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Jun 2019

Well the same way I came off as completely hostile (and batshit crazy? somewhat?) to everyone, pretty much all of you came off as absolutely dismissive to me... So... we're actually okay?

It's true and I regret phrasing it like this. I know I'll never convince you, but since you seem to enjoy having a real conversation, let me try to make my point clearer (I really haven't done a good job so far)...

When you create a fictional universe, you have the liberty to make up its rules. It is your absolute right as a creator to make every fictional universe you create one where gender roles are absolutely clear and signalled through extremely gendered attire. I really do mean that. Every author has the right to make every female character wear a skirt because... they don't have to give me a reason, really.

But I also have the right as a reader to lament the lack of variety in that department, right?
If every manga and comic released in 2020 was about dragons, I would absolutely want to vent somewhere about there being too many dragons... even though I absolutely LOVE dragons.

And well... If it were only some fictional universes that forced women to show their breasts and thighs while hiding almost all skin from men... wait, maybe it is a small minority and I'm just so unlucky I keep stumbling upon video games and movies and tv shows and anime that do that... I'll admit I haven't actually done actual research and surveyed what proportion of fictional worlds exactly are forcing all or almost all female characters to wear high heels and skirts.

Happy to have hashed it out with you, and happier still you're able to clarify your point as a result. ^^

And you already know I agree that the unbalanced depiction of male and female characters sucks and needs a good shaking up! :grin:

Wow, you guys really had a whole argument about skirts and kilts and dresses and heels and stunt women and historical accuracy and who knows what else! I can't be bothered to read all that! And not only did it go on for a while, you guys actually seem to have resolved it, damn

Anyways, let's talk about main character with obviously cool design against bland, soulless npc designs! You know the ones!
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These look like the hairstyles of fine upstanding young men who will live uneventful but productive lives as businessmen. Certainly no protagonist shenanigans about to break out here!

I know putting the same effort into every design is hard, but come on. xD

I mean, look at these in comparison! Believe it or not, there's no protagonists here. Hell, no secondary characters, not even side characters. And yet... they all look good on their own! (it's all from My Hero Academia btw)

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Damn it, there's a really good shot of other UA students outside of Class A and B, but I can't share the image

I actually have a tank top like that. it's kinda funny looking. Ironically my boobs are still too big and it still stretches flat in the middle like a normal shirt

About the heels, it's funny and a little appalling, that people give female FIGHTER characters fucking STILETTOS. It's probably because I'm not used to wearing high heels, but my feet hurt after just walking around for like 30 minutes, and my sister owns wedges. These characters run, fight, and swing around and they never complain once that their feet hurt so I'm like ??/???

Mostly throwing shade at Kidman from the Evil Within, but when you play/watch a playthrough of her DLCs, you start to wonder if her feet are okay. I guess since the games take place in the mind of a psychopath, physics kind of go a bit out of the window.

Ah well. At least the heels gave the cool stab-through-the-chin at the beginning of The Assignment.

Sameness. Just within the world of the comic/series. Other people have brought this up, but I find nothing inherently wrong with the anime aesthetic, or overly sexualized characters, etc. etc., so long as you can tell the entire freaking main cast apart in a line-up. And by their silhouettes, not just their clothes or color schemes, and so on.

A character's design from one series can potentially remind you of a character from an entirely different series, and that's fine! The so-called "CalArts style" does not bother me. Nothing is original, and everyone is inspired by everyone.

But character design is hard and time-consuming, so you gotta do what you gotta do -shrugs-. At least in animation/anime you have the added bonus of distinctive voice actors. That's my measly hot take :slight_smile:

  1. When complexity = good design to the creator. I have a seizure everytime I see some "regular" OC that's a desura amped to the 10000.

  2. 50 billion plasters. Why is this a thing. I do not understand and I do not find it cute.

3.Preteen girls with gargantuan boobles. IDK what kinda pedo shit people are into but it's gross and needs to stop. Preteen girls for the most part are flat as a board and have the curves of a straight line. (Some develop early ofc) Don't draw 12 yo as a sexual object, pretty much is my point.

  1. Furries. Not trying to shitpost all furries but furries look spoopy to me and they make me uncomfortable (I've seen too many 50-foot dick furry orgy artpieces to not be)

  2. This is more nippon-korean thingy, but pleated skirts that are like 2 inch long. It's very much nitpicking but I can't help but think of all the times during the story the girls(or boys) butt would be straight hanging out, and it's super distracting.

  3. This is like 100% japan specific, but holy fuck why does everyone want to screw their uncle.

starts sweating
I get it though. I only create non-sexual anthro art, but I understand the stigma.

I've always thought the silhouette rules were/should be condensed to specific art styles/types of characters.

Otherwise you're pushing shape in unrealistic ways to justify a "recognizable" outline.

@LCT-COMICS

Honestly, I don't really mind your character designs or art in general because it's very stylized/ You , I mean more so the disney-style copies with massive junks and the belle delphine faces that creep the bejeezus out of me

Mari I had to look up Belle Delphine and spoopy because I had no idea what you were talking about lol. I don't get the Belle Delphine thing at all but I also realized Pewdiepie had jus did a video about her a day ago that I haven't watched. So I got to ask...what is a plaster?

another word for band-aid :stuck_out_tongue: belle delphine was a thing like two months ago....Now its kinda over

That's a good point. I suppose I was referring to overall body types. Even a more realistic silhouette lineup can have variety. Or not? I'm a cartoony person, so I'm very biased, I apologize :sweat:

And considering budgetary restrictions, a more uniform design may be necessary (also great for TOY SALES$$$). I'm thinking right now of the DC classic animated series, where the male and female superheroes/villains all had roughly the same body types, respectively, with maybe someone like The Flash sticking out a bit by being more slender. Which fits both his personality and superpower beautifully!

That is something else to consider; what design best suits the characters themselves. And you're right, you shouldn't have to push the shapes in unrealistic ways just to appease weirdoes like me. I just meant, in general, sameness is the one character design trait (within a singular series, not as a wider trend) that bothers me. That's all.

You've also helped me elaborate on my thoughts a bit more, so thank you :slight_smile:

Yeah, sorry, I wasn't calling you out personally about it.

It's just something you see brought up which I don't think should be seen as an absolute design rule. It can be a great tool but it only works with certain art styles and narrative types.

Take when a creator designs a character with a distinct article of clothing to create a unique trait/silhouette...

Sure... It's a distinctive hat... But he has to wear it all the time to retain it's visual properties.

And Jughead just exudes enough personality where that doesn't even bother me. All of the Peanuts kids have basically the same body type too, with only the animal characters sticking out in terms of a lineup (if you don't count hairstyles, obviously). And I don't even notice that because the characters themselves are so iconic and distinct from one in another in much more important ways.

(Plus I guess the silhouette thing is more a leftover from my college days, where putting visually distinct characters in your portfolio was more about appealing to studios than creating an actual, fleshed out narrative. Old habits? :confused:)

Honestly, it all comes down to writing and execution. With a newer series, if I'm not digging the designs at first, good character development will win me over. Every. Single. Time. Characters in books can be read as indistinct from one another too, so it goes far beyond visuals, obviously

But that is not the topic of this forum post, lol.