Uncharted Realms, The Truth of Names
Lore forum
Posted on Jan. 28, 2015, 1:01 p.m. by FatherLiir
In which we learn Alesha, Who Smiles at Death is Trans, and also much more Boros than Rakdos. She is now also my favorite Khan.
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/uncharted-realms/truth-names-2015-01-28
Full story is at the URL if anyone cares to make a link.
I just figured that the Mardu had a different gender system than ours. Perhaps all youths were "boys" or all youthful warriors. Why would the story still be using the feminine pronoun? It is a bit confusing, and if it is what the author was going for, then kudos. After all "trans" in the sense we understand it comes out of the binary identification of gender (which does not actually match all natural possibilities.) Granted, the story is presumably written by someone in our western culture.
January 28, 2015 1:22 p.m.
Servo_Token says... #5
It uses the feminine pronoun to emphasise Alesha's Gender Identification. If it flipped between calling her 'him' and 'her', we might lose focus on the whole point of the story.
January 28, 2015 1:24 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #6
Oooh, that was nice. A very interesting read indeed.
January 28, 2015 1:25 p.m.
So wait... Alesha started out male and decided to go with female? What a fucking odd storyline decision..
January 28, 2015 1:27 p.m.
That's not at all how I viewed it...
I saw two possible interpretations of the "boy becomes woman".
The first being that perhaps girls within their clan are not warriors, thus to be allowed to battle Alesha had to pretend to be a boy... once she earned the right to name herself, she was able to identify herself as female as no one could question her as a warrior. - Similar to Joan of Arc, but with acceptance of gender once status was proven. - This would show the unnamed Orc's change in opinion from calling her a boy, when he was not impressed with her, to calling he by name (and expanding upon it) when he saw and accepted her as Khan.
The second; this may imply that orc's do not differentiate gender for their young. With no physical real differences or differences in status, "boy" and "girl" are the same to them... one gender until adulthood is reached. - This would explain why the unnamed Orc called her "a boy who thinks he's a woman." - Boy and He are both used as the generic masculine that would be used for their young. - This may be a stretch, but would seem to fit. Calling her a "boy" implies he does not view her as an adult, and calling her by name shows his view has changed.
January 28, 2015 1:48 p.m.
Anybody who reached for an explanation of that article besides "Alesha is transgendered" is sort of part of the problem.
The point at which she chooses her name, becomes a warrior, and the point where she would STOP being "a boy" in the logic of the people who don't want to accept that she is trans, she thinks of herself
"only sixteen, a boy in everyone's eyes but her own"
I suppose you could maybe, MAYBE try claiming that "boy" references anybody of any gender who hasn't earned a war-name, but that is not implied anywhere else in any capacity. And now, three years later, she is the Khan. She has been a battle-leader for years, and seen many people earn their war-name, and is obviously respected and feared.
That's the point at which the orc says "A human boy who thinks he's a woman?""
There's no chance whatsoever that anybody would call a war-named Khan a "boy" unless they meant "Identifying as male"
Alesha is trans, and if that bothers you, deal with it?
January 28, 2015 2:30 p.m.
Even more to the point:
Alesha tells the orc to "Know who you are" which is what prompts him to call her "A human boy who thinks he's a woman"
This has NOTHING to do with maturity, earning a war-name, being seen as an adult, anything. She HAS a war-name, she's the frigging Khan. The only way it makes any sense at all for him to respond to "Know who you are, and claim it!" with a sneer and a statement about being a boy but thinking they are a woman is that Alesha is biologically male, and identifies as female, and some people (like some users on this site apparently) have a problem with that.
January 28, 2015 2:39 p.m.
Yeah, I was reading the story thinking "Alright we get to see Alesha hit some people!" then they dropped the bombshell that was "A human boy who thinks he's a woman?". WotC has been very accepting of all people, especially individuals who do not associate with the binary definition of gender most people ascribe to. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver was a step towards a character whose gender is unknown or unknowable, but Alesha, Who Smiles at Death is truly a trans-person. In UR they are never so subtle as to make you have to read in between the lines for meaning. That statement "A human boy who thinks he's a woman" is saying just that, Alesha is physically male, but identifies as female. And even though it makes me slightly uncomfortable, I will accept Alesha for who she is. And you should too.
January 28, 2015 2:44 p.m.
Thank you Portfolio for being willing to air your prejudice so openly.
January 28, 2015 2:47 p.m.
chrishuffman95 says... #16
Trans representation in Magic, I can die happy now. This is an awesome moment for MTG.
January 28, 2015 2:54 p.m.
SpartanCEL says... #17
I find this all too amusing how much people want a trans-gender figure. "I know who I am. I am not a boy. I am Alesha, like my grandmother before me." I think Rayenous is right:p. Also I think the orc was trying to say he thinks Alesha is actually a boy(like most kahns) but is pretending to be a girl, thus "a boy who thinks he's a woman"
January 28, 2015 3:04 p.m.
Regarding "Alesha is trans, and if that bothers you, deal with it?"
It does not bother me... what does bother me is that you feel your opinion and views are more important than mine, or anyone else who may a varying viewpoint from yours. It also bothers me that you feel people have a problem with your views, even though no one has stated as much.
Every word in my post is could be just as valid as the words in yours. If you feel that my differing opinion is "sort of part of the problem.", then I am sorry that you think this way. That automatic view of other peoples statements go a long way to ensuring the problem is never fixed.
My views are not intended to negate your views, but only to offer possible alternatives. - I would not go as far as to state that you could not be correct (as you have done for other peoples views).
For centuries, warrior clans world wide have had 'coming of age' rituals and ceremonies, prior to which the individuals are view as generic members of society, faceless, role-less, and sometimes genderless . - I found the 'coming of age' to be a clear theme in this story, and it played into the views I mentioned. If you don't agree, I'm fine with that... but please don't feel your views are any more valid than mine.
January 28, 2015 3:06 p.m.
chrishuffman95 says... #19
In addition, Doug Beyer made a post saying we'd see a trans MtG character sometime soon
January 28, 2015 3:07 p.m.
@Rayenous it's not about opinion. It's about the fact that she IS a transgendered character. Your opinions are as valid as my opinions, surely. But neither of our opinions is more valid than fact coming from their corporate PR sources.
January 28, 2015 3:09 p.m.
chrishuffman95 says... #21
Here's the problem with what both Rayenous and SpartanCEL have said. Trans people have been very neglected in society, and are often viewed as merely going through a phrase, or as spiritually sick individuals, in my case. By saying these things, you, in a sense, are invalidating trans representation. And since a designer at MtG said it would happen, I think it's pretty solid evidence.
January 28, 2015 3:10 p.m.
SpartanCEL says... #22
Not really if you're trans good for you, you have a special trait. I'm thinking the whole Mulan girl thing, and she identifies as Alesha not a boy anyway
January 28, 2015 3:13 p.m.
chrishuffman95 says... #23
Also, in Doug MEyer's most recent Tumblr post, it is tagged to be clear, Alesha is canonically trans
January 28, 2015 3:15 p.m.
A clam and well stated "Here is a link to the PR stating that Alesha is transgender", would have gone a LONG easy to stating your point, rather than bashing people for having a different view of the words in a story.
January 28, 2015 3:17 p.m.
chrishuffman95 says... #25
SpartanCEL, she started as a boy and identifies as a woman now. It's been confirmed by a designer, so people would probably appreciate if you stop denying this.
January 28, 2015 3:17 p.m.
SpartanCEL says... #26
chrishuffman95 if you guys would link everything related to a easily debatable topic, people would appreciate this
January 28, 2015 3:21 p.m.
chrishuffman95 says... #28
I did, clearly. In fact, I did so to prevent any arguments claiming Alesha was not transsexual. But denying it after the fact that I posted concrete evidence was rather rude and not appreciated. If you don't agree with this subject, fine, but don't bring your beliefs up here. This is a thread dedicated to the fact that she is indeed trans, not a war over what people think. Nor is it a place to be rude
January 28, 2015 3:27 p.m.
SpartanCEL says... #29
I meant before they started discussing, so we wouldn't have the problem of "now I'm right lets make a cynical comment which opens doors for arguments sake"
January 28, 2015 3:27 p.m.
chrishuffman95 says... #30
The evidence was found after they discussed this.
For now, I'll be unsubscribing until a constructive discussion can start. Could somebody tag me when it does, please?
January 28, 2015 3:29 p.m.
SpartanCEL says... #31
The article is obviously linked and is debatable, it's the twitter post that definitely proves your point
January 28, 2015 3:29 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #32
That's the lead designer of most of MTG's canonical storyline. Literally what he says goes.
January 28, 2015 3:33 p.m.
I've known enough people to be the targets of a sneering equivalent of
"You tell me this? A human boy who thinks he's a woman?"
To have never considered for a moment that this was about anything other than gender identity. I guess the people who didn't think of this as the only, let alone first possible interpretation of the article have perhaps been very fortunate to only be around people who've never had the core of their identity questioned and ridiculed.
I apologize to anybody who was offended by my assertion that people reaching for alternate explanations when the obvious explanation is right at your feet were doing something wrong necessarily. Only possibly.
January 28, 2015 3:51 p.m.
julianjmoss says... #34
I live in a very open and accepting area of the states so it sometimes surprises me when businesses need to go out of their way to state their acceptance of a group or acknowledge them. This uncharted realms was really good, it just caught me off guard because its not something I'm used to seeing locally. I think wizards made a really good choice of which character they chose and how they presented her and I hope that she is well received.
January 28, 2015 4:04 p.m.
CrazyLittleGuy says... #35
@Devonin It's obviously something you're considering beyond just whether it's factually accurate that a fictional character may be a dude that motivated you to bash strangers. Calling others with different views "part of the problem" is more close-minded than being that someone with a different view. If you were open-minded enough you wouldn't consider alternative opinions to be problematic. Problematic to what, your conceptions? Diversity includes diversity of opinions. Or would you rather control how people think?
January 28, 2015 4:10 p.m.
I would just like to state, I would like to not have to care if she's transgendered or not. To me it doesn't matter. In this case, it was a compelling story that didn't get enhanced or suffer from the fact alesha is transgendered. But I'm glad mtg made this character.
I just think forcing someone to care about it one way or another is wrong. It's saying 'You're not thinking the way I want you to.' That to me is discrimination. I want you to accept me as I am and I'll do the same, not because I/you support your/my lifestyle/beliefs.
FTR I don't support anything in particular other than this, let people live life they way want to. As long as they aren't taking your things/money or hurting you or others there is nothing wrong with their way of life and choices.
January 28, 2015 4:27 p.m.
NixTheThird says... #38
Can't tell if some of these posts are trolling or if it's a real argument going on...
either way, I've laughed, I've felt like a terrible person, laughed again, and facepalmed several times at these posts. Thank you, Uncharted Realms, for a good story and the ignition of yet another awful/fantastic train wreck of a forum argument.
/popcorn
//yes, i know the treatment of trans people is a serious issue, but none of these posts makes anyone look good
January 28, 2015 4:30 p.m.
chrishuffman95 says... #39
These are all valid opinions that I'm seeing, though there are some problems that I feel as a supporter of any trans people, and being trans myself. It's a similar problem to gay rights, to religious rights. Representation is incredibly vital. Being acknowledged as a human being with our trains, instead of being told we're wrong is vital to our social identity, and invalidating can often be viewed as insulting. It is wrong to say that people who think differently are part of the problem, yes. A lot of people who do think differently are the problem, but not all of them, and I feel as if it should be noted. gufymike and CrazyLittleGuy, your points are valid, and i appreciate you bringing them up. Still, there is one point that I would like to refute.
In a larger sense, Alesha being transgendered is incredibly important to the story, but might not be from privileged points of view. Transgender people are being noticed by Wizards, and not just in small ways. The leader of the Mardu, a chief of mighty warriors who slay dragons for kicks, is a trans character. She is a main character in the storyline, and her being trans brings many more flavorful questions to mind. The Mardu obviously accepts trans people in their community, as they made one their Khan, and at least to me, that is exciting. Tarkir is a big story, and trans people get to be a part of it. So at the very least, consider her being trans as relevant to the stoy, because it really is
January 28, 2015 4:56 p.m.
chrishuffman95 says... #40
Also, StuntmanTheThird, if you came to this thread to be amused, you're in the wrong thread.
January 28, 2015 4:59 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #41
Normally I don't like it when authors make their characters from the LGBT community. Normally I just feel like they are using that community as an excuse to make their character more interesting.
Normally.
But this. This is done right. The narration itself gives no indication that Alesa is trans. It just tells you what she is, female. It is only through the interaction with other characters do you learn that she is trans (now I'm saying trans like khans) and the narration doesn't bat an eye at these claims. The narration dictates the characters as they are in the present moment, only other characters can dictate the character as they were, or will be.
Another note, there is no mention of Alesha's visual features (besides the scar on her back). This I find key. While we do have pictures, I personally find describing the features of a character just alienates the person from that character. The lack of description allows the reader to connect with the character, until you learn of her status which rattles the connection brought forth through anonymity, but the connection still holds strong because of the nature of the connection that is formed through the lack of describing features. This connection, once rattled and held strong, allows us to relate to the character's problems much more.
And then there is how Alesha handles herself. It is smooth, and sure. But in the heat of the moment she doesn't let those thoughts cloud her mind. And that is also key, her identity is important to her, but there are far more important things than her identity still. Dragons are obviously one them. I personally think the dragons coming in to cut off the first interaction between the kinship guard and Alesha was mainly done because the author was unsure of how a a young trans woman in power would act in that moment and more importantly, how it would be perceived among readers. It is a pity that, because we could have seen much more into her character.
The fourth point, is Alesha's mentioning of self identity. She knew what she was, she didn't have to tell others of this fact either. She let her actions speak for her words. But she uses her experience in self identity as a trans to put others, (the kinsman guard) on the right path of self identity when they themselves feel like their method or path is lesser than others. She basically just said, "There is no room for inequality. Your actions speak for themselves. They declare you as equal, even when you yourself do not."
The final point is the use of the Mardu Khan. The naming system is used to solidify Alesha's femininity in the eyes of other. The naming system gives a person an identity among everyone. That identity is clear, that identity is followed, that identity is respected. They don't care for what she is, just as long as she contributes to the well being of the Khan. Then that brings me to the Khan as an identity itself. The Mardu Khan moves as one. Everyone is a part of the Mardu Khan, everyone contributes to the identity that is the Mardu Khan. They do not act alone, the act in a group, each member contributing towards a larger goal, each member following one same path. They are a singular identity, and in the heat of the battle their individual identities do not matter. They move as one. They are the Mardu.
January 28, 2015 5:10 p.m.
Named_Tawyny says... #42
It's been a fantastic week for WOTC. Between this, and the new gender options on the Godbook survey, I'm really proud to be a Magic player.
January 28, 2015 5:14 p.m.
chrishuffman95 I get your point on her impact to transgendered people. But in general, for the sake of the story, it didn't matter. It could have been as mentioned, a youngling becoming an adult and then a leader at an early age. I'm looking strictly at the story, not the representation and impact the story has outside of the story.
I also understand your point about representation, but at the same time. If you're happy and secure with who you are, that's all that should matter. What any one else thinks doesn't. Now if there are laws and injustices, specifically legal persecution (not necessarily social persecution, such as friends or others shunning you because of it) being put in your way. That is something that must be stood up for and stopped. Jobs, income, etc... The law should be neutral and objective. Who people socialize with like/dislike shouldn't matter.
I understand it's not 100% there yet, but I'm tired of it. Because we have bigger issues at hand facing all of us, not specific groups, that get ignored. Such as cost of education, spending of federal monies, taxation, crime rates etc... Things I peg as higher priorities because the effect is on society as a whole.
Regardless if I'm 'privileged' or not, in a few generations, social security isn't going to exist, higher education will be only affordable to the few, public education is going to be worse, etc... It's not getting better because we don't focus on it. We're forced to focus on special-interest groups.
January 28, 2015 5:25 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #44
Man, I wish I waited to post mine so it would have appeared on the top of this page instead of the last post of the 2nd page.
January 28, 2015 5:41 p.m.
chrishuffman95 says... #45
I see your point, but I am confused. You admit that trans communities are not considered equal and are often treated wrong, yet you say accepting of ourselves makes it all better? That seems silly. Laws and the such won't fix the problem. As the popular quote goes, rules were made to be broken. And what others think does matter if they impose it upon you, especially if by a violent nature, or telling them that they're wrong. Look into the Leelah Alcorn incident. A trans girl's own parents drove her to suicide because they kept trying to "fix" her via churches and Christian psychologists, and they refused to acknowledge her as a female intentionally. Her having a good sense of self-identity didn't really help out there.
Regardless or not, we are all people, and we deserve equality. Fighting for it is the right thing, regardless of other problems in the country.
January 28, 2015 5:44 p.m.
@ CrazyLittleGuy "If you were open-minded enough you wouldn't consider alternative opinions to be problematic. Problematic to what, your conceptions? Diversity includes diversity of opinions. Or would you rather control how people think?"
If you're open-minded enough to think that opinions like 'Women can't choose to get an abortion' or 'Gay marriage should be illegal' or 'Slavery was a pretty keen idea' are legitimate alternatives to right-thinking thought, your mind is so open that there's bugs getting in there. It is actually the case, whether people want to admit it or not, that certain opinions are actually just -wrong- even though "opinions can't be wrong" and to grant them equal weight is to defend and justify hateful positions that cause real harm to real people.
Not every opinion is entitled to equal weight in discussion. Some opinions are harmful or otherwise negatively impact the space in which they are aired. This was a very nice and happy and proud moment for a lot of Magic players.
Saying that somebody is "part of the problem" is not advocating that this person is knowingly and maliciously trying to harm other people. The idea that something which is so clearly and obviously about somebody being a trans person (And everybody I know who has ANY exposure to gender issues who read that piece or even read the single sentence of the unnamed Orc saying 'YOU would say that to me? You, a boy who thinks he's a woman?" said immediately and without any hesitation "yes that is about a transgendered person") could be published, and have somebody not even have that thought occur to them, let alone conclude it was the intention is the problem.
It speaks to lack of education, existence of stigma, and an unwillingness to learn about the major social and political issues happening right now all over the world.
The idea of "Your opinion disagreeing with my opinion is close-minded" is fallacious at best and malicious at worst. "Everybody is entitled to their own opinion" as a defense in any kind of discussion is just a cop-out for somebody who isn't willing to actually see their position challenged. In this particular case, even after posts from the people responsible for deciding what is true about this character saying it is true, to continue to discuss as though it's still a subject of open debate is what the problem is.
The words of the people in charge of the lore for MTG are the closest Alesha as a person could get to speaking for herself. And what those words say is "Alesha is transgendered" To continue to argue or debate or discuss otherwise is to basically say to "her" (Well, the creators of her, and the ones responsible for her identity) "You've made a statement about your identity, but I'm going to just go ahead and tell you that you're wrong because I think I know your identity better"
January 28, 2015 5:52 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #47
I also want to mention that we don't actually know Alesha's mental gender status. We don't know if she's transsexual, transgendered, gender queer or any of those other stupid titles that are made. That I think is another key factor. The story does not tell us anything besides the fact that she identifies herself as female. I can chop out the possibility of her being transsexual, as she obviously can't go through medical processes like we can here. But other than that, I think it highlights the fact that why a person identifies as the other gender or how a person identifies the other gender both have no meaning. No relevance. They do not matter. All that matters is that she is female mind and soul.
I also have an add feeling that her grandmother could also have been trans.
January 28, 2015 5:52 p.m.
chrishuffman95 says... #48
Doug Beyer said in his post that she is indeed transgender, if that clears anything up. So we do know what identity she fits under.
January 28, 2015 5:58 p.m.
Can we talk about the validating moment when the entirety of the Mardu Warriors Spoke her name, the validation of her femininity, her leadership, and her position of power. I have been waiting my whole life to have a character like me be represented as something more then a point of conflict, and even more so placed in a position of power! I wept because of how empowered I felt reading this story. Alesha is Trans, and she is my Khan!
Devonin and Femme_Fatale both brought up marvelous points. I really recommend every one read the commentary on "opinions" that Devonin brings up, I also think Femme made a fantastic post at the end of page 2.
and please keep all Trans-misogynistic comments to yourselves! I hope we can all work together to make this a safe forum for all M:tG players <3
January 28, 2015 6:14 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #50
Tis a shame that Alesha, Who Smiles at Death isn't really constructed playable ... she has quickly grown to be my favourite card, if only because she defines the community I belong to as a whole.
I can make a Tiny Leaders deck with her though! Maybe an edh deck too, though that I don't think would work as successfully.
Servo_Token says... #2
Clicky
January 28, 2015 1:03 p.m.