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yaboigamerghost · 4 years

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Imperfection Is Beautiful: An Analysis of Hordak From Netflix’s She-Ra

Before I start I’d like to preface this by saying that I’m normally not the kind of person who really becomes attached to the villains in the media I consume (Zuko from ATLA being an obvious exception). However, leading into She-Ra’s final season I found myself asking one question “Why do I care about what happens to Hordak?” In the back of my head while watching the final I was constantly wondering where he currently was, and was even more invested than I already was during scenes featuring him, during his reunion with Entrapta, and later when he turned on Horde Prime to save her I was cheering the whole time. While I still completely agree with those takes I had while watching, this made me decide to try and take a deep dive into why I and many other fans felt that way. Specifically, what did lead writer Josie Campbell, her team, and the rest of the staff do to turn a character once presented as likely being the shows final boss into a sympathetic and understandable one, and how did they turn Entrapdak, which was once and still partly is viewed as a crackship into one of the stronger presentations of the shows themes of love, and the power of friendship. My hope is that by the end of this essay people who are fans of Hordak’s character can understand better the possible reasons as to WHY they feel that way, and maybe try to explain to those who really don’t like him why so many people do. Now without further ado, let’s get analyzing.

To begin, let me talk about how he’s used in the first season, and how the writers chose to position him in the viewers’ heads. For those who haven’t taken a marketing class before, positioning typically refers to how companies try to position their brand in comparison to other brands in the minds of consumers, and the same concept can be somewhat applied to how storytellers position their characters in regards to each other in the minds of their audience.With that out of the way how is Hordak positioned in the audience’s head during season 1? By the first time he appears on screen Adora has been established as the show's protagonist, her and Catra were friends who have went their separate ways in a tragic scene where Adora pleads for Catra to join her, and Shadow Weaver has been established as a uh… well a giant asshole. So by the time Shadow Weaver brings Catra to Hordak for judgement on not bringing Adora back we are already inclined to sympathize with Catra and likely already dislike Shadow Weaver, Hordak himself has been mentioned in passing but never really anything specific about him, so when we see him for the first time drenched in shadows with red eyes and teeth we’re likely expecting the worst for Catra, a character we probably are sympathetic to at this point in the story. However something interesting happens here, Hordak essentially sides with Catra in this scene. He makes Shadow Weaver promote her, and tells her to stop focusing on finding Adora. So while the show had to this point presented the idea that the endgame for the show is defeating the Horde, and Hordak being the assumed leader of the Horde… he’s still not presented as the character that’s the most hated based on his interactions with other characters. Throughout season 1 the basis of his screen time is telling Shadow Weaver to stop wasting resources trying to bring Adora back, and then at the end of the season assisting Catra’s plan to use the Black Garnet. Essentially every time Shadow Weaver tries to make a move against Adora and Catra; the characters we’re sympathetic towards; he tells her off on it and when she makes an open act of defiance against Catra's plan he throws her in prison. What all of these acts do to the audience is kind of present him as not being as bad as Shadow Weaver. Let me frame it this way. The character who at this point is thought to eventually be the final boss is not the most hated of the antagonists. To me that seems fairly telling, and retrospectively to kind of foreshadow the direction his character would eventually go.

Season 2 I would say is the most he’s ever played as a straight up villain. He’s patronizing to his subordinates and he uses intimidation tactics and light forms of torture on Catra which I think might be the biggest reasons as to why some fans of the show despise him even now. However, this is also the season where the most important relationship he has throughout the show starts to form. One of the scenes Entrapdak fans bring up a lot is when he catches her in his Sanctum (classy) working on the portal machine and he yells “Get out!” in what is pretty obviously somewhat a callback to Beauty and the Beast when you think about it. It’s what I’d call being subtle by throwing subtlety out the window. Sure it is a line from BatB but it’s also just something an angry person says to someone trespassing and considering at this point we know nothing about their relationship and we likely aren’t thinking that these two characters would have an arc together. What I’m basically saying is that while on multiple viewings this scene pretty obviously foreshadows them as part of a beauty/beast narrative, someone watching the show for the first time may not notice that during this scene. At the end of the day however season 2 Hordak is the most purely villainous he ever is during the show, he suffocates Catra in one of his contraptions as intimidation, he starts off disparaging all of Etheria to Entrapta in their initial conversation about portals, he plans to send Shadow Weaver to Beast Island (although the viewer may not care about this one), and if not for Entrapta convincing him otherwise he probably would have had Catra executed. Again, this season is him at his worst and at his most high and mighty. The way the insecure clone of Horde Prime WANTS to be seen, a façade that gets broken down in front of the audience for the rest of the series, in fact it partly gets broken down in this season during the scenes of him without his armor.

The way Season 3 chooses to frame Hordak actually starts in an episode in which he’s not present. During the season’s first episode Adora has a conversation with Bow and Glimmer after Shadow Weaver is found in Bright Moon. During this conversation she talks about how she changed for the better after having been in the Horde all her life, and she says she chooses to believe that if she can then maybe everyone can, even Shadow Weaver. Subconsciously many of us probably thought during this scene “Even Hordak?”. Essentially what this scene does is have the show’s protagonist make a case for not demonizing the show’s current antagonist like many would, it plants the idea that in the viewer’s head that maybe he isn’t too far gone. The previous season showed him growing to trust Entrapta enough to spare Catra because of her advising, which could be enough to show that to be true. While always rough around the edges and teeming with anger he’s never presented as someone incapable of seeing reason, and with Adora’s monologue about believing in the ability of anyone to change that makes us think that maybe he could be given reason to turn away from his presumed history of villainy. Additionally, when Shadow Weaver talked about her motivations for defecting she said “I want to destroy Hordak”, Shadow Weaver being a character that most viewers of the show likely already hate from seeing how abusive and power hungry she behaves seemingly on instinct. The fact that she’s the one bringing up the concept of killing him coinciding with Adora’s monologue may make the viewer sit back and try to reframe how they view Hordak as a character. This idea is what gets played with in his screen time for the rest of the season.

The very next episode is the big one (the holy grail for Entrapdak shippers). During this episode he blocks Entrapta from the blast of a failed portal experiment, she discovers his physical condition, he tells her about his past with Horde Prime and why he’s doing what he’s doing, she builds him new armor while saying one of the most inspirational quotes of all time (Imperfection is beautiful), and he awkwardly tries to properly thank her while getting help from his clone son Imp… Okay so let me just get to the biggest thing I want to talk about for this particular episode. The reveal of Horde Prime as the leader of a Galactic Horde has a huge impact on how Hordak himself is presented as a character. Firstly it presents the idea that Hordak himself won’t be the final boss of the series, thus opening up the audience to be more inclined to sympathize with him going forward. Secondly him literally being a clone brings forth the idea that he never really had a choice in how he turned out, and in a show that to this point has largely been about characters feeling trapped in terms of who they’re supposed to be by their familial figures in itself is likely to make the audience start to sympathize with him in realizing that war and being part of dictatorship is all he knows. Finally, we have him calling himself a failure and a defect in this scene. I feel as though this was done to draw forth parallels between Hordak’s relationship to Prime and Catra’s to Shadow Weaver. Prime called Hordak defective, Shadow Weaver called Catra worthless. Most people watching the show to this point will sympathize with Catra in one way or another and by having another villain in your show be paralleled to her is a way to invoke the audience to sympathize with them as well.

Now, for his interactions with Entrapta this particular episode. First we see him; a man with what seems to be muscular deterioration; using his body to shield her from an explosion. This would seem to show him as someone capable of putting others before himself, which as we learn in season 5 is something completely separating him from being like Horde Prime. After this we have him opening up to her about being a clone, having a defect, his feelings of being a failure, and him awkwardly trying to thank her. This whole sequence of scenes in part reveals a deeper truth about his character, namely the fact that he was for the most part programmed. All of his awfulness of season 2 and from presumed acts from before the show was pretty much what he was made for. He is someone who was literally engineered by an intergalactic dictator and essentially was born into a cult environment. When the only way he can thank her is by awkwardly saying “I acknowledge your work here, it’s very… technologically sound” and after some coaxing from Imp continuing with “No matter what you say, you are not a failure. And any who underestimate you are utter fools” we can gather one kind of tragic fact. Hordak before this point had never felt a positive emotion from anything not related to conquering and technological advancement, in all his time he had never before this felt love or companionship. While the line itself is funny and kind of endearing, it also reveals the underlying tragedy of his backstory. That tragedy being that realistically there was no alternative way for him to turn out up to this point, the fact that this comes from being born in the Horde and the indoctrination and abuse from a familial figure adds another parallel to Catra, and how the abuse cycle of what Prime did to Hordak set him in a place to start up his own empire, bring Shadow Weaver into it, and then she does the same thing to Catra that Prime did to Hordak. Essentially the source of Hordak’s stress and likely trauma is the first domino to fall in causing the events of the show to happen, Prime’s own ego and perfectionism is what eventually caused his downfall.

But I’m getting ahead of myself here, as I still have more to say about this episode. I haven’t even really gotten into specifics on his defect, or his physical disability. Hordak would seem to have extreme muscular deterioration, he seems to have no tissue on his forearms leaving the bone exposed. The reveal is that his armor and technology are holding his physical body together. Most of the time a reveal like this regarding our presumed main villain would be a “The villain is more machine than man” type of trope like Darth Vader in A New Hope, however that’s not what’s done here. The armor and later pseudo-cybernetics aren’t so much to make him truly powerful and intimidate others as they are to cover up a vulnerability, and vulnerability is a very humanizing trait. The way this show chooses to completely subvert a trope here is interesting to me and says something about the series as a whole that I’ll probably extrapolate on later. What this decision says to me is that this show is one that cares about its characters, all of them, even in its villains they will ask you to look at and consider any vulnerability or redeemable quality in your judgement of them.

The next major scene involving him is the conversation between him and Entrapta having the portal machine almost ready. During the conversation they both seem sad about the prospect of being separated when Hordak rejoins Prime and they ultimately decide that they’ll wait to try it until the portal is absolutely perfect. This plan being ended by Catra coming back with the sword of protection. The reason for all he had done up to this point was rejoin with Horde Prime and he was now willing to slow down with trying to return to his brother, perhaps at this point if Catra hadn’t returned he might have scaled back the war efforts and settled for just continuing scientific pursuits with Entrapta, this isn’t guaranteed but it’s something that left open enough in the text of the show to where it can read as an aspect of his character.

The next major scene is when Catra lies about Entrapta betraying him and letting the princesses into the Fright Zone. This scene sets forth where his emotional state is during season 4, he falls to believe that; in spite of their work together and her telling him to not worry so much about being a failure and telling him that imperfection is beautiful; she never really cared about him and was just using him for his own destruction. The end of this season is probably Catra at her absolute worst. Entrapta outright told her that the portal would destroy the planet and then sent her to Beast Island after she used the words “Adora was right”. Having Hordak be another character hurt by some of Catra’s actions at a time when he may or may not have been on a trajectory to become a better person is an interesting interpretation of this scene to me (especially in light of her continuing by pulling the lever of the portal machine) because I feel like it was a great way to show Catra’s continued fall deeper and deeper into desperation and lashing out in anger and her potentially having at this point outgrown Hordak in terms of villainy (expressed in her Azula moment early in season 4). This idea kind of more puts Hordak on a similar level as the other characters, he’s no longer the untouchable ruler of the Etherian Horde if this bad kitty can come in and cause him to have what boils down to a broken heart. This scene is the final piece that to the audience completely breaks down the façade he had been putting on for so long.

Season 4 Hordak is a bit hard to explain. This season is when we see him committing the most on-screen villainous acts of the entire series, however largely he was being manipulated by Catra into actually setting foot on the battlefield. While this season has him being his most morally wrong, we also see this at a time when we’re somewhat newly aware of his vulnerabilities and insecurities and while he’s doing this we also see characters like Catra and Glimmer also falling further and further into behaving immorally or unethically. This kind of puts the audience in a really unique seat where we’re seeing the characters that we’ve grown to care about since the beginning of the series start to fall into something resembling tyrannical behavior like we’ve assumed from Hordak for so long. So while he’s at his worst at this time so is everyone else and in his case many of his actions here stem from believing that Entrapta betrayed him so there’s an extra layer of folly to what’s going on since it all stems from a lie. When Catra is trying to get him to step up the war effort to conquer all of Etheria she succeeds by pulling out the crystal that powers his armor that Entrapta gave him. When it’s removed he essentially collapses powerless. The crystal says LUVD (not that he or Entrapta knew, but the audience can learn it). Essentially this says that he is weak without love, when Entrapta was there, and she made him the armor he was made strong, when she’s gone and the crystal is removed he’s weak.

There’s a scene where Hordak is talking to Catra about how their success would mean that he’d return to Prime’s side triumphant and worthy. When she hears him talk about this she kind of gives a look that shows just how much she actually understands the motivations. The audience knows this as well, we all saw the times when Shadow Weaver called her unworthy. This scene is the show itself basically telling us that any similarities between Hordak and Catra we gleaned from the reveal of his backstory wasn’t just us seeing something that wasn’t there. This scene essentially asks the audience to look at these two characters through similar lenses. It doesn’t tell you exactly HOW to view them, but asks for you to take a step back and measure any hypocrisy regarding how you view their various actions and then leave it at the door. The show asks you to sympathize with Hordak based on similarities with Catra;a character whom the audience probably sympathizes with from the very beginning; and having them both commit similar actions for similar motivations.

Skipping ahead we have this sequence late in the season where Double Trouble cleverly tells Hordak that Catra sent Entrapta to Beast Island and the subsequent battle he has with the cat. The absolute rage and sadness in his eyes as the background completely fades out and we’re just focused on his face with tears starting to come out of his big red eyes while drenched in blackness, and then he just fires off his arm cannon around the room in anger. There’s just… so much to be said about this little sequence right here, it was beautifully done. What this scene expressed more than anything is that even if he didn’t know it, he was totally in love with Entrapta. He heard she was sent to beast Island, a place where he has sent people to DIE. He likely thinks she’s dead, and his first reaction was tears and to destroy part of his lab and then try to kill his second in command in revenge. I don’t know about you but this is something one would pretty much only do if they were in love with someone. Additionally I think the stylization of having the whole background fade to black during this scene is an interesting one. I think one meaning that could be taken from it is that with him believing she was dead he was sinking deeper into the darkness, that his ability to see the lighter side of the world was gone, the one person who could understand him was gone forever and he had spent all that time angry with her while working with her killer. A man who already was prone to self loathing and feeling like a failure now had nothing to lose. I think this is probably why early in season 5 after seeing Catra he goes to get his mind wiped again. Seeing Catra and her calling him by his name brought back some memories, memories that at this point only bring him pain.

Speaking of Hordak and mindwipes though, the next major scene in my reading is the first time we truly see Horde Prime in his full glory. I’m going to focus less on Hordak saying that he did all his conquering for Prime, but more how Prime winds up seeing through him, and the horror that being part of the cultish Galactic Horde actually is. Prime is able to see into Hordak’s thoughts, he brushes his hands against the slot where the LUVD crystal once was and says “There was a time when you wished I wouldn’t come for you” confirming what everyone knew about his feelings towards Entrapta. After that Hordak seems to get basically reset to factory settings so to speak. Horde Prime immediately turns to Glimmer and apologises for his defective brother, she asks if this means he’d leave them alone to which he expresses that he’d have to destroy the planet to cover up the failures, he would have done it if Catra hadn’t brought up knowledge of the Heart of Etheria. What Horde Prime’s introduction does most of all is tell the audience that if they thought Hordak was evil then they really hadn’t seen anything yet. Hordak was but a child lashing out compared to the insane cult of planetary destruction and forced hegemony that is Horde Prime. If the brutality of the mindwipe of Hordak was anything to go off of it probably isn’t pleasant to be a clone either, but it’s their purpose for creation. “All beings must suffer to become pure” after all.

This helps me segue into talking more about the rest of season 5 and get into detail about the Galactic Horde itself. Based on everything from the language used by Horde Prime and his clones, the fanaticism of most of said clones, the obsession with the color white, and the ideology it would seem as though the Galactic Horde is one thing. A cult. Horde Prime is a souped-up version of Shoko Asahara. He presents himself very charismatically and uses that as a way to mask the constant manipulation he does to everyone from his own clones, to any “Honored guests” he may have, and even his adversaries. He does all of this in a self serving effort to further his own perceived greatness. He is something that no other antagonist in this series ever was, a being of pure ego. Shadow Weaver, Hordak, and Catra even at their very worst were always shown to be affected by the histories and relationships they formed with other people. Even when they committed evil acts there was something recognizable about it, you still knew that this was a PERSON. Horde Prime, while being in the body of a man is surprisingly more reminiscent of something Lovecraftian than your typical supervillain. He’s ancient, his origin is never even hinted at, as though he’s been around forever and no one really knows. He can transfer his consciousness into any being within his hivemind, he has presumably hundreds or even thousands of his former bodies around for him to be able to check their memories, that means he has entire parts of his life he doesn’t remember. Horde Prime may have a humanoid figure, but as a character he’s much more like Cthulhu than Palpatine…. This is the being that created and essentially raised Hordak. A Lovecraftian style cult leader who either conquers planets, assimilates them into his hivemind, or destroys them all for shits and giggles. Hordak never stood a chance of being a good, well rounded person out of that environment. It all puts the Hordak of seasons 1-4 in a different context, shows just how deeply rooted indoctrination was for him.

After the second “purification” he undergoes one might wonder one thing regarding Hordak. Where could he possibly go from here? He’s had his mind wiped twice, he’s on Horde Prime’s ship, even if he did have his memories he believes that the one being who ever cared about him is dead, it really seems like he has nowhere to go… and then he sees the LUVD crystal lying on the floor near some rubble after Entrapta helped with rescuing Catra. He picks it up and looks into it for a second before letting out a somewhat surprised “Entrapta?” he may not fully remember who that is at the moment but they definitely mean something to him. There may be hope for Hordak after all. The audience knows this, especially since earlier in this same episode it’s revealed that Entrapta is keeping a list of clones that could be Hordak, she’s still looking for him.

Later he has another few scenes where he starts to remember some of his past. The cloning tanks with Prime’s former vessels reminding him of Entrapta and when he revealed who he was to her, he doesn’t have it all yet but the pieces are coming back slowly. They come back faster during Failsafe. When he finally sees Entrapta again he’s confused. “Why do I know your face?” She knows that it’s him. He’s not entirely sure he wants to remember, he considers his memories imperfections. As Swift Wind drags her away from the encounter like an idiot she reminds him “Your imperfections are beautiful”. Later in the episode we see her looking him up in the chip network and show a sweet smile on knowing that it really was him. At the beginning of the season the LUVD Crystal was tiny, but now it covers almost the entirety of the palm of his large clawed hands. His love has grown, and grown him as a person, this sets what happens next.

During the two part finale he makes the most important decision of his life. Entrapta gets teleported up to Prime’s ship, directly in front of Hordak. As the rebels start making ground in the battle she starts making noise, telling Prime how he can’t win, he doesn’t know what makes them strong. Prime orders Hordak to kill her. He has a blank, confused, scared expression as he points the arm cannon at her at his brother’s command, tears start to form in her eyes. Is this because she’s afraid to die or because possibly the only person to truly understand her was lost and would be the one to make it happen? Hordak makes a split second decision to turn on his brother. He’s finally able to break through the abuse and indoctrination of Prime’s borderline Lovecraftian cult, throwing Prime’s body down a pit in the ship… Until Prime takes over Hordak’s body temporarily to once again try to intimidate the Etherians.

There is one final scene involving Hordak that is important, that happens right after Adora purges out Horde Prime. We’re given a flashback of Hordak out in a meadow where he’s holding a baby Adora. He likely detected portal activity thinking perhaps Prime had come for him. Instead it was this helpless child, lost from her home and now on this strange world. Perhaps in a quick decision this man starting his own empire saw a piece of himself within her and would take her in. A small piece he forgot about in the many years later, but in this moment of her purging his creator from his mind now remembers. Adora looks at him with no derision or spite, but a soft smile, as though after all these years she finally is starting to understand who he is on a deeper level.

She-Ra and The Princesses of Power is a show that started airing on Netflix in 2018 and finished its run in 2020, and it is a show that is ostensibly about the connections we form with other people and how those affect us moving forward. On top of that it goes out of its way to say that in the end those connections are a positive that we’re better off for experiencing. Horde Prime is the show’s main antagonist and he is a being of pure ego, he views the connections the Etherians form with each other to be a weakness. Meanwhile, time and time again in season 5 those are exactly why he gets defeated. Adora can get through to Catra to break her from the chip, Netossa does the same with Spinnerella, Seahawk and Perfuma slightly do that with Mermista and Scorpia respectively… But where does Hordak fit into this? In s5e3 Corridors Hordak goes to Prime to be “Purified'' after seeing Catra and she calls him by his name, a name being something clones of Lord Prime shouldn’t have. After the painful ritual Prime refers to him as “The purest among you” to the other clones surrounding the ritual. But in the end the connection he had formed with Entrapta led to even him turning on Prime anyway, that purity meant nothing because the bonds we form with other people supersedes all of that. If Hordak doesn’t turn on Prime like he did, for the reason he did then the messaging and themes of the show would have a place where they didn’t follow through as strongly. We’d have a victim of abuse that wasn’t able to get past their abuser, and a flawed person who didn’t wind up doing the right thing because they wanted to do right by the person they love. Without a positive ending for Hordak it makes the rest of the show’s positive endings weaker because it has a blatant exception to those victories, and while that could be poignant in some shows, I don’t think SPOP is that kind of show. So you might be wondering… Why write all this? What made me think that writing a wall of text about Hordak of all fictional characters would be worth it? Part of it is because I wanted to explore why I care so much about this character and look into how his arc worked from a storytelling standpoint. I think the other part of it is simply seeing a lot of people not really seem to understand him as a character. There seems to be a very vocal group of people who hate him, or the Entrapdak ship for one reason or another and use that to kind of call those of us who do enjoy it bad people, so part of writing this is to maybe help some of those people who just flat out don’t understand how we could possibly be fans of the character get to know a bit of the reasoning behind it, and maybe show that the show specifically wrote him to be sympathetic. And maybe if you can see how it would be possible for us to love this character, maybe you can learn to appreciate him too. I can't force you to, but hopefully I can at least help you see where I’m coming from, and if you made it this far all I can say is thank you for reading.

TLDR; Hordak is a very deeply complicated character who’s arc is more important to the themes of SPOP than you might think.

#hordak #entrapdak #spop #essay #character analysis #catra #adora #shadow weaver #horde prime

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prince-toffee · 3 years

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Entrapdak Positivity Month

16. Dinner

Hordak had never seen Entrapta move so swiftly in his life, the short engineering scientist zipped from point to point. It was as if he was watching the dinner room change and alter in sped up time. However it was simply Entrapta moving across the room with incredible agility thanks to her mechanical hair. It was very clear she was excited, to say the least. Hordak didn’t understand this new boundless energy in her, well more boundless than normal, there was something about the current day that lit fireworks in her heart. His confusion was apparent as he gave Imp a look with a raised brow, the small hybrid looked back at him the same way, neither had any idea what was happening. The Lord of the Horde felt like he should’ve helped the woman in a some way, but was unsure of where to even start, and Entrapta seemed to have everything down, on lock.

The purple blur seemed to actually slow down for a brief moment, Hordak figured out this would be his only short window of opportunity to question Entrapta on what she was doing. He cleared his throat to gain her attention. She retrieved the plates from the cupboard than turned around to him once she heard the noise. She had learned that Hordak clearing his throat means he wishes to say something, but is too shy to do so. She always gave him her best smile to give him more confidence and signal to him that he can talk.

He returned the smile and spoke up, “Entrapta, beloved... what is all this for?” He gestured with his hand to the table being set up. His hand ventured to Entrapta’s hand and the plates, which he took and helped place down. He wasn’t against whatever Entrapta was doing, he wouldn’t go against her or stop her. This was probably Entrapta just inviting some of the Princesses over. She-Ra, who Hordak had to admit was his favourite, he felt like he owed her a life debt. Bow was a promising child, skillful with an above average understanding of the technological crafts, then there was Glimmer, whom he left neutral towards. He slightly hoped it was Princess Scorpia and her fiancée Princess Perfuma, they were quite... nice, far more bearable than talking with Mermista and her clown. Even though Hordak did despise listening to the pair converse about types of fertilizer, for hours.

“This is kind of special. Oh, can you pass me the glasses off the drying rack?” He did so and passed them to the whirlwind of hair which set them on the table. Hordak was always endlessly in awe of Entrapta’s mastery of her technological extensions and her 360 degrees hyperawareness of her surroundings, she never failed to amaze him, every new day of his life. Never a dull moment in his life with her by his side. Entrapta continued, “I’m sorry I didn’t check with you first, this is just a really big deal for me.”

“What would get you in this mood, and not communicate with me about it?” Hordak asked puzzled as he watched his partner zip around the kitchen looking for and finding various things.

“Okay, I’ll just say it. My parents are coming over. I’ll finally meet them!”

“Your parents?”

“Yep.”

“...Didn’t they leave you when you were just a young child, imprisoned you in a castle full of traps, because they didn’t want to have anything to do with you and disappeared from the face of the earth, absent from the rest of your life, never uttering an apology...?”

“Yeah, that’s them.”

“Oh so that’s what the torture equipment is for.” He matter-of-factly stated as he watched his partner set up various tazers, spikes and zip ties. He even spotted an occasional bear trap.

“Yeah exactly! It was meant to be a surprise, but here we are, I thought we could have a torture date night together.”

“...You know those are my favourite, you always think about me, you’re so thoughtful beloved. Thank you.” He reached for a glass and filled it with the red wine they’ve been saving in the lower cupboard. He handed one to her as well, and filled her glass. “To you, and your sweet revenge, my beautiful breath-taking constellation.” Entrapta smiled and they tinked their glasses.

#entrapdak #entrapta #hordak #entrapdak positivity month #heavily delayed cause school

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melodianaartist · 4 years

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Nightmares

TW: Mentions Of Trauma, Cult environment, the whole purification ritual thing (i‘m not sure what to call it honestly)

Other notes: First time writing them. I love entrapdak but I am still a bit unsure if I can really portray these two. Beeing in character is something super important to me. So if anyone has constructive criticism please tell me.

Hearing someone scream was startling enough, but it was only made worse by the fact that it was a voice very similar to his own. Beside him, he could feel Entrapta stirring. „What was that?“ she already seemed fully awake again. He had always admired how much energy she had.

„One of the clones. Something must have happened to them.“ Hordak sighed. This wasn‘t a rare occurence. Princess Entrapta‘s Castle was a lot, even for She-ra and friends, but now for a million of recently disconnected clones? They already felt lost without the hivemind, a maze directly designed to make everyone except Entrapta get lost didn’t help much. The two lab partners were currently working on getting everyone their own trackpad. Still, there was something absolutely blood curdling about that scream, he couldn‘t help but be worried.

„We should check on him!“ Entrapta was already dressed, while Hordak opted for wrapping himself in a fluffy bathrobe Entrapta had provided. His labpartner was still working on a new armor. Back in the frightzone he would have dismissed this article of clothing, but things had changed now and he had grown to like the feeling of soft fabric against his damaged skin. It reminded him of Entrapta‘s hugs.

„Where did the scream come from?“

Hordak pointed into the general direction.

„This is going to take some trial and error.“

Dryl was not limitless, but it was big. Entrapta had offered her home to every clone she met and it showed. Most clones insisted on staying together as much as possible, so they shared rooms, but there were still barely any free rooms left. The duo systematically looked into any room and corridor, until they heard a faint sobbing.

They followed the sound in concerned silence and knocked onto the door.

„Hey! Are you okay? Can we come in?“ Entrapta asked. Hordak preferred to stay silent for the time beeing, he wasn‘t sure how to deal with crying.

A quiet „yes“ was the answer, distorted by beeing forced between sobs.

It was one of the rare single-bedrooms. There had been some attempts to customize it somewhat, a single picture frame was hung on the wall, but it still felt cold and bare. The bed was placed under the picture frame and on the bed was a cowering clone. Entrapta immediately rushed to him.

„You seem upset. What was that scream?“ Hordak inquired.

„I was back at the ship. Big brother was there...we were at the purification pond. I was beeing purified. How can that be? I thought big brother was gone! I don’t feel connected to the hivemind, so why is he back?!“ The clone gabbed onto Entrapta, as if he wasn‘t sure what reality to believe in.

„Fascinating! You seem to be dreaming!“ Entrapta’s eyes sparkled for a moment, until she recomposed herself. Her hair pat the clone on the back, in an attempt to comfort him.

„It’s a phenomena in which your subconscious shows you things that aren‘t really there. Etherians call them nightmares.“ Hordak explained. He still remembered his first dream. For a short period of time, he had thought his mind had gone fully defective.It was good, he concluded, that the clones had someone to explain it to them, this time around.

„So..,it’s not real?“ the clone sniffled and looked up at him with big tears eyes. „But I could see him clearly...calling me a failure and rotten and-„ They couldn‘t distinguish the rest, because of the clone‘s sobbing.

Entrapta looked at Hordak.

„I was in the pool. I-I could feel the chemicals on my skin...it hurt.“ The clone seemed calmer now, having switched to a meek, whispering voice. He sounded like a wounded child.

„Chemicals? Pool?“ Entrapta, usually so happy to receive new information, was quiet. Hordak hadn‘t told her about everything that had happened, back on the ship. His memories were still a bit jumbled and wounds were still too fresh.

„It‘s what Prime does to get rid of imperfections.“ Hordak said in a restrained voice.

„A-all beeing must suffer to become pure.“ The clone muttered, frantically clinging to Entrapta, given the circumstances it was understandable. One look into the Clone‘s eyes was enough to tell him that.

„Well, he can‘t hurt you anymore. It’s just a dream, not real.“ Entrapta shushed.

„Prime is gone. She-ra drove him out.“ Hordak crouched down awkwardly, so he could be on eye level with the clone, who was still in a laying position. Entrapta’s hair was rubbing comforting circle’s into his back. It seemed to relax him a bit. Hordak could see the wheels in her head turning, looking for a way to improve the clone’s situation. Her eyes were asessing the room, when suddenly they found themselves on the picture frame.

“Ooh! Is that my staff?” She pointed at the framed picture enthusiastically, interest piqued. It depicted four stick figures, drawn with shaky lines, but each had its own unique hairstyle, loosely resembling her caterers. The last one seemed to be the clone himself, judging from the square facial structure. They were all holding hands and smiling.

“You can tell?” The clone smiled shakely. “They were very nice to me the other day. I wanted to have something to remember them by...in case...” New tears formed in his eyes.

“In case of what?” Entrapta didn’t understand.

“In case I end up beeing inedequate and...I end beeing re-“

“You are doing well.” Hordak’s voice was low, still new to beeing the one guiding others, “You have your own room, you learned to sleep, you have..friends. You are becoming your own person. Prime has no power over you.”

The clone took a shaky breath and nodded.

“Are dreams always like this?” He asked.

“Not at all.”

“Usually they are weird! Or fun!” Entrapta squealed, motioning wildly with her hands.

Entrapta spent a whole hour talking about her dreams, until the clone finally fell asleep. The exhaustion finally got to him. Entrapta smiled and they both sneaked away quietly.

They only spoke when they were in bed again.

“Hey Hordak?”

“Yes, Entrapta?”

“Do you have nightmares about that pool too? Or about Prime in general?” This wasn’t her scientific curiosity voice, she was genuinely concerned.

He looked at her lovingly. “Your presence usually keeps those away.”

#spop entrapdak #entrapdak #spop hordak #lord hordak #hordak #spop entrapta #entrapta #entrapta x hordak #post season 5 #fanfiction

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andhereisthetea · 4 years

Note

Hey, you seem to have your Entrapdak knowledge down and I'd love to hear your thoughts on a detail that always puzzled me. Up for discussion with everyone else in the ship corner of course. Hordak says, when explaining to E where he came from, that he was Prime's "top general". Are the clones not all the same and completely exchangable? Or do they have jobs like bees in a hive? Or, did Prime acknowledge that he couldn't control Hordak the same way as the others and thus gave him a special job?

There is a current question whiting the fandom about Hordak's memories regarding his rank and the way Horde Prime addressed his worth in the Galactic Horde, specially because everyone of us saw how Prime treated his clones, basically a cultist controlling slaves and there wasn't any rank or positions, they were all the same.

This brings the question about why Hordak saw himself with such position whiting the Horde and most importantly, rememebered that Prime addressed him as such? Maybe the answer was in the way Horde Prime treated his most loyal clones, the ones closed to him on the Velvet Glove?

My theory is that Hordak was not actually Prime's top general, it's more likely Hordak was his next vessel, and he was actually close to Prime in some way because Prime wanted to maintain control over him, and his "defects" were new features added to the cloning process, but went wrong at some point and instead of killing him, Prime sent him to the front lines, maybe not with the purpose to kill him, but he might have wanted to see how resistant and different Hordak was still.

But Hordak survived and if yous see at the end of season 4, Horde Prime still had tracks of him on his database, so with only that fact we can theorize Hordak wasn't actually a common clone. If Hordak was a common clone sent to the front lines to die Horde Prime would have deleted him from his database, forgetting about his existence, instead Hordak was more important to Prime than She-Ra, who he didn't remember completely.

The answer to his importance might have been the same as Lucifer in Paradise Lost; Hordak was something new, a clone with free will (in the data base he had blue hair and make up already), ultimately turning against his creator. Those aspect in Hordak's person didn't came from Prime, but from Hordak himself and were showing up more and more, even after Prime reconditioned him, and who knows how many times he was reconditioned before Etheria? But he kept going, and that was both a challenge and a warning for Prime, realizing that his clones could evolve pass his control.

Hordak might have been important not as a top general, but as the first one who challenged Prime's control, even before knowing it.

#hordak #horde prime #anon #meta #spop #shera5 #season 5

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lumberwoof · 4 years

Text

oh, I will love you the same (Adora/Catra)

@korramills asked: catradora at one of their friend's wedding - i'm thinking glimbow or entrapdak, but it's up to you

I meant to just put the fic in the answer to your ask, but the format fucked up while I was editing the draft so here we are

anyway, this got out of hand. like almost 3k words out of hand, and I ended up having to sleep on it. but here’s some catradora at glimbow’s wedding feat. more overly complicated rules and traditions that don’t actually get followed

Bright Moon had been bustling with business and celebrations for the last week as people far and wide came to witness the royal union of their Queen. Despite a set of rules and traditions that were far more complicated than any Princess Ball or Coronation, and that demanded a minimum of one week’s worth of celebration, Catra and Adora had only managed to arrive from their latest trip two days before the big day.

Which was barely long enough for a crash course in expected etiquette, a shipwreck of a rehearsal, and an uncomfortably fast appointment with a very harried tailor. The tailor had done a fabulous job, though, despite the time constraints. At least, that’s what Catra thought as she fussed with the collar of the elaborate outfit she’d been forced to wear, looking over herself in the vanity mirror. Apparently, she had been given the role of Knight of Honour to Queen Sparkles herself, which meant her outfit was slightly more intricate than Adora’s.

It had come as a surprise at first, but Adora had been chosen to be Bow’s Knight of Honour and Catra supposed that even perfect, wonderful Adora couldn’t be in two places at once. Whether the decision had simply been left to chance or not, Catra wasn’t sure. Regardless, Adora was standing behind her, already fully dressed solely because her outfit, while similar, was far less complicated.

Catra shifted to adjust the weird epaulette thing that kept sitting crooked and stubbed the toe of her boot against the vanity. She sighed heavily. “You know what the worst thing about me joining the rebellion is?”

Behind her, Adora was playing with two very fancy, non-magical swords. One of which was supposed to be for Catra. (Apparently part of the tradition was that, should there be a dispute, the two chosen knights would settle it with a duel. Catra kind of hoped someone made a fuss just so she could tussle with Adora for fun.)

“What’s the worst thing about joining the rebellion?” Adora asked, the bored tone of her voice indicating that she already expected a less-than-serious answer.

Catra adjusted the buckle on her boots for the fiftieth time, wiggling her toes and grimacing. “You keep making me wear shoes.”

She glared down at the well-polished boots that Glimmer had all but blackmailed her into wearing. Although, to be fair, these ones weren’t actually awful to wear, and clearly had been made with her in mind. They weren’t all that uncomfortable but she wasn’t used to it, either.

“Oh, how awful.” Adora said, voice dripping with sarcasm. She set Catra’s sword down and slung hers back over her hip. Wrapping her arms around Catra from behind, she grinned wide. “You should file a complaint at the next Peace Council meeting. Etheria needs to know about the heinous crimes being committed here.”

“Shut up!” Catra laughed and elbowed Adora in the ribs, getting a soft hiss. “You’re such an idiot.”

Behind her, Adora blew against the back of her neck, and the small tuft of a ponytail she’d managed with her current hair length. Catra shivered and tried to refocus by leaning away, but Adora just pulled her closer.

“But you love me,” Adora sing-songed into her ear.

Catra rolled her eyes but couldn’t keep the smile from her lips. In the past, she might’ve played it off with a self-deprecating joke, but these days she’d accepted that being happy sometimes meant being a bit of a sap from time to time.

“I do. And you–” Catra twisted to kiss Adora’s jaw– “love me.”

She interlaced her fingers with Adora’s at her waist, pausing her train of thought when Adora leaned down to kiss her properly.

And, oh, it didn’t matter how many times they did this, it always made something surge up in Catra’s chest. Always made her feel like the magic of the planet was flowing through every nerve in her body. Her free hand came up, claw featherlight on Adora’s cheek, knees weak as Adora’s tongue dipped into her mouth, hips pinning Catra against the vanity.

They broke apart with heavy breaths, Catra ducking away from a second kiss. “We’re going to be late.”

Adora’s eyebrows arched up in amusement. “Oh? Didn’t realize you cared so much about following the rules.”

“Adora, please,” Catra said. “I don’t care, but if I’m late, Glimmer is going to be so annoying about every other rule I’m breaking.”

“Like… leaving your shirt mostly unbuttoned?” Adora’s gaze dipped in the mirror’s reflection. Her hand slipped from Catra’s hip to her stomach, thumb toying with the button just below the exposed skin, but it didn’t stray further.

The heat pooling from that action alone was enough to make Catra reconsider the whole “not being late” thing.

“How much time before we’re late again?” Catra asked, voice thick.

“I thought you didn’t want to be late,” Adora’s lips brushed against her neck with every word.

“I–”

Glimmer appeared in the middle of the room in a sparkling cloud of magic. Adora’s hands jumped away from Catra, as if to pretend they hadn’t been up to anything scandalous in the private bedroom they had been sharing for the last four and a half years.

“Hey! Glim–” Adora was cut off when Glimmer, with a hand covering her own eyes, grabbed Adora’s wrist and teleported them both out of the room, the sound of them reappearing coming from the corridor just outside the door. Then Glimmer came back into the room alone and uncovered her eyes.

“Uhh…” was all Catra could manage.

“Tradition. I’m not supposed to see Bow or his chosen Knight before the ceremony.”

“Sounds stupid,” Catra said, without preamble. Maybe it was a bit mean-spirited, but her and Glimmer just talked to each other like that. “You know that Adora and I are basically wearing the same thing, right?”

“Okay, first of all, no, because yours is way more elaborate, and secondly, I’m pretty sure Adora actually buttoned her shirt.”

Catra sighed, still facing the mirror as she tried to fix the last of her outfit. “First you make me wear shoes, now you make me button up my shirt. Next you’ll be asking me to make a speech.”

She expected a laugh and when it didn’t come, Catra furrowed her brow in confusion. She was pretty sure that had been funny, but when she found Glimmer’s gaze in the mirror, the Queen’s face was full of distress.

“Uh, what?”

“Catra, please tell me you know about the speech.”

“I…” Catra didn’t know what to say. Clearly, there was actually a speech involved. She’d only skimmed the nauseatingly long scroll of etiquette and traditions, and of course she’d missed something important.

Glimmer inhaled deeply, then started to panic. “Please! Tell me Adora knows she has to make a speech, too.”

“…No?” Adora’s voice came from the other side of the door where she’d been left in the hallway.

Glimmer opened her mouth to scream and then thought better of it. “Adora, Bow - now.”

Adora’s footsteps thunked down the hallway towards Bow’s wing (he’d had to stay in a completely separate wing as part of the tradition), and Glimmer slumped to the ground. “Oh, no! This is a disaster.”

“Hey, hey,” Catra was quick to jump to Glimmer’s side. She’d gotten pretty good at the whole comforting other people thing, according to Perfuma. “It’ll be fine. I’m sure Adora and I can think of one or two nice things to say about you and Rainbow.”

“The speech is more than just one or two nice things, Catra.”

“According to who? A scroll written by some geezers hundreds of years ago? Or you, the Queen, who actually, y'know, makes the rules?”

“That’s not–” Glimmer paused. “Okay, that’s sort of how it works.”

“Look, I’m not gonna lie, I don’t understand a lot of this fancy tradition stuff, but also, you’re marrying Bow, so there’s no way today won’t be perfect. I mean,” Catra paused, suddenly swept away by visions of her and Adora, not standing on the sidelines as they had the day before during rehearsal, but standing where Bow and Glimmer had been standing. Her throat dried and her heart felt so full that her chest might burst. “You’re marrying someone you love and you’ve spent your whole life with, how can that be bad?” Catra desperately tried to ignore the flush she could feel spreading through her face.

“You’re thinking about you and Adora now, aren’t you?” Glimmer accused, watching Catra with a knowing stare.

Catra shifted awkwardly, an inferno burning across her cheeks. “Can you blame me?”

“Not really.” Glimmer sighed and leaned in for a hug that Catra awkwardly returned. It wasn’t that she was bad at hugs, or disliked them, but unexpected physical affection from anyone other than Adora (and maybe Scorpia, but physical affection was always expected with Scorpia) still caused a bit of discomfort. “Sorry,” Glimmer murmured, pulling away. “This is going to sound silly but I’m just… I’m scared.”

“What? Why?”

“What if something goes wrong? Like, not with the rules and traditions and stuff, because uh, we definitely flubbed a bunch of that stuff during my coronation, but like–what if I get up there and Bow realizes that he doesn’t want to get married?”

Catra pressed her hands to her face and sighed heavily.

–

“Adora, I’m freaking out!” Bow said, only briefly pausing in his erratic pacing around the centre of the guest room he’d been stuck in for the last couple of days. The last time Adora had seen him, he’d been fully dressed, but now he’d shucked his jacket and untied the very intricate and time-consuming knot of his silk belt.

“I… see that.”

“What if something goes wrong? What if I walk in there and Glimmer realizes that she’s cool and awesome and never has to get married? I mean, we’d still be together and that would be fine if that’s what she wants but what if, Adora? What if?”

“Uh, do you want to get married?”

“Yes! Of course I do.”

“And Glimmer agreed to marry you?”

“I mean, we haven’t had the ceremony yet, but she was the one who asked me, so yeah I think it’s safe to assume she wants to get married.”

“So… there you go, problem solved.”

“Adora,” Bow’s voice cut off in a frustrated groan. “That’s not the problem.”

“…It’s not?”

“The problem is that I’m nervous.”

“Oh, well I, uh…. do you want to do a deep breathing exercise? Oh, should I get Perfuma to lead you through it? She’s way better at it than I am.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” Flopping onto the bed, Bow let out a pitiful moan. “I should’ve picked Catra to be my Knight instead, she might actually be more helpful.”

“Wow, okay,” Adora sat on the bed next to Bow, feigning offense (okay maybe a little part of her was genuinely offended, but only a tiny bit). “I did offer to get Perfuma to come help.”

Bow said nothing, just groaned into his pillow some more.

“What are you so nervous about, anyway? Glimmer’s not going to change her mind, not after everything you two have been through.” For a moment, she thought about herself and Catra instead, how they’d also been through so much together, and her breath caught in her throat briefly. “And, let’s be honest, between Princess Prom and the Coronation, you know we’re going to miss most of the royal etiquette, so don’t expect any of that.”

Bow hummed in agreement, but there was still a tense line in his shoulders. Adora patted his back in an attempt to be comforting. “And it’s Glimmer, who you love. It doesn’t matter if SeaHawk and Swift Wind get into another drinking contest and set the building on fire, it’s going to be perfect.”

Bow let out another pained noise. “You’re right but I also wish you hadn’t said that.”

“What, that it’ll be perfect? Or that SeaHawk and Swift Wind might set the building on fire?”

–

The ceremony itself was fairly private, with only other princesses and close friends and family in attendance. Glimmer had let Catra keep her shirt mostly unbuttoned and Adora spent most of the opening ceremony trying not to stare while also remembering what she was supposed to be doing. She only had so many brain cells, and Catra’s presence constantly wreaked havoc on them.

Nothing distracted Adora (or Catra) from watching as their best friends stood before each other, though, Bow and Glimmer both smiling so wide they couldn’t help but giggle, cheeks flushed and eyes glassy. Micah presided over the joining ceremony, barely holding it together himself. He used a magic thread, enchanted with power from Bright Moon’s runestone, to tie their clasped hands and whisper a few words as Glimmer and Bow brought their foreheads together.

Unable to stop the wishful thoughts of herself and Catra in their place, Adora swallowed and glanced towards her girlfriend, heart stuttering to a standstill when she saw Catra staring back, something soft and yearning in her eyes.

The rest of the ceremony was a blur. If she gave a speech, Adora couldn’t remember what it was, only the thunderous cheers of their close friends, and then the uproars of the public outside when Bow and Glimmer were presented on the castle balcony, Bow now adorned with a royal circlet to match his wife’s.

“I’m kinda mad we didn’t even get to fight,” Catra said, arms folded as she watched the happy couple from the entrance to the balcony.

“Wait, fight?” Adora said. “Fight who? Me?”

Catra gave her a look. “Did you even read the scroll? If there was a dispute between the two during the ceremony, our duty as their "knights” was to fight it out in their stead. I mean, I knew there wasn’t going to be a dispute, but I kinda hoped they’d make one up anyway.“

"Huh,” Adora looked towards Catra, at the figure she cut in her outfit with her elaborately embroidered cloak hanging from her shoulders, sword dangling at her hip. “Or we could just cross swords anyway.”

“…I do like the way you think, Adora,” Catra’s eyes shifted from watching Bow and Glimmer to meeting Adora’s gaze. Her lips pulled up in a smirk her fangs poked out over her bottom lip. “Right here?”

While it would be fun, she didn’t want to distract from Bow and Glimmer’s big day by starting a duel in public view. Besides, judging by the heat pooling in her gut and the way Catra’s eyes kept running up and down, this fight was going to lead places not appropriate for prying eyes.

“No, we should go to the garden.”

“Race you there.”

And then Catra was off, bounding away down corridors and around corners, slipping into old shortcuts with Adora hot on her tail. She stumbled just before the entrance to the garden, her boots catching on the ground when she tried to run on all fours, and Adora had no time to react before sprinting right into her, sending them both tumbling out onto the grass.

Flat on her back, Catra glared up at Adora, expecting a smug or teasing grin, but Adora’s face was awestruck instead. “Catra, do you–?” Adora paused, hand cupping Catra’s face and thumb brushing over her cheek.

“What?” Catra asked, wondering where all of Adora’s bluster had gone but also, inherently, knowing exactly where it was. Because she was having those same feelings.

And it was the fault of Sparkles and Rainbow and the image burned in her brain of them smiling at each other like they were the only two people in the room.

“Do you want that? What Bow and Glimmer have?”

“Bad taste in fashion?”

“Catra.”

Catra shifted uncomfortably underneath Adora and centred herself, focusing on her breathing, just like Perfuma had taught her. She wet her lips, looking up at Adora, who was illuminated by the sun sitting high in the sky. “You mean like, get married? Because I thought that was stuff only royalty did.”

“I mean, I am technically a princess, in case you forgot,” Adora said, taking advantage of the brief brevity to calm and collect her frayed nerves. “But… yeah. Do you want to get married? It-it doesn’t matter if you don’t, I’m happy as long as we’re together but, it would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

Catra’s hand slid up to cup Adora’s jaw, and she stared deep into Adora’s eyes. “Adora, I already told you I don’t care about following the rules. And I’m not saying it wouldn’t be nice, but--” She thought about all the years her and Adora had spent together since the defeat of Horde Prime, of the promises and the vows they’d given each other over their lives. “Don’t we kinda have that already?”

For a moment, Adora only stared, and then she started laughing. “Oh my gosh, we do, don’t we? I mean, there’s a bit more paperwork involved in an actual wedding--”

“I can definitely live without the paperwork.”

Still mirthfully breathless, Adora pressed her forehead to Catra’s, squeezing back the tears in her eyes as Catra pulled her into a burning kiss, mouths constantly reconnecting between the giddy laughter that came bubbling up, both of them overflowing with euphoria.

“Holy crap, we’re married. Unofficially but still.”

She giggled into Catra’s cheek, holding her close.

“Although,” Catra murmured, tilting her head to brush Adora’s lips with her own again. “Maybe don’t tell Sparkles that we figured this out on her wedding day.”

#korramills #she-ra tag #catradora #my writing #////////#she ra spoilers #glimbow #catra and adora are idiots that's it that's the fic #i am at the whims of my headcanons #title is from the song ''all my life'' by WILD #which is a great happy ending catradora song imo #might fuck around and add more to this later but this is all i have energy for right now

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etherian-affairs · 4 years

Text

Entrapdak Secret Santa Stuff!

This is my secret Santa gift for @ari-draws-things (which apparently Tumblr hates linking too.) As part of @niuniente's secret Santa fun.

I couldn't decide on one thing to write so I decided to do a little compilation of these two being dorks.

=======

Coats

"This is completely unnecessary." Hordak notes with a bit of a grump in his voice as Entrapta finishes wrapping another piece of clothing around him. To keep him warm as she insists. Sweaters, coats, including a very long one, a scarf.

"It's really cold in the northern reach! And your body isn't the best! so we have to make sure you don't get cold!" Entrapta notes with complete sincerity. It is sort of sweet in a very overbearing and ridiculous way.

"It is not this much of a problem! The cold is barely of note, after all even my defective biology is much hardier than any Etherian!" He huffs.

"That's why I'm bundling up too! See!" Entrapta hops back, revealing her actually good looking winter weather attire. A modification of the cold weather gear that Force Captains are given access too. Of primary importance is the fact she is not wrapped up in numerous layers taken from seemingly random and disparate wardrobes.

"You are in something reasonable. Precision engineered and even aesthetically attractive thermal clothing. Meanwhile you have wrapped me in some kind of coat cocoon made from whatever you could find." Hordak grumbles as he wiggles his arms. It's all being worn over his armor, and even with the strength enchantment it still manages to be hard to move in.

"Aaawww." Entrapta's eyes sparkle. "You think I'm aesthetically attractive?!"

That causes Hordak to sputter and look away from Entrapta. "I… I do not find you aesthetically unattractive." He hears her giggle in response to him, then feels her lips touch his cheek in a gentle kiss which only serves to turn the warlord red.

Then she pulls the fluffy winter hat onto his head "there we go! Now the ensemble is complete!" Entrapta nearly shouts as she moves back to get a good look at Hordak's definitely very fashionable outfit..

Hordak grumbles, wiggling his arms a bit. "Entrapta this is ludicrous. I demand you free me from these garments." He says with a huff.

Finally after a moment Entrapta laughs. "Okay! The experiment is over anyway! It was a huge success!"

This garners sputtering from Hordak. "Experiment? What experiment?!"

"I wanted to see if you'd stop me from putting more and more coats on you! You didn't!" She smiles. "I think it's because you love and trust me!"

"WELL I DON'T NOW!" Hordak shouts dramatically, wiggling his limbs around. Entrapta gasps!

"We'll need to confirm that!" She adds before moving right up to Hordak and placing her forehead against his. The warlord manages a moment of defiance before he leans into it to nuzzle her gently. He does grumble while doing it though. It garners a giggle from Entrapta. "I'll help you get out of these now. Even though you look adorable!"

"Thank you." Hordak huffs, his face flushed red.

Hot Cocoa.

Etheria is notable for the micro climates and clear biomes which separate regions of the world. As such seasons within the confines of those biomes are quite mundane and samey compared to many of the other worlds that Hordak has visited. The Fright Zone barely notices any changes as time passes, always rather warm and dry. Hordak has been ensured however that it is currently winter time and thus extra cold.

It is not, but the people of the Horde seemingly arbitrarily deciding this doesn't actually affect anything. Thus, Hordak allows them to have their winter. No harm done, after all.

Until the climate control systems of the Fright Zone begin to malfunction and cool things below the normal controlled ambient. The moment it was noticed technicians were dispatched to deal with the problem but it is taking them some time, and the sanctum is for lack of a better term freezing.

Hordak is not going to be deterred by a little bit of cold however, in fact it's good for conductivity. With great stoicism he ignores the niggling in his brain that he should cover up his legs and back more. He is Lord Hordak and he is stronger then some air conditioning unit.

Just as he is about to give in and try to find a warmer room Entrapta bursts in. "Hordak!" She declares chipperly! "It's really cold!"

He looks back at her, she's carrying a tray of little cups. It's rather too ominous for just being a platter of cups. Likely an effect of the fact that Entrapta is generally speaking terrible with making anything that is supposed to be edible. "Yes, it is. The climate control system has suffered a malfunction it would seem."

"Well! Good news! The moment I noticed how cold it is, I decided to make us an instant fix! Hot cocoa!" She shouts the entire statement excitedly.

Hordak quirks a brow at her "As in… heated chocolate?"

"Yes! It's a drink! Milk! Chocolate! Marshmallows! It'll warm us right up!" She insists as she steps forth, holding up the tray of drinks to Hordak.

There's a long moment of staring and debating this. He has had chocolate before and while it is not his favorite it also is not terrible. The idea of it as a warm liquid isn't much better but it also isn't much worse. Making Entrapta happy is definitely a good thing though, and this also might help to warm his core. There is also the fact that Entrapta herself made it too, which on the one hand is a very sweet thing but on the other could spell disaster for Hordak's digestive tract.

After some internal debate Hordak reaches out to take one of the small cups of hot cocoa, carefully bringing it to his lips to take a sip. The hot liquid hits his tongue, his tastebuds fire.

Hordak spits it out immediately. Entrapta yelps in surprise. "You spit it out?!"

"How did you burn a liquid!?" Hordak responds. "This is not chocolate anymore this is some sort of liquid ash!" He ponders the taste for a moment more. "With subtle hints of arsenic."

"I am sure I did it right! I used science to make it!"

That comment garners a blink from the clone. "You just told me it was just chocolate, milk, and marshmallows! How did that require science?"

"Well I had to make it all from scratch! From stuff I found around the Fright Zone!"

Hordak can only groan. "There are basic food preparation supplies available to you." He states.

"Yeah but I wanted to make it special!" Entrapta pouts. "I sabotaged the air conditioning for nothing now."

Hordak blinks. "You what?!"

Mistletoe

"So we are supposed to have this plant hung up over a doorway and then if we pass under it at the same time we kiss?" Hordak asks as he looks over the bundle of green in his hand.

"well actually it's that you're socially allowed to kiss anyone standing under mistletoe!" Entrapta notes as she lifts herself up to also observe the plant.

"I see." Hordak nods slowly, then he asks the key question. "Why?"

"I don't really know! I guess it's because people like kissing!"

"I only like kissing you." Hordak replies with a sure nod.

Suddenly Entrapta's cheeks go red. "That's surprisingly forward of you!" She speaks loudly.

Hordak blinks, a blush graces him as well. His ears angle down in embarrassment. "I uh… well I mean…" then suddenly the mutually bashful moment is broken.

"Wait! If you only like kissing me does that mean you have tested it? Hordak have you kissed other people?!" Entrapta's voice is genuinely curious, almost excited to find out. It makes Hordak's ears pin against his head.

"Uh. Well… I have been on Etheria for some time… there have been intimate encounters." He looks away from her, embarrassment filling him.

"Oh wow! I never considered that…" Entrapta hmms and moves around him, as if taking stock of him now.

This time Hordak gets to speak up though. "Wait! Why not? What would make that something to not be considered?!" He turns to follow her with his gaze.

Then suddenly the mistletoe is plucked from him hands and held above him in a lock of purple hair. Hordak's surprise only increases when Entrapta's lips are suddenly pressed against his own. He soon accepts the kiss though, leaning back into it.

When their lips part Entrapta speaks. "I thought only I had such good taste!" She speaks, then giggles.

The warlord blinks, staring at Entrapta for a moment. "Who has been teaching you to flirt? That was very self assured and forward."

"Did you like it? Imp has been helping me!" She beams back at him, proud.

"I did. It was very effective. The use of the mistletoe was quite inspired as well."

"I improvised that part! I'm glad you liked it!"

Hordak nods again, then suddenly reaches out to pull Entrapta close and kiss her again. She meeps in surprise for just a moment before leaning into it.

"I may like this backwater holiday tradition." Hordak notes quietly after they break once more. Their foreheads pressed together.

"I like it too." Entrapta sighs happily.

#entrapdak #my writing #entrapdak secret santa

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emperorsfoot · 4 years

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Hope y’all like my shitty self-indulgent Entrapdak arranged marriage AU!

Maybe read the tags? /self-conscious

...

He double checked the number on the scale before recording it, hesitant to believe the positive result. There had been no further weight loss in three-hundred and sixty-six consecutive days. He had gone a whole year and a day without his cachexia advancing his condition. Prince Hec-Tor, younger brother to the current Horde Prime, decided to consider that a win. Better than a win. This was a victory! Feeling a level of confidence he was well aware was inflated, he made sure the data was saved to the app he used to track his personal health on his datapad.

Today was going to be a good day.

In his office, his secretaries had already organized all the business for the day, arranging the datacards in neat stacks by relevance. Of course, Imperial projects that were in service to the Great Horde Empire and –by extension- his brother the current Horde Prime, were front and center in the middle of his desk. But there was also his own personal business ventures, household business mostly dealing with salary and requests from staff that cared for his son, Imp, and, finally, one sad lonely little data card off to the side the only one in its stack. That one had to be in reference to the search for Keldor.

Hec-Tor picked it up, glaring at it with mingled hope and dread. Then opened a drawer in his desk and put it out of sight for the moment. He already knew what it was going to say anyway. The same thing all the updates on the search had been telling him for years. ‘There is still no sign of Prince Keldor.’ ‘We have been unable to locate Prince Keldor.’ ‘I’m sorry, your Highness, but it is looking as if your husband is-‘

But Hec-Tor would not dwell on that today. Today was going to be a good day.

Horde Prime was planning some big event in the palace at the end of the week –although he had not yet briefed his brother on what this event would be celebrating. After morning business, Hec-Tor toured the training yard to inspect the troops. If Horde Prime was planning an event, then security had to be in top form. He even felt well enough to jog a lap around the training yard himself.

The sun was mild, the air not too dry, dust particles at an all-time low, uncommonly good weather for Horde World, so Hec-Tor had his lunch served outside in the garden. He skimmed over memos as he chewed a simple sandwich with a side of vitamin supplements and medications. The usually harsh sun gently warming his skin, with an awning bearing the insignia of the Imperial Horde keeping him cool.

Today really was a good day.

Imp came dashing through the bushes, a smile on his face as his head was turned looking behind him. Running on all fours like a feral child instead of the Prince of Imperial decent that he was. Hec-Tor was about to reprimand his son for carrying on like a common street urchin, but then he heard the familiar clunking of a portable breathing tank strapped to the exterior of prosthetic armor. Sure enough, Zed came jogging around the bush Imp had dashed out of. Breathing heavily, fogging up the mask covering his mouth and nasal cavity, the respirator strapped to his back humming loudly in its efforts to compensate for his bodies deeper and heavier breaths. The two boys were playing. They had also noticed that today was a good day.

Imp let Zed catch up to him.

The other boy tapped the tip of one Imp’s wings. “Tag.” He gasped. “You are it.”

Zed turned and began hobbling away in the direction they came, the tank of his respirator clunking against his armor with every step.

Imp jumped up on the table –like a feral street urchin again- and stole a triangle of his father’s sandwich in lieu of counting to ten.

“Do not overtax your cousin.” Hec-Tor commanded his son. Zed might be having fun now, but if he exerted himself, the boy could suffer a seizure. Hec-Tor suffered from a similar condition, except that when he over exerted himself he just passed out. Zed, however, would not just collapse unconcious, he would seize and convulse causing more damage to his already frail body.

Imp knew this just as well any anyone. He nodded at his father before hopping off the table and chasing after Zed.

Watching his son dash away, Hec-Tor couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his lips. It was a rare thing to see both children playing outside. Looks like it was a good health day for everyone.

After lunch was back to work.

New reports had come in since inspecting the troops. Rebellion in the Denebria System. Uprisings in the mines on Krytis. Queen Elmora was raising the price of phitanium. Blight in the Imperial orchards on Antares. All the problems of a large and far-reaching galactic Empire. Hec-Tor arranged everything in order of importance to the Empire, prioritizing each issue by its impact on the heart of the Empire –Horde World.

There was always at least one rebellion going on at any given time somewhere in the Empire. Rolling his eyes, Hec-Tor moved that datacard to the bottom of the stack. Nobody cared about Denebria anyway. The orchards on Antares did grow fruits that many of the residents of Horde World enjoyed, but the capital imported food stuffs from all over the Empire it was not like they were at risk of starvation from one food-producing world suffering a blight. The Mondor mines on Krytis did produce valuable ores, but it was mostly a penal colony, the uprising would have to be put down, but nothing came out of Krytis that was so valuable he had to drop everything and send out an armada. Queen Elmora raising the price of phitanium, however, that was a big deal.

Phitanium was the hardest substance in the universe. The Horde’s space ships were made out of it. Their weapons were made out of it. Their bots were made out of it. Hell! The royal family’s personal armor was made out of it. The armor Hec-Tor was wearing right now was made out of it. And Elmora knew it. A planetary Queen extorting the great Horde Empire was something Hec-Tor could not allow. The fact that they needed the resource aside, it set a bad precedent! The Empire did not negotiate. The Empire did not concede. The Empire commanded.

Hec-Tor took swift and firm action. Feeling confident in the outcome.

Overall, an easy workload.

Today was a good day.

As evening gathered, the weather turned stormy. The shield wall was raised around the city to keep out the worst of the sand. Shutter plating was locked over the windows of the Imperial palace. Even so, Hec-Tor could still head the ‘plik-plik-plik’ of sand and pebbles impacting the armored sheeting. Horde World was a harsh planet.

Hec-Tor was in the middle of reminding his son that he could not have dessert until he not only finished his food, but took his supplements and medications as well. Hec-Tor demonstrated for the child by swallowing his own assortment of pills and washing them down with water. Imp was unmoved by the display, pushed the cup of medications off the table where they spilled on the floor, and hissed at his father.

A servant rushed to bend down and pick them up, while a second one left to fetch a fresh dose.

That was when Horde Prime walked in.

He frowned at the display, as if his own child had never been fussy about taking medications and got worked up into a tizzy.

“Brother!” Hec-Tor stood from the table, assuming a straight-backed and disciplined military rest. (Imp similarly mimicked his father’s pose, although his was far less polished.) One must always show the proper respect to the Emperor of the Known Universe. “I was unaware we had a dinner together. It was not on my agenda for the day.”

“We do not.” Horde Prime informed him.

This did not give Hec-Tor leave to relax.

“I simply came to inform you that your fiancée will be arriving tomorrow and that I have taken the liberty of rearranging your schedule leading up to your wedding at the end of the week.” Prime said matter-of-factly. As if this was in reference to an item of business Hec-Tor should already know about.

The younger man only stared at his brother. “My what? Leading up to my what!?” His mouth hung open for a few moments, sure he had misheard. Or misunderstood. Surely Horde Prime meant his own fiancée and his own wedding, not Hec-Tor’s. “But- I am already married.”

The Emperor frowned. Displeased with his brother’s response. “Keldor has been gone for years. It is time to conclude that –if he is not dead- he is certainly not coming back. You, however, are still a Prince of this Empire and have a duty to form alliances and strengthen our powerbase. There is no stronger alliance than the contract of marriage.”

“The search for Keldor is still on-going.” Insisted Hec-Tor.

“The search for Keldor has been ‘on-going’ for years and yielded no result except wasted resources and man-power.” Prime turned his attention to Hec-Tor’s son, a hybrid-child created by Keldor’s magic. “Nephew, how old are you?”

Chancing an unsure glance at his father first, Imp held up five fingers.

“It has been five years that you’ve been searching for Keldor.” Prime informed his brother. “You are not going to find him and he is not going to come back. Legally, I can declare him dead. As far as I’m concerned, you are a widower and can be remarried.”

At least Prime was not threatening to annul the marriage all together and render Imp a bastard –effectively removing him from the line of succession. But Hec-Tor still glared with displeasure. “Anillis, please… I do not wish to remarry.”

“What you wish is immaterial.” Prime informed him. “You will do your duty as a Prince of this Empire and remarry.”

That was final.

The Emperor had made up his mind and made his decree. Hec-Tor got his chance to voice his complains. His complaints were heard. Then dismissed. Now it was time to serve his Empire.

Hec-Tor lowered his eyes. “As it pleases my Emperor.”

With a nod of satisfaction, Horde Prime left.

Imp scooted his chair closer to his father, placing one blue hand over the older man’s. The servant returned with the new dose of Imp’s medication and the child took it without fuss, hoping this might improve his father’s mood.

Hec-Tor stroked the child’s throat, helping the large pills down easier. “I am fine.” He assured his son. Then sighed, slouching in his chair in a way that was unbecoming of royalty. “And today had been such a good day too.”

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