Should be noted that this is a side IF. Which means it’s something I work on whenever I’m bored of Aquarii or am in need of something a little more chill and wholesome. Main IF is @aquarii-if.
Sometimes, it feels like your life is falling apart.
Losing one family member is hard enough, but losing all of them at the same time is almost unheard of. All it took was one malfunction on an airplane, and suddenly your world ended.
Being fresh out of college with no direction, you weren’t sure what to do with the heap of inheritance money you got from their death. But upon seeing the ads for beach houses in Blue Mist, an island that finished emerging a few years ago and just finished some of its construction, you decided ‘why not’?
Now it’s time to wash your worries away in the pristine waters of Blue Mist. Enjoy taste testing the unique cuisines using the islands native ingredients, run along the boardwalk and find things to decorate your new house with, learn about this new island that brings all kinds of unprecedented adventures… Oh, and meet your new neighbors that happen to be a little more wet than usual. Don’t worry, it’s completely normal.
Choose your pronouns, sexuality, and appearance.
Swim with some mermaids, and learn about the large city beneath the waves.
Develop your relationship with your late family and how you mourn their loss. Seek comfort and stability in this quaint little island.
Choose between four unique gender-selectable RO's, some mermaid, some human, and some in-between. (Very high chance of more RO's being added.)
Explore the new island, and use its secrets to protect you and your newfound aquatic friends.
Simon/Sophia, Your Friendly Neighbor- S is considerate, welcoming, and an overall delight to be around. They're very supportive and you can always count on them to be a shoulder to cry on during your moments of grief. With how much they seem to care about living things, you're certain they'll be a great asset to the fight for the mermaids.
Idris/Iris, The Curious Mermaid- I scared you on your first encounter with them, but over time, you've found them to be quite sweet, if not a little naive. Mischievous and curious, I wants to know everything there is to know about humans, and they dream of a day humans and mermaids can live at peace with one another. They also seem happy to teach you about mermaid culture, and you enjoy trading knowledge with them.
Malachi/Madeline, The Hostile Mermaid- Though your encounter was a mistake on your part, M has never been one to hide their hatred for you and your kind. When they may not want humans dead as humans want mermaids dead, M does wish humans would stay out of the ocean, since mermaids stay off of the land, it's only fair humans respect their property as well. M has no interest in trying to solve the conflict between the species and would prefer everything to stay just as it is. Maybe you can convince them to open their eyes to peace between mermaids and humans?
Altair/Astrid, The Prince/Princess- While I loves humans and M hates them, A simply expresses no interest for your kind. They're polite and welcoming to you when you visit their kingdom, but outside of that, they're very clear about the fact that humans have no place in their kingdom, just as mermaids have no place in human society. All A wishes to do is stop the humans from harming the mermaids, but after that, they plan to make Blue Mist return to it's uninhabitable state and close off the mermaid kingdom from all outside contact. The world between humans and mermaids was once entirely closed off, and so it shall return.
Luca/Leilahni, The Surfer- A human surfer whom you met from a sudden splash while relaxing on the beach. Sweet, albeit a little careless and oblivious to their surroundings. Like most humans on the island, L is entirely oblivious to the city below, but your determination to help the mermaids has rubbed off on them, and they promise to help as best they can.
Theodore/Thalia, The Boat(wo)man- A gruff wallflower who was kind enough to give you a free tour around the island. T can come across as impolite and antagonizing, but they can't help themself. Grief affects us in many ways, you know that all too well. It is nice to have met someone who also lost a parent recently, though, as morbid as that sounds. T is the only other human you've met who is aware of the mermaid kingdom below. While they choose to feel indifferent towards the species, they did give their word that they're here for anything you need, something they've sincerely grown to regret telling you.
It's been over a year since Aquarii was updated, and I apologize for my absence. I know it can be irritating when an author randomly disappears without any notice, and I apologize.
My life isn't really great right now. I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this, but I attend college online and currently live with my mother, who has recently become increasingly angry with my step-dad and wants to divorce him. We have plans to move into an apartment in January, but we're mostly preparing for the move right now. While I don't really care much for the divorce itself (I never liked the guy, if I'm being honest), my mother has had trouble finding a therapist, and I suppose, since I'm majoring in Psychology, she has decided I am a good substitute for one. So my mental health hasn't been doing very well with the awkward energy in my house, and of course, her venting to me.
College has also not been easy. I think this current semester has been my worst semester yet. The workload is insane, so I haven't had much time to focus on Aquarii or Through the Waves. That, and I am also planning to transfer to a university abroad around August/September 2026. So, I've also been mentally preparing for that big step in my life and working hard to make sure I'm eligible to attend the university I want to attend.
While I know these excuses might not be reasonable excuses for my silence, I thought I'd give you an update on what's happening in my life. I don't see it getting easier until January, especially since my mother has not actually told my step-dad about the divorce, and doesn't plan to until the weekend after Halloween. So, to be honest, I only see it getting worse.
However, I have been doing my best to push through and work on Aquarii. I've gotten a good amount of progress done, so hopefully I can update the demo with Chapter four before the 2nd Aquarii anniversary.
I've also decided to rewrite Aquarii. Which I know can be irritating to hear from authors, but I do plan to focus on updating with newer chapters, and rewriting is more of a second objective. I've rewritten the prologue, and I don't plan to start on chapter one until I've released chapter four.
Here's an update on my writing so far:
Aquarii:
Prologue-
Tweaked Roux's personality. I felt that the current personality I gave him in the demo didn't suit him. He's a bit more passive and reasonable. Allele is still relatively the same.
Tweaked Estelle's personality; I felt she was a bit too mean. She's still cold, but it's her job to care about people at least a little bit.
Rewrote Amare's aversion to humans to be a bit more subtle.
Chapter One-
I'll probably rewrite a lot of the god's crowning scenes. Some of them just felt lax compared to others.
Rewrite some of the god's introduction scenes for the same reason as before.
Chapter Two-
Might add some small tweaks to parts of the battle scenes with the siblings.
Add more to the scenes with the ROs in the city. Like the first chance to get alone time with a RO and the scenes were very short. 😭 I feel bad so I'll change them to add more detail.
Chapter Three-
Haven't decided if I want to rewrite chapter three or not. I'll probably decide that when I finish rewriting the other two, but I'll update you then!
Chapter Four-
Over a fourth of the chapter is done. Maybe not the best news, but I plan to do my best to work on it more over the next few months. My semester ends December 14th, and I have an entire month off, so if the chapter doesn't release before then, it'll probably release in December or January.
Through the Waves:
I felt that the current introduction to the demo was a bit jarring. I plan to change the Prologue to just include a short scene of the MC a few weeks after finding out their parents died and finding an advertisement for Blue Mist Island. I'll then just add the current prologue to chapter one, so the current demo will just be one whole chapter.
Other than that, there will be no further edits to the current Through the Waves demo, it's fine as is. I'll be able to start on chapter two as soon as chapter four for Aquarii is done.
I'll do my best to update you all more on major events and progress. I apologize again for my absence, but rest assured, I am alive and relatively okay. Thank you to those who stuck around. I really appreciate your support, and hopefully you'll hear from me again soon!
This account will be more personal, I'll be posting more about life events, and really anything else that I don't want to spam my main blogs with, so you'll be able to know how writing is going and if I'm taking a short break or not. I thought it would be nice for you all to have a way of knowing what's going on in my life and how it may affect my writing. Though, I'll still post an announcement on tumblr if I need to go on a long break!
I should also mention that since it's a personal account, I may post things outside of writing, which could include politics. If you don't want to see that, you can opt for checking in every once in a while just to see how writing is going for both of my IFs.
Other than that, feel free to follow if you're interested. I thought it was a nice and easy way for me to stay up to date with you all! ❤️
I want to thank you for all of the support you have given me this past week, Through the Waves has already been viewed 3,000 times, and has received 18 reviews, all five stars!
This blog has also reached 660 followers, I appreciate that you all wanted to stick around to see what comes next. 🥰 Your support means the world to me!
I also wanted to announce that I've been thinking about making a BlueSky account so you all would be able to see small updates about my progress, life events, and maybe some more personal posts about my interests and things like that. I didn't want to spam this blog or the blog for Aquarii with this kind of stuff, so I thought it would be best to make another account for it. Feel free to let me know if you're interested in something like that!
Thank you all again for the support this past week, and hopefully the next update won't take too long again. I plan to release Aquarii's fourth chapter and kind of just switch between the two IF's as I release chapters. But I'll let you know if I decide to switch it up. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed the prologue and first chapter of Through the Waves!❤️
okay, it should absolutely, 100% be fixed now! I've tried it on multiple devices and different browsers. Still, let me know if you run into problems with it not working again. Thank you!
Hey, sorry if you've been running into the problem where you can't access the main menu. I'm not sure what happened, but the icons the template used are suddenly gone. I'm trying my best to fix it, but I can't promise it'll be a fast process. Thank you for all the support Through the Waves has gotten regardless. ❤️
Hey, sorry if you've been running into the problem where you can't access the main menu. I'm not sure what happened, but the icons the template used are suddenly gone. I'm trying my best to fix it, but I can't promise it'll be a fast process. Thank you for all the support Through the Waves has gotten regardless. ❤️
when you say the mermaids are huge, how much of that "height" is the tail? i always love seeing mermaid illustrations where the mermaid is kinda normal head to torso but the tail is super long and elaborate and kinda snake or eel-like. or are the tails kinda normalish size and the mermaids huge as a whole?
Most of that height is the tail, yes! If the mermaids had legs, they might be a bit taller than the expected height of a human (like above 6’5), but their tails give them a couple extra feet in height. :)
When asked about family i chose parents then inseparable then it asked about sister i chose didn't always see eye to eye then it asked about parents again and I chose inseparable again and that continued the story
also there's a pronoun bug i chose female
Sophia pushes $s_himself off the table and walks over to the door. You follow her, intending to say goodbye.
Thank you for all of the asks alerting me about bugs, here are the ones I've fixed:
A mistake where I accidentally put both liking cookies and being neutral about cookies when MC says they like cookies.
When choosing family, being led back to choosing parents again, when MC gives their opinion about their sister.
The following pronoun bugs: S's pronoun bug when speaking with MC about their family, a pronoun bug when MC is talking about L's appearance, a pronoun bug when MC tells T they're coping, and a pronoun bug when MC is explaining I's appearance.
Let me know if you run into any more or if these bugs were not fixed for you. :)
they've been waiting to meet a human, and bring them through the waves (lol) to see the mermaid kingdom! they just forgot to ask the human before taking them lmao woopsies
hii! sorry if this comes off as rude, but when you go to the beach and try doing the boat tour, the text is red and won’t let you do it. idk if this is simply because you haven’t gotten to write that portion or if it’s a bug/coding issue but i wanted to let yk in case it’s the latter.
i really like ur if so far btw and can’t wait for the next chapter !! ^^
Don't worry, you're not being rude. 😊 Thank you for your support.
This should be fixed now. Sorry if you got a bunch of notifications that the game was updated, I was running into some...technical difficulties. Turns out I just put the passage name in lower case :< My bad!
The prologue and chapter one for Through the Waves is out now on Itch!
In this chapter, you will-
Step into your new home.
Learn about the elusive island of Blue Mist
Hike a volcano
Find a strange bracelet...
Meet all of the human ROs, as well as one mermaid RO.
Important Links-
I tried my best to squash as many bugs as I could, but I am not perfect. Please visit this google form if you find a bug. You can also send an ask if you'd prefer.
IMPORTANT: Bug fixing might be slower than usual. I've got a busy week ahead of me, sorry everyone :<
Hi again, I know it's been a week since I posted my other post mentioning that I was finished with writing. I am moving along with coding, I've just been running into some problems because of how many variables and different sections chapter one has. I also had to do quite a bit of work for my classes this week so I've been trying to balance them both. I've got a good schedule going, so it shouldn't be too long until I can release the draft.
I’ve given some hints for these throughout past asks, but to answer directly…
(This is also based on this moment in the game, they’ll develop different dynamics throughout the story.)
Simon/Sophia-
S’s relationship with the mermaid RO’s is a spoiler!
S’s relationship with L- Kind of neutral? They haven’t interacted with L much, but when they do, the conversations are positive and friendly. Still, I don’t think they’d even consider L as an acquaintance, L is just someone they know.
S’s relationship with T- S really likes T! They like how mature and wise T seems, and they enjoy going on rides on T’s speedboat.
Idris/Iris-
I’s relationship with M- While I and M tend to disagree on a lot of things, I genuinely appreciates M’s advice and wisdom. They sometimes seek M out when they’re feeling lost or down, and they view M as a good friend.
I’s relationship with A- I’ve talked about this in another ask, but I is a little shunned by other mermaids due to their fascination with humans, but A has never made them feel like this is something they should be ashamed of. I appreciates that A listens to their rants, and sometimes A shares knowledge they have found about humans, which excites I.
I’s relationship with L- They don’t know each other. :(
I’s relationship with T- I has a funny story that they tell where they were almost run over by a speedboat, which is implied to be T’s, but I doesn’t know T personally.
Malachi/Madeline-
M’s relationship with I- M thinks I is annoying, loud, and incredibly naive. They don’t know why I insists on hanging around them or asks them a zillion questions, but A tells M to be patient with I, so M just indulges in them so I eventually leaves them alone.
M’s relationship with A- M respects A and sees them fit for the throne of Azulin City, they’re also childhood friends, but have grown a bit distant over the years. Still, M sees A as a trustworthy ally.
M’s relationship with L- L and M don’t know each other, but M finds surfers to be about as reckless as I, so they probably wouldn’t like L.
M’s relationship with T- T and M don’t know each other, but M finds speedboats to be loud and obnoxious, so they probably wouldn’t like T if they met while T was riding out to sea. Alternatively, if they met under different circumstances, I think they’d begrudgingly like each other. They have a similar mindset.
Altair/Astrid-
A’s relationship with I- I is an… acquired taste. A finds I’s excitement and curiosity endearing, but they can also understand why some other mermaids find I to be obnoxious. A does try to help I to tone it down a little, but I isn’t great at picking up social ques, so A’s attempts tend to go ignored. Nonetheless, they enjoy seeing I happy. The only thing A is critical of is how I goes to the shore and tries to interact with humans, they do genuinely worry about I when they’re gone for long periods of time, and have sent search parties a few times because I had been gone too long. They feel a little protective of I, is all.
A’s relationship with M- Views M about the same way M views them. They respect M, and they can understand M’s animosity towards humans, but they do think M takes it a bit too far sometimes. A is saddened about how withdrawn and hostile M has become, and would like to rekindle the closeness the two had in their youth, but it seems there’s a long while to go before A and M can reach that again.
A’s relationship with L- A and L don’t know each other.
A’s relationship with T- Spoiler! (shushing emoji)
Luca/Leilahni-
L’s relationship with S- L thinks S is cute, and they’re curious about S as S doesn’t interact with the neighborhood as much as L does. They’d like to get to know S more.
L’s relationship with T- L thinks T has a real pessimistic view of life, and thinks T could do with going out and socializing a little more. They think T is hilarious, though, and L enjoys talking to T after their shifts.
Theodore/Thalia-
T’s relationship with S- T is kind of suspicious of S. They can’t explain it, they just get a bad, uncomfortable vibe.
T’s relationship with L- If you were to ask T directly, they'd just respond with "Ugh" and leave it at that, haha. It's not an entirely truthful description of how T thinks of L, T does believe L needs to learn how to stay out of other people's business, but they don't hold anything against L, T just thinks they're a little sheltered, but more people on Blue Mist who are L's age are.
Hi everyone, sorry about my radio silence. I've been going through some troubles, life has unfortunately not been kind to me and I haven't been in the right mindset for writing.
You'll be happy to know that I've finished the writing portion for Through The Waves, which just leaves running through coding errors I may have made. I'm not sure how long this will take me, but the prologue and first chapter isn't too long, so I doubt it'll take me another eight months to complete.
I'm not going to set a public release date since I don't want to stress myself out, so I'll just say it'll be out when it's out. That may not be the update you want to hear, but I really cannot handle the stress right now, so I'll be taking it easy.
Through The Waves currently stands at 33,000 words. Not as long as Aquarii's first release was, but I view that as a good thing, honestly. This IF is supposed to be my mental break.
Again, I apologize for my lack of updates. I can't promise that will change much, but I'll try my best. Thank you for all your support and I cannot wait for you all to read Through The Waves <3.
