#I definitely think he needs a redesign

[nylloth]

[vanillashusband]

*thinks so very hard about shoving my main oc f/os into full sync*

*THINKS VERY HARD ABOUT IT*

[elysia-nsimp]

Hello scary Danganronpa community I would like to leave my Korekiyo redesign here an an offering please do not hunt me for sport /hj

Details and stuff (giant bricks of autistic text) below cut

Okay so in canon, we know Kiyo’s sister made his uniform and (I THINK) (DONT QUOTE ME ON THIS) he canonically doesn’t like it very much but wears it because of the whole… sister thing.

This redesign is meant to NOT be just a replacement of the OG design, but takes place in a non-despair AU where Kiyo actually learns that the relationship he had with his sister was NOT a healthy one. He gets support from his classmates and possibly the therapy he DESPERATELY NEEDS, and after beginning to accept his situation, he makes his OWN uniform with help and input from his peers.

That being said, what all did I do and what was my thought process?

- his og outfit was highly inspired by military-style clothing, and. *The anti-semetic armband.* so all that went in the trash because I didn’t like it

- I put him in more comfy traveling clothes—a soft button-up, a cardigan, slightly baggy pants, high travel boots. He travels a lot so might as well be comfy for it! The boots have a fluffy lining for cold weather

- I changed the hat. He needed a hat still but I changed it from a military style hat to a sea man type hat. It just felt right.

- kept the mask, but he wears it more because of his travels—lots of diseases. + his sister died of illness so he’s cautious about that. (I did change some of his story too but I tried to keep the big plot points while not romanticizing it)

- kept the bandages too. He does a lot of field work so I imagine he gets scratches a lot. Just another precaution to protect himself when traveling.

- I wanted to use the rope and rose motifs in his official art. I was so disappointed there wasn’t more of that. So his cardigan and pants have matching vine patterns and he has a rope tied around his waist—it’s there because sometimes you need a rope yknow. It’s a tool but also stylish/hj

- it’s commented on in the game how he’s very feminine (QUEER) and how he “has the kind of beauty that puts female colleagues to shame” ??? which is a weird way of forshadowing BUT I decided he gets to have long eyelashes and longer nails.

- his locket has been moved from his breast pocket to a necklace.

- and lastly I kinda liked the weird stringy hair thing Danganronpa does sometimes?? I just gave it more volume because . Yeah.

So yeah those are my big notes. How about some more story-based explanations?

- Kiyo got used to the darker palette (plus it keeps the mysterious spooky vibe the creators were going for), so he just kept that.

- all the material is soft and breathable, which was his priority when looking for the base clothing pieces!

- Angie helped him with the rose and vines! They’re embroidered. All Kiyo said was that he felt it was all very green and wanted to bring back some red, something about roses, and that’s what Angie came up with for him. He really liked how it came out

So yeah :] I hope y’all enjoy, I like the final product. Definitely not intended to be canon in the event of the killing game universe but I’ve always preferred exploring non-despair AUs.

If anyone WANTS to hear about the story changes I made lmk but uhhh I’m not making that my first Danganronpa post ahahahahahahha (<- read this as frightened and shaking like a chihuahua)

Again please don’t shoot me point blank danganronpa community

[campbell-rose]

Okay, i worked on angel dust a bit for the redesign, and right now i love his design, but his colors are giving me trouble. not sure if i'll stick with these colors, but for now i'd say im satisfied with him

i love the idea of fluffy spiders, the idea of them, if i ever saw one i'd probably die on the spot. in terms of character, i think i want to bring back some of the personality from the zoophobia age, because back then he wasn't a walking sex joke. He still makes the jokes, but not every word out of his lips has to be an innuendo.

EDIT: SULTRY i remembered the word i was looking for when i posted this. He's sultry and sensual in this, he's got an air of sophistication about him, he's a classy crack whore

Side note, as i was doing this, why the actual fuck does he have a choker and a bowtie in his final design??? his throat is so cluttered. In my version, his choker is a collar, specifically given to him by Valentino, meaning he'd take it off once he's out of Val's influence.

The more i look at it, the more i definitely think the colors need adjusting, just not sure. I might edit his official redesign pic and see how it looks in the environment and that might influence it.

Either way, i think i like him, he looks fluffy and cute, and i gave him back his hat because he deserves to look like a gangster dammit.

[emryste]

hihi hello is there anyway you can share your cuteguy /hotguy designs? or maybe share some notes about them?... im very fond of them and would like to draw em....

of course anon :^] thank you so much!! i'll also take this as an opportunity to share how I landed on their designs, if that's ok!

my initial sketch of them was done pretty quickly to throw around some ideas.

i wanted hotguy's to be reminiscient of his namesake (hawkeye) but different enough that it wasn't a direct 1 to 1. i also REALLY wanted to play with the idea of him using redstone leg braces and actor scar primarily using a wheelchair. originally i was thinking that they would've actually been made/designed by tango, though i'm not sure if that fits in with the finalized timeline/lore anymore. me and luna also talked very briefly about what the effects of wearing redstone so close to your body could do to you, but i dont think it ever went anywhere in lieu of Skulk taking more of a front role in that regard.

hotguy's design ended up not really changing much at all from this since i was already pretty happy with it, but cuteguy's definitely did based on a bunch of factors (the era of the zine we were in, character development, other contributor's designs etc).

thus begins the great Cuteguy redesign. i jest, but i was um-ing and ah-ing a lot over what i wanted him to look like, mainly because i wanted to keep him looking practical and less showboaty than hotguy. but at this point we had decided a timeline and i knew we were in the last era, so it felt important not have a design that looks like he quickly put it together or like something he'd be wearing in his early years as a vigilante.

eventually, i landed on these designs for them both! cuteguy matching hotguy's outfit as an established vigilante duo, keeping the casual elements of the hood and the joggers but having them more integrated into his suit, that all felt like a best of both worlds situation to me. i also switched the mask to a heart-shaped visor, both purely for cool effect and to match better. it isnt here, but additionally in the comic i switched his wings as cuteguy to a sort of maroony colour, as one of the things contributors played around with early on was the idea that he would dye his wings to hide his identity. i liked that idea as a failsafe if he was in a situation where couldn't hide them as a civillian, hence the change!

if you need any more info i'd be happy to share, or maybe even draw less messy references (i didn't think i'd be sharing these publicly LOL). thank you so much for reading the zine, and i sincerely hope you enjoyed it :^]

[smolbonbon]

Nexus and Dark Sun Duo

I'm gonna ramble about my HC down below

Alternative/sketch & me rambling:

I wanted to redesign Nexus for a long time. I'm not 100 % sure if I keep this but I like it for now.

I gave Dark Sun aka Sunset a comfy yet elegant outfit because I hc he is not that keen about showing his crazy scientist side in his outfit (if that makes sense). He is sensitive to the lights after he merged with/

cannibalized

his Moon. He could fix some of the damage but unfortunately, the problem is deep inside his core. That means Sunset can see well in the dark :) aaand need glasses or contact lenses to see through the day.

Sunset definitely likes Nexus more than he lets on. Especially when he sees Nexus overwork himself, doesn't eat or is not doing well. But don't let that fool you into thinking he is a good guy. :)

Nexus is now able to freely discover his identity without the same level of pressure as before. He is building things he always wanted to and after he got "rescued" by Sunset his personality changed to more ecstatic/giddy/excited. Like a person who has never seen the world before.

This took me more than 9 hours

I hope you enjoy it <3

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

Cherri Bomb Redesign (Bonus!)

Surprise!! It’s her!

I refuse to believe Cherri doesn’t have bunch of scars or injuries from using explosives and fire all the fucking time. There is no goddamn way. Also shes like running and jumping all over the place constantly she’d definitely have a running blade like 90% of the time. (Don’t walk on running blades you will probably trip) Her pant leg is ripped to look cool and also just for easy access to her leg.

I wanted this to be kind of sloppy with the colours; show how a lot of sinners dont have just a select few sins and note how often people participate in almost all of them. Ik it may not be the most pleasing colour palette to look at but that’s kind of the intention. Jumbled colours and asymmetry is really just Cherri’s thing in my head. I wanted it to look like she made or thrifted her clothes as well or like just stole them.

The bomb and cherry in her hair are supposed to kind of look like those hair bobble things that fucking HURT when you snapped them but they were cute so I feel like utilising hair bobbles is something I need to do much more

You could kill a man with these I swear to god.

Her tattoos and stuff are just basic cherries and vines and the little bomb and the bisexual symbol thing. Also bellybutton piercing is some I’ve only ever done once on an OC I have named Angela/Angie which is… kind of ironic?

You even get a little redraw for funsies! This was done for my friend helping me with my rewrite ideas so this is like the least I can do as repayment. You can see heaven up in the corner too :3

I don’t actually have a bunch to say about Cherri’s redesign, I want her to just be this “Oh wow! Thats definitely an outfit!” kind of design cause I love those. Oh and she definitely did the raccoon tail masking bits with craft tape.

I told my friend the dumbass stick figure on her arm is put there because I was thinking of her asking Angel to draw on her and she’d get it tattooed and he cannot draw at all so he just did a stick figure and was like “this is so cool.” and it was not cool at all/j

I wouldve added more stickers to her running blade and stuff but her colour palette is already VERY full so this is the price to pay. Still not sure if I’ll continue doing these but we shall see!! The next design post is likely going to be the lineup and some side by side comparison things ;P 📺

[calamarikitty]

Hazbin Hotel Redesigns - Part Three!

the hotel attendees are here, along with cherri and mimzy!

individual pngs and design notes under cut

Anthony "Angel Dust" - He/him, trans man, gay

you best believe he has extra legs now! this makes him an anomaly in the industry and grew his popularity.

all of his outfits are like those dumb, tacky sexy halloween costumes. his most used persona is a sexy mafia boss.

he equates his self-worth to his sex appeal and all of his outfits are normal things made 'sexy'

he is more built than he is in the show because i felt like it

spider mandibles and abdomen! for fun! also extra eyes and cool spiderweb eyelashes

also kept his little BANG! gun from one of his earlier designs because i love it so much

also completely unrelated but i just now realized that both angel and molly have drug-related names and i just think that's genuinely so smart.

Sir Pentious - He/him, cis man, straight

just realized that the transparency on his tail is weird so just pretend it's intentional texture shh!

didn't really change his design tbh. i kind of already like it! i just wanted to make him look more cartoon-villainy.

basically just a redraw in my own style

one thing i think he deserves though are silly little mad-scientist swirly glasses.

Cherri Bomb - Any pronouns, bigender, unlabeled

gave them a cyber goth look! i think that she definitely deserved to be more punky.

i wanted everything abt her to be super asymmetrical. i honestly love the different shoe concept that she has in her original design but bro deserves two shoes of the same height so she's not tripping over herself constantly.

the dreads(?) end in a fuse shape because i think that's SUCH a fun reference to her love for pyrotechnics. i tried to include as much explosion shapes as i could.

lots of piercings! stretched septum, stretched ears, snakebites, double nostril, you name it, she probably has it.

also gave her more freckles! she reminds me of freckled strawberry lemonade and idk why. also just thought lime green was such a pleasing accent color for her and i kind of dig it

she's still got her cool goggles and is a badass pyromaniac

Mimzy - She/her, cis woman, straight

my god i have so many qualms with mimzy's original design!!!! i need her to be more glamorous! more fun!

i decided to go a COMPLETELY different route with the colors this time. she is COOL colored now. spooky!

a lot of hazbin sinners are based on specific animals or insects, and i find it confusing that she has no cohesive theming. i decided to take some liberty and make her peacock themed!

i thought this really fit with her glamorous and extravagant nature.

i also wanted to make her hooked nose more prominent, and also give her the awesome feather boa she deserves

i was super scared abt changing the colors so drastically at first, but i absolutely love how she turned out. im also just a sucker for peacock theming though

[sunnysam-my]

Hazbin Hotel redesign ideas p. 1

Unfortunately I don't really have time to draw rn, but here are some ideas if anyone is looking for inspiration.

THE VEES:

They follow lates trends so they won't stick to the outfits and technologies from the times they died. We even see that Vox changed his screen (head) to more modern, flat TV screen.

Valentino:

He is a moth that realises poison that's basically a date-rape drug. His wings are hidden, looking like a coat, which makes no sense, a cloak, cape or sleeveless coat would look better. He is a pimp who died in 1970s. Val was Hispanic when living. Apparently, he has bad eyesight.

He is supposed to be a moth, but I don't really see it much, and the furr around his neck, that's a part of his body, just looks ridiculous. I would design him after some actual poisonous moth.

Cinnabar moth - The cinnabar is slate-black with two red spots and two pinky-red stripes on the rounded forewings. Its hindwings are pinky-red and bordered with black. The caterpillars feed on poisonous ragwort leaves. The poison from the leaves is stored in the caterpillar's body and remains even when they are an adult. As adult they leak the poison when they need to. Cinnabar moths can be seen flying during the day and night.

Six-spot burnet moth - day-flying moth that flies with a slow, fluttering pattern. It has glossy black, with six red spots on each narrow, but long forewing. They release hydrogen cyanide when attacked.

Personally I would go with Cinnabar moth, but make the spots heart shaped, and leave his inner outfit without the accessories (the suit with the white pants and golden heart belt). I would also leave his general body type but definitely change the neck furr ring, because wtf is that? I would play around with his glasses since he is supposed to have eyesight problems.

[Edit: Actually, I would make him a combo of both moths and make the furr ring his hair, because he is bald without the hat!?!?]

Velvette:

Velv is a fashion designer and critic, she is also an influencer. She keeps the Vees together and their image fresh on the internet. She's a British black woman in her early 30's. Originally her appearance was supposed to be doll-like, but that was changed to 'it-girl' and a 'bad bitch' with a darker aesthetic.

Velvette's outfit is reminiscent of Val's (heart belt, coat with hearts, black stripes on arms) but darker, especially her sleeveless coat that imitates his wings. Since Valentino is already going to be darker (in my idea) and she is a fashion influencer it would make more sense for her to be brighter.

Main thing I would change about her is her skin tone, hair, and Harley Quinn themes left from her old design.

When creating very human like characters it's important to actually get the racial characteristics right. Her ashy skin and "curly" hair just makes it look like they didn't know how to draw a black character. I would give her a different texture, something between 3A and 4B. A hairstyle like heart shaped space buns would be so cool, but even if not, her styl in a poster in the background is already better than the ponytails.

When it comes to her style I would get rid of pom-poms shoes and fingerless gloves. Her outfit for meeting the overlord was pretty okay, but I would change her other outfit. My inspiration would be PidginDoll's design, because he makes fabulous outfits and makeup looks for all bodies, genders and races, but I'll keep the 'goth' (it's not goth, it's just a little bit alt, mostly skulls) theme.

Blue accents like makeup would work great with her brown skin and would reference Vox.

Vox:

I genuinely think he has the best design in the entirety of the show, I would barely change anything. His outfit is similar to Alastor who he is trying to imitate, but he wears a tail suit, which is way more formal and elegant than any other suit, trying to showing he is a better, modern version of Alastor. I've seen some people got rid of his hat and gave him a tail made out a cord for fun, but other than that his design is good. Not too much details and not too little, tells us a lot about the character.

Maybe less stripes, because apparently Viv loves zebras or something. /hj

[tabs-on-me]

LUCIFER MORNINGSTAR RE-DESIGN/RE-IMAGINE/RE-ALLY DON'T KNOW

!Disclaimer! This was all for fun, not hate to the Hazbin crew or Viv. I love and adore the show, and respect if you dislike the design !NOT ANIMATOR FRIENDLY BTW!

I love this show so much, but the designs just don't sit right with me half the time. I know Viv made most of these characters as a teen, but I still feel like something could've be done, but I won't complain about the designs too much because most of them are fine. I only have some problems with certain designs.

Original design, from Hazbin Hotel

My Re-Design

OK MY GOD MY MOTIVATION SPIKE WENT UP

I only have a couple things I dislike about Hazbin's Lucifer's design, and I tried to fix in my Re-design

The amount of white and red

His lack of "royal" attire

His hat and bowtie(it's repetitive in viv's designs and not really needed for a character like Lucifer)

His cheek/blush on his face(what is it for???)

Lucifer in the show to me, shouldn't be wearing so much white, that just a fashion peeve of mine wearing so much white- but the KING of HELL should be wearing more royal attire. SUCH AS PURPLE BECAUSE IT JUST WORKS IN SO MANY WAYS.

1 : Purple for centuries has been associated and used for royal attire for the rich and elite

2 : It's the color most associated with the sin of Pride(not the gay one srry fellas) and the most connected color with Lucifer.

3 : It's unique definitions are tied back to Lucifer's behaviors in different media, Mystery, Ambition, Power, Wisdom, etc.

Couple of side notes I forgot to mention

His Outfit is both a mix between 1700's inspired outfits, fantasy, and gothic clothes

The snake on his hand is like half alive and half asleep/still, it's more of a half-alive puppet he can control sometimes

His "wings" are fake because he's ashamed of his real wings

His winged bowtie is stationary

He has a broken halo he hides 99.99% of the time

His hair/head fire constantly moves

That's all for now, maybe I'll re-design more characters in the show. If I keep making re-designs btw, I'm starting from what designs I dislike the most, then moving on to designs I don't dislike as much. So tell me what you think about this lil purple guy, and who I should maybe Re-design next.

More Lucifer redesign

oops made my redesign lesbian /j

[morlock-holmes]

@poipoipoi-2016 posted this, and I have thoughts that are entirely unrelated to the context it was originally reposted in.

First, I don't like the way it assumes that capability is a sort of set metric, that some workers are just good enough to do O-Ring work and some aren't, because process design and environmental factors will also play a role.

In an uncontroversial environmental design example, I think it's quite likely that even good workers make more mistakes at the end of a 100 hour work week then they do at the end of a 40 hour work week.

So who decided on those 100 hour work weeks?

Second, process design; there's an apocryphal story I heard about nurses plugging IV tubes into the wrong ports, no matter how thoroughly they were trained, until somebody gets the smart idea to redesign the shape of the ports so that you can't plug them in wrong anymore.

I also have a real life example from my brother, who works in safety. His employer was a crucial industry that had to stay open during the pandemic, and so HR came up with a very complicated worker's comp scheme for people who had COVID symptoms and needed to stay home. Part of the policy is that people who stayed home got paid 60% of their salary.

My brother told them, "Hey, a lot of the people covered by this policy are working paycheck to paycheck, and if you tell them that they have to take a 40% pay cut every time they sneeze, they are going to come in to work anyway and pretend to be healthy"

From what he's told me, HR's response was essentially that tweet where the 911 operator says, "He can't kill you, that's illegal!"

So I know a lot of you know math, and I've been thinking a lot about the psychology of certain choices, in particular choices where you have two paths:

In path A, you definitely pay a moderate cost.

In path B, one of two things happen. Most of the time, you pay no cost at all. But occasionally path B creates catastrophically high costs.

I'm curious how people think about situations like that mathematically.

I feel like there's a point at which the moderate cost of path A gets high enough that, when presented with the choice, most people will choose path B, even though the expected cost of constantly choosing path B works out to be much higher.

[anonymouscheeses]

Big fckn redesigns here. Well mostly Charlie but Vaggie somewhat too 🥰🥰

Blue fits Charlie soooo much and I cease to see that many redesigns with this color. I still want red to be used in most of their designs because well. They are in hell, but not too present so to make way for other unique colors. Charlie has several physical traits from her parents but also she has some details in her clothes that match with them. When I uhh, introduce their designs you'll see lmao. I also tried to make her have a more roundish design, I jst LOVE those typ of designs omg. I just want the characters with not too many sharp corners pls Viv bro... 😔 oh yeah she's mixed cuz her mom's are darker in their redesigns. Alot of their genetics went down to Charlie so she doesn't look like an exact copy of Lucifer, I kind of hate that trend with hh and hb characters, like did the moxxies dad give birth to him bro 😭 also I kept her bow because it looks so cute and silly on her it just fits, I wish they made it bigger in her show design because it would fit her silliness so much. She has a cape with stars because morningSTAR smh why didnt they do something fun with that, missed potential but whatevs yknow I still love og designs no matter what anyone sayss. Did you know I love Charlie, I could ramble for days. I think I love Charlie guys. Maybe jst a hunch idk... also... s-snake fangs.. jeepers anddd..... snake tongue.... shiver me timberz

The wife ever. I had animation in mind more when I designed her, not like in a "How easy or hard would this be to animate" way. But I like to imagine when she's shocked her hair kind of fluffs out plus her actual fluff, when she's mad her bow turns into kind of horns and then her jacket expands like wings. Gave her a more hotel like outfit, she likes to work for fun (ew). Her socks are socks but she has some fluff under them she just tries to cover it up because she hates herself 🤪 (she doesn't hate her bigger body she actually feels much more comfortable chubby than when she was skinny with Adam. She was burdened with the weight of Adam's image of women... In this sorta rewrite she gained weight when she goes to the hotel because she's more happy. I'm dying I love chub Vaggie so much guys please) headcanon: she kind of likes fashion, it's like a fun hobby of hers to stitch together clothing and go out and buy clothes she'll never wear. She taught Charlie how to stitch and she SUCKS so you can jst see it on Charlie's pants.

Second outfits! Charlie's hotel uniform for. Well. Hotel stuff. She usually only wears it when new people come to the hotel, which.... isn't often, if at all. She still likes to keep it just in case. Also she goes really cartoonish when it happens, she does the looney tunes run and changes into her clothes in like 2 seconds. Can you see my vision? 😭😭

Vaggie's is in her armor. She has several pairs of armor lying around in the hotel in completely hidden spots. It's kind of surprising uhh. Yeah she wears it alot more than Charlie wears her alt uniform but still rare to find her in it. I don't get the whole thing with the exterminators and them not being able to fight according to Carmilla. Which is kinda stupid, I'm not gonna lie. So, instead of that, Vaggie has just let her guard down and has gotten much more comfortable in her surroundings so she feels like she doesn't need to fight anymore, she's just gotten rusty 's what I'm sayin. I have no idea how to draw armor. You can tell...

Extra below cut vvvv

BABY CHARLIE!!! With the heads of my redesigns for Luci, Eve, and Lillith. Haha you still cant see them. Uhh, ill definitely finish the thing one day. Its not even that big of a project thing, i think i jst keep going to other drawings so im like not focusing on one thing lmao. Lucifer has heterochromia because he was cursed to forever be reminded of his betrayal. I only explained that because Charlie has it too, it's kind of a curse on the entire blood line where at least one eye is red. This is like. Slightly older Charlie than the baby Charlie in show? I jst wanted to put her in overalls cuz omg that's jst so cute ughhh 😭😭

[signed-sapphire]

Valentino Redesign 💞🐐

(Click for better quality)

The baby is hereeeeeeee! This little cookies and cream coloured therapy goat is the first to get an actual design sheet because he deserves it <3

I actually don’t find movie Valentino as obnoxious as people make him out to be, but he could’ve definitely been more of an animal sidekick rather than a gag. He was funny but not cute, and he’s a literal baby goat! How do you not make a baby goat cute?

So I decided to redesign him. Valentino in The Fallen Star needed to be fluffier, more adorable, and look well-cared for. He’s in purple to match Asha now, with the Rosa’s symbol embroidered on the front and Asha’s “pumpkin seed” motif on his back. Idk what the ruffle was, but I like it and thinks it breaks up his silhouette, so he has a little ruffle now.

I used these references of Spanish baby goats:

And bonus, Valentino in TFS is voiced by Ravi Cabot-Conyers, who voiced Antonio in Encanto!

[beautifulblooms]

Ok so I was hoping for a jake sully x male reader

Takes place between 1 and 2 (let’s say he didn’t get with natrei )

For the plot so the reader is with the science team he came after the war and he has an avatar body and norm tells jake that the reader wants to learn the way of the navi (like he did in the first film) and so the story is jake teaching him everything and thay both slowly fall in love but the reader thinks he can’t be with jake as a Navi ans than jake tells him about how awa can put him in the avatar body forever ( I love a good slow burn )

You are one of the Omatikaya Now - Jake Sully x Male! Avatar! Reader

God I had a field day with this request, absolutely loved writing this and it felt so good. I hope you enjoy it and I really did take on the slow burn fanfic style, this is pushing a good few thousand words.

CIS Women and Female Aligned people, please DNI, this story and all of my others are for non-binary, masculine aligned and male readers!

I stood next to Jake within the pathway of Navi, Avatars, and the few humans that were escorting the rest of the humans back to their transport ships and off of Pandora. They had destroyed Home tree, killed the clan leader of the Omatikaya, and lost the war between the indigenous and the colonizers. As the last shuttle was loaded and closed, I looked up at Jake, so much taller in his Avatar form than I was used to. I was assigned to help his team in the Hallelujah mountains, mostly with maintenance of the link units as that’s what I had been brought to Pandora for. I have an Avatar to use if needed or wanted, but he’s been in a monitored coma for months. He looked back down at me and smiled lightly, finally happy with the humans they deemed destructive and not deserving to be here off the planet.

“We did it, hurt like a bitch but we did it.” His voice brought a smile to my face, he always sounded so kind when he talked to me.

“Yeah, we did, what’s the plan now?” His head moved to face forward, thought written on his face.

“I’m not sure, although there are a few things I need to do tonight with the people.” Looking back down at me I knew he was contemplating something, but I figured it was best to leave it alone.

“Don’t do anything stupid.” He chuckled at my response.

“That’s the most fun stuff to do though.” We both laughed lightly while he began to sprint off to the forest line, his Ikran waiting in the trees. I headed back to the main facility and found my way to the link room. Jake was already out of his unit, sitting at the desk across from it with one of the recorders sitting in front of him. The same one I had seen throughout his entire journey of learning with Ney’tiri and the other Navi. I was jealous of him when I first heard what he was brought here to do. I never resented him for it, but I was definitely unhappy when he and Norm would hop into their links every morning knowing he was doing what I wanted to do. I had only confided in Norm and Grace a few times about how much I wanted to be out there and learning. I made sure to stay out of the way of his recorder and his vision, not sure what he was doing with it. When I heard the familiar beep of it turning off I made my way away from the link room and to my private room in the facility.

After that night I never saw Jake in his human body again, only his Avatar form. Once we kicked most of the humans off the planet, we found out that the Avatars could breathe in small amounts of our makeshift atmosphere. It wasn’t really good for them, not surprising given that their atmosphere is so different from ours. So the few engineers and scientists we had left focused on making a reverse oxygen mask that didn’t need to be used constantly for them. After about a week of tinkering and redesigning, we had a functional mask with an attachable tank that filtered and added the necessary elements to the air the Avatars could breathe inside the lab. Even working with things I loved, I still never felt like I actually belonged here fixing the links and workings in the lab. I was missing something, some excitement, a release from the real world. One night I was in the lab late and Norm had just gotten out of his link, coming over to check on me.

“Why’re you up so late? Someone need repairs on a machine?” He had spooked me a little and made me jump in my chair.

“Christ Norm, um no, just thinking too much to sleep, and this is the only place in the building with any good whiskey.” Norm chuckled and sat on the desk next to the bottle I had poured a glass of about half an hour ago.

“Well if you’re thinking, I’m here to listen, we’ve literally been through hell together.” His response made me laugh a bit more, deciding to say something now instead of forever holding my piece.

“I’m missing something, I don’t know what it is, some excitement maybe, something to make me feel alive. I’ve been stuck in this lab for years and never felt this way until a few months ago.” Norm looked shocked to hear such raw emotion in my voice, used to my calm and collected demeanor. Unbeknownst to me, Jake was about to come into the link room, coming to check on Norm after a bit of a rough day out in the field. “I wanted so badly to learn the ways of the people, I just wanted a chance to learn what it’s like to be a Navi, one of the Omatikaya. I never got it because I was sent here to fix machines and help the real Avatars do their job.” Tears began to gather in my eyes, I had never thought something would trigger such an emotional response. Norm sat silently, not sure what to say, and Jake was still ducked behind a wall, he felt so guilty for no reason, watching you stay behind and fix things while he went and did what you wanted to do. Rather than say anything, Norm just stood up, and hugged me, not even mentioning any of the tears he felt fall onto him.

“I’m so sorry you never got to do what you wanted to do, you more than deserve it, you’ve done so much for us.” Those words made the tears come faster, I couldn’t control it at this point, god I felt like such a loser, not even able to control my own emotions. After a good few minutes I patted Norms arm to let him know I was good.

“Thank you for this, it really was good to just let that out, I think I’m gonna go to bed now, night Norm.” He smiled lightly to show some kindness, nodding and patting my shoulder twice.

“Of course, good night (y/n).” I left the lab first, headed down the hall and somehow missing the 9 foot Avatar to my left while I turned right. Norm knew he had to look for Jake and talk to him about teaching him the ways of the people, he knew I needed that. To his surprise there Jake was standing against the wall of the hallway, occasionally taking breaths from the mask, a rather somber expression on his face.

“Hey, I was actually coming to look for you, we’ve gotta talk about something.” Jake looked down at Norm, then to the floor.

“If it’s about (y/n) I already have a plan to help him. I overheard the whole thing and I’m going to help him learn the ways of the Omatikaya.” Norm was wide-eyed, he never thought Jake would’ve heard them talking.

“Good, that’s one less thing to talk about, how about a chat about the mission today then?” Jakes ears perked up a bit, reminding himself why he’s here in the first place. They went into the link room to talk for another hour, all the while Jake was still planning how to help me learn the ways of the people.

Come the next morning, I woke up the blaring alarm I had become accustomed to scaring the shit out of me in the morning. Groaning and turning it off I sat up in bed, ready for another day of random fixes and sitting around doing nothing. A knock on my door spooked me, when it persisted I told them to wait a minute while I threw a shirt on. Opening the door I was graced with the sight of a blue abdomen, glancing up I saw Jakes smile.

“And what do I owe this early ass knock on my door for?” I really only had one eye open, and it was squinted shut slightly due to the bright lights in the hallway.

“You’ve got an Avatar right?” I was very confused at this point, but nodded my head. “Good, go get some coffee and breakfast then hop in a link, we’re exploring today.” Now I’m even more confused, but I continue with my morning and head to the cafeteria to get my coffee and plate of breakfast. Once done with that I go talk to Max about my Avatar.

“Hey Max, I need a favor.” He turned around in his chair to look at me.

“What’s up?” I didn’t really know how to phrase it without sounding weird so I just went for it.

“Jake told me we’re exploring today and I need my Avatar pulled out of his coma.” Max was stunned, I hadn’t used my Avatar for probably a year, everything being much easier if I just used an oxygen mask.

“Um sure, it’ll take me half an hour or so, I need to run vitals and check some things, I’ll let you know when you can hop in a link unit.” Nodding my head I went to find the giant blue alien that told me to do all this nonsense. Calling for his name I eventually realized he was sitting on a skylight we had over the cafeteria. Putting on an oxygen mask I went outside and climbed up to the roof, walking over to where he was still seated.

“Hey (y/n)! Why aren’t you in your Avatar yet?” I sat down next to him and explained that he had to be pulled out of a coma for me to use. “Wait, you haven’t used your Avatar in like a year, how often do you do external repairs?”

“Oh quite a lot, but the tools are all human sized and they refused to get me an enlarged set so I just put on an oxygen mask and deal with it.” His expression changed after hearing the company didn’t get the one thing I needed to do my job properly. “But Max is checking vitals and making sure the Avatar is fine right now, I should be getting a text or something from him soon that he’s ready.” Almost immediately after I finished my sentence, Max told me to get to the link room. “And there’s my cue, see you in a few.” Standing up I began to walk back to the edge of the roof and the ladder. Pulling my oxygen mask off I realized that I had to go through the proper Avatar training again because it’s been so long and groaned. Making my way to the links I saw Max standing at one.

“(Y/n)! Over here!” A picked up my walking pace to make it over to Max quickly. “Alright, I’ve got this one reserved for you, do you remember what to do once you’re in here?” I rolled my eyes a little.

“Of course, I had Grace teach me, remember? It’s a little hard to forget anything that women taught me.” Max chuckled and agreed quietly before heading to the observation room to help me adjust once I got into my Avatar. Laying down on the gel bed and putting the metal cage down I grabbed the top and did the same, starting to let my mind go blank. It was weird to feel the reconnecting of my subconscious to the Avatar. Waking up I put my hand over my eyes, not used to the bright light of the room. One of the scientists came up to me and started doing my physical and checking if everything was working appropriately. Once I was cleared I realized I was still in the medical outfit they put me in before my Avatar was put into a coma. Asking for one of the outfits they had prepared for me when I first landed here they handed one over. Getting dressed quickly I made my way outside and headed back up to the roof where Jake was still where I left him. Only this time he was laying down and clearly passed out. I made my way up to him and kicked his thigh.

“Wake up Taruk Makto, you said we’re exploring.” He sat up quickly and took in my appearance. I may have not used this avatar for a good long while but the natural muscle I had from the Navi DNA was clear.

“Holy shit, I know they used your DNA to make the Avatar but it really does look just like you. C’mon, we've got a lot of stuff to do.” He stood up and called for his Ikran. As it landed in front of him, Jake mounted it and reached out a hand for me. Not hesitating, I grabbed it and climbed on behind him. “Hold tight, we like to fly fast.” I scoffed at her statement.

“Yeah sure, I really don’t think you can fly that fast Sully.” Jake chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, signaling for his Ikran to take off. As soon as it’s wings we’re in the air I realized the enormity of my fuck up and very quickly clung onto Jake. All he could do was laugh at my reaction while I just buried my face in his shoulder, too scared to look down. Once we reached a higher altitude the Ikran slowed down a bit, leveling out as it only needed to glide now.

“A bit more of a warning would’ve been nice Sully.” He laughed at me again.

“If I recall I did warn you and you just scoffed at me.” I huffed back at him before looking to see us floating above the trees and headed towards the Hallelujah mountains. And just as I started to let go of Jake I very quickly held onto him again as he nose dived into the trees.

“You mother fucker! Warning next time!” His laugh was barely audible over the wind whipping across my overly sensitive ears. Landing on a very large branch of a tree he looked back to me still clung to his back.

“You can let go now, we’re on solid ground, well, solid tree.” Moving my head away from his back I let go and slid off the Ikran, sitting down very quickly on the branch and cherishing that it was not moving. “So are you just gonna sit here forever or am I gonna show you around?”

I glanced up at Jake who was standing behind me, hands on his hips. “Gimme a minute I’m still processing that I almost died twice cause of you and your shenanigans Sully.” Squatting beside me he put a hand on my shoulder.

“Get used to it cause if you wanna explore Pandora you’re gonna experience a lot of close calls.” I sighed and looked over at him.

“Really?” He nodded and confirmed by repeating what I said with less inquiry. “Well shit, alright where are we going next?”

Jake didn’t even answer me, simply stood up, grabbed my hand, dragged me back onto his Ikran and began flying again. We went to the place he was chased by the angry thanetor, then to where home tree once stood where he explained what it used to be like to be there with the people. Next to Mons Veritatis to see the unbonded Ikran in their home amongst the Hallelujah mountains. We flew over the tree of souls, I being an outsider to the Omaticaya couldn’t step foot on the sacred grounds. It was so much to look at and enjoy that by the end of it I had gotten used to flying on an Ikran, feeling the wind whip across my face and Jake's consistent nose dives he did to scare the shit out of me. Landing back at the main facility I let go of Jake and got off the Ikran, before I left I asked him something.

“Jake?” He stopped what he was doing before to look down at me.

“What’s up?” I was fiddling with my hands, nervous to ask but wanting an answer.

“How possible would it be for me to become one of the Omaticaya? I know it’s a hard ask and something that is maybe too selfish given what they’ve been through recently but I-“ Jake cut me off before I could keep rambling.

“I’ll ask Mo’at, as the Tsahik she has final say.” I nodded and muttered a thanks before he took off into the dark Pandoran night. Jumping off the roof I snuck my way into the Avatar bunks, taking up a spot for my own. Falling asleep comfortably knowing I might get the chance I always wanted made me all that more excited to wake up tomorrow. Coming out of the link I opened it and sat up, how could such a wonderful world be out there and I let myself be stuck in here for years?

I made my way out of the link room, passing by Max who was passed out at a desk, monitoring my brain activity while I was in my Avatar body. I grabbed one of the spare blankets Grace kept in her desk and draped it over him, then headed to my room to tuck in for the night. Climbing into my bed I passed out rather quickly, even being in Avatar form the whole day was exhausting.

The next morning I woke up to my alarm, damn near punching the clock to turn it off. I groaned and sat up, almost forgetting what I asked Jake about yesterday until there was a banging on my door.

“HOLD ON I JUST WOKE UP!” It stopped quickly and I shuffled my way to the door, eyes still heavy with sleep and opened it to see Jake standing there again.

“Finally, c’mon get into your Avatar, you need to talk to Mo’at.” I groaned and just nodded before following Jake to the link room and to the same one I used yesterday. Hopping in I was barely conscious enough to form any thoughts that would prevent my link from working. Waking up in my Avatar body I sat up and saw Jake sprinting into the bunks, searching for me.

“Over here numb nuts!” I shouted to him before he came and threw me over his shoulder. “Jake what the fuck are you doing?!?!”

“I said you gotta talk to Mo’at, that means in 10 minutes, we don’t have time to walk at your pace.” I grumbled and just accepted my fate of being carried by him. I would never admit out loud that it was kind of nice to be carried like this, considering I got a great view of Jake’s body. He dropped me right next to his Ikran, climbed on and dragged me on quickly, reminding me to actually hold on this time. We took off even faster than yesterday and I just held on even tighter, knowing that Jake really was rushing to get me to Mo’at. We made it to the small cave the remaining Omaticaya had found within the Hallelujah mountains to stay in. Jake dragged me through the Na’vi and all the way to a tent set up in the back of the cave to where Ney’tiri and Mo’at were talking. I had heard of Ney’tiri from Jake many times and every time I heard of her I grew more and more jealous that she spent more time with him than I did. Reaching the tent Jake walked in with me right behind him, still confused as fuck as to what was going on.

“Mo’at, Ney’tiri, I see you.” He used his hand to signal something from his forehead which they returned.

“Is this the dream walker who wishes to learn?” She gestured to me as Jake stepped aside to give them a full view of me.

“Yes, this is (y/n), he wishes to do what I have done, become one of the people.” I nodded and tucked my ears, confused, tired, and somewhat scared of her threatening aura.

“He seems weak and scared, are you sure he is strong enough to do what you did?” She asked Jake as she began to walk around me in a circle, observing my body, grabbing my tail and running a hand along my arms.

“Yes, I am sure he is strong enough for this.” Mo’at gave an approving hum, continuing to examine me before she took something from her necklace and pricked my arm. I hissed at the action, it stung more than I was expecting.

“JakeSully, you will teach him our ways, teach what we have taught you, you are Omaticaya, if you seek help, Ney’tiri may offer assistance.” When her name was mentioned she looked me up and down and over to Jake, her eyes widened and softened when she looked at Jake. She likes him, I knew it the moment I saw her look at Jake, I felt anger boil inside of me but tried so hard to put it down while in the presence of the Tsahik.

“Thank you Mo’at.” She nodded and went back to sitting next to Ney’tiri discussing what they had before. Jake just grabbed my arm and guided me out of the tent. He had his own up in one of the higher parts of the cave, it was small but homey. “Put this on, I’ll be outside.” He threw what looked like a loin cloth at me before stepping outside.

“Jake, you say put this on, but this isn’t clothing, it’s a strip of animal skin.” He chuckled and popped his head back in.

“Yep, and that’s what you wear when you are one of the people, now stop whining and put it on.” I groaned but did as he said, leaving my entire uniform in his tent before stepping out and looking at him, rather uncomfortable with the situation. “Great, first things first, we’ve gotta toughen up those feet and you’ve gotta learn to ride a horse.” He just jumped down and expected me to follow him, I groaned again and did as he expected. We ran through the cave and back to his Ikran, he hopped on and I followed suit before he took off to a pasture. Many different horses were wandering about and grazing, some with young and others without. Hopping off the Ikran, Jake ushered me to follow him. Showing me how to bond with the creatures of Pandora, Jake hopped onto the dire horse and performed tsaheylu with it. I watched in amazement as he began to do what he did with the Ikran and command it to move mentally, then verbally to show me how he did it. This was only the beginning of the process. Over the next few months, Jake taught me every custom, practice, fighting and hunting style he could think of, he even started to teach me the language. In that time my love for him only grew stronger. I wanted to be near him more and more, have him somehow teach me more things, just spend time hunting so I could be with him. By the end of the third month I had done everything Jake could teach, all but three things. Taming an Ikran for my own, and taking part in the ceremony where I will be reborn as one of the people. As for the third, Jake still refuses to tell me what it is, I can only make educated guesses based on what I have learned so far.

We rode dire horses up to the point that they could no longer traverse, instead using the dangling vines and sturdy islands to make our way up to the home of the Ikran. We made it to the final stretch, a waterfall covered passage with a thin walkway where I would have to plaster myself against the wall to not fall.

“You got this, c’mon, peace of cake considering what you’re about to do.” I gave Jake a look before following him across the thin strip of rock. Coming out on the other side there was Ikran of every color, staring down and beginning to hiss at us for invading their home.

“Well now we’re here, the fuck am I supposed to do?” Jake chuckled and turned around to speak to me more clearly.

“Firstly, you have to find the Ikran that wants to kill you the most. Second, use this to wrap around the jaw to keep the mouth closed, it’ll save your life. Third, if something goes wrong, I’ll be here to get you out of there, got it?” I was still stuck in awe at the first thing he said to me.

“I’m sorry, it’s gonna try to kill me?!?!” Sighing Jake put his hands on my shoulders.

“Yes, now are the instructions clear?” I groaned in response before nodding and mumbling a yes. “Great, get out there and kick some ass, and try to get an Ikran to make tsaheylu while you’re at it!” Pushing me into the more open area, I was greeted by many different hisses in all directions. I already had my rope unraveled and swinging slightly to give me the upper hand once I found mine. Walking through the crowd I kept my eyes focused, waiting for the one to hop out and try to attack me. Many Ikran stepped up and jumped back or flew away quickly once I hissed back at them. I had hissed back at probably 15 that didn’t want to fight back, and then one started to circle me.

Bright yellow and green with splotches of blue along its back, it stepped ever so closer to me while still circling. We hissed back and forth a few times before I started to get closer to it.

“Let’s go motherfucker.” Running at the Ikran I managed to get behind it rather quickly, wrapping the rope around its jaw and pinning the wings to the ground, doing my best to not hurt it.

“Tsaheylu (y/n)! Tsaheylu!!!!” Jake screamed from behind me, reminding me that I had to bond with the damned thing. Grabbing one of the tunnels I tried to pull my braid from behind me to bond quickly, but got smacked in the face by the Ikrans head. I almost let go but tightened my grip quickly and pulled myself back up, initiating tsaheylu as fast as possible. Both our eyes shot wide at the bond, and suddenly it calmed down and stopped trashing underneath me. I pulled the rope off its mouth, gently draping myself over its neck and head, taking a breather.

“As much as I’d love to tell you that you get a break, the first flight seals the bond and is super important. Get going soldier!” Jake shouted from behind me once again, reminding me that there’s more to the process than just bonding with the damn thing.

“Fine, fine, I’ll try not to die, but if I do, you gotta tell Max and Norm.” Jake gave me a panicked expression when he realized he would have to tell them if I died.

“You better not, Max’ll kill me!” I laughed and began to move with myIkran to the edge of the cliff. Internally telling it to jump and fly, it did so, hopping off the cliff and starting to flap its wings. We dropped slightly but gliding was pretty easy compared to getting a horse to move. I started doing turns and dodging some of the floating mountains, Jake soon appeared behind me, riding his Ikran.

“So, how’re you liking flying?” I looked behind me for a second to see Jake, shocked and less scared now that I knew where his voice came from.

“It’s a lot more comforting having me controlling the Ikran than you.” He gave an offended gasp at my statement, quickly moving closer to me to have me see his face. “What it’s true, you fly like a maniac.”

“Hey, maniac or not, I’ve had a lot more practice than you.” He pointed an accusing finger at me, making me laugh. It was early in the morning when I tamed my Ikran, and later that evening was the ceremony for me to become one of the people.

Flying back to the floating island the Omaticaya had settled in, I landed and followed Jake back to the tent with Ney’tiri and Mo’at.

“Tsahik, he is ready.” Jake announced as we walked in, I signaled to both of the ladies while saying “I see you” in their language. I got a look of surprise from them both as they hadn’t seen me since that first day I showed up in my military uniform.

“It appears he is, before dusk you will become one of the people.” I bowed in response and thanked her, following Jake out of their tent and back to his on the other side of the cave.

“Well would you look at that, in just a few months you’ve gone from nerdy dream walker to one of the people. It took me a lot longer, you’re a fast learner.” Jake gave me a good few smacks on the back as a “good job”.

“Thanks, I had a good teacher, a handsome one at that.” He turned back around at my second comment, confused by what I said.

“Did you just call me handsome?” I realized what I had said, and just nodded with mildly flushed cheeks. “If you think I’m handsome, what else do you think of me?”

“W-well I think you’re a good teacher, a great soldier, really strong and intelligent…” I started to trail off after Jake got closer and closer to me.

“Oh yeah? Anything else you wanna add to that list? You’re getting awfully quiet.” At this point Jake was leaning over me, on his knees, hands cornering me against the back of his tent and the floor.

“Um, I don’t really know if I should keep adding to that list, your ego might get too big, or something else.” Jake somehow managed to get even closer, mere inches from my lips, I was breathing heavily, not sure what to do.

“Jake, (y/n)? It is time to prepare for the ceremony.” Ney’tiri came around the edge of the tent and inside right as Jake got off of me and sat beside me, trying to hide what he was doing before.

“Oh, right of course, I’ll leave you to it then, she’s a gentle touch.” Jake leaned over to whisper the last part before leaving the tent.

“Hello Ney’tiri, what do I need to do for this?” She sat down a bowl with white liquid in it, a few rags and another bowl with water.

“Nothing, I will do everything I need to as you are, just sit still.” Nodding, I let her get to work. I felt her grab one of the rags and dip it in the water to wash me of any dirt or other filth. Then she dipped her fingers in the white bowl and began to trace my skin in very circle-like ways until I had been covered almost entirely in the white paint.

“Jake, you may come back inside. You taught him our ways, you must walk him to the ceremony.” Walking back inside, Jake gave a look of surprise, I guess he’d forgotten what it looked like to be covered in the same paint.

“Of course, thank you Ney’tiri, I’ll see you there.” She nodded and exited the tent as Jake came over to help me up. “C’mon, we’ve got a lot of Na’vi out there waiting for you.”

I stood and followed Jake out of the tent, down to the center of the cave where all the Omaticaya were gathered. Standing before the Tsahik, Mo’at put both her hands on my shoulders and muttered something in Na’vi I couldn’t hear. Soon every member of the clan had a hand connected to me or through another person already touching me. After the ceremony, Jake grabbed my hand and dragged me to our Ikran. We flew to one of the rivers to let me rinse all the paint off, before he had me get back on and begin flying again. We made our way to one of the sacred sites where a tree was connected to Eywa.

“This is a place of memories, where the people connect to Eywa to see their loved ones, speak to them, relive memories.” I gave a gasp of awe at how beautiful it was, running my hands through the dangling branches. “And now that you are one of the people, you may choose a mate. There are many of the Omaticaya to choose from. Great hunters, warriors, singers, cooks, mothers and fathers.”

“There are many yes, but I don’t want any of them, I know who I want.” Jake turned to glance at me over his shoulder.

“Well, if you know who you want, you should ask them, don’t let me stop you.” I moved closer to Jake, putting a hand on his shoulder to turn him around.

“The man I want must also choose me.” Looking him in the eyes I noticed his softened greatly while he stared into mine.

“He already has, just waiting for you to make the first move.” Grabbing my waist, I pulled Jake into a kiss, long and full of emotion. We let go for only a moment to catch our breaths, before going right back at it. Sitting down, Jake on top of me, we mated that night, before Eywa, in the sacred place.

I woke up in my link, not sure what to do now, I had mated with Jake as my Avatar, but now I had no way to be with him without this stupid fucking link. I walked back to my room and cried for what felt like hours but couldn’t have been more than one hour. I fell asleep like that and woke up to my alarm the next morning, still sad and not sure what to do. I walked back to the link room, getting into the one I had grown familiar with. My human body had suffered because of the training and spending almost all of my days with Jake in my Avatar body.

Hopping in and reawakening in my Avatar, I was back in the cave with Jake, not sure what was going on. He was still asleep, but I knew I couldn’t go back to sleep with him unless I wanted to end the connection to my Avatar. I waited for probably another hour before Jake woke up, smiling when I saw him open his eyes and look down at me, instinctively wrapping his arms tighter around me.

“Jake, I have a serious question.” He leaned back from me.

“Yeah, what’s up?” I could feel the tears surfacing, it was gonna be a stupid answer and a lot of “well tough luck”.

“Is there a way for me to fully be in my Avatar body, forever, without having to get in the link every morning? I don’t want to pretend that I’m fully one of the Omaticaya when I’m still a dream walker to all of them.” The tears bubbled up and Jake leaned down to kiss my eyes, leaning back to smile at me.

“Yes, there is definitely a way to make that possible, what did you think happened to me?” I guess I never really thought of it, I just assumed he was still using a link somewhere else not in the main facility.

“Really? Can we do it tonight?” I sat up and straddled his lap, excited now to be able to join him forever as an Avatar.

“I’ll have to talk to Mo’at, we should be able to.” My tail was wagging behind me like a puppy about to get a treat.

“That’s great, thank you Jake.” I leaned down to lay on his chest, hugging him as well.

“Of course honey, of course.” That evening Jake took me to the tree of souls, where once again all the Omaticaya were gathered for me. Walking my human body, fully awake and Ney’tiri carrying my Avatar, they laid both me and my Avatar down at the tree beside Mo’at.

“Eywa, we wish to take all that he is and bring it into this body, please allow him to pass through your eye and return safely to us.” That was the last thing I heard as I was suddenly taken from consciousness. It felt like I was in an empty void for a few minutes, walking through and trying to find someone, anyone, hell anything. Then suddenly I saw a bright light and followed it out of the void where I awoke again under the tree of souls, Jake, Mo’at and Ney’tiri standing above me.

“What’s going on?” I asked and Jake grabbed my face to kiss me, a surprise but a nice one.

“It worked, you passed through the eye of Eywa, you’re in your Avatar forever now.” I looked down at my hands, sure enough, blue as the day I first linked with my Avatar. I was finally going to get the life I always wanted.

[quibbs126]

So we have part 2 of stylized Cookies, pretty much all from today other than bird girls

I feel like I did better yesterday, but also I haven’t seen yesterday’s drawing since yesterday, so I don’t really remember if it was

I was planning on drawing the Hollyberry family, but because I got stuck on Jungleberry (I deleted her so you can’t see), that didn’t end up happening. Funny enough, I was also like “I have no clue what to do for White Lily and Pure Vanilla so they’re probably not gonna be drawn for a while”, but what got me to draw more today was ideas for White Lily, and Pure Vanilla came along later

To be honest, White Lily and Pure Vanilla probably still need some tweaking before I color them. I’m still not really sure what I’m doing with White Lily’s hair, and for Pure Vanilla I feel like I haven’t done enough outside of the eyes and the hat. Maybe it’s because I gave him an oval head? I wasn’t really sure what head shape to give him other than it not being one I already used

Speaking of their eyes, White Lily’s are supposed to be pink with white irises, and Pure Vanilla is supposed to have no irises, but solid yellow and blue. Which when I was drawing looked somewhat unsettling, which is funny because since I draw so many Cookies, that’s usually normal now

Also also, I now want to make a purelily kid that combines their features, aka White Lily’s half shadow face and Pure Vanilla’s small non iris eyes. They’d look like the comedy mask. And probably also somewhat like Shadow Milk

As for the Hollyberry family, I think Holly herself looks good, and the other two look alright. Princess probably needs more tweaking. I wanted to give them a running trait of not just dot eyes, but leaves in their hair. I’m thinking that every Hollyberrian has leaves in their hair, since they’re berries. I am struggling with Royal Berry and Princess’, since the best place to it their leaves is where they have something else, aka their crown and heart pins

To be honest I want to make it so that Princess is half berry half candy, so that maybe she could not have to have the leaves, but I like Jungleberry and don’t want to get rid of her or turn her into a candy, so oh well

I drew Red Velvet because I was struggling with White Lily and Pure Vanilla. I gave him a triangle head because someone somewhere on my first page said something about Golden Cheese having a triangle face because the Cakes, so why not give the half cake Cookie a triangle head as well?

Also with Red Velvet I definitely took liberties in redesigning him, like with the hair and horns, but I don’t think he looks necessarily bad? As least not by the end

I also drew him with Dark Choco because darkvelvet is a thing I know. Though to be honest, while I draw it, I’m not sure how much I like it. Like in theory I like it, it’s not bad, it’s just that I don’t think I get it. Like as far as I can tell they can only be doomed by the narrative because Dark Choco leaves, but maybe I’m interpreting Red Velvet’s character wrong. It’s been over a year since I watched his story. And also I’m not sure what draws people to the ship? Like darklico for example I can get for various reasons, but I don’t know about darkvelvet

Oh yeah, Licorice is here too. Forgot about that. Well I tried to make his head oval shaped because it’s sort supposed to look like a skull? Or a cartoony skull. Same with his eyes and mouth, they’re supposed to be somewhat skull-y. I didn’t draw his actual skulls though because I’m lazy and it’s a small drawing. I think he turned out pretty good though

I think maybe next page I should focus on more random characters outside of the Ancients. Maybe that’ll help the creative freedom

Anyways yeah, I think that’s it for now

[danwhobrowses]

So a thing happened on Critical Role this week (campaign 3 ep 91), we're gonna talk about it - a long talk - so if you haven't been caught up and don't wanna be spoiled don't keep reading okay?

One of the disadvantages of being in a different time zone is that after fretting all morning, going to work, thinking 'it's 7am maybe it's done now' I had to sit in my office for a stressful final half hour murmuring don't do this don't fucking do this don't you dare fucking do this!

I already was worried for everyone given the cliffhanger last episode, and the 5 hour length made me further worried as players kept being knocked down by Otohan Thull - already frightening in base form but now with an even higher AC and empowered. Then Sam Riegel had to do what he does best, a devastating sacrifice where FCG blows himself up to take down Otohan - Ludinus' No. 2, harrowed for being proficient in slaughter, defeated by no assassin or warrior but a cleric saving their friends. We've been well past 'get off the moon' hours with this one, but now there is an impact on every one of the Hells to think about, which is what this will be about.

FCG Though he is dead there is still stuff to talk about with FCG's death. A common debate right now is the potential of the Reincarnate spell; while the wording of the death implies that FCG's current body is irreparable there is a chance that a 5th Level Druid Spell can fashion him a new body, one of flesh, bone and tongue. The body itself needs to be dead for less than 10 days so there is wiggle room to gain the necessary components too if the top brass of Exandria turn it into a fetch quest. There is argument on both sides though; if FCG comes back does it undermine his sacrifice? Perhaps, but there's no incentive for the Hells to not try. Reincarnation hasn't quite happened in Critical Role yet - Since Molly/Lucien/Kingsley was kinda different, he kinda had the opposite, different mind same body - so it'd be a refreshing new option and also a way to redesign FCG without having to create a whole new cleric (because they definitely need a cleric) with a whole new skillset that the Hells will need to warm towards before the final battle. But at the same time, the soul has to be willing. FCG was content with his sacrifice, and in the arms of the Changebringer would he go back? I'd like to hope so if it's an option, it'd also entertain a whole new character arc for him as a 'real boy' - plus Matt and Sam don't have to fully abide to the D100 rule of what race he turns into. Of course, I like this angle more than needing a new character, because I like happy endings and it makes narrative sense that the Hells would claw and bite to pull him from that sweet goodnight. It would also validate a reason for the Hells to align with the gods, because if divine favour comes into play and the Gods decide against helping Bell's Hells' greatest advocate for saving them then they are foolishly and callously forsaking key players to their survival, FCG reincarnating with the help of the Gods would play a big part in the Hells standing with them rather than losing faith in them, and even with friction between the Titans & Temults and the Gods from the past they would have a common enemy. Still living or dying can have varying effects on the other characters.

Ashton From the moment Ashton met FCG they wanted to make sure this little bot would be okay, that they'd learn to value their life and be able to thrive. While part of that did happen, Ashton is likely going to feel like nothing's changed since Bassuras; knocked out by Otohan and when awakened a friend is dead, another person they couldn't protect.

Before the shard, I think Ashton would very easily fly off the handle, in their anger they'd blame everything including themselves and maybe even consider leaving themselves, it probably have made them more self-destructive too. Now though I'm not so sure, nobody would hold it against them to waver a little on their promise to take care of themselves in a burst of grief, this was after all their best friend someone they looked after like a little brother, and while I can see Ashton quietly and angrily grieving I can also see Ashton double down on trying to keep their promise, making sure that FCG didn't go out like a martyr and that it won't be in vain. FCG reincarnating would assist in Ashton's character drive too, since I feel like they would detest any replacement cleric because it's not FCG, they may also be less abrasive towards the gods if they came through for them and proved that they care - at least to the Changebringer, think they'd still throw copper at the Dawnfather given the whole Angel incident.

Imogen As the nominated leader of Bell's Hells, many will probably look to Imogen Temult for action, the problem is she has her own mother issues to deal with too - and I'm not entirely sold that Liliana has fully made a turn just yet, only that she won't hand over the Hells to Ludinus. FCG's death is gonna produce a lot of guilt from Imogen though, she was detesting the fact that she had to play dead at 1HP while Otohan cut down her friends again, she will likely blame her inaction which in turn may push her to be more aggressive in combat.

At the same time, I can see her being one of the more gung ho characters to push towards the Reincarnate option, perhaps even going as far as to accost or lambast anyone regardless of alliances or rank who she feels isn't as committed. Imogen has been in the position of loss before, and knowing that FCG had a connection with FRIDA she would likely compel herself to fix it rather than have to deliver the bad news. Regardless of whether he reincarnates though I feel like Imogen may look towards some more defensive spells, and maybe through Liliana try to tap into the powers of an Exalted to try and match the power she saw from Otohan, a risky endeavour for sure but FCG took an even greater risk for them.

Orym Orym is probably the toughest of the Hells to read when it comes to FCG's death. There will of course be a deep sadness at the loss of a friend, but I would also sense a...not bitterness but discontent that this is how it went down. Otohan killed his family, he kept fighting her until he could no longer stand because that's what they would've done, and now she's dead but it doesn't make it better, he wasn't the one to do it, he didn't even see it, and the one who did is gone with her. When Bor'dor was killed, Orym coldly reminded himself that 'we're at war', but I don't think he can justify that way with FCG, the loss was greater than the catharsis.

The death also has to turn attention to his deal with Nanna Mori. Many have pointed out that there is a lot of technicalities that may prolong, void or complete the deal; it was never specified how many times the Hells could return from the moon to continue the deal, but at the same time they did technically return from the moon to Exandria safe and sound via the Secret Backdoor. Still, Mori is his best friend's grandmother, there could be leeway on that matter too and even if he does have to commit to the deal (which I call 'Fatekeeper Orym') it's never been explicitly said that Orym needs to constantly attend to Mori in the Feywild, only that he has to be her caretaker and answer her beck and call. However, FCG's death will likely provide a sobering thought that his deal with Mori was perhaps voided, unless there is one more thread he can have her pull. When it comes to seeking options to bring a friend back, I would keep a close eye on Orym - it's not the first time Liam's resolved himself to be damned before.

Fearne Fearne will likely be a linchpin if the Hells seek out Reincarnate. The spell is exclusive to Druids and if Keyleth isn't on hand to do it the task and pressure will fall to her. It'll be interesting how she reacts, I don't wanna say she'll be the most positive of it because she'll certainly be upset, but I can see her being optimistic even if it's to also convince herself, the one who is most encouraging to find a way. As a shipper I of course want her to be the one who comforts and gets through to Ashton while they grieve but if she also is key to his reincarnation that also adds to their slow-burn. Outside of that, FCG's death may also lead into learning about Mori's deal with Orym, which will probably anger her that Orym kept it from her, there is also the fact that having FCG's life in her hands may bring back bad memories of Bassuras and Whitestone. One must also especially worry about her Asmodeus calling card, the Prince of Lies does nothing for free and I still feel like Klask was planted in her path by Asmodeus' (and maybe even Athion's) titan-seeking design.

If FCG does reincarnate though, I could see her friendship with FCG being even greater than it was, since they'll both feel a greater zeal for life - it may also make her feel further distant from her Evil vision, since she will have saved half her friends rather than risked killing them. If not though, Fearne may have to play mediator for the new cleric and may also be pushed towards freeing up more slots for healing to provide more support for the Hells in future battles.

Chetney It's gonna be an interesting one for Chetney too, from one perspective you could see him thinking that FCG traded their life for his; he died, he made peace with that, but then the one who revived him died. Chetney's more personal mindset has often been cloaked in secrecy, perhaps as one of the least open of the Hells despite many claiming him as the Heart of the group, so I wonder if Chetney may harbour some Survivor's Guilt for what happened.

I can see Chetney being the one to keep his emotions close to his chest, even if FCG were to reincarnate he would perhaps try to shrug off that he always knew it'd happen anyway. That being said someone who remains stoic and unwavering may prove a positive or a negative to the group, depending on the person or their interpretation of it. If a new cleric comes along though I could see him being additionally protective of them, having been the new guy before.

Laudna We should all be worried for Laudna right now. The recent 4SD already revealed that Laudna's 'close to the brink' and I'm pretty sure this is the brink. The aftermath of the Otohan fight will likely push each of the Hells to get stronger, since had they hit harder or been able to take stronger blows it wouldn't have come to this, but that will mean bad things when it comes to Laudna, as she may seek to gain power the only way she thinks she can - through Delilah. After all her last two levels went to Sorcery and did little in the fight, whereas her Warlock class Eldritch Blasts hurt Otohan fairly decently, such a thing can linger in the mind for Delilah to manipulate.

It'll be telling if they do try to Reincarnate him whether the damage will have been done already to Laudna, and that the joy of bringing him back turns to tragedy of Laudna losing herself further, as it often does it will fall to how she leans on Imogen, and how open about it she'll be to her. If FCG is lost however, we may have to keep a very close eye on Laudna being next.

Bell's Hells As I mentioned with Laudna, FCG's death will have made something apparent and clear; despite everything Bell's Hells need to get stronger. Even at Lv13, even with Exalted powers, Fey bargains and Titan shards they still just barely escaped a TPK, and granted they were weakened and worn out but no fight is guaranteed to ever be fought at 100%. Otohan may've been the toughest General of the Vanguard but the other Generals - the Weavemind, Zathuda and the Dominon of Cruft Commander - are still not ones to take lightly, Ludinus is still not one to take lightly, and if Liliana is going to be used by him to become a vessel for Predathos, that cannot be taken lightly. Bell's Hells may need to look towards enhancing their stats as well as their equipment, the harness is still a factor too which can boost them all with enough enchanted items at their disposal. An interesting one would be if Otohan's backpack ends up in one of the Hells' hands; many beforehand have talked about Orym being an Echo Knight but I would personally like to see Ashton take it, since it is powered by the Potion of Possibility like their own Dunamancy powers, it's possible (eheh) that they may align in some manner and could you imagine Ashton + 3 Echoes all raging to get All 4 Dunamancies? Otohan's swords may also provide unique properties for Chetney and/or Orym to use. Reincarnation or not I feel like that may be the Hells' next plan once it's discussed whether to attempt Reincarnation and they're off of Ruidus, gathering allies will likely also be something to prepare for for the final battle given how Otohan stated that they have 'enough Ruidusborns' for their plan. As a group it is difficult to tell if this will strengthen or weaken them, it could strengthen them in a 'never again' way like the Nein, but they were also very enthusiastic about bringing Molly back - it drove them through several arcs - FCG however often was the Hells' beacon of hope and the self-imposed attempted therapist, without that the Hells will either have to put it upon themselves to go the extra lengths or they'll close further in on themselves. If FCG does reincarnate I feel like it would definitely strengthen them mentally but if not I am not so sure.

It shouldn't come to a surprise that I will hold onto the Reincarnate potential so that the Hells can get back their friend, but rest assured I'm worried for all of them right now, there are crossroads ahead.