#I'm aware she looks like Catra

[a-cypress-tree-draws]

Taking a bit of a break from the Ravenloft tarot deck (and everything Ravenoft in general really while @dr-darkwood finishes converting everything to Pathfinder from 3.5), we got to talking a bit recently about what our character's from Skull & Shackles' futures looked like. Roland has decided that Dispatia is going to become a vampire, and that has some pretty dramatic implications for their relationship. Not that Xaitherin is against the whole undead thing, but it means that Dispatia is probably going to try to turn her to, and she isn't with that. Paired with Dispatia's need to return to Cheliax and not be a pirate anymore...

So we came to the conclusion they might not work out.

Anyway, old pirate Xaitherin.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

saw an spop fan say that “catra doesn't have fur, it's just peach fuzz”. which makes even less sense, all things considered.

[n7punk]

buddy if you add up the recent sale prices for all of these things individually NIB it's like 37 + 38 + 120 + 39 + 36 and that does not come out even close to 406$. congratulations you scammed yourself

[catras-breakup-song]

yeah sure, i'll tell you something that repeatedly pisses me off to no end:

images shamelessly stolen from here

when catra haters say this type of dialogue is a good example of her "abuse"

it's lighthearted affection, playful bantering! many friends bully each other this way all the time for the laughs; i know i always have and nobody minded!

some people may not like it, and that's fine, you don't have to! but your opinion does not change how the characters canonically feel about it. if adora happily takes it without strife and understands the intention in the moment, then there is no issue. you could argue that she calls herself an idiot the episode after she rescues catra from prime's ship, but i genuinely believe that's just a result of her being too harsh toward herself all the time anyway without any influence from catra. even when she didn't have to worry about her as an enemy throughout her average days in bright moon, she still kept that weight burdened on her shoulders regardless.

such an example of the criticism i'm referring to is someone complaining in this reddit post, albeit not necessarily from an anti since they seem to simply not understand and therefore disapprove based on their own personal feelings about the situation among the replies. there's also this comment, which adds some objective truth to catra's partial-insult.

as another individual pointed out, throughout the first seasons it came from more of a "duh! how do you not get it?" condescending attitude (think of adora's final revelation in 01x02 that the horde was evil while catra had known her whole life, and later on in 03x03 when catra points out how silly it sounds to admit you'd listen blindly to anything an old hologram has to say ─ even if it did happen to be correct), but i also added that when it comes to season five it originates more from a place of concern, hence upholding her half of the promise for the two of them to look out for each other at all times. if adora lacks so much awareness, she'll constantly end up in dangerous situations, and that's exactly what eventually ended up happening when she followed shadow weaver's manipulated guidance to accept the failsafe.

it drains so much energy from me to give this bad-faith argument any attention so hopefully i'll only have to do it this once. it's not worth getting frustrated over so don't waste your time trying to convince reactionaries that this trait of all things is what makes her such a terrible person.

[antispopausandstuff]

the c//a // catra // adora editing community is so funny because all of them ( literally all of them ) do at least one of these things:

edit c//a to a song that's either about abusive relationships, broken relationships, nonexistent relationships ( "One Way or Another" is about a stalker, for ex ), or about familial dynamics ( typically siblings, but i've seen c//a being edited to "Mama's Boy" recently ).

the healthy relationship songs they DO use are typically by Taylor Swift and // or are completely tone-deaf to the scenes used.

show adora having a bad time via catra's hands while using some cutesy or romance-angsty lyrics.

edit catra to badass audios, but use scenes where she's clearly NOT having a good time ( i've seen some edits be of her dying or getting beat up ) 🤣.

use 'Toxic' by Britney Spears ironically ( they think this is funny to make fun of antis with, i think??? ).

their edits are so disconnected from everything that it's not even funny, it will just give you an eyesore ( saw an edit with 'Dark Red' by Steve Lacy to an edit that was both badass and romance angst??? ).

if they do show the 'bad side of the relationship', they use songs that typically soften the blow, as if corrupted catra is gonna look any better with Taylor Swift's ricochet song in the background-

if they make a 'badass couple' edit, they use scenes that have one party ( typically catra ) hurting the other instead of standalone scenes or smth.

i noticed that a lot of the 'happy' edits are with a bunch of fanart or of s5. hm. wonder why that is.

use songs for catra edits that really work better with adora ( for ex, "911" by Elise or "Potential Breakup Song" by Aly & AJ ), because the songs would typically be from the victim's POV ( which i find funny in the worst way tbh ).

in the rare case that the stan has awareness of catra's actions, they still edit c//a because they think redeemed catra is fine ( one step forward, five steps back. we sigh. ). or, edit catra because they think she's well-written or smth, idk.

it's just a mess, and it would be even more funny if i didn't feel like a migraine was growing in my brain every time i noticed it.

feel free to mention some others i may have forgotten, 'cause i'm sure i've seen all the types at this point, just don't rmbr them all.

[manic-sapphic]

everything's ok when they just stay together damnit lol

maaan tho, it bums me out that it took till s5 for catra to even be vulnerable enough to admit that w adora actually was where she'd always wanted to be but by that point she'd really come to believe it was too late. that there was no going back for her anymore. doesn't help either though that it takes adora till s5 to fully realize how much she actually truly needs catra and always has. i mean literally, "everything will be ok if we just stay together" adora says it back in s3 during "remember" i think, so it seems tbh like she was already starting to feel like she shoulda tried harder to get catra to come w her in the beginning. like, just made sure she knew how important catra was to her and basically drag her damn ass outta the fright zone. but i don't think she tells catra she needs her till failsafe, and i think atm it's just too hard for catra to hear & believe it, despite just how badly she's always wanted to hear it and wants it to be true, cause she's always needed adora too.

and i def think adora's grappling w regrets in a very big way when catra walks out on prime's flagship. like being clad in a horde prime uniform and opening her green eyes wasn't enough of a shock to her system, the totally emotionless "hello, adora" moment just - i feel like it's written all over adora's face right then and there but also during their entire fight and when she's holding catra after her fall - adora looks riddled with guilt and regret seeing what's happened to catra as a direct result of the sacrifice she'd chosen to make for adora. and all after adora left her behind w the horde and chose to follow a false hero's destiny > her and catra's promise to protect each other. but still after years fighting each other, when faced with the thought of adora truly suffering at prime's hands - esp given catra got to see better than any other character first hand just what a freaky creep prime was and prob felt truly horrified at the thought of what he might do to adora - catra chose to act on the promise for what she honestly thought would be her last chance to ever do so. as sw once threatened her with back at the beginning, "then you will suffer the consequences in her place." but yeah, this time catra fully and willingly chose to take that on w prime if it meant adora would stay far away from him.

-"it doesn't matter what you do to me, glimmer is gone and you will never get your hands on adora" ugh her saying that just kmn ok? the determination and passion in her voice as she protecc her would-be wifey, even tho she's aware that it means she's prob gonna be going through some real bad shit real soon. she'd still rather it be her than adora 💔

and just ugh i'm sure realizing that and seeing catra just consumed adora with grief and utter distress. like i don't think she necessarily felt like she never should've left the horde for the rebellion during the whole save the cat incident, but i can clearly hear her just thinking fuckfuckfuuck how did this happen, how did i let it happen, why didn't i drag this stubborn brat w me kicking and screaming when i left, omg omg what do i do now? how do i fix this?? can i fix this??? it's soul-crushing to watch forsure but at least they fully kick prime's ass into oblivion and get the happy ending they both deserve

<3

[yawwwndere]

I'm infinitely annoyed at how even She-ra fans focus so much on how "Adora and Scorpia just wanted to help Catra while she rejected it!" while ignoring how complex the situation actually was. I was thinking of this when trying to watch The Sin Squad's "I'm Worried About She-ra" video.

Catra treated Scorpia awful and she did not deserve that, but at the same time... Scorpia repeatedly ignored Catra's boundaries around being touched multiple times and even if it wasn't done from malicious intent, the show very much treats this as just something funny rather than Scorpia genuinely forcing herself onto Catra.

With Adora, it's even worse due to how Adora blames Catra for being abused by Shadow Weaver by saying she's disrespectful and sometimes specifically puts her in situations that would get her hurt due to Adora's own need to see Shadow Weaver as reliable as the Golden Child (which is a topic for another day). Even when she tries to get Catra to come with her to Etheria, this was after Adora only realized how evil the Horde was when they affected random people and not when it was right in her face yet she ignored everything Catra went through. In addition, Catra is obviously hesitant to leave for these random people when the Horde is all she has known her whole life (as she says in the show) and even if she knows they're awful, it's better than risking it out in the middle of nowhere, since at least she knows what to expect in the Horde. That's a mindset that many trauma survivors have and I've seen other people point out this as well. Finally, no matter how well intentioned Adora was, this probably felt like another instance of Catra needing to be dependent on Adora and Catra rejected it due to that (although, I do wish this was more explicit in the show and in general I wish the writers did not ignore Adora's behavior as much throughout the show or in interviews). People act like Catra is completely wrong for saying Adora loves acting like a hero and while Catra does need to learn how the abuse affected Adora too (Adora's was much more subtle and we even see Shadow Weaver separating Adora from the others to conceal the emotional abuse from the public) & eventually does, Adora also regularly puts Catra down. We even see this in the flashbacks during "Promise" when Adora not so subtly implies that Catra is just naturally inferior to her. Adora says in that episode that she never meant to make Catra feel second best, but again, the writers often ignore behavior that is literally textual. Adora is incredibly unself-aware due to her abuse, so of course she said that, and she regularly brags & even pretends to know things she does not in order to avoid people viewing her as incompetent. Adora is obviously egotistical. It's a mask created from her trauma, where she needs to be a strong hero. Going back to her and Catra, I just find it so irritating how quick people are to act like Adora is completely innocent just because they relate to her struggles and because things like forcing care onto people are so normalized in society (*cough* psychiatry's relationship to carceral systems including the police state *cough*). Actually, it's not irritating. It genuinely makes me mad (Although, muted emotions kinda help me here). People really look at scenes like the one in Taking Control, where Adora thinks the solution to Catra believing she is unworthy to stay with them is to fucking throw Catra across the room and stand over her menacingly when she is already physically taller & stronger than her in normal situations, and then go "OMG Adora is right Catra is such a brat for not wanting to be held hostage against her will" (*cough* comparison to psychiatry can be drawn, but I'm saving that analysis for when I rewatch the show again *cough*).

People will find any reason to say Catra is evil, because of the fact she was a villain and also mean (unlike the rest of her villain team), so instead of acknowledging she can be... a person/complex character with good & bad, people try to turn every angry thing she does into abusive behavior. This is not me saying Catra was never toxic or even abusive, but what I am saying is how I dislike the way people always treat Catra as constantly ungrateful when the way people tried to care for her in the past often went against her boundaries. For people, both fans and critics alike, so invested in the show's themes on trauma and the representation for trauma survivors in general, they sure know nothing about how to treat a traumatized person & their autonomy after having control taken from them for so long (unless, again, they are one of those people who only listen to mainstream psychology, but I have to restrain myself on that rant *cough*). Shadow Weaver actively abused Catra until she left in season 2 while her impact was felt all throughout season 3. Then when Catra is saved in season 5, she is right back to separating her and Adora.

I'm honestly scared for how most people I've seen engaging with the show, trauma victim or not, treat survivors. I guess toxic people can never be well intentioned or charming/nice/whatever in their mind. It's only those overtly evil people! Or those covert narcissists who are always liars and seeking out empaths to target! (Excuse me as I giggle at the ableists for how Adora is like textbook NPD, but I need to cut myself off here)

[aprillikesthings]

can I finish this before I gotta get ready and leave for the Maundy Thursday service let's find out lol

(Edit: Nope.)

THREE MORE EPISODES LEFT

*cries*

s5 ep11 Failsafe

someone hold me

I have to actively suppress the urge to read the synopses of the episodes at this point

oh also lol this is just funny to me, I saw a post Elsewhere Online where someone watched all of spop the first time and they HATED the dumb names everyone has, and I think they mentioned Castaspella specifically.

And like FIFTY PEOPLE responded with "dude they had to use the original names from the 1980's series" and I was the only one there old enough to have watched the original series and I had to point out: the original series was made to sell toys. The vast majority of cartoons in 1985 were only made to sell toys. They gave everyone those dumbass names because it was easy for kids to remember and beg for the toys."

That's also why all the female characters in the original series have the exact same body type. Yeah the body shape itself was due to 1980's-era sexism, but also? It was so much cheaper to animate the show AND make the toys that way!

But also, it's hella ironic to me that the 2018 show has so little official merch!

And now, back to crying over cartoon lesbians:

good question

ugh I hate her

Shadow Weaver: "While you were traipsing around in space,"

OH MY GOD they were saving a few people's LIVES and it was kind of IMPORTANT but WHATEVER

"--some of us have been working to stop the Heart of Etheria from falling into Prime's hands. And we discovered the same thing you did. Rumors of a Failsafe that will break the restraints the First Ones built and set the stolen magic free." Glimmer: "Are you kidding? After everything that happened last time, you're still going after the Heart of Etheria? And you're helping her?" Castaspella: "We're trying to free the magic for all of Etheria so we can be strong enough to fight Prime. I'm doing this for your father and for you. Shadow Weaver is the lesser of two evils."

I love that she says this right in front of Shadow Weaver. Like "girl I hate her too"

nice

okay ngl I have mixed feelings about this one because unfortunately she's not entirely wrong here but also, shut the fuck up

(something something people are responsible for their own actions but also she wouldn't have done all that godawful shit if Shadow Weaver hadn't been such a shitty parent)

but yeah Catra gets up like she's about to fucking throw some hands and Adora's like It's okay bb

;_;

but also they do need the information Shadow Weaver and Castaspella have

so it turns out Mystacor was built on top of a First Ones' citadel? huh

Castaspella: "Beneath Mystacor, there are many secret tunnels and rooms, forgotten and sealed off. No one has been able to access them in centuries, but there are whispers of what they contain." Shadow Weaver: "An artifact known as the Crystal of Arxia, hidden there by a group of traitorous First Ones." Castaspella: "You said I could do it!"

lol they bicker like old marrieds

Adora: "If you figured it out on your own, why come back here? Why do you need us at all?" Shadow Weaver: "Because Mystacor is controlled by Micah, who, you may recall, is controlled by Horde Prime."

they've been TRYING

"If he seizes the Heart, it will all be over."

Stop toUCHING HER

oh god Adora turns around to ask Catra to help out--and she's gone

YOU'RE THE REASON SHE'S FUCKING "SULKING" and you fucking know it, why are abusers always so god damned surprised to find out their kids don't want to be anywhere near them

(I mean I know why, they think they should be able to control you forever)

aaahahaha Adora's just like Nah I'mma go look for her tho

anyway roll intro!

omg look at Netossa and Spinny on the bottom left awwwww

she looks so sad

well okay sad and angry

their conversation here is so good, because Catra's fully aware of why Adora's doing this, but is really struggling to push past how much she (justifiably!) hates Shadow Weaver and hates being around her

I actually do kinda wish I'd kept a list of all the times Adora does the self-sacrificial thing, separated into "someone asked her to do it" vs "nobody asked her to do it" lol

BUT ADORA EXPRESSES A NEED oh nice that's progress

Adora: "Hey, she can't do anything to us anymore. Please, come. We--I-could really use your help."

two things I really love about this: One, she doesn't say that she doesn't like Adora, just that it's not the reason she's going. Two, I feel like Adora knows damn well Catra's not being 100% honest here.

Like, to some extent Catra's saying this as a way of attempting to protect herself a little. She's taking baby steps towards vulnerability, and it's terrifying! And I think Adora can see that and is fine with it--not JUST because she's like "any crumbs are better than nothing" but ALSO because she doesn't want to push Catra.

Because yeah, if there was any actual doubt that Catra does like Adora--

WELL.

Entrapta was able to get Spinerella's chip out but says it had started fusing with her nervous system and they're running out of time to safely un-chip everyone.

But she's been digging around the network that connects all the chips to Prime, hoping to figure out how to disconnect everyone at once, and Bow gives her a little encouragement, it's really sweet.

OKAY so everyone who can, teleports to Mystacor with Melog making them invisible. (Apparently Catra doesn't get motion sick from it anymore which is nice lol)

I love the way they animated them being invisible

oh GOD okay

Catra turns around and says "looks like there's no sorcerers here" while, unfortunately, a sorcerer walks into the room. Shadow Weaver grabs Catra and puts her hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, and Catra (understandably!! but unfortunately!!) jerks away in fury and yells

And her fury causes Melog to drop the invisibility

And now the chipped sorcerer knows they're all there

they manage to duck the attack but Adora goes to transform into She-Ra--and can't do it

she had this issue last episode aaaugh it's not from being near Shadow Weaver she wasn't there

okay but also Adora runs behind a pillar to hide from an attack with Catra and it's cute

girl help why is this giving me so many emotions

y'know it's funny how often I've bumped into posts of people who are confused as to why Adora starts trusting Catra again so quickly, and I frequently wonder if they forget all the childhood flashback scenes of these two. To varying extents they both spent their entire childhoods seeing the other as their only consistent source of comfort and (something resembling) safety, and with some notable exceptions Adora's spent the last four seasons (which was like three or four years) visibly holding out hope that one day she could trust Catra again. This despite the fact that she now has other sources of safety and comfort and love!!! Being with Glimmer and Bow and everyone else was healing, sure; but it never erased her grief over losing Catra. She always, always held out the tiniest flame of hope that Catra would change sides.

And Catra basically tried lighting her own grief on fire (metaphorically and kinda literally) over and over and it just didn't go away, and I feel like when she saved Glimmer and apologized to Adora she had sort of come to terms with the fact that her grief over losing Adora couldn't be burned away, but of course by then she figured she'd fucked up so bad Adora would never forgive her or trust her again. And rather than take it out on other people or suffer any longer she was willing to just die, instead. She really did think that sending Glimmer to Adora was going to be her last act, and she wanted Adora to know she was sorry before she fucking DIED. And I don't think her saving Glimmer was consciously meant to be proof that she meant her apology, but it was. And that's part of why Adora trusts her again.

The fact is, even after everything that happened, both of them had a hole in their hearts shaped like the other. ;_;

And that's why Adora runs and hides behind the same pillar as Catra. (I mean yes, it was also closer, but that's not tHE POINT)

Anyway, this is all why, as I previously noted, Adora's not being pushy. That failed on her, spectacularly; the couple of times she tried it. Asking Catra to come along on this mission is the closest she's come. And even then, it wasn't "you're a good person deep down and you should change sides because I think I know you better than you know yourself," It was "please do this for me, because I need your help." And Catra is fully aware of how hard that is for Adora.

And these two still have a lot to work out post-canon (like, Catra has still got to deal with her need to not just be seen as Adora's sidekick/shadow, and lbh right now some of the rebellion is like "we're only putting up with you for Adora's sake" as if Catra was Yoko Ono) but that's part of why I'm writing a fic lolol

I have so many feelingssss on a related note I spent like fifteen solid minutes last night in bed having taken an edible and listening to my playlist and staring at this gifset lolol

ANYWAY Castaspella knocks out the chipped dude and they run for it

AAAND lol I gotta get ready to go to church. There's still 17:30 left on this episode. Pfft.

BACK FROM CHURCH I washed someone's feet, they washed mine, they stripped the altar, I go back at one or two in the morning for the overnight vigil

In the meantime: gonna finish this episode

(what is my life sometimes)

Entrapta plans to find a bunch of clones so she can figure out how their signals to Horde Prime work. Swift Wind is like Ugh, fine, I'll go with you, someone's gotta save your ass

Entrapta: "Thanks, bird horse!"

lol how many times have they had that convo

A family can be a sorcerer and her evil ex, a girl and a boy, two traumatized lesbians, and a cat

But also it looks like something out of an episode of Scooby Doo

Shadow Weaver opens a magic door

ngl that's PRETTY. like it's obviously about the Heart of Etheria but wow!

(and there's a dinosaur???)

Adora notices how stressed out Catra is and says "It'll be okay...Trust me." ;_;

Shadow Weaver: "There's no time to waste!"

"...disturbance."

The disturbance was your fault, dumbass. I am reminded of all the times my dad got angry at us for being afraid of him. And would hit us. For being. Afraid of him. Because y'know. That's how you stop a kid from being afraid of you. By hitting them.

In any case Shadow Weaver is still trying to get between them and separate them and I just really need this bitch to stop.

(Yes yes I remember she dies later)

Castaspella: "We're on the right path. The Crystal of Arxia was rumored to be the key to reaching deep magic within Etheria."

"But those who hungered for more power have long sought other ways to obtain the deep magic...with disastrous results."

HIT THE IMAGE LIMIT lemme reblog

[spopsalt]

Sorry this might be phrased badly but... In regards to people sexualizing catra and saying she's a POC (latina) do they realize... That makes it kinda worse? Like I'm sure it's been said but it's stereotyping - she's aggressive, has anger issues, mistreats almost everyone around her etc and ND decided to half agree with "catra is POC" ?? This wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't ya know, an animal (catgirl) or supposedly the only latina character in the world of spop that we see and people are still actively choosing to sexualize her and only her (and she's likely a teenager cause spop never bothered to confirm everyones age which is another reason people like the infantilize Entrapta for being short and neurodivergent but that's another topic). As far as I'm aware you don't see this with other characters. Or at least not as much.

Some people may say "well x this is your group do better with representation" and I guarantee you this was not made with those people in mind nor does the general audience have control over that. Just because the representation (supposedly) exists doesn't mean it's good.

Thanks for the ask anon! Exactly! I touched upon it briefly in some posts but people will say Catra is a woc and according to Nate, she's meant to be Latina....now let's look at how she acts, she's mean, aggressive, angry, short-tempered, she licks herself and she's literally a catgirl which is similar to how Latinas used to be called dogs....yikes

[catras-witchy-girlfriend]

Hello! May I please request a modern Catra X female reader? (Smut Ofc hehehe with Oral pleasure, fingering and grinding) The two are girlfriends and it started to pour rain on their date so the two rush to Y/N house. Y/N parents are not home. As Y/n dries Catra off and after an intense make out session she tells Y/N that she’s ready to make love with her GF. The reader is top while her precious cat GF is bottom. But Catra makes sure to please her loving girlfriend too. ( Lotsa kissing and moaning 😏) Thank you!

||Getting Used To It|| NSFT| bottom!Catra x top!reader.

A/n: Once again I fell in love with this prompt and probably wrote too much! 😂 Sorry y'all, I love smut with a prompt!

CW: obviously nudity, sex, oral, fingering, teasing, modern!au, Catra's first time with reader, talk of past relationships, y'all can guess who but she's not mentioned by name, implied past unhealthy relationship, hurt/comfort, comfort sex, bratty bottom!Catra, slight power bottom!Catra, probably a little cringe lmao

"Kitten-!" You groan playfully at the beautiful woman sitting across from you, "Do you always have to steal my drinks?"

She smirks at you with your straw in her mouth, "What? You never finish it anyways! You always get distracted, and then it ends up melting, and then you don't want it, so if you think about it, by drinking the rest of yours I'm saving us money and saving the planet by reducing plastic waste!"

You blinked twice as you registered what she had said and then laughed, "The amount of mental hurdles you jumped to arrive to that conclusion was incredibly impressive, kitten."

She hummed and played with the straw between her fingers, "Well, I'm sure any bump looks like a hurdle down where you are, princess~"

"That's it give me my drink, you brat-!"

Catra giggled and pulled the drink from your grasp before quickly grabbing your garbage, plastic loose, loose napkins, ect, and throwing them in the recycling bin as she ran outside. You hot on her tail after leaving a tip for the baristas.

"Hey! Come on get back here!"

You two ran about outside, giggling like two school girls, running past disgruntled old men who shouted words you were both too happy to comprehend.

As you two ran to the nearest park it began to sprinkle with small drops of rain. Though both of you were too engrossed in the chase to notice, at least until you finally caught up with Catra by catching her tail, gently pulling enough to make her turn around into your arms and you held her close to you as you giggled.

You pressed your forehead against hers softly before leaning in and placing a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Not fair, you cheated" she complained with a smirk spread across her lips.

You hummed against her lips, "Not true, I caught you fair and square, kitten."

A moment or two passed before Catra tried to pull away with a squeak, seemingly finally becoming aware of the rain, but you kept her in your arms. "Shit, now!? Why now!?"

You laughed, still too elated with the woman before you to have your mood dampened.

She began trying to pull you behind her, "C'mon, move it, you know I hate the rain!" she hissed.

You smiled, "Hey, it could be boiling rain-"

"Yeah cause boiling rain is definitely a real thing-" she sassed back before pulling you more harshly, this time getting you off your feet, "Now let's go, please princess~!"

You were gonna continue teasing her until you heard a loud crack of thunder overhead and she practically jumped in your arms.

"Okay, okay, is my place good?"

Catra hissed with a shake of her head, her short hair already getting drenched, "Anywhere is fine as long as I don't get wet!"

As you pull off your jacket you snicker, "No promises, kitten~" and wink at her which causes her to groan loudly in disapproval as you toss the jacket over her head in a feeble attempt to keep her dry.

"Okay, let's g-"

"LAST ONE TO THE HOUSE HAS TO DO THE OTHER'S HOMEWORK FOR A WEEK!!"

"Wha-?! Catra! CATRA DONT RUN, YOU GONNA FALL ON YOUR ASS! CATRA!"

----------

After about a 15 minute sprint you and Catra finally found shelter in your small neighborhood home.

"Hey, I'm home and I brought Catra!" You yelled throughout the house.

"They're not here, you idiot" she sighed with a roll of her eyes as she rubbed her arm.

"Oh?" you giggled, taking off your dirty shoes and tossing them back outside, "and how do you know that?"

She scoffed, "their car is gone Sherlock."

As you looked at her fondly, you noticed the small scrape on her arm and the mud and dirt splattered on her tan freckled skin.

You gently took her arm in your hand to assess the scrape and smirked, "I told you not to run, but noooo~"

Catra hissed, "Don't be an ass, Y/n"

"I'm not an ass just because you don't like that I'm right, kitten~"

She sighs dramatically, "I guess you're right-"

"Thank you-"

"You're an ass because you haven't gotten your awesome girlfriend a first aid kit yet."

"That-!" You start and soon stop, trailing off as you think, "-is actually a good point, wouldn't want my awesome girlfriend to get an infection."

You lean in and kiss the top of her head, "how about you go pick out some nice warm clothes for us while I get the first aid kit, okay?"

"Whatever, just hurry your ass up before I get...I don't know...rabies or something?"

You snicker, "Rabies from the pavement?"

"JUST HURRY UP!"

----------

A little while later you carried a small stack of towels and the first aid kit into your room to find Catra, still dressed in her wet clothes, admiring the pictures of your friends and family you had covering your wall.

"Hey..." you said softly as you set the towels and stuff down, "I thought you were gonna get undressed? You're gonna catch a cold wearing those wet clothes, kitten!"

She groaned playfully and shoved you, "You sound like such a mom when you nag me like that!"

You smirked and pulled her close to you by the hand she shoved you with, "Well maybe if you listened to me the first time I wouldnt have to nag you, kitty~"

Her ears twitched as you said her nickname. You rarely ever used it, usually calling her Kitten or Cat instead, but when you did call her Kitty...it meant something different. It felt different, and both of you knew it.

"And what if I don't, princess~? What are you gonna do about it?"

"Laugh my ass off when you fall on the pavement again?"

Catra whined lowly under her breath making you laugh. You tilted her head up a bit by her chin, "What's wrong? Was that not the answer you were hoping for, kitty~?

She pulled you in by your collar, her face inches from yours, "I want you to kiss me..."

You smirked and kissed the tip of her nose before pulling away, "Nope, only good girls get kisses from their princess...and you've been a brat all day~"

You turn away from her and begin undressing out of your wet clothes that clung to your body. Cheekily ignoring the feeling of Catra's sharp eyes roaming all over your naked body.

As you slipped on your sports bra and boxers you heard Catra mewl, "Nooo, I liked them off~"

You laughed, grabbing a towel and the first aid kit, "Well, we still need to clean that scrape and get you changed into dry clothes," as you pulled out a damp towel and vaseline you looked up at her through mischievous eyes, "and I didn't want you to get distracted~"

She shifted on her feet a bit as she watched you gently care for her small injury, dirty thoughts filling her head.

Not long after you began putting the first aid stuff away and Catra said slyly, "You know...my arm...really hurts-"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah~" she shuffled a little closer to you, "I think I'm gonna need you to help me undress~"

"Hmm," you smile, "for some reason I feel...like you have an ulterior motive..."

"Of course not!" She gasped in a false offence, "I just thought my...sweet, loving girlfriend would help undress me when I'm in too much pain to do it myself..."

You giggled, "Okay drama queen, come here~" you sat on the edge of your bed as she shuffled toward you with a proud look on her face.

You stood as you pulled the soaked top from her caramel colored body and tossed the shirt to the side.

You heard her curse under her breath, "fucking hell it's cold"

Smirking as you had her lean against your body as you carefully slipped off her pants;

"You missed something, princess~" and she grasped your hand, bringing it to her red boxers.

You gulped. You'd seen her without her shirt on a lot, but she had never let you go any further.

"A-are you sure? Y-you don't want me to turn around or any-"

"Y/n." She said your name sternly to cut off your nervous rambling. Catra turned around in your arms so she was facing you, "I want this. I'm ready."

"W-what?" Blood rushed to your face as you felt it heat up.

She pulled both your hands to the hem of her boxers before gently placing both hands on the side of your face, "I want you...to... make love to me, princess~"

She bit her bottom lip between her teeth, a small fang sticking out, "I-If that's okay with you..."

You took a moment to think, taking in the sight of her and processing her words, before pulling her into your lips passionately.

"Of course, kitty-" you whispered against her lips, "-of course~"

Your hand went to the nape of her neck as you pulled her in before gently pushing her down on your bed.

You crawled over her, tearing off your top and boxers and throwing them to the side.

"Fuck~" you heard Catra whisper under her breath with a smile.

You brought your hand back to her boxers, looking up at her again, "You still want to do this?"

She bit her bottom lip and nodded.

You subconsciously licked your bottom lip as you began to pull her boxers down slowly, as though you were opening a present. As you caught a glimpse of her you moaned and shifted on top of her, "god damn you're so fucking pretty, kitty~"

"You talking to me or my pussy?"

You both giggled at her sudden crassness as you finished undressing her and you laid your bare body on top of hers, both of you still cold but your body heat was warming you both quickly.

"Well...I guess in a way...since you're my kitty~" you caressed her jaw in your hand and whispered mischievously, "I guess that means you're my pussy too~"

"Dont-" she giggled and shoved you back, "don't ever say that again."

You laughed along with her, "Aw come on, kitty..." You ran your fingers down her stomach down between her thighs and teased her just above where she needed you, "you know this pussy belongs to me~"

She purred, her back arching slightly, "You're...you're really enjoying this aren't you?"

"Definitely~" you stopped teasing her and brought your hands to her tits instead, messaging both of them in your hands as you leaned your head down and began sucking on her hardened nipples.

"F-fuck~!" She mewled, her claws digging into your back and her hips twitched beneath you.

Your tongue traced circles around her breasts as you rolled her nipples between your fingers. Moaning against her skin and rocking your hips against hers as she moans.

"I've...fuck I've wanted this so bad~" you confessed as you kissed across her chest to her other nipple, your hand sliding down her stomach, "I've wanted you so bad~"

"S-sorry to keep you waiting-" she breathed out through short pants before her hips jumped up and a squeak left her lips as you bit down on her hardened bud.

"Don't be-" you told her firmly before your voice went soft again, "I understood why you wanted to wait, my love...but I'd be lying if I said I never thought about it...about us~"

Her purrs grew in volume as your hand returned between her thighs and you teased around her sensitive parts again.

You kissed up her chest to her neck and began leaving hickies across her skin, "But this time, Kitty...you come first~"

You both moaned in harmony as you finally slipped your fingers passed her lower lip.

"O-oh f-fuck~!" She hissed, her cheeks turned a dark red as she tried to bite on her hand to muffle her sound.

You gently pulled her hand away, replacing it with your mouth as you continued teasing her pussy that was coating your fingers in her arousal.

"Don't do that, kitty. Don't hide your pleasure~" you teased her entrance painfully slow, her hips rising and falling on their own, "I want to hear how good you feel~"

As you rubbed her more you whispered lowly against her ear, "Mmm, youre so wet, kitty, hear that delicious sound your body's making for me~?"

She went to bite down on her lip before remembering what you said, so instead she spread her legs wider for you and let herself pant and moan desperately for you, "P-please princess, I need you inside me~"

Your fingers rubbed against her entrance faster before you finally began pushing the tip of a finger inside her, "Mmm, fuck you sound so beautiful when you moan, kitty-" you moaned lowly, your hips beginning to rock back and forth, rubbing your core against her leg.

"Damn," you swore, "spread your legs a little more for me, kitty~"

Catra did as you asked but accidentally simultaneously happened to push her knee against your core causing you to moan loudly and your eyes to roll back.

You gently thrust your finger deeper and deeper into her inch by inch until she carefully scratched down your arms with her claws, "M-more~! Please princess~! I need more~"

You complied, pushing a second then a third finger in, her walls clenching around your fingers as she reached her high.

In and out slowly then fast and then slow again you thrusted in and out of her, curling your fingers to rub against that sweet spot that had her writhing beneath you.

She pants and moans loudly, her claws left scratches down your back that would surely hurt tomorrow but for now felt so so good.

"F-fuck~!" She mewls as her hips thrust up at the same place as your fingers and she rides them. "D-dont stop, princess~! Oh f-fuck, don't stop~! Please don't stOp~!"

Catra's body shook beneath you in pleasure, her eyes screwed shut as she focused on the intense pleasure you were giving her until every so often when they opened for a moment just to show her eyes rolling back as she moaned and purred.

"Y/n~!" She cried out your name as her walls began to clench tightly around your fingers, her legs began to shake, and rumbling purrs vibrated inside her chest. "F-fuck, princess~! I'm...I'm sO close~! Please...please let me cum~! P-please~!"

"You don't have to ask, kitty~" you assured her as you kissed her temple and cheek, "cum for me, cum for me~"

Her hands dug in your hair as her body jerked up and she cried out your name. Her eyes rolling back as she came undone, her juices coating your hand and making a mess on the sheets.

"Good girl~" She whimpered as you praised her, your free hand tucking her hair back as you scratched her ears softly, "that's my good kitty, just relax...I've got you, I'm not going anywhere~"

As she started to come down from her high you gently removed your fingers before licking them clean and leaning down to kiss her so she got a taste of herself on your lips.

But as you pulled away you noticed her sniffling and tears running down her face.

A surge of panic runs through you and you cup her face, "Oh no, w-what wrong, kitten? I w-wasnt too rough was I?"

"No-" she cut you off and placed her hands on top of yours, "no it's just...I-Im not used to...fuck-" she looks at you through tired but loving eyes, "y-youre just so...good to me...I'm not used to it yet."

Then her face turned a dark red as she groaned and covered her face, "Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break down like that...god that must've sounded so stupid-"

"Hey-" you pulled her hands away from her face and tilted her head up by her chin to make her look at you as you smiled warmly, "it wasn't stupid, kitten. I know it'll take time to get used to, but you'll get there, I promise. I'm not going anywhere, and I'm so glad I was able to make you feel good, kitty~"

With that you gently pulled her in to your warm embrace, the cold from outside long forgotten as you found comfort in each other's arms.

Not even a moment or two later you began to feel Catra kissing down your neck and collar bone, "Catra, you don't have to-"

"Hush," she ordered, her hands going down to squeeze your thighs, "it's my turn~"

The way she looks at you sets your blood on fire and makes your pussy tingle. "O-okay~" You breathe out as you subconsciously begin to grind your core against her legs.

"Come here-" she coos gently as she helps you get situated on top of the pillows then whimpers:

"Oh princess~" she moans and spreads your legs wider, "you look so good..."

She looks at you softly, the arousal evident in her eyes, "C-can I get a closer look~?"

You gulped and combed your fingers through her hair, "Yes kitten~" You groan as your arousal takes over your body, "I...I want you to play with my pussy, kitty~"

Her eyes widened as she blushed, but after a moment of gay panic she bowed her head and began to kiss around your inner thighs.

You gasped. She's so close yet feels so far from where you need her, your pussy throbbing between your legs.

"C-catra~" you moan her name softly as you try to pull her mouth where you need her and thankfully she complies.

"Mmm~" she moans lowly as she begins making out with your pussy lips, kissing, sucking, and swirling her tongue around you.

"F-fuck~! C-catra~! Y-your-" you cut yourself off with a loud moan, your hips grinding against her face as you kept her trapped between your thighs, "C-catra~! Y-your...your t-tongue, nnnGGhh~!"

Her eyes widened as she remembered her tounge was slightly rougher than yours thanks to her magicat genes. She tries to pull away and apologize but you push her face back in your cunt.

"Don't you fucking stop, kitten~! F-fuck~! It feels so good, kitty, I need your tongue inside me, kitty~! Now~!"

She smirks against your pussy, your desperation turning her on incredibly and she decides to ravish your cunt like you deserve.

Her bright multicolored eyes meet yours as she pushes her rough wet tongue deep inside you.

Your back arches as you moan, Catra gripping your thighs to keep them open as she eats you out, her tongue running over your walls, and lapping up your arousal.

"Damn princess, you taste so pretty~" she moans inside you, the vibrations sending shockwaves through your pussy.

You gasp and pant as you pull on her hair to ground yourself, "O-oh fuck, kitty~! F-fuck~!"

She can feel your legs begin to shake around her and she decides to up the ante by curling her tongue against your g-spot, hitting it with her rough tongue as she laps up your juices that have started dripping down her chin.

You borderline scream as she abuses your sweet spot, grinding your pussy in her face mercilessly as your thighs clench around her head.

"Yes~! Yes~! Oh yes, kitty~! That feels so good~! That feels so good, kitty~! I'm so fucking close~!" Moans and filthy wet sounds echo in your room and you're thankful your parents weren't home yet as you cry out to her, "I wanna cum all over your pretty face, kitty~! Is that okay~? Please~! Please let me cum on your face~"

She groans into your pussy once more. Your walls tightening as your back arches and your legs shake, "It's okay, princess~! Cum on my face, princess, cum on my tongue and let me eat you up~!"

With a few more thrusts of her tongue you come undone, squirting all over her face and tongue as you cry out her name.

"Oh fuck princess, I wish you could see how pretty you look-"

You intertwined your fingers with hers as you tried to catch your breath and she wiped her face with one of the towels you brought in earlier before sliding up your body. Your chest pressed against hers as she whispered through falsified innocent looking eyes:

"-but I can show you how good you taste~"

And she leaned in to kiss you softly, her tonge grazing yours making you moan and kiss her back passionately.

"I love you so fucking much~" you confessed against her lips before pulling back slightly, "you mean...the whole world to me, Catra..." you whispered to her as though it was a secret, but it wasn't, infact Catra knew that if you could, you would brag about her to the whole world.

"A-and I know...you're still getting used to this...to feeling like this, I am too," you brushed her hair behind her ear and nuzzled your nose against hers, "and you don't have to say anything back, kitten, I want you to go at your own pace but I also want you to know...I know how I feel and...I know I love you and I know I always will."

"I'm yours, kitten~"

Catra bit the inside of her cheek, refusing to break down in tears again, though it was difficult. Feelings that she kept buried for so long because someone once made her feel like they were too much rose to the surface again because of you,

and she allowed herself to smile.

She looked at you like you were all the stars in the sky, with so much love and admiration, and even though she wasn't quite ready to say those three words that her past lover made her feel were worthless, you could see it in the way she looked at you.

She cupped your face in her hands, her claws resting on your soft cheeks gently as she kissed you softly, "I...I want to be yours too, princess." She confessed and felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders as she hugged you tight and whispered in your ear,

"I want to be yours~"

[wiseabsol]

Hey! I wanted to tell you that I love your Dominion reviews, and I also wanted to ask you about your opinion on a possible Azula-Catra comparison. Because people tend to compare Zuko’s and Catra’s redemption arcs in order to debunk the latter, and though I can see the parallelisms, I’ve always believed that Catra is, at heart, much more similar to Azula, and even more if you consider Dominion!Azula (which will never not be the real, full-fledged Azula to me, never mind canon). What do you think?

So I think any redemption arc in media tends to get compared to Zuko's because, A.) The people doing the comparing often grew up with ATLA, so it's the first one that comes to mind, and B.) It's a redemption arc that takes time to develop, has setbacks, and has Zuko working towards earning the trust of those he hurt in the past.

Catra's, I think, is harder for people to swallow. A large part of this is because she spends 4 out of the 5 seasons being an angry, toxic person, especially towards Adora and Scorpia (Scorpia, I want to point out, does not respect Catra's boundaries, forcing physical affection on her when she doesn't want it. This doesn't mean that Scorpia deserved how Catra's treated her, but I think that friendship was unhealthy both ways). I can understand why people, looking at Catra, would say that getting only one season for a redemption arc wouldn't be enough--especially because she nearly destroyed the world and did, functionally, kill Angella. Zuko, in comparison, stalked people and burned down people's homes, but didn't kill anyone.

But personally, I liked Catra's redemption arc. I liked her acknowledging her anger issues and having a therapy animal to help her manage it. I liked her apologizing and trying to make things right to the people she hurt. I liked her realizing that her ambitions in the earlier seasons were mostly a means to have some control over her life and gain the favor of the adults around her. Catra, all things considered, is a pretty self-aware character--she knows how she's been treated all of her life is wrong, and that the side she's on is evil, and that what she wants most of all is to be with Adora. However, she gets hung up over feeling abandoned, lashes out when she's afraid and upset, and ultimately feels so guilty over pushing people away and the things she's done that she's suicidal about it. Dying doing a heroic thing seems, to her, the only way to make things right.

Which doesn't happen, of course. Catra is saved. And ultimately, she's offered a spot of the best friend squad, because people are still willing to give her a chance to be a better person (in part because she took that first step to try to make things right). And that, I think, is really important--because while it's no one else's job to fix you, if no one ever gives you the chance to grow and is always waiting for you to mess up--to prove yourself to be a monster--then what motivation do you have to get better?

But I'm getting off topic. What you actually asked me is if I see similarities between Azula and Catra. And in some ways, yes--mostly in how the fandoms treat them--but in other ways, no. Let's dig into it:

Catra knows that she has been abused by Shadow Weaver and that Shadow Weaver is a bad person and parent. Azula does not realize consciously that she's been abused, or that Ozai is a bad person and parent (though she knows he's capable of hurting his children, due to what he did to Zuko).

Their responses to this abuse differs. Catra is more angry, defiant, and irreverent, and is physically hurt by Shadow Weaver as a result (which isn't her fault--it's Shadow Weaver who's in the wrong). Azula decides to become the perfect firebender and ally to her father, and in doing so secures "safety" for herself from Ozai. Incidentally, Adora also picked the striving for perfection route of appeasement.

Catra knows that the Hoard is evil, but goes along with their goals anyway, largely to get back at Adora for leaving her and to gain Shadow Weaver's and Hordak's "respect." Azula doesn't know that the Fire Nation is in the wrong, because she's fully been indoctrinated. In fact, Azula and Adora are more similar on this point, at least before Adora realizes the Hoard is attacking villages. Would she have realized this, though, if she hadn't spent time there beforehand with Glimmer and Bow? In any case, Azula stays with the Fire Nation because she's never been given a reason to question their conquest, and because that's how she earns her father's "love" and "respect."

Catra is happy about Adora's promotion until she realizes that she won't be shipping out with Adora (and thus is being left behind). Azula and Zuko grow up in an environment where if one of them succeeds, that means the other one is failing, and thus are never happy about each other's accomplishments.

Catra just wants to be the one Adora chooses and tries several times to get her to come "home." Azula desperately wants to be chosen by someone, hence her attachment to Ozai. But also, Azula goes to great lengths to get Zuko to come home too, setting him up with Mai and letting him take credit for killing Aang.

Catra and Azula both break down and lash out when the people they love leave them. They also both experience guilt over what they've done, though Catra, I think, confronts this more head on, while Azula tries to rationalize her actions ("Trust is for fools."). They also both fully believe that they're monsters who no one can love.

Both Catra and Azula treat their best friends poorly and drive them away. Catra, after doing some soul-searching, tries to sacrifice herself to make things right, and is given the chance to redeem herself after she survives. Azula attempts to do some soul-searching, hits a "does not compute" error message, and is not given a chance to redeem herself, in part because there's no more show left. If there had been a season four, perhaps we would have gotten that, but unfortunately, all we have are the (terrible) comics.

Azula is 14 during ATLA. No one reaches out to her or encourages her to think critically about what her side is doing. Catra is apparently 17-18 at the start of SPOP and 20-21 at the end of it. People do reach out to her and encourage her to think critically about what her side is doing. Azula gets no shot at redemption. Catra does.

Azula and Catra are both demonized by some of the fanbase, with Azula commonly being pathologized. Azula, despite being younger, being less self-aware than Catra, and being given fewer chances for improvement, is actually treated with more vitriol than Catra--even though Catra knows she's in an evil organization and chooses to stay, and objectively does worse things over the course of the show. My guess is that this is because SPOP offers more sympathetic moments to Catra, which ATLA doesn't give Azula. Regardless, explaining to these fans that these characters are young victims of abuse who responded to it in maladaptive ways, and deserve sympathy and a chance to heal, doesn't work. Instead, because they were toxic and hurt the characters we like (characters on the other side of a war), they are ruined forever. Despite being incredibly young and, for the most part, barely stepping out of the abusive environments they grew up in.

And to be clear on this point--I can understand it if the people these two hurt never accepted them back. Their pain is valid (in fact, I wish Scorpia had told Catra that she needed time, rather than forgiving her easily at the end). However, saying Azula and Catra are lost causes who can't become better people or develop healthy relationships with other people is incredibly reductive. It also tells real people that if you fuck up in your youths, you'll never get better and no one will ever love you again, which is appalling. As someone who had maladaptive reactions to growing up abused, if this had been what I was told--rather than having loved ones who were patient with me, told me how I messed up, and encouraged me to self-reflect and grow--I might not be here right now.

Which brings me to my final point: To be happy and find peace, what Catra and Azula both need is acceptance and love from healthy sources. Catra receives it and works on herself. Azula...doesn't. And I'm not sure I can blame a 14-year-old for stagnating as a result.

[swearyshera]

Reliving this is a trip. I was an interesting feeling the first time thru, and I'm not saying that to humorously downplay a horrific situation. It drew out a little bit of sympathy for Catra I really thought I'd used up by that point, if only cuz what Prime does is really that vile. That's super unusual for me. I went in rooting for Adora to take back someone she cared about, not necessarily cuz it was Catra specifically if you know what I mean, but this got me to want Catra rescued weirdly well. I almost never feel for villains at their nadir like this.

Twisted how empathetic paragon heroes like Adora are among my most treasured characters in fiction, yet I suck at extending the same sympathy they can. You're supposed to see characters like Catra (or Azula or Bakugou or whoever you please) going thru awful things as flawed people with interior lives and subject to exterior circumstances that the heroes are kind/strong/savvy enough to see and incorporate into their responses and my knee jerk is still "fuck off with the pity party, get to the atonement." Or in a lot of cases to laugh while they're down. I always sabotage myself by seeing the author making horrible things happen to the rival/villains, and contrasting them with worse villains, as a cynical tactic to get me and the heroes to sympathize before they've started changing for the better.

It helped that Catra already saved Glimmer at her own peril, and Adora already would've saved Catra no matter what, but still. This is a big reason why villain mind control is one of my least fave tropes. Manipulation and coercion are all good because meaningful agency and responsibility are still there even if characters can't see it, and that is everything in my eyes. To me mind control is the writer hitting pause on a character's growth til a more convenient time in the plot. Or just forever. *cough*��🦂🧙‍♂️.

Most of my appreciation for pre-s5 Catra only built up in retrospect through meta-posts and following fanworks like this. So seriously thank you for this series; it's like experiencing the series as it was intended for the first time, weird as that sounds.

You're version of this sequence is as skin-crawling as I think we all could've hoped/feared. Prime is the worst kind of living scum. Great work. Now I can start counting down to the "you miscalculated." scene. Aimee Carrero crushed that line. Can't wait for your version. Positively dancing with anticipation.

It is - at least to me - a really interesting point for Catra to be at, narratively speaking, because it shows the dialectic in her journey. She both did and didn't "bring it upon herself" - yes, she tried to get in Prime's good books, but no, she didn't ask to be chipped. Yes, she saved Glimmer against his instruction, but no, she didn't know the full consequences of what that would do. And when you get people on different sides of the argument, some saying "poor meowmeow didn't deserve this" and others saying, "She's reaping what she's sown", actually they're both right, in this way.

I don't think it would have worked going straight to the atonement, anyway. We don't have these scenes to revel in the depth of her lowest point, we have them to show how bad, how inescapable it was - and then we set up to escape them!

The whole story with Prime has been an interesting writing journey, too. Every time I review the lines, I tweak them to make them that little bit more realistic, that little bit more uncomfortable. I'm painfully aware that we're seeing a lot of similar rhetoric flying around from real people in the media these days (particularly with anti-trans bullshit), and it's no coincidence that Prime is a reflection of this. But my focus isn't on "Oh look, doesn't this character sound like the person trying to destroy our lives", it's on "This character, like the people you've seen on the news, might think they're right but they will never win. They will never defeat us."

Indeed, the Save the Cat books (yes, this episode did remind me of them... It's probably where the name is from) talk about the 'All is Lost' point and the 'Dark Night of the Soul' - this is where we're at right now. It's bad, it's the worst - but it's going to get better.

[evelhak]

Hi Eve! Hope it's a good day! I'm curious to know about your art process, where does inspiration come from for you? Lots of love 😘, V.

Wow, that's a big question. Short answer is everywhere but obviously that doesn't really say anything. This is hard for me to describe, so thank you for asking such a challenging question. A key feature in inspiration for me is that there's something I need to exist that doesn't exist. Before I start my fan art and fan fiction, a new project especially, I typically have gone through a lot of other people's art, not finding what I'm looking for, and eventually ending up with the conclusion that I have to do it myself. Like, I would be happy just consuming if what I wanted existed in the world. Maybe it's not quite so clear cut, but I think it's heightened on the fandom side of things for me. Yes, in my original work my initial inspiration is similar but I think on that side I would still have the need to create for fun even if I didn't think I HAD TO bring something specific that was missing, to existence.

So, when an existing story and characters are my inspiration it's things that come together in my head from various threads that are sort of just hanging or floating there in the original material that I see no one drawing together, and I get a little frustrated typically, because I realise these things are not going to come together and then I NEED to draw those threads together, because otherwise it won't happen, and I need it to happen. So, it's things like "Why isn't anyone writing this character in these situations?" "Why isn't anyone paying attention to this underlying pattern?" "Why haven't I seen this joke made before it's literally on a silver platter, why does everyone pass by it?" "Why is this character so underappreciated?" "Why isn't anyone talking about the similarities between this series and that literary work or a fairytale?" So, a lot of times it's that I see missed opportunities.

That's not nearly enough for me to actually draw or write something though, because my projects are just usually big because my brain is like that somehow, so they really have to be worth my time for me to start what I know will eventually be huge. And I think that happens when the things that I see mentioned above tie into a bigger context, a bigger theme that I think is important in the world and that it should be talked about more. Of course sometimes I just have fun and giggles within those projects but it's rare for me to start unless there's something in it that I feel is meaningful thematically and psychologically. Basically something that has the potential to heighten people's self awareness and understanding of the world, and the feeling of community. I know this is so abstract and broad but I can't really help thinking these things. It's not like I'm fantasizing about having a big impact necessarily, it's more like awareness of these things just affects my small choices in art and life.

So, um, I'm trying to give examples to bring this a bit more to the ground level.

In my She-Ra comics one big theme was Adora's abuse because it wasn't on the screen the way Catra's was (for a good reason, I mean that's the point), and I felt like some people were missing how important part of the original story that was, so I felt like making the effects of it visible in a way that a children's show obviously couldn't have.

In KnB a lot of my inspiration is things like... "Fujimaki is unknowingly representing something he doesn't understand at all so he's writing accidental minority characters and then he's using those qualities for barely more than running gags, while so much more could be done with these things and this representation could actually make a difference in someone's life if the angle was shifted ever so slightly".

Obviously I already love these stories, I am a fan of them and I think they are doing so many things right, and that's why when I see something missing or I see fandom interpreting things in a way that I think is mischaracterising something, or even toxic, I just feel like I need to do something.

In my original work the process is similar, just less specific in a way. It's a bit broader. Like, I feel like something is missing in the fantasy genre, or some relationship trope is too toxic and overpowering, or detective novels are the antithesis of everything they stand upon, or "not interpreting this fairytale in this way in this time and age is so tone-deaf". Ideas like that come to my head, so then I have to do something about it.

So. In a way a lot of my inspiration to do things is sparked by something being wrong or missing, which is a bit ironic because in the end my fuel for art has always been joy. I can't really do things out of pain like some artists can, for me it's always happiness that keeps me going because really I see no point without it. I suppose that's why my art is also all about growth, even though it deals with heavy topics, the point of it is always overcoming your obstacles and becoming a better and happier version of yourself.

I guess I could conclude with how I have this love and hope for the human nature, and I easily see the best version someone could be, mentally. I see them loving themself and seeing their own good qualities and treating others with respect and opening up to other people, and inviting the world in. I always have hope because I see that so clearly in everyone, in a specific way that is all about who they are as a person, so it's like... I wish that if I could write characters that people love, in a way that demonstrates that hope, and growth, someone who is struggling could be inspired by those characters. That those characters could help them see the way out of their misery and also call people out when they are treating others or themselves badly. Because the power of example is way more effective than telling someone what to do, because the individual has the freedom and responsibility of interpretation when it comes to examples. And really, I believe that's how it should be because we can't influence anyone who doesn't want to be influenced, no matter the good intentions.

That's... my inspiration, in (not so) short? In the end I'm just a naive idealist with a need to butt in, but with the added benefit of an adult's self-awareness and complexity of thought, haha. And I'm aware I'm a weird, reluctantly obsessive fan artist, because really I want to focus on my original stuff and I want to be able to live by my pen and be an "original" artist, but I can never give up fandom because that's where I feel my specific skill set is utilized to its peak. Because my art process is so source based, that obviously the more specific, the more well defined the source is, the stronger the impact of the things I can bring out of it is too, because I know how to use the reader's expectations and viewpoints way more specifically than I can know them in a broader landscape, such as a whole genre I might be writing my original fiction in.

And this is why things like Sherlock Holmes becoming public domain is like a lottery win for me! That's a very specific but also huge and incredibly complex and popular source that inspires me right now!

Thank you again for the ask, and I hope my answer wasn't too overwhelming.

[catras-breakup-song]

something that i've always found really funny is catra's s5 plot armor, or rather, design armor i suppose.

to start with, adora (and bow and entrapta) had no idea catra was with glimmer on the velvet glove.

so they rescue her, and surely her chipped outfit, which she's wearing, is the only one she has after prime discarded her former horde uniform.

but then we see her in the same pajamas that she wore in the fright zone, just without the horde symbol, and remember that adora's looks different.

in the next episode, she's wearing an alternate version of her previous red & black uniform, which there's no way could been packed on the journey to save only glimmer, and they wouldn't have cared about leaving replaceable clothing behind on the ship.

also another thing i want to point out is that the back of the torso is mostly removed, likely by catra's claws due to the fact it had the horde symbol on it and she was now part of the rebellion. but i'm not counting this part since it makes sense.

anyway, she gets a whole space suit made for her by entrapta, who, again, wasn't aware catra wasn't on etheria anymore, let alone would want to leave prime.

and here's a bonus just because i can't tell: was this cloak made with a place for her cat ears to fit into, or is she just poking through the original fabric?

overall, this isn't a plot hole and i don't actually care about these inconsistencies since it's not a serious issue, if one at all. but this has always been something i wanted to share with the fandom since i love details!

[hikaaa-bi]

a lot of things that need to be addressed here.

1. we don't "demonize" them because they are traumatized. we just criticize their actions because it's harmful and toxic. also Pink Diamond wasn't even a child? she was younger than the other Diamonds but she was at least a few thousand years old (btw I don't hate Pink, i think she's a really interesting character). as for Catra, she's like 17 at the beginning and in her 20s by the end of the series. i wouldn't call that a "child". Star was a child but basically committed g3nocide so..

(haven't watched Miraculous Ladybug so I cannot comment on Chloé)

2. the problem here is the consequences of their actions. if they just said something that they didn't mean or lashed out in a moment of impulse, that can be looked past. however abuse, murder, manipulation, etc are real issues that people suffer from and should be treated as such. being traumatized doesn't give you the free pass to traumatize others.

3. who tf excuses characters like Shadow Weaver, Horde Prime or the other Diamonds? whoever wrote this confession must live in a different dimension because as far as I'm aware, these characters are very much hated by the fandom. there may be people who like them as villains, but I've seen no one excuse their actions or try to claim that they are innocent.

“I find it extremely concerning that majority of fandoms like to demonize traumatized children ex: Star Butterfly, Chloé, Catra, and Pink Diamond (she’s more child-coded than an outright child but it still counts) for making impulsive decisions under stress, but don’t bat an eye when adult characters like Moon/MHC, Hawkmoth/Audrey, Shadow Weaver/Horde Prime, and the other three Diamonds for doing far worse things like being literal Terrorists, Racists, that abuse, neglect and backstab their own children and have committed/promoted planetary genocide. It’s mind-boggling how many fandoms for kids seems to hate children/abuse victims the most.”

[manic-sapphic]

srry i guess i'm on one again today cause here's more spop ranting lol~

i really do love that, after everything that went down during seasons 1-4 (both between adora and catra and the experiences they had on their own), we can look at season 5 and see that -

of all the choices that were made during the final season, there are two that seem to impact the conclusion more significantly than any of the other decisions/actions shown to us as we’re nearing the story’s end. their stark, unequivocal importance in leading to horde prime's defeat is just so obvious there's prob no reason for me to discuss them in this rant lol but i think they're ironic in such a lovely way tho so i just kinda wanna talk about em anyway :)

cause i mean, adora making the choice to go back for catra is so sooo distinct from any of the ones we’ve witnessed her enact before, due to its divergence from the thought processes and behavior patterns we’re used to adora following. she allows everyone else with her onboard darla to risk their safety accompanying her, even accepts their willingness to aid her in what i'd describe as a hail-mary-type rescue mission motivated exclusively by adora's personal interest, committing herself, glimmer, bow, and entrapta to a gamble whose stakes are on an incredibly unprecedented level; the array of repercussions that might follow if even one of them should make the slightest misstep are frighteningly intense and volatile, far beyond the scope of their previous comprehension.

it's an insane risk undertaken with no fathomable reason other than want. adora struggles to even bring herself to tell the others that she wants to go back for catra; possibly due, in part, to it being a decision predicated on personal feelings, which are still a fairly unexplored and thus inexplicable topic for adora, remaining just outside her current realm of understanding. like she doesn't even seem to know why she wants to go back for her so badly, she just knows she "can't just leave her there." i mean, we know it's cause she loves tf outta catra haha but it's def an undeniably senseless move made in the face of the worst odds yet, with more weight on adora's shoulders than any of the other times she’s been willing to roll the dice in the past.

the influence of adora's headstrong sensibilities are more prevalent than ever here, and she resolves to turn back, fully devoted to the dangerously entropic endeavor and totally aware of just how desperately untenable the scenario ahead is likely to be, incomparable to any former experience of situations where that’s been a concern. the problematic potential of every passing moment increases exponentially, rises rapidly with each second they spend on prime's ship, and quickly rockets off the charts into completely unknown territory.

but in spite of all the ways that going back for catra doesn’t make sense, adora chooses to do it. a decision founded wholly on her recognition that it’s something she, ADORA, wants to do. so for the first time, really, we see adora let herself make a selfish decision. and she does it for catra <3

even though it puts the entire rebellion in jeopardy, considering the far-reaching and unpredictable consequences the collateral damage to follow would be sure to have if the worst possible outcome of the attempt to save catra occurs and something goes wrong that inevitably leads to the loss/capture of some/all of them. this would extensively influence the success of their allies back on etheria in regards to stopping prime.

adora's growth spikes most notably in spop's closing installment of episodes tho, led along recognizable, established landmarks as she nears the close of her character’s journey w places like the fright zone and mystacor. and then, however briefly, both her and catra regress a bit on their separate self-destructive tendencies. and she thinks catra has left her for good.

but then, even after everything that’s happened since the very beginning, catra turns right tf around and hightails it back to save adora when she sees prime has already started going after the heart & is infecting the planet. and if she hadn't, the whole thing would've gone south. i mean, she reaches adora just in time, finding her injured and weakened with a monster towering over her. and so, if i can wax poetic for a moment (after all that rambling lol), the two choices in s5 that make the most impact on them all winning in the end are:

adora choosing not to leave catra behind

and

catra choosing to stay with adora

and gahh it's just so damn beautiful :')