I’m Ripley, a digital illustrator with a specialization in character art and concept development. I also write, make comics, and occasionally (digitally) paint things. I’ve been making art and telling stories for a decade now!
My pronouns are he/they :)
I like magic, sci-fi, chosen family dynamics, painting clouds, and sketching flowers (and armor). I’m also a big fan of the outdoors, and enjoying running and hiking. This love for nature often bleeds into my storytelling!
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Projects
Currently I'm splitting where I host my projects between the official Broken Dimensions website and my Patreon page, the latter of which is mostlt free to access if you just become a free member of the page.
I have multiple ongoing projects, all of which take place in the same universe. That universe is called Broken Dimensions, and is considered a complex sci-fi fantasy setting.
FRACTAL ALLIANCES - a multimedia sci-fi fantasy anthology which follows the slow decline of an empire, the machinations of several powerful antagonists, and the relationships between the people who eventually bring about the downfall of both. Includes:
Small, short comics
Character-focused illustrations
Written fiction
Most of the main cast is queer, and the majority of what’s been written (though not yet shared) is queer romance and smut. (I wish I was joking lmao; I have the majority of the big “finale” of the series written and it’s almost 200k words. I have written probably twice that count in extraneous smut side-stories ✌️✨)
THE LYCANTHRA SYNDICATE - a (might-still-become-a) webcomic about a not-quite-crime syndicate fighting to keep their town safe from mind-controlling arcane orders of evil ghost-creatures. Features an established patchwork/found family, trans werewolves, robots with souls, and some sick magic duels. (Also: pretty much every member of the main cast is trans or otherwise deviates from prescribed gender norms… if that at all interests you.)
WORLDBUILDING - I also have just a BUNCH of worldbuilding things shoved onto my Patreon lol, and the basics are available on my project website!
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OTHER NOTES
Why "Artistic Menace?"
I had a discussion recently about my branding/chosen internet handle, so I thought I’d why I chose such a "troublesome" name. IRL, I'm genuinely not much of a troublemaker (in fact, I was a goody-two-shoes kid with perfectionism and anxiety growing up, and if I did something wrong I cried). However I am... shall we say... "of a certain troublesome experience."
That is to say, I'm a messy, creative queer who left a strict religious sect and lives a socially different life from most in my small rural community. Ergo, a bit of a menace, really ;D
The name is also an allusion to my persona character, a chaotic "Watcher" type who is literally called The Menace. (I'll link the post about that once I finally make it, promise.)
On Politics
I am a political person. I was raised to be always aware of current events, and it gives me something to research. I endeavor to try to keep up with current events. My experience as a trans person is considered inherently political by millions of people and in 2026 is being legislated constantly without regard for my needs or health as a trans individual. I am constantly reading and sometimes involved in politics.
That said: this is not a political blog, unless we’re talking fiction. Please keep real-world political opinions and comments off this blog unless you have a good, genuine reason to bring them up. (Side note: if you’d like to know if certain features of the story are related to current or historical events, that’s fine and you’re perfectly welcome to ask.) Thank you!
Where else can you find me?
...on Bluesky!
...on Patreon!
...on INPRNT!
...on Instagram... (ew)
Also, you can buy prints of my work on INPRNT, listed above, but you can ALSO buy pride merch and little things (stickers, bags, some shirts) from my Redbubble! I have lots of cute cat stickers up there now, and a growing selection of pride-related merch! :)
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I am currently NOT open for commission due to my real-world job being far too demanding for me to manage that sort of side hustle. If you would like to discuss something more professional, like a contract or job offer…. Why are you on Tumblr?
Lol, but actually: Please contact me directly for my professional portfolio!
god, the last month has just been... blah. between covering for people on vacations, my own personal crisis, the weather, and some stress from issues with my car and my bike, it's just been a lot.
there hasn't been any finished artwork in a bit, and that's why. too much stress to really focus in on anything and finish it, unfortunately :(
on the bright side, I tend to still be able to write while I'm struggling (until I get real tired, which is the point I'm at now), so there is some new stuff up on AO3!
collection of Fractal Alliances snapshots
FA "meet the cast" (AO3 edition)
the (partly finished, somewhat kinky) collection of Fin and Ev's pivotal sexual experiences with each other
I'm debating whether or not I should translate some of the Patreon worldbuilding posts over onto AO3 and Tumblr... but that's not something I want to think about at almost 10pm on a Thursday night because I'm tired and my editor brain isn't on-shift. so, we'll see what comes of that idea.
god, the last month has just been... blah. between covering for people on vacations, my own personal crisis, the weather, and some stress from issues with my car and my bike, it's just been a lot.
there hasn't been any finished artwork in a bit, and that's why. too much stress to really focus in on anything and finish it, unfortunately :(
Oh come on, did you really think I wasn't going to put a spiel about Fin's silbings below the cut? Shame. Anyway, Fin has five dead siblings:
The oldest, Fenris, was born before the Darekaeiin Cataclysm (aka when his parents still had hope) and dies in combat in the aftermath of that same cataclysm. Adira targets him specifically and makes sure he's killed in front of his and Fin's parents, Syne and Viridian. He waas 200 years old when he died, and hadn't taken the same quasi-immortality spell his parents and aunt had.
Keral was born shortly after the cataclysm and grew up (to an extent) with Fenris, and always had him to look up to. He also dies in combat though, in a different series of conflicts related to Adira and what would become the Citadel of Stars. He takes on the aforementioned spell, but dies when he's around 500 years old.
Sela and Lyriel are twin sisters born some 300 years after Keral. They never met Fenris, and only knew Keral from a distance. One dies in a duel around her 400th birthday, and the other dies challenging a member of Adira's inner circle personally, and she sees to it that she dies.
Verhan was intended to be Syne's last child. She died shortly after birth from complications and a genetic defect they missed during prenatal care (and hers is the tiniest pillar shown up above). The public never knew about her.
Fun fact: Fin looks the most like Fenris, to the point that when Viridian's other siblings meet him for the first time, they each do a double take and panic a little. (Ciar actually mistakes him for Fenris and makes the unfortunate mistake of asking Viridian if that's him.)
Fenris, Keral, and Sela all married and had children, so Fin does have some distant cousin-descendants around... but he doesn't learn that until he's nearly 100 years old himself. His parents keep the history of their family secret even from him, and even though Syne intended to tell him all about his siblings when he reached official Tartarun adulthood (age 25), she didn't come back for long enough to do so until it was too late. Viridian could hardly talk about his other children due to a funny little curse Adira put on him, so he couldn't broach the subject alone either.
Understandably, Fin is... quite pissed that he had siblings he was never told about. He finds out all about them on his own while he's in seclusion following the War of Worlds, and it breaks his heart. It also turns him more against his parents which, honestly, they deserve for this one.
So yeah. About his siblings: they all died horrible, painful deaths (except for Verhan; I imagine she passed painlessly in a hospital, and might never have felt pain at all).
(This is also around the time Fin finds out more about the aforementioned "immortality" spell and his family's tragic history with it (on both sides). He also learns why his parents had him follow a specific series of maturation rituals relating to his ability to use Hellfire, which relates directly to the reformed Tritaran moral system and the deaths of his siblings. So yeah, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN NICE TO KNOW THEY EXISTED!!)
...so have fun sitting with that knowledge, folks!
also don't worry, Fin eventually gets some happy times out at this place. He takes Ev and Talis out there once before Star-Delta... um. You know. And he takes his ven'ardorres (Talkian word for "friend-siblings" or people you've adopted (formally or otherwise) as your surrogate siblings) out there often, and late (again) Ev. Plus, he does have multiple surrogate siblings who share his grief with him. It's not all bad!
sometimes I get ideas for animatics I'll never make while I'm driving and listening to music, and on my way to hike some trails yesterday I got a fun one:
“Praying” by Ke$ha
Fin calls up Herei after his sentencing and conviction, while he’s still in prison for treason, and goes off at him. Starts off calm, blows up at the end.
Essentially tells Herei “FUCK YOU, FUCK WHAT YOU DID TO ME, FUCK WHAT YOU DID IN MY NAME” and washes his hands of his former best friend and second-in-command.
“Your actions led to the deaths of thousands across worlds at the hands of the Phantasman Hivemind, Lordé, and you did it to protect me, which I never asked for! I didn’t need that kind of protection from you! I didn’t need you to make deals with evil incarnate to ‘keep him at bay,’ I needed you to be honest with me and prioritize saving the lives of everyone under our protection! I need you to do what was right!”
Then, a couple years later, Syne and Viridian come back and Fin gets his chance to yell at both of them again.
Syne is pretending everything’s fine, that she’s just concerned about her son after the War of Worlds and losing his fiancé, and he emphatically tells her that everything is NOT “fine!” He’s not fine, the worlds are not fine, and their relationship as mother and son? Nowhere near “fine.”
Fin expresses just how disappointed and pissed off he is that neither of his parents could both to show up during the WoW to even say something in support of the war effort against Phantasma. They didn’t check in, they basically showed they didn’t care. For all he knew, they had died fighting or been absorbed into the Hive!
He’s also VERY pissed still that his mother abandoned him to the throne and ran away. She’s never apologized for how poorly she set him up for the crowns, and for abandoning not just him, but her province and the dimension at large.
Syne was the oldest monarch in Tartarus. She had wisdom and experience that often outweighed her temper and outdated vocabulary. She was needed and she left.
He goes off at Viridian too, because he’s only been placating her this whole time, trying to keep peace between her and Fin instead of trying to be proactive and repair even his own relationship with Fin.
A”t least he tried!” Fin points out.
He even goes off about how they hid his siblings from him, how he had to dig into layers upon layers of Talkian history to find even footnotes about his siblings because his parents buried them to forget their grief—even in the pocket dimension, their own home!
He cries a little when he yells at them for not telling him about their graves, the memorial on the highest ridge, their crests and names.
And, even later, Fin sits at Ev’s side as they drink together, and he says sometimes he prays for the two of them. That some things only gods can forgive—“But Ev, Tartarun gods don’t forgive easy either. They fight for us, for justice, for what’s right. Even our gods wouldn’t forgive what’s been done to you, so neither will I.”
Wide shot of: a billboard-sized screen depicting another Imperial propaganda video. Then switch to: Ev and Fin sitting in the dark of a high rise in Vadetta Heights, two impact boards behind them filled with knives, pictures of Herei, the Council, and various individual sigils pinned beneath them.
Featuring: Fin’s glowing white eyes, magic armor details, lots of fire magic.
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I don't normally post these, but maybe I should? Someday maybe I'll even do thumbnails or a color board for the animatic-that-shall-never-be (lol)
You know this moment, don't ya?
And time is strangely calm now
'Cause everybody's gone, it's
Just you and your anger
...
You really left me on the line, kid
Holding all your baggage
You know I'm not your father brother
...
Oh, golden boy, you shined a light on your home
And at your best you were magic, we were sold
But don't tell 'em what you told me
Don't even tell 'em that you know me
I would rather burn forever
But you should know that I died slow
Running through the halls of your haunted home
And the toughest part is that we both know
What happened to you
Why you're out on your own
Merry Christmas, please don't call
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When I made this it was supposed to be a sketch about how Fin has been traumatized by war and loss and simultaneously rewarded for his suffering with political niceties and social laurels, but it kind of turned into a thing about Shire. Especially after I added the spear and sword, both affiliated with Shire Paloran's various eras and lore.
Shire is... a lot of things to the main cast of Fractal Alliances. A little brother, a protege, a student, a friend, a lover... a stalker, a scourge, a twisted pawn of his mother's making... His death, therefore, ends up meaning a lot of different things to each of them simultaneously.
Markis Sparkes, Ev, and Fin kind of get the worst of it, I think. Markis and Shire were best friends (and sometimes more), and Markis saw Shire's descent into wrath and paranoia first-hand. He was also Shire's prisoner of war for a time...? So when he's killed in combat, it's both a relief to Markis and one of the saddest events of his life.
Thelia struggles too, but once he went off the deep end politically, she kind of washed her hands of him. To her, his death wasn't as hard-hitting.
For Fin, Shire was kind of like his personal political protege. Shire had showed a lot of interest in other cultures when he was younger, and Fin was more than happy to share his, so they bonded over that and stuck together for years as a result. As they got older, they found more common interests in sword fighting, architecture, and the ever-evolving strategy of war in Era 10. Then, in the late nineties, Shire tried to start something with Fin romantically, which he immediately shut down (ew, little brother figure, gross)... but Shire never really took his solid "no" for what it was.
That interest turned to obsession, and when Fin and Ev got serious, Shire was the first to know. He was also the first to know when they "broke up" in 2015, and his behavior changed to become more pressured and evocative. By the time Shire dies, Fin is desperate to save what's left of that old friend, and simultaneously relieved to not have to deal with this darker, hungrier, twisted version of Shire that he grew into.
For Ev, Shire was their and Talis's little shadow for the longest time, and Ev saw him that way perpetually. They loved his tenacity, his devotion to his people, his overall intelligence regarding politics and the struggles of their two worlds... Ev loved the kid, but they saw earlier than most of their friend group the path he was going down. They knew better than most the way killing a parental figure (or someone else you treated with similar respect) reflected on one's personality. Ev saw that shift and knew exactly what kind of lies Shire was telling, and had a good hunch as to why, as soon as he told them from that point onward. They saw his descent from a different angle than Markis, but it had no less impact on them.
And, of course, they kill Shire right in front of Fin, who was about to meet his own grisly end at the end of Shire's cursed, magic-amplified spear.
So that fucks everything up for all of them. Like, a lot.
Anyway, that's... sort of what this doodle became a reference to. I usually associate "Merry Christmas, Please Don't Call" with Anakin Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi (non-romantically), but it's going in my playlist for Shire now too.
Fake it 'til you make it
Mask on, never take it off
Wear it 'til wearing it feels natural
Whatever you tell yourself it's not true
Smash your competition, baby
Show us some good entertainment
Victory's your only payment
Gladiator, gladiator…
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yeah, you're in it now Ev. sorry pal, the plot demands that you be forced into submission in the most brutal way possible. no, it's no in a fun way. yeah no, even the guy subjugating you just thinks its kind of funny, the only satisfaction he gets is from the way he gains more power every time he uses you. yeah, that does mean you're a weapon with no ownership over your own self or destiny. sorry man.
…now NATHAN, on the other hand, is having the time of his motherfuckin' life.
FA will probably NEVER be a full-fledged comic because it’s so long 😭 Parts of it maybe, but not the whole thing. Little Golden Age is a subsection of the outline I happened to name, and it literally takes place over 20 years lol.
regardless, this little reference-sketch turned illustration was very fun! I've been testing out some different methods of coloring in combination with my usual gradient mapping fuckery, and this was one of the successes.
