#razz analysis

[razzberrydazz]

Me, realizing one of the many reasons I like Shadowheart and Astarion so much is because they read as having BPD to me, because I am a person with BPD and I project myself the hardest on characters I see myself in. It's MY comfort characters and I'll project on them however much I want 🤡😈

So I broke down the base criteria of BPD symptoms (you only need to tick 5 of the 9 criteria to be able to be diagnosed with BPD) and how both Shadowheart and Astarion can be interpreted as having and expressing the various behavioral criteria.

The main criteria: Fear of Abandonment, Self-Harm and/or Suicidal Thoughts, Chronic feelings of Emptiness and Dissociation, Unstable Self-image and sense of identity, history of unstable relationships, impulsive and self-sabotaging behavior, mood swings, extreme anger, Paranoia and disconnect from reality. It's not explicitly a criteria, but it's incredibly common if not a prerequisite that people with BPD have prolonged past trauma that caused them to have these maladaptive behaviors.

Both Astarion and Shadowheart have the traumatized unstable past to explain their behaviors (Shadowheart DEFINITELY has SEVERE childhood trauma since she got kidnapped and forced into a horribly abusive and manipulative cult, while Astarion has the trauma from Cazador's centuries of abuse and manipulation)

Both of them have SEVERE trust issues (Shadowheart from being in a cult as well as her attempts to pit Tav against Lae'Zel because she's distrustful of her {she has good reason to be when she's carrying a Gith artifact, as well as the Githyanki's long history of brutality and oppressive regimes}, Astarion from being so severely abused by Cazador despite his attempts to please the vampire lord, both of them can latch onto Tav and trust Tav entirely too Much once they're shown a shred of decency)

Both have Extreme fear of abandonment that they deal with in different ways (Shadowheart avoids abandonment by generally pushing people away and keeping them at arm's length so she can't grow attached especially if she stays Sharran, then latches onto the player far more than she should if no longer Sharran because Tav is her last tether of trust and warmth; Astarion avoids abandonment by trying to seduce you and get in your good graces as quickly as possible)

Both have unstable self-image and identity (Astarion doesn't even remember his own face before turning into a vampire, Shadowheart has to double down and recite the Sharran dogma to herself near constantly because she is unsure of her faith and by act 2/3 has QUITE an existential crisis on her relationship with Shar and Selune and cuts her bangs and even dyes her hair if no longer Sharran)

Both have a history of unstable relationships (Shadowheart can't even remember most of her possible past relationships due to the memory wipes, the main relationship she does remember is that of her with her cruel capricious goddess Shar, and if you go Selune route in Shadowheart's personal quest she will latch onto Tav and ask them to be with her forever with the clear implication that she's afraid Tav will leave her; Astarion hadn't been able to maintain a single good relationship in his entire time under Cazador because he had to lure his lovers to his master)

Both have impulsive and self-sabotaging behaviors ESPECIALLY Astarion imo (Astarion's perceived initial hypersexuality and inability to say no to sexual intimacy for most of the game, his want to do the ritual which overall has a far worse outcome for himself and others, his attempt to feed from Tav without their consent and possibly kill them in the process, his approval and encouragement of evil actions that reinforce that Tav is not trustworthy; Shadowheart's attempt to kill Lae'Zel by holding a dagger to her throat while she slept was definitely an impulsive act, and if she throws away the spear of night in act 2 that was Definitely done by impulse and not of active thought, and her cutting and dying her hair was most definitely done on impulse imo)

Both appear to have chronic feelings of emptiness and dissociation (Astarion largely because of the chronic vampiric gnawing hunger as well as him appearing to dissociate during some sex scenes, Shadowheart feeling emptiness largely due to the loss of her memory and mind as well as her dissociating via prayer because Sharrans try to empty themselves of all emotion to feel the emptiness and loss that Shar upholds)

Both of them have appear to have varying anger issues (not as much as other characters at times, as both Karlach and Lae'Zel DEFINITELY have worse anger issues at first glance if you ask me) and different ways they deal with it (Astarion is quite murder happy about it, such as when he can kill the Gur bounty hunter without caring for Tav's input, and Shadowheart's anger and resentment towards Lae'Zel and Selunites causes her to verbally lash out at any mention of Selune while at one point physically threatening Lae'Zel with her dagger and possibly killing her if Tav doesn't intervene or eggs her on, though I think most of Shadowheart's anger is turned inward and turned into her mentally anguishing that she's not a good enough devotee to her goddess)

Both have Extreme paranoia and suspicion of others (Shadowheart is distrustful of others by default and is especially paranoid about Lae'Zel due to her being Gith, Astarion is paranoid of being taken back to Cazador and holds Tav at knifepoint at first accusing them of being the one that kidnapped him before Tav assuages his fears)

Of the BPD criteria, I'd say outright Self-Harm and Suicidal Ideation shows up in both Shart and Astarion the Least (Gale has EVERYONE beat in the suicidality department); they both most definitely want to live, though they both still do Self-Harm usually through their self-sabotaging actions. I wouldn't count Shadowheart's stigmata hand wound as Self-Harm since it was Shar that inflicted that on her and not Shadowheart inflicting it on herself. If anything, it could be argued that Shadowheart purposely doing things she knows Shar would dislike in order to activate the wound is some form of self harm possibly? Shar is her abuser so I still am firm that her wound is not Shadowheart harming herself even if she knowingly does things to activate it because it is the fault of her abuser for hurting her.

As for extreme mood swings, often times those can be pretty well concealed and be mostly internal instead of external if someone is good enough at masking their emotions. Of the party members, Shadowheart and Astarion and Gale mask their emotions the most. Karlach has pretty outward mood swings, she's very expressive, while both Shadowheart and Astarion (and Gale) are typically pretty withdrawn and wear a mask of false smiles. Shadowheart definitely seems to be chronically depressed or otherwise ruminating and not having a good time mentally. If she has mood swings they are likely turned inwards and not outwards. She does have outbursts of anger and panic indicative of rapid mood swings at times, however. Astarion's dramatic catty antics could be read as mood swings judging how he reacts to Tav's various actions. Both he and Shart are very catty.

Overall, both Shadowheart and Astarion can be read as having enough matching behaviors to the BPD criteria for me to confidently say they're coded to have BPD, even if it's not explicitly stated as such.

Sidenote, sometimes people with BPD can experience minor hallucinations especially auditory hallucinations, and Shadowheart most Definitely had auditory hallucinations of Shar judging and shaming her if you ask me. It could have actually been Shar in her head yes, but it could also just as easily have been Shadowheart's own mind tormenting her.

BPD can also possibly predispose people towards Psychosis, black and white thinking, and delusions, though it's not a definite. Astarion's obsession with completing the ritual insisting it will protect him for good could be seen as a possible delusion of grandeur. Shadowheart definitely has black-and-white dogmatic thinking while under Shar's thumb. They need so much healing.

All of this is my interpretation to support my headcanons of course, these also enable my shameless projecting on these two catty characters. I'm a borderline bitch and if I can't get a stable personality myself, store bought is fine!

A lot of stuff is speculative and that's fine with me.

[that-ari-blogger]

Go Now, Be At Peace (Hero)

One of my favourite things to see filmmakers play around with is time. As in, the information isn’t given to the audience linearly, and instead it is at the author’s beck and call.

This would seem easy, but the trick is making it work. Naturally, if you write a story and turn around in the final instalment and say “wait, I actually had a sister and a secret best friend this entire time”, it will feel like you have cheated. But if you can stick the landing, messing around with time is the juiciest writing technique out there. At least to me.

Case and point, the gimmicky emotional rollercoaster that is Hero.

Let me explain.

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

First up, yes, this episode is gimmicky as all heck, and that is exactly what I love about it.

I think we see a lot of criticism about how certain tropes are bad, but that really isn’t the case at all. If a story gets you invested enough, you can see it coming a mile off and it will still hit you like a truck.

There are even tropes that rely on you knowing what they are, with doomed heroes coming to mind most readily, but we’ll get there in a moment.

If we define a trope simply as a repeated literary element external to a story, then if that is by definition bad, symbolism doesn’t work in the same way.

Half of symbolism is external. This is Tumblr, that’s what colour theory is, you all know this. The red carpet represents happy thoughts and warmth and healing.

In this episode, for example, there is a ton of discussion about the Heart Of Etheria project, which is described thusly:

“It was supposed to be an energy source, capable of so much good. But that's not what they made.”

“How will destroying worlds bring peace?”

The Heart of Etheria project is a nuclear weapon. That’s what the symbolism is communicating here. The First Ones may not have been the antagonists in their war, but their ends did not justify the means, at least not in… hold on a sec. We’re getting ahead of ourselves here.

The symbolism here draws on the same ideas as Star Wars to create a feeling of unknowable terror. The first ones didn’t care about Etheria, they wanted to use it as a pawn in their own war.

The series dwells pretty heavily on the thematic idea of abuse being a cycle, and the Heart Of Etheria is a pretty potent symbol for that. In order to escape their own abuse, the first ones created something that would hurt others. In order to regain personhood, they took power from a planet.

They claimed the agency of someone else, leaving a vacuum in its place.

On the other hand, the series does have some heavy internal symbolism, that being through the dichotomy of magic and technology.

“I need the sword to control She-Ra's magic.”

“Ha! She-Ra was here long before your people arrived. You cannot control magic! Magic simply is.”

Technology, specifically that of the First Ones, but also from the Horde, is synonymous with control. Which puts magic in the role of freedom, specifically that of agency. Magic just is.

“Is”. The third-person singular present tense of “to be”.

Magic is the very concept of being. It is the freedom to do stuff. What stuff? Any stuff you want. Free from restraints and shackles, free from the will of others.

There are exceptions to this rule, and they are characters. Shadow Weaver, who uses magic to control, and Entrapta, the master technician who is unrestrainable. This gets watered down to their apprentices, with Glimmer and Bow respectively, and in the middle of this is Adora.

But the fact that these are exceptions to the rule kinda proves that there is a rule here.

And those exceptions are explained pretty handily, at least with Shadow Weaver and Glimmer. They are using dark magic, not in the way it wants to be used. They are forcing the magic to do what they want, and taking its agency from it, as well as using it to murk characters onscreen.

Bow, meanwhile, uses tech to coordinate, specifically in the sense of battlefield control. And Entrapta seeks only to understand, and knowledge is power. But she never tries to control anyone. Freedom is a big thing for Entrapta, and I honestly don’t have a reading of how she plays into this. I’ll let you know if this changes.

This is an in-text symbol that has meaning. Like an external one, it can be done well or poorly depending on the story, much like time nonlinearity.

Which brings me to my issue with writing this analysis:

For my coverage of the fourth season of She-Ra, I have been avoiding talking about Adora and Catra, because I will devote most of the final season to them. The problem here, is that Hero is set up around the parallels between Adora and her predecessor. The time nonlinearity serves to exacerbate those similarities, to the point where avoiding mentioning Adora even slightly is a detriment to the episode.

So, be aware that she is there, as I try to ignore her for the purposes of this post.

Anyway, the main character of this episode is Razz, and my question from about a season ago still stands here. Why is Razz in this story? How do I read the theming of an old lady who has lived thousands of years, and has met everyone under the sun? How do I read a character who is displaced in time? Why is that significant?

I have a thesis, and you’ll have to bear with me on this.

In my reading, Razz is Etheria. Maybe not literally, but on a story level, I think Razz and Etheria are one and the same. Razz saves and is saved by the previous She-Ra in a similar fashion to how Etheria teaches and is protected by her, and she befriends Adora in the same way. She gets temporally shunted because she sees the She-Ras as the same. To her, they are different and the same, and the order of events isn’t important.

Part of why I love this episode and its time travel shenaniganry is that it leverages that for emotion. There is a building dread in this episode, specifically through that pie.

Razz will never get to enjoy that pie with her friend, you know this from the start. So, when Mara walks through the door the first time, your heart sinks.

This episode is also about Mara, and I will get to the final scene in a minute, but first, introductions.

Mara starts the episode laughing. She closes it crying. This episode shows the breaking down of this character, and I cannot think of a better example.

This episode sets up Mara as incredibly intelligent. She pieces together the Heart of Etheria plan, but she also works out that Adora will need guidance, and that she can offer that via someone who would know. She knows that Razz will guide Adora to where she needs to be, and leaves messages.

She also acts as an audience surrogate for Razz to exposit themes to.

“It’s all right. No one here will hurt you.”

The theme here is pretty obvious. Things lash out when they are scared, and all you need to do to achieve peace is to be gentle. Mara, a person who is here to end a war, is trying to achieve that peace. But we have seen the cost of that.

I'm running out of space, so if you've seen How To Train Your Dragon, you know what this is. This is about trust with the other and coming together despite differences. This is about comradery with the planet itself. Mara needs to not rush at things, and instead wait, and be gentle. They will come to her.

I did a word search on the transcript of this episode for the word “peace”, and I found that it comes up thrice. When Mara and Light Hope argue, and here, when Mara calms down the animal.

“Go, be at peace.”

As a side note, the fighting styles of Mara and Adora are very different. Adora relies on strength and athleticism to win her battles. She can go toe to toe with Huntara and is the slower combatant when she fights Catra. But Mara flips around the battlefield like a gymnast or a dancer. The two come from different places, trained by opposite sides, it’s no wonder they fight differently.

When Light Hope presents her own worldview, or rather, that of her superiors, her wording is important.

“The Heart of Etheria has been activated. Your mission will be fulfilled. There will be peace throughout the galaxy. You will be a hero.”

Hero’s a funny word, ain’t it? It means someone you can look up to, and in war times, it is presented as loyalty and dedication to the cause. The ANZACs were heroes, for example.

Here, it is used as a trophy for Mara. She will be declared a hero, an empty title, just for doing what she is told.

But She-Ra doesn’t agree with this definition. In She-Ra, a hero saves people. In She-Ra, Mara is a hero because she disobeyed her orders to follow her better judgement and notably, she never gets called that in this episode.

Instead, she gets a monologue. She uses her last moments to give the next generation hope for the future and try to let them know of her mistakes. She sees the cycle of abuse, and she couldn’t break it, but she could leave tools for the next rotation to try and use.

Then Razz, the embodiment of the planet she saved, calls her brave, and leaves her a pie.

Mara is gone, Adora isn't looking at her predecessor, she's looking at an empty chair. She's looking at the absence of a person, the loss of a friend. She is looking at the legacy of someone she looks up to.

This episode doesn’t give you closure, because it’s not trying to. It is trying to make you feel empty. We meet Mara for just a moment, and then she is gone, and we know that, and yet we still get attached.

If that hologram hadn’t cut off exactly when it did, we would have seen Mara die. A millisecond later, and we would have watched it happen.

We watch an entire journey in this episode, everything we needed to know, and then it ends, with silence, as the credits role. The embodiment of the planet itself offers Mara a pie as a grave gift. She’s returning the favour. Go now be at peace.

"She said she would come back. She promised. We were going to make a pie. I've been waiting for so long."

I need to talk about the thing with promises, and specifically breaking them. In previous episodes, Adora promised Catra she would look out for her, and failed, and Mara made Razz a promise she knew she would never keep. Why?

The obvious reason is that unkept promises are a key source of dramatic irony, especially when you know the end point before it is said. In comedy, this is someone asking if a dress makes them look fat, and everyone in the room saying no. In a tragedy, it’s this.

The ticking in this shot of the countdown timer is such an incredible use of sound design. First up, time symbolism, of course. But it's also stressful You hear a timer getting quicker and you panic. When it is released, there is no explosion, just a dying friend.

Because, yes, this is a tragedy, remember? That’s why its cyclical, that’s why this episode exists.

"I try to remember but it gets all muddled up. Adora, Mara, it always ends the same. The present, the future..."

"Razz?"

"The past."

Everything in this series has happened before within its own continuity. The weapon, the loss of friends, the transformations, everything. This is a series about the cycle of abuse that always, always, leads to tragedy. It sets its current events up like one, and then shows you in vivid detail, just how that will end.

I said she ends the episode crying. But she does it with a smile. She looks her death in the eye and offers up hope and trust. Mara, the girl who laughed, the girl who cried, the girl who smiled.

The final scene looks like the two are talking in real time. The series cuts between Mara and Adora as they speak, taking care to be inconsistent with who is holographic. The parallels are baked into the setting, and they are being fought against.

I feel like whenever I talk about the story being cyclical, that I under stress how everything in it is about breaking those cycles. Magic and tech, agency and control. The cycle boxes you in, preventing your actions, controlling you. Breaking free is taking back that agency for yourself. The first ones tried to do this by trying to get someone to take their place, we will see if and how Adora and company will attempt the same or try something new.

Final Thoughts.

Genuinely, this post was the hardest to write of anything I have done. Not because I didn’t know what to say, but because rewatching this episode left me in an emotional wreck. I genuinely felt like the scene from Interstellar when the main character laughs and cries all at the same time.

For the record, I haven’t seen Interstellar, I just know the meme.

This post was emotionally exhausting, so I'm going to lie down now. Next week is Fractures, stick around if that interests you.

Previous - Next

[stillmonsterz]

all i gotta do

for this anon!

pairing: jake x reader

genre: fluff (?), humor (???), smut

summary: it's your first day at work and you're nervous. however, your trainer is going to show you why you were nervous for the wrong reasons. one week with jake sim will either make you quit the job or never leave.

contains: unprotected sex, exhibitionism, swearing, incest mention, PTSD mention, i try to be "funny" and make "jokes"

word count: 4.4k (unproofread)

---

DAY ONE

You stepped inside of your new workplace apprehensively; you hadn’t felt so nervous since your first day of university. Wiping your palms on your pants, you made eye contact with the receptionist and smiled wanly. 

“Hello,” you said, resting your fingertips on the counter. “I’m the new hire. I was wondering where I could find…Jake Sim? He’s supposed to be my…” The term that had been used in the introductory email the company had sent to you eluded you.

“Your buddy,” the receptionist said flatly. “Your Park Corp buddy.”

“Yes. That.”

“Jake Sim is on the fifth floor. I take it you’ll be working in data analysis as well?”

You nodded. “Yes, exactly.”

The receptionist smiled at you, but it belied a certain cold humor. “Good luck.”

“Yeah, you too.” As you walked away, you realized your blunder and squeezed your eyes shut. 

–

The fifth floor of the office building had all of the markings of a corporation attempting to reel in more younger workers. There was a vending machine as soon as you walked in, the cubicles were arranged as part of an open concept floor plan, and the walls were plastered with positive, empty aphorisms. You scanned the area, wondering which of the people hunched over their computers was Jake.

Footsteps echoed behind you, and when you turned around you saw a slight, enthusiastic-looking young man with a shock of shaggy brown hair approaching you. In his hands he held two coffee cups. 

“Hey, newbie,” he said with some affection. “Got you a coffee.”

You took the cup, surprised by his vivacity. “Thank you…”

“Jake,” he finished, holding his hand out. “Jake Sim.”

You shook his hand as firmly as you could and introduced yourself.

“I know,” he said cheerfully. “Don’t worry, I like to do a little stalking before we meet a new hire. Although…” his face grew serious. “You really shouldn’t post such…provocative pictures on your Insta. Someone could get ideas.”

Your face blanched and your fingers gripped the coffee cup. “What?”

Jake’s face broke out into a smile. “Just fuckin’ with you. Sorry, I like to razz all the new hires. Makes me feel big.”

His grin was so wide, you felt compelled to smile too. He nudged you and jerked his thumb in the direction of the cubicles. “Let me show you around, PCB.”

You blinked, then it dawned on you. “Park Corp buddy…?”

“So observant,” Jake said, amused. “Come on.”

You followed him around as he explained where everything was: the copy room, the coffee machine, the water dispenser, the popcorn machine, your cubicle (situated in the middle of the room, to your chagrin), his cubicle (tucked neatly in the corner).

Then he taught you how to use the software. Thanks to your university courses, it wasn’t difficult to learn. Jake’s playful personality also gave way to a maturity that you hadn’t expected. He carefully walked you through the program step by step.

“I’ll leave you these tasks to work on,” he said, pulling up a document he had pre-made. “If you get stuck, just come get me, okay? I’m right in the corner.”

You thanked him for his assistance and started working on the tasks he had given you. It wasn’t challenging, so much as it was tedious. Still, you persevered. 

At least, until you heard him approach you again.

“Hey,” Jake said, sitting beside you. His eyes darted around the room. “You were supposed to come get me.”

“You told me to do that if I needed you,” you replied, somewhat confused.

“Yeah,” Jake said slowly, “in case you feel the overwhelming urge to make Jakey’s day and let him help you with something so he can avoid doing his boring ass work. You don’t even understand the basics of being a PCB, do you?”

“You’re using me,” you said, waving an accusatory finger at him. 

“Can you blame me?” he retorted. “Sometimes I can…I can feel my soul leaking from my pores.”

You giggled, and he squinted at you in mock annoyance. “There’s no way you’re laughing at me,” he said, trying to fight a smile. “I’m dying, turning into a corpse, and you’re laughing.”

You shrugged. “At least you’ll die at the prime of your life.”

Jake’s lips curled into a mischievous smile. “Oh, you think I’m in my prime, huh?”

“That’s not what I me-,”

“You’re hitting on me,” Jake said, leaning in. He blinked at you like a puppy. 

You leaned away, your cheeks feeling warm. “I’m not.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you were,” he said softly.

You were about to say something else, something intelligent and witty, but one of your new coworkers approached the two of you. 

“Couldn’t wait a day before sexually harassing the newbie, could you?” He was tall, pale, and had a shit-eating grin that could rival Jake’s. Unlike Jake, who was dressed in a blue button-down and slacks, this person wore a suit with a silky black tie.

Jake leaned away from you, balking at the accusation. “I am not sexually harassing her,” Jake said, clutching his heart. “I wasn’t even normal harassing her.”

“He wasn’t,” you chimed in. 

“Don’t cover up for this louse,” Sunghoon said, shaking his head at Jake. “Look at you, corrupting one of our brightest already with your salacious comments. Weren’t you supposed to be writing up a report on the-,”

“You hear this jerkoff?” Jake said, interrupting. “He puts on a little suit and starts using words like ‘louse’ and ‘salacious’, like we’re not in data analysis.”

“I am a data architect,” Sunghoon said, playfully slamming his hand on your desk. “And I will be treated like one, damn it.”

“Quit it,” Jake said, putting his arms around you and hugging you close to him. “You’re scaring my PCB.” 

“Your PCB is going to get PTSD if you keep touching her,” Sunghoon replied drolly, crossing his arms.

Jake grinned. “My PCB is going to get PTSD if I do PDA with her?” 

Sunghoon said, “Good one,” and they laughed and high-fived. You stared at them incredulously, noting that Jake’s arm was still wrapped around your shoulder. 

“Sorry,” you said slowly, “but I’d like to do my work…”

Jake withdrew his arm and tsked under his breath, standing up. “Great going, Sunghoon,” he hissed. “Now she hates you.”

“She hates you, idiot,” Sunghoon retorted as they walked away.

You slumped down in your chair, already feeling exhausted. You worked straight through your lunch break, and as you commuted home you wondered how the rest of your training week would go.

–

DAY TWO 

The next day, you felt a little more equipped to navigate your new job. In your purse, you brought some items with which to decorate your desk.

You came into work early, noting that very few people show up at this time. Perfect. With careful precision, you arranged your new trinkets on your desk; a magnetic calendar for your cubicle wall, a little plush doll, a notebook, a nice mousepad, and a little jar of chocolates. 

As you’re turning your computer on, you heard three male voices approaching your desk. Two of which you recognize. 

“There she is,” you heard Jake say quietly, “isn’t she cute?”

You looked up and waved. There was Jake, wearing a button-up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Sunghoon, wearing another crisp suit. And a third person wearing an oversized collared shirt with dark blue jeans, looking you up and down. 

“You’re here early,” Jake said cheerfully. “Excited for work?”

“I just wanted to decorate my desk,” you explained, proudly displaying your newly decorated workplace.

The three men politely admired your table. Then Sunghoon nudged the third man in the ribs. He cleared his throat. 

“I’m Heeseung,” he said, awkwardly raising his hand. “Heeseung Lee.”

“Nice to meet you,” you replied, holding your hand out.

You shook hands with him, and Sunghoon snorted. “I didn’t get a handshake from you.”

“You also didn’t introduce yourself to me…”

Sunghoon looked away, the tips of his ears going red. “Right. I suppose that was my folly. Apologies.”

Jake leaned down and whispered, “Isn’t he such a pretentious dick?” in your ear. You suppressed another giggle as you stuck your hand out.

Sunghoon shook it firmly. “Park Sunghoon,” he said with a smile. “Data architect.”

“You told her that already,” Jake said. 

“And I told you to shut up several times, not that you ever listened,” Sunghoon retorted.

You glanced at Heeseung, and he just shrugged at you. “They can’t stop,” he said, glancing between the two of them. “It’s hard-coded into their DNA to be idiots in front of cute girls.”

Jake squinted at Heeseung. “Oh, you think she’s cute? Are you into her or something?”

Heeseung raised his hands in self-defense, backing up. “No, no, not at all.”

You sighed. “Could…could I go ahead and start my work?”

Jake shook his head and stalked away from your table. “She fucking hates you, you know that?” he said, lightly pushing Heeseung. 

Later that day, as you’re packing up to head home, you hear footsteps that were already becoming familiar.

“Hey,” Jake said quietly, “the guys and I were wondering if you wanted to eat with us at lunch tomorrow?”

You blinked up at him. “No kidding?”

“Yeah. We want you to feel welcome here,” he said, resting his hand on your shoulder. 

A smile spread across your face, and you nodded. “Sure. Sounds like it'll be a lot of fun.” Like seeing monkeys in the zoo.

Jake grinned, patting your shoulder. “Awesome! Awesome, awesome.” He paused then, placing his hand in his pocket. “One other thing,” he said slowly. 

“What’s that?” you tilted your head at him.

“Well, you know, you don’t have to dress so formally,” he said, gesturing at your outfit. “Unless you’re trying to be Sunghoon or something. You can dress business casual.”

You looked down at yourself; your outfit was pretty formal and rigid. “All right,” you said, “I’ll be nice and casual tomorrow.”

“Sounds great,” Jake said, biting his lip slightly. 

– 

DAY THREE

Work already felt much more comfortable. Besides the three coworkers you had already met, the rest of the employees ranged from amicable to ambivalent, so you never felt tense. Occasionally, Jake would come over to your desk and look at how you were coming along. Or, as you figured, he was just coming to ogle you. Not that you minded the extra attention. 

When you walked in this morning, dressed in your more casual outfit, his eyes had lingered on you for so long you thought it could be classed as a workplace violation.

“Very nice,” Jake had said approvingly. “Very…casual.”

“I try,” you had said drily, heading to your desk. 

“I’m serious,” he had said, walking with you. “You have, pardon me, a great figure.” 

“That’s not very PC,” Sunghoon had said as he passed by your desk. 

“So, what you’re saying,” Jake had started, and you were already rolling your eyes, “I’m not acting PC with my PCB?”

You had groaned. “Jake…”

“Great going, Sunghoon,” Jake had grumbled, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “You’re the worst, I swear…”

Now you were sitting with them in the break room, where they were locked in what you could only assume was a longstanding debate. 

“I’m saying that it wouldn’t be gay if it was on an island,” Jake protested, “so it wouldn’t even matter, Sunghoon.”

“Okay, but they’d eventually get rescued, so they’d have to live with that,” Sunghoon retorted, gesturing with his sandwich. 

“Yeah, but they don’t know that they’re getting rescued.”

You glanced at Heeseung, who was eating a microwavable meal. “What are they talking about?”

Heeseung leaned into you, whispering as so not to catch their attention. “It’s this stupid hypothetical they came up with,” Heeseung explained. “If there was an island, and a pair of adult siblings were on one end, and a pair of two straight men were on the other end, which pair would hook up first?”

You blinked. “Well, the siblings, right?”

A haunting silence overtook the break room. Heeseung, Jake, and Sunghoon all stared at you, and you got the impression that you had disrupted something sacred, something hallowed.

Sunghoon laughed and pointed at you. “See? See? Your little work wife doesn’t even agree with you. Those siblings would be smashing, right?”

“Well, I g-,”

“All over each other,” Sunghoon continued, making vulgar gestures with his hands. “It’d be like…five hours. Sweaty from the sun. They’d be rolling around, sand in their ass, it’d be carnal. Primal.”

Jake stared at you incredulously. “You really don’t think the straight guys would fuck?”

You shrugged helplessly. “Well, they’re straight, so I mean…”

Jake groaned, throwing his head back dramatically. “Okay. Look. If you were on an island with a sexy ass woman, and she had short nails and everything, and she was fully ready to finger your pussy, you wouldn’t let her smash? Because you were ‘straight’?”

“I mean…no.”

“Nah,” Jake said, waving a baby carrot in your face. “You’re either deluded or you aren’t thinking hard enough. You’d get desperate. You’d be munching so much carpet you’d look like…like…”

“Like a carpet factory,” Heeseung said sarcastically. 

“You’re so fucking unfunny,” Jake replied. “No, you’d look like…”

“Like she’s an interior designer?” Sunghoon offered. 

“Close enough,” Jake said, sighing. “Real dark day when Sunghoon is funnier than you. Do better, Heeseung.”

“Yeah, Heeseung,” you said, “do better.”

Heeseung scoffed. “I thought you were my friend.”

You shrugged. “I wanted to join in.”

Jake clapped you on your back and laughed. “Look at you. Blending in already!”

– 

After lunch you excused yourself and went to the bathroom. When you emerged, Jake was leaning against the wall, playing with his fingers. 

“Hey,” he said, straightening up. “Had a random hypothetical for you.”

“Sure,” you said, crossing your arms. 

“So,” Jake began, his eyes darting around your face, “if you were stuck on a deserted island…”

You groaned. 

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait.” Jake put one hand on your shoulder. “If you were stuck on a deserted island, which of us would you want with you? Me, Sunghoon, or Heeseung?”

You frowned. “Well, you, obviously.”

Jake smiled at you widely, running his fingers through his hair. “Ha, for real?”

“Well, yeah. I know you the best.”

His smile faltered. “Is that really the only reason?”

You frowned, unsure of what to say. “I me-,”

Jake clapped you on the back and snorted. “I was just messing with you,” he said before striding back to his corner cubicle.

–

DAY FOUR 

You consulted your list of tasks. Your last, and most important task, was to type up a data analysis report based off of the information you had been gathering for the past week. Jake said that he would look over it for you later.

After spending the better part of your morning working on the report, you leaned back and stretched. Your eyes were starting to hurt from staring at a screen for so long, and you rubbed them.

Jake was next to you before you could react. “Hey,” he said, “how’s the report going?”

“It’s going,” you said, pinching the bridge of your nose.

“Let me see,” Jake said, leaning over you and scrolling through your document. Your breath hitched; he was so close, you could smell his cologne. If you glanced to your right, you would be able to see his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed. 

Jake silently pored over the document, his chest pressed against your back. His hand rested on your shoulder, and you couldn’t tell if he was rubbing it as a subconscious habit or not.

“Looking good so far,” he whispered, and when his hand slid down your arm, you knew it was intentional.

“Anything I need to fix?” you asked, attempting to maintain a semblance of professionalism.

“Hm…” Jake leaned in to you evermore, until he was flush against you. “Nothing I can see. You’re a good worker, aren’t you?”

“I try,” you said quietly. 

“A good little worker bee,” Jake said softly, his lips almost brushing your ear. “Just what I like.”

You dared to turn your head slightly to catch Jake’s gaze, and he smiled at you, that easy-going, smile that hid a wealth of sobriety and determination. He patted your shoulder again and leaned upwards. The loss of his scent and touch bothered you, but you didn’t say a word. 

“I’ll leave you to it now,” Jake said, stretching his wrists out. “Come early tomorrow, okay?”

“Huh? Why?” 

“So I can look over your report one last time before you submit it,” Jake said plainly. “What were you thinking, you naughty little bee?”

“I wasn’t thinking of anything like th-,”

Jake laughed. “I was kidding. You’re so cute when you’re all flustered, though.”

When Jake left, you realized that you had been squeezing your plush doll. You released it and sighed. Then, you continued working on the report. 

–

DAY FIVE 

You strode into the office early. Jake had emailed you through the company’s email, requesting that you arrive on the fifth floor at 7:30 am. Work started at 9:00, so he would have ample time to go over the report with you.

When you entered the floor, you first noted that there were a few workers already there, hunched over their desks. Just a few overachievers…or underachievers, you guessed. 

Jake was waving you over to his cubicle, his hair flopping in his face as he enthusiastically beckoned you. You walked towards him. 

“Come on,” he said, smiling at you playfully despite the early time. “Come sit.”

You went to pull over another chair, but Jake grabbed your wrist. “No, no,” he said with a shake of his hair. “Just sit next to me.” He scooted over in his chair, leaving you with a sliver of space. 

You were already growing accustomed to Jake’s “jokes”, so you sat next to him. Your left leg hung over the side of the chair, the other smushed against Jake’s. 

He smiled at you, then opened your report on his computer. You had sent it to him that night, your heart fluttering even though it was just an email. Just five days at this office was making you as pathetic as Jake and his friends. 

As he scrolled through the document, he kept glancing at you. Eventually, Jake said, “You can’t be comfortable sitting on the chair like that.”

“You’re right,” you said with a sigh. “I’m not.”

“Why not just…sit on my lap?” Jake asked nonchalantly, his lower lip jutting out in a slight pout.

You sighed. “I see the game you’re playing here, Sim.”

“Will you play, my little worker bee?”

A shift of your ass from the small slice of chair to Jake’s lap was your answer to him, and when you leaned against him he smiled. Jake’s hands reached down to encircle your hips. 

“You really are such a good bee,” he said, massaging your hips. 

“I can be even better if you let me,” you replied, your gaze flickering to his plush lips. 

Jake leaned his head against the mesh backing of his swivel chair. Your back was pressed against his chest, and your hands reached behind you to stroke his face. “I’d like to test that theory,” Jake said softly.

You leaned in and kissed him, reveling in the taste of his lips. He followed suit, kissing you enthusiastically. Jake’s hands remained on our hips, but they soon slid to your thighs, squeezing and groping at the soft flesh. Jake swiped his tongue along your bottom lip a few times, and you widened your mouth. His tongue probed past your lips, licking your own tongue.

“So good,” he whispered, briefly breaking the kiss. “You’d never let fuckass Sunghoon do this, right?”

“Jake…”

“Sorry, baby,” Jake said apologetically. “I get territorial. I’m like a wolf.”

“Jake, come on.”

“Awoo,” he said playfully before kissing you again. Your tongues pressed together, swirling around each other. As the kiss deepened, you bit his lower lip before licking the mark. Jake groaned into your mouth.

“Little bee,” he said, pulling away once again. He rested his forehead against yours. “If you’re going to do stuff like that, you’re gonna have to commit to it.”

“I want to commit to it,” you said, leaving wet kisses along his neck. 

Jake groaned and grabbed one of your legs. He brought it over his lap and dragged your hips closer to his crotch. “Now, you’re going to have to be quiet. Can you do that for me?”

“I can be quiet,” you said, resting your hands on his shoulders. 

“Promise? This isn’t a big office,” he said, his voice low and hoarse. “It’d be a shame if someone heard us and you got in trouble. You wouldn’t want that, right?”

“No,” you whispered. As you stared at him, Jake started to unbuckle his belt. When he noticed your gaze, he frowned. 

“Come on, bee,” he said, gesturing at your skirt. “Can’t do everything for you, can I?”

You zipped your skirt down in the back and shifted so you could wriggle yourself out of it. Jake gave you an exasperated glance, so you shimmied your panties down to your thighs.

“And?” he asked impatiently.

“And…what?”

Jake sighed. “Take your tits out, come on.”

The phrase was so vulgar it shocked you, but somehow it was sexy when uttered from Jake’s mouth. The contrast between his disgusting mind and his boyish good looks thrilled you, so you did as he asked. You un-buttoned your shirt down and tugged your bra straps down, revealing your chest. 

Immediately, Jake groped your tits, sighing in pleasure. “Feeling up a pretty girl’s tits early in the morning,” he said, almost reverently. “This is amazing.”

The sensation cause you to moan, and Jake immediately sent you a harsh look. He squeezed one of your breasts, and you suppressed a gasp. “I told you to be quiet, little bee,” he whispered. “You said you could do it.”

“I can,” you murmured. 

“Then show me you can,” Jake replied, still fondling your breasts. He pinched your nipples, squeezed your tits, pushed them together then apart. After a while, he took one of your hands and placed it on his crotch. 

First, you rubbed his hard-on through his slacks, and he bit his lip to avoid moaning. Then you unzipped his pants and pulled out his cock. You were surprised by its girth, as well as the fact that he was already leaking precum. Spitting into your hand, you gathered up some of that precum and used it to stroke his shaft. Jake shuddered and gritted his teeth together. 

“Nice and slow,” he said, his breathing already labored. “Slowly, baby.”

You heeded his order and stroked his cock while he played with your breasts. He hadn’t tired of them; on the contrary, he was transfixed by them. Jake leaned forward and bit one of your breasts hard, sucking at the spot immediately after. “Look at this and think of me,” he whispered before leaving another hickey on your other breast. 

Jake suddenly seemed to remember that he didn’t have much time with you. He took his mouth off of your breast and swatted your hands from his cock. Then he covered your lips with his hand and slowly, painstakingly, guided his cockhead into your dripping, wet pussy. 

You were glad you were being muffled by his hand, because you would not have been able to contain your shivering moans. He shallowly fucked into you, allowing you to get used to his length. When he felt that you were ready, he lifted his hips upwards and slid inside of you completely, letting out a heavy breath.

“Now bounce on it,” Jake whispered into your ear. One hand freely groped your breast, the other was clamped onto your hip. You guessed that he trusted you not to moan now. 

You had never ridden dick before, but you had a general idea of how to do it. You lifted yourself up and down, your pussy enveloping his shaft. The feeling was incredible, and you bit his hand as you worked yourself on his cock. As you did, the swivel chair squeaked due to the movement.

Jake shunted his hips upwards, matching your movements. His hand moved down to your waist, gripping it tightly. “Faster,” he hissed. “Faster, baby.”

Now that you had gotten used to him, you bounced on him faster. Your ass slapped against his strong, muscular thighs, and you knew that there was no way you were being conspicuous. Your pussy made smacking noises as you rode him, and the swivel chair squeaked like it was going to break.

Still, Jake urged you on. “Come on, come on, fucking put that slutty pussy to work,” he said, taking your tits into his mouth. Both of his hands were gripping your hips, pushing him onto his length. “Keep going. Don’t you dare…stop.”

You were reaching your limit, exhaustion seeping into your limbs. Jake lightly pinched your side, and you gasped. “I told you to keep going, baby.”

So you kept going. You swore you could feel him in your womb, that was how far he was pushing you. “Pussy’s gonna be shaped like this dick,” Jake hissed, leaving sloppy kisses all over your chest. “My masterpiece.”

Warmth filled you, all the way to your core, and you knew you were about to burst. “Cover my mouth,” you whispered and Jake immediately placed his hand over your mouth, rutting into you even faster.

“Gonna cum,” Jake grunted, his thrusts growing slower and sloppier. “Gonna fill this sweet pussy up.” With a growl that didn’t dare leave his throat, he fucked his cum into you, his hand still gripping your hip. Slowly, painstakingly, he pulled out of you, and you could see his cum dripping out of you.

He kissed your forehead and uncovered your mouth. “That was so good,” you whispered.

“It’ll be better next time,” Jake said slyly. 

“Oh, yeah?” You started to put your clothes back on, tugging your bra down and buttoning your shirt again. “What makes you so sure?”

Jake leaned into your ear again. “Next time, I’ll get to hear you scream my name.”

You pulled away from him, your eyes widening. 

Jake smiled at you. “Just kidding.”

[chirp-a-chirp]

CoD Bloggers and Moots What're specific rules for each of your different moots(that they HAVE to follow or else)

Umm, I don’t have rules for specific CoD moots but in general my main rule is…be kind.

Especially as of late for mental health reasons, I actively disengage in posts (whether CoD or other fandoms I follow/post for) that trash another character. Affectionate razzing a character? Go for it. Glib crack screenshots poking fun at characters (looking at you Guy and Toa, just make out already 😘)? Absolutely.

But posts that exist to say they don’t like another character? I ain’t gonna engage in those. And if I’m tagged in a post like that I’ll delete it. The fandom is small enough that saying you’re anti-one character might make another blogger feel guilty for liking that blorbo, however unintentional. I’d rather focus on the positive for these 2d characters and smile/cackle at another moot’s enthusiasm for another character—whether via crack quotes, character analysis, art, headcanons, or fanfic.

My one exception to everything above (which, I know, makes me a hypocrite) is Jasper. I threw my phone in disgust after his chapter 8 interlude book one. And threw it again after his second interlude. Legit cracked my phone screen I was so mad at what happened. Voltage really needs to post a trigger warning for Jasper’s book one.

[mogai-sunflowers]

I'm not surprised to hear that She-ra is problematic because I literally can't think of any media that isn't problematic at all (:'/), but why is She-ra problematic? /genq /lh

(it's okay if you don't want to talk, I'm just curious because I haven't really heard anyone mention this until now)

so yeah, there are a few issues with it. overall I wouldn’t say it’s SUPER problematic but I’ve definitely seen some consistent, valid criticisms (ones that aren’t just “I don’t like this so it’s bad” or “they didn’t represent queerness exactly how it fits my worldview so I’m sad”)

the main criticisms I’ve seen are from people of color in the fandom about racial issues with the show. I am not the person to do a deep dive analysis of those issues so I’ll paraphrase the main ones I’ve seen:

White saviorism: while the story itself parallels indigenous resistance to colonization, the main hero was originally part of the colonizing group. While she was brainwashed by said group and never actually colonized anything herself, she was still part of it and then suddenly became the hero of the other side. While not a direct parallel to the show, the way Adora goes from being part of the colonizers to being the mighty savior of the colonized, definitely echoes white saviorism stories from reality

She-Ra has to be stereotypically white in order to be the hero: We mainly know Adora as She-Ra. Adora has pale skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair. While that in and of itself is not a bad thing, we also know that Mara absolutely does NOT have those things. Mara is a brown woman with dark brown eyes- until she becomes She-Ra. When Mara transforms into She-Ra, she doesn’t just become a magical princess, she becomes a white woman. She has blue eyes, light skin, and blonde hair as She-Ra. She literally has to become white to become the savior. Example:

THIS is Mara as just Mara:

[Image ID: A picture of Mara from SPOP. She has brown skin, dark eyes, and is wearing her dark brown hair in a twisted ponytail and wearing a blue dress with white shoulder pads and a multicolored skirt. She has a concerned expression on her face. End ID.]

but THIS is Mara when she turns into She-Ra:

[Image ID: A picture of Mara as She-Ra from SPOP, standing with Razz in a forest. She-Ra has orange skin, blue eyes, blonde hair, and is wearing her white dress with the golden decorative breastplates, shoulder plates, and arm plates. End ID.]

as you can see, her skin got lighter and her hair turned blonde and her eyes turned blue.

Catradora is an abusive relationship: Catra spent years actively colonizing, and terrorizing the rebellion, and Adora, Glimmer, Bow, and the Princess Alliance specifically- and within a few episodes she loses her memory and therefore becomes “redeemed” and suddenly she and Adora are kissing and yeah. I’m not against the relationship itself, but the redemption arc was done very improperly and haphazardly with little regard to the harm Catra had actually done.

that’s the gist of the issues I’ve seen, I’m sure there are more but that’s what I know of.

[royalrazz37]

Disclaimer: I love this film. These are just my critics. I know someone else has already pointed these issues out and better than I ever could. Just wanted to get my thoughts out. Feel free to link their analysis

Post Disclaimer Disclaimer: A lot of these may be petty and have no real solution so I apologize preemptively.

Without further ado here is an aging millennial’s concerns with: The Lion King (1994)

Small nitpicks first

Incest

Usually lion prides have a single adult male that mates with all the females but in this case there are two, Mufasa and Scar, meaning, that at best Simba and Nala are first cousins and at worst siblings, getting married and having children.

On the flip side there is nothing more royal than keeping it all in the family.

Say his name

What is Scar’s real name? I know it can probably be found somewhere but i think it’s pretty messed up it’s never said in the movie. Also making someone’s physical feature their name is rude. Its like calling someone Hairy, Big Nose, or Six-Fingered Man.

Sexiest Lion

From what I remember learning about lions, the males with darker manes are seen as more attractive. So why is my man Scar not getting hole? I know its a kids movie but could we at least see a couple dark furred cubs running about? (I know about Kovu)

Choice of voice actors

Why are all the good characters voiced by white people? (Exceptions for James and Madge) and all the bad guys are POC? And its some extra ish when only the lackeys are POC. The big bad is white. Colored folk can’t even be their own boss.

And i know the remake “fixed” this but we’re not talking about the new woke Disney.

Now the real gripes

Monarchy and leadership

While the idea of a hereditary monarchy is bad enough the main plot strongly implies divine right is just and desirable.

Mufasa is supposed to be king and this is reflected by the kingdom being pristine and in balance.

Scar, who is not ordained by the sky daddies, takes the throne and all falls to ruin.

Then the “rightful king” returns, restoring prosperity to the land.

It gives credence to the idea that a higher power has to approve of a leader for things to go right. That those in power are there because that is how it’s supposed to be.

Look, little one. See what happens when you try to break the status quo? Bad things happen. Be happy with your lot in life.

If you try to rise above your station like Scar, well. You saw what happened. (I know Scar murdered fools but you get my drift)

“But Razz” I hear you say. “The reason things went bad is because Scar had the hyenas live in the pride lands and they ate everything. Those slobbering mangy stupid poachers!”

Aha! I say. You activated my trap card.

US History as a Metaphor

I think its safe to say that the hyenas are coded as POC. As such the idea of their integration into the pride lands being the catalyst for its blight is troubling.

It harkens back to the fear of the negro moving into cities during white flight. Hyenas/blacks move in and everything goes to shit.

Thats why we keep them in their elephant graveyards and shadow lands (the ghettos) so the blight doesn’t spread.

And if one of the hyenas do come into the pride lands we send our strong alpha Mufasa to beat and brutalize them.

Also the hyenas are painted as gluttons for wanting to eat. THEY WERE IN A LITERAL GRAVEYARD.

Of course they’re hungry. Of course they’d want to eat everything they could. They were forced to live that way.

Now lets draw a line.

Hyenas are always hungry because they live in a food desert and actual desert.

They live there because of enforced segregation by the lions.

Lions who then blame the the hyenas for being hungry and use that as justification to continue segregation and harsh policing of the hyenas movements.

Sounds familiar.

And the film’s solution to all this is a return to the status quo. Yuck.

Not to mention the sequel where there’s a reconciliation between the lionesses who supported Scar and the pridelanders because Kiara says “We’re the same”. I know I’m probably grasping a straws here but that moment felt like the Irish and Italians gaining whiteness.

Ok rant over.

[carrotllama]

this is so beautiful im sobbing 😭🥺

wings for Glimmer✨

heart for Bow🏹

headband(? for Catra🐾

Jojo siwa ponytail for adora🗡️

[scorpiafanclub]

really thinking about the angella = madame razz theory while i’m rewatching the end of season 3. when adora’s stuck in the alternate world and she’s trying to figure out what’s going on she says “my memories don’t match, we’re jumping around, things are disappearing, it’s like time and space aren’t working right.” that’s literally just what razz goes through all the time and we’ve seen how the setting changes in that one episode with razz in season 4, pretty similar to how it does in this episode with adora and everyone else once they start realizing things aren’t right. and as we all know angella going into the portal and sacrificing herself got her stuck there, from entrapta’s "whoever shuts the portal down can’t leave. they’ll be trapped between realities, possibly forever.” and note that it’s obvious that razz has no control over where and when she switches, just like nobody does in the portal reality. so yknow if 2+2=4 and 5+5=10...

also are we just not gonna talk about how razz’s butterflies flew on screen at the beginning of the last episode of season 3 right before glimmer appears and it pans to angella catching glimmer bc 

[katara-alone]

i love she ra and adora and best friends forever squad and my fave mermista and her team entrapta flora scorpion sea hawk frosty and i do like horda kids trio and catra and all that. I like catradora and them all and I'd love to get a 3hrs movie on their domestic lives BUT

I'd literally give up on them without a second thought if it was to choose between she ra millennium days and she ra first rebellion days back when Mara was she ra

there's absolutely nothing i wouldn't do to have a mara!she ra days with Grey's Anatomy time of show life. I take no criticism. I love Mara and the plotline I have in mind would've been amazing. Getting to see what the first rebellion was like? Getting to understand more of the First Ones? Getting to watch how things actually turned out to become? Know deeps about Etheria and it's magic? And Madam Razz? Sign me up!! I want more of that world i barely got to see. I want to know everything. I want to meet Mara and see exactly what happened. I want to see Light Hope and her dynamics and I want to see Mara'w training and First Ones colonies and know the real bad guys.

I want more. I need to know why the First Ones kept Mara in such a tight position (I have lots of headcanons on this matter) and if they suffered some kind of problems with previous she ras. Mara can't have been the only one. Perhaps Light Hope was a failed She Ra as well? And they figured they could use some of her as a hologram? I mean, she felt something. I need to know more of this.

I want to meet Mara's friends. I want to understand how Etheria worked back then. How it's citizens lived and exactly how much the First Ones took from Mara. Because she died so Adora wouldn't face the problems she did. I want to know everything about it.

[angella-deserved-better]

She-Ra Theorists!!!!! I need yall help!

So Madame Razz is an old woman trapped in two timelines? She seems to glitch between Mara's time and Adora's time and she can't differentiate between them at times.

Which leads me to think that Madame Razz is the manifestation of the Heart of Etheria. I say this because Madame Razz knows how Etheria works more than any other Etherian. She knows how to work around the animals, and she understands the magic of Etheria.

She's also the person that tells Mara that the Sword is not She Ra. That She Ra is a person that Etheria choose and the magic is within.

I don't know though. Yall give me your thoughts.

[razzberrydazz]

The Dark Urge is my little meow meow that takes intrusive thoughts to the natural extreme and I love them and relate to them so much for it. Yes king fantasize about brutally murdering everyone around you then outwardly do the opposite and help the very people you wanna murder. Yes go off king about fearing your own knife hand moving on its own, me too frfr.

Dark Urge has OCD and PTSD and hella trust and abandonment issues, (my Durge has BPD because I have BPD and it gives me WILD thoughts sometimes) their intrusive thoughts have teeth and when those thoughts win there are grave consequences, they can choose to embrace the bloodlust or recoil with revulsion and fight against it with every muscle in their body. I am kissing them on the forehead as they tear out my insides, my extremely traumatized murder child.

They absolutely have PTSD from things They did in the past, due to the warring thoughts in their mind, the grain of morality reviling the bloodshed while the rest of their mind relished in it.

To be a bloodthirsty, apathetic, sadistic killing machine and then actively choose with every breath to choose kindness and gentleness and resist the Urge. The amount of violence it took for them to become this gentle.

[that-ari-blogger]

Win, Lose, Take, Fail (Remember)

Discussion of stories and historical research are very similar practices. A ton of history is source based, and is, in a very real way, media analysis. A historian will look at a text written centuries ago and deduce not only linguistics, but also the themes prevalent in the day-to-day life.

I will eternally be impressed by some of the ideas that people find written between the lines of even the most well known about pieces, and its humbling to know that the stories that we tell in the modern day might be time capsules in their own right.

If you’d indulge me for a moment, I would like to briefly address those future historians who may be reading this: Coral reefs are magical, you guys really missed out on that, sorry.

Anyway, this is a post about She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, so what am I going on about?

Well, there are a few sources in both media analysis and historical reconstruction that are more valuable than an almost objective source. I say almost, because every narrator is biased, and that impacts even what they decide to include. No source is perfect.

So what about a think piece that lays out its biases for your convenience? How about a look directly into the mind of your characters to see what they perceive about the world and what they wish it could be? How interesting would that be?

This intro is getting a bit long.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Stray Gods: The Role Playing Musical)

My analysis of this episode can be summed up in one sentence. Catra’s worldview and desires are fundamentally opposed to her reality, and so when she forces the real world to fit it, things fall apart.

This is nice and all, but it fails to take into account the nuance of her perspective, and the fallacies inherent in this desire. But its also important to understand that this is where Catra’s redemption arc fails, or… where this redemption arc fails.

In my eyes, Catra has two main redemption arcs, one that stops in this episode, and one that starts up at the start of the next season. If you want to be granular, she has about a hundred different attempts, but that’s needlessly specific and way to close to exactly what I do on this blog for comfort.

But I think its easier for the purposes of analysis to divide Catra’s journey in two and discuss why the first fails and what the second would have to do to succeed.

Starting with something that threw me for a while. Catra isn’t conscious of this different world, at least not until the end of the episode. Which is a brutal trauma response. Catra doesn’t want to succeed in the life that gets better, she doesn’t care for healing, she wants to forget. Catra will burn the world down to keep a blindfold on and leave her memories behind. Blissful ignorance.

Let’s talk about Stray Gods: The Role Playing Musical.

Stray Gods is a Greek mythology, murder mystery, musical, video game, and conveniently, I have a series about it on this blog. (Link)

A slight quirk of Stray Gods is that the online argument I have seen about it has mostly focused on picking the second best song in the set list, because the most powerful is so obvious its almost funny.

Read my analysis of The Ritual for more information, but briefly, Aphrodite is a trauma survivor who repeatedly subjects herself to a form of amnesia in order to forget the horror she has experienced. Ring any bells?

Instead of trying to get better, Aphrodite slaps a band aid on the wound and tries to ignore it. This might help her eventually, but it directly harms those closest to her.

“Mother, I’ve stood by your side, now I no longer see, the purpose of love, when it tears at the centre of me. My arrows are rusty, forget the bow, and I won’t be begging you not to go, but when you’re away, you leave us a broken home, and you leave me alone. Lost in a moment, lost in a song.”

That was Eros singing. Cupid, the one with the arrows of love. This is someone who’s life has been wrecked by his mother’s trauma. Not in the same way as Catra lashing out at Adora, but with similar effects.

Both characters have tried to apply a quick and easy solution to a more difficult to solve problem, and the side effects of that are what perpetuate this cycle of trauma.

Hey, look at that, it’s the theme of cycles again. It’s almost as if I have a point here.

I could go on for hours about this one song, and I have, three times on this blog for a start, but I know I’ve annoyed people in my life with this obsession. But, I want this post to be vaguely on time, so I have to move on.

Before I do, though, the trauma in the idols (gods but fancier) of this story has a little quirk in its realisation that matches with Catra, linguistics of trust.

None of the idols in this musical use the word “friend” at all. Well, that’s not true, Pan says it once in a mocking way, but nobody uses in earnest. This exhibits itself more noticeably in The Ritual, where Aphrodite specifically says the following:

“He struck a deal with our enemy’s enemy.”

These characters can only conceptualise the world in terms of give and take, and of relationships in terms of allies or enemies.

Catra, meanwhile, can’t conceptualise the world in anything other than win, lose, take, and fail. Her ability to trust has been eroded so much that she will destroy the world to obtain something that has been attributed value for her.

That’s why she willingly forgets things, and its why her revelation is heartbreaking. Catra thinks the only way she can trust again is if she loses the memory of betrayal, but that’s not exactly how it works.

The moment in which Shadow Weaver is nice to Catra is a demonstration of why I don’t think genre exists. This is a comedic moment, right? It’s got the build-up, you think it’s going one way, then it undercuts itself with the unexpected. So why is it so devoid of humour?

Because the reaction of everyone in this, including the audience, is one of fear, and serves to validate the fact that Shadow Weaver is abusive. Even if someone is being kind in the moment, if you automatically flinch in their presence, there is a history there that you can’t escape from.

Catra doesn’t know why she is scared of Shadow Weaver here, she can only remember the good times, but the PTSD from her mother figure’s actions runs deeper than surface memory. It’s a wound that still hurts, even if you look away from it or cover it up.

This is actually why things keep breaking in this reality. The whole thing is based off people ignoring specific details. It’s centred on complacency, but it doesn’t understand its characters.

Which is where the hamartia and all of those complicated terms come in. Essentially, Catra wants to keep Adora with her, but part of Adora is the strengths and flaws that lead to her leaving Catra.

Adora is fundamentally kind, but she’s also an incredibly quick thinker. This doesn’t always lead her to the most reasonable solutions, but it means she can almost immediately recognise that things are wrong. In this case, the fact that people keep saying everything is perfect, and nobody says that this much unless they are hiding something. So, Adora looks inwards, and notices holes in her memory, glimpsing beyond and getting those flashes.

The world reacts in a similar way, things exist contrary to their nature, and collapse in on themselves. This world is a paradox, the story has turned cannibalistic and is eating itself alive. It can’t be supported by the fallacies that hold it together.

Those fallacies in question, are Catra’s desires, and now I get to talk about how the first arc ended up here. Because we can all agree, if a character’s developmental trajectory ends up with them willingly destroying the world out of spite, things haven’t gone so well.

Catra has been trying to achieve her own autonomy from the trauma and abuse that coloured her upbringing and guided her actions in the Horde. But she hasn’t been confronting how this has actually affected her biases. The band aid solution comes back, but here it takes the form of those four words. Win, lose, take, fail.

“I won’t let you win. I’d rather see the whole world end than let that happen.”

Things can only be one of these four things, everything is exclusionary. Catra either loses or wins, she either takes or is taken from. She can’t fail or bad things will happen.

But let me let you in on a secret. I don’t know why I’m talking directly to a fictional character here, but oh well. Life is about the moment, rather than the value you put on it. You don’t have to take, you can share, or be given. You don’t have to fear failure, because there are people in your life who care about you no matter what.

Also, this is entirely my opinion speaking, but I think I’m right here. You’re in a war story, there are no winners or losers in war. There are just survivors, profiteers, and poets.

Back to the line above, in searching through the transcript, I found that the word “won’t” is used thrice in this episode. It’s a word of commitment and resolution. It’s not vague, or noncommittal, it’s a promise, and it's used in the above line, but also earlier on, once by Scorpia, and once by Adora.

“If you get us out of this, I promise I won’t hate you. I will just dislike you a reasonable amount.” “I won’t leave you behind again.”

Characters resolving to be better. Scorpia deciding to improve upon a relationship, and Adora making it abundantly clear that she has no intention of repeating her mistake.

But Catra is falling back, she won’t lose, she can’t fail, att least in her mind. And its that promise that destroys the world that she wants. Catra wants happiness, but its her own need for the four words above that break it. Catra is self-destructive, not necessarily in a direct way, but in a sense that she is sabotaging her own happiness.

So, what would a redemption arc for Catra have to look like?

Well, she would have to learn to shift up her values a lot. She would have to be in a place where she can accept friendship in a controlled environment. Maybe just a friend who is willing to offer a hand of kindness.

She might also need a way to let out her emotions in a healthy way. Maybe a declaration of love, but that would be a little too on the nose for this story’s patterns. So I’m picturing a creature with some kind of emotional connection to her. Maybe it changes colour or something.

Also, Shadow Weaver needs to exit the story permanently. I don’t think she needs to die, I don’t believe in retributive justice, but she needs to be banished in some capacity. Shadow Weaver needs to go.

Now, I know how much of what I have said will come true, and if you have seen this show to the end, you probably do as well. But if you haven’t, leave your thoughts in the replies. How do you see a redemption arc for Catra working?

Ok, before I go, I need to discuss Madam Razz, because there is so much going on in her scenes.

Starting with, why is she here?

I don’t actually know the answer to that, and its one of my problems with the episode. She’s there because Adora needed a mentour and because the episode needed some levity, but why is she there in story?

“It’s been such a long time since we last saw each other, hasn’t it? That or it hasn’t happened yet. I always get those two things mixed up.”

You wanna say that again? Time is funky in this world, I guess So maybe she’s being generic?

“Because this has all happened before! I remember it like it was yesterday. For Madame Razz, it was yesterday.”

Nope, Razz is just displaced from time. That’s fun, but there is more to this line.

Madam Razz is a phenomenally well written character, purely because of the masterclass of tone. At no point is Razz either serious or humorous, she is both always. Razz is approachable morality, a la Philosophy Tube, but I’m sorry @theabigailthorn, you ain’t got nothing on Razz.

In one interaction, Razz explains the thesis of the entire show. That abuse and trauma are cycles, and that the only way to stop them is by confronting the trauma itself. Start at the beginning.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has some of the best single lines ever written for television, and Madam Razz gets them all.

There is one moment in the finale of the series that is a perfect example of what I mean. I’m avoiding spoilers for too far ahead, but if you know, you know.

Final Thoughts

This episode is such a well-made examination of Catra’s psychology and her lack of sanity. Catra doesn’t see the world the way it is, and what she wants is incompatible with how she wants it. She needs to work out what she needs and then go from there.

I actually think that this episode does something interesting by making Catra unredeemable. She fails, she had her chance, and she didn’t take it. Her attempt to connect with Adora involves physical abuse. Catra is irredeemable.

But this isn’t the last of the redemption arc, is it? Catra will try again and again, chance after chance, and gradually improve. The failures only serve to make the success hit harder. Catra’s life is a Dark Souls boss, essentially.

I often feel like the people who declare Catra's redemption as unsalvageable haven't got past this season, and don't take into account that she gets better, and I don't fault them for that. No show is for everyone, and what you do or don't find interesting in media says a lot less about you than how you express your like or dislike.

Anyway, next week, I will be examining The Portal and my thoughts on this season as a whole. So, stick around if that interests you.

Previous - Next

[artistic-mathematics]

I, uh, had the woooonderful experience of... watching the 4th season of She-Ra just now.

Major. Spoilers. Ahead. You have been warned.

Thoughts/Initial reactions?

I hate this show. I love and hate this show. No, I hate it. Love it. Hate. Love. Crew-Ra, w h y?

I definitely didn’t cry many, many times during the season.

Reference of Angella’s... absence made me cry a few times. Micah’s realization... can’t even imagine how awful that was for him. Glimmer’s struggle in accepting she’s gone... (hopefully for now or I will actually fight Crew-Ra...) was just. Ow. Glimmer yelling at Adora about how it was her fault that Angella was gone? Yeesh, no, that was also so upsetting, yikes.

Everyone was crying and I felt the need to join in because I also got sad.

Razz cried...

Then Micah cried over Angella...

Then Hordak did once he found out Catra lied to him...

Glimmer and Adora fighting with each other was so upsetting. It was awful. Please don’t let them fight again.

Scorpia finally said what we all wanted her to say.

Micah’s baaaaack, and he’s awesome!

Nope, not crying again. What do you mean I’m crying? What?

Was... was that Kyle doing something useful for once?

Did Light Hope actually show emotion? Am I dreaming?

Glimmer as a badass queen is literally so amazing. Her flaws really just make her better. I was basically screaming at the screen during the time she thought talking to Light Hope was like, the key to using the weapon, but turns out that it wasn’t the case, but it worked out in the end anyway and Scorpia has cool lightning magic now? Aaaaa!!

Mermista and Scorpia were such moods during this season.

My new headcanon is that Shadow Weaver gardens just so she has something to kill in her spare time.

Glimmer freeing Double Trouble to have them mess with Catra was the best. revenge. ever. Hats off to you, Glimmer.

Past theories proven right/wrong, and my thoughts on them? Theories I’m referencing here: Part 1, Part 2, Season 4 Trailer Analysis

Status of Micah, Angella, and Mara

Micah’s... quite alive, as we’ve seen. Glad I got something right!

However, Mara... is most likely gone. There’s absolutely no indication that Mara could possibly be alive at this point, other than the warped reality (which oh look, Micah’s alive!), but I think Crew-Ra made it pretty clear that she’s gone. Rest in peace, Mara.

Doesn’t mean I’m giving up on this theory, though :)) I think Mara and Adora would make great friends.

There’s still hope for Angella, especially since the portal was reopened and portal capabilities are now possible. Reopening this wormhole most likely meant freeing Angella, and I believe she’s out there somewhere. Micah was. Angella must be out there.

Hordak’s possible redemption arc

I guess his redemption arc... already happened? He fell... in “love”. He cared for Entrapta, which is pretty obvious.

He’s been “rebooted”, but that was clearly due to some tech stuff, so I believe that Entrapta may be able to undo that. They had a pretty great relationship, and I’m sure it can be restored. If that is true, then Hordak will most likely try to turn against Horde Prime, with Horde Prime’s great monologue in the end.

Entrapta’s status and stance

Haha, in this theory I said the Rebellion would find both Micah and Entrapta. Case closed, I win.

Entrapta is basically joining the Rebellion again. I thought it would be due to the realization of Catra’s betrayal, but it really ended up being something better -- the realization that the Princess Alliance never gave up on her, and never meant to left her behind.

Catra’s fate

Mmm. I thought Catra might join Horde Prime. During the last episode, however... she realized that her actions were pushing everyone away, she saved Glimmer from having her mind wiped, and she seems to be... overall... walking towards the good side. She did tell Horde Prime that he needed her... but I think it may have been to save her own skin after seeing Hordak. I think that was vague for the cliffhanger. I really hope Catra is truly seeing the light.

Madam Razz

I may have been completely right about her, and I’m so happy about this.

I decided in the end that she wasn’t a First One, but just a really old Etherian, and what do you know, she was confirmed to be that.

I said she was some sort of magical being, which definitely was part of it. Her powers... well, I said she may have time-traveling experience or is an all-seeing being of some sort, which I was... well, pretty close, I guess. It definitely wasn’t her memories messed up, as Mara confirmed that she was seeing into the future -- talking to Mara about Adora, and that’s how Mara was able to straight-up talk to Adora without playing the whole name game.

Catra’s redemption arc (and Beast Island)

Hey, Catra’s redemption arc seems to be beginning!

So much for Catra being the queen of Beast Island, however. That was proven wrong, unfortunately.

And aggh. The two ways I mentioned... were both wrong. I mentioned Hordak may find out about Catra’s lie and get sent to Beast Island, or Catra gets away with lying and ends up trying to become Horde Prime’s second-in-command. Neither of those quite happened. Hordak did find out, but kind of ended up trying to blast Catra into bits instead.

Light Hope and the First Ones

Holy. Hell. I was actually pretty close on this one.

Light Hope, at least, isn’t an end-game villain. In fact, she went against her own programming to save Etheria and Adora from their fate.

The First Ones, however... how much do you want to bet that Horde Prime has some connection with them? This may very well be the end-game villain right here. Horde Prime first, then the First Ones, because I’m pretty sure they have some connection. This definitely can’t be the end of the road for the First Ones. They made such a major part of the story and suddenly this just... goes away? Yeah, this can’t be.

My speculation of the First Ones leaving as Mara stranded Etheria... well, I wasn’t completely wrong, I guess. They were already leaving.

My idea about the First Ones conquering Etheria and needing She-Ra for that... oh boy.

A general speculation

During this short prediction, I mentioned that She-Ra was a massive struggle for power, and I wasn’t wrong. Those who end out on top are truly the people who widen their perspectives.

We see all of our current protagonists do this (biggest examples would be Glimmer during the last episode, Scorpia, and Entrapta). Catra is on her way, so I have good reason hoping for a redemption arc for her.

Horde Prime won’t make it too far. He really won’t.

Scorpia

So not exactly a theory, because I somehow completely neglected to mention how Scorpia may be getting a redemption arc real soon in my theory posts (and ended up sticking this in my quick analysis of the season 4 trailer) but I guess I was right there as well. Scorpia really was being treated awfully by Catra and... well, she finally said what we were all thinking.

Double Trouble

Not really a theory either, because I mentioned it in my quick analysis of the season 4 trailer, but I was mostly right.

I just want to mention that I said almost exactly what Mermista said -- how Shadow Weaver was too easy of an answer, and that it wasn’t her. I mentioned Double Trouble could easily be the spy, but may also help the Rebellion out instead. And what do you know, they did!!

Current theories?

Angella is still alive. Fight me on this. (And maybe Mara, but I might be a little too optimistic hoping for this...)

Catra’s getting a redemption arc...

Razz and her time-traveling powers of sorts?

New theories?

The sword broke, but Adora should be able to transform back into She-Ra somehow.

Razz mentioned specifically that the sword is not She-Ra. Adora is She-Ra. The sword is, well, just a sword. Adora is still capable of turning into She-Ra, she’ll just need another way. Oh, and when has Razz ever been wrong?

Horde Prime is connected with the First Ones, somehow.

I did mention this before, but they seem quite related.

Also, did I mention that Horde Prime seems to have advanced tech like the First Ones had... but it may just be the progress they made? In like, an actual universe that wasn’t Despondos?

The princesses’ powers?

Towards the ending of the last episode, Glimmer showed that her magic was glitched... sort of.

I believe that they’ll be able to get it back. I just think Adora’s sword severed the connections and they’ll have to go back to their runestones to reconnect themselves, as the runestones did go black after Adora broke the sword. I think they’ll be fine, but Glimmer will have to go back and she doesn’t really have the ability to do so as of right now... and maybe, just maybe, reconnecting the connections of all the other princesses (to their respective runestones) is the key to bringing back Adora’s ability to turn into She-Ra. Rest in pieces to the sword, though. Never even got a chance to see Adora turn it into a gun... Ah well, haha.

I’ll make new theories when I’m not utterly tired out... so until next time, I guess. Hope you all enjoyed this very unorganized post.

[phantomlesbian]

does Etheria have politics?

(going back and reading this, I realize how much of my writing is just stream of consciousness.)

OKAY SO

I feel like by now everyone here knows that I spend way too much time thinking about unnecessary details when I should really be writing, but what else can I do to procrastinate other than spend time building the story.

ANYWAYS

This is going to be the more unhinged version of that previous post, since when I wrote it, I was feeling very academic after doing some anthropology in government homework, but now I'm just trying to pull things from memory.

ALSO

Google has been extremely helpful in helping me clarify a lot of things, so some of the theories will be pulled from the wiki of the original 80's show, the reboot, and some of my own thoughts.

I know there's a post of the whole galactic hierarchy, but for the purposes of this post, I will be focusing on the politics of Etheria itself. I might also make a separate post about spiritual beliefs, but I make no promises.

So for history, not much is known (at least to me) about Angella's predecessors or how they came to be in power of Bright Moon, but as with everything that can't be explained, I'd like to chalk it up to magic and the connection to the Moonstone. Also, because Micah isn't a direct descendant of that line, I would see him as more of a Consort instead of acting monarch. I would believe he's a close political and strategical advisor, as we saw how much of a prevalent role he had in the beginning of the war, but that's about it. Although after the war, I believe he goes back to doing King things to give Glimmer some respite from having a whole kingdom on her shoulders.

Also, I know it's not cannon, but there is hot gossip in Etheria, and I'd like to believe that there's news reports for each village, and a worldwide newspaper. Is it called The Daily Etherian? Perhaps.

Down to the nitty gritty:

So I've kinda created a flow chart in my head about the people in power in Etheria. First, there's the planet as a whole, obviously, and unlike Earth, the separated countries, in my opinion work together. To relate it to something I know, I choose to think about the EU. I would also believe that Etheria kind of works in the way that the US does, but the EU is more international, so that's why I'm using that. Also, I wouldn't think that villages had presidents, I think the highest you should be able to go is Mayor or like Elder.

So basically there's kingdoms, regions, sects, and factions that all work together in the political system, with the only region known of is the Crimson Waste, which contains a faction of people who are outlaws/ex-horde/or chose to leave their kingdoms. For kingdoms, there are the standard Bright Moon, Plumeria, Salineas, Dryl, Mystacor, Kingdom of Snows, and the Scorpioni. But there are also some that aren't mentioned that hold Royalty such as the Star Siblings, Prince Peekablue, and Sweet Bee. Those kingdoms won't be considered too much in this analysis, but they are factored into the greater whole.

Side note: where does She-Ra live? Does she not get a kingdom? Where would she go if Adora didn't stay in Bright Moon? Is that all she's going to get, a spare room in Bright Moon? Is the Crystal Castle just a place for training and information or can it be used as an actual castle?

Also, is Madame Razz a part of a village or does she just live in the woods like Bow's parents? Are there a lot more like them, or is it just them? IDK

That then got me to thinking about the every day grievances that the townspeople may have. While it isn't mentioned, it is known that there are villages fairly close in relation to the kingdoms, so I'd like to believe that these villages are governed by the kingdoms they are closest to. We also know that there are Mayors and Elders, and most likely Shamans, and Spiritual Advisors in existence in Etheria, so I'd like to imagine they all work similarly for simplifying purposes.

Also, I'd like to say that each Princess may choose how involved they are with the surrounding kingdom. For example, Perfuma is very involved in her community, but the other Princesses remain in their respective Castles and don't interact with the people in the villages.

So for example, if a townsperson had a grievance, they probably wouldn't immediately go to Queen Angella for it to be solved. They'd most likely go to the Mayor of their village, then to the acting Princess/Prince/Queen/King of the surrounding Kingdom, then to Queen Angella. And that would be a totally different thing for the town in Bright Moon, they'd probably go directly to Queen Angella, or the towns representative.

ALSO

If for no other reason than transportation purposes, I'd like to believe Etheria is smaller than your average planet. Maybe during the war, everyone stays in Bright Moon in their rooms, maybe they all travel extremely quickly. But how in the heck does it take them so quickly to get from place to place to village to village. Is it a short walk? Am I too reliant on Glimmer's teleportation devices? The world may never know.

Okay now for the laws. I'd assume there's a basic law that governs Etheria, kind of like the constitution, but then it'd also be broken up into different laws that are associated with different kingdoms/villages. For example, why would a landlocked village have a fishing ordinance? That would most likely work best in Salineas.

We also know that the biggest form of commerce in Etheria is trade. Plumeria probably provides textiles and crops, Salineas would be boats/the seafood market, etc. I believe that's how every kingdom keeps their pockets full. There might be different regulations in every kingdom about the different kinds of trade they have there. I know there is a monetary unit, and it's most likely coins, but I have no idea what each coin would equal and how valuable it is, given that most Etherians live humbly.

NOW ONTO THE HORDE

We know, according to like earth's standards, what the Horde is doing in the show is terrible. Like actually horrible. I'd generally just use the Geneva Convention's standards, because that is pretty much what a lot of us would go by. There is a wiki page on the different war crimes that the Horde, Glimmer and Horde Prime all had during the show, so that was pretty cool to look at. I'm just genuinely interested on how it wasn't stopped quicker and how it escalated to be such a big problem. But that's a post for an entirely different day.

How does Etheria have a trial?

So, similarly to the grievances scenario I had thought of, I'd assume that's how the court system would work as well. Also, what would the punishments be? Does Bright Moon even have a prison? Are there even police? How are civil disputes settled? Do people get divorced? Do people abuse? I'd assume they're capable of it, if what we saw from the Horde was anything to go by. Then again, that could have just been the influence of Hordak.

ANYWAYS

For little cases, I'm pretty sure that they can be settled among the village, but for big disasters such as what happened in Plumeria, they'd probably need the help from other Kingdoms or even just Queen Angella herself.

Big trials take place in Bright Moon, kind of like Supreme Court ones. Shadow Weaver’s will be a bit different though. For hers, it's not going to be much of a spoiler, but it's the explanation that I didn't know how to fit into the fic without making it sound like I'm forcing it in there. It's supposed to be common knowledge for everyone there, so they wouldn't think to explain it to an outside audience.

Especially for this, since it was directly associated with the Alliance, think of the Princess Alliance as a jury, but instead of jurors, they're treating it more as an election with representative democracy, with each Princess being the representative. Because Shadow Weaver is the last remaining head of the Horde besides Adora, who had no willing part in the Battle of the Whispering Woods, she will get a full tribunal.

That means there will be an audience, no "lawyers" or whatever the Etherian equivalent would be, and all of the Princesses will be there to give their input since her destruction affects their kingdoms, even though they aren't a part of the Princess Alliance. This is basically just a "we know you committed x, y, and z crimes, we're going to make you aware of them and decide what to do with you."

I was genuinely thinking about having the Horde become a prison, but I just don't think anyone would go for that. Having a condensed population of criminals in a place that just so happens to house the leading faction of people the rebellion we’re fighting against doesn’t sit right. Maybe each kingdom should have their own version of a jail. Would they need a jail? How many bad guys are there?

[meanscarletdeceiver]

📂- lord knows I have way too many undeveloped OTP ideas to get to… if you can churn out anything and anyone with Bertie, that would be lovely! ❣️

Ah, Bert-a-derb! ❤️️🚌💨

Hmm, I’m going to try to talk about Thomas and Bertie… it’s difficult though, for two reasons:

1) You’re recently written about them yourself, and I thought you summarized them beautifully. The “bumper car” imagery is just right—that’s exactly it! Their relationship is all about being able to roughhouse and let loose but in a way where no one gets hurt.

2) Theirs is one of the few dynamics (involving at least one major character) where I don’t see hints of deeper behind-the-scenes history. For once, I think the interaction we see between these two “on-screen” is pretty near the whole story. I think maybe their actual dialogue is sometimes more crass than we’ll see in a kids’ series, and I’ll get into some aspects of their chronology below—but, as far as their dynamic, I think what we see is what we’ve got.

And it’s glorious. Again, I am really resonating with how you’ve described them in various places as “soulmates.”

I do believe it’s a platonic soulmate thing, 100%… the more I explore the vibes I get from them, the more I become convinced that there’s nothing beneath the surface, so there’s no romance… at the most, they are aro-ace life partners. But in general, for all their distance (as far as how they live), “soulmates” pretty accurately captures them.

They don’t need anything more than what we see on screen—what we seen on screen is already perfect, so envisioning anything more sort of ruins them for me.

So I don’t have “headcanons” for them exactly, more analysis:

One reason they “lock” so well into a simple, straightforward, rock-solid connection is that they naturally contain or correct some of the qualities in the other that can be a bit… excessive.

Take Bertie. We don’t know as much about him, but it seems fair to say that his dominant trait is being competitive.

It’s not hard to imagine how this can be his undoing! We see it, for instance, in “Edward, Trevor, and the Really Useful Party” where he feels the need to wake Trevor up and tweak his nose pretty sharply, you know? And actually Trevor’s reaction was probably one of the better options people take when confronted with Bertie—“eh, whatever.” There’s no doubt that Bertie has also managed to make a few enemies along the way, if what we see in that story is the way that he presents himself. (And it surely is. “Ah, you’re Thomas, eh? I remember you…” I mean, he sort of razzes others with a good-natured twinkle in his eye—but no doubt that little nuance is sometimes lost on people!)

For probably one of the few times in his life, though, when Bertie met Thomas he could get off on completely the right foot, because a) Thomas is as hot-blooded as he is and b) luck was on their side—they could get it all out there right away! They could have a race, fair and square! A heckuva race, too!

I’m not so sure what would have happened to these two if Thomas had lost—I don’t think he would have thrown a tantrum or anything, but I’m not sure he could have dove so whole-heartedly into the friendship the way Bertie did. For Bertie, I don’t think it would have made any difference. That race was everything Bertie had ever wanted in life! And anything unsettled and unsatisfied that might sometimes rattle about in his radiator was completely exorcised in this case. Thomas would be his soulmate forever because thanks to him for one day Bertie really lived his 100% best life.

Bertie needs competition partly because he’s an adrenaline junkie (<3) and partly because he has a driving need to know where everyone stands. He’s not about to be (too much) of a jerk about how it all shakes out! But he loves knowing exactly what everyone is capable of. It’s just how he sees the world. And it excites him to see what everyone can do firsthand. (Firstwheel?)

If artificially held back, Bertie can be in danger of getting restless and going a bit sour or resentful. It’s probably very lucky, for instance, that he works the countryside and can have some longer stretches of running; he’d go stir-crazy in bumper-to-bumper rush-hour traffic. It’s also lucky that he has always worked in a place where the railways are stiff competition. If he had been sent somewhere where his depot managed to out-compete the local branch line and get it shut down? He’d have gotten stuffy and superior if only out of sheer dissatisfaction.

He’s very lucky to be a Ffarquhar bus. He needs friends who can keep him on his game in order to remain the happy-go-lucky fellow he is.

And no one person or thing encapsulates all that good fortune so completely as Thomas the Tank Engine.

Thomas, though. I reckon Thomas was at first none too happy about the encroachment of the busses. And with good reason! I imagine (this is pure HC, but I think it makes sense) that the bus service only gained a foothold in Thomas’s territory during the war, when the railway was kept busy with defence work. In 1948 the N.W.R. was nationalised and I imagine there was some fear that the Ffarquhar branch would be closed altogether (it was against this threat that the Thin Clergyman started working on a second Thomas book—that’s a whole different story, though). Thomas would have been alarmed and resentful at the increase of traffic on the roads around him…

It’s a miracle, a glorious miracle, that he wound up going bumper-to-fender with Bertie—and hit it off with him so well!

Another way in which Bertie was a godsend for Thomas, the start of a new era in the latter's life:

Vintage!Thomas’s whole thing was yearning for the moon, y’know? We know he wanted to “see the world” and “fish” and all sorts of other things that really useful tank engines don’t dream about doing. I’m sure it was more than that: I can see Thomas wanting to do everything he saw or heard others enjoying—running really fast, going over the bridge to “the mainland,” playing ball games, going to school, smooching and falling in love. (At the moment I really believe that, in any universe, Thomas is aro-ace—but he would have seen soldiers coming home and getting embraced by their sweethearts and things like that, and he would have wanted to be able to experience it. Like literally everything else he saw or heard of.) If my HC about Thomas being steamed to life on Sodor was wrong, then I’m sure the whole reason he wound up there was when he heard a L.S.&S.C.R. manager grumbling that the Admiralty was demanding they send an engine to “that hellhole” and baby Thomas is just like “Oooh! Me! Me! Pick meeeeeeee.” His whole deal was wanting things, you know? Not being satisfied with his lot. (And, unlike the others, for him a new paint job wasn’t going to cut it!)

And his desire carried him a certain ways forward—eventually he opened doors to getting out of Vicarstown and earned the chance to run a branch line by sheer whinging persistence—but then… he starts to settle, you know? People like to dunk on Thomas for getting “narcissistic” (wut?) when he starts getting self-important and fussy after his change in duties, but… you know… have some empathy; he was very explicitly given this much due to being “useful,” of course he doubled down on making sure he kept on that path. At the same time, then there was nowhere else to go.

Plus, the hand of fate sure dealt him a hell of a smackdown, when he developed a new innocent desire to try going fish.

I’m sure he hardened over the course of this period (’25-’48)… after the wonder and novelty of his new job eventually wore off… after internalizing the Fish lesson that he apparently shouldn’t want to do things that engines can’t do!… throw in the hardships he certainly must have experienced during the depression and the war… and in the end you get this wildly different aspect to Thomas, telling Terence after the war: “I don’t want to go anywhere. I like my rails, thank you.”

Bullshit.

The Thomas of 1924 would have looked at the Thomas of winter ’47 and been amazed and horrified.

But then, in the coming year—Bertie.

Bertie shakes him up.

Bertie gets us back to Thomas Classic.

Man, Thomas needed that race, you know? Boy needed an infusion of new vigor, and he got it.

Then, as I’ve gotten into before, we have Thomas making an arse of himself for the next fifteen years. And good for him, good for him! I’d rather have Thomas trying to take a jaunt in the yard or leaping happily towards some buffers and coming to grief than the tightly-wound ball of fussy, snowplough-smashing, I-don’t-want-to-go-anywhere defensiveness.

God bless Bertie Bus. He keeps Thomas sort of… emotionally limber. And Thomas keeps Bertie… just a bit more grounded than he would be otherwise. (Humble, you know? Bertie’s own desires are for excitement and fame. If it had been anyone else, he mighta gone a little spare, watching them become famous, meet the Queen, travel to London! “I should be doing all that!” He still wants all that himself, of course, but Thomas beat him fair and square once before, so Bertie is at least comfortably certain that it’s not like Thomas deserves it less than he does. Plus, thanks to Thomas he gets to enjoy quite a lot of notoriety himself.)

So these two lads are just so naturally good for each other, kindred spirits who have kept each other perfectly balanced without effort.

And they have a hell of a lot of fun with each other along the way.

[witch-apologist]

Analysis/Theory Time!

Why does Catra go from looking at She Ra resentfully to this:

So there's several layers to my thinking.

Originally She Ra is what took Adora away from her. This destiny that suddenly made Adora change everything she ever believed in (From Catras POV) and gave Adora new friends to where Adora could leave Catra behind and break the promise. L

This time She Ra is what allowed them to come back together.

And now for the theory part

I think another factor was the Sword. Many of us noticed that New Unbound She Ra looks a lot more like Adora than old she Ra did. And we also know that when Mara used the sword it lightened her skin and hair. Which was left unaddressed in the series and was overall a bad move.

But I have a theory (which i in no way give the creators credit to but its my own personal theory) because Its canon that the First ones made it to where only First One She Ras could access their power (This is along the lines that She Ras are predestined to be she ras and that this is actually the reason for the She Ra deficit not Mara. Which is backed up by Madame Razz telling Mara that Etheria CHOSE her.)

So my theory is that part of the Swords programming (other than sapping She Ras powers and only allowing Transformation with the Sword and with First Ones) is that The She Ra transformation would fit some kind of First Ones prominent figure or Beauty standard. Before the sword broke nothing about she ras form said adora none of her ties or beliefs or personality are reflected in her appearance at all. Its pretty much pure coincidence that She Ra has a similar hair and eye color to her because She Ras under the sword are all made to he blonde haired and blue eyed it just so HAPPENS thay adora was born with these feature (maybe because she was a part of a lineage that contributed to that standard in the first place? Idk.

But when she becomes she ra after breaking the sword its so OBVIOUSLY Adora. The Hair Poof and ponytail the redesign of the outfit. Including symbols of the people she cares about most Catra, Bow and Glimmer.

For the first time when Catra looks at She Ra she doesn't see a stranger that took the place of her oldest friend.

For the first time Catra looks at She Ra and finally sees.... /Adora/