever I reread sandman, I get inspired to create

I remember reading the Sandman Overture for the first time having no prior knowledge to the franchise. It was one of the most unusual and distinctive pieces of literature I ever experienced. I have also gotten into manga and anime that are inspired by fairy tales and folklore. Inuyasha, The Ancient Magus's Bride, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, and The Witch and the Beast. Honestly, the way mangaka approach creating fantasy deserves its own video.

I would love to see a Chainsaw Man story written by Neil Gaiman that explores the nature of fear and the existence of the Devils that represent them.

The art in this video is absolutely captivating. The story telling soothing. The discussion totally enriching. What a video! Bravo! Standing ovation to your craft, ideas and work!

Death of the Endless is what I consider one of the best depictions of death, along with The Brothers Death from scp foundation, death from supernatural and death from Discworld, and quite recently death from puss n boots the last wish.