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Jaredan, I feel like I deserve some kind of explanation

Seraphic Chicken·9/7/2017, 12:10:45 AM·9 votes·4,861 views

Six months ago, I made a rather long post here excitedly talking about the possibility that Lux might be gay, putting a lot of effort into explaining the reasons I thought this might be the case, talking about how I hope that this is the case, while also admitting that I don't have high expectations of a company that had until that point only cracked jokes about certain characters being gay, or only made side characters that aren't relevant to the game in any way gay.

You responded on that post to say, "And I hope we can exceed the understandable expectations you mention. I'm pretty confident we can."

Well, it's been 6 months, and with the release of this Star Guardian story, you have not only failed to exceed my expectations, but you slam dunked them in the trash. Obviously I'm crushed that this story is pushing Lux/Ez so hard, and I feel like I was purposefully baited into being excited for something that was never going to happen. Because of that I have several questions for you:

Why get my hopes up at all if this was what it was leading up to?
Why not just be honest and realistic about it and tell me to expect nothing?
Why even bother going out of your way to retcon the Lux/Ez thing and even make a voice line about it if you were just going to start pushing it again?What on earth was the point of all that?? There was a really good opportunity here and it was squandered to repeat the exact same thing that you had just retconned.

This sucks, dude. It feels like you lied to my face. This makes me feel really, really bad and I don't understand why you did that. Please help me make sense of it. I'm tired of being strung along by empty promises that culminate in nothing.

47 Comments

RiotRiotJaredan9/7/2017, 12:45:45 AM22 votes

Hi Dolljointed, As has been mentioned elsewhere, SG Lux is not Lux. 'Prime Runeterra' Lux has had no change in the portrayal of her sexuality, whatever that may be.

I'm very sorry you feel I lied to you, it was certainly not my intent.

When I responded to your original post, it was in regard to exceeding the expectations that have been set previously in handling the topic of sexuality in League's stories. I still believe we will do much better than we have previously, though that in itself isn't a promise to make Lux herself gay.

I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, it was in no way meant to be malicious or deceptive.

To be clear, what I mean is this: we are aware of a lack of representation of LGBTQIA in previous stories and characters. Many of us at Riot fit into one or more of the letters in the aforementioned acronym.

There are reasons why I can't go any further in my explanation of things specific to content, which sucks, I know, but it's one of the pitfalls of the conversation.

I wanted to respond to you to say we hear you, to give you encouragement that we didn't take gender/sexuality issues lightly, and that I have complete belief that we will be demonstrating that through content. However, there are things that I couldn't, and still can't go into due to responsibilities to product teams, etc.

I did not intend to specifically imply that Lux is lesbian, and if I did so, I apologize.

What I wanted to state is that we will do a better job in expressing the many colors of the rainbow through stories and characters as we move forward. I still believe that.

Malicious Metal9/7/2017, 12:32:51 AM14 votes

Sorry if I come off as an ass but after seeing countless of these kinds of threads wanting X character be LGBT or Riot releasing one just to have one in league's roster I want to know:

Why is that important? I see a lot people use the same argument of wanting to relate to a certain character and them being unable because they don't have the same sexual orientation than them. Isn't relating to character traits and vices and virtues easier and overall more genuine than their choice of romantic interest?

I for once couldn't care less who the champions I play would want to have a relationship with as long as they're still the characters I can relate to by HOW they act and what their personalities are.

Back on topic though: Riot has stated on numerous occasions that they try not to just go and say X champion is gay/lesbian but would rather keep it open to interpretation, or better, not even make it a big fucking deal.

ModThe Djinn9/7/2017, 12:18:28 AM11 votes

I can understand your feelings, but I'd like to make two points:

First, the Star Guardian stories aren't necessarily the same as the League continuity. It's another interpretation of those characters, in another setting.

Secondly, there are more sexual orientations than straight or gay. It's entirely possible that, even if that DOES carry over into the standard League lore (which I suspect it does not), Lux doesn't swing just one way.

Naalith9/7/2017, 12:17:17 AM5 votes

Star Guardian Lux and normal Lux don't exist in the same universe and are completely separate entities. Sure, they share some similar characteristics, but in the current lore Lux and Ezreal don't even know each other.

And onto a broader point, I honestly think the reason Riot can't come out and outright talk about champion sexualities (other than just straight) has to do with other regions. I'm sure that in some of the regions that LoL is played in it is either illegal or would make the game have a higher rating, maybe putting taxes on it or something? I've noticed Riot likes to tiptoe around the issue and I'm sure it's not because they don't want to make an openly gay/bi/whatever character, they probably just can't or they'll get hit with a sledgehammer in international sales. Take Taric for example. It was super obvious old Taric was probably gay, the new reworked Taric is probably closer to a Pansexual but Riot is always like "well, you know, wink wink but we can neither confirm nor deny these allegations." So that's probably why.

Just keep in mind that Lux and Ezreal has been a fan favorite ship since basically the beginning of this game and while they haven't met in the current lore, Riot saw a window to kind of make that ship come true in an unofficial sense so they did. Real Lux might still very well be gay, maybe we'll find it in 43 years when she shows up in another lore story. :)

midnight oil249/7/2017, 12:37:36 AM3 votes

I do wish that they weren't pushing it in this skin line (or at all, really). Ez makes me really uncomfortable in all his forms, and Lux x Jinx in star guardian is pretty good. I hope that something happens that subverts expectations, like maybe Lux shooting down Ez.

All I can hope for is that Lux in-canon is different. And like Djinn said, there's more than just straight and gay.

Sorry that I couldn't give you the answer you wanted.

Poro Princess9/7/2017, 11:13:45 PM3 votes

I'm all for characters being gay, even Lux now that her Ezreal relationship was removed. But I really think op is overreacting quite a bit.

I dont think their sexual orientation matters in any way. Its only something you should know if itis important for the development of the character. You can easily have gay situations appear on straight characters too. It's a way to embellish writing, adding deeper content that most people can relate to. Being gay you likely can relate to Lux since she had to hide from everyone out of fear. That doesnt mean Lux has to be gay or bisexual or anything. It's there to add depth to the story, and it makes it so people who have been in that situation connect emotionally with the character.

I dont want to see a gay, lesbian, transgender, etc champion unless those characteristics made them who they are. Otherwise it's just like knowing someone's exact age or shoe size. Why do you care? (Though i do care a bit about age. I always guessed Lux was like 25, Garen 30, Katarina 28, Cass 26, Talon 25, etc - but those are in my head. You want to headcannon lesbian Lux? Go for it)

łnśane9/7/2017, 12:03:47 PM3 votes

Since when did league become tumblr?

Zero Drive9/11/2017, 1:31:02 PM1 votes

I prefer my relationships ambiguous. Riot does not create nearly enough lore for me to invest in a relationship, I'd starve (metaphorically, im a fat freak) waiting to see some development. You may be overeacting though.. I mean I was annoyed with this game when I started playing and realized there wasn't a single black champion. I was also pissed when they finally released said champion.. and he used hand guns. Also is a feelsbadman when the closest I have to a gay character is a super flamboyant Taric who reinforces stereotypes I cannot relate to. All in all though, I think Riot is at their best when they allude to the possibility of champions having feelings for one another instead of outright shipping them. I'll use my favorite champ, Ekko, as an example.

Ekko has hintings of some kind of romantic relationship with: Janna - Just uses a pretty standard conversation breaker that many men use to start a convo. Also alludes to her weather abilities. Jinx - Claims he had a crush until she started talking to the guns. May just be acknowledging her mental instability as opposed to any actual feelings. Taliyah - Lastly Taliyah is the one with the romantic reference, asking if the earth moved for Ekko too. Self explanatory but also alluding to her earth bending abilities.

None of these are concrete, but they're enough to get a few lore invested people to ship their favorites. All remain valid so long as riot keeps their mouth shut. That's what they should do in my opinion. Also Ekko x Arjuna cause it makes more sense than the above three. :)

Muranodo9/7/2017, 1:22:52 AM1 votes

As The Djinn and MidnightOil24 described, there's also different and broader orientations that are feasible---Riot's lore is hardly definitive and often just a blip in an individual character's timeline. And the particular story-line released only hinted at the general relationship specifics. All-in-all, it's hard to discern anything even about SG Lux's orientation besides that she's flattered by the attention. Which, if you consider, her motivations throughout the story about bringing everyone together by her feeling of necessity---it's not surprising she would respond to the first non-dismissive attention she got after feeling like she was failing as a leader.

If you consider this on a theoretical timeline, there's certainly plenty of narrative space for Riot to do what they want. But as with any lore development, it's a team effort with different opinions and they are always looking for the best fit. Regardless, I've certainly seen enough anime where emotional attachments and twists pop-up in unexpected ways off veiled comments such as those that could have been said by Jinx or Ahri, for instance, to Lux.

Nylisa9/7/2017, 5:31:38 AM1 votes

Hey Dolljointed, i remember your post and i also left a comment there if you remember.

as Jaredan mentioned and i said in another topic and some others mentioned it here, this is starguardian lux , i like to see this as an alternative universe lux which is not the same as prime runeterra lux.

to be honest i cant care much about THIS lux because its not the one i come to know and like, i love lux becuase of who she is in her main lore which most of her traits are missing in SG story, first thing that cross my mind everytime i think of lux is that she is a normal girl with an extraordinary gift and she lives in a place that she cant be herself. when i look at SG lux she is flying around shooting colorful lights so openly...thats not my lux...no way!

she can be in relationship with anyone in an alternative universe but keep in mind that everything is still as it was for Prime lux in her original lore :)