Hymn

Hymn

Star-Crossed: Among Sith and Jedi

Greetings one and all! And welcome to my latest art blog! Today I bring you something I’m personally very excited about- as it’s something I’ve been wanting to incorporate for a while but was struggling in figuring out how.

Just a quick heads up- amino bots have got me feeling paranoid- so while there is nothing to see on the character while I’m drawing their body- I will be censor baring them. Yes the chest too- despite it being a male. I just would rather not deal with another bots are stupid situation if it’s avoidable.

Anyway, I’d say I’d like to introduce you to Hymn… but for those of you who’ve been following along with my art and my au- you’ve already met Hymn… just… not as a him.

See- I’ve been looking into what skills and abilities my characters are going to have, and what skills and abilities they are going to gain throughout the story. I’ve also been comparing some of my characters to my other au counterparts, and seeing what can work in both worlds.

This character, their fantasy world au has something I’ve been calling a phoenix potion. In that world, it does a few things. You have to go through a ritual first, to see if you are even capable of the potion working on you. However- if it does, it has some fun abilities. The most useful by far, is that should you die- like a phoenix you will rise. However, there are some side effects that some characters actually seek the potion out for in the first place.

You see- you rise again- as the opposite gender (I know- wrong word- I’m trying to not make the bots mad). The first time you complete the ritual and have the potion, you swap, does not matter how healthy or not you are. However- you are not immortal. You are essentially given two forms that can be swapped between via two methods- ‘dying’ and drinking more of the potion. It does not heal either form. It will give you time however, to get to a healer, for once you switch back into the more hurt form.

In that world- the two character that we know went through this process did not go through it for the chance to not die. One character is trans, and that’s how they got themselves a body they were happy with- and the other is genderfluid, and happily bounces back and forth between the two forms. However- do to how that society works, it’s a big secret that they do this- and their second form is essentially a secret identity.

Abi/Ahbee is that genderfluid character. For a long time, I didn’t think I’d be able to bring that part of their story over. And the ability has not transferred perfectly by any means- but- I have found out how to at least semi give it back to them, and I am very very excited about it.

Ahbee’s sith master (Pestil) is very secretive. Some of the work Ahbee does for them has to do with Pestil’s actual interests- while other’s are more to keep people off the scent of their actual focuses.

Pestil’s main interests are in Sith Alchemy. And this is something they are training both of his apprentice’s in. Pestil, presents as a trans-Trandoshan, and has physically achieved this through their studies in Sith Alchemy. Ahbee being genderfluid- has made this something that the pair have bonded over, and Pestil is less secretive about teaching Ahbee about- as long as she doesn’t leak the methods.

Ahbee obviously doesn’t start very good at it- however Pestil enjoys having a secret “extra” helper for some missions. So even when Ahbee cannot fully transmute themselves, Pestil does help them with the transformation. They do it in a way that’s similar to force mask- making it so Ahbee can switch back very easily.

However this also ties Ahbee to Pestil because Ahbee can’t become Hymn without their help for a long time. Which, Pestil of course is perfectly fine with. One more barrier to keep their apprentice from betraying them, and one more way in which they can control them.

This isn’t the only alchemy Ahbee does… albeit the only one particularly relevant to this piece of art. They also are continuously adjusting themselves in non-visible ways to adjust their durability or their speed, depending on what they think their mission will call for.

Ahbee prefers to be fast and quiet- she does often function very similarly to an assassin. A bit of a glass canon- wanting to be in and out before you even notice her, and her wanting very much to dodge and hit faster if she is noticed. She understands though that sometimes durability is key.

Of the changes she makes to herself, there are things she isn’t allowed to do. Her sith master won’t let her remove her punishment tattoos unless Ahbee is currently Hymn. Ahbee/Hymn are also not allowed to significantly alter their shape aside from having the two versions of themselves. Pestil cannot have people figuring out that they know sith Alchemy.

Which is also why they can’t go by Ahbee or Aria when they switch. Pestil will not have that give away the game either. Ahbee struggled for a while with a new name- jokingly referring to that half of them in private as “him”. Already having a music theme as Aria, him became Hymn. While Ahbee didn’t really choose it per-say- it did stick, and they did have to use a name. So Hymn it was.

IRL I’m debating calling them Guy Hymn (for funnies) or Red Hymn (Red is what their fantasy counterpart goes by- until they pick up a title). I’m unsure though, and for now I think Hymn works well enough. I can certainly see Hymn/Ahbee dodging the question of a full name very successfully for a long while.

So Ahbee/Hymn obviously know they can do this. Pestil is also in on the list of the few who know. I’m still deciding if Betha (Ahbee’s rival apprentice) knows- I’m sure she wasn’t told, but whether or not she figured it out on her own is a completely different story…

…. And Patches knows. Ahbee/Hymn does not tell the Jedi this. They would not dare. The problem is- they have a bond through the force. At any given moment, they might not be able to tell you how far the other is- but they could point in the exact direction that they are. They would know each other in any form, as long as they believed what the force was telling them… and Patches does have that sort of trust in the force. So… he at least knows Hymn is Ahbee, and that doesn’t change how he feels about them at all.

I hope ya’ll liked my latest piece. I certainly enjoyed making it and rambling on about it. I’m very excited for all the plots that sith alchemy is going to open up for these characters. And of course, as always:

May the force be with you!