#but if we get a reboot PLEASE ADAPT THE MATERIAL PROPERLY

[dog-forest-spirit]

What are your theory as to why Sunrise keeps clinging to the Inuyasha rights? They have been absorbed by Bandai, and yet they are clinging to them. Cash cow Gintama merch they still had their stickers on until recently, their own huge franchise Gundam given over to Bandai quite a while ago, but the Inuyasha anime? Still copyright 2009 Sunrise. They insisted on giving Sesshoumaru red and white also as a theme color, but now have given him a greyish purple because of the manga. But still they cling to it. Inuyasha is quite big internationally, is that why? But Gintama was the mos exported series for quite a while..! But many fans pretend it doesn't exist anymore after their stupid "what if" story (checked last merch for that, and that was in July 2022 while Inuyasha has long into next year, Moroha unsurprisingly has more of his self-insert than herself in her merch, that stupid tanuki thing). And I got to admit that I still feel a little queasy when I rewatch the first anime, especially later episodes with Rin after knowing what fantasies some of the people involved had 🤢.

When they finally lose the rights, will they be brought up quickly? As many fans want a more faithful adaptation, or will Bandai snatch them up again to take them and give to another company within them to animate? Do you think Takahashi will try getting involved with who they go to when that time comes? I really hope they'll tone down Miroku. The "eew, grooming" scene is really important so I wish it could be part somehow without one of the heroes being a creep, (it was before sumisawa got involved)

Imagine the cool transformation scenes where Inuyasha's ears and colors change during sunrise properly animated! I want to see it!

A new anime that will set it free from the grossness of the past..! Maybe even have Sesshoumaru's mother calling Sesshoumaru a hogosha and ask him why he chose a human rather than a yōkai or at the very least finding a wife first before adopting so he doesn't have to take care of her alone..! Or her in-character calling Rin another pet along with Jaken, which Jaken corrects with Sesshoumaru being Rin's hogosha but not correcting himself being called a pet because that seems in-character for him somehow. And hopefully a new translation of the manga as viz's Americanization where they'd rather introduce Hawaiian words rather than treating a Japanese series as Japanese..!

Sorry for babbling...

They are probably holding on to them because it’s more profitable to keep them than to sell them to someone else and I have zero idea tbh :( sunrise is so ass backwards they handled the yashahime controversy in the WORST possible way they consistently picked the worst option every single time and I hope we can get a new adaption but I don’t know if it’ll happen any time soon :( I’m sure inuyasha was more popular internationally and that’s a big ^^ but ranma 1/2 was huge too and it hasn’t gotten a new adaption urusei yatsura JUST got one I feel if we get one it won’t be for another 10/15 years but if we get one I hope it gets the fruit basket treatment inuyasha has its faults but it’s a really good series and introduced anime to an entire generation of adults but I feel inuyasha is left out of the “iconic 00s” anime conversation which is also :/ I’m going to be optimistic but I don’t know how realistic it’ll be but we didn’t think we’ll get a sequel (pedobait family show spin off spoof) so 👀

I would LOVE a prequel and would have preferred that over whatever yashahime was but only if sunrise does NOT touch it I want a studio who really cares about the source material and doesn’t treat these adaptions like fanfic and throws cheap plots in with even worse characterization for money most anime doesn’t run nonstop anymore so if we get one hopefully it gets the love it deserves

[ectonurites]

One of my problems with the Young Justice show is that none of the characters I knew from the comics felt like themselves to me? Like, Kon is the most obvious, but Dick, Wally and Roy also felt just a little... off. A little to one-dimensional, maybe, idk how exactly to describe it. Then they killed off Wally as part of DC’s vendetta against the character, which has always ticked me off ever since it started. And then later when they brought in more characters I love, like Tim and Cassie and Bart, it was weird then too. I get why Bart was different, because they changed his backstory to him being from an apocalyptic future with a mission, rather than him just being from the future and raised in VR, so his personality is a little more serious, a little more calculating. But characters like Tim and Cassie we barely even got to know. Even in Season 3, they focused a lot more on characters like Brion and Violet, who aren’t big at all in the comics, if they’re even in the comics at all idr, and so were essentially blank slates for them to do as they pleased with, like Kaldur, Artemis and M’gann pretty much were in the first season. Idk, I love getting to see characters I love show up and be seen, but they don’t really feel like themselves

Oh yeah I completely agree. The thing about the Young Justice cartoon is it really was the creators just wanting to do their own entirely new version of things using the basic build of the DC universe, and by establishing a world like that with so many very drastic differences, it ripples out (not necessarily in ways they were even thinking about when writing it tbh!) and makes some things hardly recognizable in a lot of ways.

Some of those changes are actually good, their version of Artemis is a super interesting character and same with Kaldur, and I thought the Roy cloning thing was cool and honestly until they just started Infinite Frontier as a reboot in the comics I was pro the idea of using something like that as a way to let Pre-New 52 Roy and New 52 Roy coexist because they’re so wildly different and people wanted the original version back.

But... all those changes make things so different. Superhero cartoons based on existing comics... are adaptations. And with adaptations, people are always going to be comparing to the source material. There are always going to be changes made just because of medium constraints (time being a big one), but for something to be a good adaptation it needs to keep the heart of the original work, or in the case of criticizing how a character was adapted, having the same core values/features/traits. This is why I think Young Justice ultimately kinda falls flat as an adaptation of the DC universe, because out of their main cast the majority is pretty unrecognizable. That doesn’t mean it fails as a show or even is bad because of it, like that’s not what i’m saying, but overall as an adaptation it doesn’t... properly adapt things. it drastically alters them and expects us to just go along with it, which we can, but... you know what I mean. I hope that makes sense? 

But so that, where we know even the characters we do get to know well are altered drastically, then that leaves us in this super weird position with the characters who show up, and are familiar characters from the comics, but we don’t get to learn about in this universe. Are we just to assume that they are approximately the same as in the comics? Or are they different in ways we just don’t know? Are we ever going to know? Because man, personally, knowing just how different the characters we do know well are, I don’t really feel safe making any assumptions abt others! Especially when the little bits we do see of them don’t have the same character relationships or even necessarily personalities. Bc man, your friends do shape you in a lot of ways, and so does your history/past. Versions of Tim, Cassie, Bart, and Kon who didn’t get to go through YJ -> Teen Titans together are going to be so unrecognizable because it was so formative for them?? A world without the Teen Titans in general just changes SO MUCH for SO MANY characters. So it’s just. A lot.

Sometimes I just imagine a world where they deadass made a cartoon in this style but with all original characters so that A) they wouldn’t have people comparing it to the comics thus they could do more things without people getting annoyed at how different things are, and B) they wouldn’t feel the need to include so many fucking cameos and characters that distract from what’s going on, rather having just... the characters that will actually be relevant and explored in the plot.

[dccomicsnews]

Directed by: Ethan Spaulding

Written by: Jeremy Adams

Starring: Joel McHale, Jennifer Carpenter, Jordan Rodrigues, Patrick Seitz, Steve Blum, Artt Butler, Darin De Paul, Robin Atkin Downes, David B. Mitchell, Ike Amadi, Kevin Michael Richardson, Grey Griffin, Fred Tatasciore

Reviewed by: Eric Joseph

Summary

Well in advance of next year’s live action silver screen reboot, the Mortal Kombat franchise finally makes its return to the realm of animation – and it’s about time. Though a fair amount of you may have some recollection of the Defenders of the Realm animated series, it’s the 1995 feature-length animated flick Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins which springs to my mind whenever a discussion such as this comes up. It’s somehow fallen through the cracks of history, as it was never properly released on any format other than VHS. Well, it was included as bonus content for the first live action Mortal Kombat flick’s Blu-ray release, but that’s not quite the same.

This time, the same talented folks at WB Animation who bring us those DC direct-to-video movies we love so much have taken a stab at the beloved fighting game series. To be succinct, they’ve adapted the events of the initial tournament depicted in the original video game, only with a modern spin on it. But unlike The Journey Begins, it can’t be filed under “guilty pleasure.”

Positives

On the one hand, some viewers may come away with that “been there, done that” feeling. Believe me, I understand why, because the original Mortal Kombat has always served as the jumping off point for nearly every adaptation in other media, be it the motion pictures listed above, or the novelization penned by Jeff Rovin and released in 1995 (yeah, that was a big year for this brand).

But on the other hand, the filmmakers have implanted many surprises along the way. The narrative may hit most of the familiar beats as not to stray from hallowed canon, sure, but a fair amount of the focus is placed on fan favorite Scorpion, thereby allowing us to breathe some fresh air away from the usually exploited quartet of Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade and Raiden. The tournament’s actual conclusion itself is presented in a such a manner that I was able to accept it as both something already established and fresh; a fine balance is indeed achieved.

Something else I found myself quite pleased with was that of the wide array of characters included. Although the usual suspects are at the forefront, we’re treated to cameos from Kombatants spanning the entire series, including Motaro, Baraka and even Nitara. More than a few viewers may be surprised to see Quan Chi playing such a big role this early on.

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Of course, you’re probably wondering where the violence level is at, and I promise that it’s off the charts. To be quite honest, this is probably the most violent animated movie I’ve ever seen; the blood spurts, amputations and X-ray bone fractures are presented in all of their gory glory, affirming this isn’t one for the kids.

When it comes to bonus content, four featurettes are available for consumption. While not entirely lengthy, they are decently informative, profiling the main characters and shedding light on how various aspects of the production came together, including character and setting designs, as well as sound.

Negatives

If anything put me off, it was that the voice acting can be a little too over the top at many points. While the visuals are somewhat inspired by anime, the delivery of dialogue is overdone more than I’d prefer. Very few of the characters were given the subtle treatment in the recording booth, and I’m sorry, but that can sometimes take me right out of the story.

You’ll probably find it odd that I’m going to mention the violence in both the positive and negative sections of this review. Despite not being squeamish myself, the cartoonish ultraviolence often became just that. I’m not sure how much time passes between people getting chopped like carrots, but it’s never too long. Furthermore, I’ve concluded that nobody in this universe depicted can even do something as simple as washing their hands without getting a compound fracture. Eli Roth will need several changes of clean pants if he’s ever to watch this.

Verdict

Let’s get one thing perfectly clear: although Scorpion’s Revenge isn’t a perfect movie, it’s probably the closest thing we’ve ever received to a perfect adaptation of Mortal Kombat outside of the video game medium. I, for one, hope this Legends series is granted more entries in the coming years, as I’m very anxious to see other tales get similar treatment. After all, this franchise has been around for 28 years, and that means there’s a generous amount of material to mine.

Review: Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge Directed by: Ethan Spaulding Written by: Jeremy Adams Starring: Joel McHale, Jennifer Carpenter, Jordan Rodrigues, Patrick Seitz, Steve Blum, Artt Butler, Darin De Paul, Robin Atkin Downes, David B.

[lydiaandarry]

{5 Cartoons That Could Possibly Survive a Live Action TV Remake}

Hello there!

My name is Arabella but you can call me Arry, if it’s easier. I don’t know about you but I basically grew up on cartoons. And it seems to be a new craze in television history for cartoons to be remade into new adaptations for a new audience. It doesn’t surprise me that cartoons are the main source for this as they are noticeable. Recently, Riverdale and Sabrina: The Teenage Witch have been remade into CW Television Shows. And while I find Riverdale to not be that great of adaptation and murder of character. I have heard more nicer things about Sabrina: The Teenage Witch yet never watched it. Despite this and me thinking this television shows have not survived their live-action adaptations. I will be listing five cartoons that I think could survive a Live-Action Adaptation and I will explain my reasoning and how it may be done and also issues that may be concerning. Let’s invade this topic!

(Scooby Doo)

      My favorite cartoon of all time, Scooby Doo. I am nineteen years old and I have yet to grow out of Scooby Doo and probably never will. It is reaching its 50th year anniversary this year and is still a cult classic. We have had four (not including Daphne & Velma) live-action films that have featured Scooby Doo but we are talking about television shows here. I personally think that Scooby Doo could do better as a live-action television show because you can get multiple mysteries, more monsters and the characters will receive more development. You can also have guest star characters such as The Hex Girls. Yet I have my doubts due to how poorly Archie has been transformed with Riverdale. I feel like Scooby Doo will help avoid stereotypes and forced diverse tropes. As the gang is one of the most diverse group of characters ever. It would be extra amazing if they added in the 60’s-70’s fun charm that the cartoon had. And of course, kept it light-hearted and fun yet aiming it for more young adults and less-so teenagers and children. This will open doors. After watching Daphne & Velma, I do have concerns with forced diversity that may murder the characters as Daphne and Velma did not portray either character accurately. In the name of forcing female empowerment yet ignoring the female empowerment that is there. Fred is the brave, kind-hearted, hilarious and slightly clueless jock who is friends with everyone. Daphne is the fashion-motivated, kick-ass and clumsy popular girl whose greatest value is how quick she finds out things. Velma is the intelligent, sarcastic nerd who is an equal to Fred and fits in perfectly. Shaggy is the hippie who is hilarious, a scaredy cat and athletic who has yet to use more than 1% of his power. And Scooby Doo is the animal sidekick who has character development and has an actual snack named after him. It would make a great television show if done properly and written great.

(The Jetsons)

      I promise, these are not all Hanna-Barbera shows. Except that all of them could be made into wonderful adaptations. The Jetsons is about a futuristic family who live in 2062 that includes George Jetson, a hard-working father. His wife Jane who shops and takes care of the house. His oldest child and only daughter, Judy whose a teenage girl and slightly rebellious. And his youngest child and only son Elroy whose an intelligent kid. And their dog Astro and robot Rosie. Non-surprisingly, The Jetsons is actually outdated and nothing like the actual future. This adds a lot of fun aspects with mixing vintage and newly futuristic ideas. While introducing new concepts into the already existing plot. The Jetsons unfortunately was limited due to animation budget and short-running time with only two seasons that they weren’t able to expand the universe. I feel as if, a new revival of the show could potentially expand the universe and make the characters a bit more realistic. As they are your average futuristic family who can go through relatable issues while keeping with the theme. They could also embark on making Judy more fashion-forward and gifting us unique character designs for the character. As I know that Judy was my favorite character and definitely someone that I could relate to. And of course, keeping the 60’s charm and having more humor. Less dramatics for TV Remakes please! Embrace the humor. And sci-fi is definitely still selling in pop culture and with the graphics we have nowadays, The Jetsons would look absolutely stunning compared to what would have happened if they had perhaps made one in the past. Again, it all comes down to casting and writing. The real-life aesthetics of The Jetsons would be beautiful cinematography wise. It may seem a bit more impossible due to how high a budget would probably have to be to achieve most of the futuristic aspects like flying cars and in the air scenery. Yet the best thing to take advantage of with The Jetsons is how vintage the futuristic aspects are, they can really use a retro futuristic vibe. The Jetson’s futuristic isn’t on the same level as Star Wars or even typical Sci-fi. The effects do not need to be overly complicated as it is mostly dependant on vibe and charm. They could very much go for an Indie vibe where it could be made with a low budget. Choosing style and substance over realism and overdone effects.

(The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy)

     Hear me out, as this is a weird one. I grew up with The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and I lowkey blame it for my dark sense of humor. Mandy was one of those unique characters whose clothes did not match her personality whatsoever. Billy was humorous with how stupid yet straightforward he was. And Grim is… I relate to Grim in my old age. This show was such a creative premise to young me that like I adored it. Of course, I loved all things creepy. But seeing that Billy and Mandy and the other young characters were only 9, it is a realization that it may be physically impossible to have a live-action show where the young actors could react in a way similar to let’s say Mandy and Nergal Jr. However after some consideration, I realized that as this will probably be a revamped version, that they could age up the characters. And we could see how Mandy, Billy and the rest have developed into older ages. This of course brings up a lot of new ideas and concepts, new plotlines, and new character developments. Aging them to be teenagers and even young adults can add a more mature theme while keeping the dark humor. It can be darker yet still keep the fun and theatrical side. As it would no longer be targeted to young children but more so, the audience who grew up with the show. Seeing how our childhood characters have grown up to be near our ages. This could bring up more conflicts, relationships, and dynamics. Especially because a popular ship is Mandy and Billy as they are older, so it would be interesting to see if that would come to screen and if they would be compatible being at least ten years older at most. And of course, the graphics would absolutely fantastic since we have ways to make CGI look realistic and would bring on the creep factor. And perhaps, they could even give Nergal Jr more of a character and more humorous scenes. It could survive a TV Remake in this sense because it would be more so, a sequel and they would be working on newer material and not trying to perfect older material which may come in handy with writing.

(Totally Spies)

     If anyone asked me what my three favorite girl-based cartoons were as a child, I would always respond with, “Powerpuff Girls, Bratz, and Totally Spies”. Totally Spies was my ultimate dream television show, they were my Charlie’s Angels before I discovered Charlie’s Angels. Even in my youth, they were relatable. And I don’t care what anyone says, Totally Spies was ahead of its time and very diverse. You had Clover, the fashion-forward girl with a sassy personality and although her flaw was being shallow, she usually always learned her lesson. Sam, the introverted and intelligent one of the group who figures things out quickly yet is too quick to trust others. Alex, the hilarious and tough one who has problems with being invisible. They were feminine and kick-ass and taught me that I shouldn’t be ashamed to be into clothes or hair or makeup as I could still kick ass. I think Totally Spies has the diversity that Hollywood is looking for as they will not have to force anything into the mix, it can be a relatable and humorous show about three girls who are best friends and spies. They can have awesome character designs, great dialog, and mix realistic issues into the fictional issues of being a teenage spy. While also showing girl power and how to handle evil people. While also bringing back former fashion trends, especially the 70’s that Totally Spies is known for. With cool costumes and cool gadgets. This would be a kick-ass show when given the right humor, writing, casting and charm. No one can prove to me otherwise.

(Daria)

    I am ending this on a rather tricky note as this television show really depends. With the other ones, they’re classics but changes can be made. Daria was ahead of its time and has relatable humor that even fits now. I remember discovering Daria when I was fifteen and going through a tough time and she really learnt to accept myself and my sense of humor. Now while Daria is being rebooted and I have lots of issues with the reboot before it has even come out like the fact it’s called “Daria & Jodie” when Jane Lane was a bigger character than Jodie yet they just ignore her because diversity. I do think if they were to reboot Daria properly, a live-action television show could be great. It will give a new element to the already great show. Of course, casting Daria would be rather hard as you need someone who can remain likeable yet still have a sarcastic aura. And Jane, the slightly more expressive witty best friend. And of course, Trent, the hot older brother of Jane who should have gotten with Daria! Daria is a great show for all ages, especially teenagers to young adults as it really shows the humor of common high school stereotypes. While keeping the complexity of each stereotype in its sense. A lot of Daria’s quotes still hit a string with me to this day. Especially the one where she is at college open-house and responds to the woman asking what goals she has, “My goal is to not wake up at 40 with the bitter realization that I’ve wasted my life on a job that I hate because I was forced to decide on a career in my teens”. That quote still stays by me as I am nineteen now and it’s like my life motto at the moment. And a live-action Daria could play off the nostalgia and have a lot of older watchers which will make it more money than a reboot that may destroy the characters for the sake of diversity. And forgets the true importance of Jodie. I would rather watch a live-action television show than a reboot cartoon as reboots never go well in cartoons.

    Well, that was five cartoons that I feel can survive a live-action remake and how they could. Keep in mind that everything you just read is my opinion and I am not asking Hollywood to look at my post and make all of these into live-action television shows. As the thought of that frightens me. Yet I feel like with the right cast and writers, it can be done. Thank you for reading my post. If you like my post, feel free to follow our Tumblr as I write posts on every Wednesday and Saturday similar to this one. And also feel free to like or reblog the post. I’ll see you on Wednesday! Peace out!  

[the-desolated-quill]

A White Actor Grows Some Bollocks - Quill’s Scribbles

You may recall that movie studio Lionsgate got themselves into a bit of hot water last week when they announced the casting of Ed Skrein as Major Ben Daimio in their upcoming Hellboy reboot. The problem was Major Ben Daimio is a Japanese character in the source material, making Hellboy the latest of numerous sci-fi and/or comic book adaptations to whitewash a prominent Asian character. I and many others made our views heard, voicing our strongest and angriest objections to this blatant bit of racist erasure (for whitewashing is objectively racist and totally inexcusable) just as we did with the likes of Doctor Strange, Death Note and Ghost In The Shell. But unlike those projects I just listed, the most extraordinary thing happened. Somebody listened.

Oh not the studio obviously. No, it was Ed Skrein himself. Realising the hornet’s nest he had kicked, Skrein actually announced via his social media accounts that he was dropping out of the role.

This open letter has received a positive response from fans and readers. Hellboy producers Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin made a joint statement in support saying:

“Ed came to us and felt very strongly about this. We fully support his unselfish decision. It was not our intent to be insensitive to issues of authenticity and ethnicity, and we will look to recast the part with an actor more consistent with the character in the source material.”

Even Hellboy creator Mike Mignola chipped in to offer his praise for Skrein’s decision to step down.

Now it would be easy to take a very cynical approach to all of this. Perhaps claim that Skrein only stepped down because he realised the damage all of this backlash could do to his career, but for once I’m willing to put aside my cynicism. I do actually believe Ed Skrein’s sincerity here. He seems to be genuinely apologetic, initially not realising the implications of what he was doing and now seems determined to make amends.

However I’m not exactly willing to praise him for his decision. At least not to the same extent others are. I can understand why people are praising him so heavily. This is an almost unprecedented move. Having put up with loads of A list white actors giving the weakest and most pathetic excuses to justify their own racist bullshit, the idea of a white actor growing some bollocks and actually stepping down from a whitewashed role purely on moral grounds is a novelty. He quit a tentpole movie purely because it was the right thing to do, and I am grateful for that. But can we try and keep this in perspective? This decision wasn’t courageous or brave. It’s just an actor turning down a role. A role that should never have been offered to him in the first place. While I’m pleased that Ed Skrein did the decent thing in the end, the fact is this entire situation should never have happened in the first place. Asian characters should be played by Asian actors. That should not be a difficult concept for filmmakers to wrap their heads around, and I feel I should point out I still don’t trust Lionsgate in the fucking slightest. Oh they’re going to cast a Japanese actor as Ben Daimio now if they know what’s good for them, but if Ed Skrein didn’t take the moral high ground, they wouldn’t have learnt a damn thing. Let’s not forget the studio’s initial response to the controversy came from this now deleted tweet from Hellboy executive producer Christa Campbell:

We don’t see colours or race. The slogan for closet racists the world over. 

See this is what so many white people in positions of power and authority within the industry need to understand when it comes to POC presentation. Being colourblind sounds good in theory, but in practice it can be very dangerous. When you make an actor’s performance or marketability the only criteria, you end up making stupid mistakes like this. When you racebend a white character, it’s fine. We already have plenty of representation, plus 9 times out of 10 being white isn’t actually integral to the character. For characters of colour on the other hand, you’ve got to take these other factors into consideration. Usually the culture of said character is integral plus it’s important for non white characters to be portrayed on screen not just for equality, but also for variety.

Recently I finally got to watch the Disney movie Moana, and I’m currently slightly obsessed with it. Not just because it’s a fun, smartly written musical with a great female protagonist, lovable characters, funny jokes and a heartwarming message behind it. It’s also because it explores myths and cultures I’ve never got to experience before.

Moana takes a lot of influence and inspiration from Polynesian culture and mythology, most notably adapting the stories of the demigod Maui (played by Dwayne Johnson). I have no idea how accurate this is, but I still loved it because it was something different. After seeing so many fantasy stuff like Lord Of The Rings and Game Of Thrones, which are essentially variations on Norse mythology, as well as the trillions of Christian inspired fantasy stories, Moana feels incredibly fresh and unique. I found all the stuff about Maui and Te Fiti fascinating, and I would love to see more movies exploring these Polynesian myths and legends. There’s such an incredibly rich vein of creativity you could tap into here.

Something else I loved about Moana was they actually cast Polynesian actors as the characters. I’ve already mentioned Dwayne Johnson as Maui. There’s also Jemaine Clement as Tamatoa the crab, Nicole Scherzinger as Moana’s mum, Jango Fett himself Temuera Morrison as Moana’s dad, Rachel House as Moana’s granny, and newcomer Auli’i Cravalho as Moana herself. This is why diversity is so important in films. Not only does it give actors of colour more exposure and allow new talents like Cravalho to emerge and flourish, but it also exposes general movie going audiences to stories and cultures we wouldn’t normally get to see. And that’s why whitewashing is so offensive. It takes job opportunities away from actors of colour and also causes creativity to stagnate. When it’s an Asian character in an Asian inspired story, there’s lots of different directions you can go. When it’s a white character in an Asian inspired story, there’s only one story you can tell. The outsider. The stranger. The foreigner to their ways. That’s not interesting. We’ve seen that done loads of times. Plus if you truly want to immerse the audience in another culture, isn’t it better to have a character that actually represents that culture rather than some white dweeb who knows jackshit about it?

Basically what I’m saying is we need more movies like Moana and less movies like...

No I’m never dropping this. Fuck this movie and all who support it.

So while I’m pleased that Ed Skrein decided to do the right thing in the end, I’m still going to judge this Hellboy reboot with the suspicion and scorn it deserves. Sure they’re probably going to cast a Japanese actor as Ben Daimio, but only because they have to now to save themselves from further embarrassment. It’s not because they want to. If it was someone like Scarlett Johansson or Tilda Swinton, the studio would still be sticking to their guns and trying to justify their racist bullshit. 

I’m glad Skrein managed to fix things and reveal A list white actors like Swinton and Johansson for the selfish, racist, privileged pricks that they are through his own selfless actions, but until the industry properly recognises that whitewashing is NEVER a good idea, nothing has actually changed as far as I’m concerned.

[strawbebbynya]

Body and Soul, Chp. 2

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Setting his coffee on an end table he kept tucked near his work table, Barry yawned a good morning at the robots, gathering the materials he would need for the day. First and foremost, he would have to remove any broken components from within the bots that weren’t necessary for function, then try to replace them. He had most of the components in his workshop already, besides the audio processors, but those could wait.

The sound of squealing motors and gears filtered through the workshop as the two droids followed his movements, beeping at random. At some point in the night, they had grabbed a blanket he’d left on the table and draped it over themselves— probably the one without legs; the other looked like it couldn’t move its fingers properly. He was too tired to think too hard about why they would do that.

Setting his tools and a box of components next to the table, Barry picked up the legless bot and tossed it over his shoulder as gently as possible. Both the bots began beeping loudly, the bot in his arms trying to kick at him, and he sighed. “I’m just moving you to another spot; I can’t fix you guys without the space.”

Somehow, that seemed to calm them down, at least a little bit. He sat the legless bot in a chair a few feet away, then returned to its sibling, laying it flat on the table. Its eyes flew around in panic, or so it seemed to him— he had a bad habit of anthropomorphizing these things, but he couldn’t help it; companion droids could feel emotions, pleasure, and pain, unlike less sophisticated bots. He’d never understand why they were built like this— it just made them harder to work on.

For his own sake, Barry grabbed a cloth and laid it over the bot’s eyes, who simply opened its mouth and let out a high pitched squeal. He quickly snatched it off, and the squealing stopped. “Alright, you don’t like that, noted.” He sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Just… don’t start crying when your chest is open, okay?”

It was simple enough to open the chest, revealing the primary life components inside— whoever had cut the bot open had done so with surgical precision and hadn’t bothered closing up after themselves. It was definitely the work of a black market seller; he had no doubt he’d probably end up with one of her originals on his table someday. It was missing most of its unnecessary parts, but, other than that and the broken limbs, it was in far better shape than the other bot.

It would take an hour or two to replace each component, and take all day for its systems to reboot and adapt to the new parts, then he’d have to mend the skin and see if he had to replace the motors in its wrists and ankles. He was no transmutation specialist, but he’d performed the cantrip enough times to get the skin back together without any noticeable tears.

As he worked in relative silence, the droids’ ears swiveled towards the other and they beeped, as though they were having a conversation. They probably were— Barry had never bothered to learn binary, nor did he care to learn.

After mending the skin back together, he moved onto the wrists and ankles, feeling for pierced skin. Nothing was torn, it seemed— that meant the gears were still in place, if dislocated. That made his life a lot easier; he wouldn’t need to remove the parts and replace them. Grabbing the bot’s hand and wrist, he yanked upward and—

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Barry clapped his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut as the bot let a piercing shriek, hearing the sounds of several barking dogs on the levels above. Oh boy, he’d be getting shit for that from his neighbors later. The shriek tapered off and he opened his eyes to a very pissed off looking elf glaring at him. He sighed and rubbed his temples— he could feel a migraine forming already. “I’ve still got three to go, can you please not scream like that?”

The bot crossed its arms over its chest and huffed.

“Can I… give you something to bite down on?”

It glanced at its sibling then slowly opened its mouth.

Barry thanked whatever god was listening and placed a clean towel in its mouth, then set back to work. The bot still screamed, but it was a lot quieter than the first scream. He made sure to make the process quick, taking a moment to massage the skin to make the gears were in their proper place before moving onto the next one. When he finished, he placed the droid back into the sitting position and returned its sibling next to it, taking a moment to cover them both with the blanket from earlier.

“Don’t try walking yet; your motor processor was stolen, so if you try standing up you’re just gonna hurt yourself,” he told the bot as he cleaned up his station. “Tomorrow, when I get back from work, I’ll start on your, uh, brother, I guess, and then we can work on teaching you to walk again.”

The bot beeped again, taking its sibling’s hand beneath the sheet and flashing it a smile, as if to say, See? I’m alright.

Content with his work for the day, Barry shut off the lights to the workshop and made his way up the stairs, sparing one last glance the robots. Their eyes shined back at him through the darkness, and a shiver ran down his spine.

He needed to stop watching horror movies before bed.