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#like look at what she did to CATRA
yourhighness6 · 3 months
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Do you ever think about how Adora didn't realize she was being manipulated/ abused in the Horde so when she looked back on her old memories with Shadow Weaver she probably started to recognize the signs of abuse on herself, Catra, and the other cadets? Because I do and it hurts.
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spop fans: omg when scorpia asked catra to stay with her in the crimson waste, catra blushed because she was thinking about adora
catra from s1-4: has never once blushed when she was around adora
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nny11writes · 2 years
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No six sentence sunday today, have a silly wip idea that I do not know enough about and do not have the time to research to write it lol.
She Ra, Modern AU, College AU, either glitra or general, G or T rating
Glimmer does contact juggling, she learned as a kid because she thought it looked super magical and really kicked her fairy costumes up a notch at the ren faire (look me in the eyes and tell me that Bow does not go to ren faires, he would absolutely go and do archery demos/play his lute). It’s a fun hobby, and when she finally moves out of the house to go to college she feels super lonely.  Glimmer chose to not go to the private school her mom picked out specifically to be more “normal” and to follow her only friend. But Bow is busy all the time now with his major and new extracurriculars, and no amount of him inviting her will let Glimmer enjoy the experience of a robot club not building battle bots. She eventually finds a club on campus that is basically a juggling club although a few people also do tight rope and slack rope walking or other fun circus tricks. She grabs her favorite orbs and wants to give it a real go!
Catra learned to juggle because she was bored and Adora gave up. Adora begged for a set of soft cubes to learn to juggle and then got so frustrated that she couldn’t get it done quickly enough for her liking that she stopped. Catra found them and was just goofing around, but it was also a little bit of a “Wanna play N64 with me?” where your friend who ones the console is the only one who plays and you have to watch a little excited a little bored and a little frustrated that it’s never your turn. She gets decent at it and eventually starts juggling other things for shits and giggles, teaching herself through trial and error to juggle knives and eventually even use a whip. Adora was accepted to a private school and Catra never even applied to it. She ends up going to college because “it’s what you’re supposed to do” but she doesn’t know what she wants from it if anything. Catra learns there’s a juggling club and decides that she wants to do flaming torches and is wondering if there’s a fire eater who can teach her some tricks too.
Glimmer and Catra are what you would call frenemies. They are easily annoyed by one another but don’t actually hate each other. Despite not doing the same sort of juggling at all, they’re always trying to out do one another. Their friendly rivalry can get Intense at times but most of the club is just waiting to see what happens. 
Sea Hawk teaches Catra how to eat fire, so Glimmer demands to be taught as well. Perfuma teaches Glimmer slack line, so you bet your butt Catra decides to learn it too.
Eventually the whole club goes to do a performance at one of the small theaters tucked away on campus and Glimmer and Catra decide to do an act together where the whole thing is designed to look like they are seriously trying to sabotage one another but keep failing because of the other’s talents or obliviousness.
They have a grand ol’ time and when the performance is over Adora and Bow have bonded because THAT WAS AWESOME AND ALSO SO DANGEROUS BUT MOSTLY SUPER COOL!!
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kraviolis · 11 months
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i told y’all. i told y’all i was gonna go crazy over this post made by @gummy-goat-galaxy​
full disclosure i drew literally all of this before looking into the details of the AU so this is 70% my interpretation of his original post but i need to explain my thought process so. here’s the post explaining the details of the actual AU!!! and below is what my brain made up on the spot
ok so belos finds tiny child luz and is like “fuck everyone. this is mine now” and treats her like a goddamn princess. to him, she is a Gift From God to remind him to stay on his Righteous Path. an innocent little girl who is just so bubbly and always tries to see the good in everything, including him. she is a reminder of how Pure and Good humanity is, and seeing as though she’s the literal only human he’s had any contact with besides caleb in 400 fucking years, he is never letting the demon realm corrupt her like it did to him.
she’s basically his Lamb and he the Shepherd, and because he’s so desperate to keep her “““pure”““ he strictly keeps her within the castle and even then not all of the castle is available to her. he keeps her contact with witches to an absolute bare minimum.
he entrusts her protection specifically to hunter, despite the fact he’s only 2 years older. his reasoning is “caleb did a pretty good job raising me so this’ll be fine probably.” when belos himself cannot keep an eye on her, it’s hunter’s job. luz and hunter end up being raised in a sorta similar situation to catra & adora from she-ra but they are actually siblings and not just best friends.
(if u havent seen she-ra, basically its their abusive caretaker creating a golden child + scapegoat dynamic, where one kid can do absolutely no wrong (which doesnt mean they cant still be abused/manipulated!!) while the other kid is blamed for literally everything that goes wrong. the caretaker also regularly pits them against each other to encourage competition & keep the all power in the caretaker’s hands.)
similar to catra & adora, the whole competition thing doesnt really work. luz is just too damn kind and too damn good for hunter to ever resent her, and she’s all he really has. because hunter is the scapegoat, he grows wise to belos’s manipulations WAY sooner. it’s easier to figure out when you’re being mistreated when you literally watch ur guardian treating ur sibling so much better than how they treat u.
unfortunately, because luz cannot help but see the good in absolutely everyone and can be empathetic to a fault, she doesnt realize belos’s game until she ends up sneaking out of the castle. she actually really loves belos and is thankful for him taking her in for a long time. she calls him uncle like hunter, despite belos nudging her towards seeing him as a father bcus he sees her as a pseudo-daughter. (but luz remembers her dad, and has no desire to replace him with someone else no matter how much she cares for belos)
belos does love & adore luz, he would do almost anything to keep her happy and “innocent” and “pure”, but not to the extent that he could still end up redeemed. he still manipulates & subtly emotionally abuses her to keep her in line, but it’s only when she sneaks out and meets eda the owl lady does she start getting clued into this. and once luz learns what belos has done to hunter it’s all fucking over.
hunter loves luz. she is his sister and always will be. but while he’s stuck to belos because of his duties as golden guard, she sees how green the grass is on the other side and doesn’t even hesitate to hop over there. watching her slowly grow more and more distant while she keeps sneaking out to visit with her new friends (eda, king, willow, gus, amity, etc.) is one of the most painful things hunter has had to deal with.
he feels betrayed at first, as if luz is replacing him with other people who arent broken like he is, and when luz actually leaves for good- belos lies to the public and says she was kidnapped- hunter is the one who leads the hunt to find her and bring her back home safely. when they confront each other, luz tries to do her whole dramatic speech about how wrong belos is and how he’s been lying their whole lives, but hunter already knows. the only reason he stayed was for luz, but she couldnt even stay from him? it fuckin hurts man.
they end up on opposite sides for a minute. hunter gains no satisfaction from trying to ruin this new life she’s found for herself but goddamnit, he has a job to do. he cant just defect. and then he defects after watching belos try to kill luz because she’s let herself become corrupted by the witches.
thats about all my brain got for this so far. TL;DR basically just listen to the “first time in forever” and “mother knows best reprise” and “broken crown” by mumford & sons and thats pretty much the gist of it.
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midnightechoes · 6 months
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Five years ago today, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power premiered on Netflix. I had seen a few preview articles about it, and liked what I saw. Those articles mostly focused on She-Ra’s, Adora’s, Glimmer’s, Bow’s, and Catra’s redesigns, and I thought they were fabulous. I loved Adora’s new red jacket and bouffant hair style. Glimmer’s entire redesign was inspired, and I loved that they made Bow black so we could have more diversity in the main cast.
It was She-Ra’s and Catra’s redesigns that caught my eyes the most, though. They made Catra an actual catgirl, and not just in the anime sense where she's just a cute girl with cat ears and maybe a cat tail. She was a full-on furry. It was a brilliant design choice. Honestly it’s no wonder that so many were instantly drawn to her.
And of course, She-Ra herself. I loved her new look, and her huge ass new Sword of Protection. In fact, I loved it so much that I drew this picture of her before the show even came out:
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Then the show came out, and needless to say, I fell in love. And honestly, it changed my life.
I know, I know. That sounds very hyperbolic, and to an extent it is, but in a lot of ways, I’m absolutely serious.
Alright, I have to back up a little. Back when I was in college, and for a few years after, a couple of friends and I tried to make a webcomic called The Devil’s Gate. It was minorly successful but eventually floundered. Then I met some people and we tried to make a video game, which also failed. After those few years, I found myself on my own and trying to rework the concept of my webcomic. Making comics, creating stories, those have always been my dream, and I was desperately trying to figure out a story I could make work, something that I believed in. But it never truly got off the ground. By the end of 2015 I had given up on the comic, realizing that after working on it for years in different forms that I needed to step away from it.
I didn’t really know what to do after that. I was still doing my quick daily doodles, but I wasn’t writing, I wasn’t drawing anything of note. I felt emotionally and physically drained of my creativity. I was honestly getting to the point where I thought it might be time for me to give up on trying to be creative or making things all together.
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power came out on November 13, 2018, but despite looking forward to it, I didn’t actually watch it when it came out. It wasn’t until that weekend that I decided to check it out.
I was instantly hooked. I binged through the entire season in two days, and did plenty of crying and cheering. And then rewatched it immediately. I was in love. I was obsessed. It had been a long time since anything grabbed me like SPOP did. I loved the characters. I loved the colorful, sci-fi-fairy tale world of Etheria. I loved how unapologetically feminine it was. And most of all, I loved how queer it was.
I hadn’t done a ton of shipping before SPOP. I’ve been down bad for harlivy for what feels like my whole life, and I was angry when Mika and HG didn’t get together in Warehouse 13, but more often than not I had just been conditioned not to look for queer things in mainstream culture, and even barely in subculture.
That is to say, when I was smashed in the face with Catradora I was surprised how much I glommed onto it immediately. I was absolutely taken with Adora and Catra and their relationship. Both characters were so relatable, and despite not quite being text (although the subtext was so loud and obvious it might as well have been text), it was impossible to not read their feelings for each other as romantic.
It wasn’t just Catradora, even if that was a lot of it. Spinnerella and Netossa being canon from the start was wonderful. How much Glimmer and Bow screamed “BISEXUAL DISASTERS” from the start was adorable. Scorpia’s crush on Catra was as cute as it was sad in its one-sidedness.
I had never really been in a fandom. That is, yeah I’ve liked things, loved things even, but I never found other people to talk about it at length, never found discords just for that thing, never read or wrote fanfic, barely ever drew fanart. 
But, I watched SPOP, and then I watched it again. And then I drew Catra. And then I drew Adora. And then I drew them again. And suddenly I was on AO3, a site I never frequented, reading Catradora fics. And then I had an AO3 account. That December I participated in Catradora Week 2018 (I’d never heard of this kind of thing) and drew two pictures for it and wrote my first fanfic.
By the end of February I had drawn more in the three months since the show had premiered than I had in the previous year. I was working furiously on a long, multi-chapter fanfic, and writing more words than I had in the previous couple of years combined.
I was inspired again.
In the 18 months that SPOP ran for, I drew more than I had in years, I wrote hundreds of thousands of words. I felt so rejuvenated and happy about my creativity and free for the first time in years.
It’s hard to put into words exactly how it felt. I was so close to giving up my art and writing, which honestly, would have been giving up a part of myself. An important part of myself. It’s not overstating that SPOP saved me, or at least my creative spirit.
I also learned about the wonders of being in a fandom and fandom things like fan weeks, big bangs, zines. And I made some wonderful friends that I cherish to this day.
Even as I inevitably moved onto other hyperfixations, my love for She-Ra hasn’t diminished. Plushie Catra and Adora sit next to me on my desk every day. Catradora art still hangs on my wall.
The inspiration that SPOP ignited in me hasn’t died either. It’s carried me through a tremendous level of creativity that I’ve been riding since the premiere. It let me create a ton of fan art for SPOP, and then RWBY and then the Witch From Mercury, and I’ve written a ton of fanfics for RWBY and Supergirl. And perhaps the best, that inspiration has helped me create more OC stuff in the last couple years than I had in a long time.
I owe She-Ra and The Princesses of Power so much. I am so happy that it exists and that it happened when it did. I’ll always cherish it.
And for real, Netflix, SPOP spin-off movies WHEN?!
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mara-defense-squad · 6 months
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I think the thing that really appeals me to catradora is the fact that they weren't supposed to make it.
Think about it for a second. Their whole lives they were pitted against each other, because Shadow Weaver wanted Adora and Catra only ever interfered with that. But they still built up their friendship. They made The Promise. They had each other, throughout their time in the Horde, despite Shadow Weaver desperately trying to drive a wedge in between them. They were never supposed to last, but they did.
And then when Adora finds the sword, becomes She-Ra and joins the rebellion - well they definitely weren't supposed to make it then. They were enemies, on opposite sides of the war. Yet, in early season 1 (pre-Promise) Catra still defends Adora in her absence. She lies to Shadow Weaver, lies to everyone about Adora being She-Ra and when SW finds out, she says "She's just confused". Still protecting Adora, despite her leaving. And Adora doesn't stop trying to convince Catra to join the rebellion, even though the rebellion would likely prefer it if she did. They weren't supposed to be fighting for each other - but they did.
And then Promise happens. Like Shadow Weaver, Light Hope sees Adora's friendship to Catra as a threat. So, she takes that wedge SW jammed inbetween them and drives it all the way home. She convinces Catra to cut Adora off, and convinces Adora to let go of her. And Light Hope succeeds where Shadow Weaver failed - they are now enemies. And they stay that way. This is how it was always supposed to be.
Then Catra opens the Portal. They get each other back for a second, but it only serves to prove they were never meant to last. Catra completely turns on Adora, and when it's over, Adora completely gives up on Catra. Any hope of reconciliation is shredded.
Catra continues on her downward spiral. Adora moves on. The war rages on, and they keep walking their separate paths. This was how it was supposed to end.
But then - then, in the rubble after the Heart of Etheria, at the moment Adora expects it the least, Catra saves Glimmer, and she apologises. She does this with no hope of seeing Adora again, and Adora doesn't know how to deal with it at first. If she was following the path laid out for her her entire life, she would have left Catra to die on Horde Prime's ship, grateful for her sacrifice, and grieving what could have been. That was how it was supposed to go, and it was exactly what Catra expected from her. But she defies it. She puts aside the greater good, and she storms Horde Prime's ship, for no other reason than that she wanted to. This is not what's supposed to happen.
In Save the Cat, Catra was supposed to serve Horde Prime. She's completely stripped of her autonomy, forced to fight Adora. She's supposed to break her. When she manages to break through - just a little bit - she is supposed to die. She falls off that platform, into the abyss, no hope left for her. Adora is supposed to let her. Instead, she summons She-Ra, and brings Catra back to life. They were never supposed to make it this far.
And it doesn't get easier. For a while, in Taking Control, they still don't really know how to act around each other. They have to learn it again. But they keep trying, against all odds. Catra starts to heal. Adora watches. They get to rekindle what they lost.
But then Shadow Weaver comes back, and the Failsafe happens. All their old wounds are raw again. SW is pressing all of Adora's old buttons, desperately reinforcing that wedge between them, so that Adora will take the Failsafe. At first, Catra resists this - she eavesdrops on Adora and SW conversation, and she seas her manipulation for what it is - and she tries to convince Adora to do the same. Ultimately she fails when Adora accepts the Failsafe. Catra knows that Adora is going to die being the hero, and she can't face that so she leaves. They are separated once again, and it doesn't look like there's any way back. It could have ended here too.
But in Heart, Catra sets down her hurt and her fear and she goes back to warn Adora of the new danger as Horde Prime hacks the planet. She finds Adora fighting for her life, and losing. Catra saves her, and allows SW to take Adora on to the Heart. She tries to sacrifice herself again. They both should have died there.
Only Adora comes back for her, once again. She rejects her destiny to save Catra. SW dies instead.
They've reached the final hurdle, the Heart itself. Adora can't transform into She-Ra, so she's doomed to die saving the world. Catra is supposed to let her.
But against all odds, they confess their love and it works. They both get to live.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go. At every turn the cards were stacked against them but they still won. They still made it. And I love that for them.
(sidenote but this is also why i love catra as a character and her whole arc. She was supposed to live a miserable life and die a miserable death but she got to live and change and grow as a person. Ugh I love this show)
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py-dreamer · 2 months
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So... I know I'm late...
But yea! I said I was coming back with some stickers and I kept my word! I would've hoped that I could've completed the sheet in like a day but as you can see...that didn't work out
I know I've been a bit MIA lately but burnout sucks. I do have a lot of WIPS I really want to work on but again, it seems that the ProcrastiNation hath struck my feeble mortal brain again.
But anyways:
I headcanon Aroace Mei, just a personal headcanon (disagree if you like) I also like lesbian Mei but thought I'd give some aroace appreciation
Silktea was only given 1 episode but OH BOY did it fuel our wild shipping habits. And I jumped on the bandwagon. It's a reference to that scene in She-Ra where Scorpia tells Catra she 'didn't want to do this' then wraps kitty up in the blankey and cradles her like a wee baby. And Sandy would do that for any friend, I will die on this hill
Saw a fanart where Mk had a pig nose themed pacifier and I just yoinked that idea. The pig hoodie and the pacifier seems like something Tang would do for Pigsy (also to get away with free noodles cause who can say no to that face?~)
Mac showing Wukong the lantern. What can I say, mans' fascinated by them pretty lights. Though our little performer's eyes seem to be straying from the show (^u ')
I know many people have issues with shipping with Nezha and such and I know the two had a rough history but y'know what fans do; they love to make the people who kill each other soulmates (platonic, romantic or otherwise) Even if it wasn't romantic, I still love the idea of them being buddies and just chilling, the danger noodle prince and the angy prince snuggle and watch a movie (mainly from Nezha 2019 but I also saw New Gods and can I just say, I want those two twinks to bicker then kiss awkwardly and I want Yun Xiang to BEAT. HIS. ASS) but in case anyone asks, I do perceive Nezha to be a consenting adult in general outside shipping drama and if the two are adults, it does make my heart squeal when I see these two hold hands and whatnot
HOW COULD I EVER FORGET MY SPICYBOIS, inspired by that one Ponyo kiss scene. I was actually gonna make a bigger piece but then I saw someone do it already in a much better fashion than I ever could and I just gave up on the idea but Ig here, its just like the two cakes mentality and I gave it a go. Hope I could do the concept justice
Have spider queen or scorpion queen ever interacted before? No. But they are both queens and I believe Spider Queen's confidence could rub off on Scorpion Queen and she'd appreciate the company of Spider Queen's children henchmen. Also she give yummy food so lesbian venomqueens for the win
Redraw of that moment with Peng and Azure. I normally detest that bird but these two do get some gears grinding and whatever anyone says. Neither of those two are straight. I'll tell ya that.
Toxicinsanity is another rarepair that had like 1 sec screen time. I don't think they'd ever work out in canon and had virtually no chemistry. I still love all the fluffy ship content I can find of them though and if it ever were to happen. I think the mayor would scare the sh!t out of Syntax
Let's get at least one hetero couple here, Chang'e and Hou'Yi are a couple of favorites ngl, I took most of their outfits from Over the moon cause both of them looked stunning, Chang'e especially. I've seen people ship mah girl with other people and while I do agree it's healthy to move on, in my heart she will always long for Hou'Yi
Also irl, on valentines, my mum took us out for lunch, she treated us to bubble tea and donuts. We walked home so I waited to drink mah drink in my room while I drew and I accidentally finished it all... I'm so sorry mum
f*ck I forgot ironbull. Uhh....I'll draw something later, rn I need to go to bed before I get yelled at...
click pic for less sh!ty quality!
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txttletale · 6 months
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idk how to put this sorry if this comes off as rude/confrontational I'm not trying to be — when you say stories about forgiveness/reconciliation, do you mean more the type about forgiving & reconciling with family, or more generally (so like including - this isn't the best example but I can't think of any better rn - catra for example? where it's about being trapped in hurting people because of trauma and breaking out of that)? or is the thing you dislike more stories' framing of forgiveness as a moral imperative?
sorry if this doesn't make sense I'm just curious what you think bc you've raised some interesting points and would really like to see you elaborate on them
don't worry you don't come off as rude whatsoever! while i think my points apply broadly to how forgiveness is treated across media (rare actual example of cultural christianity) -- i obviously am not, like, against forgiveness or stories about forgiveness on principle. what i dislike about all the narratives about people forgiving their abusive parents is that:
like you said, it's always framed as a moral imperative. there is always an underlying assumption that forgiving the abuser is the 'right' and 'correct' thing to do, that not doing so would be wrong. this is tremendously insulting to survivors who have every right to not forgive their abusers!
in most of these narratives, the parent barely does shit to be forgiven. there's very often a narrative equivocation, in fact, between parent and child. like, sometimes the parent won't even be expected to apologize -- sometimes, even more grotesquely, both the parent and child apologize for their shared supposed 'wrongdoing'. this is also obviously insulting to survivors, who are not in any way responsible for their abuse or for having a poor relationship with their parents.
the reason why this in particular pisses me off so much is that it mirrors and in turn contributes to the cultural expectation on abuse victims in real life to maintain contact with their abusers, the constant casual pressure from everything from strangers to friends to acquaintances saying 'well, can't you just put it behind you?' or 'look, he's changed' or 'she's your mom' or 'you'll only have one chance to have a relationship with your siblings' or whatever the fuck. the sanctity of the family is a cardinal value across a lot of societies and this sanctity means a constant, neverending societal pressure to bow to sweeping abuse under the rug. i've seen many people i care about struggle deeply with feeling obligated to maintain relationships with family members who treat them like shit and make htem miserable every time they interact bc of exactly these sorts of sentiments being everpresent in their cultural environment. & these narratives always paint that sort of pressure as being well-founded and fair and ultimately for the better, which is absolutely repellent to me.
so, yeah. i am not against narratives where an abusive person actually confronts their actions and changes and repairs that relationship (that's another fucking thing, these narratives always put the onus and responsiblity on the character who was abused to forgive rather than on the abuser to earn forgiveness, just like in real life familial abuse victims are always fucking expected to be the ones to repair the relationship). i think such narratives can be powerful and compelling and explore questions of what the value of 'forgiveness' or 'redemption' even are, as well as dispel the mystique and exceptionalism often attributed to the 'abuser' as a holistic malevolent figure that can be cleanly separated from every other parent/grandparent/sibling/etc.
what i'm against is narratives where someone who is abused has their feelings delegitimized -- their rage is wrong, counterproductive, they need to let go and move on, they need to forgive their abusers and let them back int otheir lives because oh, they did something wrong too or oh, their abuser had a difficult life, or whatever the fuck. to which the answer should be a flat -- no. they don't. all the more power to people who choose to do that if that's what makes them happiest and safest but absolutely nobody has a moral obligation or need to forgive an abusive family member. obviously i am exaggerating slightly when i say every abusive parent subplot should end with the parent being killed with hammers, but i'm using the hammer murder as a synechdoche for a narrative treating an abuse victim's antipathy towards their abuser as something legitimate and justified and obviously reasonable rather than a flaw or something they need to move past.
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candyskiez · 8 months
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rewatching once upon a time in the waste makes me so emo dude. because catra was so, so much happier the second she got far away from the horde. no constant question if she would be replaced, no constant need to justify every action, no feeling like the only reason people respected her was because of her rank. scorpia had shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that she cared about her, genuinely. I think that's why she was so carefree in the wastes. she was away from the constant expectations, and someone was watching her back. she could take her damn time because hordak didn't expect it all under a short deadline. she had scorpia to look out for her, they could goof off because they had time to mess around and she didn't have to constantly prove every single bit of worth. she showed she could do shit and people listened.
and the part that gets me is catra denying that she's miserable in the horde. when...yeah, she is. she literally hated it there, she was constantly stressed, she was constantly on the verge of a breakdown and it was completely unsustainable. scorpia was genuinely stating the facts. she hated the horde. she felt safe in the wastes because there was so much less pressure and she had someone who had her back. without that "come back with results, or else." over her head, she was so much less on edge.
but she goes back, because letting shadow weaver get away with hurting her feels like admitting defeat. it would be the best for her mental health, no doubt. but all she sees is that shadow weaver HAS to pay for what she did, she has to make her hurt like she did because of her. shes so caught up in rage and hurt. she could've been happy. she was just too scared to. she wanted to make shadow weaver feel the hurt she did, and all that ended up doing was denying herself what she really wanted: to be safe and wanted.
scorpia chose catra. catra was just too blinded by the fact shadow weaver didn't to see it until it was almost too late. fuck, man.
made princess scorpia hit so much harder. scorpia tried so hard to help catra. but she cannot fix her problems if catra wasn't willing to change. catra had to make that choice herself. scorpia deserves to be treated well too, and seeing her realize that was so cathartic. and no matter how much I love catra I am SO glad scorpia got out. god I love this show.
basically s3 was so good and set up the rest of the show so well thank you for coming to my ted talk.
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aprillikesthings · 2 months
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I was eating lunch at work today when it occurred to me:
Yeah, Catra's so lean in the show in part because of the whole "feline" thing. But how often do you think Shadow Weaver just straight-up made Catra go without eating, as a punishment for something, or to remind her of her place in the scheme of things? How often did other kids in the Horde steal her food?
Adora almost certainly was given enough to eat, even if it was boring ration bars.
But Catra? How often did she just fucking not get enough to eat???
Anyway, have a snippet of fic, from some point post-canon, about Catra finally getting enough to eat and gaining a little weight (which is portrayed positively)
(there's a little catradora at the end, and I'd rate it "mature" but only barely, tbh)
Catra’s never had access to this much food, whenever she wanted, of almost any kind she can think of. Meals in Bright Moon are not hurried rations consumed only by necessity, but are often occasions to socialize and linger. She’s never forced to skip a meal, either as punishment or from lack of time–people outside of the Horde, it turns out, usually stop what they’re doing specifically to eat. 
Both Adora and Catra force themselves to eat more politely at dinner, but usually take breakfast in their room, where nobody can see them eat with their hands while sitting on the floor and talking with their mouths full. 
The first time Catra slips out of bed and sneaks into the kitchen at midnight, she finds Glimmer in the dimly-lit room already, leaning on a counter and nibbling cake with her fingers off a small plate. 
Glimmer looks up, startled at first, and smiles. “Are you here for more of the cake? The kitchen really outdid themselves this time, huh.” 
She just nods. Of course Catra isn’t going to be punished for eating more. She knows this. It’s still surreal to have Glimmer (in an oversized t-shirt and shorts and fuzzy socks) wipe her hands off on a napkin, get out the cake, and put a slice of the cake on a plate for her and hand it to her with a smile, before going back to her own piece. 
It still feels conspiratorial. Like they're getting away with something.
“Did you want a fork?”
“Nah.” She does still have to actively resist the urge to shove the whole piece in her mouth, instead picking bits off the way Glimmer does. 
It’s so good. There’s some kind of sweetened fruit spread between two slabs of soft chocolate cake, and the whole thing is frosted and dotted with more of the fruit. 
The two of them wordlessly stand in the kitchen enjoying the treat. It’s a weirdly comfortable silence in the still of the night. Catra closes her eyes with each bite, savoring it.
She looks up to see Glimmer putting her plate in the nearby sink and washing off her hands. 
“G’night, Catra.��� 
“G’night, Sparkles.” 
Glimmer rolls her eyes but she’s smiling as she leaves the kitchen. 
Catra waits just until Glimmer’s gone, then gives in to the urge to lick the plate clean before adding it to the sink. 
She looks in a mirror one day and sees a small curve to her belly. She turns a little–her backside and hips are slightly bigger, too. Even her face looks different, less gaunt. It’s not just that she looks happier. It’s that she looks less hungry. She never realized how hungry she always was, before.
A memory jumps to mind: her as a child, stomach aching, trying to steal food, and then Shadow Weaver looming behind her–Catra takes a deep breath and pushes it away, looking at her own face in the mirror. She never has to feel that way again. Ever. 
Catra’s clothes have always been on the stretchy side, but things are still getting noticeably tighter, she realizes, as her and Adora get ready for bed one night.
“Adora?”
“Yeah?”
“Uh. I think I need new clothes.” 
Adora looks over and smiles. “I thought you might’ve gained some weight! Good.” 
They get in bed and Adora kisses her tummy. “You’re a little softer now. It’s nice.” 
“Yeah?” 
“Yeah. And your tits–” Adora pushes them together and rubs her face in them. “Mmmm!”
She laughs. “What, you didn’t like them before?”
“Of course I did! But there’s. Y’know. More of them now.” 
“Yeah, they’re almost big as yours!” 
“Oh, shut up!” But Adora’s laughing and kissing her face.
As they fall asleep a bit later, Adora is spooned up behind her, soft breath on Catra’s neck. And Adora’s hand is slack on Catra’s tummy, warm and comforting.
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stanlunter · 2 months
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My 6 favourite Scorptra + some little scenes I love
1. "You do care, don't tou?"
The scene that made Catra fully realize that she's not alone and that there is still someone who love her more than anything. Catra was everything for Scorpia.
And the most important thing is that Catra does the most selfless thing she could done: she refuses of Scorpia's help and doesn't let Scorpia set her free, bc she knows it can cause Scorpia troubles and she doesn't want to put Scorpia in the same situation. She doesn't want to be Like Shadow Weaver and doesn't want Scorpia to suffer bc of her.
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2. "We could, you know, be happy"
Catra was so stupid for not leaving with Scorpia and Ill stay by it. Also there is no "one-sided" explanation for this. Anyone who says Catra never loved Scorpia, litterally just skipped the entire episode. They were SO in love!
Especially considering the fact that they were suppose to kiss each other at that scene ans I will never forgive Nate for removimg it
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3. "You saved me?"
The moment when Catra's feelings for Scorpia startes to grow up. It's when Catra realize that Scorpia saved her, no matter what. Even tho Catra ordered Scorpia not to break the technology, Scorpia did it, bc it would save Catra. She disobeyed the order to protect her and you can read in Catra's eyes that she was shocked that she was THAT dear for someone. It makes even more sence when you remember Catra's words about Adora "You never protected me. Not in any way that would put you on SW's bad side". (no blame for Adora, she's still the best girl ofc) but the thing is that Adora wouldn't disobey to protect Catra from SW, but Scorpia did it and not once. Scorpia truly loved Catra and she would always do everything to protect her.
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4. "I will always be there for you"
Even tho Catra doesn't want to ask anyone for help and wants to do everything alone, Scorpia still makes her tell the situation to resolve it together. Bc that's what friends do, Catra doesn't have to deal with this alone.
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5. "You're a princess??"
Whatever the cat is this?? They were so iconic in the prom episode!
At first Catra was sympathetic with someone for the first time in the show lol. She asked Scorpia (to ask actually) to go to the prom together! It's already pretty romantic, but have you seen the rest of the scenes?
Also the screenboard where Catra zips Scorpia up lol (they really didn't have to remove it)
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6. "We're making a good team!"
Uhhh, just look at them here! They litterally THE girlfriends! Catra never was so flirty with anyone. She blushes as Amity lol. And just look at these EYES!!!
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Now heart-breaking scenes, cuz Im evil. S4 was so sad and for what? Im crying...
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But since Im not THAT bad, here are some sweet scenes again! Cuz they're still cuties (it was a crime not to give us them in s5 btw, Ill never forgive Nate for this) <3
Protective gfs ever!
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I really love Scorptra even after so many years. I need someone to rewatch she-ra with!!!
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baggebythesea · 7 months
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What if character X became She-Ra?
Adora - the show
Glimmer - All the powers she ever dreamt on PLUS the political power as defacto leader of the princess alliance PLUS the one everyone looks up to for moral judgement calls and the one everyone expects to save them from all the ills of the world. I'm sure that responsibility and call to her overwhemling hubris won't target her crippling insecurities or anythying.
Bow - Wait, who's that masked stranger? It's BOW-RA! HERE TO SAVE YOU, CITIZEN. Plays really well at defence but not the offensive force for the Princess Alliance that Adora was. Also, you know how stressed he is to be the Friend Guy that tries to keep everything together? Now he's the friend-guy with the entire WORLD.
Catra - The Horde is fucking WRECKED in a week. Hordak is dead. Catra sits on the throne. Shadow Weaver… bows for Cat-Ra in deepest respect. She tells her that she was wrong to treat Catra the way she did. She always, secretly, respected Catra. She… YOINK! SWORD STOLEN! HAH, CAN'T BELIEVE YOU FELL FOR THAT.
Shadow Weaver - Run. Just run.
Angella - Finally she can keep everyone safe. The sound of cannons outside the wall? If she tries REALLY hard sometimes she can block that sound out.
Micha - Would turn out pretty much like Adora, I think.
Lonnie - the war is over in a day. I hope your opinion of "peace" is "magically enforced military dictatorship", because that's what you are getting - regardless of which side she is on.
Entrapta - SCIENCE! Forget heroics, someone just handed ENTRAPTA the master admin password for the entire PLANET! She can run Doom on this thing. Just look out for when she starts overclocking.
Mermista - SEA-RA! (Being a hero is too much like work, once the heroics grow stale. But everything considered the war wouldn't be TOO different from the main show. Also - Sea Hawk would be even more insufferable, singing her praise).
Perfuma - Good vibes for EVERYONE. She would try SO HARD to find peaceful solutions, but once in awhile give in to the temptation of hitting people with flowers.
Frosta - WINTER'S BANE WILL PUNCH EVERYONE UNTIL THE GROWNUPS STOP BEING IDIOTS ABOUT EVERYTHING!
Scorpia - Oh, gosh... um, sorry about breaking stuff?
Hordak - On no, magic is heretic. Not even Horde Prime… can… stand… against it… punches a hole in reality, stomps up to the Velvet Glove "HI FATHER-BROTHER, ARE YOU FINALLY PROUD OF ME?"
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i think i've said this before but i want to elaborate on it. i genuinely feel like the spop crew wrote c//a as some sort of torture p*rn. they know that people usually find an enemies to lovers arc sexy and intriguing. but the problem with c//a was that their fights were never equal. i don't know about y'all but when i think of enemies to lovers, i think of a dynamic where both individuals are at least somewhat on equal footing. i don't think about a relationship with a huge power dynamic where one of the characters is helpless and weak while the other takes every opportunity to torture them.
adora never tried to harm catra apart from self-defense, she always held back when she was fighting catra. she tried to reason with catra or just hold her off. meanwhile catra never held back on hurting adora. not once.
and all of this is framed as “hot”. it's framed as “sexual tension”. it's framed as “gay pining”, even though it's not. not to mention, most of the “homoerotic” fight scenes are where adora is either weak or helpless in some way. she's either restrained or too scared to fight back or actively stopping herself from injuring catra. and catra takes advantage of her kindness.
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so what's the torture p*rn part of this? well. torture p*rn is basically a trope where a person (or multiple people being tortured) is the main attraction of the plot. c//a is supposed to be enemies to lovers, meaning they should be fighting equally, right? especially since adora is stronger and the “chosen one”, you'd think she'd definitely be defeating catra a lot more.
but no, most of their conflict is catra taking joy in harming adora. these scenes are framed in a more “intimate” way, with catra often touching adora without consent, saying vaguely flirtatious yet threatening one-liners and overall fueling the whole “sexual tension” part.
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just take a look at these scenes. i can't completely blame the fandom for thinking these are sexy or erotic because they are framed that way. the crew themselves have admitted that c//a were supposed to have some sexual tension (despite being teenagers for at least two seasons, mind you) and it shows. adora may look scared or uncomfortable but it doesn't matter because the writers wants us to think that this is hot.
villains being creepy and borderline perverted is not a new thing, it's something that mainly came with queer-coding villains. but people often only do this to villains who are supposed to stay villains. and especially with the context that catra supposedly “loved” adora during all this, it just adds another layer of discomfort. it just feels like catra is taking the opportunity to not only hurt adora but also make her deeply uncomfortable by touching and interacting with her in a way that she did not consent to.
keep in mind that whenever adora has the upper hand, the show never frames their fights as homoerotic or weirdly intimate.
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most of the time, she uses long range attack or she just goes on defense. the one time she attacked catra head on, she just decks catra in the face and is done with it. she doesn't cross catra's boundaries, she doesn't act flirtatious or touch catra inappropriately. the only scene where she can be described as “flirtatious” (though i would say she was just being smug) was when she wasn't attacking catra, but instead destroying one of entrapta's robots.
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(and of course with no remorse, catra orders entrapta to activate the self-destruct on the robot so that adora could be blown to bits.)
so yeah. just because catra is a villain doesn't mean she has to be a creep. if the goal was to make her sexy (which is still weird since she was a teenager but regardless), there are other ways. there have been plenty of villains who are attractive and have a charming personality without being a total creep to the protagonists. for example, azula from ATLA is widely known as a queer awakening for many young girls because of how attractive she was (i know she was also a teenager. these are not my words, i'm just quoting the general public). and yet, you never see azula being creepily intimate with any of the protagonists. she often used long-range attack and she only goes as far as using some condescending language. it's just weird to write a villain who we should sympathize with, but then also make them a total creep.
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tofumoons · 6 months
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no one ever wants 2 talk about how fucked up adora & glimmers rlxnship was circa s4 but it was so YUMMY like their rlxnship wass ofrauoght for so many reasons but the root was that neither of them were able to communicate exactly why they needed. when they did neither of them could understand it. they love each other but they don't know how to talk to each other they're suffocating each other it's a kind of slow rot that starts once glimmer gets the authority and independence she once craved and it's not how she ever thought or wanted it to happen but she's going to do it and she going to do it right. she had to. she's the only one who can. but adora with her fused sort of savior guilt complex over angela sees the power and thinks it makes her more vulnerable and glimmer chafes under this bc even if angela's not here anymore she still has to prove she can do this. so she makes decisions that cannot be weak. she charges into battle she allies with shadow weaver to get stronger she goes off on her own and it all comes from a place of hurt but this hurts adora too bc adora obviously spent her whole childhood under shadow weavers power and she did very little good to adora who did idealize her but only bc of how manipulative sw is and the betrayal of it all still cuts deep. adora lashes out and glimmer interprets it as jealousy and immaturity and her inability to acknowledge sw's abuse of adora pushes them apart even further. they cant trust eachother enough to talk about the wounds that fuel these actions without risking another cut. the war is unrelenting and glimmer is desparste when glimmer believes light hope over adora she crosses another line. she doesn't listen to adora bc adora doesn't know anything about what's right this is just like shadow weaver and look at what i can do now because of her. adora failed her mother but glimmer won't fail etheria and again she betrays adora's trust. glimmer and adora's inability to comprehend eachother with the ugliest versions of themselves directly leads to the occupation of etheria. something has broken between them and no one knows if it can come back. on some level i think glimmer activating the heart is a greater betrayal than anything catra has done to adora—maybe not the greatest betrayal adora has committed against catra but the line between them is clearly antagonistic. glimmer is different. glimmer wasn't supposed to end up like catra. it doesn't matter tho. the love is still there.
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lordhavemurthy · 1 year
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i think what people tend to not understand about She-Ra (reboot) is that none of the characters (minus Horde Prime) are meant to be seen as pure good or evil. People get really pressed over how the princesses treat Entrapta (which i don't agree is right) or how Entrapta did betray them, thus making her a "morally grey character" because she has obsessions and shows signs of autism. But this isnt just something that happens with Entrapta, it happens with all of the characters. Catra and Glimmer are the next obvious, so i wont go into depth there, but for instance Adora can be very prideful. She lets the fame get to her head and isolates herself from everyone else in attempts to save the world. now, the latter isn't all her fault, Light Hope and Shadow Weaver made sure of that, but its still there. Mermista wants to be the center of attention, she wants to be the most powerful of the group and have something unique like She-Ra. Perfuma struggles to get along with people who are pessimistic or even more objective because it interferes with her "vibes." Scorpia isn't the greatest with boundaries, Frosta's a fucking child, Sea Hawk is a fucking arsonist (seriously why do we skip over that one? love him but my guy needs therapy), Angella is a coward who (despite her attempts to keep her away) sends her own daughter into battle before going out on the front lines herself, and yes, Entrapta betrayed her friends. Which, despite it being manipulated into something else here, wasn't good. She may not have understood how badly she hurt her friends (until S 5), but she actively knew that what Hordak was doing was wrong because she agreed to help the rebellion. She shows later on that while she doesnt pick up on emotional cues, she does understand what is going on, she just focuses on tech, but she gets the danger and the stakes, she knows. Let me say, however, that none of these traits, from any of these characters, make them "morally grey" (i hate that fucking term btw) it makes them human. none of us are perfect. we all have flaws, we will all hurt someone in our lives, we all make mistakes. it is how you try to rectify those mistakes, that determines whether or not your character is "good." Hordak, despite every terrible thing he did, realized he was wrong in the end, and rebelled. Entrapta apologized and sacrificed her life multiple times to save not only her friends, but the entire planet, even Shadow Weaver, who I could make a whole other separate post on, sacraficed herself so that not only Catra and Adora could live on together and save the world, but so that she wouldn't be tempted with the power that was about to be unleased. The only character i can possibly think of that doesn't have an obvious flaw (that i can see) is Bow, but he's not perfect either. To suggest so would to put in on a playing field in which no human (or complex character) could survive. So for the love of god, stop looking at it like Nate made only Entrapta "morally grey" because every character in that show made mistakes.
edit: thank you for those who made me aware of the proper name/pronouns the creator (Nate) uses now, i appreciate you!
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haemosexuality · 11 months
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im rewatching she-ra and naturally im gonna want to write about it a lot. starting by breaking down the catradora conflict origin story scene from s01e02 the sword part 2
people have said this before but the most important thing to keep in mind here is how different their understanding of whats going on is. theyre both approaching this with completely different views and so they misunderstand what the other means.
Adora: There's no time. We have to put a stop this.
Catra: What? Why?
Adora: Because this is a civilian town. Look around! These aren't insurgents. They're innocent people.
Catra: Yeah, sure. Innocent people who kidnapped a Horde officer. Now come on, let's get you back to the Fright Zone. Shadow Weaver is freaking out. [laughing] It'd be funny if she weren't such a terrible person.
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so immediately theres two things i wanna say about this part, about how catra reacts to stuff. first off, something we learn about catra throughout the whole show and especially in the portal-alternative-reality, is that shes big on Pretending Nothing Is Wrong. whenever shes feeling upset or angry about something, she will start joking around and acting like shes just totally super chill guys, dw ("Ugh, whatever. It's not like I even care. I just wanna get out of this dump at some point before I dieee of boredom). Shes acting like that in this scene. Adora was missing for hours, shadow weaver was breathing down her neck and threatening her, she was already worried adora might have left at this point. she cant let adora know how worried she was tho, so shes all jokes and fast paced conversation. To Adora, tho, it just looks like catra doesnt care, like she doesnt understand the gravity of the situation.
and the other thing is that honestly? I dont think catra does care. about the town, i mean. i think catra was ready for war in a way adora never was. theyre both seeing combat for the first time here, and adora hates it. training for war is completely different than being in the battlefield, and adora couldnt handle it. face to face with it she couldnt tolerate seeing people suffering and dying, houses being burned down, a whole village destroyed. when the horde brainwashed adora into thinking they were only doing the necessary to save etheria, she completely and fully believed it, and when faced with the reality of the horde she immediately realized how wrong that was. Catra, tho, could not care less. she never believed in what the horde said, she knew full well what the horde did, so this isnt a surprise for her. and i do think shes naturally a bit sadistic, or at least growing up among the violence of the horde made her so. either way, shes seeing battle here for the first time and shes completely fine with it. doesnt even spare it all a second glance. why would she care about these people she never met if the most important thing in the world is right here in front of her? (i think even if adora hadnt left that night and went into the battlefield as a force captain, she wouldve ended up deserting. she cant stand seeing people suffer and she cant stand not saving them. shes too good, too selfless for that. catra isnt.) (also she is so ready to kill at all times. she loves violence. i once saw someone say how shadow weaver thought adora was the "cutthroat, ruthless warrior" when that was actually catra and they were totally right)
adora is also trying something futile here, she doesnt need to explain to catra that the horde is bad and hurts innocent ppl because catra has known that all her life
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Adora: Catra, no. I can't go back. Not until the Horde leaves this town alone. You have to help me.
Catra: What are you saying?
Adora: I’m saying, this is wrong. They've been lying to us, manipulating us. Hordak, Shadow Weaver, all of them.
Catra: Duh! Did ya just figure that out? Manipulation is Shadow Weaver's whole thing. She's been messing with our heads since we were kids.
(the captions in the pics are slightly wrong, nvm that.) everything i said before. adora just realized all of this, while catra has always known, probably because the abuse adora suffered was more manipulation-and-brainwashing, while shadow weaver always made clear to catra that she didnt give a shit about her, so she suffered physical abuse with little attempt to convince her this was fine.
the "what are you saying?" is one of the things that show how different their perspective is. adora is talking about going against the horde and helping the town, while catra immediately gets more personal. what do you mean? are you saying that you might leave the horde? leave me?
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Adora: How could you possibly be okay with that?
adora means, how could you be ok with the horde lying about its actions, and killing innocent people? how could you be ok with the horde raising us to do the same? and catra hears, how could you be ok with shadow weaver and hordak abusing us?
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Catra: Because, it doesn't matter what they do. The two of us look out for each other. And soon we'll be calling the shots. Now come on, can we go home already?
catra replies: because, i love you. because you have my back and i have yours. because nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other, remember? and soon enough, we'll be powerful enough that they cant hurt us anymore. Adora hears, because i dont care about these people dying, the only thing thats important is you and i. and anyways, soon its gonna be Us killing them, isnt that good? lets go back home to the evil murder place.
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Adora: I'm not going home, Catra. I can't. Not after everything I've seen. Come with me. You don't have to go back there. We can fix this.
adora says: im starting to realize now how wrong i was about everything. we're not the good guys, and i cant stand for that. i cant stand around and watch people get hurt. i cant stand around and watch you get hurt. lets leave, together, and have a better life, please. lets do the right thing.
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Catra: Are you kidding? You've known these people for, what, a couple of hours? And now you're just gonna throw everything away for them?
catra hears, shes willing to leave me. after everything i did for her, all that i took, all of these years of us being together, she would still leave me. she would break our promise. she would leave me behind.
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and then she straight up electrocutes adora. ok
she says it was a reflex, but i dont know if i believe her. i dont think she likes hurting adora (not physically. not by this point, anyways), but i do think that shes the type to lash out when upset and immediately regret it, then feel guily about it. which just makes her more upset. :(
Catra: Oh, man. That was a lot stronger than I thought. Are you okay?
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Adora: Why are you doing this?
Catra: Because you left me! And if I don't bring you back, Shadow Weaver’s gonna have my head. So, enough with your weird little identity crisis and let's go home already. Or do I need to zap you again?
thats the last time they talk. adora gets teleported away by glimmer, and when they see each other again, its clear that they both made their choice.
the moment adora showed catra she was willing to leave her, there was no coming back for them. because catra would never get over that. she'd spend all her life in that hellscape, putting up with abuse and bullying and probably so much more we dont get to see, because of the promise adora made her. and, in her eyes, adora was ready to leave her on the first opportunity that came up. that hurt. that broke her. and that released something really ugly inside of her.
cue in 2,5 years of homoerotic rivalry and trauma. ok post over if you read this i hope you liked it <3 bye
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