#who is SO easy to manipulate she can't even bring herself to be mean about it. she lets him in on the joke a little by making it flirting

[borrelia]

i think knuckles and rouge have such a fun relationship (platonic) but rouge (bi) only flirts with him as a joke bc its just soooo funny its soooo easy to get a reaction from this guy that just Doesn't know how to handle outright flirtation. shadows like u gotta stop that rouge youre just gonna confuse him. and shes like i knooo 😔 but i can't help iiit hes sooo cute (patronizingly. pinching his cheeks-ing-ly). and plus he DOES like the compliments... look how big he puffs up when she calls him handsome awww funny little guy

[your-nanas-house]

Y/n and Jackson ripner join the mile high club

Yes yes yes yes yesss. First time writing of Jackson, hope you will like it.

The Mile High Club

◇ Pairing: Jackson Rippner X fem!Reader

◇ Warnings: smut, Jackson, easy collaboration, shitty writing and cheating

◇ Summary: Jackson finds himself as a hostess in a private jet, his target? A young woman who is about to get married but her fiancé isn't there.

◇ Note: Sorry for the mistakes and the English.

There she was, standing in that rich pretty dress of hers, waiting for the crew to set the stairs so that she could enter the private jet.

A jet where Jackson Rippner managed to be in as a part of the hostess there, ready to find the perfect time to work on his plan— which was part of a job he got.

There was just a problem, he was expecting a couple, Mr Gray, and his soon to be wife but there was only the woman there.

That wasn't a big issue though, he could easily manipulate her naive and spoiled self— he just needed to find a moment alone with her.

It took him a while since the other hostess kept moving around her like flying hawks ready to take care of her wishes and mind her business, wanting to know all the juicy details of why she was there all one.

Jackson found it extremely annoying and was kind of amused when he noticed that Y/n herself was finding it bothering but was too polite to say anything— reason because it took her nearly thirty minutes to finally manage to enter the red door down the jet, turning the tag 'don't disturb' to finally have some peace.

It was finally time, Jackson waited a couple of minutes before heading to that door, holding the welcome tray decorated with petals and a wine bottle, two glass on it, a tiny bowl with heart-shaped chocolate and a cup with whipped cream— he found himself almost too mean to bring it to her but it wasn't his fault after all so with a gentle smile he approached the door, ready to know.

That's when the annoying female voice of one of the hostess appeared

"You can't go there" she said, chewing a gum while looking at him, making Jackson nearly role his eyes and insult her— luckily for him he managed to hide it under a friendly poker face.

"Miss—" he started to try to come up with a lie but she interrupted him again

"I know that she didn't asked for it!—" the woman said, moving closer, ready to try to use her pathetic tricks of seduction that made Jackson already gag and rolls his eyes in annoyance.

His patient was running out and that woman was about to see it if she didn't let him enter that damn door.

"Where's my tray?" A more melodious and gentle voice spoke, the both of them turned their head, facing the soon to be Mrs Gray who was peeking out of the door, waiting almost demaindingly, saving and allowing Jackson to enter that room.

Y/n closed the door and locked it with a quick motion of her wrist, her eyes didn't meet Jackson's at first but his met her body for sure.

She headed to the bed and sat down with a soft sigh

"Pretty annoying, aren't they?" She asked, smiling slightly as she finally met his gaze— she had different clothes, a see through red nightgown with matching lingerie, her hair were down and she had a tired expression on her face as she was sitting on a wine red bed, decorated with petals.

There was also a nightstand with a note and lube, decorated also with rose petals, and a small table with a boule full with condoms.

It looked like a honeymoon suite which made the situation even sadder for the young woman but even better for Jackson

"I'm honestly quite surprised to see a man here, serving as an hostess— don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad in it but my soon to be husband prefers...women. Do you like strawberries?" She commented, her eyes on him as she waited his replay.

Jackson rested the tray on the table and with a polite smile he nodded, his eyes looking at her in an almost predatory way while replying "I do" implying more with his traveling eyes.

.

With that he found himself deep balls inside of her, his mouth against her shoulder as he bite hard to leave a mark on her as his hips kept nearly drilling inside her cunt.

Her boobs kept bouncing at each thrusts, her head was throw back and her mouth was open, letting exquisite moans leave her whole body.

Y/n's arms kept holding into Jackson's hair and shoulders for dear life

"Harder" she begged, moaning his name when her legs caged him there, making him thrusts even deeper.

It was just when Jackson grabbed her throat that she switched roles, holding him down while bouncing on his hard thick cock as if she was coming from a western

"I know you seek more" she breathed out, slowing her pace, starting just to roll her hips to find her own pleasure

"My fiancé would never let a man work in one of his private jets, expecially one like this" she cleared, biting her bottom lip as Jackson kneaded roughly her breasts

"Smart girl, I honestly thought that your intelligence matched your beauty but I was wrong apparently" he murmured, positioning his legs better, to have a better support to start to thrusts in an animalistic way inside of her tight pussy, making her bounce effortless.

"I need the passwords of your fiancé's apartment and alarm system and I need you to make him go to the house" he revealed, his hips still snapping up, her hands on his pale chest

"That's not a problem—" Y/n said, letting out a moan

"I can give them to you but..." she added, 'Of course there was a but' Jackson thought, ready to prepare some other way to make her speak.

Y/n simply moved off him, earning a soft grunt from Jackson, she lied next to his body and pulled him closer, making him thrusts again as he nearly spooned her

"I want to know the real reasons" she said and he told her, his hips rocking back and forth making his cock move inside of her— and even after what he said she started to write down things on the note that her fiancé left her.

Jackson kept looking from her shoulder, his hands on her hips.

As soon as she finished and passed him the note he manhandled her, making her go on all four for him so that he could take her roughly while checking if she was telling the truth.

She actually told him the truth, the hate she had for her fiancé was stronger that he thought and it helped him for sure so he rewarded her with orgasms and his sticky cum inside of her cunt.

Taglist:

@gabile18 , @mrsfullbuster500 , @rex-ray , @elizamalfoyy, @eovjjj , @wife-of-magic-monkeys , @jeremiah-va1eska , @gothamchic16, @rabbiteggz , @dieg0brandos-wife , @rottenecstasy , @lazyexcuse , @teh-vampire-bunny , @lobotomy-lover , @slasher-smasher , @sleepycreativewriter , @mrkdvidal1989

[dearembraced]

KHOC WEEK DAY 5 - UNIQUE - @khoc-week

Do you remember why you named me Saorise?

Decided I'm gonna focus on one of the three I started the week with for today and tomorrow since I could only do one yesterday aswell. So for today's prompt, I chose Saorise as a chance to develop her more and because she fits the prompt very well.

The name Saorise means Freedom. Invi named her this to give her agency and to show the pity she had for the firsts as a whole. Invi thought that the master of masters nearly went too far with this experiment - making living beings that only represent someone's negative emotions could surely lead them to ruin - so she named her first Saorise to give her agency and the motivation to be whoever she wanted to be, not just the negative emotions that bound them together.

Saorise, someone who is pure envy, hated the pity being shown to her. But, as she was being given freedom, she ran with it. She had to stay within the union, but she used her position to her advantage and became known as the 'Prince of Anguis'. Everyone wanted to partner up with her - everyone wanted to be her. What makes Saorise unique is her charm and powers of manipulation. She is unique because she is worshiped by her union.

All because she is envy. All because she wants others to love her, and she wants desperately to love others but due to being what she is - she can't bring herself to trust anyone. Not even the other firsts - at least not fully.

When confronted by Invi about her behavior, Saorise was able to easily turn the conversation in her favor.

"Well, why did you name me Saorise, then? Didn't you give me the freedom to choose who I wanted to be?" "I'm just trying to make your union strong, master! After all, you're so busy watching after the other foretellers, as is your role, so please - leave matters of the union to me. I'll make sure they are ready for the war." "Are you jealous, Master? That I have more love from your wielders than yourself? Good. It means I'm doing my job correctly. You forgot so quickly, didn't you? That I am your inner thoughts, I am your want to be loved by everyone, I am envy." "Oh yes, I am well aware I could be anyone else - I could choose not to fall into my sin, I could choose not to contribute to the union at all! But that's the thing about sin, isn't it? Do you think it would be called sin if it was so easy to break free from? If it was so easy to not choke on it, suffocate, and only be able to speak lies and pretty words that people want to hear and not the truth. The truth that I'm suffering every day. The truth that it's your fault that I can't trust others, that I can't be normal, that I exist at all in this sorry state! You dare name me freedom and yet fail to see the shackles which you put on me yourself!"

Saorise is probably the most unhinged of the firsts - probably because Invi is one of the most put-together. They are direct opposites of one another, and while Invi managed to tame Saorise, give her a name, and get her to stay within the union - it came at the cost of Saorise's waning sanity.

[beevean]

I mentioned this yesterday, and I'm going to elaborate more because the brainrot is strong:

the scene where Lanolin throws Whisper to the ground is identical in spirit and reception to the scene where Lenore brutally beats Hector.

First, the setup. Whisper, frustrated and panicked by Duo slipping away while Lanolin is defending him, grabs her by the arm, likely with the intention of pulling her out of the way. While she technically shouldn't have done that, it's obvious what lead her to act that way, especially since she's not the kind of person who puts her hands on other people. It was an emergency. It was due to haywire emotions.

Hector has been tricked, forced to betray his master, savagely beaten, dragged through the snow barefoot for one month, and now thrown in a cell, naked and starved, knowing that he's at the mercy of vampires who want to enslave him at best. So, when one of those vampires comes to talk to him, brings him good food and reassures him that she means no harm, he snaps and threatens her: "I know I can't kill you, but you call the guard and tell him to unlock this fucking door or I will rip your fucking throat out and break your fucking neck, and we'll just see how fucking well you live". We can argue all we want about this treatment, but it's easy to understand that Hector was not thinking clearly for all the reasons.

In short: both assaulted first. But the circumstances are understandable.

The consequences. Lanolin, who is Whisper's comrade as member of the Diamond Cutters 2.0, who had got to know Whisper more since they first met, especially about her mental issues, slams her to the ground with deliberate force and a furious sneer on her face. Whisper is not particularly strong: she's a sniper. If she is strong enough to do this, she's strong enough to break free of Whisper's grasp. Nothing so far in her limited characterization hints at her being triggered by being touched.

Lenore not only frees herself from Hector's grasp, but she proceeds to violently beat him (again), with a fury that goes well past self defense. She slashes him, slams him around, kicks him into a corner, and steps on him, even laughing maniacally in a mocking way. She then concludes as such:

"Well. Wasn't that fun! I'm a diplomat, Hector. I make peace. Carmilla thinks you're a useful idiot at best. Striga wants to kill you when she thinks about you at all, and Morana wants to torture you. Not to get information out of you… just because she finds it calming. I make peace. And because of that, people think I'm soft. People think I'm weak. You won't make that mistake again, will you?"

And then she throws a berry at the bloodied, unconscious Hector, calling him a "good boy" :)

In short, not only Lenore makes it clear that she's the only person who doesn't want Hector dead or to suffer (after all of that), but that whole sequence was a display of strength. It was a warning. Don't cross me, be a good boy, or I might beat you again, and it will be your fault. It's the start of Lenore's manipulation and abuse.

The reception: I won't be long here. The victim of the beatings get blamed.

Lanolin gets defended because y'all are just sexist, I guess (to which I simply say, lol and lmao you weren't around in the 2000s and it shows). Lenore gets defended because fans really love to broadcast how much they masturbate to the hot mommy. The result is the same: a person gets brutally attacked, and they get no sympathy.

And I blame the framing. Lanolin here is one of the good guys. She's the shiny new OC that has just become the bestie of the beloved Tangle and Whisper. She has been promoted to main character and given a whole new badass coat of paint. We are meant to see her as a poor victim of Duo's manipulations, and, well, of course she would not believe Whisper! Of course she would defend herself from her mean... grabbing! She has issues, she has PTSD, she's impulsive, she's not fully rational when it comes to Mimic! So really, Whisper should have known better.

As for Hector and Lenore, I went about it here, even comparing the scene with the similar one of Hector begging Dracula to stop killing humans - a similarly hopeless scenario, but where the victim is framed as being desperate and brave, not an idiot who deserved what he got.

So yeah. I can't help but ask myself this: what is about Peak Fiction and bringing the abuse apology in people? It makes me genuinely uncomfortable.

[argentumcor]

Jurassic World Dominion and the Failure to Understand the Themes of Jurassic Park

That's right. Jurassic Park has themes. Crichton has been accused of constantly rewriting Frankenstein, which isn't quite true- State of Fear is not that; I recommend that book if you're in the mood for something that makes fun of the spirit of our age in a delightfully mean way. The movies changed a lot but they maintained his core themes pretty well- until Dominion, Fallen Kingdom's, uh, narrative incoherence aside (should have been about Owen, not Claire again).

What are the themes of Jurassic Park? In no particular order and probably not exhaustive:

Science cannot solve every problem.

Man is very bad at being God and when we try, people die horribly.

Humanity is not capable of understanding, let alone controlling, complex systems, and needs to respect these facts.

Nature is mean.

Materialism has made for a really shitty ethics system, to say the least.

You can quibble, but Crichton and the JP movies aren't subtle. It was brilliant to make Ian Malcom so much to take personally, and someone who likes to say "I told you so" too much to take action, because he is right a lot but is clearly not an author's pet and has the moral flaw of not acting before bad things happen.

Jurassic World has a lot of flaws as a follow-up, but it imperfectly maintains these themes until Dominion, where it precedes to blow them up. The owners of Jurassic World can't help to keep dabbling in forces they can't understand and the raptors are still dangerous and smart and not something to toy with. It doesn't take a lot for the park to go to hell really fast.

The first part of Fallen Kingdom is dumb. Claire is not the sort of character who would go off to care about "dinosaur rights", which was deeply stupid, and all her big and pretty well executed character development happened in the first movie. It should have been Owen's story, with them being together and him getting talked into going back to get the dinosaur he has an emotional connection with.

The part with the little girl, Maisie, is more interesting and fits the themes better. It comes to light she is a clone of old man Lockwood's daughter, who passed away young, and that Hammond split off from Lockwood (no relation to the young handsome ghost hunter hero) because he saw this as an abomination. Which it is. Maisie herself is not an abomination- she's a person- but her conception was.

Maisie was created as an object. Her 'grandfather' wanted to defy death and bring his daughter back to life. He did not want Maisie; he wanted his daughter. That he might have grown to love Maisie as herself does not negate what his goal was. It's twisted. From the moment of her conception, she was treated as an object- the same as the dinosaurs, hence her sympathy for them (Owen and Claire still should have told her letting them out was really stupid and wrong, because it was; people died). The process to create Maisie and the Indoraptor showed no respect for the natural order.

Now we come to Dominion.

Humanity has been mucking around with forces beyond its ken again, using a materialistic ethical framework that has gone badly wrong again and is going to get worse. Locusts, you imbeciles...the people who advised the use of fucking locusts must have been the products of a post-modern educational system.

Of course, Dr. Wu in his newfound and much, much belated ethical torment concludes he can fix this mistake of genetic manipulation with even more genetic manipulation. Super easy, barely an inconvenience (seriously, it was harder to flip the circuit breakers in Jurassic Park than sort out this locust mess).

Do you know how they sorted out Jurassic Park's mistakes of genetic manipulation in the book? They firebombed it. Because its creation was hubris of the highest order and its hazard was incalculable. It needed to be eradicated. And it still didn't solve the problem, because the raptors got off the island (and started spreading a mysterious disease). Science cannot solve every problem. Indeed, humanity cannot solve every problem. Some things are beyond our control, no matter how much we try.

My theory is that in 2022, the themes of Jurassic Park were...disallowed by the Hollywood zeitgeist for multiple reasons. The very big one, occurring during filming, was the pandemic. To say that something like a plague of locusts could not be solved by science would be...a message that would not be allowed. I have no idea if there were rewrites. Also it is long disallowed to find materialistic ethics systems wanting, though these days I feel entertainment dares to dabble in the shallow end of that.

The thing that really gets me about Dominion is the retcon of Maisie's origin, or rather the motives for her origin. Her mother (genetic twin sister) had her made...to be able to give herself a second try after her genetic disease killed her? To experience being pregnant before she died? To claim she was a mother (notice no man at all in the picture, so the kid would have no parents)? As a genetic experiment about super extra special gene modification?

None of this is better than the original version of Maisie's conception, but it is framed in an intensely sentimental fashion. Maisie is the product of something twisted, she was made as an object for someone and not a person, a child, and this should bother her. Her learning to live with that being the reason people had her made is more interesting than her learning oh, the woman she is the clone of was her mother and wanted her to go out and truly live and now she's just okay with this.

I think Crichton would have really enjoyed exploring a character with this problem. It's common in super soldier narratives and such, so it isn't wholly unexplored. Dominion just opted skip out on the...casual cruelty of Maisie's conception. The fact that it was mankind acting like it was God, with the best of intentions, and treating a human being as an object to be used for its own ends (legacy, betterment of mankind, vague and unfulfillable desire to be a mother because she would be dead, pick your motive) from the moment she was conceived is just glossed over with weepy girl-power sentiment.

This all neglects the bad pacing and other issues with Dominion. It's just such a post-modern movie, where before the franchise hewed to a pre-modern morality. It makes me mad because Jurassic Park said something important about science and humanity's role in the world. Dominion offers sentimental "mankind can do anything" mush that isn't true and hurts more than it helps.

As a species, we are capable of amazing things. But we are not God. Life and death are not ours to command. We cannot fix all problems we face. These are not simply moral opinions, these are laws of the universe with perhaps greater rigidity than that of gravity. Humility in the face of this benefits us far more than charging in to muck about with nature as if we can control it utterly- or to batter other about as if- if they would just do x, y, and z- everything would be perfect. It also prepares us for the bitter shocks of life, because we understand that we simply cannot control or even understand so many things.

[hiswordsarekisses]

This is so good I’m posting it a 2nd time. It’s very sad, but so very important, because this has happened to so many people in this world. Some may read this and not realize that this is a perfect picture of what it really actually means to use the Lord’s name in vain. It’s not about saying curse words. It’s about using His name falsely - either for reasons of manipulating in some way, or claiming His name, like a wife takes the name of her husband - but not actually being truly married to Him in her heart. Many will answer for the hearts they destroyed in His name one day.

“I have religious trauma.

was raised in a household where my dad wanted to be God, and so characterized God in a way that left me constantly paranoid.

God was a judge, God was a debt collector, God was a hammer waiting to strike.

My mother was likewise delusional to a point. She used religion as a manner of control, manipulating my egotistical dad and our chaotic little world so she could feel better about herself.

I was abused in the church. I've been to so many churches since childhood I can't count them.

I was told I was possessed because I was a child with adhd and couldn't sit still in a pew. I was told that if I didn't see visions or speak in tongues, I wasn't saved. I was told that I must be thinking about God at all times or I wasn't good enough. That I was lukewarm, unlovable, unworthy.

I was too afraid to take communion.

I cried and turned away from the altar multiple times because I was a too dirty to touch the offering.

I was told so many awful things that I grew up with a persistent religious paranoia on top of my already anxiety inducing life.

So... why am I still a Christian, after all of that?

Stockholm syndrome, right?

It would be easy to write it off as that, but I did turn away from religion. In the back of my mind. I stayed cautious just in case God was still watching.

It wasn't until I got rid of the destructive influences in my life that things changed.

My perception of God changed when I left the awful people using His name in vain- or for personal gain.

When I grew up, learned to be discerning about the character of people.

Many people live under the assumption that I did- that God is a tyrant who is waiting for you to mess up so he can smash you and send you to hell. Paradoxically, that almost makes Satan sound preferable.

But that's not who God is, and he doesn't want people to go to hell.

Even if you haven't had good parents, you've seen what they're like. They get excited to share experiences with their children. The first taste of lemon, the first puddles to splash in. First words, first laughs, first steps.

God wanted that for us.

Satan got jealous after his rebellion in heaven. He saw God had something good and wanted it for himself again - even if it was just to spite God.

He offered humanity a choice and we took it.

We can debate why it happened until we're blue in the face, but what matters most are God's decisions afterwards.

Everything that has happened since the fall has been God trying to bring his wayward children back without force.

Just like when you see that friend of yours making the same bad decisions day after day, and you know their quality of life would improve if they just stopped. It's heartbreaking, frustrating.

You can give them all the advice in the world but they'll just keep on doing the thing and complain to you about every headache afterwards.

Now you know a little what God feels like.

Only God is a little more patient than we tend to be.

God doesn't ask much from us, not as much as people, which is weird to think about.

God doesn't measure your worth by how good you are at your job, how badly you do in school. He doesn't equate your value to how rich or poor you are, he doesn't judge you the same way people do.

The first thing he asks of you is to love him and love each other.

He loves us so much that he opened heaven again if we ask for it.

He came down as flesh and blood in Jesus and took all the punishments we should've had.

In Jesus death and resurrection, we have a way home.

All he wants for us to do is acknowledge that.

He doesn't hate you if you can't pay tithe. He doesn't talk behind your back if you make a mistake. He doesn't demean, debase, abuse.

Why am I still a Christian?

Because God was there for me when people weren't.

God didn't abuse me as a kid, people did, and used God as a shield.

God didn't lie to me, call me names, break my things - my parents did.

God didn't order me to do unbelievable things in order to reach him - my pastors and teachers did.

God didn't tell me I'm unworthy - people did.

Even if you don't believe in God, if you're angry at him, feeling hurt and betrayed -

Maybe take a closer look and see if it's really the people who were, or are, around you making you miserable, instead of an untouchable, invisible hammer.”

From https://www.tumblr.com/love-is-patient

[sigynsilica]

Mmmm if I may come at this from a vaguely different perspective than what I typically see

Loki was abused by Odin. That's canonical. Frigga is an apologist for Odin's abuse. That is also canonical. If Frigga wasn't an apologist, the line "your father always has a purpose for everything he does" would not exist.

In this scene, Frigga refers to Odin as Loki's father, and Loki sets a hard and fast boundary: Odin is not Loki's father, and Loki doesnt want people to refer to him that way.

He has his reasoning. Odin is not his biological father, Odin has basically disowned him, himself, and Odin was abusive to Loki throughout his entire life.

Frigga doesn't respond to this with any degree of respect. She pulls a guilt-trip, in the form of asking if that means she's not his mother either.

Now we know perfectly well that Loki will estrange himself from whoever he wants to, and he won't from whoever he doesn't. In the script of the MCU, he disclaims Odin and Frigga as his family, but never once does he ever say Thor is not his family.

That's on purpose. Thor and Loki are still brothers.

It is only fair for an adopted child to decide for themself whether they accept the people who adopted him as family, especially if those adopters were abusive.

Frigga, in this scene, is drawing a line in the sand. She's saying that if Loki doesn't want Odin as a parent, he can't have Frigga as one, either. She's picking sides. She's choosing her husband over her son. And Loki lets her.

Why? Probably because this isn't the first time she's pulled this kind of baloney. He's not humoring her. If she wants to go there, she can stay there. It's not an easy thing for him to do. He's close to tears. But he set that boundary, that Odin isn't and shall not be referred to as his father, and he feels he needs to stick to his guns.

Frigga didn't need to go there. She knows she can be an influential person in Loki's life without being his mother. That's not her point. Her point was to be petty and dramatic over who Loki decides to label as his family. Loki could have (and absolutely should have been able to) estranged himself from Odin without leaving Frigga behind in that mix-up.

And then that next line she says makes my blood boil. "So perceptive, about everything but yourself."

PLEASE PAY HEED TO THE FACT THAT SHE JUST TOLD HIM TO HIS FACE THAT HE'S LYING TO HIMSELF ABOUT HIS OWN FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS.

She just presumed to know the contents of his head, and told him she knew him better than he knows himself.

Can I just say that is peak manipulation? She just gaslit him and everyone thinks that was so sweet and tender and sad that she'll never give up on her baby.

That's not what's happening.

She doesn't want her baby to relate to his family on any terms but her own, so she a) forces him into situations and choices that didn't need to be made and b) invalidates him when he makes the choice she doesn't like.

That face in the last gif is not a face of regret. That is a face of resigned irritation. He knows very well that he had to let go of the parent he had a better relationship with in order to let go of the one who was hurting him. He knows that didn't need to happen. He knows that Frigga brought that upon herself and now she's pissed over it.

And unfortunately she literally did die mad about it.

For all the Frigga lovers, I'm not saying Frigga's a bad person, but only because I don't believe in bad people. I think one of the worst things someone can do in Frigga's situation when she saw Odin abusing her children is exactly what she did: about eighty percent A Whole Lot of Nothing, and twenty percent trying to get the Bros to like Odin despite everything. The only reason I bring any of this up in the first place is because on surface level, this does look like Sweet Perceptive Mom Things To Say. So often when Frigga says anything it's that way, because that's how she's written.

But I see a lot of my own mother in Frigga, and not in a good way. Even if she isn't as obviously the bad guy as Odin, she's not a better parent than him. Most apologist parents have better relationships with their kids than the active abuse parents, because that is exactly how the apologist parents want it.

Tldr:

Thor: how do you deal with all this trauma?

Loki: I call my mama ☺️

Thor: that's beautiful man ☺️

Loki: ...call my mama a bitch >:)

“He’s not my father!”

[vartouhix]

Aloe, chamomile, lavender, poppy

botanical headcanons ; accepting aloe : how does your muse handle grief ?

You would think that, with having had family that were sorcerers ("were" because they either died or retired in fear of dying), she would be more used to death. But she's not. It guts Jangmi every. single. time. She was raised by her grandparents because her mother and father both died on missions shortly after she was born. Jangmi often thinks how strange it is that two people who would have been such significant figures in her life were completely snuffed out of her timeline. It is a harrowing thing to think of how they never saw her waddle around in diapers, were never there to dry her tears after coming home from a particularly hard day at school, never joined the clapping at her graduation. She often wonders how life would be different if she had known them. Some people say it's hard to miss someone you never really knew, but in Jangmi's case, that isn't true. Her heart aches for them, in the moments where she dwells on their absence from her life. She doesn't cry anymore, not like she used to as a child, but it still hurts.

For people she does know, like Haibara, she isolates. As much as she wants to let everything out, she fully realizes that approaching Nanami, Gojo, Geto, or Ieri might blow up in her face, as everyone grieves differently. She doesn't want to trigger anyone because she can't handle her feelings by herself--she doesn't want to be a burden. She goes to Yaga-sensei and the school doctor at the time for counseling, but it's not enough. Jangmi cries herself to sleep for months, cries in her sleep as she dreams of him. It's not pretty or tranquil crying, either. It's screaming into her pillow to muffle the noise until her throat is raw and painful. Her pillowcase is soaked by the time she finally wears herself out. Jangmi's eyes are red and swollen when she goes to class the next day, and she can't meet anyone's gaze, knowing how obvious it is. She stays away from the group so they might not pay attention to her; might not notice it. Again--she doesn't want to bring anyone down, remind anyone of the loss, even if it's the elephant in the room.

With casualties on missions--people she doesn't know--she still hurts. All she can think of is Haibara, and how he loved his younger sister, and he had parents, and such a bright future... She thinks to herself, so did these people who lost their lives. No matter how she tries, she can't seem to harden her heart like her colleagues have. She just distracts herself with other things so she doesn't have time to dwell on it. But she loses sleep over those people. Tears make their way down her cheeks as she stares at the ceiling and sees their bodies in the darkness. She takes sleeping medication for those nights.

chamomile : what is your muse likely to take away from a painful experience ? are they one to be haunted by adversity , or to use what they’ve gone through to become stronger ?

I answered this here. ^^ I want to specify that when I said "haunted by," I don't mean it's something she thinks of every day, but rather that when certain variables start to come together--ones that could potentially weave into becoming that thing that happened before--she'll obsess over it and want full control over the situation. She hopes that, having been through this before, she has enough insight to make better choices, to manipulate things to go better this time around, to avoid the pain. That's when she's "haunted by" it.

lavender : how easy is it to gain your muse’s trust ? once their trust is broken , how might one go about mending it ?

Jangmi used to be very wary of people, because of all the bullying she endured. She was wary of her fellow students at Jujutsu High until so much time had passed without incident that she finally began to relax a little. In her adulthood, she still has a healthy skepticism about strangers. So many of her bullies had been popular, conventionally attractive people... She knows that anything could be lurking beneath the surface, no matter how beautiful or beloved someone seems to be. However, it's not nearly as bad as it was in her adolescence. Back then, she might have immediately expected bad things of new people she met, whereas as an adult, she feels neutral about them, simply waiting to judge them by their words and actions--and actions more than words. Speaking of which, if her trust is broken, an apology isn't enough. It is, however, the first step, and a required first step, in her opinion, because if you aren't going to own your breach of trust, are you really even trying to mend things? It's in actions that she'll come to trust again.

There are some things that you can't come back from, for her. Killing or torturing innocents, for example. As much as she was smitten with Geto, there is nothing he could say or do that would regain her trust. If he had given himself up, somehow been given the option to be detained in some sort of sorcerer-prison and repent, she would have accepted the terms, might be polite and even cordial with him when they were in proximity, but she would never trust him again. After all, if a switch was suddenly flipped once, couldn't it be flipped again? And in her love life, cheating is something someone cannot come back from. Once someone cheats on her, she cannot trust them again.

poppy : what comforts your muse ?

Jangmi likes to escape into books; it's something she's been doing since she could read. She also always really enjoys physical touch. For example, even with something as simple as a headache, she likes to lean her head on someone's shoulder, or lie her head in their lap and have them play with her hair or pet her head. It just gives her those warm, happy feelings that help her feel better. The smells of lavender and jasmine comfort her, as well. Food smells like vanilla don't really do it for her, because they just make her hungry.

[a-couple-of-notes]

I said in this post that the showdown with Yu revealed some juicy stuff about how Bells Hells operates separately and together, and after watching it back on YouTube...yeah, I absolutely stand by that. Let's talk about it.

Imogen, Information, and Self-Control

As much as we love to talk about Imogen's moments of rage, or whether or not she'll crack and go ham on the moon, Imogen's actions here remind us that she operates on a baseline of extraordinary self-control. Imogen doesn't blast Yu to bits, even when Yu turns into Imogen to manipulate Laudna. I don't think this is out of character or Laura going easy on a guest PC. I think this is Imogen exerting an iron grip on herself because Yu has information, and Imogen's priority is getting information.

All of Imogen's moves here - starting with knowledge-seeking questions ("What the heck is the Unseelie Court?" [0:18:44]), Mage Handing the door, casting Detect Thoughts, Commanding Yu - are about controlling the situation long enough to get all the information.

If there hadn't been information in the balance, it would have been a very different thing, because then all of Imogen's need for control would have gone to "how to end the fight efficiently." This is what we saw in the fight at the museum and the Deathwish Run.

Chetney and Emotional Distance

Like Imogen, Chetney first digs for information, and he seems to give Yu the most benefit of the doubt. He's either less attuned to Yu's manipulation (constantly telling the party that Yu has told them the truth and isn't attacking anyone), or - more likely - he doesn't care about Yu's manipulation as much as he cares about people not getting killed.

I wonder (though this is pure speculation) whether he's willing to give Yu more leeway because he (thinks he) knows how assassins operate, while being less sure of how Birdie operates. A devil you know situation.

Chetney also comes up with the deal - it's an objective move that neatly resolves the situation but also depends on him not really being attached to either Birdie or Yu. He absolutely offers Birdie up to Yu ("If in a month, you bring the heat, you take her and the item, and we'll see" [1:20:13]). Chetney operates objectively, and his priority is keeping things stable long-term.

Laudna and Emotional Blindness

Where Chetney keeps an astonishing amount of emotional distance and objectivity, Laudna...does not. Other people have already written about Laudna's trust/susceptibility to manipulation and its potential liability to the party, so I just want to add a couple of things here.

First: yes, absolutely, Laudna gets attached fast, and that could lead to dangerous indecisiveness in the future (here, she gives up on deciding and Banes Yu, Fearne, and Birdie). Laudna operates emotionally, according to personal bonds, and her priority is keeping the group together.

However, Laudna is also the only one of Bells Hells willing to call out Yu's emotional manipulation directly. She also gets extremely uncomfortable when Yu turns into Imogen, not being swayed at all. I get the feeling that, on some level, she understands how susceptible she is to this sort of thing, and she hates that it still works.

Orym, Fearne, and the Present Moment

Orym and Fearne act the most aggressively toward Yu, and I think that's for pretty similar reasons. Orym and Fearne do not care about what's going to happen in the future; they don't care about long-term politics or information they can gather or even what this means for the party. Both Orym and Fearne operate in the present moment, according to what is necessary right now.

Fearne's priority is whatever she wants in that moment. This is why Yu can trip Fearne up massively one moment, while hitting a complete block the next. When Fearne is emotionally rattled and doesn't know who to trust, she can't decide on a priority. But the moment she goes, "nope, actually, we can take on the assassins," Yu doesn't have a hold anymore.

Orym's priority is keeping the party safe. This is why he gets so stabby one minute and then de-escalates the next. The moment he and his party are threatened, he'll respond; likewise, the moment things seem to be calming down, he'll honor that.

Ashton and FCG

Ashton's pretty quiet this whole fight. I think that's partly due to Ashton not having a relationship with Yu prior to the reveal (and thus Taliesin stepping back to let the others RP). But it also speaks to Ashton's willingness to go along and support whatever shit the party decides to get into. Ashton, like Orym, operates in the present moment, and their priority is taking care of the party.

FCG is also pretty straightforward. They heal Yu. FCG's priority is helping whoever they can, and they operate as such. Like Laudna, this form of emotional blindness could be (and has been) a strain on the party.

Almost done, folks!

So What? (Or, Applying This to Bells Hells)

So, why did I write all of this, and what can we extrapolate from it?

First, Bells Hells is an extremely fragmented group right now. Everyone - everyone - in this confrontation was going off their own internal priorities. There was no unified party stance, fractured between the need for information (Imogen and Chetney), the emotional turmoil (Laudna and Fearne), and the going-with-the-flow-I-guess-we're-doing-this (Ashton and FCG).

Second, as fascinating as it is that Laudna describes them as family, they're not. They are friendly coworkers who are good at pulling each other through scrapes. See above: the fact that everyone pretty much takes their own course of action regarding the conflict and no one objects/pulls them together means that Bells Hells still need a bunch of time to cohere properly.

Third, though the assertion that "Bells Hells are less violent than the Mighty Nein/other DnD parties" is not true, I do think Bells Hells has a significant investment in information. Imogen is driven by it, Chetney likes to use it, and the rest of the party will follow along as long as no current threat is being posed. This means that if an NPC can give them information, Bells Hells are more likely to try to get it from them than fight straight out.

Fourth, Yu did exactly what I wanted an antagonist PC to do for this party: expose the fractures, blow them open, and make it clear that they need to address them. If we could just get a tiny pause in the lore to do that...

[animeyanderelover]

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, obsessiveness, delusions, paranoia, overprotective behavior, clinginess, stalking, worshipping, jealousy, threatening, kidnapping, death

Yandere Demon Slayer Hc’s

Kocho Shinobu

🦋Despite the easy-going smile on her face and the calm attitude she always displayed, Shinobu is way more possessive than the viewer would expect. Her past is mainly to blame since she lost too much already. Her parents, her sister, her students and many more. She can't bring herself to not be possessive and protective if it means that her s/o gets to live a safe life, one that won't be destroyed from demons. The Hashira is one who is aware of her obsession but is ready to act on her darker side if it just means that you will stay alive. The lady is manipulative and uses her cheerful play against you when she sees fit and as someone who observes closely, she knows at one point what strings she needs to pull. Belongs into the category of a stalker since she follows s/o sometimes without them really knowing.

🦋Stalking is reserved for times when she can't be right next to you for whatever reasons, Shinobu is actually the type of girl that prefers to spend time directly with you. Why? Because you make her genuinely happy. Her whole behavior is at the end of the day just a mask to hide the immense hatred inside of her and her slight inferiority complex since she knows that she is from a physical point of view the weakest under the Hashira. With you on the other hand she feels the sparkles of love and joy, she finds herself completely lovestruck whenever she's with you.

🦋I wouldn't call her someone who gets jealous easier or at the very least she isn't someone who shows it very easily. Sure, she is a possessive person but also knows who her allies are or not. The girls in the Butterfly Mansion for example are people she never feels jealous about and even if the Hashira are mostly safe as well, they occasionally get to experience her jealousy. She appears rather playful at first with all of her teasing and the still prominent smile on her face. We do know that her teasing reaches almost a sadistic level with the way she picks on someone. How much she ends up bullying someone is decided by how good she knows the person or by how far the person pushes her temper. Mark my words though, her blade isn't the only thing she laces with poison.

🦋She is merciless since she has sworn to eradicate anything that brings harm against her precious darling which makes it especially bad for demons. Not that they deserve much mercy in her eyes anyways, her combined hatred with her strong love for you only worsens her aspect though. She doesn't even attempt to get along with them if they tried to attack you in any way, it's just a straightforward kill from her side. Humans 'enjoy' the easier treatment which consists of her sadistic remarks and teasing and in the worst case poison. Shinobu isn't unreasonable or anything, her possessive side is a small obstacle from time to time though and if someone triggers her protective side it's even worse.

🦋Putting all of her possessive attributes aside, I don't think that Shinobu would be someone to kidnap her darling for no good reason. She'a able to rationalize that much and holds herself in that aspect back. Surely she does take delight in teasing you and causing you to be all flustered and embarrassed, she would never do something to hurt your feelings or your body. Never. So she knows that being kidnapped by her would most likely only upset you which would upset her in return so she reserves that option for the worst case scenario. Since her body isn't the tallest or strongest she is much more content with using some drug if it comes down to it, letting you fall into a deep sleep which would make things easier for her. Shinobu keeps her s/o most likely busy in the Butterfly Mansion anyways where they work together with her other apprentices.

🦋She would be extremely sceptical and hesitant if her darling would be a Demon Slayer themselves since she can fall into a habit of overthinking what might happen and that has her going paranoid from time to time. She wouldn't say anything against her darling wanting to defend mankind, would prefer it though if they would work together with Aoi and the other girls in the mansion instead of fighting on the front lines. Loves calling you all sort of sweet nicknames that come to mind and she adores it when she can reduce you to a flustered mess with her teasing. What the Hashira appreciates the most is that she can simply be herself around you. She doesn't have to fake her smile anymore since she is able to give a sincere smile and just by knowing that you are safe, she feels at ease.

Kanroji Mitsuri

💓We are talking about the Love Hashira herself here, a jovial and very passionate girl just as much as lover. Mitsuri adores her darling more than she should to the point where she might just come over as a small worshipper. That is simply the case because she loves everything about her darling, even the things that might flaw them or they are insecure about. She is also a very affectionate person. The girl just dotes a lot on you and is constantly showering you with compliments and her affection, PDA is expressed very often if you are fine with it. She might be overbearing, due to her being very considerate about your own preferences and wishes Mitsuri rather prefers to work on a way where she won't just blatantly ignore your opinion though.

💓She is probably delusional, though there is a sprinkle of awareness somewhere. She's sworn to never resort to manipulating you since she only wants to be genuine with you and she has also sworn to never upset you in any way either. That doesn't keep her from dreaming about a happy marriage and a happy life with you together, even if the looming shadow of the demons still dangles above both of your heads. She's due to her affectionate side rather clingy as well and if she isn't on missions, she is almost always with you. A very open girl who wants to be introduced to all of your family and friends and in return introduces you to all of her friends as well.

💓It is maybe thanks to her being so open and understanding that she actually gets so rarely jealous. Her clingy and affectionate nature makes it even to a obvious person clear in just what type of relationship she is with her darling and she is friendly to almost everyone she meets. Her innocent demmeanor shouldn't be taken advantage off since she is very fierce and ready to step up whenever someone makes her darling uncomfortable and doesn't stop. She's most likely open about the whole thing though and lets her darling know that she just felt jealous and you might keep it in mind since Mitsuri isn't the type to get jealous over nothing. Despite that she never expresses any rudeness against the person who made her feel jealous unless they were to be rude.

💓Never spills the blood of a human, though she makes it obvious that she won't just stand on the side lines to watch if someone were to hurt you. If a human has her doing something it will be for a reason that everyone will be able to understand since she acts more on a rational protective side of hers, a toxic person who uses you or someone who harrasses you would be good examples. You don't really know how strong she actually is and I bet such people would be stunned as well, even if she never really harms them. Demons are yet another story since even the Love Hashira doesn't show mercy against a demon in either case, but especially if it involves you.

💓Not one to kidnap you, though she does hope that one day she will live together with you in the same house. Mitsuri might just be one of the very few Yandere who might never resort to kidnapping. Her infatuation is far too strong to ever do anything to upset her beloved darling. Sure, she has her emotional breakdowns if her darling would stumble into a really dangerous situation and end up getting seriously injured, it never keeps her from trying to stay positive and happy so her darling feels better and more encouraged. Mitsuri knows that she can rely on her friends as well and since she shares especially close bonds with Obanai and Shinobu, she never shies away from asking one of them to look a bit after you if she isn't able to do so.

💓One of the tamer Yandere to have and a genuinely sweet one to have as well. Mitsuri is just so extremely happy to be with the person she truly loves and cherishes and plans to spend the rest of her days with you. She knows that this might not be the case since the dangers of dying aren't unlikely with her being a Hashira, she hopes nevertheless. Some of her old insecurities about being too strong that it might scare you or her large appetite might resurface, if she notices that you still love her since this is her true self, she'll be flying on the highest clouds of love. The woman can become rather bashful whenever her darling does something cute and sweet in which case a pretty pink will color her cheeks.

Iguro Obanai

🐍Despite his harsh and strict appearance with everyone else, Obanai displays a high level of insecurity when it comes to his darling. He loathes himself, feeling like his clan is still staining him and for that goes as far as seeing himself as impure. Darling on the other hand might as well be a literal angel in his eyes which makes him the more obvious worshipper in comparison to Mitsuri. Maybe that is why he can't even bring himself to show himself in front of you since he fears to creep you out with his appearance, he's not even talking about the covered half of his face yet. He's the embodiment of a stalker though since he is almost everywhere where you are, watching, protecting and adoring.

🐍He's very protective over his darling to an extent where it might come over as ridiculous sometimes since he even displays distrust against your own family and friends in certain cases. A secret admirer who constantly leaves small presents like flowers, food or clothing behind and he'll be overjoyed when he sees that you're happy with what he's gotten you. Obanai is even possessive despite his insecurities about himself and absolutely forbids any sort of admirers to get close to you which he does by threatening and blackmailing behind the scenes, his overprotective side plays in it as well. You're too perfect for anyone, even if he is in a relationship with you he still feels that way which fuels his possessive side only more due to paranoia.

🐍Obanai is actually a jealous person. He acts on his possessive and protective impulses very often since no one is in his eyes worthy, a part of him does feel like there are still persons better than himself outside there. If he should happen to cross paths with such a person and if they should be someone you know as well, his jealous and possessive sides spike up a lot. He's quite harsh with his words and his actions whenever he is forced to interact with them, his snake shows the same dislike as his master. His eyes always seem to follow the person whenever they do as much as step a bit closer to you and he's happy to point out whatever he notices about them to not be perfect according to Obanai's expectations since you only deserve the best and more. He even stalks them and will be very willing to threaten someone to stay away as well.

🐍Demons are never to be spared from his wrath whenever he gets to know that you caught even as much as a glimpse of one. Obanai wants to spare his darling from a world which tends to be so cruel and bloody, wants to protect you from any sort of harm and is for that more than willing to get rid of every possible danger in your surroundings. This can even extent to humans as well since hurting you is a literal crime in Obanai's point of view. He goes with blackmailing and threatening before things escalate, once they do escalate he is prepared to snuff the life of a human out as well. Literally everything to keep you away from experiencing pain in whatever form.

🐍Kidnapping is the last act out of desperation which would be your life being in serious danger. The only time where he won't crumble and beat himself up because he can't imagine continuing his life without his s/o still being alive nor would he ever forgive himself for not being with them and protecting them. He might just have dubbed you, sweet and beloved you, as the heart that beats outside his chest, the heart that makes him feel alive and human. If he would lose you, he'd lose his purpose and reason of life and that mere thought terrifies Obanai.

🐍Kaburamaru is very fond of Obanai's darling as well and just as possessive and protective as Obanai himself. The Hashira fears immensely that you will fear him for his connection with snakes or that you will be disgusted if he should ever show you his whole face. He feels ugly and tainted and the insecurities of not being good enough plague his mind quite often, specifically when you're not around. When he is with his darling and they shower him in more affection and love than he deserves, he tends to forget all of his insecurities and misery. Surprisingly touch-starved. Mitsuri is a very big supporter of Obanai x darling and let's be honest, even if she is a bit clueless about love, she probably tries her best to set you two up and will be ecstatic when she finds out that you two are in a relationship.

[heliosthegriffin]

@noneatnonedotcom I do, It's great and I like it alot, I want to keep Jaune, pre-awakening and even after post awakening, weak but skilled in comparison to everyone else, and the idea of him just using boring, but practical gear, is very in line with that Idea.

He won't ever be super op, as I want every fight to mean something to him, and not just another 'Grimm-Stomping Day'.

If any of you have ever read Codex Alera, then Tavi's rout is more or less what I'm planning, though not to the same power height that Tavi hits, so no dips in Wizard/Magic-User for Jaune, relying on wits versus a super-powered opposition, and when that power does come along, it's used in a way a person would use them from a outside perspective.

Jaune getting Artifacts, hmm, I can think of some ideas for that. Alright, I got it. It'd be funny if when the Girls got they're mid-season powerups that they find a bunch of awesome gear, but ignore most of it, as its not flashy enough, and Knight goes bug-eyed looking at it, as he nearly feels burned by the energy even the weakest ones give off, and just takes all the others ones.

Jaune's definately going to need danger-sense in the future, if you can't see a sniper, you've already been shot. Not that I'd ever have Jaune against a kill-team in the future, definately not...

@lonesilverw0lf I love the Ilia idea, the girls just wants to be love-, I mean sacrifice herself for the greater good!

Adam, uh, he's complicated. I've changed her and Adam's backstory, so he's a bit chilller, but still an asshole. He'll have a large role to play, a antagonist, yes, but not a clingy abusive boyfriend, but more... Eh, the slippery slope of radicicalism, and suffering of abuse, mixed with losing the only people who have actively cared about him, his releationship with Blake is more siblingish, and Eve? Hmm, Yeah. She exists, probably.

Cinder? She's confused. She has a lot of complex emotions. But, it boils down. Burn down the society that has wronged her, as she has nothing else to live for. Jaune's existance puts her at odds with the idea, as someone selflessly sacrificng himself is contradictorying to her worldview, so she needs to bring him down to her level, or kill him.

His mere existance challengers her reason to live. Emerald is still a lackey, but still under Cinder Banner as she too has been wronged.

Cinder doesn't want to be a magically girl, she wants them dead, as to her, they represent everything wrong with society to her. People who are given power for free and use it recklessly, without any forethought.

She's less, V3 Cinder, and more V1-2 Cinder, a kind of secret agent, with ties to Mistral, but with her own web of operatives, and pseudo-cult built around bringing down the worlds so it can be rebuilt. With her on the top this time.

Watts will have a big role to play, but not just as a evil genius, he's also a corrupt billionaire! Uh, he's got friends too this time... Living friends.

This also relates to Penny and one of the Relics.

Jaune leading a squad of robot girls amuses me, so that will happen at some point, but don't think he'll get to keep them! I can't make his life too easy, can I?

Also, the White-Fang is less powerful in this AU, but all the more dangerous for it.

With the lost of the original heads of the organization, it radicalized to a Faunus Supremacy movement. That doesn't mean everyone is a bastard, though. Most of them are just scared people trying to lean on something to support them, and when society fails you, you got to look for other options.

They operates in cells, independently of each other, vandalism human owned bushiness, or human sympathizer houses, stealing cargo off boats, and indoctrining recruits to help tear down the Kingdoms, and promote Faunus's.

That said, they're not taken seriously by any major powers, and are often manipulated, unwittingly, by higher powers, as at the end of the day, they're just a bunch of uncooperative terrorists out to take some nebulous vengeance.

It's popular among the hip-youth, yo!

Anyway, what kind of Author would I be, if I left out the milfs? Sienna included?

I have a whole dance scene with Willow and Jaune!

Summer's still happily married.

Raven's up to no good. She's not a maiden, I'll just make that clear, but she is more dangerous than canon here, not that its a high-bar. She on many lists, but also, feared across the world. Not much is known, except, she a big-wig for WMB Corporation.

Kali ... MIA...presumed dead.

Sienna doing terrorist things.

The Roses thing Ruby's bad? They haven't seen Nuclear-Weapons Grade Puppy Eyes.

WMB, your best hope for the future.

Computers, Health Care, and Transportation, look to WMB and you're survival is near-guaranteed!

Jaune getting a spear. Hmm, they're just so happens to be loot in the future...

Anway, Jaune's dad... I had some idea for him, but now I like having his dad being a soft man, to his granpa's hard man. His father appreciate privacy, and professional archer, but his survival skills have fallen since his youth, but he can hit a fly from a hundred yards.

Grandpa Arc, can still tussel, you pick any five men, and he'll turn them into five very dead men. He plays for keeps. He just doesn't want to be a liability, and his stamina is practically gone, though a normal man would call him a beast, and he still has a very strong pull on women despite his age.

Jaune may have some bastard uncles and aunts out there, so there's a plot hook.

Anyway, thanks for the ideas!

stupid rwby au idea

set in a world where the Grimm are hidden from the general public five heroes stand to defend them the maidens Pyrrha the fall maiden blake the spring maiden Weiss the winter maiden  yang the summer maiden and ruby the silver-eyed warrior  together these heroines fight to drive the forces of darkness out as magical girls the story would be focused on the character interactions of the girls and would generally have a happy tone to it. ya know your typical magical girl anime while at the same time jaune arc is a teen in the city of vale. his sullen jaded attitude tends to drive others away but his friends ren and Nora still stick by him. a delinquent through and through he spends most of his day sleeping and recovering from the wounds that he no doubt got from fighting at night. the truth is however that jaune isn’t fighting humans, no he fights monsters. armed with only a sword and his wits the boy faces off against creatures of darkness far beyond human capabilities, always just a swing of a sword and a misplaced step away from death. but still, he fights to save others as a knight of house arc jaune’s story is an urban fantasy mixed with horror. he’s a completely average human just trying to survive and protect people. unlike the maidens, he has no powers to heal him so he’s perpetually tired and wounded when he shows up to school giving him something of a reputation. only ren and Nora are willing to actually talk with him. that is until one day he meets a girl by the name of ruby rose. a snap decision from him leads to her befriending him (by force) along with her little gang. now as an even greater threat looms over the city jaune has to juggle his duty as a protector with the expectations of his new friends all while hiding what’s really going on behind the scenes the core of this story is the dramatic shift from the cute girls doing cute things of rwby and Pyrrha’s magical girls story, and the dark terrifying world jaune arc finds himself struggling to survive in as an urban fantasy/horror. with each side hiding the truth of what they are and what they’re doing from the other trying to protect them. some things to note, jaune’s a really great fighter. and if he was fighting anything other than Grimm he’d win hands down. but against superhumans, he’s barely holding his own with his ancestral sword. ruby and the maidens are all superhumans who slaughter Grimm by the hundreds but they’re not very tactical fighters and tend to rely heavily on their powers for everything.  outside of the fantasy, elements jaune has to deal with the negative reputation he has as a delinquent and how that affects his friends. while his friends have to deal with the fact they can tell jaune is not happy with how things are but won’t let them help out of what they assume is stubborn pride and maybe even suicidal depression. the dynamic is jaune tries to pull away to keep his friends safe, his friends forcibly befriend him because they know he’s a good guy who goes out of his way to help them some things i would wanna see is. a story about the girls following jaune around and coming up with all sorts of wild theories about him jaune being weirdly intense about certain things and making references to Grimm the girls have only ever heard about jaune finding out about blake being a catgirl and just shrugging like “it doesn’t matter, not like you guys would let me stop being your friend anyway, you’re still blake” rumors about jaune building a harem because he’s only ever around pretty girls or ren (who’s a very pretty man)  the girls coming up with crazy excuses for why they’re always missing and jaune totally believing them because he’s still jaune and kinda dense feel free to add your own shenanigans to this if you like

[lowkeyerror]

She's Not That Bad

Madison Montgomery x Reader

Word Count: 1561

Warnings: Violence

Madison Montgomery was untouchable. Everyone knew this which is why no one bothered to get close to her.

I mean if you think about it no one in the coven was truly her friend. Not that she even cared about having friends. The closest thing she had to a friend was Zoe and it was clear as day that Zoe only used her for her power.

Y/n was indifferent when it came to Madison. She insisted that it was not enough to see how she acted in the past but didn't want to make the effort to get to know the girl.

Y/n had a feeling that Madison was nothing more than the product of a shitty environment. Anytime the other girls would sit and talk shit about Madison she'd remove herself from the room.

To be honest Y/n felt a little protective of the bitchy movie star. No one knew her story so maybe they shouldn't be so quick to judge her.

Y/n had opted out of performing the seven wonders. She didn't believe she was the Supreme. She was powerful but her powers were different from the other coven members.

So she had the pleasure of being a spectator. The tension in the air was thick. She knew that this would be a long grueling process for the girl's and hoped that nothing too bad would happen.

" Since you aren't participating, who do you think the next supreme is?" Zoe asked as they prepared for the first task.

The other 3 witches stared at Y/n as the girl weighed the probability in her head.

" Well you're all very powerful. You all have strengths and weaknesses..."

"Will you just cut to the chase?" Madison didn't have the patience to listen to the bullshit preface. She wanted to know what the girl thought without all the dramatics in the beginning.

" I think it’s Madison."

The other girls let out a collective groan except Madison of course.

" She's literally a spoiled little bitch"

" She locked me in a tomb"

" She doesn't have a nice bone in her whole body."

Inside Madison shrunk at the hateful words that were thrown at her. On the outside she willed herself to stay strong. She had already prepared a comeback but before she could speak, Y/n did.

" Would you guys knock it off already? Is Madison the most likeable person ? No. But none of us have taken the time to truly get to know the girl. Sure she's done some questionable things but who hasn't? No one here is innocent, so calm your tits."

Queenie scoffed at Y/n's little tangent," Since when did you start dick riding Madison?"

The black woman's words upset Y/n and before she knew it a storm was in her eyes. It began pouring rain outside accompanied by intense lightening.

" I'm not dick riding anybody. I'm  just tired of this gang up on Madison bullshit. We know what kind of person she is so what is the point in bitching about it."

Y/n fists were now clenched and the storm hadn't left her eyes.

" Why is there a storm outside?" Cordelia had entered the room causing the attention to shift to her.

" That young witch has a storm in her eyes," Myrtle had come right behind Cordelia.

" Y/n remember what we talked about. You can't let your emotions get out of control. Now find your center."

Y/n's most prominent power was weather manipulation. It was mostly based on her emotions. It was hard to control and frustrating to deal with.

Cordelia had taught her a few things about the power. The first being she needed to have an anchor that would bring her back to zero. The second one was turning anger into a storm instead of a fire.

Finding her center was fairly easy for the girl. It makes almost no sense but her anchor was the movie star. For some peculiar reason the thought of Madison Montgomery calmed her down.

The witch had told herself it was because Madison was controlled chaos rather than emotional overload.

When the storm stopped the other witches were baffled. They had no idea Y/n could manipulate the weather. This was a result of the witch keeping to herself.

They had only seen her move a few things with her mind and maybe once light a match with her finger. They didn't know the power she held.

" You can control the weather?" Madison asked looking out of the window at the now sunny sky.

" Yep"

" And you're not doing the seven wonders?"

" Nope. Most of my power is concentrated on weather control. I can do a few basic other things but not enough to feel comfortable putting my life on the line."

Zoe interrupted my conversation with Madison," Speaking of the seven wonders are we starting or what?"

Cordelia had a stoic look on her face as she spoke," Let's begin."

Skip to Divination

Y/n was not prepared for how stressful watching the tasks would be. Misty got stuck in hell and Zoe got stuck on the fence.

It was fucked up that Madison didn't want to revive Zoe but it didn't bother Y/n much. Originally she thought that Madison was the next supreme but when Cordelia entered the race she was almost certain it had been their teacher all along.

Madison was unable to do divination. She couldn't find what Mrytle had asked her too and she was pissed off. When she finally accepted failure she stormed off in that way she often does.

Y/n sighed and after a minute or two went to check on the girl. When she reached Madison's room the scene she saw unfolding scared the shit out of her.

Zoe's undead boyfriend, Kyle had his hands around Madison's throat.

" KYLE, GET OFF OF HER" Kyle turned his towards the witch and released his grip on the blonde witch.

However now he was stalking towards Y/n.

" She let Zoe die. Why do you protect her?" He was now in Y/n's face.

" Killing her won't bring Zoe back Kyle." Y/n's heart was pounding. Kyle was a strong guy and she knew if he decided to attack her it was over.

" I know it won't but it will make me feel better. You are stopping me from feeling better."

That's when his hands wrapped around Y/n's throat. He held her off the floor so her feet dangled as he choked her. Madison was too weak to use her magic but she tried to pry his hands off of the girl's throat. He simply smacked her away. She hit the floor with a hard thud.

Y/n tried her best to calm herself in the man's grip. If she struggled it would just end faster for her. She tried to get a peek at Madison. She didn't see much but she did catch a glimpse of a tiny pool of blood encircling the blonde girl.

This triggered something inside of Y/n. Thunder clouds had appeared outside and a huge bang followed. The sound startled Kyle enough for him to drop Y/n.

Before he could pick her up again a lightning bolt had come through the roof and struck the man.

He shook as his body collapsed on the floor. Y/n scooted away from the man as foam started to form at his mouth.

She jumped as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She turned to see that it had just been Madison. She stared at the dark hand prints on the girl's neck.

" Are you okay?"

Madison gave the girl a tired smile," I could ask you the same thing."

Before they could say anything else Cordelia burst into the room.

" What happened in here?" Her eyes were back to normal. Not only that but Zoe stood behind her with Queenie and Myrtle.

They must've of continued the tasks and found out that she was the Supreme. At least that's what Y/n was thinking.

" KYLE"

" DON'T TOUCH HIM"

Y/n stumbled to her feet to hold back the girl. " If you touch him he will electrocute you."

Y/n could only stay on her feet for a minute before collapsing back down to the floor.

" Is anyone going to answer my question?"

Y/n opened her mouth to speak but Madison beat her to it," She saved my life." Madison's tone was soft as she stared at Y/n.

" Kyle tried to kill me and Y/n saved me." The gears were turning in Madison's head. Why was Y/n doing so much for her? She had defended her earlier and now she saved her life.

" I'm sorry but he was going to kill us. I had to do something," Madison took note of the girls shaking hands and reached out to hold one of them.

Zoe was going to argue but Madison sent her a glare ," You did what you had to do. Anyone who thinks differently basically wanted us both to die tonight."

" He wasn't meant to be alive and sadly I think this was inevitable. Let's go girls," Cordelia exited the room with Zoe and Myrtle following.

" Thanks for..." Before Y/n could get words out Madison's lips were on hers.

" You're mine now understand."

" Yes Madison."

[fairy-serigala]

Are you forgetting that gray stalked lucy, by trying to follow her home?. Then getting caught by natsu. Then he broke into her apartment and stripped nude. It really shows that men can't be seen as stalkers while women characters like juvia are easy targets because she is an important side character. I literally don't understand the logic?, they did the same thing but nobody cares because gray is the tall dark and handsome guy everybody gloats over.

Look, there are other blogs for this kind of discussion, and this isn't one of them. This is the only butt-hurt gr///uvian I'm responding to, because it's the first, but from here on out I'm going to be deleting any and all messages like this.

(This ended up being much longer than I was anticipating so here's a cut so you don't have to see it all. TW: Mentions and discussion of abuse, stalking, gaslighting, sexual harassment & assault, double standards & misogyny, abuse apologism, and a single mention of rape culture.)

Let's get this over with quickly-

Gray stalked Lucy by trying to follow her home - Gray followed Lucy home because she said she thought she was being followed. He followed her to make sure she got home safely. He said this, even when he was caught by Natsu and Happy.

He broke into her apartment - So did Natsu and Happy and Erza and many, many other characters. No, it's not right when Gray does it. But it's also not right when anyone else does it. Either punish all off them or none of them, you can't cherry pick Gray because you don't like him.

He stripped nude - Yep. You're right. Go get yourself a cookie.

My friend runs the blog @absolutezerotolerance and I've heard all about you, Anon. I get it, you don't like Gray, you think he's an awful person who deserves all the abuse he endured, but here's the thing because you refuse to listen.

Just because Gray has done some shitty things, does not mean he deserves to be stalked and abused.

If you think he does then I hope to GOD that we never meet because you are an abuse apologist and I do not need to know someone like you.

Men who stalk women should be held accountable for their actions, it is not acceptable. Women who stalk men should be held accountable for their actions, it is not acceptable. There should not be a double standard, but unfortunately there is, and it doesn't go the way you think it does.

We hear all too often about men and masc. folk who get abused and stalked and hurt and no one believes them, because men are meant to be strong and tough and hide their emotions. I've seen on this very website people who believe that men are incapable of being abused because of some made up genetic component.

Men and masc. folk need to be listened to. This is not something that can be brushed aside, it is key and it is crucial. The wellbeing of men and masc. folk cannot be ignored.

And this is what's happening here, with Gray and Juvia and Lucy. No, it's not okay when Gray does it to Lucy. But Gray has suffered more at the hands of Juvia. That's all.

Gray should be held accountable for his actions, but Juvia's actions are simply further reaching and far more detrimental. They are indicative of a problem that makes me so, so sad to see.

Juvia isn't an easy target because we're looking for someone to hate. That isn't how this works, Anon. We hate Juvia because she gave us a reason to. Because she stalked Gray multiple times, including across several countries to Isvan. Because she has emotionally manipulated and gaslit him multiple times both after Ultear sacrificed herself and saved Gray, and on top of Gray's parents' grave after his father died a second time. Because she has a history of sexually harassing him - including touching him without permission and refusing to let go, and asking him to spank her when they a) aren't a couple and b) he makes it clear that he isn't comfortable with that. Because she objectifies him to such an extent that everything in her room is Gray-themed in some way - from multiple stuffed plushes, to a bar of soap that she uses to wash herself with. Because she admitted to sexually assaulting him during the one year time skip. Because he does not consent to what she does to him and she doesn't listen. Because she drugged him in an attempt to make her love him - removing consent from the equation all together.

What Gray does to Lucy isn't okay. But Juvia has a much, much longer list of crimes. This isn't okay to ignore. Especially when it's romanticised to this degree.

Your reasoning for ignoring everything Gray has gone through is the exact same reasoning that abuse apologisers and devil's advocates use to ignore women when they report abuse against them. "They're too pretty" or "this person did [x] to [third party] so they deserved it". It's a couple steps to the left of rape culture. Going to absurd lengths to ignore and dismiss Juvia of all wrongdoing and instead putting all the blame on Gray.

When I, or my friends, talk about GrUvia, we don't have to talk about Lucy. If she isn't relevant to the discussion, we don't have to bring her up and say "oh but don't think Gray's perfect because xyz". It doesn't cripple our arguments and it doesn't suddenly make everything we say redundant.

There are parts of Juvia that need to be discussed critically because they're a microcosm of a much bigger issue with today's society and the way it responds to abuse, abuse victims and abuse survivors.

We need to be able to look at situations like GrUvia and recognise that they're dangerous. Otherwise, how are we meant to do that when it comes to the real world? How am I meant to trust that if someone comes to you, Anon, saying they've been abused that you'll believe and help them?

This isn't about who's done worse, this is about the victims of stalking and abuse.

Laser focusing on the perpetrators only makes it more likely for victims to fall through the cracks without justice. And some, like Gray, may end up giving into their abusers and that isn't okay on any level.

Suffering isn't a competition, Anon. Gray is able to do shitty things and still be a victim, his right to health and safety can't be taken away because he isn't flawless. No one is flawless, but everyone deserves to be safe. This is all about empathy and listening to victims and having the ability to realise when a piece of media is perpetuating an idea that hurts and kills real people.

[dancingazaleas]

𖨆. 02 / all for us

summary: you’ve finally decided it was time to eat and bathe, but now that you aren’t worried about starving to death, you’re getting homesick. maybe a cup of tea and a movie is the best.

note: i, now, have a taglist for this series especially!! here’s the taglist form!! it will also be posted on the series masterlist!! much love <33

word count: +3.0k

warnings/notes: starvation, manipulation, abuse, slight panic attack, thoughts of suicide

IT'S been five days since you've had anything to eat.

your body is so weak from the lack of nutrients that you can't stand up on your own. your head is constantly aching from lack of food and you keep getting dizzy.

you feel like you're on the brink of death now, you can't even get out of bed to get yourself water out of your sink, shortening your life span if you keep this up. you feel yourself crying as you roll your body off of the bed and onto the floor.

hissing in pain, you dig your nails into the spruce hardwood floor.

"you are not weak for this. you're surviving," you whisper to yourself as you push yourself forwards with your arms.

it's so painful with the bruises. they rub up against your clothing, already irritating them a bit more than before, and now it's having pressure added onto it. your tears are blocking your sight, but you push on anyways. the door has never felt so far away.

you almost perk up when your nails scratch at the door. with weak fists, you bang at the door and call for one of the men that has captured you. your tears are dripping on the ground below you, forming a small puddle as they all bunch together.

"please," you croak, "please..."

the door is being unlocked and you feel as if all of your strength has been used at that moment. you lay still as your breath falters from your sobbing.

the door bumps against your head, shooting a sharp pain through your head. you can't find strength to care about it.

"so you're finally ready to listen. you look pathetic," you don't have to look up to tell it's levi speaking to you.

he calls out to erwin, telling him to fix you small and easy meal and to get you new clothes. he squats down and takes you into his arms bridal style.

if you weren't crying and letting out weak sobs, he would think your dead. you're so limp in his arms and your eyes are empty and droopy as they stare right through him. and it creeps him out.

he takes you into a bathroom with a tub, setting you gently on the toilet. he doesn't bother locking the door behind him, you're too weak to run away right now. levi's preparing you a bath, walking back and forth as he gets towels and soaps and checking the water.

you hiccup as you watch levi starting to remove that collar and chains around your neck, and you feel like a weight has been lifted off of your chest, literally. he's undressing you, obviously trying to avert his cold eyes away from your body. you're gently laid in the bath, head resting against the rim.

levi's quiet as he pours a warm cup of water over your hair and face, squatting down to reach your level.

"stupid," he scoffs as he lathers up shampoo in his hands. he washes your hair gently.

"this isn't mine and erwin's fault," he shakes his head while he pours water over your head, "it's your fault. you refused our care."

you don't argue back, too tired to even think of a comeback. you also don't feel like getting beat any more than you already are. your eyelids are getting heavy, immediately shutting them as soon as you feel the pressure on them.

levi stares, mouth slightly parted as you breathe in and out through your nose. your cheek was sprinkled in the color crimson, his own handiwork made him cringe. he just sighs, now brushing through your locks of hair with conditioner coated on his hands.

he rinses his hands off, letting the conditioner stay there just for a few seconds so it can soak in. his eyes trail down your body, stopping at your bruised breast. he didn't even realize he hit you there.

he shrugs it off and gathers water into the small cup in his hand, pouring it over your head. he expects you to jump up at the water over your head but all you do is mumble. he wants to wash your body, specifically your underarms, but with you half asleep and barely able to stand on your own without him holding onto you, he can't.

he clicks his tongue and pulls out the cover up blocking the drain. he grabs you by the arm, ignoring the whimper of pain that you let out, and pulls you up onto your wobbling feet. he helps you step out of the tub and wraps a fluffy pink towel around your shoulders, carefully sitting you onto the toilet again.

the bath water is a little murky and levi cringes at it because he knows it'll leave a ring around the tub. he'll clean it up later.

erwin's opening the door, a pile of clothes in his large hands.

"she's all tuckered out," he chuckles, handing off the clothes to levi.

"yeah. don't know how, she's barely done anything. must be the hunger or something," levi shrugs and watches the folded clothing come undone as he holds the hemline between his fingers.

"maybe we were too harsh on her."

"no, we weren't. we can't trust her. believe it or not, but forks can hurt whenever you put force into them when you stab someone. she could've hurt one of us or herself," he folds the clothes over his arm and holds out a hand.

erwin hands him underwear, "i suppose you're right."

"i'm always right," levi carefully puts on your underwear for you.

erwin rolls his eyes at levi's comment, "make sure to dry her hair."

"i know what i'm doing," he snaps, "go put her food in her room."

erwin complies, swinging the door shut behind him as he goes to fetch your food.

you've barely processed their conversation, too focused on levi's hands putting you in a satin light grey nightgown that ends just below your knees. the bishop sleeves keep your arms warm and cold at the same time, in fact, the whole material of the dress does as well. the neckline is a v-neck, not that you mind too much because of the risk you might get too hot.

"do i...," you manage to mumble, "do i have to wear this to sleep...?"

"yeah, unless you feel like sleeping in just underwear. i don't think you want that though," he scoffs as he towels off your damp hair.

you don't reply, far too tired to even say a 'whatever' to him. you let your forehead come into contact with his hip, taking in the cold temperature radiating off of his body. you want to nuzzle into his hip, but thankfully you have enough will to not do so. it reminds you of your friend, pieck, and her cat like tendencies. the memory has you letting out a pained laugh.

levi can feel his face getting warmer at every movement you make with your head, but he manages to play it off because of the towel blocking your view. he throws the towel into the basket by the tub, hand silently stroking at the back of your head in comfort.

it doesn't give you comfort. but you don't let it show.

levi's grabbing a hair brush, a clean and new one, and running it through your (hair type) locks. there are far too many tangles from the lack of care you've been giving your hair, but not enough to make a knot.

levi then pulls out a block of deodorant from the cabinet below the sink. it's unused and you can smell the scent of flowers on it as he brings it closer. his hands slide up your dress with caution, trying to avoid coming into contact with your bruised body.

he manages to put on the deodorant easily. he picks you back up with a grunt, eyebrows furrowing at your pained expression. he's placing you back onto your bed in just a matter of seconds, throwing the covers over your legs.

erwin's sitting at the edge of your bed, holding a fork with food already on it. your eyes are droopy while you look at erwin.

you don't eat a lot, they're in fear that you might throw everything up if fed too fast. you don't blame them, you haven't eaten in five miserable days. it's best to be cautious.

"scooby...," you manage to whisper out, eyes fluttering shut.

"she wants to watch scooby doo even though she's already asleep," levi huffs with the shaking of his head, grabbing the tray from erwin's hands.

erwin follows after levi, closing the door behind the both of them and locking it.

"she seems to be getting adjusted," erwin notes while standing behind levi and watching him wash the dishes.

"only because she was on the brink of death. let's just hope she learned from it," levi's aggressively scrubbing the plate with a sponge.

————

you lay in your bed a few days later, the feeling of homesickness is eating you up inside. did no one care? did anyone even notice you vanished? where was everyone? what were they doing?

you think of zeke. the man you were sort of dating, it's complicated. well, it was. now, it's just nonexistent.

zeke was out of the country for a bit, something to do with work. he left you with a kiss on the forehead and a hug. you wonder if he's texted you.

you think of pieck. oh my god, she's had to have noticed by now. she's your best friend, she lives with you. but the memory of the two of you fighting right before you were kidnapped comes flooding back, and you deflate. if you weren't in the house then pieck would probably think it was normal.

what about porco? reiner? your guys friends who act like guard dogs towards you. where were they? did they notice? surely they had to, you never not text them back.

bertholdt? your close friend that you also worked with him. he was a music prodigy and he texted you almost everyday. did he notice?

you're breathing erratically as you sit up and clutch your hands over your ringing ears. where were they? where even was your phone?

you're gonna get killed before you can tell any of them that you love them. the thought has you crying and tugging at your hair. you were so mean to pieck before you were kidnapped. you hadn't talked to zeke since the day of your kidnapping, who probably wasn't worried because he was busy with work.

when will you see them again? will you ever even get to see them again?

'maybe after death,' you think, eyes darting up to the mirror on your vanity.

you slap yourself upside the head, slapping away the thought. you struggle to get onto your feet, but when you do, you're banging at the door for levi and erwin again.

you have to know if they're okay, to know if they know you're gone. you step away from the door at the sound of keys jingling and their footsteps.

"what are you freaking out about now," levi's being followed by erwin.

"my friends... did.. did you tell them i was okay," with a boost of confidence, your gripping at levi's biceps.

"get your filthy hands off of me," he smacks them away.

"yes, we did tell them you were going away. we said you decided on a vacation," erwin speaks and watches your eyes dart back to the mirror.

"fuck," you whisper to yourself. everyone would believe you'd go on vacation, you had been stressed with your job for the past month.

"levi's gonna make you some tea and then we can all chat, we were about to do so anyways," erwin's hand rubs at your back as he pulls you close to him.

levi leaves the room, following the orders of erwin. erwin, on the other hand, is cooing at you.

"no one's going to miss you," he whispers in a sweet tone and it gives you goosebumps, "no one at all."

you know it's not true. it can't be true. zeke would miss you. reiner would miss you, pieck, porco, bertholdt. they'd all miss you.... right?

"we're the only ones who care, no one else cares," his grip tightens.

"want to know what that girl said," you hear the arrogance in his voice, and you can't do anything to stop it since he's buried your face in his chest.

"she said she was glad you were on vacation. she said that it was good that she didn't have to see you," yoy hiccup against his chest, pieck couldn't have said that, right?

he pulls away finally, satisfied at your expressionless face—if you overlook the tears. you can't give in, pieck would never say that. never in a million years would she say that, even if she hated your guts.

right?

levi comes back in, hands holding a tray that has teacups and a pot of tea on it. levi goes to the area with three chairs, setting the tray onto the coffee table and sitting himself down in one. erwin follows behind him, leaving the chair in between them open for you to sit.

they stare at you expectedly, it makes you uncomfortable so you decide to just deal with it and sit with them.

"what tea is this," erwin asks while levi pours everyone a cup.

"earl grey, what else do we have," levi hands a cup to erwin and then to you.

you hold it by the handle, silently admiring the cup's delicate and intricate design. you try to ignore the voice in the back of your head to break it on the ground and slash your neck open. you want to drink it too, it smells absolutely perfect, but if you hold it any longer you might just listen to that voice.

you set it back down, left hand immediately grabbing at your right wrist. you didn't trust yourself to make a move on your own, if you did you fear it might end up with a shard of glass at your throat.

erwin's ice eyes stare at your wrist and hand, taking in how your knuckles were white and the skin on your arm was reddening.

"just say if you want handcuffs," erwin sips at his tea and looks away.

"what," you flinch at his voice interrupting the quiet that was once there.

his comment has you looking at your hands, which you let go of at the sight of the irritation.

"sorry," you shrug and lean back in your chair.

"good. can't have you hurting your hands," levi comments, eyes staring outside of the bay window.

"speaking of that," you sigh, "why do you always leave my hands alone. you've shown no mercy to my arms, so why my hands?"

"when you're good enough, you'll be allowed to play the piano," erwin crosses a leg over the other, ankle resting on his knee.

"play? for who? there's no one in this empty house but us," you scoff and cross your arms.

"me. and there's more people here than you think," levi's giving you a small smirk, "you're just separated from them."

"it's hard to believe that you have friends, levi," you mumble loud enough for them to hear. your comment has erwin chuckling and levi rolling his eyes.

"i have friends, believe it or not. watch your attitude," he's putting his tea back onto the tray.

"i don't have an attitude," you sound like a child arguing with their parent.

erwin butts in the conversation before levi can get mad, "anyways, we will allow you to play if we think you've been good enough. levi likes the piano, remember?"

you bite down on your tongue to stop the words 'no but i remember getting kidnapped!!' from coming out of your mouth.

"when can i leave this room, it's too stuffy in here?"

"did you not just listen to erwin? he said when we feel you've been good enough. you've got to start by loosing the attitude," levi snaps his fingers irritatedly.

"how am i supposed to act?!"

"obedient," erwin's now standing over your chair, hands gripping the arms as he leans over you.

"like a dog," you look to levi at the sound of his voice, you try to make yourself smaller.

"you have on a chain and collar for a reason, don't you," erwin smiles gently, hand taking ahold of the chains while he stands up straight.

you choke when erwin tugs the chains towards himself, head knocking right against his stomach while the chains swing in the air and curl around his arm. his other arm swiftly grabs at jaw and forces you to look up at him with your chin pressed to his body.

erwin feels himself harden at the sight, your eyes are widened and your mouth his agape and panting because of the sudden cut off of air.

"just like that," he strokes his thumb along your jaw while you wonder what's caused a sudden change in him these past few days; he used to be so gentle. oh right, kidnapping.

his words have you turning hot, embarrassment hugging you from behind. it wasn't like you easily complied, you were forced to do so. you're also embarrassed because you can feel his hard-on against your sternum, and while you haven't thought about it before, you realize that erwin is fucking hung. you hope that you're not too good for them.

you're saying prayers in your head whenever levi speaks up, "i thought we came in here to watch a movie or something."

erwin lets you go, chains dropping from his arm as he does so. you sigh in relief as erwin grabs the remote from your bed and turns the tv on. you huff while you flop onto your bed and crawl up under your covers, knowing that you'll probably just fall asleep as you watch the movie.

unfortunately, this gives off the impression that you would like to be cuddled. levi's sliding under the covers with you, chest pressing against your back with arms wrapped around your waist. erwin follows soon after, inserting himself in your arms as he scrolls through the different movies at his disposal on the television. you're slightly frustrated at all of the physical contact, but you know that if you reject their advances it'll end up bad for you.

"put on heather's, please," you ask, which erwin obliges to.

as the movie goes on, you hope that they get the message.

you'll be veronica, and they'll be jd.

[awholelottayeehaw]

@novice-at-everything thank you!! I appreciate your insight! You bring up a good observation regarding their differing backgrounds that got me thinking hard in the shower just now!

You're right, Din's first experience with Mandalorians has him viewing them as honorable, noble protectors who he has awe and gratitude for. And I think that leads to him being vulnerable to blind loyalty to the wrong people. And that doesn't mean bad people, but rather people who can bring out the worst version of himself or erase his potential (like Ran's Crew and Xi'an). Because of how Din sees his covert, it means he's blind to how strict their honor code is. Despite the zealous nature they nurtured and "them vs us" mindset, Din grew up to be the most open minded and caring man. The speech Din gave to Bo about honor and character was ironic not just because Din has no idea how awful Bo has been to everyone in her life, but because those traits don't fit The Armorer or anyone in his cult, even Paz. Everything Din listed was conditional to them and I have no doubt that Paz or the Armorer would have gone above and beyond for others out of the goodness of their heart if they weren't Mandalorians or part of their specific sect. I just don't, and it's not an attack on either of their characters it's just an honest observation. I feel like Din's taken the worst aspects of his cult and made them into admirable traits recognized by not just himself but others as well, which is why Bo is both flabbergasted and awed by his reverence for his Creed and people even if she doesn't agree with it. And that's where I do think Din is vulnerable to unintentional manipulation from Bo who does want things to be the same as they were and have control due to birth right rather than craving genuine leadership for the right reasons.

Now Bo? Bo was raised in that honor with a sister whose character was saintlike and yet she turned out to be insanely bigoted, hateful, and morally gray. I do want to mention that I don't think it was necessarily just Bo wanting things to go back to how she remembered Mandalorian as a child, but rather disagreeing with Sabine's way of handling democracy. She approached everything as a pacifist which was controversial for Mandalorian culture but all of her choices were for her people and ensuring peace during the time of the Clone Wars and the rise of Dooku, Mal, and Palpatine. Bo thought they needed to go back to their warrior roots and that peace was a naive option to go after which pushed her to joining extremist groups that held her views as strongly as she did and didn't care who was hurt in that process as long as her vision of Mandalore was achievable. And that's where I do disagree with you, I think Bo's memories of Mandalore even before Satine's rule was always muddled and I think Bo would be dissatisfied with establishing what she thought she had remembered of her childhood home when you can't recreate memories without viewing them through an adult lens. And she has decades of guilt, sins, and ill choices that have jaded her and will only make that more bittersweet and unsatisfactory than not.

It's just interesting how the environment they were raised in as Mandalorians somehow pushed them to be the opposite of what they were taught in childhood. I obviously agree with you about Din's leadership and how forced Bo's is. I really do think it's because we've had history with her character that we can't shake or forgive just yet and with how easy things have been for her it just makes any attempt at something else doesn't feel organic. Bo has too much history for it to not feel forced, cause we've seen this story 3 times now for her and it's just gotten old and she's too familiar and selfish to have that reluctant leader trope placed on her. She's always wanted power and to rule the Mandlorians/Mandalore so there's nothing natural about her suddenly being the fallen, reluctant hero that the planet and other Mandos need to redeem herself of her war crimes and be a true leader. I'd follow Din into Mordore but Bo? I wouldn't follow her into a police station. She has a long way to go before she can be the leader of anyone or thing and I really hope she realizes that in the next episode and that her ego regarding this and refusing to be fully honest to Din and the others about the awful things she's done won't get her killed cause that also just feels cheap.

Din vs Bo as a Leader

I've seen people say that Bo is the rightful ruler of Mandalore and owner of the darksaber and deserves to lead and I'm genuinely curious to hear from others as to why that is because I'm having a very hard time seeing that point of view. Semi-spoilerish for people who aren't up to date but I kept it vague enough to not be a problem I don't think.

Since CW and Rebels, Bo has continually made choices that negatively impact the people around her. She's a morally gray character who has a list of war crimes on her rep sheet that honestly makes some real life bad guys look green and it baffles me that people want her redemption to be easy. I'm not saying she should never be redeemed, I genuinely believe people should have the chance to turn over a new leaf cause being human is hard, but how she's acting and being treated in Mando feels like a middle finger to those her actions caused harm to. Like she can be sad about her sister all she wants but she willingly joined a terrorist group who spelt it out for her that they planned on publicly executing Satine and followed the orders of two Sith lords, and she didn't see that as a deal breaker. Being sad over that is like being upset that you got shot in the foot when you fired the gun yourself when you continue to make choices that negatively impact others. And this season alone Bo hasn't tried to be a leader to her people, she cared more about the title and the weapon it comes with than actual democracy. She wields it well, yes, but so did Sabine who taught her how and gave her the weapon despite not knowing how badly Bo has fucked up with it in the past. The moment the darksaber was in Din's hands and she lost her crew, she didn't try to scout Mandalore and find other Mandalorians to help her with her decades long failed plan. She didn't try to put any plans together with outside help to achieve her goal or even try to establish a new territory for her people to be safe on until they can find a way to make Mandalore a livable again. She was never an active leader, just someone who craved leadership and believed was owed it because of her birth right and that reflects in the selfish choices she's made while in a leadership position, which include harming Din and Paz. She didn't lead her people into the siege and trap that awaited them, Din did. He shouldered and strong armed his way through and was willingly going to sacrifice himself if it meant a safe planet for his people and foundling. And she wasn't the last out, Paz was, and for that his clan suffered major losses. She had focused more on weapons and supplies for her fleet and siege than the actual people who would help her achieve her goal, and not once has she discussed what she planned on doing once Mandalore was safe for all Mandalorians again. Reuniting and rebuilding isn't the same as establishing a political system that benefits the well being of her people with the promise of a stable economy, fair societal roles, establishing an intergalactic democracy to avoid what Nevarro went through, and combining the differing traditions/beliefs the remaining Mandalorians have to not favor one over the other and unintentionally cause a civil war. Each time she's gained leadership it's always met with mixed support, often not universally, and has led to her downfall three times now for a reason.

Just the same, I've seen people argue that Din doesn't want to lead/rule and isn't the kind of man who'd be a good leader and I strongly disagree. Since the first episode, Din established himself as a selfless character even if it irritated him to be accommodating. He still tried to compromise with the Jawas, didn't turn his back to Frog Lady needing a ride, was willingly going to sacrifice himself to a Krayt Dragon for people he had just met and entrusted with Grogu, went head first into every battle even for people who didn't deserve it (Ran's Crew), was everyone's Ride or Die at least once, became multilingual which was used more to keep the peace than to gain information on his quarries, and has united and mediated more unlikely foes to friends than anyone else in the SW universe. Even if his actions originated with a selfish need (gaining Boba's armor back for Mandalorians, exchanging his services for info on where Mandalorians/Jedi are for Grogu, etc) he still went above and beyond because it's the honorable and right thing to do and his compassion has earned him friendships across the galaxy and allyship on every planet he's visited whereas Bo can't get even her own people behind her without a legendary sword in her hand. You can't tell me all the people Din met on his journey WOULDN'T lay down their lives for him if he asked?? Paz already did despite Din's choice to rescue Grogu despite unintentionally causing a massacre because Paz recognized the selflessness behind Din's choice that carried over to Paz's own foundling and that is what gained his respect and allyship. Din hadn't asked for anything in return, and his own motive for moving the covert was so that their children could play in the sun and the future generations can flourish. I'm fairly certain even Sorgon would join forces whether it's to take care of Din if he had a bad head cold or taking back a whole planet for him. Same with Peli and her droids, Tusken Raider survivors, Freetown, Boba and his syndicates, Frog Lady and her hoard of warrior toddlers, Karga and the grateful people of Nevarro, Ahsoka, and Miggs Mayfield. We've made jokes about Din accidentally making friends all over the galaxy for a reason. He's so selfless that he never saw himself worthy of his Creed, of being Grogu's father, of being a leader when everyone else has told him otherwise. Din's view on leadership reflects his own self esteem wrecked by his cult and it would take everyone he's ever helped to make him see that he is the leader that the galaxy needs to reunite not just The Mandalorians, but all the people and their planets I mentioned. Leadership comes with a burden for Bo, but for Din, it comes with the strength and camaraderie Bo has only ever dreamed of having and that The Armorer overlooked because of her narrow, traditional views. And this is a side comment, but Din mastered riding the stubborn Blurgg after Kuill made fun of him for not being able to conquer it when Mandalorians rode Mythosaurs into battle. Din riding a Mythosaur would be a great call back to that and would gain more respect as a leader than just having the darksaber. In my opinion.

I genuinely hope Bo comes to these conclusions herself and recognizes that Din is more deserving of the role than anyone else and passes the darksaber back to him and helps him see his potential than just saving the day yet again from the very gun she shot everyone with. Redemption for her starts with letting go of the very thing that's plagued her her whole life and leadership is recognizing when you need more time before you can be the example people need to be the best versions of themselves. This isn't a Bo hate post or any stan post, this is a fan post who wants a fair redemption arc for Bo and a chance for Din to rise up to the best version of himself he's capable of being. So yes, I want to hear everyone's thoughts whether you agree or disagree that doesn't involve Bo being the rightful heir or wanting her redemption cause you like her as a character. I want to hear deeper reasons than surface level motives, cause as I said, your favorite hurting over the consequences of her decades long actions she never learns from isn't a good enough reason for her to lead or have the darksaber but I'm down for any other explanations people have regardless if you're a casual fan of the show or lifelong SW fans like myself.

[etheriadearie]

Shadow Weaver’s Death, Her True Abusiveness, And Her Final, Beautiful, Gift To Catra

::The resistance fighters stand in the failsafe chamber. Catra has just called Shadow Weaver out on her manipulation. Shadow Weaver reluctantly explains the danger of the failsafe, and then implores Adora to take it: even if she fails, Shadow Weaver says, she will save her friends, and the universe. As literally every other person in that room cries out against Adora taking the risk, Adora turns and says she will do it. Catra, dismayed, runs to her telling her that Shadow Weaver is sacrificing her, and demands to know why she's letting her do that. Adora tells Catra "Because even if she is, it's better than Prime getting the Heart and destroying the universe." Catra trembles in deathly fear, her face consumed in terrible realization: if Adora does as SW wishes, she will die. Shadow Weaver is trying to kill Adora. She knows this to her very soul, because... she is Shadow Weaver... And Adora is letting it happen…

Hi there, my name is Joel, and in this segment I'll be looking at Shadow Weaver's death, her being a child abuser, her terrible manipulations of Catra and Adora and the monstrous pains the two girls have to conquer to save themselves from her.

The main premise I'll be trying to explain here is that, like Horde Prime, Shadow Weaver is a villain of utmost seriousness. And, like Horde Prime, the girls will treat her as one, surpassing and defeating her once and for all. But it won't be with violence, but instead with love, creating a beautiful story of two people transcending their trauma and hurt through coming together over their love for one another.

I feel obliged to warn readers: this post will cover child abuse, even predatation (*not sexual, ie). It may be hard to read. Also warning: tl;dr, please consider at least sitting down to read this!

Finally, I know there are Shadow Weaver fans out there; that's good. Shadow Weaver is, at times, cool af. But, definitively a terrible person within the plot of the show.

So, even if you're a fan of Shadow Weaver, I still encourage you to read along because as we reveal her truth and the damage she deals to Catra and Adora, it makes her final moment so, so much more beautiful… and it gives entirely new meaning to her final... two… words….

Disclaimer time: Taking on Shadow Weavers death is ambitious for a first post, I know. But understanding her is crucial to understanding most of the major moments in this show. Still, I should say here that while this may seem a bit ‘head’ canon-y, I assure you my conclusions come from watching the show carefully and referencing the entirety of the rest of the show back to this one moment. I'm instead positing these as theories, and let's just say I feel I have the data, and Data Never Lies! Please *do* ask questions or seek calcifications in the comments or Ask me anything (I'm new to Tumblr).

----Part 1: Catra, Micah, and the Truth----

To start this journey we will travel backwards in the series to investigate the what and why of the terrible child abuse Catra suffered growing up under Shadow Weaver's care. We will be looking chiefly at the Light Spinner episode in the 2nd season. We will cover Catra's confrontation and SW's -supposed- explanation for her abuse, then the tale of Micah and Shadow Weaver's manipulation of him, and then the terrible truth of why Catra -really- was abused.

>A terribly alone Catra asks her abusive mother why she did it. Why did she treat her so badly ?

Shadow Weaver answers: "Because you remind me of myself. You always have. Nothing was ever easy for me either. I wasn't born to power like Adora and... others. I had to earn my power, fight for it. Why should it be any different for you?"

This is a very typical reason for an abuser to feel they are acting out their abuse on others: no one in this world understands my pain, so therefore I will inflict my pain upon a child so that they will know my pain as well. For many people this is essentially the truth of their abusers. I can't see any other reason for MY abusers to do what they did, other than this. It is, however, not the truth about Catra. We will discuss this in detail later.

We then watch as Catra does a very strong and eloquent job of rejecting and condemning it. She shows great emotional pain as she does so, and we know that her trauma is severe from watching her. Catra exclaims, her face full of emotional hurt and pain at Shadow Weaver's betrayal: "I was a child when you took me in. What could I have possibly done to deserve the way you treated me? I am nothing like you. You are old, and bitter, and weak."

Everything she says is perfectly true. As a child, there is no way she could have deserved the abuse Shadow Weaver inflicted on her. There never is. And she's also right when she says she's not anything like Shadow Weaver. Where Shadow Weaver is an unfeeling monster (as we will see), Catra feels deeply. Catra is inherently good, and while she will make terrible mistakes to come, she feels intense remorse. Shadow Weaver simply does not.

So, Shadow Weaver gives Catra a believable reason for the abuse, which, again, is a lie. But... there is meaning which we need to take from her choice of words: Shadow Weaver feels others, like Adora and Micah, are given an unfair advantage over people like herself. We will come back to this important insight soon...

Before we get to the real, harsh truth of why Catra was abused, we need to understand the tale of Micah and ‘Light Spinner’-‘s manipulation of him to get power.

>The story of Micah seems to be full of whimsy and childlike innocence. A young boy is talented beyond his years, a true prodigy. SW trains him, giving him access to teachings beyond what a sorcerer of his age should have. She tells him he's special, a true talent, like her. When she tells him "the guild needs talents like OURS more than ever before" she manipulates him, making him feel apart, better than all the other students and teachers, and that only SW can understand. It's SW's greatest talent: dividing people against each other, and this is part of her lifelong manipulation of Catra and Adora. Note: Castaspella accuses SW of mind controlling Micah (s5e8) to which SW responds "My gifts were always far subtler than that” - SW controls young Micah through mind games.

>SW hints of something of great importance, but then says "you're not ready". Micah demands to know, he's a special boy after all, right? He's so incredibly naive and innocent, doing things like chewing on magic crystals and acting out in class. He is, in fact, exactly the kind of privileged child who SW so greatly hates. This is where we get real meaning out of SW's supposed explanation for abusing Catra: Micah has inborn power that SW feels he is unworthy of possessing...

She preys upon his naiveness, showing him the Horde army. He, of course, demands they be stopped, and he's playing right into her hands. When she tells him the plan and of the upcoming meeting she tells him "I only hope that Norwyn and his followers can see the threat as clearly as YOU do." Again, she is making him feel apart, as though he's better than others. After all, he's a special little prodigy, right ?

SW gives her presentation at the council, trying to prey upon their fear by saying that the Horde have a rune stone. As she speaks of the spell of obtainment, her eyes are full of lust at the idea of so much power. But it is forbidden, and for good reason. As she looks over her shoulder at Norwyn her look is severe, accusing. She has no respect for him. And he's right to say that the problem will be handled: the war, in fact, does become a stalemate and stays that way all the way up until we are first introduced to Catra and Adora. Angrily, greedily, she demands they get power so they can 'have a planet to protect'.

She fails to convince them, but of course Micah sees her leaving the meeting, angry and frustrated, so he comes to her aide. "They never listen to me. After all I've done I still haven't earned their trust". Again, SW is set apart from them. When she says "they just want to hold the rest of us back" she's including Micah, making him feel separate, better, like her. She's indoctrinating him in her plan.

>We get a scene between Catra and SW here, where Catra tries to get SW to give her a reason to save her. All SW wants to know is when she's being sent to Beast Island: she realizes she has to escape that night. She sets out to manipulate Catra into giving her the reagent she needs to escape. SW talks up how weak and powerless she is, preying on Catra's lingering pity, desire for connection. A emotionally desperate Catra unfortunately gives it to her. Catra tells her "you don't get to ask things of me anymore" but she's desperate and depressed, feeling totally alone after so recently seeing Adora and consequently nearly dying the episode before, only to be saved by Scorpia's caring about her.

>And apprehensive Micah asks SW if she's sure this is a good idea. She tells him "WE need this power, it's the only way to protect our people". It's a lie, but Micah thinks he's special because he's SW's apprentice, and so he agrees to do it.

As the spell begins to work, we see a terrifying eldritch horror type of creature summoned. It soon breaks free even as Micah helps SW try to contain it. SW acts surprised to see it, but she always knew this spell. Micah runs, and SW stays, yelling angrily at Micah for leaving. She experiences fear as it consumes her, but she knows it's part of getting her power. This is the price she pays to become powerful. She tells Micah he betrayed her by abandoning her and yet, what other possible outcome was there but for them BOTH to be destroyed or corrupted? Norwyn tries to stand up to her, telling her "bringing you into our ranks was a grave mistake". She counters calling him a fool. "You're all weak. None of you deserve my help".

I often see people say this show doesn't show death, but what happens next is undeniably so: it is murder. She annihilates two sorcerer's in one hit, consumes the head sorcerer to give her more magical power. It is pure evil. As she realizes her new power she exclaims "The spell worked. I am stronger than ALL of you." She menaces Micah.

This. Was. Always. The. Plan. The spell worked, she says so herself. Micah tries to defend himself weakly against her, he's entirely at her mercy. He expects death, but instead she caresses his cheek, touches his ear. Then she gives him a look of disdain. It's no mistake she covers half her face even at this point in her history, so we can't know her full emotions. But it's clear, she condescends to him: he was a naive little pawn, not meant to survive, or at minimum, he was supposed to become corrupted like her. But it doesn't matter. She got what she wanted. So she leaves him to live knowing what he's done. The tale of ‘Light Spinner’ has ended: her better persona was just an illusion, useful in her goal of obtaining more power. An empowered Shadow Weaver then shows up at the Fright Zone, killing the guard as a demonstration of power. She declares herself for Hordak, and at least a partial truth is apparent: she wanted the vampiric power so she could channel the Black Garnet. Changing sides bothers SW not at all.

I point out SW’s violence because it is the only time they show any graphic death in this show, and it's therefore meant to show that SW is different, and dangerous. There really was no ‘Light Spinner’, as at multiple moments during her time at Mystacor her true emotions show through (such as pic1, top) and they are both vile and malicious, to put it lightly. Furthermore, note that SW going to the Horde doesn't end up ensuring their victory over the princesses, so yes, in fact, SW was lying to Micah all along. Last, keep in mind Micah’s opinion of her later on: SW is never to be trusted.

Now it's time to get back to the real reason Catra was abused and it's important implications for Adora's abuse as well.

>The scene following Catra's confrontation with SW, we see baby Adora having just arrived in the Fright Zone. SW walks past her, not particularly interested... and yet she sees something in her. And so she takes interest. She knows, in some way, that Adora will wield powerful magic, and since it also becomes clear to us that SW knows all about the past history of She-ra and the Heart of Etheria, it's a logical jump to say she probably thinks Adora is She-ra. Either way, Adora is a powerful orphan child with inborn talent beyond any normal expectation.

Sound familiar? The tale of Micah is there to inform this moment: SW meeting baby Adora. She is in a position to wield ultimate control over a magically privileged child. And the implications are not good...

Apologies to readers here, this next part is intense. Just a quick warning. The total implication of this is that SW never loved Adora, just like she didn't care about Micah. It is all manipulation, and it should be noted that at this point SW has switched to a full mask, conveniently hiding all emotion except a sliver of her eyes (as well as hiding her corrupted features). It's now almost entirely impossible to accurately read her emotions. I don't think she wants you to, as she really has no feelings of actual compassion. She only sees Adora as a privileged child she will use and then discard for her own power.

This means she is, in fact, a child predator. In this case, she's a predator of children of privilege, but the effect is the same: she sees such children as easy targets for her to manipulate for her own gain. Worse, the strong emotional feelings which Adora naturally feels towards those around her makes her easier to control, and SW manipulates this vulnerability against her, as a child and then again as they are headed for the failsafe.

So, returning to the real truth of why SW abused Catra. Let's take a look back at Catra’s condemnation of SW's explanation for her abuse, and it's just one line we need to understand: "I was a child, what could I have possibly done to deserve the way you treated me?" As it turns out, Catra -did- do something, and you have to adore and appreciate this show because we don't get this answer until the very end. Before season 5 was available, it would simply be impossible to understand Catra's story fully. The creators want you to come full circle of so many understandings, the story is that deep.

It's that one, beautiful, follow on line when Catra confesses her love to Adora- She says "I always have"...

Adora was Shadow Weaver's tool, her next prey. So, along comes Catra, who experiences romantic love for Adora right from the start. Beautiful, total love and devotion. SW sees this, and she decides that she can't let Catra be a hindrance to her plans. And yet she knows she can't kill Catra outright or risk losing Adora's affection. So she hurts Catra, tries to make her weak, to diminish her. She is trying to crush Catra's spirit, her will to live, all while making sure to instill a sense of duty and ambition in Adora which makes her less available to Catra. The abuse works, but not on Catra. Catra stays loyal to Adora, and is so secretly strong within herself in such a way that SW fails to destroy her spirit, although Catra has such incredible trauma from it that we see her struggle with it throughout the rest of the series.

But the abuse does work on Adora and so she grows apart from Catra in such a way that Catra eventually comes to feel Adora doesn't love her. And when Adora so clearly breaks the final half of the promise she made to Catra, Catra too, grows apart from Adora.

Catra therefore represents a person in this story who would have been so entirely below SW's notice that had she not loved Adora the way she did, SW would never have taken the time to hurt her. It wouldn't have been worth her time, and Catra would have had a happy(ish) childhood if not for loving Adora. By the way, this truth of SW's abuse of Catra is indeed confirmed in the show, but we don't have time to cover it here and it deserves its own theory post, anyways.

Before we get back to s5 let's take a brief moment to address SW's abuse of Adora: Adora is the kind of person who can't help but empathetically feel the pain of others when they feel it, and it's what makes her to be so unable to balance her own needs against those of others who are hurting. And so SW making Adora have ambition, to want to win at the expense of others, is actually a frightening manipulation. SW teaches Adora to believe she has to do this in order to be the leader, and then as the leader she must protect everyone else from harm. Adora goes on to show great emotional confusion over this, as she doesn't really feel she’s qualified to be that leader. It makes her feel alone from everyone else, and makes Adora worry about every decision she makes. SW essentially saddles Adora with a lonely burden of leadership, one which she's not well suited for. Adora has a very ADHDish (I’m no expert on ADHD) response to this where she bounces around trying to satisfy everyone else’s feelings, such as within their unit, and so her relationship with Catra suffered because of this.

To sum up, the abuses SW inflicts on the two of them results in their division from each other, and it's a division which tries to tear down both girls spiritually throughout this series. They each have specific traumas relating to Shadow Weaver's abuse of them. These are different, damaging fears SW instilled in each of them to make them easier to control. Because of this, both girls contribute to their separation to the two different sides of the war, and it's only through the great emotional learning of each of them that they are able to start putting it back again in season 5. And so, we will see that when SW returns in season 5, she immediately tries to pick up where she left off… to drive them apart from each other and manipulate them, once again, for her own gain.

Side note #2 before we get back to season 5: SW has a complete and total lack of love for Catra as well. Her callous manipulation of Catra, followed by leaving the fright zone like she did, was a spiritual blow and then a death sentence for Catra. SW would know this and yet she simply did not care. Furthermore, when they meet in Moment of Truth (s3ep4), SW again tries to kill Catra, only stopping short because Glimmer can't withstand the magical drain SW is taking from her. She's just not good people... And if she has such a total lack of love or compassion for Catra, it's a logical jump that she has just as little love and feeling for Adora.

Anyways... let's work on that season 5, phew, I know this is long. We're not done yet, though...

----Part 2: The present up till SW’s Death----

Alright, so returning back to season 5 where we began...

Catra is certain that SW is killing Adora. And the reason Catra is so certain of this is because she understands this fundamental truth behind the childhood abuse of of her and Adora. She knows that SW intended to use Adora, and was grooming her in order to use her to gain more power. And, she knows the true nature of SW’s abuse of Catra herself, that it was meant to destroy her so she wouldn't get in the way of SW using Adora.

How exactly Catra knows this I won't cover here, it would take too long and it deserves its own theory post. But, it is pretty well confirmed in the show as well. No distractions! Moving on...

So… when Adora tells Catra she will take the failsafe even though SW is killing her, it's Catra’s knowledge that SW is for certain doing this to Adora which leads Catra to shake in fear, and then refuse Adora once she returns with the failsafe. This moment goes much deeper than just Catra knowing she can't live without Adora, although that is also true.

Ok so here it is, the big theme we will now delve into, that explains so much:

The all important, crucial thing that Catra isn't seeing is that in order for SW to sacrifice Adora, it is entirely dependent on abusive manipulations is SW doing to both of them, starting from the moment they first see SW in season 5, which are intended to make sure Adora doesn't survive deploying the failsafe.

I know it's a tough implication to accept, but I promise to explain. So why? Why would SW not want Adora to survive? This, atleast, should be obvious: She-ra could stop SW once she has the power, so She-ra is an enemy that SW needs to eliminate to achieve ultimate power. So, SW's goal is to get Adora to bring the failsafe to the heart, but then be too weak to survive the process... leaving SW the uncontested champion by her magical vampiric powers. And so... SW manipulates the two girls, doing her most familiar trick: driving them apart, making them feel isolated from each other.

Her manipulations begin from the very moment Catra and Adora see her in season 5, and they continue up until Adora accepts the failsafe and a bit beyond.

So let's lay this out from the beginning, shall we? Episode 10: When SW walks into the room, saying she knows where the failsafe is, Catra is at first surprised at her appearance, she's thrown off guard. Catra very much wanted to stop SW once and for all, but never got the chance. And now, the new, more feeling Catra is faced with her oldest enemy: she can't hide her hatred and anger at her. It pretty much takes everything she's got not to violently attack her right there and then. But this new Catra isn't going to sink to that low. And yet... SW will intentionally aggravate and attack Catra to reactivate her trauma.

What I find very interesting about that scene, though, is that both Glimmer and Adora immediately look to Catra, knowing she will be upset, both trying to help her. And yet, it's Glimmer who looks first.

Even though Glimmer never says it out loud, Glimmer knows SW played and manipulated Glimmer herself, and that her manipulations were ultimately the reason that Glimmer made the mistake of activating the Heart, which brought Horde Prime's fleet down upon Etheria. Glimmer also watched SW torture and almost kill Catra in s3ep4, so I think Glimmer knows very well how dangerous SW is and how badly she's hurt Catra in the past. Instead, we can take the story of Glimmer and SW as another stand out example of how, once again, we saw SW manipulate someone, Glimmer in this case, with no concern for her well being.

>Adora is also thrown off by SW's reappearance, she doesn't enjoy seeing her either. But then, she also sympathetically looks to Catra, knowing this is a hurtful moment for her. All of this is to say that Catra actually has strong allies against SW, unlike in the past. And it's very important that Adora is such a staunch ally to Catra against SW, in fact it's everything. But, Adora doesn't quite do a good enough job in showing Catra how strongly aligned she, too, is against SW. Unintentional though it may be, as we will see.

>Episode 11: Continuing on, Glimmer immediately opposes SW's desire to use the heart's power. Castaspella tries to say SW is the lesser of evils, but of course, Castaspella is just a pawn. Catra jumps on Casta's words, calling SW evil... SW taunts her back mockingly and we see Catra's anger start to get out of control. But, Adora knows, one way or another, that SW is the root of all of Catra's pain, and so she comforts her, showing her that she sees her pain, and that she's got her back.

Again, it's very important that Adora is Catra's greatest ally against SW, as she has learned to treat SW as a de facto enemy because she has seen the pain and torment Catra experienced because of SW’s abuse; in addition to her own knowledge of how SW manipulated herself as a child.

>Adora confronts SW, asking why she even needs their help getting the failsafe. SW answer is a lie, but plays to her manipulation of Casta, who she needs: she says she can't get past Micah. (Note: who she actually needs is Adora.) As SW tells her plan she leans into Adora's emotional fears of letting others get hurt and reminds Adora she has to be the hero, SW even touches Adora, which we see Catra react angrily to. But, SW successfully manipulates Adora into accepting her plan, and Catra can't stand to watch it as she knows it must somehow be a dangerous manipulation. Catra quietly leaves to try to process her anger. We then see Adora slap SW's hand away, showing defiance, but as Catra has left, she probably doesn't see that. Adora looks around and sees that Catra is gone, which SW responds to by trying to manipulate her into leaving Catra behind, as she knows Adora is more vulnerable without Catra around. But Adora is wary of SW's manipulations, and goes after Catra. SW is aggravated by this.

>The two girls have a very good, emotional talk about SW. Catra is dismayed, but Adora is always brave for others, so she tells her she's got to try. Adora acknowledges Catra's pain, their pain, from SW's abuse. Ultimately Adora convinces Catra to come. Together, Adora says SW can't hurt them anymore. Catra reminds Adora how dangerous SW is, but the girls have reaffirmed their bond, their promises to each other. Which is important later, as this will come up again.

>As they infiltrate Mystacore, Catra is apprehensive and stays at the back. But as the mission progresses she drifts towards the front, trying to be the lookout so she can protect Adora. This, unfortunately, puts her in physical proximity to SW when they check the ritual chamber. Catra checks the chamber, but then a sorcerer appears out of nowhere (literally, how??) and SW grabs her in a way that's very reminiscent of s1ep2, traumatizing her.

I can't help but conclude SW is being intentionally hurtful in order to unnerve Catra. She could have just pointed, or put her hand to Catra's mouth, after all. Catra throws herself away from SW, demanding she not touch her, and makes the mistake of dropping the spell and revealing their presence. Look closely at this scene and you see Adora actually shows great anger, even violent intent towards SW for doing this to Catra, but it's so quick Catra probably doesn't see it, as she's staring down SW instead.

Under a track, Adora tries to become She-ra, but she's too emotionally conflicted since the episode before when they returned to the Fright Zone and Adora started to realize she's been letting Catra down, leaving her hanging. And SW's hurting of Catra also blocks Adora, she's trying to help Catra and yet she's accepting SW's guidance again, which she knows Catra hates and doesn't trust.

>As they pass through the door and continue down a corridor, Adora sees Catra is in emotional pain and holding herself, so she lends her emotional support. She knows SW touching her was incredibly abusive. She tells Catra that it'll be ok, and to trust her, hitting her with her dearest look of love and care for her. She knows SW is Catra's enemy, and she's got her back. Catra looks back, trying to trust her, to put her fear aside. But the moment is cut short when SW interrupts them, guilting Catra for revealing their presence. Adora walks on, saying they have to keep moving, and her face says she's doing it to stop SW from talking to Catra, but again, Catra doesn't see Adora's face. Catra feels left behind, that the moment was cut short. It's by the barest off margins Catra is missing how strongly Adora is coming down against SW for her sake.

> We get more information about SW's corruption next, that it's a way to bypass the crystal of Arxia and get at Heart of Etheria's energy, and we know this because it's discussed immediately after Castaspella tells them about the crystal of Arxia. So, if the magic is released, SW will have practically unlimited power. SW just mocks Casta when she tries to guilt SW over using the spell, she gives no apology. We see both Catra and Glimmer seemingly have a deeper realization about SW and her powers and that both of them look disturbed by it.

>Continuing on, we get the scene where Catra saves Adora from fire, which is so cute but I'll skip the romantic implications: as Catra walks through the fire, Adora stops and frets over not knowing what to do about Catra, how to give her what she wants. Adora is worried she's going to fail, that she could die. It's Adora's biggest, lifelong fear as the bearer of She-ra, and she struggles with it continuously throughout the series. To her, it therefore doesn't make sense to her to get Catra's hopes up too soon.

>Adora's thoughts naturally turn to her inability to transform... and SW pounces on the opportunity in order to exploit it.

Consider now, if Adora's problem is becoming She-ra, why does SW immediately give her a hard time about Catra, instead? Adora rejects SW's criticism, but SW flips the conversation telling Adora she can't be a weak She-ra and seemingly blaming it all on Catra. She tells Adora that her weakness means she's letting everyone else down. SW tells her she has to focus, and Catra makes her weak. This is terribly the opposite of the truth and SW knows this. What she’s really doing is a deep manipulation of Adora that leans on her early abuse of her: Adora has to be perfect for everyone else, and as she's the only one who can do it, she's totally alone in this burden. The truth is that Adora has always needed other people, that's where she draws strength from. Catra loves Adora simply for who she is: she represents the strongest, smartest and most dedicated person, ie, she's the most powerful person to help Adora with her emotional need for support.

Which SW knows, so she does her best to try to separate them, to make Adora think she's alone. SW does this by grouping Catra with everyone else: save everyone, or no one. Then she delivers a direct assault of Adora spiritually by saying "the world needs She-ra right now, not Adora". She's telling Adora that she doesn't matter, only She-ra matters, and she needs to be willing to give it all up to be that hero. We see Adora search SW's face, she's not satisfied and then she does her best to reject her, pulling her hand away in anger while saying she will stop Prime “no matter what.” Catra is eavesdropping on this, but can't see that Adora stands up to SW so strongly... as usual. Catra knows SW is up to no good with it, though. Doubt takes root in Adora, and it aggravates her fears that she's not good enough to be She-ra.

>Arriving at the failsafe chamber, SW gives away just how much she already knows about the Heart. SW explains the failsafe, and so we know she always planned on getting Adora to accept the failsafe, risking it all. Adora approaches, trying to be brave for everyone else.

One of Catra's most important moments follows: she stops Adora from accepting the failsafe, and calls SW out for her bullshit. She's not going to let Adora walk into a trap when she knows better. Catra flips it on SW, telling her to take the failsafe, making SW tell them why it's dangerous, why SW won't do it herself. She points out how SW knows too much, yet didn't pursue the power of the failsafe. Catra is totally certain that SW wants to hurt Adora, and so she's calling her out to get SW to reveal her manipulation of Adora.

SW instead tries to guilt Adora, saying she alone understands that this is the only way to stop Prime. But Catra stands firm, she protects Adora from SW's manipulation as best she can.

Confronted and trapped by Catra's having seen through her plan, we see literally every person in the room ally themselves against SW. SW is forced to admit the truth: using the failsafe will mean death even for She-ra, if she isn't strong enough.

And so Adora realizes what's coming, that She-ra is the only one who can do it. She's terrified and sad at the thought that this could, will, be her end; that she really will have to give it all up for everyone else. She's always thought she'd have to. It's a deep held belief that she's alone in her burden as She-ra.

Adora asks the obvious question: What happens if I die? SW's next words prey upon Adora's every weakness, her lack of belief in her self worth, and innate need to protect others: "Then the magic will be restored to Etheria, through your sacrifice. You will give us the power to bring us to victory. Prime will be defeated. Your friends will be free." SW is listing out every last thing that will happen if Adora doesn't do it, and each is a part of her greatest fears. Adora is unable to resolve between her distrust of SW and need to protect and be brave for everyone else's sake. SW has her trapped by her own emotions.

Catra looks on, watching the manipulation, seeing the consequences of Adora attempting this. Everything about this moment speaks to manipulations SW has used on Adora before: she preys on emotional need and weakness, she isolates Adora in her burden, she even does the dreaded ear touch. If Adora does what SW says, Catra knows it'll be the death of her.

As SW completes her manipulation, everyone in the room cries out against the unfair decision Adora must make. And yet, Adora doesn't see a choice. Catra puts it best, saying: "you don't care about Adora, Adora can't even care about herself!"

But Bow's words also have meaning: "Theres no way we're risking Adora like that." For all that Bow and Glimmer have done for Adora, she's still supposed to be the champion that's going to save them. They need things from her, not simply Adora as herself. All in all, Bow and Glimmer did their absolute and kindest best to help Adora, often emotionally supporting her through her depressions and fears of not being a good She-ra. But in the end, they still needed her to be She-ra.

But Catra is different, all she wants is Adora, and for her to be safe and loved, and ideally, to be with her. Catra's opinion in this moment is the true one, the most honest. But Adora can't overcome the thought of failing everyone, and so she pushes forward, saying she will take the failsafe.

Adora is feeling alone, trapped by fate. Catra runs to her, literally shaking her in order to try to convey how sure she is that Adora is going to die if she does this. But Adora can't let the universe die, and she's She-ra. She (Adora) doesn't matter. It's only what she can do to try to fix things for others that matters, her hero's burden. Adora pushes Catra's hands off her, in a lifetime of pain and sorrow Catra has never looked so sad. Adora really is pushing her away, not seeing how seriously Catra feels, how badly she needs Adora to understand her in this moment. A dissociated Adora looks internally, accepting her fate, alone again, isolated.

Maybe Catra could have found a way to get through to Adora, but they run out of time. A chipped Micah shows up and begins to systematically defeat them, and Adora has no more time to choose. SW is easily taken down by Micah, it shows his anger at her. He taunts her, she's got nowhere to hide. This is interesting, but not our focus..

Adora again tries to summon She-ra and fails. She simply can't resolve between her sense of failure to Catra and her need to be brave for everyone else. She looks to Catra, decides to do the brave thing as herself, not as She-ra, even if it means she will fail, and hurt Catra. After all, since she’s She-ra, she has to try, right? This is her burden.

As SW turns to Adora and says "the failsafe... we... we can't" Adora is pressed by urgency, doing what she can. Catra tries one last desperate plea: "Please. It doesn't always have to be you!" Adora can't accept this, internally she is certain she has to save everyone. Even if this includes SW herself, and so when Catra later says Adora chose SW, not her in this moment, Catra is right, except that Adora believed she had no choice. Adora is also the only one in this moment who can reach the failsafe, and so it seems like fate is against her. Adora knows she's probably choosing to die, and if she does, she knows Catra will probably die of a broken heart as well. She really does choose SW over Catra, in a way. It's a tough moment, but taking the failsafe is the right thing to do, given the circumstances.

Receiving the failsafe is intense, and as Adora tries to withstand it, Micah binds the entire party with dark magic. Interestingly, this means SW indoctrinated Micah more than we're shown, and now that he's chipped, he is uninhibited.

Adora sees everyone is in danger, if she doesn't come through now it's all over. It gives her that singular focus she needs, summoning She-ra is easy because if she doesn't, Catra, all of them, are about to die.

Failsafe achieved, Micah vanquished, Adora offers Catra her hand, she's trying to show Catra she's there for her, they are together. But Catra rejects her, she's too sure that SW has won, that Adora will die. In this moment all the old trauma Catra carries is too strong, and SW has unnerved her too greatly. As Catra runs from her, Adora realizes that Catra was trying to tell her something deeper, but somehow she's missed it.

>Catra watches Adora sleep, she's emotionally distraught at the thought of her dying. So, she tries to sneak away. Adora finds out, and manages to confront Catra before she can leave. This is one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful scenes about love in this show, but I'll just cover how SW's manipulations come into play...

>Adora tackles Catra, and demands she explain why she’s leaving. Catra throws SW's words back at Adora, that she's a distraction, that she makes Adora too weak to be She-ra. Catra knows this was a unfair manipulation by Shadow Weaver, but she couldn't see, only hear, what happened between Shadow Weaver and Adora. She doesn't know that Adora rejected Shadow Weaver so strongly, both spiritually and by violently pulling away from her. Adora tries her best to get Catra to see that she's not doing this because of Shadow Weaver's manipulation, that she's trying to rise above SW's control of her. But Catra pushes her away, instead trying to speak to a more central truth: Adora's need to serve everyone else's needs, her inability to regulate her desire to make things better for others who are hurting or will get hurt, and balance that against her own needs and safety. She's speaking to the part of Adora which Shadow Weaver is exploiting to get what she wants from her, to control her. It doesn't really matter in this moment to Catra whether Adora is doing it for Shadow Weaver or not, because either way Adora is allowing Shadow Weaver to win. Catra wants Adora to be better than a slave to her emotional need to help others no matter the cost or danger. She's asking Adora to be strong in herself in a way Adora has never been able to be. She challenges her, asking "What do you want, Adora?" The obvious answer, Catra believes, is her. But Adora is too worried she will die and let Catra down to let her romantic feelings about Catra manifest and make it real between them, and taking the failsafe has made Adora all the more doubtful of her own survival. Adora counters "I have to do this Catra, I'm the only one who can." It's all to say that Adora is alone in her burden, and she accepts it and its consequences because she's She-ra. Adora doesn't believe she has value, or deserves happiness unless she can save everyone, including Catra.

Adora believes as She-ra, she is totally alone in her burden. This is wrong of course, Catra does see her and understands her burden, and is the one person in the world who wishes to share that load with her, unlike the other princesses who need Adora to be a hero and save them. But both girls are weak from their deep traumas which Shadow Weaver has reaggravated, and they can't overcome them. Catra resigns herself to the belief that Adora is unable to rise above her most basic emotional need to serve others, telling her "Then do it. That's what you want, that's what you'll always choose." She can't stand to watch Adora kill herself so willingly to serve everyone else, all while letting SW win. She rejects Adora, and turns to leave. Adora desperately begs Catra to stay, wanting her to uphold their promise and telling her she needs her, but is unable to vocalize her desire to be with Catra romantically. Meanwhile, in Catra's mind, Adora is just going to let herself die, and if she does, then Adora never really needed her after all... all Adora cares about is being She-ra. It's harsh, but true... even if what she's doing about it is so wrong.

It's a painful moment for both of them, and it's horrible because Catra is so clearly breaking their promise, the one that Adora restored to Catra she came to rescue her from Horde Prime. And yet, her leaving will work in the end. Catra gets Adora to see how crucial it is that she not let Shadow Weaver win, to let Shadow Weaver get whatever she wants by taking that cost from Adora's own life. And it's how Adora finally becomes too strong for Shadow Weaver to ever manipulate again.

>As Adora returns to camp, still crying from Catra's abandonment, Shadow Weaver tries to swoop in and make her manipulations of Adora take their final hold. She tells Adora she "made the right choice, don't let Catra convince you otherwise, she's never understood." Dreaded ear touch and all. By saying Catra can't understand, Shadow Weaver tries to make Adora feel alone in her burden as She-ra, seeking to weaken her spirit. But we see a total shift in Adora's attitude as she rejects SW’s cruelty and manipulations entirely. Her words carry incredible weight and speak to how she's so clearly seen through SW's malicious manipulations of the two of them. "Stop. I will never forgive you. You ruin people. You ruin any chance they could ever be happy." Adora just watched Catra reject her and abandon her because she couldn't stand to lose Adora again over SW's manipulations. It's by knowing Catra's pain that Adora is able to finally deny Shadow Weaver any sliver of control over her. As always, Adora couldn't do it for herself, she couldn't resolve between her deeper need to save everyone and SW's plans to use her for her own gain. But Adora is strong for others, and so she's strong for Catra. By leaving, Catra has given Adora the ability to rise above any manipulation Shadow Weaver can do to her.

Adora stands up to Shadow Weaver once and for all in her next words: "I'm going to take the failsafe to the heart, and I'm going to save Etheria. But I am not doing it for you. I'll do everything I can to make sure you never get your hands on the magic." (pic1, fyi) Note the exact words Adora speaks here as we will return to them later, they are important. While Adora has seen past SW’s manipulations, and seen that Shadow Weaver only ever desired power, she doesn't realize how SW's childhood abuse of her and attempts to manipulate her in the present are making her too weak to survive deploying the failsafe. To get past that, Catra must help Adora.

EPISODE 12: We watch as Adora struggles to become She-ra, but eventually manages it. She's seen through SW's plan after all, and so she does her best to believe she is strong enough to win on her own, to survive the heart. But she misses Catra desperately. She rallies her people, and ends her speech by saying resolutely that she will take the failsafe to the Heart and destroy it. It's an incredible speech, Adora has become a wonderful leader, but then she looks up and sees Shadow Weaver hiding in the back. As SW meets her gaze, She-ra's form falters and we see Adora's face for a split second. She's furious at her, that she hurt Catra so badly that she ran away.

Adora moves away from the group so they don't see her lose her She-ra form because of the turmoil she feels over Shadow Weaver and losing Catra. Bow and Glimmer check on Adora, knowing she has a tendency to try to sneak away so people won't see her risk her life. Glimmer is perceptive and asks about Catra, she knows it's Catra that Adora needs, that her being gone is tearing Adora up inside. Glimmer is a great friend to the both of them. Adora voices concern for their safety if they come with her, but Bow and Glimmer know Adora needs support. And so they will try their best, even though they know Adora is heartbroken from Catra leaving her.

>Buoyed by their support, Adora goes to the ruins to try to face her final task, to overcome it through her own strength alone. Bow and Glimmer take her hands, we see Adora does her best to set her fear aside. And yet, as they enter she wonders where Catra is, whether she will come back to honor their promise.

>Catra looks back, also experiencing pain over their separation. She has not been able to overcome her trauma, and manage her feelings. Well isn't it just nice to have a telepathic therapy pet! Melog stops, and forces her to actualize her feelings and process them. At first Catra tries to deny them, saying she won't go back, but Melog sits on her. She cries, saying out loud her deepest feelings. Let's take this one in steps. "You saw what happened, A-Adora chose Shadow Weaver, not me". In a very real sense Adora did do this, she pushed Catra away in the failsafe chamber. She ignored Catra's warnings and, in Catra's mind, committed herself to death at the hands of SW's manipulation. The next line is one of the most important in the series, but we will only cover it briefly as it's romantic implications are best discussed elsewhere: "Adora doesn't want me, not like I want her." We get to see one of the most honest truths about Catra: she is an intensely romantic person, and has always had the most incredible dreams of them being together. But a lifetime of pain has told Catra that it can't be real, or atleast, not for her. It is deep seated trauma that blocks her, trauma Shadow Weaver started and then aggravated against her, making her leave Adora just moments before. Catra is, in a word, furious that she's come this far, having dared to dream once again that the two of them could be together and in love, only to have SW come in and take that from her once again.

Let's take a moment to consider how Catra is doing as she adapts to her new emotional way of dealing with the world, as she has shifted her perspective since rejoining Adora: The old Catra might have simply struck SW down, maybe even killed her to remove the threat. But now, Catra doesn't want to do that but is expected to trust in Adora’s ability to overcome the threat through her inner strength, and the through the strength of her community. But, as far as Catra could see, Adora just accepted her death as necessary rather than fighting SW’s manipulations. And this worries her, and it's why it's so important to Catra that she not let Shadow Weaver win, so Catra leaves to make sure Adora gets the message. She's wrong to do this, and she realizes this after opening up to Melog. Adora needs Catra to have faith in her, because without her support, there's no chance Adora overcomes what Shadow Weaver is trying to do to her.

>Glimmer watches the doubt play across Adora's face. She doesn't know how to make it better, since Catra isn't with them. She asks her if she's scared, and Adora answers back as truthfully as she can: "No, I just really hope this works." She's putting on a good face while trying to believe there's a chance, but when Bow tells her it's going to be a whole new world when she's done, Adora doubts. Can she even survive? Will Catra be gone forever? The next scene is, of course, very romantic. We see that Adora has always loved Catra, just like Catra loves Adora. The magic is trying to remind Adora of her own desires, her wants. Let's not get too distracted though: as Adora moves on, vowing to not let the magic distract her, we see her She-ra form falter, she's still fighting despair and loneliness. Bow and Glimmer don't know what to do...

>Catra sees Horde Prime begin hacking the planet and knows Adora is in grave danger of not succeeding in her last, unselfish mission before Prime stops her. Catra can't let this happen, also, since Melog has helped her process her emotional pain, she's ready to support Adora in any way she can, even if it means her hopes and dreams of them being together will be unfulfilled. She tries to rush to her side.

>Adora is panicking and unable to resolve her feelings of failure to Catra, She-ra is in danger of fading again. She sees the sword as she saw it back when she first left Catra, her hand goes to the failsafe on her chest, the thing that made Catra reject her after she accepted it. She tells Bow and Glimmer she can't escape her destiny. The words "I'm losing her" speak to a deep held belief by Adora that she's not worthy of survival because she feels that she has never been able to help the one person she truly loves, making her no hero. All of the manipulations of Shadow Weaver, Horde Prime, even Light Hope are crushing down on her. She believes she has to accept her fate, to die to fulfill her duty as She-ra. It's the price she has to pay for not being good enough, for hurting Catra when she left her to become She-ra. She thanks Bow and Glimmer for their love and support. "I never could have done any of this without you." Bow and Glimmer did everything they could to prop Adora up, get her out of her depressions when she felt she wasn't good enough to be She-ra. But they still needed her to be She-ra, and therefore they can't help her get past her deepest insecurities. To do that, she needs someone who has unconditional love for her. She needs Catra. Adora leaves Bow and Glimmer behind, trying to protect them, so that only she will have to die.

>Catra finds Shadow Weaver patiently waiting to receive her power, to be able to achieve dominion over everyone else. SW tells Catra "She's gone to the heart of Etheria to free the magic and become the hero she was born to be." The dead hero, that is. As SW tries to guilt Catra, calling her selfish, she glares back. She stands up to SW, rejecting the manipulation: "Enough! This isn't about you and your messed up power trip anymore!”

In this moment, Catra shows us how clearly she understands SW's goal. She calls her out perfectly. She tells SW that Prime is infecting the planet to take the heart, which changes everything, including for SW.

>As Catra leads SW, having forced her to cooperate, they see Prime's broadcast and Catra knows they have to act. She demands SW take them to Adora, and doesn't accept her lies. She knows SW can do it with magic, and demands she comply. Her words hit home "So do something good with it for once and help me save Adora before it's too late." Notice the similarity to when Glimmer asks Catra to be better on Horde Prime’s ship. SW is trapped, she has to comply. If Adora doesn't reach the heart, no magic for SW, universe ends. Catra accepts SW's hand, though it hurts her to do so.

>Catra and SW arrive in the corridor. As Catra gets the truth from Glimmer, she's dismayed. "Of course she's gone, that's what she does, isn't it?" She knows in this moment that Adora is consumed by fear, her inadequacies. As she finishes briefing Bow and Gimmer on the situation, she tells them she will stay to help Adora, and she invokes their promises to each other. It's an important moment, as it is the two of them together, their promises to each other, that gives them the strength to surpass SW's manipulations of them. Glimmer knows Catra is in love with Adora, so she leaves Adora in Catra's care. Bow’s words are important as well, speaking to the power of the Best Friend Squad. It gives Catra a boost to her morale, a belief that maybe there's a chance she and Adora can overcome the odds they face.

>Adora looks out over Etheria, seeing its beauty. Mara joins her. Adora tries to promise Mara that she will save the world, everyone, at any cost. Mara flat out rejects this as wrong, she doesn't let Adora promise. Mara confronts Adora on her decision to die for everyone else. When Mara asks her what she wants, Adora says it doesn't matter, that she's She-ra. Again, an isolationist view, a lonely burden, just like SW wants her to believe. Mara tells Adora that she, Adora, has value as a person, not only as a hero, and that she deserves love, too. As Mara tells to not lose hope, Adora is emotionally moved but you can tell she's still struggling to accept Mara’s words because of her feelings of inadequacy and loneliness. Mara manages to pass some courage to her, but then Horde Prime cuts them short.

Prime leans into Adora’s fears, threateningly. Like SW, he knows how to exploit her. He was in Catra's head and so he knows what Catra knows. He tells her that her failure is imminent, that she is already defeated, like the other She-ra's. The guardian monster then strikes and infects Adora, and she finally loses her grip on her She-ra form. He tells her even her own people didn't want her to make it to the heart, telling her the whole world is against her, and that she's totally alone. She tries to counter this with defiance, but the virus has her. She knows she's in trouble.

----Part 3: Final Moments, and Death, of SW----

>Episode 13. Adora is in pain, trying to understand the nature of the infection. The monster towers over her, it has only to reach out to deal the killing blow, she's defenseless. Suddenly Catra shows up, engaging the monster. Adora's only concern is for Catra's safety, telling her to leave her because it's too dangerous. But Catra has decided: she will do whatever it takes to give Adora her chance to save the universe, if that's what she wants. Even if it means Adora has to die. She tells SW to get Adora to the heart, which Adora objects to. SW is looking closely at Adora and seeing her illness, evaluating. As Adora begs for Catra to not leave her, Catra tells Adora she'll catch up. After all, they are the best friend squad. Bow's words have given Catra a small amount of hope that maybe it'll be ok. Adora, now that Catra has finally shown up, is desperate to not lose her again, and knows fighting this monster is too dangerous for her alone. But she's sick, and unable to help her. SW takes Adora unwillingly towards the heart.

>Catra is doing her best, but the monster is too much, even for her. She tries to slip away, seeing the virus continuing to spread. She's trying to get to Adora, who’s alone with SW. Horde Prime stops her (no keep running!!) and she gets caught. He mocks her, telling her he expected better. But Catra has already surpassed his greatest expectations, and she'll stop him yet... as the monster catches her, she cries out in anguish. It seems the cruelty of the universe has caught up to her again, after all...

>As SW tries to bring Adora to the heart, Adora's sickness is rapidly advancing. She demands SW wait, but she's too weak to resist. The thought of losing Catra again is weakening her spirit and allowing the virus to take over. SW tells her not to lose her focus, she's still hoping Adora will deploy the failsafe before dying. But then the virus seemingly attacks Adora's heart and SW watches the failsafe nearly fade out. SW looks up, she's close enough to already siphon power from the heart. Her lust for power is apparent.

As Adora hears Catra’s scream, she forcefully pushes herself from SW, and starts to go back for Catra. SW calls for her to wait, but Adora leaves her behind.

This is it, the turning point. The great moment of truth: SW now realizes, in utter totality, that she's never going to get to have the power. It's one of the most important moments in the series, and what happens next is the culmination of all of the hard emotional growth the two girls have been doing.

>>Quick interjection: we’re about to get emotional here... (well, I do). Just a light suggestion to check your surroundings. <<

Shadow Weaver now realizes that, even if she were to drag Adora to the heart, she would be too sick and heartbroken to deploy it. It's over for SW, either she dies now, with everyone else in the end of the universe, or she dies giving everyone else, including the girls, a future.

Remember as well, Adora has told SW that she would do everything she can to make sure she never gets the power. Adora is too strong against SW's manipulations, something Adora learned from seeing the pain Shadow Weaver caused Catra through her abuse. I mentioned that the exact words Adora used when she rejected SW the night before were important, so let's return to them: Adora told SW she would deploy the failsafe, and also that she will block SW from getting the power for herself. But as she said all of this, about saving the world, the universe, she doesn't say one, very important, word.

Promise.

Adora may have dedicated herself to being She-ra, but somehow in that moment she knew not to promise to SW that she would deploy the failsafe to save the universe, instead only saying that she was going to find a way, while making sure SW doesn't get the power. We saw that Adora later tried to make this particular promise to Mara, but Mara threw that out, telling Adora to be better, to rise above her lack of self belief.

A promise was made, though. She promised Catra. Their beautiful, childhood promise, the one she so casually broke way back when, her greatest mistake. And so Adora goes back for Catra, to be there for her, to try to help. If this Catra's end, she will be there for her... even if the cost is this high. She can't just let her die alone. She is honoring their promise...

And so… Adora finally… after all this time, puts Catra above her duty as She-ra. Her love for Catra is more important than fulfilling her heroic duty, and so SW can no longer manipulate her into giving up her life so SW can get the power. The girls have, in fact, transcended her manipulations, and as Adora leaves SW standing by the heart, SW is totally alone and without anything, anyone, left. She is, in fact, defeated by the girl’s love for each other... and so as SW looks towards the heart, she finally... makes... the right... choice. She gathers enough power from the heart to fight the monster...

>Horde Prime mocks Carta as she tries in vain to resist being pulled towards her death. When he invokes Adora's name, saying she will die, Catra shows her sadness, disappointment, at having come so close to being with her. He mocks her again, asking her if it was worth it. Catra shows defiance, then sorrow. The answer is yes, of course. Catra was willing to lay it all down to give Adora her shot at saving the universe, she's honoring their promise as best she can even if this is Adora's final act before her, and their, deaths. Catra has total belief that in this moment, that she needed to sacrifice herself for Adora. It seems like the natural outcome of fate, of the cruelty that is SW's and the universe's betrayals of the two of them their entire lives...

Heroic. Fucking. Music. SW shows up, charged from the Heart to take Catra's place. She's going to do one heroic and worthy thing of remembrance before she goes, since she is defeated and knows she won't get to have the heart's power.

Carta's disbelief is total, she can't understand how SW would ever do this for her. Her manipulation of them their whole lives was so total, so unfeeling. And yet, here she is. SW tells Carta to get to Adora and run. She forces Catra back and blocks the door. Catra still can't understand... and we finally... see Shadow Weaver show some actual real remorse for how empty her life is. She begs Catra to take Adora to the heart, to set the magic free. The one thing SW is dedicated to is magic, and she knows releasing the magic will restore the planet. Catra points out the obvious, that SW will die. Part of the reason Catra is so broken up by SW doing this is because Catra had just accepted her fate of dying in order to give Adora her chance to save everyone: Catra was willing to die for Adora even if Adora never found the courage to want Catra the way Catra wants her. And now SW takes her place? It doesn't make sense to her, as SW is a greedy person.

Shadow Weaver’s next series words are some of the most important in the entire series. And this is also the one redeeming quality she has... that she is a teacher. And she’s about to tell Catra something very, very... important.

She says: "It's too late for me." All her manipulations towards getting the power at the cost of the girls lives have been torn down, they've completely moved past her, she has no place in their lives anymore. The girls have learned to love each other so loyally that SW is done, finished.

"But you... this is only the beginning for you." Catra listens to this, searching for the deeper meaning... "I'm so proud of you, Catra." I think we all agree SW being 'proud' of Catra is a devastating line, Catra doesn't need or probably even want her abusers approval. I also think it is a lie, everything about SW says she's unable to feel actual compassion. But SW is a mastermind, and I think she's telling Catra she has respect for her. Catra ended up being the greatest enemy SW ever faced, she was so smart that she saw right through every manipulation SW made, and in the end, SW couldn't touch her. But theorizing aside, we see Catra cry... somehow, someway, SW finally seems to be showing Catra some amount of good in her, and so she cries, wondering where it comes from…

As Catra brings her hand back to uselessly flail at the barrier, Adora catches it. Catra looks back at Adora, surprised at her reappearance...

… right then we see Catra suddenly look away from Adora. It's quick, but we're seeing a dissociative moment: this is Catra realizing something very deep, and very meaningful...

Catra realizes, that in this moment, SW has chosen to do something that is much more than just dying in Catra's place.

She has given Adora to her.

All of Catra's life, Shadow Weaver has stood between her and Adora, love was a thing Catra was not allowed to have. But the girls, together, have transcended all of her abuse and manipulation. They have seen through her plan and risen above every cruelty, and have blocked SW's manipulations to use them for her own gain. And so, a defeated SW chooses now, to give Catra the most beautiful of gifts...

Catra puts it all together, filled with clarity: SW is telling her that Adora doesn't have to die, she can survive this. That they can survive the Heart!!! And Catra is the key, as SW has told her: "This is only the beginning, for you."

Catra is now given this knowledge freely by SW, and thus given hope. SW stands before them, totally defeated, in awe of Catra's incredible growth and cunning and that she was able to see through her plan, and how strongly the two girls have come to love each other. So, SW is giving Catra her fullest respect, and as a last act before her death she is passing Catra newfound hope that the two of them can overcome this, that they can survive...

Shadow Weaver removes her mask, showing Catra her face. It's not a face of manipulation, as we expect, no, there's respect, even, dare I say, gratitude. SW didn't have to do this, Catra knows that. And yet, Catra managed to show SW something she never expected to see. And so, by outthinking and so totally defeating her, by making SW see that all her manipulations were discovered and therefore wouldn't work no matter which way she turned, and by getting Adora understand the urgency of not letting SW win, Catra has won this final, beautiful gift…

“You're welcome…”

As Catra watches SW make her final sacrifice... her one good deed... she looks on, stunned. Life is never quite so simple as you think it is, and since returning to Adora, Catra has seen so many acts of generosity she didn't really believe were possible... and now... this...

Catra lets Adora cry for a moment, then tells her they have to go. Catra is filled with new urgency... they will face this final challenge together. As she resolutely carries Adora towards the heart, she knows she's now in charge of their fate... and as they face this final task, Catra is searching for a way to save Adora, and to save their love once and for all...

~

All of this has huge implications for what then happens with the girls when they reach the heart chamber, but that's a topic better discussed another time…

Some final notes here. It's my belief that Shadow Weaver is the overarching villain of the story, who spans all seasons of She-ra, and is far more important to the plot than Horde Prime is. Furthermore, understanding Shadow Weaver as this kind of villain is a stepping stone to explaining many other important plot points in the series, and we can build on it to understand a lot of the most important moments in the show.

My personal belief about this story is that the writers had such a diverse room of people of LGBTQIA+ and other backgrounds, each with their own trials and pains they had to overcome, that as a team, their goal was to bring to light as many of these struggles that they could. But as for this most central story, my guess is they wanted to tell us a story about overcoming real darkness that exists in our world, as well as Etheria, because sometimes that's how it is. And so the right thing, the only thing to do is to overcome and move past such people, to not let them control your life.

All this is to say that I think the moral of Shadow Weaver in the story isn't about finding the good in her, but about rising above her and the fundamental darknesses that we all sometimes face. And our girls do this through love, at no point do they use violence. And that makes this story very, very... special.

Thanks for reading. Until next time…

~EtheriaDearie

P.S. :: as I am new to tumblr, if you enjoyed reading this, please consider giving me a reblogg! Thanks!! 🙇💛