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.

Devil’s Due: Part 32: Battle of Wits

This one took a while… not only was the actual writing complicated and challenging (and I went for a round of beta-reading just to be sure it makes sense, which was the best idea), I had been working on my Halloween cosplay and playing the other four SWTOR routes that I didn’t play when I first tried the game five years ago. I’m pleasantly surprised, they were all pretty enjoyable. Warrior is still my favourite overall, but Bounty Hunter is up there with Smuggler for entertainment value. Meanwhile, I had to restart Agent three times in Act 1 though until I found a set of decisions that I was happy with. It’s just really not comfortable playing a hardcore KGB officer, you know? And it’s much more fun if you put on the Ghost in the Shell OST. Anyway, my personal tier list is probably: Consular < Trooper/Knight < Agent/Inquisitor < Bounty Hunter/Smuggler < Warrior.

That being said, I need a break from the game and its terrible awful no-fun gameplay. I do want to ask if it would be worth getting into… the entire rest of SWTOR, as I vaguely remember playing Ilum once four years ago and that’s as far as I’ve gone. And if it’s possible while still maintaining my stance of boycotting EA financially. But it’s going to be a while before I feel like slogging through more terrible boring pointless mob-infested maps, so don’t expect any sequels in the near future even if I do decide to play more. XD Continue reading

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.

Devil’s Due: Part 31: How to Start a War

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH It’s been a literal year and a half since I last wrote this, so terrifying has this last story arc been. I will admit to being distracted by other things – work, GW2, DnD – but also just… how to follow up on Kel Reu Giri?? How to follow up on literally punching ghosts in the face?? So I put it off.

Then I started feeling last month like “hey, you should pick that up again” and I was like “maybe in September, after I finish my Rinala cosplay” and my feelings were like “no you should do it now” so I re-read the fic twice (once to read it, once to correct a whole bunch of embarrassing typos and adjust small scenes that I thought weak) and played the Corellia arc of the game. (And I’m working on the other four storylines that I didn’t play before. Man, Consular is boring.) Continue reading

Where the Heart Is

The other fic that’s been flopping around my skull since Carmen Sandiego Season 4 came out on Netflix. I liked the ending, but my shipper heart couldn’t decide if I liked Carmen/Gray or Carmen/Julia more. So, in the spirit of ProZD solving anime, here is a bisexual Carmen polyamory fic. And I fully acknowledge that should they come out with more show or spin-offs, this will almost 100% be non-canon, but eh, it’s just for fun.

I did the bare minimum of research for this fic; all my research juice is going towards Reid’s stories (currently agonizing over whether he wears shoes on a regular basis or not, and even more about socks). Also literally nothing happens except talking, because this is entirely self-indulgent low-effort fluff. Huzzah!

 

Where the Heart Is

Chapter 1: Gray

The bells on the door of the convenience store jangled as the slightly stocky young man pushed in casually, hands in pockets. He strolled over to the pop, then to the ice cream, then turned around and nearly bumped into the young woman with the red hoodie absent-mindedly browsing behind him. “Whoops, sorry- Carmen!?Continue reading

Reason to Live

My old Shakarian fic was feeling a bit outdated, a bit juvenile, especially considering I never actually bothered to title it… So after playing the trilogy again earlier this year, I felt the urge to write a new one. I don’t feel it quite gets across how fascinating turians are, how the whole idea of ‘alien’ is alluring (Mass Effect does not really do a great job of expressing alien cultures in a culturally alien way, though I will grant that’s not the point of a swashbuckling space adventure), but it certainly feels a bit more in-character than the old one to me.

It doesn’t have every bit of detail in, as it’s only really supposed to replace the whole “reach and flexibility” conversation and still leave space for the “interspecies awkwardness thing” conversations that come after.

 

Reason to Live

Shepard took a moment to sigh to herself before she reached out and tapped on the Normandy’s main battery door. It had been an intense day, and she still wasn’t sure if she’d given him enough time to sort through it all. Continue reading

Professor Minke Nagel

Professor Minke Nagel is a professor of History at the University of Kinleith. Her father’s father was a human from Waterstraeten (hence her Dutch names) and her mother’s father is an elf from the north of Tyriodh (hence her pointy ears). At work, she wears university robes, which used to draw some attention as there weren’t any other beautiful young-looking women with tenure (and those robes are supposed to be masculine) but most people have gotten used to it after 30 years (she’s 75).

She’s annoyingly optimistic and energetic, and while she can act prim and proper when necessary, she has a devious streak and a knack for getting around rules in her way. Most at the university are very friendly with her, as she is with them… except maybe for those who like rules more than teaching.

At this point she’s recently wrangled a lanky, suspicious redhead (who can pack away a surprising amount of food surprisingly quickly) into studying history, not officially under her tutelage, but if he’s reading nearby while she’s marking papers, there’s no harm in him asking questions, right? ; )

Tragically, she died a bit more than a year after this, which is why her theme song as regards Reid’s journey is Hold On To Memories.

Inspiration was drawn from Henrietta from Log Horizon.

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