Houndmaster should be bulkier up top
TLDR - Long story short, Houndmaster has these very large and powerful legs and thighs... but this isn't mirrored in her top half... she seems quite small in her chest/shoulders/arms, and this doesn't really fit her background.
Longman Version
As soon as the model came up for Houndmaster something bugged me immediately... I couldn't quite place my finger on it, but I knew it was something about her top half, like something didn't fit somewhere.
It took me showing it to my 60 year mother to actual identify the issue... I told her the basics of who the character was, avoiding any descriptors, then showed her the picture, and immediately she said her shoulders and chest are really small for someone with thighs like that.
Now this body shape and direction is fine; I can imagine someone living a wealthy, lavish lifestyle and living comfortably looking like this... someone who have lived in a wealthy manor perhaps, like a governor's house or something. Would make sense if she goes out on hunts and the dogs do most of the work.
Where I take issue is the Houndmaster's Lore... I like her lore a lot... but this person above is not compatible with this lore...
- She was marooned on a isle in the Dragon's Tooth from the age of 12. She was there for years fighting "Ferocious animals, vicious humans, and savage abominations not of this world. Snug now weighed over a hundred pounds and followed Portia everywhere.". She survived hunting, killing and scrounging supplies on what limited resources she could find.
- She then saw the Nightsdream when looking for Snug. "And just when she was about to give up on the idea of escaping, she spotted an impossible thing while searching the beach for Snug. To her disbelief, she saw Nightsdream drifting offshore in the cold, black fog. She knew better than to doubt or question anything on this island. With a whistle she entered the water but was suddenly attacked by a group of castaways. In her mind, she slaughtered Molak fifty times and spared only those she needed to crew her ship. Together they spent days searching for Snug, but he was nowhere to be found.". Here she fought and killed 50 people (or even if that number her imagination, still must have fought while outnumbered)... she is clearly not sitting back and having Snug do all the work in these hunts, she is a very fearsome foe in her own right...
- She then sailed the sea for years. "For decades Portia terrorized the Caribbean as she searched for Molak. She only attacked freebooters, taking their gold and torturing them sadistically to satiate some intangible darkness living within her. A darkness like a parasite that demanded blood until it had its fill.". This shows Portia sailed the seas for decades; she would have done so through very harsh conditions, and fought regularly with opposing ships. She would have been the deciding factor in all of these conflicts given her above ferocity in battle, and this all indicates she is a very strong and powerful individual.
All of this paints someone who has had a very harsh life, fighting hard to survive for everything she has... she is a powerful woman, and her large stature speaks to that...
However her torso is quite small for someone who is so physically strong. Maybe she lived lavishly on the wealth she garnered on her ship, but she is still constantly fighting and surviving on the seas. She should be an exceptional fit and strong individual... and her chest/shoulders and arms don't currently portray that, and looks a little weird when you look at her thick neck, that implies she has a lot of muscle.
I would imagine she would have a shoulders/torso/arms built something a little more like Raven Saunders:
Or Jessica Ramsey:
This sells the idea to me of someone who lives the harsh and demanding life that Portia has lived.
Even if we don't go the muscular route, someone like Lizzo has a chest/torso that is proportional to their legs... she's still a big a powerful woman.
I think a change like this would give her a more imposing silhouette (she seems a little distractingly bottom heavy at the moment), and really sell her as this initimating and ruthless warrior of the sea.
I doubt the model will be changed at this point, but at least I mentioned it 😅