#a real high chance I'd just die because i physically cannot force my body to accept them as food

[actualaster]

I think some people genuinely don't grasp the concept of "sensory issues" when it comes to things like food.

A food sensory issue is not "I don't want to eat that because it isn't my preferred flavor"

A food sensory issue is "something about the taste/texture/smell of this is incompatible with my brain and it makes me gag and if you try to force that into me I will choke on it and/or throw up"

A food sensory issue is "something set me off and now I can't eat for hours because I feel sick to my stomach and there isn't a way to fix that especially if the sensory trigger is lingering like a smell"

A food sensory issue is "you might as well have asked me to eat a bowl full of rocks because this is about as edible to me, no matter how much I wish that weren't the case"

A food sensory issue is "I haven't eaten anything decent in 3 days because I haven't had a chance to go to the store and I don't have anything left I'm physically capable of eating"

A food sensory issue is "I'm super fucking hungry but I took one bite and no matter how hard I tried to eat it I automatically gagged it back out because my body completely rejects it because of the taste/texture/smell"

A food sensory issue is "struggling to maintain a passable diet so you don't have a bunch of deficiencies because what you can eat is restricted"

Quite frankly, food sensory issues should really be treated similarly to food allergies in that you cannot safely try to trick or force a person to eat them.

[cruelfeline]

I'm rather new to the fandom but I had a thought/theory I'd like your opinion on regarding Hordak's 'defect'/illness as I think its never specified in canon what it is (correct me if I'm wrong). What if his defect is simply something he perceived about his past that is not real, similar to his perception that he was a top general to Prime. It was something he made up to explain events to himself, and that any illness that he displays by the show is simply the result of a manufactured (1/4)

being that was forced to survive in an environment that it was now designed to live in for 20 or so years. I think this might be the case for a couple of reasons, first I can definitely see Prime send defects to the front line, however in season 5 Hordak isn't simply shipped away to a front line somewhere. He is sent to Etheria but not for long and not what I would argue as the front line considering there are actual battles going on the planet and he's not like in the occupied territory (2/4)

most likely to see battle. And two despite how far he has 'fallen' in Primes eyes, Prime takes the time and resources to remold him rather than just dispose of him, and Hordak seems just as physically capable as his brothers after this. And if Prime was able to repair Hordak's 'defect' easily enough that he would keep him around rather than send him out to die in battle as Hordak had been showed to assume earlier, then perhaps Hordak never had any defect or illness to begin with. He only (3/4)

told himself that after he got separated from the galactic horde because why else would Prime send him away, why else would he even have been in a situation to be separated, he would think he must deserve it, that there had been something wrong with him and its his fault for what happened to him, and not the truth that he just happened to be the cog in the machine that fell out because there was a portal and he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sorry for the long ask lol.(4/4)

So, this is definitely an idea that’s been floating around the fandom: this concept that Hordak never actually had a physical defect, and that the illness we see is one caused by environmental factors on Etheria.

There’s nothing specifically wrong with this headcanon, and if it’s one that people enjoy, then by all means: indulge! However, it’s not one that I personally subscribe to, for a few reasons.

The first of these reasons is largely meta-based. Removing Hordak’s in-born physical defect removes a huge part of his character arc and a significant aspect of why he means so much to so many people, especially those people who identify with him in terms of physical disability. His arc is very much based on disability and how it affects him, on feelings of physical inadequacy connected to an illness that he cannot control coupled with a “family” and “society” that condemns him for that illness. Removing this aspect of him greatly diminishes the meaning of “imperfection is beautiful” and the lesson that he learns throughout the series.

If there was never any actual defect, if he was never really looked upon by Prime as “inadequate,” then what he learns about failure and having worth as he is, physical problems and all, becomes somewhat meaningless. If the defect never existed, then... the conflict is kind of gone, isn’t it? I mean, in that scenario, it would still be awful to be sent to the front lines to die, but the reason behind it, the thing about Hordak that so deeply hurts him, would be gone. The sort of igniting spark of his entire story would be gone, and with it, a major aspect of his character.

I also think that Hordak sort of rationalizing a position of importance in Prime’s cult is believable, simply because I feel like it happens in real cults. With real victims. Victims who think that, rather than being abused, they are participating in something important and meaningful. Victims who think that their abusers have special love for them (something that we likely see in that clone Prime caresses, in S5E5, actually). But I think it’s less believable that Hordak just “made up” an entire physical illness; I do think that that existed prior to Etheria. Removing it just seems... very odd to me. Especially removing it without coming out and addressing the fact.

The removal would also take away some of the sense of evil surrounding Prime: prioritizing his brothers based on physical ability, rejecting those with defects, is a horrific thing. Take that away, and Prime is still evil, but a certain emotional aspect of it is removed. Which, again, lessens the story, in my opinion.

Now, in terms of in-universe logic regarding why Hordak remains with Prime in season five: in my opinion, this has to do with memory access. 

While Prime is conquering Etheria, he wishes to maintain access to any relevant memories and information about it. Hordak is the only one with those memories. And, as we learn when Prime accesses one of his previous bodies, these memories cannot be uploaded into a server, or put on a thumb drive. They require a mind and body to exist. Therefore, Prime simply (temporarily) fixes Hordak up enough to make him pretty and functional and keeps him around as a memory bank. With this logic, there is a high chance that, once Etheria fell, Hordak would have lost his Healthy Maintenance privileges and been sent back to the front lines, but until that happened, he was useful.

This actually provides another facet to the disability narrative Hordak’s character explores: it’s not so much that Prime can’t maintain Hordak in something of a healthy state. It’s that he doesn’t think it’s worth it. It’s that it perhaps takes more resources, so why bother? Why bother tending to Hordak and giving him the extra care he needs, when Prime can just stick another, healthier clone in his place?

It’s the sort of awful question that, I think, we see asked every day in the real world: why bother making something accessible to someone with some form of disability when they can just be replaced by someone without that disability? Why put in the effort? The answer, of course, is because they’re people who deserve to live comfortable, fulfilling lives by virtue of being people, but for Prime, that’s not a concern. The concern is ease of use. The concern is not “wasting” resources. The concern is never how Hordak might feel, either physically or emotionally.

So that, to me, is how Hordak works in season five: he is useful despite his physical issues, and so he temporarily gets the maintenance he needs because of that use. And, thankfully, we never have to see Hordak lose that usefulness, because Prime dies before he can take Etheria. Small miracles and all.

Anyway! I hope that’s helpful? Obviously, one can headcanon whatever they want. But I think the most common interpretation of this in the fandom, at least the part I frequent, is that Hordak does have an actual physical defect that requires special care. Taking that away just lessens the impact of so much of his story arc, and it lessens a good portion of the representation he offers to many members of the fandom.

Oh, and a quick addition: it can also be both! It can be a natural defect that is made worse by Etheria’s environment! I’ve seen that done, too.