#Catra discourse

[catrasredemption]

Serious question - do people actually hate Catradora?

Like. Their hate is so comical sometimes that it feels unreal. "Catra was an abusive child at six years old! She attacked poor innocent Octavia who's never done anything wrong in her life obviously!" That can not be a real criticism. It's one thing to say she was abusive toward Adora (i.e. the scratch in the flashback of Corridors, which is also a stupid example), but to say she was abusive to a grown-ass adult who was close enough for Catra's tiny arms to reach her eye in the first place? Give me a god damn break.

Or apparently Catra is selfish for asking Adora not to die at the end of the show? She was being manipulative and guilt tripping Adora into not sacrificing her life to save the world? Are you kidding me?

May I propose - you don't actually hate Catradora, you just hate seeing other people enjoy it, so you go through the show and find the most unforgiving reading of a scene then use it to spin a narrative so you can rain on everyone's parade because they're enjoying something you don't enjoy and therefore they're wrong.

[carto0ncritter]

I'm sorry but I genuinely can't understand how people can look at Stolitz and Catradora and think these ships are healthy in any way, shape or form.

Stolas r*ped Blitzø. No, consent given in a life-or-death situation doesn't count

Stolas is racist towards imps, and this didn't change even when he "fell in love" with Blitzø

Stolas doesn't appreciate or respect Moxxie and Millie in the slightest (and was disappointed that his "Prince Charming" wasn't the one to rescue him)

He looks down on Blitzø and calls him things like "impish little plaything" and "his big dicked Blitzy" and doesn't stop treating him like shit even when Blitzø says loud and clear that he hates being talked down on like this (DUH)

The only thing Stolas knows about Blitzø is that he hates books and the only thing Blitzø knows about Stolas is that he's a boring bookworm. Keep in mind, the two figured this out about each other while they were kids, 25 YEARS AGO, after Blitzø was bought so that he could be Stolas' "friend" for ONE DAY

Stolas doesn't love Blitzø for Blitzø. Stolas loves the *idea* of Blitzø. The bird man wants to live a romance that is just like the romances in his cheesy novels. He wants to ride into the sunset with his one true love. He wants grand romantic gestures. He wants his "Prince Charming". Except, Blitzø isn't the type of guy for such sappy displays of affection, he never was. Especially combined with his trauma. And as soon as that other imp guy asked him to dance, Stolas not only accepted the offer, but Blitzø was no longer on his mind. And no, I don't think being drunk is proof that Stolas didn't mean what he had told Blitzø. Drunk people find it easier to say what's really on their mind after all

Blitzø fell in love with his abuser. This makes sense, actually. The guy always pushed everyone away and never got to experience true love, and now that he has the chance to be "wanted," even if the "relationship" is toxic, he finds it hard to let it go

As for Catradora, the things I wanna say about this ship have already been said throughout the years, but it all boils down to these things:

Catra mentally, emotionally and physically abused Adora

Catra had no problem ending the whole entire universe if it meant she'd finally be better than Adora

Catra was a war criminal and a fascist

Catra was responsible for what happened to Glimmer's mom and never apologized, let alone faced consequences

Their relationship was toxic even when they were kids

They were both raised by Shadow Weaver and were the only ones in the Horde who saw her as a mother figure, thus making the ship straight up incest, with even the official source material calling them sisters (adoptive siblings ARE REAL SIBLINGS!!!)

Catra got exactly what she wanted in the end (the girl she's always been obsessed with and dependent on) and, once again, faced 0 consequences for her actions

The show (and C//A stans) fetishizes abuse. As a SA survivor, I felt physically sick during the final episode, where the abuser ends up with her victim/sister and they kiss

In short, these ships are disgusting and the lgbt community deserves better representation

[80rosequartz08]

Adora if she still had scars (By: @/bravestshera)

Broke my heart :(

This one especially gave me chills

[spopsalt]

What show's title is vs how it actually is

What the show's title is: She-Ra and The Princesses of Power

What the show actually is: Watch Adora get abused by Cata for 5 seasons straight then date her abuser, also FEEL BAD FOR CATRA

What the show's title is: Helluva Boss

What the show actually is: Watch a gay soap opera while the abuser gets victimized and while the victim gets demonized. Watch the victim form a trauma bond with his abuser. ALSO DON'T YOU FEEL SO BAD FOR STOLAS DONT YOU WANT HIM AND BLITZO TO DATE!?

What the show's title is: Hazbin Hotel

What the show actually is: Watch who is supposed to be the female main character get pushed to the side because men. Get introduced to a whole Lotta plotholes and rushed story telling as we stuff the plot into the last 2 episodes! Enjoy the boring/rushed/toxic romances as well!

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

ambrosius: internally freaking out at the fact that he accidentally chopped off his lover's arm, never intentionally hurts ballister, only turns against nimona because he wants to protect ballister

catra: takes every opportunity to consciously and intentionally torment adora as much as possible in all existent ways, shows no hint of remorse for any of her actions and continues repeating them till the end

fans: omg y'all only hate c//a bc you're lesbophobic, goldenheart is the EXACT same ship but you like them bc they're men

[pan-catra]

one thing that this spop rewatch is really opening my eyes on is how hypocritical the Catra redemption discourse was back when the show was still airing. i could make a compilation of all the times Scorpia tries to murder someone in the Rebellion or Entrapta disregards basic morals to uphold her partnership with the Horde and yet they get passes in regards to their redemption while people complain about Catra not “deserving it”. and like, it’s literally only because Scorpia and Entrapta are nicer than Catra. if Catra wasn’t a huge bitch no one would be saying her redemption was rushed or undeserved. people care far more about personality than they do about actions.

[antispopausandstuff]

here's the thing:

if the show really wanted Catra to hurt Adora, then fine.

but the problem is that there is no remorse.

bear with me, but let's look at the 2007 TMNT movie for comparison.

Raph and Leo were at odds, because Raph was hurt that Leo left and then came back expecting everything to be more or less the same, while Leo was hurt that Raph seemed to hate him for trying to be a better leader for him and the others.

in Leo's time away, Raph became a vigilante, which could've ended badly for their family ( they were in hiding ), and Leo had a justifiable reason to be angry about it, but Raph had a justifiable reason to be angry at Leo, too.

they were both in the wrong and in the right, in a sense.

however, after their verbal and physical fight, Raph's senses began to click in and he realized that he had just hurt Leo. while he wanted to show that he was better off without him, Raph never wanted to hurt his brother to prove that. at the same time, Leo realized just how strong his little brother had gotten in his time away, so, maybe he didn't need actually him anymore.

Raph runs away, because he realized he messed up. we see it in his face, the realization, processing what he just did, and how he's essentially afraid of that.

we don't see this with Catra. if Catra had a moment of anger, where she hurt Adora really badly, but came with this realization of what exactly she's doing, then sympathy and growth would have more room for her. but the problem is that none of this exists.

even when they're young, Catra never apologizes to Adora for hurting her in any way. it's always Adora apologizing for making Catra upset about this or that, even when, most of the time, didn't actually do anything to Catra herself.

and, when they're older, Catra still doesn't actually hold herself accountable for anything, while Raph is wracked with guilt over Leo and him being kidnapped, not being able to save him. it's to the point where Raph is completely self-deprecating, saying he understands why Splinter chose Leo as the better son, when that isn't the case.

if you want a hotheaded character to hurt someone and be redeemed, then you have to show them having remorse for the actions they took. unless it was justified, obviously.

honestly, if c//a's dynamic was inspired by Leo and Raph's in the movie, then Catra would've garnered a lot of empathy from me, too. but it's more of a bastardization, if anything.

[catras-breakup-song]

yeah sure, i'll tell you something that repeatedly pisses me off to no end:

images shamelessly stolen from here

when catra haters say this type of dialogue is a good example of her "abuse"

it's lighthearted affection, playful bantering! many friends bully each other this way all the time for the laughs; i know i always have and nobody minded!

some people may not like it, and that's fine, you don't have to! but your opinion does not change how the characters canonically feel about it. if adora happily takes it without strife and understands the intention in the moment, then there is no issue. you could argue that she calls herself an idiot the episode after she rescues catra from prime's ship, but i genuinely believe that's just a result of her being too harsh toward herself all the time anyway without any influence from catra. even when she didn't have to worry about her as an enemy throughout her average days in bright moon, she still kept that weight burdened on her shoulders regardless.

such an example of the criticism i'm referring to is someone complaining in this reddit post, albeit not necessarily from an anti since they seem to simply not understand and therefore disapprove based on their own personal feelings about the situation among the replies. there's also this comment, which adds some objective truth to catra's partial-insult.

as another individual pointed out, throughout the first seasons it came from more of a "duh! how do you not get it?" condescending attitude (think of adora's final revelation in 01x02 that the horde was evil while catra had known her whole life, and later on in 03x03 when catra points out how silly it sounds to admit you'd listen blindly to anything an old hologram has to say ─ even if it did happen to be correct), but i also added that when it comes to season five it originates more from a place of concern, hence upholding her half of the promise for the two of them to look out for each other at all times. if adora lacks so much awareness, she'll constantly end up in dangerous situations, and that's exactly what eventually ended up happening when she followed shadow weaver's manipulated guidance to accept the failsafe.

it drains so much energy from me to give this bad-faith argument any attention so hopefully i'll only have to do it this once. it's not worth getting frustrated over so don't waste your time trying to convince reactionaries that this trait of all things is what makes her such a terrible person.

[anti-catradora-collection]

just leaving this here.

[ratwithdrag0nwings]

Please don't attack this person.

Can C//A stop insulting Glimdora? Please???

[tippenfunkaport]

Sometimes I like to imagine the anti accounts come close to a moment of clarity in the dead of night before diving back down into the muck of their own nonsense.

[80rosequartz08]

So, I got scratched by my cat a few days ago and even though it was just a small swipe, it still hurt like hell.

My cat didn't even want to hurt me that bad, she just wanted me to stop petting her.

What's my point?

If a small scratch my cat gave me days ago still stings like crazy even when I simply wash my hands.

Imagine how much this hurt...

[spopsalt]

Catra and Adora: Lived in the rebellion together since they were kids, saw the same person as a mom, have the golden child/scapegoat dynamic and were called siblings by voice actors and official character sheets

C//a stans whenever someone calls them siblings:

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

stans when aang and steven don’t kill the genocidal war criminals they’re fighting against: omg they’re so incompetent! these shows are telling us to side with the villains!! i hate these literal kids who made the best choice they could make under difficult circumstances 😡🤢

stans when adora not only spares a genocidal war criminal but also starts dating them: love wins! spop is such a beautiful story of acceptance and forgiveness. everyone deserves a second chance, even someone who willingly tried to end all space and time <3

[catrasredemption-moved]

This post is over a year old. The fuck are you talking about?

Angella can't be proud of anyone. Because she's dead. Because Catra killed her.

Sorry what was that couldn't hear you over the sound of Mama Angella being so god damn proud of all her children

[newbtheveryawesomeandkindanewby]