>>96656058>pin it down beyond pro diversityLet me, a drawfag help you anon. First, it copies Steven Universe design gimmicks. This includes but is not limited to: pastel/muted colours, bland lighting (if any), coloured lineart, lack of shading, flat backgrounds, calarts meme, and the body design philosophy (more on this later). It's a rebellion against anime (because idk Dobson polluted the water or something). Common anime design tropes are purposely avoided in the tumblr style. Giant detailed eyes are out, simple ovals and biconvexes with simple pupils are in. Hair that details every strand? Not anymore, the less lines there are the better.
The face and body design philosophies is something I like to call the Nuclear Ghandi design. SU character designs were done to be as minimally "beautiful" as possible, things like pimple shaped slit noses and cleft donut lips, ect. This all had the side effect of being very off-putting and basically making every townie episode a hell on the eyes. I'd like to note it's possible to have ugly characters and not make you want to turn off the TV, e.g. Stanley Pines, Disney's Quasimodo, and Uncle Ruckus. Back on topic, Tumblr took this to heart the most, but added the spice of their many beauty standard movements like: everyone should accept your body hair and bad hygiene as it is! and: Fat girls can wear skimpy outfits!
This probably sounds like pinning it as pro-diversity, but it's really pro-acceptance of the artist's beliefs. This isn't about more of x in media, it's the artist shaping media to conform to their idea of what is acceptable, thus encouraging everyone to accept it as well. But they and the hundreds of others that do this have little to no concept of appealing design, they copy but don't create. That's why it's the Nuclear Ghandi, it's so set on making a difference and putting negative concepts in a positive light, that in the viewers eye it achieves the exact opposite. It's bland, hard on the eyes, and spiteful.
