It's the third anniversary of the drop of season five.
Three years ago, May 15, 2020, was a hard time for me. Let's be honest, it was a hard time for everyone. The beginning of the Pandemic was seeing all kinds of scary things that I'm not going to rehash here. I was still going to work but I was one of only a handful of people in a 150,000 square feet building. Even with my wife and roommate at home, I was feeling isolated.
My wife and I were looking forward to the final season of She-Ra to watch together. I'd got into it right about the time season four had dropped and watched through it. I enjoyed it, it was fun. Then, into all of that up above, season five showed up.
Listen, even if Catradora hadn't been confirmed canon, I think I still would have loved the show. Season Five is my favorite season out of all of them because of the tension and narrative that is going on. However, ND Stevenson, that beautiful mad lad, set up the show so that Catradora was the only sensible story beat to go with and at the end, the whole, "Don't you get it? I love you! I always have! So please, just this once... stay!" just floored me. I shouted loud enough my neighbors probably heard me.
In any normal time, I think I would have loved it. In my time of isolation and sadness with the Pandemic and everything else going on, it hit me like a sledgehammer. A happy ending, evil defeated, love expressed and received, and all of it queer. Is it any wonder that three years down the line I'm still turning out fic and happily part of the fandom?
Now, on the third anniversary, raise a cup and remember these things.
Hope is not a pointless thing.
Love is a powerful force.
So to She-Ra, Crew-Ra, and the fandom, I say thank you. I'm proud to belong here and I'm proud to have all of you here. We won in the end.
