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the-8-of-spades · 1 month

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She-Ra fics I consider canon

Hey gang! here's a list of (mostly post-canon) fics I've read over the years that are I feel are well written and in character enough that they could be canon to the show, and to an extent, each other! I put the list in order for anyone who wants to read it like a season 6 :D

Don't Go - extended version of scenes in S5E5 and S5E6. Written by ND Stevenson so is basically already canon. Angst and fluff

Daylight - picks up a day after the s5 finale. Catra & Adora begin to really understand that they're free to live a peaceful life. Tooth rotting fluff.

Pros & Cons (NSFW) - Bow and Glimmer seem joined to Adora at the hip 24/7, and Catra just wants to make out with her girlfriend. Has a couple lines that could be seen as contradictory or foreshadowing to Carry our Bodies. Mostly 3/4ths fluff, 1/4th smut.

Carry our Bodies Safe to Shore - Adora finds an old Horde incident report, and Catra has to tell Adora about the kiss that Shadow Weaver erased from her memory. Angst and fluff.

Keep on Walking, Come What Will - Adora & Catra accidentally get engaged. Pure fluff

Alternatively, Princess Prom 2.0 (One Year Later) - Adora & Catra get engaged on purpose. Pure fluff

^ honestly, I reconcile these two by head canon-ing that the "accidental engagement," happens at the impromptu princess prom and then they get too busy for a wedding and then the on purpose engagement happens at the real princess prom, because both are so well written and so in character.

Anachronism (and sequel) - Adora & Catra get traumatized again while rescuing Angella.

^ (Fic is pretty good, mostly on here because I haven't found any fit that does "rescuing Angella" better, lmk if you have any recs!). Angst and Fluff. I don't think there's any NSFW but it's a long fic and it's been a while since I read it.

If anyone has any other recommendations for this list please leave them in the replies! I would love to expand this list until I have a sixth season worth of content!! (also only one NSFW fic rn cause I mostly read fluff lol but if anyone has NSFW recs that feel canon send those as well!)

Addition 1: honorable mention for Breathing Room by ResFlower because it is almost IDENTICAL to a scene from one of the others where Catra has to break it to Adora that their fight in the Red Waste was actually Double Trouble.

#she ra spop #she ra #she ra catra #adora #she ra adora #catradora #glimbow #spop adora #post canon #she ra and the princesses of power #spop fanfic #ao3 fanfic #she ra fanfic #she ra fanfiction #ao3 #archive of our own

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caramelarr0w055 · 2 months

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glimmadora and new BFS

well guys i came back with my glimmadora draws because we all miss them.

Also i re-new best friends squad because we know they are four members: Adora, Glimmer Boy and Lonnie :D. Yes Lonnie as you hear and you will ask, " why Lonnie ? " let me tell you my friend about my headcanon AU Lonnie and Adora are besties but Lonnie always felt overshadow by C*tr* because Adora spend more time her than Lonnie so she felt sad and that's why she reacted so angrier to Adora when she said she was going to rescue her friends. After that Adora realize how much damage and insecure leaves to Lonnie so she ask her to come with the rebelion and she says yes but C*tr* was there watching so they got a fight and C*tr* took Lonnie's left eye ( just like Lute took Vaggie's eye in hazbin hotel ) so in the end Adora and Lonnie won and C*tr* loose, everyone untrust Lonnie but she tries so hard to be a better person and during s3 - s5 she shows a huge developt a grow up a better person along side Adora with Glimmer and Bow so they both decided to include Lonnie in the Best friends Squad. Instead of c*tradora, lonnadora/ adonnie would be endgame and real happy ending

yeah, don't hate me anti C//A comunity, as much i love glimmadora i also love lonnadora/adonnie i think that would make such a cute couple and most important they are not incest. Well i hope you liked my headcanon AU of new bfs and glimmadora draws :3. Also don't forget to support anti C//A comunity because we are cool :D. Also if you guys wan't i can too, apart of post glimmadora, post the new best friends squad and yes i made that desing for Lonnie ( i see if i can redesing it or change some stuff to look better ) Also ofc you can take lonnadora as platonic ship and glimmadora still canon, i just say that because in spop if glimmbow still a thing then lonnadora should be an endgame but in case glimmbow were a platonic ship then take glimmadora canon but well enjoy my draws :3 <3

follow and support @spopsalt , @spop-romanticizes-abuse , @my-nitpicking-self and @anti-spop

#lonnadora #anti catradora #anti catra #anti c//a #spop #she ra spop #anti catradora comunity

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spop-romanticizes-abuse · 2 months

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i had seen the first post before and i didn't really feel like making a post about it, but that addition in the reblog makes me want to.

i don't ship zutara but i can see why people like it. it did have a lot of potential and after zuko's redemption arc, i don't think a relationship with katara would be toxic or abusive in any way.

the main reason for this is because their conflict was never personal. zuko and katara were enemies but neither of them knew much about each other, so there were no personal attacks. there were no jabs at each other's insecurities and for most part, they were on par with each other when fighting. katara was slightly stronger than zuko but she never used her strength to endlessly torture zuko and revel in his pain. he never did that to her either.

so yeah, an enemies to lovers arc would have been possible with zuko and katara because their conflict revolved around the fact that zuko was trying to capture aang. and after his redemption arc, he was able to form a good friendship with katara, which could have then turned into a romantic relationship. (it didn't but i'm not in the mood for kataang vs zutara discourse rn i'm not a big fan of either ship)

it's not my cup of tea but it is a healthy relationship with mutual respect.

that's not the case with c//a. you cannot compare it to zutara because catra's and adora's relationship was toxic even before they became enemies. catra had started exhibiting abusive traits from when she was around 5 or 6. and she never stopped it.

and catra's “redemption arc” doesn't do shit to save their relationship because she remains self-centered and toxic till the end. she keeps victim blaming and manipulating adora and they still get together somehow.

“toxic ppl just can't understand redemption arcs” ah, the uno reverse. i see you. calling people toxic for not liking your favourite ship is totally justified, i guess. also calling them sexist and lesbiphobes, that's nothing new in the spop fandom honestly. and calling catra's characterization in s5 a “redemption arc” is the biggest joke i've heard.

this person really saw zuko's redemption arc that stretched out in three seasons where he slowly sees the damage the fire nation did to the entire world and starts taking accountability for his actions and making amends, then saw catra literally making a last-minute decision to save glimmer and doing absolutely nothing else to change herself or reflect on her actions, continuing to abuse her partner/sister; and they thought “yep. these are the same.”

#also zuko and katara aren't siblings hope that helps!#spop salt #spop criticism #spop discourse #spop #spop critical #she ra #anti spop #anti stans #anti catra #anti catradora #anti c//a #antic//a #anticatra #anticatradora #not to mention zuko never tried to end the world #or abused any of the characters #anyway ik this isnt really worth saying bc c//a stans are never going to get their heads out of their asses

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justmenoworries · 17 days

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Trying to explain to C*tra-stans that C*tra supposedly being remorseful doesn't change the fact that she still did a lot of fucked up stuff completely of her own volition.

And C*tra's go-to response when realizing that she messed up is to dig her heels in and find someone else to blame (in most cases Adora).

She even does this in S5. Literally until the moment she has nowhere else to turn to, C*tra is completely unapologetic and refuses to take responsibility. Even post-"I'm sorry for everything", once she has options again C*tra immediately defaults to playing victim and pushing as much of the blame as she can on other people (mostly Adora).

Remorse doesn't mean shit if you don't act on it.

#spop critical #anti c//a #spop salt #anti spop season 5 #anti spop

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kaiwuzherenz · 5 months

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so as we all know, catras been through alot...now you have me to ramble about it...

So well as we all know, adora left catra for the rebellion...now to make this ramble shorter ima talk about main events

(Art by @kaereth artofkace wuz their old account- all the fanart i post here is by them NOT ME!!!!!-) CORRUPTED CATRA!! so basiclly corrupted catra is catra's worst side possible! like the possessive, blameing, and just all the worst things about catra in one..well was already in one but now all showing at once

she blamed adora for everything the portal caused....but adora didnt cause catra to pull the switch

HEAD CANON!: well i think, time given and the corrupten took over catra (ik space and time would be gone and everyone is already dead) catra would have died

well duh but whateva

s5 time! i know i skipped alot kk

Well i already rambled how catra went for a kill swing

and how catra dies

so do i need to ramble more? not really so ima skip again

like alot

catra almost dies again, returning the favor adora did for her. Adora gave catra a second chance in life. so catra accepted her death so adora could get to the heart

sad thing is that....ADORA LEFT CATRA AND AT THE END CATRA COULDNT LEAVE ADORA! but lets go back a bit

catra basically said she loved adora and throught after evrything she did, adora would not love her back

but what catra didnt know is that adora thought the same thing....

adoras wish is sweet, but she knew if catra died this could never happen

then catra finally told adora that she had always loved her

Adora saw catra die when she was chipped

Catra sees adora die at the heart

they both almost die but since they were in the same place at the same time, they helped eachother. Catra saved adora and adora saved catra...they was so meant for each other

#spop catra #spop #catra #adora #catradora #rambling #more rambling

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acephysicskarkat · 2 months

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The wild thing about Tumblr and enemies-to-lovers is that while it seems magnetically drawn to stuff that does it so badly it'd work better as deliberate subversion than sincere endorsement, its instincts as to what should happen in a good enemies-to-lovers arc are actually spot on! It's just that instead of seeking out stories where those things, what's the word, actually happen, they seem to prefer ones where they don't, and then just pile on headcanons and "this must have happened at some point because it'd be stupid not to" until their version of the story is impossible to reconcile with the original media.

Like, the idea that C*tra was pulling her punches on Adora throughout the first four seasons of SP0P is nonsense. It's overtly incompatible with literally every interaction the characters have between the first outright murder attempt in "The Promise" and the apology in "Corridors", in which C*tra repeatedly tries to kill Adora in painful ways, layers on the emotional cruelty with a trowel and literally tries to end the world just to hurt her*. It's brought into the show in S5 and it doesn't make much sense when it is because it meshes so poorly with what we've been shown!

But this nonsensical claim has so much traction because it would have been smart for the writers to make it true. And I don't mean in the "it doesn't make sense but S5 pretends it does" way, I mean if C*tra had been pulling her punches, had dialled back on the awfulness instead of cranking it up to maximum every time Adora entered her line of sight, the romance might actually have been good.

You get similar nonsense from R*ylo. That post about "a character who wants to be evil but inadvertently does good" does not describe Kylo Ren, whose attempts to resist "the call of the light" are entirely successful by the end of TLJ and then he's just magically saved by the power of JJ Abrams' hackery. But the romance might begin to maybe sorta make sense if he was, so obviously that must be true, and the degree to which he just sucked as a person needs to be rewritten in light of that necessary truth.

It's just...wild to me that these very good instincts about what it would be a good idea for enemies-to-lovers writers to put in are used not to identify ones that do those things, but to encrust the ones that don't in such a dense layer of fanon that the original form is entirely unrecognisable, like a dead parasite at the heart of a pearl.

*"but ND said C*tra pulled the lever out of curiosity-" I have dismissed that claim on the grounds that I've actually watched the actual episode under discussion with my own fucking eyes, twice, and if the original intent was to portray C*tra as being motivated by curiosity it failed so hard it deserves some sort of high-velocity medal

#spopcrit #swcrit #this is of no consequence compared to [gestures at the everything] but I had a thought and needed to share

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spopsalt · 3 months

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C//A fans: S5 Catra is SO much better as she progresses with her mental, emotional state and hoping that being close with Adora again is NOT a nightmare but a dream come true for them both in loving each other back! // But then (as i have said many times) Catra changes in S5, and is almost 100% redeemed (in my eyes) // this picture:

literally the anti C//A and me: what change ? the short hair and the clothes ? the girl have never changed only the look. This is so ooc, C*tr* would never felt sad for her action if she was actually feel bad then she would stop from the start or accept to be on jail or killed.

literally me: girl i hug my friends all the time, that doesn't mean i hear their heartbeat for comfort, why sexualise two " friends " or enemies for do that, haven't you seen two friends hugging ??

literally friend, i can't with C//A fand, literally act like child and it annoys me a lot how Adora the protagonist it's hated and underrate and C*tr* the abuser/gaslighter and Adora's sister gets love and overrated, like shouldn't we hate C*tr* intead of Adora ? i mean i know what it feels like to be second best because i feel like that when i'm school with my best friend but not for that i'm gonna do all that stuff C*tr* did. Also C*tr* has never talked to Adora about her feelings so how Adora was suppose to know what C*tr* feels ??!! well friend here are the question: do you hate how spop and C//A stans always love C*tr* and hate Adora ?? and what do you think about those guys always sexualise them even they are enemies or friends ?( i'm reffering to that what do you think about spop/ C//A stans always romantizing every C//A even it's about friendship, enemies fight or Adora being torture/gaslighted/manipulated/etc )

DONT HARASS ANYONE IN THESE POSTS

Thanks for the ask! Yeah Catradora stand will nitpick anything, Catra will look guilty a few times and that means it's ok! Who cares if she almost destroyed the world to spite her sister? And saying she listens to Adora's heartbeat....what? It was a normal hugging position what?!

#spop critical #spop salt #anti spop #spop discourse #spop criticism #spop crit #anti catra #anti catradora #antic//a #anti c//a

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anti-spop · 3 months

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remember when adora was distrustful of catra in "promise", after catra kidnapped glimmer and bow? remember when adora brought it up more than once and she was rightfully pissed about it?

where the hell was this adora in s5???

#like she does snap at catra once in s5 but it's not the same thing imo #bc in promise adora actually calls out what catra did and the consequences that followed it #them being glimmer being... cursed or whatever that was #anyway. i need this adora goddammit #i post #spop critical #anti c//a

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catradoratwtgoodies · 1 year

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S-5 catradora literally hits so different, I don't know if it's because of Adora and Catra's initial growth and her becoming a reformed person. As enemies they've had this chemistry already, but now by the time they come together there's something else about them a sense of maturity making them feel almost like partners/lovers? Who even sometimes seem to be on the same wavelength. Totally the opposite of when they were fighting as teens. Now they communicate trough small gestures, trough touch and glances, pick up when the other feels distressed or sad, touch had always been their kinda language when words failed them but they've improved in that too, they're able to express themselves and be more vulnerable. Just love this for them, this development and I wonder how their relationship will continue to grow even more as Catra continues to better herself.

S5 Catradora my beloved 💖 You’re right they’re so much better in season 5 and they actually understand each other more (see Catra admitting that Shadow Weaver hurt Adora too and Catra bringing Adora’s playful side back)

I think they would be very healthy post-canon. Love that for them

#she ra and the princesses of power #catradora #catra #adora #spop #thanks for the ask #anon ask

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aprillikesthings · 22 days

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can I finish this before I gotta get ready and leave for the Maundy Thursday service let's find out lol

(Edit: Nope.)

THREE MORE EPISODES LEFT

*cries*

s5 ep11 Failsafe

someone hold me

I have to actively suppress the urge to read the synopses of the episodes at this point

oh also lol this is just funny to me, I saw a post Elsewhere Online where someone watched all of spop the first time and they HATED the dumb names everyone has, and I think they mentioned Castaspella specifically.

And like FIFTY PEOPLE responded with "dude they had to use the original names from the 1980's series" and I was the only one there old enough to have watched the original series and I had to point out: the original series was made to sell toys. The vast majority of cartoons in 1985 were only made to sell toys. They gave everyone those dumbass names because it was easy for kids to remember and beg for the toys."

That's also why all the female characters in the original series have the exact same body type. Yeah the body shape itself was due to 1980's-era sexism, but also? It was so much cheaper to animate the show AND make the toys that way!

But also, it's hella ironic to me that the 2018 show has so little official merch!

And now, back to crying over cartoon lesbians:

good question

ugh I hate her

Shadow Weaver: "While you were traipsing around in space,"

OH MY GOD they were saving a few people's LIVES and it was kind of IMPORTANT but WHATEVER

"--some of us have been working to stop the Heart of Etheria from falling into Prime's hands. And we discovered the same thing you did. Rumors of a Failsafe that will break the restraints the First Ones built and set the stolen magic free." Glimmer: "Are you kidding? After everything that happened last time, you're still going after the Heart of Etheria? And you're helping her?" Castaspella: "We're trying to free the magic for all of Etheria so we can be strong enough to fight Prime. I'm doing this for your father and for you. Shadow Weaver is the lesser of two evils."

I love that she says this right in front of Shadow Weaver. Like "girl I hate her too"

nice

okay ngl I have mixed feelings about this one because unfortunately she's not entirely wrong here but also, shut the fuck up

(something something people are responsible for their own actions but also she wouldn't have done all that godawful shit if Shadow Weaver hadn't been such a shitty parent)

but yeah Catra gets up like she's about to fucking throw some hands and Adora's like It's okay bb

;_;

but also they do need the information Shadow Weaver and Castaspella have

so it turns out Mystacor was built on top of a First Ones' citadel? huh

Castaspella: "Beneath Mystacor, there are many secret tunnels and rooms, forgotten and sealed off. No one has been able to access them in centuries, but there are whispers of what they contain." Shadow Weaver: "An artifact known as the Crystal of Arxia, hidden there by a group of traitorous First Ones." Castaspella: "You said I could do it!"

lol they bicker like old marrieds

Adora: "If you figured it out on your own, why come back here? Why do you need us at all?" Shadow Weaver: "Because Mystacor is controlled by Micah, who, you may recall, is controlled by Horde Prime."

they've been TRYING

"If he seizes the Heart, it will all be over."

Stop toUCHING HER

oh god Adora turns around to ask Catra to help out--and she's gone

YOU'RE THE REASON SHE'S FUCKING "SULKING" and you fucking know it, why are abusers always so god damned surprised to find out their kids don't want to be anywhere near them

(I mean I know why, they think they should be able to control you forever)

aaahahaha Adora's just like Nah I'mma go look for her tho

anyway roll intro!

omg look at Netossa and Spinny on the bottom left awwwww

she looks so sad

well okay sad and angry

their conversation here is so good, because Catra's fully aware of why Adora's doing this, but is really struggling to push past how much she (justifiably!) hates Shadow Weaver and hates being around her

I actually do kinda wish I'd kept a list of all the times Adora does the self-sacrificial thing, separated into "someone asked her to do it" vs "nobody asked her to do it" lol

BUT ADORA EXPRESSES A NEED oh nice that's progress

Adora: "Hey, she can't do anything to us anymore. Please, come. We--I-could really use your help."

two things I really love about this: One, she doesn't say that she doesn't like Adora, just that it's not the reason she's going. Two, I feel like Adora knows damn well Catra's not being 100% honest here.

Like, to some extent Catra's saying this as a way of attempting to protect herself a little. She's taking baby steps towards vulnerability, and it's terrifying! And I think Adora can see that and is fine with it--not JUST because she's like "any crumbs are better than nothing" but ALSO because she doesn't want to push Catra.

Because yeah, if there was any actual doubt that Catra does like Adora--

WELL.

Entrapta was able to get Spinerella's chip out but says it had started fusing with her nervous system and they're running out of time to safely un-chip everyone.

But she's been digging around the network that connects all the chips to Prime, hoping to figure out how to disconnect everyone at once, and Bow gives her a little encouragement, it's really sweet.

OKAY so everyone who can, teleports to Mystacor with Melog making them invisible. (Apparently Catra doesn't get motion sick from it anymore which is nice lol)

I love the way they animated them being invisible

oh GOD okay

Catra turns around and says "looks like there's no sorcerers here" while, unfortunately, a sorcerer walks into the room. Shadow Weaver grabs Catra and puts her hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, and Catra (understandably!! but unfortunately!!) jerks away in fury and yells

And her fury causes Melog to drop the invisibility

And now the chipped sorcerer knows they're all there

they manage to duck the attack but Adora goes to transform into She-Ra--and can't do it

she had this issue last episode aaaugh it's not from being near Shadow Weaver she wasn't there

okay but also Adora runs behind a pillar to hide from an attack with Catra and it's cute

girl help why is this giving me so many emotions

y'know it's funny how often I've bumped into posts of people who are confused as to why Adora starts trusting Catra again so quickly, and I frequently wonder if they forget all the childhood flashback scenes of these two. To varying extents they both spent their entire childhoods seeing the other as their only consistent source of comfort and (something resembling) safety, and with some notable exceptions Adora's spent the last four seasons (which was like three or four years) visibly holding out hope that one day she could trust Catra again. This despite the fact that she now has other sources of safety and comfort and love!!! Being with Glimmer and Bow and everyone else was healing, sure; but it never erased her grief over losing Catra. She always, always held out the tiniest flame of hope that Catra would change sides.

And Catra basically tried lighting her own grief on fire (metaphorically and kinda literally) over and over and it just didn't go away, and I feel like when she saved Glimmer and apologized to Adora she had sort of come to terms with the fact that her grief over losing Adora couldn't be burned away, but of course by then she figured she'd fucked up so bad Adora would never forgive her or trust her again. And rather than take it out on other people or suffer any longer she was willing to just die, instead. She really did think that sending Glimmer to Adora was going to be her last act, and she wanted Adora to know she was sorry before she fucking DIED. And I don't think her saving Glimmer was consciously meant to be proof that she meant her apology, but it was. And that's part of why Adora trusts her again.

The fact is, even after everything that happened, both of them had a hole in their hearts shaped like the other. ;_;

And that's why Adora runs and hides behind the same pillar as Catra. (I mean yes, it was also closer, but that's not tHE POINT)

Anyway, this is all why, as I previously noted, Adora's not being pushy. That failed on her, spectacularly; the couple of times she tried it. Asking Catra to come along on this mission is the closest she's come. And even then, it wasn't "you're a good person deep down and you should change sides because I think I know you better than you know yourself," It was "please do this for me, because I need your help." And Catra is fully aware of how hard that is for Adora.

And these two still have a lot to work out post-canon (like, Catra has still got to deal with her need to not just be seen as Adora's sidekick/shadow, and lbh right now some of the rebellion is like "we're only putting up with you for Adora's sake" as if Catra was Yoko Ono) but that's part of why I'm writing a fic lolol

I have so many feelingssss on a related note I spent like fifteen solid minutes last night in bed having taken an edible and listening to my playlist and staring at this gifset lolol

ANYWAY Castaspella knocks out the chipped dude and they run for it

AAAND lol I gotta get ready to go to church. There's still 17:30 left on this episode. Pfft.

BACK FROM CHURCH I washed someone's feet, they washed mine, they stripped the altar, I go back at one or two in the morning for the overnight vigil

In the meantime: gonna finish this episode

(what is my life sometimes)

Entrapta plans to find a bunch of clones so she can figure out how their signals to Horde Prime work. Swift Wind is like Ugh, fine, I'll go with you, someone's gotta save your ass

Entrapta: "Thanks, bird horse!"

lol how many times have they had that convo

A family can be a sorcerer and her evil ex, a girl and a boy, two traumatized lesbians, and a cat

But also it looks like something out of an episode of Scooby Doo

Shadow Weaver opens a magic door

ngl that's PRETTY. like it's obviously about the Heart of Etheria but wow!

(and there's a dinosaur???)

Adora notices how stressed out Catra is and says "It'll be okay...Trust me." ;_;

Shadow Weaver: "There's no time to waste!"

"...disturbance."

The disturbance was your fault, dumbass. I am reminded of all the times my dad got angry at us for being afraid of him. And would hit us. For being. Afraid of him. Because y'know. That's how you stop a kid from being afraid of you. By hitting them.

In any case Shadow Weaver is still trying to get between them and separate them and I just really need this bitch to stop.

(Yes yes I remember she dies later)

Castaspella: "We're on the right path. The Crystal of Arxia was rumored to be the key to reaching deep magic within Etheria."

"But those who hungered for more power have long sought other ways to obtain the deep magic...with disastrous results."

HIT THE IMAGE LIMIT lemme reblog

#april rewatches spop #failsafe

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thesamecatradoraeveryday · 9 months

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i rewatched she ra s5 yesterday and the brain rot has returned

catra is everything to me

i want to be the catra to someone’s adora

also respect for still posting it must have been years by now

CATRA IS EVERYTHING 2 ME ALSO. it’s been so long since i rewatched she-ra and honestly i’m scared to bc i know i’m gonna watch it and get brutally attacked by the level of catra kin that’s gonna be thrown at me. god bless

#ITS. PROBABLY BEEN YEARS YEAH #<- has no concept of time #also i glad you enjoyed your rewatch!!!!!!!!!! lesbians be upon ye #ca answers

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swearyshera · 1 year

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Reliving this is a trip. I was an interesting feeling the first time thru, and I'm not saying that to humorously downplay a horrific situation. It drew out a little bit of sympathy for Catra I really thought I'd used up by that point, if only cuz what Prime does is really that vile. That's super unusual for me. I went in rooting for Adora to take back someone she cared about, not necessarily cuz it was Catra specifically if you know what I mean, but this got me to want Catra rescued weirdly well. I almost never feel for villains at their nadir like this.

Twisted how empathetic paragon heroes like Adora are among my most treasured characters in fiction, yet I suck at extending the same sympathy they can. You're supposed to see characters like Catra (or Azula or Bakugou or whoever you please) going thru awful things as flawed people with interior lives and subject to exterior circumstances that the heroes are kind/strong/savvy enough to see and incorporate into their responses and my knee jerk is still "fuck off with the pity party, get to the atonement." Or in a lot of cases to laugh while they're down. I always sabotage myself by seeing the author making horrible things happen to the rival/villains, and contrasting them with worse villains, as a cynical tactic to get me and the heroes to sympathize before they've started changing for the better.

It helped that Catra already saved Glimmer at her own peril, and Adora already would've saved Catra no matter what, but still. This is a big reason why villain mind control is one of my least fave tropes. Manipulation and coercion are all good because meaningful agency and responsibility are still there even if characters can't see it, and that is everything in my eyes. To me mind control is the writer hitting pause on a character's growth til a more convenient time in the plot. Or just forever. *cough*🌊🦂🧙‍♂️.

Most of my appreciation for pre-s5 Catra only built up in retrospect through meta-posts and following fanworks like this. So seriously thank you for this series; it's like experiencing the series as it was intended for the first time, weird as that sounds.

You're version of this sequence is as skin-crawling as I think we all could've hoped/feared. Prime is the worst kind of living scum. Great work. Now I can start counting down to the "you miscalculated." scene. Aimee Carrero crushed that line. Can't wait for your version. Positively dancing with anticipation.

It is - at least to me - a really interesting point for Catra to be at, narratively speaking, because it shows the dialectic in her journey. She both did and didn't "bring it upon herself" - yes, she tried to get in Prime's good books, but no, she didn't ask to be chipped. Yes, she saved Glimmer against his instruction, but no, she didn't know the full consequences of what that would do. And when you get people on different sides of the argument, some saying "poor meowmeow didn't deserve this" and others saying, "She's reaping what she's sown", actually they're both right, in this way.

I don't think it would have worked going straight to the atonement, anyway. We don't have these scenes to revel in the depth of her lowest point, we have them to show how bad, how inescapable it was - and then we set up to escape them!

The whole story with Prime has been an interesting writing journey, too. Every time I review the lines, I tweak them to make them that little bit more realistic, that little bit more uncomfortable. I'm painfully aware that we're seeing a lot of similar rhetoric flying around from real people in the media these days (particularly with anti-trans bullshit), and it's no coincidence that Prime is a reflection of this. But my focus isn't on "Oh look, doesn't this character sound like the person trying to destroy our lives", it's on "This character, like the people you've seen on the news, might think they're right but they will never win. They will never defeat us."

Indeed, the Save the Cat books (yes, this episode did remind me of them... It's probably where the name is from) talk about the 'All is Lost' point and the 'Dark Night of the Soul' - this is where we're at right now. It's bad, it's the worst - but it's going to get better.

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