#beautiful fish au

[girl-lostconnection]

The thoughts consume me again but König who meets you as a teenager, before army, before becoming mercenary.

We know that he was badly bullied from canon but what if he had himself a little friend who had to leave him not out of their own volition but because something happened (parents moving or smth else).

And he, who experiences care and warmth for the first time is devoid of it again, something in him cracking further. Making him recoil back inside of himself.

Because Simon may have been an angry teenager but König would be a quiet one. The child that flies low under the radar, trying to stay out of trouble as much as possible.

Always in the back of the pictures and the back of the class and in the back of people’s minds. He’s a good kid, he’s diligent and he tries hard, he’s just very unfortunate.

Never lucky enough to find proper friends, never approachable enough for other people to befriend him — too tall and “weird”, due to lack of proper socialisation.

And then you appear and you are warm and kind and fiercely protective of him. Your German is shite because you just arrived to Austria but you try hard.

And König latches onto you with a desperation of someone who was alone for so long they’d take anything they are given. No matter what it is.

You walk to school with him, share lunches with him, you choose him to pair up for projects and games. You are an actual friend, one that inserts themselves between his bullies and him.

It doesn’t matter that he’s the tallest person in school and it looks funny to people. He could be the tallest person in the world for all you care.

He is your friend first and foremost.

König is in awe. König has teenage innocent crush on you because you are strong and you are smart and you are kind. And you do your best to protect him, German awkward and all but still stubbornly saying to him that he deserves better.

He is good. You like him. He is a friend. You will protect him.

But then you are gone. Ripped away from him without as much as any time for him to process it properly — he can still feel your hands around him when your parents’ car pulls away.

His T-shirt is still wet from your tears.

The pain comes later — blinding and consuming, wreaking his mind, shattering him over and over.

Bullying gets worse and he gets worse.

Before innocent crush starts twisting into obsession because when no one was safe and no one was warm — you were.

Maybe you got taken away because he was too weak? Maybe you got taken away to show him that he doesn’t deserve you if he can’t keep you?

He’ll get stronger then. He’ll get bigger.

He will get his little friend back. And no one will ever rip you away from him again.

Over his dead fucking body, Schatz. You just wait.

[gengwasted]

Aventurine just got comfortable and the doctor decides to throw a bomb at him??? This is rude and unacceptable. He loves it he's just... Confused.

Merventurine from @havanillas’ AU I can’t get them out of my head aughxzfdzfxh-

[scatterbrainedbot]

ok but the ghibli vibes of @triona-tribblescore 's wandering guardian au???

like i could live in this world forever tbh

inspo boards/refs below ft trionas SPECTACULAR GORGEOUS AMAZING og works of the au bros

[trustymikh]

it's mermay

using @janayuga's desigs <3

[dicenete]

Pokemon Trainer Jade Leech :)

I have managed to capture a magikarp! I named him Floyd. -Jade

Okay so I was listening the Magikarp song on loop (don't ask) and I just thought... Jade would love magikarps and sing that song.

:)

The weak Pokémon that's you, Magikarp But though you are the weakest Still you've won my heart

Oh, weak Pokémon my love for you is strong Honestly, it's magical You've survived this long

[sea-lanterns]

this came to me in a dream

empress, holding her newborn: i wonder whos baby this is

baby: *opens its eyes* 💿 ^ 💿

empress: congrats navia

NOT THE HOLOGRAPHIC SPARKLY EYES 😭

But ykw, this is so true. Navia’s eyes are so sparkly and pretty, you could say that she’s “got that James Dean, daydream, look in her eye…”

And her children with the Empress would inherit these beautiful eyes too! Actually, now that I think about it…a lot of the genshin women have super unique eyes. Like, I can just imagine:

Shenhe’s baby: 🌈^🌈

Furina’s baby: ⚪️^🔵

Candace’s baby: 🔵^🟡

Arlecchino’s baby: ❌^❌

Hu Tao’s baby: 🌸^🌸

[flowerakatsuka]

i'm still working on proper refs for musical!kuroba, but since their storyline in the au is heavily inspired by veronica sawyer from the heathers musical, i needed to get this out of my system first. ( it ended up looking a lot gayer than i initially intended. )

[caliburn-not-calculator]

Coloured sketchs from various maxim VR-LA mermaid aus…

The scales are so fun, shinyyyyyy

[glitt3r-scales]

My superpower is creating content catered so specifically to me that only 2 other people in the observable universe will also enjoy it

[hamlet-not-hamnet]

today i bring you: pissed merman!enjy in a bathtub. tomorrow? who knows

[helpimhyperfixating]

mertaro: *crawls over* "what is this bachelor degree you speak of? Is it a degree that has not yet found a mate?"

It is actually a degree in nursing.

Y’know, so that I can properly let pups nurse and look after them and all

Says the woman who doesn’t want kids

[zph]

Read your thoughts about siren scara and pirate reader.. and like.. I just woke up from a nap but I need you to hear me out 🙏

Pirate reader who... also wants to eat him. Like theres a scene in my head rn and its reader asking him stuff about sirens while preparing a broth. I have no idea where I'm going w this.

Or maybe pirate reader who wants to sudy him first before eating 🤷‍♀️ weird date w your lunch kind of thing until they both realize that they might not wanna eat the other. For good or for bad reasons. 🤔

Like.. could you see them just tryna take a bite out of eachother.

- peach anon

wWait wait that is actually genius. power dynamics where both parties are as equally fucked up & want to kill the other—or in this case, eat each other—is so fun to explore. so the idea of two of them thinking “they are going to be my next meal” whilst simultaneously sinking into the slow, unfortunate reality that they may actually care for each other more than just food? delicious (pun very much intended). amazing. brilliant. show-stopping. what was a simple means to an end turns into something else & more, for better or worse. it is also funny to imagine scara who was trying to lure you in for a quick meal only to quickly become /your/ food instead . it is so morbidly hilarious….sitcom level adjacent….i need to outline this .

[sophieswundergarten]

Alrighty, I finally had a minute to sit down and smack out some of my thoughts. @itsgoghtime, I am tagging you as a full participant :)

Brought to you by the Moth Realization that I am in charge and can do whatever I want

Okay, so we're leaning more into the mirror-world stuff, with certain things being representations of real life and such.

It opens with Madge flying around the house and landing outside the window where Nathaniel is sitting, just as a little nod to the owl :>

Nathaniel is trying to fit in with his brother's family, but there are so many of them

One day, when he's trying to get some peace and quiet and read the copy of Ivanhoe that he swiped from Nicholas' office, the kids all burst into the room falling over each other and laughing and chattering and making an absurd amount of noise

Nicholas is, of course, right behind them, giggling and trying to keep from falling asleep

Nathaniel fully loses it, dropping the book and yelling at the children.

Nicholas ushers them out, and tries to calm his brother. It doesn't work, and Nathaniel just lets all of his frustrations and pent up resentment come out, shouting at his brother and leaving Nicholas stunned (and hurt)

Nathaniel storms out, going on a walk and trying to calm down after all the things he said. (He hadn't intended to get that upset, but it had all spilled over and gotten a little too close to comfort to a vulnerable heart-to-heart, so he had to leave in order to save face)

After a bit, he feels suitable under control again, and enters the house, only to find it totally empty

The place is ransacked, a complete disaster with books and papers scattered and flapping in the breeze from open windows

Nathaniel searches, but there's no one to be found, so he heads to Nicholas' office

There, he sees a suspiciously spotless room, and the Sister (We're calling her Eurus for simplicity's sake) sitting on top of Nicholas' desk, reading Ivanhoe

(She looks spooky and flashy, somehow more dramatic than Curtain but in a more old-fashioned style like Nicholas. Also purple, to round out the cool-colour sibling trio. Just look at this, because it's amazing)

Nathaniel demands to know what happened to his brother and the others, but she just laughs menacingly

Closing the book, she swings her legs off the desk, smiling at him

"Wouldn't you like to know, Natty?"

Nathaniel is affronted, and tries to cover his confusion with Awkward Curtain Bluffing

Eurus introduces herself, and mocks him further by revealing a model of Nicholas with a flourish, toying with it as they speak

"This is what you wanted, right? To be free of little Nicky and his nuisances? Now you can read your books and make your silly plans in peace."

Nathaniel vehemently states that he'd rather have his brother back to deal with on his own, please and thank you /s

(And his plans are not silly. They are genius)

"Oh, but he's mine now. I can't just give back such a fun toy. Besides, Nicholas will forget all about you soon enough, and then I'll have him and his friends to myself, permanently"

Nathaniel is, obviously, perturbed by this, and demands that she stop whatever game she is playing and return his brother and his associates

She laughs at Nathaniel again, and figurine in her hand turns into a pocket watch, with an abnormal thirteen hours on it

"Well, I do love games. And a game is no fun without some stakes to keep things exciting, so here are the rules: You have thirteen hours to win all of them back, or Nicholas stays with me. No more, no less"

She hands the pocket watch over, which starts ticking as soon as it hits Nathaniel's palm

He looks up to ask her who on earth she thinks she is, but she's gone, and so is the office

Nathaniel is standing outside a massive labyrinth, with no discernible entrance

As he's looking around, who should he find but Dr. Garrison!

Or, not Dr. Garrison, since she's wearing strange clothes and looks at him with confusion

(It doesn't matter, but I think she'd be wearing a typical fantasy poet shirt/tunic, red vest, and probably black pants. Her hair's braided, instead of cropped short or that longer style she kept in a bun)

Nathaniel addresses her and demands to know what's going on, and why she's a part of this ridiculous farce

Not-Garrison responds to her name, but maintains that she's never seen him before. She explains that she's the caretaker of the Labyrinth

Nathaniel sarcastically asks if she'll let him enter, and she shows him the gate

Nathaniel enters the Labyrinth alone and is confronted with a huge, apparently endless hallway that continues on in the same way for as far as he can see

(Part of me wants to include the Atrocious Hallway Painting just because)

Eventually, he stops, seeing that he's wasted a lot of time, and still gotten nowhere

As he's standing there, cursing the insanity of his situation, SQ appears!

(Also in different clothes! I know these aren't important, but I am a highly visual person and I love the artistic style of the movie, so we're going to have a lot of side-notes about how stuff looks)

(SQ is wearing a dark blue jacket [Slightly reminiscent of his dad's colors] and a red scarf, and carrying his sketchbook)

Nathaniel is startled by this, of course, but SQ introduces himself as if they haven't met before

Nathaniel carefully asks him what he's doing there, and SQ tells him he's been drawing some of the interesting creatures that live in the Labyrinth

SQ then inquires as to what Nathaniel is doing, and he exasperatedly explains that he's trying to get to the centre, but the whole thing is nonsensical and the endless hallway must be a trick designed to keep him from winning

SQ asks why he doesn't take a break, but when Nathaniel refuses, he says (somewhat cryptically) that maybe he just needs to look at things from a different perspective

**Clever Metaphor Plot Shenanigans Ensue**

And Nathaniel enters a new part of the Labyrinth

CUT TO WHAT EURUS IS DOING

Nicholas awakens in a spooky castle

He wanders through, looking for other people, but finds no one

Eventually, he comes across some guards, but they do not acknowledge him in any way, so he continues searching

He enters a weird throne room/office thing filled with books

(It looks like a warped version of his office, with lots of shelves and stacks of books all around, empty picture frames, a potted violet in the corner, and a big, impressive throne made of books in the middle)

He finds his copy of Ivanhoe on the ground, and opens it

This, and all the other books, are blank

Eurus appears, sitting on the throne and watching him

Nicholas tries to politely and calmly ask about what's going on, but she ignores his questions

Instead, she asks him about why he's bothered, since he obviously doesn't care about his family

And of course Nicholas is aghast at this and starts panicking over what she's done to the others

She goes on a spiel about how he left Nathaniel and he doesn't really care about his family and how he's only being so nice to Number Two/Rhonda/Milligan/the kids out of guilt

(She's kind of a terrible person in this, in case you hadn't noticed)

And Nicholas is horribly upset and trying to keep a lid on his emotions, when she gets up and walks over to him

"Now, wouldn't you like to be free of that guilt? To not have to worry about all of those strays you took in to make yourself feel like a good person? You're better off alone, you know that, so why not embrace it?"

CUT BACK TO NATHANIEL

Nathaniel comes across two doors, with Jackson and Jillson standing in front of them!

(Jackson is wearing a royal blue doublet/pants, and Jillson is wearing the same but in red. Both have floppy bard hats on)

Together, they communicate that one of them only tells the truth, and one only tells lies

(I've learned this is called a type of logic puzzle called "Knights and Knaves!)

One door leads closer to the castle, and one to "certain doom"

After some typical banter and circular logic, Nathaniel discovers which door to go through

He enters, and falls down into an oubliette

Garrison appears to let him out, and tries to get him to leave the Labyrinth

Nathaniel persuades her to guide him to the castle, and the two set off

(Garrison somewhat reluctantly)

They continue on their way for a bit, before Eurus shows up again

Nathaniel takes the opportunity to complain and ask why on earth she's doing this

She chooses not to answer this, and instead asks Garrison what she thinks she's doing

Garrison responds with cagey assurances that she hasn't forgotten her job in this, and Eurus threatens that she better not

Nathaniel demands to know what she's done with Nicholas, but she tells him that showing him would be cheating, and she isn't about to let the game end early

He asserts his confidence in being able to beat her, at which point she offers to make it more of a challenge

Eurus disappears and a huge machine starts pushing its way through the hall, about to crush Nathaniel and Garrison

Luckily, they escape, and find themselves in an upper part of the Labyrinth

In that area is Kate and Reynie!

(Reynie is wearing a brown tunic with a belt, and Kate is wearing a red tailcoat with feather designs)

The two of them are bickering about the way to the castle, and Nathaniel hesitantly approaches

He's used to the way things work now, and resigns himself to the fact that they are not going to be the people he knows normally

Eventually, he's able to get some even more cryptic advice from them, and he picks a random direction in frustration

Garrison attempts to leave him, but he steals her notebook and makes her agree to help him

Immediately after this, sounds of fighting come from nearby, and Garrison runs off

That's all I've got for now, but I will be adding onto this in a bit! Apparently this is the new thing my brain is refusing to let go, so we'll see what happens

[razzle-zazzle]

Whumptober Day 14: feed me poison, fill me 'til i drown

Water Inhalation

2493 Words; Pearl & Seaglass AU

TW for drowning

AO3 ver

Raz swam down into the trench. Seemingly endless tunnels dotted the bottom, a deep and endless cave network that could swallow him whole if he got lost.

Raz was here on a mission, though, so he wasn’t going to get lost. Not without a fight.

He swam around the bottom for a bit, searching for a particular cave. He had no idea which one it was—but he was certain that he’d know it when he saw it.

No skulls loomed at him out of the darkness, though. No shiny white bones or carved slabs reading GET OUT. There wasn’t even a ball of sealight to mark one of the caves out from the others.

Just kelp. Lots and lots of kelp, all scattered around and rotting, even though it didn’t even grow here—

Wait.

Raz swam over to a particularly long strand of kelp, knots of varying sizes dotting its length. He couldn’t see where it was tied off—it stretched down into the gloom of the cave mouth it was near. And now that Raz was looking, this particular mouth was absolutely surrounded by kelp strips, all knotted in strange and incomprehensible ways…

“Oh!” His stripes lit up the gloom—Raz glanced around nervously. Nothing came out of the dark to grab him, but he’d have to remember not to talk down here.

Steeling his scales, Raz gathered up every inch of courage he had, and dove in.

+=+=+=+=+

Raz wasn’t sure how long he’d been wandering through these tunnels. A while, for sure. But he kept swimming down twisty tunnels, flashing a stripe every so often in order to keep track of the kelp strands. He should have brought some sealight. His eyes were good in the depths, but these caves had no light at all—only what Raz could provide by flashing his stripes incoherently.

Eventually, though, Raz noticed slivers of light floating up from one of the tunnels. Carefully, slowly, he swam towards the source, hoping it wasn’t some giant mutant anglerfish that lived in caves and ate mer.

Raz peered around the edge of the rock—

Sealight dotted the cavern at distant intervals along a net strung up across it, doing little against the gloom. Yet still, Raz could see that shelves had been carved into the rock, with weird-looking things in glass jars. Ingredients, he presumed. And there, in the center of it all, grabbing a crab from an old trap full of them, was the Sea Witch.

Raz had only seen her once, before, and that was from a distance. He had been following Dion, then, based on Frazie’s hints that his older brother would know where to find a Sea Witch.

Somehow, she looked a lot less deadly up close, sinuous tentacles working around her. Even as she turned to a cauldron—and wow, a human cauldron, Raz had been looking for one of those for his collection for forever—with a crab in one tentacle, there was another pair working a piece of kelp, a third grasping a jar, and the other four were working across the cavern floor, maneuvering her around with little effort. Her hands were occupied with a shell she was holding, claws tracing the edges of its layers.

Raz leaned out a little further. “Did Dion get those for you?” Crabs didn’t seem to be in high supply, down in the trench. Urchins, sure, but Raz hadn’t seen any crabs.

The Sea Witch startled, turning luminous yellow-brown eyes onto Raz. Instead of the sharp beak Raz expected, she had a full row of sharp teeth—moray? They weren’t uniform enough to be a shark’s. She even had facial fins—definitely not all octopus, then.

“Who—” Her stripes flashed a vibrant orange, lighting up dark violet scales.

Raz swam out a little further. “Dion’s my older brother.” He explained, curling his tail inwards in greeting.

All at once, the Sea Witch relaxed. “You must be Queepie then…” She tilted her head, “No—Pooter.”

Raz nodded. “I know, it must be so amazing, finally meeting me.” Raz shrugged his pelvic fins. “But I actually came here with a request.”

“No.” The Sea Witch dunked the crab she was holding into the cauldron. She unscrewed the jar and put whatever was in it into the cauldron, and magic shimmered across the opening. Raz couldn’t see what was happening in there, but she probably knew what she was doing.

“You didn’t even let me ask!” Raz swam further in, stripes flashing angrily. “You can’t just say ‘no’ when you don’t even know what it is!” He’d even brought some of his most valuable items from his collection in his bag, to make sure he could pay for the good stuff.

“I can see your heart’s desires.” The Sea Witch waved a tentacle dismissively, watching the steady shimmer of her cauldron. “I’m not turning you human.” Slowly, the shimmer faded, and she reached a hand in to grab the crab. The scent of boiled crab and saltback roe filled the cavern as she used the seashell to crack the crab shell open.

“But you can,” Raz confirmed. He closed his mouth, covering his teeth. “Pleeeeeeeease?”

“Absolutely not.” The Sea Witch sounded appalled at the very notion. “Your brother would kill me.”

“You don’t wanna stomp on my dreams, do you?” Raz held his fins flat and angled his face upwards a little, a pleading look in his eyes.

The Sea Witch huffed, “Sorry, kid, but it’s not happening.” The glow of her stripes wasn’t apologetic in the least.

Raz crossed his arms. “Well, if stomping dreams is what we’re doing, then I guess I’ll just have to stomp on your dreams of ever seeing my brother again.” He began to swim towards the cave entrance—

“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.” A tentacle grabbed Raz by the tail and yanked him back into the cave. He turned to face the Sea Witch with a toothy grin, his facial fins flared. “Are you blackmailing me?” Incredulity leeched off of her in steady waves, but her facial fins were just as flared as Raz’ were.

“That depends,” Raz flitted his tail. “Is it working?”

She stared at him for a long moment. Her tentacles lashed in place, little eddies forming on the cave floor.

Raz pressed his hands together, and flared his fins a little wider. “I mean, it really would be such a shame if our parents found out that their son was dating the Sea Witch.” Like he’d ever tell them—if his mother found out that Raz had even thought about coming out here, she’d have his head. But he needed that potion, dammit, and Dion’s secret romance with the Sea Witch was the perfect bargaining chip.

“Alright, fine.” The Sea Witch shoved him away, turning towards the shelves she had carved into the cave walls. “Grab whatever you think you’ll need and meet me at the eastern shipwrecks by high moon.”

Raz swam a quick circle. “Yes!” Finally! He swam out of the cavern on a rush of elation, not even caring if he got lost on the way out. He was going to become human!

+=+=+=+=+

Raz darted between old shipwrecks in the gloom, the moonlight unable to reach so deep.

Sneaking out had been hard, but not impossible. His facial fins twitched under his helmet, but he ignored the discomfort—he was about to delve into a world of unknowns, so he needed his helmet! Any good explorer would have one!

Checking that he still had everything in his bag, Raz swam towards the wreck that he was sure was the easternmost one. He passed a shark, and paid it little mind—even at his age, he was more than a match for it. Sharks only messed with mer if they were desperate.

The Sea Witch was already there, sorting through a satchel of her own. Hers was even wrapped in netting, with little shells tied to the threads.

Little shells of a very particular shade of blue…

“What’s your name anyway?” Raz asked. “It can’t be Sea Witch.”

“Gisu.” The Sea Witch—Gisu—replied. She finished sorting through her things, and turned to face westward. “It’s a long swim.” She cautioned. “If you’re having any doubts, turn back now.”

Raz curled his hands into fists. “I’m ready! Lead the way!”

Gisu regarded him for a long moment, then launched off of the deck. “Just don’t get lost.”

Raz hastened to follow, his tail pumping to keep up with her siphon bursts.

+=+=+=+=+

Gisu hadn’t been lying. They’d been swimming for a while, now, closer and closer to the surface as they went. By the time they stopped, the moonlight was already fading, the shallows beginning to feel the very beginnings of sunlight.

Gisu swam upwards, and Raz followed, his head breaching the surface. Unlike Gisu, who was blinking in the air, Raz’s goggles kept water against his eyes, allowing him to see the slowly lightening sky clearly.

He looked around, unsure what exactly he was looking for—

Raz let out a surprised whistle.

Land!

Actual dry land! That stood above the water! Raz had only ever heard of it!

They were kinda close—closer than Raz expected, honestly. He could make out ships at the shore, and even the boxy shapes of human dwellings.

Raz was so lost in his staring that he missed Gisu diving back down—she yanked him down by the tail with one of her tentacles, making his stripes flash in alarm.

“C’mon.” She urged, letting go. “Not much further.”

Raz nodded. He was really tired, swimming the whole night through, but excitement buzzed in his veins. He followed Gisu along, watching as the seafloor rose up below them, closer and closer without them needing to go deeper—

Gisu stopped. Raz bounced off of her, shaking his head reflexively at the impact.

“Right.” Gisu said, pulling out a jar. “Eat this and say the incantation thrice: ‘Shed my scales and cut out my gills, to land I go to escape my ills.’ Think you can remember that?”

Raz reached for the jar. “Of course! C’mon, I’m so excited!” He was so close. He was so agonizingly close that he felt he might burst if he didn’t become human right now. “Shed my scales and cut out my gills, to land I go to escape my ills!” He repeated.

“Alright.” Gisu handed over the jar. Raz wasted no time in unscrewing the cap. “Before you go, there are some things about humans you might want to know. I’ll be coming with you, but it’ll be good to know the basics before—”

Too late. Raz was already eating the contents—he could taste some kind of roe, but he couldn’t identify the rest of it. It kind of reminded him of seal—something mammalian, then? Whatever it was, it was delicious.

Gisu watched as Raz finished off the contents of the jar. “You weren’t supposed to eat all of it…” She mumbled.

Raz froze. “I’m not going to die, am I?” That’d be a stupid way to go.

Gisu clicked, taking back the jar. “No, but the spell will hold for a lot longer. There was enough in there for seven days. Don’t die while I’m gone.” She mumbled something about hard-to-get ingredients and swam off into the depths, but Raz was already pressing his hands together.

“Shed my scales and cut out my gills,” He started, “to land I go to escape my ills!” Warmth exploded in Raz’ chest. “Shed my scales and cut out my gills, to land I go to escape my ills!” The water around him began to bubble, the warmth in his chest spreading out into his arms and tail—

“Shed my scales and cut out my ills, to land I go to escape my ills!”

Raz tumbled tail over head as the magic washed over him, hundreds of tiny bubbles surrounding him as he changed. His scales disappeared with an itchy feeling, his facial fins melting into a shell-shape under his helmet.

Wow, okay, that’s a lot more comfortable. Of course it was more comfortable—his helmet had been made for human use.

There was a kind of distant shlurp sensation as his tail shrunk back into his body, shedding scales that glowed in the water around him before melting away. Raz imagined that it must hurt, the shifting of his bones—but he didn’t feel any pain at all. Just the warm bubbly feeling of Gisu’s magic crawling all over him. His dorsal fin melted down into his back, the webbing between his claws receded, his gills squeezed shut—

His pelvic fins flared out to his sides, fluttering rapidly. A new sensation emerged, stretching out into the water. Raz stared as his emerging legs—legs! He had legs!—grew flat protrusions at the end, as five wriggling toes sprouted from the ends of his new feet.

His neck squeezed, a little, his cervical gill covers melting over the gills underneath. The water was suddenly so much darker. Were human eyes this bad?

Raz opened his new mouth with a gasp—

Water rushed in, and instead of flowing out through his gills it kept going down. Raz choked, flailing in panic. How did he forget that humans breathed air?

Surface. He needed to surface!

His sense of up and down had disappeared, replaced with a growing sense of panic as he flailed unfamiliar human limbs. He needed to surface!

“Hel—arglubblgbg.” Okay, wow. He’d read that humans communicated entirely through sound, but that was weird—Raz flailed, choking on even more water. Not having stripes to flash meant he couldn’t say a thing until he managed to surface—

Raz hit the seafloor, the sand squishy against his back. His human back, scale- and finless—

I’m not going to be human long if I don’t make it to dry land!

Raz planted his hands on the sand and pushed. He launched upwards, feeling the pull of a wave—

Air!

Raz flopped onto damp sand, his body convulsing as his lungs tried to eject the water in them. He coughed, the feeling unlike anything he’d ever felt before—and absolutely awful. No wonder humans didn’t like swimming.

By the time he finished hacking, his throat was raw, the feeling of something still stuck in it lingering. But no amount of coughing would erase that feeling, so Raz settled on breathing deeply while waiting for it to leave.

Raz let himself fall back onto the sand, staring up at the sky through his goggles. The sun had crested the horizon, the last of the darkness lingering at the very west edge in a tiny sliver.

Raz had never imagined that sunlight could be so warm. His bag was cold beside him, even though he was just as soaked as it was.

Exhausted, and with the waves tickling his feet, Raz let his eyes close.

Seven days. He had seven days before he turned back. Seven whole days of exploring. Seven whole days that started now.

He could afford a little nap, first.

[imprvdente]

Fish Monet . Capitol Outfits

[jelliannn]

THERE’S TEARS IN MY SEBPAINTER EYES

"Sebastian didn’t say anything, but before long he was softly humming along to the tune of a song p.AI.nter didn’t recognize. Both looked down at his nails as they were all carefully covered in a thin coat of black paint.

They stayed like that for a long while, even after p.AI.nter was done with the nails. The paint needed to dry, after all."

~~~

Fanart for this lovely fic my good friend Barry ( @autocat5876 ) wrote :) it really is such an amazing read i highly recommend