#Entrapta is best girl I don't make the rules

[etheriadearie]

Hey, love your posts! They provided me with lots of good info for a future fanfic of mine! And I'm not just talking about Catradora... Anyway, I wonder what you would have to say about Entrapta, she's kind of my favorite character in the whole show

oh my gosh, yes! Entrapta really is the best… ...let's all talk about it

Decoding Entrapta's Arc

-a data driven analysis-

Firstly, thanks for reading my blog! I totally love Entrapta, too… I actually consider her to be the most likable person in SPOP. In her, we’re seeing someone being the best person she can be, always.

She's a sweetheart, and all along she's trying to do the right thing. She doesn't stray from her ideals, and that shows courage.

She’s a person who remains good to the people around her, despite their negativity, and she's the only person who is honestly trying to understand the real truths of Etheria and how the First Ones corrupted the planet. She's after answers to the important questions. Does that get messy along the way? Sure, but her motivations were always about the truth, and we can see her goodness in how she treats others.

Entrapta's inherent goodness is in contrast to those around her, who are caught up in their own trauma and ignorances and because of that behave badly and are playing out the corrupt plans the First Ones made for them all.

This is what the whole story of SPOP is about- historical traumas which they have all been manipulated into- Horde and Rebellion alike- in order to fail as the First Ones intend them to.

Both sides are wrong in how they act, everyone is hurtful including to each other in their alliances. The war continues like it does largely because of everyone's self involvement in their own trauma and emotions. Entrapta is unique in that she's mostly immune to this criticism- as the one person truly seeking answers. (Note: all -> hyperlinks <- are on tumblr)

Yes, the Horde plays their role as an enemy to a t (..and yet how did Hordak end up on Etheria-? a:The First Ones..), the Princesses are ignorant of their own role as part of this millennia old corruption, and they lash out towards others who are different, with prejudice. That they don't know their involvement in the First Ones conspiracy doesn't make their behavior right, even if the Horde bringing war upon them is so wrong. What's that war really about? Entrapta is in the middle of this mess, trying to figure out what the truth is. And her discoveries of those truths will save them all in the end…

So, this hurtfulness on all sides can be seen personally in Entrapta's arc, as a person who faces prejudice while trying her best to understand what's really true. From the beginning she knows something is wrong with what the First Ones did, it's her goal. In this way we can see her character arc as a weathervane of the plot over all- because the Princesses are wrong in how they treat her from the start. And they're wrong in how they treat the war as well.

Our sweetest Entrapta goes about her business of finding the real truths behind what's happened to Etheria throughout the story, and she does a stalwart job of it- all while being hurt by others prejudices and trauma guided actions. Yes, some of what she does is wrong, like participating in war, but she isn't being given other good options. She's doing what she feels is right and her best to stay dedicated to the truth- scientifically, but while also remaining the kind person she is.

How she gets hurt within the Horde- well, we all see that in Catra's betrayal, but the Princesses are hurtful, too. In fact, the Princesses have a casual kind of hurtfulness that’s totally frustrating to watch which comes from the privileged lives they lived, and they force that hurtfulness on each other all of the time, not just Entrapta. We’ll talk more about this later, but Entrapta gets the worst of it. Nevermind that SPOP cautiously hides this causal hurtfulness behind cute humor and excellent voice acting for the kids- the Princesses' hurtfulness is plain to see if we just look for it.

Much of our discussion will focus on this and the role of the First Ones historical betrayal in all of their actions, with Entrapta doing her best to uncover the real truths of it all. Without her doing that, the Princesses would have failed in the end, like they almost do at the end of s4, when the oldest of their real enemies- the First Ones- almost successfully use them all as a weapon. And, as they face their final true enemy, Horde Prime, they would have failed against him, too, if not for the knowledge Entrapta gains through scientific study. Both sides are caught up in the plans made for them, acting on their traumas. Entrapta works so hard to know the truth, and to use it to help, and we love her for that.

..And about above, they only avoid the weapon going off in s4 much because of Entrapta warning Adora in time, so we get to thank her yet again...

So without further ado, here's some major topics we’ll cover:

1:: How Entrapta is simply one of the nicest people, her friendly and easy going manner reflects her way of believing in the best in others-

2:: How Entrapta is a great scientist and by this very fact she's a great person, because the truth must guide them all-

3:: How the Princesses assuming Entrapta died is part of their prejudices and unwillingness to understand others who are different for them, and if not for those prejudices they may have realized that she survived-

4:: And, of course, a bit about how Entrapdak reveals Entrapta's best self, her ability to see the best in Hordak (and others) makes her one of the best people, in the end she sums up the meaning of Warriors🎶 best with her own words-

1:: So about Entrapta's positivity..

I mentioned that Entrapta is doing her best with the situations she's given, that’s true scientifically but it includes how she treats others. She's always bringing positivity, not pessimism, which is under appreciated. To sum it up, Entrapta’s philosophy towards others is to always believe in something better; she strives to see the best in them. Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but, how can we not love her for that?

This includes people who were constantly vilified, such as Catra, Scorpia and Hordak. And her jovial attitude is at times looked down on as misguided by others. Is that right? I don't think so…

This preconception to judge her unfairly is very apparent with the Princesses. They really do seem to treat her cheerfulness as if it's wrong, even part of her autistic oddness. In truth: she's funny, full of positivity and amicable to others at all times. The Princesses treat her like she's weird for it..

::So yeah, guess what- dealing with people can be confusing for anyone- autism isn't actually the story there. Her ability not to be judgey like others around her (unlike the Princesses who treat her as ‘too weird’) sets her apart. Entrapta wants others to be happy, she wants to get along, she welcomes others' differences even if she doesn't quite understand them. She, in actuality, works pretty well on a team. What's really happening with the Princesses is that by judging Entrapta they are falling short of HER level of goodness, and that shows their damage, not hers.

We’ll come back to the Princesses' harmful behaviors later, but they are absolutely there and what is happening is that they assume the worst about her. When in reality, Entrapta is an total badass.

It's also wrong to assume that Entrapta doesn't realize the people around her aren't as nice as she is. She later reflects to Hordak that 'she wasn't good enough for them’ and doesn't understand why it goes wrong, like it did in the Rebellion leaving her and then with Catra not talking to her anymore. It's confusing to her, what she doesn't realize is that they're acting out their own hurt by being mean to her. This is also when she charmingly swears to never give up trying. Most of all, as time goes by Entrapta shows us that she really does get it.

She keeps a positive beat at all points in the story, all as she goes about her business of finding out the real truths of what the First Ones did to Etheria. Even abandoned on Beast Island, she's able to make good use of her time to do this. And she doesn't hold a grudge.

Even against Catra, who we know hurts her so badly. Here's my favorite example of Entrapta ‘getting it’ all along:

Entrapta's ✨🧪amazing🔬✨ sense of humor is on full display as she humorously roasts Catra over her past harmfulness. We see that actually, she understood all along why Catra might feel threatened by her for that- but also that she wasn't considering acting on it before Catra brought it up. She's not spiteful. And, it tells us something really fun about her- that she doesn't always mean what she says as serious- she likes to kid around. ☺️ (i.e Entrapta sayings she's gonna dissect Adora in s1ep5 🙃)

So, she doesn't let Catra off easy at all for her past harmfulness. And, it's so fun to see her put the heat on Catra. She's also wise toward others, like she is with Hordak- she sees what's underneath and that Catra's apology is sincere. She's a kindhearted person, forgiving is not a hang up for her. I think she'll be friends with Catra; as she certainly knew when to humorously punk Catra's ass for what she did in the past.

So, there's really no good reason for why she gets hurt so much by others. Again, their damage, not hers.

::Also, I won't be dwelling on her autism too much- I'm not diagnosed with it so others can tell that story better- but, we can instead attribute much of Entrapta’s social struggles simply due to her lack of social experience. We don't need to look to her autism at all to understand their disconnects with her, we're seeing their damage because Entrapta is always sweet to others and which goes ignored. They're just not great people.

(For context, we know Entrapta was mostly raised away from people, by robots, so she doesn't understand their confusion with her.) Considering this, she does really well- we see her actually do a pretty good job of interacting with others on a team in s1. By the end of the series, it's quite clear Entrapta could understand where others were coming from all along- even if her processes of understanding it maybe looks different from what it does for less neurodivergent people.

So, that's what's going on from the beginning Entrapta shoulda been treated better- she was always a good person and trying to do her best with the situations given to her. And again, as a scientist- Entrapta is the only person asking the real questions about what's going on with the First Ones corruption of Etheria, something she does from the very start. Which is why we need to talk about what Entrapta's always so ecstatic about:

2:: SCIENCE DOESN'T LIE!!!

By searching for the answers to what the First Ones did to Etheria- how the planet was corrupted for the First Ones weapon- she's focused on the real issues. And science is the best way to do that, which is her skill. While the Horde and the Princesses fight each other mercilessly, she's concerned with the real plot, and their real enemy- the First Ones.

Everything in SPOP relates back to the original betrayal and the historical trauma of the First Ones- Something Entrapta is already beginning to grasp even before we're first introduced to her. Yet it takes until she joins the Horde for anyone to ask her about her research… Why is that-?

Long story short, the Princesses are way too self involved in their own hurt and the apparent unfairness of the Horde showing up out of nowhere and bringing war onto them. Yet that the Horde came from nowhere is a clue in itself, is it not? If Hordak isn't Etherian, how? (A: Light Hope is the only person capable of bringing him to Etheria- she brought him there to start the war). The Princesses totally miss this.

This doesn't make what the Horde is doing any less wrong, it just shows that the Princesses are ignorant of their own world. Is it ok for the Princesses to have spent the last millennia living in comfort, not addressing the real issues and unaware of what the First Ones turned them into?

It's not, and so SPOP is about historical trauma.

Everything is wrong on Etheria, not just the Horde. The Princesses are far too naive to face a full on evil enemy like the First Ones or Horde Prime.

.. You may be thinking of people who exclaim ‘well they couldn't have known what they didn't know’ but is that right?

No. To elaborate: NooOoOooo!! 🔬

We know they could have known better because Shadow Weaver knew all of this history, she studied it to get more power. For herself, at any cost. And if she could figure it out, they could have. The Princesses lived complacently for the last millennia.

In reality, Entrapta is basically trying to catch up to what Shadow Weaver knew from the beginning of the whole series::

Whereas Shadow Weaver never uses that knowledge for good, only looking to sacrifice Adora to release Etheria’s full sorcerous powers for herself, (read the meta of how SW is the real villain of SPOP above) Entrapta wants to help and provides actual guidance and understanding to the Princesses which they need to get free of the First Ones plot against them, and then to stop Horde Prime. She doesn't get enough recognition for that from the Princesses….

Some of her most massive achievements, which wouldn't have been possible without her study and experimentations, include:

-She's able to repair Darla and get the ship across space and back, which is no small feat,

-She's able to locate Glimmer and help rescue her and Catra,

-She frees everyone on Etheria from Prime's control.

- And many more

In this way, we can really get to understand how even some of her actions she's most vilified for are part of her seeking these truths and gaining the knowledge they will need to survive. Let's talk about a couple of them.

Why Entrapta’s search with science looks so messy: Hacking the Black Garnet

What Entrapta experimenting on the Black Garnet was really about was testing her theories of what's wrong with Etheria. She doesn't do it to hurt people (obviously) and yes it causes chaos. Yet that's a huge clue- why does a runestone used in such a way cause destruction? The Princesses miss the point.

Many other hints get dropped along the way, and they just keep missing them because of their blindness from anger over the war. You can also see Entrapta's hand in most of these other hints:

Why can Adora be corrupted by First Ones tech contacting the sword? If Horde Prime is waiting outside Despondos and can destroy them all, how and why did Etheria end up secluded from the universe?

… Where did the stars go ?

The Princesses' cluelessness is all to do about the naive way they existed for the last millennia, a historical trauma which is catching up to them in real time as our series begins. Entrapta is trying to catch up to the real truth by studying Etheria like she does- chaos and all.

...Can the Princesses really remain ignorant and just keep escalating a war over past grievances? Would defeating Hordak even stop the greater plot against them all? Not at all- most likely they would have just then reconnected the runestones and Light Hope would have blown up the planet before they even realized what she was doing. Entrapta’s study is vastly necessary, they need her help- everything is necessary learning for Entrapta.

Yeah, science tends to be messy, but when Catra asks her about her research, leading to them hacking the Black Garnet, Entrapta is testing her hypothesis- and she proves it true. Entrapta will take her gained knowledge from this and other endeavors to be the capable scientist they need her to be in s5 to stop Prime. They need to know these truths. Necessary learning.

So, even this act she's vilified for is misunderstood by the Princesses who miss the clues of how what occurs reveals their own corruption. Because of course they did.

Entrapta’s further actions such as building the portal machine are also related to finding the real truth. If Etheria is isolated, the outside universe would have answers. It's good Entrapta’s machine doesn't bring Horde Prime down on them all at that juncture, they're not ready- she also tries to stop it, only failing due to the traumatized state Catra is in that episode after Shadow Weaver shows up and nearly kills her.

I won't recap everything she does but let's talk about the one consistent criticism: Entrapta building bots.

...note: this is something the Princesses asked her to do yet she ends up doing for the Horde instead...

When in fact, are these bots the killing machines many assume them to be? No, Frosta herself reveals that they aren't. And this fact isn't about softening the show for a kids audience. SPOP isn't that story-

The Horde isn't genociding people, like some uneducated detractors suggest- because that's not what the story of SPOP is about (go watch ATLA… it depicts genocide and it's a children's show- also, the civilians in SPOP don't participate in the war). It's about historical traumas and how ALL of them are continuing violence in a way that amplifies those past evils. And, Entrapta’s work with Emily also proves something essential: that a robot can have a soul. Is that not worth exploring further?

Take such things into account regarding her actions such as hacking the Black Garnet. She's testing her theory by doing so, meanwhile the Princesses abandoned her, both physically, but also with their harsh emotional treatment of her, having never broached the topic of her research. They are angry and ignorant, just self involved with their own hurt over the war. And when they had her they acted like they only wanted Entrapta for her ability to make robots to defeat the Horde. A bit of irony, I guess…

Again, the Horde is beyond doubt wrong to bring war, but that doesn't change the fact that the Princesses are ignorant and have spent the last millennia playing into the trap the First Ones set for them. Entrapta's knowledge from experimentation helps guide them free from that.

In s4, it's Entrapta who ends up helping them avert disaster by warning Adora. Meanwhile, Glimmer is so consumed by her own hurt that she resorts to barbarism and using an evil super weapon. In s3 Adora had begun to understand the evil that the First Ones were making, but in s4 Glimmer hijacks any understanding Adora may have gained with her total focus on war. When asked to help save Entrapta and deal with the danger that threatens the planet, Glimmer is harmful and we can see her unfairness towards Entrapta, her false equivalences-

Glimmer is one of the top most guilty characters when it comes to prejudice towards Entrapta, and she's also totally prejudiced against the Horde in a way that always makes things worse.

It takes her own descent into evil for her to realize that her false equivalence of evil on all Horde may be wrong, which we see her reverse her understanding of in s5 while talking to Catra. In SPOP, everyone's trauma combines to make them nearly fail as the First Ones intended them to do. And Entrapta does her best to uncover these truths at all points in the story, she's never evil.

3:: Entrapta's emotional gains in the Horde and why the Princesses leaving her was a wrong assumption-

I think it's been said enough by others that the Horde allowing Entrapta to pursue science is fundamental. But in the Horde, Entrapta also learns about friendship and being valued.

Outside of the Horde, Entrapta faces prejudice, much because of her autism or otherwise, much like the people she meets in the Horde have. The way they treat her is different because of the backgrounds they have with having been falsely judged themselves.

In the Horde, Entrapta gains at least one true friend: Scorpia. And Catra values her: she sees how smart and capable Entrapta is right off the bat. She's not a friend, she's maybe even a terrible boss, but Catra shows Entrapta that she's valued for her hard work and unique skills. Catra also sees how others are prejudiced against Entrapta, like they were towards her.

And of course, Entrapta's relationship with Hordak is important as well. She helps him deal with his disability and their ship is adored. In short, Entrapta gains so much emotionally in the Horde.

Compare this to her time in the alliance, and we don't see much good. That the Princesses abandon her has everything to do with their inability to understand her and value her.

We're all mature fans here so let's not shy away from the difficult subject: the ableism Entrapta faces from the Princesses.

So, why Entrapta get left behind-

Once we begin to quantify how the Princesses have an ignorant approach to their world, and in how they treat Entrapta, we can see the underlying truth better.

Their behavior towards her is extremely hard to watch, and a sign of their own corrupted sense of niceness towards others who seem different: after living comfortable and privileged lives, they simply became accustomed to not accepting people who are different from their expectations. They're all caught up in their own emotional world. Entrapta’s neurodivergence is included in the harsh subconscious biases that they all have.

Again, this is a sign of how the Princesses are too immature to face a real enemy as powerful and dangerous as Prime, or even able to free themselves from the corruption the First Ones involved them in. After spending 4 seasons playing straight into the First Ones hands, Prime then descends upon them all suddenly, because of Glimmer's own mistake, when they've only just begun to see their own wrongness and to work together like is trumpeted in the theme song, Warriors🎶. They barely squeak out the win because of this slow march of learning to work together through butting heads, and that win comes much to do because of Entrapta's wise guidance...

They're also simply not nice to Entrapta…

That we're seeing ableism is what I am certain is precisely what's meant to be shown and discussed by ND Stevenson and CrewRa. It's hidden behind some layers of cute, but it's all there. Without these negative assumptions, the Princesses likely would have checked to see if Entrapta survived…

(Also, SPOP isn't a problematic series at all for showing this!! How can we discuss such an important subject if they shied away from showing it?? SPOP's writers showed courage and it's the wisest story I've ever seen..) ...back to the meta-

So yeah, her getting left behind is about their bias, but to breifly address the other thing- how did she survive? Keeping fancy details aside (my theory being saved for another time), she survives that moment <with ease> because of the fact that she's a MAD SCIENTIST. You think Entrapta hasn't had worse scares than a bit of fire?? (Clue: think about how she designs her everyday equipment, as a mad scientist, to prepare her for such situations..)

..So, back to ableism,

In s1, Perfuma putting Entrapta on a leash and then tying her up is ableist behavior. It's important to quantify this. She does it thinking Entrapta doesn't know what's going on, so she tries to take Entrapta's autonomy away. It's not necessary at all- Perfuma is bad at communication and is projecting her own fears of failure onto Entrapta, underestimating her abilities.

There's other unacceptable behaviors- Glimmer is dismissive towards Entrapta’s neurodivergence, Mermita’s constant negativity affects how Entrapta is viewed by the team as well. (If you're wondering where Adora fits in this- she ignores what's going on with others' bad behavior as part of her being consumed by her anxiety issue of failing to lead. >note: by being so blinded by anxiety, she's actually failing them in that exact way<.) But, in s1 Perfuma's actions are the worst, which is why that's what we're going to talk about.

We know how wrong Perfuma is simply because of the final outcome of the episode: after Entrapta goes ‘missing’, despite Perfuma's trying to control her, Entrapta returns triumphant, having befriended Emily and having rescued Sea Hawk- and in time to help them rescue Bow. Perfuma assumed Entrapta's excitement was inability to focus, that's only slightly true, but in truth Entrapta was mostly just multitasking. She's that much of a badass.

So, we can see how much the Princesses are underestimating Entrapta's abilities through Perfuma’s actions. And thus, it's not at all surprising that when Entrapta seemed to be in danger, they assumed the worst. The ableism, the assumption that Entrapta didn't ‘get it’, the not knowing how resourceful Entrapta is as a scientist, is why they give up on her when they shouldn't have.

... about the horde again...

In this way, it's pretty natural that she ends up with the Horde, as it is a much better situation for her in most ways- she's surrounded by people who have faced false judgements their whole lives like she has. The Princesses have so much prejudice, we can see that in how they treat Entrapta. Whatever else is wrong with the Horde, nobody is ableist towards Entrapta in the way the Princesses were.

In the Horde, Entrapta uses the access to science she has to study the real issues; she goes through hell when Catra ends up betraying her out of her traumas; she helps Adora avert the destruction of the planet at the end of s4... and yet in s5 she faces even MORE ableism from the Princesses.

When we see her in s5ep2, the Princesses say she's only interested in tech- which smells mightily of autistic ableism- essentially suggesting she's a robot. And then they blame her for everything- is that really fair?

No- it's frankly sad to watch how the Princesses spent the first 4 seasons walking straight into the trap the First Ones made for them. Also, their anger towards Entrapta comes after she's repaired Darla to fly across space so they can rescue Glimmer- have the Princesses thanked her for her unique contribution in this? Nope.

Whereas the ableism is hidden behind cute, funny sequences and excellent voice acting in s1, in s5 it's downright blatantly shown.

If Scorpia wasn't there to point out how Entrapta could help them, the Princesses would have continued in their negative, ableist views of Entrapta. Consider that- without Entrapta's one friend from the ‘evil’ Horde, the Princesses wouldn't have overcome their prejudice towards her, and so they wouldn't have even been able to save Glimmer. Hurray, Scorpia!! ❤️🖤🤍

We are once again being shown that they refuse to really try to understand Entrapta.

When Entrapta approaches the enemy base, she's doing her job and getting the data needed to find Glimmer. The Princesses force their expectation of how things should go onto Entrapta- and then blame her for ruining the mission. And yet, once Mermista finally sees that Entrapta absolutely knows the mission and is still trying to save Glimmer, she has no problem managing protection of Entrapta while she finishes getting the data..

Sure, Entrapta could been more stealthy, but their assumption that she doesn't understand what's happening was hurtful. They let their negativity consume them.

Also, we see Perfuma leash Entrapta again (briefly), and Mermista grabs Entrapta by the hair, leading to the Entrapta’s pained explanation that she 'gets it'. So, Mermista tries to remove Entrapta's autonomy- and physically hurts Entrapta with her anger. And then afterwards, Mermista can't give Entrapta a proper compliment- it comes combined with an insult when she tells her “Entrapta helped, too. You're still a wierdo, but you did good today. We've got your back, anytime."

Even if Mermista doesn't mean insult by choosing that word, she's still reinforcing the stereotype. Maybe she's using the word as a stand-in for her own past misunderstanding of Entrapta, it's still wrong. It shows her negative mindset that pervades her interactions with others. Entrapta, pure as she is, is overjoyed to get the acceptance that she's always wanted- she ignores the negativity. But, Mermista.. be better!!

A quick note, here, from the author: I *do* like Mermista and Perfuma, they're all best Princess in their ways- I'm just being real about how SPOP shows their negativity having consequences!! Thx, e.d. out ❤️

4:: Finally, let's talk about Entrapdak 🔬✨💞✨🧪

As said before, Entrapta has a pretty great way of getting past others' negativity to see the best in others, and her ability to do that with Hordak is the best example of it all.

In no time flat Entrapta bypasses Hordak's toxic negativity. She's like 'hey, let's not do that- let's be friends.' She believes in something better. Entrapta treats Hordak with the expectation that they should be friends, and she's not wrong to do it. Hordak isn't Prime, he can be better. He's still capable of being a conscientious feeling person, unlike his abuser who selfishly tried to destroy his sense of self. Her giving him a chance is what allows him to start finding that better person within himself.

And, as Hordak has faced ableism, like she has, Entrapta is the one to confront the ableism Hordak faced during his life head on and do something about it. (stating the obvious for posterity) She has empathy for him, nobody ever understands his pain better than she does. Even though they get separated half way through the series, her kindness sticks with him- helping him overcome his doubts and have a redemptive moment in s5.

Come s5, Entrapta still keeps fighting to get through to him, seeking to reestablish their friendship. That's everything to their success against Prime during the final moments before the Heart is activated. She really is unique in her determination to do better by others- nobody else in the series has as much steadfast goodness in the way they treat others as Entrapta does.

(...everyone else had to learn to believe in each other the hard way...)

In those final moments, as the universe faces destruction by Prime's hand, Entrapta best sums up in words the entire thesis of SPOP and our title theme song, 🎶Warriors🎶

“You can't control us! You don't know understand makes us strong, and that's why you'll never win!”

So much history goes into this moment, but Entrapta sums up what they've all been fighting for best. Nobody says it better- how love is strength. Not Catra in Corridors, not Adora in Save the Cat. She never gave up on Hordak, and he's about to show Prime why.

And that it's Entrapta that says it is no accident…

Entrapta gets it. She always did. They are stronger by love than Prime can ever defeat, if they just believe in each other.

And she's right to believe in Hordak, he won't do it, the love he has for Entrapta is too powerful for Prime to take from him. He's able to break free of the past hurtfulness that's controlled him.

Entrapta’s steadfast belief in Hordak saves them all- by casting down his abuser, Hordak interrupts Prime’s control of the Heart just long enough for Catra to show Adora her true feelings in the dream and to confess her love, setting up the kiss that saves the universe. (read the fun meta here) (short version here)

It's almost like Entrapta was best girl all along. I say that because she's so true to her heart that she deserves all of our love. (Sorry Scorpia, you're great, but, I stand firm!)

Final thoughts / Conclusion

In SPOP, we’re not supposed to accept the causal hurtfulness and prejudices the Princesses have. We can see how those make things worse in many ways, but directly in Entrapta’s arc. That's why s4 ends so chaotically- because they're all wrong. It's also why we see such reversals in Catra and Glimmer's arcs and things such as how Scorpia fits with the Princesses as if she always belonged. And it's why Entrapta struggles against prejudice even through s5. True wisdom cannot be gained while letting your emotions control you like the Princesses are doing.

That SPOP discussed such complex issues makes it one of the best stories ever written. I think it will have staying power and sets the bar for other stories..! (ND Stevenson told a great gay story, no doubt, but I mean it that the story is one of the best of all time, period!)

That causal hurtfulness, which is hidden behind cute animation and voice acting, is probably something we know in our own lives but grew accustomed to accepting- family members we love but hurt us or toxic societies we’re immersed in where we're told to accept as norms things that hurt people. I, for instance, can attest that I've seen it firsthand as I was totally abandoned by my parents to abuse because of their preconceived and hurtful notions of how safe and easy my life was supposed to be. ::Don't give in to base assumptions! The prejudice Entrapta deals with helps to teach us about how these biases make things worse. Also: in a lot of ways, Entrapta's dedication to science is also the best response to negative bias. Data doesn't lie, after all…

Entrapta's arc is meant for us to think deeper. War is a confusing subject. Lots of fans attribute SPOP's war to be something it's not- many wars are lead by murderous sociopaths. Other wars are about both sides acting on past grievances and inflicting trauma in a cycle that makes things worse. SPOP is this story. Like the unfair way the Princesses treat Entrapta, the way they deal with the war is wrong, too. And the Horde are repeating traumas as well- yet Hordak isn't a sociopath. His love for her shows that.

Entrapta's way of acting is the closest to a emotionally sound response to the war that there is in SPOP. In the absence of a better choice, Entrapta does what she knows best: Science, and friendship towards others. Catra, all the Princess alliance, are letting their worst emotions control their actions. Entrapta treats everyone well because that's how people should be treated. She wants to be friends- she wants to help people and be valued.

... yes... she also wants to geek out constantly, and holy cow do I get her. (I will act the same way when I'm excited about facts, space IS awesome. I will absolutely geek out over how lethal it is!!) Facts are cool. There's nothing wrong with her enthusiasm, it should be appreciated. The Princesses often take her comments in the worst way possible (such as when she's remarking how amazing Horde Prime's tech is- when it is amazing.!) Her wanting to know the secrets behind things is worth it, she's curious about everything, like we all should be.

Still, I think it's how she treats others that makes her best princess. That's why she tugs so much on our heartstrings- she doesn't just show us how she's best or good, her actions reveal the best in others, such as Hordak. Best girl Entrapta. She's also a total badass, and a genius (thanks, Bow- took 4 seasons too long for someone to say it) Do you agree? Feel free to let me know! 👍

And finally- autism aside, she's great. I'm sorry if I can't give more guidance about the subject, but, autistic people are fantastic people, period. The Princesses shoulda looked to work with her better, her sensitivity is not a barrier!! Id they had, the story may have been much kinder over all. (...But would that really be a realistic story-? probs not...) At some point, somebody has to have the courage to believe in others, Entrapta is that kind of person. We should all strive to be as excellent of a person as Entrapta is.

As always, if there's a detail of this meta (I got very meta again, sorry I can't help myself) you'd like clarified, ask me and I will gladly explain, with data, Entrapta style!! Please give THIS A 🧬🧪✨REBLOGG✨🧪🧬 and/or a like if you enjoyed it, and I hope you have a great one,

Etheria Dearie.

Author personal note:

Hey, thank you to my reader for asking me this one. Sorry it took so long, I hope I was able to speak conscientious about this subject 😔. To my readers: If it feels like I'm showing anger at ableism in my writing, ya caught me. I've been trying to correct my life to get away from abusive people and there's just no great way for someone partially disabled like I am to find good housing. Our entire society is set up to gatekeep such people from having that security, and I'm staring it right in the face now. So, I'm mad. p.s: thx for reading... anybody reblogg me? 😁❤️🙇

Here's a list of my meta's so far for new readers: https://etheriadearie.tumblr.com/post/647767378317492224/hey-i-just-found-your-blog-and-ive-gotta-say

[ghostietea]

Furuba autistic headcanons

With it being April, or autism acceptance month, I wanted to finally drop my list of characters from Fruits Basket that I read as autistic! This is based a lot on my own experience, as well as that of other autistics I know or have seen talk online. I hope some people can get something out of it, feel free to tell me what you think 😊, though please refrain from getting upset that I would dare suggest your fave is autistic.

Hanajima

Before becoming able to better control her powers, she would be constantly overwhelmed by the things she heard to the point that she couldn't even really go out in public. This reads a lot like sensory overload.

Constantly picked on in school because other kids thought she was weird. Eventually reclaimed this weirdness and turned it into a whole persona.

Seems to talk usually in a relatively flat tone.

Had trouble socializing with no friends outside her family until middleschool.

Has a very funny, dry sense of humor that I find very similar to a bunch of autistics I know, including myself.

Hatsuharu

Listen. You have seen the funky little man, you have seen the way he talks, the way he acts around others. He is, and I mean this in the best way, a weirdo. I do not know how you could look at him and see a neurotypical.

Once again, like Hana, Haru is funny in a way that feels very autistic.

Very flat, dry, tone delivery. Sometimes just Says Things that make everyone else go huh??? Suuuuper blunt. Doesn't emote facially a lot of the time.

When this man sees a social norm he doesn't get he WILL NOT follow it. Pierces his ears just because his hair got flak, defends Momiji wearing whatever he wants because sometimes y'know the social rules are just dumb and don't make sense. Especially dress codes.

Sometimes says things not befitting the current tone of the situation.

Represses (masks) a lot of his emotions, leading to outbursts that seem uncharacteristic.

His main childhood trauma revolves around adults branding him as "dumb" and ridiculing him. Haru, however, is super smart and wise!! Just in an offbeat way that not everyone may get.

Machi

Reads as very "flat" emotionally to the point that others would call her boring. Also has a flat vocal delivery.

Relies on specific habits or ways of doing things or else she gets super upset (her hatred of imperfection.

Has trauma surrounding adults completely misconstruing her intentions and thinking she's doing something malicious when she's not.

Generally behaves in a way that's hard for others to understand, one of her formative moments with Yuki was him saying he wanted to "see how the world looks" through her eyes.

Once again, trouble socializing.

Tries super hard to please her parents but in the end they still see her as somehow inherently "defective."

Listen. A lot of this one and the last two are mostly vibes, hard to verbally define. You just have to look at them and trust me.

Tohru

Displays behavior very reminiscent of masking throughout the story, a huge part of her arc is about how she hides a lot of herself and has a very controlled persona. I think it would fit very well if she had other autistic behaviors that she suppresed also it helps explain why she is relatively socially adept, it's learned behavior to make people like her more.

Yes she is very good at saying what others need to hear, but especially early on she is pretty blatantly imitating her mother's words. She only gets better at getting through on a more personal level later on (see her with Rin and Akito v. early series Tohru). She does this by relating her own experiences, a very autistic way of showing empathy that often gets us written off as self centered. The way she relays things her mom said could also be seen as this, and she even worries at a few points that she's being insensitive for going on about things like that.

While emotionally repressed she is hyper empathetic and feels other's emotions so strongly she cries.

Her speech patterns are all imitated from her father and she often copies verbal things from others (see Ritchan-san). Noted in canon that people think her way of speaking is slightly off/not befitting of someone her age. Additionally, her father was polite more sarcastically, while she plays it straight and sometimes takes things very literally or fails to get the message, indicating trouble with reading tone. Has numerous strange verbal tics, including saying parts of her internal monologue out loud without context.

Very expressive with her hands including waving them around and flapping them up and down.

Does have a bit of trouble with accidental insensitivity in social interactions, like how she constantly fixates on her mom and realizes that might bug the Sohma.

Has trouble paying attention in school since it doesn't have much to do with her interests

Her only friend until she was a middle schooler was her mom

Has a pretty unique outlook on things compared to others, people seem to think she's pretty eccentric. There's always a "this girl is nice but in an odd way, she's our weirdo and we love her" vibe.

Sometimes has an "inappropriate" emotional response to situations

Has a lot of trouble with change, similar to Akito. Which oh, look at the time, next hc coming up.

But first, a disclaimer. It is cathartic for me to read Akito this way, but with that reading comes the baggage that she would, mayhaps, be showing a more negative side of things... It doesn't bother me since it's a joint hc with other characters and she does develop at the end but yeah, general villain hc baggage. This is in no way me trying to excuse her being The Worst being autistic doesn't absolve you of being able to do wrong . Also, a lot of these points can and do have other explanations related to her upbringing, but things can be for more than 1 reason. With that said, she really strongly comes off as autistic to me, in a way that's sorta hard to explain. I wrote a lot more for her than the other, both because I felt I needed more to convince people and that this headcanon was more sensitive and I needed to be careful in my explanation. Also hey! She's my special interest within a special interest.

Akito

Shown to have a dislike of summer weather due to heat and brightness, could be due to sensory issues in tandem with sickness things. Also covers her ears when people raise their voice sometimes which is partially her trying to shut down opposition but also 🤔 can read a different way. She'd also avoids louder Juuni like Ritsu and Ayame because she can't handle them.

Wears pretty much the same outfit every single day. Said outfit is also pretty loose fitting.

Always seen sitting in a pretty unconventional way. Evidence:

Of course this is also the isolated in a cult thing and there is a level of her purposefully doing things to intimidate but: doesn't follow a lot of social rules (overly touchy with strangers, legit doesn't get that what she's doing is wrong, ect.). Repeatedly confused when people indicate she should act otherwise without explanation. Has a breakdown when this comes to a head and approximately says that "they" shouldn't expect her to know "common sense" if "they" never explained it to her, that the way that she was was her "common sense."

Often talks in a way uncharacteristic of her age when shown as a child in a more faux mature/pretentious way. Might just be the translation and idk how to explain it but her speech as an adult also seems off from what one would normally use in conversation. Additionally, when she tries to fake being friendly in her intro chapter, it comes of as extremely stiff and unconvincing.

Generally displays behavior that could be thought of as childish as an adult, but a lot of this behavior could also read as autistic (covering ears, emotional deregulation and meltdowns, ignorance of basic social norms, ect.). It's also important to note that she knows that this behavior makes her seem younger and more helpless to the older zodiac and uses it as a manipulation tactic. Has issues regarding people treating her like a child or only hanging out with her because of pity. While she does weaponize it, we can tell that this grates on her, as seen with her finally blowing up on Kureno, which is partially triggered by the maids saying some sorta infantalizing stuff about her. Irl, a lot of autistic adults and teens struggle with being infantalized for our behavior generally or treated as little babies that can do no wrong. Even in fandom, you see people doing stuff like jumping to call autistic adult characters, such as Entrapta from Shera, "minor coded." It is also common for us to have at least one bad experience with someone hanging around us out of pity. This is something that really gave me a similar feeling in Akito's arc. She's not a baby and she can understand and do better if she is given the chance to learn and break from all the freaky cult indoctrination she's been subjected to instead of just being constantly enabled. In the end, a lot of her growth is represented by her showing that she is capable of changing and being independent.

Shows particular difficulty with socialization, often sits by herself spacing out at social events. A lot of her fear is rooted in the fact that she doesn't know how normal relationships work, becoming overly reliant on the curse because she doesn't know how to make friends.

Clings desperately onto the notion of being "special" and in some way superior to others to be worthy and to make up for perceived inherent "flaws." It's the nd gifted kid burnout vibes for me.

Easily bothered by things that don't bother others. Feels emotions very strongly to the point of getting physically ill and has bad emotional regulation.

Relatively good at reading others in an analytical sense (though has more trouble when it comes to seeing how they feel about her since she's wildly delusional) but brings up her observations in a very cold, detached way and hurts people even on the rare occasion she didn't mean to. Has extreme trouble connecting to others and understanding their point of view. This makes her come off as pretty unempathetic even though that might not fully be the case. Also thinks that people like Momiji are trying to look down on her when they try to empathize with her. A lot of why Tohru can get through to her is that she manages to convince Akito that she's not condescending by relating shared traits and experiences. As I said earlier, autistics often empathize by sharing their own experiences with someone, and I know I often have an easier time confiding in other autistics because of a fear of being seen as lesser by those that don't understand me. I think the connection between these charachters and the way that Tohru manages to reach Akito like that while others couldn't makes a lot of sense through an autistic lense!

Additionally, when Akito herself gets around to trying to help others instead of just projecting trauma, she tries to reach out to the old maid by relating back to her own experiences. This however, doesn't work.

Has "cold" emotional reactions sometimes even to things that do make her upset. For example, how sort of calm and detached she acted after her father's death can make her seem uncaring. However, we know that this event did mess her up a lot and she is still (poorly) dealing with a lot of grief from the death of her father years later.

Copies mannerisms from others, the most blatant example is with Ren, who she directly parrots lines from as a child to Yuki.

Partly just her posturing, but gestures a lot with her hands when she talks. Also seen several times clutching her hands in her hair.

Deals extremely poorly with the idea of things changing to the point that it is a driving force of the story.

Does not understand when people tease her.

Ect. Ect. Ect. Listen, I could go on for ages but just trust me, the mean gremlin lady is autistic.

[kemonododo]

Decided to rewatch the whole series after seeing the finale, here's my thoughts as they come along part 2

This fight between Catra and Adora is where it all comes to a head. Adora begging Catra to follow her, Catra begging her to stay. Catra denying Adora the satisfaction of saving her, then pulling herself out of the portal as a corrupted monster. Adora seeing her true friends put their trust in her, then immediately see a horrific monster in the form of her love take their place. Catra lets everything out here, how she hates Adora's hero complex and how she blames Adora for everything. It's just so raw.

Of course, the best part is the punch. Adora is no longer going to take Catra's hate, she is done. In her own words, she made her choice and she has to live with it. That final death glare is everything. This is the lowest point Catradora will ever face, and it takes Catra proving that she is willing to change for Adora to see the good in her again.

Angella's sacrifice hits a lot harder now that we know she's dead for good, something about the "trapped between portals stuff" convinced me she wasn't when I first saw this. She died still believing her husband was dead, and the last true conversation she had with Glimmer was an argument. Hug your mom kids, you never know when you'll have that opportunity again.

This finale has a lot of parallels to the series finale, especially with Adora being convinced her destiny means she needs to be a martyr. That's Shadow Weaver talking through her, something we see in full force in season 5. While Angella here stops her from sacrificing herself, she still has that warped view of what her destiny is, and it takes Catra to finally show her the real way.

That spin is when I started shipping Glimbow.

This final speech by Queen Glimmer is another great example of how the show hides sinister meanings behind normal dialog. Any other show and we'd be cheering when Glimmer focuses on defeating the Horde, but we know the blind devotion to that goal has so many consequences in waiting.

Both Catra and Glimmer look great in their new clothes, it's a fantastic way to show how much they've grown.

The Valley of the Lost is another one of those great more episodic episodes, it's still connected to the whole story but we also get to take a little break and enjoy some a new local with a Star Wars feel with fun antics with Perfuma, Huntara, and Double Trouble. I wasn't sure about DT when I first heard about them, seemed too late to add a new major character, but they're an absolute blast and help give season 4 it's own identity.

Catra's nightmares are just the start of this season's take on her character, this is where we really dive into how unhappy her actions are making her.

Mayor of Elberon got the biggest glow up of the show

I love how, just, done Adora is with Catra. No more playful teasing, Adora is here to defeat Catra and save the town, nothing else.

Double Trouble is a really fun character, but I'll be the first to admit they aren't good representation. It's bad enough they're the "only nonhumans can be non-binary" architype, but also that they're a creepy masculine trans person who pretends to be a cute girl to get on people's good sides... Yikes. It's a genuine complaint, and one of those criticsms you just have to accept.

We finally get to see some character for Spinnerella and Netossa! They're relationship is one of the big keystones of the season 5 conflict, so it's really important that we had this episode to get to know their chemistry.

Oh Shadow Weaver, how I love you. She's decided Catra and Adora don't have anything left to give her anymore, so she's switched to the vulnerable and easily manipulated new orphaned queen. Glimmer's one track mind on defeating the Horde makes her an ideal target, and Shadow Weaver is again successful in bending a child to her will.

The Glimmer and Catra fight! Glimmer's arc parallels Catra's, especially in this season. Of course she never falls as far as Catra, but I do love that we get just a taste of how this war can sour even the cute sparkle girl.

This final moment with Catra and Double Trouble, amazing. Catra has been mowing through friends, she's already pushed away all the genuine ones, and she's realizing that it sucks to be with people who aren't.

Best way to set up a sympathetic villain, give them a girlfriend lol. Light Hope is tragic, her programming tells her to protect and serve She-Ra, but also to follow her directive. It's something that conflicts in her psyche, and is another strong-suit of this show and it's masterfully written villains.

Princess Scorpia is one of the best episode of the series. Sure the Glimmer drama is nice, but Scorpia... Wow. The remnant of genocide raised in the most toxic place on the planet is the most kind, loving, loyal person to have ever lived. And yet she still chooses to leave. Catra was her crush, someone she saw herself with and promised to be by forever, but even she knows when there isn't anything left she can do. It's a wonderful message and a fantastic episode for one of the best characters in the show.

Mer-Mysteries is actually really well crafted, up until this point all the funny joke episodes have been self contained, but here that's subverted. It's shocking to see Mermista joking around throughout the episode only for it to end with her in utter shock and fear at seeing her home destroyed. Plus the reveal of Double Trouble is great.

Neither Hordak nor Angella was fully invested in winning the war in the first two seasons. It's a good way to escalate tension, as now the Horde's victories make a lot of sense because Hordak is suddenly extremely motivated to win thanks to Horde Prime. It makes the war the first season made such a big deal out of seem paultry in comparison to the slaughter we see now.

I love Sea Hawk so much, he's genuinely funny and endearing.

Bow singing to himself may be one of the most depressing moments is the show. This whole arc of Glimmer and Adora falling out is mostly set-up for Glimmer's choice to activate the heart alone, but it's still really well done and something I really enjoy watching. Something about two friends blowing up at each other, ripping each other apart while the third is left in the ruins is just the angst I can't resist. Catra realizing winning the war isn't giving her the closure she craves and finding out about Scorpia leaving is also a perfect parallel.

Mara is revealed to be a hero all along, what Light Hope painted as a crazed lunatic turned out to be a woman who saved the universe from her own people. It's a beautiful message, and the emotional attachment we feel with her and Razz causes the tears to well up again for what feels like the hundredth time.

The three cadets are great this season, not only do they get some time to shine but they also show how Catra's tyrannical rule is hurting the soldiers beneath her.

I love the moment where Glimmer pulls out the queen card. It's culmination of her arc since the second season, she is finally letting her hatred of the Horde consume her. That shot, the slow piano as it zooms in on her backlit by the fire. Probably one of my favorite scenes in the entire show.

This episode is a monster on my heart, the juxtaposition of Scorpia finally finding the support and kindness she deserves while Catra is suffering the consequences of her own actions. That one shot, a Catra smiling at the news of winning the war only to zoom out at a destroyed room where she collapses on the floor choking on her own tears is a masterpiece.

Even Beast Island gets a glow up

Beast Island is beautifully Eldritch. A place that sucks away your fortitude and will until you're absorbed into it like a digesting stomach. The show does have a lot of moments where it really messes with the character's heads and I love it.

When the signal begins to take over, Bow feeling like he failed Glimmer, Micah realizing his wife is dead, Adora giving into her insecurities, Entrapta being overcome by the betrayal she's faced, all their eyes going gray and dead. It's emotional and terrifying, something this show excels at.

Shadow Weaver spends so much time manipulating children you'd think she'd have it down to a science, but it doesn't seem to ever work out for her in the end, does it?

Entrapta is a great character because every time she exposits she just sounds so enthusiastic, even when she's revealing terrifying truths, like how Adora's "noble destiny" is to exist as the universe's most dangerous gun.

I love how Double Trouble only had to tell Catra that She-Ra wasn't at Brightmoon, their scenes with Hordak and Catra was just for the drama. We got a great fight and Catra finally getting vibe checked, so I have to say DT well done. Their methods are cruel, but hearing someone say to her face that it's her fault people leave her, mixed with the dissatisfaction of winning while alone is the catalyst for Catra's redemption.

Light Hope is revealed to be the one who stole away Adora, the one who forced her destiny on her. Horde Prime may have been the final big bad, but Light Hope was the one responsible for everything. And Adora breaks the sword, ending her destiny as the First One's intended and saving Light Hope from her programming.

What an ominous ending! Hordak, the big bad from season 1, is left a squabbling mess defeated in seconds, and we are faced with a huge and terrifying new universe with seemingly no hope of going against. The stakes are the highest they've ever been, and even already knowing what happened it makes me excited for what comes next.

[takaraphoenix]

Now that you watched the 4th season of She-Ra, what is the thing you liked the most? And what is the thing you don't care about at all? ^^

OH THERE WERE LOTS OF THINGS I LIKED.

1. SCORPIA JUST LITERALLY EVERYTHING ABOUT HER. We saw a picture of her two moms which makes me need excessive flashbacks, she finally stood up to Catra, called her out on her bullshit and joined the rebellion - that is LITERALLY the thing I have been waiting for since Scorpia was first introduced to be honest. And then she got to connect with her stone - sure, sure, near destruction of the world because of that  but finally she embraced being a princess and she was accepted by the other princesses? HER AND FROSTA? HER AND PERFUMA? HER AND GLIMMER? I ABSOLUTELY LIVED FOR THAT. Scorpia’s story-arch this season was so satisfying, urgh.

2. Netossa and Spinerella being back and actually helping during missions instead of just showing up briefly in the background! Being adorable wives. Yes. I loved that, it delighted me.

3. Glimmer’s design as queen? The new outfit, the new hair? I hated her plotline, absolutely loathed it, but the design was flawless.

4. The fact that they introduced a non-binary character and made them actually important to the story, like not just a minor or background character and also that they put emphasis on their pronouns. In a kids show. That’s amazing.

5. Perfuma, Frosta and Mermista being around more!! I love the princesses and I honestly just want them all to be a team like all the time. The focus on Mermista’s loss and how she… well… dealt with that.

6. Meeting Mara more. That episode about her and Razz was… really sad. But in a very good way, you know.

7. KYLE, LONNIE AND ROGELIO SAYING EF THIS AND DESERTING TOO!! YAY!

Now the things I didn’t care about at all/didn’t like:

1. Glimmer’s plotline. I get it, she lost her mother and is grieving and she never liked being sidelined, but her behavior was way out of line and her personal suffering isn’t an excuse for the way she treated Adora.

First of all, you may be the queen but Adora is She-Ra and as such, yeah you should kinda keep her in the loop about the status of the prisoners since she’s your biggest asset, but this went beyond that. Yes, you should tell your best friend that her manipulative, abusive foster mother now gets to roam freely throughout the palace. That one… really hurt me and Glimmer’s dismissal like she doesn’t owe Adora anything, like Adora isn’t fit to judge Shadow Weaver, like Shadow Weaver “hasn’t done anything wrong” which was just gross and distressing to hear her say to Adora’s face after Glimmer and Bow had seen from season 1 that Adora had been abused, had suffered in her childhood, they knew, that was shown and addressed in canon before and right up to this season Glimmer had been shown as protective over Adora, particularly when it came to Shadow Weaver, but suddenly she decides to make her basically the royal adviser and… not even… give Adora a head’s up…?

I really didn’t care for that at all, especially since the show really drove home how much Glimmer’s words had hurt Adora - Adora kept coming back to the hurtful things Glimmer had said and showed how much self-doubt Glimmer’s doubt in her had caused…

No, losing your mom and being under a lot of pressure as queen does not excuse that kind of behavior toward your best friend, it really doesn’t, and as a giant Glimmadora shipper, that shit hurt me even more, because what I had always loved about the two was the way they relied on each other and trusted each other.

And while Adora may not have made all the right or perfect decisions herself either, Glimmer… really hit her exactly where it hurt, excluded her from decision making that they used to do together and blamed her for things that… weren’t Adora’s fault? Glimmer is the queen now, she just… can’t go on every highly dangerous mission herself anymore, that’s what it means to be the acting ruler instead of a princess and that’s hardly Adora’s fault and I genuinely wished there would have been like… an adult around to back her up on that. Like, Castaspella returning and setting her head straight. Seriously, someone should have called Castaspella when Glimmer started relying on Shadow Weaver to teach her magic and to advise her, because her magic aunt most definitely would be more qualified for both positions.

I mean, I low-key get it, Shadow Weaver is an excellent manipulator and she managed to take advantage of a guidance-less, impressionable young girl to make her rely on Shadow Weaver and trust her, but honestly just for fuck’s sake you know she’s a master manipulator and, again, other adult should have stepped in there and helped too and the council of princesses should have also been a bit more vocal and active about that, seriously how did no one see all the gigantic red flags about giving Shadow Weaver that much room to roam free, figuratively and literally…?

It was also way too much fo a mirror to the Catra-Adora dynamic. Shadow Weaver with her claws in the other person, turning her against Adora, making her doubt their friendship, making her make irrational, dumb decisions that drive them apart. That... wasn’t fun to watch the first time around - and y’all still haven’t bothered fixing that mess - so it wasn’t really necessary to do the whole thing over again...

2. Micah’s return. I don’t fully not care about it, but… I don’t know, decades of watching cartoons has me really very tired of “character only has father to rely on after loss of mother”, because killing off moms is such a trope and I kinda liked that Angella was around. Then they kill her off… and then they bring Micah back?? That even defeats the purpose of killing Angella off to have Glimmer rule and be burdened by it alone. Like, yeah I get it, it still fulfilled the purpose of giving us this season of Glimmer as acting queen and this mess that this caused. But I genuinely would have preferred if by some magical release, Angella had been returned instead of “lol he wasn’t dead All along” dad now… It’s kind of an overused trope, or rather, this is actualy three overused tropes on top of each other in a trenchcoat and honestly, overall this show’s writing is much, much better than that? So I don’t quite care for this.

3. Catra. Just… I’m done. Season 1 had me wildly invested in her getting a redemption arc, because poor abused, confused child who still seeks validation from her abuser holy shit get her out of there. Season 2 still had me hopeful for it. Season 3 had lose interest in it, because not only had she moved on from her abuser, she basically took over the organization and has become the… primary villain while Hordak was off hanging out with Entrapta. And then they tag another season of her essentially just… treating the only friends she has left like absolute shit, abusing them - mentally and physically.

fter four whole seasons, she now finally hit rock-bottom which implies that a redemption arc may finally kick in, this has been stretched out too long for me to still be invested in it. It comes the point where writers have pushed my personal good will too much and drawn a thing out for too long for me to still be invested in it. And we’re past that point now.

That doesn’t mean I want bad things to happen to her or that I don’t want her to have a redemption arc at all anymore - better late than never, I suppose - it just means… that I stopped caring.