I’ve been reading some really interesting articles this morning and fancy sharing them along with some of my own views. Fantasy armor and lady bits is a fascinating article about women and armour design. Even though I’m a girl I actually find the design of female characters quite interesting, if not more enjoyable than the male counterparts. Maybe I can’t make judgements about this in the same way that a guy can, but I personally find that the proper armour on women looks a lot more sexy and bad ass.

Take Guild Wars for example; I never liked the female elementalist much because of how stereotypically pretty they were. I also found it quite annoying and predictable how so many male gamers would set one up just to put them in skimpy armour. I personally prefer my female warrior and I think that she is so much cuter looking in all the big clunky armour. I do like my elementalist now as I have given her a slightly more gothic look, but it took me so many attempts and restarts to be able to convince myself to like her. As well as the elementalist I also came to tire of the number of times people used Jora as a hero and would crack jokes about her being a large woman.

Video games_and_Male_Gaze – are_we_men_or_boys, is an article that explores the issues of overly sexualised women being used in games. As a person who has grown up with games the overly sexualised imagery of women is something that I have grown use to; I even see it as being kind of normal so it doesn’t bother me as such. Unfortunately for women who are new to gaming it can sometimes be very offensive for them, even off putting. I love video games and I want the medium to gain as much respect as films or books, but I feel that the only way for this to happen is for people to finally come to realise that the gaming audience doesn’t just comprise of young boys. Even my own male friends dislike the use of sex as a way to sell a game because it feels very manipulative and they don’t enjoy being presented in a light that makes them look shallow and simple minded.

One aspect of the article that angers me in particular is the way in which Lara Croft has changed. Toby Gard who was the original designer behind Lara Croft walked from the project early on because he disliked how she was being used for sex appeal. Since Crystal Dynamics took over development of Tomb Raider I’ve been hearing claims of how they want to readdress this issue; but I feel that it hasn’t improved at all, in fact its gotten worse. I knew a few women who liked the original Tomb Raider games, even aspired to be like Lara Croft, including myself. She was a very strong, intelligent and capable woman who didn’t need anybody to help her (she was also sexy, but in an empowering way.) The trailer for the new Tomb Raider game shows her being beaten and mistreated with a chorus of feminine moans and grunts. The article suggests that as a character gamers feel that they want to protect her, but I feel that if this is the case the franchise has completely lost its direction. I’m also not a fan of how they felt the need to add more violence to the formula, and to me Tomb Raider originally felt more like a family game (maybe because I use to watch my mum play it.)

This whole issue again goes back towards the lack of female developers. I feel that the only way to attract more women to gaming would be to provide them with a less intimidating environment to work in (in other words less sexist abuse and cat calling.) However, it’s a bit catch 22 because the only people who could possibly enforce such a change would either be female developers or male developers that also feel strongly about this issue. I don’t feel that sexualised characters have to be or ever will be eradicated completely. Sex is a natural part of life and can also be seen in art, films and books – try watching Piranha for instance. The male characters in games aren’t exactly represented realistically either. Unfortunately games are presented this way most often in the public eye despite there also being plenty of non sexualised games. I think it would be nice to present more games that don’t rely on sex to sell and are able to cater to both genders without offending anybody.

My main concern is more related to how female developers and gamers are still sometimes treated disrespectfully. The case with writer Jennifer Hepler (gamers gone wild attacks on biowares jennifer hepler final) or Anita Sarkeesian (what online harassment looks like) are good examples of this. While you may not agree with what they had to say, surely this abuse was unnecessary. I have also found from my own experience that male developers can sometimes be particularly unapproachable/intimidating and I feel that a few of them still don’t yet know how to deal with a female being present. Intelligent women should be allowed to have a freedom of speech without having to deal with shallow/sexual comments about their appearance as this is quite demeaning.

Growing up I used to be big into RPGs (Role Playing Games) like Dungeons & Dragons and Rune Quest. I played them well into college. I don’t play anymore, although I do miss it sometimes. I’m also a big reader of fantasy novels, David Edding’s Belgariad are probably my favorites. It’s no wonder that I have such a love for medieval armor or fantasy armor. I haven’t made a lot of it to date, some other Celtic knot bracers and a Celtic Targe – shield. But I do have plans to add to the armory, as it were. I’m hoping to expand and eventually be able to do a entire suits of tooled leather armor. Can you imagine how awesome an entire suit of intricately tooled leather armor would look?

I hadn’t made any leather projects dyed black until these. To be honest, I’ve always been a brown leather bomber jacket kind of guy. The reason I made these in black was that I had been getting requests from people to do black tooled leather armor. Now that I’ve made them I can see why people want black armor. These look bad ass!

These kinds of bracers are great for SCA wear, reenactment armor, renaissance fairs and the like.

There are more pictures of the Black Dragon Bracers on my site. Take a look.

This armor has a great fantasy quality to it as you can see from the picture above (click to enlarge for a better view). The careful craftmenship and well seamed textures make this armor a great piece to have in any fantasy lover’s wardrobe!   This armor comes with it’s on specially designed alpha layer so there’s no need to worry about fleshy bits poking out of the armors folds ! Making for a much easier and cleaner look with AO movement. 

The image above displays the main chest piece of the armor. In this image you can see how detailed the sculpting is and how well put together it is as well. The symmetry of this item is very well maintained.  The texturing as well gives great effect to the structure of the piece and at the same time maintains that mysteriously fantastical feel about it.  You can as well see the undergarment layer chainmail in this photo which is well done as well and doesn’t contrast the armor harshly tieing it all together beautifully.

Now, the head piece (sold seperately) I am especially fond of, the beautiful scultping and realistic growth look to the horned pieces is breath taking.  The attachment points to the guard piece are very well done and it is very nicely detailed. The textures even have a great amount of quality and depth. It looks realistic as if you’d touch it and be able to feel it the same as if it were upon an animal.   With 100% original sculpties hand sculpted in 3ds – zbrush by MissAllSunday Lemon this armor is easily worth the price. 

So go visit her store Wasabi Pills and see it for yourself!  There’s a 3d preview of it at her mainstore as well! I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading and will take the time to visit for yourself!  I’ve enjoyed writing and reviewing for you all once again and i’m glad to be back. 

Ps. Soon there will be a little surprise exclusive for you all. It will be a limited time only surprise so be sure to check back often !

TL;DR Style Cards and SURL Locations

White Death Armor – Wasabi Pills

Ibuki Hair – Gauze

Kayn Tatto – Gauze

Feral Eyes – Sterling Artistry

First up we have [Gauze]!  As previewed in my previous post, gauze is a store of many talents, from hair and clothes to hybrid features and skin. Not to mention the wide range of jewerly that goes wonderfully with their items.

In the picture above you can see how this skin’s tone holds a great effect for those who mix urban with fantasy.  The tones of the skin fit in with any enviroment and provide a very mysterious feel to the skin.  

Whether at daytime or night time this skin is truly a nice viewing. Complete with tattoo layers to give it that something special. The tattoo layers are colorable so you can easily add either a traditional appearance or a fantastical one. It’s all up to you and your imagination !

I just love the way the lips are done on this skin. Adding some piercings gave a very nice feel to the look and i’m adoring it far too much.   These skins have male and female versions so no matter what gender you are or want to be you can find the perfect version of this skin for you.

The tattoos combined with the skin are wonderful, they come in a few versions, and this one is my favorite, i love the way it accents the eyes and the suggested brow shape is perfect to go along with them. So I recommend using it too ;D

Next up we feature Wasabi Pills. I’d like to thank Faust for photographing our battle scene so beautifully and for more info on what he is wearing as well as the style card for my outfit in this one please see the style cards at the end.  Now onto the pictures!

I absolutely love this set of armor, it is the Khalon Female Armor, from the store Wasabi Pills!  Made by MissAllSunday Lemon the armor it’self is truly impressive.  The sculpted build hugs to the body realistically and the shading of the material for the armor is so very realistic that it brings a new light to the possibilities sl  has for quality.  I’ve personally always been impressed with the quality of wasabi pills’ work. From their hair to their armors  i’ve never gone without being in awe.  

In the picture above you can see how truly remarkable this armor is and how well it moves with the body. The armor itself has an option to add a chainmail layer beneath it, so if you’re more modest, or just want that extra combat protection just add the chain mail beneath and you’re good to go !  Wasabi pills not only makes armor, but a variety of things. From hair and eyes to armors and more !  Even their store sim is beautiful to look at and deserves it’s own set of praises. So be sure to visit Wasabi Pills and Gauze both at the fantasy faire and at their mainstores.  Landmarks will be provided below. As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoy this little preview !

TL;DR Style Cards + Credits

Store Locations:
Wasabi Pills and Gauze (Fantasy Faire locaton) Gauze (Mainstore)

Photography Credits (other than myself):
Faust Steamer

First pictures:

Hair - Komelia (gunmetal) by [Gauze]
Skin – Kayn (ice) by [Gauze]
Eyes - Frozen Soul (blue) by The Plastik
Tattoo - Kayen 2 by [Gauze]
Vest – Hooded vest/ black leopard by +Grasp+
Top - Desires Black Lace Corset by Nightshade Designs
Pants – Lacey (black) by [][]Trap [][]
Shoes – Sports sneaker (navy) by Magi Take
Lip Piercings – *Gemma* Lip pierce3/b by +Rozoregalia+
Ears – Free Elf Ears Sculpt by Kin
Gloves - Fingertape (black/blood nails) by Snatch
Nails/rings – Into the bloom rings + nails (bloody) by Virtual Insanity

Second pictures:

On Fluxa:

Armor - Khalon Female Armor by Wasabi Pills
Hair - Ibuki (coal)  – By [Gauze]
Sword - Erotic Emilnese Sword (Lucky chair) by Little Heaven
Skin – YaO_LB by Mother Goose
Eyes – Chem Burn Eyes (aqua) by Repulse

On Faust:
Outfit: Bare Rose
Right arm: Gilded
Facial Tattoo: His own
Skin: Dr. Life
Hair: Exile
Eyes: Repulse

Thanks again for reading and for your patience ! Enjoy! Freebie posts will start up again soon I promise !