Draft:Aquatic

Aquatic is an umbrella term for people whose species live or spend much of their time in water. The common experience of being an aquatic creature living on land draws together many people with animal identities, but also mermaids and other mythical humanoids.

Experiences

A "calling" towards bodies of water is one of the most common experiences reported by aquatics. Misty, a mermaid, describes it as a deep love of anything involving water, and further writes, “I started getting these flitting urges to lunge myself into [the ocean] and never return” [7]. (add some more descriptions?)

Body incongruence

Feeling adapted for a different environment may be a source of friction in an aquatic's life. They may feel awkward walking on two legs. The sensation of gravity might feel odd to them, as might the relatively light pressure of air on their body compared to water. Some aquatics state that they instinctually try to swim like their phenotype, and become frustrated with the way their body is adapted to swim differently. They may additionally experience dysphoria over being unable to breathe underwater.

Aquasarius of House of Chimeras lists suggestions for coping with this. It focuses on engaging the five senses, such as listening to audio of the ocean or putting a wet cloth over the skin, especially in spots where phantom sensations are present.

Phantom sensations

Common phantom sensations include fins, scales and gills. Many aquatics describe the feeling of gills in particular detail.

sensation of air/water moving through them, feeling short of breath (particularly when neck covered), neck feeling sensitive in general, find breathing air strange or unintitive

Community

Aquatics are relatively rare compared to people with land-based species identities. In From the Blue Fleet, Ocean Watcher speculates that this is because the feelings associated with being an aquatic creature can be too alien for a person to identify. They also describe the skepticism they have recieved from other therians who feel that aquatic creatures are not "complex" enough in their intelligence to be a viable theriotype.

References

i will turn these into real sources eventually shhhh

1. https://houseofchimeras.livejournal.com/96667.html

2. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UX2crVYAqYuzpLjlk5fYNy5UagicVtkv/view

3. https://oceanicinstincts.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/the-life-aquatic-essay/

4. https://oceanicinstincts.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/the-strangeness-of-fish-essay/

5. https://oceanicinstincts.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/dorsal-fin/

6. https://web.archive.org/web/20130117084907/http://main.otherkinalliance.org/articles/arts-and-literature/if-only/

7. http://web.archive.org/web/20130129045611/http://main.otherkinalliance.org/articles/personal-accounts/mermaid-me/

8. https://obscurities.sonverrid.org/2021/04/06/from-the-deep-blue-sea/