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Pththya-lyi
Nov 8, 2009

THUNDERDOME LOSER 2020

Marsupial Ape posted:

Should Adora’s flat chested, thick thighed moderately androgynous She-Ra form make me question a lot of what I thought about myself?

It's okay. We're all attracted to She-Ra

That hair :allears:

E: What a snipe

Pththya-lyi fucked around with this message at 05:16 on Mar 4, 2021

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Hispanic! At The Disco
Dec 25, 2011


Senerio posted:

Sea Hawk and Bow sing a celebratory shanty!

It should not go unnoticed that Bow accompanies him on violin, which he knows how to do because a violin is played with a bow!

VinylonUnderground
Dec 14, 2020

by Athanatos
Sow scandal *jazz hands*

Trying
Sep 26, 2019

You both cannot and should not gently caress cartoon princesses. It is both unbecoming and logistically impossible

Trying
Sep 26, 2019

Also they are all in love with cartoon lesbians you cannot possibly compete with. Or robots and/or Space Hitler

Marsupial Ape
Dec 15, 2020
the mod team violated the sancity of my avatar

Royal Updog posted:

You both cannot and should not gently caress cartoon princesses. It is both unbecoming and logistically impossible

I’m talking about the body type, not the actual character. But, now that you’ve thrown down the gauntlet...

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



Hey this is a discussion more suited for literally anywhere else.

karmicknight
Aug 21, 2011
That makes me very happy to participate in this thread. :v:

So I've kind of used this thread as a recommendation engine to actually check out this show, and it's really good. I super enjoyed both Sea Hawk and Mermista's characterizations (and Scorpia for that matter) and the dynamic of the good guys was balanced really well across the episode.

Trying
Sep 26, 2019

Senerio posted:

Hey this is a discussion more suited for literally anywhere else.

I was trying to veer things back on-course, don't blame me.

Anyway, Hordak's a loving Nazi

KennyMan666
May 27, 2010

The Saga

idk, the Horde is a pretty equal opportunity evil organization.

I mean, they let Kyle be part of it.

Trying
Sep 26, 2019

[Sprechgesang]♪what about us braindead slobs?
You'll be given fashy jobs
Evil Horde
Evil Horde
Evil Horde

♪[/Sprechgesang ]

*oppressive jazz hands*

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



My laptop decided to explode on me when I was 80% of the way through the episode for the recap, and next week is gonna be an insanely busy week for me so I am definitely taking this week off and about 80% sure I'm taking next week off. Sorry :(

KennyMan666
May 27, 2010

The Saga

Yikes, that sounds bad.

...but kinda fitting given the episode, especially the name.

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



Yeah, I'm exaggerating, but like half of my keyboard isn't responding anymore and it's actively frustrating, even with a USB keyboard (which I'm currently using).

I'm looking at replacements for now.

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



While I'm busy over the next few weeks, I have a thought experiment I've been running while I couldn't sleep:

So I'm a theatre nerd, so I listen to musicals a lot and often go "oh! That song is 100% a [x] song"

Today I was reminded of the most Sea Hawk song ever.

I am Aldolpho from The Drowsy Chaperone.

Anyway, while I'm busy dealing with real life issues, what songs make you think of the characters we've seen so far?

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



So good news, my new laptop arrived. Still have some minor issues but I should be back on track next week. Sorry for the super random delay.

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



Episode 6: System Failure



We open on a castle with a tall spire looming ominously over a cliff's edge. Lightning strikes the background, setting the tone. We cut inside as a baker is removing her creation from the oven, dropping a dollop of icing on top of the pig-shaped cupcake. She's spooked by the lightning and sprays some icing onto the desk, as shadowy figure approaches her, raising its hand...

...to wipe off the mess! It's another kitchen worker. Lightning strikes again, and a butler suddenly appears, placing a beverage on the tray as well, startling the two women. He calls a robotic assistant over to take the tray.

"Oh buttered biscuits. I'll never get used to these things."
"At least I don't have to get lost in that maze of hers anymore."

The robot takes the tray down the hall, opening a secret passageway, and delivers the tray to a woman wearing a welding mask, typing at a computer with a device around her neck and holding a wire with her hair. When he holds the tray out to her, she removes the mask, and is excited over her meal.

"A pig! So cute."

The robot drops the tray into a chute and powers down, as the woman continues her studies of a mysterious green crystalline figure.

"Log, day 103 (104? No, definitely 103). First Ones Artifact #58 has yielded a treasure trove of intact code. If I can successfully translate it, it could hold the secrets of the First Ones."

As she records her findings, the crystal glows red and starts taking over the electronics in the area. The spire on the castle starts emitting an alarm sound, and the robots turn on the woman menacingly.

"Fascinating. My robots seem to be responding to the code. This is remarkable! Could this be my biggest step yet towards making the ancient and modern technology truly compatible?"

The butler robot from before lifts the chute and attempts to attack her with it.


"Edit to log. I am now going to run."

Cue theme. I missed this theme in the time I took off because of family and laptop issues.

The Best Friend Squad is on their way to Castle Dryl to recruit Princess Entrapta. Princess Entrapta is a brilliant inventor, making robots and rehabbing old tech left by the first ones. Bow, an inventor himself, is a big fan. The whole inventor stuff goes over her head, but she's a big fan of getting new cool junk to beat the Horde with. Bow is excited to show off his new arrows he's made.

"This one is a stun arrow! This one is an emergency flare! And this one? This one's just pointy. And here's my new one."


SONIC ARROW!

Commander Glimmer and Adora are unimpressed. They continue on and run into a rockslide.

"Any loud sound could cause another slide. We need to be as quiet as--"
"FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!" (Grayskullllll!)

Bow watches the incredibly loud transformation in horror. She-Ra clears the rocks out. Bow chews her out for making a ton of noise, but Adora doesn't see the problem; it worked, didn't it? And no avalanche!

"I spent my whole life without powers. No way am I gonna stop using them now."

They arrive at Castle Dryl and notice that the distress beacon was lit. She-Ra and Glimmer charge in, but Bow is still cautious. Glimmer calls for Princess Entrapta, but instead a disembodied robot hand crawls up her leg. She bends over to pick it up and it latches onto her arm. Bow informs them that Entrapta has set traps throughout her castle. A creature peeks out from a sewer grate warning them to get out of the square because "they're coming."

They start to leave, only to run face first into a robot. She-Ra kicks it away, and Bow shoots it with an arrow to finish it off. As he retrieves his arrow, he notes that it looks like one of Entrapta's robots. As he's doing this, She-Ra and Glimmer manage to get themselves caught in a classic fake door to trap door trap. Bow tries to go after them, but is caught from behind.

Glimmer and She-Ra are trapped in a cage. Glimmer, having teleportation powers, teleports them out... into a series of mishaps. They agree once they are on solid ground "no more teleporting." A creepy figure with glowing red eyes emerges from the vents and approaches She-Ra and Glimmer on two long tendril-like appendages...



...and takes off her welding mask, revealing herself to be Princess Entrapta! Much like Scorpia and Sea Hawk, I am restraining myself from quoting every single line of hers. She welcomes She-Ra and Glimmer to Dryl.

Meanwhile, Bow's captors are the servants from the opening scene of the episode. They were trying to help him, because the robots respond to sound, which he was making a lot of. They offer Bow a miniature cupcake and a fizzy beverage, as those are the only things that Princess Entrapta eat. They are content staying in the kitchen and hiding, but Bow wants to fight. Bow's got his magic sensing tablet, that lets them know where the robots (powered by first ones tech) are. Just in time, too, as the robots begin to attack the kitchen.

Princess Entrapta explains that she designed Castle Dryl as a labyrinth and is the only person who can navigate it. She-Ra and Glimmer are a little less confident in her navigation skills, as they have already passed the painting of a cat.

"Oh, isn't it cute?"

Entrapta is a little lost, as her electronic map, like her bots, is sort of evil right now.

"Why did you invent killer robots?"
"You're abnormally tall. Hello! I like your sword. It's First Ones tech, right? Can I touch it?"

She explains that she built the robots to do everything for her, and that they're sound activated! A large cleaner robot spots them and attacks, but they escape as it crashes into a structure. It roars, and Entrapta goes to converse with it, but is attacked. She-Ra, fighting off a massive headache, goes to save Entrapta, stabbing the cleaner robot in its core. A large red tendril climbs up the Sword of She-Ra from the core. She-Ra continues attacking the robot, and when Glimmer goes to stop her, the gem in the Sword glows red, and starts emitting the tendrils itself. Glimmer wrests the sword from She-Ra's grasp, and throws it across the hall. Adora passes out.

Back at the kitchen, Bow is preparing to fight off three bots that have come to attack. Using a rope, he trips one bot into the oven, and hits a second with his stun arrow. Unfortunately, the only remaining arrow is his Sonic Arrow, which, as previously established, will call more bots, but one of the kitchen staff knocks the last robot out when she peeks out of her hiding spot to see if everything was okay. The four run off to find Adora and Glimmer.

Glimmer tries to wake Adora up, as Entrapta notes that the tall one has gotten less tall, and asks Glimmer how it works. Glimmer rebukes Entrapta for calling her friend an it. Entrapta explains about the disc from the opening, and Glimmer decides that destroying the disc is the safest course of action.

"Destroy it? But the experiment isn't complete!"
"I think we can safely say this expriment is a failure!"
"But what if it's no--no, you're right, it's a failure."

Adora wakes up, and is very loopy. She is extremely PG drunk right now, and Adora is a very bad drunk. I cannot do this scene justice.

"Glimmer, there's two of you! That's nice."
"How are you feeling?"
"Just peachy. (why are we whispering?)"
"Sound activates the robots."
"What ROBOTS?"
"The ones that are attacking us."
"Ohhhhh (those robots). Okay I'm gonna take a nap now"
"No no no no no! Stay awake. We have to go to Entrapta's lab and destroy this disc thing, and then you'll be all better again."
"Better? I'm fiiiiiine, I'm She-Ra. (giggle, snort) Hi Glimmer."

What follows is Glimmer and Entrapta navigating the Dryl labyrinth, with Glimmer carrying the semi-drunk semi-unconscious Adora. Entrapta and Glimmer arrive at the lab, but the door is infected as well.

"That is so smart! ...and awful, we're all gonna die."

Glimmer teleports into the lab, only to come out announcing that it was a bad idea, the lab is full of very evil looking robots, and she couldn't get anywhere near the disc. A large robot turns the corner and spots them, terrifying Glimmer and Entrapta (Adora, in the background, is still out of it).

Bow and the kitchen staff are running down a hall and run into a bubble-breathing robot. Bow is caught, and one of the kitchen staff throws a tray at the robot, decapitating it. Bow's magic sensor goes off in reaction to Glimmer's teleportation. He wants to save them, but the kitchen staff is still scared. Bow gives a rousing speech, surrounded by bubbles produced by the robot.

Glimmer (carrying Adora) and Entrapta are still running from robots. They hide in an alcove, only to run into another robot. The robots seem to be working together now! They have another way into the labs, via the air ducts, but first, they are surrounded.

"I don't suppose you have other magical powers that could be useful right about now?"
"I don't have enough energy to teleport us all. Not without leaving someone's legs behind."
"I'll give up one of mine if you give up one of yours."

As the robots close in, Bow and the Kitchen Staff arrive to save the day, attacking the robots in their own ways, spraying them with icing or fizzy drinks, choking them with a dish cloth, and Bow has taken a tray and is using it as a shield. They catch Bow up on everything, and come up with a plan.

They enter the lab through the air duct. As they survey the disc from behind some old equipment, Adora happily lets everyone know that she found the bots! Glimmer teleports her away, but the two are stuck now. the Kitchen Staff go to help them, and Bow and Entrapta try to destroy the disc. The first thing they do is remove the power conduit from the wall, but that is only a temporary setback and the disc starts emitting its own power to power the bots. Entrapta loses all hope, but Bow has one ace in his sleeve.

"Now's your chance, Sonic Arrow, I BELIEVE IN YOU!"

He shoots the Sonic Arrow at the disc. It emits a loud sound, and the bots start attacking it, destroying the core, and shutting the bots down. Adora is back to normal, and Entrapta thanks former tall one and companions for saving their lives. Entrapta and the kitchen staff have officially joined the rebellion, and will provide them with weapons!

On the way back to Bright Moon, Glimmer begrudgingly admits to Bow that he was right, and Adora experiences her first hangover.

"All in a day's work for Bow and his band of Kitchen Knights! His Baking Brigade! Pastry Patrol! I'm still working that out."

The episode ends with Entrapta musing that the next experiment will be a success, with a few adjustments, as she begins repairing the disc.


---

Sorry about the delay, my aunt died, and then my laptop died, so y'know. Anyway should be back on a weekly schedule now.

Senerio fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Apr 23, 2021

Pththya-lyi
Nov 8, 2009

THUNDERDOME LOSER 2020
Entrapta is a high water mark in autistic representation in media - one of the first who's not presented as merely the butt of a joke or a tool for developing someone else's character. Although nobody says "autism" in the show, show runner Noelle Stevenson confirmed on Twitter that the character is autistic and was developed with an autistic animator's input:

https://twitter.com/Gingerhazing/status/1263974521817542656?s=20
(Be careful, there's spoilers in the Twitter thread.)

Entrapta was immediately obvious to me as an autistic character on my first watch-through, and that's why she's my favorite. As an autistic woman, I have rarely felt more "seen" by a fictional character. I'm not a STEMlady like she is (despite the stereotype, a lot of autistic people are bad at STEM), but I recognize how her special interests give her strength and how she's often misunderstood by neurotypical characters. A lot of other autistic people see themselves in Entrapta too - the responses to Noelle's Twitter post are full of people gushing over how excited they are about her. It's a joy to see!

I don't want to get into spoiler territory, but I do want to highlight one thing that will be important going forward. At this point, the Princess Alliance does not respect Entrapta because it doesn't respect tech. At best, Glimmer sees Entrapta as a "get" for the Alliance - someone who can add her Princess-y prestige to the organization, someone Glimmer can use to prove herself to her mother. At worst, characters see tech as useless or even dangerous, and Entrapta as weird and obnoxious for loving it so much. Only Bow, the tinkerer without magical powers of his own, values tech for its own sake - and is the only one who's excited to meet Entrapta herself. Note how Adora and Glimmer mock Bow for his interest in trick arrows - they can't appreciate even their best friend's tech talent, let alone Entrapta's. Now, this disdain for tech is understandable: it's almost exclusively used by of the Horde, and the virus infecting Entrapta's robots and She-Ra's sword did cause all the problems in this episode. But just as the divide between good and evil isn't always clear-cut in SPOP, magic and tech aren't necessarily at odds. Keep an eye on this theme throughout the series and how it ties into Entrapta's character arc.

Pththya-lyi fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Apr 1, 2021

Gnome de plume
Sep 5, 2006

Hell.
Fucking.
Yes.
Best character has arrived

Actually you could apply this statement to any episode that introduces a new character and still be correct but it definitely applies here.

Also I have wasted so much time watching youtube compilations of Drunk Adora.

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



When I debate who I think the best character is in She-Ra, it comes down to three characters: Entrapta, Scorpia, and a character introduced in the final season. When I say that I restrain myself from quoting everything Entrapta said this episode, I meant it. I cheated a little by stealing direct quotes from her for the recap, though.

KennyMan666
May 27, 2010

The Saga

Entrapta never left her spot as Best Character for me, even if there's a lot of strong characters already introduced and upcoming. Her being autistic was pretty obvious, what I completely failed to pick up on was that she's not a teen like the majority of the other princesses, but, according to the showrunners, around thirty.

So many good lines in this episode from both Entrapta and Drunk Adora, and just. Drunk Adora's faces. All of them.


And other stuff, like this picture that just feels like it raises more questions than it answers. I love it.


Entrapta just casually grabbing a sparkle from Glimmer's teleporting.




And this sequence that deserved its own screenshots.




I'd think I'd call this my close second favourite episode of season one, and while I haven't put enough thought into such a list, would probably get a place on a potential list of my top ten episodes of the whole show too.

KennyMan666 fucked around with this message at 13:10 on Apr 1, 2021

Madurai
Jun 26, 2012

This episode also introduces another contender for Best character: Drunk Adora.

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



Sorry about the new delay. Last week was super busy and today I had to deal with the aftereffects of my second covid shot so I will have a new episode up next week.

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



Episode 7: In the Shadows of Mystacor



We open on the Best Friend Squad sleeping in a clearing. Adora is troubled, and is woken up when she hears Shadow Weaver call her name. She goes to investigate.

Cut to Bow waking up, and trying to wake up Glimmer. Glimmer doesn't want to wake up. Glimmer accuses Bow of snoring, and when Bow looks to Adora to back him up, he finds she's not there. She's at the edge of the clearing staring off. She spent the rest of the night standing guard, still on edge because of the events of the last episode. Glimmer announces that she's taking them to Mystacor, to Bow's delight, and Adora's confusion.

According to Glimmer, Mystacor is a secret, floating kingdon that's home to all of Etheria's sorcerers. It's got tranquil gardens, beautiful beaches, and healing springs. Glimmer's aunt Castaspella is the head sorceress. It's protected by an invisibility spell, and therefore the safest and most peaceful place in all of Etheria. One of Shadow Weaver's shadow spies appear as we cue the credits.

Shadow Weaver is standing next to her magical stone. Catra arrives, having been called there. She tells Catra that Adora is on her way to Mystacor, which she declares will make their next move easy. Catra's job is not to go collect Adora, this time, but instead to stand guard as Shadow Weaver herself goes to collect Adora. She collects her shadow spies, as Catra watches on in horror.

The Best Friend Squad arrive at their destination--a cliff, overlooking a thousand foot drop! Bow and Glimmer jump off the cliff, and as Adora looks on in horror, the clouds part to reveal a piece of land that the two safely landed on. As Adora jumps, she spots a shadow spy, but brushes it off as a hallucination.

Arriving at Mystacor, Glimmer warns Adora that her Aunt Casta can be a lot. Castaspella gives Glimmer and Bow big hugs, and gushes over Glimmer having another real living person as a friend! Before she brought Bow around, Castaspella was sure he was imaginary! Castaspella continues to fuss over Glimmer, complaining that she didn't wear the sweater she knitted her, and guilting her for never visiting.

As she leads the three past some training apprentices (to Adora's awe), she announces that it's the day of the eclipse, and offers to give them a tour of the Lunarium. Glimmer doesn't seem interested in her millionth Lunarium tour, but Bow is excited, and Adora decides to go along with it, so she's outnumbered. At the Lunarium, Castaspella invites the three to the monthly ceremony to renew Mystacor's defenses. Glimmer is tired, but Adora hasn't seen it yet. While Castaspella continues to guilt Glimmer, Adora spots a shadowy figure. She runs after it...

...into the Hall of Sorcerers, a hall of statues of former great sorcerers. Castaspella introduces her to Micah, her brother, Glimmer's father. Adora learning that Castaspella's brother was Micah explains to her what an Aunt is, which she's happy, as she was just accepting the term, hoping someone would eventually explain it. Glimmer tells Castaspella that her mother believes in their mission, which gets Castaspella on a tirade about Angella. As she's talking, Adora spots an eerie black statue.

Light Spinner was a powerful sorceress of Mystacor who was banished for seeking power and complete control over all else. She's now a monster in a bedtime story that parents tell their children, that she's waiting to exact her revenge on all the naughty children. Light Spinner's shadow extends, and takes on a very familiar shape. Adora starts freaking out, and Glimmer and Bow appearing suddenly, having finally escaped Castaspella doesnt help. They diagnose her with needing "warm sand and calming waves," as the shadow spy continues observing.

Adora still has no idea what this 'relaxation' thing is, but decides to try it for Glimmer's sake. She stares at clouds, makes bird noises, and... it isn't working. Glimmer and Bow take Adora to the steam grotto.


(side note, people point to Bow's swimsuit here as part of their trans headcanons for him.)

Adora is awed at the sight, and Bow immediately takes off for a pool, as Glimmer explains that the pools are full of magical healing minerals. She leads Adora into the pool, calming her and letting her rest.

Cut to Adora waking up, as the steam coalesces into Shadow Weaver. Adora freaks out, waking Glimmer and Bow up. Neither of them saw Shadow Weaver, though. She explains to Bow and Glimmer who Shadow Weaver is. Glimmer and Bow are confident that Shadow Weaver isn't here, and can't hurt her. She asks for some time to herself, and the two give it to her. On their way out, Adora hears Glimmer.

"Adora has finally lost it! Did you see her in there? I think she's going nuts!"

Adora heads out to yell at them that she's not crazy, but nobody is there. She confirms to the open air that she is, in fact, not crazy.

Adora heads back to the Hall of Sorcerers, looking at the statue of Light Spinner. As she looks down at her shadow, it forms into a shadow spy. It attacks her, and she immediately transforms into She-Ra. As she looks for the shadow spy, she hears a familiar voice.

"Hey, Adora."

An unseen Catra taunts She-Ra, and She-Ra runs into the Lunarium. As she runs in, Hordak starts taunting her instead. As she looks into a reflective crystal, Hordak appears behind her. She swings her sword at him, only to destroy half the crystals in the Lunarium, as Hordak wasn't there. Castaspella arrives, and berates Adora for destroyign a thousand years worth of sacred writings. Glimmer and Bow arrive, to try to defend her, but Castaspella is too mad to listen. Glimmer runs off to calm down Castaspella, and Bow assures Adora that the Horde isn't in Mystacor, and that she should sleep. The shadow spy emerges from behind the crystal, following Adora.

In her bed, Adora tries fruitlessly to get some sleep. Glimmer enters her room, berating Adora for being a bad friend. Glimmer accuses Adora of ruining everything she's worked for, and tells her to leave Mystacor. As Glimmer leaves the room, she transforms back into her shadow spy form.

It's time for the defense ceremony! Neither Bow nor Glimmer decided to wake Adora up for this, as she needs her sleep. Castaspella starts the ceremony, only for the spell to be interrupted by the shadow spy.

Adora is leaving Mystacor, and Bow runs up to her, telling her they have to go, as the protection spell is failing. Adora asks where Glimmer is, and reaches for Bow, only to pass through his shadowy form. The shadow spy taunts her before dissipating.

"Everything that's about to happen is your fault, Adora."

Adora runs to the Lunarium, to see her friends unconscious, and Shadow Weaver in the middle of the room. She erects a barrier between Adora and her friends, and gloats that since she interrupted the spell, when the eclipse is over, the Horde will be able to invade Mystacor. She reveals that she was Light Spinner. Adora tries to transform, but is unable. Shadow Weaver attacks Adora's insecurities, but Adora is emboldened by Bow and Glimmer's kindness.

"I prepared you for greatness!"
"But you never loved me. You just played your twisted mind games. I'm none of the things that you say I am. I'm not like you. You are bitter and cruel, and you're the one who used me! This is who I am. You hurt my friends, so now you're gonna pay!"

Shadow Weaver attacks Adora, who turns her sword into a shield, reflecting the light at her. Adora climbs the room, as Shadow Weaver continues attacking her, promising that if she were to come home the two could rule together! Adora reflects the light with her shield, finishing the spell.

"I'm not going back, you have no power over me anymore!"

Back in her lair, Shadow Weaver is thrown back from her scrying pool, her gemstone on her forehead flashing.

Back at Mystacor, the shield is renewed, and everyone wakes up. Adora is in a better mood, knowing that Shadow Weaver is finally gone. Bow and Glimmer apologize for not believing her, but Adora recognizes that the fault is entirely with Shadow Weaver. She apologizes for bringing Shadow Weaver into Mystacor to Castaspella, who thinks that her actions more than made up for it. She promises to knit Adora a sweater.

At the beach, Adora is more successful at the relaxation this time.

Back in the Fright Zone, Catra enters Shadow Weaver's lair. Noticing that she's unconscious, Catra taunts her, declaring that to attack Adora, she has to go for the heart.

Cue end credits.

Next time, we get to the ending of this Young Adult novel... The Prom!

Senerio fucked around with this message at 12:39 on Apr 23, 2021

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



Sorry this was super late, I had family come over yesterday during the time I normally write.

MonsieurChoc
Oct 12, 2013

Every species can smell its own extinction.
Catra is right that Bow is the heart of the team.

Cattail Prophet
Apr 12, 2014

That swimsuit link just leads to the establishing shot of the grotto again btw.

Also, I'll confess that I've mostly just been skimming the posts so far, but it's caught my attention every time you type out 'Commander Glimmer' just on account of how weird it is to see those words together coming from somewhere other than Angella's mouth.

twistedmentat
Nov 21, 2003

Its my party
and I'll die if
I want to
Is this the episode the image of Adora and Glimmer snuggling up comes from?

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



Cattail Prophet posted:

That swimsuit link just leads to the establishing shot of the grotto again btw.

Also, I'll confess that I've mostly just been skimming the posts so far, but it's caught my attention every time you type out 'Commander Glimmer' just on account of how weird it is to see those words together coming from somewhere other than Angella's mouth.

Thanks, fixed.

The Commander Glimmer thing started out as me just referring to her as that initially because she wasn't announced as a Princess and I've been trying to keep to the knowledge we are expected to have in the show, hence my being vague on a lot of terms. It makes me laugh so I've kept doing it. I'll probably stop eventually.


twistedmentat posted:

Is this the episode the image of Adora and Glimmer snuggling up comes from?

Yup!

sliami
Apr 28, 2018



Bony-Eared Assfish posted:


Apparently it's rare for voice actors to be recording at the same time if they're in the same scene, the makers of She-Ra tried to have them in the same room as often as actor's schedules permitted, with two tweaks:

1. Any scene with Hordak and Entrapta has their actors together in the same room, if it caused scheduling problems those were dealt with.

2. When recording Horde Prime's lines Keston John would go alone into a recording booth, put on earbuds and play choral music very loudly to get into the proper mood.


i am going to start crying and never stop

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



That reminds me, I don't want to say it every time, but assume that every Shadow Weaver heavy episode comes with a massive shout out to Lorraine Toussaint for being so great.

twistedmentat
Nov 21, 2003

Its my party
and I'll die if
I want to

I always imagined they decided that "yea we're attracted to each other but I don't think it would work".

KennyMan666
May 27, 2010

The Saga

Ey, it's back!

So this episode really shows just how little Shadow Weaver thinks of Catra, seeing her as just an extension of Adora, or at best, Adora's disobedient pet cat (and that's with Shadow Weaver already seeing Adora as someone whose only real purpose is to carry out her will, so), and that in a scene where Catra isn't even present. Shadow Weaver praises Adora for being the ambitious, cutthroat, ruthless warrior she raised her to be, and while Adora might have shown the potential for becoming something like that while in the Horde (but at the time of her defection, decidedely wasn't yet), in the context of the show, that line applies a lot better to Catra. Something Shadow Weaver would just never acknowledge.

Definitely looking forwards to the writeup of next episode.

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



Hey guys, just a quick update, because I was gonna update this weekend and tell you this but I didn't have power for most of last night into this afternoon.

I'm back at work now, (was wfh) so I'm not able to update during the week anymore. Updates will be over the weekend, hopefully weekly, probably biweekly, when I have time to actually sit down and write.

Kalko
Oct 9, 2004

Started watching this show because the first few posts in this thread had me curious, and I was surprised to find it to be not at all what I was expecting. It has some really great characterization work (a lot of it quite subtle as mentioned here) and it maintains a consistently light tone while dealing with some pretty heavy themes. And it's just straight-up funny.

Anyway, here's a few random thoughts about Entrapta. I'll spoiler block the whole thing because I'm a couple of episodes into S4 now. So, when she was first introduced I thought, alright, she's a wacky lolscience archetype, but even by this early stage I realized there was probably more to her characterization than that, and of course there was. Her interactions with the others over the next few episodes then made me think, ok, she's single-minded and socially awkward, typical geek stuff, but when she started working with the Horde she suddenly became a MUCH more interesting character to me.

I'd only recently finished reading Yuval Noah Harari's Homo Deus, in which he discusses how science has nothing of value to say about ethical judgments and how it deals only with facts. So, with those sorts of thoughts floating around in my head I witnessed this character, the embodiment of Science, changing their allegiance from good to evil without so much as a second thought, and I thought to myself, wow, they're making a statement about the amorality of science. That's pretty cool!

Then later on when our heroes catch up with her and question her newfound loyalties she evinces anxiety and immediately changes the topic. It was only at this point that I realized she must be autistic, which is something depicted pretty often in media these days but for some reason I still didn't expect to find in this show. Then later on she calls Hordak her friend and I was like, yeah, ok, I get it now.

It was interesting thinking back on her earlier interactions with the others and how they seemed to be uncertain as to how to treat her, which I assume is a natural real-life reaction, and I'm looking forward to finding out how they handle this when they're all reunited again. But at the stage I'm up to all I know is that she's been shipped off to Beast Island, a place which whenever it's mentioned I can't help but think of the Simpsons quote, "Don't worry, it's just a name!"


Regarding favourite characters, I'd have to go with Catra. The way her animation and especially her VA captures the vulnerability and pain beneath her bravado and lashing out makes her a very sympathetic antagonist (or, perhaps... protagonist?) Also every time she gets her comeuppance it's a great comedic beat.

Hordak's VA is also fantastic. It's a role you'd think would be fairly thankless but drat, he nails it every time.

tribbledirigible
Jul 27, 2004
I finally beat the internet. The end boss was hard.

Kalko posted:


Hordak's VA is also fantastic. It's a role you'd think would be fairly thankless but drat, he nails it every time.

Oh, you're in for a treat.

Kalko
Oct 9, 2004

Finished it now, and yeah that's some great range. And Wrong Hordak, lol.

Thoughts on the whole series... I'll do another spoiler block but first I'll just say I'm glad I didn't do any kind of internet search before watching it because right up until the last few episodes I did not see that coming! I thought the show was angling for platonic love, but in hindsight it makes perfect sense and having glanced at the other thread here it seems like there are a few hints in the first season which I completely missed, so I'm looking forward to a re-watch but not for a while because I'm still processing it. That was honestly one of the best emotional payoffs I've ever experienced and I felt every bit of that moment - I'm a sucker for sincerity and this show has it in spades. The Adora/Catra relationship is a masterful work of characterization and storytelling and I'd put it right up there with Into the Spiderverse in terms of how powerfully it affected me.

So yeah, Catra is still my favourite character. "I always have" was as much an admission to herself as to Adora, and it recalled that moment in an earlier episode where she was wandering the corridors of Prime's ship and tried to make sense of that memory of them as children when she struck Lonnie. I liked how it also mirrored her wandering the corridors of the Horde base and recalling other memories of Adora, and I'd have to go back and check but I think those moments usually happened after she'd lashed out at Scorpia or her former squadmates; when she felt most alone in the world her thoughts inevitably returned to Adora and her feelings of friendship, love and abandonment.

Both of them were raised in an abusive environment, but Catra was treated more harshly and was constantly diminished by Shadow Weaver, and she was less emotionally resilient than Adora to begin with; her sensitivity shines through in those rare moments where she lets her guard down : pleading with Shadow Weaver to know why she was always second best, or her heartfelt outburst, revealing the depths of her pain, right before activating the portal. Her rise through the ranks to replace Shadow Weaver as Hordak's second in command was as much due to pure survival instinct as it was to calculation, as revealed in those private moments where she is clearly still cowed and/or fearful of him.

Her bravado was often employed as another self-defense measure; she internalized all the lessons she learned growing up in the Horde so well that she was deathly afraid of showing any kind of vulnerability or weakness. So much so that even Bow's affectionate teasing of her for being cute incurred an outsized reaction and forceful denial. I think Perfuma's simple observation is one of the best lines in the show and could perhaps be considered its central thesis : "Having friends makes you vulnerable, but it doesn't make you weak."

I really appreciated the moment right before the end when Shadow Weaver finally spoke the words she wanted to hear, and how her imminent sacrifice caused them both so much distress because despite her treatment of them, Shadow Weaver was the closest thing either of them had to a parent.

And speaking of words she desperately wanted to hear, "What do you want, Adora?" For her part, Adora's side of the relationship only made sense to me in that final moment when I realized she had been denying her inner feelings the whole time in a grand act of selflessness; that burden of responsibility (not to mention her struggle with the idea of destiny) wouldn't allow her to put herself before everyone else, but when she dreamed Mara asking the same question it was like she was finally giving herself permission to answer it. But as Prime so gleefully explained, it was only a wish. Only a wish, that is, until Catra's admission, at the last possible moment, made it real.

The build-up to that moment, with Shadow Weaver's sacrifice, Adora's realization that she would die and Catra's refusal to leave, choosing to share her fate... it was intense, I was fully invested, and that moment of release was breathtaking.


Since it's kind of lame to end a post with a giant spoiler block I will instead end by saying that what I appreciated most about this show is its sincerity. I think it was around half-way through the first season (the Prom episode) where it really hit its stride and I felt the same way I did five minutes into the Spiderverse movie when I couldn't wipe the grin off my face : there's something special here, and I'm in for a treat.

Kalko fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Jun 6, 2021

Senerio
Oct 19, 2009

Ooh! Are we messing with Adora?



I'm sorry that this thread has been on hiatus. I've been adjusting to going back to work and it's been a rough adjustment so far. I haven't abandoned this, it's just been on the backburner.

KennyMan666
May 27, 2010

The Saga

Kalko posted:

Finished it now, and...
Maybe better to move this over to the other She-Ra thread now that you've finished it, to keep massive spoiler talk even in spoiler blocks out of this thread since it was requested to not spoil stuff. Because I've got some replies to stuff here.

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Kalko
Oct 9, 2004

No problem, I just copied it over.

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