#&&. 'don't I get a choice?' || adora interacts.

[randomishnickname]

Thinking about Amma Crellin and her actions as reflections of the social hierarchy she grew up in. (spoilers under the cut)

Amma is pretty much Windgap royalty. Not only is her family extremely wealthy, her mother holds power over the livelihoods of big parts of the population. Her family history is deeply tied to that of Windgap. The sheriff and other officials are at Adora's beck and call. Everyone knows Adora and deferes to her, and this status transfers to Amma:

She plays the star part in the school play as a matter of course. She can get away with everything, from shoplifting to breaking curfew, from taking drugs to insulting and taunting a police officer. She's hot shit and very good at being a hot girl to boot, on the way to being prom queen like Camille once was. Her friends do everything she wants. Boys, she feels, are hers to control. Others are her playthings. At home, she's at the mercy of her mother. In the rest of Windgap, she's invicible.

Then, Ann and Natalie. Both outsiders who moved to Windgap only recently, their family without social capital worth speaking of. Both freaks, misfits - tomboys and late bloomers, still running through the woods instead of following the norms of girlhood and femininity. Still lacking self-control, prone to tantrums and biting. In the social hierarchy both of the school and the town, they're near the bottom - it's interesting Amma was friends with them once at all, but then this keen sense for social status often becomes more prominent once puberty hits. I think it's a safe bet they were bullied. They were not cool girls. And so Amma, who never faces consequences for everything, who's royalty, who has friends entirely devoted to her - she's safe killing them, in her good right almost, they're nobodies, and Windgap, that she knows so well, proves her right by not even once suspecting her. Had not an other outsider and freak, Camille, disturbed the status-quo, she would have gotten away with everything swimmingly. Her friends laugh about it too - Ann and Natalie's lives don't seem to have had much worth to them.

[I do believe her choice of killing Natalie wasn't entirely out of convenience either - I have the suspicion that Amma had a childhood crush on Natalie's older brother John that got rejected, and that killing his beloved little sister was a form of punishment for this unheard of outrage. Amma telling Camille John fancies her (despite him treating her like a venomous snake in the pool scene) could be a sort of wish fullfilment. Would explain how viciously she latches onto the 'baby killer' narrative.]

And then, Mae. To me it's VERY MUCH not a random choice to have Mae be a black kid. The only people of color Amma has probably ever met in the conferedate nostalgia enclave of Windgape are domestic workers that obeyed her, or workers at her mother's pig farm who defered to her, all of them incredibly lower on the social hierarchy than the litte Windgap princess. And now she meets this black city kid, who lives in a rented apartment, maybe with a single mom. That's not someone Amma would respect, or consider on her level, but instead I think she'd have this deep belief that Mae was her inferior and should obey her, defer to her. Did she plan on killing her when Camille granted Mae attention? Or did Mae refuse her somehow, got sick of being bossed around, in this fight they supposedly had?

And I love how all of this is both implicit and subtle yet crystal clear, in everything we learn about Ann and Natalie, the way their peers describe them (in contrast to the adults who are more proficient liars), in every interaction we see between the white upper class of Windgap and POCs.

[manic-sapphic]

i'm sorry but i just gotta rant a bit about relating to catra - but tbh, not just her..

i know i've been sleepy on the rants lately - i realized tumblr let's you freely make and post gifs (only 10 at a time tho, how's my obsessive ass supposed to live w that? i'm tryin) out of short vids and omfg, believe me, i ain't done w that. never. but i'm sorry if i duped you into thinking i was done posting any rants muahahahs cause i ain't done w them either.. ever. likewise. gifs are great cause a pics worth a 1000 words right, and they're 3 seconds of frames of pics. but sometimes, it feels like silent film. and i just can't always stfu

sooooo ~~

oooook, tbh, i haven't personally gotten much of any bs from people on this platform tryna hate on catra, but it's still happened to me elsewhere, and i know it still happens to some here, and i have thoughts about it. so, while i recognize that most the people i interact w on here prob feel mostly the same way - i'ma post about it just so it's on my blog. just so it's out there for those who can't and/or won't try to understand.

as many do, i relate to catra for personal reasons that run pretty deep - from my first watch, it's what made me empathize w her character at her worst and still hold onto the hope that she'd somehow claw her way out of the fucking pit she straight up dug for herself.

found herself down there and figured shit - that's it. this was my doing, this is my life now, till it becomes my death; this is where i've trapped myself; i dug my own grave and there's just no getting out of it ("you made your choice, now live with it" ~ reminds me of the fairly common proverb of "you made your bed, now lie in it")

but her chance to do this bold, brave, selfless - yet, ironically, still quite fittingly (for the catra we all know and love) self-destructive act (but this time, embracing self-destruction as a means of self-sacrifice - in an attempt to keep the promise for what she thought would be her last chance to ever do so) - of helping get glimmer to darla without adora ever having to actually dock at horde prime's flagship -

...break my heart, why don't you? into a number of pieces i can't fathom; like, if i gathered them all into a pile, i could start counting the shattered lil shards and wouldn't be able to count out the last one in my lifetime. break my heart like that. that's not a joke. this show makes me feel something, lots of things, in ways that, tbh, i have a hard time finding much of irl anymore. no fault of life's, ofc. much like catra, i know this shit is all on me.

but hey hey hey tho - that's ok. i'm ok. i don't mind that, because it's ok not to feel ok. tbh, sometimes i think people need to let themselves feel that more when they need to; just look at catra in s1-4. it's not an uncommon motif in fiction; every villain has an origin story. and emotions almost always play into it; and a villain's typical determination to repress the very emotions that plunged them into a previously unknown depth of darkness - only ever adds to their unpredictable, chaotic, and vengeful nature. who woulda thought~

that being said - my main point is, for anyone who just can't help but hate catra (and luckily, that doesn't seem to be anyone who typically sees my posts/interacts w me, so this is really just something i kinda feel the need to say, even if i'm preaching to the choir and know, deep down, if it actually met a catra-anti's eyes - it would prob only spark more irritation on their part, or at the very least, make no difference) -

but just know (i mean this sincerely) if you just can't see any reason to - not even empathize, i can see how that could def be something not everyone can manage - but if a person can't even see catra's character as someone they can try to sympathize with… and i mean, it doesn't have to happen in the first 4 seasons, but if the show ended and one happens to still find themselves unable to understand at all or even find her worth trying to understand in the slightest ~~

this is not sarcastic, i really swear i mean this: it seems like you might be pretty lucky.

truly and sincerely, i mean that; if you're someone who can't find any way in themselves to relate or even sympathize w this character, i'd guess it's at least due in part to the fact that you're quite literally incapable of seeing where she's coming from - at all. and idk. in some ways, i envy you. in others, i don't. it's confusing.

i've had remarkably good luck myself, it would seem, (idk how often other people get troubled by catradora antis here) endlessly ranting on this platform w/o anyone tryna give me a hard time - i've been able to share shit about not just catra & adora, but almost every other character - cause although i may not relate to any of them in quite the same way, they all represent (in my mind) different facets of personalities, interests, and insecurities as well. and i think many fans prob feel they share some aspects of themselves with certain parts of, often, more than one character.

and even the brightest characters have at least a small streak of darkness - even if it's as innocent as feeling like they don't fit in (glimmer, frosta, and scorpia have all shared this feeling- one to the other- at some point) or finding it so difficult to be in tune w their environment / circumstances that they're unable to connect w and use their powers; like perfuma in the crimson waste or adora on beast island.

i think there are a lot of just jaw-dropping, wonderful characters in spop - and def not for their powers, abilities, or accomplishments - but for the flaws they possess that viewers can relate to while they watch these characters simultaneously display their strengths and own those flaws - refusing to let them be what defines them. such a dope fucking msg if you ask me; everyone is flawed, everyone fucks up; but at the end of the day, everyone has their strengths, too; and if, at the end of the day, you're trying your best to use them for good - even if you falter at times.. what more could anyone ask of you?

i relate to catra all throughout the show (and i realize many do, and while i feel for whatever in anyone's past/present has caused them to see a kindred spirit in catra, i'm sure we can probably all agree: it is so lovely to know there is this fictional cartoon character [of all things] that was rebooted in a way that [imo] was very much intended to offer some solace, hope, & understanding to those who do find her relatable)

cause guess what. you're worth more than what you can give to other people.

that goes for everyone.

or at least, it certainly should. we all deserve love. ok?

you too. <3

[maskedkara]

[SPOILERS FOR SHE-RA AND THE PRINCESSES OF POWER (SEASONS 1 and 4)]

I'm re-watching She-Ra again, just got to No Princess Left Behind and have once again reached the part where Bow and Kyle interact for the first time. The part that will always crush me about this episode is the fact that they absolutely could have set things in motion to recruit Kyle and he would have eventually joined them!

Seriously, everyone in the Fright Zone treated Kyle so badly and then Bow went out of his way to ask his name and talk to him like a normal person (in typical Bow fashion, like he did with Adora in Episode 1). Like, yeah, Bow was doing it specifically to get Kyle to tell him where Glimmer was/how she was doing but it was still him being nice. Kyle even begins to warm up to Bow, getting him the information he asked for and admitting it was because Bow was the only one who ever listened. Bow points out he's a prisoner and has no choice but is still somewhat nice. Admittedly, social cues aren't my strong suit but there felt like there was room for a redemption there.

Now, do I think Kyle would have dropped everything and gone with them immediately? No! Whether they're mean to him in the Fright Zone or not, that's still a major paradigm shift and Kyle wouldn't defect overnight. In addition, Season 4 also reveals Kyle has a crush on Rogelio so he's not likely to just leave the guy behind like that because someone was nice to him. That said, it would definitely have set the dominoes in motion.

It could have been the set-up to a really nice moment where Kyle begins questioning The Horde and eventually turns on Catra more actively when she goes nuts in Season 4. Perhaps Bow specifically could have been in danger, since the two had the starts of a potential friendship, and Kyle could have helped him out from the inside in a more dramatic turn (possibly before the other two defect, with them saying he 'may have had the right idea' when confronting Catra to really twist the knife). I like what ended up happening but I feel like him having a more dramatic heel-face turn would have been fun.

...But instead Kyle gets yeeted away and Bow never follows up. Like, I know he's the enemy and there aren't many chances but come on! Can someone just be nice to the poor guy please? It took, like, 4 Seasons!

Anyway, thanks for coming to my unhinged She-Ra rant. I am likely entirely wrong about at least some part of this because I am not observant but it still irks me every time (someone please raise their opinion politely so I can look at this differently next time LOL). Love every other thing in this show (except for a few personal things that don't detract from the show objectively and, like this, come down to personal preference and opinion) and am hyped to re-watch the rest for probably the 5th time. :)

[ofinkdried]

status: open who: adora location: the lighthouse

the lighthouse was easily one of adora’s favorite places on the island. it was so high and gave such a great view of everything around that she never grew tired of being up at the top, resting after a run and climbing the steps. usually she was able to sit by herself for a bit and just take in the perfect weather and sight of the town, but this morning she was joined by another person. “ oh, sorry. ” she smiled as she made her way to the railing, leaning against it. “ I didn’t think anyone else would be here... it’s normally quiet this early. ” she sighed, looking out across the town. “ isn’t it just... beautiful ?? ”

[sketching-shark]

okay, I'm sorry for this rant but don't you think macaque redemption arc with kind of rushed plus it doesn't it make any sense at all, he literally tried to kill the whole team, especially mk and now he's suddenly a good guy?! this is just catra all over again... nothing will ever beat Zuko lol and now people are hating on me for my opinion XD i mean he's betray the team again just watch...

Ah no need whatsoever to apologize about the rant anon! As one of the extremely tiny "your 'redemption arc' displeases me' voices in fandom I can totally see where you're coming from asdfaewds.

So I have to admit that I've never watched She-Ra or Avatar all the way, so I'm not precisely sure how these redemption arcs or "redemption arcs" went down so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong...but from what I did hear & read in reviews in Catra's case her story was something of a shitshow where she like tried to destroy all of reality & killed a bunch of people & treated Adora her supposed love interest like trash up until & even after they got together but she's apparently completely good and forgivable now because the plot said so, right?...so par for the course when it comes to "redemption arcs" these days lmao. And as for Zuko, the whole thing was that the series actually took a lot of time to showcase him slowly working hard towards being a better person over like an entire season & more, yes? Like he didn't just suddenly flip a corner, and the distrust team avatar held for him after the way he hurt them was actually framed as understandable? And he wasn't just changing his behavior because he wanted something from them, but because he came to a very difficult decision that was based on his own guiding principles of what he thought the best thing to do was? But yea it is kind of funny how much people hold up Zuko's story as an ideal redemption arc & yet no one seems to want to emulate it lmaoooo.

But to repeat what I've said about Mr. Six-Ears, I do feel like Qi Xiaotian, who was one of his primary victims throughout the course of the show, going out of his way to extend a hand in friendship was pretty jarring. Because yeah while what seems to hopefully be the base BEGINNING of a redemption arc is being set up in such a way where one villain doesn't look that bad compared to another that they help defeat, Macaque is still the simian who beat the tar out of/tried to kill Qi Xiaotian at least thrice--and laughed at his pain for two of those occasions--to say nothing of the way that he used and threatened Zhu Dachu, Tang Shifu, and Long Xiaojiao first with the shadow lantern and then when he forced them to set the flame of Samadhi off. Hopefully they'll address some of that in season 4 if they want Macaque to be a more major character, & not just brush it off. I do think there's a way to talk about the importance of kindness and second chances while also holding people responsible for their actions, even if that is a somewhat difficult needle to thread. As it is, given the "redemption arcs" that you see being created these days (which usually means that some character is an entire asshole who gets worse and worse up until the 25th hour when they magically change & everyone is expected to forgive & accept them immediately not matter what), Macaque's story line wasn't as half as bad as it could have been. He is still very much a smarmy jerk, & still enraged at Sun Wukong, & still just off doing his own thing rather than being immediately brought into team monkie. He does seem to have changed at least a little in terms of maybe being more willing to work with others to accomplish a goal and maybe being a little more open to interacting with others outside of a manipulative and/or "your-enemy-is-my-enemy" kind of deal, which may be something that he'll pursue, or he could just go back to his old ways. For me the best redemption stories are those that focus on making the CHOICE consistently every day to be a better person, so I guess we'll see what they do with the shadow monkey. So tl;dr, what they chose to do with Macaque in s3 wasn't half as bad as it could have been, but your frustration in how they handled what is hopefully only the beginning of a redemption arc, especially given that the short time of each episode is another real hindrance to properly setting up a satisfying redemption arc, is very understandable.

I personally feel like Monkie Kid could potentially do something really interesting with Macaque if his story line starts following something of a "redemption without forgiveness" plot, in which at least a few characters that the shadow monkey hurt never fully forgive him and/or he & Sun Wukong never fully forgive each other for whatever went down between them, but that he still finds a way to be happy and satisfied with his life by forging genuine relationships with others while still atoning for past violence. I say this partially because I'm starting to get rawther tired of fandom takes that are some version of "Wow! Sun Wukong is literally the worst person in the entire world & every bad thing Macaque has ever experienced or ever done is all the Monkey King's fault! Anyway, I can't wait until they become besties again!" Like what. But mainly because the lego show Six Eared Macaque seems to have become so obsessively enraged at Sun Wukong that he has basically nothing going on in his life that isn't tied to the Monkey King in some for or another. In a very real way, these super monkeys seem like they're still playing out their relationship in Xiyouji, with Macaque trying to snatch away everything that Sun Wukong values for himself, and Sun Wukong responding with contempt and violence. But now with the added bonus of Macaque swinging between telling everyone he forces to listen that Sun Wukong is a terrible person (& that he by association is so much better) while also seeming to find it impossible to even imagine living a life that isn't defined by his past friendship with the Monkey King. And that's...super duper bad & painful for all parties involved!!~ So while I get that reconciliation plots are popular no matter what went down, I feel like it would be much more powerful and much more satisfying for Macaque to end his story by metaphorically stepping out of the Monkey King's shadow & making a life for himself that isn't based on hate and sorrow regarding Sun Wukong.

[n7punk]

Do you have any headcanons for neuro divergence in any Shera character? I have a headcanon that Catra has bpd because I have bpd (and because she really does display the symptoms I swear 😂)

Okay I started answering this, drafted it to finish later, and then totally forgot it existed it, but I have a few! Putting under the cut because these are just my personal headcannons/interpretations and I don’t want anyone to construe this as being what I consider the “correct” reading (and also there’s personal info in this so that’s just most comfortable for me).

Adora: I almost feel like I don't have to mention her PTSD, but I also consider her heavily-ADHD coded, although OCD and/or autism also make sense to me as interpretations given the behaviours we see her exhibit in regards to her personality, when & what she focuses on, and how she interacts socially. I believe that - consciously or not - members on the crew gave her ADHD traits (meaning it may be that no one thought "we're writing an ADHD character", but god you can't convince me it wasn't an unconscious choice by someone on the crew in that case. I feel like ADHD is most likely, with OCD or autism as close contenders). As a result, I usually write her as having ADHD, although in OTOS and ASGNE I wrote her as autistic. In SLAS I was specifically thinking of her as being a combo ADHD and OCD (both things I’m diagnosed with).

Catra: Catra's entire existence in my fics is autism-coding, though I don't think she actually has it, but that gets kinda complicated by the fact that she isn’t human. She has PTSD as well, but things like purring, kneading, and flexing her claws are all "alien/catgirl" versions of stimming when I write her. She grooms to soothe herself or others (which we see in the show) as an action analogous to comfort textures. Other behaviours - such as her drive to be in high/small/dark/enclosed spaces are cat behaviours, but also analogous to the "weird" urges that I get as an ND person. Her biological differences as a hybrid also reflect my experience as a disabled person, but that's not what you asked lol.

Glimmer: ADHD and you can pry that out of my cold dead hands. The way she teleports within the same room, even midsentence at times? Totally the magic equivalent of me hyper-fast switching all my tabs for stimulus just to feel something.

I'm not gonna say anything on Spinnerella except that I headcannon, based on pretty much nothing except Vibes, that she has hyperempathy (which can come from a variety of things but also be a syndrome all by itself). They have an entire cabinet of things that Netossa can't throw away because Spinnerella has attached to them and would be distressed if they were cast aside even though they are broken, functionally useless, or just unnecessary in their lives at this point. Spinnerella could bond with a fork.

CW eating disorder mention: Entrapta is canonically autistic so I don't need to get into that. However, I will say that specifically in Knifepoint, she does have a... fraught relationship with food. Entrapta exhibits issues relating to only eating certain food in canon, which I find super refreshing because it's something that you hardly see portrayed in a non-mocking context. There's a specific disorder known as ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) that can have ties to autism, OCD, and other disorders. I don't think her preferences go as far as that in canon, but they do in Knifepoint. A number of her deaths are from starvation because she couldn't get a food she could stand to eat and knew she would end up being fine.

[isolationstreet]

8, 14(unless you have players in your group on tumblr who you don’t want to know the secrets yet), 26, 36 for TTRPG Questions

might get long so im putting it under the cut again

8: What do they look like? (Do you have art of them? Are you open to fan art?)

i actually did an art dump of some of the art i've drawn of him recently!

https://isolationstreet.tumblr.com/post/677092509615308800/a-small-collection-of-some-of-my-favourite

I also have to share this lovely art by @boilingheart https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/boilingheart/669625610917888000

also i find it genuinely amusing when i draw him with any of the other party members because hes just so devoid of color like heres a drawing i did of him with his best friend who is our party's druidlock who also has a level of wizard because she originally was planning on becoming a necrodruid.

this isnt all the art have since i draw him quite frequently but its enough to get the general vibe across i think.

14: Are there any secrets to their backstory you know, but they don’t know yet? (Secret parentage perhaps?)

honestly kind of a weird grey area. I actually only wrote around 500 words of backstory for arnoud. so after 15 sessions everyone at least meta knowledge knows everything wrote for him even if the characters in the party don't know since most of his past in game has only been brought up in private conversations with cecily.

there is however secrets to his broader family histories of everyone in the party that the DM has written as mysteries for us to piece together and solve some of which has been solved others are still just theories which ill share a couple of the major ones relating to arnoud

1. I left this as a potential plot hook for my dm to play around with but the illness that arnoud's mother absolutely was not an accident. right now based off of the evidence my current main theory is its the same illness that killed the bbeg's wife over 3000 years ago. According to Cecilly last session Arnoud being turned into was also a very deliberate targeted event and not something she did on a whim

2. there's a spy organization founded by the demigod of shadows adamarus bloodrune that disbanded around 20 years ago. We've managed to figure out the names of five members so far including adamarus. three of which have confirmed ties to the party. two of which are our druidlock's aunt and uncle the other is our paladin's grandfather.

another member we dont have a name for but i suspect based off some of the memory echo dialogue from one of the memory echoes is the drow vampire our druidlock saw in the shadowfel in her prequel game but did not interact with. I really would not be surprised if she's related to arnoud in some way but we dont have anyway to figure it out right now with so much on our plate

3. the original creator goddess phaedra was killed in a coup by her children and grand children who are the current gods which caused the cataclysm 3000 years ago. she had 3 high priests one for the past who's name was lost to time, the present named adora moon the fey queen, and the future named lady razfarna who's the bbeg's dead wife which is why he's now a 4000 year old vampire epic level necromacer trying to get his revenge on the gods

anyway right after phaedra's death the 3 main priests had children with the current gods that remained loyal to phaedra to continue phaedra's legacy and im fairly confident that our party is connected to that bloodline. and my main theory for arnoud is that hes descended from the missing priest of the past that i also think is taun s'aun lao the current god of secrets because unlike the other gods he used to be mortal and was loyal to phaedra.

26: If you had the choice, would you rather they have a happy ending, a bittersweet ending, or a tragic ending?

honestly i genuinely dont know hes suffered so much in his life a happy ending would be nice but i also love bittersweet endings and tragic endings as well. its tough to say right now since the party is still only level 5 right now and it truly is a long form campaign that has a high likelyhood of going all the way to 20

36: What is the best thing about them?

honestly how selfless his motivations and intentions are which is why i still mostly consider him a good aligned character. he dosen't want money, he dosen't want power, he dosent even really want revenge. all he wants is for no one to living or dead to suffer like he's suffered.

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 3 for the first time. Random thoughts.

Episode 1: I know in the original series She-Ra was the sister of He-Man so I'm curious how much of that will be carried over to this series. Not saying He-Man has to make an appearance, same as how Batman didn't need to show up in Teen Titans. That was Robin's story, not his, and similarly this is Adora's story, not Adam's. Regardless, it makes sense why Hordak was so annoyed with the baby Adora in Shadow Weaver's flashbacks. To SW, there was something different and special about the baby, but to Hordak, whom seems familiar with the world before Mara separated Etheria from the rest of the universe, including Eternia potentially, Adora is just another "First One" child like he's seen many times before. Special in comparison to those who only know Etheria.

Great clap-back from Catra to Hordak, and not entirely unfounded. It's debatable how much he actually cares about conquering Etheria. He has others leading his forces in his war yet all his focus is on his portal creation.

According to Entrapta, productivity of the Horde is up 400% ever since Catra became Hordak's 2nd in command. I wondering how much of that is Catra's direct doing? Is she genuinely just that good of a commander? Is it because she's properly delegating and Scorpia has been handling most of the load? Or is this just because it's in comparison to Shadow Weaver? Entrapta said Catra's focus on First Ones' tech has been greatly aiding them and SW definitely focused more on magic, which was an aid mostly to herself since everyone else in the Horde seems to fight only with weapons and technology. And most of what she saw of SW while she was Hordak's 2nd was her being obsessed with bringing back Adora rather than fighting the war.

Episode 2: Let's see... Hordak's easily an adult and Entrapta is...[checks google] late twenties, early thirties. Oh good, then let's sail this ship!

But yeah, that was a heck of a backstory for Hordak. This reminds me of a video by a Youtuber named Savage Books comparing the villain Steppenwolf in the theatrical and Snyder Cut versions of Justice League and how, while he still wasn't a great villain, just a small addition made him a much better villain, that being a failure in his past and the desire just to go home. And in this case, Hordak is the much better, or at least way more developed, version of that. One of many clones of Hordak Prime but having a defect that labelled him a failure and had him cast out to Etheria, a "backwards world" as he's called it before. If he can conquer Etheria, perhaps by building a portal that'll bring forward Prime's army, he believes that'll prove to Prime that he is not a failure and that he can return home to rejoin his forces. Just this bit of backstory adds SO MUCH to Hordak, including new insights on his past interactions, and keeps him from being a flat character like theatrical version Steppenwolf. His lack of tolerance for failure makes sense when he himself is trying to prove that he's not. It gives him compelling motivation to want to conquer Etheria beyond just power and greed. Not motivation you're meant to agree with but one you can still understand.

I like the story with Huntara too. It's a nice little tie-in to something Adora was talking about with Glimmer and Bow last episode. Adora defected from the horde, not because she was different but rather very much in spite being very much like every other soldier there. She wanted to believe Shadow Weaver may have at least some goodness in her too and now we have Huntara as a fellow defector who realized the evils of the Horde, even if she chose to stay out of the war entirely after.

Episode 3: I legit thought Catra stabbed the goat lady for a second.

After Scorpia asking her why don't they just stay in the wastes I'm seeing a bit of a parallel between Catra and Hordak. They've both found a place where they can be the top dog, where they can do and have basically anything they want; her with the wastes and him with the Horde. They can be happy. ...But there's still this pull they're feeling to somewhere else. Catra back to the Horde and Hordak back to Prime. Because they feel they have to prove something; prove that they're not failures. They could be happy but they can't let go.

And that scene between Adora and Catra at the end. That was such a great line read from Catra's actor. "She left me for you. Everything that's happened is because of you." I got chills.

Minor note: While I'm only judging off the Mara hologram, which didn't have color, I do think the She-Ra outfit looks better with pants than shorts like Adora's She-Ra form. I think it makes it look sleeker, if that makes any sense.

Episode 4: Catra's spiral has turned into a drill and its taking her down as far as she can go. Though something I had to a laugh a little at myself over was that my biggest "Catra, no!" reaction wasn't to her wanting to open the portal but rather when she lied to Hordak and said Entrapta let the princesses in. She was actually a positive influence on Hordak's life and Catra with one move just destroyed that relationship and all progress Hordak had been making.

I'm guessing there's going to be some kind of long-term effect from Shadow Weaver continuously siphoning off Glimmer's magic. The woman is basically a parasite and the magic she uses is very different from the kind Glimmer does. I can't believe it never occurred to me that since Shadow Weaver trained Glimmer's father there might be a connection there between the two of them later in the story. While we don't know about anything that might've happened after she left, SW clearly had enough affection for Micah still to not kill him. I could see her trying to take Glimmer on as a student later like she did him.

Episode 5: There is something kind of hilarious about it being Scorpia's jealousy of Catra and Adora's closeness that causes her to be the first one after Adora to pick up that something is off.

11 is my favorite of the Doctor Who Doctors so naturally I'm comparing all this to the crack in Amy Pond's bedroom wall. Whatever goes in gets forgotten about and basically never existed. Though does that mean Bright Moon isn't going to remember the Horde? Basically that entire place got sucked up in the collapsing reality. There shouldn't be at war anymore because their enemy literally no longer exists.

Adora and Catra had their own little Star Trek 3 moment there.

Adora: "If we don't help each other, we'll die here!"

Catra: "Perfect! Then that's the way it shall be!"

Catra's just so far down her spiral she doesn't even care about getting her own win, just so long as Adora doesn't get one, despite just minutes ago clearly loving having Adora back in her life and on her side, to the point was trying to resist remembering the old reality. Her "perfect" world was them together again but when given the chance (another of many. I love those cuts to their past woven in there) she slapped the hand away.

I'm sure I'm wrong but I'm starting to theorize Madam Razz is actually Mara and just at some point went kind of crazy and started thinking as and Mara were two different people.

Episode 6:

"You are everything I ever wanted in a son. This... This is everything I ever wanted in a life. ...But I've got responsibilities, Van. And...I have to...go now."

-Superman, Justice League Unlimited: For the Man Who Has Everything

That was my favorite episode of JLU, where Superman is trapped in this world that isn't real but still perfect in every way, and the only way out was to give up everything he'd ever wanted, including a son he remembers watching grow up, even if it never really happened. With a similar premise, this definitely helped elevate Angela up a bit for me, whom I was kind just meh with before. I didn't dislike her but I didn't really care much for her either. This episode gave her a lot to work with though, with the heavy sacrifice she made. Not just saying behind to pull out the sword but just simply forcing herself to accept her husband is gone and not coming back. I was right that they wouldn't remember the Horde, but I definitely didn't think of the full effects of them never existing. They never exist, Bow never becomes a rebel instead of a scholar like his dads wanted. They don't exist, Micah never dies in battle against them. Glimmer gets to grow up with her father in her life. Everyone, most especially Angela, has to reject everything they would love to be real in favor of what actually is.

I'm guessing we're going to have Shadow Weaver taking advantage of this situation, trying to act like a teacher and mother-figure to Glimmer now that she's basically a orphan.

I talked before about how Catra and Hordak seem to have a parallel between them, especially regarding failure. Catra seems like she has a very hard time accepting her own failures and mistakes and thus why she more or less uses Adora as a mental scapegoat for all of it. Nothing is ever really her fault, it's Adora's, or Shadow Weaver's, or Hordak's. It makes for a great moment when Adora finally punches back, both literally and figuratively. She's not going to accept responsibility for Catra's actions anymore. She gave Catra every chance to make the right choice and she didn't, so now she has to finally live with the consequences. Heck of a glare She-Ra gave Catra at the end. Very much a "If I ever see you again..." and it certainly scared Catra, at least for a moment.

Now, someone go save Entrapta from Beast Island!

Season 3 verdict: Easily the best season thus far. I know this was technically the second half of season 2 but even in comparison to the full season 1 there was just so much that happened in this, so much that got revealed, and so, so many moments of emotion or tension. Weirdly I feel kind of disappointed that Hordak Prime is probably going to come in now and be the new big villain. I really like our Hordak's motivation and Prime seems like he might just be the generic conqueror for power that Hordak seemed like he was going to be at first. Not saying those types can't work. I love All For One from My Hero Academia and Frieza from Dragon Ball. Those guys are pure evil and selfishness, but they also have a captivating presence/charisma to them.

Naturally, since I bring her up the most out of all the characters, I'm very curious to see what happens with Catra now. She's basically nuked every positive relationship she had with anyone. Entrapta's gone, she threatened Scorpia, Hordak's not going to trust anyone including her anymore now that he thinks Entrapta's betrayed him, and Adora firmly sees her as an enemy. She has no one (those under her direct command don't count) and it's entirely her own fault.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/o0trfz/going_in_blind_watching_season_3_for_the_first/

[aprillikesthings]

look there's like three minutes left this better be the last one lol

look at this sad baby aaaaugh

Adora: "I...I have to do this, Catra."

Catra:

"That's what you want. That's what you'll always choose."

God, watching her face go from sad to angry and back multiple times is rough.

"I need you."

augh you can see how hard that was for her to say ;_;

Catra: "No, you don't. You never have."

Melog turns them invisible and they disappear. ;_;

*cries into hands*

oh god she goes back hugging the backpack and Shadow Weaver comes out

"Adora, you made the right choice."

bitch imma stab you in the FACE if you DON'T STOP TOUCHING HER

Adora: "Stop!"

damn

"You ruin people."

"Haven't you done enough?"

Shadow Weaver: "I did what I had to do." Adora: "Keep telling yourself that. I'm going to take the Failsafe to the Heart,"

"I'll do everything I can to make sure you never get your hands on the magic."

And Adora storms off, leaving Shadow Weaver outside.

roll credits

True story, after I stopped talking to my dad and before he died I had a dream I yelled at him and told him all the ways he fucked up. What's weird about that dream is that it looked like his actual house. And just like I would have in real life, I could barely get the words out because I was crying so much.

And I feel like Adora just did the same thing, except, y'know, awake and to her face.

okay

y'all oh my god the problem with doing these specifically with the purpose of shipping Catradora and noting all their interactions etc in part for my fic is that these last episodes are just going to be a BILLION SCREENSHOTS

I started this episode at 5pm. It's midnight. Now admittedly I did spend like two and a half hours doing other stuff but STILL.

I have two episodes left, sob sob

but I have to squeeze them both in between church services and I'm doing SO MANY because IT'S FUCKING EASTER WEEKEND and at this rate it's going to be literally Sunday night before I'm done

the whiplash between Catradora and Jesus is hilarious to me but also it's a LOT

Anyway now that I've finished watching this episode in like ten second chunks and rewinding constantly for screenshots and copy/pasting from the fan transcript to save myself typing, I'm going ACTUALLY WATCH IT from start to finish lolol (and then I go back to church until at least three am pffft)

But for the record I have actually spent A LOT of time rereading these to remember bits of plot or just HAVE FEELINGS or just because I don't want to pull up the actual episodes on netflix so they're not, like, a waste of time compared to marathoning

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

[sheblah]

OK I'm apparently not done talking about this. Here I'm going to expand on my meta that DT's motivation = survival and all else is just a byproduct.

Lots of people have commented that Double Trouble does what they do purely for drama, or chaos, or because they just love destroying lives. It's as valid an interpretation as any, I guess, but I don't agree with it. They are certainly manipulative, but I don't think this trait is incidental to their personality; it's very much intentional on DT's part. If put together with other clues, I think it reveals something very different about them.

What I propose is that ultimately, DT's goal in life isn't to cause drama or have fun at other people's expense (bear with me). Their goal is to survive - or more accurately, to maximize survival chances - and they have a very meticulous way of going about it.

First I want to take a broad look at the elements that shape DT's personality and motives. This might involve some speculation, since we don't know anything about their early life and very little about their internal thoughts, but I'll stick to onscreen evidence as much as I can. What we do know is that they first appear in the Crimson Waste. I choose to assume they live there and have done so for an indeterminate time before their first appearance. And in the Crimson Waste, the strong make the rules. Not everyone can be the "strongest in the Crimson Waste." Most people just have to be strong enough to survive on their own, or else join up with the strongest like Huntara's goons or Tung Lashor's lizard gang. Since DT isn't ostensibly allied to any group in the CW, they're probably the former. And their strength isn't muscle; it lies in deception, observation, and manipulation. As a shapeshifter, they're naturally predisposed to that sort of skillset. They probably started their career of deception by shifting to blend in and escape danger, and then expanded the applications of that ability into eavesdropping, information gathering, and eventually espionage. Their best strength is knowing more than everybody else, and knowing how to use that information.

Let's go back to S4E2 for a moment. This is the first time we see DT:

They're looking down at Adora, Bow, Huntara, and Perfuma. In retrospect I thought this was odd, since they then proceed to approach Catra, not the heroes. They don't interact with the heroes until Catra has them do their "audition." Why show DT watching them? I think, in this moment, DT is choosing which side to join. For at least a moment, they consider offering their services to the Rebellion instead. We also know this because they mention the possibility to Catra.

Now my opinion is biased towards a morally gray interpretation of the character, but to me this is a pretty big hole in the popular rhetoric that DT is evil for the lulz. Why even think about joining the "good guys" if all you want is chaos and destruction? The Rebellion is about stopping all that noise. And why consider them first? We don't see DT watching Catra and sizing her up.

But before we get to that, we have to ask: why get involved in the war at all? What would drive them to leave the Crimson Waste and seek employment in the wider wartorn world of Etheria? I posit that it's because the Waste is no longer survivable.

In that episode, we see that the Valley of the Lost is crawling with Horde soldiers.

They're terrorizing the denizens of the desert. Now these are mostly hardened criminals who aren't easily terrorized, but the Horde has armor and weapons and numbers on their side. As Huntara puts it, "It wasn't always like this. It used to be a great place, where an honest criminal could carve out a life." When she says this, it's news to her; from what we can tell, she's been living in Bright Moon for awhile. But everyone else there has just been living with this new state of affairs however long the Horde has been in their valley - and it's probably been awhile since they have a whole warehouse set up. It's reasonable to assume DT has been suffering from the Horde's presence as much as anyone else who lives there. How can you make a living gathering intel when there are soldiers around every corner interrogating everyone?

It's simple, actually: if you can't beat them, join them. Or maybe join their enemies.

I think they don't have great choices at this point - either keep working and hope that business picks up while ALSO avoiding the aggressive soldiers, or get involved in a war that you and your home have avoided thus far. The choice that gives them the best chance to keep making money - and, you know, living - is to get involved with the war one way or another.

So then, why pick the Horde way? Also simple.

From where DT is standing, the Horde is winning. They have sophisticated technology, abundant resources, and enough soldiers that they can afford to station a few dozen in a remote desert town. Who does the Rebellion send to steal the ship back? Three kids and a former gang leader. And oh sure, one of them is She-Ra, but what's one superpowered princess against an army? Any way you look at it, the Horde's forces are more impressive.

So they offer their services to the Horde first, with the rebels as a backup in case the Horde says no.

So, let's summarize up to this point. Pretend you're DT. You make your living as a spy, but suddenly a powerful presence takes your town by storm and completely disrupts everyone's daily lives. Finding clients becomes difficult, and actually doing the work is next to impossible when the streets are clogged with armed aggressors. Your income starts drying up. You can't avoid the war anymore - the war has come to you. So you decide to join it. You spot a handful of outsiders trying to avoid attention and figure this must be the Rebellion's forces. It's four people versus dozens of armored soldiers with enormous resources. You pick the stronger side. But now you've gone from working with petty thugs to working with literal warlords, and that's a hell of a dangerous position to be in. If you piss off your employer, you just might die. So. How do you cover your ass?

By getting the dirt.

Because that's your strength. That's how you survive. By manipulating the people who could hurt you. By gathering information that could hurt them so bad they couldn't even retaliate. And, hey, you don't necessarily gather this information with the intent to use it - but if the crap hits the fan and you do something that'll get you on a tyrannical world leader's naughty list, well, you need something to defend yourself with. For you, information is the best weapon.

That explains why they're so determined to get in Catra's skin. They want to know what makes her tick, her strengths, her weaknesses, her obsessions. It's not just for the love of acting. These are all bullets that they can use to bring her down if need be. And when they decide to switch to the other side? Need be.

Giving Catra that devastating speech has multiple effects. I think a part of them really does care about Catra and wants to be honest with her. But my theory is that they're mainly trying to get one important message across:

Don't try to retaliate for this betrayal. I know enough to destroy you without throwing a single punch.

As an ending note, I want to examine that line above. "The best way to survive is always choose the winning side." As amusing as the "would sell you to satan for one corn chip" memes are, that's not actually the sort of attitude they have about betraying Catra. They're not talking about getting a reward here. No mention of superior pay is made. They're not saying they destroyed everything she's worked for on a lark (although they may have had a lark in the process). They're talking about literal survival. The basic gift of continuing to stay alive. That's what they betrayed Catra for. They do the math in that cell in Bright Moon, figure they're on the losing side of the war, and decide what they're getting from the Horde isn't worth getting killed over. Anything else they get out of it is incidental.

Mind you, none of this is meant to imply that they don't enjoy messing with people's heads. There's abundant evidence that they do. Rather, my point is that they probably learned how to manipulate people not as a hobby, but as a vital survival skill... and probably long before they learned to enjoy it.

[beautifulmorningstar]

Spop s2 conclusions

1. Glimmer has a hatecrush on Catra. What's with her fantasy depiction of Catra as some noir-style sexy villainess? Who refers to fantasy-Glimmer as her rival instead of fantasy-Adora??? Lol Glimmer you ain't slick. Actually, even Catra's interactions towards her seem somewhat lighter, which makes me think it could be reciprocated?

2. Scorpia is gay for Catra and the only thing barring it at this point is the choice of wording ("best friends", "ex-best friend", "besties"). Gal pals anyone?

3. I strongly headcanon Entrapta as potentially ace

4. Frosta clearly looks up to Glimmer in particular and wants her admiration/approval which is adorable

5. Bow has TWO GAY DADS (I know this isn't a conclusion as much as fact but I am STILL SO PSYCHED)

6. Bow's dads probably were so disbelieving that Bow felt he couldn't tell them he wanted to fight in the war because they are literally two gay men who had to deal with this sorta shit themselves and didn't think they could ever project this situation onto their own child albeit in a different way

7. Glimmer and Bow are really close friends and while a future romantic arc is possible I definitely don't see a trace of it this season. I thought it was hinted at in s1 with the whole prom thing but like IDK

8. Hordak gotta be careful to keep up his disdain for Etherians because he's gradually gonna become Entrapta's dad lmao (even if he just wants to make use of her advanced genius). Actually, his "divide and conquer" shit is really obvious when dealing with Catra and Entrapta at the same time, even if Catra herself did manipulate Entrapta into joining the Horde (clearly Catra, Entrapta and Scorpia have built some rapport together in spite of things)

9. Mermista and Perfuma get paired up a lot by the strat team and even though they tend to get on each other's nerves I feel like they could end up being super good friends (goth/prep solidarity anyone? Well Perfuma is more hippie than prep but still)

10. Mermista and Frosta actually work brilliantly together as a pair, and not just because their powers literally complement each other (how did I not get that before...). Their personalities probably match, Mermista being the laid-back adult Ocean Goth and Frosta being the stubborn little budding Ice Goth. While Frosta wants to impress Glimmer, she probably has a more comfortable respect for Mermista, who respects her in turn.

11. I feel like Bow maybe had a thing for Entrapta, or at least a respect and admiration thing if not romantic. He's the one who tries most to reason with her into coming back to their side, and the one who was clearly affected by her defection. He also has like zero romantic engagement with Perfuma in s2 and TBH it didn't seem romantic even during s1 so...

12. I like to think Angella smiles fondly as she sees Frosta trying to hog Glimmer's attention, but also she snickers about it in private when Glimmer gets particularly annoyed

13. Seahawk and Scorpia? Bro-ing it out together when they're both facing similar problems that make them question their self-worth? Iconic. Teaching us all lessons with nuance, whether we agree with their ultimate choices or not.

14. So Seahawk seems deeply into Mermista, who is reluctant to let down her walls completely. Either that or she isn't ready for a relationship but seems to be stringing him along anyway.

15. That Look™ that Catra gave Scorpia at the end of the "Notice Me Catra Senpai" episode?????????? Hello???? Catra did you just finally get over your ex? Anyway take note folks, Catra is a BOTTOM

16. Hot Shadow Weaver? In my SPOP thirst fantasies? It's more likely than you think. Free PC (Political Correctness) check! ((mostly because I'm struggling against the word milf))

17. Also I Cannot Believe Shadow Weaver was the Mentor Figure to Glimmer's dad when he was young (and alive. God I hope she wasn't the one who killed him). What kind of sorcery (lmao)

18. Will Glimmer find out if Shadow Weaver faces her again. How is this going to affect their interactions considering that Glimmer was abducted to be tortured under Shadow Weaver

19. Seriously does Shadow Weaver even care about the kids who inevitably come under her care or... (Micah, Adora.... Clearly not Catra...)

20. Let's talk about that. Catra and Shadow Weaver. If nothing else made me truly sympathetic towards Catra before now, that certainly did, because the fact that she let down her armour of vengeful superiority to the only (shitty) parental figure she's known, in her desperation to spare that figure a worse fate, only to be used and manipulated once again and forced to suffer the ensuing consequences............. Hate It.

21. I suspect Catra had developed a very mild and strange affection for Entrapta beneath her stoicism. Which is why she wasn't more pissed off at Hordak's sudden and blatant favouritism; she probably also knew he was using Entrapta, and Catra is smart enough to see that sort of thing.

22. Is it me or is Catra and Adora moving from "rival romance exes" to "actually fighting each other" now. Like still "not going to kill you in honour of our past" but also "I'm too invested in everything that I'm now responsible for to mess around with you as much"

23. Adora really is the most mature among the set of Princesses but her anxiety at being responsible for everyone's fate needed to be tampered by the more easygoing and lighthearted nature of her collective friend group

24. LOVE the interactions between Adora and Mermista, few and subtle though they may be. Mermista's She-Ra persona Sea-Ra is practically a thinly-veiled love confession, and Adora literally had to grab her by the collar (Tension™) to shut her up about it, which was a little dramatic for Adora was it not. ("Stop talking about this in front of our friends Mermista.") Anyway Mermista made her own She-Rasona action figure and costume, so we know what her hobbies are when she's not busy blushing at Adora's transformations. Also if you look at them during moments where they're not actively interacting but are next to each other they just seem so comfortable and ig my shipper heart is showing

25. Glimmer literally teleported Mermista out of their strat tent when she first came in to disrupt planning, even though Glimmer (and Bow) were initially disrupting the planning themselves. Rude much, Glimmer? Mermista, of course, was undeterred and showed up again with the other Princesses as revenge

26. Which leads us to Glimmer and Adora! Still tight as hell and honestly I'm seeing a real potential for romance here (is it just me or are they like a couple who's become totally comfy with the arrangement). Catra always jibing at Glimmer that Adora will leave her too like some catty ex (heh) but TBH Adora and Glimmer so flawlessly have each other's backs now, they're such close friends in a short amount of time AND they work well together professionally so they're really the next Gay Iconic Power Couple. Sorry Catra

27. I didn't pick up on much interaction between Perfuma and the others (except Mermista's constant criticisms of her and the defensive stance she takes to that). I like to think she's like an older sister who fawns over Frosta and giggles at how "adorable" her frosty tantrums are

28. Didn't see much of Seahawk and Mermista either, other than the fact that she's not inviting him to hang out with her friends.... Which begs the question.....who are Mermista's other friends outside of Seahawk and The Princess Alliance?

29. Speaking of the Princess Alliance, it's rather fitting that we get the slight insight on how different each of them are, coming from their different points of view, personalities, and cultures, and how it causes conflict within the group. Also how the Outer Princesses probably feel left out when the Best Friend Squad/Strat Team do their own thing. Frosta being the youngest, doesn't hold back like Mermista and Perfuma, and just stalks Glimmer. Mermista brings the whole crew into the Strategy tent after she got kicked out by Glimmer. Perfuma seems least determined to infiltrate Adora, Glimmer and Bow, but still eager to help the team at every turn. Spinerella and Netossa are too busy being one of the best Gay Iconic Couples and Bright Moon knights and constantly forget that The Princess Alliance is a Thing now

30. Bow still got Admiration (biiiiii) for Seahawk but it's dialled all the way down, especially since Seahawk was all mopey. Glimmer tried to give him an out from worrying about Mermista which he totally proceeded to disregard, and Adora probably just doesn't understand the issue. Good thing he met Scorpia, eh

I'm gonna stop now because I thought this list would be like. 10 items. But I got really into it

BONUS (Item 31?): LONNIE IS A FUNCTIONAL LESBIAN WHO MIGHT BE GAY FOR SCORPIA'S DISASTER A*S NOW? ALSO ROGELIO AND KYLE AREN'T AS OBVIOUS THIS SEASON BUT THEY'RE STILL A THING

[kemonododo]

I don't think that's particularly fair. In Taking Control we see them fully interacting together outside the subject of battle for the first time since Promise, there's still going to be that same misunderstanding as before. Adora has risked almost everything to get Catra back, but that plays right into Catra's resentment of Adora's protection. Of course they're going to clash, and they do.

The episode as a whole is just a huge stressful experience for both, but despite the looming threat of literal death, Adora still has the maturity to give Catra the choice to leave. She's not dismissive or overprotective like she was during Promise, Adora finally begins to give Catra some autonomy instead of trying to choose for her. Catra the same chooses not only to stay, knowing how much loneliness hurt her during her time as Horde commander and on Prime's ship, but offers her help to the rebellion by looking through the hive mind. This is a huge moment for both of them, Adora treating Catra like an equal and Catra letting herself be vulnerable with Adora.

The season continues with moments like this, they aren't falling back into old habits but building a new understanding of each other. Adora letting Catra think up plans for them, Catra rolling back her snarky attitude and being genuine with others around her.

When Shadow Weaver makes her appearance, she walks back that development. They both recognize the pain they went through, Adora says so to comfort Catra before their trip to Mysticore, and Catra is given front row tickets to Adora's trauma and is the first to call it out. It's a testimony to her maturity that she doesn't see SW choosing Adora for such a task with the same resentment she would have in the Fright Zone, instead she recognizes Adora's abuse and calls SW out. She's the one that questions Adora's destiny, she's the one that can see the manipulation the others (even Adora) can't.

When Adora does accept the failsafe, basically signing her death warrant in Catra's eyes, can you really blame Catra for running? For not wanting to be forced to see Adora leave again, this time for good? Even when she runs, she still asks what Adora wants, she still recognizes Adora's complex and tries to reach towards her, and like Adora did to her on Darla she gives her a choice. Adora chooses her destiny though, and that does play into Catra's insecurities.

Even still, after recognizing the gravity of the situation, she chooses to be beside Adora. When they both arrive at the Heart, she chooses to support Adora. This is the same choice that Catra had to face at the beginning of the show, except this time she goes with Adora.

Likewise, it's Catra giving Adora the option to be selfish, to take her hand instead of letting her destiny consume her that allows Adora to (literally) break free of the chains put on her.

There relationship IS rocky, it DOES have patches of miscommunication, even during Catra's redemption. Even still, Catra and Adora have a deeper understanding of each other's trauma and the ways to counter it than any other character. They do know each other, and despite their relationship not being as fluffy and clean as Entrapdak's, that love is and always was still there.

Hopefully that made sense.

I’ve been trying to figure out exactly why Catradora’s development doesn’t quite do it for me. It’s taken me a while, but I think I sort of know. At least enough to try to put my emotions to post.

It doesn’t have to do with a lack of “deserving” on Catra’s part, or a lack of punitive repercussions for transgressions committed; anyone who’s spent more than a few minutes on this blog knows that I don’t hold with concepts like that.

It’s more… a matter of understanding.

I think I can explain it best by calling back to S5E6, when Adora is frustrated that Catra hasn’t changed at all because she is refusing to cooperate and interact with the rest of the team. And while this situation is used to sort of demonstrate that Adora isn’t “letting Catra get away with bad behavior” anymore, I interpret it differently. I interpret it as proof of the girls’ continued lack of understanding of one another, and I think that that’s what weakens Catradora for me.

In that scene, Catra isn’t trying to manipulate anyone, or shirk responsibility, or be obnoxious. She is legitimately afraid for her life, traumatized from her time on Prime’s ship and having no clear idea of what is in store for her. She’s employing aggression in self-defense. Now, it’s not a good thing, but it’s also not something that should garner an aggressive, accusatory response, because meeting fear with aggression rarely results in anything productive.

Adora does not understand this. Just as she does not understand why Catra did not leave the Horde with her, all the way back in season one.

On her part, Catra does not understand why Adora could not stay, or what she has been through in the last few years.

Neither girl truly comprehends what the other is feeling, or why she is acting the way she is, and… well, that’s the conflict, isn’t it? That’s why they have their falling out in season one, and that’s why they remain in conflict throughout the show. And that’s all well and good, but by the time the show finale rolls around, I just can’t see that they’ve actually sat down and taken the time to understand one another.

I know that Stevenson states and Catra and Adora understand one another better than anyone (at least, I remember that being said, I think?), but it’s something I have a hard time accepting because I just don’t see it in the canon.

So much of the conflict between the two girls stems from Adora not correctly identifying Catra’s trauma as the root of her behavior, and from Catra not seeing the pressure and different sort of trauma Adora suffers from. They simply do not comprehend why the other is acting the way she is, and to my eye, they never really fix this. They just sort of… sweep it under the rug. They brute-force it, entering a relationship and proclaiming love without ever seeming to really address why they fell apart in the first place.

Contrast this with a relationship like Entrapdak: Hordak and Entrapta understand one another, and when they do not understand (such as when Entrapta finds Hordak removing his armor and witnesses him collapse), they ask questions and offer one another explanations. Entrapta doesn’t get angry or upset when Hordak tries to threaten her out of his sanctum, or pushes her away after his syncopal episode; rather, she strives to understand what’s wrong with him, what’s happening to him, why he’s doing what he’s doing. She asks him in a non-accusatory fashion: spirited and firm, but not angry. And he tells her.

This results in a much healthier relationship: neither thinks poorly of the other’s behavior, even when that behavior is perhaps not-the-best (such as when Hordak snaps at Entrapta after suffering a glitch in front of Adora), because the roots of the behavior are understood (shame, pain, insecurity due to physical disability). Even if the specific details aren’t known, like Entrapta not knowing all the nuances of Prime, the general understanding is there and allows these characters to engage in a respectful, loving relationship. 

Another great example of this is how Entrapta treats Hordak while he’s with Prime in season five: she understands why he’s there, and she doesn’t hold it against him. She doesn’t demand that he “do the right thing” and leave. She simply offers her reliable affection and waits for him to work things out for himself. And that ultimately succeeds, because it fosters an environment of trust and encouragement.

The only time they falter, really, is when Catra nearly kills Entrapta, lies to Hordak, and leaves the two of them without a way to contact one another and repair the rift with communication. But that’s not their fault, is it? And aside from that, they’re consistently on the same page. 

With Catradora, this is not the case. No mutual understanding appears to happen. There’s no arc or scene or anything where these two sit down and reach any sort of real epiphany regarding everything that’s happened between them. Instead, we get moments like Adora calling out a frightened, traumatized Catra on the ship in S5E6, or Catra failing to see the pain of Adora’s martyr complex and running away instead of offering compassion in S5E11. And we finally get Catra and Adora proclaiming their love for one another, without any explanation of how that love could have always existed when they were hurting one another so badly for years.

These moments do not make me believe, as Stevenson says, that these characters know one another best of all. They make me believe that Catra and Adora still don’t understand what’s happened between them, and it takes away from my enjoyment of Catradora. I don’t hate it, necessarily, but I’d enjoy it so much more if I felt that these characters were really helping one another, rather than sweeping misunderstandings under the rug and potentially hurtling towards another painful falling out.

[ofinkdried]

YOU’VE GOT MAIL –>ADORA, PRINCESS OF POWER. 

@ssimonspier​ sent: “ what’s the mood over in Adoraville ?? ”

adora tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, simon’s voice barely registering in her head as she focused on the game in front of her. “ it’s rage and fury. ” she mumbled, throwing another ball at the bottles. she missed ( again ) and was starting to wonder if the game was rigged or if she really just sucked that much. “ i wanna win that lion, ” she pointed up as she looked over at simon. “ but i can’t seem to knock all of those down in one go !! ”

[ofinkdried]

  Is there someone that makes you happy     every time you see them? (Adora)

MEME. ( accepting ) ( mentioned: @dreamalittleme )

“ my brother, evan !! he’s my favorite person in the world. ”

[ofinkdried]

@dreamalittleme​ || closed starter. ( for evan )

“ EVAN !! ” adora grinned brightly as she ran down the sidewalk towards her brother, finally catching up to him and draping her arms over his shoulders, practically jumping. “ we should go to the beach !! it’s been so long since we went, i wanna try and surf again. ” she’d failed miserably the first time ( her klutziness striking again ) but that didn’t detour her from wanting to try again. “ or we can just go sit in the sand ?? i just miss the waves. ”

[ofinkdried]

– TAG DUMP : ADORA, PRINCESS OF POWER