Do you have any personal headcanons about hanmei? 😉💙
I had this sitting in my drafts for days and I am ASHAMED I just finally decided to write things down. I am a mess. May I be forgiven.
But anyways YES, I have too many headcanons about Hanmei. There is a reason it is probably the only one Overwatch pairing I seriously ship (together with McAshe); I personally think that this ship could bring forth HUUUUGE character development for both Hanzo and Mei.
I won’t be talking of specific headcanons, but I will talk more in general about what, for me, is so wholesome and special about this rarepair. Hanzo and Mei, contrary to people’s belief, have a lot in common. Traumatic experiences like the ones lived by the two of them are means for people with scars to bond; also, the tragicomic similarity of those experience is interesting in its own way.
Hanzo killed Genji (in part because he was driven to do so, but also because he wanted to do it) and lost himself in the process, his identity, the man he thought he was. Mei, on the other hand, wakes up in a world that was not what she has left when she went to sleep, she is alone and in a desperate situation, she has none to rely on but herself.
So, on one side, you have Hanzo, a man who is too worn out by the battle he has wagered with himself, a man that does not know who he is anymore, he loathes himself, he hates himself more than any other person. On the other side, you have Mei, a woman with a goal, someone that is not going to be stopped by anybody, someone that has so much on her shoulders she cannot stop and grieve. They are just what the other needs.
Hanzo needs a person like Mei, someone to give him comfort, peace, bravery, someone ready to listen to his troubles that, when Hanzo stops because too horrified by his tale, will tell him it’s alright and that he can continue the story another day. Hanzo needs someone kind and caring enough for the ice in his heart to melt, someone that makes him fall in love with life again, someone loving enough to help him heal the wounds of the past.
Mei needs someone like Hanzo too. If she gives Hanzo new joy and enthusiasm for life, Hanzo helps her deal with the burden, with her survivor’s guilt, with the darkest bits of her soul. When I was talking with Emmett (bless his soul, he is such a nice person) about Hanmei, I told him something that stuck with me: “if Mei can hold enough joy for both of them, Hanzo can shoulder their pain”. Hanzo can give her confidence, a little bit of flaunting pride, but the most important thing is that he can soothe her demons.
Now, since I have Hanzo as a muse, I am way more familiar with how his head works so I will talk about him a bit more in the specific. Why do I think this ship could generate huge character development for Hanzo? With Mei gently repairing his injured self, and the help of someone like Zenyatta, plus of course the continuous support of his brother, I think that Hanzo would finally be able to overcome Sojiro’s death and, subsequently, Genji’s attempted murder, managing to forgive himself. He would be able to make peace with his past, accepting the man he has become and even finding good things about himself.
It just takes him a little bit of frozen smooches. ♡
