Disliking Varus's new lore doesn't make you homophobe
Calling people homophobic because they don't like the change and ignoring actual reasons why they don't like it makes you a bit of a dick though
160 Comments
I really loved how people bothered bring up valid points of why the story sucks and why was the change unneccesary and were called "just homophobes", while there were few gays in the comments whose entire point was "OMG Riot you made gay character OMG I love it OMG I don't even know their name but they're gay so it's all perfect now".
The paradox here is that from such people I feel as If I had to love new Varus just because he's gay when I'm gay, because I am being represented so nothing else matters. Trying to throw at me a shit, call it gay shit and pretend that's all that's needed is paradoxly more offensive than not being "represented".
And I love how these few gays are all happy there is a gay character as If Varus was the first one. There were at least two gay characters so far, a lesbian from Camille's story and a gay boy from Janna's, neither of which caused supported uproar or significant praise from these people. No, it's two people kissing in the animation that's the dealmaker for them. Top kek.
I wanna piggyback off this thread because today has been something of a whirlwind with all the lore discussion, comments and more. Bear with me for a little bit.
It is perfectly fine to dislike the new Varus lore as OP says. There's nothing wrong with hating something Riot has put out. I also want to say that it's ok to find enjoyment in the new lore for whatever reason. It came out today though so please don't try to forsake your boards/league account and die on a hill for some thing has existed for around 12 hours.
But I want to address both sides of the criticism: What OP refers to is smashing someone down on a personal level. It's a crappy thing to do and it's really not cool. Just because someone doesn't like lore that you do doesn't mean it's right for you to take this time to insult them on ANY level, be it outright flaming or by being excessively passive-aggressive to their stance. That said, I also want to take this time to talk about the other-side of the equation and a hot-topic that myself (and other mods) have been dealing with all day.
Varus being gay does not mean we need to hear thoughts on the idea of LGBT in the real world or your personal opinions on what you think of people in the LGBT category. Bear in mind, I'm not saying you need to like it. Everyone has their own hang-ups and feelings, which we all understand. What I do need to say is that someone liking the new lore doesn't make them an SJW crusader or a bastion of whatever political ideology you think they stand for. The flipside is true too: Someone disliking the new lore does not make them some /b/ reject who wants to see everyone who isn't them exploded in a fiery cataclysm. The moment we jump to extremes is the moment this loses the point of being about the new lore and becomes a thinly veiled political bashing thread.
I and the other moderators know how strongly people can feel about this and how difficult it can be to divorce politics, personal feelings and hang-ups about these topics. Yet despite this, we have to remember that Varus is a fictional video game character owned by Riot Game(s). They're technically free to do what they wish with said character. Does that mean we always have to blindly sing their praises? Of course not. But that doesn't mean Riot putting in this type of character is a free pass to put your personal thoughts on such topics in a thread.
You can be upset at the new lore and it doesn't make you hate LGBTQ people.
You can be happy with the new lore and it doesn't make you an SJW.
Just please remember to be respectful guys. We know you guys are all capable of some amazing and insightful dicussion.
-Cap
That sounds like something a homophobe would say.
(we really need colored text to denote sarcasm)
There's nothing wrong per se of Varus being 2 gay lovers + a darkin. The fact it comes off of retconning Varus' family and just how poorly developed the 2 lovers were does kind of make it feel shoe-horned in for the sake of having 2 gay lovers.
They were much better off using this 2 gay lovers + a darkin in a new champ instead of shoehorning it into Varus. They could at least shrug off the retcon blowback.
They retconned homosexuality into the dude who used to have a wife and kid's lore. Of course people are going to be bothered by it, they coulda made a whole new champion based on this and came up with lore for Varus that was still in line with themes present in his old lore. They should have made a new champ rather than retcon an already existing one.
I agree! I think that the argument that criticism against it is homophobic is ill intentioned and scapegoating the more meaningful discussion that could be had regarding the champion.
Does it matter to the least? People can be homophobic if they want, I'm homophobic, and I honestly don't care about your feelings, 2 gay guys. We all have the right to like or dislike something.
I'm fine with him being gay, it's just that the plot was so poorly thought out that it makes even less sense than the new Tokyo Ghoul chapters. Riot jumped at the opportunity to include the LGBT community in the game, which I respect, but they didn't take enough time to properly plan it out.
I agree, however there is a flip side, complaining about the lore change solely because a champion is gay is certainly homophobic. And some of the people complaining have been doing precisely this.
Unrelated question (but kinda related)...do you think any of the regions in Runettera might have a homophobic culture? where its illegal or shunned to be homosexual? i always wondered that about most fantasy enviroments... do we want a perfect world where everyone have everything they dream about or do we want a realistic story that has every dark aspect of our own world!
why do i always get sidetracked with these questions!!!
The lore is not well executed and I didn't care for it. It really doesn't matter what the champion's sexuality is; the lore update just isn't good and I hoped for more.
Varus isn't even gay.
Varus is a darkin.
The two hunters he used to create a single body for himself were gay.
He himself is not gay.
new lore is so lame, i liked his old lore. this one feels forced and a waste of character lore.
The issue isn't that Varus is gay, or that there is a gay relationship in League's lore. The problem is that they retconned established lore to turn a character with a very defined set of motivations and story purely to serve as a token gay character. If taric or ezreal were revealed to be gay it'd be different, because they didn't have established lore that would contradict that. Nothing is added to varus' story by making him gay. The varus changes felt forced and inorganic because it was tacked onto his name. Additionally, telling more story through cinematics is a chance to see the character's personality in full display. Get Jinxed was about Jinx's wild nature, lust for destruction, and to build hype for her release. The Curse of the Sad Mummy was about the inner torment that causes Ammumu's crying. Both of the songs for those were amazing and fit the visuals and the personalities of the characters. The music for this vid was terrible and forgetful. The music didn't say "varus, the vengeful archer who would sacrifice himself to pure evil to avenge his people" so much as it said "so we put music to a stunning visual sequence, and we made varus gay cause why not". The music could have used a more somber direction, maybe some hints of smallness as the sole defender against an onslaught of hostile warriors. A swell for victory and a quick fall as Varus realizes that his village was probably destroyed. The pace could quicken as he rushes to see what has become of his family. The music could fade, and timpani could start pulsing like a heartbeat. Cut to varus approaching the pit, tempo increasing. Staring into the seething froth of evil he plunges into the pit of corruption. music stops. screen is black. after a beat, see varus transformed, rising out of the bit with big heavy horns and drums playing menacingly as varus shoots an arrow through the noxian flag.
Yeah, when someone starts saying shit like "I hate this new lore because he is gay." then we should start worrying.