tmirai:
*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.)