#Positive Examples

[bikiniarmorbattledamage]

Baldur's Gate 3 (Part 2 - Minthara)

Okay, I covered the stuff in Baldur's Gate 3 is mixed and complicated. Let's talk about an objectively well executed character and visually designed - Minthara.

From a general writing perspective, she's exactly what I mean when I say it's not enough to support, women's rights - we need to support their wrongs. She is complicated, ruthless and villainous in a way we rarely get to see female characters - and every aspect of her design supports and conveys it.

Spoilers below the cut.

We are first introduced to her in here scheming:

And then when you get to meet her in game, the vibes are immaculate. No notes.

The armor design here is genuinely AAA grade. Multiple layers of protection, intimidation through jagged designs without endangering the wearer. Decorative pauldrons to convey power, materials indicating her fantastic background.

But she has camp gear and even underwear that expresses additional elements of her character and personality.

Check out her majesty... then compare it to her camp clothes, and her underwear.

What I really like about this is the general trend that is consistent upon key character traits of Minthara's: she is pragmatic in the field, a dreamer in private and determined to live, love or die on her own terms.

Her camp attire is sexy, but in a way that conveys her domineering and confident attitude. Her underwear is sex, but not uncomfortable or or any sort of indicator of that she feels her gender also demands submissiveness.

And, without going into the details - the writing makes her a unicorn evil woman character who is uninterested in changing her ways, but as complicated and feeling as her more moral peers.

Now, all we need is for society to evolve to where she can also be the kind of buff muscle mommy you expect to rush into combat dual wielding maces with perfect confidence.

-wincenworks

(This still from Heart of Flames by Miracle of Sound with Karliene, footage created by Mispap1)

[dinosaurwithablog]

While I'm healing from oral surgery, I've been watching the shows that I used to watch when I was a child. I've watched The Andy Griffith Show, My Three Sons, The Flying Nun, and Gidget so far. It's refreshing to see wholesome TV where there's no violence or subterfuge or people acting poorly. It's fun and funny and the people are charming. They are being helpful and acting like I wish people still did on TV. Heck, I wish that people focused on acting this way for real. I miss TV programming like this. It reinforces positive thoughts and actions, and it's a great example of how we should act in life. I think that they should start creating programs like these again. We should insist on it and stop watching the horrible shows that have replaced these kinds of shows. Considering what is considered entertaining and is common viewing fare these days, it's no wonder that sooooooo many people have anxiety. We should have programs that teach our kids to behave kindly and in a positive manner. Shows that set a good example. I feel happier from watching these shows. I'm gonna watch them more for sure. It's great to see people acting nicely and being kind to each other. TV should have a social responsibility to reinforce these ideals, not the violent, selfish, manipulative garbage that is prominent in programming today. The only somewhat violent show that I watched today is Bugs Bunny. He's so charming that he can get away with it, in my opinion 😁 thankfully, there's nothing graphic in those cartoons. I am enjoying TV more today than I have in a long, long time. 😊😍🙏🏼

[bikiniarmorbattledamage]

Now this is some nice armour! Particularly loving the mix of modern methods such as anodization with classic designs like the flower themed besagews.

- wincenworks

Female Sets of Armour // Armstreet on Etsy

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Burning Rotten Bridges

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[gejnialnie]

hi I don't think this duo gets enough love, so here are my fave screenshots of Raph and Leo mirroring each other! :D

+bonus:

look at this frame! don't their poses look similar, even though they're in totally different places?? well, there's a simple reason for it! we can see raph in the driver seat, his left hand on the wheel, while the other one's searching for someting, it's symbolising his active role as leader, while leo stands alongside him, his left hand on a handhold while he gestures with the other, showing him being less active and more of a passive presence, but he's ready on his feet, it's symbolising his potential as raph's co-leader but also him not yet being ready, still gripping the safety rails instead of the driving wheel-

(nah i'm kidding- like, was it just artists drawing similar poses in one scene? oh yeah most definitively! will that stop me from over-analysing? nope! :D this basically wrote itself!)

[bikiniarmorbattledamage]

I'll never get people who even imply that you can't make a character look beautiful in a non-boobastic full plate armor. Seems like a skill issue to me. Take notes from @foervraengd!

Found this piece via inquiring the author about their other piece, The Porcelain Prince, which depicts a less sensible, but incredibly aesthetic idea of (ceremonial) porcelain armor:

~Ozzie

tfw you make a whole set of custom brushes just because you wanted to paint one (1) artwork that contains fancy knight armor.

[bikiniarmorbattledamage]

So recently Square Enix launched a new game where the premise is that the protagonist is the reluctant hero of a fantasy world they find themselves in, having been born and raised in New York. It recently got some loud pushback from people who were upset that protagonist... lemme check notes... sounds like a sassy New Yorker.

Fortunately, the actress has had the perfect attitude toward it:

Now, the game has not been getting spectacular reviews, and the reasons for that vary but I'm not here to talk about trend of critics (well meaning or not) raising standards for products say... starring a black woman and having a mostly female cast, or even about problem of Sacrificial Trash.

I want to talk about this as a good example when we talk about "protected by magic" outfits.

Frey is a New Yorker now blessed with magical power, she has never been trained in armor use, doesn't own armor and so... wears comfortable and practical clothes like you would expect. The whole look conveys an interesting look of a modern person with practical sensibilities in a fantasy world.

She has two main kinds of magic items - cloaks and necklaces. Both items that can be worn over clothes without sacrificing practicality.

She also has a unique, widely considered feminine option for store her magical powers - her nails.

As well as being one of the most innovative expansions into fantasy magic I've seen in mainstream for a while it really also goes a long way to showcase what, so often, is the actual crippling flaw with the "doesn't need it because magic/badass/etc" rhetoric.

Not because you can't have an interesting design that avoids armor etc, but because it's pretty much always the same nonsense with going overboard with designing pseudo-porn and then trying to justify it after the fact rather than exploring possibilities and playing with ideas about what x would mean for y.

Also can we please have more games with character designs like this in them, I'm still thinking about how cool this boss intro was:

-wincenworks

[angeltannis]

Fellow Physical Media Warriors - if you don’t already know, there is a website called DoesItPlay that tests newer physical games to determine whether they’re genuinely playable off the disc (yay) or if they’re essentially a digital game with more steps (boo).

It’s also great if you like to thrift games, because it warns you if content is restricted to a one-time-use code.

This problem will only worsen as systems age and servers shut down. Don’t accidentally buy coasters!

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

Beauties in 1986 chinese drama Journey to the West西游记

yutujing玉兔精 jade rabbit spirit

zhizhujing蜘蛛精 spider spirit

chang'e嫦娥 moon goddess

jin bi bai mao shu jing金鼻白毛鼠精 Golden nosed white haired mouse spirit

nv er guo guo wang女儿国国王 The Queen of Women's Kingdom 

[bikiniarmorbattledamage]

Want to have fairly heavy metal armor, but neer run the risk of drowning because it's too heavy?

There is a character type that can handle that.

-wincenworks

Soft-shaded commission, a mermaid lass for Syrenka

[sysig]

Rainbows (Patreon)

[reineydraws]

had to draw this to understand the way i feel about him now that the manga's ended. 🥲 on that note: if you like hawks and his ending, maybe don't read my tags lol. it's not bashing (imo) but they're not v nice. 😅

bg + unobstructed pose under the cut!

his expression's a lil different 'cuz i only changed the merged layer, all the lighting effects already flattened onto it. 💀 alas.

[backjustforberena]

RHAENYS TARGARYEN: And I must stand alone.

[sergle]

the idea of dogs needing a Firm Hand to learn (aka mild to medium animal mistreatment) is so funny to me, because Hugo had his feelings MORTALLY WOUNDED while being taught to Play Dead because I gently pushed him into a laying-on-his-side position... heartbroken from being gently pushed

[mariacallous]