The power of Yeehan: How one Overwatch ship helped Luxeros discover their

Since 2016, the Overwatch fandom has formed communities dedicated to their favorite ships, and a popular one is Yeehan. This refers to the fictional pairing between Cole Cassidy and Hanzo Shimada. In an exclusive interview with esports.gg, Luxeros shared how Yeehan, Overwatch, and Hanzo played helped them discover their queer identity.

Interview with Luxeros: The Yeehan canon event

In their interview with esports.gg, Luxeros revealed that they got into Overwatch around 2016-2017 while looking for anything and everything Naruto-related on YouTube. That’s when the platform recommended the “Dragons” cinematic. After watching it, Luxeros began looking up comic dubs and videos about the game. The algorithm then began recommending Yeehan content.

“It was fun to watch, and that’s what got me into the ship,” Luxeros said. “The funny and sweet comic dubs and fanart — which got me into reading fanfiction about them.”

According to Luxeros, Yeehan is a ship that shows just how creative a fandom can be with characters. With so little known about Cassidy and Hanzo 10 years ago, many fans created their own headcanons about the pairing, including how Cassidy and Hanzo might interact with each other.

“I love Yeehan because it’s a ship built on creativity. It shows what fandom can be. When it formed, we hardly knew anything about the characters. Many fans had to make headcanons and imagine how these two would react with each other. It shows the creativity that people have. And while I think some may see that as a bad thing, I see it as a testament to creativity and love,” Luxeros said, adding that they’re glad to be part of the community.

Today, Luxeros writes Yeehan fanfiction, although they admit they haven’t built up the confidence to publish their stories just yet. Instead, their projects live in journals that they share with their partner in crime Cupids_cowboy. They’re also a fan of YeehanArchive, who has many art and fanfiction threads on social media.

Hanzo and Cassidy finally meet 10 years later

For over a decade, Yeehan existed almost entirely through the aforementioned fanworks. However, that recently changed when Overwatch put Cassidy and Hanzo in the same room together. For context, they met in the “Facing Demons” comic after Kiriko called the reunited Overwatch team for help in rescuing Genji from the Hashimoto Clan.

“When both Hanzo and Cassidy were drawn together in the same room, I cried tears of happiness,” Luxeros told esports.gg. “I’m not joking. When that video dropped, I ran into my work restroom, watched the video, and cried happy tears! Ten years for that moment, and my heart was singing with joy.”

Similar to YeehanArchive, Luxeros noted how the recent Overwatch canon reversed the dynamic that once defined Cassidy and Hanzo’s roles in fanfiction. Hanzo found purpose and forgiveness through Kiriko and the reunion with Genji. However, Cassidy now faces uncertainty about his relationships with Ashe and Gabriel Reyes.

“He is now lost, unsure what to do. I feel as though Hanzo would understand what he’s going through and may try to help him,” Luxeros explained. “I hope that is a route the story goes. As for potential Yeehan, I’m biased, so of course I’d love for them to be canon. And who knows? Maybe they could be. With them finally meeting, it’s no longer a borderline crack ship. It’s got potential to be explored in canon — should that be the case and the story allows for them to talk.” 

How Hanzo helped Luxeros discover their identity

Luxeros then shared how Yeehan and Hanzo, in particular, played a role in discovering their queer identity. The ship itself inspired them to explore their inner self and understand who they are as a person. Hanzo, meanwhile, inspired them to explore their identity through outfits and cosplay.

“Yeehan playing a role in my queer identity is, of course, very personal. Reading fanfics and watching comic dubs about them helped me get into queer media and stories,” Luxeros said. “Whether it’s reading manga, watching TV shows, reading books, or reading people’s own personal stories, the ship inspired me to read those things and even explore my inner self to see who I was as a person.”

They continued, adding that they grew up in a small town with very little exposure to LGBTQ+ topics. Discovering Overwatch gave them the chance to explore queer media.

“I wanted to dress sort of like him,” Luxeros added, referring to Hanzo and noting that they’re also an older sibling. “I really enjoyed his Casual skin and his Summer Games skin. So I’d try to find ways to dress like that. Being assigned female at birth, this was my first time trying out more masc styles and trying to present in a more masculine way.”

Hanzo even inspired Luxeros’ cosplay journey. For example, the hero encouraged them to cosplay as Jotaro from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (JJBA) and Juvia from Fairy Tail.

“Through all that and reading more stories about other people’s queer experiences, I was able to realize that I am pansexual. And then later on finding out that I am genderfluid as well.”

Overwatch, Yeehan, and lifelong friendships

When we asked Luxeros about their favorite memory involving Yeehan and the Overwatch community, they recalled spending time with Cupids_cowboy in a custom game. An Illari player spawned in, walked up to them, and gushed about Yeehan. This player still dukes it out in Overwatch with Luxeros and Cupids_cowboy from time to time.

“We were just hanging out and doing cute things together as Yeehan,” Luxeros said, referring to Cupids_cowboy. “He was Cassidy and I was Hanzo when someone spawned in. The person picked Illari, and when she went up to us, she was so excited to see Yeehan. She explained to us that she’s been having such a hard time through university and some personal life stuff. When she saw us doing Yeehan, she got so happy and it made her whole month. She went on and on to us about how much she liked the ship and how much it meant to see people still enjoy Yeehan.”

“In fact, I’ve made so many friends in this community through Yeehan.”

To Luxeros, the Overwatch community is a resilient one. Despite everything, the game still has active fans from over a decade ago.

What’s next for the Yeehan fandom?

As for parting words, Luxeros said that they hope Overwatch would explore Cassidy and Hanzo’s relationship more while introducing even more queer characters and stories. They would also love to see the Overwatch Workshop receive updates.

“Don’t be afraid of being creative,” Luxeros added. “The Overwatch community and Yeehan community stayed alive and kept kicking due to people being creative — saying stuff like ‘What if this character did this?’ or ‘What if these characters met?’ I want people to not be afraid to be weird and just have some whimsy when it comes to character exploration. Even if it doesn’t fully make sense, have fun with it! At the end of the day, that’s what games and community are about.”

That’s all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more in-depth Overwatch news, interviews, guides, and updates!