#catra being shown there really works
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Message from an Overly Sarcastic Productions video that I feel Tumblr and fandoms at large should fucking internalize
#cassie rambles#overly sarcastic productions#catra being shown there really works#because ppl were apparently fuckin awful about her while season 5 was airing#heartbreaking: a character who's actually done shitty things starts trying to get better. this is a tragedy. millions dead.
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look, i love scorpia, okay? she's my favourite character in the series, as i'm sure i've mentioned before. but i have to ask. who tf made scorpia a force captain?
like a lot of other characters in the series, she is chosen for a role that she's clearly not suitable for. but unlike the princesses, who inherited their throne, scorpia was specifically chosen as a force captain, i'm assuming, by hordak.
scorpia isn't entirely a useless character, she has her moments when she's smart or efficient. but for most part, she serves as the comic relief in the horde. she has been shown to be very incompetent in a lot of scenes, that one episode where catra left her in charge is already proof enough of that.
it's also interesting how scorpia immediately becomes catra's sidekick, despite being in the same position as catra. how does the whole system in the horde work? if catra and scorpia were chosen to work together, why is catra the one giving the orders and bossing scorpia around? i don't know if scorpia obeyed catra because she had a crush on her or if it's just poor writing that doesn't really explain to us why there's an apparent hierarchy between two force captains.
it's already confusing as to why catra was chosen as a force captain since adora had to work so hard for it, but as soon as adora leaves the horde, catra of all people get the position? the other cadets were shown to be working hard too but catra, who often slacks off and shows up only at the end of a training session, is made the force captain.
i'm not surprised the horde didn't conquer all of etheria sooner, hordak was choosing the worst people to be the force captain.
#spop was honestly just incompetent vs incompetent#neither the horde nor the princesses were very good at their jobs lmao#spop critical#spop salt#spop criticism#spop discourse#spop#she ra#anti spop
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So I had the idea that all of the JSE Egos get possessed by Anti at some point- but all of their possessions look and work completely differently in comparison to each other because rather it being based on what's possessing them- Anti is utilizing what they perceive as their own worst traits/the image they have of themselves (in an extremely /neg way).
It's worth mentioning that it doesn't necessarily mean that these perceptions are true or not- the only thing that necessarily matters is that the Egos themselves think that it's true.
I'm going to go through each ego, describe what their possessions are like and go into detail as to why they're like that.
Buckle in dudes this is gonna be a long one
Chase Brody:
Chase to me has the most unstable variation of the possessions. His plays on the fact that they're constantly questioning their reality and feeling like a danger to not just himself but to those around him. Right now it's unclear if Chase has been experiencing alcoholism or his unstable view of reality before Anti but I do think Chase's entire life has been nothing short of turbulent it's a constant crashing rollercoaster, with the carriages shaking uneasily and sparks flying everywhere and the only thing he's able to do is hold onto the ride and hopes he gets to the end of it unscathed. Chase's possess has ALL of this on full display- it's the closest thing to the original Anti and it's far from pretty.
Visually I think the closest thing to Chases possession is Jinx's Hallucinations in Arcane. They're made up of the faces of his lost family mocking and taunting him while everyone else can only see Chase as an extremely unstable individual with unnatural eyes
[This shot in particular with the glowing eyes is what I imagine P!Chase to be like]
Marvin The Magnificent:
Now I've already briefly shown how I imagine Marvin's possession- and if I'm being honest it's my favourite one!! Marvin would by far be the hardest Ego to possess out of all of them, he's the only one with actual knowledge on Anti and the only one with the power to fight back against him. With that I think that Anti would only be able to possess Marvin with the help of IRIS- be honest, IRIS would JUMP at the opportunity to see what effects Anti could have on an individual with magic the way Marvin does. However, Marvin's biggest flaw is definitely his arrogance and his isolation. His "trust nobody" mindset has left him cold and uncaring to others and in my opinion this is something that he doesn't do because he enjoys it- something about Marvin screams that he wants to be able to connect with others but can't at every turn and that's what is portrayed in their possession. They're cold, robotic and uncaring. Their magic has been locked away deep in their subconscious because Anti knows it's too risky to let them utilise it. They've been forced into a state that's far removed from who Marvin really is. In a way it would make sense with how much of Marvin's memories have been tampered with for god knows how long- at a certain point there's only so much of yourself you can lose before you become unrecognisable to yourself.
The inspiration for P!Marvin is Chipped Catra from She-Ra Princess of Power
JackieBoy Man:
Jackie was by far the hardest to come up with- mostly because I couldn't come up with something that narratively would make sense. But I came to the conclusion that Jackie's worst perception of himself would come from the idea that he's not a true hero and only hurts the people around him, that he's a danger or a monster. That his powers make him a threat rather than a saviour. I personally think this would be a lot more effective if Jackie was possessed after an experience that left him doubting his role as a hero- maybe he couldn't save someone or someone he was trying to save and ended up dying instead. His grief and self loathing would come together into being possessed into being a weapon.
P!Jackie is nothing short of a weapon made for destruction- something that was designed to destroy. Part of the horror would be for him to wake up from his possession, only to realise that the ones he cares about the most and the only people he has left are now afraid of him and wants nothing to do with him.
The idea for P!Jackie is Infected She-Ra from She-Ra Princess of Power
Henrik Von Schneeplestien:
Henrik was another one that took me a while to figure out but I did eventually get to it!! Henrik would come from his insecurities as a doctor, the weight of people's lives being on his shoulders day in and out would wear him down over time and the idea that he could be at fault for the deaths of many whether he could've actually saved them or not plays in his brain so much its unbearable. Henrik's possession would take form as moss- or a general depiction of something rotting, a walking contamination that he can't heal or fix and he knows he's the route problem and to keep everyone else safe he'd need to remove himself from the equation. For the most part I don't think he'd be aware of how far his corruption goes, at first he'd write it off as being unwell, overworked maybe, but he has seen the others get possessed and harmed by their own possessions and he would never let himself succumb to that. Doctors do make the worst patients after all.
The inspiration for this has came from The Corruption in The Magnus Archives and Belos from The Owl House
Jameson Jackson:
JJ's possession is the one I'm most proud of and it's the one that's the most loyal to his debut in 2017. However the way I perceive JJs possession is that he is almost the exact same. But it's not him. He's fully conscious and aware of everything around him but he's trapped in his own skin with movements that are not his own. He's forced to watch and able to do nothing when those around him drop dead by his own hand. And the worst part about all of it is that Anti is clever enough to make him continue his daily routine, to carry on as normal. To let JJ see those closest to him not notice that something is deeply and horrifyingly wrong, that the person they're interacting with and bonding with isn't who they think they are. And no one notices. And there's nothing he's able to do about it. It's a play on his fear of no one really seeing him for who is is, no one notices something's wrong because they didn't know him to begin with. The entire experience makes him think about how much he actually spent time with these people. How much of him do they actually see and how much of Anti has painted over that.
If anything I might tweak Chase or Jackie's possessions slightly because they are extremely similar to each other??? BUT part of me wants to keep the similarities between them a constant thing because I personally see them as being two sides of the same coin
JJs possession was inspired by The Stranger and The Web from The Magnus Archives
AND THATS EVERYTHING‼️‼️ FEEL FREE TO REBLOG WITH THOUGHTS AND ANY ADD-ONS YOU WANT‼️‼️
#jacksepticeye#jse egos#jse#jacksepticeye egos#marvin the magnificent#jackieboy man#chase brody#jameson jackson#henrik von schneeplestein#jse ego lore#jse ego theory#kals thoughts#kal rambles#kal writes#kalcifers blog
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What's The Point of the Horde? Part 2
Ok, So, why can't Catra just leave the Horde? And why can Adora do it so easily? What's the difference between them? Besides "the show needed a protagonist antagonist dynamic that was interesting"?
Here's another question: How does She-Ra factor into this?
The Sword Part 2 is the second episode of She Ra and the Princesses Of Power, and it provides a fascinating turning point for the series, a moment when the characters split from each other, and I'd like to delve into the thematic significance of that choice.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Adora is an extremely naive person, intentionally so. This isn't just the writers making an interesting character, but the result of Shadow Weaver's specific parenting style. Adora has been raised into a person who is incredibly suggestable, someone who is receptable to ideas, someone who is malleable. She is quick to trust and as such, she falls in with the Horde, the rebellion, Light Hope, etc. This keeps happening.
Catra meanwhile, has been raised into the opposite, a person who is closed off, afraid of connection. She's rebellious to a fault, and almost paradoxically self-aware.
Five By Five Takes on YouTube put it best.
"Onto Adora, [Shadow Weaver] projects her ambition... and onto Catra, she projects her insecurities."
I think that a lot of the difference between the two is their experience. The best way to control someone is to control their perception, and perception is important here. Adora quite accidentally breaks free of Shadow Weaver's control and sees Theymore for what it is, peaceful. The soldiers and Catra see what they are told to.
"These aren't insurgents, they're innocent people."
"Yeah sure, innocent people who kidnapped a Horde officer."
Plato, rather famously, proposed the Allegory of the Cave, in which people are chained to a cave for their entire lives and shown shadows on the wall in front of them. They call out what the shadows represent, not because they have ever seen the real thing, but because they have learned that these shadows are the real thing. Long story short, one person breaks free. He (yes it was a "he", this was Plato's self-insert OC) leaves the cave and sees the real things that the shadows could only represent. But when he returns to the cave to share what he has learned, he is called mad, because why would you believe your entire worldview is fake?
Plato was talking about enlightenment and other such nonsense there, the whole "I am a philosopher, and I have seen things no mortal can comprehend" thing. But the reason this allegory has gone on to be famous, is because it works as an understanding of how real-world ideologies clash and real people are so unwilling to change views.
It happens in She-Ra too. Catra can only see what she has been told, so she looks around and sees proof. Adora must have hurt her head.
But here's the fascinating thing, Catra is aware of Shadow Weaver's manipulation. So, this is an opportunity to escape that, why doesn't she take it?
Put simply, being aware of something doesn't free you from its influence. For example, I have been aware of James Corden for years at this point. You can see where I am going here. Catra thinks Shadow Weaver's manipulation is just about strength and overt power, but as demonstrated here, Shadow Weaver's power is emotional. She controls what you see, what you hear, what you feel.
Enter She-Ra.
Adora has been raised on conditional acceptance and love. "You do things for me; I give you basic common kindness." And she doesn't shake that worldview. Her acceptance into the rebellion is based around She-Ra. She has been given an ability that can be of use, and these people can give her acceptance, so she takes it. Morality factors in, of course, but the reason Adora sticks with the rebellion instead of going rogue, is She-Ra.
So, why can't Adora and Catra see eye to eye here? Why can one break free, and the other not?
Well, it's more complicated than that; neither really breaks free. But in terms of switching sides, Adora is susceptible to change, Catra is not. Adora sees the real world, Catra can only see the shadows being weaved in front of her.
Previous - Next
#rants#character analysis#literary analysis#literature analysis#she ra adora#she ra and the princesses of power#she ra spop#she ra catra#adora#catra#spop
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"Are we just gonna ignore that?"
Mermista is, of course, referring to Hordak and Entrapta together at the end of the Finale. I think its an interesting question, and represents far more than a meta look at the ship of Entrapta and Hordak.
Fundamentally, She-Ra Princess of Powers (2018) has a drastically different view of what it means to be "moral" and what "punishing villains" mean. It does not necessarily hold every individual who does something evil responsible for their actions, instead, investigating the system that prompts this evil. I want to explore that concept primarily through the characters of Entrapta and Hordak.
Hordak (The Derivative of Pure Evil)
Starting with Hordak because he's frankly a bit less nuanced than Entrapta, not unnunaced, just less. He's introduced as the leader of the Horde, passive himself, but frustrated with Shadow Weaver's lack of progress. As the leader of the Horde, all-commanding, responsible for the (at least) decades of devastation and death.
However, despite that, he is- at least later on -given sympathy by proxy of standing next to Prime. Sure, Hordak has tried to dominate a world for decades, Prime has ruled the Universe for hundreds of years-maybe even a milenia. Further, while Hordak rules from afar, delegating his violence to Shadow Weaver and Catra, Prime manipulates directly- robbing will and mocking any form of attempted dignity in his presence.
Note that when Hordak does attempt to be charismatic he mimics Prime, most likely intentionally. It is clear that the evil Hordak has shown is fundamentally deritive, and that creates some amount of distance between Hordak and his actions. Further, there is the-slight as it is- possibility that Hordak had-fundamentally- no choice but to do as Prime programmed him. I find this interpretation doubtful due to the existence of Wrong Hordak, but, in fairness- he was severely physically damaged immediately.
Regardless of your take on that, Hordak is shown sympathy by Entrapta. This is interesting, not because Entrapta "doesn't care about her friends" as some people try to argue, but because it clearly displays how Entrapta cares about her friends. Sidelining that for a moment, Hordak is a great example of systemic oppression at work- not just as a leader, but as a victim of it. He was created "flawed" and was cast out, having only known one thing- Prime and his conquest- he attempts to emulate it but can't, not totally.
In his mission he recruits people like Shadow Weaver, and encourages her when she creates people like Catra and Adora- no doubt- even ordering the creation of the program which creates child soldiers. Stripping them of their indviduality through uniform and loyalty, twisting collectivism to benefit one individual through the gathering and hording of resources. When we see Hordak interact with his empire its strictly toward his end or delegated to another party. He expects his soldiers to be an extension of himself in totality, obviously, as a result of him being a clone of Prime.
The fact that most of the antagonism for at least the earlier seasons is a result of Shadow Weaver should not be ignored. Despite explicitly ordering Shadow Weaver to stop focusing on Adora she continues to do so, she has the capability to summon Force Captains and order them against his wishes- even one he promoted himself! By his own creation, Shadow Weaver is able to push a system where she wants to go, thats because at this point SW is who controls it, not Hordak. Once Catra defeats and imprisons Shadow Weaver, she attempts to take her place- and then the focus switches from SW to Catra as the primary antagonist.
Hordak is, never really the "true" narrative antagonist of She-Ra, not really, instead he represents the impersonal ambitious and destructive system of oppression.
So why the hell does he let a short, genius, probably neurodivergent woman invade his sanctum and aid him with something he hasn't confided in his closest generals with?
Entrapta (Schrodinger's Scientist)
Lets talk about Entrapta.
Entrapta begins fairly simply, as the typical "mad genius" archetype, even introduced in a stereotypically villainous way cinnematically- a silhouette on a canvas of forboding colors. Then, revealed to be, fairly short, and asymetrical design wise- with top heavy hair that supports her. Immediately cutting most of the threat from the introduction. Entrapta seems to embody that contradiction as we move forward. Simultanously focused on doing whatever she can to learn and experiment and still being so anchored to others.
Over and over, we see Entrapta convinced not necessarily by helping friends or stopping enemies, but by studying more and more technology. Ot at least, thats what seems to happen, I want to posit another explanation. Mostly, I want to focus on her decision to stay in the Horde, and I do think its a decision. While Catra does indeed manipulate Entrapta at least to an extent, is isn't using false information or to lure her to some forboding place. Catra feels- imo -empathetic toward Entrapta. Her friends who had claimed to care for her had left her, used her as a tool to accomplish their goals, thats something Catra can relate to.
While this perception isn't true, Entrapta seems to believe it, and is visibly disturbed by the relation. Quickly, Scorpia befriends Entrapta, and even Catra seems somewhat fond of Entrapta's company. Entrapta explores all sorts of situations, helps the Horde quite a bit, and even begins to befriend(?) Hordak? Why? Is it because she feels betrayed and whats vengeance? Is it because she doesn't care about whats right and whats wrong? I don't think so- I think Entrapta fails to see the system behind an individual, or maybe doesn't care for it. She's almost a mirror to Catra in that way.
However, where Catra thinks herself immune to the propaganda of the system just by knowing it, Entrapta seems unaware or unconcerned by the logical ends of her actions. In a way that seems to both contradict her focus on scientific rigidity and completely fit with how she was introduced: in the throws of experiment, and completely unprepared when the logical end of it backfired. It is both a strength and a weakness of the character- something I have to agree with user Gythyanki (https://www.tumblr.com/gythyanki) that She-Ra 2018 does quite well.
Humanizing Hordak (And Destroying the System)
It is precisely due to Entrapta's unique perception of systems that she is able to befriend Hordak. Keep in mind, for his entire life, Hordak has only known conquest and using people as a means to their ends. Thats how Prime sees him, thats how Shadow Weaver sees him, thats even how Catra sees him. So- when this woman- who should be an enemy, who should be a prisoner- not provides aid to him when he thought no one else could, but doesn't just use him it makes perfect sense that he becomes fond of her.
And while Entrapta's decision to help a tyrannical dictator build a portal that could have ended the world was.... not good, in the end, if Hordak hadn't been turned at least to Entrapta's side, there's a chance Prime could have won. And really, thats sorta the point right? Its not that Hordak didn't do horrible things. Its not that Entrapta was right to build robots for Catra or help Hordak build a portal, but that, it was not wrong for Entrapta to extend compassion toward him. That the evil being done is not ultimately caused by the individual, not really, but by the larger system at play.
Once you elminate Hordak from his context as ruler of the Horde, what do you have? You have a "defective" clone who'll do anything to return to his "brother's" good graces, but has fundamentally failed him by becoming an individual. Hordak learns to have his own values and chooses the one that showed him kindness over the one that used him. So "Are we just gonna ignore that?" has an answer, no, we aren't. Because we've already dealt with the problem. Hordak's means of doing harm has been taken from him, and his motivation to do it similarly.
Fundamentally, what would killing Hordak accomplish here? I might even ask, what would punishig him accomplish? She-Ra Princess of Powers seems to refuse the traditional concept of punitive punishment, and instead focus on how people are actually effected. How was Catra and Adora affected by Shadow Weaver? How was Shadow Weaver affected by Hordak? How was Hordak affected by Prime? What sort of system perpetuated the harm these individuals did? And how do we stop it?
I can't claim to know what the objectively best moral framework is, but I do know, that I can agree with the idea that maybe people matter a bit more than vague notions of "justice" which harm more people than they actually help.
End Note I: I am NOT saying Entrapta and Hordak are justified in their actions, and I am also not saying that Hordak shouldn't probably have to do a lot of rebuilding. One more note: individualism isn't inherently a "bad" thing, but it can be weaponized to attack geniune collectivism used to aid people in securing resources, be wary of that sort of thinking.
End Note II: Just in case you were busy reading and didn't wanna open a new tab GO READ GYTHYANKI'S STUFF, I WILL FIND AND RANT ABOUT HOW GOOD IT IS IF YOU DON'T
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Honestly...
The way that the spop fandom sees a new haircut and Catra blushing a few times as redemption is really something. With Amity in toh
she doesn't instantly get forgiven, she apologizes to Willow, saying that she was too weak to be Willow's friend, she broke her leg to help Luz in her flyer derby game, and we can see her gradually turn into a better person and start to respect Luz a little more before they became friends, we see her insecurities and her fears, it's crazy how toh did a redemption so much better in a few episodes than what spop could do with a season, butttt Amity didn't try and destroy the world outta spite soooo. Let's look at Hunter from toh, he worked for his redemption as well, saving Palismen even though he knew that Belos would get mad at him, standing up to Darius, and again, him gradually becoming a better person, It's even implied that Belos was physically abusive to him. Again both Amity and Hunter didn't do nearly as many bad things as Catra did, but they still worked for their redemption. But let's look at the collector, someone who is closer to being as bad as Catra, their redemption was in one hour-long episode, so it has to be bad, right? No actually, the collector is what, 8? They were left alone for so long and their siblings basically just wanted them gone, they were shown to not understand death and think that people just "break" so you fix them. They did help Belos with the draining spell but it's because they thought they could bring anyone back whenever they wanted to and it was just a game. They wanted so badly to never be lonely again so they just went along with whatever Belos wanted. After they found out what it really was, they tried to protect Eda and King and even saved everyone when the building was about to collapse when it was clearly taking a massive toll. I sometimes see spop fans call Amity's Redemption rushed yet still talk about how spop is some amazing masterpiece. I would do Zuko but I'd be unqualified to talk about it since I haven't watched Avatar the Last Airbender (I'm planning to!) Sorry that I keep comparing spop to toh, it's just crazy how many things they do better than spop.
#anti catra#anti c//a#anti catradora#spop criticism#antic//a#spop crit#spop discourse#spop salt#anti spop#spop critical
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After about 2 days of writing, I've done it. I wrote a full rant about all my thoughts on C//A. This whole thing is about 10K+ words, and it's not favorable to C//A, so if this somehow ends up in the C//A tag, my apologies for that. I really don't want discourse on this post, so if y'all like C//A, it's cool, but please don't interact with this. That being said...
I just saw a post (I can't find it but all credit to the OP for this sentence) which said something along the lines of "All the other characters carry Catra's redemption arc," which is just so true. Everyone around her just... drags her through her entire arc. She had to pushed into doing a good thing by Glimmer, she had to be saved by Adora to join the heroes... Catra did one good thing but beyond that, she really has no agency in her redemption. She doesn't go out of her way to make up for what she's done, she just goes along for the ride with Adora because she has nowhere to go. She doesn't offer more than a vague apology for her actions, and another way her arc is carried not by herself but by others is that they go out of their way to forgive her instead, rather than her putting in work. They actually don't hold her accountable and just... accept her, rather than her acknowledging her mistakes, which ends up furthering the trend of everyone else having more agency in Catra's arc than Catra herself. The lack of acknowledgement of her actions cheapens her arc and reduces her agency in it, because she can't and doesn't have to work if everyone does the work of forgiving her already. It is the actions and behavior of the people around Catra that make her seem like a good person, not anything Catra herself does. Like, Glimmer doesn't even bring up Angella. You know, her mom who's gone now because of Catra's actions?
Catra's insecurities and issues aren't dealt with so much as they just disappear or are toned down and written to be a non-issue even after we spent so much time building them up. The people around her just conveniently ignore the magnitude of her actions, and the narrative tries its damndest to downplay and excuse her actions, because the writers know they don't have the time to redeem Catra properly if they actually consider the magnitude of what she's done. So, the characters conveniently forget the more egregious things she's done, her more unsavory qualities are toned down, her personal and emotional conflicts are ignored or shown as a non-issue, or even sometimes portrayed as the right viewpoint to have so that it doesn't have to be addressed. All this ends up making it seem like Catra hasn't changed at all. She still has prejudice against the princesses, she still blames Adora for leaving her, she is still selfish and wants Adora to focus on her rather than others.
Her whole problem was that because of the abuse she suffered, she leaned on Adora to be her protector and felt betrayed when Adora left her because she always thought Adora was SW's favorite and therefore had a responsibility to protect her. Catra feels like Adora gets "everything she wants" and feels like she is always overshadowed and overlooked because of her, and that translates to a resentment of her and an expectation that Adora should stay by her side and protect her, since she's supposedly SW's favorite and Catra's friend, so of course that's her job. Which is why she feels betrayed when Adora leaves and she blames Adora for things that never were her fault to begin with. She was obsessed with taking Adora down because she thought Adora betrayed her and hurt her, which is because she was so focused on herself and what she was owed rather than understand the abuse that Adora also suffered. But come season 5 and her supposed redemption, she is still blaming Adora!
I understand the thought process that she is still in the beginning of her redemption and that she has a lot more growing to at the end of the series. I think Catra can truly be a genuinely good person and that she has the ability to change. But the series presents it as though she has already changed. She is not held accountable for everything she did. In fact, she barely acknowledges it, and she cracks jokes about it instead. If it was a one-time thing it would be fine, but there are many jokes about how Catra hates Princesses, and these are treated as comedy than acknowledged as the unwarranted prejudice that she holds. Entrapta even says it's normal for Catra to hate princesses as though it's some quirky character trait and not something she needs to work to overcome.
She also behaves passive-aggressively and blames Adora for fighting her during their previous conflicts when she was always the instigator. She is still possessive of Adora, treating her choosing to save the world over her own well-being as Adora choosing SW over her. Even at the end of the world, it's still about how Adora is hurting Catra's feelings. It's about Adora choosing something else over what Catra wants for her. Sure, maybe Catra is right that Adora is neglecting herself and what she wants for the world. The problem is that she gets angry at Adora for it and takes it as some personal offense to herself, and she makes it about Adora putting someone else before her. Her words are coming from a place of self-interest and not genuine and selfless care for someone she supposedly has loved her whole life.
Even when Adora is begging Catra to stay, she leaves, because it's never been about supporting Adora and wanting the best for her. It's about Adora doing what Catra wants for her, which ties into what Catra herself wants, which is for Adora to choose her. Catra asking Adora what she wants and then leaving when Adora expressly says "Stay, I need you," is the summation of their entire dynamic. In which Adora gives and gives to everyone, and Catra rebukes her for it, but only because she wants all the focus to be on her. This scene would be a lot more impactful if Catra wasn't the person who helped make Adora this way, if Catra wasn't the person who wanted to take away Adora's choices, if Catra wasn't the one who wanted to possess Adora and keep her to herself, if Catra wasn't the one who made Adora feel like she had to be the one to protect everyone else and that she couldn't fail.
Catra wanted to possess Adora then and she still does now. She hasn't changed and she still can't see beyond herself. She still wants Adora, her entire redemption revolves around Adora. She didn't do a good thing because she realized she was wrong, she just did it because she realized she maybe shouldn't let the person she loves die. She's always known she was doing horrible things and she still enjoyed doing them. She knew the harm she was causing, and she didn't care. One line about how it wasn't what she really wanted does not erase the sadistic, gleeful smiles and the world domination and the threat to end the world out of hatred and spite. And the fact that she changed, just for Adora, does not bode well, because it means she still doesn't care that she did bad things, and that she still would gladly be doing them if not for one solitary person on the other side. She's not a colonizer anymore, but it's not because she thinks it is wrong.
Glimmer was held more accountable than Catra for far less crimes, and Catra was treated like she had a mean argument or a falling out with the BFS rather than that she actively tried to kill them multiple times. She did do a good thing, I won't deny it, but it should take more than that to actually be forgiven, considering everything else she did which is like, way worse, and it didn't. Like I said, I understand the thought that she is in the beginning stages of redemption and has a lot more to change about herself. But if that were so, then she shouldn't be in a romantic relationship, or even any kind of relationship, with Adora, her victim, before she has truly done all the work to undo at least most of, if not all, of her toxic ideas. She shouldn't be portrayed as being healed and healthy. How can you be in a relationship with someone you abused if you're still victim blaming them? How can Adora, a heroic person who has a deep sense of right and wrong and is empathetic and selfless, be with someone who still doesn't feel guilty over everyone they hurt, who still carries irrational hatred for the people she loves and who cares only about themselves? Because that's who Catra is. She's the same old Catra.
She may have taken a first step, but that's all it is. The most annoying thing is that the show actually shows that she is still not there yet, and that she still carries many of her toxic traits. She is still cruel and selfish, and she still has her abusive tendencies. She's just not literally a colonizer anymore. These are all traits that the show has shown are bad and damaging to both Catra and the people around her. But in season 5, somehow, they are supposed to be... endearing? It's not supposed to be an issue. It's played for laughs. Her arc just jumps from one extreme to another. All the insecurity and hatred she felt for Adora just... vanishes, somehow. She is suddenly comfortable with being around her and kissing her, but in the finale of the previous season she was still blaming Adora for ruining her life. And somehow three episodes later and with no build up whatsoever, she's gotten over it, apparently? Where did her resentment and anger go? The show pushed for C//A so much that it had to erase all of Catra's conflicts, because there was no real way to deal with them and get her together with Adora, because the solution to most if not all of Catra's internal struggles is to be away from Adora, and that can't happen if they're supposed to be endgame.
It's really obvious that the story for season 5 was written around C//A and not the characters themselves. The penultimate scene in the finale is the kiss between Adora and Catra. The whole confession Catra gives just shows how the show failed to take into account the characters and their arcs. It just slapped all the romance tropes it could into the story without thinking about how it came across considering the previously established relationship between Catra and Adora. For example, we had Catra ask Adora what she wanted and when she got to choose. A classic trope, of course, the love interest being the only one to see the real person behind the hero's facade. Only, it doesn't work, because like I said, Catra is the one who spent most of the series making Adora feel like she had to protect everyone and everything even at her own expense, that everything was Adora's responsibility and that she couldn't fail. She's the one who spent the whole series resenting Adora because "Adora gets everything she wants!" And so, this line coming from Catra as though she is the only one who actually cares about Adora means nothing. Especially since we never saw Catra actually confront her insecurities about Adora. Throughout the series, we actually have Glimmer and Bow say things like "You'd be so annoying if you were perfect," and "we don't like you because you're She-Ra, we like you because of you," to Adora (I'm paraphrasing but that's mostly right), and they were sidelined so that Catra could ask Adora something she realistically has no business asking or even caring about.
Because she doesn't care about it. She still doesn't. After running away, she reveals the reason for why she is so upset. And it's "Adora chose Shadow Weaver! Adora doesn't want me! Not like I want her." On the surface, it's a common romantic trope. This would be a beautiful trope if used in an otherwise healthy and supportive relationship. Watching the normally supportive character finally be sad because they are afraid of not having their feelings returned and having a misunderstanding with the other character because of it is a great trope which I do love very much.
But in an effort to slap it onto C//A, the show neglected one very important thing. It's the fact that Catra has historically been possessive of Adora and has abused her for leaving her and not putting Catra first. So, to have Catra be like "Adora is choosing other people over me! She isn't loving me the way I want her to!" is really weird. Because she's used these same excuses to abuse Adora for four seasons. And to portray this as a romantic misunderstanding rather than the toxic and abusive mindset it is, is pretty gross. Again, if it were a one-off thing, it would be fine to implement this trope. But this is a repeated behavior for Catra, this is something she has been saying throughout the series, and it's something she has used as justification to abuse Adora. The fact that Adora chose the Rebellion over her made Catra abuse her, the fact that Adora just wanted to be friends with someone else made Catra attack her. Now treating this as some sympathetic moment is just ignoring everything that came before. Just because it's toned down to look romantic doesn't mean it's not problematic in the context of their previous relationship.
Again, in any other context it would be fine, but in the context of C//A, it just shows that Catra hasn't changed her toxic mindset, she still feels entitled to Adora's feelings, and her support is conditional on if Adora will cater to her needs and feelings. The fucking world doesn't matter if Adora doesn't want to kiss Catra. Adora is in a lot of emotional pain, she is afraid and hurting, and she needs someone who loves her more than ever. And Catra leaves, because "Adora chose SW over me!" Which could also be fine. Even the most supportive of people can be overcome by their emotions. They can feel resentful of always being placed second. But since Catra historically has an issue of being possessive of Adora and punishing her for wanting something other than what Catra herself wants, or for wanting to simply be friends with someone who isn't Catra, this trope just does not work.
Catra, who spent about 4 seasons trying to hurt Adora for leaving her even though she never did, is now actually abandoning Adora in her time of need because Adora didn't choose her. Her whole speech about asking what Adora wants is pointless because she ran away for a whole other reason, which is because Adora didn't choose Catra like Catra wanted her to. It's just Catra, yet again, being possessive of Adora and being selfish and cruel to her. It ends up showing us that Catra has not changed. Because after she spent so long punishing Adora and hurting and abusing her, she really has no right to expect Adora to feel a certain way about her, and she has no right to get mad about it. And yet, she does, because she's only thinking of herself and doesn't spare any thought to Adora's feelings and pain.
Catra is obsessed with Adora. She doesn't actually love Adora for who she is, she is still obsessed with the idea of who Adora is to her. She realizes she doesn't want to hurt Adora anymore, but only on a very surface level after she's lost everything. But she still hasn't dealt with all the insecurities and resentment she feels for Adora, and it shows. She still believes Adora abandoned her, that Adora likes being perfect and a hero, and that Adora should choose her over everyone else. She is still basing her self-worth on Adora and making unreasonable expectations of Adora because of this. Adora possibly not loving her back is enough to make her feel like she is unwanted, and this turns into her blaming Adora for choosing SW, and she externalizes it and leaves Adora kneeling in the dirt and calling for her. This is exactly what she's been doing all this time! She's tied her self-worth with Adora, and pushed Adora to validate and protect her, which put a lot of pressure and responsibility on Adora. And when Adora left, she felt so betrayed that she tried to murder her over and over, and even then, her self-worth was tied with Adora and taking her down and winning against her.
To let go of her obsession, Catra needed to find new friends and new people to care about her, and to let go of this obsession. She needed to find new value in herself as a person, and she needed to find her own identity and individuality. But in comes C//A, where this obsession that make Catra abuse Adora is a good thing actually and isn't it so romantic that Catra still doesn't have a healthy sense of self that isn't dependent on her victim, no it's not unhealthy or toxic even though that's what we've been saying all this time, it's true love! And it's like... it's not wrong at all to depend on other people and need them. But it has to be mutual, it has to be a give and take. It has to be healthy, and it shouldn't be a cause of pain to anyone. This relationship where Adora gives and gives and Catra takes and takes is the definition of codependency. And this leads Catra to abuse Adora and hurt her when she feels like her needs are not being met. Like, missing someone and thinking all the time about them isn't inherently an unhealthy thing. But it can't literally be the only thing you do. Catra is just obsessed with Adora to the point that this consumes any other ambitions or wants she might have (you know, other than SW's love, and that is also kind of tied to her obsession with Adora). And she can't open herself up to anything other than Adora and her obsession with her, and it negatively impacts her.
This scene where she runs away from Adora also kind of shows this, that it's still just about Adora and how she only cares about her and is obsessed with her. She is part of the Rebellion, a group that's pretty much the world's last hope, and she just... walks away, because she feels like Adora doesn't like her back romantically. And before this, she tried to get Adora to stop taking the failsafe even though it was the planet's last hope. She is willing to abandon the world for Adora, and not in a selfless way, because she's on board with letting the planet get destroyed if it means Adora gets to stay (for how long I wonder, since the planet is gonna be destroyed), and later she abandons Adora because Adora didn't choose her, which makes it seem like she was alright with letting the planet be destroyed so that she could keep Adora for herself, not out of genuine concern for Adora. It makes it seem like Catra just wanted Adora by her side so that she herself could be comforted and validated and loved the way she wants, because she leaves when Adora doesn't do what she wants.
Her leaving when the world is about to end just because Adora doesn't want to kiss her itself does such a disservice to her character. It could have been a moment of Catra finally doing something for selfless reasons, finally looking past her own pain and her own issues to do something for others. To show that she's grown. She once was ready to let the world end because she wanted to possess Adora and wanted to spite and hurt her, but now she is willing to do whatever it takes to save the world, even if it means losing Adora. That's what Catra's arc could have been. Her really realizing what she wanted and the mistakes she made, and working hard to fix them and make the right choices. Instead, we got that awful scene where Catra abandons Adora in her time of need and leaves her crying and alone.
It makes her asking Adora what she wants also meaningless, because when she is alone, she admits that it's really because she wanted Adora to like her romantically, and that thought that she didn't feel the way Catra wanted her to feel was enough for her to just up and leave Adora when she needed Catra by her side. It ends up showing us that Catra still ties her own self-worth to Adora, and that she still externalizes it when she feels unwanted. This is why she is so possessive. She wants to be needed by Adora, and that means that Adora can't need anyone but her. She's wanted SW's approval but was denied it constantly, so she clung onto Adora instead. Her desire to be needed and the way she relied on Adora for her self-worth is why she felt like she was abandoned by Adora, and so she abused her for it. And once more, this needed to be addressed. Catra needed to find self-worth and an identity outside Adora. She needed to be able to love herself, and not be so desperate for the approval of others. That would make her happier, and it would also mean that any apology she gives genuinely comes from actual remorse than her desire to be needed by someone.
However, that didn't happen. Instead, Catra being dependent on Adora is treated as romantic, like an "oh look how important Adora is to Catra, look how sad she is when Adora doesn't choose her!" And the problem is that that's not all it is. It's that Catra feels worthless if Adora doesn't love her back, she feels like she is unwanted and unloved if Adora doesn't feel the way about her that she wants. And she punishes Adora for it by leaving her alone. This is their dynamic. Catra depends on Adora for everything, from protection to validation to affection to her own worth as a person. And Adora, who internalized being needed and being responsible for everything, tries to please and protect others at her own expense, and this is what she does for Catra.
It's unhealthy for both of them, because it causes Catra to place heavy burdens on Adora that reinforces her martyr complex and causes Catra to feel worthless when Adora can't meet those expectations. This makes Catra take out those negative emotions on Adora because she blames Adora, because she can't blame herself. This starts the cycle of Adora giving everything she can (which reinforces her self-sacrificial tendencies and her own lack of self-worth), and once something happens that makes her unable to behave the way Catra wants, Catra descends into self-hatred and externalizes it onto Adora, and punishes her for it. This is why most of their dynamic in the flashbacks and in season 5 is Adora comforting Catra even after Catra slashed her or yelled at her, and Catra then responding with some kind of positive emotion. Adora leaving Catra made Catra feel abandoned, and she spent plenty of time trying to kill Adora for it, even though the problem was that she didn't like herself. And in the finale, Adora choosing to sacrifice herself reads to Catra as Adora choosing SW over her, i.e., not doing what would make Catra feel better, and she leaves Adora in her lowest point.
Again, Catra leaving would be fine if she had been a supportive, constant presence at Adora's side all this while. Because even the most supportive of people have their breaking point and have conflicts with their loved ones that cause them to walk away, and people make mistakes. But having this here with Catra just makes her come off as a douchebag, because she's only been with Adora for like, a few days? And she spent the time before this short team-up hurting and abusing Adora, and now she runs off once again the moment she has any kind of disagreement with Adora. Even as Adora begs her to stay and tries to reassure her, she just shoves her away and runs when Adora needs her most. This could be a standard conflict, except it makes it seem like Catra's support is very conditional on Adora catering to her needs. Out of context it's fine, but when taken into consideration with all the moments in the show, it just drives home the point that Catra hasn't really changed much at all.
She's so dependent on Adora and so unable to see outside that bubble that she doesn't even care about the world that's about to end. And you know, considering that Catra was once willing to let the world end just because of her selfish wish to not let Adora win, it paints a bad picture that she's asking Adora to not do the thing that might save the world, showing that Catra still doesn't give the slightest shit about anyone else other than Adora, which... considering her past as a colonizer who never really admitted that maybe world domination is a bad and horrible thing, is kinda icky. One more point in the "Catra hasn't truly changed as person" box.
This scene also uses the trope of the supportive character putting their foot down and calling out the love interest. Which is fine and dandy until you realize Catra has been using Adora's martyr complex as a way to emotionally abuse her all this time, and she made worse what SW instilled in Adora, that it is on her to protect others with no regard for herself. Catra spent the whole series exacerbating Adora's martyr complex, and the fact that she is the one who calls it out as though she has been endlessly supporting Adora and not actually making it worse, and that the characters who always affirmed Adora's importance and had her back are not involved in this is really gross, especially since the fact that Catra did this is never actually addressed or even brought up.
Catra asking Adora what she wants is... rich, for reasons I explained above. But another thing is the way that Catra blames Adora for this. Adora does have a martyr complex and does try to take responsibility for everything. But what else should she have realistically done? Let the world burn because her formerly (debatable) abusive girlfriend says she doesn't have to save it even though she's the only one who can? Does she have another plan? Is it that Adora chose this option that would sacrifice herself out of other options that don't involve her sacrificing herself? Because that's what Catra is yelling about when she says, "Why are you like this?" This very much is not Adora's fault. And yet Catra is taking the time to yell at her about not choosing for herself. She's placing fault on Adora for something Adora never did. It's so guilt-trippy and gross.
The show makes it out as thought this is about Adora's martyr complex, when it really is not. It doesn't present any other solution. What about this being the only way can be read as Adora wanting to always sacrifice herself? Catra is blaming Adora for things out of her control. And the problem with this is this is a tactic Catra used to abuse Adora and excuse herself of doing it. So, for her to do it again and for it to be portrayed as a good thing is... fucking disgusting? One more time for emphasis, if Catra had never done this before, it would be fine as a conflict. But making an abusive tactic of hers into her being the only one who cares about Adora is really strange considering her past. She should be dealing with things in a different way if she truly had changed.
Again, Catra made Adora this way. At the very least, she greatly exacerbated Adora's martyr complex. So for her to be telling Adora not to sacrifice herself without any push-back from Adora about how this is what Catra always told her she should do, from blaming her for not standing up for her against their mutual abuser to blaming her for the world domination and the end of the world that Catra caused, is bad writing and another example of the narrative bending over backwards to excuse Catra by not acknowledging her actions, and stripping her of responsibility and accountability for her actions so that she and Adora can kiss without seeming like it's still toxic.
And the "fight" part of this trope, the "falling out" part is also really bad, because it fails to take into account their previous dynamic, in which Adora always tried to take care of Catra's emotional needs and was hurt for it. And she's doing the same thing again. Instead of being supported in her hour of greatest need, she is once again comforting Catra and trying to reach out to Catra, while Catra herself is lashing out over some perceived slight that she makes out to be about herself when it's really not about her at all. Again, if it was just this once it would be fine, but this is a constant and repetitive dynamic in their relationship that has been shown to be toxic, so why would you put this at the end of Catra's arc, when her relationship with Adora is supposed to be repaired? I understand why she does it. Catra wants to be loved. She is also being manipulated by SW. That doesn't make it any less of a dick move, especially since this is the series finale and the end of Catra's redemption arc, where she is supposed to be a better person. She isn't supposed to still be blaming Adora. And her coming back means nothing, because even during her love confession, she is still blaming Adora!
The right way to go would be for Catra to confront Adora (even though she isn't the right person for this at all, but if it really has to be her), but continue to support her, even though she disagrees with her and even if she doesn't like what Adora does, even if what Adora does doesn't benefit her. Having her leave just makes her look like a real fucking asshole, and her coming back and saying she's going to stay loses a lot of its meaning. I don't trust that she'll support Adora unconditionally after this, because she's so erratic about it. She saves Adora from Horde Prime but continues to blame and insult her after the fact. She leaves Adora feeling hurt and sobbing on the ground, but comes back to save her and confess her love. This just paints a really unsatisfying picture. She comes back when Adora is on the brink of death but can't be arsed to stay by her side otherwise if it's inconvenient for her or if Adora isn't doing exactly as she likes.
My point is that all these romance tropes that are added to develop the C//A romance just end up making their relationship seem worse. The need to build up a romance in about half a season after having them be enemies for four whole seasons clearly made the writers stuff it with romance tropes with no consideration for how it would come across if you looked at the whole relationship portrayed throughout the show. For example, another trope used is the "character gets mind controlled and forced to fight their love interest," trope. This tries to get you in your emotions by putting the character through the agony of having to fight someone they love and being determined to save them. But again, this doesn't work with C//A because Catra isn't doing anything to Adora that she hasn't already done consciously and gleefully. And the show wants us to forget about all that and get us in our feels about Adora having to fight Catra now, ignoring the fact that Catra has attacked Adora plenty of times before this, so seeing them fight isn't anything to be horrified about. It just sort of reinforces how Catra has treated Adora all this time.
And another line from the finale is "Of course she's gone! That's what she does, isn't it?" Which could be fine, even great, out of context. But it completely ignores everything about the characters. Catra's whole thing is that she perceives Adora leaving as a personal betrayal and as her choosing others over Catra, which is a source of resentment towards Adora. Adora always leaves, she always takes everything from her, Adora gets everything she wants. And the whole point is that Catra is wrong about this! She's so obsessed with controlling Adora, with wanting her to protect Catra and take care of her and be only with her, that anything that Adora does that goes against something Catra wants must be that Adora is taking things from Catra, that she is leaving her. She never acknowledges the abuse that Adora herself suffered, because she is so caught up in her resentment of being SW's scapegoat. Because Adora didn't leave Catra. She asked her to come with her multiple times. She protected Catra with her own body when they were children. She didn't get "everything she wanted."
So Catra spends most of the series victim blaming Adora for escaping a toxic environment and resents her unfairly, because she is possessive and controlling. She spends the whole series obsessed with hurting Adora and showing her up. She spends the whole series being obsessed with Adora, whether it be getting her back or hurting her with no regard for Adora's well-being, because she felt like something was taken from her. Adora running wasn't her leaving Catra, it was her escaping a toxic and abusive environment because she realized how bad it was, not only to her but also to so many innocent people. But Catra was selfish and possessive, and she made it about herself. And this line just shows that Catra is still blaming Adora for leaving as though it was wrong of Adora to do so, as though Adora didn't try to reach out to Catra multiple times and help her too, as though Adora actually did betray Catra somehow. It's still victim blaming, and just because Catra saw it as personal betrayal doesn't mean it is. If Catra really knew Adora, if she was the person who actually knew Adora best, she would not continue to believe that Adora left her for real, and she would understand why Adora left. If Catra truly overcame her resentment of Adora and really was the person who saw what Adora wanted and actually wanted what was best for her, she would know this, and she wouldn't still be blaming Adora for leaving.
Hell, the confession falls apart if you look at it.
"You've never given up on anything in your life, not even on me."
Ignoring the Season 3 finale where Adora glares at Catra, letting her know she's done with her. And she never tries to reach Catra in Season 4. Adora did give up on Catra. It was an important moment for her character in the show, when she finally stops blaming herself and putting pressure on herself and blames who is truly responsible. It is a moment where she reclaims her agency and self-worth. It is an important moment where she rejects Catra's manipulation and gaslighting and her abuse, and it is important because it shows that you don't have to stick with abusive people and try to save them just because you care about them. You can leave. No one is responsible for their choices but them, and you don't have to continue to be hurt. And yet, this moment is forgotten in order for Catra to make her confession. This is yet another trope, where the character is the only one to have never given up on their love interest, except it just erases a whole part of Adora's arc to make this false claim that Adora never gave up on Catra, even when she rightfully did so.
"I've got you! I'm not letting go!"
Ignoring the fact that Catra never has let Adora go. In fact, Catra's whole problem is that she wouldn't let Adora go. She's always been obsessed with her and that has sunk her deeper and deeper. I understand that in the context of this confession, this line seems alright, and it is actually alright for what it's supposed to mean. But considering the overall narrative, I don't think Catra should be the one saying this. Her arc in S1-S4 revolved around her obsession with Adora a lot, and if she were truly to heal, she had to get over it and recognize Adora as an individual with her own wants and needs. She never does do this, because she still blames Adora and gets angry at her for not putting Catra's feelings first. She is still obsessed with Adora. She changed in that she doesn't want to kill Adora anymore, but the way she thinks of Adora isn't all that different. Her obsession was good in the first 4 seasons because it was portrayed as unhealthy and toxic for both Catra and Adora. It is less so in Season 5, where it's not addressed at all, and instead turned into the peak of romance, even when it is still deeply unhealthy. Someone like Glimmer or Bow should be saying this, not Catra, who should have ideally let Adora go.
"Don't you get it? I love you! I always have!"
This is wrong on so many levels. Because then Catra loved this girl, and she chose to abuse her despite it, or maybe even because of it. She chose to let the world end to spite the person she's loved all this time. And we've already established that she hasn't really changed all that much. Their relationship is not healthy now and it's not going to be healthy. Because if Catra loved Adora all this while, we know how this love is going to manifest, and that love won't stop Catra from hurting Adora. Catra still has her abusive traits, she still refuses to acknowledge that Adora was justified in leaving and she still thinks Adora wronged her. She's not attacking her anymore, but since she still holds onto the same justifications and hasn't changed her mind, it will never be a healthy relationship. Not until Catra stops blaming Adora, and sadly that didn't happen in the show.
"So please, just this once, stay!"
As though Adora left her. I already talked about this, so I won't go into it again, but it just shows that Catra doesn't actually know what Adora needs or doesn't know her at all, really. She's still clouded by her own emotions about the situation to be able to understand that Adora needed to leave for her own good.
This confession is deeply self-centered. It's still Catra asking Adora to protect her feelings and do things for her. It's still Catra blaming Adora for doing something for herself. If this was from any other character, it would have been a wonderful way to emphasize Adora finally choosing something for herself, as the character who stood by her side to help her carry the responsibilities she took on also helps her choose something for herself. But the fact that it is Catra, who spends the series being selfish as all hell, who always demands things of Adora and blames her for everything that goes wrong in her life, who is saying this, it sort of taints the whole thing. Hell, the request to stay would make sense coming from Glimmer or Bow more than it does from Catra, because they bore most of the brunt of Adora leaving them behind and "running away" because of her need to take responsibility for everything (which isn't actually running away, it's pretty much the opposite, but that's a conversation for another time). Adora running away from them is due to her martyr complex, which does make her leave them behind even when they don't want her to and when even she doesn't really want to, while Adora "running away" from Catra is an act of reclaiming her agency after learning that her whole life is a lie. And take a guess at which one is actually called out!
This is why I can't get behind the idea that their future romantic relationship will be healthy. Because none of the issues that made Catra abuse Adora have actually been resolved. She still hasn't come to understand that Adora was also abused, that Adora shouldn't have to always cater to her emotional needs, that Adora didn't abandon her and Catra was in the wrong for thinking that. Without these realizations, we can't truly say that Catra will not abuse Adora anymore. Especially since she still shows some abusive behaviors, even if the excessive violence and murder attempts have come to an end. They'll probably have a brief period of happiness, like a honeymoon phase, if you will, but when Catra's insecurities begin to rear their heads again, I have full faith that she will go back to doing what she's always done, hurt Adora because she wants to own her, because none of the issues she has with Adora that made her abuse her have actually been solved. "But she confessed to Adora that she loved her!" you might say. But just loving Adora has never stopped Catra from hurting her before. Catra has always loved Adora. That's the problem.
Any decent redemption would take steps to address Catra's obsession with Adora. It would make Catra develop an identity outside Adora, it would make Catra realize she was wrong to pretend that Adora had it all easy, that Adora escaping the Horde is not a personal betrayal of her but rather something that Adora needed to do for her own well-being. Catra has an image of Adora that is warped by hatred, and that has to change. But we never saw that. Their relationship only got worse and worse until Catra miraculously just... changed her whole tune about Adora with no build-up to the moment, and Adora just forgot everything Catra did and rushed off to start throwing herself at her. This just came out of nowhere. Catra has spent her life connecting her insecurities to Adora. She's happiest when she's not thinking about Adora.
Adora quite literally gave up on Catra in Season 3 and spent Season 4 not giving a damn about her. There was nothing, nothing, that changed about their relationship to prompt Catra into changing her mind. She was even accusing Adora of taking everything from her in the Season 4 finale, and she never even spoke to Adora after that. One talk with Glimmer about Adora doesn't erase years of resentment and feeling inferior, and it doesn't erase Catra's abusive behavior. What the show shows us is that the girls are better off apart. Catra is happiest when she isn't focusing on Adora. Adora is better off once she gives up on Catra. And yet we get them coming together without any kind of proper reconciliation and they just don't address anything Catra did, as though one good thing just erases everything else. And Adora just starts trusting Catra in such a short time without Catra really showing her that she's truly changed herself, like they just had a small falling out instead of the murder attempts and abuse. Catra fights alongside her, sure. She protects her, sure. She also continues her emotionally abusive tactics, whether she means it or not. She continues to be passive-aggressive and continues to victim blame Adora, she continues to be possessive and selfish.
Even her apology is lackluster. "I'm sorry, for everything!" What is this "everything"? Is it how she treated Adora? Well, she hasn't really changed much on that front. She's still victim blaming and possessive. Is it for trying to take over the world and subjugate its people? Well, she has never once expressed regret over it, so that doesn't track either. What even is Catra sorry for? We, the audience, don't have any idea. Especially since she continues to believe more or less the same things she believed as a fascist, so like, what is this apology for? She seems to fall back onto old habits the moment she's been rescued, blaming Adora and accusing her of playing hero, like she's been doing all this time. She refuses to own up to her actions and take accountability for them, which shows that really, she isn't all that concerned about the feelings of the people she hurt. For fucks sake, she literally yells, "I know you all hate me!" in an accusatory tone, like she is hurt and offended by the thought that people could hate her after everything she's done. And the show rewards her for avoiding responsibility by having everyone forgive her instantly.
There's such a whiplash in the portrayal of Catra, that one moment Catra is saying she's sorry, and the next she's pretending like she never did anything wrong. The "It never stopped you before," line is so gross in that way because Catra is being bitter about Adora fighting her even when they were friends. This is, of course, ignoring the fact that Catra herself started all those fights, that Catra was the one who enjoyed hurting Adora, and that Catra basically forced Adora to fight her to defend herself and the world itself. And here, she acts all passive aggressive about Adora having fought her and pretty much blames her for it by saying that she didn't like that Adora fought her and holds a grudge against her for it, when, like, it's entirely her fault? This is like a robber being annoyed at the victim for catching them. Catra has no right to be annoyed about this or to act accusatory towards Adora for this, considering she abused her and tried to kill her. She's the only one in the wrong for attacking Adora. She really has no reason or right to be bitter about Adora having attacked her, and she is not justified in blaming Adora for doing so.
And importantly, they weren't friends either, so the fact that Catra would treat Adora the way she did and still have the gall to say that Adora attacked her friend is ridiculous. She just pulls the friend card out of her ass now just to blame Adora for attacking her. Catra didn't think of Adora as her friend. The one episode they did spend as friends again ended with her letting Adora hang off a cliff to fall and die. And later she expresses that she would very much like to kill Adora herself. Catra treated Adora so horribly and hated her, and yet held an expectation that Adora should have not fought her because they were friends. She still thinks Adora should have thought of her as a friend and not attacked her, showing that she still has those expectations for Adora to cater to her and look after her even if she herself won't let herself be held to those standards, and even if she won't return anything Adora does for her.
She still thinks Adora is the wrong for fucking defending herself! And it's like, do the writers want her to seem like a dick or do they believe this? She's not really regretful about hurting Adora because she thinks Adora defending herself was Adora hurting her, who was supposed to be Adora's friend apparently. So what was her apology even about? She begrudges Adora for defending herself, so clearly, it's not because she realized trying to kill her was wrong, so what is this undefined "everything" that she mentions? If she truly took responsibility for what she did and admitted she was wrong to hurt Adora, she wouldn't be bitter about Adora defending herself!
And this isn't the only time. The line "I know you all hate me!" which I mentioned previously also reads this way, especially since Adora just went out of her way to risk her life for Catra. Catra legitimately sounds accusatory, like she's calling out Adora for hating her, like she's offended by it. Like "I know you really hate me even though you pretend not to, and I've had enough of it, so fuck off!" It sounds like she's calling out a toxic friend group. I actually have experience with having a group of friends pretend to like you when they say horrible shit about you behind your back. This is how I felt, angry and hurt, when they kept trying to pretend to be nice to me when I knew what they said about me behind my back, that I was stupid and weird and stuff. So I get the feeling behind that line. I get why she feels that way, in her flawed perspective.
The problem lies in the fact that it's toxic and is victim blaming, since Catra abused Adora and did plenty of other horrible things, which makes Adora's and her friends' resentment of her perfectly justified. You see, any redemption for Catra would mean that she finally learns that she shouldn't do horrible things anymore, that she finally learns to see Adora as a person, that she finally acknowledges that she had no reason to hurt her and that she is at fault for their relationship. But that's not what happens. Catra saves Adora, sure, but she continues to play victim, she continues to accuse Adora of hating her or whatever without acknowledging that Adora should be allowed to do this. If Catra was truly remorseful, she would accept it. As it is, it leaves me wondering why Catra even saved Adora? It's one thing to be called out for pushing people away, but it's different with Adora, because Catra didn't push her away in Catra's mind. She thinks it's Adora who left her. And she has a whole assortment of other issues with Adora. So, her turn to save Adora makes no sense, because she spent 4 seasons trying to kill her for these reasons, and nothing changed about these feelings when she decided to save her. If Catra truly had changed and realized her mistakes and how she hurt Adora, two things would have happened in this scene.
A) Catra would understand that Adora doesn't hate her, not really. Because she's been looking at Adora from a resentful and negative perspective all this while, without recognizing who Adora is. And redeeming herself would mean that Catra has to acknowledge the truth, that Adora didn't abandon her or hate her, and that using that as justification for her abuse is wrong.
I do think that Adora never truly hated Catra. She was resentful, and she did make the decision to give up on her, but I don't think she could truly just hate her. But she did give up on her, and it was a very important decision which was erased from her arc. Of course, Adora would want to save Catra, but she also did give up on her. I would have liked to see her feel conflicted about Catra. I would have liked to see her want to save Catra but also be hesitant about trusting her and letting her into her life again after everything she's done. As it is, Catra just blames Adora, proving that she still holds onto that negative and flawed view of Adora that Catra used as justification to abuse Adora. And Adora is expected to take the step to mend their relationship in which she is the victim and where Catra is at fault. One vague apology isn't enough to mend years of hurt, especially since Catra hasn't changed in a way that matters.
Catra views Adora in a flawed and untrue light, and instead of her realizing she was wrong and giving Adora a heartfelt apology, we get a vague sorry for some undefined "everything." And instead of Catra coming to see Adora for who she is and treating her as she deserves, Adora is supposed to prove to Catra that Catra is wrong about her, instead of Catra putting in the work to unlearn her toxic view of Adora. Adora is expected and made to put in the effort to help Catra heal, despite the fact that this is something Catra should do on her own, away from Adora. Because Adora doesn't have to do that for her, and because Catra being around Adora will only make her double down, and as we see, it does. She still accuses Adora of playing hero, she still blames Adora for her mistakes, she is still antagonistic, and she doesn't want to assume responsibility for her mistakes.
B) Catra wouldn't be yelling at Adora about how she knows Adora hates her, because she would understand that Adora should be allowed to have negative feelings about her.
Which she doesn't do. She's offended by it and hurt by it. As though they don't have a reason to hate her, and she's unhappy that they do. Catra is still placing the blame on Adora for hating her, almost like she thinks it's unfair. And then Adora has to comfort her and reassure her that she never hated her. She has to console Catra when she's sad about people hating her for valid reasons, and she isn't allowed to assert her right to be resentful after everything Catra has done, which completely ruins her moment in the season 3 finale. The narrative excuses Catra and never wants her to be sad. We're only ever supposed to feel sorry for her and want her to be happy, and that also means ignoring everything she did and the consequences for that. Because actually having other characters have self-respect and rightfully disliking Catra for what she did would make Catra sad, and we can't have that, now can we? We're only allowed to feel sorry for Catra, which is why the show keeps focusing on her trauma and giving more weight to how she feels while conveniently ignoring how her action make others feel and the impact it might have on them, like the abuse Adora suffered at her hands and Glimmer's loss of her mother. Because Catra needs to be portrayed in a good light so that C//A can happen, and if that comes at the expense of other characters, so be it.
Ultimately, there is no reason Catra is with the Rebellion other than Adora. One reason she fought in the Horde is to spite Adora, to prove herself over Adora and take her down. Her obsession caused her to sink lower and lower, and the episodes in the Crimson Waste seemed like they were setting up the idea that Catra would have to let go of Adora to be happy, because Adora represented everything that caused Catra pain. Which is not Adora's fault, and that's something Catra needed to realize as well, which could only happen if she distanced herself from Adora and her resentment towards her and gained an outside perspective. She needed to be apart from Adora. But Season 5 not only reaffirms Catra's warped view of her victim, and also portrays her obsession as a good thing. Catra is stripped of any personal identity or motivation in the final season outside following Adora around and eventually kissing her. She gets Melog, but Melog is like a cop-out for Catra actually putting in the work to change. She says she's working on her anger, but we never get to see her do it, or even why she comes to the conclusion that she wants to work on it at all, considering she's never thought much of it before. She says she'll do it one episode and she's pretty much over it the next.
Her issues and mistakes are, as I said, overlooked or downplayed so that they don't seem as problematic as they are. This is because making all the characters remember her actions would force them to acknowledge the magnitude of all that she's done, and then it would really be a yikes moment if she were to get together with one of them. Because they knew they couldn't make her come back from all she's done within the span of half a season and still manage to completely repair her relationship with her victims and even end up with one of them. The writers spent too much time on developing the enemies part of enemies-to-lovers, and they didn't have enough time for the lovers part to make it seem believable. So, they (the writers) had to gloss over her mistakes and never really address it. They downplayed it and ignored a lot of it so that they didn't have to put too much work into showing us that she's changed, so that it wouldn't seem OOC or just plain awful when they made Catra kiss the person she abused for years with just a little "development." I don't necessarily disagree with the story arc they planned for her, and I don't think that she's irredeemable or anything, even as she got worse and worse. But her actual turn was rushed to hell and back, and it cheapened her whole story, because if all it took was a few vague apologies, getting a haircut and one good action after a lifetime of evil, then what was all that build-up for?
There was not enough of a resolution for all that build-up, and that hurts all the characters. It hurts Adora's character, who's inspiring moment of asserting her self-worth and choosing to stand up for herself is forgotten in order to have her go back to falling over Catra and trying to reach out to her while getting none of it back again, with no acknowledgement of the fact that she once gave up on Catra entirely. It hurts Glimmer's character, whose grief over her mother is invalidated when she barely spares a mean look to the person responsible for it and smilingly invites her to sit next to her. It hurts Entrapta's character, when the pain she suffered at Beast Island where she was sent to die after being betrayed by someone she thought was a friend was diminished, and all was forgiven with just one sorry from Catra. It hurts Scorpia's character, when she forgave Catra in an instant without even a proper apology even though her whole arc was about standing up for herself and asserting her self-worth and that she deserves to be treated well. It hurts characters like Bow and the others who Catra hurt, who were stripped of their self-respect and rightful hatred of her and who accepted her immediately, because any of them actually not forgiving Catra would make her sad and that's not allowed. And it hurts Catra's character, who could have been an inspiring and wonderful character, who showed us that no matter how far you fall, you can still improve yourself, and you can still find a better life. We could have gotten so much, and their stories could have cemented themselves as one of the most nuanced and compelling stories of all time, with wonderful and uplifting messages that show people that they aren't alone, and that all hope is not lost. That they can change, and choose their own path, and find happiness and love and a better life.
Instead, we got SPOP season 5.
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Okay, I NEED to hear your thoughts on a few issues I have with SPOP (I also mention TOH a bit towards the end but mainly trying to focus this ask on SPOP). Also, it's long as hell, so if you want to answer it in multiple parts that's totally fair.
I know the writing of the show just generally speaking isn't the best, however the one thing I thought was executed best was the villains of the show.
Shadow Weaver was a cruel maternal figure in Catra and Adora's lives, even so to Glimmer in Season 4 when she had felt isolated from her friends (her father too, in the past). With a grand sacrifice in the names of who she practically considered her daughters, she had atoned for her actions throughout the series, but regardless, she left serious impacts on the characters' mentalities. Whether she was forgiven by the characters was left vague, as if they weren't too sure how they felt themselves. I really liked that aspect, as the experience of mixed feelings when an abusive parental and/or authority figure dies can be very impactful for viewers. She was someone lustful for power and control, but I do genuinely think she had a soft spot for Adora at the very least, which is why she had tried isolating her from the others in her squadron so often. I think it was in an effort to harden her resolve so her potential wouldn't be wasted, though of course, this was not done in a positive or healthy manner.
Hordak attempted to conquer Etheria in an effort to be recognized by Horde Prime. But then he meets Entrapta, who helped him with repairing his disability aid (that being the First Ones tech to keep his body stable, the very thing Hordak was shunned and abandoned for by Prime) and receiving validation for the "imperfection" he referred to his disability as ("Imperfection is beautiful! At least, to me."). That was the inciting moment where his motivation and goals shifted, but due to Catra's actions — her attacking Entrapta, then fabricating a lie that he had once again been abandoned, and later on being unapologetically ableist and apathetic by removing his aid, the aforementioned tech, and having him literally crawl on the floor in pain before her to address her power over him — he returned to prior goals until Double Trouble spilled the tea and sent him on a rampage after Catra. (And yes, I haven't forgotten the scene where he cuts off her oxygen, but she's not shown to be an asthmatic or having any respiratory issues, so that's shitty yes, but not ableist. And that was in either S1 or early S2, before he had really encountered Entrapta, so that's another thing to keep in mind.)
Skip through the Horde Prime mess, and he ends the series being sent to Beast Island to clean up according to Stevenson, whereas characters like Catra (who quite literally fucked more shit up than him somehow with the portal, nearly destroying the world) get off scot-free because...She got the heaping dose of writer's favoritism, I guess. Also his atonement for his actions was stated as Word Of God by Stevenson on Twitter, not explicitly in the show, so it's completely fair to take it with a grain of salt and/or have it be up to viewers' interpretation.
I'll also put Entrapta and Scorpia here real quick, but I'll keep it brief cause this is already so long. I think Entrapta is by definition chaotic neutral, where she will go to lengths and extremes in the name of science and personal interest, but doesn't care about the war or which side she appears to be on. Yes, she absolutely appears to be on the side of the horde by the end of S1, but exclusively because they offer the most tech for her to work with (that and the other princesses never appeared to be fond of her…); she never seems to pay the war any mind.
I thought Scorpia was a decent enough character, I could tell from the get-go she would be eventually redeemed and while I don't think she's perfect, her redemption was leagues better than the other arc I'm thinking of…
I decided to put Catra as her own bullet point cause WHEW there's a lot. Catra as a character was objectively best when she was a villain. And considering how she crossed the threshold of "in too deep," beyond the lengths even HORDAK was willing to go (again, literally almost ending the world out of nothing but pure spite and hatred for Adora """abandoning""" her), all because she couldn't abuse Adora and blame her for everything bad that happened to her anymore, it was strong antagonist characterization. One that the writers poorly chose to just throw out the window at the last second for some Starco-esque endgame for fanservice/the creator's favoritism that DID NOT feel deserved. Yeah, Starco. I said it.
While having a relationship between two lesbians (if memory serves me right, feel free to correct me if one of them's sapphic) is very important for representation in media, Catradora had to have been one of the worst examples of good lesbian/WLW representation I've seen to date. It's toxic, it's abusive, and Adora's got some serious Stockholm syndrome with Catra being her abuser. It is genuinely unsettling how many people act like it's healthy and normal or will excuse it because "Catra has [Insert disorder/disability here] so the abusive behavior is justified" when explanations for behaviors =/= valid excuses. Adora for sure had PTSD but she never acted as irrational and cruel despite her upbringing.
And also, that is extremely ableist shit to say, too. Just because someone has a mental disorder or disability of some kind doesn't excuse them to just be a disgustingly horrible person to the people they claim they care about. If Catra REALLY loved and cared for Adora, we would've seen an effort on her end to change the shitty fucking behaviors she exhibited. But when Adora goes through hell and back to save her sorry ass, she goes right back to the abusive, manipulative, bitchy person she's always been. Hell, her "adorable confession scene" IS JUST HER MANIPULATING ADORA BY SAYING ADORA HAD CONSTANTLY ABANDONED HER WHEN SHE NEVER DID THAT. ONCE. Hearing the "just this once, stay" part at the end sounds like it came from an abusive ex begging Adora to get back together, not a heartfelt romantic gesture from a soon-to-be lover.
Not to mention the odd implications of Shadow Weaver being akin to a mother figure to BOTH of them (didn't she call them her children???) throughout their lives, as well as Kyle believing they, Lonnie and Rogelio to be his siblings, family, before Lonnie yells at him…Like, the fact even ONE of the squadron members saw the others as siblings ALONGSIDE S.W.'s maternal shtick, it's a huge weird ass red flag. I'm not gonna claim it's incest because I don't believe that was the intention by the writers, but they also heavily imply such with the aforementioned information the show provides...They should've just had Catra and Adora be friends from separate squadrons if they didn't wanna make it feel so icky (as if the abusive shit doesn't make the relationship gross enough). Lonnie yelling at Kyle saying "we were never a family" or whatever feels like the writers speaking through the character to justify Catradora being canon, especially with how the characters act around each other in S1 and in flashbacks. I have siblings, that's shit siblings do. Don't even get me started with Kyle and Rogelio dating in the end, either...Idc what ANYONE says, he literally stated explicitly that he viewed Rogelio as a brother for most of their lives, that makes me ill.
I have gripes with both Steven Universe and The Owl House as well, don't get me wrong, but I feel Garnet/Rupphire and Lumity were both objectively better written lesbian/sapphic pairings (my personal favorite of the two being Garnet), as well as the positive and healthy representation lesbians and sapphics heavily deserve. The SPOP writers completely dropped the ball with the enemies-to-lovers bit, like, horribly. Catra post-S4 is just a horribly written """redeemed""" character who should've stayed bad to the bitter end ala S.W.
I feel like both SPOP and TOH's writing integrity is severely diminished when it comes to the Tumblr-humor thing you had mentioned in a previous post. I think if not for Eda, I genuinely wouldn't have continued TOH past the first couple of episodes because of it, and it only got worse over time, especially in the last couple of S3 episodes. Which one was worse, or if both were the same as far as the humor goes, I wanna know your thoughts. I haven't seen SPOP all the way through since about a year ago, but I feel like it wasn't as bad as TOH — at the very least, to my memory of the show, SPOP knew not to crack dumbass one liners in the midst of a genuinely serious moment.
I'll put this here as well, but if you can think of anything else to discuss PLEASE do so, I want to hear all the tea.
Oh my god Hi! So sorry for the late response!
I'll separate this into bullet points so it's easier to navigate
She-Ra's writing
Shadow Weaver
Hordak (+ Entrapta and Scorpia)
Catra(dora)
She-Ra and Representation (Double Trouble)
Ok so let’s get this out of the way first: I am not a fan of She-Ra, even on my first watch I heavily disliked it. I was one of the people that watched it in its original run, I tuned in right after season 2 was released, circa a week or so later. And even THEN, in 2019, as a wee little 15-year-old, who has JUST realized that I wanted to pursue writing as a career, I noticed just how inconsistent the writing is.
So, She-Ra’s writing, just overall writing, is something I’ve always had an issue with. A lot of the characters felt inconsistent. Frosta is the first example that comes to mind. She is a child, however, in season 1 she is presented as a mature, strict, amazing leader of an entire kingdom, however, later on, she’s just dumbed down to a “haha annoying child” for attempts at some incorrect-quote-esque dynamic and dialogue. You've mentioned it too with The Owl House and She-ra has the exact same problem, however, I'd say on a much more jarring and apparent level. With the Owl House, as annoying and out of pocket as these incorrect-quote-esque jokes are, they're still kids, they're children and I'd say The Owl House has a much more slice of life/comedy approach to its writing than what She-Ra intended to have. As I've said, with She-Ra it's more jarring, since it's more of a fantasy/adventure/action/drama type of show, at least that's what it was going for, the jokes stand out a lot more, and feel as though they're just haphazardly thrown in there for the sake of fan service. Which, in turn, makes the characters feel as though they lack dimension. Adora is my prime example of this, there have been so many instances where, for the sake of fan service, she has been dumbed down to the very popular "stupid strong golden retriever" type of character in a sapphic dynamic.
A character that stood out to me as one of the better-written ones is Shadow Weaver. Her dark and brooding nature was always interesting to me, not to mention Lorraine Toussaint did a fantastic job. Something I admire about her character writing is that they never made her abuse over the top, they never made her too loud or too abusive to the point you can point a finger and say "Well that's just a stereotypical abuser in media!", which, again, I really appreciate about the show. I won't say they made her realistic, but out of all the characters, I'd say she came closest to being such.
Hordak I didn't and still don't have much opinion on, his overall villain characterization and motivation are pretty standard, especially for, what's marketing itself as, a kid's cartoon. What did stand out to me, however, was his covert disability. Now what do I mean by covert? It's pretty clear he's disabled. Covert in terms of symbolism, I have not been able to find what actual disability his disability is supposed to represent, I've seen people interpret it as diabetes, I've seen people interpret it as an autoimmune disease, while I myself have interpreted it as a heart transplant/ heart disease and his disability aid as a pacemaker. As my grandfather was one of the first and longest-living people with a heart transplant + pacemaker in Croatia, I've seen many side effects of it and it aligns quite well with Hordak's disability. Though it didn't feel like blatant sympathy points (unlike some other character that I will talk about later), it gave him more characterization outside of being "a big bad villain guy". His and Entrapta's story is one that I found quite endearing and it felt like it flowed naturally, no pushing them together, no forcing it, it felt genuine and nicely paced. Scorpia is also a very sweet character, nothing much to say about her except I really enjoyed it whenever she was on screen. Her character design is one of my favorite's in the show and don't even get me started on Lauren Ash because she did a FANTASTIC job!
Catra though is an entirely different story. I never liked her. On any level. Her as a villain also didn't sit right with me, she never felt like a true villain and in the end never felt like a true "hero" or good guy, hell I can't even label her as an anti-hero. I can just label her as... Catra; a weak attempt to write a morally gray antagonist. Or rather, a lot of cliche dialogues and plot points jumbled into one of the antagonists. I think her weak characterization ties in with the fanfiction-esque style of writing I talked about earlier. I also can't sympathize with her character at all, not for a lack of trying or my prejudice, but because the writer's favoritism and the writer's sympathy are ALWAYS pushed onto Catra so much. The consequences of her actions are practically non-existent and when they are, they are framed as though it's the other character's fault (ie. Catra being alone after Adora left.).
What I mean by that is, most of the bad things that happen to Catra, do not happen to her because of something she did, but rather her circumstances, she just keeps doing bad things and gets away with it. There are no consequences for anything that she does. This might be a stupid analogy, but let's say I slap one of my friends and they do not react, however, when I get home my mother slaps me. These are two separate occurrences that, while they do evoke empathy for me (or rather the lyrical I in this hypothetical) since I am being abused, have nothing to do with each other in terms of consequence for what I have done to my friend. Now, if I slap my friend and they either slap me back or perhaps yell at me for doing so, that is a consequence of the action I have done. We rarely see the latter with Catra, in most of the abuse scenes, most of her breakdowns, and most of the scenes that are framed in a way that we as the viewer as supposed to feel bad for Catra in, are just sympathy points. They are FRAMED (writing, voice acting, editing, pacing of the scene) so we feel bad for her and almost as to excuse everything she has done as some kind of defense mechanism almost. This is getting a bit long and I still have 2 points I want to talk about, so I will stop the Catra portion here. Feel free to ask for other specifics or a better explanation if you want!
And now we go onto, Catradora. From my previous section, you might have guessed I am not a fan of the relationship. As much as I'd love to go into detail about how abusive Catra is throughout all of the seasons, their relationship was written as a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers romance, so I'll disregard the portion of the time they were enemies in. Nevertheless, even if you do cut out that portion of their relationship, they are still quite a toxic and abusive couple. When they were growing up, Catra didn't let Adora hang out with the other kids, going as far as scratching her across the face when Adora suggested Catra, Adora, and Lonnie all be friends. Throwing her, jumping on her stomach with the intent of hurting her. Not to mention the manipulative nature of the love confession. And this is something I haven't seen people talk about, but... Adora does not and cannot make Catra feel safe and loved. And that, I believe, is one of the core problems of their relationship we see this, especially in the last season. No matter what Adora does or says, Catra simply does not believe her. I am sorry to cut this short here, with such a strong and in many ways controversial statement, but, as I said, always shoot me an ask for a more in-depth explanation!
The last portion I want to talk about is Double Trouble...and the fact that they're the only non-binary character within the show. I won't talk about their role in the story, an LGBTQ character can be evil or neutral, they don't always have to be good, as long as their villainous behavior is not a damaging stereotype for the community (such as a lesbian character praying on another woman) or their behavior isn't romanticized (ie. Catra). Double Trouble is I believe one of the more damaging representations of the show. They are a non-binary, shape-shifting lizard who imitates anyone they want to gain and manipulate and sees it as performance... Which is one of the MOST COMMON THINGS I've seen non-binary people being labelled as. As well as the only non-binary character within the show not being human, when most, if not all, other characters are human or human-adjacent. When I say Double Trouble is not only a bad but harmful representation of the non-binary community, I really mean it.
Thank you so much for the ask, I hope I was able to articulate my points well! And sorry for this post being incredibly long!
#robin reflects asks#robin reflects on shera#spop critical#spop criticism#anti catra#anti catradora#hordak#shadow weaver#doube trouble critical
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Commissions Open!!
Hi everyone its Mod Vash!
I've said in a previous post, but I'm trying to earn money to fly out to visit my boyfriend for his birthday. Due to circumstances outside of my control, I have to leave my job, so I'm relying on work from family and neighbors to scrape by, so I'm opening up some commissions for both art made by me and character edits! More information under the cut so this doesn't get too long. (cw some of my art might be mildly eye straining to some people)
Please keep in mind that I am disabled and will work as best as I can to get your commission to you, but I might not be as quick as some others. All the commission money will go to saving up to visit my partner for a milestone birthday and helping pay down some debts!
GOAL: $600 (flights + budget for out there)
Slots open: 5
I have synesthesia, so if you commission me to do art of your name or a song you really enjoy, I will draw what I see with it.
For a simple kaleidoscope (or similar) commission, it would be $5, here are some examples of what I've made for simple names with simple backgrounds. These are probably the fastest and easiest for me to make, as I can get a good amount of colors and shapes from names and sounds down quickly.
The next tier up is still a synesthesia based drawing but it is more complex- a background/more detailed drawing. These will range from $8-15 depending on how complex you want the background and how complex the name/song is- ex, lacrimosa with a cathedral background would be $15 because that would take me a while, but the name Sasha and water would most likely be $8 or so since it would be easier and quicker. I only have one example of this, shown below. (Example would have been $10 due to shading and lighting)
Moving on from synesthesia is character bust shots, probably my weakest skill- but I can guarantee I will try my best. They will start at $15 and go up depending on how complex the character, how long I think it will take me, and how much detail you want included. and I will only do bust shots since I'm not good at bodies yet. Complex backgrounds are an extra $2. Below are some examples of recent bust shots of characters I've made. The first image would be $15 since the background is simple and the colors are flat, but the 2nd would be closer to $20/22 due to the background being multiple layers and having skin and hair texture.
The last thing I offer (for now) is character edits, where you can send me a picture of a character and I'll edit them however you like. These will start at $5 and go up, $1 for each character in the picture and an $1 per picture in a set. Super complex edits (like adding a lot of new hair and texturing it, or changing clothes) would cost extra, but small edits like changing the hair style or adding/removing makeup or piercings or anything would not be an extra charge. (i.e, you want me to edit one picture with one character in it and that would be $5, one picture with 2 characters would be $6, a set with the same single character with 2 pictures would $6, a set with 2 characters and 2 pictures would be $8, so on.) I dont have a ton of examples of this since I haven't done it in a while but I have a few from a while back. Super complex edits (like adding a lot of new hair and texturing it, or changing clothes) would cost extra, but small edits like changing the hair style or adding/removing makeup or piercings or anything would not be an extra charge. These catra edits would have only been $5 since they were simple edits, just changing her hair color and adding some makeup and piercings.
I have a paypal, venmo, and a chime account, if your interested in commissions please dm me through here and we can work something out!
#mod vash#mutual aid#mutual aid blog#mutual aid community#paypal#disability#venmo#under $1k#commsions#open commissions#artists#artists on tumblr#synesthesia#backgrounds#artblr#character edits#cheap commissions#character shots#disability community#disabled community#actually disabled
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Okayyyyyyyy now the informational version of the doll post is up, I get be all silly casual editorial over here :3c I was gonna do it as a reblog but honestly the doll post is already so stupidly long, I'm just gonna do it separately and I'll link it in the replies on the main post, but this post is Not gonna make sense unless you read that first lol
a) I dont think the bodies coming from two different lines is super obvious, but once you know it, things click. Bow's arms are weirdly narrow for his size compared to the girls’ proportions, for instance, and though he is the tallest in the show, he's especially tall in this line. You can even see it down to their underwear. Often dolls have a few molded lines on their body to represent underwear and give the illusion of "decency" when undressed. The girls have a single thin waistband line, She-ra has none (she needed not to if her Battle of Bright Moon doll was going to work), and Bow has a much thicker waistband with further details like seams and a fly (for some reason, but Bow now wears tighty whities I guess).
b) I know the bodies “came of DC Super Hero Girls” but I really wish I had more details than just that quick comment. That makes it seem like Adora, Glimmer, and Catra all came from the same line. I know Adora and Shadow Weaver are using the same body, and I’m pretty sure Catra is too because I found photos of Adora undressed on ebay and she had a weird circle outline on her back like there was an optional hole that was filled in, but like, why did that line even have a model with a tail hole? We know Glimmer is a “curvier sculpt,” so did that line already have some body diversity or did she come from another unnamed line? I don’t know, and I don’t have the dolls to compare. I'm just assuming it's a different body type from the same line since that’s all that was said (listen, I need to be told things very directly and clearly or I feel like I might be getting them wrong. Remember when I didn’t think I was autistic? Wild).
c) She-ra's accessories (well, her gauntlets and boots) are a little big for her and there's gaping. You can see it a bit even in the promotional pictures and it’s not surprising given the budget on these dolls. It probably gets worse with heat, though, so shipping might exacerbate the issue. Maybe the best time to move these dolls is winter LOL
d) She-ra's peplums are attached to her clothes and not her plastic emblem, which I think you can guess, but putting it out there in case. It's still confusing to me why her peplums are sparkly (and transparent for the core design). It's the one big "miss" in the designs from the show (well, Catra's outfit is also weirdly mesh up top and the color is off).
dd) Honestly all of She-ra's skirts are fucked, but everything about her Battle Armor doll is weird. I did a whole other post about how weirdly budget Battle Armor She-ra was compared to the other dolls despite being twice the cost. I mean I know Swift Wind is in that set so two models raises the price, but he seems pretty budget too, so like… what the hell Mattel.
ddd) Oh yeah, the tulle of the regular skirt is actually shockingly high quality. Like tulle is a Bad Texture for me (go back to the autism bulletpoint) and I don’t mind this. I mean I’m not gonna seek it out, but it doesn’t make me recoil and it’s soft enough to not cause me issues. I can say that about very few tulles.
e) I don’t know if this is a difference between digital model and final production or if SDCC She-ra got a slightly different accessory cast then the regular one, but if you look at the 3D model for She-ra’s chest emblem, it shows one thick bracing bar up her spine. In the final doll, it’s two bars, thinner and a bit further apart, that basically frame her spine, with one bar attached to each half of the emblem. And of course, it hooks together with pegs. Those aren’t shown on the model either and that's why I’m inclined to say that is just an earlier model of it. No stock photos of SDCC She-ra show her back under the cape, though, and checking it would necessitate removing her from the packaging, which I’ve never seen anyone do.
ee) Also, I didn’t know how to describe it well so I just didn’t put it in the post, but her regular cape isn’t straight across in the back. Rather, it has a v cut and “straps” that are sewn to each shoulder, so the top set of pegs and the crossbar for the emblem actually show through, but her hair covers it anyway. Once again, IDK about the SDCC one because I've never seen the back of her.
f) Shadow Weaver’s stand is hot garbage. It’s just a stick between her legs with tiny curves to (supposedly) cup each leg that she’s supposed to essentially balance on. Traaaaaaash. They're assuming no one will take her out of the packaging, ig.
ff) Okay also, Shadow Weaver's top isn't exactly a monastic scapular, but idk how else to describe it. Usually those drape over the shoulders and then are tied around the waist, while hers actually has a sleeve and is sewed together on one side, but then it has the long extension from a scapular, so I'm just going to use that to describe it since it's a fantasy bullshit amalgamation.
g) I know it seems like I have a Monster High bias (and I do) because I mention it multiple times, but since the guys leading the SDCC exclusives were two big minds behind it, it seemed like a valid comparison to draw. I researched what else the other team members did, but when I only turned up 3 out 4 of the modelers (Arpine, Kittaya, & Sean) working on Barbie and I couldn't say "all of them" anymore, I stopped looking since it really wasn't relevant. Monster High ended up being a good touchpoint due to being made by the same team/company, one of the dolls having its body come from that line, and it being the only other doll line I know literally anything about. Since Monster High (G3, anyway) costs nearly twice as much as these dolls (15$ vs 25$), they also felt relevant when it came to things like painted hair. Annalise specifically hyped up the dolls all having real hair? So I'm just kind of guessing that's something that isn't a given on dolls at this budget (and probably, unfortunately, especially so for textured hair). Again, pretty much everything I've learned about dolls has specifically been because of this line lol. I like looking at the new Monster Highs but I really don't know shit.
h) Also, I don't know how doll hair length is measured so I just went with 6 inches in the post, but regular She-ra has 5-7 inches of hair, depending on if you're supposed start at the base of the head or top of the head. Also I was using a ruler so. Not the most accurate.
i) I got kind of ambiguous answers on what counts as an articulation point, but at the end of the day the She-ra dolls have less than Monster High (I can say this definitively) and Monster High is listed as 12 on Dollect while She-ra in incorrectly listed as 13. There are 11 separate joints, with some also including a hinge so you can properly pose them, but I can't give you a list of what joints bend multiple ways or if any are ball joints (IDK how to identify one, I think I’ve made it obvious I'm out of my depth here). The joints are really stiff in my experience but they would probably loosen up if you worked them more, I’m just not going to take that risk.
j) Actually this should be up with the She-ra info so it's out of order but I'm not positive Battle Armor She-ra has the same hair as regular? In listings it looks shorter but it's hard to tell because it could just look different from being played with and when she's in box you can't tell since it's behind her. It seems really weird to me that every She-ra is so similar and so different at the same time so I really don't know. They might even be made out of different kinds of fibers. Like for the SDCC exclusive I'm pretty sure they prioritized looks so the hair might be made out of "worse" material as a result if it displays well (I mean, I know there's reflective strands in it, and those usually feel Bad). There's a lot of upgrades and really cool packaging for only an added 5$ for each doll so cutting some corners on those might make sense. These dolls are made on a relatively tight budget at the end of the day.
I wish I could get hands on with all these dolls because I think I could make the post way better then, and if I ever do manage to learn new info I’ll update the post, but I've done my best lol. Hopefully this post answers any questions people might or might not have about the dolls since they're kind of Difficult to actually get and check out yourself
#listen i'm not paying three figures for these dolls. or even three times retail price (which is still half of what most listings charge)#shoutout to the damaged out of box catra going for over 100 fucking dollars#i've got what i could beneath that barrier and i'll wait out the others lmao#though i don’t know that there’s any waiting out catra 😑#mylife#this addition wasn't meant for reblogging anyway so doing it separately works out#i Do have another addition to that post coming up that im. trying to figure out what im gonna do about#because i want to add photos of the packaging details that stock photos dont show but i dont like to take my own photos lmao#and i cant rn anyway so i'll wait until i can and figure it out then ig#merch#spop dolls
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those tags are a really good way of reading it but just so you know i nearly started crying.
i dunno, sometimes friends get so close to each other that they end up really hurting each other, and then you make up and become friends again but that time of being really close has passed and things are a lot healthier but not nearly as intense as they used to be, and you wonder, if you were a better friend, would you still be close? but at the same time it's not as simple as that. sometimes it's a huge number of factors on both sides. sometimes people just grow apart and you can't control it.
anyway im going to draw spt cuddle piles to ease the pain
akldujfhglakjshdf, not my intention to make you cry!!!!
But also, yeah. Exactly. It can be heartbreaking in it's own unique way to spend a fun afternoon with some friends and afterwards realize that if you were closer (the way you used to be) that you would've kept hanging out. Maybe there's things you used to do together that you wouldn't anymore. You can trust them and love them, but still be afraid of them breaking your trust or hurting you (or afraid of yourself doing the same to them).
I think the Super Pal Trio falling into that would've been such a wonderful way to talk about that with a broad audience, but especially kids. Losing friends is hard. It hurts and it sucks and it's sensitive, and because so many societies don't place enough importance in platonic friendships they aren't given the sort of space that a romantic breakup is. There's this feeling that you're supposed to suck it up and not be so hurt about losing a friend. You can cry about a romantic breakup in public, but as an adult (at least for me) there's a lot of perceived pressure to get over it. Like, no, I will not!
Super Pal Trio being a friend group that does get to reconnect but never getting to be the way they were before would really be nice to see handled as a serious topic instead of as a gag. Catra regrets that when she had the chance to really be their close friend, she was too hurt to be able to. Entrapta regrets not verbalizing her love for them more, regrets that she didn't show more of her care. Scorpia regrets the way she forced things to happen, or ignored their wants. All three of them are in a "If I'd been a better friend, would we still be closer? I miss the way I used to feel with you and for you."
I see Entrapta and Catra as being closer post canon than Scorpia is with either of them. Things might feel easiest when the three are together, but Scorpia has never gotten the same sort of sit and talk it out situation with either of them. She had the chance with Entrapta but was too scared of being outcast and shunned for liking someone no one else did at the time, so she didn't stand up for her friend or their friendship. But she never had that chance with Catra, and when it finally came up the first time Scorpia did her usual thing. She was trying to be a good friend and let Catra know she forgives her, but accidentally instead cuts her off/talks over her and invalidates Catra during it too. I can see Catra eventually being hurt about the way it went and Scorpia feeling more and more guilty once it's pointed out but not knowing how to fix it.
I love her, but Scorpia is pretty conflict avoidant even at the end of the series, and it's something she needs to work on to be a better friend. Not just to stick up for herself more, but to also have uncomfortable conversations that are serious and heavy. She has to learn to sit with feeling bad about something and let her friends feel bad when they need to. I keep threatening to write Scorpia meta about what she did wrong and not doing it, but I feel pretty strongly that, realistically? The Super Pal Trio can't be what it was, and they can't even move forward until Scorpia has done some more work. Catra and Entrapta are shown in show learning more, and while Scorpia does learn to value herself more and lie less to herself about bad things we don't get to see her practice that with others.
#long post#super pal trio#she ra#spop#catra#scorpia#entrapta#their relationship is complex post canon for sure#I like to write more of them being zany and just having fun together because I wish they could just click back together#the best friend squad (mostly) clicks back into what they were before and there's no question post canon they stay close#I wish SPT could have that too#and I think if canon were ever to be continued in a movie (or something else) we'd see them being closer than I talk about here#power of friendship my dudes!#but#from a more grounded sort of take? it would be bittersweet#meta#I guess?????
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Hiya fellow TF enjoyer! I saw that ask game sooooo...
16, 25, 30 , 35 you can choose any of 'em!
Yay! From the 35 questions for fanfic writers
16. I am a sucker for the hurt/comfort trope. Maybe because of my own personal hang ups and traumas, I just like the idea of someone helping another when they are in pain and being by their side. It's not a fix all, but it's the start of just getting better and having support and not being ridiculed for having emotions or feeling pain.
This is starting to get a little too personal. MOVING ON!
25. I mean, this question I'm technically already addressing in my fanfic with the unpublished chapters I have on the shelf, such as the Hizuru chapter. But there are some other items, like what if the Survey Corps ended up in TFP instead. It probably wouldn't be as much fun. The Decepticons would try to kidnap Eren, obviously. Levi has it out for Megatron. Hanji just dies from shock. TFP Kids and 104th just get along swimmingly. Fowler has too much paper work. Although the Scouts would not be as close to Optimus as they are in AOP.
Although I do have this headcanon that Hanji and Shockwave don't get along because she takes one look at Shockwave and says "For a guy who managed to fuck with god and create the most adorable lizard ever (referring to Predaking), not building yourself a new arm and face just seems...illogical."
Shockwave wants to kill her after that comment because he refuses to acknowledge her logic.
30. Tooth-rotting fluff vs merciless angst? I think you fail to understand how well these two can work in tandem. Because the Fluff is the stuff that you want to add and see that isn't shown in the show. Like I write certain fluff moments like the Survey Corps and Optimus dancing and Optimus showing the bioluminescence to them because it's character building. It makes them happy. They have this moment of peace in the chaos of their lives.
This makes the merciless angst all the more heartbreaking because as you reflect on the moments of peace and happiness, the angst solidifies the fact that those moments will never be the same. You can never get them back. They are gone.
35. What can I ramble about without spoiling too much?... *Snaps fingers* Got it.
Megatron's characterization in AOP is...challenging. Back in 2013 when I first started the story, I wanted to add Megatron for a while but I just wasn't sure how it was going to work or even if it would be popular. The poll that I did on fanfiction.net in chapter 4 all those years ago was really to see how popular Megatron was going to be. Although, Grimlock was an unexpected lead at the time. I think he was first.
But I wanted to take the challenge, not just because Megatron dipping in the series finale left a lot to be desired, but also because I'm sick of the way redemptions arcs are going. I can go on for days about the writing in regards to Catra, Hordak, whatever was going on in MLP.
*Glares at Steven Universe* the Diamonds.
Redemption requires people actively growing and becoming better people. Not continuously defaulting to toxic behavior even after they've been completely accepted into the fold. It's not about getting a slap on the wrist for war crimes that violate the fucking Geneva Convention and beyond. It's about recognizing the consequences of your actions and trying to fix it the best way you can, even though there is a high possibility your victims will never forgive you and they have every right not to. And even if you are pursuing forgiveness, it cannot be just to make yourself feel better, because forgiveness requires the other to let go of their pain and release. Grow to become better, change for the better, no matter how long it takes, because wallowing in your sin and self-pity will only get you so far.
There's only so much that I can do with Megatron considering his heavy war crimes, but I do hope that what I've written with the 16 chapters I have left, is enough for Megatron's character development into a better person. I do use redemption lightly for his scenario because even if he does become a better person, 'redemption' for his crimes is nearly impossible. It can really only be paid for with his life. As to what will be Megatron's fate by the end of the story? You'll find out when I finish writing the last few chapters.
#asks#send me asks#fanfic asks#attack on prime#transformers prime#ao3#fanfic#megatron#optimus prime#survey corps#fanfic writers
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Catradora fan here but I wanted to ask if you think it would've ever been possible for catradora to be done well by the show? It's obviously not a perfect ship but I wanted to know if you thought it had any potential at any point as a viable ship or not? /genq
first off, props to you for being respectful and open to different opinions! it's the bare minimum but not a lot of c//a shippers do that, so i really appreciate it.
secondly, yes. i think the ship did have some potential and there were definitely ways to make it less toxic (and not incestuous) so let me just go through a few things i would change if i were to rewrite this ship:
1. catra and adora would not be raised by the same parent or portrayed with a sibling dynamic. instead they're just close friends, and shadow weaver would be either catra's or adora's adoptive parent. i personally think it would be interesting if shadow weaver was catra's adoptive mother, and hordak was adora's father figure.
going on a tangent here, there's a bunch of reasons why this would be a good choice. one, apparently in the 80s she-ra, hordak was like a father figure to adora, since he's the one who found her and brought her to the horde. the latter is also the case in the reboot so they really could have given us an interesting father-daughter dynamic with these characters.
two, it would create an actual connection between hordak and adora. in the show, we barely see them interact at all, despite them being enemies. it was always adora vs catra, and not adora vs the horde (and hordak). hordak doesn't even have to be abusive or toxic towards adora, in fact, it would help a lot with his redemption if he was actually a decent parent. teaching adora wrong morals, of course, but ultimately caring about her. it would also increase the emotional impact when adora leaves the horde, because she would be cutting ties with a person who genuinely loved her, despite being an evil warlord.
2. catra would show some restraint when fighting adora. the thing that most stuck out to me in spop was how remorseless catra was when fighting adora. it's not even that she's fighting to win or because she had to, she just liked seeing adora in pain. there's no coming back from that.
so i would write catra to be a little more compassionate and not hurt adora more than necessary. i would also add in parts where she's shown to care about adora, despite being on opposite sides. catra wouldn't brainwash adora and revel in seeing her go beserk, or try to gaslight her into staying, and for most part, she would try to avoid a fight with adora.
this would help the story stay true to the “i always loved you” dialogue, because it shows that catra cares about adora deeply, instead of telling us. what spop did was show us catra hurting adora over and over again with zero guilt or remorse, and then have other characters talk about how much catra loves adora or how perfect their chemistry is. not convincing in the slightest.
3. catra's redemption is more detailed and starts earlier, preferably in s4, after the portal incident and angella's death. this goes without saying because her redemption was the worst part of c//a. instead of having her do one good thing and slapping the good guy label onto her, i would show her actually facing consequences of her actions and trying to do better.
the characters wouldn't just gloss over catra's actions but would instead hold her accountable. and she would actually work on her toxicity instead of just saying “sorry i got angry, i'm working on it” and then proceeding to not work on it. i would only get them together after catra is at least 90% redeemed and in a healthier mindset to be in a relationship.
4. adora's arc would get more focus and a satisfying conclusion. in s5, adora's search for her origin and identity is abandoned in favor of c//a. this is so disappointing and just shows that the writers could not give two fucks about adora, the main character. so yeah, while c//a would still get its moments, i would not sacrifice adora's development or arc for it.
5. c//a would not be the “heart and soul” of the show. one of the many things i hated about s5 was how everything revolved around c//a.
glimmer and bow were reduced to the wingmen and paired spares, none of the other characters mattered, angella was completely forgotten, hordak didn't get enough screentime, and horde prime was a weak and badly written villain. all of this was because the creators focused too much on c//a (and even then, failed to make it romantic or appealing). so yeah, while i would still write c//a as a canon ship, i wouldn't sacrifice everything else just for this ship.
thank you for your ask, this is something i've wanted to talk about for a while now!
#spop critical#spop#spop salt#spop criticism#spop discourse#she ra#anti catradora#anti catra#anti spop#anti c//a#antic//a#anticatra#anticatradora
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Anon ask privileges on this blog have hearby been revoked. I may re-instate them at a future time. For now, I’m pissed off and safeguarding.
As for the Disk Horse:
I do not follow anti-spop. They are a blog I do not wish to follow and, normally, am disinclined to reblog from because...it’s right in the name, “anti.” As a general rule, I do not follow or very much like critical blogs / salt blogs. I participate in fandom to have fun. (And, at this point, a bit out of personal spite since Spop is, by far, THE most toxic fandom I have ever been in. I could be spending my time frolicking in the peaceful fields of Hyrule, but noooo, my brain’s gotta chew on moody magical teenagers and spacebats). I also had some people try to kick me out of fandom at one point, so I feel like it’s my duty to hold on like grim death. I am still here.
I happened to be checking up on a blog I saw come up in my suggestion-feed, remembering a person as a fanfic author I liked, decided to see how they were doing, and, boom, I saw an interesting discussion where they’d reblogged anti-spop’s opinion of the series’ treatment of Kyle. The series’ treatment of Kyle is one of my pet peeves in the canon (along with Angella’s being trapped in between dimensions forever and not getting to meet a foreshadowed minotuar-princess), so I reblogged and added my two cents.
After getting home from work (covered in grease and blood and very tired) I moseyed over to check out anti-spop becaue of the anon-rumor. I scrolled through some of front-page content and didn’t see anything that stood out to me as “racist.” In fact, I saw their intro-post citing that they are Brazillian / non-white. So, I suspect they get the accusation of being “racist” a lot by people who disagree with them about Catradora, probably. A few posts down and I saw them being... very, very anti-catradora. Having once followed entrapdak-shippers, some of whom really dislike catradora who got into conflicts with catradora-shippers and seeing a lot of rawr back and forth, I did see a lot of heavy catradora-shippers flat out accuse people who did not like the ship of “racism” (because Catra is supposed to be Brazillian / hispanic or something? I don’t know). So, given the history of shipper-politics, I really do think someone was rumor-milling me because “oh, no, they follow me / look in on me and see me reblogging something from someone who hates their ship.”
Look, I’m just tired of the mess. I am not anti-anything. Maybe if someone were to start shipping Frosta with Horde Prime or something, but, in general, the shipwars in this fandom tire me and the anti-character rhetoric tires me. I honestly like all of the characters in spop. Yes, I’m a primary entrapdak-shipper and Entrapta and Hordak-fan, but.... here’s my little secret...(or not so secret if you’ve followed this blog for a while and seen the kinds of fanart I reblog)... I *don’t* hate Catra. There was one time when I borderlined on doing so when I was deep into the entrapdak-fan-hole hanging out with a lot of negative fans, but I kind of kicked myself out of it by actually re-watching the series. I like Catra, a lot. She’s a great character, very interesting and dynamic. I might keep Hordak as my evil pookie-bear, but Catra gives me a lot of feels, too. And I like Catradora. After chilling out a little and actually observing again Catra’s genuine trying-to-make-good actions in Season 5, I’m really not of the school of “Oh noes, she’s been toxic, therefore she’s toxic forever.”
As someone whose gone through a butt-ton of therapy over the last year because of my own issues... I don’t believe in “toxic forever” in someone who is shown to be trying to make good. I can’t. In other words, running it back into fandom... I don’t believe that redemption applies only to tall goth warlords who were raised in cults. I’m willing to extend redemption in this fandom to everyone but Prime. (Hell, even Shadow Weaver can get redeemed with a skilled enough fanfic author)!
I don’t even care how the Catra-stans have treated the Hordak-stans anymore or vice versa. Drop it. Let it go. The same for the Glimmadora-shippers or whatever.
And you know what? Someone may detest your favorite ship for whatever reason. Doesn’t give them vibes they like. Maybe they interpret the characters together as toxic or whatever. It doesn’t mean that you should be making assumptions about them and spreading anon rumors about them that you can’t back up.
If the blog I reblogged from is, in fact, racist (and isn’t just “they don’t like your ship”) give me examples! Cite them! Show me posts where they’re being awful!
Until then, rumors and fandom politics can eat a sack of donkey-dongs.
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Entrapta and The Spectrum Of Morality
When I began to rewatch System Failure, the sixth episode of She Ra, I was planning on centring my analysis around Bow and the kitchen staff and their self actualisation in comparison to all the powers that were failing. But as I continued, a much more interesting (in my opinion) aspect made itself obvious.
This is an episode that dissects morality at every possible opportunity. Through its characters, through its conflict, even through its dialogue. This theme is more concentrated here than any episode so far. And that includes The Sword and Razz.
Let me explain.
SPOILERS AHEAD
She Ra is a series with a defined moral spectrum. It has an objectively evil character in Horde Prime and an objectively good character in Mara. Everyone else falls on a spectrum that is highly personal to each audience member, with characters like Scorpia and Perfuma falling closer to Mara and characters like Light Hope and Shadow Weaver falling closer to Horde Prime. Argue amongst yourselves as to where your favorite character fits on this scale.
I have taken care to avoid placing Adora and Catra on this spectrum because their places fluctuate by the minute and that is contingent on the situation, the places of each other (geographically and on this scale) and on She Ra, who fits in a different place to Adora for most of the series. These two are a mess that embody this theme whole heartedly so much that they will need a separate post to even begin to discuss it.
You will notice that this spectrum does not take into account alignment within the war (for the most part), and that is because that doesn't really have any effect. One of the evillest characters, in my opinion, is Shadow Weaver, and she switches alignments on a dime.
Anyway, in the exact centre of this spectrum is Princess Entrapta. A character with exactly zero care about good and evil, and who instead focuses on beauty and science. Crucially, her alignment revolves around creation vs destruction. Even later on in the series, in the famous Beast Island incident. Her "this is wrong" moment is triggered by the promise of science being used to destroy something beautiful. She is working on a different axis to everyone else. She isn't morally grey at all; her system of values just doesn't fit with everyone else's. In effect, she perceives the world differently, and that which the other characters fit into can't accommodate her until it actively tries to understand her.
In Entrapta's introduction, the camera doesn't know whether to treat her as a hero or a villain. In this scene, she is literally shown as a villain, shrouded in darkness, late reveal, people talking about her in hushed voices. That is villain cinematography 101. She even bites off more than she can chew, and summons an even bigger bad guy, filling the mad/evil scientist role to a tea.
But then the story sympathises with her. She is the victim, the eccentric, the lovable maniac.
The cinematography is trying extremely hard to confuse you, and muddle your perception of this character based entirely on how others perceive her. Once again, her grey morality is based entirely on how she is viewed in relation to other characters, not taken on her own terms.
Also interestingly, the series goes out of its way to conflate good with nature and evil with technology, and Entrapta is the unrivalled Master of Technology in this series, so she should be evil with that theming, right?
But there is more to the moral exploration here as well. Most notably, what is actually going on with the first ones' tech in this episode? Because that is weird, right? It corrupts. It takes tech and turns it "evil". This is first ones' tech we are talking about. The first ones who are idolised in this series for how much good they do (up to this point at least) Forgive me for being old fashioned, but I'm not sure unconditionally good things directly cause evil.
Look at what it does to She Ra, she just comes into contact with it and she goes ballistic, and Adora gets... I think she gets intoxicated? This episode doesn't explicitly state anything about the first ones, but it does do a lot of implying.
One last detail that I want to point out is coding. This is a term in literature where certain traits are put into a piece of media to imply meaning without stating it. This stops being coding once it stops being subtext and becomes explicit. For example, Billy Elliot in the film of the same name is coded as bisexual or gay depending on the viewer, whereas Vi and Caitlyn in Arcane are explicitly in a lesbian relationship. Coding is arguable, explicit stating is not. Do you see the distinction?
With that said, Entrapta isn't coded as neurodivergent, she is explicitly neurodivergent. This is important to the discussion because that factor is what has been conflated, in universe and out of it, with her moral greyness. Her hyper fixation with her technology and science leads her to prioritise that above all else and so she is fine with switching sides, this is the opinion that I have heard and that I would like to examine.
What this analysis fails to take into account is the rest of Entrapta's character, and the characters around her.
Shadow Weaver, Double Trouble, Adora, Scorpia, and Catra all switch sides at various points in the series, and their neurodivergence is arguable at most.
Also, as previously mentioned, Entrapta does have an incredibly strong sense of morality, it just spins on a different axis to everyone else's. That doesn't make her less moral, it makes her different, and that is why Entrapta's character was written like that. She is misunderstood because she thinks in a slightly different way, and this doesn't fit into the conventional thinking. Yes, she is morally nuanced, because literally everyone in this series is morally nuanced, with exactly two exceptions, but Entrapta is not morally grey.
Different is not evil, different is just different, and what this series explores with Entrapta, is this: You need to be open to different understandings, otherwise an extremely reductive view on things like good and bad can leave people out. Simplicity is comforting, yes, but its not effective. Entrapta, through the simple act of existing in the story, forces everyone experiencing it, to adopt a nuanced view of morality, and the world itself.
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#rants#literary analysis#literature analysis#character analysis#what's so special about...?#she ra and the princesses of power#she ra#she ra spop#spop#she ra entrapta
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Lonnie: Arc, Personality, Role, and Other Changes (Pt. 1)
Part 2
So, if you haven’t seen the context for this AU, just look at the pinned post on my blog (which will have a link to another post which will have the better description)
This post is going to go over almost everything you’ll need to know about Lonnie in this AU, from the role she has in the story, the changes in her character, her arc, and other things about her. I won’t go over her full timeline in this post or all the events of this AU that she’ll be involved in, but I shall summarize some important general events.
Intro
In this AU, like in the the show, Lonnie is a member of Adora’s squad, but unlike in the show, she plays a special role in said squad (as I went over in another post). She is the squad’s cavalryman, mechanic, and navigator, and kind of the only one to know how to drive a truck, skiff, boat, etc (this is why Catra and Adora will be really bad at flying a skiff in the first episode).
She is also Adora’s (second) best friend, or at least a pretty close friend. Lonnie and Catra are more rivals than anything else (Lonnie doesn’t bully her in this AU), but their relationship changes after Adora leaves and Catra gets a promotion. Due to a need for familiarity and a secret sense of trust (though Catra won’t quite admit this), Catra decides to essentially make Lonnie what is kinda her Right Hand Man (though Scorpia becomes her second in command. The two roles can co-exist).
Lonnie also gets a promotion later, by the second season, and becomes a Major (a few ranks below Force Captain. Basically a normal Captain in the context of the Horde). Because of this, she is often tasked with helping execute many of Catra’s plans. But she also does have a mini-arc centered around becoming a leader and what that means.
She ends up being a minor antagonist in some of the earlier seasons, with a subtle character arc evolving overtime, and Season 4 fully kicks off her arc, before she eventually begins to dismantle the Horde from the inside, and finally leaves by the end of the season.
She then becomes a supporting character in Season 5.
Personality
As much as I love both Lonnie and She-ra, they really messed up when portraying her personality. Though she was shown to have some complexity, half the time it felt like she was just the “Angry Black Woman.” You can disagree with me on that one, but that’s what it felt like sometimes. Of course, sometimes a Black female character who is frequently angry can work, but that’s only if it’s because they have something to be reasonably angry about.
So I decided to take a few of Lonnie’s pre-existing traits, change a few others, and add some new things to fit the type of story I’m trying to tell in order to make a more fleshed out character who doesn’t fit into so many negative tropes/stereotypes.
This Lonnie will sometimes be angry about stuff, but the causes of her anger are quite understandable and not just a personality trait. If they seem “out of nowhere,” it’s because her anger is caused by an underlying problem that she refuses to address because weakness in the Horde is punished.
One major cause of anger for her is the secret sadness she feels over Adora having left her and everyone else, and because Horde soldiers like herself are taught to turn sadness into anger, she expresses those feelings of hurt and betrayal through anger and rage. These shall both be major parts of her arc as a character.
Another that gradually builds up over the course of the series is her frustration with Catra, especially after the portal incident. Lonnie has to watch as someone she once considered a friend slowly becomes an abusive boss, and it’s frustrating to deal with both a boss like that and that unexpected and conflicted feeling of betrayal over a friend treating you like that.
One final point about Lonnie’s anger is that she often expresses it in the form of quiet, cold, stony anger, which she prefers to release in private. Sometimes she will get a bit snippy with people, or will express it to those she trusts, or will use it for strategic purposes. But other than that, she feels uncomfortable expressing her anger in a fiery way because it makes her feel like she’s letting her emotions take control of her or that she can’t control herself. So she mainly just keeps these things to herself.
I will give Lonnie plenty of vulnerable moments, as something focused on that will be relevant to the story of the AU is how Adora leaving affected some of the squad in different ways and how Catra’s spiral in Season 4 was hurting those closest to her. It can also help show some of the different types of abuse the Horde kids went through.
She is not a completely strong person, she is a person who pretends to be strong 24/7 when she is really just a traumatized, betrayed, emotionally abused college-aged kid who just wants to be needed. This is an important aspect to her and I want to make that known.
An important character trait of Lonnie’s is her ambition and leadership skills. In the show, she was shown to be probably one of the most competent, mentally stable people in the Horde, and was an amazing leader, despite some of her flaws. I’m keeping that, while adding on the trait of ambition and a need for power.
While she learns how to be a responsible leader and starts to legitimately care about her workers, she starts out a bit more focused on herself and the idea of rising in the ranks. This is due to trauma, which I will elaborate on in another post.
However, her ambition isn’t a completely bad thing, and she doesn’t lose it as she grows, it just changes a bit with her. Her determination is what will cause her to save the day multiple times, overcome harsh challenges, and execute a complex plan in a game of politics and lowkey sabatage.
She is one of the smartest people on the team in terms of common sense. Adora is smart in some areas (maybe), Catra is strategically smart, Kyle is spacially and mathmatically smart, and Rogelio is emotionally smart, but most of them (expect Rogelio maybe) are not particularly common sense smart. This is how the team will get out of multiple tough situations.
One thing that I just semi-randomly decided to add to her as a small character trait: because the Horde is all about being tough and masculine and all that jazz, Lonnie has never gotten the chance to explore her feminine side. So I decided that, while she is a tough girlboss, when she goes to Princess Prom, she discovers that she actually kinda loves the glitter and dresses and stuff. She deserves it. For fun.
All other traits I forgot to mention in this section will be covered in other sections or will shine through in her actions throughout the AU, because I tried to make her very multilayered and human, and I couldn’t fit everything in.
Hopefully you’re interesting in this AU, and I hope to finish the other parts of this post soon! (I’m also doing Kyle and Rogelio at some point, then some other stuff for this, so stay tuned!)
#she ra#she ra and the princesses of power#netflix she ra#she ra netflix#she ra dreamworks#she ra reboot#she ra 2018#lonnie#lonnie she ra#plot prominent horde squad au#pphs!au#let her be happy#i love her#i love her so much#rewrite#character rewrite#au#alternate universe#my au#catra#spop#catra spop#spop catra#catra shera#trope subversion#kinda#more like undoing a trope#horde#horde squad#horde cadets
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