Another thing that has been bugging me
So once again, I have to start by saying this. All of this is under the cut. It is tagged. Yall do not have to read it so yall can ignore it. This is not made to be argued with. The show is nearly one year out since the ending so my stance won’t change. I doubt anyone else’s will but I still want to put this post out as why so many people are still upset about c/a and s/pop. If you are willing to just listen to the other side and then just move on, cool. If you are looking for a fight, please leave. You will be blocked if you start shit. I, and many other abuse victims, are allowed to be upset and criticize this show that once made us really happy. Please understand that.
Anyway onto something that has been bugging me for a long long time:
There are many things I am upset over in s5. I and others have talked about many before. Today, I am gonna focus on the line Catra said about “I have always loved you” to Adora.
This line is, bullshit. I could write a book on why and give examples for days. However, I will be sticking to five main points. In no order:
1.Season 3 Inside the portal.
Let’s start with this doozy. We know this is a perfect world, so to speak, and Catra and Adora are together. However, things start to fall apart quickly. Adora keeps wanting to figure out what is going on and Catra brushes her off. This keeps going on until a breaking point. The scene I want to focus on:
[cue fight]
Right off the bat, Catra is blaming Adora for something. It does not help that right before this scene, Adora is asking Catra to come with her, saying she won’t leave her again, yet Catra refuses. This is a topic for another day but in s5 Catra also had said “stay just this once” which is a lie since Adora kept asking for Catra to come. This is a topic for a different post. Moving on.
“I won’t let you win. I’d rather see the whole world end than let that happen.”
This line is uncomfortable. One of the biggest red flags for an abusive relationship is the line of “If I can’t have you, no one can.”
This line mirrors that line. Catra does not want Adora to win. She would let the whole world, millions of people, die then allow Adora to save them. This is NOT love. It’s toxic and dangerous and mirrors the biggest red flag on earth for an abusive relationship, for someone who is controlling.
2. Season 2 White Out
Oh boy. This is also a doozy. Let’s hit the ground running for this. After capturing Adora, right after infecting her with the First One’s tech, this happens:
Catra then laughs after this. She is gleeful at the thought of using Adora to attack Adora’s friends. In a point we will get to next, Catra knows Adora loves her friends. That hurting them, hurts her. She knows this and is using it against the person she later claims she has always loved. Now the second scene:
Oh boy. Where do I begin with this? It speaks for itself really. Catra does not want to give up controlling Adora. She WANTS to have control over her. THAT is abuse. That is NOT love. Hell, Catra was telling Scorpia not to destroy the disc. This is not good at all.
3. Season 1 Going for the Heart.
This one is more brief. But as said above, Catra knows about Adora’s love for her friends. How? She says it herself.
Following this, she attacks Princess Prom and takes away Adora’s friends. She knows Adora’s weakness, she is AWARE of it, and uses it to HURT Adora. Love is not supposed to harm, especially going out of your way and knowing the other’s weakness to hurt them.
4. Season 1 Battle of Brightmoon
More on Catra knowing what hurts Adora and using it against her:
Catra is putting Adora down. She is cutting deep into Adora, pretty much going for the jugular. Adora wants to protect others, it's part of her abuse and guilt complex. Catra knows this, she knows where to strike. She wants Adora to hurt. This is abuse, putting someone down, making them feel weak, blaming them for something. It’s horrible.
(not to mention here this the scene where Catra cuts Adora up like on the back which people seem to love to fetishize)
And this is in SEASON 1
5. Season 5 Double Trouble
I was having some trouble finding caps for this but all in season 4 we had DT fucking with the Rebellion. Who sent them?
Catra?
Now thanks to a friend, I was able to find this. We all know Adora and Glimmer had problems in s4. Now it was starting before but who made it worse tho? DT was fucking with them, making them fight more. They added fuel to a fire that was burning, yes. But this scene just is gross also.
Once again, Catra knows Adora’s weakness. She is once again using it to her advantage. She is telling DT to go fuck with Adora’s and Glimmer’s relationship. This also can mirror the idea of in abuse, the abuser not wanting the person they abuse to have other friends. Catra was always mad Adora made new friends (another side note which can be its own post, again Adora asked Catra to come. Adora left an abusive household and asked Catra to come but Catra refused. And in the s5 flashback, we see Catra get mad and lash out that Adora is being friends with Lonnie).
I can keep going on. Honestly. Hell in s5, if we should add more since I have at least one thing from every season, Catra did tell Prime about Adora’s ship. Like oof fam.
So much is just not great. Now, I will give some credit. In s1, we do see Catra giving Adora the sword back and Adora and Glimmer are trying to get out of the Horde. She does say later something to the degree of “you think I would let Shadow Weaver erase your mind like that”
But honestly, that is all I can remember that can be argued for the “I've always loved you”.
Now, people will yell and scream at me that Catra changed. This is yet again, a whole different post. But like, she did not start really changing into s5. S5 had 13 eps and so much else going for it. That is TOO short of a time. Not to mention, everything above and more, that is HEAVY STUFF. It is not simple ‘I hurt you by mistake’.
No, it's Catra wanting Adora to hurt. She wanted Adora to suffer. That is NOT love. I myself have had to suffer through mental and emotional abuse. I have had to suffer with someone putting me down, manipulating me, making me feel worthless but being told they love me. I hate this person and even if they ever change, I will never forgive for the years and years of abuse I had to and still do suffer from. I cannot fully get away from them as they are a family member.
Catra never loved Adora. This is just a lie because so much of the above is not love. Even if I missed this that could be in favor of the line, again, everything I have shown is really bad. Things that cannot easily be forgiven. So please understand why people are so upset and triggered by c/a.
S/pop and c/a could have been something but the crew really dropped the ball and just made it a horrible ship. And this mind you is coming from someone who used to ship it.