bikiniarmorbattledamage:

ria-rha:

fandomfumblr asked:

So i’ve come across this blog of yours, and i can’t help but notice you seem to hold this ideal that showing skin is bad. I’m not saying there’s not a time and a place for everything, and i’d be quite warm to a game where someone in skimpy or silly armor got their just desserts. But i don’t see why you think these designs inherently wrong on such a level. Designers designed them for a reason. They had a vision of the character and made them a certain way. No “change” needs to be made.
You’re right, designers did design them that way for a reason: to be sexy. And that’s where a change needs to be made. When everyone is “sexy”, no one is. There needs to be more variety in female character designs.
You see, women are like onions. But not because they turn brown and start sprouting little white hairs if you leave them out in the sun too long: because they have layers (didn’t you see Shrek, geez). They’re also all different, though you wouldn’t guess so based on media representations of them. I’ll start accepting a designer’s vision for a sexy lady, the minute that stops being the only vision they ever have.*
*Also what we get isn’t always the original design as there’s sometimes pressure from editors or other outside influences to make the character “sexier”.
-Staci

Bolded for emphasis.

Funny how no-one who says “Designers had a vision of the character and made them a certain way.” ever notice that said vision is pretty much always the same.

As a designer myself I’m REALLY tired of this argument. Art and design does not exist in the vacuum.
An idea being the artist’s “vision” does not make it inherently good or creative, in fact the first ideas that come to a designers mind tend to be the most derivative and uninteresting.

On the other hand, as Staci notes, lots of designs RHA, BABD and related sites comment on aren’t actually a result of concept artist’s original idea, but a product of many revisions from the executives. And executives (unlike artists they hire) are the people whose “vision” is usually the farthest from creative.

No matter how you look at the “artist’s sacred vision” logic, it’s flawed and in no way justifies a cliched, unresearched, insonsistent design.

~Ozzie

Bringing this back as a reminder that “an artist created it, therefore it’s creative is NOT a valid rhetoric to justify bikini armors… or anything, for that matter.

~Ozzie

more about bikini armor rhetoric on BABD

flowersoficetor:

@bikiniarmorbattledamage

So a friend recently asked me what I thought about this outfit:

I said that I dont understand the panties or the thigh-highs, or why she has random skin windows, or why she seems to have better protection on her forearms than her vitals, but aesthetically it’s nice.

What do you think?

When it comes to “reasoning” behind the costume’s skimpyness and random holes, I suppose the trite “Tamaraneans are solar powered” excuse is still canon. And still bullshit, as long as Star’s fellow solar-powered alien Superman doesn’t dress like this. Or that. Or THAT.

As far as official Starfire outfits go, this is maybe the second (non-cartoon) one I recall that actually looks wearable, which is a big plus, considering the alternatives:

image

Guess my standards for this character’s look are just ridiculously lowered at this point, but I really do think that new outfit is an improvement and hope Starfire doesn’t revert to some sort of impossi-bikini anytime soon.

~Ozzie

more Starfire on BABD | more superheroes on BABD

flowersoficetor:

@bikiniarmorbattledamage

So a friend recently asked me what I thought about this outfit:

I said that I dont understand the panties or the thigh-highs, or why she has random skin windows, or why she seems to have better protection on her forearms than her vitals, but aesthetically it’s nice.

What do you think?

When it comes to “reasoning” behind the costume’s skimpyness and random holes, I suppose the trite “Tamaraneans are solar powered” excuse is still canon. And still bullshit, as long as Star’s fellow solar-powered alien Superman doesn’t dress like this. Or that. Or THAT.

As far as official Starfire outfits go, this is maybe the second (non-cartoon) one I recall that actually looks wearable, which is a big plus, considering the alternatives:

image

Guess my standards for this character’s look are just ridiculously lowered at this point, but I really do think that new outfit is an improvement and hope Starfire doesn’t revert to some sort of impossi-bikini anytime soon.

~Ozzie

more Starfire on BABD | more superheroes on BABD

A friend suggested to me to bingo Tier Harribel from Bleach in her final form. And it kind of broke my mind. Not just by how amazingly bad it is, but how it builds on top of problems with her previous appearance.

Initially it seems that the two main issues with her original design are the bared belly and the jacket that is boobsock-y (also underboob-y, in manga)…

image

…then we get to see what she looks like with that top open and, well…

image

Hopefully I’m not the only person who finds the face to be the least shocking thing she kept hidden under that top.

And yes, apparently her bingoed form is also more underbooby in the manga.

Obviously none of her male friends get such an “empowered” update.

~Ozzie

Preemptive warning to those who are typing lore-heavy responses:
The fact that she’s a supernatural creature rather than a mortal human and that the white bone-like parts (including the nipples, *shudder*) are remnants of her older form does not justify the obvious sexualization of the design.

edit: Thanks to @icykitty for pointing out I forgot to cross out the most crucial bingo square here: “More advanced armor = skimpier”.

wincenworks reminded me of this proof that covering skin does not yet make female armor non-sexualized, so I figured “why not bingo it?”

It doesn’t score very high, provided that the Female Armor Bingo was designed with the

popular “sexy = skin on display” misconception in mind. But it’s still a major example of skin-tight chainmail, one of the most cringe-inducing tropes of sexualized armor.

Also put a question mark on “How does it attach?!”, cause I really don’t see how exactly spandex chainmail is supposed to physically work.

~Ozzie