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antispopausandstuff · 1 month

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SPOP and the problem with "you vs. me"

you know the drill, this will be very long and may be scattered.

in attempts to show a more completed picture, i will be referencing arcane to compare sibling // familial dynamics and how the respective medias represented them.

as adora is our main protagonist and catra was an main antagonist, a lot of the show's focus is on their characters and arcs ( or a lack thereof ). however, because of the blatant favoritism of catra over adora, rather than it being relatively equal or at least addressed in a more healthier way, this results in both the show and fandom diminishing adora's trauma and showcasing catra's.

the "you vs. me" conflict is a standard trope in fiction and is very much a struggle relationships have in real life, due to many issues including, but not excluded to, honesty, deceit, manipulation, accountability issues, anger issues, victimization, villainization, etc.

in fact, in terms of it being a trope, you could say that almost all of fiction relies on this, especially with protagonist vs. antagonist scenarios, such as batman & joker, superman & lex luthor, sonic & eggman, aang & ozai, korra & kuvira, or, in this case, adora & catra.

but when i'm referencing this trope, i'm specifically referring it to be in a familial context, such as zuko & azula, eda & lilith, vi & jinx, and so on and so forth.

now, what makes adora and catra so different from most other relationships that fall under this trope is because of one problem:

inconsistency.

despite the abuse being the center reason why adora and catra are separated and at odds with each other, the show is more focused on the effects of catra's trauma rather than the cause.

she is flippant with shadow weaver, doesn't hold her in very high regard as an authority or maternal figure, and just generally doesn't show any possible affection or positive emotion towards shadow weaver unless it has something to do with proving her wrong until s2, when s1 already establishes a hostile relationship between the two and catra explicitly stating she doesn't need shadow weaver.

now, this isn't to say that the cycle of abuse is a straight line. the writers can have catra show animosity towards shadow weaver and still make a relationship where she ends up being the victim of manipulation and hostility. but how they did it is the issue.

let's compare her story to jinx's.

parental situation - unlike catra, powder did not have a negative relationship with vander. but it wasn't a necessarily positive one, either. it was more awkward, silent, and not really given a chance to grow and develop into something more loving.

i don't doubt vander cared for powder, but it wasn't the exact way he cared for vi. the only thing they had in common was that they loved vi, but even that was in different ways ( parent // sibling ).

meanwhile, catra's relationship with shadow weaver has no actual room for plausible deniability on either end, but more importantly, catra's end.

there's no mother gothel-esc scene where shadow weaver love-bombs and gaslights her, no 'loving' manipulation, there's barely even a power imbalance, it's just animosity on both ends in the establishing season.

all of those scenes are towards adora instead, creating a rapunzel // mother gothel dynamic, like mentioned, as shadow weaver groomed her, used her for power, and raised her to be the perfect child soldier.

akin to mother gothel, after adora left the horde, shadow weaver become hyper-focused on getting her back and returning to the status quo, and both abusers do this by manipulation, sabotage, gaslighting, and instilling fear into their victims.

we don't get this with catra until s2.

the reason why this doesn't work is because:

catra is fully aware of the horde

catra is fully aware of shadow weaver

catra references // insults adora for being manipulated

catra establishing she doesn't need or want shadow weaver

catra broke shadow weaver's mask // source of power

all in s1.

which is why, when you watch s2, you might be wondering "why did she fall for that?" if you recall earlier scenes of basically admonishing adora for being a victim of abuse herself.

"she was desperate!" you say. but just because catra was desperate doesn't mean that she had to change her tune, especially since shadow weaver has literally no power over her.

it'd make a lot more sense for her to make a deal with shadow weaver rather than suddenly questioning shadow weaver on why she abused her, then begging her to help.

maybe, if the writers still wanted to continue with the cycle of abuse, the deal could've been a way for catra to be slowly manipulated and throw her off, anyway. because she was once on equal footing with her abusive mother, but now is beneath her for xyz reasons.

writing wise, it just makes no sense for us to be sympathetic to catra in s2 when it's been shown several times that any chance of a less than hostile relationship is impossible between them because they both hate each other.

origin of villainy - now, from catra's perspective, she blames adora and sometimes shadow weaver for her 'downfall', but simultaneously continues to have her own independence and choice to become evil. this is something the show states bluntly, despite still being wishy-washy in s5. catra chose to stay. catra chose to be evil.

the true origin of her choices lie in wanting to be powerful and ruling over the horde as revenge for who looked down on her ( shadow weaver, mainly ).

in fact, she pretty much says so in this line ( in 'Promise', s1 ):

"i don't WANT to leave. what don't you understand about that? i'm not afraid of shadow weaver anymore, and i'm a better force captain than you could've ever been."

catra desires power over love, but relied on adora to get that power through several years of abuse that continues on in their older teen, young adult lives.

what's the first thing that catra does when adora strays?

she electrocutes her, twice, and threatens to do it again.

she portrays it like it was an accident, but her face right after she shocks adora the first time is pure anger. when the moment passes, there's no apologetic look, she looks more 'awkward, if anything.

then when adora tries to get up, she shocks her again and justifies it by saying it was a "reflex". while i think she's full of shit, i do think this line holds at least some truth, as catra's had a clear pattern of putting adora in physical harm when she gets 'out of line' ever since they were kids.

like catra, powder does believe that her source of villainy ( if she even sees it as that, at first ) is also from vi leaving her. however, powder has more reason to believe she was abandoned than catra does.

why?

choice.

catra had a blatant, clear, on the table choice to join the rebellion and leave the horde, have a healthier, happier life, and stay away from shadow weaver. every time adora asks ( 3 times ), she doesn't push catra once she says no, but accepts it, however disappointed she may be, which is a stark contrast to how catra reacts to rejection.

neither vi or powder had the choice of staying together and running away. vi had a reaction that most people would have when powder accidentally killed basically their whole family, but she showed immense regret and walked away to take a breather.

but, as she wasn't able to communicate that, powder saw that as vi leaving and not coming back.

and then silco came in. vi was going to go back, going to try to save powder, but then marcus got involved, knocked her out, and took her to prison.

basically, fate fucked around with them. it was all just bad timing. neither vi or powder could play with the cards they were dealt with.

catra basically said "no, fuck you" and then turned around and victimized herself over and over, while still trying to maintain her own autonomy at the same time.

developing villainy // spiral - powder turning into jinx is tragic because it all started from an accident. because powder was a child that didn't mean to hurt or kill anyone and was taken advantage of in her time of need. because while suffering from psychosis and abandonment, silco preyed on her ( i'm not going to debate this with you, don't start a fight in the comments ).

catra turning into a horde general is visually displayed as devastating in s4, but it's very weak, writing wise, once you take a look at the full picture for all of its amateurish details.

catra participated in all of this willingly. it's very difficult to sympathize with someone who knows what they're doing and doesn't give a damn about who they're hurting.

catra's already had spirals. s1, s2, and s3. if you take off the rose-colored glasses, this gets exhausting and feels more pathetic than anything else.

catra's worst was in s3, not s4. and it was only about shadow weaver for maybe five minutes until it went back to being about her obsession for adora to be her meat shield. you can't really get any worse than destroying the entire universe, engaging in extreme sadism, and killing a monarch all out of spite for one person.

this was, supposedly, her wake-up call season, but catra doesn't change until s5 and the 'wake-up call' is garbage, telling us that she didn't mean any of the things she did or said, she didn't mean to hurt and abuse people, she didn't mean to send entrapta off to beast island, she didn't mean to threaten scorpia multiple times, yada, yada, yada, while also potentially victim-blaming her, and also saying "well, fuck you, it's all your fault lol". it's sloppy.

she had a mental breakdown because scorpia left her? oh no. how sad.

she starts hallucinating scorpia's laugh and thinks she's coming back? oh wow. tragic.

she starts pushing people away, for the millionth time, and victimizing herself again? aww. who woulda thunk it.

all of it falls under "what did you expect?" when you look through the many holes in SPOP's story.

and yet, despite it all, despite the fact that she committed universal genocide, death of a monarch, aggravated assault // attempted murder, attempted murder // suicide, etc., etc...

she's 'redeemed' by a hallucination in a ship that somehow tells her that she was the one who drove adora away, when she fucking knows that already.

jinx is eventually aware of herself and vi, as much as she can be, and continues the path to villainy because she's already gone too far. vi may forgive her, but she's killed a lot of people and is a criminal. not a petty thief, but a murderer.

the show helps us sympathize with jinx, but they don't erase what her actions, they don't erase her crimes, and still embrace writing her as a villain // antagonist that can't and won't go back.

catra has bare minimum sympathy from me. it's terrible that she was abused, but the show doesn't write it well or consistently enough for me to fully care and go "it's really sad that she's become a bad person", but rather "if you died, i'd be thankful".

that's harsh, maybe, but i don't see any other option, except for her being jailed for life, as a satisfying conclusion for her. because i don't care enough to wish a better life for her in canon.

the "you vs. me" problem in SPOP is that catra is constantly pushing this ideology in almost every single situation, even when it is not applicable, and it forces fans to view it the same, if not worse.

it's not specifically about shadow weaver, but more about what can give catra control in whichever situation that can allow her to victimize herself and // or dominate the other party.

and, as a result, to this day, catra is still seen as the biggest victim of the entire cast.

#spop #she ra #spop critical #spop salt #spop criticism #spop discourse #spop adora #she ra adora #adora #adora deserves better #spop catra #she ra catra #catra #anti catra #anticatra #anti catradora #anticatradora #anti catra stans

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henreyettah · 1 year

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Ok here is my gay bracket line up

Round 1A (Finished!):

1. Sol av Isfolket vs. Kuvira

2. Ianthe Tridentarius vs. The Witch of the Waste

3. Blue vs. Hot Guest Lecturer I Had For One Class

4. Helga Sinclair vs. Harrowhark Nonagesimus

5. Fiona Pitch vs. Lucy Salisbury

6. The Queen of Atlantis vs. Kya, Katara’s Mom

7. Mercymorn vs. Granmamare, Ponyo’s Mom

8. Ebeneza Petty vs. Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity

Round 1B (Finished!):

1. Camilla Hect vs. Begonia

2. America Chavez vs. Girl Simon Snow

3. Gideon Nav vs. Sophie Hatter

4. Christine Daae vs. Villemo av Isfolket

5. Beautiful Liar Beyoncé vs. The Mummy Rachel Weisz

6. Chicago Catherine Zeta Jones vs. Morticia Addams

7. Young Winona Ryder vs. Wen Qing

8. Villanelle vs. Sandra Oh

Round 2 (Finished!):

1. Kuvira vs. Ianthe Tridentarius

2. Hot Guest Lecturer I Had vs. Harrowhark Nonagesimus

3. Fiona Pitch vs. Kya, Katara’s Mom

4. Granmamare, Ponyo’s Mom vs. Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity, Gideon’s “Mom”

5. Camilla Hect vs. America Chavez

6. Gideon Nav vs. Christine Daae

7. The Mummy Rachel Weisz vs. Morticia Addams

8. Young Winona Ryder vs. Sandra Oh

Round 3 (Finished!):

1. Ianthe Tridentarius vs. Harrowhark Nonagesimus

2. Fiona Pitch vs. Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity

3. Camilla Hect vs. Gideon Nav

4. Morticia Addams vs. Sandra Oh

Semi-finals (Finished!):

1. Harrowhark Nonagesimus vs. Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back To Reality Oops There Goes Gravity

2. Gideon Nav vs. Morticia Addams

FINALE:

Harrowhark Nonagesimus vs. Gideon Nav

Results are in, and the winner of my gay poll is GIDEON NAV! On her way to the top, Gideon fought and defeated Sophie Hatter, Christine Daae, THE Camilla Hect, Morticia Addams, and last but not least, Harrowhark Nonagesimus. Gideon will now (aka later this weekend, when I’m not working) go on to become a sticker on my laptop, alongside Instagram poll winner Simone Snow.

Thanks for playing along!

#propaganda about the options is welcomed #this is gonna be fun I think #some of these are so fucking niche tho #sol and villemo are not gonna do well I fear #polls #bean poll #round 1A #round 1B #round 2

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