The testified drive behind the entry! Riot Games surely LIT the VALORANT community into shouting colors with their tweet celebrating Pride Month. The official VALORANT account shared a collection of fantastic fan-made artworks picturing some of the most iconic of the game’s agents, and the reactions? Imagine an explosive cocktail mixing waves of hype, arguments, and heartfelt feelings.
To set the record straight from the get-go, chef’s kiss for the artworks. The tweet ranged from artworks by the likes of @Luzdanaee, @sandi_spaguetti, and @Strawberry79, depicting characters like Killjoy and Neon splattered in rainbow colors. Seeing some of that fan art, some players, including @GaboGamada, actually swore it was official Riot art. “I thought the first one was official art damn,” they wrote. Same, Gabo. Same.
Of course, not everyone was on such positive terms with the art. The user @ds7_isaac spewed the hottest take of the day: “For this reason CS and COD are better.” And countering responses came instantaneously. @luvdere_ chimed sarcastically, “BOO! Did I scare you?” while @ROBOTSMYBELOVED responded with “Cope and cry.” Oof.
And here follows a serious delay of the thread that yield… very interesting discussions on character sexualities: @sleepysapphic_ and @ds7_isaac debated about whether Neon is canonically heterosexual, with @444llolvza stepping up with “gender is NOT a sexual orientation โค๏ธ.” Meanwhile, @3Alphy87372, upon seeing the art, started screaming for answers: “SO KILLJOY IS BI!?๐๐๐” Riot, we need lore confirmations ASAP.
But there were some heart-warming moments too. @torrija__ begged Riot to bring Pride banners in-game, while @GayJoeyy rejoiced, “Happy Pride Valorant Community๐ณ๏ธ๐๐!!” And not to mention @IronHawk_GER bringing in some classy commentary: “Happy pride month. ๐ณ๏ธ๐ And great artworks. โค๏ธ”
Anyhow, no gaming Twitter thread is ever quite invisible without accident. @chasinfreedom91 derailed the thread, asking why Pride isn’t celebrated in some countries to which @climbingtobron1 replied, “yes good job u discovered some countries punish being yourself with death :)” Dark, but sadly true.
And then @F9_Njj00 commented in Arabic: “ูุฑูู ุงูู ุซููุฉ ุงููู ุนุงูุดูููุง,” which roughly translates to “The kindness of the LGBTQ+ community they live in.” A beautiful phrase in the sea of madness.
At the end of the day, Riot’s tweet was a microcosm of the VALORANT community: passionate, messy, full of life, and personality. If for nothing else, for art or drama, or just to support Pride: people can all agree that Riot is good at getting everyone talking. Now, to go with those banners being added in-game, courtesy of @torrija__, we’ll be golden.
Here’s to the VALORANT players – Happy Pride Month! Stay proudly profane for the trolls to bait-back. ๐ณ๏ธ๐
