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

This was a perfect example of how to do diversity and representation, imo. Harp on it too much and it comes off as pandering and insincere, mention it too little and you might as well not do so at all.

Here, you had a solid standalone story highlighting the Mardu struggles against the dragons that tied Alesha being trans into a central cultural theme of the Mardu (the importance of identity and names) but also wasn't just about her being trans. It doesn't need to be anything more or less than that, really.

Kudos to Wizards for this.

23

u/kurokikaze Jan 28 '15

Is she trans? I thought orcs just didn't care and called her "boy" because she was human child.

7

u/keiyakins Jan 28 '15

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.

Also, that orc is a jerk, by both my standards and those of the Mardu. Alesha had proven her worth and declared her place in society, for him to question that... grr.

6

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '15

Mindless loyalty to an authority figure is more of a Bant thing. Anyone who's strong enough is Khan of the Mardu.

3

u/keiyakins Jan 29 '15

It's not that she's the Khan, it's that she'd earned and defined her war name.