*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 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.)
I’ve been thinking about how to word this, because this is a well-written article that eloquently explains my beef with fandoms, and I don’t want to turn everything on this page about me. But I HATE shipping. I hate that word with a passion, because when I hear the word “ship” I have come to associate it with this ^^^^^ behaviour.
People who have been following my art for years may have noticed I stopped drawing certain characters, or draw them much, much less frequently. While I wish I could say it was mostly for personal reasons, lack of time time, or just changing interests, I would be lying if I pretended the close-minded, entitled responses I got to had nothing to do with it.
Due to the frequency of these remarks I’ve become uncomfortable with receiving comments on my art. Don’t get me wrong, I love receiving comments, but every new alert has come with a sense of anxiety first, and relief and happiness second. I no longer interact with my few fans for the reasons above: as with Blizzard responding to theirs, it seemed like the more I tried to interact with fans, the more they felt entitled to their opinions. It didn’t matter that they were my own characters, that I had created them with plans and intentions going back years, I had to pander to their wants.
Louis needed a boyfriend because they wanted a happy story, otherwise I was “just asking for it” when people started shipping my characters with other people. It was my fault. I was asking for it. I should have expected it. And while unfortunately internet culture has reached the point where shipping is inevitable even despite the artists wishes, if you’re going to be a royal fuckwit about it then I may not feel inclined to draw these characters anymore.
It’s for this same reason I stopped drawing other people’s characters. I know people have been asking about Clopin, or Malfatto, or my old Star Wars shit, but I stopped because I took a step back and asked myself how I would feel if someone took one of my creations and ran wild with it. Fanart is good in the sense that it inspires young artists to create and explore, and hopefully they will eventually use these skills to develop new, interesting characters of their own. But I hate inappropriate fanart, entitlement, and shipping so much I realized the hypocrisy of what I was doing, and stopped almost altogether.
So for those who were asking where certain characters have gone, this may be the explanation you’re looking for. And to those who may have been responsible for those comments, just maybe take a step back and think about what you’re saying next time.
Would you like it if someone did this to you?
This is a really important addition, thank you, and important perspective to remember.
As much as fandom communities or other groups that value the work of creatives, especially fan artists, vehemently protect them against art theft, unfair criticism, etc., they have a tendency to treat professionals–whether actual professionals or just popular artists–with the same lack of respect and entitlement they claim to be against. Fan entitlement also includes the notion that once an artist becomes above the level of amateur, creates primarily for audience consumption (especially if they get paid for it) or get lots of notes/views/comments, they must always satisfy the demands of their audience. Fans have the perception that an artist’s creation is more for them/the audience than for themselves, and thus they are entitled to direct it.
Whether an artist works for Blizzard on big budget games, an independent webcomicker, or an amateur just starting out, their vision as an artist is valid. They are entitled to keep space between their audience and their creation/themselves, and to be respected for the decisions they do or do not make. Money or popularity does not negate this. Every artist deserves respect and complete control over their creations. Fans think that money and popularity are a shield against criticism and hate, like creators can just soothe themselves with the fact they are profiting off of what they love to do, and so they can take the abuse. This is absolute bullshit. Criticism can be hard enough to endure for anyone, yet I cannot imagine how exasperating and disheartening it is to have fans constantly barking and whining at you for not doing what they want. It’s one of the reasons I fear popularity or making anything meant for audience consumption.
On the subject of “The Muse,” and with the caveat that I haven’t seen much of the last three seasons and am obviously not up to them yet in my rewatching, I just want it noted that I will live and die for the Odo/Lwaxana ship.
She is herself and always herself, but she responds to Odo’s seriousness with her own gravity. She is REAL for him in a way she is for no one else. In three meetings, Odo knows her better than Picard ever did (not that Picard would mind – he didn’t want to be pursued).
And she makes him PLAYFUL. As said, I don’t know where the Odo/Kira relationship goes, but is there anything better than Odo and Lwaxana playing hide and seek in his quarters? He becomes humanoid with this jauntiness that you only really see from him when he’s caught Quark at something. And when she falls asleep on him after saying she hasn’t slept well in days he just makes his arms into a pillow and blanket.
What he says when he’s convincing her husband that he loves her. Lwaxana saw his differences and wasn’t put off by them and didn’t act like they weren’t there. She saw his differences and wanted to know more about them. Finding the Founders showed him that there was more to being a shapeshifter than being liquid in a bucket every 16 hours, but it’s Lwaxana who teaches him FUN.
He’s not physically attracted to her (but is he to Kira? I don’t think so). But when he asks her to stay, it’s because he wants to take care of her and talk to her and play with her. And damn me if that isn’t him being in love with her.
(And my god, I want Odo helping to raise small boy fic.)
I have most of the common name-smushes that aren’t words for other things blacklisted, so unless it’s a very unusual one, it shouldn’t show up on my dash.
(If I’m skimming blogs, there’s no way to make it not show up, and I accept the risk of running into that – I just tend to scroll past the post once I notice the name smush.)
And that goes for anyone – while I do tend to be grumpy about this particular subject, I also blacklist things to control my user experience. I’m glad if people want to ask how to keep things from being a problem, and sometimes that answer is that the only thing to do is me to blacklist things.
Which – if you know there’s a new name-smush for a pairing, particularly Star Wars, which is currently the one I see it most in, and you want to make things easier for me to avoid this? Tell me what it is so I can blacklist it.
(As to why it’s a problem for me – I have major issues about obliterating individuals in favor of who they’re with, and in that, things can be triggering, and I’m not getting into why right now. Please don’t ask me to. I also tend to see names as belonging to individuals, and sometimes name-smushes, in addition to the above, make me go “who are they talking about?” That can also be distressing, but in a way that does not trigger other issues.
just not the twig white cis emo boy with basic girl couples
what we NEED:
ones that aren’t toxic
the ones that ARE toxic be taken as toxic and not romanized and actually dealt with maturely and shows that those relationships are not healthy
overweight girl of color with most popular boy in school
trans girl with the football player
trans boy of color with girl football player
just break the basic white stick cis girl and the basic white stick cis boy normative!!!
^THIS!!! Like, cool. I’ll take some more m/f couples, but they need to be diverse!!!!!!! I want trans guys and gals, I want people of color, I want healthy relationships!! People need to see themselves represented, and that includes all of those people who are in m/f relationships, but aren’t the “white cis guy and white cis girl” that are the current mold. Please and thank you.
Agreed on everything.
Also more m+f and m+m and f+f friends that don’t end up in romance and have a healthy friendship, please.
Healthy friendship is all the reason I got back into Elementary (I’m mid s04 right now and please, don’t spoil me for anything).
It’s about the only show I can think off the top of my head where you have a m/f friendship between two adults who do their best to be good friends as well as trying to do their best to be as emotionally healthy as they can be, and help each other along the way.
It’s honestly amazing and I am all over that. I wish we could see more healthy relationships in media in general.
let me have my m/f ships. especially as a bi person. i know it might be entertaining to poke fun and joke about m/f ships being het and calling all the characters gay (as in homosexual, not just ‘not straight’) but i’m just. i’m very tired. i appreciate the comedic value but bi and pan and poly ppl exist. thanks
m/w ships are gross
if you only respect bi/pan/poly people in m/m relationships or f/f relationships then guess what you don’t support bi/pan/poly people so please don’t call yourself a supporter of me
And while you’re at it, don’t demonize or belittle past relationships that bi/pan people have had that are m/f just because you want an endgame m/m or f/f relationship. Just because they’re in a same-sex relationship now doesn’t devalue their past relationships or make them invalid.
You probably know this, but I’m a complete sucker for Garashir. I really, really, reaaaaaally like that ship.
Hm, let me see… Odo and Quark, that’s a cute salty pairing. Jadzia and pretty much every other female shown in the show – plus Worf. Miles and Keiko and Kira are another threesome I like (honestly, I love the idea that they just systematically have sex with all the commanding officers on DS9. You can’t say no to the O’Briens, they’re just that good.)
I was never a big fan of Ezri, even if her actress was adorable, because of the utterly unnecessary fridging of Jadzia that took place, but I do like the idea of her and Bashir being a cute little couple as Garak smiles and knits them matching sweaters.
(GARAK CAN TOTALLY KNIT LIKE A BOSS. HE MAKES THE BEST SWEATERS.)
(Oh and if we wanna get into the fun kinky stuff, Garak totally has a hemipenis. Basically, it’s like retractable, you know?)
(All of the (insert) Daxs are the pansexualiest of pansexuals.)
(Garak is also the pansexualiest of pansexuals, although he has a particular soft spot for the naive, eager sort.)
(Odo is asexual, and considering his species, *literally* genderfluid. Ha, get it? Fluid? Heh.)
(Basically, not a single person on DS9 is straight. Except maybe Worf, and even then if Captain Disko was like “Hey want to get down” he’d fling his clothes off faster than you could say Heghlu’meH QaQ jajvam.)
Can you post the link to your explanation on the DW post so I can read it?
Actually, now that I’m actually looking at it. Bugger. I need to copy-paste, because the entry in question is locked to my access list, so it would be less useful to link to it. (Which I didn’t even think about when I first posted that.)
It is also a five-year-old post, so some of the wording is not what I’d use now, but the sentiments I had behind it, I still stand by. Also, I am in entirely different fandoms at this point, and those smushings still bother me.
Relevant part of the post itself:
They are two separate people, not one individual. Jack and Ianto, not Janto. Gwen and Jack, not Gwack. McKay and Sheppard, not McShep. McKay and Weir, not McWeir. Spike and Buffy, not Spuffy. Harry and Snape, not Snarry. To name the ones that come to mind the easiest, from most recently seen to least recently seen, roughly.
The fastest way to get me not to read a fic is to name the pairing with some smushed up name, or some other sort of not-their-names way of identifying the people involved. I do not think mashing names together is cute.
And from the comments:
I have a massive THING about individuality on a personal basis which spills over to fandom; it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who feels so strongly about it. – quoted from the person who commented to the post
Oh, yes, very much so. People are people, even if they’re fictional, and denying them their individuality in that manner is… reprehensible, in my mind. – my response to that
In the end, my issues with names being smashed together is that even if they’re just characters, they’re still individuals, and I feel very strongly that denying people their agency as individuals is wrong.
Given that, though, if someone tags posts with smushed names, it’s their blog, and they can do whatever they want, and it’s not my business what they use to sort things and organize things and identify things.
I am still perfectly within my own rights to say I will not interact with asks or reblogs which use that particular fandom convention, for whatever reason. At this point, mostly to keep from feeling the sort of rage that comes from the same place as being nothing more than an extension of my parents or S.O. even when people knew my name and could have – should have – used it.
Just. A person, real or fictional, does not cease to exist as an individual simply because they have a relationship with someone else. Name smushing has always read to me as a way of saying “these are one person, not two people”.
And no matter how my views may change about a lot of things? This hill I will die on, and have no regrets at all.
I high recommend multishipping.It allows you to ship stuff at the same time. You can like both great ships. The world is your oyster.
But how Iz? There are two ways I go about it:
1. Alternate Universe. In one universe OTP1 is a thing, in another OTP2 is the thing. You ship them both and they’re both happy in very close universes except for that one relationship change.
2. OT3 it and live the dream.
Yup, pretty much OR–
3. Polyamory. It’s a wonderful thing! Spread the looove. You can ship both at the same time! Or many more!
There's a Mirror on the Wall 