“Maturing is realizing the front man stares at gi-hun because he enjoys seeing him in pain, not due to love.” Is something I saw recently on instagram reels. A lot of people in the comments decided to vent their frustrations and dislike for the 457 ship. The dislike for a ship thats rapidly becoming a favorite doesn’t bug me too much, but there was one comment that rubbed me the wrong way. They said “I ship them as a joke. The people who actually ship them are weird though.”
A ship or pairing can be toxic. It can be strange and disgusting. You are allowed to dislike it. However, I do not like when people use that repulsion in order to justify being an asshole to other real human beings. You don’t call someone weird just because they take your crack ship more seriously then you do. Finding the idea funny means you see some of the appeal, and its just poor fandom etiquette to shit on someone for liking something.
I know the reason I find it so intriguing is because it is toxic and would never work. I personally know that it was not intended to look that way in canon and it wont be canon. However, if someone else analyzes the show and believes that the ship is backed up by In-ho’s staring, who am I to make fun of them for it? Media can be interpreted in many different ways. So long as a 457 shipper isn’t harassing the real people working on squid game into making it canon, they are fine.
