Emotion and sexuality within Mass effect Fan-Art
Abstract
The universe of Mass Effect is rather new when comparing it against popular franchises such as Halo or Final Fantasy. Yet over the past four years since the first game was released a community surrounding this sci-fi epic is fast becoming a vastly varied culture sharing, contributing and creating different aspects of fandom. Cosplay, fan-fiction, comics and art are just some examples of the already branching paths extending from this memorable fiction. The following study will introduce the reader to one particular aspect of Mass Effect fan culture, that being fan-art. Over the course of the discussion a variety of points are made in regard to the emotional and sexual themes within the game and how the in-game relationship building is a defining factor of inspired fan-art.
Introduction
In 2005 the Xbox 360 console system saw the dawn of Mass Effect, a sci-fi epic created by the infamous Bioware. The story centers itself around Commander Shepard the famous War hero of the Skyillian Blitz (given that this is the background history the player chooses). Shepard starts his journey responding to a critical mission in which he is being tested as a Specter (a universal government secret operative), yet the colony in which the mission takes place is suddenly and unexpectedly attacked. From these events Shepard is given the task of chasing down the culprits behind the attack and solving the mysteries of an ancient race known as the Reapers. Come 2010, the release of Mass Effect 2 introduces the player to a new threat known as the Collectors. Shepard discovers that this species is behind the abductions of human colonies across the universe and once again is tasked with acquiring an entourage of specialists intent on thwarting the Collectors in their goal of mass human abduction.
As the culture of Mass Effect (ME) is as vivid and dense as Final Fantasy, or Halo, this discussion will narrow down one aspect of the fan community to give a more precise view into this popular narrative. The discussion examines the richly constructed universe of ME 1 and 2 by contrasting the developer’s artistic vision against fan-art which further builds upon the in game character relationships through emotion and sexuality. The following observations and analysis is taken from research conducted via artist interviews[1] and forum based discussions[2].
Effective Emotional Art
One of and possibly the most prominent feature within Mass Effect concerns itself with human/alien interactions, where success lies in the trust and respect of your followers. Being a Role Playing Game (RPG) in which the player is given the power of choice, it is entirely up to the individual whether this mechanic of gameplay is essential to his or her own success through the games. Yet, as Grant Tavinor suggests, these emotive stimuli encourage the audience to react with the fictional characters as if in real life situations. That “Something that is known to be fictional – and subsequently known to have no real existence – can be the cause or object of strongly felt emotions evident in gaming.” (Tavinor, G. 2009. p.134) It is through these emotional connections that players can invest personal feelings between their Commander Shepard and the characters that surround him because of the naturalness of the connection between the imagination and the emotion. (Tavinor, G. 2009. p.138)
As this is a crucial aspect of the ME 1 and 2 game experience, it is essential to create character art that encapsulates these varying personalities in a way that is believable to the audience. For example Jack, the psychopathic biotic, who’s personality mirrors her conceptualization is covered in tattoos and scars from being tortured as a child (See fig.1). Or Grunt, the brutal Krogan whose main desire is to maim and kill, presents himself as a hulking mass of muscles and hardened body plates with a constant scowl on his face. These iconic visuals help establish a stereotype to each of the distinct protagonists and antagonists throughout the series that allows the audience to associate their own impressions based on personal history, experience or moral ideals. This is what Ekman calls an “automatic appraisal mechanism” in which the brain prepares the body in response to the eliciting emotion through stereotyped behavior and physiological reactions. (Ekman, P. 1980) In regard to ME, Bioware has established this through a means of detailed artwork and emotional storylines that the fan community can use to understand the multiple fictional personalities through this concept of an “automatic appraisal mechanism”.
Figure 1. Design taken from the official Mass Effect 2 Art Book. Image courtesy of Bioware Inc.
When discussing fan-art, this emotional reaction is a means that fan artists or the artist fan can use in respect to their own personal works. As stated in ‘Fan-Art as a Function of Agency in Oddworld Fan Culture’ “fan-art is not transgressive in its depiction or means of production, but instead is perceptualist with the occasional pastiche. Its deviance lies in the legitimation of games as an art form and fans homage to digital artists over and above mainstream fine art elite forms. (Schott, G. & Burn, A. 2007) The majority of artworks that are found through the Mass Effect forums, and through art websites such as deviantart.com[3] show that the art created by the ME community follow the same basic structure of the original design concepts and narrative arcs. One particular interviewee named maoileoin responded by saying “I enjoyed the game, and this aspect of it made an impression on me. In creating it I honestly wasn’t thinking of any deeper meaning in the piece than an homage to a really well done character and his story”.[4] Generally, these fan works reflect the relationships or emotional connections that players establish with the fictional protagonists and antagonists, whether portraying Commander Shepard behaving intimately with Garrus (See Fig.2) or through recreations of their favorite character/s.
Sexuality and the Effect it has
After the first game’s inclusion of in-depth romantic relationships between three of the main characters, Ashley (Male Shepard interest), Kaiden (Female Shepard interest) and Liara (M & F Shepard interest), fan-art portraying romantic story themes emerged as another focal point of art generated by the community. In ME 2, the choice of courting the in game characters expanded considerably, allowing more possibilities for fans to build on emotional connections that these fictional realms are able to convey. It could be speculated that it becomes the duty of the fan community to uphold these relationships through the many varied forms of fan culture, in this case visual art, so that creating works attaining to the game’s intimately allied characters becomes a means of upholding Bioware’s vision for the franchise. Zengabyss, a deviantART respondent mentioned that the work he creates is a reflection of his relationship with the character Tali, “She makes me feel the need to be with her, the need to hold onto something even when it’s futile. I felt the need to express my interest in Tali’Zorah so I drew this doodle of her.” (See Figure.3) As Tali is confined to wearing a suit all her life, this artist responded to the intimate wall that Commander Shepard must face when romancing Tali by representing his emotional connection to the fictional character through art.
Figure 2. Design depicting relationship between Garrus and Female Shepard. Image courtesy of armesan.
Erotic fan-art is another form of artistic expressionism that evolves from these character romances. As the game does feature scenes of intimacy between Commander Shepard and his crew, in some cases mild scenes of intercourse, erotica is just another means for artists to extend the boundaries of the story. Just like in real life scenarios when a relationship typically progresses through stages of sexuality, in some cases erotic fan art is not unlike a need to expand the in game relationships to the next level of intimacy whether through portrayals of nudity or explicit scenes of sex. In Metal-Dragon-Kiryu’s opinion “Art like this allows the artist to expand upon the in-game relationships. It creates imagery that is unique, because it’s not just another screenshot of the same scene”.
Figure.3 Design depicting Tali and M Figure.4 Erotica fan-art of Liara. Image
Shepard. Image courtesy of Zengabyss. courtesy of agregor.
Tali is an interesting character to analyze in terms of erotic art. As already established, she is confined to wearing a suit all her life as the Quarians (Tali’s race) have a very weak immune system. This means that the player never gets the opportunity to see her face, not unlike Master Chief from Halo or Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe. What this poses emotionally is the sense of unknown, what hides beneath the mask? (See Fig.5) Rather then a general curiosity where Master Chief is concerned, the sexualisation of Tali makes the curiosity an erotic evocation when building a relationship with her. Artists take it upon themselves to portray their own view of what Tali looks like, in some cases depicting her completely nude or engaging in acts of explicit intimacy. After interviewing an artist who contributes to such erotic Tali fan-art, the response was somewhat surprising in regards to the ME community and the deviantART community’s reaction to his work. MrOrbital stated “After my first erotic image some of my fans cut off contact with me…this image for example is my most popular one butalmost all of the comments are negative.”[5] In this case, the over sexualisation of Tali is perhaps perceived by the ME community as pushing the original romance over the line as she represents the innocent/cute relationship option rather then the more sexually active character option. On the other hand, perhaps it is not so much the fact that Tali is the featured figure but more the fact that sexual intimacy is represented within the artworks, as McOrbital goes onto say “erotic artwork can get someone fans very quickly, but a lot of harassment comes with it from people who hate sex and nudity”.
Effectionate Slash Art
One character to bring attention to in order to understand the next discussed issue of the sexuality in ME fan-art is Liara (See Fig.4). Liara is part of a mono-gendered species that look and sound like females who breed through “consciously attuning their nervous system with their partner’s, sending and receiving electrical impulses directly through the skin.” (Bioware. 2010) Technically speaking, this means that Asari can breed with any form of alien, whether Human, Krogan, or Klingon regardless of sex. Mono-gender aside, the concept of Female Shepard and Liara is closely related to the fan-culture of Slash. In the words of Henry Jenkins
“It represents an erotic fantasy of crossing over from a homophobic society into homo-eroticism. That brings to the surfaces the emotional dynamic and the relationship between characters…what you are exploring is less the sexual dimension and more the emotion dynamic in a relationship between two men, or two women.” (Jenkins, H. 2008)
The relationship that female Shepard can have with Liara is not so much about the physical intimacy but more about the emotional connection the characters begin to express to each other over time. This being said, fan-art of the Slash variety is not restricted to just Liara and Female Shepard, many other artists have expressed homosexual, lesbian or bi-sexual art involving male Shepard and Garrus, or female shepard and Kelly.[6]
It could be suggested that this form of emotional expression in art should be avoided in relation to the ME universe, as art depicting Tali and Shepard getting married, for example, follows closely behind the original story arc. While a relationship between Shepard and Kaiden never took place thus it should be avoided, as it does not adhere to any in game relationship. A forum based discussion on this topic concluded that this is not the case, forum member Kagura_Hakubi stated that “Romantic depictions of homosexuality are just as valid as heterosexual or even (at least as common in this fandom) xenophillic (human/alien, eg. Shepard/Garrus) artworks.” Another respondent, technoquarian suggested, “Part of the problem, I think, is that considering, say, Kaiden and MShep snuggling – cloths on, etc. – as more risqué than Ashley and FShep as it reinforces the idea that bisexual or homosexual behavior is a fetish.” The issue here then is not that Slash fan-art moves too far from the original concepts but is more a miss-representation resulting in the assumption of fetishism as opposed to “the emotional dynamic in a relationship between two men, or two women” i.e Liara and female Shepard (See Fig.6).
Figure 5. Art piece showcasing Tali Figure 6. Female Shepard and Liara
un-masked. Courtesy of McOrbital. engaged sexually. Courtesy of
Metal-Dragon-Kiryu.
What this suggests is that the ME community agrees on these forms of fan-art as emotionally inspired works from either a homosexual, lesbian or bisexual perspective. Though some forms of Slash art are perhaps an individual’s attempts at expressing ones fetishism as opposed to any deeper meaning, the crux of the overall genre is based around fictional emotion through intimate visual portrayals. An artistic response to what Tavinor terms as
“Fictions that arise out of our designing props to sustain vivid and interesting imaginative episodes - arouse our emotions by exploiting this connection between the imagination and emotion. Artists, moreover, have designed all sorts of novel ways to “press our emotional buttons” by the perceptual and imaginative features they put into the fictive props that comprise their artworks…the ability is augmented by the interactive fictions of videogames. (Tavinor, G. 2009. p.139)
Much like previously discussed heterosexual ME fan-art, this reflection of fictionally established emotions and memorable in-game relationships is an over arcing determinate in ME fan generated artworks. That people believe a fiction, in this case ME, is true and the resulting emotions are caused by this inherent belief. (Neill, A. 1994)
Conclusion
ME fan-art is a means in which the fan community is able to thoroughly express the emotional allegiances, relationships and romances throughout the narrative that are otherwise left to the imagination after the games finally reach an end. While research through interviewing both players and artists has garnered a general understanding of why the community expresses themselves through these emotive visual constructions, it is only just the beginning in terms of analyzing the wider audience. However, there is no doubt that a crucial element of inspired ME fan-art is a reflection of the original art design both of a conceptual and narrative nature. That the character design and fictional relationship building, inflicts upon the audience a sense of emotional realism and responsibility to further build upon the narrative through emotive and sexual art.
References
Agregor. (2010). Mass Effect Liara. Accessed 12th April, 2011, from: http://agregor.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=48#/d2s60a1
Armesan. (2010). Mass Effect: Smile. Accessed 12th April, 2011, from: http://armesan.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/d2ue5vl
Bioware. (2010). Mass Effect 2. Edmonton: Electronic Entertainment
Bioware EA. (2010). Mass Effect 2 Collectors’ Edition Art Book. Roseville: Prima Games. p.8.
Ekamn, P. (1980). “Biological and Cultural Contributions to Body and Facial Emotions. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Jenkins, H. (2008, October). Fan Art Talk in the Virtual Labs: Special Guest Professor Henry Jenkins. Accessed 21 March, 2011, from: http://blip.tv/file/1417486
Metal-Dragon-Kiryu. (2010). Mass Effect – ‘Reminiscence’. Accessed 13th April, 2010, from: http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=metal-dragon-kiryu&order=9&offset=24#/d2zvthn
MrOrbital. (2010). Mass Effect 2: Tali IV Loyalty. Accessed 14th April, 2011, from: http://mrorbital.deviantart.com/gallery/24424115#/d2l2i7d
Neill, A. (1994). “Fiction and Emotions,” in A. Neill and A. Ridley eds., Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates. London: Routledge.
Tavinor, G. (2009). The Art of Videogames. UK West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell.
Schott, G. & Burn, A. (2007). Fan-Art as a Function of Agency in Oddworld Fan-Culture. Bristol: Intellect. p.246
Zengabyss. (2010). Mass Effect 2 “Tali”. Accessed 12th April, 2011, from: http://zengabyss.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/d2jfcp6
Gameography
Final Fantasy, Square Enix, 1987
Mass Effect, 2007, Bioware
Mass Effect 2, 2010, Bioware
Halo, Bungie, 2001
Bibliography
Bioware EA. (2010). Mass Effect 2 Making of DVD. –(Note: Producer or other affiliations regarding the creation of this DVD are not mentioned)
Fmsantos39. (2011). Will we finally see Tali’s face on ME3? Accessed 12th April, 2011, from: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/128/index/5483886
Lake, C. (2007). Lesbian alien ‘sex’ scene spooks censors. Accessed 14th April, 2011, from: http://www.news.com.au/technology/lesbian-alien-sex-scene-spooks-censors/story-e6frfrnr-1111114894006
Sliwinski, A. (2007). Mass Effect allows lesbian alien sex, men remain vanilla. Accessed 14th April, 2011, from: http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/18/mass-effect-allows-lesbian-alien-sex-men-remain-vanilla
[2] Links to forum discussions
[3] To view discussed artworks follow links to browse lists of fan generated art deviantart.com. (2011). http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&global=1&q=mass+effect
Beezqp. (2011). Fanart – Few Mass Effect 2 Drawings. http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/128/index/6927017
[5] Link to discussed artwork MrOrbital. (2010). Mass Effect 2: Tali and Miranda. http://MrOrbital.deviantart.com/art/Mass-Effect-2-Tali-and-Miranda-168316047?offset=25#comments
[6] Examples of stated artworks
Sumerkhan (2010). ‘Bro’Mance – Garrus 3. http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&q=male+shepard+garrus#/d2o2ci9
YamiSnuffles. (2011). Caroline and Kelly. http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&q=shepard+kelly#/d3dtb6o
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