iāve talked a lot about catra being the scapegoat, but now i want to talk about adora being the golden child. itās not all sunshine and rainbows, thatās for sure.
when adora was a child, shadow weaver told her that she was responsible for catraās behavior, and by extension, her punishments. no, adora wouldnāt be punished for it, but catra would, and that was probably worse. this likely instilled the idea that, if catra got hurt because she āmisbehavedā (read: did normal kid things), then it was actually adoraās faultānot catraās (which it isnāt) nor shadow weaverās (which it is). if catra suffered, then it was because adora wasnāt trying hard enoughāto distract shadow weaver with her own accomplishments or convince catra to stay in line or whatever.Ā
catra completely misinterpreted this, assuming that adora enjoyedĀ this favoritism. is this the reaction of someone who enjoys being the golden child, or is this the reaction of someone whoās terrified?Ā
a lot of people have assumed that adoraās behavior is arrogant, but i think itās actually justā¦what sheās been told and taughtā
āthat sheās important, but not necessarily useful unless sheās doing everything theĀ ārightā way. sometimes, being important isnāt actually very comforting; it just gives you more power to make mistakes and let people down.Ā
shadow weaver gave adora the illusion of control over more than her own behavior, and when that illusion crumbled, adora was left withā¦herself, and a sword. itās no wonder that she clung to the sword as a source of validation and importance, a way for her to actually help people.Ā
this also explains why she feels such strong guilt for anything bad that happens around her, which light hope recognizes and exploits. all adora wants to do is protect her friends (and, yāknow, etheriaāno pressure though), but what if she only hurts them? sheās convinced that she does have the power to save everyone, that she is important enough to do everything, and yet, she fails, again and again. even when she has the physical power to throw things around, she canāt heal plumeriaās tree or glimmerās abilities, because sheās just not good enough.Ā
being the golden child, being told that youāre special and amazing and perfectā¦a lot of people buckle under that pressure and end up paralyzed by fear that they canāt truly accomplish anything.Ā
luckily, adora has found friends who truly do not blame her for not being able to save everyone, and she finds the strength to get up again and try.Ā
prguitarman
origamiaround
snowghoul
vaporwave
blakekathryn
stormborns
izzy806
