Month: June 2017

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robertskitch submitted (and Ozzie bingo’d):

Hi, I was playing ’Lost Lands: A Hidden Object Adventure’ (a free-to-play game on Steam) and thinking that one of the characters had armour that wasn’t exactly practical, but then I came across this gem where the character actually comes out and says it. 

It’s okay though. She gave me a quest where I had to get her a helmet and shield to make up for all that…

Yet another hidden object game with a disappointingly bingo-worthy costume… Pretty sure she’ll stab herself to death if she as much as leans down. 

You know guys, if you want to have a fetch quest related to ridiculousness of female armor in games, maybe treat it with humor like Borderlands 2 did? Not with the “we know that you know that we know how awful her bikini armor is, so maybe instead of us fixing it, you go find her a shield and a helmet?” attitude. 

And as a cherry on top, she’s just another female archer clad in green boobplate. Gee, haven’t seen that before*, how creative! 

~Ozzie

*Yes, that green archer lady trope is so prevalent I gave it its own tag.

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cheezbuckets:

lindira:

Fantasy does NOT have to follow real world rules. Fantasy does NOT have to relate to some real world event, country, concept, law, or history. Fantasy does NOT have to mirror any particular time period or country, even if you’re basing your world on a real world one. There is NO SUCH THING as “historical accuracy” in fantasy as it relates to the real world.

THE ONLY THING Fantasy has to do to be believable is follow the established rules OF ITS OWN WORLD. Fantasy can literally be anything you imagine it to be.

If your fantasy world excludes people of color or those belonging to the LGBT+ community, if it’s grossly misogynistic and white cis-male centric, that’s because YOU made it that way. Stop blaming “historical accuracy” or “believability”. It’s not the genre; it’s YOU.

@bikiniarmorbattledamage I believe this is highly relevant to the rhetoric you guys often combat.

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Indeed all of this relates to all the stuff we talk about on BABD.

In the same vein, “that’s how this particular fantasy setting works” is just as bad excuse for gross in-story stuff as “that’s the way real world was once”. 

Ultimately, no matter the justifying rhetoric, it’s the creative decisions that will be under scrutiny, not some superficially “objective” rules regarding a fictional setting.

~Ozzie

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Weekly Livestream #8

So I totally did not finish the entire planned redesign of the Oracle from Paladins, to nobody’s surprise (but to my sadness) so I’ll be continuing that.

As usual, tune in to https://www.twitch.tv/icysketchbook on Saturday at 9 AM PST.

-Icy

Similar case here. I didn’t manage to refine my take on Angela, so the next drawing session will be commited to touching up/changing parts that could be done better. 

See me at https://www.twitch.tv/ozziescribbler, Sunday 10 am CEST.

~Ozzie

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soyokaze-step:

One thing that has always pissed me off in Bravely Default are the blatant double standards of job costumes. I could have gone with almost every job, but I chose to illustrate this problem with the Dark Mage one, because it’s an outfit that really striked me. Yeah, so guys like Ringabel have super cool pants, while Dark Mage girls like Edea are forced to battle in short dresses and garterbelt? Fuck that.
It’s not supposed to be an armor, but it has to protect the body, and I don’t see the point of shortening the ladies’skirts since it makes them more vulnerable- oh wait, it’s female empowerment y’all!

So to correct this unfairness, I drew Ringabel with the ladies’costume, and look at how empowered he looks! ^^/

Inspired by @bikiniarmorbattledamage and the Hawkeye Project, although it’s not a superhero!

Art © soyokaze-step

Good job at fixing the double standard, @soyokaze-step! 

It’s always relative, but I think you managed to avoid the “it’s funny, because he looks so girly” trap of putting a male character in female-coded clothes and/or makeup. 

Ringabell looks rightfully empowered, not shamed, for wearing a dress. 

How do any of those outfits, including the original male one, communicate a dark magic user, though, is a mystery to me.

~Ozzie

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Tidy Up Tuesday #66

Just a few things to address this week.

We certainly agree that it is important to interrogate all media for harmful messages such as supporting imperialism.  However, we do not support only taking this approach with media you don’t personally enjoy or expecting everyone to disregard all other aspects.

There is no problem-free content available for consumption, and it’s perfectly possible to enjoy media without supporting the politics of the creators.  The only way to improve the mediascape is to encourage creators to keep the positive techniques and leave behind as many of the problems as possible.

Things we have addressed before:

~Ozzie, – wincenworks & – Icy

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Cheetah’s appearance in Injustice 2. Why even put clothing on an animal hybrid? She’s covered in fur, what are the clothes for? Because they’re not for any purposes of breast support or protection from attacks… The “outfit” ends up calling more attention to various body parts by putting clothes on them, much in the same vein as Jack in Mass Effect 2. That loincloth especially calls a lot of attention to itself.

Also, does she apply lipstick as part of her grooming routine? What’s going on with her mouth?

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Though I’ll give her that she looks rightfully upset.

-Icy 

Cheetah’s design changed a lot over time, though whether her spots were a costume or her own fur, she rarely wore clothes over them [image source]:

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When she did, though, it was some basic minimalistic garb, not overdesigned “savage” costume  with way too many “exotic” accessories over boobs and butt.

~Ozzie