2 Character *pairings* (spoiler) šŸ¤”

Donā€™t care, about 1 in 10 males is gay irl so thereā€™s probably quite a few in wow too.

I can see it happening because they had some nice banter in the game and Flynn is bi af, but it seems as if theyā€™re trying to avoid the elephant in the room by making one minor couple canon and gathering the brownie points.
You shouldā€™ve given us Wranduind you cowards :upside_down_face:

It really doesnā€™t matter whether theyā€™re gay/bi or whatever, they arenā€™t the largest characters in the game and I doubt Blizz is going to take you on an in game series of quests exploring their relationship. :roll_eyes:

People need to chill and just move on.

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The creator/writer of Flynn on twitter trying act as if this was his master plan for Flynn all along is worse than anything about the relationship IMO lol. I mean fair enough, theyā€™re both a couple now who gives a fiddlers, but donā€™t act like you didnā€™t cave to fan and current-social-climate pressure and make the changes retroactively lol ā€¦ have some respect for yourself.

I am overjoyed!

Iā€™ve been happily chilling on the Fairshaw ship ever since the vault scenario, so you can imagine my excitement. I know some people are disappointed that this new piece of LGBT+ representation was confined to a minor pairing, but personally Iā€™m choosing to see it as a start and hope to see more representation coming as Blizzard seems to be finally getting on with the program that their game is not played exclusively by white cis heterosexual people.

That said, I am very disappointed to see some of the reactions here on EU forums. Itā€™s funny (in a sad way) how quick people are to moan about pandering the rare second something is not about them. I think itā€™s incredibly telling that some people instantly assume that everything is the fault of some malevolent Elgeebeetee Agenduh that is trying to force people intoā€¦ being more accepting and less malicious, which is a terrible infringement of their frozen peaches, I suppose?.. rather than even considering that perhaps the world actually is changing and becoming a little less hostile, a little more understanding, and a little happier a place for people whose only ā€œcrimeā€ is being attracted to another consenting adult.

Paraphrasing the last Warchief to make the concept of Faction War even remotely interesting: times change. And at least in some small aspects it seems to be changing for the better.

Anyway. Fairshaw? Big yes. Iā€™m dying to see how Madeleine Roux chooses to interpret it in the context of all the things that are happening in her book. In fact I am very curious about the writer herselfā€“as far as I can tell she seems to be a completely fresh face in Warcraftā€™s roster of authors and is also younger than most of them (which I think is fantastic, because fresh blood is what keeps things going and young voices are essential).

All in all Iā€™m rather optimistic that one of the few WoW ships I care about ended up in Madeleineā€™s care. Hereā€™s hoping she brings us some quality content!

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But they donā€™t give us Rokhan and Talanji? PFT.

Not yet :wink:

I did that scenario just this morning on an alt, I have to be honest; I donā€™t see it.

I like Flynnā€™s character, and Iā€™m glad that the hint Shaw might hook up with Valeera went nowhere, but frankly it feels like this particular ship has an empty hold, if youā€™ll pardon the expression. Thereā€™s not much to their interactions except ordinary bravado no different to any other adventuring team - no more than if you paired up Rexxar and Lilian Voss.

I will admit, thereā€™s not really any male-male pairings in the lore that stand out to be as good ships. I hate Wranduin because it plays on the stereotype of ā€œlol anduin is effeminate that means heā€™s a gayā€ and thatā€™s not a great thing to perpetuate, even if stereotypes are totally Blizzardā€™s thing, and thereā€™s not many other major male characters that interact extensively, like Jarod Shadowsong never shares screentime with any named character except his sister.

For LGBT pairings Iā€™d probably have picked someone thatā€™s more relevant to the story going forward, like Liadrin / Thalyssra. In future stories Shaw may play some role, but Flynn? Heā€™s an exclusively Kul Tiran character. Weā€™ll probably never see him again outside of cameos.

It feels like pandering because itā€™s so very convenient. We can say thereā€™s LGBT representation, but it wonā€™t have enough impact that it canā€™t be censored in the Russian and Chinese markets!

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Well, the Russian and the Chinese market make up a large chunk of the player base, so they canā€™t really make the LGBT couples prominent. So I get why theyā€™re making it a side thing.

Itā€™s a cynicā€™s idea of a win-win.

Sadly WoW isnā€™t the juggernaut it was back in 2009 or it could probably get away with telling those people to eat shorts.

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I seriously doubt itā€™d be any different even in 2009. Even then itā€™d be a serious profit loss if they did it.

some of the comments here are very disappointing, but sadly, not too surprising.
God forbid a character not be heterosexualā€¦

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LGBT+ people are valid, valuable and real. Donā€™t get offended by reality, nor by imaginary rogues being rogueish with one another.

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Even virtual LGBTQ characters need to justify their existence to a certain subset of people. :thinking:

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I despise the effects of fanservice have on a story
It begins with character pairings and ends with that beach special episode

Iā€™m really excited to see this. Honestly Iā€™m so baffled by some of the arguments against it, particularly ā€œBut Flynn flirted with Taelia, how could he like someone else?ā€
Like seriously, all of us know people in real life who flirt with multiple people (and you probably know people irl who are bi, too). We donā€™t end up in a relationship with every person we ever flirt with; why should WoW NPCs be any different?

I am really disappointed by the number of people so angry about this and claiming Blizzard is pushing an agenda/forcing it down our throats. How many LGBT+ couples exist in the live game? As far as Iā€™m aware, the only confirmed one is the two night elf female ghosts (which were part of a minor profession side quest that most didnā€™t see). Is it really so awful that weā€™re finally getting some broader representation in shadowlands?

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I think it is more this, the writing of the storyline leads people to believe a romantic interest in somebody specific.

For me personally, I speak only for myself, any character in game is just a character, we only know more of them by what the writers give us, the writer will ā€˜flesh outā€™ the character. So in saying that, I would have loved to see more flirting/interactions between Shaw and Flynn, a build up to the romance if that makes sense :slight_smile:

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Are you that dense? Itā€™s not about them ending up together, itā€™s fans pushing for it. Getting themselves involved in the creative process.

If I were a writer, I would tell the story that I want to tell and not be influenced by fans who push something like a story change or in this case, a relationship. That is what fanfiction is for.

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You sir, have just made my day with that pic - well done :joy:

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I personally donā€™t see it as ā€˜panderingā€™ , I see it more as blizzard adding more diversity to try and add something at least remotely interesting to the game. I see from others that Wrathion and Anduin would be more obvious due to Anduinā€™s effeminate tendencies and they are major characters whereas Shaw and Flynn are not.
How about Jaina and Sylvanas?? That would represent the female side of it and balance it out (and we all know how good Blizzard are at balancing :wink:).
In short, I donā€™t have an issue with it, would be nice to also have a quest line to go with it- maybe a ā€˜special mountā€™ or would that be restricted to RP servers :wink::wink: