Why did she choose to do this? What does the tattoo look like? How well does it match up against Vyxen the character in EQII? We were able to ask these questions and more!
Inspiration, Creation, and Planning
"When I created Vyxen, the Fury, I didn't have the tattoo in mind." Nyssah replied when asked about the relation between the tattoo and her character. What was the appeal of a Fae to Nyssah? "I've always been a huge fan of Fae / Fairy lore and art. I also LOVE butterflies. So the Fae was like perfect for me, her wings look a lot like a butterfly."Of course, there is a bit of a difference between liking Fae's and butterflies to the point that you play one in a video game, and having a Fae tattoo designed based on that game character. "I started thinking about getting a new tattoo around November last year, but couldn't decide what it was that I wanted. After playing my Fae seemingly nonstop, and falling in love with the race, I decided I wanted to get her tattooed on me in mid-January."
So how does one get a video game character transferred from the pixels on the screen to ink on the body? "I took a picture of my Fae on disc… and had it printed out on glossy paper. I took that photo to the tattoo artist and talked with him for a while to describe exactly how I wanted her to look and how big I wanted her to be." Nyssah explained, "It took him about two days to draw a sketch up and change a few minor details (actually adding a little more detail than the picture had)."
With the tattoo being fairly complex, and coming from a video game, we asked Nyssah how the artist responded to the idea. "As soon as he saw the photo of the Fae he asked which game it was from. He plays MMO's himself, but never tried EverQuest 2. I told him all about her, how I created her, what class she was, and what level she was." Nyssah explained, "I answered a ton of other questions he had about the game. He said he had heard a lot about the game, but had never tried it himself. He thought it was really awesome that I was getting it done and he thought it was a really brave and creative idea. He had some ideas to add a little bit more detail to make her look a little more 'girlie' like adding the ballerina shoes instead of having bare feet."
"The tattoo itself took almost five hours to get done from start to finish." Nyssah continued, "He (the tattoo artist) took lots of pictures of the tattoo when it was finished to put in his portfolio and display at the tattoo shop. He was excited about doing the tattoo; he had never done one quite like this before."
Reactions to the Finished Art
When you get a tattoo like this done, it's definitely something you want to share with your friends in game. "EQ2 Players have loved it so far. I've shown the pic to many people and it's also posted in the RL Pic thread for the Unrest Forums. Everyone says the tattoo looks JUST like the character it was based on and think the idea is totally awesome." Nyssah beamed, "Lots of people say I'm brave for getting it done. My guildmates from the Legion of the Damned LOVED the idea when I first started talking about getting it done."What about the non-gamers though? Many people are fans of tattoos, but it's not very common to get video game related work done. "At first glance, most people don't realize it comes from a game, but I always explain because people comment on how beautiful she is and ask where I got the idea." Nyssah noted, "Once I explain, I sometimes get raised eyebrows and odd looks. Mostly I get a lot of compliments and called a dedicated gamer girl (woohoo!!). I went to a tattoo convention in Philly in the beginning of February and she was a HUGE hit, not to mention a great advertisement for the game! I think I sent like three or four people out to buy the game right after the convention!"
More important than any external reaction, is a persons own satisfaction with their own tattoos, "I love everything about it." Nyssah exclaimed "Mostly that it looks so much like my Fury that I love so much. I have three other level 70 characters, but my Fae quickly became my favorite. I love playing her because she's fun to look at and watch, and also because I think the Fury is an awesome class. I love the racial abilities and everything about the Fae. I honestly can't think of anything that I don't like about the race." She continued, "For me, the tattoo reflects all of that. I'm proud to tell everyone I meet all about it, it makes me smile. I'm a true dorky gamer woman, and proud!"
"I've actually been contemplating getting another Fae tattoo." Nyssah added, "I designed a Fae Monk with that thought specifically in mind. I was trying to make her look a little more like a Goth Fae. I'm considering doing her as a back piece, with her wings spanning across my shoulder blades. It's still in the thought process phase at this point."
The Questions You Really Want Answered!
In the course of the interview, we were also able to obtain some answers to very important questions:- Cake or Pie?
"Since cookies aren't an option.. definitely soft, moist cake! With lots of butter cream icing! Omgz, stop it, you're making me hungry!!" - Pirate, Ninja, or Robot-Zombie?
" P I R A T E!!! Specifically, Pirate Monkies!! (I actually had a guild on Vox PVP named Pirate Monkies before I left the server to return to Unrest, my original home before PVP.)"