Fifty-erasers - Ah Yisssss - Tumblr Blog

so here's the thing, about dream's relationships. they rarely last longer than a couple months, though we only have a small sample size as to why

and merv says this, at one point, and while merv's opinions on dream are always to be taken with a grain of salt, he is at least someone who's seen most of them fall apart

but from dream's perspective, we know he's never stopped loving anyone, once you have his heart you have it forever, even if he's not always the best at showing it, and is easily offended when he thinks you're rejecting him

so i think, what's likely happening here is, dream will put a lot of effort into courting someone, that we've seen, but once they get cemented in his brain as a thing he's not going to easily lose, he a) loses track of time, and b) finds it harder to keep prioritising that courtship over all of the other million things that need his attention at any given moment, which reads to anyone else as dream's stopped loving me

and i think about how dream is the most neurodivergent endless after delirium, and how many adhd symptoms are very dreamlike, with the skipping from one thing to another with no need to explain the middle, or the major difficulty regulating emotions

...how's that object permanence working out for you there, buddy? the "what no it's only been like, three days since we last talked, not seven months" trait is strong here, huh? "i still love you and last i checked you loved me so how could things have possibly changed in my absence?"

(kinda see that one with him being surprised the dreaming was so fucked up after a century's absence, too)

relationship degradation mechanic broke, local endless does not have a concept of time away from someone making you care less about them and is very confused and angsty over the whole affair

though hey if nothing else the dreamling shippers are in luck here bc if there's anyone in the world who's not gonna be offended by or stop caring about dream after long absences, that would be the one!

dream & death BFSFs!!! (best friend siblings forever!!!) !!!!

Okay, so I really REALLY need to get this off my chest

I mean, we all make jokes about Dream being an ABSOLUTE fucking disaster when it comes to his lovelife and yes, how can you not, when bullshit like this is CANON:

I remember reading this for the first time and my reaction was ABSOLUTELY WTF.

Because, the last time I checked, Dream of the Endless was just busy doing his usual Dreamlord things, getting closure with Alianora in A Game of You, and generally just being his usual mysterious broody self. Like, normal for Dream, okay?

I even went back and double checked to see if I somehow missed an issue, a storyline, something because WHO THE HELL was this person who broke Dream's heart?

And of course, we know what happens next, right? Dream runs off on a road trip with baby sister Delirium, to find their lost brother Destruction, on an adventure that is simultaneously hilarious and horrifying. On the one hand - Dream and Delirium bonding! Dream learning not to be such an arse at the art of being a big brother! On the other hand - ABSOLUTE FUCKING DESTRUCTION. PEOPLE DYING. I kid you not - the horror and the humor are like side by side in this.

But in the end, Dream ends up having to spill family blood in order to find Destruction. And that sets off the events of the Kindly Ones and Dream's death and Daniel Hall rising in his place as the new Dream of the Endless.

Years later, I realized this was basically an elaborate suicide process. It wasn't that Dream had this great love that shattered his heart and made him want to die - we didn't even know who this goddamn mystery lover was unless you picked up on the hints. It was just one trauma (Burgess and the glass fishbowl) after another (Rose the Vortex and Desire's bullshit) and losing Orpheus in such a horrific way. It was just absolutely the last straw for him. Dream must have figured he was like, "Nope, I'm done. I'm noping outta here. I can't do this anymore."

I absolutely did not see this coming.

THESSALY?!!!

THIS GODDAMN IMMORTAL WITCH TERF THESSAY WAS THE ONE WHO BROKE DREAM'S HEART?

THE FUCK?!!!

There was only ONE GODDAMN HINT that I got that she was even REMOTELY attracted to Dream, okay? And it was here:

I'm sorry, Thessaly, unlike you, I wholly EMBRACE the fact that Dream of the Endless is kilig-inducing. Fuck you very much, okay?

So it kind of makes me think how the Sandman TV team is going to handle this once the next seasons are greenlit. Are we going to have Thessaly/Dream, the most toxic goddamn disaster relationship ever? How's that going to play out? Are viewers going to be left scratching their heads like we comic readers were?

I'm just hoping we don't end up with Dreamling replacing the Thessaly/Dream shit as the tragedy romance. That one's gonna break me. Nope, I can't. I wrote my own take on that in my previous post and I'M ALREADY READY TO FLING MYSELF INTO THE SUN.

What makes this even worse is that the TV version of Dream is even more lovable than the comic one. The more I rewatch it, the more I'm like: "Shit, he's changing fast, more like Daniel/Dream than the bastard Morpheus could be." So yes, Sandman Netflix team, congratulations we are latching on to this version of Morpheus and keeping him!

In the meantime, the quest for fix-it fan fiction continues!

So you said queer history didn't start with Stonewall, which is not even surprising at all. However, that's all I've ever been told, so I don't know anything about the time before Stonewall. Do you have a tag, a masterpost, or some articles or something for me to read so I can learn about queer history before Stonewall? And I'm sorry if this comes off as rude or anything; I just genuinely want to learn the untold history of the community I'm a part of. Thanks 😊

First, thank you for coming to us, you didn’t come off as rude at all. 

Well, we don’t have a tag or masterpost, but I can create a list of articles we have up at this point (May 14, 2018) that focuses on queer subjects from before Stonewall.

Sappho, the Poetess

Kristina, King of Sweden

Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, and Occam’s Razor

Josephine Baker, a Woman with Eclectic Talents

Queer Women and AFAB People During the Holocaust

Magnus Hirschfeld, the Founder

Institute of Sexology, a Place of Learning

San Domino, Gay Island

The Bitten Peach and the Cut Sleeve

The End of the World War 2 Series

Vita Sackville-West: Creating a Legacy

Langston Hughes: the Poet

The Marriage of Jane and Paul Bowles

Bjornstjerne Bjornson, the Advocate

Osh-Tisch, the Warrior

The Trials of Oscar Wilde

Sir Ewan Forbes, the Doctor

Frida Kahlo: Lover of Self and Others

Albert D.J. Cashier

The Golden Orchid

Queen Christina, Queer Codes and Queer Coding (Part 2)

Queen Christina, Queer Codes and Queer Coding(Part 1)Different from the Others, the Beginning

The Story of the Ladies of Llangollen

Wilfred Owen: Dating Your Heroes (And Writing Through Hard Times)

Virginia Woolf: Struggling (And Never Being Perfect)

Tamara de Lempicka’s Legacy

Tamara de Lempicka’s Life

Federico Garcia Lorca: Words that Scared a Country

Bricktop, and the Happy Ending

Bricktop, the Fabulous

Frank Kameny

Sophia Parnok, Russia’s Sappho

Annemarie Schwarzenbach

Alan L. Hart, Part 2

Alan L. Hart, Part 1

Defining Identities in North America, Part 2

Defining Identities in North America, Part 1

Alan Turing

Hatshepsut

Hamish Henderson

Elagabalus, the Empress

Billy Tipton and the Question of Gender

Takatāpui

Yukio Mishima

Kitty Genovese

Catherine Bernard: A question in studying asexual history

György Faludy

Edward Carpenter

Dawn Langley Hall

Zimri-Lim, King of Mari

Coccinelle

Lesbia Harford

Karl Heinrich Ulrichs

Frieda Belinfante Part 2 

Frieda Belinfante Part 1

Eleanor Rykener

Redefining the Dandy: The Asexual Man of Fashion

I hope this helps! 

Can I just talk about how jarring seeing gifs of Dream from the beginning and end of season 1 side by side is. Because he's VISIBLY gained weight and I understand the reasons but now I need a fic exploring how he's growing healthier after his imprisonment and his face filling out. Like Johanna seeing him months after getting his sand and the rude woman telling him he's gained weight.

Cause I've seen fics where Hob notices how thin he is because episode 6 is barely a week after everything calms down, I think, and he's still recovering. I want Hob just having the most powerful urge to feed him and succeeding and getting to see him getting stronger.

Hello guys. I hope you've known that based on the flag on my bio I'm an Iranian person. You probably know what's been happening; the government been restricting our access to the internet to silence our voices but THIS TIME WE WILL NOT BE SILENT.

Mahsa Amini was a 22 yearold woman who was murdered by the 'mortality police' for not having appropriate hijab.

the government denies the fact that she was murdered BUT DON'T LISTEN TO THE GOVERNMENT. LISTEN TO IRANIAN PEOPLE.

Our country is being ruled by terrorists such as Khamenei who's our 'leader' and Raeesi who's the president. THEY'RE BOTH TERRORISTS.

please be the voice of Iranian people.our only problem is not the forced hijab and dress code, there's a lot more than that.

WE DON'T WANT THIS GOVERNMENT AT ALL!!

brief lives doodle

an allowance of pleasure by @softest-punk

Pairing: Dream/Hob

Rating: Explicit || Warnings: none || Word Count: 16 860

Tags: Fluff, Getting Together, Developing Relationship,Slow Burn, Tea

Summary:

Even a being as powerful as the Lord of Dreams may have things to learn. Even a human as insignificant as Hob Gadling may have things to teach. Luckily for Dream, Hob's supplies of tea, biscuits, and patience are bottomless.

Why I rec this: So, you know those fics that, even while you are still reading, already establish themself firmly on your rainy day comfort list, the ones that you want to re-read as soon as you are done because they make you feel as if you have been wrapped up in a blanket with tea and biscuits? This is one of those, with an actual abundance of tea and biscuits. Every update of this was a highlight in my day; the build-up of their relationship is done with so much care and gentleness, their characters feel so true and complex, and the underlying... theme? understanding? of love in general, and theirs specifically, and why they are such an amazing ship, was just utterly perfect. Which isn't even starting on the writing and the attention to detail, and I'm straight-up gushing, I know, but it's been a while since I've made that many silly faces and ridiculous noises while reading a fic, and it was absolutely worth it, to be honest.

Favourite Quotes:

“But I would know what you would have from me,” Dream says, looking at Hob’s hand like it might bite him. “In exchange.” Hob frowns. “In exchange?” Hob imagines they would have more evenings together and cups of tea in the kitchen and maybe Dream could be convinced to allow himself to be cuddled and perhaps they’d have sex occasionally and it really is okay if it’s only occasional or not at all, really, if it’s not the sort of thing Dream likes, Hob doesn’t need it to be happy, he— He’s saying all this aloud. Dream frowns at him. “Those are all things you would give to me,” he says. “But you must want... some favour or advantage. Something it is within my power to give. A dream come true.” Hob is just, just sober enough to wish he’d strangled Shakespeare when he had the chance, but he gets the sense that the lad wasn’t the first to ask something from Dream. Something in exchange for affection. Not love. Love was not selfish. Love did not require an exchange.

---

"And then I would like a cup of tea,” Dream says. “And a biscuit. And after that I believe I would like to be held as you dream of holding me. And I want... other things. I am not yet certain what they may be. I will accept your guidance in such matters.”

---

What he has had are passions that threatened to tear the world asunder, wild and turbulent and dramatic, the sort of thing people write beautiful, tragic poetry about. What he has not had is this. A love so quiet it sits over cups of tea and is content with simply that.

Heart eyes Hob's version...

Dream exists - Hob *(。♥‿♥。)*

Smoke Break

Human!Dreamling AU

Hob is a former soldier turned history professor (original, I know)

Dream is a successful author; he writes under the pseudonym of Morpheus because he likes his privacy

Dream starts sitting in on Hob’s history classes because he’s doing research for his next book

Which would fine and all, if only 1) he had bothered to tell Hob that rather than just showing up one day, and 2) he wasn’t so distracting for the actual students in the class

As it is, Dream just starts showing up after class one day and Hob is like “um?? Can I help you???”

Dream: “your Department Chair said I could be here”

Hob: “well no one told ME that”

It starts off a bit contentious; Dream refuses to tell Hob what he’s writing about, just asks vague questions, and his attitude makes Hob feel inferior or like he’s being judged

In truth Dream is just an awkward idiot who has a hard time talking to people, hence the need for writing under a pseudonym and saving his privacy

Hob, finally reaching his limit with feeling like he’s being judged and deemed inadequate, asks why Dream doesn’t just sit in with the other history professors

Dream, getting huffy and defensive, says “my sister praised your passion and depth of knowledge in your field, but if you truly find me so bothersome, I’ll find someone else”

Hob: “sorry, did you say sister?”

Hob served in the army with Death, who was a combat medic

Death and Hob kept in touch after being discharged from the army, but they both kind of got busy with life and only occasionally saw each other on social media

While Hob went on to get his degree in history and teach, Death got her PhD in medicine and opened her own practice

When Dream complained about needing to do some research on an era of history for his next book to Death, she suggested Hob and talked about how good of a teacher he was. So Dream pulled some strings and got permission from the Department Chair to sit in on Hob’s classes.

Hob is a little embarrassed - he considers himself a pretty average professor and doesn’t have the same years of experience as some of the other professors - but feels honored that Death recommended him so highly

Ofc before he can actually say anything like that, Dream leaves because he’s Offended and needs to sulk

Feeling a little bad about how they parted (only a little bc Dream can be an ass when he wants to be), Hob reaches out to Death again and tells her about it. She’s pretty much like “sigh yeah that’s Dream for you, dw I’ll talk to him”

Cue her calling Dream and calling him an idiot and telling him he needs to use his words more rather than expecting everyone to simply accommodate him.

Death uses Older Sister Voice to strike a blow!! Dream sulks about it some more but realizes she’s right and shows up to the next class Hob is teaching

He doesn’t really apologize but he does say he overreacted; Hob DOES apologize for misjudging Dream, however. He’s still willing to give Dream a shot now that he knows Death specifically recommended him to Dream

Hob tried to ask Dream about the books he’s written before but Dream Will Not tell him what his pen name is; hob also tries to ask what the current book is about, and Dream still won’t talk about it

This is all frustrating to Hob, bc if he knew even what genre Dream was writing he could probably help more than by just giving a basic history lesson. He could be specific about what he tells Dream, give plot relevant info, etc etc.

Dream dgaf tho and plays it all close to the vest bc he doesn’t want someone ‘interfering’ with his writing process. It irks Hob, but he comes to see it as a game, trying to figure out Dream’s pseudonym from little clues in their conversations.

Leading to not only many more classes where Dream shows up (Hob’s students are INTRIGUED bc who is this man randomly hanging around our professor?), but also some one on one meetings either at Hob’s office or at the New Inn over drinks. Dream even offers to pay Hob, but Hob insists he just pay for the drinks when they go out, bc he sees his talks with Dream as a favor to his Death, who saved his life more than once out in the field

What started as a rough partnership evolves into a comfortable friendship over months, as their meetings eventually start to progress past just talking about history to other topics. They get to know each other outside the original context of their meetings by talking about things that, yknow, friends talk about. Food, hobbies, family, past experiences, etc.

I think the tipping point for Hob realizing he’s got a crush on Dream would be him coming into the university building where he teaches one day and seeing Dream talking to another professor.

All the social studies and liberal arts are taught in the same building. Dream showed up early for Hob’s class bc he thought he heard a different professor reciting Shakespeare to their class once. He likes Shakespeare ofc so he thought he’d show up a little early to listen to the Shakespeare class out of curiosity. He ends up in a discussion after the class ends with the professor. The professor, named Will (bc I think I’m hilarious), is an English professor who teaches a class on Shakespearean Literature to third and fourth year students.

On his way to his own class, Hob sees the two of them talking after the Shakespeare class ends, and feels a little weird about it but he has a class to teach so he ignores it

Or at least he tries to. The feeling grows when his class starts and Dream is nowhere to be seen for at least the first 30 min of class. When Dream finally does come in, it’s the latest he’s ever arrived and it bugs tf out of Hob so much he tells Dream after class that they can’t meet that day bc there’s a faculty meeting that Hob forgot about.

Dream is a little surprised and disappointed, but is okay with putting their meeting off for another day. After he leaves, Hob finds himself wondering exactly why he told Dream they couldn’t meet, bc now that Dream’s gone he regrets lying and just wants Dream to come back. Now irritated with both himself and Will the English professor, Hob goes home for the rest of the day to grade papers. If there’s a little more red on the essays than there normally is, that’s only bc his students had a particularly hard time with the recent unit and not at all bc he’s mad.

Hob doesn’t have any classes the next day, but he does actually have a meeting with the Department Chair about next semester’s classes, so he goes to the university. After his meeting with the Chair, he happens to walk by Will the English professor’s class out of curiosity and sees Dream sitting in the back of the class. Hob gets aggravated all over again, stewing outside the closed classroom door (it’s one of those with the window on the door) and thinking not very nice thoughts about Will the English professor when Dream looks towards him and sees Hob at the door. He looks surprised.

Without even thinking about it Hob automatically leaves bc shit! Dream caught him standing outside the class like a creepy stalker! Fuck. Hob drives all the way home mortified and cursing himself before he realizes he’s blushing all over. Cue the realization that hey maybe this is about more than just his friend becoming friends with Will the English professor.

I have more for this AU, but this post is getting a little long for mobile so I’m cutting it off here (for now…)

I've been watching FMVs of Hob and Dream and there is something that I noticed recently. When Dream comes up to the table his head is back and up, like he's expecting to be yelled at or even hit.

Then Hob smiles and tells him that he's late. And you see Dream unbend little by little until at the end of the apology his body is relaxed and he smiles back.

And I wanted to sob for Dream. Like he walks and sees Hob sitting there and he wants to back out but he forges on. He marches forward and then draws back when Hob looks up. He doesn't know how mad Hob will be because Dream missed their last meeting. So he goes in with his guard up.

It's only when Hob smiles and teases Dream, telling him he's late and he realizes that Hob still wants to see him, that he still wants to be friends that Dream starts to relax.

Really I just can't with these two.

im going to do a challenge and see how long i can go without seeing dreams face when he face reveals

Important distinction for Sandman fans who’ve only watched the show...

Morpheus in the comics:

- 100% dtf

- Nada fell for him so fast she saw him in a dream once and was prepared to give up her kingdom for him, Calliope provides a detailed and totally unprompted description of how of all her many lovers he was the best, and Alianora’s very much dead but still thirsting for him

- Can change his entire appearance at will to better his chances

- of all the endless, has only ever been out-hoed by Desire

Morpheus in the show:

- Has clearly never known the touch of a woman in his life

- Divorced

- Permanently looks like an 80s twink with full guy-liner or a bedraggled wet cat

- Divorced.

And let me tell you, as someone who grew up rooting for the trainwreck male-leads in nordic crime dramas and thus likes her men as pathetic as possible, I am loving the direction they’re going in. I guess Neil Gaiman has been immersed in fandom long enough to know how to give the people exactly what they want.

(Edit) This got a few more reblogs than I thought and I am loving some of the tags, so I just thought I’d add as a caveat; I absolutely ship Dreamling, however, I’m more than willing to believe it’s possible for two guys to have a centuries-old queer platonic relationship where they’ve never done anything more intimate than hold hands. And yes, Tom Sturridge was perfect for the role due to his inexplicable ability to have amazing chemistry with anyone on screen (even if they’re playing his immortal siblings) but also manage to seem asexual af, we need more like him.

this fight between Dream and Lucifer is absolutely the queerest shit. you mean to tell me they just need to speak increasingly lethal shade until their opponent folds? dressed up in their contoured leather bad bitch vintage jackets? which Bushwick bathroom is this??

anyone who told you much ado about nothing is good and worth watching was RIGHT and you should listen to them

I don't think this is an uncommon headcanon based on the fics I've read, but I see Dream as casual about sex but very guarded against love and emotional intimacy. Perhaps best described as some flavor of pansexual but demiromantic. He's part of the human subconscious, sex would be nothing strange to him and it's enjoyable, but love? Well, he's been hurt too often by daring to love or care too much.

By contrast, Hob (because I can't write a Sandman meta post without it becoming about dreamling these days) I think loves very freely. He definitely has sex freely, we know that from 1389 and all the "women to swive". I think he gives his heart wholly to those he's with (based on the comic) but... there's always going to be the "but". But they can never really know him. For casual lovers, there'd be little point in bringing up the whole truth of who he is, but that makes living in the moment not just a personality quirk, but a necessity. Hob can't really share stories about where he grew up, or what it was like. He can't really go into detail about his past marriage and how it ended. He can't talk about his son dying at 20 with just anyone because he looks forever in his mid-30s and it might attract odd looks unless he successfully convinces people he's "older than he looks". Even if he does tell a lover the truth, that too is isolating, because he can't share the gift, and even if they don't want it, they still will never be able to fully grasp the life he's led. So, Hob can love freely, but no one will ever really know him.

I think this is why I (and other fic writers) see Hob and Dream falling into bed together before they really figure out how this changes their relationship. They're both adult men, fathers, and divorcees/widowers. They've both been shown to have lovers. They clearly flirted in 1789 and neither was averse, Dream was just ridiculously stuck on his 100 years conceit and maybe Hob wasn't blunt enough.

It's not the physical side Dream would shrink from, it's the emotional side. I think the wooing would have to be on Hob's side and Hob would have to make Dream see that he's allowed to have this. That he's allowed to have a lover who cares about him as a friend as well, who isn't some torrid love affair destined for great passion and greater tragedy. Because conversely, for Hob, Dream is the only person who will ever know him, truly know him, who he doesn't have to hide from, and who he can talk to about the last however many centuries because Dream was there too. There's really no one else. And I think that's why Hob would be patient, and understanding, though at some point perhaps push for Dream to see what's in front of him. Or perhaps not, given how much it means to Hob as well not to lose him.

“You’re a fair bit quieter today than usual,” Hob says, soft and coaxing. “Can I do anything?”

Those four words make the back of his throat sting. He grits his teeth.

Hob knows. He always knows. He clocked Dream in 1389 and he’s only gotten better at reading him in the past 637 years. Dream couldn’t hope to hide anything from him now.

Dream looks down at his lap. Hob’s attention doesn’t waver.

“I lost Jessamy today,” he says. “One hundred years ago.”

“Oh, darling,” Hob breathes. “I’m so sorry.”

Dream shakes his head. He’s not sure why. It just feels right. Perhaps a last ditch effort to deny his greatest loss in the last century.

The tears come now as they did that day in 1926 — hot, silent, and choking. Hob remains beside him, a warm and comforting companion to his grief.

“I had ravens before her and now I have Matthew but she was at my side the longest. They would hang around fifty years or so before moving on and that was fine with me. She joined me just after we met in 1789.”

“I wish I could have met her,” Hob says, and that brings on a fresh wave of silent tears.

Jessamy would not have liked Hob at the beginning but he would have grown on her like he did Dream. They would have been friendly by 1789 but seeing Hob take down two hulking guards with naught but a teacup for threatening Dream would have solidified him in her good graces.

He tells Hob this and can’t help the trembling smile that pulls at his lips as Hob laughs.

Hob and Matthew get on like a 14th century inn on fire (thatched roofs!) but Jessamy would have come to love Hob as Dream does. She was slow to warm but that hesitance hid an expressive and warm interior like he.

Matthew enjoys the occasional cuddle on the sofa or in bed but usually prefers to bed down on his own. Jessamy, on the other hand, never let the opportunity for a cuddle go unseized. She was always preening her feathers to get them to lie flat after a good nap in Dream’s lap, arms, or nuzzled between his neck and the collar of his coat. She often chose that spot when he was sitting still for extended periods of time.

“I don’t want Matthew to change—I like him just as he is—but I can’t help—“ He falters, breath catching.

“You miss that connection,” Hob finishes. “It’s hard, adjusting to a new normal, and it takes time.”

Dream’s hand trembles as he reaches for Hob. He catches that shaking hand between his own and kisses the fingertips.

“She was in my coat when they captured me. Technically, she was in The Dreaming, but when they took everything away, she escaped through my coat,” he swallows. “She was the last being I touched for over a century.”

He doesn’t move away when Hob wipes a tear from his cheek.

“I never got to,” he chokes on his breath, “to touch her again.”

He does move away when Hob shifts but realizes belatedly he wasn’t trying to touch him, only angle his body differently. But Hob released his hand without hesitation when he retreated.

“Sorry.”

“No, you’ve nothing to apologize for,” Hob says easily. “Tell me more, anything.”

“Mervyn got a few of the more artistically inclined residents of The Dreaming together and had them paint a mural in my castle of my ravens. Jessamy’s picture is the largest of the bunch. I don’t know how they remembered what they all looked like. Lucienne probably recalls them all and assisted.”

“I’d love to see it sometime.”

Dream looks up to find Hob watching him. Hob smiles at him, sweetly, encouraging. He feels as if he could face anything if Hob simply smiled at him like that.

“Can I tell you about how she died?” He asks, voice and body shivering.

“Of course, my love.”

The strength in Hob’s eyes lends Dream a bit of his own. He’s not told anyone the details of Jessamy’s death since he returned. The grief was too fresh and then he had work to do and it seemed unimportant to bother anyone else with.

But Hob looks him in the eye and says, “Anything,” and Dream believes him.

The Sandman | the quiet devastation of Lord Morpheus 

LUCIENNE: With you gone as long as you were, the realm began to… decay and crumble.

MORPHEUS: Had they so little faith in me? Do my own subjects not know me?

Pylades: I’ll take care of you. Orestes: It’s rotten work. Pylades: Not to me. Not if it’s you.

Anne Carson, Euripides

Pygmalion and Galatea