#adora: *drags both glimmer and bow around during their first fight*

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

Adora: Oh  no, this pretty lady has taken me prisoner

Glimmer: I have?

Adora: Guess I’ll just have to go with her now

Bow: Should, should we tie her up...? 

Adora: There’s no other choice *holds out hands* LOOK HOW ENRAPTURED I AM!!!! 

Glimmer: ...you mean ‘captured’?

Adora: ...that’s what i said... 

Bow: Okay lesbian~

[princessofgayskull]

Hi sunflower, what's your thoughts on T Swift's Betty being a catradora song???

Me, taking a break from spop to focus on my mental health and setting better boundaries:

Me, reading this ask:

This ask woke me up from like a deep, sleeping beauty type slumber, not joking. I don’t get asked to talk about Taylor Swift often, despite being a fan of hers since I was nine years old (I’m 22 now *wink*) and we are about to find out why. But I pride myself on taking any fiction piece of media I interact with and connecting it somehow to Taylor Swift. I can do so to varying degrees of success (usually depends on the ships and romance of the world) but there are so many songs of Taylor’s that have just fit Catradora so well for me, both in and out of canon. 

Some of my favorite examples: out of the woods (AND IT KEPT ME UP AT NIGHT WHEN NOELLE SAID THIS WAS HER TAYLOR SWIFT SONG FOR CATRADORA LIKE GAH CASUAL TS LISTENERS WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND) bad blood, lwymd, don’t blame, dancing with our hands tied, the archer, breathe, you’re not sorry, the way I loved you, forever & always, should’ve said no, safe & sound- I could go on.

But I won’t because I wanna stay on topic and talk about betty. Now I have a number of songs from the folklore/evermore series that are for me catradora songs (we’ll get to that in a minute) but this one is… challenging. Because I could be like “yes, because [insert casual reason here]” or “no, because [insert casual reason here]” but I can’t because Taylor feeds her children well and there’s several aspects of this song I feel like should be considered.

This biggest one to be considered, for me, is the love triangle aspect. Folklore features at length the betty/james/Augustine love triangle, each of them having one main song on the album from their POV. Betty's is cardigan, augustine’s is august, and james’ is betty. (also I’m going to throw out the gender component for a second; I know taylor says that Betty is about a guy’s apology and I totally vibe with her reasons why she wanted to write a song about a boy apologizing BECAUSE HOW GREAT WOULD THAT BE?) The love triangle makes the application of Catradora iffy at best. Because it’s like, who would be who? I am going to go out on a limb and assume that you’re seeing Catra as James? I think that personality wise, Adora as Betty and Catra as James is not a stone’s throw away from fitting actually really well. Adora’s canon journey is one of coming to realize “I know what I want and I know that it’s okay to want it” and a big part of Catra’s arc is her being like “Well shit… there goes my plans. Kind of feeling like a dumbass rn” especially in s4/s5. 

(That s4/s5 distinction is important; I’ll show why in a second) 

But for me, there’s no augustine. Or one that’s obvious anyway. I never imagined that either Catra or Adora dated or even had any inclinations with anyone else during the five season run- that’s just my personal opinion, people are completely welcome to feel free to disagree. I don’t think Catra acted even out of distraction with Scorpia or DT, and I think Adora was so focused on being She Ra that when she wasn’t thinking about failing/abandoning Catra when she alloted time to do so, she was thinking about the crushing weight of her responsibilities. So you know, not that much time to get back out there. So I rule out what causes James to apologize in the first place- cheating.

Side note about James cheating- I’m pretty sure Taylor confirmed this, in the long pond studio sessions doc, when she’s telling Jack Antonoff (MY BOY JACK) and Aaron Dessner ( GRAMMY AWARD WINNING KING) that James “was a fool!” And James did sleep with Augustine as confirmed in august, but cardigan makes it seem like he was definitely dating Betty before the summer. Maybe Taylor took inspiration from friends and they “were on break.” I also believe that the kiss in the Heart is the first kiss, that Catra and Adora were never ‘together’ together before Adora found the sword and defected (again, that’s just an opinion, but Adora just looks so wonderfully gobsmacked), so…

We can rule out cheating, and I think we can accomplish this and still reserve the essential meaning of the song of “I did something wrong, I see that now, I apologize for doing it, and I still love you” by widening the lens of what the “did something wrong” was (or “did something bad” you know *wink*). In that wider lens really you could fit either Catra or Adora into the song, but I’m still going to assume Catra is the James in this scenario based on how much of her redemption arc is formed around her refusal to say sorry and then eventually doing so. Of course there is no standing your porchlight but rather standing while wrestling a bunch of murderous clones…. Hmm….

But there are some stupid friends! I wholeheartedly believe Catra is James because of the dissing of Betty’s friends. That’s what Catra does to Bow, Glimmer and the rebellion et al., for most of the show and by the end of s4 she has no friends for Adora to even mock (terrible and cruel of me, I know, but it’s true). Also I know people are like “he called her friends stupid and then expected betty to take him back?” but I scream sing the line “WILL YOU KISS ME ON THE PORCH IN FRONT OF ALL YOUR STUPID FRIENDS?” every time. It brings me serotonin. 

Along those lines we can ask “Who’s Inez?” in this situation. When I think gossip no one from the show really comes to mind, well, expect for Double Trouble. But Double Trouble doesn’t ever speak to Adora about Catra. This happens vice-versa, and in Betty, James reveals that Inez told Betty he cheated on her. 

I want to say something controversial… Glimmer comes to mind when I think “who’s the Inez?” And this is based off of two things: 1) Inez’s closeness to Betty, and 2) Inez drags James out to dry, rightfully so. And when I think of that I think of Glimmer screaming “Do one good thing in your life!” directly in Catra’s face. James gives Inez a bad wrap in Betty. Not cool James. 

Of course there’s the pivotal, “would you tell me to go fuck myself?/ or lead me to the garden?” To me this a fun way of showing there’s vulnerability to what James is doing, so automatically I’m led to is the scene where Catra asks Adora to stay, or each time in s5 when Catra risks, basically an identity crisis to let Adora in how she really feels, but there’s always the potential that Adora could spurn her by not returning her feelings or rejecting her outright. 

I think the best argument that can be made for “is betty a catradora song” can really be encapsulated by the lyric(s): “the worst thing that I ever did is what I did to you” and “the only thing I wanna do is make it up to you.” That is what about the song SCREAMS Catra to me. And yeah, it could be argued that Adora hurt Catra pretty brutally (Shadow Weaver makes that point EVEN THOUGH SHE HAD NO RIGHT TO) that she messed up by abandoning Catra- but Adora feels guilt for... literally breathing. Adora is the quintessential embodiment of “pick your battles, no that’s too many battles, put some back,” but Catra picked one battle first and foremost (yes, she had a few others but this was the one) and that was Adora. Everything that motivated her was surrounded around a narrative of surpassing Adora for a multitude of reasons, and because of that she pretty much hurts Adora every chance she gets after Promise. Adora is really Catra’s first casualty, it makes sense that she has to be her first apology. And I think that after being vibed checked back to back by DT and Glimmer and realizing “oh hey fuck, I’m still in love with her” and then almost dying just to not die because Adora saves her, I think much of Catra’s motivation shifts to “how to do I get Adora to want to stay?” 

That’s my logic for how Betty could be a catradora song in canon. Now not all of my Taylor associations are with canon catradora, many of them do belong to uws catradora, because it’s a lot easier to apply the more modern details of Taylor’s songs to a modern au. The song Breathe is big that way. (it’s in Upper West Side, it’s the song Adora listens to and cries to after that first ride, I just never mentioned that it was taylor because my conditioned reaction to bringing up taylor is to have my head bit off with someone’s semi incorrect and slightly sexist opinion that I never, ever ask for) And this ask got me thinking about what it would look like if I applied not Catradora to Betty, but Betty to Catradora. What would it look like if Catra skateboarded and wore black lipstick, Adora wore a cardigan and they had homeroom together until Catra really messed up? What would it look like if they were seventeen when they admitted their feelings for each other instead of 21? What would it look like if they spent a summer fighting but dreaming of each other? What would their love story look like if Catra and Adora were in that town where Taylor envisioned this “same event that affected three people in different ways?”

I think it’d look something like this. 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31141973/chapters/76952048

what do you guys think?

quick but INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT thank you to @gimme-tea-bitch for helping me with this, being my beta, and listening to me talk about folklore/evermore.

[harrowharkboygf]

Game Night

a short post-season 5 oneshot. read on ao3

——

Catra liked to think of herself as a dedicated person. There were a lot of things she still hated about herself—the therapist Perfuma had recommended to her had said during their first session that it would take time to fully forgive herself, to get out of the “self-destructive mindset” she had spent so long embracing. But she at least prided herself on her resolve, her resilience, her determination.

However, it turned out that in terms of determination, she was nothing compared to the princesses’ crazed desire to hold as many social events as physically possible.

At first, during the initial celebration at Brightmoon and the stream of Thank You For Saving The World, Princesses! parties that were thrown in their honor as they traveled across Etheria to help with rebuilding efforts, Catra thought that this was just because of the circumstances. Everyone was clearly thrilled to be alive and happy that the princesses were back to being heroes, and they wanted to commemorate the occasion with festivities.

(It was still weird to think of herself like that. As a member of the Princess Alliance. Would it ever get less strange?)

But then Catra learned that the princesses were just like that. There were endless game nights and iceball tournaments and flower crown-making circles and picnics and trips around Etheria just for the purpose of seeing the sights. Late night planning meetings that turned into sleepovers, and visits to their allies under the guise of “checking in” that held no tactical purpose in the end.

This was so foreign, so beyond her reality; she had grown up in the Horde, where her idea of free time was just more training. Her only celebrations came in the form of stolen moments with Adora and extra ration bars, which she hoarded like it was water in the Crimson Wastes.

But despite how skeptical she acted, deep down Catra loved it, even the flower crowns. She discovered that she was very good at iceball—so good that she and Adora were banned from playing against each other on the grounds of being too competitive. (Thankfully, Glimmer and Frosta were equally worthy opponents.) Spinnerella and Netossa were more than happy to teach her all their tricks; Catra found the couple oddly comforting, a nice, stable, older presence that she’d never had before.

But above all, Catra loved the quiet moments the most. Late sleepovers with the Best Friend Squad (her attempts to change the name to something more badass, like the Kickass Comrades, had been shot down) had, much to her surprise, become one of her favorite things. The old Catra would have scoffed seeing her now, eating sweets and giggling late into the night, but she didn’t care. Arrow Boy and Sparkles had actually become her friends, dignity be damned.

And of course, there was Adora. Beautiful, amazing, wonderful Adora, with her sparkling blue eyes and soft lips and strong arms that always ended up wrapped around Catra. She could hardly believe it was real, that Adora loved her. She wondered if she would ever be able to wake up and not stare in disbelief at the sight of Adora lying next to her, staring at her with soft, loving eyes. If one day she would stop fearing that all of it was a dream.

“Hey, lovebirds!” Glimmer shouted. “Quit being gross and get over here so you can finish helping us!”

They had spent the last two weeks in what had formerly been known as the Fright Zone, and what was soon to become Scorpia’s kingdom. The still-newly-minted princess had decided to use it as a refuge for former Horde soldiers who were looking to turn over a new leaf. “After all,” Scorpia had said, “if Catra and Adora and I all changed, everyone else can, too.”

But unsurprisingly, the place was still, as Catra put it, full of shit. So the Princess Alliance decided to clean it up and redecorate.

“You said we could take a water break!” protested Adora.

“Yeah,” said Catra, smirking. “We’re so thirsty.” She blinked innocently up at Glimmer from her perch on Adora’s lap, one arm slung around her shoulders and the other hand playing with her blonde hair.

Mermista, who was carrying a stack of boxes nearby, rolled her eyes. “Yeah you are,” she muttered. Behind her, Sea Hawk gave them a thumbs up.

Glimmer put her hands on her hips, shaking her head. “I said you could take a water break when Adora tried to lift a literal tank without shifting into She-Ra. But that was twenty minutes ago! Let’s go, you two. Chop chop.”

Adora’s gaze was fixed on Catra, a soft smile sliding across her lips. “Just a minute,” she told Glimmer, not breaking eye contact with Catra. Gently, she tipped her head upwards and kissed her. Catra let herself dissolve into the kiss, closing her eyes and exhaling.

They pulled apart only to press their foreheads together. “I think we’re annoying,” Adora stage-whispered.

Catra barely kept herself from giggling. (Giggling. What the fuck, honestly.) “You think?” she asked.

She heard Glimmer say, “Bow! Come help me!” Then she felt hands wrap around her as Bow and Glimmer bodily lifted her up off of Adora’s lap. She hissed in fake-annoyance, squirming in their grip.

“Don’t pretend you two are much better!” she shrieked as they deposited her onto a pile of stacked bedrolls. “I saw you feeding Sparkles at breakfast!”

Frosta scoffed as she used her ice powers to hang a lantern. “I get it, you’re all gross! When can we be done? I’m bored!”

Scorpia delicately set a plant down on a nearby windowsill, mindful of her claws. “Soon! Thank you so much for your help, guys. The place looks great.” Everyone beamed, pausing to look around and admire their handiwork.

It did look great. The walls had been painted a lighter color, and the hallways were now well-lit, filled with softer, more pleasant decor. The clanging of machinery still echoed, but gone was the smoke and pollution; Entrapta had spent a long time working on a more clean form of energy, one that was better for magic and the planet and whatever.

Speaking of the pig-tailed princess—“Where’s Entrapta?” asked Catra. “She didn’t want to come and invent some bot to help us?”

Perfuma adjusted her girlfriend’s placement of the potted plant, trying to give it as much sunlight as possible. “She’s very busy with all her new ethical science projects now—”

“Semi-ethical,” corrected Bow, rubbing the back of his neck.

“—But she was invited to our celebration tomorrow night! Hopefully we will see her then.”

“Another party? It never ends, does it?” Catra said to Adora, who had come back to stand at her side.

Perfuma clasped her hands together. “Oh, this one will just be a small get-together. We’ll throw a big party once all of Scorpia’s citizens move in, but this is just for us princesses!”

“And Bow and Catra and Sea Hawk,” Mermista reminded her.

Perfuma shrugged. “Honorary princesses!”

Adora cleared her throat. “Alright, team, let’s get these last few things in place. We can pick up the little bit that’s left tomorrow morning. I think it’s bedtime.”

——

“And then I said, “Uh, your ship’s on fire!’”

The room burst in laughter. Catra wiped a tear from her eye as she cackled—there was something about Mermista’s deadpan delivery that made all her stories way funnier than anyone else’s. “And did you ever run into that pirate again?” she asked.

Sea Hawk spread his arms grandly. “Why, of course! He approached us a short time later to tell us how our genius and fighting prowess inspired him, and how he had decided to become an artist and build statues in our honor. To this day, his children sing our praises around campfires.”

At the same time, Mermista shook her head and said, “Nope. Never saw him again.”

This unleashed another wave of giggles. Still snickering, Catra leaned forward in her seat and took a cookie off the plate on the table in front of her. As she did so, Frosta opened her mouth wide and pointed wordlessly at it. Catra rolled her eyes and tossed a cookie at her. She caught it in her mouth and gave a muffled cheer as she chewed.

Bow rubbed his hands together. “Okay, guys, let’s get started.” He gestured at the table in front of them, which would soon be the center of Scorpia’s strategy room. Tonight, however, it was covered with a big game board and several playing pieces, dice, and stacks of cards. “Here’s how we play—”

“We’re here!”

Entrapta practically bounced into the room, Emily close at her side, beeping cheerfully. Wrong Hordak followed close behind them, smiling his typical sheepish smile and holding a tray crammed with an almost-impossible amount of tiny pink cupcakes.

Adora stood up to greet them. “Hey, guys! Welcome to…”

Her voice trailed off abruptly as the last guest entered. Catra felt her heart begin to pound; she stood up too, curling her claws into fists. Melog, who had been sleeping next to the sofa the Best Friend Squad was sharing, sprang to its feet, hissing. The rest of the group froze, exchanging shocked glances.

Hordak (the real one) stood in the doorway, somehow managing to look both awkward and stern. “Hello,” he said shortly, his deep voice echoing slightly.

When no one answered for a long, tension-filled minute, Entrapta looked rapidly between the group and Hordak, her eyes wide with confusion. “Sorry we’re late,” she said tentatively. “Did I…did I bring too many people?”

Mermista buried her head in her hands and let out a muffled scream. Sea Hawk patted her arm sympathetically.

Catra struggled to choose between saying What is he doing here and Absolutely fucking not and just straight-up attacking him. Judging by her facial expression, across the table Frosta was thinking along the same lines.

Entrapta twirled one of her ponytails around her nervously, her smile slowing sliding off her face the longer the silence dragged on. Next to her, Wrong Hordak shifted from foot to foot. “Uh…”

Perfuma hastily jumped up, a fake smile plastered on her face. “We’re so glad you could come!” she chirped, flinging her arms around her.

Wrong Hordak joined the hug. “I have missed you, brothers!” he told them tearfully.

At Perfuma’s pointed look, Scorpia and Frosta made space for the newcomers, bringing over more chairs.

“Will you be joining us, Hordak?” Catra asked icily, sneering at him.

“Be nice,” Bow whispered to her.

“She has a point,” Glimmer whispered back.

Hordak glared right back at her. “Entrapta invited me. Am I not welcome here?”

Adora managed to pick her jaw up off the floor. “Uhhh…no, um, take a seat. Bow was just about to tell us how this game works.” She sat down, pulling Catra down with her.

Bow started to explain, occasionally being interrupted by Frosta, Perfuma, and Sea Hawk, who all had their own opinions on how the rules should be interpreted. Meanwhile, Catra hissed quietly, “Are we seriously just going to play a board game with Hordak of all people?”

“He’s changed, I guess,” Adora murmured back.

On her other side, Glimmer rolled her eyes. “Allegedly.”

After the war had ended, the Rebellion didn’t really know what to do with Hordak. Sure, he had saved Entrapta and turned against Horde Prime, but they weren’t just going to let him sit back on his throne. Originally Catra had been in favor of dumping his ass in the Crimson Wastes, but Huntara was having none of it.

So eventually the princesses settled on letting him live in Dryl with Entrapta, as long as he swore never to hold any political power or territory for the rest of his life. An oath they would make sure he held, with magic to ensure it, if necessary.

“I don’t trust him,” Catra murmured.

Adora placed a comforting hand on her thigh. “Me neither, but Entrapta trusts him. And whatever makes her happy, we’ll support.”

They watched Hordak sneer as Perfuma tried to offer him some fruit juice. She frowned back at his rude behavior, huffing in that trying-to-be-dignified-yet-offended way of hers. Frosta looked like she wanted to stick his head in an ice block. Meanwhile, Entrapta was in full science mode, spilling out a detailed lecture about dice and probability.

“Even if the thing that makes her happy is Hordak?” grimaced Glimmer.

Adora sighed, rubbed her forehead. “Even so,” she said glumly.

Bow clapped his hands, signaling the end of his rules explanation. “Okay, does everyone get it?”

“Yes,” said Catra.

“Totally,” said Glimmer.

“Yeah…” said Adora.

Bow gave them a look that suggested he knew they hadn’t been listening at all. “Okay, let’s get started!”

Thankfully, Catra was able to figure it out as she went. The game was fairly simple: the players had to try to be the first one to make it around a map of Etheria, while fighting mythical monsters and challenges along the way. She leaned forward, smirking, her competitive nature taking over. “You’re all going down,” she said, making a show of cracking her knuckles.

Glimmer scooped up the dice and began to shake them. “As if!”

Scorpia laughed and shook her head. “No, guys, Perfuma is the champion at this game. She’s beaten me every time, she’s that amazing.”

The flower princess blushed a deep crimson. “Oh, Scorpia!” she trilled. “You are amazing too!”

Catra watched this play out fondly. Despite her and Scorpia’s…rocky history, she was genuinely sorry for all the pain she’d caused her. Although Scorpia had said she forgave her, there was a while after the war where things had been awkward, uncomfortable. She was happy to see that the former Force Captain had found someone who could make her happier than Catra ever could.

Hordak made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. It took her a minute to realize that he was laughing. “This is a childish competition,” he announced, sounding annoyed.

Mermista rested her chin on her palm. “You’re just mad that you couldn’t conquer Etheria and now you can’t win this board game.”

Hordak stiffened. “How dare—”

“Okay!” Bow interceded, his voice hinging on hysteria. “Glimmer will start!”

They went around in a circle, their game pieces slowly advancing with each roll of the dice. Catra was not thrilled when Glimmer rolled four tens in a row and she kept only rolling ones and twos. Thankfully, she was able to get Sparkles back when she pulled a Brightmoon-themed card and “teleported” her to the little red and yellow spot on the board that was supposed to represent the Crimson Wastes.

Scorpia was, unsurprisingly, the best sport about this. While everyone else soon succumbed to playfully cursing each other out as they scrambled to keep their game piece ahead of the group, Scorpia was the one congratulating everyone even when they fucked her over.

Even Perfuma huffed when Frosta got her stuck in the “Northern Reach”. “This is a betrayal,” she sniffed dramatically, crossing her arms. “I will never, ever forgive you.” A moment later, she cracked a smile and winked at the younger girl to let her know she was joking.

Wrong Hordak landed on a “Magic Zone” square and whipped out a card. “Do not worry, sister! This piece of paper says the Sorcerers’ Guild has granted me the power of…time travel! I will reverse your plight!” he declared. He reached down and daintily picked up Perfuma’s piece so he could place it back on the path.

Perfuma giggled. “My hero!”

“That was supposed to be used for your piece,” Entrapta pointed out, fidgeting with a small gear as she waited for her turn.

Adora shrugged. “Eh, let him do what he wants,” she said. She leaned back and not-so-casually draped her arm over Catra’s shoulders. She leaned into her girlfriend’s touch happily.

Entrapta pulled out the recorder she clearly kept with her at all times. “Observation number two hundred and fifty-three: when playing games, rules are to be broken at the player’s convenience.”

“Now you’ve got the spirit!” chuckled Sea Hawk, who was currently attempting to steal alien chips off of Mermista’s plate. Every time she caught him, he gave her the most lovestruck eyes he could pull off until she let her snag a chip.

Wrong Hordak handed the dice to Actual Hordak. “Your turn, brother!”

Hordak took the dice emotionlessly and rolled it. A five. He moved his game piece to the appropriate square.

“You landed on a runestone!” Perfuma cheered. “That means you get to move ahead five spaces!”

Hordak frowned down at the tiny drawing. “This pathetic image looks nothing like the real Black Garnet. It fails to capture the strength, the raw power that eminented from my runestone. How comical.”

“Your runestone?” Catra repeated, raising one eyebrow. “It’s not yours anymore, Hordak.”

He glowered at her. “In a better life, it was.”

Glimmer narrowed her eyes. “Are you saying that—”

Entrapta scooped up the dice. “My turn!” she chirped.

Adora hastily stood up, gripping both Glimmer and Catra’s arms tightly. “We are going to get more fruit juice!” she said. “Bow, will you come with us?”

His grin was particularly strained. “Of course!”

They both looked at Glimmer. “Fiiiine,” she sighed, before transporting the Best Friend Squad to the nearby kitchen.  

Once there, Adora immediately turned to Catra and Glimmer. Melog slunk in after them, not wanted to be separated from its owner.

“He’s a terrible person!” protested Catra, already knowing what she was going to say. “I want him out of here.”

“Everyone did terrible things while they were in the Horde,” Bow reminded her gently as he poured more fruit juice into cups. Including you was the unspoken meaning behind that sentence. She looked down at the ground.

“But,” Bow said, handing her a cup, “what matters is that they’ve changed.”

Glimmer took the juice pitcher out of his hands, kissing his cheek. “I agree with Catra,” she told him as she poured. “Hordak might have said he was sorry, but he doesn’t act like it.”

“ And ,” added Catra, emboldened by someone siding with her, “he’s just straight up gross. How someone could possibly find that greasy-haired stick-up-his-ass attractive is just absolutely beyond me—”

“I know! He’s all—” Glimmer deepened her voice, hunched her shoulders. “—‘Pathetic princesses! You know nothing of true power! I am Hordak, Prince of Evil! Mwahahaha!’”

Catra laughed so hard she choked, and almost fell over.

Even Bow, who was rooting through the cabinets looking for more napkins, chuckled. “That’s cute,” he told her.

She winked at him. “ I’m cute.”

“You are.” He pulled her into a hug from behind, pressing his lips to the side of her head.

Adora took Catra’s hand. “Just please try to refrain from killing him for tonight,” she asked. “Afterwards, you and Glimmer and Mermista can start an I Hate Hordak club if you want.”

Catra tugged playfully on her ponytail. “Don’t tempt me. I will run that club.”

Her girlfriend poked her cheek in return before helping Glimmer and Bow stack the cups of fruit juice onto a tray. Catra grabbed another bag of alien chips, just in case.

“Alright,” said Adora, carefully balancing the heavily-stacked tray and ignoring everyone else eying her worriedly. “Ready?”

Bow winced as the tray wobbled dangerously when she took a step. “Adora, do you need—”

“I got it!”

Glimmer shook her head. “Maybe we’d better walk back to the strategy room. I don’t know if those cups can survive a teleportation trip.”

“We’ll be fine!” Adora assured her, and then promptly tripped, sending the tray flying.

——

“I’m really proud of you,” Adora told her as they waved goodbye to the group. They all had to return to their own kingdoms; it still wasn’t stable to be gone for too long.

Catra looked up at her. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, you—” She was cut off by a yell of frustration coming from the direction of the skiff waiting to take their friends back to Dryl.

The two of them watched Wrong Hordak and Entrapta attempt to bodily lift Emily onto the skiff, which was hovering a few feet above the ground. The bot was nothing more than deadweight, beeping irritably.

“Her programming is due for an update soon,” Entrapta explained. “Sometimes she gets sulky like this.”

“She doesn’t wanna say goodbye to her friends,” Frosta said. She seemed particularly pouty herself. She had become particularly clingy after the war ended, and probably wasn’t happy about having to go back to her own kingdom alone after spending so much time with everyone.

Catra could relate.

“We’ll see everyone again soon,” Glimmer reminded her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’re throwing a celebration once Perfuma and Scorpia get everyone settled here, remember?”

“Yeah,” said Frosta, sticking out her lip grumpily.

Wrong Hordak shrieked as one of Emily’s appendages kicked him in the face. He dropped her with a thud.

“Emily!” scolded Entrapta. “Not nice!” Scorpia and Perfuma moved to help them, which definitely made things more successful. Meanwhile, Hordak watched the whole scene unfold from inside the skiff, not bothering to offer his help.

“As I was saying,” Adora said, still chuckling, “I’m really proud of you, Catra. I—I know it can be hard to keep your anger in check when you’re dealing with…”

“With the former dictator of our childhood?” she finished. “I know.”

“You’ve come a long way.”

Catra laced their fingers together, leaned against her shoulder. “So have you.”

Mermista called Frosta over to their skiff, where Sea Hawk was helping her load up their bags. The game night victor gave Glimmer a hug, then Bow, Adora, and, to her surprise, Catra. “See you later, Horde Scum,” Frosta said, parroting her mentor.

Catra grinned back at her. “See you later, princess.”

From the skiff, Mermista tossed a wadded-up piece of paper to Catra. “I look forward to it!” she shouted as Sea Hawk helped Frosta into the skiff.

“Me too!” Catra shouted back.

Adora looked curiously at the paper ball. “What’s that?”

Catra handed it to her without saying a word, smirking. Adora unfolded it, revealing a flyer.

The I HATE HORDAK Club

Calling all Etherians!

Do YOU hate the former Horde Lord?

Do YOU fantasize about ruining his day?

If so, this is the place for you!!!

Meetings will be held at Brightmoon Castle. Any questions, please see Catra or Princess Mermista.

[catrasredemption-moved]

Catra or adora killing some one for the first time or comforting the other after killing for the first time!

People died in war.

It was an unfortunate fact. Neither Catra nor Adora were naive enough to believe that their actions had never led to someone dying (Catra usually pointed to Angella when the argument inevitably came around during a fit of self loathing).

But neither had watched someone die by their own hand, either.

Adora gently scratched the base of Catra’s ears, holding her close. They were curled up in the corner of a forgotten supply closet, because Catra’s first instinct was always to go somewhere dark when she was upset, and there weren’t a lot of dark places in Bright Moon. She managed to find the few that existed, though.

“He was going to kill Bow.”

“I know.”

It was weird to think there were Horde sympathizers. Not just clones, but actual Etherians who had thought things were better with the Horde. And none of them had been too willing to listen to their former leaders when Hordak and Catra both told them to stand down.

They had gone to deal with one of these little factions that day, not realizing that they were severely outnumbered. One had gotten behind Bow during the fight, gun to his head-

Catra hadn’t meant to kill him. That was what she had whispered, over and over, as Bow dragged her off the battlefield. She had just reacted. She had seen Bow in danger, and she had jumped in. Cutting an artery in his neck hadn’t been part of the plan.

“I didn’t mean to,” she whispered again now. Adora held her closer, kissing the back of her head.

“I know.”

“I wouldn’t...”

“I know.” Adora’s grip tightened. “I know, Catra. I know. It’s okay.”

A low, painful sob ripped its way through Catra’s throat; she curled into Adora, hiding her face in her knees as she cried.

“I’m not even sorry,” she said after a moment, voice trembling. “Is that terrible?”

“I... don’t know,” Adora admitted. “It might be. But I don’t think I’d be sorry either. Not if it was for Glimmer or Bow, or any of our friends.”

Catra looked at her, eyes glazed. “Do you mean that?”

“Yeah.” And she did. “I might be angry at myself after, but... I made a choice a long time ago that I would use my powers to protect the people I love. And I’ll... do what I have to do.”

Catra hesitated before nodding slowly, relaxing a bit more against Adora’s chest. they probably weren’t leaving the closet for awhile. That was okay.

They could take as long as Catra needed.

[siilkyhearts-a]

@shiningxfates​ sent:  Catra/Glimmer, Bakugou/Uraraka, Chat/Marinette

♥ Send a ship and I'll give you who:

Catra/Glimmer

Gives nose/forehead kisses: Glimmer of course. Catra probably would be nervous or shy to give the kisses first. 

Gets jealous the most: Umm...they’re both kind of the same when it comes to jealousy. Although Catra’s way is a bit more...violent.

Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive: Catra possibly. Glimmer might even struggle to teleport properly so she’ll be driven back home. 

Takes care of on sick days: Glimmer does. She would want Catra to have spa days just to relax or attempt to keep her in bed if she wasn’t so antsy.

Drags the other person out into the water on beach day: Glimmer. At first she’d definitely drag her but eventually will try to be kinder and patient to help show Catra the water isn’t so bad. 

Gives unprompted massages: Either of them. Glimmer could sneak behind to give her one (if she doesn’t get hurt first) or Catra would slyly use her claws to lightly drag them against Glimmer’s back.

Drives/rides shotgun: They’ll try to take turns but both of them would fight/race for the shotgun.

Brings the other lunch at work/school: Glimmer. She’ll bring new recipes she learned for lunch to Catra.

Has the better parental relationship: Glimmer obviously. Her parents loves her so much and even the guilt of being a pain to her mother still stays with her. At least her father tries to be a good father figure or parental relationship for Catra.

Tries to start role-playing in bed: Catra but to a surprise, possibly Glimmer too. Although the cat would begin to tease her at the start of the roleplay to see how she reacts to it.

Embarrassingly drunk dancer: At an extent, probably Glimmer. But they both know Adora’s the drunk dancer they have to watch over. 

Still cries watching Titanic: Glimmer. She’ll have those feels building up with tears and cling onto Catra while watching. 

Firmly believes in couples costumes: Glimmer. She’d try to trick getting Catra to wear it to see how it looks. 

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas: Glimmer. She wants to spoil her kitty bae!! She knows Catra would be bewildered at what she’s given since it wouldn’t be fair, but Glimmer wants her first Xmas to be memorable.

Makes the other eat breakfast: Glimmer. God, she has to take care of the dumb cat who has barely eaten or given proper food from the Horde. 

Remembers anniversaries: They both might end up forgetting and someone from the Rebellion probably remembers it for them, aka...Bow.

Brings up having kids: Neither. Glimmer has a thought about it but she knew even that holds a lot of responsibility. She’d rather be an aunt. Also, who would trust Catra with a baby? 

Bakugou/Uraraka

Gives nose/forehead kisses: Uraraka, she’d surprise him with so many kisses just to see him flustered and blush!

Gets jealous the most: Bakugou, it’s dangerous yet amusing to see him get grumpy seeing her being around another guy. Especially Deku.

Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive: Bakugou, he may not look like it but he’s rather responsible. He’d end up scolding poor Uraraka for drinking so much. 

Takes care of on sick days: They try to take care of one another if one gets sick. They’re both responsible when it comes to that. 

Drags the other person out into the water on beach day: Uraraka, but she’ll fail. 

Gives unprompted massages: Bakugou. He’d thought it be something he could try in attempt to be softer and help her relax more, she’s often tense too. 

Drives/rides shotgun: Either of them could but Uraraka would offer to drive due to possible road rage from Bakugou. 

Brings the other lunch at work/school: Uraraka would make an adorable bento for him! He might even give her some kind of snack or treat and say “he’s not that hungry” or “I don’t like it but I thought you would”.

Has the better parental relationship: Both have very good parents, the families could get along quite well together!

Tries to start role-playing in bed: Uraraka might shyly bring up the idea, Bakugou teases her about it enough where they suddenly find themselves doing it.

Embarrassingly drunk dancer: Uraraka, she’d put her all into it while drunk and wouldn’t care.

Still cries watching Titanic: Uraraka, although Bakugou would talk a lot of smack about the movie along the way and complain. But in an entertaining way. 

Firmly believes in couples costumes: Uraraka, she’d also plead and make ‘puppy eyes’ for him to try a few things on for her. 

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas: Both. Kinda like “The Gift of Magi” situation where they work their hardest to get something either of them would love but might sacrifice something they have along the way. 

Makes the other eat breakfast: Bakugou, Uraraka might tend to wake up and forget to eat before leaving and he’ll have to drag her to the table to eat.

Remembers anniversaries: Surprisingly, Bakugou. She can remember too but he’d always be the first to make the move even blushing through it to remind her.

Brings up having kids: Uraraka. It’d be very awkward but it could be possible the both of them would raise a little hero one day. 

Chat/Marinette

Gives nose/forehead kisses: They’d give each other the kisses! They’re not afraid to, it’s even more fun when they’re most unexpected.

Gets jealous the most: Either one of them. They’re kind of hopeless when they’re jealous!

Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive: Both of them might be drunk together. -_- But in most occasions, Marinette would pick him up. 

Takes care of on sick days: Marinette would take care of him since he often gets hurt out there doing his job. Or he’d sneak to her home knowing he can have better care and company while sick.

Drags the other person out into the water on beach day: Marinette just to tease Chat but it wouldn’t do too much.

Gives unprompted massages: Chat would, he’d treat his purrincess so well he wants to spoil her with a message. 

Drives/rides shotgun: Marinette would drive 

Brings the other lunch at work/school: Marinette often brings pastries and other baked goods from the bakery to him anyway. Even a basket of his favorites too if he’s been good. 

Has the better parental relationship: Marinette. Her parents already love having Chat around they’re practically his new parents now thank you.

Tries to start role-playing in bed: Chat definitely. Pretend to be the prince saving his princess or along the lines of it. Things would become heated easily.

Embarrassingly drunk dancer: Chat, he’d be singing and/or dancing while embarrassing Marinette.

Still cries watching Titanic: Possibility to be both of them, whoever cries first. 

Firmly believes in couples costumes: Both would adore wearing couples costumes and Marinette would gladly make them!

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas: Chat, especially considering he is rich, he’d try to find the perfect gift for Marinette no matter what. 

Makes the other eat breakfast: They��re both pretty easy to eat breakfast when they can, but sometimes if Marinette is in a rush she’ll be given a to-go breakfast. 

Remembers anniversaries: They both will! 

Brings up having kids: Either could potentially think about it and when the time is right, at the same time. Marinette is already prepared with names of children and hamsters anyway!

[bittersnakes]

Final thoughts on Catradora:

After all that drama is over I wanted to get my final conclusions out, catradora is an abusive pairing that plays on the obsessive lesbian archetype which is toxic and also tries to have it's narrative justified with abuse which doesn't really work in it's favor either.

Catra is a character that has a lot of issues, like knowing that the Horde is evil but not caring because she is obsessed with Adora.

How can we fix this mess?

1.- Have Catra have other relations outside of Adora, maybe show more of her relationship with Lanny, Kile and Rogelio or have her know Scorpia since they were little

Eliminate the bits of her being posessive of Adora when they were kids, it isn't cute it's creepy.

2.- Don't have Catra only be redeemed when the plot basically forced her to.

Instead of having her redeem only when Horde Prime has arrived.

Have her disappear after her fight with Hordak and DT's drag, have her reflect on her abusive actions and try to make a life for herself after she realizes she pushed everyone away and abused them, have her go back to the crimson waste maybe or go to some town where people do not know her, maybe have her form bonds with the people that live there and have that push her to defend them against Hordak Prime's invasion, she wants to protect her new home and do the right thing.

3.- Don't have her be the one who destroyed the entire universe and murder HER FRIENDS to get back at Adora.

Although seeing her be punched in the face by Adora was cathartic if we are going to have them be a pairing.. Catra can't sink so low

Maybe have it be an accident and no one's fault

She does fight Adora but the weight of killing everyone isn't on her shoulders anymore and the scene plays out different

4.- Don't have her basically manipulate, abuse and stomp all over Adora whenever she can.

I'm not saying she can't blame Adora for what happened but tone it down a bit maybe she only says so when things get serious and not at every possible opportunity

5.- Don't have her throw a pity party and be instantly forgiven.

Although since she wasn't abducted by Prime on my rewritting

She would still meet with the other princesses maybe after Adora decides to go an rescue Glimmer which would escape with Hordaks help or on her own, maybe she gets chipped instead of Catra and Adora has to fight her to get her to snap out of it, idk whichever you prefer.

Obviously the princesses would attack her but she tells them she is fighting to protect her new home, they don't believe her but she doesn't care, for once she only cares about doing the right thing for her and everyone else

She works on her own to find out more about Prime and what he plans to do so she can help stop him

After Glimmer is rescued and brought back while they are coming back maybe have Catra find Scorpia on one her missions.

Catra apologizes because she has reflected and knows she was abusive towards her. Scorpia does say she forgives her but she doesn't want her back in her life since she is healing from her abuse but does wish her well and maybe even helps her during the mission in account of doing what's best.

Have Catra go and find DT because she needs insight on Hordak Prime and DT can transform so they can be helpful.

Then we have the whole episode where Scorpia stays behind and gets chipped, but Catra can't go back because she has to get DT out so they can do what they accorded.

She does feel for Scorpia and maybe even talks a bit with DT about it like "you know how you said x, x and y

Well you were..kind of right and now I want to fix what I did"

DT and Catra lay low so they don't get chipped, DT's ability is obviously very handy

Adora arrives back with Bow and Glimmer (maybe the whole magical cat thing happens but it bonds with either Glimmer or Adora instead, I might do a post on Glimmer in the future) they got the message about the chipping and everything plays out the same except they meet in that town with Catra and DT

Adora tries to attack Catra but they can't fight because the clones will find them

Maybe on the way Catra gets to explain the situation and they use both Magic Cat's and DT's abilities to move around and they still find Spinirella and the fight goes the same.

After it Catra finally apologizes to Adora, Glimmer and Bow.

Adora says she needs time, because she doesn't trust her and neither do the others but deep down she know she is honest, just that she hurt her a lot and she needs to heal first

Still they have Catra and DT go back with them and most of what happened plays the same except Catra doesn't throw a manipulative tantrum and runs away with her cat, instead Glimmer gives Adora the talk about not having to carry the world on her shoulders and having them

Maybe Adora addresses that Glimmer blamed her for her mother's death and Glimmer apologizes and says that Angela would be proud and that they can get her back and will do so together.

Catra feels a bit uncomfortable but DT reassures her that she is doing what is right by staying and helping fix the mess the Horde did, or maybe some other princess does even if they still don't like Catra.

Have the same scene with Shadow Weaver happen but instead of Catra

Glimmer goes with her after all we have some unaddressed conflict between her and Shadow Weaver

Shadow Weaver still sacrifices but this time she does because of Adora

And Adora can't believe she did the right thing for once.

The end plays the same but instead of Catra kissing Adora

Glimmer and Bow come to She-ras aid and promise they will always be there for her.

Adora doesn't really need a relationship, as much as I would like a Glimadora ending

She needs to heal first.

At the end

Catra and adora say goodbye to each other as Catra wants to find herself and heal from her abuse and Adora has a lot to recover from as well.

[flowersandskeletons526]

“Broken Noses and Bad Ideas” - Glitradora Modern Au, Part 2

Part two is up! This chapter is pretty Adora-centric. Enjoy!

Part 1

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Adora set the barbell on the rack and mopped the sweat off her face. Wiping down the bench, she put her towel around her neck and headed for the showers. After she toweled off and got dressed, she grabbed her backpack and left the gym. Classes were done for the day and practice wasn’t set to start for another two weeks. She had nothing but time. 

A strong hand grabbed her shoulder. “Heading out, Blondie?” 

Adora smiled at the muscle bound woman standing beside her. “Oh, hey Huntara. Yeah, I just finished my sets.” 

“Ready for tryouts soon?”

“You know it.” 

“That’s my star!” Huntara clapped Adora on the back. “Get where you’re going.” 

“See you tomorrow, Coach.” 

Adora popped by her dorm room to drop off her backpack. Half the room was covered wall to wall in plants, ivies creeping up the wall and across the top of the windows. Perfuma stood by her desk, gingerly tending to a stout cactus, her brows drawn together as she squinted at the plant. 

“Hey Perfuma,” Adora said. “How’s the cactus going?” 

Perfuma grinned as a tense laugh escaped her. “I always say to find peace through patience,” she said. “And this… does require patience.” 

“How hard can a cactus be? You water it like once a week, right? I would think your orchids would be a lot harder.” 

“They are temperamental, but we’re working on it.” 

“Good luck. I’m heading out, I’ll be back later.” 

“Tell Glimmer I say hi.”

“How do you know I’m going to see Glimmer?” 

“Where do you go besides Glimmer’s place?” 

Adora’s face grew hot. “I go places.”

Perfuma giggled. “Okay, Adora. Make sure you have your key because I’m going to Mermista’s tonight.” 

“Got it. Bye!” 

Adora strolled through the city, smiling as the sun beamed on her face. Spring was just beginning to set in, the snow finally gone and trees beginning to bud with green. She hated the snow. It was like a weight lifted off her shoulders just to see some sunlight and greenery again. The winters were so much colder in this city, but she could stand it when it meant having people like Bow and Glimmer with her. 

She had her own key to the shop after working there for the past few years. Stepping inside, the first thing she did was smile and nod at Angella’s portrait. The woman intimidated her in the beginning, when Glimmer dragged her by the hand to the front counter and introduced them, but it didn’t last long. Just in her time through high school, Angella had shown her more kindness than anyone had her entire life. The sting of her loss was still as sharp as anything, but Adora put on a brave face for Glimmer. Anything for Glimmer. 

Adora put herself to work cleaning every shelf and item in the shop. You never quite got rid of the dust in an old building like Brightmoon Magics, especially when Glimmer couldn’t clean the shop everyday by herself. Ever since Angella, Adora came in on most of her days off just to do whatever hadn’t been done when the shop was open. It became a habit when Glimmer first dropped out of college to focus on the business. 

Adora had a picture of them together in her wallet, grinning on a beach during the summer after graduation. Glimmer had her arms around Adora’s waist and was cuddled up to her side. She was carefree and passionate back then, with a fiery drive to fix the world and rebel against anything holding her back, even her mother. Adora still saw sparks of it in her eyes, but it was dampened and quiet and only ever directed towards fights. 

It was hard not to worry about her now.

It was impossible not to when she came home with her face smeared with blood. Adora frowned as she watched Glimmer clean her face off, doing her best to not fuss and failing. 

“God, Adora, calm down. You know I never lose a fight. Besides, they barely hit me.”

“Glimmer.” 

“What?”

“I know you’re lying.” 

Glimmer looked exhausted when she turned back to Adora. It made her heart ache. She held Glimmer on the couch and tried her best to provide her some comfort, trying to bring back that little spark of life no matter how useless it seemed. God, she worried about her. 

She held Glimmer tight before she left for the night. “Text us if you need us, okay?” she said. 

“Okay,” Glimmer mumbled. 

Although Adora hoped Glimmer would reach out, she didn’t think she knew how. 

Adora and Bow headed back towards the campus together, hands in their pockets and huddled against the chilly breeze. Bow sighed and glanced up at the starry sky. 

“I’m worried about her,” he said.

“I am, too,” Adora replied. “I don’t know how to help her. It’s been a year since Angella died and she seems worse than ever.”

“What can we do? We tried getting her to talk to someone and she quit after one session.” 

“Have you been going in more to help with the shop?”

“When I can. It’s hard to get down there for extra shifts with school and practice.” 

“I know. I don’t know what I’m going to do once the season starts.” 

“Do you think we should try getting her to a counselor again?”

“We’re talking about Glimmer, right? If she doesn’t want to do something then there’s no way we can convince her.” 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Bow sighed. “Maybe we could get her to take a few days off work. Even with us, she practically runs the store by herself.” 

“Maybe we can take her to Mystacor Beach once the weather warms up,” Adora suggested.

“Do you really think that going to see Castaspella will lower Glimmer’s stress?” 

“Okay, never mind.” 

Raucous laughter bounced off the buildings around them. Adora barely paid attention as a small group of people stumbled out into the street, led by a calm, lithe figure that only had the slightest smirk. They stepped into the glow of the streetlamp. Adora caught the leader’s eyes, mismatched and intensely focused. Both of them froze in their tracks. 

Adora growled. “Catra.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed as she sneered. “Hey, Adora.” 

“Why are you here?” 

“Am I not allowed to be?” 

“Adora?” Bow asked. “Who is that?”

“Bow, go home. I’ll catch up,” Adora said as her fists clenched. 

“What?”

“Just go.”

Glancing between the two women, Bow pursed his lips and turned to walk back the way he came, disappearing onto a little side street. Catra crossed her arms and tilted her head. Her gang formed a little circle around her. Three familiar faces stood out to Adora, but she ground her teeth and turned her eyes back to Catra.

Catra caught the reaction and raised an eyebrow. “You remember Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio, right?” she asked. 

A stocky girl with a ponytail of dreadlocks waved her hand, unsmiling. “I’m shocked,” she said. “For a while, we thought you were dead.” 

Catra leaned against a tall, broad shouldered woman with red scars on her arms. “Oh, and the big gal here is Scorpia,” she said. The woman scowled. “I don’t think you two ever met.” 

“Why are you here?” Adora demanded. 

“And we’re back to that.” Catra nudged Scorpia’s side. “Why don’t you guys go back to the house?” 

“Catra,” Scorpia began. 

“It’s fine,” Catra pressed. “Go. I’ll see you later.” 

Scowling at Adora, Scorpia turned and shepherded the bitter, glaring trio down the street. Adora waited until they were gone to step forward. “What are you guys doing here?” she asked. “I thought you said you would never leave the Fright Zone.” 

“You’re still calling Scorpion Crater ‘the Fright Zone?’” 

“You never called it anything else.”

“When I was ten. And yeah, we left. The home shut down after you disappeared.” 

“Good.” 

“Why does that matter to you?” Catra snapped. “You left and ended up in the big city. Doesn’t look like you did so bad for yourself, either.” She nodded to Adora’s jacket and smirked. “Despondos University, huh?”

“You don’t get to talk about my life!”

“Why not? I was only there for the better half of it.”

“You should have come with me if you were invested, then.” 

“Hey, you were the one that wanted to go make something of yourself.” 

“And you were the one that wanted to get involved in the mob.” “First, it was never the mob and you don’t know what you’re talking about. Second, you’re not any better, so stop acting like you are!” 

Adora opened her mouth to protest, but the words died on her tongue. She bit the inside of her cheek and took a breath. “I’m not going to fight with you in the middle of the street,” she said through gritted teeth. “Why are you in Etheria, anyway?” 

“We’re performing here for a while before our tour gets started up.” Catra narrowed her eyes. “Remember when all you wanted was to be a rock star? We were going to have everyone’s eyes on us! That’s what you said would happen!” 

“Yeah, and then I grew up.” 

“I had to grow up a lot faster than you in that place and you fucking know it.” 

“Whatever.” Adora turned to leave. 

Catra grabbed her arm, long black nails digging into her skin through her jacket. “You’re really going to leave me with that?” 

Adora stopped. She had spent years trying to remove that part of her life from her mind, forgetting all the turmoil and trauma and criminal dealings from her childhood. She wanted to erase that ghost town and the people that raised her and all the terrible things she witnessed, even if that meant leaving behind her best friends, too. She built a life for herself. She made something of herself when she shouldn’t have been worth anything. There were things - there were people - that you had to give up for that. 

She lifted her head but didn’t pull away. “Don’t acknowledge me if we see each other again. It’s better for both of us.” 

Catra laughed ruefully, cold and hollow. Her hand trailed down Adora’s arm and over her fingers as she let go. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

Adora barely restrained herself from running away down the street. When she reached the corner, Bow popped out from a hiding spot in the doorway of a store. Adora jumped and stifled a scream. 

“Who was that?” he whispered. 

“Someone I knew a long time ago,” Adora answered. 

“From where you came from?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Whoa.” Bow thought for a moment and grabbed Adora’s hand. “Do you… want to talk about it?”

“No. I don’t even want to think about it.” 

“Okay. Come on, let’s get back.” 

“Adora, are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just… wasn’t expecting to see her again.”

Bow squeezed her hand, offering his best comforting smile as he tugged her along. They returned to their dorms in silence and hugged goodbye before they went to their separate complexes. 

Perfuma was still awake when Adora walked in, flipping through a botany textbook as she examined her plants. She looked up as Adora flopped onto her bed. The girl’s typically carefree face was drawn tight with concern. 

“You saw Glimmer, right?” she asked. “Did she tell you what happened?”

“About the fight? Yeah, she told me.”

“Okay. Mermista called to check on her, just in case.” 

“She’s okay. She says it wasn’t really a fight, and I could only see a bloody nose, so…” Adora shrugged. “She’s fine.”

“That’s good,” Perfuma sighed. Adora turned away. “You can turn the light off if you want. I’ll turn on my desk lamp.” 

“It’s fine.” 

“Alright.” 

Adora got changed while Perfuma had her back turned and climbed into bed. Her thoughts raced a thousand miles a minute, violently swinging from concern for Glimmer to old pain and rage welling up after seeing Catra. It made her hands tremble as she tossed and turned throughout the night. When the tossing grew tiresome, she stared at the wall in the dark, listening to Perfuma snore across the room, and fell into a restless sleep. 

She woke up to a text from Glimmer that read, Mermista wants to know if you want to go out Friday.

Can’t, she wrote back. Study group. 

Glimmer sent her three sparkly hearts. Adora smiled to herself and replied with three blue hearts of her own. It was enough to calm her mind, at least for a while. 

The week dragged by until it felt like a month. Adora distracted herself with class and training and getting ready for tryouts. It was the only thing that managed to get her mind off of Catra. It had been years since she so much as thought about her old life, outside of all the nightmares that used to plague her sleep. 

She could barely keep her eyes open during her study group, nestled in the silence and dim light of the university library. Once it was finally over, she shouldered her heavy bag and headed out. Her schedule for the day was so packed that she hardly had time to train. She trekked through campus to the dorm buildings with her back hunched over, no matter how much she knew her back would hurt in the morning. 

Halfway home, her phone buzzed in her pocket. A picture of Bow’s smiling face illuminated the screen. “Hey, Bow,” she said, leaning against a streetlamp.

“Glimmer’s missing!” Bow screamed. 

“Bow, what?” she asked, startled.

“I-I don’t know what happened!” His voice was high pitched and cracked every other word as he stammered. “She stayed long enough to watch the band perform and then said she had a headache and wanted to leave but she told me to stay. She said she would call me as soon as she got home. It’s only a short walk and I-I thought she’d be fine!” 

Adora’s heart stopped. “Bow, wait, slow down.”

“She didn’t call, Adora! I waited and waited and then it was thirty minutes after she left and she still didn’t call. I tried texting her and calling her but she didn’t answer, so I left and stopped by the store to check on her and she’s not here! I can’t get ahold of her and I have no idea where she is! Adora, we have to start looking for her!”

“Okay, stay at the store! I’m coming right now!” 

Adora’s blood froze in her veins as she took off running. She knew she had to calm down before Bow saw and freaked out even worse, but she couldn’t stop her hands from shaking. 

Please be okay, she prayed as she sprinted across town. Glimmer, please be okay!

[imwastingmylifeinhere]

OMG they were roommates

My piece for the @spopzine She-Ra Bisexuality Visibility Zine! I had a lot of fun in this zine. I hope you like it!

Read on ao3.

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Catra knew she wasn’t a saint. Sure, she hadn’t killed anyone, despite some people pretty much begging her to do it, but she wasn’t a shining paragon of kindness and morality either. She had done her fair share of breaking and entering, defacing public property - even though her graffiti was an obvious improvement on her old high school - and she could be a plain jerk sometimes. So she wasn’t going to win a Nobel Peace Prize anytime soon, but there were also a couple hundred people worse than her who existed.

So why, oh why, was she being tortured like this?

"Hey, Catra, have you seen where I left my sports bra?" Adora came out of their shared dorm bathroom dripping, her wet hair plastered against her collarbone and neck. Only the towel wrapped around her, held in place by a very muscular arm, prevented her from being fully naked in front of her roommate. Her cheeks and neck were flushed from the warm shower she just had. Droplets of water ran down her toned arms and thighs, as if Catra needed any more reason to ogle them.

Adora looked like Aphrodite herself had materialized in their dorm, only this time ripped and with an undercut. Catra would die defending the fact that this Aphrodite was better than Botticelli’s version. 

"It's - it's over there," Catra said, pointing at the headboard of Adora's bed. Adora kept doing this, forgetting where she left her clothes right after having a shower, and she always asked Catra where they were. Catra had given up teasing Adora about her forgetfulness - she had a lot on her plate, after all, what with her sports scholarship and double major.

“Why do I always forget?” Adora muttered, snatching up her sports bra. Catra tried to keep her eyes on the sketch she was working on for class and not on Adora’s back. She failed. “Thanks, Catra!”

With Adora back in the bathroom to change, Catra let herself face-plant onto her pillow. Don't get her wrong, she was glad to be roommates with Adora, even if their first few weeks living together had been tense - emotional baggage due to your shared childhood trauma could do that. They had made up though, and quickly went back to being an unstoppable duo. They fell back together like puzzle pieces and Catra had never let herself admit how much she had missed Adora until then.

You’d think she’d be satisfied with having her best friend back, right? Nope, her childhood crush had to come back, spurred on by Adora’s obvious win over puberty. Now Catra’s stuck living in a tiny, overpriced room with her goddess of a crush who’s lost any trace of body consciousness after years in locker rooms. Just her luck.

Catra had managed to get back to her sketchbook and not look like she had just been screaming into her pillow right when Adora came out of the bathroom again, in nothing but her sports bra and underwear. Despite her side of the room being much tidier than Catra's, Adora took a long time to pick out what to wear. She stretched to grab one of the t-shirts she put on her higher selves, the muscles of her back flexing, she shook her hips as she got into her jeans, she bent over to find her shoes under her bed.

Catra had long now noticed Adora’s dressing routine, courtesy of not being able to take her eyes off her. She’d basically memorized it, from her happy smile when she found what she was looking for, to the movements of her arms as she pulled her hair in a ponytail. It was slow and methodical, much like Adora’s attitude towards many things. Being able to watch even such a simple, domestic part of Adora’s life made Catra feel warm and content. She wanted to put her sketchbook aside, wrap her arms around Adora’s waist and tell her how beautiful she was, how much she cared about her.

She never did it.

“I’m going out with Glimmer and Bow,” Adora said, shoving her keys in her pocket. “You’re still up for movie night, right?”

Catra smiled. Adora asked her the same question every time, even though Catra never gave a different answer. “Duh, of course. Don’t forget the snacks.”

“I won’t.” The door closed behind Adora and Catra was left alone in the room. 

Time to start the plan.

~*~

Catra's previous confidence had left her when the moment finally came to put her plan into action.

She and Adora had a tradition of having movie nights every Saturday. They had been doing it since they were children, even back when Ms. Weaver only allowed them to watch the same three movies over and over again. After they reunited and made up, they had decided to revive the tradition.

Catra loved these nights. She and Adora would sit on her bed, their sides pressed together with Adora’s laptop balanced on their laps. All the lights in their dorm would be closed and in the darkness, with Adora’s body heat warming her up better than the blanket around them, Catra felt like she was home.

And what was Catra’s plan? To ask Adora out.

It had taken her a long time to muster up the courage. Scorpia had been on her case about it for months; she had even insisted that Adora walked around their dorm in minimal clothing as a way to flirt with Catra! As if!

So here Catra was, sitting on Adora’s bed, watching a Marvel movie she didn’t particularly care for and munching on popcorn to keep her nerves at bay. Come on, Catra! You can do this! 

Catra looked down at Adora’s hand between them. Just - hold her hand and ask her out. Easy. 

It wasn’t easy. Her palms were sweaty and her heart was beating so loudly she was surprised Adora hadn’t heard it. Maybe I can do it next week - no! That’s what I’ve been saying for the past month. I’m doing this and I’m doing it tonight!

A quick glance to the side told her that Adora hadn’t noticed her internal struggle. Her eyes were trained to the screen, a smile on her lips. The blue light coming from the laptop made her look almost ethereal, as sappy as it was for Catra to say that. Sue her, she’s in love.

Just as Catra was about to take the leap, Adora spoke up. “Damn! Chris Hemsworth looks so good in that armor.”

Catra’s hand froze where it was hovering over Adora’s. Her stomach dropped. The previous frantic beating of her heart disappeared.

“I’m still salty they cut off his hair, though,” Adora continued, oblivious to Catra’s slowly cracking heart. “I liked him with long hair.”

It was as if someone dumped a bucket of cold water on Catra, and suddenly she could see clearly. Of course a girl like Adora would be straight.

Of course she never had a chance.

~*~

Catra barely stayed in their dorm over the next two weeks. 

She felt bad about crushing on Adora and trying to hit on her. So much for not falling into the ‘predatory lesbian’ stereotype. She wanted to just ignore it and go back to the way things were before she realized she had fallen for her best friend again.

But she couldn’t. Adora had been acting different since that movie night. Particularly, she wore more clothes around their dorm. Gone was her routine of lounging around and doing homework in a sports bra and shorts, or coming out of the bathroom in only a towel to get her clothes. She wore t-shirts, even when the temperatures got higher and Catra knew she wouldn’t even have thought about wearing it before she went and fucked everything up. She always remembered to bring clothes with her into the bathroom and she came out fully dressed, despite always forgetting before.

To make matters worse, she kept stealing glances at her whenever she thought Catra wasn’t looking. She looked so uncomfortable, and Catra hated that she made her feel like that.

So she stopped being around. When Adora would come back, Catra would leave with a half-baked excuse about meeting up with Scorpia, or being tutored by Entrapta, or returning a library book. She hardly knew where the library was!

So here Catra was, slumped over on a stool at Scorpia’s bar, bored out of her mind. It was still too early in the night for Scorpia’s regulars to start trickling in and there were only five people in the bar, Scorpia and Catra included. A glass of orange juice sat by Catra’s head on the counter and she entertained herself by flicking her finger at it and watching the liquid slosh.

Scorpia, a woman way too intimidating for how sweet she actually was, had been working as a bartender in this bar when Catra snuck in during her last year in high school after a particularly bad fight with Ms. Weaver. Scorpia had taken one look at her rugged appearance and puffy red eyes and dragged her to the back room, where she proceeded to take care of a very reluctant Catra. They became friends after that, especially when it turned out Scorpia attended the same college Catra had gotten into. As much as Catra pretended that she didn’t want her around back then, she couldn’t deny that she was one of her best friends.

But damn, was she an aggressively caring person.

“Okay, that’s it, wildcat,” Scorpia said, slinging the towel she was cleaning the bar counter with over her shoulder. “You need to leave.”

“It’s still too early,” Catra said, not bothering to lift her head from where it was nestled in her arms on the counter. “There are no people here.”

Even though Scorpia let Catra hang out at her bar, she had a rule that Catra had to leave when the place started filling up with actual customers, at least until she was of legal drinking age. Despite Catra’s protests, Scorpia never budged.

“That’s not what I’m talking about. You need to talk to Adora.”

Catra’s heart skipped a beat. The guilt she was trying to fend off by shutting off her brain came back full force. “No.”

Scorpia grabbed Catra by the armpits and lifted her up, forcing her to sit upright. “Come on, wildcat. You’ve been avoiding her for two weeks -” Catra opened her mouth to talk, but Scorpia lifted a finger. “Don’t argue, we both know that’s what you’re doing. I mean, tonight is your movie night and you’re here! And this is the second movie night you’re missing in a row!”

Catra stared off into the bar. She knew she was acting like a pouty five-year-old, but she didn't care. "I don't want to talk to her."

"Maybe, but you need to." Scorpia sighed. Catra knew that sigh. Scorpia was going full mom-friend mode. "You're miserable, wildcat. Even Entrapta noticed you acting differently. I don't know what you and Adora fought over, but she cares about you. I doubt her reaction will be as bad as you think it will if you talk to her."

Catra didn’t respond. Her blood ran cold at the idea of talking to Adora. She was a coward and she knew it, but if she was good at one thing it was burying her feelings so deep she forgot they existed until they came back to slap her in the face.

"Plus, now there are actual customers coming in, so you do need to leave."

Catra groaned. The bar was filling up. She couldn’t stay here and avoid her problems any longer. She grabbed her things and headed to the door.

“Good luck, wildcat!”

When Catra made it back to their dorm, she was drenched from the rain. She had goosebumps all over, and they weren’t from the cold. She hoped Adora was asleep. She wouldn’t need to face the fear that sat at the pit of her stomach then.

She took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Catra!” Adora sat up so suddenly on her bed Catra was surprised she didn’t fall over. Her hair was in its usual ponytail, but instead of being tidy and perfect, it was a mess, hairs flying all over the place. She put her phone back to her ear, murmuring some quick goodbyes to Glimmer and Bow before hanging up on them and rushing to her feet. “You’re back! Where have you been?”

"Scorpia's." Catra moved past her, grabbing her clothes from her bed. "I need to change."

Adora grabbed her wrist. “Catra.” She looked nervous. You made her feel so uncomfortable, idiot. “Can we talk?”

Catra wanted to say no. She wanted to ignore her screw up until it went away. But Adora was looking at her with such pleading in her eyes that she couldn’t refuse her. She scoffed. “Yeah, fine. Just let me change, I’m dripping all over the floor.”

Adora’s eyes widened. She let go of Catra's wrist and jumped back. “Oh! Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Um, go ahead.”

This is gonna be fun.

Half an hour later, Catra exited the bathroom, fully washed and changed. Adora was waiting for her, pacing the length of their room the way she did when she was nervous about an exam. She perked up like a puppy when she saw Catra, but Catra didn't miss the way her fingers twitched at her sides.

Catra sighed, plopping down on her bed. Adora sat next to her without a word.

"What did you wanna talk about?" She winced internally at her tone. She didn’t want to sound so dismissive, like whatever Adora had to say wasn’t important, but she was scared. It was as if she was putting up all the walls Adora had managed to bring down in hopes it would hurt less.

Adora took a deep breath, her hands clasped in her lap. "You've been avoiding me the last two weeks-"

"I haven't." Catra slumped further into the bed. She refused to look at Adora.

"Yes, you have!" Adora's voice raised in pitch, becoming almost shrill. Catra bit into her cheek hard enough to draw blood. Adora only ever sounded like that when she was really stressed. "We live in what's basically a big closet, did you really think I wouldn't notice?"

"Yes, because I'm not avoiding you.” Catra glared at Adora. “I've just been busy."

Adora rolled her eyes. "Yeah, busy hanging out with Scorpia and Entrapta, who say you weren't with them half the time when I ask, or at the library. Do you even know where the library is?"

She didn’t, but Adora didn’t need to know that.

Adora was frazzled, her face red. Catra cursed herself. She thought she had gotten better at this - at not pushing people away before they had the chance to hurt her. Stupid.

"Look, Catra.” Adora laid her hand over Catra’s, her voice much quieter. “You're very important to me. I care about, and even if it's not in the same way you do, I don't want to lose you. I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable-"

Catra sputtered. "You? I'm the one-" She cut herself off. Why do I always ruin everything?

She always did this, didn’t she? Every damn time things were looking up for her, she just had to sabotage her own happiness. Why did she even open her mouth? Adora was offering to put the whole debacle behind. Wasn’t that what she wanted?

Adora leaned in. She was so close Catra could see the flecks of gray in her eyes. "Catra? What is it?" 

Catra couldn’t look at her. "Nothing. Forget it." Don’t ruin it now, idiot.

"Catra, please. Just talk to me.” Catra could feel her warmth against her side, could hear the desperation in Adora’s voice to fix whatever had come between them. “What were you going to say?"

Catra knew she would hate herself for this, but what could she do when Adora sounded like this? Like their friendship was falling apart and it was her fault. Maybe things between them would be awkward from now on, but Catra preferred that to Adora being hurt and blaming herself for Catra's screwup.

Her nails dug into her arms. Her voice was barely louder than the patter of the rain outside. "That I'm the idiot who fell for her straight best friend."

Silence fell over the room. Adora was frozen, looking at Catra like the words she had spoken did not make sense. Catra held her breath, unsure of what Adora was going to say.

She did not expect Adora throw her head back and laugh.

Catra’s heart sank to her stomach. She tried to stand and get out of the room, but Adora grabbed her hand and pulled her down.

"Catra, wait! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed." 

Catra scoffed and looked away. She ignored her burning eyes. Her pulse thundered against her neck as she waited for Adora to speak.

"You really thought I was straight?" Adora finally asked, giggling as she spoke.

Wait, what? Catra didn’t know what was happening. This wasn’t how she expected this conversation to go. Even so, she wasn’t going to let Adora see how confused she was. 

She shrugged. "You said that guy in the movie was hot."

Adora, to her credit, tried not to laugh again. She didn’t do a good job at it. "You know being bi is a thing, right?"

Catra’s eyes widened. She jumped up like the bed was made out of fire. "Shit!"

Adora giggled, and Catra would be angry at her if she wasn’t freaking out. She was such an idiot! "You never thought about it, did you?"

"No!” Catra was pacing up and down - Adora rubbed off on her - and she gestured wildly with her hands. “I just panicked and then I refused to think about you in general and - my god, I'm so stupid!" 

Adora reached out, holding Catra hands in her own. Catra took a deep breath to calm herself. It didn’t matter if they were six, cuddling in their bunk after Catra had a nightmare, or all grown up, Adora’s hand in hers always made her feel safe. 

Adora guided her to the bed, making her sit down next to her. Catra waited for her to let go of her. Adora intertwined their fingers.

"If it makes you feel better,” she said with a sheepish smile, “I thought you were ignoring me because you realized I was flirting and you wanted to reject me.”

This night sure is full of surprises. “You were flirting with me?” Scorpia’s flirting theory suddenly came back to her. “Wait, that’s why you always forgot your clothes when you took a shower? That was your weird mating ritual?”

Adora’s face flashed. “I mean, I wouldn’t call it that, but yeah.”

Catra chuckled. What a dork. She slumped against Adora’s shoulder. “Ugh, we could have saved so much time if I hadn’t been such an idiot and just asked!”

Catra felt Adora shake as she laughed. “Well, yeah-”

“So kind.”

“But,” Adora continued, jabbing Catra in the side playfully, “now I have a girlfriend to take out on a date tomorrow.” 

Catra’s heart skipped a beat. When she didn’t respond - too busy making sure her heartbeat wouldn’t be heard in China -  Adora rushed to talk.

“If you want to, I mean!”

Catra laughed. “And you were being all smooth too.” She snuggled further into Adora’s side. With her head resting on Adora’s shoulder she could smell her shampoo - green apple. She hadn’t realized how much she missed this these past two weeks - how much she had missed her. “Yes, I want to.”

Adora’s grip on her hand tightened. “This isn’t fair,” she grumbled.

Catra craned her neck to look at her. Adora was blushing. “What?”

Adora's smile was small but so lovestruck. With me, Catra thought and her heart skipped a beat. “You,” Adora said. She had no right to make Catra feel like this; like her heart was full of fireworks. “You’re too cute. I want to kiss you so bad.”

Catra sat up. Adora’s lips glistened with the chapstick she wore and Catra wanted to know what it tasted like. “Bi all means, go ahead,” she said, sounding more confident than she felt.

Adora giggled so hard she snorted. “Did you just make a bi pun?”

Catra smirked. “Maybe.”

Adora laughed and Catra couldn’t stop her smile even if she tried. She wanted to hear that sound for the rest of her days.

She leaned in and kissed her.