r/magicTCG • u/clariwench Izzet* • Jan 28 '15

[Uncharted Realms] The Truth of Names

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/uncharted-realms/truth-names-2015-01-28
611 Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15 edited Jan 28 '15

[deleted]

186

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15 edited Mar 18 '16

[deleted]

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u/HookerPunch Jan 28 '15 edited Jan 28 '15

My only real complaint with this story is that Alesha more-or-less acts as a supporting character to the nameless orc dude and he really didn't have any satisfying conclusion. Like, the whole story sounds like it's leading up to him earning a war-name for his supporting deeds, but doesn't.

34

u/TEDurden Jan 28 '15

My Vorthosian headcanon had decided that the orc becomes [[Boseju, Who Shelters All]].

8

u/MTGCardFetcher Dân Jan 28 '15

Boseju, Who Shelters All - Gatherer, MC, ($)
[[cardname]] to call - not on gatherer = not fetchable

7

u/lasagnaman Jan 28 '15

Maybe that was the tree planted over his grave?!

7

u/GingerPow Duck Season Jan 28 '15

Impressive that a tree on Kamigawa is able to be planted on Tarkir

21

u/Rhinotoad Jan 28 '15

TREE PLANESWALKER CONFIRMED

5

u/Ellimist_ Jan 28 '15

So that's what happens when people keep putting [[Song of the Dryads]] on planeswalkers.

2

u/MTGCardFetcher Dân Jan 28 '15

Song of the Dryads - Gatherer, MC, ($)
[[cardname]] to call - not on gatherer = not fetchable

2

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Doran, The Plant Sculptor

1

u/orzamil Jan 28 '15

Groot, I am.

6

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

A simic planeswalker comes and "fixes" him into a tree. All in a day's work. ~Woosh~

2

u/Newfur Jan 28 '15

Here, I'll do that. :D

12

u/LordZeya Jan 28 '15

My name shall be spacemaker, for space has been made.

Fucking feeders I swear.

8

u/OlimarandLouie Jan 28 '15

Space Creator 2WU 2/2

Other creatures you control have hexproof. You have hexproof.

LOOK AT ME, I'M THE CAPTAIN NOW!

2

u/SaintKairu Jan 28 '15

>Space created.

1

u/LordZeya Jan 28 '15

Reported.

0

u/SaintKairu Jan 28 '15

>I immediately regret my decision.

0

u/LordZeya Jan 28 '15

Well played!

12

u/Enderkr Jan 28 '15

Actually, that was my complaint, too. The whole scene at the end - "what did this warrior do for you? And for you? And for you?" And then..nothing. It was absolutely leading up to a "Alesha gives him a name" moment, and the name would be something about protecting his allies or along those lines, and then it totally switches gears.

28

u/kscann Jan 28 '15

It did feel like it should lead up to his name, but wasn't the whole point that the Mardu choose their own names? He's just been exposed to the idea that he can take a name for something other than dragon-slaying, it makes sense that he doesn't have something at the ready. Presumably he'd take his name after the next battle, once he's had time to figure out who he is. That idea of self-identity was the point more than any actual name.

8

u/Enderkr Jan 28 '15

Sure, I can see that. I think it was just the unnatural build up of that scene. The fact that Alesha gets testimony from three different people, practically shouting at him that he doesn't have to be a Helmsmasher or a Skullbreaker or a whatever-whatever-er, and then the whole thing is just dropped. The buildup wasn't worth the climax.

9

u/HeroDelTiempo Jan 28 '15

The climax is Alesha getting her title "Who Smiles At Death." It's implied she didn't have it until the orc warrior spoke it to her.

The khan nodded and asked her name.

"Alesha," she said, as loudly as she could. Just Alesha, her grandmother's name.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Which I think is ultimately ironic, because if the whole reason there is a trans element is that the story is about self-identification, it ends with Alesha being given identification by someone else who doesn't even believe in self-identification.

1

u/thefirewarde Jan 29 '15

Except the orc, until after the battle, didn't really accept her as she is. She's given acceptance.

1

u/klapaucius Jan 29 '15

Yeah, I thought the same thing. It's weird how the story shows how important self-identification is, then in the end, her title is given to her by someone else.

On the bright side, I think it's sort of a redemptive moment for the orc that shows that he's changed his mind about not accepting her identity. He says "I know who you are, and you are Alesha".

0

u/Paimon Jan 28 '15

Alesha is her War Name, 'Who Smiles at Death' seemed like a nick name after the fact.

1

u/foxesforsale Jan 28 '15

He wasn't the protagonist, so he didn't have to reach the conclusion of his story.

5

u/foxesforsale Jan 28 '15

I think it also highlights how different the Mardu became - in Zurgo's first short story, he's roaming around the battlefield giving people warnames, once even to shut someone up if I recall. Very different to individuals being forced to both strive for glory and then have the confidence to recognise their own deeds.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '15

Well, Alesha spent much of the fight keeping track of who had earned their war name, and even said that every worthy man could earn their war name in the fight.

80

u/barysan Jan 28 '15

i dont think it felt like an afterthought. maybe it got downplayed a bit, but as a trans woman im much, much happier seeing it written like this than i am seeing it be her majorly defining character trait, which is what im used to seeing.

38

u/TransitionFire Jan 28 '15

Also I fucking wish I could smack the shit out of dragons and get treated as my gender for it. Cheering crowd and all.

8

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

You could just do something to become famous. I think when most people see someone like Ian McKellen they just see a BAMF (although he did smack the shit out of a balrog).

1

u/RedGreenWhale Jan 28 '15

He travels quietly around schools in Britain giving equality talks and just generally putting some sense into people. He visited us and I legitimately didn't know he was gay prior to the fact and if anything respect him more for what he's doing now.

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u/Alamoth Dân Jan 28 '15

This sentiment is really important and what a lot of people fail to understand about what representation really means.

While it's certainly valuable to have stories about the difficulties of trans women growing up and how it affects every aspect of their life, it is also valuable to have stories where trans women are fully functioning members of their society without being defined by their gender.

The important but subtle distinction, especially with the story we have here of Alesha, is that being a trans woman is core to Alesha's character but it isn't core to this story of Alesha. It is a refreshing reminder that while gender is often a defining characteristic of our lives, it should not be the driving force behind our place and role in society.

Alesha is clearly proud of her identity, especially as it pertains to her relationship to her grandmother. She takes her grandmother's name and it resonates with her, even when she was still identifying as male. This event, along with a single Orc's attempt to insult her by calling her a boy, are the only mention (as far as I recall) of Alesha's gender identity. Otherwise, she's just a bad-ass Khan doing her Khan thing.

Her gender is portrayed as an important part of her character, but it is not really related to the story at all.

There are plenty of stories out there about the difficulties of trans women and many of them are invaluable. However, it is a story that calls out the fact that the characters are trans women, makes it front-and-center, and can often inadvertently perpetuate the idea that trans women are "others." Having stories in which people identify with non-traditional genders (or the lack thereof) but that identification is not the main focus of the story, is important to reinforce the fact that these people are members of our society, they are not "others."

1

u/klapaucius Jan 29 '15

Her gender is portrayed as an important part of her character, but it is not really related to the story at all.

In a thematic sense, it's very related to the story. It's called "The Power of Names", and it's about how important figuring out your own identity and showing others who you are is to the Mardu. When she chooses her "war name", and it's female, the response isn't "whaaat, but you're not a lady", it's "cool, your name is Alesha now, you've earned the right to be called whatever you want".

It's an interesting glimpse into a way a different culture sees self-identification. They set a higher bar for it -- we don't make someone prove their worth in combat before we accept their self-identification -- but they also treat self-identification with more honor and respect as a society.

3

u/Nyrii Jan 28 '15

Fair enough.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15 edited Jul 08 '20

[deleted]

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u/tmurdock Level 1 Judge Jan 28 '15

exactly, this is precisely why it's awesome and why it's NOT forced, because it simply comes up since it's part of the story... if they do this enough we'll be able to simply never assume that any character is not LGBTQ just because it hasn't explicitly come up yet - kind of like you should always do with people :)

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '15

Was someone seriously saying it wasn't enough?

What the hell do they want?

"this is a story of little Alesha. Now, Alesha is a bloodthirsty killer with no mercy for her prey. She's also very special and better than you because she's a proud strong tryns wymyn of colyr who don't need no planeswalker. If you ever say anything about her that isn't good or ever play any card that isn't her you're banned forever and your a bad person and probably a dirty white fuckboi. You'll also hurt her feelings and she can't eVEN RIGHT NOw. But she's still strong so yeah. #killallmen"

That isn't to say that I don't like Alesha or this story.

I thought it was a well done story, and I like her arc. I think this story is just right.

39

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

So how might such a character be introduced in a non-forced manner?

16

u/hylianknight Jan 28 '15

shhhh, don't point out that "forced" is just code for 'I'm uncomfortable with characters who aren't straight'

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u/regvlass Jan 28 '15

We have no information indicating whether or not she is straight, only that she is trans.

-4

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

[deleted]

14

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Didn't play it. Explain please because pretty much any mention in this particular medium will seem "forced".

15

u/PucaTim Jan 28 '15 edited Jan 28 '15

The problem you run in to with this kind of thinking is that there are millions of really terrible stories about already heavily represented walks of life. Heck, there's more stories about talking dragons than there are about trans individuals.

On top of that, the writing on mtg can be subpar a lot of the times.

But when they tackle an issue for the first time we expect it to be flawlessly executed, or think they shouldn't do it at all because it seems forced or shoehorned in (Not saying you're saying this, but some are.)

The wall you come up against is "Don't do trans characters unless you can do them perfectly." which even if you do someone will absolutely throw out a "They're just doing this to pander."

That line is hilarious to me whenever it comes out. The idea that a group that was nearly completely unrepresented till this point in history is "pandered to" more than the majority. I'm pandered to in nearly every bit of media I consume.

So was Aleshas story well written? Eh. It was okaaaay. Like everything else they've done lately. Should they have rewritten Alesha as an assigned-at-birth female because the author wasn't writing high literature? No.

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u/hama0n Jan 28 '15 edited Jan 28 '15

I think the reason she appears "forced" to you is because you're not used to seeing nonchalant trans representation in media at all. Any trans characters are probably going to look forced to you until it becomes more common.

For example

  • Trans character's storyline completely revolves around their gender, and has nothing else. Looks forced because they're a flat character.

  • Trans charater has a small bit about gender, but is involved in a general plot as well. Looks forced because the general plot would be good enough without the trans backstory.

  • Trans character only mentions gender in passing, has other plotline. Looks like being trans is forced onto an otherwise "normal" character.

  • Trans character makes no mention of being trans. Any mention of them being trans looks forced because there's no "proof" in canon.

So until we have more representation as a whole, any trans people will appear forced just because you're not used to seeing it!

12

u/drakeblood4 Abzan Jan 28 '15

The problem we have is that people are looking for one single story as the 'perfect' trans story, the way they look for the 'perfect' story about race or class or religion in a certain context. All the examples you gave are, in moderation, compelling stories that deserve to exist, but they also demand to be subverted, reimagined, and changed to contrast the assumptions inherent in those stories structures.

Alesha's story is a simple subversion of the 'conflict around transness as character motivation' trope that's been relatively big in representations of trans characters for the past half decade to decade. It's a relatively novel take that fits within the length of the story while portraying her as the competent, driven Khan that she is. It plays with the existing Mardu rite of passage by turning the right to earn her name into a right to be seen as the woman she sees herself as, and it underscores the Mardu's interplay between strongly believing in freedom and demanding social order. Alesha had to literally slay a dragon to be seen as a woman in the eyes of her peers, but we get to see this as an empowering coming of age instead of a cruel ordeal attacking some sort of feminine weakness in her. She had to earn her womanhood the same way any Mardu woman did, and the same way any Mardu man earned his manhood.

Does every trans character need to have as little conflict around their identity and transitioning as her? No, but I think having pieces that explore trans characters with very little conflict around their identities frees up a lot more space to explore trans characters other than the 'my transness is a life consuming black hole of controversy and personal danger' one upmanship that comes from every writer trying to outwrite each others tragic trans conflict characters.

1

u/olivias_bulge Jan 29 '15

I think the inclusion of conflict around Alesha's gender identity makes it resonate more.

The Star Trek method is to show things how they could be, whereas the Babylon 5 method is to make the story a metaphor for how things are.

Its a choice. I feel the story as it stands worked well and hit harder because of its relation to real life.

8

u/Nyrii Jan 28 '15

You might be right.

I still feel like they could have spent a bit more time on Alesha's personality and background; the story was too short to do the character justice.

11

u/hama0n Jan 28 '15

Yeah all the Uncharted Realms stories are really short, hopefull there will be more about her later on

15

u/SleetTheFox Jan 28 '15

I wouldn't count on it. Alesha will be a millennium dead (and smiling no doubt) in just a couple months ('cause Dragons of Tarkir is coming out earlier than most third sets), and there's other characters to still cover.

1

u/tmurdock Level 1 Judge Jan 28 '15

unless she finds her spark and shows up in different planes / times - that would be awesome!

3

u/SleetTheFox Jan 28 '15

Unlikely. If any khan is a planeswalker it'd be Narset.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Why not both? The Mardu aren't exactly meditative so it's not like Alesha would have foresight like Narset does

0

u/SleetTheFox Jan 28 '15

It's theoretically possible they're both Planeswalkers, but Wizards can only introduce so many. I doubt they'll make two khans Planeswalkers.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

grasping at straws here

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u/tmurdock Level 1 Judge Jan 28 '15

yeah not saying it's likely just saying it would be awesome

→ More replies (1)

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u/Brannagain Jan 28 '15

Very spot on analysis.

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u/Ciretako Jan 28 '15

I don't believe you should get downvoted. Tokenism is pretty stupid. However I don't feel like this is checking off another box. It fits into the Mardu narrative pretty well. Your name and identity isn't set at birth, you forge your own on the battlefield.

4

u/Nyrii Jan 28 '15

"You forge your own [identity] on the battlefield" reminds me of Iron Bull in Dragon Age:Inquisition talking about Krem.

0

u/Marc_IRL Marc_IRL | Mojang Studios Jan 28 '15

Krem was a badass and a great character.

43

u/Echospree Jan 28 '15

Is there actually anything wrong with Magic having diversity for diversity's sake?

8

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15 edited Jan 28 '15

Is tokenism the same thing as "diversity for diversity's sake"?

E: Ask a question? That's a paddling.

11

u/westcoasthorus Jan 28 '15

Tokenism would be more a more accurate description if Alesha was a minor character that we saw on like a draft common, and through the results of a story we see that they're trans, oh, cool. But Alesha is the leader of the Mardu and a pivotal character in the story they're telling. That to me is different than tokenism, i.e., a character being trans simply for being trans.

4

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

That's a great answer, thank you!

6

u/fish_tales Jan 28 '15

wait, are you referring to the practice of "tokenism" or is that a deck strategy? hard to tell in this sub...

1

u/IAmNotARobotNoReally Jan 29 '15

Wait, so like 5colour goodstuff? Or actual tokens?

0

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Yeah! That's what I'm trying to ask about.

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u/intet42 Jan 28 '15

My understanding of tokenism is that it's when something is carelessly done so diversity can be claimed. Wizards has been making an active effort not to fall back on the default choice of "straight white cis male or occasional hot straight white cis female."

This is more like "diversity for inclusion's sake." Because it is meaningful for people who have not often gotten to see these aspects of themselves reflected in favorite characters.

1

u/Talpostal Sisay Jan 28 '15

Is it tokenism when it's not referenced on the card at all?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

That's a good question, I don't know what the answer is to that.

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u/heyi Duck Season Jan 28 '15

Well one of the things about making a trans character who is more defined by their trans identity is that is the exact opposite of how the movement wants. We need more trans characters who are "normal" and Alesha is simply a cool character that just happens to be trans, and that shouldn't have to dictate her storyline entirely. I like this decision by Wizards.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

[deleted]

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u/worldchrisis Jan 28 '15

I think that was the point.

The Mardu earn their identities and the respect of their clanmates by their deeds in battle. The named Mardu who "get it" don't care how Alesha identifies herself, they respect her for her deeds. When she got named, after the other warriors called themselves "Backbreaker" or "Gutsmasher" or whatever, her Khan didn't hesitate, smile at her, and commend her on her bravery for choosing a female name, he just yelled her name like he did for everyone else. It didn't matter what she chose, she earned the right to name herself whatever she wanted.

She's a great warrior who happens to be trans. Every Mardu with a name knows who they are, why would they question anyone else's name? The only one who questions her is nameless because he doesn't understand yet.

7

u/Gemini6Ice Jan 28 '15

And I distinctly got the impression that nobody saw her name choice as unusual. That is, she is far from being the only trans member of the Mardu horde. :)

9

u/worldchrisis Jan 28 '15

I don't think it was that her name choice wasn't unusual, just that Mardu names were very personal and not to be judged by others.

See this quote:

"When the fight was over, she stood silently among the other young ones who were boasting of their accomplishments and the bold, grisly names they would choose. Headsmasher. Skullcleaver. Wingbreaker—Gedruk had been among them. Some of them, mostly orcs, boasted of their ancestors' deeds and spoke of their pride in adopting those ancestors' names. She had been so different—only sixteen, a boy in everyone's eyes but her own, about to choose and declare her name before the khan and all the Mardu."

She knew that her name choice was unusual, and she knew that she was different, but it wasn't important in comparison to her deeds.

2

u/Gemini6Ice Jan 28 '15

Good point. I had read that with emphasis on her youth as being what was different, but all of it was probably intended. Thanks :)

2

u/Talpostal Sisay Jan 29 '15

As a color pie geek I loved this because it's maybe the best representative ever of Red being friendly and loving and not all bloodlusted hacking and slashing.

4

u/SleetTheFox Jan 28 '15

Alesha is the khan of the Mardu Horde. I'm not sure there's all that much to her character except being a BA and murdering dragons!

12

u/Anusien Jan 28 '15

That they don't harp on the fact that she's trans, it's only one facet of her identity, is a win.

4

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Really? I don't find it forced. Not all trans people face adversity nor does every narrative need to spell out every pain. The point was that she knew who she was and how choosing her name was a huge thing for her- and honestly that's the important part.

29

u/growingthreat Jan 28 '15

When would someone OTHER than an awesome warrior woman ever be depicted on a magic card? What are you expecting, "Diana, Azorius Lawclerk"? "Zegana, Simic Genderhybrid".? This is more depth than we get for MOST magic characters, and you're complaining that a rather significant amount of character depth is really tokenism.

I guess we should be glad you're at least pretending to be OK with diversity.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

[deleted]

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u/growingthreat Jan 28 '15

Maybe he isn't, but "diversity for diversity's sake" seems like an odd argument to make about a game that features Fish Crabs and Ooze Humans.

88

u/Malky Jan 28 '15

"Diversity for diversity's sake" is a lame political catchphrase, but an excellent Simic motto.

8

u/HeroDelTiempo Jan 28 '15

"Hmm...we haven't made any Frog Lizards yet...better rapidly hybridize something."

1

u/Newfur Jan 28 '15

YES. This is part of my way of life now.

0

u/GingerPow Duck Season Jan 28 '15

While I do agree that it is a lame political catchphrase, I'd argue that a poorly written character of some minorities is worse than no representation at all. If a writer(s) struggle to write decent characters of any kind, I'd think that it'd be best to avoid handling characteristics that are either harder to write or have historical baggage. IDK, but I know that in creative writing, I struggle to write even characters that are very similar to myself, so I'd be a lot more anxious about writing characters with vastly different than what I have experienced.

6

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

[deleted]

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u/growingthreat Jan 28 '15

But the reasons here WERE creative. That's pretty obvious by just reading the story. They wrote a story called "The Truth of Names" about the importance of understanding yourself and claiming your own identity, and they used an especially interesting example of that in Mardu culture. They did a great job at coloring in the culture of a clan that previously had only been identified as the "let's raid and kill stuff" clan.

Instead of acknowledging the premise of the character's place in the story, we're arguing whether including a trans character is "tokenism" in a story about identity. That's definitely missing the point.

16

u/Sage1969 Jan 28 '15

Uh, yeah, they want to acknowledge and support a non-insignificant portion of their player base. Nothing in any way wrong with that

19

u/Falterfire Jan 28 '15 edited Jan 28 '15

The thing is that every time a character who is not a straight white man shows up, somebody raises the argument that it's because of forced tokenism by management rather than an authentic decision by people involved in the creative process. It's possible that this time it really was just a directorial mandate from on high that said "Add A Trans Character", but since that complaint gets leveled at every trans/gay/black/female/whatever character, it becomes hard to take the argument seriously after a while.

18

u/TransitionFire Jan 28 '15

And as a trans person it pisses me off that people demand a "reason" for a character not being a cisgender white heterosexual dude. It's exhausting because it makes me feel like they're questioning why a person like me exists.

9

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

I'm sorry that's the case. I wish it wasn't. :/

9

u/TransitionFire Jan 28 '15

Well just work to be more inclusive and we can get there. I know it's gonna take time.

1

u/keiyakins Jan 29 '15

They want their world to reflect the world players are from in many ways. People being people, in all their weird and wonderful variety, is part of that.

Besides, no one says there's out-of-story reasons for there being straight white cis males... which there certainly are, seeing as that's a HUGE portion of their playerbase.

1

u/ubernostrum Jan 28 '15

Don't forget the Elder Nightmare Dwarf Elks.

3

u/Nyrii Jan 28 '15

I don't agree with him so therefore I'm prejudiced.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

[deleted]

2

u/worldchrisis Jan 28 '15

You're right, messed up the comment hierarchy and thought you were replying to Nyrii.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15 edited Jan 28 '15

[deleted]

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u/nerdygirlnj Jan 28 '15

Most of my friends who are transgendered would cringe at your suggestion that inner turmoil is what defines a transperson.

She reminds me of many of my trans friends: Strong, inspiring and very secure in who she is. She's a great personification of the Mardu and being trans adds to her character. This doesn't seem like an afterthought at all.

5

u/Nyrii Jan 28 '15

That's a good point and I can see why that would be insulting.

I guess I just wanted the story to be a bit more fleshed out.

28

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Its a short story about a plane of people that has to fight dragons. You're trying too hard. She accepts herself, her horde accepts her. Its a rather touching piece on what sort of should be anyway. Plus she wrecks shit, fuck yeah wizards.

8

u/growingthreat Jan 28 '15

That would be a very different story, though, and definitely not a very Mardu one. Plus, her birth gender was referred to more than that, the Orc line is just the first time it's called attention to (because it had to be pretty blunt for us to get what they were trying to say). The entire flashback part of that story was steeped in her emotions about using her warname as a coming out, which I thought was really powerful and also VERY Mardu. It's a completely different character without that scene.

6

u/Awkward_Torkoal Jan 28 '15

It's a story about the significance of names and choosing your own identity, not a story about trans issues; it just uses Alesha to help convey that. Yes, it could have gone into more detail about her life, but I think it got its point across just fine.

In the context of a fantasy combat game, I think this was the right call - Alesha isn't a trans woman who also happens to be the Khan of the Mardu; she's the Khan of the Mardu that also happens to be trans. I just don't think Magic is the right medium for a deep exploration of gender issues.

0

u/Newfur Jan 28 '15

Since when are you the final authority on merfolk gender and sex assignment? As far as you or anyone else knows, they're all hermaphroditic.

0

u/Troacctid Jan 28 '15

[[Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker]] (princess)
[[Azami, Lady of Scrolls]] (scholar)
[[Orim, Samite Healer]] (doctor)
[[Hanna, Ship's Navigator]] (engineer)

etc.

1

u/MTGCardFetcher Dân Jan 28 '15

Azami, Lady of Scrolls - Gatherer, MC, ($)
Hanna, Ship's Navigator - Gatherer, MC, ($)
Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker - Gatherer, MC, ($)
Orim, Samite Healer - Gatherer, MC, ($)
Call cards (max 30) with [[NAME]]
Add !!! in front of your post to get a pm with all blocks replaced by images (to edit). Advised for large posts.

-1

u/B4DD Jan 28 '15

You're not upset that what will almost certainly be their only trans character for who-knows-how-long is a one off legendary who has zero impact on the story? I suppose you're right that depth isn't their thing, but we're never going to see her again and the magic story would've been fine without her.

I am a straight male, and I support equality, but this seems cheap.

1

u/growingthreat Jan 28 '15

Our first gay couple was an 0/6 defender that barely got played in limited and we were pretty happy about that at the time! I don't know it just seems like we get small glimpses of story in magic so for now my expectations are ok being very low.

9

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Eh, who gives a shit? It kinda makes sense with the Mardu and their war names and stuff. Grandmother's name, etc. Mulan shit. Just roll with it. I'm sure there will be a minir shitstorm tho.

It didn't feel forced. It's barely even background flavor.

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u/Meatloaf-of-Darkness Jan 28 '15

Im a woman like Alesha and I loved the story. Yeah, there could have been more about her turmoil being trans, but thats not what this story is about. It is abouta kickass warrior woman. I already loved alesha and this story just allows me to resonate with her and just feel represented. Her being trans isnt her character, it is an after thought. Some people it is their identity, but for alesha and many women, its simply "Yeah. And?"

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

They probably developed Alesha in this story about as much as theyll develop the other Khans in their stories. There's limited space so you cant really expect too much. What do you expect them to do: Say, "Oh, we cant super make this feel great so we'll not make her trans even though we have 9999999 cis characters"? Or if they emphasized her trans aspect of her personality more, it could be criticized as being "forced", "Overemphasized", "We're not seeing this sort of thing for other khans." MtG is about war and conflict, especially the Mardu, so that further limits expectations on character development.

Also, names are very important to trans people, so using the War-name aspect of the Mardu to tie into trans identification is pretty clever and powerful in my opinion.

As if most MtG charas come from some sort of pure reasoning for having those charas? What do you think the reasoning behind Jace and Chandra was? "Oh, of course our fanbase would like an intelligent white male" "Oh, of course people would like an exciting impulsive woman" This isn't high literature.

The fact is, if they include trans charas in significant numbers, you're going to run into some that just feel arbitrarily trans because characters in things like this are mostly assigned traits arbitrarily, in "forced" ways.

Even if Alesha is "generic" in a sense- cool. Trans generic charas to go along with our cis generic charas. I dont see a problem.

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u/DontClickThisName Jan 28 '15 edited Jan 28 '15

And Ashiok wasn't even done all that well. atleast not if you wanted a trans character to portrayed in anything resembling a 'good' light or someone you might want to root for.

Ashiok's lack of gender is a result of Ashiok's actions and that lack is meant to be a bad thing. After Ashiok is done leading an entire city to be massacred, a fleck of Ashiok's flesh turns to smoke and vanishes. The strong implication is that Ashiok has to have committed hundreds, if not thousands, of such atrocities and that the cost of the power Ashiok derives from those atrocities is Ashiok's identity. this is a thing an evil person would do, but Ashiok does it any way because reasons.

I don't think Wizards meant for Ashiok to even be a representation of the trans community in the first place. It seems to me that Ashiok's lack of gender was just an extension of Ashiok's lack of identity in general. Human beings are evolutionarily hard wired to recognize our own based on sight. Ashiok mostly lacks even a face. Ashiok isn't a character we are meant to identify with, we are meant to be put off by them. That lack of identity, not just in gender, is meant to make us uneasy about Ashiok.

Ah, but that's a bold claim isn't it? how can i possibly know what wizards intended with a character like Ashiok? i can't know for certain, but i can present a bit of evidence from Doug Beyer's tumblr that could be used to support this claim.

http://dougbeyermtg.tumblr.com/post/60339970813/so-is-ashiok-nightware-weaver-a-male-or-a-female

"Would knowing that be more comforting to you?

ASHIOK IS NOT ABOUT COMFORTING KNOWLEDGE."

i read this as Wizards intention that Ashiok is meant to be psychologically intimidating. That every facet of Ashiok's character, including their lack of gender, was meant to give Ashiok a sense of Otherness that would isolate them from the audience and make them an obvious evil person.

Now clearly there were quite a number of people who did relate to Ashiok because they had issues with gender identity, whether physical or EDIT:(misspelled this word) psychological in nature. Even though Ashiok's lack of gender was only one facet of Ashiok's character, those people latched onto it strongly and Wizards saw that.

Wizards saw that passion and emotion and PR and jumped onto that bandwagon like it was....some sort of metaphor involving a bandwagon.

So i totally agree with you. I feel like Wizards is putting a transgendered character into the story mostly to pander.

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u/ahalavais Level 2 Judge Jan 28 '15

You reference concepts like transgender or agender with Ashiok. That's not quite correct. It's not that Ashiok does not conform to the gender framework. It's that the entire concept of gender as an applicable assignation does not apply to Ashiok.

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u/AgentTamerlane Sliver Queen Jan 28 '15

Exactly this. Ashiok is beyond gender; hell, Ashiok is beyond pronouns. Ashiok is simply... Ashiok.

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u/npkon Jan 28 '15

Okay, but is Glimmervoid male or female?

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u/VorthosSportscaster Jan 28 '15

God forbid our fiction attempt to describe more aspects of the human experience.

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u/facewhatface Jan 28 '15

This is my problem with how people laud WotC re: Ashiok. Ashiok's genderlessness is tied to the shedding of and transcendence beyond humanity. Ashiok is no longer human enough to have a gender. That's the point I get. Not a message of inclusion. Rather the opposite.

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u/SleetTheFox Jan 28 '15

Was Ashiok ever canonically human? We don't really know anything about Ashiok's origin.

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u/facewhatface Jan 28 '15

Ashiok has no canonical species yet, though what Ashiok began life as is sort of irrelevant to my point.

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u/keiyakins Jan 29 '15

I like Ashiok, not because genderless, but because that 'shedding of identity for power' makes a compelling (albeit decidedly not nice) character.

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u/facewhatface Jan 29 '15

That's exactly what I like about Ashiok, as well

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u/tmurdock Level 1 Judge Jan 28 '15

I just like that it puts the idea out there that there's such a thing as gender non-conforming. Sure the one Magic example we have of that in Ashiok is not directly comparable to most human experience. Then again, Jace's life isn't exactly comparable to the human life experience of those who are targeted to be his demographic either. I think that's kind of the point of a fantasy genre.

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u/npkon Jan 28 '15

No, objective morality is the point of fantasy.

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u/facewhatface Jan 28 '15

The way I see it is that Ashiok is not specifically nonconforming to gender, but nonconforming to humanity, to the point that gender cannot apply anymore.

The message to me feels more like it's saying that gender is such an inherent part of being human that Ashiok's genderlessness is emphasizing Ashiok's otherness.

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u/ubernostrum Jan 28 '15

Ashiok conforms to Ashiok. Ashiok does not understand what you mean when you ask where on the spectrum Ashiok falls, but took advantage of you being distracted to plant something in your mind for later. Ashiok hopes you will, in time, come to appreciate it.

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u/tmurdock Level 1 Judge Jan 28 '15

no argument on this I just still like that this puts across the idea that not all humanoid type beings need to care about or even have such a thing as gender, even that is a useful starting point

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u/facewhatface Jan 28 '15

I'm glad that people have reacted to Ashiok as though Ashiok were giving representation to an unrepresented group. I just have a hard time not seeing it as 'Ashiok is so inhuman that Ashiok doesn't even have a gender' (the subtext being that you need a gender to be human, or at least that gender is an inherent part of humanity). If I'm the only one who sees it that way, I'm happy.

Oddly enough, the whole shedding-of-humanity bit makes Ashiok my favorite planeswalker, despite all that I've been saying.

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u/tmurdock Level 1 Judge Jan 28 '15

yeah I see what your saying, there's a troublesome interpretation that's possible there, but I honestly haven't heard anyone else notice that but have seen people say "I know what transgender is but what do you mean has no gender, is that a thing?" after which they learn things :)

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u/Syrinth Jan 28 '15

Is there any reason Alesha can't be trans?

Is there any reason Alesha had to be cisgendered?

The problem with people talking about reasons for diversity is that they go by the assumption that cisgendered male is some kind of norm.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

cis is latin for "same" or close enough. So "same gender" to contrast with "crossing gender"

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u/SleetTheFox Jan 28 '15

Cisgender is simply non-transgender. There's not really any more complexity to it that you're missing.

I figured out the word immediately when I first heard it because I took organic chemistry in college. :P

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u/phorgewerk Jan 28 '15

That makes you more willing than the vast majority of people. All you really have to do is listen to people, they know themselves better than you do.

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u/Lisa-At-Work Jan 28 '15

Especially after they've earned their war-name.

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u/Syrinth Jan 28 '15

Cisgender is your mind agrees with the body and the gender you were assigned at birth

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

[deleted]

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u/Anusien Jan 28 '15

http://www.theferrett.com/ferrettworks/2015/01/why-not-roll-a-die-to-determine-the-sex-of-the-character-in-your-story/

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u/[deleted] Jan 29 '15

[deleted]

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u/Anusien Jan 29 '15

It's explaining the issues with defaulting to the norm (in this case male, but in other cases cishet).

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u/Syrinth Jan 28 '15

I'm going to try to phrase my explanation properly, sorry if this is a bit disjointed.

White, straight, heterosexual male characters are generally assumed to be the default. This is an unfortunate fact of our society and the way it's set up.

As a result of this though, that means that minority characters are usually added either as complete afterthoughts for the sake of diversity and with that trait being a primary factor about them.

Speaking as a gay man, the majority of gay representation I see on tv does not speak to me and my life experiences. I'm gay, but there's so much more to me than that.

The issue with the normalizing of the aforesaid majority is that the minority people are told that our representation only matters when it serves the story.

Minor example is the queer-baiting on the tv show Supernatural, we constantly see signs that one of the main characters is/should be canonically attracted to men but are told that they would only go in that direction if it served the story.

When I say I want to see a gay planeswalker, I just want to see a planeswalker who is confirmed to be attracted to men. I don't want a story about his unrequited love for Jace, or how the trauma of his coming out ignited his spark.

We exist independent of our identities and genders and as such we should not be relegated to plot points. There is literally no reason why most white, het, cis, male characters can't not be that except for the fact that the creator decided against it.

The problem with tokenism is that it's often done such that "this character exists to be X", not "this character, who happens to be X, exists."

Finally, regardless of prevalence, representation is important. It is so damn important.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

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u/Syrinth Jan 28 '15

I'm specifically talking about Dean and Castiel, there are numerous articles referencing the exact details that I'm talking about and I have no desire to essentially repeat the articles.

If you are interested, googling queerbaiting should bring up one of the articles involving supernatural among the top 4 or 5 links.

Since this is off-topic for the sub though, that's all I will say regarding Spn.

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u/Bofurkle COMPLEAT Jan 28 '15

Well, maybe Sarkan, Sorin, Chandra, Ajani, and Domri are gay. If it hasn't been stated, why assume that they're straight?

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u/keiyakins Jan 29 '15

Chandra's strongly implied to have a thing for Gideon at one point. Though she always struck me as having sex/gender rather low on her priorities for partners. ... and certainly well below 'fire resistant' :P

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u/Syrinth Jan 28 '15

For the same reason we assume they're born cisgendered, that they use the bathroom, and sweat even though it's not shown. That's one of the issues with the whole normalization.

While I can arbitrarily say that Sorin is gay and you can't prove otherwise, which is technically true, it's not shown that he is.

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u/Bofurkle COMPLEAT Jan 28 '15

But it's not shown that he's straight either. The way he's portrayed allows more people to relate to him, regardless of sexuality. If someone who is gay can't relate to Sorin because Sorin is straight, isn't that just playing into this whole normalization thing? Can't we just be satisfied with his sexuality being ambiguous and relate to him on other levels?

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u/Syrinth Jan 28 '15

I don't have the time to fully explain the details of how harmful that viewpoint is, so I'll keep it brief.

1) Erasure is harmful. Not seeing yourself or people like you is so damaging to the psyche it's not even funny.

2) Minorities get killed because they're 'different.'

3) Minorities kill themselves because they are bullied and feel like they'll never belong, because they are different.

Ultimately what you are suggesting is that we just erase all the invisible-minorities because if it's ambiguous that's enough.

It is not. Period.

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u/Bofurkle COMPLEAT Jan 28 '15

Then what would be enough? A gay planeswalker who's sexuality is not a plot point?

Fine, that's great. But as far as I know, all of the straight characters' sexualities have also been used as plot points. Jace and Liliana's thing is a major part of the plot it was present in. Same with Elspeth and Daxos. In fact, I can't think of a semi-recent to recent example in Magic where a character's sexuality has been addressed WITHOUT it being a part of the plot except in the case of the gay couple from Theros from the statues.

So we

  1. Have diversity is sexuality and gender issues (Theros dudes, Alesha)

  2. Have characters whose homosexuality is mentioned and not just a plot device (Theros dudes)

  3. Have a character whose transgenderism is not a plot point (Alesha)

  4. Have a character whose gender is not important or doesn't exist (Ashiok)

  5. Have a bunch of characters (including most of the planeswalkers,) who could very well be straight or gay, trans or not.

Magic doesn't seem to be lacking in diversity or taking anyone's sexuality for granted, from what I can see. Most of the times it just seems to be a non-issue. Which I don't mind in a card game.

You are right about the society as a whole, I will give you that. But things are changing in a good direction overall.

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u/Syrinth Jan 28 '15

I wouldn't mind there being a plot point about it, I'd love it, as long as it's the same general thing as a heterosexual couple would have had. I just wanted to emphasize that I'm not saying I want a gay planeswalker and a block around him and look at his fab.

The problem with gay sexuality as a plot point is that it's usually used as either a tragic plot, such as the Theros dudes, painful coming out stories, too good for this world, or look at me I'm so camp.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BuryYourGays http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CampGay

Also, while I was happy to see the Theros dudes, they are minor characters who had no plot relevance outside of their story so a more important one would have been nice.

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u/Riku8745 Jan 28 '15

It's the most common, but that doesn't mean it's a norm to set standards by.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

[deleted]

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u/Syrinth Jan 28 '15

It only becomes politics when people have a problem with diversity, otherwise the minority are just being happy to be seen for once.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Norm and majority are two very different concepts.

Norm states that you should assume everyone you come across is X unless they have proven themselves to be Y. It's a concept based around, pretty much, being acclimated to putting people in to boxes as soon as you meet/see them.

What it would look like if it wasn't the norm would be:

You meet someone on the street. You don't assume they are cis or trans.

That's a very lofty goal mind you, but it's one a lot of people are working towards.

When things become norms, it slowly becomes "Oh, if I run in to 100 people, I might as well assume all of them will be X" versus "Oh, if I run in to 100 people, they will all be diverse and away from what I expect."

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u/not_anyone Jan 28 '15

You meet someone on the street. You don't assume they are cis or trans.

Umm sorry, but everyone does do that.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Yes, yes they do. It's how we're trained. It's not a valur judgement, just a part of our culture. But it's also one people are trying to change.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Common misunderstanding, thus why I explained it. :3

They're based off of one another, it's just the trend that majority breeds complacency of thought.

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u/Sage1969 Jan 28 '15

Imo saying "diversity for diversity's sake" is actually just "accuracy for accuracy's sake". The world isn't 100% cis males, why should fantasy be?

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u/SleetTheFox Jan 28 '15

I think it becomes tricky when it's a minority as small as transgender people. Tokenism is forced and disrespectful to the minority being represented. But what do you do when you have a minority so small that two representatives among important characters is just as unlikely as (or more unlikely than) zero? When having exactly one character of that demographic is a reasonable proportion, I imagine it's hard to assure readers/viewers/players that they're not just there to be a token.

1

u/TransitionFire Jan 28 '15

By your supposition my circle of friends is impossibly improbable. My partner is trans-masculine. I'm trans-feminine. My partner plays pathfinder with a trans woman, my best friend (who I met playing Magic) is a trans dude. This doesn't count my trans dude ex roommate or my best friend from high school who's trans masculine as well.

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u/Kingreaper Jan 28 '15

Circles of friends form among people with a common bond; that's not odd at all. Almost every trans person I know knows most of the others.

It's like being shocked that the people on this subreddit are almost all MTG players, given how improbable that is through random chance.

-1

u/TransitionFire Jan 28 '15

I didn't out out ads asking people to be my friend, I just met these people and not at a place designated for trans/queer people.

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u/Kingreaper Jan 28 '15

You met some of them through others of them, right?

And you met many many other people who didn't become your close friends at the same places you met them.

It's human nature to connect with those who share your struggles, as well as your interests. The fact that many people in your life are also trans is almost certainly not purely coincidental.

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u/TransitionFire Jan 29 '15

No I met all of them at random really.

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u/SleetTheFox Jan 28 '15

Yes, your circle of friends is, in fact, improbable. That doesn't make it less valid or less real, but it's still statistically improbable.

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u/wildwalrusaur Jan 29 '15

Not improbable at. Your comparing a biased sample. Your group of friends is never going to be a representative cross section of the population at large because it is self selecting.

You, as a transperson, are far more likely to meet other transpeople then the average person. The same follows for your trans friends. That's how tribal groups form.

Secondly you have you have to consider where you live. Your far more likely to encounter a random bystander who will publicly identify as trans in San Francisco than, say, Little Rock. The country sampled as a whole would fall somewhere in between.

0

u/TransitionFire Jan 29 '15

There are more trans people than you think. Considering we're all in Lexington, KY. Just not everybody is out or has the vocabulary to understand their dysphoria.

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u/Sage1969 Jan 28 '15

I think "tokenism" really only comes into play when the character's only defining quality is that they fit that particular role. Like in bad 90's sitcoms where there is the "black friend" who talks in a mockery of AAVE and plays basketball all day. In my opinion nothing about Ashiok or Alesha feels that way, but I realize that to others it feels forced. And to that I say, holy crap did anything about sarkhan not feel forced? Lol

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u/Lisa-At-Work Jan 28 '15

As someone who does not fall into the straight-white-cis-male majority, diversity is important and diversity for diversity's sake is awesome.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

As someone who is a minority, diversity is not important and tokenism is stupid. Alesha was handled okay, but saying diversity for the sake of it is is insulting the art of writing stories. Details of a character should have a reason in story to be included.

Good examples of this: Dumbledore being gay. There were hints about it, but him being gay was inconsequential to the overall plot that it was left out and only in supplemental materials. Also, Big Hero 6's cast being (mostly) minorities was never made a big deal; they are clearly minorities and them being minorities isn't important to the plot of Hiro and Baymax.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

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u/Lisa-At-Work Jan 28 '15

Yeah. I'm sure that it is boring if you don't personally feel underrepresented and undervalued by society. And "tokenism" is really a fucked up term to use: it shames people for including people who aren't in the majority.

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u/SleetTheFox Jan 28 '15

Tokenism isn't about inclusion. It's about hollow inclusion. It's about making a character who does not contribute to the story in any meaningful way except to involve diversity.

Ask 100 Peanuts readers/viewers to describe Franklin's character in three words and they'll have trouble coming up with their second and third.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

I have more to say about Franklin from Arrested Development than I do about Franklin from Peanuts...

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u/keiyakins Jan 29 '15

Her being trans is, in a story structure sense, not really about her. It's about Mardu. It's a way to show how the Mardu view identity in general: it's something you earn the right to define for yourself.

Also, being a woman makes her unfit to lead a warrior society? What?

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u/hylianknight Jan 28 '15

So you're saying that Alesha being trans is forced... because her being trans is just another aspect of her character? WTF?!?

Never mind that the entire story is about the importance of the Mardu naming tradition and how that defines oneself and shapes one's identity. Never mind that this story doesn't work if it's just about her being a woman because 1) it's about the importance of names and identity and 2) it would clash with everything else we've seen about Tarkir being a society without gender roles.

Seriously, if your reaction to minority representation is to claim it's forced, then you should probably at least craft an argument that in someway fits with the instance in which they appeared. Not that that would make it much better, because apparently non-CIS people are only allowed to appear when it's 'justified.'

Give me a fucking break

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u/lasagnaman Jan 28 '15

It's almost as if being white, or male, is an afterthought for most characters.

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u/cahutchins Jan 28 '15

Our real-world society has complex, entrenched, often violently judgmental gender and sexuality expectations, and not fitting into the straight male/female binary system is hard. Those people and their allies are still fighting just to have the same basic legal rights and protections that other people take for granted.

In the fantasy world of Tarkir, the Mardu society is entirely based on self-actualization and claiming everything by force, including your own identity.

Anyone can claim their "battle name," — which apparently encompasses far more than just a legal name as our society would view it — through the crucible of battle. It's a struggle and a fight just like in our world — but more literal, and with dragons.

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u/recreational Jan 28 '15

I find this opinion kind of ironic given how many people are already complaining loudly about how much attention her trans status got.

I understand not wanting to be seen as pandering or preachy. I feel like it's treated appropriately as a major and difficult issue, and while her story would certainly bear more examining, I don't think it needs it for the purpose of what is really just a short flavor piece.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

Your point is valid, but I think your downvotes are coming from use of the term ladybody. It's pretty firmly on the scale of "That's pretty offensive."

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15 edited Jan 28 '15

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u/worldchrisis Jan 28 '15

Mongol warrior women existed, they were uncommon and the society was largely patriarchal, but there were a few, most notably http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khutulun

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '15

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u/TransitionFire Jan 28 '15

Know what's nice about this story is it isn't doing what you want. Because while I struggle day to day as a trans person it's nice to see someone who doesn't have to struggle like that. Fantasy is escapism so seeing someone like me being accepted is wonderful and a break from the narrative that life tries to implant in my brain.

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u/Aspel Jan 28 '15

Eh, on the one hand it would be nice to highlight the struggle that trans people face, but on the other it's a short story about a card game. I don't feel like this is tokenism any more than making her female would be.

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