#in the shadows of Mystacor

[mara-defense-squad]

it says a lot about adora that in one breath she can say "it's never gonna work on me again" referring to shadow weavers manipulation and in the Very Next Sentence she all but parrots her words exactly ("im sorry, its my fault she was here I endangered mystacor"). It perfectly demonstrates how while adora is actually not that bad at recognising the damage that shadow weaver did, she is fucking terrible at actually addressing it. She assumes that the big dramatic moment is the easy (and only) fix that she needs and then keeps falling into the same old patterns in this essay i will-

[heyedora]

been rewatching she-ra and man, in the shadows of mystacor will always be one of my favourite episodes. like, top 3 material, easily.

(cw: abuse mention (via talking about the themes of it in spop)

i mean, years ago when it first came out, as someone who had recently experienced severe abuse, the line "you have no power over me anymore!" like, changed something in me, it was incredible. that entire fight sequence with her and shadow weaver at the end, where SW is using her tactics again, but this time around adora is familiar with it and fights back - it's a super inspiring scene (always makes me cry). and at the time, it was so amazing for me to see, because it's important for people to see they're not their abuse and they can overcome it, right? but this time around i realized - the reason that adora has the strength to fight back is because of her connections with other people. she's been away from the horde for awhile now, and she has the comparison of how her new friends (who haven't known her that long!) treat her, and it's their belief in her, and the fact that adora knows, without a doubt, that they love her, that helps her recognize the manipulative way that SW is speaking to her. just a great episode all around for telling people that healing is possible and each day you spend healing, you gain just that bit more power to fight back.

something else this episode does a great job with? showing the dangers of toxic positivity! the entire episode, adora is severely on edge - she can't relax, she can't sleep, she's quite literally being haunted by shadow minions (let's call those manifestations of trauma/abuse, for the sake of this post). glimmer and bow keep assuring her she's safe, and the danger can't reach her here, and they mean well, but this makes adora even more anxious. and it's because she is in danger, because SW is there, and she knows it. this is almost like, textbook what i learned in therapy - after a traumatic situation, it will take a long time before your body knows you're safe (i could go into detail about how trauma lives in your nervous system but i'll save that for another day). for adora, the threat is still there, even if other people can't see it. forcing her to relax isn't going to help anything. and through the ep, bow and glimmer slowly try to help in other ways - even when they finally let adora talk about what's worrying her (her history with SW), that helps her a bit because she can get the comfort she needs. and after listening, bow suggests trying something else, like "hitting something", because he's trying to understand how she best deals with stress. but it's not until adora faces SW - her feelings, the danger - and acknowledges that she was right, the danger was there, but! she has new skills now, and is surrounded by loved ones, and she can fight back - that's when the feeling/the shadows go away. and then, the best part!!! glimmer and bow apologize because they realize that they needed to really listen to adora and let her feel her anxiety and her feelings, not force her to ignore them and focus on other, more relaxing things. and then, after she's faced those feelings and has talked about them, she's able to admit she's tired, and she falls asleep on the beach. and when she wakes up in a panic, who's there, keeping watch over her? glimmer and bow (i literally tear up every time). because they learned what adora needs, and what adora needs is to be allowed to be scared, with her friends right by her so she feels safe being afraid. it's just a great lesson, especially for a kids show, that all your feelings are valid - even fear and anxiety.

and!!! during the fight with SW, she can't activate her sword or become she-ra - but when she decides to stand up to SW, the sword turns into a shield for the first time! because it doesn't take power to stand up for yourself. she holds that shield and defeats SW as adora. because you can do it afraid. you can face your feelings and release other people's power over you, and you don't need to be scary or offensive to do it, or even strong, you just need to have the desire to protect yourself. GOD. this show.

[diaspro-back-here]

A concept:

In The Shadows of Mystacor

Don’t ask…

Or do, but I don’t think I can reply lol

Btw, the black pattern took me 1hr to draw while literally everything else took half an hour… I’m baffled

[kaiserincatra]

Chapter 7 “In the Shadows of Despara” of She-Ra: Missing is out! 

- -

Deep at night in Bright Moon, two moons hung in the sky casting soft light over the landscape.

“Catra.”

“Catra, please, I’m sorry.”

Catra tossed and turned in her sleep as Adora’s voice filled her dreams.

“Catra, please, just come back.” A red light began to fill her vision.

The feline bolted up with a gasp. Her fur stood on end as she looked around the room. Carefully, she left the bed and pulled herself out through the window and walked to the edge of the woods, where she stared out until morning came.

[capndragn94]

Scorpia: What are you not?

Perfuma: *mumbling*

Scorpia: WHAT. ARE. YOU. NOT?

Perfuma: *sighs* I am not a licensed therapist.

Scorpia: And?

Perfuma: I shouldn't offer to act as one for my friends, and won't do so in the future.

Scorpia: Thank you. We'll circle back to how this led to you and Catra blowing up Shadow Weaver's statue in the Hall of Sorcerers after I've paid your bail.

[fluffyposting]

I love that you can see how in love Bow is with Glimmer right from the first season.

[candyskiez]

rewatching she ra is a wild ride man like damn I forgot how obviously traumatized adora is in retrospect. how she acts around angella? "People like me better when I'm she-ra"? running to get some sort of validation from any adult figure the second everything in her life goes to shit? her first reaction to a perceived fuck up is to self punish and leave glimmer and bow entirely since she "ruined" their lives by being "irrational" in shadows of mystacore? the fact everything is her fault in some way somehow since season one??? holy shit she was seriously considering staying behind with light hope and never leaving because she thought her friends were better off without her. I forgot how much she self punished. whoever thinks adora didn't suffer in she ra has never watched the show istg

also just. the fact she sleeps with a *knife* is so telling. what happened to her in the horde that made her feel the need to start? she was fully prepared to fight shadow weaver the second she woke up. she *sleep fights.* what the fuck did they do to her. this kid has been through so much.

[pan-catra]

just rewatched the gaslighting episode (aka In The Shadows of Mystacor) and like. Shadow Weaver really used Catra’s voice first in order to lure in Adora when she was ramping up her mental manipulation bullshit. this bitch knew from the start they were in love. she’s so despicable i love it

[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

[tippenfunkaport]

A scene that apparently happened sometime between leaving Beast Island and arriving at the Bright Moon:

Adora, pulling Micah aside: OK, so remember that old teacher you had up at Mystacor? Light Spinner? Yeah, she's alive and she calls herself Shadow Weaver now. Just wanted to mention that in case we get to Bright Moon and she's hanging out and you want to dramatically say her name, no one will get who you mean if you say Light Spinner, so... Shadow Weaver. Got it? Honestly, if you forget her name just call her "traitor" or something, it's fine. Oh! And she's got a new color scheme now, no more golds and pastels. It's all magenta and black with this CRAZY asymmetrical turtle neck thing. Plus, she always wears this full face mask. Yeah, not just the little scarf thing anymore. The whole deal. Just wanted you to be able to recognize her on sight so if she's doing something crazy like sitting on Glimmer's throne or whatever when we get to Bright Moon, you won't be all "Who's that?" because she looks nothing like the person you used to know. Dramatic moment, no time for exposition, you know how it is.

[spopsalt]

how did the princesses make their kingdom survive for so long when they don't even have an army? Their powers suck, they don't have jails, they are stupid, they want to be moraly superior at all cost (bow, Mystacor, Perfuma), they always let their feelings get in the way of victory, they aren't friends, they're selfish, lazy, weak etc. Being teenagers is not an excuse for the story not making sense. This applies to the horde too, why did Catra get promoted when Lonnie was right there? Why is Hordak sich a bad ruler? How does the hierarchy work? Why was Adora an innexperienced soldier going to be forcecaptain? Why is Shadow weaver so weak?

Exactly! They are teenagers! Hell, even the smarter people like Angella never even had a holding cell, I don't get it. They literally had cusions as some funny haha joke, they are teenagers and are very incompotent

[swearyshera]

Slowly making my way through the inbox, here's today's big bunch!

@freedfromthegalactichivemind Snap! It's not beyond the realms of possibility, we shall see what happens with my other ideas for continuing the series.

I can write them down for you! It reads...

Following the events of the finale, life changed for everyone on Etheria.

Scorpia was officially handed her kingdom back. Upon seeing the state of it she yelled "What motherfucking thundercunt did this?!" She is still apologising.

Within a month of Prime's defeat, Perfuma held the biggest Trans Pride parade Etheria had ever seen. Prince Peekable still did not turn up. He was later found dead, but Perfuma insisted that this was not an excuse for failing to support trans people.

Frosta was finally able to return to Hell. The other demons had not changed at all during her absence and were still massive dicks. She has now made this realm her permanent home. It has more cake.

Mermista initially failed to respond to our request for comment on how her life had changed. When we reached out again, she said "It's fine, I guess, whatever." Her smile indicated things were a lot better than 'just fine'.

Sea Hawk celebrated the defeat of Prime with a series of 'victory fires'. The resulting court cases found him guilty of arson and sentenced to a total of five years in prison. Mermista officially pardoned him after a lot of convincing.

After finishing Sweary She-Ra, Entrapta was tasked with writing the SPOP movie. It has been hailed as the greatest movie of all time and received glowing reviews from all critics. It never received a release outside of Etheria.

Hordak finally achieved his dream of taking over Etheria. There is now a branch of Greggs in every town and village on the planet. He and Entrapta created a unique menu of tiny sausage rolls.

Shadow Weaver's remains were returned to Mystacor. The burial site is now a popular gender-neutral bathroom.

Double Trouble opened an acting school. They closed it a week later after realising no-one could be as good they are.

Bow used his spare time to focus on inventing more tech. His inventions have changed the everyday lives of many Etherians. The French horn alarm clock was not one of them.

Glimmer now spends her days collecting antique weapons. Though she has no need to use them, they are maintained in perfect condition... just in case.

Catra went through a fuckton of therapy at Mystacor. Things may not be perfect but she's happy. Also, Castaspella told her several embarrassing stories about Glimmer as a child. Catra has them saved up for when she really needs to piss Glimmer off.

The first thing Adora did after defeating Prime was take a well-earned rest. Well, she slept for a few hours. Well, I say slept, she lay down on the bed for a few minutes. What can I say? Adora is still Adora.

@hi-im-uur It's been my pleasure! There are a good few thousand strips to go through, so enjoy it all over again!

[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!

[aprillikesthings]

can I finish this before I gotta get ready and leave for the Maundy Thursday service let's find out lol

(Edit: Nope.)

THREE MORE EPISODES LEFT

*cries*

s5 ep11 Failsafe

someone hold me

I have to actively suppress the urge to read the synopses of the episodes at this point

oh also lol this is just funny to me, I saw a post Elsewhere Online where someone watched all of spop the first time and they HATED the dumb names everyone has, and I think they mentioned Castaspella specifically.

And like FIFTY PEOPLE responded with "dude they had to use the original names from the 1980's series" and I was the only one there old enough to have watched the original series and I had to point out: the original series was made to sell toys. The vast majority of cartoons in 1985 were only made to sell toys. They gave everyone those dumbass names because it was easy for kids to remember and beg for the toys."

That's also why all the female characters in the original series have the exact same body type. Yeah the body shape itself was due to 1980's-era sexism, but also? It was so much cheaper to animate the show AND make the toys that way!

But also, it's hella ironic to me that the 2018 show has so little official merch!

And now, back to crying over cartoon lesbians:

good question

ugh I hate her

Shadow Weaver: "While you were traipsing around in space,"

OH MY GOD they were saving a few people's LIVES and it was kind of IMPORTANT but WHATEVER

"--some of us have been working to stop the Heart of Etheria from falling into Prime's hands. And we discovered the same thing you did. Rumors of a Failsafe that will break the restraints the First Ones built and set the stolen magic free." Glimmer: "Are you kidding? After everything that happened last time, you're still going after the Heart of Etheria? And you're helping her?" Castaspella: "We're trying to free the magic for all of Etheria so we can be strong enough to fight Prime. I'm doing this for your father and for you. Shadow Weaver is the lesser of two evils."

I love that she says this right in front of Shadow Weaver. Like "girl I hate her too"

nice

okay ngl I have mixed feelings about this one because unfortunately she's not entirely wrong here but also, shut the fuck up

(something something people are responsible for their own actions but also she wouldn't have done all that godawful shit if Shadow Weaver hadn't been such a shitty parent)

but yeah Catra gets up like she's about to fucking throw some hands and Adora's like It's okay bb

;_;

but also they do need the information Shadow Weaver and Castaspella have

so it turns out Mystacor was built on top of a First Ones' citadel? huh

Castaspella: "Beneath Mystacor, there are many secret tunnels and rooms, forgotten and sealed off. No one has been able to access them in centuries, but there are whispers of what they contain." Shadow Weaver: "An artifact known as the Crystal of Arxia, hidden there by a group of traitorous First Ones." Castaspella: "You said I could do it!"

lol they bicker like old marrieds

Adora: "If you figured it out on your own, why come back here? Why do you need us at all?" Shadow Weaver: "Because Mystacor is controlled by Micah, who, you may recall, is controlled by Horde Prime."

they've been TRYING

"If he seizes the Heart, it will all be over."

Stop toUCHING HER

oh god Adora turns around to ask Catra to help out--and she's gone

YOU'RE THE REASON SHE'S FUCKING "SULKING" and you fucking know it, why are abusers always so god damned surprised to find out their kids don't want to be anywhere near them

(I mean I know why, they think they should be able to control you forever)

aaahahaha Adora's just like Nah I'mma go look for her tho

anyway roll intro!

omg look at Netossa and Spinny on the bottom left awwwww

she looks so sad

well okay sad and angry

their conversation here is so good, because Catra's fully aware of why Adora's doing this, but is really struggling to push past how much she (justifiably!) hates Shadow Weaver and hates being around her

I actually do kinda wish I'd kept a list of all the times Adora does the self-sacrificial thing, separated into "someone asked her to do it" vs "nobody asked her to do it" lol

BUT ADORA EXPRESSES A NEED oh nice that's progress

Adora: "Hey, she can't do anything to us anymore. Please, come. We--I-could really use your help."

two things I really love about this: One, she doesn't say that she doesn't like Adora, just that it's not the reason she's going. Two, I feel like Adora knows damn well Catra's not being 100% honest here.

Like, to some extent Catra's saying this as a way of attempting to protect herself a little. She's taking baby steps towards vulnerability, and it's terrifying! And I think Adora can see that and is fine with it--not JUST because she's like "any crumbs are better than nothing" but ALSO because she doesn't want to push Catra.

Because yeah, if there was any actual doubt that Catra does like Adora--

WELL.

Entrapta was able to get Spinerella's chip out but says it had started fusing with her nervous system and they're running out of time to safely un-chip everyone.

But she's been digging around the network that connects all the chips to Prime, hoping to figure out how to disconnect everyone at once, and Bow gives her a little encouragement, it's really sweet.

OKAY so everyone who can, teleports to Mystacor with Melog making them invisible. (Apparently Catra doesn't get motion sick from it anymore which is nice lol)

I love the way they animated them being invisible

oh GOD okay

Catra turns around and says "looks like there's no sorcerers here" while, unfortunately, a sorcerer walks into the room. Shadow Weaver grabs Catra and puts her hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, and Catra (understandably!! but unfortunately!!) jerks away in fury and yells

And her fury causes Melog to drop the invisibility

And now the chipped sorcerer knows they're all there

they manage to duck the attack but Adora goes to transform into She-Ra--and can't do it

she had this issue last episode aaaugh it's not from being near Shadow Weaver she wasn't there

okay but also Adora runs behind a pillar to hide from an attack with Catra and it's cute

girl help why is this giving me so many emotions

y'know it's funny how often I've bumped into posts of people who are confused as to why Adora starts trusting Catra again so quickly, and I frequently wonder if they forget all the childhood flashback scenes of these two. To varying extents they both spent their entire childhoods seeing the other as their only consistent source of comfort and (something resembling) safety, and with some notable exceptions Adora's spent the last four seasons (which was like three or four years) visibly holding out hope that one day she could trust Catra again. This despite the fact that she now has other sources of safety and comfort and love!!! Being with Glimmer and Bow and everyone else was healing, sure; but it never erased her grief over losing Catra. She always, always held out the tiniest flame of hope that Catra would change sides.

And Catra basically tried lighting her own grief on fire (metaphorically and kinda literally) over and over and it just didn't go away, and I feel like when she saved Glimmer and apologized to Adora she had sort of come to terms with the fact that her grief over losing Adora couldn't be burned away, but of course by then she figured she'd fucked up so bad Adora would never forgive her or trust her again. And rather than take it out on other people or suffer any longer she was willing to just die, instead. She really did think that sending Glimmer to Adora was going to be her last act, and she wanted Adora to know she was sorry before she fucking DIED. And I don't think her saving Glimmer was consciously meant to be proof that she meant her apology, but it was. And that's part of why Adora trusts her again.

The fact is, even after everything that happened, both of them had a hole in their hearts shaped like the other. ;_;

And that's why Adora runs and hides behind the same pillar as Catra. (I mean yes, it was also closer, but that's not tHE POINT)

Anyway, this is all why, as I previously noted, Adora's not being pushy. That failed on her, spectacularly; the couple of times she tried it. Asking Catra to come along on this mission is the closest she's come. And even then, it wasn't "you're a good person deep down and you should change sides because I think I know you better than you know yourself," It was "please do this for me, because I need your help." And Catra is fully aware of how hard that is for Adora.

And these two still have a lot to work out post-canon (like, Catra has still got to deal with her need to not just be seen as Adora's sidekick/shadow, and lbh right now some of the rebellion is like "we're only putting up with you for Adora's sake" as if Catra was Yoko Ono) but that's part of why I'm writing a fic lolol

I have so many feelingssss on a related note I spent like fifteen solid minutes last night in bed having taken an edible and listening to my playlist and staring at this gifset lolol

ANYWAY Castaspella knocks out the chipped dude and they run for it

AAAND lol I gotta get ready to go to church. There's still 17:30 left on this episode. Pfft.

BACK FROM CHURCH I washed someone's feet, they washed mine, they stripped the altar, I go back at one or two in the morning for the overnight vigil

In the meantime: gonna finish this episode

(what is my life sometimes)

Entrapta plans to find a bunch of clones so she can figure out how their signals to Horde Prime work. Swift Wind is like Ugh, fine, I'll go with you, someone's gotta save your ass

Entrapta: "Thanks, bird horse!"

lol how many times have they had that convo

A family can be a sorcerer and her evil ex, a girl and a boy, two traumatized lesbians, and a cat

But also it looks like something out of an episode of Scooby Doo

Shadow Weaver opens a magic door

ngl that's PRETTY. like it's obviously about the Heart of Etheria but wow!

(and there's a dinosaur???)

Adora notices how stressed out Catra is and says "It'll be okay...Trust me." ;_;

Shadow Weaver: "There's no time to waste!"

"...disturbance."

The disturbance was your fault, dumbass. I am reminded of all the times my dad got angry at us for being afraid of him. And would hit us. For being. Afraid of him. Because y'know. That's how you stop a kid from being afraid of you. By hitting them.

In any case Shadow Weaver is still trying to get between them and separate them and I just really need this bitch to stop.

(Yes yes I remember she dies later)

Castaspella: "We're on the right path. The Crystal of Arxia was rumored to be the key to reaching deep magic within Etheria."

"But those who hungered for more power have long sought other ways to obtain the deep magic...with disastrous results."

HIT THE IMAGE LIMIT lemme reblog

[antispopausandstuff]

adora trauma hcs ( viewer discretion is advised ) ( not all of the hcs, tbh )

.

warnings - medical abuse, physical abuse, mental abuse, and 'dubious consent' // coercion

.

grew up being experimented on, now has a phobia of needles, masks, and people putting hands on their head ( by the temples )

could only 'consent' when under the influence of drugs, has a warped idea of self-consent ( didn't know for a few years that she was influenced )

adjusting to people's touch, especially over the face, hands, and back ( trigger points )

suffers from erratic body aches // cramps // phantom pain, had to ignore it most of the time and now struggles to acknowledge its even there, partially due to heightened pain tolerance

disassociates, especially when in she-ra form, needs to be brought back via firm touch and verbal calling of real name

nightmares of experimentation and visions she originally believed were 'random' and 'nonsensical' ( relating to eternia )

shadow weaver would make their mind forget certain events, but their body always remembered, has an aversion to cold environments and sees a few ghosts for 'unknown reasons'

struggles verbally expressing discomfort, often relies on visual // kinetic cues ( body language, contact, signing, etc. )

taking any kind of medication or therapy makes her very anxious and paranoid, subconsciously believes she'll be hurt without her knowledge

became a medic, of sorts, at a young age after catra's... outbursts

immune to most etheria's poisons ( due to being eternian + experimentations ), eats some out of sense of normalcy

nightmares became tenfold after 'White Out' and 'Remember', added on with survivor's guilt and aversion to the sword

doesn't like people touching her hair, only lets you if she trusts you

sporadically vomits after eating, common factor in most times being that they were anxious

hallucinates in sight, sound, and touch

douses themselves in hot water // hot baths to regulate

scarred left eye, only trusts friends on left side, otherwise will frequently look to the left to ensure safety // lack of danger

insomniac, usually runs on little energy, is also a morning bird when she does sleep, it's impossible for her to go back when the sun is up

has a phobia of the shadows // dark, has lights in bedroom

not a single night passes where they don't have their dagger

.

and here are some healing hcs:

doesn't sleep alone, best friend trio pile or mamagella helps

whenever catra or shadow weaver are in the same room // area, friends are ready to FIGHT

bow's usually the first to notice adora's disassociation ( smth smth heightened empathy smth smth senses ), and is often the one to knock her out of it

adora likes angella or entrapta washing // brushing // touching her hair ( smth smth mother daughter core smth smth- )

mystacor visits as often as possible, castaspella becomes a new comfort person

swift wind is sort of like a sensory toy or weighted blanket, doesn't put his whole weight on them, though, he's not crazy-

on free days, she'll either by flying with swift wind, spending time in the library ( every castle has one, shut the fu- ), napping, having 'sleepovers', or focusing on more extensive hygiene

really likes holding hands with her friends, gives forehead kisses to them when they have to separate ( becomes a habit )

"why do you still have the dagger?" "to keep you safe."

protector becomes protected pretty quickly, adora's in good hands

she has stim // fidget toys, her blanket is weighted, and glimmer casts a noise-cancelling spell for her every now and then ( "but glimmer can only-" stfu )

.

[baggebythesea]

Glimmer: Hey Daaaad, could you tell me how Shadow Weaver did the spell that made her all shadowy and superpowerful? Just so I never do it on accident?

Micah: I see nothing wrong or suspicious with this request, so of course!

Castaspella: No.

Glimmer: I NEVER GET TO DO ANYTHING COOL

Micah: Weren't you in Mystacor?

Castaspella: I don't see how that is relevant right now