Does Akali have same-sex parents?

Over Innsmouth·7/17/2018, 5:14:45 PM·6 votes·5,807 views

For reference, Akali's new bio describes: "Born among their ranks was Akali, daughter of Mayym Jhomen Tethi, the renowned Fist of Shadow. Mayym and her partner Tahno raised their daughter within the Kinkou Order, under the watchful leadership of Great Master Kusho, the Eye of Twilight."

Here in the UK, "partner" is often used as a shorthand to describe a gay couple, and Tahno's sex isnt otherwise referred to, so I'm curious as to whether that is the case.

If yes, it might mean that Ionia could be specially tolerant of alternative sexuality (given that Kai and Valmar from Varus's lore don't seem to be struggling with their relationship in any way outside of sharing their bodies with a Darkin), which is cool.

It's not necessarily important or overly relevant to her character, but as someone who has a great interest in the lore I like to dissect every little thing I can.

38 Comments

Żügżwäng7/17/2018, 5:17:14 PM4 votes

I wouldn't doubt it considering what they did to Varus' lore.

Spideraxe7/17/2018, 5:16:25 PM3 votes

She does! I asked her writer and he confirmed

Edit I was wrong I misinterpreted

D357R0Y3R7/17/2018, 5:18:03 PM2 votes

If a Rioter comes in and say Yes then there's an other question, who's her father? considering that they say "born within the kinkou order" I don't have any idea of how it worked

If they wanted her to have 2 mothers, they should have made her an orphan because else this is confusing.

Meep Man7/17/2018, 7:40:16 PM2 votes

Partner in general is used in the US as a general term for your partner in marriage. It might be left open for interpretation on purpose.

Ralanr7/17/2018, 6:35:11 PM1 votes

Huh...sounds like it.

Honestly I can't remember if Tahno was referenced with any male pronouns.

Oleandervine7/17/2018, 7:00:51 PM1 votes

My apologies, I thought you were initially referring to Mayym. However, we cannot draw any conclusions about Tahno simply based on the word "partner." "Partner" is a more formal, and less bureaucratic, way of saying "spouse" or "living companion" so the fact that it's used here isn't strange or indicative of a same sex relationship. It could very well be indicative of a loveless marriage, especially in a rigid setting like the Kinkou order, and it also could be indicative of a relationship that is not tied by any kind of marriage ceremony, which would mean that spouse, husband, wife, etc. are words that cannot be used to describe them. I would imagine in a setting like the Kinkou order, that values rules, and embodies a monastic lifestyle, marriages would be very uncommon, as they could hinder the operations of the operatives.