here's a lil never finished piece I did of blakefield the other day for they've been corrupting my mind for the last few months
i keep seeing that post about how frustrating the buff guy -> petite girl type genderbending is, and i wanted to add my two cents regarding the addition of ‘just swap pronouns and don’t change the design’ approach because i think these are two sides of the same coin, as they both fail to really delve into what i think is the most interesting aspect of this design exercise.
the reason i find genderbending to be such a fun and interesting challenge is because, if you actually want to be good at it and put thought into it, you have to really consider the character’s canon gender expression and think about what it means to them and how it reflects in their outward appearance and presentation.
is this male character buff because he likes to work out / be strong, or does he aspire to achieve conventional heteronormative male beauty?
is this female character a tomboy because she likes to express herself in a more masculine way, or is she doing it to fight gender norms?
the answers to those questions should produce very different designs!
this website loves to say that gender is a spectrum, but sometimes i genuinely wonder if people actually understand what that means.
gender expression, much like gender, is also a spectrum, which is why keeping the character exactly the same won’t always work, in the same way that just making the character conventionally attractive won’t always work. but sometimes, a buff dude would actually just be a hot girl. lady bane, however, would 100% look exactly the same.
like seriously the arc this hyperfixation has gone through is crazy. being frustrated with the lack of real depth in their characters to just using that to my advantage and saying well the lack of depth is actually an indicator of how gay they are. Crazy. pacific overtures may just go down in history for me
have i talked my nonsense before about how i love how before poems (in the og production but also like. in most productions ive seen) the stage clears completely leaving just kayama and manjiro for the song and the scene before. and especially in the og proshot you get that wide shot of the giant ass winter garden stage with kayama and manjiro in the corner (not in the center, in the corner) sitting there just two crunchy little blobs of green and orange. and going on to sing poems continuing to be two tiny blobs wandering around the stage. HUGE for poemsshippers everywhere.
im kind of serious like. Have you ever thought about how the lights literally darken for poems and leave just a spotlight on kayama and manjiro. why would they do that. they had to sit down and make the decision to do that. the stage is dark and empty expect for kayama and manjiro who are just two little figures walking in circles and being friends among the great nothingness. this is what poems has taught me
i need the equivalent of the assassins moe shirt but for other sondheim musicals. actually i made this post thinking of follies for some reason (out of character for me) cuz i was listening to the soundtrack today while also wearing the assassins moe shirt and you know what a shirt with moe sally phyllis buddy and ben on it would be so fire. I want that. and of course i also want a pacific overtures one
making ur pfp a pictue of ur favorite guy is great. the modern equivalent of some guy in the 50s pulling out his wallet and there being a picture of his wife inside and him sighing fondly at it
