Want to add equal-opportunity fanservice

Well, I'm currently doing sketches for a webcomic, which I might end up drawing if it lasts beyond the two week "current obsession" mark and my graphics tablet arrives. I've started drawing a beach episode, and I've hit upon a few problems:

1. My cast includes more women than men. I only just realised that, and it's more or less been because it's a little easier to draw fancy female outfits without making them look ridiculous. If the group goes to the beach, I'm automatically adding more male appeal than female appeal, aren't I?

2. I have one female character who is trying to flirt with another character, and so I drew her with a rather attractive looking swimsuit that shows off her body. She's doing this deliberately, she wants the other character to be looking at her, and she's not some shy moe girl who's way out of her league doing this, she has a somewhat vampish way of pursuing him. The guy is, if anything, the shy moe one in this relationship. Is it still wrong to do?

2b. Equally, I can't think of any way to give a guy in the other cast something equally fanservicey, because when I think of swimwear for men I think "Speedo" or "trunks", and neither of them seem that much more attractive to me. Which brings me to...

3. I have no idea what women would find attractive about a beach episode. Is the entire thing sexist? Is it just because I'm male and I'm missing the attractiveness factor of a man in trunks? It just seems to me that male swimsuits say "He's a guy at the beach", whereas female swimsuits can say anything from "This girl is shy and modest" to "This girl is pretty body-confident". I guess this is the problem of not having a woman on staff (or any staff, for that matter.) My girlfriend told me that girls who are into manga or anime are likely to just appreciate to generically cute guys who can be shipped, so I don't need to worry about the outfit for fanservice as long as I can put some ship tease in, but if I'm only teasing a relationship for the guys, but I'm giving some bonafide fanservice for the girls, isn't that just as sexist?

4. On top of all this, to be genuinely eglatarian, I should consider fanservice for GLBT people.

I have no idea what that would be, apart from yuri/yaoi pandering.

So, any help here guys and girls?

EDIT: Also, hi! First post.

edited 23rd Oct '10 6:13:36 AM by armageddon

2. So are you certain you can't have another guy character in the relationship instead of a shy moe one?

This is probably waking up problems, but I don't particularly understand the question, sorry. There's a male character and a female character, the male character being relatively intimidated by the idea of a relationship, and the girl pursuing him. So there's already a male character there, if that's what you meant.

I meant to ask if the shy moe guy really has to be the one in the relationship. You have any other character who's better for the role?

EDIT: Uh excuse me, I might have waking up problems too lol ^^

edited 23rd Oct '10 7:16:32 AM by PsychoFreaX

Unless I wrote the character, I think she's the type who'd dress like that anyway. Would your reccomendation be to have someone who's more receptive there, so she wouldn't wear something like that?

EDIT: Unless I just wrote that plot out completely...

edited 23rd Oct '10 7:25:48 AM by armageddon

There's nothing wrong with making girls your periphery demographic; it's not like it's the first time we haven't been placed front and centre.

Vampish female characters are perfectly fine. Who told you different? What, are you worried about slut-shaming or something? If she's a character who can be described without mentioning her physical appearance, seductive qualities or occupation, she's good to go.

Trunks are better unless you're going for comedy or want to indicate a guy is European (I believe some countries consider it a hygiene issue, for whatever weird reason). Longer trunks are the sexy ones; you know, the ones that go to the knee or just above. The mid-thigh ones look like someone's been letting their mom pick their bathing suits all their life. And if you include a character in an Australian surfing-suit you will make more than one fangirl happy.

As far as fanservice beyond that, just include a selection of the standard 'hot' body types - willowy bishounen, reasonably toned, martial-artist toned (my personal favourite) and ZOMG TEH MUSCLES!

Also, the way you wrote that post is very confusing; fanservice isn't given to the character who wears the slinky outfit, it's given by them/you to the readership - think of them as waiters in a maid/butler cafe.

edited 23rd Oct '10 12:43:35 PM by FurikoMaru

That's probably a result of writing that as I woke up... (My sketching process goes "come home", "draw a bunch of stuff before bed and go 'HELL YEAH!'" "go to bed" "wake up and wonder what the hell I was thinking".)

By australian style swimwear, do you basically mean a surfer outfit? This is why I need advice. I'd never even considered those could be fanservicey...

This is what I mean; like a wetsuit, but shorter.◊ They have 'em for guys too but I couldn't find a better picture than this one.◊ Basically it clings to muscles and reveals without baring all. Like Catwoman's outfit, but on a hot guy.

I think it depends on how much you want to play the Beach Episode for laughs. Obviously you're trying to stay away from the "ZOMG BAEBZ" aspect of things, so that's a start; it's just that you'll have to decide how the episode will play out.

Off the top of my head, here's what I can think of:

• Lampshade Hanging. If they're at the beach, then the characters - and the audience - know what's coming, and they can either abide by it, or discuss the hell out of it. Maybe the ladies can end up launching a philosophical discussion on the ideas of beauty, and forget why they came to the beach in the first place (but still wearing swimsuits nonetheless), while the gents have all the fun and engage in shenanigans.

• Plot happenings. If you decide to play down the fanservice entirely, then make the beach time dedicated to advancing the plot, instead of just some separate event.

• Fanservice Extra. Maybe the girls get Distracted by the Sexy via some handsome king of the beach?

I'm sure there are other options, though, so keep at it. Go nuts.

edited 23rd Oct '10 6:43:28 PM by Voltech44