[X] My Assistant

[Seriously Mike]

My eyes are bleeding...

why is it that there's so much of... this kind of material on that website? Like, weird to the point where I would otherwise think the creator was trolling their viewers if it wasn't for the amount of work put into some of the pieces.

Trolling is an ART, son.

Also, another pretty ork.

[Ol' Scratch]

At least she looks like an ork.

[KarmaInferno]

My eyes are bleeding...

why is it that there's so much of... this kind of material on that website? Like, weird to the point where I would otherwise think the creator was trolling their viewers if it wasn't for the amount of work put into some of the pieces.

It's DeviantArt.

That is the answer.




-k

[CanRay]

Surprise surprise, it's full of Deviants.

...

*Shrugs and points at my sig*

[CanRay]

Another possible member of Shortcake's Posse of Cute?

[CanRay]

Narcopost!

[Lionhearted]

Ray, those are not orks. I'm not sure what they are, not the strangest thing I've seen from Japan... Not by a long shot. But they're sure as hell not fraggin' orks. These dollies have no hez!

[CanRay]

Ray, those are not orks. I'm not sure what they are, not the strangest thing I've seen from Japan... Not by a long shot. But they're sure as hell not fraggin' orks. These dollies have no hez!

She's an Oni, the Ork Metavariant, actually.

[Lionhearted]

Oh, where's the horns?

[Grinder]

Sawed off. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[KarmaInferno]

How about the "slightly protuberant eyes"?




-k

[Umidori]

Oh, where's the horns?

Poking out of her hair. Look more closely.

How about the "slightly protuberant eyes"?

Her eyes look reasonably protuberant to me, although maybe you're just visually reading that as "anime styling"? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

You don't have to be Peter Lorre, Marty Feldman, or Steve Buscemi to qualify as having protuberant eyes. For example, the character of Luna Lovegood is a great example of someone with protuberant eyes. It's a noticeable facial feature, but it's not outlandish by any stretch.

~Umi

[Lionhearted]

Meh, When fantasy creatures look like humans with fangs/pointy ears/other trademark physical trait. It rubs me the wrong way.
The physiology of an elf or ork should be more then that!
For example, with elves I tend to have slender raised cheekbones with either cat-like or large almond eyes, visibly larger sleek pointy ears, lush hair and such.
If I'm going for a more Irish feel add in rosy cheeks and disproportionate large mouths with thin lips.
The body in general would be different aswell, either curvy and plumb, but gracious. or slender and sleek.

[bannockburn]

Your descriptions sound very interesting, Lionhearted. I'd love to see some pictures going with them (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

As for the Ork girl: Love it. I'd have pronounced the tusks a bit more but she looks way cute this way. Also the muscular arms and legs. The colors are not my palette at all, but they are used well and enhance the feeling of her posture.

And remember: This picture is from an artist who had to rely purely on a description, as (s)he didn't know anything about the world, or how Oni or Orks even are supposed to look like.

With this in mind, I think it's a really good result. Still looking for cute ork girls without overexaggerated features, though. Hard! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Umidori]

The problem with fantasy races is the same problem with sci-fi aliens.

Take Mass Effect. You've got your humans, with a wide array of appearances, differing in height, build, skin tone, skeletal structure, you name it.

Then you have the Hanar. They'll all identical jellyfish things.
Then you have the Volus. Dumpy, plump little dudes in identical pressure suits. No variance in height, weight, clothing, nothing.
The Asari are all virtual clones, but that at least is somewhat explained by the in-world lore regarding their physiology and procreation.
The Salarians are much the same, but without even an invented excuse for all looking alike.
The Turians are probably the most differentiated from one another, if not in body, then at least in their faces, but this is largely due to their tribal markings.

Today's modern Tolkien-inspired fantasy races are just as blandly uniform. Dwarves are short, stocky, strong, bearded, love beer, love fighting, love treasure, love tools, love digging, hate elves, and speak with a Scottish accent. Elves are tall, slender, fair or pale skinned, long haired, agile, love nature, love magic, love dainty and delicate things, hate dwarves, and are terribly mystical and mysterious. Orks are big, muscular, slow, ugly, and stupid. Likewise Trolls, only more so.

Borrrring!

General tendencies are one thing. But there has to be room for exeptions, or you aren't playing a believeable character in a believeable world, you're playing a fraggin' cartoon.

There should be elves that are as burly, hirsute, and rambunctious as the most stereotypical of dwarves. There should be trolls that are mild and introverted, who are into reading books and doing a bit of gardening. There should be orks who are lithe and attractive, who take modeling gigs wearing tight blue jeans, pouting seductively at the camera. There needs to be just as much of a range of appearances and physical forms among the metatypes as among humans.

~Umi

[Lionhearted]

There shouldn't however be elves that looks like just like a generic human only with pointy ears, to me that's show a lack of artistic breadth.
@Bannock I'm one of those old school farts that uses pen and paper, doesn't come out quite right when scanning. Also I'm way to critical of myself to submit anything (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Draco18s]

The problem with fantasy races is the same problem with sci-fi aliens.

At least furries are doing it right.

Hell, there are a half-dozen or so wolves I can tell the difference between, and that's about as far away from my species as I can get (and have more than one individual; lyrebirds would be a good candidate...if I knew more than one, same goes for "most bird species" and "most reptile species").

[Umidori]

There shouldn't however be elves that looks like just like a generic human only with pointy ears, to me that's show a lack of artistic breadth.

Why shouldn't there be elves that look like ordinary people, just with pointy ears? Why can't that just be one of the many varieties of form and appearance elves can take? Why do humans have a broad spectrum of body features they are allowed to possess, but the metatypes don't?

What makes an elf an elf? To be perfectly blunt, their genetics. Yes, they have physical features typical to their metatype, which are the product of their genetic code. But what are those features? According to SR4A, pointed ears, sparse body hair, a greater height and slimmer build than the "average human", and low light vision. That's it. And you know what? Those are all features you can find naturally in humans in real life.

Elves are really only intrinsically different from humans in the magical, thaumaturgical sense. They have certain physical tendencies, much like real life human ethnicities do, but they're simply that - tendencies. The average Native American has a genetic tendency for poor alcohol tolerance, but there are some who can outdrink a Scot. The average Japanese has a genetic tendency to be short in height, but there are some who are taller than NBA stars. The average Mediterranean has a genetic tendency to be swarthy and dark haired, but there are some who are pale as day and sport bright crimson locks. And then there are people of every ethnicity who look more or less "ordinary", despite their genetic backgrounds, despite any unique physiological traits they may possess in minor degrees.

If we're honestly to believe that the metatypes sprang up from humanity universally across the entire globe, we need to allow for the metatypes to show the sort of variance in physical appearance that humanity itself does (and that includes the possibility of looking "normal" or "ordinary"). An African elf should NOT look like a European elf, who should NOT look like an Asian elf, et cetera.

And before anyone asks, "But what about the Wakyambi? Aren't they just African elves?", no, wakyambi are based off a regional mythical being, much like Mediterranean Satyrs or Japanese Oni.

~Umi

[Lionhearted]

According to SR4A, pointed ears, sparse body hair, a greater height and slimmer build than the "average human", and low light vision. That's it. And you know what? Those are all features you can find naturally in humans in real life.

Humans can see in the dark?!
Also you forgot "exotic looks, striking features".

I was arguing artistic breadth, as in "I know one way to draw a womans face and I'm going to keep doing it and change up the hair/eyebrowns, if it's an elf I'll give it pointy ears" Now, that's not saying that the pictures in this thread is like that, but still humans with tusks rubs me the wrong way because of that.

But I'll adress your argument aswell.
In Shadowrun in particular, yes there is human looking elves, but most won't be and we can't expect to see the same diversity either because of:
• Metagenes are immune to dilution, meaning that elven features will stay elven no matter how the genes are muddled or mixed up, you're either meta or your not. The same is true for metavariants. It's completely Impossible to have an half-oni/half-ork with features from both parents, you're either one or the other and drift doesn't occur. Source: Runner's companion
• There's distinct meta features that humans simply do not replicate, low-light capable eyes will have a different structure and shape then those of humans (look at any animal with keen vision and notice the differences) just as much as you will not find a human with natural dermal deposits.
• Metatypes are distinctly not human! they have their own variances for build, skeletal structure, muscle density, body fat, giving them distinct features different from humans! Dogs and Wolves are closely related yet you will never find a dog that looks just like a wolf, similar? sure. But there's still morphological differences.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Humans can see in the dark?!
Also you forgot "exotic looks, striking features".

I was arguing artistic breadth, as in "I know one way to draw a womans face and I'm going to keep doing it and change up the hair/eyebrowns, if it's an elf I'll give it pointy ears" Now, that's not saying that the pictures in this thread is like that, but still humans with tusks rubs me the wrong way because of that.

But I'll adress your argument aswell.
In Shadowrun in particular, yes there is human looking elves, but most won't be and we can't expect to see the same diversity either because of:
• Metagenes are immune to dilution, meaning that elven features will stay elven no matter how the genes are muddled or mixed up, you're either meta or your not. The same is true for metavariants. It's completely Impossible to have an half-oni/half-ork with features from both parents, you're either one or the other and drift doesn't occur. Source: Runner's companion
• There's distinct meta features that humans simply do not replicate, low-light capable eyes will have a different structure and shape then those of humans (look at any animal with keen vision and notice the differences) just as much as you will not find a human with natural dermal deposits.
• Metatypes are distinctly not human! they have their own variances for build, skeletal structure, muscle density, body fat, giving them distinct features different from humans! Dogs and Wolves are closely related yet you will never find a dog that looks just like a wolf, similar? sure. But there's still morphological differences.

So, if what you are saying is actually True, explain the Human Looking Quality then... *shrug*

[Lionhearted]

"Can be mistaken for" is not the same as "looks just like"

Also I forgot this earlier:
• They all look the same to me! symptom.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

If a Metatype can be mistaken for a mere Human, then they, by definition, MUST LOOK LIKE a Human, complete with all the variances that entails. At that point, all your points go into the blender. *shrug*

[Lionhearted]

A dog can pass for a wolf unless you take a closer look

*shrug*

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

A dog can pass for a wolf unless you take a closer look

And all dogs do not look alike, nor do all wolves. So what is your point?

[CanRay]

Humans can see in the dark?!

Some humans have better than average night vision. They can be downright scary about it, too.