@bubbs6969

EDIT: I made a separate, low-effort vid for clarification purposes. Here's that: https://youtu.be/qeA7eysEizI?si=GxP1a67IEkbR2Kqt

I'm seeing a lot of great discussion in the comments, but I'm also seeing some stuff that makes me think I didn't articulate a couple really important things as well as I thought I did, so it's time for a pinned comment! I definitely want to keep seeing you guys talk, it's interesting to see all the different points of view, but I want to make sure I'm coming across okay enough, lol!

1. For the tropes regarding anatomy and biology and all that, I am a massive nerd when it comes to evolutionary biology and physiology. That perspective informs my reason for not liking certain character or creature designs. However, I fully acknowledge that there are a bajillion reasons for somebody to make a character design a specific way without invoking my specific nerd interest. Budget limitations, time period of production, availability of certain practical or special effects, story reasons, and even just you thinking it look cool all are totally fine, regardless of my personal like or dislike. Omniman in particular isn't in the video because he is bad, he's in there because he's an example of an alien that looks exactly like a human. However, it's important to his story. [SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER] would hit way different, for the worse, if he was an eldritch beast. And, at the end of the day, my biggest gripe is simply that we don't get more non-humanoids and NOT that we get humanoids at all! TBH I started writing the alien rant after watching NOPE specifically, if you've seen that and want to see why my head is where it is, haha.

2. The non-sound sound effects is DEFINITELY a cultural thing when it comes to manga and k-comics, lol. From what I've been seeing from people who seem to know their stuff (genuinely thank you guys for informing me!!!) Korean and Japanese are both languages with words that do not cross over the best but would actually indicate a specific sound or at the very least indicate a specific vibe that does change the panel. In English, those types of words don't exist, so there just is no good way to translate it. On that, though, I want to specify my problem isn't with it happening at all, my problem is with its seemingly careless application. I have seen plenty of cases where this sort of thing was used to great effect for comedy, mood-setting, or to otherwise elevate the panel, but I often see it in a way that feels like it's taking away from my experience rather than adding to it. In the examples I showed, most if not all panels had words in them, and as an avid enjoyer of comics AND a creator of comics, I find that too many words like that can make me feel like I'm running a marathon. Having a simple panel without a bunch of words is kind of like giving a rest stop in my mind. Also, I just personally like to be left to enjoy the art on its own sometimes, so all the extra text can be a little distracting for me personally. It's just not my thing personally, but I know people who love it, so once again, you do you.

3. Argonians were a bad example for my gripes! They've got the Hist sap thing going on, which is actually pretty sick, and I need to brush up on my Skyrim lore. Wujeeta has lore-relevant boobies. You go girl (to rehab).

4. Sexy characters designs are NOT bad on their own. I love sexy characters, if that wasn't clear, haha. Context makes the difference between a sexy character and a character that feels like thinly veiled f*tish content. One of my favorite femme characters in all video gaming is Bayonetta. She is INCREDIBLY horny, but it is integral to her character in a way that feels genuine and purposeful. A character running through a battle field with their stomach exposed, whether it's to show off a perfect hourglassy lady or an 8-pack on a guy, is more of the disruptive thing. Regardless, I have no issue with people making sexy designs for the purpose of being sexy. It's fine. I do it too. My gripe, like everything else, is that its all over the place.

5. I am aware that there are a lot of things that make the human body excellent. We can throw things really well, we have highly efficient sweat glands, we have excellent endurance, and our hands allow for dexterity you just don't see with other animals that much, and never really to the same extent. Humans are not the worst thing to ever evolve on our planet. This is not lost on me, I promise. My comment about bipedal travel not being the most efficient method of travel was also just not phrased the best, which is my bad. With my zoology background, I was thinking of swimming, which is ACTUALLY the most metabolically efficient method of locomotion, as well as flying, which can be faster and more efficient than running over long distances if gliding is utilized over flapping. However, for short-distance land travel, if you're just walking, the bipedal model does win out as far as metabolic efficiency goes. As such, it would stand to reason that plenty of alien species, if we are assuming similar biology and similar evolutionary pressures, would end up being bipedal. On top of that, being upright with arms is generally useful for complex tool usage, meaning advanced alien societies would, most likely, theoretically, have arms too. My point was more that the HUMAN upright-walking bipedal model is not the end all be all if, once again, you can do whatever you want. Our spines, legs, and feet are not the ideal shape or size for walking upright, which was why I added that note of "especially with our skeletal structure" thing. Its why so many people suffer from lower back pain and why the joints in our legs get worn down so easily. That entire point was really about that, and not humans in general, considering that underlying skeletal structure is what results in people being the shape that we are. Hence my gripe. Humans have a lot of great adaptations, the skeleton is not necessarily one of them. This is all setting aside how annoying it is for me to see all these alien empries that I am supposed to believe out-bruted giant monsters on their planets or live entirely underwater and still just so happen to look exactly like humans, meaning that the conditions under which these aliens would have evolved would NOT make the human body the best blueprint for them.

6. You are allowed to do all the things in this video. My thoughts on these tropes doesn't mean that you can't enjoy them or do them, as I said at the start. Your reasoning does not have to be anything deeper than "I want to" when you do something in your art. I do things that I said in the video sometimes, and I do plenty of things just because I think they look cool. Yes ideally, you put a bit more thought into character designs, especially if you are publishing them professionally. Still, you do not need to check with me to know if your choice is okay because if it is right for you, that works. I don't like peanut butter flavored things, but I don't think that all peanut butter flavored things should be wiped off the face of the planet. They bring value to other people and have a right to exist. I just simply will not partake, and I shall say as much if asked. Do not put down your peanut butter flavored things because I said I don't like them.

7. I did not mention my having a degree in science or my having studied these concepts to try and say that I am smarter than you, have a greater position of authority on these topics than you, or even that you could not understand these same ideas if you did not also go to college and get my same education. In hindsight, I can see how that came across, and I apoligize that I worded that so poorly. The point of me saying those things was more to express that science is really important to me and therefore forms the basis for my views on these things.

If I see more I shall edit this, I just saw these things the most and wanted to acknowledge them. Thanks for all your engagement, I'm glad to have sparked so much conversation!! Also thank you all for your recommendations of aliens to look at. I am so inspired, lol. 🥹

@SoulSlugArts

Lowkey hard agree on the double standards with female character in a race 
Also often Doesnt take into account that boobs have a biological purpose for us so why does the egg laying bug have boobs?

@awkwardukulele6077

I was like 8 minutes in until I realized your shirt says "b o o b s" in Morse Code lol.  I didn't think I'd be testing my knowledge on Morse in a video about art pet peeves😂

@mauro27279

Trope 2 is literally Toriel from Undertale. She's fridge-shaped in-game and yet people draw her with the biggest boobs in history lmao.

@Pimped_Freiza

I drew an alien one time for a art project in high school, the art teacher said “make sure to be extra creative and make it look barely human” , and the person next to me drew a person with red skin and a blue Mohawk, and got mad when the teacher failed them

@lilari6146

To be fair, Superman looking human had a narrative purpose. He's supposed to be an inspiring symbol for humanity. Also, hiding him in plain sight depended on his human appearance.

@MiscLily

I love the mention of adding brests to things that wouldn't have breasts because I remember making an anthro character in the past that I did exactly that with, but when I learned that it would make no sense, I just played into it. She became a character that intentionally kept their chest fluffy to give the illusion of breasts because humans' reactions were funny, and their disappointment was funnier.

@InkGraffiti

the boobification of characters is always hilarious to me. Gardevoir from pokemon is HUGE in this as well and so many artists conveniently forget she literally has a spike in the middle of her chest too xD

@ma_cherri

I DESPISE the same body trope where every character is muscular. No, youre not telling me the 16yo depressed homebody is as jacked as a bodybuilder. And no, you're not telling me the malnourished teenager looks like he goes to the gym semi-weekly.

@Pensive_Scarlet

I think there's definitely a cousin to "bustification". Let's call it "be-swole-ment". It's when they take a masculine character with a perfect body, such as BoTW Link, and just make them jacked for no reason. Much like the bustification, it can get even worse in NSFW art, where it seems like every masculine body has to be anything but normal. On that note, love the way you draw masculine bodies! ;D

@samonce7215

the one about aliens being just humans but with fancy face make-up ALWAYS gets me, because as a fellow artist and science lover, i ALWAYS appreciate when people pour as much creativity into their alien creature designs as possible. i find it SO unrealistic that all of the alien races look so similar to humans, so i always appreciate when work is done to make the aliens feel different. (and it is ALWAYS cooler.) like the halo franchise for example. the Sangheli or "elites" as they are called, have drastically different skull and limb shapes, and their bodies are easily recognisable as not human. their mouths have 4 separate mandibles instead of single jaws, and just MMMM their so cool

@1.mudbug

Another one that comes to mind for trope 2 is pomni. Fanart says she’s caked up front and back, when in reality she’s a literal stick

@tsukuyomiakari

In both the Japanese and Korean languages, an *ACTUAL* sound does get associated with non-sounds. A.k.a. they are not just the word 'stare' literally written into the comic, it is something like 'jii-' for Japanese and a couple different variations I know of in Korean based on the nuance of how the character is staring, without directly stating so. 찌릿 for example would denote a harsh glare similar to an electric shock in vibe, as it gets used for sharp pains as well. This is just a LANGUAGE difference as you said and there's nothing much translators can do besides putting nonsensical onomatopoeia that English speakers will not understand. This is not laziness or just cultural preference, it's straight up a lack of direct translations that makes the sfx fall short. I say this as a native Korean who studied a little bit of Japanese and used to translate manhwa as a hobby.

@foxowar3953

Trope 4 often gets called "Sexy dymorphism" which is kinda funny

@Tries_To_Draw

3:32  yeah it’s annoying, in MHA all the girls had different body shapes in the manga, but the animation studio said Nuh uh.

@harrystylesishotAY

Remember that this video is this creators personal preferences. Do not get discouraged if you still do any of these art "tropes", for no one is ever original and youre allowed to have fun.

@thespinodino

One of my favorite subversions of the "aliens that look exactly like humans" trope is the Xiliens from Godzilla: Final Wars. When they first show up, they appear just like people, but once the main cast starts to discover their hostile intentions, one is killed, and it is revealed that it was a facade, and the actual creature underneath is a disgusting biomechanical-looking entity with no eyes and an unnaturally large mouth.

@TheSpiderInUrWalls

Someone make canonically dimorphic spider/praying mantis people. The females are taller/bigger and more muscular whereas males are smaller and weaker. And constantly worried their spouse will bite their head off.

@yabber-dabber-doo

this made me create a new freaky alien called crabcats thank you bubbs for the crabcats

@Zipesthemanokit

20:40 this is why I love subnautica. No humanoid creatures (aside from the player, who is human) and the architects, who are the most humanoid, are basically centaurs, and nothing about them screams human to me. Good job subnautica