Impure Tale

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Sun, 19 May 2013 22:27:14 -0400

The Brave and the Bold

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:10:16 -0400

I recently posted a link on Facebook to this petition regarding the redesign of Merida from “Brave” that Disney is reportedly doing to include her in the Disney Princess line and I got this response.

> “I don’t get the hoopla over this. Apart from wearing a different outfit and being drawn by a different artist, I don’t really see a difference. Is it that a woman without a weapon is weak?”

Character design matters.

If there’s one thing the character design class I took in college stressed more than anything else it’s that a good character design informs the viewer who the character is, what they are like. What they wear, how they stand, how they do their hair, the shape of their face, their standard expressions, what they carry with them, these are all vital decisions in a good design.

Few have embraced this philosophy more wholeheartedly than Disney. Take a look at some of these designs and think about how well the designer conveys the basic concepts of the character through the design alone.

(source)

Disney knows how to do this and their choices are deliberate. A misstep in the design of a character can make the difference between one that is marketable and one that is not. That’s extremely important to Disney, and a task that they do not treat cavalierly. If you have to sum up the character in just one image, like you often have to do with marketing materials or toys, qualities like the ones listed above are the only tools you have.

Artistic Interpretations

(source)

The argument that a character always looks somewhat different when a different artist draws them doesn’t apply when your’e talking about Disney. If you think I’m wrong, think of how many drawings you’ve seen Disney publish of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Aladdin, or Woody that look exactly like they did in the movies. While things like comics have some leeway to veer off model a bit, marketing materials need to match as closely as possible to key images and are scrutinized by Disney for inaccuracies. I’ve had friends who have drawn licensed properties professionally and, in general, if you aren’t able to keep your drawing “on model” you aren’t going to keep working on the project.

An Experiment

Think about the choices that were made in designing the original Merida and the ones that were made in the redesign.

If you were asked to design a character that was a beautiful, rough and tumble, scottish adventurer who was technically a princess but rebelled against the frill, pomp, and sexisim that came with her post, what are some good choices you could make?

You could dress her in a plain green wool dress that fits with her earthy surroundings.

You could give her a wide, plain face, and the expressions of a normal attractive girl; likely avoiding the full red lips, thick eyelashes, or pointed jaw that you might find on a princesses such as, say, Cinderella.

You could make her standard postures and facial expressions defiant, strong, and powerful.

You could give her a weapon and you could make it one of her defining characteristics. If you really wanted to drive the point home, you could make her weapon a defining element of the plot and marketing of the film.

Now, let’s say you were given the task of taking the established Merida design from the film and re-imagining her to more closely resemble the typical damsel in distress that the Disney princess line seems to champion. What choices could you make given that she still needs to be recognizable as the character from the movie?

Perhaps you could take her plain wool dress and make it a beautiful gown. You could take the earthy green color and change it to a shimmering turquoise, cover it with sparkles, and drop the neckline over the shoulders.

You could add intricate gold embellishment wherever possible including an elaborate foot wide band around the hem of her dress.

You could drastically thin her waist and face and thicken her eyelashes.

You would have to remove her bow and pouch full of arrows, replacing the strap that held the arrows in place with a wide belt and giant gold belt buckle.

Attached to the buckle you could put a shimmering turquoise scarf.

You could change her standard postures and facial expressions from aggressive, assertive, and defiant to sassy, cute, and submissive.

Do the above descriptions sound like something the character from the film would be excited about?

Who would win in a fight, Bruce Wayne or Disney Princess Merida?

Now, you could point out that the redesign isn’t that much of a stretch. Merida does wear a more glamorous gown in the movie that does, with the help of an excruciatingly painful corset, make her appear much thinner. She is sometimes sassy. Both points are true and a good choice for the filmmakers to have made. Allowing a character to have multiple different qualities, sometimes contradictory, can make a story better, but we’re not talking about a story in this circumstance. We’re talking about marketing.

When you market a character you have to boil them down to their essential elements. Take Batman for example. Bruce Wayne can sometimes be dressed to the nines; handsome and glamorous, but when you choose the images you’re going to use to market Batman those qualities don’t come up so much. You want Batman to be strong, heroic, aggressive, adventurous, and sometimes menacing. That’s why the children’s section at Walmart has a lot of things that look like this:

and less that look like this:

Merida was originally marketed similarly. She was depicted in trailers and posters as strong, determined, adventurous, beautiful, and heroic.

This redesign de-emphasizes those qualities and pushes for a Merida that is more glamorous, sassy, and passive.

I drew a brief sketch of a corresponding version of Batman:

Here’s a link to that petition again.

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Sun, 19 May 2013 18:56:52 -0400

choosechoice: thelovelyphones: paprikachu: HAa Oh Ygritte...

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:42:57 -0400

choosechoice:

thelovelyphones:

paprikachu:

HAa

Oh Ygritte you are full of truths.

This made me so happy.

I need to watch this show.

veiledsentiments: legolastheobvious: #most underrated doctor...

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:35:16 -0400

veiledsentiments:

legolastheobvious:

#most underrated doctor ever

I LOVE NINE

mindful-of-words submitted:

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:21:04 -0400

sunshineuncertaintyprinciple:

The term “human baby” is in the definition of fetus. Just so you know.

Your scripture references are referring to persons that are already born having the breath of life breathed into them. Adam didn’t have a biological mother…he was made from the dust.

Do you really think that God would be okay with the termination of something he put so much thought into? He thought of us far before our mothers were pregnant with his. You really think he wouldn’t be hurt by abortion?

Also: Just because Jesus didn’t say outright “Abortion is wrong” doesn’t mean anything. I’m pretty sure “Thou shalt not murder” covers abortion. Murder is defined as “The unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.” Abortion is premeditated. It is also the killing of a human being. Are you denying the humanness of the unborn child?

Actually, I’m fairly certain that the scientific definition of “fetus” does not include any mention of humans or babies. Biologically, a fetus “is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.” You would do well to remember that there are species on this planet other than Homo sapiens sapiens, and that our close evolutionary relatives (particularly Mammalia) share a good deal of developmental processes with us.

Etymologically speaking, “fetus” also does not have any roots in “human baby.” Fetus is derived from the Latin “fetus,” (surprise!) which means “offspring,” “bringing forth,” or “hatching of young.”

And even if the Latin root of “fetus” did literally mean “tiny baby person with more rights than its mother,” scientific definitions are not contingent on the literal translation of their etymological roots. A teratogen is a substance that causes morphological birth defects and is derived from the Greek teras, meaning “marvel” or “monster.” By your flawed theory of etymology, every person with a birth defect is a “monster.” I certainly hope this is not what you believe.

And as I said before, no one is contesting whether a human fetus is indeed human. The issue at hand is whether a fetus has the right to use another person’s body without their consent. Given that we do not force individuals (or even cadavers) to donate their organs, fluids, or tissues without consent, even to save another’s life, it would be morally wrong and internally inconsistent to outlaw abortion and force pregnant people to gestate and birth fetuses against their will.

As for your arguments regarding Scripture, I can tell from your comments that you did not read the commentary I provided. I can also tell from my site tracker that you spent less than one minute on that blog post before coming back to flail in my submit box, so my suspicions are confirmed.

Since you have trouble reading external links, please allow me to provide you with text pasted from the aforementioned Christian Left article:

In Exodus 21:22 it states that if a man causes a woman to have a miscarriage, he shall be fined; however, if the woman dies then he will be put to death. It should be apparent from this that the aborted fetus is not considered a living human being since the resulting punishment for the abortion is nothing more than a fine; it is not classified by the bible as a capital offense.

You bring up “thou shalt not murder,” which is found in Exodus 20, yet only one chapter later, God declares that the life of a fetus is worth a mere fine, whereas murder (or manslaughter) of a woman is punishable by death. This exception to “Eye for an eye… life for a life” can only be attributed to the fact that a fetal life is not the same as a person’s life in God’s eyes.

Numbers 5 describes “the Lord” ordering an abortion. Many argue that this is a misinterpretation. It is clearly stated in verse 22, “May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.”

Not only is God an abortionist in the book of Numbers, but he’s the most prolific abortionist of all time if you consider the fact that approximately half of all fertilized eggs (zygotes) either fail to implant in the uterine wall and are flushed out of the body with menstruation, or are spontaneously aborted (miscarried) some time after implantation. If God cares so much for each individual zygote, and put “so much thought” into each of those zygotes, why does he “murder” so many of them?

And on the subject of “God knew you before you were conceived”, no shit that an omnipotent being knew about everyone and everything before everyone and everything existed:

Many cite the scripture Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” God is omnipotent. He has known all of us since before creation. This scripture is irrelevant as it pertains to when a fetus becomes a living being. The same reasoning applies to Psalm 139:13-14.

So no, I don’t think God is bothered by early abortions performed before fetal viability. According to the Old Testament, he’s actually a pretty big fan of them.

As for Jesus’ lack of commentary on abortion, I have to think that if abortion was such a horrific sin, he would have had words about it. He talks about murder, adultery, divorce, and mistreating your neighbor. He talks about forgiving debts and wrongdoings. He talks about prayer and hypocrisy and passing judgement on others. Yet abortion doesn’t come up.

You harp on and on about the poor, poor fetuses involved in abortion, but you ignore the pregnant people who are often in very desperate circumstances. 75% of people who get abortions in the US are doing so because they cannot afford a(nother) child. 75% are doing so because having a baby would interfere with work, school, or caring for dependents. 61% already have one or more children to care for.

And when abortion is illegal, pregnant people die. Right now, tens of thousands of people are dying every year because abortion is illegal or inaccessible to them. No fetuses are saved, but people are dying and leaving born children parentless.

Jesus cared for women. He cared for the poor. He cared for the widows. He cared for the marginalized. I say again that I do not believe Jesus would force anyone into further poverty for the sake of a fetus. I do not believe he would condemn children to starvation because their parent could not afford so many children. I do not believe he would support a government that condemns its people to hemorrhaging infection, and death in the name of forced birth. I believe Jesus would take these people who desperately want and need abortions into his arms before he ever gave a second thought to an insentient, unfeeling fetus.

Jesus’ ministry focused on grace and forgiveness. He forgave the adulterers and the murderers and the tax collectors and even the people who sent him to his death. He told us to forgive our neighbors “seventy times seven times.” And both the ministry of Jesus and the subsequent letters of Paul make it clear that all sins are forgiven by Jesus.

That means that even if abortion is a sin, that sin is forgiven the same as any other.

Which brings me back to the original argument at hand: do fetuses have the right to use other people’s bodies without their permission, even when dying adults do not have the right to forced donation?

Legally speaking, criminalizing abortion is indefensible. Abortion must remain legal, or else fetuses become elevated to a status above other people, and pregnant people are lowered to a status below cadavers.

We do not live in a theocracy, therefore any deity’s opinion on the matter is irrelevant. However, being pro-choice is perfectly compatible with the Christian faith and teachings of Christ. And even if you think that abortion is a sin, you are required to treat people who want abortions with love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. And that includes respecting their legal right to choose.

An epic takedown. Worth reading the whole thing.

allthingseurope: Musée Gustave Moreau, Paris (by ►bEbOpix) Oh...

Sun, 19 May 2013 14:43:36 -0400

allthingseurope:

Musée Gustave Moreau, Paris (by ►bEbOpix)

Oh my.

Character Sheets and character creation →

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:00:28 -0400

thatfrenchhelper:

When creating a character, there’s a lot of questions you ask yourself. Whether it’s an original character or one you’ve been playing for a long time, using a character sheet to get to know your character better can always be a nice idea. With it’s help, you’ll be able to think about things you didn’t necesarily thought about, and ask some important questions to yourself that might activate your character’s voice, or help you to get your muse back with them. Everyone has their favorite character sheets, some people prefer to have a lot of questions, some others like it a bit more vague, so here’s a masterlist of the character sheets I found on various websites and found quite interesting, plus some other things that could be used to help you see, for example, how other character view yours.

Blank Character Sheet (+370 Questions)

Abridged Character Sheet (100 Questions)

Big-Ass Character Sheet

Character Creation Form

Character Sheet by Jody Hedlund

Creating a character Bio Sheet

Character Analysis Worksheet

100 Character Development questions for writers

Create a Character Profile

Character Development Worksheet

Original Character Bio-Sheet

Character Chart for Fiction Writers

A Character Chart By Charlotte Dillon

Fiction Writer’s Character Chart

Detailed Character Sheet

Character Sheet Template

Character Twenty-Question Worksheet

In-Depth Character Sheet

Character Worksheet

Character Interview Sheet (First Person)

Background Questionnaire (First Person)

Characters Perceptions (How do other people perceive your character?)

With these sheets, you could also try to find your character’s Jung and Enneagram Type or use the Moral Alignment tool. All of these things can be really useful to get a better grip on a character.

Then, if you’re trying to create a character, and do not have many ideas, or get stuck, I’d suggest for you to roam around TVTropes, which gives you a lot of tropes used for character creation. Maybe you could try to mix a few of these and create an original character?

Or, if you’re a skillful writer and know how to make your character different from another, make a list of characters in fiction you happen to find interesting and why. Try to keep it short. Then, maybe, try to mix and match things from two or three characters, take a character and change their backstory, to see what would change. Play with them to inspire yourself and create something new, original and truly yours.

Oh, and here’s a little guide to Mary-Sues and OCs, just in case you want to make sure your character isn’t going to become a Mary-Sue or a Gary-Stu

And last but not least, this article about building fictional character definitely seemed interesting to me, and is full of many other links that could guide you during the creating of your character and help you file one of these sheets.

sirashtonirwin: deadfelinesociety: there is nothing romantic about not knowing you’re...

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:49:36 -0400

sirashtonirwin:

deadfelinesociety:

there is nothing romantic about

not knowing you’re beautiful

loving someone until they learn to love themselves

please stop romanticizing low self esteem.

it’s one thing to love a person who happens to have low self esteem

it’s another thing to frame low self esteem as a desirable trait.

#hey #hey EVERY BOY BAND EVER

banesboner: “you cant have depression i saw you smile like five minutes ago stop crying”

Sat, 18 May 2013 23:33:41 -0400

banesboner:

“you cant have depression i saw you smile like five minutes ago stop crying”

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Sat, 18 May 2013 23:31:07 -0400

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Sat, 18 May 2013 23:21:21 -0400

goatmusk: i always feel inclined to reblog this because it is...

Sat, 18 May 2013 22:42:03 -0400

goatmusk:

i always feel inclined to reblog this because it is literally the best hair flip in the history of hair flips

"Yes, false rape accusations happen. Run the protocol anyway. I’ve heard that perhaps the military..."

Sat, 18 May 2013 19:29:30 -0400

“Yes, false rape accusations happen. Run the protocol anyway. I’ve heard that perhaps the military has the highest number of ‘em. True or not, RUN THE PROTOCOL ANYWAY. Because in 15 years of investigating rape accusations, I can count those that panned out as false on one hand. Meanwhile, the one time I almost skipped the protocol, the one time I almost didn’t believe a petty officer, because I was naive as an investigator and a young woman, because her commanding officer described her as “a party girl, always late, always out drinking, don’t bother with this one”, she turned out to be the victim of one of the most brutal assaults I’ve ever investigated. She shouldn’t have still been -alive-, let alone up and making the accusation. So let me repeat: five false accounts in fifteen years. And one time I almost failed a woman ‘cause of the bullshit way it’s normal to talk about us. Take your shipmates’ word, and then run the protocol. Every. Single. Time.”

- - JAG lawyer, speaking to my husband’s plant during Sexual Assault Prevention Month. (via circusbones)

feminishblog: Holy shit, this chills my bones. Great work to...

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:36:16 -0400

feminishblog:

Holy shit, this chills my bones. Great work to MDA on this campaign!

vegansanfrancishet: So, I paint my nails pretty regularly these...

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:34:20 -0400

vegansanfrancishet:

So, I paint my nails pretty regularly these days. I also work as a barista/cashier pretty regularly these days. A few weeks back, I had a customer come in, a fairly typical, sheltered, suburban soccer mom, and she ordered a latte from me. She saw my brightly colored nails and said, “Wow, you’re so brave! My son asked me about painting his nails, and if it’s okay for boys to do that. Now I’ll tell him there’s a cool guy who does it too!” It was a nice moment, very cute.

Then, last week, she came in again, and said, “Hey, I’m so glad you’re here! I want you to meet someone!” She then brings her son forward, and says, “Okay sweetie, show him what you did!” And he throws his hands up, showing off his bright, sparkling blue nails. He shows them off, and I show mine off to him. He smiles. We fist bump.

Guys, I’ve only wanted to cry once at work before, and that was when someone ordered a large dry soy cappuccino on ice.

This time, though. This was a good cry.

atea-y-feminista: Not just a girl. So my amazing daughter,...

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:06:17 -0400

atea-y-feminista:

Not just a girl.

So my amazing daughter, Emma, turned 5 last month, and I had been searching everywhere for new-creative inspiration for her 5yr pictures. I noticed quite a pattern of so many young girls dressing up as beautiful Disney Princesses, no matter where I looked 95% of the “ideas” were the “How to’s” of how to dress your little girl like a Disney Princess. Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Disney Princesses, from their beautiful dresses, perfect hair, gorgeous voices and most with ideal love stories in the mix you can’t help but become entranced with the characters. But it got me thinking, they’re just characters, a writers tale of a princess (most before 1998)…an unrealistic fantasy for most girls (Yay Kate Middleton!).
It started me thinking about all the REAL women for my daughter to know about and look up too, REAL women who without ever meeting Emma have changed her life for the better. My daughter wasn’t born into royalty, but she was born into a country where she can now vote, become a doctor, a pilot, an astronaut, or even President if she wants and that’s what REALLY matters. I wanted her to know the value of these amazing women who had gone against everything so she can now have everything. We chose 5 women (five amazing and strong women), as it was her 5th birthday but there are thousands of unbelievable women (and girls) who have beat the odds and fought (and still fight) for their equal rights all over the world…

So set aside the barbie dolls and the Disney princesses for just a moment, and let’s show our girls the real women they can be.

1st pic: Susan B. Anthony

2nd pic: Coco Chanel

3rd: Amelia Earhart

4th: Helen Keller

5th: Jane Goodall

Obviously there are more than five women that are as valuable to our history. Lots of them. And it must have been difficult to choose only five. But this initiative was incredibly ingenious and inspiring!

TRIGGER WARNING - rape apologism, misogyny, slut shaming, victim blaming

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:30:46 -0400

fuckingrapeculture:

The following blogs are all from the same user. She is frequently reblogs from rape survivors to spew rape apologist, victim blaming bullshit. This is a trigger warning for people who may want to block her content.

http://conservativegirlonrape.tumblr.com/
http://conservativegirlonabortion.tumblr.com
http://conservativegirlonpolitics.tumblr.com/
http://the-one-you-will-hate.tumblr.com/
http://justmythoughtsonhoes.tumblr.com/

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Sat, 18 May 2013 13:23:05 -0400

Yet another mansplaining gynecologist

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:21:05 -0400

mansplained:

I have suffered from endometriosis for the past decade. My doctor had exhausted every treatment option but hysterectomy, but he wanted to send me to a doctor who was would be more aware of whether or not any new treatments had been developed.

The visit with the new doctor began with a drawing of the female reproductive organs. He then started by saying: “these are your ovaries, this is where eggs grow. This is your uterus, this is where the baby grows.” When I told him I knew that (everyone who took high school health knows this), he got angry and yelled at me to be quiet, HE was the doctor, after all.

He then explained endometriosis to me. While I understand that he is the expert and I’m not, I’ve suffered from this condition for ten years, so if your explanation does not contain any information that can’t be found on the wikipedia page for the condition, it’s safe to assume that I, or any long-term sufferer of said condition already knows the information you are presenting.

Then he offered a reinterpretation of his purpose: he was not, as my doctor had suggesting, confirming that everything had been done before something as drastic as hysterectomy, he was going to make sure that I was able to have children someday. I told him that I did not want to have children, that I never have, to which he replied, again practically yelling at me, “That’s what you say you want!”