>>1019124
Ask Serah because Rae hides one of hers and Jek isn't human.

what about Archibeard?

...

naaah, keep him in bag limbo

Rae or Serah will do.

>>1019124
Rae's eyes are beautiful but she's shy and also an elf. Elf eyes aren't human eyes. Serah's definitely got human eyes. Do you have human eyes, Dotti? Maybe you can use your own eyes for inspiration! They are awfully pretty.

1/2 Dotti 2022/01/01(Sat)21:42 No. 1019180 ID: 8483cf
File 164110217801.png - (37.94KB , 500x393 , HQ7.png )

>>1019126
Rae is SCARY sometimes, but… she’s kind of nice sometimes too, and she helped train me on the trip. I think she’s really sensitive about her bad eye, the one she keeps behind her bangs. Maybe she wouldn’t be very comfortable if I asked to draw just her good eye.

Plus she’s an elf and her eye is different than Dorothi’s.

I think I’ll leave Raelynn alone. She has a bird friend now, so she seems happy by herself for now.

>>1019162
NO! Archibeard thinks I’m evil and wants Serah to kill me! He’ll stay in his bag until he’s a good skull which is NEVER.

>>1019171
No. I have fox eyes. They’re all black and ugly and I can see in the mirror it’s super obvious I’m not human when they shine in the dark.

But they’re still eyes, so I’ll practice them so I know what NOT to draw.

SERAH SERAH! CAN I DRAW YOU PLEEEEEASE

-----

There! I did it!

Aren’t they great drawings? Aren’t they???

2/2 Dotti 2022/01/01(Sat)21:43 No. 1019181 ID: 8483cf
File 164110219947.png - (57.07KB , 555x554 , HQ8.png )

Now that I’ve practiced eyes, what eyes does Dorothi have? Which ones are the prettiest?

C is cutest

But I also like D I think. I changing my vote from C to D

A.

>>1019181
Is Dorothi more IN CHARGE, or more RELAXED?

If she's IN CHARGE, A

If she's relaxed, C

Of course Dorothi is in charge, she's a princess! A!

Dotti 2022/01/02(Sun)10:33 No. 1019222 ID: 8483cf
File 164114839295.png - (62.21KB , 500x500 , HQ9.png )

>>1019183
You think you’re clever don’t you? Well too bad! Dorothi’s eyes are IN CHARGE EYES not FOX EYES.

Dorothi also likes fashion. Princess fashion. What do princesses wear? I’ve seen pictures of lots of princesses in dresses. I wear a dress, but I’m not a princess, so I can’t use my clothes to pick what to wear for Dorothi. Hmmm…

Serah is a royal! I’ll use her clothes to learn what princesses wear! She won’t mind if I borrow her corset.

Uhhhh

This doesn’t look very good. I’ll have to keep trying, just like when I was learning to read how I needed lots of books and lessons. I’ll need to borrow more clothes if I want to get good at drawing them.

Serah is sleeping right now and I am very good at sneaking. Which of Serah’s clothes should I borrow?

How about The one she ruined from the mutagen incident. Just make sure you draw them not ruined. She's not using that anymore and won't mind if you take it.

Hey? Uh... you do realize that using Serah's eyes as a model, and then using her clothes, youre just going to basically be drawing Serah, not Dorothi, right?

Not to mention you gave her long hair like Serah

>>1019225
SHHHHHHHH!

Alternatively, if making Dorothi look too much like Serah is a problem, we can always look at Rae's clothes... like the CAKE DRESS!

Oh yeah! Rae's cake dress is perfect princess-wear. And she definitely won't mind you borrowing it because she doesn't like wearing it.

I vote third on Rae's cake dress.

But! Humans wear more than one type of clothes, especially depending on what they're doing. The cake dress is very princess-y, but what about when Dorothi isn't trying to be princess-y, like when she's getting ready for bed. You'll probably need some pajamas if nothing else.

While you're working on clothes, you'll also probably want to work on her anatomy. If you're going to be spending all this time making sure Dorothi's clothes are pretty and well drawn, you probably should also make sure she fills out her clothes too. Be patient with anatomy though, it can be hard.

The fancy striped shorts and the long red dress.

We might need landis help with the long red dress, she made that one

1/2 Dotti 2022/01/02(Sun)14:37 No. 1019254 ID: 8483cf
File 164116305601.png - (63.14KB , 423x451 , HQ10.png )

>>1019227
>>1019231

RAE HAS A DRESS MADE OF CAKE???

I quietly explode out of bed and run out of Serah and my room in the adventurer’s guild and I am at Rae’s door right away. It’s locked because it is the middle of the night but Rae would always have it locked anyway because she is the way she is.

I raise my paws to bang on Rae’s door as hard as I can because Dorothi is the prettiest and fairest princess and she NEEDS a cake dress to be pretty and fair.

Wait…

I pause my paws.

Is it fair to wake Rae up because I want her cake dress? I would hate to be woken up. I would LOVE to be woken up if I knew there was a cake dress for me, but it’s Raelynn’s. And Raelynn hates both dresses AND sweets. Why would she have both in one?

OH. Her cake dress is the dress that’s LAYERED like a cake. All of a sudden I feel very smart and very dumb at the same time.

I sneak back to Serah’s and my room having avoided unfairly angering both Raelynn and her bird, no thanks to YOU spirits. I close the door behind me. Serah and Landi are still asleep. Phew!

>>1019239
Even though I don’t have Rae’s princess cake dress, at least I have Serah’s clothes to draw. I root through her trunk and pull out things that look kind of princess-y. I find an old outfit that’s been mended, a dress Landi’s enchanted to make permanent that seems like an apology present, and a pair of fancy stripey shorts that are probably underwear because Serah wears them under her clothes. The shorts are way fancier than mine, so they must be underwear fit for a princess!

I very quickly realize that drawing a red dress is very hard and FRUSTRATING if no one is wearing it. There aren’t even any hangers in this little guild room! I need Serah to model it for me, but I’m really bad at drawing Serah! UGH!

I move on to the old outfit and fancy pants and try to lay them out like someone is wearing them. It’s still hard.

2/2 Dotti 2022/01/02(Sun)14:39 No. 1019255 ID: 8483cf
File 164116315072.png - (61.79KB , 668x423 , HQ11.png )

>>1019225
Huh? Oh, no! You’re right! I have to make Dorothi different than Serah. She has to be shorter and different shaped than Serah. How can I shape her differently? Hmm…

>>1019235
If I draw Jek and Serah and Rae and me and Landi, these shapes look kind of like us. But it’s still not really shaping the drawings differently. Anatomy is like all the little pieces that make up a person, right? So many little pieces…

Jek is big and strong and so is Serah, but in a different way. She doesn’t have scales, obviously, but she’s just WAY softer and curvier than Jek’s shape. Rae’s shape is like a tight bunch of sticks sort of. I’m not big and strong or stick-y. I’m just a soft fox blob. And Landi is a stupid ball shape.

Knowing these shapes aren’t enough to make Dorothi different than Serah, but it’s a start.

What is a pretty shape for Dorothi? And how can I learn to draw humans better without making so many stupid bad drawings?

Rae's shape is good

Serah's shape seems the most princess-like. Probably because she's a noble girl. Nobility is princess-adjacent.

Anyone can be a princess of course, it's purely about who your parents are. But if you want to make someone look the part, Serah's form is a good baseline.

You can't. All the drawings must be made.
Just combine them to make something new. Dorothi can be bigger than Jek but blobby like a fox. Practically elf-like!

>>1019255
Dorothi's shape is going to be mostly hidden by the dress anyway so it's not important to get perfect right away. Mostly worry about the shape of her face and and how big her chest is.

Do you want her to have big breasts like Serah or smaller ones like Rae or something in between? Also, Serah has a pretty strong chin, maybe you want Dorothi to have thinner cheeks like Rae with a softer chin?

As for easier ways to think about body shapes, usually you can do a metaphor. Someone who is very curvy with wide torso and hips is usually said to have an "hourglass" figure. Someone with bigger hips than chest is "pear shaped." So you can use the shape of other things to guide what shape you want to give the body.

>>1019255
For shape/size dorothi ought to be halfway between Rae and serah

you've seen what Landi looks like inside that glowball, haven't you? Shes like a person but small.

Dotti 2022/01/02(Sun)17:32 No. 1019289 ID: 8483cf
File 164117354395.png - (64.62KB , 500x500 , HQ12.png )

>>1019261
Taller than Jek? Wow! She would be HUGE! Everyone would have to obey her even if she wasn’t magic then! But she can’t be fox blobby because that’s is ugly and not human.

>>1019260
Serah is very princess-y! She is a good model, but she is taller than other girls. Maybe I should make her shorter but keep her shape the same for Dorothi?

>>1019264
Breasts are very human so they are very important! Serah has big breasts, which makes her extremely human. Rae’s breasts are smaller, which makes perfect sense because she is an elf. Therefore Dorothi has to have big breasts because she is so good at being a human.

>>1019271
She looks like a person, yes, and she is somehow both skinny and curvy. She’s weird.

>>1019267
Ummm I tried this and made an hourglass and pear shape and it’s really confusing. I don’t know what looks good because they don’t look like humans at all! I need to compare this to an actual human or person or something.

I’m really tired and confused now… I think I’ll go to bed. But tomorrow I want to compare these shapes to a real person, not a bunch of lines and squares.

Who should I ask to be my model tomorrow? Should I ask them to model naked like Serah did last time?

A. Serah: High likelihood to model, probably will model nude. Is a human!
B. Jek: High likelihood to model, probably won’t model nude. Is a lizard person so mehhhh
C. Raelynn: Low likelihood to model, probably won’t model nude. I’ll need to convince her somehow.
D. Landi: NYEHHHHHH

Serah. Landi is much more poseable but it's hard to see her when her mana's up.

C. We've asked Serah for so much.

How to convince her? Tell her you'll take her cake dress and never try to get her to wear it again and even help her not to wear it if Landi or others tries to convince her to in return for her modeling for you. Tell her it'll be like, practicing and training to stand perfectly still for the next time she has to be stealthy in battle.

No, Dorothi! Big breasts only appear in adult women in order to feed whatever babies they may have.
Dorothi is a little girl, she can't have breasts!

Tell Raelynn to help you, maybe. But before that, tell Landi these exact super-secret-special words:
[spoiler]"There is no such thing as fairies."]

You should ask Raelynn. If you ask her to model in the cake dress, then she may actually prefer to model nude, letting you really study her anatomy.

As for convincing her, you could promise to accidentally leave the dress in Jek's luggage so that it leaves with him when you get him back to his dragon wife, and she'll never have to wear it again.

>>1019289
C

Raelynn's body type sounds closer to what we're trying to achieve. It'll also be good modeling practice to have a body that's different than Serah's to reference.

It'll be hard to convince Raelynn to do this for you though. Maybe you could be a little like Dorothi and listen to Rae's problems to see what she needs help with. That's a good way to build trust!

Rae also really likes animals. A lot more than she likes people. Maybe you could offer to go camping with her, or draw her favorite animal for her as a thank you gift for helping you! Asking her about her favorite animal is also a nice thing to do!

>>1019289
Promise Raelynn favors in exchange for modelling! Tell her you'll share some of your good food with her bird and can help her with stuff! Also flatter her by telling her elves are cooler than humans (though this is a lie, its a WHITE LIE, which is okay to do).

1/2 Dotti 2022/01/03(Mon)20:54 No. 1019412 ID: 8483cf
File 164127209765.png - (79.95KB , 500x451 , HQ13.png )

I wake up and hurry through my morning favors. Landi’s breakfast is easy, and so is getting the materials for Serah’s transmutations. I even get asked to pick up some fresh bread for the guild! The smells are the BEST and this baker is much nicer than the evil baker back home in Minga, but that’s probably because I have money to give him.

It’s amazing how nice people are when you pay them. It also gets you whatever you want from shops. Maybe I should start carrying money around just in case I need people to like me or if I get really hungry. It’s not like I’m in any LESS danger of being attacked than if I’m not carrying money. I think I’ll ask Serah if I can have some for myself.

As for modeling, Serah is busy today, and I’ve already asked her for a lot of help so far. It seems fair to bother people OTHER than Serah, and Rae is human enough and the right shape to be a good model for Dorothi. I’ll look for her and ask her really nicely to model!

I finish all four of my assigned favors and wait for Rae to come back from her errands. I draw the bread because it’s really nice bread. I also go and and beg for some chicken drumsticks from the guild cook, because chicken makes everything better, and Rae’s stormcrow probably likes chicken and if he sticks around me, then Rae might stick around me too.

Oh! Rae! She’s here! I wave a chicken drumstick at her and her stormcrow Taranis and he is LOCKED ON with his sharp bird eyes. I hold out the drumstick and bow my head because it is a gift for HIM, not me, and I am not challenging his total dominion over this tasty chicken.

Whoosh! Chicken’s gone.

“So you’re not above taking bribes,” Rae says as Taranis rips the meat off the drumstick. She sounds disappointed, but she’s got a teeny-tiny smile. She’s been so happy since she got her bird friend!

“It’s not a bribe,” I say. “Taranis is a very pretty bird, and he deserves every drumstick he gets. I have another one here if he wants to sit at the table!”

Before Rae can object, Taranis is perched on the table beside me and we are now officially best friends for as long as I still have chicken.

“You’re unbelievable,” Rae says, and that teeny tiny smile is threatening to spread. “It took weeks for you to even land next to me, and now you’re chumming up with any fox spirit that offers you chicken. Should I be jealous?”

Taranis ruffles his feathers. I straighten up proudly. Of course he likes me, because I am so likeable. His eyes twinkle in agreement that yes, magic chicken delivery fox is very likeable.

“Lunchtime is early, then,” Rae says, and she sits on the bench across from us and pulls out some dried meat she likes so much.

Taranis glances at me and I glance at him and we both agree that Rae is a very unfortunate elf but she’s a good friend when she tries which is not as often as she should but she is getting better and she is also very reliable at doing what she does when she’s not being friendly and she has very good treats and she should share them more often. Also my bow is very pretty thank you!

“Are you two talking about me?” Rae asks with a mouthful of meat. Taranis and I shake our heads.

2/2 Dotti 2022/01/03(Mon)20:55 No. 1019414 ID: 8483cf
File 164127215325.png - (42.71KB , 455x422 , HQ14.png )

I pull out my sketchbook and show Taranis Dorothi. He doesn’t quite understand who she is, but he cocks his head to one side when I draw her a bird friend and I think he sort of gets it.

“What’s that?” Rae asks, and oh boy she has a lot of catching up to do. Talking is hard and takes a long time.

“I’m drawing a story about a princess, but the art is really bad,” I say. “Serah’s helping me but she’s busy today.”

“Riss likes it,” Rae says. “It can’t be that bad.”

I show her Dorothi. She shrugs. “You’ll get better with practice.”

“Yeah!” I nod eagerly. “Can you help me? I need a model to practice princesses and you’re PERFECT!”

“Me? Model for your princess? Why?” Rae asks with a big confused look on her face. Then she gets an even bigger look of horror as she remembers she still has THE CAKE. “Oh, no.”

“Oh yes!” I say eagerly.

“Can’t you just ask Serah? I’m sure she has a wide variety of very classy dresses that-”

>>1019327

“But you’re a way cooler princess than Serah!”

Rae’s mouth falls open.

“It’s true!” I lie. “You’re calm and in control and super fair and reasonable and EVERYONE should take orders from a princess like you!”

“I…” Rae puts a hand to her cheek and is she BLUSHING? “I suppose that’s one way to define cool.”

I LOVE WHITE LIES

“So you’ll help me and model the princess dress???”

“No. Absolutely not,” Rae says firmly. “That thing is locked up in Landi’s inventory, and there it will stay forever.”

“Please?” I plead. “I really need practice!”

Rae turns her head to the side and hides behind her bangs. “You don’t want me for a model.”

“I do! I need to learn how to draw better than stick figures and you’re the only one cool enough to be Dorothi!”

Silence.

Taranis hops across the table and looks at Rae in her good eye. He rustles his ragged, scarred tailfeathers.

Rae sighs.

“I’ll help, but not in that blighted dress. Anything but that.”

“Hooray!” I cheer. Taranis lifts his wings too! “Do you have time right now?”

“You really are excited for your story, aren’t you?” Rae puts her hand to her face. “Sure. Fine. Is my cloak and hood a good enough outfit?”

“Well…” I think for a moment. “Loose clothes are hard to draw. Serah said drawing naked people is the fastest way to learn.”

“She really said that?” Rae stiffens up. “How about I just wear some tight shorts and a top? The base layer from my woodland gear will be skintight.”

I look at Rae’s chest. “But then how do I draw your breasts?”

“You don’t.”

I harrumph. “Breasts are important.”

Taranis pecks my paw. I yowl at him.

“Thank you, Riss.”

---

Rae agreed to model for me! What poses should I ask her to try? Should I ask to draw her face?

Drawing her face may require her to reveal her eye under her bangs. She is sensitive on that. No face modeling for now.

A pose... umm... well... have her dab?

Don't get too excited about white lies. If you use them poorly, they can sometimes turn out worse than brutal honesty. I'm sorry to say that, as you'll annoyingly find with just about all elements of society, there's a nuance to them that you'll have to learn. Don't be afraid to ask your compatriots about when they are or aren't appropriate.

As for poses, how about your have her stretch for you? If she's extending herself, it'll show you the natural limits of her limbs so that you know how far they can contort. Nothing too high intensity though, she'll have to hold it for long enough to draw. Reverse Warrior could be good. If she says she can't hold that though, settle for Warrior II, far less intensive.

Letting animals perch on her is a good idea. And practice a victory pose!

Draw the bird

>>1019414
Obviously Dorothi is as in tune with nature as she is with everything else! You should draw Dorothi crouching down feeding animals, like for example a bird like Riss!

You will probably want to get a pose of Dorothi looking normal. Maybe a pose that shows movement, just in case we need to see Dorothi going someplace.

If we need a more specific pose, maybe we can get some normal human activities: eating, stretching, playing a sport. Dorothi likes fashion, so maybe we could get a pose of Rae acting like she's showing off her fashion! Or getting changed, obviously without the taking off clothes part, Rae didn't like that idea very much.

Dotti 2022/01/05(Wed)20:26 No. 1019714 ID: 8483cf
File 164144316986.png - (116.72KB , 668x522 , HQ15.png )

I grab my charcoal and sketchbook and have Raelynn and Taranis meet me in the guild storage room full of cleaning supplies and crates and stuff. It’s nice and warm ‘cause we’re near the kitchens so Rae doesn’t have to worry about getting cold. This has nothing to do with how good it smells near to all the yummy chicken! Not everyone has fur or Jotund Juice mutagens after all.

Rae comes in with Taranis, and she’s wearing her cloak and winter gear. She looks around at all the boxes. “I guess it’s private, at least.”

Wait! Serah had to stand still for a long time last time. Raelynn will be comfy if I get her pillows! I run out of the room and Rae is very confused.

I come back and I have ALL the pillows, and she is less confused.

“I’m really really really grateful you’re helping me!” I say. “This is hard with nobody to practice with.”

Rae crosses her arms. “I’ve never really understood why people draw.”

“Because it’s fun!” I say. What kind of question is that?

“Hmm.” Rae raises an eyebrow. “Can you tell me what you plan on doing with your work?”

“Well,” I say, “When I finish the story about Dorothi, I want to share it with Serah!”

“And how about these sketches? What are you going to do with these?”

“I don’t know,” I say. “I threw out the last one I did. It was bad.”

“I see.” Rae seems a little more relaxed now. “In that case, let’s begin. Let me know if there are any poses you’d like me to try, otherwise I’ll move between a few to get a feel for it.”

I set up my sketchbook and Rae takes off her cloak and gear and she is in very tight very stretchy black pants and a very tight very stretchy black top. Taranis does not have stretchy clothes, but today he is a model too. You don’t need clothes to be a model!

Rae holds a good pose and I like it! It’s a nice stretchy pose! I draw lines and… no, that’s not right. That’s not right either! I need to redo it and-

Rae changes the pose and I growl at her and scratch out the stupid scribbles ARRRRRGH

“I warned you I was going to change poses quickly,” Rae says, bemused.

I harrumph.

Rae moves through poses quickly and I get them down as fast as I can! I suggest a few, and Taranis helps perch for the Dorothi poses. Rae isn’t really good at doing princess-y poses, but that’s okay, she’ll get better soon, just like me.

Which pose should I ask Rae to go back and hold for a longer pose so I can do a better drawing?

I cant pick between D or J. One of those please

F is my pick, with G as a close second.

F with Landi, otherwise D.

You know what, if we can convince Landi to go above Rae's hand with the F pose, i'll support thay. it'll be like landi is posing as a fire ball that the princess summoned, lighting the way for her grateful subjects like a bacon! I mean Beacon. Dont think about bacon during drawing.

Drawing lots of very quick poses is a really good way to improve! H is a good one cause the bird is in clear view

1/2 Dotti 2022/01/06(Thu)20:13 No. 1019813 ID: 8483cf
File 164152881799.png - (108.28KB , 766x570 , HQ16.png )

Rae moves out of her last speedy pose and lies back on the pillows. Taranis hops beside her and preens his feathers.

“Which of those poses worked best?” Rae asks.

I flip the sketchbook around and point at the ones I think are Dorothi-like. I don’t pick any Landi poses because Landi ruins everything and I don’t want her ruining this.

Rae nods. “All right. I’ll hold them for… how long?”

“I don’t know. Just hold them for as long as you can. I wanna practice.”

“That might be a while, but if you insist…” Rae stands back up and takes the pose.

“Thank you!”

I focus on the pose.

It’s hard.

I try and try to make what’s on the paper look like what’s in front of me, and it’s just not working. I take forever trying, and finally it just doesn’t work.

“Next pose,” I say with a grumble.

Rae gestures to Taranis to hop on her hand, and he is a very happy bird that he gets to be so important in the picture.

I try and try again, and… it still looks REALLY BAD.

I take forever again, and it STILL looks really bad.

This is stupid. It’s frustrating. I’m not having fun. None of this makes sense! None of this is exciting! This is just like last time with Serah. I hate it! I want to give up and stop wasting everyone’s time. I should be looking for Petra!

But… I have to wait for the letters Serah wrote to the mayors to go out and come back. I have nothing to do BUT wait. I have lots of time. If I spend it doing nothing but worrying, that’s going to make me sad.

When I’m drawing, I realize that I’m distracted from how stressful it is not knowing where Petra is.

Suddenly I have a very good reason to keep drawing.

“Could you try the first pose again?”

2/2 Dotti 2022/01/07(Fri)18:49 No. 1019882 ID: 8483cf
File 164161017022.png - (126.17KB , 766x570 , HQ17.png )

The second drawings actually look better! They look better!

My art CAN get better!

It makes me happier than I’ve been in a long time.

Rae models for me for a long, long time.

“What was that noise?” Rae asks. “Was that your stomach rumbling?”

Oh. It was.

OH NO IT WAS

I was so focused that I didn’t even notice that I was getting hungry or not. The idea of starving because I forgot to eat, instead of starving because I couldn’t eat, is very scary. But as long as I have Serah, I know I’ll have food.

“Dinner!” I say excitedly. I slam my sketchbook closed. “Thank you Rae and Riss! My drawings are getting better and you helped a LOT!”

Taranis puffs out his chest proudly.

“Can I see the drawings?” Rae asks.

“Sure! Look all you want,” I say. I’m hungry, so who cares about how good the drawings are? “It’s dinnertime!”

Today was a good day.

While I’m eating delicious chicken, I realize that I won’t be able to draw Dorothi’s story right away. But I’ll have lots of time to get better, because my and Serah’s letters are searching far and wide for Petra.

Things CAN get better.

Not just art. Not just me. Everything.

And that feels good.

Human Quest: End of Thread 1