anti spop universes and stuff!

name’s ashe! i’m an​ anti-spop account, because this show is still highly praised and antis spread like a virus. i am part of that virus.  disclaimer - if you’re a stan that is not willing to hear the other side, do not even bother coming at me. it’s wasting your time and mine.

for ( most ) of my SPOP aus - masterlist ( slow updates )

it would've been the first real choice Adora ever made for herself.

She-Ra being a choice for her was so important in the original show, and it would've been monumental if Adora had the same choice in the reboot, if the writers cared enough about her to show the abuse and propaganda she suffered. there would've been countless opportunities to show that and highlight that your voice matters.

the original Adora saw for herself what the Horde was doing to innocent people. she saw Horde officers enslave, abuse, and destroy people's homes. and she saw it by listening to Adam and investigating.

it showed that she was a human before being a hero, because she didn't have the Sword of Protection by then. we have reason to believe before She-Ra is even on screen that Adora would've made the right decision and protect the innocent.

meanwhile, in the reboot, She-Ra just happens to Adora. before she can find the truth.

of course, Adam isn't in the reboot ( for legal reasons or other ), but he's not required in order for Adora to have taken a similar route.

another character could've taken Adam's place, like Glimmer or Bow or even a random civilian. it didn't have to be him or nothing.

or her initial confrontation with Glimmer and Bow could've happened before she ever knew about the sword in the first place. it's not what i would've chosen, as i argue that takes something away from Adora's autonomy, but still less than what happened in canon.

She-Ra is meant to be a symbol of good, including the good that comes from your own autonomy and voice. including the good that comes from setting boundaries and standing up for yourself and what's right. including the good that comes from being human.

it'll always bother me that the reboot took that away, when choice is a consistent messaging that the original was always intending to give.

like, no.

no, Jax is a bad person because she wants to be.

let's put aside that none of that excuses Jax in the first place, nor does it make a whole lot of sense, Jax is just a bad person by her own choice.

first of all, Zooble had intense dysphoria and was pessimistic, guarded, and most likely depressed, but didn't hurt anyone. people joked about them having alcohol or drugs to cope, which i don't see as funny.

second of all, Ragatha had a very abusive mother that potentially scarred her eye and blinded her. if Jax was a bad person solely because of her abusive parents, then Ragatha should've been, too, by that logic.

third of all, Ragatha holds a lot of guilt. a lot, over things that were not her fault. she felt responsible for Jax, Pomni, and most likely Ribbit.

and, fourth of all, arguably the most important detail, Jax decided on her own to be a bad person after opening up to Ribbit. prior to that, Jax was distant and, at most, a "loveable" asshole.

because she opened up to Ribbit, Jax punished them by isolating and DARVO'ing until Ribbit committed suicide via abstraction. and then did the exact same thing to Kaufmo until he abstracted, too.

all Ribbit wanted was to be a good friend and help Jax.

i'm not saying that people can't act / lash out or be a bad person because of specifically those things ( even though it's no excuse ).

what i am saying is that Jax was perfectly capable of not hurting or abusing anyone before opening up to Ribbit. she looked to be minding her own business and didn't talk much to anyone.

but that somehow became too much for her, to the point that she killed Ribbit and Kaufmo. Jax killed her friends because one of them ( Ribbit ) was trying to help.

Ribbit even apologized for making Jax uncomfortable or for pushing, which wasn't their fault to begin with. and Jax responded with gaslighting and saying they are manipulating her. Ribbit looked so confused, worried, and even a little scared.

after Ribbit and Kaufmo, Jax went on to be an awful person.

then, there were actions made that just don't make sense unless it was by Jax's own volition.

she took one look at Gangle and decided she was pathetic, gave her an insulting name, and abused her so much that Gangle felt like a toy.

she silenced Ragatha through what very well could've been threats or more gaslighting and tormented her thoroughly afterwards.

she told Pomni that everyone ( the non-men, she meant ) were her playthings and that she enjoyed toying with them.

she has keys to everyone's rooms. why would she need that? especially Gangle's.

even if Jax was solely an abuser for the reasons mentioned above, how does that excuse or justify anything? how does that mean she deserves empathy, when she violated Gangle so thoroughly, to the point the poor woman felt subhuman?

but that's not even what happened. Jax made too many decisions that couldn't have been for either of those things ( esp the keys. we need to think about the keys. ).

Jax is just a bad person because she chose to be.

you can't claim to like Jax because she's "messy and complex", but then downplay, excuse, or justify her actions.

you can't claim to like Jax because she's "messy and complex", and then not call her an abuser.

you can't claim to like Jax because she's "messy and complex", and then dislike / hate Ragatha and / or Gangle.

gold is cool. for armor. and fits Adora a lot.

but She-Ra's outfit being white in the original makes me think she'd look so awesome in diamond / silver ( pref diamond cus, y'know, strongest gemstone ).

me at 17-19 - i respect if you like / love Glimmer, but please do not talk about her in my presence, i will implode.

she ain't go no hobbies. no interests. no aspirations. she just wanna be a terrorist and take over the world.

her redemption is a nothing burger 'cus she got nothing outside of being abused and being abusive. even when she was in the Crimson Waste, the writers were more concerned about her being a "badass" and "edgy" than having a life.

like.

.

Pomni - a depressed and understimulated woman who's obsessed with thrills and adventures. the first person in the circus to thrive in its environment ( at first ). her core theme is Evolution.

Ragatha - an endless people-pleaser who struggles with internal dread and overcompensates by trying to help ( and overhelp ) others. her core theme is Respect.

Jax - a nihilistic type who finds enjoyment in the torment of others and prefers to believe everyone fits into a mold. her core theme is Denial.

Gangle - an illustrator who struggles with severe mental health issues and is afraid of the world, rationally and irrationally. her core theme is Trust.

Zooble - a tattoo designer and bartender who's dysphoric and pessimistic, prone to seeing the worst in people and themselves. their core theme is Acceptance.

Kinger - a man with a memory disorder and a past he can't quite remember, only finding stability in the dark. his core theme is Responsibility.

Caine - a sentient AI intent on bringing entertainment to the circus by any means, as he was designed to. his core theme is Duality.

.

over the course of 9 episodes:

Pomni has a relationship with the other characters, through character-specific episodes ( though not ignoring the others and the mysteries of the circus ).

abstractions are discovered by a horrified Pomni ( the first she finds is Queenie / Destiny ), not taken as simple fact. Caine had kept them secret and made it so no one could talk about them. and the abstractions all have different designs.

Kinger's memories are handled delicately. he finds them better in the dark, but it's not a complete solution. Pomni finds other methods to help him remember things better. as the series goes on, he has a better grasp on them and is able to piece some things together.

Jax's spiral is seen for what it is. a spiral. while Pomni is initially worried and trying to reach her, there comes a point where she can't keep fighting for something Jax doesn't want.

trauma is addressed here. Ragatha's mom, Gangle's life, Zooble's body dysphoria and dysmorphia, Kinger's losses, and Jax's parents. Pomni seems to be more focused on others than herself, her self-destructive tendencies making her bury her own pain under daredevil behavior. this will have consequences.

Caine gets confronted. it leads to a distorted, broken world as he becomes enraged at Pomni's "entitlement" and "spoiled, ungrateful" behavior.

Pomni almost abstracts. Ragatha, Gangle, and Zooble help her. Jax doesn't.

the abstractions are all figured out. memories of their lives appear throughout the series, depending on Pomni's interactions with them. after Ribbit's memories, Pomni understands Jax is beyond saving.

.

there's more to be included, but that's a sort of detailed(ish) base of what i would've done with TADC.

Pomni almost abstracting is one of my favorite concepts, as it stems from her self-negligence, destructiveness, and complete burnout. that, and she'd understand how painful the process is and what was going through the others' minds when it happened to them.

here's two thoughts i have that could've made Pomni's character more relatable or interesting:

we saw Abigail's life before TADC.

though it's understandable, we don't have a precise reason to feel the panic Pomni does when she joins the circus.

i think what would've driven this feeling further is if we saw Abigail's life prior to waking up as Pomni. i imagine it's a slow, distorted, B&W filter through her eyes, showing she's living in the mundane and stagnant. perhaps colors would show when we see a snapshot of her thrill-seeking, showing she finds energy and importance in this.

you can still keep the struggle to remember things, such as her real face and name, with distorted sound or visuals ( or both ), so the mystery to who she is can still be there.

just something to give us ground and expectation before we're thrown into the situation Abigail / Pomni is.

or...

Pomni is excited to be in TADC.

with the aforementioned mundane life and thrill-seeking, i think it would make sense if Pomni was hyped to be a part of something with so many adventures. it'd be a stark contrast to everyone else's views and would give more opportunities for dynamics, esp with Caine.

what if Pomni was reckless and the VR game ( i refuse to take the AI ) allowed her to be self-destructive, but she doesn't see it as a problem? she could sort of mirror Jax, in that sense, but without the whole "abusing the non-men" trait.

Pomni not exactly being in denial, but not quite caring about her own health if it means she can feel something more.

.

i remember them, yea!

main character who's a grump, grieving, and an alcoholic or has some other vice - a woman

wise old person with some wise cracks and seems near impossible to kill - a woman

the one who's comedic relief until they snap - a woman

the mentor - a woman

the techie one - a woman

the flirty one who's a player - a woman

the one with anger and attachment issues - a woman

the pervert ( who shouldn't be allowed around other people, but still is, for some twisted "comedic" reasons ) - a woman

the "crazy / kooky" one - a woman

the "edgy" one - a woman

and so on and so forth.

i feel there would be a lot of criticism ( valid and invalid ), relief, disbelief, and relatability that otherwise wasn't there for a lot of people.

the short of it, my lil bro broke my computer charger and i had to wait two or so weeks to get a new one ( the reason i came back here for a moment was bc of my phone ), but i got one just an hour ago and i'm here!

with that aside, let's talk about smth.

i don't understand fandoms being so against abuse not making someone a bad person.

when it comes to villains, their backstories are typically handed out ( either by the writers or the fans, or both ) to justify their actions.

but when it comes to heroes, that doesn't happen.

i don't see this just with official // commercialized media, i see this with other artists' OCs, too.

not gonna disclose who for their privacy, but people were going after an artist i recently followed for their dark-skinned OC ( who is the protagonist / hero of the artist's story ) "looking violent and restrained like an animal" when the OC in question was a victim of her circumstances. she was covered in blood from something painful she had to go through, and she was angry and hurt. that's apparently being "violent and restrained like an animal".

people were telling the artist that "well, it looks like that at first glance", as if it's the artist's responsibility to force their story into other people's faces and not the audience to actively interact and understand. if they really believed that the artist was racist.

so, now POC-coded characters can't be in vulnerable, gruesome situations without looking "violent"?

meanwhile their lighter-skinned OC received no such backlash, when she was actually violent.

even without the discussion of race, this logic applies to so many fandoms who think heroes aren't allowed to do wrong or make mistakes without being an irredeemable monster, while villains can do whatever they want because they're villains and don't deserve criticism because "tragic backstories".

another more familiar example:

Adora was called abusive for pushing Catra off the bed in "Taking Control". meanwhile, Catra was defended to the Nine Circles and back by fans when she committed universal genocide ( the Portal ) and abused Adora to the ground.

i don't think Adora was wrong for giving Catra barely a taste of her own medicine, but i can understand people who have differing view.

what i do think is wrong is people loving when Catra does these terrible, irreversible, irredeemable things, but hates when she gets called out for it and will act like it's a personal attack on them when people don't like her.

this goes into the belief that "female rage" is just for villains. it isn't.

this mindset is toxic and punishing. women, of any shape and color, of any background, should be allowed to be angry. people should be allowed to be angry.

for a final example...

Jax and Ragatha.

Jax, because she's an antagonist, is allowed to do whatever she likes. she can mock, harass, assault, and whatever else, and that's expected and excused because she's an antagonist and "messy".

but Ragatha getting angry at Jax for ten seconds earns her being told to calm down ( Pomni ), getting called fake ( Jax ), and people hating her ( the fandom ), and Ragatha ends up apologizing.

people who hold these views, that heroes / protagonists can't be as messy, angry, or flawed as villains, especially female characters on both ends, are contributing to the idea that women in general cannot be flawed or they'll be villainized.

is that what you want?

protagonists who aren't abusive or predators because of their backgrounds are not suddenly less valid than their antagonist counterparts.

there's proper criticism, then there's this.

you can't call Korra names for "breaking the Avatar cycle" ( when she didn't ), then turn around and call Azula a queen for manipulating and threatening Ty Lee ( setting her act on fire ) into joining her team.

you can't call Glimmer an asshole for telling Catra that Adora didn't run away from the Horde, but from her, then turn around and call Catra hot for belittling and degrading Adora so severely that Adora repeats her words to herself down the line.