Posted August 6, 2018 at 1:00 am

That cosmetic option PsyGrace speaks of in the last panel isn't in the actual games, or in fact the vast majority of games with character customization, which is a shame.





Yes, there's the issue of NPCs recognizing you, but in Fallout 4, you can change everything else about your appearance mid-game, up to and including eye, hair, and skin colors, and nobody will ever comment on it. The suspension of disbelief ship has already sailed at that point, so one may as well not exclude anything.





Mer-forms





I believe feminine forms have the advantage, visually, on the mer-front. A mer-tail easily includes a hip shape that complements a feminine figure, whereas a mer-tail doesn't really complement more rectangular masculine hips. One's posterior is also a casualty of having a mer-tail, which is a loss made less severe by feminine mer-hips.





There is the accentuation of the upper body relative to the lower mer-body, but that's true in any case, thus giving the advantage to no one beyond the subjective matter of what manner of upper body one prefers to see.





...My mind wanders while I draw these things.





Abs





Justin still has abs, but I've become more aware of the fact that, really, six packs and such simply aren't just showing all the time. If a person is flexing, or has been specifically doing things so their abs are temporarily always on show for a body building competition, sure, but not ALL the time.





Shirtless men in TV shows might give a different impression, but I'm reminded of a bit of Game of Thrones commentary involving a scene in which several men were shirtless, and one of the comments being that the scene was more difficult for the actors due to flexing their abs the whole time. I think a lot of us have bellies closer to those of professional actors than we realize.





Granted, I'm willing to be unrealistic with such things, but I think more subtle abdominal definition works a lot better in my style, so huzzah.

In case anybody has trouble seeing on a smaller screen or something, PsyGrace's shirts says "PsyQuack".