#adora does go to prom tho. haven't decided if catra does yet.

[aprillikesthings]

Hi I have More Thoughts on Princess Prom

This couple of seconds has always fascinated me--it's near the end of the episode, they've been fighting, Catra swung at Adora and missed and nearly goes off the cliff, but Adora catches her

And for a second, Catra looks surprised and Adora looks angry:

But then they switch, Catra looks angry and Adora looks surprised:

And there are multiple ways of interpreting this moment and it's killing me

Especially given that this is pre-Promise--so like, Catra is still trying to get Adora back "home" to the Fright Zone, which she does accomplish via kidnapping Bow and Glimmer; anyway at this point they're not "officially" enemies yet

The first shot seems to be Catra being surprised Adora doesn't let her fall--the realization that while Adora might be fucking pissed and chased her up here to fight her (tho Catra lured her up there and is just keeping her busy until that helicopter-ish thing shows up), Adora still doesn't want Catra to like, die.

But here's the thing: to me, that second shot of Adora being surprised? Is it just Adora also being surprised she didn't let Catra fall?

Because to me it always feels like something else--that that's the moment Adora starts to figure out she's got feelings for Catra other than "childhood friends." That she's attracted to Catra. And it startles the shit out of her.

Do I think Adora consciously realizes it? Ehhhh no. (Word Of God is that Adora ignores her own feelings so much she doesn't put it all together until the Heart, and that Catra knew (...and just kept trying to hide/suppress it) the whole time.) I think Adora's feeling something like a moment of "I want her??" that doesn't even rise to the point of conscious thought before she's distracted by other things (...them both falling off the cliff), which gives her an excuse to ignore it and pretend it didn't happen. So it's just this flicker of Something and it surprises her so much it's written on her face.

And sometimes I think Catra's anger here is because she knows exactly what Adora's expression means and is like, "Oh, now you've noticed? You couldn't have done that before you left?!"

--but I'm interested in other people's thoughts

(And let me admit my own bias here: there's a posted scene in my 60's au fic that has a moment inspired by my interpretation of those couple of seconds. No cliffs involved, just a big party. But there's a moment of Adora feeling her attraction to Catra, and not being able or willing to recognize that that's what she's feeling. But the problem is that it's written on her face and Catra notices it and panics and shoves her away. Cut them both some slack, the scene takes place in 1966, they're 17, and they're surrounded by high school classmates. Also Catra had been putting vodka in their punch.)