#queen glimmer of brightmoon

[dylbydoodles]

Cause she slays ✨💖

[punkeropercyjackson]

A royal family of sillies

SO TRUE

[chaoticbug]

do you ever think about the fact that Glimmer was never supposed to be queen?

Angella was an immortal being, she had been ruling Brightmoon forever, and everyone expected her to rule Brightmoon forever. No one ever was training Glimmer to be queen because it was inconceivable that Angella wouldn't be around.

It's honestly probably part of the reason Glimmer was so intense about being a commander. It was a way for her to be a leader for her kingdom, and protect them, because she was never suppose to ascend the throne. And that's why she refers to herself as "just a princess" because as far as she knows, that is all she will ever be.

And then the portal happens and Angella sacrifices herself.

Glimmer had grown up dealing with the loss of a parent, but also with the comfort that her mother was suppose to be incapable of death, and then that reality is stripped away in an instant and she then has all this responsibility thrust upon her that she was never prepared to face believing that this day would never come. 

So while dealing with tremendous grief, Glimmer is trying to do arguably the most important job in Brightmoon that she was never trained to do, that she was never suppose to have.

Do you ever think about the fact that Glimmer was never meant to be queen?

[thestargayzingetherian]

She-Ra is the most radical feminist thing ever... by barely engaging with feminist or radical politics at all

It's... honestly surprising how radical and feminist and progressive She-Ra is by simply... not engaging with feminist ideas at all in-universe. A lot of people love to say Catra and Glimmer are girl-bosses or how a lot of journalists like to call the show "girl power" and whatnot... when that's really not true at all. I think this is because She-Ra takes place in a constructed world fantasy setting that's so divorced from our world, where all the societal problems we deal with like homophobia, racism, transphobia and sexism, don't exist. Other fantasy and sci-fi settings do share some of this, but a lot of them have it a bit implicitly in their DNA in places due to being based on or connected to our real-world cultures or being written by liberal feminist creators who think just putting women in power is a job well done. She-Ra treats everything in its setting as normal.

Every kingdom being run by a princess/queen? Perfectly normal. The show could easily show princes and whatnot in charge, it just chooses not to. Same-sex relationships? Completely normal and so is same-sex couples having kids. Trans and enby folk? perfectly normal and no one blinks an eye or even misgenders anyone. Even fucking Hordak and Shadow Weaver don't misgender DT. And why would they? There's nothing in this world that is comparable to the things in our world that prepetuated the idealogies of a strict gender binary. There's also no racism too, which again, why would there be because there's nothing in the setting of anyone wanting to use racism or xenophobia to fuel their ideals. Hell, Horde Prime one could argue is actually above the sorts of bigots in our own real world. He sees all conflict and division as beneath him, wanting to purify the universe and even uses Catra's and Adora's love for each other to his advantage.

There's also no such thing as a unified Etherian Government and each kingdom seems more like a small community with a leader, who could honestly be anyone. The Princess Alliance is more like a communal agreement that don't really have strict harsh laws, just general agreements that they each respect. There's the fact Brightmoon doesn't have a shown dungeon either, implying a form of restorative justice.

Add all this up and you have a universe that's full of endless creativity that honestly also feels like a safe place where a queer creative or fan can truly belong. I honestly can't say that a lot about a lot of things I love which always have some unfortunate asterisk about them. She-Ra has none of that to me. It is not perfect, but damn, is it a standard I honestly find a lot of things hard to beat.

[prince-toffee]

Life Is A Highway

Part Two (of Three)

Art by the absolutely amazing @themazziah go check them out and follow them.

Day Two (of Seven)

The following trip might have been one of the most bizarre experiences in Glimmer’s life, which spoke volumes because her life was anything but ordinary. Over the course of the next few days Glim learned things about the clones she never wanted to know or ever thought to ask. For example, when she woke up next morning, she stretched and dozily made her way to the ship's washroom, still somewhat asleep. She yawned, “Oh, ‘Dora you won't believe the dream I had, heh, I was sent on a road trip through space with Hordak and a bunch of...” Her eyes widened at the sight inside the washroom, “...clones?”

It was V, of course, ‘brushing’ his teeth with a... there was no way of putting it otherwise, a knife. Apparently clone teeth were too sharp for regular toothbrushes, and floss, and attracted tartar like cement. “Do you mind?” He mumbled through the foaming toothpaste.

Glimmer was speechless, her eye just twitched. “Yeah, get in line.” She turned to the other three up against the wall in a line, waiting impatiently. It was no dream. However, that seemed like a quick stop compared to how long it took Hordak to go through his whole hair dye procedure. It felt like he was in there for hours. However, no matter how much he tried he could never get rid of that one streak of white hair that curled and always fell down against his face. It was the only part of his hair that refused to dye blue. Entrapta often remarked how much she loved it, a little symbol and representation of his imperfection. En always reminded him that she loved all of him just the way he was. But for Hordak it represented a much darker thought, the constant reminder of what lay beneath, of who he ‘belonged to’. Constantly attempting to cover up his old life with his new identity, the blue hair, the makeup, the dress, the armour Entrapta and he worked on together. And yet, every time he looked in the mirror all he saw was his Brother.

-     - -

Glimmer had tripped… again, over some discarded armour plates that were just left on the floor (several times mind you), like right now, her face was planted firmly in the floor. A muffled groan escaped her throat, she just... laid there for a moment, and for a moment she contemplated whether she should even get up. What’s even the point? Moe wheeled up to the Queen, “Uhmm... are you alright? Uh-” He turned back to face Hordak behind him, “Your majesty? Right?” He checked with Hordak about the terminology, who simply nodded. “Yeah, okay I got that right.” Mo murmured that part to himself. Glimmer murmured something incomprehensible. Mo just gave a half smile paired with a confused look, “Alright... Okay… Oh-kay.” He hesitated, but turn around, and wheeled himself away giving the Queen some space.

After a moment and a deep sigh, she finally picked herself up, her pinkish-purple, glittery hair all messed up. As she parted her hair and tried to fix it best she could she caught sight of Hordak picking up the littered armour components, like a middle-aged mom picking up dirty laundry after their kids. The comparison was not completely unfounded as the Lord of Metal and Darkness glared up to the dark ceiling where V was lounging about on a bed of loose wires like a hammock, and proceeded to tell him off, “V! What did I tell you about leaving your armour plating on the floor! I'm tired of picking up your life support systems after you! And that goes for everyone in this spacecraft!”

V groaned, closed the book he was reading, and dropped down, “Alright, alright, I'm on it. Geez give over.” Moe rolled his eyes, but made sure Hordak didn't see it. The Queen of BrightMoon, her arms droopy by her side and head down low, slowly made her way over to the couch, her place of residence. And fell backwards onto the soft seating, slouching, her royal etiquette, manners, and posture completely gone. In a way it was nice, a little freeing in a way, no longer having to put on a performance for her court and the public when addressing the masses. She could just relax, I'll be it she would have preferred to relax with her friends, but this was... fine she supposed... her friends. Glim’s eyes widened, a light bulb idea lit up above her. The first smile of the day. She reached down for one of her bags and rummaged around inside, and managed to pull out her holo-pad. She could just call Adora, her friends were in arms reach! Perhaps this trip wouldn't be so bad after all, she could just keep to herself – just ask Adora how her day has been, what she's been up to. She so longed to hear her voice. Only day two, and she already missed her, and... and what is happening here? Why was it taking so long? The loading circle icon kept turning and the system of the pad kept chugging, and – nothing. And then the next message that popped up on the screen almost broke her heart – ‘No Connection’. Alone once more. She scowled at the box delivering her the message. She almost snapped the pad in half. But she just released the breath she was apparently holding in. And her posture went slack once more.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

-     - -

Day Three (of Seven)

Glim had little to do within The Annihilation, it very much felt like watching paint dry, and so as you can imagine the walls of the ship weren't entertaining the Queen very much. So, she turned her head to the art corner and watched Moe dance his pencil brush against the canvas. The clone artist had been studying the void of outer space for over an hour now and copying it onto the blank white canvas and proceeded to masterfully depict all of its natural detail and beauty - specks of stars, swirling gas giants, mesmerising planet rings and asteroid belts, colourful beauty of nebulous, and crashing waves of solar oceans at the surface of suns. Every piece was gorgeous, a masterpiece. So pretty it actually compelled her to speak up, “It's gorgeous.”

“Hmm?” Moe half turned to her, eyes still on the painting.

“I know you don't think it, but it is, it's amazing. You should be proud of your craft.”

“Hmm.” He nodded slightly, “…Yes. I'm rather happy with it. I think I like it more than my regular work, because not every piece of art has a meaning, but this – this one is different.” The clone remarked with a smile.

“Oh? How so?” She asked genuinely.

“I'm painting these for Drag, you know, poor kid misses so much. He always tries to learn as much as he can about each place we visit. He never knows how much time he has, he hates having these blind spots in his mind... I guess this is my way of trying to help the kid feel... more complete.”

“You seem to be doing most of the heavy lifting in that regard.” Glimmer remarked, clearly seeing Moe as the most well-adjusted person among the clones onboard.

Moe smiled warmly as he turned to view the view outside his window, “I wouldn't be so sure about that.” There, out on the wing of the drop ship, hanging on for his dear life, just out in the coldness of space - was V. A huge toothy semi-psychotic smile on his face joyous face. Good thing clones didn't need oxygen. V reached out and caught in his hand a glistening crystal rock, one of many, out of a field of orbiting similar yet unique crystals. Hordak had passed nearby a ring of a gas giant. V popped the future-to-be gift into a pouch on his belt which was built into his armour. His brothers always collected souvenirs from places they've been to, all the places and wonders Drag missed. The boy loved learning, he had an entire collection of pamphlets and leaflets from all their destinations as proof of that. The boy loved knowing, but could never learn all or enough. And so Drag’s brothers collected souvenir after souvenir, The Defects had no home, no place to call their own, so they chose to build a new foundation, brick by brick.

-     - -

Glimmer’s eyes shot open, awoken by noise. It was night, well, what would you consider night in outer space, it was the ‘sleep cycle’ as Hordak put it. Her eyes darted around the setting looking for possible attackers, always vigilant like General Juliet taught her ever since she was a kid. Especially with a handful of untrustworthy clones onboard with her. But she couldn't find them with her sight, they had dimmed the lights in the living room and all had left to their personal bedrooms. Glim didn't know if clones even needed to sleep, or if clones don't but defects do, or maybe they just slept differently. But they had left the Queen to rest in slumber peacefully without distractions. Which was an unexpected, kind gesture. So, who was here with her? That was when she spotted someone, a figure cloaked in shadow. Glimmer scanned it best she could; Pointed ears, red eyes, white hair - definitely clone, but not a familiar one, not one she was used to seeing. She silently and still fully observed the defect without alerting him to her presence – he was holding and staring at one of Moe’s paintings, he was admiring them all and… crying? Gently and quietly sobbing. That was when Glim finally put one and one together, and recognised the clone as Drag, conscious and awake. Probably wondering how much time he had missed this time.

-     - -

Day Four (of Seven)

The Annihilation had come to a halt just in time to save Glimmer from madness. She had been walking back and forth along the length of the ship for hours. Bored out of her mind. The fourth day on this journey through space, of being trapped in a metal box surrounded by the void of space. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to explore, just stuck there, with no friends, and no one to talk to. Moe was nice enough, but there was only so much two strangers could talk about. V was chatty, Glim wished he wasn't, he wasn't annoying or snarky, every conversation was just... depressing. Drag was once again unconscious when she woke up in the morning. Hordak was avoiding her, best he could in a confined space like that. And Lee was just… a ghost, she could barely catch a glimpse of him.

Her back and forth pace continued, every few minutes checking her Chronometer, a bracer on her wrist. The device was a glorified watch with a fancy name and an uppercase letter. Hordak had awkwardly handed it to her to aid her in keeping track of time while in between planets, travelling across the dark ocean. She almost wished he hadn't. Not knowing was better. The device displayed several different times on the screen; How much time has passed since the departure from Etheria. The voyages estimated duration. The current time back home. And the time on the nearest planet.

Things were going along normally enough; Moe was painting something on a canvas. Lee was in the small kitchen adjacent to the living room ‘talking’ telepathically to a very distracted V who was rummaging all throughout the cabinets looking for something.

“Huh.” V remarked, pocking his whole head inside the food cabinet.

“What?” “What?” Moe and Lee asked at the same time.

Lee: “Don’t-”

Moe: “Jinx.”

Lee: “Primedamnit.”

V just continued, “I was doing the daily ration measuring check, seeing what I can prep for dinner, and the food amounts are totally off, we’re burning through our food way too fast. So, either Drag is going on snack runs while sleepwalking or we have a vermin problem.”

Drag remained still and unmoving, a nice, weighted blanket covering him now. The Annihilation was running on autopilot, and Hordak was off in a corner on his own, sat down on the cold floor, charging some device in hand. While Glimmer was marching around, she knew she shouldn't have, but couldn't help but to glance over his shoulder. There he was, the Lord of The Horde, the baron of bedload, the prince of plagues, the dread lord, the man who once held Etheria in a chokehold – now hunched over on the floor, holo-pad in hand, constantly refreshing the screen, a very similar text box was displayed on the screen – ‘No Connection’. He sighed. He was trying to reach Entrapta. But he could not. She was once more an ocean of stars away. The two were torn apart once more. The universe had a diabolical sense of humour. He longed for her voice, so full of passion, excitement, enjoy – she made him feel happy to be alive. At least he had the suit of armour she bestowed upon him, a shield which protected him and soothed his pain. It was a comfort in dark times, a warm reminder that even galaxies away she still managed to protect him. She really was the perfect woman. Hordak smiled at the thought of her. And then once it passed, the bad thoughts returned and the notion of her not being there saddened him further.

There was a sorrow they both shared, for a split-second Glimmer considered connecting with him, but she just shook that absurd notion off.

Suddenly, a beeping came from the ship's cockpit, it seized the attention of both the Princess and the clone Lord as both their heads whipped to the direction of the sound. Hordak left the holo-pad and with a grunt lifted himself up, and strolled to the control panel. Glim followed close behind. “Is that- what I think it is?” She asked slightly on edge.

Hordak hummed as he scratched his incredibly square chin, “Yes. Something just destroyed the decoy ship.” He remarked grimly.

“Uh oh.” V injected himself into the conversation, “Looks like you've got some fans your majesty.”

Glimmer chose to ignored him, “Do we have footage? Do we know if it was the Primusian pirates?”

“We do. But the bait ship was galaxies away, it'll take a few minutes for the footage to travel back to us.”

“Do you think the lack of bodies is going to set them off?” Glimmer asked quizzically.

“Hopefully not. In the meantime, while we wait for the transfer, we’ll restock and refuel at the next pit stop. An upcoming gas station.”

Glimmer’s eyes widened, “We're stopping to get out?! As in, to walkabout?” She clapped her hands together, “Yes! I am in, so in! Let's get out of here!... No offence.” She turned back to the rest of the clones.

Moe shrugged, “None taken. V has that effect on people.” He remarked amused.

Hordak looked unsure, “I... I am unsure. Arriving at a fuelling stop with the supposed dead Queen of Etheria – this could unmake the entire mission.” He remarked awkwardly.

Glimmer pondered upon it, after a second the Queen snapped her fingers, “Not if they don't see me.” Hordak quirked his brow, intrigued. Glimmer smiled, and then she disappeared. No woman stood before them anymore.

V exclaimed, “She got raptured!” Lee just slightly smacked his older brother in the back of the head.

Glim, still invisible, sighed, “No. I'm the Queen of Light. I can bend light around my person, making yours truly, invisible.”

“I didn't know you could do that.”

“No. No you did not.”

V remarked, “So, what? When we talk to you we’ll just be talking to thin air?”

“Nothing new for you then.” Moe responded.

“I do not know.” Hordak replied unconvinced.

“I'm the Queen of Etheria, it's not like you can order me around. I'm literally your boss.”

“Fair enough.” He could not argue. He huffed in defeat.

-     - -

The Annihilation soon docked at (checkes notes) Bibo’s Gas Stop, a literal embodiment of the term ‘the middle of nowhere’ which was the precise wording used on the comical sign at the port where they docked. The moment the bay doors to the Annihilation opened Glimmer practically leapt out of the ship, far too excited about the grungy, filthy, dirty, greasy, rundown space gas station. But she was just desperate to explore a brand new area other than the metal confined box flying through the void of space she was caged. Even though it was an awful place.

“Sweet breathing room, how I've missed you.” Glimmer reached her hands up into the sky as if worshipping the sun. Not that anyone saw that, luckily for her no one witnessed the embarrassment, once again completely invisible.

Moe rolled down the ramp behind, “Eh- your majesty, were ever you are, please stay nearby, we are meant to be your envoy.”

The rest of the crew marched out behind. Hordak’s head panned upwards to examine the curious energy dome encapsulating the station. “Truly fascinating. An energy field incasing a constantly adapting atmosphere all planted on a rogue asteroid which somehow corrected itself on a Goldilocks zone rotation around the system star. Perhaps an Atmo-Sphere Engine, but how does it atmosphere composition adjust to every individual, fascinating. Perhaps equipped with 360° celestial thrusters that maintain the asteroid within the Goldie- what?” The tone changed quickly to his standard cold harsh demeanour as his head snapped to a chuckling V.

 “Fascinating.” V imitated Hordak and cackled.

Hordak rolled his eyes behind the red lenses, his arms and shoulders retreated under his black cape, and turned away from his older brother. “Ugh.” It was clear that being around Entrapta for so long had rubbed off on him. “I'll refuel the ship and get new oxygen canisters for the Queen. Distract yourselves somehow, and do not bother me.” He reached into a pouch on his waist and pulled out a golden credit card, “Go pay for it. And do not attract too much attention, please.”

Before V could snatch the card, Lee took it away and began to walk forwards to the gas station building. With V following close behind, “Alright, but I have to get some extra stuff for the rest of the trip... Don't look at me like that, I do! Scout’s honour!” V crossed his heart, but on the wrong side. Lee just rolled his eyes.

One of the customers looking through the magazine stalls noticed something peculiar; the store doors sliding open without anyone walking in. The alien raised a brow. After a few seconds Moe wheeled in, an awkward smile plastered on his face, he pointed at the sliding doors with his thumb, “Doors, am I right?” And quickly sped off.

Lee waltzed directly to the space-cashier and handed them the card, and raised six fingers up indicating pump six where The Annihilation was docked. The space-teen behind the desk was a bit intimidated by Lee's looming stature, that of a massive rectangle with red eyes. The teen with space-acne swallowed a ball of saliva in their throat, took the card and began the financial transfer. V just stood motionlessly at the cash. Meanwhile, V was rummaging through the store shelves, scrambling and skittering, under his breath chuckling, grabbing various food products off the shelves, huddling a huge massive ball with food against his chest, he could have used a basket or a trolley, but he didn't. He finally arrived at the cash register and dumped the mount of food on the table. “And also this.” V and Lee exchanged looks, “What? Hordak’s girlfriend’s got plenty on that card. I'm sharing the wealth, if anything I'm the good guy here.”

“No.” Lee remarked simply. He pointed his finger back towards the rest of the store gesturing for V to put back everything he had taken.

Meanwhile, Moe and Glimmer were perusing the small aisles of the rundown store, “Look at all of this neat stuff. Galaxy star maps. Antenna muffs. Space-Barnacle remover acid. Eldrich cosmic horror bobbleheads.” Something else drew her attention, “Oh, they have customizable licence plates for ships, eh, none of them have my name on it.”

“You know you're getting excited over gas station trinkets, right kid?”

“It's not just- it's new. All this is new to me. It's wonderful, there's so much to see, so much that you'll never get to see in your lifetime. So many things pass us by every day. And you won't experience any of it in an office in an ivory tower.”

“Where’s all this coming from all of a sudden? Why so invested?”

“I don't know. Because learning itself, discovery itself is… fun you know?”

Moe smiled, “Yeah, I do. The beauty of life and all that. I get it, more than you know.”

“It's just nice not being trapped in my office all day every day, flooded by mountains of paperwork, trapped in that damn box hour after hour running an entire planet. I used to go on adventures and quests! And now I just have to watch the world go by from my castle window.”

“...Maybe this will be good for you.”

“The Cthulhu bubbleheads?”

“No, The- What did V call it? The road trip.”

“Huh.”

Moe pulled out a few white and red circular coins, looking like it was made out of white chocolate. He handed the coins to Glimmer. He picked out a licence plate and presented it to the Queen, “How about a souvenir?” The plate read, ‘Glenn’, close enough she supposed. Glimmer gave a small smile and accepted the gift.

Glimmer purchased the souvenir, through Moe of course. She gave Lee the side eye at the space-cash register, it wasn't possible, but it almost seemed like he could see her. They moved on and out. Hordak was hauling new oxygen tanks on board of the ship. “We done?”

“Yeah, put this up somewhere nice.” Moe waved the plate around, Hordak looked at it confused.

“I didn't know you guys needed oxygen.” Glimmer examined the metallic containers.

“We don't. All for you, your majesty.” Hordak replied while wheeling the heavy canisters onboard.

“How thoughtful of you Hordak.” She remarked with a smirk. “Do we... have to go right away? I've barely stretched my legs.”

“Hmm, I don't know, we should maintain our schedule.”

“Could we at least make some other stops along the way? Doesn't it drive you crazy, being trapped inside a metal basement flying through space?” Hordak did not respond. Confined spaces were all he knew; Corridors, ships, pods, labs, the inside was his environment to the point where sunlight at times was an annoyance to him. “Come on come on can't we explore for a bit longer?”

Just then they heard a WHAM, Hordak looked up, his face deflated with tired annoyance. Glimmer turned back to see V come on bursting out from the doors of the gas station, he was carrying the ball of food Lee denied him before, he ran in zigzags, packets of various products slipping through his grasp and falling to the ground. He looked panicked. “Run! Run!” V ran past Hordak and Glimmer.

Hordak narrowed his eyes, “What. Did. You. Do?”

V furiously tapped the lock button on the ramp bay doors, “Don't be mad.”

“What did you do?!”

“I said don't be mad!”

Suddenly, the doors of the gas station slammed open once again. There was the cashier and what must have been the manager of the store with... a laser shotGUN! The manager cocked the gun. Hordak’s eyes widened, “oh no. Everyone inside! Now!” He rushed everyone onboard, practically picking Glimmer up and hauling her in. BLAMO! Laser gunshot. Moe yelped a bit too loud.

Glimmer quickly ducked and scrambled up the ramp into the drop ship, the Queen rummaged in her pocket, grabbing a handful of cash and flung it out the ship, while yelling , “Sorry!” The ramp clamped shut. Thrusters heated up and blasted out plasma fire, and The Annihilation launched off into the void of space. Hordak and Glimmer snapped their heads over to V and glared at him furiously.

V raised his hands up almost as if protecting his face, “OK, OK, I know, I know- buuut let me make it up to you.” He sneered. Glimmer and Hordak gave each other a silent look, their fury steadied.

-     - -

What followed, Glimmer could not comprehend in the moment. The Queen of Light watched the crew of clones unfolded and convert the main living room couch into a dining table. Positioned chairs around for all. Glimmer sat down just as the rest of the crew took their seats, she had taken Drag’s spot. No one mentioned anything, but Glimmer could feel Lee's cold stare, and it said it all. Glim just sat stiffly, unsure of how to conduct herself in this setting, all the brothers were engaged some casual mundane conversation. She looked off to the side, one of the corners of the drop ship had a little kitchen set up; cabinets, cupboards, a chopping station, a hob, and a sink. It was all impressively compact. Glimmer doubted that any of it was standard of a regular Horde dropship, it must’ve been custom made. Looked nice, was that oak? Anywho. There was V, cooking. It was a strange sight. And it seemed like she was the only one surprised by this behaviour. Was this his regular routine?

Hordak was sitting across from her; Glimmer had never seen the ex-Lord of the Horde like this, so casual. He wore a simple, loose short sleeved shirt, a long black dress, and his blue curly hair draped over the front of his tired face. His black eye make-up slightly more messy and worn. His red lenses off, his red irises in the open. The warlord that almost conquered her world, once feared, was now hunched over a holo-pad on the table. He kept refreshing the device, that same loading circle that taunted her did so to him. He looked tired and frustrated. Not knowing why the device was not working. A low grumble escaped him, almost a purr.

“Here we are!” V announced as he placed a plate in front of Glimmer, “Chow down.” He gave a toothy smile, it was genuine, but Glimmer felt a little unsettled none the less. She just awkwardly stiffly smiled at V, V responded by widening his grin even further. Glimmer tried to outdo him but her smile wobbled.

“So... What's this? Poison?” Glimmer quirked a brow.

“It's caviar. Zenbaaran roast meat. Faybian ursa-berry jello. Oombackis rice and veggies. Defrosted crockets.”

“From?”

“The freezer.” He remarked matter of factly, then his voice peaked again, “Bone apple sit!”

“That's not- ugh” Did Lee just sigh telepathically? Can you even do that?

“The stuff you stole? Was food. For dinner?... you cook? Dinners?” Glim couldn't hide how flabbergasted and surprised she was by this simple concept. She just couldn't picture a clone doing something so bland, mundane, and... and kind for his ‘family’. Going about it the wrong way, but with good intention, maybe.

“Not just dinners. It should last as the rest of the journey. Plus, I slapped some cash on the counter, fake money, sure,” he shrugged, “but still.” V sat down without a plate in front of him, and kicked his feet up on the table.

Which Hordak immediately swiped off the table and remarked scowling, “No feet on the table.” His tone shifted from stern to lax and soft, “V may be a loudmouth moron with a weird nose, but if there's something he knows how to do, it's cook.”

“I'll take it. And no electronic devices while we're eating dinner at the dinner table, young man.” V marked to Hordak about the holo-pad on the table. Hordak grumbled, but retreated the pad off the table. V leaned back against his chair.

“And nothing for you?” Glim asked the vulture-like man.

“Don’t care much for it. Not my thing.” V shrugged.

The clones dug in. Glimmer’s eyes scanned the table, still slightly unsure, only then did the Queen realise how hungry she was. She had poor experience with clone dinners, but... the food did look good. She picked up the utensils shaped like a crescent moon, and scooped up some of the rice and veggies, and... Hordak wasn't wrong, V really was a good cook. And soon she couldn't stop herself, the plate was cleaned within minutes, one of the best meals she had in a long while.

-     - -

V honked forcefully slamming down against the air horn on the steering wheel. He was furious. The elder clone rolled down the side window of the cockpit, the atmosphere bubble expanded outward, allowing for V to poke his head out and wave his fist angrily at the traffic up ahead. The Annihilation was stuck in space traffic. Spaceship lanes were created to ensure safe and organised space travel, especially in heavily populated systems. The Defects were now about to enter The Black Donut System, a system circling an infant black hole, a roundabout which utilised gravitational slingshot momentum allowing bypassers to reach neighbouring systems faster. But there was still one obstacle ahead of The Defects, the traffic jam, but that was due to the border control ahead. V yelled furiously at the price of the boarder crossing, “Fifty Romulaks?!?! Where are we crossing over to?! Terabithia?!” Pricey costs these days, capitalism, I tell ya.

The only reason V was even allowed to sit in the cockpit seat was because Glimmer and Hordak had retreated back into the ship's belly into Hordak’s room who had excavated a set of table chess. Which was built into a small circular table located in Hordak's room, he had picked it up a few missions ago from a pawn shop on Autolycus III, he thought it might have been... Fun. Hordak and Lee partook in a game or two from time to time. He had awkwardly asked the Queen if they were interested in a game. Glim just kind of shrugged and agreed, there wasn't much to do, but she wanted to kill some time.

When the chess was activated a board rose up and divided into four layers one levitating over the other. The chess pieces were divided via colour coding – Glimmer’s pawns where pink and Hordak’s were blue. The pawns hovered over the various chequered panels, all shaped as teardrops, constructed from the same crystal-like material. Glimmer’s teardrops where upright with the tail of the drop pointing skyward while Hordak’s were pointed downward. The crystals were dispersed across the boards, they were far into their game by this point. The Queen and the Lord faced off, and were sat on opposite ends, they were both leaning back on their respective armchairs, too afraid to get too close, keeping each other at an arm's length, only getting close to move their pawns.

They remained silent for most of the time, until her eyes shifted up from the miniature battle to analyse her opponent, and after a moment she broke her silence, “So, you've been avoiding me.”

“No, I... no... I simply assumed you'd prefer space in such a limited location.”

“How thoughtful of you.” She remarked sarcastically.

“If you so wish I could leave you to your own devices, and we may cease this game.”

“No, no. I don't mind. It's not like I have anything else to do... I've noticed the holo-pads aren't working.”

“Yes. There appears to be a technical malfunction, though I am unable to discern the cause or how to mend it. I can only hope that my Beloved has more luck on her side back at Dryl.” He sighed resigned, “I wish I was smarter. Everything always seems to hinge on her to be fixed. I wish I could lighten the weight on her shoulders.”

Glimmer moved her pawn forward thoughtfully, “Yeah. I... know what you mean. There are days when I wish I could do more for Adora, help each other shoulder the burden, share the weight of the world.”

“Hmm, so... you and She-Ra Adora...”

“What?! Who told y- What’d you mean?”

“My apologises, I was led to believe that you two were together – romantically. The Warrior of Greyskull was quite open and forward about the subject matter.”

She hid her face behind her opened palms, “Oh Adora…” She looked up to Hordak, “Do NOT disclose this to anyone.”

“I doubt anyone would lend me their ear, or that I know anyone to tell such things to. Why do you see She-Ra Adora’s openness as an issue?”

“It’s not an issue! It’s just- ugh- it’s just there’s so many rumours already, the royal court and the public can be exhausting and intrusive. I just- I just want to spare her from- from the fate of being my partner. Keeping us a secret makes everything simpler.”

“Mmm.” He understood. He related. He would hate prying eyes disturbing the little world Entrapta and he had built for each other in each other’s embrace.

“You probably wouldn’t understand.”

“…Probably.”

“…I miss her so much.”

“That- I understand all too well.”

“…Any update about the baitship?”

“Yes. Our suspicions were correct; Primus pirates.”

“Guess they’ll have quite the shock when they see the presumed dead Queen talking at an intergalactic conference in a few days.”

“That would be the most preferable outcome… What are you planning on saying at the summit? Have you a speech prepared?”

“Don’t remind me. I’ve had to deliver plenty of speeches for an entire Queendom, I’d like to think that over time I’ve gotten better at it. But I don’t know, I’ve never spoken in front of so many eyes. Full galaxies. The fate of Etheria in my hands. I’ve been revising, looking over my queue cards for days now… I still fumble the words sometimes.”

Hordak felt the need, the desire, to add something profound, “In my experience the key to delivering the most effective speeches is emotion; like when I delivered the Horde Manifesto atop Stinger Cliff when I rallied the forces of Scorpion Hill and forged the Etherian Horde on that day and... I- I just realised that might not be... the best example, hmm…”

“Yeahhh. Emotion. Anything else?” She asked with a half-smile.

“Well...” He searched his mind, “I usually left the public dealings to Shadow Weaver.” Glimmer looked like she was about to retreat from the conversation, Dak attempted to salvage it somehow, “However, confidence is key. You must believe in what you're speaking about, and you must show the crowds that you believe, that is where the confidence comes from. But honest passion won't carry you through you're talking to bureaucrats and politicians after all. You must tell them more that they want to hear, offer them something you're in possession of, as far as we know, the only magical world, the holy Armada of Prime under your control. You hold the cards, do not let them forget that.” That earned a smile from Glimmer. Hordak moved one of his pawns down from the top board down onto a pink pawn on a board underneath. Hordak claimed another piece.

“Yeah... I won't.”

“A lot is riding on this conference. We as a planetary species are behind on the evolutionary curb. Being trapped in Despandos, the cataclysm, sent us back. And now those bigger empires are circling like sharks. The universe only ever sees us as a collectible to be owned. We're always the small guy, well I'm tired of that. I'm tired of being small, at the mercy of others. It's time we change that. We hold the cards.”

Hordak realised that he might have gone a bit too far in the wrong direction with his advice, “Uh, yes, but be careful, your majesty. Power has tainted love to your hearts.”

“That's a bit hypocritical coming from you, isn't it?” That had Hordak return to silence, “What if it happens again? Some 2-bit visionary coloniser decides to come over for a spoonful of sugar and conquest. What chance do we have? What if we fail the next time? We need to be ready, we need to show the rest of the universe that we mean business. And we need allies for that.” Glimmer leaned in and reached out for a pawn on the lowest layer and moved it forward two spaces attacking Hordak’s piece and taking one of his pawns. Once defeated the teardrop faded to a dark grey. “So four days on the road now so to speak.” Hordak replied with a ‘hmm’ his way of acknowledging what she said wordlessly, not knowing how to respond, he didn't have the experience to socialise with people properly. “I think I've started to understand you all. Moe's the artistic, carefree spirit, who just wants to enjoy the beauty of the world like Peri. Drag seems to be an innocent kind soul, the heart of your merry band, the glue, kind of like Bow. V has a hard time showing how much he cares, but he does, sort of like Mermista, but don't tell her that, she'd be furious. But Lee, he seems to like to keep his distance, and give me furious stares from afar. Something you want to tell me?”

Hordak rolled his eyes and sighed annoyed, “I assure you he does not dislike you. My older brother... struggles to articulate some… issues he has.”

“Such as?”

He had caught another sigh escape his lips, he massaged the bridge of his nasal cavity, “Lee is concerned with the concept of nation building. After the Fall of Prime, your world became a refuge for our people. Lee wishes for Etheria to become our home, and a safe haven for all clones. He's been growing frustrated with how slowly it's been moving forward.”

“Slowly? In the past few months haven't we allowed you and your brothers to stablish government communities? Pass clone rights. Dryl helped clone settlements gain fresh water, electricity, everything. The Alliance has supported the clone communities even through all the unrest, and all the demands for your head.”

“The Alliance has not supported anything, they have remained quiet, in order not to enrage your supporters. When the hive mind fell, those who were present at Etheria where free to explore their true selves, live in freedom, comprehend the concept of freedom. But the horde was vast, countless of my brothers across the cosmos suddenly without a voice in their head, lost. Some must not even know Prime is dead. We could-”

“Bring them to Etheria? And how many exactly is ‘countless’, Hordak? Etheria can't support millions of refugees, the overpopulation would be devastating.”

“The Horde is no more, all Horde infrastructure, the commanding figure gone, these clones are left amidst a cosmos that despises them.”

“Rightfully so.”

“This is about saving lives! Etheria is the only semblance of safe haven for clones in a universe that wants to eliminate them! And overpopulation is not an issue, the entire Etherian population only takes up 27% of the planet, centralised on a single continent.”

“Which is supposed to mean what? That one day you can outnumber us 5 to one? Surround and replace us?”

“Replace?! A man who needs a suit of armour to get out of bed will replace you? A demigod elitist who only cares for her own domain?! There was a reason why Scorpion Hill turned so swiftly against you and the core Queendom's!”

Glimmer stood up abruptly, she slammed her hands against the board toppling a handful of pawns. “You wanna try that again?” Her eyes flashed a pinkish-purple, and the lights within the room began to flicker and go haywire, “You think you know me, but you're just a pathetic recluse, you don't know anything.”

“I know enough. I know that you have a container of Etherian soil to maintain your powers, to eliminate us in case we become an inconvenience to you.”

“You- You went through my things?! I have to defend myself against a group of monsters somehow! What else can I expect from a machine created for conquest!?”

“You think you know me.”

“I know enough.” Glimmer took off her mother's earring which always hung from her left ear. The last piece of her mother she could physically still hold onto, and from a position where her pawn once dude, she used the earring to knock Hordak’s king over.

Glimmer marched out of the room, with the doors sliding closed behind her. Hordak sighed with the full force of his misery. He just sat in his chair, his head bowed, for a few silent moments. “That went poorly.”

A voice sounded from inside his head. Hordak jumped, “Ahhh!” He turned in panic around to see Lee standing behind him, “How?! - How did you - where did you c- there aren't even any shadows in this well lit room!”

Lee wordlessly walked over to Glimmer’s opposing chair and sat down. Lee observed the chess board, coming in mid battle, a conflict unfinished. “I am disappointed in you boy.” Hordak rolled his eyes, here we go again. “Do not roll your eyes at me! I am unable to voice my thoughts, my opinions, my wishes and my troubles. Is it too much to ask for my more able-bodied brothers to help me voice my mind?”

“No, brother, but I- I tried, but I- I do not possess... the vernacular to convince her to aid us.”

“Enough excuses, boy. The fate, the well-being of our race is at stake. We stand at a crossroads. And you are the only one who can bring about positive change for all our brothers. You are family to royalty, you are a leader of men, your name it means something here, or it can. You have the power to influence… to save us… do you... do you understand that?”

“I- Of course I do, I just can't-”

“No, boy. No more excuses. Put in the effort. The people of the Queen seem to respond to emotion and openness – appeal to her with emotion and openness. Show her that we are people, that we are not monsters. Show her our true nature.”

“…I understood. I will attempt to- No, I will… I will.”

“Good,” Lee smiled, “That is good, kindly brother.” His hand hovered down to the several pieces on the floor, and picked them up, “Now then, shall we have a friendly game?”

“I have yet to beat you.”

“You will get there soon enough, practice hones skills.”

“My scientific theory is that you simply enjoy to watch me loose.”

“Hehm, non-sense.”

-     - -

“Keith, I’m pregnant.”

“I knew it.” V remarked aggressively at the reveal taking place on the TV screen – another one of V’s soap operas, as obnoxious as they were the others had to unfortunately admit it was entertaining television. The thing was V wasn’t even watching the screen, he was too busy studying the inside of one of the cupboards in the kitchen corner.

Glimmer stormed out of Hordak’s chamber room, of course there was nowhere for her to go on such an enclosed space. She stormed past Moe who’s greeting went unnoticed, and she made her way to the couch where her luggage rested. From her bag she pulled out a glass orb containing a sample of earth from the grounds of BrightMoon, she closed her eyes and focused her mind, channelling the magic of her home planet through her body like a conductor and thusly materialised a pink bubble around herself covering the couch and isolating herself from the rest of the ship.

“Sooo, does that mean... no more TV time for us?” V muttered while his head was still stuck in the kitchen cupboards looking for something.

“Guess so. That's just the effect Hordak has on people... I know I say this enough times to make it a catch phrase, but what are you doing?” Moe asked confused at his brother's continuous rummaging in the cupboards, and cabinets. The kitchen corner was a mess. Again.

“I told you, I've been checking our food rations, and unless Drag is waking up in the middle of his sleep cycle and midnight snacking, there's definitely something here with us.”

-     - -

That damn loading icon. That spinning circle at the centre of the blurry screen had been taunting her for days now. She got angry just by looking at it. She groaned to herself, facepalming and slowly dragging her palms down against her face, leaving the holo-pad on her lap. “I hate this place. Oh, I hate everything.” She was alone, that was what she believed. Utterly alone. And then-

“It can't be that bad.” The Queen's eyes widened, and her hands parted, that voice! So familiar and sweet! Glimmer looked down to see the smiling face of her partner. Adora looked a little rough around the edges, but even with scratches and scrapes and a little bit of dirt on her she still looked radiant and godly, and beautiful.

Glimmer almost teared up, “Oh my stars, it worked! You're here! I tried calling you for days! You wouldn't pick up! I was so worried! I missed you so much, Dodo.”

Adora's eyes rolled upwards to confront the ceiling in order to avoid Glimmer’s face, her face turned to the side, and a warm blush rushed across the valkyrie’s cheeks, “I missed you too, firework.” The most powerful woman in the universe, she could easily face off against the greatest monsters in universe, yet she often struggled to accept compliments and face her lover when smiling. That was Adora. “I wish I could kiss you right now, you wouldn't believe the day I've had.” She remarked brushing a strand of golden hair out of her face.

“Tell me about it. But I don't get it, why couldn't I reach you?”

“From what I understand, and mind you I'm no Entrapta I clock every fifth word she says, is that we were out of range, that off world mission I told you about? The signal from your pad could only reach to Etheria, not beyond it.”

“That explains that I suppose... so? How was your day?” Glimmer asked in a mundane fashion.

That drew a chuckle from Adora, “Oh let me tell ya those suspicions were correct. Turns out a version or a fraction of LightHope transmitted itself to an off-world facility in order to reconstruct a backup of herself and launch a counterattack against Etheria to reclaim it. Good thing Entrapta caught the signal and went with us. Otherwise, we could have been caught completely off guard.”

“Ennie went with you?”

“She did. She thought having a project on her hands would help her get her mind off of... ‘Things’. She's having the time of her life; the entire moon was like one massive server room, she'll be sifting through First Ones files for months.”

“And how are you doing?” Glimmer asked worried, “I know it can't be easy around all that First Ones stuff.”

“Oh, it's alright I've come to terms with all that long ago. I'm not my ancestors, all I can do is move forward and be better, and hopefully undo all that was done. They can't use me as a weapon now.”

“Tell me- tell me about home. What's going on with all of you guys? What's new?”

“Haha, oh, where to start? Frosta has been missing you, she's trying to keep everyone in line for you until you get back. Peri's been spearheading the whole reforesting initiative, alongside Scorpia. The Fright Zone has never been so... pleasant? Bright and colourful. Vibrant and full of life. Flowers the likes of which you have never seen! Scorpia’s rallying ex-Hordesmen to cooperate in the new government. Meri and Seahawk have accidentally burned down another ship port, it's really becoming a problem, really. Bow’s getting his dads to actually converse with BrightMoon’s educational sector and shake hands with your dad starting up a new initiative to improve education programmes across all the Queendom's. Spinnerella and Netossa are dealing with some trouble in their court, some family member of Spin’s accused Net of marrying into the throne and money for greedy and selfish gain. Spin is more or less trying to hold Net back from pummelling them into the ground. And Catra, she's been quiet, finding herself, working on her anger, re-connecting with the whole MagiCat Queendom at the core of the planet thing. It's a whole thing. And you? What's new with you?”

“Ugh.”

“Oh, that sounds good.” Adora remarked sarcastically and playfully.

“I don't know how long I can hold out here. These- Hordak is driving me crazy! I- I just don't know why you thought this was a good idea, Dodo. Why do you have so much faith in him?”

Adora paused for a moment, her eyes shifted as her thoughts tried to form themselves into sentences in her mouth, perhaps this was the first time she had spoken her thoughts out loud on this subject, “Well... he saved me, Glim. When I was a child. This seemingly heartless, pure evil, warlord with no concept of what a child is, the hand of an evil God, found a crying infant in a field, he wasn’t looking for it, didn’t know what it was, and yet, he chose to pick me up and bring me to safety – this crying baby, brought it with him. I wondered why. If not for him, I wouldn't have made it. Not me... not us… not anything – no universe saved. All because of a single random act of kindness from a stranger. There- There must have been some good in them.”

“Heh, that's you to a tea – that endless belief that people can be good. It could be the most wonderful attribute about you.” The Queen of Light smiled dreamfully. “I, sometimes, wish I could be like you.” She admired her girlfriend with stars and sparkles in her eyes.

“I'd argue you are. I mean you trusted me, a Horde trooper, and here we are.”

“I suppose you're right.”

“Hey, look, Entrapta and the rest of us will board a ship and we'll B-line it straight to you, but it'll just be a while. But... please give him a chance, the way you gave me.” Glimmer contemplated it, not that she really had any choice, “Plus, I need someone to walk me down the aisle aaand it's slim pickings.”

“Hehehe, wow, you're not walking down the aisle, I'm walking down the aisle, I already promised my dad.” She remarked smiling.

“We’ll arm wrestle for it.” Adora always somehow managed to lighten the mood and lift spirits.

“Somehow that seems fixed.” Glimmer remarked with a smile as she reached into one of her bags in search of a sandwich to nibble on, and was met with in opposing nibble. Glimmer yelped, the bubble around her burst, and Glim leapt up off the couch. The Queen flailed her right arm in an attempt to shed something of her person – some mass which had bit down on her middle and index finger. The jaws of the attacker relented, and they fell back on the couch.

“What! What is it!? I can't see! Glimmer!” Adora exclaimed from the screen of the holo-pad. The clones all gathered disturbed by the commotion. They all circled the couch, in an effort to apprehend the rodent which somehow managed to sneak onboard. Then the said rodent poked their head out from the cover of the couch cushions, his face still dirty from the sandwich he chowed down on. And they were all met with a familiar set of yellow eyes as well as a pair of chubby cheeks and messy curled grey hairs.

V smiled a toothy grin as he picked up his only nephew, “It's the boy!”

Imp had somehow snuck aboard. He gave a little burp and wiggled his little baby feet. He had no idea how much trouble he was in.

The End (of Part Two)

[antispopausandstuff]

still stuck on angella thoughts, so:

i imagine her first meeting with micah would be something like her protecting him from predators in the whispering woods ( let's pretend the woods are actually dangerous and not smth the show hardly ever puts thought into ) and bringing him to brightmoon to give him aid.

they're not super young ( probably somewhere in their late twenties ), but angella is still p young for an immortal, i think. likely lived longer than most people on etheria have, but you wouldn't think it.

due to people fearing her in the faraway past, angella doesn't show her true form to anyone on etheria. it weighs on her, the thought of being alone in this knowledge forever, knowing that she has lived on through so many and will continue to.

she's hesitant to get closer to micah, who definitely doesn't have a crush on her ( everyone knows ), but finds him and his desire for knowledge and adventure too endearing to ignore. it's a couple years later, when they're best friends, that they confess their feelings and angella tells about herself.

the heartbreak of outliving those you love and never being able to stop it. but she is not one for isolation. she tried, so many times, and it was the closest to death she had ever felt. how could she be so weak to reject the terms of her kind?

in spite, in foolishness, and in love, they get together. years later, they become married. then years more, glimmer is born.

and then micah dies. because of angella's plans.

glimmer grew up without a father. and the queen continued to grow as a widow.

there's a deeper pain that he died out of means beyond age. it was unplanned, unexpected, and so sudden. and entirely of her own fault.

isolation becomes easier after that.

her heart's smaller, but open for glimmer, always and forever. it's selfish, but a part of her is relieved her daughter won't live so shortly in comparison to the rest. maybe she won't be alone.

such a terrible wish, she knows.

the war stretches long, painfully so, and is there an end in sight? glimmer won't talk to her, the only person truly in her life, and how could she face castaspella after what she had done? could they win?

...and then she-ra comes by.

the queen keeps her at arms length. a horde soldier. but she sees how her daughter hopes and it persuades her almost immediately. if for no one else in the world, she will do it for her.

then she loves bow and adora, too. completely.

with that love, she tries to guide. she tries to lead. she tries to rule.

but the end comes and a young woman nearly throws her own life away. claiming this is her destiny. how could it be, when her life had just begun?

angella is scared. for the first time in her life, she isn't certain what could happen to herself. what would become of her? but it doesn't matter. it's either her or this light that inspired so many and now must take care of herself. and take care of her daughter.

"i'm coming, micah..."

the blast hurts. it burns into her skin, into her bones. her lungs are stinging and her throat is thick. her wings are torn apart. her heart splits into pieces, completely undone in the best and worst way.

...the queen does not reunite with her love.

emptiness. endless nothing. bright, but cold. so cold.

and all she can do now is watch from afar. alone.

a punishment worse than death.

[lady-asteria]

Random SPOP headcanon that after Glimmer and Adora both die and pass into the afterlife that a legend develops about how on full moon nights, you can see and/or hear the ghosts of Glimmer and Adora walking and laughing through the Whispering Woods?

Aaaah, I love it when characters become legends and part of their countries' myths

And not as She-Ra and Queen Glimmer but as Adora and Glimmer who loved BrightMoon and each other, returning to the place they meet for the first time, where everything started, not as haunting ghosts but as friendly ones who just desire to take back their childhood and happiness ;-;

It's so cute, I'm love with the idea

/If you want some angst people can say how Adora come from the stars and Glimmer's the moon, so their spirits can only see each other during full moons -kind of like Orihime and Hikoboshi but each month instead of once a year-/

[theonlypterydactyl]

Adora, not your typical Chosen One

!!SPOILERS!!

Adora is piled with expectations. She's the Failsafe, Shadow Weaver's Prodigy, She-Ra, and Force Captain. All of these duties she has had to put over herself since she was a child. She is denied her agency.

Shadow Weaver only took her in because Adora had this power that she could harness and use for herself. Before she could even think for herself or even speak her future was decided for her. She may have been Shadow Weaver's favorite, but that doesn't mean Adora has privilege. She was given conditional love and was taught to be ashamed of Catra.

Catra was Adora's first expression of her personhood. She chose to be friends with Catra. Catra is the only flaw in her perfect pet project. So, Shadow Weaver tortures Catra in front of Adora just so she knows that Shadow Weaver doesn't approve of the person she cares about. Adora was taught to be responsible for the actions of others. Attachments are a detriment to her responsibilities.

Adora was raised on conditional love, denial of agency, and favor handed out like breadcrumbs. She finds this sword that turns her into an 8-foot tall warrior and suddenly everyone loves her. Adora cannot let these people down, so she does anything she can to help them, even if it costs Adora her life.

She-Ra is not the same person as Adora. She-Ra is invincible and strong and loved. Adora is an ex-horde solider who's broken. In the second episode she presents herself as She-Ra, not as Adora. Queen Angel accepts She-Ra into Brightmoon, not Adora. What's Adora to think besides that this is conditional acceptance. If she wasn't She-Ra she wouldn't be allowed in Brightmoon and no one cares about Adora, they just care about She-Ra, the mighty warrior who will save them.

What Adora can do will always take precedence over Adora herself, and she's been taught that since she was a girl. Adora isn't important. Love, care, and acknowledging herself isn't useful because it is hard to control.

Adora realizes that her attachments make her who she is and that she's fighting for them, but she doesn't need help giving love to others. She needs help giving love to herself and accepting the love of others. She can't seem to see that Adora and She-Ra are the same person, in her mind She-Ra is something she wields and something she wields can be taken away.

Adora has a crisis of identity. She was told to not be like Mara, she was the She-Ra who went nuts. Now she has to live up to her legacy. Adora was the successor of a She-Ra so burdened by a warped narrative it preceded her. Adora witnesses how cruel this type of rewriting can be, because it’s happening to her while she’s alive.

In Hero, Glimmer blatantly tells her that she failed and hasn’t done enough. This destroys Adora. Friendship with Glimmer is off the table to Adora, Glimmer doesn’t want to be friends with her because she failed and she’s not useful anymore. Adora doesn’t feel like she deserved love and she’s so disconnected from herself. There is a difference between a friendship that is fixable and one that isn't. Her relationship with Glimmer is unfixable and she's lost yet another person.

But, she has to connect to the world and to herself in order to connect to her powers. She has to admit that she’s human and deserves love. If she realizes that she is worth being loved, then she’ll learn that she never had to prove herself to earn it and it is accepting her innate value as a human.

Adora is sacrificing herself all the time because they want what Adora can do rather than Adora herself, or that's what she thinks. She can't help but wonder if they would've been her friends if she wasn't She-Ra.

Beast Island is the first episode where we see Adora's eyes glow before the sword. The sword hadn't been working all episode and when it does the light comes from her eyes rather than the sword. Adora powers the sword. But, it's easier to be calm and confident if there's something to rely rather than rely on yourself, because she's insecure about herself worth. If she can't become She-Ra, Adora is no one.

Adora chooses to smash the sword. She chooses to not be given a destiny. She wants to choose who she will be. Without choice you aren't a person, you are stripped of your identity. Adora has to live with the question, Who is Adora without the sword? She has to live with the consequences of losing She-Ra.

But, she's at war with herself. She choose to break the sword but how can she reconcile destroying what gave her purpose and worth. So, she starts neglecting her health and sleep. If She-Ra is gone that means Adora has to work harder to make up for her actions. She continues to struggle to intergrate She-Ra (duties, usefulness), her aspirations, and her self worth.

“I AM She-Ra.” “Okay She-Ra, I know YOU’RE in there.” “I don’t know I just lost HER.” “I hear Horde Prime’s looking for ME. Figured it was time we met.”

Adora either wields the power or she is the power. Something she wields can easily be taken away, but something she is cannot be stripped away that easily.

Catra is in the hands of Horde Prime. Prime's light strips everything of choice and identity. Adora allows herself to make a personal resume mission to act on something that matters to her, Catra. She chooses to save Catra without She-Ra and she accepts her identity and choice. During "Save the Cat" she allows herself to feel grief, not only for Catra but who she was with Catra, the Adora Catra knew. The first expression of her personhood. This is the first time we see Adora's self-actualized She-Ra form, fitted with Glimmer's boots, Bow's heart, and Catra's headpiece.

Even with her new She-Ra form, Adora can't decide if she is She-Ra or if she wields She-Ra. When she meets Melog, she says "You're magic aren't you? Me too." In She-Ra magic typically represents the authentic self and self-actualization.

Shadow Weaver is the one who convinces Adora to take the Failsafe. Adora is She-Ra, she'll hopefully, ideally survive. No one else stopped her. She was dead set on saving Etheria and she's broken enough to want to sacrifice herself. Adora is determined to ignore her humanity, but Catra's last appeal to her hits her.

"What do you want, Adora?"

The others might have given her unconditional love, but Catra's works. Catra is the only person who knew her before she was She-Ra. She was the first expression of Adora's personhood. Adora wanted Catra.

In Adora's future wish, she's surrounded by the people she loves and her responsibilities and humanity are balanced. Adora found peace.

When she believes she least deserves it, she's failed and she can do no good no more, Catra yells and she listens. Catra tells Adora that she is loved, but she always has been. So, she chooses to save herself and she chooses Catra.

Adora’s story is one of self-sabotage. She constantly betrays herself for the expectations of others. There will always be people telling us what to do or who to be, but we can’t let them tell us what to do. Adora doesn’t understand that her identity is hers to make and that she is allowed to have a say in what happens to her. But, the cycles and patterns that come with a child whose mind is in trauma mode are hard to break. She has to learn that she has agency, something that she’s been denied since she was a baby. Just because you have this power within you doesn’t give people the right to use you to their advantage. Adora has to learn that the opinions of others don’t have to control her, that you can’t define yourself by what someone else is saying. Only you can define who you are and what you want to do.

(my own interpretations backed up five by five takes)

[sethcoart]

Queen Glimmer of Brightmoon interview the mighty She-ra

[baggebythesea]

Long live the queens

Image commissioned from @lorvikk​

[ericas-spop-blog]

The Portal and Perfect Worlds

(And kicking this out of my drafts because I don't feel like marking it up with screenshots. Um. Should be read as canon-compiant headcanon for the most part.)

When the portal machine is connected to the Sword and turned on, it taps into the pool of magic that has been accumulating in the Heart for the last 1000 years. But, since the proper channels have not been activated, that release is uncontrolled.

Or, well, mostly uncontrolled. Because the magic of Etheria is first and foremost tied to people; when the magical nuke is set off, and the world is wiped clean, the subconscious of the people most intimately tied to the Heart reflexively attempt to rebuild it, with varying levels of influence:

Madame Razz. ????? Seems to exist outside of portal!Etheria, and is able to manipulate it in ways even Adora can't. Has seen this before. [Kind of very worriesome, actually].

Adora. Bearer of the Sword, Key to the Heart, and Eye of the Storm Adora is linked to the Sword, and the Sword is the conduit between the Heart and the portal. She is the center of the storm, and most of the power is flowing through her. She is (nearly) the sole architect of the portal!Horde, and has a large degree of freedom to navigate and access other locations in the portal world.

Angela. Queen of Brightmoon, First Among Equals Angela is the most powerful of the "normal" Runestone Princesses, and is the primary creator of portal!Brightmoon, although her control and freedom of movement is less absolute than Adora's.

Frosta, Mermista, Perfuma. Lesser Stars We don't see them, but there's no reason not to believe the rest of the Runestone Princesses didn't have their own perfect worlds.

Glimmer. Princess in Training, Her Mother's Daughter Glimmer's Runestone connection is a gift from her mother, so it is unsurprising that she remains trapped in Angella's orbit, reshaped to fit her mother's fantasy. But because she does have a link to the Moonstone (and because being mommy/daddy's little girl forever is not what she wants), the fantasy's hold on her is incomplete. She sees the gaps in it, all the little places where it doesn't make sense, the ways it doesn't make her happy, even thought everyone says it should.

Scorpia. The Unawakened Scorpia's connection to the Heart is very thin - her bond with the Garnet is almost entirely dormant - but it is still there. She can't override or split Adora's vision of The Horde, but she can shape the small corners that Adora did not care to fill. She retains her dislike of Adora, but more interestingly - portal!Scorpia introduces herself. In the fantasy, she isn't the "Covered in Force Captain Orientation" Scorpion Princess; she isn't clingy or needy or overbearing. She's just a normal person, safe and included and unremarkable; confident and happy with her place in the world. (even if there's a nagging sense that something's missing).

Entrapta. Wild-Type Princess Entrapta isn't tied to the Heart, but she's still connected to Etheria's magic. That - and the fact she isn't close enough to any of the more powerful princesses to be drawn into their orbit - is enough to get her her one-room protective bubble of I Can't Fail At People If I Never Meet Them. (We can assume a similar tiny world for Spinnetossa and other wild-types.)

Micah, Bow, et all. Normies and Scrubs The little people don't get much say in the fantasies they find themselves entangled in, but they're none-the-less important, because the portal can't create fake people. It can drastically rewrite them - it can turn Shadow Weaver into a doting mentor - but there needs to be someone for the fantasy to latch onto (someone who will remember the dance they were puppeted through when all this is over).

Catra. Not Herself. Knows It. Of all the non-princesses seen in portal!Etheria, Catra is somewhat notable, if only for the violence with which she (once able) rejects the fantasy. So, first off - this is not because she has any special level of power over the portal world; All she did was complete a circuit. It no more granted her control over what happened next than hitting a light switch grants me divine control over photons. She's not even unique in having her true personality break through as Adora loses her grip on the fantasy/pulls attention to it's decomposition - Scorpia and Lonnie experience pretty much the same thing. The difference is purely in that, while the others are mostly frightened and confused, Catra is incandescently, burn-the-world-down furious. Because she knows this. She knows exactly what it is to be a prop in Adora's fantasies, to be forced to pretend that everything is fine("you said you didn't care about things like that."), everything is perfect, simple("I wish that things could be simple [again]."), even when the world is broken and coming down around their ears("The way they used to be."). Adora demands she help fix things, but has never confronted how they were broken. Is it any wonder that she is done with letting Adora control her? Letting Adora win?

Errata/Headcanons:

The show never explains wtf is actually going on with Razz, and I love that. She's an extremely weird, extremely powerful immortal, and that's all we're supposed to know.

Razz's aggressive prodding was 100% necessary to snap Adora out of the fantasy. Without someone else breaking the illusion - and providing the explicit goal of Fixing Things - Adora would have just kept doubling down as the world fell apart around her.

There was never a version of portal!Brightmoon that meaningfully accounted for the Horde(it wouldn't be Perfect if it did). Adora is being sincere when she says they don't remember it because it fell into the void; she just drew a reasonable but incorrect conclusion from the little she knew. (in the same way that Angela believing portal!Micah was fabrication was reasonable, but wrong.)

Portal!Brightmoon is as much a fantasy as the portal!Horde was. While it feels more like a want-of-a-nail alternate history, that's emergent from Angela being a more grounded person, who's fantasy is more could have been than should have been.

To repeat: Glimmer is not unhappy in portal!Brightmoon (because that would run counter to what Angella wants for her) - but it's not her perfect world. What Glimmer wants, more than anything else, is to escape her mother's shadow and her father's ghost, and become her own person. Being mommy and daddy's baby girl forever would be anathema to her full self.

Glimmer's reaction to Adora confirming Micah is 'gone' in the real world isn't sad - it's grim. She asked because she knows something's not right; that she doesn't actually know this man the world tells her to adore.

I'd say Glimmer is responsible for Bow being in portal!Brightmoon, but Angela is responsible for casting him as the "good boy" his dads wanted him to be.

(This implies that Angela knows about his dads and their expectations! My preferred head-canon is when a random kid showed up at Brightmoon she, you know, did some digging, and knows about his family. She's a good enough person to not out him to his folks...but maybe not quite good enough not to wish that her daughter's bestie was the safe, controllable person his dads thought he was.)

Catra is the most explicitly angry about it, but Lonnie's discomfort/disgust when the portal world is brought up is probably pretty typical of folks who got cast as 'extras' - having your self-identity sublimated into what someone else wanted you to be is ... it's not going to be a super fun experience for most folks.

[i-am-made-of-stupid]

This post will contain a lot of spoilers for various things, so beware.

So about a week or two ago and while I was in the middle of watching She-ra I saw a post that was about Catra’s redemption arc being rushed in season 5. While I didn’t read it I do want to toss my hat in the ring and give my thoughts.

So for starters, everyone probably already knows what a redemption arc is, but in the most basic terms is when a protagonist goes through character development that involves them starting evil but ending good. For example think Zuko in Avatar or for a real live example Robert Downy Junior.

Ok so we all understand how redemption arcs work, now to go back to Catra. There are examples of characters who can have rushed redemption arcs. One most prominent I would say is Ben Solo in the Rise of Skywalker, who after two movies of showing how bad of a person he was, changed sides after one fight with Rey where she heals him. That feels very rushed to me, especially when we see Kylo have moments where he is given a chance to come back to the light and he always refuses. In comparison.

But I would argue that redemption arcs can be as long or as short as they need to be depending on how evil the character is, and I would argue that Catra, despite not having good intentions throughout the first four seasons, was not in any way evil. So her redemption arc can be shorter because, yeah she did bad things, but wasn’t fully evil.

A lot of what goes on with Catra can be caulked up to the woman who raised her, Shadow weaver. Shadow weaver treated her in a very different manner than Adora, praising Adora for the frequently and claiming she was a perfect child. Catra on the other hand was treated poorly by Shadow weaver, in one example when she and Adora snuck into the Black Garnet chamber, despite Adora trying to take the fall Shadow weaver still blamed Catra for it. All because as Shadow weaver puts it to Catra, she sees a lot of herself in Catra. So I believe Catra is always living with the need to validate herself to Shadow weaver.

I can expand this to a lot of the characters in She-ra who fill an antagonistic role, starting with Shadow weaver. She only became evil after the ritual she wished to perform to protect Atheria from the Horde failed. She had good intentions, but that doesn’t make it right at all, and her heroic sacrifice made her unable to have a redemption arc, but she still was able to do something good for Atheria.

Next, I can talk about Scorpia, she’s a simple case where she only joined the Horde because her family sold the Black Garnet to the Horde, and she went along with it and joined. So she needed less redemption because she wasn’t ever truly an evil character.

Next, I can talk about Entrapta, she didn’t need much redemption because she only worked with the Horde because she was accidentally left behind by the Princess Rebellion. She didn’t do anything wrong to help the Horde, she just felt abandoned by her friends.

Next, I can talk Glimmer, who never became an antagonist, but her becoming Queen of Brightmoon put a lot of stress on her, so she slowly began to have antagonistic tendencies and alienated her friends. Leading her to try and seek out Lighthope for help and getting taken by Horde Prime.

Finally, the antagonist for most of the series up to season 5, Hordak. He’s also one where he’s evil, but his evil comes from a similar place to Catra. He created the Fright Zone in order to attract the attention of Horde Prime, so he can be at his brother’s side again. But when he does, he’s called a failure and a mistake for not only taking his own name, but altering himself to help with him being a clone. Leading to Horde Prime cleansing Hordak and making him like any other Horde Prime clone. I see Hordak as the Darth Vader of the series, manipulated by a much more evil individual and significantly changed as a result. Plus he gets a heroic sacrifice that almost works in destroying Horde Prime. But he gets the added benefit of surviving the sacrifice so he’s able to help fix what he broke. Furthermore, like Vader, Hordak had Entrapta, who helped him to see that his imperfections made him beautiful, and helped him despite him technically being her enemy.

So all the characters I mentioned are not truly evil, they are antagonist, but that doesn’t mean they are evil. Just like how just because you play as the protagonist doesn’t make you a good guy. Think like Paul Atreides from Dune who does horrible things once he becomes Emperor. Or any time you play an evil character in a Bethesda RPG. The only truly evil character in She-ra is Horde Prime, who was perfectly willing to enslave the minds of the people of Atheria in order to harness the power of the planet’s heart to spread his galactic empire.

In conclusion, another long post where I just wanna nerd out about stuff I know and like.

[askthethiccheros]

AU Idea: EXTRA THICC Catra is the queen of Bright Moon with Adora as her advisor, but doesn't understand how big she is and thinks she's still lean, especially when people keep complimenting her backside.

Oh my goodness lol. Funny potential. How did she get to by queen of brightmoon instead of glimmer? Is she the royal heir in this timeline instead or did shinanigans happen?

[bi-dykes]

Our Queen of Brightmoon, Sorcerer Glimmer, bi icon

[dropdafawkz]

Queen Angella gently "ordering" Glimmer to go find Adora and "bring her back home" is a huge moment for a lot of reasons, but the one I'm struck by right now is SHE VIEWS ADORA'S HOME AS BRIGHTMOON. This child came to her as a Horde soldier, and Mama Angie still said "bring our girl back home" i am WEEPING

[edge-lorde]

She ra expanded worldbuilding notes

currently in the process of trying to get my sister to do expanded brightmoon concept art for me! To be used for future comic reference! .3.

here are my gathered notes and observations because im excited about what she will give me.

first: Brightmoon

The show doesn't do a good job of showing how any of the kingdoms actually work. We’re told that Brightmoon is the biggest kingdom on Etheria, The kingdom of snows being the 2nd biggest and described as “Huge.” Yet, the most we see of Brightmoon is a few shots of buildings next to the palace. 

As you can see from the 2nd image, Glimmer is talking from her bedroom window, and it appears to be located within one of the towers next to the palace. This means that at least one, probably more, of the towers are additionally part of a greater palace complex and also not where normal people would live. 

I already have a post floating around somewhere where i described a few of my other headcanons about Etheria world building that i don't feel like digging up, but the gist of it is that many of the named settlements we do see in the show like Sea worthy, Erelandia, Elberon, even Dryl, are cities and towns that are in the larger jurisdiction of one of the 7 runestone kingdoms even if they act as self sufficient city states. Think like ancient greece. In this case i place all of those places and probably a few more as being in the country of Brightmoon, and the buildings around Brightmoon palace that we can see are part of a low-tech urban fantasy city also called Brightmoon, kind of like how Rome is/was a city and also was (for a while at least) the capital of the Roman empire. To make it more clear I’m going to call the city around the palace “Brightmoon Proper.” 

I forget which episodes these backgrounds are from but I think this has to be the long bridge that we can see leading out from the back of the palace. 

I imagine this bridge to be the main walkway into the palace compound; all of the buildings on the side of this rock next to the palace are involved in the running of said palace. All of the Queens guards and staff and anyone else she might need nearby such as positions like the royal historian (I imagine the position still exists even if it isn’t Bow in the main timeline) and their families and everything needed to support them live here. The towers that we see would contain many businesses and apartments and terrace gardens made walkable by delicate bridges connecting neighboring towers and enchanted floating rocks acting as public transportation. In this way urban residents of Brightmoon could live indefinitely without touching the ground. 

This field would be farmland used to supply the palace. Sidenote-- it seems awfully close to sea level. I wonder if it floods? Is that water saltwater or fresh? What crop could need to flood with seawater to grow? Seaweed? Hmmm a lot of worldbuilding potential here....

 Since I’m adding things, I also imagine Brightmoon Proper to extend out beyond the palace, on the other side of the mountain. 

The bridge would be the main thoroughfare into palace part of the city but I imagine for the skyscrapers to be on both sides. We do also see some smaller buildings on the ground as well, so I also imagine that the farther away one lives from the palace the more normal the settlements are, being either on the ground or in the mountains. I imagine the hinterlands of Brightmoon Proper to spill out along the coast and countryside, and extend into the whispering woods a little. Sea worthy seems to be close enough to the palace for a day trip. The Library where George and Lance live would be on the farthest limits of Brightmoon Proper settlements, placed just remotely enough to not have to pay taxes to the crown and close enough to Erelandia to have groceries delivered. 

I don’t know how to draw all of this so I hope my sister can give me something good to reference. TT0TT it has to look pretty!

i also found this map

among the prop designs on crew member Soyun Park's website. Idk if I'll use it but its there.