I'm sure some members of the community will be glad to hear that our first "all female" contest wasn't won by the picture with the least clothes or the most "circular emblems and the adolescent vote" showing, but in fact was won by our most dressed entrant with the most blood showing. This weeks winner, claiming his third win I believe, is Stulte for his Maria I Briganza. Congratulations Stulte, please make sure you speak to dblade about your prize, and well done to everyone else who entered, there were so many excellent entries.
Congratulations Stulte on the well deserved win.
Whats the world coming to when gore beats out seductiveness? 😛 At least it was Stulte who won. I can live with that I suppose. 😉
Congrats, bro! Well deserved! This is still one of my favorite pieces of yours!
As a female, I have to admit that I voted for Stutle’s for two reasons: the first being the beautiful art piece that it was, and the second being that I have a soft spot for tough females who can be awesome without wearing a chain mail bikini. 😉 Nothing says confidence to me like a woman who cares more about practicality than appearance. And Stutle’s character radiated confidence.
I guess that makes me one of those annoying people who places value on practicality when it comes to hero costumes. Yes, I know it’s “make believe” and hero costumes don’t necessarily have to conform to reality. But good luck finding me a female whose first choice combat outfit is Wonder Woman’s costume, or a man who really requires Cable’s complete ensemble to win a fight.
Congratulations on the win, Stutle!
G’job, Stulte. I found her character’s story unusually realistic for involving the ‘arcane.’ Exactly the kind I imagine staying on a throne longer.
@ cliff
Thanks, man!
@ Nug
So, a woman covered in gore -isn’t- seductive? 😛
Thanks, man, I kinda love this character, myself.
@ Sabrina
Thank you very much for the kind words. I do disagree with you on some points, though. Maria’s outfit is -extremely- impractical. Doing any kind of fighting in a long skirt and a corset is basically suicide, I should know (but that’s a whole other story).
That said, I do agree that female battle outfits are, in general, pretty ridiculous. But that was kinda my point with this piece. She wasn’t just kicking ass while wearing an unweildy dress, she was kicking ass -despite of- her unweildy dress, like she wasn’t expecting to get in a fight that particular day, but excelled anyway.
If Maria was planning to get in a fight, however, she would wear enough armour to make Brienne of Tarth look naked… Now there’s an idea…
@ Herr D
Thanks a lot! I’m aiming for a setting where magic isn’t the end-all be-all solution to every problem, but it can be a pretty useful tool if used right.
“If Maria was planning to get in a fight, however, she would wear enough armour to make Brienne of Tarth look naked… Now there’s an idea…”
Err, crap, that’s kind of ambiguous, isn’t it? I meant Maria in full battle armour, not Brienne naked, is an idea.
@Stutle
Too true; I’m not going to argue that her outfit was “practical”. 😉 But having been involved in some theatre play-fighting before, I can tell you from experience that long skirts and corsets are a lot easier than plunging necklines, mini skirts, or similar costumes. (Surprisingly, once you get the hang of it, a long skirt doesn’t really impede your movement at all. You just have to be willing to sacrifice it if it gets caught on something.) 🙂 At the very least, there’s a layer of fabric between you and lots of sharp, pointy things.
And of course, this doesn’t only apply to females. Excluding heroes like Namor, I don’t understand the ones that fight in speedos. I suppose it does give you full range of motion… but man, falling out of a moving vehicle or something and rolling on the pavement has got to hurt…
You had my vote! It looked very repressed pricess had enough and went around hacking her way to personal freedom to me. Something along those lines.
@ Sabrina
Perhaps I’m just a bit inexperienced in the wearing of long skirts 😛
Falling out of a moving vechicle I -do- have experience in, though. Let me just say I’m glad I was wearing jeans and a leather jacket at the time.
@ Tool
Thank’s, man! That’s a perfectly valid interpretation.