a wild poll appears!

[allie]

So, I've noticed that lots of people have lots of different thoughts about rp icon usage, and I'm curious about the prevailing opinion.

For the sake of having this poll make sense, imagine you're playing a character who appears in a manga, an anime, a video game, and a live-action film, but you took your characterization solely from the manga.

[Poll #1422140]


Now, imagine that your character undergoes a change in appearance throughout the series. Check for each change that is acceptable for icon purposes.

[Poll #1422141]

By state change, I mean a change that isn't being represented ICly. Imagine a human character that can transform into an animal, but is always human in the RP. Would it be appropriate for the player to use animal icons as well as human icons?

Obviously, there are exceptions to every rule, but just go with what's true 90% of the time and describe the exceptions in comments.

I'll get on my tags in a sec, I promise.

Comments

[eco-mono.livejournal.com]

In general, I'd usually be comfortable using anything drawn if the character himself/herself was drawn. A video game would be borderline in that case - as the character is far more likely to look different - but if there's an expression I need and can't find anywhere else, and if the video game character isn't clearly a different person from the manga character, I'll use it.

As for appearance changes, I tend to get a LOT more picky about that. In the case of someone like Mello, say, if I needed an icon that you only get post-scar and I was playing him pre-scar, I'd probably only take it after photoshopping the scar away.

I usually use text icons in the same way that I use "alternate form" icons - if there's not enough stuff to fill up my icon list, I'll get those and use them when appropriate, in lieu of an actual facial expression. (This is what I'm currently doing for Tanaka, who, having not been a human to begin with, only has "human form" icons thanks to Zarla's fanart). So, I'll use them, but they'll probably not actually get used if I have an appropriate current-form icon to use instead.