Merv Ardent @mervardent - Tumblr Blog

About

Hi, I'm Merv, 23, and this blog is mostly about gacha games, especially Genshin Impact. I write fanfictions, make various graphics, and post AMVs and playlists on my YouTube channel. I also write some posts about games, both the short, lighthearted ones and more in-depth analyses.

#genshin impact #genshin fanfic #genshin #genshin fandom #masterpost #masterlist #gacha games

jasmineandpepper

Appreciation post for all the beginner artists who work hard despite the AI looming over us. You are fabulous. You are precious. Keep up the hard work, you are needed.

On the Genshin designs

I feel like a lot of the discourse about the Genshin designs - especially designs of female characters - is reduced to seeing nudity as inherently sexual. It's pretty reductive because any critic will be met with being called sexist for wanting more clothes on women or with someone saying "So you don't want to have sexy characters?". I want sexy characters, that's exactly why I want more clothes on them. Walk with me.

Let's start with stating that nudity isn't necessarily sexual. Mualani's design is very revealing, yet it doesn't feel sexual at all. On the other hand, Shenhe is almost fully covered but her design is sexualized (hip windows, a skin-tight black outfit). Outfits can be really revealing and yet not sexual, and they can also be sexy without having characters half-naked. Moreover, Arlecchino is the most covered female character, and yet everyone and their mother thinks she's attractive or is straight-up feral for her. Gooners gonna goon no matter how covered up your character will be.

I wonder why we cannot focus on a specific trait. Hu Tao has bare legs but is covered everywhere else and has a balanced design, so you don't really see her in the discussion when people complain about bare legs. On the other hand, nowadays we get more designs where we have bare legs (or pretty plain over-the-knee socks), bare backs, bare armpits and chest windows all put together. The goal is clearly to make an attractive character first and a good design second instead of the other way around (Noelle, a starter character, could have a quite long skirt but Danica has to wear a mini?). Ironically, I find these designs very unsexy because of that. My sight doesn't go to anything specific, there's too much skin shown for it to be teasing, and with how repetitive the combo is, I'm just kind of bored. I think Nefer is really pretty and I also really like her character overall, but when I see her full silhouette, I don't think "damn, sexy legs" but about how unbalanced her design is - so much happens in her outfit when you look up and so little below. She could have some cool stockings with eye-catching patterns. It is sad when a good design is held back by the belief that the only way to make a character sexually attractive is to show a lot of skin.

Of course, there can be characters showing a lot of skin in the game. However, when it's most of them and they do it in a very similar fashion, it's just boring instead of attractive. Fanservice can have so many faces! It's especially jarring when you can see how differently female and male characters are treated. Vesna is a fae, so, according to what I've seen people say, she can wear a short skirt because the cold never bothered her anyway, but then Noy, who probably is a fae as well, is fully covered.

Of course, an outfit being repetitive doesn't mean you cannot like it. Vodyanitsa's design fits my personal taste, but my subjective liking of her design doesn't deny the fact that her silhouette fits into the Hoyo classic female design.

My main point is that a character's design should be good first and attractive second. Outfits can absolutely be revealing, sexy or both, but they first and foremost should fit the character and where they come from. Moreover, there are countless ways to make a character attractive or sexy, so repeating the same thing over and over or thinking "more skin=sexier" is just unimaginative.

#genshin impact #genshin #genshin fandom #genshin design #snezhnaya #genshin discourse

writingdose

fanfic writers who type their works directly onto ao3 instead of copy-and-pasting from elsewhere have no fear. fear fears them.

lovisu

@editfight - 11.5 points

arlecchino icons + stamps + blinkies !!

✿.⠀ revenge attack on @haasuki !!

✿.⠀ reblog to use, credits appreciated (^_−)−☆

✿.⠀ psd used

A historic moment.

#ao3 writer #ao3 author #ao3 #ao3 beta

rene-elric

A fae's beloved treasure

kcushisu

FAELIGHT DOODLE PAGE HEHE im supposed to be doing assignments

aleyblake

Daddy with his little boy on a walk (I spent my last savings on this little fool dragon baby)

velkia

Starry Night ✨

This illustration was NOT SCHEDULED at all, I just wanted to imitate Van Gogh's style… And I failed miserably, so I just colored it with my usual style in the end haha