#this could be applied to literally anyone catra cares about
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Just finished the MDZS novel it was amazing and I loved it but I kinda wanted to pitch in with my thoughts on jiang cheng since he seems really widely contested in fandom. Spoilers for the whole story btw.
Now while reading I kept being struck with a sense of familiarity in regards to the Wei/jiang relationship. Now I was in deep a few years back in the She-RA fandom. And the more I thought about it the more I think a lot of the analysis behind catradora can apply here.
Now catra and jiang cheng are very different characters in a multitude of ways but where I think they are really similar is some of their characterization and especially in their values.
Both are very prickly, sarcastic type characters who have difficulty expressing their emotions and making friends but also carry a deep loyalty to those few they do hold dear. Both are also unfortunately saddled to self-sacrificing hero types who would do anything for the greater good.
This leads them to become incredibly divisive because once they feel betrayed by that person they considered their ride or die—they react strongly, harshly, and often in ways borderline unforgivable. Catra almost destroys the fabric of reality and jiang cheng like, murders Wei wuxian and the wen clan and also every trace of both for the next 13 or so years.
But even then, even with the horrible things they do to our protagonists, they are often the most relatable characters. And I think the reason for this is their values. In the end, catra and JC will always always put themselves and those they care about before everyone else.
Catra and JC start each of their series relying on adora and WW as their main pillar of support and friendship. They are such unfriendly unlikable people they don’t really have any other peers with whom they have a good relationship.
At the beginning of the series, Catra literally only has Adora and would put her before everyone else. She holds onto the promise adora made to her to always be by her side like a lifeline. This is paralleled by WW and JC. Jiang cheng puts his clan above everything else and considers WW his basically brother (ie family ie above outsiders). He also takes WW’s promise to always be his right hand man INCREDIBLY seriously considering it a symbol of WW’s loyalty to both himself and his clan. As such, neither can really understand it when adora and WW choose to leave them. To people like adora and WW, they would help literally anyone who needed it, regardless of personal cost. Where catra and JC save their acts of goodness for those they love, adora and WW offer their kindness freely and without discrimination, often very much at their own expense.
Caring so much for these self-sacrificing idiots becomes painful in and of itself. Throughout MDZS, every time Wei wuxian puts himself in danger in their youth—it’s jiang cheng who becomes the most upset. I’d have to reread for more examples but notable are after the wen chao cave debacle and of course when Wei wuxian decides to turn his back on the whole cultivation world and align himself with the the wen clan survivors.
It’s stated that JC blames WW’s saving lan Zhan in the cave on the death of his parents. And I want to explore that almost unreasonable leap of logic a little more. Because it really is illogical. Sure maybe WW caught the attention of the wen higher ups a little early but it was clear they were coming for lotus pier sooner or later. And when they are older and JC confronts WW about it he asks, why would you save HIM. Why would you put Lan Wangji over your safety and by extension the entire jiang clan. He’s doesn’t blame WW for his parents deaths (mostly), he is mostly hung up on how WW could possibly value LW, a boy he barely knows, enough to nearly die and also put the jiang clan at greater risk. He doesn’t understand WW’s intrinsic urge to help whoever he can as much as he can and in fact, feels that this cheapens WW’s loyalty to himself and the rest of his family. If he really prioritized the jiang clan he would never get into such a situation that puts the jiangs in a more vulnerable position. No matter who needs saving, it can’t possibly be more important than self preservation and personal loyalty.
And this is a sentimentJC is never really allowed to express. He’s constantly told the opposite, in fact. He is constantly bombarded by others telling him Wei wuxian perfectly embodies the clan’s founding ideology. He’s free spirited, he is simply attempting the impossible. WW is constantly touted as the ideal jiang, when jiang cheng is the one who would never fail to put the jiangs first. But even so, I don’t think that’s really why he became so resentful. He clearly cares about WW so much— spent countless sleepless nights to save him from the cave, stood up for him against his mother, got captured by the wen clan and had his core destroyed to save him— but still constantly has to live with the fact that WW has a hero complex the size of the titanic. And while everyone always emphasizes his jealousy, I think that this—WW’s disregard for his own well-being in face of perceived injustice is what angered JC more. All he wanted was for WW to focus on his family first and disregard others as less important. But at least back then, he was there. If WW wouldn’t value himself and the family then JC could be his constant reminder. He would become the sect leader and WW would be his number two and maybe then, in such a vital position would WW start putting the jiang clan first.
So when WW gives up everything and goes to burial mound and leaves the jiang cheng for who are also ostensibly strangers, it is a deep betrayal. He would even prioritize the fallen wen clan, the enemy, over his personal ties, the jiang clan. He promised to stay by his side. Throughout everything, even though it hurt when he’d help others without a second thought, at least he had some reassurance that WW would always consider them first. That he’d be his right hand forever. The jiang clan’s twin prides to match the Lan’s twin jades. But, for a few disadvantaged people, WW was willing to give all that up. Once again Wei wuxian put others over himself and even cuts ties with the jiang clan, like JC was probably terrified would happen all along. So even though he knows WW is cutting ties to save the jiang clan face, and at this point still deeply cares about him (brings Yanli to visit, let’s him name Jin ling, etc) he still resents it, and by proxy resents WW. As soon as everything goes to shit and WW is gone—he can’t help but feel anything besides that anger and hurt and spends 13 years extremely cranky and volatile. Without Wei wuxian around to speak for himself jiang cheng begins to look back with an increasingly distorted and narrow, firmly rooted in his own head version of events. Obviously WW never cared about me or my clan and if he valued us over lan wangji my parents wouldn’t be dead, if he valued us over the wens he would never have defected and my sister wouldn’t have had to die protecting him. And his promise, the one thing JC held onto as proof of WW’s loyalty— was broken just like that. There was a time JC believed WW would always be by his side. Forever his right hand man, his twin hero. Why is jiang cheng so mad at WW? Why does all that hurt and resentment build and build and build? Well it’s for the same reason catra loses her shit when Adora leaves her for the rebellion. The same reason reason she cannot fathom how adora can care about some people she just met and barely knows enough to abandon her.
To catra, the rest of the world could burn so long as she and adora were okay. To Jiang cheng, so long as his sect is okay the rest of the cultivation world could fuck off. But adora and Wei wuxian constantly break that bubble. They are loyal, yes, but that loyalty isn’t exclusive. They just can’t let the world burn, if someone else is in danger or needs help, they can’t help but do what they can to provide it. It’s a character pairing practically oozing with conflict and the promise of hurt feelings.
In the end, these relationships are so juicy because each of these characters are exactly what their counterparts need. The selfish to balance the selfless. The self preservation where there is next to none. They are duos stronger together than apart and so their almost inevitable separation hurts so much more.
#mdzs meta#mdzs wei wuxian#mdzs jiang cheng#she ra spop#catradora#meta#catra meta#jiang cheng analysis#character analysis#mxtx novels#mxtx meta#mxtx analysis#mdzs analysis#shera analysis
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Lilith Clawthorne has Borderline Personality Disorder: an essay
Content warnings: mentions of abuse, cults, and self harm
I don't have much of an intro but I need to get some things out of the way.
First off, this is an essay that I made mostly for fun and because I feel like more people need to hear about this. I am not excusing Lilith's actions in any way, though hopefully this may explain some of them.
Secondly, as you might know I have BPD myself. I'm self diagnosed yes, but I still have enough symptoms. I see a lot of myself in Lilith, as well as several traits, and I hope that this essay will be informative.
With all that being said, let's get into the analysis starting with the symptoms that are only hinted at. One of the hallmarks of Borderline Personality Disorder is an intense fear of abandonment, which Lilith seems to display disgusted as her desire to cure Eda's curse. If it's not clear enough, Eda's really the only thing Lilith cares about, which makes sense since she's clearly the only thing she has. We know that she isn't super close to Amity, despite what fans want to believe, we don't know if she's formed any positive relationships with anyone in the Emperor's Coven and it would say a lot of she didn't. With all that in mind, she is clearly very close to Eda and whenever she tries to get away from her, Lilith is always either pissed off or saddened. Sure, this could just be because she wants to heal Eda's curse and is most likely being punished by Belos, and that's why this is listed as something that's hinted at. Then again, Catra from She Ra is BPD coded as well and she mostly wanted to bring Adora back to the Horde because Shadow Weaver wanted her and was an abusive piece of shit, but it was pretty obvious that she also just wanted her crush and only friend back, so I don't see how this can't be applied to Lilith as well.
Lilith seems to have a black–and–white view on the people around her and maybe even herself. Whenever Eda escapes her, she suddenly flips from being loving and caring to her and really acting like she cares about her to treating her like she just pissed on her waffles. Her way of viewing other people (mostly Eda) is another symptom of BPD, being a black–and–white view on everything and rapid changes in self image and views of everyone else. One moment she views Eda as a beautiful and loving sister, the next she's just an old woman slowing her down. One moment Belos is a trustworthy leader, next he's a monstrous tyrant. One moment Luz is an annoying child she can use as bait, next she's her only hope in saving Eda.
She seems to harbor some of these feelings to herself as well. One moment she acts like she's fully aware of the baddie she is, and next she seems to hate herself. Another valid explanation is that this could also be viewed as her hiding her insecurities since she is clearly one to hold back those emotions and she only ever seems to let Eda see this side of her (save for Luz in the season 1 finale) but this is still a common BPD trait that seems to fit her so it would make sense.
Now let's move on to the more explicit symptoms. If it's not obvious enough, Lilith has some major anger issues. She was ready to kill Eda after she did as much as annoy her in Covention and tell her how worthless her life is after she (actually Luz) escapes her in Once Upon a Swamp. It was certainly reasonable for her to be upset about Luz accidentally blowing up the side of a building, but she had a worse outburst over her sister rhyming.
Now we move on to what I think is her most obvious trait: her impulsiveness. Like I said before, Lilith tends to have sudden violent outbursts and act without thinking. It doesn't excuse anything she's done but it certainly does explain a LOT.
It could be a possible explanation for why her first instinct was to use Luz as a human shield while she was fighting Eda and threw Luz off a cliff in order to get Eda to use all her magic instead of making a new bubble for Luz or doing literally anything that WOULDN'T harm Luz. This could maybe (key word) also provide an explanation for why she cursed Eda instead of going and talking to her (assuming she didn't), but her disorder seems to stem more from trauma than it does genetics, both of which are ways BPD can manifest.
Mood swings are another symptom she definitely has, but that can easily be paired with the point about her changes in self image and how she views others, as well as the points about her anger and impulsivity, so I won't go into detail about that.
Depression, guilt, and ongoing feelings of emptiness are obvious traits that don't need much explaining.
The last major trait wanna bring up is self harm and self destructive and suicidal behavior. I couldn't really find any point in which she showed any suicidal tendencies or urges to hurt herself and it is most likely that she won't be showing those traits at any point in the future, though I do believe it is possible that the show may depict self destructive behaviors in her. Obviously, she wouldn't be shown cutting or burning herself, but maybe it could be displayed in a more PG fashion such as her not taking proper care of herself or having risky behaviors.
There are nine main traits of BPD and one needs to have at least five of them to get a diagnosis. Lilith seems to exhibit six and possibly seven of these traits. I could end it here by saying that Lilith definitely has BPD and needs a hug, but we're not done yet.
Despite what most people might say about borderline people and how we're depicted, we're more likely to be victims of abuse than we are abusers. Most of the time the trauma from the abuse is the cause of the disorder, for those who don't inherit it. Many people with the disorder have claimed to have been physically, sexually, psychologically or emotionally abused or neglected during their lifetime. We don't know the exact details of Lilith's time in the coven or what it was like for her, all we know is that it was basically a cult and she definitely experienced some form of abuse. We know that emotional and psychological abuse were definitely present in her and Belos's relationship, and there is definitely a possibility that there was some physical abuse as well. As for neglect, there isn't really anything that can support the claim even if it seems plausible, and logically speaking, she most likely wasn't sexually abused simply just because this is a family show, so unless Disney is ok with Dana going THERE, that one's a little too far out of the realm of possibility.
So, where does that leave us? Well if I'm being honest, she definitely seems to have a case of untreated and probably undiagnosed BPD caused by a series of traumatic events. And the thing is, she's only in 6/19 episodes in the series so far, and we've probably only really seen the tip of the iceberg. She could have a lot more going on with her that we will definitely see in season 2, I highly doubt she won't.
Lilith is definitely BPD coded, and whether the rep is intentional or not, it's still something I can consider good rep. It's super rare that you find borderline characters in the media that are not abusers, manipulators, or terrible, irredeemable people in general. Lilith is not a bad person whatsoever, and even if she's not much of a good person either, she's not irredeemable. She certainly has a long way to go, but with proper guidance and psychological help, she will get there eventually.
I would like to finish this off by saying I'm not trying to excuse or condone her actions, I am simply addressing how it's possible for her to be borderline, based on what screen time she has and my own experiences. I just want to express my appreciation for what rep we have, as well as analyzing her character a bit.
Thank you all for reading
- Sunny
#the owl house#toh#lilith clawthorne#toh lilith#lilith#emperor belos#edalyn clawthorne#eda clawthorne#toh eda#toh luz#luz noceda#tagging them just because they're mentioned and important#cult mention#bpd#Borderline Personality Disorder
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For we will raise you, in safety and peace
Okay, tumblr ate the first attempt at this post, hopefully it doesn’t devour this one as well!
Here’s the deal, I can’t seem to figure out a good ending for this fic to save my life and I don’t want it to languish in the pile of unfinished wips. So I’m going to post what I have here on tumblr to at least get it out there somewhere. If anyone has suggestions for an ending I am all ears!
HUGE shoutout to @venn364 for helping me figure this fic out to this point and for helping me Horde-ify hush a by baby!
Rating: Teen (for some cursing)
Category: F/F/F
Relationship(s): Glitradora (Glimmer/Catra/Adora)
Characters: Glimmer, Catra, Adora
Warnings: None apply, this is a fluff fic
Additional Tags: Multiple PoVs, fluff, happy fic, happy ending, crushes, idiots in love, dorks in love, young children, Catra deals with the curse of being cute, Adora is a massive dork but what else is new, Glimmer tries to flex on her crushes by singing, lullaby, hush a by baby, post war, post canon
Summary: During the post-war reconstruction of Plumeria, Glimmer volunteers herself and voluntells her crushes to take care of the local children to keep them out from under foot. She just, didn’t expect the Horde to require childcare as part of their regular duties and rotation.
Or
Three Sapphics watch one another interacting with young children and go, “Well guess I’m somehow more in love, cool cool cool.”
Adora and Catra looked at one another and shrugged. “Yeah okay.”
Glimmer was relieved, don’t get her wrong, but that was…not exactly what she’d expected. “Just like that? That simple?”
It wasn’t like she’d expected them to just hop on board with her, even if she’d wanted this to all pan out.
Catra rolled her eyes, a bit too theatrically thanks, before answering, “Well, I mean, sucks to be doing Cadet chores again, but, whatever. Just a buncha kids.”
“I feel like I’m missing something,” Glimmer grumbled, rubbing a hand at her neck. “You’re not trying to act too cool, and you’re not freaking out enough.”
They shared another confused look before Adora spoke up. “I mean, why would I? We’ve done a bunch of rounds at the Infant Pods, more than our fair share in fact.” That last part she said with a pointed look at her oldest friend.
Catra stretched lazily, “I will not apologize.”
“Point is, we can do this. It’s pretty simple over all, especially with you there as a third!”
Glimmer laughed, “Wait. Hang on, seriously? I’ve never babysat before but you two have?”
“Really? Weird. But, uh, yeah. Everyone in the Horde has some child rearing experience, it’s literally part of your Cadet chores and rotation.”
The galaxy must be on it’s side right now. The Horde, the EVIL Horde, had enforced babysitting chores. “Why?”
Adora shrugged, “Well someone has to make sure they’re clean and fed, doing their homework-”
“Not destroying property or getting in dangerous situations before we could send them to the meat grinder-”
“Keeping them out from underfoot, and getting their energy out too.”
“Also the whole, sometimes babies just die when you don’t, like, hold them enough thing. ...What? Did you think Hordak was at the Pods rocking them to sleep?” Catra laughed.
It certainly was an image. Glimmer giggled as she pictured Hordak overwhelmed by a literal wave of babies. “No, I just never thought about it I guess. You’ll have to teach me.”
They both grinned and Glimmer felt her heart skip a beat. It was, look, don’t judge, it was a really, really good look on them, okay?
It only took a few minutes to arrive at the temporary nursery Perfuma had set up. While Plumeria was still being cleaned up, she’d wanted a safe place for the children to go, and only needed a few extra hands to help as she pulled her subjects to help redesign their homes. Not that she’d put it like that. Something about syncing their harmonies while reconnecting with their innermost roots? The point was that Glimmer had offered to help mostly to help and partially to avoid another extremely long and boring meeting, but one teleporting queen with no childcare experience was not ideal. Perfuma had been the one to suggest Catra and Adora, seeing as the reconstruction really relied more on Perfuma regrowing the homes in this particular space.
So, they were working with what they had. And apparently that meant Horde soldiers. Experienced Horde soldiers who knew what to do with kids. Weird!
~
When they arrived, it was chaos.
Catra couldn’t help the small grimace she wore, she’d never been fond of IPD. Kids are loud, they don’t have boundaries or respect for other’s boundaries either. She doesn’t know how many times some toddler or Junior Cadet had petted her or pulled her tail and ears with their mysteriously sticky little hands while covered in snot. But she could also say that the one good thing about it was, without fail, some baby was going to think you were the hottest shit ever. And it had done wonders for her low self esteem as a Cadet to know that she’d always collect a gaggle of kids who everyone claimed were impossible to handle doing exactly what she wanted.
It had actually been kind of hilarious out in the Crimson Waste to use some of the tactics she’d learned in the IP against grown gangsters and thugs.
Catra could also say that the very next best thing about it was watching Adora either slowly unravel into a total mess or watching Adora get all the other kids under her thumb. Not that Adora would think of it like that, the goody two shoes, but kids seemed to naturally either love the blonde or desire nothing more than to destroy her.
Especially at the time, Catra could relate.
She was actually kind of interested to do this now just to see Adora go at it again.
And also Glimmer apparently had no experience with kids and Catra would kill to watch that skiff wreck. No, ugh, she had promised to help hadn’t she? Alright, no watching that skiff wreck unless it happened before she could intervene.
She snickered a little as, just like she used to, Adora gave the attention claps that none of these particular kids would know. Embarrassingly, the old rhythm still made Catra’s back straighten a hair just thanks to the amount of times she’d heard it.
Adora’s voice rang loud and clear across the little fenced in area, “Atten-shun!”
The kids mostly stopped, but Catra had a feeling that was due to an adult shouting and not out of their training. Did rebellion kids have training? They had to get some kind of education for sure. Huh. Probably should look into that, like, now that it was post war and all.
“Hello, salutations, and greetings!” Adora started her old spiel as if she’d never stopped, putting on her ‘force captain’ voice which was almost a mockery more than anything else. Not that Adora realized that. “I am Adora, this is Catra, and this is Glimmer. Today we will be watching, caring, sharing, and not botching a wonderful day of enrichment with you. Starting now we will do our very best to educate, captivate, and celebrate without need to castigate! It is time to have fun and run, uh, under the sun! Can I get a hoo-ra?”
The part about their newly acquired sun was a nice touch, Catra mental gave Adora extra points for finally having learned to change it on the fly. Catra weakly lifted a fist to mutter ‘hoo-ra’ with a few confused kids. Oof. Rough, but not unexpected. These ankle biters hadn’t been trained to respond promptly and loudly to Horde commands.
Yet it still had about the same effect. The children were already split down the middle looking at Adora like she was a complete idiot or like she was the best thing ever. Soon more of them would think she was the best thing ever than not, kids loved Adora’s canned speech. It always got a few laughs. Kids were easily entertained by someone clearly putting on a show and rhyming.
Adora put on an over the top look of bewilderment, putting her fists on her hips in some sort of quasi-power pose before asking, “What kind of hoo-ra was that? I want you to shout from deep in your lungs, you won’t sound dumb when it’s all in good fun! Now can I get a HOO-RA?”
Catra gave a slightly more enthusiastic call, and was delighted when Glimmer gamely screamed her head off and then blushed as the kids stared at her, because they had still not shouted. Alright, this had already paid off! Nothing better that watching Glimmer blush like that.
Adora was smiling warmly at the queen, that was always a good look on her. “I SAID HOO-RA!”
This time they managed to get most of the brats on board. A whole army of kids no taller than her waist who were thrilled to scream, a few even did it more than once. It was kind of nostalgic.
“THAT’S what I call a call! I am floored by this horde-” Adora’s eyes widened in panic as she tried to pivot her pre-written speech for a second time. “-o-of wards! Floored! I am floored!”
Aaaand twice was one too many alterations. As much fun as it would be to watch Adora fall apart over it, Catra knew it was mean. And she was trying to, you know, to be less mean.
“Ca-Adora,” wow this was harder than she’d thought. She hadn’t almost called Adora a Cadet in years. “Will be working with any of you who’d like to play a singing and marching game. Line up in front of Adora if you want to join.”
Catra grabbed Glimmer’s hand to pull her forward, which really was only for the benefit of getting to hold Glimmer’s hand. “Anyone who does not want to play a game can join us, we will be taking care of the infants so it’ll be quieter.”
She was not surprised when most of the children flocked to play. There were always a few quiet ones or nervous ones who would hang back, and she was counting on it. Sure enough four kids shuffled their way instead of towards Adora, who was already sorting her little platoon into rank and file, teaching them a quick sound off to learn their names.
Catra motioned between her and Glimmer, “You know our names, what are yours?” The kids shifted awkwardly, looking at one another to start. Catra smirked. “If you don’t want to say I will give you a nickname. For instance, this is now Sparkles.”
Glimmer glared at her, but Catra didn’t stop or let her get a word in edgewise. She pointed at the first kid with glasses, “You can be Specs, short for specification.” A bold faced lie if she’d ever told one. “Stripes, I like your shirt!” Less of a lie. “Flower Power just like Princess Perfuma,” she nodded to the boy with a flower crown. The last kid was nervously shifting hoof to hoof, “And Two Step you got some fancy looking moves.”
“And what do you all think we should call Catra?” Glimmer asked, grinning evilly, as if the kids wouldn’t just suggest kitty or fluffy or whiskers. Maybe tails if someone was feeling creative.
“Kitty!”
Catra chuckled, it was like clockwork. “How about Big Cat? It’s cooler than Kitty!” They nodded gamely to the change. “Cool. Now, does anyone want to help me with the babies? We just need to hold them.”
That was how Catra found herself leaning back against a tree with an infant sleeping on her chest after she’d situated Glimmer and the quartet. All while snickering at some of the concerned looks being shot their way as Adora got the platoon marching and singing. If they weren’t gonna get their asses in gear to manage all the hyper kids, then they could suck it up. Besides, it wasn’t even that intense of a song.
“I think that learning is cool!” The kids echoed after Adora. “Which is why I will stay in school!”
It was schlocky and dorky, if she’d been over there she’d have died of embarrassment already.
Still, Catra couldn’t help but melt a little as Adora exaggerated a high march and then kids behind her did basically whatever they wanted as she marched them around the nursery. It was nice. Even if it made Adora look really dumb, it also made her look happy. Something Catra hadn’t seen a lot of from her in years. Oh no, she was getting mushy about this now?
Disgusting. She needed a distraction stat.
“Anyone have a good story?” Catra asked and after a beat of silence, promptly ignored the kids as they started almost talking over each other to tell something about their day or who knows what. Thankfully Glimmer seemed interested even if a little stiff and awkward. Catra was grateful that her fur hid a sudden blush as she watched Glimmer holding a baby and being enthusiastically engaged in the kids' stories.
Wow.
She gets away from the Horde for less than a year, and now she’s getting sappy over Sparkles.
Gross.
~
Adora, of course, had a plan. A good one with details and everything!
She was using her patented IPPA (thankfully, things had to be going pretty bad for her to resort to Infant Pod Plan B) and so far things had gone well. She’d taught her platoon to march, even got them to make up some rhymes to sing for it (even if she’d had to backtrack after one of the boys said ‘butts’ and everyone then started to just scream sentences with little sense ending with ‘butts’). After a bit of that she got them doing some basic exercise with her. Jumping jacks and running, she’d then start a game of charge and was already wincing in sympathy pains as some of the kids hurled themselves full speed at the enemy team only to fold in half around their linked arms. Still, the point was to give them free reign here to lose their minds and wear out their bodies a little in preparation for a well earned nap or quiet play time.
After making sure that Catra had eyes on her group, Adora left to hunt down water for everyone, and maybe spent a little time making heart eyes across the field.
Catra, despite what she thought, was pretty good with kids. Especially little infants. Between her fluff, heat, and purrs she was an instant baby soother. Adora would know, she was once the only big baby that Catra would soothe the same way. When they’d been younger, Catra used to lose her temper during IPD, but the older they got the more she’d pull it together. There had always been something heartwarming about watching Catra sit down with a kid who was upset and listen to them intently.
Then there was Glimmer. Gosh, she’d been so nervous going in, but seemed to be quickly becoming a favorite. Because Glimmer always listened to people, no matter their age, and her high energy responses appeared to be winning her fans. The more she integrated with the kids, the more she relaxed too. And there was something absolutely mind blowing about watching her bounce a little baby in her arms, while gasping in genuine delight at something a kid had scribbled into the dirt with a stick.
Adora didn’t even blush, didn’t feel a lick of shame as she quietly got affirmation that yes, girls.
“Ew,” one of the kids snickered after finishing their water, looking right at her before making a face.
She smiled, shrugging and offered her best, worldly advice. “Girls are great.”
“Ew.” They repeated before giggling and skipping away to their friends.
Whether they eventually agreed with her, liked boys instead, like everyone, or even no one, Adora felt very assured in her assessment of wow girls pretty, so she let it slide.
Later, standing at the barrel and handing out gourds of water or helping kids re-apply their protective balms (the sun was nice, but the sun could apparently burn you which was insane), she did another check. Taking note of any particularly worn out kids to send over to Catra’s group, and was very pleased that no one seemed to be really injured. Man, this was way easier than manhandling Recruits who were about to be Junior Cadets. Maybe she could do this more often? Without all the jockeying for power and praise it was actually fun.
After another thirty minutes whizzed by according to her internal clock, Adora decided it was time to start her platoon’s cool down for water and snacks. Maybe a nap after that. It was all smooth sailing!
Adora managed to make eye contact with Catra, flashing a quick few hand signs they’d made up when they were eight and almost lived in the pods between Adora’s clumsiness and Catra’s random bursts of high energy. Catra nodded, both hands occupied as she bottle fed one of the infants, and Adora almost died. First of cuteness, because Catra was looking so cute! But also from laughter because Glimmer’s tongue was sticking out between her teeth in concentration as she carefully fed another infant. And also because she looked super cute doing it!
What a sight!
It took her another minute to realize she was just standing there staring at them with a horrifically soft smile on her face. And Catra was staring back with an equally mortifying soft look. And Glimmer was now looking between them with her own embarrassingly tender look.
So this is how I die, public affection.
For some reason this was the thing that set her off. Blushing as red as her jacket, Adora pivoted around to call the platoon to get some snacks and more water. Which, considering most of them were either still singing or making up marching songs, took a little bit to organize.
~
The snack and water break had been decently timed, they had just finished burping the last of the babies when Adora called all the kids over. Catra waited with Glimmer until everyone else had something to eat, before mingling as best she could. It was more second nature to keep her head on a swivel, making sure no kids were making a jailbreak and no one was beating someone else’s face in. Although that probably wasn’t a concern on the Rebellion side. Maybe she’d have to rescue a kid from suffocating under a bunch of hugs?
She shrugged and got a gourd of water, barely finishing it before Two Step tugged at her hand. They’d only gotten more energetic the longer they’d been helping, so she wasn’t even surprised when they asked, "Can I pet your fluff!?"
Catra sighed heavily. This is what she got for wearing a crop top around children. She turned to look at the Two Step and smiled as best she could while also dying inside. If she didn’t let it happen following her own rules, many kids would simply find a way to make it happen anyways. Better to get it out of the way and without sticky hands. Seriously what do kids even do that makes their hands that sticky? "Sure, but only if I can touch your antlers, they look fuzzy."
They almost stabbed her in the stomach with said nubbly antlers in their excitement, apparently oblivious for at least a moment about how fragile they were. Two Step was still wiggling around the way they had the whole afternoon as they rushed to explain, "They are! They’re new and growing in bigger and my dad says that someday they’ll be HUGE like his!"
She ran a few fingers carefully along the warm velvet and nodded, it was softer than she’d actually expected it to be, and it almost seemed like she could feel the blood pumping in them? Or maybe her brain was messing with her? Either way, weird. "Neat. Your turn kiddo."
Catra did her best to not groan in annoyance when the girl simply leaned forward to rub her face on the fluffiest part of her belly.
"You said pet."
"I am petting!"
"Petting is done with your hands, not your face."
"Says who?"
Well shit, had her there. “...alright, well played.”
She glared as the trademark a high pitched whistling sound of cooing alerted her to Glimmer and Adora looking at her with hearts in their eyes and sparkles around their faces. Not literally, but she could picture it. The traitors. She could see Glimmer mouthing the words so cute and groaned. She was not cute! Ugh!
“Okay, I think that’s enough.”
Two Step grumbled but let go. “Thanks!” And with that they skipped away to hang out with the other kids.
Oh yeah, definitely time to put the kids down for a nap if they could.
~
It had taken longer that Glimmer expected to calm down the kids. A small handful of them went tearing off around the field cackling like loons as Catra easily loped after them on all fours. Which of course resulted in more kids wanting to get chased for some reason, shrieking in delight each time Catra put on a hair more speed to tap their arms or legs. Eventually even they were exhausted and fell panting into the grass for Adora and her to watch while Catra continued herding. It was adorable and Glimmer was never, ever gonna let her live down her afternoon of being a sheep dog. If only Bow or Entrapta were here to take a picture!
Glimmer reluctantly left her post of watching and jeering at ‘Big Cat’ to help Adora get the youngest ones situated and sleeping rolls or blankets laid out. For the ones who refused to take a nap (whether because they weren’t tired or wanted to pretend they weren’t tired), Glimmer asked around to find a few decks of cards for them to use. She wrangled a promise from each group to be quiet so their friends could sleep, and by the time she’d finished that it was tempting to take her own nap.
Adora was efficiently sorting kids into sleeping spaces, and Glimmer smiled a bit at the way she let pairs and groups just pile up together. Having seen the impossible looking ways Adora and Catra could be found tangled up after a nap, she felt pretty confident that they knew what they were doing.
When Catra finally arrived with the last two kids, both of whom she carried under her arms as they giggled, Glimmer was grateful for the chance to relax a little with her friends. She nudged Adora’s side as they passed and whispered, “Maybe afterwards you can use She-Ra? You know, give them a climbing gym or swing them around.”
Adora blinked rapidly before breaking out in a huge grin and did a little over the top flexing before they made their way over to sit with Catra. And for a few minutes they sat in a peaceful silence, enjoying the sounds of the forest and leaning against one another.
“Pssst,” Stripes rolled over to look at them, making huge puppy dog eyes before asking, “Sing us a lullaby?”
Glimmer’s eyes sparkled as she turned to watch Adora and Catra apparently debate the issue, because hello! Getting to hear them sing lullabies! They rapidly signed back and forth, faces squashing and stretching as they added emphasis to the conversation before they turned and nodded.
“Okay,” Adora said softly, “but you can’t laugh, we only know Horde songs.”
“The Horde had songs?” A little boy asked, popping up from his blanket with a huge smile.
“Yeah we did. To be fair, they’re not uh,” Adora faltered and quickly looked at Catra, which to be fair Glimmer hadn’t considered that the songs they knew might be inappropriate. She quickly decided that she also didn’t really care.
“Adults probably wouldn’t like them here.” Catra supplied with a mischievous grin, apparently knowing that the kids would all be desperate to hear them now.
“Catra!” Adora hissed in what was probably supposed to be a whisper.
“I want to hear!” Glimmer added fuel to the fire and snickered at the look of betrayal on Adora’s face. “What? I do!”
She threw her arms in the air before huffing in her fake annoyed voice, “Fine, I’ll sing a song!”
There was a moment before Adora shakily started to sing both a very familiar tune set to very different lyrics.
Hush-a-bye baby, your crying will cease
For we will raise you, in safety and peace
If the walls crumble, there’s no need to bawl
We’ll burn the villains, princess and all
Glimmer sputtered, accidentally ending it before it even started, not just because the lullaby included a line about burning rebellion citizens to death including princesses. But also because her mother used to sing this to her! “Wait, wait, wait, that’s- that’s not how that song goes!”
“Wha- yes it is!” Adora huffed, arms crossing as she blushed, “I said you couldn’t be mean!”
“First of all, you said I couldn’t laugh and I didn’t! Secondly,” Glimmer cleared her throat to sing her version. She’d always loved singing, even took lessons when she was younger before deciding she’d rather do it for fun. But what was the point of being able to sing flawlessly under pressure if not to flex on your crushes?
Rock-a-bye baby, thy cradle is green;
Father's a nobleman, mother's a queen;
And Buckley’s a washer, who wears a gold ring;
And Tambour’s a drummer, who drums for the king.
Not that she got any further than Adora did before being interrupted as well.
“Ew, it’s all princessy!” Catra jeered playfully getting a few giggles from the kids.
“Uh, yeah, my mom sang it to me when I was a baby!”
“Gross. Ours is better!”
Adora laughed nervously, apparently unsure what to do as their play fight went down in front of a room full of impressionable children. Which, really, was her own fault for not expecting it.
Glimmer puffed up and leaned forward, tapping Catra on the nose just to be a brat before issuing the challenge she knew would get results. “Prove it!”
Ah, the good old stand by of “prove it”, as equally effective as a double dog dare!
So Catra, looking genuinely affronted, took a breath and sang in a wholly and unfairly good voice.
Hush-a-bye baby, your crying will cease
For we will raise you, in safety and peace
If the walls crumble, there’s no need to bawl
We’ll burn the villains, princess and all
Baby is drowsing, valiant and brave
With Hordak’s power, disorder we’ll stave
Though cadet’s sleeping, her dreams we all share
For order and harmony’s, our duty to bear
Hush-a-bye baby, do not you fear
Never mind, baby, your squad is right here
Strong little fingers, but eyes must shut tight
Stay sound asleep now, until morning’s light
“People sang to you as babies about Hordak’s power and burning people?” Glimmer asked, both perplexed at the Horde-ified version and slightly disturbed. No wonder some of their soldiers bought the Evil Horde’s propaganda if this was what they were taught from the cradle!
“Glimmer, I love you, and I say this with as much respect as I can,” Catra said without an ounce of respect in her body or soul, “We grew up in the Fright Zone under the eyes of commanding officers of the Evil Horde. What did you think they sang to us about?”
Well shit, had her there.
#Glimmer#Adora#Catra#Glitradora#SPOP#she ra#fanfiction#fanfic#dorks in love is just *chef kiss*#the Horde sings lullabies to their babies#surprisingly familiar but wildly different lullabies#halp this fic won't let me wrap it up in a satisfying manner so I'm throwing it into the wind to see what falls out#this could absolutely end with them going into a relationship#or it could absolutely end with them just crushing on one another#suggestions are welcome!
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(1) "[H]is needs, physical, emotional, and mental, must likewise be addressed and comfortably handled. I do not accept the idea of something being done specifically to 'punish' him..." Sure, I guess. Hordak should have medical care and mental heath care if needed. He shouldn't be physically hurt or put in jail, Entrapta can help him, etc. And he'll probably be in a lab most of the time anyways. Treating him with humanity will help him be a good person. (Insert swedish prison studies here).
I... ah... Well. Yes. It will.
Though. I guess, for me, treating him with humanity doesn’t have anything to do with helping him be a good person. It’s just a thing that I feel should happen. Whether it makes him a good person or not.
Ensuring that he is safe and comfortable and well isn’t something that I’d want to do in order to help him be a good person. It’s something I’d want to do to ensure that his safe and comfortable and well. For its own sake.
Like... to look at it from the opposite direction: I wouldn’t withhold care or comfort from him if he wasn’t being a good person. Y’know? Like... I wouldn’t deny him a comfortable sleep or medication that helps him feel well because he wasn’t hitting someone’s moral goals. If that makes sense?
(2) So that leaves this: How much freedom should he have? If there was an event where princesses could invite someone, like with princess prom, could Entrapta invite him? On one hand, all the bad stuff he did, his rebuilding/renovation sentence, and the fact that his presence might make people uncomfortable. But on the other hand, saying “you can’t sit with us” punishes Entrapta for something she didn't do. (Entrapta's war crimes and extenuating circumstances are an ask for another day).
I would venture to say he should have as much freedom as is safe for him to have. I suppose I don’t see the point in limiting it? He’s not dangerous. His motivation for taking over Etheria is literally dead and gone. I don’t see a point to imprisoning him.
As far as the specific scenario you mention (Princess Prom), well... remember that the Princess Prom seemed to have specific rules to encourage socialization and harmony in times of conflict (weapons and quarrels left at the door, so to speak). It’s very likely that enemies regularly met at the Princess Prom and were expected to treat one another with civility; I’d expect the same courtesy to be extended to Hordak.
And in terms of him making people uncomfortable... this is a difficult thing to address. On the one hand, yes: people will likely be afraid of him. And rightfully so, considering what he did. And people should not be forced to interact with him if they do not want to.
But on the other hand: such people are likely to be afraid of all of the clones, seeing as they all look the same. And sound roughly the same. And were part of a much more damaging war on Etheria.
Is it “fair” to segregate all clones, Hordak included, forever, to keep other people comfortable? Is Hordak to be kept out of society for the rest of his life, because people are afraid of him? Or should he be kept out of it until... well, when? When he reaches some arbitrary level of “penance performed?” If he finishes rebuilding Etheria, are people automatically going to not be afraid of him now? Yes? No? If they still are, does that mean that he still needs to be kept locked away?
One can go around in circles like this all day because there is no real answer. This is all entirely subjective. The level of segregation, of penance, of restriction, is entirely subjective. And that’s why I don’t really believe in it. I don’t believe in limiting freedom or inflicting suffering due to someone’s subjective opinion.
Rather, I try to ask how further harm can be minimized or prevented. And whether a restrictive measure is actually necessary to prevent said harm.
In terms of Hordak being restricted in some way: I don’t see a reason that he has to be locked away or forbidden from socializing. Do I think that he should be forced onto people? No. I don’t think anyone should be forced onto anyone else, former warlord or no. But I also don’t think that he should be sequestered away from the community that he is supposed to be working to join.
(3) Also, should Hordak have to work constantly on the rebuilding/renovation, save for sleeping and medical leave? Or should he get to take breaks? It wouldn’t be fair for him to take a vacation while villages are still in ruins. Humans and Etherians need rest to have good mental health and be productive, but Hordak is a Prime clone, and the clones are probably designed to work without much rest. So would that be okay for him or no? Do you have any posts that explore this sort of thing?
Absolutely he should be allowed to take breaks. No question. None. For multiple reasons.
First: I do not view Hordak helping to rebuild Etheria as a punishment. And I feel that viewing it that way is... I’m not sure that “mistake” is the right word. Inaccuracy, perhaps? I’m not sure. Whatever one wishes to call it, the point is that Hordak fixing what he broke should not be considered a punishment. Any more than me cleaning up a vase I knocked over should be considered a punishment. It should be considered... well, “fixing what one broke.”
Etheria is Hordak’s home now. The Etherian community is his community. Helping repair the parts of it that he broke isn’t something that should make him suffer; it should be something that he does in order to be a contributing, responsible member of the community he belongs to. If he wishes to stay on Etheria, then it is only logical that he contributes to its successful functioning. Not because he has to “pay for what he’s done,” but because that’s what a responsible community member does.
Keeping him from having breaks or... I guess “enjoying himself” as he does this is, in my mind. an actual mistake.
Something that I always have at the forefront of my mind when considering these things, anon, is that Hordak is healing. Whatever damage he caused, whatever traumas he is responsible for, he is just as damaged and traumatized. He did what he did not out of greed or genuine malice but out of a form of emotional sickness. He did it out of a need to be loved and welcomed and wanted. He did it because he wanted to belong.
Denying him those things until he reaches a certain level of “punishment complete” is... well. In my opinion, it’s another form of what Prime was doing. Another form of “you’re not worthy of happiness or love until you’ve done XYZ.” And I don’t like that. I don’t like that because it disregards the fact that, though Hordak should strive to fix what he broke, he is still an individual who underwent a severe amount of trauma and needs time and support in order to heal. If he does not get that time and support, chances are he will be further harmed. Chances are, he won’t become that well-adjusted member of society. Chances are he will remain emotionally sick and bitter and self-loathing. And those are not chances that I think are worth taking in the name of chasing an arbitrary sense of “fairness.”
Second, though just as important: I take significant umbrage with the idea that it would be acceptable to work clones harder because they’re “designed to work without much rest.”
The clones were “designed” to be brainswashed slaves. They were “designed” to labor and glorify and sacrifice themselves for their god. That absolutely does not mean that they should be exploited as such. To do so would be vulgar.
The clones are people; they should be treated as such, not as the tools their slavemaster indoctrinated them into being. Now, if a clone wishes to work hard because he is comfortable doing so, then so be it. But he should not be expected to do so and be denied rest and relaxation because he was “designed” to go without. That... I’m not sure how to accurately convey how much such a concept disturbs me. A lot. It disturbs me a lot.
Horde clones were purpose-bred as livestock. This was horrific. It is not something that should be taken advantage of by their new Etherian neighbors.
And while I do see that you specify “medical leave” and thus may have taken this into account, I still wish to mention: it is generally understood in this portion of the fandom that, despite the show not really going into detail regarding it come season five, Hordak still suffers from his defect. He is still chronically ill. He is disabled. Demanding that he work at a certain level because he was technically “designed to” is ableist and cruel and can only contribute to his already-deep self-loathing. And this applies to any other clones who might be disabled and hiding it.
Finally: I do actually have a post addressing some of this! And as a bonus, it’s not just about Hordak. It includes Catra, too. It was written in response to some of the complaints I saw regarding both Catra and Hordak being forgiven “too easily.” Specifically, about Catra being so quickly invited into the group, if that means anything. It goes into my distaste at the concept of denying someone a sense of belonging until they achieve a certain level of “redemption.”
Here is that post. A quick warning: it’s a little sassy. I was annoyed when I wrote it. Should be read at one’s own risk, if one is uncomfortable with me being sassy.
I also have an older post about the importance of emotional support in the healing process. I feel like it’s also relevant, as it addresses things like providing companionship to people who may be considered as “not deserving it.”
Here is that post.
Let’s see... what else...
Oh! I also have this post about Hordak being forgiven without being redeemed.
And I think those are the most relevant.
Anyway, anon, I hope that this provided some sort of useful answers for you! If, at any point, I came off as too sassy, I apologize for it. It is not my intention to sound rude, but sometimes I don’t realize when I do. Especially when I write about things that stir emotion in me.
So! Thanks for the questions, anon. Have a lovely evening!
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Imperfection Is Beautiful: An Analysis of Hordak From Netflix’s She-Ra
Before I start I’d like to preface this by saying that I’m normally not the kind of person who really becomes attached to the villains in the media I consume (Zuko from ATLA being an obvious exception). However, leading into She-Ra’s final season I found myself asking one question “Why do I care about what happens to Hordak?” In the back of my head while watching the final I was constantly wondering where he currently was, and was even more invested than I already was during scenes featuring him, during his reunion with Entrapta, and later when he turned on Horde Prime to save her I was cheering the whole time. While I still completely agree with those takes I had while watching, this made me decide to try and take a deep dive into why I and many other fans felt that way. Specifically, what did lead writer Josie Campbell, her team, and the rest of the staff do to turn a character once presented as likely being the shows final boss into a sympathetic and understandable one, and how did they turn Entrapdak, which was once and still partly is viewed as a crackship into one of the stronger presentations of the shows themes of love, and the power of friendship. My hope is that by the end of this essay people who are fans of Hordak’s character can understand better the possible reasons as to WHY they feel that way, and maybe try to explain to those who really don’t like him why so many people do. Now without further ado, let’s get analyzing.
To begin, let me talk about how he’s used in the first season, and how the writers chose to position him in the viewers’ heads. For those who haven’t taken a marketing class before, positioning typically refers to how companies try to position their brand in comparison to other brands in the minds of consumers, and the same concept can be somewhat applied to how storytellers position their characters in regards to each other in the minds of their audience.With that out of the way how is Hordak positioned in the audience’s head during season 1? By the first time he appears on screen Adora has been established as the show's protagonist, her and Catra were friends who have went their separate ways in a tragic scene where Adora pleads for Catra to join her, and Shadow Weaver has been established as a uh… well a giant asshole. So by the time Shadow Weaver brings Catra to Hordak for judgement on not bringing Adora back we are already inclined to sympathize with Catra and likely already dislike Shadow Weaver, Hordak himself has been mentioned in passing but never really anything specific about him, so when we see him for the first time drenched in shadows with red eyes and teeth we’re likely expecting the worst for Catra, a character we probably are sympathetic to at this point in the story. However something interesting happens here, Hordak essentially sides with Catra in this scene. He makes Shadow Weaver promote her, and tells her to stop focusing on finding Adora. So while the show had to this point presented the idea that the endgame for the show is defeating the Horde, and Hordak being the assumed leader of the Horde… he’s still not presented as the character that’s the most hated based on his interactions with other characters. Throughout season 1 the basis of his screen time is telling Shadow Weaver to stop wasting resources trying to bring Adora back, and then at the end of the season assisting Catra’s plan to use the Black Garnet. Essentially every time Shadow Weaver tries to make a move against Adora and Catra; the characters we’re sympathetic towards; he tells her off on it and when she makes an open act of defiance against Catra's plan he throws her in prison. What all of these acts do to the audience is kind of present him as not being as bad as Shadow Weaver. Let me frame it this way. The character who at this point is thought to eventually be the final boss is not the most hated of the antagonists. To me that seems fairly telling, and retrospectively to kind of foreshadow the direction his character would eventually go.
Season 2 I would say is the most he’s ever played as a straight up villain. He’s patronizing to his subordinates and he uses intimidation tactics and light forms of torture on Catra which I think might be the biggest reasons as to why some fans of the show despise him even now. However, this is also the season where the most important relationship he has throughout the show starts to form. One of the scenes Entrapdak fans bring up a lot is when he catches her in his Sanctum (classy) working on the portal machine and he yells “Get out!” in what is pretty obviously somewhat a callback to Beauty and the Beast when you think about it. It’s what I’d call being subtle by throwing subtlety out the window. Sure it is a line from BatB but it’s also just something an angry person says to someone trespassing and considering at this point we know nothing about their relationship and we likely aren’t thinking that these two characters would have an arc together. What I’m basically saying is that while on multiple viewings this scene pretty obviously foreshadows them as part of a beauty/beast narrative, someone watching the show for the first time may not notice that during this scene. At the end of the day however season 2 Hordak is the most purely villainous he ever is during the show, he suffocates Catra in one of his contraptions as intimidation, he starts off disparaging all of Etheria to Entrapta in their initial conversation about portals, he plans to send Shadow Weaver to Beast Island (although the viewer may not care about this one), and if not for Entrapta convincing him otherwise he probably would have had Catra executed. Again, this season is him at his worst and at his most high and mighty. The way the insecure clone of Horde Prime WANTS to be seen, a façade that gets broken down in front of the audience for the rest of the series, in fact it partly gets broken down in this season during the scenes of him without his armor.
The way Season 3 chooses to frame Hordak actually starts in an episode in which he’s not present. During the season’s first episode Adora has a conversation with Bow and Glimmer after Shadow Weaver is found in Bright Moon. During this conversation she talks about how she changed for the better after having been in the Horde all her life, and she says she chooses to believe that if she can then maybe everyone can, even Shadow Weaver. Subconsciously many of us probably thought during this scene “Even Hordak?”. Essentially what this scene does is have the show’s protagonist make a case for not demonizing the show’s current antagonist like many would, it plants the idea that in the viewer’s head that maybe he isn’t too far gone. The previous season showed him growing to trust Entrapta enough to spare Catra because of her advising, which could be enough to show that to be true. While always rough around the edges and teeming with anger he’s never presented as someone incapable of seeing reason, and with Adora’s monologue about believing in the ability of anyone to change that makes us think that maybe he could be given reason to turn away from his presumed history of villainy. Additionally, when Shadow Weaver talked about her motivations for defecting she said “I want to destroy Hordak”, Shadow Weaver being a character that most viewers of the show likely already hate from seeing how abusive and power hungry she behaves seemingly on instinct. The fact that she’s the one bringing up the concept of killing him coinciding with Adora’s monologue may make the viewer sit back and try to reframe how they view Hordak as a character. This idea is what gets played with in his screen time for the rest of the season.
The very next episode is the big one (the holy grail for Entrapdak shippers). During this episode he blocks Entrapta from the blast of a failed portal experiment, she discovers his physical condition, he tells her about his past with Horde Prime and why he’s doing what he’s doing, she builds him new armor while saying one of the most inspirational quotes of all time (Imperfection is beautiful), and he awkwardly tries to properly thank her while getting help from his clone son Imp… Okay so let me just get to the biggest thing I want to talk about for this particular episode. The reveal of Horde Prime as the leader of a Galactic Horde has a huge impact on how Hordak himself is presented as a character. Firstly it presents the idea that Hordak himself won’t be the final boss of the series, thus opening up the audience to be more inclined to sympathize with him going forward. Secondly him literally being a clone brings forth the idea that he never really had a choice in how he turned out, and in a show that to this point has largely been about characters feeling trapped in terms of who they’re supposed to be by their familial figures in itself is likely to make the audience start to sympathize with him in realizing that war and being part of dictatorship is all he knows. Finally, we have him calling himself a failure and a defect in this scene. I feel as though this was done to draw forth parallels between Hordak’s relationship to Prime and Catra’s to Shadow Weaver. Prime called Hordak defective, Shadow Weaver called Catra worthless. Most people watching the show to this point will sympathize with Catra in one way or another and by having another villain in your show be paralleled to her is a way to invoke the audience to sympathize with them as well.
Now, for his interactions with Entrapta this particular episode. First we see him; a man with what seems to be muscular deterioration; using his body to shield her from an explosion. This would seem to show him as someone capable of putting others before himself, which as we learn in season 5 is something completely separating him from being like Horde Prime. After this we have him opening up to her about being a clone, having a defect, his feelings of being a failure, and him awkwardly trying to thank her. This whole sequence of scenes in part reveals a deeper truth about his character, namely the fact that he was for the most part programmed. All of his awfulness of season 2 and from presumed acts from before the show was pretty much what he was made for. He is someone who was literally engineered by an intergalactic dictator and essentially was born into a cult environment. When the only way he can thank her is by awkwardly saying “I acknowledge your work here, it’s very… technologically sound” and after some coaxing from Imp continuing with “No matter what you say, you are not a failure. And any who underestimate you are utter fools” we can gather one kind of tragic fact. Hordak before this point had never felt a positive emotion from anything not related to conquering and technological advancement, in all his time he had never before this felt love or companionship. While the line itself is funny and kind of endearing, it also reveals the underlying tragedy of his backstory. That tragedy being that realistically there was no alternative way for him to turn out up to this point, the fact that this comes from being born in the Horde and the indoctrination and abuse from a familial figure adds another parallel to Catra, and how the abuse cycle of what Prime did to Hordak set him in a place to start up his own empire, bring Shadow Weaver into it, and then she does the same thing to Catra that Prime did to Hordak. Essentially the source of Hordak’s stress and likely trauma is the first domino to fall in causing the events of the show to happen, Prime’s own ego and perfectionism is what eventually caused his downfall.
But I’m getting ahead of myself here, as I still have more to say about this episode. I haven’t even really gotten into specifics on his defect, or his physical disability. Hordak would seem to have extreme muscular deterioration, he seems to have no tissue on his forearms leaving the bone exposed. The reveal is that his armor and technology are holding his physical body together. Most of the time a reveal like this regarding our presumed main villain would be a “The villain is more machine than man” type of trope like Darth Vader in A New Hope, however that’s not what’s done here. The armor and later pseudo-cybernetics aren’t so much to make him truly powerful and intimidate others as they are to cover up a vulnerability, and vulnerability is a very humanizing trait. The way this show chooses to completely subvert a trope here is interesting to me and says something about the series as a whole that I’ll probably extrapolate on later. What this decision says to me is that this show is one that cares about its characters, all of them, even in its villains they will ask you to look at and consider any vulnerability or redeemable quality in your judgement of them.
The next major scene involving him is the conversation between him and Entrapta having the portal machine almost ready. During the conversation they both seem sad about the prospect of being separated when Hordak rejoins Prime and they ultimately decide that they’ll wait to try it until the portal is absolutely perfect. This plan being ended by Catra coming back with the sword of protection. The reason for all he had done up to this point was rejoin with Horde Prime and he was now willing to slow down with trying to return to his brother, perhaps at this point if Catra hadn’t returned he might have scaled back the war efforts and settled for just continuing scientific pursuits with Entrapta, this isn’t guaranteed but it’s something that left open enough in the text of the show to where it can read as an aspect of his character.
The next major scene is when Catra lies about Entrapta betraying him and letting the princesses into the Fright Zone. This scene sets forth where his emotional state is during season 4, he falls to believe that; in spite of their work together and her telling him to not worry so much about being a failure and telling him that imperfection is beautiful; she never really cared about him and was just using him for his own destruction. The end of this season is probably Catra at her absolute worst. Entrapta outright told her that the portal would destroy the planet and then sent her to Beast Island after she used the words “Adora was right”. Having Hordak be another character hurt by some of Catra’s actions at a time when he may or may not have been on a trajectory to become a better person is an interesting interpretation of this scene to me (especially in light of her continuing by pulling the lever of the portal machine) because I feel like it was a great way to show Catra’s continued fall deeper and deeper into desperation and lashing out in anger and her potentially having at this point outgrown Hordak in terms of villainy (expressed in her Azula moment early in season 4). This idea kind of more puts Hordak on a similar level as the other characters, he’s no longer the untouchable ruler of the Etherian Horde if this bad kitty can come in and cause him to have what boils down to a broken heart. This scene is the final piece that to the audience completely breaks down the façade he had been putting on for so long.
Season 4 Hordak is a bit hard to explain. This season is when we see him committing the most on-screen villainous acts of the entire series, however largely he was being manipulated by Catra into actually setting foot on the battlefield. While this season has him being his most morally wrong, we also see this at a time when we’re somewhat newly aware of his vulnerabilities and insecurities and while he’s doing this we also see characters like Catra and Glimmer also falling further and further into behaving immorally or unethically. This kind of puts the audience in a really unique seat where we’re seeing the characters that we’ve grown to care about since the beginning of the series start to fall into something resembling tyrannical behavior like we’ve assumed from Hordak for so long. So while he’s at his worst at this time so is everyone else and in his case many of his actions here stem from believing that Entrapta betrayed him so there’s an extra layer of folly to what’s going on since it all stems from a lie. When Catra is trying to get him to step up the war effort to conquer all of Etheria she succeeds by pulling out the crystal that powers his armor that Entrapta gave him. When it’s removed he essentially collapses powerless. The crystal says LUVD (not that he or Entrapta knew, but the audience can learn it). Essentially this says that he is weak without love, when Entrapta was there, and she made him the armor he was made strong, when she’s gone and the crystal is removed he’s weak.
There’s a scene where Hordak is talking to Catra about how their success would mean that he’d return to Prime’s side triumphant and worthy. When she hears him talk about this she kind of gives a look that shows just how much she actually understands the motivations. The audience knows this as well, we all saw the times when Shadow Weaver called her unworthy. This scene is the show itself basically telling us that any similarities between Hordak and Catra we gleaned from the reveal of his backstory wasn’t just us seeing something that wasn’t there. This scene essentially asks the audience to look at these two characters through similar lenses. It doesn’t tell you exactly HOW to view them, but asks for you to take a step back and measure any hypocrisy regarding how you view their various actions and then leave it at the door. The show asks you to sympathize with Hordak based on similarities with Catra;a character whom the audience probably sympathizes with from the very beginning; and having them both commit similar actions for similar motivations.
Skipping ahead we have this sequence late in the season where Double Trouble cleverly tells Hordak that Catra sent Entrapta to Beast Island and the subsequent battle he has with the cat. The absolute rage and sadness in his eyes as the background completely fades out and we’re just focused on his face with tears starting to come out of his big red eyes while drenched in blackness, and then he just fires off his arm cannon around the room in anger. There’s just… so much to be said about this little sequence right here, it was beautifully done. What this scene expressed more than anything is that even if he didn’t know it, he was totally in love with Entrapta. He heard she was sent to beast Island, a place where he has sent people to DIE. He likely thinks she’s dead, and his first reaction was tears and to destroy part of his lab and then try to kill his second in command in revenge. I don’t know about you but this is something one would pretty much only do if they were in love with someone. Additionally I think the stylization of having the whole background fade to black during this scene is an interesting one. I think one meaning that could be taken from it is that with him believing she was dead he was sinking deeper into the darkness, that his ability to see the lighter side of the world was gone, the one person who could understand him was gone forever and he had spent all that time angry with her while working with her killer. A man who already was prone to self loathing and feeling like a failure now had nothing to lose. I think this is probably why early in season 5 after seeing Catra he goes to get his mind wiped again. Seeing Catra and her calling him by his name brought back some memories, memories that at this point only bring him pain.
Speaking of Hordak and mindwipes though, the next major scene in my reading is the first time we truly see Horde Prime in his full glory. I’m going to focus less on Hordak saying that he did all his conquering for Prime, but more how Prime winds up seeing through him, and the horror that being part of the cultish Galactic Horde actually is. Prime is able to see into Hordak’s thoughts, he brushes his hands against the slot where the LUVD crystal once was and says “There was a time when you wished I wouldn’t come for you” confirming what everyone knew about his feelings towards Entrapta. After that Hordak seems to get basically reset to factory settings so to speak. Horde Prime immediately turns to Glimmer and apologises for his defective brother, she asks if this means he’d leave them alone to which he expresses that he’d have to destroy the planet to cover up the failures, he would have done it if Catra hadn’t brought up knowledge of the Heart of Etheria. What Horde Prime’s introduction does most of all is tell the audience that if they thought Hordak was evil then they really hadn’t seen anything yet. Hordak was but a child lashing out compared to the insane cult of planetary destruction and forced hegemony that is Horde Prime. If the brutality of the mindwipe of Hordak was anything to go off of it probably isn’t pleasant to be a clone either, but it’s their purpose for creation. “All beings must suffer to become pure” after all.
This helps me segue into talking more about the rest of season 5 and get into detail about the Galactic Horde itself. Based on everything from the language used by Horde Prime and his clones, the fanaticism of most of said clones, the obsession with the color white, and the ideology it would seem as though the Galactic Horde is one thing. A cult. Horde Prime is a souped-up version of Shoko Asahara. He presents himself very charismatically and uses that as a way to mask the constant manipulation he does to everyone from his own clones, to any “Honored guests” he may have, and even his adversaries. He does all of this in a self serving effort to further his own perceived greatness. He is something that no other antagonist in this series ever was, a being of pure ego. Shadow Weaver, Hordak, and Catra even at their very worst were always shown to be affected by the histories and relationships they formed with other people. Even when they committed evil acts there was something recognizable about it, you still knew that this was a PERSON. Horde Prime, while being in the body of a man is surprisingly more reminiscent of something Lovecraftian than your typical supervillain. He’s ancient, his origin is never even hinted at, as though he’s been around forever and no one really knows. He can transfer his consciousness into any being within his hivemind, he has presumably hundreds or even thousands of his former bodies around for him to be able to check their memories, that means he has entire parts of his life he doesn’t remember. Horde Prime may have a humanoid figure, but as a character he’s much more like Cthulhu than Palpatine…. This is the being that created and essentially raised Hordak. A Lovecraftian style cult leader who either conquers planets, assimilates them into his hivemind, or destroys them all for shits and giggles. Hordak never stood a chance of being a good, well rounded person out of that environment. It all puts the Hordak of seasons 1-4 in a different context, shows just how deeply rooted indoctrination was for him.
After the second “purification” he undergoes one might wonder one thing regarding Hordak. Where could he possibly go from here? He’s had his mind wiped twice, he’s on Horde Prime’s ship, even if he did have his memories he believes that the one being who ever cared about him is dead, it really seems like he has nowhere to go… and then he sees the LUVD crystal lying on the floor near some rubble after Entrapta helped with rescuing Catra. He picks it up and looks into it for a second before letting out a somewhat surprised “Entrapta?” he may not fully remember who that is at the moment but they definitely mean something to him. There may be hope for Hordak after all. The audience knows this, especially since earlier in this same episode it’s revealed that Entrapta is keeping a list of clones that could be Hordak, she’s still looking for him.
Later he has another few scenes where he starts to remember some of his past. The cloning tanks with Prime’s former vessels reminding him of Entrapta and when he revealed who he was to her, he doesn’t have it all yet but the pieces are coming back slowly. They come back faster during Failsafe. When he finally sees Entrapta again he’s confused. “Why do I know your face?” She knows that it’s him. He’s not entirely sure he wants to remember, he considers his memories imperfections. As Swift Wind drags her away from the encounter like an idiot she reminds him “Your imperfections are beautiful”. Later in the episode we see her looking him up in the chip network and show a sweet smile on knowing that it really was him. At the beginning of the season the LUVD Crystal was tiny, but now it covers almost the entirety of the palm of his large clawed hands. His love has grown, and grown him as a person, this sets what happens next.
During the two part finale he makes the most important decision of his life. Entrapta gets teleported up to Prime’s ship, directly in front of Hordak. As the rebels start making ground in the battle she starts making noise, telling Prime how he can’t win, he doesn’t know what makes them strong. Prime orders Hordak to kill her. He has a blank, confused, scared expression as he points the arm cannon at her at his brother’s command, tears start to form in her eyes. Is this because she’s afraid to die or because possibly the only person to truly understand her was lost and would be the one to make it happen? Hordak makes a split second decision to turn on his brother. He’s finally able to break through the abuse and indoctrination of Prime’s borderline Lovecraftian cult, throwing Prime’s body down a pit in the ship… Until Prime takes over Hordak’s body temporarily to once again try to intimidate the Etherians.
There is one final scene involving Hordak that is important, that happens right after Adora purges out Horde Prime. We’re given a flashback of Hordak out in a meadow where he’s holding a baby Adora. He likely detected portal activity thinking perhaps Prime had come for him. Instead it was this helpless child, lost from her home and now on this strange world. Perhaps in a quick decision this man starting his own empire saw a piece of himself within her and would take her in. A small piece he forgot about in the many years later, but in this moment of her purging his creator from his mind now remembers. Adora looks at him with no derision or spite, but a soft smile, as though after all these years she finally is starting to understand who he is on a deeper level.
She-Ra and The Princesses of Power is a show that started airing on Netflix in 2018 and finished its run in 2020, and it is a show that is ostensibly about the connections we form with other people and how those affect us moving forward. On top of that it goes out of its way to say that in the end those connections are a positive that we’re better off for experiencing. Horde Prime is the show’s main antagonist and he is a being of pure ego, he views the connections the Etherians form with each other to be a weakness. Meanwhile, time and time again in season 5 those are exactly why he gets defeated. Adora can get through to Catra to break her from the chip, Netossa does the same with Spinnerella, Seahawk and Perfuma slightly do that with Mermista and Scorpia respectively… But where does Hordak fit into this? In s5e3 Corridors Hordak goes to Prime to be “Purified'' after seeing Catra and she calls him by his name, a name being something clones of Lord Prime shouldn’t have. After the painful ritual Prime refers to him as “The purest among you” to the other clones surrounding the ritual. But in the end the connection he had formed with Entrapta led to even him turning on Prime anyway, that purity meant nothing because the bonds we form with other people supersedes all of that. If Hordak doesn’t turn on Prime like he did, for the reason he did then the messaging and themes of the show would have a place where they didn’t follow through as strongly. We’d have a victim of abuse that wasn’t able to get past their abuser, and a flawed person who didn’t wind up doing the right thing because they wanted to do right by the person they love. Without a positive ending for Hordak it makes the rest of the show’s positive endings weaker because it has a blatant exception to those victories, and while that could be poignant in some shows, I don’t think SPOP is that kind of show. So you might be wondering… Why write all this? What made me think that writing a wall of text about Hordak of all fictional characters would be worth it? Part of it is because I wanted to explore why I care so much about this character and look into how his arc worked from a storytelling standpoint. I think the other part of it is simply seeing a lot of people not really seem to understand him as a character. There seems to be a very vocal group of people who hate him, or the Entrapdak ship for one reason or another and use that to kind of call those of us who do enjoy it bad people, so part of writing this is to maybe help some of those people who just flat out don’t understand how we could possibly be fans of the character get to know a bit of the reasoning behind it, and maybe show that the show specifically wrote him to be sympathetic. And maybe if you can see how it would be possible for us to love this character, maybe you can learn to appreciate him too. I can't force you to, but hopefully I can at least help you see where I’m coming from, and if you made it this far all I can say is thank you for reading.
TLDR; Hordak is a very deeply complicated character who’s arc is more important to the themes of SPOP than you might think.
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I love both shows (Spop and Su) but I wanted to ask about some things you’ve said:
“Can’t believe “It’s okay for fans to be disappointed when oppressive dictators who’ve murdered millions and have tried to kill the protagonists before get forgiven without having to face consequences” is a so hard to understand for some people, but here we are”
“So did Steven Univerae end with the Diamonds in prison where they should be, or did I do well to stop watching when I did?”
With that logic can’t the very same thing be said and applied to She ra regarding Catra?
“So did She ra end with Catra in prison where she should be, or did I do well to stop watching when I did?”
Hi there. First of all, I want to say sorry for taking so long answer this. January’s been a very busy month for me and I literally just didn’t have the time to write the kind of reply I think this ask deserves.
Next, I want to make a few things clear just so we’re on the same page:
I love both shows as well and nothing I’m about to say is intended to be seen as hate against Steven Universe. SU meant a lot to me and I was a big fan of it for many years. Change Your Mind disappointed me a lot as an episode and as a finale, precisely because I didn’t want the Diamonds to get any sort of redemption, but just because it was a dealbreaker for *me*, that doesn’t mean I harbor any ill feelings towards the fans or writers of the show. None of this is meant to be a personal attack against anyone who worked on this show or likes it.
I stopped watching SU after CYM, so this post will ignore anything beyond that. I have not seen the SU movie or Steven Universe Future and I don’t intend to. Please don’t try to convince me otherwise. I’m not comfortable watching more.
I wrote the posts you quoted because I got quite a few rude messages after I said I didn’t like Change Your Mind and that I don’t want to keep watching SU. The first one was a response to people who were giving me a hard time for not liking the Diamond redemption – it wasn’t me saying that /no one/ should like it, just that my feelings on it were valid as well and people shouldn’t badger me about it.
In that sense, YES you could say the same thing about Catra! If someone wanted to stop watching SPOP because Catra’s redemption made them uncomfortable (maybe because they knew someone like her in real life or something similar), that’d be absolutely fine! I’d never send them the kind of messages I got or try to pressure them into continuing a show they’re not comfortable continuing. Because respecting real people is more important than a show or a fictional character.
I’ll be honest: I’m a little tired of justifying my feelings about the SU finale to people. But I believe you’re asking out of genuine curiosity and I haven’t made too many posts defending Catra yet, so I’ll try to analyze this step by step for you – and anyone else who might be curious.
So, without further ado: Here’s my essay on why Catra’s redemption works for me but the Diamonds’ doesn’t.
Short explanation: Because if you compare the scale of their actions, their motivations, what’s supposed to make them sympathetic to the audience, their build-up, and how their respective redemptions are handled, then the Diamonds aren’t an equivalent to Catra – they’re an equivalent to Horde Prime. And if SPOP had suddenly redeemed Horde Prime at the last minute after building him up as the big bad, I wouldn’t have liked that either.
Long (very long) explanation under the cut
Okay, let’s get into this in detail.
1. The scale of their actions
Let’s look at the evil stuff these characters have done first.
The Diamonds: Created an intergalactic empire, conquered millions of planets (destroying all life of them in the process) for millions of years, created a strict caste system in which all gems only have one function to follow and where Pearls are essentially slaves who have to obey every order, persecute and send shattering robonoids after gems that don’t fit into the system or fuse outside of their caste (off-colors), created a human zoo and kidnapped people for it, shattered anyone who wasn’t loyal to them, bubbled all the Rose Quartzes, created the Cluster and the other fusion experiments out of the shards of their fallen enemies (essentially torturing them for all eternity), corrupted all the gems on Earth, including those that were loyal to them. And that’s just what we get told upfront in the show. We’re talking about intergalactic dictators with no respect for life who will ruthlessly kill anyone who gets in their way.
Catra: Helped Hordak conquer one (1) planet. Bad, yes – but not nearly on the same scale as devoting eons to conquering entire galaxies. Also, Catra isn’t the one who founded the Horde in the first place; she just happened to grow up there (likely because she was taken from her real home as a baby) and was raised with their ideals. The Diamonds, on the other hand *are* the people who started their empire.
So yeah, the Diamonds aren’t Catra – they’re Horde Prime. He’s the one who founded the intergalactic Horde and destroyed millions of planets. (There’s even a whole parallel about how both Horde Prime and White Diamond think they’re perfect and everyone should be like them…)
Now, you could argue that Catra opening the portal was a crime on a larger scale. But even that would have likely only destroyed Etheria – one planet, not millions. The scale we’re talking about is still way smaller than Horde Prime’s or the Diamonds’ actions.
Catra’s other “crimes” in the show are things like being a toxic friend, manipulating and lying to people. Those are things I’m going to ignore for this post, since you specifically asked if Catra shouldn’t be in prison for her crimes. Being a toxic friend is bad and all, but it’s not actually something illegal that you can get thrown in jail for, so it’s irrelevant for this discussion. And it still wouldn’t be on the scale of the Diamonds, who, let me repeat, have destroyed countless galaxies.
2. Motivations for their actions
“But what about *why* they did all of those things? Isn’t that relevant?” It is, and I’m glad you asked. Let’s have a look.
Catra: Catra grew up in the Horde through no fault of her own and was mistreated and abused her whole life to the point where survival and safety became her primary motivations. She was treated as second best to Adora, filling her with a desire to prove herself. She got told as a child that she’s only worth “keeping around” if Adora values her, so she tied her self-worth to Adora’s approval. She feels betrayed when Adora leaves the Horde, because she interprets it as Adora caring more about strangers than about her. She stays with the Horde because they’re the devil she knows, because she wants to prove herself and because she’s hurt about the only person who ever showed her kindness leaving her. She grew up without a proper parental figure and without ever learning what healthy relationships are supposed to work like, so it’s understandable why she has no concept of it. She opens the portal because she sees her abuser working with (and seemingly being accepted by) her enemies and that knowledge makes her feel powerless to the point where she’d do anything to get back at them. She’s been abused and victimized her entire life and all of her actions are a direct result of that. Catra thinks that if she gains enough power, it’ll finally give her the safety and approval she craves.
In general, Catra’s story always makes it clear that she’s a victim of physical and emotional abuse who never learned what healthy relationships are supposed to look like and who’s lashing out in the only way she knows how. Some people might disagree on this, but I personally never had a point in the show where I couldn’t relate to her or couldn’t understand why she’s doing a certain thing. SPOP did a brilliant job of making sure that even at her lowest point, Catra’s actions are still understandable when you think from her point of view.
The Diamonds: … Uhm yeah, I’m drawing a blank here. Unless there’s some explanation in the movie or SU Future, we never actually learn why they did any of what they did. We get an explanation for some of their deeds – that they created the zoo because they thought Pink wanted it, that they corrupted the gems as revenge for Pink’s supposed death – but what the show never goes into is the real problem: Why they’re dictators in the first place. Why they consider themselves superior to other gems. Why they shatter anyone who doesn’t fit it, etc. They’re just dictators… because they’re dictators. We never get to understand their motivations.
And just to be clear – I think that in itself is perfectly fine. I don’t think SU should have had to give us any more explanation than that. SPOP also never explains why Horde Prime conquers other planets in the first place. He just does it because he’s evil and power-hungry and the show needs an antagonist. I think not giving a villain a deeper motivation is fine – if you’re not planning to redeem them.
3. What makes them sympathetic
Catra: I pretty much explained this already. We’re told from season 1 that Catra was abused by Shadow Weaver, that Adora was the only person who cared about her, that she was always treated like she was second-best. Heck, there’s an entire backstory episode just about everything Catra’s been through. We’re meant to feel bad for her, even when she’s evil. We’re meant to cheer for her when she stands up to Shadow Weaver and defeats her. We’re meant to feel for her when Shadow Weaver stabs her in the back and Hordak sends her to the Crimson Waste. Her entire breakdown is meant to be tragic and engaging. When you’ve watched a character suffer so much through no/little fault of their own, when you’ve watched them stand up to bigger villains in a way that makes you root for them, it makes sense that you want them to eventually get their happy ending.
The Diamonds: I realize in retrospect that the writers probably meant for us to feel bad for the Diamonds, too. Like when they’re grieving Pink, during What’s the Use of Feeling, Blue?, or when they complain how stressed they are in Change Your Mind. But the thing is… it just didn’t work for me. After the show spent all that time showing us all the death, despair, and destructions the Diamonds had caused, after it was made clear that the Crystal Gems had lost multiple friends and allies to them, it just didn’t make me feel sympathetic that the diamonds had lost one (1) person. So what if someone shattered Pink for being a dictator? The Diamonds themselves have shattered millions of gems and now that it’s someone they care about I was suddenly meant to feel bad for them? I didn’t.
When That Will Be All first aired, I loved What’s the Use of Feeling, Blue? – because I thought the show was doing this brilliant thing where they show that evil people can still have loved ones and have feelings but that doesn’t make them less evil. Every horrible person in history had feelings and loved ones. That doesn’t excuse their actions. In retrospect I find it disappointing to know that we were meant start feeling bad for the Diamonds due to their grief for Pink, that we were meant to see Pink/Rose as the evil one for starting a rebellion against them, that we were supposed to believe Bismuth was in the wrong. Rebelling against a dictatorship is a good thing. Standing up for equality is a good thing. I don’t like that the show suddenly tried to spread this message that conflict is always bad even when you’re actively fighting against tyranny and oppression. What happened to the Crystal Gems and their cause? What happened to the Steven from season 1 who reassured Lapis that “They’re mean, and that’s why we *have to* fight them”? And no, the “but being a dictator is so stressful, please feel bad for us” part didn’t work for me either.
4. A well-written redemption arc
For a well-written redemption arc, a character needs to actually regret what they’ve done and realize they were wrong. Then they need to put in the effort to be better from now. They need to… actually change. And then they need to do things that make up for their actions.
Catra: We get to see Catra go through an amazing character arc that culminates in her redemption and her eventual love-confession to Adora. The entire arc that was built for her over 5 seasons leads up to that moment and it’s so satisfying when it finally happens because it makes sense. We get to see her make big mistakes, get to see how she finally even scares Scorpia away, how Scorpia leaving breaks her, how Double Trouble gives her a harsh but needed lecture, how she understands that she and Glimmer aren’t so different, how she finally remembers Adora and decides to save her. We see her regret her actions as early as season 1, when she feels visibly bad after leaving Adora on the cliff in the temple. In season 4, she has nightmares about Entrapta and feels guilty for what she did to her and for opening the portal.
And from the moment she decides to change, she’s willing to make huge personal sacrifices to make up for her actions: She sacrifices herself to save Glimmer, gets tortured, mind-controlled and nearly dies in the process. The heroes saving her doesn’t come from nowhere and their forgiveness is well-earned because she was willing to put herself on the line to save someone else. She then keeps helping the heroes, apologizes to everyone she’s hurt, is again willing to sacrifice herself for Adora in the finale, and finally saves the entire universe from Horde Prime by staying with Adora and confessing her love to her. If we’re trying to be realistic about this – I’d say saving the whole universe from an intergalactic dictator would at least dramatically shorten her prison sentence? So no, I don’t think Catra should have ended up in prison.
The Diamonds: So the thing about their redemption arc is… they don’t really have one. We’re just kind of meant to forgive them out of the blue. Steven and the Crystal Gems ask the Diamonds for help to cure the corrupted gems and they manage to convince them, but there’s never any point where the Diamonds regret their actions. They only start to regret their actions towards Steven and Pink, but there’s never even an ounce of regret for what they did to anyone else. The Cluster? The deaths? The millions of destroyed planets and civilization? The humans and Rose Quartzes in the zoo? The presumably thousands of off-colors fighting for their lives underground on homeworld every second? That’s all swept under the rug in the finale. And therefore, the Diamonds can’t even get to the point where they make sacrifices for someone else or do anything that would lead me to forgive them, because they’re not even at a point where they realize they’ve done anything wrong. The show treats them like they’re redeemed in the end, but they’re not. Everything they’ve done just gets ignored.
5. Being held accountable for their actions
Another thing that’s important for redemption arcs is that the heroes don’t just ignore what a character has done and act like it never happened.
Catra: SPOP never shies away from admitting that Catra has done bad things. Even after her heroic sacrifice, the other characters don’t just all forgive Catra at once. Adora still calls her out when she’s being selfish, some of other princesses are resentful towards her, Frosta punches her in the face, etc. One heroic sacrifice isn’t enough: You see Catra constantly working on herself afterwards and doing what she can to become a better person and make up for her actions. And most importantly, those actions are addressed in the show. (Arguably they could have addressed what happened to Angella again, but overall Catra’s actions get acknowledged in the show.)
The Diamonds: My other big problem with SU suddenly acting like the Diamonds are redeemed is that their actions never get addressed. People act like when I say I wanted the Diamonds to be held accountable that means I wanted Steven to shatter them in cold blood – no, I just wanted Steven to at least *say* that what they’re doing is wrong. Like I said, all of their actions other than corrupting gems and treating Steven & Pink badly completely get swept under the rug in Change Your Mind. It’s like we’re meant to assume that everything else will be fine now just because Steven managed to convince the Diamonds to do one (1) thing for him. What will happen to their colonies now? What about the humans and Rose Quartzes in the zoo? What about all the off-colors fighting for their lives underground on homeworld? What about the enslaved Pearls and the class system? None of that ever gets addressed in the finale – we’re just supposed to take that happy ending at face value and believe that all the other stuff will get fixed now, even though the show never says that!
(Before you tell me how any of that gets addressed in the movie or in Steven Universe Future – I don’t care. SU Future is a new show that takes place after a timeskip. The movie is also a separate thing. SU should make sense as a show on its own and it doesn’t. Change Your Mind was presented as a finale and therefore should wrap up the most important plots and it didn’t.)
For all we know after watching CYM, Steven doesn’t actually care about anything the Diamonds have done. He’s sitting on their shoulders and laughing with them in the end and we’re meant to take that as a happy ending. For all we know, there’s still an oppressive class system and gems getting shattered for not fitting into it on homeworld. The Cluster’s still suffering. The Pearls are still slaves. The Diamonds are still dictators and that aspect never changed – because it’s never addressed. When White Pearl regains consciousness, Steven says “Welcome Back”, but nothing in this episode ever implies that she’s not still WD’s slave. When Lars and the Off-colors arrive on Earth, the fact that they’re terrified of the Diamonds is played for laughs. The finale revolves only around Steven’s feelings while Garnet and Pearl never get a moment of standing up to the people who hurt them.
“But Steven needed the Diamonds’ help the heal the corrupted gems!”
Yes, that’s the in-universe explanation. But a writer still invented that rule. And even so, they could have added a scene where Steven takes the Crystal Gems aside and tells them “Hey, I know these people killed many of your friends, enslaved and persecuted you, but I just want you to know that I don’t actually like them or consider them family and I’m only doing this to help the corrupted gems. You’re my real family.”
6. Identifying with their victims
I don’t remember who made that post, but there was a post on Tumblr somewhere that said that how likely someone is to forgive a villain often depends on how much they identify with the people that villain has hurt. And if I’m being very honest, that’s what a lot of my hate for the Diamonds boils down to:
The Diamonds don’t appear in Steven Universe until way later in the show. The way we first learn about them is indirect. We know the Crystal Gems fought a war against someone and are hiding on Earth from someone, but that someone doesn’t get a face until way later. By that point, we’ve already been told that fusions like Garnet are illegal on homeworld, that Pearls are considered lesser gems, and that Amethyst would be defective by homeworld’s standards. And all of those things made me personally sympathize with the Crystal Gems and their found family of misfits – and it made me angry at whoever did all of this to them. You can easily read the discrimination Ruby and Sapphire faced for their relationship as a metaphor for homophobia or prejudice against interracial relationships, the discrimination Pearl faces as racism or classism and how Amethyst is treated as ableism.
(Getting personal here for a moment: I’m gay and my parents are from a homophobic country that’s run by a dictator, so I strongly identified with Garnet and how she can’t go back to homeworld because she wouldn’t be allowed to exist as her true self there. Am I maybe reading too much into the show there? Yeah. But honestly, if the Diamonds’ redemption relies on people not identifying with the Crystal Gems – aka the literal protagonists of the show – too much, then maybe it’s just not a good idea. Yeah, maybe if I hadn’t identified with the CGs so strongly, I wouldn’t have minded the Diamond redemption – but it also means I’d have never loved SU as much in the first place.)
What I’m saying is that we first learn about the Diamonds from the point of view of the people they oppressed, persecuted, and tried to kill. We also meet the off-colors and learn about their plight, how they had to spend eons hiding from robots that want to kill them, how they believe the way they are is wrong, etc. We see the Cluster, the people in the zoo etc. and get told the Diamonds did all of this. And then Change Your Mind expects us to suddenly randomly forgive them with no build-up and be okay with Steven calling them “family” over the actual people who raised him.
Catra, on the other hand, is first introduced to us as Adora’s best friend. We get to meet her from the point of view of the protagonist who obviously loves her. Throughout their separation and their struggle, the relationship between these two characters drives the show. Their episodes together are emotional and well-written and make the audience root for them to eventually find their way back together again. We meet her as an abuse-victim who thinks her best friend left her, and we get so many reasons to sympathize with her before she ever hurts anyone.
(And yeah, it helps that the show never lets us personally meet any of the people from the lands she conquered. Yes, we feel bad for Scorpia and all that – but again, being a toxic friend isn’t actually a crime. And yes, we feel bad for Entrapta - but so does Catra, and Entrapta ends up being fine and forgiving her.)
7. A satisfying ending for a show
This is more general, but SU didn’t have a satisfying conclusion imo, because almost none of the things that needed fixing were ever addressed. We’re meant to take “but the Diamonds say please and thank you now” as a good conclusion without getting to the part where they murder people every day. For all we know, Steven doesn’t even care about that part because the writers never made him act like he does.
And yes, I realize that the Diamonds are meant to be a metaphor for a conservative family that finally learns to accept their queer child (Steven), but that metaphor just didn’t work for me (a queer child of an unaccepting family) at all. Because they’re not presented as an unaccepting family: The show spent 4 seasons building them up as dictators and the ultimate big bad, only to drop the “they’re related to Steven” thing in there last minute and sweep the other stuff under the rug. We’ve also spent 5 seasons seeing the Crystal Gems, the people who literally raised him, as Steven’s family, so suddenly giving that title to their oppressors feels super wrong to me.
To give you a comparison, imagine the following ending for She-Ra: Near the end of season 5, Adora suddenly finds out she’s Horde Prime’s long-lost granddaughter. After calling him out for treating her/her parents badly, he finally regrets that part of his actions and promises to leave Etheria alone so Adora and her friends can live there in peace. However, he’s still going to conquer and destroy the rest of the universe and keep Hordak and the other clones mind-controlled. Adora is fine with this and you see her and Horde Prime laughing together in the end. Catra and all the other people Horde Prime chipped and tortured are seen being okay with him now because as long as Adora, the main character, is happy all the hurt Horde Prime caused anyone else doesn’t matter. When the Star Siblings show up on Etheria while fleeing from the Horde army, the fact that they’re scared of Horde Prime is played for laughs. The End.
… Sounds pretty stupid, doesn’t it? I’m glad SPOP had the guts to just let Adora kill Horde Prime instead. Because some people are not redeemable, and that’s an important lesson, too.
Anyways, I’ve been rambling for too long. The bottom line is: The Diamonds are way more comparable to Horde Prime than to Catra. The scale of their actions is the same as that of Horde Prime, their motivations are never explained, we never get any reasons to sympathize with them, the main characters have all been victims of their regime, their redemption arc is nonexistent, they never get called out for their actions and the way their story is concluded is just badly written and leaves way too many factors unaddressed. They get forgiven without ever even being sorry and the Crystal Gems never get a moment to shine and stand up to them. So yes, I consider them irredeemable and was disappointed the show didn’t end with them getting imprisoned at least. (I was kind of hoping for a Homeworld revolution where everyone finally stands up to them, but… *sigh*.) If the show was going to redeem them, they should have at least done it properly by actually showing them have a change of heart and making them try to make up for their actions, instead of letting us assume that all happened off-screen.
Catra on the other hand gets presented as someone to root for from the beginning. She’s only in the Horde due to unfortunate circumstances, got abused and mistreated her whole life, is motivated by a desperate attempt to prove herself and make sure she doesn’t get hurt again, and never committed crimes on the same scale as the Diamonds. Her change of heart is believable and what her arc has been building up to for 4 seasons, she makes great personal sacrifices for Glimmer and Adora, gets held accountable for her actions, helps save the entire universe and is a character who has already suffered her entire life – so yes, I strongly believe that she deserves to live a happy, free, and peaceful life after the show.
#spop#Catra#SU critical#redemption arcs#writing#... do I really dare to post in the 'su critical' tag again? yeah let's do it#just to be clear again - this is CRITICISM not hate#long post#... wow this really got long#replies to people#noideahowtocallmyblog
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Ringing Ears
CW: canon-typical violence, lady whump, vertigo, nausea, ringing ears, disorientation, banter that may or may not be witty
Tag list: @killtheprotagonist @whumptober2020
Fandom: She-ra and the Princesses of Power
Characters: Scorpia, Adora/She-ra, Entrapta & Emily
--
She-ra was an unstoppable super weapon. She-ra was the strongest anyone had ever seen. She-ra’s muscles were massive. She-ra’s sword was a thing of epic myth. She-ra was toweringly tall. She-ra could throw a tank. She-ra, She-ra, She-ra, no one could go head to head with She-ra.
No one, except Scorpia. And Scorpia was getting pretty sick and tired of hearing about She-ra.
She gave the order to retreat, commanding her cadets and soldiers away from the base that was basically forfeit anyway. The Rebellion had taken the day, but Scorpia? Scorpia was interested in a singular, personal victory. She took a page out of Catra’s book and lured She-ra away from her group, out into the open, where there was nothing but sword, pincer, and two determined glares.
“Where’s your handler?” She-ra called, mocking.
“Why don’t you try focusing on literally anyone else for longer than ten seconds?” Scorpia called back, tail twitching irritably. “You’ve got bigger threats to worry about.”
“Where? All I see is one lone woman.”
But back before She-ra had shown her face, Scorpia had been known as a one-woman army. She squared her massive shoulders and clacked her pincers, beckoning.
She-ra cracked her knuckles. “Your funeral.”
She-ra surged forward, and sure, okay, that kind of speed wasn’t something Scorpia could contend with. But when she brought her sword down, Scorpia blocked with her pincer and did not falter. Didn’t even flinch under the force. Even now, She-ra had the audacity to be mildly surprised when Scorpia could match her strength. Could shove her off and send her back a step.
“Hey, speaking of, where are all your handlers?” Scorpia asked, slowly circling her opponent. “Last I checked, the only reason you made it through our tower fight was because literally all of them had to come rescue you.”
She-ra grunted angrily and sprung again, Scorpia blocking each swing of her sword until it caught on one of her spikes and they stood there locked again.
“Jealous because I have friends and you don’t?” She-ra asked.
“See, that’d make sense if it were true, but it isn’t.” Scorpia yanked, hard, and almost wrenched the sword out of her grasp. Even so it left her off balance, and Scorpia took the opening to lash out with the only fast part of her body. She-ra only barely managed to parry, Scorpia’s stinger whistling past her shoulder so tantalizingly close.
They exchanged another series of blows, Scorpia actually forcing ground. She wasn’t used to fighting at eye-level with an opponent, but then again, neither was She-ra. And She-ra, she was arrogant. Easily frustrated.
“Gah!” she shouted as Scorpia shoved her back again, her tail missing again, but worth it for the look on the blonde’s face. “How are you doing this?!” she shouted in irritation, “No one is stronger than She-ra!”
Scorpia’s lovely face twisted down into a snarl. “No, Catra isn’t stronger than She-ra! You’re not fighting Catra now!” Scorpia used her well-muscled legs to launch herself forward, five feet of speed but no further. It was as far as she needed. “You’re fighting me,” she stated darkly, She-ra forced down to one knee as she caught the full brunt of Scorpia swinging both pincers down at once, caught on her blade but the strength overwhelming her.
She gave a half-roll and kicked out, nearly catching Scorpia in the side, but Scorpia caught her ankle in her pincer. In theory, Scorpia could just apply some pressure and snip her foot clean off, but that would be really mean and also gruesome, so instead Scorpia hauled She-ra up, up into the air, and then slammed her back down hard into the ground. Gratified by She-ra’s pained cry, Scorpia did it again. She kicked at Scorpia’s claw mid-air, trying to break free, but Scorpia’s exoskeleton was rock hard and impenetrable, and this time when she landed her sword went skittering.
Proud--no, elated--at her success, Scorpia released She-ra’s ankle and stepped forward, raising her claws high and aiming for her head. Let’s see her stand back up after this. She-ra could see the blow coming, remembered how it had felt when she’d still had her sword in hand, and Scorpia could see her shining eyes widen in pure, animal fear. Then She-ra did something strange. She curled a fist and punched the inside of her own palm.
The shockwave hit Scorpia like nothing she’d ever felt.
Her ears were ringing, badly, and she belatedly realized she’d dropped to the ground at some point. That wasn’t good, she was in the middle of a fight. Where was--oh, there was She-ra, slowly getting up to her feet and collecting her sword. Scorpia tried to stand too, but the world tilted sideways and she felt a wave of dizziness so overpowering, she had to just lay right on back down. Did she have a headache? She was pretty sure she did. Everything was so… mix n matched in her brain. Was she breathing? Oh god she couldn’t breathe--no, wait, she was, she was just breathing really fast, and she wanted to lay down so that the dizziness would stop but she was already laying down.
Oh gee, this was not a good situation to be in, entirely alone except for an enemy. She really needed to get up, except her ears were still ringing, and the dizziness was still sending the world spinny spinny spinning no matter how still she tried to lay.
“Scorpia?” She-ra asked, real concern in her voice, but she was muffled, distant, far away and underwater. Scorpia shifted slightly and the vertigo redoubled, and she groaned, pincers raised to her head. She could hear She-ra starting to panic, and then She-ra started screaming in pain, her poofy hair going SUPER poofy.
Hey wait had she just been electrocuted? She-ra dropped down, gasping in pain, sword clattering to the ground close to Scorpia’s head, and with She-ra down Scorpia could see Entrapta! Holding a stun baton and standing right behind where She-ra had been.
Purple tendrils slithered over Scorpia, around and under her, and she was gently scooped up from the ground. Vertigo hit at being moved, but not as badly as when she tried to move herself.
“C’mon Emily, we’ve got her, let’s go!” Entrapta was yelling, but she still sounded so muffled and far away. At least the ringing was dying down a little.
“Wha’ happen’d?” Scorpia tried to ask.
“I dunno!” Entrapta said cheerfully, Scorpia cradled against her chest (well, more like her entire torso, Entrapta was so small), “It sounded sort of like an EMP but waaaaaay bigger! I’ll have to see if I can’t get her to do it again when I’m prepared so I can get some readings on it. Right now we should get you to the med bay though!”
Scorpia smiled and pressed her face into the crook of Entrapta’s neck. Whatever the case may be, she was sure Entrapta would take care of it all. It was slightly upsetting that Scorpia had lost the fight with She-ra and needed rescued, but it was nice to know that Entrapta and Emily had been there the whole time, looking out for her and ready to step in if needed. It made her feel… valued. Safe, even.
And next time, Scorpia wouldn’t let She-ra use her little super move. Next time, she’d be ready, and she would win.
#whumptober2020#no.25#ringing ears#writing#she-ra#she ra#spop#scorpia#adora#entrapta#emily#canon typical violence#disorientation#vertigo#lady whump#mine
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Honestly write whatever you want catradora is sooo good and I just need to c o n s u m e. An au would be nice, tho it's up to you what kind!
me, chanting: IRON MAN AU IRON MAN AU IRON MAN AU (aka the au no one asked for but the one i wanted to write lmao)
tumblr still isn't letting me add line breaks but i will try to put them in later!! thank you for your patience xx
HI = Horde Industries
~*~
“Hey, Adora - don’t forget you have a teleconference with Hordak tonight,” Catra said as she walked into the lab, marking off something on her clipboard. “I’ve already prepared all the documents you’ll need for the meeting because I know you don’t have the foresight to do that yourself.”
Adora groaned at the thought of dealing with HI business, especially involving Hordak. “Can’t someone else do it?” She paused in tinkering with the various electrical parts in front of her. “Like you?”
Catra rolled her eyes. “Obviously I normally would, but I have tonight off, in case you’ve forgotten.” She clicked her pen shut. “I know you’re utterly incapable without me, but you’ll have to make do for a few hours.”
Adora stood up from her worktable, brushing the front of her pants off before walking over to Catra, a frown creasing her lips. “Why are you taking tonight off?”
Catra laughed, the hint of irritation in her voice making Adora wince. “I’m allowed to have off on my birthday, Adora.”
“Oh. Today’s… your birthday.”
“Mhm. That’s what I just said.” She tucked her pen into the pocket on the front of her shirt.
Adora chewed her lip, shoving her hands into her back pockets. She hadn’t meant to forget. She just… hadn’t grown up with any importance placed on birthdays. “Buy yourself something nice from me, then.”
“Oh, I already did.” Catra smirked as she removed the first paper on top of her clipboard and handed it to Adora - a to-do list for that evening. “Thank you. It was a wonderful gift.”
“It’s nice, I take it?” Adora asked, begrudgingly accepting the paper while simultaneously unable to stop herself from wondering what ‘she’ had bought for Catra.
“It’s amazing. Brings out the blue in my right eye.” She chuckled. “You have impeccable taste.” Catra then glanced at her watch. “Will that be all, Adora?”
A chill always ran down her spine when Catra said her name. She couldn’t keep her eyes off the woman’s lips. “That will be all, Catra.”
There was a lingering silence between them where neither moved, but the ringtone that suddenly blasted from Adora’s phone startled them both out of their reverie. Catra gave her a familiar smirk before leaving, and it took all of Adora’s willpower to stop herself from watching her go.
“What do you want, Glimmer?” Adora grumbled as she answered the phone.
Glimmer snorted. “Well, by that tone I can tell I interrupted you and Catra flirting, didn’t I?”
“You know as well as anyone that Catra and I’s relationship is strictly professional.”
“A blatant lie, but I really don’t have time to argue with you right now. You’re an entire hour late for our flight!”
“Please. It’s my personal jet,” Adora scoffed. “It’s not like it’s going to leave without me.”
“Just get over here stat before you drive me any further to the brink of insanity.”
“Yes, mom.”
~*~
“Light Hope, what is it?”
“It is a sword, Adora.”
“Don’t make me reboot you.”
There was a pause, and if an AI could sigh, Adora had a feeling Light Hope would have. The only noise in the room was the low humming of Light Hope’s system as she scanned the sword.
“It is made of a rare metal,” Light Hope finally said. “Vibranium, I believe it is called. And there are inscriptions along the handle in a ‘forgotten’ language of the ancient Etherians.”
Adora frowned. “First Ones?”
“Correct.”
She tapped her fingers on the table, the sound muffled by her gloves. “Is there any way to translate the inscriptions?”
“Only fragments of First Ones’ writing have survived. However, given time, I can compile a list of all known translations of these writings and see if any applies to the symbols on the sword.”
Adora nodded. “Yes. Do that, please.” She stared at the sword, resisting the urge to pull off her gloves and pick it up. “Also, scan it for radioactivity and anything else that might be dangerous. I want to know if I can touch it bare-handed.”
“Certainly.”
As the AI got to work, Adora tried and failed to tear her gaze away from the blade. Something in her still wanted to grab it and try to interpret the inscription herself, as if somehow an ancient sword was going to fill the void inside her -
“Adora, why the hell do you have a giant sword in here?”
Adora jumped at the sudden voice, turning around to see Catra standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. “I told you to knock before you come in here.”
“Yeah, right,” Catra scoffed, walking around a worktable to get to Adora. “If I knocked every time I came down here, you’d be dead because I wouldn’t have been able to save you from the stupid things you’re always doing.”
“I have never done anything stupid in my life.”
“You have done everything stupid in your life.”
Adora rolled her eyes in what was probably a very childlike but nonetheless cathartic manner. “What, and you haven’t?”
“Not since you hired me!” Catra hissed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Look, what is even going on down here? You get back from a war zone and the first thing you do is start looking at new weapons? Are you kidding me?”
“It’s not a new weapon,” Adora protested, which sounded pathetic even to herself. “It’s a First Ones’ sword. So it’s an old weapon. And all I’m doing is having Light Hope run a few scans on it, okay?”
“What you need to be doing is helping me figure out what we’re doing with the press,” Catra argued. “Everyone is clamoring to know why HI wants to drop out of weapons manufacturing the war against the Rebellion!”
Adora winced at the mention of the war, her mind flashing back to what she’d witnessed HI’s own technology doing to innocent people. Destruction she alone was responsible for. “I know, I know. But right now -”
“I am detecting strange molecular activity from the sword,” Light Hope interrupted.
As if on cue, the sword began to glow with a dim white light.
“Uh, that’s not radiation, right?” Adora asked, instinctively taking a step away even though a part of her wanted to move closer and observe the blade. She was really losing her mind.
“It does not appear to be radioactive,” Light Hope replied as the sword began to glow and pulsate with greater intensity.
“Literally, why do I still work this job?” Catra grumbled, massaging her temples as she glared at the sword warily.
“Because I can’t function without you,” Adora said, stepping between Catra and the sword, keeping an eye on the glowing blade. “But maybe you should consider getting out of here -”
“God, you need to take a break from - from this!” Catra snapped, gesturing to the entire room. “There’s HI business to take care of, Shadow Weaver is breathing down both our necks, and dammit, Adora, I’m really worried about y-”
The room was suddenly filled with a blinding white light emanating from the sword, and Adora jumped out to grab Catra, tackling her to the floor as the sword hissed and sparked and all the lightbulbs in the room exploded.
When the bright light from the sword faded, Adora was able to clearly see the icy glare Catra was directing at her. The awkwardness was only intensified by the rather… intimate position in which they’d landed, with Adora on top and Catra below her.
“Uh…” Adora winced. “In my defense, I did not know that was going to happen.”
~*~
“And you’re sure it’s safe to touch?”
“As certain as I can be, Adora.”
Adora hesitated, then shrugged. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” She pulled off her gloves, then carefully picked up the sword. For such a large blade, it felt surprisingly well-balanced in her hands. “Any updates on a translation of the inscriptions?”
“Yes,” Light Hope replied, sounding as pleased as an AI possibly could. “From what I can determine, the words translate to ‘for the honor of Grayskull’.”
“‘Grayskull’? What’s that?” Or who, Adora supposed.
“Regrettably, I could find no information on that term. But I am still searching.”
“Thanks, Light Hope.” Adora exhaled slowly, running a finger over the symbols carved into the golden handle. “‘For the honor of Grayskull’, huh?”
Out of nowhere, power surged through Adora’s body, strength flowing through her veins as the room was filled with a blinding light not dissimilar to the one from only days earlier.
When the light faded, Adora’s reflection in the glass walls of her lab was no longer her own. A much taller and much blonder woman stood in her place.
Adora somehow managed to bite back a scream of horror as she stared in shock at the stranger who vaguely resembled her, the sword falling from her hands and clattering on the ground at her feet. “Light Hope,” she said through gritted teeth, trying not to panic, “what the hell just happened?!”
“You appear to have transformed into the legendary hero ‘She-Ra’,” Light Hope replied. “I have run diagnostics, and you do not seem to have suffered any ill effects from such. This transformation is likely connected to the words you spoke while holding the sword.”
“Oh, you think?” Adora groaned, her fists clenching. Magic sword. No big deal. “Is there anything in recorded history about She-Ra? Something that could be related to why I am now… her?” All things considered, she thought she was remaining pretty calm about everything. “And how I can turn back into myself?”
“There is extensive documentation. Would you like me to sort through it?”
“Yes. Separate what you think is relevant so I can go over it personally, please.”
“Certainly, Adora.”
An hour or so later, Adora - or should she call herself She-Ra? - was lying atop one of her worktables, surrounded by files with the umpteenth manilla folder in her hand as she tried to force herself to continue reading about She-Ra and her magic sword. Really, all she’d learned so far that her transformation was a result of ancient First Ones’ magic or heavy LSD.
Ugh. Her eyes were starting to glaze over. She needed a nap.
“Hey, Adora, are you - oh my God who are you?!”
Adora yelped and fell off the table at the sound of Catra’s voice, landing uncomfortably on her back as the same glittering light from before surrounded her and finally returned her to being -
“Adora?! You were - glowing - giant - what?!”
Catra’s voice was an octave higher than usual, which Adora had to pretend wasn’t simultaneously hilarious and adorable.
Adora sighed, not even bothering to move from where she’d fallen upside down on the ground, paperwork scattered around her and the sword next to her head. “Let’s face it. This is not the worst thing you’ve caught me doing.”
Catra simply buried her face in her hands.
~*~
this is an AU im totally up to expand in the future. the pepperony dynamic fits catradora ridiculously well. thank you for reading! :)
#catradora#spop catradora#catradora fluff#spop catra#spop adora#spop#she ra#she ra season five#iron man au#iron man#pepperony#glimmer#spop glimmer#my writing#fanfiction#catradora au#ask#prompt request#anon
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A bunch of disappointments and issues I found in S5 per @therodrigator6‘s request for Grist for the Content Mill.
Note that this is not an exhaustive list, it’s just all I could think of right now.
MAJOR STRUCTURAL ISSUES
Rushed or unfinished redemption arcs. This is most notable for Shadow Weaver (who sort of spontaneously gives up on being Just The Worst offscreen well before her sacrifice) but is also obvious for Catra (gets rescued in E5, is a full member of the team by E8, and this is without appearing in E7) and Hordak (never even admits that waging 25 years of imperialist warfare is wrong, gets forgiven anyway). There’s never more than a minute’s interval between “I’m sorry” and instant forgiveness except in E2, when Entrapta’s past actions actually mean something, and E4, where it just kind of feels forced and awkward and Bow kind of feels OOC.
I wanna mention Catra’s twice just because of how questionably written and rushed it was. Her resentment isn’t really addressed, none of her past actions apart from bullying Scorpia ever matter, Adora just starts to trust her immediately, and her wrestling with her temper is achieved by applying a light coat of sarcasm on a few lines. It’s just really badly done.
Underuse of the ensemble cast. Did Glimmer and Bow do anything between episode 8 and the final battle that wasn’t replicated elsewhere? The failsafe, for example, was something SW already knew about, so while it was nice seeing Bow’s dads again, that whole plot point seemed pretty much useless. Did Entrapta and Scorpia ever interact even though Scorpia literally left her entire life behind for Entrapta’s sake? Was it strictly necessary to only chip exactly the people who might not immediately forgive Catra, plus Spinnerella? Why were so many characters chipped offscreen and popped up for a few seconds in the conclusion just to explain why we never heard about them all season?
Several episodes being essentially dead air for the purposes of character development. “Shot in the Dark” could so easily have been used to have Adora and Catra deal with the issues in their relationship but that would require admitting that their relationship had issues and S5 had no time for that shit.
PETTY QUIBBLING
Adora’s desire to find her family is forgotten about. This would have been really easy to resolve, too: have Horde Prime offer her family, she has flashbacks of the Princess Alliance, the BFS and maybe even Catra and the Horde kids, and is like “I already have one”. I guess it kind of answers it when it says the First Ones are extinct, but 1) Adora barely seems to notice this, and 2) as an answer, it leaves a big old gap related to how Adora even exists if Horde Prime has had to archive memory of her species’ existence. (You can fanwank something but why should you have to?)
The show spent four seasons building up parallels between Catra and Shadow Weaver - they get similar rants about not being trusted in “Light Spinner”, Catra’s S4 outfit has the same asymmetrical sleeves as Shadow Weaver’s outfit, Adora outright compares them in the tie-in - and they just don’t do anything with it. Nobody really recognises or addresses the parallels.
Similarly, the parallels between Horde Prime’s actions late in the season and Catra’s actions in seasons 2-3 are right there and nobody seems to notice, not even Catra. Trying to control people and use them as weapons against their friends? Being willing to destroy the universe to punish your foes, even if it kills you too? REMIND YOU OF ANYONE NOELLE
As @freezingmyblitzballs has already pointed out, the symbolism of Adora’s new outfit representing her friends in different ways is great, but it doesn’t end up meaning anything or being used to drive the conclusion. Rather, the conclusion appears to be that Adora and Catra are just Special because of Mumble Mumble Unconditional Love.
Horde Prime’s vulnerability to magic doesn’t seem to mean anything because it never explains what that means. Is it that only magic can tear apart his possessing spirit? It would’ve been nice to know what that meant before the season finale!
Horde Prime’s religious symbolism can ring a bit hollow since the belief system appears to be “Horde Prime good” and “peace good”. We never see true believers, just Horde Prime and people mind-controlled by Horde Prime.
The Grayskull answer is bad and stupid and doesn’t make sense in the context of Light Hope’s initial introduction to Adora. More than that, why did a question people barely cared about merit more work on wrapping it up than Adora’s quest for her family? And why did it get so little foreshadowing, to the point where Razz appeared to be Mara’s only emotional connection outside the First Ones?
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don’t go (where i can’t follow)
pairing: catra x adora
description:
following shadow weaver’s escape, catra’s future looks doomed. but with the appearance of her past self and adora, maybe catra can save them and herself.
chapter three.
mirror in the sky
links: ao3 | chapter one | chapter two
“Hey, Adora.” The words hung in the still night air for a brief moment before Adora shot up, sword already in hand. In a show of brute force, she wrestled Catra to the floor, her sword coming to rest on Catra’s throat.
“Catra,” hissed Adora, fury blazing in her eyes. “What are you doing here? Are you here to kill me?”
Catra laughed, the movement of her throat dangerously close to Adora’s sword. “Where’d the fun in that be?”
Adora practically snarled at her. “The fun? The fun?” Her voice kept rising in pitch and volume, making Catra wince. “You have been trying to kill me for a year. And now what, you show up in the middle of the night and you’re here to talk? Sorry, I don’t believe your lies.”
“I am. I’m just here to talk, ‘Dora,” her voice cracked as Adora increased the pressure on her throat. “I’m serious, Adora. Something’s happened…” Catra trailed off. How was she supposed to explain this? For once in her life, she didn’t have much of a plan beyond sneak into Bright Moon and try not to get killed. Adora stared at her blankly, the only movement the rise and fall of her chest. “Um, for starters, Hordak wants me dead, which is fun. But that’s not important.”
“That’s not important?” croaked Adora, her eyes finally softening.
Catra swallowed back the emotion rising in her throat. “Not really, Adora. What’s more important, what I need your help with, is… well, you see, somehow seven-year-old me and you travelled forward in time.”
The softness that had surfaced in Adora’s eyes disappeared as soon as it had appeared. “Will you ever stop lying, Catra?” She shifted her weight forward as her eyes narrowed.
“‘m not lying.”
Catra winced as the blade broke the skin. Adora’s face faltered at the sight of blood, her body relaxing back. Catra took the opportunity to slip out of her grasp. Adora was getting just a bit too sword-happy near her neck for her liking. She skidded across the room as she kicked Adora off of her. Catra held her hands up, standing slowly to her feet. It was hard to reconcile this Adora with the one she left in the tree. “I’m just here to talk. I need your help.”
Adora levelled the sword at her. “This doesn’t look like talking, Catra.”
“Look, some weird magic stuff is going on.”
“Magic stuff,” Adora repeated dully, her sword held aloft.
“Magic as in I just spent the past four days carrying our,” she gestured between them, “seven-year-old selves through the woods to come here. They just appeared in the Fright Zone and well, I’m not exactly popular there at the moment and you haven’t been either. I couldn’t just leave them there. I’m not you.” She spat out, relishing in the look of anguish on Adora’s face. “Adora, I wouldn’t come to-”
“Ahhhhhh!” Catra stumbled forward as a weight hit her in the small of the back, almost forcing her to her knees. Before she could regain her balance, Princess Glitter or whatever popped into her field of view, making a mad grab for her.
Catra glanced over her shoulder but found the door covered by Rebellion guards. Adora had the window covered, years of training together coming in handy.
“Surrender, Horde scum.” The princess held up her fists, magic pouring off of her.
“Adora, you have to listen to me.” Catra shifted her focus past Sparkles to Adora, pleading with her. “There are two little kids out in the woods right now that need our help. They are literally alone in the world.”
“We can help them without you, scum. You’re probably the reason they’re in danger!” Catra snarled at her, baring her fangs. The princess gestured to the guards behind her. Two grabbed her arms, forcing her to her knees.
“Adora. Please. You have to believe me. Adora, they were hiding from Shadow Weaver and they’re just scared, little kids. I’ll surrender to the Rebellion or whatever, but you’ll never be able to find them and they’re seven, they’ll die in the woods.”
Adora turned slightly away from Catra on her knees, her profile illuminated by the moonlight. “I’m sorry, Catra, you’ve lied too many times. I’m sure it’s just some trap.”
“Take her away.”
The guards began to haul Catra away, but she fought against them, kicking and twisting away from them.
“Adora, Adora! The little you that’s out there in the woods, she still calls the little, well, me, she’s still calling her kitty! Adora, please, I promised them. The little you made me have a signal because she read it in the Horde Manuals.”
“Catra, this is all just stuff from when we were kids. It doesn’t prove anything.”
Unbidden, tears began to fall down Catra’s cheeks. How could Adora keep abandoning her? She never wanted Catra. She always chose someone, something else. “Adora, I promised them. I promised them I wouldn’t let anyone hurt them. And I can’t do that without your help. They need help. Isn’t that what you princesses are supposed to be about? Or do I just not matter to you?” Adora twisted on her heel to stare at her. “Punish me all you want. But, please, don’t punish those little girls. Please don’t make me break a promise to them,” Catra’s voice choked on a sob, “It’s too early for that.”
“Let her go.” Catra’s knees sagged, the guards the only thing keeping her from collapsing on the ground. For once, Adora was on her side. Those little girls would be protected and safe.
“What, Adora, are you serious?”
“Glimmer.” Adora’s tone left no room for argument. She waved off the other princess’s concerns, her focus wholly on Catra. “You’ll take us to where these kid versions of us are and then we will figure it out from there.”
Catra shook the guards off of her, taking a half step towards Adora. “I’ll take you alone.”
“What?”
“That’s out of the question!” Both Adora and the other princess spoke at once, their faces the perfect image of disbelief. “Why do you want Adora alone? So you can capture her?”
“No, Glitzy, it’s so no one gets stabbed by a seven-year-old,” Catra said with an eye roll. Honestly, these rebels were so thick.
The princess’s mouth fell open in shock while Adora just narrowed her eyes at her. “You told them to stab us?” The princess asked.
Catra let out a cackle, clutching at her sides. “It was Adora’s idea actually.”
The princess spun around to Adora, accusations on the tip of her tongue. Adora held up one hand in defence. “The Horde was good at indoctrination.” Then Adora shifted her focus back to Catra. “Why do they have knives? We, uh, they, um, whatever. They’re too little for knives.”
Catra couldn’t resist the opportunity to take a dig at Adora. It at least might even the playing field a bit. “I gave them our old ones. You left yours, ya know, when you abandoned me? And I’m not stupid, I wasn’t just going to leave seven-year-olds in the woods with no way to defend themselves.” Adora’s stern expression faltered for a moment; Catra took that as a win. “So, are we going or not?”
“Adora, I can’t let you do this. At least, let me come with you. This is probably a trap.”
Adora shook her head. “No, I don’t think it is. I’m She-ra, I’ll be fine. How far into the woods are they?”
Catra shrugged one shoulder. “Near the edge. I dunno, I don’t like those woods.”
“I doubt they like you very much considering what you did to them,” grumbled Princess Tinsel.
“Yeah, well, I don’t like you very much, but here we are,” Catra shot back, rolling her eyes. “Adora, can we go? I don’t think we should be leaving children in the woods.”
“So that’s where you draw the line, huh?”
“Glimmer, enough!” Adora stepped in between the two as Catra’s claws came out. She stood carefully between the two, but her gaze remained on Catra. “We’ll go and then you’ll surrender?”
“You’ll take care of the girls? You’ll help them?”
“Of course, that’s what we do. That’s what I do. I help people.”
Catra tore her eyes away from Adora’s earnest blue ones. Where was this self righteous Adora when Shadow Weaver stole her away for days at a time? Or when other cadets pulled her tail and ears? Or when instructors spat out names like ‘animal’ and ‘mongrel’ more frequently than her actual name? Apparently, Adora’s ‘help’ only applied to those who weren’t her.
“Save the princess crap for someone who cares. Are we going or not?” Catra began moving towards the window, just assuming Adora would follow her. But Catra found herself wrenched back by the back of her shirt, Adora lifting her easily. “Adora, what the fuck?”
“We’re not going out the window, dummy. There are doors here.” For the briefest moments, the Adora in front of her was her Adora. “Glimmer,” and she was gone. “If we’re not back in an hour, come find us.”
“Half an hour.”
“Small children, freezing, in the very dangerous woods?” Catra interjected, still dangling in Adora’s grasp.
Adora ignored her. “Fine, half an hour. Maybe get your mother up? And tell her what’s going on?”
“Of course. Be safe, Adora.” Princess Glow made to leave the room, but paused in the doorway, her gaze lingering on Adora. The way she looked at her twisted at Catra. But then those eyes moved to Catra and darkened with barely restrained fury. Now that, that she could deal with. She’d rather have to see Sparkles glaring at her than watch her moon over Adora. It made her skin crawl.
“Thanks, Glimmer.”
It was official. Catra was gonna spew.
Without any warning, Adora dropped her on the floor. Catra threw her tail out for balance at the last second, hissing as she hit the floor. “Seriously?”
Adora turned away silently. She moved around the room, slipping on a fresh set of clothes.
When she stripped off her pyjama top, Catra couldn’t help but stare at the claw marks she had left. The skin was still puckered and angry, four brutal lines bisecting her back. A flicker of guilt licked at her insides, but Catra pushed it away. She had nothing to feel guilty about.
And yet, seeing her claw marks layered on top of years of scars that Catra had tended to was heartwrenching.
Any thoughts of guilt vanished when Adora turned back to her, pulling her hair into her traditional ponytail. The look Adora fixed her with overflowed with mistrust and something darker that Catra didn’t want to identify.
“Ready, princess?” Catra drawled, covering any uneasiness with her usual teasing.
“Sure, fine, let’s go.” Adora placed her dumb, big sword on her back. She stepped past Catra without another word, leading her through the strangely bright hallways.
Everything was so bright and clean and it made Catra’s skin crawl.
As they walked through the castle, Catra caught herself cataloguing every strategic detail of the building, counting the number of hallways and each of the admittedly limited guards. It was so vastly different from the Fright Zone. There was just a softness to the whole place.
And anyway, it wouldn’t matter, she decided.
Somewhere between Adora’s room and the exit, Catra formed a plan. It wasn’t ideal. But it was the best she could do for now.
She’d lead Adora to the girls, make sure they were safe and then fade into the forest. It would be better that way. Adora didn’t need her around. She and the magic, super friends could help the girls and fix everything. Catra just made everything worse. Catra would disappear into the forest and, who knows, go to the Crimson Wastes or something. She’d just become the animal in the forest Shadow Weaver had always threatened she was.
The cool night air was a relief from the overly perfumed hallways of Bright Moon. Her shoulders dropped further down as her muscles relaxed. Eyes lingered on the back of her head, making her fur stand on end, but Catra was used to people watching her suspiciously.
“What way?”
Catra scanned the treeline, searching for the overlarge tree. She pointed up towards it. “Right there.” Adora grunted in agreement as she stomped off in that direction. “Geez, you’re in a great mood as always, Adora.”
“Yeah, well, somebody woke me up in the middle of the night to go traipsing through the woods. You’re lucky I’m willing to give you a chance, Catra. You’re not exactly trustworthy.”
“Hm, I suppose it might have gone better if I begged on my knees for you?”
“Isn’t that what you did?” Adora said with a sneer.
Catra nearly stumbled over her own feet at the abject hostility in Adora’s tone. This was new. “Whatever, Adora.”
“And anyway, what were you thinking leaving two little kids out in the woods by themselves? Of all the dumb things to do! They could be dead!”
“They’re us, they’ll be fine.”
Adora opened her mouth, then snapped it shut, keeping her gaze forward.
They crossed the last bit of open land in silence. Normally, Catra enjoyed the silence. This silence though felt almost poisonous in the air.
Catra came to a halt in front of the tree, ignoring the way Adora walked into her, nearly sending her to the ground. She could hear the light giggling and whisperings that she had become accustomed to over the past few days floating down.
“This one?” Adora asked, brandishing one hand.
“Yep.” Catra tilted her head up, just barely making out a dangling shoe. She whistled lightly, hoping it was loud enough for the girls to hear.
“Catra!” The branches rustled above her head, leaves falling into her hair. Without much further warning, little Catra dropped onto her head, her claws digging into Catra’s shoulders. “You came back!”
“Hey, kitten, I promised, didn’t I? Where’s Adora?”
“‘m stuck! Help me, Catra!”
Catra rolled her eyes. Tugging little Catra off her shoulders, she shoved the girl into Adora’s unsuspecting arms. “I’m comin’ up, kid.” She climbed up into the tree with ease, finding little Adora staring at the ground with wide eyes, the rucksack clutched in her arms. “Hey, Adora, c’mere and I’ll get you down. There’s someone I’m sure you’ll wanna meet.”
The little girl nodded warily as she inched along the branches until Catra could wrap an arm around her waist.
“Ready?”
“Uh-huh.”
Catra dropped out of the tree, landing on her feet, Adora still propped on her hip.
She spun around to find little Catra poking incessantly at Adora’s face. And the great princess herself looked rather uncomfortable with the child in her arms.
“Look, ‘Dora, she’s you. Even still has a dumb tail.” Little Catra reached an arm around and pulled hard on Adora’s ponytail. Catra winced in sympathy; both girls had tugged on her hair and ears too many times to count in the past few days.
“Whoa,” gasped little Adora, her mouth falling open as she took in her younger self. “This is so cool.” Catra set the girl down, letting her move closer to Adora, who honestly looked like someone sucker-punched her.
Her gaze flitted between the two little girls and Catra, who had taken up a spot leaning against the tree. “You weren’t lying.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“That’s not what I- ugh, whatever, you’re impossible.”
Little Catra lept out of Adora’s arm, scraping her along the way, to stand next to Adora. Adora dropped to a knee in front of them, her eyes shining.
“You guys are seven?” Both girls nodded. “And you’re safe? Catra didn’t hurt you guys or anything?”
Catra swallowed back the lump in her throat at Adora’s question. How could she think Catra would hurt two defenceless children? Did she truly think her a monster.
“‘Course not, Catra’d never hurt me,” said little Adora, wrapping one arm around little Catra’s shoulders.
“Yeah, she saved us from ‘tavia and I got to fire a tank! It was awesome!”
“You fired a tank?” Adora asked, lifting her gaze to Catra. “You let a seven-year-old fire a tank? What is wrong with you?” Adora lept to her feet. One hand twitched like it wanted to go for her sword.
Catra held up her hands, leaning further back into the tree. “I didn’t let her, she just did it.”
“Yeah, I saved her from ‘tavia and all the rest,” piped up little Catra, her hands on her hips.
Adora took another step closer to Catra, ignoring the little girls.
“Of all the irresponsible-”
“Adora, I didn’t-”
“Why are you two yelling at each other?” Little Adora all but yelled, stamping her foot. She held little Catra close with one arm while the other gestured wildly between the older pair. “You’re supposed to be best friends!”
Catra couldn’t stop the noise of disgust that fell from her lips. “Yeah, well, things change.”
Adora looked away, her cheeks blazing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.” She dropped down to one knee again. “I should introduce myself first.” She offered a hand out to her younger self.
“I know who you are. You’re me,” said little Adora, staring at Adora’s hand like it was an alien.
Adora laughed and Catra’s heart crumbled. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
As the two Adoras talked, Catra realized that this would probably be her only opportunity to get away before Adora had her arrested.
She shuffled around the base of the tree until she was just out of sight of the others. Exhaling sharply, she started to slink back into the shadows of the woods when a small hand caught hers.
“Where’re you goin’, Catra?” Her little self asked, squeezing her fingers. Catra squeezed her eyes shut against the tears suddenly threatening to spill. “You promised. You promised to keep me safe.”
“Kitten, it’s…” Words failed her.
The little hand dropped hers and Catra still could bring herself to turn around. “It’s okay. I get it. I wouldn’t want to stick ‘round for me anyway. Nobody wants me.”
Catra spun on her heel, falling to her knees in front of her younger self. She cupped the little girl’s face, forcing her to look up from the ground. “Kitten, no, that’s not it.”
“So you’re not leaving me?”
Fleeting thoughts of freedom echoed in her mind for a moment. If she went back to the castle, it could only end poorly. “Nah, kitten, I said I’d keep you safe. And hey, don’t let Shadow Weaver and the rest get in your head. You’re not alone. People care about you.” The lie fell all too easily from her lips and it made her sick. But the look of hope in her younger self’s eyes almost made it worth it.
“Catra, are you ready to go?” Adora appeared from behind the tree, her little self close at her knee.
“Um, yeah, totally ready.” Catra stood to her feet, offering a hand to little Catra, who bypassed it in favor of climbing up to Catra’s back. “Let’s get going.”
They started to make their way back towards Bright Moon when little Adora pulled Adora to a stop. Catra hesitated near them, the weight of little Catra increasingly uncomfortable. The little girl nuzzled her face into Catra’s neck, exhaling slow, warm breaths of air.
“Can you carry me?”
“Uh,” Adora mumbled, glancing back to Catra, “sure, hop on.” It took them a minute to get adjusted before they could start walking again.
The pair of them had maybe taken ten steps before snoring could be heard.
Adora grinned at the sound. “You’re asleep.”
“Yeah, well, so are you.” Catra nodded to the dozing blonde hanging off Adora’s back. “So, uh, what’s the plan?”
“First, we’ll need to figure out how they got here. I’m sure the Queen will know what to do. And then I guess send them back?”
“I kinda figured that part out already. I meant more, like what about me?”
“Oh.” Adora fell silent for a long time before speaking again, “You’ve done a lot of damage, Catra. I don’t know if they can just like forgive that.”
To Catra’s ears, that was as close to a confirmation of execution as she thought she’d get out of Adora. At least it’d be quick.
(And, that dangerous part of her mind said, she’d have seen Adora one last time.)
As soon as they got within shouting distance of the castle, Princess Sparkles appeared by their side.
“Oh, thank the-”
“Shut up,” Catra hissed before the princess could all but scream at them. The affronted look on her face was just a fun bonus. “Small children are sleeping here.”
“Oh,” the princess took a peek at the two little girls on their backs, her mouth falling open like a fish. “Wow, it’s really you two.” She shook her head. “Right, well, we don’t have any spare rooms at the moment. You know, with our guest,” she inclined her head knowingly towards Adora, who’s lips dipped into a frown. “But if it’s alright, they can stay with you in your room?”
“Uh, yeah, sure, the more the merrier.”
Glitter led them back through the castle, quietly speaking with Adora as they went. Catra stayed a few steps back, her body overly tired from the added weight.
Once they reached Adora’s room, all three older girls paused in front of the bed.
“Um, I can see about getting another bed in here,” offered the princess.
Adora waved her off, moving to set little Adora in the bed. “It’s fine, I’ll just sleep on the floor.”
“Sleep on the floor? You can come share my bed if you want?”
Catra failed to stop the cold laugh that bubbled up in her chest. “Bet you’d love that,” she mumbled.
Little Adora reached her arms out, eyes still closed, searching for little Catra. “Kitty, c’mere.” Catra moved past Adora to gently place little Catra next to the blonde. Little Adora pulled little Catra the rest of the way in until their heads were stacked atop one another.
Little Catra opened one eye, searching for her older self. “Where’re you going?”
“Don’t worry about it, just sleep, kitten.” Catra ran her hand through the girl’s hair, once, twice, before turning away.
“It’s sleepin’ time now, kitty.”
Catra and Adora both flinched at the nickname as they moved away from the bed. Catra couldn’t bring herself to look at Adora, even out in the hallway.
Once the door was shut, Catra’s body sagged against one of the walls, exhaustion overwhelming her.
She let her eyes drift closed for a moment. She had done it. They were safe.
“Aw, you were so cute, kitty, all curled up-” Before the princess could finish her sentence, Catra lunged at her, claws at her throat.
“Call me that again and I will tear your throat out.”
“Catra, no!” Adora grabbed her shoulder, pulling her off the princess. The princess looked nothing short of terrified, much to Catra’s pleasure.
“Guards!” Glitzy called, “take the prisoner away. My mother will want to speak with her tomorrow morning.”
“Glimmer, do we have to, ya know, do this?”
But Adora’s momentary protestations were ignored as two guards tugged Catra away from her, shoving her forward. The guards pushed her further down the hallway when Catra glanced back at Adora arguing quietly with the princess. “Hey, Adora?” Adora’s head snapped up. “Keep them safe, please.” The blonde nodded quickly. “Promise?” She asked, fighting back the tears that she had suppressed for so long.
“Yeah, Catra, I promise.” Her voice floated softly down the hall before Catra’s guards pushed her around a corner and towards another guard stationed in front of a room.
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An Analysis of 4 Key Relationships in Season 2
Now that we’ve had some time to digest season 2, I wanna take an in-depth look at some of the new relationships and group dynamics that have popped up in the show. Specifically, seeing Catra interact with Bow and Glimmer was something I’ve been excited about for a really long time, and then of course there’s Scorpia, and wow do i have THOUGHTS alright here we go
Catra and Bow
i know, weird right. there’s a reason i’m writing about these two first and it’s because i have a lot of feelings lajksdfd just hear me out okay
Idk about you guys, but when I was watching Catra attack Bow in 2x02 it just felt so weird, like in a bad way. Catra’s anger towards him for stealing Adora away is obviously valid, but Bow is just so pure and righteous and good, you know? He doesn’t have a bitter bone in his body (unlike Glimmer, who can give as good as she gets). Bow doesn’t know how to respond to Catra’s anger... and I think the reason that it was so hard for me to watch is because Catra and Bow actually have the potential to be good friends.
Think about it like this. Catra and Glimmer are a lot alike--they’re fierce and intense and they each have someone who helps bring them back down to earth: their respective best friends, Adora and Bow! And we see how much Adora and Glimmer have grown to love one another, right? It’s because their different personalities complement each other so well.... So I think that, given the chance, Catra and Bow could have a similar dynamic :)
There was a sweet moment in 2x02 that offered a glimpse of this, when Bow was trying to show Catra some kindness. He’s such an earnest, straight forward character, he sees right through Catra’s bullshit and knows exactly what to say to get through to her (i mean look at her expression here, the way her ears are flattened--so different from her absurd behavior in the rest of the episode).
Lock these two in a room for an hour? Yeah, they’d come out best friends 😭💖 I hope we get more of them in future episodes!!
Catra and Glimmer
Oh man...... Whew. YIKES. Where to even begin with this alsjdfsdjld. Catra and Glimmer’s rivalry is just. everything.
To Glimmer, Catra is the girl who is trying to destroy her home, murder her and her loves ones... the girl who’s breaking the heart of someone she loves (Adora).
To Catra, Glimmer is the girl who stole Adora away from her. She tore her life apart. She represents what it means to be born into a position of privilege and (literal) power, which Catra resents with a burning passion.
Seeing these two go head to head, sparring physically and verbally, it’s so freaking delicious. Catra has the advantage over her in almost every way: she’s a better fighter, she lies and manipulates, she’s willing to do evil things to win battles that Glimmer, as a typical hero, refuses to do. But despite all that, Glimmer still wins every time... Because she has Adora.
It’s interesting, though. Even though Adora is on Glimmer’s team, Catra knows that she is the one who holds Adora’s attention, if not also her affections--and she knows this fact drives Glimmer crazy. I mean come on, Adora means everything to Glimmer! She loves her as a friend but more than that, She-Ra gives her hope that they can save the world. Yet Adora loves this feral half-cat demon over her?? what???? lmao. So I think part of what’s fueling Glimmer’s hatred, her desire to just beat the absolute shit out of Catra, is that she feels like she’s contending for Adora’s love.
There were four glitra moments this season that I wanna highlight.
First, when Catra tries to get in her head and make her doubt her relationship with Adora. I found this interesting because you almost see a glimpse of sincerity in Catra--as if she’s trying to warn Glimmer against repeating the mistake she herself made. Glimmer’s reaction to the words are just as telling. She gets angry, but I don’t think it’s because she believes Catra. I think she’s angry because Catra is slandering Adora’s character. Unlike Catra right now, Glimmer sees Adora for who she truly is. She knows that Adora isn’t the kind of person who abandons her friends in pursuit of power. So yeah this was a cool moment that illustrated Glimmer and Catra’s contrasting perspectives.
Second, I LOVED this line, when Catra makes fun of Glimmer and Adora’s relationship (but it just comes off as jealous lmaoo). The reason I love it is because it’s so true!!! Glimmer and Adora are perfect for each other. What this line proves is that she is absolutely threatened by Glimmer in a romantic context. She recognizes that Glimmer might actually be more compatible for Adora than she is, and that Glimmer is her foil (which I’ll explain more in a minute).
Next is the scene where Glimmer actually threatens to kill Catra in cold blood. If you’re like me and you missed that when you first watched it, yeah, that’s what happened--Catra gives Kyle the order to “take Entrapta out” and then Glimmer slams her against the tree and says “two can play at that game.” She gets this close to blasting her face off but Bow is able to talk her down from it. And the whole time, Catra is just fucking smirking at her, calling her bluff because she knows Glimmer won’t compromise her morals (parallel to catradora in 2x05 anyone??). But yeah this was crazy. Catra just wanted to see how far she could push her and it turns out... pretty damn far.
One of my favorite lines in the whole season was Glimmer telling Catra “I’m not as naive as you think.” Catra thought she had her outsmarted, forced to deplete her magic, but in the end Catra had underestimated her as an adversary.
The more I think about it, the more I realize Glitra’s rivalry is a hundred times more intense than Catradora’s. Remember in the DnD ep when femme fatale Catra points at Glimmer and calls her her greatest enemy? That was veeery interesting... Their relationship really has a life of it’s own now, like, separate from Adora. They hate everything about what each other stand for. They’re both so strong and hot-headed, with opposite moral compasses--like two rockets on a collision course. But I also love that they have this sort of begrudging respect for one another. Look at what Glimmer says here in 2x03, the ghost episode:
How random, right, that Glimmer would be thinking about some offhand comment from Catra from the previous episode? AND! In context, it just sounded to me like Catra was saying Glimmer was terrible at taking people hostage lol. Glimmer extrapolates and applies her comment to her courage, her capability as a hero. That’s like.... whoa. It shows that Glimmer actually cares about Catra’s opinion of her.
So yeah Glitra’s dynamic is more amazing than i could’ve ever dreamed.. not to mention their weird flirtation and oh no looks like we’re out of time for this section kjdfljsdkaskjd
Adora and Scorpia
Ok seeing these two dorks together in 2x05 was so amazing 😂😂 As cute as it was though it was one of the most heartbreaking parts of the season. I can’t remember a time that Scorpia ever demonstrated such bitterness towards someone.
Not exaggerating when I say that last line brought me to tears like wtf.... 😭
I’ve mentioned this before but Scorpia genuinely loves Catra so much and she just can’t stand seeing her heart breaking over Adora when Scorpia feels like she could treat Catra better. She’d give her the whole world if she could (which is quite literally what she’s trying to achieve!)
Adora, on the other hand, she doesn’t really know who Scorpia is. To her, Scorpia is just someone who is enabling Catra’s descent into darkness, so there is a hostility there already. If I had to name one thing that I’m excited about for upcoming episodes, it would be Adora inevitably growing jealous of Catra and Scorpia’s relationship. We haven’t seen it yet but mark my words we WILL AND ITS GONNA FUCKING DESTROY US okay i could yell about adora and scorpia for hours but let’s just move on and get to my fave part of this meta laksjdfs
Catra vs. Glimmer, and Adora vs. Scorpia
So Catra and Glimmer rivalry’s is obviously really fun, same with Adora and Scorpia. But the real magic comes in when we look at the dynamic of this whole 4-person group. I didn’t take Scortra seriously in season 1 (blasphemy... i know) so it took me until season 2 to catch onto this pattern, but now that I have it makes so much sense and gives the show a new perspective for me.
Glimmer and Scorpia’s relationship hasn’t really been explored in the show but there is one thing we know they have in common: they both love two girls who are obsessed with someone else. And they both act as foils for our two protagonists.
Glimmer is Catra’s foil. The similarities between these two are obvious. They’re both passionate and angry and driven and traumatized. But Glimmer’s strong moral code contrasts sharply with Catra’s lack of one (and really that difference is just a result of their disparate upbringings).
Glimmer is right in front of Adora. And she’s everything that Adora only wishes Catra could be... yet Glimmer will never be able to compete with Catra in the contest for Adora’s affection. Adora is stuck between loving someone that she can’t be with, or being with someone she can’t truly love... at least, not in the same soul-altering way that she loves Catra.
Scorpia is Adora’s foil. Scorpia and Adora are also alike in some ways, but there’s a key difference. The fandom has discussed before how, yeah, Scorpia is part of the Horde, but she doesn’t appear to have any kind of moral stake in the war that’s going on. What Scorpia really cares about, what she’ll fight to the death for is... her friendships. She’s loyal to a fault, and she would do absolutely anything for Catra. Catra is her number one priority.
GUYS! This is the exact opposite of Adora!! Adora may love Catra, but she will always choose the greater good over her. She won’t betray her convictions for love. That’s just who she is. Thus, Scorpia is everything that Catra wishes Adora would have been for her. Someone who would have stayed by her side no matter what. Someone who wouldn’t have cared whether or not the Horde was evil, as long as she could be with Catra. But again--though I do think Scortra’s budding romance will continue to develop--in the end Scorpia simply cannot compete with Adora for Catra’s affection. She acknowledged it herself.
I wanna mention one more thing here.. So Scorpia and Glimmer are playing similar roles for their respective love interests. From my point of view (feel free to disagree this is just the way I’m interpreting things) I don’t believe that those relationships are gonna be endgame. To me this show always has been and always will be about Catra and Adora. And while I can’t wait to see them reconcile with each other, Noelle has suddenly got me falling in love with these other characters, too, and I'm so afraid??? ESPECIALLY for Scorpia. While Glimmer at least has Bow and the Princess Alliance, Scorpia has absolutely no one. Catra is Scorpia’s whole world. What will she do when that falls apart? (god please i’m begging, just let scorpia find happiness 😭)
Catra and Scorpia
Honestly I don’t even think I can write this part without having a meltdown but its the last one so im gonna push through alksjdfls. I already talked a bit about how Scorpia is exactly the kind of person that Catra needs at this point in her life, and I think it’s best summed up in this quote from Noelle:
“We see Scorpia expressing this admiration for Catra, expressing desire to get close to Catra... Catra is just not at this point super open to Scorpia’s affection. So I think it’s kind of tragic at this point. And I think for Catra, although she’ll never admit it, what she really wants is love and acceptance. Suddenly she is getting that, no strings attached, from Scorpia, and she is not ready.”
-wiping away tears- okay so yeah, Scorpia is over here offering Catra unconditional love and Catra’s just.... she’s so traumatized and has such deep-seated abandonment issues that she just doesn’t know what to do with it. She doesn’t feel she deserves it. Also, up until 2x05, Catra didn’t respect Scorpia much at all and definitely did not see her in a romantic light. But I have a theory on why that changed.
For much of her life, I think the Horde taught Catra to associate love with blind loyalty and submission. Now, she is starting to question this belief. She thought Adora loved her, but Adora ended up being disloyal. She thought she could earn Shadow Weaver’s love by submitting to her, but Shadow Weaver continues to prove her wrong. So what is love, exactly? What is an expression of love? Catra’s not sure anymore.
When Scorpia defies Catra’s orders in 2x05--she destroys the First Ones disc, lets Adora escape, fucks up Catra’s plan--Catra is completely thrown. In the animation alone, you can see they’re trying to convey that Catra is seeing Scorpia in a way she never has before.
It’s precisely because Scorpia defied her and chose not to blindly submit to her, that Catra is still alive. It’s the first time that Scorpia went against Catra’s wishes in a big way. And I think this moment shook Catra to her core because it made her question what love is truly about. Like maybe Scorpia understands something that she doesn’t.
We see this again in episode 2x07, where she’s stressed out about Shadow Weaver and yelling at Scorpia to just obey her orders but Scorpia isn’t having it. And in that we see a special trust developing between them. Even when Catra’s being a dick to her, denying that they’re friends, saying things like “get used to not getting what you want in life...” Scorpia stays by her side and refuses to be discouraged. and I think that really is something that’s going to leave a huge impact on Catra. Scorpia is no longer just a tool for Catra to manipulate--she has come to seriously rely on her without realizing it.
Still, Catra doesn’t seem quite capable of understanding what a beautiful friend she has in Scorpia. and I’m afraid (predicting) that she might take it too far one day, and figure out the hard way exactly how much she had to lose. But that tragedy may also turn out to be her saving grace ✨
congrats if u read this whole thing lmao id love to hear your thoughts/criticism on it!! i was gonna discuss catradora too but actually i think that should be a separate meta so..... yeet .
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Regarding the entire “SPoP is just a kids’ show! Stop trying to apply logic (analysis of the “war” aspect) or find deeper meaning (accusations of ableism and unfortunate fantasy racial implications).”
There are two problems SPoP is facing against “it’s just a kids’ show. One is not necessarily its fault, although it seems they leaned into it pretty heavily and so are not completely free of it. The second is entirely on the show.
The first is the context of which She Ra was released - basically, in a post Avatar the Last Airbender world, and to a lesser extent following shows such as MLP:FiM and Gravity Falls. Of course, Western cartoons with in-depth mythologies and teased elements existed before AtLA (Gargoyles comes immediately to mind), but AtLA definitely changed the game about what could not only be shown/stated in a Y-7 cartoon (death if an entire people explicitly stated in the first few episodes to bring home the point) but also what could be talked about (effects of child abuse with Zuko and Azula being prominent). It spanned three seasons, with novels worth of backstory.
Suddenly, a Western cartoon didn’t have to be “just a kids’ show.” It’s not fair to expect every show to live up to that, but now it has been proven to be possible.
Did She Ra ever promise in marketing to be the next AtLA? I have no idea, being completely ignorant of anything during the run, but I also doubt it. Did at least marketing hope to ride on the coattails of “myth arc” style cartoons, drawing in more viewers? Undoubtedly. It’s a nostalgic property, emphasizing modern concerns (women’s power, LGBT+) and streamed through a mainstream service. Of course they’d want to fill their numbers with older viewers hoping for the next big story.
So, it’s not fair to put the expectation of being the next AtLA on SPoP going in, but it’s also to be expected that the fans would want it.
But what about the series itself? What did the show promise?
Unfortunately, I believe the show set up more than it could deliver here, and that is on the show runners and any execs that axed anything that might potentially have improved the situation (although from the sounds of show runners meta, I don’t know how much this contributed).
What did the show do to tease fans with complex myth arcs? Obviously, it doled out information on a “need to know” basis, leaving room for speculation and theorization. Scorpia being a princess and what that would mean about the Black Garnet, for example, is a perfect set up for this. The use of First One’s writing might have been initially been intended as an insider joke, the translations said to be released for “marketing,” but they still went forwards and then incorportated key phrases that would require fan translation - feeding more interest in searching for more clues. And finally, it paid off with some big foreshadowed twists, specifically Lighht Hope’s ulterior programming and the truth about the Heart of Etheria.
You can’t leave cryptic messages the fans can translate, twist our perspective of the “Benevolent Forerunner Race,” and then claim the fans are reading too far into things. You can claim the fans are going further than you intended, but you started them on this path.
And how do we know there’s disappointing, unresolved ends to these paths, and not more backstory like explored in the AtLA comics? The Crew Ra admitted it.
At first, when I heard that some of the Crew Ra had “headcanon” about Imp’s origins - that he was an attempt by Hordak to clone himself a stable body hybridized with Etherian animal DNA - it seemed cool. It made the Crew human, fans like us.
But how much harder would it have been to make it canon? Animals on Beast Island were apparently designed specifically to imply this missing link to Imp, and appear in the show; why can’t this then just be written into the show bible, a canon background that just isn’t said aloud in the show.
The most obvious answer, and the only reasonable one without further evidence, is that the people in control of the show bible just didn’t care. Didn’t care about what Imp was, other than a character from the previous She Ra. Didn’t care who Frosta’s parents were, or why she’s been ruling since 8. Didn’t care what actually happened with the Scorpian Kindgom when Hordak “overthrew” it, because that detail mattered less to them than the fact that Angella describes her husband’s (falsely assumed) death was one of Hordak’s “first victims.”
So the fans shouldn’t care, either, right?
No. The show runners can’t have it both ways. They can’t present the show as deep (question the facts you were raised with, because they may be biased by cruel predecessors!) and relevant (people should be allowed to be openly homosexual and nonbinary) and then only accept discussion on points they themselves raised.
Especially since many of the questions I hear asked without answer have been raised, towards others, within the show itself:
What measure is a victim? (Catra is a victim of Shadow Weaver’s abuse, Frosta twice questions the ethics of attacking Etherians, both Horde and chipped, but Prime’s clones are faceless mooks?)
What measure is acceptance? (Why are all but one of the princesses all-but-human looking, including the half-angel Glimmer, on a world of beast people? Why not explicitly condone literal physical abuse of a person [Entrapta, hair pulling and leashing] by her supposed friends for being “different” if we’re supposed to openly accept divergent sexualities? Neurodivergence doesn’t measure up to gender divergence?)
What measure is redemption?
SPoP started these discussions. It might not be fair to hold it to the same standard as AtLA for depth, but the show runners are the ones that copied elements of its formula to tell their story.
It’s not a serious war drama the way AtLA is. But how much effort could it have taken the show runners to at least look into more of their own questions, especially when others on the crew imply on social media they were asking for the same?
Note: Links will be added in a follow-up post; I’m on mobile, so it will take a bit to compile them. I’m aiming for tomorrow. If anyone who can have multiple windows open can send me direct links to relevant Tweets or at least screenshots I know I’ve seen here on Tumblr, that would be appreciated!
#meta analysis#they started the discussion#we have a right to continue it#spop#she ra and the princesses of power#atla
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Omg Adora + 4 and Maya Hart + 13
adora: 4. Best places to kiss on their body
hello i would like to introduce the world to the wonderful concept of forehead kisses
adora has a hero complex, right? she feels like she needs to be the one to save everyone else and, to a large degree, this is true - she’s the one with the magic sword, she’s the one that’s like 7ft tall and quite literally a beacon in the darkness. there’s a basis for her complex
but that also means that she can feel very isolated sometimes. she can feel like she’s not necessarily in need of care or deserving of it - particularly when she thinks about catra or the horde or shadow weaver or what she’s running from or what she left behind
so this also means that the first time she’s injured enough to warrant bedrest and glimmer’s rambling and bow’s fussing over her and adora’s grimacing in pain as she’s trying to get comfortable, she’s not voicing her discomfort or her mind-numbing terror at having come that close to death as she-ra. there’s a general assumption of invincibility when she’s with the sword, one that’s made her forget what it feels like to have close-calls
glimmer notices and she stops rambling, scrambling instead for more pillows to prop up adora’s injured side. she sets her to rights and adora lets out a deep sigh of relief at the deep ache in her body easing and then glimmer leans over and presses a quick kiss to her forehead and adora freezes
here’s the thing: physical affection is not something she is well-acquainted with. it was weaponized against her regularly when she was young and she’d never really known anything other than that until she came to the rebellion; she and catra had never been all that physically demonstrative outside of immediate comfort, and even then that was usually just an arm slung over the other’s shoulder or a gentle hip check or something. so a forehead kiss?
what the actual fuck?
adora doesn’t know how to verbalize it, the way she gets warm all over and how her nerves seem to settle. she just knows she wants it to happen again
glimmer goes back to rambling as soon as she’s satisfied that adora’s comfortable, but later that night, when she and bow are setting up their sleeping bags on the floor, glimmer goes over to check on adora again and, sheepishly, adora asks, “can you, uh, do that thing again?”
“huh?”
“the - the thing. you, uh -,” adora blushes. “you kissed my, uh, forehead and i - uh.”
“oh. yeah?”
“uh huh.”
“okay.”
glimmer’s more than happy to comply. she whispers it to bow later and adora beams happily when bow starts greeting her with forehead kisses, and she practically vibrates with joy when all the other princesses sort of pick up on it
she’s just! so! happy! what the fuck!
much later, when catra defects (or, well, is kind of abducted from the battlefield as she lay bleeding out, the horde having abandoned her, her throat raw from screaming come back, please, don’t leave me here), she’s laid up in her bed and adora creeps in past the guard stationed out front and she fusses over her, unsure of how to fix their relationship or even if there is anything that has survived long enough to fix
catra tries to ignore her. she does. but then adora’s apparently fussed long enough, plumped enough pillows, arranged and rearranged the water and snacks on the bedside table, and she’s about to leave and catra just sort of starts to say something, lets out this choked off sound and adora turns back and sees the fear, the uncertainty, the outright trauma reflected in her old friend’s eyes
she pads back and leans over slowly and presses her lips to catra’s sweaty forehead
it’s quiet. catra’s tense beneath her when adora pulls back
“what are you doing?”
“caring about you.”
“why?”
“because i want to.”
“well, stop it.”
“no.”
catra is eventually made a part of the forehead kisses. sometimes, she even purrs. it’s just as adorable as it sounds
long story short: adora practically melts if you kiss her forehead. it makes her feel small and safe and cared for! three things she rarely gets to feel, not when she’s the fucking she-ra and eyes are on her the second she walks into the room, not when people expect her to do the safe-keeping, not when she is so used to pushing through her own need for care in favor of caring for others!
i feel like this could have veered a lot more towards pg-13 but listen i just so desperately want adora to be warm and comfortable and intensely cared for and i want her to KNOW that she’s cared for
goddammit, get that girl some therapy
maya: 13. What gets them flustered
riley smiling at her the way she does. riley kissing her cheek or using their joined hands as a tether to reel maya into a hug. riley calling her beautiful or sweet or smart, riley bragging about her crazy talented best friend and, later, bragging about her crazy talented girlfriend.
it’s never been an issue, not usually, because even though maya may stumble or blush beet red to the roots of her hair or choke on her smoothie, it’s all worth it for how riley seems to light up at how maya responds
it only really becomes an issue when they’re newly dating and maya seems to be tripping over herself at every turn because holy shit, she’s in love with this girl and riley’s in love with her and why couldn’t they have been doing this so much sooner????
which roughly translates to: sometimes riley just looks over at her and maya just. short circuits. completely blanks on whatever she was doing and one time walks directly into a wall
she also gets super flustered by anyone seeing through that tough girl detached persona and realizes how carefully she observes the world and how deeply she cares for the people in it. her college counselor in high school does, stares at her critically and then dissects her, makes her reckon with the fact that she’s incredibly smart but doesn’t always apply herself, that she’s incredibly caring but doesn’t always know how to show it, that she’s incredibly capable and deserving of a good college career, if she so chooses
maya can’t make eye contact with her for, like, a week
#spop#adora#gmw#maya hart#sorry for the length lmao i just got very invested#rvyven#human interaction
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A super long ass essay that arose due to SPOP and SUF endings
Okay, before I start with this long ass opinion, I gotta leave clear some points first:
1-I’m not an expert on any matter that I might address over here, but no one is an expert on everything (unless you´re some sort of gifted person with an amazing intelligence and that’s okay!), but hey that doesn’t mean I don’t have certain knowledge on the subject either.
2-I’m not invalidating no one’s personal opinion, if you dislike something that’s totally fine and I respect that! And in any moment I’m trying to force my opinions into you, if in any moment it seems like that, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to sound that way, I’ve always sucked in these kind of stuff (hence why I rarely interact on the Internet by giving my opinions, cause you gotta be super careful of what you say nowadays)
3-If I start contradicting myself, as I said before, I’m bad at this stuff, so….yeah this is probably gonna end in a disaster. But no one is perfect and I can at least try!
4-Most of this thing is written off my perspective, but I guess every opinion is that way too.
Well, let’s begin with thing super long opinion that no one will ever care about or bother to read!
Now, this something I’ve been thinking about after SPOP ended, and also because I’ve seen in at least one Instagram comment, Tumblr post and Youtube critique’s video comment (or even the video itself, but tbh I don’t remember exactly where it was) that said that if show doesn’t know how to tackle very delicate issues such as abuse and that kind of heavy stuff, then they shouldn’t address them at all (I’m serious, I literally one comment like that on a Insta post related with SPOP). And, while I agree that these shows don’t tackle this issues in the most appropriate way, I think what’s most important is that they’re being addressed at all! Seriously, what a better way to show kids that this kind of stuff happens in the real world, that via a cartoon. It’s something that will catch their attention.
I repeat not every single show has showed this issues in the best way possible, and then that got me thinking, why are people complaining of things such as the unrealistic take of redemption of abusive figures such as Shadow Weaver and Catra or evil dictators that might have probably committed genocide like the Diamonds in SU, which is something the kids that watch such shows might just believe it does happen in real life (This last statement is something that I disagree, I’ll get into that later, when they could actually explain kids the reality of this issues?
(Putting this under cut cause it’s super long and in case you want to scroll past it)
Let me explain myself, all of us are aware that redemption cannot be given to these kind of people and it’s unreal, so if we know these kind of stuff, then we, as adults, should explain them why things like this are not likely to happen in real life (in a nice, not in a super crude way like fricking Realism, they’re still kids after all, do they need to know the cruelty of the real world without sugar-coating and being direct, sure, but we don’t have to be extremely crude about it). Of course, I’m aware most parents aren’t responsible for their kids, that they don’t have any sort of parental figure around, or a even part of a horrible family that gives zero shits about them, and that sucks, a lot.
Remember, how I said that I disagree that kids believe everything they see on TV? Well, it’s because I don’t kids are that stupid, they might be naive, I know that being a naive and innocent person too (back when I was little, now reality hit me like a truck and I’m aware that the world is terrible, just to clarify), but they are indeed smart, I remember that in an Intro to Psychology course, it showed a study that says that babies are actually smarter than what they look like, so this applies to young kids as well, they know when some stuff is wrong and messed up, just as they know about what is good. It make take them a while to figure this sort of things out, but when they do, it’s going to be a lesson that will stick with them, and when they grow up, they’ll have have a even more and better knowledge of these subjects. So cartoons addressing these subjects is the first step to teaching kids about abuse, toxic relationships, etc. and then, if possible for the reason I mentioned earlier, us adults would explain them in a better way (and more realistic for the matter) about these stuff, it is sort of like a shared responsibility.
Now I’m gonna jump to a COMPLETELY different matter, that is not related but that I wanted to address as well, but this has to do with how people say that a show creator had no idea how to do their show (or something like that, but I think you get the idea), more specifically with how they direct the story (where it’s heading to) and how they have rushed endings that make nonsense.
I’m gonna make a small disclaimer first: I’m not saying that there aren’t any horrible shows, of course there are, heck I’ve witnessed a couple of them, so I’m aware of this.
One thing you have to take in mind, is that the creators are normal people too and aren’t perfect in any way, I’m sure there’s gonna be a comment saying: “But they must know how to their job properly, it’s what they studied for!” Well, I’ve met a couple of doctors that have NO IDEA how to do their job properly *cough* Mexican health system (though not all of them, many know how to do their job) *cough*, even my brother had a teacher that supposedly has a degree related with animation and didn’t knew how to move a model (or something like that, it’s been like two years when he told us that). Basically, just because you have a degree doesn’t mean you’ll do your job right or even perfect, you’re always learning of all the mistakes you make, and this is something that also applies to creating content. (though I have to admit there are some that reach the level of super dumbass on the matter and ask yourself if they even studied at all…)
Webcomic creators know this really well, their first work is not perfect, it has lots of flaws, but they learned from it and got better, combined with the feedback of the community (and by this I mean not throwing nonsensical hate) it just keeps improving. Whether a creator wants to listen to the feedback or not, well that’s their problem, not everyone takes criticism in a good way.
Then we have the issues that every showrunner faces, the restrictions of the network, with this I refer to the duration of an episode, the amount of episodes a season has, if it’s going to get a new season at all, things that can be showed, etc. Do you seriously think creators can do as they please and show every single of their ideas? Of course not! And when they do is a goddamn miracle! But there’s always a risk that the funds of the show get cut (SU is a good example of this), they didn’t get enough time to do everything that they wanted and had to cut off important stuff (or censor it in some cases), or simply the show is suddenly cancelled (even if the creator had all the freedom in the world, and it’s doing an amazing job with the story because it’s taking it’s time, if the executives decide that it’s not worth it to keep it going they cancel it and leave the story unfinished, hence why some endings tend to be rushed, cause they have to adapt to the sudden change, changing literally everything they have planned). Sometimes, is the creators fault and sometimes is the networks fault.
(I wanna add a little something, when fans keep saying that the show should have focused on the important things, but let me remember that it’s the creator and the team that decide what they’re gonna do, and A) Probably they have finished that Ep, a year prior to it’s airing-that they had it planned a long time ago- and B) It’s never a good idea to to listen to what the fans want at least not in a 100%, fanservice in big amounts is never a good thing, just look at what happened with that youtuber that had a webseries on her channel….)
If you didn’t liked a show at all and it was the worst thing you’ve ever seen in your life, that totally fine! We all have different opinions and will never like the same things as the others, but at least ask of yourself, if it’s the creators fault for making questionable decision on the direction of the show or the networks fault, or even if both are at fault! (Remember, you can still dislike the show after this!)
Well, people are probably gonna go after my head for this cause maybe I didn’t cover some parts properly, at least I tried…..And maybe there are lots of contradiction. (And people might think I’m defending every single terrible show out there or some shit like that)
If anyone read this whole thing….thank you for taking the time to read this thing. Surprisingly I enjoyed writing this, it really made me think and take my time just to look at things from a different perspective, really even if it doesn’t look like, I tried my best to take into consideration the way people feel about certain topics and their perspectives (opinions), you have no idea of all interesting points of view that I read on Tumblr and the internet in general (I think I actually stuck most of the time with the way I think...damnit)
#writing#personal opinion#man people might go after my head for this#I'm gonna be eaten alive aren't I?#Well at least I never cared about having followers and was just hanging out here for fun#okay that actually sounded bad#sorry
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