*sticks out the no fun sign* Alright, I’m ‘bout to burst some of y’all’s bubbles re: shipping and call out some very common, but very entitled and rude, fan behaviour.
This is Michael Chu–lead writer for Overwatch–responding to a Pharah X Mercy fan who was apparently devastated by the implied Genji/Mercy and initial speculation of Pharah’s mystery “date” in the Reflections holiday comic. It’s a kind and tactful response, and a reminder of something most fans know, yet seem to forget: nothing can invalidate your personal explorations as a fan. In the land of what is speculated, assumed, headcanoned, or alternate universe, everything can be “true.” Chu is worth following on Twitter as he often clarifies many speculated lore points, including Tracer’s sexual orientation. It’s awesome that a creator would make himself so available to fans and address specific concerns.
What follows this Twitter exchange, however, is several other fans tagging/@-ing Chu with their own shipping related grievances and whining. Some complained that Pharmercy shippers are being harassed with every Gency affirming piece of content that comes out, and so Blizzard is only providing further fodder for them. A few said they only liked Overwatch for Pharmercy, and they could not enjoy the game if it wasn’t canonly plausible. Or that if Pharmercy isn’t (or is) canon, then WidowTracer needed to be. On and on, several tweets with fans basically talking over his head about how angry, depressed, and hurt they were by Michael Chu/Overwatch’s storytelling. In light of the Mercy/Genji Valentine’s Day lines found on the PTR today, I can’t imagine what his mentions must be like.
I understand why shipping can be significant. Reaffirmation or reflection of one’s own self is often tied to speculated romantic explorations. It can be a response or a solution to the lack of sexual diversity in media. A biracial same sex relationship in Overwatch would be a powerful presence undoubtedly. And criticisms of canon relationships can be valid when they are not developed and presented well. But there is a thick as hell line between approaching Blizzard with sentiments of wanting to see more diversity among characters and exploring outside of the straight romance narrative, and harassing creators and condemning their work because they didn’t affirm your ship. And fans so often cross it.
Creators have no responsibility to make your ships valid, and by demanding that they acquiesce to the desires of the fans, that is invalidating their right as storytellers to develop their vision as they want. No matter how popular a headcanon, desire, or opinion may be among the community, fandom does not have to dictate or drive the decisions and actions of creatives.
Overwatch has been extremely receptive to fans, both in evolution of game play and story, so to say that the community has not been significant to the development of the game would be false. Yet this heavy exchange has a double-edge to it: if fans think that Blizzard will respond to every complaint/want and act on it, then fans will further believe that they have to. And that every time they do something against the will of the fans, it is wrong or an aggressive act against the community. “If Blizzard doesn’t make Pharmercy/Reaper76/MeiZarya/etc. canon, they are homophobic and will never include a canon gay couple.” and so forth. There is no topic in fandom that brings out indignant entitlement and idiocy like shipping. It is what often leads to the most cringe-worthy and fetishistic actions and perceptions of fandom.
And I’m going to be honest: people are really reaching with these “the voice lines prove the ship!” justifications. Many of these lines are not blatantly romantic or sexual, and context and tone can be completely up to interpretation. Every friendly interaction between two characters is not proof for romance. That’s some “that girl smiled at me, she must like me!” kind of reasoning. The only blatantly (IMO) lines that have insinuated any sort of romantic/sexual attraction are lines between Reinhardt and Ana, and now the Valentine’s lines between Genji and Mercy (but even those are subjective.) So using these “voice lines” as gospel justification is pretty biased and inaccurate. Odds are, Blizzard has a pretty good idea of what characters will end up with who/what their sexualities may be, and anything that “implies” otherwise is due to biased perception of the fans.
So, check yourselves, fandom. Creators–even those of popular, million dollar games–deserve to explore their characters as they wish, and though every piece of media put out for public consumption is eligible for criticism, not every fan opinion or desire is valid or needs to be addressed or pandered to. Your shipping is as significant as it is trivial. Enjoy your ships and headcanons no matter what the canon is, but respect (or at least constructively criticize) the decisions (and space) of creators.
(Also: shipping as a “war”, us v. them thing is so utterly embarrassing and stupid. Let people ship what they want, and enjoy your own ships without impeding on them. Please stop.)
Creators have no responsibility to make your ships valid, and by
demanding that they acquiesce to the desires of the fans, that is
invalidating their right as storytellers to develop their vision as they
want.
my mom has a friend who has a failed program-service dog and he’s literally my favorite creature
He’s a really smart lab, he learned all the commands, but he just has an affinity for doing them whenever he wants
So this lady’s dog literally turns on-off lights, opens doors, opens the fridge, etc… at his own wishes.
Her house looks like its baby-proofed, with kid safe locks on everything and stuff, but really she just has a dog that’s learned all the mobility service dog commands but has a mind of his own.
What she says: I’m fine
What she means: I love you so much and I want to declare it to the world but public extreme expressions of love short of marriage proposals are looked down upon or made fun of by society and I’m worried people are going to judge me but I’m content being by your side because there’s nothing I love more
you: I love you me, and intellectual: I love you unconditionally and the fact that I see myself as more intuitive does not change that at all, and, in fact, sometimes enhances my love for you
Did you know that I will climb nearly 90 degree angles to announce my deep love for you from the top of the highest mountains. Because I crave that affection.
Me, on a date: how do you feel about wholesome memes? My date: I love them so much as it is my deepest desire to have that kind of connection with someone Me: *pulling breadsticks out of my purse* I stole these from Olive Garden and want to share them with you
Come one guys join in on this In case you haven’t noticed this whole meme is already a wholesome version of a past meme, the “what will be the first meme of 2015” meme So this meme is a meme of itself
I came out here to have a good time and I’m honestly feeling so loved and supported right now.
this kind of wholesome subversion of memes looks like a lot of
Rule 3: IF YOU SEE HER WITH HER BLASTER JUST FUCKING RUN BECAUSE SHE’S BEEN LET DOWN SO OFTEN SHE HAS NO FEAR, I’VE SEEN A MERCY TAKE DOWN A ROADHOG, FUCKING RUN IF SHE’S COMING TOWARDS YOU
children aren’t dumb. we knew that trophies meant nothing when everyone in the fucking class got one
Also who was giving out those fucking trophies? SPOILER ALERT IT WASN’T US. IT WAS YOU.
Who the fuck got trophies?? I got a piece of paper saying Participation on it with a cheap-ass shiny sticker in the corner!
Sometimes they were ribbons.
Sometimes they were just the gnawing awareness that you could never trust any praise an adult gave you.
^^^^
When I was in 7th grade, the administration at my middle school decided to make a bunch of changes to pep rallies, including changing the spirit award to the grade that showed the most school spirit to three spirit awards SO THAT EACH GRADE COULD HAVE ONE.
We decided in about 2.5 seconds that this was fucking stupid and that it was pointless to have a school-wide spirit contest IF NO ONE WAS ACTUALLY ABLE TO WIN. Our entire grade organized ourselves and boycotted the pep rally in protest. We still went to the pep rally, but the entire 7th grade sat quietly in the bleachers and refused to cheer or otherwise participate.
AND IT INFURIATED THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION. INFURIATED THEM.
They ended up giving one spirit award to the 8th grade and two spirit awards to the 6th grade. At which point, our entire grade stood up and cheered, and the principal screamed into her microphone that we needed to sit down and stop cheering.
Because we hadn’t broken any school rules, the administration realized they couldn’t punish us, and they changed back to one spirit award and got rid of the other unpopular pep rally changes. But they never forgave us. The principal saved up all of her anger for a year and a half and then called a special “promotion ceremony rehearsal” for our grade right before we graduated from middle school specifically so that she could spend an hour yelling at us about how THIS WAS NOT FOR US, THIS WAS FOR OUR PARENTS AND OUR TEACHERS AND THE ADMINISTRATION AND THE SCHOOL, AND IF WE FUCKED THE CEREMONY UP IN ANY WAY, SO HELP HER, SHE WOULD MAKE OUR LIVES A LIVING HELL.
So, yeah, tell me again about how my generation expects trophies for participating. I dare you.
Sorry for the cussing, but yEAH NO ONE LIKES PARTIP AWARDS
I just shove them in a drawer. The only trophies I value are the ones I earn
Dark times all around but there are still people out there who love you
Do
not hurt yourself, do not hurt others, get help, talk to someone, anyone. Humanity has survived before and we can do it now if we all just support each other. My country and my people let me down and endangered my life but there’s nothing I or anyone else can do about that so let’s try to spread the love that is so clearly lacking.
