lore-discussion

[odd slate]

this had to be hella traumatizing for poor juno 😭 like

good lord

[spare fox]

Huh I could've sworn I read two brothers, mb

[peak escarp]

thing is, I'm fairly sure a sister was mentioned in the dialogue of Invasion

[odd slate]

maybe im reading a different comic

idk

i dont see anything abt family or wuyang

[peak escarp]

so two brothers and one sister is probably right

[peak escarp]

sorry, we skipped ahead

we're talking about episode 11

[odd slate]

oh

ig it's paid content past that point

[peak escarp]

yeah

[odd slate]

bc i dont see anything past ep 6

and im not paying to read it

lol

at least it calms down tho

which is good

lemme see here

i know ||all the wuzuki shippers are gonna lose their shit if wuyang gets with juno lmfao||

i always saw him as bi tbh

both of them tbh

[peak escarp]

shippers are going to be mad no matter what

[spare fox]

Well it looks like a tiny Zarmei moment too in there

[peak escarp]

...they're just standing next to each other

[odd slate]

so true

i dont really interact with ships bc of that reason lmfao

if i'm going to do it it's going to be oc x oc or oc x canon

i care about very few canon ships in any media

unrelated but reminded bc of mei, niran's line over her and her crew in the antarctic map is sad

that and how he shows clear care for illari

i think a lot of heroes too, she's just too hurt to allow them close

:(

[shrewd pivot]

Wuzuki is a crackship tbf (they have not met in canon) it's not like any canon ship in that regard would stop crackships?

I was thinking Wuyang and Juno was cute initially, but Juno's learning to swim voice interactions with Wuyang had me veer off the ship, which seems to be the opposite of the fandom reaction to those lines lol the fandom seemed to ship Juno and Wuyang a lot more after the swimming voice lines

If that's the romance tho, that's a relief, I am glad it's not a soap opera romance arc

[spare fox]

Lol and the shippers are gonna run with it

[odd slate]

yurrrrp haha

so long as no one's being an ass abt it idrc yk

[shrewd pivot]

Honestly same. Atleast for the media i tend to enjoy, relationships in the story serve a narrative purpose.
For fandom, I always liked seeing other's takes on character growth, so a well written au for canon x canon OR a oc x canon can be fun to see! oc x oc is fun too especially if people embrace the worldbuilding haha

[odd slate]

i do like the idea of jinu and illari being the younger siblings of overwatch, so to speak. familial relationships are super important for me

[odd slate]

i often change canon to make it work for oc x canon, so that's the way i lean. like if i were to do stuff with genji and wuyang and them like i was planning, i'd alter the lore accordingly - try to keep stuff mostly the same but change or add details, ykwim

reminded me of an idea i had for AU shimadas + kiriko but that's for another place haha

and to this ^^, usually the changes i make are familial in nature

found family is something that overwatch (the team) embodies very well, as do mizuki and kiri

[shrewd pivot]

That would be interesting, but im not sure illari will end up joining overwatch in canon? I think illari probably will remain on the outskirts for a good while until a plotline has illari working with overwatch or something to uncover more about the accident

[odd slate]

and that's more compelling to me in certain cases than romantic connections

familial/platonic bonds are just as, if not more important than, some romantic bonds

[odd slate]

i say "overwatch" in terms of like...the good guys of the planet. illari in lore would never work for talon, so here i mean the good guys she's usually seen with!

[shrewd pivot]

Pardon, for Genji and Wuyang? I don't follow

But yeah overwatch has a good amount of found family dynamics! I enjoy it a lot

[odd slate]

i meant if i were to write about genji and wuyang falling in with my oc's, haha

[shrewd pivot]

Ohhhh okok

[odd slate]

it's very sweeeeet so wholesome

i honestly LOOOOOVEEEE the shimada/kiriko connection, and i like the opportunity mizuki has to join in on that too

[patent moth]

i wish bastion found family with the lindholms was explored more nd how he integrated with them because bastions so cute

[odd slate]

HE ISSS

we love bastion

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah it's a fun found family dynamic!
I personally am waiting until the plot lays out before solidifying my ideas on the dynamics. As of now, the set up with how Kiriko’s dad mentored Mizuki from a young age reads as if Mizuki and Kiriko will be found family (like a long lost step brother kinda?), but Mizuki does not seem to be using honorifics indicating a personal connection to Kiriko’s dad, and there's been been disagreements on if shipping Mizuki and Kiriko is ooc or not in this channel so. I'll just wait, but my guess is that Mizuki and Kiriko will probably be familial bc of the set up, ye

[shrewd pivot]

I really want to see how Bastion has been doing since PVE!!! I agree

[odd slate]

once the cursebreaker animatic came out, i started to see them as more familial. some of the lines have a tease to it, but the with recontextualization of "yeah your dad basically raised me" it makes more sense as sibling banter

bro needs family anyway lets be real 🥀

[shrewd pivot]

Real

Notably sojourn had a jinx line in PVE, so if Mizuki joins overwatch it will be interesting to see if Sojourn is superstitious with him at all lol, and if not I do hope a Sojourn and Mizuki line atleast brushes on the topic

[odd slate]

oooo yeah...

[shrewd pivot]

I wonder what part 4 of Sierra's lore event log will be. I was hoping for something we didn't know already but it seems this week's was Sierra introducing Super soldier program stuff to the audience who hadn't the chance to read prior lore

Not that i mind, I think it's great to have lore accessible in game, I just wish we had something more personal or a new lore tidbit

[patent moth]

i love bastion so much i wish canon got to focus on him a bit more

[odd slate]

yesss

[shrewd pivot]

Hopefully the webcomic gives us glimpses! c:

[patent moth]

we do get a little bastion focus in todays episode and by that i mean ||one panel with him and torbjorn||

[odd slate]

awh

at least he's there!

[shrewd pivot]

4th page of Sierra's event lore :o

They added a beard to the pic??? changed the gun and hat too. Here is the old pic:

[potent briar]

Lmao huh

[peak escarp]

why did they make him look older?

he's supposed to be 15 in that photo

if they can change this why can't they change all the other problematic art?

[nocturne flint]

They lazy

ı'm pretty sure they are underpaying some artists

[naive saddle]

is there a good place to me to read all of the OW comics (ideally in chronological order)? i’ve only seen bits and pieces and i’d kind of like to follow it better

[swift trout]

https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/media/

[spare fox]

It's weird - other than Cass's beard, gun, hat there are other differences too - the tear and tape, Ashe's mouth, positions of the cards... very strange they'd make that much different

MY guess as to why they "updated" Cassidy to look older (as Doc said, he was 15-17 in that photo), is that to keep a T rating they couldn't depict a minor smoking in the game...

[brittle sky]

alternatively, they trust the player base that little to recognize cole

[odd slate]

ashe looks so done lmao

honestly tho for why they updated it...probably just to not have a minor smoking. if it was that much a problem, they could've swapped the cigar for something else to hold in his mouth (like wheatgrass) and leave his face cleanshaven

for the gun, maybe it was just to make it look cleaner...? idk. old pic was just fine

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah just remove the cigar if that was the issue, a toothpick would have been fine, or even nothing at all. The hat and gun change seems to indicate it was intentionally 'correcting' the image tho? Kind of like how Widowmaker's suit design was corrected to the ow2 design in the mondatta assassination iirc

[shrewd pivot]

Underpaying would imply they would change less, not more. Changing Ashe's hand position with the cards is a good amount of work.

It would be the narrative or art director that messed up by adding the beard

He already had facial hair scruff in the og image, I don't really get why they gave him a beard instead of just deleting the cigar if they were worried about a minor smoking, the same hat would be enough for players to understand it's the same character just younger

[swift trout]

Maybe they're trying to imply he was born with the thing

[odd slate]

LMAO

came outta the womb, smokin a ciggy....

[zinc quiver]

On the 3rd grand mesa page and uh ||HOLY SHIT TALON’S PROBABLY PLANNING ON MAKING ANOTHER SOLDIER LIKE 76/24/00||

[potent briar]

Soldier 69

[twilit patrol]

I've read episode 11 of undivided

Not gonna spoil anything

But honestly the more I read this webtoon and the more I'm happy with what they're doing with the lore

I had lost some interest in the lore a while ago even though I loved Signs Of Life and they kept cooking some lore but this time there's a real continuity in the main story

[brittle sky]

What do you regard as promising versus recent stuff you were less happy with?

[potent briar]

I just read 10 & 11

Not gonna say much but I am excited for what's being planned

Especially considering we're not even halfway through with the 5 hero silhouettes (Sierra, big ass mech, Blacksad as an omnic, horned yakuza mf, and mr./miss./mx. ominous as hell to the left)

[odd slate]

lmao by the time it's free to read it'll be may 😭

[sonic tangle]

hey guys! there were 3 out of 40 lore comics,i saw the first 3 when will the next ones be available? Also,whats the idea behind Domina lorewise? She is a boss of a company as far as i understand,why does she have to fight ?

[grand wedge]

lore isn't gameplay, so there are characters that fight in game that are not shown fighting in lore (Domina, Sigma, Zen for example)
There are 6 webtoon available right now, one every wednesday.

[potent briar]

They gave me a deal on webtoon coins so I just unlocked all the episodes early

[spare fox]

Beard mystery solved:
https://x.com/i/status/2046849132350828671

The Omnic Reporter (@OmnicReporter)

The image is the same one found in "The Cinematic Art of Overwatch, Vol. 2," in the chapter dedicated to reunion.🔍

It seems that the scrapped version was mistakenly used instead of the one used in the final (and official) version of the cinematic.

X · Apr 22, 2026, 7:10 AM

Probably grabbed the wrong version of it from the asset files

[wise grotto]

All these theory's and it's just "oops wrong file"

[spare fox]

I mean, it's not confirmed but that seems to be the most reasonable and likely explanation

[peak escarp]

not the first time they've used the wrong version of an image

they still use the group photo that doesn't have Torbjorn's mechanical arm

[keen summit]

New comic made ana look like she uses a fast gun + she shot enemies with healing darts

Bit sloppy

[keen summit]

I feel mixed on the comics

Orisa felt very underused, she didn't even react to doom being "dead"

[spare fox]

Yeah it's one of the flaws of having so many characters in it :/

Many of them are kinda neglected

[keen summit]

Yeah theres also as i said ana shooting enemies with healing darts and deciding to fight upclose as if its an automatic rifle

All in all this batch, honestly, felt pretty bad icl. Orisa got super neglected. It doesnt really feel like overwatch?

Also the arbitrary romance hinting between juno and wuyang is a bit... On the nose to me

[spare fox]

They just met and spoke for the first time...

[keen summit]

The framing with both blushing is clear what they wanna set up

[spare fox]

Yeah all the Mizuki-wuyang shippers are losing their minds over it

[keen summit]

Yup but tbf i dont think the chinese share holders would like uf a chinese rep wasnt straight

[dull bough]

bro who ships a guy and a guy 💔

[keen summit]

Idk where fhis ship came from tho cuz like, it reeks of hot guy x hot guy type thing

[keen summit]

Uhm

What?

Why does the gender matter here

[spare fox]

Yeah I mean, Juno wants to experience new things, so puppy love or a crush fits that pretty well

[keen summit]

Yeah i agree but it feels kinda on the nose to me for now, maybe itll be actually cute later on but si farcim not sold

This honestly tho has felt the weakest batch of lore in a while to me especially with alot of things that feel kinda.. out of charactr

[spare fox]

I get it

I kinda like how this comic has room for the slice-of-life and the IJC politics that just wouldn't do for a big animation or even a motion comic

The way I calculated it out, if there's one episode a week, the last unpaid episode will be out mid- December

So just a guess but I don't think we're going to see anything "big" happen in it

[swift trout]

We rarely see the characters outside the context of the game, actually being people

[glad zenith]

It should’ve been me not him

[round bramble]

So Vendetta is gunning for World War 3 and Overwatch's response is throwing a party

That should give the people hope

...Should've finished reading the comic first😭

[civic lynx]

https://fixupx.com/playoverwatch/status/2047345211286945814?s=46

Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch)

Watchpoint: Grand Mesa is under attack, and we know just the right cowboy for the job 🤠
︀︀
︀︀Join Matt Mercer, the voice actor behind Cassidy, for a reading of our newest comic, ‘Crossroads’ 📚

**💬 1 🔁 3 ❤️ 30 👁️ 1 **

▶ Play video

FixupX · Apr 23, 2026, 4:01 PM

[south torrent]

MATT MERCER

[civic lynx]

Frankie voice 🥹

[south torrent]

YAY FRANKIE

[odd slate]

yee haw

[odd slate]

I SAID THE SAME THING BEFORE HAHAHA

shippers getting mad is SO funny to me

brother it is not that deep

[edgy meadow]

i need to catch up to the comics

[edgy meadow]

a welcome surprise

[civic lynx]

Is this a new/existing rival gang or just Cassidy trying to annoy Ashe?

[odd slate]

please let it be just him trying to annoy her

that would be so funny

the harmonica in the back is killing me 😭

[civic lynx]

Also do we know who these 2 are

Or are they meant to just be like miscellaneous deadlock members

[brittle sky]

Almost certainly Frankie and Bez. They don't perfectly line up with their book descriptions

but that's techie goggles and distinctly lavender curly hair for frankie (not exactly stocky, but hey, filter of overwatch), and the other is prominently positioned like Bez came to be in the early days and definitely looks like he could be a benito.

[civic lynx]

I just saw shroomiiee say the same 😭

[odd slate]

i was gonna say the tech goggles are def frankie code

cute!

[meager geyser]

Bro pronounced Skov as Skou and Sarioglu as Serrola 😭

[south torrent]

😭

[civic lynx]

I thought it sounded a bit odd but didn’t know for certain

https://fixupx.com/mushroomiiee/status/2047351273842737405?s=46

Shroomiiee (@mushroomiiee)

interesting things to note here:
︀︀
︀︀-The deadock gang is MUCH bigger now, probably from Vendetta’s cash but also growing the group to compete with other gangs.
︀︀
︀︀-cassidy didn’t know they tried to find him when he got captured back in the day????
︀︀
︀︀-FRANKIE! BEZ! REAL IMAGES!

**❤️ 1 👁️ 4 **

FixupX · Apr 23, 2026, 4:25 PM

[odd slate]

the whole bit about them trying to find him hurt man 😭

like cass, my guy - you thought the family you were with for years wasn't trying to get you back, in any way they could?

[south torrent]

That was so 😭

[odd slate]

say what you will abt the deadlock's tactics, but they are extremely familial coded

even someone like me who doesnt have deep insight to them can see that

[civic lynx]

https://x.com/owcavalry/status/2047352111940133359?s=46 whole house deadlock gang fans

Overwatch Cavalry (@OWCavalry)

First Look at Frankie and Bez in #Overwatch 🤠

X · Apr 23, 2026, 4:29 PM

[meager geyser]

I used to think that Ashe and Cassidy were a couple in the past, now I'm convinced about it

[grand wedge]

They exist in Luck of the draw, an exclusive short story in Heroes Ascendant

[meager geyser]

They act like such a divorced couple

[odd slate]

frankie is so cute i love her

i hope we see more of these fellas

bez looks like a "shoulder to lean on" type, leadership position like ashe but maybe not as prickly?

[civic lynx]

Can’t wait for OW twitter’s great era of clowning for Frankie being playable soon to return now we’ve seen her again

[odd slate]

LMAO

oooo would she be a support or someone like sombra in terms of hacking

maybe both?

[grand wedge]

She was using mini drones and is a hacker

[civic lynx]

Frankie the first 2027 hero #trustmebro

[meager geyser]

This year we've been getting characters from lots of different pre-established factions so maybe deadlock is next 👀

[south torrent]

She’ll be Sombra’s failed support rework put on another hero

[odd slate]

probably

[civic lynx]

She doesn’t match any hero for this year but if they keep it up for 2027 👀👀👀

[odd slate]

oughhh yes yes expand the lore...

[brittle sky]

he was a former number 2 of a rival gang, I think

so that reliable shoulder role fits

[odd slate]

makes sense, absolutely

frankie feels like the overzealous yet wickedly sharp youngest sister, based on the expressions and dialogue i saw in the comic

not someone to underestimate but she knows how to have fun

[brittle sky]

My impression is not that, though Doc is the one to ask about her characterization

Again, both Frankie and Bez are fairly important characters in the Ashe novel, so we can go off more than this comic for their personality.

[odd slate]

i havent read the novel either

im working with what i have access to

[merry mason]

Favorite comic in a while

[brittle sky]

My impression is she's more meant to be the savy hacker sort. Also notable that she and Bez are likely ~40 given they're peers of Ashe and Cass

[odd slate]

yeah, i did mention she's wickedly sharp. her being overzealous doesn't diminish her skill - the two of them can be true at the same time. she was able to effortlessly hack cass' earpiece while simultaneously organize the talon attack (likely several cameras/feeds, lighting systems, alarms)

[grand wedge]

they are a bit older than Ashe (well, Bez is)

[brittle sky]

Sure, I just think the impression from the novel makes the overzealous less of a thing.

[brittle sky]

hey, mid-40s then.

(Maybe their visual yassification will mean they eventually get to become characters despite being ancient by ow2 standards.)

[noble scroll]

they're all gorgeous holy cowww

[brittle sky]

Some of that may just be a bit of the art style - Hunter often leans for the glamorous I think

[odd slate]

let them be glam

[brittle sky]

Lord knows we're starving for conventionally attractive characters in overwatch.

[peak escarp]

it must be my birthday

look at all these gifts

a Cassidy comic,a Matt Mercer storytime, AND visuals for Frankie and Bez?

[shrewd pivot]

The comic was hype but YEAH,,, YEAH 😭 it's not the VA's fault imo but omg can they please get some voice directors helping with the name pronunciations I'm tired man

I thought it was suprising that Cassidy is legit questioning things, i wonder if he will stay with overwatch or not. Pretty hype

[peak escarp]

I assume it was the director who told him how to pronounce the names

[brittle sky]

I would imagine that would require current ow to actually cross some lines, which they seem real invested in putting that on reyes, and the overflow on jack.

[peak escarp]

this art makes the third version of that image

[brittle sky]

The most fuckboi of cassidies.

[peak escarp]

and makes the event mode using the wrong version stand out even more

[shrewd pivot]

They have repeatedly messed up Emre Sarıoğlu pronunciation (saying it multiple different ways in various comics) in game and in comic audio readout vids, so I don't think they are getting proper voice direction.

They need to use IPA or something bc idk what's going on there 😭 Voice actors should be able to pronounce Emre's name just fine consistently

[brittle sky]

It's actually totally on purpose. The whole cast is meant to be mispronouncing emre's name and the microaggressions are what drove him to the dark side.

[shrewd pivot]

It's not just Emre either pffft, Mauga is an example

[edgy meadow]

they do it correctly sometimes which is confusing

[shrewd pivot]

There's def like... idk "English ways" of saying last names, I have that with my Greek last name ("mou" vowel has slight difference to offset southern usa accents, plus the plurals vs singular are not used in English), but the way Emre's name is mispronounced ISN'T incorporating accent if that makes sense

[edgy meadow]

i feel like some of the voice directors probably know how to pronounce the names correctly and some of them dont and its a coin flip on who gets to direct when those names come up

and its never been cleared up bc nobody really cares most of the time

[shrewd pivot]

Thus why IPA would be useful, it would let voice actors know the phonetics

[odd slate]

the coin flip theory is kinda funny

the inconsistency can only really be described with that

i dont blame some directors for not knowing how to say some of these names though bc i look at them and just don't try bc i know it will sound horrible/wrong

though i wonder if the people who can say it right can request to be on comics where the names are spoken to direct better

[shrewd pivot]

Audio directors jobs include directing audio to have appropriate takes for claroty, emotion, and accurate pronunciation. If they are working on a game with global roster, I would expect them to direct voice actors to not butcher characters foriegn names. Emre's VA already said he was directed to butcher Turkish pronunciation in voice lines despite him pointing out that's not how it's pronounced, so yeah. :/

[odd slate]

ig it's for the english speakers who dont know better?? the butchering??

genuinely do not know

if it was ignorance that's one thing, but intentional is another

[shrewd pivot]

Not really sure why ppl would hire VAs who speak foriegn languages just to tell them to mispronounce lines, but here we are lol

[shrewd pivot]

The Turish lines being directed to be mispronounced was intentional. My guess, either to make a line longer or to appeal to "English speakers" which is pretty ridiculous

But yeah, pardon the rabbit trailing here

I did find the comic to be very interesting

[odd slate]

definitely !!

very good lore

[shrewd pivot]

I was suprised Cass didn't really... know this info? Before? Really goes to show how intense blackwatch was :<

And idk if Cassidy will actually defect or not, but just the set up for a big "make your choice" eventually scene with Cassidy is pretty awesome

[odd slate]

yeah blackwatch sounds nuts

it always did but especially now

[shrewd pivot]

And yeah deadlock gang IS very much found family, the only romance was between Ashe and Cassidy at the end of the novel as a proposition that never went anywhere.

I always saw deadlock gang as Ashe creating a ride or die found family lol

[brittle sky]

in the most shocking of twists, cops lie to you in the interrogation room to get you do do what they want.

[shrewd pivot]

It honestly really hit hard when Cassidy was looking at Sierra and thought "did i look that young?"

Cassidy was a few years younger than Sierra when Cassidy was pulled into blackwatch

[meager geyser]

English mfs will make a video essay about manga created by a guy named Satoshi Gyankai or something like that and say that they won't even try pronouncing that

[odd slate]

LMAO yeahh

what's funny is that name is (i think) fairly easy to pronounce?

based on what i've heard of japanese i think i can piece together the syllables enough to create a rough outline of it and then check it later

[shrewd pivot]

Btw You can look up famous ppl with the name, like sports stars doing personal interviews where they pronounce thier own name, or foriegn soccer games where announcers say the common names. Also basic phonetics from a language can help. Most languages don't have spelling bees because the phonetics are very consistent-- English is very unusual in that regard.
I totally get the hesitation but it's fun to learn new things. (Plus yeah... A director is litterally paid to do proper pronunciation direction haha)

[odd slate]

yaur true, it's fun to learn stuff and then laugh at yourself for how stupid you sounded before LMAO

"i really thought it sounded like THAT?" type deal

[meager geyser]

That's the point
It's funny for me how native english speakers are physically incapable of even reading other languages that use the latin alphabet LOL

[shrewd pivot]

I don't know French at all and I am scared to try and pronounce things bc i don't know how to approach all the letters, but it's fun to learn!

[meager geyser]

French is also one of the few languages that are pronounced completely different to how the're written

[odd slate]

i was trying to learn korean and can recognize a few words/phrases, but since duolingo is garbage id have to piece everything together myself
and i dont have the time for that

maybe this is why juno is struggling with terran languages 😭

[brittle sky]

I mean, I could count chinese and japanese

[meager geyser]

She wants to learn ALL languages. How is she supposed to not struggle?

[shrewd pivot]

English is notorious for complicated spelling, pulls from multiple different roots. English does not have notable letter accent use like other languages (greek) nor tone rises (like Mandarin Chinese for example) so it can be really hard to approach new languages without learning about things like that.

Pardon the derailing of topic in the lore channel aha

[meager geyser]

Nahh, I like of topicing here

It's way more chill then other channels

[shrewd pivot]

But yeah! I hope ow get better with pronunciation pls 🙏

Regardless happy to have more canon images of Deadlock too

[odd slate]

i mean with like just learning ONE language
it's hard to learn one when you're an adult, and with her she's trying to learn 200+????

how tf would she handle languages that don't use words

and i dont mean sign language, i mean some of the smaller languages that rely on whistles and clicks

[shrewd pivot]

Tbf if she learns root languages that can help her understand related ones. She can learn without being fluent

[shrewd pivot]

Mountain whistling is actually just a form of an irl language, like Spanish in whistles

Similar to Morse code using English alphabet

[odd slate]

no not that one

[meager geyser]

Juno when she discovers New Guinea:

[odd slate]

there's another one

i think it was new guinea???

like there's NO written part of it iirc

no root language to base it off of

[shrewd pivot]

That's why I want a Papua character soooo badly the linguistics would be so cool to have in the game

[shrewd pivot]

Wouldn't suprise me! Papua New Guinea has the most unique languages within a country.

[odd slate]

yeah it's fascinating

underrepresented languages like tagalog and the paupa language would be neat

[meager geyser]

I just looked it up: There's around 800 - 850 languages on that island alone

[odd slate]

(i say that bc i havent frequently heard tagalog in mainstream media, aside from i think a dreamworks movie coming out soon)

[shrewd pivot]

Honestly I know it's asking for a lot, but I am sad omnicode is just random symbols and not an invented language. Many scifi have invented languages. Omnicode using temporal syntax (aka, the pauses between symbols showing hold grammar) would have been so awesome

[shrewd pivot]

We def need a tagalog speaker one day in overwatch 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

[odd slate]

yaurrrr fs

[shrewd pivot]

More so, Papua languages! It's really fascinating, bc of the landscape, there ends up being isolated language groups that are super distantly related despite the communities being near by location wise. Many nearby villages cannot understand eachother whatsoever.

[odd slate]

yeah that was sent before i saw there were 800-850 languages LMFAOOO

it's really cool honestly

[shrewd pivot]

It is! A beautiful example of human linguistics and oral traditions culture being preserved. It's really amazing how each generation can define the local language.

[shrewd pivot]

Ohh thinking now, didn't expect a Cassidy comic, so we might eventually get the Mauga vs Junkers showdown in a comic!

[noble scroll]

crossroads was gorgeous,, loving the more focus on deadlock

how are we feeling deadlock fan nation

[shrewd pivot]

Hype!

[noble scroll]

i remember seeing a video where someone thought that emre's ult voiceline was saying "it's the other one" whenever chernobog took over but it was actually him speaking his language so

both very interesting ideas

[shrewd pivot]

It's in finnish (Chernobog ai sometimes speaks Finnish when controlling Emre), not Turkish (Emre is Turkish). The original Turkish lines for the ult unfortunately sounded like an explicit slang phrase, so it was changed to Finnish lol

[noble scroll]

i've seen some really funny stop abt emre's va, he seems like he has a lot of fun with the role

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah!

[south torrent]

He said in his interview with Sombra that he’s wanted the character in the game ever since he was first revealed

Crazy how he ended up voicing him 😭

[shrewd pivot]

Haha awesome!

[languid nacelle]

wonder if hazzard would ever get any gaelic voice lines (i know that hes scottish)

[languid nacelle]

gaelic is a nice language

[peak escarp]

Moira speaks Irish Gaelic

[robust lark]

and she makes my brain short circuit

[upbeat stump]

Does anyone have a video of all the overwatch lore videos in order? Like a movie or something? I just started like a month or two ago and I wanna be caught up

[acoustic ice]

what do omnics eat and how does genji digest food

[brittle sky]

Omnics do not eat, and genji presumably has at least some amount of his digestive tract in order (his torso is largely human), and one presumes they simulated the rest with cybernetics. Then again, they did specify that he has a biological junk, so who knows.

[peak escarp]

his digestive system is intact

[spare fox]

One random fan in an obscure non-English interview years ago: does Genji use the bathroom?
Writer: everything below the belt is in tact
Fans for the next 8 years: OMG blizz HAD to confirm genji's genitals why are they so obsessed?!?

[noble scroll]

ppl hardly talk about this now and that's for the better i think

[shrewd pivot]

That's where that info is from? I thought it was from a tweet confirmation.

I guess ppl memed it into oblivion then

[peak escarp]

it was from an interview with a Thai gaming magazine

the article has long since been deleted

this is the same interview where Chu confirmed that Hanzo's dragon was not magic

[spare fox]

Yeah it's more the comedy of taking "2 + x = 5" and the fanbase glomming onto 3

[shrewd pivot]

I see, ig the fandom ran with that info into memes about "X has less lore than Genji" and the info became disconnected from the medical situation Genji had.

[spare fox]

There was also the whole "Genji is the Mary Sue of Michael Chu"

Which was used as a reason to be anti-Gency

[shrewd pivot]

Genji isn't Mary sue imo, I remember the self insert stuff from fandom tho

[peak escarp]

they found out his wife was a white blonde and went nuts

[spare fox]

Extrapolated into problematic blah blah

[shrewd pivot]

I mean. I don't think Gency really made much sense for canon tbh, and creators do put parts of themselves into work so recognizing that isn't inherently an issue? I don't think it's problematic inherently for a creator to write that way, but Mercy's execution in writing does fall into unfortunate tropes imo bc of how it was handled.

Thankfully the plots moved forward so it's not even a thing anymore, and characters can move forward

[azure flint]

cashe confirmed

in newest lore vid

[peak escarp]

[azure flint]

cashe stocks back up

[peak escarp]

they were like family

[noble scroll]

I see them more as family myself, I think all the more now it’s just reason to believe Cassidy’s views were more familial than anything else

[odd slate]

honestly ashe and cass being like really close siblings makes this hit harder

they presumably put their lives on the line repeatedly for one another, just for one of them to disappear and leave the other worried

family has strong bonds like that too, and i wish there was more focus on familial bonds in media instead of automatically assuming everything is romantic

[noble scroll]

mhm

if anything Cassidy was probably never in a state to be with someone romantically, at least not right now in lore is how I see it

he’s been struggling mentally lore wise as is, I’m pretty sure he also states himself somewhere he’s never been one for settling down

[noble scroll]

there are some overwatch ships that I personally think fit way more than others, but they have to actually make sense

[odd slate]

some of them i can see too, yeah, i just like familial dynamics more

im a very family-oriented person

[noble scroll]

and that’s super fair too, so am I lol

[noble scroll]

one that I think at least makes more relative sense in my eyes in gency, whether it’s familial or romantic is almost up for debate with that one

while yes it can be romantic cause of voicelines from valentines.. valentines isn’t always romantic, especially not where genji and hanzo are from where they have specific valentines for different things etc

cashe is just completely familial to me I can’t really imagine them as anything else

[odd slate]

yeah fs

[odd slate]

i wish we got more lynx 17 lore

i love them

[shrewd pivot]

Cass x Ashe had a romantic proposition in Ashe's novel so in canon it is not "platonic only" (aka like siblings) between them in thier story, but yeah the newest comic didn't hint at romance. Cass and Ashe are found family in deadlock ofc, but it's not a platonic-only dynamic

Deadlock are all found family esque ofc.

Just thought to clarify bc the novel does indeed showcase romantic proposition between Cass and Ashe, it just didn't go anywhere, it's a "what could have been" -- hell hath no fury like a woman scorned archetype in cowboy westerns

(I think currently it's so soured between them that the Cashe ship isn't possible atm regardless, Ashe seems very personally hurt with her grudge, and Cassidy has really grown up down a different path imo. It's been years and those two are different people now, even if they completely reconciled I don't think Cassidy would be interested in a romantic relationship with Ashe)

This isn't to say ppl can't make aus or headcanons or offer a critique of writing btw! I just think it's good to note when a found family dynamic is strictly platonic or not in canon.

Ie, Genji and Kiriko are platonic-only found family in canon.

Cassidy and Ashe are "what could have been" broken promises and not strictly platonic-only in canon.

Personally I'm either or for the romantic element betrayal for Ashe and Cassidy, bc while platonic makes complete sense, a romance gone sour through perceived betrayal plays into cowboy movie tropes, so either choice seems fitting narrative wise.

Honestly I am really interested in this Cassidy arc bc its hard to guess for certain if Cass will defect or not. His character archetype atleast gives the impression he COULD defect.

That alone is an intrigue to follow, but maaaaan poor Baptiste, he can't catch a break, the men he fancies are on those Bad Guy arcs pffft

[brittle sky]

I think that requires modern ow to make moral compromises cass wouldnt like.

keep in mind crossroads is from the ashe novel author, who is probably the creative most predisposed to regard the deadlock gang as protagonistic or sympathetic since she spent 200 pages operating with them as protags.

[peak escarp]

I don't think he'll defect - with how things went in the comic, I don't think Ashe would have him back

[brittle sky]

I think defection to the deadlocks is unlikely, but if they actually make neo ow cross some lines I could see him leaving neo ow

[spare fox]

I think Cass leaving OW would be jarring in his character arc
Like, he "just" put together a new found family, reunited with his old fam - Ana, Genji etc

Still, that bit in the most recent comic... idk. I mean I'm pretty sure he wouldn't

Another thing I noticed, the regular Helix agents wear the iconic suits that pharah has after all

[shrewd pivot]

Ye ye! The archetype i mean is that cassidy might go on a short term defect leaving overwatch, just to return in the end (wayward cowboy trope). Or, cassidy just stays ofc bc imo his name change arc already addressed the "never settles down, always on the run" part of his character.

Either way there will probably be a moment when cassidy has to make "a choice" to stay or leave overwatch bc the recent comic showcases Cassidy wondering if he even had a choice at all. Imo he probably will stay too, but bc of the archetype it's not 0% chance there's some defect arc for him

https://youtu.be/B1nCB8rb8TU?si=rrtu3fwKfc9222hW

These voicelines this season are pretty amusing / interesting

[merry mason]

I wanna see someone genuinely reject Overwatch recruitment, and not a “maybe later”.

[spare fox]

Yeah I'm torn between him having to make a choice (crossroads) or if down the line, he'll finally realize he did make the right choice, maybe seeing the good OW or his new recruits are doing

[spare fox]

All these junkertown/queen interactions like the whole Mauga-Junkertown arc already happened

Like what's with the Queen/Sojo interaction??? Did OW go to Junkertown too?? why?

OW wrote off junkertown back in the day, they wouldn't care if Talon was heading there
But there is the question of Dr. Naughton who "went home to Australia" and if she doesn't particularly want to be found... the Outback/Junkertown is plausible

[brittle sky]

i mean a bit hard for him to conclude ow is an unalloyed good given it's heavily implied he did worse crimes there than any of his time as a bandit.

[patent moth]

i pray its not just an anecdotal thing

australia in ow needs more focus

id like splitting them on either alligning with talon or remaining neutral

[brittle sky]

Location with two maps, 4 immediately related heroes, 6 stories set there...

[spare fox]

Tbf, it's also got a few "aborted"/indefinitely paused arcs, too:
-junkrat's treasure / JQ's ship
-junkrat and roadhog scheming to blow up the queen
-JQ and Wrecking Ball's "road trip"

I was kind of hoping that Dr. Naughton would bring in more "normal" Australia and not more mad max jr... Hopefully it still pans out that way

[chrome cradle]

jimmy bobby i am a jimmy bobby

[brittle sky]

I imagine the second was a one off to explain the map objective on junkertown, the third will be expressed once they make the ship, and right now the first part of the first (despite having the best potential) seems potentially cannibalized by the second part of the first/third point

[brittle sky]

I mean... I'd take most the mad max people over naughton

[silk wigeon]

what characters are anti omnic?

[thorn moss]

Mirrorwatch concept, the Hashimoto are pissed they don’t get anima weapons so to get back they kidnap Kiriko from an early age and train her to be a die-hard loyalist to the clan as revenge

[fallow mantle]

I'd love just a 'normal' Australian if we have to have another Australian. I love Junkrat but I just have never ever cared about the Junkers or any of that because I don't like the aesthetic. Can we get a normal person that isn't irradiated and kooky 😭

[brittle sky]

• Junker Queen is genocidal against omnics
• Freja expresses anti-omnic sentiments but has started to be challenged on them
• Torbjorn and Zarya have previously expressed anti-omnic sentiments in overwatch 1 (the former due to trauma from the crisis and some of his own self-blame for helping design the weapons Anubis turned against humanity via preawakened omnics, the latter due to her involvement in the Cyberian Crisis/Second Omnic Crisis) but both have undergone explicit plot points to make them change their minds.
• Junkrat expressed some lines that could be seen as anti-omnic, likely as a result of being from Junker society, but that has softened as well (likely just due to exposure to the outside world).
• Roadhog has been assumed to have anti-omnic sentiments due to his relationship to the ALF and Junker society, but those have never been thoroughly expressed and they have played it down further with the general shift away from omnic bigotry on anyone not a genocidal dictator with ow2's release.
• Reaper has said lines that could be seen as anti-omnic, but that's likely just him being a jerk and saying slurs wherever he can.
• Juno has said something potentially offensive as part of her fish out of water naive ingenue, but that's just her being naive (and also the omnic in question she offended is Ram, who is certainly primed to take offense)

So 1 decidedly, 3 formerly, 1 right now but on her way to be less so, 1 fuzzy one you might infer as current or former, and 2 maybe not really

[nova bough]

Winston like Peanut butter BTW

[silk wigeon]

WOAHHH TY

[obtuse yarrow]

What is soldier doig

[noble scroll]

hasn't hanzo also shown bits of formerly? i'm sure its probably old nowadays, but i guess he's also kind of just indifferent about it

[brittle sky]

I'm not finding any evidence of that either in ow2 lines or ow1 lines. He has a certain standoffishness with zen, but that's just because he's resistant to zen giving him counseling like he did genji

[noble scroll]

maybe im misremembering then, thats my bad lol

[brittle sky]

np, maybe there's something in side media

[vale loom]

I want

A bap cinematic

Where he faces off against Mauga again and have a whole thing on why Mauga is working with Vendetta

Would be tuff

[spare fox]

I hope we get something about lore or new lore for the 10th anniversary

Idk what it would be but it'd be great

[vale loom]

Or new lore skins

Like Talon Mauga or smth

[spare fox]

A new set of base lootbox cosmetics for each hero (icon, spray, voiceline, maybe an emote or epic/recolor skin) would be kinda cool

But I realize that that's a lot

But for someone like me that has all the cosmetics from playing for 10 years, it'd be fun to actually get new things in a lootbox

[true bone]

Who is stronger no limit Echo or God Ai Emre

[flat hatch]

is it js me or is jetpack cat's lore trash and also doesnt rlly make sense kinda?

[grand wedge]

It is, because they needed a 5th hero on the lineup for season 1 and so, why not put the cat that was an inside joke for years?

[shrewd pivot]

They could have integrated jetpack cat into lore better tho. Hammond is basically a walking shitpost but he's properly integrated into lore. Jetpack cat just exists, and Brigitte is seemingly fine putting her pet on the battlefield and Winston is somehow okay with this...? I would not think Winston would be cool with putting animals into dangerous situations. JPC feels like a badly integrated meme thus far, but I am hoping for some campy turn of events that makes me enjoy the story (maybe she is actually genius and is pretending to be a normal but smart cat to fool overwatch, or maybe Fika ties to some other plotline with genetic experiments etc)

[noble scroll]

I’d think that Winston and Brigitte should really be with the idea

I mean, should not be oops

I don’t think it adds anything to lore. is it cute, yeah, is it is pain in the side to fight against? yea but

scientifically (we all know lore wise overwatch loves their science) that cat should NOT be on a battlefield

[flat hatch]

right like if lets say it was a cat that was experimented on to be smarter or smth which would be what allows it to control the jetpack sure but its just a regular cat the fact that it can even pilot the jetpack is odd

[noble scroll]

to be fair I think it could also just be that they wanted to have more time to make the other heroes but

[noble scroll]

if that’s the case then why do the risk of making that many in a year without even fledging out the ones you have already

[noble scroll]

one thing I’d love for them to bring back is the opposite like, overwatch storyline cause there could’ve been so much with that

(I also just wasn’t able to get the skins from it but they were so cool??)

I think it’d be interesting if they had a way to choose what type of skins or items you’d want from the loot box. I’ve seen so many vids of people getting upset at their loot box pulls that took them ages to get

only for them to get heroes they don’t play or have no use for the cosmetic for

[civic lynx]

💀

[spare fox]

I think they made JPC's lore the way it is simply to add another playable hero while giving the others room to breathe

Simply put: jpc is not that serious
You're not supposed to be outraged at putting a pet on the battlefield bc you know nothing is going to happen to her
That OW is the type of world where if a character dies, it's going to be story-relevant and given space and if she's not that story-relevant, they don't need that much space for her

Idt that JPC is any more of a genius than any other cartoon non-speaking cat. Yeah she can operate a jetpack but.. it's the lighthearted cartoon element shining through. And that's not a bad thing! Now they have one more playable hero AND they don't need to focus on story arcs, voicelines, character development, deep interactions with other heroes

[odd slate]

i swear there HAS to be more to her bc no way could a regular cat pilot a jetpack like that

unless she's just a shitpost and not meant to be taken seriously????

idk

[spare fox]

Yeah imo, it's not that deep
It falls into the realm of the whole of junkertown - that hate/fear omnics - accepting Wrecking Ball as their champ without showing his face, or Dva getting dozens of mechs per battle - yet it needs meticulous, precise upkeep, or even the lack of friendly fire in-game

Like how is Reinhardt swinging without impacting - let alone without damaging - his allies? It's not that deep

[brittle sky]

But see, one is just the game not being one to one of the story which is intuitive, and the other is an unlikely but viable plot point. JPC is to ask you to just accept an unfeasible concept they didn't bother explaining.

If there's truly no greater mystery, it's definitionally lazy. And "it's not that deep" is a horrible defense. They've integrated wild character concepts feasibly into the game before, and it's a superhero level sci Fi which makes it very possible to bullshit up a reason.

[spare fox]

I don't think it's a matter of not bothering to explain, but rather it's just a bit of whimsy and a way to get another character in without having to integrate a whole new faction or tack in another new recruit
They just wanted a simple concept character and went with one they thought the fans would enjoy and endear to

She's the oddball they were clamoring for

[odd slate]

idk it's just odd to me

hopefully we get more lore but if not we can't really change that

[brittle sky]

"Just don't think about it" should not be an ask of your setting. You can have unlikely things, or things where for gameplay reasons it functions differently than the story (people don't believe character inexplicably reincarnate 12 seconds after their death, or can survive a bullet to the head). But part of what makes oddballs endearing is they're taken seriously and integrated into the world. Hammond is delightful and whimsical because they took a hamster in a robotic hamster ball and made it work for the setting. They have not yet made it work for jpc, so it's a meme that falls down on animal behavior and verges into animal abuse if you take it at face value.

[civic lynx]

I think she is genuinely meant to just be haha funny cat is goofy

[odd slate]

ig LMAO

she's fun to play tho fs

ive been enlightened

[civic lynx]

They just wanted to have a hero that they can take the piss out of in advertising and give wack ass skins to

[brittle sky]

And the moon ape or mutant hamster wasn't that?

[civic lynx]

Vendetta crashing out over Overwatch putting a house cat in a jetpack probably isn’t the first and only time we’re gonna see fika manage to make talon members pissed

[spare fox]

Right, without worrying about fans taking her too seriously, or writing anything more than keyboard mashing. She's just fun

[edgy meadow]

if fika is just a 'shitpost dont think about it' character, its valid to criticize that.
although i still am far from convinced thats the long term plan with fika

[noble scroll]

i dont hate fika dont get me wrong at all, i just don't gravitate towards her much as i would another character

[spare fox]

Hammond and Winston are fun, too, but Fika imo isn't another genius animal experiment with a tragic backstory

[civic lynx]

It’s more than valid to criticise it if that’s all she is since they could’ve said so when revealing her but I think her having an in depth story isn’t something they’re planning (at least based on what we’ve seen so far)

I think there is something more to her since they say somethin like “if there’s anything more to her story, shes certainly not telling” at spotlight but idk if it’ll be a big or interesting thing

[spare fox]

See, imo I don't think they intended for her to have an in depth story, but I can't really fault them for not announcing so bc like... why limit themselves?

[brittle sky]

Again, moon ape was fun, mutant hamster was and is fun. The idea it must be a thought terminating meme, no you see it can't be integrated into the world is lazy. They could have found ways to explain her - in ways not exclusively rehashing hlc either. It'd be easy. It would take roughly the same amount of work to actually implement.

[noble scroll]

i think its super cute they plan to use her for stuff like making fun skins and whatever else

[civic lynx]

Yeah I think she’s just for skin farming

[noble scroll]

do i think they shouldve gotten skins for starter AND for buying credits okay maybe not

[civic lynx]

Ball has cute and goofy skins but the mech makes it take a bit more effort than literally slapping a costume and change of colour onto a cat and calling it a day

[noble scroll]

i see potential in her skins, maybe theres one i'll find super cute but not as of yet

its just them having fun with skins like how they have with a bunch of other heroes, but when making new heroes you've GOT to be willing to give love to the older ones too

[civic lynx]

If they had fika be able to speak somehow (via buttons or something on the jetpack, having her speak like Winston would be odd) she could be like 2% more interesting

[brittle sky]

Her having skins or being more easy to skin than wb is hardly mutually exclusive to her having more than a fig leaf for a story.

[noble scroll]

she doesn't really interest me but i know that she interests other people, as long as you have fun playing who you love in the game and you love that character and you love playing that character, thats all that matters really to me

[edgy meadow]

i like cats and ill enjoy cute cats and silly fika skins but i think they both can and will do something with the actual character

[noble scroll]

i repeated myself twice in a way. but ya.

[civic lynx]

Fika as she is now is very boring in every aspect bc they’ve done nothing with her other than brig put cat into jetpack bc she thinks it’ll help with 0 reason to believe it

[spare fox]

I think of it the way I think of adopting a stray cat into the family. She can't tell you her history, her backstory, but she belongs nonetheless

[edgy meadow]

ye right now she has no substance

[noble scroll]

i like this way of looking at it a lot

[brittle sky]

If they enjoy the game, great. I think it's still an abject failure of imagination and an insult both to the flexibility and whimsy of their world if they indeed make no effort to give her more than her current story.

[civic lynx]

I do hope the theory of her being some sort of mole/spy for talon remains as just a fan theory bc it seems like the most stupid option they could’ve taken

[noble scroll]

sometimes the overwatch devs just like to have fun with it, it seems like the devs are much happier now (taking more feedback, giving more lore that people have been questioning for years, etc)

[noble scroll]

thats a theory...?

thats how baffled i am by that i've never heard that before

[civic lynx]

Yeah I’ve seen people since s1 came out say she’s a mole for talon since she just pulled up to Gibraltar one day then talon attacks right after

[brittle sky]

As much as it falls back on hlc again, spy for hlc is much funnier to me somehow.

[spare fox]

Or that she's yet another HLC experiment

[noble scroll]

okay when you put it like that i think its interesting

i don't think they should do it, but it's interesting that people couldve came to that conclusion

[civic lynx]

It’s a mildly interesting plot line but it also seems like the most predictable and easy to guess idea 😭

[noble scroll]

overwatch theories have always been fun to guess about honestly

[civic lynx]

And if she was to be a mole why would they use a damn cat instead of a person

[noble scroll]

like uhh. i talk about him a lot but hanzo. people thought for the longest time something had happened to him in the fight with genji to make him have prosthetic legs

did he have prosthetic legs? he doesnt but people had the creativity to get that idea

thats what i like abt the overwatch fandom people are crazy creative

[civic lynx]

OW is already recruiting anyone they can why not just have a person capable of speech find a way to manipulate the situation into Winston/soj recruiting them

[brittle sky]

I mean speaks to your fans when they try to patch your holes for you. See: wild theories trying explain reaper's 0% success rate.

[odd slate]

reaper's l's 😭😭

[brittle sky]

I mean the answer is they already had jpc on the docket for the meme. So like, if she was a mole (not saying she is), it would stem from them trying to do something with the concept they have, not trying to find the best concept for a mole.

[noble scroll]

out of lore if i had to say, reaper, sigma, cassidy and hanzo's lore has always been the most interesting to me to learn about

[civic lynx]

Doomfist and his track record of 1 win then just standing around and aura farming but vendetta is the fraud

[noble scroll]

ram and doomfist are seperate but they still are insanely cool

[brittle sky]

I mean, null crisis seems a pretty ideal hit for him.

[noble scroll]

i'm pretty sure at the time he had tried to recruit others too, right?

at least i remember him saying smthn abt how hanzo could get his legacy back but hanzo declined because talon didn't align with his values

[civic lynx]

I’d love to see them do anything with sigma

[noble scroll]

they're setting it up like they certainly will, at least with sombra and vendetta interactions

[odd slate]

#freespacegrandpa

[civic lynx]

His origin story is one of the few that I think is genuinely better than most of the other lore releases

[brittle sky]

Like, saying the story never moving is expressed in true inaction on his part while ignoring that stasis on everyone else is just silly.

[civic lynx]

I think there’s in game interactions with loads of characters but they’re not canon

[noble scroll]

thats fair

[civic lynx]

IIRC doom or someone else (moira?) tries to recruit Illari and she says no

But I don’t think either has actually met Illari in lore or tried to recruit her

[noble scroll]

hanzo is such a hard character to fit into lore as is but it seems like he's finally getting that chance at least with hashimoto involvement

[civic lynx]

Hanzo will probably be a big part of S3’s storyline and hopefully he can continue to be in other things after

[noble scroll]

i'd like to think doomfists inaction could've been a case of just.. overwatch in general being in a bad state

[odd slate]

the japanese characters will get a spotlight in s3 im sure

[noble scroll]

we weren't getting nearly as much lore

they've really kicked into gear with the lore, which as someone whose been into the lore of overwatch since the game came out im very happy with it extending

[civic lynx]

Correct but I still find it funny how people call vendetta a fraud/bad compared to doom when we’ve never really seen what he can do to compare to her currently

[odd slate]

the shimada, kiriko, mizuki and the hashimoto
perhaps the yōkai someday

[noble scroll]

i mean wasn't there that one cinematic where he fights winston or something

or am i misremembering cause its been a while since i've seen the cinematics

[civic lynx]

Yes and that’s one of the few if not the only time we see him in action

[noble scroll]

yeah, i don't really see why they're calling vendetta a fraud

[odd slate]

im sure there's some "hidden" misogyny there
"oh no, talon was usurped by the female heir of the founder, time to get pissy about it"

it's not that deep

[civic lynx]

He’s clearly skilled and powerful but already vendetta has been shown more than he was fighting

[brittle sky]

His origin anime yeah. Totals tracer and the genji then Winston rages and presumably beats and captures him.

[noble scroll]

i have my own reasons for disliking vendetta which are along the lines of man her design is so cool but i don't like her attitude very much?? is that like a reasonable way to say it

her lore is super interesting and her kit is super cool i just don't really like her behavior but it fits her as a character

[civic lynx]

Tbh I don’t think she’s meant to be likeable in general 😭

[noble scroll]

that's how i think characters can be so well done. if they're a villain character and you don't like them because they're a bit villainous isn't that the entire point

[brittle sky]

Neither is say domina or Moira, but they're certainly more charming.

[odd slate]

domina more than moira for me tbh

[noble scroll]

people had the same issue with hanzo when he came out too, they thought he was an arrogant fella who had nothing more to his character than that

domina's intruiging for me too

[civic lynx]

Ram was a villain yes but you could understand why he was doing what he was and how he was at that point, vendetta is just meant to be overwhelmingly unlikeable and bordering on cartoony evil I want to rule the world and nothing will stop me even if I have glaring issues

[odd slate]

i think marzia being so blunt and harsh fits

she wants to win

she doesnt have time to be nice

and people with an axe to grind like that are often pretty insufferable

[noble scroll]

it sounds like vendetta kind of needs a redeeming quality? is that what you mean

[brittle sky]

Win what? Territorial conquest because something something family legacy? To Voltron an ultimate warrior to win a fight for no real end?

[odd slate]

beating overwatch, prove she's worthy of leading talon (her birthright), thrusting the world into a period of anarchy

[civic lynx]

Yeah she (to me) is meant to be a villain we don’t feel sorry for and almost immediately pray on her downfall, there isn’t a redeeming factor or deeper reason why she does what she does, she’s just trying to satisfy her ego that believes the world should and will be hers

[odd slate]

accomplish her goals, win, use whatever terminology you want but she has a goal she wants to achieve

[brittle sky]

What? Lady clearly does not want anarchy. She insists on her own dominion and has been the most dedicated person to put statues of herself up in Italy since mussilini.

[civic lynx]

Since Mussolini 😭

[odd slate]

her dominion is still a goal she wants to achieve

[brittle sky]

She was built as a revenge character and got it within a month. It's like if they released genji earlier in his arc where he still has massive angst about his robot form then "oh hey zen found him he's cool now" happens a month later.

[odd slate]

thats...my point. she's a dick to prove she can rule effectively and she doesnt have time to be nice

[noble scroll]

that's a fair way to look at it! it's perfectly fine to feel like a character doesn't have a redeeming quality like that

[odd slate]

is it working? dunno, but overwatch actually got hit and hurt not long after her debut

[civic lynx]

I don’t think it’s a bad thing she lacks the redeeming element, it’s just a different way to write a villain

[noble scroll]

yeah exactly !! not bad at all

its more unusual for overwatches standards i'd say

[brittle sky]

I don't think she needs to be redeemable or sympathetic. But like... They have yet to explain how her birthright motive translates to any coherent desire for running talon. And she's not even that fun a heel because it feels like her wins are contrived and her power base is arbitrary.

[noble scroll]

i've been thinking a lot about sojourn more since we saw her mentioned in that new cassidy reading we got. i haven't heard a lot about her talk lore wise besides her recruitment

[noble scroll]

vendetta also doesn't seem very pleased at them ditching talon either. as soon as they leave when she comes into rule its suddenly grounds to want to kill them?? at least with sombra thats the vibe i got

then again sombra was directly like "hey you can't lock sigma up thats not right" but still. it doesn't justify the stuff like her keeping mauga active but locking up sigma to me

[odd slate]

idk. if i was promised something as inheritance and then some random guy came and took my shit, i'd want it back too

[noble scroll]

didn't she believe it was her birthright cause blackwatch killed her family member and she wanted to find out who was the cause of it? i might misremember because i don't have very good memory but

[odd slate]

simplest reason seems the most plausible

[brittle sky]

She seems brittle in her ego. Despite her assertion in the cinematic that she agrees power is seized rather than inherited, she seems to presume people owe her allegiance just because of whatever position she holds. And if that's an intentional flaw great, but we thus far seem to need to take her seriously.

[brittle sky]

(she wasn't promised it, Antonio didn't want her to follow in his footsteps, and also there's no evidence talon positions were hereditary)

[noble scroll]

i didn't look at it like that, that's super interesting

i am intrigued skins-wise what they'll do with her too

[odd slate]

nothing that over designs her hair hopefully

new empire ven skin was ugly bc of that stupid bun

the skin and armor was rad but the bun ruined it

[brittle sky]

I mean there are certainly trends of the skins we get thus far.

[noble scroll]

i wanna see more new era skins

need a new era cassidy skin i'd get that immediately 🙏

[brittle sky]

I mean the comic at the start of season one shows her masterstroke is just alienating all the loyalists, insulting the very idea of earning loyalty or maintaining alliances, and praising herself for making a series of transactional alliances with people only motivated by profit and leaving only a bunch of self serving schemes around her who she plans to actively piss off. If it's truly meant for her to be a mastermind it fails, but maybe they're intentionally showing the flaws in her style.

[noble scroll]

hmm, maybe i saw it but just forgot about it ><, i don't always have the best of memory but it would be interesting to them them intentionally showing flaws

[shrewd pivot]

My point about JPC was that it wasn't imaginative integration into lore like Hammond or Winston were. And it's not being outraged about it, Jetpack cat has no other character that understands what she is saying so the audience can't get any real insight on Fika's inner workings (Bastion has others that understand him), and is basically a shallow "jetpack cat meme" thus far in lore, nothing to connect with or find interesting besides "cute cat is marketable". It's ooc for Brigitte and Winston to put what they think is a pet cat into battle.

As for Vendetta, she is a very simple evil for overwatch to fight (even more simple than doomfist's very simple villain philosophy) + her being "my bloodline means I deserve power" makes the viewer think "oh boohoo you didn't get to inheret your terrorist mafia empire who careeees" + ooc feats like being unbruised from robot arm hits to bare skin, Vendetta feels very one note and basically covers JunkerQueen archetypes but less creatively. I find Vendetta's sword more compelling than her, which shouldn't be the case. I love to hate JunkerQueen as a villainous heel, I don't love to hate Vendetta as a villainous heel because her writing lacks any nuance. Vendetta as a main villain for this arc deserved better writing imo bc they had ALL of Italian media and star wars to homage, and they chose WWE wrestlers with a mafia trope instead.

I imagine as time goes on, the heroes will feel more grounded within the ip. Like, Domina and Mizuki feel pretty grounded in the overwatch worldbuilding in lore and in design. I hope we get more of that and less of JPC and Vendetta.

And with the fanservice female characters have been getting, Freja, Vendetta, and Sierra, it's ooc because Freja would have armor on her upper legs as a bounty hunter from a frigid region (her hood has fur trim), and Vendetta as a nonaugmented human would have spinal armor at minimum(extreme jumps that other acrobatic heroes have armor or prosthesis for), and Sierra is midfight so she would have torso armor (look at the other soldiers in the game)

I think TLDR; Many new heroes don't feel as grounded in the overwatch worldbuilding via designs / lore integration.

[edgy meadow]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/685902952124514338.gif?quality=lossless&name=SCrunWTF&size=48

i shrimply do not think low enough of the current team for them to make such a tone deaf decision such as adding a character with 0 substance and 0 plans to add substance to in the same year where they promise to expand and lean into the game's lore

which is why im not convinced they aint gonna do anything with fika

people just need to be willing to wait this shit out bc theyre trying to find the best way to juggle all the narrative lines and still maintain a healthy pace

but people are abject to waiting so

[shrewd pivot]

I am expecting JPC to have something more to her too. Because if she doesn't it's a really shallow implementation of "jetpack cat" as a hero concept into the game

[edgy meadow]

rn my trust in team 4 is high so i am patient

https://tenor.com/view/hamster-sleep-sleepy-hamster-meme-hamster-sleep-gif-3213792629006739735

[shrewd pivot]

My main point of "ehhh that doesn't feel in character" is Brigitte and Winston thinking Fika is a regular cat and being ok sending a stray pet (they they think is a smart regular cat) into harms way on a dangerous battlefield. -- that does not require waiting to see a plot reveal, it just feels ooc atm. If it was in character, Fika would be remote control piloting the drone(aka not in the drone itself) or atleast fully encased in a shielded unit within the drone so she can't be hurt by bullets.

IF Fika can actually talk, then Echo should have figured that out by now and translated.

So either Fika is a super genius pretending to be a regular cat(for humorous plot line reveal), or Fika is a regular cat and Brigitte and Winston are totally cool with pet soldiers being put in harms way (ooc writing)

I'm expecting Fika at minimum to tie into some plot line about animal testing or something

[robust lark]

my best guess is that the characters know what fika actually is (which at this point i dont think is a regular house cat), however, we as the community are still unaware

sad they didnt give us this information in season 1 with her introduction bc i feel like it'll be weird trying to add it as a part of the upcoming stories and whatnot as things get progressively more intense

[peak escarp]

as of Undivided ep 11, Brigitte hasn't actually made the jetpack or shown it to Sojourn yet

my guess is that Fika will demonstrate skill/ability with the jetpack that make the heroes question her nature

and once they find out her nature, then she's approved for combat

[noble scroll]

hii, I was curious what ur thoughts on the crossroads comic was! ik you like talking about lore so I hope you don’t mind the ping ><

[past copper]

Yo. Craziest Overwatch collab idea. Think about it

Overwatch x Helluva Boss Collab
Cassidy = Blitzø
Vendetta = Loona
Baptiste = Moxxie
Junker Queen = Millie
Ramattra = Stolas

[edgy meadow]

https://tenor.com/view/pibble-gif-8404313342629206599

my apolocheese

[upper hamlet]

When is Davey gonna get added 😭

[dry pebble]

You see this can't happen cause Overwatch characters has a regular human whealt

[past copper]

Ramattra ain't even human and getting a flesh and blood demon skin

Try again please

[meager geyser]

The only unrealistic part is that neither Juno, Kiriko or Mercy got anything

[paper ravine]

Gency Acknowledgement in Big ‘26 is nutty I thought they killed it years ago

[peak escarp]

I think it was great - it was written by the same author who did the Deadlock Rebels novel

[noble scroll]

no wonder!! the art was gorgeous

[peak escarp]

yeah

[shrewd pivot]

This? Yeah I wonder if this means anything for the webcomic https://x.com/youtooz/status/2048139448898982104?s=46&t=3oZjDrv2nqtH29sAG5VaCw

youtooz (@youtooz)

so soon, genji?

#overwatch returns to youtooz with a mercy & genji duo plushie 💗 dropping april 30th at 3pm est

X · Apr 25, 2026, 8:37 PM

[noble scroll]

the plushies are super cute honestly

[shrewd pivot]

I can't help but find Genji’s mask design in that plushie amusing.

[edgy meadow]

it looks like genji's face through fish lens

[brittle field]

Which OW character would be most likely to be in a romantic relationship with benjamin netenyahu

need to know for my tomadachi life island

[merry mason]

He would look be dead by 2070

I think

[brittle field]

robo-yahu then

I think moira kept him alive

[south torrent]

Insta buy

These are so cute

I need one for Domina, Wuyang, Mizuki, and Sierra

Actually everyone

[silent linden]

Kind of tone deaf posting this near pride month

[shrewd pivot]

...? Not really. Gency is an old ship in the story, i personally wish they would move past it tho

[silent linden]

I know and they killed it and ship to Pharamercy

And now they go back to it.

All they end up doing is pissing off both fan

[shrewd pivot]

Pharamercy and Gency both are not great for canon imo. and in canon, only Pharah is hinted at being interested in mercy, mercy has no canon showing she has interest in pharah

[shrewd pivot]

true lol. I think Mercy should take a break from romance subplots tho bc the ones she has are writing blunders.

[silent linden]

That the thing. Let say gency is canon

So what?

Pharah forever be a yearners?

That BE WORSE

[shrewd pivot]

Gency is not actively canon, genji and mercy seem to have broken off, it was past canon tho

yeah i was not a fan of Pharah yearning for Mercy. I think Pharah should get a different romance arc

and imo Genji x Mercy getting back together really isn't that compelling bc it does not facilitate any character arc/character growth, it's a very static pairing

[silent linden]

With that being said the way blizzard actively release 3 potential straight couple so near pride momth and during lesbian visibility week is so tone deaf

Emre and Freja, Ashe and Cassidy, potentially Wuyang and Juno

[shrewd pivot]

I don't think it's intentionally released during pride month tho tbh, we still have Tracer x Emily too
Freja had romantic subtext in comics but otherwise no romance has been indicated (Emre is just a rizzler, everything he says sounds handsome lmafo)
Ashe and Cassidy has been in canon ever since the novel
and Wuyang and Juno is kinda whatever but I would take a light flirt romance arc over a heavy soap opera romance anyday

[brittle sky]

Mercy starts dating some off screen guy, talks about him in random interactions, becomes a bit of a joke about mercy's cool boyfriend for years. Seasons later she introduced him to a bunch of the other agents for a bowling night or something and it's clearly just a very not dead doomfist in a beard and glasses, going by like the name Doug. It's the first we've seen him since the window.

[shrewd pivot]

I get wanting more LGBT rep tho, with Soldier76 letting go of Vincent really the only MLM we have on the roster is the bad exes of Mauga and Baptiste

[silent linden]

Blizzard they mever dated

[shrewd pivot]

who?

[silent linden]

Cass and ashe

[shrewd pivot]

it was a proposition that went no where, a "what could have been" soured betrayal from the novel

it wasn't badly implemented imo, and just because Ashe and Cass had some romantic proposition does not mean that like Cass is canonically straight, could be bi etc

[brittle sky]

Cass made a casual pass sometime that Ashe shut down, but that's very much not a couple.

[potent briar]

No is straight in ow

[silent linden]

Widow maker has a husband

[south torrent]

And she killed him

[potent briar]

Exactly

[shrewd pivot]

I agree, they never dated or anything. And Ashe was thinking of a potential future from the novel at the end iirc, but afterwards cass joined blackwatch so

[shrewd pivot]

there are women x men relationships in overwatch
Widowmaker is a femme fatale trope, ofc she kills the husband
Torbjorn and Ingrid
Ana and Sam had Pharah
Reyes had a wife and a kid

[brittle sky]

I mean "have a bio kid in a relationship" is hardly hard proof

Like, bi is a thing

[shrewd pivot]

yeah that's why i said women x men

WLM? idk lol

[silent linden]

It actually hard to see Ashe and Cass anything but romantic ngl

[shrewd pivot]

Hazard x Susie is possibly WLM if Susie is a woman (Susie could be nonbinary)

[silent linden]

She literally rip off pictures of the gang but keep pictures of cass and her

There is ZERO platonic explanation for that

[brittle sky]

I mean more you betrayed the ride or die adoptive family we made and I have big issues with feeling of betrayal and neglect from family?

[shrewd pivot]

I can see how people (not reading the further novels or lore) see either or. Ashe had a lot of family abandoment, so i get why some fans initially saw cass and ashe as a sibling-like situation, but the novel does confirm cass and ashe are not intended as a "platonic only siblings dynamics" or anything

[silent linden]

You know what i see?

[shrewd pivot]

there could easily be a platonic explanation for that, Ashe had a lot of family neglect.

But in canon it's not strictly platonic for cass and ashe

[brittle sky]

Someone bring doc in on this. She's the expert on the novel.

[silent linden]

You know how cassidy character design was based on Starcraft character?

[shrewd pivot]

more like an idea for a starcraft spinoff, based on the cowboy from the good, the bad, and the ugly, but yeah

[silent linden]

Legit no joke Cassidy and Ashe remind me A LOT of kerrigan and Raynor.

The cowboy and sniper girl dynamic too

[shrewd pivot]

true, iirc the romantic proposition was set up before cassidy joined blackwatch, it was written as ashe being hopeful for a future with cass, so it wasn't one sided seemingly

[peak escarp]

what's the question?

[peak escarp]

when did Ashe see a future with Cassidy?

[brittle sky]

How platonically or not to read canon Cass and Ashe material

[peak escarp]

I believe it was written platonically

[noble scroll]

??? since when were cass and ashe anything romantic

[peak escarp]

Ashe didn't reciprocate when Cassidy flirted in the novel, she blew him off and had BOB answer

[shrewd pivot]

????? The proposition ashe and cassidy have at the end of the novel is not platonic, it had romantic writing, the entire novel had ashe being emotionally closed, and only at the end does ashe finally hope for a future

it really did not read as platonic im sorry

[peak escarp]

of course she would try to find him when he got arrested, Deadlock washer new family and girl's got abandonment issues

[noble scroll]

well, what looks like platonic or romantic to someone can vary, can't it?

[shrewd pivot]

like, that's not how a story would write strictly platonic-only characters (it's not how a cousin or sibling dynamic would be written)

[noble scroll]

if something happened to my friend, i'd want to know what happened to them too

thats not a romantic thing, that's just the right thing to do

if we're talking about crossroads at least

[peak escarp]

what proposition?

[noble scroll]

at least how i saw it was wanting to have a future with someone doesn't always gotta be romantic. it could be a friend that you want to keep in your life for as long as you can yknow

[shrewd pivot]

I will find the pages

It was written in a way that a strictly platonic-only dynamic wouldn't be written

It was the scene where Cass gave Ashe her birthday present

let me get quotes

[past copper]

A plot hole to your mindset. Neither of them are getting the Diablo collab and fans are going nuts over those fire skins

[edgy meadow]

lemme guess

[silent linden]

Im happy ram got Mephisto skin

[edgy meadow]

ultavio tried to upload a fuck ton of images/videos at the same time

so they got auto muted

unfrotunate

https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/685902952124514338.gif?quality=lossless&name=SCrunWTF&size=48

[past copper]

¿? Uh what

[peak escarp]

the only thing in that scene that could be taken remotely romantically is Ashe not wanting her time with Cassidy to end, and hoping he feels the same

except... she also includes Frankie and Julian in that thought

[edgy meadow]

user UltraVioArt is muted as can be seen by them getting the muted role, and for no clear reason

[edgy meadow]

so i hypothesised that they tried posting too much media all at once which got the automod triggered

[past copper]

I guess that's unfortunate... 🤷‍♂️

Watch how much ya post I suppose

[edgy meadow]

vio dm'd be bc i was right :hehe: i can just post what they wanted to post in the mean time

"red is maybe romantic subtext, pink is romantic subtext within context. Cassidy was flirting with ashe prior but was denied by Ashe. Ashe had been emotionally closed off the entire novel up until this moment. Therefore, safe to say Cassidy and Ashe are not a strictly-platonic-only dynamic in canon"

[silent linden]

In new comic it confirmed the picture she has in the old cinematic was picture of the gang where she cut out her friend but leaving her and cass

[peak escarp]

I read this more as a woman who has never recieved a genuine heartfelt gift ever in her life recieving one now from a close friend and deciding that this was her new family

it doesn't have to be romantic

[silent linden]

It hard to see that as anything but romantic

I dont cut out my friend picture and leaving only one who i have complicated relationship with in my car. Like that crazy

[peak escarp]

considering Frankie and Bez didn't exist when we saw the torn up picture in Reunion, I'd say the one in Crossroads constitutes a retcon

[silent linden]

Sure but the implication still there

They go out there way explain what the original picture is

That she cut up the pic

[peak escarp]

she tore it in half, removing Cassidy

because he left the gang

[spare fox]

I mean it could just be a different photo, too

[peak escarp]

and she was mad about it

I think it's implied to be the same photo

subtext is irrelevant anyway - we were discussing canon romantic couples, and Ashe and Cassidy are not and have never been in a romantic relationship

[silent linden]

She kept the photo of her and cass, she throw out Frankie and Bez

[peak escarp]

the only reason Frankie and Bez aren't in that photo is because they didn't exist yet

if it was remade now, the photo would probably look like this - with just Cassidy ripped off

she wouldn't remove Bez and Frankie and tape Cassidy closer to her

the photo was ripped because she was mad at Cassidy, but then she taped it back together because she still thought of him as family

[silent linden]

I dont think you get it. Blizzard deliberate GO back to explain the orgin of a picture that majority of fan wouldnt notice unless they pause reunion video

They decide could just ignore it

[peak escarp]

I don't think you get it

[silent linden]

But they didnt they CHOOSE to go back to picture origin

And implied SHE cut it out on purpose

It a deliberate decision

[peak escarp]

why would they use a photo without Bez and Frankie, when they've been focusing on Bez and Frankie for most of the comic?

[silent linden]

Because they are trying to go back and create implication she cut out Bez and Frankie but keep cass

[peak escarp]

Ashe wouldn't do that

[silent linden]

They could just have ignored it

[shrewd pivot]

ok yeah i tried to post that text in parts, just two paragraphs and it flagged auto mod 🥀

the way this photo is placed, implied ashe held memories about cassidy. this is not inherently a romantic action ofc, but within the context of the novel it's a valid take away that ashe maybe had reasons beyond platonic for this

[peak escarp]

possibly

but that's up to the viewer's interpretation

[silent linden]

Like i agree this is a retcon

[shrewd pivot]

the situation in the novel was using words that created subtext imo. if it was just platonic, i wouldn't expect lines like "her cheeks warmed as she looked up at him" or the mention of ashe not knowing what's behind the "unseen boundary" -- so imo if people read it as romantic it's a valid take away, regardless, cass flirted with ashe so atleast when they were in deadlock it wasn't purely platonic from his side

[silent linden]

But the way blizzard deliberate go back to this picture and explained the orgin of this and show "oh yeah this picture was rip"

It is very much more than platonic.

[peak escarp]

so a person can't feel flushed when recieving a heartfelt gift?

[shrewd pivot]

it's within the context of the entire scene that it reads as romantic subtext (therefore any fans that read it as romantic are reasonable and not reaching imo, ofc you are in your full right to read it as platonic too but i think there's a case for romantic subtext).
ofc someone can blush in a platonic context

[thorn moss]

No ashady

[silent linden]

The funny thing about this picture is. The original picture they are far apart

She deliberately cut them up and tape cass and her closer together

[silent linden]

It actually Cashe

[peak escarp]

[silent linden]

[shrewd pivot]

basically what i am saying is.
the action of having a picture like this is not inherently romantic, ashe had a lot of family neglect so if ashe held a photo of any deadlock gang member it's not inherently romantic.

but because of the novel, this is indeed coded as a potentially romantic action, more so i see it as ashe feeling deeply betrayed

[thorn moss]

What about kizuki ship?

[silent linden]

I...ummm dont know who kizuki ship with

[thorn moss]

Kiriko mizuki

[silent linden]

Oh them

[silent linden]

I will wait to see it confirmed but no normal person looking at this and say "oh yeah they are plantonic"

[thorn moss]

That definitely screams crush

[spare fox]

I think a lot more storytelling needs to take place before Kiri and Mizuki ship could sail... which is all well and good imo, it's what makes it interesting.
my absolute fav ship would require a ton of storytelling which is why I love it

[peak escarp]

hello hi I am a normal person saying they are platonic

[silent linden]

You guy forget one true ship

[shrewd pivot]

the action alone in a vacuum is not inherently romantic tho. i do disagree that the action alone is inherently romantic

[thorn moss]

My favorite also requires tons of story telling to work

[silent linden]

RAMATRA AND ZEN

[thorn moss]

Hammond x wreaking ball

[silent linden]

Arent they the same

[silent linden]

Sure

[shrewd pivot]

that ship is not canon adjacent atm, it's basically a crackship and i don't really see it becoming canon.

[thorn moss]

Always thought that was a brotherhood

[peak escarp]

I'd like to remind everyone that shipping is not canon and should not be discussed here

however, you are welcome to discuss possible canon support for ships

[silent linden]

I ship Naruto and Sasuke, you wont stop me.

[spare fox]

Like... there EXISTS a huuuuuuge gap that two people can fall on a spectrum between "friends" and "lovers"

[thorn moss]

What about this for a mirrorwatch concept:

Hashimoto loyalist Kiriko; the Hashimoto are pissed they won’t get anima weapons in the same quality as the ones the Shimada got so in an act of revenge they kidnap Kiriko from a young age and train her into being a die hard loyalist to the clan

[shrewd pivot]

ramattra and zenyatta and mondatta are platonic-only in canon, an overwatch writer made jokes comparing malcolm in the middle (blood brothers) to Genji, Zenyatta, Ramattra and Mondatta, so that made it pretty clear there is no romantic dynamics there.

[thorn moss]

Definitely felt like a brotherhood more than anything romantic

They way they speak to each other always felt like old friends catching up

[silent linden]

Talking about Ram and Zen aside

I am forever mad we will never get true continuation of that awesome cinematic

No that stupid comic doesn't count

[shrewd pivot]

maybe once they pick up the null sector arc in the future we will get some insight

[thorn moss]

In mirrorwatch mondatta is canonically alive

[shrewd pivot]

i really hope one day we get a look at (cinematic or comic) of the scene where ramattra and zenyatta got into a dangerous situation, iirc it was some action (or inaction?) that ramattra took that endangerd zen and that realy stuck with Ramattra (seemingly resulted in that now taken down image of monk ramattra concept art with a broken mask and hole in his shoulder)

[thorn moss]

They stray too far from the monastery and meet anti omnic humans

[shrewd pivot]

my guess was that ram and zen were near the monastery and faced anti omnic humans yeah... no idea what dealt that lazer hole damage to his shoulder tho. or maybe ram already had that damage when he arrived at the monastery? idk

but yeah on that note, the read of the cass and ashe novel isn't to say they are at all romantic these days, imo ashe and cass currently are not romantic bc so much time has passed and they grew into much differnt people, especially cass. It's soured between them atm and i doubt they could even be on friendly terms atm after all that has happened-- there would need to be some big reconciliation discussions lol

[thorn moss]

We do get that short scene in ram’s intro cinematic that shows him holding the body of his dead comrade so perhaps they go on a mission trip believing humanity has changed only to get attacked and one or more of the monks killed and ramattra damaged which solidifies his hatred of humanity and sparks his idea for null sector

[shrewd pivot]

i believe that image of ram holding a fellow omnic was in NYC tho (Ramattra awoke in NYC)

[thorn moss]

It’s an idea

[shrewd pivot]

honestly i think ramattra genuinely tried the pacifist route that mondatta taught, but after many cases, such as that moment with zen and him in danger that we have yet to see, ramattra saw that pacifism was not the answer

and zenyatta isn't a pacifist either which is notable, i do genuinely hope we get some insight on zenyatta and mondatta interactions when null sector arc is revisted, i would like to see more of zenyatta's perspective on things

not that i need all the zen lore mysteries answered ofc, i enjoy zen's "just a guy" set up and letting zenyatta have unaswered lore is a part of his character's charm imo

i think the character im most interested in is probably hive mind coming up. I wonder what her augments will look like

[thorn moss]

He’s right in some ways but wrong in others

Like he’s right to want to save his people but does it in the wrong way

[shrewd pivot]

yeah which, i will have to see the whole arc for ramttra to really speak about it bc it's mostly "if this happens then..."

but yeah i currently view it as if ramattra is trying to stop poachers, and he views humanity as a whole as poaching omnics into extinction-- ramattra in canon def has committed evils against innocents and he will have to carry that weight

[thorn moss]

He’s not evil but definitely delusional

Ram is an delusional hypocrite but he’s not really a monster

[shrewd pivot]

i wouldn't say ramattra is delusional imo. Omnics were being killed across the globe, and without any means to create more awakened omnics, omnics are functionally extinct and have to rely on asking the oppressor to "please do not kill us" for the rest of existence-- either Ram would accept that omnics would eventually be killed off by humanity or Ram would do something non-pacifist. Ramattra basically did the non-pacifist extinction route by invading cities, subjugation helmeting the awakened omncis to put them into backups.

it's def an extreme action and obviously the terror and violence he caused was harming innocents (an evil action), but what i find interesting is that ramattra's entire story is still fundamentally "anti-war" -- you can see from his orgin short that from day one ramattra was placed into a dangerous situation and he was forced into making impossible choices, Ramattra is def a tragedy story. The fact Ramattra is willing to bare all the responsibility and be a "martyr" of sorts just so his people can be free is a very interesting motivation to watch play out. I do genuinely wonder how Ramattra's arc will end

like if ramattra wanted to be "technically right" he would have simply provided omnics the option to join a deep sleep in the arctic rather than kidnapping omnics in a global invasion

[thorn moss]

The best option

[shrewd pivot]

yeah, but that doesn't make for as epic of battles and drama haha so i get why they didn't write him that way

the reasons WHY ram did the global invasion are genuinely tragic, Ramattra saw that mondatta's pacifist teachings were not the answer, and so Ram probably(?) saw kidnapping pacifist omnics that integrated with humanity as plucking away indoctrinated omnics doomed to eventually being killed by humanity. It's very notable that even zenyatta is not pacifist.

[thorn moss]

He’s not evil just a bit misguided

I’d probably think the same way of if I saw my community being exterminated

[shrewd pivot]

yeah he is misguided for sure, ram's writer said ram was written as an antagonist but not an evil villain

yeah like... #RamattraWasRight about the omnics eventually being killed off into extinction due to human negligence ngl. You can have heroes ofc, but the globe as a whole would not work fast enough to ensure omnic safety.

and if you think about it further, human history had nations change and rise and fall, who is to say pro-omnic nations like Numbani would last longer than omnics? Omnics can presumably outlive humans for generations, so omnics would have to contend with teaching and reteaching humanity to not kill omnics. That doesn't really seem like a life free from humanity's oppression, that's why i find ramatta's character writing set up compelling, he is a pessimistic antagonist in an optumistic future setting. Can't wait to see how Zenyatta manages to prove Ramattra's methods wrong in the end, the world building will be cool for that

[thorn moss]

And humans have a bad habit of forgetting teachings

Like the very real life example of people today already forgetting the lessons of ww2

[shrewd pivot]

yeah :(
not to get into any politics bc of the rules, but yeah a lot of human rights laws are not inherently static though human history.

[thorn moss]

Not getting into it it’s just an example

[shrewd pivot]

and i doubt in overwatch's worldbuilding that the globe would be fast to adopt full omnic rights ASAP for every country like Numbani has

[shrewd pivot]

yeye! just saying from my part

I really hope tenchcoat omnic gives us insight into more omnic worldbuilding in that regard, presuming trenchcoat omnic is more integrated into human culture and such

[round bramble]

Ensuring safety for robots is a silly concept tbh

It's like saying that ChatGPT and other forms of AI should be treated as humans

[shrewd pivot]

Oh for sure chatgpt shouldn't be treated as living, but Awakened omnics are not chatgpt, Aurora and all Awakened omnics are fully sapient beings, living things, aka are just as "alive" as humans are in the lore.

[wise grotto]

omnics arent normal robots theyre as alive mind wise as a human is except theyre also a finite single generation race that can never grow

[swift trout]

Well…they kinda can. Orisa and Echo are two examples of robots built after the Awakening that appear to be very clearly sapient or at least rapidly approaching sapience.

[meager geyser]

Oh right

Didn't think about that

Well then I guess it is realistic because blizzard only collabs with either the worst IPs possible or their own games

So it fits

[swift trout]

Transformers.

[meager geyser]

Whether a collab is interesting or not is of course personal, but for me the only collab I was ever interested in was the Avatar collab and those skin were kinda mid ngl

I like Transformers, but I wouldn't call myself a fan of this franchise

Rest of collabs do not interest me personally at all

[wise grotto]

so they werent actually the worst ips possible just not your taste lol

[wise grotto]

those two arent actually truely sapient though
theyre close
but they factually arent

the actual omnic race is exclusive to those from the awakening

[elfin bane]

sentient 😭 you mean

[calm star]

somebody told me roadhog and mercy have kids together 😭 i’m a stupid and gullible or is this true

[brittle sky]

We don't even have evidence they've ever met

[calm star]

also i miss when mythic skins had lore

[silent linden]

OH MY GOD MICHAEL CHU JUST RESPOND TO HIS OLD TWEET

Lmaoo

https://x.com/i/status/2048404278814114225

[peak escarp]

[deep hollow]

ts is true ur not gullible this is 100% true pls don’t fact check or do self research just believe what im saying because i have a riot gun buddy which makes me a dev type shi fn

[peak escarp]

the original tweet was about Ashe and Cassidy, why are the comments talking about Genji and Mercy?

[peak escarp]

do not shitpost here

[deep hollow]

i’m sorry warlord kun i will refrain from my speech

[silent linden]

It legit funny to me

Blizzard hype up doomfist for 10 years

Only for him to accomplish nothing and get own by Vendagta

Truely average doomfist player

[civic lynx]

Tbh I think a lot of his hype was meant to be for PvE and when that failed his storyline went with it 😭

[silent linden]

😭 😭

[civic lynx]

There was probably meant to be a talon storyline within PvE as well as null sector so doom could be shown actually moving

[zinc obsidian]

yall i have a theory what if reaper helps overwatch take down vendetta? or yk attack talon solo instead of just hiding

in the future ofc

andeysay lore channel is dead

[peak escarp]

I just want to see Cassidy confront Reaper

[past copper]

They might, as we still don't know where he, Sombra, and Widow are hiding

Where can they hide from Vendetta is a better question. That wolf got Talon eyes everywhere

[meager geyser]

Ngl, I would like to see Reyes getting some kind of redemption arc and maybe even join Overwatch or something

Knowing blizzard it would probably be kinda corny maybe not written that well, but I'd still like to see that

Oh who knows?

Maybe they would actually write a good redemption arc

[spare fox]

I understand Reaper leaving Talon after Vendetta, my question is why Widowmaker left and how are both of them going about without Moira?

I assume that Widowmaker is recovering without Moira but the implication was that she escaped Moira which goes counter to what we've been told all along regarding Amelie Lacroix's involvement with Talon

With Reyes, there's kind of less info we know for sure
Was she keeping him alive? Was she keeping him alive still?

Idk I am interested in seeing the changes those two get or go through without Moira's "treatments"

And if potentially it affects their in-game kits at all

[brittle sky]

I don't think we have evidence reaper's condition is a constant upkeep, so can maybe go for a time unless something goes wrong with his condition. Widow's reliance was just emphasized before she bounced, so she's either in for a hell of a detox or like, she's a mole among the defectors in exchange for continued supply? We'll see.

[calm star]

okay im not THAT gullible..

https://tenor.com/view/angry-hmph-anime-gif-25075957

[copper coral]

why is mercy an important character to the lore of ow

[south torrent]

She’s an og

Lots of people love her + saved genji

[brittle sky]

responsible for several prominent breakthroughs, recruited to original overwatch, came to be critical of its militaristic trends and weaponization of her medical tech. Did some field missions, helped with Genji being rebuilt into a cyborg.

[deep hollow]

i got a warning for this btw 😭😭😭 mb all

[calm star]

LMFAO?

omg ur right

[round bramble]

She isn't

[calm star]

i didn’t even see that mods response before 😭

[calm star]

she isn’t rlly

sadly

[deep hollow]

she turned genji into cool ninja so she tuff for that

[calm star]

and her evil lesbian ex gf is out killing rabbits for experiments

so

[deep hollow]

mercy a lesbian?

[round bramble]

Maybe

[peak escarp]

not that we know of

[past copper]

Just had the perfect match

Recreated the Reign of Talon short lol

Vendetta v Doomfist that was a fun win

[silent linden]

A lot of overwatch characters funny enough exist just for sake of it

If anybody here can tell me how jet pack cat is vital to the lore i will give them all my saving

[elfin bane]

she’s vital because she made people play the game which funds the lore

[silent linden]

NOt in comp🤣

[lyric chasm]

Might become relevant with Lucheng or something

[cyan osprey]

is there a new update with sombra and sigma

i think i heard like a voiceline between sombra and vendetta

but no motive on what sombra is gonna do

[civic lynx]

As far as I’m aware this is the only new one they added for Sombra with ven that mentions sigma, nothing with sigma himself but it’s probably going to be shown soon that sombra frees him from containment

[cyan osprey]

yeah im really looking forward to what they're going to do with sigma

[gusty bluff]

Sigma might end up leaving talon or sombra might end up coming back for sigma

I just hope sombra, widow, and reaper dont end up joining overwatch

Speak of those three, where are they now. I dont remember anyone saying where they went when they left talon?

Also do yall think doomfist is gonna make a return?

[civic lynx]

I dont think we know where they’re at currently

[gusty bluff]

😔

[civic lynx]

I think Sombra will probably take sigma to ow for help but not like fully join

She’ll be like Freja is with Emre and only there to watch what they do

[gusty bluff]

Makes since

Also with the new character that just released isn't she part of ow? Because in the trailer they show her only eliminating talon members

[civic lynx]

She’s part of helix but will soon join overwatch to find out more information on what happened to her mother

The talon encounter is bc they attacked the base she was stationed to defend

[gusty bluff]

Ohhh

If you dont mind me asking what group is your favorite

?

Lore and interes wise

[civic lynx]

I’d say talon since their members are the ones that interest me the most

I’m interested in moira’s goal of unlocking humanity’s potential and Sombra trying to find the conspiracy

[gusty bluff]

Nice nice. Im also a talon fan. I forgot that one old organization where is was only made up of reaper, Moira, Cassidy, and genji where they killed vendetta father

[civic lynx]

Blackwatch

[gusty bluff]

Yesss. I loved them so much

They were the coolest till they switched up and joined different groups

I also like the junkers despite them only wanting to stay in one area

[meager geyser]

They could had kill him on screen in many pegi 16 ways, but they chose the only one where his death is unclear and ambiguous. He's almost definitely alive and will comeback with a rework. Many games did something like that before.

[meager geyser]

My problem with talon is that they are a terrorist group, that doesn't really have a strict goal. All of their members are always doing their own things separate and have their own plans. That might be interesting, but without any specific purpose to unite them, talon is just evil for the love of the game. There was this whole "Humanity need conflict to progress!", but that was mainly Doomfist's thing.

[civic lynx]

Yeah I do agree that their lack of a united goal is something that should be addressed. They all have individual goals that don’t reaaaally need eachother or benefit more than maybe 1 other member if that

[peak escarp]

Sigma can't exactly leave Talon

he's being held captive

he would have to escape or have someone break him out

[potent briar]

Yeah I feel like Vendetta didn't reeeeally do a great job gathering allies if there isn't a united cause/motif that everyone in Talon shares. Maximilien's loyalty can probably be the most bought out, Moira's only there to further her research, Mauga's only loyal because Vendetta defeated Doomfist, Emre and Freja are Talon affiliated for each other, Domina is most likely staying because she believes Vishkar will benefit from it, and Mizuki is Talon adjacent due to his Hashimoto status but he might throw it away in favor of the Yōkai so there's really no true loyalty to either his clan or Talon.

And ofc Sigma is there because he's being held captive due to Vendetta only focusing on his ability to be a Human Weapon while seeing him as nothing more.

Also I doubt the Junkers are gonna join Talon anytime soon due to the recent Mauga/Junker Queen interaction.

[brittle sky]

I mean talon worked as a collection of disparate interests because it was effectively an evil mutual fund. A bunch of amoral jerks pooling resources to further their own hobby horses. Doomfist seemed the emphasize and thrive off that.

But vendetta seems to want it to be her personal hierarchy, a unitary and rather fash-coded muscle for her power and goals alone (she treats side goals not as natural expressions of the structure but indulgences she grants her minions). That feels like either vendetta is misunderstanding the org hard, or the writers are.

[potent briar]

Yeah I need the writers to actually cook with Vendetta's Reign because it still feels like nothing really changed

Maybe in the next story arc or two Doom will return and start some kind of Talon Civil War?

Like he gathers his own allies from either his own discovery while being MIA and/or he convinces a member or two from Vendetta's Reign to switch sides

[civic lynx]

If the leaks are correct and ||hivemind|| is an ex talon agent maybe she could be one of the first/the first we see working alongside doom

[potent briar]

Lowkey excited if ||hivemind is the season 5/6 hero|| because iirc ||she'd be one of the few Project Titan characters to make it to modern Overwatch||

Also the whole thing with Rein's forced retirement from OW could be cool to further explore

[civic lynx]

Yeah she was in the ||project titan/prometheus image of the roster with mama hong, phreak etc||

They’ve just redesigned the kit to not be Sombra/winston

[potent briar]

||now do the same for mama hong /jk don’t actually||

[civic lynx]

If it was to be her we’d probably see references or small parts of the mission that led to rein’s retirement in her origin story or comics that reference past events

[potent briar]

I just need more villains

Like actual villains not like how Emre and Mizuki are

I’m already excited for what
I'm assuming is a Hashimoto character for next season

[civic lynx]

Her, domina and S3 being the only villains of the whole year is a bit wild to me

[civic lynx]

Yeah both her silhouette and the grain of salt leak info show her as a hashimoto member

[potent briar]

Yeah considering that this whole yearly arc is based on Talon

Yeah I saw that too ||her kit being "Woman Cassidy" as the leaker basically said worries me a bit tho||

But other than that I'm still excited lore wise

[civic lynx]

||I think the leak was more so a bad communication of her and cass sharing the same close/mid range hitscan playstyle rather than she has nothing at all that differentiates her besides looks ||

[potent briar]

I hope so

[civic lynx]

With them saying ||S4 and 5 are both melee heroes, 3|| is probably just another hitscan so those players can have something other than Emre for the year

[potent briar]

True

||S5's basically being Omnic Blacksad looks sick tho ICL||

[civic lynx]

||The anti heal aura if true is gonna be the most overpowered shit since launch mauga ||

[potent briar]

||i know >: )||

[zenith wolf]

hi everyone

[potent briar]

Hi.

[civic lynx]

https://x.com/playoverwatch/status/2048826183245078642?s=46

Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch)

Some Heroes join Overwatch from the shadows. Sierra Woods? Not so much 🧗

Join the Narrative team in today’s Weekly-ish Recall blog as they dive even deeper into Sierra’s origin story 📚

📝 https://t.co/c6DaznX7uQ

X · Apr 27, 2026, 6:06 PM

[brittle sky]

Oh boy, that line that SEP enhancement apply to mental capacities is not great.

"Sierra is blissfully unaware that she has any special abilities for most of her life, attributing her quick reflexes and sharp mind to her mother’s teaching."

[mossy vale]

Besides sigma and sym, are there any other characters that canonically have mental disorders?

[past copper]

Symmetra doesn't have a mental disorder

[potent briar]

Autism is not a mental disorder

[peak escarp]

Sigma has brain damage, not a mental disorder

[mossy vale]

Sorry I didn’t mean it like that, also I thought sigma had schizophrenia?

Is neurotypical a better word?

I was just wondering if there were any heroes in lore, that were like me

[peak escarp]

the writers confirmed that Sigma doesn't have any specific mental disorders - they didn't want to misrepresent any disorders, so his issues are the result of brain trauma

[merry mason]

I don’t think there’s any reason to believe that the people behind SES (the US Military) wouldn’t do that if they could

[brittle sky]

While Sigma's altered experience of reality might resemble real world mental disorders in some ways, it shuold not be read as 1:1.

[brittle sky]

Sure, but like... doing a eugenics on black americans seems not great.

[merry mason]

Yeah but like they would do it though

It’s unethical but also realistic

[mossy vale]

ah, i thought they meant for him to be a rep, my fault, i misunderstood the lore

[peak escarp]

and for those wondering, yes Autism is considered a disorder

it is a category of neurodevelopmental disorder

[silent linden]

THE UNIVERSE SING FOR ME

[spare fox]

I don't think Sigma is supposed to be schizophrenic - he ACTUALLY is experiencing different realities out of his control. Yeah he's "crazy" but it's not a disorder of his brain, it's interference from his accident.

if that makes sense?

whereas in schizophrenia, the voices/visions/perceptions are all created by the schizophrenic mind

[silent linden]

Would be cool if blizzard explore it

[brittle sky]

I think while it's not 1:1, there are clear parallels - like if only he experiences them, then they are functionally treated the same as if they were pure delusion.

[spare fox]

yeah but the thing is that they're not just creations of his mind. He's actually connected to the different realities

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah Sigma's condition has some similar symptoms (as in, they appear to be such) to schizophrenia, but is fundamentally different from schizophrenia.
While not direct rep like how Symmetra is confirmed autistic, Sigma has a condition that people who experience symptoms of psychosis or hallucinations might see as rep of the experience.

I'll just summarize my friend's opinion on the matter, that Sigma is a stereotype. Definitely better to read him as a scifi cosmic horror homage rather than any meaningful schizophrenia rep in media.

I'm still reminded of why they chose Sigma's design to not have shoes (it was mentioned specifically about mental health patients not having certain objects allowed... ) which ah, yeah.

That said, I can say that Sigma's voice line delivery and interactions between him and those helping him is nice to see when it happens. Sombra's care for Sigma's wellbeing seems to be genuine, etc

[spare fox]

but Sigma is not rep and not a stereotype of schizophrenia because he's been specifically stated to not be schizophrenic.

[shrewd pivot]

Yeah I was commenting on people personally reading Sigma as schizophrenia rep (or psychosis rep) -- he is not such a thing. But he carries similar symptoms (outwardly it appears as symptoms of hallucinations, etc)

a character does not have to be confirmed "insert thing" to be a common stereotype about "insert thing" -- I am sure you are aware of how DID gets misrepresented and stereotyped in media. A lot of mental illnesses do, tbh.

the creators specifically listed aspects of Sigma's design being inspired by irl aspects of mental health patients (ie, no shoes bc no shoelaces) so it falls into touchy subject territory

Sigma is intended as a cosmic horror homage, so that's why I mentioned it

also if anyone was curious what sierra's design was under the military beret:

[wise grotto]

Sierra has the coolest hair in ow damn

The amount of work that would go into hair like that lol

[shrewd pivot]

based on the fact the hair going into the braid isn't parted to contain the hair (there would be like, scalp showing or a distinctive hair flow more perpendicular from the braid), and the fact her hair becomes glow in the dark halfway down (I presume that's not a dye but extensions), I think she's wearing the hairstyle purely for fashion and not a protective hairstyle.

[shrewd pivot]

Sierra cosplayers will get my kudos, they could probably use hair extensions that glow in blacklight to get the effect of Sierra's pink glowing hair :o

[wise grotto]

Oh yea you'll need extensions for a braid like that
Having one braid that long takes a ton of hair nevermind 3 that are that thick

[noble scroll]

omggg wait this is gorgeousss

[shrewd pivot]

yeah, it was a discussion i had when she initially was revealed about her hairstyle with someone else here in the channel.

She has 6 braids along the scalp, two go into the loop area "bun" and four larger braids as the long parts that create the helix

presuming she's had her braid at least since she was 13, and you could argue maybe super soldiers regenerative aspects causes hair to grow faster, it still would be unlikely for anyone to grow hair to that length (it's braided so at least 1.5 longer or so) within 12 years regardless of hair type (Sierra canonically does not have straight hair-- only her in game model seems to give her straight hair for some reason, in the comics and season intro art it's curly hair texture), so yeye that's why i mentioned it's extensions--especially with the glowy hair gradient

good ref for drawing :)

[noble scroll]

i imagine it must've taken a while to model too

[shrewd pivot]

braids are pretty simple actually! it's a repeating pattern you can replicate along a curve-- braids and curls and ropes have the same approach because you can't "resize" a helix shape, you have to extend the pattern

the hardest part to model is probably the parts that connect together at the base (which notably are hidden in Sierra's model, the braids on the scalp don't connect to the lose braids that make up the 'ponytail' part), the weight painting on the helix spiral braids tho must have taken some time to not get them to clip past eachother

[noble scroll]

oo whatt tthat's super cool!! i'd love to get into modelling it just seems so tough to start out with

[shrewd pivot]

depends what models you want to make! Engineering vs digital sculpture vs 3d printing vs animation vs video games all require different approaches to the topology but Zbrush is great for organic forms (sculpts like clay), and Blender is good for vertices based modeling (videogames, animation) and Solidworks is good for engineering (precise)

but ye! it's worth learning, fun stuff

[noble scroll]

i tried a bit of blender before, but it seemed like a lot to start out with. i usually make ocs so it'd be nice to be able to make cute models of them and everything, but it takes such a long time ! i'll have to check zbrush out maybe

[silent linden]

This actually impressive

[noble scroll]

trying to remember, was it mentioned where the overwatch crew is holed up after having to evacuate from gibraltar?

[shrewd pivot]

only in the webtoon, prepaid access i think atm

the chapters will eventually release though

[noble scroll]

ahh okay

[brittle field]

Is echo conscious in the same way as Omnics? Or is she more like an LLM that just mimics human speech

[elfin bane]

more llm i suppose but she’s very advanced. not seintient but i think she was an attempt at naming another aurora

aurora was the seintient omnic right?

[noble scroll]

i dont know echo's lore as much, but it doesn't seem like she's an omnic to me, at least not really

[peak escarp]

she isn't truly sentient

she's just a highly advanced learning AI