The Writers Take #3, Wait I mean #4 (but whose counting)

Neil Gaiman's Sandman

Welcome ladies and gentlemen, we are back!

That’s right, The Writers Take is back, and better than ever… 

Well, maybe not better than ever, those first two or three posts took me quite some time to write, and if I am being honest with you, I just care less and less each time I sit down to write this thing. That’s why this one is coming out on a Wednesday, instead of our typical Tuesday, well it’s that or it’s Uncle Sam’s fault, all those burgers and dogs, mashed with potatoes and slaw can persuade even the best of us away from our electronics for a day.

Either way, whether it is good ole red, white and blues fault, or my legitimate but tiring excuse we are here now, today, ready to muse along together.

So let’s discuss, or at least pose… can one really discuss things when talking to a blank piece of paper... but alas, pontification is the name of today’s topic.

The story of the one and only, SANDMAN, by Neil Gaiman. 

Musings on Inspiration

This is the holy grail, the perspective book, to end all perspective books. If it sounds like I'm fan-girling at the prospect of even the mention of Sandman, that’s because I am, if you’re not, then I misjudged your character, and you can leave this substack. As a writer there are few works that really just get you thinking, “Well shit, that was untouchable.” 

For me, it's the works of Tolkien, the world-building, the language creation, and the lore. Few people really understand how much Tolkien created, the density of his writings was a feat unto themselves. 

Rowling. For the life lessons. The fact that if you are an 11-year-old, and you're given an installment of Harry Potter to read on or after your birthday each year, aging with Harry, you’ll learn nearly all the life lessons you need to as a child. That sort of foresight and writing comprehension is astounding, and credit must be given where credit is due. 

And then there is Gaiman, He took the idea of states of being and manifested them into characters, into emotional beings, into mirrors, no lenses into our society. And that’s what we are here to discuss today. Now, that my nonsensical preamble has been emotionally fulfilled, let's dive in. 

On to Morpheus and the Sandman

Dream or Morpheus is the manifestation of what we understand as the endless. Accompanied by his brothers and sisters: Destiney, Desire, Despair, Destruction, Delirium, and of course, Death.  They are neither big nor little G gods, the big G god, lives in the silver city, unattainable to even their kind to get to, they are not as powerful as let’s say angels, or even fallen angels, enter Mr. Morningstar, but as we learn in Sandman, little g gods, actually are created in his realm of dream. And this is where I want to start our conversation. It was curious that the characters chosen were all emotions that we need… impulse, animalistic, and native. This book needs a good glass of wine or fine strains of weed. I suggest a 2017 Malbec or a Jeeter Pre Roll, but that's just me. 

Neil was able to take something that we, in our actual lives can point to, the manifestation of gods- Thor and Odin, Zeus and Hercules, and Mars and Jupiter were all gods created by and manifested through stories shared between humans. The justification for these being’s presence in Sandman was nothing more than the dreams of mortals manifesting these gods into existence, and as Morpheus says, “when they are dead, they will return to my plane of existence, where they were born, and where they will live after death.” Note, I put quotes there, but that’s probably more of a paraphrase than a direct quote, leave a comment with the actual quote if you are so inclined to. Also, what in the actual fuck… If this last paragraph didn’t break your mind, then let me make sure I was clear… THOR the god of Thunder is JUST the manifestation of a DREAM and when that dream fades, so does the god… Now, do you understand? Wowzers. 

So what does this all mean really? It is, in my opinion, one of the cleverer things Neil does in this book, the rectification of real-world ideologies into the fictional world, ala “gods like Odin are born in dreams, and then, eventually, die in dreams, is a justification for contextualizing the complex equation that is gods within the construct of the story. It is quite incredible when you think about it, and yes, I used a lot of big words there to make it sound fancier but that doesn't detract from the validity of the notion. 

Key Moments in the Land of Monsters

Moving on from gods and monsters, well, hold the phone, let’s not move on from monsters, instead, let’s actually go there, to the land of the monsters. The home of the fallen angel, the realm of Hell. 

What is so fascinating about Hell, is like in all things Sandman, we are given a perspective of truth through the lens of the fantastical. Sure Lucifer is the warden of this realm, but he too has his woes and his excitements, his ups, and downs, but like us humans, sometimes we just get bored. And that’s exactly what he is, bored with Hell. What an idea. Seriously. Honestly, I’d never get to bored of torture… just kidding, seriously, just kidding, Number 6 don’t leave again!

A fascinating concept we can explore later, however…. 

What I want to explore is the first encounter we have with Morpheus in the land of the damned. He is in search of his Helm, and just so we are on the same page, my dissection of Sandman won’t be following a play-by-play of the saga, no, if I were to do that–

A) I would go mad 

B) we would be here for a decade. 

Instead, I am choosing some key moments that I found to be a masterful writing perspective, and investigating those, we will, inevitably, do more Sandman entries.

So as I was saying… the helm. 

Morpheus has to travel to hell to reclaim his helm, which was stolen from him when he was imprisoned by a mortal hack wizard trying to summon Death, but instead got Dream. Two-bit amateur, seriously now. So due to the ineptitude of this mortal would-be Gandalf impersonator, our beloved Morpheus must battle a demon to reclaim his helm. 

Hell’s rules are a bit of a bitch, I must say. But we finally, after the context needed, are at the point of the story, where I want to stop and soak in the moment. Yes, I know what you're thinking, if you haven't been soaking in the moment, then what have you been doing…. Well, all I can say is, a good thing I'm in control and not you. 

So, the battle is of the mind, manifesting ideas, shapes, and places, and the whole thing is freaking incredible, and I’m my producer on this, Harrison will drop down the entire transcript of this scene for you to read, but it ends with the demon saying he is the anti-life equation, he is the end of all things. 

And the demon audience erupts with excitement as they believe they have bested Dream. But dreams, have a certain ace up their sleeves, dreams, have the trump card. 

Hope. 

The uttering of this idea by Morpheus shatters reality and he wins, easily after this. 

If you are so included, here is the scene to read in full!

Choronzon: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. Today for your entertainment and delectation, a formal challenge. ( demons cheering ) The challenger is Dream. Once the Master of the Realm of Sleep. ( caws ) As the challenged, I've selected my champion, Ruler of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar... ( demons cheering ) ...to represent me in a contest of skill, confidence and transformation.

The oldest game. Matthew, I need you to return to The Dreaming. What? No! It's the only reason I allowed you to come. So I could leave you? If I should not be able to leave, I would not have Lucienne left alone with no word of my fate. Not again. The sand will take you back. I'm not going back.

Morpheus, am I interrupting a preliminary bout of some kind? Just a ringside pep talk, Your Majesty. We came here for the helm and we're not leaving here without it. We shall see. ( cheering continues )

Lucifer: As the challenged, I set the meter and take the first move. Very well. Make your move. I am... a dire wolf. Prey-stalking, lethal prowler. ( growls )

I am a hunter. Horse-mounted, wolf-stabbing. ( snarls ) ( grunts ) ( breathing heavily )

I am a serpent. Horse-biting... ( neighing in alarm ) ...poison-toothed. ( gasps )

I am a bird of prey. Snake-devouring, talons ripping. ( Lucifer gasps )

I am a butcher bacterium. Warm-life destroying. ( Dream grunts )

I am a world. Space-floating, life-nurturing.

I am a nova. All-exploding, planet-cremating. ( screaming ) ( Dream groans ) ( weakly ) I am a universe. All things encompassing, all life embracing.

Lucifer: I am anti-life. The Beast of Judgement. The dark at the end of everything. What will you be then, Dream Lord? ( breath trembling ) ( groans weakly ) I... I... I ... (Matthew): Boss? Hey, boss! Still with us, Dream? He is and it's his move, Your Majesty.

There are no more moves. What can survive the anti-life?

Hey, boss. Listen to me. You know what can survive the anti-life? You. Dreams don't fսck¡ng die. Not if you believe in them, and I believe Dream of the Endless would never leave his raven here alone, in Hell with Lucifer. I... am... ( caws ) hope.

Hope.

Dream: Well, Lightbringer? It's your move. What is it that kills hope?

Choronzon, give him his helm.

Choronzon: No. I won't. It's mine. Please. ( Choronzon grunting ) ( demons cheering )

( Choronzon screams ) ( demons cheering )

Thank you, Mazikeen. Thank you, Lightbringer. The Ruler of Hell is honorable, indeed. I will not forget this. Honorable?

You joke, surely. Look out there, Morpheus. The billion Lords of Hell stand arrayed about you. Tell us.

Why should we let you leave? Helmet or no, you have no power here. After all... What power have dreams in Hell? You say I have no power here. Perhaps you speak truly.

But to say dreams have no power in Hell... Tell me, Lucifer Morningstar, what power would Hell have if those here imprisoned were not able to dream... of Heaven?

One day, Morpheus... we shall destroy you.

Until that day, Lightbringer.

Read more at: TV Trans-script

Now back to my words of wisdom…

With his helm in hand, Lucifer Morningstar asks Dream a simple question: “Why should we let you leave?” And simply, Dream says, one of the, if not the most iconic lines in the entire saga. 

“Because, without dreams of heaven, no one will fear hell.” And with that he walks through the herd of demons, parting for him like the Red Sea. 

Hope. Hope as the most powerful weapon against hell is, perhaps the greatest perspective used in literature, ever. Without hope, we cannot be what we are. Without hope, we would fall into slavery, dictatorship, and ownership. Without hope, we would not be the civilization we are today and to contextualize that (there’s that fancy word again) with a battle of ideas between the lord of dreams and Lucifer Morningstar, well that my friends is what we like to call… perfection. 

I hope you enjoyed Part I of my Sandman rant, we will be weaving in more Sandman in posts to come, but for now, I hope you all stay curious, and keep dreaming of the stars. 

Until next time, I’ve been Matthew, and you’ve been, well you know who you’ve been.

We go back to basics next week and dive deep into how the likes of Neil Gaiman, Brian K. Vaughan, and myself, find artists to bring our words to life.

Spoiler alert, it’s either by expertly crafted witchcraft, Fiverr, or a toolbox of art resources and relationships. You can only find out next week on The Writers Take!

***Disclaimer, we don’t know how Neil and Brian find artists, but it sounded spicy and fun. However, next week we will dig into how the best-in-class writers find their visual counterparts… Follow my Twitter for sneak peeks of The Writers Take #4 / #5.

Stay Curious, and Keep Writing, 

Matthew Medney

Herø Projects, Gungnir, and other musings…

I wanted to take a moment during our intermission here to shamelessly and directly promote my two companies. Gungnir Entertainment, a genre-focused publishing company with best-selling titles from yours truly hitting shelves nationwide this Fall.  With books focused on classic sci-fi ideas like “What does it mean to be human” and “is the bible right?” “Adventures throughout the stars” are just a few of the prompts for the books you can dive into with Gungnir. Gungnir’s website will launch this summer, and you can stay up to date on the forthcoming titles on my Instagram, @matthewmedney, or at my author page on Simon & Schuster. 

And then there is Herø Projects. The Perennial leader in custom comics and animated services, Herø is a state-of-the-art creative studio that has worked with talents such as Floyd Mayweather, Shaggy, Nghtmre, and brands such as Remi Martin, Live Nation, and Rolling Loud. If Branding through storytelling isn’t your thing you can check out our original titles, the Onyx line with books such as Stable, Remnant, and Best Selling Comic The Red.  To learn more about Herø Projects visit us at heroprojects.io

Hope you enjoyed this Inaugural writer’s take, keep a look out as we will have more spread-out writing tips coming up in between the big movie or tv show breakdowns!