#I just love the characterization for everyone but especially Hordak

[tropicalcryptid]

Ok so She-Ra pulled such a great hat trick with Hordak's characterization, and I LOVE it

One of my favorite things about 2018 She-Ra is Hordak's story and development (and Entrapdak cough but that's not the point of this particular post), and the cleverest thing is that so much of it is actually being set up and told to us in seasons 1 and 2 before we even realize that that's what's happening.

When we first see Hordak in the show, he's giving "generic evil overlord" vibes. Garden-variety baddie. Maybe a little more reasonable than some and clearly capable of long-term thinking, but that just serves to make him intimidating. Everything about him--the way he runs his empire, his armor, his color scheme, his minion, his Villainous Eye Makeup(TM), even his name--are all projecting to the audience "yup, Acme Bad Guy here. Move right along."

But then, backstory. And everything snaps into focus. Not only is it one of the first big oh SHIT moments of the show, where we suddenly zoom out and realize that there is SO much more going on than we realized--it's also the start of the audience seeing Hordak as a character rather than an archetype. Suddenly we realize that he's not conquering Etheria because he wants power, or hates happiness and sparkles, or whatever--he's doing it out of a desperate attempt to prove his worth to his brother/creator/god. This moment where Hordak lets Entrapta in is also the moment the show lets us in on what makes our favorite spacebat tick.

On top of that, we've also seen him bonding with Entrapta and opening up to this person that he respects and trusts...probably the only person he's ever respected or trusted apart from Prime. And she's Etherian--someone of a lower species, someone he's supposed to subjugate, someone who he has been raised and trained and programmed and mind-controlled into believing is below him in every way.

But instead she's brilliant and creative and mesmerizing. She's not afraid of him, and she's fascinated with his work. For the first time since being abandoned by Prime, Hordak finally has someone that he can talk to, who is on his level and both understands and cares about the science! (because he is a giant nerd). She's kind to him, a mere defect. And it just sends his whole worldview into a spin, and that's all before--

Bam, mans is a goner. Entrapta's "Imperfections are beautiful" comment punches right through all the toxic bs that Hordak has been steeped in his entire life. You can see on his face here--I think it's the moment Hordak fell in love with Entrapta, but this is also the face of a spacebat reevaluating his entire worldview. If Entrapta, who is amazing, believes something different from Prime...what does that mean? If Entrapta, who is brilliant, believes that he is worth something, and that she herself is a failure...

Well. We know what happens after that, and how Hordak begins to doubt, and eventually fights back against Prime (and remembers his love for Entrapta after TWO mind wipes help my heart ack). But we also get to see what life in the Galactic Horde looks like: the only life Hordak ever knew before coming to Etheria.

It's not nice.

It's really not nice.

Prime operates in a very specific way, and we learn a lot about it in season 5. Prime expects complete obedience, devotion and worship from his clones. He allows no individuality from his subjects, not even a name. Failure or deviations are punished, mind-wiped, or destroyed. We even learn from Wrong Hordak that facial expressions are considered a privilege reserved for Prime (apart from, presumably, expressions of rapture caused by being around Prime).

And once we learn all of this, suddenly thinking about season 1 Hordak becomes very interesting indeed. The time we spend with the Galactic Horde and Prime throws absolutely everything that we know about Hordak into a whole new context. Now all those traits that made him a generic villain are actually hugely effective characterization! And what that characterization is telling us is that Hordak had already moved much farther away from Prime than we (or, probably, he) had realized, even long before he met Entrapta.

Horde Prime does not allow his underlings to have names, personalities, or any differences of appearance. Not only does Hordak allow this among his own troops, he chose a name for himself as well! Season 5 tells us that his very name is an act of blasphemy against his god. And yet Hordak took one for himself, and that name is part of the core identity he is able to hold on to when rebelling against Prime.

Horde Prime cast Hordak out when he showed signs of physical imperfections. Hordak not only keeps Imp (who is by all appearances a failed clone or similar experiment) around, he treats Imp more gently than we see him treat anybody or anything before Entrapta. Imp is not simply "generic evil guy's minion," he is proof of Hordak's capacity for compassion, and evidence that Hordak cannot bring himself to cast aside "defects" as easily as Prime. Considering where Hordak came from, Imp's existence is a huge, flashing neon sign telling the audience this guy here is better than the hell that molded him, and we don't even realize it until 4 seasons after it's been shown to us!

Very cool, ND.

There's more, though. Hordak's red and black color scheme? His dark eye makeup and lipstick? Very Evil Overlord chic. But nope! Actually these are actually expressions of individuality on a level that Hordak knows would be abhorrent to Prime!

Reading between the lines, I see this as Hordak desperately trying to reconcile two diametrically opposed beliefs in his head: (1) devotion to Prime, whose approval he desperately craves, and (2) maintaining some degree of unique personhood, of Hordak, from which to draw strength. Because a failed, defective clone cannot survive on a hostile world, cut off from the hivemind and from Prime's light. A failed clone cannot create an empire to offer Prime as tribute, nor build a spacetime portal from scraps and memory to call Prime back. A failed clone cannot create cybernetic armor to keep his hurting, weakened body alive; to force himself to keep going no matter what, to fight through the pain and the doubt by sheer force of will.

But maybe Hordak can.

And so there it is. Hordak had plenty of time to gain and explore his individuality while separated from Prime, but I think the reason he did it so effectively (while still deluding himself that Prime would forgive him for these little sins, if only Hordak could prove his value) is because he had to.

Wrong Hordak gained his individuality surrounded by kind, quirky people who took care of him; Hordak was ripped from the hivemind by Prime himself and had to fight for his survival against all odds. And that produced a dangerous and damaging foe for Etheria. But it also produced the one clone with the strength of will to defy Prime himself.

This is long and rambling, but ultimately my point is that 1) I love Hordak, and 2) I love love love love that the show was so clever about his characterization. We learn so much about him and how much progress he's already made in breaking from his psycho abusive cult upbringing, and we don't even recognize it until the show wants us to. Hordak had come so far, all on his own, before he met Entrapta. She just helped push him over the edge and finally realize (at least consciously) that Prime's worldview might not be the correct one.

Idk, I just don't know if I've ever seen all the trappings of Basic 80's Villain(TM) so successfully subverted, where looking back 4 seasons later is actually a smack in the face with the "effective character building" stick. Amazing.

#spop #she ra #she ra and the princesses of power #hordak #entrapdak #entrapta #horde prime #Spacebat #Deep character analysis #Gotta love clever writing #Seriously I could go on about this show for ages #I just love the characterization for everyone but especially Hordak #Best spacebat #I mean I love Wrong Hordak too but you know

[cirusthecitrus]

6 and 26 for the Entrapdak ask meme please?

6. What is your least favorite characterization of Entrapta, Hordak, or their ship?

For Entrapta - anything similar to how she was portrayed for the first half of the Launch episode. You know, she is sooo careless and clumsy and annoying she puts everyone in danger lololol anyway get the dog leash. The moment that especially pisses me off is the one where Entrapta doesn't fucking remember who Glimmer is?? and has this "head-empty" expression on her face?? and Mermista has to remind it to her like she's a slow brainless buffoon?? What the fuck was that?

For Hordak - the one where he's basically portrayed as Prime - this genocidal power hungry monster responsible for everything bad and evil in the world (who also loves to eat orphans for breakfast) This is just. so wrong. I've also seen a few takes from ppl who saw him as a literal robot? Not capable of real emotion and feelings and experiencing pain and love and change? Like huh??

For their ship - the whatever toxic/problematic/gross version of entrapdak the antis made up in their heads :)

26.How else would Entrapta and Hordak meet if the rescue sequence in season one didn't happen?

I can see Entrapta trying to study the horde tech the other princesses bring to her from the battlefileds. So fascinated by design and potential yet still having some valid critique and suggestions on how to make the bots better she is determined to visit the FZ and find the person behind horde bots.

She's however, is stopped by the princesses, so instead Entrapta decides to conduct secret correspondence with the tech master of the Horde. When her letters finally reach Hordak he is surprised yet intrigued. It takes a long time until he begins to trust this secret messanger enough to invite her for an audience. Entrapta is ecstatic and this time manages to sneak out w/o the alliance noticing. Eventually the two begin to meet more often and thats when Entrapta starts to feel the stress and fear of being found out both by the princesses and the horde. She can't let her friends know that she's meeting with their enemy behind their backs AND she's worried that one day Hordak will find out that she works for the alliance and might think she's a spy trying to learn his secrets

Entrapta can't choose a side and soon it will become a problem. (Basically it's the plot of that one Bojack Horseman episode where Todd accidentally joins two prison gangs at the same time fpdpgodgo)

#ask memes #ramblings #spop #entrapdak #entrapta #hordak #shera

[blonde-and-cat-suc]

1, 9, 16 for the ask game please also thank you for providing a safe space for antis!

It's no problem at all! happy to be here dude xoxo

-

1 ) Character everyone gets wrong?

*deep breath*

Almost. The. Entire. Main Cast.

But, perhaps most egregiously, Catra.

The reason why sister!c//a literally could not be taken out of the narrative is because if we don't accept that Catra and Adora are sharing Shadow Weaver as a mother figure, a HUGE chunk of Catra's arc very specifically is missing (or, more times than not, horribly misunderstood)!

Catra doesn't hate Adora because Adora is a better soldier. Catra doesn't care about that. She makes it extremely clear that she doesn't care about social status that first episode. She's not bitter and pissed about her commanding officer. She doesn't care about Hordak, so it's not really about approval from authority either.

She very clearly and obviously sees Shadow Weaver as her mother. She wants approval and acceptance and love from her mother. She is upset because her sister is the favorite child of her mother.

*exhales*

It's not a secret that I feel this way, but it felt nice to let that out into the air again...

9 ) Worst part of canon?

Uh, probably when Micah is introduced as this lame dad trying to get Glimmer's love.

And then... not much really coming from it. Why didn't he just stay dead. Why did we have to trade Angella for Micah. Why. I don't get it. To this day. 2/10 would not recommend swapping out parental figures. Especially since the narrative kind of seems like... it has nothing insightful to say about Micah in particular. He kinda starts to feel like DILF bait after a while. That might have been a compliment if I wasn't lesbian and he did a little bit more of that Father Figure thing people talk so much about. But, oh well.

16 ) You can't understand why so many people like this thing... (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)?

Okay, so, we're already in this far, so I'm just going to come out and say: I am actually a furry. IRL. Yeah. No, seriously. I am.

But Catra's? Not??? Fucking? Hot? I just don't see it. She's cute in a purely cat way. But hot???

I feel like people who crush on Catra are closeted furries (sometimes not) and this repression of their furriness kind of... fell on her??? Cause??? What????

But yeah, I'm sorta tired of the characterization that Catra is this ultra hot bad bitch,,, she,,, licks herself clean,,, it's just a little too animal for me. Not even furries really make their fursonas do shit like that. No, seriously. Seriously.

#*longest fucking sigh* outing myself as a furry again. but yeah. mariposa lore. youre welcome. #but anyway #asks / anons #salt ask games #and you know? to add onto the last part #it's not that i don't understand the appeal of catra #but acting like she's OBJECTIVELY hot??? that she's the LESBIAN ICON??? #that's the fucking part that gets me #ADORA IS RIGHT THERE #SHES LITERALLY RIGHT FUCKING THERE #cw: mariposa being more vulgar than usual #whoops! tag rant

[isagrimorie]

For the character asks, Adora!

@turtletotem also asked for Adora for this meme:

Why I like them

Her compassion and empathy. I think it's one of Adora's better qualities even though it sometimes leads her astray, to quote Davros of Doctor Who, one of the Doctor's archenemies:

Twelfth Doctor: There's no such thing as the Doctor. I'm just a bloke in a box, telling stories. And I didn't come here because I'm ashamed. A bit of shame never hurt anyone. I came because you're sick and you asked. And because sometimes, on a good day, if I try very hard, I'm not some old Time Lord who ran away. I'm the Doctor. Davros: Compassion then. Twelfth Doctor: Always. Davros: It grows strong and fierce in you, like a cancer. Twelfth Doctor: I hope so. Davros: It will kill you in the end. Twelfth Doctor: I wouldn't die of anything else.

This is, honestly, very Adora IMO. Her capacity for compassion and empathy even towards the woman who abused her and her friends, her compassion for Hordak in the end.

But. Also, I love the few moments of Adora getting as good as she gets, I love when she's being confident and cocky. I love when she stands up for herself. And I love the moments when she finally chooses herself, something she does very rarely.

Why I don’t

The way Adora is so eager to jump at a cause, to matter. So much so she gets caught up in her new mission that it blinds her momentarily and forgets Catra. Or, takes it for granted that Catra won't just jump when Adora asked her to join her.

Adora gets so subsumed by the mission, she becomes blind to everything else, and anything that's not the mission is momentarily pushed on by being in a place where she realized how she grew-up was awful.

I still have some issues about how easily season 1!Adora can leave her life behind, it gives the impression, other than Catra that Adora never really bonded with other people.

(I attribute it to the writing choices they had to make, but it makes me sad for the OG!Adora and OG!Lonnie friendship. Season 1 was very much AtLA season 1).

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

3x01 (Price of Power), 3x06 - The Portal - The show finally kicks it up a notch re: Adora characterization. 4x13 - Destiny, Part 2.

Favorite season/movie

I think... for Adora, this might be season 3. A lot of her development happens in season 3. Season 4 finale picks up what season 3 laid down and then season 5 finishes one arc of her story, IMO.

Favorite line

I actually have several:

"Fine. But in return you trust me. Trust that I'm not stupid. Trust that I'll see right through your mind games. Stop lying for once and trust me with the truth." - Adora to Shadow Weaver, 3x01

"You broke the world and it is. all. your. fault!" "No, it's not! I didn't make you pull the switch. I didn't make you do anything! I didn't break the world, but I am going to fix it. And you... You made your choice. Now live with it!"

"No. This is not my destiny! I won't be controlled. I am not a piece of their machine. I am not a weapon. And I'm going to end this now!" - 4x13, Destiny Part 2.

"You miscalculated." - 5x05 - Save the Cat

Favorite outfit

Adora's outfit in episode 1x03.

Or when her hair’s messy and not wearing a jacket.

Or anytime Adora's not wearing that damned red jacket. It's coming to the time I hate it as much as I hated Smallville Clark Kent's jacket.

OTP

Adora/Catra 5EVER.

Brotp

Glimmer and Bow, of course. But I also feel like Adora's friendship with Bow is underrated so for now: Adora and Bow.

Head Canon

A bit of worldbuilding, I have this headcanon that the first times Adora transforms her Eternian/First One heritage appears. Or at least template of one.

For some reason, I keep thinking that the icy detachedness is Eternian and there's a part of her that can be cold and calculating but Adora chooses not to be one.

"You miscalculated." Chilling and also awesome but also, it makes me want to explore Eternian born and bred Crown Princess Adora, House of Randor.

Also, as a Horde trained soldier, she internally suppresses a lot of instinctive harsh and aggressive strategies she comes up with because she's clocked how the much everyone in Bright Moon recoils at Horde strategy. This might be why Adora feels doubly betrayed by Glimmer when Glimmer starts using her as bait without her permission.

(Really though, it's Glimmer turning her into bait without telling her that's niggling at Adora, not the being bait part... which is, yeah).

Adora does like Catra funny and just this side of mean barbs. This is actually text, I just like mentioning it.

Unpopular opinion

I know that it's all for fun and humor but sometimes fandom takes it too far, or some fanfic takes it as writ that Adora is dumb... which she's not. Sheltered by Horde, maybe. And oblivious, but she's smart.

Catra and Adora really needed that time apart from each other, to grow apart without the other person around. Especially in season 4, which I think of as their true break-up period (breaking up when they're not even together yet). Adora cut her ties with Catra in Portal, she still cared but Adora's done being her scapegoat for everything.

A wish

Not only do I wish for the team finding and rescuing Angella, I really really want Adora to find out more about her familhy and twin brother. I feel like this is one of the dangling threads left behind especially when in majority of season 3 Adora's search for her identity was the one that drove her actions. It's one of the first few things that Adora has done for herself.

Also, that Adora gets to have that space sabbatical where she doesn't have a mission or purpose except for just traveling in space with Catra.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

As long as Adora doesn't die or her friends die around her and be the only surviving person... I think I'm okay. Because dear god, can you imagine the enormous guilt? Also, I'm pretty sure Adora's going to tear whoever destroyed her loved ones like paper.

5 words to best describe them

Brave, compassionate, loyal, unwavering, steadfast

My nickname for them

Um. Adora. I... don't actually go for nicknames that aren't canon. I'm terribly boring that way.

#adora #kasadilla11 #answered! #turtletotem #meme sheep #netflix: she ra

[theseerasures]

Conspicuous Media Consumption, 2020

it’s that time of year again! *saddest toot from the party horn*

for those of you just joining us: it’s a “consume a different content every week for 48 weeks of the year” challenge. for a longer explanation, check out last year’s write-up here, and as always, feel free to pop in and ask questions about any and all of this content.

(same disclaimer as last year too: content for this project ONLY here, and not certain...*looks at my billion Sad Cop Lady posts*...hyperfixations.)

(man remember when i was big into X-Men comics earlier this year? better times than these, if only because no one's discoursing about Emma Frost’s woobie/war criminal ratio anymore--her w/w, if you will)

(...i swear at one point i didn’t exclusively like platinum blondes but alas)

Bitter Root (comic, 1 issue finished 1/1/2020): still very cool on a basic concept level, but runs into the Image Comics problem of just not having enough content to keep my interest beyond that. part of that is on me, for picking it up again BEFORE the second arc rolled out, but the first five issues didn’t really follow (or resolve) any cohesive story either, so...meh.

Immortal Hulk (comic, 3 trades finished 1/17/2020): still not gonna be something i care deeply about (maybe one of Bruce’s Hulksonas dyed his hair???), but i do want to give kudos to Al Ewing for sheer consistency in terms of sustaining this level of quality storytelling month by month for more than two years now. working with the dense archive of the Hulk mythos and managing to make it interesting and thoughtful is impressive even if i personally would not expend the same effort.

Disco Elysium (game, finished 1/18/2020): honestly i should have twigged onto what this year was gonna be like when the third thing i drew from the barrel was pure uncut Eastern European flavored depression. i faintly recall people ragging on it for being pretentiously cynical, but i actually thought its core slid more towards idealism than people give it credit for. also gratified that i haven’t heard anything about Robert Kurvitz using slave labor to finish it, which is a thing we have to say about our video games now!!! fun.

Watchmen (TV, 7 episodes finished 1/27/2020): i am a fool who wants to believe in Damon Lindelof and I WAS RIGHT!!! honestly still cannot believe that he pulled off this highwire act with such deft aplomb. might be my favorite TV this year, which is a pretty high bar given how much TV i ended up watching.

On a Sunbeam (comic, finished 2/1/2020): Tillie Walden rightly deserves all the praise for inventive queer storytelling, but i will say that on reread--since i first read this as a webcomic--there ARE some issues with pacing here that clearly come from the foibles of its original intended medium. still just excellent, even if after some plot significant haircuts i was having trouble telling a few folks apart.

Lazarus (comic, 1 trade finished 2/8/2020): it’s so good and i want moooooorrrreee--though obviously Rucka and Lark have the right to take all the time they need. the newer longer issues work really well with the epic prestige drama vibes of the story! i’m into it.

The Good Place (TV, 4 seasons finished 2/18/2020): i’m gonna be super honest: i actually wasn’t a big fan of the finale, nor the last season as a whole. it felt like all of Eleanor’s flaws vanished for a majority of the season, and the Chidi-centric episode where they tried to give a legible justification for why he’s Like This was...i didn’t care for it. still, it’s so good and unique on the WHOLE that we’ll literally never get anything like this ever again, and that counts for a lot.

The Old Republic (game, finished 2/21/2020): it’s an MMO so it will never actually Be Finished so long as the servers aren’t shut down, but i caught up on the content i’d missed in the intervening months. Onslaught thus far has mostly been...kinda bland tbh; going back to Imps vs. Rebs after all the shakeups in the previous expansions feels like a waste.

High Road (album, finished 2/22/2020): someone should tell Kesha not to say that word!! otherwise i was very happy with this album, and happy FOR her even though we don’t know each other. being able to find joy again in the same genre of music you made while you were being horrifically exploited is very cool.

Young Justice (TV, 13 episodes finished 2/28/2020): given how much the middle stuff dragged--STOP KILLING YOUR HIJABI CHARACTER IN HORRIFIC WAYS--i was...actually kinda mad by how the end managed to stick the landing anyway. the day being saved by Vic’s self-acceptance and Violet’s sublime compassion was A+, and even the Brion/Tara switchup was a pleasant surprise, though it relied on me caring about Brion MUCH MORE than i actually did.

Manic (album, finished 2/29/2020): do people still care for/about Halsey? i feel like even That One Song that was on every tumblr gifset ever has kinda faded into obscurity at this point. this album was...okay. i feel like people give Halsey a pass for extremely obvious lyrical turns that they wouldn’t for other folks because of her subject material--which is fine. not really my cup of tea, but i also listened to lots of Relient K this year, so that’s probably a good thing.

Jade Empire (game, 3/10/2020): the only 3D-era Bioware game that didn’t franchise out, and for good fucking reason!!! the Orientalism and appropriation really haven’t aged well, and even beyond that the story was...standard Bioware faire. even my usual “my wife’s a bitch i love her” Bioware type didn’t do it for me, and i just ended up romancing no one. it did make me think a lot about what level of cultural borrowing is accepted nowadays, and why: people still look fondly at Avatar and talk about how ~accurate and respectful it was, for example, despite it being staffed almost entirely by white folks, and the Orientalism ALL OVER the monk class in DND is still fine for some reason.

Alif the Unseen (book, finished 3/31/2020): interesting to have read this AFTER reading The Bird King last year, because it highlights how the intervening years have shifted G. Willow Wilson’s thematic interest and improved her craft. i’m actually quite fond of how her characterization work is rougher here--Alif is extremely flawed to the point of being insufferable, but it makes his development by the end more satisfying. Dina is also just good and i love her

Baldur’s Gate (2 games, finished 5/31/2020): well, having finally finished the series i’m happy to say that it...still doesn’t really do it for me, sorry. any awesome story moments were overshadowed by the EXCRUCIATING inventory management system and the combat (i still don’t know what a THAC0 is and at this point i’m afraid to find out). these games crucially lack the Home Base that later Bioware games were so good about, and that (coupled with the huge cast of characters you can drop off and never see again) really hurts the intimacy for me. by the time we finally did get one it was the Hell Dimension in Throne of Bhaal, and i was just...trying to get through it. (yes, i did just say that about one of the most beloved expansions ever to one of the most beloved games ever.) THIS particular iteration of “my wife’s a bitch i love her” was very good, but the game wouldn’t let me romance her :(

The Underground Railroad (book, finished 6/19/2020): honestly what is there even left to say at this point! it was exactly as good as every critic on the planet said it was, even with my usual aversion to hype. draining and horrifying in turns but still insistent upon a future for Black folks.

Steven Universe (6 seasons and a mooooooviiieeee, finished 7/11/2020): yes, i DID finish the show and almost immediately begin a rewatch. this series is now one of my top five most formative things, and the amount of love and respect i have for it is incalculable. that said: i once again did not love how the central conflict of Future was resolved (just the resolution--i loved the finale just fine). for all of Steven’s breakdown was built up, resolving it with “EVERYONE HUG HIM UNTIL HE CRIES” felt...cheap, especially since up until this point the show had been so good about treating trauma and mental illness with the respect and nuance it deserves. it made me wish some of the earlier, less substantial episodes had been cut so we could spend more time at the end.

What It Is (comic, finished 8/19/2020): y’all i love Lynda Barry SO MUCH. for the longest time i was worried that One Hundred Demons was more a lightning in a bottle situation but every book of hers i pick up makes me feel obscure emotions i didn’t even realize existed. the compassionate way she’s able to describe her child self and how weird and fucked up she was (and still is) is honestly aspirational.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (TV, 5 seasons finished 9/26/2020): so here’s a reversal of what i’ve been complaining about with other shows: i was mostly lukewarm-to-warm about She-Ra, but the later seasons and the finale made me much more into it as a whole. more shows should improve in stakes and overall quality as they age tbh!! i still don’t actively love Catradora (my sole quibble with season 5 actually has to do with the way Adora kept backsliding as a character to make certain Plot/Relationship things happen), but i’m very happy for them nonetheless. i can certainly appreciate a show that will go for High Feeling over tight plot. dark horse standout moments: trees growing everywhere proving that Perfuma Was Right, and Hordak and Adora seeing each other--that weirdly intimate moment of recognition.

Fetch the Bolt Cutters (album, finished 10/7/2020): again i find myself not having much to say that no one else has said. it’s good! once again love it when an artist reclaims something they’d attached with negative affect (anxiety, depression, disordered eating) for better and brighter things.

Solutions and Other Problems (comic, finished 10/25/2020): i was very into Allie Brosh’s ambition with this book, which feels weird to say but i stand by it. it’s cool to see an artist try to make a new medium work for them instead of just sticking to what already works. not all the experimentation was 100% effective, but it was still delightful and occasionally devastating to read, so.

Legend of Zelda (3 games: Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Link Between Worlds, finished 11/1/2020): this was the third time i’d played Ocarina of Time, which made it the nice, comforting groove i settled into before Majora’s Mask blatted me in the face. i’m not usually a completionist Zelda person because...the gameplay in Zelda is bad, do not at me it just is, but i really felt like i HAD to be one for Majora’s Mask since the whole point is to get attached to the banalities of the town. i’m sure nobody’s surprised that i loved it, even if it gave me an existential crisis about how life goes on in the game for NPCs when you’re not there to save them from it, and there’s not enough time to save them all all the time (also not a surprise to anyone: Romani and Cremia gave Personal Feelings). Link Between Worlds...bad. not like in a “this is a bad story by every measurable gauge” way, but i was already struggling with the 2D playstyle shift enough that for the whole story to end with some “yes it’s v sad that Lorule is Like This but trying to steal Hyrule’s privilege is Even Worse Actually” noblesse oblige bullshit left a VERY poor taste in my mouth, this year of all years. i did audibly gasp when Ravio took off his mask, though. i’m currently playing Breath of the Wild in cautious increments; it’s the first time i’ve enjoyed early Zelda gameplay, but if they wanted fully voiced cutscenes i wish they got voice actors who...knew what words sound like.

folklore (album, finished 11/6/2020): my belief that Taylor Swift is Just Fine continues, i’m afraid. i LIKED this album, don’t get me wrong, and respect her constant drive to innovate, but i didn’t love it substantially more or less than any other Taylor Swift album. mostly i’m just tickled by how she thinks leaning into the indie aesthetic means borrowing Vita Sackville-West’s entire wardrobe, though i will admit to feeling Something when she swore in a song. i think it was like. savage vindication?? you go ahead and swear, Taylor Swift. you deserve it.

Shore (album, finished 11/19/2020): do people still care about the Fleet Foxes? i think there was some Drama with Josh Tillman a while back but i don’t remember where the discourse landed with who was being more problematic. it was nostalgic for me to listen to their new album--made me remember being an undergrad who exclusively listened to men who mumbled and played acoustic guitar all over again.

Star Wars (3 movies: original trilogy, finished 11/27/2020): there is So Much bad Star Wars these days that every time i rewatch the original trilogy i’m afraid that they will suddenly be bad, but guess what! they’re not. i love these children and their hot mess stories, i love that Lando doesn’t know how to say his best friend’s name. what stood out to me this time was the way Obi-Wan described the Force in A New Hope, which strongly implied that ANYONE can be Force Sensitive; that obviously faded with each subsequent movie, but part of me does wish they’d kept it.

X of Swords (comics, 22 issues finished 12/5/2020): i am enjoying Hickman’s X-lines!!! not so much here for the Grand Conspiracy or whatever, but the character work and highkey weirdness is fabulous--they FEEL like X-Men, despite all the shakeups in-universe. this crossover is a nice microcosm of all that: grandiloquently all over the place, but still full of cool standout moments and genuine hilarity. ILLYANA DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO SPELL MAGIC.

Fire Emblem (4 games: Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening, finished 12/14/2020): this was the thing that i was closest to giving up early on, but i ended up hyperfixating on it instead. that’s a credit to what the gameplay does to my lizard brain more than anything else, because the story and character writing is...insipid. it was very bizarre to witness this franchise blunder around with its animal-people racism allegory around the same time i was getting back into RWBY, and ITS animal-people racism allegory blunders. Awakening was the first time i felt anything for the franchise beyond “teehee red units disappear make exp bar go up and brain go ding,” so i’m excited for more mature storytelling in subsequent games (they MUST get better. they MUST). the child husbandry thing is...very bad tho, and Apotheosis being “challenging” entirely through the game changing all the rules is also bad.

once again no vidya games that came out this year--i’ll probably pick up Spiritfarer or Hades after the New Year, though (or maybe TLOU II! but probably not. sry Laura and Ashley). more TV and franchises this year, which made me feel In Touch with the Children but was also kinda exhausting. nothing was so egregiously terrible i dropped it without finishing! in a year like this that feels almost like an accomplishment

#conspicuous media consumption

[sentimental-darkness]

Catra vs Cassandra

Oh wow, so I knew something very specific made me feel especially satisfied after I had finally watched She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. And what I mean is writing and characterization

Cassandra from Tangled the Series?

Nice, complex character with shades of loneliness and ambition. Daddy issues, abandonment issues. Friend of the main character and member of the gang. Likes fighting and being a leader. Goes bad because... everyone has a destiny, she wants to do more and something mysterious was revealed to her. Which sounds interesting. But suddenly, in the final product of S3, it’s just because... mommy chose me over you and the demon girl told me I should throw a tantrum and kill you!

Catra?

Same, not really mean but ambitious in hardcore environment, with past of abuse and mummy issues. Friend to the main character and “second best” - except Catra seems to be aware in what environment she lives in and rightfully blames Adora for “leaving her” (or rather... being naive all these years... like the Horde wants conquest at all cost obviously, to finally rule the planet and their mentor and mother was Shadow Weaver.lol) Conditioning is one thing and worked on Adora but not Catra so she knew what they were getting into. Which is why she starts off as a villain but conflicted because of her friendship with Adora, she does not want to abandon her whole life just because Adora had a sudden revelation about the Horde, besides Catra hopes she’ll come back eventually. Fine by me. Still complex and if that’s not enough over the course of all seasons we see her fall down and down further into villainy, sometimes because it makes sense and they’re enemies now, sometimes because she’s emotionally broken and choosing the wrong coping mechanism/escape (the whole risk destroying the world just to prove Adora wrong, they choose you over me after MULTIPLE shocking examples of this in plot, sucking up to Prime at first). So yeah, big stuff. Bad stuff similar to Cassandra’s actions in Season 3 but those things don’t exist in a vacuum and we have a perfect development for them (also Catra’s allegiance... well it speaks for itself). That’s delicious writing seriously and too hard to summarize in a simple paragraph. Also, with Catra we have Entrapta and Scorpia (also Hordak) to interact with and show depth and when she is jealous and hurt and ambitious and mean and all that stuff. With Cassandra... after she switches sides there is nothing, just an evil demon that she trusts completely and then antagonizes her own father that she loves for no good reason “just because she angry and evil now” which is character assassination tbh.

Also, funnily enough, the critical point for both of those characters is (or would be? if done right) when they meet and interact with the villain of the show. Horde Prime for Catra and Zhan Tiri for Cass. Only for Catra the writing is top notch and she meets with Prime’s contempt for all imperfection, painful emotions and individuality overall, not to mention ambition. She is already aware she doesn’t really want to be like this and Prime only made it more clear to her, hence her turn from villainy to good guy feels complete in the end. While for Cassandra her turn to villainy is... a huge disservice and destruction of her character that I considered believable and interesting. The more she interacts with Zhan Tiri during season 3 the more apparent it becomes how stupidly written she is. Power because power it belongs to her for what purpose nobody knows and evil smirk because she jealous. Awful. Which is sad because I really wanted to see the opposite of Catra - a mainstay good guy turning bad bad guy for good, complex reasons. While Catra is brilliantly written and it’s delicious to watch it all come into fruition, she is still kind of basic “the villain you know and have feelings for gets redeemed” while the opposite representation is pretty rare - when they break your hurt after a long journey of bonding (interesting, complex things involved) and they’re NOT doing it for simple emotional reason, due to outside influence, nor their own stupidity. That’s what could have been with Cass in Tangled, you know...

but well, at least I have Catra, she was cool!

#just realized this #catra #cassandra #she-ra #tangled