So I made a thing. A really dumb thing I put way too much time into making.

and let me start off by clarifying that I thought this was a good show. It contains such a poignant, hopeful, yet still tangible narrative about cycles of abuse, about agency and the invisible hand, about the nature of true improvement in everyday life, the complexity of relationships and their difficulties and the interdependency we nonetheless embrace. Not to mention the diverse portrayal of a whole host of sexualities and identities. All wrapped up in a cast of multidimensional characters from the get-go.

But what’s missing? Oh, right! The narrative of war. Which leads me into the point of my post.

It’s glaringly obvious to me that the creator is white.

One of the first things that struck me during the show’s pilot was its use of this seemingly Native-inspired motif. I was immediately drawn to it, expecting, with the consciousness of that parallel, that the show would draw upon the memories and scars still present in forthcoming generations, ongoing environmental and societal destruction, and how displaced, disillusioned, yet powerful young people might struggle but eventually reign triumphant over the trauma they have inherited.

But as the series progresses outside of its first season, the story warps into something quite different. Getting to grow up on the victim’s side of the war seems like a good fate— one with little to no emotional baggage, at least in comparison to their counterparts. Outside of Glimmer, we barely see any common or chronic legacy of trauma or anger towards war-related loss (unless it’s directed towards Entrapta). The problem with recognizing Adora’s Horde jacket disappears within the first three episodes. Being a member of the Rebellion (literally consigning to being a soldier) isn’t portrayed as a tragic fate anywhere past their initial defeat and disbanding: they all just tend to hang out in little camps together, bonded by love and the power of friendship, mostly dissociated and unmarred by whatever tragedy might belie their hypothetical people. The whole war and sides thing functions more as a plot driver and frame for the intimate conflicts the show is actually concerned with, whether it be Adora’s shifting sense of identity, her Messiah complex and never-ending assumption of responsibility, her conflicting feelings towards Catra, or the strained friendships between her, Bow, and Glimmer. Even when a character (Mermista) does suffer a significant loss, the sense of loss and distress she faces resolves in… what? Two episodes? And trivialized to getting over it with a bubble bath and ice cream?

(Compare this to ATLA, where the Gaang was constantly connecting with others through their shared and ever-present generational pain: Haru, Jet, Lee and his family, Suki, Hama, Baby Hope and her family, the entire populace of every town we see in the show… Yes, I know both of the creators there were white too, but my point still stands)

The princess’s temporary losses and friendship struggles pale in comparison to the suffering of the two most sympathetic characters in the show: Catra and Hordak. The trauma they bear from their unique personal histories overwhelms any kind of baggage (or lack thereof) their victims ever have to cope with. Which I don’t have any problem with, per sé— I loved all of these arcs and found our two antiheros such tragic and fascinating characters constructed uniquely by their war-related situations, posing so many fantastic philosophical and moral questions I can and will dissect and analyze with vigor and enthusiasm and appreciation— I just mean to point out that it speaks for the creator’s understanding of war and its true ramifications to use it as a framing device, only to largely abandon it in preference of a different type of story.

She-Ra was never a show about the victims of war. It was never intended to deliberate upon the trauma of civilian warfare, and it was never meant to represent the victims of conquest the Rebellion actually paralleled. 

I give it MASCLES

And I wanna stress that when i say “top of the leg” i’m not talking about the crotch (please don’t flag me tumblr it’s an anatomical term) i’m talking about the point where the femur connects to the pelvis, which is higher up on the hips:

It’s easier to see what I’m talking about in this photo of a man squatting: 

So yeah if you use that measurement when using this technique you should get fairly realistically proportioned legs:

But remember! messing with proportions is an important and fun part of character design! Know the rules first so you can then break them however you please!

Obligatory mention of the fact I’ve never once seen any amount of She-Ra and honestly wont ever until everything else in my watchlist has been exhausted. However, here is my character summary of the She-Ra cast from what I’ve gleaned from the occasional tumblr post

She-Ra:

-the main character (obv.)

- female version of He-Man (also never watched. killing it with the naming scheme, though.)

-wields a magic sword that can also turn into a flying Pegasus?

-fights for the honor of Greyskull? Thought that was the bad guy from He-Man?

-lesbian in love with the cat lady.

-princess of Arendellia? (Tbh, that came from an Elsa x She-Ra slash fix I scrolled past so I take that info with a mouthful of salt)

Catra

-cat lady. Once again, killing it with the naming convention. Real A+ work. JK Rowling is jealous.

-used to be the main villain but had a redemption arc.

-redemption arc not as good as Zuko’s but still pretty good.

-lesbian waifu of She-Ra

-is like the daughter of the actual main bad guy? Or maybe just their hired assassin?

-what can I say? She’s a cat. She do cat stuff like stand on ledges and knock vases over.

Hordak

-honestly had to look up this dude’s name (unless this dude likes to bone, naming scheme has been killed?)

-idk much about flowers this guy, but I know a bitch vampire when I see one.

-main evil dude.

-guy has like, a ton of little gremlins and also robot versions of himself?

-Catra’s abusive bad-dad.

-typical villain trope wants to take over the world (or at least the kingdom of Greyskull? Is that what it’s proper name is?)

Scorpia

-the naming scheme was revived with a Phoenix Down.

-she’s one of the princesses of power.

-has really strong motherly vibes.

-what can I say? She’s a scorpion. She do scorpion stuff, like bury herself in the sand and sting assholes that walk over her (that could be an allusion to her personality but idk enough about her to say definitively).

Shadow Weaver

-well this is a villain if I’ve ever seen one.

-also, this dude is not a dude like I had assumed from the Netflix avatar photo options. What my brother in law doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

-with the naming scheme having quaffed a health potion and working at full strength, I can only assume she’s a weaver of shadows.

-some sort of illusionist I think?

-pretty sure she isn’t actually involved that much, I haven’t seen much discourse of her.

-would absolutely rip out a child’s heart and burn it as an ingredient for some sinister magic potion

Entrapa

-THIS CHICK BANGED THE VAMPIRE!?!?

-I don’t care that she’s apparently some mad scientist!

-how mad do you have to be!?

-honey you read waaaayyyy too much Harry Potter fanfiction if you’re trying to go after discount Voldemort over here. I don’t care what anyone says The Cursed Child is not cannon!!!

-sorry, I was looking up a picture of her and it states on Wikipedia her significant other was Hordak and my brain exploded.

Perfuma

-order 66 has been called and the naming scheme has turned on me, bludgeoning me over the head with a baseball bat.

-she was the first to join the alliance of princesses.

-she’s Legally Blonde but in charge of a kingdom.

-dating a boy from She-Ra’s kingdom.

-total flower child but could and would still kick your ass if you approached her at a bar.

This isnt to say I don’t like Catra (I do honestly!) I just… find it hard to connect with her or understand why people feel so sympathetic towards her??

Like in contrast to someone like Hordak who’s motives I 100% understand and get. Like yeah he did really bad things but when you look thru the lense of his backstory it all comes into focus and makes him so sympathetic and even tragic to me

With Catra I just… see her being selfish and petty and down right terrible… I don’t feel like her traumas justify her actions (not that they make them right but justified in that I get why those traumas make her act out. Not in the same way Hordak’s do for me)

And this isnt to knock liking Catra or to say I dont feel she deserved redemption (i am the biggest sucker for villian redemption!!) like if you connect to her and understand her more power to you! But I just… don’t I guess…

In case you wanted it all in one place or something.

The ‘Skeletor’ Stories

No-stakes, post-finale fluff featuring Skeletor, a robot who speaks in Skeletor quotes from the 80s. Read ‘em as one-shots or a series!

Skeletor: in which Hordak visits Wrong Hordak’s ex-Horde therapy group. Tumblr AO3 ffn

Welcome Back, Skeletor: in which Hordak has a friendly conversation with Catra. Tumblr AO3 ffn

My Friend, My Skeletor: in which Hordak has a friendly conversation with Adora. Tumblr AO3 ffn

Flowers for Skeletor: in which Entrapta and Hordak visit Scorpia and Perfuma in the Fright Delight Zone. Tumblr AO3 ffn

Three Courageous Hearts (and Skeletor): in which the Super Pal Trio spend the day together. Tumblr AO3 ffn

Skeletor Lends a Hand: in which Wrong Hordak meets a special someone: Tumblr AO3 ffn

Friends Are Where You Find Skeletor: in which Perfuma and Scorpia are in charge of group therapy. Tumblr AO3 ffn

Fabulous Skeletor Powers: in which Catra and Adora get all romantic and so do Entrapta and Hordak. Tumblr AO3 ffn

The ‘LUVD’ Stories

Slightly more serious stuff set right after season four and and throughout season five. Only 1,000 words each!

Synonyms for Space: in which Entrapta sifts through the ashes of the Fright Zone after Hordak’s abduction by Prime, and Bow suggests a way space might help. Tumblr AO3 ffn

Imagine serving Hordak for 18 years and when it comes time for him to choose a new second-in-command, instead of picking you or one of the other mature officers, he picks the greenest Force Captain who was skiving off training like a week ago. Poor Commander Cobalt. (so glad to finally know the name of my favorite character)

🤨 In fact, isn’t it a little suspicious that all of the soldiers he’s trained are incompetent goons except for Adora’s group and Scorpia - who are awesome (except for Kyle) and all ended up betraying the Horde in one way or another? The first person we saw holding baby Adora?

Did CC intentionally plant the seeds for Hordak’s downfall?

I also like the idea of Scorpio using Hordak for his tech, constantly thinking of Hordak as gullible and easily manipulated, then finally betraying him in the end, perhaps trying to seize his weapons for his own.

And he's right. Hordak is easily manipulated. But he's also absolutely vicious once he realizes what's happened, and Scorpio miscalculates how much of a pushover Hordak is, along with how much backing he has from his subjects.

Second draft of this, and I figure it’s good enough to kick out there - Manages to cram the full series into 3.5 years. And I think I’ve managed to avoid any severely unsettling age implications.

Anchors:

Mara banishing Etheria to Despondos

Hordak’s arrival, which is tightly linked with Fall of the Scorpion Kingdom, LightSpinner’s Fall, and by extension MIcah’s age/birth

Adora’s Arrival (+5 years after the horde begins, as per interviews), which anchors the birth years of the remainder of the main cast. Birth dates taken from the wiki.

Fall of the First Princess Alliance is anchored by Glimmer’s age (no more than 5)

Series start is anchored by Adora’s age

Princess Prom is anchored in the year by Frosta’s age (11 ¾)

Second draft of this, and I figure it’s good enough to kick out there - Manages to cram the full series into 3.5 years. And I think I’ve managed to avoid any severely unsettling age implications.

Anchors:

Mara banishing Etheria to Despondos

Hordak’s arrival, which is tightly linked with Fall of the Scorpion Kingdom, LightSpinner’s Fall, and by extension MIcah’s age/birth

Adora’s Arrival (+5 years after the horde begins, as per interviews), which anchors the birth years of the remainder of the main cast. Birth dates taken from the wiki.

Fall of the First Princess Alliance is anchored by Glimmer’s age (no more than 5)

Series start is anchored by Adora’s age

Princess Prom is anchored in the year by Frosta’s age (11 ¾)

This was originally a response to an ask, but Tumblr wouldn’t show it in the tags, I guess because of external links? So let me try this again…

I think Rae Geiger said he’s a Virgo, which I was hesitant about  because it’s not the most compatible with Entrapta’s Aquarius. (even  though my own parents are Aquarius/Virgo and have been married for 30  years…🤔)

Since Entrapta is an air sign, how about we make Hordak a half air sign too by making him a Virgo-Libra cusp? The fussiness of a Virgo combined with the navel-gazing nerdery of a Libra.

(I know “gentle” is pushing it, but he is a lot less handsy than Prime and - uh - roughness with electronics doesn’t count!)

Hordak Virbra confirmed. He’s the most stylish clone because he was born (✌️born✌️) on the  “Cusp of Beauty”! Virgos are neat and Libras are messy… that’s why the  Fright Zone is an organized junkpile!

Don’t ask me how Western sun signs apply to a character grown in a vitrine on a spaceship in a completely different galaxy.

I mean, all the princesses have star signs and they didn’t have stars when they were born.

[Trigger warnings: Mental abuse, Manipulation, rejection]

[Tagging: @seelcudoom , @thestalkerbunny, @hello-imela]

𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚁𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 - 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚝 2020