#and spop didn't give it enough time

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

i'm just gonna say it. hordak was more redeemable than catra.

no, i haven't forgotten that he was a tyrannical warlord who conquered and destroyed like half of etheria. i'm not saying any of it was justified or that he deserves to get off scot-free.

i just think that hordak had more moments of humanity. we know what he was but there were less instances of hordak being straight-up sadistic on screen. there were actually no instances of hordak attacking anyone, except for that one time in s4 when he attacked catra (which she 100% deserved).

whereas he did have moments of genuine kindness and compassion. he took adora in, when he had the choice to abandon her and leave her to her death. granted, he raised her as a child soldier in the horde, but she was alive thanks to him, nonetheless.

he takes care of imp as he would take care of a child. even when he gets angry, he rarely intentionally hurts people like catra did. the most he did was scream at them. which is not good either, mind you, but it's something that he could work on. it wasn't cruel and destructive like catra's temper.

he also treated entrapta with great care and respect. after a moment of fury, he quiets down and lets entrapta help him. when entrapta mentions in an offhand manner that she was also a defect (or something along that line, i forget), hordak was first concerned and then rightfully furious at whoever dared to demean her like that.

he needed a little push from imp but he expressed his gratitude towards entrapta and treated her as an equal from then on. he even risked his own physical health to protect entrapta. when catra sent entrapta to beast island and double trouble told him about it later on, hordak was ready to murder catra for daring to hurt the one person who understood and loved him.

later in s5, we see what exactly hordak went through at the hands of his creator. although like every other character, his trauma was pushed aside for catra's, you could still see how hard he had it. horde prime was worse than shadow weaver, when it came to abuse. and despite all that, hordak was still able to show kindness to a few people in his life.

of course, that doesn't erase everything he did to the people of etheria. it doesn't erase the toxic environment he created for the children in the horde. but i feel like a villain with some moments of compassion is a lot more promising than a villain who relentlessly hurts and tortures people, not showing even an ounce of regret.

[spopsalt]

It's so fucked up that glimmadora is considered boring and not interested enough compared to c//a all because of the toxicity that c//a has

Like??? In Adora's experience, she deserves a partner like Glimmer (whether it actually be her or someone similar to her)

Glimmer treats her with the upmost kindness, giving her a safe space to be herself and be alone whenever she needs to, and helping her with her problems through the healthiest ways possible

Catra has literally physically abused, fed Adora's guilt complex/suicidal ideations, and tried to guilt trip Adora back multiple times just so Catra can have someone who'll do as Catra says, not what Adora wants

Catra never actually loved Adora, Glimmer did (and Bow did, too, but it was more platonic)

Yes exactly! Catra is horrible to Adora but according to season 5 it's Adora's fault because why didn't she stay in her toxic environment and protect her toxic catgirl sister? She left Catra! (Despite her inviting Catra to go with her right after she left the horde and then asking her to come with her again 2 more times and Catra saying no to each one) And according to the spop fandom Glimmer is a horrible monster becaue she was a bad friend to Adora for part of season 4 and like no other season- Did the spop forget the Glimmer's mom just died because of Catra and Glimmer was struggling under the weight of being queen? She also geuinely apologized to Adora for being a bad friend and even when they left off on bad terms Glimmer still cried and begged for Adora's life, meanwhile Catra didn't even say anything, if Glimmer hadn't stepped in Adora would be dead. Then right after that scene they insisted that Catra was the one who loved Adora. What?

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

Request from @bloodgulchblog: first time palmer or lasky figures out roland is flirting with them dealer's choice. Thank you for the prompt!

Roland enters service December 5, 2557 and then sometime circa February 18th, 2558 during a live mission with Fireteam Crimson present and engaging with Promethean forces, Roland says to Miller after Miller attempts to shoo him away: "I can do a million things at once, like can talk to Captain Lasky, I can flirt with Captain-" from Spartan Miller E5.01 of SpOps. He is 2.5 months old and saying this. In front of at least 5 Spartans.

Halo doesn't give us any vetting process or inside look into how AI are chosen or when they come off the shelf vs go into active service.

-

Leading a campaign is stressful. Lasky had done it before, in all but name, as the XO behind Del Rio. He's the reason the UNSC Infinity was still afloat, not that he wants to take credit for helping the Master Chief stop the Didact. There's more important things he's dealing with, and getting more attention from the upper Brass doesn't seem like a good career move or life choice at the moment.

Returning to the Forerunner planet Requiem means balancing a million details all key to their victory. Olds hands returning do help, but there's a lot of new blood in the crew as well. Including the ship AI.

As captain, Lasky had been included in the vetting process. Roland was chosen because he was the best fit. Part of the newest generation of Smart AI, with a personality fit for managing not only the enormous and diverse needs of the crew, but also the retrofitted colony ship with Forerunner engines and more armament than the navy had ships welded to her.

Suffice it to say that Lasky had a lot on his plate, and maybe didn't pay the closest attention to Roland's tone. Or the little winks and knowing nods thrown at Lasky before he blipped away. Or how he motherhenned Lasky more than Aine ever did. It was just differences in personality between AI. Captain's duties took precedent over lilting tones and pointed questions and an avatar lingering in his presence at the end of the day.

Aine never said "sir" with so much weight. She wasn't so free with compliments towards him and didn't linger for him specifically. Aine enjoyed her time on the Infinity, the care in its construction, and her crew. Roland's focus was different, and something Tom might not want to label without a second opinion. Not that he was going to talk to Sarah about it… He could already see her face, eyebrow raised, as he'd try to connect two points in front of her.

The second Requiem campaign ends, badly, but with them alive and not in the heart of a star. Lasky exhales. Sarah's mad about his contingency with Majestic and Halsey getting away, but she's coming with him to face the admirals together. Not that they have much choice, but they've already gotten their story straight. Their friendship would heal. Tom fixes his uniform in the mirror and swallows. Going planet-side for an official debriefing felt more like marching to meet his executioner. At least Hood liked him.

"Captain, your chariot awaits in hangar 11." Roland announces with a flourish.

Tom nods and thanks him with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. He's not really in the mood for levity right now.

"If I may be so bold, sir." But when has that ever stopped Roland?

"When have you not?" Tom says, smoothing down his cuffs again.

"You're worrying too much. The reports are in, the commander is going with you, your pelican is fueled and waiting. It's all going to go smoothly. You'll be fine, you're very likable, sir. I like you!"

"I noticed." Tom says with a smile aimed at Roland's camera. "You were laying it on kind of thick there."

The look on his avatar's face is enough of a prize, but then Roland starts backpedaling. That's something Tom's never seen him do before.

"Well, of course, sir. I mean, you are my captain. The captain. Of the ship- that I run, mostly."

"Of course." Lasky says, turning for the door. "We can discuss it when I return. I leave the ship in your capable hands." He smiles, wry and teasing.

Roland snaps a salute with smothered smile. If Lasky's mouth does anything funny, no one sees as he's schooled his expression by the time he hits the hangar.

[swearyshera]

Alice,

I've loved being able to read Sweary She-Ra through the years. I happened upon it only a few months after finishing She-Ra (I was late to the party due to not having Netflix, oops), and it gave me so much wonderful content to keep my excitement for the series alive.

The way you explored the characters, especially Catra's mental health and her relationship with Shadow Weaver, helped give me a new understanding and greater appreciation of them. I bring up Catra specifically because, I'll be honest, I wasn't a big Catra fan for awhile. I liked her well enough, then kinda didn't in season 4, but grew fond of her again around season 5. But you helped me understand her thought-process, and I came to like her more because of it. I really like that you also handled her in a nuanced way, where, as you've said many times, you explained her behavior without excusing it, and that made all the difference.

One of the things I really appreciated about your take on She-Ra was how apparent your intelligence was, as well as your writing skill. It wasn't just "Catra says fuck and Glimmer has killed dozens," even though it could have been--you went the extra mile (or kilometer, since you're British :P) and gave us a variety of jokes, as well as mood shifts from comedic to tragic to dramatic to hopeful. All of the characters felt like themselves, even though they were pushed up to 11 and had some creative liberties taken, such as Frosta being a demon and Hordak's Geordie accent. You had a good handle on all of them, which can be very hard to do with a large cast, especially one written by another writer.

I also really appreciated that you took the time to answer asks and build a community here. It gave us lovely jokes such as Bob (that's right, I haven't forgotten about him), Catra's age, and Entrapta reading our comments. I've always been very shy online, but seeing you having such nice interactions with fans helped me open up, and I'm glad I did! I used to ask anonymously from time to time (yes, my first ask was about DT, all the way back during your start on season one, what else would it be? XD), and I'm glad I've gotten to chat and joke with you, as have the rest of us.

I'm so glad that you stuck with this and created such a wonderful fan-series. We never got a movie, but this was just as good, in my opinion. It was like watching SPOP for the first time all over again. I'm excited to see what you create next, be it SPOP-related or not. I hope the future has great things in store for you.

You brought us laughs, tears, and spectacular Glimmer-swears, and your blog means so much to so many people. You mean so much to so many people. I hope you find success in your future endeavors!

FOR THE HONOR OF GAYSKULL!

What can I say, it's truly been an honour (of Gayskull) to write something that I had no idea brought so much to many people. I'm genuinely quite humbled by the reaction.

I always wanted to be fair to all the characters, to show their reasons without necessarily validating the invalid stuff that they've done, and that particularly came across with Catra. It's no secret that I see a lot of parallels between her and my own history, but I've applied the same take-no-shit but be kind approach that I took with myself over the years. And I've learned a lot about mental health during that time, so I could give that sometimes painful realism, but also know just how to make fun of it in the right way.

In some ways, I feel like the characters I've written have taken on their own personality that's very distinct from the original, and that's probably why I think there's a little more mileage in them yet. Both in terms of original stuff (my pilot script Snowflakes has almost 1:1 versions of DT and Perfuma!), but also in the possibility for creating more Sweary stuff, and that is slowly taking shape - although I am taking it easy for a bit, I've already outlined a story which I'd love to make into an audio drama. Currently workshopping it with a couple of people, so watch this space...

It has been a joy to get so many asks from people, yourself included, and my inbox will always be open. I'm not going anywhere for a while! You were very much my DT-asker-in-chief, and I'm super glad you enjoyed their scenes (heck, you even got them a cameo at the end!). So thank you immensely for the support.

I'm happy I've been able to contribute to a wonderful fandom in such a way, and I'm eager to keep on giving back to a community that has given me so many amazing friends.

FOR THE HONOR OF GAYSKULL!

[aprillikesthings]

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

[blonde-and-cat-suc]

I really wanna start an anti catradora blog since there are so few but idk where to start, can you please give me some tips?

Well! First of, I'm very excited that this side of fandom will be getting another participant, and second of all, I'm very flattered that this question is going to me! I'm always happy to give some support xoxo!

All of my tips are going to be from personal experience both from my time generally engaging with fandom, and running this particular blog.

/ / / /

1 ) Try to be polite.

Yes, you will get people who disagree with you. The very existence of anti-fandom implies that we are not the norm. The majority of our main fandom already disagrees with us. And they might be assholes about it. Don't tolerate rudeness, but also, try not to feed into it, either. Not only is it terrible for mental health as the blogger, but it perpetuates this idea that the blogger in question reacts to negative attention. Which, if you've been on the Internet long enough, you know very well how quickly negativity breeds if it's allowed. Positivity breeds too, so I think it's in anyone's best interest to simply... Not be an asshole. Even if it means being the bigger person for a moment.

2 ) Pick and choose your battles.

"Battles" is a melodramatic way to put it, but I'm only using it because it's a well known saying. Anyway, this part is from the first part. So... the thing about being "the bigger person" is that... it doesn't always happen. I definitely don't let everything go by me without snapping at it sometimes. Well, I just think it's funny. I used to think it was way funnier in the past, too. Sometimes anon hate/fandom takes are really stupid and it's hilarious to share. But if it's not funny, insightful, or you simply don't want to engage... Don't engage.

3 ) Connect!

Anti-fandom is still fandom, and I personally treat it as such! There's still art to enjoy, stories to read, discussions to be shared. Community is not necessary, but when I was first putting out anti-c//a posts it really helped me to know that there were people that like, didn't think I was insane for pointing out things that bothered me! Especially since my choice in writing anti-c//a/crit fics is not an easy medium and well, to be honest, sort of requires that I know someone out there enjoys the fruit of my labor.

Yes, spop antis are limited, but go say 'hi' to the people that are open to engagement! We're mostly pretty friendly, and in my opinion, open-minded.

4 ) You are required to have an "on the nose" blog name.

NO, okay, I'm being totally facetious! Obviously, name the blog whatever you want, I just laugh when I see a new anti blog and it's something like "catra-needs-jail-time" or "catradora-is-dogshit". They're a handful of bloggers like that, if you want more to follow (the two I just named are jokes... As far as I know).

The real advice to be clear that your blog is anti-catradora/critical; or whatever other stances you'll talk about often. Nothing personal if that's not what you want, but make it easily found that you're not open to certain things, or you are open to certain things. I.e. I think that C//a are pretty obviously adopted sisters canon, and that point is very purposefully the first post on my blog (has been for two years), so no one is surprised when I start ranting about sister!c//a in particular.

5 ) It is never, EVER that deep.

Part of anti/crit blogging is that there's salt involved. Ranting, sharing things that frustrate us, being annoyed with canon... But also, it's really not that deep.

If I would have got this question two years before, I would have not added this part. But yeah, no. Part of why I run this blog still is because I know it's simply not that serious... People will steadily find my blog and the others in this community, and they will come around to their own conclusions on their own time. There is no trying to convince someone else on a POV that they simply don't want to see. There is no war against anti fandom and main fandom (though, some will have you believe otherwise).

The bloggers that are still active and open about unpopular opinions in 2023 are not people that stress themselves out or respond to every braindead take, they're not people who get attacked/overwhelmed by stans very often, they're not rude, they're not close-minded-- actually, I would go as far as to say that they're extremely fucking chill about this hobby. Passionate and dedicated, but self aware and self-respecting of mental capital/health.

And so, that'd have to be my last piece of advice.. Chill. It's just not that deep. And if it ever becomes "deep"... take a million steps back, and give yourself that space to recuperate. Your mental state is infinitely more important than an anti-blog, and no one will judge you for taking breaks or anything as you'll need them.

/ / / /

[adorawasright]

I barely engage in SPOP fandom stuff anymore for many reasons but I do enjoy your blog from time to time whenever a thought about how poorly written Catra was enters my head. During the show I kept feeling like I was supposed to pity her, empathise with her and root for her but all I felt was increasing disappointment. She’s got so much potential and I don’t dislike her. I love her character design and the odd moment when she does Cat Things. It’s just…there was absolutely nothing about her relationship with Adora that made me hope they’d end up together. Like for sure LGBTQ+ relationships shouldn’t be sanitized and perfect, but there just wasn’t anything….there? resembling love or support from Catra for most of the show.

On the other hand, what I wasn’t expecting was for Hordak of all people to make me begin to consider to leaving my toxic church and abandoning a lot of very harmful self-beliefs. Something about that moment where he realised nothing he could ever do would be good enough for Horde Prime hit home for me. Didn’t expect that but it’s changed my life for the better, which makes it all the more irritating that the show writers didn’t do a better job with Catra.

Yeah, I'm mostly following like, one or two blogs who post more actively about SPOP (and they're both critical of the show). Honestly, most people I follow on Tumblr don't care about SPOP anymore. I think they all dropped it once season 5 ended.

And same! There are some aspects I still like about Catra, like her design and the Cat Things (I am not immune to cute cat noises), save for some sympathetic moments like the ones with Scorpia. She had so much potential but C//A ruined her completely. If Catra wasn't so dependent on Adora then maybe she could've had a more genuine character development, but she's just stuck as being Adora's possessive and petty girlfriend.

I'm glad Hordak helped you realize that! Although he didn't get more screentime, and the cult trauma ended up being used to make us feel more sorry for Catra than Hordak and the other clones (especially since Wrong Hordak is a joke the entire time), I agree that his arc ended up being more compelling than Catra's. I honestly wish Hordak and Horde Prime's dynamic was shown more often, or earlier on. I only remember it being introduced in season 3 and they don't talk about it that much later on (correct me if I'm wrong). But it did give us an insight to Hordak and I thought it was pretty interesting. It's too bad Horde Prime only officially appeared in the season 4 finale, so he's a rather shallow villain.

It's odd because Hordak has, in theory, less development and screentime in comparison to Catra, but in the end she never actually changes. She just changed sides and not for the right reasons. Catra only joined the Rebellion because she had nowhere else to go. She didn't even save Glimmer for the good reasons, she just did it for Adora. You'd think Catra would learn better after season 4... but she only got a haircut that wasn't even her choice and remained an asshole towards Adora and the princesses. It's such a shame.

[princesscolumbia]

@gingerhaze does not know me at all. I cannot claim to be their biggest fan, even though I love darn near everything of theirs I've ever seen. I can't write as much fanfic as a tribute to their work as some of the other people in the various fandoms, I can't claim to have followed them for all that long on social media, but somehow they've made me a better person and accepted myself more than damn near anything else.

They wrote Adora in SPOP so well that I saw myself in her and helped me find out just exactly the kind of woman I actually am. (...and led me to the community that would help me find the words for it and the love and acceptance that I'd never had in my life.)

When Nate fully embraced being publicly transmasc and told the world their new name, the gentle way they told their story and said the words, "I love that our biology is malleable," and a scared little girl inside me answered, "Please don't make me go back!" I was finally able to start truly healing enough to not only accept masculinity in the world, and just in time to fall in love with my own transmasc NB possible life partner. (I'll know for sure in October, I think, but so far we're holding on tight until we get there.)

And today I watched Nimona with my daughter, like I promised I would (Thanks for the catch on a good birthday gift for my kiddo, Nate! ADHD made it so I completely spaced when her birthday was, so whether you knew it or not, you had my back). My wonderful teenager who came to her "transmom" (her word for me) to ask what a lesbian was when she was too scared to go to her "biological mom" (the mother who carried her for 9 months), who told me she wants to be goth, then punk, then just make art, then be a Youtuber. (She's pretty sure she's not trans or NB, and she knows she's in a safe space to explore that with me, and she keeps saying that she isn't sure if she's straight or gay, but I'm pretty sure with her desire to wear a suit and take her best friend to prom, plus her very short haircut she got for her birthday that I'm raising a lil' butch lesbian...who's not going to be 'lil' for much longer, given she's already taller than her granny)

And (avast, spoilers ahead) when Nimona was feeling lost and alone and like the world was doing its damndest to kill her and she had been made 'the bad guy' and had so many things go wrong and I could only see when I was homeless and my van blew its coolant system all over me giving me third-degree burns in the middle of a desert where the nighttime temperatures never dipped below 93F and I was in shock and knew that everything I had ever fought for to hold on to something good in my life had just nearly blown my hand off and there was a bridge over a busy freeway only a few minutes walk away and all I had to do was make it over the railing...

...and my girlfriend held me back. (No, not the transmasc NB, I'm poly, get with the times, people, it's the 21st century and we invented the Internet, you have no excuse)

And when Ballister held Nimona back, I cried, and I was SO glad my daughter was so transfixed with the movie 'cause she missed me healing YET AGAIN because of Nate's work. When the credits were over (or, more accurately, we wound up back at the Netflix screen 'cause the interface to just finish watching the credits didn't work), I made my way into the bedroom and my girlfriend didn't even see me yet and said, "Are you crying?!" and I hugged her and kissed the top of her head and hugged her and she said, "You ARE crying!" in that amused and loving and exasperated way she gets when I get all emotional.

Thank you, Nate.

[drbtinglecannon]

Anyway here's wonderwall (a list of my "worries" for S3 tonight) (really only 1 is a legit worry)

1. Flapjack dies (please no please I can't even entertain the idea of this)(legitimate fear for this birb)(it won't happen)(BUTWHATIFITDOES)(it won't)(BUTWHA--)

2. Hunter becomes a Noceda, thus Dadrius never happens (I'll be so disappointed but I know logically from a writing standpoint it won't be a bad or 'unexpected twist' ending for him, but AHH I'll be so disappointed. I also wonder how that'd work in terms of like.. Hunter isn't gonna live in the human realm with Camila, right? That seems like an unusual turn, especially since I don't even imagine Luz will live at home full-time by the series end and instead comes and goes between Camila & Eda)(That said I think Hunter is already family with Luz & that Camila is one of the most important adults in his life & always will be, but actually having their name before we see Vee get it would be :/ )(This is just my very specific fandom brainrot that'd leave me bummed even tho I know it wouldn't even really be a bad thing)

3. Huntlow becomes canon or strongly implied it's inevitable, and people get all mad about it (I think regardless how people feel about a ship that fandom shouldn't make it the crew's problem, after everything the show has been through I promise one side ship isn't gonna ruin everything. I know only a small % of the haters of this ship act this way but I am genuinely dreading it getting worse & TOH getting that "is bad queer rep now" label that a lot of other media have been tossed under like SU & SPOP & LoK, over both this ship & if the ending is rushed in any way)(Like. Jfc that would be So Exhausting to see)

4. We don't get anymore clarified Wittebros lore, and especially we don't ever learn the name of Caleb's wife or if he married into the Clawthorne family (Cannot express enough how awful it is when media won't name the dead wives of characters)(I'd be SHOCKED if we didn't get the lore but I do wonder if the lore will include wittewife's name since it'll probably be told via Belos who probably didn't care to remember such information)

5. We see the adults in the Boiling Isles and none of them have any kind of design changes (this is just plain superficial, but it's one of those things that's lame as heck. Obviously kids' appearances change a lot quicker than a fully grown adult's but also the BI is in total chaos rn give them new outfits or hairstyles please)

6. The wait for the 2nd episode is really long. (Good time for the brain to marinate over everything, but also the wait will be so difficult, but also also I don't want the show to end)

7. Remember how Zeno said that the best acting he's done was a scene in this episode? And his other favorite scenes were in Eclipse Lake and Hollow Mind? So it's Highly Likely the Hunter moment that's his favorite is Devastating? (This is just point 1 again)(But also gd this kid has suffered)

8. Camila doesn't beat the shit out of Belos with the baseball bat (idk who I think deserves the killing blow but I want Camila to at least knock a few teeth out)

[agentbeeswrites]

This is going to be a rant about shows being cancelled and the state of streaming services and media.

I'm mad about Warrior Nun being canceled. I'm mad about First Kiss. I'm mad about Gentleman Jack, Legends of Tomorrow (and the whole lot of DC shows), The Owl House, Charmed. Older canceled shows like One Day at a Time, Dark Matter, Wonderfalls, Sweet/Vicious, the Hulu & Freeform Marvel shows (The Runaways, Cloak & Dagger), Teenage Bounty Hunters, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Wynonna Earp. Carnival. Warehouse 13. STUMPTOWN! I'm never going to stop screaming about the tragedy of that one. There are tons more. I don't have hours to list them all.

It sucks when a good show gets canceled. It sucks when you look for more content, and all you can find is the same show starring the same kind of tough, cishet, white dude that's in its seventh season and has three spinoffs. There is never an abundance of queer content. It feels like there is when we get lucky enough to have multiple shows in a year, but it's nothing compared to cishet content.

Things began to change with Netflix a few years before COVID. I want to point to COVID and blame it for everything, and it certainly did have a big impact on production costs, but the fact is that Netflix (specifically) has been reluctant to have any show last for more than two or three seasons because then it has to pay everyone more. They'd rather cancel and start up a new show.

There's a problem with streaming services and access in general, though. You've probably started to watch an older show on Netflix (one that they license) and found that it would be leaving the service at the end of the month. It might be available on another service, or it might not be available anywhere.

And then there's the issue of licensing.

If you have a physical copy because the company who produced it included selling physical media in the deal or budget for the show, you can always rewatch it and relive the good times. But if it's a streaming-only show, there's a very low chance it will ever be legally sold on physical media.

Remember the Marvel shows on Netflix? I want to own more than one season of Jessica Jones. Guess how many seasons were released on disc? If you guessed "one," then you are correct. Even Daredevil only had two seasons released on disc, and it was a breakout hit.

Remember Wynonna Earp? IDW used Kickstarter to fund the box sets. They didn't even go through a major distributor.

I'll never see Sweet/Vicious on disc. I'll never own She-Ra on blu-ray. The Runaways, Cloak & Dagger (I know it's not queer, but I love that show, ok?), Sense8, Arcane, Dead to Me, Derry Girls, Paper Girls, ALOTO, Gentleman Jack - I'll probably never be able to buy any of them legally.

Yes, I know that the first three seasons of SPOP were released on DVD. Where's the rest of it? Where's my blu-ray release?

The best and worst thing the digital age has given us has been streaming services. You have a huge library of content at your fingertips that can be taken away at any moment.

Just look at the shit show that is HBO Max after the Warner/Discovery merger. Shows are getting cut from that service faster than I can keep track of. Shows that may never see the light of day again (or ever, in the case of per-release properties) because WB/D holds the rights and is shoving them into storage in an attic. We are watching shows become lost media.

I'm getting tired of my shows being canceled. I'm getting tired of them being locked behind one particular service in a landscape where every company has to have its own platform. Streaming was supposed to be the alternative to cable, but they're squeezing us for more and more and giving us less and less for it.

But I'm tired of there being fewer and fewer legal ways to consume content offline. Even in the 90s and early 2000s when shows were cut down at alarming rates, we still had physical media. For example, Shout Factory was well known for putting out obscure or classic shows and movies with a big enough fan base.

(Note to self: buy that Facts of Life set before it disappears for another 20 years.)

We may need to go back to smaller companies making their own content. I don't know. It feels like the streaming wonderland is collapsing, and I don't know what system will rise from the ashes.

I used to joke that knowing me was getting to experience a list of shows that were canceled before their time. It's still true.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

i'm glad more people are pointing out the flaws and bad writing in spop, and the toxicity in c//a's relationship. however, i do want to remind y'all to not get too biased.

i've seen a few people victim blame catra when it comes to her relationship with shadow weaver, and that's a really shitty thing to do. catra was a terrible person but the way shadow weaver treated her wasn't her fault.

i know that a lot of us like shadow weaver as a character, myself included, but she was still an abuser. she still physically and emotionally tortured a child for no real reason, because abusers don't need a reason. it's all well and good to point out catra's abusive behaviour but what shadow weaver did to her was not her fault.

i've even seen people implying that catra deserved to get abused or that shadow weaver abused her because she was disrespectful or didn't try enough during training. this is a really fucked up take. catra being disrespectful doesn't justify shadow weaver's abuse, that's like saying that adora deserved to get abused because she stood her ground against catra sometimes.

and catra didn't have to attend the horde training, none of them deserved to be groomed into child soldiers. the horde wasn't an environment any of them chose to grow up in. of course, catra's inferiority complex can seem a little hypocritical considering the fact that she never tried to do better, but i can understand the idea of wanting to give up because you're a slow learner or not naturally gifted in something.

also, catra seeking out shadow weaver's validation isn't bad writing or catra being stupid. it's pretty common in abusive relationships, actually. take zuko, for example. he's the example of a well-written character that we all turn to so for once, i'm gonna compare him to catra in a positive light.

ozai was actively abusive towards zuko but he still desperately wanted ozai's validation and approval. this is the result of being raised by an abusive parent. you feel like you have to earn their love, even when you're upset or angry at them, you secretly feel like it might be your fault.

i have to admit, the light spinner episode still makes me feel really bad for catra. the way she asks shadow weaver why she got abused really resonated with me, because i feel like catra secretly blamed herself for the way she was treated by her mother.

she might have told adora that shadow weaver was a horrible, manipulative person but i think deep down, catra had the classic dilemma of hating shadow weaver but craving for her love at the same time. she wanted to believe that shadow weaver might see some potential in her, the same way she did with adora. it's easier said than done to be like “well if you know that your parent is abusive, why don't you just leave them?” or “why did you let them manipulate you again?”

basically what i'm saying is: let's be mature about this whole situation. of course none of this justifies catra's actions and of course she deserves to be held responsible for her abusive behaviour and her war crimes. but let's not cross the line and start being insensitive towards abuse victims. catra did a lot of shitty things but being abused by shadow weaver wasn't one of them.

[spopsalt]

Honestly while Rick and Morty has a million flaws (I enjoy it despite the flaws) at least they know that one big gesture doesn't make up for consistent abuse. An example I would like to use is when Rick sacifrices himself for Morty in "A Rickle In Time" You may know about this if you are or were in the Rick and Morty fandom, but if you do not know, I'll tell you. So to make a long story short, Rick, Morty, and Summer's time was messing up, everytime they were uncertain about something, they would create a feedback loop, making their time more unstable and therefore more dangerous. They had to put time collars on so their time will be stable again. Rick broke them so Rick had to fix the collars. He suceeds in him and Summer's collar, Summer puts hers on and therefore she is safe. She goes back to stable time so now it's just Rick and Morty. Morty tells Rick that his collar is broken, Rick originally brushes it off saying he fixed it and to just put it on, but Morty insists that it's broken.

Rick told Morty to bring it here so he can fix it but then Morty fell down a hole created by the unstablity of the time. Rick screamed Morty's name and just looked down the hole. He looks around and jumps in the hole to get Morty. If those of you that don't know, there's infinite Ricks and Mortys, so Rick could've just gotten another Morty, but chose not to. He grabs onto Morty and tells Morty to give him his collar, Morty said that he dropped it. Rick looked worried, looked around, then, gave Morty his collar, saving Morty's life over his. And his choosen last words were "I'm ok with this, be good Morty. Be better than me." Now of course he sees the collar Morty dropped and turned out to be fine, but for the moment he was 100% willing to save Morty's life over his.

Now was this a selfless act? Yes, absolutely. Should he have done it? Yes. Does this scene makes me cry? .....Admittidly yes. Does it make up for the consistent emotional abuse Rick inflicts on Morty? No. Now if this was another show *cough* spop *cough* This would mean that everything Rick did to Morty is ok! But no, he's still called out mutiple times and his behavior doesn't change after this, (I mean it does but not for a few seasons) I like that it actually shows that one big grand gesture does not make consistent abuse ok, that should be obvious, butttt a certain show *cough* spop *cough* seems to not get that.

Another show I'd like to praise for this is Bojack Horseman. Bojack does do big gestures, and while these are sweet, none of them solve the root of his problems, the root of his toxicity. He saves Todd from an improv group (Long story makes sense in context) and gives a legitmentally heartwarming speech about how when Todd first moved in with Bojack and thanked him for letting him stay with him, Bojack didn't hate himself, which is not something he feels often. Now while this was sweet, he doesn't bother to try and solve the root of his toxicity with Todd, and is still consistently horrible towards him, and Bojack says it perfectly "The big gesture isn't enough, you have to be consistent and that is so hard"

Now with that, all I want to say is that I love how those two shows acknowledge that big gestures don't make up for consistent abuse, we can find them sweet, but we must notice that unless the behavior changes, these big gestures really don't mean much. It's a really mature perspective for these shows to take, unlike another certain show *cough* spop *cough*

With that, how does spop handle big gestures? Well Catra saves Glimmer, now the best friend squad goes over to save Catra because she saved Glimmer, now when they get Catra she imminetally regresses and yells at Adora for insulting her, and calls her an idiot which Adora again interenlizes, yippe! Now do they regonize that while her saving Glimmer was sweet, that doesn't mean that they have to put up with her? Nope! Adora vents to Glimmer about it as she should, but Glimmer just brushes it off saying that Catra wasn't going to instantly become a different person, but Adora said she thought Catra would at least try, and Catra doesn't, she never thanks Adora for risking her life to save her, she never stops her abuse of Adora, and she is still horrible to Adora. And they still put up with her again because she holds Adora's hand and asks her to stay.

I know I'm comparing a kid's show with 2 adult shows, but kid's show have the oppurtunity to be incredibly mature, and that's what the stans always call it. But it shouldn't be teaching kids that "If you're consistently horrible, it's ok as long as you do some big grand gesture to show how much you care!" It's just an incredibly harmful message to send to kids, and if you teach kids this I can imagine them very easily falling into a toxic relationship.

So my final point, while you can appreciate grand gestures and find them sweet, those gestures don't mean much if they do not put in the work to change, you can't just forgive someone just because they did some big grand gesture for you if they don't at least attempt to change the way they treat you.

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

I am asking this only because I am genuinely curious-

You go back in time and somehow you get to change three things about Halo, be that narrative, stylization, or gameplay.

What do you pick?

Oh narrative right away. There's so many timelines we could do and stylization/gameplay has been talked to death already. I like the classic look and when the marines look more like Aliens(1986) rather than modern bootboys, but I also like what they're doing in the newer era. Gameplay is a dead horse and you asked the crab that chooses to suffer through the Halo 4 clunkiness for SpOps on purpose.

Narrative though, what if there was story in out video games. What if they did go Evil Cortana like they planned for CE? What if Halo 5 didn't just end there? What if they committed to telling stories in the universe they built?

ODST is a beloved favorite and does not have Chief in it. Reach showed them that bitches love their OCs and some rando schmucks. I'm the annoying fan who won't show up about Spartan Ops and Infinity Command. There's a fan for every side character. Comics, books, games, mobile games, animation, movies, shows - Halo has had it all and if we just had some more connective tissue or even crazy risks in smaller stories, I feel like we'd be away from the great gameplay/weak story of Halo Infinite (OPINION). Instead of wiping the slate clean and then sitting dead in the water at May 31st 2560 for 3 real world years, we could have the side stories of the Spirit of Fire/Gammas/Wherever the fucking Infinity is/Alpha Nine/ Blue Team/ Arbiter/ etc

TLDR - give me enough time and I will come around/ find positives about any and every halo game, I am cursed to want to replay the campaigns annually. As much as I critique Halo, I love it, I comment because I want more of it because its insane.

Where's Chief? Where is he?

I just want more Halo, if I had the brainpower/time/energy to change the narrative, it'd be posted in my writing tag. I'd finish my Infinite rewrite with Weapon as a baby and connect it to the wider Created Conflict since they handwaved the AI stuff away. #Halostopkillingyourwomenchallenge

[the-night-writer1]

Want some prompt, eh? Well... here's one: An angsty Raeda where a raging shapeshifter mental demon/spirit(?) in Raine's mind give Raine "a reason you suck speech" by showing them their greatest & biggest mistakes of their lives and tormenting them for it in the vein to Double Trouble's speech to Catra from SPOP.

Never seen she ra but I'll try)

Raine found them self cornered as they walked through the halls of their own mind. They'd been attacked by a mind demon. A creature that latched itself to the mind and drained witches of their sanity.

This was the only way to get rid of it. They really did need to get the demon out of their mind. Maybe it had caused their headaches.

As Raine walked down the long corridors past their own memories as a figure came into view. It was...it was Eda! But she was younger than when they last met.

Why Eda of all the witches on the boiling isles? Raine tried to attack but for some reason they hesitated when the young Eda spoke.

"you abandoned me rainstorm"

"you aren't Eda! I did what was best for both of us!" Raine said as they tried to use the spell again but then the younger Eda disappeared. Raine spun around to look for them to see a new figure. The girl from the coven convention. She looked upset a guitar being held in one hand.

"I thought you wanted to play together again Raine?" She said as she stepped closer to the bard,"am I not good enough to keep a promise?"

"stop it! You aren't either of them!" Raine said as they took a few steps back. Falling into a forgotten memory. Raine pushed themselves up to see where they were.

"are you alright?" Raine's own voice echoed as the bard turned around. It was at one of the bard coven's official performances. In the VIP section, the Bright's oldest daughter was with that girl. The girl was wincing in pain, why was she in pain?

Why was Raine checking on her? Raine couldn't remember but there was worry on their face. The feeling of worry or anything else that came with it. How'd they forget this fear?

Oh well Raine didn't have time to ponder, that demon needed to get out their mind! The bard left the memory into a new hallway. Wide and vast the air was heavy with regret. Raine pushed themself up and dusted themself off.

They hated this hallway of memories, it was Eda's hallway. Memories purely of her, or of both of them together. Perfect place to fuck with Raine's mind. However Raine was surprised by it's broken appearance. The walls were cracked and there were memories blocked off.

New memories at that. Were they from that gap in Raine's memory? Most likely.

"why'd you leave me Raine?" The figure asked appearing behind the Bard who jumped and turned to attack. However those eyes locked with their's and they found themself unable to attack as it continued to talk, "is it because I have kids? Is that why you've turned on me"

"what are you talking about I didn't know you had kids. I left because you didn't let me in or help! You- you only care about yourself!" Raine said before shoving the demon away. Come on Raine it's a demon you can handle this. Why couldn't they just- dammit!

They heard footsteps behind them and panicked was there two demons?!

"get out of Rainstorms mind you bitch!" The actual Eda yelled throwing a potion bottle at the demon. How'd she get here? Where was Raine's body? What the fuck.

The demon hissed stumbling backwards as it tried to escape into one of blocked memories and failing. Raine finally able to expel it from their mind with the spell thanks to well Eda.

"you alright Rainstorm?" Eda asked as she slid to a stop,"sorry I got here late but one attacked Zillah as well. I figured you wouldn't mind me focusing on her first- sweet love of the titan no wonder you've been acting strange. Your memories of the last time we played together has been blocked. Here I was thinking you were mad at me about Zillah."

"wait we played together recently?" Raine asked as Eda pulled out another potion bottle. Splashing it's contents of the blocked off memories. Seems Eda had brought some memory repair potions as well. Smart move.

"yeah it was because of something new with my curse which destroys stuff stuff when I play. You were magnifying its reach. That way we could stop the emperor." Eda said as she got another memory repair potion out to hit the other memories with.

"Eda I find that hard to believe why would I do that" Raine said as they crossed their arms.

"He has something bad planned. You say so your self. We're in your mind Raine storm you can double check." Eda said she was treating Raine's memories.

Raine decided to do that.

[phoenixdnasty]

The Problem with Season Five

this is already going to have a lot of you in the replies yelling at me. obviously, massive SPOILERS for s5 of she ra and the princesses of power if you haven't already seen it.

okay, so She Ra is definitely a kids' show, but it has a lot of themes aimed towards an older audience: abuse, war, found family, destiny and knowing who you are. I loved She Ra because it made me feel empowered, made me feel seen. after this last season, however, I don't feel the same. I will, however, talk about what it did well.

What She-Ra s5 did RIGHT

I very much enjoyed seeing the character development for most characters come to the forefront here. For example, SW returned to her original motivations. When she lived in Mystacor with the other sorcerers, her thirst for power was borne of a desire to fight the Horde. When she was rejected, then she chose to do what she did. We see a return to that in s5, where she takes a stand against Prime by enlisting Castaspella to stop her if she tries to take any power for herself. She ends up just wanting to help, to do what she can, which was excellent. Glimmer, Bow and a bunch of other characters are given some love here as well. I especially enjoyed seeing Bow and Mermista take on leadership positions in the absence of Adora; it was an excellent look into another facet of their personalities.

Character interactions in non-serious moments were, for the most part, good. Swift Wind and Scorpia being bros was not something I knew I needed but something I want more of. Netossa basically being Batman and knowing the weaknesses of everyone around her was great and an iconic scene. Bow thinking Catra was super adorable was also an excellent moment in the season and I could watch 9 more seasons worth of that. Something that surprised me was Entrapta's "not good with people"-ness being talked about and addressed by the other characters and explained by her; I wasn't sure if that was ever gonna be talked about in the show.

Side note: thank you Crew-Ra for giving Scorpia her own musical number, it was great.

Prime was also a fascinating enemy. He's this sort of religious figure, this world destroyer who's been around for seemingly centuries, maybe much longer. He's cold, calm and calculated. I've seen it pointed out that he's everything Hordak is not. He's manipulative, knows body language and facial expressions, and has a perfect grasp on how to get exactly what we wants. My favorite aspect of this season was the hive mind control. This was a very interesting plotline to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed HiveMind!Catra as well as Wrong Hordak. I loved the idea of pitting allies against each other and the angst and emotional weight that carried.

Going to use that point to segue into one of this season's strengths: Netossa and Spinnerella. Wow! We get a chance to see what a healthy queer/wlw relationship looks like, and two background characters get major upgrades in relevance. Two diversity points for one being a big girl and for the couple being interracial (in our world anyway), but diversity is the norm is SPOP and we might have to stan forever. It was extremely heartwarming and resulted in one of my favorite scenes to ever show up in animated media (one which I'll be stealing to add to my vows if I ever get married):

It was beautiful and I will absolutely never shut up about it.

There were some beautiful moments this season!! Absolutely gorgeous. A highlight for me cinematically was episode 5, which will probably bother some people when I say what I will below. I will be honest, the new transformation sequence and the scene of Adora holding Catra as She-Ra was powerful and had my heart pounding with excitement. It was awesome.

On the other hand...

What She-Ra s5 did WRONG

I'm going to break my issues with the final season down one by one, starting with the narrative of abuse.

From the very beginning, abuse is the most prevalent theme in the show. Prime (HP) abuses Hordak, Hordak abuses SW, SW abuses both Adora and Catra, and Catra abuses Adora. I liked the Crew-Ra tackling this issue. Abused people abuse people, right?

Why was everyone redeemed in s5? (Well, except for Prime, he was blasted away by She-Ra.) Hordak was given a blank slate to start over, even though he was the reason Etheria was war torn for at least a few decades; SW was given a hero's sacrifice, where at the end of her life she finally decides to do some good; and Catra is immediately forgiven for doing one good thing and all trust in placed in her simultaneously.

Hordak and H. Prime as abusers are pretty cut and dry; at no point are they ever remorseful for their actions, except for Hordak in the case of being abusive to Entrapta. SW is much more of an interesting character to analyze, because her motivations are geared directly towards herself. This seems to change in the final season, when she returns to her original motivations from back when she was in Mystacor. Defending her home. In her pursuit of the power needed to defend Etheria from the Horde, she fell into darkness. She began to abuse Adora and Catra.

One could argue that the hero's sacrifice she was given for redemption was unneeded. SW was an individual addicted to power. She was manipulative, using fake affection as a means to control. She didn't deserve a redemption. The only evidence we have of this supposed change of heart is a line to Castaspella: "...and stop me if I try to take the power for myself." Okay... so, SW, um... what changed your mind? Was it Micah? Because at no point has he forgiven you. In fact, there should've been much more hostility between the two of you (which is a point I'll address in a moment). In all honesty, the relationship between SW and Micah reminds me of what should've happened between Catra and Glimmer, or Catra and Scorpia.

And Catra... My problem with her story is that she was kinda just... forgiven? instantly. no repercussions, no long talks about feelings, no... consequences. Catra got the girl and that was it. A small list of things she did over 4 seasons, in no certain order:

Scratched what was implied were scarring marks down Adora's back

Was the cause of Angella's "death" #angelladeservedbetter

Kidnapped both Glimmer and Bow

Opened a world-ending portal all to ensure Adora failed

Also pushed Adora into what looked like an abyss

Verbally abused Scorpia into leaving

Wanted to pit Corrupted!She-Ra against her friends (dehumanization)

Got Entrapta sent to Beast Island, a deadly place no one ever returns from

And this is just the stuff off the top of my head. We all knew Catra was going to get a redemption, but this one was completely undeserved. She apologized to Adora and Entrapta. Two very short apologies for what canonly was at minimum, months of abuse, manipulation, intent to kill (which is literally mentioned by Adora) and general disregard for anyone or anything but revenge for something that didn't even deserve it. The entire cast should've been outraged. Glimmer in particular had a very big reason not to ever forgive Catra ("I'm not losing another parent!"), but it was all glossed over.

The biggest issue with season 5 was the abuse plotline completely dropped. You can't spend 4 seasons explaining how the cycle of abuse affects you and everyone around you... and shelve it. And we know the reason why it was shelved.

Let me first preface this with the fact that I am super happy we got representation. As a queer nblw who grew up feeling alone, it's so good to see things changing in media. An onscreen wlw kiss on a kids' show is groundbreaking and I'm very happy that She-Ra broke this barrier.

But all representation is not good representation. Catra and Adora is not a good representation of a healthy relationship.

Catra is shown throughout the series to be very unstable. This is even prevalent in season 5, when Adora "chooses SW" over Catra, she runs away. This breaks Adora's heart. The last thing that Catra needs is a relationship when she hasn't even confronted the issues that she has. There's no healing done in season 5, no therapy as the fandom loved to meme about, no long talks about forgiveness and the hurt caused. There's no callback to any of the pain and anguish that Catra put Adora through. Catra may love Adora, but if there is no healing done for the both of them, their relationship will fail. They will fall into the same cycle again. Adora will do something Catra doesn't like, Catra will do what she's done for all of the show, and it will repeat until something breaks.

I'm going to talk about the implications of the ending we have now, and feel free to argue with me.

She-Ra is a kids' show. Abuse is one of the main themes. Catra is shown to be an abuser. Here's what we are teaching younger audiences:

a. if you love someone enough, maybe they'll change

b. everyone deserves a second chance

c. your abuser will change as long as you're loyal and never stop trying to love them

d. things someone does to hurt you mean nothing in the wake of forgiveness

e. if someone who hurt you changes suddenly and wants to be back in your life, you should let them back in

Character interactions for the things that mattered (plot threads from previous seasons, general personality clashes, etc) were absent this season, in the moments where they mattered the most. (The best three in my opinion were Scorpia and Perfuma, the BFS inviting Catra in, and Mermista and Entrapta.) Glimmer and Adora should've had their time to talk. Scorpia should've gotten to say her piece to Catra. SW and Micah should've interacted more. Micah and Glimmer should've gotten more than an introduction!

I'm not going to get into how the entire final season was wrapped around making Catra and Adora get together (a fundamental writing no-no; it never ends up working), or how it was bad writing. I just want everyone to think critically for one moment. There are so many other glaring issues in what was, overall, a stellar show. If there was another season, or some mini episodes where the characters talk out their problems and past transgressions against each other, then I could excuse She-Ra. But I doubt we're going to get any of that. So I won't.

[themadauthorshatter]

What are your gem au hairstyles like (you don't have to answer this)

Imma answer it, though I will tell you now I'm not very good at describing hairstyles and will be referencing other anime characters, so bear with me🙏

Tiger's Eye has very wild hair, like Sora from Kingdom Hearts or Cloud from Final Fantasy. Like, think bed head, but they literally shook their head, rubbed a balloon all over their head, and then went about their day. They also kick and scream whenever someone tries to fix their hair.

Labradorite has very long hair, like waist length, and has that one strand/bang that falls in their face and they never fix it. Out of everyone, their hair is the neatest, as they take a considerable amount of time brushing it out and don't want to risk cutting it in case they forget something.

I already talked about this in the character profiles, but Snowflake Obsidian has a very similar hairstyle to the OG Obsidian in the series, except their hair is longer and to the point where it covers their eyes, kind of like 'blindfold bangs' or something.

Lepidolite's hair is around shoulder length and full of braids, kind of like Daenerys from Game of Thrones, but full of flowers that weren't strong enough to be vased. I should mention that they never take out this braid. It's just always there, watching... waiting...(and I'm being a jerk, sorry. Couldn't help myself😅)

Red Jasper’s hair is what I'd call the most trendy because half of their head has no hair while the rest swoops to the other side. It's about jaw length and very poofy, surprisingly, but there's evidence that Doli tampered with it because there's a single braid that falls on the side of RJ's head that has no hair.

Ironically, Selenite has the most aestheticly pleasing hairstyle, as their hair stops at the middle of their neck, center parted, and brushed out of their face. The other gems call this one of two things: it's either very impressive that they keep it so neat or a joke because of the fact that they're a schemer and will get them, given the chance.

I personally have wondered what hairstyle to give Phosphosiderite because as much as I like the idea that they look like Phos, I honestly hate the idea that they're just baby Phos with a splash of purple paint. For Sid, I'm giving them a sort of baby-post-winter look that Phos used to have. They're hair is short in the back, like Post-Winter Phos, but the hair grows longer in the front to give them the look reminiscent of baby Phos, but instead of their bangs being out of their face, they have a small, leafy-esque bang that cuvers their forehead, kind of like what Jade had, but on Phos's head, if that makes sense.

Another moment of irony: Pearl also has spkiy hair, but it's tied back so it stays out of their face while they help Snow work. They have a like poof on the top of their head, like Adora from SPOP, but they have a few feathers in it they refuse to get rid of because they find the feathers very neat, and because they miss their bird friends. They also have two stray bits of hiar that fall from this hair poof to give them something like Devil Fangs.

Sodalite has pure bed head. They don't brush it. They don't take care of it. They just let it get messy and tangled. You know how Haruhi looks in the first episode of Highschool Host Club, with the glasses and messy hair? Soda looks a lot like that, but we would NEVER see their eyes once

Moissanite... doesn't really have hair. Think buzzcut, and that's Mo's hair. Like I said in their profile, they were put together from collected pieces and didn't really have enough to have hair, so they look like a freshly cut Anne With an E. They also look more like a baby with this hair, so bonus cute points.

This is just me thinking a little too hard, but don't be afraid to ask me things like this. Really just getting asks makes my day, thank you so much🙏🙏🙏