Category Archives: Photoshop

Merry Christmas 2023

Happy holidays! And spoiler alert for my FFXIV fanfic! Nero tol Scaeva (right) is a smug, arrogant, ambitious, brilliant magnificent b*stard, hells-bent on becoming the greatest engineer the world has ever seen (frustrated by being seemingly effortlessly thwarted at every turn by his rival since college). Vivienne Urselmert (left) is a cold, angry, stubborn, emotionally-constipated antihero who suffers grievous hardships in silence and slaughters monsters without mercy. Together, they are a match made in… something, considering he started out as a villain and she was very much trying to kill him at the time. After she blew up his boss’s base, he had nowhere to go and began wandering aimlessly, looking for advanced ancient technology to tinker with, occasionally ping-ponging off of the heroes and usually sort of helping them. He woos her sarcastically and she snaps back defensively, until those rare moments when one or another of them drops their walls (shockingly, often Nero first) and does or says something sincerely genuine. Apologies if it still doesn’t make sense to you, but it makes me laugh so I drew it. Continue reading

Happy Fanservice Day 2023: Reid Dakimakura 1

Heyyyy!!!! I was too overworked last year to draw fanservice and that kind of upset me so I’m making up for it.

Here’s ModernAU!Reid looking hotter than lightning (his thematic element lol) in an image intended for eventual use in a custom dakimakura (character body pillow). The reverse side will have him wearing a greatkilt (and only a greatkilt ;D ). Click for larger!

If this is your first time seeing this character: normally, Reid is my DnD Fantasy Renaissance warlock (based loosely on my Star Wars: The Old Republic Sith Inquisitor). Then I noticed that I made a very attractive character and wondered what he would look like in the modern era, and the answer is: fine as helllllll <3 In this incarnation, he’s a sarcastic but warm Scottish historian who plays bass guitar and sings and spends too much time on Reddit and sometimes does jujitsu.

This isn’t even the full-size image, I have a very high-resolution file for actual pillow-ordering. I also put a watermark on this image (which I never do usually, I’m pretty proud of this lol) so if you like this enough to want your own dakimakura… let me know? XD

Murlesson

Had a cranky start to the day (why I gotta drive an hour to get to work on Saturdays, totally ruins the rest of my day) so I decided to draw a full-effort Murlesson with an anime lens flare??? I’m not going to question it. (Referenced some stock image of a dude in a hooded cloak off Google image search)

Oddly, this is the first time I’ve drawn OG Murlesson for all that he’s been so prolific in spawning plot bunnies and AUs in my head. Drew while listening to the Star Wars OT OST.

I’ve been drawing more than usual recently (by which I mean, more than zero). It’s more inspiring than writing at the moment, I guess??

Winter Holiday Card 2021

Happy holidays, I drew a boy in a kilt. It’s labelled Solstice because in our DnD world, ancient non-monotheistic belief systems are alive and well; it might be discouraged in our fantasy-Scotland, but underground those stubborn islanders hold on to their traditions, and few more stubbornly than our anarchic anti-establishment rebel here. The Theotic Church may say it’s witchcraft and superstition, but the locals know that faeries are real and fay monsters will eat you if you don’t do the proper rituals. The aristocracy suppresses it so they maintain good trade relations to their larger neighbours to the south in the Mercantile Principalities, though.

Unfortunately, irl there is not much for me to find on the internet regarding Celtic pre-Christian practices, as apparently Christianity came in with the Romans and people didn’t write down what they were doing before that. So all that people seem to know is that there’s the Oak King, figure of warmth and light, and the Holly King, figure of cold and dark, and they war through the seasons. On the summer solstice, the Holly King wins and that’s why the days get shorter and colder, and on the winter solstice, the Oak King wins and so then they get longer again. That’s why the event is celebrated with holly and mistletoe (mistletoe grows on oak trees).

Reid is wearing a kilt with a custom tartan. Kilts are hard to draw! They’re sexy, though. While researching Scottish clothing, I learned that they didn’t necessarily go commando, they would have shirts with long tails that they would tie underneath (like a onesie, I guess?). Also they either didn’t wear shoes, or they wore shoes of rawhide that were disposable after they wore out – also stinky, though.

I have been informed by at least one recipient of the digital card that the kilt is too short, and ought not to show his knees like that. I was too focused on making sure he had nice legs to double-check the proper kilt length, so that’s my bad, haha.

Leather Jacket

Drew a picture of Modern!Reid. You can’t see his sweet dragon tattoo with the jacket on, but the jacket is sexy.

Every incarnation, this guy gets sweeter and mellower:
– Murlesson was an abused ex-slave who would feel bad about murdering innocents but would do it without blinking if it got him what he needed; he’s dour and grouchy and angsty and blackly sarcastic and kind to the unfortunate but only if he can pretend he’s not. Addicted to unhealthy lifestyles (poor sleep schedule, poor diet, always on the holonet).
-DnD!Reid was a street-rat orphan who wouldn’t kill anyone unless they hurt him first, or threatened someone he cares about; he’s unfriendly and closed off and ruthlessly sarcastic, though he’s very kind to children when no one’s looking. Lives an unhealthy lifestyle with poor sleep and diet because he has few options.
-DA2!Reid is not an orphan, though he kills a lot of people because of the nature of DA2; he’s quite cheerful, openly kind, and sassily sarcastic (and also the only one without a Scottish accent). Had a broody teen phase. Gets decent sleep and a pretty good diet.
-Modern!Reid is not an orphan, and isn’t interested in killing anyone, unless it’s with how awesome he can shred a bass guitar; he’s also cheerful and kind and sassy. Spends too much time on Reddit. Had a broody rebellious teen phase. Maybe not the best sleep or diet but has the option to change that.

But they’re all charismatic lanky redheads with amber eyes and facial markings, a passion for history, and an affinity for electricity. Voracious, highly-educated readers.

The Devourer’s Claw

Raïsa, the Dragoon of Death, who is the Claw of the Devourer as Reid is the Eye of the Devourer. She’s not normally so covered in fire, so she must be really pissed about something. I just wanted to paint her with maximum sparkly drama. She wields a rapier of pure shadow, and the raven skull on her chestplate is actually part of a necklace she wears when out of dragoon form.

The DM specifically requested I paint this major NPC, and he’s really happy with the picture. Heavily influenced by Rose from Legend of Dragoon (especially head and boots), but with other visual inspirations as well – Dark Souls for the torso armour, Kerrigan for the arms, and I forget what else I stole from.

Dark Dragoon of Ruin

Behold, the Dark Dragoon, the One Who Has Gone Super-Saiyan In An Edgy Way.

This is what happened to my character last couple sessions: due to drama overload, his patron finally took control of his orb artifact, which turned out not to be a plain gemstone but actually an eyeball, lodged it in his forehead, and gave him some temporary upgrades to fight the boss on better terms (I don’t know exactly what they are, because the DM hasn’t worked it out yet, I just know it’s going to be once per day) (also he didn’t get wings on the first transform, that’s going to come after the upcoming training montage). While Reid’s angry and frightened at having some of his agency taken from him, by a mysterious unknown entity, he’s not exactly loathe to have this new power at his disposal. Especially after they went to go find the witch-who-knows-things in the swamp, and she explained that they share a master, a cosmic manifestation of The End of All Things called The Devourer (among many many other titles, that one’s just my favourite). Reid recklessly accepts her offer of training as he’s already permanently bound to this patron, and it would be foolish not to know how to use it. Just have to push away the nagging voice that asks if he’s one of the bad guys now.

The title is what Raïsa called him as she flew in to save the day. It’s cheesy AF and I love it. Continue reading