From Maillot To Mail

[goto124]

Thread post

[Lethologica]

There are about a bazillion images that I would happily use for character concepts if they weren't done in pinup-model style, so I heartily approve of this endeavor. I once did a (much less sophisticated) edit of a League of Legends champ for similar purposes...okay, no, it was to win an argument on the Internet, but still. These look great, including the edit to the dress in the second one, which you didn't mention.

[snowblizz]

-placing her quiver on the other side of her body (it looks like it's there only to make her press her left arm against her chest),

That would be incorrect. Ignoring the implausible moonbowthingy it is quite right to hang it on the right. It would be difficult to grasp an arrow with the same hand as the bow (risk entangling in the string), she'd still need to transfer the arrow into the left arm to reload. Having the quiver on the left would result in an awkward draw as well with the left hand. Drawing from the right with the left hand to place the arrow in what I guess is somekind of crossbow weapon seems the most plausible configuration of a ludicrous weapon. Any other configuration comes over as very awkward resulting in more movement to reload.

Or in other words sometimes a spoon is just a spoon. Or some such.

[Lethologica]

Yeah, LoL has issues. I was editing the reworked Karma to show that it wouldn't be difficult to give her plausible anatomy instead of whatever the splash artist actually did. Fiora's original splash art was just the most ridiculous pose--I haven't paid attention to how it's changed since then, though.


That would be incorrect. Ignoring the implausible moonbowthingy it is quite right to hang it on the right. It would be difficult to grasp an arrow with the same hand as the bow (risk entangling in the string), she'd still need to transfer the arrow into the left arm to reload. Having the quiver on the left would result in an awkward draw as well with the left hand. Drawing from the right with the left hand to place the arrow in what I guess is somekind of crossbow weapon seems the most plausible configuration of a ludicrous weapon. Any other configuration comes over as very awkward resulting in more movement to reload.

Or in other words sometimes a spoon is just a spoon. Or some such.
Reaching across the body for the arrows is more awkward than having the quiver on the loading hand side. It isn't a sword. (I agree that the weapon itself is pretty implausible-looking.)

[ThinkMinty]

It's just fantasy! Magic protects her!

Applying this logic to male armor is both fun and creatively fruitful.

Incidentally, I got a look at the 2014 Batgirl redesign (finally), and...wow, they just got everything right with it.

http://i.imgur.com/aFWL5TS.jpg

On a related note, the following image is just too funny to not post.

http://i.imgur.com/Mijh5fX.jpg

Could they apply similar logic to Bats himself, because I'm tired of the...weird combination of military-grade body armor and fetish gear thing he's got going lately. Dialing him back to "Capepunk Biker Zorro" would be perfect IMHO. Also for some reason I think Batman would be fun if he did a pencil'd on (or other-ways well-faked) pencil mustache as Batman, then didn't have it as Bruce Wayne, to prevent people from guessing he's Batman.

[Prime32]

Not that Super Heroine Chronicle doesn't have a... specific target audience (most of the cast seem to have at least one attack that consists of acting moé and hitting the target by accident, and IIRC there was some way to destroy clothing :smallsigh:), but I'm pretty sure that Noel is supposed to be a stage magician first and a fighter second, and treats combat like she's putting on a show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKJkgek3hJs). That is, she would have chosen her outfit to be eye-catching. The chest window is a bit much, but apart from that it's not really that over the top by Japanese idol standards; heck, there are male performers who dress like this (https://youtu.be/eTzji5EZbco). Also, my first impression of the boot wings was that they made her light on her feet or even allowed her to fly.

[TheMiningDwarf]

Sadly, unrealistic male armor hardly ever results in fanservice, while unrealistic female armor almost always results in fanservice.


Well maybe not for you not saying for me either but the number of male superheros that look like their costumes are just painted on almost certainly counts as fanservice for somebody. I dunno, I agree with what you're doing here for the most part (Why must you hate on the tiny hat? :smalltongue: ) and I for one wouldn't put any character I drew in such impractical clothing and call it armor unless there was a reason for it..

What was I saying? Oh yeah two sides to every coin yadda yadda two wrongs don't make a right. I should probably sleep. Anyway keep doing what you're doing maybe I'll find something to contribute when my brain is less sleep deprived.

[Lethologica]

*googles for images of both Karma and Fiora*

My first thought was "Eh, I've seen worse. Such as comic book heroines who performed the spine-snapping bust & butt pose." Is... is that bad?

I think we should compare to the males of LoL as well. It's to see if the artist is actually applying impossible anatomy for 'straight-male-targeted fanservice', or is just bad at anatomy in general. I believe 'Compare to the males' is a good guideline for all media.
Something to keep in mind is that different splashes are done by different artists. So there's a little of everything (but probably more male-targeted fanservice, Varus and Rugged Garen aside). Overall, Riot is pretty normal for the industry--not Liefeld egregious, but not great either. Karma's current classic skin is typical--see also classic Lux.

Also, were you looking at Fiora's original splash (http://i.imgur.com/H9Ush0g.jpg)? The current one looks pretty okay, pose-wise. The original is "let me twist up in the most awkward pose possible for T&A effect."

[Lethologica]

I'm not keen on talking about the individual artists though. It may lead to bashing of the person him/herself.
You brought up the question of what "the artist" was doing with Riot's splash art. I was just pointing out that there is no "the" artist in that case.


The original Fiora is more 'let's curve the bottom of her spine more than usual, and twist her arms wierdly'.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/11/f6/96/11f696e9fd6fa588c7f53434e4ae5c3a.jpg
The spine thing is happening in the Fiora splash, but not at the expense of the awkward posing effect. (In neither the Fiora splash nor the linked image is anything weird going on with the arms, twisting-wise.)

[ThinkMinty]

Sadly, unrealistic male armor hardly ever results in fanservice, while unrealistic female armor almost always results in fanservice.

I'm aware of the latter. Does the armor being composed of a speedo with words on the butt, a utility belt, and a helmet count as fanservice-y? Particularly if it's required by their boss? I don't even know if these dudes get shoes.

's less clothing than was afforded to the Spartans in 300, so I might be over the bar.


Wow, it's great to see the design process. The artist thought about how the clothes would actually work on the character.

It is. Snap-capes are a new favorite of mine now.

[Marlowe]

http://i.imgur.com/X2KXwku.png

[Thanqol]

Anyway, could someone help come up with a better title for this thread please? The current one is a bit boring...

"Removing Chainmail Bikinis."

"Wear Something Sensible Young Lady"

"Put Some Pants On!"

I actually really respect the philosophy behind what you're doing here. Good work!

[snowblizz]

Yeah, it would be best to have the crossbow on her non-dominant hand. Maybe she's a leftie? :smalltongue: Males also get cool implausible weapons (giant swords anyone?), so I think the handcrossbow is okay.

My main issue with the quiver: Its apparent purpose is to make her forearm push up her bust, emphasizing her assets. A lot of her posing implies 'magazine cover model', not 'combat-ready archer'.


The posing in the pic is without question meant to "titillate". I'm just saying that the placement of the quiver is probably not specifically placed there to get that effect (I wouldn't discount the idea either, really it's a 50/50 in my mind). And that's what I am really trying to emphasize, don't get caught up so you only see trees not the forest. It will undermine the effort.

I'm trying to "decode" how the draw of a bolt and loading the darned thing would work, and honestly no matter where the quiver is the motion is awkward. I've been trying out the motions for myself and it just gets wonky. The best I come up with it would be perfectly reasonable with a quiver on the right, left works about as well (as badly really) but with less distance.

I'd say the same with the tiny hat.:smalltongue: Pick your battles.

[Lethologica]

Hm. Title ideas:


"My Eyes Are Up Here"
"From Bikinis To Brigandines" / "From Maillot To Mail"
"Convex Breastplates"

[Comissar]

Dresden (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/10979241054/rebooting-the-justice-league) Codak (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/11174072014/rebooting-dcs-villains) did (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/11344418364/rebooting-batman) something (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/24574027688/dresden-codaks-x-men-reboot) similar (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/11364826489/dc-comics-reboots-dresden-codak) a while back, it's worth a look! It's a really cool thing that you're doing, too. Though I imagine you mean that your edit for Noel is the one on the left?

[ThinkMinty]

Anyway, could someone help come up with a better title for this thread please? The current one is a bit boring...

"No Shirt, No Shoes, No Adventure"
"Adventurers, not a Fantasy Lingerie Catalog"
"Why Can I See Her Buttcrack?"
"She's Pretty Much Mooning The Camera"
"Would You Let Your Sister Wear This?"

's all I got off the top of my head.


Depends on context, presentation, posing, camera angle, etc. Does it portray the character as tough, or a pinup model?

Here's an image (http://36.media.tumblr.com/38dc7fba2e7e413e52efaba5d901b129/tumblr_mudgfcfvXj1qjd5d2o1_1280.png) that should illustrate the difference between 'combat-worthy badass' and 'senseless fanservice'.

The most important part: They're no longer posing for a magazine cover, but focused on their battle. Compare they way they're standing, as well as their facial expressions (especially the catgirl).

The demon’s stone skin was extended to the rest of her body, to act as natural armor - a plausible and actually reasonable explanation for why she can wear just a simple bikini. The bikini itself is rugged as well, instead of trying too hard to be 'sexy' (ditto for the catgirl's leather armor).


'Required by the boss' is interesting. Why did the boss ask for it? Make sure it makes sense in the story, and its implications played out, instead of letting it become a throwaway excuse for 'fanservice'. The boss doesn't have to make complete sense, just that the reasoning has to be understandable in light of the personality of the boss, as well as circumstances. It helps if the people under the boss point out the flaws, but it shouldn't end there.

She's a young Nymph Enchantress drunk on arcane power and self-indulgent hedonism. Sorta like the bratty, overfed lovechild of Amora the Enchantress and Veruca Salt. Lots of powerful mind-magic, coupled with being too spoiled to want to use her vast arcana to do most of her own treachery. She's quite pretty (she's a Nymph, so it'd be hard not to be), but her gleeful sadism, aggression, caprice, mild tallness, and peremptory presentation make her outright terrifying.

She insists on the extremely revealing mostly because she wants eye candy to look at while she's sitting on her ass in her comfy Big Bad Evil Girl chair watching trashy television and snacking on live goldfish. Half the time she even leaves the lair it's via astral projection rather than getting off her butt. She's a selfish, self-indulgent witch, and she does enjoy inflicting pain on other people, especially since she can read their thoughts. She serially sexually harasses her underlings because she's amused by their discomfort.

Her Myrmidons (the mooks) talk to eachother about it when they think she can't hear them, but they're very, very afraid of her so they would need help working up the nerve to talk to her about it.

PM me if you wanna know more about her, otherwise that should cover it.


Dresden (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/10979241054/rebooting-the-justice-league) Codak (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/11174072014/rebooting-dcs-villains) did (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/11344418364/rebooting-batman) something (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/24574027688/dresden-codaks-x-men-reboot) similar (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/11364826489/dc-comics-reboots-dresden-codak) a while back, it's worth a look! It's a really cool thing that you're doing, too. Though I imagine you mean that your edit for Noel is the one on the left?

Those are getting their own thread, that's amazing stuff. I particularly enjoyed the Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Martian Manhunter, Lex Luthor (turtleneck of EVIL!), and all of the X-Men stuff, especially Jean Grey, who he managed to make not obnoxious.

[ThinkMinty]

Nice titles! Out of the new suggestions, I have issues only with the sister one.

I will admit that they can't all be winners. I was going for a "Do you know where your children are?" vibe, but missed the mark.

[AMX]

Someone provide the source for the original image, please! I was unable to find it myself somehow.

I got as far as this URL:
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs12/i/2006/302/a/b/Neco_by_liodain.jpg

But it looks like that user account is deactivated.

[ThinkMinty]

ThinkMinty, I like your portryal of the boss is as being evil, perverted, and depraved as any male, and how her male minions genuinely suffer under her rule.

Her depravity is very thorough. Unless I think of someone else in a later arc, she's the most perverted character in the series.

She's infatuated/in lust with the hero, and it's going to be really fun writing out how he responds to it.

-claps-

Thank you, thank you.


Depends on context, presentation, posing, camera angle, etc. Does it portray the character as tough, or a pinup model?

Here's an image (http://36.media.tumblr.com/38dc7fba2e7e413e52efaba5d901b129/tumblr_mudgfcfvXj1qjd5d2o1_1280.png) that should illustrate the difference between 'combat-worthy badass' and 'senseless fanservice'.

The most important part: They're no longer posing for a magazine cover, but focused on their battle. Compare they way they're standing, as well as their facial expressions (especially the catgirl).

The demon’s stone skin was extended to the rest of her body, to act as natural armor - a plausible and actually reasonable explanation for why she can wear just a simple bikini. The bikini itself is rugged as well, instead of trying too hard to be 'sexy' (ditto for the catgirl's leather armor).

She happens to be one of those half-naked kinda sorceresses. Most of the time she's lounging or loafing around being lazy and self-indulgent, while what amounts to a bikini (The bathing suit thing is due to an idea I had where bathing suits make for practical pulp-adventurer underwear) with a slit sarong, some Dejah Thoris-y body jewelry, and a Scarlet Witch-y diadem. Doesn't really wear shoes because she has a hard time putting them on by herself and is generally kinda lazy; she tends to get around either by flight, or making her Myrmidons be a makeshift palanquin. 's not so much trying to be sexy as it is she is not wanting to put in a lot of effort into the physical act of dressing herself, but not looking bad for doing so. Well, she looks kinda evil, but that's because she's eating actual goldfish like they're goldfish crackers.

The other way of costuming her I thought mostly involves a lot of black leggings, but that veers rather easily into mocking a lot of present-day ladies and it feels kinda mean premise-wise , so I'll probably stick to the pulpier getup.

[Marlowe]

My reason for my efforts: I believe that chainmail bikinis and similar outfits are demeaning, silly, and uncreative. It has nothing to do with the idea of sexuality being a 'dirty' thing. In fact, I highly encourage the exploration of sexuality-related themes. Just that putting an woman in female 'armor' does not help with that purpose. http://i.imgur.com/JIAc9ij.png

--


I edited a demotivator from these forums:

Original:


http://i.imgur.com/gkEdIdC.jpg

.http://i.imgur.com/tAUyUMD.png

[Domochevsky]

http://wildwestscifi.net/Misc/Response_1.png
http://wildwestscifi.net/Misc/Response_2.png

(Sorry, I was inspired by this passionate response. ;P
I have not changed someone's outfit yet, but I'm kinda curious what I could do there.)

[ThinkMinty]

http://wildwestscifi.net/Misc/Response_1.png
http://wildwestscifi.net/Misc/Response_2.png

(Sorry, I was inspired by this passionate response. ;P
I have not changed someone's outfit yet, but I'm kinda curious what I could do there.)

...how'd you get the darkness to follow you around? Magic?

[Domochevsky]

...how'd you get the darkness to follow you around? Magic?

http://wildwestscifi.net/Misc/Response_3.png

[Vinyadan]

I think you generally nailed the "combat ready" part, and I generally like what you are doing - a reason why I don't read many comics is that they make me feel embarrassed with uncalled displays of gratuitous sexual elements, put there for no reason, as if I were a friggin' monkey who needs to see boobs to enjoy a story, instead of reading it (and monkeys don't even have boobs!).

Anyway: while I like the general thing, I don't think the images look better after the edits. It's a problem of pose (should such poses be even possible, while wearing combat gear? And does desexualizing the character also need a change of pose?), but also of character: the little magician on the left is a different magician from the one on the right. She's a whole different person. But she also looks less interesting. It isn't a matter of sexual display: it's the fact that shiny trinkets catch the eye, and a magician is supposed to be flashy. Even the little hat has its role. However, I totally am for removing the red on the cheeks (and the hole in the armour), because it looks silly. It doesn't even appear to be make-up, more like embarrassment, and I don't see why a magician should be easily embarrassed. I mean, OK, it makes her cuter, but I don't see it from a character perspective.
Your magician looks really, really somber by comparison. She could have her own somber comic with somber adventures. Or be a person from a somber culture in a world that isn't so somber. But from a character looking that way I expect things to be a lot different than from the other one.


There are a couple things which I find not to hit the spot. One is this: http://36.media.tumblr.com/38dc7fba2e7e413e52efaba5d901b129/tumblr_mudgfcfvXj1qjd5d2o1_1280.png

I would actually have removed the whole of the blue creature's clothing. Her armour is already so reduced (a couple bracers?) that I find it to make sense to just classify her as belonging to a culture in which people fight naked or wearing ornamental/ritual items. Which, of course, leads to the question: would this go against your objective? I would see it as a kind of "realistic" nude, because there are people who fight naked. But how would this be seen by a reader/viewer? Would it be just eye candy? I suppose it needs the males of the species to also fight naked.

About long dresses: while Europe has a long tradition of wearing only the needed gear and putting unneeded stuff in unimpeding positions (like atop the head; Greek hoplites didn't wear much, the same goes for Roman legionnaires; medieval soldiers seem to have followed the same standard), the Middle East had a long era of long dresses. Persian infantrymen are the first thing to come to mind, and there actually was some talk about it when the tyrant of Miletus wanted Sparta to attack the Persians: he said that they didn't need to worry too much, because the Persians fought in turbans and long dresses. At the same time, the exile Spartan king Demaratus noticed that there were Persian who would have gladly fought alone against three opponents, because they were exceedingly good and wanted to show it off. Did they also wear long dresses? Demaratus didn't say, but it is possible, and he did respect their fighting prowess.
The whole deal is about the fact that, historically, you once could wear a long dress and still fight decently, or, at least, be part of an army.

The other thing is about the planar ally thing. A planar ally isn't a real ally: he is a mercenary. He gets paid by minute, hour or day. Unless the summoner in the image is a really condescending person, I suppose he just summoned a prostitute.

About the femininity thing: I don't thing it has anything to do with weakness or submission (or how the body looks). It mostly has to do with how communication is done. Personally, I until now always found this to be the only behaviour in which men and women differ enormously.

Anyway, I look forward to see more of your work and hope that things will eventually move in the direction you are aiming for.

[Marlowe]

About long dresses: while Europe has a long tradition of wearing only the needed gear and putting unneeded stuff in unimpeding positions (like atop the head; Greek hoplites didn't wear much, the same goes for Roman legionnaires; medieval soldiers seem to have followed the same standard),.

What.

No.

[Vinyadan]

Thank you very much. *bows*

Thank you for your comprehensive answer to my comprehensive answer :smallcool:


What.

No.

I may have made myself not very clear; what I meant is that I haven't seen medieval European soldiers going around with useless and impeding gear on them in contemporary depictions, which is the same standard followed by known ancient European infantry. The difference is that ancient clothing was based on draping, while the middle ages saw a more widespread (albeit not ubiquitous) use of pants, and, since pants are less impeding on the field than draping, they could be worn there.

If you have different information, please let me know. I like being up-to-date :smallwink:

[ImNotTrevor]

The removal/alteration of the tiny hat seems pointless, still, despite all I've read.

It's a tiny hat. Can a tiny hat not also be badass?

"But the tiny hat is to make her cute and undermine her badassery"
Her armor is pink and undermines her badassery.
Her armor has a puffy lace skirt and undermines her badassery.

Have you tried to wear a large hat while having long hair? It can be very inconvenient in terms of fit and keeping hair looking nice. (This character seems at least partially devoted to looking presentable) a small, clip-on hat is suitable for this purpose.

I'm seeing the tiny hat change as frivolous and born out of a perceived but not real slant against femininity. Yeah. She can wear a tiny hat and be cute about her armor. Still be very Mo or whatever AND have armor that lacks boob windows AND look respectable and adorable at the same time.

Not saying that the hat change is objectively worse than not changing it, but it comes across as effort spent on something of no actual consequence. Like if you were to make sure that one of these ladies was edited so that their shoes were tied with a different knot, or that their gloves were no longer fingerless. but hey, art is up for interpretation.

[Lissou]

Well, the tiny hat looked like it could fall any time. The big hat looks like an actual hat. I guess she's a magician and can be constantly using magic to keep her hat on or something but that seems like a waste of power. I like the big hat better. I don't think the small hat necessarily undermines her, but I look at it and I get distracted by wondering how it stays in place instead of paying attention to the character, so I think it's good that it was changed.

[Prime32]

Well, the tiny hat looked like it could fall any time. The big hat looks like an actual hat. I guess she's a magician and can be constantly using magic to keep her hat on or something but that seems like a waste of power. I like the big hat better. I don't think the small hat necessarily undermines her, but I look at it and I get distracted by wondering how it stays in place instead of paying attention to the character, so I think it's good that it was changed....those tiny hats are a real thing. They're attached to a headband. Do an image search for "lolita (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita_fashion) top hat" or something.

[Lissou]

She doesn't seem to be wearing a headband though. And with how much of the hat is showing, you should be able to see some of the headband. Honestly, I thought she was supposed to be wearing the kind that holds with pins, if anything (barring magical explanation) but that doesn't make it any less distracting.

[ThinkMinty]

http://i.imgur.com/YVk18IW.jpg

For reference, I looked up an image of Obama's face (http://pngimg.com/upload/face_PNG5660.png). I used the Sponge tool to Desaturate her lips, followed by the Color Replace tool to apply the color of Obama's lips onto Artemis's. I Painted freckles onto her cheek and forehead, then Blurred them onto her face. I tried to add creases underneath her eye using the Burn tool, but failed to get a natural-looking result. So I copied and flipped the eyebag under Obama's right eye, changed its Hue to match Artemis, then pasted it onto her face. The end result is not what I expected, but I feel it's still satisfactory.

The fun part is she still looks really pretty, just...like a person rather than a pinup. Not that she has to be pretty or anything.

Anyways, if magical girls taught me anything, it's that femininity can be and should be as much of a source of power and agency as masculinity is. That, and people can save the world in a skirt if they want.

[Domochevsky]

Hm, iunno about those pose changes... you're changing her from someone walking to someone standing awkwardly, trying to avoid any and all notion that could be interpreted as sexual.
That may be overshooting the goal. :S

[happyturtle]

The feet shouldn't meet the legs at a 90 degree angle though. Pay attention to the way your own feet move as you walk, the ankles, ball, and toes.

[Anonymouswizard]

Dresden (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/10979241054/rebooting-the-justice-league) Codak (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/11174072014/rebooting-dcs-villains) did (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/11344418364/rebooting-batman) something (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/24574027688/dresden-codaks-x-men-reboot) similar (http://dresdencodak.tumblr.com/post/11364826489/dc-comics-reboots-dresden-codak) a while back, it's worth a look! It's a really cool thing that you're doing, too. Though I imagine you mean that your edit for Noel is the one on the left?

I love them, especially the superman one. Gives me ideas for my superhero universe, which includes a woman wearing armour based on...Kamen Rider G3. As in simple armour over a muscle enhancement suit, complete with an essentially flat chest. The world includes 'corporate superheroes', where the superheroines would wear the sexy outfits, but they haven't created one with the required body yet. Meanwhile they range from stuff that is essentially 'tracksuit and cape' to 'trenchcoat and clothing'.


It's kind of funny how attempts to portray 'sexiness' in female characters often leads to things such as balloon breasts, extremely high heels, forced posing (http://36.media.tumblr.com/5f5f075022b1d27097a92b8b51b70b06/tumblr_nw017fh6bk1s755fuo1_1280.jpg), etc.

More forced posing, complete with fixes (http://i.imgur.com/jW80Eq9.jpg) (not mine)

Huh, I'd never noticed how forced the posing can be. I love the various fixes, especially the first one, which turns it from 'look at her she's got boobs' to 'look at her she's badass' through the pose change (although I'm sure they also solved her back problems).

[Madcrafter]

Hm, iunno about those pose changes... you're changing her from someone walking to someone standing awkwardly, trying to avoid any and all notion that could be interpreted as sexual.
That may be overshooting the goal. :S


Also... I'm still unsure of how to fix Artemis's legs. I'm trying not to move her thighs, since it's a lot of work to fill in the gaps on her thighs and groin afterwards. This might take a bit.

Meanwhile, here's a super-quick 'fix' I did. I adjusted her calves and her feet (beneath the mini belts on her shoes).


http://i.imgur.com/tpFKdSB.jpg

I agree with Domochevsky here. While you could change her pose, it seems to be a lot of work for little benefit. In fact, perhaps even negative benefit.

Basically, the way her upper body is positioned, it is awkward to have the sort of straight legged pose you're going for. You're going to have to bend a knee more somewhere, and the most natural place to do that is the left leg, putting it out in front. This basically turns her from walking into quite literally posing for the picture, because it's essentially the same position without even the suggestion that there might be another reason for it like moving forwards. As a knock-on effect, it also then makes you interpret the rest as being a static pose instead of dynamic movement, which makes the problems you see with things like the left arm even worse.

Now, you can give her a straight-legged pose, but it's going to be more work then just changing the legs around. The best solution I think is to just keep the original walking pose, and edit away the heels into regular boots.

[Mr. Mask]

Those feet..... :smalleek:
http://www.crescentmoonarmoury.net/Crescent_Moon_Armoury/Custom_Torso/Pages/17th_Century_Peascod_Breastplate_files/Media/1289691577579/thumb.jpg Realistically, the breast-shape in the magical girl's breastplate is questionable. You can sort of get away with "uniboob" as it's called, but it is creating a catch-point for the enemy's attack, as opposed to a peascod breastplate.

Of course, taking a breastplate and a top hat into battle is a strange mixture to begin with. Having no visible weapon is also strange, though maybe that wand is effective.

On a similar note, Artemis has strapped a lot of steel to stuff that isn't going to be very helpful. I mean really, a steel-plated quiver? While there are some tendons and veins in the legs, those little metal plates would serve the stomach, head and torso better. That crown grafted to her skull also looked extraordinarily painful. If it gets hit.... I don't envy her (how does she do her hair with the headcrab's bronze cousin attached?).

[Mr. Mask]

If the adventurer is rather 'large', then get a front chest piece a size or two bigger, then use padding and sarashi to make sure it's a good fit. That's what I've heard of being done for such cases. The guys in the real weapons thread might be able to give more specifics.

To be fair, there's no reason a mage can't wear armour. Having a breastplate but no helmet is simply unusual (since if you need one, you generally need the other).

With the added metal, I thought details considered impractical were being removed so that the characters could fight.


The first knight is well drawn. Making the mid-section scale was an interesting idea. That elbow looks like it'd weigh twenty pounds.


The second knight, bare skin on steel plate... ouch. Interestingly, some people were approximately that naked while wearing armour (kilts FTW), but not having a layer of padding between plate and your skin is pretty inconvenient (generally you'd just not wear leg armour). That and her arms makes me wonder if you can get away with having padded long gloves and padded stockings, rather than a full jacket and trousers. I suppose you could, if the padding was essentially sewn into the plate legging and gauntlets, though I'm not sure if it'd be highly secure. You're also going a bit extreme on the weak points, not even having a mail skirt and shirt as protection (compared to the thick steel plate). Looking at her neck (how log is her neck)... I'm not sure what that visor-looking thing is for (heat vent? That's be an interesting if suicidal idea), and that neck guard is going to make looking around and down very hard. She also can't lift her arms without stabbing herself in the head.

To be honest, that thin layer of cloth won't be any protection for her armpits, but some kind of shirt and padding is necessary to make that armour effective (if that's the thickness of her padding, getting hit will smart like heck).

The red cloth pants looks like someone skinned her thighs to the muscle layer. The long stockings/pants are better.

Shouldn't the eye-gouging shoulder pads be fixable, as the background behind the spikes is clouds and blue sky?

Those look more like platform shoes than high-heels, to me. They might even be really thick-stilted geta. Of course, making it that thick and out of steel is going to be akin to concrete shoes. She could step on a landmine and not notice, in those boots.

[Mr. Mask]

Equality earned through embarrassing epitaphs. "She stabbed herself with her own shoulder."

Naked with style.

About the same as the concrete shoes (great for diving).

I think that's her helmet. That or the steely equivalent of the puffed sleeve. Good job on the spikes, she probably won't die now (though she can't raise her arms higher than her shoulders).

[JackPhoenix]

EDIT: Spikes have been removed. (http://i.imgur.com/ES8ny8g.jpg) Wait, is that another spike on her left hand? What is that anyway?

I *think* that's supposed to be a helmet held in her left hand and partialy hidden behind the leg. It doesn't match either right hand or the armor on the right thigh.

[Vinyadan]

Did you take a look at Drowtales (www.drowtales.com)? They have pretty much all variants of armour and clothing, from the most inappropriate (well, to any situation I can think of which isn't a lingerie fashion show after-party) to the show-off to the heaviest. The comic practically only cares about female characters.

[Submortimer]

Some time ago, on a DnD Demotivators thread on these very forums, I spotted this demotivator:

*Snip*



Oi...this one is really, really painful to look at.

While I get that you want to take things out of context and look at them objectively, in a lot of cases the picture only makes sense IN context.

This is, near as I can tell from both the imagery and the text, a summoner and the succubus he summoned. that tells us two important things:
1. This is not a human character, and is in fact a creature that, classically, is the embodiment of sexual lust and perversion.
2. There is absolutely a master/subordinate relationship being portrayed here.

If we're comfortable making assumptions, then we can also assume that the summoner is probably evil, and so is far more likely to push the "I'm the master, you're the slave" angle. He's covered because he absolutely is the one with the place of power here, not because he's male, but because he summoned her with demon magic.

Point being, the edit takes many things away from the context, the joke is much less funny, and trying to make a purposefully unequal situation equal destroys the picture.

[CharonsHelper]

Don't you know? All fantasy armor for women really covers everything; they are just glamoured to look extremely revealing in order to distract their foes!