mara-defense-squad

[mara-defense-squad]

Understanding Catra is my media literacy test

[mara-defense-squad]

“Promise” is Catra’s episode

“Promise” is a special episode in many ways, but one reason for it that I think often goes unnoticed is how it’s a Catra POV episode. Yes, Catra is our secondary protagonist throughout the whole story and we see lots from her POV, but when we see interactions between her and Adora it’s often shown from Adora’s POV. “White Out” is another exception where we see most of the Catradora from Catra’s POV (which makes sense because it focuses most on Scorpia and Catra). However, that episode has very little Catradora and it’s also an ensemble episode, so Catra doesn’t dominate the screen or the story. “Promise” is a whole-ass episode of Catradora and it’s told through a more Catra-focused lens, which really makes it her episode. And that makes it very special and fascinating to watch.

What do I mean when I say it’s Catra POV? Well, obviously this is an episode that illuminates a lot of her trauma and motivations, and the main arc of the episode is her getting to a place where she wants to end her toxic relationship with Adora. But actually, the main thing I’m talking about is how it’s shot…

To start, the whole opening sequence is Catra watching Adora and following her into the ruins.

The next part is a little more Adora-centric because she’s having a very frustrating conversation with Siri and Catra’s only observing. But even though Adora gets more lines and screentime here it’s also interspersed with several shots of Catra watching her, making us very aware of not only her presence but her viewpoint.

Then throughout the episode, each time they separate we follow Catra, not Adora (with one notable exception at the end), only cutting back to Adora when (or just before) they reunite:

-When they are exploring the “Fright Zone”

-When Lonnie intervenes in their combat exercise

-When they split up afterwards

-When Catra gets captured by the spider and has to fight it off solo (here Adora comes flying in from nowhere and we have no idea how she tracked them down and got there, which is odd [and very notable] given she’s the hero)

-After their big blow up, when Catra sees the final flashback (that only she is privy to, another indication that this is her episode)

The only exception to this rule is after Catra cuts Adora’s ropes and walks off, leaving Adora to deal with what just happened and not understanding it at all (because she hasn’t been following Catra’s journey with us, she is still in her own POV and as oblivious as ever to what Catra is going through).

But even then, after Adora lets go of the cliff (which seems like it should be the end of the episode), we get an additional scene outside of the bottle structure where Catra has to deal with the emotional consequences of her actions.

The final shots are of her reacting to Scorpia’s assertion that she is “the best friend ever” and then walking away.

Also, throughout the episode there are several scenes that end with a conspicuous shot of Catra’s reaction to the emotional content that just took place. Here’s just a couple examples:

All in all, this really drives home that “Promise” is Catra’s story, which makes sense because it marks a huge turning point for her character.

In contrast, the Catradora-heavy episode “Remember” is Adora POV. Whenever they’re split up, it’s Adora we’re focusing on. We’re following her emotional journey, experiencing the episode through her eyes, and Catra is more of a prop throughout that journey, kind of like how Adora’s a bit of a prop in “Promise”. And maybe it’s just me, but with Adora being the main protagonist I find the Catra-centric episode - the tale of the underdog - to be much more compelling.

I’m very interested to see how this upcoming season 5 episode where we see their young selves again is going to turn out, whose POV it will be from and what lessons they will take from it. Catra was poisoned by these negative memories in “Promise” and needs to revisit their childhood again and see the ways Adora loved and tried to support her, even when she failed. She needs something to heal the toxic notion that Adora only saw her as a burden and a sidekick and didn’t respect her. (There is a kernel of truth to those thoughts of hers, but they were blown out of proportion by her PTSD and BPD thanks to Light Hope’s meddling.) So, I have a feeling this new episode is also going to be Catra POV, or at least with a heavy emphasis on her. And I can’t wait.

#i also love the parallel at the end of both episodes #cos promise essentially ends with catra pooking at the younger version of herself and deciding to protect her #whereas corridors ends with catra looking at a younger adora and deciding to protect her #anyways #well done for predicting this op #spop #catra #catradora #meta

[mara-defense-squad]

I actually cant get over how tragic maras story is. Every move she makes is ultimately undone, and she knew it would be.

She went to etheria believing she was doing something good, wanting to protect her people, and falling in love with the magic there. shes mostly alone, but she forms close bonds with everyone and everything that let's her - light hope, razz, etheria itself. and that is mostly returned, despite the odds - light hope calls her a friend, razz cares for her immensely.

And as she begins her hero's journey, razz is littering their every interaction with stories of someone else - adora. Mara knows adora is she ra too, a she ra of the future.

When she finds out The Truth, and everything starts to crumble around her, light hope is reprogrammed to devalue her, she makes the decision to fight against it, with great personal sacrifice.

She wanted to protect her people - she had to turn against them in order to protect the universe.

She loved light hope - and she had to watch her turn against her, and then disable her.

She loved magic, and she loved she ra- she had to give it up, and destroy that mantle for good.

But in everything she did, she knew, at some point, adora would be there. Still fighting the same battle.

How hard must it have been to know that some day everything she fought for would be gone? That, ultimately, she would fail? She doesn't know how long it will take, in her recording she speculates its only been a few weeks. She doesn't know how long it will hold, what difference she can make. All she knows is that one day, adora will be there. Adora, who will have to take up the mantle. Adora, who will have to carry a legacy she never wanted to pass down. All she can do is hope that the ground she lays is enough, so that adora might be able to finish what she started. And at the end, she had no way of knowing that her work succeeded.

She was doomed from the start, and she lost almost everything along the way, and she had no choice but to go into battle and pray it would be enough, and she never even got to see that it was

#mara #my girl deserved better #spop #spop meta

[mara-defense-squad]

SPOP Textposts Part 2

Part 1

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[mara-defense-squad]

tumblr deserves to laugh too

[mara-defense-squad]

Happy Birthday

Adora/She-Ra (19th January)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

[mara-defense-squad]

my unhinged she-ra theory is that the infected disk was actually a part of the heart protocol. It was meant as a tool turn she-ra ruthless so that she wouldn't have any reserves about firing the heart

[mara-defense-squad]

netflix if it was like spotify:

this year you spent 37 days watching she ra! i think we need to call your therapist, what's his number?

[mara-defense-squad]

What really struck me on rewatch is how Catra keeps jumping from external approval figure to external approval figure... up until Horde Prime.

As soon as Adora leaves, Catra tries to step up into her absence and earn Shadow Weaver's approval instead. When that inevitably fails, she earns Hordak's approval, and shifts to chasing that. Then Entrapta overtakes her as Hordak's favorite, so she runs right back to Shadow Weaver for approval. Then Shadow Weaver escapes, and she has the complete portal opening meltdown, before going back to Hordak, this time doubling-down on "world domination" as an arbitrary goal.

She keeps thinking when this person or that person is proud of me, when I get this or when I destroy that, then I will finally be happy.

The line ends at the end of S4. Hordak turns on her. Adora left. Scorpia left. Shadow Weaver left. She sent Entrapta away. Even her squad want nothing to do with her. She's flat out of people to seek approval from, and her arbitrary goal of world domination both falls apart and fails to make her happy.

Catra even tries to repeat this same pattern with Horde. And in a worse timeline, she could have had. She could have dug the hole deeper. It's a confluence of factors that finally change her MO here, that finally snap her from seeking external validation to self-inspection. What does she really want?

[mara-defense-squad]

They made it and so can we ✊

[mara-defense-squad]

I think the thing that really appeals me to catradora is the fact that they weren't supposed to make it.

Think about it for a second. Their whole lives they were pitted against each other, because Shadow Weaver wanted Adora and Catra only ever interfered with that. But they still built up their friendship. They made The Promise. They had each other, throughout their time in the Horde, despite Shadow Weaver desperately trying to drive a wedge in between them. They were never supposed to last, but they did.

And then when Adora finds the sword, becomes She-Ra and joins the rebellion - well they definitely weren't supposed to make it then. They were enemies, on opposite sides of the war. Yet, in early season 1 (pre-Promise) Catra still defends Adora in her absence. She lies to Shadow Weaver, lies to everyone about Adora being She-Ra and when SW finds out, she says "She's just confused". Still protecting Adora, despite her leaving. And Adora doesn't stop trying to convince Catra to join the rebellion, even though the rebellion would likely prefer it if she did. They weren't supposed to be fighting for each other - but they did.

And then Promise happens. Like Shadow Weaver, Light Hope sees Adora's friendship to Catra as a threat. So, she takes that wedge SW jammed inbetween them and drives it all the way home. She convinces Catra to cut Adora off, and convinces Adora to let go of her. And Light Hope succeeds where Shadow Weaver failed - they are now enemies. And they stay that way. This is how it was always supposed to be.

Then Catra opens the Portal. They get each other back for a second, but it only serves to prove they were never meant to last. Catra completely turns on Adora, and when it's over, Adora completely gives up on Catra. Any hope of reconciliation is shredded.

Catra continues on her downward spiral. Adora moves on. The war rages on, and they keep walking their separate paths. This was how it was supposed to end.

But then - then, in the rubble after the Heart of Etheria, at the moment Adora expects it the least, Catra saves Glimmer, and she apologises. She does this with no hope of seeing Adora again, and Adora doesn't know how to deal with it at first. If she was following the path laid out for her her entire life, she would have left Catra to die on Horde Prime's ship, grateful for her sacrifice, and grieving what could have been. That was how it was supposed to go, and it was exactly what Catra expected from her. But she defies it. She puts aside the greater good, and she storms Horde Prime's ship, for no other reason than that she wanted to. This is not what's supposed to happen.

In Save the Cat, Catra was supposed to serve Horde Prime. She's completely stripped of her autonomy, forced to fight Adora. She's supposed to break her. When she manages to break through - just a little bit - she is supposed to die. She falls off that platform, into the abyss, no hope left for her. Adora is supposed to let her. Instead, she summons She-Ra, and brings Catra back to life. They were never supposed to make it this far.

And it doesn't get easier. For a while, in Taking Control, they still don't really know how to act around each other. They have to learn it again. But they keep trying, against all odds. Catra starts to heal. Adora watches. They get to rekindle what they lost.

But then Shadow Weaver comes back, and the Failsafe happens. All their old wounds are raw again. SW is pressing all of Adora's old buttons, desperately reinforcing that wedge between them, so that Adora will take the Failsafe. At first, Catra resists this - she eavesdrops on Adora and SW conversation, and she seas her manipulation for what it is - and she tries to convince Adora to do the same. Ultimately she fails when Adora accepts the Failsafe. Catra knows that Adora is going to die being the hero, and she can't face that so she leaves. They are separated once again, and it doesn't look like there's any way back. It could have ended here too.

But in Heart, Catra sets down her hurt and her fear and she goes back to warn Adora of the new danger as Horde Prime hacks the planet. She finds Adora fighting for her life, and losing. Catra saves her, and allows SW to take Adora on to the Heart. She tries to sacrifice herself again. They both should have died there.

Only Adora comes back for her, once again. She rejects her destiny to save Catra. SW dies instead.

They've reached the final hurdle, the Heart itself. Adora can't transform into She-Ra, so she's doomed to die saving the world. Catra is supposed to let her.

But against all odds, they confess their love and it works. They both get to live.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. At every turn the cards were stacked against them but they still won. They still made it. And I love that for them.

(sidenote but this is also why i love catra as a character and her whole arc. She was supposed to live a miserable life and die a miserable death but she got to live and change and grow as a person. Ugh I love this show)

#long post #catradora #spop #catra #adora #catradora meta #spop meta #spop meta in the year 2023? its more likely than you think

[mara-defense-squad]

please

[mara-defense-squad]

Happy Birthday

Catra (28th October)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

[mara-defense-squad]

happy birthday, Catra. go hug your wife.

[mara-defense-squad]

I just opened this today and turns out it's Catra's birthday????

damn happy birthday Catra

[mara-defense-squad]

[mara-defense-squad]

In S2E4 (the dnd ep), Scorpia has a line, “she said ‘even you can’t mess that up’” which is very much something SW would’ve said to Catra. Catra took all the abuse she got (and is still getting) and weaponized it for later use.

Meanwhile in the camp Adora has a little meltdown about planning and says something on the lines of “if this plan isn’t perfect, if I’m not perfect…” and that is exactly the kind of thing SW would’ve said to Adora in the past. This idea that if anything goes wrong it’s her fault and she must be perfect 24/7 is something she still holds onto. This inability to relinquish control of the planning for even a moment because she’s the only one who can be perfect, the only one who MUST be perfect is so engrained in her that she cannot handle it.

Every episode is tinged with the shadows of their past and shared traumas.