#anyway. shoutout to that [REDACTED] at the very end of last week's episode for sending me into this particular spiral <333

[happi-tree]

I’m having Thoughts about the Calamity Trio’s outfit designs - particularly their armor - and the symbolism of it all again, so naturally, I am going to make it everyone’s problem.

Sasha's most defining piece of armor is her shoulder pauldron. This girl is carrying the weight of rebellions and the weight of her own mistakes upon her shoulders, and she continues to shoulder those burdens as the story evolves. Out of the three girls, it’s Sasha’s armor that remains the most consistent (at least, in terms of placement). In season one, she’s carrying the weight of her own personal rebellion against her captors while simultaneously putting pressure on herself to find Anne and Marcy again. In season two, she’s attempting to lead a rebellion alongside Grime and the toads against Andrias but she’s also being affected - weighted down - by her actions in Reunion and their consequences in terms of her relationship with Anne. In season three, she becomes the sole leader of the Wartwood rebellion for a time, which is obviously an immense burden to carry, and she’s also juggling the weight of her mistakes from the past two seasons - but this time, she’s really acknowledging their presence and trying her hardest to make a deliberate change for the better. Notice how her pauldron grows larger with each updated design - as the scope of her command and the depth of her self-reflection grows, so, too, does its size. Another key component is that Sasha has only one pauldron and not two - it’s inherently asymmetric, inherently unbalanced. Keeping one shoulder bare of armor like this could also represent the moments of vulnerability we see from her, a physical representation of her trying to find balance between her tough exterior and her caring nature (because Sasha truly cares so much and so deeply). 

Sasha’s most defining piece of armor rests upon her shoulder because she's Strength. 

While Sasha and Marcy’s designs both have armor in multiple areas, Anne's only piece of armor is her chestplate. It should be noted that unlike Sasha, Anne only gets this armor partway through season two - there are no previous iterations of her armor because, in contrast to both Sasha and Marcy, she hadn’t felt a need for armor before. Against the backdrop of her school uniform and unmatched footwear, it looks almost jarringly out of place, but it isn’t! Anne’s always been a very emotional character - she’s very in tune with others’ feelings as well as her own, and up until season three, she makes her feelings very clear - she has an open heart, simply put. However, an open heart, exposed and vulnerable, is prone to heartbreak, and as the show progresses, Anne’s is broken repeatedly by grief, by loss, and by betrayals. Symbolically, her chestplate shows her character growth in that she’s had to learn the hard way to protect her heart - to guard herself from the onslaught of others’ ill intentions, to attempt to minimize the toll that these betrayals and losses have on her emotionally. The colors of her armor are also interesting - gold with blue accents. Anne is one of those people who have what is known as a heart of gold - she’s so inherently compassionate that her sympathy reverberates from her very core (ha), and it affects everything she does. However, the blue accents, focused at the borders and at the very center (the heart of the piece, if you will) could represent that her soul has been tinged with sorrow. While blue is the color of sorrow and sadness, though, it’s also a color of tranquility - Anne needs to make peace with that sorrow and grief, reconcile the mess of her negative emotions with her kind nature, in order to best move forward. 

Anne’s only piece of armor covers her chest because she's the Heart.

As for Marcy’s most prominent piece of armor right now… that would be the helmet. We’ve had the least amount of time with this silhouette - while Sasha has had her pauldron for the vast majority of the show and Anne has had her chestplate for a bit more than one season, the helmet only comes into play once season 3 is well underway. Marcy’s mind, her intellect, is her greatest asset, and yet it has also become her biggest downfall, as it was her knack for strategy and her sharp wit that made her the perfect host for the Core. Unlike the other girls, who wear armor to protect themselves from outside threats, the helm that Marcy wears while under the Core’s control is trapping a malevolent force within rather than keeping it out. It should also be noted that while Sasha and Anne’s prophecy-assigned colors are present in their most prominent pieces of armor, not a trace of green can be seen in this helmet - only gunmetal-black is present in its construction, alongside the burning orange-yellow of the Core’s many eyes. 

The design that Marcy’s body wears currently features a helmet as its most prominent piece of armor because Marcy is Wit, and that Wit poses the one of greatest threats to Andrias and the Core’s plans. Thus, it’s Marcy’s head that the Core needs to keep under control the most (itself being a hivemind), so a helmet - one that can filter out not only sight and sound, but also the wearer’s own thoughts - is a chillingly effective choice. 

#hey pres. you asked for the essay. well *jazz hands* here you go!!! kinda sjdfbjhsbfs it's not that long #anyway. shoutout to that [REDACTED] at the very end of last week's episode for sending me into this particular spiral <333 #but yeah. also thinking abt that post that talks abt how each member of the trio lacks something that the other two have bc. that applies! #marcy and anne have symmatrical armor while sasha does not #sasha and anne have their colors in their armor while marcy does not; sasha and anne's protect them while marcy's actively harms her #sasha and marcy have (at least at some point) eye symbolism prominent. something something control/influence of forces beyond the self... #is this just. my brand now. doing analysis of character designs for my brainrot of the year. could be worse ig! #anyway. #cartoons #amphibia #amphibia s3b spoilers #very VERY vague spoilers for the newest sasha design but. still. just to be safe :) #meta #happi rambles