#i drew the seals from memory! :D then i looked into different species of seals anyway hes a harbour seal now

[goosedawn]

Please do spill more on the mer aus im already in love

:D!!!!! ALRIGHT so i have 2 aus in mind! the dynamics are pretty different between the two, and ive still gotta fully work out a design for sally in both aus ejhjhdguidj

1. orca wilbur and marine biologist sally

they met when they were kids, wilbur had beached himself in order to try catch seals and sally just basically went "D: OH NO WHALE" and ran up to him and tried to pull him into the water

wilbur tries to tell her incorrect whale facts. she is not having this. she can Tell hes lying but she cant REALLY refute it because... what if all belugas do hate each other. he also intersperses these "facts" with ACTUAL facts about him and the ocean rhdjcbdj

(this is part of why she goes on to become a marine biologist, she wants to know what he got right- as well as it allows her to spend more time with wilbur ehdjfbdk)

(also yes shhh orcas arent as big as i drew wilbur let me have the big orca man)

im very tempted to call him whalebur in this au but orcas are NOT actually whales!!! aabdndkdjdmdbfkfb

2. tiny mermaid sally!

i have. thought about this one so much,, in this au wilbur is actually a selkie! he works as a fisherman in a shoreside town and accidentally catches sally in his net!

wilbur stays with the local lighthouse keeper and his son who found him after he came ashore during a storm many years ago (i... i dont know whether i want them to know hes a selkie or not yet fbdkchdjfbdj) wilbur already knows about the existence of merfolk! i imagine hes met a few in his time, but they arent too common, especially around more populated areas

he only realises he caught a mermaid when hes sorting through his catch, she got tangled in the net trying to escape and hurt herself. wilburs just like. OH NO SHES REALLY CUTE 😳🥺 and then OH NO SHES HURT OH SHIT

HRNEMFKDNSKFBKFBFKE BASICALLY YEAH he ends up taking her home to try treat her wounds and i imagine sally just being absolutely pissed off at wilbur while also being terrified out of her mind because 1. shes been CAUGHT 2. why does wilbur remind her of a seal he is a shoredweller SO WHY?? (... did you know a large part of many seals diet is made up of salmon :]? ofc she would be scared of her natural predator!)

and im so glad u agree he deserves to be bitten HHJHHDHBKFBHF please have some selkie wilburs i doodled the other day, look at this bitable man /lh ... it was just an excuse to draw seals hjfbhshjd

there are other mer in the this au as well as some other selkies! :D

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are Weird: War Crimes

(to see the events that led up to this trial please check out the previous story: https://niqhtlord01.tumblr.com/post/185604083511/humans-are-weird-war-is-the-death-of-honor ) 

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord 

Every bit helps)

The doors to the court room slowly creaked open as all eyes turned towards the entry way.

An eerie silence fell across the packed room as one by one the voices of those present died down until the only sound that could be heard was the faint clacking of military shoes against the tile floor.

Judge Yeli Noug looked up from his desk as a trio of figures stepped into view from the doorway. He was an arbitrator among his own people yet he had little to no experience with the human laws he now resided over. His placement as judge for this case was merely because had a human been placed instead it would have been simply unacceptable given the sensitive nature of the case he now resided over. His people were known to have excellent memories however and he had spent the last month reading over the various legal laws of the various coalition species including similar cases in the past.  

Two judicial guards strode behind a third figure between them. Their crisp deep blue uniforms were pressed to near perfection providing a sharp contrast to their gun metal grey pistols holstered at their sides. They looked the very definition of military prowess, just as was intended when they were selected to guard their prisoner.

As the third figure stepped into the room at the head of her two jailers a blizzard of flashes went off. Nearly every reporter’s camera from a dozen different species was abuzz with activity as the accused came into full view.

 Admiral Amara stood before the blizzard of light undaunted, her eyes firmly fixed straight ahead at Martin. She was adorned in her bleach white military dress uniform with polished black shoe. In place of a standard admiral’s cap she wore a smoke grey hijab that covered her head but left her face revealed.

He had seen her pictures in the papers before from the war yet with her before him now Yeli couldn’t help feel underwhelmed.

This is Admiral Amara? He thought to himself as he banged the gavel down for order. This is the Reaper of Combra?

“Order in the courtroom!” Yeli announced as Admiral Amara made her way through the benches to take her seat when a sudden outburst from the back of the room drew everyone’s attention.

“DEATH TO THE BUTCHER!”

A Combran rose from the benches and lunged for her shoving several reporters out of the way. They made it within arm’s reach of the admiral when the nearest guard tackled the Combra to the ground. The two struggled for a moment thrashing but the Combra threw the guard off him and made to stand.

“DIE YOU BI-“ the Combran began before the second guard stepped in and calmly punched the alien in the face with a harsh right hook. The punch knocked the Combran out and they collapsed to the ground atop the first guard before another round of camera flashes was triggered.

“I will have order in my courtroom!”

The two guards quickly grabbed the unconscious Combran and dragged him out of the room. Yeli noted that Admiral Amara appeared unfazed by the attempt on her life and simply watched the would-be assassin until the doors to the room sealed once more. She turned from the door and resumed her walk to the front of the courtroom and calmly took her seat next to her attorney.

Opposite Admiral Amara and her attorney were the prosecutors for this trial, comprised of nearly half a dozen separate species each from a different member species of the former coalition. Yeli saw that not once had any of them looked at Amara as she had walked by and took her seat.

As the noise died down once again Yeli pulled the top paper on his desk and read it aloud for all those to hear.

“We are gathered here today to listen to the charges leveled against the human Admiral Amara, former leader of Coalition forces in the Combra War of Aggression, accusing her of…”

He reread the last sentence in his head a few times to make sure he read the strange sentence out loud correctly.

“…..war crimes.”

 “Amara-“

“Admiral.” Admiral Amara corrected the prosecutor.

They look at her with disdain as she interrupted them while she was on the stand.

“Excuse me?”

“As I have not been removed from my rank as of yet, you shall address me as my title demands.”

Amara’s calm demeanor only seemed to aggravate the team of prosecutors. Rather than addressing Amara directly the alien prosecutor looked at Yeli.

“Your honor, I do not wish to play human semantic games during this trial.”

To his surprise Yeli shook his head. “The defendant is correct. You will address her by her title for the duration of this trial unless she is found guilty.”

The prosecutor looked shocked for a moment, debating if to further press the matter before relenting and moving on.

“Very well; Admiral Amara,” the prosecutor once more began, “would you care to explain, given your families involvement in the period preluding humanity joining the war, why you were given such a sensitive position?”

The admiral was not amused by his question and fixed him with a stony glare.

“You mean why was I given command when my daughter was murdered onboard the cruiser liner Combra forces mistook for a military transport and destroyed?”

Smugly nodding as if the Admiral had just made his for him he continued. “Yes. One would think that given such a traumatic experience on such a personal level that humans would have sought someone more detached from the war who could better view the bigger picture.”

“You’re standing here smirking like a virgin about to get his dick wet because I saw the “bigger picture”, and won the war for the coalition.” Admiral Amara said to the shocked gasps from around the room.

Yeli brought down his gavel and silenced the room again.

“The defendant will answer the question seriously or be held in contempt of court.”

Yeli now was one to fix a stony gaze at the admiral. “I will not have this court become a bickering match of young ones.”

She met his gaze before looking away and nodding.

“At the time I was the only admiral with active combat experience from previous engagements capable of handling large scale fleet maneuvers.”

“So the fact that you had lost a direct family member in the attack was not taken into consideration?”

Admiral Amara shook her head.

“Normally it would have, but humanity just had an unprovoked attack on civilians. They were out for blood and I assume used me as a propaganda tool to further increase recruitment.”

The prosecutor jumped on that last statement. “So you admit that your government chose you to lead because of what happened to your daughter and your quest to avenge her?”

“Objection!” the defense attorney said, “You are putting words in my client’s mouth.”

Before Yeli could respond Admiral Amara raised a hand.

“It’s alright, I’ll answer it.”

She looked at the prosecutor and Yeli could almost feel the resentment flowing out of her for being in the same room as the man.

“They didn’t just want a leader, they wanted a Hannibal.”

“A Hannibal?” the prosecutor asked.

Amara nodded. “Not just a leader of warriors, but someone who could drive fear into the hearts of their enemies with the mere mention of their name, someone whose mere presence was enough to make raw recruits fight like grizzled veterans of a thousand wars, someone who would never give an inch to the enemy for their hatred ran so deep that nothing less than total victory would ever suffice.”

The prosecutor nodded as if she had confirmed something he knew all along.

“And would your daughter have approved of your “Total Victory”?”

Amara bit her lip with such rage that a single droplet of blood ran down her cheek before she sensed it and eased up, quickly wiping it away with the back of her hand.

“I don’t know, but I would give anything if she would rise from the grave to stand before me now and tell me.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This time a different prosecutor stepped forward to question Amara; a slender Slimpton holding several data pads in her arms, constantly shifting and rearranging the order as she looked over them.

“Why did you order the Combran general Xiaon attacked after he boarded your ship under a flag of truce?”

Admiral Amara shook her head. “I gave no such order.”

“That is not what the records show.” The Slimpton said as they held up a datapad. “Your own ship logs make mention that a guard of yours attacked the General after he made a remark about your gender.”

Leaning forward, the Slimpton came uncomfortably close to Amara. “Did you just not care about diplomatic process or was your blood lust for Combran blood making you blind to basic eudicot?”

Amara was unamused by the alien’s attempts at being clever.

“The record you are so brazenly misreading states that my guard at the time attacked Xiaon of their own will, with no order from myself.”

It was Amara’s turn to lean forward and the Slimpton retreated a step from the stand. “It also mentions that I had the guard disciplined later on for acting without orders.”

The Slimpton withdrew another step before rallying.

“There was no verbal command given but you could have signaled the guard with another means of communication.”

“Such as?” Amara questioned.

Coughing dryly the Slimptom turned their back on the Admiral as if the question was ridiculous. “You humans have numerous means of communicating without using your own vocal cords to state instructions.”

Amara was having enough of this line of questioning when her attorney stepped in.

“Objection again your honor, the prosecutor is speculating without proof.” The defense attorney stepped around their desk and walked up to the Slimpton. “They are saying that just because my client did not give a verbal command to attack the Xiaon does not mean that she did not give the order.”

“Indeed, such as hand gestures or blinking rapidly.” The Slimpton countered.

“Why not growing hair then while we’re at it?” countered the defense attorney, “or maybe sweating through our pores was a sign to take him out at the knees.”

“Furthermore,” continued the defense attorney, “even when Xiaon directly threatened to murder everyone present with his bare hands my client did not order the guards to attack him.”

“And yet,” the Slimpton countered, “the human guards further attacked Xiaon and restrained him.”

Yeli held up his hands to stop the two from further squabbling.

“I see your point.” Yeli spoke to the defense attorney before turning to the Slimpton. “Do you have actual evidence to suggest that the defendant directly ordered Xiaon attacked?

“I…well, well I….” the Slimpton stammered as they shuffled quickly through their datapads before resigning themselves. “No; there is no direct order from Admiral Amara to subdue General Xiaon.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The trial went on and on as each of the prosecutors stepped forward to question Admiral Amara, each one highlighting a different aspect of the situation that had unfolded just prior to the attempted genocide of the Combran people; until only one prosecutor remained.

To the shock of many the final prosecutor was a Combran. Just as had it been with General Xiaon the Combran towered over Admiral Amara as he approached the bench; the guards on either side of the room cautiously lowering their hands close enough to be able to quickly reach their firearms should things grow out of hand.

“Admiral Amara,” the Combran began, “did General Xiaon offer peace terms when he came aboard your vessel?”

“He did.” Amara said.

“And what happened after he offered the peace proposal?”

“It was rejected and the orbital bombardments began shortly after.”

“Oh?” the Combran began pacing the room as he continued his questioning. “Why did the delegations present reject the peace proposal that would have ended the war?”

“They didn’t, I did.” Amara spoke.

The Combran stopped pacing as the entirety of those gathered deafened the room with their collective gasp. “Can you repeat that statement one more time?”

“The peace proposal was rejected by myself, the rest of the delegations had no say in the matter.”

Clasping their hands in front of them the Combran began walking towards Amara.

“So despite being part of a coalition you took it upon yourself to render judgement?”

“It was my right as Coalition commander to handle matters without needing to consult the entire coalition.”

“And what was your reasoning for rejecting the proposal that would have ended the war?”

Amara leaned back in her chair and looked at the Combran dead in the eye.

“It’s insincerity.”

“It’s insincerity?”

Amara nodded. “The proposal was not made in good faith.”

“And who are you to claim what is and isn’t made in good faith!?” The Combran dawned a mocking smile and raised their voice as he turned to the crowd. “Is it some divine human ability to know right from wrong that the rest of the universe lacks?”

The crowd had already been hostile on varying levels to Amara but now they openly showed disgust and contempt for her.

“No special ability I’m afraid,” Amara said to the back of the Combran, “but mere moments earlier General Xiaon had stated he could strangle the entire delegation and myself were he to get within arm’s reach of us.”

The Combran’s smile faded quickly as he spun around to face Amara, who now appeared to have adopted the smile that had just fled the Combran’s face.

“Threatening to murder someone and then offering peace is not a strong foundation for everlasting peace, wouldn’t you say?” she quipped.

In a flash the Combran darted across the floor and pulled the Admiral up out of the stand and held her aloft by her dress uniform. The pair of guards stepped forward ready to tackle him to the ground but the Combran swiftly kicked out his leg and sent one flying into judge Yeli and the other flying backwards into the crowd who now began screaming and fleeing towards the door.  

“You can throw on all the semantics and double speak your wretched species is known for, but the fact of the matter is our people came to you with an offer of peace and you murdered billions.”

Amara felt the Combran’s fingers clench deep into her coat and begin to stab into her shoulder.

“Men, women, children, old, young, soldier, civilian; you murdered all of them without a single moment’s hesitation all because you wanted revenge for your daughter!”

Amara winced as she felt the clawed finger finally break skin and a small pool of blood began forming around the wound; her white dress uniform now showing small patches of red growing by the moment.

“Why do you not admit the truth; that you are a genocidal monster!?”

Before he could get a reply Amara firmly grasped the sides of the Combran’s head and with her full weight behind her head-butted the alien, breaking her nose in the process. The alien loosened his grip of the Admiral and Amara was able to slip free back to the ground.

She shakenly took a few steps backwards before righting herself and looking down the dazed Combran.

“Is it genocide to put to the sword an entire species of murderers?”

The crowd was continuing to pour out blocking the remaining guards from entering the room and during the commotion only the Combran heard the Admiral’s reply.

She looked him down and in her stare was nothing but disgust and anger.

“Your people claim to make peace and yet only when you are losing a war.” Amara’s words were thick with contempt and each word dripped from her mouth as if it was covered in oil. “Yet the moment you have regained your strength you go on the warpath again and the universe starts the whole process over again.”

“I cannot deny my people’s history,” the Combran shouted as he lunged for her again only for her to leap out of the way, “but you have denied my people the chance of ever bettering ourselves to something beyond war.”

“Oh boo hoo.” Amara said as she backed towards the stand. “I did the universe a favor by wiping your kind out.”

“You dare!?!?”

Mad with rage the Combran lunged again only for Amara to reach behind her and firmly grab hold of the chair she had been sitting in the entire trial. She swung it like a baseball bat and broke it across the alien’s face sending him sprawling to the courtroom floor.

As he laid down on the floor dazed Amara slowly walked over to him with the remains of the broken chair still firmly grasped in her hands.

“Your people had ten thousand years to learn how to live with your neighbors, but instead you just kept going to war with them over and over and over.”

She brought the broken chair down hard on the Combran’s back as he tried to raise himself forcing him back down again.

“How many millions did YOUR people murder while you tried to find your inner peace?”

Once more he tried to rise and once more she brought the chair down again on him shattering the frame.

“I slaughtered your people,” Amara spoke as she grabbed the chair leg and used it like a club to continue bludgeoning the Combran, “so that there won’t be another war, won’t be another mindless conquest for power and glory, and never again another dead Gabi!”

The Combran looked up through blood covered eyes, defiant to not show weakness to the face of the woman who ordered the slaughter of his people.

“You’re…still…a..monster.” They spoke, coughing up blood as they formed the words.

“I’m human,” Amara said, breathing heavily as she readied herself to land the finishing blow, “it comes with the nature.”

 As she brought down what was to be the finishing blow the guards of the courtroom finally pushed their way through the fleeing crowds and made their way to the front of the room.

One of them swiftly pulled the broken chair leg from Amara’s hand while the others rushed and pinned the Combra to the ground.

“Court will now resume session.”

Yeli spoke clearly as the gavel came down and everyone present took their seat.

It had been several days since the incident involving the prosecutor and the court was just now resuming.

The courtroom was now empty save for the jury, the prosecutors, the defense team, and the additional twelve guards who were now stationed around Admiral Amara and the rest of the room.

Amara sat calmly in her seat with her right arm cradled in a sling. The attack had shattered one of her shoulders and upper arms from where the Combran had grabbed her and now she could barely use her right hand without it causing immense pain.

The Combran by contrast was recovering from inside a nearby prison as he now awaited trial for his aggravated assault and attempted murder among other charges.

“Jury, have you reached a verdict?”

The foreman for the jury stood up and read from a tiny piece of paper.

“We find the defendant, Admiral Amara, to be………..”