#corrupted adora is back??????

[catras-breakup-song]

i think there are a couple things about catra's designs that people tend to get wrong (in my opinion at least, these could just be interpretations):

catra's s4 outfit is actually just a force captain uniform, not necessarily a second-in-command horde ranking above one (not that it's any less hot on her!). despite having been a force captain for most of the earlier seasons, she was actually still wearing her cadette uniform. you know, 'cause she was always skipping force captain orientation and whatnot! and then she finally started taking that power much more seriously after the portal arc. you'll notice catra's design looks much more similar to scorpia's now bc boob window lmao, who was always a force captain since her first debut, save for personal customizations to support their animal hybrid body types.

also, bonus, the reason why catra's arm sleeves are uneven is to match her appearance while she was corrupted by the world falling apart, although that wouldn't explain why she still has part of her left arm covered in black. this was something i saw someone theorize a while back, but i'd never be able to find the post again.

anyhow, it also parallels glimmer's queen design pretty well (i hate that this image is mirrored):

they both have one arm covered by a sleeve, while the other is bare, yet still wear gloves on each hand. they both wear a headpiece. they both make room in their clothes to show their chests. they both have the V-curved waistband to divide their setup into torso and waist/thighs.

...moving on now...

2. catra (along with adora, glimmer, and bow)'s future wish designs were only supposed to be temporary for scorpia's ball that they were getting ready for. i see a lot of fanart that depicts them in these outfits as their main future designs overall, but i don't believe that's the case. they would definitely appear much more settled-down without a doubt, but in my headcanon adora isn't always wearing such a long dress and catra may wear shoes more often but usually not all the time. admittedly, this is just my own take and isn't entirely relevant to the point. also, mind you, that ball wasn't even canon to reality; we don't know if it actually ever happened. it was just something adora imagined she would be able to see if she were to live.

in addition to that, nate also said this, implying that adora does not stick with dresses as casual wear and by extension the same most likely applies to catra about covering her feet instead of wearing leggings that make movement more free, although this may change as time goes on after the war and they grow to find comfort in peace:

EDIT: i found this post

[lucky-clover-gazette]

white out is probably one of the more notable episodes of she ra bc it's just catra at her absolute worst behavior, like objectively the portal had far greater consequences but i think the cold got to her in this one bc she's such a fucking menace. "looks like you're mine now adora" "always so perfect, look at you now. you're coming back to the horde under my command" "i wonder which of your friends i'll have you annihilate first" "I'VE GOT CONTROL OVER ADORA. I'M NOT GIVING THAT UP." like when corrupted she ra throws catra at the ground like a ragdoll she deserves it, 100%, no questions asked. there isn't even a time/space anomaly making catra act up, they just put her in outpost 31 from the thing with her ex and suddenly she's the homoerotic joker.

even scorpia's briefly like "ahahah maybe i don't want to have a crush on catra after all" bc she's acting like such a freak. but also scorpia spends the entire episode trying to ask catra out, and tells adora, "you two, even when you're trying to kill each other, you can tell there's a real bond" and she is JEALOUS of that?? actually you know what this is also a catradora at their worst behavior episode too, like the way they immediately start trash talking and then ditch everyone to scrap the second they see each other is beyond unprofessional. catra's favorite number is canonically 42069 (confirmed by nate stevenson) and adora knows this by heart. if those two idiots were in the same room for five minutes while adora's on loopy mode the show would actually just end, and this episode fucking KNOWS it and refuses to give us the satisfaction. bro. scorpia telling loopy adora that catra is misunderstood and shouldn't SHE know that better than anyone else is just like. wow. ouch. rude. scorpia is actually the mvp of this episode she straight up judges adora to her FACE for abandoning catra and swears not to do the same, even though honestly she probably should, because catra fucking SUCKS in this one. scorpia reveals that "catra once used my rock-hard exoskeleton as a nail file" why?? why would you let this happen?? stop simping she's not worth it!! but scorpia is still the mvp bc at the end of the episode she just straight-up realizes that catra is out of her goddamn mind and breaks the 'controlling she ra' disk for catra's own good bc clearly something about low temps and her ex makes catra go 25% more feral than usual and it's pretty cringe. it's like when i dispose of the dead fly my cat has been antagonizing for the past twenty minutes like babygirl i don't like the person you become when you're in these conditions!! and of course OF COURSE we get literally two seconds of sober wordless communication between catra and adora that's just like ohhhh adora's gonna remember this one, you're going to be doing the dishes for the first fifteen years of your relationship once this galactic war shit wraps up and you save the universe by kissing with tongue. oh my god, what the fuck is with this show. how does this show exist. how does this episode exist. how does catra exist. they put this gay catgirl in an environment under 32 degrees farenheit for one episode and it's enough to make her say some of the most toxic, deranged dialogue in the entire series. i think soup would fix her, and also a cocktail of psychiatric medication and cognitive behavioral therapy. she sneezes like a kitten and needs a weighted blanket in the evil uber away from cringefail summit as she's mentally drafting the 'i fucked up' email to her boss. she thanks scorpia and shares the blanket with her bc she's so exhausted by her own bullshit. she ra and the princesses of power season 2 episode 5 white out is for the cold gay heartbroken bitches and it might just be one of the series' best. looks like you're mine now adora, good fucking night.

[that-ari-blogger]

What Secrets Lie In Mystacor's Shadows?

So, it has been noted many, many times that She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is a series about trauma. And usually, this takes the form of overcoming conditioning and pre-programmed responses. But there is another aspect of the trauma that is less obvious.

Adora suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), not from the war or the Horde, but from Shadow Weaver. This is examined in the topic of this post, In The Shadows Of Mystacor.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I'm going to start by taking a look at the bath sequence. It shows two things. One: Adora is paranoid and brings a sword to a place in which she should feel safe. Two: Shadow weaver is just messing with her.

That's what's happening here, this is how Shadow Weaver acts. Her stated motive here is bringing Adora back to the Horde, and her preferred method is psychological. She tries to scare Adora into returning, she tries to convince Glimmer and Bow that their friend is unreliable. And she tries to convince Adora that her friends are giving up on her. She's trying to isolate her prey.

Shadow Weaver doesn't have to be a physical threat to be intimidating. She's intelligent, and manipulative. Her power comes from her patience, and her drive, her understanding. She doesn't have to be present to have an impact.

"I saw her shadow on the floor"

A shadow is a reflection, of sorts. It is a sign that there is someone there, not detailed, but enough to be sure. Shadow Weaver is very much here, but its her shadow. You see the impact she has had, more than you see her.

There's even the transition at the end, as the shot of Adora fades into a much closer and larger Shadow Weaver, showing their connection and power dynamic with all the subtlety of a crocodile in a steakhouse.

Despite receiving its name in 1980, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is one of the oldest mental health problems afflicting humanity. It is a response to fear and/or pain that is designed to avoid the same situation again.

Shakespeare famously wrote a character from Henry IV, Hotspur, with what would now be diagnosed as PTSD. There is a whole speech on it in part 1, which I highly recommend you look up. But Cambridge University, the article Shakespeare And Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, gives another description from the bard of the phenomenon:

"Or in the night, imagining some fear, How easy is a bush supposed a bear!" (A Midsummer Night's Dream)

In essence, PTSD has many forms and symptoms, but most revolve around sensory processing and instinctual reactions.

Notice how Adora shows both in this episode. She mistrusts her senses about Shadow Weaver, and immediately goes into a fighting position when snuck up on by Glimmer and Bow.

The point I am making is that this is an episode about Shadow Weaver as much as it is about Adora, and a lot about her can be inferred from Adora's reactions to everything.

"Pull it together, Adora. There's no way shadow weaver can be here."

Again, notice how Adora's shadow is the spy, the influence. Again, Shadow weaver is here, not in person, but through Adora's trauma.

The most stressful scene in this episode is Adora, alone, in a room, taunted by her own thoughts, or rather, thoughts Shadow Weaver has put in her head.

It is almost more comforting when we finally see Shadow Weaver. She becomes a tangible problem, one Adora can talk to, one Adora can physically fight.

I've mentioned Shadow Weaver's shadows before in how they frame a shot, but that was in relation to Catra, notice the difference in how they interact with Adora. With Catra, the shadows cover her up, and corrupt her, they look painful, like claws that scratch specifically at her eyes. With Adora, the shadows encircle her, they compress her, they trap here. The imagery in this shot is reminiscent, at least to me, of fingers clasping shut around Adora to reach for her and grasp her, to control her.

"I could give you Etheria, we could rule the world together."

Here we finally get Shadow Weaver's actual motivation. She doesn't align herself with any faction, she wants control. She offers Adora the world not out of benevolence, but because Adora is the one who can give the world to Shadow Weaver, and all she has to do is manipulate Adora's perceptions to get what she wants.

I do not like Shadow Weaver.

Previous - Next

[clfixationstation]

ships that make me go absolutely insane

Ranked from most insane to least

EREMIN (AoT: Eren x Armin)

the entire time I'm watching them my brain is "they're just like me fr" they make me feel as if I'm tearing apart. Oh the shared dream, the ruin, the raw honesty cutting through layers of deception, the way they end - it's too much. I saw myself so much in their dynamic something about queer childhood friends to lovers. something about living in that in-between...also aspec Eren real. You have NO IDEA how much analysis I've written about them. The slow corruption of their shared dream, the way Armin knew Eren best, the way Eren looks at Armin :( "And in the corner of your eye / I saw a dream that never died" - Aurora

Catradora (SPoP: Catra x Adora)

First canon queer ship I watched <3 both healing and painful at the same time, it tapped into something deep I had forgotten long ago. The sort of relationship where you're really close but there's a gap you both feel and won't address for fear of your own feelings and about losing each other (both eremin & catradora) but then they're able to actually close it!! To see each other as they are! Do you understand how much hope that offers?! To be seen and be told your fate is not tragic? I have also written so much analysis about them. "You're the only friend I need / Sharing beds like little kids / And laughing 'til our ribs get tough / But that will never be enough" - Lorde

Cassunzel (TTS: Cass x Rapunzel)

*gasp* a ship that isn't queer childhood besties to lovers? But bro the YEARNING. Oh it hurts so bad. Also the aesthetic is simply divine. I'm ranking it here because it was very impactful for me some years ago, though I'm not into it enough right now to deliver a thorough explanation. Also I'm pretty sure Cass is a canon lesbian? Massive W. idk, something about shipping noncanon queer ships that gets me. "I'm sick of the sun / Can't trust anyone" - Poppy

Nuts n Dolts (RWBY: Penny x Ruby)

Idk they just cared for each other so tenderly and then Penny died twice and Ruby couldn't save her either time. Ow ow ow. THE doomed yuri. I love to hc both of them as aspec, & both are very neurodivergent-coded (because that is what I am). I'm drawn to the comfort, security, warmth, and the angst. There's also just something very bright in their relationship that draws me in, similarly to eremin. seeing each other in such a golden light while resenting themselves perhaps? the way they look at each other & hold each other so dear? "A chance to share the world / To be a girl who finally felt alive" - Friend, RWBY

Bumbleby (RWBY: Blake x Yang)

Holy shit the yearning! Blake abandoning Yang AND THEN COMING BACK AND STAYING. Protecting each other :') Healing together. It's just so sweet and powerful I can't help but adore it. I remember watching the first 2 seasons when I was little before I knew gay people existed, and shipping them even then. ngl I really want to go rewatch earlier seasons through a sapphic angst/yearning lens. "I made a vow, I'm not alone / Not dying now, we're protecting our own" - Nevermore, RWBY

[antispopausandstuff]

the c//a // catra // adora editing community is so funny because all of them ( literally all of them ) do at least one of these things:

edit c//a to a song that's either about abusive relationships, broken relationships, nonexistent relationships ( "One Way or Another" is about a stalker, for ex ), or about familial dynamics ( typically siblings, but i've seen c//a being edited to "Mama's Boy" recently ).

the healthy relationship songs they DO use are typically by Taylor Swift and // or are completely tone-deaf to the scenes used.

show adora having a bad time via catra's hands while using some cutesy or romance-angsty lyrics.

edit catra to badass audios, but use scenes where she's clearly NOT having a good time ( i've seen some edits be of her dying or getting beat up ) 🤣.

use 'Toxic' by Britney Spears ironically ( they think this is funny to make fun of antis with, i think??? ).

their edits are so disconnected from everything that it's not even funny, it will just give you an eyesore ( saw an edit with 'Dark Red' by Steve Lacy to an edit that was both badass and romance angst??? ).

if they do show the 'bad side of the relationship', they use songs that typically soften the blow, as if corrupted catra is gonna look any better with Taylor Swift's ricochet song in the background-

if they make a 'badass couple' edit, they use scenes that have one party ( typically catra ) hurting the other instead of standalone scenes or smth.

i noticed that a lot of the 'happy' edits are with a bunch of fanart or of s5. hm. wonder why that is.

use songs for catra edits that really work better with adora ( for ex, "911" by Elise or "Potential Breakup Song" by Aly & AJ ), because the songs would typically be from the victim's POV ( which i find funny in the worst way tbh ).

in the rare case that the stan has awareness of catra's actions, they still edit c//a because they think redeemed catra is fine ( one step forward, five steps back. we sigh. ). or, edit catra because they think she's well-written or smth, idk.

it's just a mess, and it would be even more funny if i didn't feel like a migraine was growing in my brain every time i noticed it.

feel free to mention some others i may have forgotten, 'cause i'm sure i've seen all the types at this point, just don't rmbr them all.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

so this post is inspired by a person who sent an ask to @my-nitpicking-self (i hope you don't mind me tagging you), who mentioned the confrontation between katara and zuko in atla, in reference to glimmer's and catra's relationship in spop. i thought it was an interesting comparison, so i'm going to expand on it.

so two very similar scenes in atla and spop: katara and zuko being stuck together in crystal catacombs and glimmer and catra being stuck together in horde prime's ship. two things to note here - zuko was beginning to heal at this point and had almost completely given up his mission of capturing aang, while catra has just finished conquering salineas and was neck-deep in villainy.

as soon as katara sees zuko, she becomes outraged. keep in mind, zuko did not kill katara's mother. but she still had a valid reason to be mad at him. she holds him accountable for everything he has done.

K: Why did they throw you in here? Oh, wait, let me guess. It's a trap. So that when Aang shows up to help me, you can finally have him in your little Fire Nation clutches!

K: You're a terrible person! You know that? Always following us! Hunting the Avatar! Trying to capture the world's last hope for peace! But what do you care? You're the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood!

Z: You don't know what you're talking about.

K: I don't? How dare you! You have no idea what this war has put me through! Me personally! The Fire Nation took my mother away from me.

here, zuko doesn't try to argue with katara until she implies that violence and aggression is an inherited thing, because he's from the fire nation. zuko accepts his mistakes but he is also aware that being a fire nation citizen or even royalty alone doesn't make you a bad person. even then, he doesn't raise his voice or lash out at her, he just calmly disagrees.

after katara mentions her mother, he apologizes and sympathizes with her.

Z: I'm sorry. That's something we have in common.

K: I'm sorry I yelled at you before.

Z: It doesn't matter.

K: It's just that for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face.

katara also apologizes but zuko understands that it was completely in her right to blame him. and then we get to the crux of the issue. katara's mother was killed years ago but she still hasn't been able to move on from the grief.

now, of course, zuko again turns back to villainy but this was an important confrontation. and it wasn't the only one. as you all know, after zuko's official redemption, the gaang still doesn't trust him and katara is the last person to forgive him. she is still upset and disappointed by the way he betrayed her after they had begun to bond in the catacombs. and zuko has to prove his loyalty before katara could forgive him.

now let's come to glimmer and catra. catra DIRECTLY caused the death of glimmer's mother. and it was recent. glimmer had been grappling with her grief in the last season, to the point where she spirals into a small corruption arc. s4 of spop does NOT forget angella's death.

so obviously, you would expect there to be a confrontation between glimmer and catra in s5, especially since they were alone together in a confined space. but let's see what happened.

Glimmer: You again. Why do you keep coming back here?

Catra: Just...bored, I guess.

Glimmer: No, I mean, Horde Prime told you not to talk to me. He's gonna catch you eventually. Why risk it? ...You're lonely, aren't you?

so far, no confrontation, no apology.

Catra: What do you know? You're the prisoner here. I can go where I want. So, stay here by yourself for all I care.

Glimmer: Okay, okay, you're right. It...helps having someone to talk to. Even if you're the last person I'd ever want to be stuck here with.

Catra: Trust me, Sparkles, the feeling is mutual.

and just like that, they're on better terms now. glimmer doesn't bring up angella's death, she doesn't bring up the way catra treated adora, how she and bow were kidnapped by catra, nothing. they seem more like casual rivals than enemies here. catra doesn't seem guilty in the slightest, she just has to threaten to leave and glimmer immediately makes her stay.

and not just that, they joke about adora's paranoia that was rooted in her trauma, as if it's just a fun quirk. at this point, it's clear that the writers are not even trying to make it seem like they don't favor catra over all the characters.

and the one time glimmer somewhat confronts catra—

G: Please, Catra. Do one good thing in your life!

C: Don't talk to me like you know me! You don't know anything about me!

of course, catra shuts her down immediately. and afterwards, even when catra saves glimmer, she makes it clear that she's only doing it for adora. while on the surface, this might still come off as a good deed, it's clear from her later behaviour that catra's goal wasn't to help either adora or glimmer. my best guess is that she was practically awaiting death at that point and didn't expect to face the consequences of her actions, so she wanted to go out with one good deed, much like shadow weaver.

it's crazy how zuko, who was just an antagonist and has done very little to directly hurt the gaang, faced the consequences of his actions and got a drawn out and detailed redemption; while catra, who spent the entire series hurting the protagonists out of her own interest, gets off scot-free.

any time her past actions are brought up, they are mentioned in the vaguest terms possible i.e. “she made some mistakes” or “shs hurt people”. it's so clear that the writers were hoping that if the other characters forgot everything that catra did, the audience would do the same. and the worst part is that they're right. 90% of the fandom were willing to accept catra's redemption because no one in the show ever holds her accountable or confronts her properly.

[kaiwuzherenz]

so as we all know, catras been through alot...now you have me to ramble about it...

So well as we all know, adora left catra for the rebellion...now to make this ramble shorter ima talk about main events

(Art by @kaereth artofkace wuz their old account- all the fanart i post here is by them NOT ME!!!!!-) CORRUPTED CATRA!! so basiclly corrupted catra is catra's worst side possible! like the possessive, blameing, and just all the worst things about catra in one..well was already in one but now all showing at once

she blamed adora for everything the portal caused....but adora didnt cause catra to pull the switch

HEAD CANON!: well i think, time given and the corrupten took over catra (ik space and time would be gone and everyone is already dead) catra would have died

well duh but whateva

s5 time! i know i skipped alot kk

Well i already rambled how catra went for a kill swing

and how catra dies

so do i need to ramble more? not really so ima skip again

like alot

catra almost dies again, returning the favor adora did for her. Adora gave catra a second chance in life. so catra accepted her death so adora could get to the heart

sad thing is that....ADORA LEFT CATRA AND AT THE END CATRA COULDNT LEAVE ADORA! but lets go back a bit

catra basically said she loved adora and throught after evrything she did, adora would not love her back

but what catra didnt know is that adora thought the same thing....

adoras wish is sweet, but she knew if catra died this could never happen

then catra finally told adora that she had always loved her

Adora saw catra die when she was chipped

Catra sees adora die at the heart

they both almost die but since they were in the same place at the same time, they helped eachother. Catra saved adora and adora saved catra...they was so meant for each other

[anti-spop]

Also the only thing I liked about catra was her design

Yeah, I like Catra's design as well. My favorite one has to be her s4 design, I kind of like the fact it calls back to Corrupted Catra in s3. Of course, I hate how sexualized s4 Catra is, but it was neat.

And I'll admit that Catra's "future" design (Adora projecting her future in s5, that is) was cool, too.

[wipbigbang]

Round 2 Of Artists Claims For The Regular WIPBB Are Open! Round 2 lasts until July 31st! You may claim 3 fics this round!

This is one of the fics open for claiming...

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) #093 Title: The Tyrant of Mystacor Pairing/Characters: Castaspella/Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner Rating: Mature | M Warnings/Tags: No Warnings apply Summary: What if Light Spinner had never joined the Horde after her corruption? What if, true to her initial desire, she had instead used her new powers to fight them? What if, for that purpose, she had taken over Mystacor and the Sorcerers' Guild? Shadow Weaver, the Tyrant of Mystacor; an uncanny ally to the Princess Alliance… After years of ruling with terror, she could have never imagined what looking for fresh blood would result in: her newest asset, her most important one, she would change everything. How could a single young sorceress shake the very foundations of the Tyrant's beliefs? Shadow Weaver would never know…

#094 Title: Heart'Bit'-Burner Pairing/Characters: Castaspella/Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner Rating: General | G Warnings/Tags: No Warnings apply Summary: In an overly connected world, where everything seems to have become electronic and artificial, nothing ever feels natural anymore. People install augmentations to enhance their bodies, provided by factions that have become the new ruling forces of the world, and all it takes is your memory. A “moment of respite”, some call it; a “soft reset”, to be precise. The closest to feeling natural again. It’s a moment of innocence; a blank slate before the artificial world sucks you back into its never-ending chaos. And so, a woman wakes up with no clue as to who she is, where she is, or who the man in front of him could possibly be…

#095 Title: Intermittent Glow Pairing/Characters: Adora/Catra and Bow/Glimmer Rating: Teen | T Warnings/Tags: No Warnings apply mind control (Prime's chips), tertiary character death (villain who also dies in canon) Summary: When Catra fails to save Glimmer, Horde Prime chips them both. She-Ra manages to save the cat, but her best friend's not so lucky. Now the rebellion's on the run from Prime's killer queen and no where on Etheria is safe as long as Glimmer's chipped. Catra and Adora fight to free their friend from Prime's mind control while trying to keep Bow out of her path of destruction. The archer resents being babied, but this is Glimmer with the safeties off and Prime at the wheel and his friends aren't going to let him get ripped apart by the woman he loves when she's clearly way too far gone for someone to remind her she's one of the good guys. (aka AU where Glimmer gets chipped and fights Catra, Adora and Bow in turn)

The list of remaining fics and the link to sign up are below!

[spopsalt]

Ayo it's me, the Anon with the long posts and short memory of what to write next.

This time I have a question for you: How long do you think that the stans are unironically going to say that the whole conflict of the Horde conquering the universe as well as Hordak starting the war on Etheria pre-Despondos release was both indirectly 𝘢𝘯𝘥 directly Adora's fault for existing (aka taking chipped Catra's opinion of her during the lash out to heart).

Still confused of why they'd make that logic? I'm glad you asked 'cause here are the steps for the stans' potential bashing:

The First Ones didn't stop the Horde and simply went "welp, we lost, might as well die" even though we don't know what caused them to mostly disappear when Etheria came back to the universe from Despondos.

2. Light Hope was continuously going for Adora when Hordak was pulled so 𝘢𝘭𝘭 of Etheria's plight, and more specifically Catra's pain, is because Adora was born to be Adam's twin and therefore having the prerequisites to transform into She-Ra. How dare she (Adora, that is).

3. Similar to point 2, how dare she live a life of peace and privilege in the Etherian Horde while the universe outside of Despondos is being depopulated by Horde Prime due to him being a despot that had no-one try to kill him via light magic until Etheria was able to be properly placed back into the universe it originally belonged to before being transported to Despondos so that she would have the means of seeing him face to face at all.

The tl;dr? Adora existing in Etheria and not first destroying its Horde (and specifically Shadow Weaver) and then the galactic version after pulling the planet from one dimension to another even before she was old enough walk and therefore understand the situation she was in is enough reason for SPOP stans to take chipped Catra's words e.g. "this wouldn't happen if you didn't exist" to heart and take umbrage at her (Adora) for not doing enough in their eyes to be worthy of being called a predestined heroine of the series' universe.

Hopefully my ramblings made sense and not seen as the words of a fool losing their marbles.

Welcome back! Don't worry, it made sense and I agree. Even when Catra was normal she still took advantage of Adora's guilt complex, in the words of corrupted Catra (Yes I'm counting it as normal Catra since there's no confirmation that her being corrupted changed her personality at her) "Let's be honest, all of this is your fault" "If you hadn't gotten captured, your sword wouldn't have opened the portal" "Admit it, Adora! The world would still be standing, if you had never come through that portal in the first place" "You broke the world and it is all. your. fault." if that isn't enough proof for you, even regular Catra said "It won't be over until I see the look on your friend's faces when they find out that you failed! Because you were too weak to save them." "You're good enough at hurting your friends without my help." Catra just love manipulating Adora, and she even brags about it to Lonnie "She's (Adora's) slow, and easily manipulated"

[haemosexuality]

insanely long analysis of the ep promise of she-ra <3

(first a bit of S1e10- the beacon)

[Adora is talking to the woods as she-ra.] Just let me fix this, please!  I-I can’t let anyone else get hurt. [she transforms back into adora and sits down] Fine. You win. You want me to be weak? Well. I am.  And I’m afraid. Because, I-I’m no good at any of this.

God doesn’t that hurt immediately off the bat. “just let me fix this, please” is a perfect summary of adoras entire character. She is so, so desperate to be useful- she needs to help other people, she needs to fix everything and save everyone. She cant let herself be a person, shes a vessel (HRUAHHRAGHHH season 5) to help others, shes a tool and a means to an end. Shes the hero. But shes bad at that, because no matter how much she represses herself, she feels and wants things so strongly all the time. She hopes and begs for direction and destiny but shes terrified of not having control. She will desperately try again and again to be the perfect hero-sacrifice that will heal the world and keep her friends safe but she doesn’t want that, not really, what she wants is to go to parties and hang out with her friends and catra, but she feels she doesn’t deserve that. She cant let herself have anything she wants. But she still does. Shes afraid and shes weak and shes too young for this. Her wanting things so strongly is what ruins everyones plans, shadow weaver’s and light hope’s and horde prime’s. its what saves everyone. This doesn’t have anything to do w the scene I was talking about anymore oops. “I’m no good at any of this” just confirms that, shes bad at being your standard self sacrificing selfless hero in the same way catra was bad at being an unfeeling purely evil villain. She just cant stop being a person

Ok now onto Promise: the ep starts immediately after that scene, with adora going inside the crystal castle looking for answers on how to heal glimmer, and catra following after her looking for tech that she can use (and also to spy on adora bc that might not have been her primary objective but shes not gonna pass up on that chance lol)

“You are not ready yet. You must let go.” “let go of what?” [camera pans to catra] will always be so. Ugh poetic cinema

How did anyone ever trust light hope lmao immediately from the first time she shows up shes all like “free yourself of all of your earthly attachments and join my hero training course”. Also, again, adora’s attachment to catra (and glimmer and bow) has always been the main thing saving her from falling head first into self sacrificial bullshit. She cant let go of her. She will never fully let go of her.

Catra: What's going on? Why are those things trying to kill us?

She-Ra: They're trying to kill you. This place sees you as an invader.

Catra: Well, can't you tell them to stop?

She-Ra: [incredulously, frustrated] No, I can't tell them to stop! Clearly nothing in here is listening to me!

Oh I just realized something. The crystal castle is a place that was made for adora and caters to her, and it sees catra as an invader. Much like how in the Horde, adora was favoritized and shadow weaver’s center of attention while catra was mistreated and discarded. Seen as an invasion, a corrupting force in Adora’s life. The one thing adora cant control in the crystal castle is how it reacts to catra, it activates security protocol no matter what she does, like how adora could never fully protect catra from shadow weaver and the others. Even throughout the episode and at the end, we see catra fighting tooth and nail to survive everything the castle throws at her while adora undermines her (“I had it.” “Sure you did.”), and by the end all her fighting pays off and she comes out victorious, like how she goes up in the horde until shes effectively its lord. The crystal castle (im just gonna call it CC) literally becomes the fright zone throught the simulation too I cant believe I didn’t get this before

Catra: Anyway, what are you doing here? [angrily, sarcastically] Where are your new best friends? I thought you guys did eVeRyThInG together.

The similarity between this and the flashback scene where we see a child catra say “go eat with your new best friend lonnie! I know you like her better than me. Youre supposed to me my friend” really shows how immature they still are I think. Not as a like, inherent character flaw or smth, they just weren’t raised in a place where emotional maturity is a thing you learn. They were never taught how to deal with their emotions in any way, other than “repress it really hard, hit someone and blow up a civilian”. Of course theyre emotionally stunted. This probably also contributes to both of them’s very black and white way of thinking. Also theyre still in the 17-18 range so like literally theyre teens. Just goes to show that them being separated for a while was necessary, bc they needed to break off their codependency to be able to grow as people and mature emotionally, that would never happen if they stayed together and just enabling each others toxic traits, instead of being able to have a healthy relationship like they do after the end.

Something I also never considered before is why the CC showed them the memories it did? Like. Was it light hope that chose those? I assume so since she not only has shown she can do that but also watched adora her entire life so she knows all her memories. Did she specifically pick out painful memories that she thought would tear them further apart? It seems obvious now but I just never thought ab this before. The first memory shown does go against that tho, its just baby adora and catra being cute. Maybe she wanted to show them how much their relationship had deteriorated?

↑ gay

↑ gay

↑ gay

Ooooouough this is when it starts to hurt pray for my emotional stability

Adora: ...Can I ask you something?

Catra: Can I stop you?

Adora: ...Why did you help me escape after Shadow Weaver captured us?

Catra: Not this again.

Adora: It's the one thing I can't figure out. You didn't have to do that. You could've gotten caught...why risk it? [Rock on the edge crumbles beneath her; yelps] Whoa, whoa, whoa--!

Catra: Did you really think I'd just let Shadow Weaver erase your memory like that?

Adora: I dunno. Probably.

[Adora grunts as Catra pulls her up]

Catra: Yeah, well, you never did have too much faith in me.

Adora: Can you blame me?

Catra: Not really.

This is so. Ugh. I love adora but especially in the first season shes so.. girl what are you doing!!!! How can she be so ignorant. Obviously I know how but. Augh so much of catra’s hurt stems from this… when I say that adora was fully, totally brainwashed by the horde, I don’t mean just that she believed their propaganda about the war, or whatever bullshit shadow weaver ingrained in her about her purpose. She also believed what they all said about catra. To a lesser extend, obviously, and she loved catra with all of herself- but she did still believe catra was a bit lazy, kinda disrespectful, uncaring, etc. and I cant even totally blame her, because catra actively tried to make herself seem all those things. Catra didn’t want to let anyone know how hard she tried, how much she hurt, so she played up the “aloof, lazy student/soldier who doesn’t care about anything” role as much as she could. But still, god, the way adora treated her must have hurt so much. “you never did have too much faith in me” absolutely breaks my heart. Catra cared about adora so much. She cared about adora more than anything in her life. Obviously she would do anything to prove herself once she can, look at how even the person who loved her the most thought about her. Im gonna talk more ab this later there are better scenes for that. But also I CANNOT BELIEVE ADORA IN THIS!!! GIRL WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!! WDYM CAN U BLAME ME YES I CAN (ignore the part where I said I couldn’t) DON’T JUST SAY THAT SHE SAVED YOUR LIFE. OH MY GOD ok. Being a catra, an adora, and a catradora stan means sometimes u really want to slap s1 adora in the face. For multiple reasons. and the fact catra agrees too…. Catra hates herself so much. She truly honestly believes shes a bad person and it breaks my heart. And unfortunately for everyone, catra has shown that she'll always play a role that shes assigned to the max. everyone believed that shes a villain, she believed that shes a villain, so by fucking god shes gonna be a villain.

putting the rest of this under a readmore bc its longggg

her tail touching adoras hand i am on the floor

Catra: It wasn't all bad growing up in the Fright Zone, was it? I mean, you still have some good memories, right? (dont trust the subtitles in the pics theyre wrong)

THIS scene destroys me. Catra’s so- she always knew the horde was evil, ok, she always knew their childhood was bad. But she endured it for adora. To catra, all the happy memories they made growing up were worth it- all for adora. It didn’t matter what they did. Only to see adora throw all these moments away the moment she realized the rest of it was bad? God, catra mustve felt like she was garbage to adora. Something that wasn’t even worth thinking about once she had the opportunity of something better. Shes very aloof here, as always, but she probably feels a bit desperate- was it worth it for you too? Did any of it matter to you? Where you just miserable the entire time?

Adora: Of course I do. But it doesn't change the fact that the Horde is evil. I had no choice. I couldn't go back.

This is adora’s biggest problem tho. She had no choice, she couldn’t go back. She never feels like she can choose anything based on what she actually wants. Shes always, always driven by this need to do good, the right thing. And this is where theyre most incompatible at first, because while catra only cares about adora and that’s her priority, adora has Morals and puts the greater good over her personal relationships, which to catra makes it seem like she doesn’t care about her. Her happy memories were absolutely worth it to adora, but theyre not more important than the good of the entire world. (I don’t think adora having a sense of morality and not wanting to side with a military empire is a bad thing, catra was the villain of the show for a reason and the reason is that obviously working for something that wants to take over the world is bad. Im just explaining how this is what drove them apart, how catras mind works, and to an extend why you can understand her side and emphatize with her even if she was in the wrong. That trait of adora’s does get bad when she starts acting like she needs to kill herself for that greater good tho.)

them taking a moment to play-fight in the middle of all of that makes me want to sobbbbb 😭😭😭

TINY LITTLE BABIESSSSSSSSSSS Young Catra: What was that? Way to gang up on me!

Young Lonnie: You were fighting dirty. I was just leveling the field.

[Catra shakes and growls in anger as Adora walks up and places a hand on Catra's shoulder]

Young Adora: Hey, you were awesome! Did I hurt you?

Young Catra: No, I'm fine. You're just lucky I let you win.

Young Adora: Riiiiiiiight.

Young Catra: I'm serious! [scoffs] If I came in first, people might expect me to actually start doing stuff around here. Trust me, second place suits me just fine.

Young Adora: Yeah, okay.

EVERYTHING I SAID BEFORE. you can see catra was obviously extremely upset that she didn’t win, but admitting that would be admitting defeat. She shrinks herself to fit into this “no im fine, im chill, im not even trying in fact. I don’t care” attitude, because that hurts less than admitting that shes trying so, so hard but no one believes in her and she keeps losing to adora (mostly bc the other cadets and staff favoritize adora over her, and discriminate against her, making it harder for her to succeed in anything). And adora believes her. “second place suits me just fine” was the mantra catra kept telling herself through her entire life to try and feel less hurt about living in adoras shadow.

though it wasn’t working, and her resentment towards adora kept growing more and more.

oh this scene could be ab so many things. Catra literally slipping through her fingers. A parallel to earlier, when catra held onto adora and helped her up, while here theyre torn apart by a force stronger than them. How adora tried but couldn’t save catra. Aughh

:(

and here, we see how capable catra is. Shes both extremely strong (able to rip herself out of… whatever that is) and extremely smart, even under pressure (in seconds she figures out where she has damage this thing shes never seen before so it stops working)

only for adora to come in, “save the day” after she had already saved herself, and act all. “sure you did” about it. Again, making absolutely clear catra knows she doesn’t believe in her.

Adora: What is your problem? I was just trying to save you.

Catra: For the last time, I don't need you to save me. I've been doing just fine on my own. No thanks to you.

That says everything on its own. Adora doesn’t understand why catra is hurt/angry, she doesn’t even understand how what she said undermines catra. And catra is extremely bitter that adora keeps acting like That. Also, something I haven’t touched on is that adora leaving the horde put catra in so much danger. She was the only thing providing catra with even the slightest bit of protection, which catra -hated- but absolutely depended on, since shadow weaver had made clear that catra was -only ever kept alive because of adora-. Adora defecting put catra in danger not only of the other cadets targeting her, but of death. Catra was left all alone to survive in those conditions, and she did, and now adora keeps acting like catra needs her to save her.

Adora: Catra, wait. ...I'm sorry for leaving. I couldn't go back to the Fright Zone, not after I saw what the Horde was really doing. something that must have stung too is the idea that adora saw innocent people suffering, and that led her to realize that the horde was bad. But she had seen catra being abused by the horde their whole life, and yet still thought the horde was good. What does that say about how adora saw catra? Did she think catra deserve it, wasn’t innocent enough for that violence to be unwarranted? Was her suffering not enough for adora to realize how fucked up that was? (again, we’re able to know that it wasn’t that, adora was just as abused as catra, watching someone be physically abused is also extremely traumatized and kids will learn to justify the abuse theyre experiencing to themselves or others and might not realize its wrong u cant expect a kid to know how to act in a situation like that she was in as much survival mode as catra was and her trying to keep herself in shadow weaver’s good side was just her desperately trying to keep herself safe etc etc this is from catras perspective) I never wanted to leave you. ...You could come with me! You-you-you could join the rebellion! I know you're not a bad person, Catra. You don't belong with the Horde.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA this hurts so much. Adora might have internalized some of what the horde said ab catra and catra might have felt that 10 times as strong than it actually was but adora never actually believed catra was a bad person. Shes probably the only one (before scorpia and entrapta) that Didn’t think catra was destined to be a disgrace, to be bad. And its so sad bc even with all their flaws she loves catra so so much and she wants catra to come with her so much. Adora now has access to a life where she has the opportunity to be happy and she so desperately wants to give catra that same life. She knows catra deserves better and she can see that now more clearly than ever. But its too late, catra is too hurt and too angry to follow her and even if at this point adoras words might have some effect on her, its about to get so much worse. :(

Fuck this next part is going to hurt. Ok

Shadow Weaver: [screams angrily] Get out!

[Young Adora cries out in alarm as dark magic encloses the exit]

Shadow Weaver: Catra... [young Adora turns to see young Catra's form enveloped in a paralyzing, zapping magic] ...you stay.

[Young Catra grunts as she is forced to stand]

Shadow Weaver: What do you think you're doing in here?

[Shadow Weaver makes young Catra turn, feet squeaking on the floor as she does so without picking up her feet; Shadow Weaver clicks her mask back in place]

Catra: [fearfully] We were just playing.

Shadow Weaver: [hatefully] Insolent child. I've come to expect such disgraceful behavior from you. But I will not allow you to drag Adora down as well.

Adora: [pleading] Shadow Weaver, it wasn't her fault, it was my idea, too!

Shadow Weaver: [hatefully, still talking to Catra] You have never been anything more than a nuisance to me! I've kept you around this long because Adora was fond of you, but if you ever do anything to jeopardize her future, I will dispose of you myself. [slowly, enunciating] Do you understand?

Adora: [runs between them, throwing her arms out to protect young Catra; pleading] Please stop!

[The dark magic dissipates back into Shadow Weaver's cloak as she groans and moves back toward the Garnet; Young Adora and young Catra share a look before young Adora runs over to Shadow Weaver]

Adora: She didn't mean to!

Shadow Weaver: [placidly, attempting to soothe] Adora, you must do a better job of keeping her under control. [Shadow Weaver finally lets young Catra out of the paralyzing magic and she grunts as she falls to the ground] Do not let something like this happen again. [she pats young Adora's head as young Catra looks on]

Transcripts and screenshots cannot properly convey the dread of this scene. In a flashback, catra and adora are caught by shadow weaver playing in a place they weren’t supposed to be in, and shadow weaver paralyzes catra with electric magic we know is extremely painful to be caught in, and threatens her life. Catra and adora look to be like, between 6-7 years old in this scene. Theres so much happening here. This lays the foundation to basically everything that happens in the show.

First off, shadow weaver singles out, physically hurts catra, and blames her for something that adora initiated. then, she makes it clear that she sees catra and someone that is bad, and she doesn’t expect anything else from her. And, she says catra is a bad influence in adora’s life, tainting whats perfect, and that tells her that every time after this that adora “acts out”, will be catra’s fault.

she tells catra that, if she ever feels like catra is “ruining” adora, she will get killed. From now on, adora’s friendship is literally what is keeping catra alive. This will, understandably, fuck their relationship up a little bit and also make catra incredibly dependent on adora. She will do anything to keep being adora’s friend and she will have to make sure that shadow weaver doesn’t feel like she is making adora behave out of line or that she isn’t becoming better than adora, isn’t taking her number 1 spot away from her.

she goes on to tell adora, who has been watching all of this, that its her job to make sure catra is kept in line. She’s seen what happens when she doesn’t. this will make adora feel incredibly responsible for catras well being, and like she has to constantly save catra and beg for catra to act right, otherwise catra will get hurt and itll be her fault. On the other hand, adora is a child who just saw someone get tortured, and subconsciously shes gonna make sure to always stay in shadow weavers good side, not only bc if she doesn’t then catra gets punished but because she does not want that to happen to her too.

catra, who was frozen and electrocuted and berated, saw adora get gently talked to, “reassured”, and receive physical affection.

that results in catra growing up both extremely attached and extremely bitter of adora, for “having it easy” and always acting like shes her savior, while she has to constantly walk on eggshells (on a minefield, honestly) so she doesn’t get physically abused. She starts resenting adora as anything she does gets blamed on her, and shes forced to live as her shadow, her bad influence, the devil to adora’s angel. And in adora having a major savior/messiah complex, she feels like shes responsible for saving everyone, and every time someone gets hurt its her fault. She will live the rest of her life trying fix and save everything, because if she can’t then what good is she?

understanding that this is where all of their motivations, flaws, traumas and personalities come from will help u understand the entire show better tbh. It all comes down to shadow weaver. [Young Adora and Catra are walking down a hall in the Fright Zone, just after this incident; they walk past a pillar and become Present Adora and Catra again]

Catra: You always need to play the hero, don't you?

Adora: I was only trying to protect you.

Catra: You never protected me! Not in any way that would put you on Shadow Weaver's bad side.

[Scene transitions to Young Adora and Catra in the same place]

Young Catra: Admit it. You love being her favorite!

Young Adora:  That's not true!

Young Catra: Oh, yeah? [glitches back to Present Catra (and Adora)] When you left, who do you think took the fall for you? Who was protecting me then?

Adora: You don't have to let Shadow Weaver treat you like that anymore. You can leave--[glitches back to Young Adora and Catra]--just like I did!

Young Catra: Oh, because I need to follow you everywhere you go?!

Young Adora: I didn't mean it that way.

[glitches back to Present Adora and Catra]

Catra: I don't. Want. To leave. What don't you understand about that? I'm not afraid of Shadow Weaver anymore, and I'm a better Force Captain than you would've ever been.

[glitches back to Young Adora and Catra]

Young Adora: You always said you didn't care about things like that...

Young Catra: [crying] Well, I was lying, obviously!

[glitches back to Present Adora and Catra; Catra begins to walk away]

Adora: Catra, just wait!

Catra: Why do you think I gave the sword back to you in the Fright Zone? I didn't want you to come back, Adora!

That scene lays out everything I said so perfectly I don’t even have anything to add.

This scene where catra is running through a simulation of all her most painful memories and desperately screams LET! ME! OUT OF HERE!! perfectly represents what spiraling like that feels like

[a younger Catra, maybe 5 or younger, is crying and hiding her face in a blanket on their bunk in the Fright Zone]

Young Adora: [peers from around a doorway] ...Catra?

[Young Catra continues to sob as Young Adora walks to her; Young Adora peels back the cover from Young Catra's face, and Young Catra hisses]

Young Adora: Catra, it's okay, it's just me. It doesn't matter what they do to us, you know? You look out for me, and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.

Young Catra and Present Catra: You promise?

Young Adora: I promise.

And then the promise. Everything catra went through, all the abuse and bullying, she put up with all of it because of this. She held onto their promise until the end. But the moment adora decided to leave the horde, she broke their promise.

as the memory-simulation ends, young catra gives a look to present catra. One that probably said, remember this. Remember how much you mean for each other. Don’t break your part of the promise. But this isn’t how catra takes it at all. all this tells catra, all that this entire day has told catra, is how terrible adora is. Adora ruined her life. Adora lied to her, said they’d be together forever only to abandon her. Adora forced her to be in her shadow. Adora is the reason shadow weaver never treated her right. She looks at her younger self and thinks, I'll avenge you. Im never gonna let anyone hurt you ever again. Im going to show all of them how strong I can be, ill rise to the top and ill be unstoppable. Im never letting anybody put me down ever again.

(and then is season 5, seeing a younger version of herself is also what makes her realize how wrong she was, how this isn’t the path she wants to take. Its what motivates her to get better, be better. Thinking about herself as a child kickstarted both her descent into being a villain and her redemption arc/recovery.) [Adora is holding onto dear life to some ropes or smth that are keeping her from falling off a cliff. Catra shows up]

Adora: [hopeful] Catra?

Catra: [holding the sword, rubs a finger along its side] Hey, Adora.

Adora: [pleading] Catra, help me, please...

Catra: [contemplatively unhurried] This thing wouldn't work for me if I tried, would it? It only works for you. Then again, you're special. That's what Shadow Weaver always said.

Adora: Catra...what are you doing?

Catra: Ah, you know? It all makes sense now. You've always been the one holding me back. You wanted me to think I needed you. You wanted me to feel weak. Every hero needs a sidekick, right?

Adora: [desperately] Catra, no, that's not how it was...

Catra: [laughs humorlessly] The sad thing is, I've spent all this time hoping you'd come back to the Horde, when really you leaving was the best thing that ever happened to me. I am so much stronger than anyone ever thought.  

I wonder what I could've been if I'd gotten rid of you sooner...

[Catra cuts the last of the rope holding Adora up; Adora shrieks as she falls, catching a rock handhold on the way down]

Adora: I-I'm sorry! I never meant to make you feel like you were second best! Please don't do this!

[Catra looks at the sword, then tosses it into the chasm; it clangs on the way down, Adora gasps lightly]

Catra: Bye, Adora. I really am going to miss you.

 And then she fucking lion kings adora. The fucking episode ever number 1 villain origin story of the century catra you will always be everything to me. Writing this took 6 hours im so tired. And then the episode ends with light hope once more telling adora she needs to let go AUGH so good. I need to go to sleep. if you read all of this i love u i hope u liked it <3 also u might like this post also

[baggebythesea]

Princess Glimmer and the Day of Many Choices: The power of love (32/?)

"I'm so glad to see you, 'm̴o̵m̴m̵y̴'," the woman from the portal snarled. "We have so much c̷̱̾̕ą̶̮̍t̸͈̠͆̔c̷͚͆h̴̘̚i̵̪͍͗n̴̟͌̆g̴͎̪̾ ̴͈̐ủ̸͚͇p̸̛͔̹̍ to do."

Shed hurled herself forward towards Shadow Weaver who took a quick step backwards and summoned a shield, clearly afraid. Perfuma took a step forward, between the two women.

"No," she said with cold voice and held up her hand, powers playing over it.

"F̴̢͝l̴̳̽ȍ̷̡w̸̺͠ẽ̶̘r̸̟̆ ̶̯͊p̵̘̿r̵̙͑i̵̯̿n̵̥͆c̴̪̎ĕ̷͙s̸̘̈́s̴̪̍," the Corrupted Catra hissed. "I remember you…"

"Good," Perfuma said. "Then we can move this forward. Let's talk."

"Talk!" Corrupted Catra laughed. "What's there to talk about?"

"A more constructive way of solving this than violence," Perfuma primly said.

"PERFUMA! DON'T!" Adora pleaded. "SHE'LL KILL YOU!"

"Oh yes!" Corrupted Catra hissed. "I'll kill a̶̻̋l̶͓̕l̶̻̍ ̷̠̇ö̸̡́f̶͙̀ ̴͝ͅŷ̸͙o̸̩̊ȗ̶̦! Starting with dear 'm̶̞̈́ơ̷̼m̸̘̓m̷̩͋ÿ̵̟́!"

"There will be no killing," Perfuma sharply said.

"And who will stop me?" Corrupted Catra laughed. "Y̴̹̕o̶̲͊ü̴͜?"

"Yes," Perfuma said and held up her hand again. With a snarl, Corrupted Catra rushed forward. She moved unnaturally fast. It seemed like she simply skipped a few steps here and there, teleporting forward faster than the eye could follow. Shadow Weaver hissed and pressed herself against the wall, shield held up in front of her. But fast as she was, Perfuma was faster. Vines grew up from the floor, blocking Corrupted Catra's path.

"No," Perfuma repeated. "We will talk."

"Then I'll simply have to kill you first," Corrupted Catra snarled and slashed against Perfuma.

"NO!" Catra called out, rushing forth, past Glimmer's protective shield.

"She won't harm me," Perfuma said, again blocking Corrupted Catra's path.

"She will if she can!" Catra pleaded. "You can't reason with her. I know. her I used to be her."

"And yet you changed," Perfuma mused. "So can she."

"She is weak," Corrupted Catra laughed. "I am not."

"Catra embracing forgivness and love is a strength," Perfuma solemny said. "Not a weakness."

"Oh yeah?" Corrupted Catra snarled. "Look at her, a whimpering fool, hiding behind Sparkles of all people." Her face grew harder. "After all Sparkles took from us. She should k̴̥͗ỉ̷̗l̷̨̒l̴̬͗ the pink bitch, not have tea parties with her."

"Hey!" Glimmer protested.

"You have been hurt," Perfuma said, lowering her voice like you do when you talk to a scared child. "Hurt more than most of us can understand. But there is a path forward for you. There is forgiveness to be had. There is love…" she held up her hands, palms up "…if you are willing to open yourself up for it."

"Love?" Corrupted Catra spat. "I don't think you got the memo, flower girl. I tried love. I gave Adora everything. I created a whole world for us to be together. But still she l̷̖̹̤̺̇͒e̸̛̗͓̣̱̰̼͚̟͂̓̌̋̚͜f̸̺̳̲̜͊̎̃̑̀͊͌̃ṱ̷̢̛͍͇̟͇̭̱͈͆̔̈́̂̒ ̵̘̠̏͋̈́m̷̧̜͔̊͗̓̾̓̿e̴̗̾̏̂̕̕͝ͅ"

"No…" Adora pleaded, eyes full of tears.

"You feel wronged," Perfuma kindly said. "And you are not entirely wrong. But the healing process does not start with revenge or you taking what you feel is your due. The healing process starts with forgiveness."

"Forgiveness?" Corrupted Catra laughed. "Forgive Adora for leaving me? Sparkles for stealing her? Mommy for treating me like SHIT?"

"Perhaps," Perfuma calmly said. "But first you have to forgive… yourself."

She gave Catra a pointed look.

"What?" Catra spluttered. "No! NO!"

"You've got to be kidding me," Corrupted Catra said and rolled her eyes.

"You changed, Catra," Perfuma softly said. "You thought there was no way forward for you, but you proved yourself wrong. You were shown kindness…" she glanced at Glimmer. "You were shown love," she nodded at Adora. "And you allowed yourself to change. Don't you think this version of you deserves the same chance?"

Catra gave Corrupted Catra a downright scared look, which was met with disdain.

"Back then…." Catra said, clearly choosing her words carefully, "back then I wasn't…. I wasn't in the mood for accepting kindness."

"But you still had it in you," Perfuma firmly said. "No one gave you a chance back then. This time, it will be different." She half turned and gave Shadow Weaver a superior look. "This time, we will see that the love is stronger than hate."

"You are serious?" Corrupted Catra said, her voice a mix of disdain and longing. "You really want me to think that you would forgive someone like me?"

"Yes," Perfuma serenely said and gave Catra a warm smile. "Because we forgave her."

"OK…." Catra said, mostly to herself. She took a deep breath. "OK." She turned to the corrupted version of herself. "Listen… I know why you did it, OK," she said with low voice. "I…. know why it felt you had no other choice. I know what you… what I… did to Entrapta. I know what Scorpia said. I know…." she closed her eyes for a long, painful moment. "I know what it felt like when Shadow Weaver doted on Sparkles instead of me…"

Behind her, Glimmer looked down at her hands, expression ashamed.

"The thing is, though…" Catra went on and took a tentative step forward, holding out her hands in a nonthreatening gesture. "The thing is… There was nothing down that path. Just more hate. Just more hurt. And then there was nothing left - just the hurt, and me trapped in it… and no matter how much I lashed out… the only one left to hurt was me."

"Oh yeah?" Corrupted Catra sniffed, seemingly more collected than before. "And then what?"

"And then she came for me," Catra smiled, and gave Adora a look full of tears. "Despite everything… she forgave me."

"She's an idiot," Corrupted Catra said, but without conviction.

"She gave me a chance," Catra whispered. "I… she believed in me when no one else did. When I didn't believe in me." she nodded at Glimmer who looked back at her with expression full of love. "They all believed in me."

"Really?" Corrupted Catra suspiciously said.

"Really," Catra said. "I know it sounds sappy, but that's what it took." She took another slow step forward. "With them believing in me… I could start believe it to. I could start becoming something else… something more. Something better."

"Something better than me?" Corrupted Catra snorted.

"Yes," Catra whispered, voice breaking. "I know how much it hurts. But it can be better. Please. Let me help you…" She closed the distance between them holding out her arms for a hug.

"Yeeeees," Perfuma whispered. "Embrace what's good in you. Don't let the hate control you."

"You really think I can be better?" Corrupted Catra said with low voice, answering the hug like she didn't quite understand what was going on.

"I believe in you…" Catra whispered.

"As do I," Adora said, voice brimming with emotions.

"And I," Glimmer chimed in.

"We all do," Perfuma smugly said.

Shadow Weaver said nothing.

"Then I have something to say to you…" Corrupted Catra whispered

"Yes?" Catra said, voice shivering slightly.

"That you are pathetic," Corrupted Catra snarled. "And I'd gladly l̷̢̞̖̺͌̎e̴̪͙̊̆̕͝t̸̨͓͖̲͊ ̷̤͌͋̋͑ẗ̴̪͓̰́͘ḧ̷̢́̅̂̈́ẹ̸͖̾̽̀͐ ̸̠̘̂̈́̎̾w̷̞̱̖͌̽͝o̶̜̽̋͝ř̵̞̳l̸̨̛̙̜̒ḍ̴̇͌̿͘ ̴͇̘̈́̌͗̕͜b̷͚̀u̸̘̟̔r̴͈̊ṇ̵̯̓̏̓̎ not to turn into you."

And before Catra had time to react, Corrupted Catra had grabbed her and hurled her into the portal that fizzled and died.

Part 31 is here: https://www.tumblr.com/baggebythesea/727323996201369600/oooooh-there-was-really-no-consensus-here-was

[quibbs126]

I’m thinking more about the “cartoon show about the Ancient descendants starring Princess Cookie” thing I offhandedly mentioned and I just wanted to share some ideas concerning it

In my head, it’s probably closest to the She Ra reboot, but I’m not sure how much since it’s been a few years since I’ve seen it. But the main character is less Adora and far more so Glimmer. And also we don’t exactly have a big cast of royals to work with

So there’s Princess as our main character and Knight as her bodyguard/love interest/best friend (at the very least Knight starts with a crush on her, whether that gets reciprocated or changes later on is up to you I suppose). She lives in the Hollyberry Kingdom with her parents and an absent adventurous grandmother(I mean absent like she is in the game, not so much she’s a deadbeat. Just imagine this setup like the game)

Custard III is pretty much the team baby and is basically like a younger brother to Princess. The plot probably starts with Princess and Knight meeting him and learning he’s the descendant of Pure Vanilla Cookie, king of the long lost Vanilla Kingdom. Not sure what the plot would entail but this seems like the best starting off point for a show. Other than that, Custard III probably lives in the Hollyberry castle with Princess, since he has nowhere else to go

As for Dark Choco, well it depends whether you want him as part of the main supporting cast or not. If he’s part of the hero group, I’d say make him his Young Prince version, and he’s the oldest member of the group and by proxy most experienced, but he still has things to learn. He’s a family friend and already part of the group at the start. Not sure why he’s a frequent cast member but whatever. He’d be the older brother type and probably the group’s main/best fighter. Also he has issues with his father that would probably get worked through throughout the show

If we’re going with him being like he is in current day, then he starts out as part of the antagonist group, but he eventually leaves and gets his redemption arc, possibly via the power of Princess’s trust and friendship, eventually becoming part of the group but more as an older mentor/uncle figure

Though I’ll be honest, with the first scenario I have this neat idea of Dark Choco losing his eye in this series, where instead of how he does in canon, he loses his eye defending his friends, in some sort of scenario similar to the prom night rescue in She Ra (fun fact: this scenario of the prom night rescue but with Cookie Run characters is where this whole idea started). He then has a character arc about his new loss of an eye but he pulls through it and ends up seeing his injury as a symbol of his loyalty to his friends.

He might also have a slight corruption arc in this series with the Strawberry Jam Sword, but it doesn’t have nearly the same ramifications as canon as the team figures out what’s going on pretty quickly, if not immediately (in that he’s not in control), and eventually help free him from this. He probably also doesn’t join the villains in this scenario, at least not while he’s in control, and if he did it’d be after a very long time skip where he’s basically been broken, which I don’t imagine happening

I admit, this first scenario is the one I like more, I just put the second one since it’s the one closer to actual canon

We don’t really have any more “Ancient descendants” to work with (well there are more, I mean more in descendants from other Kingdoms), but they’ll get added once they show up I guess. I mean I know there’s theories for other characters, but since nothing’s currently confirmed for them, I won’t be using them as main characters

Now for Tiger Lily. So she’d show up occasionally throughout the story as a mysterious character, saving the group on occasion but never go back with them, disappearing back into the wild. Or heck, maybe she only shows up when Princess is alone, so nobody else knows who she is, though maybe the others would meet her later. There’d be hints to Tiger Lily and Princess’s true relation, like Jungleberry and references to Princess once having a twin, as well as possibly an episode featuring Tiger Lily and her wondering what this connection she feels towards Princess is, and simultaneously vice versa with Princess, but their true connection wouldn’t be revealed until like, at least a Season 2 (wait no, don’t these sorts of reveals happen at the end of Season 1s? Eh whatever). But there’d probably be an arc much later on of her trying to integrate into normal society and her trying to connect with her family she’s never known. Princess would be the easiest since they already know each other, but her parents are another story

Oh right, I should also mention, since this is in the form of a kid’s cartoon, all the main characters are children/teens. Staring off the show, Princess/Tiger Lily/Knight are around 14, Custard III is somewhere between 7-9, and Dark Choco is around 17-18, in the scenario where he’s part of the supporting cast the whole way through

Clotted Cream and the Creme Republic might show up as a late addition as well, never being made part of the group but more like a guest character that pops in from time to time. Though we might spend more time with him in an introductory arc with the Creme Republic and this being where Custard III’s family is from, though nobody knows until the name Custard is mentioned. Though in the end, Custard III chooses to stay with Princess and friends

The main antagonists would probably be Dark Enchantress and the Cookies of Darkness, and the Ancients would also be featured characters, with Hollyberry eventually appearing again, or perhaps her first showing up as a normal huntress but later being revealed to have been Hollyberry watching the kingdom from the shadows. But the Ancient stuff would really only happen during Plot Time, as I like to call it

And uh yeah, think that’s about it, just thoughts I had. Tempted to make this an au, but I don’t know how considering the characters aren’t different in design or anything and there’s not too much different from canon in a vacuum, it’s just that the story is being told in a different format and with different main characters. It’s more a bunch of neat ideas I like

Also not sure what role the dragons would play. I mean I feel like they should play some role, at least Pitaya, but we already have a group of antagonists and they don’t really fit in with them

[hubrisbracket]

Okay but I feel like a lot of characters are losing bc their submitters assumed everyone knew their story already and therefore didn't really try with their propaganda. We should fix that.

So, here's some stuff on Catra:

Her entire motivation boils down to 1) proving to her terrible mother figure that she's good enough and 2) getting back at Adora for leaving her behind in an abusive situation

She works hard to rise up the ranks in the evil empire, and uses increasingly unethical avenues to gain more power

In her pursuit of revenge, she pushes away every chance for growth she's given, some of which would've been really good for her mental health.

At one point, there's this big portal thing that's going to tear the universe apart, and Adora tries to turn it off. Catra lets it do the thing to spite her. She would rather risk everyone, including herself, dying a horrible death than let Adora be right about something. The image of her face all black like that is from the resulting warped reality corrupting her

After that, Catra did not learn her lesson and continued to push away and/or betray every ally she had, until she was left an emotional wreck, desperatly looking for anything to get her power back, and pledged her loyalty to the Big Bad

She does eventually get it together but, like, man. What the fuck.

EXCELLENT catra propaganda, thank you for the submission.

[aprillikesthings]

Now that I've spent a good day thinking about how hot it is when Catra is a terrible person corrupted by setting off a portal, I'm ready to go back to (re)watching her try to be Good lolol

well okay more than one day.

I mean I literally spent the last four? five? days listening to songs off The Downward Spiral over and over while thinking about Catra and practicing my makeup for my Catra cosplay and ordering more of the things I need for it; like literally just staring off into space at work between phone calls thinking about Catra

I'm totally a well-adjusted middle-aged adult, thanks for asking!

Shit where did I even leave off

Oh right

SO HEY if you're new here, I've been rewatching all of the 2018 She-Ra, and I started doing it for fic-writing reasons but predictably I have become deeply obsessed. Anyway these posts sometimes have a lot of asides and commentary and references to other stuff and dumb jokes among a ton of screenshots, also (and it feels odd saying it this close to the end of the show) it's a RE-watch, so there's often spoilers for later bits of the story, also I keep trying NOT to just describe the entire plots of the episodes but I keep failing lol

s5 ep7 Perils of Peekablue

Adora's trying to become She-Ra (without an immanent threat) and then Bow and Glimmer distract her, and then the door opens on Catra and

I literally did a YES YES YESSSS AHAHAH out loud bc this is the point at which Catra just starts OPENLY FLIRTING, as opposed to just uhhhh flirtatiously taunting I suppose lol

like you're SITTING IN HER LAP

Also while rewinding it to watch again I paused it at the most hilarious moment

look at Catra's FACE

help I can't stop laughing but also look at Bow's expression

Glimmer: omg I'm gonna get to see my dad Catra: *gets up and leaves*

But also I make this face when a cat leaves my lap before I wanted them to:

Anyway they're a day out from arriving at Etheria

Adora's trying so hard

BACK ON ETHERIA

YAY IT'S THIS ONE

the intro finally changed!! I can't get a good screenshot but now when Catra (with short hair) and Adora (in She-Ra's new get-up) are fighting they stop much faster and they're both smiling omgggg

and there she is!! with everyone else!!

okay I'm going to take way less screenshots etc of the underwater speakeasy thing because let's be honest: that part of the plot isn't what I'm here for lol

But yeah they're going to the speakeasy thing to get Prince Peekablue who can see to the edges of the galaxy and can maybe tell them where Adora and the others are because they don't know what happened

Oh also Spinarella is chipped and Netossa is realizing something is off/weird about her but doesn't know what

Oh hey! You used to work for Huntara in the Crimson Wastes

Sea Hawk has pissed off approximately half the people in the room it seems (by lighting their ships on fire at some point)

Scorpia and Perfuma are the cutest and I can absolutely see how they end up together

In my fic I originally had Adora talking to some kind of therapist but I wasn't sure they existed on Etheria, and last week I edited that bit so Adora is talking to these two (which makes the conversation more fun AND easier to write anyway)

Perfuma: "Scorpia. You should do things not because you're good at them, but because they make you happy." THAT IS ONE OF MY LIFE PHILOSOPHIES thank you Perfuma you're 100% correct and I tell people this ALL THE TIME

Mermista: "I might've set their boat on fire. Just to see what it felt like."

Sea Hawk:

lolol

YESSSS I love this scene

Perfuma makes a flower, throws it to Scorpia as she sings, and she blushes and tucks it into her hair, these two are so sweet and cute

oh god I forgot that when "Prince Peekablue" get stung by Scorpia they go through the last half-dozen shapeshifts before turning into a (passed-out) Double Trouble.

lolol instead of "cash cow" it's an insult to poor Catra

Anyway they have the info the Rebellion wanted!

Horde Prime is pissed and has blockaded the planet, also half the people at the speakeasy were chipped....and now so is Mermista, though nobody realizes that yet

But also the phrasing of "She-ra stole his little kitten away" is just amazing

But also the last they heard, Adora and Bow and Entrapta had left to rescue Glimmer, do they think Double Trouble is talking about Glimmer here or what

(which. they did. they just also went back for Catra.)

Netossa realizes her wife (and most of the people around them) are chipped D:

And a chipped Mermista is gonna drown them all

oh shit Micah is also chipped

Entrapta gets the comms working!

"The Rebellion's been compromised! Horde Prime has them! We lost, I'm so sorry! We lost them!" --and then the comms go to static

AND CREDITS!

[mediaevalmusereads]

Going Postal. By Terry Pratchett.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: fantasy

Series: Discworld #33/Moist von Lipwig #1/Industrial Revilution #4

Summary: Moist von Lipwig was a con artist and a fraud and a man faced with a life choice: be hanged, or put Ankh-Morpork's ailing postal service back on its feet.

It was a tough decision.

But he has to see that the mail gets through, come rain, hail, sleet, dogs, the Post Office Workers' Friendly and Benevolent Society, the evil chairman of the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company, and a midnight killer.

Getting a date with Adora Bell Dearheart would be nice, too.

Maybe it'll take a criminal to succeed where honest men have failed, or maybe it's a death sentence either way.

Or perhaps there's a shot at redemption in the mad world of the mail, waiting for a man who's prepared to push the envelope...

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: arson, violence

OVERVIEW: This book was my book club's pick for February 2024. I've read one Discworld book before, but for some reason, I never got around to reading more, so I'm glad I had the opportunity to do so. Overall, I was quite charmed by this book. I smiled at Pratchett's sense of humor, and I deeply appreciated the satire and commentary that Pratchett was enfolding in his narrative. The reason for my 4 star rating is simply personal taste; I have a deep respect for Pratchett, but I must say that I personally thought some of the storytelling was buried by the whimsy. But I'm a crotchety reader with very specific wants and needs, and I'd absolutely recommend Pratchett's work to people looking for light-hearted yet sincere fantasy.

WRITING: Pratchett's prose is saturated with characteristic humor and whimsy, often imitated but never quite surpassed. I loved the little worldbuilding details that made me chuckle (such as the goddess of stuck drawers) as well as turns of phrases that drew attention to the prose as a written work (like characters 'hearing' the capital letters in speech).

My main criticisms are twofold: for one, I thought Pratchett had a tendency to rely overmuch on dialogue; and for two, I thought he buried a lot of the narrative action in speech and whimsical scenes that didn't necessary carry the story forward. As a result, I felt like some scenes stretched out overmuch or were a bit chaotic, and I had some trouble feeling invested when the main action of the plot or the protagonist's arc was overshadowed by humor.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows Moist von Lipwig, a con artist who is spared from death and given the task of reviving the Post Office within the city of Ankh-Morpork. Moist quickly learns that getting the Post Office in working order is no east feat: not only have the last few postmasters died under mysterious circumstances, but its main competition is a company run by greedy businessmen who will stop at nothing to ensure they have a monopoly on messenger service.

I very much appreciated that this book was not 'just' silly and whimsical, but contained some rather pointed commentary. Pratchett hides an exploration of things such as governmental/public service versus privatization, hope, redemption, and more in Moist's story, and I came away feeling like he utterly condemns corporate corruption and greed.

That being said, I'm pretty sure I would have appreciated this book if I had read more Discworld. While it wasn't impossible to follow and, being the first book in Moist's arc, was a relatively easy entry point into Pratchett's universe, I did get the sense that there were characters, places, etc. that would have felt more significant if I were better versed in the series.

CHARACTERS: Moist, our protagonist, is fairly fun to follow. Being a con artist, he has exceptional charisma and wit, yet he also stands in for the reader a bit by being taken aback by the workings of the dilapidated Post Office. I really liked how Moist's arc was one of a former criminal 'playing' a game only to end up being sincere and invested in the outcome by the end. Moist starts the book not really enthused by his new job, but ends up taking pride in his work and seeing it as important. I also appreciated his various musings on things such as the nature of hope, the effect that his criminal activity has on people, and how he uses assumptions/appearances to his advantage. It was a nice look into the psyche of a morally grey character who ultimately redeems himself by the end.

Supporting characters were charming and varied, though all somewhat bound by Pratchett's characteristic humor. Groat, the assistant postman (or whichever of his half dozen titles) was equal parts irritating and enthusiastic, which ended up working well in the context of the story. Stanley, the master of pins and stamps, was interesting in that his 'silly' obsession with pins turns into a helpful obsession with stamps. Adora Belle Dearheart was a nice check on Moist and was most interesting when challenging him to do the right thing or when seeing through his facade, though I do wish she and Moist had better chemistry. I very much enjoyed the golems, particularly Mr. Pump, who surprised me at the end with his heartfelt speech for Moist.

Our antagonist, Reacher Gilt, was sufficiently devious and greedy, and he acted in a way that seemed fairly typical of your money-hungry bad businessman. I liked that he was not only trying to screw Moist over, but was manipulating other people (such as the bank and the board), thus showing how his crimes are not solely focused on a rival. I also appreciated Pratchett's little nods to worker safety and dignity in his crafting of Gilt and his crimes, and I think everything was handled in a way that made me want to see Gilt fall but wasn't so overtly grim that I felt like this book shifted in tone whenever bad guys did bad guy stuff.

TL;DR: Going Postal is a whimsical fantasy novel that explores public versus private services, using a cast of memorable characters and distinctive humor to tell the heartwarming story of a con man who learns to be authentic.