#i'm just being a little hater . I do not hold any actual ill will towards people enjoying their silly little rarepair sdhGKJH I get it

[ratcandy]

worst nightmare has occurred (character i enjoy getting a decent amount of attention now but it's all shipping)

#no it's not monch thank god #it's. :( it's soz...... #like i get the appeal of this ship in particular because I also like to think of a relationship between them but I vastly prefer it #as a platonic one #n now the tag...... both here and on ao3.......... is all ship... and i just have to be here. and experience Being Torn #because on one hand Yayyyy my funny ant yayyy! on the other hand. #no................. no not in the romance fanfic tropes no....... no.... (voice wracked with despair) no..... #whatever . i cannot pretend to be ''better'' when my brain is also preoccupied by ship bullshit at the moment so WHATever. #i'm just being a little hater . I do not hold any actual ill will towards people enjoying their silly little rarepair sdhGKJH I get it #u guys have fun. #(she turns around and giggles as she makes a moth and axolotl kiss in her head) #clamtalk

[catrasredemption]

Listen I know there's already a lot of analyses on why Catra hate is biased but I just realized there's an absolutely perfect example of this, right down to the tries to kill the protag but the fandom ships it detail.

Goro Fucking Akechi.

And before I start - please know that I hold no actual ill-will toward this sociopathic murderer. And if you've never played Persona 5, no, I am NOT exaggerating. But we'll get into that.

Akechi is set up pretty early on to be a foil to the game's protagonist, Joker. And the uh... gay undertones are NOT subtle.

They never actually become A Thing in game, but it's a VERY popular ship in the fandom. Now what crimes did this little uWu commit?

Literal Murder. Not like, his actions lead to the death of someone, but he actually pointed a gun and pulled the trigger

His actions do also lead to the death of more people by causing a crash in the Tokyo subway system

Attempted murder against Joker - you know, the guy everyone ships him with

Impersonating a genius teenage boy detective (no that's not quite on the level of murder but it's a crime to me and an insult against Naoto from Persona 4)

Now, don't get me wrong, his backstory is pretty messed up. His birth father, a man named Shido, knocked up his mother, who worked in the Red Light District, and eventually killed herself, leaving Akechi an orphan to be passed around by relatives who didn't really care about him.

Akechi took two things from his upbringing - one, he had to be perfect in order to be acceptable to people. Two, a burning hatred of his birth father and a desire to see him suffer.

He eventually ends up working with his father, Shido, who's manipulating the masses using the Metaverse (don't worry if you don't know what that is, it's complicated) to make everyone love him. Akechi works with him while secretly building up his own plan on the side - to disgrace Shido when he's elected and then kill him.

All the while he's also working with Joker and the rest of the main cast and trying to manipulate them (they do manage to see through him, but that's another thing).

Again, I love Akechi. I do. I think he's a wonderfully complicated character and a little trash boy who just needs love. But he did so many bad things. And he did a lot of them solely to get revenge against Shido, and toward the end out of resentment/envy of Joker. And in the very, very end he makes the right choice and sacrifices himself to save Joker.

Now let's go over Catra's life real quick:

Raised in a horrible environment, often neglected, knew she wasn't wanted or really loved

Stepped into a villain role where she did terrible things, some of which led to the death of another person (Angella)

Fought against Adora

Ultimately sacrificed herself to save Adora

Went on to help save the world

It's almost uncanny how Akechi's story lines up with Catra's. And while I'm sure Akechi has haters, the people who love him and still ship him with Joker are far, far louder. And I get that! I too wish Akechi could have had a happy ending, but I don't think it was ever really in the cards for him. But he's a guy, so he's a little uWu.

Catra, meanwhile, is an angry woman and gets none of the leeway that angry men usually get (see also: Zuko). Even sacrificing herself to save Adora couldn't earn her any redemption in some people's eyes.

And I don't like comparing characters, especially ones from different franchises, don't get me wrong. But it's interesting to me how often men are forgiven for far worse crimes than women in media, and Akechi is a grade-A example of doing the absolutely worst things he could while still being loved by the fandom.

#She Ra #SPOP #Catra #Sam Metas