#and ‘rescued’ from Scorpia

[baggebythesea]

Princess kidnappings in She-Ra, princesses of power, ranked from worst to best

[Bonus abysmal attempt: Bow's and Glimmer's rescue attempt of Entrapta. I don't count it because they at no point were even close to kidnap an actual princess, just Catra, and they screwed that up too. AND the news that Entrapta didn't want to be rescued was one of their most devastating blows throughout the entire show.]

Glimmer and Bow kidnapping Adora Sorry, but this was just amateur hour. Abysmal fighting skills, wasted opportunities for 'I've got you now my pretty' and pivoting straight to the power of friendship without properly holding her captive before. Also, Adora wasn't even a princess when they started.

Horde Prime taking Entrapta hostage You kidnapped the magical HAIR princess by holding her in her HAIR? Come on, Prime. This is embarrassing even for you. I will admit that showing the kidnapping on interplanetary holographic tv was a bit stylish, and it worked out great as a motivator for Hordak, but as kidnapping goes it was just pitiful.

Horde Prime capturing Adora… ��for all of five minutes, during which she hardly noticed because she was busy being horrified about her cat girlfriend. Don't get me wrong - everything concerning chipped Catra was amazing, but as for the actual princess capture, Prime miscalculated like the miscalculating dumbass he is.

Angella grounding Glimmer I only count this one on a technicality, but props for Angella for having even a modicum of success of restricting a princess with the power of teleportation. Also, well use of social protocol to force her to dinner. We rarely get to see Angella play to her strengths, but this was one of those times.

Chipping of Spinnerella, Mermista and Scorpia While brainwashing the princess has a lot of potential, Horde Prime totally wasted it. Little to no build-up, hardly any gloating and far too little taunting of their loved ones (Micah was used to good effect, but not the princesses). Bonus points to the chipped princesses themselves, though. Spinnerella and Mermista pulled off mean twist reveals, and Scorpia, Perfuma and Bow pulled off flawless 'fight, I know you are still in there' scenes. But again, no thanks to Prime.

Catra and Scorpia 'capturing' Entrapta Now, everything about this 'capture' was just pitiful, and I doubt Entrapta at any point registered that she was supposed to be a prisoner. BUT it was all worth it for Catra effortlessly pivoting from "I got you now my pretty" to "Poor princess, abandoned by your friends - we can be your new friends". Catra manipulation at its finest. Also, Scorpia being all 'Yay! New friend!' worked really well with the second half of the manipulation.

The princess alliance capturing Scorpia Serious minus points for the capture - Scorpia literary had to walk up to them to get taken. But everything after that was flawless. Inept but sincere 'comfy chair' prison. Top notch power of friendship speeches, great reversal of Scorpia's earlier belief that she would not be welcome in the princess alliance and delicious reconnecting Scorpia to her magical heritage (the best 'sinister power of friendship' use in the entire series). A cute flower princess adding the power of love with a bratty ice princess as little sister substitute was just the icing of the cake.

Catra capturing Adora in the Crimson Waste and holding her in the Fright Zone while Hordak and Entrapta finished the portal machine While the capture itself was clean enough, and played great into Catra's strengths of bending the Crimson Waste to her will (in contrast to the Best Friends Squad, who failed miserably at the same thing), the aftermath was plain messy, with Entrapta getting second thoughts of the portal machine, Hordak being to busy worrying about Catra coming back with a force of her own and Catra actively spiralling. But that all paled in comparison to the play between Catra and Adora. Raw emotions, mutual hurt, Adora pleading and it all ending on Catra spitefully activating the portal machine. Just delicious.

Shadow Weaver holding Glimmer prisoner and trying to brainwash Adora (I'm splitting this one in two - Catra and Scorpia capturing Glimmer and Bow get their own entry below) Now, for all her faults no one can deny that Shadow Weaver got style. Keeping Glimmer in a magic force field prison from which she can break out with the power of love while having Adora strapped to a board is just delicious. However, serious missed opportunity to gloat to/corrupting Glimmer. As always, Shadow Weaver is too hung up on Adora to properly focus on anything else.

Catra and Scorpia capturing Glimmer and Bow at princess prom Flawless. Exquisite. Stylish. This is why Catra is the real power of the Horde. Perfect manipulation, playing within the rules until the moment it didn't suit her, at which point she broke them hard, playing straight into Glimmer's and Bow's weaknesses AND laying the groundwork for Adora's capture and Entrapta turning. AND they did it all while looking sexy as fuck. This is what every other wanna be princess kidnapper should take notes of.

Horde Prime and Catra keeping Glimmer captive on the Velvet Glove. This! This is the good stuff. "I've got you now my pretty", faux chivalry as a thin coat of paint over horrible dehumanization. Space jello. Space TV showing the 'Oh no your poor friends will perish, if only you could help them' channel, presenting Glimmer with his oooooorb (and Glimmer immediately smashing said fucker's orb). Force field scene. Turning Catra to do one good thing. Self destructive rescue. I'll forgive Horde Prime for his previous entries on this list, just because of how perfect this was. Also, yet another proof that any princess kidnapping becomes so much better if you involve Catra.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

i've been meaning to ask.. is this the same adora from s1? the adora who planned out everything and learned the name of all the princesses and was so hyperfocused on creating a strategy to approach frosta that she barely cared about picking a dress for the prom? the adora who wanted to make a foolproof plan so that catra wouldn't murder her friends in cold blood and make her watch?

even the narrative just dumbs down adora's character entirely for no rhyme or reason. if anything, shouldn't she learn to be more strategic the more time she spends fighting the horde and rescuing people? it makes no sense for adora to become more and more impulsive each season, especially after all the trauma she's gone through and all the times catra took advantage of her kindness.

and sure, catra is smart. but she's only smart because everyone around her is dumb. seriously. hordak did close to nothing for the horde, he was sulking in his room all day. scorpia was all brawns and not much brain (she did have a few intelligent moments but it would have been useful to show that side of her more). entrapta was all book smarts, she was basically a tool rather than an intelligent person.

and the same happens when catra joins the BFS in s5. glimmer, bow and adora were all clever characters in their own right but as soon as catra steps in, they're complete buffoons who can't do anything without her help. and to be fair, while they all individually showed signs of being intelligent prior to this season, the princess alliance as a whole was still dumb as rocks, and it makes zero sense.

catra was winning because she was basically the only character in the series who was allowed to use her brains, and i mean this in the most insulting way possible. it's such a lazy way of writing a smart character, and it's such a disservice to the other characters.

[antispopausandstuff]

Another Aspect Of 'Corridors', 'Save The Cat', and 'Taking Control'

.

disclaimer - these are my thoughts and my personal analysis. though SPOP is objectively poorly written, it is partially because of that fact that a lot can be left up for interpretation and be discussed with different outlooks or theories on the same situation // scene. if you have a different opinion on the aspect i'm going to delve into, i'd like to see what you think.

standard warnings of abuse and viewer discretion is applied.

.

for a long time, i left it up to poor writing that Catra was angry with Adora for rescuing her, despite clearly desiring that and being as thankful as she could be ( considering her situation and that it is, of course, Catra we're talking about ) in the previous episode, with no real intention of looking further into it.

and, while it is still entirely because of poor writing and not because the writers were actively doing anything to imply or symbolize something in the relationship, i recently came to a conclusion that can make at least some sort of sense to her motives and actions in 'Corridors', 'Save the Cat', and 'Taking Control'.

Catra was angry because her sacrifice didn't mean anything.

it's the only thing that makes sense to me, even though it still leaves a few holes ( such as Catra agreeing to be taken home in the first place ), and i haven't seen anyone else make a theory of their own as to why she reacted this way outside of it just being how she is.

and, yes, it is in character for her to accept something, then deny it the moment after, but this scene in particular stood out to me because of how unapologetically ungrateful and callous Catra is after her self-pitying and borderline remorseful behavior.

in 'Corridors', it's evident that Catra is only showing regret ( if that is what she truly feels ) because her life fell into shambles after sending off Entrapta to Beast Island, threatening and abusing Scorpia until she left, Adora putting her foot down, Hordak wanting to be rid of her after finding out she lied, and DT giving the worst callout of the century and betraying her.

she stays in her pitying while still continuing to try to ruin Adora's life by helping Horde Prime find her, but the show expects us to take it at face value when HP says she's trying to 'protect' Adora from him. of course, the stans took it and ran, but when you look at the bigger picture, none of it adds up and is quickly proven false.

Catra only felt terrible because she didn't get everything she wanted and was left alone.

i understand that rock bottom can make someone realize a lot of things, but it's hard to think that's what's happening when Catra continues doing bad things for the sake of 'belonging', making more conflict with Glimmer, and keeps speaking ill of Adora over and over.

it's hard to think that's what's happening when Catra says "there's no one in the entire universe who cares about me". because it's not from a place of understanding, but a place of wallowing. even when she's supposedly doing the right thing ( saving Glimmer // Adora ), she's only focused on herself and what this means for her.

whether or not she genuinely believed Adora wouldn't go to Horde Prime's ship to rescue her, Catra uses the same language that she'd use against Adora when speaking of her leaving the Horde:

"why did you come back? we both know i don't matter."

Adora's never been on Horde Prime's ship before this. there was nothing for her to 'come back' to.

does Catra think Adora being in the presence of anything Horde related means she's 'coming back', despite never having left her behind in the first place?

and in 'Taking Control':

"i told you not to come back! but you just love to feel like a hero, don't you?"

to me, it reads as if Catra saved Glimmer because she thought Adora wouldn't 'come back' for her, essentially giving her a pass to the sacrifice. but, when that didn't happen, she resorted to her usual behaviors of open self-pity, if not guilt-tripping, aggression and hostility, projecting like crazy, and leaving Adora to clean up the mess entirely on her own.

again, it still leaves a couple of holes ( with Catra's initial acceptance of Adora bringing her home ), but it's the only idea that makes the most sense of this inconsistency.

the anti community collectively agrees ( if i recall correctly ) that Catra's act of saving Glimmer // Adora wasn't selfless.

but i personally see it as her way of giving herself an out with a pat on the back. and Adora 'took' that away from her.

what do you think?

[manic-sapphic]

gonna take a min to show some love for scorpia~

when she shows up in bright moon in s4e10 to ask for help rescuing entrapta, i think it speaks volumes about scorpia's ability and outright desire to be this compassionate, understanding person & friend that when glimmer starts to question her about why she's there - she's too distracted to answer at first and glimmer thinks she's ignoring her. but she's actually just sooo taken aback to see shadow weaver is there in bright moon. cause yeah catra may have freaked out when adora told her that in the waste but obvi catra never told that to scorpia. cause i think she was kinda just fed up tryna be close w anyone at that point so she basically just went into an erratic tailspin from the end of s3 to s4 till glimmer finds her in the wreckage after catra's fight w hordak. and she straight up invites glimmer to put her out of her misery.

and ugh i love scorpia so much for saying in the fractures ep, "it's just... shadow weaver! at bright moon! it's no wonder catra's been acting the way she has. ohhh and now i left too, that's gonna do a real number on her..."

like, what a considerate empathetic soul, even after everything catra did she still can't help but see the true nature of where a lot of it stems from. and even adora when she says that shares a brief glance w sw before quickly looking away to press on with questioning scorpia. but imo in that quick glance there was at least a moment of clarity for adora of maybe something like 'oh shit.. did i fully take that into consideration? like maybe as much as i should have?'

idk i could be reading too much into it lol but it kinda makes sense to me, esp just given the nature of adora and scorpia's characters. adora's being sometimes oblivious to that kinda shi is a quality she was raised to possess, and while scorpia can be oblivious in her own way at times hah she def always makes a big effort to try and see where a friend like catra is coming from, consider their headspace, and offer whatever support she can. even if sometimes it's overbearing, like swaddling a grown "angry-feline person" in a blanket and tryna asmr-lull them into chilling tf out lmao <3

ps too tho quick note on how that ended w catra bursting out that she lost shadow weaver. she caves cause she's so stressed over it and trusts scorpia w the truth - only to have it be when hordak's imp overhears the whole confession and catra is royally screwed. just another experience for her broke brain to reinforce that she should never trust anyone, and just after getting that same proof from shadow weaver using her to escape - knowing that she was effectively dooming catra in doing so. and sw just literally didn't care. at all.

ugh she's awful. but scorpia's so kind tho, such the sweetheart. and she gives great hugs! :)

[doctordumblesstark]

Themes that weave through season 3 of Alex Rider

Alex's reluctance to kill and maim

When Kyra and Alex take down the guards, both Nile and Julia are perplexed why someone only incapacitated and not killed the guards

Throughout all of Malagosto training we repeatedly see Alex refusing to strike against his fellow students or taking the "kill" shot

He can't kill Jones, even though he has every reason to at this point. Even Kyra points it out to him

He can't kill Nile even though he has no reason to be nice to Nile. Nile has been nothing but cruel to Alex and is more then prepared to kill him

Friendship and teamwork

We see it with how Alex works with Kyra and Tom in Malta

Alex puts Tom first and questions why he doesn't pursue filming with his brother

Alex doesn't understand how the Malagosto students are supposed to work together when they're also expected to strike each other on command

He questions Yassen about his friendship with John and especially Yassen's repeated lesson on not having emotions. We see how Yassen realises that Alex is right at the end and chooses to save Alex yet again from Nile

Jack learning when to leave Alex and trust him and when she needs to step up and help out. She sees Alex for the adult that he has to be in these situations but is also ready to be his guardian when he needs it.

Trust your team and be prepared, that whole speech from Jay to Kyra.

Trust

Not surprising to see this in a show about espionage, but trust is present everywhere

Blunt and Jones have a conversation about trust and double agents at the beginning and it's Jones who convinces Blunt to trust Alex and actually tell him the truth. Jones achieved something that no one would have thought possible, get Alex to trust Blunt, if even a little bit

Alex trusting Jack and defending her to Yassen, even calling out Yassen should trust someone

Tom and Jack being worried over Alex and telling themselves and telling each other to trust Alex even when it seems he may have changed sides.

Alex throughout the season has to choose who to trust, to be disappointed by Scorpia and then finally realising he could have trusted Jones to have his back all along. However, them trusting Alex with the truth is what finally puts them all on even playing field and really makes them into a good team.

Alex also trusted that Yassen was telling him the truth about how to find Scorpia and knowing John, even though Kyra suggested he could have been lying.

John and Alex

John shoots past Yassen to kill the arms dealers leaving a cut and scar on Yassen's face. Alex takes that same shot to kill the power for the transmitter leaving a cut on Nile's face

Alex chooses to go back to take the final blow to Scorpia knowing the risks and understanding it might kill him, but hopefully saving many others. The same John agrees to fake his death on Albert Bridge, knowing there is a chance he might not survive but willing to rescue one more person along the way.

Both Alex and John go undercover for Scorpia. Although very different motivations

John, Alex and Yassen

I am so happy we got to see this relationship in the show. I don't care if this was just fan service, I just loved that we got more of Yassen and Alex together.

Even though just hinted in the show the mentoring between John and Yassen and then Yassen and Alex has always been at the heart of the Rider&Gregorovich relationship

Yassen clearly thinks he has to help Alex and when he finds out Scorpia played him just as much as they did Alex, he knows not to be upset with John and steps up one last time to save his friend's son

Rings/Parallels between the seasons

Yassen takes out the clone at the end of season 1 from a rooftop and then takes out Nile at the end of season 3 as he attempts to take a shot at Alex. The parallel is obvious, but while Yassen chooses to stay hidden in season 1 he shows himself to Alex in season 3. I choose to read this as Yassen showing Alex he understands the importance of friendship.

The department using Alex to Alex choosing to work with them. He even walks out of there with a positive relationship with most of them and a job opportunity. The trust is still new but it's there

Jones and Alex relationship throughout the seasons. She's the only one that saw Alex for who he is from the beginning and is the only one ready to challenge Blunt over Alex

Pritchard's death kicking things off and Smither's bitterness when saying the "cause of death". Parallels Ian Rider's death and how the story started

Early list so feel free to add to it. I just thought the storytelling of season 3 really took a step up compared to previous seasons. It felt more rounded and like things paid off really well towards the end

[catras-breakup-song]

What would you think if in the show instead of forgiving her, entrapta resents catra for sending her to Beast Island and chose not to forgive her? (Other characters like scorpia still forgave her but entrapta dosent in this version) (also this is not supposed to be a jab at 4ntis this is meant to be an intriguing discussion not a fight over what should happen in a cartoon ok?)

i remember someone on youtube (i think it was the sin squad somewhere in this video) mentioned that it'd have been nice, and probably more realistic, if just one character had chosen to not unconditionally forgive catra, and honestly... i can almost completely agree with that statement.

the point of my reblog here wasn't necessarily to argue otherwise, but just that what we got made sense considering what we know about catra's relationships to those people (or rather the other way around i suppose), and it wasn't as unsatisfying (to me at least) as cr1t1cs claim. i think both of these ideas can co-exist.

that being said as a pre-requisite, i don't think there should be an issue in the fandom had the show chosen to go down that route instead. i fear hardcore catra stans may treat entrapta unfairly when she'd be 100% in the right for having her reservations, but i try to separate fanon issues from canon criticisms because it's really irritating when people form their opinions over something the piece of media itself has no control over.

my belief about what would have happened in that scene from "taking control" is that catra was already prepared for a less positive outcome since this was her sincere expression, and she was now decidedly past reacting with contempt to not hearing what she wanted:

and she was genuinely surprised & relieved when her apology was actually accepted:

so it seems to me that the unspoken implication is that she thought she deserved to be hated, and accepted the notion as a continuation of her earlier line to adora ("i know you all hate me!") and confusion about why she had been rescued despite everything:

it would've been interesting to watch catra & entrapta learn to work together until they got back to etheria despite hard feelings still being present, though i have no doubt the latter would still be up to it, whether for removing the chip or going on the mission to krytis. i am of the opinion that entrapta wouldn't be the "i never want to talk to you again at any cost regardless of how immature that makes me in your eyes" type, but rather the "i just don't want to be close friends with you and would prefer to keep my distance once it's all over for a while" type, which is what the audience probably assumed was going to be scorpia's attitude after the episode she left the horde, but i stand by that fundamentally misunderstanding her character and doing a disservice to her active kindness outlook to the world. the same goes for entrapta regarding what actually happened, but since we're not focusing on that, this is my own interpretation based on staying true to it while on a different but equivalent path.

[lowkeyed1]

What are your favorite (or top 3) outfits (regardless of character) from Willow (tv show)?

(Inspired by post requesting apolitical asks :) )

ha... thank you <3 that's a good/hard question bc the costuming for willow is honestly fantastic... there's a lot of detail that's easy to miss once they're done grading the film for low lighting conditions and washing out the color. i don't think i can pick just three! definitely check out Sarah Young's instagram if you're interested by the way, she posts behind the scenes stuff about the costuming process... i really enjoy everyone's engagement party outfits from episode one...

the concept art is great too...

and i make fun of it but i do like the black! leather! chains! fur! look of the galladoornian royal couple...

honorable mention for graydon's bigass furry coat also airk's see-through shirt with all the jewelry? mwah. more slutty costumes for men please

then there's scorpia...

really all the wildwood costumes are good but the leather bralette? the cold shoulder sweater? the cargo pants? the bantu knots??? i weep

love boorman's wildwood makeover too tbh

he freed himself from scorpia's tent so i'm guessing that's where he got the clothes too..

i think willow's costuming is incredible also, there's a lot of detail that gets lost in the filming but again, sarah young's insta to the rescue

and shoutout to ganush's dirty fursuit and rock band tshirt, inspired choice i think

finally a couple of little-seen boorman looks: his outfit from when he was reminiscing to scorpia about how he was captured...

and the face masks bra

[too-many-rooks]

Hello! For the WIP Folder game, I am intrigued: Orienteering HA??

So the orienteering fic is from my SCORPIA heir Alex ‘Heir Apparent’ (hence HA,) fic series, where Alex is raised by John and Julia as the future leader of SCORPIA. ‘Orienteering’ is a part of the plot that takes place when Alex is about 16/17, and grieving a pretty major loss, when he’s woken up by his father in the middle of the night, and challenged to an orienteering trip. Rather than a casual hike or like a DofE outdoor adventure that a regular British teen might be undertaking, Alex’s orienteering trips, as a part of/measure of his training are pretty intense, testing his capacity to survive in a disaster situation, on his own, and it’s not really something he can say no to. The fic expands with Alex’s memories of younger trips, and how frightened he was during them, but cuts back to a pretty wrecked teen Alex, who just gets pissed at the whole situation, and goes a bit off script, (exactly how is still very WIP, maybe disables his tracker, gets caught up in some other shenanigans/further testing of being pursued - ) he ends up with a gun and holding John and Yassen at gunpoint when they try and pick him up, because he’s lost it a bit.

Here’s a snippet -

“Shit.” Alex muttered as he kicked the sand underneath him spitefully, allowing one moment to feel grumpy and annoyed at being dragged out on a family activity, in the desert of all places. Last time they’d done this Alex had been left in a nice, northern hemisphere forest, which had berries Alex could forage, rabbits he could trap, and most importantly, water he could drink. But he supposed he wasn’t twelve anymore, and couldn’t be babied like that again. 

Mourning the fundamental strangeness of his childhood for a moment longer, Alex sighed. Normal kids might be getting their Duke of Edinburgh award, sent out to roam the Cotswolds or the Welsh peaks, thoroughly monitored with frequent check ins, and bags full of gear and snacks, whereas Alex got dumped in the wilderness for a few days, with a target to head towards, or to simply find his way to safety. The first time, he’d had a map with the target circled in pen. The second, just a plain map. And now, all he has is the compass. 

Alex takes a moment to check in with himself, snapping out of his moodiness as he registers his situation; if he wants to start moving, he’d best not wait around, he should find somewhere to shelter under in the day, walk at night. 

Should an hapless, intrepid group of DofE ducklings somehow manage to get so utterly lost they wondered into the desert, their best idea would be to stay put, and set up something shiny - like the silver compass so conveniently glittering around his neck. But Alex is not a normal person, and knows merely sitting around waiting to be rescued will not be an acceptable outcome. He’d tried that on his first trip, and all that had accomplished was wasting a full day of light; so he hadn’t constructed a shelter, and thus shivered, frightened, all night, and got dehydrated from crying. At least at nine Alex had been lucky enough to have been given a thick coat, its pockets stuffed with water purifying tablets and protein bars.

[adorawasright]

You mentioned Adora and Scorpia and I want to add my two cent about Scorpia in Season 4. (I might be misremembering)

In season 4 Scorpia goes through a lot but it feels very hollow.

As Scorpia leaves the horde during season 4. For what reason: Tired of the war, realises she is on the losing side, wants to over throw Hordak or realise that the Horde is bad? Nope she abandons her kingdom, country and way of life because Catra was mean to her. And she does this despite being a loyal soldier.

Then she realises that she wants to save Entrapta so what does she do: Tell Hordak so he can save Entrapta or does she mount a rescue effort herself to make up for abandoning Entrapta? Nope she travels to the enemy capital and appeals to them to save Entrapta.

Then when Scorpia is prisoner, she agrees to work with Glimmer to activate the The Black Garnet giving the Princesses a power boost that allows them to defeat the Horde.

All of Scorpia's actions throughout season 4 is so weird as she is so nonchalant about everything that it feels hollow.

As despite giving up everything to save Entrapta it feels like it isn't important. As it feels like we are missing a large chunk of character exploration.

(I'm also annoyed that we never really see Scorpia interact with Hordak)

Yeah, I agree with you! I may like Scorpia standing up for herself in s4, but not only does she leave the Horde for quite a small reason compared to everything else the Horde has done, Catra mistreating her is merely summed up as "Catra is a bad friend". As if she didn't straight up berate Scorpia and threaten to hurt her and Emily - and worse, send Scorpia to Beast Island to die. That is not what a mere "bad friend" would do.

Scorpia's "redemption" is very inconsistent indeed. Not to mention how quickly the princesses accept Scorpia. Pretty ironic considering how hostile they are towards Entrapta in s5. But yeah, sadly, everything about Scorpia is inconsistent, from her backstory to her ending. And I do love Scorpia, but I'm so angry at how the show treated her. The fact she was chipped in s5 also did not help.

Also yeah, I don't recall Scorpia interacting with Hordak that much. She mostly stays away. You brought up a good point, how did Scorpia never go to Hordak in order to rescue Entrapta? She knew why Entrapta was really gone. Imagine if Scorpia told him the truth?

[forestfairyunicorn]

Huge thanks to @maireadralph for organizing yet another Zine event, and for this art piece, it was made to tribute my first ever Entrapdak fic, made just after season 4 aired.

Since the fic in the link is user-restricted, here is also the c/p for enjoyment

Rebooting: LUVD

forestfairyunicorn

Summary:

Post Season 4 ending. Spoilers in effect! Entrapta rescued "Hordak", but is it him? Inspired by my favourite Wall-E ending scene

“Hor-DAK!!!”

Entrapta’s voice cracked on the last syllable as she stared at the clone’s blank eyes, hands on his arms.

Physically, it was him. She recovered him from Prime’s other clones, she and the others got him back to her lab. She single-handedly, --she alone!-- got his armor running smoothly, the crystal back in his armor, deep purple amid dark grey.

He’s awake.

But not the same person.

He didn’t even recognize Imp. The little one was on Emily, silently crying and staring at Entrapta.

The clone repeated again, “I am Horde Alpha 24601. I live and serve Horde Prime. Who are you.”

The scientist just laughed. Watery, fighting tears. “A scientist and a failure, that’s what I am. And I don’t give up. I shouldn’t give up.”

She looked at him, tears shining. “You were cast out for being less than perfect. You were my lab partner.”

Entrapta leaned her head on his chest, directly below the crystal. “You were my friend. I believed that. I believed that imperfections are beautiful. I still do.” She whispered the last part as she moved away. Her hands moved down his arms, slowly leaving them, then stopped.

She felt something grip them. The clone’s hands held her fingers, gently, and increasing pressure. He whispered something. Entrapta glanced at his face, her eyes alight.

“You…are not…a f-failure.” The clone blinked twice, breathed twice, ears flicking up and down. He blinked again. Saw Entrapta.

Saw. Her.

He gasped, ears down, eyes widened, a tinge of red seeping in. “Entrapta?” he whispered softly.

“Hordak.” Entrapta grinned, tears flowing. Normally she’d have her mask down, but she can’t look away at this miracle.

Science has yet to explain miracles, but for now, she’ll believe in it.

His legs buckled, and he started to kneel. Entrapta guided him down, with her hair as support.

Both of them on their knees, hands grasping each other, until finally they came together at a hug. Soft laughter, incredulous, tears flowing freely.

“I,” Hordak spoke hoarsely. “I don’t remember much before.”

“That’s okay,” Entrapta nuzzled, “The crystal acts as a backup and a power source. Ingenious First Ones tech. Only flaw is that it has to be connected to you for memory logging and such.”

“Thank you,” Hordak moved to look into her eyes, oh her eyes, how he missed them. Her. “Please, tell me everything.”

She held his hand to her face, leaning into his touch. “It will take a long time, lab partner. And I’ll make a better one.”

He shook his head, a claw touching the crystal. “Imperfections are beautiful. We have time. I want to spend time, with you. If you’ll have me.”

Entrapta nodded, leaning forward. “Yes. We’re lab partners.”

Imp and Emily came closer, and Hordak smiled at Imp. That gesture unleashed Imp as he bounded at Hordak, screeching and chittering and rubbing his head against him. Emily wobbled closer, beeping joyously.

None of them registered the group when they came into the area. Overlapping voices. Shouts of “Yay! WOAH! What the heck? HEY! Go! Go go go go go!”

“Wait, are they kissing?” That was Scorpia. “GUYS LET’S LEAVE THEM ALONE, THEY’RE KISSING.”

At the corner of his eye, Hordak saw one of them double back to watch them, only for a large red claw to yank the figure back.

He doesn’t care one bit. He’s too busy staring into Entrapta’s eyes, and sighing at the wonders of this feeling, of love.

He is loved. So much.

[alexridersecretsanta]

The Great Reveal!

Today is the day to lift the anonymity of the authors! We hope you had fun reading all the Yalex goodness, here come the authors reveal:

A Spark of Magic by LastlyMatt for Myulalie (T, 5k) Alex is dragged back after years to finish what he started. Scorpia wants to reawaken the vampire Julia Rothman, and it's up to Alex to do it. During this, he reunites with Yassen, who tries to help him one more time. Inflection Point by Kelkblr for RavenJames (T, 7,5K) There are moments that change your life, moments where you might have made a different decision and taken a different path. A routine mission takes an unexpected turn, giving Alex an opportunity to take advantage of one such moment.

Somebody To Die For by RavenJames for LastlyMatt (M, 5K) The legends are true. They are just not what we expect them to be. Entangled in a strange enemies-with-benefits relationship with Yassen, Alex has an assignment to keep the man under close surveillance. He doesn’t know that things might get even more complicated.

The Right Touch by Strange_Soulmates for countessrivers (E, 3K) Lieutenant Yassen Gregorovich of the ISB spends enough time stalking Rebel Agent Alex Rider in real life. Alex just wishes the man could stop stalking his dreams as well. He has no idea just how accurate the idea of Yassen "stalking his dreams" is. All things are possible through the force, after all. A birthday Surprise by Sigma for kelkblr (E, 35K) When Tom informs him that he's hired a stripper for Alex's 18th birthday party, he wasn't quite expecting what he received. Yassen Gregorovich wasn't quite expecting the hurricane that was Alex Rider either.....it remained to be seen which one of them ended up more surprised....Alex Rider Yalex - somewhat AU. Alex and Yassen have never met before in this. The Last Job by fredbassett for kelkblr (T, 4K) When a close personal protection job ends in disasterous failure an injured Alex has to survive a freezing night and even colder encounter with his former lover.

Alex Rider 2024 by DarlingNikki for greenkite (shirohyasha) (E, 14K) Time moves on and Alex is no longer a scared fourteen year old swimming completely out of his depth. Almost twenty-five years have passed and the world is a completely different place with changes he’d thought were pure sci-fi are just boring reality now. Or Alternatively, Alex gets his retirement from MI6, but too bad they think he's a disposable pawn that's the prefect guinea pig for testing some dodgy new tech, and ends up with a very familiar ghost living under his skin. A Cyberpunk 2077 inspired AU/fusion that's also a prequel for the game technically, but 100% blind readable.

tissue culture by greenkite (shirohyasha) for Polarnacht (n/r, 3,5K) He's not in the dacha. He knows every centimetre of that house, and the dark, cold room he woke up in isn't in it. Alex goes to rescue Yassen from the mad scientists of the week. He finds more than expected.

Dangerous Tastes by Myulalie for turtle_snail (E, 14k) After a failed assassination attempt during his horse ride around the property, Alex gets a bodyguard against his will. He keeps flirting with danger from then on, even at the risk of getting his heart broken.

Spare the Rod by countessrivers for TheOtherBlue (E, 4,5k) Alex goes tAlex gets caught trying to escape from Point Blanc. Mr. Gregorovich handles the punishment.

Devil in Disguise by Polarnacht for DarlingNikki (E, 7K) Alex is sent to break into Yassen’s house and retrieve important documents. He discovers more than he ever bargained for.

Collateral by Rirren for Strange_Soulmates (E, 12k) Alex was asked to come in to speak to an imprisoned Yassen. He didn't know he was signing up for 24 hours of hell. Like A Delicate, Dangerous Desire by turtle_snail for Sigma (E, 5k) There was something so serene to look down at Alex like this, and the wide expression of uncertainties etched on Alex’s face. It was akin to ambrosia. A delicate desire that only Yassen could enjoy. “Maybe I should teach you a lesson… about what happens to apprentices who misbehave.” Alex didn’t respond, instead whatever fear was present in Alex’s eyes morphed into determination. It was a look that was so characteristically Alex.

Who By Brave Assent by TheOtherBlue for Rirren (E, 6,5k) When Yassen is offered a sixteen-year-old Alex for the night, he has no choice but to accept. He has never enjoyed sleeping with strangers as part of his work, but Alex is no stranger... Vastly Different Things by Myulalie&Polarnacht for fredbassett (T, 4k) Alex almost gets tossed from a helicopter into a river in Chile, and spends some quality time with a certain assassin.

We hope you enjoyed the event, reading & commenting and guessing! How many did you guess right? Happy Yalex holidays to everyone!

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

this is your daily reminder that adora was also abused by her mother (and her sister), forced into a destiny she didn't choose and almost died multiple times in the show, and she still turned out to be a good person.

this is your daily reminder that glimmer lost her father at a young age and then lost her mother, being forced to take responsibility for an entire kingdom all of a sudden while grieving her mother, and she still turned out to be a good person.

this is your daily reminder that entrapta spent her entire life isolated from everyone else and afterwards, was horribly mistreated by her ableist "friends", manipulated by her other friend and sent to an island to rot and die, and she still turned out to be a good person.

this is your daily reminder that angella lost her husband in the war and had to live with the fear of being attacked by the horde at any moment while raising her daughter by herself, but she still turned out to be a good person.

this is your daily reminder that scorpia's entire family was captured and likely murdered by the horde, she was also verbally and emotionally abused by her friend, and she still turned out to be a good person.

this is your daily reminder that micah was manipulated and groomed by shadow weaver at a young age, later got banished to aforementioned death island and survived years in it before he was rescued, and he still turned out to be a good person.

this is your daily reminder that trauma doesn't excuse or justify cruelty and violence. it doesn't justify war crimes and abuse. almost every character in the series have gone through some kind of trauma but they still tried to be empathetic and compassionate people, even when times were hard.

and this is your daily reminder that most of this trauma was caused by catra, whose actions still keep getting justified because of her own trauma.

[aprillikesthings]

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

Finishing out season four!

s4, eps 12&13 Destiny

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

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

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

lol Emily is destroying Shadow Weaver's garden

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

UGGGH

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

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

One of these:

YEAH (that's a huge image)

so if these get weird: blame the wine I guess

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

OKAY BACK TO SHE-RA

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

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

AND THEN

okay but is the guard telling you this Double Trouble

ROLL INTRO

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

why are you SNIFFING HIM

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

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

and she's like YEAH I'M GREAT

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

I love her so much oh my godddd

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

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

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

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

well that's a callback to s1 ep1

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

nooo

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

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

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

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

bb you need a break you are getting feral

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

god I love when she's this deranged

she slams poor Lonnie against a locker

john cena dot gif

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

Kyle is RIGHT

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

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

STOP REMINDING ME I HAVE FEELINGS!!

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

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

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

THONK

help i've rewatched it like five times now

okay

lol right??

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

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

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

NO SHIT, SHERLOCK

(now THERE's an old fandom reference ahahaha)

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

YOU STOLE HER GARNET YOU WOULD THINK SO

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

GOD I HATE IT WHEN SHE'S RIGHT UGGGHHHH

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

[tippenfunkaport]

SPOP Horse / Riding School / Equestrian School AU

For the prompt I Just Want Them To Be Happy 😭

The Horse / Riding School / Equestrian School AU (that you will notice was a choice you could vote for as something I might post for the anniversary so if this sounds interesting, the power to read it is in your hands) has a real name but I'm not going to share it until the fic is ready to post. But the entire idea behind it was literally that I wanted something less epic and meticulously plotted like most of my fics and just show the gang hanging out and having fun.

I've been talking about doing some kind of ongoing, Never Really Ends, chill and episodic modern AU for a while and friends kept suggesting I do a coffee shop AU but the thing is… I am not really a coffee shop girl so i think I would struggle to come up with enough to happen in that. But you know a place I have spent WAY too much time of my life? The local horse barn. I actually worked as a groom, rode and taught at a local riding school for years and then it hit me that I could totally use this. Especially because the 80s She-Ra canon has SO MANY canonical horses for me to use!

Some random things about this AU (set in the last year of hs and we'd probably eventually go into college)….

Adora is trying to raise enough money to buy the horse she's renting (Swift Wind) while her parents think riding is a distraction from getting into college. Yes, I finally get to write the rest of Adora's family wooo!

Glimmer is Adora's best friend (my first fic ever where Glimmer and Adora just get to HANG OUT and BE BUDDIES i am so EXCITED) trying to figure out the mystery of a horse at the stable whose boarder seems to have abandoned him.

Mermista, Perfuma, and Frosta all ride at the stable with Glimmer and Adora that Mara owns. Sea Hawk is a cringe glam rocker at a dive bar we'll meet later.

Catra is trying to get a riding scholarship to college even though she hates the stuffy show scene and would much rather just be goofing around with her rescue horse, Melog.

Scorpia and her moms live next door to Catra, who lives with her temporary guardian Hordak (yeah, neither of them are real happy about that arrangement) and his partner Entrapta. Emily is a sassy motorcycle and Darla is a classic car she's restoring.

George and Lance are basically American Pickers But Gay, traveling around for antiques and collectibles they can resell in their store (where Catra works part time)

and what's going on with Bow is A MYSTERY cackles evilly

Anyway, everyone's going to be in this, ensemble fun, endgame every canon couple. Now the biggest challenge is that I need to try to resist the urge to plot the heck out of it like I do everything and just kind of go with the flow and pants it so it stays fun!

[doctordumblesstark]

Things I loved about season 3 of Alex Rider

Yassen as Alex's mentor and guardian

Julia Rothman as the vengeful leader of Scorpia, she plays Alex and Yassen very well, pulling the strings behind their backs.

Mrs Jones. Just wow. Her scenes were so powerful, just all around impressive

Nile and Yassen's relationship

The water bottle fight. World class.

Alex being sassy and a little brat

Alex complying when Yassen declared the training over after refusing when previously told to stop.

Albert Bridge! The way they immersed Blunt and Alex in showing what really happened was a wonderful piece of film work.

The planning of the operations Alex carries out with Yassen, just gave me so many Devilverse vibes

The department actually having Alex's back and them working together. Especially the rescue mission from the home secretary.

Alan Blunt getting character development and not just being a cartoonish bad guy as he is in the books. I actually prefer this more rounded version of Blunt

The action scenes were better choreographed, more visually impactful and really well done. The overall mix of action, dialogue, stealth, drama and humour just was well done

Malagosto. Not surprising that with how they have chosen to depict the department (in constant darkness!) Malagosto would be underground, but it really worked well with the aesthetics they have chosen and makes sense in the universe. Also the rivalry between Alex and the others... I'd be worried too if the newbie gets a single room when I have to share with the others ;)

Scorpia's threat level. They are a really well balanced opponent to the department, making them hard to take down and in charge and control for most of the season with the department having to work incredibly hard to take them down

A great balance between technology/gadgets and old school spying. Really felt realistic and good use of Kyra, Smithers and Scorpia tech without it becoming a trope like Batman's utility belt

The overall more rounded off storytelling approach and more realistic character representation

Things I thought were unrealistic or unbelievable

Jay not knowing his brother is into film, when he clearly knows Tom and Alex are not going to the beach. Tom's character is shown again and again as a film buff and we all know his desire for pursuing a film career

Also felt weird of dropping that in and then never resolving that storyline. What was Jay's purpose other than some comic relief and one piece of wisdom and for Tom to show he chooses Alex over himself?

Jack saying "if Alex can do spy shit so can we". What an utterly stupid line. That's not how it works, Alex is trained and has skills you guys don't have. There are many good reasons Alex is good at this and not many for the rest of you to think you'd be too.

Kyra saying to Tom not to say anything to the police and then answering the police officer after Jack has already essentially freed them

The whole conversation between Jones and Jack in the garage was confusing. It felt like they switched roles halfway through.

[baggebythesea]

Princess Glimmer and the Day of Many Choices: ADVENTURE (25/?)

"Let's go on an ADVENTURE!" Glimmer enthusiastically said.

"Sounds fun," Despara admitted, and for a moment the enthusiastic Adora from the first days of the Best Friends Squad could be seen under the bitchin' surface.

"What did you have in mind?" Catra carefully asked.

"Oh, you know, exotic locations, mystery, monsters, some big fight, maybe rescue a damsel in distress…" Glimmer fluttered her eyelashes. "All the good stuff."

"OK, sounds good enough," Catra said, trying to sound cool and aloof despite her traitorous tail wagging. "But where are we even going to find an adventure."

"Hey, Schnookums, are you decent?" Micha asked and knocked on the door to the hot spring room where the three of them had spent most of their time in Mystacor.

"Not the least," Glimmer grinned, "but come in anyway."

"So glad to see you able to relax, pumpkin-pie," Micah said with heartfelt voice. "I just wanted to ask you… the Fright Zone is abandoned, right?"

"Yup," Glimmer said, with Catra nodding agree. "Hordak and Entrapta are in Dryl, Scorpia in Plumeria, the rest of the Horde at sea and the clones mostly sitting in committee meetings" - a number of clones waved at her from a nearby hot spring. "Only rusty junk left in the Fright Zone."

"That's what I thought, cutie munchkin," Micha said. "So why do we get high levels of technomagical readings from there?"

"That's how you find an adventure," Glimmer grinned at Catra. She turned to Micah. "We'll check it out, daddy. Don't wait up."

And with that, Glimmer, Catra and Despara disappeared in a cloud of pink glitter.

"Well, on my top list of places I never wanted to go again, this one ranks a solid second," Catra muttered some time later as they trudged through the abandoned corridors of her former home and head quarter.

"Which one is the top?" Glimmer curiously asked.

"Prime's ship," Catra shuddered. "At least this place didn't steal your mind from you."

"It tried," Despara darkly said.

They walked in gloomy silence for a little while.

"So, what do you think we'll find?" Glimmer asked.

"Probably some old junk malfunctioning," Catra shrugged. "Everything kept together by spite and duct tape in the end."

"Or some wanna be villain figuring they could take a short cut to some old tech," Despara growled.

"Either way, it's a mystery," Glimmer happily said. "That's what makes it fun to figure out."

"Stand back!" Despara hissed. They had just rounded a corner, into an old mess hall, completely destroyed. Glimmer had to look around for a few moments before she saw what Despara had reacted to.

"Someone's hiding under that table," Catra hissed. She stepped in front of Glimmer in a defensive stance. Glimmer quickly scrambled to get in front of Catra in a defensive stance.

"Come out!" Despara commanded, pointing her sword at the table.

Part 24 is here: https://www.tumblr.com/baggebythesea/723535625225191424/adventure-it-is-give-me-a-little-while-and-ill