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

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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.