What’s with the sarcophagus? - That is actually the alternate form of the Cairo Overcoat, which doubles as his notorious oversized garment, and his chariot in which he travels through time, not terribly unlike Dr. Who’s TARDIS. The name and functionality was spawned completely from the Chicago Overcoat, which was the name of Mobster Kingpin’s flying pirate ship/office. Chicago Overcoat is also mobster slang for a coffin, therefore a Cairo Overcoat must refer to a Sarcophagus. (Which also happens to have a Terminator skull over the Pharaoh’s face.) LE’s ties to Egyptian lore in part trace back to a reference, through his attire obviously, to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, a significant part of which takes place in Egypt. Also, more vaguely, the coat struck me as something that might be worn by one or more iterations of Dr. Who. And lest we forget the most obvious quality of its appearance, something that could easily adorn a pimp. As with many things in HS, there’s quite a slurry of references coming together to form something basically ridiculous, and yet dead fucking serious. LE is many things. A time traveling crime lord pimp. An omnipotent, indestructible puppet-based demon. A monster born out of an ancient, short, smug, cueball-headed gunslinger, the blight of two universes by his birth alone. An Egyptian pharaoh Incredible Hulk in shredded pants and suspenders with a green Jigsaw puppet-like skull for head, a gold fang, and flashing pool balls for eyes. And with his gold cuestick pegleg and long coat, appears to also be somewhat reminiscent of a pirate, and may or may not bear some tenuous connection to Skipper Plumbthroat, nemesis of all Squiddles, who have been clearly shown to be friendly cartoon-standins for the dark gods.
So LE is the Hulk in suspenders with a Cal skull for a head……… really?
Yes, really. I think his appearance is not what most were expecting, nor what some desired, but this is a consequence of hype factor alone. It’s inevitable, keeping a mystery such as this dangling out there for almost two years. People start to get attached to what they envision. There is no creative advantage at all to hype. When hype is significant, you can only hope to meet it at best, or more likely fall short. I felt pretty fortunate that by and large the hype surrounding EOA5 was met for most people. I’m doubtful it was surpassed for many, by much, considering the two month pause caused people to guess SOMETHING big was coming. Now imagine instead of a two month delay, there was none at all! Bam, 13 minute animation out of nowhere. The difference in reader perception in such a case is so extreme, it can’t even be communicated. Conclusion: hype sux.
This is exactly how I pictured LE looking before I even made the Felt intermission. I think if I revealed him then, practically everyone would say, yeah that’s about right. Just a nasty, monstrous looking mob boss with some gaudy accoutrements. In time, as the mystique surrounding him accumulates, people get other ideas. I think some wanted a more suave motherfucker to bust onto the scene, someone perhaps sleek, dapper. This doesn’t fit the concept at all, nor suits anything we knew about him previously. Doc Scratch is his smooth, well mannered counterpart. He already fills that role. LE as Scratch 2 is a really boring idea to me. LE as a big, no-nonsense brute, functioning as Mr. Hyde to Scratch’s Dr. Jekyll, is much more interesting. (Hey, there’s another bullet point for the reference slurry, if you’re taking notes, re: Jekyll/Hyde.) So instead of some elegant dude too dashing for words who exploded from the screen of the yaoiest anime you ever saw, he looks a bit like this and this and maybe some of this and a smidgeon of this and oh yeah some of this and a whole fuckload of this and just a pinch of this, ok wait maybe not that last thing.
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Topic: MSPA Homestuck (Read 5193303 times)