swordlesbean: swordlesbean:swordlesbean: echoes in failsafe & heart part 1 When considering Ma
swordlesbean: swordlesbean: swordlesbean: echoes in failsafe & heart part 1 When considering Mara is a simulation projected from Adora’s mind, that turns their conversation into one that Adora is having with herself. So in this moment, we’re seeing Adora fight an inner war, and it’s Shadow Weaver and Catra’s words that have come to represent the battle lines. Adora’s spent so long denying herself her own needs for the sake of being useful to other people, and she’s defined her identity and self-worth completely in those terms. We’ve seen this behavior throughout the show, but these issues were brought to the forefront of her mind in 5x11 by Shadow Weaver and Catra. On one side, Shadow Weaver has been convincing her to continue this pattern of self-denial and self-sacrifice for the greater cause. Personal desires will only get in the way of the mission and endanger your friends and the world, so get your act together, Adora. It doesn’t matter what you want, it only matters what you give. And as much as Adora has tried to keep her guard up around Shadow Weaver, you can see how effectively she crept back into her head. Or more precisely, she never really left. Shadow Weaver raised Adora to have these self-harming and self-denying beliefs, and a lot of what she’s experienced after leaving the Horde and becoming She-Ra has just reinforced them. So here, Adora is the one echoing those beliefs. But on the other side, there’s Catra’s tearful questions. Why does it always have to be you sacrificing everything? When do you get to choose? What do you want, Adora? Catra challenges Adora to think of herself for once. Not even specifically to put herself above others, but just to consider that her life and what she wants actually matters. And it’s clear that Catra’s words manage to break through and actually shake up Adora’s long-held beliefs. It’s the first time someone asked her these questions she hardly dared to ask herself, and it came from the person she cares about most, the person all her suppressed desires are about. So the part of Adora that took Catra’s words in and holds them close projects Mara, who fought against She-Ra’s enforced destiny and wanted Adora to be free from it. This projection of Mara echoes Catra’s words again, trying to drive them deeper, to make them as much a part of Adora as anything Shadow Weaver or the First Ones or anyone else forced on her. And that part of Adora that holds onto Catra’s words also carries them even further, daring to hope for more, daring to hope for herself something Catra hasn’t actually said (yet). “You deserve love too.” #the thing that kills me is that this is adora talking to herself #or her subconscious #but SHES STILL ARGUING #its not even like. a mental image of shadow weaver and shes arguing for her own side #shes arguing AGAINST her having value and deserving these things #EVEN IF SHE UNCONSCIOUSLY WANTS THESE THINGS SHE FEELS LIKE SHE HAS TO FIGHT IT #HAS TO TELL HERSELF NO #this is adora talking to herself but she has to pretend its mara #giving her permission #to want to live and want to be loved #because she cant even bring herself to say it from her own mouth #HAHA ITS OKAY IM NOT CRYING ITS FINE!! (via @buckysbears) -- source link