I'll preface this by saying that I don't by any means begrudge anyone their own personal headcanons or interpretations, but I kinda have to get it off my chest that I'm personally not very comfortable with significant deviations from canon character design on CR, and I really tend to side-eye people who have declared their fanart to be "better".
And sure, some of that is because i'm a cranky old bastard. But some of that is that I also have an animation degree and have studied character design. Creators generally give artists a fair amount of input as to how they want their designs to connote the characters' personalities—not just in terms of clothing or hairstyle, but in the overall shape of the silhouettes and body structures. And in the case of CR in particular, that's coming from a place of much closer familiarity with the characters because the creator is actually going to be embodying them for a fairly long period of time, so when the fan response is heavy deviation from that, I think it can feed into some unhealthy fanon perceptions and projections.
Like, for example, it's not so much that I think fanartists are "disrespecting the creators" or whatever when they keep giving Imogen a sweet little round face and big hips/breasts and cute circular glasses, but I've also studied shape language in art. You're communicating something when you design her this way; if a character's silhouette has a lot of circles, visually that connotes being friendly, sweet, and cute. The person who first suggested drawing her with glasses explicitly said they thought it would look cute—and no shade to them! They can like whatever they want!
But canonically, Imogen is a woman in her 20s who's been dealing with unanswered questions, abandonment, loneliness, and sheer exhaustion from trying to hold back and control powers that she never asked for—and who simultaneously uses those powers even when it isn't necessary if she thinks it'll help her achieve a goal or prove a point. She isn't unfriendly, and she wants to do the right thing, but she's also someone who's consciously chosen to keep to herself for most of her life, and yet simultaneously she's quite adept at persuading and deceiving people. I think we're meant to pick up that sense of world-weariness and cynicism from her angular facial features and thin frame. That's...kind of just how character design works.
I think the trend of disregarding the official art and giving her softer features has had an impact on the perception of Imogen as a character. I see a lot of views of her that really remove a lot of her agency, treating her like she's only ever been a victim of circumstance who's never put a foot wrong. Some fans got pushback for pointing out that it really wasn't cool for Imogen to openly contemplate whether or not the Ruby Vanguard might be right in front of three people who were killed by Otohan, insisting that imogen was just dealing with a lot right then. And yes, she was, but that doesn't mean that the way she was dealing with it doesn't say something about her as a character. I don't know if I'd call it coddling, necessarily (even though perhaps there are some very coddling takes I just haven't seen), but there seems to be some resistance, in some circles, to the idea that Imogen isn't a put-upon martyr. And in those same circles, round friendly-looking glasses-wearing Imogen abounds, to the point of editing the official art itself to "fix it".
Truth be told I'd be willing to bet that the rounder cuter Imogen actually came about because of the initial impression of her, given how much fanon at the start of c3 revolved around poor baby Imogen with her scary nightmares needing the wiser, worldlier Laudna to comfort her and kiss it better, but those visuals also proliferated rather quickly and well beyond past the point where that fanon was feasible anymore, and I think both aspects of that fanon ended up informing each other. It's not lost on me that the rounder and cuter-looking Imogen performs the literal function of sanding down her harder edges.
And like I said, I'm not here to be needlessly negative toward what other people want to do. If you want to draw the characters differently to their official art, I don't think either the cast or the artist are especially offended by it. But I personally dislike it, in part because I think some of these trends are a way for fans to claim a certain amount of ownership over the characters, whether they intend it or not. And the ultimate outcome of that is that when creators inevitably assert their ownership over a deeply personal story in a way that fans don't like, the backlash is much stronger than it reasonably should be, which is something I think the CR fandom has seen often enough not to continue doing as often as it does.
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100+ songs that remind me of buddie: the ship between evan "buck" buckley + eddie diaz from 9-1-1 (tv show)
photograph - ed sheeran
sucker - jonas brothers
fix you - coldplay
clarity - zedd & foxes
everybody talks - neon trees
earned it (fifty shades of grey) - the weeknd
cardigan - taylor swift
august - taylor swift
the 30th - billie eilish
sunsetz - cigarettes after sex
sweet - cigarettes after sex
K. - cigarettes after sex
love of my life - harry styles
i wanna be yours - arctic monkeys
the way i loved you (taylor's version) - taylor swift
everything has changed (taylor's version) - taylor swift & ed sheeran
fine line - harry styles
watching him fade away - mac demarco
jealousy, jealousy - olivia rodrigo
apocalypse - cigarettes after sex
sofia - clairo
we fell in love in october - girl in red
ribs - lorde
i love you so - the walters
until i found you - stephen sanchez & em beihold
golden hour - JVKE
crush - cigarettes after sex
karma - taylor swift
bags - clairo
getaway car - taylor swift
don't blame me - taylor swift
issues - julia micheals
heavenly - cigarettes after sex
memories - conan gray
lay all your love on me - ABBA
head over heels - ABBA
ceilings - lizzy mcalpine
all i wanted - paramore
i love you - billie eilish
heather - conan gray
what a time - julia micheals & niall horan
make up your mind - florence + the machine
look after you - the fray
sparks - coldplay
king of my heart - taylor swift
false god - taylor swift
rumour has it - adele
the great war - taylor swift
maroon - taylor swift
gorgeous - taylor swift
lovers rock - TV girl
why'd you only call me when you're high? - arctic monkeys
beautiful boy (darling boy) remastered 2010 - john lennon
daylight - david kushner
halley's comet - billie eilish
can't feel my face - the weeknd
shameless - camila cabello
ME! - taylor swift & brendon urie of panic! at the disco
all too well (10 minute version - taylor's version) - taylor swift
this love (taylor's version) - taylor swift
enchanted (taylor's version) - taylor swift
midnight rain - taylor swift
the 1 - taylor swift
kiss me - ed sheeran
mine (taylor's version) - taylor swift
lavender haze - taylor swift
hits different - taylor swift
afterglow - taylor swift
lover - taylor swift
red (taylor's version) - taylor swift
i don't wanna live forever (fifty shades darker) - ZAYN & taylor swift
style (taylor's version) - taylor swift
"slut!" (taylor's version - from the vault) - taylor swift
daylight - taylor swift
wildest dreams (taylor's version) - taylor swift
how you get the girl (taylor's version) - taylor swift
you are in love (taylor's version) - taylor swift
golden - harry styles
say yes to heaven - lana del rey
lover (remix) - taylor swift & shawn mendes
training wheels - melanie martinez
scott screet - phoebe bridgers
glue song - beabadoobee
kiss me - sixpence none the richer
something just like this - the chainsmokers & coldplay
still into you - paramore
those eyes - new west
can't take my eyes off you - boys town gang
angeleyes - ABBA
because i liked a boy - sabrina carpenter
sleep it off - niki & gabi
never felt so alone - labrinth
chemtrails over the country club - lana del rey
only love can hurt like this - paloma faith
my love mine all mine - mitski
moment in the sun - sunflower bean
you're losing me (from the vault) - taylor swift
paris - taylor swift
the lucky one (taylor's version) - taylor swift
snap out of it - arctic monkeys
labyrinth - taylor swift
starlight (taylor's version) - taylor swift
company - justin bieber
never really over - katy perry
i lived - onerepublic
the night we met - lord huron
heart to heart - mac demarco
rises the moon - liana flores
about you - the 1975
fight or flight - conan gray
deja vu - olivia rodrigo
you found me - the fray
paris - the chainsmokers
murder on the dancefloor - sophie ellis-bextor
want to want me - jason derulo
hands to myself - selena gomez
late night talking - harry styles
astronomy - conan gray
the only exception - paramore
can't help falling in love - elvis presley
the boy is mine - brandy & monica
last dance - scratch massive & maud geffray
ur so pretty - wasia project
34+35 - ariana grande
good days - SZA
falling in love - cigarettes after sex
keep on loving you - cigarettes after sex
marry you - bruno mars
walk me home - p!nk
people help the people - birdy
now that we don't talk (taylor's version - from the vault) - taylor swift
suburban legends (taylor's version - from the vault) - taylor swift
open arms - SZA & travis scott
movies - conan gray
let the light in - lana del rey & father john misty
margaret - lana del rey & bleachers
need you now - lady A
i miss you, i'm sorry - gracie abrams
sex on fire - kings of leon
end of beginning - djo
21 - gracie abrams
only you - cheat codes & little mix
mr. loverman - ricky montgomery
lust for life - lana del rey & the weeknd
saturn - SZA
lover (live from paris) - taylor swift
dress - taylor swift
waiting room - phoebe bridgers
kiss you - one direction
someone to you - BANNERS
little freak - harry styles
i hear a symphony - cody fry
do i wanna know? - arctic monkeys
till forever falls apart - ashe & FINNEAS
1 step forward, 3 steps back - olivia rodrigo
like real people do - hozier
out of my league - fitz and the tantrums
somewhere only we know - keane
when we were young - adele
maps - maroon 5
young and beautiful - lana del rey
touch tank - quinnie
i found - amber run
invisible string - taylor swift
epiphany - taylor swift
daylight - taylor swift
ivy - taylor swift
sign of the times - harry styles
adore you - harry styles
sunflower, vol.6 - harry styles
let me love you (until you learn to love yourself) - glee cast (version)
somewhere only we know - glee cast (version)
yellow - coldplay
pretty boy - the neighbourhood
the beach - the neighbourhood
whatta man - salt n pepa & en vogue
endgame - taylor swift, ed sheeran & future
delicate - taylor swift
break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored - ariana grande
forever winter (taylor's version - from the vault) - taylor swift
wish you were gay - billie eilish
ivy - frank ocean
i like me better - lauv
toothbrush - DNCE
best friend - rex orange county
no control - one direction
here is the link to the playlist on spofity: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7mpIWOTplXGR7vR4gT34Yi
if you have any other recommendations for songs please let me know and they will go straight into the playlist. also, please don't be disrespectful and this is a reminder that these are my opinions, i hope that you enjoy the playlist!! 💌🤍💋
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