#SPOP critical

[adorawasright]

ppl tend to act like you're exaggerating for disliking spop, since they love arguing "but it's a show about (romantic) love and redemption! you're just mad to see lesbians winning <3"

but the thing is, c//a ISN'T the only issue with spop.

it's all the "friendships" where the characters don't like each other OR WORSE, the "cool and popular" characters bully the ones that are "weird", "annoying" or "different" overall (read: entrapta and kyle).

most romantic relationships weren't written well or were downright forced, such as g/limbow, s/corfuma, and especially r/epkylonnie (rooted in bullying of all things!). even the healthier ships like s/pinnetossa or bow's dads were sidelined. they only gave spinnerella and netossa screentime in s5 bc they wanted to parallel them with adora and catra.

the diversity isn't even that good, honestly. the characters of color receive little to no love from the show and from the fandom. BOW, my god, he's not only the black best friend character, he also has no meaningful character arc. he's just there for the plot, he changes his personality and morals when the plot wants him to (especially to make catra look better). although glimmer was probably one of, if not THE best character in the show (saying this with s4 in mind), sadly s5 only shoved her with bow romantically since they were reduced to wingmen and not adora's actual best friends. and if i talk about the other characters of color, such as micah and castaspella, we'll be here all day, and i've written about it in other posts.

other than that, disabled characters (hordak and shadow weaver) are the villains, the canonical trans/non-binary character was deceiving the good guys by pretending to be a little girl, the themes of war were never taken srsly, only when it was convenient, and in the end the creator dared to sum everything up by "it's catra's and adora's show!!!".

yes, there were elements in spop that i loved, like the original best friends squad and entrapdak, and i liked the narrative of abuse when it DIDN'T spit on adora's face. i loved seeing her standing up to shadow weaver and catra for what she believed was right. like it was so inspiring! i would've loved this as a kid!

this show had so much potential but they teach the worst messages to kids, especially "they hit you because they secretly like you". that fucking sucks. i don't hate lgbtqiapn+ rep - the rep here is BAD. and again, the grievances ppl have with spop are BEYOND the romance!!!

[xjulixred45x]

We Stand a true QUEEN (Mai of course)

Why Mai works but not Mermista? (LONG POST!!!)

I feel the writers had taken Mai from Avatar: The Last Airbender as inspiration for her character? Which technically isn’t bad. But while Mai worked as a character. Mermista failed.

Honestly, I hate Mermista as a character. She’s extremely boring, one dimensional and if written out of the plot, literally nothing would change. With Mai, she at least contributed to the plot. She helps Azula alongside Ty Lee to not only fight the Gaang, but also take over Ba Sing Se, her romance with Zuko actually becomes more important to the plot since she risks her life and status to save Zuko at the Boiling Rock, and of course, she’s most remembered for her line: “I love Zuko more than I fear you.”

But why is Mai a good character while Mermista isn’t?

Mermista is introduced pretty early on in S1. From the moment we see her, she establishes that her father retired and left her with a struggling kingdom. The gate is getting weaker everyday and people are leaving out of fear of the Horde. How does Mermista respond to this? Well, from her facial expression, we could tell she’s worried about her kingdom. Outside of her annoyance with Sea Hawk, we could tell that she cares about her people and kingdom.

We could still see this for the rest of the episode. While she didn’t do much to try and fix the Sea Gate (and it wasn’t even explained why exactly it was falling apart or why the Pearl was weakening). But she still personally contributes to fight off the Horde trying to invade her home.

Unfortunately, that’s where my praises end. For the rest of the series, Mermista didn’t do much to contribute anything to the plot. Even after her kingdom gets conquered, all she literally did was sit around in a bathtub binge eating ice cream as if she was going through a breakup. Even when she does actually do something to help her kingdom, it’s mostly off screen and when it’s actually brought up, it was to give Mermista a reason to yell at Entrapta.

Most things about Mermista is for comedic relief. She’s just the princess who doesn’t care about most things, sighs and groans all the time, and constantly complains. Her father, who left her in charge in the first place doesn’t even show up once. We don’t understand why she is the way she is. She is just a water, poor-written version of Mai.

On the other hand, Mai is a simple, but a well established character.

Even before joining Azula, we see that she’s bored with her life and isn’t scared to fight for her loved ones. She may not be a deep, complex character but still does enough to affect the plot in her own way. Not to mention, the reason why she acts the way she does actually gets explained.

She grew up privileged and could have anything she wanted so long as she behaved. She was required to remain quiet and behave properly to maintain appearances, her parents even scaring her to behave by telling scary stories, which she got nightmares of. Her strict upbringing led to her hatred of growing up in the Fire Nation, to become emotionally distant and eventually developed her knife throwing skills because of how she threw knives into the wall of her bedroom.

And unlike Mermista, people call her out on her dull demeanor with Ty Lee even calling her aura dingy, pasty and gray due to her lack of passion and interest. The show acknowledges that she constantly bottles up her emotions and how that may frustrate other characters. What’s great is that we see her start to be more passionate, even sacrificing herself to save Zuko and standing up to Azula. Unlike Mermista, Mai changes and grows. Mai wasn’t the same person as she was in her introduction while Mermista just stays the same as she was since her introduction.

And it’s such a shame since Mermista could’ve been an interesting character. Maybe the reason why she’s so emotionally distant is that she grew up in a similar situation as Mai? Maybe her father put so much expectation on her as the future Queen? Maybe she bottles up her emotions because she doesn’t know how to express herself? But unfortunately no. She’s just a stereotype.

Overall, Mermista is wasted potential. You can write emotionally distant characters without them being reduced to a stereotype. Mai is a prime example. It’s a shame that the story didn’t utilize her as much as they should’ve. But then again, what else can we expect from the SPOP writers?

[sophieabigail2021]

"How fandom react to criticism" wheel

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

“catra is a complex poc” fuck that. here are some ACTUAL poc animated characters who are just as, if not more complex than catra.

grace monroe (infinity train) • black american

connie maheshwaran (steven universe) • indian-american

katara (avatar the last airbender) • inuk

wolf (kipo and the age of wonderbeasts) • black american

suhara/shadowsan (carmen sandiego) • japanese

korra (the legend of korra) • inuk

jesse cosay (infinity train) • indigenous (apache)

lars barriga (steven universe) • filipino

azula (avatar the last airbender) • japanese

ryan akagi (infinity train) • japanese-canadian

luz noceda (the owl house) • afro-dominican american

(there are a lot more, so i'll be making a part 2!)

[flower-boi16]

It always bothers me when fans mock or make fun of critics/antis for constantly making posts venting their grievances about a story they dislike and say shit like “oooh why can’t u just talk about something u like11” or “pfft, get a life and do something more productive than complaining about a show!” and plenty of other shit.

Not only does this come across as condescending, it’s also hypocritical. So if people aren’t allowed to make posts about things they don’t like…I guess that means that fans can’t make posts about things they do like. I throw these same arguments fans use against people who complain about something that’s enjoyed by a good amount of people. “OMG why do you care so much about a stupid show” and shit like that.

Fans like these don’t realize that the reason for why people talk about things they don’t like is the same reason for why people talk about things they do like; they are passionate about it and enjoy analyzing it. They like breaking it down because they just enjoy media analysis. It’s not unhealthy, it’s not obsessive, it’s just a perfectly normal way of consuming media. And critical communities on Tumblr allow for a safe space for people to voice their grievances about a piece of work without being harassed by deranged stans.

My point is; let people make blogs criticizing shows whenever the fuck they want. What they are doing is no different than what fans of the work are doing; analyzing the story and voicing their opinions.

[66kenobi66]

Writing Villains/Antagonists: Do's and Don'ts

DO: Actually show your villains/antagonists doing evil/morally bad things!

DON'T: Make them "evil" out of nowhere with no explanation!

DO: Show your villains/antagonists as being explicitly in the wrong!

DON'T: Downplay/justify their actions as good or "not that bad".

DO: Hold your villains/antagonists accountable for their actions and make them correct their mistakes!

DON'T: Give them a slap on the wrist/some trauma to justify their actions!

DO: Notice that even if your villains/antagonists have trauma/pain, it doesn't erase their misdeeds.

DON'T: Use their trauma as a wat to say that their actions don't matter/are completely forgivable.

BONUS TIP: It's ok to make a pure evil villain with not much moral complexity, just don't make them boring!

[toaverse]

Couples I wish were written better.

[carto0ncritter]

I'm sorry but I genuinely can't understand how people can look at Stolitz and Catradora and think these ships are healthy in any way, shape or form.

Stolas r*ped Blitzø. No, consent given in a life-or-death situation doesn't count

Stolas is racist towards imps, and this didn't change even when he "fell in love" with Blitzø

Stolas doesn't appreciate or respect Moxxie and Millie in the slightest (and was disappointed that his "Prince Charming" wasn't the one to rescue him)

He looks down on Blitzø and calls him things like "impish little plaything" and "his big dicked Blitzy" and doesn't stop treating him like shit even when Blitzø says loud and clear that he hates being talked down on like this (DUH)

The only thing Stolas knows about Blitzø is that he hates books and the only thing Blitzø knows about Stolas is that he's a boring bookworm. Keep in mind, the two figured this out about each other while they were kids, 25 YEARS AGO, after Blitzø was bought so that he could be Stolas' "friend" for ONE DAY

Stolas doesn't love Blitzø for Blitzø. Stolas loves the *idea* of Blitzø. The bird man wants to live a romance that is just like the romances in his cheesy novels. He wants to ride into the sunset with his one true love. He wants grand romantic gestures. He wants his "Prince Charming". Except, Blitzø isn't the type of guy for such sappy displays of affection, he never was. Especially combined with his trauma. And as soon as that other imp guy asked him to dance, Stolas not only accepted the offer, but Blitzø was no longer on his mind. And no, I don't think being drunk is proof that Stolas didn't mean what he had told Blitzø. Drunk people find it easier to say what's really on their mind after all

Blitzø fell in love with his abuser. This makes sense, actually. The guy always pushed everyone away and never got to experience true love, and now that he has the chance to be "wanted," even if the "relationship" is toxic, he finds it hard to let it go

As for Catradora, the things I wanna say about this ship have already been said throughout the years, but it all boils down to these things:

Catra mentally, emotionally and physically abused Adora

Catra had no problem ending the whole entire universe if it meant she'd finally be better than Adora

Catra was a war criminal and a fascist

Catra was responsible for what happened to Glimmer's mom and never apologized, let alone faced consequences

Their relationship was toxic even when they were kids

They were both raised by Shadow Weaver and were the only ones in the Horde who saw her as a mother figure, thus making the ship straight up incest, with even the official source material calling them sisters (adoptive siblings ARE REAL SIBLINGS!!!)

Catra got exactly what she wanted in the end (the girl she's always been obsessed with and dependent on) and, once again, faced 0 consequences for her actions

The show (and C//A stans) fetishizes abuse. As a SA survivor, I felt physically sick during the final episode, where the abuser ends up with her victim/sister and they kiss

In short, these ships are disgusting and the lgbt community deserves better representation

[shyrgyrryn]

Me *moves on from She-Ra and disappointed that it was, watches Arcane because the new season seemed interesting*

*is disappointed in season 2 and watches in horror as the Arcane fandom becomes the She-Ra fandom 2.0 and fans are angry and dismissive over show criticism*

[v0id-clawz]

[raayllum]

thinking about how Ezran getting to be angry at his father's murderer is going to heal me after that was so glossed over between Catra and Glimmer in shera

To be clear, my issue isn't that Catra and Glimmer eventually became allies and even friends, but that Catra's hand in Angella's death (two things that s3 and s4 of shera focused on) was Completely Dropped in season 5 of SheRa (not even a single mention or guilty look!), versus The Dragon Prince steadily building up to Ezran's continued grief over his father's assassination through having - like Glimmer - to take the kingship and being pissed at the elf responsible for it on sight with him having to work through his emotions being, alternatively, a major focus.

[spopsalt]

What show's title is vs how it actually is

What the show's title is: She-Ra and The Princesses of Power

What the show actually is: Watch Adora get abused by Cata for 5 seasons straight then date her abuser, also FEEL BAD FOR CATRA

What the show's title is: Helluva Boss

What the show actually is: Watch a gay soap opera while the abuser gets victimized and while the victim gets demonized. Watch the victim form a trauma bond with his abuser. ALSO DON'T YOU FEEL SO BAD FOR STOLAS DONT YOU WANT HIM AND BLITZO TO DATE!?

What the show's title is: Hazbin Hotel

What the show actually is: Watch who is supposed to be the female main character get pushed to the side because men. Get introduced to a whole Lotta plotholes and rushed story telling as we stuff the plot into the last 2 episodes! Enjoy the boring/rushed/toxic romances as well!

[antispopausandstuff]

a specific thing that bothers me about Adora's origins is that...

we hardly ever see her grieve her loss.

she has no idea what her culture is. she has no idea what her people are like. what her family was like. if they tried to look for her. if they even wanted her.

we see her efforts, her frustration, her feeling out of control, but then...

Horde Prime tells her that her entire planet is destroyed. that it's been crushed under his heel. that everything she wanted to see, everything she wanted to hear, to know, it's all gone.

but we never see her grieve this.

we see her grieve Catra instead.

Catra, who she moved on from.

Catra, who tried to kill her, hurt her, abuse her so many times.

Catra, who never wanted Adora.

it hurt me when i realized that i've never been taught more than racism and injustice about my cultures and had to teach myself about it.

i can't imagine how it'd feel to be the only one of your kind. and this goes for every character who's experienced this, not just Adora. but it sucks with SPOP the most since Adora's origins are hardly ever given a chance, because the writers just don't care.

[sophieabigail2021]

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

ambrosius: internally freaking out at the fact that he accidentally chopped off his lover's arm, never intentionally hurts ballister, only turns against nimona because he wants to protect ballister

catra: takes every opportunity to consciously and intentionally torment adora as much as possible in all existent ways, shows no hint of remorse for any of her actions and continues repeating them till the end

fans: omg y'all only hate c//a bc you're lesbophobic, goldenheart is the EXACT same ship but you like them bc they're men

[mr-damian-s-power]

Mini-tangent incoming, but this thing always got under my skin a little bit. Crazy fantasy/sci-fi worlds where the entire main cast is almost exclusively Humans or species that looks almost entirely Human but with a very minute difference. I know it's the ultimate first world problem and really just a nitpick at the end of the day, but I'm gonna pick!

Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with having a main cast that is just all Humans or 'Humans but with pointy ears', but when the world they're in contains a bunch of fantastical and interesting looking species, that's where it gets a bit boring.

Star Wars is the main culprit of this! Hundreds of thousands of unique Alien species, but 90% of main casts are Human or 'Human but green', with maybe a single Droid or Alien to break it up if you're lucky. How about a story where the entire cast is a bunch of crazy Alien designs. Or a ragtag group of runaway Droids from different jobs.

Then, you've got the Owl House! The Demon Realm is a world of all kinds of crazy Demon people, but most of the characters of significance are Witches, which are just Humans with pointy ears. Look at Luz's friendgroup, the Hexsquad. You've got Witch, Witch, Witch and magic Human/Witch hybrid clone who looks exactly like a Witch.

Wouldn't it have been cool if one of the Hexsquad were a quirky looking Demon person? Make Willow or Gus a Demon! Luz's first friend could've been a Demon! Fits her characterisation as a weirdo! Hell, make Amity a Demon! Luz falls in love with a non-Human because she can look past physical differences. It doesn't matter that Amity has 6 arms or 12 eyes or is some weird giant Mantis creature, she's still her Batata!

Any other franchises you feel this applies to? Tell me!

-

Okay, tangent over! You may all go back to your tedious lives!