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We’re not above celebrating the birthdays of fictional catgirls here at TheGamer, especially if you’re 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:legendary gay disaster and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:cartoon connoisseur Jade King. That’s me, by🍰 the way. Thanks fo𝔉r making it this far.
Modern fandoms make a big deal out of thes꧅e occasions. Not because the character is growing older, but because it’s an event where writers, artists, and viewers can gather to celebrate what this fictional person means to them. Some view them as a source of comfort and admiration, while others adore the themes and stories they manage to convey in the source material they originate from. It’s a sweet ordeal, and I’ve seen entire artbooks and animations formed out of pure love for people like Catra. We stan an emotionally unstable gay catgirl.
Catra from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is a wonderfully complex character, a battered and broken woman who spends the better part of the show being defined by her trauma, forced to make decisions dictated by her experience with loss rather than moving on and accepting the love that quite clearly surrounds her. She grew up in theꦛ Fright Zone with Adora, and they soon became best friends who were always there for each other. It wasn’t just a matter of survival, it was an emotional connection between two girls who realised from a young age that perhaps their relationship could be something more, but their dystopian upbringing buried these feelings deep down so nothing but servitude remained.
The couple swear that one day they’ll rule this land together, usurping their toxic parental figures and laying claim to something that rightfully belongs to them. It’s an adorable moment, but one that is immediately thrown aside by tragedy. After a totally not date that takes 🎶them to a forbidden forest, our heroines stumble across a magical sword. Given they’ve just crashed their only mode of transportation, they make the long journey home and forget all about it. At least, they try to. Haunted by dreams of her potential destiny, Adora returns to the forest and takes the sword for herself, transforming into She-Ra for the very first time. It’s a life-changing moment for the young woman, and upon being captured by Glimmer and Bow she comes to realise that the values she’s spent years being raised by are wrong. She needs to fight for the vulnerable, using her n🧔ewfound powers to stand for something other than herself. Unfortunately, accepting this mission means leaving everyone she loves behind, and that includes Catra. And I thought my last break-up was messy.
When the duo reunite on the battlefield, Catra pounces on Adora like their friendship hasn’t changed at all. The catgirl cheers about driving a tank and being placed in charge of a raid, while Adora looks toward her blindly, a sense of profound loss visible in her eyes as she realises that she needs to walk away and fight back against this tyranny. She begs for Catra to join her, but she refuses, failing to understand why her friend would ever want to leave behind the life they’ve built together. She views it as betrayal, as Adora walking away from something that could have been perfect. With new friends and magical powers at her disposal, she doesn’t n🃏eed Catra anymore, and this breaks her heart.
All Catra ever wanted was Adora, and now she’s gone, her sole purpose is hate, con❀flict, and internal self-destruction. The emotional acceptance she craves grows toxic even as characters like Scorpia and even those on the opposing team try to convince her that ascending up the Horde’s ranks will only drive her to regret. You can be the m🎃ost powerful person in the universe with unimaginable wealth, but it means nothing when nobody is there to share it with you. She wants Adora, and could have had her if she wasn’t so engulfed by her own emotions. This is what makes Catra such a fantastic heroine, she’s so flawed, so complicated, and she understands that she doesn’t deserve forgiveness.
There’s a moment in season five where Catra decides to sacrifice herself to save Glimmer, ready to die aboard Horde Prime’s ship because she views herself as worthless, believing that her own existence doesn’t have value when compared to those around her. She sacrifices herself, choosing to snuff out her flame with one single deed of righteousness. It’s heartbreaking, Adora in a mess of tears as she begs Catra to come back. Given everything she’s done, her team shouldn’t want to save her, to go back and rဣisk everything for a catgirl who has wanted them all dead for years. But they do, aware that a person can ch𒁃ange and it’s possible to bring someone back from the brink. Catra still means everything to Adora, regardless of what they’ve been through.
‘Save The Cat’ is an episode that much of the fandom views as She-Ra’s best, because it cements the 🔥romantic relationship between Adora and Catra while showcasing the catgirl’s first step towards eventual redemption. The Best Friend Squad infiltrates Horde Prime’s ship, splitting up to shut down the power and save Catra. Adora soon stumbles upon her, the girl’s hair being cut short as her pupils glow a fluorescent green. She’s been brainwashed, forced to use Adora’s love against her as they partake in a fight sequence that remains hard to watch, or I’m just the cringiest queer in the universe for getting emotional over this.
Once the power is taken down and Catra is subject to a reluctant beating; the chip in her neck malfunctions and she falls off a platform to her death. Adora has no idea where this leads, and currently lacking the ability to transform into She-Ra, she jumps down after her. She’d rather die with Catra than watch her perish before her own eyes, a wonderful romantic admission that is reflected🧸 in the show’s finale. Catra is critically injured, ready to surrender herself to death for a second time that day. Surrounded by enemies and overwhelmed by grief, Adora finally becomes She-Ra - a new form of the princess no longer defined by the destiny our heroine is desperate to pull herself 🌄away from. She tears through the Horde and takes Catra to safety, with the show being infinitely more fruity from this point onward. They’re just intergalactic gals being pals. Honest.
Catra’s redemption arc is beautiful because it isn’t a sudden shift towards moral superiority. She struggles with her place on the other side, and there are several moments where she decides to walk away in fear of facing her own emotions, or being alienated by thꦛose she is so keen to grow close to. “Adora doesn’t want me... Not like I want her,” she says in one moment that saw the fandom perform a momentously gay backflip in unison. Adora is so enslaved to her destiny that she is willing to kill herself to save the world, bowing to the expectations She-Ra has been shackled to for generations. In the show’s final episodes, Catra decides she won’t leave Adora to die on her own, so they find comfort in the arms of one another as the reality around them begins to crumble.
But when all seems lost, love saves the day. Catra declares her love for Adora and a magical shield appears, protecting them both from devastation as Adora reciprocates her feelings and they 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:share a kiss. If this isn’t lesbian goals I don’t know what is, imagine smooching an emo catgirl at the end of the world only to be saved at the last minute to live happily ever after. You might declare it as saccarine or cliched, but given the show spent five entire seasons building to this moment, fans and even showrunner Noelle Stevenson doubting that the queer relationship they hoped to execute upon might not even happen, i📖t feels like a triumph well worth celebrating. It’s also an accomplishment for Catra, as she finally accepts a form of love that means everything to her. No more running away, no more blaming h✤erself, and no more surrendering to her vices in fear of never being accepted.
The show ends in a tight embrace, foreheads touching as the two women think about a potential future no longer dominated by darkness. They can travel the world, rebuild their home, or just bask in one another’s company without fear of being torn about. Despite all this Catra will cont🐻inue to tackle her demons, learning not to slip into old habits as she accepts love, friendship, and a place far, far away from the abuse that once defined her. On this chaotic catgirl’s birthday, I think that progress and everything her journey stands for is worth celebrating. Happy Birthday, Catra. Now please, have a nap and go to therapy.
