#fishy flaws

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Type of stuff my family would do with each other (hurricane came through my state sharing a family member’s name, we all blamed them for it)

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Lieutenant Crystal McCrae

She’s finally done! She would’ve been done sooner but I accidentally made her green instead of orange.

Mostly takes over kawazii’s role on the ship. Did you know he’s also listed as pirate as a job? Anyways we’re giving that Vick

I don’t have many ideas for her yet, Crystal mostly stays the same as she does in regular Fatal Flaws

So far the one with the most uniform changes and one that actually kinda references the character they’re replacing

Next to her is a poor drawing of the octonauts logo, or at least how I draw it

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Ok I know i said the next one was going to be Crystal however. I might have messed up on her and will be starting over. But hey this means we’ve got Ellie now! And a poor drawing of the GUP-A

Originally was going to have a headband and a hairstyle that resembled bunny ears as tribute to Tweak in the show. However I really love Ellie’s original hair so she’s keeping it

Builds and fixes most equipment on the Octopod

As I said with Arthur, the uniform has doubles for swimwear and can be personalized, mostly as long as there is still some blue and the Octonaut logo. The swim version of Ellie’s is just red.

She does have goggles but I forgot to draw them. Good news with them is that they are prescription so she can go diving and still see

Like Tweak in the show, her bedroom is in the launch bay. The main difference though is that Ellie’s has a sliding door so she can have privacy and lock people out if needed

The GUP-A was included in this because I believe it would have to be fixed up more often than not, as it is used for most missions since it can hold around 3 people inside it at a time.

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Fishy Flaws Fic One

First ever fanfic I've written, apologies if it's bad but I had to get it written down. Its exactly 1276 words.

It had been a fairly normal and successful day for the crew aboard the Octopod. They managed to make significant progress in studying a coral reef; it had animals and plants that weren't found anywhere else and a cave system underneath. Vick and Miles had challenged each other to a race, but to the surprise of everyone (and to the relief of Ellie,) neither of them crashed. Bunny had managed to cut her hand on a rock, but it was easy for Randy to deal with until they had a proper medic aboard. 

Captain Arthur von Licht was currently filling out the day’s report in HQ. Since nothing had crashed or broken and that there had been no near death experiences thanks to Miles’ cryptid hunting, it was shorter than usual. The reports had been as of late. However, it was still late by the time he finished and he had no time left in the day to work on a little project he had once he got to his room.

It was a little model ship of the HMS Beagle, which was used by Charles Darwin on his voyage to the Galapagos Islands. It had been a gift from a family member right before he officially became the Captain of the Octonauts, which the person had thought it was fitting as the first word in the Octonaut motto was “explore”. He was almost done with it, all that was left was painting it. But, Arthur still had to get up early the next day and was not risking sleeping past his alarm. 

As he walked out of HQ, Arthur could hear Bunny and Hacker talking about a storm they had been tracking. It had recently taken a slight turn, heading straight towards the reef they had stationed themselves at. 

“I think it’s getting stronger, it's not enough to be hazardous to us now, but it could be by the time it hits,” Hacker said. Arthur tensed up a bit at that, but it would have to wait until the morning. It would be fine, they’ve handled worse.

He passed Finch on the way out, who was taking watch duty that night. They had been rotating the job throughout the crew as it was a newer area and there was wildlife still yet to be discovered. But everything so far had been fine, and Arthur doubted the alarm would have to be turned on at any point in the night.

Miles, Vick, and Ellie were still in the kitchen and dining area, (hopefully) finishing up what they said was a one shot session of Oceans and Ogres. Usually they went on for weeks on end but the trio had promised that this one would be short. 

Arthur waved at them and continued on his way. He reached his room and pretty much immediately got ready and went to bed. Although, he laid awake for some time just… thinking.

What if the storm hits earlier than it should and we’re not prepared? What if something from under the reef decides to attack? Arthur knew that should any of this happen, Finch would sound the alarm and the crew could handle it. After all, they’ve handled worse.

And yet, he couldn’t seem to shake the thoughts away as he fell asleep.

The alarm went off. The loud WHOOP-WHOOP-WHOOP sounded throughout the Octopod as it was designed to get any and everyone's attention. Arthur raced to HQ after throwing on actual clothes; not the full uniform, he didn’t have the time for that. He entered HQ as the Octopod shook.

No one was there. Finch should’ve been at the very least. Crystal and Randy were usually quick with getting there in case of an emergency. The only one Arthur could think of who would not be there was Ellie, who had to immediately tie and close down the launch bay according to protocol. The ship shook again like something was hitting against it. Arthur immediately went to the intercom system and turned it on. His first priority was making sure his crew was safe, captain or not. 

“Is everyone alright?” He waited for an answer. There was none. “Hello? Is everyone okay?” Arthur repeated. No answer. 

This wasn’t right. Crystal usually would answer immediately if she was not there with him. And if no one answered the first time, there was always an answer the second. But Arthur didn’t get a chance to make another call or even go look for his missing crew. A loud beeping came from one of the computers, a map of the surrounding area. 

Something was coming towards the Octopod. And not only that, the Octopod was moving. 

That shouldn’t be possible. No one’s piloting it. 

He looked out the windows. There was no ground for the Octopod to be set on. In fact, it kept bobbing up and out of the water. The ocean waves crashed around the ship. The sky was dark with black, swirling clouds and lightning struck the air as rain crashed down. 

Stay calm, we, you, can handle this. The beeping went on. Whatever it was, it kept moving towards the Octopod and the ocean and sky seemed to have no effect on its speed. 

It struck the ship. Arthur fell to the floor, trying to brace himself on the console. If something was attacking, they had no weapons to fend it off with. The only choice was to attempt to flee. Arthur could pilot the Octopod, it was in his training to be able to pilot it. 

He went to open the wheel, but it wouldn’t budge. Arthur kept trying. Something large swam by the front and its tail banged against the glass, cracking it slightly. He fell again, this time hitting his head on the console. He got up again, trying again to open the wheel. 

It wouldn’t open. The thing outside hit the Octopod head on. He saw a flash of large, sharp, and very white teeth. Fangs might’ve been a more appropriate word for it. The ship rocked back and forth. The glass cracked more and water started leaking in. The alarm hadn’t turned off.

Nononono. He tried one more time over the intercom. No answer. If he can’t get a hold of them and tell them to run, he’d have to do it himself on the way to the GUPs. He had to make sure his friends were safe. Arthur tried to leave HQ. The door wouldn’t open, not even manually. He was stuck.

Water poured in and had passed his knees. It was cold.The alarm still blared and the computer beeped. The Octopod shook again and knocked him around. More glass shattered, cutting him. The creature swam past again, as if taunting him. 

There wasn’t anything he could do. Even if Arthur managed to get out, there was no way he’d be able to swim in the storm outside and avoid the creature. The water was up to his head and he was struggling to keep afloat. And for a single moment, everything went silent.

The Octopod was yanked down. Arthur barely had time to take and hold a breath. He couldn’t see and was getting sliced by the broken windows. The last thing he saw before everything went dark was the flashing lights of the computer and a large, tooth-filled mouth.

Arthur opened his eyes. There was no blaring alarm or flashing lights. The Octopod wasn’t shaking and as he looked outside, they were sitting just a way from the reef like they always had been. He felt cold, yet it seemed he was sweating an awful lot. Everything was fine.

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Captain Arthur of the Octonauts and Champion the Vegimal

Bit difficult to make, captain barnacles is the only original octonaut with a full uniform. I want med the uniform to be a little universal, with only a few differences between the captain and the rest of the crew. I’m also getting rid of the hats because every time I attempt to draw them they look bad. The rest are to come, I’m uploading them as I complete them

Oh here’s an updated octopod and leviathan reaper chase photo

Also have some facts about the two:

Arthur made the hat for Champion, its styled off of the hat Captain Barnacles wears in the show

The outfit he wears has doubles for swimwear, except yellow. All the crew members swimwear is different colors to tell people apart easier

He’s the only one who doesn’t really personalize his uniform

Although not pictured, (because I forgot) he has wrinkles around his eyes from squinting every time he makes a plan. Which is basically all the time as that’s kinda his job

Arthur’s favorite kelp cake flavor is vanilla, Champion’s is apple

I know the Vegimals don’t have patterns in the show, however I’m drawing them with patterns because I want to and it looks cool

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Still working on designs for everyone and uniforms, so instead of just posting each character individually I'm going to post all their info below and come back later with refs. Most of these are traits that they share with the original Octonauts, but I added in a few other things too.

Captain - Arthur

Like Captain Barnacles, he and his family are from Canada. However, Arthur speaks with a British accent and is the only one in his family to do so.

Gets stung by jellyfish often

Squinty eyes when thinking, which happens to be often

claustrophobic 

Lieutenant - Crystal

Chews on yarn

Will test drive new and fixed GUPs for Ellie as she is less likely to crash compared to others

If Miles isn’t available, she pilots to Octopod

Engineer - Ellie

Grew up in the Florida Everglades and speaks with a Southern accent

Fixes and builds new GUPs

Is often in the launch bay 

Geological Oceanographer - Vick 

Studies the ocean floor

Ancestors were pirates

Despite not needing one, she wears an eyepatch. Thankfully the fabric is thin enough for her to see through it

Will often race in the GUPs with Miles. It doesn’t always end well

Plays sessions of Oceans and Ogres with other crew members. They take turns DMing

Marine Botanist and Environmental Scientist - Finch

One of the better GUP drivers

If Arthur is away, either he or Crystal take the role of acting captain

Discovered the Vegimals and is studying them with Randy

He named Champion 

Pilot and Cryptozoologist - Miles

Main pilot of the Octopod and will often be piloting GUPs for missions

And yet, he crashes the GUPs often enough to get on Ellie’s nerves. He helps fix and build them to try and make up for it

Studies marine cryptids

Named Kevin

Photographer - Blue

Ok look I didn’t know where to put him bear with me

He just takes pictures and analyzes them

Spends a lot of time in HQ, mostly because Ellie kept kicking him out (he’s a yapper)

Probably has like multiple photo albums of everyone minding their own business, although most of them is because he’s making sure the camera still works

IT Officer and Meteorologist - Hacker

In control of all the computers, comms, and remote steering for the Octopod

He normally stays on the Octopod to coordinate missions and make sure everything there runs smoothly while people are out

Used to cave dive for fun

Reads with Bunny, a lot of mystery of varying types. 

On the rare occasion the Octoray GUP is used, he is it’s pilot

Junior Photographer and Meteorologist - Bunny

Not allowed to pilot anything, but has been taught just in case

Technically like an intern as they’re only 19, but still helps around

Checks weather patterns and tracks hurricanes, blizzards, and typhoons

Keeps track of climate changes over time

Likes to read novels with Hacker during downtime if not playing video games, the current favorite books are like a cross between Nancy Drew and Scooby Doo.

Marine Biology and Veterinarian - Randy

Helped start the program

Has a PhD

He is currently the acting medic as the last one retired and no one has taken on the job yet

Rehabs animals if needed

Vegimals - Kevin and Champion

Can only be understood by Finch and Miles for some reason

Will help Ellie in the launch bay if needed, but other than that they cook and garden for love of the game

Champion has a little hat that Arthur gave him

Champion has mottled skin, and Kevin has red leaves coming out of his head

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Good Morning Sunshine!

The title barely has anything to do with this, but I thought it was fitting.

Part 2 of the nightmare fic (1061 words)

Everything was fine. Arthur could see that the Octopod had never moved in the first place. And yet, he was still shaken up over it. 

He usually was able to pick himself up over a nightmare, heck, he’d had to do it over actual threats and not an almost impossible situation. It would take the strongest currents to even sway the Octopod. And, his crew wouldn’t just disappear, Arthur reasoned. But the captain couldn’t seem to calm himself down or go back to sleep. Checking the time, he saw that it was around 3:30 am. He didn’t have to be awake for another hour and a half. 

Might as well start the day early then. Arthur turned on a small light, as to not mess with any of the surrounding wildlife’s natural rhythm. He got dressed in his outfit, which was mostly blue except for the white logo of the Octonauts. He ignored putting on the hat, usually he let Champion wear it instead. On his way out, he grabbed the Octo-compass, a device used for communication as well as acting as a normal compass. It almost never left his side. 

Arthur looked down the hall. It was dark, and he was not about to risk waking everyone up by turning on the hall light. But he noticed that Miles’ door was open slightly. Weird, usually it’s only open if he’s not in there. 

Then again, Arthur remembered Miles telling him once (unprompted) that he would stop by the kitchen if he couldn’t sleep. He might as well go and see if that’s where he was. 

As Arthur reached it, he saw that the kitchen light was on. Lo and behold, there was Miles. He was sitting at the table, which was big enough to fit the whole crew at, seemingly waiting for the coffee maker to finish. 

Miles’ hair was a slight mess like he hadn’t even bothered to brush it out. He had his elbow propped up on the table and was resting his head against his hand. Arthur noticed that the bags under his friend’s eyes looked darker than usual. 

“You gonna keep staring?” Arthur hadn’t realized he had been. Miles was staring directly at him. 

“Apologies,” Arthur replied. “Just came to get some water.”

That was a lie, he was there to make sure Miles was fine. He was still anxious. 

“In full uniform? Seems like you’re starting early today.” Miles raised his eyebrow. “Everything alright cap?”

Arthur stayed silent before saying anything. Maybe a moment too long, because when he answered with “Everything is fine,” Miles let out a small sigh. 

“If you say so.”

Arthur stood there for a moment. He debated turning around and heading up to the HQ, but he remembered he had told Miles he was stopping by for water. He walked over to the counter, grabbed a cup, and turned on the sink to fill it about halfway. Leaning against the counter, he took a sip. The water was cold, and it reminded him of water as it poured in nonstop-

Arthur shook his head trying to stop himself from dwelling on it. It was just a nightmare; it wasn’t even real. He put the cup down on the counter. 

The coffee maker beeped and Miles stood up. Arthur tried not to look at him as he replayed the events that he was so scared were real, where his friends were gone and he was unable to save them even if they weren’t. 

Looking for a distraction, he asked “Why are you awake this early? Usually you’re not up until about 7 o’ clock.”

“Couldn’t sleep. Kinda gave up trying to and decided to deal with it,” spoke Miles as he poured the now-ready coffee in a mug. 

“Oh.” For some reason, Arthur couldn’t find a way to keep the conversation going. Then again, most of when the two would talk was during missions and where the Octopod and its crew was heading next. He watched Miles take a sip and walk back to sit at the table

Arthur’s mind kept wandering back to what he had been so sure was real. It was getting to the point where he wasn’t sure what the worst part was, being powerless to prevent his and the other Octonauts' supposed death, or the loss of his crew. 

It’s fine, everything is fine. Stop freaking out over something this minor. 

Arthur picked up the glass of water and took another sip. The cold still reminded him of what he was trying to forget and he felt himself shiver. 

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Miles apparently had been watching him. Arthur stood there, trying but unable to bring himself to lie again. 

The two stared at each other, although Arthur’s gaze was more directed to the space near Miles. Miles had a slightly concerned look on his face; he knew something was bothering Arthur. 

Arthur was trying to focus on anything but Miles. Looking at him just brought back thoughts of the nightmare. 

“Arthur?”

“I’m fine.”

“Bullshit.”

“Look- it’s not- It’s not that big of a deal. I’m fine.” As he said this, he felt the corners of his eyes water. Arthur wiped it away while the other squinted at him. After another moment, Miles stood up and walked over to Arthur. He put his hand on the captain’s shoulder and stared him dead in the eyes.

“No. You’re not.” Miles’ voice was serious, more serious than when he was yelling at everyone to be quiet when piloting them away from danger. Arthur could not look away from him this time. Thoughts of what could happen to Miles and the rest of the crew – even outside of his nightmare – became too much for him to handle this time and he felt his eyes water again. Miles seemed to notice this, because suddenly, to Arthur at least, he pulled his captain into a hug. 

Arthur couldn’t stop the tears from falling. He hugged his pilot back as he sobbed silently. Miles was saying something to him but he couldn’t really make it out. It was something along the lines of “It’s gonna be alright.” and “maybe take the day off today?” like he’d ever do that. But that didn’t really matter at the moment to Arthur; his friends were safe, and that was all that mattered.

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A child? In a trench?

Thank you to @reallymagicaltree for the idea (sorry if you didn't want to be tagged)

Everyone was having trouble adjusting to life in the trench. Sure, it had only been a few days, but it was so dark and so cold to the point where everyone had to wear long sleeves at all times for it to be bearable. 

They hadn’t started exploring yet as they were still making sure the area around them was safe and stable. Ellie was currently swimming outside the Octopod, making sure it was still in shape. Recently, the crew had noticed bite marks on parts of it and Arthur had asked her to make sure that the Octopod wouldn’t be falling apart anything soon. 

Ellie notices that the bite marks were small, but definitely made by sharp teeth. They didn’t seem to be strong enough to cause any actual damage except scratches to the paint to the Octopod or GUPs. Or maybe they were, but the metal that was used to make the Octopod was too strong for it. 

Turning on her comm, she told Arthur “Everything seems to be fine. It looks like whatever it was just caused scratches to the Octopod.”

Arthur’s voice came through the comm. “Alright, can you head back inside? I think Vick and Miles are ready to start looking around.” 

“On it.”

Starting to swim around the Octopod to the entrance, Ellie heard something. It sounded like something was gnawing on metal. The metal of the Octopod, to be exact. 

“Oh hell no.” Ellie was not having something destroy her and her friend home. She swam around to where she heard the sound as carefully as possible. 

The Octonauts tried not to use lights to not disturb wildlife. Even more so as they were deep down, since it could cause harm to what was around them. But Ellie barely needed light to see what was biting the Octopod. 

It was a child. Or at least, the top half of it was. The child’s lower half resembled a shark. However, whatever the kid was didn’t matter at the moment to Ellie. They were chewing the Octopod like it was a toy!

Ellie didn’t make a move at first. She just stared. A couple moments later the child noticed her and stopped gnawing mid bite. The two had a brief moment of eye contact before the child darted off before Ellie could even lift a finger. 

Her comm beeped and Miles’ voice came through this time. “Hey, where are you? We need to leave soon.” She took a couple breaths before responding. “I found what was biting the ‘pod.”

If Miles had been drinking something, he probably would have spat it out. 

Inside the Octopod, everyone had gathered in the launch bay. Ellie was still in her dive suit and was sitting at the edge of the pool. She had explained what she saw and the crew was debating what to do next. 

They decided to only go out in pairs at minimum for now. 

The bite marks stopped for a bit, but after about two days they returned. The child seemed to take more care to stay out of sight, then again no one had seen them since. 

On the fourth day, however, everyone was in headquarters discussing the day’s tasks when something quickly swam by the window. Thankfully though, with the lights dimly on, there was no doubting the familiar child that swam by. 

“That’s the kid!” Ellie pointed out the window where they had been. She ran back to the launch bay to follow the kid. 

“Can someone please go with her?” Arthur asked as she went. Crystal barely even agreed as she followed Ellie. 

By the time Crystal caught up with Ellie, she was already ready to start diving. Crystal had to physically slow Ellie down so they could go together. 

The two swam around the Octopod. And there was the half-shark child, gnawing away on the ship. 

Crystal whispered “Do we grab them?” 

“I guess? Maybe just try to get them to stop chewing the ship?” Ellie whispered back. They had to act quickly before the child swam off again. 

Crystal motioned for Ellie to swim around to the other side of the child, to which she nodded and did. Crystal swam a little closer to the child, and they managed to see a glint of sharp, white teeth. The rest of the crew must have turned up the lights slightly in the headquarters. 

When Ellie reached the other side, Crystal made another, but this time slower, motion to move the kid away from the Octopod. But the moment Ellie grabbed them, the child immediately started thrashing around and biting Ellie’s arms, causing her to yelp in pain. 

They managed to bite through the suit and had drawn blood. 

“Oh shit!” Crystal swam over and was trying to help restrain the child. Their comm beeped and she could hear Arthur asking if everything was alright. 

“This kids a biter!” Crystal grunted as she said this. “And really strong actually if you could send someone else-“

Before she could finish, the child now started biting Crystal as well and was hitting both her and Ellie with their tail. The two tried their best to maneuver the child — merpup? — away from the Octopod. Eventually, they had to let them go before more blood was drawn. 

Luckily they let the child go when they did, because the child immediately swam into the arms of another, much bigger, half-shark person. There was another one beside it too, and neither looked happy. 

“Back inside? Back inside. Now!” Ellie whisper-shouted. Neither of them had ever swam so fast in their life, and it was definite one was trying to catch them. The two only stopped when they reached the top of the pool in the launch bay. 

“Jesus Christ!” Randy shouted. He had a first aid kit with him, which was great because both Ellie and Crystal’s arms were covered in bleeding bite marks. Randy forced them to sit while he patched them up, and by the time he was done, the alert sounded throughout the Octopod. According to protocol, unless otherwise instructed, they all had to head up to headquarters. 

The lights were dark in headquarters, but the silhouette of one of the shark merpeople could be seen ramming themself into the window. The other two could not be seen, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. 

“Miles? Could you move the Octopod out of here as quickly as possible?”

“Yep!” With that, Miles was already heading over and activating the steering wheel, which was a circular platform that went on top of the Octopod. Why it was designed that way, he couldn’t tell you. 

From the wheel, Miles could very clearly see that there were more than the three merpeople than they had originally thought. There were about 11 in total, although he wasn’t sure if one could count as they were a very large, very tall crab. But they were moving towards the Octopod, likely about to attack it. 

“Yeah, f this place.”

And with that, Miles made the Octopod what Vick liked to call “Mach Fuck” and got them the hell out of there. They all agreed to not return to that place for a while. But hey, merpeople were bound to happen eventually, and that was one creature Miles could cross off his list of finding.