Delirium of the Endless & the Misconception Around Color
letβs talk about Delirium of the Endless from The Sandman and the misconception around her colorfulness:
(since ppl who havenβt picked up a comic book are the loudest, whatβs new)
with the trailer for The Sandman s2 dropping people are back to commenting on Delirium's color or lack thereof and how it's out of character but it really isn't
Iβm not going to dive into potential symbolism, since a lot of ppl are thinking surface level Iβm going to explain it surface level, and purely visual
I do think a lot of people look at Jill Thompson's Delirium from The Little Endless and roll with that because she's so iconic but let's look at canon
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Delirium isnβt colorful
one of the first things ppl are bringing up is her dinner outfit, which in the show elevates her comic one by a million, are you kidding??? the Elena Dawson jacket is killer and very Delirium and the boots are *chefs kiss*
in Brief Lives, when trying to convince Desire and Despair to accompany her to find Destruction sheβs wearing an oversized grey suit and tan waistcoat underneath, she swaps the latter for fishnets when talking to Dream
when Del and Dream embark to find transport to Destruction, thatβs about as colorful as she gets and that is just two different two-toned outfits
her next set of outfits are earth toned and black,, green just before and when Dream leaves her, black when sheβs upset bc he left, and brown when they pick back up
to pause on Brief Lives, she also wears brown and black in Three Septembers and a January
back to Brief Lives, her next outfit is an all white ensemble, again, minimal color going on here except for the hair (which ECMβs Del has)
in the flashbacks we get of her with Destruction, sheβs wearing pink as Delight before she changes and a purple outfit after sheβs changed but when Destruction is still around (and gearing up to leave)
throughout The Kindly Ones she has many outfits, none of which are very colorful
during The Wake, Delirium has two outfits, black leather with fishnets and a pink dress with fairy wings (again, not exactly decora kei)
in some of the flashbacks where weβve been shown Delight, sheβs always in color but itβs fairly put together, something youβd dress your little sister in for the park
in other stories where weβve been shown Delirium, sheβs wearing grey and black or a bunch of earth tones not something I would really count as colorful
consider the times as well as who Deliriumβs look was loosely based on, Kathy Acker and Tori Amos who aren't dressing in tutus and multicolored scarfs
(if anything I'd go so far as to say they pulled inspiration from Tori's early band "Y Kant Tori Read" highly recommend btw)
you gotta remember, itβs a gothic comic from the 80s and 90s, Delirium is most widely seen as a personification of Delirium caused by mental instability, trauma, and drugs
Delirium is not a manic pixie dream girl (just manic)
I think atp the only thing we can be concerned abt is the colorful hair and even then, weβve only seen two looks
from what I've seen from ECM and her hairdresser for the show, we're in for a treat so have faith
that being said, this is my rotten soldier, my sweet cheese, my good time gal but donβt impose her on the live action when this is all other artistβs interpretations outside of a 30 year old story <3
