[color=#CC0099]Feducci’s term is through! London requires a new Mayor! Whom will you support?
Her Highness, the Empress’ daughter, has entered the race. This presents a variety of constitutional difficulties. When questioned about this, the Captivating Princess merely smiles.
She is determined to restore London to its former magnificence. A city to delight the eye, the ear, the appetite. It’s not surprise her motto is: “Make London Magnificent For Me.” Her jewel-studded campaign trail is easy to follow. This is because she travels in a very large gilded sedan, carried by six of Benthic College’s burliest rowers.
The Captivating Princess announced her candidacy from the balcony of the Shuttered Palace, in a show of defiance to constitutional norms, separation of crown and state, and good taste.
Use the first week of London to investigate The Captivating Princess and the other candidates, as well as their platforms. More information on Election 1896 can be found in the Main Announcement thread.
Want to learn more about this candidate?
We’d recommend the the premium story, The Gift by Chris Gardiner, or last year’s premium story The Marriage of Feducci by Cash DeCuir. If you’re also a skyfaring captain, you may find her as The Incognito Princess officer in Sunless Skies.[/color]
No offense to the artist, I’m one myself so I know it’s tough job but… is this portrait a collective punishment imposed upon entire community for some unspeakable crime?
The princess looks like a child, teenager at best, here which makes the Feducci marriage thing very awkward, and why are her eyes blue…- they used to be brown always.
Her glamourous appearance is unnatural and we don’t know the details of her human->monster->human transformation. Unnatural youth may well be part of that
gronostaj, I think that’s putting things rather rudely. Also, given she looks exactly the same (barring hair/makeup/outfit) in Sunless Skies, I think we can just assume the Princess doesn’t age conventionally.
Frederick, doesn’t this only push gronostaj’s point even further? If even in Sskies she looks like the good ol’ portrait we knew, what’s the cause of her sudden de-aging here?
Is it though? Even barring the uncomfortable changes in the character’s looks, the portrait itself looks sloppy (note the jagged edges and sloppy hair, I love me them loose lines and expressive art style but there’s such thing as… too loose) and I don’t see how an artist should be exempt from critique just because we like him.
I am also not a fan of the “she looks like a child, but it’s okay cause she’s totally like, 30 years old” rhetoric because I see it used in some truly unsavoury circles. That polite enough way to put it for you?
Well, when my favourite character in the game runs for office it isn’t a hard decision to make who to support. I don’t even think I would mind if she didn’t win, I am thrilled simply to support her :)
Except she doesn’t look like 'the good ‘ol portrait we knew’. She looks much like this new portrait, except with shorter hair and in uniform, so the two of them match. Here’s her Sunless Skies portrait:
Personally, I like both portraits. I think the old one had more charm as it emphasis her alluring dark nature, but I still like this one. And while she does look younger here, I don’t think she look’s like a teenager. And I think the art itself looks fine.
My only small complaint is the fact that her eyebrows are raised and her eyes open and round, which invokes a sense of being innocent rather than captivating.
. edited by Akernis on 6/18/2018
Thank you for the link, Akernis! I don’t have access to SSkies so details like that miss me completely.
It’s, frankly, still strange to me. Why was her design changed so dramatically? She had a set appearance before - reddish-brown hair, brown eyes. Now she’s a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty? For what reason?
[quote=millea]Thank you for the link, Akernis! I don’t have access to SSkies so details like that miss me completely.
[/quote]
Happy to help ^^
[quote=millea]
It’s, frankly, still strange to me. Why was her design changed so dramatically? She had a set appearance before - reddish-brown hair, brown eyes. Now she’s a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty? For what reason?[/quote]
Not sure, but she reminds my a little of Queen Victoria now, which I thought was a nice detail - albeit probably an accidental one.
If you go up in roleplay you can always say that rather than a true portrait this is more an electoral poster made of her to appeal more to London’s populace imagination of what a Victorian princess should be like. And in public it’s amazing what contacts and makeup can do.
I do not think anyone minds the changing eye colour. However, appearance sets a narrative. When you drastically alter it, the narrative changes - violently.
The Contrarian was handsome. The Princess was a Victorian femme-fatale. Change them to something else, no matter how good the art, and you upset the building the player’s mind.
The Sunless Skies portrait retains the captivating aspect, no matter the colour scheme. This portrait presents us with a different princess.
Also, as someone just reminded me - the Princess was born around the Fall, which makes her in her thirties as of 1896. She looks distinctly teenage here.
I personally mind it because it was part of the narrative. edited by millea on 6/18/2018
[quote=millea]Thank you for the link, Akernis! I don’t have access to SSkies so details like that miss me completely.
It’s, frankly, still strange to me. Why was her design changed so dramatically? She had a set appearance before - reddish-brown hair, brown eyes. Now she’s a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty? For what reason?[/quote]
I generally agree with the new portrait being strange and unappealing, but… the new portrait’s hair being blonde?? It is brown. Just not reddish-brown like the old one.
now that i saw the Sunless Skies portrait I can joyfully say… it’s literally the same portrait except with a sloppy overpaint of long hair and bigger anime eyes. Oh my god. Bad form, mr Ardent, bad form…
now that i saw the Sunless Skies portrait I can joyfully say… it’s literally the same portrait except with a sloppy overpaint of long hair and bigger anime eyes. Oh my god. Bad form, mr Ardent, bad form…[/quote]
I couldn’t believe it, so I overlayed both of them in photoshop. You’re right…
[quote=gronostaj]
now that i saw the Sunless Skies portrait I can joyfully say… it’s literally the same portrait except with a sloppy overpaint of long hair and bigger anime eyes.[/quote]
Or it might well simply be that artist used the same base for both pictures and tweaked each for the different scenario as needed. That is a perfectly normal way to make alternative pieces where the only thing that varies is hairstyle / attire / expression etc.
As an artist myself it hurts a little when people claim ‘sloppy overpaint’ just because an entirely new picture wasn’t painted from the ground up.
[quote=Akernis]
As an artist myself it hurts a little when people claim ‘sloppy overpaint’ just because an entirely new picture wasn’t painted from the ground up.[/quote]
as an artist myself i know a sloppy overpaint when i see it. and, of course, i ocassionally overpaint and trace my own work and even, gasp! photobash things for reference!! but i don’t go around selling it to a client and audience as a completly new thing… like i said, bad form.
Remember which princess we’re dealing with here. I honestly don’t know if she’ll follow the rules… any rules. What’s to stop her from taking the position by royal fiat? Or at the very least sending all her political opponents to some dungeon to be consumed by some monster (maybe her).
She’s a wee bit more… powerful than the previous candidates. She either has ulterior motives or finds this to be some sort of amusing game. Otherwise she’d just declare herself mayor right now and get it over with.
Well… if we follow history, by that time royal power was not what it used to be. Not saying this is unlikely, but normally she would not be allowed to act this way.
Then again, there is no ‘normal’ for monsters, I guess!
