Righting a wrong with Freja Ilyanovka...

When I first created the NeoExodus: A House Divided iconic, Freja Ilyanovka, I used the movie, Brotherhood of the Wolf as my inspiration for visually what I wanted to see. The artist I assigned took my idea and ran with it. The image that he came back with was the one that you see here. 

While it is a nice piece the one thing that REALLY stand out with it is the now infamous "boob window". When I first saw it I was like, "Oh yeah! That is what I am talking about!" because I like many men I know are fans of breasts and thighs and this image has both. And I used this image over and over for years. But after time, I noticed that women didn't really seem to like this image. And many women called me out for being sexist. I found this odd due to the fact NeoExodus has women in control in five out of the six major empires and we have an equal amount of male to female iconics. 

But after a while, I didn't feel as good about the image of Freja Ilyanovka. So when we did her chapter opener image and covered up the boob window and made her more empowered WITH her clothes on. With all this today, I spoke to one of my artists that we are going to change the iconic image of Freja Ilyanovka. This is what I wrote him:

I need to do a character design image of the following image. But I what her in a stronger pose. This one makes her look like she is skipping along. I want to give her a traditional "tough guy" pose of Wolverine / Batman / Punisher. Looking cooler and tougher and LESS overt sexual. I also want to cover her "boob window" thanks. Please let me know.

And with that, I can't wait to see the new artwork for Freja Ilyanovka. So remember, when I do stupid things, I want people to tell me they are stupid. Because I know eventually I will get it. I am always a work in progress and I am sorry if you were offended by that artwork. Talk to you later...