#Deep characterization

[porrigens]

raison d’etre + sushi = profit

[tropicalcryptid]

Ok so She-Ra pulled such a great hat trick with Hordak's characterization, and I LOVE it

One of my favorite things about 2018 She-Ra is Hordak's story and development (and Entrapdak cough but that's not the point of this particular post), and the cleverest thing is that so much of it is actually being set up and told to us in seasons 1 and 2 before we even realize that that's what's happening.

When we first see Hordak in the show, he's giving "generic evil overlord" vibes. Garden-variety baddie. Maybe a little more reasonable than some and clearly capable of long-term thinking, but that just serves to make him intimidating. Everything about him--the way he runs his empire, his armor, his color scheme, his minion, his Villainous Eye Makeup(TM), even his name--are all projecting to the audience "yup, Acme Bad Guy here. Move right along."

But then, backstory. And everything snaps into focus. Not only is it one of the first big oh SHIT moments of the show, where we suddenly zoom out and realize that there is SO much more going on than we realized--it's also the start of the audience seeing Hordak as a character rather than an archetype. Suddenly we realize that he's not conquering Etheria because he wants power, or hates happiness and sparkles, or whatever--he's doing it out of a desperate attempt to prove his worth to his brother/creator/god. This moment where Hordak lets Entrapta in is also the moment the show lets us in on what makes our favorite spacebat tick.

On top of that, we've also seen him bonding with Entrapta and opening up to this person that he respects and trusts...probably the only person he's ever respected or trusted apart from Prime. And she's Etherian--someone of a lower species, someone he's supposed to subjugate, someone who he has been raised and trained and programmed and mind-controlled into believing is below him in every way.

But instead she's brilliant and creative and mesmerizing. She's not afraid of him, and she's fascinated with his work. For the first time since being abandoned by Prime, Hordak finally has someone that he can talk to, who is on his level and both understands and cares about the science! (because he is a giant nerd). She's kind to him, a mere defect. And it just sends his whole worldview into a spin, and that's all before--

Bam, mans is a goner. Entrapta's "Imperfections are beautiful" comment punches right through all the toxic bs that Hordak has been steeped in his entire life. You can see on his face here--I think it's the moment Hordak fell in love with Entrapta, but this is also the face of a spacebat reevaluating his entire worldview. If Entrapta, who is amazing, believes something different from Prime...what does that mean? If Entrapta, who is brilliant, believes that he is worth something, and that she herself is a failure...

Well. We know what happens after that, and how Hordak begins to doubt, and eventually fights back against Prime (and remembers his love for Entrapta after TWO mind wipes help my heart ack). But we also get to see what life in the Galactic Horde looks like: the only life Hordak ever knew before coming to Etheria.

It's not nice.

It's really not nice.

Prime operates in a very specific way, and we learn a lot about it in season 5. Prime expects complete obedience, devotion and worship from his clones. He allows no individuality from his subjects, not even a name. Failure or deviations are punished, mind-wiped, or destroyed. We even learn from Wrong Hordak that facial expressions are considered a privilege reserved for Prime (apart from, presumably, expressions of rapture caused by being around Prime).

And once we learn all of this, suddenly thinking about season 1 Hordak becomes very interesting indeed. The time we spend with the Galactic Horde and Prime throws absolutely everything that we know about Hordak into a whole new context. Now all those traits that made him a generic villain are actually hugely effective characterization! And what that characterization is telling us is that Hordak had already moved much farther away from Prime than we (or, probably, he) had realized, even long before he met Entrapta.

Horde Prime does not allow his underlings to have names, personalities, or any differences of appearance. Not only does Hordak allow this among his own troops, he chose a name for himself as well! Season 5 tells us that his very name is an act of blasphemy against his god. And yet Hordak took one for himself, and that name is part of the core identity he is able to hold on to when rebelling against Prime.

Horde Prime cast Hordak out when he showed signs of physical imperfections. Hordak not only keeps Imp (who is by all appearances a failed clone or similar experiment) around, he treats Imp more gently than we see him treat anybody or anything before Entrapta. Imp is not simply "generic evil guy's minion," he is proof of Hordak's capacity for compassion, and evidence that Hordak cannot bring himself to cast aside "defects" as easily as Prime. Considering where Hordak came from, Imp's existence is a huge, flashing neon sign telling the audience this guy here is better than the hell that molded him, and we don't even realize it until 4 seasons after it's been shown to us!

Very cool, ND.

There's more, though. Hordak's red and black color scheme? His dark eye makeup and lipstick? Very Evil Overlord chic. But nope! Actually these are actually expressions of individuality on a level that Hordak knows would be abhorrent to Prime!

Reading between the lines, I see this as Hordak desperately trying to reconcile two diametrically opposed beliefs in his head: (1) devotion to Prime, whose approval he desperately craves, and (2) maintaining some degree of unique personhood, of Hordak, from which to draw strength. Because a failed, defective clone cannot survive on a hostile world, cut off from the hivemind and from Prime's light. A failed clone cannot create an empire to offer Prime as tribute, nor build a spacetime portal from scraps and memory to call Prime back. A failed clone cannot create cybernetic armor to keep his hurting, weakened body alive; to force himself to keep going no matter what, to fight through the pain and the doubt by sheer force of will.

But maybe Hordak can.

And so there it is. Hordak had plenty of time to gain and explore his individuality while separated from Prime, but I think the reason he did it so effectively (while still deluding himself that Prime would forgive him for these little sins, if only Hordak could prove his value) is because he had to.

Wrong Hordak gained his individuality surrounded by kind, quirky people who took care of him; Hordak was ripped from the hivemind by Prime himself and had to fight for his survival against all odds. And that produced a dangerous and damaging foe for Etheria. But it also produced the one clone with the strength of will to defy Prime himself.

This is long and rambling, but ultimately my point is that 1) I love Hordak, and 2) I love love love love that the show was so clever about his characterization. We learn so much about him and how much progress he's already made in breaking from his psycho abusive cult upbringing, and we don't even recognize it until the show wants us to. Hordak had come so far, all on his own, before he met Entrapta. She just helped push him over the edge and finally realize (at least consciously) that Prime's worldview might not be the correct one.

Idk, I just don't know if I've ever seen all the trappings of Basic 80's Villain(TM) so successfully subverted, where looking back 4 seasons later is actually a smack in the face with the "effective character building" stick. Amazing.

[sincerely-sofie]

Alright. Going to play more Slay the Princess now. Y’all’s reactions to my worst theory yet scare me. Have some fanart to enjoy while I dive back into the insanity.

[dustykneed]

is this how tsfs went? i think this is how tsfs went. source? trust me bro. he chose the danger

unintentional coincidence but thinking about it this sorta reminds me of this post by @muirmarie! if you enjoyed the comic you should absolutely go read it. i'm insane about it

[m-aximumjoy]

Some interesting similarities between the forms of Falling Devil and Darkness Devil.

There’s the use of multiple bodies to create a singular form, the angular shapes, the mantis-leg-like appendages, the sheer height.

These two also share very strong hand motifs, which makes sense for both of them: when it’s dark, you have to feel your way around, usually with your hands; when you’re falling, you try to grab onto something with your hands.

I’m curious to see if the other Primals look anything like these two.

[lazaruspiss]

My name is Dick Grayson. I'm who you need me to be.

[pastelshroomsbasement]

Goofy svsss au where qqq is also a transmigrator!!!

[cracklewink]

Science-themed Mermay Day 4: Neustonic

Blue dragon sea slug + Velella velella, aka ''By-the-wind-sailors"

[ramblingguy54]

Thinking again about the deep underlying context between Roz & Brightbill's bittersweet goodbye from the migration scene.

How neither didn't want to say goodbye to the other forever.

Yet, Roz felt like she had hurt Brightbill too much to deserve a second chance. After robbing him of a family, even if it was an accident.

Brightbill didn't want to insist upon her staying because he rejected Roz as his mother. Claimed she didn't feel any ounce of emotion. Let's not forget also processing the realization his biological mother wouldn't have been able to care for him, like Roz managed to do so.

Both struck by irrefutable guilt over what they did and said.

The layered complexity sold with barely much dialogue and only excellent character expression alone.

Fucking got me over here like.

[fernhelm]

WHO IS LILY EVANS?

HP, HBP / Simone Weil: An Intellectual Biography - Gabriella Fiori / HP, OP / The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath / Cain - Lord Byron / HP, SS / Violence and the Sacred - René Girard / "How Do you Solve a Problem Like Maria?" - The Sound of Music

[infernothechaosgod]

I love you "four eared trouble" oswald

Hell yeah a ghost brother trying to help you break into a ritch guy's house because he fucking stole your "kinda magic mirror" my beloved

also

I love how the jokes with oswald being an older character arent just him using 1920's slang and that being his entire personality but him being unaware of so many things We found out during the decades Like yeah uhhhh i dont know i dont think you can land on the sun oswald

[let-roman-bite-someone]

btw i really really hope that janus's current characterization, with the wine and sass, is just there for the more light-hearted episodes, and that thomas hasn't forgotten the nuance behind his character.

[optiwashere]

Huh, I didn't even realize it'd been a year since BG3 came out until I opened tumblr this morning. Kinda wild. I didn't think much of the game's release: I like Larian's games, and I like the BG series. I wasn't ever going to skip the game, but I didn't think I'd play it at launch because I was busy working on a novel in 2023 and not doing well financially.

Thankfully, circumstances left me with a little bit of extra money last year just before launch and it meant I could spend on a video game. I needed a pick-me-up after said 2023 novel failed to go anywhere, and BG3 was right there. Like most CRPGs, I played it in basically every moment of free time that I had and did as much as I possibly could in one playthrough.

It's so odd how these small happenstances can snowball into coming back to fandom, finding some friends I might've never met otherwise, and writing a lot of fanfiction along the way. I'll probably have something more interesting to say/share when it's the 14th, AKA when I sat down and wrote my first fic for this fandom.

Anyways, it's been a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to more years to come 💜

[whatwooshkai]

18!!

Boulder taps the tips of their digits together. "I have a question."

"What do you need?" Blades asks. He's putting up a garland around the perimeter of the basement, something he's been working on for days now. There are tiny little hand made models of their alt modes, trees, rocks, and other oddities that Boulder can't identify, made out of yarn big enough to hand knit with.

They're cute, and quite nice. Really bring a homey air to the place. "I need a bit of code altered."

Blades' helm whips around so fast he nearly falls over. He searches Boulder's face, but apparently doesn't find what he's looking for, because his face sets in a panicked frown and his rotors start flicking erratically. "You can't be serious."

"I'm serious," Boulder says, clasping their hands behind their back. "You're our medic, so I assumed-"

"Boulder, I am a field medic at most," Blades stresses, and some of his loose garland starts to flutter from the breeze created by his rotors. "I have no credentials. Hell, the only reason I know as much as I do is because Heatwave gets hurt so often it's all trial and error! They would never let me into the Academy, you know, they'd probably ban me from ever practicing-"

"Blades," Boulder says gently, but Blades' talking only gets more frantic.

"But code? Boulder, I can barely understand my own code, you really want me poking around in your helm? What if I mess something up? I could completely fuck up your coding, and I couldn't live with myself if I did that, living with unfulfilled protocols is horrible I can't imagine living with something broken-"

"BLADES!" Boulder shouts, and the helicopter shuts up, but his rotors are still flapping.

"Sorry," he murmurs. "I just don't think it's a good idea."

"It's something I can do myself," Boulder starts carefully, holding their hands out placatingly. "I just need a spotter."

The flapping dies down a little. "A spotter?"

"Yes, a spotter." Boulder clasps their hands again, this time against their chest. "Just in case."

"Just in case," Blades parrots, hugging his arms around himself. "What exactly do you need done?"

Boulder chews on their lip. "I just..." they trail off, trying to figure out how to phrase this. The pressure of the air has been changing all day, the sky getting darker, little beads of condensation appearing on their frame- the telltale signs of an oncoming storm. Someone like Blades would be able to better detect the changes in the atmosphere with his sensitive rotors, but Boulder doesn't have anything like that. And well... "I want to quiet a fear response."

Blades' face changes immediately. "Oh, Boulder," he says. "You can't just shove that down, you have to-"

"That's not what I meant," Boulder gently interrupts. "It's a fear response that's useless to me now. And it's going to storm."

"Oh." Blades' field reaches out in understanding, and Boulder brushes it with reassurance from their own. "You're scared of thunder."

"Not thunder. I want to experience it."

"The noise."

"Yeah."

Blades sighs. "Alright. I'll spot."

They find themselves on the floor, sitting with their legs crossed, across from each other. Their wrist ports are open and Blades has unspooled the cable from next to his, handing it to Boulder to let them plug in.

They do without much fanfare, initiating handshake protocols, and then Boulder guides Blades to the corner of their processor where all their instincts from their past as a miner lay dormant.

Well. Dormant-ish.

Where is it? Blades' voice is nice, inside of Boulder's processor. Warm and buttery smooth, but still somehow with a nervous lilt. It's kind of cool, the way it bounces around.

Here. Boulder pulls up the protocol and with it a memory- a huge bang that rattles the cavern and sends dust and pebbles showering down over Boulder and their coworkers. They dive for their positions, curling into balls, preparing for the worst. The fear is bone deep. Blades' very presence shivers with it. I want to be outside.

I know.

Blades' presence seems to hold them steady as Boulder dips their hands into the code. It shifts like water beneath their digits, slippery as they grasp for the strands that connect to their emotional core. They pinch and tie the line with a few more lines- simple things they'd been practicing doing, just extra stimuli needed to activate the protocol itself, like falling rubble, and suppressing it when rain registered as sensory input.

Boulder sighs as they finish up, letting it slip back out of their hands. Blades' relief is palpable, and it washes comfortingly over Boulder, then nestles in their spark even as they disconnect from each other.

"That wasn't so bad," Blades hums, mostly a reassurance to himself.

"Not at all," Boulder agrees.

-----------------------

That night, Boulder faces the rain.

[starry-bi-sky]

*grips Shen Qingqiu by the shoulders*

aren't you tired of being nice? Don't you want to crack under the pressure of the system and the robbed autonomy of being forced into a role you had no choice in but have to play anyways? don't you want to buckle under the realization that, to you, no matter what you do your life is going to end in a horrific death? Whether that be under Luo Binghe's hands or the System's?

Don't you want to realize that no matter all the good you have done and the lives you have changed and saved, you're still standing at the ledge of a cliff with a sword to your disciple's chest?

Shouldn't it be you at the edge instead? Balancing on the crumbling dirt's end of death on either side, and you can either walk into it or be forced?

don't you want to go apeshit?

[oceanwithouthermoon]

"fandom discourse isnt that serious" yeah duh but i feel like i should be allowed to talk about things like people being misogynistic or justifying abuse without being told im complaining too much or something, when these are such extremely prevalent issues in fandom 😭