#but in the end Dream puts Death on a pedestal that she does not truthfully deserve any more than anyone else

[lightdancer1]

I still think that there's one bit of A Winter's Tale that a lot of meta and fanfics neatly skip past:

The funny bit is that when I use this in my own fics it's basically the bargain basement level of textual analysis and when I lay it out you'll see why. Because the Endless, after all, are anthropomorphic personifications defined by their jobs, ultimately, that take a physical and metaphorical form as their realms and the nature of their being. Dream and Destruction struggle with it in ways not unlike Death, but here it gets into the interrelated but that I will also bring up.

As per A Winter's Tale and the (slightly modified) version of it in the show, Death has a vision of her job/function unlike any of her siblings. In the comics, the harder version that I prefer to use over the show, she outright walked out because her job wore her down and she had, essentially, a nervous breakdown because of a deep depression that a careful reading of A Winter's Tale shows she's in denial about never addressing. Naturally my stories tend to hit her with this Negan Bat with great gusto.

Now factor this is in from a canonical POV and a family of beings who are defined by tasks, where Dream and Destiny are the most rigid....and then equally factor in the irony that Dream, one of the two most rigid, is at his closest with the one who's ultimately one of the least and the most flighty about aspects of details of her job. Factor in that this family of immortals who date from the dawn of time have one person in the family who completely cracked and walked out and broke reality in the process.

From their POV it would no doubt be a thing that hung over their sister and her decisions and a thing that they and those old enough to have been there would long remember. From the perspective of job-defined inhuman immortals, the very thing that would make Death the most appealing to humans are a mark of permanent failure on her part, while her becoming mortal and taking her mortal days might well anchor her in mortal affairs in a way only Destruction comes close to.....but it can easily be read in a much darker fashion than I usually would be inclined to take it because I've struggled with those thoughts myself and writing that into fiction is playing with fire when soaked with gasoline.

A human would see the events of A Winter's Tale as 'the job got to you and it was hard' and understand that. Would the Endless? Even Destruction? Ultimately no, I don't think any of them really could understand that even if they tried, and there are some careful looks at Destruction's actions in Brief Lives and Song of Orpheus that both strengthen the parallel with Death and where they differ.

Death is willing to fully yield her power for 24 hours a century to live among mortals without any of the sorcery and the responsibility and the nature of the Endless. None of her siblings are willing to go so far, or to truly experience life within the worlds they govern in that way.

And then combine this with the knowledge that unlike the rest she will outlive the universe, and without the universe Death of the Endless is but a title and a moment in time, a true job that will one day end....at the price that all her siblings go into something she cannot see and she alone cannot. And then take another look at the mortal days and as much as it anchors her in the mortal world and in being able to relate to mortals it can be seen in that darker sense as both an escape hatch and a deeply necessary one because she is ultimately still chasing the same outlet she tried to get and failed and only returned to because well....

[you-betcha-i-ship-it]

4x10 part 1

The last episode 😢. I’m so sad rn. Here we go!

Okay first off, I don’t listen to a whole lot of music, so I had never listened to the original Radiohead version of “Creep”. However, I think this choir version is quite beautiful. It gives the scene an eerie yet ethereal feeling to me.

Also, when I first watched the episode, I was trying to figure out who this song connected to in the scene, Robert or Willow. I think it can be for either of them depending on how you read it. However, I read online that the meaning behind the song, according to the lead singer, is about being in love with someone, but not feeling good enough. So, I think that’s a real connection to Robert. He puts Willow on the pedestal of being this force of goodness that he is in awe of, yet he feels like he can never measure up. He wants to so badly, but it’s hard to fight that darkness.

Anyway, moving on...

This church is gorgeous, and full of the opulence you’d expect from a real royal wedding. Some great camera work as well. All of the stuff in the church is beautifully done.

I love how in this dream willow holds up her finger to shut up the officiant.

I feel like this dream mixes her fears with truths. Like Robert acts like his true self when he answers truthfully that he used Len’s words, but he also tells willow to stand still and look pretty, which is a fear/concern that willow has been dealing with in real life, so it was probably on her mind before bed.

It’s interesting to me that the issue in Willow’s dream is that she feels betrayed that Robert used Len’s words instead of his own, that the sweet words to her were just lies. And those lies are what make her question marrying him, not the disbanding of parliament or the blackout. From the beginning Willow worries about marrying Robert because she wanted a marriage based on love. Therefore, without that, it would be a lie in her eyes.

Side note: when Robert says “Til death do us part...baby” at the end....I should have been creeped out, but instead it sounded real sexy to me hahah 🤷🏼‍♀️

When Willow wakes up, is she in her bedroom?

I just don’t care to see Liam and Kathryn make out.

Robert “talking” to his father about how he is more than his father ever thought he could be is so sad especially with Willow watching in the background. I feel like Robert didn’t understand what Simon meant when he told Robert that he’d never be a great king. Instead he took that as a challenge to be this “great” king who held all the power to save and lead his people. Yet he is blind to the corruption he is apart of, and how his actions are corrupting his own soul.

Umm burning your brother’s things before you take him down might not be the wisest decision guys.

Cyrus freaking about the fact that Len told Willow and him wanting to find safety at the embassy makes me think he is still #kingliam. Just a feeling I get.

“You know I love you, don’t you?” And then that face Robert gets. His words say one thing, but his face says another. He is insecure and doesn’t know that she does in fact love him.

I still am confused about what Willow wants to talk to Robert about. We never find out what she says.

During my first watch, I thought maybe Willow tipped him off about the plotting because he amped up his own security. I suppose that’s still possible, but it could also just be that Robert is suspicious of Liam and Jasper because he knows they are trying to play him. Plus Willow asked about disbanding parliament, so he knows someone spilled to her. Therefore, more security just makes sense even if he doesn’t know sepecifics of the coup.

Of course to look like things are normal, Cyrus’ job is to fondle the help 🙄

So, Felicity brings up Dominque but also that she wasn’t able to talk Willow out of marrying Robert. I feel like maybe Felicity could be apart of Domino and wants to take the monarchy down but she tries to get Willow out of marrying Robert so Willow isn’t caught in the crossfire. I’m not sure Willow is apart of all that, but I could see her at least knowing what her mother is up to.