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This is a really good point. I wish we got to see more of this come out from Catra and this aspect of her internal conflict resolve in S6′s short run (since she eventually does backslide, and attempts to run from Adora), but it’s a huge development for her to see clearly that Adora isn’t sucking up, she doesn't have a choice and is equally a victim of Shadow Weaver’s abuse. And so she stands in front of Shadow Weaver to defend her: just as Adora did for her over a decade before.

“When do you get to choose, Adora?”

You can also see the shock and appreciation in Adora’s face indicating this is a new behavior, and one that didn’t go unnoticed.

Now I have to watch this again

#catra #adora #shadow weaver #catradora #she ra #writing/criticism

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when the story is just not working, but you keep writing anyway

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Everyday is Halloween

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not me developing new obsessive special interests a week before finals 🤡

me: master’s applications. overdue projects. presentations. exams.

also me: indigenous rights & dinosaur evolution

#adhd #autism #actuallyautistic

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i literally think of that "polynesians first to discover antarctica, not news to maori" headline so much it's so fucking funny

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Also another fun fact: I used to actually express when I had no idea what someone just said but apparently I would prompt a re-explanation with a very loud “HUH??” that would proceed to piss people off so now I’ve switched to taking my best fill-in-the-blanks, which are seldom to never, absolutely never correct. You’re talking about playing soccer later? Well goddamnit I thought you said you were bringing me sriracha sauce and now I’m disappointed

Tbh though a decent amount of my circle knows I’m autistic so it’s kinda just accepted as me being a walking meme and trying my damn best 😩

#actuallyautistic : Sometimes I feel like my life is a massive game show blend between guess-what-the-hell-this-person-just-said and impostering an appropriate response among-us style

Which basically means I just said “oof I’m so sorry good luck!” to a bunch of static and cheering and background noise and also the plane that flew overhead 10 minutes ago and good god I hope the garbled drowned-out speech that just came out of your mouth had something to do with whatever you’re trying to complete on your laptop

#actuallyautistic #auditory processing disorder #auditory processing delays

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#actuallyautistic : Sometimes I feel like my life is a massive game show blend between guess-what-the-hell-this-person-just-said and impostering an appropriate response among-us style

Which basically means I just said “oof I’m so sorry good luck!” to a bunch of static and cheering and background noise and also the plane that flew overhead 10 minutes ago and good god I hope the garbled drowned-out speech that just came out of your mouth had something to do with whatever you’re trying to complete on your laptop

#actuallyautistic #auditory processing disorder #auditory processing delays #autism acceptance month

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The film follows Mulan as she joins the imperial army to defend a region referred to as “Northwest China” from Rouran invaders – nomads that came from what is now Mongolia. The film’s release also comes at a time with residents in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of China, are protesting the mandatory introduction of Mandarin language instruction and the gradual erasure of their language and culture.

“It all feeds in the current national myth of China with inalienable borders. It isn’t just that this film was partly made in Xinjiang, a place where genocide is currently happening,” said Jeannette Ng, a British-Hong Kong fantasy writer. “It’s that this film frames those people who are currently having their culture being destroyed as the bad guys whilst lionising Han dominance and Chinese nationalism.”

in case you needed another reason to avoid this trash fire.

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Stop saying “uneducated” when you mean bigoted. Stop saying “uneducated” when you mean racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist. Stop saying “uneducated” when you mean that somebody holds regressive beliefs. You can find bigots in mansions, trailer parks, suburbs, houses, and apartments. You can find bigots in ivy league universities, liberal arts colleges, vocational programs, and jobs. Bigotry of all kinds exists at all levels of our society and to pass off our structural inequalities and learned intolerances as simply a matter of poor education is to imply that the wealthy are more compassionate, more egalitarian, more valuable people.  

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Tfw you realize after ~20 years of internalized ableism that being told “you don’t seem autistic” or having people suggest to you that you might “no longer be autistic” is not a compliment, but just a reflection of how narrow people’s conceptions of people on the spectrum are

#actuallyautistic #autism #asd #feel like most people caught onto this a long time before I did lol #im just gullible ok sue me

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tired: mermaids are all women

wired: much like elves, merfolk are mistaken by sailors for being all women because they have long hair and are very pretty

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(Source)

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The Muse’s Revenge, Ilya Milstein

#art #muse #francoise gilot #pablo picasso #creepy fucks #ugh you can TELL when artists are highkey just walking male gaze pieces of shit #tbh

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Something that I feel like I haven’t seen brought up very often, yet is quite important, is the critical role Melog plays in Catra’s recovery. It’s crucial enough that it honestly kind of irks me when I don’t see it significantly mentioned. Like, I’ve seen videos and posts talking about how Catra finally decides to get better, how Adora doesn’t “take her shit anymore,” and that’s true… but Catra doesn’t do this alone. She doesn’t just magically abandon her previous poor behavior and decide that she’s going to work on herself properly now. She continues to make mistakes. The difference now, however, is that Catra has someone who stays with her even when she is acting out. Catra has what is essentially a therapist. 

One of the best instances of this is when Catra decides to run away after Adora obtains the Failsafe. It’s a classic example of her pushing away the people she cares about in a misguided self-defense attempt. She’s afraid of being abandoned, of being rejected in lieu of someone else, and she reacts by becoming aggressive and ultimately leaving. It’s a repeat of her past behaviors.

Melog stops her. 

Melog essentially helps Catra work through the situation, identify her emotions, and understand why she is doing what she is doing. He provides a stable foundation and gentle guidance to allow Catra to perform the introspection she’s really never performed before.

At the same time, Melog is unbothered by Catra’s outbursts, unperturbed by any aggression she might show. Because of this, he is more helpful to Catra than Scorpia, or even Adora, in her pain, because even if she lashes out, she cannot hurt him. He cannot be manipulated by her. He is simply there, solely to ground her, settle her, and provide loving support while she works through her distress.

This is such an important aspect of her recovery. It’s such a critical thing: that even when she is “acting out,” she has someone to help her. She doesn’t just get left alone to work it out all by herself (something I see advocated for quite a bit: rejecting toxic people until they “fix” themselves). Even while she makes further bad decisions, there is someone there to help her through those decisions and sit with her while she figures out the right ones.

And I do want to take a moment to juxtapose Melog’s brand of “therapy” with Double Trouble’s back in season four. I remember, way back then, how many people enjoyed DT’s “vibe check.” How satisfying it appeared to be. And while I agree that it provided a certain level of catharsis and entertainment, I don’t think it was ultimately beneficial to Catra. Remember that, right after receiving it, she was very ready to allow Glimmer to kill her. And afterwards, once on Prime’s ship, she seemed to have disregarded it entirely, slipping back into old survival-based behavior patterns with very little introspection (until things got very serious and forced her to examine herself to save Adora’s life). 

I feel that she benefited so much more from Melog’s positive style of support rather than from the very harsh dressing-down DT gave her. Even if it was what she “needed to hear,” it didn’t ultimately benefit her much, whereas Melog’s patience, steady presence, and honest concern for her well-being did provide her with the foundation she needed to work through her issues successfully.

Ultimately, I think that Melog is an excellent example of how important it is to have support during one’s recovery, despite bad decisions and poor choices, ideally as a party that cannot be harmed by those decisions and choices. Essentially: therapy is vital, and even a bratty, aggressive cat girl deserves a therapist to help her on her way to a better life.

#catra #melog #she ra #spop #catra redemption #writing/criticism