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alias_sqbr) wrote2020-06-08 04:19 pm
alias_sqbr) wrote2020-06-08 04:19 pm
She-ra feelings
I have finished all five seasons and it is GREAT. If you like girly animated scifi with MAGIC and SPACE SHIPS and PRINCESSES and GIRLS ANGSTILY TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER AND THEN KISSING then this is the show for you.
It's definitely a kids show based on an 80s toy franchise: the worldbuilding is silly, there's lots of dumb jokes, and everything ends in hugs even when logically it maybe shouldn't. But it's got a good story and characters, with a surprising amount of moral and emotional complexity, as well as thrilling fights and cool scifi explosions etc.
Also the level of queerness just...ramps up over time, and season 5 is VERY QUEER INDEED :D There's MULTIPLE canon same sex relationships, all with enjoyable levels of angst-then-fluff, as well as a delightfully morally ambiguous canon non-binary character. I mean it's not a show ABOUT romance, the focus is on Beating The Evil Robots With Friendship etc. But the writers went out of their way to NOT centre m/f relationships and feelings.
A repeated theme is characters screwing up due to traumatic upbringings and having to work past it. So (a) this means watching characters work through trauma (b) it's the kind of fluffy show where most characters end up friends by the end, including some characters who caused trauma or were really awful as a result of it. I overall liked how this theme was handled, but YMMV, and some redemption/acceptance arcs are a bit glossed over.
Also I both ship Adora/Catra and also kinda see them as sisters, so.
Now for some random reactions I wrote from about the middle of Season 5 to the end, so I didn't flail at various people who haven't watched it yet and don't want spoilers.
This isn't a reaction post in any organised way and will make no sense if you haven't watched all of She-ra.
** Spoilers**
Me: Based on what I've seen, I can see where the people who think Catra's redemption arc is a bit rushed are coming from.
Catra: *lets her tsundere facade drop a fraction to display a little needy vulnerability towards Adora*
Me: I AM 100% HERE FOR THIS
ENTRAPTA I MISSED YOU I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE A GOOD GUY AGAIN
SCORPIA HAS FRIENDS WHO LOVE HER AND APPRECIATE HER
Mika is kinda cute. I hope he and Glimmer have some good hugs when they're finally reunited.
I feel sorry for Wrong Hordak but he is totally going to screw them over, he's very clear about his loyalties they just...assume he'll never be aware enough to actually act on it?
I hope actual Hordak gets to be himself again and maybe like...a hug from Entrapta, but am not sure what sort of ending for him I'd find satisfying, dude was an evil colonialist dictator for a long time.
Kinda want Shadow Weaver to be punted into the sun. One reason I paused on season 4 was Adora being stuck having to be nice to her abusive mother and all her friends being ok with it??
Also Glimmer was pissing me off with the way she was siding with SHADOW WEAVER over ADORA, come on. I have always found her stubborn glory-hungry thoughtlessness annoying and it just got worse and worse, but once it crossed the line into activating a doomsday weapon it just became interestingly tragic, and now she seems to have actually grown up and realised she was wrong, so. Sure.
This is the kind of show where redemption and conflict resolution tends to happen very quickly so everyone can be Friends. Which is how kids shows work, but it can be uncomfortable when it means people have to be Friends with those who did cartoonishly evil, traumatising things to them. I mean so far the show is clear that Shadow Weaver is actually bad and Adora's allowed to dislike her, and Entrapta and Scorpia were never maliciously hurtful so I can se why everyone took to them fairly quickly.
But Catra did some NASTY SHIT. Entrapta forgiving her makes sense, she's Like That. Adora loves her. But Bow and Glimmer were won over pretty easily, I mean Bow took longer to be friendly to GLIMMER again after she ACCIDENTALLY nearly destroyed the planet. Catra did it on purpose, just for spite! I hope Scorpia gets to at least have some mixed feelings, though she is absolutely the sort to forgive easily.
On the other hand, as I said above...Catra/Adora omg when they LOOK AT EACH OTHER my HEART
Also I love that Kyle -> Rogelio is canon, they are such a cute ship. Though surely there is some way for them to communicate better, Rogelio clearly understands him. I wasn't sure where Lonnie's arc was going but at this point I'm very happy with it, as an example of someone rebelling against the Horde for her own reasons totally unrelated to the Rebellion or much to do with Being Good. She just got sick of her and her friends being treated like shit, which is fair!
(Lonnie/Kyle/Rogelio is also a good ship, though she'd have to start being a bit nicer to Kyle EDIT: I looked it up and that's what Noelle Stevenson ships?? AWW)
Spinnerella just got revealed as coopted by the Horde which makes me very tense D: I'm sure she'll be fine but I like her and Netossa and don't want them to be sad.
I keep wondering if/when Double Trouble will show up again. They were so cheerfully, unrepentantly amoral and I love them. Assuming they don't get their own redemption (which they might) it would be nice to also have a non-binary character who ISN'T a villain but the show is so queer in general, and they're so great, that I don't mind too much.
...ok I am mid episode 8 and the levels of femslash foyay are OFF THE CHARTS :D
We have not just Catra/Adora for friends to enemies to friends (to lovers)
but Spinnerella/Netossa for mindcontrol angst
and Castapella/Shadowweaver for "You were my brother's teacher and drove him to the dark side and helped colonise our planet" sexy grownup lady foeyay. I am pretty sure Castapella just blushed???
Plus Scorpia/Perfuma are adorable
AND Double Trouble came back :D :D
I am 100% here for Wrong Hordak becoming a rebel leader, go you Wrong Hordak.
OMG I LOVE WRONG HORDAK
Dude needs his own name though
I'm not sure if we're supposed to read it this way but I wonder if being mind controlled by Horde Prime smoothed out some of Catra's sharpest edges, she seems way more well adjusted now. Which would be messed up! So in my head she will have an identity crisis over it, even if the show never goes there.
AW YES PERFUMA TELLING CATRA SHE WAS SHITTY TO SCORPIA
WHICH SHE WAS
oooooooh and THERE'S THE SCORPIA/PERFUMA MINDCONTROL ANGST FOEYAY :D
SCORPIA SHOT CATRA WITH A MASSIVE BOLT OF ELECTRICITY AND CATRA KNEW SHE DESERVED IT :D :D
Sorry Shadow Weaver but your daughters are gonna kiss despite your best efforts
Entrapta and Hooordaaaak
Your imperfections are beautiful ;_;
AHHHH FINISHED IT THAT WAS SO GOOD
I love how the f/f couples got kisses and the m/f didn't.
CATRA/ADORA 4EVER
I'm glad Shadow Weaver died because she was Just Too Abusive To Live. I liked how even when she meant well she fucked up. Her last minute turn of heart was a bit easy but she only had to be good for 5 minutes, and I could believe that. I'm glad Catra got to hear "I'm proud of you" even if...it really emphasises that she and Adora have the same mum haha
We only got a tiny shot of Kyle/Rogelio but they seemed happy and good and could be read as shippy.
I didn't think I'd be convinced by a Hordak turning good plot but the way it happened felt very IC (he doesn't so much turn good as turn against Horde Prime) and him being entirely free was so last minute there wasn't time for them to have to show how weird it would be afterwards, and they lampshaded it like...YEAH SO THIS WILL BE AWKWARD but SHHHH HAPPY ENDING JUST GO WITH IT
I like that characters like Hordak, Double Trouble and Shadow Weaver got to be somewhat redeemed but didn't Become Good. Shadow Weaver sacrificed herself at the last minute, but didn't change who she was permanently. And the other two got to a point where they would work with the good guys and stop being ACTIVELY EVIL, but it's not clear what they'll be like going forward. There's a sort of...good natured ambivalence to it, instead of trying to jam everyone into an Acceptably Good Person Box at once. That would get repetitive and kinda creepy and also there wasn't time to do it justice for everyone at once. Catra has a redemption arc (which wasn't perfect but mostly worked for me); Scorpia and Entrapta have partial redemption arcs but never went Super Bad in the first place; Hordak, Double Trouble and Shadow Weaver have partial redemption arcs to "morally ambiguous ally". And I guess Glimmer had a "good guy seriously screws up and learns better" arc. It's a nice variety.
Glad Hordak/Entrapta and Seahawk/Mermista remained ambiguous (I mean Seahawk's feelings aren't ambiguous but never were) Wasn't really won over to ship Glimmer/Bow but I'm not against it. Perfuma/Scorpia staying ambiguous but cutely shippy worked better than shoehorning in a romantic resolution they didn't have time to do justice. THIS IS WHAT FIC IS FOR.
The scifi worldbuilding is all very rule-of-cool don't-think-too-hard but worked emotionally and the writers knew not to lean on it too heavily.
We didn't get to SEE Wrong Hordak's revolution but it is totally going to happen. Chipper ex-clones forming their own collective and calling everyone brother :D
Mika and Glimmer got to hug ;_; I liked their whole arc, and how Angela played a part in the end. Glimmer annoyed me for a lot of the show but I like what they did with her overall.
And that's my thoughts for now! I may have more later.
EDIT: Also, Adora feels! She grows and gains so much over the show ;_;
It's definitely a kids show based on an 80s toy franchise: the worldbuilding is silly, there's lots of dumb jokes, and everything ends in hugs even when logically it maybe shouldn't. But it's got a good story and characters, with a surprising amount of moral and emotional complexity, as well as thrilling fights and cool scifi explosions etc.
Also the level of queerness just...ramps up over time, and season 5 is VERY QUEER INDEED :D There's MULTIPLE canon same sex relationships, all with enjoyable levels of angst-then-fluff, as well as a delightfully morally ambiguous canon non-binary character. I mean it's not a show ABOUT romance, the focus is on Beating The Evil Robots With Friendship etc. But the writers went out of their way to NOT centre m/f relationships and feelings.
A repeated theme is characters screwing up due to traumatic upbringings and having to work past it. So (a) this means watching characters work through trauma (b) it's the kind of fluffy show where most characters end up friends by the end, including some characters who caused trauma or were really awful as a result of it. I overall liked how this theme was handled, but YMMV, and some redemption/acceptance arcs are a bit glossed over.
Also I both ship Adora/Catra and also kinda see them as sisters, so.
Now for some random reactions I wrote from about the middle of Season 5 to the end, so I didn't flail at various people who haven't watched it yet and don't want spoilers.
This isn't a reaction post in any organised way and will make no sense if you haven't watched all of She-ra.
** Spoilers**
Me: Based on what I've seen, I can see where the people who think Catra's redemption arc is a bit rushed are coming from.
Catra: *lets her tsundere facade drop a fraction to display a little needy vulnerability towards Adora*
Me: I AM 100% HERE FOR THIS
ENTRAPTA I MISSED YOU I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE A GOOD GUY AGAIN
SCORPIA HAS FRIENDS WHO LOVE HER AND APPRECIATE HER
Mika is kinda cute. I hope he and Glimmer have some good hugs when they're finally reunited.
I feel sorry for Wrong Hordak but he is totally going to screw them over, he's very clear about his loyalties they just...assume he'll never be aware enough to actually act on it?
I hope actual Hordak gets to be himself again and maybe like...a hug from Entrapta, but am not sure what sort of ending for him I'd find satisfying, dude was an evil colonialist dictator for a long time.
Kinda want Shadow Weaver to be punted into the sun. One reason I paused on season 4 was Adora being stuck having to be nice to her abusive mother and all her friends being ok with it??
Also Glimmer was pissing me off with the way she was siding with SHADOW WEAVER over ADORA, come on. I have always found her stubborn glory-hungry thoughtlessness annoying and it just got worse and worse, but once it crossed the line into activating a doomsday weapon it just became interestingly tragic, and now she seems to have actually grown up and realised she was wrong, so. Sure.
This is the kind of show where redemption and conflict resolution tends to happen very quickly so everyone can be Friends. Which is how kids shows work, but it can be uncomfortable when it means people have to be Friends with those who did cartoonishly evil, traumatising things to them. I mean so far the show is clear that Shadow Weaver is actually bad and Adora's allowed to dislike her, and Entrapta and Scorpia were never maliciously hurtful so I can se why everyone took to them fairly quickly.
But Catra did some NASTY SHIT. Entrapta forgiving her makes sense, she's Like That. Adora loves her. But Bow and Glimmer were won over pretty easily, I mean Bow took longer to be friendly to GLIMMER again after she ACCIDENTALLY nearly destroyed the planet. Catra did it on purpose, just for spite! I hope Scorpia gets to at least have some mixed feelings, though she is absolutely the sort to forgive easily.
On the other hand, as I said above...Catra/Adora omg when they LOOK AT EACH OTHER my HEART
Also I love that Kyle -> Rogelio is canon, they are such a cute ship. Though surely there is some way for them to communicate better, Rogelio clearly understands him. I wasn't sure where Lonnie's arc was going but at this point I'm very happy with it, as an example of someone rebelling against the Horde for her own reasons totally unrelated to the Rebellion or much to do with Being Good. She just got sick of her and her friends being treated like shit, which is fair!
(Lonnie/Kyle/Rogelio is also a good ship, though she'd have to start being a bit nicer to Kyle EDIT: I looked it up and that's what Noelle Stevenson ships?? AWW)
Spinnerella just got revealed as coopted by the Horde which makes me very tense D: I'm sure she'll be fine but I like her and Netossa and don't want them to be sad.
I keep wondering if/when Double Trouble will show up again. They were so cheerfully, unrepentantly amoral and I love them. Assuming they don't get their own redemption (which they might) it would be nice to also have a non-binary character who ISN'T a villain but the show is so queer in general, and they're so great, that I don't mind too much.
...ok I am mid episode 8 and the levels of femslash foyay are OFF THE CHARTS :D
We have not just Catra/Adora for friends to enemies to friends (to lovers)
but Spinnerella/Netossa for mindcontrol angst
and Castapella/Shadowweaver for "You were my brother's teacher and drove him to the dark side and helped colonise our planet" sexy grownup lady foeyay. I am pretty sure Castapella just blushed???
Plus Scorpia/Perfuma are adorable
AND Double Trouble came back :D :D
I am 100% here for Wrong Hordak becoming a rebel leader, go you Wrong Hordak.
OMG I LOVE WRONG HORDAK
Dude needs his own name though
I'm not sure if we're supposed to read it this way but I wonder if being mind controlled by Horde Prime smoothed out some of Catra's sharpest edges, she seems way more well adjusted now. Which would be messed up! So in my head she will have an identity crisis over it, even if the show never goes there.
AW YES PERFUMA TELLING CATRA SHE WAS SHITTY TO SCORPIA
WHICH SHE WAS
oooooooh and THERE'S THE SCORPIA/PERFUMA MINDCONTROL ANGST FOEYAY :D
SCORPIA SHOT CATRA WITH A MASSIVE BOLT OF ELECTRICITY AND CATRA KNEW SHE DESERVED IT :D :D
Sorry Shadow Weaver but your daughters are gonna kiss despite your best efforts
Entrapta and Hooordaaaak
Your imperfections are beautiful ;_;
AHHHH FINISHED IT THAT WAS SO GOOD
I love how the f/f couples got kisses and the m/f didn't.
CATRA/ADORA 4EVER
I'm glad Shadow Weaver died because she was Just Too Abusive To Live. I liked how even when she meant well she fucked up. Her last minute turn of heart was a bit easy but she only had to be good for 5 minutes, and I could believe that. I'm glad Catra got to hear "I'm proud of you" even if...it really emphasises that she and Adora have the same mum haha
We only got a tiny shot of Kyle/Rogelio but they seemed happy and good and could be read as shippy.
I didn't think I'd be convinced by a Hordak turning good plot but the way it happened felt very IC (he doesn't so much turn good as turn against Horde Prime) and him being entirely free was so last minute there wasn't time for them to have to show how weird it would be afterwards, and they lampshaded it like...YEAH SO THIS WILL BE AWKWARD but SHHHH HAPPY ENDING JUST GO WITH IT
I like that characters like Hordak, Double Trouble and Shadow Weaver got to be somewhat redeemed but didn't Become Good. Shadow Weaver sacrificed herself at the last minute, but didn't change who she was permanently. And the other two got to a point where they would work with the good guys and stop being ACTIVELY EVIL, but it's not clear what they'll be like going forward. There's a sort of...good natured ambivalence to it, instead of trying to jam everyone into an Acceptably Good Person Box at once. That would get repetitive and kinda creepy and also there wasn't time to do it justice for everyone at once. Catra has a redemption arc (which wasn't perfect but mostly worked for me); Scorpia and Entrapta have partial redemption arcs but never went Super Bad in the first place; Hordak, Double Trouble and Shadow Weaver have partial redemption arcs to "morally ambiguous ally". And I guess Glimmer had a "good guy seriously screws up and learns better" arc. It's a nice variety.
Glad Hordak/Entrapta and Seahawk/Mermista remained ambiguous (I mean Seahawk's feelings aren't ambiguous but never were) Wasn't really won over to ship Glimmer/Bow but I'm not against it. Perfuma/Scorpia staying ambiguous but cutely shippy worked better than shoehorning in a romantic resolution they didn't have time to do justice. THIS IS WHAT FIC IS FOR.
The scifi worldbuilding is all very rule-of-cool don't-think-too-hard but worked emotionally and the writers knew not to lean on it too heavily.
We didn't get to SEE Wrong Hordak's revolution but it is totally going to happen. Chipper ex-clones forming their own collective and calling everyone brother :D
Mika and Glimmer got to hug ;_; I liked their whole arc, and how Angela played a part in the end. Glimmer annoyed me for a lot of the show but I like what they did with her overall.
And that's my thoughts for now! I may have more later.
EDIT: Also, Adora feels! She grows and gains so much over the show ;_;
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That and afaict they weren't allowed to have all the f/f they wanted in earlier seasons so had to make it all subtext, which booth blurred the friendship/romance line and presumably made them more determined to have some be canon in the end.
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