byZackerie Fairfax
Published: Oct 14, 2026, 15:59
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VTuber Nuki has responded to criticism after revealing her avatar cost $27,000 and describing herself as “model siblings” with Ironmouse and Cottontail.
Nuki, who posts as k9labyrinth on X, said she has only been a VTuber for a couple of months, having previously streamed in VRChat. Her pink-haired avatar became the subject of a wider debate after she posted a video discussing its cost on October 12.
In the video, she acknowledged that the price was not normal, said she had saved to work with artists whose style was her “dream look,” and stressed that newcomers could find much cheaper models. Nevertheless, the cost and her references to Ironmouse and Cottontail drew criticism, alongside questions about her avatar’s mouth tracking.
How much did my live2D model cost?
I’m model siblings with cottontail and ironmouse 😱😱ENVTuber VTuber https://t.co/WmWp0EjVLRpic.twitter.com/JFBYn2Eb5B
— nuki 🐾🩸 (@k9labyrinth) October 12, 2026
Nuki says she is still learning her model’s settings
In her original post, Nuki wrote: “I’m model siblings with cottontail and ironmouse.”
She credited Kamo with the model art and Cypurrpunk with its rigging, which enables the avatar’s movement. Her “model siblings” description refers to shared creators, rather than a collaboration with either streamer.
VTuber Deja Wu criticized that emphasis, accusing Nuki of trying to “grow through association” and questioning the limited mouth movement visible in the clip.
Imagine paying 27k for a model just to say you are model siblings with 2 more popular vtubers and they dont even acknowledge you 🤣
People will really pay ridiculous money just to think this kind of thing matters. You might get a small initial boost but you just wasted a down… https://t.co/AHOVLKWp3D
— 🐒Deja Wu🐒 (@DejaWukong) October 14, 2026
Other responses focused on what newcomers might take away from the price. Artist Amaya warned that people starting out should set a budget rather than assume they needed to match larger creators’ spending.
“Don’t put yourself in an uncomfortable financial spot, and set realistic style expectations,” Amaya wrote.
$27,000
As OP said this amount of money is not normal for a vtuber model. Let alone your first vtuber model. As more and more people get into vtubing everyday it is important to recognize how much money some of the large vtubers are spending on their models. This amount of money… https://t.co/nWQRYICPR1
— Amaya 🌸 VGen + Artist Alley (@AmayaSin_) October 13, 2026
Nuki addressed the tracking questions directly. After a viewer asked why the mouth did not open properly, she replied: “I’m new to vtubing and don’t know how to set up stuff lmao.”
In a separate follow-up, she said the attention had helped her learn about parameters and asked for help making the mouth tracking more sensitive.
“I was convinced camera tracking just sucked!” she wrote.
