#none of which like. *justifies* the things Catra does in reaction but

[apollo-cackling]

thinking about the bit in... was it the Sea Gate? early s1 at any rate, where Scorpia tries to hug Catra and Catra hates it bc like. it's a typical comedy bit, right? grumpy one meets ball of sunshine, hijinks ensue. but the show takes it seriously. it's a comedy bit, but it also sets up the core conflict in the two's relationship - Catra having boundaries she's really sensitive about but which Scorpia often unknowingly tramples over trying to be friends yk

#my rambles #none of which like. *justifies* the things Catra does in reaction but #idk I really like the way this is set up two imperfect people whose imperfections butt up against each other really badly #spop #spop.txt

[sapphic-scylla]

Saw people co-opting a post I made a while ago using it to talk against my support of Catradora and I wanted to reiterate a few things.

Catra isn’t a good individual. She’s not. She has good in her, but she isn’t good. No one is just “good”. That’s not how life works. Do I feel like she did bad things? Of course. She was a terrible person. Do I think she deserves a second chance? Yes, yes, I do. Why?

Because she admitted that she made bad choices. Imagine a scenario where you grow up with found family when you previously had none to speak of and you see your sister get praises for all of her good deeds and hard work. She gets all of the responsibility and promotions even though both of you work extra hard because she was born of extraordinary circumstances and what do you get? Berated, beaten, abused. Even for the most simplistic things, you get worn down over time and you stop trying because frankly what would hard work change? Nothing. Because no one cares what you do or how much you put towards a cause, all you’ll ever get are the bruises and the scrapes and the cuts from an abusive parent.

Do you know why Catra knew the Horde were evil? Because she suffered the brunt of their evil EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Adora never knew the Horde were evil because Shadoweaver made sure of it. They brainwashed Adora to believe that they were fighting for a cause and elevated her to good standing on the belief that she was doing the right thing which was to eliminate an oppressive force.

Catra didn’t leave because she wasn’t aware the Horde were evil. She didn’t leave because she felt like she had no other option and betrayal was that prevalent and I’m pretty sure the Horde did not have “Control your Emotions” therapy classes. She felt these feelings of envy and anger boiling up inside her for YEARS of this pure empty feeling of “my best friend, the girl I love left me and everything she had here for new friends that she just met.” Shadoweaver made this worse by treating her like she was only second best and Adora was the real target while Hordak gave her the promotion to Force Captain, giving her the inkling of care, however false, to make her believe that she was needed by “the Great Hordak”. All of this swirling together created this false reality for her to continue hunting for the feeling of being needed and using her talents to attempt to be useful while still being brainwashed to believe that she was useful to the Horde and that Adora was the enemy here because that’s what she wanted to believe: that the golden standard, Adora, was ungrateful for the “gifts” she was given and that her malice towards her was validated and justified.

Everyone wants to feel needed and that their anger and emotions are validated especially when you’ve been abused your whole life. Does this excuse her behavior? No, but wouldn’t you act the same way in the same situation? The lack of sympathy towards Catra shows that people haven’t experienced what it means to be in her shoes. You haven’t been there. You don’t know what it means to be the toxic betrayed friend. It means you grew up in a healthy place or have a different reaction the emotions and situations that she was feeling.

Do I believe Catra has a ton of work to do to make up for her mistakes? Absolutely. But do I believe that she deserves a second chance? Without a doubt. Because if every abuse survivor that struggled and grew up thinking the world was a hell was treated with the same disrespect your giving her, no one would talk about their trauma and there would be A LOT more dangerous people in the world and they wouldn’t turn anything around like Catra did. They wouldn’t feel remorse for their actions and everyone would believe their actions were 100% justified.

Catra not being forgiven by you says a lot less about who she is about a person than you think. It says A LOT more about who you are willing to forgive and how much sympathy you have.

#catradora #she ra and catra #Catra is someone who deserves to be loved