Catradora - Blog Posts
I can like dozens of She-Ra fanarts in a day but rarely reblog. But this one just hits right. They look so unified. And those cocky smirks. And Adora's suit. They look like a crime family. They look so ready to outperform you on the dance floor or beat the shit out of you. And I love calling them the Meowmeow family!
The Meowmeow family
catradora and the perfect victim complex
(i literally fucking think about this all the time so this just gonna be a rant lol)
i really, truly think that people in general don’t put the effort into understanding characters who are imperfect victims. for them, it destroys the appeal of victimhood. victimhood (especially when the victims in question are girls, women, femme presenting people, etc.) needs to be beautiful and tragic. think characters like ophelia, snow white, odette, juliet, the lisbon sisters. otherwise, their victimhood is no longer attractive.
catra is an imperfect victim. shadow weaver’s abuse did not make her soft, weak, timid, or fragile. it made her bitter, angry, and resentful.
i once saw a catra anti saying some bullshit about how they might’ve liked catra more if the writers had spent more screen time showing shadow weaver abusing her, specifically her when she was a kid.
this person wanted to see catra’s pain as beautiful. they wanted to see her ONLY as a child to be pitied, the little kid who cowered in fear instead of fighting back, and not have to acknowledge catra’s more complicated character traits.
i also think this is why these same people often talk like they love adora, like “adora deserves better than catra” and all that shit. adora (to them) is easier to see as a perfect victim. shadow weaver’s abuse made her obedient and self-sacrificing. it made her put others before herself, even to the point of fucking death. adora is selfless and brave. she’s so determined to be a perfect hero, to protect people, to care for people, to love people. these traits are easier to romanticize. it makes her seem beautiful.
if you ask me, this is a really fucked up way of viewing adora. i don’t love adora bc she’s a “perfect victim”, i love adora bc she, like catra, is also flawed. adora’s determination to be perfect leads her to abandoning catra. her inability to empathize with catra leads her to behaving the way she did in taking control. adora isn’t fucking perfect.
(for context i do also think that catra was in the wrong in that episode too, but i feel like we don’t talk enough about how badly adora was handling the situation. like seriously girl catra is here basically telling her “i don’t trust you bc i don’t believe that you could ever love me bc i’m inherently fucked up and unlovable” and adora’s immediate reaction is to blow up at her. it makes sense given what adora has just done for her, but it’s another example of adora being incapable of empathizing with catra. also calling her a stubborn brat? yeah uh that wasn’t funny adora, especially not with the ways that shadow weaver talked about catra.)
but i love that adora is flawed, and i love that catra is flawed. they’re not archetypes. no real person experiences abuse like they did and comes out perfect. catra’s intense fear of abandonment and resentment issues are a very fucking real response to the way she was traumatized. regardless of how ugly it is.
at the end of the day, i think that people can’t wrap their brains around this concept and refuse to empathize with imperfect victims bc they don’t want to admit that they, too, are imperfect victims. the perfect victim isn’t real. it’s a fucking myth.
in real life, people are messy and complicated, like catra and adora. it’s why i love them :)
ugh i could literally go on about this FOREVER i swear.
Yesss!
This post is everything. It shows why Catradora are so perfect for each other and why they mean so much to me. Catra has so much to learn about being a nicer person and caring for others. Adora has so much to learn about being selfish, being willing to take what she wants, and caring for herself. So they're each other's perfect teacher!
And this is all as they're starting the romance they've waited so long for, so sex will probably be pretty involved in their learning and that's so cute.
Catradora sex except as they heal after season 5.
Catra learns to be vulnerable and give. She’s gentle with Adora and she talks her through her orgasm.
Adora learns to be selfish and ask for what she wants. She’s energetic and confident while she eats out Catra.
They both have a praise kink and cuddling naked is their favorite thing to do.
YESSSSS!
I always felt people underrated how much the Horde Prime lifestyle contributed to Catra's hange of heart.
Catra was always about rugged individualism and believed in a brutal meritocracy she could rise through.
She hated the Princess Alliance and its message of peace and love because she felt like it made everyone conform to their positive vibes and lose their own individuality. Because they treated everyone well, she thought it left people without a reason to strive to be exceptional.
But then she got involved with Horde Prime and learned what it was ACTUALLY like to be stripped of your identity and to be kept from being your best.
And she realized how wrong she'd been before.
Hive Minds creep the fuck out of me. As somebody that values their autonomy and individuality, that level of “connection” to others is just too frightening for me.
No wonder Catra betrayed Horde Prime and saved Glimmer. She took one look at that “community” and metaphorically shit herself. As anyone would or should.
HORDE PRIME: “Little sister”
*visibly shivers*
That was not going to be her future. Subjugation was never on Catra’s bucket list. It’s why she kept running off on her own to try to “defeat” Adora. It was purpose. Trying to convince herself of her own self-worth - even in the eyes of her friend-turned-enemy. Horde Prime really frightens Catra because he wants nothing from her but total allegiance and domination via Hive Mind.
They found the one thing that would scare her so thoroughly that she would drop the act of being the villain and fight for what’s right,… for who she loves.
I am NOT normal about these! I project this onto any ship where one of them is super powerful and pure and probably the chosen one, and the other has evil in their past and can be like a penitent sinner before their god! And that's pretty much all my favorite ships! But like, espeeeeecially Varlie and Madohomu! Baggie and Homura are both SO replacing the god they've lost faith in with their perfect Lesbian goddesses! And they both believe they're horrible sinners unworthy to be in the presences of their beautiful goddesses. But I'm gonna tag the ones I project it onto too.
My favorite relationship dynamic in fiction is a worshipper and their God. Not a literal God, but their God. The only thing in the whole world that matters to them. I will live for you, I would die for you, I would kill for you. My only moral compass is You. You can do no wrong in my eyes and I will never stray from your side. I was born to meet you and to love you. You are the only being I pray to. Your life isn’t just my passion, it’s my religion. You don’t think you’re anything special but you don’t see what I see. You don’t see that you’re the only person who’s ever made me feel this way. You don’t understand how beautiful you are to me and I will devote my entire life to making you understand and accept it.
Happy Anniversary to Catra and Adora! I don't have any art or fanfic or interesting thoughts to share, but I just feel like I need to post something for such a momentous occasion as the Catradora Kiss-versary before the day is out! Crazy that was four years ago. Here's to the kiss that saved the universe!
Oh look, all of my favorite Lesbian ships!
But ESPECIALLY Chaggie!
I know tis ironic that the penitent "sinner" in this case is an angel while the object of worship is Satan's daughter, yet there's no couple that fits this archetype better! Vaggie absolutely has dark past to atone for, but because of that past involving religious faith she now looks to Charlie as sort of moral authority. How could Vaggie's devotion not be religious when in addition to having been saved herself SHE LITERALLY BELIEVES PEOPLE CAN BE REDEEMED AND GO TO HEAVEN BY FOLLOWING HER GIRLFRIEND'S TEACHINGS! Charlie is the only one Vaggie believes can get people from literal hell to literal heaven. Charlie is the path to redemption. For Vaggie that hotel is a cult dedicated to her girlfriend.
when a ship involves one character being so utterly devoted to the other that its borderline religious????? when the devoted character is written to be seen as a sinner, or damned, or a non believer??? and the other character an angel or god-like???? i simply eat that shit UP how can you not??