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The Sandman
We finished up watching The Sandman this weekend. While some details were a tad different, it largely follows the plot of the graphic novels. Since we own the ‘Absolute Sandman’ edition, we were already familiar with the contents of the series, and still we were very invested in the story.
Three things stand out to me. One is Boyd Holbrook’s performance as The Corinthian. He really nailed that friendly confidence that really dangerous people can have, because they don’t feel threatened by anything around them. Certainly, for my money, the star of this season.
The second is that the story was written before mobile phones were A Thing, and yet the series is set in the sort-of present day, where mobile phones very much exist. Instead of thinking of excuses as to why mobile phones don’t work at the moment they would break a plot, it is all very nicely integrated in the plot without breaking it. (Very much unlike Star Trek, where every other episode invents some kind of ‘atmospheric interference’ to ensure the plot is not short-circuited by the use of the transporter…)
The third is that nobody lies. The ‘living’ dreams do not advertise that they are not human, but neither do they pretend to be. The demons in hell all speak the truth, though they all have ulterior motives. And even when the Endless get into conflict, they don’t lie or make idle threats. It is like it’s one of the unspoken ground rules of the universe or something — only humans lie.
Someone said, after watching the series, that if people wanted to play “The Sandman, the RPG”, then Nobilis is still right there. And it is true — of course, The Sandman is one of the cited inspirations for Nobilis, but once again I was struck by how well it all fits. The Domains, the servants, the inter-Noble conflicts and the machinations to weaken the competition — it’s all right there.
At the start of the new year, there is another round of the ‘RPG exchange’, I might pitch it there again…
Crossposted from my blog. Comment here or at the original post.
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