Anime v Non-Anime Models

[Gale Austin McCenry]

I'll try to not repeat what's already been said in this thread, but I thought I would spend two cents on this.

I'm not one to want to judge. For me, there is a difference between having an opinion and judging, and that difference is this: having an opinion means you may feel or think something but you know it's not law while judging is feeling or thinking that it is law or that others should hold that same opinion. That's just my definition though, feel free to disagree with me, since everyone has their own definitions, but based off of that, I really don't like judging.

But in my opinion, if there is one thing worse than any other visual misconception or anything aesthetically displeasing, it is bad avatar edits or bad photomanipulations at all. I can't even begin to express how flustered I get over it, I have a little tantrum in my seat. I overreact, I really do, but it really makes me made. When I see an avatar squished beyond reason or when I see a really sloppy and choppy eye or hair edit (or worse if it's a racial edit) I can't even begin to express the rage I feel.

I think this is mainly because of two reasons. One being that I am a visual person. I like things pretty, I like things neat, and really, I'm a perfectionist. This is especially true when it comes to things looking good/realistic. So having something just look horrible just irritates me. But the other reason is that I am an avid photoshopper, and I make a point to let people know this because I like doing it and I like helping people with their pictures and such. But it makes me mad when people are okay with their pictures having green blobs for eyes, or having blue hair when only their skin is supposed to be blue, or having a reaaaally crappy wing edit done. But it makes me furious when people purposefully decide to just squish a 300x500 into a 200x200 square instead of going into any editing program (Paint, pixlr, gimp, photobucket, imageshack all included) cropping it into a square then making it 200x200. It makes me want to rip my hair out, I swear it does. It takes all but two seconds to do yet you'd rather just have this awful image instead of taking that time to just make it look right? Augh, it's just so frustrating.

But let me tell you why that sort of thing really bugs me. Like I said, I have opinions on images like that. I typically get the first impression that the person is lazy when I see crap edits and squished avatars. But I'm a pretty open minded person (I'd like to think, you can disagree) so I know that if they prove me wrong, that I won't worry too much about the image. I know I'll get over it, because if someone is a good writer then you shouldn't toss them aside because of their avatar or how their CS looks. But it bugs me when people have images like that because I know for a fact that a lot of people do care and can't let that fact go.

I haven't read through every post made in this thread, but out of the posts I have read, a lot of you have said you can get over the fact that it's anime, or that it's a bad edit or something, which is great, but I know for a fact that there are people (whether they are in the thread or not) that can't let it go. They will literally just drop the person like a hot potato because they can't get past that visual. And I really hate it when first impressions like that ruin opportunities for someone.

So with both of those reasons combined, things like that are just the worst for me.

Now for the infamous anime. I feel like my attitude towards anime FC's kinda change. As I started RPing on Mizahar, I didn't really mind anime that much, because I didn't start rping on Mizahar, so I was used to people using all sorts of FC's. But after about the first year, I really started to hate them. I feel like I avoided them like the plague because most people on Mizahar do use, or try to use, models as their FC's. If not models then digital images and such. Realistic FC's rather. But After that first year or so, then I kinda drifted back to the first stage where I sort of don't mind.

And to refer back to the second reason on the squished image topic, the only reason I don't really like anime FC's right now id because I know people will judge them for it, and it really worries me. I'm a worrier, I'm a dreadful worrier, and people being judged and cast aside really worries me because I know that's a loss of opportunity and possibly a friendship or anything else. Like I said before, I know I can get past the first impression if someone proves me otherwise, but that barrier is harder for other people and that's really the only reason why I don't like anime right now.

But to put it in plain terms, I don't mind anime myself. I wouldn't use it, but in my own opinion, putting what I know other's think aside, I'm okay. That first "what the" feeling is usually very brief for me so it doesn't really matter in the end, but yeah.

So I guess that's it then. I hope I didn't repeat myself or what was already said too much, and I hope my rambling made sense. I talk gibberish sometimes, especially on my tangents, so yeah. But there you go, I guess. My opinion in a nutshell.

[Zhol]

Not everyone "notices" that it's bad, though. People watching TV shows in the sixties or the eighties didn't realise how bad the special effects were. People watching movies on VHS didn't realise how bad the quality was. I started out back before paintshop was a thing that regular people had, doing Star Trek stuff, and we were all pretty damn proud of our MS Paint hack jobs putting people in uniforms, giving them pointed ears, and all that. We didn't know any better, and the tools weren't readily available for us to do any better; and so we didn't expect any better.

Making judgements based on your opinions is all well and good, but there's a fine line between objectively judging the thing in front of you, and unfairly judging the person behind it. All you can really tell about a person with an anime avatar or an avatar with a familiar actor is that they (presumably) like show/movie that the character is from. Not liking that based on your personal opinion is normal and healthy, and sure, it does demonstrate conviction like Gossamer says; but going from that to inferring things about their age, their writing quality, or them as a person isn't necessarily such a laudable thing. It's the same as judging someone's language skills, and assuming they must be stupid/uneducated/etc, when in reality English may not be their first language, and they're actually doing a pretty amazing job of writing a story in a foreign language. Judgements can be good, but they can also be completely wrong, and it's always worth challenging a first impression just in case it's in error.

Like Gale said; opinion is one thing, judging is another, and I think it's important to be mindful of the difference and make sure you're not spending too much time on the negative side of that fence.

[Gossamer]

Point of fact... there's honestly no inference on someone's age. It's pretty much a fact that combined with an Avatar, a CS review, and a glance at a few posts I can absolutely tell with fairly good accuracy, what age group someone falls into; juvenile, tweener, teen, young adult, adult, old fucking fart.

And truthfully, I sit here and shake my head at all you people who say you DONT judge. Stop lying to yourselves. We are humans. We judge EVERYTHING and form an opinion on things in split seconds. That's a scientific fact that marketing research spends billions on annually to unravel in order to get their products or brands seen in the most favorable light. You can give a pile of photographs to children and all the good looking people in the photographs will be categorized by them as 'good' and the asymmetrical faces and odd off-the-norm appearances will be seen as 'bad'. Its built into our genetics to do so.

Remember the recent commercial about the good looking male actor standing by a 4x4 truck then a economy electric car and what women had to say about him? Oh yea... every one of them said the truck photo guy was a hell of a lot more fun and the other guy was boring. That's based on fact. You JUDGE you liars. You always judge.

So before you remain on your high horses about 'I don't judge'.... I call you out on bullshit right now. You do judge. We all do. The difference is some of us are willing to be honest about it and some of us just want to look good to the general crowd, even if its obvious that its utter lies your talking.

[Telor Riptide]

So, what Gossamer is saying is right to an extent. We do all judge. There's no way to deny it. However, I would not call those who say they don't judge "liars". I would assume that what they mean is not that they don't judge, but rather that they keep their judgments to themselves.

I know, at least for me, that this is what I mean. I absolutely do judge. I won't deny it. But, I try my very best not to act upon those initial judgements and to allow the person time to prove themselves. Perhaps my initial judgement ended up being right, or perhaps it was very wrong. Either way, from my point of view, it does not cost me (or anyone else) anything to withhold those judgements until they are proven one way or another.

*bows and backs out as respectfully as possible*

[Gossamer]

I'm only calling them out as liars if they are sitting in this thread claiming they aren't judging. If you like anime, if you don't like anime.. it makes no difference. If you are reading this, reading anything.... or even viewing it... you are judging. The liars are the ones openly stating that they aren't.

If you are saying you are but aren't acting on it... then that's a whole different can of worms and I wouldn't call you out. Whether you succeed or not, trying to be a good person is a whole different thing.

[Logan Storm]

I LOVE ANIME!

There was no point to this post and I probably just pissed some people off.

Continue.

[Roderick]

I LOVE ANIME! Heresy! *BLAM*

[Caelum]

Zhol wrote: Not liking that based on your personal opinion is normal and healthy, and sure, it does demonstrate conviction like Gossamer says; but going from that to inferring things about their age, their writing quality, or them as a person isn't necessarily such a laudable thing. I just want to address this real quick because it is way off base. First, I never claimed any of it was laudable. I was stating that it is relatively easy to infer such things based off of a player's visual and text based presentation. I edit, primarily fiction, and it is my trained skill to infer all manner of things based off of text, presentation, and short conversations. A little experience and study can tell you a great deal. Of course this does not mean that you use what data you have on a person and treat them poorly or unfairly. You're suggesting that having information and opinions on how a person writes or what they do or how old they are or anything automatically means that you are going to be shitty to them somehow. That's a terrible assumption. Why would I be mean to a child? In what circumstance would I be rude to someone who can't photoshop or is just getting a handle on BBC? Guess what, I can't photoshop worth a damn. That's ridiculous. Finally, this is a game and nobody here is forced to play with anyone for any reason. You pick your writing partners for a variety of personal and selfish reasons that are entirely expected and I fully endorse. That doesn't mean I'm being shitty to those people with whom I haven't thread or whom I simply don't. Yes, there are those I've refused for reasons that have nothing to do with time or availability. As long as I wasn't rude to them in doing so, there's nothing wrong with that and I shouldn't have to justify it to anyone.

[Gossamer]

Leave it to Caelum to point out that the people who tend to say they don't judge are in fact assuming that those of us do judge we will treat people in a manner unbecoming of adults. We are hopefully all adults here. There is an age restriction on this game for a good reason and that's why we need to be able to spot kids being where kids shouldn't be. Anime is always one of the good indicators in my mind. It is not, however, the only indicator. It is a road marker though and one that points to youth.

That being said I'm married to a very adult male who is obsessed with early GI JOE cartoons, figures, toys, etc. But again, his obsession really does take an adult bent.

Warning. Tangent.

Didn't we have a pirates verses ninjas and which were better thread somewhere? This totally reminds me of that. For the record, Ninja's are always better... hands down.

[Lazuhly]

But even your saying that you need more then just an avatar to draw an accurate final conclusion/judgement.

The avatar itself can only allow speculation of perhaps a targeted demograph or particular interest. Is it possible that your avatar may generate additional threading partners, absolutely.

But the most important facet to evaluate and form a judgement on in my opinion is the character sheet and former threads.

The avatar falls short especially when you can infer facts about the user just by gleaning just below posts, words, joined, location,race.

By reading just the line beneath Zhols picture I can be left with a logical although hypothetical guess/impression that he is a Kansas fan or has an affinity for that song in particular.

I do make judgements but I want to be satisfied with what I know before I make a final verdict.

Which is why I feel impartial or unbiased based upon the question of avatar preference and if I would be audacious enough to snub someone for using an anime picture.