#while they were apart (when adora was on one side and catra on the other) catra WAS NOT REPRESENTED AS A GOOD PERSON.

[florshedworf]

that’s fucking IT im EXPLODING: catadora.

what is it? what’s up with it? why do some people like it? why do people hate it with a firey passion?

it’s toxic yuri. it’s a interalized homophobic friendship. they’re lovers. they hate eachother. catra fucking hates adora. or does she? adora hates catra. unless? dear fucking god

#worf opens their big mouth #im going insane #ok but for real #while they were apart (when adora was on one side and catra on the other) catra WAS NOT REPRESENTED AS A GOOD PERSON. #NOR WAS ADORA’S AND CATRA’S RELATIONSHIP HEALTHY. #i am SICK and TIRED of people cutting catra hitting adora and being like ‘this couple is abusive!!!1!’ THEY WERENT EVEN TOGETHER YET !!!! #i was going to make a point of how yeah. it was a little rushed at the end #but make up your own opinions on that bc i just remembered the entire fucking mind control arc #it feels like another steven universe situation again. #AND ITS ANOTHER QUEER SHOW GOD FUCKING DAMMIT #im trying to avoid. the conclusion. that this hate train is caused by queerphobia (internalized or not) but i literally can’t avoid it. #anyways :) #im not saying catadora is the ship of the year #its not even my favorite ship #but ooooh this little bonfire has spread too far #HAHDGAGAHGA NOOOO THE TAGS ARE SO LONG #// ASK FOR TAGS #IM SO SORRY

[that-ari-blogger]

What is the point of the Horde? Part 1

Ok. So, why does She Ra and the Princesses of Power begin in the horde? Why go through all the trouble if in the second episode, Adora switches sides? What is the point?

Obviously, the in-universe answer is "Adora was raised in the horde, so she starts the story in the horde" and that's a perfectly fine reason. But I'd like to delve into the thematic significance of that choice. What does Adora's connection to the horde do to the story?

SPOILERS AHEAD

I'm going to start by establishing some themes, so if you disagree with my takeaway, here is where it went wrong. In my understanding, She-Ra is about family, morality, freedom, and trauma.

So, what does the horde represent?

The horde is a dysfunctional family unit. The mother figure is manipulative, the father is distant and uncaring, and the children are used as weapons. Even if you don't read this as a family unit, this isn't the healthiest of dynamics in any situation.

In Shadowweaver's first scene, we get this shot, which is a fantastic visual metaphor for Shadowweaver's influence, the shadows claw at Catra's face, covering one eye and distorting her vision as a result. Interestingly, the shadows don't directly touch Adora, but the general dimness that Shadowweaver gives off does, and her expression makes it clear that Shadowweaver's influence does have consequences on her as well by proxy.

This is a neat representation of the rest of the series. My reading of this story was as an escape from abuse story. Adora gets away physically, but Shadowweaver follows her, while Catra can't leave.

"She's just bitter that she doesn't have any real power that doesn't have any real power that doesn't come from Hoardack, and everyone knows it."

The above quote is from Catra talking about Shadowweaver and I'd like to take it apart.

Niccolò Machiavelli is the namesake for the word Machiavellian in reference to a manipulator or schemer. A lot of people cast him as a historical villainous character, and while that isn't entirely true, the reason for this word is primarily a book called The Prince. In it, he poses the idea that "It is much safer for the prince to be feared than loved, though he should avoid making himself hated." Shadowweaver embodies this mindset.

Catra is wrong here. Shadowweaver does have power, and its being demonstrated right here in this single shot. Shadowweaver has the same power that certain people in real life have, she can control people. In this case, she can turn best friends against each other with barely a thought.

Shadowweaver has cultivated fear in her children, but she has taken care to not distance herself from Adora too far. She considers one of her children superior and diverts all of her affection into that child while shunning and demeaning the other to no end.

Interestingly, Shadowweaver's approach to love is also toxic. When Adora questions her judgement even slightly, Shadowweaver's immediate response is two things. I took you in and you want this. This is emotionally manipulative, she's making Adora feel guilty for wanting her friend to be recognised, and she's telling Adora what she wants, imposing her own will and ambition onto her.

Here's the kicker, The Prince was a satire. It was a callout to the leadership of the time that their actions were unjust and unkind. It was a statement that this method of leadership, while effective to this point, was doomed to fall.

So, why does She-Ra begin in the horde?

I think it's to show the trauma more acutely. It's to show the effect that Shadowweaver has on Adora and Catra and to explain, thematically, what this story is about. This isn't just a story about good and evil, but freedom, and love, and the story is going out of its way to show what the characters are running from. To show what, despite their best efforts, the characters cannot escape from, and will not escape from, until the final episode.

Part 2 is going to discuss episode 2 in detail and why Catra can't leave. It'll be an interesting discussion, I hope.

Next

#she ra #she ra and the princesses of power #catra #shadow weaver #rants #literary analysis #literature analysis #character analysis #Machiavelli #she ra adora #spop #spop catra

[swearyshera]

This scene in canon legit made my blood boil cuz I was very much NOT aboard the "everyone welcomes Catra on the team" train yet, so this bit was... less than endearing. The writing team and target audience had obviously been in agreement with Catra being cute for a long time but... I had yet to be persuaded and wouldn't be for a good while.

I know its to show how out of her depth Catra is dealing with actual friendship and how much of a ball of sunshine Bow is, but 'specially with the lack of Angella resolution this cutesy shit felt like they were jangling keys in my face to distract me from the past. Bow here showing he hasn't forgotten what Catra did even in a minor way lifted the fug off this scene for me. Amazing how I can get SO angry yet be appeased by the smallest changes. This series is like emotional/narrative aikido. Or maybe I just take shit in media way too personally and need my little hand held thru every scene that isn't immediately solving my foremost issue. Regardless, great job.

I think this episode, and to some extent the two either side of it, creates a lot of tension in the audience because of how uncertain everything is with Catra and Adora. And I don't mean tension between people who think Catra's all fine and forgiven now and those who don't, it's a tension where we see the characters going on as if everything is normal when we, the audience, know it's not. I've been thinking about this from two points:

Firstly, it's from a story structure point of view. This part is where Catra, and Adora to a degree, have what they want (each other), but not what they need. The entire story so far, on a personal level to them, has been about wanting each other back with them - and now they've got it, so everything is fine, right? They want to believe it is, so they act like it is. But they haven't learnt what they needed to (now what that is is open to interpretation, but for this, I'll say they needed to open themselves to love), and so you have this really uncomfortably awkward situation where they're both forcing themselves to accept that this is it. This is all they needed. And it's not.

If I refer once again to John Yorke's excellent Into the Woods, this puts us firmly into Act 4 territory: Your character will have changed in some way, but not enough to achieve their goal and overcome their flaw. The weakness is revealed in a low moment of the story (for Catra and Adora, this moment is the end of Failsafe). These few episodes are, by design, supposed to evoke the same sort of response you've had. In regards to Catra getting angry about being called cute, that's a perfect example of her not having overcome a flaw.

The other way I've been looking at it is from another, more realistic, and how people with BPD (if you're playing Sweary bingo, cross that one off!) would react to being reunited with their Favourite Person(TM). It's an innate ability to many of us with Brain Please Don't to suddenly forget the shit that happened when that one person graces us with a tiny amount of love (or, at least, something that isn't outright hostility). And I think for Catra here, that's exactly what's going on. Adora saved her, welcomed her back, waited for Catra to stop being angry, and now everything is FINE. Catra doesn't want to think about the past, she doesn't want to think about her flaws (or Adora's) that led to them splitting apart and fighting each other for so long.

You can see throughout this episode, the stress of forcing herself to be fine just so it doesn't rock the boat with Adora, coming out in these moments where she gets intensely angry for just a moment. I think, ultimately, they've moved from the unstable 'we're apart' relationship to the unstable 'we're together' relationship, and both need to learn a little more about how they fix that.

So yeah, this scene and this episode aren't really about 'Catra's suddenly been forgiven by everyone', but more 'everyone thinks Catra's been forgiven but they haven't sorted out the real problems', and that drives the conflict for the latter half of the season.

[torntruth]

as per the  ‘catra is abusive narrative,’   i just need to remind y’all that i understand she can be.   i’m never about to downplay that she’s a villain,  but we literally get to see her villainous arc and the switch.

it’s me talking a lot under the cut.

1.)   both catra and adora were severely abused,  especially emotionally mentally under shadow weaver.   there’s one big difference,  adora promises catra she’ll be back but instead meets glimmer and bow.   adora almost instantly understands that there’s a better life outside of horde prime.  it’s both all they knew,  but bow and glimmer show adora a party,  shower her in gifts and adoration and physically present to her a better life.

catra never got that.   she knows the horde prime life and is now believing that she can rise to be something worth it in horde prime.  she never got a hand outside of horde prime.  never got an opportunity to see what’s better until it was far too late and she was already on the villainous track.   adora tried to bring catra along,  but once again,  no amount of simple pleading from somebody that broke a promise is going to make a severely abused individual see that there’s a better life.   the only time they got to sit down and talk after all that was when adora was looking for light hope.   and that whole entire conversation was marred by flashbacks,  likely by light hope,  that reminded catra of why she was angry at adora and the conversation could never go anywhere.

2.)    one of the literal narratives of the show was everyone trying to tear catra and adora apart.  their relationship into shreds.   even fun loving scorpia,  who hated adora not because she was a rebel,  but because catra very obviously loved her and couldn’t bear to have a friendship with scorpia.  everyone was trying to peel them apart,  but two of the big times adora needed she-ra,  it was her love for catra that pulled she-ra out of her.

“nothing really bad can happen while we have each other.”   and, in a soulmate type of way,  the  REAL  best of everything happens when they have each other.  when they aren’t fighting.   the world can not possibly exist if either catra or adora are gone,  even if they’re on opposite sides.   but when they’re working together,  there’s a balance that etheria needs. 

#CATRA — eh heh heh heh. *throws sand* #CATRA DYN: ADORA — please. just this once. stay.

[testudoaubrei-blog]

Well, it’s not quite a master’s thesis, but this is (the first of) a series of posts on why Catra and Adora are the best love story in the history of kids TV animation and maybe the greatest love story in the history of TV. This may in some ways be faint praise - romance on TV is generally not very good compared with books or movies. Often it’s just some will they/won’t they sexual tension that is defused by getting characters together and re-heightened by breaking them up. TV is full of nearly shark jumping pointless dramas like Sam and Diane (Cheers, holy fuck am I dating myself, though that was technically before my time), Ross and Rachel (Friends, which was no Cheers) etc, but also some less annoying couples like Ben and Leslie (Parks and Rec) or Amy and Jake (Bk99) who are mostly just kind of cute and fun. Other shows, like the X-Files, teased viewers for years with unresolved sexual tension. In kids shows most romances are, appropriate for their target viewers, mild, sweet relationships based more on self-conscious flirting and blushing than on complex and conflicted feelings or deep passions - which is pretty realistic when the characters are young teens or even mid-teens. Some of these relationships are really well done - Finn and Flame Princess, Dipper and Pacifica (yeah I ship them), the early stages of Katara and Aang (before the showrunners imbued this childhood crush with cosmic significance), Steven and Connie, etc. Catra and Adora, though, are different. Their love story is not a side plot or a sub plot, it’s the heart of the show. It isn’t a childhood crush, it’s a very messy and passionate relationship between two young adults. She-Ra is an emotionally complex lesbian romance just as much as it is a thrilling action/adventure show. Everything about their relationship is baked into the show’s plot, its themes, hell even its musical score. The dramatic tension between Catra and Adora is not the result of stretching out a flirtation for ratings, but a coherent dramatic arc that runs through the entire show. As Noelle said, he made Catradora so central that execs couldn’t take it out without ruining the show. And the show is better for it. In this series of posts I’m going to try to show why, as well as showing why She-Ra is such a fantastic love story.

First off, let’s talk about how Catra and Adora’s character arcs are foils for each other, and how they come together and apart through the series. This is actually a post that I’ve been working on for a while but I keep summarizing the show rather than cutting to the chase, so I’m not going to recite many plot points so much as sketch out what’s going on with the dramatic structure at the time. But also, let’s talk about what each character’s arc is saying, and how they are commenting on each other. Spoiler alert: Catra’s arc is a subversion and critique of stories of empowerment through ruthless self-assertion and revenge, while Adora’s arc is a subversion and critique of chosen one narratives and stories of self-denial and self-transcendence.

When the show starts, Adora and Catra are shown as rivals and friends - their first scene starts the recurring motif of them reaching out for each other as one of them dangles above an abyss, as well as establishing their flirtatious banter and easy camaraderie. We quickly learn that these two young women plan to conquer the world together. These scenes and later flashbacks show Catra and Adora as deeply enmeshed in each others lives, to the point where neither of them (but especially Catra) have clear identities outside of one another. There is so much genuine love on both sides before Adora leaves, but also resentment, envy and fear, especially on Catra’s side, as well as a protectiveness on Adora’s side that deprives Catra of her autonomy. They are both being abused by Shadow Weaver - Catra physically  and emotionally, Adora emotionally. It wouldn’t be too much to say that Shadow Weaver holds Catra hostage to control Adora (this is why critiques that Adora abandoned Catra to be abused are actually kind of messed up, since they accept Shadow Weaver’s premise that Adora is responsible for what Shadow Weaver does to Catra). In addition, Catra and Adora actually see the world incredibly differently. Adora already sees the world in terms of right, wrong and her destiny to right wrongs - this is why it’s important for her  to accept the Horde’s obvious lies - she couldn’t keep living if she didn’t. Catra, on the other hand, sees the world solely in terms of survival and personal loyalty - everything for her is about preserving herself and the person she cares about - Adora.

Then, when Adora finds the sword, she leaves because it’s the right thing to do. Catra doesn’t even have a concept of ‘the right thing to do’ being something she should care about, or perhaps, something she can care about as an irredeemably evil, awful fuck-up. So at Thaymor neither one understands where the other is coming from, and Catra and Adora begin to part. This is the first turning point in their relationship. Adora chooses duty over what she desires, Catra chooses to protect herself (such as she sees it) and nurse her sense of betrayal and abandonment.

Their relationship until Promise is a kind of weird Frenemy thing that is fascinating to watch and sold me on the show. Neither one wants to fully admit to themselves that the other is now their enemy, neither one has given up on changing the other’s mind. Each is furious at the other, and desperate to see her again at the same time. There’s a lot of heartache and just as much sexual tension, especially at Princess Prom. Both of them come alive when they fight each other (more about that in a later post). But they’re already growing apart - Adora embracing her destiny as She-Ra, Catra rising in the ranks for the Horde. Adora now has the purpose she always wanted, plus other friends and a sense of being chosen to do something great, while Catra now has power - the means to protect herself from people like Shadow Weaver as well as the vindication she had always been denied, and even the opportunity to beat Shadow Weaver at her own game.

The next turning point is Promise. Holy fuck, this episode. It’s an episode that is even more heartbreaking after you’ve watched the show because you know just how much worse things are going to get, and yet, it’s a necessary part of both of their character arcs. Even through season 1 Catra and Adora had remained very much enmeshed in each others lives in an increasingly fucked up way as they grew apart but refused to turn away from each other. Even though they aren’t -exactly- a romantic couple (Adora doesn’t recognize and acknowledge her feelings until the last episode of Season 5), Season 1 of She-Ra is one of the worst breakups I have seen on TV. As I said in a couple of previous posts, this is the kind of shit that the Mountain Goats write songs about. Everything that was poisoning their love for each other even before episode 1 bubbles to the surface and combines with them fighting on opposite sides of the war to make a truly fucked up situation. In the end, it’s Catra that makes the choice to turn away from Adora. This isn’t a -good- decision. It’s spiteful, and destructive, and based on an outright deluded understanding of their relationship (inspired by Light Hope’s manipulations and her own issues), but it’s in some ways a necessary decision. Catra has been so wrapped up in Adora for so long that she isn’t going to be able to figure out who -she- is without cutting Adora out of her life. And the same is true of Adora.

But each of them do this in about the worst way possible. Catra embraces destruction, ambition, manipulation and outright cruelty, turning the tactics of her abusers against them and against everyone around her. She first triumphs over Shadow Weaver and manipulates Entrapta into trying to corrupt Etheria itself. Meanwhile Adora ‘lets go’ and commits herself to the self-denying mantle of She-Ra. Over the next several seasons, their respective paths will nearly lead both Catra and Adora to their deaths (in the Season 4 finale).

For the next season (counting season 2 and 3 as one) Catra and Adora are still closely linked, but as enemies. Still, there’s more than enough flirtation between them (that ‘Hey Catra’ in the first episode of Season 2 is something else), and especially on Adora’s side we see her hold back with Catra, and often take responsibility for the harm Catra inflicts, just like she had when they were kids. Yet they still drift apart - after facing off every other episode in Season 1, they spend less and less time on screen together through season 2 and 3. Catra continues her ascent to power and descent into villainy while Adora becomes more of a stressed out mess as she takes the fate of the world and the wellbeing of everyone she cares about on her admittedly broad shoulders. Catra’s one moment of vulnerability is rewarded by Shadow Weaver’s betrayal and her exile, then Catra triumphs in ruthless badass fashion through sheer desperation and aggression. In the Crimson Wastes, we see Catra at her most independent, and she almost seems happy. But once Adora shows up and Catra hears about Shadow Weaver, she’s sucked back into the worst of her resentments, and she makes very clear that being happy is less important to her than making sure Adora is miserable.

This changes everything. Catra completely breaks with reality and tries to kill Adora, herself and the world rather than lose to Adora and Shadow Weaver (I do think it’s important to remember that she does that after Shadow Weaver nearly kills her). Catra betrays everyone around her when she exiles Entrapta, threatens Scopria and lies to Hordak. Then she flips the switch. When Adora tries to fix things, Catra fights to her own death to make sure that the world disintegrates with her. For her part, Adora fights first to understand what is wrong with the world and then to fix it. Finally she tells Catra that destroying the world is her choice and she has to live with it, decks her, and then sees her off with a death glare once the portal is closed. With this, Adora writes Catra off even if, as she says later, she never never hated her. By doing that, Adora casts off the guilt that had dogged her and takes responsibility for her own life rather than someone else’s - this is actually a huge step for her, and one that will become more important in Season 4.

Season 4 is in many ways the nadir of their relationship. They only see each other once during the entire season, in Fluterrina, when Adora tries to blast Catra, much to the latter’s shock. There’s a sense in that scene that Catra is trying to have the same flirtatious enmity she used to have with Adora, and Adora is having none of it. Catra almost seems hurt by this, which is an early hint at how isolated Catra is beginning to feel. Catra spends the rest of the season at her highest and lowest. On the one hand she spends most of 12 episodes winning by every standard she has ever claimed to care about, besting Hordak himself in single combat and making herself co-ruler of the Horde and coming within a day’s march of ending the Rebellion. In many ways it is the ultimate empowerment fantasy - the abused young woman has defeated her abusers, showed up everyone who doubted her and forced everyone to respect her. But I think it’s striking that the show starts with her and Adora dreaming of conquering the world together and in Season 4 Catra nearly succeeds in conquering it alone, almost like she was trying to live out her old shared fantasy while proving she didn’t need her former best friend. 

At the same time, Catra is clearly miserable. She’s always been unhappy, but in Season 4 we see her completely isolated and lying to herself and everyone who will listen in a desperate attempt to justify her actions. Turning the tactics of Hordak and Shadow Weaver against them to gain power and then against Scorpia and Entrapta to maintain it haven’t vindicated Catra, they’ve made her more and more alone as Entrapta is exiled and Scorpia drifts away. Meanwhile Catra reaches out to Double Trouble, and her interactions with them reek of a kind of desperate desire to have someone in her life (the feeling of their interaction is of an unhealthy casual relationship where one partner becomes emotionally invested and the other takes advantage of that while denying the other the closeness they desire). As people leave her, one after the other, it becomes clearer and clearer that Catra doesn’t want power at all - she wants connection, friendship, love, and power is a very poor replacement. As I said in my long Catra rant, Season 4 is both her ‘Walter White as a Catgirl’ season and the beginning of her redemption. Everything comes to head when Sparkles destroys everything Catra has tried to achieve, Double Trouble delivers those harsh truths and Horde Prime shows up and makes it all irrelevant, just highlighting how futile all her struggles and sacrifices and crimes have been.

Meanwhile Adora spends Season 4 becoming her own her and her own woman. After telling off Catra, she grows more and more disillusioned with Light Hope and critical of Glimmer (though the latter has more than a shade of her old habit of taking responsibility for others - Adora’s development is not linear). She’s gained the courage and confidence to strike out her own path, not just follow a destiny. At the season’s end she once again breaks with her best friend to do what is right, and discards the destiny that she was being prepared for. But in this case she isn’t chasing one packaged destiny for another, instead she’s making her own choice and literally shattering the thing that she thought gave her life purpose. It’s badass, and heartbreaking, and along with decking Catra and jumping after Catra into the abyss (see below) it’s the perfect Adora moment.

In many ways Season 5 starts with Catra and Adora farther apart than they have ever been. They aren’t even enemies anymore, they’re completely out of each other’s lives. And both Catra and Adora are lost at the beginning of Season 5 - Catra is useless and alone on Prime’s ship, completely defeated despite ostensibly being on the winning side, and she goes through the motions of her normal plotting without any particular conviction and none of her normal flair. Meanwhile Adora is even more miserable and self-destructive than usual, throwing herself at Horde Bots and working herself until she drops of exhaustion. In a very real way they both stay lost until they have a chance to help the other. Catra takes responsibility for what she’s done and what she can do, saves Glimmer (at least partly for Adora’s sake), apologizes to Adora, and sacrifices herself. Adora only seems to come alive when she decides to turn around, face Prime, and save the cat. And when she does, Catra and Adora’s arcs, which had separated so completely in season 4, come crashing back together to end the series.

Adora during Save the Cat is such a contrast with the uncertain, hesitant and self-destructive wreck we’ve seen so far in Season 5. This is possibly her craziest plan in 3 years of mostly cazy plans, but she never wavers or questions herself. Even when Chipped Catra appears and we see Adora’s heart break while we watch, Adora doesn’t back down or relent. She keeps at it even as the tears stream down her face. She fights better trying to save Catra without She-Ra’s powers than she fought at the Battle of Bright Moon with them. Catra’s just about as desperate - we see her cry and plead, and now is probably as good a time to any to point out how amazing a job both VAs did throughout the show, but especially in this episode, and how good a job the board artists did. 

Seeing each other for the first time in a year, and only the second time since Catra blew everything up, Catra and Adora are probably the rawest and least restrained we’ve ever seen them. There’s barely any banter, no bravado, and no pretense that they are anything other than two women who desperately need each other (Prime doesn’t help with ‘You broke my heart’.) Then Catra is flung to her death, Adora jumps after her, breaks both her legs in the fall (we see her crawl to Catra, as though she couldn’t walk) and becomes the real She-Ra. It’s such a triumphant and deeply queer moment seeing a woman transformed into a warrior goddess to protect the woman she loves, and it’s the reason that, as dark as it is, Save the Cat is my Comfort Food episode.

Let’s not sleep on Taking Control, though. This episode is like a microcosm of what this show does best, especially the A plot with Catra and Adora. Catra’s reversion to lashing out at everyone and her refusal to be open to Adora shows just how much of a struggle this whole ‘being good and trying to connect to people’ thing is. Catra’s outburst gives Adora a chance to stand up for herself and refuse to be Catra’s punching bag, while also not trying to control her. Adora’s ultimatum gives Catra a chance to reach out to Adora (quite literally), and allow herself to be vulnerable. In this episode, we see just how far Catra and Adora have come since the messed up stew of their relationship in Season 1. Adora lets Catra be responsible for her own actions; Catra lets herself be vulnerable to Adora and takes responsibility for her actions. They’re both better people and better friends and better partners than they were, and the show has shown this in a strikingly nuanced and realistic way. 

The important thing to note in the next few episodes of Season 5 isn’t just how much closer Catra and Adora get to each other and how much they flirt (So much. So much, y’all) but just how -happy- they are. We see both of them transformed in the other’s presence. Basically, since they’ve parted, both Catra and Adora have been defined in no small part by how miserable they often are. They have both had their triumphs and their lighter moments, but there’s been a sense of melancholy dogging both Catra and Adora since episode 1. And now that they’re together again, that lifts, somewhat. Catra’s verbal barbs have lost their venom, and she can openly show how much she cares for Adora and even Bow and Glimmer. She’s still herself - snarky, cynical, somewhat devious - but she’s not engaged in a self-destructive zero-sum struggle with everyone around her. Meanwhile Adora has spent 4 seasons being a neurotic and sometimes nearly joyless mess who takes responsibility for everything and often doesn’t let herself enjoy anything other than the odd BFS group hug (exceptions include trying to uh...impress Huntara and reveling with the butterfly ladies of Elberron in Flutterina).  Around Catra, though, she’s a cocky, swaggering jock who gives as good as she gets. It’s a side of Adora we’ve only seen hints of before, and one that’s so much more confident and joyful even as the world is ending around her. Apart, Catra had tried to protect and vindicate herself with power and conquest, while Adora had tried to forget herself in duty and sacrifice. Together, they can be themselves again. This dynamic is crucial to the show’s portrayal of Catra and Adora’s romance because it doesn’t just show how much they love each other, but how they’re -good- for each other now that they’ve grown as people, and that they are so much better than they were when they were apart.

Until Shadow Weaver shows up. Their old abuser reintroduces tensions but even then things are different than they were. Now Catra isn’t just resentful of how Shadow Weaver prefers Adora - she’s  protective of Adora, which is clearest in Failsafe when she calls Shadow Weaver out for being willing to sacrifice Adora. And while Adora takes the Failsafe, it isn’t to follow her destiny or because she has a death wish - it’s because she loves her friends, and she is the only one who has any hope of doing this and living (though Catra’s suggestion that Shadow Weaver take it is a good one). And finally, when Catra leaves Adora, it isn’t because she hates Adora, nor, despite what she says, is it because she really thinks that Adora chose Shadow Weaver. At least, not exactly. It’s because Catra loves Adora, and can admit that to herself, and can’t stay around and watch the woman she loves sacrifice herself rather than choosing Catra. Before Catra leaves, she asks Adora ‘What do you want?” It’s a question that echoes Shadow Weaver’s speech in Episode 1: ‘isn’t this what you always wanted since you could want anything?’ As much as Adora has grown as a person, and defined herself and stood up for what she thinks is right, she still has never answered that question - it’s never been ‘what do I want’ but ‘what do I have to do?’ and that’s how Adora answers Catra’s question. This is Adora’s last gasp as a self-transcending hero, letting go of what she wants (not that she ever dared articulate what that was) in order to do what must be done. And it nearly kills her and dooms the universe, because Adora can’t be the hero that she needs to be by being anyone less than herself.

But it’s losing Catra that inspires Adora to tell off Shadow Weaver for good (not that she’d ever really warmed to her after season 1). And it’s love for Adora that inspires Catra to stand up to Shadow Weaver and demand that she do the right thing. In both cases, Catra and Adora aren’t just standing up to their abuser, but holding her to account for the harm she’s caused, and it’s the love that they have for each other that inspires them to do this. In Catra’s case in particular her refusal to let Shadow Weaver weasel out of finding Adora is a much greater triumph over Shadow Weaver than beating her up and breaking her mask in Season 1 - it’s proof not so much to Shadow Weaver but to Catra herself that Catra really is better than this and that she deserves better than this. It’s not turning her abuser’s tactics against her, but truly holding her to a moral standard and demanding that she do the right thing.

And then there’s Catra and Adora together at the heart. Catra has already come back for Adora and stayed to the end, choosing to die with her even if she can’t share a life together (not out of some death wish, but because Adora needs her). And Adora, who’s been avoiding answering the question for three fucking years, finally let’s herself want Catra when Catra finally confesses her love (breaking the last of her self-protective shields) and asks Adora to stay -for her-. And by admitting what she wants, Adora can truly be at peace with herself and be the hero she needs to be, lesbianism saves the universe, The End.

So anyway, that’s how Catra and Adora’s stories are woven together and how they compliment and comment on each other. Narrativiely, Adora and Catra start together, come apart, find something of themselves, and truly find themselves and each other when they are reunited. Thematically, they are critiquing seemingly opposing narrative tropes - empowerment narratives and narratives of self sacrifice. But by showing the flaws in both types of story and showing how neither self-seeking empowerment nor self-negating self sacrifice can actually make us happy, She-Ra asks and answers more profound questions than most prestige dramas for adults do. I’ll get into how the show sells the idea that the power of love can bring us happiness (and save the world) in a future post. But next up, I’m going to celebrate just how much Catra and Adora’s relationship revels in ambiguity, complexity and contradiction and so tells a grown up love story in a kid’s show.

#she ra #she ra spoilers #she ra adora #spop #catradora #she ra netflix #she ra and the princesses of power #goat ship #long #meta

[sometipsygnostalgic]

favorite she ra episode?

ill do one from each season

Season 1: "The Beacon", actually.

Glimmer having an absolute crisis with her powers being corrupted. Entrapta is discovered in the vents and joins the Horde. I think "Promise" is a better ep, absolutely, "Promise" being the first Stevenson ep where it's really psychologically introspective, but this is one of Glimmer's best episodes as she breaks down in front of her mother over how she feels like a failure. Angella tells her why she refuses to fight - Micah's alleged death. It's also the ep where Catra manipulates Entrapta, in her early attempts of Shadow Weaver-ing and Super Pal Trio forms, making you prefer the Horde to the Rebellion for half the show. Generally, this ep is the one where the Real Plot Shit starts to go down and you begin to see who these characters really are, and it only continues in "Promise", building a rollercoaster til the end of the show. It's also why Glimmer and Entrapta were my favourites from so early on.

Season 2: "Signals"

I was stuck between this, "White Out", and Light Spinner". The reason I went with "Signals" is because, if you removed the really bad Rebellion plot in this episode, then it's the one that made me glued to the edge of my seat, waiting to see what happens next with Catra in the Horde. Anyway, from the Horde side: Catra tries to connect with Hordak. He nearly CHOKES HER TO DEATH in a forcefield. Entrapta wants to fix a wobbly table, Catra tries her damned hardest to make Entrapta listen and NOT approach the deadly guy. Entrapta does it anyway, messes with Hordak's tech, but he's just so bewildered by her understanding of his experiment and her and complete lack of fear of him that he decides he trusts her. Catra comes barging in the room, begging Hordak to have mercy on Entrapta, only to discover that she's slid into her much desired position as Hordak's new favourite. Catra leaves, feeling betrayed, and feeling like her position in the horde is slipping from her fingers.

What I particularly love about this one is how many emotions run under the surface without being said out loud. Catra’s increased fear of Hordak and how she takes that aggression out on her underlings, while also trying to protect them, and how Hordak just.... observes Entrapta, and you can see the gears clicking in both their heads as she works out his plans for a portal into another universe, this brand new dynamic being a force of nature, and when Catra enters at the end, absolutely BABBLING out of fear for Entrapta, but she gets pushed out and she looks SO HURT.... 

I also think this episode marks the moment where I started to like Hordak. AND Hate him. I mean. Just look at him. He threatened to kill Catra for like no reason. But I can’t see the way Entrapta just worms into his laboratory, and they bounce off each other, and NOT smile. He’s a total stock villain, she’s a purehearted dumbass who can’t stop herself from improving any shitty tech around. That dynamic had no right being as fun as it was, and me and Shado were both like “holy Shit”. 

Season 3: “Remember”  

Okay, so “Moment of Truth” might actually be the one I think about more from this season. It had so much going on, it was the climax of the entire past 3 seasons, Glimmer was turning to Shadow Weaver for power, and the whole episode was out of Adora’s hands, which was amazing. The convo between Catra and Shadow Weaver. The moments where Catra realises she’s going full villain, shocking Entrapta, and THE FUCKING AMAZING PORTAL OPENING SCENE AT THE END.

The reason I woke up this morning and decided to change my mind, that I prefer “Remember”, is because the horror aspects of that episode are fucking amazing and deserve to be appreciated.

When reality starts falling apart, and Adora knows SOMETHING is wrong, but has no idea how to stop it, and we see her and Catra getting along as horde cadets and Catra absolutely refuses to admit that something is off because it would mean shattering the illusion that Adora had never left and was here with her now...  

Adora and Scorpia’s interactions, a very fun dynamic which doesn’t get much time over the show, but I love how Scorpia hates Adora for breaking Catra’s heart and yet still always having Catra’s full attention.  Poor Scorpia. She also nearly processes what Catra did to her in the previous episode. 

It’s just... as everyone disappears from reality, it SUCKS, man! A world where everything is the same but you don’t exist.....  I found this ep to be significantly stronger than “The Portal”, even though that ep had some great friendship moments.  

Season 4: “Princess Scorpia”  

Other contenders include “The Coronation”, “Hero”, “Destiny Part 1/2″, the one with the Horde Trio and Light Hope, and even “Mermysteries”.  

The reason I ended up going with “Princess Scorpia” is because of how focused and almost self-contained this episode is.  Also, because I really like Scorpia??? I’m a sucker for her interactions with Emily, and her rolling off of Emily to realise just how much her relationship with Catra has hit the shitter. I think, in this series which has so many toxic and complicated relationships, it’s important to have someone put their foot down, say “enough is enough”, and cut ties, for themselves.  

Scorpia has been sympathising with Catra the entire show, and yeah, she’s right in a way, Catra is under a lot of pressure. She saw, in real-time, Catra’s transformation into a villain, and she can’t help but try to Understand it. She accepts all of Catra’s aggressions against her, as Catra’s way of showing affection, because that’s what it historically has been - Catra always pushed people away when trying to protect them, especially Scorpia.    

However, Scorpia sees Catra start to hurt other people, NOT in a way that would be conductive to protecting them, but in straight up cruelty. The moment she shocked Entrapta and sent her to Beast Island was a horrific wakeup call for her, that both Scorpia and Catra had been in denial about. Scorpia was thinking, no no, Catra didn’t mean to be that cruel, she’ll change her mind. But every time she presses about it, Catra gets more and more aggressive and doubles down harder, and Scorpia starts to realise that Catra’s willing to destroy people who consider her their friend if they stand in her way. 

Add to this the situation with the Horde Trio, who were also going through a crisis over Catra becoming cruel, and Emily, who had been nastily scarred and who Scorpia realised Catra would kill, and how Scorpia saw all these people as her friends, saw Emily as her friend, saw Entrapta as her friend, and she let Catra take Entrapta away--  suddenly, Scorpia realises that when Catra betrayed Entrapta, she also betrayed her.  Catra doesn’t care how she hurts Scorpia to get what she wants, and if Scorpia continues to enable Catra, wait for her to “come around, she’s sentencing her friends Entrapta and Emily to die, as well as quite possibly herself.    

Scorpia also reflects on her position in the Horde, and how she’s been loyal to it this whole time, because that’s what her family does... be loyal... but her family betrayed her, to get on the Horde’s good side, and then the Horde returned the favour by ending them.   You can see the gears click in her head as she realises, she’s been robbed and hurt and she needs to reclaim her own life before she ends up like all the other Scorponis, whose names she doesn’t even know.  

To cap off this ep, some incredible scenes with Catra and Hordak. When Scorpia tells Catra she’s a bad friend, she makes one of her greatest displays of vulnerability and pushing stuff down pretty much immediately. Hordak really, really wanted to see Entrapta’s recordings - he wants some kind of closure, anything, on what kind of person she is and why she “betrayed” him -  but this drives Catra mental, because she can see herself in him, someone obsessed with a so-called Princess who just cannot let go and lets other people have way too great an impact on their life, to the extent they feel completely broken when everyone keeps walking away. Catra is yelling to him exactly what she wants to tell herself - that she doesn’t need Scorpia, she doesn’t need Adora.

The shot with Scorpia and Emily walking away into violet light, on their “super pal duo field trip”, is one of the most bittersweet episode shots. It’s also the most satisfying scene in the show. The exclusion of them both from actually GOING to Beast Island was a pretty big crime, imo, though I WAS satisfied with the story of her connecting to the Black Garnet.

Anyway the plot is simple and easy to understand, and the message clear. It’s not VINDICTIVE when Scorpia leaves, she doesn’t want to betray and hurt Catra, it’s a very sad moment for her, and she still hopes Catra may turn around one day. However, she can’t wait for it any longer.  

Season 5: “Save the Cat”

There are other eps which have stronger moments. “Taking Control” is a very beautiful reflective episode. It has my favourite Entrapta moment (and maybe my favourite Catra moment) in the entire show - Catra’s apology and Entrapta’s head pat.  There’s just something so... satisfying about that scene. It was worth a mention.  Also, Adora telling Catra, “Stay with us now, or we leave you on a planet and you never see me again”, and Catra panicking and finally telling Adora she wants her around, very satisfying.  

Other eps have stronger themes too. “Corridors” is an introspective and powerful Catra episode dealing with her inner turmoil, with Glimmer as the perfect partner to do this. Their dynamic was my favourite this season, maybe the show, because I love how much chemistry Glimmer and Catra have. Honestly, if She-Ra wasn’t already planned to be Catradora endgame, I think Stevenson would have ran with Glitra. 

And a special mention to “Failsafe” and “Heart part 2″, because of the fucked up interactions Catra and Adora have with Shadow Weaver, which in my opinion are by far the most powerful and emotional part of this season.      

The reason that “Save the Cat” is my favourite is because it’s got EVERYTHING I like. It just makes me feel happy to watch. Everyone starts off the episode in adorable matching space suits, and they already have this whole plan, and it makes you laugh immediately as Entrapta cheerfully says there was no loss of life and Glimmer goes “Wait, that was a possibility???” - I wonder if anyone’s explained Space to her yet lol.  

From the perspective of Glimmer, Bow, and Entrapta, it’s entertaining watching them run around Prime’s ship like a bunch of idiots, Glimmer overcoming her trauma by hitting things, while Entrapta and Bow bounce off each other as a comedy duo on the weird adventure of rescuing Wrong Hordak. I like that Entrapta had a “side objective” of finding Hordak and finding out if they were still friends now he was with Prime. She was thinking of him the whole time! Of course she didn’t mention it before, lol. It’s a nice touch, and I laughed my ass off when it subverted the expectation of the scene - that she somehow recognised Hordak among the many clones - by revealing, no, she did not, she only THOUGHT she did. Bonus when you realise she didn’t recognise the REAL Hordak in Failsafe or Heart.

Wrong Hordak is a treasure. Bow puts up with so much around him and Entrapta from the kindness of his heart. And the scene when she summons Darla is so fucking funny, and what makes it better is, yes, there ARE consequences to making a space ship slam through another space ship, you DO need to repair that shit, but whatever, we’ll deal with it next episode.  

From a CATRA AND ADORA perspective.... this is the episode where they properly reunite for the first time since the Portal Incident. And while back then they were at their toughest, this time they are both at their weakest - Catra has fallen hard while on her villain path, and has been mutilated by Horde Prime, turned into his puppet with all of her vulnerabilities left open for everyone to see, while Adora is weaker than ever without She-Ra and has to rely on only herself in order to save Catra on an impossible mission.  

Seeing Adora get tormented as she’s confronted with this Catra who has been.... so thoroughly harmed, overwritten, by Prime, it’s really the shining moment of his villainy, because it’s easily the worst thing he does. Catra, who we had seen so broken, go down this spiral of becoming the Bad Guy and further ripping open the hole in her heart with each misguided affliction on Adora or others, becoming some kind of Cult Member and losing all the key indicators of her identity; her dark clothes, her mask, her hair.  

Adora can’t bear it, and breaks down repeatedly, and you see them in their purest and most honest as they appeal to each other. Catra can no longer hold on the mask of rage, not when she’s this scared, and Adora can’t stay as the calm warrior.   

The highlight of the ep is when Catra falls, and Adora goes to the side of the ledge, calculates her chances of survival, and jumps down ANYWAY. She breaks her fucking legs!!!!! But she does it because she promised Catra she wouldn’t leave her behind!!!!  

Ugh. So good. She-Ra’s return couldn’t have been better.  

Episode is capped off by a remarkably quiet scene. She-Ra moves onto the ship, calm. Entrapta’s more serious than we’ve ever seen her before, trying to get the ship working - it’s falling apart. She-ra touches the console and claims administrator access, telling Darla to get them out of there, damn the consequences; it’s a simple act of telling us She-Ra is here, it’s her ship, and she is taking control of the situation, even though it’s an emotionally draining one for Adora.  

Bow and Glimmer are crying silently over Catra’s body. She-Ra walks up to her. “Come on, Catra, you’re not done yet.”  As she heals her, she transforms back into Adora, and finally lets herself feel sad. But Catra shows signs of life, and says in a broken, friendly tone for the first time in years, “Hey, Adora”.  

10/10!!!!!! Ahhhh!!!!!

#she ra #spop

[gol-d-en]

I see a lot of people implying that Glimmer was the only one in the wrong in the conflict between her and Adora and while in the end her mistake turned out to have horrible consequences I am not okay with acting like Adora was entirely in the right here, because she wasn’t.

When Adora and Bow bring up the plan of saving Entrapta from the Beast Island, Glimmer tries to talk it out, but Adora and Bow already made up their minds, the way they see it there is no need to talk. And Glimmer, who already feels insecure about how she isn’t being treated seriously as a queen and feeling like she and all her friends are drifting apart, is rightfully frustrated. She wasn’t with them when they saw what happened to Mara. She wasn’t there and they aren’t exactly explaining it well to her, because they already have their own plan and their own mission and the way they see it, their way is the only way.

And yet, Glimmer still tries to talk to them. And show them that their plan isn’t really a plan at all.

And she makes some very good points.

Adora doesn’t have a plan.

She doesn’t really know how to get there and even when they do get to the Beast Island for the most time they are literally making it up as they go and hoping for the best. 

And in the end, they are lucky. 

Their plan works out, yes, but it gets really close to failing and in the end they are impossibly lucky to have She-ra powers on their side and that Adora finds the strength to overcome her weaknesses and continue to fight.

It’s also important to note that Glimmer specifically is the reason why she chooses to fight. She wants to be, in Adora’s own words, the hero Glimmer deserves.

One other argument that I’ve seen flying around is that Glimmer didn’t really give a fuck about Entrapta and while to some extent I can see where it came from, it isn’t exactly true.

Glimmer even admits - when asked directly - that it’s not like she isn’t planning on rescuing Entrapta, but now is not a good time to do it, especially since from her perspective Entrapta did betray them and Glimmer did already try to save her as soon as she discovered that she’s still alive. And for all they know, Entrapta might be already dead. She has her people and the Alliance to worry about and protect she can’t risk it just because there is a chance that they might find Entrapta and she might help them. She is the queen and she has to learn the hard way that this title in many ways limits her more than she could have ever imagined. She has the power, yes, but responsibility it requires makes her feel useless.

And I mean, I love Entrapta with all my heart, but Glimmer is right. They don’t really know Entrapta as well as we, as the audience, do. Also, when she says that, neither Adora nor Bow have a good answer, they both look away, because they know that even though rescuing Entrapta is the right thing to do - they don’t know if she’ll actually help them. 

Also, Glimmer didn’t really intend to use the full potential of the Heart. 

She wanted to use some of it in hope to defeat people who are responsible for the war she’s known her entire life, the same war that took both of her parents away from her. She isn’t being completely unreasonable here, it’s a war and she is the queen, if the universe puts a powerful weapon at your disposal, one that you could use to end the war and save lives, of course you would at least consider the possibility of using it. 

And in the end, Light Hope used her. 

Should she have seen it coming? Well, yes. Probably. But we as the audience have the luxury of seeing the big picture and having access to the perspective of more than just one character. We can see that she’s going to fail, but we know more than she does and we couldn’t possibly imagine the weight of responsibility and sorrow she’s been carrying around ever since Angella died and left her alone to rule the kingdom which is losing to an evil force while slowly and surely losing her only support group. Glimmer was desperate for something, anything, that would help her win this war. She was the one who started a new Princess Aliance. She was the one who had to sneak out, because Angella kept holding her back. She spent her entire childhood living this war and doing her best to both stand up against the enemy on her own and to make people believe in her cause and join her.

Unlike Catra, Glimmer recognizes her mistake and while it happens too late to take it back - she still tries. The moment she recognizes that what she did was wrong she admits it and she owns it, even though at this point there’s nothing that could be done.

But she doesn’t just sit back and watch it happen.

She tries. She fights. Until the very last moment we see her desperately trying to stop the Heart. She doesn’t lose time trying to convince herself it’s too late, she doesn’t hesitate, she doesn’t let go until she passes out. 

We as the audience get to see it happen. And most importantly, Catra - the person who reflects so many of the same mistakes that Glimmer made - sees it happen.

She sees someone who does the exact opposite of what she did. Someone who admits that she was wrong and doesn’t blame the person who told her that. She understands that Adora was right. She understands that what she did was a mistake.

Glimmer isn’t and she never was a bad person.

She never really turned dark, like some people like to imply, because her intentions were always good, all she ever wanted to do was protect her kingdom, save her home and be happy with her friends. Dark Glimmer sounds wrong to me because it’s dangerously close to evil or corrupted, but... It’s not what happened. Even at her darkest moment what motivated her was her love to her kingdom and her friends. I fail to see how it’s dark or wrong. She was dealing with an impossible situation and while she handled things not as well as she probably should have, at no point did this happen because she meant it to go that way.

Until the very last moment she believed she’s doing her best trying to help and as soon as she realized what she’s done - she fought to undo it.

#glimmer #adora #spop #she ra #catra #bow #glimmer spop #spop adora #SheRa and the Princesses of Power #glimmadora #she ra meta #she ra analysis #spop meta #spop analysis #Glimmer did nothing wrong #spop catra #and you can fight me #glimadora #shera #she-ra #analysis #meta

[haemosexuality]

i havent talked about catradora in a while lets do that. about the "catradora is abusive" take bc surprisingly there r still people saying that lmfao

like i keep seing those takes on tiktok now and it makes me think of that post about how characters are not Actual Living People but parts of a narrative that tells a story. like. catra and adora are not real ppl there is not an actual war happening where catra is a catgirl that scratches adora as they fight. yes, obviously physical violence exists in abusive relationships exist in the real world, but catradora isnt a story about an abusive relationship, so thats not what their real world equivalent would be. catra's story is about how growing up in an abusive environment (and more especially a religious one) affects you, it's a story about being traumatized and hurting and taking that out on the people around you, on getting worse and worse bc you refuse to get help. the show doesnt portray that as "its justified because shes mentally ill" tho, shes literally a villain through most of it, and all of her bad actions are shown to have bad consequences for her, like scorpia leaving. at the end, tho, she makes an effort to get better- she apologizes, for everyone she hurt, taking the blame. she doesnt force anyone anyone to forgive her, bc she recognizes that even if she treated them like shit bc she herself felt like shit, that doesnt excuse it. and she recognizes that adora was right to leave, that adora is allowed to have other friends and leave if shes toxic to her. catra's story is about healing and apologizing for the people that you hurt.

catradora im general is about healing, i think. their friendship wasn't the most healthy at the horde yeah, they were incredibly codependent there, because they were living in a incredibly toxic environment, and didnt know How to be healthy- and their story is about how they had to grown apart for a while, go through their own rock bottoms and come out on the other side, to heal and learn how to cope with their ugly emotions and be their own ppl separately, before they could mend their friendship (and form a relationship). its weird to me seeing ppl say that she-ra encourages both not taking responsibility for your actions and being in toxic relationships because its literally the opposite of that. neither of them could be happy before they learned how to not be toxic.

(and i mean catradora is about 8372974837293 other things too, about accepting that you're gay and religious trauma and etc, i didnt even talk about adora's story, the healing part of it is just what im focusing on here). also something that i realized is that at season 5 their roles where kinda flipped, i think. adora kept getting worse and worse, refusing to get help, and pushing everyone away, while catra was trying to get better, literally begging adora to try to get better too, and then leaving when adora refused to do so even if it hurt the people around her (she was literally planning to sacrifice herself without caring about how much that would hurt the ppl who loved her yall. its because of all the abuse she suffered and her terrible mental health, yeah, but just like adora wasnt obligated to stay and be hurt by catra when she was hurting, catra wasnt obligated to stay with adora.) a lot of people also said it was rushed, but 1-honestly yall say that about almost every kids cartoon, thats just how cartoons are, unfortunately they have to focus on plot and stuff so theyre deemed Entertaining and 2-her redemption is not over? we just saw the beginning of it. one of the last scenes was her apologizing, the show knows she still has a long way to go. anyways this is all i can think to say so im done akfbwkr sorry this is so repetitive and also ended in a completely different direction than it started im not a writer and i made 99% of this up as i went

#and again. it cant be an absive Relationship bc they had no relationship for most of the show they were just. very personal enemies ajskahs #wait i didnt follow up on the real world equivalent thing. irl theyd be uuuh #friends who were toxic to each other and had that awful girl best friends gay breakup and after (love and loss and all the tears that i #cried-) going Through it and going to therapy were able to reconcile and start dating #sorry ab the steven universe reference there it was perfect. 😔 #there Is more to say on this topic probably i just dont know what #anyways can you believe ive been a fan of this show since im 13? wait what month did i start watching it again it might be 3 years already- #she ra #catra #adora #catradora

[ukulelekatie]

@your-reference-here and I were chatting about the She Ra finale and getting emotional over catradora and how far representation in animation has come since Legend of Korra and then, well, this happened!

A Quiet Moment

written by @your-reference-here

art by @ukulelekatie

Bright Moon was quiet. In the past there was always an underlying tension that accompanied it, but now, for the first time, everyone and everything in its halls was calm. The silence was peaceful now, so much so that the moment Adora returned she passed out for a much needed nap.

Adora took a breath. Her eyes opened and she stared at the sunset-soaked curtains above the bed in her old room. For a brief few seconds she was thoughtless, still basking in the haze of her first real sleep in a while. It was the lack of a warm body at her side that finally brought her to reality. She sat up and looked around the room, and panic surged through her chest when she couldn’t find the person she was looking for.

“Catra?”

“Adora?”

Adora sighed, relief immediately washing over her at the sound of Catra’s voice. She rose from the bed, pulling one of the blankets around her shoulders, and walked out to the balcony where she’d heard the voice call from. Sure enough, Catra was there, sitting with one knee hugged to her chest on the cushioned bench, watching the sun sink to the treeline. Their eyes met, and Adora smiled.

“Hey.”

Catra smiled softly back. “Hey.”

“You okay?” Adora asked. Catra’s smile fell, but she scooted over on the bench, offering a wordless invitation. Adora sat beside her and wrapped her arm and the blanket around Catra’s shoulders. Catra sighed and leaned into her, resting her head on Adora’s shoulder. Adora smiled softly, allowing herself a brief moment to marvel at how easy it was for them to be so close now. A few weeks ago she wouldn’t have believed it possible. Now she couldn’t imagine things any other way.

“Nightmares are a pain,” Catra grumbled.

Adora frowned and rubbed her hand along Catra’s arm under the blanket. “Nightmares?”

Catra shrugged. “It’s not the first time it’s happened.”

Adora looked down at Catra, but she wouldn’t meet her eyes. Even with the recent shift in their dynamic, old habits die hard. Still, it didn’t mean Adora couldn’t try.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked gently. Catra was quiet, and Adora half expected her to remain so, which is why she was somewhat surprised when Catra did eventually speak.

“They’re usually about you. About the Heart. Or our fight in Hordak Prime’s ship.” Catra chuckled darkly. “On special occasions it goes all the way back to that attack on Thaymor.”

Adora’s brow furrowed. “Thaymor?”

Catra nodded. “When you first left.”

Adora’s heart cracked. That day in Thaymor felt like decades ago now. She could remember the feeling of betrayal on her end, but hadn’t considered it from Catra’s side until now. Guilt flooded through her and she looked down to the floor.

“I’m sorry,” Adora whispered, at a loss for what else to say. Catra shifted next to her, and Adora looked up to meet eyes that matched how she felt.

“Me too. For so many things,” Catra whispered back. Their foreheads met and Adora closed her eyes, feeling the light sting of tears. It was hard to hide the sniffle that followed. Somehow, despite the intensity of the emotions around them, Catra chuckled.

“I always forget how much of a crier you are,” Catra teased gently. Adora opened her eyes, a tear falling freely down her cheek. There was still pain in Catra’s eyes, but it was lessened somewhat with her teasing. “Especially since those princesses softened you up.”

Adora let out a watery laugh. Catra’s eyes softened and she reached up to swipe her thumb across Adora’s cheek. Adora leaned into her touch.

“You’re one to talk,” Adora replied, a smug smirk spreading across her face. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you purr so much since you started hanging around them.”

Catra raised a challenging eyebrow before suddenly leaning in to capture Adora’s lips. Adora’s eyes widened in surprise, but quickly fluttered closed as she kissed Catra back. She felt the smile on Catra’s lips before she saw it, but it was just as obnoxiously satisfied as she expected when they pulled apart.

“If I knew kissing you was a guaranteed way to wipe that smug grin off your face, I would have done it sooner.”

Adora raised an eyebrow and leaned closer. “Oh really?” she challenged, her voice low. Catra’s pupils widened in a way that reminded Adora of when she was about to pounce, and it made her stomach twist up in knots. This time Adora leaned in first, and the little squeak Catra let out was so incredibly satisfying that she couldn’t help smiling into the kiss now. Catra pulled back with a huff, but Adora persisted and peppered kisses on her cheek and jaw. Catra half-heartedly tried to shove her face away, grumbling in protest, but Adora could see the blush and smile on her face and it wasn’t long before they were both laughing. They settled into a comfortable embrace, their laughter fading into a once again peaceful silence.

“I love you,” Adora whispered into Catra’s ear. Catra nuzzled against her gently.

“I love you too.”

Adora opened her eyes and noticed that the blanket had fallen to the floor of the balcony. She’d brought it with her out of habit; a blanket around their shoulders was a familiar comfort from their days in the Fright Zone. There was something so wonderfully poetic about seeing it there on the ground now, unneeded, because for the first time in their lives they could fully rely on each other for that comfort.

“Come here,” Adora whispered as they separated, gently pulling on Catra’s shoulders. Catra raised a curious eyebrow, but allowed herself to be guided down until her head was resting on Adora’s thigh. Adora shifted so that her other leg was tucked up onto the bench before she settled in. She ran her fingers through Catra’s short hair, her fingernails gently scratching her scalp, and the purring returned in force. Adora smiled, closed her eyes, and let out a content sigh, enjoying the last of the sun’s warmth as it slipped below the horizon.

#she ra and the princesses of power #she ra #spop #catradora #adora #catra #fanart #fanfic #i love spontaneous fic/fanart collabs #spoilers #ukulelekatie art

[n7punk]

Let’s Get Physical Fic Notes

I know it’s a one-shot but hear me out: I have a lot of feelings, so have some short meta

In Modern Etheria, both healthcare and education are a lot cheaper than they are IRL (in my country, at least). Foster kids get free tuition, but there is also need-based aid they both qualify for. Catra is working a part-time tutoring job while Adora works part-time at a local green grocers. Their aid provides them with a stiped for textbooks and school supplies each semester, as well as the lowest-level meal plan for free, but despite them having the opportunity to live on campus for free, they pay for an apartment so they can live together and Adora’s transition/legal gender isn’t an issue with the dorms. The aid does partially pay for their rent, at least.

The medical parts of transitioning are fairly inexpensive thanks to Etheria’s healthcare, so while Adora can easily afford her hormones, blockers, bloodwork, etc, the more cosmetic side of it like clothing, hair removal, etc is what really costs them. That is why they had to rearrange the way they were spending money so they could have their own place while still allowing Adora to make the changes she needed.

Adora is terrified of needles. Every time she needs bloodwork done or anything else, Catra goes with her and holds her free hand for it. She also helps her walk out afterwards because she gets a bit woozy. When they aren’t in the doctors office Catra calls Adora a baby, but during and immediately after an appointment Catra just supports her and tells her how well she is doing/did. There were stages to the conversation when Adora decided to do HRT, and one of the stages was “I fully support you on this, but there Will be needles, Adora”.

Catra’s middle school experience mirrors mine in the sense of “I know I’m a lesbian but...” only my conflict was mistaking gender-envy for men as attraction.

Homophobia and transphobia are something that Have Existed in-universe, but are being moved past and looked at as “old mindsets”. Shadow has that mindset though, and she weaponized it.

They absolutely could afford to have two separate beds, but they would both be way shittier quality, and both of them were kind of like we could... you know..... get one Nicer bed........... we’ve already slept together for years...

Every morning they get up at the same time - which is to say, they leave the house together and ride the bus to campus based on the earliest class time they have between the two of them, but Adora gets up 40 minutes earlier to do a quick work out and get ready for the day, versus Catra who rolls out of bed ten minutes before they have to leave, throws on clothes, and eats some (low sugar, low grain) cereal.

The reason that Catra says Adora can’t get her pregnant is because she’s a magicat and technically a different species. Even if Adora was at full sperm count it would be impossible given their differing genetics.

This fic is a lot like what I ORIGINALLY planned On The Other Side to be - a few scenes of them pining before a kinda-accidental get together. I absolutely adore OTOS and I’m so proud of how it came out, but I couldn’t do a long-form fic on this topic because the gender issues would go from “cathartic” to “painful” for me (though that isn’t to say I won’t do a long-form fic with Trans Adora, transphobia and her transition just wouldn’t be part of that story, because queer guilt is Rough).

At the moment this is planned to be a one-shot, but if I ever get an Urge to write a stand-alone fic with trans Adora I might come back and add another chapter or change this fic to the start of a series including both fics.

Initially there was going to be flashback scenes to both of them coming out, but I really didn’t want to include Adora’s deadname in this because that would pull me out of the catharsis, so I just mentioned how it went during internal dialogue throughout the fic. 

Bow is a trans man in this as well (like in OTOS), though that is only briefly touched on/alluded to. Adora came out to Catra at the end of senior year, Bow at the beginning of sophomore year, and then Glimmer like a week later. Glimmer was a little harder for Adora to psych up to than Bow because she can’t Get It the way Bow can, but Adora knew she would be accepting, it’s just still hard to do even when you know someone is going to be kind about it. She slowly meets the rest of the members of the princess alliance throughout sophomore and junior year, forming a larger support network.

The title is a reference to how they have every part of relationship already aside from calling it that, and the physical aspects. Plus, I hate the g!p tag with a passion because it’s usually used for fics that are super fetishistic so the acronym for the title (lgp) is kind of meant to mock that.

#lgp #ficmeta #fic notes

[catrasredemption-moved]

one thing that's always irritated me was how easy it was for adora to leave in the beginning. like barely any pain or deliberation, and immediately believing people she had known for about a day? the only cues we got about her missing catra was when she couldn't sleep in her bed alone, and even that lasted about two seconds until we moved on. i know adora has a hero complex and always "needs to do whats right" but goddamn she still has emotions. it came across as her really not caring about catra at all, while catra was literally falling apart. ever since the first season i've wanted catra to move on from adora, since she clearly didn't care about her, i just really wanted her to be happy :/. it's one thing to have a codependent relationship, at least both fully need each other💀. the worst thing abt this is that if catra hadn't treated everyone like that, people would be more sympathetic, bc being thrown to the side by the one person you loved is downright shitty. as it stands, the bad things adora did can't outweigh what catra did :/. i love catradora, and i love them together, but that action pops into my mind and i just feel bad. i want catra to be able to just be and exist without adora, bc literally the whole show is catra not being able to function without her. it's one of the main reasons why i kinda wish they didn't get together at the end, despite loving the ship. eventually, yes, but not immediately.

Personally I still don’t interpret that ending as “we are together now and everything is fine.” You can acknowledge your love for another person and even kiss without immediately jumping into a relationship. A few soft moments =/= “we’re girlfriends now” ya know?

And yeah, I agree, it would have been nicer to see more of Adora missing Catra, but I don’t think it’s fair to say she didn’t miss her at all. The fallout of her decision to just fuck off and be a hero hit them in different ways - Catra has always been just a little self-destructive (I mean come on, she attacked an adult when she was like, eight), but Adora’s presence kept that under control, while Catra stopped Adora from completely collapsing under the weight of Weaver’s expectations. She brought a little bit of life into what would have been an otherwise extremely miserable life, and without that anchor Adora kind of got lost. Like yeah, she had Bow and Glimmer and they were great, but Catra understands Adora in ways no one ever will - and proves that repeatedly throughout the series. Her spiral to the point of thinking her life was forfeit didn’t start with the sword - it started with Catra walking away.

Which is basically what Shadow Weaver means with that “Catra confuses you” bullshit. Because Catra makes Adora think about herself, and without that, Adora kind of loses her sense of self under the weight of everyone else’s expectations. It just isn’t seen the same way as Catra’s spiral because Adora doesn’t break down the same way Catra does, and everything she does can be seen as “that’s how a hero is” rather than “this is Adora self-destructing because there’s no one to remind her how important and special she is the way Catra did.”

That’s how I see it, anyway, idk

#Mystery Person #Sam Answers

[kemonododo]

Bow hadn’t truly made the connection between Catra and Adora at first, he knew they meant a lot to each other but it wasn’t until he saw Adora take on a literal God and reclaim her position as the strongest being in the universe just to save this woman who had spent three years trying to kill them that it clicked. Later he would ask Adora when she knew that Catra was the one, and she had replied that she always knew she just didn’t fully grasp those feelings until Catra wasn’t there anymore and she truly realized how much she needed her.

Bow could relate, he had always loved Glimmer and he knew she had loved him, but they had a massive fight and he had left her. He felt awful, and nothing hurt more than only glimpsing a look at her face before she was beamed across the galaxy. Those few months of planning and executing a rescue mission left him an empty husk, so focused on what needed to be done he wouldn’t let himself think about his own feelings. He was a hypocrite, tending to Adora as she suffered panic attacks and depressive episodes all the while he forced his own emotions down just as she did. During those painful weeks, Horde Prime levelled the planet with ease as Adora dealt with the loss of She-Ra and he refused to deal with the loss of the woman he cared about more than anyone in the world.

When they finally got Glimmer back, he felt her in his arms and saw the relief in her eyes, and he had his own moment. The revelation hurt, and the emotions that had been left to fester bubbled to a boiling point. He loved her so much, but he hated her all the same, the conflict forced him to flee and refuse Glimmer’s attempts to reach him. He wasn’t ready to forgive her and he wasn’t ready to admit he was in love with her.

Adora had decided to go back for Catra, Bow was in no position to argue. He had lost his best friend to the same fate, he was on Adora’s side the whole way.

After their ship smashed through Prime’s flagship and shot directly towards home, away from the closest place to hell the universe could concoct, they had set Catra in the brig and waited. Bow piloted the ship, altering the course and streamlining the path to avoid as many obstacles as possible. He was tired and sore, and slowly he made his way to the makeshift barracks. Adora had given her cot to Catra and he stepped over her slouched form leaning against the brig’s door. She smiled up at him, a sad smile with baggy and red eyes. He asked her if Catra was fine, she said she still hadn’t woken up yet. He gave Adora the space he knew she needed.

When he entered the barracks, he noticed a problem. They had brought four beds, one for each crew member and one for Glimmer, but in the process their little ship now housed six and his bed was currently occupied by an admittedly rather cute sleeping Wrong Hordak. Entrapta snored and choked on her own spit in her bed, apparently not even bothering to remove her shoes or welding mask. The only person awake, and currently sitting up to stare at him was Glimmer.

Without a word, he reached into his bag and pulled out some spare clothes. He fashioned a makeshift pillow and laid down on the floor, curling onto the hard tile and trying to ignore the eyes still on him.

“Hey”

He turned and met her gaze; she smiled and lifted her covers to pat the side of the cot. “Come on, we’ve slept together before.”

The dark room and Bow’s complexion hid his blush, he begrudgingly stood and slid onto the bed beside her.

“You’re going to sleep in your jeans?” she prodded.

“Yes” he shot back, sharper than he intended.

She cowered back, the bed was way too small and despite being shoulder to shoulder they still hung slightly off the side. With a huff, he unhooked his fly and pulled his jeans off followed by his top. He turned to his side away from Glimmer, silently wishing he hadn’t stopped wearing pajamas as a kid.

The silence was deafening, and Bow was starting to realize he wasn’t going to get any sleep anyways. He started to shift out of the covers until a soft hand landed on his shoulder. No words were said, but he laid on his back compliantly. Glimmer propped herself on her elbow and looked him in his eyes. “Come closer” she whispered.

Bow’s face heated, but he followed her instruction and moved to the center of the bed. When he was comfortable, she laid down on top of him, her head resting on his chest.

“Is this ok?” she asked.

He nodded but remained silent. She was wearing one of Adora’s tank tops, and the slight bagginess allowed him a view down her front and kept him tense.

“I’m sorry” she says, Bow wraps one arm around her and squeezes. “Thank you for saving me.”

He releases a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and responds in a tone as soft as he felt, “I was always going to save you.”

She looked up into his eyes, hand resting on his sternum, they laid there for a long moment as they stared into each other.

“You were always there for me” she continues, “even when I didn’t deserve it.”

Bow squeezes her tightly, “It’s not about deserving, I could never leave you out there. You mean the world to me.”

Glimmer's hand reached up to caress his cheek, her face was soft and relaxed, and she stared at his lips. He leaned into the touch, she swallowed hard and leaned forward, lips millimeters apart.

Bow could feel her breath, she was so close, her voice pierced him as she asked, “is this ok?”

Bow softened, “yes” he said simply. She closed the gap and they kissed. It’s long and slow and deep, Bow feels tears start to fall on his cheeks. His hands come up to brush them away only to realize they aren’t his. Glimmer separates and chokes down a sob, he gently presses his hand against her face and wipes the liquid away. He thinks about how much he loves her, but he doesn’t say it. He doesn’t want to overwhelm her.

Glimmer leans into his neck, placing soft kisses on his collar bone while letting the tears drop to the mattress beneath them. He holds her close and decides he never wants to be without her again.

Throughout the ever-growing war, Bow never leaves her side and Glimmer never leaves his. Every time she reaches out, he accepts it. Every time he falters, she offers a shoulder. When the battle meets its climax and he’s forced to leave without her, she pulls him into a hug.

“I love you,” she says.

“I love you too” he replies without hesitation.

#she ra #catra #adora #catradora #glimmer #bow #glimbow #fics #spop #glow #blimmer

[novannna]

masterpost

I’m just doing ao3 links rn, may get around to putting the tumblr links later, but im not sure.  Please message me if you want the tumblr links, im happy to get them for you!!!

also, im p much always open for prompts/fic requests, there’s this rly great sentence prompt list if you want to send me some of those

Renegades

nodrian:

-Little Demon: Nova gets a cat. wc: 4192

-You make the nightmares disappear: Adrian struggles with nightmares of supernova/his trauma in general.  wc: 768

-Not my burden to bear: Nova deals with her familys death after the battle at the cathedral.  wc: 1803

-One word before we fall apart: Adrian finds out Nova is Nightmare, and confronts her wc:1360

osby:

-Best of friends: ruby pines over oscar, and wishes they could be more than friends.  wc: 1663

danissa:

-Brave little things: battle at the cathedral from narcissa’s pov.  wc: 2137

-On the other side of the glass: Narcissa watches danna through a mirror as she grows, wishing to be friends, and maybe a little bit more.  wc: 1606

-You were the hands that held me: soulmate au, where anything that appears on your soulmates skin appears on yours.  tw depression, self harm, mentions of abuse.  wc:2363

-happily ever after without you: a danissa break up fic.  wc: 1003

novissa:

-our love is a supernova: younger nova and narcissa sneak out and go stargazing.  wc: 2085

- Love you in the way that you needed love: novissa fluff

david/tala: 

-Newest addition: tala is pregnant with nova, and worries about whether she can keep her safe while in the age of anarchy.  wc: 1807

rubell:

-meet me in the dark: modern au, ruby is taking a shortcut through the woods, and runs into danna. wc: 1467

noby:

-Cause even when she's next to me, we could not be more far apart: royalty au, nova is ruby’s guard, and when an assassination attempt traps them in a closet for hours, feelings surface.  wc: 2357

-Better with you: Noby fluff, clothes stealing and a sweaty girlfriend. wc: 1ppp

Nobell:

-Hungry for you: hunger games au, nova and danna are both tributes.  v angsty.  tw: gore, violence, suicide, death.  wc: 3408

-I dare you: songfic, based on song I dare you, by bea miller.  Nova deals with guilt for trapping danna in a jar.  wc: 3440

-I know...: Danna finds out the truth about nova’s identity, and confronts her.  wc:461

-All of the stars will guide us home: nova runs into danna while in the cathedral, and pretends to be a renegade a little bit longer, so she doesnt have to betray danna yet.  tw: death.  wc:3262

-Now I’m the one left screaming through the night:  nova and danna are just doing a standard mission, when stuff goes wrong. tw:death, heights, bombs  wc: 2035

-Same Sea, Same Soul, Same Heart: nobell pirate au, nova is the infamous captain of the Nightmare, and Danna is a noble unfortunate enough to be captured, and held ransom. As they sail, the two girls get closer. 

Also, here is the link to the masterpost specifically for Same Sea, Same Soul, Same Heart

SPOP

-You know, You’ll always have me: catradora celeb au, loosely based on dorothea by taylor swift.  wc: 4755

-Now you see me: basically spop on speedrun, through catras pov.  Catra builds herself a figurative mask, in order to survive, and as things change, the mask changes.  wc: 1420

-freezing warmth: little adora and catra see snow for the first time.  wc: 333 

-She made gentle the wild oceans of my soul: a catradora pirate au.  wc: 6866

-We can make it so divine: a catradora proposal fic. wc:1672

Tangled the Series

-Back home: cassunzel fluff, cass returns to corona.  wc: 507

TOH

-Can’t hate you: Amity pines over luz.  wc: 322

Agents of Shield

-You create a rarity of my genuine smiles: skimmons fluff, set sometime during season 3.  wc: 402

-One last time, please: skimmons break up fic angst.  wc: 2569

please come and give me comments/kudos!!!  I love hearing yalls thoughts!!!  <3333

Carmen Sandiego

-I've wrestled with the truth for quite some time // And I've been drowning in this restless mind: carmen recently left vile, and is just getting to know zach and ivy.  she wont let anyone help her, and is dealing w all the heavy guilt and conflicting emotions from leaving the only home she ever knew.  wc 3816

#masterlist #aos #agents of shield #spop #she-ra and the princesses of power #toh #the owl house #tts #tangled the series #renegades #skimmons #catradora #lumity #cassunzel #wlwrenegades #archenemies #Supernova

[prince-toffee]

Villains

Part One

Hordak’s heavy steps echoed across the hallways as he marched alongside four rows of his personal guards, his most skilled and deadliest warriors, two rows on his left and two on his right. In their hands they firmly gripped stun-batons and stun-staffs. Hordak himself had no weapon except for his own bare hands, enhanced by his exo-skeleton armour, plating coating his chest, cables coiled around his thin weak arms, like a secondary thick layer of muscles, and metal boots enhancing his speed. The symbol of the red wings of the vampire were painted onto every armour of every soldier of the Horde.

The reason why Hordak had gathered his guard and set off to the Black Garnet Chamber was because of an act of treachery, and betrayal. Shadow Weaver had taken up the sword against him, so to speak. The clone lord had employed the sorceress for her professional and prideful knowledge of magic arts and his own lack of such knowledge. He was far more of a man of science, he knew things about space and machinery no one else on Etheria did. Well maybe one person did, this Entrapta seemed to be more of Hordak’s speed. He did not know much about the Princess of Dryl, but she seemed bright, she was a rare blessing among the people of the planet he was trapped on. She was a scientist, a true scientist, very little of those on Etheria. Her language he could understand. She was the only person that could hold a proper conversation with him, that was something he quite enjoyed, even though they had only spoken once or twice.

She was one of the hostages Shadow Weaver was holding in the chamber room. The other hostages frozen in place by her dark magic included both Force-Captain Scorpia, recently assigned to that division for her professional expertise to help increase efficiency, and Force-Captain Catra to whom the ex-Scorpion-Princess was assigned to as Catra seemed easily distracted, unfocused, and strangely obsessed with her archenemy. Hordak remembered appointing the Magicat the new Force-Captain, it was in their first interaction. He remembered Shadow Weaver dragged her ward into his throne room hopeing to embarrass and berate and insult her, Hordak didn’t care about such pettiness. From what he understood they were one Force-Captain down, as one of Weaver’s wards had deserted the Horde. So he simply appointed the second best fitting candidate, the records and grades claimed that even though Catra was the most absent and late person on the team, when she decided to show up she showed she was skilled in combat, strategy-crafting, leading, and thinking outside the box. She seemed right for the pick.

Hordak always had a sneaking suspicion that there would come a day when Shadow Weaver would try to betray him, but he had hoped that their promise of mutual destruction would have prevented the either from crossing the line. Weaver needed to leech off of other sources to survive, she usually resorted to people in her earlier days before bowing in front of the Horde and Hordak, afterwards she only needed the Garnet. Hordak had given Entrapta the go-ahead to study and use the Garnet in any way she wished as her experiments seemed to increase the overall efficiency of the Horde. Shadow Weaver didn’t like that. She choose to fight back.

Hordak and his soldiers reached the door leading to the Garnet Chamber. The young general reached out with his claw hand, his greyish-blue talon pressed a green button, waiting for the button to instruct the metallic door to slide up. Before the door itself could open up the metal slab burst open and peeled back like a banana, a black and crimson shadow claw grabbed him. It’s own talons tightened around him forcing out a scream from him. And he was yanked inward into the chamber, he fell onto the cold floor, or at least it should have been cold, but it was getting hotter, no doubt due to the electrical magic expelled by the dark sorceress.

He growled. Before he could get up onto his own two feet the darkness latched onto him, flinging him up into the ceiling, forcing him to crash against various wiring and cables that dislodged and fell down with him. He began to breath heavily as pain shot throw his body.

The troops moved forward to engage, but were frozen by Weaver’s magic almost immediately, like the two Force-Captains and Princess on the side, all simply looked on in fear as the Mysticore witch overpowered the Lord of the Horde. Tendrils of magic wrapping around his frame, tightening and crushing both him and his suit. He got a few good hits off on the woman, one punch braking a shadow construct, the second punch making contact with the witch and the impact threw her across the room. He knocked the wind out of her, that slowed her down as she tried to catch her breath. Bent over, eyes down, hands on her knees, she didn’t see another fist flying in her direction. The hit shattered her mask, pieces of the mask, spit and a single red droplet flew into the opposite direction of the punch. Luckily all the teeth were intact. That got her real angry.

The dark woman drew back her arm, a small black sphere appeared a few centimetres above her palm, red veins of electricity crackled around her hand and the sphere grew to the size of a bowling ball in seconds. And from it shot out a beam of black that hit Hordak directly in his chest. The pain and sensation it inflicted apon Hordak was indescribable, cold like the vacuum of space, while simultaneously burning like being in a whirlwind of a wildfire. He was pushed up against a wall and the dark beam kept him in place, the black mass spread across his body like a thick dense clay. The cold and the burning spread with it. His deep screams and yells increased in volume. Pain like a thousand knives stabbing his nerves.

“We had a deal! You stay out of my way and I stay out of yours! Simple! The Garnet is mine! No one else will touch it!” The black and red mass coiled and spiked, Hordak screamed so much he ran out of breath. “Watch! All of you!” Shadow Weaver turned to the guard troopers and the trio. “Watch as your leader and ‘Lord’ is defenceless, the conqueror conquered!” The clone general attempted to struggle against her hold, but it was all for nothing. The witch noticed the movement and had enough of this, she clamped her fist closed, tightening around the sphere, stabbing her fingers into it, and then flicked them out from the sphere. Like manipulating a voodoo doll, the black mass tore Hordak’s armour apart like plastic. “You were told to fear the Hordak, made believe that he was powerful, terrifying, a demon among men! And yet, all a lie! Look at him, your frail, weak, and sick ‘Lord’! This is the liar and fraud under whom you kneeled! Reject, banish this pretender! And pledge your loyalty to me!... or else.” She turned to Hordak for the finale time, and she blasted him out of the room through the wall, outside.

The soldiers were freed, and they quickly kneeled to the Shadow Weaver, very obviously out of fear. Catra, Scorpia, and Entrapta did so as well. And Hordak, several metres outside and below the point from which he was launched. His last moments of consciousness were that of the hole he was pushed through, a crowd gathering around him and a faint chant, “All Hail The Shadow Weaver.” And then the darkness took over.

“And how’d you make it out of The Fright Zone? All the way here? To BrightMoon?”

“That, I entirely do not know. I remember passing in and out of consciousness I... they must’ve dragged me out of my fortress and threw me out into the desert, to let the elements claim me. There one of your scouting groups found me, correct?” The trapped clone looked past the She-Ra at the BrightMoon’s angel Queen. Angella confirmed the latter half of the story, past that she had no idea. The moment the lilac skinned, feather winged, immortal Queen was given the report that some of her woman somehow managed to capture her nemesis and the leader of the Evil Horde, that moment ranked as one of the strangest in her life. She practically leaped off her golden throne and sprinted through the halls to the front of the castle. And true enough, there he was, bleeding and chained.

Hordak was thrown into the castle prison, or so they called it, but where the clone expected cold metal bars, hard floor, greys and other dull colours, and small claustrophobic spaces. Instead he was greeted with bright pinks and purples, soft pillows and blankets and armchair. He was confused. The only aspect of the location that suggested its own true function and purpose was the thin transparent glass-like, curtain, veil-like force field, a pretty rainbow effect coated the structure.

He did not know what to think of the ‘cell’. It was... nice. Even though the Queen acted like it wasn’t. He was pretty sure that the room was some sort of guest room, it looked too nice for a basement, but that was BrightMoon, they probably have storage rooms larger and grander than most rooms in The Fright Zone. “It is a prison!” The angel Queen argued. After the Queen’s long elaborate speech about how Hordak was a monster and the Horde was an evil unparalleled by anything in BrightMoon’s history, and how he should have been ashamed of his actions and that if she was like him she would’ve killed him where he stood, after all that the She-Ra entered.

“It’s just Adora.”

“Very well, She-Ra Adora.”

“Ugh.”

She massaged her templates, her very brief irritation was cut even shorter by a sharp ‘HA’ that escaped from the snickering Glimmer. “The Mighty Evil Lord Hordak, King of Horrors, the Baron of Bedlam, and the Master of Mayhem? Really? I’m kinda disappointed. You were our greatest enemy? Hahaha, can you even do one push-up? Let me guess Weaver uses your arms to pick broccoli out of her teeth? HA!” Hordak’s face remained blank, unphased, and unamused.

None of them noticed his pupils shifted as they were covered by crimson red lens, and they shifted to Adora. Curiously the She-Ra didn’t engage or enjoy the roast, even the stoic Queen and the Head-Sorceress both held cheeky smiles, but not this Adora. Her eyes remained fixed on him.

The difference between Adora and everyone else in that room was the fact that she was from the Horde. Adora had been with the Alliance for almost a year, it was only a few months ago she was still living in The Fright Zone, studying war under the symbol of the Horde. For most of her life she perceived Hordak as their leader, as a strong, righteous hero, a saint who sought to quell chaos in the world and install control, order, and peace. Adora and all the other cadets all their lives looked up to Hordak. To look down on him now didn’t come to her naturally. All her life she wanted to impress him and now she was told to insult him.

“Could you leave us?” Adora’s genuine and semi-serious question shocked everyone in the room. Glimmer was the first to argue, and was the most vocal about it. The Princess of BrightMoon found the request outrageous. Even Angella attempted to oppose her choice, placed a hand on her shoulder, told her Hordak was a manipulator and a conqueror, he could try to trick her. When she realised there was no dissuading the young woman she let off. She ended with telling the young She-Ra to be careful. Angella motioned for Casta and Glimmer to move out of the room.

Glimmer was the last individual to leave, she turned around and she stuck her tongue out, “You better watch yourself toothpick-arms! If you touch a single hair on her hair-!”

“I got this Glim! Thanks!”  Adora interjected, giving her a thumbs up. Glimmer squinted and walked backwards out of the room. And so Adora and Hordak were the only ones left. A tense silence filled the room. Neither really knowing what to say. Hordak didn’t know why he suddenly felt so uncomfortable, perhaps it was the look the girl gave him. She looked... disapproving, or disappointed. “The war could be over soon. At least that’s what all the others think, but if what you say is true, when I think the end of the war is further away than ever... You know, I don’t know if you know, but I was her ward, I think I was her pet, her favourite. It was hard to tell with her twisted version of ‘love’ if you could call it that. She certainly put everyone else down around me.”

“She certainly felt, in her mind, that you were ‘special’ in some way. She said so when I returned to The Fright Zone with you, and you two met for the fist time. Therefore I can definitely see that sort of favouritism forming.”

“...Wait... when ‘you’ first brought me back to The Fright Zone? D- Do you know where I come from?!” That exclamation gave Hordak pause. He wasn’t sure how to approach the subject, he was trained in the art of war, to combat opponents on battlefields of any kind, he could withstand the void of space, and his mind altered to form battle strategies and tactics in milliseconds, of course all of those enhancements have been long lost because of his defect. But this, he was not prepared for. He adjusted his position on the soft fluffy armchair, no matter how he moved he felt his backside sink into it. He awkwardly cleared his voice, that unintentionally brought Adora’s focus back onto him.

“I... well... yes... I” Hordak was not a liar. In fact Hordak himself had no concept of lying, he didn’t know how to, the clone was loyalty personified. It was figuratively and literally beaten into him. So he had to be careful about what he revealed, he may have been truthful, but he wasn’t stupid, arguably. He didn’t want to show all his cards. So he choose to keep his portal secret, same with his origin. So as he replied he choose to leave some key information out, “I was the one who found you, my personal computer picked up an anomaly, a strange, powerful energy surge.” Hordak noticed Adora’s eyes widened, her mouth was gradually opening wider and wider, as she began to lean forward in captivation. “And, uhm, [clears throat] at the time I was not sure what I found, I did not know what you were. But in the middle of a field of quadrant PT5-5-03 in the west region of The Elder Forest, there I found a crying infant and that was you. And so I brought you back with me to The Fright Zone. I had no use for you, and the noises you were making were causing my anxiety levels to rise so I handed you to Shadow Weaver, my Minister of Magicks.”

Adora’s face betrayed the fact that she was disappointed, and the story was quite anti-climatic sooner than her raised volume did. “That’s it?! Not that I wanted you to, but I was expecting you to have stolen me from like a cradle or something. I kinda hoped you’d know where I came from.”

“I do not... I... am sorry?” That was true. He did not. Hordak’s confusion was apparent, he didn’t know how to react to the hero’s theory. And so they stood and sat there for a moment longer, neither saying anything. In that quiet moment Adora realised that the bat lord wasn’t... scary. I mean it was ‘Hordak’, so the name itself was scarier than the actual man, as all her life the name was taught to the cadets as a monstrous horror entity, ‘Hordak’ was a King who sat on top a throne of skulls and he ate hearts and everything died around his step, he had two heads, and he breathed fire. That was ‘Hordak’.

But the man that sat uncomfortably in front of her was no such thing, he wasn’t ‘Hordak’, not ‘The Hordak’ she was told to believe in, all those cadet scary stories they all told each other all kind of seemed non-sensical now, she had to admit. The man she was looking at was thin, slim, in a not healthy way. He looked like a skeleton, like a weak breeze could push him over. He himself looked weak and fragile, sickly even. Now she was getting worried just scanning over him, she thought maybe she should’ve offered him like some mint tea or warm towels or... or something.

“You’re nothing like what we expected.”

Hordak raised his brow ridge, “How do you mean?” He didn’t know why he asked, he shouldn’t have asked.

“I- no offense, but, uh, I thought you’d be a bit scarier, you know ‘a horror of biblical proportions’ something like that?”

“Sorry to disappoint.” He replied awkwardly.

“Yeah, no, no, it’s cool.” She scratched the back of her neck, “Soooo uh... oh did you say you didn’t know ‘what’ I was? I mean I haven’t ever seen your species around, in The Fright Zone or any kingdom I’ve been to while with the Alliance. Do your species n- eh, how do I not make this sound weird, not have babies? Do you guys grow out of cabbages or are delivered by storks, hehehe?” Her attempt at humour flopped as she noticed he didn’t seem to get it.

His eyes darted around the room as if he was thinking of how to articulate something, ”No we... people like me... we are not children, we are in this state all our lives, from gaining consciousness to death.”

“So where do you come from?”

“...That is enough. Leave me.” That was a shame, Adora thought they were getting somewhere, but the cold and the lack of emotion returned. He dropped the eye contact, he stared down at the floor, he turned into a statue, no slight motion betraying the fact he was a real person. Adora tried to start up the conversation again few times, to no avail. Hordak revealed too much already. So Adora left the room.

#hordak #shadow weaver #entrapta #adora #part two coming soon

[ceoofanticatradora]

We need more anti C//A who are Adora stans (like you seem to be) so that people can understand that C///A is bad for Adora. Heck C//A is bad for Catra too, but the shippers don't seem to realize it. If Catra had been able to let Adora go maybe she could have healed instead of her festering and the abuse may have ended instead of escalated.

Hello Dear, welcome on my Blog and a big thank you for your message! Firstly I wanna apologize that this response is reaching you more than three full days, almost four later. Just real life getting into the way of my online presence (at least I got my A-Levels admission!) but I assure you that replying to you was on my To Do List the entire time. And while I could've typed something quick, I thought you deserved a full length response just as much as the person before you received. That goes for anyone really to ask/write me anything in the future.

Adora is a character that has flaws, her own interests, things she struggles with/is insecure about etc. but she also still works on being better (up to Season 5). This makes her relatable, fleshed out and overall three dimensional. Overall for me that makes Adora very likeable. Which is funny because when I first watched the show I thought of her as too goofy and felt like she as a character was overall just flat. Her character design did not speak to me either, the ponytail with the weird hair poof and these pointy shoulders of her jacket just really were not my taste. Isn't it amazing how perceptions can change?

As you can guess from that description I did not always stan Adora and she's probably still not my favorite character but over the almost two years I've been in this fandom I've grown rather fond of her. Other important characters to me are Kyle (a very relatable comfort character of mine, he learned to stand up for himself and others and I support that, f*ck Season 5 for barely acknowledging his existence), Lonnie (apart from treating Kyle badly (which I really do NOT support or excuse) I really love her, man, some women just do me like that, I mean she really stood up to Catra like that), Entrapta (I'm autistic too! It's great to have some representation, seeing the ableism/treatment she experiences in the show is not so much though), Seahawk (I don't even know why, I have some issues with his behavior towards Mermista at times but overall I love this dork), Scorpia (she reminds me of myself so much and I really wanna give her hugs, I'm so glad she chose to no longer let Catra treat her like that even though I will be forever salty she just immediately forgave her), Peekablue (I can explain this even less than Seahawk, especially since it was not even really him in the end but his existence somehow helped me cope with Season 5, without him I probably would've left this fandom ... and also my favorite color is blue) and Double Trouble (now there's enough people already critcizing how they're not exactly great Non-binary representation but this dramatic lizard will forever be in my heart, that reality check they gave Catra, basically slapping her in the face with facts was satisfying as h*ck, also I like lizards overall).

Now there's plenty of characters I like, dislike (or even hate) or am simply indifferent about but after all this is not a tier list but me talking about Adora, Catra and Catradora. Adora started off as this girl that was so sure what she was doing is right but once she was taught differently she was willing to leave everything she knew (except Catra, because she valued her despite everything) behind. And not only that, she broke out of the abuse cycle that Catra tried so hard to keep upright. And that is exactly what makes Adora such a good role model. She teaches children (or people) that:

Your past doesn't define what/who you are or what/who you can become

-> Adora used to be a Horde soldier and did not know where she came from, but nonetheless she found herself a family and became a hero that saved thousands of people

You can always change your mind and start a new life if you feel disappointed in what you are doing/who you are as a person

-> Basically the exact same point, Adora started a new life as she saw what the Horde really was and changed her mind about who to fight for

You deserve love too, be it platonic or romantic (or se*ual???) (If you're aro and/or ace just ignore the part that does not work for you)

-> While Adora for various reasons thought her only use was to please others and meet their needs and expectations (mostly due to Shadow Weaver and Catra) she learned to accept that she too deserves love and validation (if the love aspect would not have been focused on it being romantic love so she could smooch Catra in the finale this would've been a billion times better because she got love from her friends that showed her her real value)

You can walk away from something/someone, that does not make you egoistic/selfish

-> Adora walked away from the Horde, after Catra stubbornly refused to come with her despite many offers (basically Catra broke the promise, not Adora) from her too and that did not make her a "traitor" or "selfish", h*ck, Adora in the end did this for a bigger purpose too, even if part of it was her not wanting to live with such wrong morals

Your opinions, feelings etc. about a person/something can change and that is perfectly fine and valid, being able to change is part of what makes someone human

-> Adora's views on many things changed throughout the show: The Horde and the Rebellion, the First Ones, Catra, being She-Ra, herself, her priorities and so on ... she actually makes use of her brain, which is why Catra saying "Don't you ge it?" or calling her an idiot and dumb never sat right with me, she's a realistic character for shifting with her thoughts, feelings etc. and sometimes just does not fully think things through

You don't have to let other people treat you like sh*t (just because they have some issues they never worked through does not give them any right to let it out on you)

-> This point is obviously centered mostly around Catra and her abusing Adora almost every chance she gets, which is why Adora standing up for herself and not letting Catra blame her for her own decisions and mistakes is so important, "You made your choice, now live with it" is one of the most powerful lines throughout all the five Seasons

Now I'm sure there is still more to Adora's character than what I just listed and unfortunately almost all the points basically got pushed aside, well, Adora as a character got pushed aside in Season 5. All her growth, the things that made me love her, see her as great role model for so many people robbed of their value for the sake of making everything revolve around Catra. That brings me to her and how you are absolutely right that Catradora is harmful to both characters. Of course Adora is affected most by it in the end but Catra too is obviously suffering under the fandoms obsession and just the overall idea of them being romantically involved.

Just like with Adora the stans make almost everything about Catra over her relationship with Adora. She too can barely exist outside of it and if she wasn't the fan favorite she'd most likely would too be mostly in Fanarts that include Adora and not just her (if you google "Catra Fanart" most content is still Catra and Catra only but here and there Catradora still peaks through). But for whatever reason the fandom still views her more as her own person as the other ones? Catrouble and Scorptra Shippers might actually still get less hate than Glimmadora Shippers (I'm not denying they don't get any, they most certaintly do) which is just plain hypocricy and favorism. Kinda like the: A woman needs to be loyal to her husband and her husband only but if the husband wants to be active with other women that is perfectly fine because "that is just how men are" or how i like to call it ... sexism. Now in this case they are both women so it's not sexism but yo do get my point.

But much more importantly, Catra has an unhealthy obsession with Adora. Signs of that are for example:

Constantly talking about Adora, even when said person is not around (to Shadow Weaver, Scorpia etc.)

Obsessing over having control over Adora like in that one Episode "Are you kidding? I finally got control over Adora, I'm not giving that up!"

Building her entire character and her actions around Adora "We need to take Adora down", "Adora left me", "I'd rather see the whole world end than see you win!", also shown in Season 5 where she states she does save Glimmer only for Adora and not for Glimmer or to do the right thing

Getting aggressive or very emotional over Adora like clawing the wall, having nightmares etc. (destructive behavior towards herself and others)

Having no or barely any characteristics outside of her relationship with Adora like, we don't know her interests or likes and dislikes outside of being evil, obsessed with Adora, being abused by Shadow Weaver ...

Trying to force Adora to meet her needs and expectations regardless of Adora's owns

Sacrificing her oppurtunity to be happy in the Crimson Waste for the sake of her Adora obsession and being better than her at all costs

So yes, you were very right with saying that not putting Catra in a relationship with Adora would've benefited both characters. Catra could've learned to exist on her own, develop interests and a life outside of Adora. Learn to accept herself and eventually come to terms with her childhood abuse. She could've been free and not "the abusive cat girl that ended up with the person she unhealthily obsessed over to the point of no return" she kinda is now. Even if we ignore the whole "dating your long term abuser" part from Adora's side and "being rewarded" for horrible behavior, Catra alone is not giving a good example to people watching. As much as I dislike Catra, disdain her even, an ending where she is dependent on Adora, unable to stand on her own two legs after she led armies in war is not what I would wish for her, even with a decent redemption arc (that she did not get).

#anti catradora #anti c//a #anti catra #spop critical #response #my post #spop salt #ocd #role model #anti catra stans #anti catradora stans #comfort character #adora deserves better #honestly its worse once you know its not just bad for adora #anti+catra #anti+catradora

[meg-noel-art]

Summary so far of my She-Ra Lonnie: Lonnie x Adora AU

Because I can't stop thinking about it.

1.) The set up remains mostly the same. Lonnie, Adora, Kyle, Rogelio and Catra are in the same Horde squad. Lonnie and Adora are at the top of their squad--AND THEY'RE GIRLFRIENDS W O W! Adora gets promoted to Force Captain by Shadow Weaver, she remains Shadow Weaver's 'favorite'. Lonnie suggests they go on a joyride to celebrate, before her Force Captain duties tie her down. They skiff out to the Whispering Woods, but Lonnie is the one knocked off. She finds the Sword and sees the visions. Adora quickly finds her and they head back to the Fright Zone.

2.) Catra, the snitch and cadet no one likes because she's sour and mean, sees them return after hours and decides to keep an eye on them. Lonnie continues to have visions of the Sword and tries to sneak out to find it again. Adora catches her, but Lonnie doesn't want her to get caught and lose her promotion, so she stays behind.

Queue the events of the first episode!! Lonnie runs into Bow and Glimmer, they all get lost together, Lonnie transforms into She-Ra, they get to Thaymor, wow parties! WOW HORSES!

3.) Thaymor is attacked by the Horde. When Lonnie didn't return, Adora organized a force to come find her assuming she'd run into trouble in the woods. They find her and begin decimating the village. Changed by her new friends and new She-Ra form, she tells Adora what the Horde has been doing, that they have to go and offers for Adora to come with her.

Confused, but not ignorant to the destruction around her, Adora reaches for Lonnie's hand, hesitant but trusting her. That's when the rest of the Horde forces swarm in and jar them apart. Lonnie must fight them off as She-Ra and the retreating forces take Adora with them.

4.) Without a home now, and afraid for what might happen to Adora, Lonnie is consoled by Bow and Glimmer who give her a home in Bright Moon and help her learn how to become She-Ra. They begin working together to reconstruct the Princess Alliance, but from there the story changes. Adora is tasked to find Lonnie and bring her back to the Fright Zone. She is partnered with Force Captain Scorpia, and while Adora doesn't reveal that she was about to mutiny, she does bond with Scorpia. Trusting her with most other things.

5.) In Salineas, they track the BFS down and while her friends fight off the incoming Horde ship, Adora manages to corner Lonnie at the Sea Gate. Initially thinking Adora is trying to attack, Lonnie is surprised when Adora breaks down. As it turns out, she's been afraid for her life since returning to the Fright Zone. SW and Hordak are piling on responsibilities. She WANTED to go with Lonnie. She doesn't want to hurt people anymore. But it's too late, she's trapped. Before Lonnie can offer a solution, Adora and Scorpia’s ship is blown up and Adora retreats.

The BFS celebrates a Horde defeat AND a new member of the Alliance in Mermista. But Lonnie mourns the loss of her gf.

5.) Adora begins reconnaissance in the Fright Zone. Realizing she may be trapped for good, the only way she can think to help Lonnie is from the inside. So she begins to act as a double agent. Spying on Hordak and SW, sending secret code to Bow (who at first doesn't know who is hacking his commpad) to alert them of Horde attacks.

6.) Thanks to Adora’s intelligence, the Rebellion is able to gain significant ground against the Horde. This allows tensions to fall a bit and Lonnie bonds more with Bow and Glimmer. Glimmer in particular, Lonnie takes a shine to. The Princess is fierce and determined and brash--A good sparring partner and REALLY pretty. Lonnie sort of starts to crush on the Princess. She is torn, but considering the circumstsnces and the more time that passes between seeing Adora at Salineas, the more Lonnie thinks maybe she shouldn’t feel guilty about moving on.

7.) Queue Princess Prom. On the Horde side, Adora manipulates Scorpia into taking her as her plus one, knowing that Lonnie will be there and it will be an opportune time to tell her that she’s been the spy on the inside. Unfortunately, for Adora, Catra has been suspicious of her activity for a while and is planning on using the event to either catch her red handed, or cause mayhem and kidnap one or more of the Princesses for leverage so that SHE can gain some clout with Shadow Weaver.

Bow and Perfuma still go together leaving Glimmer to go with Lonnie, who experiences a significant amount of gay panic. While Glimmer mourns the potential loss of her only friend, Lonnie tries to comfort her--knowing the guilt of abandoning a loved one all too well. And that’s when said loved one appears. Adora and Scorpia are at the door. Glimmer immediately approaches Frosta to inform her that these are Horde Soldiers. But while Lonnie is a bit concerned about Scorpia, she knows she needs to get Adora alone.

Sending Glimmer to watch Scorpia, Lonnie follows Adora through the crowd into a hidden away hall. There they are not only able to reunite a bit passionately (👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩) but Adora reveals that she’s been the one sending information to Bow’s commpad. Once again, Lonnie asks Adora to come with her and leave the Horde, but this time Adora refuses; she assures Lonnie she can be more help from the inside. Lonnie tries to convince her that the danger of being caught outweighs whatever information she can sneak them, but Adora remains firm and stubborn.

Unfortunately, as both of them were distracted with one another, Catra and her secret group of Rogelio, Kyle and Scorpia attack. They escape with Bow and Glimmer and Adora is quickly forced to join them to maintain the charade. She spars with Lonnie and takes the sword, but reassures her she’ll watch out for her friends before escaping on Scorpia’s ship with the rest.

Defeated, and confused, Lonnie can only watch as everyone disappears.

8.) “No Princess Left Behind” rolls out much the same way on the Rebellion side. As for inside the Horde. Bow is imprisoned, and Glimmer is sent to the Black Garnet Chamber. Catra is given the credit for the capture but Adora insists on guarding the prisoner both to maintain her guise of loyalty to the Horde, and in order to fulfill her promise to watch out for Lonnie’s friends until she can rescue them.

Shadow Weaver agrees only after discussing the situation with Catra unbeknownst to Adora, this is the ultimate test. Shadow Weaver is suspicious of her loyalty and plans to take Adora out once and for all if she sees weakness. Adora ends up speaking with Glimmer, who is at first absolutely feral, attempting to escape her bonds and attack Adora. When she can’t and she weakens, Adora dares to ask her how Lonnie is doing in the Rebellion. Confused by the clear concern in the Horde Soldier’s voice, Glimmer answers truthfully and this is how she learns that not only was Adora previously Lonnie’s teammate and partner, but has been helping them all along. While Glimmer is trapped for days, Adora does what she can to sneak her food and water and they continue to talk. By the time the Princess Alliance comes to rescue Bow and Glimmer, the Princess knows they can’t leave Adora behind...

9.) Lonnie and the others run into trouble trying to free Glimmer. Alarms are blaring, Catra is leading an assault against the invaders. Shadow Weaver corners Adora, knowing she is now a traitor. She straps Adora down and begins to wipe her mind. She is still a valuable asset and as long as she forgets her loyalty to Lonnie, they can in fact USE her as a weapon against She-Ra. Glimmer, enraged, and desperate to help her new ‘friend’, breaks free of her bonds and decks Shadow Weaver. She frees Adora who is almost as shocked as Glimmer is at the rescue. They flee together, but not before Adora retrieves the sword.

10.) The two run into Lonnie and the others and Adora gives her the sword, allowing her to transform into She-Ra and clear the way out of the Fright Zone.

 In terms of plot, I’m a bit shaky from here on out at this point. Entrapta probably still gets left behind accidentally and Catra still leads the Battle of Bright Moon, Glimmer still must deal with glitches. The main difference is that Adora escapes with them and is unable to work as a spy. She is more than grateful to have joined her girlfriend on the right side of the war, but also lowkey crushed on Glimmer and surprise this is a Glimmadoralonnie ot3 AU, boom gotcha.

Anyway! :))) More later! 

#some aspects of the plot would change #but i havent thought that far #she ra lonnie #lonnadora #gllimmadora #glimmlonnie #glimmalonnadora #ot3 #au #she ra #spop #long post #adora #lonnie #glimmer #uh yeah! #gimme ur thots if u liked it #or if u didnt! #time to release this monster