#adora meta

[chaoticbug]

do you ever think about how Adora was raised in a extremely controlled environment that greatly limited her ability to gain information about the outside world, and that as soon as she leaves she is thrown into a completely new culture that she knows nothing about and she is expected to be a leader?

Do you ever think about the dramatic culture shock Adora faced when she left the Horde?

In Princess Prom Adora is so set on learning everything she can because it's one of the first big cultural events she has to prove herself in as Adora, not She-Ra.

Adora is someone who grew up with strict rules and suddenly every rule she knew was wrong. And because of her role as a leader in the Rebellion, everyone expects Adora to know things about Etherian culture she never learned.

Do you ever think about how Adora's culture shock greatly affects her as a character?

[aprillikesthings]

So this is somewhat of a continuation of my "you could headcanon Catra as demisexual based on canon" post, but I wanted to write a new post for this.

So there’s a fascinating conversation to be had about why, in fics where Catra and Adora aren't together (yet), so many of us have written Adora as…not a prude per se, but far less likely to hook up with other people—and have written Catra doing that, instead. (I mean, I have an unpublished WIP that includes that; I'm not throwing stones at glass houses here.)

And I do think some of it is that Adora is awkward in that way that’s so often some combo of a sheltered upbringing/ADHD/autism; whereas Catra is in fact more openly flirtatious.

(Disclaimer: In this post I'm using "slutty" in a neutral-to-positive sense.)

But the irony is that One, plenty of people who share those qualities with Adora are in fact hella slutty*; and Two, Catra clearly doesn’t intend to follow through on all that flirting.

ANYWAY time for my actual thesis of this post:

The real reasons, IMHO, that it's easier to see Adora as less slutty than Catra:

Adora is so visibly uncomfortable in her skin, and Catra is not

Adora doesn't even realize when she's attracted to other people

Catra however is aware of when people find her attractive (and changes how she interacts with them based on that)

The tweets aren't connected; they weren't part of the same thread. But ND's made no secret of the fact that he gave Adora a bunch of his own traits**, and it was after s5 that he started coming out as trans--which isn't to say Adora is intended to be read as dysphoric. But the way Adora never thinks of herself or what she wants carried over into not thinking about her physical body as anything other than a tool, and not feeling comfortable in her body, and not feeling like she owned it. (Which....is probably related to ND's religious trauma, considering how many conservative/fundie Christians straight-up tell women and girls their body doesn't belong to them. In those words. Literally.)

And I think that's part of why Adora reads as so awkward. The idea of someone wanting her and finding her attractive is just bizarre to her to the point that she doesn't even see it.

She does clearly find other people attractive! But I don't think she realizes she's doing it--she reminds me a bit of when I was 15 and stared at women in bikinis on the beach and tripped over my own feet because I was looking at them and not where I was going lol, and had literally zero idea I was doing it until my best friend told me about it later.

Adora didn't even know she wanted to kiss Catra until just before it happened--if Glimmer had pulled Adora aside in the Crimson Waste and said "lol you want Huntara so bad," Adora would've been genuinely confused!

And that's all before you get into the whole She-Ra thing, and you could write a long-ass essay about Adora's sense of identity and the degree to which she sees She-Ra as herself or not. But the fact is that She-Ra has a different body than Adora! Taller, stronger, a lot more hair lol. And the people around her clearly value She-Ra differently than they do Adora. So that's a whole. Thing.

Meanwhile: Catra just feels comfier in her body. She does try to tamp down her cat-like qualities to some degree, especially in s4, but a lot of it was just that her ears and tail tended to give away her emotions, and she was trying to hide them. She stops suppressing that at some point after Save the Cat. (And then the Universe gave her a mood ring alien cat, lol.) Catra's got her own pile of Issues, but her body is just not one of them.

There’s a scene at the end of The Coronation (s4ep1) where Catra is in her s4 outfit for the first time, and she basically does the “I’m in charge now” thing at Hordak, and I’m sorry but it’s...not NOT sexually charged, even leaving aside that her new outfit has thigh slits and a boob window. She’s sitting in his throne and purring (loudly!) and then purrs out a "Hey, Hordak."

She basically forces him to his knees, taunts him, and then we see from his POV as she sits back in that throne and crosses her legs. If she’d done that in a scene with literally any non-male character it would be seen as ship-bait!

Is she intentionally flirting with Hordak? Lol no.

But you'll notice: She doesn't do it with Scorpia, when she's mean to Scorpia. With Scorpia she's just...biting and cruel. So she clearly has some idea what she's doing when she taunts people, enough that she knows Scorpia would take it differently. She knows Scorpia finds her attractive and is trying to push Scorpia away.

Catra also doesn't do it with Double Trouble! Double Trouble flirts with Catra, but Catra gives none of it back, and as noted in my previous post, is even visibly uncomfortable with it at times.

Which isn't to say Adora never does the "flirtatious taunting" thing:

But like, where. Where do you think she learned it from.

(this post is once again relevant)

EDIT: another example of Adora learning it from Catra, taken from a "She-Ra Crack" video:

(*Me. In my 20’s. Just remember kids, lots of neurodivergent nerds are hella slutty.) (**iirc that's how he got diagnosed with ADHD. Everyone just like "hey is Adora intentional ADHD rep" and he was like "no, I wrote her like me?? ...oh. shit.")

(Lastly: anyone reblogging this to shame people for writing/hc'ing/shipping whatever they want will get blocked. I'm not even sure I hc Catra as demi and I wrote a whole post about it lol.)

[manic-sapphic]

"you were fighting dirty"

i honestly don't believe that catra cared about winning the way she lets it be implied in promise.

look at this mf'er. she's been able to spring back n forth, hop around and fake out left n right all her damn life. i honestly think she was happy to just kinda be adora's go-to, cause she was stoked on the fact adora chose her to be that person.

i see catra's upset here being triggered by her peers reading her strategies/tactics in ways that reinforce her negative self-image, then seeing adora lauded by their peers for her strength & bold heroics.

i don't think she was angry about losing, exactly. but losing w the feeling that she's already the loser for having to try and look for a way to win.

[tippenfunkaport]

[source]

I was delighted to find this because, while everyone is obviously welcome to headcanon whatever, I always knew that was intended to be Glimmer's knife!

The first time we see it is even in Glimmer's room in No Princess Left Behind.

[candyskiez]

rewatching she ra is a wild ride man like damn I forgot how obviously traumatized adora is in retrospect. how she acts around angella? "People like me better when I'm she-ra"? running to get some sort of validation from any adult figure the second everything in her life goes to shit? her first reaction to a perceived fuck up is to self punish and leave glimmer and bow entirely since she "ruined" their lives by being "irrational" in shadows of mystacore? the fact everything is her fault in some way somehow since season one??? holy shit she was seriously considering staying behind with light hope and never leaving because she thought her friends were better off without her. I forgot how much she self punished. whoever thinks adora didn't suffer in she ra has never watched the show istg

also just. the fact she sleeps with a *knife* is so telling. what happened to her in the horde that made her feel the need to start? she was fully prepared to fight shadow weaver the second she woke up. she *sleep fights.* what the fuck did they do to her. this kid has been through so much.

[that-ari-blogger]

"Do It" (Destiny Part 2)

When you interact with a lot of similar media, you tend to notice patterns and recurring tropes. Most notably in this example is the final season darkest hour.

Typically, when a series wants to ensure that the stakes are higher for its final arc, it will end the previous in a very dark place. Avatar: The Last Airbender does this, and I just covered The Owl House doing a very similar thing.

But She-Ra has a lot more to it than just the singular convention. This is an incredibly cerebral series with a ton of moving parts. So, for the season four finale, I would like to examine a few of them, and what they do for the story.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD: (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger, A Christmas Carol)

Context is important, and stories have an understated ability to draw together disparate elements into a cohesive entity through a consistent theme.

Here, that is twofold. The series as a whole has been about the cycle of abuse as portrayed through tragedy, specifically in its antonymic relationship with genuine love. But Destiny Part 2 zeroes in on the chronological geography of this. As in, there is a distinct sense of time in this episode, and a discussion of the past and future and their impact on the present.

Everything in this episode revolves around these two ideas, and so everything must be analysed through those lenses.

Starting with the runestones, which are an idea original to the 2018 reboot.

“It’s like…”

“…connection.”

Throughout this season, we have seen the princesses glow when they achieve camaraderie, and that glow is near identical to that of the planet balancing itself. Near identical. The runestones are shown to be more powerful than regular camaraderie.

We don’t actually know the origins of the Runestones, with the exception of them being native to Etheria. The Legend of the Fire Princess graphic novel has one in it that was created by the first ones, which implies that the others were not. But I am here to talk about the main series. (If you want me to discuss the book or any other supplemental media, my ask box is open).

As such, I find it important that the power of the Runestones, much like that of She-Ra, predates the First Ones, which means that it was not theirs to use.

In my previous post about She-Ra, I commented on the First Ones as colonialists, and this adds to that symbolism.

The First Ones co-opted something that was, by all accounts, sacred to the people of Etheria, or at least of significant cultural value. It was repurposed into a weapon that would, as a side effect, wipe out the planet. Cruel and uncaring. The First Ones viewed Etheria as a tool that could be cast aside when it was no longer of use, a worthy sacrifice.

In terms of our themes, this is most definitely abusive behavior, and that continues into the cyclical nature of that abuse.

I have also discussed how it doesn’t matter if the First Ones were the aggressors in their war or not. If the First Ones were under siege, then they felt the only way to defend themselves was to inflict more suffering on bystanders. The abuse they received turned them into the villains of this season. But I think the most important moment for this part of the episode is this:

In her desperation and powerlessness, Glimmer tries to destroy the Runestone.

The anger at being used has been turned against the First Ones, but they are using the culture of the people they have colonized as a shield. To get to us, you need to stab yourself.

It’s forcibly disconnecting the people from the symbol of their culture, metaphorically and literally breaking their connection and leaving them weak and in a place of vulnerability.

This wasn’t even intentional. I don’t think the First Ones sat down and schemed about how, when this master plan goes off, there will be one princess who tries to break the runestones. It was a side effect. All of this was a side effect.

The main role of this was to destroy a different force entirely, Etheria was never part of the equation. The First Ones were fighting a war with someone else, and Etheria was just a sacrifice that could be made.

Glimmer is technically surrounded by the corpses of her enemies here. That is the context for her statement that "we are the good guys". Yes, they are robots, but Emily is sentient, so...

Abuse is fundamentally selfish. To the abuser, it isn’t about the victim, it’s about the anger and often pain that needs to go somewhere. It’s about the power and control. The victim was just there. My feelings matter, my heart, my obsession, my anguish. You are a convenient scapegoat.

It is important to understand that this mindset is built on a misunderstanding.

There is a reason for it. Of course there is. Everyone has a reason for their behavior. That’s what the cycle of abuse is. You get so wrapped up in your own mind that other people stop existing, and you are left with empty shells around yourself. But having a reason does not make you right.

There are real people around the abuser and the abused. She-Ra is a series about those real people, hence why it is so human in almost every character. It is about the real people who are hurt by someone else’s drama, the real people who get burned by being too close, the real people who get caught in the crossfire.

The Runestones are symbolic of those real people en masse. Used as pawns, corrupted, and destroyed.

In that sense, they also relate to the episode theme of time. They are monuments of a distant past and a history even greater.

At the risk of oversimplification, Runestones in the real world are a Scandinavian concept that emerged before the Viking age but gained traction during it. The vast majority were dedicated to the fallen, but a fair few discussed everyday life and stand as monuments.

They also look nothing like those in She-Ra.

In She-Ra, the Runestones are aesthetically just gems and crystals that are big and look cool. So, why go with the name?

First and most obviously, it sounds magical. Runes sound magical and as any architect will tell you, a large part of any creation is the emotions it inspires. If you want a story about magic, saying “this is a glowing crystal called a runestone” is an easy way to do that.

Although, that does bring up an interesting meta question of why there is magic in this story? As in, what does it do for the themes?

I plan on delving into this question in more detail in a later post, so you have that to look forward to.

For the moment, however, the She-Ra has made a point of connecting magic to nature, and so the name “rune-stone” entangles magic to the ground itself. It is the bedrock of these civilizations.

The other reading is that the stones themselves serve as runes, which are in turn a form of written language and communication. They are the words of people long gone, although crucially, their descendants are still there.

This is how culture exists in a very real sense. Not merely through written words, but through the language and communication itself. Mythology and religion, history and philosophy. Word of mouth and art. Culture is not a static thing of aesthetics but a dynamic manifestation of shared ideas, and sometimes it dies out, but usually it just continues and evolves into new forms. It is everything that has come before and every word that is spoken.

I mean that literally. Every single word has a history and evolution that makes up its current form. The word "Silhouette" comes from a French who didn't like to spend money. Language is the manifestation of history and how it informs the present day. It’s part of everyday life, it is context.

The Runestones are that language as a physical manifestation that literally grants power, and the First Ones use them to destroy people. In this way, what the First Ones did was cultural appropriation, and I don't think my opinion is unpopular that this is, in fact, bad.

Moving on to Light Hope.

“Mara. Mara would not want me to… Mara was a traitor. She turned against her people.”

We have seen two sides of Light Hope. The one who Mara befriended, and the one whom has manipulated her way through half of the series. The weapon of war who couldn’t escape. The cycle of abuse come full circle.

We have seen Light Hope get humanised, and then cast that away. But as best we could tell, it was the system itself that overrode her free will.

This line, however, muddies the waters, because it reminds me of another in the same episode.

“People have hurt you, haven’t they? They didn’t believe in you. They didn’t trust you. Didn’t need you. Left you.”

Of all the people to draw a connection to, Light Hope’s dismissal of Mara is strangely reminiscent of Catra’s antagonism towards Adora.

The cycle of abuse hasn’t just happened before on a grand scale with the She-Ras themselves being destined for tragedy, but this specific plot has happened before, and look how it ended up.

Catra has spent the entire story addicted to power like a safety net. She craves being the highest ranked one in the room because it’s safer, but there isn’t much room at the top of the pyramid. You end up alone, and isolated, and with further to fall.

Catra has been trying to claim power like Shadow Weaver taught her, but has ended up like Light Hope. Alone in her tower, scheming, reminiscing, caught up in memory and spite.

This is a warning to Catra. Most obviously, change your ways. But just to be safe, don’t ever cut your hair and don’t ever start wearing white.

Once again linking back to the themes. The cyclical nature of this series is best exemplified by the threat of another season. This is a story that wants to end, to be free, but it keeps coming back to a song and dance.

I mean this as a compliment. This is the only series that makes me fear another season, but stay glued to my seat as I watch and love every moment. The screen protects me from what is happening inside, and the fact this is a story means that I can stop at any time. That isn’t a luxury the characters are given.

The aim of the series is to end.

And it will, that’s the key thing here. Everything ends. The cycle of abuse is not a true circle but a spiral that winds in on itself until disaster.

Light Hope and Mara are the emblems of a previous cycle. Their story ended in tragedy they couldn’t avert and that left naught but shattered people and places in its wake. Light Hope was Catra, she was someone who was happy. But now she is an instrument of the system that drove them apart, unable to understand or take comfort from Adora until the end, begging for Adora to "do it", begging for death. This is who Catra will be.

Don’t believe me? There is only one other person who uses the words “do it” in this episode. Can you guess who that is?

“What are you waiting for? Do it. Looks like we're both alone, Sparkles.”

There is, however one majour difference between the old story and the new. This rendition isn’t over yet.

I haven’t seen nearly as many Marvel films and TV series as I should have. I saw Infinity War and End Game, I saw Thor: Ragnarok, and I watched Moon Knight, but other than that, I mostly never cared for the series as a whole. I didn’t dislike the films, I just never cared that much.

Which is honestly weird, because I read comics on the regular, and got into comics through Marvel. I started with a Spiderman one shot in the Clone saga, and while I wouldn’t call myself a comic nerd by any stretch of the imagination, I was enough in the spaces to know who Jeff the Land Shark was before Marvel Rivals was a thing.

The reason I bring this up is to recommend a series I left out of the above list, Joe Pokaski’s Cloak and Dagger, which ran from 2018 to 2019.

I had read a few comics featuring the eponymous heroes before I saw the series, so I knew vaguely who these people were, but this was one of those series that got me at just the right time to leave a lasting mark on my psyche.

Most notably, this is the place from which I get the phrase “There’s always a point of no return. It’s called the end.” But there’s a little more to it.

The premise of this series is that Luisiana is always saved by two kids, and that one of them will always die in the process. Tyrone and Tandy (Cloak and Dagger respectively) spend the series trying to find a way to escape this cyclical tragedy.

The season one finale will always break me, because we see the moment when Tandy comes the closest to being the one to die, and it’s not in an overly violent fashion, it’s in a phone call.

The two are trapped in a surreal, timeless landscape, and Tandy is presented with a phone using which she can call her deceased father a moment before he dies. She picks up the phone, has a brief conversation, and then the line goes dead. She picks up the phone again and has the same conversation. Again, and again, and again. Just one moment.

Tyrone asks her to leave, she refuses, so he asks her how long she has been there, a question to which she has no clear answer.

If Tyrone hadn’t rescued her, Tandy would have as good as died there and then. Lost to a memory. Lost to the trauma of losing her father playing back to her over and over again.

Cloak and Dagger are played by Aubrey Joseph and Olivia Holt, and while Holt's performance as Tandy in this scene is the showstopper, it would be remiss of me to not mention Joseph's portrayal of Tyrone as he realises what is happening and tries to stop it.

There is always a moment of no return. It’s called the end.

You lose when all hope is lost. You lose when you give up. You lose when you let everything consume you. You lose when you stop trying to escape.

Cloak and Dagger keep getting told that one must live and one must die, and their response is “how about no?”.

Light Hope lost. She became the monster that created her. But that cycle ain’t done for the here and now, Adora and Catra can fix this.

This actually moves really nicely into the third and final element of this episode that I would like to discuss. The title.

Destiny and fate are funny things, aren’t they? They don’t actually mean anything. Not tangibly, anyway. Yes, yes, your fate and your future are one and the same. But that isn’t a fair metric, is it?

Is fate inescapable? Was I fated from birth to write this post? Was my future laid out for me? Or does it work slightly differently?

I am partial to the dichotomy between fate and free will. That being, a person with free will has the autonomy to make their own way in the world and decide their own fate, whereas everyone else is just pulled along by the strings of time. I think this is sweet.

In practice, I have found one way of writing destiny that I like. Nature.

For the record, I am including nurture within this. A person’s nature is just who they are, their history and goals, their fears and hopes.

Specifically, life experiences make up a person. If I find an arachnophobe and I give them a spider, I can be pretty sure how they will react. That is your destiny. It is the path set in front of you by yourself. There is freedom to wiggle within that, but everyone has a set of key components that make up their personality, and in the right circumstances, this can be manipulated.

I could go for the obvious here and talk about how God Of War: Ragnarök leverages this to talk about trauma. I could. It would certainly fit with She-Ra’s discussion of that concept through the cycle of abuse.

But instead, I am going to recommend you the video by Overly Sarcastic Productions (@comicaurora) about that very topic (link) and go further into the past with Charles’ Dickens’ A Christmas Carrol, or more photogenically, the Muppets film of the same name.

“Are these the shadows of things that will be? Or are they the shadows of things that may be only?”

A Christmas Carrol delves into themes of redemption and capitalism, and I will die on the hill that Charles Dickens had a wicked and very dark sense of humour that was brought about by the time in which he was writing. But for the purpose of this post, the book wields the future like a threat.

“Your chains are forged by what you say and do.

So have your fun, when life is done, a nightmare waits for you.”

In A Christmas Carrol, fate is just consequence. Cause and effect. The book is about three ghosts appearing to a miserable old man who thinks he is alone and unimpeachable and showing him multiple occasions when his life was directly impacted by others, for better and for worse, and the effect that his life is having on others.

It opens with a warning from the ghost of Scrooge’s business partner/partners. Cause: Greed. Effect: Chains. Easy one two punch.

It is crucial to me that when Scrooge finds his grave and asks if the future can be changed, the spirit gives no response. It doesn’t give him comfort, but it also doesn’t tell him his future is set. You can try and change your fate. Go for it. If you don’t you will end up here. Alone even in death, but still buried like every other man. There are no coins in your coffin, just memories.

The point of no return is called the end. You decide what that will end up being.

Adora and Catra have been thrust into this story by their natures, and they have been positioned in such a way that can only lead to destruction.

It was in Catra’s nature to take Adora leaving as badly as she did, because she has grown up being told that affection is exclusive and that a person can only care about one other person. She has been taught love in an incredibly dysfunctional way, and she is just a traumatised child, but she’s a traumatised child who is actively wrecking other people’s lives.

Similarly, Adora is a hero in the most self-destructive way possible. She has to save everyone, has to destroy herself for everyone else’s happiness. She is a pawn in a war and she will burn herself to the ground to feel any kind of warmth and it will kill her.

It is these two’s destinies which clash. The cycle of abuse is a spiral that leads to destruction. The tragedy is tragic. So, what do?

To change your fate, you make the decision to change your nature. An arachnophobe can overcome their fear, Scrooge could become a charitable man, Adora and Catra can escape.

If we lean back into the path metaphor. Your nature is a road that itself is moving towards a destiny. If you try and get off it, you will fall over. But you can reach the edge. You can break free. You can start moving in a different direction.

It is always possible to change.

Before I finish up, I want to discuss Horde Prime’s introduction, because he is fantastically incurious in a way that leans into what I have been saying about the inherent self-centredness of abuse.

“You have forgotten who you are. You truly think you are worthy to stand beside me, could be equal to me?”

If Horde Prime was reading Hordak’s mind, he would have seen the portal and the source of the energy reading. He would have been curious as to its use. But no, he projected.

It didn’t matter what Hordak did, it would never have been enough. The fact that he gave himself a name was sufficient to warrant animosity. Prime didn’t need a reason, he needed an excuse to show off his power to Glimmer, but also to himself.

Side note here, Horde prime is played by Keston John, who also plays Darius in The Owl House, and has a voice that can melt butter.

I say this because he turns that off like a switch as he shouts down the powerless Hordak. That grace and smoothness is gone for a horrible growl.

This tiny little gesture as Prime draws back his hand before he strikes. He's deliberately offering Hordak grace and kindness, deliberately making it clear that they were an option and he chose violence. He is giving hope so that it stings even more when he takes it away.

Which presents a question: Is Horde Prime actually put together? Is the snarling monster a tool that he uses? Or is it the real man? Does the distinction matter?

Prime has to be told about the weapon. He doesn’t think for himself, he just coasts off everyone else’s misery.

This man is a physical threat, sure. We have seen that in previous episodes. But here he establishes himself as a thematic force in the narrative. He is an abuser, he is a manipulator, he is selfish.

Horde Prime is terrifying.

Final Thoughts

I had meditations about Arcane and Shakespeare in this that I had to cut because this is one of the longest posts I have ever written.

I want to stress that She-Ra as a series didn’t go places. It didn’t cover new ground as it progressed. Episode two of series one shows a home destroyed by the trauma of a war and the psychological damage that the cycle of abuse can do to a person. She-Ra started here, it just got blunter as the characters got more and more wrapped up in their own heads. Eventually, the show literally wrote its themes on the walls.

This is a tragedy desperately trying to happen. That’s what’s so compelling about the final season yet to come. The character’s have one last moment to get their arses off that road to the end of the world.

Last chance. Last stop. The point of no return is called the end.

Next week we are diving straight into season five, so stick around if that interests you. Let’s do this thing!

Previous - Next

[maxiemumdamage]

What makes me sad is that there are very few RWBY crossovers — in general, but in this case specifically — that explore the hilarity of their weapons.

Like. The fandom has gotten so used to it to the point where we’re shocked when the melee weapon isn’t also a gun. We’re desensitized to things like “sniper-rifle-scythe” or “shotgun-gauntlets” or “katana-chain-scythe-handgun.” Non-RWBY characters, even those from an action series, will not be.

Luz Noceda would be alarmed if someone pulled out a seven foot tall sniper-scythe (though she’d fangirl before she’d panic in most circumstances). Percy Jackson will not know how to respond to a gun when he’s been fighting with a sword from antiquity. Adora She-Ra…is probably not gonna react that strongly, actually, but she’s a child soldier who unlocked magical girl powers and is friends with Entrapta, and as such is uniquely suited to cope with the insane bullshittery of RWBY weapons being thrown at her.

Anyway. Missed opportunity for comedy is all.

[mara-defense-squad]

I think the thing that really appeals me to catradora is the fact that they weren't supposed to make it.

Think about it for a second. Their whole lives they were pitted against each other, because Shadow Weaver wanted Adora and Catra only ever interfered with that. But they still built up their friendship. They made The Promise. They had each other, throughout their time in the Horde, despite Shadow Weaver desperately trying to drive a wedge in between them. They were never supposed to last, but they did.

And then when Adora finds the sword, becomes She-Ra and joins the rebellion - well they definitely weren't supposed to make it then. They were enemies, on opposite sides of the war. Yet, in early season 1 (pre-Promise) Catra still defends Adora in her absence. She lies to Shadow Weaver, lies to everyone about Adora being She-Ra and when SW finds out, she says "She's just confused". Still protecting Adora, despite her leaving. And Adora doesn't stop trying to convince Catra to join the rebellion, even though the rebellion would likely prefer it if she did. They weren't supposed to be fighting for each other - but they did.

And then Promise happens. Like Shadow Weaver, Light Hope sees Adora's friendship to Catra as a threat. So, she takes that wedge SW jammed inbetween them and drives it all the way home. She convinces Catra to cut Adora off, and convinces Adora to let go of her. And Light Hope succeeds where Shadow Weaver failed - they are now enemies. And they stay that way. This is how it was always supposed to be.

Then Catra opens the Portal. They get each other back for a second, but it only serves to prove they were never meant to last. Catra completely turns on Adora, and when it's over, Adora completely gives up on Catra. Any hope of reconciliation is shredded.

Catra continues on her downward spiral. Adora moves on. The war rages on, and they keep walking their separate paths. This was how it was supposed to end.

But then - then, in the rubble after the Heart of Etheria, at the moment Adora expects it the least, Catra saves Glimmer, and she apologises. She does this with no hope of seeing Adora again, and Adora doesn't know how to deal with it at first. If she was following the path laid out for her her entire life, she would have left Catra to die on Horde Prime's ship, grateful for her sacrifice, and grieving what could have been. That was how it was supposed to go, and it was exactly what Catra expected from her. But she defies it. She puts aside the greater good, and she storms Horde Prime's ship, for no other reason than that she wanted to. This is not what's supposed to happen.

In Save the Cat, Catra was supposed to serve Horde Prime. She's completely stripped of her autonomy, forced to fight Adora. She's supposed to break her. When she manages to break through - just a little bit - she is supposed to die. She falls off that platform, into the abyss, no hope left for her. Adora is supposed to let her. Instead, she summons She-Ra, and brings Catra back to life. They were never supposed to make it this far.

And it doesn't get easier. For a while, in Taking Control, they still don't really know how to act around each other. They have to learn it again. But they keep trying, against all odds. Catra starts to heal. Adora watches. They get to rekindle what they lost.

But then Shadow Weaver comes back, and the Failsafe happens. All their old wounds are raw again. SW is pressing all of Adora's old buttons, desperately reinforcing that wedge between them, so that Adora will take the Failsafe. At first, Catra resists this - she eavesdrops on Adora and SW conversation, and she seas her manipulation for what it is - and she tries to convince Adora to do the same. Ultimately she fails when Adora accepts the Failsafe. Catra knows that Adora is going to die being the hero, and she can't face that so she leaves. They are separated once again, and it doesn't look like there's any way back. It could have ended here too.

But in Heart, Catra sets down her hurt and her fear and she goes back to warn Adora of the new danger as Horde Prime hacks the planet. She finds Adora fighting for her life, and losing. Catra saves her, and allows SW to take Adora on to the Heart. She tries to sacrifice herself again. They both should have died there.

Only Adora comes back for her, once again. She rejects her destiny to save Catra. SW dies instead.

They've reached the final hurdle, the Heart itself. Adora can't transform into She-Ra, so she's doomed to die saving the world. Catra is supposed to let her.

But against all odds, they confess their love and it works. They both get to live.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. At every turn the cards were stacked against them but they still won. They still made it. And I love that for them.

(sidenote but this is also why i love catra as a character and her whole arc. She was supposed to live a miserable life and die a miserable death but she got to live and change and grow as a person. Ugh I love this show)

[catras-breakup-song]

i’m not gonna lie… i’m lost here. is this supposed to be an 4nt1/cr1t1c4l post? if so, i genuinely don’t understand the point being made.

is it that playful banter is a bad thing? is it that being too hands-on violates unspoken boundaries? the message is so unclear to my autistic ass…

oh, wait, OP provided tags:

so aside from the fact that they are absolutely not sisters by default, least of all canonically (even if you do interpret them that way somehow), nor was it ever intended by nate stevenson, i’m still having trouble figuring out how this is problematic.

in which ways is lighthearted touch totally contradictory to passionate kissing/caressing? why can’t partners who are dating do both, especially in different cultural environments such as the horde where intimacy is discouraged and friendly sparring with familiar peers is a safe expression? if it’s so different, what are we as the audience supposed to interpret from their style of physical affection by the final season? side note, but aren’t we supposed to consider the latest version of anything in general as the most accurate?

now i have a question lol, did you take this moment literally at her word, and all the other times she repeated it?

also, my friend just pointed out that this is the classic homophobic talking point of "they seem to just be very good friends! they were roommates!" lmao. i've never agreed with accusing anyone who cr1t1c1z3s catradora of lesbophobia, which i'm not doing necessarily, because that's simply not how it works, however i found this funny and partially true so i'm keeping it in.

the lip bite was included unintentionally 👀

anyway, as i’ve discussed on this blog before, i’m very arospec and it’s inseparably intwined with my identity itself; i also project that onto catra. something we often bring up in that community, is romance-favorability (as its own spectrum of range all the way to blatant repulsion btw) — which is a personal preference that’s defined as exactly as it sounds like and occasionally revolves around fictional depiction as separate from one's own reality — and arguably more importantly, amatonormativity — which is an arbitrary set of rules for romantic expectations set up by an alloromantic society. this is typically thought of as common denial of the idea that someone could actually want to separate themself from needing a life partner in marriage, but can very much be applied to an annoying list of what draws the line between romantic & platonic relationships. that line is very individualistic and is to be decided on such a level only, and it doesn’t even get into what queerplatonic means, a concept saved for another day!

my point is, the OP seems to be trying to claim that catradora objectively cannot be read as romantic because their dynamic growing up & early-on in the story doesn’t perfectly meet socially-constructed standards of what that should look like. i say we need to eradicate those standards altogether! it’s up to catradora to decide what they are, if anything specific at all, not us as the audience — assuming they could’ve had the words at their disposal to knowingly describe it. going back to my earlier paragraph above about how limited they were in the fright zone, i’ll borrow a quote from a comment i made on one of my recent reblogged posts (which is a great meta on how their mutual desire was uh... definitely not platonic):

"Catra and Adora’s desire for one another is shown in a variety of ways, mostly indirect. There are a lot of glances - until season 5, not the kind of open leering at one another that we’d seen between other characters. Mostly it’s fairly playful - wiggled or cocked eyebrows, glances at each other while smirking, that kind of thing, or really intense and somewhat angry glares when they’re fighting."

it's really bothering me that i can't recall where i read this from before, but someone analyzed before how, growing up, catra & adora didn't have a good sense of how to label their relationship with accurate terminology despite being subconsciously aware that they, whether they knew the other reciprocated or not, loved each other "like that." unfortunately, they couldn't further explore it because such love & affection was seen as a punishable weakness in the horde, so they resorted to the only safe option they seemed to have, which was subtle body language and play-fighting as [testudoaubrei-blog] described above.

also, since this screenshot is included in that post... i would be amused to read an explanation of how THIS LOOK from catra is "platonic with a capital P", because i'm not even sure if it's up for debate to be quite honest with you:

ESPECIALLY with the "i always have!" line (which 4nt1s like to doubt, but i don't care, it's official!):

[direquail]

The way Mara looms over Adora

S2 and S3 really play up the "haunted" sense of Etheria, and I think it's really all about this, here--this relationship, between Mara and Adora. Adora is haunted by Mara.

Mara looms over her, overshadows her. The way she's so present, and Adora can touch the things she touched, and see her touch on the land and on Light Hope, she holds Mara's sword and knows that a thousand years ago, Mara touched that sword, too. But she can't touch or speak to Mara, when she desperately needs to.

Her existence here is predicated on Mara's absence; if she is here, then Mara is dead, and therefore out of reach. Mara is dead long before Adora ever touches the Sword.

This silent image, Mara behind her and before her but out of reach forever, while they both try to reach across time to each other. Adora saying "This isn't it," because there has to be more, she knows in her bones there's more, and Mara, when Adora finally reaches her, saying, "I'm making this not knowing if you'll be there to receive it, but I know you'll be there, Razz said you'd be there, and if you are, then you need to know this."

Saying, "I will reach forward through time to you. You are not alone and you never were."

It's a McFucking prayer, dude.

[mcdonaldsforehead-emofurry]

Daoism and The Complicated Bond Between a Hero and their Arch-Enemy ☯️

(Disclaimer: I'm not an expert on Daoism/Taoism, and even though I made sure to do plenty of research before writing this, I'm likely going to be wrong about some things. If I got something wrong, please correct me. I'm also going to use the Daoism spelling from now on for the sake of simplicity)

A common sentiment expressed between a hero and their arch villain is "Wow, the villain is the yin to that hero's yang", or "They're so yin and yang".

I myself am not an exception, as I've made that point before, especially in relation to the characters I talk about on my blog. But what does that truly mean, and how much does the original source (Daoism) play into these characters in their story?

The most commonly held definition of Daoism is that it's an ancient set of beliefs that focus on being harmonious with the universe (AKA the Dao) via being spiritually/emotionally/physically balanced within. The hard part of the definition comes specifically from the Dao because it represents the universe and its overall depth along with the seemingly contradictive beliefs that come from it. (which is fitting because of how vast and fluid the very nature of the universe is). [2][4][5]

One of the main ways the universe/oneself can remain in balance is through the aforementioned concept of Yin and Yang. Yin is the darkness that holds light and Yang is the light that holds darkness. Yin is feminine, quiet, passive, calm, and negative. Whereas Yang is masculine, loud, aggressive, and positive.

Despite these contradictive traits, Yin and Yang are forces that can't live without one another or else the universe would be out of balance. This balance is achieved through each one having an aspect of each other, as Yin holds some of Yang's passionate and aggression while Yang holds some of Yin's softer and colder parts from within.

It's also important to note neither is inherently good or bad. Rather, they're merely two sides of the same coin that remind us that everyone and everything is multifaceted.

Another concept I need to define from Daoism is Wuxing:

[1][3]: Wuxing Theory/Philosophy is a principle found in Daoism that sets to explain the natural order in the world. Wuxing incudes the elements and their associated color: fire with red, earth with yellow, metal with white, water with black, and wood with green/blue. Each of these elements/colors represent the different aspects/cycles of life including the seasons, body parts, planets, life stages, directions, etc.

[3] Here's a simplified chart showing what each element represent/is associated with:

And here is a simplified chart showing the relationship each element has with each other:

The elements chosen are more so allegorical rather than literal, which is why wood and earth are considered two elements instead of one.

When the wuxing elements are out of balance, a person's self/the world divulges into chaos as the order of nature is ruined. However, when in balance (both the destruction and creation aspects), one's self is complete and in line with the natural order of the world.

This post is going to focus on how this concept applies to the "enemies and lovers" (though lovers can be substituted with friend if desired) trope; specifically between Batman/Joker, Adora/Catra, and Ekko/Jinx. I chose these three relationships because I feel each relationship represents what happens when Daoism is applied in different ways, because this blog is mostly focused on those three, and because I feel like the Batman/Joker dynamic is arguably the most influential/subversive Yin/Yang duo in the modern age.

Which brings me right to-

Part 1: "You're the yin to my yang, can't you see?" Batman and Joker

Before analyzing the specific dynamic and how that influences their respective story, I'm going to analyze the aesthetics because I think the physical appearances are a good visual indicator of their ties to Daoism.

Simply put, Batman is the embodiment of "Dark is not Evil" whereas Joker is the embodiment of "Light is not Good". Batman wears all black to hide in the shadows and blend in while Joker wears bright colors to stand out from the shadowy Gotham. Batman works hard to uphold justice while Joker works hard to spread harmful chaos. Even more interesting is that Batman wears fully black while having white pupils, while in the animated series, one of Joker's redesigns has him with (sans undertale type) black eyes against his white skin. This would seemingly lead to the conclusion that Batman is Yin while Joker is Yang. After all, Yin is usually the quieter/repressed one with elements of aggression while Yang is the opposite.

However, it can also be argued that Batman is Yang due to his aggressive and passion to help others while holding a deep darkness within, while Joker could be Yin due to his overall darker nature with his jovial side being hidden behind his actions.

its been stated by both men how they could've easily become the other after their respective "bad day":

Detective Comics #33 (1939) Bill Finger and Gardner Fox

Batman: The Killing Joke DC Comics (1988) Alan Moore

Either way, I think this ambiguity of who Batman/Joker represents is fitting for what Yin and Yang is because everyone has a bit of Yin and Yang in them.

However, what makes Batman and Joker the ultimate Yin and Yang duo is the fact they represent opposite ideals while reacting in completely different ways. Because of how extreme said ideals they get, both men need a barrier of some sort to keep the other from going over the edge.

After all, its been said by Batman himself that if he killed the Joker he'd end up going overboard with wrath and end up hurting more than intended:

Batman: Under the Hood (2005) Judd Winick

Besides that, Batman's anger is infamous for how it manifests in a highly controlling nature. One of the only people that can go against and challenge Batman's controlling nature is Joker. Likewise, the only person who can plan for Joker's chaos is Batman. That's what makes their fights so personal for each man. They aren't just fighting a man they hate, they're fighting the contradictive ideals they see in one another while giving the other symbolic purpose.

It's no wonder why there are a multitude of stories that showcase Joker grieving over Batman's death/disappearance. After all, without Batman, crime has no punchline:

Knight Terrors: The Joker #1 by Matthew Rosenberg

Joker's 80th Anniversary: Kill the Batman, Gary Whitta

Batman The Animated Series Epsidoe 51: "The Man Who Killed Batman"

Some other examples include The Dark Knight Returns (by Frank Miller), and Going Sane (by J. M. Dematteis, Eddie Campbell, and Daren White).

While Joker is open about how much he needs Batman (with the most infamous example that comes to mind is the final fight between them in Arkham Knight), Bruce is a lot harder to crack.

At first, Batman's feelings are cut and dry, with him hating Joker for all the terrible things he put him and his loved one's through. However, various adaptations and comics (especially in recent years) have shown that Batman's feelings about the Joker are a lot more complicated than originally thought.

Part of this complication comes from how they've been fighting for so long that it's become routine for both of them. Ironic considering that Joker is all about chaos, but I digress. Heck, this same point is brought up in Batman Arkham Knight: The Riddler's Gambit by Alexander C. Irvine, where Batman tries to sort out his seemingly out of place grief that came after Joker died due to how familiar fighting him was.

Another part of this complication is due to the nature of comic books and all the adaptations that come from it. Some writers will write Batman mourning over the loss of Joker (I.E. The short story Perp Walk by Jason Shawn Alexander, The Arkhamverse, The Injustice series, Batman: Damned by Brian Azzarello, etc) whereas other writers will showcase Batman not giving a crap over Joker and his death (I.E. the DCAU). The only thing we can guarantee is that Joker makes Batman feel everything BUT indifference. Even when Batman claims he means nothing to him, he's usually screaming this or putting other peoples safety in jeopardy just so he can deal with his seemingly unimportant butt.

Whatever their personal feelings are, it doesn't stop the fact both men are trapped in a dance with one another due to their conflicting ideas.

Which brings up the question "If Yin and Yang are meant to compliment each other, how can Batman and Joker be Yin and Yang if they constantly fight with one another while rarely working together?"

Outside of their team up storylines including Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo (2023) by: Marc Silvestri, Batman: Europa (2016) by Brian Azzarello, Batman: The Enemy Within, Batman: The Brave and the Bold: season 1 episode 13 Game Over for Owlman, and Dark Knights: Metal (2017) by Scott Synder), they don't seemingly mash well.

And that is the crux of how Batman and Joker both subvert and utilize Yin and Yang. Does being opposites and the same while not being able to truly work with one another prevent them from being truly Yin and Yang? Or is it only a reflection of how Yin and Yang are both separate concepts that retain their individual ideas even when together? There's a lot to say how their cosmic fight both utilizes and rejects the union present in Yin and Yang (at least in a conventional way).

Whatever the case may be, the ties they do share with Yin and Yang is a reflection of each other's vices, and potential successes should they work together. Unfortunately, with the nature of comic books, these two won't be able to break apart from the cycle, which both supports the idea how they both subvert and utilize the tethered nature of Yin and Yang.

Part 2: "But you two... Even when you're trying to kill each other, you can tell there's a real bond there" Adora and Catra

Just like the previous section, I'm going to start off with analyzing the aesthetics' of these two before doing a deeper dive into how Daoism plays into their story:

Adora's main color palette includes red, white, and gold whereas Catra's color palette is red and black (with occasional violet-red in some of her outfits). They both share the color red as a reference to their leadership roles, but the difference with Adora having white and Catra having black best represents how the symbolism of red is applied differently. For Adora, red represents confidence, strength, energy, and health while for Catra, red represents danger, war, blood, anger, and passion.

With these descriptors, Adora/She Ra could be represented with Yang while Catra can represent Yin. Adora is more spunky, competitive, confident, and noble while Catra is closed off, sly, colder, and feminine. And like Yin and Yang, they held opposite qualities, with Catra being often rougher than Adora while Adora (at first) had to be told what to do and wasn't very assertive in what she wanted in her own life.

The whole series follows the fall and rise of their relationship, and how they go from enemies to allies over the course of several years. In short, their relationship serves as the backdrop for the show's universe; as while the two were fighting against each other, Etheria was often in jeopardy. However, when they reconciled and truly opened up to one another, they were able to save everyone around them.

Even their very character growth required them to learn from one another. Adora needed to have some of Catra's selfishness while Catra needed some of Adora's sympathy for others. Without these lessons, the two were self-destructive and unhappy. In this case, selfishness turns into self-love when applied correctly.

This union is also showcased in their future outfits, as Adora adopts some of Catra's feminine side along with her crown, while Catra adopted her ponytail and jacket:

During their first kiss, the scenery involves an excess of yellow, blue, white, green, and black. Combined with Adora/Catra's red, these colors are the same found in Wuxing philosophy (though technically there's five colors with green and blue being interchangeable/substituted with one another).

I'm sure this was a coincidence, but I think the background colors matching with the Wuxing elements is fitting as both women were finally able to open themselves up about their love for one another. It's especially interesting that Adora and Catra have red color's, especially because red/fire is associated with the heart and growth in Wuxing [1][3].

All in all, Adora and Catra's journey throughout the show concluded with them adopting elements from each other while still keeping certain aspects of themselves intact (with the exception of the self destructive traits), and I think that's a beautiful description of what Daoism aims to achieve. Not to concern yourself with someone else's differences, but rather learning from one another in order to grow as a person and retain balance in the universe.

Part 3: "Dynasties and Dystopia" Ekko and Jinx

Once again, lets start off with analyzing the aesthetic references to Yin and Yang that Ekko and Jinx share:

During their infamous bridge fight, Ekko is standing in front of a bright light while shadows fade on him. Meanwhile, Jinx is shrouded in shadows with a brink of light shined on her. This visual imagery showcases that Jinx is Yin, and Ekko is Yang.

Interestingly enough, their outfit's seem to showcase the opposite:

Ekko wears a white tank top with something dark on it whereas Jinx is wearing a black tank top with something light on it. There's also how Jinx is a pale white woman who wears mostly black/dark clothes whereas Ekko is a black man who wears mostly white/lighter colored clothes. Through this visual indicator, it would seem Ekko is actually Yin while Jinx is Yang.

Which could also work because Ekko's gritter aesthetic contradicts with his hopeful, noble personality while Jinx's playful aesthetic contradicts with her inner turmoil and anger.

The idea of Jinx being the Yang to Ekko's Yin is further visualized with both the necklace Ekko gives Jinx/Powder in the alternate universe:

Another tidbit to mention about the ambiguity of who represents Yin/Yang is the season finale where the two come together to save everyone around them. Like Catra and Adora, this union is visualized through their new outfits:

Jinx has hour glasses and green streaks colored onto her while Ekko has pink X's around his body. They also adopted some fashion elements from one another with Jinx's shark hoodie probably being partially inspired from Ekko's hoodie/owl mask, while Ekko is wearing a crop top similar to how Jinx would wear crop tops. Jinx has a brighter top with black in it (like Yang) while Ekko's top is darker with some whites on it (like Yin)

Similar to Batman and Joker, the ambiguity of what Jinx/Ekko represents is fitting for what Yin and Yang is, as everyone is ultimately made up of both forces.

That being said, on a metatextual level, Ekko and Jinx's relationship is one of Arcane's visuals for how much balance is present. This is best observed through the differences in season 1 episode 7 and season 2 episode 7.

In season 1, Zaun and Piltover have a lot of tension due to class issues (which in itself is a reflection of imbalance) and everyone's respective trauma. This fits along with the disarray between Ekko and Jinx and their mutual frustrations with one another.

In the alternate universe, the main cause for everything being different was hex magic never being utilized due to Vi's death. Despite this tragedy, Zaun is seen thriving with everyone looking healthier, happier, and safer. This is best showcased with Ekko and Jinx/Powder being in a happier relationship together.

Even with these differences, Ekko and Jinx still share a Daoist connection to one another, something shown through Powder/Jinx's line: "You know those ugly twins, genius and madness"

At first, it would seem Ekko is the genius to Powder/Jinx's madness. However, Ekko himself isn't as mentally stable as he appears to be. He spent various time loops and over a decade trying to help his best friend turned terrorist, he's prone to obsessive behavior, he witnessed his adoptive father die, and he's prone to bottling up his emotions due to the various traumatic events that he went through. Meanwhile, Jinx is also genius in her own way; as she's able to build advanced weaponry using scraps, she's a poetic person, and she (with the help of Ekko) was able to convert her lair into a working blimp of sorts.

Ultimately, it would be more accurate to say Ekko is the genius holding madness while Jinx is the madness holding genius inside. Both with the potential to act out as either, but only in a way that balances the other out.

Whatever the case may be, these two are always going to be tethered together even though Jinx had to leave. One of the main themes of Arcane is duality, connection, and opposites living together. Ekko and Jinx's cosmic relationship is just another way to showcase this theme among the chaos going around them.

Part 4: The T.D.L.R.

Batman and Joker both utilize and subvert Yin and Yang

Adora and Catra are directly influenced by the message presented from Yin and Yang through their union together

Ekko and Jinx is the personification of Yin and Yang in Arcane/League of Legends

This distinction is important because it shows how much the environment reflects each character VS how much each character reflects their environment.

Batman’s/Jokers world is stuck in a continuous loop unable to break apart from the cycle despite wanting to, Adora/Catra's world changes and evolves with their relationship, and Ekko/Jinx is a relection of the good and bad their environment could bring depending on how they react to it, and well they come together.

Sources:

Bertschinger, Richard. The Five Elements - Mytaoworld [1]

Oldstone-Moore, Jennifer. Taoism: Origins, beliefs, practices, holy texts, sacred places. Oxford University Press, USA, 2003. [2]

Hsu, Shan Tung, et al. “Wu-Xing Theory.” Blue Mountain Feng Shui Institute [3]

Taoism. National Geographic [4]

Zai, Dr. J. Taoism and Science: Cosmology, Evolution, Morality, Health and More. Ultravisum [5]

[yourhighness6]

The catradora ship has completely taken over my life and I know this because today I went to this farmer's market thing with my roommate and there was this girl with aggressively dyed messy hair and a leather jacket and combat boots and a bunch of emo jewelry and another girl with her hair in a ponytail and utility boots and the cutest old sweatshirt who was slightly taller than the other and my first thought was "OMG modern AU"

[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.)

[manic-sapphic]

i dunno if i'll ever be able to stop thinking bout corridors tbh

catra tells glimmer it's just to save adora - but that's the obvious mask kinda stuff she's always done.

pretty tsundere kitty's main focus is adora, i really think that's the case - but by extension,

that means every damn one of adora's squad. that means everyone on etheria.

cause glimmer asks her "are you.. saving me?"

and although catra says "not you, adora."

glimmer and her vibed and bonded so much stuck on the velvet glove and so glimmer gets her a lot better by that point and doesn't tell adora "she was tryna save you" she tells her "she said she was doing it for you."

cause glimmer knows what catra couldn't say - it was to save adora and anyone else she could, sure - but mostly the intent of that was to help anyone she could, adora first, ofc, but knowing that if she can keep adora safe it'll provide her the opportunity to keep the whole damn galaxy safe.

and she knows that's what adora would want. it's not in the least about saving glimmer or adora tbh. catra does this for adora. in the sense that she's tryna do what adora would. she's tryna help her cause. she isn't saving adora. she's just tryna make her last act be aiding adora, if you ask me.

catra was grossed out by prime from the first few minutes they all interacted. she wants to help adora ofc but dude - she tryna help the whole universe. love this btch <3

and tbh, the way catra doesn't stop talking till horde prime takes his gross talon hand off glimmer's face - wtf? it's too good. it shows so much about her true nature that she stands beside glimmer and faces prime w her while talking and literally just rambles some con kinda shi till he takes his hand away.

catra knows how that feels. and she ain't sw. she doesn't wanna perpetuate that for anyone, ever. and maybe i should say "ever again" idk.. either way, she's figured out who she doesn't wanna be by the s4 finale.

she's a complex af character but that's exactly why i'm so glad there are characters like her out there. cause people aren't simple.

[tippenfunkaport]

something something, visited by three spirits that push you to reinvent yourself

and meanwhile, the three mother-type figures in Adora's life were all key to her to figuring out what she really wanted and who she wanted to be but literally...

Light Hope "died" trying to right a wrong from the PAST

Queen Angella died trying to preserve Adora's PRESENT

and Shadow Weaver died to give Adora a chance at a FUTURE

[candyskiez]

rewatching she ra more and I completely forgot about adora saying "I'm useless, no matter what form I take" and I am officially: Fucking Concerned! holy shit! she thinks she's useless without the horde, without someone to give her orders. without praise she falls apart. her entire self worth is based almost solely on outside approval because that's what she was conditioned to be. shadow weaver taught her to be dependent on her praise and instructions. she rushes to razz to try and get her approval and instructions because that's what she was taught. she was never taught she was allowed to think for herself or to be her own person.

she thinks she's useless the second she can't be what everyone tells her to be because that's what she was taught to base her self worth on. she was taught to base her worth on how well she can follow orders. holyyyy fuck.

I forgot how obviously traumatized this girl was holy shit. I want to fistfight shadow weaver in a dennys parking lot