Ecchi013-Lady Elly (Patreon)

Our Lady Elehayym, hallowed be thy name.

This started as a small portrait sketch of Elly from Xenogears, but before I knew it, I was painting, refining, and experimenting with it for days. It was only meant as a sketch, but I couldn't abandon Elly. Eventually, ideas and Photoshop layers continued stacking until it turned into the image you see here.

Though unintended, the more time I spent on her, the more the composition felt like religious iconography. Hitting the character wiki revealed a convoluted psycho-religious-sci-fi backstory that could have only come from the late 1990s Japan, post-Eva's ascendency. In this story, Elly is… (I tried writing a adequate summary for two hours and gave up)… let's just say she has a complicated backstory, steeped in a mishmash of religious names, terms, and symbols. In brief, if you (a boy) ever meet God, this entity will look into your soul, and if you're lucky, it'll gift you an Elly as motherly girlfriend waifu, and you'll both eternally reincarnate until you manage to hook up... and kill a biological supercomputer. Cool, right? That's Xenogears.

You can check my homework here: https://xenosaga.fandom.com/wiki/Elehayym_Van_Houten

All of this is to say that the impulse to treat Elly like a saint may have been more on the mark than I initially understood. Perhaps it was the will of the Wave Entity, or maybe I just thought Elly was extremely hot and wanted to try drawing her again after someone suggested it. Either way, revere her.

My connection?

(Load up Xenogears - Small Two Pieces on YouTube in another browser tab for full effect)

I was a teen, in love with all things Square back when Xenogears was released. I saw the Intro FMV clip and immediately fell in love. However, as it later turned out, my love for the game was fickle and contingent. My play session permanently ended in frustration when the game demanded precise 3d platforming with slippery 2d sprites. At that point in my troubled life, I think I was 18, it was too much with everything else going on.

The little I eventually learned about the game's story came from Mina (maybe you know of her), who likewise washed out, but nearer the beginning of the second disc. The Xeno series curse continues today, as I have most of the games on the Switch, but never actually play them.

Although these games can't hold my attention, my appreciation for the Xeno character designs still holds. Decades ago, I somehow picked up the Xenogears Perfect Works game bible at either a convention or an online store, and still have it on my shelf. The designs are so well realized, so solid, so stylishly anime sci-fi, with such compassionate eyes. They're an interesting mix of elements. You can feel the style's lineage resonating and evolving all through the subsequent Xeno-games, right up to Pyra and Mythra and beyond.

Okay, enough of my old gamer man reminiscing.

The cast-offs of Elly will be in the Monthly Pack™

Thank you for your patience and support while I meander. Onto Samus.