[ SECRET POST #4596 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4596 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.



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02.
[Megumi from Martian Successor Nadesico + Tessa from Full Metal Panic]


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03.
[Vikings]


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04.
[The Witcher]


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05.
[Crazyhead, Racquel/Harry]


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06.
[Captain Marvel]


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07.
(my hero academia)









Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 21 secrets from Secret Submission Post #658.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[jadeile]

I suppose it might be there, but I seriously can't see it despite wanting to very badly and usually having a good eye for it. The fact that the other romances are super easy to see makes it even more difficult to believe in Adora and Catra's future romance.

-Scorpia's crush on Catra (despite the show trying to cover it up by aggressively calling it friendship, even when Scorpia is blatantly trying to ask Catra for a date) is super obvious in a way that childrens' cartoons typically portray romance. She's constantly all flustered and trying to impress Catra, other characters around her are basically rolling their eyes at her obviousness, but Catra is simply being oblivious for the sake of funny.
This ship has 50/50 chances of actually happening in the end: these cases tend to either be for comic relief but eventually (in the last episode, usually) the broken hearted character who finally got the hint will run into another neglected character and they randomly fall in love for the sake of a happy ending (example, Le Fou and Stanley from Beauty and the Beast live-action). OR this character's perseverance is rewarded in the end when the character they have a crush on finally lets go of their obsession of choice and looks around them and finally sees what's been in there all along (examples: Hinata and Naruto from Naruto, Ginny and Harry from Harry Potter). My suspicions are actually leaning towards the latter here, which makes the chances of Catadora even slimmer.

-Glimmer's crush on Bow is super obvious in a way that is typically used to portray pining and slow burn romance. They're best friends, and one half (Bow) is perfectly satisfied with it and doesn't really notice the other one (Glimmer) as a potential romantic option. The other half (Glimmer) initially thinks they're just besties, too, but then gets instantly jealous when their friend starts dating other people. They typically don't grasp what is going on for a while, but simply start getting on each others nerves because of the sudden jealousy, until eventually plot happens and the previously ignorant half realizes that they, too, loved the other one all along. Then they get together (examples, Ron and Hermione from Harry Potter, Kim and Ron from Kim Possible). The dating and jealousy is actively going on in the series, so it's only a matter of time before it escalates.

-Mermista and Sea Hawk's on and off romance was very blatant from the get-go, and them being together later came as a no surprise. They had the typical "we dated once, it was a disaster, never again, eww" on one end, and "but we actually still have feelings for each other and just need to get over ourselves and try again" on the other. Usually the disaster date happened a while ago off-screen, but not always (examples, Claire and Owen from Jurassic World, Clover and Sage from All Hail King Julien). They will keep on obviously being a couple but denying it until something happens and they finally admit it. They might still break up and make up a lot after, but everyone is used to it.

What Adora and Catra have reminds me more of frenemy-rivalry stuff with a pinch of shiptease thrown in. Like Naruto and Sasuke from Naruto, Aang and Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender, L and Light from Death Note, Harry and Draco from Harry Potter, Kyo and Yuki from Fruits Basket, and countless other examples of varying ratio of friendship vs rivalry (and shiptease). They used to be friends (or could be friend under different circumstances), but they're on the opposites sides of a huge conflict. They still feel friendship or sympathy towards the other and wish that person would change sides to join them, but it isn't that simple because they both think they're right and the other is wrong. Usually only one of them is on the right according to canon, but sometimes they're both sorta right (although one is more right than the other); they just need to talk it out and have the "bad" one join the good guys in the end (...or one of them dies, problem solved). Then they can be friends again (or finally), and the show usually ends here. I can't think of a single case where this trope ended with a ship between the two characters in question.

I'll give you that Catra might have a crush on Adora, but it really doesn't seem to go both ways. Adora just... doesn't seem interested. They could have had what Catwoman and Batman have with mutual flirting, but Adora is simply not playing along at all, which slides their relationship firmly into the Naruto and Sasuke department; in which fans will ship it like crazy, but canon marries them off to other people in the end. Heck, they might even compare to Batman and the Joker, with the Joker blatantly flirting with Batman all the time while Batman is completely disinterested. The fact that Scorpia exists (as explained above) makes it even more likely that Adora will not become interested in Catra.

The show could still change its course easily enough. Catra is obviously getting a redemption arc sooner or later (unless the show gets canceled before that happens), and when she and Adora are on the same side they could start a romance plot. But based on what we have so far, I don't see the romance. Like said, I haven't seen this particular plot lead to romance before. Not saying it can't be done, but I'm saying that I'll be surprised if it happens.

[(Anonymous)]

I think it's deeper than that, which makes Catadora even more unlikely to be endgame. They've established pretty clearly that Catara is obsessed with Adora, and habitually chooses to act like a creepy stalker. We're no longer in a cultural space where it's cool to reward stalkers.

I don't know that they can even be friends. I suspect this is a relationship where both people are much healthier apart from each other. That's fine, redemption arcs don't have to end with people becoming BFFs.

[(Anonymous)]

SA: I have very similar feelings about Reylo. Even if Kylo were to have his big old redemption arc there's still been a shitton of violence on his part that might be forgiven in the "yeah, you fucked up, but I hope you find what you need somewhere else" sense, but not forgotten.

So like, having been round the recovery wagon a number of times, this season clearly lays out just how unhealthy Catara is right now. She can't stop picking fights with Adora, even when giving the opportunity and freedom to be queen of her own hill.