What Do You Think Of Death As A Character?

What do you think of Death as a character?

Death of The Endless is straight up my favourite depiction of Death in literature and media that I've seen so far. It's so good to see a depiction of Death that is sweet and compassionate for once.

But what I think is rather unfortunate about her—as is also the case for her other siblings (or every fictional characters ever)—is that people tend to only remember a part of her and forget the rest

She is one of The Endless. She is Dream's big sister. But first and foremost, she is Death itself—and I think people tend to forget that part (and I am not exempt to that either). And Morpheus being so close to her says a lot about him.

At first, you'd see her as 'the voice of reason'. After all, she has a good head on her shoulders, and what she's saying sounds reasonable. But when it comes to Morpheus, everything she said made him stride closer to her. He followed her. He followed her advice. He sought her out. He felt at peace with her. That's not just a little brother looking up to his dependable big sister; She. Is. Death. What does it say when someone has that mindset and attitude towards Death?

panels from The Sandman comic 'The Sound of Her Wings' in which Death and Dream were sitting on a park as Death told Dream "Look. I can't stay here all day. I got work to do. You can come with me, or you can stay here and sulk. I don't mind either way."

to which Dream said "I'll come with you, I suppose."

and Death told him "Don't do me any favors."

It's written all over (which is why I don't buy people's complaints that the ending 'came out of nowhere') but of course, people tend to forget Death or what she is—both in real life and the story apparently. Especially when Death isn't depicted as terrifying I suppose.

Also, I love that she is compassionate and caring but she's still indiscriminate. She loves everyone the same way—which, in a way, is still cold and cruel to us humans; because in our context, being kind to the cruel is being cruel to the kindhearted. But that's what she is; she is not justice. She is not mercy. She is not punishment. She is just what she is; she is Death—and she is there for all.

panels from The Sandman comic 'Death: The Time of Your Life (part 3)' in which Hazel McNamara said to Death "yeah, but YOU love everyone" in response to Death telling her that she loves Hazel too, upon Hazel's confession of love to her

to which Death smiled and said "I know"

Also, I personally think the parts of her that many dubbed as her 'humanity' or the signs that she is 'the most human of all The Endless' has less to do with 'humanity' specifically and more about how she is so close and inseparable to life that we can't recognize her—which is, imho, what makes her so jarring as a non-human being, and what's so terrifying but at the same time, makes perfect sense about the concept she is.

Her speech bubble and dialogue font being the exact same as the regular ones in comics. Her dialogue—the choice of words—that are totally normal, casual, snd familiar (like someone we know. Like a friend). The fact that she has a house which she decorated to her taste—that she has her personal taste. How she keeps goldfishes as pets; it's all so 'human' but we recognise that because we are humans and that how we live—so maybe it's not just about being human but rather being alive.

panels from The Sandman: The Song of Orpheus in whis Orpheus came to Death's home and being confused by the modern decor.
Orpheus was seen looking around in the house that has a short wooden coffee table with a book laid facedown between its pages as if it was left in the middle of reading. a small vace with colourful flowers. and a white mug with a pink heart on it.

there was a small modern lightbulb hanging from the ceiling and a nightstand with the same lamp design as the aforementioned lightbulb. and there's a family portrait of The Endless siblings on the walls, being split in two parts by the panel border where Death was supposed to be; the left part of the portrait showed Destiny, Destruction, Desire, and Delight/Delirium while the right part showed Dream and Despair.

there was a window covered with window blinds and a pretty worn, green armchair with a brown teddy bear on it

Orpheus was confused by a pair of goldfishes in a fishbowl and a fishnet stocking he found.

Death greeted him with "Hmmmph. If I'd known I was going to have company, I would've tidied the place up.

Hi, orpheus. Looking for something?"

and Orpheus answered "Yes. You. I think."

Either way, we recognise her as one of us: be it as the same being we are or as a being who is alive. She is indistinguishable from what we perceive as normal and natural because that's what Death is: it is as natural to die as it is to be born. Nothing out of place and nothing unsettling about her that we forget that she is there amongst us—she is everywhere. She will always be there. We don't know when we'll see her. We can't recognize her until she said 'time's up'. Thus, many of us live our lives as if she doesn't exist. But she will be there for all.

And forgetting and denying that she has always been there and always will be might make it even more agonizing when she does come for us than it would be if we were to accept that. But either way, she is just what she is. We live our lives because she will be there for us. We live our lives according to how we see her. She is the reflection of our lives and what defines it, but our lives are our own.

That's such a cool depiction of Death, methinks.

Severus Snape

This is an Anti Snape rant. I was to preface it by making it clear that I appreciate Severus Snape as one of the most interesting, important and well written literary figures of our time and possibly in history. I respect anyone who says that Snape is their favorite. That’s perfectly fine. Harley Quinn is one of my favorite comic book characters. She’s bubbly and funny and intelligent and strong…that doesn’t mean I don’t recognize that she’s criminally insane and that her relationship with the joker is in fact terribly abusive from both sides. These multi-dimensional characters become our favorites BECAUSE there are so many sides to them. Harry Potter happens to be a series where nearly every primary character is several layers deep. To quote my own personal problematic favorite; “The World isn’t made up of Good People and Death Eaters.” - Sirius Black, Order of the Pheonix, Chapter 15, Percy and Padfoot.

Snape is a bad person. I don’t care what he did to “redeem himself”. You can die to save the world, that doesn’t mean years of verbally and emotionally abusing children just didn’t count. I know plenty of people who served in the military and fought for the country but they abuse their families…does it not count because they fought a war?

FACT: Severus Snape was interested the dark arts from an early age.

FACT: Severus Snape had other friends besides Lily Evans.

FACT: Severus Snape provoked James Potter and Sirius Black, often spying on the Marauders to try and find out Remus Lupin’s secret and also hanging around with Slytherin Pure Blood Supremacists who bullied other students. He was not an innocent unpopular kid that the big, mean popular boys picked on. He wasn’t. Stop victimizing him. He was just as much at fault as they were.

FACT: Severus Snape created his own spell by the age of 15 that was potentially lethal and used it on James Potter…reason? Well, James pantsed him….

are…you…kidding…me…?

FACT: Lily Evans ended her friendship with Severus Snape because of his affiliation with these other students and his interest in The Dark Arts. She did not end the friendship in favor of James Potter. She didn’t even start dating James for AT LEAST another year after ending her friendship with Severus. He called her a racial slur and his friends physically attacked one of her friends.

“I never meant to call you a Mudblood. It just-”

“Slipped out? It’s too late! I’ve been making excuses for you for years! None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you! You and your precious little Death Eater friends. See? You don’t even deny it! You don’t deny that that is what you’re aiming to be! You can’t wait to join You-Know-Who, can you? I can’t pretend anymore. You’ve chosen your way and I’ve chosen mine.”

“No, listen, I didn’t mean-”

“To call me a Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth a mudblood! Why should I be any different?” - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33 The Prince’s Tale.

FACT: Severus Snape never got over his romantic feelings for Lily Evans and was angry that she married his school rival, James Potter.

“After all this time?”

“Always.” - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33, The Prince’s Tale.

This is actually creepy. One of my biggest qualms with The Harry Potter Fandom as a whole is how infatuated people are with this quote. James and Lily died at age 21, a good 6 years after Lily ended her friendship with Severus and he’s still holding a torch for her? This isn’t love, it’s obsession and it’s unhealthy. He harassed her after she ended things, too. He threatened to sleep outside the Gryffindor common room until Lily agreed to speak with him (See: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33, The Prince’s Tale). It’s not sweet that Severus was still in love with Lily after all this time. It’s scary. Severus’ patronus being a Doe is CREEPY, not a sign that they are soulmates.

FACT: Severus Snape joined the Death Eaters BECAUSE HE WANTED TO ALL ALONG. Upon learning that Lily Evans had been targeted, he ran to Dumbledore, begging him to protect her. Only Her.

“If she means so much to you, could you not ask The Dark Lord for mercy for the mother in exchange for the son?”

“I’ve tried!”

“You disgust me. You do not care then about the deaths of her husband and her son, as long as you get what you want?”

Snape said nothing. - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33 The Prince’s Tale

If Lily Potter hadn’t been on Voldemort’s death list, would Severus have switched sides? It didn’t have to be Lily. It could have easily been Alice Longbottom instead. Had Neville been The Chosen One, Severus Snape would have remained a Death Eater. He only became a double-agent to repay Dumbledore for protecting Lily.

After Lily dies, Dumbledore has to bribe Severus to help him keep Harry safe.

“He has her eyes, Severus. Her exact eyes. Surely you remember the shape and color of Lily Evans’s eyes.”

“DON’T!” Bellowed Snape. “Dead…gone…”

“You know how and why she died. Let it not be in vane. Help me protect her son.”

“He doesn’t need protection! The Dark Lord is gone-”

“He will return.”

“Very well. But never tell, Dumbledore! I cannot bare it…especially Potter’s son!” - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33, The Prince’s Tale.

Yikes, Severus. You loved this woman so much, or so you claim, but the idea of helping to protect HER CHILD, for whom she gave her life, is so unbearable to you because his father, who died trying to protect both of them, was mean to you in grade school? That’s…pretty messed up.

FACT: 11 years later with a nice cushy job and protection at Hogwarts, Severus Snape continues to be a bitter adult man who is still not over his school yard crush, a woman who has been dead for over a decade and refused to speak to him for six years prior to that. He is in fact so bitter about it that he frequently takes it out on her prepubescent son.

Why? Because he looks a hell of a lot like James Potter.

“-Mediocre, arrogant as his father, a determined rule breaker, delighted to find himself famous, attention seeking and impertinent -”

“You see what you expect to see, Severus. Other teachers report that the boy is modest, likable and reasonably talented. Personally, I find him to be an engaging child.” - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33, The Prince’s Tale.

But Snape doesn’t only pick on Harry. He picks on many of his young students just because…well…Because he’s an asshole, really! Honestly, the man humiliated 13 year old Neville Longbottom in front of the entire class for messing up on his potions assignment and then attempted to murder the kid’s pet. (See: Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter Seven, The Boggart in the Wardrobe.)

Not to mention this lovely scene

Ron forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth. She was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had grown past her collar.

Snape looked coldly at Hermione and then said, “I see no difference.” - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, chapter 18, The Weighing Of The Wands.

I could name probably a dozen more times that Severus Snape abuses his position as a Professor and treats his students with disrespect and potentially damaging behavior, but we would be here all day and there are other points I’d like to move on to.

FACT: Severus Snape was uninterested in the possibility of Sirius Black’s innocence and overjoyed at the idea of being the one to turn him over to the Dementors.

“Two more for Azkaban tonight,” Said Snape, his eyes gleaming fanatically. I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this. He was convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin…a tame werewolf.”

“You fool.” Said Lupin softly. “Is a school boy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?” - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, chapter nineteen, The Servant of Lord Voldemort.

Okay, look, Sirius did try to kill Snape when they were kids. That’s a thing that happened…although there are not enough details of The Willow Incident known in canon to explain exactly what happened and why Sirius would do such a thing knowing that he could have potentially gotten James and Remus killed in the process…but that’s beside the point. What really gets me is that not only did Snape want to have Sirius given the Dementor’s kiss, but Remus also.

BANG! Thin, snakelike cords burst out from the end of Snape’s wand and twisted themselves around Lupin’s mouth, wrists and ankles, he overbalanced and fell to the ground unable to move. With a roar of rage, Black started towards Snape, but Snape pointed his wand straight between Black’s eyes.

“Give me a reason and I’ll do it, I swear.”

…

“I’ll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the dementors will have a kiss for him too.” - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 19, The Servant of Lord Voldemort.

And it doesn’t stop there. Unable to get what he wanted and have his school rivals killed or imprisoned for absolutely no reason, Severus Butthurt Snape decides to just ruin Remus’ life instead and tells the entire school about his Lycanthropy - oh, wait, I’m sorry…did I say the entire school? I meant the world.

“Amung these ‘eccentric decisions’ are undoubtedly the controversial staff appointments previously described in this newspaper, which have included the hiring of werewolf Remus Lupin.” - Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix, chapter 15, Hogwarts High Inquisitor.

…

“I know she’s a nasty piece of work though- you should hear Remus talk about her.”

“Does he know her?”

“No, but she drafted a bit of anti-werewolf legislation two years ago that makes it almost impossible for him to get a job.” - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, chapter 14, Percy and Padfoot.

Two years ago, you say? What happened two years prior to this? Remus was working at Hogwarts and Snape outed him.

No where in canon does it say that Remus ever did anything to Severus Snape, when honestly out of all the Marauders, he had the most reason to. Snape was always spying on them to get to him, after all. There is no reason for Severus to hate Remus enough to completely destroy his life like this. Only the fact that Severus Snape is without a doubt the biggest grudge holder to have ever lived.

FACT: Severus Snape is a war hero.

Yes. He was. He was a key player in the defeat of Lord Voldemort, though not necessarily by his own choice. He was dragged into it by Dumbledore and by his own guilt, feeling this was the only way he could truly make amends for what happened between him and Lily when they were fifteen.

So does begrudgingly becoming a double agent in the war as payment for Dumbledore’s attempts to keep Lily Evans safe for his own selfish reasons really negate every awful thing this man did from the time he was a young child to his guilt-driven ‘heroic’ death?

No. It doesn’t.

Severus Snape is a bad person.

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khayltille

1 year ago

just one more

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khayltille

1 year ago

How to Greet a New Pal

(Part 10)

First

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 11 Welcome to Underfell… UF Dogaressa is my new fav. I also learned that the face shape everyone gives Grillby is a lie. His head is round in the game. I’ve been lied to for years.

DO NOT POST THIS INSTAGRAM, OR ANYWHERE ELSE! YOU DO NOT EVER HAVE PERMISSION!

Dubbing must ask permission, specifically if you monetize.

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khayltille

3 years ago

I’m writing out my headcanons about undertale metatextual metaphysics because I’ve been sharing bits and pieces of it by insinuation but haven’t clearly laid it on the table yet.

here’s the biggest contention that I want to make: we interact with undertale by way of a… proxy in the gameworld. but that proxy isn’t frisk, and isn’t exactly chara either. and that proxy isn’t specific to undertale.

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khayltille

1 year ago