It’s a rather controversial topic right now, so I’ll start with a brief
introduction to avoid misunderstanding. I have to because otherwise some
of you might decide to burn me down on a stake.
My name is
Kiraser and I write a rather big blog about fantasy settings, gaming and stuff like that. In Russian. By Russian standards some people might even consider me a “leftist” (but I don't like labels like that). Because everything is relative,
you are “Left-wing” or “Right-wing” in relation to what is the middleground in
your country or just local area. Some people can say that I belong to the oppressed group, well, a number of them, but I won't disclose this topic right now because I don't want to be judged by these criteria nor in positive, nor in negative way. It doesn't really matter, that's just my way of saying that I can relate to the oppressed, not that having the same or similar experience is something one needs for empathy. But just in case, I’m not homohpobic, I don’t judge people by skin color, I
support gender equality. For example, I translated the Terror by
Torchlight short story about Mathias Shaw and Flynn Fairwind that wasn’t
officially translated to Russian by Blizzard because of the Russian gay
propaganda law (which could be avoided by Blizzard giving the story age
rating of 18+, but it’s a whole different story).
On my own turf I tend to get some flak for not
being conservative enough, for not criticizing such trends. Some of my posts
may even get banned by the government censorship agency because it works in mysterious ways.
In the
more global communities like Scrolls of Lore or Wowpedia I often see
people with similar takes to my own: inclusive, but maybe grounded at
that. But then I go to the USA-specific parts of the Internet, and here
where it tends to go wild.
On a few occasions, I got accused
there for being a racist, a misogynist, a homophobe. Which is not true,
because I can show you actual people like this from my country (and the larger Web too). So, what
went wrong?
One time I said that people who wanted the
dark-skinned elves to have a lore background aren’t racist… they just
wished that this addition would’ve had, well, new lore to support it.
Something to roleplay with. Make the world richer. Maybe some island elves? Why not. But my
defense of this stance was enough to get branded as racist.
 |
| Funnily enough, some people couldn't contain their saltiness from the way how I made my mage in the Beta. Talk about getting stabbed by both sides. |
It was
also like that on the WoW Lore subreddit. Mods had to explain that
people who asked for additional lore of these elves aren't necessarily
racists, they aren't necessarily against these elves being a thing. And
it works both ways, of course, actual racists did use such arguments as a
shield too. Sometimes reddit feels like a parody of the Horseshoe theory. But can we just be civil?
It bothers me that it's
hard to write about these topics online without getting a knife on your
throat. For me, personally, it's getting rather ridiculous. I've been
accused and attacked for the hell knows what, despite being called out
for being 180 degrees opposite of that in the Russian community. In the same way, I tend to write news articles in a very dry style and
provide different perspectives... so there were times when people accused
me for shilling Blizzard and the new lore, but other times people talked about me being a salty oldtimer who joined the "Kill-blizzard" ship. I
guess, it just shows that people are people. Everywhere. Being an arse
is a very human, universal thing.
It’s really sad that I feel obligated to
add my personal backstory here to avoid confusion. I've seen actual
racist-sexist takes, so I know that mine isn't like that, at least, in
comparison.
So, I ask you, please, be civil and respectful to
each other. If you are truly a better person you think you are, someone
with moral high ground... then act like that by not attacking people you
disagree with.
The following article is fully translated from my
Russian one (with some additional paragraphs), so I also included the short TLDR of the situation for those
who are jumping in this topic only now. It’s followed by my opinion on
this change, which is the only reason I actually reposted this article in
English.
***
Do you remember the Twin Consorts from the Throne of
Thunder? In patch 9.1.5 PTR they have been renamed to Twin Empyreans. In
various ancient philosophies, the Empyreans was the dome of heaven,
according to different teachings occupied by the element of fire, cosmic
aether or God.
• Dungeon Journal description, old version:
“The
Twin Consorts are said to be greatest of the Thunder King's treasures.
Rumored to be the only known female mogu in existence, Lei Shen keeps
his trophies close and their combined arsenal against interlopers
closer.”
• Dungeon Journal description, new version:
“The
Twin Empyreans are among the most formidable of the Thunder King’s
champions. Determined to safeguard his reign, Lei Shen keeps his
loyalists close and their combined arsenal against interlopers closer.”
• MoP developers’ notes:
"Players
may have noticed the complete absence of any female mogu in their
exploration of the continent of Pandaria. Players who look closely at
the models of these celestial twins will note that they seem quite
literally carved out of stone. Indeed, these were specifically created
by Lei Shen and empowered to serve and guard him, and they are a direct
reflection of his will rather than any broader sense of mogu culture as a
whole. An earlier version of the concept for the fight had them
actually being spirits of the Sun and Moon, but that didn’t feel quite
right (and we all know that the only true spirit of the Moon is Elune,
and clearly she was not locked away by the Thunder King)."
***
The rumor about the Twins being the only female mogu in the world was always shaky, but based on logical observation, so it was a curious, albeit inaccurate legend. In the same raid where we fought the duo, the Throne of Thunder, we also encountered Monara, the Last Queen, who was murdered by Lei Shen himself. A few female mogu walords were amongst the conquerers, who led the assault on the Vale of Eternal Blossoms during the coming of N'Zoth. There is also a high-ranking female in the ranks of the noble Rajani, restored by the Highkeeper Ra. Her name is General Xing.
But the question remains: why are there so few mogu females? Perhaps, males simply keep women in the same catacombs they were hiding in for centuries. After all, mogu are mortal, and while Lei Shen did the impossible by removing the Curse of Flesh on some of his subjects, he never managed to cleanse of it his race as a whole. But we still need to consider the fact that all known women of this race are extradionly powerful and hold similarly high position in their hierarchy.
Personal Opinion
When
it comes to such topics it’s all about the line. I feel like we’re
approaching the threshold where things start to get funny. Nothing bad
really happened, nothing really happened at all: it’s just another very minor change. But still, it’s
all about the line. Where should we place it? Should there be a character
named Thrall, from a race some would call “coded as non-white”? Should
there be a place like Den of Mortal Delights dedicated to sex and
objectification of women? Should there be an entire race of female
sex-demons, the succubi, isn’t it gross?
 |
| Ah, yes. Warcraft III: Reforged. That was a thing, right? Lemon Sky Studios artists certainly were hornier than our WoW devs. But the designs were still approved by Blizzard. |
What about this whole
game called Warcraft: what does it really teach? Just take a quick look
at the Battle for Azeroth expansion, when the Sylvanas loyalists were
forgiven for simply forsaking Sylvanas. No punishment for the crimes. Or
the Shadowlands expansion, when the narrative clearly showed how
vengeance is not the answer: to the point that you can’t even get
justice, you should better move on. Or better yet, is it okay to show
such amount of violence and such a propaganda of murder to children:
from the Upside-down Sinners from Karazhan to the Ur’zhul? You can remove
the b-word, but it’s still a game lots and lots of murder and sadism: it's in WoW's very game mechanics. Burn people alive, torture them, shatter their minds.
Some of you might find these questions and takes to be sarcastic and silly, but there’s definitely a number of people out there who want changes like that to happen.
But should we be even allowed to have this conversation about whose choice is it to paint this line? As if we are somehow a community. Yes, it's about the elephant in the room. Who did this change? Well, it's hard to say for sure, but given how female Blizzard employees tend to like tweets about news like this on Twitter, it can be assumed that they are the ones who stand behind these changes. Given the timeline, that's probably their way of fighting for good in this whole never-ending harassment scandal (whether it actually helps the cause or not... is a whole other can of worms I'm not ready to touch). Perhaps, there's more to it. Perhaps, no. But all of that doesn't mean that as the players we can't comment on such topics. This being the developers' choice doesn't put a ban on this kind of discussion.
But enough with teasing and this weak
attempt at stand-up humour in text-mode. So, why was the text changed?
Most likely, it wasn’t simply because of the word “consort”.
Interestingly enough, in the official Russian translation the siblings
are called "Twin-Concubines", and there’s a reason why.
Historically,
consorts usually weren’t just concubines, we’re talking about advisors,
councilors, people with authority. As usual, there are different takes
on a word, to the point of “queen-consort” being a thing: a king’s
wife, who is no regent, and whose measure of power isn’t equal to her
husband’s. Sounds a lot like consorts of Dragon Aspects to me (“spouses”
in the Russian translation). One can also remember the etymology of
this word, hence why we have the Consortium, a giant business
organization of the Ethereals. Yeap, words are curious things.
 |
| Ah, yes, Alexstrasza's sex slave. Jokes aside, I really hope that one day her model will be updated to her HotS glory. |
So
if it’s not about this word alone, then what’s the big deal? It’s the
context. The Twins weren’t simply consorts of the Thunder King, he
created them from nothing. They were also described as Lei Shen’s
“treasure” and “trophies”, as borderline inanimate objects. They barely
have any clothes on them. So that’s why the Russian localization team
went with “concubines”. A train of thought might as well lead you to the
thought of them being sex-slaves. But here’s the twist: this is not
what their story is about.
But even so, this train of thought is easy to grasp, hence the change.
Going
back for a bit to words being a curious thing. “Empyrean Twins” is a
really badass sounding name, it’s such a nice fit to the fantasy of sun
and moon (empowered by the Celestials’s power no less). Still, why use a
name with Ancient Greek (later Latin) heritage for the Mogu characters,
whose whole race is based on Ancient China? Pandaria as a whole was
built on references and homages to Asian cultures. So a Chinese term
would be a more logical replacement.
I think we shouldn’t
overlook how the Twins' bio highlights this part of their story: Lei
Shen granted them tremendous magical power, nourished by the captured
essence of the August Celestials, for a purpose. They were to become his
guards against those who would dare to assault his palace, his inner
sanctum. So for the longest time I’ve also considered them to be, first
and foremost, his personal super-weapons, his elite bodyguards. At the
end of the day, their very sanctum is a completely empty room: something
as far off from Den of Mortal Delights as possible. It furthers the
idea that Lei Shen didn’t create the Twins for his personal…
entertainment. He carved them as beautiful maidens to highlight his own
greatness, to show his prowess as a creator, inheritor of the Titans’
will. Oh, and they were made of stone, so you know…
 |
| Note a difference between an average mogu and their carved stone soldier |
But what if
it wasn’t like that? What if instead, we had a story about an Earthen
who made himself two dwarf concubines. Should a story like that be
removed? I still don’t think that this would be a correct move. Because it’s
not about the story alone, it’s about the narrative.
Overall, I
disagree with a take about how modern fantasy must forsake any mentions
of racism, sexism etc., like, we have enough of this stuff in real life,
so let’s cut it down. It’s certainly true that one shouldn’t feel
obligated to show such behaviour in their fantasy setting. It’s all
personal choice.
So what was the narrative when it comes to Lei
Shen? Sure, we know that he considered himself to be the inheritor of
the Pantheon’s will, the savior of this world, he also had a peculiar and a very selective, unfair sense of honor. Despite some of his more noble traits he always remained an
antagonist, the story always highlighted that he was a tyrant who had
performed hideous crimes. He made these two lustrous beauties and gave
them godly power merely to stroke his own ego, to use them as living
shields. Isn’t it even more evil than them being created simply as
concubines? He birthed life out of nothing, made conscious beings, only
to put them inside gilded cages. In a certain way, they, indeed, were
his slaves.
In the story we played through he was our enemy, and
in the grand finale we destroyed him and stopped his reign of terror.
No-one glorified what he had done with the Twins, no-one tried to show
us that this is the way women should be treated in real life. It was
never an example to follow. Hence why I use this as an example of how,
personally, I find context to be the key detail in such topics.
A
story that criticizes sexism, a story that features a character
fighting sexism has way more value than a story that treats such
behaviour as something that is simply impossible in the new better
world. I understand this approach, it has its merits, but it will never
teach the people the wrongness of their ways.
Even from the "Let's cut this whole thing down and remake it" stand point. What if old WoW can't be salvaged? Maybe it should be just left alone, and
instead the new creators can make something better, something modern
and magical, instead of trying to fit this wolf into sheep's clothings?
***
Despite all that I still think that it’s a topic worth exploring by the CDev because it can
really shine in a new light. What if the writers would make a short
story about these two characters that highlighted their tragic existence
as living weapons, created by Lei Shen and poised at his enemies?
Twins, who were worshipped, but who had never known true freedom by the
will of a cruel tyrant.
There can even be a story about their
return, if not outright resurrection. It could be used as a tie-in
for the future appearance of the Pantheon of Life, to which Elune
belongs. So it would fit the timeline really well.
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