amanda | 22 | this blog is one giant gay shitpost | with lots of she-ra

johannas-motivational-insults:

Something I feel is missing from this Catradora top/bottom discourse is how much Catra loves Adora and wants to protect her and make her happy. (This is my fault as much as anyone’s, as I originally didn’t think to include it in my thesis statement lol. Being a top myself, this felt so obvious that it didn’t occur to my dumb ass to explain it.) A quick note: none of what I say here is meant to imply that Adora is a bottom, I’m convinced that they are both tops.

Much of what’s been said by the top Catra faction (me included) revolves around her competitiveness and desire to dominate Adora (or at least not be dominated), which kinda crosses over into the dom/sub stuff and plays just as well into the power bottom headcanon. But I think this protector/caretaker instinct is a huge distinction that really signals Catra is a natural top and would want to play that role with Adora.

A lot of people seem to think Adora is the sole giver and caretaker of the relationship, and that is simply not true. Catra has been shielding Adora from the worst of her Shadow Weaver trauma for years, knowing it would upset her/make her feel guilty. She protected Adora early in season 1 by lying about her whereabouts and then about her being She-Ra, to her own detriment (after Adora betrayed her and left her to be punished for her actions, no less). Catra loves making Adora laugh, and tries to care for her by getting her to relax. Catra threw Adora a party to celebrate her accomplishments because she wanted her to have fun and feel appreciated, and to me that felt like a top-aligned grand gesture.

Catra is often painted as a very selfish character and I don’t think that’s really fair. She only cares about herself and Adora, but that’s because Adora is the only person who has ever cared for her. Catra may not give a crap about anyone else, but prior to their falling out she was ride or die for Adora. She wants Adora to be happy, and she wants to be the cause of that happiness, which in my opinion is one of the true marks of a top.

Now, Catra knows that their relationship is viewed as unequal by literally everyone (even by Adora, as she proved with that tactless “sure you did” remark in the ruins), and this bothers her. A lot. It’s not her fault that Adora is bigger and stronger than her, or that Shadow Weaver favoring Adora gives Adora a higher status and an ability to protect Catra that Catra cannot reciprocate. Catra wants to be respected as an equal partner. She wants to be able to protect and care for Adora the way Adora does for her. It was no coincidence that she made that comment about how Adora had never had much faith in her right after she saved Adora from falling to her death.

In my opinion a large part of Catra’s indignation/stubbornness in Thaymor came from her finally getting to be the one saving Adora and then being shot down by Adora of all people, told what she was doing was wrong. Like, that was a huge slap in the face for this girl who wants to be Adora’s knight in shining armor and is used to being relegated to the damsel role, by no fault of her own. Didn’t y’all see the way Catra busted out of Bow’s net by sheer power of will because she saw Adora get kidnapped (in her view) by a princess?

Total power move befitting of a hero/savior going to rescue her girl, am I right?

Of course, Adora feels the same way about Catra (minus the insecurities, since she is the more powerful one in the relationship, deservedly or not). When their relationship is not in shambles and they’re loyal to each other, both will prioritize the other over herself. Both just want to protect and care for the other and make her happy. And that, more than anything, is why they are both tops. :D