#* ☆ CATRA MELOG‚ image.

[mellisinalove]

Been kicking around some post series Catra ideas for some potential fan fiction creativity. Mostly around her future in Brightmoon. Browsing images of her future costume from the end of the series, I got struck by the idea of Catra earning a title of some sort. With that cape the idea of Duke of Brightmoon came to mind. Sort of playing up on Catra’s tomboy dude. She might not jump straight to it, working her way up through some version of feudal style ranks perhaps. Starting off as a Knight maybe? Or a herald as the start, a trusted envoy of the Queen? After all, it’s not just Adora she has become friends with. That’s what I’m keen to explore. Her developing relationships and interactions with the other characters, and give Melog some more screen time of course.

[camscendants]

New Stickers

[yee-t-haww]

A wildly cursed image

[etherianinenine]

[Image Description: Three screenshots from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018). In the first, Catra is pictured from the waist up. She stands on the left side of the screen while Melog stands on the right. Catra’s eyebrows are furrowed and she looks angry as she reaches up and places a hand on the top of Melog’s head. The caption has been modified to read, “What the hell is Shadow Weaver doing here?” In the second, Castaspella is pictured from the chest up. She has her hands balled into fists in front of her chest and she has a determined look on her face. The caption has been modified to read, “You said you wanted to reconcile.” In the third, Catra and Melog are pictured in the same spot as before but Catra’s mouth has moved. The caption has been modified to read, “I meant after she was dead. I planned on standing over her grace and yelling “I forgive you.” End Image Description.]

Image description by @heartofmara

[thatsgay-writes]

Catra x twin!sister reader where reader travels in alot of planets to find her sister and when she landed on etheria she explored the whispering woods and found melog, with their help she found glimmer and she led her to her castle and she finally met her sister. Catra wasn't pleased about it thinking that her family abounded her she just pushes reader away and goes to her room. Reader stays and went to deal with catra. They talked (mostly arguing) and in the end catra and reader hugs and they became very dear friends.

(I'm basically making you a nicer version of Catra with super girl powers (which you don't use in the story) and Lena Luthor as your wife because why not. I am also putting everyone in their early to late 20s... I also forgot to add Melog :( sorry.)

"Space log, day... 2000?" You mumble as you speak into the recorder on your ship. "It's been... 4 years since my son was born. 8 years since my people finally fully integrated with the civilization of our sister planet. 10 years since I renounced my royal title. 12 years since I met the love of my life. 16 years since my home world was destroyed by the Horde and my parents were killed. And... 24 years since I have last seen my baby sister." You breath out, having lost hope after so many years of things going wrong. "Lena and Madden have stayed on the planet Oa while I explore this last planet. It appeared almost 2 years ago and was the last place the Horde had ever been. Who or whatever is on the planet must be powerful." "This... This will be the final planet I explore. I have no hope of seeing my sister again." God you were so tired of the disappointment you felt every time you couldn't find your sister. "Happy 26th birthday." You mumble out as you get closer to the new planet. "End log."

---

"This is spaceship Kr 97. Requesting permission to land. I repeat requesting permission to land." You spoke into your radio, hoping to hear anything back. Maybe this planet didn't have the technology yet for radios? "If anyone can hear me. My name is Y/n and I come in peace. I will be landing my ship on your planet and will wait 2 days before exploring on my own." You say into your radio before putting it back where it had been hanging and controlling your ship into the planets atmosphere. It was a little bit of a bumpy landing but you landed your ship just fine on the outskirts of what seemed to be a forest. You set a 48 hour alarm on your phone. You weren't sure how the people or creatures of the planet told time, so you just stuck with what you knew. It had kept you alive so far anyways.

"Alrighty." You say to yourself as you step off of your ship. You take a deep breath as you feel the yellow sun power you up. "48 hours, let's get to work."

---

You spent the next two days cleaning up in and around your spaceship, setting up a camp, and watching how the forest worked so you knew what you could eat and what you couldn't. You had been sitting on the ground relaxing when you hear your timer go off. You click the loud noise off and stand up, grabbing the bag you had prepared. While learning the forest, you had seen some villages that seemingly lead towards somewhere and you had decided that the best course of action was to hop from village to village to see if their was a kingdom or something of that nature that you could get into contact with. You just hoped everyone was nice and that this wouldn't be a hard planet to navigate.

---

The first town you enter seems to be a farming village. You can tell because you had to walk through fields and saw, what you assume, were the livestock on the planet. You stood behind some trees for a while as you assessed how the villagers acted. You watched as kids ran around playing with their friends, shopkeepers and homeowners leaving their windows open in the nice weather, clearly not scared of being robbed. You decide that it's safe enough to enter and you have your powers to back you up incase things go wrong. It was weird because the planet had 3 moons and only 1 sun, usually planets had the suns out number moons but it was enough. You fix your cloak over your ears and tuck them back so they wouldn't be noticeable or a defining characteristic if things went sideways.

You walk slowly through the village, having expected to get some attention from your large black robe. And you do get some curious looks but it's mainly all friendly smiles. You are almost halfway through the village, aiming to enter one of the shops and ask around, when a something hits your leg. You look down and see a ball a few inches in front of your foot. You pick it up, making sure to retract your claws, and hold it out to the toddler who was staring at you and his ball. "Here you go." You say to him as you hold the ball out and shake it a little so his attention goes to it. He waddles up to you and takes the ball from you. He stares at it for a few seconds before making motions with his hands, wanting you to hold him.

Without hesitating, you pick him up and hold him close to your chest. "Where is your mother, kitten?" You ask him as he reaches up to play with your ear that were still under your hood. "Kitty!" He squeals as he knocks the hood off your head and you hear an audible gasp from behind you. "Oh my gosh, Catra I am so sorry! We didn't think you were visiting till next week. We would have prepared a feast for you and the rest of the princesses." You turn around and see an elderly looking man, who's eyes widen at the sight of you. "Have you gotten taller and cut your hair again?" He asks confused. You give him a small smile, "I'm sorry but I'm not this Catra you speak of. Are you saying there is someone similar looking to me on your planet?" You ask and the man gives you a weird look when you call it his planet but slowly nods his head. You feel hope for the first time in years and eagerly ask the man if you could stay near the town till she came next week. He gave you a bit of a weird look, not sure who you were now and unsure of your intentions, even though your reaction was positive. "Sure."

---

After returning the toddler to his mother, you basically sprinted back to your ship in excitement. "Lena! Lena!" You shout happily into the radio on your ship. Time is a little different on the planet as the sun was just starting to set but it would already be completely dark on Oa. But by your clock it was only 9, so Lena and Madden should still be awake. "Y/n?" You hear your name crackle through the radio and a smile appears on your face. "Lena you'll never believe it! There is someone on this planet that supposedly looks just like me and vice versa!" You say into the radio, feeling like a kid on Nova day. "I think it's her... I hope its her." You say as you image seeing your sister again for the first time in 24 years. "I'm so happy for you y/n! We will start making preparations to join you soon." You bite your lip in thought. "Maybe you should wait... I just wouldn't want to overwhelm her, you know?" You can almost hear Lena nodding on the other end of the phone. "That makes sense, we'll plan to leave by the end of the week if everything goes well."

"Geez I love you so much." You mumble with a wide grin. "And Madden too. Is he still up?" "No he fell asleep a few minutes before you radioed, he spent all day playing." "Oh well, tell him I love him and I'll radio back in the morning." "Okay, bye." "Bye."

---

"We need to be very careful about this." Glimmer says as she and the best friend squad enter the village who sent a letter the day before about someone who looked like Catra in their village. "We already knew that there were other people out there but as we already know not all of them are friendly." Catra walks next to Adora, numbly nodding along. Could this be it? Could she finally learn where she came from? Everyone else in the Horde had been born into it and Adora had come through a portal but no one really knew where Catra was from. "Are you okay?" Adora asked as she squeezed Catra's hand, nervous at how silent her girlfriend was. Catra just mutely nods back.

---

"This planet is simply marvelous!" The group hears you laugh out after being greeted by the village leader. "They look almost just like you Catra." Bow comments as they watch your tall figure move around as you play with the kids of the village and let them climb all over you. "Y/n!" You hear someone call your name and turn to see the village leader standing with a group of people and... Catra. They watch as you freeze and let your mouth fall open in shock. You set the kids down and encourage them to go play together. You walk towards the group with a smile. You go down the line of friends shaking their hands and introducing yourself, ignoring their looks of surprise, before finally reaching Catra. "Wow..." You breathe out in absolute awe. You can feel your eyes get misty the longer you stare at her. "You look so much like mom." You say with a watery laugh that completely sets Catra off.

"Who are you?" She asks as she pushes her finger into your chest making you take a step back. "What? Catra, I'm your sibling. I thought the similarities would make that clear." She glares at you and you can feel the whole village watching the interaction. "Just because we look similar doesn't mean anything." You move quickly and grab her right hand and hold it up next to your left one, both birthmarks showing.

You watch as Catra freezes. Her face and body come to a complete stop as her eyes flicker between the identical birthmarks and your face. "I know you must have questions and I do too. But I have spent the last 8 years going all across the galaxy looking for you and right now all I want is a hug... Please?" You get out as you let go of Catra's hand only for her to push you away one last time and storm into a temporary tent that had been set up for the best friend squad.

You take a second to take a breath before following after her. "I wouldn't follow after her, she needs time to cool down." A blonde, Adora, said to you as she placed a hand on your should to stop you. "I've dealt with people with anger issues before." You say as you brush her hand off. "I know how to handle this." You say and walk towards the tent again, not giving anyone a chance to stop you.

---

"You can't hide away in here sister." You say as you enter the tent, dodging a pillow that was thrown at your head. "Don't call me that." She mumbled angrily. "And why not, you are my sister are you not? I mean everyone saw the birth mark." Catra stands up angrily. "If you were my sister, you would have spent longer than 8 years looking for me! And how can you even compare me to this "mom" that I know absolutely nothing about!? Where are they anyways, huh? Where's great old mom and dad that I have spent the last 25 years not knowing about!" She unloads onto you and your feel your heartbreak at how disheveled she looked. You shouldn't have assumed everything would be smiles and laughs when the two of you first met.

"26." "Huh?" "You're... We're 26. Our birthday was 2 days ago." "So I don't even know my own birthday!" Catra explodes. "Get out." She says suddenly and quietly. "What?" "I said get out." She repeats and you shake your head at her. "I'm not leaving." You watch as Catra's hair stand up. "I am giving you one last warning, get out now or I will do something I might not regret." You cross your arms and stare her down. "I have spent the last 8 years planet hopping with my family looking for you. I. Am. Not. Leaving."

Catra jumps at you suddenly, attempting to scratch, hit, kick, do anything to make you leave the tent. Instead of doing what she wanted, you just wrapped her in a tight hug and sat on the ground. You stay like that for a while, her trying to hold back sobs and angry tears before finally letting go and you just rubbing circles on her back to try and calm her down. "Why?" Is all she says after almost an hour of being in that position. "Why what?" "Why now?" You let out a sad sigh at her question. "Mom and Dad are dead, killed by the Horde Prime and his followers when I was 10." You can feel Catra flinch at how blunt you were and the fact that she had worked for the Horde only a few years ago. "You had already been missing for 8 years at that point, multiple search teams being sent out but none could find you." You squeeze Catra tighter as you feel yourself relive all the grief that you carried for the past 16 years.

"I managed to get most of our people off the planet and to our sister planet before the Horde completely destroyed everything. Got everyone situated on that planet, met the love of my life, renounced my claim to any throne, and finally I started looking for you." It's silent for a few minutes as Catra absorbed everything you said. "So..." You asked as you wiped your tears off your face. "What about you?"

You and Catra spent the rest of the night and next day sharing stories about your childhood and how differently but similar the two of you had grown up. You even got to tease her about Adora and the fact that you were, technically, her older sister by 2 minutes. You were also very excited when you got to show Catra around the ship you had taken to get to Etheria.

---

"So I am guessing everything went well?" Lena asked over the radio after you finally called her about coming to Etheria. "It was a little rocky at the beginning but we smoothed things over... She's great Lena, you guys are gonna love each other." You say with a giant smile on your face as you look at Catra who was relaxing in the copilot seat next to you.

[etheriadearie]

Visual parallels:: and how the ✨Dream✨ is canon Catradora romance 💓💫💞🏳️‍🌈

::A SPOP quick study of this theory. Also, SPOILER ALERT if you haven't finished the show! 🚨🚨🚨

Save the Cat and Heart Part 2 are highly parallel episodes- in fact, they're mirrored. Including, but especially, the dream itself-

The message? That we're actually seeing Catra in the dream with Adora, and it is a canon romantic moment for us to appreciate. 💞🏳️‍🌈

Catra is in the dream with Adora - as the dream is actually a simulation, like the ones that Catra and Adora shared together during Promise. And what Catra is doing is trying to cheer Adora back to life- just like Adora did for Catra when she was teetering on the edge of the platform in Save the Cat.

That the two scenes are so purposefully mirrored is an artistic message for us to understand-- As Catra holds her hand out to Adora in the dream, it is the mirror of Adora holding her hand out to Catra in Save the Cat.

This mirroring* of the story and visuals is shown repeatedly throughout the episodes, and not just in the dream itself. (* if confused, see below)

Another visual parallel gives us more clues about Catra's presence: Catra's decision to stay with Adora moments before the dream is visually parallel to how she stands with Adora during the dream. Because, Catra is deciding to show her true feelings, including that she's willing to 'stand behind' Adora as the hero, something which is new as of this moment.

And in the dream, Catra shows that she stands with Adora as her loving partner, and she also shows Adora that she's in love with her.

'I'm your idiot'

In Save the Cat, when Catra ever so fondly calls Adora an idiot, Adora completely accepts it. She's admitting that she should have understood sooner how Catra was attacked all of their lives, and that Adora not looking out for Catra, and then leaving her, was hurtful.

And in the dream, Catra shows the same love and acceptance as Adora, in this case she's admitting that she's in love with Adora. Catra is telling Adora that being in love is what makes Catra want to drop her cool collected mannerisms around Adora, and instead be vulnerable and sweet. Aka, Catra is letting herself be an idiot in love during the dream for Adora's sake.

Ok so moving on to how the entire episodes are visual mirrors, starting from the very beginning of Heart Part 2. They mirror onward from the point when Prime touches Catra's shoulder during Save the Cat. Also, Shadow Weaver takes Prime's place because she's the overarching villain of the show.

More very closely mirrored scenes well before the dream: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, what do I see ? Two girls mirroring their love for each other so they can save them!! 🪞💞🪞 Catra's refusing to leave Adora when she's told to is the mirror of Adora telling Catra that she's not giving up on her during Save the Cat.

Prime's behavior also mirrors Save the Cat. And when he shocks Catra making her fall, Adora refuses to give up and instead risks jumping off the platform to save her. During the dream, Catra's intervention tells us that she must have seen Prime trap Adora- and so, Catra, too, refuses to give up, and she finds a way to reach Adora and free her. In short: Catra is able to turn Prime's own virus against him to save Adora, as Catra became infected with it along with Adora when the monster attacked her. (see Catra's right hand, above).

More beautifully mirrored emotions and story- Note: Adora perfectly mirrors Catra's emotions (in last panel) right before she unlocks her true She-ra form to fight off Prime, but, I wanted to show continuity with the healing scene. In both scenes, Adora's "It's ok, I'm here" and then "We're going home" are very similar to Catra's "I've got you, I'm not letting go!!"

Finally, the healing scene and the kiss are very similar as well. When Adora heals Catra, they are both enveloped by magic, and the same thing happens during the kiss. Why? Because Catra has incredible magical harmony- such as when she returns as Corrupted Catra, and her magical bond with Melog. Catra's kiss heals the virus in Adora, and their love for each other is what allows Catra to help Adora absorb the Heart's power-- 🌟❤️🏳️‍🌈

:: Hiya, and thanks for reading!! This is most of all a celebration of the incredible beauty and amazing romance we see during the dream. And yet, wouldn't it be even more beautiful if there were a way by which Catra was with Adora in her dream, whereby she romances Adora back to life? It's just a theory, I admit. But the mirroring that Noelle & Friends have put in the story with such apparent deliberateness may very well mean that we really are seeing the girls being their absolute most romantic and beautiful for each other. Either way, the dream is a ✨stunning✨ sequence.

:: So, I hope you at least enjoyed this, and please do ask questions! If you want more background on my reasoning, feel free to read my full theory post here. Either way, I welcome your questions and comments, and I will try to respond to all of them! So thank you for reading, or for even a like or a reblogg!!!

~EtheriaDearie 🏳️‍🌈💞💫

a bonus picture::

Very clever, reflecting the girls top to bottom rather than left to right! But really, Horde Prime's monologues in each episode are very similar. That's all, and thanks for reading! ❤️

definition- ::Mirroring: when two images are arranged opposite, as if they are reflections in a mirror. For example, in Save the Cat, Adora holds out her right hand to Catra from the left, and during the dream Catra holds out her left hand to Adora from the right. ✌️😁💜

[kittyprincessofcats]

She-Ra S5 E09 - An Ill Wind

In which the Best Friend Squad’s back on Etheria and I’m back to writing up my thoughts about it. (The real question is whether I’ll manage to finish these posts before season 5’s one-year-anniversary.) I probably really don’t need to say this anymore, but there might be spoilers for the rest of the season in this post.

- I think it’s funny how Catra can’t stand teleporting, but what’s even more important is how visibly concerned for her Adora is each time. Have you seen how she touches Catra’s shoulders and looks at her with such a worried expression? D’awww.

- “Wow, you don’t trust the princesses? I am shocked.” No Glimmer, Catra’s 100% right. This has nothing to do with trusting the princesses; you really don’t know who’s chipped and which places are occupied by clones. Perfuma literally told you the rebellion was compromised.

- “Catra’s right.” THANK YOU, ADORA! (Also, I love Catra’s satisfied little smirk in the background when Adora says this.)

- I just paused the episode when they arrive in Erelandia and counted the Horde flags you can see hanging all over the town: 14, plus one giant Horde sign in the sky and a spire not too far away. Prime, are you compensating for something? (Also, Adora has an arm on Catra’s back again. Cute.)

- Is it a little disappointing that all the rebellions against Horde Prime on other planets got reduced to one brief exposition scene where a clone mentions they’re happening and a few quick images? Yeah. But I also get why the show just didn’t have the time for more and wanted to focus on Etheria.

- Speaking of, are those the magicats we see in the second image? Interesting… I’m not sure how I feel about the idea of Catra potentially being an alien as well. But then again, the show never clearly answers it one way or another, and there’s no reason magicats couldn’t have existed on multiple planets.

- Also, am I understanding this right: The Star Siblings started the intergalactic rebellion after meeting the Best Friend Squad? And now there are already rebels on several planets? Nice job, Star Siblings!

- “My heart aches for these misguided children.” I’m not sure if I’ve ever properly addressed the heavily religious symbolism around Horde Prime and his cult, but… that right there is *such* a Christian-extremist-coded line, holy hell…

- So Prime says he wants to use the Heart of Etheria “to bring peace to all the universe” and at this point I’m not entirely sure what his exact goal is. Does he just want to destroy all the planets with the Heart? Because I’ll be honest, I tend to find “I just want to destroy everything” a bit boring as a motivation in villains. What’s the point of him ruling the universe if there’s no one left to rule over? I mean, I know Prime had his whole “If there’s no one left, there are no wars, etc.” speech in an earlier episode, but that’s also just so dumb.

- Where did the Best Friend Squad even get those cloaks? Either way, Catra looks adorable with the outline of her ears showing under the hood. 🥺

- “I hope you, too, are full only of love for Horde Prime… and have no crippling doubt eating at your soul.” / “Brothers, there is nothing to see here!” Like I said in an earlier post, all of Wrong Hordak’s lines are absolute winners. Also, I love how the other clones just keep falling for his very obvious bluffs.

- Wrong Hordak learning to wink so quickly makes me jealous because I can’t wink. (No, I really can’t; I’ve tried. Whenever I try to only close one eye, I always end up closing both. If anyone has good advice on learning to wink, let me know.)

- I love the character designs of the mushroom people.

- Catra wasn’t wrong about the locals selling them out and not telling them anything useful. The others should listen to her more.

- Bow posing as the “average traveler passing though” is especially funny because I’m pretty sure there are no “travelers passing through” in times of Horde Prime.

Catra: “A town that hates princesses? Should I buy property here?”

Everyone else: *glares*

Catra: “Is what I would have said before I joined you. Go, team.”

😂😂😂 Catra’s quiet little “Go, team” in the end is what gets me most about this moment 😂. She’s adorable and trying her best, okay?

- I love how Wrong Hordak just calls everyone “brother” regardless of gender. Also, Adora’s little “Did you just wink at me?” / “That’s not how winking works!” moments are hilarious and adorable.

- “You’re wearing hooded cloaks, it’s highly suspicious.” Okay, mushroom lady’s not wrong, though. And I love how someone finally points this out, since hooded cloaks are so often used as “undercover” disguises in shows like this.

- That said, both she and mushroom guy earlier did try to sell the Best Friend Squad out super quickly. Like, I get that the locals are scared, but still… They could have tried to stay safe without running towards the clones to tell them everything right away.

- I’m just noticing that Erelandia has mushrooms everywhere. Obviously the people are mushrooms, but there are also mushrooms growing outside in the streets everywhere, and the shop they’re in is selling mushrooms and clothes with mushrooms on them as well.

- Both Bow and Glimmer blowing their covers almost immediately and Adora just quietly shaking her head at both of them in the background is amazing.

- Love Catra (and Melog) just casually stealing a mushroom from a mushroom lady.

- So Catra’s just chilling in a tree and eating stolen mushrooms and Entrapta wants to analyze samples that’ll be ready in 4-6 weeks – neither of them’s really helping right now. But then again, Catra wanted to leave in the first place because she thought the locals would sell them out (and she was right about that), so she probably thinks it’s not worth the effort.

- Also, you know who this scene with Entrapta and Catra is missing? Scorpia. If there is one problem I have with season 5, it’s that we didn’t get any Super Pal Trio reunion / moments with all of them on the same side now. (Or just in general, that we didn’t get to see Scorpia and Catra properly talking things out.)

- “That’s the windy one, right?” Okay, am I the only one who finds this line weird? Spinnerella literally has Adora, Bow and Glimmer trapped in a tornado as Entrapta says this. Obviously she’s “the windy one”? Entrapta can literally see that??

- “Lord Prime has given me peace.” Oh, I’m just realizing that’s just what Catra said when she was chipped. That’s got to be awful for Adora to hear again.

- Glimmer grabbing Bow and Adora’s hands and teleporting them out of the tornado was badass.

Adora: “How are we supposed to fight our own friends?”

Catra: “It never stopped you before.”

OMG. I love that Catra still considers their time as enemies as “being friends”.

- I really love Netossa’s entrance. What makes it really cool to me is that at that point the Best Friend Squad didn’t even know if there were any unchipped princesses left, so Netossa jumping in there with a casual “Welcome back, guys” was just an amazing moment.

- Also, I don’t know if I’ve said this before, but I really like that this season finally made Spinnerella and Netossa more important characters. (And I wonder how much network censorship of LGBT+ storylines had to do with them not being that important earlier on.)

- Hordak getting flashbacks of Entrapta again (while Prime looks at his older body’s memories) is just 🥺. I like how Prime talks about Etheria while Hordak slowly remembers more and more about his own life on Etheria.

- “So, the only person I’m fighting here is… my own wife.” I love the on-screen confirmation that they’re married! But also, Netossa wanting to attack Catra and Wrong Hordak at first was pretty funny.

- Catra and Glimmer’s respective expressions when they hear about Scorpia and Micah being chipped are a gut punch. Also, Netossa talking about how she has to get Spinnerella back is making me tear up.

- “Where are the rebels?” “Right beside you!” 😂😂😂 Amazing, just amazing.

- Love to see Catra taking out those bots. She’s so badass ❤️.

- “Be careful.” “Always am.” I wonder at what point Netossa started to realize what’s going on between Catra and Adora.

- Love Netossa whistling at She-Ra’s new look. Your wife’s right there, darling. But then again, who wouldn’t whistle at She-Ra’s new look?

- Honestly, why did anyone ever say Spinnerella and/or Netossa were weak? Their fight here really shows how powerful both of them are when they don’t hold back.

- “Stop holding back. She won’t.” Looking past how hard this must be for Netossa, this line really sums up why so many characters in shows like this seemingly become more powerful when they turn evil (or less powerful when they turn good): Because the bad guys have no reason to hold back.

- Adora firing a rainbow beam from her sword was amazing. I wish we’d gotten to see a bit more of She-Ra’s new powers this season.

- “Please. I love you. Come back to me.” I’m crying 😢. That’s a nice first taste of all the “I love you”s to come in the finale. And I love that it works (even if just for a bit). The whole “power of love helps you break free from mind control” thing might be a cliché, but it’s a cliché I love, so…yay, awesome!

- But also, and I’ll probably talk about this more when I get to the next episode (that I had a few problems with), I like how Netossa doesn’t only rely on the power of love, but still realizes she has to first fight Spinnerella without holding back to get her into a position where they can even have this talk.

- Yay, mushroom town is saved!

- Catra reassuring Netossa that Spinnerella will be okay was so sweet. She’s really trying to be nice and I think she’s doing great 🥺. (Also, Adora looks at her so proudly.)

- I just noticed that when She-Ra replaces the Horde symbol in the sky with her sword symbol, all the Horde flags around town are already gone, too. Did Catra, Glimmer and the others just like… take all of those flags down in between fighting the bots? Or did Wrong Hordak maybe walk around taking off the flags while the others were fighting?

- That said, the rainbow sword in the sky looks amazing.

- “I think Horde Prime is going to know She-Ra’s back.” “Good.” Love Adora’s determined expression here.

- Geez Horde Prime, no need to punch the screen. The screen didn’t do anything to you.

- Okay, so Horde Prime finally decides to go to Etheria himself, and when he announces that, Hordak looks at the crystal in his hand – it’s all coming together.

- “This is where the rebellion is hiding out?” “Yup. Why, have you been here?” The looks on Glimmer and Catra’s faces here are amazing. People have of course already written all kinds of amazing metas analyzing their expressions, but the short version is that Glimmer seems to remember their fight fondly, while Catra seems embarrassed.

- Perfuma trapping them all in vines and demanding to see their necks is not only hilarious, but also shows that the rebellion has learned from their past mistakes. 👍

- All of their reunions (Bow and Perfuma, Glimmer and Frosta, Adora and Swift Wind, Entrapta and Emily) were super sweet – I like big reunion scenes 🥺. Wrong Hordak meeting Emily was adorable. Perfuma clinging to Bow and crying about how she doesn’t want to be in charge anymore had me laughing so hard 😂.

- Okay so, I know Frosta’s punch breaks the mood a moment later, but I really think Adora wanting to officially introduce Catra to everyone after seeing her standing there alone while everyone else was having big reunions was super sweet. The way her face falls when she sees Catra standing there sadly, the way she asks her to come here so gently… it’s just so sweet. 🥺

- Also, unpopular opinion, but am I the only one who didn’t really find Frosta punching Catra funny? (And the same goes for Scorpia electrocuting her in the next episode, by the way.) I know these moments are meant to be cathartic “drag the former villain because some people are still mad at them” moments, but Catra’s whole story is largely about being a victim of physical abuse. Wasn’t there some way for the story to make fun of her without having other characters physically assault her? I like how Catra’s redemption was handled overall, but moments like those kind of rub me the wrong way. (Netossa trapping her in a net was fine though, because that didn’t actually harm her.)

- That said, Adora’s “Catra’s with us now. Okay? Hmm.” was hilarious. I love how she just gives the briefest explanation and then turns away from Frosta with a smile and little “hmm”, just completely expecting Frosta to be fine with this now.

- That ending shot of all of them together is epic.

So, what changed this episode is that Erelandia was freed, the space group has reunited with the remaining princesses, and Horde Prime is heading for Etheria. Good episode!

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[princessofgayskull]

our secret moments in your crowded room // pt. 2

a catradora drabble (companion piece to this) featuring Melog

summary: Catra doesn’t want to go back to sleeping alone, and her new room in the Bright Moon Castle is too big not to be lonely

The first night Catra sleeps alone, she doesn’t sleep at all.

She doesn’t understand how anyone expects her to, either. The night that followed Horde Prime’s defeat, the first time the moons rise on a planet that finally peace, is total and complete chaos. It’s the feel of magic settling in the air, it’s clones who don’t know who they are or what to do expect stand around everywhere, it’s the victory cry of Etherians echoing across the horizon, Catra’s voice joining them for the first time. 

It was also too unfeasible to go all the way back to Bright Moon and make it there in time for anyone to get any actual sleep. Not that anyone gets much rest back at camp either, but at least those shelters were already made. The night was equal parts celebration and retribution. For the first time in years, Catra falls asleep on Adora’s shoulder with Melog sprawled over both their laps. For the first time in years, Catra wakes to find Adora still there with.

But going to Bright Moon is unavoidable. It’s unavoidable because it’s Etheria’s center, it’s where the diplomacy flows out and into the rest of the system, it’s where the new beginning actually begins and Glimmer has this idea in her head that Catra should be there and should be a part of it. What, like she’s gonna go back to the Fright Zone? There was nothing left for her there. 

Everything important in Catra’s life is heading towards Bright Moon for the next phase, and they want Catra to come with them. Adora wants Catra to come with them. And when Adora tells her that when they’re breaking down camp, her hands on Catra’s shoulders and that soft look in her eyes, that instinctual urge to run away disintegrates into nothing.

She just doesn’t expect her first night in Bright Moon to be spent staring up at a ceiling so far up in a room enveloped in the night’s darkness and the paralyzing sound of her own loneliness. Melog sleeps across her chest, a white noise machine of warmth, keeping her grounded in this reality of this room that has its own gravity. Catra can’t find it in her to close her eyes as she lays across what’s more of a pillow plush than an actual bed.

The only reason Catra’s in here is because Glimmer gifted her the room out of legitimate kindness. As it turns out, Adora got one of her own when she left Catra- sorry, defected from the Horde- because people here were actually treated like people and regardless of what Catra had done in the past, she fell into that category now. She was one of them now. It didn’t make her a princess or queen by the longest shot, but around here that counted for something.

“Pretty sweet accommodations, huh?” Glimmer had thrown her words from Horde’s Prime back at her, holding back no amusement when she had shown Catra around the room, teleporting in a craze from one piece of fancy furniture to the next.

All of the moments that Catra had spent overwhelmed and so, so out of her depth since walking into Glimmer’s palace were coming crashing down on her now and she could barely breathe under the weight of it all. Figuring all her snarky commentary about the way Royals lived was enough, Catra didn’t bother voicing her discomfort. Deep down, she hoped that the way Melog wrapped themselves between her legs and curled their tail up her thigh clued Adora- or anyone really- into how much she wanted to be whisked away from this.  

Why hadn’t Adora just asked Catra to stay in her room? Catra would’ve been more than okay with that. 

Running her claws down her face, Catra groaned. It had been stupid to think that those sleepovers Glimmer gushed about when it was just the two of them on Horde Prime’s ship would last forever now that she was a part of the gang. Not as stupid as thinking Adora would be up for some sort of cohabitating, shared sleeping arrangements with her when they’d been sworn enemies less than a month ago.

“I need to give Adora space. She’s her own person, she can make her own decisions.” Catra tells herself, trying to take a deep breath like Perfuma had taught her. “And I’ll fall asleep eventually. I don’t need her around to do that.”

This statement prompts Melog to lift their head, ethereal blue eyes wide and shining with packed judgement.

“Don’t look at me like that!” Catra hisses at her animal/alien companion. The dissonant purr of Melog’s reply fills the empty space around them.

“You didn’t ask Adora if she wanted to sleep alone. You can ask her if she wants to sleep together, and if she says she wants space, then you know,” Melog’s purr ends and Catra rolls her eyes before throwing her head back on her pillow.

“How does that help me now? Adora’s probably asleep already. Last thing I wanna do is wake her up and get punched in the nose. Again.”

Melog, keeping their eyes on Catra, withholds their reply. Not backing down form the staring contest the alien cat has incited, she glares at her companion. Which is useless knowing how she’s practically see through to this creature- wait, she stops herself, blinking. See through.

Catra has the beginnings of an idea. A creepy idea, so she doesn’t bother trying to think it through, rather pushes Melog of her legs and trips off the giant pink pillow puff that’s her bed so she can act before she uses her bravery. 

A purr makes Catra’s ear perk up, “Really? Are you sure this is a good idea?

“Hey!” Catra sent a flat look in Melog’s direction. They’re shielding her legs and making her think twice. “Laying next to that cot Adora has cloaked isn’t great but it’s better than being in here alone!” Alone with the images that haunt her, the images she’s sees when she lets her eyes close: Shadow Weaver taking her mask off before ceasing to exist, the violent green waters of Prime’s baptismal font, Adora unconscious in her arms as the world ends around them. With shaking hands she asks, “Are you gonna help me or not?”

Melog runs through her legs, rubbing her calf with their phasing mane. Catra’s companion heads for the door.

 _

Sneaking past the Queen’s Guard is child’s play. Melog has her back, keeping the both of them cloaked, as Catra sneaks around in her Horde issued bra and sleeping shorts. Maybe one day she and Adora will get around to finding clothing that can withstand the strain of battle that doesn’t carry the Horde’s symbol, but Catra doubts a shopping list is high on anyone’s priority list right now.

It’s not like any of the guards that stand at fourteen feet intervals- Catra notices- are on high alert, or would rat her out for being out past curfew. Because there’s no curfew here and that’s not their job. But Catra breathes a little easier knowing she can’t be seen. Maybe it’s because they can’t ask questions if they can’t see her, can’t make her rethink her strange stalker like actions. Maybe it’s because wearing their clothes, Catra hasn’t exactly shaken off the rust of growing up in the Fright Zone.

Melog keeps her out of sight as they walk past Bow’s room, sending her a look when they hear his snores seeping out from under the door frame. Catra shrugs. 

With no guards around, Melog starts up again, “Why did they put Adora’s room so far from yours?” which Catra knows is probably code for, “how much longer do I have to keep this up?”

“You big baby,” Catra runs her hand over Melog’s tail, “And I dunno, how I am supposed to know the inner workings of Sparkles’ mind? I’m like, the first person new here that hasn’t been a prisoner.”

Her claws trail the wall and she keeps up with Melog’s steps. 

The fact that the room Glimmer put her in was where they’d been “keeping” Scorpia didn’t go over Catra’s head. Yeah, she and Scorpia are on better terms these days, but remembering how Scorpia left her for the Rebellion still brings a sting to Catra’s throat. Remembering that it was her own fault is like the punch in the gut she didn’t ask for, but probably deserv- WHACK!

“Ow!” Beyond the pain resonating in Catra’s forehead, she can hear Adora cry out. 

“Adora?!” Melog’s cloaking falls and Catra is standing in front of her, well, sort of girlfriend, wincing and holding her forehead there in her gray tank top and shorts.

“Catra?!” Adora yells with the same tone when she realizes what the invisible force she butted heads with actually is. “What are you doing out of bed?” 

“I could ask you the same thing.” replies Catra.

Adora takes a guarded stance and Melog looks between the two of them before her shoulders fall, “I- I couldn’t sleep. I thought, um, that I could come see you? I mean, I did think you were going to be asleep and I thought I could just stay there with you-” as she speaks, a sort of softness overcomes Catra. How had she managed to survive on the other edge of Adora’s sword? No wonder her destiny as a Force Captain was doomed from the start, that her anger sputtered and left her burned out. Catra had so much love for this woman. It was always going to win out at the end of the day. “-is that creepy? I know, it’s creepy but I just really wanted to see you-”

Catra grabs Adora’s hand and looks her in the eye. “Do you wanna come lay down? With- with me?” 

“Mmhmm,” nods Adora. She intertwines their fingers together, and when Catra starts to pull her back up the hallway, she follows without hesitation.

Since they’re going back the way they came, past Bow and Glimmer’s rooms, Catra’s hand finds Melog’s forehead and the cloaking flows through their bodies. Catra and Adora don’t make any noise, don’t make any stops, beyond the looks Catra throws her over her shoulder. Right before they reach the door to Catra’s room, Adora squeezes Catra’s hand. 

“Hey,” her voice is barely above a whisper, “why were you out of bed?”

“No reason.” Catra turn her face away, hoping that the cover of the dark will hide her growing blush. She curls her tail around her waist and keeps it there to keep it from betraying her.

“Oh my gosh, Catra- were you coming to see me?” Adora throws her hands onto Catra’s shoulders, a playful instinct that Catra can’t fight the subconscious need to return.

Melog’s cloaking falls.

Grabbing Adora’s fingers, Catra pulls her sort of girlfriend to her front before grabbing her wrists and pinning her to the wall. Their noses touching, Catra lets herself smile, “Okay, maybe I was. You’re not the only person who doesn’t want to sleep alone.”

“Is it also cause you like me?” teases Adora. 

Even in the dark Adora’s the most beautiful thing Catra’s ever seen; blonde hair unrestrained and kissing her defined shoulder, standing up against the wall in her pajamas, she’s all Catra’s ever wanted.  

“You idiot,” Catra kisses her lips, “it’s actually because I love you.”

_

Catra wakes to a warmth against her back. A chest rising and falling, a hand lain across the crook of her elbow. Opening her eyes, she sees that it’s not only light out, but that the dawn has come and gone, turned in midmorning without their permission. There’s no way she and Adora haven’t slept in way past the time the promised to be up and ready to take on the challenges that awaited them in peacetime.

“Adora,” she mutters, rolling over and buries her face in the space between Adora’s shoulder and head, “you’re hogging the blanket.”

Adora doesn’t open her eyes as her grip on Catra’s waist tightens, “‘S’not fair. You have Melog.”

Running her hand down the side of her animal companion, Catra lets out of a breath. She’s sandwiched in between Melog and Adora’s warmth, the little spoon wrapped in Adora’s calm embrace. There’s nothing Catra would change about this. This is the way she’d keep things forever if it were up to her.

“We have to get up soon,” Catra tries, yawning and stretching her arms out.

Her girlfriend’s hands come down over hers, “Don’t want to.”

“Adora-”

“I want to stay with you, Catra,” her sleepy voice reverberates over Catra’s ears and they flatten under her chin. Tail winding around Adora’s waist, she pulls her closer and sighs.

“What if Rainbow and Sparkles come looking for us?” 

Adora, eyes still closed, lets out a happy sigh. “Let them.”

It goes without saying that Catra never has to sleep alone again.

reblogs > likes!

[isagrimorie]

I’ve been trying to find the fanart of an Adora and Catra Howl’s Moving Castle AU but couldn’t find it but since the moment I saw the fanart it wouldn’t leave my head because Adora and Catra are so perfect for Book!Sophie and Book!Howl!

Adora would fall in so perfectly into believing and resigning to her role as the boring, duty bound Eldest Sister, wasting away in the Hat shop. 

Adora would 100% believe this:

In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three. Everyone knows you are the one who will fail first, and worst, if the three of you set out to seek your fortunes.

Sophie’s power to talk/believe things to life also feels in line with Adora’s other healing, bringing to life powers in canon.

And Catra, would 100% be a flamboyant, dramatic, overly talented sort who would pull a tantrum over hair products and would have a regular Welsh life as Catrina Jenkins and escape her overbearing family to be the Sorcerer Catra.

Melog would 100% be Catra’s Calcifer, Bow would fall into Catra’s apprentice. This is so Glimmer can be Adora’s step sister and falls in love with Bow.

Catra would 100% be the type to strike a bargain with a falling star/fire demon, to save its life and make the falling star a part of her heart.

Adora would also be the type to stubbornly believe she’s an old woman despite Catra trying to unravel the spell. And Catra would annoy Adora so much, they’d have so much fun challenging each other.

Like, I can see Adora and Catra having this exact conversation as they’re running away from an enemy:

“I’m the eldest!” Sophie shrieked. “I’m a failure!”

“Garbage!” Howl shouted. “You just never stop to think!”

AND, I can see this between, Melog, Catra and (Prime? Hordak?)

“Nobody can help you,” said Miss Angorian. “You are going to help me control my new human. Let me show you. I have only to tighten my grip.” Her hand that was holding Calcifer squeezed until its knuckles showed pale yellow.

Howl and Calcifer both screamed. Calcifer beat this way and that in agony. Howl’s face turned bluish and he crashed to the floor like a tree falling, where he lay as unconscious as Percival. Sophie did not think he was breathing.

Miss Angorian was astonished. She stared at Howl. “He’s faking,” she said.

“No he’s not!” Calcifer screamed, twisted into a writhing spiral shape. “His heart’s really quite soft! Let go!”

The revelation that underneath everything Catra/Howl’s heart really is soft.

There is also something inherently romantic with the image of Adora in Sophie’s role (literally) giving back Catra’s heart to her.

Anyway, tldr but Adora and Catra fit the roles of Book!Sophie and Book!Howl like a glove.

[shera-dnd]

A Day at a Time - Recovery

After an unreasonably long hiatus and an even more unreasonable amount of rewrites, it is finally fucking done, the final chapter of my modern au glitradora fanfic.

As usual here’s the AO3 link if you’d rather read it there and let us move on with the show

Catra woke up to Melog licking her face, bright and early like he usually did. She groaned and grumbled, still exhausted from the past couple of days, but still gave her boy plenty of pets and kisses. He had pretty much saved her life, after all.

Yesterday still felt hazy to her, like it hadn’t really happened. That had been her lowest point since she started therapy and taking meds. It was like slipping in and out of a dream all day, with barely any energy to even acknowledge how awful she felt, let alone get up and do anything about it. It took Glimmer and Adora showing up to get her to even eat.

“I must have really scared you, huh Melog?” She commented, sitting up on her bed “I’m sorry. Mommy didn’t mean to make you worry.”

The cat splayed himself on top of Catra’s lap, begging for more pets, which Catra happily gave.

“I’m glad things got better too.” She offered him a weak smile. “Thank you for getting them. I don’t know what I would do without you”

Seemingly satisfied with the pets and now full of energy to burn, Melog tried to drag his mom out of bed so they could eat and play.

“Yeah, let’s not dwell on that...” She chuckled at herself a little, before finally getting out of bed.

Using her bathroom and looking in the mirror every morning was always a pain even when she looked her best - fuck gender dysphoria and fuck her beard for coming back all the time - but today it felt extra bad, because she looked like absolute garbage. That’s what crying in bed for several hours does to you.

She sighed, took her meds and washed her face.

Nope, still looked awful. Apparently being accepted and cared for by the people she loved wasn’t enough to cure her deep-seated self image issues. Looks like all those romance novels lied to her. Well, one step at a time.

And the next step was breakfast, so she made herself a nice meal and left some extra tuna for Melog. She had barely sat down to enjoy that meal, when she heard a knock on the door.

“Hey, Catra,” She heard Adora calling from outside. “Are you ready to work out?”

Catra put her food aside and did her best to look annoyed about this. Being interrupted this early in the morning was a pain in the ass, but it was vastly overshadowed by how excited she was that Adora really came back. They said they’d try to spend more time with her now, but she still worried that they were only saying it to make her feel better.

So today was a little harder for her to put on her grumpy act as she opened the door to greet her crush “Hey, Adora.” She grumbled “Not sure if you can tell, but it’s raining outside. How exactly do you plan on jogging like that?”

“I think we’ve had enough cardio for now.” Adora answered “It’s about time we did some weight exercises!”

“Why do I have a feeling I’m gonna hate this?” She groaned.

“Oh we are,” Adora somehow managed to shoot Catra a beaming smile as she said that. “But we’re gonna look hot as hell, so it’s gonna be all worth it!”

Catra did not understand how Adora wasn’t aware of how insanely hot she already was, but she wasn’t gonna say that outloud. Instead she decided to mess with her “Are you saying that I’m not hot as hell already?”

“I- What? No!” That seemed to be enough to short out Adora and deeply amuse Catra “I already…” She lowered her voice considerably. “I already think you’re really hot”

Catra was certainly not expecting that earnest response and it certainly had an effect on her poor heart. “H-hey I was just joking!” She awkwardly replied. “Just come on it. Let me finish my breakfast and then we can start.”

~~~

Catra didn’t know who invented planks, but she hated them with a passion. She wanted to say that she hated Adora too for putting her through that hell for what felt like an hour - it was only a minute - but she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to hate her even if she tried.

After this gruelling workout routine, the only thing Catra wanted was to lay down on the yoga mat and maybe pass out for a bit. Unfortunately that request was denied by another person knocking on her door.

“I can get it if you-”

“I’m fine, thanks.'' Catra interrupted, forcing herself up. Fuck, her abs were so sore, but maybe now she would get actual abs. “Hey.” she greeted as she opened the door.

“Hey, Catra I- Oh wow.” Glimmer seemed to freeze for a second as she tried to process Catra and Adora in their workout clothes, covered in sweat.

“That bad, huh?” Catra joked, looking unbearably smug.

“Oh shut up!” Glimmer complained “I wanted to check in on you, but it looks like you’re doing just fine.”

“Oh come on, Sparkles,” Catra smirked, making way for her to enter. “At least stay for a glass of water, you look like you need it.”

“Very funny.” She rolled her eyes as she walked into the apartment, stopping to give Adora a kiss on the cheek on the way in.

Catra tried not to feel bad about that, but it was harder than she’d like to admit. They had said they wanted her to be a part of their relationship and she was happy for that, but it still felt like their affection was always more directed at each other than at her.

Glimmer seemed to notice. She gave Catra a comforting smile, before walking up to her and giving her a matching kiss. Her lips were soft and Catra couldn’t help the awkward smile that formed in her face. Her expression evolved into a full on flustered blush as she noticed that Adora was not only watching, but giving them both the brightest smile she had ever seen.

“What’re you looking at!?” Catra bit back, trying to sound annoyed.

“Nothing...” She replied, with the goofiest smile she could muster.

Catra grumbled a little more, refusing to acknowledge how happy this made her. “Sparkles, your girlfriend is being weird.”

Glimmer chuckled at that “Do you want her to stop?”

No, Catra absolutely did not want her to stop. She couldn’t even begin to describe how much she yearned for their affection. What she also couldn’t do is be honest about that feeling. It took her worst relapse in a long time for her to open up to them yesterday and she certainly didn’t wanna go through that again.

She couldn’t say no, but saying yes would mean that Adora wouldn’t be a big adorable goof around her anymore. So she settled with the only other option she had left, and glared daggers at them both.

Catra couldn’t tell what led her to that conclusion, but Adora seemed to assume that giving her and Glimmer a big sweaty hug was the perfect thing to do in response to that.

“Eww eww eww!” Glimmer complained, struggling to escape her arms. Catra was already sweaty, but still strained to escape the open display of affection.

When they finally managed to break free, Glimmer pointed at the door and ordered “Shower! Now!”

Adora chuckled “Alright alright.” She leaned in to give Glimmer a kiss on the cheek, before she turned to Catra and asked “Mind if I get back here after that?”

Catra didn’t know what to say. She still had a hard time grasping that people might want to spend time with her and that she isn’t just forcing them to endure her presence, and this situation did not help her one bit. Part of her was still afraid that this would crumble to dust in front of her if she made a single mistake.

Still, if this was gonna disappear at any moment, then the least she could do was try to enjoy it while it lasted.

She leaned forward and kissed Adora’s cheek “You better.”

Adora’s goofy smile returned to her in full force as she nearly hopped and skipped her way out of the apartment. Catra couldn’t help but smile at that.

“Wow.” Glimmer started, in a joking tone “That bad?”

“Oh shut up!” She laughed and playfully shoved Glimmer. Only when she recoiled did Catra realize just how sweaty she was.

“Oh no.” Was Sparkles’ only response as Catra shot her evilest grin. She barely had a second to run before Catra came after with her arms spread wide.

“Come on, Sparkles,” Catra laughed as she ran after her. “Don’t you want some affection?”

“No!” She yelled, “No! Eww!” Unfortunately for her, the apartment was small and Catra was far more accustomed to it than she was and soon she was brought into her sweaty embrace “Ugh, I hate you.”

“Aww love you too, Sparkles!” The whole sentence escaped Catra’s mouth before she even processed what she was saying “I mean- I uh-”

Glimmer pulled her into a kiss and softly spoke “I know. I like you too.” Catra hated how easy it was to stun her with simple things like these. “Now let me go before I kick your ass.” She added, playfully.

“Alright alright.” Catra laughed as she let go of her.

“How about you follow Adora’s lead and go take a shower too?” She suggested.

“Wouldn’t it be a bit weird for me to just leave you alone in my apartment while I’m showering?”

“But you aren’t leaving me alone,” She replied, “I have Melog.” As if on cue, he climbed onto the sofa and began staring at the both of them.

Catra rolled her eyes and turned to Melog. “You make sure she behaves while I’m gone.”

He showed no signs of understanding, but her comment still fulfilled its goal of earning a little laugh from Glimmer. That was definitely a sound she could get used to hearing every day.

~~~

By the time she walked out of the shower Adora had already returned. They were both seated on her couch, with Melog doing his best to sprawl onto the both of them for maximum pets and scritches.

“I see you two have made yourselves comfortable.” She commented as she made her way into the room.

“Yeah,” Adora agreed. “Melog made sure we felt very welcome”

“I’m sure he did.” She rolled her eyes as she leaned back against the wall.

In that moment the silence that followed didn’t feel awkward, it felt strangely comfortable. It was like her life was taking a long content sigh at all that had just transpired. Of course this strange and new found peace made Catra immediately suspicious, especially when there was so much uncertainty still in the air.

“So… what now?”

“Well I was thinking I could make you guys some lunch,” Glimmer began. “And then we can maybe binge something on Netflix.”

Catra sighed. “I mean what about us?” she asks, finally admitting her worries. “What are we? What do we do now?”

That seemed to cast the room into a far more uncomfortable silence. Catra couldn’t help but worry that this was that dreaded fuck up that would undo everything.

“I have no idea,” Adora eventually answered, with a shrug. She got up - being careful with Melog as she did - and walked up to Catra “I only just figured how where things stood between me and Glimmer.”

With that Glimmer took her side, arms hooked around her midriff.

“All I know is that I really like the both of you and I wanna be with you two.” She continued, resting one hand on Glimmer’s shoulder and offering her the other. “And we can figure everything else as we go, if you want to.”

She gently took Adora’s hand, just to be yanked forward into a lung crushing hug. A yelp escaped her along with the last of her breath.

“Adora, let her breathe!”

Glimmer’s request only seemed enough for the hug to loosen just enough for her to breathe, while still being extremely tight, and warm, and comforting. It was easy for Catra to, just this once, leave her anxieties aside and lean into this silly little display of affection.

She could do this, she could just be with them and not worry about the future. Just love them and let herself be loved. She knew this wouldn’t fix every problem in her life, but now when those got too much for her to handle, she knew she wouldn’t be doing it alone. Now she had the two of them.

Melog meowed, annoyed that none of that affection was directed at him.

Okay, she had the three of them.

[tempestwind]

There are so many themes that span the 5 seasons of this show, so I plan on introducing each one and breaking them down by the character who represents them.

One of the major themes in this series is: "Nearly all people can be redeemed. But it is not YOUR duty to redeem them. Redemption has to come from the inside, it has to be an effort, and it can be messy."

Of course, Catra is central to this theme. Between Shadoweaver's toxic influence and Catra's difficulty maintaining friendships, Adora was the one stable, positive thing in her life. When Adora left the Horde, Catra couldn't help reading that as abandonment. It felt like a betrayal, even as Adora begged her to join the rebellion.

Betrayed and abandoned, there came that resentful side to Catra: the one that wanted to prove that she could do things on her own. That she could live up to, and exceed, Adora's image.

With the toxic environment, the punishments for failures, the mind games and the manipulation, Catra became a product of her upbringing and her surroundings. She weaponized the tactics used against her, and utilized them to control, to manipulate, and to put fear into the people around her. All the while, she became more and more scared of showing a sign of weakness or vulnerability, which could risk cracking her facade.

Upon Shadoweaver's betrayal, she learned that vulnerability was something to be ashamed of, something that would get punished. She became so obsessed with her image as a person in control with no visible weaknesses that any threat to that image was treated as a threat to her life.

She began obsessing over how Adora was the perfect child, the loved child. And she decided the reason for this was because everything always happened in Adora's favor. Catra then came to the conclusion that if she were to come out on top, then she would have finally earned the good things in life that Adora always had handed to her. And if Catra failed? Well, Adora always got her way.

She "othered" Adora, projecting upon her this internal battle of self-worth. And she became so destructive that she literally tore reality apart. And she still wasn't done, because she needed to keep scapegoating Adora for all the terrible things Catra did to retaliate against her.

This, and the loss of Scorpia as a friend, led to Catra's massive breakdown. She took all the power, all the control, and reaped none of the rewards for it. She realized all her destruction was for nothing. And then she lost what she had left.

A captive of Horde Prime, Catra was alone, she was scared, and she had no one except a fellow captive, Glimmer. The time they shared, out of desperation and a need to be around other people, led to a connection. And that connection resulted in the magic words, "Do something good for once in your life."

Those are the same words Catra uses on Shadoweaver, and it works. Catra had only worked to serve herself and her goals for years. She took the action. She made the sacrifice. She had reasons for being so guarded and terrorizing the people around her, but she set aside her pride and her own well-being to save Glimmer.

Catra could not have undergone a redemption arc if not for that first action. That action let herself know that she was capable of doing something good. It let Glimmer know that Catra could be an excellent ally and trustworthy. And it let Adora know that Catra was no longer a lost cause.

Catra's redemption arc isn't pretty. It's not clean. She doesn't change right away. Every two steps she takes forward, she takes one step back. It's not until she meets Melog -- her "therapy lion" as @asterose and I call her -- that she sees her own emotions reflected back at her. That's when Catra decides to start working on her anger, which has always been based in fear.

Catra took these actions. While it was Adora and the others who freed her from Horde Prime's control, it was Catra's decisions that kept her by their side. They gave her a second chance and Catra fought her instincts to earn it. She learned how to be a friend, how to stop lashing out, and how to support the people she cares about. And she learned to love, which is a pretty big deal for someone who learned love could only end in pain.

----

As someone who had a rough childhood and became a product of that environment for many years, I related to Catra's specific type of anxiety: the lash-out, push-away, make-yourself-bigger fear that perpetuated my life and engulfed my friendships. I used to be so scared of showing even an ounce of weakness because that was punished by my peers or used against me by people I trusted. I had been manipulated so much that I got relatively good at weaponizing that too. My childhood was marked with constant battles, and most of my memories are painful.

I got therapy starting at age 10. I learned to cope with the anger that came from anxiety. I learned not to let the feelings control me. But it would be years before I began letting myself trust my friends. And in my late 20's, my closest confidant used my weaknesses against me, to manipulate and hurt me.

When that friendship ended, I decided that, rather than hiding from everyone, I would put my weaknesses out in the open. People couldn't hurt me with my secrets if they weren't secrets anymore. I learned to love myself again and I forced myself to trust my friends. The ensuing friendships came more easily than most of the friendships I'd earned in my life.

The reason I think most people are redeemable is because I had my own damn redemption arc and I fucking earned it. That doesn't mean everyone who knew me in the past can accept me as I am now. And that's fine. I didn't do it for them: I did it for myself, for my friends, and my future.

[multaes]

      TAG  DROP  PART  3

[etherianinenine]

[ID: Five screenshots from She-Ra edited to have incorrect quotes. In the first, Adora is shown with a worried look on her face saying, "Look, I know you don't like Shadow Weaver, but can you at least try and be nice? For me?"

The next shows Catra saying, "Okay, I'll be nice." She looks angry but shrugging, while Adora smiles at her, both sitting on the ground. Melog is beside Catra.

The third shows Shadow Weaver from the back, in front of Catra, who is holding Adora's wrist. Adora looks, suprised, at Catra, who says, "I wish you were dead, you lousy son of a bitch!"

The fourth is a closeup of Adora, frowning and saying, "You said you were gonna be nice!" The next shows Catra again, still looking at Shadow Weaver while replying, "I lied so I could say the 'son of a bitch' thing." /End ID]

Image description courtesy of @pepto-bismol-veins - thank you

[thatsgay-writes]

Catradora x Reader Part 5

Summary: You, Catra, and Adora have known each other your whole life. You’ve gone through some hardships together and apart but in the end you’ll be together again. (That sounds very cryptic but its not, I swear)

Warnings: Light cursing? I think

"For the loyalty of Lionheart!" (Cringe ik, but you're like a knight and knights are loyal or whatever) You yelled, you honestly don't know why, it just felt like you were supposed to say it. As you yelled it though, you felt yourself change? Is this what Adora feels like every time she changes? You wonder. However, you don't dwell on that thought long as your realize your friends are still trapped by dark magic. So you send out a big wave of magic, blasting all the dark magic away and Micah back down the hallway more than likely unconscious. (Image above is what you look like, except the helmet looks like this; but without the face netting)

Everyone turns to look at you in shock. You look at the sword and your armored arms in shock as well. As you feel a sudden wave of exhaustion hit you and you stumble down the stairs, falling forwards and changing back to normal. Luckily Melog appears at the bottom of the stairs to catch you on his back before letting you roll off into Catra’s arm. She seemed pissed, "What the hell was that?! I know I told Adora not to do it but why would you do that! Now that the failsafe is tied to you, you could die!" As Catra is talking she lifts you into a standing position before pushing you backwards and into Adora’s arms. "Catra…" you say trying to grab her arm as she walks away but your still too tired to move much. You look up at Adora who was now holding you up from behind, arm wrapped firmly around your torso. She was already looking between you and Catra with a sad expression. "It wasn't supposed to go like this." She said as she shakes her head, her frown deepening. "This was supposed to be my destiny. I was supposed to take the failsafe. I should be the only one at risk."

*Time skip*

Today was the day, you were prepared for this... Right? Well it didn't matter now, the plan was set in motion. You, Bow, and Glimmer would go to the heart. While everyone else did whatever they were told to do. You had honestly stopped listening after hearing who was going with you. Catra had sadly disappeared the night before, Adora said she left on her own terms. Her departure is all you could think of at the moment. You knew there was a possibility of you dying when you use the failsafe and you don't want the last memories you had of Catra being her walking away from you angrily.

Before you knew it, it was time to head separate ways from the others and Adora. As everyone said their goodbyes and good lucks, all you could manage to do was smile. Everyone either pulled you in for a hug or patted you on the back returning your smile with a small sad one of their own. You all knew that this could be the last time you see each other. When you got to Adora the tears you had seemingly been holding back, slowly started to fall. You threw your arms around her neck tightly, reveling in the feeling of being close to her for possibly the last time. You shoved your face into where her neck and shoulder meet and her arms tightened around your waist. You backed away from her slightly before cupping her face in your hands, thumbs wiping away her tears that were going down her face. She leaned her head into your hand before opening her eyes. You smiled at her slightly before putting your foreheads together. "You got this. No matter what happens, this all ends today. After this Horde will be no more and the universe will be safe." 

You say, trying to be encouraging, who you were trying to encourage more wasn't exactly clear. "But at what cost?" Adora mumbles out, opening her eyes again but this time to study your face, just in case. You opened your eyes to look at her face as well, before connecting your eyes with hers. "One life is not worth millions." "But it is to me." This was it, you thought. You had been waiting for this moment for years. Honestly, if you didn't know you could die in the next couple of hours, you would have pushed away already. But f it, you would probably never get this moment again. So you did what you had been wanted for the past couple of years, we'll half of what you've wanted.  You closed your eyes again before pushing your lips on to Adora’s. Thankfully she kissed back or you would have been mortified. You threw all the love you had felt for her into that kiss before pulling away, noticing that her eyes were still closed.  "Now go save the world." You said as you squeezed her hand one last time before turning to walk away. Knowing that it honestly hurt more to leave now than it did 10 minutes ago.

*T-t-t-TIMESKIP*

This was taking way to long in your opinion. It felt like you, Bow, and Glimmer had been walking down the same door way forever. "Are you sure this is the right way?" Bow said impatiently. You nodded your head, "This is the way Adora said to go and I feel like something is pulling me this direction." "But shouldn't something h-" "Y/N" you turned around quickly hearing your name being called. It sounded like Catra. You turned to start running towards were your name was being called. Leaving Bow and Glimmer behind confused. You came up to another hallway, that you swear wasn't there before. But what you saw ahead of you was weird. It was Adora and Catra as kids. It was weird to see but they kept getting older the closer they got to you. Before they stopped right in front of you, both of them holding hands. "What are you doing here? I thought you lef-" As you were speaking, you had lifted your hands to cup each of their cheeks. However, right as you touched their cheeks, they pixelated and blew away. Right as they did you felt Bow and Glimmer pull you away from the ledge you were on. You turned back around and started down the hallway you had already been walking in. The scenery soon changed into the vault at Mystacor, where you go your sword. You ran towards it as fast as you could telling back to Bow and Glimmer that you need to do this alone, the walls closing behind you. You reach the sword and taking a deep breath before going to grab it. As soon as you touched it everything turned dark.

PREVIOUS /// NEXT

[she-nya]

i just had a really cute mental image: imagine when adora and catra are older and married they have a kid (magic) and one day catras looking after her on her own while adoras off doing stuff and the kid summons their own she-ra sword and transforms leading to a frantic catra running around bright moon for help

THATS SO CUTE 🥺🥺

tiny she-ra vs catra and melog who will win

i love this idea PLEASE write a fic

[love-nikki-or-else]

SHE-RA HIGH SCHOOL AU

except I can’t draw so I made approximations of them in Love Nikki (ignore the fact that they’re all in the woods, it’s just the background I like the best)

Adora

Previously went to Horde Academy but now at Brightmoon Prep

Star of the softball team

Everyone thinks school comes easily to her but she actually works really hard and constantly worries that she’s not doing good enough

Joins too many clubs and overextends herself because her college resume has to be perfect

Has a really stupid sense of humor, especially when she’s overtired and hysterical

Now that Catra has transferred to BP too, she’s a lot more relaxed, because she has her girlfriend to remind her that her mental health matters and she deserves to be happy

CATRA

Rebellious, likes to see just how far she can push admin before they completely lose it

Went to Horde Academy with Adora, they had a messy falling out, but after a year apart she transferred too, and it’s better also they’re dating now

Has a critically low self-image, but she’s working on it now that she has a system of support

Adopted a stray cat (or did it adopt her?). It’s name is Melog.

Has a bad habit of taking off her shoes and walking around the classroom barefoot and sometimes forgets to put them back on before class change

She’s really good at math, she just struggles with applying herself because she doesn’t see the point. She’s trying to catch up now, though, so she can go to the same college as Adora.

GLIMMER

(Love Nikki has a critical lack of body type diversity as well as most diversity so my apologies for that. Also, this was the closest I could get to her hair but I imagine it short and dyed.)

Student body president

Goes head to head with admin on the daily trying to push for reform and being the voice of the students

This is frustrating because her mother is the principal and is often in conflict with her daughter about this

Is usually working on student council stuff instead of paying attention in class

Goes overboard in group projects

Has maybe gotten into a physical fight once or twice. You can’t prove anything.

If she doesn’t write down absolutely EVERYTHING in her planner, she will forget it all

Trying to get Adora to join student council, but she just has way too many scheduling conflicts

Throws the absolute BEST parties

BOW

(Love Nikki also only has female models and this is the closest I could get to Bow’s hair. But I like his hair in the show.)

Carries extra protein bars in his bag for people who forgot to eat breakfast (it’s usually Glimmer but sometimes Adora)

Will always lend you a pencil

Never gets dress coded which drives him a bit nuts seeing as Glimmer gets a warning at least once a week for the length of her shorts. He SEES the double standard and he’s pissed on her behalf

His dads really want him to become a history professor like them but he secretly wants to work for a nonprofit in Civil Rights or LGBTQ+ advocacy or something

He also really wants to play basketball but his dads think that would take away from his study time

He’s one of those people that literally everyone likes. If someone doesn’t like him, they’re automatically considered weird.

Like/reblog if you want to see more! I’m just having fun haha