anghraine | Entries tagged with ch: catra

Things I really enjoy about Adora’s fantasy of the future in “Heart”:

while Glimmer’s and Bow’s hairstyles have changed, Catra’s hair has grown back the way it was (though she now wears it in a ponytail). I like the short-haired look, but it was something forced on her in terrible circumstances, and even subconsciously, Adora seems to get that.
she imagines future!Bow with a desperate attempt at a beard. lol
she imagines Glimmer combining a fancy princess dress, her sparkly cloak, and an … undercut, I think?
she imagines herself with longer, mostly-flowy hair (not on the She-Ra level, but she does have She-Ra hair envy…), a delicate tiara, and a simple She-Ra-themed dress, while Catra is wearing everyday clothes and dodging Glimmer’s attempts to spruce her up.
Adora is on to Glimbow, or really wants it to happen; Bow is wearing a royal cloak and Glimmer’s other earring (apparently wearing an item from the other person is a very big deal in Etherian romantic relationships) and Glimmer leans into him
meanwhile, Catra is wearing Adora’s Rebel pin (I can’t remember if real Catra is doing that)
Catra is carting around a white and gold jacket that matches Adora’s dress, either to put on Adora or to match Adora.
this time, it’s Catra reaching out to her—and indeed, when Catra declares her love, Adora does envision it as Catra physically reaching out for her.

Tagged: #i hope adora does get her she-ra dress someday! #but the sequence is both charming and a little sad #like... the episode raises the question of what /adora/ wants #and she honestly wants so little? #a) catra b) her friends c) a princess outfit of her own #i do love the little snippet though

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: Green River (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

I’m still thinking about the Catra-ditches-the-Horde-early Catradora AU. (I haven’t quite finished the show, but … ANYWAY.) I’m particularly fond of the variant that came up in my tag ramble where Catra not only ditches the Horde before she does in canon, but (with Adora) before the canon timeline begins at all.

My idea was that for some reason, they run away and escape into the Whispering Woods. Catra thinks it’s awful, they’ll never rule the world now. Then at some point, Adora finds the sword and turns into She-Ra, and Catra’s like “…actually, I have some ideas.”

I wasn’t sure exactly when in relation to the canon timeline this happens, though definitely earlier, and there’s some period where they’re mostly just trying to survive the woods together (I am 100% sure they encounter Razz, partly because I think it makes sense, and partly because Razz and Catra dealing with each other is hilarious to me). Maybe Adora manages to get the Crystal Castle to accept Catra and they hole up there while they’re figuring out what to do. However it works out, they ultimately get drawn into the Rebellion as a duo.

The end result is that the Rebellion has someone as ferocious and resourceful as Catra on their side (for a certain value of “side”; she’s really just on her and Adora’s side and sees the Rebellion as the only available vehicle for them) alongside Adora/She-Ra. But that means dealing with early Catra as one of their own (also hilarious!).

It could go all sorts of places from there, but the main problem is figuring out what kind of inciting incident could drive Catra from the Horde and convince her that their only chance for power lies with the Rebellion. That’s a big swerve from canon. I was thinking vaguely that things are worse for her in some way that drives her to turn away for fairly self-interested reasons (hard to see her doing anything else), but things are canonically bad enough for her that it was still difficult to see, until I suddenly remembered—

Shadow Weaver was going to wipe Adora’s mind.

Suppose that in the AU, Shadow Weaver decides that Catra is such a liability that she’ll just wipe her mind and start all over again. Before she actually does it, though, Catra and Adora somehow find out and can’t think of any way around it except just not being there. They manage a narrow escape from the Fright Zone and keep going until they’re faced with Horde pursuers on one hand and the woods on the other. They choose the woods, and the AU spins out from there.

Tagged: #i'm thinking that catra is actually the first to think of joining the rebellion #because if she can't climb to power via the horde ... the rebellion it is #especially given that adora just morphed into a princess #she'll just have to reshape it to their purposes! #(this can only end well) #meanwhile adora is resistant because princesses are EVIL #but she gets a reality check and is onboard soon enough #leaving us with horde defector rebel duo catra and adora #<3

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: Tubthumping (Chumbawamba)

I’m watching “The Failsafe” now (the finale is in sight!!) and Shadow Weaver is just … aghhhh!

At least we’re finally dealing with how screwed-up it is that Adora and now Catra are just expected to deal with their abuser strolling around.

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: Who's Crying Now (Journey)

“Peekablue” was sad (though yay, Double Trouble!), but we’re onto “Shot in the Dark” and adfk;jadf I love grumpy redeemed Catra

(Maybe Horde Prime was driven off by poorly-planned architecture!)

Tagged: #glad she's still catra haha #also i really like the haphazard jumble of sci-fi and fantasy #+ bow is completely right #catra's fuzzed-up tail is the most adorable thing #and her tiny sneeze!

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: Peaceful Easy Feeling (Eagles)

turtletotem responded to this post:

Everything about this is amazing.

I replied:

Heeeeh, thank you!

argumate said:

the Best Friends Club! *awkward side eyes at the Insane Cat General Best Friend*

riana-one said:

Catra shrieking at the Rebellion for having issues with their well meaning parental figures *ADOPTION VIBES GROW* Also Catra is Just Murder? Maybe? And hissing at Shadow Weaver.

alias_sqbr said:

I like your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter

[ETA 5/22/2024: I got enough responses that I lost track of actually responding to them all, but I've always found this fannish turn of phrase delightful and particularly when we'd been subscribed to each other's newsletters for over ten years :D]

hermajestythebomb said:

If you ever write it I'd love to read it.

horace-tabor said:

I think that if Catra was with Adora when she met with Glimmer and Bow and the whole adventure after that she probably would have begrudgingly gone with them. Or they might have just won the initial fight and captured them, which could go a variety of ways. Alternatively if Hordak didn't promote Catra she might have defected shortly after, since she is already talking about it when Shadow Weaver confronts her in one of the earlier episodes after Adora leaves.

Granted, Catra would probably be too bitter to seek the rebellion out in that scenario but she could wind up working with them in a variety of ways

venndaai said:

I love this

thoroughlycaffeinated said:

Dude I have so many ideas for this but I’m at work rn 😩

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: Twilight (Electric Light Orchestra)

It’s probably been done a bunch of times, but I’ve decided the Catradora AU of my dreams is one where Catra does leave the Horde well before the events of the end of S4, perhaps right at the beginning with Adora—but is still more or less the same person she was at that point.

I’m not sure how it would work tbh … likely she’d have to see better opportunities in the Rebellion than the Horde for some reason. But I just really like the idea of Catra in her calculating, opportunistic, yet loose cannon phase operating within the Rebellion, and thinking about how her fixation on Adora would wind out in that context. I mean, w/ Catradora obviously, but I’m also interested in what the dynamic would look like before they got there, and when it would happen, and just, AU Adora and Catra’s relationship in general.

Also, the whole concept of the Rebellion dealing with someone like Catra in their ranks is amazing to me. IDK, maybe they’d just kick her out and it’d be terrible, but if she held herself together enough to succeed and people just had to put up with her … <3 <3

Tagged: #and i love the idea of catra and glimmer having to work together /before/ their respective character developments #a magnificent disaster waiting to happen #the au could happen in a lot of ways #it's also possible that the au could split off /before/ the show's timeline #maybe younger catra and adora nope out of the horde together for some reason—things are worse than canon or something #escape into the whispering woods and find the sword #catra's like... okay this is the stupidest thing we've ever done! how are we going to rule the world now??? #*adora turns into she-ra* #catra: ... actually i have some ideas

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston)

Just watched “Save the Cat” and ahhhhhhhhhhh

No commentary, just feelings!!

Tagged: #THE HUG AT THE END AJKDF;JAFAJKDJHADFJ #also i continue to adore the perfection that is entrapta

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: I Want To Break Free (Queen)

thatvolyova responded to this post:

OH YES YOU'RE ON SHE-RA

I replied:

Yes! Loved her as a kid and I'm loving the new show :)

turtletotem said:

"Corridors" made me BAWL with Catra feelings, I watched it twice back to back

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: It's A Hard Life (Queen)

I just finished “Corridors” (5x03), and Catra’s arc has been so satisfying.

Tagged: #all the more because she did genuinely terrible things #onscreen!

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: I Want It All (Queen)

Just finished Mer-Mysteries!

It was, by and large, a fun and tense episode in a lot of ways.

The Adora-Glimmer tension over Shadow Weaver is interesting … on the one hand, I really like the Glimmer-Shadow Weaver dynamic, and on the other, I think Adora’s reservations are extremely well grounded in who Shadow Weaver is as a person and in her personal experiences of her.

I mean, Adora conceded that Shadow Weaver did “mom stuff” way back in the not!ghost episode, and Shadow Weaver’s manipulation and general approach to Catra and Adora from early childhood was obviously abusive (in different ways, but abusive). And nobody around Adora really seems to care about this? They care about her, sure, but not about her having her abuser living under the same roof with increasing freedom of movement and influence. She has every reason to be upset tbh.

Tagged: #i'm really entertained by sw honestly but i love adora and want her to have all the hugs #this is the opposite of hugs!

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: Double Vision (Foreigner)

I reblogged this post and added:

And: I do really like Catra and found the Scorpia-Catra moments endearing, but also … Scorpia, love yourself and let her go.

Tagged: #it's just like #go find a nice girl and let catra obsess over adora the way she wants. better for everyone! #scorpia deserves someone who will treat her nicely! i've seen enough spoilers to guess but i still want it a lot #also entrapta trying to do the right thing and getting betrayed ... :(

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: Juke Box Hero (Foreigner)

“Light Spinner” was amazing! I’m weirdly compelled by Light Spinner/Shadow Weaver despite her terribleness.

I was also just thinking about Adora talking about how Shadow Weaver taught her to read and tie her boots and told her ghost stories … like, that honestly just makes her awfulness (re: both, though of course especially Catra) even worse. The whole dynamic actually reminds me a lot of Ozai-Zuko-Azula, with Zuko and Azula’s roles swapped, but she’s a lot more interesting than Ozai tbh.

Tagged: #shadow weaver #i usually tag villains by their names and not pseudonyms but uhhhh. let's just go shadow weaver

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: Wheel in the Sky (Journey)

Onto S2: I didn’t dislike Glimmer, but her struggle against her worst instincts (and sneakily reserving a portion of her energy) when they captured Catra and the back-and-forth dynamic between them made me fonder of both of them at this point.

ENTRAPTAAAAA <3

ajkdf;kaf I apparently can’t take screenshots on Netflix, but kjadk;fadf Adora has a DM screen while they plan the attack on the fortress. Amazing.

Tagged: #also while i don't ship scorpia/catra i do think scorpia's crush is adorable

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: Any Way You Want It (Journey)

I’m finally watching new!She-Ra in its entirety, and just finished the first season. My fave will always be Adora and Catradora is peak quality, but I also very intensely love Mermista and Entrapta <3 <3 <3

Tagged: #and angella! i loved her as a kid and really like what they did with her

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: I Want It All (Queen)

Over at Tumblr, the main women's wrongs poll finished. After 4,464 votes (easily my most voted upon poll ever), the top four results were:

1) Clytemnestra from the Oresteia (19.5%)
2) Carmilla from (Le Fanu's) Carmilla (16.4%)
3) Catra from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (15.3%)
4) Cersei Lannister from ASOIAF (10.7%)

C is the letter of choice for beloved morally dubious female characters, apparently!

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: Different Drum (Stone Poneys)

Less involved thought: I haven't actually finished S5 (beyond the clips I watched long before getting to this point), so I don't know if Entrapta ever finds out onscreen that Adora is a First One. But if not, I'm really amused to imagine how she'd react to having personal access to one, and one who somehow has the First One language encoded into her brain, no less (is it biological? mechanical? INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW). I mean, she could probably put the revelation together herself, but still.

I'm just imagining Entrapta dancing around at the possibility of doing TESTS on a for real First One, she'll just need some samples, while Catra is like ... what?! you can't have Adora's BLOOD, aghhhh.
Entrapta: Just a little! For the progression of our understanding!
Catra: NO.

Current Location: Washington

I caved and searched AO3 for Catradora fics, of which there are many, but ... uh, a lot of modern AUs (at least ranked by kudos), which genuinely did not even occur to me as a thing for this canon. I guess it's always a thing, but in this case there's zero appeal.

Anyway, Catradora AU of my dreams:

It’s probably been done a bunch of times, but what I long for is one where Catra does leave the Horde well before the events of the end of S4, perhaps right at the beginning with Adora—but is still more or less the same person she was at that point.

I’m not sure how it would work tbh … likely she’d have to see better opportunities in the Rebellion than the Horde for some reason. But I just really like the idea of Catra in her calculating, opportunistic, yet loose cannon phase operating within the Rebellion, and thinking about how her fixation on Adora would wind out in that context. I mean, w/ Catradora obviously, but I’m also interested in what the dynamic would look like before they got there, and when it would happen, and just, AU Adora and Catra’s relationship in general.

Also, the whole concept of the Rebellion dealing with someone like Catra in their ranks is amazing to me. IDK, maybe they’d just kick her out and it’d be terrible, but if she held herself together enough to succeed and people just had to put up with her … <3 <3

I also had another idea that might fuse with it, but might not—what if Catra and Adora noped out of the Horde before the beginning of the show's timeline? Like, things are just worse enough or something. I don't know, but they end up escaping into the Whispering Woods, Adora finds the sword, and Catra's like ... okay, this is the stupidest thing we have ever done. How are we going to rule the world now?!

*Adora turns into She-Ra*

Catra: ...actually, I have some ideas.

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: This Is Who You Are (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)

Finished 5x06, "Taking Control," and I don't really have a lot of words for my Catra and Catradora feelings, but I have a lot of them!!

Also, Entrapta is too good for this world.

Current Location: Washington

I like Catradora for a lot of reasons, and suspect most of them are pretty standard, but also ... as an Adora stan, part of it is because I really want her to have someone in her life who may not always fully grasp who she is, but does have a personal understanding of what made her that way.

Also, it's like—okay, imagining an AU where Catra got her head screwed on right sooner, I am pretty sure she would not have responded well to Glimmer's treatment of Adora in S4. And honestly, I would very much like Adora to have someone in her life who would Not Respond Well.

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