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boscaresque — Tumblr Sketchdump 2
Published: 2012-05-09 21:44:27 +0000 UTC; Views: 1190; Favourites: 13; Downloads: 10
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Description
Just for you Topaz.
Kansass.
Just some notes on her appearance:
-She’s pretty tall for a girl; about 5’10. This reflects many things, from her having a higher average elevation than 36 states, to the tall wheat fields, and to make her love of basketball a bit easier, lol. There is also actually a little anecdotal story behind this, lol. So when I lived in MD, I was always one of the tallest kids in my class, being in like the 95th percentile of height for my age group, but when I moved to KS, suddenly like all the other girls were way taller than me. I asked my mom why and she was just like jokingly “they grow ‘em tall in Kansas.” It was seriously weird though.
-She doesn’t really have curves…like at all. I think that is pretty self-explanitory. She’s very thin, but not to an unhealthy level (these days, anyway). She spends plenty of time doing physically strenuous stuff, however, so she’s definitely stronger than she looks.
-She spends a lot of time outside in the sun (Kansas is one of the sunniest states, did you know that?) so she’s always at least a little bit tan, and in the summer time she can get pretty dark. Her hair gets lighter in the sun as well— like natural highlights.
-She doesn’t care much about her appearance or about fashion. Most of the time she just wears T-shirts and jeans. On the very rare occasion that she does dress up; it’s still very casual, and most of her dress clothes are ridiculously outdated. She rarely to never wears makeup.
-Her favorite color is blue. So she wears a lot of blue.
-Her color scheme is supposed to represent like…a golden wheatfield on a sunny day.
More explanations, of things at the bottom:
-Massachusetts and Kansas. They had an interesting relationship, I think. Many of Kansas’ earliest towns (including Lawrence) were founded by the New England Emigrant Aid Company, which organized groups of settlers to move to the Kansas Territory and set up anti-slavery communities. I can picture MA being kind of like a father/big brother to her in the beginning. Most importantly, I see him as being the one who first got her into religion. Here they’re reading the Bible together and he’s telling her all about God and Jesus and how they say slavery is wrong. Not saying it’s all MA’s fault that KS is the way she is today, it’s just…he did kind of help.
(Sorry Mak, I made him look kind of weird…like a Beatle or something. idk.)
-Some of her scars. Most are from the border war, some are from other things.
-Kansas and Missouri. I feel like MO is apologizing for something/trying to be nice for once and she’s like “Nope…sorry. Ain’t gonna stand here and listen to your BS.” I kinda sorta feel really bad for MO in this relationship…just like in general. Poor guy.
Anyway, that’s all I got for now.
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Comments: 29
yes well MO was quite the abusive older brother when KS was first growing up, and is still quite a mess today. Though do feel you neglect some of the influences of eastern Kansas such as the culture of Topeka and Kansas City, and Wichita, not to mention the main collage towns. All three cities do have there own feel and sense of style so while she may not be the most glamours of states she can dress up nicely now and then.
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Thank you very much for your critique on both my pieces, and such a thoughtful critique at that. I really appreciate feedback like this. 
Addressing some points from the other comment, it's good to hear that you see some level of familiarity in my portrayal. haha. I have lived in the state for over 14 years, although up until a few years ago, we never ventured much beyond Topeka. It's only in the past couple of years that I've gotten really interested in the state's history, and began reading a bunch of books. (There are SO many fascinating books about KS history and culture out there).
And yeah, I made her blonde because of the ethnic influences and also for a more superficial reason; the color scheme of blue and gold that seems to appear in many Kansas-related things: the flag, seal, its landscapes, etc. And not gonna lie, she's much more influenced by the character of Mattie Ross from True Grit than anyone from the Wizard of Oz, haha.
Anywho, now I'm just rambling. I have a lot more to her character than what I post on Deviantart. She has her own Tumblr account, that has so much more information about both her as a character and about the state's history in general. That can be found here: [link]
I'm always looking to make my portrayal more accurate, so any feedback you have is always appreciated.
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See, I've only been to KC once or twice, and it's very different up there (I think) than down here in Wichita. It's maybe culture, or size, or something, I don't know. But it's just different. :/
In any case, I picture Kansas as male, but that's likely my own genetic bias taking over.
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Thank you for your feedback!
It is definitely difficult to make Kansas (well, any state, really) into a single character. All you can really do is read about the history, and how people have historically described the state and its people, and think about how people see it today.
You're actually the second person this week who has said that they see KS as a male. haha. Maybe that's a regional thing as well, since the other person was also from Wichita. Maybe if I'd grown up in a different region I would see things differently, although I do try to take different regions into account. It's always interesting to think about!
I have some different characters for different parts of the state. haha. Like I have a Lawrence and a Johnson County, and a few other cities that I've been to.
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I would love to see a character for Wichita, but I think you'd have to come down and check it out a bit to see what I mean about the differences. It's just a different culture.
Of course, we can also talk about Wichita State just making the Final Four. I think they epitomize the nature of Wichita- work hard, never give up.
Of course, Kansans everywhere do that- but it's especially evident here. IMHO.
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I've only been to Wichita a couple times, most recently back in January. I wish I could have spent more time there; but it was only for a couple days. It definitely did feel different from my city; then again, my city/county is kind of an exception to the rule, I think. My favorite part about Wichita was the Old Cow Town.
I wish Wichita State would have made it further, but hey, Final Four ain't bad at all!
Besides hard-working and persistent, what do you think are some other things I ought to know about the people of Wichita? Are there any particular stereotypes I should be aware of? What's important to people there? What industries are there? Is aviation still as big a thing as it was in the past?
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I'm so proud of them on the Final Four run.
Uhm... well, IDK really. I'm from here, so any cultural disparities are not going to jump out at me. One thing I can say, is that the people I know from KC are... "faster". More big-city type. It's very different down here, at least to me. Which is weird, because we're the biggest city in Kansas. XD Aviation is still huge, yes. Absolutely. Other than that... various industries. Really, checking us up on Wikipedia might be best, and then a visit to confirm cultural data.
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Ah. I'm a Prairie Village suburbanite so I can understand your worry. I've driven cross this state many times due to not only attending K-state (hush your bias, though we did kick you ass) as well as working in CO during the summer. So I do understand your worry of making her too suburban/whaterver you can label collage culture but don't be afraid to let her dress up now and then. Even the most dedicated student as a small wild steak. I mean this kiddo has one spitfire of a past i.e. Dodge.
I don't think making her blonde due the state's colors such as the flag, landscape, state flower is superficial but indeed part of what should be considered when trying to personify a state. As for that while the blue eyes does work well, have you ever considered a darker blue? While noon day blue is lovely, both the flag's shade of blue, the cobalt/slate blue of the bluffs cut so that I-70 could be built and the dark blue of a long summer sunset would all be very eye catching and possible help her stand out a bit more among the blond hair blue eyed people.
I've only looked at a bit of that tumbler now but I may start checking in now and then.
By the way love the reasoning behind Laura Brown's name.
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Aw yes, Prairie Village.
Ahaha yes, I love Dodge City. In my headcanon, she was quite a wild child back in the day. and still is, when it comes to some things, like she goes storm chasing and hunting and likes flying planes in air shows. She definitely has a passion for many, many things. Actually, that's one of her main personality traits; she doesn't half-ass anything, It's either all or nothing. Anyway, I'm actually working on a story right now that's set in Dodge back in 1879. It's been pretty fun to write. XD It, like most of my other stuff, is on Tumblr for now though.
The darker blue idea is a really good idea, actually. I didn't know that about I-70. heh. That's really interesting. I will definitely consider that.
I'm always happy when people get her name. haha. I mean, it's really not all that hard to figure out I guess. But still, it requires a bit of knowledge...
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Aw! I love how you portray Kansas. And I'm getting to know this state a lot better through you. I'm glad we've got someone in the Mid-West to give an interesting perspective on things. And thanks for at least understanding my frustration over everything. *Sigh*
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Like at the monster you created Massachusetts. lol jk
I enjoyed reading this, and I didn't see this when it was posted on tumblr. :C
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lol I'm sure he regrets it now.
Thank you.
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I like how she's not some pansy Dorothy clone! I hope to see more of her, I really do!
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lol she hates the Wizard of Oz (well, loves to hate it, I guess it more accurate). There's so much more to the state than that. (That actually happened irl, lol)
Thank you very much.
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Oh I know! The state's got such an interesting place in history.
De nada!
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There have been times when I haven't appreciated it as much as I do now.
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Nice job Mass.
You're screwin up children.
You couldn't have learned the first 3 times?
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lol it's like all his past mistakes come back to haunt him.
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I love how with every kid he had to take care of, he somehow messed it up.
I mean Rhody left, CT left, Maine hates him and left, and KS is all bible obsessed.
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lol...
It could be worse I guess.
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Damn, didn't work the first time so here you go.
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