is terrorism about resisting oppression? is terrorism about demanding your birthright to live safely and peacefully in your homeland? is terrorism about hating the killers of your family, your friends and your people?
accusations of terrorism are often weaponized against those fighting for liberation and sovereignty and dignity. the french settlers called the algerians terrorists. the indian government calls the kashmiris terrorists. the pakistani army calls pashtun activists terrorists. the turkish government calls the kurds terrorists. apartheid south africa called nelson mandela a terrorist. americans called the vietcong and the black panthers terrorists. the israelis call the palestinians terrorists. all oppressive regimes are connected. all oppressed people are connected. injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Iāve been meaning to follow up on that post that I reblogged about the Scarab text in the 2006 Blue Beetle series. Turns out itās fairly accurate!
This example comes from issue #8, and according to the chart, the blue lettering decrypts to: āALERT ENEMY APPROACHIG.ā Iām guessing they ran out of space for that last āN,ā or maybe it was an innocent oversight. At any rate, itās clear what the glyphs are intended to say! Interesting, though, that in this example, āalert: enemy approachingā is slightly different than what Jaime is hearing (āproximityā something). Or is it possibly part of the same message? āProximity Alert?ā Could be. Anyway, this is quite fun to look into. Iāll have to go back through the previous issues and uncover the other messages sometime.
Hey assajj I hope you donāt mind if I post/transcribe your tags with this reblog. I thought they were very intriguing!
#Hey nice! That was something that always interested me too. Whenever Khaji Da would speak something, the blue text would always be different than what JaimeĀ āheard.ā Like, is this language barrier? Like would Khaji Da be saying something that directly translates as ALERT ENEMY APPROACHING, and itās translated differently/more smoothly into English (or Spanish)? Like maybe Jaimeās go-to thoughts are in Spanish. I know thatās how I think sometimes, so it could go Reach-speak > Spanish > English or something like that. Or even Binary > Reach-speak > English/Spanish. This is interesting.
You bring up some great points with the ālanguage barrierā and translating alien/binary language into one or two Earth languages. While Iām on the subject, hereās a few other interesting examples from issue #10 (from 2007):
When the Scarab is inspecting the Mother Box, Jaime says that itās working on the language. The blue writing says āDECIFER TEXT,ā which is the incorrect spelling for ādecipher,ā but makes me wonder if, along with the idea of going through several language translations and maybe a Reach accent, if the Scarab text is meant to be very phonetic? Iām not sure, though; writing ādecipherā phonetically might use āSā rather than āC,ā but Iām definitely no language expert!
Also, Iām not sure if this has any relation to the discussion, but it was from the same issue and I found it slightly confusing. Maybe my fellow fans can help me out!
Jaime has just fought off a few deathtraps on a strange alien world, and now he needs to find his friend. He tells the Scarab, āGreat, glad you had fun. Find Brenda, now, please.ā First of all, itās super cute how Jaime is polite even when heās frustrated. Bless this boyās upbringing. His personality is just as fantastic as his powers, and that is so important for a superhero story. Thereās also a great moment from a previous issue when he says the Scarab was telling him how to kill his adversary, and when another character asks,Ā āso why didnāt you?ā Jaime replies something like,Ā ābecause thatās not how my mother raised me!ā Bless this role model of a kid, seriously.
Anyway, if Iām reading this correctly (and please correct me if Iām wrong), the first line of blue text says āNOHIDE.ā Soā¦ āNo hide?ā My best guess is that this is the Scarabās way of saying itās going to āfindā something. As in, being found = no longer hidden. The second line of text baffled me because the glyphs seem to be written backwards and spell out ā!NUF.ā Reversed, of course, it reads as āFUN!ā which makes sense with Jaimeās first line, if we assume heās responding to the Scarab saying it had fun fighting/destroying things. Iām just not entirely clear on why theyād write it like that. Does reversing the text mean something grammatically? Iāll keep an eye out for if it happens again!
*elbows on table chin in hands* sooooooā¦.. howās that bat-dragon fic going?
Need help? I give it? I stay quiet in corner sending moral support?
Just checking in do whatever you want š
Hello my lovely reader, I swear I am alive and I am still writing -but this chapters been fighting me as if it has a personal vendetta against me. Chapter 20 currently has around 10k words, but Iāve had to rewrite a load of it cuz it just wasnāt working out within the plot.
Thereās not much that can be done to help me, but make no mistake; I really appreciate your moral support. It gives me the energy to push through the writerās block and technical difficulties. ĆŗwĆ¹ ā¤ļø
The first time I was introduced to bumblebee was through the Young Justice cartoon series, where I immediately saw the resemblance in her wings compared to Jaimeās. And anyone who has the unfortunate experience of knowing who I am is probably aware of the fact that Jaime Reyes is my special interest and consumed each and every one of my thoughts.
Anyway, I had the thought in my mind that theyād probably become friends over the fact that they fly in a very similar way to eachother -which plays a big factor in how theyād both fight. Theyād be able to talk about things to eachother that others donāt really get cuz either 1) the others donāt fly, or 2) the way the person flies is completely different and/or defies any semblance of physics.
Itās a little thing, but I could totally believe this similarity would end up them talking to eachother, then sparring with eachother, then definitely the topic would come up with who is faster and then suddenly the entire team is setting up a race between them and placing bets.
When doing my own design of Karen, I wasnāt sure what to do with the hair -since sheās had several iterations. I wasn't a big fan of the buns (I didnāt think they were bad, I just felt like it wasnāt enough), so I drew several designs but went with it being a simple let down hair style
The other thing that actually bothered me about her canon design (itās actually a pet peeve of mine cuz this isnāt the first time Iāve seen it), is the fact that sheās based on a BUMBLEBEE and yet has NO floof to her suit! Like bro you couldnāt have chosen a fluffier insect wdym she has no fluff in her design?? Why is the canon design so sharp and sleek??? She can be fluffy and still be an absolute baddie, I promise š
Look, Iām not saying my design is better than canon, Iām just so tired of seeing bee characters that only resemble wasps (Miraculous Ladybug is probably the worst example, but they do technically have an excuse cuz theyāre trying to be consistent -but STILL). And sure, some bees arenāt fluffy, but sheās BUMBLEBEE, she IS the fluffy bee.
Iām sure Iām not alone when I say I wish there was more bumblebee content. Sheās such an interesting character, whoās literally a scientist that built her own suit. She deserves a solo series I swear.
Anywho, these are the different designs for the hair that I made, technically the first two were canon hair styles while the third was me just having fun. Genuinely I do like the third but it did mess with the wings quite a bit, so I held back lol. Please tell me which hair style you prefer!! Iām very curious!! Also if you have any notes about the design of something that might be better, or something Iāve done wrong, feel free to tell me! This is the first time Iāve drawn her character.
which hair style is better?
The two buns
The let down medium hair
Braids going into a ponytail with thigh-length hair
ā¦ I drew Jaime Reyes as a dragon again. But I made it GunBug. Ć³wĆ²
[click for better quality. The lines are thin and Tumblr hates me because of it]
Context if anyone doesnāt know; This is Jaime Reyes and Jason Todd in the universe of FCMH SCMS, which is a fic that follows Tim Drake and Jason Todd as they (horrifically) turn into dragons. It doesnāt have Jaime in it yet but I do have plans to add him to the universe with his own fic following his POV of the series of events. :)
This art, like many of my others, started out as a doodle turned coloured in doodle turned rendered doodle. And once again I just do the line art once and leave it be lol. You can also tell where I was trying to work out how to do Jaimeās legs.
God I need to make a fcmh scms master post cuz I canāt keep linking all the posts all the time. Anyway:
[ original art of Jaime , Jaimeās transformation (TW; body horror) , more art with Jason and Tim , lore dump about origin , lil dragon Jaime animation ]
And yeaaaaaahhhhh, I know Iām procrastinating writing the fic (like always) but I swear I am still writing it! What can I say, I am both persistent and lazy, so thank you for putting up with me. Ć¹wĆŗ
I made a lil Eridian!Grace in Vintage Story from @maybe-its-kris 's fic.
Bit of context; me and Kris have been playing Vintage Story together for a while now (which is a game like minecraft but it has a lot more focus on realism) and within the game you can chisel blocks, so I decided to make Kris a little Eridian!Grace as a gift. (Itās actually made out of bauxite, as well! And quartz! (And also chalk and olivine glass and muddy gravel but we donāt talk about those last ones ĆŗwĆ¹))
Seriously go check their fic out it's amazing, it follows Grace's temporary death and borderline resurrection into an Eridian after he was buried. It's got a lot of that lovely, lovely angst that's very tasty -so go check it out if you like science and characters getting thrown into the literary equivalent of a rock tumbler. Also this is the design that Kris made!
grace, who has been alone for five minutes: oh my god. an alien! im not alone anymore! i hope he wants to be friends :)
rocky, coming up on 50 years of solitude, imprinting on grace in ways baby ducklings can only dream of: if you leave me to sleep where i can't watch your heart beat i am blowing up this tunnel with us both in it
Ok so because I can -and cuz someone asked so very politely ( @storm-spirit-art this is for you uwu) - Iāve decided to make a second post about the Jaime mer!au.
[Original post with context]
So this time instead of writing everything out again, I can actually just screenshot the sleep deprived ramblings I did to @maybe-its-kris instead.
((Also just a reminder that this au was inspired by āwhen the water ran redā by Poker on AO3 -specifically when it comes to all the pup worldbuilding.))
You can see now what Kris has to put up with lol.
So this was moreso going on about the developmental differences between human young and mer young, and also talking about how the mers would have to accept the fact that Jaime isnāt Normalā¢.
However, as much as Jaime wants to scream that heās not a pup, after his encounter with an adult mer (Barry Allen); Jaime starts to notice some more subtle differences in the way he acts.
It starts off as small things where Jaime didnāt feel comfortable being away from his family, where thereād be a festering anxiety along with feelings that he wasnāt safe. At first he had just reasoned to himself that it was because heād been attacked, but after the encounter with the mer, it starts to seem less like a logical reaction and more like a developing instinct that he canāt refuse no matter how hard he tries.
Also, along with the reverlation that the paediatrician was a mer all along, Jaime begins to realise that that āsuspicious medical checkupā was INDEED as suspicious as he thought it was. He didnāt know if Dr Allen had clocked him immediately or if it was due to the information his mother had given the other -but regardless, that advice that the doctor had given him after the appointment made a lot more sense now. Putting the clues together; the rashes seemed to be from the fact that his body was a lot more sensitive to being dehydrated now. It was also safe to say all his problems with the nausea and inability to keep food down was due to the fact that his diet had completely changed, which explained the seeming ārandomnessā to what foods Jaime could and could not eat.
As much as he had the sudden desire to turn his nose up at the prior āmedical adviceā that was given to him, he couldnāt deny that everything that was suggested had indeed helped him -even if the paediatrician turned out to be a giant monster that wanted to kidnap him for some reason.
Going forward from the event of almost being kidnapped, Jaime was forced to acknowledge that if he wanted to find a cure to this; he had to survive long enough to find a cure. Meaning he was going to have to work with his body, not against it. If that meant his diet had been restricted to essentially only seafood, then heād just have to deal with it. If it also meant that he couldnāt fall asleep unless he was huddled in a corner shielded by several duvets, then heād have to just deal with that too, regardless of how much he hated the fact it felt like heād lost all control of his life.
Any time he goes out (going to the library to research, going to school etc) heās constantly suspicious of everyone he passes. He had no ideas mers existed before this entire fiasco, and going by the doctor; supposedly they were perfectly hidden in sight. Although in saying that, he has no frame of reference -he has no idea how common or rare they are. Logically they canāt be that common if theyāve remained mostly hidden for so long (āmostlyā counting the fact that folklore exist of mermaids, although the tales and stories do actually seem very different from the real thing, so maybe those stories arenāt accounts of real mers???), but also what if mers have some crazy magic that can hide them from humans? And thus, Jaime is wary of everyone.
He stays even further away from the beach than before, considering now he knows that it doesnāt matter how careful he is, thereās always the possibility of a mer turning up and just throwing him in the water anyway.
(Also somewhat relevant; the way I noted down the story line was by drawing really rushed doodles and saying āthatāll do, Iām sure Iāll know what that means once I forgetā with mixed success. Anyway, this was the doodle for Barry Allen throwing Jaime into the water.)
Anyway, Jaime goes on for a while with no sight of Dr Allen or any other mers for that matter. Heād be happy about it, except the fact he knew that the doctor knew who he was and where he lived -so obviously Jaimeās lack of seeing him was probably intentional. Which wasnāt the most comforting thought.
While time goes on, his rashes only get worse. With them only getting more dry and painful, even though Jaime tries to stay in the shower for longer periods than he usually would. Non surprisingly, his mother is still concerned and suggest thatās they should go back to the doctor to find more treatment options.
Sheās really taken aback to how adamant Jaime is against it, heās vehemently against it. Of course he canāt just tell her that Dr Allen tried to kidnap him, so he makes excuses saying the rashes arenāt that painful! (It is very painful). Itās getting a lot better! (It is getting noticeably worse). Just a little more time and theyāll probably disappear before they know it! (They wonāt. Not unlessā¦)
His mother sighs, her energy to argue spent completely as she says she wonāt force Jaime to go. Not yet. But if it gets any worse she will force him.
At that, Jaimeās forced to confront the fact that the only option technically left was the thing heād been trying to avoid for so long. The only way that rash were going to get better was if he actually spent time in water. Like,,, encased in water, not just letting the stray water droplets hit his body in a shower.
But the ocean was dangerous. Not even just counting the possibility of encountering mers, but also the threat that came from humans. The beach was a massive tourist destination, it wasnāt uncommon to see hundreds of people in the water around the shallow sands. Even the docks were always alive with activity, it was no wonder the older mer had whisked him away from the area almost immediately.
Not to mention after the whole fiasco that resulted in that weird magic restoring the ecosystems, thereās been so many scientists and marine biologists about. Jaime hadnāt seen them personally, but heās heard about it from people at school and on the local news. So thatās even more eyes than before.
And heād dread to think about going back to that large canyon. Itād probably be safe from humans, sure, but from mers not so much.
It seems hopeless to a point Jaime was considering just digging a pit himself and filling it up with water -but at second thought he didnāt have a safe place in mind for that to be practical, nor the equipment that would make it possible.
As much as the dilemma was twisting around in his head, forming into indistinguishable knots of anxiety and dread, he tried to remind himself over the simplicity of this situation. If he didnāt get in the water, his mother would eventually end up forcing him to go back to Dr Allen -whoād then just throw him back into the water regardless. He could worry about it all he liked but truly right now he had the liberty to worry about it, and aslong as he avoided the problem heād lose that liberty soon enough.
So he made a promise to himself, heād take the plunge (hah) atleast once, while on a slow day at the docks, heād swim over to where the old coral reefs were and then heād let his mind fester on the anxieties of what to do.
His reasoning was over the fact that once he was actually in the water, heād have the ability to look around for anywhere safe he could return to often. Heād have a way better idea of the options available, and maybe come to find the situation wasnāt as hopeless as he thought it was. Of course the mers could still potentially be a problem, but if it was between maybe encountering another mer vs being thrown back into the sea by a mer -the answer was obvious.
And so on a day with some high winds and approaching rain clouds, Jaime sneaks away to the harbour. He keeps in the shadows constantly. Last time he was here he happened to run into a mer by chance (maybe chance, maybe premeditated, he hadnāt actually confirmed), so he wasnāt about to risk it.
Fortunately that dry bit of sand and pebbles hidden completely underneath the docks (the place he had escaped to and hidden before), was as secluded as it was the first time he was there. And honestly heād prefer to slowly walk into the water and swim away in a controlled manner this time (as opposed to being thrown from the dock and having to swim-sprint (is that even a thing??) away).
The process of turning was still as weird as it always was, but he tried not to get hung up on the changing sensations. He kept low to the grimy mud of the ground, swimming under ships at every chance he has, making it out the harbour with little fuss. Mentally he praised the strong winds of the day, considering most ships wouldnāt want to go out in this weather if they could help it, plus the amount of tourists were minimal.
He didnāt catch any boats that seemed to focusing on marine biology, but then again any scientist could be using normal boats for all he knew.
Swimming in the direction of the old coral reefs, Jaime tried to pick off any spots of weird goopy mud that cling to his hands and scales. It was not a pleasant sensation in the slightest, and he was more concerned about getting it off than he was looking around. So he was shocked to see a miniature sea of colour beneath the waves when he arrived at what he knew was the old coral growths.
See they were called the āoldā coral growths because specifically; IT WAS ALL MEANT TO BE DEAD! You could see where the coral used to reside but essentially everything had been bleached into oblivion and the area was classed ecologically dead.
And yet the sight that Jaime was met with was the opposite. Flashes of almost every colour of the rainbow seemed to crawl and sprinkle along every rock available, swarms of fish both in schools and as individuals were swimming back and forth, plants of which Jaimeās never seen before could be spotted throughout the cascading landscape of shimmering colour.
ā¦ He didnāt know how to feel about this. Surely this couldnāt have been him, right? He barely understood what was happening but there was no way in hell that he was the cause of all of this.
And so he simply refused to acknowledge it. He swam over the coral and between the rocks, not contemplating how in the hell this happened. Nope. Not at all. All he needed to find was a safe place to stay hidden, and that was that.
The sound of a distant approaching propeller was enough to get his movements from leisurely floating, to panicked zipping back and forth. Almost every tunnel he found was way to small for him to fit through, and also seemed to be preoccupied by very intimidating looking eels -but the propeller and engine were getting louder and he didnāt have much time.
He dove down into a small ravine, each side covered in various coral shelves, small fish, and crustaceans. Luck seemed to be on his side at that moment as right at the bottom of the ravine was a small indent into what seemed to be a decently sized cave. It was still small enough Jaime could barely fit through, but it opened up considerably once he was through the entrance, so much so he could float in the small cave and still barely touch the sides.
Immediately like a stray wave had caught him off guard, his mind hummed and fuzzies at the edges. It was so quick that he couldnāt catch that it had happened, but the next thing he knew was that his mind was adamant he was safe.
It was dark. Completely cramped. And he was safe.
He didnāt want to leave -or he did actually, he knew heād have to go back home soon, but everything in his body was telling him he shouldnāt leave. The sound of the propeller was muffled and far away, any anxiety of a boat simply disappeared once he entered. Well, itās not like anyone could get him while he was in here, so why would he have to worry?
Before long the sound of the propeller had gotten fainter as whatever boat it was had driven past him -but Jaime barely realised as he felt his eyes start to droop. He felt as if he was making a sound, some kind of chirps maybe, but it was still scratchy and quiet from his lack of voice.
It really shouldāve concerned him with how quickly he was loosing himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANYWAY! Iām going to stop that now before I get too far ahead of myself lol.
Also I really sure do hope that people do not have any expectations of me for the next few months because Subnautica 2 is about to drop in the next few days and It will consume my life. :3
(My condolences to the people who indeed do have expectations of me. I love you all, and yet you guys have to put up with so much of my procrastinating lol XD)
omg itās a low quality doodle with Bernard and Dragon Tim/Spiney. Who couldāve foreseen this??? Not me, thatās for sure. ĆŗwĆ¹
I love the fact that Bernard looked at THE MOST spikey, rocky, uncomfortable dragon and thought āwow. Heās so huggable. Imma hug him. His snuggles are the best snuggles. Absolute cutie.ā And he aināt even wrong.
Of course Jason is also very huggable, but he has the advantage of being an unintentional space-heater with what feels like the power of the sun.
Lol Iām coming to the realisation that if someoneās only seen the art of my fic, theyād think the fic is filled with nothing but fluff and hijinksā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦. I mean,,,, it does have that stuffā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦.. yepā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ only good vibes over hereā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦.. you can trust me owo
Considering Kris made their lovely Mer!Jaime art, Iāve decided to finally show my own mer au so that the fandom can eat well.
[EDIT; there is now a part 2]
Lil context; this mer au was inspired by the fanfic āwhen the water ran redā by Poker -which is a DSMP fic and one of the best things Iāve ever read. A lot of the world building in this au is stuff Iāve made, but especially the pup idea and natural behaviours were inspired by Pokerās fic. (Also this au is VERY self-indulgent, but thatās no surprise with me lol) Anyway, HERE TAKE THE DOODLES;
Look at him. Look at the babyyy. He so smol. So tiny.
Context plus small fic (essentially) under the cut;
So the story goes, Jaime -who is only 14 in this au- is walking along by the coast one day, minding his own business. At one point he comes across a weird looking fountain within an alleyway.
It looks shallow, and very old in the way itās carved into the wall. If Jaime had to guess, he assumed itās purpose was for an old religious reason, but he didnāt pay it any mind as he walked by.
What does catch his attention is the Thing that shoots out of the water towards him. Itās too quick to get a good look at it, but all he knows is that it is huge. It grapples at him and begins to drag him back towards the fountain.
He canāt even scream before heās submerged within the -definitely not shallow- water. When he can finally focus on whatās infront of him through his panicking, heās met with the sight of a large being that is definitely not human, even if it seems to have human expressions.
It looks at him with what seems to be both fondness and pity. Which even while in his flailing panic, Jaime can tell thatās definitely a weird combination. It was akin to how someone would look at a bug they liked before they step on it.
And he finds out why when the entity wraps itās distorted hands around his neck. It isnāt a strong hold, but it burns. The pain crawls through his body to the point his entire world goes fuzzy from the agony.
The next time his vision begins to return, the harsh press of concrete is what he recognises first. Then the sheer cold of his soaking clothes sticking to his body and the floor of the alleyway. Then he notices the spreading red colour that seems to be travelling through the puddles that surround him. He loses consciousness before he can call for help.
Time seems to flash in and out, sensations eluding him no matter how hard he tries to focus on it. Heās pretty sure that at one point thereās someone beside him, but he canāt be sure. There isnāt any pain, but to be fair there wasnāt much of anything in his current state.
There does seem to be a consistent melody thrumming through his head, unimpeded by the fading consciousness, and yet undefined in its nature. It reverberated through his head, so much so he wouldnāt be surprised if his body was shaking with the power of it.
By the time his sensations began to get back to him, it felt like only a moment had passed. And yet by his sheer exhaustion it felt like he had been running for weeks without stopping. Each limb felt as if it was full of lead, while the only movement he could achieve was lifting his eyelids to see the image of his mother.
He didnāt even have the energy to open his mouth to speak. And it would be much later, a day later to be exact, when heād learn that he couldnāt speak. At all.
He could make the motions to talk and try to push air through his vocal cords, but to no avail. The doctors said it was due to the injury. They couldnāt say whether or not heād ever get his voice back, as the damage seemed to be so severe.
He had to talk to the police too -or wrote to them, rather. And he told them what he knew, which wasnāt much to be honest. But they checked the fountain Jaime said his attacker emerged out of, and came back saying the water was only an inch deep. And thus, any weird unexplained things about his report were simply excused as panic or pain-induced hallucinations. But there was one thing they knew for certain; Jaime had been attacked by someone. The mere shape of the injury was enough to confirm delicate precision -which the doctors had informed the police themselves. Jaime didnāt know what they meant by it being obviously inflicted.
Fortunately that was the extent of the questioning, considering he couldnāt give them much else. His family had been distraught the entire time, and even now the stress was clearly visible on each of their faces. But a weight definitely seemed to be lifted from their chests when they had the all clear to go home.
It was when Jaime had to replace the bandages when he finally got to see the injury. To which, he finally understood why the doctors had been so sure before.
The marks covering his throat were precise and completely symmetrical. With a central outline of a hexagon, and leg-like spikes protruding from the corners of the hexagon. It almost looked like a bug of some kind -but a disturbing minimalist interpretation of one.
He doesnāt like looking at it after that. He doesnāt like being reminded of the fact the attacker had intent to do that. He doesnāt like going anywhere near water after that, either.
Of course most people would see that as reasonable, the human body will learn to have flight responses to things that have previously hurt you, after all. But Jaime knows thatās not entirely whatās happening with him. His apprehension comes from the fact that this entity seemingly emerged from a puddle! So going by all the information he had; there was seemingly no water source small enough to stop this thing from potentially appearing again. He couldnāt even trust a glass of water.
When there was no progress to his voice getting better -and Jaime was getting sick of writing down everything he wants to say- his mother proposes that they should learn ASL. Atleast the most convenient signs, and if they find it helps theyāll go from there. Initially, it surprises Jaime how quickly he catches on to learning the signs, but heās just happy he doesnāt have to bring a pen and whiteboard wherever he goes now.
Drinking and eating had also become its own chore, as even though his oesophagus remained undamaged, the act of swallowing was still painful. It didnāt help that he was struggling to hold food down anyway, it seemed to be complete random chance whether Jaime could eat a type of food or not. And it was way more likely that he couldnāt hold it down, which was completely unfair in his opinion. It was getting exhausting.
After a week of being discharged from the hospital, Jaime finally decides to face his fear and take a shower. He knows that he canāt hide from it forever (itās water for gods sake! Itās everywhere! Itās in everything!), so itād be easier for him to take the plunge now instead of letting the fear fester into something worse.
He let the shower head run for a while, just watching the droplets -not taking his eyes off it just in case the weird entity would emerge. There wasnāt anything suspicious by the time the steam was fogging up the mirror, and so with a sigh Jaime moves into the water.
Of all things he expected to happen (either completely nothing, or being kidnapped again by a monster through the water, etc) he did NOT expect to suddenly lose his balance and fall to the floor, only to turn back and see an ENTIRE FISH TAIL!
It was so jarring he could only lie there and look at it. It felt real. So real, like he could feel the sensation of the floor through the entire tail -type of real. Whispy, thin, and absolutely massive fins protruded from the tail, lying upon the floor while catching the light of the bathroom.
He was lucky he was the only one in the house at the time, as his subsequent freak-out had no witnesses. It was through his panicking that he realised that sound had emerged through his throat. It was raspy, barely audible -but it was a sound! He couldnāt form a word, but he could guess that whatever had happened to him had somehow reactivated his vocal cords.
With enough time lying on the floor trying to drag himself out of the bathroom, an obscure sensation crawled over his body before BOOM! The legs that he was realising he was taking for granted, appeared once again.
Fortunately for Jaime, relatively quickly he managed to clock the fact that it was contact with water that caused the transformation. Unfortunately for Jaime, he found that out because he had to turn the shower head off and it was the contact with the water that caused him to transform again. He also managed to clock it was specifically when he was dry when he transformed back to two legs.
He was in shock mostly, contemplating whether he actually woke up in the hospital or if this was all some kind of coma induced dream. Because in all his experience of life thus far, This. Was. Not. Possible. Then again, so was a massive monster emerging from a puddle, and yet here we are. He had the injuries to prove it happened, too.
After enough questioning reality, he realised that his entire understanding of life had been essentially flipped on his head. He was gonna have to avoid water which- (itās water for gods sake! Itās everywhere! Oh god, itās in everything!)- was not going to be easy. Fortunately his family was already convinced he had a new fear of water, and he was probably gonna have to lean into that. Hard.
He made a point to avoid any and all contact with water. Which included things like; taps, glasses of water, sprinklers, showers and baths, condensation, and especially the sea. Or rather, try to avoid being anywhere near the sea, for that matter.
And for the most part, his tactic worked. Even when he was allowed to go back to school, he managed to dodge water like his life depended on it. And, well, it felt like his life depended on it.
His mother was still stressed. Always asking if he was ok, if his neck hurt, if he was hungry, if he wanted to stay home from school that day -her consideration meant a lot to Jaime. He hated how worried he made her, so he tried to reassure her where he could. But considering the fact his āfearā of water was getting worse, and that he was still struggling to hold down most foods; his attempts to reassure didnāt help in the slightest.
His voice was also back to being completely absent too, meaning it was only with the tail he could make a tiny bit of sound. Which was not fun at school. Like, at all. Most teachers understood his situation, but some really didnāt care to even bother to understand, which has led to more than a few really awkward situations where all Jaime wanted to do was curl up into a ball and be consumed by the earth.
It didnāt help that after enough time it felt like his skin was becoming way too dry to be normal. It was so serious he began to develop large rashes along his body, to which he couldnāt put ointment on it considering when he had tried it, it had turned the skin underneath to scales -as the ointment was water based.
When his mother spotted the rashes she insisted they go back immediately to the hospital -regardless of how expensive that was. Considering the injury on his neck, she probably assumed it was some kind of serious infection, so Jaime couldnāt blame her for her concern. Still, no matter how many times Jaime tried to reassure her it was ok, she was adamant on going.
They went to a paediatrician this time, a man with a very approachable vibe called Dr Allen. Heās very welcoming when they enter, asking how the recovery is going and listening patiently when his mother talks.
It might be Jaimeās imagination, but he swore something in Dr Allenās expression seemed to be changing as his mother explained everything. His eyes became pinched when she talked about Jaimeās struggle to hold down foods. His head tilted a fraction of an inch when she explained the rashes. And his smile dropped into a forcible neutral expression when she explained about Jaimeās āborderline debilitatingā fear of water.
His first question was not about the rashes, or the food, or anything his mother had mentioned. His first question was;
āHas your son been exhibiting any new behaviour? Not counting the fear, have there been any other differences youāve noticed?ā
There was a pause in the room, his mother obviously wasnāt expecting the question. Non the less she ended up saying no, there hadnāt been any ānew behavioursā sheās noticed.
Like a candle losing its flame, the forced neutrality that Dr Allen held slipped away, replaced with a smile in which Jaime couldnāt tell if it was equally forced or not.
In the end, Dr Allen ended up giving them advice to try before thereās any medical intervention. And yet every bit of advice he gave rubbed Jaime the wrong way. It felt like Jaime was missing out on something, like the doctor was talking past him and not to him. But then again Jaimeās not a doctor so whoās he to say?
Dr Allen told him to try to rehydrate by drinking out of enclosed bottles with straws, and that would probably lessen the rashes. He also said that before getting medical intervention for Jaimeās struggle with food, he should try to eat a fish-only diet. When his mother asked how that would help, Dr Allen waved his hand saying āIāve seen situations like this before, and in some cases they found that changing their diet to only fish really helped in their recovery. It might not work, but itās atleast worth trying considering the alternative has an extremely expensive medical bill attached to it.ā So his mother just nodded -although it looked like she wasnāt entirely convinced.
But try it they did, and to literally everyoneās surprise; it worked. For some unfathomable reason Jaime could eat fish perfectly fine! As weird as it was, Jaime couldnāt deny the flood of relief he felt once he could eat it without throwing up. Finally since the attack there wasnāt that stress and anxiety that arose every single time he had to eat something.
As for the water bottle with a straw, well, it wasnāt particularly a āfearā anyway, so as long as it was already completely sealed he didnāt have a problem with it. It didnāt really help with the rashes, though, and to be completely honest Jaime didnāt think it would. Honestly he was moreso confused why the doctor didnāt recommend some kind of hydrating ointment.
A few days after his visit back to the hospital Jaime found himself walking down the street adjacent to the beach. He didnāt want to be this close but he was doing an errand for his Nana, so aslong as he kept his distance from the actual water, he reasoned to himself that heād be fine.
Imagine his surprise when he runs into non other than Dr Allen himself, meandering on the docks doing whatever it is that paediatricians do in their spare time. Jaime wasnāt going to say anything, but the other waves him down when he sees him and suddenly Jaime is in an extremely awkward situation where he doesnāt particularly want to converse with someone whoās essentially a stranger but also if he just ignored him then thatād be extremely rude but also the guy is crouched on the edge of the docks right over the water and Jaime really doesnāt want to get any closer to the water but also the guy probably just wants to check on him and hey that might save another trip to the hospital-
Jaime ends up walking over to Dr Allen despite his internal bickering. Heās constantly cautious about the water, but the wooden docks are wide and the water is calm in that moment. Dr Allen asks him how heās feeling, if the fish diet idea worked or not.
Jaime, of course, gave a nod in response. Now, he wasnāt entirely sure what to expect after that, but it was along the lines of; āthatās good to hear!ā Or ākeep it up and you hopefully wonāt have to see me any more!ā
What he didnāt expect was for Dr Allen to give him a cheerful grin before getting up from where he was crouched on the edge of the dock, grabbing Jaime under his arms, and throwing him into the water.
He tried to escape, he really did. But by the time Jaime realised what was happening, he was already in the air with the water below him fast approaching.
He hit the water with the same impact as a boulder, or maybe it just felt that way, as the sheer fear began to shoot through his system, making all his senses go haywire while he flailed around. He didnāt even know when the transformation happened, all he knew is suddenly he was having to grapple with a tail.
He tried to swim away, swim down, do anything but stay there. But his movements were awkward, and he had no idea how to actually move the tail to swim. He hadnāt had any time to take a breath before he was thrown off the dock, plus with the panic of him thrashing, he didnāt have a lot of oxygen left.
There was a large splash beside him but he barely noticed the displacement in the water through his struggling. What he did notice was when two massive hands grabbed him in his struggling. His first thought was that the murderous entity was back, but non of his screams were anything more than a squeak.
He doubled his flailing when they started to move, but the sensation of water rushing past him never stopped. It felt as if he was being dragged once again, but this time it there was no stopping in sight.
Just when Jaimeās vision began to blacken with the last of his breath running out, one of the large hands came up to cup his cheek.
āBreathe. Itās ok. Trust me, just breatheā
Jaime didnāt want to give in, he knew heād just choke on the water. But it was only human to gasp for breath when you were running out of air, and so even though it was pointless, Jaime found himself trying to inhale.
It really shouldnāt have shocked him when he survived. So much other weird magical things were happening to him -hell, he had a fish tail- so it really shouldnāt have been surprising that as he inhaled the water, his vision returned to him as it finally felt like he could breathe. It was a weird, alien sensation of breathing through water, but it worked!
And as good as it was that he wasnāt going to drown anymore, unfortunately that still left the problem of being kidnapped. Atleast with his new energy he could struggle with a returned vigour.
Through his struggling, he did manage to see that it was actually Dr Allen who was pulling him along -but he looked weird. For one, he was absolutely massive! More than double, no triple, Jaimeās own size. Aswell as the fact his features definitely seemed a bit more fishy than before, with scales under his eyes and distinctly pointed ears to go along with it.
Things were starting to piece together in his head, even if he didnāt fully understand what was happening. Every suspicious thing the doctor did was suddenly making a lot more sense -and what made it even scarier was the fact whatever his plan was, he had been plotting it for a while. Escape felt futile, but Jaime kept kicking (canāt kick without legs, it was moreso thrashing) and screaming (squeaking, in this case) anyway.
Eventually their motion stopped dead when they were in what seemed to be an underwater ravine, far away from the beach and out of sight from any boats. Dr Allen managed to turn him around to address him, and as much as Jaime wanted to, he couldnāt manage to get close enough to bite the otherās face off.
āThere we go, pup. See, that wasnāt so hard was it?ā
Jaime hissed at the other before he could stop himself. Actually, he wouldnāt stop himself even if he knew he was gonna do it.
āGod, you look a lot more frail than I first thought, itās going to take a while before youāre back in good health. But donāt worry! The pod is going to look after you now, you wonāt have to live in pain anymore. Youāre safe now, itās ok.ā
Jaime had no idea what he was talking about, but he did not like the implications. He managed to get the sign out for āno, go away! I am not small!ā To be completely honest Jaime didnāt have half the signs for what he wanted to say right now -but he was going to do everything in his power to adapt.
Surprisingly, the other seemed to understand the signs. Which, atleast there was that Jaime didnāt need to worry about?
āHaha, pup youāre too young to even be out the nest -I canāt believe you survived that long on the surface. Even adult mers would struggle after going so long without being in the water! But you donāt have to worry about that now, youāll be able to spend your time in a nest from now on, so hopefully the symptoms of dehydration will fade.ā
Jaime assumed he was referring to the rashes,,, which made sense, he guessed. But that didnāt mean he wanted to be held captive underwater!
āNo! I go home! To family. Go away!ā Jaime signed rapidly.
āOh thatāsā¦bittersweet. I know they probably love you, but youāve got to understand Jaime, youāll die if you stay up there. The surface is no place for a defenceless pup. And hey, donāt you want to have fun and play with other mers? I have my youngest, Bart, heād be thrilled to play with you, Iām sure. Thereās other kids aswell, and, yeah, theyāre a lot older than you, but I just know youāll get on with them fine-ā
Jaime began to thrash around again. This guy had lost it completely if he thought Jaime would ever be ok with being kidnapped. And why did he keep being called a pup? He was fourteen! Which was still a teenager, but this guy was talking as if he was some kind of helpless baby!
āI am fourteen, assholeā Jaime was glad he learnt the sign for that, even if this was the first time he was using it properly.
āExactly! Youāre not even two, and yet youāre out here on land where most mers arenāt allowed until theyāre atleast ten!ā
Jaime made a very confused motion, not knowing how to process the nonsense that was being spouted.
āThatās not what I said! I said fourteen! Not two!ā
There was a moment of silence where they just looked at eachother, with the slow water currents passing them as it traveled through the ravine. Dr Allenās eyebrows pinched before he spoke again.
āOh, ok. Right I shouldāve considered that you arenāt aware of how it works, which isā¦ sad, but expected. So you know how when humans refer to a dogs age, they have actual years and then human years?ā
Jaime didnāt like where this was going.
āWell, mers have a very similar system to help break up the life stages to be easier to understand and keep track of. Mers live considerably longer lifespans than humans, and all youād have to find the āhuman yearsā equivalent is by dividing the actual years a mers experienced by ten. And so when a mer is 327 -like me-ā
ā327???ā
āThen my age would be 32, essentially. When a mer is 100 years old, theyāre 10 and finally allowed on the surface with supervision. And when a mer is 14, they are 1. A pup.ā
This was ludicrous. Jaime had never witnessed the sheer mix of ridiculousness and audacity of which this person seemed to show. In what world could someone look at him and think yes, thatās definitely a baby?!? Why was he even having to argue about this?! The sky is blue, and he wasnāt a baby!
Even if by some stretch of the imagination, Dr Allen was telling the truth about these āmersā; there was still something very clear that needed to be stated.
āI am not you. I am D-I-S-E-A-S-E-D. I will find a C-U-R-E.ā Jaime didnāt have the signs for it, but he spelled out the words non the less.
A familiar face of pity seemed to emerge on the otherās face, while dread began to fill Jaimeās lungs.
āOh sweetheart, donāt say that. Iām sorry, it mustāve been so hard on you to be alone. You mustāve been so scared. But I promise itāll be ok, youāll realise once youāre safe, that this isnāt some kind of disease. Iām sorry what youāve experienced has made you think that, pup.ā
Jaime realised that it was as the words were spoken that, truly, there was nothing he could say that would convince the other to let him go. If he didnāt escape now, there was no telling how long itād be before heād be able to see his family again.
Disregarding any sense of self preservation, Jaime launched forward to smash his head against the otherās chin. It wasnāt particularly impactful considering the size difference, but it was enough to shock the other into letting go for a moment. And it was only a moment Jaime needed to push out from the grip and start trying to swim away.
The adrenaline running through his veins this time didnāt impede his thought process of figuring out how to actually move with a tail this time. His mind was a lot sharper than it was when he was initially falling into the water, and with that he managed to actually move his body in a way that could be counted as swimming.
He wasnāt fast, and he didnāt have much time to pin down the finesse of swimming, but all he needed to do was get away.
He managed to make his way up the top of the ravine and into the flatter shallows that connected back to the dock. But it was only after a few meters from the ravineās edge did he hear the much larger mer coming after him.
He tried to duck in and under rocks -using his much smaller size to his advantage. And it worked! For a minute or so.
He wasnāt even halfway back to the docks before a tight grip encased one of his arms. More panic flooded his bloodstream as all the negative emotions that had built up since the initial attack started to roll together, like some out of control snowball rolling down a hill. His senses fuzzed as the only thought in his mind was to get away-
He tried to scream. And this time, it worked.
A voice he wasnāt sure was his -wasnāt sure was even human- echoed within the water. Blinding light seemed to encase the area, but Jaime didnāt catch it since his eyes were closed. The world around him shook as the stones jittered and the loose sand shifted.
When Jaimeās senses returned to him, all he had the mind to realise was that there wasnāt a hand grabbing him anymore -so without a second to spare he pulled himself away and began swimming as fast as he possibly could in the direction of the docks.
In his haste, he didnāt manage to catch the fact that the world around him wasnāt the same as it was a moment ago. It had the same shape as before, the rocks where they were, the trails of sand still flowing round the sediment. But if Jaime were to pay attention he wouldāve seen that the entire rocky plain had somehow sprouted waves upon waves of kelp, as far as the eye could see.
Heād also be able to see that this same kelp had completely entangled his pursuer -who was struggling but didnāt seem to be getting anywhere with his attempts.
All Jaime knew was that after he screamed, he managed to make it all the way to the docks without being captured. It was only when he had managed to drag himself onto a dry patch of sand that was hidden completely under the docks, was Jaime able to realise the exhaustion that seemed stuck to his body.
With the adrenaline wearing off, there was absolutely nothing left to use. It felt as if he was back on that hospital bed again, completely powerless and weak with no energy stores to help.
He didnāt even realise when he transformed back or how long he was led there, but it was when he felt his phone vibrate with a text did he realise that he probably should try to get home.
The walk back to his house was excruciatingly slow as it felt like he wasnāt entirely in touch with his limbs. He didnāt even notice that there seemed to be large crowds around the beaches, but then again a large number of tourists was never something that was unusual. What made his trek even longer was the fact that he had to keep to the shadows, knowing that Dr Allen was most likely on the surface looking for him. Plus the fact Jaime was still avoiding any and all water where he saw it and-
Yeah, it wasnāt a surprise that it was getting dark by the time he got home. It also shouldnāt be a surprise when he returned to see his family who were completely distraught and panicking over him potentially meeting the same attacker from before.
He almost told them about what happened with Dr Allen. But then heād have to explain everything weird and mystical that had been happening to him -and he was tired. So tired he could barely sign. So instead he told them that he was ok, and that he just got scared of some water and lost track of time, and thatās why he didnāt have what he went out on an errand to get. Of course his mother scolded him, telling him that he shouldāve called her at least! But that was the only thing she scolded him for, as she seemed to accept the excuse without questioning it.
He finally felt safe in his home, and he immediately beelined for his bed. Before the exhaustion took over completely, he did have an idea of an ultimatum. He knew this situation was only going to get worse if he let it. He barely understood what was happening, but admittedly Dr Allen did give him a starting point to research. So the path was clear;
He was going to do everything in his power to find a cure.
And with that resolve, he finally felt the sensations of the waking world leaving him.
It would be the next day where heād learn that the news of the city was covering the fact that seemingly a anomalous miracle happened underwater the day before, where the previously dying marine ecosystem off the coast of their city had somehow boomed with thriving life in an instant. No one knew how it had happened.
Disturbingly, Jaime was starting to realise that he was the one who had probably caused it, and it was why he felt so stubbornly tired since.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So yeah! Thatās the gist of the beginning of the au. A lot of it is my own world building reminiscent of what I made for my Infamous Second Son mer!au, but as stated before a lot of it inspired by āWhen The Water Ran Redā by Poker. Go check them out, they truly are an amazing writer, and they managed to hook me into a story of a fandom I wasnāt even in!
The rest of this BB mer!au is less detailed, but itād follow Jaimeās struggle with his new condition, while also trying to dodge every attempted kidnapping the mers do. They even get their kids (who are all over 100 years old) to disguise themselves as normal kids in Jaimeās school, to try befriend him before trying to force him back into the ocean to join their pod.
Obviously thatās devastating mentally to Jaime when he realises that all of those āfriendsā never actually saw him as an actual friend, but rather a baby that they needed to protect and tell him what theyād call āwhite liesā the same way an adult would lie to a toddler to get them to do what you wanted.
Oh, and also with his symptoms getting worse, plus a developing mental regression he couldnāt stop if he tried -his relationship with his mother becomes more and more tested as time goes on. She truly wants to do everything she can to make sure Jaime is ok, but as his symptoms gets worse and sheās continuously left in the dark; she can only take so much before she realises anything she tries arenāt helping at all. So what is the point of tying? Sheās trying so hard and Jaimeās being combative to everything she suggests (going to another doctor, going to a therapist, talking to the student councillor, talking to HER).
So thereās that going on in Jaimeās life too. I just like to see him suffer, what can I say? uwu
I canāt believe I wrote that much but at the same time I can. You can see how I manage to hold @maybe-its-kris hostage for so long to talk about my aus. Pray for them >:3c
