#Glimmer is rightfully horrified

[aprillikesthings]

eh fuck it one more episode :D

s4 ep6 Princess Scorpia

SCORPIA'S PARENTS and bb Scorpia and also that is a squishmallow if I ever saw one lolol

she sleeps in her uniform?!

oof, relatable

LOL I KNOW I JUST HEARD A WILHELM SCREAM

*rewinds it* I FUCKING DID!! LOLOL

I know this is Double Trouble and they are REALLY trying to start something

I mean actually that was you bb but okay

oh god Horde goes on this rant about how he has to be Victorious and Worthy when Horde Prime arrives and

Catra spent all this time clawing her way to the top (literally and figuratively) and I think it's MAYBE starting to sink in that she is not, in fact, anywhere near the top; and that Hordak is doing the exact same thing Catra's been doing--trying desperately to prove his worth to someone who doesn't give two shits about him

Either that or she's just (rightfully) a little scared of Horde Prime, and she hasn't even met him yet

Anyway Hordak is looking for Entrapta's recordings of her notes so he can work on his fancy weapon

Scorpia and Emily (the robot) do a cute little game and it reminds me so much of one me and Mal do ;_;

LOLOLOL

yeah I know I took this one just for my collection of "She-Ra's captions accidentally make it look like they're talking about sex"

sure bb you keep telling yourself that

Lonnie tries to point out to Scorpia that Catra doesn't give a shit about any of them and it's falling on closed ears

I keep meaning to point this out? But I just really like the way She-Ra looks from behind, with the huge hair and the cape and the wings of the tiara.

Also I know the whole point is that She-Ra is insanely strong even compared to Adora (who is plenty strong) but watching her do some of the physical shit she does without expending any visible effort is still o_O

Yeah Double Trouble's thing is working but also, why would Flutterina even BE on these missions? I have a feeling she (well, they; since that's actually Double Trouble) just kind of begged until they gave in?? But she's not actually helping at all?

Once again Bow is the only one here with any emotional intelligence

(But Adora's I'M FINE it's FINE is too relatable)

BUT Adora points out, Why is Glimmer okay being so friendly with Shadow Weaver "after everything she's done to us?"

Bow mediating their disagreement is making me edit a scene in my WIP lol (do you think Etheria has like, therapists the way we'd think of them? 🤔)

LOLLLLLL

Was digging around old stuff from a discord and found comments from a livestream from shortly after the show ended, and Nate headcanons that Scorpia took back the Fright Zone and her and Perfuma made it full of plant life again ;_;

Today in "things that are horrifying IRL that are played for laughs because it's a cartoon"

(like seriously how often has she been concussed when shit explodes)

Scorpia: "I'll bring the cocoa if you bring the tiny mugs" Entrapta:

me: do I ship this????? 🤔 (yes I know friends also say this)

Poor Emily. The recordings can't be removed without dismantling her.

;_;

Emily just like "NO do not send me to the mean lady who lied about Entrapta!!" by showing the video of Catra being shitty and blaming Entrapta

ANYWAY Scorpia gets the chip out of Emily herself--but damages it in the process. And Catra is pISSED

Ugh these scenes hurt to watch, I think it's just too close to shit I've heard people say to me

YEAH SCORPIA, FUCKING TELL HER

OH IT DOESN'T FEEL GOOD DOES IT, CATRA?? DOES IT???

--and so she lies to protect Scorpia

Catra is saying this and gdi that old vine of "why you lyin', stop fuckin' lyin'" popped into my head

ANYWAY Catra's little speech to Hordak is like....are you trying to convince him or yoU

but also it's wild to watch her go from like, weirdly desperate

to Mean Bitch again

SERIOUSLY THO are you talking to him or yourself????

mmmmmdon't like that

oh ho the chip thing Scorpia gave Catra was fake anyway

yay they leave to go find Entrapta

Oh man tho this is such a huge thing for Scorpia. She's prided herself on her and her family's loyalty to the Horde for SO LONG. I also love that she doesn't give some long speech to Catra about the whole thing--just that "you're a bad friend," and then fucking LEAVING

And that's the end of the episode :D

Also that's ep 32 out of 52. Twenty left!

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios University

“Just what do you think you’re doing here? Your mother told me that you’d go through my phone, but I didn’t believe her. I thought that I’d raised you better than that. It’s that Chun boy. Ever since he purposely got pregnant to trap you, all you’ve been doing is catering to his whims. The baby isn’t in your tarot readings; it’s probably someone else���s. I don’t know why you keep insisting on-”

“Mal, it’s far too late for your lectures. You agreed about what needs to be done. We can’t allow this to continue!”

Roman blinked, hoping that the scene before him was wrong. He remembered sitting on a park bench in Murder Park, waiting to hear if Abe was about to die like the message on his grandmother’s phone had warned him.

“What are you- Abe isn’t really hurt, is he? This is a trap.”

No no no no I’m not here again. I’m not seeing this again. I don’t want to remember!

Roman could feel himself removed from the scene in front of him. He wasn’t actually the teen sitting on the bench waiting to be betrayed. He had suppressed this night in his memories for years. He wouldn’t relive this-he couldn’t.

“For now,” Kamalani said, the familiar words ringing in Roman’s ears. “But his turn is next, don’t worry. You’ll be together again soon enough.”

“Kama! That’s enough! You’re not killing my grandson!

“Why are you doing thi-”

An echoing bang cut through the air, and Roman collapsed on the ground, slumped not too far from where Abraham’s body had been found.

“Oh my god, you actually did it! Kama, that’s your son! How could you? It was supposed to be his arm!”

“We planned for this, don’t be ridiculous,” Kamalani snapped quickly.

Roman watched himself stare at the blood on his hands, unable to process what had just happened. He could remember being that young and horrified and convinced that he was about to die. All the time he spent repressing his memories of this night were for nothing. He could still remember the metallic smell of his blood as it spread across his chest. He could feel the burning pain tearing through his chest all over again. He wanted to forget this night more than anything in the world, but someone or something refused to let him.

“Roman! Keep breathing! I’m here!”

Malika sounded lost and panicked, hovering over her grandson’s body with remorse. Kamalani on the other hand was beginning to lose her patience.

“It was a clean shot. If you call Adam now, Roman should be fine. He’ll never disobey us in the future and this will bring both fear and sympathy from the other families. The trauma will either keep Roman from remembering our parts in this scheme, or if it doesn’t, he’ll rightfully be more afraid of what we are capable of and obey us. “

Roman could feel the blood pool around him on the ground. It had been so long ago, but watching the image of his past suffering had thoughts, feelings and horror come flooding back into his mind. He couldn’t be here, watching himself bleed out, hoping that Abe would somehow save him..

“Please, I don’t want to be here anymore!” Roman cried out out loud, hoping that someone, somewhere would hear him and free him from the torment of these memories. He didn’t think that his school books had mentioned that a hell existed, but if did, this was surely where he was.

“Please!”

From behind Kamalani, a glimmer of hope appeared out of nowhere. Some kind of sigil spread across the sky, calling to Roman. He didn’t need any more encouragement; he started running towards it the instant it stabilized. He didn’t even care where it led, as long it led him away from this memory.

Roman heard the crash of waves first, followed by the familiar smell of salt air. He recognized the place instantly. This was Adrian’s estate. Why would he be here of all places?

A familiar man sat on the shore, watching the waves roll up and then gently retreat back into the ocean.

“Adrian?”

Roman assumed that this was another memory or some trick being played on him by his mother. He stood, waiting for some horrible specter of their life together to begin playing to torment him, but none came.

“Roman? What are you doing here?”

“You can see me?” Roman asked incredulously. “No one’s been able to see me before.”

“A man as handsome as you? I doubt it. No one can miss you.”

Roman felt a tingle of pride at the compliment but was afraid to trust this specter of his dead husband. His mother could be making him seeing whatever she wanted to if she were behind this.

“You’ve lost the beard, I see,” Adrian continued. “Too bad, I really liked it. I really liked all of you actually, not that you could ever see that.”

Roman frowned. He didn’t remember this from any moment in his life and he’d shaved his beard off after Adrian had died, or so he’d thought. Was this really a memory or was this place somewhere different from before? Did that sigil he ran through have something to do with this?

“Are you...real?” Roman asked, completely dumbfounded. “Do you know me? I talk to you in my dreams sometimes, but this feels different. Is that really you, Adrian? Is this the afterlife? Am I dead?”

Adrian chuckled at the questions and pat the sand beside him to in invite Roman to sit.

“Sit down,” he laughed. “We’ll figure it out together.”

[nny11writes]

“You listen to me right now. You...you scared me but I don’t want ya to leave. Not tonight. Not tomorrow. Not...not ever, you understand me?”

When Catra just stared like she’d never spoken a lick of English in her life, Glimmer tried again. “You know that I care about you right? This, this was- ha, this was a lot today. A lot.”

In the pause where she tried to figure out how to properly express herself Catra squeezed her hands. “Yeah, suppose it was.”

[aimeelouart]

Oh...OUCH. 7c9s Cloud being understandly and rightfully terrified of sephiroth being gentle/soft/kind/genuinely caring in any way and lightning sepiroth genuinely having not a single bad intention in trying to help this child,,, ow

OH NO. So in the Discord when we were discussing this it was 7c9s Cloud post My Life is But a Breath acting as Calamity!Zack's impulse control (no Zack, don't steal Stormcloud! Steal all of them!), which means that Cloud would be very calm, just...kind of horrifying for them to look at.

BUT NOW. Oh now you're making me imagine 7c9s Cloud getting tossed into that universe before he ever met Calamity!Zack. Before he ever had even the glimmering of hope. Ow. Ow ow ow. He'd be so...not outwardly terrified, but clearly ready for things to fall apart at any second, and not trusting anything soft or gentle around him.

Extra bonus points if it happened when he and Sephiroth were sparring, so he shows up seriously injured, wings out and unable to put them away.

(It was commented that Seph would look at 7c9s Cloud and be like "that one is definitely my son," and he's actually right in just literally the worst possible way)

[magireco]

Would love to hear more thoughts on how these girls have understandable teenage motivations (A+ tag analysis by the way)

1. Thank you!!!!!!

2. ALRIGHT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS (shuffles my papers). i’ve gone off about homura’s motivations in depth before but i think it was only in dms/groupchats? anyways i’ll go in order with All the girls bc i think about this all the time as a teenager who grew up mentally ill and had their perceptions skewed because of it, and also i don’t think it’s talked about nearly enough for the others, at least on my blog... so, buckle up!!! this is REALLY LONG!!!! 

3. i tried writing like, an individual thing for every member of the quintet all together in this one ask, but i ended up talking a little too much about homura and now i’m going to split up all the different analysis stuff for each character into the reblogs and work on it every so often! you’re free to kinda skim of course because i really did write a whole novel but here we go!! read under the cut. :3 this is literally essay length btw. i did NOT expect it to get this long but if you want to read it all i’d recommend it but i don’t expect most people to

First: Homura Akemi

okay so i’m going to kind of summarize everything but from the perspective of empathizing with her so if you don’t want to reread a whole recap you can skip to the ending few paragraphs

Summary

first of all, in episode 10, homura’s past is explained for the viewer. she was a shy, unsure girl who had been bedridden for a long time. she was clearly unsocialized, not to mention she went to a catholic school and those can be brutal, esp in japan... that’s all we know about her in that episode, but it’s revealed in one of the drama cds that she was bullied as a child(& further at mitakihara middle), her parents never were mentioned ever (i assume them to either be dead or neglectful, considering she lives alone and unchecked), and in magia record, homura says to natsuki that she’s never had friends before, she hasn’t been on vacation before until the beachside bonds event, hasn’t ever celebrated valentine’s day, has never celebrated new years, etc... 

clearly, she’s missed out on a lot not only because of her sickness and hospitalization, but because of her isolation as a child at school. judging by her demeanor and the way she reacts when madoka comes up to her without being asked to, something like that had never happened to her before. it’s clear to me that madoka was many of homura’s “first’s”, her first friend, the first person who reached out to her, the first person to compliment her name honestly(validating her, disproving her dislike of her name), the first person to regard her so kindly rather than judging her based off of her appearance and demeanor (like other students had apparently done, this is also shown when the other students at mitakihara middle make fun of her for being tired after only being able to run one lap). AND, madoka (and mami, but homura knew madoka better at that time) saved her life, even though homura was so willing to die, just in that moment... i’d assume it made homura feel like someone believed in her even when she was at her worst. it’s really clear by the glimmer in her eyes that these are nice people that made her feel happy and welcome... and then walpurgisnacht came. she didn’t know much about magical girls and just believed in madoka and mami to be able to defeat the witch because she saw them as strong and saw the witch as defeatable, despite its size. and then mami died, right in front of her and madoka... 

this kinda seems headcanon-y when i phrase it this way but it’s practically proven in her actions but i really think homura is scared to be abandoned, especially by someone who was as overtly kind and nonjudgemental to her as madoka... it’s in the way she cries her name and says “don’t go” before madoka runs away to fight walpurgisnacht. OH ALSO, i need to address this one thing really quick because people like to assume that homura didn’t care about mami from the beginning and only liked madoka. it’s not that she wasn’t sad when mami died, she was clearly terrified and didn’t want the same to happen to madoka, also mami LITERALLY WASN’T IN HER CLASS OR HER GRADE so i assume she spent most of her time with madoka considering they were in the same grade and class and probably shared most of their periods with each other... but also, once again, mami is older than both of them and homura probably saw her as more of a mentor/teacher that she needed to impress rather than madoka who was more on her level, i guess?

anyways, moving on... homura had to see madoka die (& experience the crushing guilt she felt for “letting madoka go” even though there was nothing she could’ve done) and literally says “i’d rather you had lived than saved someone like me” ... her self worth is below zero. she makes her wish to be strong enough to protect madoka(because she sees madoka, her first friend, who saved her life which she felt had no worth, as so strong and noble) which causes her to go back in time, etc. etc., you know the deal. okay before i move on to talk a little more abt the timelines and the personality change i’m going to address why it’s reasonable that she’d be attached to madoka.

i mentioned before that homura said herself that she had never had a friend before. just like, put yourself into her shoes for a second. this girl has no idea how to make friends; it was never taught to her. it’s literally rational that she’d get attached to her first ever friendship. it’s not “normal” the way she views madoka, but how could it be? this is her first time having a friend, she’s afraid of being abandoned by her, but she’s had to see her die over and over again anyway. she doesn’t want to lose madoka. even if she doesn’t go about it in the right way, there’s no way she would’ve actually known how to Do relationships. no one taught her. i think that needs to be empathized with more...

i kinda feel like i need to summarize all this just bc if i word it right it kinda reminds you & puts into perspective just how terrible and scary all of this was.

anyway Again, i would skip straight to the end of timeline 3 (where a New Flavor of trauma is given to homura) but i need to first address timeline 2 for a second. it was homura’s first time repeating the timeline, she trained with madoka and mami again, she was still hopeful despite what happened, etc. kinda just bonding further with madoka Again... and then it’s at the end of this timeline that she watches madoka turn into a witch, just in front of her very eyes... and realizes the true fate of magical girls. when she resets the timeline again, it’s up to her to start anew and break the truth to the group when she sees them again. when she tries telling the truth, sayaka immediately shoves this aside, claiming homura was just trying to split everyone up. it’s clear that that hurts homura. (also the little shinies in her eyes were wavering which is anime-code for sad) her feelings were immediately disregarded by sayaka and she couldn’t defend herself, but madoka did for her, and mami tried to diffuse the situation. 

after they all find out homura was right when sayaka turns into a witch, mami kills kyoko and ties up homura in her ribbons and aims a gun at her, and this, rightfully, ignited a fear within homura... madoka is forced to kill mami in order to save homura, leaving only the two of them to fight together. then, when walpurgisnacht comes that time, The Promise is made... madoka tells homura to go back in time and save her from becoming a witch (because she doesn’t want to curse the world that way, she still sees beauty in it) and homura agrees, saying she’ll never stop until she saves madoka, and then... homura has to mercy kill madoka before she becomes a witch. she cries loudly and shoots madoka’s soul gem... it’s literally so heartwrenching and (usually) brings the viewer to tears, or puts something into perspective for them...

then we assume the personality change happens in the timeline right after. this personality change causes a lot of discourse because sometimes it’s seen as kind of irrational, but personally, i think even moemura had at least SOME resent for the world around her considering what she’d been through. it’s madoka’s repeated deaths that finally push her over that edge. i could get further into the coolmura arc but that’d take a WHILE, so i’ll just kind of explain something briefly though -- why homura ended up becoming even MORE focused on madoka. and i’m also going to debunk the claim that homura doesn’t care about her other friends as fast as i can before moving on.

also, ONE LAST side tangent, for those that think homura really did do a 360 degree personality turn are wrong. it’s shown explicitly in homulilly’s labyrinth that there’s this... “core” homura, a shadowy purple silhouette with braids. every time the series depicts homura’s internal self, it’s always glasses+braids, symbolizing her “child” self, who she truly is. she never stopped being that person. she doesn’t want to kill. ...but i can get into that in a rebellion analysis later! this is also shown in wraith arc bc the person inside her soul gem has glasses+braids. anyway let’s get to the next part i’m going to rant about

Homura’s Love for Madoka, but Otherwise Apathy

homura has seen many different, yet all similar, versions of her friends. the first claim i’m going to talk about which i saw brought up quite a few times before is in regards to homura and mami. first of all, homura absolutely still cares for mami, and not just in the “i only care about your life if it affects madoka’s” way. one part that always gets me is when mami ties her up in the series timeline after homura frantically warns her that this witch isn’t normal, to which mami IMMEDIATELY brushes this off, without even giving homura a chance. then, when mami’s ribbons fade away, homura looks horrified and just goes “oh no...” and it’s kind of obvious to me that it was in response to mami’s death rather than madoka’s reaction. this is arguably up for debate i guess because i’ve seen different takes on that reaction and it’s ambiguous, i guess? but i’m about to get into something extremely similar and that’s the sayaka situation, where madoka throws sayaka’s soul gem onto a moving car. homura gasps and immediately pauses time and disappears, running in literal open traffic and climbing on top of a moving car to retrieve sayaka’s soul gem. one could argue that this is ALSO only just because homura wants to save madoka (and kyoko) the fear, but don’t you think her expression would be different? if homura truly didn’t care for sayaka’s wellbeing, wouldn’t she be making an expression more similar to like, “oh, this shit again...” instead of the frantic one she was making in the scene? this kind of thing Also happens when kyoko asks homura to leave while kyoko’s about to sacrifice herself in oktavia’s labyrinth, and homura looks up sadly at kyoko and then back down at madoka, and once she knew kyoko was dead, she just quietly said “kyoko...” to herself. she usually refers to them as [last name, first name], but she dropped that during that moment... it otherwise sounds like a bare minimum thing to do, but keep in mind the timeline we’re shown in the series is implied to be like, the 110th timeline, i think? like, this is the last timeline, she’s worn down, but she still does have empathy -- or at least sympathy -- for the others. she still loves them. 

homura promised to be madoka’s protector, she dedicated her life to her, and also she doesn’t have a choice not to dedicate her life to her anymore, even though that’s not fair to her... homura is in a really hopeless situation and madoka is her hope, and madoka is the one that judges her the least out of the quintet (like saying “i’m sure homura is good” to herself) upon first impression. also okay i mentioned this already in my last post (which you saw) but i’m going to bring it up one more time, homura is not mentally 26!!!!!! she is still 14 mentally!! in order to be 26, you have to have experienced 26 years of new life experience. maybe you acquire that through school, maybe you aquire that through friends, whatever it takes. but homura just repeated the same month over and over, and it’s not like her body (canonically) ages ever. she just kind of gets transported back into her body in the hospital again considering she’s back wearing her braids and pajamas... so, yeah. no mental development there. i also mentioned this here but i’m gonna say it again, that just makes it even harder for her to actually age correctly... it stunts her to 14. imagine being 14 for 10-11 years...

In Defense Of My Own Claims

btw before you think i’m just going full-on radical homura apologist, i’m not explaining all of this to be like “homura made ALL THE RIGHT DECISIONS because her trauma gave her an excuse!!” because like, Obviously, she did a lot of bad things, she killed people, did a lot of callous things, a lot of thoughtless things, a lot of things that make her seem emotionless, etc. but i just have trouble blaming her considering how things ended up, and it’s not like she enjoys killing people. she’s not sadistic... she ends up becoming short with all the others not only because of her (extremely) weakened trust in them, but also because the amount of times she repeated the timeline. i’d imagine it makes her feel like the others can’t truly die because she can just go back and see them again. (this is also why wraith arc/post-tv series must’ve been hard for her because she can no longer turn back time, things are permanent now, deaths are forever) she’s become so worn down that she’ll do anything to escape the loops... also considering she has no choice but to continue? although it shouldn’t be, it’s technically her job as a magical girl to defeat all witches and walpurgisnacht counts. it kills magical girls and tears up the whole city and she’s usually the only magical girl left... her choices, when defeated, are either to give up and die or to go back and try again, and she made a promise to her first ever friend to do just the latter... i just don’t understand how this isn’t easier for people to comprehend, that all of this trauma and stress and responsibility on top of an already traumatized 14 year old does not mix well. ever. she had to figure out all of this by herself.

TL;DR:

homura was a previously traumatized, unsocialized 14 year old with (very)low self esteem & self worth whose first friend (and first love, really, let’s be honest) died in front of her in horrific ways and she watched as she (and the other friends she came to make) drifted slowly apart from her in her endless and futile attempt in saving her from what proved to be an inescapable fate. also she’s 14 and also she’s (canonically) mentally ill and a lesbian. not a monster, not evil, not “psycho”. and that’s that!

[johannas-motivational-insults]

Demons Plot Synopsis: Arc 1

Some chapters are more plot heavy and/or emotionally intricate than others and have much longer summaries, as I’ve tried to include the most relevant information to follow the plot and character/relationship growth.

Notable flashbacks are summarized in italics after the main chapter plot, including the character’s approximate age at the time. (The Horde doesn’t do birthdays, so they all change “age” at the same time regardless of actual birth date, but it’s not like Adora or Catra know their real birth dates anyway.)

Spoilers for Demons ahead!

Arc 1: chapters 1-6 (How Catra ends up locked up in Bright Moon)

Chapter 1: Unmasked (a.k.a. My mostly accurate prediction of Catra/SW’s season 2 dynamic)

Catra is woken by nightmares the morning after the Battle of Bright Moon and decides to visit their source: Shadow Weaver. She goes to the prison seeking validation and answers about why she was treated the way she was, but Shadow Weaver simply antagonizes her. She mocks Catra’s need for validation and her attachment to Adora, predicts she will fail quickly as second-in-command, and tells her she’s weak. Catra decides to show some strength by repaying some of her childhood abuse in the form of a beating.

Chapter 2: Shreds (a.k.a. Scorpia is best bug)

When the revenge beating fails to make Catra feel any better, she goes to the gym to release some energy and emotion. Scorpia finds Catra on the verge of a breakdown and suggests they move to the boxing ring, but unfortunately her attempts at camaraderie accidentally trigger some trauma responses. She tries to assure Catra that she would never hurt her like Adora did, but this only makes Catra feel worse as she realizes she’s using Scorpia and Entrapta and that she’s not the good person Adora thinks she is.

[6 y/o] Shadow Weaver draws out the prelude to a beating, blaming Catra for bringing this upon herself but assuring her too sweetly that it’s for her own good.

[4 y/o] A terrified Catra apologizes desperately to Shadow Weaver as she drags her to the prison by her ear, promising to be good. Shadow Weaver asks if she wants to be punished for lying as well, says there’s not a shred of goodness in her.

Chapter 3: (Not) My Fault (a.k.a. Adora, honey, please stop)

Meanwhile, Adora is in a great deal of pain after the scratches Catra gave her in the battle become badly infected. When Glimmer and Bow’s arguments that she needs to rest fail to convince her, Glimmer enlists the help of Queen Angella, who orders Adora back to her room. This causes a fight between Adora and Glimmer that turns nasty when Glimmer refers to Catra as an animal and Adora rebukes her language, which to Glimmer feels like Adora defending the person who attacked her home. Adora blames herself for the attack because Shadow Weaver always made her feel like Catra’s actions were her fault, and Glimmer and Bow try to convince her otherwise and urge her to prioritize herself for a change.

[15 y/o] Adora approaches Shadow Weaver about Catra’s strange, withdrawn behavior after she was sent away to train with senior cadets for several days and came back covered in bruises. Shadow Weaver says Catra deserves what she got and chides Adora for allowing Catra to become a distraction. Adora tries to get answers out of Catra, but Catra continues to hold her at a distance. Adora concludes that this is her fault because she kissed Catra in secret earlier that week and Catra must not be interested in her.

Chapter 4: Discipline (a.k.a. Ding dong, the witch is dead)

Back in the Fright Zone, Hordak attempts to bond with Catra and urges her to use her resentment to drive herself but to be disciplined in how she expresses it. Hordak sentences Shadow Weaver to death and sends Catra to the prison to collect her, prompting one final showdown between the two.

Shadow Weaver tells Catra this won’t make her feel any better and Catra assures her it isn’t about revenge, and if it was she’d be getting tortured. Shadow Weaver laughs at that assertion and tells Catra she only did what she needed to to teach her how to behave, and that Catra as second-in-command will soon have to do the same. Catra swears she will never be like her, but Shadow Weaver manages to make her snap and scratch her across the face. Catra storms out, faced with a new realization that Shadow Weaver manipulated her into pushing Adora away so Adora would believe Catra was disgusted by the kiss.

In the throne room, the Force Captains attend the execution and Hordak is disappointed by the fresh scratches on Shadow Weaver’s face. Catra is conflicted, torn between sympathy for Shadow Weaver and a thirst for revenge, but in the end Shadow Weaver’s death gives her no satisfaction, just as predicted.

[15 y/o] After finding out about the kiss, Shadow Weaver assaults Catra and threatens to send her away if she allows any more advances from Adora. It turns out Catra wasn’t training with senior cadets, as Adora was told, but locked up in the prison.

Chapter 5: Dislikeable (a.k.a. Superpal Trio fluff for the soul)

Days later, Catra continues to suffer from nightmares and seeks solace in the Superpal Trio. A careless remark by Scorpia and lack of tact from Entrapta cause her to lash out, but she apologizes to keep them on her side and appease her own guilt. They attempt to comfort Catra, which she pretends not to like, but end up overwhelming her with too much touch.

Scorpia interrogates Catra in private until she admits she’s restless because she knows now that there was a huge misunderstanding between her and Adora and thinks maybe if Adora had known how she’d felt she wouldn’t have left. Scorpia suggests Catra go to Bright Moon to tell Adora, clear the air and throw her off her game at the same time. Catra says that’s a dumb idea and teases Scorpia for her budding affections for Entrapta.

[9 y/o] Shadow Weaver grudgingly patches Catra up after a fight and berates her for causing trouble even though she didn’t start it. Shadow Weaver tells Catra she brings this upon herself by being so dislikeable and that even Adora doesn’t want to be friends with her, she just feels sorry for her.

Chapter 6: Vulnerability (a.k.a. Shit hits the fan)

Catra returns to Bright Moon the next night, a mere week after the battle. She attempts to sneak into the castle but is apprehended by Glimmer, who takes her to Adora because she thinks Adora needs closure. Adora convinces a reluctant Glimmer to leave her and Catra alone so they can talk. Catra reveals that Shadow Weaver is dead and Entrapta is alive, shocking Adora and sparking a fight about Adora’s betrayal in Thaymor and her failure to protect innocent people in the past, Catra in particular.

Catra is angered when Adora seems saddened by Shadow Weaver’s death, claiming Adora has no idea what Shadow Weaver did to her, and Adora agrees but says that’s Catra’s fault for never telling her. So Catra tells Adora what Shadow Weaver did to her after she kissed her and also admits she would have kissed Adora back if she could have. Adora is surprised Catra wanted her and Catra tells her what Shadow Weaver said before her death, that that was by design.

Adora tries to rightfully deflect blame for what happened to Catra back to Shadow Weaver, which pisses Catra off. She also reveals that she knew things were unfair but she felt powerless to stop it other than by overcompensating and sucking up to Shadow Weaver. Catra explains that that made her feel like Adora thought she deserved the abuse, which horrifies Adora. Catra accuses Adora of giving up on her after she defected and Adora realizes she might be right.

Catra realizes she’s reduced Adora to a puddle of guilt but doesn’t actually like it, so she attempts to comfort her. They share a mournful, desperate kiss that spirals out of control. They both lose their shirts, Catra quietly apologizing for the wounds on Adora’s back. To accommodate said wounds, Adora puts Catra on her back and starts lavishing her with kisses, but allowing such intimate touch from and ceding control to this person who hurt her sends Catra into a panic attack and she has to stop.

Glimmer teleports into the room just as they share another tender kiss, blinding them with a sparkle bomb so guards can rush in and arrest Catra. Glimmer defends her decision to Adora, saying she has to protect her kingdom. Adora tells Glimmer she’s selfish and a bad friend and threatens to never forgive her if any more harm comes to Catra. Glimmer says Catra probably deserved her past torture and Adora punches her in the face. Glimmer teleports away and Adora breaks down, realizing she’s hurt and alienated both her best friends.

[mustloveshera]

Still not over how Glimmer laughed at Shadow Weaver's open attempt to gaslight Adora or how she used her status as Bow's best friend to try and sway him to her side over Adora's. I get that she's going through a LOT and that she isn't as bad about it as Catra but she has a pretty nasty tendency to act as a toxic friend. It goes all the way back to s1 where she viewed Bow as being in the wrong for having friends that aren't her and Adora (possessiveness) until he rightfully called her out on it.

ahh yes, the complexities of glimmer!

glimmer’s reaction to bow having another friend seemed…more complex than just being possessive. it demonstrated that glimmer was terrified of being alone, being left behind, going through change, losing someone who had somehow decided to be her first and only friend until she was ~18yo. her reaction wasn’t calculated–at least, not in the way she wanted it to come across; it was emotional and desperate and clumsy. her behavior was wrong and unhealthy regardless, but i think there was more at play than just, “i want bow to myself.”

part of it comes from her lifelong interactions with people like her aunt, who couldn’t even fathom glimmer finding a friend at all. it’s understandable that she’d panic when she felt like she was losing him. castaspella had instilled in her a belief that she wasn’t capable of making friends, so if bow ditched her for someone else, where would that leave her? again, still wrong, but i’d much sooner accept that apology (even if delayed) than one for this next part…

glimmer’s reaction to shadow weaver’s gaslighting was all the more horrifying because she knows why adora is so “paranoid.” that’s what happens when you’re raised in an abusive environment by an abusive parental figure. glimmer knows about shadow weaver’s “mom stuff”, and she’s seen the effect firsthand many times. she’s watched adora struggle and suffer while trying to recover from that abuse. for glimmer to laugh along with shadow weaver, the person responsible for adora’s “paranoia”, because adora had been annoying her lately? that’s…really bad. i consider this far worse than what she said to adora about angella, because that was said out of grief when she was already worked up about a season-long conflict, whereas enabling shadow weaver’s gaslighting came across as downright callous and traitorous.

as for using her position as bow’s best friend to convince him to agree with her, that seems pretty standard actually. since they were questioning her motives and plan, appealing to bow’s familiarity with her (which would remind him of her good intentions and kind heart etc.) makes sense. it didn’t come across to me as “you need to be on my side because you’re my friend” but “you know me, you know i’m doing this for the right reasons.” she had done it earlier in the season as well, and that had been the “constructive” phrasing that bow had been hoping for. while this approach can be constructive to an extent, because it encourages the other person to assume best faith, when pushed too far, it can be used to manipulate others into going along with things that they believe are wrong. in bow’s case, he chose to stand his ground and follow his own heart, not hers, even if he knows she’s a good person. many people in history have been led astray by friends who seemed to have the best intentions and gone into hell with them (to extend the metaphor).

glimmer has the capacity to be an amazing friend, but also a horrible one. she’s the one who went out of her way to try to cheer up adora on mystacor, and then chose to play along with using that against adora when she was annoyed at her. when she’s caught up in her own misery, she lashes out at others, saying horrible things, making hasty decisions, etc. it’s not a good look, but it’s realistic, especially for a young adult who has no parents. a lot of people struggle to deal with grief and negative emotions, and they often unleash those unresolved feelings onto those who would be most likely to put up with it–their close friends. glimmer is deeply flawed and immature, but she’s willing to grow and change and fix her mistakes (unlike catra, thus far), and i’m confident she’ll continue to do so.

[cordytriestowrite]

Your Biggest Fan

Loki x Reader

Summary: If the only way you could get a job in journalism was by stalking The Avengers you would do it, you just wish it wasn't so hard to get your shot.

It took a few more outings where you would attempt to capture images of the god of thunder before you realized the coincidences surrounding those photos were actually purposeful sabotage. For the past month they followed the same formula: you would be sent out with the camera to a Thor sighting and while waiting for your shot you would inevitably spot the mysterious man in his black tailored suit then Thor would appear shortly after and therein lie the sabotage.

First it was your camera's battery, and while it was strange you had convinced yourself it was ultimately innocuous. You arrived back at the office and admitted your mistake, thinking you had earned the disapproval of your team rightfully. They bounced back though with five articles and two polls based on your poorly framed, slightly out of focus photographs. You were relieved despite the nagging thought in your head of how odd the whole thing was.

Then, the next time your camera went missing, it had somehow completely disappeared from the strap around your neck. When you went to lift the familiar weight of the device and grasped nothing but air the surge of panic you felt bypassed any desire to document Thor enjoying seven entire pizzas in the small corner pizza joint you had been tipped off on. The meal took the god all of three minutes to scarf down. Finding your camera took about half an hour. You didnt notice him in the moment, the same man from last time standing just inside the restaurant, half hidden in the shadow of the awning hung to shield the sun from their customer's eyes. It was on top of that very awning you spotted your camera and you recruited one of the restaurant workers to help you bring it down. You should have realized as you approached the office empty handed that something was up, but it took a few more times you shamefully admit.

Your boss was getting tired of your excuses and your team did not believe your claims that the stranger was somehow connected to your misfortune. How could your expect them to believe you though? You had no evidence of him at all. There had been no photographs, no name to research, and your description of him only received blank stares or raised eyebrows. Ultimately it was decided that you should take a break from fieldwork and stay in the office where the work you were being paid to do actually produced results.

You were just finishing your rough draft of Chick Flicks Black Widow Would Probably Watch and Why when the fight began. One moment you were mentally pulling your hair out at the stupidity of the article and the next you were cowering under your desk as a deep tremor shook the building from the foundation to the highest floor. When the quake ceased and you left your makeshift shelter you discovered the source of the upheaval. Right outside your building was some sort of vessel and shooting from its underbelly was what looked like a cartoonish red laser. The beam of energy, as silly as it looked, was causing real damage to the street below. Almost as if the entire staff reached the same realization at the same time, the thirty or so employees of The Thirst New York Division rushed in a panic to the elevator looking to escape to safety.

You however, could only see dollar signs as Iron Man flew into view from the top of your floors large windows, his sleek red and gold suit reflecting in the sun and almost blinding you with each movement of his arms and legs. This was your chance to get out of your crappy job and into something better, all you needed was pictures.

When the first attack on New York happened most everyone's sole motivation was survival. Droves of people fled the streets being terrorized by the threat for locations untouched, some even fleeing the city entirely. One college student, equipped with only his outdated DSLR endured the line of fire to capture the fight. His name became legendary in journalism, his prints ended up in museums and text books, and he was set for life with royalties and job offers. This could be your moment. This could be the fight that gets your name in the mouth of every major news outlet and your photos in magazines and your articles online. This time tomorrow you could be free of this bullshit job with its nonsense reporting and actually do something worth a damn. Where others saw danger you only saw opportunity.

The camera used for all reporting by your team, the same camera that had been disabled in multiple ways by your mischievous nuisance, was sitting atop Katy's desk where she had left it yesterday. Without any moral objection you snatched it up and tore down the stairs, surpassing a handful of coworkers still waiting for the elevator.

The eight flights from your office to the ground floor were traversed in such a rush you lost your footing about halfway down, causing your momentum to send you crashing into the wall of the stairwell. You barely felt the impact through the adrenaline coursing through your veins. You checked the camera for damage and set off once you determined there was none, not faulting your speed for any prospect of sure footing. You halted only when you had thrown open the door to the lobby and came upon the destruction.

An entire stretch of outer wall was gone, the walls adjacent were mostly rubble and only the far wall remained undamaged and continued to support the building as it had when you arrived to work that morning. The usual elderly, friendly building manager was missing from her desk that stood in the center of the lobby, though in her defence the desk was no longer in its place and, in fact, pieces of wood scattered about the tile floor were all that remained. Like a heavy boulder in the middle of a stream you stayed planted through the river of scared workers flooding out from the elevator and stairs. They continued to flow out and away from the battle, pushing and shoving and taking along with them anything that cut through their path.

You couldnt move with them, not now that you were down here, seeing and hearing and practically tasting destruction. Truly for the first time you were feeling terror. The next time you saw a spider you would not be able to say you were afraid of them, for the fear you felt right now surpassed any minor fright the eight legged creatures gave you. Haunted houses could never be described as horrifying, for you had now seen real blood splattered on the walls and pavement, not knowing how it got there or who it belonged to, or even if the bleeder was still alive.

The red and gold glimmer of the Iron Man suit brought you back to you senses, forcing your previously unseeing eyes to refocus on what drove you down here in the first place. You rushed forward toward the open air, stumbling up and over rubble and debris to make it beyond the building, one hand cradling the camera to your chest protectively. When your feet hit a patch of intact pavement you brought the viewfinder to your eye and began snapping.

The pictures would not be perfect but they would be plentiful. Iron Man and War Machine were high in the sky and moving faster than your camera could handle, but you captured their attempts to break through the flying vessel's tough exterior with whatever was equipped in the suits. Panning down to the ground, standing maybe half a mile from you just outside the energy beam pointed steadfast into the ground with the help of Hulk was Captain America and Black Widow. You zoomed in and out feverishly getting shots of all three of the heroes as well as individual close ups. You felt a surge of pride as your shutter closed midway through Captain America throwing his shield; in the viewfinder you had timed it right when he had the shield furthest back, allowing you to see the gleaming white center star and the length of his muscular arm.

In your fervor you did not detect the roll of thunder and flash of lightening until one struck so close you almost dropped the camera. You stumbled blindly backwards on instinct and scrambled up the rubble pile until you were under the cover of your building.

"He's here." You said to yourself with a smile, searching what you could see of the sky from under the crumbling roof.

It's not that Thor was your favorite avenger, far from it considering the strife you had endured trying to get his picture, but you had always been a fan, he was a god after all. You could see the lightening travel closer and closer, striking down from a centralized ball. You raised your camera excitedly. It was hard to capture lightening on film, but this time you would get the shots that evaded you before.

You pressed down frantically on your capture button, so much so that your pointer finger was sore, but you had finally gotten a solid photo of the god of thunder...and...was that?

It was him, the dark haired man who had handed you your camera battery, who you had seen smirking at you through your view finder just before the lens attachments fell off while attempting to document Thor jogging in the park. Despite the change from a well fitted, all-black suit to leathers of green and black paired with a flowing cape and golden horned helmet, you knew it was him. His long black curls and playful expression made it all very clear.

You felt fear, true and pure, for the second time that day when your mind made the connection between the man in the suit and the man, no, god joining the fight alongside The Avengers. You had been spotting Loki, the god of mischief, brother of Thor, and overall threat to humanity, for the last month and had been suspecting him to be the source your camera issues. Though it didn't make sense how he had done it before it certainly did now. You knew Loki was a sorcerer; a trickster. You also knew he had attempted to take over the world only a few years ago and had caused the death of thousands of people with no remorse. You swallowed past the constriction of your throat. He had been playing with you, teasing you for his own pleasure and amusement. What would happen when he got bored of pulling your pigtails and calling you names? Would he leave you alone? Would he kill you? You could feel your fear edge into a full on panic attack. You dropped the camera onto the debris next to you with shaking hands.

The creaking and cracking was quiet at first but the volume increased rapidly, too rapid for you to react. The fact that you were about to be crushed had barely entered your thoughts before the building collapsed, no longer able to rely on the one supporting wall. The toppling building provided just enough damage to the enemy to send it to the ground, sputtering out its last bits of life. The Avengers stood around it, taking in its damage and the wreckage of the surrounding areas, all except one unofficial member who currently cradled you in his arms only a few feet away from the falling glass and concrete.

You thought you were going to die but somehow you hadn't. You opened your eyes, they had been clenched so tightly shut that you saw spots for a moment and had to blink them away, but when you vision cleared you finally understood why you weren't dead. Loki's face was etched with concern, a genuine expression that jolted you out of your dazed state and back into an adrenaline induced panic. You clutched desperately to his leather clad arms and shoulders despite the relative security.

"Oh...oh m-my god." You began, stuttering on your words as you choked back sobs. You should hear Loki shushing you softly and felt his icy thumb graze across your cheek to collect your tears. You pulled away reflexively and he let you break out of his arms. You wrapped your own arms around yourself immediately missing the feeling of comfort.

"You're safe now. Though only a fool of a midgardian would be so close to the action and almost get herself killed." His voice was deep, just like it had been upon your first meeting. The timbre felt like a warm blanket for your ears, but the condescending tone and words did not wrap you in warmth, but ignite a heat in your belly even the ice of fear couldnt quell fast enough.

"I am not a fool." you huffed, finding strength in your voice again.

"Then, pray tell, what were you thinking?" His pitch raised slightly in his bewilderment.

Your eyes finally looked beyond him to where you once sat, suddenly realizing your camera was not at your side. It had been crushed along with any hope you had of moving on from The Thirst. You let out a self deprecating snort and shook your head. There was no way The Thirst would even continue to employ you when they found out about the camera, if they were even keeping the New York division at all after losing everything. You brought your attention back to Loki, eyes now hollow.

"My camera has been crushed and my office leveled. How will you continue to play with me now? Or will you just kill me?"

All concern and confusion fell from the god's face and was replaced by a hard, cold glare. Barely suppressed anger held his lips tight in a sneer. Without looking he reached down by his side, fingers trailing along one golden horn of his helmet before gripping it surely and thrusting it into the air. It turned over twice before it landed deftly back into his awaiting hand. All the while his eyes did not leave yours and you found yourself unable to do anything but take him in. He placed the helmet on his head and took a step back, and another, and with each step the hard line of his lips loosened into a roguish leer.

"I'm not done playing yet darling."

Tag list is open! @bluebriid @leftmewaitinginthecold13 @cyberbunny21 @kali-rambles @jungwencantdie @fuckthatfeeling

[happywitch416]

Chapter 31

Elena's fingers moved reverently over the bow. She had never seen the level of craftsmanship and doubted she would again. Gelebor joined her. "The bow was said to be carried by Auri-El himself into battle against the forces of Lorkhan in ancient and mythic times. Its craftsmanship has no equal anywhere within Tamriel and possibly beyond." He informed her proudly.

"I do not doubt that." She plucked the bowstring and would have sworn the bow sang, a glimmer of light twisting along it. "It’s beautiful." She turned to him with a smile. "Thank you for helping us." 

"No." He shook his head and took her outstretched hand on his. "I thank you. You risked everything to get Auri-El's Bow, and in return, you've restored the Chantry. I can't think of a more deserving champion to carry it than you, Kyne's daughter."

The sun was blasting down so Serana and Elena holed up in the chantry. Elena had pulled out her sketchbook and was committing as much of it to paper as she could. She stared at what once had been a soaring archway, now crumbled into dust and ruin on the ground. 

"You were right." Elena gave Serana a look as she joined her on the bench. "About the Falmer losing their gods." 

"Oh." Elena answered softly. She looked down at her sketch of Auri-el’s statue, it didn't do it justice her little sketch against all that craftsmanship. But it was a sight she would never forget. Nor the Chantry, the Forgotten Vale, the horrifying truth about the Falmer or the fact she had killed one the last snow elves. No better than her ancestors slaughtering them. "I wonder if they want revenge like Vyrthur." 

"Against their god or the dwarves?" Serana watched her as Elena’s fingers moved again, tracing the lines of the Chantry on to the paper with the barest of glances up.

"Both." Elena murmured. "But it could be argued that their god was responsible for what happened with the dwarves too." She gave herself a shake. "And the prophecy. If he hadn't threatened you, I would question if it is all a lie." Not that Serana had needed protecting, she had just picked the former archpriest up to yell before throwing him. It had left Elena motionless a moment, mouth falling open in awe.

"Either way it tore my family apart." Elena reached out gently at her mournful tone. Charcoal left smudges on Serana’s pale skin but Serana squeezed her hand tightly before clearing her throat. "You know it's...not as shiny as I was expecting." She motioned towards the bow." Still, it's beautiful." 

"I’ve never seen better." The flash of a grin disappeared as quickly as it appeared. "What do we do now?" 

They both knew the answer, but it still took a while for Serana to give it a voice. "It's time to face my father. If we don’t, he’ll keep chasing us for the rest of our lives." Elena nodded, settling her sketchbook and charcoal back into her pack, giving Serana time. "I've been thinking about this for a long time. It's...it's not easy. But I don't think we have much of a choice." 

"It is your choice.” Elena said quietly, her tone even and without judgment and for that Serana was grateful. “And I will uphold whatever choice you make.” She met her eyes; Elena’s were so calm compared to the turmoil in Serana’s heart.

 "This has to end here and now." 

Elena stood and offered her a hand up. "Then let's face him, together." 

Serana pulled her into a tight hug and after a half breath Elena’s arms wrapped around her. "Thank you. Somehow I knew you'd understand." 

Elena gave her small nod as she stepped back, fingers grazing along Serana’s arms as she let go. "How do we want to do this?" 

"If we head back to the castle and kick the front door in, we're going to be knee-deep in his friends." Elena pulled a face that made her laugh just a little. "I could find a way to get him to come out." 

"Stand on the tower and yell that we have the bow." She broke into a grin and Serana’s horrified expression. "What? It’s not going in the front door." 

"You’re ridiculous." Serana returned the grin before sobering. "I don’t know how we will get to him." They set to packing up their gear, the sun finally beginning to set. 

After a while, Elena spoke up again. "What about the courtyard? We have that ladder there." 

Serana shook her head. "He wouldn’t come there. Wait." She stared at Elena a moment. "Could you sneak in that way?" 

Elena was quiet a moment running through her memory of the place. "Maybe? It’ll be easier now that I don’t smell like a feast." Serana shook her head at the awful attempt of a joke. "Are there any in his court that would betray him? Any help we can get." 

Serana’s lips curled into a dark smile. "I know exactly who we can ask."

Chapter 32

“So, you've returned. Is your...pet no longer keeping you entertained?” Harkon sneered.

“You know why I am here.” Serana answered him calmly, chin high and shoulders straight.

“Of course, I do.’ He let out a short derisive laugh, beginning to pace slowly. “You disappoint me, Serana. You've taken everything I've provided for you and thrown it all away for that pathetic half-breed vampire.”

“Provided for me? Are you insane?” The calm Serana had mustered cracked like glass. “You've destroyed our family. You've killed other vampires. All over some prophecy that we barely understand.” She pulled the dark sword from the scabbard at her hip. “No more. I'm done with you.” Elena watched silently from the shadows of the Cathedral. Elena made a note to thank Hestla repeatedly when this was over, between the Daedric sword in Serana’s hands and the quiver of ebony arrows on her back. She had probably saved their lives, at the very least gave them an edge.

 “So, I see this dragon has fangs.” He gave a mocking shake of his head. “Your voice drips with the venom of your mother's influence. How alike you've become.”

 “No because unlike her, I'm not afraid of you.” She pointed the blade at him. “Not anymore.”

 Harkon pitched his voice, uninterested in the sword pointed at him. He was faster than she had ever dreamed of being. “And you, I know you are here.” He turned his head slowly, trying to catch her scent. “It appears I have you to thank for turning my daughter against me. I knew it was only a matter of time before she'd return with hatred in her heart.”

 “Hatred born of your neglect.” Elena stepped from the shadows, unsurprised he knew she was there. They had planned on it. 

“A small price to pay for the betterment of our kind.” He shrugged.

“Ha.” Elena’s eyes glittered with dark amusement. “You're an insult to this world.”

“Oh, come now. You've simply used Serana in an attempt to take away what should rightfully be mine. And what happens when you've slain me? Is Valerica next? Is Serana?”

“Just you. Besides.” Her smile flashed. “I would never harm Serana. She means too much to me.” Serana’s heart warmed momentarily at that, even if it veered off course from their intended plan.

 He sighed, so little they knew, and it would stay unrealized. “The vampire is eternal, and with immortality comes the revelation that these bonds never endure. It's fleeting, momentary at best.”

"A pity then that you don’t have a heart, I was looking forward to ripping it out." The last half snarled out, sinking a bit into the powers that came with her new life just as Serana had shown her on the journey there, the cathedral's darkness receding as she pulled back on the bow, the sharp iron of the blood fountain dancing along her skin.

He laughed then. “You could have been a powerful vampire at my side with that blood lust in your veins. But you will not live to see my new world.”

“You will not touch her.” Serana swung, having circled around to his side while he traded barbs with Elena. Before it connected, a blinding light lit the cathedral with a thundercrack. They had not planned for the power of the bow, Serana falling back with a curse. Harkon yanked the arrow from his shoulder with a roar.

 Her quiver was empty as she stood over Harkon, blood running down her face and arm, the bow still miraculously steady in her hands with the last arrow trained on him. He coughed, choking on his death. “How does it feel to hold the fate of the vampire in your grasp? Exhilarating, isn’t it?” He rasped out. She did not bother to speak, and he turned to Serana. “You would kill your own father.”

“You left us no choice.” Her voice quivered. 

His eyes closed. “Then my daughter is truly lost. She died the moment she accepted a mortal into her life. You are nothing to me.” Elena silenced him before he could speak again, and they watched his body turn to ash without a word.  

They had barely a moment to catch their breath before the doors slammed open, revealing the whole court. With a tired sigh, Elena slung the bow over her shoulder and palmed the dagger from her lower back. She wasn’t going to go quietly. One stepped forward. “Lord Harkon, defeated. I never imagined I'd see the day.” His gaze went from the pile of ash and fabric to Serana. “My lady, you have my deepest sympathies. I am sure this was not easy for you.” Elena relaxed, sliding the knife back into its place. 

Serana shook her head. “He was out of control, Garan. It had to be done. I'm not happy about this. He...he was still my father.” She took a deep breath. “But I suppose my father really died a long time ago. This was just the end of something else.”

“Of course, my dear.” He said softly. “All will be well now.” He held his hand out to Elena. “My congratulations on defeating Harkon. Clearly, you are the superior vampire.” He paused a moment as Elena took his hand, her grip was strong and honest he decided. He found himself hoping she would join the court. “And thank you for keeping Lady Serana safe.” 

Elena gave him a lopsided grin and a nod, wishing for the ground to swallow her. She slipped away as Garan spoke to Serana about what would happen next. Hestla greeted her with a knowing nod and Elena accepted the slap on the back from the blacksmith without flinching. “No one will soon forget that you were the one to defeat Harkon.”

Her smile was genuine this time. “Not without help.” She turned about slightly. “Where’s Ronthil?”

“Ah.” Hestla stared awkwardly at the floor. “He said you could find him where you left him.” Elena’s brows arched but thanked Hestla again before heading to the courtyard.

 “Ronthil?” She called out softly, sliding a little when she opened the door from the destroyed tower. 

“My lady?” He popped up, voice coloring with relief as he stood. “Oh, thank goodness.”

Elena grinned. “So little faith. I told you we would do it.”

“Yes. well.” He fidgeted before clearing his throat. “If there is anything, I can assist with please let me know.”

Her smile softened. “I am sure Lady Serana will need all the help she can get.”

“Oh.” He blinked several times. “You aren’t staying?”

She took a deep breath and let it out with a hard sigh. “I can’t. I may visit from time to time if I am welcome.”

“Lady Serana will ensure it.” He blanched as Serana slid through the door. 

“What am I ensuring?”

“That Lady Elena is welcome.” He offered quickly.

Serana’s gaze went between them for a breath. “Of course, she is.” 

Ronthil studied the two of them before heading back inside, leaving them to stand awkwardly in the destroyed courtyard. Elena laughed, earning her a bewildered look from Serana. “We should go get your mother.”

 The Soul Cairn was still creepy under its purple storm laden sky. Elena’s skin crawled, invisible bony fingers trailing along her skin. Duvenhir hailed them before circling back to wherever he lived amongst the craggy towers and lightning strikes. Valerica stared at them in shock, arms having barely unwrapped from Serana. “Are you certain?”

“He died by my hand.” Elena reassured her quietly. “He is no longer a danger to anyone.”

“Then I see nothing preventing my return to Tamriel.” Valerica looked around, a smile forming. “Allow me to gather some of my things and I'll head back to Castle Volkihar.” She reached out and took Elena’s hands in her own. “And from the bottom of my heart, I thank you.” 

Elena gave her a shy, awkward nod. “What will you do now?” 

“Well, I think it's time I got back to my work as an alchemist. The Soul Cairn will offer a unique opportunity to continue my studies, and I intend to complete my research. And perhaps.” She smiled wryly in Serana’s direction. “Fix things between me and my daughter. If she wants.”

Elena’s smile grew sure. “I think she would like that.”

 Serana had followed Elena out of the main hall, they quietly chatted about nothing until they passed through the doors and stood awkwardly avoiding each other’s eyes. “What will you do now, Elena?”

Elena’s thumb rubbed gently against the bones in her wrist, her aching muscles protesting as she tensed. “I am going to spend a long time with my girls.”

“No adventuring then?”

Elena met her eyes then, her own dancing as the corners of her lips turned up. “You think I can avoid adventure with those three?” Serana laughed with a shake of her head. Elena sobered watching her intently. “You?” 

“I'm not sure.” She said quietly, staring out over the sea. Night had fallen and a full moon risen, bathing her in its silvery light. Elena committed it to memory, the curve of her jaw, the slope of her nose as she ignored the ache in her chest. “I'll probably stay here, for as long as they'll let me. I think we can rebuild here. Make my family's legacy something more respectable.” 

 “I think you can.” Elena nodded and swallowed hard. “You are always welcome you know.” She shifted on her feet. “At Proudspire with me-us.” She half stammered. “Truly, anytime Serana, the door will always be open.”

“Even if I try to make them drink milk?”

“Well.” Elena chuckled softly. “They may think about leaning on the door for a little bit.” Elena held out her hand and Serana took it, but Elena gave up on the halfhearted handshake that felt too permanent and not enough and pulled her into a tight hug. Serana returned it and reluctantly Elena let go as she stepped back. “Until we meet again, Serana.” Her warm smile did not quite reach her eyes, and she let it fall the moment she turned away. 

Serana watched her walk down the ramp, the smell of leather and lavender becoming lost in the sea air. Elena’s feet had barely reached the beach when she called out. “Wait.” Elena turned, trying not to grin when Serana hurriedly joined her. “It’s not like they need me to do anything. They have my mother.”

Elena laughed throwing an arm around her shoulders and gently resting her forehead against hers for a breath. “I bet we can find another adventure in no time.”

A Warrior’s Heart Master List

[ladyninjaa]

Abandoned

Imagine: being the only surviving child of Cersei and Jaime Lannister. (takes part during the last episode of season 7)

You had hoped that this meeting would have gone in a different direction but it didn’t. What you witnessed…that thing attempting to grab at your own mother was horrifying and to think that there were more of them was terrifying. You would have liked to not believe Jon Snow and his claims of an undead army heading this way but the threat had been proven real.

And you have never been more afraid then now.

But your mother…your mother’s paranoia had gotten the best of her. When Jon had foolishly admitted that he had already bent the knee to Daenerys…your mother was not happy and ended the meeting quickly much to the shock to you and your father.

“Mother, we cannot ignore this!” You defiantly stood up to her because you were the only one who could without getting serious and lethal consequences’. To see the devastation on Jon’s face as your mother walked by without a care was almost gut-wrenching.

You knew Jon and you liked his person. You only had a few weeks in Winterfell when your legal father, Robert, traveled there to name Ned his Hand and you had grown close to the Stark children—practically Jon and Robb (your father even proposed a marriage between you and Robb but your mother refused and gave your father Joffrey instead) but now with Robb gone—his death would always haunt you because you did everything you could to stop your murderous brother from butchering him in such a cowardly way.

You weren’t a demented lion like your father or your younger brother. You were a soft cub like your sweet little brother sister. You knew when to be fierce and when to show compassion—it was what separated you from the rest of your family.

Your mother and her guard moved forward and your father was quick to follow.

Brienne, the woman who managed to deliver your father back home, was quick to interject and to try to talk to Jaime into talking sense into Cersei.

Your mother paused and looked back at you angrily. Her eyes were fierce like any mother lioness but you were not fazed. You remained where you were and held up your head high and angrily said, “If they could not defeat those monsters what makes you think we can? They have dragons and if they couldn’t win with those winged beasts,” You gestured towards the two dragons flying in the distance, “What makes you think we can?” You didn’t care that you were showing the wedge between mother and daughter and showing potential weakness in front of the enemies—could you consider your own Uncle your enemy?

“We will always find a way to prevail.” Your mother said in a strangely calm voice—not looking bothered by your burst of anger and defiance.

You stared at her with barely concealed disappointment as she left you with the others. She knew you wanted to stay and speak to Jon. She could care less about you socializing with the enemy because now there was another enemy more capable of ending the Lannister house.

Your father and Brienne exchange words—Brienne desperate to sway your father but your father brushes her off and continues to follow your mother. You stare after the black cloaked figure of your mother and feel the deep emotion in the air. They are frazzled and even scared.

You could feel the Dragon Queen’s stare on you.

Jon turns to you and you walk up to him. Without a care, you give your friend a hug—something you have been longing to do for so long. Jon isn’t surprised by your affectionate display—you were still the wild, wide eyed Lannister Princess that ran through the forest with the Stark direwolves because you never felt so free. He embraces you and feels a familiar comfort he felt when he first saw Sansa at Castle Black.

“I am so sorry,” You breathed trying not to tremble well aware of the stares on your back. He smells exactly like the North…how was that possible? “I cannot express it enough.” You say thickly as you pull away from him—he no longer looks like the young lad he once was so long ago. His face has hardened and his eyes were darker. There was this…strange feeling about him. Like, he wasn’t completely himself.

Jon gives you a small smile, “An apology from you is very well accepted. I know you did your best to try to stop it, Y/N.” He reassures you that the bond between you two was never damaged, “In fact I was more worried about you. With your loud, blunt mouth I was surprised your mother or Joffrey didn’t lock you up for good.” He dares to tease.

You breathlessly smile and shake your head as the man who stood next to Jon spoke, “I wish you hadn’t done that.” This man looked very familiar, who was he? 

Jon had this sour look on his face as if remembering the grave mistake he had done.

Daenerys got up and walked towards the both of you—she shot you a unsure glance but spoke to Jon fiercely, “I am grateful for your loyalty, but my dragon…” She looks at you now and you have a feeling that you weren’t meant to hear her words.

“She can be trusted.” Tyrion speaks up quietly.

“Can she?” The girl doesn’t look that much older then you and she’s glaring at you now.

You stare back unfazed, “Trust me, I want nothing more then to end this fucking war. I’ve had my fill on death, alright? I won’t tell my mother anything you say because honestly, it wouldn’t change anything.” You say harshly not caring who you were speaking too.

She looks clearly taken back by the way you speak.

Tyrion sighs and he is now beside you, “You still have that terrible mouth on you.” But there is a gentle, loving smile on his face to show you that he is teasing.

You grin at him—happy to see him alive and well. “Well, it’s part of my charm.”

Daenerys isn’t pleased by the obvious bond between you, Tyrion, and Jon but she continues, “If this is all for nothing then he died for nothing.” There is a glimmer of grief in her violet eyes and sorrow in her voice.

You stare between her and Jon with narrowed eyes before concluding, “That’s why you only have two dragons with you. The other died by the hands of those monsters?” You are sick to your stomach and as the Queen glares at you…you feel nothing but sadness for her, “Then we’re definitely fucked.” You muttered, “I offer you my condolences, your grace.” You added with a respective tone.

The silver-haired woman looks unsure how to proceed—the last thing she expected was a Lannister that wasn’t Tyrion to be kind to her. Perhaps this lion was different.

“I’m pleased you bent the knee to our queen,” Tyrion speaks in his usually drawled out voice, “I would have not advised it, had asked.” He gives him a stare of annoyance, “But have you ever considered learning how to lie every now and then?”

“Just a bit?”

Jon stares at him with obvious offense, “I am not going to sweat an oath I can’t uphold,” He rightfully states and you only feel your admiration for him grow, “Talk about my father, if you want, tell me that’s the attitude that got him killed. But when enough people make false promises, words stop meaning anything.”

“In the end, there are only better and better lies.” You spoke quietly making Jon nod towards you in agreement.

Tyrion looks defeated, “And lies won’t help us win this fight.” Jon ends looking unbelievably stressed out. You feel for him because now he was the one left to clean up this shit mess that our parents left us.

“That is indeed a problem,” Tyrion muttered, “The more immediate problem is that we’re fucked.”

You nod in agreement and said, “I’ll drink to that.”

“Why are you here again?” Daenerys glares at you as if your presence was becoming bothersome to her.

“You shouldn’t be fucking drinking.” Tyrion scolds with a scowl.

“I am here because I wanted to speak to Jon and my uncle, is that a crime, your grace? Does my Lannister appearance bother you? Are you going to burn me alive?” You sassed glaring back at her, “Geez, and you wanted to make an alliance with my mother with that bloody attitude?” You scoffed as Daenerys scowled at you fiercely.

“I always did like her.” the Hound commented giving you a proud look, “Always gave that little shit hell.”

“Does everyone here apparently favor her then?” Daenerys bit out angrily, “We have bigger things to worry about!” You roll your eyes but agree, this was no time for such games.

“Is there any way to change that stare of affairs?” The man with a rugged accent questioned.

Tyrion looks out towards where your mother and father had left, “Only one.”

“Hell, no.” You step up and glare at him, “You’re fucking crazy. She’d slaughter you.”

“That’s why you’re coming with me.” Tyrion speaks with a sigh, “I never thought I’d use my own niece as a shield, how low can I go?”

**

 “You don’t have to walk us there, you fat shit.” You hiss turning to look over your shoulder to glare at whatever the fuck the Mountain had turned out to be—or whatever Qyburn had done to him.

He only kept walking without making a second sound.

“Do I even want to ask about him?” Tyrion looks scared of him and he should be. He’s in a dangerous situation right now.

“No.” You mumbled, “I liked him better when he was…alive.”

There was only tensed silence as the three of you walked towards your mother’s office. Your father appears looking very displeased to see Tyrion. They exchange a few words about being idiots and goodbyes. You roll your eyes and reply impatiently, “Can we stop acting so dramatically? Tyrion is not going to die. That’s why I am here.”

Your father looks at you, “Your mother won’t like that.”

You shrug, “Have I ever given a shit?”

Your father frowns, “I honestly don’t know where you got that blunt mouth from.”

“I am my own person. I shouldn’t be compared to you or my mother.” You remarked a bit sourly. You had always known who your real father was ever since you were ten. It was always blatantly obvious because you looked nothing like Robert. Your younger siblings never caught on though, you guessed it was because they were stupid.

Jaime shook his head with a small smile before stepping to the side.

Tyrion stared ahead unsure what fate awaited him. He knew if it came down to it, he would not risk your life for the sake of his. You entered her room with bothering to knock and saw her sitting at her desk. She eyes you but then her eyes land on Tyrion.

You take your seat and remain quiet knowing it would be wise not speak.

“I shouldn’t be surprised, I suppose. She’s your kind of woman—a foreign whore who doesn’t know her place.” You groan at the immediate insults hurled at Tyrion. Your mother pointedly ignores you.

There are words being exchanged. Your mother’s eyes growing with hate and anger towards your uncle for killing Tywin—your grandfather. Her eyes grew watery as she spoke about Myrcella and Tommen. Your heart clenched at the mention of them but you knew it wasn’t really Tyrion’s fault.

Tyrion suddenly said, “I will always be a threat…so put an end to me.” His words sound tired and desperate and you stare at him shocked.

You don’t miss the murderous look on your mother’s face as he suggest that she end his life—just like she always wanted to do. He continues to fuel her hate and anger reminding her of how she was motherless, fatherless, and two of her children were dead. You could see the look on your mother’s face—she wanted to kill him.

For once, you are speechless. Your mouth is dry because you couldn’t have predicted that your uncle would go for this. Tyrion stands in front of the Mountain and demands your mother to kill him.

But then…your mother is looking at you and seeing the horror on your pretty face…and she can’t bring herself to say the words. You were…her last surviving child…although there was one in her belly…you were her first babe. Seeing such a look on your face…she couldn’t do that to you…as much as it killed her to admit you loved Tyrion fiercely and Cersei feared the repercussions if she did kill Tyrion right now.

The last thing she wanted was you, her precious daughter, to hate her.

Cersei growls and looks away.

You let out a sigh of relief while Tyrion remains surprised. He looks at you and knows very well that you were the only reason why Cersei didn’t butcher him.

**

Tyrion had convinced your mother to reconsider. Eventually, your mother gave her word that their war would be pushed aside to fight in the real war. You were thrilled to hear her words because it meant that the future for you and your family wasn’t so bleak. You were happy because the child in your mother’s belly would have a chance at living.

But then everything came crashing down that same night.

You were asleep in your chambers when a voice and someone shaking you woke you up. You groggily opened your eyes and saw your father hovering above you. You were confused and dazed—taking into account that he wasn’t wearing his usual armor.

“Papa?” You mumbled sitting up.

Your father sat down on the edge of the bed with this sad look on his face, “I need to tell you something before I ask you to make a difficult choice.” He says caressing the side of your sleepy face. He was leaving but he had to take you with him…he knew what would happen if he were to leave and you were to stay. He couldn’t leave knowing how Cersei would act towards you –obsessive, paranoid, and by her side at all times.

But he knew you just as well as he knew Cersei…you wouldn’t allow it your mother to coddle you and obey her commands especially after he leaves. You would defy her, rebel, and make your statements known which something that Cersei wouldn’t tolerate now.

He couldn’t leave without you because it would mean your death.

Something serious was happening. You were fully awake now and peering at your father through the darkness—the only light coming from the moon outside your window. “What’s wrong?” You questioned with a frown.

Your father swallows thickly and tells you, “Earlier this morning, your mother advised me that we wouldn’t be riding north anymore. That she intends to betray Jon and the Dragon Queen and let them deal with the white walkers.”

You frown, “She’s insane. If they can’t stop them, we can’t either.”

He nods, “It is what I told her and she told me that Euron didn’t flee like we had thought…he went to ferry the Golden Company across the sea and back to Kings Landing.”

Why would your mother conspire with that mad-man Euron and not your father? Was her paranoia getting that bad that she didn’t trust your father now? “Was it because you met with Tyrion without her consent?” You asked with disgust.

He gives a curt nod, “That’s not the worst of it.”

You see the dreadful look on his face, “When I told your mother that I intended to ride North to keep the promise I made…” He blows out a heavy sigh and you see his shoulders drop, “I tried to walk away from her…but that monster got in the way.”

Your heart almost stopped beating. Anger rose in your body, “She did not.” You stood up with the Lannister fire in your eyes, “Tell me she did not do it.” You said through gritted teeth.

Your father looks down at the stone floor, “I was in disbelief and when I told her to order that thing to kill me…she only nodded after a few seconds.” He looks shaken up by the ordeal and you could understand. Your mother and father loved each other even when it was wrong in every sense and through it all they always stuck with each other.

For your mother to have gone this far by having that thing cut your father down…

“And then what happened?”

“He took out his sword; ready to cut me down but for some reason…nothing happened. I walked away in complete disbelief…I can’t believe your mother would…” He shakes his head with disgust and anger, “After everything…”

You swallow the lump in your throat, “So, you’re leaving?”

He nods, “I made a promise. Besides, next time I won’t be so lucky. Cersei has made her intentions clear to me.” He says looking very anguished.

You stare at your father with uncertainty and ask thickly, “And what about me?”

“I cannot force you to come with me—“

You were not stupid and knew what would happen clearly and quickly once your father abandoned your mother, “I am coming with you.”

It wasn’t a hard decision for you to make. You always knew that her paranoia would get the better of her—her twisted nature would always win. This woman was not your mother anymore. No mother would give an order to kill the father of her children. She didn’t give the order to kill Tyrion but did so with your father? It was unacceptable. Not that you wanted Tyrion dead.

Your parents had faults, yes, you would admit. You were a direct result from one of those faults. Your heart was heavy with emotions and you couldn’t believe this was happening. How did things turn so bad? You looked at your father with grief, “Do you think this all happened because you pushed Bran off the ledge?”

Your father isn’t surprised that you know—you were always a very clever lion, “Perhaps,” He murmurs with guilt and he closes his eyes as if disgusted with himself, “But now is my chance to try to make things right…as much as I can.”

He opens his eyes and looks at you with hope, “I have to do what I can to make sure that there is a future for you…a better one then the one you have now.”

This was just something I’ve been dying to write. It’s long and boring, I know, but I really like it c: There are no other parts for right now. Maybe I’ll add a part two when we see Jaime in the next season!

UPDATE: PART TWO HERE

[jenisis]

The universe is vast and expansive. Empty, void, save for tiny sparks, dancing and skittering through the abyss.

The thing about sparks is, they never want to be alone. Yes, they'll dance with the dark, but only venture so far; they'd much rather dance with each other.

When enough of these sparks gather, they begin to grow, resonating with each other in unique, beautiful ways. And the bigger they became, the more sparks they'd attract, cascading into expansive nebulas of like-minded stars. These galaxies would be the start of the planes as we know them.

For at a certain size, these sparks of pure energy would surge and pulse, sending shivers through it's neighbors. These waves would coalesce, mix like paints in water, and form matter, and energy, mind and body and soul.

From these primordial embers came the gods, immortal beings that were accidents of cosmic proportions, conciousness that sprung to form due to an event occurring for the first time. The stars were alive. Life herself wished to grow.

But even planes can grow ill, pale, and corrupt. The souls that wander there reflect that illness, diminished and beaten. Mundara.

A name that echoes in the collective conciousness of all the planes. Yes, other planes could be dull, or pure chaos, filled with twisted, hateful souls, or the pure hearts of saints. But Mundara was the unfortunate vestige of a rending, a separation of two planes from one larger plane, the result being the Divine Hothiel, and Turbulent Hellistraith. The division of two planes often results in tiny clumps of sparks, who were caught deliberating on which course to take. These clumps eventually jump one way or the other, lest they fade away into nothingness once more.

Sometimes, however, the clumps take a different, gentler approach. If there are enough of them, they can simply form their own, more neutral alliance, and give birth to yet another plane.

This is not what happened to Mundara.

The division of Yew'ika into Hothiel and Hellistraith did indeed leave several small clusters. These clusters did, indeed, attempt to make their way one way, or the other. But something happened that sequestered them from the two planes; many blamed it on the pride of Hothiel, who would only let the purest of souls through its gates. Others blamed brutal Hellistraith, who only wished for more bodies for their wars. Yet more theories circled, each with a darker, more nefarious reason behind Mundara's unfortunate existence.

For the isolated sparks, with no option but oblivion, resonated with each other. The chaotic bolts straining for Hellistraith clashed violently against Hothiel's blinding strobes, all while fairer sparks where torn apart, as decisions were made for them. Eventually this battle came to an explosive finale. And thus ended the Yew War.

What none of the other planes knew was that the vestiges of physicality left over from the final battle could not fade, as their respective sparks had not faded, but been extinguished. The matter and energy, the very soul of those sparks had been crushed, torn, and stretched through stresses unimaginable, even by godly standards. It had given birth to a dark, bleak, empty plane. A graveyard of molten plasma and echoing screams. It was almost hurriedly lost to memory.

Eons later, and a soul, lost and afraid, was found wandering in the Free Lands. The denizens of that plane observed it, curious of its origins. It was still tethered to a body, but was little more than a fading ember. The tether quickly snapped, and the soul, now free to inhabit a new physical form, vanished into the closest new life.

The form died, moments later.

The soul continued to cycle through newly created forms, only to cause that form to corrupt, and die. The entire plane watched in horror as each cycle lasted longer, the soul slowly growing stronger. But as the need for new forms increased, other souls were displaced; a backlog of desperation began as one by one, souls began to fade.

The errant soul was finally trapped, amd studied. Out of fear, it was destroyed, but not before it's origin was tracked back to the ancient battlefield of the Yew War, where instead of the empty void that was expected, Mundara, plane of corruption was discovered by the horrified gods.

An abomination of events had caused an undead plane to coalesce, formed of rotting matter created by the long-destroyed sparks. The plane had begun festering before it had even formed, resulting in rocky, barren worlds, and godless stars made of imploding atoms, rather than pure warmth and light. All attention remained on one such star, around which the most unfortunate of all miracles had occurred.

The nature of these events was not witnessed, or if it was, it was the best kept secret throughout the entirety of existence. But they occurred nonetheless.

Thirty-eight small planets orbitted this warm, yellow star. Twenty planets had formed soul-capable vessels. Those twenty planets had begun generating essence. The plane was beginning to breathe.

Then one by one, the cradles of life began to succumb. Some planets collapsed, destabilized, flinging themselves into each other. Others were stripped bare by the harshness of their leper sun's energy. Others still simply did not flourish.

Few gods remained attentive for long, considering the plane cursed, better left forgotten. Others attempted to save these smalls glimmers of hope. And some thought to wipe the rest of the plane from existence, out of mercy, as much as out of fear. Instead, Hothiel and Hellistraith were charged with observing that star, as this was the result of their division. Little by little, they simply lost interest in the dying plane. The Lady of Souls moved her plane closer to Mundara as well, to facilitate relations between the two planes. The souls of that plane were left to fizzle and fade.

And then, one of the few remaining planets did something unexpected. One of the creatures saw it's reflection, and realized it was looking at itself.

The impossible plane had birthed an impossible planet, and the impossible had happened yet again. The creature, delighted at the discovery of self, quickly proceeded to attempt to procreate with another of its species, as life is want to do.

The gods' attention, once more, was on Mundara.

The small planet, and its two remaining siblings, continued to revive themselves again and again. Life clawed its way out, evolving new shapes and forms, solutions for every problem it was thrown. The will of the plane rallied the gods one last time, who flooded the planets with their energies. And suddenly, life took hold of a piece of flint, and humankind was born yet again.

Life seemed to favor the human form, as the bipedal creatures had sprung in almost every plane, at least once before. There was no stronger bond than that a human could create, no lengths a human would not go to achieve their dreams. It was no wonder souls in human shapes would retain that shape, several cycles after.

But as more life grew, and the prospect of humans appearing caused all the planes to take interest, a time of unrest loomed over all. After all, Hothiel and Hellistraith would have the strongest of claims, and the bad blood between the two had escalated in the eons that had passed.

Yahweh, sole God of Hothiel, who had put much effort and energies into the humans, believed them to be rightfully destined to return to Hothiel. Others claimed equal right to the souls of the planet, citing conservation and rehabilitation of these underdeveloped souls as their duty. Eventually, the Lady of Souls stepped in once more, calling for the permanent sequestering of the plane. It took many years of routing secret anchors and ties to the plane, including several breaches by both it's parent planes. In the end, all were forced to abandon Mundara, and millenia passed.

Now Mundara remains. Humans continued on, but without the energies or souls of other planes, and the constant bleak harshness of their galaxies of cadaver-stars, existence itself was hard to continue. Souls that were born there burned bright, but quickly, and dimmed so fast, sometimes even going out before their vessels expired. Mundara is, and has always been, a plane of unfortunate birth onto a sinking plague ship, without knowledge of other boats.

Mundara is where hope lies stillborn.

[aprillikesthings]

OKAY I can finish out the season tonight :D

s3 ep6 The Portal

D:

D:

I actually like this version of Glimmer's outfit better, but like, it's also got a swishy skirt and is more lavender so ....I would

Anyway Adora's been arrested trying to sneak into the castle

FOCUS

well now I'm actively trying not to think about the fic I read yesterday

Micah put a truth spell on Adora and she's ranting about the portal and all that and it's all true but of course she sounds NUTS

aaugh

the portal version of Entrapta ahahah

lol of course she knows

"Only way to shut the portal off is from the inside,

and is stuck there forever!!"

Adora mentions Hordak--

The way her face lights up when talking about Hordak, but then falls when she remembers what Catra did--

anyway she points out "oh the portal is following you, you need to get your sword out of the portal" to Adora who is, rightfully, a little horrified

MARA

oh lord you can see the look on Adora's face when she decides "actually Imma just go get my sword out"

Glimmer and Adora give her a pep talk and disappear

OHHHHHH GOD

HGGGGGGGH

HGGGHHGHGHGHHGHHHHH

oh god I forgot what her voice sounds like when she's corrupted

it took like four tries to get this one ahaha

oh I've realized when else a cartoon gave me that very specific shivery feeling AHAHAHA

*squints at the username of the gifmaker* whatever. I'm just happy to find the exact gif I was looking for, for once, anyway, it's the fusion scene of Malachite from Steven Universe

It's not a sex-related feeling but it's not NOT a sex-related feeling??? I'm not sure if it's related to monsterfucking? the inherent eroticism of realizing a not-quite-human character could kill you for funsies?

I mean also Evelynn from K/DA does it to me sometimes (and she's literally like "but what if getting murdered was ~sexy~"). Hm. 🤔

man I don't even have to caption this one

look, I'm just horny-posting these at this point

well also emotional posting because AUGH

Catra's just like, throwing her around (in various fake portal versions of places they've previously been) and Adora's not even really trying to defend herself

and Catra's taunting her with variations on "this is all your fault"

Like this is literally Adora's worst nightmare

I actually already have a screenshot of this saved somewhere because I was attempting to draw it so I could color it with watercolors and then glue super fine glitter over the glow-y parts, I think I got as far as some of the pencil lines, I should find that....of all the scenes in this show, that's the one I wanted to draw/paint.

And then Adora starts fighting back finally, but also: 😏

YEAH TELL HER

"I didn't break the world, but I am going to fix it!"

(I mean yeah but also: adds another mark on the page titled "times Adora tried to sacrifice herself to save other people")

"And you? You made your choice!" and hooboy that made Catra real mad

LOL I RAN OUT OF IMAGES I knew I would with this one okay hold on

[danithebookaholic-blog]

NEW RELEASE!

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Death Opens a Window (Mourning Dove Mysteries #2) 

By Mikel J. Wilson

Publisher: Acorn Publishing Publication Date: October 19, 2018 Genre: Mystery

Synopsis:

Emory Rome is back in DEATH OPENS A WINDOW, Book 2 of the Mourning Dove Mysteries and the follow-up to the national bestseller MURDER ON THE LAKE OF FIRE.

As he struggles with the consequences of his last case, Emory must unravel the inexplicable death of a federal employee in a Knoxville high-rise. But while the reticent investigator is mired in a deep pool of suspects - from an old mountain witch to the powerful Tennessee Valley Authority - he misses a greater danger creeping from the shadows. The man in the ski mask returns to reveal himself, and the shocking crime of someone close is unearthed.

Goodreads

Excerpt:

Emory tapped the bell on the counter in the lobby of Willow Springs – senior living spaces converted from a nineteenth century Italianate house. Sounds of a mountain forest from overhead speakers pacified the air, and silk flowers sprung from every available surface. This place doesn’t seem so bad. It’s peaceful.

A scream rippled through the tranquility. Emory leapt over the counter and pounded through the door behind it. His eyes darted about in search of danger, but all he found was a fiftyish woman clutching her chest with a horrified look. Before her was an open drawer. Inside was a chicken-bone doll with a bird’s foot attached as if grabbing at the heart. The woman saw Emory and pointed frantically at the drawer. “Get it out of there! Get it out!”

That’s odd. It looks kind of like the one from Corey’s office. Emory threw the doll into a nearby wastebasket. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” The woman’s breathing ticked down from asthmatic. “Okay, I’m fine now. Thank you.” Her chest-clutching hand dropped to her side, revealing a company badge hanging from the collar of her purple polyester blouse. “Can I help you?”

Emory found himself staring at her swept-back, brittle hair – a patchwork of brown shades given a yellow luster from the fluorescent ceiling light. She must color it herself. He pulled his eyes away, glancing at the name on her badge before offering her a smile. “Hi Lucy. I’m here to see Mary Belle Hinter.”

“Ms… Ms. Mary Belle?” Her hand returned to her chest. “Are you a relation?”

“I’m Emory Rome. I’m investigating the death of someone she knew.”

“Oh good heavens. How awful.” Lucy fanned herself with her hand. “She’s on the veranda. The door down the hall to your right. You can’t miss it.”

“Thank you.” Emory pointed toward the wastebasket. “By the way, how did that thing get in your drawer?”

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The woman placed a hand over her heart. “I can’t rightfully say. I imagine someone confiscated it from… one of our residents. We’re a Christian establishment.” Emory started toward the door when the woman stopped him. “Em’ry, you don’t believe she had something to do with that death, do you?”

“No, I just need to talk to her.”

Lucy pursed her lips. “Are you sure?”

That’s an odd question.

Lucy continued, “I don’t mean to speak ill of the misfortunate, but that woman is a hellion straight from the loins of the devil!”

“Thanks for the warning.” Emory left Lucy to her shudders. That’s twice I’ve been warned about Mary Belle Hinter. Who is she?

When Emory stepped onto the veranda, he was greeted by a stifling warmth, in spite of the weak winter sunlight slavering through the glass roof. I wonder which one is her. Among the tight scattering of more patio heaters than were necessary, he saw about two dozen elderly denizens – some sitting alone and others playing cards or board games. One small woman with wild silver hair, however, was kneeling in front of a tree and digging in the dirt with her hands, just beyond the veranda’s wood-slat flooring. Emory smirked. Lord, don’t let it be the crazy one.

A thin fortyish man in scrubs approached him. “Can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Mary Belle Hinter.”

The man scanned the area before the tips of his mustache reached for his chin. “There she is digging at that tree again.”

Emory’s shoulders slumped. Of course, it’s her.

The attendant hurried toward her. “Ms. Mary Belle, what have we said about messing with the foliage?”

Either she didn’t hear him or she ignored him altogether because she broke off a small offshoot of the horse chestnut tree’s root and pulled it from the ground.

“Don’t put that in your mouth!”

Before the attendant could grab it, she sure enough stuffed the piece of root into her mouth and sucked on it as if it were hard candy.

The attendant threw his hands up in the air and turned to Emory. “She’s all yours.”

Emory nodded and extended a hand to the old woman. “Ms. Mary Belle, could I help you to your feet?”

She looked up at him and rasped through cracked lips, “If I’d a wanted on m’ feet, I’d be on ’em.”

“Fair enough.” Emory crouched on the ground next to her.

“Ms. Mary Belle, I need to talk to you about Corey Melton. Do you know who that is?”

“I know who he was.” She looked at him with jaundiced eyes and pointed an arthritic finger at his face. “Who’re you?”

“I’m Emory Rome.” He handed her a business card. “I’m an investigator. You said you knew who Mr. Melton was. Why did you say that?”

The old woman buried Emory’s card into one of the oversized pockets of her brown tattered cloak. “I ain’t ne’er forgit a name or face.”

“No, why did you use the past tense?”

Ms. Mary Belle’s lips curled toward her withered cheeks. “I know why you’re here.”

“And why’s that?”

“You’re askin’ ’bout a feller I knew but for one reason. The curse musta met its intention.”

Emory clenched his jaw. Here we go. “Curse?”

“The thief stole m’ prop’ty! So I hexed ’im. Hexed ’im good.”

Yep, she’s crazy.

Ms. Mary Belle laughed so hard, the root fell from her mouth. “When God closes a door, Death opens a window.”

“When did you last see him?”

“Ne’er did. Coward wrote me a letter! Sheriff done his dirty work. Cursed ’im too.” Her last statement added a proud glimmer to her eyes. “He still wit’ us?”

“As far as I know.”

“Well, give it time. Give it time. Oh me…” Without warning, a flash flood of tears washed away Ms. Mary Belle’s self-satisfaction.

Emory placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“That prop’ty’s been my family’s for gen’rations. From when I came ta ’wareness as a girl, I knowed I was gonna die there.” She looked over his shoulder as if she could see her erstwhile land from where she sat. “Summer’s always m’ fav’rite. Dancin’ ina black willer seeds that’re floatin’ ina wind. Cooling off ina crick. Course, ’tweren’t deep enough ta swim in, but it’s fun all a same. Ne’er did learn ta swim. And the taste o’ the sassafras trees.” Her tongue poked through her gummy smile to lick her crackled lips. “You e’er had a place like that?”

Emory shrugged. “I can’t say I have.”

Ms. Mary Belle wiped her eyes and focused them on Emory. “So you fixin’ ta ’rest me?”

“What? No, I’m not going to arrest you.”

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“Takin’ pity ona ol’ woman.” She patted the back of his hand. “You’re a good young’un.”

“Thanks.”

“Can you he’p me get m’ prop’ty back?”

“Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about that.”

“Sweet sassafras, you an inves’gator! Inves’gate how ta git back what’s mine.”

“I’m sorry.” Emory shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”

“I got money. I can pay.”

“It’s not that. It’s just too late to do anything about it now. It’s out of our hands.”

“Our?” The old woman’s pitiable fragility evaporated, leaving behind a desiccated grimace of anger. “You workin’ wit’ ’em! You all in cahoots!”

“No, I meant there’s nothing you or I could do.”

“Stealin’ what’s mine!” Ms. Mary Belle clawed at the back of his hand, drawing blood. As Emory recoiled from her, she sucked the tiny bits of his skin from her fingertips and then spit in his face. “I curse you! No moment’s peace ’til your reckonin’, whena cold handa death’ll come a beckonin’!”

Emory jumped to his feet and backed away, almost tripping. He wiped the spit from his face and glared at her in disbelief.

Ms. Mary Belle screamed, “Git out!” followed by incomprehensible words.

Emory could feel his arm hair shrieking to attention as he retreated to his car.

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Murder on the Lake of Fire  (Mourning Dove Mysteries #1)

At 23 and with a notorious case under his belt, Emory Rome has already garnered fame as a talented special agent for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. His career is leapfrogging over his colleagues, but the jumping stops when he’s assigned a case he fought to avoid – an eerie murder in the Smoky Mountain hometown he had abandoned. The mysterious death of an ice-skater once destined for the pros is soon followed by an apparent case of spontaneous human combustion. In a small town bursting with friends and foes, Rome’s own secrets lie just beneath the surface. The rush to find the murderer before he strikes again pits him against artful private investigator Jeff Woodard. The PI is handsome, smart and seductive, and he just might be the killer Rome is seeking.

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Author Bio:

Bestselling mystery and science fiction author Mikel J. Wilson draws on his Southern roots for the Mourning Dove Mysteries, a series of novels featuring bizarre murders in the Smoky Mountains region of Tennessee. Building on the success of the first book in the series, Wilson continues his “no guns or knives” philosophy for murder as he delves deeper into the lives of the characters and their evolving dynamics.

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From one bookaholic to another, I hope I’ve helped you find your next fix. —Dani

Have a book you’d like to suggest or one you’d like me to review? Please feel free to leave your comments down below.

[procrastinatorial]

“Thor!” Hurried footfalls resounded through the hall. “Thor! You have to come and see!”

Thor stopped in his tracks, looking back to find his brother, to find Loki running up to him, green eyes glimmering, his face openly excited. Loki hadn’t ever been this excited since…

“Come, Thor!” Loki caught his hand and pulled. “Hurry!”

He was led through the winding halls, towards the royal chambers, where Loki suddenly stopped in front of a dead end. With a flick of his wrist, the golden walls shimmered and darkened until it was the color of the void.

“Not afraid of the dark, are you?” He teased Thor cheekily, a lopsided smile on his face. Refusing to answer Loki’s jibe, Thor stepped through the wall, Loki following closely behind him.

The putrid smell that suddenly assaulted Thor’s senses took him by surprise. “Wha—“

At the click of Loki’s fingers, torches all around burned to life, illuminating the whole room and its occupants. Noticing the small figure sitting up in the middle of the room, Thor stumbled, words leaving him completely.

“I brought her back, brother,” Loki announced, a huge genuine smile on his face. “Yin is alive now.”

Thor was horrified.

The figure on the floor with matted grey hair caked with dried blood, sickly grey skin, and unseeing red eyes. It was the image that haunted his dreams at night, and Loki had made it a reality once more.

Not able to take his eyes off the abomination on the floor, Thor could barely suck in a ragged breath. “What did you do?”

--

Thor had left as soon as he found the strength to move, ignoring Loki’s explanations that turned into cries of what could only be described as madness.

It was absolute madness.

That thing was not Yin.

It could never be her. She was dead, killed by her own brother—no, by a raving lunatic—and rightfully avenged. They had burned her body on a pyre to honor her culture, and lit up funeral lanterns to lament her departure to the after life.

Asgard has lost its ward for over a year now, and that thing will not disrespect the memory of her death.

That thing with unseeing red eyes, gruesome stitches on its neck and across its chest. That thing that bore the wounds which killed the ward of Asgard. That thing which Loki had claimed to be his beloved friend.

--

In the morning, Loki had carried the thing in his arms—like he had so many times in the past with Yin—and presented it to the court as the departed ward of Asgard, returned to life.

Thor could only watch helplessly as most of the court reacted in repulsion and disgust, some even outright calling it an abomination.

Loki paid them no mind, instead looking up at the king with hope shining brightly in his green eyes. The queen had covered her face in her distress at the sight.

With three quick knocks on the throne with Gungnir, the king dismissed the court and was left in the throne room with only the queen, his two sons, and the thing.

“What did you do?” The king’s eye blazed with anger, his grip on Gungnir unforgiving. “Loki, what did you do!?”

Loki did not even flinch, his green eyes still glimmered as he hastily explained, “I summoned Yin’s soul and bound it to her body.” He looked down to whisper to the thing in his arms, and it turned its head, unseeing eyes facing the throne.

“That is not my ward!” the queen had choked out with a sob, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. “That thing is not—“ she broke down into sobs and left the throne room as fast as she could.

Loki had ignored the queen’s outburst, just as he had ignored everything else besides the thing in his arms.

--

The King had ordered for the thing to be disposed of.

Yet any that dared to raise a hand against it met a gruesome end at the hands of the second prince—who was most creative in ways to end life.

--

It does not speak.

Loki claimed that she was just shy, or just tired, or just didn’t feel like speaking to degenerates. But Thor knew that it could not speak. For Yin’s head had been severed from her body, and if the gruesome stitch marks on its neck were any indication, then its head had been sewed onto its body.

But it has learned to crawl, and climb, and drag itself. Its eyes were as unseeing as ever, but it learns to follow voices.

--

After an incident which the thing burned from exposure to sunlight after crawling its way to the palace gardens, Loki refused to be separated from it. He no longer attends to his duties as a prince of Asgard, instead spending all his time with the thing, treating it as though it was the late ward.

Loki had the thing sleep in his quarters at night, and dine with him, and bathe with him.

--

One evening, Thor saw trails of blood on the halls. With a hand pressed to Mjolnir which hung on his belt, Thor had followed the trail quickly which led to a broom closet. Kicking open the door, he had almost dropped Mjolnir when he finally made sense of the sight before him; the thing was chewing on the face of a dead Einherjar, its whole face covered in fresh blood, dripping down to its clothes and the ground, and so much blood—

Before Thor could react, Loki had appeared, lifted the thing into his arms, and disappeared.

Upon learning of the incident, the King himself had marched into the second prince’s chambers. In his rage, the king had picked the thing up by the scruff of its collar, choking it until its head fell off.

Loki had turned hysterical and inconsolable.

The king had no choice but to leave the thing locked in the second prince’s chambers.

--

The palace spoke of a monster inside its walls.

It feeds on the flesh and blood of the aesir. It does not make a sound. Its victims souls will never find Valhala, forever doomed to roam Helheim from whence the monster came from.

If only they knew how close they are to the truth.

--

Two fortnights after the thing was locked inside the second prince’s chambers, Thor hears the screams of his brother. With Mjolnir in hand, he smashed through the many protective wards and barriers on the door of the chamber to get to his brother.

Loki screamed again as Yin tore through her bonds and continued to eat parts of her own body that she could reach. Her arms were bloody stumps, and her left leg merely string of flesh below the knee.

“Stop!” he shouted, trying in vain to wrestle her bloody limbs away from her mouth. “Yin, stop it!”

Thor burst from the doors, and in a flash of red, he kicked away the thing from Loki’s grasp. It rolled and skidded to a stop near the edge of the room, unperturbed, still gnawing on its limb.

“Loki, what is this—“

“You have to stop her!” Loki was in hysterics, grabbing onto Thor’s arm with bloody hands. “Yin’s going to hurt herself, you have to stop her!”

Thor dropped mjolnir and turned around to face his brother. His hands on Loki’s shoulders, he shook him as hard as he could.

“Stop this madness Loki!” he pleaded, blue eyes glittering with unshed tears. “Look at that thing!” he pointed at it. “Look at it!”

Loki did.

Grey hair, pale skin, and red eyes. So very familiar.

“Look at it eating its own flesh, Loki! That thing is not Yin, not our little Yin!”

Matted grey hair in patches, cracked skin leaking puss and blood, a bloody eye socket with a rotting eyeball hanging out of it, the other eye unseeing red. What is that?

“She is dead, and you are sullying her memory with that thing!”

Blood dripping down its mouth, red flesh on its teeth. That is not Yin.

“I beg you, Loki, release this working.” A sob. “So that she could finally be at peace.”

Loki could finally see the creature for what it really was; an abomination with the face of someone he loved dearly.

Choking down a sob, Loki closed his eyes.

“I release you from your servitude.”

[aprillikesthings]

OKAY LAST ONE PROBABLY (for the end of season four) I HAVE EIGHT MINUTES TO GO

(edit: yes it was the last one)

(edit pt 2 I forgot how reblog chains work and OKAY if the version of the post you looked at had the video that doesn't work, that video is here)

LIKE I SAID the princesses are suffering:

don't like that!!

Light Hope: "It is time."

"I am not a piece of their machine. I am not a weapon. And I'm going to end this now."

Light Hope, flipping back and forth between Mean Light Hope and Good Light Hope, and having flashbacks to knowing and loving Mara: "No. Stop. Don't. Do it. Do it. Don't. Don't."

and Adora shatters the sword--

(there's a super cool effect but it's over fast and any given screenshot wouldn't convey it)

does your head hurt? mine would

Light Hope: "Adora?"

"Thank you." and she fades away

And now Adora's just in a dark building. With a shattered sword. ;_;

But the princesses aren't being actively tortured anymore at least

Anyway Hordak shows up but Bow arrows him away from Glimmer

AWWWW SHIT

is this like getting raptured (I mean given what Nate's said about Horde Prime and his ship I'd say yeah)

but Bow is left behind D: (pun intended)

Everyone is rightfully terrified of Horde Prime's armada

and there he is, the ACTUAL villain of this series

Horde Prime: "Is that you, little brother? I thought you had perished." Hordak: "I was pulled into a shadow dimension. All this time I have been trying to return to your side. But it has not been in vain. I have built an empire in your name." Horde Prime: "I received your transmission, but I could not determine its source."

Yeah I bet Glimmer feels real horrified right now lol

Hordak: "I conquered this world for you. To show you that I am worthy, so that I may retake my place by your side. I have bent its people to my will." Horde Prime: "To your will."

(And here we see the cycle of abuse: Horde Prime does this face-touching thing to his underlings. Hordak probably did it to Shadow Weaver at some point. Shadow Weaver used it to torture two kids.)

Horde Prime: "I see now. You have given yourself a name. You tried to create an empire of your own."

Yeah, he'd see Hordak's affection for Entrapta D:

Hordak: "No, brother. I did it, all of it, for you."

Horde Prime: "You have forgotten who you are. You truly think you are worthy to stand beside me, could be equal to me?"

(a light-hearted show! for kids!)

Horde Prime: "But you have become an abomination. And so, you must be reborn."

YEAH so I know the parallels to conservative Christianity are entirely on purpose here. And they're creepy AS FUCK.

Horde Prime: "Take him to be reconditioned. But I have been rude. We have a guest."

"I apologize for my little brother. His actions are an embarrassment. I desire only peace and order."

Glimmer: "Then you'll leave us alone?" Horde Prime: "Oh, no, child. I cannot let words spread of my brother's botched conquest."

"Beginning with you."

Catra: "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"The whole planet is some kind of ancient superweapon."

"Sparkles here, is a part of it."

(Pretty sure Catra's mostly just trying not to ACTUALLY die at this point.)

Horde Prime: "A weapon? That explains these readings. They are stronger than anything I've seen."

(this is so fucking sarcastic, damn. also probably a joke about how short Glimmer is.)

"Trust that your planet will become the jewel of my empire, and it will allow me to bring peace and order to the farthest reaches of the universe. Thank you for your allegiance, child."

(he's really nailing the creepy mega-pastor vibes)

the non-verbal communication between these two is great, like it's obvious to me that Glimmer's like "we gotta do SOMEthing or we're all gonna die" and Catra's like "lol I know trust me" mixed with "wtf are you doing" "I dunno I'm figuring shit out as I go"

Meanwhile back on Etheria--

Adora: "She-Ra's gone. The Sword is broken." Bow: "So what are we gonna do?" Adora: "We're going to get Glimmer back...

(at least she's saying "we" this time)

ROLL CREDITS, with ominous as fuck music

and I've finished out season four!!! IT ONLY TOOK LIKE THREE DAYS to do THREE EPISODES oh my god

The next episode itself is a two-parter, and I think that rather than split them up I will just watch through, which might mean I have to reblog this post multiple times.

Finishing out season four!

s4, eps 12&13 Destiny

Usual reminder: this is a REwatch and there’s spoilers ahoy, I make a lot of bad jokes (some of which are Adult In Nature), I reference other cartoons, I make random asides.

(also, this time specifically, I had some alcohol)

Tbh? it's a lot like watching things like this with me in person aaahahaha I always want to pause and infodump shit -_-

lol Emily is destroying Shadow Weaver's garden

Emily acts like Mal the cat does sometimes. WHAT IS IN YOUR MOUTH you are not supposed to have that! Get out of there!

UGGGH

it's easy to forget how BIG Scorpia is??

LOLOL oh my god I went downstairs for like an hour and a half talking to my partners about the most random shit and then playing with the cat and also: I've had most of a can of wine.

One of these:

YEAH (that's a huge image)

so if these get weird: blame the wine I guess

oh also @corpseauthority and I picked out fake fur and minky fabric for the ears and tail of my Catra cosplay :D :D :D I'M SO EXCITED

OKAY BACK TO SHE-RA

the only thing better than Scorpia's "huh?" is Shadow Weaver's flat "what"

Shadow Weaver: no we need the other princesses Glimmer: well they're gone but-- Scorpia, Shadow Weaver, and Emily: WAIT, WHAT???

AND THEN

okay but is the guard telling you this Double Trouble

ROLL INTRO

that thing was not meant to hold four humans and a horse with wings

why are you SNIFFING HIM

Entrapta: "I don't know you" Micah: "Yes, you do. You stole my food." Entrapta: "OH YEAH! It was delicious :D"

oh god Adora's like "....but are you okay? we came here to find you 🥺"

and she's like YEAH I'M GREAT

"each more deadly than the next??? it's PARADISE"

I love her so much oh my godddd

Bow: "We're here to rescue you" Entrapta: "didn't I just rescue YOU?"

Bow mentions Hordak and Entrapta pulls her little new bug-eye mask down :(

Adora: so hey we uhhhhhhhh really need your help due to a terrible secret of the First Ones that nobody but us knows

"WHy didn't you say so???"

well that's a callback to s1 ep1

THERE SHE IS!! MY BABY 😍 I LOVE HER SO MUCH

nooo

anyway Kyle, Rogelio, and Lonnie come in and Catra's like OH UHHH so...what's happening

Lonnie: "we just got back from conquering another Rebel town" Kyle: ":D You should've seen us!! It was all:"

and then he kicks Scorpia's old locker, with the drawings on it, and Catra gets mad

Ironically the degree to which Catra is UPSET is making me ship them harder lol

bb you need a break you are getting feral

Man Lonnie has her number lol. "What is wrong with you? We're winning! Even you should be happy."

god I love when she's this deranged

she slams poor Lonnie against a locker

john cena dot gif

but also OH DO THEY REMIND YOU OF WHO YOU USED TO BE? HMM? what you really wanted??? what actually gave you something like joy or contentment????? are you trying to just erase any part of you capable of feeling good?????????

Kyle is RIGHT

The cinematic parallels between Catra and Glimmer in this episode ("forget my friends I'M IN CHARGE HERE and YOU NEED TO FOLLOW ORDERS") are *chef's kiss*

Catra realizing this isn't what she actually wants: part ....a lot

STOP REMINDING ME I HAVE FEELINGS!!

The other three leave, she yanks the drawings off Scorpia's old locker, then THUMPs her head on it. And then Double Trouble shows up!

okay wait tho the way she pauses and then thumps her head on it is so funny I wish I could gif it, it's so cat-like and also Very Emo

I don't think this is supposed to be funny but it IS and I cannot stop rewinding and laughing. I blame the wine.

THONK

help i've rewatched it like five times now

okay

lol right??

Me, when I was info-dumping my own fic at myself: is it weird to imagine these two banging??? Me now: nope

Double Trouble: "Apologies for the delay, kitten. I got ...held up...in Bright Moon"

Anyway they give a little speech about how the Princesses keep fighting and She-Ra is away

NO SHIT, SHERLOCK

(now THERE's an old fandom reference ahahaha)

"We can't let them return to the Fright Zone!" TOO FUCKING LATE

YOU STOLE HER GARNET YOU WOULD THINK SO

Anyway they argue about the possibility of Glimmer taking Scorpia back to the Fright Zone

GOD I HATE IT WHEN SHE'S RIGHT UGGGHHHH

lolol I am. like. less than ten minutes into the FIRST OF TWO EPISODES and i've hit the image limit.