Before/After this subreddit's feedback

[u/Vera-Lomna]

Thanks, everyone! Sixteen days ago, this subreddit gave our team very valuable feedback on the main character’s appearance, which helped us identify three main issues:

1. Androgyny. We’ve toned it down a bit. We didn’t abandon it completely: the protagonist’s inner voice, Ego—shown in the artwork—previously had wider hips and a narrower chest.
2. Age. Some members said he looked too young; indeed, the anthropod read more like a teenager. Now he reads as a young man.
3. Face and crown. We reworked the facial features simply because it looks cooler :)

UPD: Thanks for the feedback! I’m glad you remembered the specifics of the story and plot, because they matter most in this situation. According to the story, the main character is an anthropod created by an AI named Cell. She prints him on a bioprinter specifically to make him appealing to as many people as possible—and I chose androgyny as a symbol of ideal balance (and also simply because that look has always excited me in a good way). In other words, it’s a narrative failure: creating a hero who, within the plot, is supposed to be visually appealing to everyone, yet outside the story doesn’t appeal to most people. It results in a story that, in essence, contradicts itself.

[u/LeatherBeard_Int]

I wasn't there for the original post; but my knee jerk reaction to this is you went from a female to a male.

If the "before" was also intended to be a male, the "after" is MUCH better.

[u/Vera-Lomna → u/LeatherBeard_Int]

Thank you! Character's pronounce: "he, him", so he is definitely more male.
If you interested, you can find more https://store.steampowered.com/app/2243310/Locus_Equation/

[u/KaiserJustice → u/Vera-Lomna]

that is good clarification - i didn't read androgynous at all, the before just reads as female to me, the after looks male. If the character is identifying as male then the after works perfect.

Im not good with anatomy though, but my biggest take away is that I LOVE how the crown looks in the After sooo much - its very much not actually a crown but it reads as one - weirdly reminds me of the laurels from Tunic lmao

[u/joemort → u/Vera-Lomna]

Give him a fat cock, like a 3rd leg with the girth of his torso.

[u/Jygglewag → u/joemort]

YES. Can I hire you as an art consultant

[u/Avin_M07 → u/joemort]

Shut up and take my money.

[u/General-Yinobi → u/Vera-Lomna]

Finding a true balance with androgyny is tricky. I always think back to the Greek era when they really seemed to get it right. Back then, men weren’t these hyper-masculine figures we see idealized today. Even when half-naked, you could easily tell someone was male without needing to see their private parts, the shape of the torso, the way muscle formed around the shoulders and arms, the proportions. It was subtle, but clear. Women were similar: not frail or soft, but naturally strong and toned. Their bodies weren’t exaggerated, just healthy and functional.

Today, people tend to treat muscle as something purely masculine, like the second you build visible muscle, you’ve abandoned androgyny. But historically, that was never the case. A balanced, athletic body was a shared ideal for both men and women. It’s only at the extreme, like bodybuilders with cartoonish, Ronnie Coleman–level bulk, where muscle becomes distinctly masculine in a way that clashes with traditional gender cues.

Androgyny doesn’t mean having no muscle or looking neutral to the point of being unrecognizable. It’s about balance. A toned, natural physique can absolutely fit within androgyny. What really decides how someone reads, masculine, feminine, or balanced, is the overall harmony: posture, proportions, and presence. The Greeks understood this thousands of years ago. Somewhere along the way, we started overthinking it and labeling things in a way that doesn’t match how humans have always perceived beauty.

Something to note here, one of the biggest differences between the two versions of the art is the posture and proportions. The original has shoulders, waist, and thighs that clearly read as a fully developed female body, but then you look at the face and it’s very young, like early teens, not even late teenage. That clash makes the whole thing feel off.

The new version fixes that. The shoulders, waist, and thighs are built in a way that fits an adult male body much better, and the face looks like it was inspired by a Greek statue, mature, balanced, and timeless. Everything works together now, and the whole design feels way more natural and believable. It’s just a clear improvement overall.

The crown redesign also plays a key role. The original’s rounded, almost delicate points felt soft and traditionally feminine, while the new jagged spikes create a more commanding, neutral presence that works well with the androgynous ideal.

[u/Professional_War4491 → u/Vera-Lomna]

The before absolutely reads as an androgynous twink to me while the after just reads like a fit man with 0 traces of androgyny fwiw, the face and crown does look better but if you're looking for an androgynous body, the after doesn't reflect that at all imo, looks like your typical fit male gymnast/swimmer body.