okay but this is really fascinating and I love it?
because lexa is taking a pose of authority. it’s a stance of extreme confidence in your strength, meant for intimidation. taking this stance means exposing your neck, front torso and vital organs and to do so voluntarily you’re basically saying, ‘come at me if you dare.’ because you have no fear of an attack.
go back and watch- lexa uses her Commander ™ position all the fucking time, most often around titus. even when she’s pissed at him and trying show self-restraint, she sticks with that position- though here the grabbing of her elbows/forearms shows she’s holding back a negative reaction- the higher a person clasps their arm, the stronger the negative feeling:
also of note though is that later, in the same scene when it’s just her and clarke, she drops her hands and takes a more neutral stance of hands at her side:
that exposes a lack of pretense. there’s no need for posturing for strength when you don’t have your guard up. in fact, lexa rarely ever takes her Commander pose with clarke. even in the damn Wanhenda bowing scene, her hands are at her side, when really (if she wanted to show her superiority over clarke to the clans), she should have been using her Commander pose.
the only time we do see her show a little cockiness is when she’s showing off with aden in 3x04, and her playful tone and expression offset it:
conversely, clasped hands in front of your abdomen is a more vulnerable position of defense. intertwined fingers show restraint and frustration. you’re protecting your vital organs because you don’t feel safe, but you need to project an air of confidence and strength. understandably, that’s why clarke takes that position when titus walks in.
wanna know when lexa uses that position? in 3x03 and 3x04 when she wasn’t sure clarke would ever accept her trust again:
it’s all just so fascinating to watch how it exposes what the characters are feeling simply by looking at what position they take around the people around them. cuz boy does ADC make some really interesting choices wrt lexa in relation to clarke vs. lexa around virtually anyone else.
jacobvanloon
tangentwithtanner
pixelskylines
andulkaphoto
