i love you. i always have.

archive blog - no longer active

[radsity]

in which adora needs some extra tlc after all she suffered right after delivering the failsafe. and extra soft kisses.

[image description: a watercolor style illustration of catra and adora in their pajamas kissing softly. adora is bandaged up and facing away from the viewer while catras eyes are closed and her face is half obscured by adoras head. the palette are soft hues of oranges, yellows, and purples. end id.]

[jigjoyjigjoy]

THE CROSSOVER ABSOLUTELY NO ONE ASKED FOR BUT I DID IT ANYWAY

I drew Adora as Aimee and obviously she has a little Catra figurine bc ✨girlfriends✨

[ghosts-toothpick]

ss update !! Took a lil break but back on my bullshit

[artseamoni]

[she-ra-shitposting]

She-Ra + Screenshots of Despair | Adora

➥2/ ∞

[maybeimmac]

happy gay!

[jellolegos]

Heart - Expansion on an older piece

-

Edit: by request it is available in my etsy shop as a print, here :)

[awwwkwrd]

Exactly one year later <3

Happy pride month!!

[kohquette]

💖👑 A BUFF BABE APPEARS 👑💖

[kaereth]

Tiny stronk cat holding her big buff gf for a kofi!!! Adora is understandably impressed ;)

[shulikk-deactivated20240330]

"DON'T YOU GET IT?! THINK, ADORA!"

[paperclipmon]

adora and catra when they were cadets in the horde 💖

context: adora finds a palmistry book in octavia’s room and uses it as an opportunity to hold catra’s hand

i was rewatching she ra and i started simping for them all over again, had to make something out of it ✊😔

[cindersart]

my DAUGHTER

[doodlefox2]

(opens bag) here are the goods

[radsity]

“I am not a weapon!”

[gimme-tea-bitch]

Adora, Catra, and the effects of their abuse

I had a stinky little thought while waking up this morning.

Spop is a show that shows the effects and long term trauma that comes from abuse. Namely the effects Shadow Weaver’s cruelty has on Catra and Adora, both throughout their childhood, but even after the fact, when they are no longer under her “care.” And to a lesser extent this trauma is echo’d in both Micah and to some extent Glimmer. But i’m going to focus on the main two.

We see early on, and honestly, consistently throughout the show, how Weaver hurts and abuses Catra. It’s constant and pretty much happens nearly every time they speak. It’s cruel words and physical harm on a regular and consistent basis. And it’s immediately obvious what the situation is. Especially when we see direct confirmation that Weaver was abusing Catra both mentally and physically, even when Catra was a very young child.

Oddly enough, we don’t quite see the similar situation with Adora. And it’s both strange and oddly fitting. Because Adora’s abuse is different, clearly. It’s creating self doubt, it’s tearing down unless she obeys. It’s manipulation, and gaslighting, and deceit. And I think that plays a role in why so much of the fandom didn’t even think Adora was abused for so long. And even the ones who did seemed to often view her abuse as minimal or lesser.

I think one of the big reasons for this, and the reason for Catra and Adora not understanding each other is buried in this very clear difference in method.

Catra knows she is being abused and mistreated. She knows because no matter how good she is, no matter how much she succeeds, Weaver still tears her down. And it turns her, understandably, bitter.

Adora does not know she is being abused. Adora, especially early on, thinks that what Weaver was doing was simply how the horde is. And maybe she’s partially right, but Weaver’s abuse was more severe than the horde’s culture.

And we see this create the rift between Adora. Because Adora is unaware, she’s been so manipulated that to her, the abuse is invisible. Where Catra is acutely aware, she’s painfully aware of the abuse. And the nature of it being so constant and unavoidable confirms that it is abuse.

This difference plays a huge role in their eventual fallout. And it continues to tear them apart, even, and especially during the final season.

By season 5, Catra has long known she was abused, and is now identifying the fact that it has caused her to hurt others and make herself miserable. And we see her begin the process of healing and growing out of that.

The same cannot be said for Adora. Throughout most of season 5 we see Adora’s self confidence crumble, not for the first time. And we see her struggle with dealing with her emotions. It becomes much clearer that Adora is a victim, just as much, when Weaver manipulates and pushes her to take the failsafe. And she does, because of course she does. Adora, still, is not aware of the reality that Weaver abused her. She’s more aware of Catra’s abuse, but not her own for most of the season.

Her desperate need and want to sacrifice herself to protect others is a symptom of that abuse, but Adora just views it as being “one of the good guys” for literally most of the show.

It’s not until we see Catra realize it, that we start to see Adora realize she was also a victim of Weaver. When Catra pushes Weaver at the failsafe, that is the first time that Adora starts understanding. Because Catra is right, Weaver had always pushed Adora to sacrifice. For the Horde, for the greater good, to protect her squad, her friends, the world. But why does it always have to be her?

And we can see in Adora’s expressions that she’s confused and unsure. And even though she takes the failsafe, we can see the uncertainty behind the hero.

The second time Adora is forced to confront her own abuse is when Catra leaves. Catra by now has realized what’s happened. She understands that Adora was groomed by Weaver, groomed to die. And the failsafe confirmed it. So when she tries to run, and Adora chases. Catra has had enough. She calls Adora out on her willingness to die. And Adora doesn’t have a response, at least not a good one. She parrots what she’s heard, and even when she says that someone has to do it, we can once again see in her expression the uncertainty of that decision.

Because she knows that someone has to, but she knows that Catra is also right.

And we can see her starting to push back the grooming around this time as well. Her calling out Weaver and saying that Weaver “ruins people, ruins any chance they could be happy.” is not just her acknowledging Catra’s abuse, but in a less direct way, her own.

The next time we see her confront it is as She-Ra, when she meets Mara. Mara is aware of her abuse by this point, and Adora has finally begun to realize it herself. And here Mara tells Adora she’s worth more than what she gives.” Which is vital for her, because it goes directly against what Weaver manipulated her into being, a martyr. And we can see how much this has shaken her. Adora’s no longer able to brush off the concern people have for her. She hears Mara, and there’s finally no brushing it off by saying “i’m She-Ra i have to do this.” Because Mara, the previous She-Ra wouldn’t buy it, and Adora knows that.

A special mention for this is when Weaver dies. For so long we’ve seen Adora be blind to the abuse. And in the moment of Weaver’s death, when her and Catra are crying, I think that moment is important in her realizing that Weaver was their monster. She abused them both so much, and it is both painful to watch her die, as someone who for so long was like a mother figure, and a huge weight off her shoulders and relief, because she can’t hurt them anymore.

The final moment that Adora is forced to acknowledge her abuse is the heart. Adora loses. She can’t beat the virus, can’t release the heart. And we see her giving up. For once in her life Adora is giving up as the hero. And that’s huge. That’s someone we never see her do. Because she was never allowed to quit, to show weakness, to fail. Her whole life was about how she has no choice but to succeed, no matter what it costs her. And this time she fails, and she accepts her failure, for how much it hurts her. But then there’s Catra. Who knows the extent of both of their pain. Catra, who has now firsthand seen why Adora became like this. Why Adora is willing to die. And if no one will fight for Adora, Catra always will. Catra doesn’t ask Adora to save the day, she doesn’t ask her to save the worlds. All Catra asks is for Adora to stay with her. To just let it be them. Let them be together and be happy.

And as we all know. That saves them all. Adora choosing to push aside the martyr she was raised to be, to just love Catra. To just love the person who’s always matter the most to her, that saved her. That is when Adora begins to recover. And i think that’s really fucking beautiful.

[nueroca]

Stuff I did for Promises: a Catradora fanzine in 2019 - I love designing merch 💖