Hi Gals and Guys,
Today I'm going to talk at all of you in regards to that big ole elephant in the room for games workshop that is Slaanesh; and where the Prince/Princess of Pleasure in my mind should be evolving into.
If you have been in the hobby for any amount of time, you'll be aware that of all the Gods of Chaos, Slaanesh has been, in the eyes of the Internet, the true redheaded step child of the Chaos Pantheon (Yes Tzeentch I see you in the corner ready to throw a doombolt at me, but hold off, we'll get to you in a future post) (Good 👍?) (Ok).
So getting back to the matter in hand, (please no snickering... G'ah Children...) Slaanesh sits in a position that many feel isn't conductive to the relatively "family-friendly" universe of both Warhammer 40k, Age of Sigmar, and before it finished Warhammer Fantasy. This mentality seems to have been cemented in the disappearance of Slaanesh from the Age of Sigmar storyline post the End Times of Warhammer Fantasy.
For those that may or may not be fully aware, Slaanesh is the Dark Prince/Princess of Pleasure. An Androgynous being obsessed with self gratification in all its forms to the detriment of all. The easiest of which to create and show when we consider our hobby are the sexual aspects which can be accentuated on our models. However, why focus on this solely alone? This facet only makes Slaanesh one dimensional, and I feel this wasn't the initial intention of the character.
So bear with me here for a couple of minutes; Slaanesh is a Dark mirror to all our wants. A twisting of that which could be good, and wholesome, to that which is a dark parody. But why a dark parody at all? I'll tell you, it's the fear of not getting what we think we want. Fear of being alone, fear of feeling nothing but a deep hunger that can never be truly satisfied. The fear that when we are all alone in the dark, we have nothing to comfort us, and it will drive us mad. At the end of the day we are all crying children, screaming at an uncaring universe. Slaanesh is deep down just a scared child, wanting attention so it isn't left alone with the darkness all around it.
Which is where Cthulhu comes in...
If you have ever read anything of HP Lovecrafts novels (and I suggest you do), you enter into a world where everything is twisted, the world and it's horrors don't care about your pitiful existence, and terror follows on from the madness that follows from the darkness and horror of being alone with the things that go bump in the night. See any similarities? I do...
Would it be so hard to imagine, Slaanesh moving towards a deeper horror trope, over where he/she currently is positioned? In Age of Sigmar, Slaanesh feel asleep and now has been kidnapped nowhere to be found, the followers searching in vain to awaken their God... Maybe another little nod to the great squid himself? Maybe Games Workshop have had the same idea as me? Maybe I am just going mad myself?
Let me know what you think in the comments below. If you have any theories I'd love to hear them too.
Until next time
Jonathan
