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Author Topic: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?  (Read 19169 times)

Reckall

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Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« on: August 20, 2022, 04:18:14 PM »
WotC strikes by race-swapping Aragorn in MtG for the upcoming Lord of the Rings set. "Our Goal Is A Modern Take On The Work Of J.R.R. Tolkien"

https://boundingintocomics.com/2022/08/19/wizards-of-the-coast-race-swaps-aragorn-for-magic-the-gatherings-upcoming-the-lord-of-the-rings-tales-of-middle-earth-set-our-goal-is-a-modern-take-on-the-work-of/

For every idiot who denounces Ayn Rand as "intellectualism" there is an excellent DM who creates a "Bioshock" adventure.

Brooding Paladin

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2022, 04:26:35 PM »
When will it end?  This really just goes too far.  Why the need to do this?  I'm all for inclusivity but am equally opposed to revisionism.  It's almost tantamount to saying, "There is no excellent literary work coming out of predominantly African society so we've taken the liberty to make what is dominant more inclusive." 

Who's the racist now?

oggsmash

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2022, 04:36:09 PM »
  Modern Take = less white people doing awesome shit…other than of course creating the world, setting, and character you are fucking up.

Almost_Useless

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2022, 04:50:37 PM »
"Our Goal Is A Modern Take On The Work Of J.R.R. Tolkien"

'We know this has been popular for nearly 100 years, but we think we can make some improvements.'  I'm having a hard time coming up with a more arrogant 'take' on anything.  Maybe they can take a minute to fix a Picasso or a Dali while they're at it?

Zelen

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2022, 04:57:28 PM »
They're trying their damndest to make the orcs look White too. It just shows their weird fucking skincolor based morality. Fuck em.

Reckall

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #5 on: August 20, 2022, 05:12:36 PM »
"The Rings of Power" on Amazon is being obliterated across both aisles for introducing new black characters (among MANY other things). Not even they made Galadriel black. These guys are insane.
For every idiot who denounces Ayn Rand as "intellectualism" there is an excellent DM who creates a "Bioshock" adventure.

Jam The MF

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #6 on: August 20, 2022, 05:25:47 PM »
Must. Change. Everything.
Must. Tear. Down. Everything.
Must. Destroy. Everything.
Must. Rebuild. Everything.....
Let the Dice, Decide the Outcome.  Accept the Results.

Crusader X

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #7 on: August 20, 2022, 05:39:52 PM »
Don't give WotC your online casino money.  Ever.

HappyDaze

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #8 on: August 20, 2022, 06:53:33 PM »
So, what will they do with the Black Numenoreans?

Effete

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #9 on: August 20, 2022, 07:08:32 PM »
Tolkien is turning in his grave.

Fuck these vandals! Never giving them another cent! In fact... where'd I put my eyepatch?

Visitor Q

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #10 on: August 20, 2022, 07:26:24 PM »
In fairness it is WotC so who cares about their take on literally anything?

Effete

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #11 on: August 20, 2022, 07:37:36 PM »
In fairness it is WotC so who cares about their take on literally anything?

Amazon is learning and WotC is going to learn: You Don't Fuck With Tolkien Fans!

ForgottenF

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #12 on: August 20, 2022, 07:45:25 PM »
So, what will they do with the Black Numenoreans?

I never got the impression the Black Numenoreans were supposed to be ethnically Black. IIRC they're described as dark-haired and swarthy, which sort of implies something like a Mediterranean look (which would make sense, given their pirate aesthetics).

BoxCrayonTales

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #13 on: August 20, 2022, 08:06:06 PM »
When will it end?  This really just goes too far.  Why the need to do this?  I'm all for inclusivity but am equally opposed to revisionism.  It's almost tantamount to saying, "There is no excellent literary work coming out of predominantly African society so we've taken the liberty to make what is dominant more inclusive." 

Who's the racist now?
Exactly. There are numerous works of Afrofantasy that could be adapted but aren't because racism. If studios refuse to adapt afrofantasy by African-American authors, then studios are racist. White Leftists even write books admitting how they have racism in their DNA, so they don't even pretend they aren't racist.

The leftists I know admit they don't like performative wokeness and are just hoping these shitty products will succeed and somehow inspire studios to go beyond performative wokeness. I think they're grasping at straws. Corpos don't actually care about social justice, they just want money. I would think leftists who rail about capitalist injustices would already know this.

This battle isn't going to be won by corpos that churn out bad product on the cheap. It will be won by black creators like Eric July, who show that original afro-fiction can easily build an audience with some effort and connections.

Studios are just racists who suck the blood of dead white european men like ticks while claiming to hate their hosts.

So, what will they do with the Black Numenoreans?

I never got the impression the Black Numenoreans were supposed to be ethnically Black. IIRC they're described as dark-haired and swarthy, which sort of implies something like a Mediterranean look (which would make sense, given their pirate aesthetics).
It's a bit more complicated than that.
http://theblogthattimeforgot.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-amazons-of-far-harad.html
https://topmovie123free.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-lord-of-rings-series-wild.html

The world of Arda has a deep history and much of it was never explored by Tolkien. You could very easily write a series about how the evil Numenoreans colonized and oppressed the innocent Haradrim, how some Numenoreans went native and became the Corsairs and fought against this colonialism, how Sauron was cannily playing both sides against each other, etc. Not to mention wholly original but appropriate inventions like the titular "Amazons of Far Harad." Arda is easily able to support afrofantasy without revisionism to Middle-Earth, because it has an Africa equivalent (Far Harad) that was never explored.

If the goal is social justice, then just make a series set entirely in Far Harad where there are no white people and the entire cast is black.

Omega

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Re: Aragorn race-swapped?? What. The. Literal. Fuck?
« Reply #14 on: August 20, 2022, 08:58:37 PM »
To be fair I felt Bashki gave Aragorn a sort of Native American-esque look. Darkest skinned character amongst the heroes.