And I'm tired of 90% of this fandom pretending there's nothing wrong with it. | SPOP salt | Kendall, minor, brazilian, any pronouns | Twitter acc: @sherasadoras
okay, so, i let my inner demons consume me and finally created this blog. this is my first time actively engaging in creating a blog, so please be patient with me.
here comes some clarifications:
this is a SPOP AND CATRADORA SALT PAGE. i'll be rebloging lots of other posts related to it as well as posting my own analysis and thoughts here. this blog WILL contain discourse;
also a glimmadora appreciation blog btw;
call me by kendall;
any pronouns;
minor (16+);
brazilian, soon, english isn't my native language and there may be some mistakes in my writing;
i have BPD, autism and attention deficit. also diagnosed with anxiety disorder and depression;
yes, i am an abuse victim who's trying to recover;
not particularly an anti of catra, however i WILL criticize her treatment towards adora;
although i usually find my spop salt twitter page (@/sherasadoras) to be sufficient, i decided to continue with my tiktok channel (which was named anticatradoracentral, but i lost the access to it and created another one called acervoanticatradora. it's language is mainly brazilian portuguese, however ill be also creating videos with english subtitles there too) and also to create this blog.
so this was part of a post that talked about shadow weaver’s abuse towards catra and adora, and to summarize it, op basically says that catra wasn’t aware that shadow weaver was abusing adora. and i would like to dispute that point,
1. catra herself includes adora when she’s talking about shadow weaver’s abuse.
she specifically uses the word “us” here (and yes, the second screencap was before she calls shadow weaver out for manipulating adora). there was no need for catra to include adora in the conversation, if she didn’t know that adora was being abused. she could have said “shadow weaver hurt ME” or “she’s been manipulating ME” (and we all know catra wouldn’t hesitate to victimize herself, if she got the chance). no, the fact that catra said “us” means that she knew, to some extent, that adora was also being abused by shadow weaver.
2. catra uses shadow weaver’s abuse and manipulation tactics on adora.
i don’t think i need to explain this further. not only did catra know that adora was a people pleaser, like op said, but she also knew that adora was terrified of failure. and she used that to her advantage. catra knew that adora constantly needed to keep people around her safe and to accept all responsibilities as her own, and she knew how to feed on that insecurity. you don’t just pop out of the womb knowing how to manipulate and abuse people. you learn it from someone, and in this case, catra learned it from shadow weaver. she used both kinds of abuse tactics on adora - physical abuse that shadow weaver used on her, catra, and emotional/psychological abuse that shadow weaver used on adora.
in conclusion, there’s no way catra wasn’t aware of the abuse that adora endured. in some ways, catra’s entire character boiled down to her knowing exactly what was wrong in her life, but refusing to oppose it and instead turning into the very same people who made her miserable.
I didn't put them in my video or post because neither is interacting with Adora here, but it's still interesting to note.
So I have seen people talk about and make gifs of these scenes:
“It doesn't matter how hard I work or what I do for the Horde. Hordak doesn't trust me. He never listens to me.”
“They refused to lend me their strength to do what must be done. They never listen to me. After everything I've done, I still haven't earned their trust.”
Then again they do occur literal minutes away from each other in an episode dedicated to these two characters specifically, so it's not a hard thing to catch.
What I haven't seen anyone point out yet…
“Now go.”
*Catra doesn't move*
“I SAID GO!”
…
“Just leave. Like everybody else did.”
*Lonnie doesn't move*
“GO!”
Now am I salty that Catra never realized she's becoming the kind of person who ruined her life in the first place and had that realization push her towards redemption as opposed to a random ass flashback of beating up Adora?
TRANSLATING AND GIVING MY HONEST OPINION ABOUT THIS TWITTER THREAD:
⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ DO NOT GO AFTER AND DO NOT HARASS THE CREATOR OF THE THREAD I'LL BE COMMENTING HERE. thank you.
"it pisses me off when ppl say they love enemies to lovers and then say that catra//dora is toxic.
like, ENEMIES is not when one person steps on another's toes and gets angry towards them"
keep reading under the cut:
yeah, "enemies" certainly is not when one person steps on another's toes and gets angry towards them. even google knows that. enemies to lovers is completely different from rivals to lovers.
however, c//a aren't enemies either. they have never been.
they were simply abuser x victim. and that's mainly because adora never really felt any hate towards catra. she even tried to make catra join the rebellion multiple times.
additionally, adora knew how to defend herself, but wouldn't do more than she needs.
catra, on the other hand, would relish on BRUTALIZING adora. she even tried to end the whole universe out of spite to adora, willing to kill them both in the process.
and let's not forget: catra did all this with a smile in her face, proud of being able to manipulate and control adora.
they were never mutual enemies. adora mostly viewed catra as someone to fear. most of the time, she felt powerless when the matter was catra. to be honest, even when the matter wasn't her, it's shown that she felt that way. damn, she even had a panic attack because of catra.
and let's not forget how catra and adora's fights are always viewed as "flirtatious/sexy" and, surprisingly (or not), they are always with catra on top while adora is unable to fight back for any reason (be it for an emotional or physical reason, temporarily or not).
the only exception for what i said above is this scene, where i don't even believe adora is being flirtatious (for me, she's simply being smug) and where she's not even talking to catra in person.
of course, there's times where adora physically hurts (or tries to hurt) catra back, but it's solely to DEFEND HERSELF/OTHER PEOPLE. catra takes advantage of adora's kindness cuz she knows she won't be able to cause the same harm as catra does.
NEXT:
"enemies to lovers is ALWAYS toxic in the enemies part. a relationship where you are the other person's mortal enemy is not even possible.we ship catra//dora precisely because they get to the lovers part, and when they get to it, there is no more toxicity."
I'm so sorry to break it to you, but C//A has been toxic before, during and after they were in opposite sides of the war. here is an example of this. catra always made it seem like it's adora who's always abandoning her, but it was catra's CHOICE to stay in the horde.
C//A relationship occurred on an existing pattern: adora accidentally says something that makes catra mad -> catra hits/insults her -> catra runs away, expecting adora to chase after her and feeling like she's rejected if that doesn't happen. it even happened while they were KIDS.
and let's also not forget about catra gaslighting and slapping adora in that one episode while she was going through another panic attack. "catra didn't know something was going on!!!" she literally had "flashbacks" about things that did happen and adora was clearly not okay.
catra could've been a good friend like glimmer was for adora in the hot springs episode, listen to her, try to help and properly calm her down even if she didn't know what was happening, but catra didn't. she insisted on her own view that everything was perfect instead.
catra also makes it seem like adora is the abandoner multiple times in season 5. like girl you're the one who literally abandoned her even in S5 plsss-catra CHOSE to stay in the horde, adora tried to make catra come with her since forever. catra was the one running away.
she even framed adora as being the violent one in their relationship with this scene:
"how am i supposed to fight my own friends?"
"it never stopped you before."
it's almost like catra wasn't the one always trying to hurt and murder adora all the time... lol.
NEXT:
"apart from the abuse that catra (and adora) suffered throughout her childhood AND her fear of abandonment, the only reason catra treated adora the way she did was because she suppressed her feelings in such an absurd way that she was even violent."
uhhh.. no?
you're telling me catra tried to kill adora multiples times and destroy the universe because deep inside her heart catra LOVED adora?
this is honestly giving me "he hits you because he likes you!" vibes. i bet if catra was a man, you wouldn't be saying stuff like this.
plus, shall i say something that may sound a bit... harsh:
THIS. IS. NOT. ABOUT. CATRA.
of course catra is traumatized.
of course catra is also abused.
of course all these facts helped building up catra's character.
but nothing justifies the way she treated adora.
"but catra was abused, she was raised in a harsh way, she doesn't know any better!" what about we stop making adora's abuse about her abuser...? everyone kinda seems to forget how catra was also a w4r crim1nal lmao. of course catra deserved love. but not in the way she got.
catra also needed to be held accountable for her actions, which she didn't. "she was brainwashed by horde prime which made her suffer a lot!" okay, and? catra also brainwashed and put adora into a lot of pain and that fact was never once brought up again.
i mean, catra literally was a gen0c1dal w4r crim1nal. she killed lots of people (including glimmer's mother). again, she tried to end the universe. she destroyed villages. she attempted to kill adora multiple times. was she even questioned about it?
no. the princesses immediately take catra in with them as soon as adora says "she's with us now". there was not even a proper discussion about it.
NEXT:
"as soon as she gets sufficiently comfortable in being vulnerable and admitting what she feels to adora, there's no reason for her to be violent because there's nothing else to suppress. the acception of her "true self" breaks the cycle of abuse and that's WHY +"
not gonna comment on it cuz i already said how catra has been abusive during the entire series - even after she has been rescued. "she was going through a lot" and adora was too. It just wasn't fair for catra to treat adora that way simply becuz "adora doesn't want mee! :(".
like, girl, this isn't about you. you ASKED adora to save the world but then you get angry when she decides it's something she NEEDS to do and states that no one else can do that. like ???
NEXT:
"they turn into a couple.
double trouble themselves tell catra exactly what she has been doing during all seasons to hide and deny her own feelings for adora. because these feelings made her feel uncomfortable."
excuse me, double trouble was also wrong about that. starting by the way they said "left you" while turning into adora when we know it wasn't what happened, there's also the fact that their speech wasn't only about catra's "feelings" for adora.
it was also about catra feeling abandoned and rejected by EVERYONE she knew: shadow weaver, scorpia, hordak... or are we going to forget the fact all these people were also in the scene?
but even the show itself tries to make it seem like adora was the abandoner only for the "just this once, stay" quote to make sense. another reminder: spop's writing is very far away from being the best.
NEXT:
"I would NEVER ship catra//dora the way i do if they haven't got a redemption and if the "enemies" part hadn't come to an end. at most, I'd think they have chemistry and potential for making out, but their healthy relationship is only possible due to their happy ending."
i don't even know what to say- this person lost me at "I'd think they have chemistry and potential for making out". why the hell do you think catra abusing adora would be hot, SPECIALLY in a scenario where they keep being "enemies"???? 😭
also, yes, they got a "happy ending". but at what cost?
catra lied to adora and insulted her even during her confession;
catra never really changed, this series simply tried to make it seem like she did (and failed to do so)
adora is now in a supposedly "happy relationship" with her own abuser and sister, while both didn't at least got therapy BEFORE that.
catra didn't need a romance with her victim in order to be happy. she simply needed time to HEAL, just like adora. "but can't they heal as a couple?" no. it just doesn't work like that. you can't love someone else without fully loving yourself first.
NEXT:
"that being said, catra is open to therapy with perfuma, already sees bow and glimmer as besties, says sorry with ease, happily participates on princesses hugs, isn't afraid to show love and care for adora. and that's when a good relationship is born."
catra may be "trying" to be a better person in canon, but she's far from achieving that. you all say "someone needs time to heal before turning into a better person", but then look at catra, whose "redemption arc" was up for half of the last season and applauds it as "the best character development ever". it also doesn't work like that. it doesn't matter how many times catra saves the world if she keeps treating adora like dirt while doing that (guilt tripping, insulting and beating her up, for example).
basically, saying "I'm sorry for everything" once doesn't mean anything if catra, herself, doesn't truly change.
the last tweet of the thread finished with the following sentence:
⚠️ DO NOT GO AFTER AND DO NOT HARASS THE PERSON FROM THE SCREENSHOT ABOVE.
how the hell would catra be "morally grey"? she LITERALLY:
- destroyed villages;
- was responsible for killing a lot of people, including glimmer's mother;
- attempted to destroy the whole universe;
- abused many people, including adora;
- kidnapped adora and her friends, drugged adora without her consent, tried to kill adora multiple times and all that while laughing/with a smile in her face;
- was a war criminal!!!!!
she's also not "complicated". she could be a very complex character, but it can, at most, be confusing to understand her character if you fell into the "c//a narrative". she was badly written, her development is non-existent and her "redemption arc" is terrible. all that can make her a confusing character for those who like c//a, confusion which may be mistaken as complexity.
the comments can be worse tbh. there's people denying everything catra has done, saying stuff like "oh c//a antis won't survive the winter"... not to mention the tags used. this person was really aiming at us.
these people simply do not realize that catra (and even spop in general) is poorly written and then proceed to blame it on us for some reason. 🤷
⚠️ DO NOT GO AFTER AND DO NOT HARASS THE PERSON OF THE SCREENSHOT ABOVE! thank you.
this person looks so confident, like please 😭 how can you say that c//a were FIGHTING????? they are making it seem like they were ex girlfriends arguing with each other about their breakup and not an abuser with her victim.
and do i even need to say anything about the fact c//a were also toxic and abusive BEFORE and AFTER they were in opposite sides of the war?
it's like... they are so confident about something so incredibly wrong and messed up that i even feel sorry for them 😭😭😭😭
just because adora can protect herself, does that mean she can't be a victim of abuse? that she also can't have her moments of weaknesses when it's about her trauma?
⚠️ DO NOT GO AFTER AND DO NOT HARASS THE PERSON FROM THE SCREENSHOT ABOVE! thank you.
keep reading my honest opinion about it under the cut:
adora is a VICTIM. she had a panic attack because of catra. she felt useless because of catra. she was abused physically and psychologically for years.
however, we do not see adora as a "smol bean that needs to be protected". we only also see adora and recognize her as the victim she is of catra's continuous abuse, thing that most c//a stans simply can't (or refuse to) do.
adora is an absurdly strong character (we view her as such), and I don't mean that only physically. we really love and appreciate it in her.
speaking that way about us and firmly believing that we cannot recognize adora's strength is simply wrong.
stans tend to love adora for being strong in their own perception, and then proceed to ignore all the trauma she has been into. i mean, she kept trying to save the whole universe while being manipulated and abused for years, but does that even matter to them? 🤷
also, only to finish this post:
this is one of the most beloved scenes in the show for most antis. this should explain everything.
"(TW for abuse, obviously.) I sure am glad that this is the LGBTQ+ representation we have in a children's cartoon! All clips are from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power on Netflix. They do not belong to me."
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video from the way back machine. i don't know about re-uploading stuff on this particular blog but... here the first of what i imagine are plenty. i take absolutely no credit for this whatsoever. keep talking to me about creating an archive of sorts. this post may be deleted later, and this particular video will be organized into said archive and will be ready for easy search/easy finding. to be continued later. bye guys <3.
Hi! I hope you don't mind me adding a few links! I've had these for a while but never knew the right time to add them! Again, like op said, I take no credit!
[FLASH warning from 3:35 to 3:58.]…hoo boy I can't wait for what this comment section is gonna be.Anyway, this is probably gonna be my last
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
This link is Adora and Glimmer being in love for 14 minutes!
"(TW for abuse, obviously.) I sure am glad that this is the LGBTQ+ representation we have in a children's cartoon! All clips are from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power on Netflix. They do not belong to me."
////
video from the way back machine. i don't know about re-uploading stuff on this particular blog but... here the first of what i imagine are plenty. i take absolutely no credit for this whatsoever. keep talking to me about creating an archive of sorts. this post may be deleted later, and this particular video will be organized into said archive and will be ready for easy search/easy finding. to be continued later. bye guys <3.
Girl you're a minor, have multiple mental illnesses and trying to heal from abuse, AND ARE SPENDING YOUR DAYS HATING A CHILDREN CARTOON THAT ENDED 2 YEARS AGO?!? dont you have any hobbies? Come on be free wtf are u doing with your life this is loser behaviour now
hahah, no need to worry, stan! i actually have a healthy life, i barely enter this account now (but yes, i plan to come back!).
i'm not gonna stop because of an anonymous ask btw. if you have anything bad to say about me or my blog, then come and say it face to face... or are you afraid that you are going to be proven wrong?
anyway, i think you also should be free from randomly hating on blogs that spread abuse awareness, cuz that certainly is loser behaviour.
yes, c//a are sisters. they viewed themselves as sisters (confirmed in one of the official books), adora referred to shadow weaver as her mother, catra and adora grew up with the same parental figure and in the same environment... and the fact that catra says "i love you, i always have" while she used to view adora as her sister is... uhh... concerning, to say the least.
i don't know if you're a stan or an anti c//a, but i just wanted to explain a bit about it.
WRONG!!! catra "loved" adora before she turned out to be she-ra because she was easier to control and manipulate. catra showed many signs of being abusive while they were "friends" (ever since they were both kids, actually). and this continued even after sdora's departure from the horde: not only catra kept abusing her (in even worse ways, imo) but catra also abused lots of other people who were supposed to be her friends (scorpia and entrapta, for example).
catra never really loved adora herself. she just liked how easy it was to manipulate her.
my entire experience with C//A and how i became an anti
(this is just my personal experience!!!)
i watched spop for the first time when I was around 12 years old. and I must admit: like most of the public, i LOVED catra//dora. i already knew that they would become canonical, and i watched the entire show with the mindset of "catra will change, everything will be fine".
it was like that for years. i was completely blinded by the narrative created in spop, and i didn't see any problem with the way catra treated adora (and even found some abusive scenes "hot/spicy"). i already drew them, i already bought one of the spop books...
but everything started to change when i watched spop with my mom. i was so excited because my mother had agreed to watch a cartoon with a lot of representation with me... but she hated the end of the cartoon. she and i even argued about it. not just because it was a lesbian couple (she's homoph0bic), but because i was refusing to see how bad representation in spop was. she said something like "didn't she (catra) tried to kill her (adora)?". and then i'd become speechless or say something like "yeah, but she (catra) changed!!!".
honestly, i should apologize to my mother for making her watch and swallow something that only pushed her more towards the side of prejudice.
(i'm not saying that my mother is right to be homoph0bic, i'm just saying it's clear that she has a different mindset than me, for example.)
some time after that (I believe 2 years later), i was browsing youtube when i saw a video with the title "catra mistreating adora for 16 minutes" (if I'm not mistaken, it was 16 minutes). it was made by captain konami, who deleted their channel some months ago.
after some time avoiding it, i went into the video expecting it to be some clickbait, but no, it really was a video arguing and showing all the abusive moments of catra with adora. this weighed on my mind, i didn't want to accept it so i just ignored it.
however, i went back to the video some time later out of curiosity to see the comments, and to my surprise, i came across a masterpost of counterarguments against catra//dora. here are the screenshots:
it made a lot of sense to me. again, i didn't want to believe it, but it made too much sense. i searched for more texts and evidence of catra's abuse towards adora, and, after months in denial, i was able to accept and change the mindset i had been cultivating for so many years.
i decided that i wanted more people to see the truth and so I created a twt account, another account on tiktok (in brazilian portuguese) and after some time i also created this blog to spread the word. honestly, it was the best thing i did in this fandom.
not only did i raise awareness about different forms of abuse, i also felt much better about my understanding of the catra//dora relationship. It was even liberating. ever since what happened between me and my mother, i knew something was wrong, but i refused to see the truth.
