Fanfic / You Even Taste Like Glitter

Cover by Miledibuja

When Glimmer feels homesick during summer camp, absolutely nothing is made easier by the stupid girl she's forced to share a cabin with. At first they annoy each other, then they move on to annoy absolutely everyone else.

As the camp ends and life goes on, Catra and Glimmer decide that the two of them will still be together, whatever it takes.

You Even Taste Like Glitter is a She-Ra and the Princesses of Power alternate universe fic by Bagge, better known for her angstier fic Catra and Glimmer - Queens of the Horde.

After meeting her new best friend at summer camp, Glimmer worries that she'll never see her again. That is, until she randomly runs into her on a school trip. And this time, she won't let anything stand in the way of them being together forever, no matter what school or parents may say.

You Even Taste Like Glitter started out as a single-chapter written for Glitra week 2021 with the prompt "Roommates", but Bagge ended up enjoying the versions of Glimmer and Catra so much that she decided to turn it into a long-running fic alongside her other ongoing project, Queens of the Horde.

You Even Taste Like Tropes

• Abusive Parents: Shadow Weaver, Catra and Adora's foster mom at the start of the fic, is precisely as bad as in the show, if not more. While her abuse is not shown directly, it is obvious in Catra and Adora's traumas. Catra acts without a care in the world, since SW doesn't care about her and will punish her regardless, while Adora is deeply terrified of expressing her opinions and wants in any way, and expects to be punished for minor things.
• Adaptation Species Change: Because of the more grounded setting, everyone except Bow (who was already human) are made normal humans instead of what they are in the show. Angella is not an angellic immortal being, Glimmer is not a demigoddess, Catra is not a literal cat person, and Adora is not a First One.
• Adoptive Name Change: Played with. Catra doesn't take Angella's last name, but she changes her given name from Catarina to Catra, hating her birthname for unclear reasons.
• Age-Gap Romance: School version, when just-of-out-his-tweens Bow goes on a date with older teenager Entrapta. They leave it at one date, though.
• Age Lift: As part of the premise, Glimmer, Catra, Adora, and Bow are kids in their pre-to-early teens, instead of young adults like in the show.
• All Girls Like Ponies: Adora certainly does. She meets the love of her life on Spinnerella's and Netossa's farm in the form of 'Horsie', and later starts helping out on riding school.
• Alpha Bitch: Glimmer acts like this towards Adora when they first meet. She's very ashamed of it later on.
• Ambiguously Bi: Angella, aside from her late husband, suffers a bad case of Empty Nest and wonders what she should do to keep herself occupied. After calling Castaspella, who's in the middle of hooking up with a random woman, Angella idly wonders if she should get a girlfriend, though it's not clear if it reflects her sexuality or if it was merely a joke. Netossa has also hinted of 'girl scandals' in Angella's past.
  • As of chapter 20 it´s no longer ambigious, as we learn about Angella´s ex-girlfriend.
• Animal Motifs: Briefly and just for fun in chapter 20, with Glimmer as a fish (distracted by shining things), Bow and Adora as beavers (builder and fisher, respectively) and Catra as a crayfish ("Big fucking shield so no one can hurt you and big fucking claws so you can fuck anyone up who tries to get close to you.")
• Bad Liar: Adora is just as bad a liar as in canon, or worse. Especially if she has to lie to a parent or other authorty figure.
• Ballet Episode: In Chapter 13, Glimmer's dancing troupe performs what is implied to be some sort of variation of the Nutcracker.
• Bedsheet Ghost: Some of the camp counselors dress up like this to scare the new kids. Catra and Glimmer turn the table by sneaking up on them and scaring them instead.
• Bland-Name Product: Pop cultural titles in the show tend to be this rather than real shows. Examples include 'Cop Princess (TM)', 'Cat Bandit' the 'Princess Sparkles books, the 'Magicat books' and of course 'That Princess Show' as an expy of She Ra And The Princesses Of Power itself.
• Bookworm: Angella's main interest is literature.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Glimmer. A fair number of subplots can be summarized with 'Glimmer has a wacky idea and the others play along'.
• Breather Episode: The entirety of Chapter 16 consist of "The kids bake a cake and hillarity ensues".
• Bully Hunter: It's referenced a few times that Glimmer made a point of protecting Bow from bullies when he came out as trans. It's not made clear if it was actually needed or if it simply was her way of demonstrating her friendship. We also see her defend Catra on a few occasions.
• Camping Episode: Chapter 20, curtesy of Bow's dads. Adora and Bow have a swell time, Catra and Glimmer eventually start to enjoy themselves and Angella has a downright Horrible Camping Trip.
• Cat Girl: Even if Catra is fully human in this story, she has taken to seeing herself as a catgirl as part of her identity. One of her most prized possession is a cat ears headband Glimmer gave her the second time they met.
• Cheerful Child: Bow always has a smile on his lips.
• City Mouse: Angella. A lot of fun is had at her expense over her inability to function outside the city limits, like in Chapter 18 where her electric bike gives up on her too far from home, or in Chapter 20 when she goes on a Horrible Camping Trip. Glimmer, in contrast and despite all her wining when Angella drags her away from her video games, has great fun at the farm in Chapter 8, camping in Chapter 20 and on summer camp in Chapter 1 and 19.
• Cool Aunt: Castaspella, who shows up every so often to shower the kids in gifts and affection. Slightly Deconstructed, since Casta unintentionally makes Angella feel inadequate as a parent in comparison, and has to sit her down and assure her that she's doing a good job raising three (and Bow) children on her own, and the only reason Casta can be as cool as she is is because she doesn't have to deal with the more difficult aspects of motherhood.
• Cool Horse: Horsie, at least according to Adora. Netossa and Spinnerella thinks he is rather goofy.
• Cool Old Gal: Madam Razz, despite her senility, is a very kind and friendly woman, and the only part of their old life that Adora and Catra look back at fondly. She even manages to keep Glimmer entertained without the internet, and happily welcomes Angella for impromptu dinner when she's feeling the Empty Nest.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: When Catra betrays Bow and Glimmer in a game of make-believe, Bow notes that she likes to play the villain, suggesting it's not the first time it happens.
• Crush Blush: Happens with Catra a lot whenever Glimmer is feeling affectionate.
• Cuddle Bug: Glimmer towards Catra. It does nothing to make Catra's crush easier to manage. Bow also likes hugging.
• Cunning People Play Poker: When it's revealed that Angella got Netossa to take the kids to the indoor water park by winning over her in poker, Catra challenges Netossa for a game. It's not revealed how it turns out.
• Deliberately Cute Child: Glimmer is not above playing up her cuteness to get her way.
• Empty Nest: Chapter 18 is entirely about Angella suffering a bad case of this. Her kids won't move out for a few years yet, but Glimmer and Catra are at summer camp, Adora is spending the summer at the ranch, and Bow is on vacation with his dads. Without them to occupy her, Angella ends up idling around with nothing to do and falls into depression.
• Everyone Can See It: The only person in the household who doesn't know - or at least heavily suspects - that Catra is in love with Glimmer is Glimmer.
• Future Slang: Angella's attempt at gamer jargon sounds like this.
  'I just fragged the high score of the new DPS-ROM, no big deal. My character is hype maxed. Totally kleenex.'
• Gamer Chick: Glimmer's main hobby is video games, with her favorite games being MMO style roleplaying games.
• Gilligan Cut: In their second time at summer camp, Glimmer promises the camp counselor that she and Catra won't get lost. It them cuts immediately to Glimmer saying they're lost. This becomes a Running Gag throughout the chapter.
• Good Parents: Angella, despite her concerns, is a good mother who gives her daughter and foster kids leniency to discover themselves and do what they want, while also being strict enough to not let her bratty daughter get away with anything.
• Going in Circles: In chapter 22, the family gets lost in a furniture store and keeps coming back to the same sections before they finally find their way out
• Go Through Me: When a security guard unfairly targets Catra, Glimmer goes full miniKaren and demands to see her manager. She continues to chew out any adult within earshots until they appologize to Catra and give her store credits to leave.
• Happily Adopted: Technically foster children and not adopted, but Catra and Adora are much happier with Angella as their mother than their previous foster mom, and Angella loves them in return.
• Her Own Worst Enemy: Years of Shadow Weaver's stellar parenting has left Adora with no self-confidence at all, making it very hard for her to do anything she actually wants herself. Despite Angella and other adults' repeated reassurance that she's fine and won't be punished for wanting things, she still has to be persuaded to say her opinion on anything, and she is deathly afraid of inconveniencing people in the slightest.
• Heävy Mëtal Ümlaut: Catra's favorite band Mürdërkätzën
  • In chapter 22 she's briefly impressed by the IKEA name 'Drönjöns'.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Catra has an interest in art that she was never allowed to cultivate with her old foster mother. Angella, on the other hand, encourages it strongly, and lets her foster daughter go to after-school activities for painting and other creative pursuits. Her favored subject to paint is Glimmer.
  • She later turns out to have a very keen eye for narrative analysis, giving a reading of a school play on the fly that both Angella and her teacher are impressed by.
• Horrible Camping Trip: Chapter 20, at least for Angella.
• In Medias Res: Chapter 21 starts with Angella and another parent being told by the school principle about their children's latest wrongdoings.
• Innocently Insensitive:
  • Glimmer is a bit spoiled, and occasionally forgets that she's had a very happy childhood compared to her abused foster siblings, leading to a few incidents where she accidentally hurts Catra and Adora by taking things for granted that they never had.
  • Throughout chapter 19, Catra nearly builds up the courage to confess her feelings to Glimmer. Each time, Glimmer either interrupts her and ruins the moment, or accidentally turns her down by describing their relationship as platonic and familial.
• Interclass Friendship: Catra and Glimmer in the first chapters before they become foster siblings. The first two chapters feature Glimmer buying Catra things she would never have been able to aford on her own.
• KidAnova: After some prompting from Entrapta, Bow turns into this and starts dating his entire class. As of chapter 27 we have seen him with Entrapta, Rogelio, Per(fuma) and an oc girl named Viktoria. We also know that he planned to ask Kyle out, even if we don't know if anything came from it.
• Like a Son to Me: Bow is not Angella's son and he lives with his fathers, but he spends so much time with Glimmer that he might as well be Angella's kid.
• Like Mother, Like Daughter: Glimmer and Angella differ a lot in their interests, but the younger often acts like the splitting image of her mother, having inherited her mother's business-like mindset and stubbornness.
• Lipstick Lesbian: Casta has shades of this trope, dressing and acting quite feminine while also sleeping with other women on the regular.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Glimmer before Catra and Adora moves in has shades of this, despite Bow.
• Lovable Jock: Adora is shaping up to be one of these, with her physical aptitude, interest in sport and people pleasing attitude.
• Merit Badges for Everything: When the validation craving Adora discovers swim badges she goes slightly overboard, starting with those inteded for toddlers and working herself up.
• Mythology Gag: Angella's ex girlfriend turns out to be Evil-Lyn of all people.
• Noodle Incident: We never find out exactly what made Angella decide to stop taking the children to the water park, except that the answer can be extrapolated from her and Glimmer's clashing personalities.
• Not Blood Siblings: Downplayed. Catra is in love with Glimmer, her foster sister, but they knew each other before Catra and Adora were taken in by Angella.
• Not So Above It All: Occasionally Angella is not above the usual background chaos, for example when she has forced the kids to go outside during Christmas break to spend some time without screens, but can't resist sneaking a peak at her smartphone herself.
• Oblivious to Love: Glimmer still hasn't twigged to the fact that Catra is in love with her. Of course, it doesn't help that Catra Cannot Spit It Out.
• Parents as People: Several chapters are written from Angella's point of view, giving insight into her difficulties as a parent. While she's financially stable enough to raise three kids, she has a hard time relating to Glimmer's interests and struggles with connecting with her daughter, having to practically bribe her to partake in mother-daughter bonding activities. There is also the difficulties that come with Catra and Adora's traumas, with Catra suffering deep-seated trust issues and Adora having no sense of self-worth at all.
• Porn Stash: Angella's 'special' books, heavily implied to be Harlequin-esque romances, insufficently hidden in her bed room.
• Precocious Crush: Catra is head over heels in love with Glimmer. Of course, the older they get it becomes less of this and more of just a crush.
• Rags to Riches: Poor orphans Catra and Adora getting taken in by well-off upper-middle class Angella. It's not made explicit if their lack of money in the early parts of their story is because of Shadow Weaver being poor or if she simply uses money as a way of control, but it's noted that they used to live in a poorer part of town.
• Running Gag: Chapter 19 brings two;
  • Glimmer promising the camp counselors that she and Catra won't do something, only for a Gilligan Cut to them having done that a few minutes later.
  • Glimmer and Catra falling in some body of water. When they don't do it (on the day that was dedicated to water activities, even), they proceed to do it on purpose.
• Queer Romance: This story is equal parts Found Family, Slice of Life and this.
• School Play: A story arc running about ten chapters from Chapter 21, focusing on Glimmer's and Catra's relationship while also expanding on the kid's social life in school.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Glimmer and Mermista, butting heads in Chapter 21 over who gets to play the mermaid princess in a school play, their 'things' being princesses and mermaids, respectively.
• Spoiled Brat: Glimmer, one hundred percent. She gets grouchy when she can't have what she wants, thinks her perfectly fair chores and duties are tyranny, talks back to her mother in 90% of their conversations, and takes how lucky she is for granted all the time. It's part the result of Micah's lenient parenting, and part her processing the loss of her father.
• Steampunk: Angella, not being quite down with the youth, expresses some amusement that the aesthetic popularized by Jules Verne seems to be back in vogue every so often.
• Summer Campy: The setting of the first chapter, where Catra and Glimmer met. The camp itself was not that bad, but Catra's and Glimmer's initial antagonism made them sabotage things for each other, at least until they decided to stick together instead.
  • In chapter 19 they are back to camp again. They have a blast, even if they don't make things easy for the poor staff.
• Trans Tribulations: Downlplayed most of the time. Bow is a trans boy, secure in being open with his gender identity and with full support from the rest of family. There are however suggestions that he's worried about the future. There are also hints that one of the reasons he hangs out with Glimmer so much is that he doesn't receive the same level of support at home. Some readers have also noted that Catra's name change mirrors trans subject matters.
• Troubled Teen: Catra has shades of this, even if she's doing much better after Angella took her in. The first time we see her after summer camp, she's skipping school.
• Un-Confession: Poor Catra comes SO CLOSE to confess her love to Glimmer multiple times in chapter 19. She keeps getting interrupted or losing her nerve.