#afterwards the teacher's told me I shouldn't talk back to adults.

[another-one-bites-the-chipaguasu]

I find it fumny that people say that Elon Muskrat has the mentality of a 6 year old.

Which is offensive to 6 year olds. They're often very smart and if you explain to them what's happening they reason it and accept it.

You know what mentality he has? Of a far right aligned male, and I know this because I've met tons of them through the years and they all act the same. Hell! I live with one!

And it's always the same story. They refuse to lose, they know everything and more than everyone else, they won't listen to your arguments because they're already convinced that you're wrong, they will even deny actual data!!!

And that's what makes them so dangerous, they have absolutely no capacity for introspection.

[ettolrach-uwu]

do your parents know you're trans? if so how was your coming out?

They do and it's not going too well. I would wait to answer this but there's never a moment in time when the situation is truly done, so I'll just give an answer now. TLDR they do and it's a struggle trying to get them to respect me for who I am.

CW transphobia, t-slur

I came out to my parents around a year after I realised I was trans, I was 18 at the time. I suspected it might not go well so by this time I already told everyone else; my friends and my teachers, since I was in high school at the time. I socially transitioned way before medically transitioning, which one only started two odd months ago.

I told them that I'm trans and that I want to be called Charlotte and they did not take it well at all, though it wasn't the worst possible outcome. My mother really didn't want it to be happening and was most vocal during conversations afterwards, as she usually is. She said that she doesn't want me to be trans for reasons I still don't fully understand. She says it's because she's scared for my safety, but I think it's because her internalised transphobia makes her think that being trans is disgusting and doesn't want me to end up like one of those trannys.

She asks me, how do I know whether I don't like being a man if I've not lived as an adult man before? To her, it doesn't matter that I've lived nearly 17 as a boy unhappily. She asks, can I please try living as a man for at least a year at university, after all, I've not experienced things like being in a relationship and having sex as a man before.

She tells me that my grandmother is very scared. My father too, he couldn't sleep for weeks after I told him I'm trans. Other guilt-tripping techniques are used too, like, don't you know how hard it is to hear this from your own child that you've raised for 18 years?

Not once have they called me Charlotte since I told them that I want to be called that, nor are they putting in any effort whatsoever to change. They just keep calling me by my deadname.

Not once have they asked what they can do to help me transition, or at least what they can do to make me feel better, happier.

Not once have they called me their daughter.

I moved out, this was investigated and was scheduled to happen anyway. They give me some money every month, and I boymode whenever I visit them, which is about once every week, maybe sometimes it's a fortnight. It takes a long time, but eventually I give it another go.

I'm 20 now. I work at a big company where I'm known as Charlotte to everyone. Everyone at uni and all my friends know be as Charlotte. I haven't mentioned it, but I'm living an incredibly happy life away from my parents being my true and real self. I tell by parents this, and how my life is so much happier. But this time I also say that I don't care about what they want; I will, no matter what, be trans and they have to live with that. They begrudgingly accept, while still trying every trick you can think of to convince me to not be trans. For some reason, the extra two years since my first coming out did not get them process this better (because they wanted me to stop rather than when on themselves to change and accept).

They still don't make an effort to stop deadnaming me. My mother doesn't want be wearing certain clothing. I'm fighting back on the latter one every time it happens. I shouldn't need to, I'm an adult and can choose to do whatever I want. As for the deadnaming, I'm gonna talk to them tomorrow, and if not, then soon after.

So to answer your question, they know. And it didn't go well at all, though it could have gone a lot worse. If you're about to come out and you have any, and I been any kind of concern that it week go badly, make sure you have essential documents like your passport and birth certificate, enough money to get by a while, and a friend who's willing to let you stay over if you get kicked out should you still live with your parents.

[addictofsupernatural]

The Outsiders (pt. 1)

Zed Necrodopolous x reader

Z-O-M-B-I-E-S Fanfiction

Summary: When you moved to Seabrook to get away from the drama of your past, you meet a sweet zombie who you can't get enough of.

Word Count: 1999

When you moved in with your aunt and uncle, they warned you that Seabrook was different. Your two cousins had also made this seem very important to know. It was a perfect place with perfect people, who scorned the ones that didn't fit it. Not that you cared. You were used to being different.

They also told you about the zombies. When your aunt spoke about them, it was with with pity, while your uncle talked about them with disgust. She was a clothing designer, and he was a zombie patrol policeman. It was partly her job to make the zombies' special clothing, and it was his job to patrol zombietown at night.

In all honesty they just peeked your interest. They just seemed like normal people that weren't recognized, and you thought about what it might be like for them to be outsiders as well.

Your mother had taught you that life is too short to care what people think, and that being mean to people was useless. So you put a smile on and tried to be happy with your new life. Maybe something good awaited.

You put on your white t-shirt and dark red skirt, and walked to school. As you headed to school, you saw your uncle on the zombie side of the fence for the school entrance. He got reassigned to watch over them. One of the zombies were looking at their class schedule, when it flew out of his hands and slid on the floor and through the fence. You picked it up, smiling at him as you went on your tippy toes to give it to him. "Here you go."

"Thanks." He smiled, and looked very handsome in your opinion. "I–"

Your uncle banged on the fence. "No trying to grab humans. Don't make me have to take you downtown."

"No, officer I was just trying to–"

"Zip it zombie. Leave the humans alone."

"No," you said. "He wasn't doing anything wrong. I was just handing him his paper."

"I don't care, get inside." Your uncle stared daggers into you.

"But–"

"I know you're new here, but I'll only say this once. When an adult tells you to do something, you do it. No questions asked. Maybe you weren't taught that where you're from, but things are different here." Your smiled quickly faded as you put your head down and walked inside. He didn't have to say that.

Zed watched you leave with a frown on your face. He didn't know who you were, but it still hurt him to see your smile leave like that. "Little piece of advice." The guard said. "Don't talk to the humans. Don't try to be chummy friends, because you can't. At the end of the day, she's normal and you're not." Zed didn't say anything as he went inside with Bonzo and Eliza.

As you walked with your head kept down, you accidentally bumped into a blonde girl. "Oh, I'm sorry!"

She kindly smiled at you. "It's okay. I'm Addison."

You nodded and smiled. "Y/n."

"So, are you gonna try out for the cheer squad?" She seemed very excited.

"Um, no." You tried to say kindly. "Don't get me wrong, I love dancing, but cheerleading isn't really my thing." She frowned and looked confused. "But I'd be more willing to help you out if you need a partner to practice with anytime."

Her smile perked up again. "Oh, that's so sweet. I would totally love that!" She excitedly took your hands. "Come on, you should meet Bree."

Into middle of first period, an alarm started to go off, and everyone began to panic. On the wall it said Z | ALERT and was flashing red, but you didn't really know what that meant. When you got out to a hallway, the zombie from before came running up in a panic. "Can you hide me somewhere?"

"Um." Was all that came out of you before you looked at a zombie safe room, grabbing his hand and you both going in. It was pretty much pitch black, and you led him to a wall for both of you to sit down on the floor. "So, I'm guessing the alarms are from you?"

You heard him let out a sigh. "I didn't mean to scare that girl, she just freaked out when she saw me. This wasn't really how I wanted my day to go."

"You mean you didn't want an angry mob of people after you?" You asked in a playful sarcastic tone.

"Well," he said. "Not like this."

"What?" You laughed out.

"I'm trying out for the football team today." He felt you get closer to him, and felt calmer. You didn't fear him. "I don't know if I'll make it, considering how my day's gone."

"No, I'm sure you'll make it! Everyone's really excited for the cheer tryouts, so pretty soon there'll be a whole swarm of people cheering for you when you make it."

"And what about you?" His voice became a little softer.

"Well, cheerleading isn't for me. I was hoping they'd have a dance class, but they don't. But hey, I wouldn't mind cheering for you at your games. Just in the crowds."

You turned your head to his dark figure. He chuckled, before saying, "I'm Zed."

"I'm y/n."

Just then the lights came back on and you saw his handsome smile, causing you to smile back. He was about to say something, when you both heard, "Y/n! There you are!"

You turned to see Addison with four other cheerleaders. "Gross!"

"Zombie germs!"

One of them tugged you away from Zed. "Look here Zombie, if one of my cousin's friends are caught around you again, it's going to get ugly. And as you can see, that's not in the cards for me." You looked at Addison, who said nothing. They then tugged you out of the room and away from Zed.

They dragged you to their trophy room. "Listen new girl," the main guy said. "We don't support freaks, and neither should you. You could maybe be cool if you tried out for the cheer squad. And lose that outfit. It's a little too dark for Seabrook. Speaking of outfits, you look like you could rock a cheer outfit."

You didn't want to be rude, so you responded with, "Um, that sounds pretty cool. I'll think about it."

The cheerleaders began to laugh. "Oh new girl, I like your humor. We'll see you there. C'mon cuz." They all then left.

At lunch you began to walk towards Addison, but she was bombarded by more cheerleaders, so you decided to not go over there. You looked around, and saw that someone had spilled their lunch all over the cafeteria floor. Principal Lee saw and groaned. "Can someone please go tell the janitor to clean this mess up?"

"I can!" You said eagerly. "I really don't mind."

"Well," she said, smiling as she looked you up and down. "It's nice to see such bravery for this school. He's in the basement." You smiled and nodded, heading over there. You walked down the stairs happily with your lunch tray.

Zed was excitedly telling his friends about you. "Yeah Bonzo. She even said she'd cheer me on at games. I'm really pumped right now, and I think she likes me."

"Yeah right." Eliza said. "It's just because she's new. Once she figures out that humans don't like zombies, she'll probably stay far away."

Zed gave Eliza a look before their teacher said, "Woah, there's no human students here."

Everybody turned to see you nervously standing there with your lunch tray. "Um, there was a spill in the cafeteria." You quickly set your tray down to hold the door open for the teacher. You then brought your tray over to Zed and his friends and smiled. "Hey."

"Hey." He looked surprised, but eventually smiled back.

"Is it okay with you guys if I stay here for lunch?"

Zed was about to speak, but Eliza cut him off. "You should probably stick with the cheerleaders if you really want to make the squad."

"Oh, I'm not a cheerleader, and I don't really wanna be one." You said as you sat down next to Zed. "They're a little too much for me. I probably wouldn't enjoy it. You should do something because it makes you happy, right?"

Eliza stared at you, but had a small smile on. "Um, yeah."

You turned to Zed. "So, I never apologized for the security guard."

"Oh, yeah. Did you know him or something, cause he was kinda being a jerk to the both of us."

You looked down, and felt heat spread onto your face. "Um, he's my uncle. I just started living with him and his family over the weekend. He's a bit stiff with me since we don't really see eye to eye on, um..."

"Zombikas?" Bonzo asked.

"Yeah. Sorry." You quietly said.

"So what if he finds out that we've been talking?" Zed asked.

"Then we'll just make sure he doesn't." Bonzo and Eliza gave each other a look as you and Zed smiled at each other. "So, I could go to your football tryouts after school. Maybe walk home together afterwards?"

"Really?!"

You shrugged. "Yeah. I don't have much going on after school anyways."

"Yeah, that sounds awesome. You could see me do thang in person."

You giggled, and the bell rang. "Okay, I gotta go. But I'll see you at the football field after school." You waved to all of them and hurried up the stairs.

As you were about to go to class, your cousin pulled your arm. "What were you doing in the basement?" She asked.

You shrugged and grinned. "Got lost. Oops." You then walked into class.

After school you walked to the football field and found him waiting for you at the bleachers. "You came." You nodded. "Okay, now I have to be extra awesome." You giggled and sat down as he grabbed your arms, gently squeezing. "Wish me luck!"

"I will." You then watched him play, and he was actually pretty good. He was good at dodging people, and was pretty fast as well. He excelled at the drills, though he dropped to the ground and rolled in a fit of dramatics. You laughed, yelling out, "You can do this Zed!"

He was still on the ground, but gave you a thumbs up. After a bit everybody lined up to see if they made it. The coach talked, and everybody looked pretty happy. You saw him and Zed talking before Zed walked over to you. You smiled and offered him his backpack, but your smile faded as you saw the disappointed look on his face. "I didn't make the team." He said. "Principal Lee thinks I shouldn't even leave the basement for school."

"Zed, I'm really sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. It's the story of my life." He said frustratedly.

You gently hooked your arm around his as you both walked together. "I'm sure at some point you'll be on the football team. Once people see how awesome you are."

He smirked at you. "Yeah, you're right. Well, I guess for now only you'll get to see my awesomeness."

You chuckled. "I guess so." You both fell into comfortable silence until you said, "I thought you were pretty good, by the way."

"Thanks, but I kinda wanna see you in action."

You laughed. "Um, I don't think I'd do all that good in football."

He laughed too. "No, I meant dancing. You said you liked it, but I haven't seen you dance yet."

"Yet?"

"Yeah. We'll go dancing together at some point. It's just a matter of time." You looked down with a flushed face, grinning. "So, why did you move in with your aunt and uncle?"

"Um, they're the only family I have left now." He stared at you. "I'll explain another day." He nodded.

You both then made it to the border of Seabrook and Zombieland. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe we'll even have a day where people aren't trying to pull us apart."

You chuckled. "Wouldn't that be something."

He grabbed your hand and spun you softly. "Until next time."

You smiled and began walking the other way. As you buried your hands in your face and hopped around to calm yourself, Zed was silently jumping and fist bumping the sky. You thought about what he said, and decided that you would do something for this school, and it involved dancing.

---

Author Note: Please let me know if I should keep going with this, or if you maybe wanna be tagged if I end up making a series.

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 4 for the first time. Random thoughts.

I never said anything about it before but I love Shadow Weaver's DCAU Batman eyes. They're so expressive.

Episode 1: Okay...I wasn't expecting Catra to do that. I mean, it makes sense. If she has leverage over Hordak then she's basically in charge of the Horde and that's what she's wanted (or at least believes she wants) since episode 1. It's an aspect that made her a good antagonist, that she's not blind to the evil of the Horde, she just doesn't care as long as she herself is secure. Which naturally begs the question, when the rebellion and the princesses are crushed, when the Horde is on top, when Adora is dead, when Catra finally has everything she's ever wanted...will she actually finally be happy? Somehow, I have my doubts.

I definitely feel for Glimmer in this. When you go through as big a loss as she did you need to be able to feel and vent if you're ever going to get through it. It doesn't have to be right away but everyone doing everything in their power to avoid the topic entirely can make you feel like you're going crazy. It'a especially bad for her since it unintentionally makes it feel like everyone is acting like it doesn't matter that Angela is gone when it clearly means everything to Glimmer.

Episode 2: I actually had a potted cactus plant once. Accidentally forgot about it and left it outside for an entire winter. Once the snow was gone the cactus looked like it had melted.

I kind of want to see what an interaction between Double Trouble and Clayface from the Harley Quinn animated series would look like. I'm guess Catra was just testing how good Double Trouble was as a doppelganger because it doesn't seem like she did anything while Adora was being distracted, though I suppose that could be a reveal in a later episode.

Not much to say except that I love how buff Huntara is while still clearly being a woman. Like, women can have a variety of different body types, as this series and Steven Universe show, and Huntara's build isn't just, like, Bow's body with lipstick and ponytail and the animators calling it a day. No, she looks like a freakin' jacked adult woman.

Episode 3: I didn't figure out the Flutterina = Double Trouble twist until a minute before it was revealed, so good job there. Before that I was wondering if Flutterina was some fan's original character where they won some contest where their OC got to be in the show for an episode. She was giving off some weird self-insert vibes. That twist made it all work though. It's honestly not a bad plan. Shapeshifters haven't really been a thing in the series before now so there's no reason to suspect it. Even if they did they'd probably be expecting it by way of magic or technology, while Double Trouble's seems to be a natural ability.

I like that even though Bow is definitely the goofier one of the trio he is still consistently shown as competent. That's never in question. He was very heroic and reassuring to the villagers this episode. I get why those kids idolize him so much.

Catra's having guilt over what she did with the portal and to Entrapta and her response is basically to just double-down. She doesn't know any other way to be. Not going to lie, I am kind of hoping we get another moment in the show where Adora just completely overwhelms Catra with the sheer power of She-Ra. I'm not saying like brutalize her or anything but just something where Catra is made to realize just how powerful Adora is and that she could just destroy Catra if she had a mind to do so.

Episode 4: Well, I was saying I wanted Adora to do it but I guess I don't mind Glimmer being the one to get some good shots in on Catra. Like I predicted, Shadow Weaver's moving in to become her teacher like she was with her father. Honestly I like that that was more Adora's problem than Glimmer using her as bait, which she seemed to get over pretty quick. Yeah, it was kind of a heartless thing to do but it was an understandable tactic and she clearly outright told Adora that she did it and why afterwards, which at least means she's still being honest.

It occurs to me that Glimmer and Catra may be the ones running parallel right now. Both are basically leading their respective sides of the war. They both have lost someone very important to them. And both are trusting someone they probably shouldn't. Both even have outfits that've been updated in the intro. The difference is Glimmer's just trying to deal with a bad situation while Catra's is entirely self-inflicted.

Minor thing but I like Glimmer's new outfit this season. I'm sure this is the intention but it makes her look older and more mature. A little more muscular in some shots too.

Episode 5: Heart of Etheria project. No idea what that is but assumedly whoever's a part of it doesn't like Light Hope and Mara being friends. Sounds like it's very much interested in She-Ra being just a warrior, and perhaps a tool, for the greater good. It does make me wonder though how much Light Hope remember from when she was rebooting. Even if she deleted the Mara memory she could potentially still have the memory of her and Adora watching the Mara memory, as well as Adora asking to be her friend.

Episode 6: Yep. Scorpia; definitely favorite supporting character. There is something kind of funny about her whole "Scorpions are loyal" line when you remember the story about the Frog and the Scorpion, where it stings the frog despite it meaning death for itself as well simply because that is its nature. But finally we're having someone go save Entrapta, and I can only assume at some point Scorpia's going to access the power of the Black Garnet.

The parallels between Catra and Hordak are definitely at their max here with that speech of hers to him. She's basically trying to convince herself that she doesn't need anyone, the timing of which is appropriate since she just drove away Scorpia and now truly doesn't have anyone. Not that I blame Scorpia, obviously. Like Adora before her, however good you believe someone can be and that you can help them, at some point you just have to cut the toxic people out of your life. You have the right to be happy too.

And man, Bow is just the best. He saw something was wrong between Adora and Glimmer and defused the situation like (snap) that, pushing them to talk like any sane person would.

Episode 7: I'm sure it is just because I've seen way too many TV shows and movies (both animated and live action) that don't do it but it is just such a relief to have a show where the characters just TALK and LISTEN to each other. It doesn't solve all their issues but they're at least not being stupid and freakin' petty. It helps the drama feel a lot less forced and contrived.

Episode 8: A little bit of amusement in Bow thinking at first that Glimmer and Adora didn't even notice he was gone despite them coming to his rescue very shortly afterwards, given Catra is only now realizing Scorpia has left and assumedly she did so a while ago. Bow and Sea Hawk hadn't been gone for that long so it's not unreasonable Glimmer and Adora wouldn't be worried about their absence (Bow was literally talking about "me time" when they last saw him), while Catra is only noticing Scorpia's absence now and it was because she wanted something. Like Scorpia said, she's a bad friend.

Kind of ironic given that a lot of Catra's issues are the direct result of Shadow Weaver giving her very little love growing up but it does seem this tough love is probably what'll get through to Catra the best. She might finally stop making bad decisions and lashing out if she's forced to live with the consequences of them, like Adora told her last season.

Glimmer gets a bit of slack from me since she suffered through a huge loss, that being her mother, and then was immediately thrown into being queen right after. It'd be hard for anyone to be 100% on their game and well-adjusted in a situation like that, and I buy that she was on some level resentful of Adora for coming back instead of her mother, even if unintentionally so. What definitely helps is that Glimmer very clearly and immediately regretted what she said to Adora. Like Catra she's lashing out but unlike Catra Glimmer recognizes some of the damage she's doing and knows, at least in this case, that she went too far.

Episode 9: Now that I can see the design in color I definitely prefer Mara's She-Ra with pants to Adora's She-Ra with shorts. Honestly, while the differences are pretty minor, I do think Mara's She-Ra design is overall a lot better than Adora's. Sharper shoulder guards. Bigger cape (especially the cape, I love capes). I don't know, there's just a lot that clicks with it and I wouldn't mind Adora getting a similar outfit later.

Madam Razz definitely had a Yoda feel this episode. I was very much expecting her to start wacking Mara with a stick over the sugar like Yoda did with R2. Though while that was Yoda acting crazy, for Razz it's because she experiences time out of order, and I don't think I've ever seen that concept taken to this extent, or at least done this way before. There are characters like River Song from Doctor Who, Professor Paradox from Ben 10, or even the Reverse-Flash who interact with other characters in time out of order but those characters are still on a linear path from their own perspective, even when travelling through time. Razz is just bouncing around her own timeline, seemingly not even any real reason or cause to it like Subaru from Re:Zero. Clearly she's not just remembering things oddly because her talk about things of the present are heard by people in the past and have an effect. I wonder if maybe the reason why is because Razz was at ground zero of Mara's actions and this is a side-effect of pulling Etheria away from the rest of the universe.

Bringing more Star Wars into this, it basically sounds like the Heart of Etheria project has turned Etheria into a magic Starkiller Base; storing power that'll be unleashed to destroy whole planets. And jeez, I think this was the first time I really felt creeped out by Light Hope when she was talking to Mara.

I'm looking forward to seeing what it means that the First Ones only made the sword and that Etheria made She-Ra. If that's the case, why is only the sword able to bring out the She-Ra form? Is it like MCU Thor's hammer and the weapon was just meant to help him control the power he already had? Or is what we think is She-Ra not actually She-Ra and that form that Adora and Mara take is just a stand-in for the real thing?

Episode 10: It didn't even occur to me until now but Double Trouble's capture is another blow to Catra's circle of "friends" too. They were at least able to make her laugh. One less person for her to talk to and just...really just distract her from her thoughts.

It's a good dilemma this episode presents about what to do with the Heart of Etheria. The safest and probably best option is to just dismantle it, like Adora and Bow want, since it could easily lead to the destruction of the entire planet if it goes off. Not the mention there's so little they know about it and what it was intended for and the one person who can potentially tell them, Light Hope, they were warned not to trust. But it's not hard to understand where Glimmer is coming from in wanting to use that power to fight the Horde. They're already losing the war and now she knows Hordak Prime and his FAR more powerful forces are on the way. Tapping into the Heart is a huge risk but she's not seeing any other paths for the rebels to win. It's a really good dilemma, with good arguments presented from both sides, and I buy this widening the schism between Adora and Glimmer.

Episode 11: I have mixed feelings on King Micah still being alive. On the one hand there's a lot of good potential interactions we can now have with him, primarily between Glimmer and Shadow Weaver, and he is a fun character. But on the other I can't help but wonder if this kind of lessens the impact of what Angela gave up to overcome the false reality. Part of what made it so emotional was that she had to accept the person she loved was dead and not coming back...except now we see that he wasn't dead and now he is coming back. Yeah, their family lost out on years together and that does still carry some emotional weight but I was already also half-expecting Angela to come back later in the series because she's stuck between dimensions, meaning there's a chance she could still be alive. If both Glimmer's parents come back then that really feels like it takes a lot of weight out of her story. But I guess we'll see what happens.

Also, why did the Horde exile him to Beast Island? Why not just kill him?!

Episode 12: So the Horde exiles Micah to Beast Island instead of killing him. The First Ones protect their secrets by sending their bad tech to Beast Island. Does no one know how to just destroy things in this world?

Ohhh, I am so looking forward to next episode. While it's debatable whether Glimmer should be going through with her plan she is at least being smart with how she's going about it. Double Trouble was being paid by Catra to work for the Horde, not out of any sense of loyalty. Glimmer has the resources of Bright Moon at her disposal so it's reasonable she could pay them more to switch sides. Double Trouble was very good at sabotaging even a group as tight-nit as the heroes, so Hordak and Catra are probably easy pickings with all their issues.

Episode 13: ....WELL THAT AIN'T GOOD!

I'll admit, I had a little bit of an unintended laugh. After all we've heard about Horde Prime, like this shadowy all-powerful monster, I wasn't expecting the fabulous flowing dreadlocks and smoothness. Credit where it's due, man has charisma and charm, which goes a long way in helping your big evil world conqueror not be a very flat character, because it's doubtful he's going to have the same kind of sympathetic motivation as Hordak or complexity as Catra to keep him elevated.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Double Trouble kicking at Catra while she's down. Adora and Scorpia were honest but they never wanted to hurt Catra. Not so much with Double Trouble and they just shove reality into her face. Everyone leaves Catra because of Catra. She's the common factor. It's her fault and no one else's. Again, I don't know for certain if Adora and Catra get together at the end (Catra would have a LOT to make amends for regardless) but Double Trouble was definitely implying Catra had feelings for her with the way they put Catra's hand on "Adora's" cheek while talking about how she left her.

I like that we see Glimmer's plan actually working at first. The princesses get a massive power boost and decimate the Horde forces. But the minute it starts going wrong she immediately admits Adora was right and she tries to stop the energy flow. I imagine having her there with Catra was intentional by the writers. Despite some parallels, Glimmer can actually accept her failures and work to try and fix things. Unlike Catra, she didn't blame Adora for things going wrong.

So the sword allows the First Ones to control She-Ra and the energy she'd be absorbing from the planet. Assumedly that means there are at least some parts to She-Ra that have nothing to do with the First Ones and thus maybe Adora can still use some of those powers without the sword.

Season 4 verdict: Yeah, the show keeps getting better, though I will admit last season's finale had me more emotional, but that's a bit of an unfair comparison given everything that happened in that finale vs. this one. This is definitely the series hitting its darkest hour, where it feels like EVERYONE lost. Not just the rebels but the Horde as well. The sword and Light Hope are gone and She-Ra (for now) along with them. Glimmer and Catra are basically prisoners. Hordak's probably going to have his personality stripped away. The Fright Zone is in ruins. The only one who's gained anything is Prime.

Really looking forward to what the final season has in store, especially since there seems to be the implication that Catra just saved Glimmer's life.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/o1j5gk/going_in_blind_watching_season_4_for_the_first/