look i’m as absolutely against homophobic tropes as the next person, probably even more so, but like. at the end of the day if every gay character has to be wholesome and unproblematic in order to be a good character gay media is gonna get really bland really fast
i don’t just want “good gay characters/representation” i want a full spectrum of gay characters that encompass even a fraction of the thousands of diverse and complex straight characters in fiction
My little brother loves the adventure zone, and his favorite character is Taako.
My little brother is 8, and he just told my mom he thinks he’s gay. “sort of gay now” he said, noting that he’s a kid. But he told her he knows he’ll be gay when he grows up.
My little brother knows I’m gay, and he’s been asking me about it. Tonight he asked me about what gay weddings were like. “Not crazy?” he said, because he’d been to one recently, and it had been a little ceremony on the beach. I didn’t realize at the moment that he might be trying to feel something out. It took me so long to come to terms with who I am, I didn’t consider that some people start thinking on it earlier.
My little brother read the Taz graphic novel with me a few months ago, and Taako was his favorite. I told him “Taako’s dating the grim reaper, his name is Kravitz”. He looked up really fast. “Taako’s gay?” he said it in a voice I now realize was peaked with interest. I thought he was just curious, but I think it was delight, and a feeling of something dawning on him.
Taako’s gay, and he’s my brothers favorite. Taako’s gay, and this was one of the first things my little brother told my mom when he told her he thinks he’s gay. he told her about a podcast with a gay wizard.
I don’t know the nuances of this story yet, and I don’t know how things will shake out down the line, but I know one thing: my little brother saw Taako as a way to help him work on figuring out who he was.
Taako’s gay, and my little brother found this fact and felt brave.
I can’t really articulate everything I’m feeling right now, but I know that representation is important, and I know that a wizard named Taako helped my little brother feel brave enough to start voicing who he is
Worked on this girl for 9 months. Now this new music video comes out and she’s immensely popular, arguably one of the most popular characters in the LoL universe.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad she’s a huge hit, it’s super exciting to see so many people love the character design and the gameplay, and know that I contributed directly and significantly to the behind-the-scenes engineering that makes it all work. It’s validating.
But it’s also so fucking melancholy to know I did so much work and put in so much time for such a shitty company, run by shitty people, and the reward I got for it was unemployment.
I threw a lot into this character. I cried at work. I started getting panic attacks, which I’ve never gotten before. I developed persistent heart palpitations from the daily overwhelming stress and had to go to the hospital (this is true, seriously.) I basically dropped all my friends outside of work. My manager (and his manager!) lied to me constantly to keep me working. They said I was doing a great job but to keep it up. Don’t worry, it’s going to turn out great, and it’ll all be worth it in the end – recognition, a raise, probably a promotion in short order. They promised me the world. When she was finally finished, I didn’t even get to go to the release party, they just walked me out.
I remember a quote from my last day, it sticks out in my mind: “I know you realize this is really hard for me,” my manager said. Yes, in the end, when he awkwardly informed me I didn’t have my dream job anymore – or any job at all – and then stared back at my shell-shocked face, my thousand-yard stare, the only thing he felt was sorry for himself.
She launched with no major bugs and was considered a technical success. Doesn’t matter. Get the fuck out.
I don’t know how I feel. A weird sensation of pride and intense bitterness. I did a good job; at least, I think I did. Unfortunately, internal validation is the only kind I’m going to get.
Everyone reposting KDA should see this. Riot has successfully distracted everyone into forgetting their culture of sexism,exploitation, and toxicity mere months after it was all revealed.
Look, I get it. Akali is EXTREMELY my type. It’s obvious how much love and care was put into her development. But it makes me furious to see all the free advertising that Riot is getting from people who I thought would know better.
And now? One of the people who is arguably responsible for all that free advertising? Who’s work is undoubtedly making Riot hundreds of thousands of dollars a day? Who was overworked to the point of near breaking? They get nothing. WORSE than the scant bit of credit that most devs can get in a big company like Riot. They got let go.
Fuck Riot Games.
One thing that I thought really sucked a lot is that the production company who made the KDA video isn’t even credited. They credit a lot of other people on their videos, usually, but the actual animators of the video are hidden; almost a lie by omission. At best it’s a honest mistake, at worst it’s sneakily trying to pass off the video as something made in-house when it’s not. 😦
Ok but…. this guy is the person who designed Akali.
Spookielights Tumblr Archive 