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seasonofthewitchbabe · 3 months

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GUYS I THINK I CRACKED IT!

[ID: A Venn Diagram tittled "Types of Enemies to Lovers". In the left circle there's the cover of "This Is How You Lose the Time War" next to to the text "Enemies due to being in opposite sides". In the right circle, there are the covers of Gideon & Harrow the Ninth next to the text "Enemies due to personal reasons". In the space where the circles converge, there's a screenshot of Adora & Catra from Spop. End ID.]

It might be a very "Water is wet" type of realization, but I think I finally got why some EtL ships (particularly those who fit within the right circle) are so polarizing.

In This Is How You Lose the Time War, the main obstacle to the relationship between Red and Blue is that they're from opposite warring factions who HAVE to defeat the other to secure their existence or something like that. Meanwhile, in Gideon the Ninth, Gideon and Harrow share a long and turbulent history, due to Harrow using Gideon as her personal punching back to deal with her immense self-loathing for being a living war crime, and Gideon hates her back for Harrow being her main tormentor and the one who holds the keys to her imprisoment in the Ninth.

RedxBlue is a star-crossed lovers story whose members have no real animosity towards each other -they just have conflicting loyalties and ideologies. Meanwhile, outside my tumblr bubble I've seen people decrying Griddlehark as a problematic ship due to its immense power imbalance, codepedency, and just general toxicity.

Catradora has to deal with the worse of both worlds.

Catra's toxicity and possessiveness towards Adora is off-putting to lots of audience members, due to reminding them of abusive relationships. On top of that, until the begining of Season 5, Catra was the willing partcipant of an imperialist force and in contrast of Adora, who after realizing that she was hurting innocents leaves the Horde and does her best to atone for her past, Catra kept climbing ranks until she became Hordark's second-in-command, not caring who she hurts in the proccess. Her deeds are too heinous for some to accept that our hero Adora would take her as a lover after everything she has said and done.

I've seen people who hate catradora and find it abusive who prefer EtL stories about two people who start out in opposing sides but learn to respect and see the humanity in each other, resulting in them falling in love. And it's fine.

However, that doesn't mean that more messy and toxic EtL romances such as griddlehark and catradora are doing the trope wrong. It's just a variation of the same concept. Storytelling isn't an exact science with only one or two right answers. It can be fumbled due to execution or the audience might simply not enjoy it for a variety of reasons.

Plus, just because some people prefer darker and messier stuff doesn't mean they'll repeat that shit in real life. For example, I'm a Re-Animator fan and I have no interest of going around graverobbing, doing medical malpractice or manipulating my partner to stay via the heart of their dead fianceé.

I don't know if I can change your mind and I don't really care cause at the end of the day it's not my responsability. I just wanted to share my epiphany with others.

Either way, I hope you're doing ok. That things are getting better for you.

#malu.text #enemies to lovers #this is how you lose the time war #catradora #griddlehark

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that-ari-blogger · 4 months

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Are We the Baddies?

I have stated before that She-Ra thrives on realism and morality, and stand by this view. But in terms of morality, apart from the first two episodes and Catra's entire deal, this hasn't been explored explicitly. The story has heavily implied some moral complexity, but not developed the princess alliance in any depth.

Ties That Bind changes this, and the way it does that is fascinating.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Before I begin, I feel the need to get on my soap box and explain something: Morally complex does not mean evil. This is a lesson that a fair few TTRPG players need to learn, as well as the people writing The Boys. You can have nuanced morality and still be a good guy, or a bad guy, or something in between.

The overarching plot of this episode is essentially a bottle episode, characters get trapped together and have to work out their differences. Usually in live action media, this is the episode for with the crew realised they had no budget left over, so they use actors that are on hand and the set they last filmed in to make something interesting.

I say this, but these episodes have a habit of being some of my favourites in the series. Heaven Sent and Blink for example are often praised as the best Doctor Who has to offer, and they follow this rule, and Wild Blue Yonder is my favourite of the 60th anniversary specials despite the set being the Tardis, a greenscreen and two treadmills and some corridors.

Characters being trapped in one place is also the foundation of a fair amount of horror and detective fiction, and its the premise of my favourite play ever written: Waiting For Godot, by Samuel Becket.

However, you may have noticed that She-Ra and the Princesses Of Power is not, in fact, live action. If you haven't noticed, I'm not sure what to tell you at this point. So why does it have a bottle episode? What are the benefits of this style?

The answer is complicated, but it mostly pertains to character drama. Characters stuck in a room together with a mutual need to get out of that situation are forced to work together. Even enemies will work together if they have a common goal. Star Wars: The Clone Wars did this in Dooku Captured and The Gungan General.

But here's the thing, Ties That Bind subverts this in one simple way, the two parties in this story have opposing goals. If they get to Brightmoon, Catra will be imprisoned. So she works to stall the journey. The story isn't three people who don't want to be in a situation, it's two people who are trapped with a third.

Catra is a gremlin in this episode. She leans fully into the idea of power that Shadow Weaver taught her, manipulation, and it gets her pretty far. Although there are a few cracks, my favourite of which being how easily Bow pushes her buttons in return, and he's doing it accidentally.

"Come on. I bet even the Horde has friends. What about Adora? You two grew up together, right? What was she like as a kid?"

Bow's love of friendship is scoffed at. Catra doesn't have friends, so she thinks she is immune to this line of question. But then Bow brings up Adora, and touches a nerve, so he keeps pushing until Catra responds with a snarl. She's trying to keep up a bulletproof exterior, but that armour still has a weakness, that being Adora.

Catra also gets outmaneuvered by Glimmer, who has learned from previous adventures enough for an escape plan. So, her manipulation skills aren't as good as she thinks they are.

Bow isn't a particularly morally gray character; I don't think that is a hot take. He's the heart of the group, and usually holds everyone else to account. That isn't to say he is morally uncomplicated; the nuance of Bow's character gets shown when he interacts with complicated problems, like the guilt of having left Entrapta behind, and the question of what to do with Catra.

"We took a hostage! We're supposed to be the good guys."

And so, a question is raised, in times of war, do your ethics change? Is this a good thing or not? Just, please don't argue about it in the replies.

Bow's ethics don't change, he is kind and empathetic, and will remain these things, even towards a prisoner, and like Shadow Weaver before her, Catra uses this as a weapon.

Glimmer, on the other hand, is much more complex, and as perfectly moral strategies begin to fail, she is the one who is more likely to actually step into the more dubious territory. This gets displayed multiple times in the episode. For example, when falling, Glimmer plays a game of chicken with Bow's life, and I'm not actually sure what her goal is with it. Maybe she's just trying to scare Catra.

But there's also the scene towards the end when Catra calls Glimmer's bluff again. But this time, Bow isn't directly in the way, so she very nearly does outright kill Catra. Once again, however, it is Bow that keeps her sane.

"We can't take that chance, we're not them."

That's all it takes. All Glimmer needs to hear is that she has becoming her enemy. Bow's line draws attention to what he perceives as the difference between the Horde and the Princesses. The Horde gambles with people's lives, the Princess Alliance doesn't, in his eyes. But throughout this episode, Glimmer has done just that multiple times.

Glimmer's complexity comes from her strength of will. She is the person who will take that extra step when everyone else stops. She has the loosest moral code, and despite still being a good guy, she can react to situations in a completely different manner to others on her side.

The reveal of Entrapta's loyalty also brings up something interesting. People in this story can have goals beyond "good" and "bad", most of them do, in fact. Entrapta's switch from Team Princess to Team Horde shakes Glimmer and Bow's preconceived notions about binary morality. The best way of explaining that is actually this:

"You're on the side of the Horde?"

"I'm on the side of science!"

Don't get me wrong, the Horde is evil as an organisation, and people who are a part of it get up to some pretty heinous acts, this episode just complicates that. It gives a bit of wiggle room within the two sides of this war. But it makes something abundantly clear with Entrapta:

"At least we know for sure that Entrapta's alive, and working for the Horde, making weapons to wipe us out."

Being morally grey does not obfuscate the actions taken. Entrapta isn't villainous, but her actions do further a destructive end, and she is very clearly accountable for that. Being neutral is possible, but Entrapta is very much not neutral, she has chosen a side, and is aware of the consequences of that. It's a stretch to say Entrapta is evil, but she isn't good either, and she is complicit in the Horde's destruction.

Final Thoughts

This episode is ok. I'm not overly impressed by it, but there is some neat storytelling on display, and the animation is cool. Adora's storyline does raise a few more questions about the first ones, most notably: Why did Mara break the watchtower? There's more to this story and Light Hope isn't telling Adora what that is.

Next week, I'll be looking at Signals, so stick around if that interests you.

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madnessandentropy · 7 months

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The reason Catradora is not enemies to lovers or at least does not work as enemies to lovers is because in this trope usually both people are on an equal wavelength and meet each other halfway.

One gives 100%, the other will give it right back with equal ferocity even if they have different fighting styles . Both respect each other. They understand each other's strengths but they are not afraid.

Catra does not respect Adora. She does not see Adora as an equal. They are not equal. Catra is often seen pinning Adora down or leering down at her with Adora looking up in terror/horror

Adora does not give equal ferocity because she cares about Catra and doesn't want to harm her, while Catra could not care less.

There is no scene where Adora smirks back at Catra in a fight. Wait she does? Oh no, it's a fake smirk or it barely lasts.

The closest we got to Catra actually feeling the "Wait a minute this girl can kill me" aka the only sort of "equal" standing is in White Out but that's after Catra purposefully infected Adora's sword and Adora went haywire.

This is the only time I've seen Catra look at Adora with a genuine "oh shit" fearful expression, as opposed to the many many times Adora has been full of fear.

They are not enemies to lovers it is just abuse, because they were never on an equal level. Catra was always the one with the upper hand Adora either will not or cannot fight back in these situations.

Tagging: @spop-romanticizes-abuse what do you think? (If you'd rather I don't tag you please let me know)

#spop critisism #spop critical #anti spop #anti catra #anti catradora

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sapphic-agent · 27 days

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how do you hate Bakugo and not catra. she's way worse than him.

*sigh*

Okay. I had a feeling I was gonna get this question eventually.

And you know what? It's fair. Catra's actions are worse than Bakugou's. If we're going off of morality alone, that would be one thing.

But these are fictional characters. As I've said before, I'm way less concerned with what they did and more interested in how the story handled it.

And don't misunderstand, the way Catra's were handled wasn't perfect. That's why I have complicated feelings about her. If I liked her or found her to be very well written, she would be in the same category as Aang and Rachel.

(I'm not a Catra anti because I looked into the anti Catra tag and found a cesspool. Bad take after bad take in that tag; it's a group I don't particularly want to be associated with. A good way to tell if you're anti any character is to see what their antis are actually saying)

However, there's a big difference in how the SPOP narrative treats Catra as opposed to how the MHA narrative treats Bakugou. Catra is always getting called out. Also, she actually had an abusive guardian, unlike Bakugou who was spoiled rotten. And her behavior has actual consequences. The narrative goes out of its way to say, "Yes Catra has a sad story, but she's still in the wrong."

And unlike with Bakugou who forced his victim to help him develop, Catra took it upon herself to own up to her actions and apologize. She had nothing to gain from helping Glimmer (was way worse for it), but did so because she had looked at her past behavior (of her own accord) and realized on her own how wrong she was. Then made the effort (the actual effort, not just a feeble apology) to fix it.

I really don't hate Catra's redemption. I think it could have been better and I don't think she should have ended up with Adora, but I never thought it was bad. Especially in comparison to Bakugou's. There was genuine effort put into Catra's character that just wasn't there with Bakugou's

#catra critical #anti catradora #anti bakugou katsuki #spop critical #mha critical #bnha critical #anon ask

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cantstoptheimagines · 3 months

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Dating Them Would Include…

Summary — Headcanons for Adora, Catra, and Perfuma from She-Ra & the Princesses of Power!

Requests ➳ Anonymous — Hello. Can I request Adora (She-Ra) with sarcastic S/O? ➳ Anonymous — G’day. I recently found this blog and decided to make a request: Catra with S/O, who use razor boomerangs (S/O can both throw them and use as daggers) as a weapons. Could you, please, write it? P.S. Have a good day. ➳ Anonymous — Hi there. Mind if I request some headcanons of Perfuma dating pyromancer!S/O?

Warnings & Other Tags ➳ Fluff for Adora and Perfuma; a little toxicity for Catra because our baby needs therapy; I’m currently rewatching this show and realizing that I remember nothing from it.

Notes ➳ Word Count is 560. ➳ Reader is gender neutral (they/them). ➳ Multiple requests were combined for this work.

adora

adora is literally feral sometimes

(all the time)

since she grew up in the horde, she has little to no social skills when you first meet her

so don’t even try making any sarcastic jokes or references to the rest of etheria because she will not understand lol

she eventually grows used to things outside of the horde and the two of you became fast friends

but then, one day, she watches you give a horde soldier a black eye

and there’s a little flutter in her stomach

she subtly brings it up to bow, who says she just had a case of butterflies, which was probably a mistake because she always takes things way too literally

so for a solid month, she’s convinced she has actual butterflies in her stomach that just won’t leave

eventually, though, they overwhelm her and she kisses you in the heat of battle

from then on, you’re a package deal

where you go, she goes

trails behind you like a lost puppy sometimes

soft adora fans rise!

catra

catra is hard to understand most of the time

one second, she’s solely focused on you

and the next, she’s on a rampage

sorry to say but a relationship with her would not be easy to maintain. it would take a lot of work on both sides

she’d need to control her impulsive temper and you’d need to have a very empathetic heart

once things settle down and she becomes friends with adora again, all that stress is lifted from her shoulders

she becomes kinder, more considerate, and softness envelopes her heart

even though you’ve told her a million times that her past mistakes are not a reflection of her current self, she continues trying to make up for them

but of course, this is catra we’re talking about

she often gives you new weapons, always opposed to more traditional items

your personal favorite being a twin set of razor-sharp daggers, which made your eyes glimmer with excitement upon opening them

she was proud of herself for that one

what she offers the most, however, is loyalty

she has betrayed and has been betrayed so many times that she swears to never do so again

she hopes you’ll do the same. because if you stick by her through thick and thin, she’ll eventually open up

all she needs is time

perfuma

super kind and very affectionate, even when you’re still “just friends” (side eye bc that doesn’t last long lol)

be prepared because you’ll constantly be smothered in affection by perfuma

if you have any elemental powers, like pyromancy, she’ll only love you more since that’s one more thing you both have in common

her love language is touch, no doubt, 100%

she’s constantly giving you warm hugs and squeezing your hand so tight that it goes numb

you can’t resist kissing her whenever she smiles at you with sparkling eyes and pink cheeks

always giving one another sweet compliments you greet each other

you can trust her no matter what. she’d never cause you pain and would be haunted by regret if she did

seriously, i don’t think she’d ever forgive herself

she’s just so loyal to the people she loves, especially you

you better like flowers because you’ll be getting fresh bouquets every day for the rest of your life

god i love her so much

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queer-artsy-lil-shit · 25 days

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My brother opposed the first version I made of Catra Geto cause he said geto was not that thin (he was right) but anyway pls watch my princess baby boy geto get progressively more ripped cause I thought giving my brother my phone was a good idea 👍🏼

Thin Geto

Normal geto?? Ig

Geto after working out really hard and hum, eating lots of protein bars???

#maybe hes pregnant too who knows #satoru x suguru #geto suguru #jjk suguru #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #satosugu #sugusato #suguru geto #jjk geto #geto suguru fanart #jjk memes #jujutsu kaisen memes #short comic #artists on tumblr #geto fanart #shera au #satpop

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lightns881 · 5 months

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In the middle of a she ra hyperfixation again, and I know I'm shouting out to the void here, but I don't understand why some part of the fanbase insists on saying Catra intentionally killed Angela as if she had taken a dagger and plunged it into her. She opened the portal that led to it, but it wasn't an: I am going to kill Angela or even an I want Angela to die. For instance, if were to be pursued legally in our world, I feel it'd be considered accidental manslaughter (if we do consider it a death) as opposed to murder, and I think she'd get a lot of hell more for everything else—even if it was due to her state of mind.

All it took was pulling a lever, and knowing how little self-control Catra has, it wouldn't have made sense if she didn't pull the lever. Especially since she's already so far down. Like you can see the moment she electrecutes Entrapta, her reaction isn't one of "muahahaha" 😈 it's one of being shocked at hurting a friend due to her anger, and she feels remorse for it later on as shown by her nightmares. Of course it's still bad and it doesn't deflect the blame from Catra, but Catra is not a muahahaha evil villain type, she's a she's messed up in the head villain type.

Again, it doesn't excuse her actions and the repercussions her actions had, but so many people act like she meant to do this just because she's evil.

I also don't think her arc at the end was one of redemption. At most, it is the beginning of a redemption arc, like I doubt she's gonna get off free after everything and that people won't hate her for stuff still.

#she ra #catra #she ra and the princesses of power #angela #portal #she ra spoilers

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spop-romanticizes-abuse · 8 months

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In your opinion what elements make a GOOD Enemies to Lovers ship? Between a Hero and the Antagonist but they’re not the main Villain

i'm so glad you asked! this is going to be a long post so prepare yourselves. i think there are a couple elements that make an enemies to lovers trope good:

Not Previously Acquainted:

this isn't necessary but i feel like what made c//a so extremely difficult to navigate was the fact that they were close friends before. especially since catra was just as hostile to adora when they were friends, as she was when they were enemies. this makes us question how healthy their friendship was in the first place (spoiler: not very). so the best way to go about an enemies to lovers relationship is to make them strangers who are on the opposite sides.

the dragon prince does this twice successfully. with both individuals only disliking each other for their community and not personal reasons, it's much easier to build a healthy foundation where they look past their prejudices and start to respect the other person.

Good Pacing:

enemies to lovers can't be just two people fighting all the time and then suddenly getting together. especially in c//a's case, where catra was supposedly in love with adora all this time, and yet showed no remorse in torturing adora. not only does it spread the wrong message of "they're mean to you because they like you", but it also shows how incompetent the writers are.

there needs to be a bridge where the two characters begin to reconcile with each other. writing enemies to lovers should have at least four stages: the animosity, the interaction, the turning point, and the mutual respect/interest.

we start off with two people hating or disliking each other. then we have them interacting a little more, preferably interactions that aren't fighting. maybe they are force to work together or one of them is given the option to save the other. they get to know each other and see things from the other's perspective. the turning point is where one or both of them decide to abandon whatever prejudices they had in the beginning, and respect the other person for who they are. and finally, the relationship starts where both of them show a mutual interest and cares deeply about each other.

c//a stuck with the first stage for four seasons, then tried to rush the entire development in s5. it doesn't work like that, even though catra and adora knew each other before all of this. especially since they knew each other before all of this. catra needed more time to repend for her actions, face consequences and change for the better.

callum's and rayla's relationship is more like glimmadora in the sense that they were not previously acquainted with each other, and neither of them were antagonists. they just came from two different cultures that were pitted against each other. and this is why glimmadora would have worked a lot better than c//a.

Less Direct Attacks:

catra could be a ruthless villain in all other aspects but if she was more hesitant to hurt adora, i believe this ship would have improved greatly. revelling in being sadistic and smiling while watch adora scream in pain doesn't exactly send the message that catra loved her, no matter how much sexual tension there is. cruelty is cruelty. and catra never once stops being cruel towards adora.

Believable Reason:

the two individuals need a strong reason to dislike each other. in most cases, people go with the prejudice route. the two people come from opposing sides and have very biased perspectives of each other, which they slowly have to overcome. there are also cases where there may be a personal reason such as someone related to one of the characters hurt the other.

in c//a's case, it's a lot more complex and thus, a lot more difficult to navigate. i can understand the feelings of betrayal playing a role, but catra has no right to blame everything on adora after the latter gave her multiple chances to join her. at this point, the conflict seems forced.

it's as if catra is living in a distorted reality, where "come with me" means "i hate you and i'm abandoning you". or, for a more simpler explanation, catra doesn't want to be with adora, she wants adora to stay with her and humor her. which, of course, turns the entire relationship toxic, because adora is her own person and should have the freedom to make her own decision.

again, this brings us to how well the dragon prince does this trope. when confronted with the fact that rayla wants to sacrifice herself guarding zubeia, callum gets angry at first.

Rayla: All of this happened because my parents ran away, so I have to stay and defend the Dragon Queen.

Callum: But you can't face an entire army by yourself, you'll...

Rayla: Die? Probably. But if I die, I'll just be paying the price they should've paid a long time ago. Just... remember me, okay? Goodbye, Callum.

Callum: Really? So, that's it? Just... goodbye. You're going to stay here and die out of pride?

Rayla: It's not pride, Callum! It's more than that. It goes deeper.

Callum: Oh? Do you have a nicer word for it? Honor? Redemption? It's just pride!

but after a bit of reflection and finding out the truth about rayla's parents, he gives her the freedom to choose.

Callum: They didn't run. They fought. To the end. They saved the egg! We're here and Zym is alive all because of them.

Rayla: What does this mean? What should I do?

Callum: I don't know. But it's your choice. No one else's.

Rayla: We should decide together.

callum obviously still doesn't want rayla to die, but he understands that it's her choice to make. and at this point, rayla is calm enough to rethink her choices and make a wise decision. this is how it should have been done. this is how you write a healthy relationship.

the third act conflict in s5 of spop could have been done like this, instead of catra making it all about herself and whining about adora choosing shadow weaver over her. yes, she went back to adora in the end but it was still with selfish intentions. it was less "i don't want adora to die" and more "i don't want adora to leave me".

spop is just one simple misunderstanding stretched out. if catra had taken some time to think about her situation and what would be best for both her and adora, none of this would have happened. but instead, she holds a grudge on adora for something she wasn't responsible for.

A Good Redemption:

any villain/antagonist that are going to be redeemed needs this, but especially if they are to be paired with one of the heroes. you can't just have the villain do one (1) good deed, mutter a short apology, and call it a day. you also can't make all the other characters immediately forgive said villain because you can't be arsed to write a realistic redemption.

in my opinion, there are 4 stages that encompasses a good redemption arc:

realization: the stage where the character is hit with the realization that they have been a horrible person. either someone calls them out on their bs or maybe they befriend someone who inspires them to change. whatever it is, this is the turning point.

reflection: the character reflects on their past and their behaviour. guilt and conscience must be shown here, through words or actions. the character figures out the best way to fix all the damage they've caused.

growth: a sincere apology is necessary. this means that the character apologizes without a. justifying their actions b. shifting the blame to someone else or c. playing the victim. it doesn't have to be a long apology, it just has to be sincere and heartfelt. not to mention, the character must of course put in work to actually follow up on their apology. an apology alone doesn't mean anything.

acceptance: this refers to the reaction of the other characters. acceptance does not necessarily mean forgiveness. it just means that they respect the villain for redeeming themselves or that they even consider the villain as a friend, even if they haven't forgiven them.

i'm sure you're all sick of hearing about how wonderful zuko's redemption arc was, so here are some honorable mentions on how to pull off a good redemption arc:

peridot: probably the only good redemption arc in steven universe. the only person who is at least a little compassionate towards her is steven, the rest of the crystal gems don't forgive her until she unlearns her prejudice and proves herself to be a valuable friend. her redemption arc takes several episodes and doesn't hinge on a romantic relationship.

grace monroe: each season of infinity train only had 10 episodes, yet they successfully redeemed a character within one season. what was that excuse about spop being cut short and not having enough time for development? grace starts off a lot like catra - manipulative, selfish and leading a destructive cult. but over the course of the series, she begins to question her choices and morality, and is on the right path by the finale. she doesn't even get forgiven by the person she hurt, she simply has to accept that and move on.

soren: not the best redemption arc, but it's good enough. soren rarely posed a real threat to the protagonists, since he wasn't a powerful mage like his sister, but he starts off as a lot more apathetic than claudia. over the course of the series, he realizes how horrible his father is and joins the protagonists. he is admittedly forgiven a little sooner than the other characters mentioned here but then again, he was just the villain's sidekick.

alice "daisy" tonner: (art by @starapture ) not a cartoon character but god, TMA did this redemption arc SO WELL. daisy was a horrible person. she is a cop who frequently engaged in police brutality and allegedly murdered many people. after getting disconnected from her entity, she goes through an identity crisis and extreme guilt. she couldn't really undo any of her previous actions, all she could do is stop and try to be a better person. and she does that. by the end of it, she basically sacrifices herself and though the main character had befriended daisy after her redemption, he still admits that he does not forgive her for trying to murder him. this series understood the assignment, forgiveness is not a necessary part of redemption. forgiveness is a choice; regardless of whether people will forgive you, you should be working on yourself.

none of these are EXACTLY like catra and adora. but they are good examples to take inspiration from. if i were to rewrite catra's and adora's relationship, there are a few things i would change:

they would not be adoptive sisters, but simply childhood friends. or preferably, they were just cadets who kind of knew each other, but didn't really have a deeper connection.

catra doesn't join adora because either she is scared to leave the horde, or she still believes that the horde is doing the right thing (instead of knowingly supporting them like she did in canon).

catra doesn't take as much pleasure in torturing adora. she only fights adora when necessary and tries to hold back a little.

after the portal thing, instead of spiralling further into the evil path, catra starts to redeem herself.

adora and the others don't forgive catra immediately. they don't coddle her and accept her as their bestie. like zuko and many other characters who were redeemed well, catra needs to prove herself to them before she could be forgiven or accepted.

#op i know you wanted me to mention the whole “friends on opposing sides” thing but i couldn't really find a good example of that #anne and sasha are the only ones i know and sasha's redemption wasn't very good either imo #spop critical #spop #spop salt #spop criticism #spop discourse #she ra #anti catradora #anti catra #anti c//a #antic//a #anticatra #anticatradora

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swearyshera · 1 year

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"I also don’t really see the story as ‘redemption’." Absolutely agree! I forget who said it, but I once heard that Catra has a recovery arc as opposed to a redemption arc, and that hit the nail on the head. Not that Catra's arc doesn't leave some things to be desired, but it was never about making up for her wrongs to "deserve" the second chance she got. Both her and Adora's arcs are outward rejections of the idea of needing to "deserve" safety and love and the chance to be better.

And i think that's the core message of the show, the idea that you can always try to be and do better. Catra, and others, still have relationships to repair and apologies to make, but the actions that show she's made a change have to come first.

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stormwitch898 · 2 months

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Adora analysis "In the Shadow of Mystacor"

The 2018 Netflix Original She-ra and the Princesses of Power is a spinoff from the eighties She-ra and the Princess of Power. However, the newer version is insightful and impactful because the messages about overcoming trauma and abuse elevates it into a thoughtful and meaningful show with realistic characters. Also the new show has more diversity in the cast of characters, voice actors, and writers transforming it with different perspectives.

Our main protagonist is Adora. She is an orphan since birth raised as a Horde Soldier and has never been outside the Horde occupied territory, the Fright Zone. The Rebellion opposes the Horde invasion. In the first episode Adora steals a skiff with Catra, her best friend since childhood. They accidentally end up in the magical Whispering Woods. Adora finds a sword, which changes the entire course of Adora and Catra's meticulously manipulated and controlled life by Shadow Weaver, an abusive “parent figure;” and places them on an unpredictable path. Adora ends up leaving the Horde to join the Rebellion as She-ra and effectively leaves behind Catra.

Adora is complex and psychologically fascinating; her journey is important for abuse victims to see. Due to the impact of abuse it is hard to overcome the psychological manipulation even after escaping the abuser. In particular “In the Shadows of Mystacor” demonstrates how Adora acts when confronted with her abuser and how she overcomes it in this single episode. This character growth is not final, as she will still fall back into her old safety habits and programming but she does learn that her friends-Bow and Glimmer-are not exploiting her for personal gain, as Shadow Weaver was doing. Moreover, Bow and Glimmer care for her even when she shows supposed “weakness,” which was not allowed in the Horde.

Throughout the entire episode of “In the Shadows of Mystacor” Adora is in survival mode, using the resources she was taught in the Horde. She has not slept the entire night because she has to be on guard so she could have a sense of control. That night she is staring at a point in the distance because she thought she saw a shadow and it could have been Shadow Weaver. Seeing shadows is traumatizing as they are all around her and remind her that any of them could be a Shadow Weaver trick. When her friends, who were not worried about a guard, wake up, Adora is defensive and says “someone has to stand guard.” This shows that she is on edge even though others around her believe they are safe. As the Whispering Woods are under the protection of the Rebellion it should be safe. Her body language, such as arms folded against her chest and, when startled, hands in combat position demonstrate her hypervigilance waiting for something to go wrong.

Furthermore, even something as exciting as riding a flying cloud to Mystacor was not enough for her to forget her anxieties. When Bow exclaims, “how it never gets old” she replies “uh, sure, yeah, heh. It was great.” This demonstrates her focusing so much on her anxieties that she can’t appreciate her surroundings at the present moment. Another example is when they are in the steam room and Adora brings her sword (another episode she has a dagger under her pillow) when no one else does. A steam room is supposed to be relaxing and soothing, not somewhere where a battle would occur. Mystacor has a magical protective shield so evil can’t get inside. Although there is no logical basis for Adora to believe there is danger requiring a sword, in actuality, Shadow Weaver is able to break through the enchantments. Thus, Adora is not being paranoid; Shadow Weaver is really pulling the strings for Adora to return to her and the Fright Zone. If something that should be logical defies the odds, how are you supposed to know when you are really in danger? Adora learns to rely on her friends until she can retrain her brain to know true danger and that they can fight it together. The paranoia, hypervigilance, and anxiety, all symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, demonstrate the effects of abuse and how it causes lasting damage.

As shown in the prior paragraph, Adora is still recovering from the trauma while Shadow Weaver knows exactly what to do to slide right back into her head to make things worse. Adora struggles with a sense of self worth outside of what she can do for others. She was raised as the golden child only avoiding harm and getting small rewards of affection if she is at the top of training. In contrast, Catra was the scapegoat; nothing she ever did would get Shadow Weaver’s approval. If Adora did something wrong Catra was blamed and tortured. Consequently, Adora believes that other people are her responsibility if something goes out of her control. Shadow Weaver explicitly says “everything that’s about to happen is your fault, Adora. You’re to blame.” Exactly what she has been told over and over again. What makes it even worse is Shadow Bow says the line. It’s not as effective for Shadow Weaver to say it because Adora is starting to recognize the emotional abuse. However, if a friend (someone you trust) says something it’s easier to believe it is true. Even though Adora knows that it is a shadow and not truly Bow, when you have been told something you already think is true it does not take much to break what little resistance you had to believe it. Shadow Weaver is effective with her manipulations because she knows exactly how her victims think and function.

During this entire episode Adora has been seeing things through the lens of Shadow Weaver. She believes the narrative that everything is her fault. Adora acknowledges that Shadow Weaver “never loved [her]” and “just played twisted mind games.” The hardest thing about emotional abuse is recognizing it. Not only does she recognize it but she rebukes the statement that she is a “cutthroat, ruthless warrior,” and rejects that she could never have a place with her friends or that they are using her for her strength. If her friends were actually using her when she damaged property and freaked out at little things, they would have tossed her out the second she messed up; instead, she was met with only kindness and compassion.

The sword channels Adora’s power, which is tied to her confidence and emotions that are affected by the trauma she experienced. When she is confused about where she belongs she is unable to transform into She-ra. With the line “you have no power over me anymore” her sword once again works and transforms into a shield with raw energy and Adora defeats Shadow Weaver and her abuse. What is particularly interesting is what the shield represents. A shield represents defense whereas a sword is violent. Adora has been prone to using a sword but her magic is channeled into something safe and protective. She believes that her friends care about her and in turn she cares about them. If they are in danger she will protect them. Adora chooses her own ideals and values that she will protect her home planet Etheria. Before, Adora might have thought her friends were using her but now she knows that they care about her. After this episode Adora is able to pick up the subtlety of the emotional abuse and is harder to control.

Undoubtedly this show has merit beyond what might seem as just a children’s cartoon. The depiction of abuse and anxiety is realistic. Not only does it show physical abuse by way of the scapegoat, Catra, but it shows the emotional harm of being the golden child. Both scenarios are just as damaging. It’s important to recognize that once abused it takes time to unlearn the unhealthy patterns and She-ra depicts a real journey of hard work and healing. Abuse should only be treated with kindness and compassion, something that was not previously given to victims, so that they can learn good patterns instead of harmful ones.

Finally, this show is relevant and meaningful to me because of the diverse character representation. In today’s society rights are being taken away, from book bannings to new legislation against women and LGBTQ+ community, which is why this show is more important than ever. She-Ra is groundbreaking with respect to its diversity of main characters having different: ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, body type, and neurodivergence. In 2014, the Legend of Korra paved the way in children’s entertainment for this groundbreaking show by having two female bisexual characters, without kissing, demonstrate romantic affection for each other. In 2020, She-ra broke ground with the two main characters Catra and Adora kissing in the finale in a child’s cartoon showing that it’s not inappropriate for kids to see this romantic display. What is so magical about the show is that it is not set in a white cis-heteronormative world. Diversity is a natural part of their world where no attention is paid to the differences and no one blinks twice. Even villains such as Shadow Weaver routinely without fail use they/them pronouns. This goes to show how easy it is to understand and use the proper pronouns. Adora means a lot to me and I hope people can see the complexity in her as they can see in Catra.

Inspired by 5by5 Takes Why adora matters video on YouTube

#she-ra #she ra adora #catra

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spopsalt · 5 months

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https://www.tumblr.com/makemelovely/678100000632422400/think-ppl-should-stop-saying-they-like-enemies-to

The tags on this post 🙄 Dude people aren’t calling c//a toxic bc they’re enemies to lovers, it’s bc of how awfully the trope was executed lmao.

Also some c//a shipper reblogged it with tags that are equally as stupid. When people describe Glimmer and Adora as enemies, they mean back when they were on opposing sides of the war. C//a shippers have absolutely no braincells omg

Bro I for one, love Lumity and that's enemies to lovers, the only problem I have is when Catra drugged Adora, tried to kill her mutiple times, laughed at her face when she kidnapped her friends, and tried to destroy the world because she didn't want to let Adora win, but apparently that never happened and she always loved Adora.

#spop criticism #anti catra #spop discourse #spop crit #antic//a #anti catradora #anti c//a #spop salt #anti spop #spop critical

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that-ari-blogger · 13 days

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Win, Lose, Take, Fail (Remember)

Discussion of stories and historical research are very similar practices. A ton of history is source based, and is, in a very real way, media analysis. A historian will look at a text written centuries ago and deduce not only linguistics, but also the themes prevalent in the day-to-day life.

I will eternally be impressed by some of the ideas that people find written between the lines of even the most well known about pieces, and its humbling to know that the stories that we tell in the modern day might be time capsules in their own right.

If you’d indulge me for a moment, I would like to briefly address those future historians who may be reading this: Coral reefs are magical, you guys really missed out on that, sorry.

Anyway, this is a post about She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, so what am I going on about?

Well, there are a few sources in both media analysis and historical reconstruction that are more valuable than an almost objective source. I say almost, because every narrator is biased, and that impacts even what they decide to include. No source is perfect.

So what about a think piece that lays out its biases for your convenience? How about a look directly into the mind of your characters to see what they perceive about the world and what they wish it could be? How interesting would that be?

This intro is getting a bit long.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Stray Gods: The Role Playing Musical)

My analysis of this episode can be summed up in one sentence. Catra’s worldview and desires are fundamentally opposed to her reality, and so when she forces the real world to fit it, things fall apart.

This is nice and all, but it fails to take into account the nuance of her perspective, and the fallacies inherent in this desire. But its also important to understand that this is where Catra’s redemption arc fails, or… where this redemption arc fails.

In my eyes, Catra has two main redemption arcs, one that stops in this episode, and one that starts up at the start of the next season. If you want to be granular, she has about a hundred different attempts, but that’s needlessly specific and way to close to exactly what I do on this blog for comfort.

But I think its easier for the purposes of analysis to divide Catra’s journey in two and discuss why the first fails and what the second would have to do to succeed.

Starting with something that threw me for a while. Catra isn’t conscious of this different world, at least not until the end of the episode. Which is a brutal trauma response. Catra doesn’t want to succeed in the life that gets better, she doesn’t care for healing, she wants to forget. Catra will burn the world down to keep a blindfold on and leave her memories behind. Blissful ignorance.

Let’s talk about Stray Gods: The Role Playing Musical.

Stray Gods is a Greek mythology, murder mystery, musical, video game, and conveniently, I have a series about it on this blog. (Link)

A slight quirk of Stray Gods is that the online argument I have seen about it has mostly focused on picking the second best song in the set list, because the most powerful is so obvious its almost funny.

Read my analysis of The Ritual for more information, but briefly, Aphrodite is a trauma survivor who repeatedly subjects herself to a form of amnesia in order to forget the horror she has experienced. Ring any bells?

Instead of trying to get better, Aphrodite slaps a band aid on the wound and tries to ignore it. This might help her eventually, but it directly harms those closest to her.

“Mother, I’ve stood by your side, now I no longer see, the purpose of love, when it tears at the centre of me. My arrows are rusty, forget the bow, and I won’t be begging you not to go, but when you’re away, you leave us a broken home, and you leave me alone. Lost in a moment, lost in a song.”

That was Eros singing. Cupid, the one with the arrows of love. This is someone who’s life has been wrecked by his mother’s trauma. Not in the same way as Catra lashing out at Adora, but with similar effects.

Both characters have tried to apply a quick and easy solution to a more difficult to solve problem, and the side effects of that are what perpetuate this cycle of trauma.

Hey, look at that, it’s the theme of cycles again. It’s almost as if I have a point here.

I could go on for hours about this one song, and I have, three times on this blog for a start, but I know I’ve annoyed people in my life with this obsession. But, I want this post to be vaguely on time, so I have to move on.

Before I do, though, the trauma in the idols (gods but fancier) of this story has a little quirk in its realisation that matches with Catra, linguistics of trust.

None of the idols in this musical use the word “friend” at all. Well, that’s not true, Pan says it once in a mocking way, but nobody uses in earnest. This exhibits itself more noticeably in The Ritual, where Aphrodite specifically says the following:

“He struck a deal with our enemy’s enemy.”

These characters can only conceptualise the world in terms of give and take, and of relationships in terms of allies or enemies.

Catra, meanwhile, can’t conceptualise the world in anything other than win, lose, take, and fail. Her ability to trust has been eroded so much that she will destroy the world to obtain something that has been attributed value for her.

That’s why she willingly forgets things, and its why her revelation is heartbreaking. Catra thinks the only way she can trust again is if she loses the memory of betrayal, but that’s not exactly how it works.

The moment in which Shadow Weaver is nice to Catra is a demonstration of why I don’t think genre exists. This is a comedic moment, right? It’s got the build-up, you think it’s going one way, then it undercuts itself with the unexpected. So why is it so devoid of humour?

Because the reaction of everyone in this, including the audience, is one of fear, and serves to validate the fact that Shadow Weaver is abusive. Even if someone is being kind in the moment, if you automatically flinch in their presence, there is a history there that you can’t escape from.

Catra doesn’t know why she is scared of Shadow Weaver here, she can only remember the good times, but the PTSD from her mother figure’s actions runs deeper than surface memory. It’s a wound that still hurts, even if you look away from it or cover it up.

This is actually why things keep breaking in this reality. The whole thing is based off people ignoring specific details. It’s centred on complacency, but it doesn’t understand its characters.

Which is where the hamartia and all of those complicated terms come in. Essentially, Catra wants to keep Adora with her, but part of Adora is the strengths and flaws that lead to her leaving Catra.

Adora is fundamentally kind, but she’s also an incredibly quick thinker. This doesn’t always lead her to the most reasonable solutions, but it means she can almost immediately recognise that things are wrong. In this case, the fact that people keep saying everything is perfect, and nobody says that this much unless they are hiding something. So, Adora looks inwards, and notices holes in her memory, glimpsing beyond and getting those flashes.

The world reacts in a similar way, things exist contrary to their nature, and collapse in on themselves. This world is a paradox, the story has turned cannibalistic and is eating itself alive. It can’t be supported by the fallacies that hold it together.

Those fallacies in question, are Catra’s desires, and now I get to talk about how the first arc ended up here. Because we can all agree, if a character’s developmental trajectory ends up with them willingly destroying the world out of spite, things haven’t gone so well.

Catra has been trying to achieve her own autonomy from the trauma and abuse that coloured her upbringing and guided her actions in the Horde. But she hasn’t been confronting how this has actually affected her biases. The band aid solution comes back, but here it takes the form of those four words. Win, lose, take, fail.

“I won’t let you win. I’d rather see the whole world end than let that happen.”

Things can only be one of these four things, everything is exclusionary. Catra either loses or wins, she either takes or is taken from. She can’t fail or bad things will happen.

But let me let you in on a secret. I don’t know why I’m talking directly to a fictional character here, but oh well. Life is about the moment, rather than the value you put on it. You don’t have to take, you can share, or be given. You don’t have to fear failure, because there are people in your life who care about you no matter what.

Also, this is entirely my opinion speaking, but I think I’m right here. You’re in a war story, there are no winners or losers in war. There are just survivors, profiteers, and poets.

Back to the line above, in searching through the transcript, I found that the word “won’t” is used thrice in this episode. It’s a word of commitment and resolution. It’s not vague, or noncommittal, it’s a promise, and it's used in the above line, but also earlier on, once by Scorpia, and once by Adora.

“If you get us out of this, I promise I won’t hate you. I will just dislike you a reasonable amount.” “I won’t leave you behind again.”

Characters resolving to be better. Scorpia deciding to improve upon a relationship, and Adora making it abundantly clear that she has no intention of repeating her mistake.

But Catra is falling back, she won’t lose, she can’t fail, att least in her mind. And its that promise that destroys the world that she wants. Catra wants happiness, but its her own need for the four words above that break it. Catra is self-destructive, not necessarily in a direct way, but in a sense that she is sabotaging her own happiness.

So, what would a redemption arc for Catra have to look like?

Well, she would have to learn to shift up her values a lot. She would have to be in a place where she can accept friendship in a controlled environment. Maybe just a friend who is willing to offer a hand of kindness.

She might also need a way to let out her emotions in a healthy way. Maybe a declaration of love, but that would be a little too on the nose for this story’s patterns. So I’m picturing a creature with some kind of emotional connection to her. Maybe it changes colour or something.

Also, Shadow Weaver needs to exit the story permanently. I don’t think she needs to die, I don’t believe in retributive justice, but she needs to be banished in some capacity. Shadow Weaver needs to go.

Now, I know how much of what I have said will come true, and if you have seen this show to the end, you probably do as well. But if you haven’t, leave your thoughts in the replies. How do you see a redemption arc for Catra working?

Ok, before I go, I need to discuss Madam Razz, because there is so much going on in her scenes.

Starting with, why is she here?

I don’t actually know the answer to that, and its one of my problems with the episode. She’s there because Adora needed a mentour and because the episode needed some levity, but why is she there in story?

“It’s been such a long time since we last saw each other, hasn’t it? That or it hasn’t happened yet. I always get those two things mixed up.”

You wanna say that again? Time is funky in this world, I guess So maybe she’s being generic?

“Because this has all happened before! I remember it like it was yesterday. For Madame Razz, it was yesterday.”

Nope, Razz is just displaced from time. That’s fun, but there is more to this line.

Madam Razz is a phenomenally well written character, purely because of the masterclass of tone. At no point is Razz either serious or humorous, she is both always. Razz is approachable morality, a la Philosophy Tube, but I’m sorry Miss Thorn, you ain’t got nothing on Razz.

In one interaction, Razz explains the thesis of the entire show. That abuse and trauma are cycles, and that the only way to stop them is by confronting the trauma itself. Start at the beginning.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has some of the best single lines ever written for television, and Madam Razz gets them all.

There is one moment in the finale of the series that is a perfect example of what I mean. I’m avoiding spoilers for too far ahead, but if you know, you know.

Final Thoughts

This episode is such a well-made examination of Catra’s psychology and her lack of sanity. Catra doesn’t see the world the way it is, and what she wants is incompatible with how she wants it. She needs to work out what she needs and then go from there.

I actually think that this episode does something interesting by making Catra unredeemable. She fails, she had her chance, and she didn’t take it. Her attempt to connect with Adora involves physical abuse. Catra is irredeemable.

But this isn’t the last of the redemption arc, is it? Catra will try again and again, chance after chance, and gradually improve. The failures only serve to make the success hit harder. Catra’s life is a Dark Souls boss, essentially.

I often feel like the people who declare Catra's redemption as unsalvageable haven't got past this season, and don't take into account that she gets better, and I don't fault them for that. No show is for everyone, and what you do or don't find interesting in media says a lot less about you than how you express your like or dislike.

Anyway, next week, I will be examining The Portal and my thoughts on this season as a whole. So, stick around if that interests you.

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bpd-baddie-bracket · 1 year

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catra is literally incredible bpd rep even if she’s not canon bpd. there are scenes in the show where she physically splits, obvious paralleling there, she has an intense fixation on abandonment, suicide attempts under her belt, moments of near-psychosis, the whole show revolves around an unstable relationship of hers…. the entire dsm criteria fits her and YET SHE STILL GETS A HAPPY ENDING!! she gets love and healing and the magical equivalent of therapy. she’s written with deep caring by someone with bipolar disorder (not bpd, but there’s still overlap) - as opposed to a character like mondo where there’s no way any intentionality was present when writing. azula is cool but ultimately she’s not a mc. the real battle is and will be catra vs homura and even though i am the hugest homura fan to grace this world and both characters were super fundamental to younger me i think in terms of bpdness catra has to win. she’s just more quintessentially bpd!! homura is such a good character but there are multiple arguments to be made and honestly i’d never thought of her as bpd before this poll. catra is, like, THE bpd coded character.

#propaganda

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anti-spop · 6 months

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Gotta say, I love how in your ship comparison post even ViJinx, ZuZula and MosesRameses, definitely massively enemies throughout the narrative with nothing but bitter bad blood between then by the end of their screentime (Azula being a complicated case but she did very much want to off Zuko), still have more mutual respect and a healthier enemyship than C//A's season 5 "romance."

Nate, my buddy, if the dude who kept his adopted brother's people as slaves and went out with an army to kill/recapture them after they left is still nicer to his adopted bro than the love interest is to your protagonist, uh, you might wanna revise your script a little.

(I hope this doesn't sound stupid but could you avoid using their ship names, please? I don't think you ship them but this post might appear in the search results and people can be very hostile when it comes to that. Thanks!)

Yeah, that's what baffles me, honestly. I rewatched the reunion of Ramses and Moses in the movie yesterday, and it's actually pretty sweet to some level. Ramses is very happy to see his brother, as opposed to everyone else in the room. As for Zuko and Azula, I can only think of like... two positive scenes: one of them being when they were little and they were probably playing tag, though this one is a very brief scene. The second one is when Zuko goes to their family's vacation house(?) and Azula says something like, "let's get out of here, this place is depressing". And she's not being her manipulative and controlling self here, as far as I remember. It's pretty clear how much her past hurts her, too. I think it's a moment of shared trauma, even if Zuko and Azula have very different perceptions of it (which is very realistic for siblings raised in an abusive home).

Arguably, I haven't seen Arcane yet, only a few scenes on Youtube (mainly videos that compared Vi and Jinx with Adora and Catra), but there's still mutual love between the sisters. They have similar conflicts to C//A's, as Jinx believes that Vi abandoned her. However, at least the show doesn't guilt-trip Vi for not staying with Jinx. (Again, I haven't seen Arcane, correct me if I'm wrong)

All these sibling dynamics are clearly tragic, because in some way they still care about each other, especially in the cases of Ramses and Moses, and Vi and Jinx. I think the problem with C//A is what all other SPOP crits have said before: it tells and doesn't show. However, I think "Promise" might be the one episode that shows us that Catra and Adora love each other. But other than that... that's it? For most of the show, we don't see the same mutual love. We know Adora loves Catra and blames herself for not being able to save Catra from evil, but do we see the opposite? Do we see Catra hesitating to hurt Adora and showing us how conflicted she is about it?

No. No, we don't.

But the show tells us that Catra loves Adora. And yet people believe it, when it's just not there.

#asks #incest tw #anti c//a #disabling reblogs this time #sorry

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