happy WBW rose!!! I saw you mentioned holidays and traditions 👀 what do these things celebrate?? are they celebrated in a particular space, or at a particular time?? does the intensity of the celebration vary depending on where you are in the world?? I hope you have a fantastic day!! - @magic-is-something-we-create
happy wbw to you too pax!!!
disclaimers: dates are a gregorian calendar equivalent of the actual celebration. most people no longer celebrate due to the sharp decline in followers, so this description reflects what would be done when the majority of people believed in the gods.
i talked about the four big religious holidays here. they each celebrate the yearly peak of one of the gods as well as a secondary celebration of people around you/people you don't know very well/yourself/loved ones!!
the space/time mostly depends on the holiday :D for example, hyet saa skari is mostly outside and at night because. bonfires and light shows and that jazz. hyet saa aenged is celebrated during the day outside, and it's considered a good omen if it's windy outside. hyet saa thilda is celebrated inside (because cold) and during sunrise/sunset (because,,,,, because vibes). and hyet saa eltenjer is celebrated during the day/afternoon at any location of significance between people!!
the intensity is. none. because gods don't have followers alsfjldskjf rip them. BUT even while these were celebrated, location didn't matter much.
thank you for asking!!! this a lot of fun to talk about <3
Do you have any headcanons about Hordaks age? We don't have any timeline, but we can assume that he't been on Ethernia for at least 20 years (based on the fact that Adora is 18-ish). We don't know how long Hordak worked for Horde Prime, but since it appears the clones are 'born' as adults, Hordak migh very well still be in his twenties. But he might also over 100 😂
Ahhhh, this is such a good thing to theorize about! Because yeah, the whole timeline of Etheria, and the Horde, and Etheria’s interaction with the Horde, and the First Ones, and everything is such a mystery! And Hordak fits into a little bit of that mystery. My thoughts?
Well, he’s been around for greater than 20 years. If you recall the episode Light Spinner, the Horde had already become A Thing back with Shadow Weaver was Light Spinner and Micah was an innocent baby-child. He looked about.. I dunno... 13? Ish? So if we make him 13, and maybe say Glimmer was born when he was age 30 or so (that’s a normal age for baby-production, right?), then Hordak would have had to have been around for at least 34-ish years (17 years for Micah to grow up, then assuming Micah went down very early in Glimmer’s life, we have another minimum 17-ish years for Glimmer to grow). Though it could be less, I suppose, if Micah and Angella got Down To Business With Speed.
I would expect that it took him some time to rise in rank and become Hordimus Horde Prime’s right hand, but that’s hard to quantify without just knowing it. A few years? A decade? I dunno. I feel like it could be anywhere from 5-10 years.
If you do this sort of fuzzy math, you end up putting Hordak at around anywhere from late thirties to fifties in regular ol’ Earth years.
But we all know that aliens +/- clones likely age differently, or popped out of the vitrine fully grown, so his actual physical age is anyone’s best guess. To me, he looked like a middle-aged warlord back when he had his old, bulky armor. Now, he looks much younger, especially with his hair mussed up as it’s been. Looking at him now, I feel like he looks my/Entrapta’s age: late twenties, early thirties.
What I find most interesting, though, is less his physical age and more his mental/emotional age. I’m assuming that the clones pop out of the vitrine with some level or programming, ready to murder, but I wonder what level of maturity they have in other facets of life. Emotional maturity, for example, is something that Hordak seems to lack. His answer to distress is smashing something, yelling a bunch, sulking, etc., etc. Mind, this could just be him, but it nevertheless wouldn’t surprise me if this was at least in part, if not directly due to his status as a clone. I would imagine that the clones are unlikely to get... well, a “healthy upbringing.” Even if Hordimus wasn’t the massive asshole I predict him to be, why would he bother? They’re clones. Soldiers. All they have to do is move forward and steamroll anything in their way. The complexities of civilian life, of dealing with things in ways that don’t destroy them, of accurate introspection and emotional understanding just wouldn’t be useful to them.
In addition, a lack of emotional maturity allows Hordak, and I suspect the other clones, to remain emotionally dependent on their progenitor. I mean, think about it: by the time a person turns 30/40/50+, even if they’ve had a shit childhood, most at least start to move past that. They separate themselves from their parents (usually during the rebellion of teenhood, hah!). Healthy, mature individuals become their own complete people.
Entrapta’s interactions with Hordak sort of underline this for me, and it’s part of why I enjoy their dynamic so much: Entrapta knows she has difficulties with people. She knows she’s “a failure” in terms of social interaction, but she doesn’t care nearly as much as Hordak does. At the same time, she accepts this, works on it in her own time, and enjoys life by finding her value in other pursuits. She doesn’t depend on others’ opinions of her to maintain a sense of self worth. Even if she’s bothered by her flaws, she’s not as dependent on others as Hordak is on Horde Prime to allow this to ruin her. It’s something that makes her, to me, one of the most mature characters in the series so far.
Anyways.
I think that one reason that Hordak seems so young to me now that we know his vulnerabilities is that it’s become very apparent that he’s not his own healthy, complete person. He’s not comfortable in his own skin, not only because of his illness, but because he can’t separate his being, his self-worth, his personhood from Horde Prime. And that makes him seem, in an emotional way, much younger to me.
And sadder. I find his dependency on someone who will never be satisfied with him, will never love him no matter how hard he tries, to be very, very sad.
shit is it too needy to request a part three to the billy nightmare demogorgon thing? bc I love it and this is so so good but if you don't want to write more of it, that's totally fine! idk I love it sooooo much and I could read like endless amounts of this...?
oh gosh I’m sorry I’m getting to this so late!! things have been super busy here. but I hope you enjoy this!! I’ve really been enjoying working on this little ‘verse!!
too tired to be fightingpart i: do you have room for one more troubled soul?part ii: you’re a canary, i’m a coal mine(fic requests open)
Silence reigns once more; this time, though, it is tense and it is angry and it is paired with pacing so furious Steve thinks the carpet might burn. They are in Jonathan’s bedroom, where Joyce had ushered them on Jonathan’s offer after Billy began his pacing in the living room.
“The monsters,” El had told him, “in your dreams. They’re real.”
“You-” Billy said, and then, “You were-”, and then, “You saw-”, and then, feeling the heat of so many eyes on him, so many people watching him, so many observe his stumbling and stammering, he shot to his feet with his shoulders rolled back and his hands squeezed to fists at his sides.
“Billy,” Max said, jumping up too, and at the same time Steve said, “Take it easy.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Billy shouted. His tone startled El; she jumped, and she curled against Hopper, who tugged her closer as he said, “Hey!” in a loud voice. He seemed ready to say more, ready to launch into some kind of tirade, but Joyce’s hand on his shoulder stopped him. She bunched a wad of his shirt in her fist and shook him- not hard, but enough to shut him up.
“Enough,” she said. She squeezed El with her free arm, then released them both to stand. Billy’s shoulders rose as she approached. He moved like prey; jerky, untrusting, unsure. He backed away when Joyce stepped closer and flinched when she reached to him. She saw this, and she stopped. “Hey,” she said softly. She glanced around the room, releasing Billy, for a moment, from one scrutinizing pair of eyes. She looked to Jonathan. “I think some space would be good,” she told him, and Jonathan nodded. He rose, too, and again Billy shrunk back. He was like a cornered animal, alert and defensive, but relaxed when instead of moving toward him, Jonathan directed his attention to Steve.
“First door on the right,” he told him, pointing down the hall. Steve placed a hand on Billy’s shoulder and tried not to react when Billy nearly jumped away. Joyce stepped to the side, making a path for them out of the living room. Billy looked at everyone in turn. He wanted to fight- Steve could feel that -but he was too exhausted to argue, too exhausted to push.
Now, he is pacing the length of Jonathan’s small bedroom over and over again. He hasn’t said a word since Steve shut the door. Steve sits on the edge of the bed, watching Billy move back and forth and back and forth. He is simmering with something like rage. Twice he stopped to looked at Steve, twice he opened his mouth to- ask a question? say anything? -, and twice he shook his head with a low huff and resumed his pacing.
“Can you at least sit?” Steve asks. “You’re making me dizzy.”
Billy grunts; it is the clearest response Steve has gotten from him in what feels like hours but, in reality, has only been about twenty minutes. Steve can hear a low murmur of voices outside the door, muffled with distance, and he knows that Billy hears it, too.
“I know that is…” Steve stops himself, suddenly aware that he doesn’t a word. This is what? Confusing, sure. Frustrating, obviously. Scary? Terrifying, even? Something out of a Stephen King novel? He sighs. “I know this is a lot.”
Billy pauses. He looks at Steve, and he looks angry, but the anger doesn’t reach his eyes. His eyes tell a different story. They look like a child’s eyes. Steve opens his mouth to say more, but Billy turns his back again.
“Do you want to be alone?” Steve asks him. Billy pauses again, this time with his back to Steve, and Steve prepares to be kicked out. He is halfway to his feet when Billy speaks.
“No,” he says. Steve hesitates, not quite sure he’s heard him right.
“No?” he asks. Billy turns to look at him.
“No,” he says again, and he sits down beside Steve with a heavy sigh. He leans his elbows on his knees and rests his head in hands and, after another moment of hesitation, Steve touches a hand to Billy’s back.
“Do you want to talk?” Steve asks.
“I want to sleep,” Billy murmurs. He sounds miserable.
“You think you can?” Steve asks.
“No,” Billy says.
“Because of-”
“Yeah.”
“Right.” Steve rubs circles between Billy’s shoulders, but the tension there stays coiled.
“What did she mean?” Billy asks.
“El?”
“She said they’re real.”
“Yeah,” Steve says.
“How does she-”
“She can see stuff,” Steve says. “Uh, she has, like…uh…superpowers, sort of.”
“But how does she know they’re real?”
“She kind of, um- opened the gate for them to get here?”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“Billy-”
“Don’t,” Billy says. He lifts his head to glare at Steve, but the effect is lost when Steve sees a sheen of unfallen tears. “Don’t fucking patronize me, Harrington, I swear to God.”
“I’m not,” Steve says. “I swear. I’m not even sure I know what patronize means.”
“Fuck off,” Billy huffs, though his tone his lighter. He leans against Steve and Steve slips his around around Billy’s shoulders, holding Billy against him. “I don’t know how she knows,” he admits. “We’ve fought them before. She’s fought them before. But we still don’t really know how they, like…work. This is new territory for all of us. No just you.”
“Great,” Billy says.
“Bright side,” Steve says, “is that you’re not in it alone.”
“No one else is seeing them in their dreams?”
“Well, uh,” Steve stammers, then sighs. “No. Not that I know of.”
“So how am I not alone?” Billy asks. “I’m just supposed to let my sister’s weird friend stand guard in my fucking head?”
“El can help,” Steve says. “We all just want to help.”
Billy is quiet for a moment, and then he says, “I’m tired.”
“I know,” Steve says. “You should sleep.”
“If they’re real-”
“-you’ve got backup,” Steve finishes. “Seriously. Okay? You’re covered, man.”
Billy is quiet again, and leans heavier against Steve. Steve lets him. He holds Billy close, rubs Billy’s arm, tucks Billy’s head beneath his chin. They sit there together, entwined, and Steve hums something out-of-tune to drown out the sounds of talking outside.
“What if they know?” Billy asks suddenly, almost startling Steve.
“What if who knows what?”
“Those things,” Billy says. “What if they know we’ve caught on?”
“You think they have?”
“They looked at her,” Billy says. “At…El.”
“Then we’ll send her back in,” Steve says. “She’ll kick their asses.”
“So, what? I have a fourteen year-old bodyguard?”
“Would you rather go in alone?”
“You’re not leaving, are you?”
“What?” Steve asks. He pulls away, one hand holding Billy so that he can look at his face. Billy blinks at him, groggy and weary. “I’m not going anywhere,” he says firmly. “Okay?”
Billy looks Steve up and down. He bites his lip, looks away, looks at the floor, then back at Steve. He nods, and when Steve pulls him into an embrace, Billy lets his head fall back on Steve’s shoulder.
“You’re really fucking out of it, Hargrove,” Steve says, “if you think I’d leave you.”
“Shut up,” Billy grumbles.
And Steve tells him, “Go to sleep.”
An hour passes, and in it Billy does sleep. He falls asleep on Steve’s shoulder, and Steve winces as he lowers Billy onto the bed. He keeps his promise; he stays with him, keeps watch over him, until a knock at the door pulls him away. Billy grunts in his sleep, but doesn’t wake up, and Steve gently brushes Billy’s hair from his face, his thumb lingering at Billy’s temple for a moment, before going to answer the door.
“What’s going on?” Max asks, and Steve holds a finger to his lips to quiet her.
“He’s sleeping,” he whispers.
“Is he-” El starts.
“He’s been okay so far,” Steve says. He leaves the door open a crack behind him as he steps into the hall, and he looks into the dimly lit room to be sure Billy is still asleep before turning his attention to the girls.
“He’s scared,” El says matter-of-factly.
“Yeah,” Steve says. “Yeah, he is.”
“You’re scared,” Max says, brows furrowed as she looks him up and down.
“Yeah, well, he’s scared,” Steve says by way of explanation.
“We think El should stay with him,” Max says. “I mean, if he’s sleeping, they can come back, right? She should be there if they do.” Steve looks to El, who nods.
“I promised I wouldn’t leave him,” Steve says.
“You don’t have to,” Max says. “Just…let us stay, too. To protect him.”
“Right,” Steve says. “Right, okay. Yeah.”
He leans against the door so that it opens, and he tries to slow it down so that the hinges don’t squeak too much. Every little noise makes him nervous. He doesn’t want to wake Billy- not after everything, not when he’s so desperately exhausted. Max steps inside, and she makes her way to her brother’s side, careful as she lowers herself beside him on the bed. Before El follows her, she takes Steve’s hand.
“He will be okay,” she says, and she squeezes his hand and offers the smallest of smiles.
“I hope so,” Steve tells her, eyes on Billy, so far still sleeping soundly, so far still undisturbed. “I really hope so.”
@thilda replied to your post “@thilda replied to your post “GAYS ?????????????????????? not as...”
I'm kinda disappointed that they've used the same plot with Ben being under a love spell, a villain going after the wand, the final fight happening during a coronation/fancy party. Still hope the movie will make it work (and give us more Uma/Harry haha)
ugh i 100% agree . wish our gurl uma got a better ending too .
thilda replied to your photoset “Bumblebee’s been inside an eldritch snow globe this entire time.”
it's going to be so awkward between him and Starscream when he gets out I can't wait
I don’t know what Starscream’s gonna be more horrified by - the fact that Bumblebee knows all the highly incriminating things he’s been getting up to behind everyone’s backs, or the fact that he let an actual real person in on all his personal, emotional stuff.
i wanted to keep ask you about winter holidays this time! Is there anything similar to Christmas? Do all the districts celebrate the holidays (if celebrated at all) the same way?
And since you asked for profession asks: do people regularly work while on holidays in The Hooks? What are the most important/prestigious jobs?? And (being selfish) is there anything similar to a psychologist or therapist??
Thank you so much and sorry for all the questions oops ^^' have a lovely day!
@ink-fireplace-coffee
happy wbw!! i'm not bad, how are you?
disclaimers: dates are a gregorian calendar equivalent of the actual celebration. most people no longer celebrate due to the sharp decline in followers, so this description reflects what would be done when the majority of people believed in the gods.
the main holiday celebrated during winter is Hyet saa Thilda (21 december) !! (pronounced "yet zah" thilda) water goddess my beloved <3 don't tell the other gods shh
it celebrates the water goddess's natural peak during the year, and it's actually NOT the equivalent to christmas. it's a day to celebrate yourself because there isn't enough of that :D
during hyet saa thilda (this is part of a trend where i break all my capitalization rules after the first time i use them) common traditions include(d) solitary praying, solemn silence, lots of introspection, and just supporting other people in general.
everyone in the hooks does/did have the four main holidays off!
*deep inhale* common professions in the hooks:
merchant
blacksmith
harbormaster/dockworker
fisherman
city guards
architect
locksmith
there are psychologists/therapists; they just aren't very common!! (if i ever have a carmen insert, i'll make sure she's a psychologist)
i'm talking about all four major religious holidays today, so keep a look out for that if that something that interests you!!
Hii! Happy wbw! I don't have time at the moment to come up with a more specific question, but I would love to know about your holidays and traditions :)
happy wbw!!
disclaimers: dates are a gregorian calendar equivalent of the actual celebration. most people no longer celebrate due to the sharp decline in followers, so this description reflects what would be done when the majority of people believed in the gods.
the four religious holidays that i'm talking about today are related to the four gods (skari, aenged, thilda, eltenjer) and their yearly peaks!! if you want more specifics on the gods and their domains, that info is in the reintro :D
all the main religious holidays begin with "Hyet saa", pronounced "yet zah" and mean "day of". so we have:
Hyet saa Skari, 21 june, peak of the fire god, celebration of people around you, more info here
Hyet saa Aenged, 21 september, peak of the air god (i should clarify that they use they/them), celebration of those you may not know so well (really excited to celebrate this one on tumblr alskdjfk)
Hyet saa Thilda, 21 december, peak of the water goddess, celebration of yourself, more info here
Hyet saa Eltenjer, 21 march, peak of the earth god, celebration of loved ones (friends, partners, family, and everyone)
thank you for the ask!! (i'll be talking more about the celebrations in the next ask too!!)
