Shameless plug, I wrote a finished story and posted it online for the first time ever.
It's an abstract mythology for those who are interested, focusing on the origins and nature of meaning itself.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
It's got family dynamics, seven mythological principles born from two primordial beings. (Surprisingly, I thought of this before I discovered Sandman. Though I'm sure some themes from the medium inspired some elements after.) So something I hope the Tumblr space may enjoy.
Delirium: Im looking for my doggy. Do you remember him? I got him the day our brother left. Will you help me find him ?
You and me, we had such a nice time the last time we went looking for someone.
Dream: Did we ?
Delirium: Didn't we?
Dream: I cannot leave the dreaming this time. I have responsibilities.
Delirium: You use that word too much. Do you ever think about what it means in your head?
Dream: I use it to refer to that area of existence over which I have a modicum of influence and control.
Namely, the realm and action of dreaming.
Delirium: It's much more than that.
The things we do make echoes. Suppose, for instance, you and I stopped at a street corner to admire a bolt of lightning in the sky. Well, for ages after that, people and things would stop on the very same corner and look up. They wouldn't even know what they are looking for. Some people might see the ghost of lightning. Some people might even get killed by it.
Do you see?
Dream: I'm trying
Delirium: Our existence deforms the universe. That's responsibility.
Dream: Do you mean defines?
Delirium: No, i do not. People think i don't know things, but i do. I know more about us than any of us, i just .. dont know where my doggy is.
-The Sandman Netflix / ep 9 the kindly ones, season 2
I absolutely loved this quote because for me it validates my whole analysis. I just think those deformations define us and give meaning to us. So thank you Netflix Delirium.
The following is my reply to this post, where OP asked what Delirium is as a fundamental force.
That sounds out-of-there, the Endless seem quite direct with their names, but that is why it's a very good thought experiment, because the author intended for them to represent more. I had a spiral of logic answering that question, and I had fun piecing it out and I may have an answer. There's a TL;DR at the bottom of the read more.
(Also, check the comments of the post out as well~ lots of interesting and profound takes)
Here are some statements from the lore of the Endless that are relevant to my line of thought.
1. The Endless are embodiments of fundamental principles. By an accepted nature of things, the Endless define their contrast as well. I would hesitate calling it the "opposite" though. But essentially, as Delirium and Destruction put it, the Endless are coins. They have two sides. Destiny and Freedom, Death and Life, Dream and Reality, Destruction and Creation, Desire and Hatred, and Despair and Hope, but Delirium has no mentioned contrast.
2. The Endless have a progression. "As this universe came into being, Destiny came with it, alone in the darkness. Before the first living thing came into existence, Death was there, waiting. And when the first living thing awoke to life, [Dream] was also there." - Destruction and Dream.
3. Destruction says Death says we know all the things Destiny does and more, we just pretend we don't to make it all bearable. Though Dream and Destruction don't understand the sense of it, fittingly, Delirium does. Saying she's kind of right, and that pretending is all that makes it okay sometimes.
4. Delirium was once Delight, but changed due to unknown reasons. Still, she keeps the "Del" prefix.
5. Destruction implies that Delirium will once again change, and he trusts it will be prove easier on her when the time comes.
Now, on to my conclusions, which I am very aware are most likely just my takes and projections, rather than the original intent behind what the Endless actually are. (+ some inspiration from reading somewhere that Delirium is a response to existentialism/absurdism)
1. The Endless are allegories for many things, that includes the antitheses/contrast they define. The implications of their names are also part of their purview.
Destiny is all that exists and can exist (He has his book of all past, present, and future. And all the paths in his garden are causality and possibility, which we are free to choose which one we'll take)
Death is all that is absolute: beginnings and endings, birth and death. "The one who trumps and defines all existence," and all that, as is stated by Madame Xanadu.
Dream is all that can be conceived, regardless of shared or individual reality. That is why he defines both imagination and reality.
Destruction is all change and endurance itself. The transition between being and non-being, creation and destruction. It's why he was there when Delight changed into Delirium.
Desire is all drive. They said in Overture they are the what keep bacteria and galaxies together, the drive to exist. That's all the attractive forces and maybe even repulsive ones. So long as it moves, so long as it exists. What is hatred if not negative drive, after all.
Despair is all decay and stasis. She is there when things fall apart, as seen when Dream kills Orpheus. She's the one who is there when you get what you want and now you feel empty. That's why she mutilates herself, to live her concept out. And hope is both the antidote and source of despair, because you expected, and weren't met, and despaired because of it, and will try once again.
What then is Delirium?
2. Phrasing their progression as to how I defined them, then it goes "Things can exist, then they begin (and eventually end), then they become conceivable, then they change, then they come together or fall apart." That's the cosmic way of the Endless. To ask once more, where is Delirium here?
Well let's zone out a bit more.
3. What is the significance that Death is the one who says we pretend to not know it all?
It's because she, the embodiment of absolutes, knows she won't mean anything unless you zoom in on certain points that have come before. That's why we find her so good at her job, she helps the end feel meaningful even if it feels like it is not. She helps us remember what we lived for. But though she may make it feel meaningful, I don't think that's her function.
The one who makes it all meaningful and comprehensible is the one who defines it as such. The one who agrees with pretending to not know is all that makes it bearable sometimes, what makes it all okay: Delirium herself. I think that's what she represents: meaning.
4. I think Delight only came to existence once something truly meant something to someone. That's what makes them delighted, happy. That's what the dancing men from all over used to be grateful for. Not just delight (which is possibly why she answered Dream with "mmm, something like that" in the earlier panel), but meaning.
After things come together or fall apart, things start to mean something. I think that's her fundamental principle, to make things comprehensible, depth and form, to have meaning. Not just conceived, but... Resonated with, defined, given value to and purpose.
She is the acceptable nature of things that I mentioned that things define their contrast, that is also why she keeps mentioning to Destiny there are two sides of a coin. Because that is meaning: what something is by what it is not.
But purpose is a dangerous spiral. Because you eventually ask what is the purpose of purpose itself, of bearability? Of it all? Why must anything be defined? Ultimately, I think she found out, and it lay on the paths outside Destiny's garden and it was not of Destiny's book. Which, by Sandman canon and my definition, doesn't exist. How can the force of meaning interact with something that doesn't exist?
But sadly, to be the embodiment of definition is to understand what is undefinable. That's how and why she came to she know things that Destiny both knows and doesn't.
My theory is that's what "broke" Delight into Delirium. That's why she's so... Random now, even if profound. What once was Meaning (comprehensibility) became its antithesis, Meaninglessness (Delirium).
(Aside: I guess that's why she's occasionally in the realm of her mother, Night.)
5. I think Delight/Delirium's next/final change is when Meaning (thesis) and Meaninglessness (antithesis) reach a synthesis, Paradox. The acceptance that... To exist as honestly as you are (someone who knows all things) is to pretend a little to not be who you are (someone who only knows only a few things).
People often call that Delusion. Which fits, people often call Meaning one (which I say misses the point). Imagine not having meaning to something, to realize all that will be will eventually be lost. Most people will say that sounds absolutely terrifying, and the others pretend it's not and finding meaning in that.
(I would say that's pretentiousness, not pretense)
You could say that is what Destruction is doing. He said so himself he is pretending that things are unchanging from Earth. Which sounds delusional because he himself is change.
And I believe that's why he said those last words to Delirium, because he knew that's what her change would lead to. Delight -> Delirium -> Delusion. (Keeps the Del prefix too)
TL;DR: Delirium represents all things that have meaning and comprehensibility, and thus defines what is meaningless and undefinable. She's the reason why you can call a mountain a "mountain" or some random aspect like a "doctor clown".
The following is my reply to this post, where OP asked what Delirium is as a fundamental force.
That sounds out-of-there, the Endless seem quite direct with their names, but that is why it's a very good thought experiment, because the author intended for them to represent more. I had a spiral of logic answering that question, and I had fun piecing it out and I may have an answer. There's a TL;DR at the bottom of the read more.
(Also, check the comments of the post out as well~ lots of interesting and profound takes)
Here are some statements from the lore of the Endless that are relevant to my line of thought.
1. The Endless are embodiments of fundamental principles. By an accepted nature of things, the Endless define their contrast as well. I would hesitate calling it the "opposite" though. But essentially, as Delirium and Destruction put it, the Endless are coins. They have two sides. Destiny and Freedom, Death and Life, Dream and Reality, Destruction and Creation, Desire and Hatred, and Despair and Hope, but Delirium has no mentioned contrast.
2. The Endless have a progression. "As this universe came into being, Destiny came with it, alone in the darkness. Before the first living thing came into existence, Death was there, waiting. And when the first living thing awoke to life, [Dream] was also there." - Destruction and Dream.
3. Destruction says Death says we know all the things Destiny does and more, we just pretend we don't to make it all bearable. Though Dream and Destruction don't understand the sense of it, fittingly, Delirium does. Saying she's kind of right, and that pretending is all that makes it okay sometimes.
4. Delirium was once Delight, but changed due to unknown reasons. Still, she keeps the "Del" prefix.
5. Destruction implies that Delirium will once again change, and he trusts it will be prove easier on her when the time comes.
Now, on to my conclusions, which I am very aware are most likely just my takes and projections, rather than the original intent behind what the Endless actually are. (+ some inspiration from reading somewhere that Delirium is a response to existentialism/absurdism)
1. The Endless are allegories for many things, that includes the antitheses/contrast they define. The implications of their names are also part of their purview.
Destiny is all that exists and can exist (He has his book of all past, present, and future. And all the paths in his garden are causality and possibility, which we are free to choose which one we'll take)
Death is all that is absolute: beginnings and endings, birth and death. "The one who trumps and defines all existence," and all that, as is stated by Madame Xanadu.
Dream is all that can be conceived, regardless of shared or individual reality. That is why he defines both imagination and reality.
Destruction is all change and endurance itself. The transition between being and non-being, creation and destruction. It's why he was there when Delight changed into Delirium.
Desire is all drive. They said in Overture they are the what keep bacteria and galaxies together, the drive to exist. That's all the attractive forces and maybe even repulsive ones. So long as it moves, so long as it exists. What is hatred if not negative drive, after all.
Despair is all decay and stasis. She is there when things fall apart, as seen when Dream kills Orpheus. She's the one who is there when you get what you want and now you feel empty. That's why she mutilates herself, to live her concept out. And hope is both the antidote and source of despair, because you expected, and weren't met, and despaired because of it, and will try once again.
What then is Delirium?
2. Phrasing their progression as to how I defined them, then it goes "Things can exist, then they begin (and eventually end), then they become conceivable, then they change, then they come together or fall apart." That's the cosmic way of the Endless. To ask once more, where is Delirium here?
Well let's zone out a bit more.
3. What is the significance that Death is the one who says we pretend to not know it all?
It's because she, the embodiment of absolutes, knows she won't mean anything unless you zoom in on certain points that have come before. That's why we find her so good at her job, she helps the end feel meaningful even if it feels like it is not. She helps us remember what we lived for. But though she may make it feel meaningful, I don't think that's her function.
The one who makes it all meaningful and comprehensible is the one who defines it as such. The one who agrees with pretending to not know is all that makes it bearable sometimes, what makes it all okay: Delirium herself. I think that's what she represents: meaning.
4. I think Delight only came to existence once something truly meant something to someone. That's what makes them delighted, happy. That's what the dancing men from all over used to be grateful for. Not just delight (which is possibly why she answered Dream with "mmm, something like that" in the earlier panel), but meaning.
After things come together or fall apart, things start to mean something. I think that's her fundamental principle, to make things comprehensible, depth and form, to have meaning. Not just conceived, but... Resonated with, defined, given value to and purpose.
She is the acceptable nature of things that I mentioned that things define their contrast, that is also why she keeps mentioning to Destiny there are two sides of a coin. Because that is meaning: what something is by what it is not.
But purpose is a dangerous spiral. Because you eventually ask what is the purpose of purpose itself, of bearability? Of it all? Why must anything be defined? Ultimately, I think she found out, and it lay on the paths outside Destiny's garden and it was not of Destiny's book. Which, by Sandman canon and my definition, doesn't exist. How can the force of meaning interact with something that doesn't exist?
But sadly, to be the embodiment of definition is to understand what is undefinable. That's how and why she came to she know things that Destiny both knows and doesn't.
My theory is that's what "broke" Delight into Delirium. That's why she's so... Random now, even if profound. What once was Meaning (comprehensibility) became its antithesis, Meaninglessness (Delirium).
(Aside: I guess that's why she's occasionally in the realm of her mother, Night.)
5. I think Delight/Delirium's next/final change is when Meaning (thesis) and Meaninglessness (antithesis) reach a synthesis, Paradox. The acceptance that... To exist as honestly as you are (someone who knows all things) is to pretend a little to not be who you are (someone who only knows only a few things).
People often call that Delusion. Which fits, people often call Meaning one (which I say misses the point). Imagine not having meaning to something, to realize all that will be will eventually be lost. Most people will say that sounds absolutely terrifying, and the others pretend it's not and finding meaning in that.
(I would say that's pretentiousness, not pretense)
You could say that is what Destruction is doing. He said so himself he is pretending that things are unchanging from Earth. Which sounds delusional because he himself is change.
And I believe that's why he said those last words to Delirium, because he knew that's what her change would lead to. Delight -> Delirium -> Delusion. (Keeps the Del prefix too)
TL;DR: Delirium represents all things that have meaning and comprehensibility, and thus defines what is meaningless and undefinable. She's the reason why you can call a mountain a "mountain" or some random aspect like a "doctor clown".
"I'm the only one who'll love your sin~"
The following line: "Feel the way my voice gets underneath your skin" gave me such (leaf)reguri vibes since Blue and Leaf know what Red is saying when others can't hear him.
Am I going to draw half-demon Blue? Yes
I kept it in a terrarium and it became a normal 🐸 despite everything. About a year afterward (I thought) it died, so I sadly put it in a shoebox in the shed until the ground thawed enough for a proper funeral but when that day came I opened the box and the frog was fine.
Reguri culture is writing the same stuff over and over with very minute detailed changes because you can’t have everything at once so you have five versions of the same exact thing. And it’s amazing, I wouldn’t give it up for the world.
i love seeing art of joel with a pink streak for hermitcraft season 10….. i like to think his wife dyed it for him before he left so he would think of her :] or he did it himself to think of her lol
