#adora rants

[manic-sapphic]

ok but now i'm gonna rant about the jump in spop s5e5 save the cat sorry~

when adora chooses to jump down after catra, the fact that she is, innately, she-ra is still something adora has almost no clue of whatsoever. her expression lingers in the frame just before she throws herself down after catra, recalling the fixed look of equally-determined resolve we see on catra’s own face in “Corridors” when the decision to save glimmer (and, yes, most importantly to catra, save adora by extension) is cemented in her mind; a decision catra makes, mind you, not expecting to survive it. and imo, same goes for adora & this moment in save the cat.

adora chooses to follow catra into the darkness, despite her currently regarding her connection to she-ra as gone and having no expectation of manifesting the nearly invincible power she could rely on from being she-ra in the past (and therefore lacking any way to heal catra, even if she could get them both to safety, there’s no way she’s unaware that catra’s body is pretty much guaranteed to be broken beyond repair after falling)

and to me - the most poignant thing this tells the audience about adora making this choice is that she didn’t leap down after catra because she was clinging to the hope that, somehow, she could still save her.

instead, she willingly fell to depths unknown, the landing completely obscured by shadows that she just watched consume catra, simply because she knew that catra would be down there all on her own, and there was absolutely no fucking way that adora wasn’t going to make damn sure she was there to hold her. even if that meant jumping after her and possibly dying down there together. it just meant that much to adora for catra not to have to face the end alone... i mean, wtf dude, it's jaw-dropping in the best way ever fr

[dulcealuf]

A while ago, I finished my mandatory She-are and the Princesses of Power rewatch.

So, I decided to redraw one of my old Catradora pieces. These two mean the entire world to me 💕

[unicornblossom13]

[Catadora & Megop Parallels]

At the start of Transformers One, I think Orion Pax was a bit more similar to Catra, as both were stuck in jobs they were unsatisfied with and wanted to do something more with their lives.

Meanwhile, Adora and D-16 were more serious minded and content with following the rules and work their way up in an environment that was unfair, and sometimes cruel, but was all they knew.

However, in the second half of the movie, when the truth is revealed, that’s when they switch roles.

Orion wanted to fix the corrupted system, trying to avoid using horrible and unnecessary methods if possible. Adora wanted to immediately stop the Horde once she realized what their true intentions were, joining the Rebellion to fix the damage they have done.

On the other hand, D-16 became more and more consumed with wanting revenge against the lies fed to him his entire life. Now, while Catra was well aware of the Horde’s true nature, she desperately wanted to prove her worth to those that constantly doubted her since she was a child.

So driven by their desires and goals, both D-16 and Catra were willing to remove the ones they believed stood in their way, Orion in his case and Adora in hers.

Both Orion and Adora gained an incredible power that allowed them to make a difference and to right the wrongs they had seen.

But it came at the cost of losing their best friend, someone they loved and trusted more than anyone.

Even though these differences in goals and ideals caused them to drift away, their is no denying both pairs are always drawn to each other. Whether friends or enemies, they influence one another’s decisions and actions.

The lingering feelings they have for one another adds to the conflict as they are torn between longing, betrayal, what is right and wrong, and what they desire.

[flytomy134340]

the most realistic part of She-Ra is that as soon as anyone saw Adora transform into an 8ft tall buff warrior princess with a sword, they instantly fell in love, everyone is gay what a great plot twist

[blonde-and-cat-suc]

Catra being anxious and having panic attacks over the bad things she did is actually counter productive to any hypothetical scenario where she is self reflecting and/or receiving constructive criticism.

Her potentially having crippling anxiety over being an asshole in the past PREVENTS and/or DELAYS any changes she might potentially make.

Making this character spiral over moral dilemmas does not inherently mean she’s actively working to change her ways. Her being afraid of facing her badness does not make her good; it simply means she has anxieties toward constructive criticism/dialogue.

[the-moonprophet]

“this is literally a kid’s cartoon wdym you want to be her??”

so you’re telling me you DON’T wanna be a buff baddie woman that's super hot and could get any guy you want except you don't want them you want the traumatized girl from your complicated past who had a villain arc but then she redeems herself by saving your friend and gets herself brainwashed in the process but then you save her and she joins the good guys and you slowly grow closer and catch feelings while you build up to the final battle with the main villain but ofc your plan to defeat him goes wrong and your bratty sassy childhood friend/ex-enemy rushes to save you and at the last moment she proclaims her lifelong love for you and you kiss and defeat the bad guy with the power of gay love

???? who wouldn't want that

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

no one:

absolutely no one:

spop stans: omg adora is such a dumb jock haha i can't believe she's so dense she has no braincells stupid idiot

[ericas-spop-blog]

So I get a lot of comments taking issue with me calling Adora's behaviour towards Catra (specifically in Taking Control, but also just in general throughout the series prior to The Heart) abusive - that it can't be abusive because it's emergent from her trauma, that she doesn't "mean" it, that Adora is good and good people aren't abusers.

The problem with all of those is that they're incoherent.

If you don't consider this - the pervasive boundary violations, the physical assault, the use of a previous abuser as a threat, the straight up textbook DARVO of "I'm the victim because you told me no" - abusive... then what would you?

I'm being sincere here. These are fictional characters; there is no real person who needs defending. There is only your reaction as the audience, which I am inviting you to examine.

As an actual, meaningful question: What line would Adora have to cross, before you treated her actions as her actions? What would she have to do for you to call her abusive?

Can you find that line?

Because if you can't - if that line only exists for the Shadow Weavers and the Catras, the character who you've been told are "Bad" - Then you are admitting that, for "Good" characters, there is no harm they can be held accountable for, no violation for which they will not be absolved, no crime for which they will not be pardoned.

And that is fucking bullshit.

======================

"Good" and "Bad" are not intrinsic traits, which grant sanctification or damnation to those that possess them. There is no sorting of the sheep from the goats; no fundamental nature that changes the effect of one's actions.

Abusers are not a separate species; some Unknowable Other, irrecoverably tainted by the original sin of Being Born Bad. They're just people, with the same array of thoughts, feelings, and desires as everyone else. The difference is in their actions, and those actions are not modified by purity of the soul.

Abusive behaviours that are emergent from trauma are still abusive. Abusive behaviours the perpetrator believes are acceptable and justified are still abusive. Abusive behaviours done by people you love and respect and look up to are still abusive.

The fact that Adora believes her abusive behaviour is acceptable - even nescisary - doesn't make it other than the thing that it is; a fundamental hostility towards Catra's agency, manifesting in consistent, repeated attempts to control her - through conditional affection as much as through physical, verbal, and emotional violence. She is a person who engages in abusive behaviour patterns, and so she is an abuser. And, as a story element, that's fine. "Adora is abusive towards Catra thoughout much of the show" doesn't mean "Adora is an irredemable character" or "Catradora is a bad ship". It's just a conflict that needs to be resolved.

Adora has to come to grips with the toxic beliefs Shadow Weaver instilled in her - that care invokes a debt, that there are 'Bad' people who have no right to self-determination, that abuse can be justified - recognize that they are the thing that stops her from being happy, and reject them, fully and completely.

[unpersoniverse]

*me after going through the most emotional draining experience watching a show because I got too attached to the characters* ooohh that was so cute I love it :)

[manic-sapphic]

can we pls appreciate tho that even glimmer - who knew catra as nothing more than an enemy she bonded w aboard prime's ship as each other's sole connection to etheria - was legit still horrified to leave her behind, alone w prime? like, realized catra was saving her to save adora but W/O ANY EXIT STRATEGY FOR HERSELF. like when glimmer materializes just outside Darla (mara's ship) and bow catches her. she's crying. girl is straight bawling. like tf tho lol

[bkgrl]

So I have started watching She-ra and the princess of power...

And lemme tell you all that Catra and Adora have awakened something in me...

[wanderingghostz]

Sorry it's been a while, I've been really busy, and for a while, I've had major art block. I think I've gotten over it though. Recently I've been drawing art of the teen titans cartoon (original, not GO!) An AU, it's a highschool/modern with powers AU combine with secret identities. I'm still working on the design of the characters, I've gotten basically all of them done, just need to finish a couple of details, may post them this week or next.

In the meantime, have a she-ra band au, I found the reference on Pinterest, if anyone is looking for it.

[theunluckyvandalist]

i care them so deeply omg

also needed an excuse to draw more top surgery churchill content

i dont like portraying adora as like just scary and op, let her be flustered by compliments and genuine affection DAMN

[blonde-and-cat-suc]

If Adora and Catra both did crap to hurt each other then why do I never see comics abt Adora feeling like crap and feeling bad for hurting Catra

[aroacegod]

I need to rant so I’m doing it here (kinda long, She-ra spoilers)

She-ra could do so much with a season 6. There were so many things that needed to be worked out in the characters. Catra still had a lot of leftover trauma she never got to properly deal with, like her abandonment issues and the nightmares and flashes she gets because of Horde Prime’s mind control. She also never got to really apologize to Scorpia for everything that happened. It would have been nice to see them work through everything and become genuine friends. I just feel like her redemption arc was too short. Then there’s Adora’s “I have to fix this” mindset. She constantly felt like she had to sacrifice herself for the good of everyone else, and I feel like it was never properly worked through. Throughout the show, she felt like people always needed She-ra, but not Adora. And now that Etheria has been saved, she doesn’t have to be She-ra anymore. She might feel like she’s useless now that nobody “needs” her anymore. A 6th season could show us her trying to overcome her need to be useful to everyone else and realizing that she is deserving of love too.

Season 6 could also show us the Best Friend Squad bringing magic back to all the other planets, since that was mentioned in the very last episode. We could also get some lesbian fluff between Catra and Adora, which is always nice. It’d be great to see their relationship develop and help each other overcome their struggles. Maybe we could see them become friends with Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio again. Maybe some Glimmer and Bow stuff too. I’d also love to see Glimmer and her dad’s relationship grow. After thinking he was dead for so long, it would’ve be awesome to see them get to know each other and form a bond. I also think it’d be funny to watch him get used to living normally again—sleeping in a bed, not eating bugs—and just learning to be a dad. And then there’s Hordak. He defied Horde Prime and returned to Etheria with Entrapta. I’d like to see how he and Catra adjust to life in a world without a constant war against the princesses. It would take a long time for him to fully be accepted by everyone, especially the Princess Alliance. And he also wouldn’t be able to get over his prejudices against the princesses immediately. Sure, Entrapta was his friend, but he was trying for so long to crush the princesses that he might still have some kind of urge to do so. Maybe Entrapta could help him live among them and even find some hobbies to keep him busy. I also want to see more of Double Trouble and Wrong Hordak. They’re both such funny characters. And I just love DT; they’re just here to cause problems and I live for it. We could even see more of the Star siblings. They were interesting characters, and it would be cool to learn more about them.

Something that I’ve been wondering about was what the First Ones were really doing with the Heart of Etheria. Sure, they were using it as a weapon of mass destruction to destroy their enemies, but who were their enemies really? Horde Prime? Were there other enemies? And were there underlying motives for mining the planet’s magic? Who did they want to destroy? I just feel like there’s so much more to the story that we didn’t see. And according to Madame Razz, She-ra was on Etheria long before the First Ones got there. What was She-ra like before the sword was made to control her? Were there settlers of Etheria before the First Ones? If so, who were they? We also didn’t learn much (or anything) about Adora’s background. Since Adora is a First One, there must be some kind of First Ones colony on whatever planet she was from. What planet did she come from? Did Adora have a family before she was brought to Etheria? Are they still alive? Are they looking for her? And what about Queen Angella? She technically isn’t dead; she’s just trapped between dimensions, which means she’s alive and alone. I’m not saying we should bring her back; I’m just curious as to what she’s up to. Can she do anything, or is she just stuck floating between time and space? Regardless, there are so many things that could be covered in another season that would be so great to see. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re ever getting one 😔

Thank you for coming to my tedtalk

[chronicsyd]

Ok but the Absolute Rant I’ll go on about Adoras and Shadow Weavers “relationship” if someone allows me to cause I’ve seen SO many people not understand the complexity of that relationship and like Catra slap “favoritism” on it and call it a day cause their relationship was Just as unhealthy as Catra’s and Shadow Weavers but being the scapegoat all Catra saw was “favoritism” and nothing else. The issue with that, however, is that favoritism isn’t privilege. It never has been. Adora constantly receives conditional love from Shadow Weaver, constantly feeling like she has to “prove her worth” and Glimmer and Bow constantly needing to tell her that she’s enough simply as she is. That is until Shadow Weaver enters the picture again in s4 and s5 and we not only see Glimmer fall into the trap of slapping “favoritism” on it and call it a day but Adora still feeling the need to “prove her worth” which causes Catra to run away again in ‘Failsafe’. Like I’ll literally go on and on about this if someone doesn’t Literally shut me up