the good die young

favorite ttpd lyrics

“As president of the Scott Moir fan club, I could go on about his innate talent, musicality, passion, drive, commitment, work ethic. Truly, the list is so long cause he is the best in every way.”

“From her ability to move and create brilliant choreography to her athleticism and near perfect technique, she’s the greatest skater I’ve ever seen. Her brilliance is evident in everything she does and she is ruthlessly competitive. Those are some of my favourite traits but they don’t come close to the fire that lit within me when we skated together. Our eyes would meet on the ice and it would take us to another world.”

bbc merlin - 03x05 The Crystal Cave

Yes, 1986 Katharina is boisterous and aggressive and rebellious and goes out of her way to bully others and seeks conflict. She’s not a nice person. Then you see what her life is like, and how much she is made to feel small and useless and how her mother never shows her even a scrap of affection and it all makes sense: all Katharina knows is violence.

There’s a scene between Katharina and Ulrich in season one where Katharina tells him (in 1986) that she doesn’t want children ever, and it’s super obvious why - young Katharina equates motherhood with resentment, with anger, with abuse - and she has decided that she doesn’t want to feel like that, that she doesn’t want to end up being just like her own mother. Better not to have kids at all. 

When we see her in 2019 in the ‘spin off’ universes, Katharina is a fantastic mum to her kids. She is firm but fair in her interactions, she shows them kindness and unconditional love, she’s endlessly supportive. Katharina, without ever being shown how to be a good mum, has worked this out all on her own. Magnus, Martha, and Mikkel are loved and Katharina makes sure that they know it. That’s growth right there, and a lot of hard work and some phenomenal healing - Katharina has broken the cycle of abuse. 

In the original world, Katharina has no children. She has decided that she won’t go down that road, that she won’t risk perpetuating the violence and abuse she experienced at the hands of her own mother. Again, the cycle has been broken, albeit in a different way. Also, original Katharina seems… happy. Less defensive, less on edge, softer.