#(i mean so is adora but i have plans to go back to her once the fandom picks up again kfhdsbjnksdf)

[catras-breakup-song]

how do you feel about the whole "you always wanted more" line that got cut? at first i was wondering why they did that because adora didn't want more until it made me think "huh, what if prime was just running on catra's memories and didn't actually know adora?" but i'm curious as to what you think

OH MY GOD I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED THIS. i am such a sucker for the cut STC script. back in late 2020 & early 2021 i had a twitter layout based on “that little spot on the roof that only they knew about” because S3 is my favorite:

even better, i have another old twitter fancam saved from around that time too that used that screenshot of the script in the beginning. it was by the username yoosene but is now long gone, so i reuploaded it to imgur here (the hands part, i’m going insane…)!

anyway, as for interpretations, it was absolutely to manipulate & guilt-trip adora. i recently saw someone say (i don’t remember where though, sorry) that he was torturing both of them by setting up that nasty fight against both of their wills and had planned to kill catra all along — despite saying he wouldn’t right after she rescued glimmer and was imprisoned for it, in my opinion there was an unspoken “yet” even though he did technically say that word but you know what i mean; “you will be of use to me, and then everyone from your blighted planet, including yourself, will be destroyed.”

that’s the thing about what the show was trying to convey through her stay on prime’s ship via glimmer’s desperate pleas, isn’t it? her illusion of power was only ever temporary. once she no longer had anything of value to serve, what would she be worth? how could she have genuinely believed that he wanted to save her, of all living beings, from the curse of humanity & will of consciousness? what makes one individual different to an omnipotent god compared to countless others across the universe throughout space and time? i truly believe that he was subtly mocking her when he talked of her being “exalted, raised up above the other wretched creatures of [her] home world.”

i was actually trying to find another five by five takes quote about this, because mentioning them is always an obligation for me, but surprisingly i didn't really find anything about how catra had worked her way up to prime's recognized single subordinate (only that moment of reflection afterward, which is just this entire short video), and was under the false impression with a cocky & confident attitude that her position meant something for her safety & survival; i'm mostly referring to this moment:

the horde's the horde...even in space. as long as i'm of value to horde prime, i've got a place in this world. i can work my way up here, just like i did before.

actually y’know what… i’m going to tag @horde-princess because this is starting to dive into religious meta which is like… her whole gimmick thingy. we would be blessed (pun intended) to see your take on this writing that never made it to the show, if you haven’t given it already!

now this is veering too far off from the original point after getting sidetracked. the tone of those quotes in the alternate script is (fake) pity, and horde prime was entertained by the struggles of mere mortals. to make adora a failure of what she represented would surely force her to give up she-ra to him, because what would even be the point anymore of living up to expectations if she couldn’t save catra first & foremost (that’s something that she struggled with since initially leaving the horde over three years ago due to how catra made her feel about supposedly breaking their childhood promise… but it’s a story for another post)?

i don’t doubt that your thought process is at least partially right too though, anon. prime didn’t read adora’s mind thoroughly at any point, so it’s entirely possible that he just read off catra’s intense feelings of abandonment & betrayal. that being said, if he really did see all as he claimed, maybe he was able to recreate an objectively accurate collection of events and knows what really happened and what the intentions behind certain actions were. i also wonder if catra secretly knew deep down that adora’s defection wasn’t directly about her but just couldn’t admit it until she had time to deeply reflect on it during “corridors.”

i’ll leave this messy, unorganized post with an amazingly relevant gif set made by an editor whose work on here i really enjoy:

as i said a long time ago, you just had to be there on november 19th 2020 when that excerpt was released because the hype was crazy!

[fr4nkie0stein]

Catra x force captain reader

force reader was kind of treated like Catra with Shadow Weaver. Although Shadow Weaver just hated the reader. Catra is kind of confused when she hears how badly reader was treated.

Like, what? You somehow have more trauma then me?

Reader just has lots of scars on her arms and back because of how much Shadow Weaver beat her

You dont have to do this if your not comfortable! Have a nice day :]

No worries, I feel completely comfortable with writing something like this! You have a nice day too ♡♡

Hurt

Pairing: Catra x fem force captain reader

Summary: you and Catra bond over the horrible ways Shadow Weaver treated you both

Content warning(s): childhood trauma, mentions of physical and verbal abuse, talk of scars from said abuse, please don't read if this will trigger you in any way

××

Ever since you were young, Shadow Weaver used and treated you like her own personal punching bag. Whether she was upset over a defeat for the Horde, struggling with her powers, or having to deal with Hordak's criticism, she always turned to you to be the one she could take it out on.

Although it happened for so long, you never told anyone about your abuse. You weren't really close with anybody in the Horde, and you also didn't see the point in it. I mean, it's not like anybody could do much to help.

As a force captain, you often met up with the other force captains to train together. That's where you first met Adora when she used to belong to the Horde, and that's also where you met Catra.

You'd heard a lot about her from the short time Adora had been a force captain, but she was much more intimidating than you expected her to be. You would soon find she was also just as fragile.

The two of you trained together often, but you didn't usually change together in the locker rooms because you didn't know each other that well. One day while you were changing shirts, Catra walked in and saw some of the scars you had on your back from Shadow Weaver's beatings.

"Woah, what happened to you?" She blurted out, not really one who cared for others feelings all that much. "Was it one of the princesses that did it?"

You sighed, knowing she was bound to find out sooner or later. As lying would only make things worse, you stuck with telling the truth. "Uh, no. They were from Shadow Weaver."

Catra's ears immediately flattened back against her head at the mention of her mentor's name. "Shadow Weaver did that to you? But... Why?"

Shrugging, you put your dirty clothes back in your locker and shut it. "Dunno. I guess she figured it'd be easiest to take her rage out on a little kid who couldn't fight back." You leaned up against the locker, shoving your hands in your pockets. "She doesn't do it anymore, though. I think ever since I became a force captain she sort of became scared of me."

Catra scoffed, rolling her eyes some. "Wow, you made Shadow Weaver of all people scared of you? I must admit, that's pretty impressive." She crossed her arms, her gaze falling to the floor before she spoke up again in a much smaller voice. "She hurt me, too. It was mostly verbal, but it didn't hurt any less."

You nodded at her words, your eyes softening as you watched her. "Yeah, I get that." It's quiet for a moment before you suddenly say, "Hey, do you wanna... I don't know, maybe hang out some? Maybe we can talk about some plans for our next attack against Bright Moon."

The corners of her lips quirked upwards as she looked back up, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Yeah, I've got nothing else going on. And you know what, maybe one day the two of us will be in charge, and we can get rid of Shadow Weaver for once and for good."

You smiled back as you walked with her towards the locker room door. "Yeah, maybe."

Fin ××

♡ Send in more requests here ♡

[aprillikesthings]

I have the house to myself because people are at a sportsball party

So what else would I do but keep watching spop amiright

s1 ep8 lez go

YES IT'S PRINCESS PROM AHAHAHAH

Oh, that explains why (in a muuuuuuch later episode) there's that little ideal future and they're at Scorpia's ball (iirc)

Catra: I NEED TO BE IN CHARGE Scorpia: party!

Poor Scorpia

Catra: giving a passionate-if-faked pep talk to Scorpia (like I get she's manipulating Scorpia here into going to the party, but it's still the kind of thing Scorpia should hear!) Also Catra: still real mad about Adora!!!

I cackled, y'all. CACKLED.

I mean she's...not wrong...

Okay I know it's just how this kind of show works and isn't important but it implies the Ball is known about for years in advance, but the invites only actually go out like a day or two before?? IRL that would be such a disaster because they don't even know the theme until they get the invite. The sheer amount of logistics/planning attending something like this, including the outfits...

This was intended to be Lolita fashion and you can't convince me otherwise

Also CATRA. They intentionally made her look so, so gay and hot.

Same, Catra. Same.

Adora (to the weapons-check person): be careful with it, don't lean it on something with the other swords or it might get confused!!!

Poor Adora. I suppose if I had an object that made me both popular and nearly invincible I'd be upset and worried to be separated from it, too.

It's Molly and Nate!!!

🎶Just like the viiiiine🎵

I love that we know these characters enough that they can just say a couple of lines here and imply a ton more. Anyway Mermista's outfit is great.

This is literally their entire dynamic. They're clearly together, Sea Hawk is loud about it, Mermista is (mostly) pretending to hate it.

Sorry this is shot is just great

Glimmer's jealousy (over Bow coming to the ball with Perfuma) is SO ANNOYING and I know that's on purpose but boy do I hate most "jealousy makes them obnoxious" plots

ANYWAY one small note: you can tell their budget for this episode is just not very high, because the characters in the background are so often not moving or only moving like one thing.

Oh hey, Netossa and Spinerella! (...and Molly again lol)

"Bow isn't the type to just leave his old friends behind, and neither am--" *Scorpia and Catra walk in*

DIDN'T THINK YOU'D SEE HER HERE, HUH, DIDJA

I can't screenshot this bit but it's so good:

Catra, in her most fake-gentleman voice: I love rules and obey them all the time Adora in the most high-pitched voice possible: YOU DO NOOOOT

🎶Every move you make And every vow you break Every smile you fake Every claim you stake I'll be watching you🎵

...I'm showing my age again. But also I'm looking at the lyrics and ngl they nearly all fit. If I knew how to make fanvids, I could make a vid that like ten people would watch.

Instead I'm working on a fic like ten people will read, heyoooo

*cries*

BACK TO THE GAYS PRINCESS PROM

is there crack-y pwp of this please say yes

Once again reminded of that fanvid of every time they say each other's names in the first two seasons

Literally cannot see Adora opening that without the "bah-dm tsh!" sound affect in my head from watching that video so many fucking times

Bow is so delightfully emotionally intelligent

Entrapta: have you met my new assistant? She brought snacks.

When Entrapta said "assistant" Catra's ears literally did a wiggle. Oh my gooooood

"she stole my food and asked me to spy on people with her,

lolol

once again whether the sword is actually sharp-edged or not is entirely dependent on plot

Scorpia is unreasonably hot sometimes

im gonna chew my fingers off ghgha;lksdhka;

I remember the screenshots/gifs of this scene hitting tumblr--that moment when every hopeful sapphic fan watching the show when it released went OKAY WAIT we're not making shit up this time are we??? ARE WE???

Also at least one person working on this show likes period dramas where tons of emotional plot happens during extremely formal dances where everyone is barely touching

there's nearly a billion gifs of that scene from one of the versions of Pride and Prejudice, but also:

once again proving my advanced age, this movie came out when I was 17 and side note I'm the same age as Claire Danes, anyhoodle

Has Adora been dancing Lead this whole time

HNNNNGNGHGHGHHHHHH IT'S SO GOOD

EXTREMELY UNDIGNIFIED NOISES Adora literally has one thigh between Catra's gghngng

i want to EAT IT

I'VE HIT THE IMAGE LIMIT FOR THIS POST LOLOL i don't wanna cut any out imma post this and then reblog it

[hydrxnessa]

i did character moodboards but instead its the characters i drew inspiration from over the years

(very long) rambles to the void below // // its very long. heed this warning.

ok first off; Hydra! she first started off as a roleplay character back in the 2016 minecraft hypixel housing roleplay days. your generic ender dragon girl hybrid kinda thing. whole reason why i call myself hydra, she's basically my persona atp

years would go by and she'd later have her own separate story instead of a bunch of one-offs with just 'feral edgy dragon hybrid girl' as a template

she's an unhinged, loose cannon who's generally outcasted by society. all four characters: jinx, nimona, surge and catra are seen by this.

with jinx, mainly her growing up being rough which shapes her to become the feral loose cannon she is. also a twisted father figure. sounds familiar.

with nimona, its mostly just the unhinged-ness and outcast traits. also her personality, with being reckless and rushing in without a plan but also emotionally unstable, easily irritated and fragile.

with surge, its her whole gist of being an experimented cyborg-esque character, with the purpose of surpassing a highly-renowned figure (sonic) -- at the cost of forgetting who she used to be before. yeah i stole that whole thing and threw it onto hydra/hj . once again emotionally unstable due to not knowing who she used to be, and her purpose was created by someone else, not for herself. once that someone else is out of the picture, she'd go on to struggle purpose for herself, whilst being haunted by her past. i think surge is the Major inspiration for hydra here tbh

aaand finally, catra. i /could/ compare adora and catra's relationship to hydra and lyura's, but its very minor. they both grew up together, fought together, played together; but as they grew up, they'd grow distant away from each other. up until the point where they have completely differing ideals and views. and betrayal, there's hints of betrayal in there. and once again, emotionally unstable. i think there's a pattern here

////

okaayy, next up is Intoxicate! he actually started off as an oc completely based around angor rot (top middle). like, entirely angor rot, just furrified. you can probably see his old art on his toyhouse if you scroll down on his gallery. i hate looking at it but its a nice memory. he was always meant to be some sort of antagonist in the Wings' Ascent story, but i didn't really know where to take it

anyways he's a cult leader now, deemed as one of the most powerful Lights in the galaxy. very charismatic, yet ruthless. a deeper motivation to serve his god to save one life; a life so dear to him. tbh its giving gabriel agreste HELP

not much with neuvilette since i haven't played genshin's fontaine region (nor do i plan to, i just really like neuvi). he's the dragon sovereign iirc? more powerful than the archons themselves. authoritative and strong, those were the traits i gave intox. also similar hair.

i already spoke about angor rot - whole reason why intox exists in the first place. also the blue spots over his body, idk if there's story to that in the franchise but i stole that and made it like some sort of terminal disease on intox, just to make things dire.

lunatic cultist - i mean not much to say. intox serves the Lunatic Star. cultist serves the Moon Lord. i think its self-explanatory

suguru geto !! i love u geto cult leader, aand adopted two daughters that he basically saved from a village about to execute them. intox basically adopted tohka when she had nothing else. also charismatic yet manipulative demeanour. also hair. to that one person who compared human intox to geto, and i have never seen jjk ever, you are the reason i watched jjk in the first place. thanks

gary miller - cult leader. ruthless, cruel, sacrificial. would do anything for the entities he worships. also seems charming, yet manipulative. i do find the garyjohn ship silly and cute yet twisted

the lamb from cult of the lamb. oh boy, so unexpected. in intox's backstory, he dies through beheading but is brought to the Lunatic Star from death instead of being sent off to the heavens. Lunar promises him she will save Amaera, if he vows to serve her and gain her freedom from her shackles. very similar to the Lamb who was also beheaded and sent to the One Who Waits/Narinder, who promises vengeance in exchange of starting a cult to gain him power

////

ok finally, Trojan! honestly if you're still reading thanks for listening to my dumb rambles about my ocs ??? really appreciate it lol even if im just talking to the void

oh he's a weird one. created him in 2021 i believe? which was when the project renekton skin was released (2nd row on the right). i also wanted a scientist character. so basically, i combined the two. red/orange lizard and scientist. anyways i never drew him again

ok he's back now. repurposed him and fit him into hydra's story so that he's the scientist who created her (i forgot what her story was beforehand, other than experimentation, though i think it was just an scp foundation situation). originally meant to be a very cruel and very evil scientist, but i started liking the idea that he'd be more paternal and fatherly to her, and then slowly losing that sense as he gained more power and more involved with his research.

basically, mad scientist with a child experiment.

abrahm valentin - i actually dont understand the iris lore tbh. i do know that he killed his brother and repurposed his remains/nervous system into some sort of circus attraction, whilst his brother remained conscious. trojan killed his father and repurposed him into a powerful machine (H4YW1RE). also abrahm's pretty insane. like deadass insane.

dr clef - i think this was one of the original inspirations back when i first created him. doctor/researcher for the scp foundation, but he's anomalous himself. also batshit insane

dr starline - he's connected to surge's story, whole reason why she exists. similar to how hydra/lyura only exist because of him. also voice claims are generally a posh british accent. that's as far as that goes.

draedon. ough i love draedon. a powerful scientist and researcher who transferred his whole conscious into this mechanical body. built crazy powerful technology; armour for a literal godslayer, a worm god, dangerous robots, etcetc. also i liked the idea that he had multiple labs across the continent, but as he grew more powerful and gained more knowledge, those labs became abandoned.

project renekton - similar to angor rot to tox, he's the major inspiration and starting point of trojan. though the inspiration mainly came from his aesthetics, and a tiny hint of unhinged personality but thats it really

lysandre, ooh this one's interesting. his ideal was that the world was no longer beautiful, instead growing uglier, so he wanted to create a perfect world by ridding all of imperfection. trojan's ideals are heavily based around perfection and transcending the Stars and their flaws. also lysandre was seen as a very influential figure, who's technology was basically everywhere in kalos. trojan was the same, just on a wider galactical scale. a very renowned scientist, where most tech of akr'byx could be traced back to him.

viktor - pretty much the same as lysandre, only that he replaced his body and augmented it with machinery as he saw it far superior than flesh.

i dont actually remember what viggo grimborn's inspo was other than his voice claim. maybe also for his charming yet manipulative demeanour

boothill was actually meant to be up there but i didnt have space !! his backstory is Very similar to trojan where they both lose a loved one and died just after, yet brought back via augmentation of their body.

ANYWAYS. thats the end. im so tired. thanks if you read all of this. im not reading back there's probably mistakes and i will probably die of cringe. woohoo i love having favourite characters then stuffing them into ocs

[tippenfunkaport]

Best Friend Squad Fake Break Up Caper

Short version: Post canon, the BFS set a trap for a spy by faking a break-up between Glimmer and Bow.

(I posted a small preview of this once.)

Long version:

While a lot of the fic ideas I've had that I've written a lot of / thought about a lot are things I would be ok if I never get to post them as fanfic because they are different enough from canon that I could easily write them as something original someday. This story, however, is one I would be kinda sad if I never have a chance to post for real. (And never say never but right now it's hard to imagine adding another canon-verse multi-chapter with how many I have in progress.)

The set up is that, post canon, these tabloids pop up on Etheria that are like our gossip rags and report on the princesses and their spouses like celebrity gossip. When there's a tragedy with important info getting in the hands of the wrong people, the BFS realizes that there is a spy, someone connected with one of these gossip rags.

Catra comes up with a plan: The Queen of Bright Moon and her war hero regular guy fiance are tabloid favorites. If Glimmer and Bow pretend to break up and date other people, they can create a series of gossip-worthy events to try to trap the spy. Glimmer and Adora both hate this plan but Bow thinks this won't be a problem, because he's incapable of jealousy (WRONG). Catra mistakes his misplaced confidence in himself as a sign that he doesn't care as much about Glimmer as she does about him. Catra loves Bow but, push come to shove, she's Team Glimmer first and wants to make sure her bestie is certain Bow's the one before they get married.

They stage a very public break-up, but it's meaningless at first because Glimmer just keeps teleporting to go see Bow anyway. But when the media storm is bigger than they anticipate and the spy eludes them, extending the ruse so they have to actually stay away from each other, things get more complicated. As Catra's sets up a bunch of suitor meetings for Glimmer to try and date other people and Bow is getting hit on, they both to start to wonder if maybe the other is doubting their relationship. All the fake reasons they broke up start to feel like maybe they were real reasons after all and both independently realize they don't want anyone else… while being convinced they are holding the other back by not letting them go.

Meanwhile, Adora figures out Catra's game and they clash over what Adora sees as Catra meddling in her best friend's relationship. Catra counters that both Glimmer and Bow have never been with anyone but each other so how can they really know they are in love without seeing what else is out there? When Adora points out all of that is also true about the two of them and does that mean these are doubts Catra herself is having? the two have a fight, compounded by the fact that the scheme is keeping them apart (Catra on Team Glimmer and Adora on Team Bow).

And obviously this all culminates in a caper style undercover mission where everyone gets back together and works out their issues and lives happily ever.

Doing this one for Slaps Idea: This Baby Can Fit So Much Projection! because this idea started out as me just wanting the chance to do a Perils of Peekablue style undercover caper with Catra, Adora, Glimmer and Bow but then it just turned into Tippen projects a lot of feelings about being bisexual and marrying your best friend onto Glimbow.

[yourfellowhuman07]

Alliances of the Heart

A She-Ra: Princess of Power 2018 fanfiction

For centuries, the All Princess Ball has been a time for the nobility of Etheria to let loose. Flaunting their power, prestige, and fashion for all to see. The ball had always been politically neutral, but, as tension from the war rises, not everyone is so keen to forget what happens beyond the walls of Castle Chill.

Lord Hordak, along with Princess Scorpia and Force Captian Catra, have come to the party to make alliances and find out everything there is to know about their enemies. Careful to not arouse the suspicion of the Princess Alliance.

Princess Entrapta, being the scientist she is, decides to come to the party to decode the secrets of body language, despite getting the same data from every other party she has ever attended.

When the two rulers cross paths, their plans flip on their heads as the two grow closer. Now it is up to Catra and Scorpia to push the two together as Adora and Glimmer stick their noses where they do not belong.

________________

Sorry it's been a hot minute, but chapter eight is here!

________________

Chapter 8: Contemplation

Bow kept a firm grip on Glimmer’s forearm as he dragged her away from the prying eyes of the ballroom into an empty hall. Once the door closed, Bow released Glimmer and turned on his heels to face her.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, a little harsher than he needed to.

“Nothing, Bow,” Glimmer assured, rubbing her thumb across her forearm.

“Glimmer,” Bow adjusted to a softer tone. “I’ve known you for years, so I can tell when something is bothering you.” He took her hands in his own. “What is it?”

Glimmer’s stomach churned as Bow waited for a response. How was she going to explain this to him? That she’s mad he went with someone else to the Princess Prom. In trying to rationalize her thoughts, she slowly realized how stupid she was being. What gives her the right to say who he hangs out with? If he doesn’t want to spend time with her, then he shouldn’t.

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

“I’m sorry for being rude about you hanging out with other people besides me. You don’t have to spend time with me if you don’t want to.” “Glimmer, that’s not the point-” “I shouldn’t feel entitled to your company. I just assumed since we’ve been talking about it for so long we would go together, but I shouldn’t have assumed-”

“Glimmer!” Bow grabbed Glimmer by the shoulders, halting her spiral. “Just because I was Perfuma’s plus one doesn’t mean I didn’t want to hang out with you. I wanted all of us to hang out together.”

Glimmer had no response. She only stared at him.

“But, I should have explained that to you. I didn’t realize it meant so much to you. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Glimmer wrapped her arms around Bow’s midsection, squeezing him tight. Bow quickly returned the hug. The two stood there, probably longer than they needed to.

“Are you ready to go back to the party?” Bow asked, his voice a little over a whisper.

“Yeah, I guess so,” the two let go of one other. “We probably should go find Adora before she starts stalking Catra again.”

“Huh?” Bow looked at Glimmer confused, causing her to laugh.

“I have a lot to catch you up on.” The two made their way back to the party, their hands loosely holding each other.

_____________________________________

Entrapta blinked and rubbed her eyes through her tired haze. Reluctant to leave her soft bed. As she took a deep breath, she smelled something rich and smokey scent that made her head swirl.

This fully woke her up. She looked down to see Lord Hordak’s cape still wrapped around her body. She also noticed her gloves and boots were still on. She knew she was tired last night, but that tired.

With this revelation, memories from last night flooded her tired mind. How the warlord brought her away from the boring party, gave her his cape, talked with her for hours, and carried her through the icy cold. She also remembered how quickly she left him due to an amalgamation of flustered and tired. Even if he did walk her to her room, she doubted she could hold a conversation.

She begrudgingly rolled to the side of her bed, discarding her boots and gloves. She went to take off the cape, but she stopped herself. She didn’t want to take it off.

This prompted Entrapta to think. Really think. For the past three days, she has been fluttering around the strange feelings brewing in her mind. All of those thoughts had one common denominator: Lord Hordak.

It made sense he would occupy her mind, given the time she had spent with him. However, things were different. Her interactions with the warlord had a different tone compared to other interactions she had with people. It wasn’t like her newfound friendship with Catra and Scorpia or the relationship she had with her most trusted bots. This specific relationship with the warlord had more substance. She couldn’t quite comprehend it.

She might need more data. Yes, that’s what she needs! More data. Then she could draw a proper conclusion.

Now she just needs to occupy herself until the evening. She thought of what she could do as she fiddled with the seams of Hordak’s cape. Then it hit her.

She should return the cape. 

It would be stupid to give it to him at the party. He would have to carry it around for the rest of the evening. She wouldn’t want him to do that. It’s only logical to return it now. No other reason, right?

_________________

Entrapta walked on her hair down the icy halls of Castel Chill, slowly picking up speed with each step. The warlord’s cape was folded neatly in her lap, the perfect vessel for Entrapta’s fidgeting.

Then, the princess found his room, tucked into the back corner of the long corridor. The doors were large and white, bordered by an icy blue trim. Entrapta sat herself on the ground and raised her hand to the double doors. After a moment's hesitation, she gave a quick knock on the door, praying Hordak would answer.

Suddenly, the door flung open to Lord Hordak’s annoyed face. When he registered who stood in front of him, the hardness of his features melted away.

“Princess Entrapta, what do I owe the pleasure?” the warlord asked, slightly crouching down due to the doorframe lacking in height for a being of his size. Entrapta took a moment to examine the man in front of her. He wore a white button-up loosely tucked into black pants. His hair was down and he lacked his striking black eyeliner. Then, something shiny caught her eye. The first couple of buttons of Hordak’s shirt were undone, exposing metal plates flush with his skin. Entrapta raised herself on her hair to get a better look, but Hordak’s hands shot up to his collar, swiftly putting the buttons in the proper place. Entrapta scrunched her face in confusion until Hordak cleared his throat, calling her attention back to reality.

“Oh! Here,” She held up the black cape, “you should have this back.”

“Thank you, Princess Entrapta.” Hordak took the cape, his hand slightly brushing her own. “Perhaps tonight, if you wish to return to the garden, we could pick up your coat beforehand,” Hordak suggested, preventing a laugh from brushing his voice.

“Oh, my coat is missing.”

“Huh?”

“My coat is missing,” Entrapta repeated, sitting back on her hair chair.

“No, I heard you. I am just confused.”

“I gave it to the coat checks and they lost it.”

“I am sorry that occurred.”

“It’s fine,” she shrugged. “The castle is heated through magic anyway, so I’m fine.”

Except when we went to the garden, Hordak thought as guilt set into his skin.

“Well, I shall see you at the party tonight,” Hordak noted, not wanting to take up all of Entrapta’s time.

“You too.” She affirmed, “Maybe we can talk about those larger-scale robots you wanted to add to your forces.”

“Of course.” He assured, pushing down the urge to talk about the bots at that very moment. “See you this evening, Princess.”

“See you there.” 

___________

Hordak closed his door as his ears turned, listening to the sound of Entrapta’s footsteps gradually fading away. He looked down at the cape in his hands, lightly rubbing his thumb over the smooth cloth. He unfolded the cloth to see it had been wrinkled. Hordak sighed as he draped the garment over a door. He unzipped a black suitcase and pulled out a hand-held steamer. As he went to attend to the wrinkled cloth he began to think.

Hordak was confused, and he didn’t like it. Why had he been so keen on spending time with Princess Entrapta? He had spent the past three days thinking about her and what they were going to talk about that evening. Traditionally, he couldn’t stand to make small talk with anyone, let alone speak with someone for hours on end.

Perhaps it was the fact she was a scientist like him. Yes, of course. It was their superior intellect that connected them. Never before had Hordak met someone on this planet who could truly understand what he was getting at. Someone who appreciated his ideas beyond how they could benefit the war. Someone who listened because they wanted to, not because they had to.

Another thing that weighed heavy on his mind was the fact that Entrapta didn’t have a coat. He didn’t know why it bothered him so much, but friends worry about each other, right? Still, he feels like he should do something. No, he will do something.

[enchantingjacarandas]

Love is a risk, but what's the alternative?

Paring: Catra / Adora

Tags: Red String of Fate, Soulmate AU, Hurt/Comfort

Other Sites to Read on: Ao3 or Wattpad

Words: 1,610

Creaking metal surrounded Catra as she made her way to her cot. She was alone in the dormitory, again. Solitude was something Catra had grown used to once Adora left her. Even so, Catra was heading to bed earlier than normal to prepare for the big day tomorrow. She would be turning twenty tomorrow, meaning the red strings of fate would show up on her wrist. 

Every Horde soldier got their 20th birthday off in order to kill their nemesis. Catra knew she would have to follow the red string of fate from her right hand in order to find her enemy’s identity, but part of her also wondered where her left hand would lead her. The left hand string would show her who her true love was, her soulmate. Catra wasn’t really sure if a string would show up on the left wrist tomorrow, but part of her had a tad bit of hope.

It didn’t matter much anyways. She had the whole day to find out who her soulmate was because whatever idiot was her destined foe would be brought to a swift end by her. After the day was over the strings would disappear for her and she wouldn’t have to think about either one again. 

Catra stared at her blank wrist uncertain if a red string would appear on both of them tomorrow. It felt like sin for her to want love, to think that there could be someone made to love her. She knew she didn’t deserve love, but deep down she hoped there was someone out there that would make her cot less lonely. 

If she really did have a soulmate they would gladly join her in the horde and fight by her side. They would rule Etheria together someday. She would have someone to laugh with as the nights got dark. Her bed would feel warm once again. The thought made sleep come easy to her. She looked at her wrists one last time before closing her eyes.

When Catra awoke the first thing she saw in front of her were her wrists. She blinked slowly, registering the sight in front of her. She had a string on both wrists. She jumped out of bed hastily following the strings to find where they led to. Running out the room Catra was met with a giant mass as she ran into someone.

“Watch where you're going, Horde Soldier!” Catra spat out the words as she attempted to collect herself.

“Oh Sorry.” Scorpia stated while rubbing the back of her neck with her claw. 

“Of course it’s you.” Catra rolled her eyes at the sight in front of her. She continued walking towards the weapon room as Scorpia followed closely behind her. 

“Well, I was just wondering…” Scorpia trailed off. Catra couldn’t deal with her antics right now, she was on a mission. Why was Scorpia even bothering her today in the first place? The question floated around Catra’s mind for a bit before she landed on an answer, letting out a laugh at the thought.

“Wait, do you think we’re soul mates?” The laughter boomed off the walls now that Catra had spoken the thought out loud. She attempted to steady her breathing to calm down, but the idea was too much for Catra. What ended up settling her down was the idea that someone as naive as Scoripa managed to become a Force Captain before her. “Well sorry to disappoint, but you're not. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to wipe out the stupid person that is my revered enemy so I can go find my soulmate.”

“Hold on, do you want to find your soulmate?” Catra felt herself go stiff as she almost spoiled her perfect place though plan due to her own carelessness. 

Finally reaching the weapon’s closet a solution came to her. “Of course I want to know who they are, that way I can kill them myself. Don’t you remember what the Horde taught us? Having a soulmate makes you weak and vulnerable.”

“I guess I should be lucky I’m not yours then.” Scorpia mostly spoke to herself. 

Catra finally finding the weapon she was looking for let a smirk form on her lips. “Yes, you should.”

The trees went by in a blur as Catra swiftly piloted the skiff past them. So far the red strings seemed to be heading in the same direction, meaning Catra wouldn’t have to travel too far after getting rid of her destined opponent. The quickest way would be a surprise attack. While it wasn’t hornerable, she didn’t really care about honor, just wanted to get it over with. Hopefully then she’d have a chance at finding her soulmates before the strings fade.

The skiff was going at top speed. She loved going fast the way the world blurred around her made her feel in control. Catra always felt like the ground held her back, she was happy to be off it. There was a chance the skiff could go down or even crash. Every vehicle she could get into could crash though. It was worth it to feel alive for Catra. Would her soulmate think the same way?

Catra knows she shouldn’t, but she can’t help it as her mind wonders who the left string of love would lead her to. She hoped it was someone with a fighting spirit. Someone she could race around the Horde with. Maybe she wouldn’t mind losing the competition to them if she could watch their flowing blonde hair whirl around in the wind. When their eyes meet she’d see someone determined with strong beliefs looking back at her. Someone that made her feel strong in return.

Catra shook away the thoughts, there was no point in getting soft when she was about to enter battle. The fun would happen after, with all of Etheria being their playground. Their love would know no bounds, but for now she was on a mission. She looked straight ahead as she followed her strings through the forest. The wind whipped against her face as she pushed the skiff to go even faster.

Catra hid her skiff under some branches near the forest’s edge. Peeking out from the woods she got a better look at the kingdom that stood in front of her. She gave a dramatic sigh as she looked up at the giant waterfall and the castle that laid in front of it. It was Bright Moon. She tapped her foot impatiently, as she thought of a plan to get in. Nothing was ever easy in life for Catra. 

She looked through a compartment on the skiff searching for something to cover herself. It might raise some suspicions, but it was better than getting captured immediately from walking through the front gates. It gave her a chance and that was all she needed for now. She tilted her head as she held the cloak up to the wall of rocks that the castle sat on. It was perfect. She was virtually undetectable with her cloak blending into the wall as she started scaling it.

The strings were still going the same direction. Maybe that meant her soulmate was also in Bright Moon? Catra got a gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach. How could her soulmate live in a place like this? At the same time she knew better than to take the teensy amount of gifts she got in life for granted, it was better to not question it. The more likely option was that her soulmate had been kidnapped by someone in Bright Moon.

For the moment she was optimistic about finally seeing her soulmate. Would everything finally make sense once their eyes met? Steel blue eyes, flashed in Catra’s mind. It made her grip falter causing the rock she was holding to become unsettled and leave its place on the wall. It added new pressure to her feet causing them to lose their place as well. She dangled from the wall with only one hand still attached. Rocks cascaded down the wall where she once attached. Catra watched as the rocks exploded into smithereens once meeting the ground. Could that be her fate as well?

With the one hand still attached to the wall, she dug her claws deeper into the rock holding on tighter. All the muscles in her arm started pulsing as she willed them to hold on. Blood ran from her nails as she dug her claws deeper into the rock. She hoped even if her arm gave out she’d still be attached to the wall through her bloody claws. The adrenaline in her body made the blood go unnoticed for Catra. She took a deep breath regaining her composure. It was important for her not to lose focus so she could recover.

Her feet. That was the most important next step. Once she found places for them to go the weight was immediately taken off her arm. She was relieved, but didn’t celebrate. Placing her non-bloody hand on the next spot she gritted her teeth as she got ready to move her other hand. She couldn’t wait to finally have a purpose other than suffering.

Catra bared her teeth, heaving her arm back up gripping the rock once more as blood flowed. She was so close she wasn’t going to lose it all now. She had to take it. Everything would feel lighter once she had arms to catch her. She must survive. Murdering her fool of a soul nemesis would be a simple task in order for her to move forward. She needed to make it till then.

➤ Masterlist ❀ Ao3 ❀ Wattpad ❀ Ko-fi

A/N: This is my first published F/F ship I'm so hyped to share it with the word. The results from the poll were nothing super overwhelming so I settled on referring to Adora's eye as steel blue. I think that is the best color that captures everything. Should I update the word count on this post as I add more chapters?

[noirandchocolate]

Round 3 super fun happy comments post time!

Match 1, Vimes vs. Rob

Vimes I love you buddy but there is no way you can handle a Feegle going down your drawers.

--@purpledemoncat

Vimes would probably get adopted by the clan. He has a similar distaste for lawyers. All they need to do is get rid of his penchant for following the law.

--@missnotlob

Feegles are superstitious Rob would see the following dark and bugger off.

--@shiftyfly

But also this poll missed a golden opportunity for Rob v Adora Belle. Because there's plenty of people Rob could beat who could also beat Adora. But I firmly believe no male feegle could ever beat her. You really think that someone afraid of the pursin' o' the lips and the tappin' o' the feets could beat Spike??? I do think after the fact all the rest would be terrified of her but Rob would actually become great friends with her. (Much to Moist's terror.)

--@myidealhousehaschickenfeet (This is so funny, yes I definitely want these two to meet.)

Match 2, Granny vs. the Librarian

Granny would just Borrow him and we'd have a "stop hitting yourself!!' situation.

--@purpledemoncat

Granny turns the Librarian back into a human, or headologies him into doing it himself. He spends the next week crying and trying to grab things with his feet.

--@missnotlob

I once again point out that Granny Weatherwax is somewhat unclear on the concept of a friendly fight and very unclear on the subject of Granny Weatherwax losing anything. The Librarian ain't no fool. He's either pulling a Rincewind or backing away very slowly.

--@the-damn-things-overlap

The Librarian is a clever ape. He takes the bag of peanuts Gytha Ogg brought, thoughtfully eats one, shakes his head and points to Granny. He isn't gonna fight her.

--@msmeiriona

I feel like the fact that the Librarian is an inherently silly figure is what could lead to an upset here. Granny can rise above any serious threat and will herself look silly sometimes in handling minor ones like say raindrops or her broomstick. But I don't know how well she'd tangle with an inherently silly threat. And I think the Librarian could actually snag this one.

--@omicheese

Match 3, Vetinari vs. Nanny

@pourablecat did fanart of this match's outcome!

I can't articulate why I voted Nanny but I looked into her smiling face and it just felt right.

--@hazelnootle

There's a reason why Nanny lives in Lancre and it's to stop her from pile driving this man.

--@purpledemoncat

It's sheer narrative logic. What looks like a friendly old lady goes up against a trained assassin. The only way this could look more million to one was if she were blindfolded on one leg.

--@katistrophe

Vetinari plays Thud, Nanny Ogg plays Twister.

--@modstin

Would Nanny winning be fucking hilarious? Yes. But they had to invent a cursed gun and an entirely new system of poisoning to get a scratch on Vetinari so. And he couldn't be convinced to drink her scumble anyway. Vetinari got one-shotted by a magic user exactly once and is not about to let that happen again.

--@twofoursixohjuan

Vetinari may be a dictator but Nanny Ogg has to plan family game night for 100 people every weekend. I think that makes her far more powerful a foe. His ass is not ready for the Ogg.

--@spunchthegoblin

The only person Vetinari has ever feared is his Aunt. Nanny is the primordial matter from which all Aunties are formed.

--@thisblogisboundforglory-blog

Match 4, Carrot vs. Angua

@thestuffedalligator and @oorpe made this one sexy in a silly kind of way, and I am here for it.

Carrot, being ever the chivalrous gentleman, tries to LET Angua win. She realizes what he's up to & losers her whole entire temper. Carrot ends up having to pin her to stop her thrashing him in a fit of rage. he wins by accident for the pin & is DREADFULLY embarrassed about it.

--@javaelemental

This is a IDW Sonic Issue #57 moment, here.

--@cipher-of-the-round-table (I don't know what his means but I laughed.)

SO MUCH good commentary on the fights this time, I really enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts. Everybody go check out the notes on all the fights, they're full of more funny and well-reasoned rationales for voting!

[alaffy]

Masters of the Universe:  Revolution, Ep. 5 – The Sword and the Staff (spoilers)

Of all the things to happen in this series, I honestly didn’t expect for it to go Shoujo.  Even if it was for just a minute.  There isn’t going to be much of a recap here.  This episode felt like 5 minutes of plot and 15 minutes of kids playing with their toys.  And I don’t mean that in a negative way.  It literally reminded me of the stories kids would come up with while playing with toys, even how they might bring in other toys just to make it more epic.  It was fun to watch.

As for the series itself, it’s not horrible, but it was disappointing.  And, again, I really do think that this was probably planned to be another 10 part story, like the first one, but Netflix cut it down to 5. And, by doing that, it really just hurt the story.

So, Teela is loosing control of the power, but Orko arrives just in time with the sword.  Adam is able to get to Teela and, again in what is a clearly a Shoujo based moment, calls upon the power of Greyskull and both of them transform into more powerful versions of themselves.  And then they kiss.  Moving on.

Now, they have to save the planet.  He-Man is going to cure all the people and defeat Skeletor.  Andra and Duncan will fight the forces of the Horde.  Teela, who’s now the Tri-Sorceress, is going to bring back Preternia.  Orko and Lyn will protect her while she does so.

Anyway, He-Man saves the people and we have the fifteen minute fight.  During this fight, He-Man realizes that his sword can absorb Skeletor’s powers.  Skeletor raises the, I’m sorry but these are clearly based on Angels from Evangelion, and people fight.  The Dragon comes and sacrifices himself.  Teela brings back Preternia and the ghosts of all the heroes come and fight.  This includes Duncan.  The Horde is defeated and so are the Angels (I don’t care what they called them, they’re Angels).  The heroes go back to Preternia and Duncan is about to follow, when Skeletor uses magic to grab ahold of him.  He swears that he’s going to send Duncan back to Subternia.  And I have to ask, I know we saw the Sorceress interact with Teela, but they were in a magical castle, so…does Duncan know what’s been going on?  Like does he know Skeletor is Kaldor or….?  Anyway, He-Man is able to free Duncan and then stabs Skeletor in the stomach.  However, he isn’t doing this to kill him; but to absorb all the magic from his body.  This leaves a very much alive and naked Kaldor on the battlefield. 

The next day (I’m guessing) we see that Kaldor is in a cell in Greyskull.  Meanwhile, in front of the ruins of the place (and the damaged city next to it), He-Man gives a speech.  And, I shit you not, the great hero of Eternia takes a look at all this destruction and then at the people who never once said that had any problems with the government of Eternia and decides to dissolve the Monarchy.  Because Eternia shouldn’t be ruled by a bloodline, but by the people.  Which is not a bad thing, but maybe a transitional government at least?  Like dude’s literally like “you’ve got this” and goes to shack up with Teela at Greyskull. 

And then we find that Lyn is off world as she’s being given a chance to join….honestly, this scene was so random that it took me by surprise and I don’t remember what they called themselves.

Afterwards, we see Hordak in a tank.  And a woman in a mask comes up and tells him she’s going to get him healed and then they’ll have revenge.  We don’t see the woman’s face.  My guess is that it’s going to be Adora, so long as they can convince Dreamworks into letting them use the character, but they don’t show her face.  This way, if they can’t use her, then they can call her something else. 

[thenotebookwizard]

I thought about just throwing this in the notes, but nah. Full on reblog. You jumped into FicWriMo - gave yourself permission to create and gave yourself permission to explore. You wrote some good work that month, if the fic I read is any indication. I know you wrote Catradora well - I love the fic you wrote me. You surprised me! I had seen you mention that you were watching a show for research, but I never imagined it would be She-Ra! And then you drew Catra for the Trucker Catra/Van Life Adora concept and I figured - you're a furry artist. Catra can't be that hard for you figure out! Plenty of images of her online, after all. (I have the image saved in the Evernote where I'm planning that fic, by the by. Thank you for that.) Having someone else on server interested in and invested in She-Ra has been amazing. Especially since you've read Defiance, and will understand some of what I mumble and mutter about when I mention my longic. Getting fanart and fanfic of Catradora for my birthday was amazing. I'm excited for your longfic. The way you write the two of them means I'm going to get all the fluff I could want. (And eventually, so will Defiance readers. I have big plans for that, once I get the two in the same geographic location. Some angst, but mostly fluff.) School can make being creative harder. So can a job. For me, the trick has always been to set my expectations lower and to give myself time to create. It will feel like there isn't time, but even five or ten minutes here and there can do wonders for my soul. Momentum is powerful. Momentum can carry creatives through burnout back into wonder. Momentum can carry stories for thousands of words as you write what's next - it might not be good, but it's there and can be fixed and polished later. Momentum can keep you going even when you think there's no words left. I can't speak for art, but I do know writing. I'm looking forward to trading snips and ideas with you in 2025!

2024 Creative Wrapup and Look Ahead

This ended up very long and rambly but. I just wanted to get it out. Say my piece out to the world on my tumblr where most of my usual followers don't know I even am x3 Look Back

2024 was a hard year. I have no idea how 2024 started. But what I know is the moment I got unexpectedly terminated from my employment in early 2024, everything changed.

I think I was, in many ways, lost, for most of 2024 as a result of not having a job. But it was more than that. I was creatively aimless. I was struggling artistically and didn't have a purpose.

What originally started off as an attempt to learn more human anatomy to better draw furry stuff ended up snowballing into loving art more and once again. I stopped trying to be something and someone else. I stopped trying to fit into a box to appease a certain group, where many didn't even care anyways. And god everyone noticed. The amount of people who were commenting about my art glow up and how much better I was doing. That motivated me so much. And for the first time in a long time. I could see they were right. I Knew they were right. I understood the power of doing something I loved and how much that reflected in what I did.

That shift ended up cascading. It evolved and carried forward. It multiplied exponentially. It ended up culminating in me just locking up and moving on from something for my own mental health. While it was the catalyst for my artistic creativity, while I met many amazing people from it... there was also some truly awful things that happened to me. I cannot ignore the scars, regardless of how situations and myself as a person have improved. So it was time I parted ways and I am better of for it. Whether my departure from that part of my life will be for now or forever, only time will tell. For now I am happy it's locked in a box and out of sight. And my happiness matters most.

In the last months of 2024, by a series of chances I rediscovered by love of writing too. A realization I was driving a rare-pair ship for a large fandom, combined with a release for a game started it all. I focused on those fics with a renewed sense of purpose in October to November. The best month to do so given history and the writing events during it. In December, the last month of the year. A simple desire to say "thank you" - to someone who I had seen being so helpful to writers and creatives, helping in moderating and running events in a server - blossomed into something amazing. I made plans to watch She-Ra and the Princesses of Power with the express intent of writing a fanfic as a gift for that mod. I'd watch the series over November into December. Write the fic in December and then go back to my own fandoms. None of that happened. I binged the series in less than a week. I started writing the fic and I also started drawing art for it. I actually had Spop fanart BEFORE the fic was finished. A quick sketch of Catra as a trucker, roughly coloured based on conversation from my gift target. (How he didn't sense something was up at that point was beyond me lmao). I fell wholeheartedly into this lovely series and have a long fic completely outlined that I've already been picking away at. It's probably gonna be my big 2025 project. On top of fanart sketches and other fun things. Also on the note of binging, I just finished binging said gift targets 300k word fanfic in about 6 days. Because apparently when I fall into something I just fall whole heartedly into it. Full send out for a rip bud. Peak Canadian hours I guess. Go read Defiance by TheNotebookWizard xD.

I picked up things old and new and with a renewed sense of how I creatively work best as a writer and artist. I've published more written words in the last two months of 2024, than I did in the past 2 years combined. I have a new canvas to work on for words (Scrivener), and the same trusty canvas (ClipStudio) I've come to love for art. My art growth has never been better and the 2024 wrapup shows that wonderfully: (Also Frith-rah I drew alot of Lisbeth/Rika in 2024 lmao)

Most importantly. I found the joy in creating both words and art again. I re-discovered fully the love of creating something.

Look Ahead

As I look ahead to 2025 I'm still scared and anxious. I've taken the first steps already into a career shift courtesy of a fully funded education to employment program. It's in a completely new field for me too. Scary. I wonder how much time I will have for creativity. If I can balance being a student and also being a creative. I want to keep creating but I fear school will eat all that.

Who knows that will come however.

All I can hope for is that I will ride the momentum I have built up creatively at the end of this year and carry it forward to 2025. I am going to try my best to do just that. If i will it into existence, it should happen. If I tell myself to do it. I will do it. I have a whole new large fanfic story to start sending out to the world. Old fanfics to wrap up on. I have creative artistic ideas that I just want to get fufilled. Some of these are wombo-combo in tandem things. Art for these fanfics. It's gonna be fun. I am excited as much as I am nervous and anxious. I got this.

[sensesdialed-a]

WHERE TO FIND ASH????

MCU BASED PETER PARKER / SPIDER-MAN | high activity | ( @sensesdialed )

MCU BASED CAROL DANVERS / CAPTAIN MARVEL | high activity | ( @nothingtoprcve )

MCU BASED ANDROID ! KAREN FROM SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING | low activity | ( @fullcapabilities )

ADORA FROM NETFLIX’S SHE-RA AND THE PRINCESSES OF POWER | hiatus until season 2 | spop + mcu verses ( live action fc: virginia gardner ) ! | ( @edgeofgreatness )

[aprillikesthings]

Me, squinting at my own fic: is this too out of character

Also me: you put them in a different setting and that's going to happen

blah blah thinking out loud about characterization in my au fic behind the readmore, some of which is a little spoilery

(note: this...got long. bc of course it fucking did.)

in canon Adora very much has a rebellious streak--yes, some of it is just her incredibly strong moral compass, but that doesn't explain away, like, stealing a skiff after making force captain

BUT ALSO she is, famously, a people-pleaser (Because Trauma™️) and it could be said she did it because she knew it would make Catra happy

but then AGAIN as a small kid she called Octavia a dumb face (...to cheer up Catra) and talked Catra into getting a closer look at the Black Garnet, but that's less "rebellion" and more "poor impulse control in the face of curiosity because she's like, what, five?"

anyway

in my au she's just far, FAR more of a rule-follower (even when it costs her her friendship with Catra), up until Glimmer and Bow talk her into breaking a few rules, when she's like, 17/18...and then they talk her into *leaving* with only a fucking *note*

(which, of course, is pretty hurtful to Catra; considering they literally stop being friends because Adora's mom orders her to stop speaking to Catra--oh, you'll obey THAT rule but break other rules because your new friends suggested it? K.) (It's more complicated than that gdi but of course it wouldn't seem that way to Catra)

but also (in the next chapter) before all that she does drink at a party because Catra is just like "here I put some vodka in your punch, it's fine," like literally Adora's just like "I'm not allowed to drink. But lol okay."

BUT

in canon we see Adora arguing with Shadow Weaver, or at least talking back to some extent, in an attempt to protect Catra

and in my fic they don't have the same parental figure--Catra's mom is very obviously based on Shadow Weaver, but Adora's is closer to Light Hope (though, not to the point I've tagged her as a character), but slightly influenced by the way Shadow Weaver treats Adora in canon. So she's got insanely high expectations and is extremely strict and also just not very affectionate, and when Adora fails to meet her expectations she gets lectured and guilt-tripped to the point of tears--and because of the au I'm writing, it's all things like "respect your elders, don't do things that aren't ladylike, get perfect grades, have perfect manners, don't get your clothes dirty, don't do anything that would make anyone think you're weird, only be friends with people from 'good families.'" Adora's mom has her life planned out: you'll go to a good college, you'll meet your future husband there, you'll get married and have children (and hopefully your husband won't unexpectedly die young like your father did).

(whereas Catra's mom just insults her, yells at her, and (when she's younger) slaps her--I think I managed to imply that happens more than the once I show it in the fic)

So my au's Adora is terrified of stepping out of line to the point of freezing up with anxiety that borders on a panic attack when stuck between her mother's order to stop speaking to Catra, and not only her desire to still be friends with Catra, but her incredibly strong but entirely unacknowledged desire *for* Catra

And meanwhile, much like in canon, Catra's upbringing makes her a snarky, angry, openly defiant/disobedient teenager, because for her there's no reward for being "good" anyway, so who gives a shit?

(And just like in canon, it gets worse when Adora stops being her friend, though in this fic it's less "oppress/displace a bunch of people and destroy their homes" and more "be super fucking annoying and mean, also she engages in petty shoplifting, steals money and alcohol from her mom and stepdad, cuts class and start smoking")

And *waves hand* all of that, is why Catra figures out she's gay LONG before Adora does.

And just like in canon, they grow up with only each other as a reasonably reliable source of emotional support and kindness and acceptance; they can only really be themselves and let down their guard around each other

but their growing attraction towards each other as teenagers becomes this THING that they cannot possibly talk about--but because it's, y'know, 1966. Being a Lesbian is Weird and Bad. So now there's this elephant in the room all the time.

But Adora doesn't even recognize that that's what she's feeling even when it's basically right her in her face (it's totally normal to want to look at your best friend all the time, right? and spend nearly all your time with her? ha ha she smells good and I like dancing with her and that's Just Girl Things right??? no I don't want to date boys yet I have to go to college but I'm sure it'll happen eventually, somehow, just NOT YET GOD NO)

and Catra figures it out right around the time Adora stops being her friend (well, she goes from "Hm. I think I want to kiss Adora??...I don't think she wants to kiss me back :(" to "Oh, wait, that means--Oh. OH NO.") and it just exacerbates her own issues--she's already (in her own mind) a bit of a fuck up nobody could possibly love or care about (except maybe Adora, but why? why? why did Adora like her???) and now she has Being A Lesbian to add to the pile, well that's just fucking GREAT (not that she tells anyone yet)

So at the point of the story as of what's on ao3, there's a huge elephant in the room (their mutual attraction), and Adora is completely incapable of even seeing it even though she keeps bumping into it, and Catra is starting to see it but cannot possibly say anything about it.

And just as they're about to acknowledge it: everything blows up. Metaphorically speaking.

AND THAT'S THE FUCKING PLOT SO FAR

[call-me-double-trouble]

When Your Girlfriend’s Girlfriend becomes YOUR Girlfriend

(A short Adora x Catra x Double Trouble fic with emphasis on DT x Adora—takes place post season 5)

Double Trouble growled and walked several circles around Bow. “That bitch, she’s ignoring me! She won’t talk to me at all!” They let out another frustrated groan before clenching their jaw and closing their eyes, taking in a deep breath through the nose. “You know what? It’s fine. This is fine.”

Bow put his hands on their shoulders and led them to the nearest chair. “Do you want me to talk to her, or...?”

“It won’t work. I’ve already shapeshifted into other people to talk to her--and she does fall for it--but as soon as I try to get an answer, she realizes and stops talking!” They slumped into the chair and rubbed their temples. “And it’s already been 3 days. How much longer will she keep this up? I mean, how hard is it to just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’?”

“Maybe Adora just needs time to think about it.”

“She could at least talk to me about something else, then. And it’s not like she’s avoiding me! She still sits by me, holds my hand, leans against me, and whatever, but she won’t say a damn thing!” They breathed again, pressing their palms together. “I can’t take it, Bow. I’m going to lose my mind.”

* * *

Double Trouble and Catra had been dating for awhile. Four months, to be exact, and everything had gone surprisingly well given both of their track records. Of course, she was dating Adora, too--she’d actually been dating Adora first, and perhaps it was only due to DT’s efforts to befriend Adora that she’d graciously allowed them to form a relationship with Catra. Had they tried before, back when the two blondes were at each other’s throats, DT doubted Adora would have ever granted them permission.

It didn’t start out as tumultuous as they’d expected. Adora could be competitive, and with that came jealousy, but the simple fact was that she was either too busy or too distracted to feel any such thing. DT normally would have toyed with any insecurities they could and form a hefty wedge between the couple, but things were different this time--they actually cared about Catra, and they wanted this throuple to work. They knew Catra would choose Adora over them in a heartbeat if it came to it, so they had to tread carefully. So, the best course of action was to smooth things over with Adora.

The two had started becoming friendlier with each other, but had yet to close the distance. It came easier with time, of course. They found what they had in common--their knack for strategizing and planning, their hair poofs, and their love of Catra--and began hanging out one-on-one more frequently. 

Things were simpler then, Double Trouble lamented. It should have been easy enough to just be two friends sharing a girlfriend. But then they just had to start flirting with Adora. Maybe it started as a joke, and maybe it didn’t. Either way, she didn’t seem to mind. Perhaps she even liked it? She started flirting back. And then there was the kiss. 

The two had actually been arguing right before. Adora thought DT was taking too much of Catra’s time away from her, and DT thought Adora was being rather greedy with Catra’s affection. She always seemed to interrupt once DT and Catra were about to enjoy each other’s company or share a kiss.

Adora got mad. Predictable, of course. Her red face gave it away. DT couldn’t help but laugh at her. Even when she pinned them against the wall, they still felt in control. They could wrap her around their finger with ease--her emotions were so easy to manipulate. But then something shifted in her gaze. Her eyes lingered on their mouth a little too long, and they decided to tease her by pressing their lips against hers. They were just trying to irritate her. That’s what they told themself, at least. They’d never admit otherwise. 

But when Adora kissed back, really kissed back, and it felt so right--that’s when things no longer seemed clear. It only got muddier after that. They started kissing more, just here and there. Usually when Catra was with them. If Adora was about to go on a trip with Glimmer and Bow, she’d give both Catra and DT a goodbye kiss. DT kissed both before retiring to bed. It felt normal; they didn’t bat an eye after awhile. Didn’t even think too hard about it. 

No one else seemed to object to it, either. Glimmer and Bow were surprised and first, and Swift Wind cracked a joke about it, but they all came to accept the new change. DT reasoned it was fine--Adora was basically a girlfriend-in-law, since they were already sharing Catra, and it didn’t mean anything to kiss, really, it’s not like they liked her, it was just like a handshake but closer. 

DT may have been a good liar, but they weren’t that good. Each kiss meant something, at least on their end. They never thought they’d start crushing on Adora of all people, but it was too late to go back, now. The only way left was forward.

“Hey, Adora,” DT said, sliding in the chair next to her. They’d taken to copying Catra’s go-to line, mostly to annoy Adora, but with a hint of genuine flirting mixed in. 

Adora rolled her eyes and mimicked them. “Hey, Double Trouble.”

“Let’s cut to the chase. We’ve been doing this whole routine for four months, and at this point, we’re practically dating, right? We should make it official. I mean, why not?”

Adora tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I’ll get back to you in 5-7 business days.”

Their ears drooped with confusion, raising an eyebrow. “Wh-what?”

Adora said nothing more and left the room.

“...” Not the answer they’d expected. 

But it was the only answer they’d get, for anytime they tried to speak with her about anything at all, she’d remain quiet. She’d still spend time with them, even still kissed them when they asked for it, but stubbornly refused to talk. She even snickered when they’d get frustrated and try to pry an answer from her. She was clearly enjoying herself. 

Double Trouble vented to Bow about it for a good half an hour before finally calming down.

“Okay, so if she said 5-7 days, and it’s only been 3...maybe just give her about 2 more?” Bow tried. “She’s probably true to her word.”

“But I want to know soon so that I can plan our first date, should she accept!” They tapped their fingers against their scaly arms. “I have a reservation at a nice place, which was originally for just Kitten and me, but then she cancelled because something came up with Scorpia. I want to take Adora, but it’s for tomorrow night, and--”

“This all sounds like a really convoluted way of hiding the fact that you’re just nervous she’ll turn you down.”

They narrowed their eyes. “Damn you and your ability to read me, sweetheart. Yes, you’re right, but if you tell Adora, I’m going to shapeshift into Glimmer and call your dads about the ‘good news’ that she’s ‘pregnant’!”

A nervous bead of sweat formed on Bow’s forehead. “Okay, okay, I’ll talk to Adora, and I’ll prove that it’s me so she won’t think I’m you in disguise.”

“Thank you. At long last, I might finally get an answer!” They clapped twice, getting their emotions under control again. A smile replaced the irritated scowl that they’d been wearing earlier. They had no doubt what Adora’s answer would be.

* * *

Adora knocked on their door in the middle of the night. Whatever Bow said must’ve worked.

“Nah.”

DT flicked their tail. “Hm?”

“I’m not interested.”

DT kept a smile on their face to conceal any snippet of what they felt. “May I ask why?”

“No reason, I just don’t want to.”

“Oh.” Their ears drooped, and their fingers twitched with agitation. “Is that all?”

Adora burst out laughing. “Okay, I’m sorry, I just really wanted to see your reaction. Of course I want to date you! I mean, I thought we already were, to be honest.”

Double Trouble held in their relieved sigh and gave a genuine smile. “Ah, I see my knack for pranks is rubbing off on you. Well done.” They linked their arms around her shoulders and drew her in closer. “But I knew you were lying, so I just acted like I believed it to entertain you. Did it work?”

“Pssh, yeah right. Even you’re not that good.” She grinned before resting her hand on their cheek, the other on their waist, and drew them in for one of those kisses they’d become so accustomed to, but in a good way. “But I’m still Catra’s girlfriend, first.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. I like her better than you, anyway,” they teased, sticking their tongue out. “But since she’s not here, I guess you’ll have to do.” They kissed her again, allowing themself to become more affectionate than usual. More akin to how they kissed Catra. Fiery, passionate, yet gentle when it needed to be, working up to a grand finale like all the best plays. 

Adora kept in time with them, matching their ferocity and softness. When they parted, she asked, “So, what were these restaurant reservations Bow was telling me about?”

[edge-lorde]

i wish in the show when the boats crashed they would show pieces of them still floating over the water for the rock theory to work better.

alas...

i agree about modern technology in etheria being largely overlooked in favor of more simple, elegant magical alternatives already existing. I also like some first ones tech still being used by the princesses every day, like the holo display in brightmoon being first ones tech.

it is odd to me how the show strongly implies that all of the runestone kingdoms on etheria had to have been installed by the first ones because of their connection to the heart, and all (/almost all if you count the fire kingdom) are still in existence 1000 years later, but even the ruling class has forgotten their connection to the first ones and how to read their writing. i guess its necessary for plot reasons and is interesting, but it feels odd that there would be no continuing record of it.

like the oldest king recorded on britroyals is from the year 757 . thats over 1000 years ago, and china has records of dynasties going back to the bronze age like 1600 bc. yes many changes have happened, but 1000 years doesn't seem long enough to make them totally forget their history AND have kept the kingdoms in place. unless, the kingdoms formed after mara caused a planet wide apocalypse. But if so, how could brightmoon have working first ones tech built into their palace? idk.

as for the scorpian kingdom-- tryant king scorpio is as good of an explanation as any. it would explain why the horde would overthrow them first.

i also thought more about scorpias place in all of this. it confused me why if the horde stands for an anti-princess society they would keep scorpia in a privileged position and even tell her she was supposed to be the princess of the black garnet and giver her pictures of her parents. if they didnt want a princess led society and also didnt want to get rid of a baby, also fine. why not just not tell her shes a princess and toss her in with the other orphans? i think the answer is shadow weaver.

when adora came through the portal as a baby, shadow weaver was already enmeshed in the horde. we know she was eventually given access to the black garnet for her power. scorpia doesn't seem like shecould be more than a few years older than catra and adora and the other main teen cast, meaning she was probably a small child when adora was a baby. maybe scorpia was meant to be shadow weavers first adora-- shadow weaver would have known scorpia would have been able to connect to the black garnet. maybe she had been planning to raise her the way she did adora, to be her eventual access point to the heart of etheria. then adora came through the portal, and shadow weaver realized adora was more special and switched her focus onto her, while keeping scorpia close by as a back up.

however, i also like the idea of the scorpion kingdom having mechanical technology before hordak got there so he could be influenced by tech that was already there and have kept the scorpion motif designs. i think maybe the other princesses didn't like the scorpion kingdom before the war because they had an industrial society that they saw as polluting and unnecessary, while the scorpion kingdom saw the other princesses societies as old fashioned and out of touch. as their tech industry became more sophisticated, they stopped venerating magic and saw the warrior-ruling class of princesses sitting in their castles in luxury while the people worked to support this lifestyle in times of peace as oppressive.

Even if grandpa scorpio wasn't personally a tyrant, the people could have seen his rule by birthright as inherently oppressive and the first to go.

then once hordak came onto the scene scorpion tech went from industrial to futuristic in under 30 years. I put it in the original posts tags as a joke, but i do think hordak would have been the one to create the etheria version of the internet, or what ever they used to skype each other and track locations. the hive mind certainly seems to work in a similar way to the internet so he would have been familiar with the concept when he arrived.

he would have created everything he did for purely practical reasons, and the internet and digital video would have been made for military purposes. like i feel the internet exists on etheria but theres no scoial media. theres digital video recording, like the recruiting video clip specials on youtube, but no place where people go to watch videos like youtube. its like the 80s, where most people outside of the military dont know about it and you have to be in the know in order to use it. being part of the etherian makers guild is how you could get in the know. this is how bow gets tracker pads for him and his dads, but they dont seem to be common outside of that. the makers guild would be the only way horde tech slowly gets out of the horde and starts influencing the rest of the planet. i could see individual horde soldiers/civilians (if they have any) being part of the guild and talking to nerds in brightmoon as a pastime.

i also headcanon that maybe dryl once supplied the scorpion kingdom with materials as a mining operation until the horde overtook it. the workers either left because business dried up because none of the other kingdoms had markets for large quantities of the materials they mined and they didnt want to supply the Horde, or left to straight up join the horde. this left a child entrapta alone in the castle to do with it as she wished..... (her parents either dead, or left to find business elsewhere with the intent to return but never did).

more spop world building notes

i was talking with an irl friend about my brightmoon head canons and mentioned to them how odd it was that the boats in spop don't seem to sit in the water, as can be seen from this screenshot of sea worthy:

they also float in the air sometimes i guess.

example of them in the water:

my friend noted that the fins look like hydrofoils , something i hadn't known about. theyre basically fins that go on the bottom of a boat and, qutoe from the wiki--

"As a hydrofoil craft gains speed, the hydrofoils lift the boat's hull out of the water, decreasing drag and allowing greater speeds."

real hydrofoils look like this:

the resemblance is even better with hydrofoil boards.

real hydrofoils have structures that go under the water in order to give the boat/board the lift to be able to rise up like this

but what if the same effect could be achieved a different way?

we know that there's a stark difference in technology between the horde and the rest of etheria, but Horde navel vessels also appear to float just over the surface of the water despite looking much heavier than the other etherian ships we see.

we also know they have other floating land vehicles like the skiffs.

much of their other vehicle technology has a scorpion aesthetic, as it was adopted or stolen from scorpias former kingdom. examples:

we also know that first one's technology combined magic with regular technology, and entrapta seems to be the first person to have been able to reinvent this kind of tech during the events of the show.

We also know that the galactic horde doesn't use magic in its technology at all, as its a major plot point in season 5.

other people have made theories that i agree with, (but don't feel like trying to dig up their posts) that when hordak arrived on etheria, he did so at a time when anti-princess sentiment was already high and was adopted into an existing conflict because he brought with him stronger technology that could even the playing field with people with magical powers. he then would joined with the scorpion nation in this effort in some way-- whether it was mutually beneficial or not.

this is the image of the scorpion nation being taken over by the horde that light spinner showed micah as a child to convince him to help her grow her own magical abilities

it should be noted that light spinner/shadow weaver was at this time a powerful sorceress in illusory magics and is a villian well known for manipulating children in her care (adora, catra, micah). The scorpion kingdom take over could have happened like this or been more of a mutual endeavor and this is just what she chose to show micah because she knew it would compel him to action. Evidence could point either way. Scorpia is the only living scorpion person we ever see in the show, but she's also been treated well (has her own room with a picture of her parents with her on display and a closet full of dresses) and been given status beyond her abilities in the horde. she's supposed to be a force captain in season one, before even catra is made one, and yet when she is left in charge of a crew of soldiers its played for laughs, as if she's never had to do that before in a meaningful way. at least to me, speaks to there having been an alliance between the growing Horde and the scorpion kingdom at least at some point, and maybe a promise to take care of a young princess that was honored.

the textual evidence in support of hordak bringing advanced tech to an old conflict is scorpia mentioning before the prom that the other princesses didn't like her kingdom even before the war, the face that the horde cadets grew up being fed anti-princess propaganda despite the horde harboring a known princess in a position of authority, and the tech that the horde has. As i said before some of it has a scorpion motif like it came from the scorpion kingdom, but some of it does look like what we see of galactic horde tech, notably hordaks lasers and the green forcefield prison cells present in both hordes.

we also know that hordak himself is an engineer, having made many technologies presumably by himself-- such armor to hide and manage his medical condition, something he did not want other people to know about. So its my opinion that all of the tech we seen in the etherian horde is an amalgamation of scorpion tech, galactic horde tech adapted by hordak as well as new designs he invented. none of which use magic before entrapta joins the horde.

so what is my point? well, the other etherian kingdoms other than dryl dont seem to use any modern tech at all, at least at the structural level. like bow and his parents have a data pads they can call each other with, but much of the way people are living in etheria looks almost medieval. the princesses dont seem to have any ground vehicles at all for example.

and yet both sides have floating boats.

one could say the princesses boats are magical while the horde boats use some kind of magnets or some other floating technology we don't have.

OR

you know what they do both have?

FLOATING ROCKS

so all of this to say...

what if they put rocks in the boat and it make it go up instead of down????

[testudoaubrei-blog]

Well, it’s not quite a master’s thesis, but this is (the first of) a series of posts on why Catra and Adora are the best love story in the history of kids TV animation and maybe the greatest love story in the history of TV. This may in some ways be faint praise - romance on TV is generally not very good compared with books or movies. Often it’s just some will they/won’t they sexual tension that is defused by getting characters together and re-heightened by breaking them up. TV is full of nearly shark jumping pointless dramas like Sam and Diane (Cheers, holy fuck am I dating myself, though that was technically before my time), Ross and Rachel (Friends, which was no Cheers) etc, but also some less annoying couples like Ben and Leslie (Parks and Rec) or Amy and Jake (Bk99) who are mostly just kind of cute and fun. Other shows, like the X-Files, teased viewers for years with unresolved sexual tension. In kids shows most romances are, appropriate for their target viewers, mild, sweet relationships based more on self-conscious flirting and blushing than on complex and conflicted feelings or deep passions - which is pretty realistic when the characters are young teens or even mid-teens. Some of these relationships are really well done - Finn and Flame Princess, Dipper and Pacifica (yeah I ship them), the early stages of Katara and Aang (before the showrunners imbued this childhood crush with cosmic significance), Steven and Connie, etc. Catra and Adora, though, are different. Their love story is not a side plot or a sub plot, it’s the heart of the show. It isn’t a childhood crush, it’s a very messy and passionate relationship between two young adults. She-Ra is an emotionally complex lesbian romance just as much as it is a thrilling action/adventure show. Everything about their relationship is baked into the show’s plot, its themes, hell even its musical score. The dramatic tension between Catra and Adora is not the result of stretching out a flirtation for ratings, but a coherent dramatic arc that runs through the entire show. As Noelle said, he made Catradora so central that execs couldn’t take it out without ruining the show. And the show is better for it. In this series of posts I’m going to try to show why, as well as showing why She-Ra is such a fantastic love story.

First off, let’s talk about how Catra and Adora’s character arcs are foils for each other, and how they come together and apart through the series. This is actually a post that I’ve been working on for a while but I keep summarizing the show rather than cutting to the chase, so I’m not going to recite many plot points so much as sketch out what’s going on with the dramatic structure at the time. But also, let’s talk about what each character’s arc is saying, and how they are commenting on each other. Spoiler alert: Catra’s arc is a subversion and critique of stories of empowerment through ruthless self-assertion and revenge, while Adora’s arc is a subversion and critique of chosen one narratives and stories of self-denial and self-transcendence.

When the show starts, Adora and Catra are shown as rivals and friends - their first scene starts the recurring motif of them reaching out for each other as one of them dangles above an abyss, as well as establishing their flirtatious banter and easy camaraderie. We quickly learn that these two young women plan to conquer the world together. These scenes and later flashbacks show Catra and Adora as deeply enmeshed in each others lives, to the point where neither of them (but especially Catra) have clear identities outside of one another. There is so much genuine love on both sides before Adora leaves, but also resentment, envy and fear, especially on Catra’s side, as well as a protectiveness on Adora’s side that deprives Catra of her autonomy. They are both being abused by Shadow Weaver - Catra physically  and emotionally, Adora emotionally. It wouldn’t be too much to say that Shadow Weaver holds Catra hostage to control Adora (this is why critiques that Adora abandoned Catra to be abused are actually kind of messed up, since they accept Shadow Weaver’s premise that Adora is responsible for what Shadow Weaver does to Catra). In addition, Catra and Adora actually see the world incredibly differently. Adora already sees the world in terms of right, wrong and her destiny to right wrongs - this is why it’s important for her  to accept the Horde’s obvious lies - she couldn’t keep living if she didn’t. Catra, on the other hand, sees the world solely in terms of survival and personal loyalty - everything for her is about preserving herself and the person she cares about - Adora.

Then, when Adora finds the sword, she leaves because it’s the right thing to do. Catra doesn’t even have a concept of ‘the right thing to do’ being something she should care about, or perhaps, something she can care about as an irredeemably evil, awful fuck-up. So at Thaymor neither one understands where the other is coming from, and Catra and Adora begin to part. This is the first turning point in their relationship. Adora chooses duty over what she desires, Catra chooses to protect herself (such as she sees it) and nurse her sense of betrayal and abandonment.

Their relationship until Promise is a kind of weird Frenemy thing that is fascinating to watch and sold me on the show. Neither one wants to fully admit to themselves that the other is now their enemy, neither one has given up on changing the other’s mind. Each is furious at the other, and desperate to see her again at the same time. There’s a lot of heartache and just as much sexual tension, especially at Princess Prom. Both of them come alive when they fight each other (more about that in a later post). But they’re already growing apart - Adora embracing her destiny as She-Ra, Catra rising in the ranks for the Horde. Adora now has the purpose she always wanted, plus other friends and a sense of being chosen to do something great, while Catra now has power - the means to protect herself from people like Shadow Weaver as well as the vindication she had always been denied, and even the opportunity to beat Shadow Weaver at her own game.

The next turning point is Promise. Holy fuck, this episode. It’s an episode that is even more heartbreaking after you’ve watched the show because you know just how much worse things are going to get, and yet, it’s a necessary part of both of their character arcs. Even through season 1 Catra and Adora had remained very much enmeshed in each others lives in an increasingly fucked up way as they grew apart but refused to turn away from each other. Even though they aren’t -exactly- a romantic couple (Adora doesn’t recognize and acknowledge her feelings until the last episode of Season 5), Season 1 of She-Ra is one of the worst breakups I have seen on TV. As I said in a couple of previous posts, this is the kind of shit that the Mountain Goats write songs about. Everything that was poisoning their love for each other even before episode 1 bubbles to the surface and combines with them fighting on opposite sides of the war to make a truly fucked up situation. In the end, it’s Catra that makes the choice to turn away from Adora. This isn’t a -good- decision. It’s spiteful, and destructive, and based on an outright deluded understanding of their relationship (inspired by Light Hope’s manipulations and her own issues), but it’s in some ways a necessary decision. Catra has been so wrapped up in Adora for so long that she isn’t going to be able to figure out who -she- is without cutting Adora out of her life. And the same is true of Adora.

But each of them do this in about the worst way possible. Catra embraces destruction, ambition, manipulation and outright cruelty, turning the tactics of her abusers against them and against everyone around her. She first triumphs over Shadow Weaver and manipulates Entrapta into trying to corrupt Etheria itself. Meanwhile Adora ‘lets go’ and commits herself to the self-denying mantle of She-Ra. Over the next several seasons, their respective paths will nearly lead both Catra and Adora to their deaths (in the Season 4 finale).

For the next season (counting season 2 and 3 as one) Catra and Adora are still closely linked, but as enemies. Still, there’s more than enough flirtation between them (that ‘Hey Catra’ in the first episode of Season 2 is something else), and especially on Adora’s side we see her hold back with Catra, and often take responsibility for the harm Catra inflicts, just like she had when they were kids. Yet they still drift apart - after facing off every other episode in Season 1, they spend less and less time on screen together through season 2 and 3. Catra continues her ascent to power and descent into villainy while Adora becomes more of a stressed out mess as she takes the fate of the world and the wellbeing of everyone she cares about on her admittedly broad shoulders. Catra’s one moment of vulnerability is rewarded by Shadow Weaver’s betrayal and her exile, then Catra triumphs in ruthless badass fashion through sheer desperation and aggression. In the Crimson Wastes, we see Catra at her most independent, and she almost seems happy. But once Adora shows up and Catra hears about Shadow Weaver, she’s sucked back into the worst of her resentments, and she makes very clear that being happy is less important to her than making sure Adora is miserable.

This changes everything. Catra completely breaks with reality and tries to kill Adora, herself and the world rather than lose to Adora and Shadow Weaver (I do think it’s important to remember that she does that after Shadow Weaver nearly kills her). Catra betrays everyone around her when she exiles Entrapta, threatens Scopria and lies to Hordak. Then she flips the switch. When Adora tries to fix things, Catra fights to her own death to make sure that the world disintegrates with her. For her part, Adora fights first to understand what is wrong with the world and then to fix it. Finally she tells Catra that destroying the world is her choice and she has to live with it, decks her, and then sees her off with a death glare once the portal is closed. With this, Adora writes Catra off even if, as she says later, she never never hated her. By doing that, Adora casts off the guilt that had dogged her and takes responsibility for her own life rather than someone else’s - this is actually a huge step for her, and one that will become more important in Season 4.

Season 4 is in many ways the nadir of their relationship. They only see each other once during the entire season, in Fluterrina, when Adora tries to blast Catra, much to the latter’s shock. There’s a sense in that scene that Catra is trying to have the same flirtatious enmity she used to have with Adora, and Adora is having none of it. Catra almost seems hurt by this, which is an early hint at how isolated Catra is beginning to feel. Catra spends the rest of the season at her highest and lowest. On the one hand she spends most of 12 episodes winning by every standard she has ever claimed to care about, besting Hordak himself in single combat and making herself co-ruler of the Horde and coming within a day’s march of ending the Rebellion. In many ways it is the ultimate empowerment fantasy - the abused young woman has defeated her abusers, showed up everyone who doubted her and forced everyone to respect her. But I think it’s striking that the show starts with her and Adora dreaming of conquering the world together and in Season 4 Catra nearly succeeds in conquering it alone, almost like she was trying to live out her old shared fantasy while proving she didn’t need her former best friend. 

At the same time, Catra is clearly miserable. She’s always been unhappy, but in Season 4 we see her completely isolated and lying to herself and everyone who will listen in a desperate attempt to justify her actions. Turning the tactics of Hordak and Shadow Weaver against them to gain power and then against Scorpia and Entrapta to maintain it haven’t vindicated Catra, they’ve made her more and more alone as Entrapta is exiled and Scorpia drifts away. Meanwhile Catra reaches out to Double Trouble, and her interactions with them reek of a kind of desperate desire to have someone in her life (the feeling of their interaction is of an unhealthy casual relationship where one partner becomes emotionally invested and the other takes advantage of that while denying the other the closeness they desire). As people leave her, one after the other, it becomes clearer and clearer that Catra doesn’t want power at all - she wants connection, friendship, love, and power is a very poor replacement. As I said in my long Catra rant, Season 4 is both her ‘Walter White as a Catgirl’ season and the beginning of her redemption. Everything comes to head when Sparkles destroys everything Catra has tried to achieve, Double Trouble delivers those harsh truths and Horde Prime shows up and makes it all irrelevant, just highlighting how futile all her struggles and sacrifices and crimes have been.

Meanwhile Adora spends Season 4 becoming her own her and her own woman. After telling off Catra, she grows more and more disillusioned with Light Hope and critical of Glimmer (though the latter has more than a shade of her old habit of taking responsibility for others - Adora’s development is not linear). She’s gained the courage and confidence to strike out her own path, not just follow a destiny. At the season’s end she once again breaks with her best friend to do what is right, and discards the destiny that she was being prepared for. But in this case she isn’t chasing one packaged destiny for another, instead she’s making her own choice and literally shattering the thing that she thought gave her life purpose. It’s badass, and heartbreaking, and along with decking Catra and jumping after Catra into the abyss (see below) it’s the perfect Adora moment.

In many ways Season 5 starts with Catra and Adora farther apart than they have ever been. They aren’t even enemies anymore, they’re completely out of each other’s lives. And both Catra and Adora are lost at the beginning of Season 5 - Catra is useless and alone on Prime’s ship, completely defeated despite ostensibly being on the winning side, and she goes through the motions of her normal plotting without any particular conviction and none of her normal flair. Meanwhile Adora is even more miserable and self-destructive than usual, throwing herself at Horde Bots and working herself until she drops of exhaustion. In a very real way they both stay lost until they have a chance to help the other. Catra takes responsibility for what she’s done and what she can do, saves Glimmer (at least partly for Adora’s sake), apologizes to Adora, and sacrifices herself. Adora only seems to come alive when she decides to turn around, face Prime, and save the cat. And when she does, Catra and Adora’s arcs, which had separated so completely in season 4, come crashing back together to end the series.

Adora during Save the Cat is such a contrast with the uncertain, hesitant and self-destructive wreck we’ve seen so far in Season 5. This is possibly her craziest plan in 3 years of mostly cazy plans, but she never wavers or questions herself. Even when Chipped Catra appears and we see Adora’s heart break while we watch, Adora doesn’t back down or relent. She keeps at it even as the tears stream down her face. She fights better trying to save Catra without She-Ra’s powers than she fought at the Battle of Bright Moon with them. Catra’s just about as desperate - we see her cry and plead, and now is probably as good a time to any to point out how amazing a job both VAs did throughout the show, but especially in this episode, and how good a job the board artists did. 

Seeing each other for the first time in a year, and only the second time since Catra blew everything up, Catra and Adora are probably the rawest and least restrained we’ve ever seen them. There’s barely any banter, no bravado, and no pretense that they are anything other than two women who desperately need each other (Prime doesn’t help with ‘You broke my heart’.) Then Catra is flung to her death, Adora jumps after her, breaks both her legs in the fall (we see her crawl to Catra, as though she couldn’t walk) and becomes the real She-Ra. It’s such a triumphant and deeply queer moment seeing a woman transformed into a warrior goddess to protect the woman she loves, and it’s the reason that, as dark as it is, Save the Cat is my Comfort Food episode.

Let’s not sleep on Taking Control, though. This episode is like a microcosm of what this show does best, especially the A plot with Catra and Adora. Catra’s reversion to lashing out at everyone and her refusal to be open to Adora shows just how much of a struggle this whole ‘being good and trying to connect to people’ thing is. Catra’s outburst gives Adora a chance to stand up for herself and refuse to be Catra’s punching bag, while also not trying to control her. Adora’s ultimatum gives Catra a chance to reach out to Adora (quite literally), and allow herself to be vulnerable. In this episode, we see just how far Catra and Adora have come since the messed up stew of their relationship in Season 1. Adora lets Catra be responsible for her own actions; Catra lets herself be vulnerable to Adora and takes responsibility for her actions. They’re both better people and better friends and better partners than they were, and the show has shown this in a strikingly nuanced and realistic way. 

The important thing to note in the next few episodes of Season 5 isn’t just how much closer Catra and Adora get to each other and how much they flirt (So much. So much, y’all) but just how -happy- they are. We see both of them transformed in the other’s presence. Basically, since they’ve parted, both Catra and Adora have been defined in no small part by how miserable they often are. They have both had their triumphs and their lighter moments, but there’s been a sense of melancholy dogging both Catra and Adora since episode 1. And now that they’re together again, that lifts, somewhat. Catra’s verbal barbs have lost their venom, and she can openly show how much she cares for Adora and even Bow and Glimmer. She’s still herself - snarky, cynical, somewhat devious - but she’s not engaged in a self-destructive zero-sum struggle with everyone around her. Meanwhile Adora has spent 4 seasons being a neurotic and sometimes nearly joyless mess who takes responsibility for everything and often doesn’t let herself enjoy anything other than the odd BFS group hug (exceptions include trying to uh...impress Huntara and reveling with the butterfly ladies of Elberron in Flutterina).  Around Catra, though, she’s a cocky, swaggering jock who gives as good as she gets. It’s a side of Adora we’ve only seen hints of before, and one that’s so much more confident and joyful even as the world is ending around her. Apart, Catra had tried to protect and vindicate herself with power and conquest, while Adora had tried to forget herself in duty and sacrifice. Together, they can be themselves again. This dynamic is crucial to the show’s portrayal of Catra and Adora’s romance because it doesn’t just show how much they love each other, but how they’re -good- for each other now that they’ve grown as people, and that they are so much better than they were when they were apart.

Until Shadow Weaver shows up. Their old abuser reintroduces tensions but even then things are different than they were. Now Catra isn’t just resentful of how Shadow Weaver prefers Adora - she’s  protective of Adora, which is clearest in Failsafe when she calls Shadow Weaver out for being willing to sacrifice Adora. And while Adora takes the Failsafe, it isn’t to follow her destiny or because she has a death wish - it’s because she loves her friends, and she is the only one who has any hope of doing this and living (though Catra’s suggestion that Shadow Weaver take it is a good one). And finally, when Catra leaves Adora, it isn’t because she hates Adora, nor, despite what she says, is it because she really thinks that Adora chose Shadow Weaver. At least, not exactly. It’s because Catra loves Adora, and can admit that to herself, and can’t stay around and watch the woman she loves sacrifice herself rather than choosing Catra. Before Catra leaves, she asks Adora ‘What do you want?” It’s a question that echoes Shadow Weaver’s speech in Episode 1: ‘isn’t this what you always wanted since you could want anything?’ As much as Adora has grown as a person, and defined herself and stood up for what she thinks is right, she still has never answered that question - it’s never been ‘what do I want’ but ‘what do I have to do?’ and that’s how Adora answers Catra’s question. This is Adora’s last gasp as a self-transcending hero, letting go of what she wants (not that she ever dared articulate what that was) in order to do what must be done. And it nearly kills her and dooms the universe, because Adora can’t be the hero that she needs to be by being anyone less than herself.

But it’s losing Catra that inspires Adora to tell off Shadow Weaver for good (not that she’d ever really warmed to her after season 1). And it’s love for Adora that inspires Catra to stand up to Shadow Weaver and demand that she do the right thing. In both cases, Catra and Adora aren’t just standing up to their abuser, but holding her to account for the harm she’s caused, and it’s the love that they have for each other that inspires them to do this. In Catra’s case in particular her refusal to let Shadow Weaver weasel out of finding Adora is a much greater triumph over Shadow Weaver than beating her up and breaking her mask in Season 1 - it’s proof not so much to Shadow Weaver but to Catra herself that Catra really is better than this and that she deserves better than this. It’s not turning her abuser’s tactics against her, but truly holding her to a moral standard and demanding that she do the right thing.

And then there’s Catra and Adora together at the heart. Catra has already come back for Adora and stayed to the end, choosing to die with her even if she can’t share a life together (not out of some death wish, but because Adora needs her). And Adora, who’s been avoiding answering the question for three fucking years, finally let’s herself want Catra when Catra finally confesses her love (breaking the last of her self-protective shields) and asks Adora to stay -for her-. And by admitting what she wants, Adora can truly be at peace with herself and be the hero she needs to be, lesbianism saves the universe, The End.

So anyway, that’s how Catra and Adora’s stories are woven together and how they compliment and comment on each other. Narrativiely, Adora and Catra start together, come apart, find something of themselves, and truly find themselves and each other when they are reunited. Thematically, they are critiquing seemingly opposing narrative tropes - empowerment narratives and narratives of self sacrifice. But by showing the flaws in both types of story and showing how neither self-seeking empowerment nor self-negating self sacrifice can actually make us happy, She-Ra asks and answers more profound questions than most prestige dramas for adults do. I’ll get into how the show sells the idea that the power of love can bring us happiness (and save the world) in a future post. But next up, I’m going to celebrate just how much Catra and Adora’s relationship revels in ambiguity, complexity and contradiction and so tells a grown up love story in a kid’s show.

[yourfellowhuman07]

Alliances of the Heart

A She-Ra: Princess of Power 2018 fanfiction

For centuries, the All Princess Ball has been a time for the nobility of Etheria to let loose. Flaunting their power, prestige, and fashion for all to see. The ball had always been politically neutral, but, as tension from the war rises, not everyone is so keen to forget what happens beyond the walls of Castle Chill.

Lord Hordak, along with Princess Scorpia and Force Captian Catra, have come to the party to make alliances and find out everything there is to know about their enemies. Careful to not arouse the suspicion of the Princess Alliance.

Princess Entrapta, being the scientist she is, decides to come to the party to decode the secrets of body language, despite getting the same data from every other party she has ever attended.

When the two rulers cross paths, their plans flip on their heads as the two grow closer. Now it is up to Catra and Scorpia to push the two together as Adora and Glimmer stick their noses where they do not belong.

________________

Introducing Chapter 2!

Thank you all for reading!

________________

Chapter 2: Playing Cupid

Catra grabbed Scorpia by the bicep pulling her away from the chocolate fountain. The two women approached the princess as she filled her pockets with tiny treats.

“Hey, I’m Force Captain Catra from the Fright Zone, nice to meet you.” Catra stuck out her hand with a friendly expression, at least to Entrapta. Scorpia on the other hand saw a mischievous glimmer in her eyes; she was cooking something in her head. Be careful, Wildcat.

“Oh, hi, I’m Entrapta, nice to meet you too.” To Catra’s mild alarm, Entrapta’s hair grabbed her hand and shook it, a little bit harder than the norm but bearable. Entrapta then noticed Scorpia, namely her tail.

“You must be Princess Scorpia. Does your tail secrete a venomous liquid? If so is it deadly, and could I have a sample, to study?” She inquired while wrapping her hair around Scorpio’s tail.

“Woah ok,” Scorpia whipped her tail out of the tendrils of hair and into her arms, “you do not touch another girl’s tail.”

“I’m sorry,” Entrapta pulled away, “I didn’t mean to offend. I’m bad at meeting new people.”

Entrapta flinched when Catra put an arm around her, slightly squeezing her shoulder.

“Don’t sweat it, we don’t get out much either. Say what were you doing up there in the first place all by yourself?” Entrapta slipped out underneath Catra’s arm.

“I was studying human behavior to better navigate social settings. The only problem I have is that all my data is the same.”

“Well, maybe instead of looking in on it from an outside perspective get into the crowd, you know, hands-on learning.”

“I’ve tried before but I always mess it up and no one interacts with me.”

“Hey listen, Scorpia and I will have your back and coach you a little. Sounds alright with you?” Entrapta then began to rock on her feet thinking long and hard about Catra’s proposal.

“For the pursuit of science, I’ll go for it.”

“Alright, we’ll see you in a minute.” Entrapta then raced off into the crowd, excited by the thought of scientific discovery.

“Catra, what is the plan here?”

“Look when I saw those two together Hordak looked amused, and we both know he has never even been close to that with anyone else. A happy Lord Hordak equals an easier time for us. Even if it isn’t anything romantic, Hordak having a friend would improve everyone’s life. You understand?”

“I guess so.”

“Good, now let’s catch up with Entrapta before she chickens out.”

____________________________________

Hordak was once again standing at the outskirts of the crowd silently surveying the partygoers. He looked up trying to find Princess Entrapta who was nowhere to be found, odd. As he sipped his wine he glanced from guest to guest, each one more sparkly than the last. Speaking of sparkles, Hordak caught the tail end of what looked to be an argument between Princess Glimmer and a boy who Hordak recognized from recent footage from his bots. As he was about to eavesdrop, another group dance started up, beckoning everyone to the middle of the dance floor. Surprising even himself, Hordak decided to enter the dance floor.

Hordak randomly stood back to back with someone and as the music stung turned around to see Princess Perfuma of Plumeria, the flower princess. When she saw him her face contorted in fear and disgust. 

“Lord Hordak.”

“Princess Perfuma.” While he appreciated the girl’s fear, he loathed having to start with her. 

“What are you doing here?”

“I am simply enjoying my evening.”

The rest of their turn was dead silent making 45 seconds feel like an hour. Then the music stung, allowing the two to separate, Perfuma whipping her hands on her dress as she walked away. Hordak moved to his second partner, Princess Glimmer.

“Lord Hordak.”

“Princess Glimmer, I must say I am surprised your mother is not in attendance.”

“She’s busy with Brightmoon affairs. She sends her regards.”

“Does she?”

When their turn ended Hordak moved on to Mermista, Scorpia, and Sea Hawk until he was paired with Adora.

“Adora.”

“Lord Hordak, I know you are up to something.”

“What exactly do you think I am ‘up to’, Adora.”

“I don't know but whatever it is I’ll be there to stop it, for the good of Etheria.”

“Is gatekeeping magic from the Etherian population for the good of Etheria?”

Adora, try as she may, had no comeback.

“Say what you will about the Scorponi Kingdom, but at the very least we have free health care.” At that, the music stung allowing Hordak to leave a stunned Adora alone.

Hordak put his back to his next partner, feeling proud at his small comment. The music, once again, stung letting the two turn around. Lord Hordak and Princess Entrapta were once again facing each other. At first, she was startled, something Hordak didn't like, but her face quickly turned into a smile.

“Hello again, Princess.”

“Hello Lord Hordak. I’ve decided to get some hands-on data.”

“I see that.”

“Could you tell me about the Fright Zone? I want to know what I’m getting into before I come to visit.”

“First of all, it is very dark there. The area the Fright Zone was built upon had very unusual weather patterns causing the sky to be covered with black clouds. It is primarily a military base so you will see much of the army cycle through. Of course, there is my sanctum which I will allow you entry to, and the Black Garnet chamber where the rune stone is held.”

“Wait you have the Black Garnet! I assumed it was destroyed during the rebellion.”

The music stung again but instead of separating the two stayed together, ignoring the changing of partners around them.

“Yes, the Black Garnet is in my possession. Right now, my second in command: Shadow Weaver uses it for the stone’s magical capabilities, but anyone can access it with my permission; however, Shadow Weaver is the only one to ever show an interest in it.”

“May I see it? My kingdom’s rune stone was destroyed during a rebellion that lead to the way Dryl is run today, so I have never had access to any rune stones.”

“Once you get to the Fright Zone you may have as much access as you want.”

“Thank you! I was thinking…” The two went on like that for the rest of the song. Dancing (at least Hordak was, Entrapta mostly walked along with him) and talking together like they were the only two people in the world, something that did not go unrecognized by their fellow guests.

Close by, Catra and Scorpia were dancing together, eyes fixed on two ‘lovebirds’ as they have dubbed them.

“Told you it would work.”

“Wow, is Hordak smiling?” At this point, Scorpia’s doubts had melted away leaving behind nothing but enthusiasm for the couple.

“My moons, he is. This was easier than expected.”

“What now?”

“Just let the situation play itself out. We’ll give them the occasional nudge if they need it, but it looks like those two got it pretty handled.”

Then the music stung again letting Adora and Glimmer pair up.

“Glimmer, I think I know what Lord Hordak is up to.”

“What?”

“Look,” Adora gestured over to the Lord and the Princess who were still dancing and talking with each other, still ignoring everyone around them. Glimmer’s jaw dropped as she stared at the couple. 

“They’ve been like that for the last 15 minutes.”

“Are you kidding me? Lord Hordak of all people? When I tried to talk to her she ran away and she dances with him?”

“I don't know what Hordak did, but something feels wrong.”