A really late varus post (probably not the kind you're expecting).
I do realize I'm rather late on the topic of the Varus lore re-write (which is what this post is about, surprise!) but please, humor me— I'll try to be quick.
First things first... I don't like it. Now that my stance is out of the way let me try and explain WHY I don't like it.
- Real world basis (the one and only point I'm including here).
Parallels between the original Varus lore and the real world can be drawn fairly easily (think military), and the fantasy elements don't hinder that. It's also not focused heavily on Varus's sexuality, sure it's there, but it's not the focus. Readers might have an inkling as to what Varus does or does not do in the bedroom of his home, but the readers aren't GUIDED towards that aspect of him. They're drawn to his character, his beliefs, his traditions, his family, his flaws.
I think the new lore is heavily lacking in this aspect (or at least the comic is). What are the real world parallels? Val and Kai are a gay couple who are very intimate (or lovey dovey, whatever term you prefer), they are accepted by their families (well, at least one of their families that we know of), and no one blinks twice at them being gay. Red flags already.
Being Gay – regardless of whether people believe it to be okay or not – is not a common thing, and the vast majority of the world doesn't look too kindly on homosexuality. Many gay individuals are cruelly mistreated by strangers, ostracized by family members, and even attacked. These are facts, the intensity of such behavior varies from country to country, but there is NO WHERE, where such behavior is absent.
I wouldn't focus on this if it wasn't such a blatantly large portion of the story, but it is. Their sexuality is GLARING. That's not normal. It might be more normal for heterosexual couples (because heterosexual coupling is accepted everywhere), but not for gay couples (especially not for gay couples in certain countries).
So what are real world gay individuals supposed to take from Val and Kai? That they were born into the wrong world? What character traits do Val and Kai have that readers could learn from? Or empathize with? Their circumstances? Why should a reader feel for Val and Kai? All we are given is that they apparently love each other, are loved, and they sleep naked.
None of their close loved ones died when the Noxians invaded. So I don't feel bad for them on that account. When they fuse into Varus, there's some sort of revenge plot there, but it's weak. Val isn't dead anymore, and he can't blame Varus for his death, if anything Val and Kai have Varus to thank (they wouldn't both be alive at the same time if they hadn't fused into Varus's vessel). So really, what am I missing about these guys?
I know Varus is one of the last of his kind, I know his history, the wars he's fought. What he hates, why he hates, what he wants to do, who he wants to find. And Varus's circumstances arise from his decisions, they're not just thrown on him. But what autonomy do Val and Kai even have in this story? I mean I guess they're somehow on an equal level in the battle of wills between themselves and Varus... but really at this point they're more like accessories to Varus.
If Varus/Kai/Val had in-game interactions at all similar to Kayn/Rhaast I would be hard pressed to believe Varus could ever lose the battle of wills...
Just... ugh... The rest of my points are just, "ugh."
Interpret that as you will.
