#chanty messy

[harumi-web]

꒰ ㅤ✦ㅤ⠀ׅ⠀໋⠀🐚​᭄ㅤ﹫ nᧉ𑜎 p𖦹st ⠀ش ㅤ ⊹ ㅤ◌ ꒱

[yenluv]

兀ㅤ   ( ⏖ )ㅤ🎨 ׂㅤ ⑅ㅤ ♬ 🧶　 ಎ

[imjustavenuxwithaboomerang]

re-rating rise of red songs as i listen to them on spotify

see the first rating here

red by red, jack of diamonds, and guards: 7.75/10

i've warmed up to the chanty chorus so that made the rating go up. again, kylie sounds really good. don't know how to feel about the pre-chorus. still don't care for jack of diamonds and the guards' parts (other than the "oh oh oh oh" parts but those go on a little too long imo)

so this is love by cinderella and king charming: 9.75/10

literally almost perfection! paolo and brandy sound SO GOOD. it's so so pretty omg. the pacing again is the downfall, some parts sound slightly too fast but i almost don't care, it's that pretty

love ain't it by red, queen of hearts, chloe, cinderella, and auradon citizens: 6/10

same ranking. mainly the same notes as the first ranking post, i like the beginning and chorus but it's (as a whole song) a little messy. again didn't really care for the citizens and guards singing and wanted a lot less rap. rita sounded great though

what's my name (red version) by uma and red: 7/10

the "stop us" is thankfully fixed as far as i can tell. the new instrumental is taking some getting used to but i like that the song isn't just the 2017 vocals on top of a new instrumental. red's talking parts in her verse are what's throwing me off and what brought down the ranking down a number. i am fine with the rap part though. the "that's my name, that's my name" adlib at the end sounds slightly off to me too

fight of our lives by red and chloe: 7.75/10

it definitely picks up after the first chorus. speaking of the first chorus, there's odd editing on the line "running out of hope" that takes me out of the song. i really like the instrumental though (the wannabe drummer in me is very happy about it). kylie, again, sounds very good but that's a given (i really like her chorus) and like i said in the first ranking, malia and kylie's voices sound very nice together and the layering and harmonies are nice (TO ME)

life is sweeter by rise of red cast: 6.75/10

again the chorus and the villains's (specifically hook, morgie, and uliana) part are the selling point to me. however why is maleficent's part like drowned out?? (actually a couple parts of this song are) ruby's voice sounds very nice on the chorus's melody. still haven't decided if i like that the song is everyone's introduction. the verses don't click with me, save for the first verse. the instrumental shift to the villains' introduction could be better. and the final chorus is very jarring with the villains interjecting, and not in a 'so bad it's good way'

perfect revenge by uliana, hook, morgie, hades, and maleficent: 6/10

i feel like this song is the definition of a grower and an earworm. i'll probably sing it over the next week even though it's my least favorite song. basically it's objectively catchy and i would understand why someone would like it. i personally don't love the melody of the post-chorus and i don't care for hades and maleficent's voices or parts (no offense). i do like dara's ad-libs at the end and the song makes my choreographer brain start ticking so i guess that's an upside.

shuffle of love by bridget: 8.5/10

one point off for the fact that i had to strain my brain and ears to figure out the lyrics of the first line of the chorus (it's "first, one two-step to start", had a feeling disney+ captions were wrong and they were). a half point off for the MORE unnecessary rapping (it wasn't bad just unneeded). other than that i really like this song. i especially like chorus, which i mentioned before, and i was robbed of this being fully in the movie

get your hands dirty by ella and chloe: 8/10

don't know why it went down, just vibes. everything i said is still true. i like the melody and absolutely love the songwriting and the rapping/talk singing is a bit more bearable. and again morgon sounds very nice.

life is sweeter (reprise) by red and queen of hearts: 7/10

pretty reprise, same ranking. nothing much to say that i haven't said already

life is sweeter (remix) by rise of red cast: 5/10

i like the little nuggets of vocals that can be heard but like i said before, not always a fan of remixes. ranking went lower because the scene talked over the remixed instrumental so i couldn't get an opinion on it.

bad reputation by red: 3/10

this is a lot at once and will probably be the only song i don't add to my soundtracks playlists. the instrumental is very loud and very distracting but kylie sounds nice

[twinklecupcake]

🫣: Who stumbled the most with their feelings around the other? How much did the other person notice? - for Shifting Flames!

Ohohohoooo…. Double Trouble.

Well, no, "stumbling" isn't the right word.

They were the one who had the 'oh. OH.' moment. And they were not prepared.

They're used to pretending to care. They're used to their service being mistaken for friendship, and to be fair they are a fantastic actor. They're not used to being in love.

They try to deny it, but at the same time, they know it's pointless to even try. They've seen enough messy drama, and caused enough messy drama, to know that "I'm not in love" is a losing battle. They're basically the embodiment of "Fine, I'll admit it to myself, but I'm gonna be hating it and kicking myself for it the whole time."

And… Chanti, bless her, doesn't notice anything is wrong.

No, she notices they're a little tense, a little distant, for a bit. But every time she does, they notice her noticing, and go back to normal. They tell her they're just in a bit of a Mood is all, or they didn't sleep well, or they're a bit under the weather. But don't worry, they'll be fine~

And you know, yeah, DT is fine after they come to terms with it. They huff and sulk a little, but it's whatever, it's not like they have to act on it or anything, right? They can just wait it out and it'll go away? Right?

Then Chanti laughs at something they said and her eyes light up. Then Chant smiles more easily around them. Then Chanti snorts at a cutting remark they make about one of the advisers.

Oh. Oh they have it bad.

[plantcrazy]

[COMMISSIONS - OPEN]

About 📒

Hello and howdy'do :D

I’m Chanti /Chirpy (@chirpycreations​). I’m working on this blog alone, so updates will be when I have time and wrist able (, I have a long term repetitive strain injury).

On this blog is my creative corner where you'll find my art & stories, as well as that of other awesome artists and writers on Tumblr!

PAGES 📒

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OTHER LINKS 📒

📖 A03 - Plantcrazy

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[malisbutterflies]

Serendipity. The first word that comes to mind like a lightbulb going off in my head, as I trek the toasted, glinting sand. Below me, a cozy, grainy blanket rolls over my feet, like a million warm cookie crumbs, icing my toes in vermillion sprinkles, miniscule crystals reflecting the glowing horizon like little disco balls dancing on my matte, dusted skin. The sand is just the right amount damp, not enough to build a sand castle, but just enough to leave quick impressions in. Salty sprays of the ocean's vapor pepper my face like a baker sifts powdered sugar onto crème puffs, and with every floating breeze of the wind, my eyelids droop into place, as I fill my lungs with the nautical, phosphorus-and-salt infused air. The slightly fishy smell, as odd as it may be, does not bother me; I was raised near the ocean: I am one with the undulating waves, with the meandering sand. My mind drifts to the tales my mother would read me to bed, of the sailors that went out to sea, hoisting up their antique, tattered sails on creaky wooden posts like flags of victory. I imagine myself on a gaff-rigged sailboat, heartily singing sea chanties, and guffawing at the foul words of my sea-mates. I imagine myself saying, "aye-aye, Captain!" and raising the anchor, in preparation for combating the ferocious, crashing, cerulean deluge below.  Fluttering open, my eyes are filled with golden light, and the sun is a bright, smiling volunteer ladling warm, aromatic chicken soup into sad styro-foam bowls nestled in clammy hands at a homeless shelter. The sun, scientifically proven to be a blazing ball of fire, emits the glow of a mellow Chinese lamp across the horizon, a luminescent, watered-down shade of scarlet. Slowly receding into the foam-laced waters, like a Red Giant star squeezing out its last bits of light before detonating into oblivion, the sun creates a deep contrast of pastel reds and inky waters. Behind it, a backdrop of saffron suffuses into pastel shades of pink and lilac, like an artist had accidentally spilled watercolors on the horizon, and decided in the moment to run a soft bristled brush over it, creating the light, cotton candy streaks that were the wispy cirrus clouds above me now. My hair tickles my ear, an intimate whisper of the wind, as if it were telling me nature's deepest, most treasured secrets. It caresses my arms, more tender than a mother's fingertips as she runs her hands through her son's messy hair. It feels like I am being cradled by the wind, as the crashing lullaby of the ocean lures me in, like a moth drawn to a flame, and I feel the lukewarm, aegean waves lapping at my feet, the salt leaving my skin pink, glistening under the rose canopy.

I let the foam ripple at my feet, purity radiating through my body, and I am cleansed of all trauma, of all sins. I am born again, like a newborn being baptized, the ocean is my holy water, the beach my church. Through my eyelids, a red glow begins to dim down, the dying embers of a fire that tell me the sun is back beneath its velvety ocean duvet, ready to drift to sleep, as am I.

Tranquil is the scene laid out in front of me: a pristine, beige canvas, slipping into a crashing, cerulean vastness, an affectionate but deadly embrace, the Earth’s very own final frontier.

[liyonces]

Lisa x Jungkook | Ningning | Jungkook layouts

☇ like and reblog☇

[meowonhyuk]

HIT YA!

[ziefleur]

⠀⠀      ⠀⠀      ⠀⠀      ⠀⠀   ⠀      𓏲࣪ ˚ . ⊹ 🍨🧸

   ⠀⠀   ⠀⠀   ⠀⠀   ⠀⠀      𓂃 je vois la vie en rose

[disappointingyet]

Hoshikuzu Kyôdai No Densetsu (The Legend Of The Stardust Brothers)

Director Makoto Tezuka Stars Shingo Kubota, Kan Takagi, Kyôko Togawa Japan 1985 Language Japanese (with English subtitles) 1hr 40mins Colour

Unhinged pop musical

I’ve seen this described as a satire, but that suggests that there is a point being made, something is being targetted. And I’m not convinced that’s the case. A better way of describing it is maybe as a very broad knock-about comedy that’s a pop musical. But that probably wouldn’t get you close to understanding what this is like. 

It’s framed by what the lyrics of the song they are singing explain is a comeback performance from the Stardust Brothers (their name is in English, the rest of the song in Japanese). The Brothers (who are not brothers) are dressed in silver jumpsuits while their backing band is in evening dress. They are in colour while their (horrified) (stylishly retro/futurist) audience is in black & white. 

We then flashback to the start of their abrupt rise and fall. Shingo (Shingo Kubota) and Kan (Kan Takagi) had been singers of rival aspiring bands sharing club nights. Kan’s band are a punky lot with a chanty theme song indebted to the Ramones’ Do You Remember Rock’n’Roll Radio, Shingo, meanwhile, has a would-be loverman schtick – his band’s track, synth funk with echoes of A Certain Ratio and Imagination (and of Haircut 100 in the group’s outfits), is the best song in the movie. 

Then a mysterious record executive offers them instant fame, but only if they ditch their bands and become a duo. With a huge advance on offer, they sign up. There follows their rapid success and a equally quick crisis – the standard stuff of music biz movies. They make one friend – aspiring singer Marimo (Kyôko Togawa) and gain a rival in Kaworu (Issay), who has a very late 1970s Bowie look. 

There’s a lot of Three Stooges’ level slapstick – director Makoto Tezuka clearly thought the skinhead security guys at the record company bopping people on the head with baseball bats was endlessly hilarious. The music is mostly pretty poor – a lot of it has a 1970s Eurovision vibe, 1950s rock-inspired but with an oompah cheesiness. 

The main actors are reasonably endearing – enough to make me wish that a better film had been built around them. But everything else is a mixture of the perfunctory and the bizarre. At moments it made me think of the more on-the-nose bits of Absolute Beginners and occasionally maybe Brian de Palma’s Phantom Of The Paradise, but it never approaches the messy fascination of either of those movies. 

The explanation for the shoddiness of all this is that it started as an album by Haruo Chikada and film student Tezuka was commissioned to make a movie from it. That could work, of course, but really doesn’t here. It would be great to say this was a rediscovered masterpiece, but it really isn’t. 

Part of my  ‘Every girl should be given an electric guitar on her 16th birthday’ series

[waveridden]

top five f@tt scenes?

oh man okay hm.

milli and s.i.'s big scene in the partizan finale. i was like... doing laps around my apartment trying to cope

echo vs ballad in the tm finale. you know how sometimes you have incredibly specific memories associated with podcasts? i listened to that while driving to work on black friday, and then i relistened to it while i was doing morning office stuff. i love that fucking scene

the entire arc of the hieron party killing the advocate is one of my favorite set of episodes ever so here are two related to that: red jack's speech, and the shot of hadrian and hella looking out over the utter destruction that used to be velas

the end of four conversations. marielda my beloved

maggie darcy in messy business pt. 4, at the very end, with the guy with the hands. i don't want to spoil this and i know there are people who follow me who haven't listened to bluff city, but it just... fully fucking ruled.

honorable mentions: the sequence where elena and chanti talk to goldfinch in the second superhero arc of bluff city, " i have to go my ears are ringing," the end of twilight mirage, corrasion's speech in bluff city, and everyone versus arrell in spring (throndir and benjamin. augh)

[chalantness]

Hey chanty! Don’t know if you’re taking prompts anymore but romanogers 12+27+34 maybe post iw 5 years later and they haven’t seen eachother in a while?

+ “Hi Chanty!!! I’m in the same boat. The endgame angst is real! I’d love #27 for Romanogers… Honestly just all the Romanogers smut, I’ll take it. But love when they sneak off for something naughty.” requested by @mamaladykt

so this is immediately after the snap and not “five years later” like was asked but i tried

12. Watching yourself disappear inside of her. + 27. I can’t wait until later. Now. + 34. Look at me while we come.

She knows the others had been worried when Steve picked up and left without a hint of where he was going, without a goodbye, and they’d been pissed for a few days once he’d gone, wondering why she hadn’t shared in the sentiment. They were finally together again - those of them that were left, at least - but it wasn’t enough of a reason for him to stay. That’s what they all thought, and she doesn’t blame them for coming to that conclusion.

But she knows better. She knows him. He’s not used to losing like this, to not being able to force his way into a solution. He needs the space and the time to be stuck in his head, mourning, processing, acknowledging all of that fear and hurt and helplessness he’d pushed away when they were in the heat of it all. He needs to finally face things, and maybe she shouldn’t let him do so on his own, but she knows better than to push. He left her with a rough kiss against the side of the building when she’d gone to see him off in the middle of the night, and a promise that he would be back, and she believed him. She still does and she always will.

And three and a half weeks later, he makes his way back.

The anger from the others had long dissipated, and it’s a little bit hilarious, honestly, how the room goes quiet when Steve walks back in that evening, his face clean-shaven and his hair trimmed by a few inches, as if he hadn’t left at all. He seems better, in the same way that all of them are better, and that seems to be reason enough for what little tension had been in the air to leave as quickly as it came. Rhodes greets him with a quip, and Bruce rambles something awkward and sentimental and that’s that, really.

Except, his eyes grow just a little darker and just a little hazier when they settle on hers, and he walks over to where she’s stretched out on the couch, lifts her legs up and then pulls them across his lap as he sits down. His hand curves over her thigh as she continues flipping through missing persons reports on her tablet, but the way his fingers are kneading her flesh through her yoga pants is distracting, and she knows he’s doing it on purpose. He knows that it’ll take nothing at all for her body to grow warm and needy and pliant under his touch, especially when she hasn’t had his hands on her for so long, and that’s exactly what he wants.

She casts a glance around the room. No one seems to be paying them any attention, and even if they were, she doesn’t think they’d care. She doubts they’d even be surprised, but still. This isn’t exactly the time or place, and she arches an eyebrow at him as if to say this.

He leans in, nips at her earlobe and murmurs, “I can’t wait until later.” He squeezes her leg, sliding his hand up higher. “Now.”

“I don’t have to follow your orders anymore,” she breathes out, and his eyes are glinting as they hold her stare, his lips twitching at the corners. “They’ll notice when we both disappear.”

“I don’t care.”

She almost laughs. “You all talk, soldier?”

He chuckles lowly, pulling her legs off of his lap so he can stand, and she watches as he crosses the room and leaves without anyone so much as glancing in his direction. She smirks into her tablet screen as she flips through a few more profiles, not really seeing anything in front of her, anymore. She waits partly in an attempt to be inconspicuous, but mostly because he’s a stubborn and impatient man and she loves riling him up a little. Then she sets her tablet aside and stands, catching Thor’s gaze as she crosses the room, and his lip hitches in an amused sort of smile as he gently shakes his head.

She turns into the hallway, walks past a few doors before she feels a hand grasp at her elbow and tug her off to the side, and her breathless little laugh is muffled by his mouth slanting over hers as her hips hit the edge of the bathroom counter.

She cups his face in her hands, rubs her thumbs over the beginnings of stubble along his jaw and whimpers when his thigh slots between hers, rubbing against her wet folds as her stomach flutters and tightens. He pulls away just long enough to tug her shirt up and over her head, and then his, and then he’s working her pants down her legs and lifting her onto the edge of the counter. Everything between them feels frantic and desperate, feels throbbing with need and heat, and she bites on her lower lip, unable to keep from smiling as she smooths her hands up the muscles of his chest and his fingers rub at her wetness through the thin material of her panties.

He smirks, eyes twinkling in amusement as he arches an eyebrow at her, and she drags his mouth back to hers before he has the chance to tease her. He rubs at her in quick, tight circles, drawing a noise from the back of her throat as she takes his bottom lip between her teeth, almost biting hard enough to draw blood.

“Later, we’ll take our time,” he promises against her lips as she fumbles with his jeans, grasping his hard length and pulling him out. “Later, I’m going to savor you. But right now?” He grasps her legs, hooks them around his hips as she poises him at her entrance. “Right now, I’m going to fuck you.”

“Promises, promises,” she murmurs, drawing another smirk on his lips before they’re on hers again, tongue parting her open and rolling into her mouth, kissing her as if he simply couldn’t spend another second without it.

He doesn’t let up, not even when he slides into her with one, smooth stroke and she tries to pull away to gasp. He doesn’t let her lips ease from his for a second, just wraps an arm around her, braces a hand against the mirror on the wall behind them as he starts thrusting into her. It takes no time at all for him to find a brutal pace, practically fucking her into the counter, and she loves it. She loves the way he hits her deep, the way it hurts just a tiny bit when he stretches her with each stroke, because it feels real. He doesn’t hold back with her, especially not with this, and she’d never, ever want him to. She wants it to bruise, wants to feel him hours afterward. She wants every inch of him to be imprinted onto every inch of her because it’s the closest to perfect that she’s ever felt.

She grasps his face in her hands and pries their lips apart, tipping her forehead against his shoulder, watching him disappear inside of her. Everything between them feels slick and hot, and she’s a little bit mesmerized by the way her body opens up for him, the way her folds tighten around him with every stroke, as if every part of her is greedy for every part of him.

“Touch yourself, Nat,” he suddenly commands, voice rough and tight, and she makes this little noise, her eyes still fixed on where they’re connected as she slips a hand between them and finds her clit. She moans, body jolting in surprise even though she’d known she was going to touch herself, and her body clamps down on him even tighter, somehow, as she rubs circles over her tiny bundle of nerves.

Steve groans, angles his hips and forces her legs a little wider apart as he fucks her harder, deeper, and her fingers falter as she moans out. She’s practically laying against the counter now, the back of her head pressing into the mirror as he fucks her, and nothing about this moment, this position, should feel as perfect as it does right now but she doesn’t care. She doesn’t care.

“Look at me,” he pleads, his muscles going taut above her as her spine arches and she feels that familiar sensation pulling her apart at the seams. “Nat, Nat, please, look at me while we come.”

She keens out a moan, eyelids fluttering open, and her vision goes blurry at the edges with pleasure as her stare fixes on his. He thrusts once, twice, three more times, and then she feels her orgasm bursting through her as her body writhes underneath him. He groans, exhaling a sharp, shallow breath, and then he’s coming what feels like seconds after her.

She whimpers, nails digging into the muscles of his back as his warmth spills into her, and his mouth comes over hers in a messy, hungry kiss, their bodies riding out the waves of their orgasms.

When they finally, finally, seem to be able to catch their breaths, Steve presses his face into her neck, peppering his way across the sweat-slicked column of her throat.

“Next time you decide to leave, Rogers,” she says, breathless and maybe just a little bit giddy, making him smile against her wild pulse, “you’re taking me with you.”

[midnightechoes]

Jackets (She-Ra fanfic) Ch 1

NOTES:

Hi! Welcome to the first fleshed out, multi-chapter thing I've written in years! I loved She-Ra and the Princesses of Power so much it's inspired this huge burst of creativity, so let's see how this goes! I'm not going to state how many chapters it'll be yet because I'm not exactly sure, but this will probably end up being pretty long.

I'll probably be adjusting and adding tags as I go and think of them. I'll also be using this section for chapter-specific trigger warnings.

Jackets is primarily a Catradora fanfic. It’s pretty plot heavy but I promise Catradora is what drives most of it. There’s also a Pertrapta subplot in it too. Because I love them. 

Okay, so I know that in the summary it says that Jackets takes place a year after the Battle of Bright Moon, but chapter 1 actually takes place only 4 months after the Battle of Bright Moon. That's because chapter 1 is sort of a prologue.

Also, because there will eventually feature explicit sexual wlw content I want to make sure to establish that ALL CHARACTERS DEPICTED are over the age of 18. Speaking of the smut though, don't expect it like every chapter, or even every other chapter. Jackets is very story heavy, if you're just looking for non-stop sex it maaaaay not be the fic for you.

If you enjoy Jackets please consider hopping over to AO3 and giving it some Kudos! Chapter 1 on AO3

TW: emotional abuse; emotional manipulation; violence; excessive Kyle

CHAPTER ONE - RIFT HOLLOW

Adora was staring at Catra’s outstretched hand. The catgirl had a one of her trademark smirks on her face, and Adora couldn’t tell why. Adora had been taken aback by Catra’s choice of clothes. A striking, dark plum colored suit with magenta accents and matching button down blouse. Her bowtie dangled around her neck, untied. Dirty tactics, Catra.

Since the moment Catra and Scorpia had arrived, Adora couldn’t help but fixate on her best friend. Ex-best friend? Friend-with-complications? She knew they were up to something, but so far the best Adora could tell Catra had come just to tease her. And now this. The smirk had gotten bigger, exposing one of Catra’s razor sharp canines. For the first time Adora payed attention to the music that was beginning to play. A jazzy little ballroom number. Adora resolved herself and lifted her hand to meet Catra’s. It seemed that playing her game was going to be the only way to figure this out.

Presentation and ritual were important to the Horde, even in matters of celebration. There were no parties. No spontaneous dancing in the aisles. No raucous chanties spun out of nothing. Ballroom dancing was the liveliest the Horde allowed. Even then, they made you practice it until it wasn’t fun anymore. Except when Adora and Catra practiced together. According to their instructor, Essteare, they were horrible at it. Too much improvisation. Too much laughing. Too many erratic motions. Gliding across that room, swaying and spinning in Catra’s arms, were some of the only times away from Force Captain training where Adora felt truly alive.

Essateare would have been so proud of this moment. Adora and Catra, hands pressed together, free arms bent at 90 degrees behind their backs. Tight. Precise.

Adora hated it.

“I know you’re up to something. I’m going to figure out what,” Adora said as they slowly circled around each other.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just here to enjoy myself.”

“We both know that’s not true Catra,” Adora huffed as she spun Catra away. She turned to receive the next dancer.

There was nobody there.

“Huh.” Adora blinked at the empty dance floor.

Catra slammed back into Adora, resting her head on Adora’s shoulder. “Just us this time,” Catra breathed. “Everyone else is gone.” In one smooth motion Catra grabbed and dipped Adora. Their faces were inches apart. Adora could feel every drop of blood she had flooding her cheeks. “Lucky them.”

“Wait, what?” The statement smacked into Adora.

“They’ve managed to get away from you,” Catra scoffed as she twirled Adora.

Adora was trying to regain her balance. “They’re my friends! They- They wouldn’t-”

Catra slammed into Adora again, knocking the rest of her statement out of her. She grabbed Adora’s hands and led her into a slow waltz. “Wouldn’t what? Want to be around you? Want to be in the blast radius of the inevitable ticking time bomb that is Adora?”

“I- I try not to be,” Adora was struggling to focus. She was trying to pull her hands free, but Catra’s grip was iron tight.

“Even if they haven’t figured it out yet, they will,” Catra sneered. “Getting away from you was the best thing to happen to me. I have friends now. REAL friends, not just someone using me as an emotional crutch!”

“I’m glad you have friends. I’m happy for you Catra, I really am.”

“People respect me now. They look up to me. The Horde believes in ME. All thanks to ditching you.”

Honestly it was shocking how tight Catra’s grip was. Even if she was She-Ra, Adora wasn’t sure she would have been able to break free of it.

Catra pulled her in. Their bodies were pressed together. Adora could feel the heat coming off Catra. “Let’s face it, I’ve done the world a favor,” Catra whispered into Adora’s ear.

Adora pulled her head back so she could look Catra in the eyes. There was something sinister in her stare. Every word Catra said slammed into Adora’s chest. Tearing. Pulling. It felt like Adora’s heart had a python wrapped around it, squeezing the life out of it.

“I don’t understand,” Adora airly breathed.

Catra let Adora go, and slowly backed away. The smirk had morphed into a wild grin. Almost feral. Almost evil. Catra’s claws were fully extended, soaked in red. Adora opened her mouth to plead with Catra to explain what she meant, but nothing came out. Just a huff of air, and a labored grunt.

It was then that Adora realized that she was getting light headed. Her abdomen felt like it was on fire. She looked down.

There was a giant gash in Adora’s stomach. Blood was gushing profusely from it. “Ca…Cat… tra,” Adora managed to push out as she collapsed onto the ground.

  Adora bolted up into a sitting position. Sweat was pouring down her face, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. Her chest was heaving, unable to catch her breath. She ripped her covers off and patted around her stomach. No blood. No hole or gash. No claw marks. There was no chance that there would be. This was more just busy work to calm herself down.

It was working.

As Adora’s breathing slowed to normal; as she wiped away the sticky residue of tears around her eyes; reality started coming back into view. Her bed. Her dark room in Bright Moon Castle, lit only by the moons high above in the sky. Judging from their positions, it was around 3 in the morning. A cool breeze was wafting in through the open doorway to her balcony. The breeze hit Adora. It danced around every bead of sweat, drawing goosebumps on her skin. Adora spun her legs around and dangled them off her bed. She sat there, at the edge of her bed, intently staring at seemingly nothing.

This wasn’t the first time Adora had that dream. Sometimes it went that way. Sometimes it went in a much more pleasant direction. Adora craned her arm around and gently traced the four gashes that ran halfway down her back, starting from her shoulder blade. The other side of her back had a matching set. It had been four months since the battle of Bright Moon, and the scratches on Adora’s back still hadn’t disappeared. She had for some time now come to accept that they wouldn’t.

Scars.

She-Ra doesn’t scar.

At least, She-Ra never had before, or since for that matter. What damage She-Ra did get never carried back into Adora. Except these. Adora knew that Catra’s claws were something to fear. She’d seen them glide through solid metal as one might run their fingers through water. She’d even been on receiving end of a few nicks from them. Granted, those instances were met with Catra being beside-herself distraught with what she had done, not maniacal glee.

Adora kept telling people that they were a statement Catra was trying to send to her. That wasn’t entirely true though. Adora knew that. They were the punctuation to the statements Catra had told her back during their ordeal in the Crystal Castle. Adora still hadn’t told anyone about what happened there, not even Glimmer and Bow. The entire extent of hers and Catra’s friendship was something Adora tried not to talk about. She thought it would make things between her and her new friends messier than they needed to be. Which meant that the Crystal Castle ordeal was something that she’d kept to herself.

She wouldn’t even know where to start at this point. Catra never summoned just one clear emotion anymore. It was this ball. Lumpy. Messy. That would press down on her chest and stick in her throat. Safer to just not bring it up at all than try sorting through it.

Not that she felt great about lying to her best friends. Then again, her and Catra apparently spent a lot of their lives not being honest with each other. Maybe this was just how Adora did friendship. The thought did something awful to the pit of her stomach. A strong gust of wind billowed in, causing Adora to shiver. Just enough to jolt Adora out of this pit of self-loathing that that she had found herself in. A pit that she had spent far too many nights in recently.

Chances of getting back to sleep were out of the question at this point. Adora got dressed into a sporty tank top and workout leggings. As was becoming a frequent custom, if sleep wasn’t going to happen, Adora decided to do the one thing that still cleared her mind: training.

  All things considered, Rift Hollow wasn’t a strategically important part of the Horde. It was hours southeast of the Fright Zone, even by skiff. A small farming town, it mainly supplied food for a few of the security checkpoints along the southeast border of the Horde.

Under normal circumstances, reports of civil unrest in Rift Hollow probably wouldn’t warrant even a Force Captain making the trip, let alone Lord Hordak’s 2nd-In-Command. Catra wasn’t concerned with the problems of Rift Hollow though. After the initial thrill of her promotion, the realities of the work set in. While unsuccessful, the assault on Bright Moon had been a great audition for Catra, but it had also left the Horde forces in shambles. These first four months as Force General had been dedicated to refortifying the ranks of the Horde’s army.

Catra’s personal project had been to put together a squad that she could trust. Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle had been natural choices. Well, maybe not Kyle, but his inclusion was essential to get Rogelio on board. They’d seen minor field work before, but today was their first big day. Catra wanted to be on hand to see how they performed.

The transport skiff lurched to a stop near the entrance of the town. Catra stood below deck, looking over the status report on Rift Hollow. Above her Force Captain Octavia was barking orders at the squads. Catra rubbed the bridge of her nose. Even now, as Octavia’s superior, something about that woman just grated at Catra. She couldn’t argue with Octavia’s effectiveness though. She was just so damn annoying. Or maybe it was just that this trip had been annoying. Hours of traveling through the Horde countryside just to come yell at some farmers. Or maybe… Maybe it was just everything. Truth be told when Lord Hordak had promoted her Catra mostly envisioned hanging out with Entrapta and Scorpia to come up with plans to take down those princesses, not… reports. Or staff updates. Or overseeing training.  

Octavia was finishing up. Catra let out a yawn before tossing down her notes and making her way up the stairs.

Octavia’s squad of rookies was tasked with securing the perimeter near the skiff and the entrance of the town. Catra led her squad of Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio into Rift Hollow. The townsfolk gave them a wide berth. Their fear was apparent. Catra enjoyed the feeling. They met with a local Horde security officer named Norn near the center of town.

At the sight of Catra Norn stiffened up and saluted. “Force General! Ma’am? So sorry we weren’t expecting you! Had we known that-” Norn started.

Catra waved him off. “Relax Officer, you’re fine. I’m just here to make sure my newbies are ready. Now, what’s the latest?”

“Fourth day of protests. Most of the farmers have halted work entirely.”

“Can’t have that now can we. Where are they?”

“Follow me, I’ll show you.” Norn led Catra’s squad through the town. Within a few minutes they were at the edge of the farmlands where a group of farmers were forming a pretty meager blockade and taunting the one Horde security officer already there. At the sight of Catra the farmers began yelling. The details of what they were saying were lost as too many voices overlapped each other.

Catra snapped her finger at Kyle. He lifted a horn up and pressed the button. A screeching sound filled the area, causing everyone to fall silent. Catra patiently waited until the horn died down. She had everyone’s attention. Even some of the townsfolk were making their way to see what all the common was about.

“Citizens of the Horde,” Catra began.

“You mean citizens of Rift Hollow!” a man called out from the crowd.

“ Excuse me ?” Catra growled. The man was easy to find, especially since as soon as Catra started moving forward everyone else moved away from the man as if he was contagious. To his credit, the man didn’t back down. He did gulp hard as Catra bared down on him, so only but so much credit. “You’re first and foremost a citizen of the Horde. Got it?”

The man mustered all the courage he could. “I was a citizen of Rift Hollow long before the Horde. And I’ll be one after the Horde too.”

Catra didn’t respond for a moment. She examined the man in front of her. Had to be in his mid-forties, easily. Without warning, Catra spun jerked her arm up and connected with a backhanded slap that sent the man careening to the ground.

All of Rift Hollow ground to a stop. Dozens of pairs of eyes were trained on Catra. She flicked her hand in a couple of motions in the general direction of her squad. Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle began spreading out.

“Okay. Gonna say this one time,” Catra announced. “Thanks to these little, fits , Rift Hollow hasn’t made its production quotas in two months. You WILL make your quota next month. If you don’t the next visit’s gonna involve tanks. Got it? Now, for the rest of today I’m imposing a curfew, starting now! Everyone go home. Anyone caught protesting, or out at all, will be disciplined.”

A couple of the farmers helped the man that Catra struck to his feet. Nobody was leaving. “We can’t be treated this way. We’re human beings dammit,” the man huffed.

“Yeah, stupid ones. Squad!” Catra called out. On cue Lonnie and Rogelio turned on their stun spears. Impressive weapons that had Entrapta written all over them. Kyle followed suit just seconds after them. Lonnie and Rogelio jammed the closest protesters, who dropped to the ground immediately in pain.

Panic struck the town. People started fleeing in every direction. A few tried to fight back. Lonnie and Rogelio were making those few immediately regret those decisions. Even Kyle was taking control of his area. The Horde security officers were assisting.

Kyle was trying to focus on herding the citizens back to their homes instead of engaging in physical altercations. “Focus Ky. Focus. You can do this. Just focus,” he kept chanting to himself. He came across a couple of surly farmers who didn’t much want to move or go home. “Re-return to your houses now fellas!” Kyle yelped. They just glared at him. “Please!” he added. The two men instead began approaching Kyle. In a panic Kyle jabbed out his spear. Sparks flickered as it connected with the first man, who fell over immediately. He swung the spear to the next man, dropping him also.

“Not bad, Ky!” Kyle assured himself. He spun around confidently, only to realize that another man had snuck up on him. The old man still seemed pretty spry for someone who looked to be in their seventies. He had a big pitchfork that he was rattling at Kyle. “Oh no,” Kyle whispered.

Meanwhile Catra had her attention trained on the man that she had struck originally. He seemed determined to stand his ground. Catra smirked while one hand rested firmly on her hip. “Look at what you’ve done.”

“What I did?! I didn’t threaten a whole town! I didn’t sic guards on people to force them into their homes! I-”

Didn’t get a chance to finish that sentence. Catra’s fist slammed into his face. The man stumbled. Front kick squarely into the stomach sent him back to the ground. She stood over the man and flashed her claws. The smile on Catra’s face was slowly widening.

A familiar screaming broke Catra’s concentration. Without even looking Catra had a good idea what she was about to see, and sighed. Kyle was standing there, a pitchfork plunged into his shoulder. Catra’s interest in the man she was assaulting waned.

Out of nowhere Rogelio appeared and sent the old man tumbling onto the ground. All 6’7” of the stocky green lizard man towered over the elder. Terror washed over his face as Rogelio began cracking his knuckles one by one. Rogelio began stalking towards the old man when he felt something tug at his pants leg. Rogelio looked down to see Kyle.

“Roj, sweetie please, don’t,” Kyle was able to force out. Rogelio reached down and pulled the pitchfork out of Kyle. He scooped the fraile, blond man up and cradled him in his arms.

Catra appeared next to them. “Rogelio, get Kyle back to the transport, and tell Octavia to get her squad over here!” Without hesitation Rogelio took off. “Dammit Kyle,” Catra sighed to herself.

  Before he even opened his eyes, the noises flooding Kyle’s ears were painting a picture. A rhythmic beeping that was keeping time with his heartbeat. The low hum of the various machines in the room. Hissing was sprinkling down from the halogen lights above him. And a constant scratching.

Kyle ventured to pry his eyes open. It took a moment for his vision to come into focus. Everything was as expected. A Horde infirmary. Judging from the better than average state of upkeep of it, he was probably in Horde Command, the military city at the center of the Fright Zone, where Fright Spire, Lord Hordak’s base of operations, resided. Home.

Just to Kyle’s left was Catra, sitting haphazardly in a chair, one leg dangling over the armrest while the other seemingly crumpled onto the floor. Every minute or two her tail would tap the floor. She hadn’t looked up yet from the pad she was holding as she steadily scratched a pencil along it. From his angle Kyle couldn’t make out what she was doing.

“Whatcha drawing?” Kyle croaked.

“Drawing?”

“Oh, I thought you might be doodling something.”

“What am I, 12?”

“You used to love-”

“Reports Ky. I’m filling out reports about today, which you missed the end of. Long story short, Rift Hollow is complying,” Catra gloated. She slowly pushed herself up and approached the side of Kyle’s bed.

“Nothing permanent. Doc patched you up good. Even with Rogelio breathing down his neck the whole time.”

“He worries.”

“I know. I’ll go get him in a minute. He’ll be happy to hear that you’re up. Only reason why he wasn’t here is because I was getting worried he was going to pace a groove into the floor.”

Their conversation died down. They let an awkward silence pass over them for a moment before Catra patted Kyle on the shoulder.

“I’m taking you back out of the field.”

“What? No! I can do this Catra!”

“Kyle, you let an old man wreck you on your first day! Look, I didn’t put any of the details into the report. This isn’t going to affect your permanent record.”

“Really Catra, please, I’ll do better next time! I promise! I-”

Catra waved her hand in front of him. “This isn’t a debate. I even talked to Rogelio already. He agreed, you’ll be safer here. We’ll find something else for you.”

“He’s my boyfriend, not my father! He doesn’t get to decide what I do and don’t do!” Kyle fumed. A fire was bubbling up inside of him and spilling over. This probably didn’t fit very well into the doctor’s ‘rest and recuperation’ plan.

“No, I get to decide,” Catra huffed, done with this conversation. “And I did. Kyle, on your first day you couldn’t even subdue a simple-”

“-Grandfather!”

Kyle hadn’t meant to blurt it out. Both of his hands immediately shot up to his mouth as his eyes bulged in his head. He could only muster looking up at Catra for a split second before lowering his gaze back down. She was silent, glaring at him intently. Her mouth was slightly agape.

He didn’t often win arguments with Catra. Kyle was pretty certain he hadn’t won this either. But maybe. Just maybe, he hadn’t lost it either.

“What?” Catra floated out. It was softer and more inviting than anything Kyle had heard from her in months.

Kyle inhaled hard, sucking in as much air, and courage, as his lungs could hold. “I hacked into the digital records a few years back. I just… I just wanted to know where I came from. That’s when I found them. My family. Four generations, all farmers in Rift Hollow. I’ll be the first to not.”

Catra sat down on the side of Kyle’s bed. “What happened?”

“Don’t know. That part wasn’t in the file. Something , happened to my parents. And the rest of my family had to give me up to the Horde.

“I… I check in on them now and again. Just to make sure they’re okay. My family doesn’t even know I’m alive,” Kyle sniffed.

It lasted only for a brief second, but Kyle was sure he had seen it. A flicker on Catra’s face. The scrunching at the bridge of her nose. The soft frown.

Compassion.

Just for that second though, then Force General Catra was back. “You’re a Horde soldier. We’re you’re family now. The only one that matters at least.”

Catra patted Kyle on the shoulder again. “And that detail aside, I still have concerns about you out in the field,” Catra conceded. Kyle hung his head. Catra scratched the back of her neck. A friend, a loyal friend, was crushed. It was plainly written on his face. Catra didn’t want to leave him like this. She’s better than that.

Think Catra.

Think.

Ah-ha!

The germ of an idea bubbled into Catra’s mind. She looked over to Kyle and gently slapped him on the arm. “Forget field work. You managed to hack into the Horde mainframe all by yourself?”

Kyle perked up. “Huh? Oh, yeah?”

  First came writing reports. Then came filing them into the computer. Catra knew it was probably faster to just write them on the computer in the first place, but she had an easier time collecting her thoughts through a pencil than she did a keyboard.

It had been full day, and these reports had taken her late into the evening. All that was left was Kyle’s. It was getting late, Catra could feel it in her body, which was calling for her bed. A cruel thing, really, seeing as how Catra knew that when she got there all she’d do is lie awake for hours, trying to pick out all the various hums and clanks of all the machines that kept the Fright Zone going.

Focus, or lack of focus actually, wasn’t helping either. Catra kept thinking about Kyle. Well, Kyle’s family.

Family.

Family…

Catra sighed. With a few clicks she found herself in another program. A Horde directory. Only available to the highest ranking members. Something Catra only had available to her for four months now. She typed her name in and hit the little button with a magnifying glass. The results popped up, causing Catra to sigh yet again. Longer this time though. She allowed the sigh to deflate her as she slumped into her chair.

Oh, look, it’s your file. And hey, under “Known Relatives” it lists “None”. Just like the last three times you did this. You and None really need to hang out sometime and trade family recipes or something. I mean, you don’t have any, but maybe they will!

The Horde is your family. This is all you have.

---

[thebardanon]

Remember that as January becomes February and February to March; Auntie Chanti and her little ones will be coming to visit. Leave her some summer foods by your back door. She never enters or leaves through the front. Also, make sure all the food in the house is checked, throw out any old/spoiled food and make sure all food is in the kitchen. a stray crumb may be taken by her children as an invitation to stay and they clean well in the late winter but they're quite rowdy and messy in the fall.

[twinklecupcake]

Give us some fun facts about Chanti! I love her

Aaaaaalright~!

1. When Chanti was little, she had a pet insect - think like a praying mantis. She had that pet for three years, until she was eight and her bug passed from old age.

She wanted another pet afterwards, but unfortunately she had more lessons by then and her family's advisers were getting more serious about "the heir as to start learning how to rule" so more lessons were added... and yeah, a pet, unfortunately, would not fit in her schedule by then.

Post-canon events, she would like to have a pet again, but can't decide what she wants.

2. She doesn't like to put her hair up unless she's going swimming or having a soak in a tub or spring. Wearing her hair up makes her look like her aunt, so she prefers to break tradition and leave it down... Buuut it's also heavy when wet, so she'll put it in a simple, messy bun at the back of her head when she's going near water.

3. Her favorite color is bright orange!

4. Chanti is used to dry heat, given how hot Fierno Isle is, and she's fine in cold climates due to being so warm internally (thanks to her fire powers), but she's awful in high humidity. She gets tired, lethargic, and grouchy, and then her physical wellbeing starts to suffer. She needs something cool to help her.

5. Speaking of the advisers and her schedule changing, much like I imagine the other princesses were, Chanti didn't have very much of a childhood. She got one or two hours of free time in the gardens to play a day, and that was it. And that's before her parents died and she had to step up.

There of course were her dancing lessons, though, and as hard as those were she did see that as 'fun,' rather than 'work.'

6. Chanti didn't have... the best education regarding "adult physical relations." Her parents and aunt weren't able to give her The Talk, and the advisers really didn't want to talk to their princess about it. All Chanti had to go off of were the equivalent of clinical pamphlets in the library that made things sound dull and mechanical at best, horrifically painful at worst. On top of that, after she turned 18, the advisers were on her to quickly marry and have an heir because this was wartime, anything could happen to her and if something did before the kingdom was secure...

So yeah, not only did she not have outdated knowledge, but also was being told outdated sentiments.

[farklelucas]

yo yo yo. so i loved the buzzfeed high ships headcanons and saw in the tags that you wanted to talk abt jen so please. go ahead. tell me everything about her. and jelsey?? an amazing ship i neeeeed to know more. sincerely, the ladylike anon. (also sorry if i’m annoying you but i love this series so freaking much!!)

ladylike anon can we please be best friends(you are literally never annoying i love this series toooooo)

jen is so fucking. Complicated. like she is at once one of the most talented and and most messy people on the team. like she always gets thrown and she’s really good at it and she’s really strong and makes a great bottom of the pyramid but sometimes. she just falls over. like there’s nothing even to trip over she just falls bc she’s a clumsy mess. god.

when you look at her, this obviously awkward tomboy lesbian, ur first thought is not cheerleader. and tbh she wasn’t even gonna be one at first. like she didn’t even know try outs were that day. she literally wandered into the gym in her fucking muscle top, confused, like ‘oh sorry i was going to play soccer in here’ but freddie immediately noticed her slight stature and strength and was like ‘hm…… maybe………… we should look into this’

she wears flannels or something flannel-patterned literally every day. like if it’s not an actual flannel it’s flannel vans or a snapback or a bracelet or leggings. you can’t stop it. the other cheerleaders are confused by how much flannel she actually owns. 

they dare her to construct a full flannel outfit. she pulls through.

sometimes she just fucking. climbs. they’re having a cheerleader sleepover and chanti is like ‘alright time for manicures! devin can you put the alcohol down. no, kristin, calm - fred - wait where the fuck -’ and jen is actually on top of the fridge, nerf gun in one hand and a bag of hot cheetos in the other, gun poised at devin’s drink

she is not just mischievous though obviously she’s also just such…. a good friend. like she genuinely loves with all her heart and she’s so sweet and kind. she goes with freddie when she wants to get her first tattoo and holds her hand the whole time. when someone in a poly relationship wants to bring multiple dates to prom and the headmaster won’t allow it she helps campaign for them. she consoles chanti when she and ash get into a fight. she takes kelsey on a date night to a cat shelter even though she’s allergic. (this really happened btw god i love jen.)

besides the ladylike gang, she and steven are Best Fucking Friends. they have sleepovers and skateboard and make fun of each other’s hair (even though jen actually loves steven’s hair, she thinks the blonde/silver is really cool) and they even go to church together sometimes (she’s not religious but she loves him so it’s cool). she’s also friends with niki, an underclassman, and they go to the gsa meetings and talk about how great their girlfriends are and go get spicy food. sometimes she, niki, and steven will all play video games together although niki and steven aren’t close.

okay i can go on about just jen all day but im gonna move on to jelsey lol

like i said jen takes kelsey to a cat shelter and kelsey Cries. and that’s when she knows she is In Love. she doesn’t say it but she knows.

kelsey likes to drink. a lot. and she’s v good at it. jen doesn’t drink as often but she’ll go with kelsey to parties and make sure she’s safe and occasionally listens to her drunken ramblings with raised eyebrows and takes snapchat pics and videos

they watch sad movies a lot. that’s their favorite activity. they both cry a lot. but on date night, for like a month straight, they just watch sad movies every time. me and earl and the dying girl, up, marley and me. (jen weeps at the last one.)

they take a lot of pictures for instagram. so many. it’s really ridiculous. and they often make other people take them. (you have no idea how many times zach has laid flat on the ground or ryan has climbed on top of something to take pictures of the two of them.) they’re VERY tumblr aesthetic wlw couple.

sexting is. so fucking funny. bc kelsey loves sexting but jen is not The Best at it and sometimes kelsey will start just bc she know jen will flounder which. jen is so cute when she flounders. god.

OKAY IM SORRY BUT IM BRINGING BACK THE PROM HEADCANON BC IT’S MY FAVORITE. okay so they are literally that couple that’s that one tumblr post - my femme wife, after spending three hours getting ready: okay babe ready to go. my butch ass, putting on a tank top: okay babe you look amazing let’s go. so like for prom, kelsey starts getting ready at 3:30 pm (the prom begins at 8 pm) and jen is done in 30 minutes by like 5, in a suit and a bowtie that matches kelsey’s dress, so she comes over and helps kelsey get ready. everyone is like “no you can’t see each other!!!!!1!!!1!” and they’re like “chillax we’re not getting married” and kelsey lets jen do her eyeliner bc jen is a pro.

this got out of hand but ANYWAY y’all can check out my buzzfeed series for more jen, ladylike, and jelsey