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that-ari-blogger · 13 days

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Something... new? (Moment of Truth)

Here is a question. In a story about repetition, where the central threat is the cycle happening again, where the very concept of the narrative is that trauma and abuse echo in on themselves… how do you tell an interesting story?

Like, on a general level, stories are about change, so something that is, by its nature, formulaic, would probably be inconducive to storytelling. Right?

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power disagrees with this premise in a weird way. The third season of the series has been questioning the formula in increasingly outlandish way. The first episode gave the same story but with a twist at the end, the second dissected the formula itself by examining the foundation it is built on, and the third flipped the direction of the spiral for a time.

Moment Of Truth features, overwhelmingly, some of the most skill on display that the series will have at all. This isn’t a fan favourite episode, but it is genuinely incredible craft.

However, it is important to understand that this episode doesn’t do anything new. Every moment in this episode, bar the last two minutes, has happened before in the series.

All Moment Of Truth does to iterate on the formula, is take events of consequence, and place them immediately after one another. This episode messes with internal context, and it causes the tipping point of the series.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD: (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

One thing that I thought was interesting, upon rewatching this episode, is how few and far between the jokes are.

The series has a very distinct sense of humour and uses it in an extremely specific way. This is essentially a story about abuse, trauma, and war, which are objectively pretty heavy things. But it is also aimed at younger audiences, so it cushions each of its heavy blows with a joke.

This is why the character of Madam Razz is the most important character in the series. Her kookiness combined with her wisdom allows her to discuss some truly confronting and uncomfortable topics with grace and good nature. The humour is what makes this show approachable.

This is also why Aabria Iyengar’s style of game mastering for TTRPGs is so fascinating to watch. And, though I can’t verify that she is fun to play with since I have never played at her table (@quiddie please), her fellow cast members in Dimension 20 and Critical Role seem like they are having a good time. Essentially, she balances out heaviness with entertainment, effectively artificially shifting up the Garfunkel threshold of the players she is GMing for.

For context to the absolute mess that was that last paragraph. The phrase “Garfunkel threshold” is used by an English teacher that I had a few years ago and literally nobody else. It refers to the area of emotion where a person is out of their comfort zone, but not truly uncomfortable. Fun scary, essentially.

Back to She-Ra. Moment of Truth doesn’t waste time with jokes unless it really needs it. This episode runs at a breakneck pace, and only stops to give you breath at the last moment.

As a result, the jokes that this episode tells are really funny. Although, if they were told in a vacuum, they probably wouldn’t be. For example:

“You won't try to escape if I just pop out for a quick sec, will you?” “Uh... No?” “Okay, great, really appreciate it.”

This is iconic in the fandom, and for good reason. This is one of my two favourite jokes in the series. The other is also in this episode, weirdly enough.

But… it’s not that funny of a moment.

If you heard this conversation in any other episode of this show, maybe if Adora had been captured for a one-off episode like Catra was halfway through season two, this joke would maybe get a smirk, but not much more.

So why does it work?

One word: Context. This episode stresses you out like few other episodes of television can do, and a few seconds before this joke, it successfully makes you think that Entrapta will try to hurt Adora.

Instead, you get a moment to hold in the tension, then a piece of humour that is utterly incongruous with the tone of the episode so far, and you have to laugh.

This is the same premise behind the humour in Alien, directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O’Bannon. That film has some incredible one liners that allow the audience to breathe and excise some catharsis in what a pretty gritty plot would otherwise be.

The perfect example of what I’m talking about here isn’t actually that much of a joke. It’s literally half a second that abrasively interposes itself into the break in and forces it to stumble. But the build up gives it so much levity.

The scene is off the back of Glimmer’s teleportation and the tension of Angella trying to stop it, followed by the constant stress of how easily Shadow Weaver is playing Glimmer like a chess piece. Mermista makes a quiet comment on the décor, a moment of levity that Shadow Weaver deliberately undercuts. Then we loose Perfuma to a fight we can’t see, the uncertainty of which is more stressful than knowing definitively that she has been killed.

Then the gang runs into Lonnie and Rogelio, two formidable foes, but two foes they have outnumbered. Stress rises, then the music cuts out for barely a moment as Lonnie flicks the alarm lever that is right next to her

It’s not a joke, it’s a character making an eminently sensible decision in contrast to the entirety of the rest of the cast. But the musical cue pauses the tension of the scene for just enough time for you to give a brief laugh, then the scene resumes in earnest, and continues at its previous pace. It isn’t a lot, but it’s enough to keep the story fun.

Basically, the show is made up of seriousness and humour, and those are held together by a single piece of Velcro, and that is working overtime to a truly extraordinary degree.

Except, that isn’t true. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power doesn’t treat humour and earnestness as separate at all, they run together and punctuate each other.

The other main thing that this episode does is a perspective twist. Moment Of Truth is all about context, and so the events play through the views of unusual characters.

Case and point, Glimmer and co. have gone rogue to do their own thing countless times in this series, and every time they get back, Angella chastises them.

However, this is the first time we have witnessed Angella’s reaction to Glimmer’s disappearance, and we get a sense of desperation from her.

Angella doesn’t have to speak her thoughts out loud to let the audience know what is happening. She sees Glimmer has gone and immediately realises that she has gone rogue again, so she checks Shadow Weaver’s quarters, because she knows what her daughter will do in this situation.

Meanwhile, the shots of Glimmer are from Shadow Weaver’s perspective. Almost as if Shadow Weaver is positioning herself as a replacement mother figure for Angella.

I could comment on the animation of this scene, but my analysis there is very much limited to “oooh pretty”. Which is fine, but nothing anybody hasn’t said before.

So, instead, spoilers for the season three finale (skip to the next paragraph if you’re avoiding those), this is the last time Angella sees Glimmer, and she is powerless to stop her. Angella is a character riddled with guilt, and this will come up later when I discuss the finale.

Back to the episode at hand, a significant chunk of this episode is as told by Shadow Weaver, so we get the full breakdown of how terrifyingly competent she is at her designated skillset. Shadow Weaver is a manipulative character, and so she is playing chess with the plot of the entire series in a way that only one other character comes close to matching, and I’m going to start my discussion of that by discussing her powers.

Magic is a facet of narrative literalism, where a metaphor within a story becomes tangible. For example, Glimmer is impulsive, so she teleports around, jumping to conclusions without taking the time to walk. She is also stubborn, so her powers make her uncontainable.

Shadow Weaver, meanwhile, is a parasite. She has magical talent of her own, but in this episode, all she does is leach off Glimmer’s power to further her own ends.

In a series about freedom of autonomy, Shadow Weaver exists in contrast to Hordack. Where these characters focus on the freedom aspect to contain and confine their enemies, Shadow Weaver twists her victim’s autonomy and takes control of them in a way that is insidious and very realistic. She is like Light Hope, which is interesting.

That parasitic nature actually reflects into Shadow Weaver’s manipulative technique, as she never targets someone who is, for lack of a better term, strong. This is difficult to explain: Glimmer needs something, and Shadow Weaver positions herself as the answer. She finds someone who is at their lowest point, and makes them dependant on herself.

This is, fun fact, why Perfuma, Mermista, and Frosta are seemingly immune to her influence. I’m grasping at straws here for Frosta’s characterisation because she gets about two lines in the entire episode, but I’m onto something with Perfuma and Mermista.

Perfuma is a paragon hero who does not compromise in her beliefs. This causes trouble in the series, as is the nature of this story, but it means that in the several instances Shadow Weaver tries to get under her skin, Perfuma brushes it off. Perfuma considers what Shadow Weaver has to say, but keeps in mind at all times that she is an abuser and therefore not to be trusted.

Mermista, meanwhile, is the best character in the series and you cannot change my mind. In seriousness, Mermista is detached and cold, a strength which, like Perfuma’s ethics, causes conflict at other points in the series. However here, it means that we have a character who does not take Shadow Weaver seriously at all, meaning that her grandiose pontificating is meaningless. Mermista sees Shadow Weaver for what she is, a prisoner scabbling for scraps of power from someone else, and she sees an easy rout to stopping that.

Anyway, the interrogation scene.

There is a spotlight on Glimmer and Bow here. They are on a stage, and Shadow Weaver sits on a couch, watching them. They are performing for her. She is in control.

“You are smart, you want to stop the Horde, and you know I'm the only one who can help you do that. I must admit, I thought it would take you longer to speak with me.”

Shadow Weaver is easing Glimmer into thinking she has control. She compliments her, casually offering her own services as help to the princess. But she also positions herself as lower than Glimmer. The last line implies that she is surprised and that Glimmer has the upper hand, letting her into a false sense of security.

“His machine is complete? And they have Adora? We must hurry. If Hordak has the opportunity to open a portal, he will do so immediately. The Alliance will never get there in time – but perhaps...”

She is surprised again, apparently. Shadow Weaver has taken care to position herself as omnipotent, that’s why the compliment to Glimmer being unexpected is there.

Effectively, if the smart guy is outsmarted, they are on the back foot. If the smart guy is surprised, they are in danger.

So, Shadow Weaver emphasises the danger of the situation, stressing that the alliance’s inability to help. But wait… it just happened to occur to her, just now, that Glimmer might be able to fix this. She wasn’t planning this at all, it was spontaneous, and a piece of knowledge she doesn’t think would work.

Needless to say, I think Shadow Weaver is talking utter bollocks about this. For my evidence, I propose the following questions: If Shadow Weaver didn’t know about Adora’s capture, how does she know about the rebellion’s plans? Is it possible she is pulling facts out of her backside to further her own ends?

“I can make you stronger. I'm still the only sorceress who has ever been able to tap into a runestone. If you allow me to access your connection to the Moonstone, I can enhance your powers. You could teleport us all the way there.”

Here is Shadow Weaver’s gambit. She can solve the problem for Glimmer, she can give Glimmer the assistance she needs. It’s a Faustian bargain, and she doesn’t mention at all what she gains from this deal, that’s just something that slips her mind.

Of course, she could be doing this out of the goodness of her heart, kindness isn’t transactional, but this is Shadow Weaver we are talking about. Shadow Weaver exists on conditional affection and saw fit to make demands as a prisoner of war. I don’t think Shadow Weaver is the type of person to offer aid for nothing.

“I want to destroy Hordak.”

This is Shadow Weaver’s stated motivation, she says it again later on in the episode, and it is mainly used to distract Glimmer and give her a “an enemy of my enemy is my friend” type of bargain. But I’d like to examine this motivation a little bit, because I think she is lying about this as well.

In the end fight of the episode, Shadow Weaver casts two spells, both of which could have been aimed at Hordack, but neither are. Instead, she destroys the room, and she targets Catra. Shadow Weaver is a parasite, and a liar.

Which leads into Catra’s descent into madness, something that is told entirely from everyone else’s perspective. Until the end, but we will get there.

Shadow Weaver physically abuses a child in this scene. That is objectively what this is. The fact that this is magical is the only thing that let the writers get this through censorship. But I want to be clear here, this is not simply punishing misbehaviour, this is not tough love, this is not building strength. Shadow Weaver physically abuses a child in this scene.

This is a mirror of the scene in Promise, to the point where the spell is the same, and it is notable that it would have been easier to just zap Catra and leave her there, but Shadow Weaver decides to torture her.

And this scene is viewed from Glimmer’s perspective, showing her the true monster that she is aligned with, but also the power that Shadow Weaver exhibits. This is the deal Glimmer made, summed up, agency for complacency. Glimmer has to make herself ok, at least partially, with this side of Shadow Weaver, which makes her complicit in what is, again, the physical abuse of a child.

We have seen this scene before, but here it is through a different lens, and that changes how we read it, and keeps it interesting.

It is also notable that Bow is the one who stops Shadow Weaver and pulls Glimmer back. Which is interesting.

Bow is Shadow Weaver’s antithesis. Angella is too, but Bow is her main equal opposite. Bow is kind, uncomplicatedly so, and he is the final character who remains immune to Shadow Weaver’s tricks.

Although Bow stays above Shadow Weaver by playing the same game as her, just more fairly. Bow is a tactician, and a damn good one at that. He isn’t as good as Shadow Weaver, nobody is, but he is easily the second best in the series by a long shot.

But Bow plays fair, at all times. He lets people know what their roles are, he communicates, and he relies on other people as much as they rely on him. His relationships are mutual, where Shadow Weavers are parasitic.

Bow exists on trust.

Speaking of which, when Catra betrays Entrapta, the scene is shot from Scorpia’s point of view, and we again see her utter powerlessness to stop the situation. This is the cycle of abuse in full effect. Catra was denied her own agency, and so the way she tries to reclaim it is by removing others of theirs. Scorpia can’t do anything as her friend is carried away to a death sentence.

The final scene, however, is from Adora’s perspective. We see Catra’s world fall apart around her, quite literally, and we see Adora watch her oldest friend descend into madness. Once again, the watcher is powerless, as Catra continues the cycle of abuse.

You understand that Catra has nothing left to lose, and while you don’t agree with her decision, you can see why she did it, which is important. Reason and justification are not the same, but they do both make analysis easier, which I am grateful for.

This sets up the next episodes and Catra’s characterisation there. Catra doesn’t care about her own safety or the continued existence of the world itself, she just wants to feel better by exhibiting some kind of control over the people she perceives to have hurt her.

Which also sets up my diagnoses of Catra, and I’m not sure how the fandom will react to this, but I think Catra is the villain here.

Catra, in this episode, and in the next few episodes, is abusive, manipulative, and controlling. Essentially, she fits all three of the parameters for evil that the series has established.

Yes, she has a reason for her actions, but she isn’t morally grey anymore, she is choosing to burn the world down out of spite. Cool motive, still murder. Catra is the villain.

But is she irredeemable? I would argue “no”.

Spoilers for the rest of the series, but I can’t really explain why Catra’s redemption is possible to me other than the fact that she was redeemed, and it worked for me.

I don’t believe in good and bad people; I believe in actions. Sure, there are people who do unconditionally horrible things, a lot, but I would argue that the best way to redeem oneself is to stop doing those things and get better.

It’s as if morality is a quality you have to work at, with enough practice, you can improve.

And I think Catra’s redemption is so well executed, specifically because of the fact she is villainous here. If she hadn’t hit rock bottom and then sunk even further, her climb wouldn’t be nearly as compelling, at least to me.

Micah's memory casts a shadow over Angella as she makes her decisions, colouring her argument with her daughter. I wonder if there is some symbolism there.

Final Thoughts

The reason that Moment of Truth isn’t as popular as Promise or Save The Cat, is that it isn’t spectacular, it’s just impressive. By which I mean, the shot composition of this episode is stellar, but I can’t exactly point out every Dutch angle or perspective warp, or how many emotions Entrapta goes through in a single close up.

Also, the pacing of this episode actually slows down, rather than gaining momentum. It increases in tension, but the scenes get longer and more drawn out. We are reaching the event horizon, essentially, and time is getting wibbly wobbly. But that isn’t exactly something that wows an audience.

So if I was to recommend this episode, I would point to the teleportation scene, or the fight between Catra and Shadow Weaver. Both of which look cool, but don’t hold up by themselves when contrasted with other episodes in this series.

Basically, Moment Of Truth is competent, but in a way, its playing things safe on a majour scale, which is unfortunate. This episode deserves more love.

Anyway, next week, I will be looking at Remember, and taking narrative literalism to its extreme. So stick around if that interests you.

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#rants #literary analysis #literature analysis #what's so special about...?#character analysis #she ra and the princesses of power #spop #she ra #spop glimmer #shadow weaver #catra #adora #spop catra #spop mermista #mermista can do no wrong #she ra princess of power #she ra and the princess of power fanart #she ra spop #she ra catra

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cirusthecitrus · 1 year

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Horde Prime's body language and mannerisms part 1/3

T posing, head shaking and manspreading

I was always facinated with the way Prime moves and handles himself, but ever since I got officially obsessed with this character I began to notice more and more interesting quirks and signature Prime gestures - there are just so many. And now I'm going to (over)analyse them all!

1. Hands behind the back

Lets start with the classic "well mannered/disciplined character" pose

It really suits his whole character and even makes Prime look like he's always plotting something (which he does). And it shows that HP clearly watches his posture and I'm glad he does like damn my man has such a good posture

Also, I now have a theory that Prime keeps his arms behind his back so no one can see him fidgeting with his hands and fingers. Or he hides them in a way to restrain himself from touching everything he sees (I just cant help but to headcanon Horde Prime as a kinesthetic person who learns through touch and feeling)

2. Crossed legs

It's giving slut, its giving bad bitch, its giving if only I cared hon uwu and I love it

The way he sits shows just how comfortable he feels on his throne and in his role as an emperor - he's right where he thinks he belongs. In his case crossed legs also indicate that Prime feels confident and in control. Even when Adora sees him during this whole vessel maintenance process, even when Catra turned against him, even when he was visiting the Fright Zone and sitting on Hordak's throne, even when a rebellion sparks on other occupied planets

And yeah, sometimes the emphasis on his legs is so obvious that it looks very fanservice-y, but not that I mind that >:}

Eventually u get so used to him sitting like this that when Prime doesnt cross his legs it feels wrong and scandalous lol

But this only happened like 3 times. And I think he only changes his pose when he needs to concentrate (like when he searches through someone's memories) or when he feels like he's losing control (like when he felt enraged after She-Ra and co escaped the Velvet Glove)

Though I cant explain why he manspreads in the last screenshot, its from Save the Cat and I have no idea why'd he do that, it feels so wrong pls make him stop I'm scared

3. The iconic Prime pose

He's actual signature pose that really fits his character. It's dramatic, it has some similarities with irl holy/religious imagery, it makes Prime look like he's taking even more space, and it kinda reminds me of the way peacocks show off their tails :)

Gotta mention that when he doesnt do "the pose" Prime is still doing something with his arms and posing almost thetrically, which is again, right on brand for him

3. The 👉👈

At first I didnt want to include this one cause I thought it was just an insignificant silly gesture he only does once, but then I actually caught Prime doing it again!

Then I've noticed that Prime often does this thing when he folds his hands in various ways, kinda forming a shape of a rhomb/diamond? The same as the one on the Horde emblem?

My main point is that HP again seems to never know where to put his hands, which I find cute :з

4. The thinking pose

It's just funny how Prime always props his head on his left hand just so he won't accidentally poke his extra eyes out with his claws))

5. Smoothing the hair

I included this specifically because Prime only does this one time in the entire season. It's an uncharacteristic gesture for him. Especially since there's no hair to smooth, its all cabels with only little seen of his actual hair

Prime only did this after Scorpia disobeyed his order, letting Adora and Perfuma escape. For a moment he felt like he lost control over the situation AND one of his puppets, plus it was yet another time when She-Ra managed to survive and "win"

I will speculate that Prime used to do this gesture all the time somewhere in the past, when he didnt have his cable hair yet AND when he had less control over his "subjects"

So when on Etheria Prime's plans began to fail for the first time in forever and someone who supposed to be under his full control actually dared to disobey him he felt so frustrated and stressed that he might've mentally come back to those times when he wasnt yet "all powerful". When he often felt the need to calm himself down by fixing his hair and running his hand over it

What's interesting, Prime does something similar in this scene, only here he gives pets to one of his clones. I'm going to throw in another suggestion and say that it actually might've been someone else who used to help HP calm down in similar manner

6. Head shake

I could not stop thinking about this one simply because it annoyed me too much lol. I really don't get what is it with Prime always shaking his head and why it was only a thing in his debut episode. Anyway, he does this to emphasize the words "No" and "Never". And only when he is either really amused or angry. He also does this almost in a mocking condescending manner, probably because he saw Glimmer and Catra as some dumb children who won't get the message otherwise

Still don't get why he only does this in one episode and then this quirk of his is (mostly) completely forgotten

It was easier to make a video rather than a set of gifs, so enjoy me counting all the times when Prime shook his goddamn head

#spop #horde prime #shera #horde clones #spop meta #spacebats #the galactic horde #long post #ramblings #image heavy #this is fun #im so normal about this character as u can clearly see #ive been sitting on this idea for so long and now finally doing iiit #going to use this as a reference guide when i start working on a comic

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auronira · 2 months

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Being someone who is allo (just learned about the existance of this word) and cis, I want to talk about the hot topic of Alastor being shipped romantically and sexually by the fandom of Hazbin Hotel.

I understand that the topic I'm about to delve into may require some patience and open-mindedness. As a young individual seeking understanding, I implore you to hear me out before forming any judgments. English isn't my first language, so I apologize if my expressions seem weird, also it may take a while to get what I am saying here, I took a lot of time to get my point across so please give me a little bit of your time - especially if you are aroace or anywhere among that spectrum.

First of all, being cis and allo is obviously one of the most comfortable shoes you can wear within society. I am aware of that.

For instance, as someone who enjoys immersing myself in various forms of media such as books, movies, and video games, I often find characters and narratives that resonate with my experiences. This familiarity allows me to connect deeply with the stories and derive genuine enjoyment from them. I've never had to grapple with the challenges of feeling unseen or misunderstood in this regard, and for that, I am privileged.

Contrastingly, I recognize the struggles that members of the LGBTQ+ community often face. The need to repeatedly explain one's identity and preferences, the constant battle for visibility and acceptance – these are realities that I've never had to confront personally. My identity has always been accepted without question, and for that, I'm grateful. However, I'm eager to learn and empathize with those whose journeys differ from my own so please try and be patient with me.

To my fellow cisgender and heterosexual individuals who may be unfamiliar with what I'm about to explain: Consider the concept of "comfort characters" and why they hold such significance in our lives. For me, growing up, Katniss Everdeen served as my comfort character. Reflecting on her impact on my childhood development, I realize the profound influence she had. During a time when I was grappling with personal challenges that I wasn't yet ready to confide in my family about, my connection to Katniss provided solace. Through her character, I found the strength to envision myself facing adversity head-on, overcoming obstacles with resilience. It may seem trivial to some, given that she's a fictional creation, but the bond I forged with her played a pivotal role in shaping my identity.

I believe many of us can relate to forming such deep connections with fictional characters as we navigate through the complexities of adolescence and young adulthood. These characters serve as guiding lights, offering solace and inspiration during times of uncertainty. Even if you haven't personally experienced such a connection, I encourage you to consider the profound impact that representation can have on shaping one's sense of self and belonging.

Representation matters because it validates our experiences and identities, providing a sense of visibility and validation that is essential for personal growth and empowerment. Just as we find comfort and inspiration in the characters we admire, so too do marginalized individuals deserve to see themselves reflected in the stories they consume. It's through diverse representation that we foster empathy, understanding, and inclusivity within our communities and society as a whole.

Representation matters because it gives people characters they can relate to and admire. But not every character needs to be relatable for everyone to like them. For instance, I really enjoyed watching the relationship between She-Ra and Catra in the show She-Ra. Even though I'm straight, I can imagine the profound joy it brought to members of the LGBTQ+ community who could see themselves represented in a meaningful way. They relate to those characters differently than I do, and that's totally okay. Sometimes, fans want to see their favorite characters in certain ways, even if it's not exactly how the creators intended them to be. They create their own ideas about the characters to feel a deeper connection. While it's natural to want to connect with characters, it's also important to respect the original story and the creators' intentions.

While it's natural to seek characters with whom we can personally identify, it's equally important to appreciate the diversity of perspectives and experiences that representation brings. It's through this diversity that stories become richer and more inclusive, resonating with a broader audience and fostering empathy and understanding across different communities.

So what does that mean for aroace people when it comes to Alastor?

For this to understand I'm just gonna try and picture myself in a different pair of metaphorical shoes, but when it comes to being ace they may not even feel like shoes at all, but more as if you are running barefoot over the nastiest lego pieces in existance.

Imagine going to a bookstore and struggling to find something that aligns with your tastes. Maybe you spend hours searching, only to come up empty-handed. Perhaps you end up settling for whatever book is popular at the moment, feeling left out because there's no variety that speaks to you. Or maybe you turn to the internet, hoping to find your perfect book match online, but even that proves to be a challenge. In the end, you might resort to reading fanfiction because there, at least, the chances of finding representation are higher.

This struggle isn't limited to books but extends to movies, TV shows, and everything else. Constantly feeling like you don't belong can be painful and isolating. I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone. Unfortunately, society can't change overnight, so we have to work with what we have for now.

The bottom line is, everyone deserves to see themselves represented in the media they consume. It's not just about personal preference; it's about feeling seen and valued in a world that often overlooks our differences. And until that becomes a reality, we'll keep pushing for change, one step at a time. Finally, there's that one character – in this case, Alastor – and for the first time, asexual individuals can feel that sense of connection I've been talking about. They feel seen and acknowledged, just as we all do when we find something or someone we can relate to. This is what books, TV shows, and video games are all about – providing us with enjoyment and a sense of validation, especially in a world that can be tough.

Representation of diverse sexualities in media isn't just important for LGBTQ+ individuals; it's beneficial for everyone. It helps broaden our understanding of each other and breaks down barriers without anyone having to change who they are to fit in. This is the power of art and the stories we consume – they have the ability to blur the lines between people and foster greater empathy and acceptance. Ultimately, it's about making everyone feel like they belong and have a place in the world.

I'll be honest – I don't really think about labels much anymore. I've found that they can sometimes divide people even further, which isn't what I'm about. It's not that I have anything against labels in general; I just personally don't dwell on them. However, I do recognize the subtle influence they can have on me, even though I consider myself quite open-minded.

I've come to a point where I've found peace in the idea that everyone should just be allowed to be themselves, as long as they're happy. I didn't actively choose to be straight; it's just who I am. And I don't expect anyone else to have to "choose" their sexuality either – they should just be able to exist and be happy. I've reached a mindset where I don't really give much thought to someone's sexuality when I see it portrayed in media. They're just who they are, and I'm just who I am. But I understand that for many people, having those labels is important for representation and visibility. Perhaps, initially, society needs those divisions in order for certain groups to feel seen and acknowledged. And while I may not personally identify with those labels, I can still appreciate their significance to others. At the end of the day, it's about acceptance and understanding, regardless of labels.

Returning to the topic of Alastor, now that there's this ace character, the fandom takes him and sometimes decides to change him to fit their own desires. It's similar (I guess) to the disappointment some feel when an author keeps a protagonist's appearance vague, only for fans to imagine them as the perfect, conventionally beautiful princess. This can be hurtful to people who don't fit that idealized image because they ask themselves "would the story be any different if she would be smaller, or chubby, or (insert whatever you want)?"

What's crucial to recognize here is that some fans might struggle to accept Alastor's sexuality because they feel like he has to be different for them to enjoy certain content without feeling guilty or needing to justify their actions. Our minds often try to protect us with such a mindset so we can feel good about ourselves and our choices. For some, that means trying to impose their beliefs on a character so they can comfortably engage with them in their own fanworks.

It's important to acknowledge that everyone interprets and engages with media differently. However, it's also important to respect the creator's original intentions and the representation they've provided. Trying to change a character to fit one's own desires can be disrespectful to both the character and those who identify with them.

Ultimately, it's about finding a balance between creative freedom and respecting the integrity of the source material.

Here are two key considerations that both sides should bear in mind, (if I even have the right to say anything as someone who is clearly underqualified when it comes to topics like that as a cis and allo):

On one hand, it's important for ace individuals to understand that people often enjoy engaging with characters in various ways, including through shipping and fanfiction. Characters may take on different traits or orientations in these creative outlets, and that's part of the fun and freedom of fan culture. However, when it comes to representation in canon material, it's crucial not to impose personal viewpoints onto characters solely for the sake of recognition. While it's acceptable to explore different interpretations in fan works, it's essential to respect the original portrayal of characters, particularly regarding their sexuality.

Reflecting on my own feelings on this matter, I've realized that I don't necessarily take issue with individuals changing the sexual orientation of straight characters in fanfiction. However, I become uncomfortable when there's an attempt to forcefully alter the canonical identity of a character. This discomfort arises from a sense that being straight is portrayed as incorrect or undesirable. This realization has deepened my empathy for the struggles faced by members of the LGBTQ+ community in seeking authentic representation in media.

This also brings me to the main point – the same principle applies to ace individuals when the community tries to forcefully change a character's sexuality, refusing to acknowledge their ace identity as portrayed in the show. Finally, ace individuals have a character to look up to who is even quite popular, only to see that representation invalidated or ignored because some people refuse to accept it – essentially, refusing to see them.

This kind of rejection can make ace individuals feel as though they need to conform to certain expectations in order to be considered "interesting" or "popular," just like Alastor. It's confusing and disheartening to see a character's identity denied or dismissed, especially when it's a rare instance of representation that could provide validation and visibility for ace individuals.

It would be VERY confusing for me, making me feel like, despite getting represented, I would not be enough.

I'd like to take a moment to clarify that while I enjoy engaging in fan works involving Alastor - some even portraying him romantically or sexually with another character, I wouldn't want him to be portrayed differently in the series. Changing his character in the serie itself in such a fundamental way would completely ruin the essence of who he is for me, much like what happened with characters such as Wednesday, Sherlock, or Loki. Despite my love for these characters, I felt that some of them should have remained as they were without delving into romantic or sexual storylines, as it would feel out of place, just as it would feel strange to me if Alastor suddenly showed romantic or sexual interest in anyone.

It's important to recognize that enjoying fan works doesn't necessarily mean wanting to alter the original outcome of the show or the character themselves. Sometimes, it's just for fun, without any deeper implications.

I don't have a definitive conclusion or a perfect solution to make everything peaceful – I'm not sure such a thing even exists. However, I believe that listening to each other and trying to understand one another, despite our differences, is crucial. I can only imagine how deeply hurtful it must be for ace individuals to see so much fan art of Alastor that conflicts with his established sexual orientation, but recognizing it as people having fun and drawing a line between canon and fanon is as important as it is for those who engage in such content to understand why ace individuals might feel upset about it, and to recognize that their feelings are just as valid.

We need to communicate with each other respectfully and without hostility.

I'm open to listening to anyone who might feel offended by anything I've written here – my goal in sharing these thoughts is simply to foster understanding and empathy. I never wanted to hurt anyone with my words, sorry in advance if someone feels triggered because of this.

#hazbin hotel #alastor #hazbin alastor #alastor aroace #aromantic #asexual #aroace #alastor the radio demon

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roguemage64 · 8 months

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I had such a fun time with this incorrect quote generator! Hope y’all enjoy what it came up with 😄

Incorrect She-ra Quotes

Catra: This is bothering me.

Adora: Well, you are digging up a corpse.

Catra: No, not that. That's, uh, pretty par for the course, actually.

Catra: So what’s for dinner?

Adora, staring at the food she just burnt: Regret.

Catra: .. .----. -- / ... --- .-. .-. -.-- [translation: I’M SORRY]

Adora: What's that?

Catra: Remorse code.

Adora: I'm even angrier now.

Catra: *Kicks the door down looking panicked*

Adora: What did you do?

Catra: Nobody died.

Adora: WHAT KIND OF ANSWER IS THAT?!

Catra: *holding a bottle* Is this whiskey or perfume?

Adora: *chugs entire bottle*

Adora: It’s perfume.

Catra, tending to Adora's wounds: How would you rate your pain?

Adora: Zero stars. Would NOT recommend.

Adora: Violence isn't the answer.

Catra: You’re right.

Adora: *sighs in relief*

Catra: Violence is the question.

Adora: What?

Catra, bolting away: And the answer is yes.

Adora, running after her: NO-

Adora: Jail is no fun. I’ll tell you that much.

Catra: Oh, you’ve been?

Adora : Once. In Monopoly.

Catra, watching the news: Some idiot tried to fight a squid at the aquarium today!

Adora: *walks in covered with ink* Well, maybe the squid was being a jerk.

Catra: Ok, maybe playing ‘whose family is the most dysfunctional’ wasn’t the best idea we’ve had. Adora's been crying in the bathroom for an hour. I can’t get her out...

The rest of the Princess Alliance:

Catra: I’m gonna need a human skull and I can't have you ask any questions why.

Adora: Only if you also don't ask why

Adora: *Pulls out 7 pristine human skulls* Take your pick.

Catra:

Adora:

Catra: This one is fine.

Catra: How did none of you hear what I just said?

Bow: I’ve been zoned out for the past two and a half hours.

Adora: I got distracted about halfway through.

Glimmer: Ignoring you was a conscious decision.

Cop: You’re receiving a ticket for having three people on one motorcycle.

Catra: Great.

Adora: Wait, three?

Cop: Yeah?

Glimmer: OH MY GOSH BOW FELL OFF!!!

Glimmer: Everyone, synchronize your watches.

Adora: I don’t know how to do that.

Bow: I don’t wear a watch.

Catra: Time is a construct.

Bow: You know those things will kill you, right?

Glimmer, pouring another glass of whiskey: That’s the point.

Catra, smoking a cigarette: We’re trying to speed up the process.

Adora: *Nods while eating raw cookie dough*

Adora: I’m an idiot.

Catra:

Glimmer:

Bow:

Adora:

Catra: If you’re waiting for us to disagree, this is going to be a long day.

Scorpia: What does 'take out' mean?

Adora: Food.

Bow: Dating

Glimmer: Murder

Catra: IT CAN MEAN ALL THREE IF YOU'RE NOT A COWARD.

Scorpia: Imagine if someone handed you a box full of all the items you have lost throughout your life

Adora: Self-esteem, haven't seen you in years!

Glimmer: Oh wow, my childhood innocence! Thank you for finding this!

Bow: I knew I lost that potential somewhere!

Catra: My moral code, is that you?

Scorpia:

Scorpia: I was just gonna show you this cool trunk my mothers left me but do you guys need a hug?

Adora: You're a loose cannon, Catra.

Catra: No, I'm not. I'm a cannon maybe, but a loose cannon? Is that what you think of me?

Bow: I think you play by your own rules.

Glimmer: No way, she think rules were made to be broken.

Adora: Those are all attributes of a loose cannon.

Catra: No, I'm just a reckless renegade. Scorpia is a loose cannon.

Scorpia: *accidentally smashes a chair*

Adora: Nothing in life is free.

Perfuma: Love is free!

Sea Hawk: Adventure is free!

Bow: Knowledge is free.

Catra: Everything is free if you take it without paying.

Catra: Poison is a magic transmutation potion that turns people into corpses.

Adora: This knife is actually a magic wand.

Glimmer: Meet me in the Denny’s parking lot for a wizard duel.

Catra: *cocks gun* Magic missile.

Bow: What is wrong with you people.

Catra: Anyone d-

Adora: Depressed?

Bow: Drained?

Glimmer: Dumb?

Scorpia: Disliked?

Catra: -done with their work... what is wrong with you people ...

Catra: We’ve been conducting an ongoing study to see what Adora will and will not eat.

Glimmer: Grass? Yes!

Catra: Moss? Yes!!

Glimmer: Leaves? Ohh, yes!

Catra: Shoelaces? Strange but true!

Glimmer: Worms? Sometimes!

Catra: Rocks? Usually nah.

Glimmer: Twigs? Usually!

Catra: Scorpia’s cooking? Inconclusive!

Perfuma: How did you… test this?

Catra: You just hand her stuff and say ‘eat this’ and if she eats it, she eats it.

Perfuma: ... I don’t know how to feel about this.

Bow: IS THAT WHERE ALL MY SPARE SHOELACES WENT?

Adora: I’ve done a lot of dumb stuff.

Catra: I witnessed the dumb stuff.

Bow: I recorded the dumb stuff.

Glimmer: I joined in on the dumb stuff.

Perfuma: I TRIED TO STOP YOU FROM DOING THE DUMB STUFF!!!

Perfuma: There are seven chairs and ten kids. What do you do?

Adora: Have everyone stand.

Bow: Bring three more chairs!

Glimmer: The most important ones can sit down.

Catra: Kill three.

Glimmer: Good morning.

Adora: Good morning.

Bow: Good morning.

Scoria: You all sound like robots, try spicing it up a bit.

Catra: MORNING SCUMBAGS

Adora: You really put aside everything and came all this way for me? How did you even get here so fast?

Glimmer: Several traffic violations.

Catra: Three counts of resisting arrest.

Scorpia: Roughly thirteen cans of energy drinks.

Bow: Also, that’s not our car.

Catra: So uhhh... my question is: my friend keeps on going into the pantry and grabbing handfuls of fettuccine... uncooked...

Glimmer: I would hope they're not grabbing handfuls of cooked fettuccine!

Scorpia: In your pantry!

Catra: Yeah... and eating them raw, and they keep calling them 'chips'. ... How do I make them stop?

Glimmer: Is your friend here?

Catra, motioning to Adora: Yeah.

Glimmer, to Adora: You're a monster! Words MEAN things!

Bow: Does anybody remember- I haven't been to Olive Garden in many moons- but they DO have a like- fettuccine bottle that you can just- grab em out of and chew-

Bow: HOLD ON. WAS THIS A PRANK YOU GUYS PULLED ON ME WHEN WE WENT TO OLIVE GARDEN AS KIDS?!

Bow: NO, STOP. EVERYBODY SHUT UP. DO THEY GIVE YOU RAW FETTUCCINE TO CHEW ON IN THE LOBBY OF THE OLIVE GARDEN

Everyone else: No.

Bow, to Glimmer and Catra: YOU MONSTERS

Glimmer: YAAAAAAAAY!

Catra: THE PRESTIGE

Catra: Bye Adora! Bye Bow! Bye Glimmer! Bye Scorpia! Bye Adora!

Bow: You said ‘bye Adora’ twice.

Catra: I like Adora.

Scorpia: What did you guys get in your yearbook?

Glimmer: 'Prettiest Smile'

Bow: 'Nicest Personality'

Catra: 'Most likely to start a bar fight'

Adora: 'Least likely to start a bar fight, but most likely to win one'

Bow: You kidnapped Adora? That’s illegal!

Catra: But Bow, what’s more illegal? Briefly inconveniencing Adora, or destroying our dreams?

Bow: Kidnapping Adora, Catra!!!

Glimmer: Bow, listen, whatever I may think of you right now- these guys are counting on you to inspire them!

Bow: What, to kidnap people?!?!

Glimmer: To work together!

Bow: TO KIDNAP PEOPLE?!?!

Glimmer: Bow, we all agreed celebrities were an exception.

*The squad is over at Catra's house*

Adora: Ohhhh, we each get our own oven?

Catra: ... N-No...

Catra, laughing: How many ovens do you think I have???

Adora, motioning to their kitchen: Three, I thought!

Bow: I see a-

Catra, motioning to one device: This is a microwave.

Adora: Oh, well I-

Catra: Hey wait wait, actually- hang on- *fiddles with the buttons on the microwave*

Catra, amazed: Its got a bake setting!

Glimmer: Ohoho, you learn something new every day!

Scorpia: Do we- Do we roshambo for who gets to pick first?

Catra: Now I've just discovered I have more ovens than I thought, we don't have to roshambo nothin!

Catra: I am someone who owns four ovens...

Catra, louder and way too happy: I am someone... who owns FOUR OVENS...

Catra: I didn't know I was so rich with ovens...

Perfuma, pointing to another appliance: Also the toaster oven!

Catra:

Adora: Ohhh, toasty boy! Four- Five ovens!

Catra:

Catra, ECSTATIC: I AM SOMEONE WHO OWNS FIVE OVENS

Catra: Well, aren’t you all a rag-tag group of adventurers with unclear goals and good hearts! Oh, let me guess: you’re out to save the world!

Adora: Well, actually, that sounds like a pretty fair assessment.

Bow: More or less, I guess...

Glimmer: That sounds awesome! Let’s do that!

Scorpia: I’m new here, but I am open to the concept.

Perfuma: I thought that’s what we were doing, guys, come on!

Bow: Just be yourself.

Catra: 'Be myself'? Bow, I have one day to win Adora over. How long did it take before you guys started liking me?

Perfuma: Couple weeks.

Mermista: Six months.

Glimmer: Jury’s still out.

Catra: See, Bow?

Catra: 'Be myself'. What kind of garbage advice is that?

Catra: Everytime I hear someone talking about updog, I’m torn between not wanting to fall for it and wanting to help them complete their joke.

Adora: Okay, but what is updog?

Bow: Updog is a long sausage in a bun, often served with ketchup, mustard, onions, and/or relish.

Glimmer: Not, that’s a hot dog. An updog is when a new version or patch of an application is released.

Scorpia: No, that's an update. You’re thinking of the fourth largest city in Sweden.

Perfuma: Surely, that’s Uppsala, where’s updog is the giant spider in Harry Potter.

Catra: That’s Aragog. Updog is a symbol conventionally used for an arbitrarily small number in analysis proofs.

Glimmer: You’re thinking of epsilon. Updog is an upward-moving air current.

Bow: No, that’s an updraft. An updog is the modern version of a henway.

Adora: What’s a henway??

Catra: Oh, about five pounds.

*Everyone is standing around the broken coffee maker*

Catra: So. Who broke it? I'm not mad, I just wanna know.

Everyone:

Adora: ...I did. I broke it.

Catra: No. No you didn't. Bow?

Bow: Don't look at me. Look at Glimmer.

Glimmer: What?! I didn't break it.

Bow: Huh, that's weird. How'd you even know it was broken?

Glimmer: Because it's sitting right in front of us and it's broken.

Bow: Suspicious.

Glimmer: No, it's not!

Scorpia: If it matters, probably not, but Perfuma was the last one to use it.

Perfuma: Lies! I don't even drink that trash.

Scorpia: Oh really? Then what were you doing by the coffee cart earlier?

Perfuma: I use the wooden stirrers to push back my cuticles. Everyone knows that, Scorpia!

Adora: Okay let's not fight. I broke it. Let me pay for it, Catra.

Catra: No! Who broke it!?

Everyone:

Scorpia: Catra... Bow's been awfully quiet.

Bow: rEALLY?!

*Everyone starts arguing*

Catra, being interviewed: I broke it. I burned my hand so I punched it.

Catra: I predict 10 minutes from now they'll be at each other's throats with warpaint on their faces and a pig head on a stick.

Catra:

Catra: Good. It was getting a little chummy around here.

*The squad right before Adora (and Catra)'s wedding*

Catra: Well I have to go, I have a wedding to attend.

Bow: Wait... Oh! I have a wedding to attend too!

Glimmer: Oh, I have a wedding to attend as well

Scorpia: I THINK WE ALL HAVE WEDDINGS TO ATTEND

Perfuma, panicked: I THINK I HAVE A WEDDING TO OFFICIATE

*Squad reactions to being told ‘I love you’*

Perfuma: Thanks fam!

Mermista: oh no

Scorpia: *cries* I love you too

Glimmer: Sounds fake but okay

Adora: *A flustered mess*

Catra: can i get a refund

Adora: We need to distract these guys

Catra: Leave it to me

Catra: Centaurs have six limbs and are therefore insects. Discuss.

Bow, Glimmer, and Mermista: *Immediately begin arguing*

Perfuma, watching in horror: Oh this. I don’t like this. I don't like this at all.

Catra: Rules are made to be broken.

Adora: They were made to be followed. Nothing is made to be broken.

Bow: Uh, piñatas.

Scorpia: Glow sticks.

Glimmer: Karate boards.

Perfuma: Spaghetti when you have a small pot.

Catra: Rules.

Adora:

Catra: Time for plan G.

Adora: Don’t you mean plan B?

Catra: No, we tried plan B a long time ago. I had to skip over plan C due to technical difficulties.

Bow: What about plan D?

Catra: Plan D was that desperate disguise attempt half an hour ago.

Glimmer: What about plan E?

Catra: I’m hoping not to use it. I die in plan E.

Glimmer: I like plan E.

Adora: So are we flirting right now?

Catra: I AM LITERALLY STABBING YOU

Adora: That doesn’t answer my question

Adora: Catra, stop! This isn't you, you've gone mad with power!

Catra: Well of course I have.

Catra: Have you ever tried going mad without power?

Catra: It's boring.

Catra: Can you keep a secret?

Adora: Do you know anything about my life?

Catra: Yes I do. Good point.

Catra: You know, I'm starting to regret showing you how that blender works.

Adora, drinking toast: Why do you say that?

Catra: Don’t worry, I know exactly what I’m doing. Everything is going to be fine!

Adora: How can you still say that?

Catra: Because sometimes, when things get tough, denial is all we have.

Catra: Don’t worry, I have a few knives up my sleeve.

Adora: I think you mean cards.

Catra, pulling knives out of her sleeves: No, I do not.

Adora: How do I deal with my enemies?

Catra: Kill them

Adora: That's a bit extreme, I was hoping for a more passive solution

Catra: Kill them only a little?

Catra: Name a more iconic duo than my crippling fear of abandonment and my anxiety. I'll wait.

Adora: You and me!!!

Catra, tearing up: Okay.

Catra: I’m going to take you out

Adora: great, it’s a date!

Catra: I meant that as a threat.

Adora: See you at five!

Adora: This is such a bad idea.

Catra: Then why are you coming along?

Adora: One of us need to be able to talk the cops out of arresting us when this inevitably goes wrong.

Catra: Am I in trouble?

Adora: Take a guess.

Catra: No?

Adora: Take another guess.

Catra: You kill people for money?!

Adora: I can explain!

Catra: And all this time I’ve been doing it for free like a chump!

Adora: I was arrested for being too cool.

Catra: The charges were dropped due to a lack of supporting evidence.

These quotes are generated from https://incorrectquotesgenerator.com

#she ra incorrect quotes #she ra and the princesses of power #incorrect quotes #catra #spop adora #adora x catra #glimbow #glimmer #catradora

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spiralling-spires · 14 days

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Guys something happened and im back on my she ra nonsense. Help all my recent tabs are tma fanfic i need to go deep in my bookmarks to pull out the she ra stuff and follow a ton of she ra posters bc its been like two years since i was substantially aware of she ra BUT THE HYPERFIX IS COMING BACK I CAN FEEL IT AAAAGH

Its 12:44 am and i’m going to write all my thoughts and theories and you are going to enjoy them

1. Beast island is actually sentient and the reason it makes that signal is because it’s achingly lonely and doesn’t want its new friends (anyone who comes to the island) to leave. Little does it know it’s forcing its depression upon everyone that visits

2. Etheria and Eternia are actually twin planets, the First Ones are humans, and Eternia is far-future Earth (idk, Earth got a neighbour and then we colonized it? Sure sounds like humans to me). This explains why the First Ones’ language is made up of English phonemes and includes English words, and why Adora looks human.

3. Horde Prime used to be an Eternian, a very long time ago. His current form is the result of hundreds of years of incredibly vain genetic engineering and experimenting. He still isn’t fully pleased with his appearance and tweaks his clones every generation in an attempt to find “purity”.

4. Hordak’s “defect” is a result of this tweaking. Imagine inbreeding, except it’s one guy who keeps turning random genes on and off and switching out base pairs to see if it’ll make him prettier. Turns out there were some nasty genetic surprises in Hordak’s version of the code. As with any other clone that had such genetic conditions, Prime tossed him out in the next major fleet movement without running any analyses first. Running an analysis would force him to confront the fact that he (gasp) made an error!

5. The “general” thing wasn’t actually complete bs. Prime threatening to take Catra’s body as his own, was. See, Prime really wants to be this one perfect thing. Why would he waste time being a cat when he could be perfect? He has a special line of “generals” whose sole purpose is to house his mind. They have two additional eyes, the ability to grow those weird chin/cheek spikes, and the capacity to be much taller (all hidden unless he gives them specific hormones in preparation for inhabiting them). All this to say: Hordak might just wake up with four eyes open one day and promptly freak himself (and everyone else) out.

6. Entrapta has been in the center of a lot of explosions (esepcially when she was a teenager and hadn’t figured out the right balance of “pursue knowledge” to “lab safety” yet) and has replaced a startling amount of her body with prosthetics covered in a synthetic skin.

7. Hordak’s body wasn’t repaired by Prime in season 5. Prime just injected him with a bunch of painkillers (not enough to not be in pain, but enough to function) and covered up the arm holes. About an hour after the finale, the painkillers wear off and Hordak all but collapses. Having a chronic muscle/joint condition + being electrocuted + being possessed hurts. Man, he really went through it, didn’t he?

8. Based on Wrong Hordak, it’s going to be… really hard for the clones to get used to being outside of the hivemind. They will form cults. They will make new pieces of technology that will mimic the hivemind. They’ll scrounge for the chips and try to implant them in each other. They will find and beg (or threaten) Entrapta and Hordak to put back the hivemind. Hopefully people will have enough compassion for them to help them get used to being individuals.

9. All Eternians have the capacity to activate the Sword of Protection and become She-Ra (or gender-correlated equivalent). Horde Prime is, initially, Eternian, based on the other headcanons here, so he hypothetically could. Any clone could. Hordak could.

Wow! I forgot about some of these headcanons! This was pretty neat. Hope you guys like em too. Also I haven’t watched canon in like a year so there might be some inaccuracies, but at some point I figured that holding onto the thoughts until I rewatched canon just wasn’t worth it. And lo and behold now you can see all my random thoughts too!

#she ra #she ra and the princesses of power #spop #hordak #entrapta #horde prime #thought dump #i’ve been thinking about these for a loooong time #like since 2020 in some cases #please enjoy my madness #if i’ve shared some of these in the past no i havent #some of these are used as worldbuilding in old fics that never saw the light of day

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n7punk · 10 days

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"Lightbeam" Fic Notes

Pretend I posted this *checks watch* two days ago when I finished Lightbeam. I got busy lol and I was playing Stardew Valley.

Epilogue Life:

:) You’ll have to wait

Chapter 1:

⦁ This fic was originally written back in February after Embrace the Blame in preparation for the Bang. TLDR is we needed to have the fics ready early so the artists could then illustrate them, so I just wanted to write the whole thing at once because that’s how my projects work. I actually finished Embrace the Blame a few days before I posted the final chapter(s) because I had been posting it on a schedule and I could just continue using that as I worked on this to make the gap in my posting overall smaller. I think it actually took me like two weeks to write this, which is why there was a week and a half between the end of EtB and start of MMaM (and of course I had to write MMaM some too, but I already wrote the first few chapters ages ago). It’s also why there was almost two weeks between Start Your Engine finishing and Our Love Is God starting. I wrote the entire rough draft in February, and during that break I edited and finalized the fic for posting in May. I also just had a lot going on then, but yeah this fic has been slotted in between my others over the last few months.

⦁ Adora’s father’s information was left blank because she was an immaculate conception. More on this will be explored in the sequel fic <3

⦁ Norwyn is officially unnamed in the reboot I think but he’s one of the higher-ups at Mystacor. In the OG he was Shadow Weaver’s mentor.

⦁ Adora’s weather powers come up a lot in the first few scenes and I wish I had more “diversity” in magical incidents, but the problem is, as outlined later in the fic, Adora has no idea the stuff she’s doing (see: her coffee) and the weather stuff is pretty much the only consistent thing she has identified as maybe her fault. There was initially also mention of a drowning incident she miraculously survived when learning how to swim that even she knew was weird, but it ended up cut for flow.

⦁ In general, magic is normal, inevitable, and accepted, but there are still some “normie” communities that pop up in small pockets and want nothing to do with, say, a lesbian drowning the upper east side by accident on a Wednesday afternoon because she’s sad. Legally they can’t do anything to “discriminate”, but it’s a culture thing. Catra faced constant bullying and Adora was only safe because she didn’t even know if she had magic. Weaver moved there after getting cursed from her own incompetence because they easily believed the story that someone else cursed her and welcomed her in as a victim with open arms. Her understanding along with rejection of magic made her the perfect person to point to justify their ignorance (see, even a once-sorceress can be turned on and reject magic when she realizes the dangers. Etc). The main reason she moved there was just because there was less magic in the area, though (part of the reason a normie community popped up there), so it made it easier to manage her curse because it was weakened.

⦁ Oh boy, the Whispering Woods section. So first, I should say the version in the fic is pretty much what I originally outlined. The only big difference was Adora was supposed to find out about Razz from her research and went seeking her out rather than going there following her “mom.” I couldn’t figure out what that research would look like, though, so I went with the mom thing because that aligned with her backstory. My big problem was that I got a new idea once I got to writing the woods and the new idea was bad but it felt like reversing progress to go back to the original thing. The new idea was that Mara was an ancient She-ra who fell in love with Light Hope and, in her grief when Light Hope died, accidentally transformed her soul into a guardian spirit who would watch over future She-ras and “keep them safe” so they don’t get in a position where they, yknow, accidentally warp time and space and the laws of physics again. Light Hope was the one who actually sent the lightning, sent Catra, and protected Adora when she was drowning when she was seven. Adora would find the hut, would talk in circles with Razz, spot Catra who immediately fled, and get so frustrated and sad it started pouring rain, which forced Catra to flee back in through the window and into Adora’s arms for safety from Razz but she refused to change back because she was mad at her. While waiting out the storm, Adora eventually had the idea to google guardian spirits, found different methods for getting in contact with them, and tried meditation. This is around when I realized this whole set-up was bust, but the idea was going to be that she got in contact with Light Hope, had her powers she wasn’t in touch with explained to her, and told Light Hope to stop the wrath of god shit. Light Hope’s existence kind of wiped out everything I had planned for what was supposed to be the actual fic with her learning her powers. This new backstory changed everything and ruined what I actually wanted to write about, so I went back to my original outline. It’s way better for it and it meant I actually got to do the slow discovering and mastering of her powers I had planned, but boy can it be a struggle to dig yourself out of a hole and lose “progress”.

⦁ Catra eating the pie was actually a joke from before I started working on the fic. The original joke was that she was legitimately visiting the woods just to “steal” food from Razz and this was a thing she did on the weekends sometimes because they all lived nearby. Razz was fine with sharing with her cat “guest” in this version and seemed oblivious to the fact she was a person. This got changed because 1) Even if I changed it so they were all living near the woods and there weren’t barriers to Catra and Adora spending time together early on when she’s reluctant, that then posed the question of why the hell Adora hadn’t tried visiting her mom’s place already if it was easily accessible, 2) while I think Catra taking the pie once she knows about it is in character, her ever wandering through the woods enough to even find Razz to steal from wasn’t, so the basic set up didn’t really work, 3) the final version, with Adora’s powers going haywire and bringing her there, is way more impactful and in line with the fic’s story. It gives Catra a motivation to keep in contact with Adora after this point and illustrates definitively just how powerful Adora’s powers can be when she’s still in denial about the “warping the fabric of reality” thing.

⦁ Agatha Trunchbull was the basically demonic head mistress in Matilda, which, from my understanding, had a fucking torture closet she would lock kids into, in addition to regularly assaulting them like when she clobbered a massive serving tray over a kids head. I haven’t actually read the book, I just knew someone who liked it growing up and I went to the wikipedia to be sure when I went for the reference.

Chapter 2:

⦁ Adora’s spiraling and exaggerating, but empaths do need to actually hold the hand of someone and open their heart to feel their energy, so Adora isn’t likely to ever cause an accidental concussion as long as she’s careful about who she holds hands with.

⦁ “Catra sends her a condescending look that makes Adora blush for some reason.” It’s because you like belittling, idiot.

⦁ Catra’s kitten form is partially a result of trauma and partially natural self-defense. Having such a small form allowed her to hide and slip away when she needed safety from Weaver/bullies/etc. The trauma getting a little better is why she was able to “grow up” a little but she was right that it’s permanent in the sense she will never be able to have an adult form.

⦁ The meditation was actually a lot more helpful than Adora gave it credit for, but again, lack of self-awareness.

Chapter 3:

⦁ Adora’s whole thing about “oh, I’ve never actually experienced this thing I’ve heard talked about” is definitely a realization I’ve had a few times in my life, usually in some medical context though, like when I found out I’d never had an actual runny nose because I’d never breathed through my nose before.

Chapter 4:

⦁ Catra is being especially cuddly as a cat because it’s an “acceptable” way to get snuggled up close so she can then transform and properly cuddle Adora.

⦁ Catra showing up at her door as a cat was literally just because I wanted an excuse to write more kitten!Catra I was ready to be done with her yet lol.

⦁ I’m planning to write a sequel fic set a few years down the line once Catra and Adora are married, but as you know if you’ve been following my Tumblr, I have like three active WIPs demanding attention, so that’s going to have to wait.

⦁ This isn’t related to the fic so much, but this was my first time ever doing a fandom event! There’s definitely zines and stuff I would have wanted to participate in before but I only ever learn about these things after they’re already over lol. I loved being part of this Bang and oh my god do I love the illustrations so much Karo did an INCREDIBLE job. I knew I wanted to participate in the Bang the second I heard about it, but picking a fic was hard. I really wanted to write something in canon but didn’t think any of my current OotW ideas would be long enough for the word count requirement. At that time, I had a canon divergent AU ready to go, but it was Make Me A Monster and I wanted to do something happy so… yeah that was a no go lol even if someone might have wanted to draw the cybernetics. Lightbeam ended up being the perfect option because it was 1) fairly short for an AU but long enough to meet the requirement and post over the week, 2) light-hearted, 3) had plenty of scenes I thought someone might want to illustrate between Adora’s powers and kitten!Catra, 4) I’ll be honest, it kind of felt full circle, because…

⦁ At the start of this year I posted freak occurrence: confluence as a celebration of over three years of posting Catradora fics and finally getting to my fics being 1% of the entire Catradora tag on AO3 (next goal is 1% of the SPOP tag — JOKE THIS IS A JOKE THAT’S NEVER HAPPENING). It featured tons of my Catradora couples from various AUs — including one AU that hadn’t been posted yet. I’d had the freak occurrence fic idea for three years, so whenever I came up with a new AU I’d picture its Catradora in that scenario, which meant I’d already thought about what Lightbeam’s couple would do in that scenario even though I hadn’t written it yet. Getting to post it as part of the Bang was so exciting and I hope it lived up to expectations! The version that was featured in that fic was a few years older, when Adora had a better grip on her magic, but you’ll see a bit of that in the sequel fic.

Meta:

Playlist

Upcoming:

I have a one shot I’m probably going to post in the next couple days and then I’m aiming for Slipstream (my hacker AU) but uh….. Something is coalescing that may also demand attention. Stay tuned ig lol

#lightbeam #fic notes #ficmeta

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picturejasper20 · 14 days

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What’s are few examples you can think of that are redemption arcs done badly?

Well, uhh...

One issue i have with animated series lately that they tend to wait until the very last episode to redeem a character- something i don't understand why they can't do earlier or show better that they are regretting their actions. Steven Universe series has this but it was more a production issue of having to smash everything in 5 episodes. This is why Sasha's redemption arc from Amphibia was pretty solid, even if it needed more episodes, because the show didn't wait until last minute to do it.

Talking about examples of mixed redemption arcs below.

As redemption arcs that have questionable execution, Starlight Glimmer from MLP G4 is one of the first that comes to mind:

I don't certainly dislike her character but the way her actions were explained was... (sigh) She lost a friend when she was little because of cutie marks, so she started to hate cutie marks and then make a whole cult about it.

youtube

That's it, that is the reason. We don't get further details of how Starlight decided to become a villain, not if she lost more friends because of the cutie marks or if she was bullied for not having her cutie mark yet.

I know this is a show of colorful ponies but the series is capable of exploring the character's backgrounds and being emotionally complex for one expects for its demographic (like Bluey). We could have had one or two episodes about this to develop her character past better.

Her character arc itself is not so bad, she does have good episodes and shows some growth throught the seasons. She serves well to give lessons when the main six have been developed a lot in later seasons. The issue is that in some episodes she gets away with some awful things like using a spell to semi brainwash the main six. I think it is more a sign of the writers not knowing how to execute her character more than anything else.

My Little Pony has many good things but it can be questionable... the way it chooses who ¨deserves¨ to be redeemed and who doesn't. It is something that probably deserves its own post though.

Gabriel Agreste as a character who gets redeemed... good lord, this man does very awful things, specially to his son, Adrien. He just gets worse every season from what i have seen, getting more controlling with Adrien and escalating in the way he becomes more ridiculously villainous.

Then the Season 5 finale has him suddenly ¨regretting his actions¨ to the last moment, doing a semi-sacrifice, and he has the galls to ask Marinette to tell to Adrien that ¨he was a good father¨.

And after all that he gets an statue, potraying him as a ¨hero¨.

I can't fully judge it since i haven't watched the whole show. However, the execution of his character regretting his actions falls flat and the worst of all is that Adrien doesn't learn that Gabriel was Mothman. Most of what i have seen of this show is a trainwreck, and this is just the top of the iceberg

The movie takes the elements of the show and it is overall so much better. The characters develop and Gabriel gets written a lot differently from his series version. He isn't as cruel and he cares about Adrien in spite of how distant their relationship becomes.

Catra from She-ra 2018 is often another character that is cited as a bad example of redemption arc, even Steven Universe fans seem to hate her character.

Honestly, i think a lot of things in her character arc in Season 5 are decent? She does changes through the season, tries to make amends and apologizes for her actions. She grows to be kinder and better than the controlling person she was before.

The main problem for me is that things that made her character interesting in earlier seasons kinda... get dropped in season 5. Her inferiority complex to how Adora got easier and was more loved and respected by people around her? Gone. That along with other things that drove her character.

I remember that her relationship with Adora gets too much in the center, overshadowing other recurrent characters. Other thing that bothered me was that she did one nice thing and suddenly the protagonists were very accepting of her? I understand Adora but others, uhhhh.... And not to mention that Scorpia forgives her way to easily after the way Catra treated her... i guess you could argue that it is in her character but still, if there is one character that would have been mixed about that should have been Scorpia.

Nine from Sonic Prime has a bit of Gabriel Agrestre syndrome with him suddenly regretting his mistakes and actions at the last minute, not showing much regret around Season 3 with his actions until that point and getting worse.

The character in Season 3 suffers as a whole because it feels like he was rewritten. In previous seasons Nine was potrayed as someone who cared about only himself, but that was it. He didn't try hurting innocent people on purpose and then in Season 3 he didn't seem to care he was destroying the realities from other words to create his ¨perfect safe world¨.

His realization in Season 3 feels too sudden and it is like he changes too quickly in five minutes. At one minute he is fighting with Sonic and the other he is feeling bad. There is a lack a build up to that moment that he could have had before.

One thing i can give is that nobody seems to want anything to do with him after he apologizes and they leave him to be. They do what Sonic asked but they still seem to hate Nine after all that he did. That was nice to see for a change.

I would add the redemptions arcs in Hazbin Hotel, not because it the idea behind them is bad, but cause there is lack of screen time for the characters to see them develop properly. We don't seem them spending time growing and the process, we are only told that they ¨changed¨ so much like it is the case with Angel Dust. We aren't shown the path in between. Only the start and the finish line, which is very frustrating when watching the show.

I feel i could add more from animes, videogames and what not but these are the first that come to mind at the moment.

#ask #redemption #redemption arcs

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aprillikesthings · 4 months

Text

I have the house to myself because people are at a sportsball party

So what else would I do but keep watching spop amiright

s1 ep8 lez go

YES IT'S PRINCESS PROM AHAHAHAH

Oh, that explains why (in a muuuuuuch later episode) there's that little ideal future and they're at Scorpia's ball (iirc)

Catra: I NEED TO BE IN CHARGE Scorpia: party!

Poor Scorpia

Catra: giving a passionate-if-faked pep talk to Scorpia (like I get she's manipulating Scorpia here into going to the party, but it's still the kind of thing Scorpia should hear!) Also Catra: still real mad about Adora!!!

I cackled, y'all. CACKLED.

I mean she's...not wrong...

Okay I know it's just how this kind of show works and isn't important but it implies the Ball is known about for years in advance, but the invites only actually go out like a day or two before?? IRL that would be such a disaster because they don't even know the theme until they get the invite. The sheer amount of logistics/planning attending something like this, including the outfits...

This was intended to be Lolita fashion and you can't convince me otherwise

Also CATRA. They intentionally made her look so, so gay and hot.

Same, Catra. Same.

Adora (to the weapons-check person): be careful with it, don't lean it on something with the other swords or it might get confused!!!

Poor Adora. I suppose if I had an object that made me both popular and nearly invincible I'd be upset and worried to be separated from it, too.

It's Molly and Nate!!!

🎶Just like the viiiiine🎵

I love that we know these characters enough that they can just say a couple of lines here and imply a ton more. Anyway Mermista's outfit is great.

This is literally their entire dynamic. They're clearly together, Sea Hawk is loud about it, Mermista is (mostly) pretending to hate it.

Sorry this is shot is just great

Glimmer's jealousy (over Bow coming to the ball with Perfuma) is SO ANNOYING and I know that's on purpose but boy do I hate most "jealousy makes them obnoxious" plots

ANYWAY one small note: you can tell their budget for this episode is just not very high, because the characters in the background are so often not moving or only moving like one thing.

Oh hey, Netossa and Spinerella! (...and Molly again lol)

"Bow isn't the type to just leave his old friends behind, and neither am--" *Scorpia and Catra walk in*

DIDN'T THINK YOU'D SEE HER HERE, HUH, DIDJA

I can't screenshot this bit but it's so good:

Catra, in her most fake-gentleman voice: I love rules and obey them all the time Adora in the most high-pitched voice possible: YOU DO NOOOOT

🎶Every move you make And every vow you break Every smile you fake Every claim you stake I'll be watching you🎵

...I'm showing my age again. But also I'm looking at the lyrics and ngl they nearly all fit. If I knew how to make fanvids, I could make a vid that like ten people would watch.

Instead I'm working on a fic like ten people will read, heyoooo

*cries*

BACK TO THE GAYS PRINCESS PROM

is there crack-y pwp of this please say yes

Once again reminded of that fanvid of every time they say each other's names in the first two seasons

Literally cannot see Adora opening that without the "bah-dm tsh!" sound affect in my head from watching that video so many fucking times

Bow is so delightfully emotionally intelligent

Entrapta: have you met my new assistant? She brought snacks.

When Entrapta said "assistant" Catra's ears literally did a wiggle. Oh my gooooood

"she stole my food and asked me to spy on people with her,

lolol

once again whether the sword is actually sharp-edged or not is entirely dependent on plot

Scorpia is unreasonably hot sometimes

im gonna chew my fingers off ghgha;lksdhka;

I remember the screenshots/gifs of this scene hitting tumblr--that moment when every hopeful sapphic fan watching the show when it released went OKAY WAIT we're not making shit up this time are we??? ARE WE???

Also at least one person working on this show likes period dramas where tons of emotional plot happens during extremely formal dances where everyone is barely touching

there's nearly a billion gifs of that scene from one of the versions of Pride and Prejudice, but also:

once again proving my advanced age, this movie came out when I was 17 and side note I'm the same age as Claire Danes, anyhoodle

Has Adora been dancing Lead this whole time

HNNNNGNGHGHGHHHHHH IT'S SO GOOD

EXTREMELY UNDIGNIFIED NOISES Adora literally has one thigh between Catra's gghngng

i want to EAT IT

I'VE HIT THE IMAGE LIMIT FOR THIS POST LOLOL i don't wanna cut any out imma post this and then reblog it

#april rewatches spop

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spopsalt · 4 months

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Spop/Catra/Catradora stands: People just don't understand what trauma does to a person. Once Catra is free of it she becomes way less angry and starts to heal. Their relationship by the end of the series is anything but toxic because Catra is actively working on things despite her trauma./ I like this one. Anti catradora ppl don’t realize that their story, the entire she ra story is one of trauma and healing. Making mistakes (even very drastic ones like catra) is apart of healing and growing. If you can’t handle catradora bc their story is so complex just say that./ Don't be so quick to throw shade at Catra. Adora is also not as good as everyone points out. As strange as it is to say, Adora isn't that great of a person either.

Me on my mind: do this people stan abuive relationships, incest ships, bullying, etc ?

Friend, i can't believe that here in 2024 people still explaining how C*tradora is " good and healthy " and excuse what C*tr* has done. I wan't them to explain me how the fuck in s5 did C*tr* had the time to change ? or how she become a better person when she clearly didn't change ?? Also something i found funny is that C//A stans call us C//A antis " Shadow Weavers " for hating C*tr* and C*tradora because when they are weirdos who ship incest, normalize bullying when it's a really bad thing ( after watching how C*tr* bully Adora i understand why Adora wasn't afriad of suicide herself in the epsode of the portal, i mean it's sadly true bullying can get someone in suicide if the problem is not done and C*tr* wanted that Adora literally suicide herself and didn't care if she die or not which make me hate more both C*tr* and C//A. I mean, bullying is not a joke it's something seriously that happens irl but C//A stans took it as a joke which it's so disrespectful and disgusting. What was Nate thinking about making a show that literally shows date your sister and abuse her for years and normalize bullying would save the world ?? I'm really disappointed with the shera fandom friend, but really i mean they took serious stuff bullying or abuse relationships as joke or that is that it doesn't affect but it actually it does. Not only that, they say that even they ship C//A they do not stand abuse irl and i'm like " if you don't stand abusive relationships then why you ship c*tradora ? " ) well my question is what do you think about shera fandom ? and what do you think that they normalize serious topics as joke ?

Thanks for the ask! Yeah, they will try saying that Catra's redemption just started, but if that's the case, why did they have her fate? She has so many problems she needs to work through before she dates anyone, especially her sister whom she resented for so long, it just feels like a cheap way to defend their abusive kitty cat.

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

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spop-romanticizes-abuse · 8 months

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

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

Not Previously Acquainted:

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

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

Good Pacing:

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

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

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

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

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

Less Direct Attacks:

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

Believable Reason:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rayla: We should decide together.

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

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

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

A Good Redemption:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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artistic-argonian · 7 months

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So I watched season 2 of She-Ra today and I need to talk about this.

Of course, some spoilers for She-Ra season 2 below the cut. I don't intend to make many posts like this, if any more at all, but I almost cried at a cartoon today and it caught me off guard so here we are writing an essay.

So, as you've read in the title I binged the entire second season today and I knew this show would get me emotional and hit hard going in, but one thing I did NOT expect was to find myself getting emotional this early on due to relating so hard to a character, that being the (so far) best girl: Scorpia.

Ever since her introduction I've loved Scorpia as a character, I've always been a fan of gentle giants who are super friendly but also can kick ass when necessary, and I enjoy her dynamic with Catra and the other Horde soldiers. I like how despite working with the villains she tries to be a good friend and be there for people she cares about, and when I got to the episode, "White Out", I got hit by an unexpected brick of relatability right in the feels.

In the episode we see how Scorpia tries and fails to bond with Catra, who's not too interested as she focuses on the mission and her own emotional baggage, which results in her becoming insecure about their relationship. Later on when she's stuck with Adora, she's jealous and frustrated by how well the latter knows Catra with the two having grown up together in The Horde, feeling that she can't compete with that. She wants Catra to lower her guard and let her in but it's not happening no matter what she does. She loves her and wants her to know she's there for her, but feels like she can't have the kind of connection Adora had with her. This is further explored in her conversation with Sea Hawk, who's got similar issues with feeling insecure in his own relationship with Mermista.

It was during this scene that I found myself actually getting teary-eyed and audibly saying to myself, "Why do I relate so much to this? I didn't expect to feel this way about a frickin' scorpion lady!" And the reason why is because, though not to the same extent or in exactly the same way (I read it as Scorpia possibly having a crush on Catra as well,) in some ways I've been where she is in that scene emotionally. I've had times where I've felt like I want to be close with someone and be there for them, but also like I can't compare to other people in their lives who've been around longer than me. And while I didn't and don't feel neglected like Scorpia does, I'm someone who is (or at least tries to be) very loyal to my friends, and makes an effort to let them know how much I appreciate them whenever I get the opportunity. Though I sometimes worry that because of who I am, it's not enough.

I've had times where I've seen mutual friends who've known each other for a long time (longer than they've known me) interacting and thinking, "God I want to be like that with them," but 1: I'm too shy and 2: I've not known them long enough in comparison to feel like I can, like my bond with them obviously can't be the same. I've had times where I've wanted to be close to people and learn about/get to know them but then worried about rushing or coming across as clingy or overbearing. I want people to be comfortable with me just like I am with them; to be their rock. But then feel like I'm crazy for that, especially if it's over a relatively short amount of time. Like, of course I can't expect that from anyone, nor should I. And so the line, "I can't compete with that... No matter what I do, I can't seem to break down her walls. You two... Even when you're trying to kill each other you can tell there's a real bond there." really struck a chord with me.

But, much like Scorpia in the episode, despite all that, I don't give up. When I care about someone, I'll stay by their side no matter what. Because they matter to me, and as long as I can do anything to help, even if it's just reaching out when I see a friend having a hard time and letting them know I'm there, then I'll do whatever I can and let them know how much they matter. Because that's who I am.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk about how a goofy buff lady with claws almost made me cry.

#she ra #she ra spoilers #scorpia #Holy shit this got long I'm sorry.#Everything I write unintentionally becomes a novel I swear.

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