SereneNight’s Sci-Fi Fun Thread 3

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  • nemesis10nemesis10 Posts: 3,268

    May i ask a delicate question?  What is a drow exactly?  I have purchased a few (https://www.daz3d.com/vildras-hd-for-genesis-81-male and https://www.daz3d.com/dokkalfar-the-dark-elf-for-genesis-8-male) and realized I was vaguely unconfortable not knowing what they were.  I have always appreciated and purchased Black characters to encourage creators to create characters who look like me (in the figurative sense).  I remember a few years ago that was a lot of criticism of drows as an enbodiment of a sort of ethnic esentialism in Dungeons and Dragons and that the creators pf D&D had made steps to combact that. However, I am curious how the characters are considered now and I noticed that you (someone whom I consider thought fum and has one of the most enjoyable threads in the forum) often render drows.  

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560
    edited April 2022

    Drow or Dark elves were initially envisioned as evil elves, and followers of Lolth the spider queen, who is evil. They have a matriarchal culture and live underground in a place called the Underdark. Their evilness stems from their goddess who they both worship and fear. She is indeed horrible. Initially, they were all bad, almost cursed. That is not the case anymore.

    Drow and elves in general are popular with fans because they tend to be sexy and beautiful. 

    In the 90's a popular writer wrote about a good drow male who fled the Underdark and became a ranger on the surface. These books were stunningly popular, and drow began to get a bit of a makeover. That elf was named Drizzt.

    Good drow exists now, and are quite popular.  They changed the drow from being inherently evil to more culturally evil. Drow who leave the worship of Lolth, are just like any other elf, although they tend to be more charismatic, and stronger, but have problems with sunlight. They are still feared and face some prejudice on the surface because of the actions of their kindred.

    The elves I render are Eilistraeen drow, which means they worship the good goddess of the drow. Eilistraee urges her followers to help drow, be kind to all, and help them to return to the surface and regain their birthright. To this regard, priests and priestesses of Eilistraee are ordered to bring joy and happiness to others in word and song and to try to help the Lothian drow leave the cult. They also are famous for wearing little clothing during their rituals and being mostly a female sect.

    Debran and his brother are both drow, although Evandri who is blonde, resembles the surface elf who sired his mother. This caused her to reject her consort their father, and also Evandri. Debran flees with his twin to the surface where they both join a church of Eilistraee. Evandri eventually meets Noor who is his soulmate and a knight in the church.

    I guess what interests me is the matriarchal society the drow have, and the church of Eilistraee is interesting.  I like the gender role reversal of the fact that male priests of Eilistraee are uncommon, and how that might work for them.

    I like to indulge in the fanfic now and then and this is one of those times. Eventually, I tend to stop though, since I prefer to have more free reign over my creative endeavors.
     
    This is the briefest of summaries of the subject, and there is lots of info on google.

    I would say elves, and drow are perhaps some of the more popular player character races in dnd.  my picture of Noor the hunter, is also my top rated picture on deviant art.

     


     



     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • nemesis10nemesis10 Posts: 3,268

    Thank you! You are more than wonderful!

  • HylasHylas Posts: 4,783
    edited April 2022

    Yeah, Drow are problemaaaaaatic...

    Aside from the whole ethnic essentialism thing, it's also a case of 1) dark skin is evil, 2) matriarchy is evil, and 3) let's have dark skin in our fantasy world without actually having black people in it. (See also: Yes, this character is black, but she has basically the facial features of a white woman, and blue eyes. Why are you asking? *sarcasm*)

    I'm not super up to date, but I believe more recently there's been another welcome retcon regarding the Drow. They are no longer "just culturally evil", but it's only one specific clan of the Drow that are "culturally evil".

    Should Drow as a concept be left behind forever, or can they be modernised? Everyone will have their own answer. In my personal opinion: Drow can be used in non-problematic ways, as long as one is aware of their problemtic origins and veeeery careful about it, and as long as one also has actual black characters in their fictional world, in addition to Drow.

    Good interview with R.A. Salvatore, who wrote the Drizzt books: https://www.polygon.com/22585687/dungeons-dragons-r-a-salvatore-drizzt-black-controversy-race-interview

    Post edited by Hylas on
  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560
    edited April 2022

    I have played D&D since the '70s. A lot changes over time. I suspect this will continue to change. I think Drow society in regards to the Lolth-sworn could use a redo, as it probably could not function as written, and its getting a bit long in the tooth.  I am content with them updating the drow subrace to remove problematic overtones and expanding the races to include additional groups of drow with complex societies. I do that myself in my writing by adding the Lake Elves, who are an isolated tribe of drow living near a mountainous lake who are not lolth-sworn. 

    I support everyone doing what they feel is within their comfort zone in regards to portraying Drow.

    That said, we are veering into a charged topic, which is probably not allowed here. 

    If you want to discuss race with me, relating to the drow thing, I'll be happy to share my thoughts with you in a private message, although I don't have too much more to add. 

    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • nemesis10nemesis10 Posts: 3,268

    I think you both gave me insight into the drow question... I may follow up with a private message or two but thank you for letting me hijack your thread for a moment.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560

    Speaking of Drow, there is a new drow character out, https://www.daz3d.com/vildras-hd-for-genesis-81-male

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560
    edited April 2022

    Boyd is wearing the https://www.daz3d.com/sci-fi-guard-outfit-for-genesis-8-males

    Which I rather like. There is a helmet as well, but I think I like the suit better without it.

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  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560

    So it has been a month since I put in a ticket for Aerys's fingernail issue Request #405141

    It seems unreasonable to expect that buyers should wait a month to use a product, while new products are being released.

     

     

  • nemesis10nemesis10 Posts: 3,268

    Serene Night said:

    So it has been a month since I put in a ticket for Aerys's fingernail issue Request #405141

    It seems unreasonable to expect that buyers should wait a month to use a product, while new products are being released.

     

    I contacted the creators and they said that they were looking into it.  I will contact them again to see if there is a definitive solution in the works.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560

    Oh wow! smiley  You are totally awesome. That was very kind of you.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560

    So my question is, does Taurus come with his horns? Or do I need to buy the horns too to achieve his promotional look?

  • I don't believe Taurus comes with horns.  I bought him right away this morning.  He's a great character (in my opinion) and I've been rendering him with my usual blend of characters and shaping/physique morphs.  I really like Taurus a lot.

    Lee

     

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560

    Thanks! I was just wondering since his promos show them. Thanks for looking Lee. 

  • leemoon_c43b45a114leemoon_c43b45a114 Posts: 844
    edited April 2022

    I'm still working with Taurus, so this isn't representative of Taurus out of the box, nor what I will end up with after more customization of him. :)

    65% Taurus

    20% Swole Fibo

    10% Sagatto Face

    Pablo texture

    Taurus fibermesh brows

    Plus a variety of small shaping/physique adjustments (quads/thighs, hip/waist, pecs, eyes, nose, and head shape) just to accomodate my style, not to fix any issues with Taurus.

    I think he makes a great character, and in my case, an awesome base character for me to build on.

    Lee

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  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560

    Wow! He looks Amazing! I love what you did with him! Definitely going to buy him! Thanks for showing him! 

  • HylasHylas Posts: 4,783

    Taurus: WOOF!

    That's not the sound a bull makes, I know. And yet: WOOF!

  • inquireinquire Posts: 2,098

    He looks terrific, Lee.

  • leemoon_c43b45a114leemoon_c43b45a114 Posts: 844
    edited April 2022

    Thank you, Serene Night!  He's easy to work with and seems to take other figures morphs well.

    Hylas, I agree with you!  Taurus is a woof for me as well. :)

    Thank you, inquire!  I'm really liking what Taurus adds to my library.  With my limited testing of him so far, he's one of those rare figures I'd consider using as-is without any/much custom dial spinning.  I think he looks especially good in the 50-80% range.  Maybe throw in some Fitness, Bodybuilder, and/or Body Tone dials and he'd look nicely fit.  Even more so than he does out of the box, which is already quite nice. :)

    Lee

     

    Post edited by leemoon_c43b45a114 on
  • nemesis10nemesis10 Posts: 3,268
    edited April 2022

    I ama huge Emrys/Morris fan!

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  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560

    @Nemesis10  those guys look great! Nice render there too! 

  • nemesis10nemesis10 Posts: 3,268

    I am hoping you like the hairlines!

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560

    nemesis10 said:

    I am hoping you like the hairlines!

    LOL! I do Indeed.

  • nemesis10nemesis10 Posts: 3,268

    I am excited: RowHouse products in the store!  I purchased this crown and makeup  at Renderosity for this:

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560

    Oh wow. Is that Louis XIV? that looks really good. I never could think of doing an actual historical figure in DAZ Studio. I will check this vendor out.

  • nemesis10nemesis10 Posts: 3,268

    The image uses the Rowhouse's crown, scepter, and facial makeup, Mousso's Warrin, Neftis's Fouquet hair, Daz3d/Ravenheart's Le Roi clothing, and Colm Jackson's Bokeh Studio HDR!

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,929

    Serene Night said:

    So, a while back I bought the male cheerleading squad outfits. I didn't do anything with them at the time, so loaded them up to take a look now. 

    The outfits require dForce, and quite honestly, to me, it didn't help the fit. The clothing should work for action poses, but Owen's top exploded immediately.  The shoes seem odd to me, and there is a lot of added bulk. I do like the textures, except the fabric looks more like shiny plastic and there is no real grain to it, so that's all there is.  On Boyd's shirt, the fit of it looks like it's embedded in his chest and slipping off.

    I confess to some disappointment. I think this set would be far better just plain conforming. Using dForce as a substitution for fitting clothing just doesn't always work. 

    That said, I do like the bright colors of the textures. I just wish they looked better, and fit better. 

     

     

    Male & female cheerleading clothing is one of the few modern styles that don't even need loose dForce style fits.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560
    edited April 2022

    I like Kento 8.1 quite a bit. So far, I think this is my favorite Asian male release for 8.1 He looks and renders nicely. The Rudolf top hair also looks really good and is suitable for historic, and contemporary renders. There is no hairline funkiness with that hairstyle. Huzzah.

    I'm honestly not sure where they are going with this bundle. I think they may just hold off selling men's content to throw whatever is made into a bundle to release it with him, because the War boar and the sci-fi, stuff all seem real to be a strange mix.

    Despite this, I can't help wanting the boar, and I have no real reason for that either. Who is going to ride the boar? The drow? I guess maybe we may have to find out.

    One thing I note on Kento is he has a line around his midsection. I am not sure why.

     

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  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,560

    nemesis10 said:

    The image uses the Rowhouse's crown, scepter, and facial makeup, Mousso's Warrin, Neftis's Fouquet hair, Daz3d/Ravenheart's Le Roi clothing, and Colm Jackson's Bokeh Studio HDR!

    It looks awesome. Thanks for posting!

  • GordigGordig Posts: 9,186

    Serene Night said:

    I like Kento 8.1 quite a bit. So far, I think this is my favorite Asian male release for 8.1

    Who's your favorite G8 Asian male, and how does Kento compare?

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