Dreamless

Elanor has a secret, one that she's carried with her throughout her life. When she sleeps, she doesn't dream. Instead, she sees scenes from the life of a boy named Takashi. She's not channeling a past life: he's real, he's alive in Japan, he was born on the same day she was. They know everything there is to know about each other, they speak each other's languages, and before too many years have passed they are desperately in love.

The problem? It's hard for under-18s to emigrate across the Pacific. ...Especially in the 1940s, when Japan and America are on the brink of war.

Can be found here. Illustrated in gorgeous pastels by Sarah Ellerton. Written by Bobby Crosby.


 * And I Must Scream: When Elanor and Takashi are asleep at the same time, she can only see blackness and hear the ambient noise as he lies in bed. She finds it so horrifying that she alters her entire sleep cycle so they'll never be asleep at the same time.
 * Blessed with Suck / Cursed with Awesome: The main two's condition is probably one of these, though it varies as to which they see it as themselves.
 * Dream Spying: The whole point of the comic.
 * Flash Back: Due to the use of How We Got Here
 * Great Offscreen War: World War II, amazingly enough. Elenor is too shut inside herself to notice anything going on around her, to the point that the only time the war actually affects the plot is when.
 * Hero of Another Story: Takashi. The story follows Elenor's viewpoint for most of the story, where she mostly deals with her mental illness and her alcoholic father. Takashi, meanwhile, has an active social life, deals with cultural expectations like arranged marriages and the upcoming war, and the natural emotional struggles that come with those things. It's lead some fans to think that Takashi's story is far more interesting than Elenor's.
 * Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Takashi's friends hire him a prostitute for his eighteenth birthday. He is not amused, but later she becomes his confidant. (Who else is he gonna talk to about it?)
 * Me Love You Long Time: Inverted and/or Gender Flipped.
 * Missing Mom: Elanor's mother
 * Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: Here.
 * Sibling Incest: Not literal, of course, but Eleanor and Takashi's relationship can feel a lot like this to anyone who's ever heard of the Westermarck effect.
 * Single-Target Sexuality: One can only assume
 * Small Name, Big Ego: Bobby Crosby is infamous for raging at everyone who even remotely hints there may be defects in his personality or writing, or interpreting the story differently than how he sees it.
 * Star-Crossed Lovers: An American girl and a Japanese boy... during World War 2.
 * Strange Girl: Elanor comes across this way due to speaking aloud, apparently to herself, knowing Takashi will hear her.
 * The Un-Reveal: What causes the mind-link and why? No one ever knows.
 * Wham! Line:
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?: Bobby Crosby seems to think that lying to anyone for any reason is horrible, which is why both he and the story consider Takashi an idiot for telling small lies to Elenor so he can actually have some privacy.
 * "What Now?" Ending: a rare non-depressing example.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?: Bobby Crosby seems to think that lying to anyone for any reason is horrible, which is why both he and the story consider Takashi an idiot for telling small lies to Elenor so he can actually have some privacy.
 * "What Now?" Ending: a rare non-depressing example.