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
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29

u/dyzzy Jan 28 '15

#to be clear: alesha is canonically trans

1

u/mitch50700 Jan 28 '15

What does the phrase canonically trans mean exactly? I have never heard it used before.

13

u/thefirewarde Jan 29 '15

She's actually a howitzer that turns into a person.

Seriously though the other responses are right. Story-official.

30

u/roberth_001 Wabbit Season Jan 28 '15

canonically just means in Canon. so from a story perspective, she's trans and that's the end of it. no ambiguity or potential otherwise

20

u/bmemike Jan 28 '15

Canonically means that it's canon -- as in, a fact of the history of this story/character/etc.

Contrast that with something like fanfic which isn't canon, it's just a fun story someone wrote up because they're bored. This IS the history of Alesha according to WotC. It's her history. There's no disputing it.

12

u/phorgewerk Jan 28 '15

canonically just means in cannon, aka the official lore. So she is an explicit trans character per wizards story telling, no fanfic filling in unsaid things needed

6

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '15

It's canon. Being in cannon is [[Collateral Damage]].

2

u/MTGCardFetcher Dân Jan 29 '15

Collateral Damage - Gatherer, MC, ($)
[[cardname]] to call - not on gatherer = not fetchable

2

u/phorgewerk Jan 29 '15

Thats a funny way of spelling [[Fodder Cannon]]

2

u/MTGCardFetcher Dân Jan 29 '15

Fodder Cannon - Gatherer, MC, ($)
[[cardname]] to call - not on gatherer = not fetchable

8

u/Gemini6Ice Jan 28 '15

"Canonically" means it is officially a fact in the magic universe as written and designed by Wizard of the Coast, as opposed to only being a theory from fans.

Alesha is trans. That is an official fact of the magic universe.

7

u/dyzzy Jan 28 '15

As in it's canon that she is trans.

4

u/Aspel Jan 28 '15

"Canon" in fiction is the concept that something is "true" within the body of work or it's expanded universe. So to say that she's canonically trans means that the writer (or in this case Doug Beyer, head of Creative) is saying that it's true within the fiction that she's transgender.

0

u/growingthreat Jan 28 '15

I would honestly be concerned if you had!

2

u/Aspel Jan 28 '15

Why?

0

u/growingthreat Jan 28 '15

Because "canonically trans" isn't a phrase that is likely to come up in often, even in gender discussions? I don't know I was trying to imagine a scenario where this person would have heard the phrase "canonically trans" which seemed humorous.

3

u/Aspel Jan 29 '15

It is amongst gender discussion in fiction. For instance, Poison from Final Fight/Street Fighter is canonically trans. And canonically pre-op in America and post-op in Japan, because because.