I Wish I Could Like My Game Better Than I Do

[kaninchenzero]

So anyone who spends any time around me knows I play Exalted. And I mostly like it. But it does have problems and some big ones. Sure there's the sexism in the art but that's expected really. It is after all an RPG. There's the ghastly anti-woman running joke that keeps coming up various places. There's the appallingly vile thing in the

Comments

[cucumberseed]

Hm. I did not know that one about Luna's incarnations. That's potentially cool, but White Wolf is good at potentially cool and wandering off somewhere else.

There are people called Tya who were assigned female at birth but sail; they have transitioned in some ways. The books say they identify as men and use masculine appellations. Still, every single character writeup of a Tya--even the ones that mention that the person identifies as male--uses feminine pronouns and appellations.

It seems strange that a person assigned as female and raised female would still refer to themselves as male, even if they were biologically male. That said, I agree that it's annoying that they are inconsistent on that one.

[kaninchenzero]

Outside of the game world we'd call Tya trans* folk. It isn't strange. They identify as men and wish to be referred to as such; it is the least others can do to respect that. The contents of their chromosomes or their underwear--like those of anyone else--aren't our business.

[cucumberseed]

Oh, I absolutely agree on all counts.

I think I got lost in what you were saying and misunderstood where you were coming from. I apologize.

[cucumberseed]

And also, I badly miscommunicated the source of my puzzlement - I used language for an individual, when on an individual level it makes perfect sense.

No, never mind. What caught me as unusual didn't stand up to analysis. The larger culture constructs this group as female, they construct themselves as male.

Gods, I've got no explanation to why that threw me. Again, apologies.

Spirit shapes

[goddessgood]

Was particularly unhappy with the official forum community over something similar. A poster asked if it was ok to have a character of one gender (I assumed the OP meant anatomically) that had a spirit shape of another gender (e.g. a female Lunar with a peacock totem, or a male with an angler fish). The responses varied from "No, I wouldn't allow it," to "Only if you bought Twin Faced Hero at chargen," to "Yes! And can I see the character concept when you're done, cuz it sounds like it could be really interesting." I found myself in the 3rd camp, but was really put off by the language of the two other camps as they talked about the Tya and that one nation in the south that "tolerates" transgendered folk. Tolerates? Ugh. Thankfully, the thread seems to have died.

Re: Spirit shapes

[kaninchenzero]

The Delzahn as paragons of gender freedom? Oh no no no no no no no no. They're so rigid about gender roles that they force anyone wanting to live outside them to transition so they fit anyway. That's not tolerance; that's some hard-core oppression there. Same thing with the Tya really. Some of them probably were what we'd consider trans men. Others probably weren't but found becoming Tya the least bad of the options they were faced with.

Salina was right, you know. Hierarchy in all its forms needs to be destroyed. (Not that Willow would agree with me or her. Hierarchy suits her goals admirably well.)

And it sounds like my choice to stay away from official game fora continues to be a good one for me. :p

[edge_of_thornes]

Cool to find another gamer

[kaninchenzero]

I personally see no problem with a Lunar's spirit shape being a different gender from the shape xe was born in. But I'm biased. :)

On the Infernal thing: So the Yozi have managed to acquire fifty Solar Exaltation shards and warped them in a manner almost completely unlike the way the Neverborn warped a bunch of Solars into the Abyssals. A lot of this is actually really cool; what determines if an Infernal Charm--including the Excellencies--is applicable to an action is if it is thematically appropriate. Which is awesome and I love this concept. The Infernal native supernatural martial arts style includes a mechanic for pulling an enemy's arm off and beating xer to death with it

[edge_of_thornes]

UGH, yeah, not something I need in my games either. I am not against 'dark' BGs when they fit and have a GOOD reason, not just there for shock, like a character with say that 'raped mother, prisoner of monsters' who's GOAL is to return and free her (and I would insist on female I think, if only because she'd be facing her own risk by returning while a male rescuing female is too fairy tale) mother and other females as a Quest theme

[edge_of_thornes]

BTW the 'things about my fellow gamers' I discovered was not real life issues but rather just how far some people will sink in 'justifying' their little sick fantasies. Thought I better make that clear lest it be misunderstood.