Such As It Is

euclase:

Something I got into a discussion with someone about, so I’m sort of throwing it out there: Do you think that the “teenage heroine” in young adult fiction and young adult fantasy is a sexist idea? Or a sexless ideal? Or what? Why is she such a ubiquitous device?

I think it depends on how she’s written.
I’ve seen some that use a heroine just to say, “See, girls can be kickass, too!” Which they totally can, of course! But the way it was so bluntly written, it’s seems to make it a sexism issue, like they’re trying to prove something, rather then the character being more naturally awesome.
Others seem to be more of a male fantasy, like, “hot girl enpowered, oh yeah bby! (preferably with big weapons!”)
Then I’ve read some where the girl was barely a gender/sex. The way she was written, she could have easily been a boy, and it would have made the littlest difference. I guess you can call that sexless?
I’ve also read a few where the girl wasn’t so much a girl, as a boy, who was just called girl, and the book had the feeling that the author didn’t think a girl could be awesome without it really being a boy that just happened to be in a girl’s body. And in I don’t mean in the trans* way, but in a “why are you even bothering to make it a girl?” slightly sexist vibe way.
I think the heroine is such an ubiquitous device because people have different views on what girls can and should do.
I also think for some it’s a lack of reference and creativity. We’re not often shown girls being awesome in the news, or such. So it makes answering, “So just what would a girl do in this case?”, kinda hard to answer.
As for the romance/fantasy YA, most of them make me cringe. A lot of them are written with unhealthy relationships. From what I’ve seen, anyways.
I also do think these are sexist, because so many of the girls suffer because of their obsessions with a boy. And in my head I’m going, “You don’t need a man, you just want one. No woman needs a man. Why don’t you realize this? You’re strong enough, you just don’t know it!” and then it gets me foaming at the mouth, and I have to fling the book away from me.

penmouse:

I just would like to say to my followers, 18 and over, and residing here in the United States:

drwhogeek10:

Vote in this years elections. Just do it. People constantly say America is run by old white men. Well, that’s who mostly votes. Older American’s vote more, and they have more conservative views.

So I’m just asking, please take part in this election. Please help put the right person in office.

If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain about the Presidential policies, or what they do.

To all the younger people, register to vote, and let your voice be heard. You have the right to do that.

I can’t vote because I’m a legal resident, not a citizen. For those of you who can, please do.

(via penmouse-deactivated20120522)

It’s really hard for me, being anal about my lines, to get the right feel in digital programs. I draw very lightly, and prefer thin lines, but I also like gradating line weights. It’s difficult to do that in programs without having to press hard if I’m using a thin line setting. And if I’m using very fluid pressure settings, it’s tough getting the stable thin lines I want.
However, thanks to Dii’s wonderful link, I was able to fiddle around and get the settings just how I want. Look at that gorgeously-thin-but-wonderfully-gradating, yet-still-tapered-at-the-end line. * 3 * <3
—-

I don’t know much about this program, but if you’re using SAI, there’s the stabilizer function, and the higher you go, the more your lines taper. Also, on the brush settings, the more you lean towards hard on your soft/hard settings, the thicker your lines will be.

Art Basics Meme

For Faces:
25 Essential Expressions
Consistency Exercise

Draw a _______ shaped face (for both genders):
Circle
Oval
Oblong
Square
Triangle/Pear
Diamond
Heart

REF: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05

Draw a ______ nose:
Short
Long
Button
Pert
Pointy/Sharp
Thin
Flat
Wide
Crooked
Arched
Wide

Draw ______ lips:
Thin
Full
Top heavy
Bottom heavy
Wide
Short
Cupid bow

Draw _____ ears:
Rounded
Pointy
Small
Big
Attached
Free hanging/detached

Draw ______ eyes:
Prominent
Small
Round
Deep-set
Almond
Asian
Hooded

Draw ______ eyebrows:
Thick
Thin
Long
Short
High arch
Low arch/round
Flat/no arch
Droopy
Angled up

Draw a _____ shaped body (for both genders):
Hourglass/diamond
Triangle/pear/A-frame
Reverse triangle/reverse pear/V-frame
Apple/round/oval
Ruler/rectangle
Tall
Short
Skinny
Plump
Fat
Muscular

Draw the body (of both genders) facing:
the front
3/4 front
4/5 front
profile
3/4 back
4/5 back
the back

Draw in:
1st perspective
2nd perspective
3rd perspective (good luck with that)
Bird’s eye view
Worm’s eye view
Dutch angle

There should be more diversity in the people we draw, and if you’re stuck in an art block, you can always go back to the basics.
Credit to: Candeaumer.mangabullet.com

Brave

I liked it. It was good. However, it wasn’t exactly Pixar level good.
It has a couple flaws that brought the level of it down considerably, even though overall, it wasn’t bad.
It felt like it could have been done by Disney or Dreamworks. It just didn’t have the Pixar quality stamp to it.
For one thing, the pacing was rather awkward. The beginning dragged, showing just how frustrated Merida was with her mother, Queen Elinor, and vise versa.
It was needed, yes, but I felt that it went on too long to the point where I was starting to lose sympathy with both characters, and instead was simply mildly frustrated with both. And not in the good, oh you made me feel what they’re feeling, way. More like, get on with it, way.
When her mother was changed into a bear, and her mother saw how useful Merida’s skills were, I felt this part was too short! I wanted them to learn a bit more about each other, and more from each other. They have that one sweet moment of interaction, and then it’s off to the castle to be chased (which I thought dragged on too long.) Then it rushes off to the great battle/the end.
Another issue I had with the movie is that only Merida and her mom have any character depth. Everyone else was foil, and to be honest, I think Elinor stole the show. I was much more engaged by her than by her daughter, awesome hair or not.
The triplets were a running gag, the father (while charming) was a foil to Elinor as the fun parent, and to show how little Merida is like her mother. You didn’t know anything at all about the clans, so they were simply comic relief. Which backfired later when Merida gave her supposedly rousing speech because I didn’t know enough about them to care. “You saved my dad from that arrow!” Oh, okay, that’s nice. The touching part of course was her mom’s expressions while watching Merida handle the clans, but it made the moment a bit flat since not all apects were engaging. The nanny had more character than the clans.
The witch slightly disappointed me. She felt so…cartoony. I wish she had had at least one serious moment, so the whole aspect of Merida getting a spell to change her mother did feel so…flamboyant? Even the big reveal that it’d be permanent did feel important enough. “Oops deary, forgot to mention…!” Umm, no.
Honestly, my favorite moments were the small interactions between Elinor and Fergus that show just how much they loved each other. Like Fergus’s dismay when Elinor says she was apprehensive about her betrothal, or when Fergus openly enjoys her charms at the end when she’s nude (lol), and you saw her tease him for it, rather than be more prudish. I thought that was lovely, and showed another side of her.
I wish they hadn’t shown that flashback of Elinor stitching the tapestry with little Merida, because as soon as they did, I knew immediately what the witch had meant about something needing mending. I already had suspicions, but if they’d left that heavy hint out, the ending might not have been so predictable.
As for the visual aspects…I thought it’d feel more Scottish then it did? Like, maybe some moors or some open hills. The scenic displays where a bit brief to me.
I didn’t like the aerial shots of the forest? They felt/looked a bit too generated, and not as organic and well rendered as the rest of the forest shots.
But that water scene, gosh, that was incredible! Easily the best shot in the whole film!
Also, I will say that the dark bear was rather well done, and just the right amount of scary that’s still tolerable for kiddies and engaging enough for older viewers. (And was it just me, or did anyone else find the willow o’ wisps slightly creepy in that ‘horror movie, voices of ghost/demonic children’ kinda way?)

Education

Education is a big, sensitive topic with me. So, if this entry comes off a bit of a rant, I apologize.
There’s kids who hate school, and then there’s kids that love school. However, it’s really hard for me to have sympathy for those who hate it.
Those who take their free education and other such opportunities for granted piss me off.
It angers me when I hear people complain about their school work, or they don’t go to class simply because they have a tummyache or headache, when I know several people in Mexico who would kill for a chance to go to school. Instead they have to drop out, (if they were lucky to even go to school) and go work in the fields or other back breaking labor for measly pay.
When I went there for a year in middle school, everyone was so intelligent and serious about their school work. For a lot of them, it was their final year of schooling. That’s why it also makes me livid when I hear some people being called stupid because they’re are not educated. Most of them are very smart; they just never got the chance to prove it.
I’ve seen kids that went to school when they worked 10-12 hours the day before, and of course they’re tired and sore.
I’ve seen kids walk miles to get to school every single day cause there was no bus, hell, no freakin roads, where they lived.
As for having to get up so early (usually around 7 am), when I lived in Mexico, I had to get up around 4:30-5 am to make breakfast for the whole family, iron my school uniform, make my own lunch, then walk a few miles to school.
Yes, these are extremes, but it still shows how damn lazy and ungrateful people are in more fortunate countries.
And those who bitch that they won’t use half the things they learn in school outside of it, or that most classes are pointless…Elementary school through High school is MEANT to be basic and general. Specific knowledge and eduction, that’s what college is for. It’s impossible to tailor courses for just one person, unless that person is home-schooled with a personal tutor and with a chosen field/career already in mind.
What about those that are bullied at school? Bullying can occur anywhere. Schools just happen to be gathering places, thus more likely/convenient for bullying. It can make you hate going to school, but it shouldn’t make you hate school itself. If you are being being bullied, report it, NOW. No one should tolerate bullying. Keeping silent is helping no one but them.
If you hate a teacher of yours, then, does the rest of the class hate them? Or other students who take their class? If there’s a good reason to dislike the teacher, change classes if you can, and if it’s bad enough, report the teacher. You’re there to learn, and no one should stop you or take away that right. Even it’s by being a bad teacher. It doesn’t make them a bad person and that doesn’t mean they don’t know their material. Some people just aren’t good at teaching.
So, for all of you that hate school, stop your whining, and stop being so ungrateful!

Rebecca Black, we don’t hate you because you’re famous, you’re famous because we hate you.

You know what I hate? Posts like these.
People hating on a 13/14 y/o girl when they don’t even know her.
All they know, is that she wrote a song they consider horrible,
(even though I’ve seen a couple of people profess it’s quite catchy.)
Folks can hate the song, but why hate on the person?
Why use such a strong, terrible word on a girl who’s never done them any wrong?
There’s even people saying horrible things like, “you should go kill yourself”,
and it comes from people saying things like this, that they hate her.
This is partly where cyber bulling comes from.
They make it trendy to bash on her. They make it acceptable.
You know what this is? Lynch mob mentality.
Start thinking for yourself, and grow up, people.

Dissatisfaction With Your Art

I’ve written before on how it upsets me to hear artists say they hate their art.
Well, let me further clear it up.

The way I see it, one can’t suddenly whip out a gorgeous, (subjectively) perfect drawing.
It’s a process, between starting and getting to that perfect drawing.
And in between that, there’s going to be several flaw filled pictures.
It’s logical.
So, instead of getting upset that my drawings aren’t how I want them to be, I observe and analyze how to improve them.
I don’t take it personally.
So, in general, I love my art/drawings. I’m happy with them.
Usually, it’s my place in the process I’m unhappy with.
Like, I tend to think I should be further ahead.
But that has little to do with my drawings, and more to do with my art in general.

I don’t see how upbraiding yourself for a flaw in a drawing is helpful.
Taking note of it, (and trying not to repeat it), is help enough.
Beyond that point, it’s merely one being detrimental to oneself.

I think that having that goal, of improving, of getting to that skill level you want, should be enough to spur you in your art.

As for being pleased with one’s art, what’s wrong with liking one’s art?
Why is that seen as boasting or arrogance?
If we’re making art, isn’t it obvious that we like it?
So why shouldn’t we like our own art?

Some say that being too pleased with your art leaves you open to criticism.
Well, let me tell you, you’re ALWAYS open to criticism.
People are always going to have something to say.
Putting yourself down first isn’t going to stop people from putting you down further.
And actually, that’s the wrong way to see criticism.
People giving you critiques aren’t trying to bring you down.
It’s not a critique if they are; that’s just trolling/flaming.
And you should listen to what they say, anyways, even if it’s flaming.
You don’t have to take it to heart, you don’t have to follow through, but when people dis your art on this or that point, even if they said it maliciously, you can still benefit from it.

Belittling yourself doesn’t stop these people, the ones that would hurt most.
Belittling yourself just makes a wound that they can further rub salt in.
It does you no good.
You CAN be overly-critical WITHOUT being detrimental.
Just be objective!

Here: a visual summery.

Tangled

I just need to get this off my chest in a somewhat official manner, or else it’ll bother me forever.
I hated Tangled.
The biggest core problem is that it’s a Disney film.
A thief crawls into our heroine’s room, but it’s okay. This being a Disney film, we know nothing is going to happen in terms of serious danger.
What about another loveable Disney thief? This isn’t Aladdin. For Aladdin, we knew him a bit before he flew up to the princess’s terrace.
After some funny action where our heroine displays some common sense and restrains him, she promptly throws it out the window by asking him to escort her to some pretty lights.
Let’s put this into perspective. Picture yourself at home, alone, young, and female. Now, a stranger, a thief, enters your home. Do you ask him to escort you to a party? Wtf, no.
But Disney logic says this guy is actually a good guy, and being the first guy she met, doubtlessly her intended love. So we’re happy that she’s finally out of her tower and off to a grand adventure, secure in the implications that she’ll be okay and fall in love.
They meet some ruffians, but that’s okay. Remember, this is Disney. So all it takes is her sweet voice ringing out, asking with heartfelt ~~naivety~~ sincerity, “Haven’t you ever had a dream?” And this is enough to bring our tough thugs to great heights of emotion and instant compassion, foregoing their greed for Flynn’s reward money.
They get away, have some more adventures, and reach the kingdom. Being the clever people that they are, they promptly dance in the street. What reward for our thief’s capture and his highly recognizable face? What pursuit of our fair maiden and her distinctive hair? Screw that, Disney needs its sugary sweet heartfelt moment and its musical numbers! What guards? Pfft.
Speaking of pursuit, Gothel has been searching for her using two goons. “But wait!” cries out one the goons in my head, “What is my motivation??”
Idk guy, you tell me. Apparently, all that Flynn did was jip them out of a crown, which Gothel offered to them, gratis. You’d think that they’d take it and mosey out of town, but no. I don’t think Flynn jipping them was motivation enough for them to want revenge when they were offered what they supposedly were after, the crown. Flimsy flimsy, but so is most of the movie. Moving on.
Gothel catches up to them, and cue her musical number of how mommy dearest knows best. The thing about this is that, only we know she’s the big baddie, and honestly, that’s pretty dang good advice given the situation. Which is:
“Omg, mother, I don’t want to go home. I just had the most awesome time, (neveryoumind the life threatening situations I’ve had and I will never tell you about), and I met this great guy, and omg mom, I love him! Plus, I haven’t been out in forever!”
“No, come home! You barely know this guy, (you barely know anything, and yes, that’s my fault, but that’s a legit point at this time and place), and the world is a dangerous place! (in general, but extra dangerous to you because your freaking lighthouse hair.)”
Of course she shouldn’t listen to her mother! I mean, we all know she’s ‘evil’, and thus, any sound reasonings to her argument should totally be ignored! (Disney Disney Disney!)
Yes, at this time, Raz probably should go home. She doesn’t know Gothel isn’t her real mother. If she doesn’t go home, she has no place to return to. So, what? She should just join Flynn, the only guy she’s ever know, and barely knows at that, and go roving with him? (because he admitted to having no home, either.) Of course! In the logic of Disney, this is perfectly acceptable!
Now, let’s be honest. Raz is safest in her tower. She has magical healing hair, the only one of its kind. If she had not been locked up in her tower, what kind of life would she had lived? Probably one of constant threat. She probably would have been kidnapped often. There might have been killings over her, maybe even on the big scale, such as wars. Her life would have been in shambles, unless she was constantly protected.
However, most people just complain about how she was locked up.
But let’s take a closer look at her living situation. Her room is gorgeous. So it’s no dungeon she’s living in. She has plenty of hobbies, so she’s not deprived. Gothel even offered to go on a three days journey to get her some white paint. She’s in perfect health. She has a pet. Gothel is the only one she has to use her powers for, and it seems to only be once in a while, at most, it’s once a day. Though I think it’s really the witch visiting her once a day, not really her using the magic every day. That’s another thing, Gothel sees her every day.
She’s not physically abused. People will argue that Gothel is verbally/mentally abusive with her cracks about how she’s prettier. However, on an abuse scale, that’s like a one out of twenty. I can think of several situations where several parents I know did a lot worse. It’s not the healthiest of things, but it is far, far from the worse. I’m not dismissing it. However, I think people should see the bigger picture.
Given the situation, that’s she’s being raised by an ‘evil’ witch, and can’t leave her tower, she has it pretty fucking good. You can even say she’s pampered. Yes, Gothel wants her to be entertain and happy so she won’t run away, but despite her motives, that still gives Raz a fairly good life.
Okay, now here comes the big moment…and my biggest beef with this film.
Raz learns Gothel is not her mother. Instantly, and I’m not joking, literally instantly, all of Raz’s feelings for her are gone. This is why Raz will forever be a shallow ditz to me.
This woman raised her for 18 years. She clothed, feed, and sheltered her for 18 years. She visited her basically every day for 18 fucking YEARS.
THIS should have been the focus of the Big Moment, not the cutting of her hair.
She should have felt so many emotions: betrayal, hurt, anger, sadness, confusion, and maybe even a little denial. (Because, honestly, she was taken when she was a baby, like what? a few months old tops? who the fuck has memories from that time? I call major bullshit.)
You can’t throw the years Gothel was her mother, her sole contact if nothing else, away…all in a few blinks of her overly large eyes.
BUT, THIS IS A FUCKING DISNEY FILM. She’s the villain! And that means instant, unforgivable evil, and to be done away with asap.
Basically, it’s a cheap shot. The main character is portraying what the film makers expect the audience to feel. You’re not suppose to think too hard about it, just react. Never mind what connection she had to the heroine before her evilness was discovered. Don’t think about what this women meant, and was suppose to mean, to this girl.
Don’t think about what this says about parenting, especially what implications there might be for foster and step parents. Implications of, “the biological parents will always be better.”
And that is what Disney is implying. Why? Because Raz doesn’t know her real parents. She hasn’t meet them, she hasn’t even heard anything about them; she doesn’t know anything about them. However, they’re the ones she was kidnapped from, and this is Disney, so of course they’re loving and just absolutely wonderful. The film gave us hints that this was so, but does Raz know this? No. However, everything in this film is ~~shallow~~ idealized (just look at that super happy and perfect kingdom!)
Then Gothel stabs Flynn and he cuts off Raz’s hair…and ruins the film’s chance of having even one decent, serious scene.
Here you have the workings of another cheap shot: the big, cheesy, dramatic, romantic moment.
Never mind that Flynn just made Raz’s biggest decision (besides leaving the tower) for her.
Actually, did you notice that, that her every single big decision after that (and before), was made by someone else?
It was Gothel who controlled her whole life up until then. It was Flynn who guided her when she did leave the tower. It was the thugs in the bar who helped her escape. It was Flynn and Maximus who kept her safe while she traveled (in general). Then at the end, it was Flynn who cut her hair.
Wasn’t this suppose to be the climax of the movie, where Rapunzel’s character development should have reached its peak? I wanted her to finally make a decision with her own hands!
I personally thought that Flynn cutting off her hair, AFTER he’d been stabbed, was pointless. Rapunzel already knew Gothel wasn’t her mother, and wasn’t going to stand being locked up again, and had basically found her independence. If he hadn’t cut her hair, she could have healed him with it.
She realized she had choices now. It was a symbol of her shut-in life, and her tie to Gothel, she could have cut it herself AFTER she healed Flynn. Wouldn’t that also have been a powerful gesture? To actually cut off the last tie holding her down herself? To do the very act that had held her prisoner all those years, destroying the last vestiges of fear she had, and showing her independence as permanent?
The last Disney tidbit: the way Gothel dies.
Why does this bother me? Because she was killed. This goes back to how Raz didn’t feel a thing about her once she realized Gothel wasn’t her real mother. After Gothel dies, Raz spares not a single fucking thought about her. Going back to my point of EIGHTEEN YEARS OF THINKING HER AS HER MOTHER, shhh, mustn’t think of that. Pay attention to the romance!
It’s one thing for Gothel to die after Raz had cut her own hair, and then watch heart-torn as Gothel fades into dust as the years catch up to her, but her dying that way, so coldly, so impersonally, really Disney?
Here’s something to ponder: did Gothel really have to die? If EVERY thug in that bar could get his wish, couldn’t they have been more merciful to her? I think her aging normally, seeing herself as an old woman in the mirror for the remainder of her life, would have been a more appropriate fate for Gothel.
But, no, this is a Disney film, and villains and other evil baddies are suppose to die. What a terrible shortsighted and shallow way of thinking, just like this film.

The Disney tarnish out of the way, there were other things. Basically, logic fails.
If Gothel had found the flower and had hidden it away, how did people come to hear of it? Thus enabling the kingdom to search for it for its ill queen?
Why was Raz’s oh-so-important tiara on a stand, out in the open, guarded only by two guards? Shouldn’t it have been in the treasure room with the other valuables?
Ignoring that a horse is the head of the guards, why was only a tiny group of men sent to retrieve the tiara, and why did they give up so easily?
It really mustn’t have been that important after all, eh? But wait! Flynn was sentence to death for it’s theft! It is important or not?!
Later, Raz convinces Max to help her and Flynn, even though Max nearly killed them at the dam, and was hell bent to capture Flynn. Right.
They easily walk into the kingdom, easily evade the guards searching for them, and just as easily, dance in the streets without being captured.
That whole my hair is cut so I’ve lost my magic, but wait, let me heal you with my tear - is bullshit. Did she, or did she not lose her magic? If she didn’t, then even cut, her hair should have stayed golden. Whatever, Disney cheesy dramatic romantic moment is required, fuck logic.