lore-discussion

[civic lynx]

I’d assume it’s just his normal va with a voice filter but they might’ve had someone else

[shrewd pivot]

Ironic sure, but a bit disrespectful and depressing to do to art made by humans meant to be enjoyed by humans :(

[edgy meadow]

it is, its the name of as slavic god

[languid kindle]

probably not credited (yet) because it could be an upcoming character who knows

[edgy meadow]

idk why its in finland tho

[languid kindle]

i mean

[toxic flax]

theres that one in the us called marina or smthn

[languid kindle]

i guess geographic proximity

cuz finland is like

[edgy meadow]

macaria

[languid kindle]

beside russia

however

[brittle sky]

sure, except genai is nothing like actual ai

[toxic flax]

yes!!

[languid kindle]

the implication of this doesnt sound good at all

[edgy meadow]

i know im just being silly

[shrewd pivot]

Belobog mythos and Chernobog mythos are from the general area i suppose yeah

[edgy meadow]

this is not me excusing people using chatbots to solve the puzzle

[languid kindle]

i mean its still kind of like a different cultural sphere

[toxic flax]

i wish detective conan was real hed solve the cypher in like a day

[shrewd pivot]

I agree

[brittle sky]

they are generally just going for various cgthonic entities. Don't always align with local mythos (see - the American one being greek)

[shrewd pivot]

Sombra: laughs in ARG

[edgy meadow]

regardless, even if im not the happiest about people using chatbots to solve the puzzle im willing to believe that its translations are at least partially correct

[civic lynx]

Lowkey need them to do another Sombra level ARG for a new hero or lore drop

The social media takeover before spotlight was a good start but they can go much further

[languid kindle]

"Before it was disconnected, Chernobog used its processing power to predict the shutdown and printed hundreds of pages of instructions to help humans maintain security without its intervention."

Its final words were "I understand. I'm sorry."

so it was just like

[shrewd pivot]

I'm not, genai chat bots notoriously 'hallucinate' (<the official word for genai inventing things) answers. It's probably incorrect

[azure flint]

another sombra type arg for chernobog

https://tenor.com/view/sticker-yung-joc-crying-meme-man-crying-meme-thebeyonderrrr-gif-828328460466032722

[languid kindle]

"im gonna be erased from existence, last thing i can do is to help them one last time so that they can deal with it"

[edgy meadow]

if theres one thing chatbots can do reliably its interpret language, hence my partial trust in the translation

[languid kindle]

like i didnt see any problems with that, at first

[edgy meadow]

but i get it for sure

[languid kindle]

but then emre's being controlled by some finnish mind parasite AI

[azure flint]

emre might have top 5 tuffest ult lines now

or top 10

[languid kindle]

voice distorter at work

[civic lynx]

Blizzard can we get the origin stories for the new heroes already

Anran doesn’t need one but the other 4 would be nice

[shrewd pivot]

Was that chernobog? I remember that was the communications god ai not chernobog

[edgy meadow]

the chernobog of old is probbaly different in some way than whatever version is piloting emre

[languid kindle]

wait let me check again

[azure flint]

actually just tuffest ult in general cuz he literally turns into a cybernetic cannon

[languid kindle]

https://overwatch.fandom.com/wiki/Chernobog

i got it from here but this could be wrong

[edgy meadow]

i know

you are not wrong

[languid kindle]

wait

wrong mention mv

b

[edgy meadow]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/810336789465530378/1467892557781663774/attachment-6.gif

[languid kindle]

i meant to mention the person above

[edgy meadow]

its g

[shrewd pivot]

Dang ok I was misremembering then ig
ty for the correction!

This is huge implications

[brittle sky]

nah, that was chernobog, per declassified

[shrewd pivot]

Right! Mbmb

[languid kindle]

so either chernoborgs just like "ill play nice but ill do some sneaky shit behind these gullible human's back"

or

someone's manipulated and reprogrammed chernoborg

[shrewd pivot]

It wouldn't suprise me if there's like some "illuminati" kind of group using Chernobog, it's a common trope for conspiracies in media. But Chernobog god ai could be running the show, we just don't know yet

[brittle sky]

Or there's something so fucked Chernobog is doing 4d moves using a pawn for the sake of long game security.

[shrewd pivot]

TRUE

[edgy meadow]

it would certainly be a crazy turn of events if by the end of this year we realise that talon was just used as a pawn for chernobog

[broken eagle]

You know its bad when Ai needs a human to solve a problem

[edgy meadow]

i can definitely see chernobog take mostly a side role in the current narrative

and be a big agent next year

[brittle sky]

I mean talon is classically 'evil aid group everyone uses for their own ends'. It's really just Vendetta insisting it's all about her.

[edgy meadow]

imagine next year's arc is set around overwatch v null sector v chernobog

[shrewd pivot]

Overwatch facing a "bigger future threat" that makes all factions cooperate together to fight the bigger threat would facilitate an mmo set up very easily, so I am hoping to see a bigger threat hit Overwatch's earth one day. Like, Valorant style timelines (tracer confirms timelines exist) or some kind of terminator situation with future enemies invading the present

This is based on the fact Project Titan mmo had heroes traveling back in time to important historical dates, and Project Titan mmo was scrapped and made into ow1. The plan was ow1 fps crawl, ow2 PVE walk, ow3 mmo run but that might have changed

[brittle sky]

oh god I hope we don't get an elaborate plot about alternative universe done entirely to justify mirror matches.

[shrewd pivot]

More so, explaining why overwatch mmo would exist: multiple timelines come together to help fight off a greater threat of some kind. It would explain multiple player heroes in an mmo and explain the og project Titan premise of traveling through time to do hero work. The bigger threat could simply be a terminator "future controlled by Anubis, and now it's hunting all timelines to maintain control bc saving one timeline earth isn't saving all timeline earth's under Anubis logic" or something

[brittle sky]

maybe, though mmo would be a huge endeavor, and given how pve didn't even get off the ground I'd be surprised if they tried it again

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah that's fair.

Project Titan failed, but then they tried the ow1>ow2>ow3 to reach an mmo again. This then failed, and we don't know thier plans now.

Overwatch is getting big additions to facilitate a live service game-- it is def a step towards an MMO to have yearly arcs and even if repurposed from canned PVE, Stadium helps facilitate class specializations for an mmo. The new subclasses for all PVP modes too, make me think there is prep for an mmo.

An MMO would be huge money making potential for Blizz and Blizzard was trying to make the next WoW with Project Titan, so there is financial incentive to make an overwatch mmo. Valorant is apparently making a mmo called Project T, so there is competition in that space to make a hero shooter to mmo.

I personally would love an overwatch MMO bc of the lore and worldbuilding, so much detail in npc dialogs and mmo vast map design. The idea of exploring a Junkertown mmo map sounds wicked awesome, and I would adore making customized characters like how you can in WoW. Custom omnic characters.... one day... lol
I imagine an overwatch mmo might be similar to Firefall

[brittle sky]

I think the stumbling block remains pve just not appealing to folks. MMos are primarily about pve (and moving across maps), and that's just what didn't really connect.

[shrewd pivot]

Failed mostly due to lack of proper management and squandered resources, and the fact they made stuff like the Toronto mission "Wow raid" designed instead of "fps campaign" designed.

The third person camera focus of Stadium also facilitates a move to mmo style gameplay.

For me, it's really the new subclasses in overwatch rebrand that have me hanging onto a thread of hope overwatch mmo might happen one day.

[slow wasp]

Do we know what the thing controling emre is?

[shrewd pivot]

No canon confirmation yet, but the eye conspiracy that chased Sombra and is now controlling Emre is highly suggested to be the god ai of global security Chernobog that is in Finland

[slow wasp]

Whenever echo duplicates him, she says a line where she introduces herself to someone ("echo, my name is echo") and im wondering if the person controling emre is trying to corrupt her too

[shrewd pivot]

Oh dang. I wonder if it is a voice line placeholder since the og Turkish ult line for Emre was changed pretty last minute, or if Echo is being hacked by Chernobog, or if Chernobog is simply interacting with Echo

[brittle sky]

I mean seems like either it's doing a hack or Echo imitates Emre so well she's imitating the ego death he experiences during takeovers

[slow wasp]

I dont think its immitation as there isnt the emre voice underlay that you can hear on other heroes/voice lines

[shrewd pivot]

You know. With Emre having his mind controlled (discussing free will, ego death as you said, etc), and Mizuki lore fully confirming "Anima" is the name of the tech Kiriko's dad makes, I wonder if Anima tech has to do with psychology models of the mind, like a scifi twist on psychology models? Bc Anima/Animus is basically the subconcious. And if the Anima tech is scifi psychology, then that might relate back to the whole convos of sapient conciousness with omnics, maybe in overwatch a "collective unconsciousness" exists in a scifi way similar to like... idk psychonauts making it a litteral place you can visit lol but less obviously cartoony. Maybe the Iris represents some kind of omnic "collective unconciousness" or something.

Like, I get the feeling overwatch might have scifi metaphysics since Lifeweaver already uses sacred geometry in his biolight, and Sigma references sacred geometry with his hyperspheres/melody of the universe (music is maths)

So I wonder if Anima is a scifi twist on psychology models.

[brittle sky]

eughhh Jung

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah not too thrilled myself about it lol I loathe the old psychology models being taken a legitimate science and not a form of mysticism.

But abstractions of the Jungian "collective unconscious" theory is very common is cerebral scifi, a litteral plain of existence representing shared collective unconciousnesss, or associating nirvana(religious place where bits of the soul get broken down and flow) with a plain of collective unconciousness, etc

If Anima tech is a scifi twist on psychology models, and Anima has something to do with unconciousnesss, that actually WOULD explain how the kitsune can "possess" organic humans to have proficiency beyond just adrenaline, and it would explain how the Anima tech works by creating essentially hard-light-style projections of unconcious motifs of the user. Plus in the heroes ascendant short, Hanzo litterally hears his father's words (it is a Japanese story trope of ancestors spirits guiding you in moments of need.) It's not ever explained how this could happen in overwatch but Hanzo doesn't seem suprised by it, so we must assume this isn't unusual for him, and that it isn't litterally the soul ghost of his dad but something else.

I only say this bc Overwatch has collabed with Persona, which the whole thing is inspired by psychology models being abstracted into superpowers. Persona vs Anima, etc

Also, Kiriko says she is guided by the Kitsune, and seemingly she gets possessed whenever her eyes glow blue (in accordance to Miko Shrine maidens being believed to be able to be possessed by spirits in Shinto belief) -- Emre says he feels like he OUGHT to follow Chernobog's will and he blacks out when he disobeys. The eye conspiracy is actively in his mind even when he isn't blacked out.

The Kitsune ai for Kiriko and Eye conspiracy ai for Emre might be doing something similar in canon? It's just that Emre is a cyborg which makes it more obvious how an ai could control an organic human. And the kitsune ai seems to be respecting Kiriko’s autonomy while the eye conspiracy ai disregards Emre's autonomy

This chart is decent at explaining basic Jung psychology set up but the "archetypes" in Jung model are like "trickster god, mother god, etc" which are asserted to be 'instinctual' archetypes. Ie, just how humans might instinctually fear a spider, humans might instinctually have archetypical concepts like a mother figure for story traditions. Jung asserted this "instinctual archetype" to exist to explain why many mythos around the world share similar features like a trickster god, etc.

Do note, there is obvious sexism in the idea that all men have Anima and all women have Animus, assuming a "male vs female, masculine vs effeminate" is some kind of hard fact truth about the world, Jung psychology model is very flawed ofc. But Persona plays with Jung psychology model to make it super powers so overwatch might be doing that with Anima tech.

[young dragon]

Interesting ideas. Seems like in Kiriko's case her abilities are somewhat familial rather than technology-based. Her mother showed no skill for it and instead became, seemingly, the best swordsman on the planet. While her grandmother had far more skill with spiritual manifestation than he grandmother. If this is in fact the case, then their abilities long predate the modern technology we saw come into existence in the pre-omnic crisis.

In the case of various Asian characters, save for Zen, a lot of their power comes from spiritualism that predates much of the moden setting. It blurs the line between magic, but they aren't truly casting spells. Things get weird however when you have Rammatra tapping into whatever The Void is. He seems to study it and draw much of his power from it.

[shrewd pivot]

Oh for sure! Inti warrior tech is very old too, my assumption is that Kiriko’s father is from a long line of Anima tech creators. Japanese bladesmiths were believed to imbue swords with souls, so Kiriko’s dad is a scifi take on that with Anima tech.

Kiriko’s grandma might have been interacting with Anima tech (kitsune spirit), or maybe Anima tech is a recent invention? But it doesn't make sense for Kiriko’s mom to treat the kitsune as if it isn't "real" unless the kitsune is ai that is hard to harness.

[shrewd pivot]

Overwatch has a hard no magic rule, what appears to be magic is just advanced tech.

Ramattra is using nanites.

I genuinely enjoyed this rule bc that means all cultural heroes can exist without canon making a "one true religion" devalue the other cultures/stories. Math is a universal language after all, and maths make a great source of scifi superhero powers, like with Tracer or Sigma or Winston or Illari

There are two unexplained things tho, in the codex overwatch found null sector using some kind of unusual plasma Torbjörn can't identify in the stalker orbs, and some kind of unusual fuel Echo can't identify in the flying nullsector "jumpjet" rocketer units.

We also have NO idea what kind of power source Volskaya was using from the omnics.

And Doomfist needed to steal a Nullsector ship's power core (in the 2d animation with Sombra, Reaper, Mauga) bc it seems Ramattra wasn't sharing that power source schematics with Talon.

And the term "omnic energy" has been thrown around in canon, no idea what it might be.

Aurora has quantum mechanics in her creation so it wouldn't suprise me if omnic energy ends up being superhero scifi "quantum energy" similar to how Sigma has superhero scifi "gravity powers"

[young dragon]

Wouldn't Omnic energy be derived from Omnium?

[shrewd pivot]

Not necessarily. "Omnic energy"(the specific term) could be referencing any kind of thing, it's just been a term thrown around in lore with no clear context/definition as of yet.

[civic lynx]

https://fixupx.com/uniwatchow/status/2021644139973287969?s=46

Jetpack Uniwatch (@UniwatchOW)

BIG UPDATE
︀︀
︀︀Sombra promises to save Sigma @OW2voicelines
︀︀
︀︀There's still hope!

**❤️ 1 👁️ 3 **

▶ Play video

FixupX · Feb 11, 2026, 5:54 PM

[hollow oar]

CALLED IT

[young dragon]

Very interesting. If anyone's suffering under the new regime change, it's him and Emre. Both are essentially tools and weapons with their free will being consistently kept from them.

[shrewd pivot]

https://x.com/meeyiaa_ow/status/2021414573786775723?s=20 I love the dynamic Mizuki and Kiriko have

miya (@meeyiaa_ow)

Their interactions r so nice and nobuto ryota mentioned!

▶ Play video

X · Feb 11, 2026, 2:42 AM

[brittle sky]

I mean, I think like... max seems to be the only one who are actively doing better under the regime change. And he seems like he's set for buyer's remorse soon

[young dragon]

Mauga's lovin' it.

Max on the other hand, is treacherous. He's already gotten "a better offer" and has not only betrayed Doomfist twice, but has no intention of staying with Talon long term. Simply profiting from it.

[brittle sky]

He's just happy to do stuff, but seems it's six of one, half dozen of the other to him.

[young dragon]

He and Moira are the only ones who really benefit, frankly. Domina is being both bribed and threatened with a PR nightmare of exposure.

[brittle sky]

Sure, but the person he helped (and/or actively puppeteered, depending on how much we want to read into the prose around vested interest) immediately went and took the secret crime org public and declared war on checks notes the world. Which does not seem particularly good for the man footing the bill

[brittle sky]

Benefit seems a strong word. They just both don't care. Moira as long as she gets to experiment and gets that serum outta the grand mesa heist is all too happy (though Vendetta seems to already be plotting to confine her), and Mauga is so disillusioned he's happy to coast by as long as he gets some fights and adventures.

[young dragon]

It's more telling how he ends his short story. He's moving on, subtly. But also now has a much heavier eye on him. He's been threatened by both leaders twice. Each of them being very tempted to kill him. Doomfist outright demolished his office in an attempt to assassinate him.

[cyan crow]

https://x.com/i/status/2021413869986644446

Tweet not showing but according to these voicelines sigma wants out of talon but I don't think vendetta is letting him go

He asked sombra where'd she go

[wise grotto]

Max continues to keep pushing his problems aside with what tools he has and ways to move the issue further away eventuallt he’s gonna run out of stalling

[shrewd pivot]

Oh lord I saw some things, are lots of people really shipping Mizuki and Kiriko online??? :(
Did people already forget Mizuki was mentored and raised by Kiriko’s dad, or... Mizuki is like a step brother or distant family member Kiriko finally gets to connect with. Platonic only in canon.

Regardless, I personally find Mizuki's story sympathetic bc while it's not OCD representation, the terror/fear Mizuki is written to have in fear bad luck might occur if he messes up a ritual (like buying a good luck charm and loosing it) hits hard. Kiriko promising to pray for Mizuki's good luck was really kind if Kiriko, I like thier dynamics.

[young dragon]

Oh no, they absolutely care. But in different ways. As Maritza notes, Moira is ultimately amoral. She'll work with anyone that can provide her the funding and resources she needs. Her fatal flaw is impatience. The new structure lets her have more agency while also getting access to new materials.

Mauga on the other hand cares about doing whatever the hell he wants. His fatal flaws are selfishness, hedonism, and especially nihilism. In his words, "there really are no good people left." He only ended up in Talon because he outright sought Akande out for a fight. And after fighting him too a draw, got a job opportunity in exchange for good pay and, more importantly, the promise of regular heart upgrades.

Vendetta gives them what they want, particularly Mauga as they're both bloodthirsty, selfish people. She sees the similarities and is about to send him south to treat with the Overwatch equivalent of modern barbarians. Meanwhile, Baptiste is also down there, which should lead to an interesting reunion....

[cyan crow]

I dont think many ppl remember or listened to the lore 💀

[shrewd pivot]

This is going to be the fandom being weird about Ramattra and Zenyatta all over again 😭 🥀

[young dragon]

I ship it, honestly.

[wise grotto]

I don’t do shipping ever

[cyan crow]

Dvattra personally, but we move

[shrewd pivot]

Incest dynamics (yes, that includes adopted siblings and step siblings) do not belong in overwatch canon

[young dragon]

Deciding factor though is, frankly, how willing the weird city kid is willing to realize his best way forward is to leave behind the abusive, adoptive family that raised him.

[cyan crow]

VENDETTA RELEASE MY BOY SIGMA PLEASE

[young dragon]

Her father was his mentor. I wouldn't go that far.

[cyan crow]

If her father was his mentor he's more like a family friend

[young dragon]

Jokes aside, the only clear ship in Overwatch is Mercy and Genji. That's canon at this point.

[shrewd pivot]

Kiriko and Genji are platonic found family for the same reasons. Mizuki and Kiriko are platonic found family. Mizuki lost his family and Kiriko’s dad mentored Mizuki.

[cyan crow]

Rein & Ana

[young dragon]

Exactly. Genji and Hanzo are more like uncles.

I don't think either of them even considers her that way. They outright kind of see her as a niece-like figure.

[shrewd pivot]

Genji and Hanzo are blood brothers from a traumatic gang life...

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah exactly.

[young dragon]

Yep. And Hanzo's still figuring out how to move on from it. He at least seems to be taking a senior role as a Yokai enforcer.

[shrewd pivot]

I love thier dynamic as like, old flames now friends? It's really sweet.

[young dragon]

It is. They're both fundamentaly good people who worked hard and got screwed over. Ana by choice, sadly.

[shrewd pivot]

Exactly. So if Genji and Kiriko and Hanzo are platonic only familial in canon, then Mizuki being mentored by Kiriko’s dad after Mizuki's family died makes Mizuki like a long lost step sibling to Kiriko, platonic only in canon.

[young dragon]

When Rein and Emre left, the moral character of the organization seemed to decline rapidly. Vivian tried, but eventually spoke out post Venice.

[young dragon]

I wouldn't go that far. They barely know each other. But what's clear is that Mizuchi's essentially a big-city Fukuokan street kid with a horrible childhood who tries to seem cooler and more nonchalant than he actually is.

Shout-out to Fukuoka by the way. Most fun city in Japan and I've taught there several times.

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah they barely know eachother bc Mizuki is a "long lost step sibling" deal lol.

Kiriko knows her dad mentored Mizuki, Kiriko wouldn't ever date someone her dad raised as if Mizuki was her dad's own son/close family friend.

[young dragon]

Do we know that? Like it's way too early to tell.

[shrewd pivot]

https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/heroes/mizuki/

[brittle sky]

I mean, he seems tailor made to invite that. Even though yes, the parental dynamic he kinda has with Toshiro rather hilariously weakens that. Frankly have seen more talk of Wuyang and Mizu, myself.

[young dragon]

Frankly, I don't think either of them are interested in dating. Mizuki more than anything wants to be his own person. Also it's funny how superstitious he is. He's kind of a sensitive weirdo, but his father would make that less surprsing.

[shrewd pivot]

Mizuki joined Hashimoto at 9 years old, and Kiriko’s dad mentored him and seemingly was like a parental figure to Mizuki if Mizuki was just a young kid who lost his family.

Kiriko and Mizuki is familial platonic only in canon bc of that.

[young dragon]

Rereading this, it's interesting that the Hashimoto basically neglected him more than anything else. The financial abuse is almost secondary.

[fallow mantle]

I proposed an ow mmo years ago and I was like 'how cool would it be to make your own ow/talon hero and go to fleshed out versions of the maps and fight crime/do crime'

[shrewd pivot]

Mizuki being a shipping character in the fandom sure, but pls fandom, not with familial only characters haha

[brittle sky]

To be fair, it's often portrayed that her 'impatience' is 'trying to do this before she dies', whether that is within a normal lifespan or an excellerated time table given her condition. I'm not convinced the new structure gives her more - it alienated the strike team that was supposed to do her heist (though vendetta offered some alts) and vendetta is actively planning to rein her in.

I don't think Vendetta is offering them a significant step up from what they got with Doom, and if she tries to assert hierarchal control to hem them in, they go from not caring who's in charge to very much so.

[spring agate]

ik im not the first person to talk about this, but if there's no magic in overwatch whats the actual explanation for heroes like kiriko

[brittle sky]

I mean 'the edgy bad boy of your group with secretly divided loyalties who you can potentially redeem with the power of your connection' is like the most overt catnip for a ship.

[shrewd pivot]

"Anima" technology is what Kiriko’s dad makes, the kitsune is some kind of Anima tech ai probably. Genji and Hanzo dragons are confirmed to be energy weapons (ie something like Symmetra hard light technology) that are ornamental, with genetic markers so only Genji and Hanzo can use the dragons.

[brittle sky]

unclear. It seems like some of the surrounding supernatural abilities (the shimadas and mizu) seem to be from some kind of tech called 'anima', which come from weapons made by secret techniques (currently known here by kiriko's father, currently captive to the hashimoto) to do... something. What exactly that looks like, and whether it's a soft sci fi like hardlight or something more wooey for lack of a better term, remains to be seen.

[brittle sky]

Notably kitsune as ai is speculation. It remains unexplained, and may well not be explained by the anima tech.

[shrewd pivot]

True

[young dragon]

I like your observation that her self experimentation makes her more impatient. Her interaction with Lifeweaver is very telling. She seems to take pride in the fact she's put herself even more on the clock.

[spring agate]

i see. its also very unusual to include a new hero (mizuki) who is seemingly themed around the supernatural and superstitions just for those things to not exist

[spring agate]

now imagining a green ranger type rival hero with a mask who shows up and steals dna samples from them to use their powers

[shrewd pivot]

Well, the only things that can't be explained by scifi is the kitsune possessing organic humans (if its actually possessing and not just an adrenaline rush). The healing mercy/Moira covers, tp Symmetra covers, etc is all explained otherwise. Oh, and Kiriko can't be 21, she has to be like 29 for any of her lore to make sense lol

A bad luck magic curse can't exist in scifi. But something like the eye conspiracy causing unfortunate situations to the point Mizuki thinks he is cursed is very possible

[spring agate]

bad luck magic could exist if you like. idk, have some kind of brain chip that invisibly influences you to make statistically worse choices in every scenario i guess

you know what would be cooler and easier than having all these elaborate explanations? if they just made it so magic exists

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah a statistics machine, maybe. My guess is that it's someone out to get Mizuki's family and not just "unlucky" accidents

[brittle sky]

I mean mizuku doesn't need magic to explain his family curse. Some folks just get a raw deal, and self-narratives about being cursed are a great way to self-fulfill that prophecy

[spring agate]

i assumed mercy and moira administered healing nanobots in the form of mist

[shrewd pivot]

That would ruin overwatch's worldbuilding imo.

"Do omnics have souls?" rhetorical question becomes pointless. All omnic lore, really.

Shinto suddenly is a canon religion so ig Illari's indigenous spirituality or Symmetra's Hindu kathak dances are now "incorrect"

No point in tech advancement if magic does it better, overwatch just becomes magepunk instead.

[spring agate]

I mean I see what you mean, but then why keep adding heroes who are clearly themed around magic just to have to explain it in some convoluted way

[shrewd pivot]

Mercy uses nanotech to delivery care, Moira uses genetic mutation tech. Idk if Moira's spray and orbs are actually Canon, or if it's a game mechanic similar to how devs confirmed Reaper souls are just a game mechanic and not canon

[spare fox]

ugh we've been over this. There is no magic in Overwatch, it's all technology/sci-fi

[spring agate]

also would souls count as supernatual enough to be considered magic anyway? like, thats kind of a question thats yet to be answered in real life..

there isnt, but would it be better if there was

[shrewd pivot]

Overwatch's appeal is "fantasy class with a scifi twist"
Brigitte is a holy paladin but scifi, Lifeweaver is a druid but scifi, Ramattra is a necromancer but scifi. I personally love how unique that set up is :)

[spring agate]

yeah. there's been the intentional irony of zenyatta being a robot whos a spiritual monk since forever. idk, it just seems kinda elaborate once you get into things like curses and family inherited powers

[shrewd pivot]

Yes. Souls, chi, mana, and ghosts are magic, not scifi.
Alchemy philosophers stone is magic, not scifi.

Mysticism is magic, not scifi.

The most I would ever push scifi in overwatch, is how Overwatch uses Sigma. It's superhero scifi "gravity powers" just like Tracer is superhero scifi "time powers"

[spring agate]

that reminds me. as someone who likes sigma but isnt versed on the lore, what exactly are the nature of his powers? he can manipulate gravity as far as i know, but i assume thats a consequence of his mind altering accident

[shrewd pivot]

Overwatch also uses pulp fiction as inspo.

In Wuxia (Chinese pulp fiction), and in media influenced by Wuxia (tons of anime for example), Taoist monks with an imbalance of yin/yang energy causing a family bloodline curse of bad luck is a very common trope.

If anything, Mizuki is very Jujutsu Kaisen vibes to me

[spring agate]

thats a good point. a character who fights against malicious spirits does remind me of that show. or of mob psycho

we need a salt splash emote for him...

[shrewd pivot]

Speaking of, Emre using salt Bae emote is very funny bc salt Bae is Turkish.

[spring agate]

now that i think of it, a con artist character like reigen who plays on the "no magic" thing and scams people would actually be a really fun idea for a hero

[shrewd pivot]

Lmao maybe the trenchcoat omnic future hero knows more than he lets on.... /j

[spring agate]

also i heard someone online say sigma can create black holes. now obviously even if thats true, he probably wouldnt to avoid destroying earth, but is that true that he could?

[shrewd pivot]

Zarya's weapon can create black holes too tbf.

Based on some sprays, Sigma seems to have a singularity (point of black hole) in his brain lol. Idk if its exactly canon, but I would assume so

Sigma seems to be able to atleast float objects in canon with his powers. I would assume he can just... crush people like soda cans with gravity if he wanted, but it's never been outright confirmed. I personally place Sigma as probably able to create extreme gravity pressures, possibly enough to create mini black holes.

[edgy meadow]

i mean just because science is highly advanced doesnt mean people there cant be unexplained myths, its still meant to be a parallel to our contemporary world and i think its reasonable to just have mizuki's bad luck 'curse' just represent his circumstances and lack of control in his early childhood

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah even with a hard "no magic" rule there's definitely still religious and spiritual and superstitious beliefs in overwatch, Kiriko is a Shinto Miko Shrine maiden after all.

And while Mizuki rationalizing his situation as a bad luck curse could be all there is to it, I think it would be more narratively interesting for drama/action if there actually was something behind the bad luck curse beyond "its just in your head Mizuki"

I say this as someone with OCD, I don't have any issue with Mizuki's ritual anxiety actually turning out to be about a real threat hunting down his family, a la eye conspiracy or some other group hinting his fakily oine down. It would be another mystery to uncover.

[spring agate]

im telling you, the probability chip implant. "its in your head"

[shrewd pivot]

Mmm idk. A statistical calculator would be a scifi take on "bad luck" or "good luck" but idk Oasis with thier 'minority report' security ai kind of handles that "statistical machine" already, and that all leads back to Chernobog global security god ai

[spring agate]

cant say i know enough about the lore to know whether my idea would be redundant, but if i was gonna include a "curse" in my scifi media (a type of magic known for being spitefully inflicted on an enemy) i think the concept lands quite well

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah for sure!

Hmmm "a magic curse with a scifi twist" in overwatch thus far is covered with Moira's decrepit arm slowly spreading as Moira races to find a cure, and with Emre being mind controlled by the eye conspiracy.

[spring agate]

Mm, permanent disfigurement as result of a science experiment definitely suits that theme too. The punishing of hubris

[shrewd pivot]

Sigma is straight up "cosmic horror forbidden knowledge turned mortals mad" refs so more cerebral scifi definitely is not off the table either

[spring agate]

Tangentially speaking on sigma, I think his rare instances of speaking with cruelty towards eliminated enemy heroes is a fantastic bit of characterization in terms of flavour. It muddies the waters from just “wholesome victim with dementia” into truly being uncertain what it is he’s always thinking

[shrewd pivot]

Sigma definitely had an ego.
And if he actively chose to work on Lunar colony for that gravity experiment that caused his accident (he invented grav tech on earth, so there's many reasons why he may have used Lunar Colony) knowing Lunar colony had immoral lax laws(the globe knew Lunar colony had different laws), Sigma might have been a morally grey scientist to begin with.

[spring agate]

I think it’s clear that he masks his true thoughts in a lot of cases. Eliminations are notably a rare case of being able to speak about a character with certainty they can’t hear you. I believe sigma is generally affable as he acts, but he is definitely putting up a facade sometimes

[shrewd pivot]

Still ofc, that doesn't mean Sigma deserves the cthulu mind-blend gravity special, nor does Sigma deserve to be manipulated or imprisoned by Talon. I hope Sonbra can get Sigma out of there.

[spring agate]

For sure. I’m honestly just impressed that blizzard managed to imply so much extra depth (at least as much as the player is willing to dig into) to their hero shooter. Sigma is probably the most grey character in the game in that way, where their usual villains are pretty honest about expressing whether they like someone or not

[shrewd pivot]

I agree. Sigma's origin short is genuinely my favorite overwatch art piece yet, you are meant to watch it forwards then backwards, a meta art piece to show Sigma's POV

[spring agate]

I feel strongly that sigma is, out of the entire roster, the least likely to actively appear hostile in conversation towards someone he despises

Yeah his trailer is great

[spring agate]

Not to mention that viewing it that way simultaneously expresses sigma’s warped perspective, and ties into the theme of gravity and inversion

[shrewd pivot]

Mmmm, if you include when he is out of it, yes. When he is lucid tho, Sigma certainly acts aggressive towards Vendetta "YOU WILL RELEASE ME!" etc etc

[spring agate]

Definitely. I think breaking the mask at times is also a good way to show his character. He isn’t always able to play along, and sometimes the most sane thing to do is tell someone how you feel

Plus being locked up against his will is definitely the most likely thing to set him off. It’s not the first time for him

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah the animatic does such a great job showing that Sigma "harnesses the harness(harnesses gravity which impacts perceptions of time)" and is experiencing bits if his lifetimetime simultaneously forwards AND backwards all at once, in a loop(if you tale the video looping as a prison for him).

But now that Sigma is "free" his free will is being manipulated by Talon, litterally in a harness. He harnessed the harness, but at what cost?

My guess is that the human body organic hardware just isn't compatible to understanding what Sigma experienced. Sacred geometry of the universe can be represented in shapes and thus music (and in hyperspheres, which are his weapons, thus the sacred geometry topic). "What is that melody?" -- Sigma's mind can't comprehend it so the only way his brain can process it, is that he can HEAR the sacred geometry of the universe, but cannot truely comprehend it bc of organic hardware limitations.

[meager geyser]

Does anybody know what is Domina's nationality?

I'm just curious.

[shrewd pivot]

Indian ancestors bc Domina is grandaughter of Vishkar hardlight creator who is Indian.
Vaira was born in London, then moved to India.

Specifically, most likely South India ancestry because Vishkar originally was founded in South India.

[meager geyser]

Yeah, that's what I tought

She looks Indian enough

[spring agate]

I’m not sure if 2026 is the best or worst time to add a heartless wealthy ceo to the game, but it’s certainly the most relevant

[meager geyser]

I mean

[shrewd pivot]

Eh, Emma Frost and tf2 administrator vibes. Nothing exactly new, but Domina is definitely a welcome addition to the lore imo

[meager geyser]

She is evil

sooo....

[spring agate]

definitely. but all overwatch characters are meant to be appealing in some way. i guess all im getting at is, making her a woman is probably the best choice they could have made. being attractive can do a lot of work to carry appeal past a character's heinous personality

[slate vortex]

guys this is random but what actually constitutes an omnic

[shrewd pivot]

Honestly i think Domina's face model looks pretty generic, eurocentric sculpting even.

I wish Domina had South Indian features (rounder nose for example) bc while I love Symmetra, there is an ignorant stereotype of depicting Indian characters (and specifically South Indian) with strong L shaped noses and darker skin, when that's really not indicative of the majority. Not that faces like Symmetra and Domina faces CAN'T exist, but it's much more common for South Indian people to have rounder noses, for example.

[young dragon]

It’s nice that she’s Punjabi.

[shrewd pivot]

Omnic is a brand of robot, created by Omnica corporation.

Aurora was the first sapient omnic, then sacrificed herself to awaken Anubis-hacked omnics with sapience. This stopped the omnic crisis, as Anubis could not control awakened omnics with free wil. Awakened omnics include: Zenyatta, Ramattra, Bastion.

Echo is 'technically' an omnic brand robot bc Mina created her, but Echo is not an awakened omnic.

[young dragon]

Makes her a noticeable contrast to Symmetra in many ways. Ultimately, Domina’s far more insecure than she lets on.

One’s a brilliant prodigy kidnapped and raised utilitarianly. The other’s a scion who’s done everything she can to make it look easy while actually lacking the talent.

[meager geyser]

I am not familiar with shapes of Indian noses, so I won't comment

[shrewd pivot]

No worries! You can look at images of public crowds in cities to get an idea if you are ever curious about different groups. It's a great ref to use when learning to draw different faces.

I have many family friends who are South Indian, and not a single one has a strong nose like Symmetra or Domina. Obviously South Indians with non roundex noses exist, it's just a common feature of that peoplr group, no different than how different groups have different eye shapes, hair types, etc :)

[spring agate]

well i dont wanna get into it, but ill just say that i could easily imagine domina being a white character if they hadnt made her skintone match her ethnicity lol. like, nothing about her would really look off in terms of features if she was white instead

[sand veldt]

Is there a lore reason for what emres other form is

He turns into the fucking sun

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah, that's what I was getting at, her face sculpt seems pretty eurocentric.

That all said, Overwatch has had this issue before. That's why unique face sculpts like Illari and Wuyang mean a lot to me :) also yay for a confirmed future Anran face model fix yahoo

[spring agate]

game calls it a living weapon. im guessing he can just transform like a scifi version of a dragonball character

[spring agate]

people complaining about blizzard promising her model change are ridiculous. even if it was about attraction, shes like WAY hotter with the animated appearance

[sand veldt]

Ah ty

My friend told me Mizuki is in the same clan as the shamada brothers

That true?

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah her cel shaded cinematic look was much preferable to her current in game look.

[shrewd pivot]

Mizuki is Hashimoto

The lore page does a good explanation of Mizuki's lore! https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/heroes/mizuki/

[spring agate]

this is barely a lore topic but im not gonna get an answer in main so ill hitch a ride on the pass skins being canon. anyone else notice new era genji is very clearly inspired by raiden from metal gear?

[shrewd pivot]

ANIMAL LORE LETS GOOO

https://x.com/UniwatchOW/status/2021658131001225383?s=20

Jetpack Uniwatch (@UniwatchOW)

A new round of favorite animals interactions @OW2voicelines

There are variations this time to keep it more interesting

▶ Play video

X · Feb 11, 2026, 6:50 PM

I guessed Mizuki would have a luck related animal lol

[spring agate]

orchid mantis is a good answer

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah

[spring agate]

what do we think jpc said? guessing either "cat" or "mouse" for totally different reasons

[shrewd pivot]

Bizzarre tho bc "Earth Mantis" yet Anran is Fire Element... but the wuxing is so scuffed in overwatch lore i give up lol, there really failed Anran and Wuyang Wuxia hero/Wuxing cultivation genre writing.

[shrewd pivot]

"Meow"

Either, "me" or some random animal bc meow is not possible to discern lol

[spring agate]

well yeah, but. well actually, is jpc like. sentient? i doubt they can actually operate a jetpack if not, but im thinking the meows are intended to mean something in english

also im not playable in overwatch, but if youre curious about my favourite animal, i am quite partial to cuttlefish

[shrewd pivot]

I personally believe Fika is not a normal cat but the way devs talked about her, she might just be a normal cat :( we have to wait and see

The meow is like, either a joke that Fika is saying "me" or a joke of a character saying "blahblahblah" nonsense and characters perfectly understand her.

[spring agate]

that would either imply that the jetpack is the one piloting itself, or that animals in the overwatch universe are naturally scooby doo level intellect

which would be a real bummer bc its already bad enough eating them when theyre animal level intelligence. if a cow could attempt to speak with human intent, i think that would push me into being vegetarian

[sand veldt]

There’s no magic bro 😔

Despite elemental bending and whatever the hell Mizuki is

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah it would be hysterical if it was a Ganymede piloting bastion situation, jetpack is sapient while cat is normal cat, but idk i like to believe Jetpack cat is higher intelligent sapient in some way bc if an experiment or something, not a normal cat.

I don't want to believe normal animals in overwatch are scooby doo level sapient, otherwise Cassidy's lore of working at a pig butchery factory is diabolical pigs are already as smart as human children irl, i don't want to imagine scooby doo pigs on the chopping block.

[spring agate]

sigma main and a kirby fan. spiderverse gif of the two spidermen saying "youre like me"

[spring agate]

maybe its some doctor robotnik type shit and jpc is a living battery for the jetpack with an unplugged controller so she thinks shes helping

[shrewd pivot]

Oh I know. I am saying the Wuxing philosophy portrayal is scuffed bc the writers botched how the elements actually are set up in the philosophy (it's bastardized westernized Wuxing, it sucks), not that Wuxing magic should exist, it shouldn't.

[spring agate]

i mean notice how every other type of flight in overwatch has a hard limit, but jpc can fly indefinitely.. maybe the thruster boost has a fuel gauge because it has to draw extra power from jpc and cant draw too much without risk of harm

what im saying is, give us an edgy mythic skin where the jetpack is a mechanical parasite drawing from the cat's life energy

[shrewd pivot]

Lol

I imagine jetpack cat will get nerfs eventually

Indefinite multidirectional flying, with a long dash, with a pick up ability for allies and ult enemy pick up, all with a Torbjörn size hit box is kind of wild. Fika is a fat cat, no reason for her not to slowly decend while in the air.

I expected JPC to have a bigger hit box bc the concept art had tall jetpack designs. I do not envy console players trying to play projectile heroes into JPC lol

[sand veldt]

I’ll always stand behind that magic should exist in Overwatch

It’d limit the roster and lore a lot less

[grave saddle]

I’m not sure there’s really anything that’s locked behind “no magic”. With sci fi you can essentially get magic you just need put in a little more lore behind it

[shrewd pivot]

I'll always be behind no magic rule. The limits creates a very unique creative identity other series don't have, it's a defining feature of overwatch. You can have all the magic visuals you want, it's just creatively integrated into scifi. Ie Lucio hardlight scifi bard, is superior scifi to just a normal magic bard with a magic instrument.

[sand veldt]

It just seems weird to me

[wise grotto]

If magic existed you’d have a lot of characters who would be just “naw they can just do that csuse magic” instead of having depth and intrigue behind it

[shrewd pivot]

I mean, "fantasy class with a scifi twist + pulp fiction refs" is so fun idk why they would change it now.

Giving a scifi reason for character abilities and thus a scifi readon for character limits, allows for fun story telling. If magic lets anything happen, nothing matters, stakes don't matter, and omnic scifi rhetorical questions about "do omnics have souls?" Don't matter. Omnic lore is core to overwatch's identity, the omnic crisis was why og Overwatch formed in lore.

[spring agate]

well refusing to explain how things work and saying "its science" is effectively the same thing

[lethal junco]

wdym, does it not?

[spring agate]

nope. blizzard have clarified that nothing you see in this game is magical in nature

[lethal junco]

how did they explain the Shimada dragons then?

or the kitsune abilities?

[spring agate]

genetically encoded hardlight construct abilities

[sand veldt]

Yeah

Cop out answer

Add magic you cowards

[grave saddle]

Yeah it’s true but it lends itself to fan theories more than magic. Magic can literally be anything the creators want. Sci-fi magic has roots in real physics so there can actually be theories on how something works

[sand veldt]

This

[shrewd pivot]

Ornamental energy weapons, with genetic markers so only Hanzo and Genji can use them. It's kinda the same as Symmetra's hard light technology, but it's Anima tech created by Kiriko’s father.

[spring agate]

in that case i wouldnt say blizzard has been especially restrained in their concepts making sense for scifi, but i guess speculation isnt possible with magic

[lethal junco]

the hardlight constructs are very known in the lore, yes. But how did they encode it? how come only shimadas make use of "the dragons"? if it was a construct it could be stolen

[spring agate]

its tied to their dna in some way. im not an expert on the lore tho

[grave saddle]

Big ol magic blacksmith lore

[lethal junco]

was kiriko's father a scientist of the shimada clan? I've never heard about him in the canon

[fossil wren]

Blacksmith of the shimada clan

[spring agate]

in fairness saying that overwatch is a scifi take on fantasy tropes is only really true aesthetically. in terms of lore it seems like they handwave just as much, but its scifi flavoured handwaving instead of fantasy

[grave saddle]

Oh yeah 100%

[shrewd pivot]

Farthest "scifi magic" I am willing to accept is scifi-"metaphysics" aka some kind of "sacred geometry" of the universe geometry that allows for power, a scifi take on runes. Lifeweaver uses a sacred geometry flower of life shape, and Sigma's hyperspheres/melody is referencing sacred geometry.

I prefer superhero scifi "magic" like Sigma's gravity powers, over the idea that one religion is somehow "canon" bc that trashes all other religions and cultural stories in overwatch.

[grave saddle]

But they have more liberty to do that and still generate fan theories than if they just had magic

[peak escarp]

where is everyone getting this "genetic lock" thing from? "Only a Shimada can control the dragons" because Toshiro only made them for the Shimada family - if someone stole Genji's sword and knew how to make it work, they'd control the dragon too

[lethal junco]

well i mean, the iris is an entity and sigma met it when it was lost in time and space. That is a canon "religion" so to speak, the omnic religion.

[shrewd pivot]

It's in supplemental texts. Kiriko’s father was kidnapped by the Hashimoto and is being forced to make energy weapons for the Hashimoto. Kiriko’s dad is intentionally making faulty Anima weapons, weapons that explode in electricity etc, to sabotage the Hashimoto.

[grave saddle]

Hanzo does say only a shimada can wield the dragon with confidence when genji revealed he had the dragon. Perhaps it could just be superstition but you would assume he had some proof in that to be confident

[sand veldt]

Religion doesn’t have to be connected to magic bro

[spring agate]

that sounds like anyone can control them then. like, if i have a rubber duck that belongs to me then its not technically wrong to say "only i can bathe with this rubber duck" in the sense that thats my preference, but in terms of actually being physically capable, its misleading

[peak escarp]

like I said, the weapons were exclusive to his family - he didn't know yet that Toshiro was being forced to make them for the Hashimoto

Hanzo is just being dramatic

[shrewd pivot]

In the heroes ascendant story iirc the wird "genetic" or some kind of reference to genes was used. Meaning only Hanzo or Genji’s DNA can be the key to use the dragons.

[lethal junco]

still we haven't seen any hashimoto wield a shimada dragon yet. So hanzo's claim remains true.

[grave saddle]

Potentially. But also there isn’t proof that he was, right? Has anyone else wielded someone’s anima weapon?

[spring agate]

even then i guess you could just steal a dna sample as well as their dragons and use them that way

[lethal junco]

only one i can remember is genji deflecting hanzo's ult.

[peak escarp]

nope

[spring agate]

check for encoded or variants of it in case they didnt specifically say it scientifically

[peak escarp]

the exclusivity comes from who made it, not from who it was made for

[shrewd pivot]

The existence of chi, mana, souls, or ghosts makes certain religions not canon.

If magic is real in overwatch then Shinto is the canon religion, which ruins stories like Symmetra having hindu kathak dance, or Mauga having indigenous spirituality Pe'a, or Soldier76 being Catholic (dogtag in a skin confirmed), for example.

It's best for overwatch canon to not confirm any religion/spirituality as canon over others since it's a global roster. Scifi superpowers are a maths based scifi, math is universal, and thus a nice source of scifi superpowers for a global roster.

[wise grotto]

No because one allows us to try and figure it out
Vs the other one just being a well it’s magic and that’s where it ends csuse even trying to figure it out is useless for magic

[edgy meadow]

did something come out

[spring agate]

even stories with magic have speculation into their stories and the nature of their world. magic can be derived from different sources, even if its ultimately not required to explain how it works

[sand veldt]

Or hear me out

They could make a magic system not tied to religion

[shrewd pivot]

Ok ill go look for it brb

[sand veldt]

Like many are, if not most

[lethal junco]

magic is not always connected to religion. Souls existing does not necessarily mean it's the interpretation of souls of certain religion. Anyways, it's up to blizzard to decide if their lore has or not magic and/or if it is tied or not to any religion (invented or real)

[shrewd pivot]

Exactly: Scifi superpowers 'magics' like Sigma gravity powers and Tracer timey whimey shenanigans

[sand veldt]

It doesn’t have to be “magic”

[edgy meadow]

'whats your favorite animal'
'meow'

[sand veldt]

It can be magic

[edgy meadow]

https://tenor.com/view/absolute-cinema-jerboa-dooby-gif-11134484107410702976

[dense garnet]

New batch of favorite animals

Anran: The Orchid Mantis, especially the pink ones.

Domina: Chinchillas (They make the best fur coats)

Jetpack Cat: Meow

Mizuki: Black cats

Emre: Doesn't have an interaction for some reason :(

The closest thing to magic in Overwatch is the Iris

[lethal junco]

tracer's time travel is supported by their sci-fi tech. That isn't magic. Sigma's whole source of power is based in the string theory but it's amped up by the overwatch lore.

[dense garnet]

Simply cuz we don't know much about the Iris

[shrewd pivot]

I would argue otherwise. With one definition of a magic soul as canon, it delegitamizes certain beliefs as canonically "wrong"

Reyes is canonically atheist, and Morrison is canonically catholic, as stated by dogtags in lore skins.

There are animist(all things hold souls), pantheon(multiple gods), and monotheist(1 god) beliefs. Depending on how that magic soul is defined, it will canonically make entire sections of beliefs "canonically wrong spiritual beliefs". Neither Reyes NOR Morrison should ever be confirmed "canonically wrong" imo. Overwatch is about rhetorical questions about life and making choices, not whether being religious is canonically correct or not. Therefore, best to not add magic, and keep it superhero scifi.

[lethal junco]

iris probably is an Ai that trascended time and space somehow. A sentient being that broke free like anubis, who broke omnics free. Iris probably is tied to anubis since ramattra said that omnics were born from the iris and after their death the go there, and since anubis is who woke the omnics up. But that's just a theory, a game theory.

[flint thicket]

Also betting if one more person she cares about dies by the hands of the hashimoto, I see kiriko going from face kicking to straight up slaughtering them. Fox spirit aura goes from green to red.

[dry pebble]

I thought Black cat thing were within the interaction with Jetpack Cat not Lucio

[shrewd pivot]

It's superhero scifi 'magic' in the sense that Tracer's chronological disassociation is not hard science. It is super hero scifi, no different that Captain America getting genetically altered, so did Soldier76. It's 'magic' in the sense it's not hard science and are superhero scifi powers, not that it's not scifi themed.

[dense garnet]

Nope it's a Lucio interaction

[dense garnet]

I'm moreso just asking how does the iris' healing properties work

That's borderline magic

[lethal junco]

that's magic if you ask me, or mystical powers or however you want to call it. But there's no scientific explanation of how experimenting tranquility makes your wounds heal instantly.

[dry pebble]

Is there YouTube video where can i view their interactions i swear im mining them like they are lost media

[dense garnet]

https://x.com/i/status/2021658131001225383

[dense garnet]

Yeah, I can buy that the Iris is magical, but that's meant to be more of a revelation later in the lore so they say magic doesn't exist for now

[dry pebble]

I can't stand the fact Mizuki also talks like an arrogant as much as Kiriko does sigh

[dense garnet]

It's the Yokai tradition

And tbh Kiriko isn't really that arrogant anymore

She even got a deeper toned voice this update

I think Mizuki's arrogance is a mask because I don't think he has any self worth in himself

[dry pebble]

I just don't like how highbrow she talks with other heroes

That's actually pretty much the reason some side of community despises her

[dense garnet]

I dislike her for that too

Moreso though I just dislike how she has so little lore and what lore she does have is contradictory

[dry pebble]

I think what i don't like about both Anran and Mizuki

The characters they are mindly related to barely have been expanded upon for them to get in game

[dry pebble]

I also don't like Anran for gameplay lol she is so annoying

[dense garnet]

I like Mizuki's personality more because it makes sense where it comes from. He's lived an awful life and was brought up by the yakuza

[dense garnet]

Anran and Wuyang joined Overwatch at the same time

[dry pebble]

Yeah

[dense garnet]

Mizuki I assume he joined the Yokai's either shortly before or after Vendetta took control

But yeah Mizuki's currently the one without much story relevance BUT that's because they're saving the Hashimoto storyline for season 3

Where I'm sure Kiriko, Mizuki, Hanzo, and the new character will be the spotlight

[lethal junco]

yes

[dry pebble]

I'm just seeing all the gameplay footages of Jetpack and it makes me hop on the game more as i invest on it

God im so thankful, it looks fun

[dense garnet]

Fika is gonna have the craziest lore

I refuse to believe those 2 redacted pages of her is just for memes

[dry pebble]

To be honest we used to call her industrial plant

And ehh she is kinda is but

Idgaf she is fucking awesome

[lethal junco]

i never understood what happened to the shimada clan after hanzo's departure. Like, they were the biggest organized crime clan in japan. How could an empire so big fall?

[dry pebble]

Just made the game more enjoyable with all the scenes you could get

[dense garnet]

Kiriko was pretty industry plantish when she came out. Same with Juno tbh. But Kiriko's grown into her own for me now. Juno still needs to prove herself

[dry pebble]

I want to be deployed on battlefield by Jetpack Cat as Death Blossom is active

"where we dropping boys"

[dense garnet]

Hanzo killed Genji, Hanzo left, and Kiriko's dad was kidnapped by the Hashimoto

I'm ngl, Toshiro basically carried the Shimadas with his Anima tech

The Shimadas ruled because of the anima so much so that it was a family tradition to get one

Without the Anima, and with the Hashimoto assumingly getting their own, the tides turned

Sigma says that Vendetta locked him up because he's a threat to himself and others, but he doesn't know why

To Emre

[lethal junco]

sigma tells emre that vendetta locked him?

[dense garnet]

I'm sure every operative in Talon knows

So it's not exactly a secret

[lethal junco]

at this moment in time i don't know if either emre or sigma is more dangerous. Emre can't control himself fully and sigma is in a state of madness.

both very powerfull aswell

[dense garnet]

Sigma is more dangerous

The AI is more calculated and usually has only ever killed enemies of Talon, not members

Frej was an exception but he only attacked because Frej was another hostile to him

Sigma on the other hand, when he's out of control, he's indiscriminate in his violence it seems like

[lethal junco]

didn't see him attack frej in the comics, where is that fight?

[dense garnet]

The fight that introduces Emre into the lore

I forget the name but it's on the OW lore section ingame

Freja and Emre fight for a bit before the AI stopped taking over

[lethal junco]

lemme check, im on ow right now

[edgy meadow]

i think the comic is called search and destroy

funny enough

[dense garnet]

Yeah, Emre's ult line

[edgy meadow]

https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/media/comic/search-and-destroy/ here

[lethal junco]

emre in many senses is too similar to androxus from paladins. Both gameplay and lore wise.

[dense garnet]

Mizuki reminds me a bit of Aki from Street Fighter

Though Aki is 100 times more unhinged

[edgy meadow]

huh??

hows mizuki like aki

[edgy meadow]

curious, idk anything about paladins lore so

[dense garnet]

A tragic childhood where they eventually got tangled with part of the mafia and assumingly trained in infiltration and assassination arts under them

[edgy meadow]

oh you meant also lore-wise

[dense garnet]

Yeaah

Gameplay-wise, Mizuki feels a bit like Invisible Woman

Just a bit

Ngl playing overwatch again after playing marvel rivals for so long made me do the Danny Devito "I get it" meme irl

[lethal junco]

both androxus and emre's power source are an unwanted one that acts as a double edged sword. Both are not completely "free", since they are tied to someone or something that controls them and gameplay wise both Ults are pretty much the same.

i used to play a lot of paladins back when i didn't have overwatch

[dense garnet]

I have a friend that loves Paladins but I couldn't get into it

I play this one bow and arrow chick I think

[shrewd pivot]

Huh. I have no idea where i misremembered the dragons having a genetic key then, my apologies. It's not even a headcanon of mine nor lore rewrite plan of mine to have a genetic key, so Idk where the 'genetic key' bit came from . I had honestly thought it was canon, I was mistaken. Thank you for the correction.

[shrewd pivot]

Tbf, Zenyatta ultimate was confirmed by devs to not be canon, just a game mechanic.

I do think the Iris has something going on tho, I am guessing more in line of "Ghost in the shell" though.

[dense garnet]

What does Zenyatta actually do in-lore

For combat

Besides throwing orbs ig

Does he heal and use the discord orb?

[fallow mantle]

we find out next week per the community thing

[shrewd pivot]

Devs confirmed Zenyatta harmony orbs, Zenyatta discord orbs, Zenyatta ult, Reaper souls, and Mercy rez are just game mechanics, not canon.

Zenyatta's orbs in canon are meditation orbs, mysterious tech found but no healing abilities. Zenyatta canonically floats for an unexplained reason.

[fallow mantle]

each week is about a hero

this week was emre

[dense garnet]

Oh yeah someone decoded Emre's lore in the second page

It talks about Chernobog

[lethal junco]

probably the anti grav tech sigma created

[lethal junco]

what

[shrewd pivot]

Nope! A voiceline confirms Zenyatta does not use Sigma's gravity tech. Sigma says it himself :)

[analog palm]

Anything but admiting magic

[lethal junco]

wow

didnt know that

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah bc overwatch is super hero scifi </3

[analog palm]

Of course it is i mean look at kiriko obviously she's super sci fi

[dense garnet]

It doesn't say much tbf, something along the lines of "Chernobog activated" or smth

But it confirms Chernobog is the AI

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah tbh kiriko is the only character that honestly breaks this rule. Genji Hanzo dragon are ornamental tech.

[shrewd pivot]

Is this a real decoding or did someone use genai to "decode" it 🥀

If it is a human solving the code I will believe it, I hope it's actually Chernobog messing with Emre in canon, hype lore

[dense garnet]

https://x.com/i/status/2021347594161750167

Someone found the right key and it translated to Finnish

[meager geyser]

Maybe it teses a Finnish hero 👀

Would be cool

[dense garnet]

Chernobog is the Finnish hero

But Chernobog the AI is from Finland and Emre's ult line is in Finnish

[meager geyser]

But Chernobog is something from Slavic mythology

It translates to "black god"

[dense garnet]

We know that Chernobog was in Finland

That's confirmed in-lore

[meager geyser]

I think next year's storyline will be about Emre, this AI and the eye conspiracy

Man, I'm so happy they're coming back to this storyline

I genuinely thought they have forgotten about it

[dense garnet]

I think next year could be the eye consipiracy, but it depends on where they wanna take the story

I think it would be interesting if at the height of Talon taking over the world, Chernobog decides to defect once Talon is no longer useful and assumes control to replace Talon with the Conspiracy

I still think that Chernobog isn't allied with the conspiracy but I have little to go off of for that

[shrewd pivot]

Chernobog is god ai of global security located in Finland, Chernobog translates litterally as "black god" but the name is more so indicating Chernobog is a personification of bad luck/dark fate.

Emre was searching into security systems in og overwatch. Emre speaks Finnish in ult line when controlled by eye conspiracy.

Oasis has "minority report" security ai and Sombra says Oasis has something to do with the eye conspiracy.

"Bad Luck" Chernobog god ai... Mizuki lore might actually involve the eye conspiracy, Mizuki might not be a random addition to this story

[brittle sky]

Feels like they'd kinda shoot their shot if they get the conspiracy done and dusted in the second year of these

[dense garnet]

Yeah I doubt the conspiracy will happen anytime soon

That's practically the BBEG of Overwatch

Next year might just be a new evil faction or the return of Null Sector

Or just continue the Talon storyline

[shrewd pivot]

We def will get some eye conspiracy lore this year tho, I am hype to see where it leads

[dense garnet]

Venture exploring a tomb and discovering another God AI

[shrewd pivot]

Vendetta will probably be defeated by the end of this year's arc, creating a power vacuum.

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah is overwatch. Even going to reference that Venture has an Anubis(ai?) artifact... that was buried in Greek ruins. Not Egyptian ruins. How does that work. Time travel shenanigans? Ancient technology?

[dense garnet]

ANCIENT ALIENS

[shrewd pivot]

I hope not lolll, and probably not bc of the junkrat and Venture voice line interactions

[dense garnet]

If we get a legitimate alien invasion storyline I'd lol so hard

[shrewd pivot]

Tbf Nullsector was kind of like a scifi alien invasion/rapture

Overwatch is confirmed to not have aliens(as in no green alien men kind of species) by devs.

[dense garnet]

Yet

Technically Juno is an alien

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah Lunar colony and Mars colony are technically aliens, but not like 'not of earth alien lifeforms' -- it's animals, humans, and omnics only in lore.

Which is hilarious considering Mina Liao's dad was low key an alien believer/chaser lmafo

[candid rapids]

Do we know what’s going on with sig. haven’t had lore with him in a minute.

[dense garnet]

He's in solitary confinement thanks to Vendetta

Vendetta fully set on only using Sigma as a weapon

[candid rapids]

Where did that come out. Dude has a black hole. Arguably strongest character

[dense garnet]

And Sigma ofc is not happy, as we see with new voicelines ingame

[candid rapids]

I main him and haven’t gotten any new voice lines

[dense garnet]

Sigma in lore doesn't know how to use his powers unless he's in his schizophrenic state

[shrewd pivot]

There are new voice lines, and new lore texts

[dense garnet]

And even then, Sigma's powers are blown out of proportion

[wise grotto]

So sigmas gonna get more and more unstable locked up before something snaps i think

[candid rapids]

So she’s trying to break him to get him to go schizophrenic?

[wise grotto]

I she’s trying to use him as a weapon and he might snap at some point and make thag backfire bad

[candid rapids]

That’s how ow is going to win isn’t it. Would make sense

[shrewd pivot]

Nah Sombra is just wanting to eventually break Sigma out of Vendetta's confinement. Sigma is suffering under Vendetta's imprisonment it seems.

[dense garnet]

People think Sigma can summon black holes, but the most he can do is anti-gravity powers. You can argue Grafitix Flux is a black hole, but it doesn't behave like a black hole because it doesn't pull things to Sigma when he uses it, and when he is using it, you can hear it in his voice that he's losing it mentally

So when Sigma is sane, he doesn't even know he has powers

Sigma says to Emre that he doesn't know why he's being contained

[shrewd pivot]

I mean... by inference if he can float objects, he can do more than just float a pencil. Atleast lethal gravity damage.

[dense garnet]

Yeah, and he has to go totally mad to use that power, as seen ingame with his ult, and we don't know for how long Sigma stays in that state

[candid rapids]

So what’s vendetta plan with sig. just to break him?

[shrewd pivot]

True. Though all it takes is a gentle gravity push in the brain to kill a human, or fry omnic circuits. He doesn't need to create black holes to do major damage

[dense garnet]

Vendetta is just gonna use Sig as a killing machine most likely, but I bet she's trying to figure out how to keep him on her leash enough to use him like that consistently

[hollow oar]

why doesnt vendetta see sigma as a human being 😭 😭 this is so sad, poor sig

[shrewd pivot]

Contain him bc Vendetta sees Sigma as an unstable weapon.

[dense garnet]

She says that Sigma is a danger to himself and others

Which is kinda true

[hollow oar]

yeah but he's still a person 😭

[dense garnet]

As far as we know, schitzo Sig is indiscriminate

[hollow oar]

sombra needs to lock in

RELEASE HIM

[dense garnet]

Idk how else to describe Sig when he's haywire

But yeah

[candid rapids]

How many times in lore has he went schitzo?

[dense garnet]

Once when he did that infamous experiment, which had him arrested and taken into a mental ward. And presumably again when Talon broke him out. That's as far as we know in-lore

[proud thistle]

Just saw the Reign of Talon cinematic
Does this make Vendetta Doomfist IV?

[dense garnet]

But I assume Sigma's been on missions with Moira

[dense garnet]

Technically, but she doesn't want to wield the fist

So I'd say no

[candid rapids]

Do we know how reaper was able to keep him under control when breaking him out

[dense garnet]

He probably wasn't in control lol

I think they just let Sigma carry

[proud thistle]

I for sure did not expect a character to get honest to god killed off

[hollow oar]

personally, if i was vendetta i would want sigma killed lmfao
he's too unstable and unpredictable, and he's clearly not happy with being locked up. he's a walking timebomb. the risk sigma brings isn't worth the potential benefits of his powers

[candid rapids]

30k dmg sig 60k mitt

[dense garnet]

Doomfist's lore was removed in the hero gallery too lmao

[proud thistle]

Holy hell

[shrewd pivot]

No hate intended, but let's not say "schitzo" unless talking about irl schtizotypy, it comes off like saying "psycho" which isn't great

Sigma definitely experiences schizophrenic like symptoms tho

[hollow oar]

i dont think doomfist is dead dead, he's just defeated rn

he'll probably have a comeback sometime in the next couple of months

[dense garnet]

Yeah that's why I said what I said

[candid rapids]

Is he actually dead? I don’t see them killing him off and we never see a body

[dense garnet]

He's gonna come back with memory loss like M. Bison

[dense garnet]

No way he's dead. They wouldn't do that at the start of a season

[proud thistle]

Don’t see how he could have survived

[dense garnet]

If they wanna kill of a playable hero, do it at the end of a season

[candid rapids]

Tracer had her chest pulled out and lived. That should have been it for her

[proud thistle]

That was the accelerator

It doesn’t so much keep her alive as existing in the current time

She can live without it, just not now

[hollow oar]

true, but doomfists a playable character. it would make the gameplay inconsistent w/ dialogues and interaction stuff. like brochacho, arent you supposed to be dead? he'll be back, he just needs to recover. blizzard probably wouldnt kill off a playable character (unless they outright delete him from the game, which i think would be hilarious)

[candid rapids]

Yea, but there has to be some internal injury from it

[proud thistle]

The actual games aren’t canon

[hollow oar]

true i agree, but it would still create inconsistencies imo w/ the noncanon interactions they have

[dense garnet]

I think that's kinda one negative I have with hero shooters. They basically have plot armor just because they're playable. Rainbow Six has this issue

[proud thistle]

Paladins didn’t do that

[hollow oar]

i would bet my life savings that doomfist is coming back

[proud thistle]

Yaggorath, à playable character, is canonically dead

[candid rapids]

Smaller studio and smaller game it’s like 4th place in hero shooters

[dense garnet]

Tmk, every character in League of Legends is also alive

That's like 170+ characters

[shrewd pivot]

Sorry what i mean is that sigma isn't "schitzo" tho, nor "psycho". It's unkind wording.

Sigma experiences his lifespan forwards and backwards at once, he is displaced through his own lifespan at random which makes it appear like he is hallucinating. Not really the same as a character having schizophrenia.

I only say this bc Symmetra is canonically autistic, so if Sigma was canonically schizophrenic the lore would have said he was. Sigma is suffering from a mind break after his gravity accident, "eldritch forbidden knowledge driving mortals mad" kind of scifi trope

[dense garnet]

Yeah that's why I said I didn't know any other way to describe it

[shrewd pivot]

Oh! Ok mbmb

[candid rapids]

I think what he’s experiencing would break anyone’s mind

He does have that voice line with tracer asking if she hears the melody also and she shuts down the conversation. She definitely can hear it

[dense garnet]

I asked a LoL fan and they say there's one out of 170+ heroes in that game that is canonically dead

[hollow oar]

idk if she outright hears it, i believe her when she says she only hears a ringing in her ear
i think sigma was exposed way more than tracer was, which is why he's so mentally out of it (and hears a full melody) while tracer only has ringing in her ears and doesn't seem too heavily affected

[shrewd pivot]

Mental disassociation, Derealization, Depersonalization, and dementia-like symptoms is how I would describe Sigma.

[dense garnet]

Sigma stared into the abyss and Tracer simply moves through it

[candid rapids]

Yea, but unless she knew he was onto something I don’t see her shutting the conversation down that quick. I think she underplayed it

[shrewd pivot]

Gosh I love the "melody" lore for overwatch, it's so haunting.

[hollow oar]

i love overwatch lore

[dense garnet]

What if the Melody becomes an arching story

[hollow oar]

i think i prefer it more as a sideplot, it'll probably get more relevant when sombra breaks sigma out of talon though

[dense garnet]

What if we get a story arc where the antagonist isn't any one person, but a force of nature

[candid rapids]

He does tell zen he hears what’s like the Omnic god

[dense garnet]

I like to think Sigma saying "We've met" is his other personality that took over for a moment

[candid rapids]

I think sig plays a bigger role than what we’ve been told. If he didn’t vendetta would have just offed him. There’s something with sig we don’t know

[shrewd pivot]

The melody that makes Sigma mad is a reference to 'sacred geometry' -- the orbits of planets being a song is a big motif in that mysticism/scifi trope referencing sacred geometry. Sigma can't comprehend what he was shown so his brain interprets the universes geometry maths as music. Sigma's hyperspheres are also a reference to 'sacred geometry' and Lifeweaver uses sacred geometry in his cinematc biolight tech, flower of life

Omnics were said to have "heard the music" in a Mina Liao blurp but that may have been a metaphor?? But omnics are very litteral talkers that struggle with idioms so it's not out of the question that those omnics maybe heard actual melody

https://x.com/PlayOverwatch/status/1239597502887673867?s=20

Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch)

Accessing…

Fragment Recovered: Personal Log of Dr. Mina Liao

File status: Complete

X · Mar 16, 2020, 5:00 PM

[hollow oar]

i can see that, but i feel like the reason why vendetta didn't just off him is that she's greedy for power

[candid rapids]

Can Ram and zen hear it then?

[shrewd pivot]

It is never mentioned of omnics hearing music/melody outside this blurp. So it's impossible to say

[foggy crescent]

Weird how we’re not getting retribution back despite the fact what’s happens in it is the whole reason vendetta murked doom

Just please devs 😭

[shrewd pivot]

They have to remake the entire mission apparently. They can't just export it from ow1 into ow2

[silent linden]

Question

Is ramattra talon

[edgy meadow]

remember that one sigma interaction where he said he saw aurora

[edgy meadow]

nah

he worked with talon during the brief invasion era but he's a leader of his own group

[silent linden]

Damn

Shame they didnt continue the story

[dense garnet]

They inevitably will

[silent linden]

Ramattra is honestly one of the few interesting characterm they release

His cinematic with Zen was peak

[dense garnet]

I think that Mauga defecting because the Junkers are more fun would be funny

But I assume if he wanted to, he'd have already done that

[proud thistle]

Wait I thought the name of Brigitte’s cat was Mitzi

[silent linden]

My man sigma is in jail

[proud thistle]

Stupid autocorrect

[silent linden]

😭 😭

Somebody free him

[dense garnet]

Brigitte's white cat is Mitzi. Jetpack Cat is Fika

[proud thistle]

She has two cats?!

[dense garnet]

She has like 10 lmao

[silent linden]

Also they are really pushing Emre and Freja huh

[proud thistle]

I love her so much

[proud thistle]

which is hilarious

this is fandom; no one ships straight couples

[silent linden]

I dig it

[dense garnet]

Emre VA reposting Emre x Freja content on twitter like crazy

[silent linden]

I mean idc

But i dig it

[proud thistle]

I never said I didn’t like it

[dense garnet]

Emre's VA is probably the biggest Emre Frej shipper

[proud thistle]

My favorite ship is probably Lifeweaver x Wuyang personally

[silent linden]

I saw people also lose their mind over kiriko and and other supporters i forgot his name

[dense garnet]

Mizuki?

[silent linden]

Yeah

Apparently they have a lot of voiceline

[dense garnet]

I don't ship it simply because Mizuki is 22 and I feel like they're gonna finally retcon Kiriko's age

[silent linden]

I personally dont care about shipping but i find it funny

That like people get invested if you dare suggest certain characters sexuality

[dense garnet]

Not even sure what my biggest ship is right now

Actually it's probably Vendomina lmao

[silent linden]

I remember back then i ship ashes and Cassidy

[dense garnet]

They call each other by their first names unlike everyone else

[silent linden]

And people get mad at me insisting that cassidy x hanzo

[dense garnet]

Casshanzo is the classic ship

[silent linden]

You know two characters who literally never met

[dense garnet]

Same with Mercy Genji

Those were like the top 2 ships back in the day

[silent linden]

Yeah

[dense garnet]

And Widowtracer for some reason

[silent linden]

Pharamercy literally never meet in the lore

Well they do

[dense garnet]

And one's a minor and one's an adult when they did in OW's prime

[silent linden]

I remember before overwatch 2

Pharah have ONE VOICELINE

For mercy

It was knight in shinning armor

[dense garnet]

I used to ship Soldier x Ana before Soldier was revealed to be gay canonically

[silent linden]

Which is fine

Honestly i prefer that way

We need soldier boyfriend to be in the game as talon

[dense garnet]

I don't ship Reyes with anyone because he still holds affection for his wife, even if he's a stubborn bull about it

[silent linden]

Give me that naruto x sasuke angst you clown

[dense garnet]

Oh there's this one crack af ship that used to exist. Idk if it does anymore

But Mei x Junkrat used to be semi-popular for some reason

Despite Mei not even knowing he exists in lore lmao

[silent linden]

Pharahmercy is honestly crack ship meme to reality and i stand by that

They literally never met until overwatch 2

[dense garnet]

They at least know each other properly now

But I don't ship it

I feel like Pharah x Zarya could be really funny

Also I learned that Freja's cape is Sigma's tech apparently

Or at least it uses tech that Sigma studied and revolutionized to create flying cars

[shrewd pivot]

https://youtu.be/edTiA8mPuwE?si=Pd3Q8tp4oNYka0cy

Ohh those Emre voice lines are interesting

[meager geyser]

Yeah, when Fara was like ~12 and Angela ~26 💀

I genuinely hate that ship

[silent linden]

I mean...

[dense garnet]

Did you know Pharah is older than Zarya

[silent linden]

That wont matter

Both are consenting adult

My mom and dad are 10 years apart

[dense garnet]

I feel like when you've known each other since one of you were a kid, it's different

And 12 - 26 is more than just 10 years

[proud thistle]

Okay but middle aged man yaoi

[silent linden]

But she isnt 12 now

[dense garnet]

Gabe x Jack is funny

[shrewd pivot]

Mizuki was mentored/raised by Kiriko’s dad since 9 when Mizuki's family died. Mizuki is like a long lost step sibling to Kiriko, platonic only in canon.

[meager geyser]

She met a 12 year old and was like: "DAMNNNN!!! Can't wait to crack ts!"

[dense garnet]

Idk, it's complicated. Personally I wouldn't have a relationship with someone I knew when they were 12

[silent linden]

I mean i get what you mean

[proud thistle]

MHA Mineta be like

[silent linden]

I dont hate any ship.

[dense garnet]

Mineta said that to a 4yo KILL THAT MAN

[proud thistle]

you and me both

I might find a reason to kill him off in the fanfic I’m never going to write

[dense garnet]

I like to redeem awful characters in fanfics

[proud thistle]

The fanfic is going to do that for Toga

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah it matters when characters meet on if the ship is dark content. An age gap in older people meeting and bonding (like 30+40) isn't inherently gross. But younger, def an issue lol

[dense garnet]

I wouldn't mind a wave 2 of MHA collab tbh

[proud thistle]

With Tomura dead, she’s never recruited into the League. She gets mentored by Vlad King and eventually joins class 1-B

[dense garnet]

Most wanted anime collab is probably Frieren rn

[shrewd pivot]

Pharah was 12, Mercy was 17.
I dislike both Mercy x Pharah AND Mercy x Genji, i wish neither were canon. If Mercy is supposed to be an ethical doctor, she wouldn't date patients nor coworkers bc of Dr ethics standards, let alone captains 12 year old daughter Mercy met as uni student 17, nor a mentally unwell man she traumatically saved the life of (Genji would feel he owes her)

[dense garnet]

This is why Mercy x Moira is superior

[proud thistle]

Okay but consider that it’s fanfic and reality can be whatever you want

[hushed shard]

i thought mizuki was working for talon?

hes on overwatches side in the event tab

[proud thistle]

That’s what I’m saying!

[edgy meadow]

he works for the hashimoto

but he's effectively a spy inside the yokai

which are not part of, but allied with overwatch

they just wanted him on the art

[dense garnet]

He works for the Hashimoto and got a mission to infiltrate Kiriko's organization, but the devs said that he might be wavering in loyalties, which means he's probably going to assist Kiriko in the end

[hushed shard]

i see

mizuki and sombra team up 🤔

[dense garnet]

He's also in the OW propaganda trailer

[hushed shard]

unexpected duo 🤔

[edgy meadow]

he might join overwatch, he just hasnt yet

we havent gotten to see him in a comic or anything yet

[dense garnet]

He definitely will by season 3

[edgy meadow]

most likely sooner than that

[shrewd pivot]

Tbh that's the only ship I have seen people actually portray as abusive instead of being a "uwu its wholesome". I don't like dark ships personally, but I would rather take a unhealthy ship beong portrayed as unhealthy to facilitate character growth (Mauga and Baptiste for example, Baptiste left and grew as a person-- the writer of thier short story confirmed Bap and Mauga are written as bad exes so i take ot as Mauga and Bap being bad exes in canon) than an unhealthy ship portrayed as morally pure and 'healthy' (Mercy and Genji for example)

[edgy meadow]

point is, right now, he's a hashimoto agent spying on the yokai, directly involved with neither talon or overwatch, just adjacent to them

[dense garnet]

Yeah I don't really ship Mercy with anyone right now

Same with Moira

I actually ship Mauga with JQ tbh lmao

[hushed shard]

i ship mercy with myself

ill fight who i have to

[dense garnet]

i ship sombra with myself

[civic lynx]

Hey so this is crazy but sombra’s married to me

[dense garnet]

married to us you mean

She has 2 hands

[civic lynx]

Well no

[hushed shard]

is it ever said why sombra just has a sandevistan

[dense garnet]

Hazard also has one

[hushed shard]

i dont like hazard

[dense garnet]

He's cool

TEAR IT DOWNN

[hushed shard]

i like him in concept

[shrewd pivot]

Mercy needs to work thru her abandonment trauma before she gets a romantic relationship imo otherwise it will be unhealthy. She compromised BIG morals by staying in overwatch after Torbjörn broke Mercy's one rule of "do not use my tech for harm" when Torbjörn made Ana's biotic rifle.

If Mercy has abandonment issues, every relationship of hers will be her compromising her morals or clinging for others not to leave

[hushed shard]

i just dont like his personality

which is a shame cause he a celtic brother

[dense garnet]

I know people ship Lucio and Dva

That's probably fine?

28 Vs. 21

[shrewd pivot]

Unfortunately in ow1 DVA was 19 and Lúcio was 26. Lúcio is a gentleman and would never do that kinda thing imo

[dense garnet]

Lucio Sym is the best for him anyway imo

[civic lynx]

I’ve always been a believer that sym is better without a romantic interest

[dense garnet]

I can see it

I feel that way with Moira

[shrewd pivot]

Nah, Symmetra is apart of Vishkar, Vishkar oppresses Lúcio's family and people

[dense garnet]

Sym's confirmed to not like Vishkar. She's basically only in it to spy on them

As confirmed with an interaction with LW

Sym will inevitably defect, she's already started to

LW asks for Sym to join him, but Sym says that she has business in Vishkar first

[lavish osprey]

So I'm not ready for the inevitable romance story between Kiriko and Mitzuki where she breaks down his too cool for school exterior and reveals him to be the cinnamon roll he is inside.

[dense garnet]

The only reason I'm not shipping it is because I have a feeling they might finally retcon Kiri's age to be closer to the Shimadas

[dense nebula]

I mean could very much be worse, at least they’re both above 20

Personally I don’t like shipping in general

Let alone romances between playable characters

[dense garnet]

Winton x Peanut Butter

[lavish osprey]

Or they're siblings or something. I can't quite figure out the fox spirit line he mentions sometimes

[dense nebula]

Reinhardt and his muscles

[dense garnet]

Junker Queen x Gracie

[dense nebula]

Mauga and Cardio (gets his 2 hearts pumping)

[dense garnet]

Lets get that blood let's get that blood let's get that blood

[shrewd pivot]

Well yeah, but Lúcio deserves to date someone who didn't oppress his people imo lol

Overwatch roster does best when ships are like Hazard x Susie or Tracer x Emily, it allows relationships to exist without pulling roster characters into awkward forced romance

[lavish osprey]

I still feel Mitsuki is written like someone's ideal fantasy of a teenage anime boyfriend trope down to his "sup?" slang which surely would be ancient by the time OW happens

[dense garnet]

I wonder what'd happen if two playable characters got into a canon romance

[dense nebula]

Look at Apex

[dense garnet]

Kiriko says sup

[dense nebula]

And their old shitty love triangle plot

[dense garnet]

Dva says "you're so goated"

[dense nebula]

Because apparently that was the most interesting story they could have in the Titanfall universe

[shrewd pivot]

Nah Lúcio is an international DJ with tons of fans of all ages, he wouldn't date teens (ow1 DVA and Lúcio). He's a gentleman

[lavish osprey]

Hasn't Blizzard teased Phamercy being real before?

[dense garnet]

They have unique lines iirc

[dense nebula]

Good thing it’s not canon

That ship (or rather the shippers) is the worst thing I’ve ever had the displeasure of witnessing in this game

Especially since they’ve also been setting stuff up between Mercy and Genji too, I don’t need to see another love triangle

[dense garnet]

I miss the good old days of ow1 when pharmercy was everywhere and I was using "harambe" as a winton ult callout

[civic lynx]

They often tease ships just to keep fans happy

They used to have loads of Gency interactions but they removed them

[dense nebula]

People need to remember in game dialogue ain’t canon

[shrewd pivot]

Nope, Kiriko’s dad raised/mentored Mizuki in the Hashimoto after his parents died at age 9. Mizuki is like a long lost step brother to Kiriko, platonic only.

[dense garnet]

I still think Zarya x Pharah would be cute

[lavish osprey]

Genji has canonically gone back to showing his human face so emotions are on the table for him haha

[shrewd pivot]

The only ship I can think of that I see reasonable chemistry for (not that it would happen in canon) is Brigitte x Venture. Both are dorks, long distance poetry would be adorkable cringe and funny voice lines, Venture already knows Torbjörn, and Venture and Brigitte are both into fitness and both care about omnics.

But like??? I don't WANT Brigitte x Venture canon. It wouldn't really add much to the lore.

[lavish osprey]

That's the bit about a daughter blessed by the fox spirit, got it.

He keeps asking about people who have heard of her at the start of matches I think

[civic lynx]

Venture x Juno makes me want to die like that ship is genuinely buns

[dense garnet]

Apparently Kiriko's voice being higher pitched was a bug since season 9 and they just fixed it so that it's normal this patch

[lavish osprey]

If not for real world drama, Mitsuki and Wuyang would be a hilarious duo.

[dense nebula]

Real world drama?

[dense garnet]

Anran x Juno shippers anyone

[shrewd pivot]

Juno is a naive unworldly 19 year old, might as well be 17 and i would believe that age. Venture is a very worldly 26 year old archeologist and history buff.

I loathe that ship too, it's gross.

[dense garnet]

Venture x Sombra anyone

[dense nebula]

Also i bet Venture’s into Omnics

[dense garnet]

Venture x locust swarm

[flint thicket]

I have a hilarious idea. Wuyang sees a girl he likes, but nervous to ask her out, but anran drags him to the girl and she tells the girl, "wuyang wants to say something."

[lavish osprey]

Chinese fans might get angry if "one of their characters" was friends with a Japanese one and Blizzard would likely avoid that minefield.

[dense garnet]

Wuyang x Juno would be interesting??

[shrewd pivot]

Not canon adjacent, and imo Sombra holds too much power in that dynamic, but a crack au ship in fandom is fine ig, doesn't harm anyone.

[flint thicket]

It would be.

[dense nebula]

Oh

[edgy meadow]

https://tenor.com/view/kitten-licking-paws-black-cute-gif-18705814

[peak escarp]

shipping is fanfic, and should not be discussed here

[dense garnet]

I know Venture and Sombra interacted in a comic. To what extent, I forget

[dense nebula]

Agreed

[lavish osprey]

How old is Mitsuki anyways? Dude's wing tip eyeliner is perfect

[peak escarp]

unless you have lore to support it

[dense garnet]

22

[dense nebula]

Now let’s talk about what playstyle Dmon would bring

[lavish osprey]

He reads as younger than that lol

[edgy meadow]

guys i have an idea for an overwatch ship thoughts;

[lavish osprey]

I honestly thought he was like 18

[dense garnet]

I kinda want a map based on JQ's apparent airship she's building

[flint thicket]

Anyways. Speaking of mizuki earlier, I see him getting toshiro out of the hashimoto confines.

[dense garnet]

I think he'll at least help

[lavish osprey]

I am worried about the people speculating that Talon will destroy the city if Kiriko "wins"

[dense garnet]

I feel like if the Hashimoto lose, Vendetta just wouldn't care and toss them aside

They outlived their usefulness

[shrewd pivot]

Venture's writing kinda pisses me off bc instead of being a subversion, Venture is straight up Indiana Jones the pillager. Venture pillages artifacts lol. No comic lore about talking with the Greek people in handling the aftermath. I wish Venture was more about restoration and the importance of returning artifacts to local groups, than pillaging mummy tombs vibes and searching for treasures vibes.

It's very funny bc Venture is superstitious. The voiceline with Zenyatta cracks me up so bad Zenyatta is low key 'I am not that kind of monk' LOL

[dense garnet]

If anything, her plan would probably be to have the Junkers invade Japan

[dense garnet]

Vendetta currently is the most "wtf do they do" character in the lore right now

Potential char asf

Not ven

Smh

VENTURE

Why do they have similar names 🥀

[past copper]

I like Vendetta's direction so far. She's certainly improved the Talon controlled maps right now

[flint thicket]

Speaking of potential talon invasion of kanezake, Asa vs Vendetta would make a great fighr.

[dense garnet]

Vendetta is cool

Her existing is an overall positive

I'm still miffed about the cinematic but yeab

[edgy meadow]

venture feels like one of those characters that are gonna be hard to make remotely relevant which is why its unfortunate theyre probably not even thinking about this right now

https://tenor.com/view/kitten-licking-paws-black-cute-gif-18705814

[past copper]

And if you look at the Recruitment trailer, Vendetta finally gave the men new sleek armor (that concept art finally used)

[edgy meadow]

genuinely tho why did they jsut make up a new group

and gave them 0 connections or lore

[lavish osprey]

Do we know who the long braid silhouette we're getting next season is?

[edgy meadow]

instead of making venture tied to something existing

[dense garnet]

Or at least have Venture be a solo op like Illari

[shrewd pivot]

The wayfinders did exist, in De:Classified and in a map. The wayfinder society in Declassified was about returning artifacts to groups.

[dense garnet]

Yeah but they're practically irrelevant in the big story

They just exist, that's it

[dense nebula]

So is Bap officially with Overwatch now or is he still on the run?

[dense garnet]

He's been with OW since before the Null Sector invasion

Cass scouted him

Alongside Dva and Zarya and Pharah

[lavish osprey]

I believe everyone with a new era skin is OW now

[edgy meadow]

noted

but i feel like the existing problem still applies

[shrewd pivot]

Wayfinders uncovered the special Vanadium which Moira fought with them about, which then Hazard stole and injected himself with.
I was hoping Venture being an omnic archeologist would have been bringing in more omnic history lore (like Atlantis Milo geek blabbing culture trivia), but nope.

[dense garnet]

Pretty sure there's a comic of Cassidy scouting Dva, Bap, Zarya, and Pharah

Pre-OW2

So yeah Bap's been in Overwatch for a while

[lavish osprey]

Lucio's official uniform is cool

Overdue probably given he's an elder training new recruits right now.

[dense garnet]

Winton needs a uniform change lmao

And Cass

They're the leader and 2nd in command respectively

Id say Winton is the overall leader of OW but Cass calls the shots in ops

[dense nebula]

Seems like Sojourn is the leader now

For some reason

[dense garnet]

Winton moreso handles management

[dense nebula]

Since she’s on the mirror spray to Vendetta

[dense garnet]

Which is lame tbh

Should be Cass

[lavish osprey]

Sojourn has the combat leadership

[dense nebula]

Sojourn is THE veteran

[lavish osprey]

I don't think Cassidy is a leadership type lol

[torpid nest]

Why doni feel like OW facionnis losing hard in conquest

[dense nebula]

because we want to watch the villains win

[torpid nest]

And iys only fay 2

[dense garnet]

Talon is currently winning the event GOOD

[dense nebula]

We’re so used to the heroes winning all the time it’s fun to see villains get W’s

[torpid nest]

0geah 58 to 41

And I joined OW

This week

[dense nebula]

I joined Talon

We love being evil

[torpid nest]

And today's challenges I cant even do

[dense garnet]

I joined Talon hoping I get Freja cosmetics

[torpid nest]

I have to heal 5k in one game

And 6k woth abilities and my issue is I dont play support

[dense garnet]

Time to pick up Soldier and Emre

[torpid nest]

Mainly dps

And mostly.playign flankers

Like tracer,anran and freya as recon

[dense garnet]

Use Emre's heat sink major perk and ask the enemy tank to go roadhog

[torpid nest]

I see

Might skip

Yhe healer challenges was not expecting overwa5h facion to lose so nuch

[dense garnet]

I hope they do a Halo collaboration and give Emre a Master Chief skin

They're owned by Microsoft sooooooo

[torpid nest]

And is it jsut me or as tracer main is amran not that hard for me

[dense garnet]

Anran isn't too hard imo

Easier than Genji

[torpid nest]

I like anran

And teacer

So came down to three dps mains lol

Tracer amran and freya

I dont play sombra anymore

Used to but not anymore

Anyway as the lore goes atm freya is a talon agent

[lavish osprey]

She is paid by Maximilian but she thinks she's independent

Max being the only non combat person in the meeting was fun

I'm not shocked an Talon winning this week. I thought it was showing 50/50 earlier

Emre is just gonna be more popular than Sojourn.

Plus Talon went hard on its recruitment video

[dense garnet]

Freja is contracted by Max and Emre is is forced by Chernobog to work for Talon

Freja and Emre don't want to work for Talon but they're essentially leashed

And Freja has self esteem issues sorta, she doesn't believe that she could be of help to OW

Freja also wants to be close to Emre, to make sure he stays out of trouble

Ramattra calls out this hypocrisy in an interaction iirc

[lavish osprey]

I'm honestly hoping for Null Sector to save Doomfist and he comes back as cybernetic as Genji

So we have two Omnic heroes coming? Is the skinny waist the second?

[dense garnet]

I think a fun experiment could be having someone who's never seen OW to guess who's an OW1 roster hero and who was added in OW2

[lavish osprey]

Does it really matter? I mean from the outside I don't think I'd be able to tell

Unless you believe the Emre is cooler 76 type stuff

[dense garnet]

I was just looking at Genji Vs. Juno and saying "that's such an OW2 design" but I couldn't tell you why

[torpid nest]

I see do you guys feel like vendetta is a better talok leader then doomfist?

In your opinions

[dense garnet]

Right now yes

[lethal junco]

Yes and no. She has done more than doom in very few time. But honestly that's just because the writers never really gave talon any more depth until now. But doom was the most feared enemy of overwatch, his mentor was the scourge of numbani and he was capable of taking on multiple high ranked overwatch agents at the same time.

[lavish osprey]

I don't think Doom wanted to rule the world? Vendetta does

[lethal junco]

Doom only wanted chaos. Through chaos and war came breakthroughs and technological developments. He says so in one of his lines.

[unreal frost]

"Only through conflict, can humanity evolve"

[lethal junco]

thanks for the quote nyx

[unreal frost]

He sees Talon's role as something to cause problems to make new solutions for a "better world"

np

So Vendetta being much more active in the world order is much worse because they're making the problems and using their solutions

[lethal junco]

also they are giving the united nations reasons to keep overwatch active

is there any lore reason why hanamura and paris are no longer playable or was it strictly for gameplay porpouses?

[unreal frost]

Gameplay because people generally didn't like the gamemode

Though I suppose you could say hanamura is restricted by the hashimoto clan more

[lavish osprey]

Hanamura being removed and reworked in OW and HotS is kinda hilarious

[shrewd pivot]

Sojourn was asked to step up in pve, now with Talon as a threat it makes sense for her to lead overwatch

[lavish osprey]

But yeah, chaos is different than going all World Domination so she's a threat but also easier to organize against

[fossil wren]

I mean, Sojourn is probably the most capable person to lead the new Overwatch

[lavish osprey]

Vendetta's weakness is having Widowmaker as an enemy

[dense garnet]

Widow isn't really an enemy

She just left because of leadership disagreements

Widow left on her own terms, unlike Reaper and Sombra, who left because of Vendetta specifically

[lavish osprey]

In a world where leadership disagreements are frequently solved with death

[dense garnet]

I doubt Vendetta's the type to be like that, we're just assuming that because of her world domination stance

Vendetta would welcome Widowmaker back if she wanted back in

Not that Widow would

[fossil wren]

She is also capable of dealing with the bureaucratic and legal aspects

[lavish osprey]

I meant Widow could solve her disagreement with a very long ranged bullet

[dense garnet]

Sure but then she's out of a job and back to being a free agent, which she already is

[lethal junco]

surprising how they didn’t look for ana, since she was one of the highest ranking overwatch members.

[dense garnet]

I just don't think Widow has a strong relationship with Vendetta other than "damn she killed my boss"

[dense garnet]

They did

Ana refused

Ana told Cass that he should lead OW and she recommended him Dva, Zarya, Pharah, and Bap to recruit

[lavish osprey]

Ana regrets the damage she did and sounds like she'd never come back, plus old

[lethal junco]

really? i did not know

[lavish osprey]

Ana's line to Bastion is really sad.

[dense garnet]

Ana is busy being Batman and keeping an eye on Soldier 76

[lethal junco]

i knew that jack would not come back as he feels responsible for the downfall of overwatch

[fossil wren]

I love you Cass, but you don't have what it takes to be commander 😭

[dense garnet]

Ana and Jack keep in touch but it's mostly Ana snooping in Jack's business

[lethal junco]

ana and soujorn are doing pretty much the same vigilante thing

[fossil wren]

For most people, Jack is dead anyway

[lethal junco]

now that i thing of it

[dense garnet]

Yeah Sojourn too

[lethal junco]

yes

[dense garnet]

Sojourn had a fucking superhero alias like Ana

[lethal junco]

he’s presumed dead with very few people knowing he is still alive

[dense garnet]

Overwatch knows that Jack is alive and he's known only as Soldier 76 to the rest of the world

[lethal junco]

but overwatch knows.

but same way they know he’s still alive they know he is not coming back

[fossil wren]

Also i highly doubt that international courts would be happy to see Morrison back as Commander of Overwatch

[dense garnet]

If anyone's gonna actively seek out Jack, it's Sombra

[lethal junco]

for what

[fossil wren]

Or a certain eye that was most likely responsible for what happened in Zurich

[lethal junco]

you mean emre?

[fossil wren]

I mean the conspiracy

[lethal junco]

i don’t really believe it was a conspiracy, could have easily been an enemy organisation stricking the final blow after the black watch incident

[fossil wren]

Soldier and Sombra are investigating the conspiracy

[lethal junco]

are sombra and morrison in touch?

[fossil wren]

The Eye conspiracy is most likely behind the Zurich HQ explosion and the initial dismantling of Overwatch

[fossil wren]

Yep since Lucky Man one of the stories of Heroes Ascendant

[azure flint]

guys is chernobog confirmed to be the conspiracy

or is likely to be

[shrewd pivot]

Sombra and Soldier76 met up, and its confirmed the eye conspiracy has something to do with HQ blowing up that 'killed' Reyes and Morrison

[fossil wren]

I don't think it's just Chernobog ngl

[lethal junco]

i thought blizzard gave up on that lore branch. After the sombra backstory i never saw anything else related to the red eye

[shrewd pivot]

No outright confirmation yet (decoding Emre's bio counts) just highly highly likely to be involved from inference/hints

[azure flint]

[lethal junco]

in which comic is this? or is it on a cinematic?

[fossil wren]

The lore of the conspiracy is more alive than ever

[azure flint]

yeah i really hope we have a side story throughout the year abt emre

alongside talon

[shrewd pivot]

It's a text story. Well, two. It's a story with Ana and Soldier76. And then a story with Illari, Soldier76, and Sombra

[dense garnet]

It's pretty much confirmed

Someone decoded Emre's bio in the website

[azure flint]

ts way too interesting to not continue on

[lethal junco]

where is it?

[shrewd pivot]

Should be on overwatch media page. One is a heroes ascendant story iirc.

[dense garnet]

https://x.com/i/status/2021597109502218249

[lethal junco]

i just hope we keep seing ex overwatch agents come back, either for talon, new overwatch or even null sector.

[azure flint]

1. why is chernobog controlling emre?
2. how did emre get chernobog on him? or wtv
3. did chernobog itself latch onto him or did someone or something else help?
4. how long has he been like this?

all good questions

that i hope they answer

[fossil wren]

I'm afraid Null sector isn't coming back anytime soon

[azure flint]

oh another too
5. since apparently chernobog got shut down how is he back?

[lethal junco]

why not? they regrouped in antartica didn't they?

[azure flint]

he or it wtv

[shrewd pivot]

They did, but it was an obvious "lets write null sector off to the side so Vendetta arc can happen" bc pve was canceled lol

[lethal junco]

what a shame, i would've liked more null sector characters

[shrewd pivot]

Never lose hope

[lethal junco]

last thing that we lose is hope

[edgy meadow]

we'll probably revisit null sector eventually, theyre probably intentionally pushing it aside because they know the negative reputation that null sector as a storyline has

once they feel like theyve redeemed themselves we might come back to it

or even re-explore it entirely

[merry mason]

Next year for sure

[lethal junco]

i hope so

[edgy meadow]

big brain prediction here and now chat, if chernobog becomes a main antagonist in a narrative storyline, rammatra will end up in a truce with overwatch to defeat it, since he sees god AIs as a threat to the omnics

[lethal junco]

the ramattra storyline is one of the best the game has, and i would really like to see the other founders of null sector in cinematics or more elaborate lore

[edgy meadow]

it does have a lot of potential ye

they just need to let the demons sleep so to say

[azure flint]

remastering the null sector storyline for 2027 would be sick ngl

[lethal junco]

he does not like Anubis. But what about the iris? he does respect that entity.

[edgy meadow]

the iris is not a god AI

at least not in definition of the group of the god AI

[tough egret]

I just found out about mirrorwatch
Im a sucker for alternate/multiverse typa stuff

[azure flint]

like after vendetta is defeated and doom returns he talks to ram abt needing his protection or wtv

[edgy meadow]

i doubt ram is gonna be willing to work with talon again lol

let alone doom

if we explore null sector they should make it stand away from talon

[lethal junco]

after the "reconciliation" comic, i don't think he'll ever cross paths with talon amicably.

[dense garnet]

Mirrorwatch Vendetta

[torpid nest]

I see

Gonna play some more todsy

[azure flint]

real

[torpid nest]

But those healing misions are gonna be annoying to do cause I dont play healers at all

[azure flint]

mirrorwatch is still the best theme they've done

[torpid nest]

I agree My favorite theme so far was mirrorwatch as well also talon tracer and talon mercy look really cool

Got both

And even tbe new era tracer skin is really cool