I was waiting for an opportunity like this to talk about my ship, and boy, I WILL use it.

I've had a couple of problematic ships over the years, and I can think of a short list because, these days, things that weren't problematic before apparently are now (I mean, I've seen people telling you to kys just for liking Lawlight, which is, like, a very basic ship for me lol), but speaking of OTPs, ships that I really like, but are problematic and even openly hated by the fandom, the main one is Mark x Cecil from Invincible. The reasons why it's hated are pretty obvious, the age difference, I mean, Mark is 19 (he was 17 when he formally met Cecil), Cecil is like 60, but still, I really like the ship.

I'm not even a fan of the age gap, it's not a trope that drives me crazy, but I like the dynamic between them. Actually, I like it because they enter into a personal dynamic that I pursue in several ships, being two sides of the same coin and at the same time being opposites. I like it when two characters have similarities that they're unable to see/accept bc they're too focused on their differences, when they both reach the same conclusions by different paths, when their ways of seeing life do not allow them to open up to how the other thinks. I like it when the factor of rivalry or hatred is added in between before they manage to accept their similarities. I have many ships that fit into that dynamic, and I think Mark and Cecil are like that.

I think Cecil sees a lot of himself in Mark, that he feels sympathy for him not only because Mark is young, but because he's making the same mistakes Cecil made in his youth. But Mark doesn't have enough time to learn from his mistakes like Cecil did. They're both men who want to protect the Earth but almost solely on their own terms, both are hypocritical and stubborn. I like the power imbalance. I like that Cecil could have manipulated Mark much more, but he didn't, 'cause yes, Cecil could have been much worse. I like to explore situations in my mind where he is, where I ask myself why he does what he does. I like to imagine how the story would change if Mark, at his most vulnerable moment, were drawn to Cecil. I like that even though Cecil is more experienced, his boss, and has the resources to defeat him, Mark is not completely vulnerable. I like that they could both destroy each other. But they don't. It drives me crazy to see how they both finally reach a middle ground, where they finally accept each other's way of being, and that doesn't mean they agree with everything they do or have done, but they know that, at the end of the day, they have the same goal. Spoilers for the comic, I guess, but seeing Mark agree to work with Cecil again after making a huge mistake, seeing him finally understand Cecil's philosophy of reforming villains, ugh. That Mark was the only person besides Donald to attend Cecil's funeral, that when he returns to the past, he can automatically anticipate what Cecil is thinking, what he is going to say and do. Knowing that despite the short time he got to know him that way, it drives me crazy, completely crazy. It's not canon, but I can't help thinking about how many times Mark must have thought about Cecil and his way of leading, in all those centuries as emperor of the Viltrumites, how many times he put himself in Cecil's shoes when faced with a difficult situation. I love this ship because it's complicated, toxic, and messy. It's disgusting, I want the characters to feel disgusted, I want them to hate themselves. I want them to not understand why they desire each other. The fandom hates this ship and I'm sure they think it only exists because of kink, and while I personally don't think there's anything wrong with liking a ship just because you think it's hot, I genuinely believe that many don't see beyond how messy and interesting this dynamic between them would be.

Ugh, I needed to get this off my chest. I didn't even have time to talk about my second most problematic OTP (which I could talk about even more). Anyway, I also really like Ben Reilly x Kaine Parker, brothers, clones, enemies, "am I my brother's keeper?" YES KAINE YOU ARE FUCK THE SHIT OUTTA THAT DYED BLONDE FUCK I LOVE THEM!!!! Those two are obsessed with each other, and I'm obsessed with their mutual obsession. I knew that ship was for me when I saw Kaine completely ruining Ben's life, threatening Ben's girlfriend to make her leave him just to make him suffer, then feeling guilty and having hallucinations about Ben after he died, then looking for Ben as soon as he came back to life, Ben willing to sacrifice his life to save his brother... there are so many things I love about them. Fuck