kylie

i believe in entrapdak supremacy

[spacelizards2]

[sheramademesalty]

So ive seen some people claim that child Catras response to Adora making friends with Lonnie + Co is justified - and that people are just 'overreacting' to Catra scratching + 'jumping playfully' on Adora (And further claiming that Catra doing so is justified because Adora making other friends is 'triggering' for Catra and her lashing out is simply s PTSD response).

And I just can't see that as justifiable - mainly because there is no character nuance to back up this statement. (Also that jump did not look playful - like sure, Adora got up laughing and chased after an angry Catra, but that could just be a conditioned response at this point. Catra being angry and lashing out = affection somehow in Adoras mind, because that's all she really knows of catras behavior).

If the show spent more time on Adora and Catra's childhood (instead of just small flashbacks) and used that time to show SW giving Catra the idea that others (and by extension Adora) must be controlled in order to be considered 'friends' or something then maybe I could see this argument holding weight. However the show only rarely chooses to show flashbacks of catra and adoras childhood and in those flashbacks we do have, we see Catra (even as a child) being controlling and picking fights and acting aggressively. And we don't even see much of SW influence here either - its just moments of Catra doing something to Adora and Adora either helping Catra (like in insulting Octavia) or ends with Adora apologizing to Catra for something that doesnt warrent an apology (making friends with the other horde children).

All the flashbacks do really is show the audience that Catra, even as a child, was always possesive, aggressive and borderline unstable and to dismiss her hurting Adora (physically, emotionally or mentally) and saying it's okay because "its a learned PTSD response" seems very indicative of a misunderstanding of child psychology and what is considered healthly on the spectrum of behavior for a child.

Like yes, children's emotions can run high and they don't always have the wherewithal to understand their feelings or know how to verbally explain themselves. But I feel like there is a difference between a one off situation and a consistant pattern. The problem is - we never see it. The very few flashbacks of Adora + catras childhood seem to indicate that these angry outbursts are a regular occurance and to disregard what the show is well, showing the audience and insist upon something else is just making inferences. There is no other evidence that points to catra behaving differently, or in Adoras interest really - do we ever see Adora choosing to do something and Catra going along with it, or do we just see Adora supporting Catra and them making a promise (as children) to each other - that neither of them know for 100% certainty that they can fulfill in the foreseeable future? Things change as people grow older and to expect everything to stay static with no growth whatsoever is unrealistic and yes the horde is not the best environment to develop those rational thinking skills, but still.

I can see how catra lashing out and being aggressive can maybe make sense given the environment she grew up in and there are differences in how the horde children were raised (even between adora + catra) - but even to that extent we don't see the level if aggression in the other horde kids - they don't purposely go out if their way to try and murder Adora. (Like Lonnie + Co do attack the princesses and are hurt by Adora leaving, but they also don't rip her back up in shreds and claw her and use personal insults). And yeah, maybe the she and the other horde kids weren't as close growing up, but we dont know. The show never tells us.

the thing is, even if it was a PTSD response it still wouldn't be ok or justifable. i personally think the show gave us enought clues of why catra turned this way. since SW made catra feel like she's unimportant and useless on her own and she keeps her around just because Adora likes her but otherwise she'd be dead where she stands... like. her possesive tendencies could be developed from SW making her dependent on Adora's friendship, she probably felt threathened by thought of Adora moving on from her by getting more friends and leaving her for SW's mercy, and saw everybody else as a threat, so that's also why she was aggressive, she probably felt she could trust only Adora. she probably felt she needs to control Adora in order to be safe. her controlling tendecies didn't appear from thin air. there is no certain proof that catra was "naturally" more controlling or aggressive but even if she was, her situation certainly didn't help in controlling these tendecies, thanks to SW's abuse and general environment she was in and i get she was a kid, this still doesn't make her behavious justifiable or ok, she still hurt Adora and catra continued to treat Adora terribly way up to their early adulthood, she clearly left Adora traumatised. it wasn't a one way thing, for sure. catra's behaviour is understandable and i think writers left enough clues to get it (even though it could explore their childhoods more, for sure), but it still doesn't make catra's actions "just". no amount of trauma from SW could possibly justify catra's mistreament of Adora, no matter if it's PTSD response or not. i think catra was so aggressive towards Adora because 1. she "broke" the promise (that, like you mentioned, was made when they were small kids and it's impossible to know how the future will turn out, especially in Horde, (not to mention it was catra who really broke the promise but anyway)) 2. because she was the most dependent on Adora and she felt therethened by her "leaving" and 3. interpreted it as a betrayal and that she left her at SW's mercy. i don't think any other kid had such complicated and strong attachment to Adora and need of control. the show doesn't tells us but i feel like, in this instance, we can make these conclusions pretty safely. this still doesn't make catra's actions just. i don't think in order to say

(and the jump definitely didn't look playfull to me, and Adora (like other kids) was probably trained to not react much to pain and with catra's aggressive tendencies Adora probably learned to just play it off or interpret as affection (like you suggested))

[entrapdaknation]

“All the flashbacks do really is show the audience that Catra, even as a child, was always possessive, aggressive and borderline unstable and to dismiss her hurting Adora (physically, emotionally or mentally) and saying it's okay because "its a learned PTSD response" seems very indicative of a misunderstanding of child psychology and what is considered healthy on the spectrum of behavior for a child.” 

Little Catra wasn’t “borderline unstable”. She was outright unstable. Between Catra scratching out Octavia’s eye, attacking Adora for befriending Lonnie, and manipulating and controlling Adora at every turn, the flashback scenes made it clear that something was very, very wrong with little Catra. The writers framed these scenes as cute. rather than as disturbing reminders that Catra was traumatized and deeply maladjusted.

I suspect little Catra’s behavior was framed this way because the writers (COUGH Noelle Stevenson COUGH) thought that possessive, controlling behaviors were signs of true love. Also, Catra was the creator’s pet and could do no wrong.

Catra’s arc could have been satisfying if it had involved her reflecting on her disturbing behavior, resolving to be a better person, healing from her childhood trauma, and atoning for her destructive actions. Instead, her disturbing behavior was framed as cute, everyone instantly forgave her, she never atoned, and she never truly healed or grew as a person.

[milfmisspiggy]

why was this so sweet, what did he expect people to say, "no mr. brian may from the band queen, you do NOT have permission to play the sea shanty, put down the guitar and go back to the astrophysics" like,,,, what a silly goose

[entraptasluvd]

this could be us 🙁