Why Bother Editorial: The Characterization of Luxure and the theme of Existential Nihlism + Art request · 12:36am Dec 1st, 2016
I'd like to go into some analysis regarding the way I write Luxure in "Why Bother?" and basically what her character means. On the surface it could be easy to writer her off ass "a total bitch that magically manipulated ponies into fighting for her that just happens to have reality-breaking powers." That's certainly a part of her that we've seen but there's also that one thing she hates going into detail about, but for the most part has no choice. The fact that she is self-aware of her place in the world,absolutely resents it, but is resigned to it nonetheless.
The story remains mostly true to the tropes of MLP at its most typical (aside from the more mature aspects of Luxure herself) meaning the good guys are all about optimism, friendship and happiness. On top of all of that, the good guys win every time. It doesn't matter how incompetent or ridiculous the heroes of the story can be sometimes, it's just fate. Not luck. Luxure however, is that bit of extreme cynicism in a world like this where a lot of both the comedy and depressing aspects of the story come in. Luxure knows she's played up as the villain, and in every way that is what she is. Over time she's come to realize that if she's not the hero of her own story, she is not meant to be happy or succeed, which leads into the inner turmoil she's been having. If you give a mare too much time to think on her own, for example an incredibly long imprisonment in the Crystal Heart with no magic to distract herself with, and add in her being able to hear about every villain's absurd failure to the mighty heroes of Equestria, inevitably she'll lose all ability to even really give a shit. Luxure is practically a living embodiment of passive existential nihilism, which for those of you who don't know means after she became self-aware, she has basically given up any morals and values and ultimately ends up in a constant state of emptiness where she believes nothing she does matters when it all comes down to it. She is the bad guy, and she will fail, that is the ultimate truth of the matter. Probably the only reason she hasn't killed herself over this yet is because she's in every sense of the word, immortal.
Realistically the only option she has left is to conform to the side of the ponies and other reformed villains. Whether she actually wants to go through with it, and if the ponies actually care about her feelings or are only doing this to save their own hides, has yet to be seen by her. It also has yet to be determined if friends can even fill a void that isn't even really caused by loneliness like a few other similar villains that were reformed, but more the questioning of her own existence and self worth in the world.
End note: I'd like it if anyone here is an artist that'd be willing to draw Luxure in cover-art form. I don't have much of a set design for her other than the minimal description of her in the story (Pink body, purple mane and tail, blue eyes, arrow-punctured heart cutie mark, and is a crystal pony, though much more dull and dark in appearance.) so you can take any artistic liberties you feel you need to.
