#did a small redesign for them

[lunar-orca]

human enas again

[bluejulius]

mad at him in every universe 🤠 🐴

[petara2010-art]

And here i am with a sonadow fankid da da da dam ☆

(i SWEAR i got comic ideas for all the fankids, im just always doing smth else or losing motivation to actually start one :,) )

☆ Fun fact: Sonic wanted to name her Via ('cause "thats such a cool n short name") but Shadow liked Violetta (Violet) more (beacuse "that seems a lot more fitting and is more beautyfull" in his perspective) so now they call her both differently yeye

[ghoul--doodle]

Me when I lie I guess-! I did quick doodles of 3 of my old characters

[brodudemanbroski]

i am alive btw. just gonna drop off this random arcee design i made yesterday.

[click.tap for better quality]

[glitzybunny]

Tempted to do redesigns for fun, but for what im not explaining NSNANXN

[tinseltina]

i wish olympus overdrive could've been the webcomic that got a huge following a physical publication and a netflix series instead of lo/re oly/mpus.

[whereserpentswalk]

Reblog to receive your transformation, look under the cut to find out what it feels like to transform.

Vampire: You can feel it, slowly changing you since you were first bitten by that creature. You felt stronger at first, not needing to eat, not needing to sleep. It was like the burdens of a human form were lifted from you. The only thing you needed was to drink blood, which isn't that hard to come by. Then the physical transformations began, your body becoming slenderer and more androgynous, until soon you barely are recognizable. One day you wake up and your eyes are pure black, slowly your mouth grows sharp teeth, and special joints and seams in your flesh that allow you to open it into a massive mess of fangs and teeth but close it back up into something humanoid if you want it to. As the last of your humanity goes away, your sex characteristics and body hair entirely disappears, leaving you feeling wonderfully smooth. Perhaps in the past this body would be disturbing to you, you barely look like yourself, but now, looking at yourself and feeling so much more confident, this just feels like you, like what you are meant to be.

Incorporeal: You've lost yourself. You can't feel anything. No skin, no blood, no organs. You can only really sense the vague nature of the room your spirit is inhabiting. If you want to move you just think of yourself as going to that location, and if you want to pick something up you just think of yourself as lifting it. Even your appearance is no more than a sort of hologram, able to be changed at but a thought. You feel strangely comfortable this way. Nothing can hurt you now. It takes a bit of time, you have to focus on how you look a bit to look in a way that feels really you, but it eventually feels way more like you then anything in your old body did. It's weird, your old form just felt like a vessel that you needed, but in leaving it you feel entirely free, like you just don't need that type of body anymore. You look at your old body, lying dead upon the floor, and you can't help but know that that just isn't you anymore.

Lycanthrope: It was slow harnessing the changes. The werewolf who bit you didn't tell you much when she passed on her curse. It's something you can work will, you slowly figured out how to harness small changes, modular yet more modular as time passes on. You can just give yourself the eyes, or ears, or teeth, or feet, if you need to by now. Decide exactly what is wolf and what is human. It's more normal not that you realize how fluid your body is, that every part is just a single state that part can be in and not it's permanent fate. You can choose how much of a wolf you are at any time and that's fine and normal now. And sometimes you like fully being a wolf, like how it feels to run on all fours, how it feels to taste meat freshly on your teeth, how it feels to howl at the moon. You also like being a full human at other times, especially now that that doesn't constrain you anymore. Most of the time you're just something else though. Most of the time you're just you, not wolf or human but something your own.

Cyborg: You can feel parts of your body being cut away. You don't know why but it doesn't bother you as much as you thought it would. Your legs being painlessly sliced off, those legs that hurt when you walked on them. You can feel your torso having it's organs slowly drained out of it, no more stomach pain as you have no more stomach, no more shortness of breath as your lungs become medical waste. Your fat and muscles and bone are cut from your body, leaving your body type null. A mask of sorts is closed over your skull as the skin of your face, a face you were once stuck with for your entire life, is finally taken away. And in your discarded body parts place new mechanical parts are added, and these parts are finally your own, you picked out the designs, you control exactly how they look, the art style that your new body will be drawn in, the form your form will be able to take. And if there's anything you dislike, it can always be replaced, you can't be trapped in your body anymore, and you can't be hurt by it now.

Melted: You can feel your new form, slowly writhing like the slimes you felt before did. You have no distinct parts, no bones, no limbs, no organs. All you have is the form. It feels weird, you see and feel so much differently now it can barely feel like seeing or feeling at all. It's like playing with goo in your hands, but you don't have hands anymore. Slowly but surely, you sculpt yourself a new appearance, allowing your body to be something to thrive in instead of just something to survive within. You can't control your color but everything else is up to you. It's like sculpting, even limbs and heads and eyes are all metaphors when it comes to this new universal substance that is your form. You're not sure how others will see you when you're something so strange, but you like what this means for yourself, at least for now.

Flight: Your arms have slowly been stretched out, each of your fingers longer than your entire arm once was on both hands, and this strange tight skin between them. Your body is strong in some places, but weirdly skinny in others, it all feels so different, so new. Your feet have been changed to work more like hands, now that your arms can't be used to grasp, and walking is no longer as much of a requirement for you. You feel weird, like everything is there, but it's hard to see how it all fits together. Still, now that you do get to fly it's wonderful, seeing the ground below you, seeing the sky above you, feeling so free while you're completely in the air, seeing how impressed everyone is looking at you doing that. Maybe it was worth it. Despite how much it takes getting used to you don't dislike how any of it feels, and despite what some people might think of it, it feels so nice to be able to just go through the air like that without anything restraining you anymore. You wouldn't go back at the very least.

Mind upload: You can't feel anything. But you can see, the image of what you'd expect a computer monitor to display take up the totality of your vision. You can't feel a mouse or keyboard or anything, but you can move the cursor as much as you once could move limbs. If you hadn't asked for this it would seem like the worst of punishments, but this was your desire. You can look at any website you want, and no longer do you have to worry about time, about food, about sleep. You can contact anyone online just as you once did, without any breaks. The mortal world is no longer your worry.

Limbs become longer: You know you won't be like the other giants; you'll be somewhat in-between, you're not sure if you are thankful of that fact or not. It's a lot to deal with either way. You can feel you skin and bone stretching oddly, your arms and legs doubling then tripling in their length. It hurts but you can think of all the ways you won't be human anymore. You won't fit into most spaces; you'll need certain accommodations. But you still want this despite everything that it implies. It feels strange when your torso changes, with your limbs it's just bone that's moving, but with this you can feel your organs extending and changing. Too late to change things now. You wonder how people will see you? Will they be scared? Maybe that's what you want from them now?

Pyromancy: You can feel the burning inside you now. Even when you don't focus on it in any way it's in you, your warmth, your blood always hot, the feeling with every breath that you could shoot out fire. Other people with powers need to learn how to extend them to be actually useful, not you, you had to learn how to keep yours under control. It just feels right, to be able to use fire, to feel the fire as part of your body whenever you pass by any. You find yourself fidgeting with it easily, letting the fire move alongside you, because it's just so natural. You'll light up a bit in your hands, or around your face, in the middle of conversation. It doesn't burn you anymore, it feels good, it feels better than almost anything else you've felt in your life to feel fire on your body now. A few people are afraid, but you try to keep yourself calm. Even so, it feels so good to let it burst out of you, to shoot balls of fire into the air, or breath it from your mouth, it's hard to go a long time without doing something like that. It's not just something you have but it's part of you, it's part of you that was always meant to be there perhaps.

Frog: You slowly feel yourself shrink down. It dawns on you that you're going to change a lot. But you've said your last goodbyes to your humanity either way. You can feel your hair and teeth falling out, your bones reshaping and getting smaller and more delicate. Your biology completely changing. It's a lot to get used to and it all happens within a few seconds. For a moment you're worried you'll lose your human mind, but it just doesn't happen, mentally, emotionally, you're entirely the same as you always were. But you don't have to worry about human things anymore. Frogs don't have to work jobs, or pay taxes, or pay rent, you're allowed to finally just be. When you choose to go naked, and walk on all fours, you don't even have to let on that you're human at all anymore. You can exist in peace as long as you exist and forgo the responsibility of human things unless you choose to want them.

Demon: You feel the last of your human blood get replaced with the blood of that creature. It hurts for a moment, but then you stop feeling such pain, you feel a tyle of prowess you haven't felt before. Your eyes glow, you can just feel that they glow now. Your human form begins to change, perfectly growing into your ideal body type and look, and everything feels so right. And then things go beyond just that human form. Horns grow from your head, and your teeth grow sharp, you can always feel them, even when you aren't paying attention, and it makes you feel so very cool. Your reproductive organs are replaced with a neck and head of a serpent, completely genderless, but more able to feel pleasure somehow. Wings grow on your back, and you flex them, feeling the strangeness and wonder of having new limbs and joints. You grow a scorpion like tail from the base of your spine, that equally feels so strange and wonderful and new to move. You can shapeshift back into any human form when you need to, you can even effect what people do and don't recognize as your old self, but this form, your truly demonic form, that's what truly feels like it's you.

Murder: you can kill now. No description needed.

[chow0w]

sundew pretty please i just love your style sm

Of course! here's my take:

@ardienothesieno , @natureforlife , and @buonsai also requested this redesign and here it is!

I wanted Sundew's design to mirror the plant she's named after, by adding more orange-pink tones into her design and including these little webbed dots that reminded me of sundew droplets.

As for the rest of her colors, I tried to stay true to her original design as much as possible through the use of dark green shades and gold markings. Of course, I did end up putting a spin on things when it came to her limbs - mostly because I needed to balance the overall colors in the design. I added some red polka dots to mimic the sundew plant again, as well as changing her web/under eye color to be more orange-red. As for her wings, I honestly wasn't really sure what to do since sundew plants don't have a leafwing shape at all. I kind of just mimicked a leaf pattern in orange to keep it consistent, adding small green veins in the wing membrane.

The most interesting part of redesigning Sundew was definitely the vest! I was never really able to conceptualize her pouches when reading the book, although I think that's probably because of how they kind of just appeared whenever she needed them and weren't really described in full. So it was a joy to finally sit down and design Sundew a real combat vest, with enough pouches and flexibility to accommodate her occupation and also act as a little bit of camouflage. Sundew was definitely one of my favorites from arc 3 - and I don't know if it was just me, but I always imagined her sounding like tigress.

Thanks so much for this request! If you haven't seen my blog before and you'd like to request a character for redesigning, please head over to my inbox or check my pinned post to see if your favorite is already on the waitlist! And of course, since it's pride month, Willow will also be posted after this. To anyone wondering, my art contest is still running until the end of the month! You can find a link to my discord server (Where it's held) on my pinned post!

later (￣ω￣)

[nyaruelle-designs]

🦄 Mane 6 + Family Redesign! 🦄

aaaaa this took so long, but it's finally done 😭 here's some art of mane 6 with their families. If you haven't seen my first redesign for the Mane 6, click me!

Keep reading below for design notes! (most of them are very small tweaks to get the palettes to look close to the Mane 6 hahaha)

OK! starting off with twilight's family, I tried to keep her parents' colors close with her own colors, I took both twilight's and shining's colors to match along with their mom and dad. I think Night Light is the most noticeably different of all the parents so far??

shining's colors are quite good but I guess I make it a point to give some siblings matching coat patterns to relate them to each other haha

also I had to add spike. He is apart of the family after all <3

For Rarity's family, I really took a lot of creative liberties haha

I kept Sweetie Belle's colors quite similar but yeah, tweaked it to match more in her sister's color scheme and gave her shared coat patterns with Rarity.

Rarity's parents also underwent some tweaks HAHA (i swear, every time I give the mlp character a unique coat pattern, they turn out looking so different but good??)

Fluttershy's family still looks relatively the same just with a few tweaks to the colors. (Fluttershy definitely gets her soft wings from her mom hehe)

I gave Zephyr a tattoo which I imagine he got in his youth while figuring himself out, thought it would complement his 'surfer?? chill bro' character

Also, fun detail: the tips of Fluttershy and Zephyr's wings compliment/relate back to each other which I think is really neat

Rainbow's family is quite self-explanatory, not a whole lot of difference HAHA

I think I let myself have a little bit of fun when redesigning the Apples. Idk why I thought it'd be interesting to add a bit of green to Pear Butter but ye??

I also kept Pear Butter as having a more petite frame as my personal handcanon is that while she did do farm work, she mostly did the less intensive work like watering the crops or something ahaha

neat detail: Applebloom inherited her eye color from granny smith, thought it'd be interesting to link them together

And last but not least, the Pie familyyy

As Pinkie and Marble are twins, I modelled Marble directly off Pinkie's desaturated form but gave her a longer mane. Other then that, I tried making them look as similar as possible

It's not very noticeable but I also gave Pinkie's dad a bit more pink in his colour scheme to show where she could've gotten her pink genes from. (I want to believe that in the past Igneous Rock had a pink mane before it turned grey from age)

also out of topic but I have this personal headcanon that the pie sisters are actually quadruplets with pinkie being the only one out of the 4 having her recessive pink gene, thought it would be fun to share.

Anyway, congrats on making it to the end! Thanks for reading all my design notes :’D I’ll definitely be drawing more. (next I'm gonna try to draw the secondary characters and hopefully not take too long to get it done-)

[jaellyfishh]

The Corner Where We Met · Part 4

trope: art teacher!azzi x PE teacher!paige

content: fluff, little jealousy. also, let’s pretend aaliyah’s birthday is not in july

word count: 7.1K

thank you for patiently waiting! i’ve drafted the storyline for the next two chapters, but i’m open to suggestions. let me know what you think of this chapter and if there are confusing elements i can address/change.

Several days later

Between free periods during school hours and late-night FaceTimes after work, Paige and Azzi’s relationship grew even closer. No one around them, not even themselves, could put a label on their current dynamic. It would likely be in a grey area of casual and committed, nothing official, yet only kept for each other.

“See? It looks prettier now, right?” Azzi beamed as she looked at a picture of Paige’s new bedsheets from her phone.

“Yeah, maybe you should redesign my entire apartment,” Paige mused, tucking her phone away in her pocket as the pair walked towards the gym.

“Maybe you should invite me sometime,” Azzi teased, earning a small chuckle from the blonde.

The pair took their seat in the back among the teachers, greeting each other with simple nods and smiles.

There was an ocean of excitement among the students during morning assembly as Principal Auriemma announced a reminder of Moore’s upcoming annual October Sports Day, which will take place in almost three weeks. Paige had curated a stacked list of activities—ball sports, track, a cheer dance competition, and other fun activities—and the students couldn’t sit still in anticipation, especially knowing the teachers would be participating as well.

Azzi gave Paige a proud look, placing her hand over hers as she mouthed ‘you did so well’. The blonde gave her a shy smile before her attention focused on the chatty students around them, squirming in their seats, talking to each other in excited whispers about the games. Nika, who sat behind them, gave Paige a surprise shoulder squeeze.

“KK and I are so gonna beat you in two-legged race,” Mühl deviously muttered in her ear, her hands pressing down on Paige’s shoulder,

“Can y’all make strides long enough, though?” Paige retorted with a smug face.

Nika squeezed a little too hard, causing Paige to wince in pain.

As the volume of the students grew, Principal Auriemma tapped on the microphone, bringing them back to reality for the rest of the morning assembly announcements, the quietness overtaking progressively. As everyone’s attention turned back to him, the blonde couldn’t help but notice Azzi’s hand still on hers, her thumb absentmindedly caressing it while she listened to the old man.

Paige’s heart almost fluttered at the small gesture, one that spoke the most volumes in the way Azzi cared for her. The blonde gave a small smile before stroking Azzi’s pinky with her thumb that was closest to it. And they stayed like that for the remainder of the assembly, unnoticed by others but highly noticeable to the pair.

After Principal Auriemma dismissed the assembly, the crowd slowly separated towards their respective quarters, while the pair still walked together in tandem, almost attached to the hip, almost always in their bubble.

As they reached Azzi’s classroom door, the curly brunette turned to Paige with a large sigh, getting herself ready for the day.

Paige smiled and gave a knowing nod. “I’ll see you at lunch”.

“Don’t miss me too much,” Azzi smiled back.

“I’ll try not to,” Paige grinned, scanning Azzi’s face as she shoved her hands into her jacket.

Suddenly, a small figure stopped beside Paige.

“Ms. Bueckers, you’re in my way,” a voice scolded, surprising the pair.

“Oh, my bad. Sorry, Li’l Leo,” Paige stepped back.

“If you keep staring at Ms. Fudd like that, it’s gonna make her uncomfortable. Right, Ms. Fudd?”

The boy folded his arms as he stood sternly in front of Azzi, raising one brow trying to assert dominance over the tall blonde. The gesture earned a light laugh from Azzi while Paige scoffed in disbelief, eyeing the boy down.

The curly brunette patted the young boy’s shoulder as she glanced at Paige.

“I appreciate the help, Leo, you learnt well. But I can handle it. Go ‘head inside,” Azzi tried to keep a straight face.

The boy gave one last look at Paige before walking inside the classroom.

Paige shook her head. “Didn’t know you had bodyguards”.

Azzi snorted. “It’s important these young boys know when someone needs help.”

“Wow,” Paige sang. “Am I a threat to you, Ms. Fudd?”

“Sometimes. When you stare at me long enough,” Azzi hummed, her eyes looking into her classroom.

“Hm, thought you liked it. Well, next time I’ll make sure when I wanna stare at you, I’ll tell you beforehand,” the blonde grinned, waiting for Azzi’s reaction.

Before the brunette could say anything, a pair of loud, fast footsteps were heard approaching their direction.

“Head back to class, Ms. Fudd. Now!” Kayla yelled just enough for the pair to hear, already walking right past them towards her clinic.

“How many bodyguards do you have, for real?” Paige joked, making the younger woman laugh.

—

“C’mon, Lili. We’re getting nowhere with your decision-making,” Nika whined.

The same group of teachers were having lunch together discussing plans for Aaliyah’s birthday celebration, except the celebrant herself couldn’t care less.

“Guys, things are tight and I don’t want y’all to do something you’re not comfortable with either. Maybe bowling?” Edwards shrugged.

“I got a splint on, so maybe not,” KK frowned, raising her right hand to show her finger splint, an injury she acquired from playing basketball with her cousins over the weekend.

“What about a p-“ Kayla chimed in before being interrupted by Azzi.

“If you say picnic like you always do, just remember it’s gonna be 62 degrees this weekend”

As the group grumbled while chewing on their food, Paige's ears perked up as she thought of an idea.

“What about potluck? Nothing too crazy. We can cook or buy food, enjoy each other’s company in the comfort of your own home. If we have leftovers, it would be a plus to save up on groceries for a couple days. Hm?”

The group nodded in unison as Aaliyah stared at Paige.

“Y’all better remember I’m vegetarian or else no one’s coming inside,” the tall woman reminded before the group did a small celebration on the final decision.

As the last bell of the hour rang and Moore had now been emptied out, Paige and Azzi were seen walking towards the blonde’s car.

“Thanks for offering to drop me home, you didn’t have to,” Azzi smiled before Paige opened the passenger’s door for her.

“Your house is on the way to mine. I was more than happy to, but only if you’re comfortable with it. And, honestly, I’d even be fine to do it everyday, if it’s easier for you. If anything, I should’ve done this earlier,” Paige rambled casually causing Azzi to giggle.

“Paige, I don’t want to trouble you with all that. Besides, I’ve been driving myself to school for years just fine,” Azzi lightly responded.

Paige scrunched her nose briefly. “I’m sorry. That was a bit much wasn’t it?”

Azzi stared at her momentarily before shaking her head in disagreement. “Not at all. It was… shockingly chivalrous. Thanks, though. I’ll know who to hit up if I need a ride”.

Paige laughed through her nose before staring at the ground. Azzi, who noticed the blonde being a little shaken up, gently placed her hand on her arm, causing Paige to lift her head to face her.

“Paige, you’re fine. If it’s something you did, I’ll let you know,” Azzi reassured her.

Paige could only nod before responding. “Why don’t you get inside? It’s freezing out here”.

As Azzi watched Paige settle in the driver’s seat, she couldn’t help but feel endeared by all her small gestures. Adjusting her seatbelt, checking the mirrors, taking time to pick her playlist. As soon as Paige held on the shift to reverse, it was already getting way too obvious.

“You know, I think Li’l Leo got it all wrong. Somebody else has a staring problem,” the blonde smirked as she focused on her rear view mirrors.

The curly brunette cleared her throat. “I just find it interesting to see how other people drive. And it’s my first time seeing you drive, so don’t get it twisted”.

“Right, right. How am I doing so far?” Paige played along.

“Well, you checked both sides before reversing, so you’re already better than me,” Azzi joked.

“So can you finally not get mad at me for telling you off on your driving that one time?” Paige chuckled, her eyes focused on the road, remembering the day they went out to buy Azzi’s art supplies.

“I drive with caution. I can’t afford to crash the side of my car again, okay?” Azzi groaned while the blonde surrendered.

“Alright, alright. Well, you’re the passenger princess now, so you can relax as much as you want”

“Yeah, maybe I could get used to this,” Azzi softly hummed as she relaxed back into her seat, Paige laughing through her nose.

The drive continued in comfortable silence, Paige’s old school R&B playlist resounding. The sun was almost setting, casting a tinge of orange on the pair’s face, a mix of warmth and coolness lingering in the air around them.

Paige quickly glanced at the woman beside her, who looked like she was lost in her thoughts.

“Hey,” the blonde poked at Azzi’s thigh. “About Lili’s party. Do you wanna… cook at my place before we head out?”

Azzi shuffled in her seat, straightening her position. “Honestly, when you suggested a potluck, I thought I was cooked.”

Paige laughed. “What? Why?”

“I suck at cooking. I practically know how to cook, at most, three good dishes? Otherwise, I just throw in a salad with chicken breast with the same seasoning I put on everything and call it a day”.

The blonde chuckled. “I can help you with that, if you’re down. And, hey, Caroline can come with, if you want that extra support”.

“Hmm, sounds like a good idea. Wait, are you officially inviting me to your place?” Azzi teased enthusiastically.

”Woah, excited much?” Paige snickered.

“Okay, what if I just wanted to see the rest of your poorly designed living room?” Azzi counteracted.

“Way to hurt a woman, Ms. Fudd,” Paige shook her head. The curly brunette rolled her eyes playfully before melting back into her seat.

—

Saturday early afternoon

Paige heard a knock on her apartment door before placing the last bit of groceries on the kitchen counter. She washed her hands before making her way towards the door, unconsciously fixing her ponytail before swinging it open.

“Hey,” Azzi’s soft voice echoed.

Paige was greeted with a refreshing, familiar smile. The woman in front of her had her hair slicked back into a clean bun, her face with little to no makeup, and her outfit something casual that was prepared to have the scent of food latched onto it.

Yet, she looked the most beautiful Paige has ever seen her yet. Natural with a charm that could turn anyone to stone if anyone stared hard enough, something the blonde was guilty of.

“Can we talk about Caroline’s divine timing because how does this happen twice?” Paige already started joking, stepping aside so Azzi can come in.

The brunette laughed. “All coincidental. If Aaliyah needed her help with cooking, I can’t blame her. It was either you or Car. And you already had plans, so…”

“Yep, so just you and me again. I’m really lucky this year, huh?” Paige smiled, causing Azzi to scoff.

As the younger woman walked further inside, she couldn’t help but look busy at her surroundings. Paige’s apartment was simple, a modern design with a chic monochromatic grey colour scheme, something like it was directly off of an IKEA showroom.

“Oh, that’s pretty. This is cute.” Azzi muttered under her breath as she slowly walked around.

Paige looked amused, her eyes following Azzi who was making herself familiar with the space.

“Need me to show you my bathroom, too?”

Azzi darted her eyes back at Paige before smiling sheepishly. “Whoops, forgot you were here”.

“How flattering,” the blonde sarcastically commented, shaking her head as she headed towards the kitchen. “You can place your stuff on the couch. Have a drink of this when you’re done”.

After Azzi dropped her bag on the grey couch, she followed to where Paige was in the kitchen, who had taken a tall glass of water and handed it to Azzi.

“Mmm! Did you infuse this with lemon?” Azzi stared animatedly at the glass after taking a sip.

“Lime,” Paige corrected. “And with mint and cucumber.”

“Okay, now you’re making me look ridiculous with the plain water I gave you at mine,” Azzi said disappointingly as she placed her glass down on the kitchen counter behind her, slightly leaning on it.

“And plain water is just fine,” Paige reassured her. ”Let’s just say I do this… occasionally. For special guests”.

The blonde’s tone was lower this time as she strategically placed her own glass beside Azzi’s before hovering over her, arms trapping Azzi on both sides.

Azzi’s head tilted, eyes partially squinting. “And how many of these special guests have you invited over?”

Paige’s face inched closer, a smirk forming on her lips. “Just one”.

Azzi bit on her inner cheeks as she analysed Paige’s expression, unsure if she was satisfied with the answer, but even more unsure as to why she was feeling dissatisfied. Paige was quick to notice how Azzi was not as receptive to her antics as usual, pulling away just slightly to have a good read on her.

“It’s just you, Azzi,” Paige reassured her, scanning her face in noticeable concern.

The brunette lowered her head before looking back up at Paige in guilt. “I’m sorry. This is sweet of you, genuinely. You sure do have a talent”.

A small upward curve formed on Paige’s lips as she completely pulled away, gesturing to the groceries and taking Azzi’s attention to it. “Well, you haven’t seen the rest of it yet. I’ll show you why I’m the best cook in all of Minnesota”.

“Is that what you tell yourself every night?” Azzi teased.

“Find out for yourself, Ms. Fudd,” Paige shrugged before handing Azzi some of the supplies to open.

For a brief moment, the pair couldn’t shake away from their recent exchanges. Paige had noticed the younger woman reacting similarly when they had sex for the first time. Giving Azzi reassurance that there was nobody else besides her. However, the blonde understood enough to not push anything until Azzi was ready to open up. After all, it wasn’t like Paige didn’t have her moments either. As they both grew closer each day, Azzi was beginning to feel a turbulence in Paige’s confidence whenever they were around each other. Being overly cautious and withdrawing her words more than when they first met.

After a quick couple hours of chopping vegetables, stuffing pasta shells, and washing dishes, the pair had finally finished cooking two separate dishes for Lili’s potluck. Paige dusted off her apron as she smiled triumphantly at her work and her ability to get Azzi involved.

“This looks so yum! Paige, you’re insane,” Azzi exclaimed as she stared at the glass containers, the blonde busy wiping the last few bits of scraps off the kitchen counter.

“Yeah? How ‘bout a final taste test?” Paige stood beside Azzi, who was nodding with excitement. “Whadyou wanna try first?”

Azzi immediately took two tortilla chips from the bag and handed one to Paige with a smile. “The one I picked out, the buffalo cauliflower dip”.

The tray was still steaming, freshly baked in the oven. The aroma of Paige’s buffalo-style hot sauce mixed with parmesan and chopped caramelized cauliflowers filled their nostrils. Paige nodded before the pair dipped the tortilla into it, taking a barely noticeable amount off before eating it.

“Damn, that’s so good. I might make these for my prep meal. You made it look so easy,” Azzi slightly leaned on Paige, earning a small chuckle from the taller woman.

“Didn’t I tell you I’m the best cook in Minnesota? Alright, now let’s try this one,” Paige handed Azzi a spoon as she pointed towards the glass container filled with pasta shells stuffed in spinach and ricotta topped with a tangy, tomato sauce that had a bit of Paige‘s special seasoning.

“Paige!” Azzi whacked the blonde’s arm after taking a bite, incredulous over the flavours in her mouth. “Thank God we made a lot because these are coming home with me”.

Paige laughed at Azzi’s reactions, feeling a sense of pride knowing her cooking skills never failed her. As she watched Azzi chew on the food, she couldn’t help but look at her fondly.

“You know, you can always come over if you wanna have a good meal,” Paige innocently nudged on Azzi’s arm, who was now washing down the food with the lemon-mint-cucumber infused water.

Azzi thought otherwise, glancing at the woman beside her with a playful smile etched on her lips.

”Yeah? What kinda meal?” The brunette tilted her head as she inched closer towards Paige, her fingers playing with the drawstring of Paige’s sweatpants.

The blonde could only clench her jaws realising what she had said, her eyes darting down to Azzi’s lips before staring back at her eyes. She could melt in the way Azzi flirted, it was way more alluring and entrancing, something that could raise the hairs of one’s skin in an instant.

“Whatever you crave”

Paige, who now played along, had her hands on Azzi‘s waist, pulling her closer towards her. Instinctively, Azzi trailed her other hand up to Paige’s jaw, dragging her face closer and connecting their lips.

It was a slow and passionate kiss that made their muscles weak with every movement. Azzi rested one hand on Paige’s shoulder while the other remained caressing her jaw. The touch made Paige’s delicate grip on Azzi’s back tighter, squeezing a fraction more as she sucked on Azzi’s lower lip.

They smiled into their kiss, their mouths moving in sync as their bodies grinded subtly onto one another, warmth radiating throughout.

Suddenly, a default iPhone alarm blared across the kitchen, causing the pair to jolt.

“We have to get ready soon,” Paige whispered as she switched off the alarm, her arms still holding onto Azzi.

“Yeah,” Azzi gave her one last look before pulling away, almost disappointed.

“Wait,” Paige leaned forward again, giving Azzi a quick peck before letting go. “Okay, I feel better now”.

“You always try to steal a kiss, it’s ridiculous,” Azzi laughed lightly.

“It’s for just in case. To seal the deal, you know,” Paige joked, causing Azzi to shake her in now proper disappointment.

“Seal the deal? You’re lucky that face of yours compensates for being so lame,” Azzi walked off towards her bag.

“I don’t know how to feel about that,” Paige furrowed her brows at the backhanded compliment.

—

“Happy Birthday, Lili!” The pair greeted Edwards with wide smiles, who was also beaming at excitement for the arrival of her new guests.

“Guys, this is so cute! Oh my god, you sure did make a lot. Thank God we’re all big backs,” Aaliyah laughed as she stepped back to let them in.

Paige and Azzi entered the apartment, welcomed with semi-loud 2000s recession music and colourful balloons stuck on the walls, some bouncing on the floor. There was a section of Aaliyah’s bare wall in her living room that had a ‘Happy Birthday’ banner plastered across just above ‘LILI 26’ in balloon letters.

The pair were soon approached by Kayla, Nika and Caroline, who helped take their containers away, placing them on the long dinner table filled with different containers of homemade and store bought food.

“KK’s coming soon. Here, help yourself,” Aaliyah informed them before gesturing towards the drink station with an assortment of alcoholic to non-alcoholic beverages.

As they stood by the kitchen, Caroline nudged on Azzi’s arm. “Hey babe, how’d cooking go?”

Azzi smiled at Paige before answering. “Really fun. Paige taught me a thing or two, so you might come home to better meals from me.”

“So no more of the same salt-and-pepper-old bay-cajun-whatever-the-fuck seasoning anymore? Thank God,” Caroline joked before Azzi smacked her arm, Paige laughing at the comment.

Caroline added with a smirk. “You guys happy I wasn’t there, huh?”

The pair widened their eyes, their body movements awkward as Caroline relished in the scene unfolding before her.

“It’s not like that, Car,” Azzi dismissed, her cheeks warming up while Paige shook her head.

“Whatever you say, Azzi,” Her roommate winked before resuming casual conversations.

Soon enough, the group of women settled in their seats. KK had arrived just a few minutes after Paige and Azzi did, and everyone was now looking at Aaliyah in anticipation, who stood at the end of the table with a glass of champagne raised up for a toast.

“To my new and old friends and our future moments together. To surviving my twenties and reaching financial stability. And to still be thriving and looking this good even at 40. Cheers!” Aaliyah yelled.

“Cheers!” Everyone chimed in, clinking their glasses together.

The evening went by quickly, every person full of food and alcohol as they continued to share stories and complain about adulthood, accompanied by bursts of laughter and sarcastic commentaries.

Paige was the only one completely sober, taking only small sips of her first glass while everyone was on their third, always managing to enjoy the company.

As the conversations continued naturally, the topic of love life was explored.

“And that’s why I’m so glad I’m single,” KK grimaced as Nika finished complaining about yet another incident with her boyfriend.

“So, who else here is off the market now? Oh, still just me and Nika?” Aaliyah was surprised to see Mühl’s one hand raised.

In the silence, Edwards contorted her face in confusion, her eyes darting to Paige and Azzi who were sitting next to each other.

“But I thought- nevermind,” Aaliyah shook her head as the pair shifted in their seats.

KK ‘s interest was piqued, eye’s half opened. “No, no, wait. I do apologise if I have to ask this, but is there something going on between y’all or have I been hallucinating it the past couple weeks?

Nika agreed. “I’ve been dying to know, lowkey. I mean, we’ve all had our moments and I’d like to believe we’ve outgrown judging inner circle relationships, anyways. So forgive me for being this curious, but what’s going on here?”

Paige and Azzi could only glance at each other in nervousness, pursing their lips together as they waited for each other to see who would answer first.

“Uh,” Azzi started, looking at her plate. “There’s…there’s no label”.

Paige nodded slowly, also staring at her own plate.

“Huh,” Kayla, in a half-drunken state, chimed in amusement. “That’s better than nothing.”

A chorus of agreeing hums buzzed across, the girls looking almost half dead at this point to give a much more enthusiastic response.

“The problem now is whose side we’re picking if things don’t pan out,” Nika questioned absentmindedly.

“Not you tryna instigate a civil war right now,” Caroline laughed, causing the rest to follow suit.

“I’m going with Paige. At least she can cook me a nice meal,” Aaliyah reasoned.

A mixed roar of agreements and disagreements erupted as they tried to rationalise their decisions. Then the conversation started shifting between random topics again and they suddenly landed on conspiracy theories on how the Pyramids of Giza were really built.

Amidst the chaos, the pair just exchanged quick glances at each other, sometimes sharing a small smile or a soft laugh.

It was past 2 am when the Edwards headquarters grew completely silent, except for the soft sounds of a random movie playing on the TV. Nika’s boyfriend had picked her up and KK had ubered home, Kayla and Caroline decided to stay overnight to help clean up after whatever time they wake up, leaving just Paige and Azzi as the last people to leave.

Paige decided it would be safer for Azzi to return to the blonde’s place since she’d be more familiar knowing where things are in case Azzi needed anything. Even though the curly brunette wasn’t as knocked out as the rest of her friends, she knew it’s better to be safe than sorry.

But, also, it wasn’t like she’d blatantly admit that she wanted to go back to Paige’s place knowing it’d be just the two of them alone again.

After Paige carried Azzi bridal style into her bedroom, she gently laid her on her bed before pulling the covers over her to keep her warm. Just as Paige was about to leave to the living room where she decided she’d sleep on her sofa for the night, she felt a tight grip on her wrist.

“Who said you can leave?” Azzi croaked, her voice hoarse.

“Just thought you needed your space for tonight,” Paige reasoned, looking softly at the woman below.

“You’re sleeping on your bed,” the brunette demanded, tugging her wrist towards her.

“Okay, princess,” Paige smiled as she crawled into the space next to Azzi, settling in her spot before pulling the covers over them both.

Azzi shifted her body so she could nuzzle her head into the crook of Paige’s neck, kissing it a couple times making Paige sigh from the feeling.

“You’re telling me you were sober enough to walk yourself to my apartment?” Paige teased in a whisper, poking at Azzi’s cheeks.

Azzi smiled. “I wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to be carried bridal style. By you. Twice”.

A light laugh escaped through Paige’s mouth before she looked down at the sleepy woman in her arms, who was staring at her with half-opened eyes.

“So no label, huh?” Paige mumbled.

Azzi faintly smiled. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it”.

“You know, for a second, I thought you were gonna say friends with benefits”

“Oh my god. No. That sounds way too immature. Or I dunno. I panicked”

“Yeah, they put us on the spot real bad. I can’t blame them, you make it way too obvious,” Paige smirked.

“Me? Obvious? Who’s the one consistently lingering around my classroom door like a lost puppy?”

“Don’t act like you don’t get excited every time I pop up. Your kids are starting to notice, by the way”

Azzi could only groan in defeat as Paige laughed. Then they went silent again.

Paige stared down at Azzi’s lips, always drawn to them. But she didn’t move this time, just licked her own lips as her eyes darted back at Azzi’s.

“If you wanna kiss me goodnight, just do it,” Azzi whispered casually.

“I’ll kiss you, but I don’t wanna say goodnight just yet,” Paige hummed.

A small air escaped through Azzi’s nose before pushing herself up so she could hover over Paige. Straddling her hips, Azzi leaned down and gave the blonde a slow, passionate kiss under the covers.

—

It was another gruelling Monday, several slow and heavy steps dragged across the school hallways, the kids half awake trodding towards the gym for morning assembly.

“Man Big G makes the slowest announcements. Let’s skip, man,” a young boy whispered to his friend before tugging on his arm with an intent to sneak out from the crowd into their classroom.

But before they could move, the boy felt a strong flick on the back of his head.

“Ow, what the fu-“

“Language, James,” a stern voice warned. Bueckers was towering over them, her hands turning the two boys back to walk with the crowd as they groaned in annoyance.

Beside Paige was Azzi, who struggled to stifle a laugh, amused at how quick the blond reacted.

“The lack of discipline here, jeez,” she muttered to herself as Azzi continued to smile at her.

When the crowd took their seats, the teachers noticed a new face sitting behind Principal Auriemma. Curious, they all looked at each other before they heard that all-too-familiar voice catch their attention.

“Good morning, Moore. I’ll just start off with our only announcement for the morning before we begin our day. As you all know, Mrs. Bettencourt will be missing the remaining half of this month and the entirety of November with maternity leave. So, behind me is a new face who will be temporarily covering for your music lessons before her return. Moore is happy to welcome, Ms. Rae Burrell, as our new faculty member until December”

A chorus of quiet applause filled the gym as Ms. Burrell stood up, lifting her hand to wave while a sheepish small formed on her face.

She was quite tall, light-skinned with natural curls falling perfectly on her shoulders, her outfit nothing out of the ordinary. She looked reserved, but seemed to be friendly. One would even mistaken her for a supermodel.

In a blink of an eye, Principal Auriemma dismissed the assembly and the crowd began to disperse. As the usual duo was about to head out, they jolted after hearing the old man call out for Paige to come towards the stage. The blonde gave Azzi one last look before heading off. Azzi continued to stare curiously, putting her observation skills to use.

It looked like Principal Auriemma had introduced the blonde to Ms. Burrell, the teachers shaking hands before they focused their attention back to the old man. Azzi couldn’t make out the rest, but before the gym was out of sight, she saw the pair of teachers walk out together with a smile, already chatting about something.

Several ideas ran through Azzi’s head within the span of seeing their interaction, it was hard to pinpoint exactly one thought. As she tried to process everything, Azzi felt a nudge on her arm.

“She’s pretty,” Nika expressed.

“Yeah, she really is,” Azzi answered dryly.

As soon as lunchtime rolled in, Azzi made her way into the teacher’s lounge when she caught two figures in her peripherals sitting at the girls’ usual spot. With a quick glance, she recognised it was Paige and Ms. Burrell, who were seen talking casually, smiling at each other with a fews laughs.

As Azzi turned away to heat up her lunch, she couldn’t help but bite on her inner cheeks. If she were to admit one thing, she knew she wasn’t too keen seeing Paige chat with another woman. However, how was this any different to when Paige first talked to Nika? Or Aaliyah? Why does this make Azzi feel more unsettled? Even if she was a little jealous, she knew herself that there was nothing official between her and Paige, no labels.

While the curly brunette was gathering her thoughts, her lunch had finished heating up and the next thing she had to do was sit at the table. With no time to waste, Azzi walked cautiously towards the pair, not wanting to interrupt their deep conversation they looked fully engrossed in.

Before Azzi could sit down, Paige sensed her, turning her head with a bright smile when she realised who it was.

“Hey, Az! You won’t believe it, but Rae just told me that she’s Inês’ cousin. And that she can play the drums. You think Inês could be completely replaced?” Paige shared jokingly, the woman beside her laughing.

Azzi raised her brows in amusement. “Wow, the one instrument she’s been trying to play, yet still sucks at? Don’t tell her I said that”.

“I’ve teased her about it way more times than you’d think,” Rae laughed again before looking at Azzi. “Azzi, right? Paige showed me around your classroom this morning on your free period. You designed it so beautifully. She said I could draw inspiration from it. You just have such raw, creative talent. It’s incredible!”

Azzi felt relieved. “Aw, thanks, Rae. I haven’t heard you sing, but I’m sure you have crazy talent yourself. So, how’d your first class go? ”

Rae gave an animated expression of uncertainty accompanied by a big shrug. “They have…passion. It’ll definitely take a few more practices, but I’m determined they’ll be ready by December. Don’t worry”.

Paige laughed at her response, while Azzi chuckled.

“Thanks for showing me around, by the way. You’re actually pretty funny,” Rae turned to Paige, who smiled in appreciation.

“My pleasure. I’m surprised you were able to catch up to me at the end. I thought I could tire you out,” the blonde expressed playfully, causing the taller woman to erupt in laughter.

“Oh ye with little faith. I dunno if you haven’t noticed, but I’ve got quite long legs, so,” Rae played along making Paige chuckle.

“Aight, no need to show off,” the blonde scoffed. The taller woman noticeably leaned closer to Paige as she laughed once again, her eyes never leaving her.

Azzi could only laugh awkwardly while the pair shared the moment together.

The rest of the teachers joined in moments later, introducing themselves and giving Rae a warm welcome. While everyone was busy talking, Azzi couldn’t help but glance at Paige randomly, noticing how her attention was mostly at the new teacher, trying to talk to her when she could.

Azzi knew there was no one to blame for her suspicions but herself. Rae was new and had a bubbly aura that can intrigue people, it’s no doubt someone like Paige could be drawn to her. After all, there were no strings attached between them.

Before Azzi began to feel disappointed in herself, she felt a sensation rub against her calf. She was immediately drawn away from her thoughts as her head turned to Paige, who was giving her a small nod asking if she was okay. Azzi nodded back, giving a faint smile before immersing herself back into the teachers’ conversations.

Several periods later and the relieving sound of the final bell ringing, Fudd was left alone in her empty classroom after the last student had filed out. Busying herself with her papers, she couldn’t help but realise a particular blonde wasn’t at her usual place by the door with an eager expression ready to leave the building. Curious, Azzi left her class after organising the papers in her bag, and walked towards the gym where she would usually expect Paige to be.

Just as she was about to turn towards the entrance, she heard that same laugh from lunch again. She paused, peeking out her head by the edge of the wall to not be seen.

There stood Rae. And next to her was Paige. The pair seemed to be cleaning up some of the equipment left in the gym, sharing what seemed to be a playful conversation as Paige had a funny grin on her face.

Azzi’s heart raced, the sight before her twisting her stomach. The last time a teacher went out of their way to help Paige at the end of school was Azzi herself, to which the blonde declined later on. The reason being that she didn’t want Azzi to ‘overtire herself after a long day of work’. Which Fudd appreciated. But for some reason, the scene in front of her compelled Azzi to want to ask Paige to take her words back, to offer to spend more time together.

Before her thoughts could spiral, Azzi shook her head.

This is ridiculous. We’re not even dating, she thought.

The curly brunette turned her heel immediately, making her way out of school with a troubled feeling on her chest.

—

Later that night

[8:10] Paige: Hey, this yours? 😂 (Image attached)

Azzi’s phone buzzed with a message from Paige, attached to it was a picture of Azzi’s pink bonnet on her bed.

[8:11] Azzi: I knew that’s where I left it. Sorry. You mind bringing it tomorrow?

[8:11] Paige: Or I could drive to yours now?

[8:12] Azzi: But it’s easier if you bring it tomorrow

There was no response immediately after. Azzi was deflated, regretful at how bluntly she responded, acting before she could think. She had lightly flung her phone next to her face where she laid in bed, the scenes of Paige and Rae from this afternoon still replaying on her mind.

Ding

As Azzi looked at her phone screen, she could hear her own heart thudding within the quietness of her dark room.

[8:15] Paige: What if I just wanted to see you?

Azzi chewed on her lip. Usually, she could easily snap back with a flirtatious remark or lame joke, but this time her thoughts raced. Who would’ve thought one person could alter Azzi’s perception of her relationship with Paige.

In her clouded judgement, the curly brunette thought of no reason for Paige to be this committed to seeing her this late.

[8:18] Azzi: I’ll see you tomorrow

—

The next morning

Tranquility loomed over Azzi’s middle school classroom where she decided to stay during her free period instead of sitting at the teacher’s lounge like she usually does. Immersed in her lesson planner, she heard a faint sound on the door.

Knock, knock

The curly brunette looked up to find Paige, who was standing there with her hands behind her back. Azzi withdrew from her desk, shaking her head with a small smirk as Paige stepped towards her.

“Delivery for Miss Azeray Jazlyn Fudd?” the blonde said in a low, animated tone.

“That’s me,” she played along, standing up to face Paige who was now less than arms’ reach.

They stood there staring at each other with a playful tint in their eyes, Paige unable to control a ridiculous grin on her face. Soon enough, she lifted one of Azzi’s arms and placed her pink bonnet on her hand.

“Thanks, Paige,” Azzi responded before looking down at her bonnet and fiddling with it in silence.

“You good?” Paige rubbed on the same arm with a small concern etched on her face.

Azzi was expressionless when she lifted her head, staring momentarily to gather her thoughts before briefly smiling. “Of course”.

“You know, it’s hard to tell emotions on text sometimes. I’d rather talk to you face-to-face,” Paige smiled.

Azzi’s expression immediately turned to guilt. “I’m sorry”.

“For what?” Paige contorted her face in confusion.

“I dunno. For coming off dry. I guess it’s gotten a bit much trying to catch up with the high schoolers’ art lessons, they’ve got a ton to work on and some of them have been neglecting their assignments, so now I have to go extra hard on them,” Azzi sighed, only partially lying.

“My door is always open if you need somewhere to escape. Consider my home your third space,” Paige consoled here.

Azzi chuckled. “I appreciate that”.

“I’ll sit here with you while you do your work. Just until your period ends,” Paige suggested, already taking her seat on the small chair closest to the front.

Azzi stared in disbelief as she watched Paige already making herself feel at home. Sighing in defeat, the curly brunette sat back down, resuming her work in comfort.

—

A week had gone by and nothing out of the ordinary at Moore had occurred. If anything, Ms. Burrell was beginning to settle well, getting along with the teachers and finally remembering where the entrance to the teacher’s lounge was. Surprisingly, she had spent a lot more time with Paige, who always found herself drawn to the piano in Moore’s music class, but was never allowed to touch it. Now that Rae had control over the classroom, her more lenient and personable attitude didn’t scare Paige away, compared to Inês, who always scolded Paige for doing so.

Between finalising the arrangements for the Winter recital and seeing a positive progression with the kids’ vocal capabilities, Rae communicated with Azzi regarding the sets in adjunction with the songs being that Fudd was completely in charge of the background props this year.

Right after Rae’s class had ended, she heard a slight knock on her door.

“Ms. Fudd!” she beamed towards the door as a small head peeked out.

“You needed to see me?” Fudd approached the taller woman who was rearranging the chairs for her next class.

“Yes! Just about the recital. I made some changes, but hopefully it’s nothing major at all. The kids were pleading to put in a Frozen song, so I decided to swap ‘It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year’ with ‘Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?” Rae explained.

“No way. I love Frozen, but ‘It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year’ is a classic,” Azzi replied, shocked.

“That’s what I’m saying! But if it’s what the kids want, it’s what they’ll have. Spare me the trouble,” Burrell rambled.

“Good thinking,” Azzi commentated.

Rae continued. “But that would also mean swapping the jazz section with the pop section. So, what I’m trying to say is that the last two sets are swapped and we probably need a snowman prop now”.

Azzi laughed, looking at the disgruntled teacher. “Damn, I was really hoping we were successful at avoiding songs involving a snowman. Our ol’ Frosty from last year is straight beaten up.”

“I’m sorry, Azzi. I tried. Like, really tried,” Rae apologised.

“No, I get it. It’s fine. Nothing I can’t handle,” Azzi reassured.

A brief silence filled the room before Rae fully turned to Azzi, the chair arrangements done.

“I do wanna ask one random, silly question, though,” Rae asked shyly.

Azzi slightly furrowed her brows, her head tilting as an answer.

“Do you know if Paige is single?”

Right after hearing the question, Azzi‘s breath hitched. She froze, expressionless.

“W-why ask me?” Azzi could only breathe out.

“Oh, it’s just ‘cause you guys seem really close, so I was hoping you'd be the best person to ask. U-unless I got it all wrong and you both are dating! Then, I totally respect it and won’t pay any mind to it, at all!” Rae defended, her mannerisms awkward.

Azzi shuffled slightly in her feet, her thoughts were trying to gather an answer she’d like to say before replying. When Azzi had thought about the term ‘no label’, there isn’t technically a restriction for the persons involved to see other people. It’s a no strings attached, non-committal, casual relationship. The pair aren’t officially dating, despite having a specially intimate bond the past two months, so there’s no reason for anyone to claim one another. And that is what Azzi decided.

“She’s…single,” Azzi hesitated.

“Hmm, so she’s definitely not seeing anyone?” Rae tried to confirm.

“You can ask her that,” Azzi replied, now unsure herself.

“Whew. Okay, thanks, Azzi,” the taller woman sighed a breath of relief, still shaken from her first question.

“You planning on asking her out?” Azzi asked curiously.

“Maybe? We only just met. I guess I’ll try to…suss her out or something,” Rae mumbled the last sentence, her shyness resurfacing.

Azzi took a deep breath before smiling. “All the best with that”.

Burrell gave her a sheepish smile before Azzi turned to leave the classroom.

As Azzi walked further away, her spirits were somewhat dampened and her heart grew heavier with each step.

[duckdotimg]

Said I would post them eventually, and here they are... my for-fun redesigns of the main Replikas with see in game, Elster and Ariane being the primary focus of course

If you are curious about my general thoughts and on why I did this fun little thing, and my personal criteria doing it, feel free to read below!

Let me just say that I love Signalis to bits. It has a beautiful, heart-wrenching story. But - and this is just my personal opinion, and without any animosity truly - the style of the cutscenes (not the 3D in-game style or the models) is not my cup of tea. It's just my taste. My personal style just cannot accomodate that kind of stylization anymore, and even if I tried I couldn't draw the replikas as they are in game for the life of me. That said it's still a beautiful game. So if I draw more fanart (which is likely), I will probably use these designs.

Analyzing the approach I took when doing these redesigns:

I wanted the Replikas to have a clear correlation between each other, while still being unique in small ways besides hair, body and armor. This resulted in trying to instill diversity in their faces by making their noses reminisce the beaks of the birds they are named after.

All of the replikas, as you may notice, have much more practical hair. No bangs in front of the face anymore. Personally I think Elster, Starling, and Ara units especially should not have bangs - because of the kind of tasks they are committed to by design. It could hinder their efficiency in carrying out their work - so, no bangs for anyone.

I have given them all top surgery (joke). No faux-boobs except the Eule. The reasoning is the same as above: they are simply not practical! The only exception are the Eule, because...

...I am bad at wording things but to me it's because Eule in concept are supposed to evoke also, besides other things, a 'feminine' gender normativity with them being the main workforce of the Nation but also cooks, teachers, etc (jobs that in our real world, for many years, were relegated to 'only women'). This also reflects to how I have given Eule shinier lips, a fuck-ass bob (middle part to evoke the shape owls have) and (optional) eye make-up.

On a cosmetic note, Stars have white hair tips as a way to more directly pay homage to their avian namesake. And it looks cooler (imo).

Storches and Kolibri have eye make-up/"war paint" and they're meant both to evoke a further feeling of authoritarianism and to intimidate other replikas or gestalts into complying with their orders. For Storches I was inspired particularly by the face make-up used in a certain scene in Suspiria (the 2018 Guadagnino reimagining), and not just for cosmetic reasons! Kolibri's are more generally inspired by the hummingbird's actual appearance.

Ara's grease marks are reminiscent of the pattern usually found on macaws' faces! Not all of the Ara's dirt looks this precise, but well, I thought it would be a fun touch.

Noted before in my previous fanart posts but Ariane is decidedly more sickly-looking but with an extra step. While Elster loves Ariane very much no matter how she looks, I think before the ending of the game she still has an 'idealized' version of her in her mind, albeit still a sick-looking one: long haired Ariane. In my idea the further you get to the end of the game, the more Ariane in the flashback flashes looks how she actually is - hairless, with missing teeth, and extremely irradiated.

Are these like, headcanons I think everyone should adopt when drawing replika and/or ariane...Honestly no idgaf... Just do what you want... I just liked coming up with these and wanted to explain my thoughts. Again I love Signalis and regardless what I think or not of the official style of it, love is love. What else is there to say about it. You should draw these fucked up lesbians however the hell you want which includes meeee and I'm exercising the right to do so

Maybe I'll also draw Adler, Falke and Mynah in the future but they're not here because by principle there is not much I would change about their designs. I have a vision for Falke which is not as drastic as these I drew for now. For sure I'll eventually draw my own ideas for the other gestalts in the story, but I'm gonna take a break and go back to OC stuff now 👍

If you read till here you are nuts and I love you. Let's all get ice cream together

[yzegem]

Giants, seafood, fruit and sunny beaches... this really might be heaven.

Introducing another creature to the setting of Encounters in the Frontier: the giants.

For their redesign I adapted the concept of insular gigantism to a close ancestor of humans.

Giants live in an island close to the southwestern coast of Alwaysummer. They inhabit a giant dormant volcano whose crater now delimits a shallow lagoon.

Giants are adapted to catch mollusks, sea urchins, octopusses and sea cumbers by striding over the lagoon to locate them and then catching them with their dexterous hands. They also complement their diet with fruits they can easily access from the tallest trees.

Giants live slow and long lives and show very little tool usage besides smashing rocks to open shells and coconuts. Still, they have complex social structured, usually consisting of a dominant male and many females and their children. Males engage in screaming singing competitions for dominance and younger males might do this playfully.

Males grow long beards and braid it and poke branches or sea urchin spikes into it as decoration.

They also smell pretty bad.

The discovery of the isle of Titans took place during an expedition sent by the Sun Empire to discover if Alwaysummer had an end to the south and to set and man trading outposts in this region.

This expedition was manned mainly with people from the plateau. In the creation myth of these people, earth used to be a warm and fertile heaven and all people were colossal and child like, but humanity was punnished with a great flood and made small and vulnerable.

When the crew members discovered this islands and the giants, they started to believe that it was the mythical last remnant of paradise and that the giants were the spirits of their legendary heroes and ancestors. (I'm sure this won't eventually turn into a rebellious cult...)

Giants are generally gentle to humans, since to them, they are child like (it's not that they think that adult humans are baby giants, but they find humans cute like we would find a small dog cute). Even though giants are sacred of fire, they did enjoy the taste of cooked food, so it started being common for them to bring food to the humans so that they could cook it (and keep some for themselves).

Male giants started doing favors to the crew members such as reaching fruits and helping them build by moving heavy objects in exchange for getting their long beards groom and braided into intricate styles by the small and precise hands of the humans.

Giants also found the songs and instruments these humans played to be soothing and would stand in the sea at night next to were the humans were playing to hear their music.

Still, most of the times both species stuck to themselves, with the humans building the outpost and having an epiphany and the giants fishing as usual and watching their new neighbours from a distance.

Even though their interactions have been peaceful and even wholesome at the moments, some abandoned shipwrecks and pirate hideouts scattered in the island with no signs of their inhabitants remind the crew members of the island's potential hostility.

Here is a quick evolutionary tree I did of the spec-evo primates of the setting:

[lackadaisycats]

Congrats on releasing another animated short! The animation is so smooth and expressive! but i have to ask. Did you redesign Mordecai’s face? It’s so subtle I had to rewatch it but he looks cuter than in the pilot. Is it because hes younger and we’re seeing him in a different context? Or are you redesigning him for the series and if so are any other characters getting a makeover?

Hey, thanks very much! We didn't redesign his face, but there are a few things contributing to him looking a bit different.

We went with a deliberately "slicked back" look for him in the pilot so that he'd appear distinctly older and more put-together than Rocky, Freckle, and Ivy. But for "Stratagem" and some other things we're working on, set at an earlier point in the 1920s, we've reintroduced his hair fluff up front. For such a small change, it does tend to soften him a lot.

His clothes. In the pilot, he's wearing a big, turned up collar that looks almost like a cobra hood. His collar is much smaller in Stratagem, so you can see his otherwise not-very-imposing frame.

He's far more, er, animated in the recent animation. His eyes are more wide open and he's a great deal more expressive, with agitated hand gestures. This was also deliberate. He's really putting on the sangfroid-face in the pilot. In the new short, he's revealing a much less constrained side.

----

About other characters, yes, we've been fleshing out their reference sheets a bit more and spit-polishing their designs. The band members have had an overhaul to make them a lot more distinct and detailed, and Viktor has also undergone some rework to address some animation issues we encountered with him in the pilot. Lots of costume changes too. You can see a lot of the changes I described above and a lot of new character designs for Season 1 on the Lackadaisy Patreon.

[promniight]

I have a big question regarding Wizard Cookie’s redesign!!

I noticed that Wizard’s fingertips were white, yet as a rougher change than the usual faded hands from other cookie designs we’ve seen from you. 

We tried checking the small lore section for Ice/Ice cream cookies but the example provided did not mention nor show the cookies’ arms…

I wonder, are these fingertips a natural feature of being an Ice cream cookie, or was this the result of some kind of magic effect? I'm intrigued.

One final question to stop bothering you, does this affect the cookie in any way? Be it positive, negative or neutral. We just wonder if it causes any changes other than its looks.

Hugs from Kona and Shei ;)

It’s an ice thing! While they’re still being rewritten from the OG google doc and lore sheets I wanted to separate them from drink cookies but giving them more solid body markings since while drinks whole thing is that their bodies are water Ice/Ice cream cookies are completely frozen!

I whipped up a quick example for you :) (this is open to possibly change in the full release as per usual lalala)

Ice/Ice cream cookies bodies are completely frozen and so their markings resemble that! Ice cookies in particular have icy limbs that are frozen solid and made completely out of ice compared to ice cream cookies who are just born with a marking.

I’ll get into it deeper when they release but yes if left in hot temperatures for too long this can be fatal, they’ve found a workaround for this though! via spells and other tools they often walk around with little snow clouds above their heads to keep them cold 24/7!

[skreebat]

The OUAW brain rot continues.

I love their designs! And I wanted to have a little fun figuring out how I want to draw them, with my own little tweaks and self indulgent details. :)

Originally, I only meant to draw Frost, to figure out what kind of body type I wanted to give him. Then I ended up drawing the whole part, partially as a reference to myself. Also got their canon heights on a chart and put them all together for fun and for reference. c:

Some design tweak notes under the cut, if anyone’s curious! These aren’t redesigns or whatever, I just had some ideas in mind while sketching them in a way that fits my art style.

Design notes copied directly from my server:

🔥Gid THICK BOY. He's not really a bodybuilder but he exercises and is very muscular. And he eats! A lot. So, thick boy. Scars from all the fighting. The wrists and ankles are because of his past.

I like giving his hair and beard a lot more fire. Body hair also glows fiery, it's just less bright.

🐊Kremy I figure he's the skinniest of the group after Torbek. Most of what I did is a happy medium between references of alligators, the official art, and just my art style. Mostly game him scale patterns, more alligator-like feet, and changed the tail a bit, but it's hard to tell from this angle. Not much body definition because he's a squishy magic user and a gator lol

🐯Frost Fit but not defined. Kinda thick-ish, since he's a tiger, so there's loser skin and thick layer of fur. Digitigrade because I say so.

☹️Torbek Not much changed, mostly gave him more tubes, gave him bald patches where they connect to his skin (and didn't make those are infected looking as I imagine tbh), made him fuzzier, and gave him bigger ears because I like em. Also you can't see it in this angle but I like giving him a small fuzzy tail.

🐾Gricko Fit arms, but he doesn't exercise, so he gets a bit of a tummy. Scars because of his interest in monsters, and his various accidents. Wilder hair. Freckles and moles because I say so. Decorated hair (including feathers from Hootsie!)

🍄Twig Not much really?? Went by her description, the plushie and an emote of her that exists. Made her chubbier because I wanna. Originally made her hair all curls…might go back to that. Also freckles because cute.

Do you have your own headcanons for details of what they look like? :)

-- [BTW I do commissions]