This one took a whiiiiile. but glad to see it done? it's one of those times when you work on a picture so long it just will never look quite right lol. Though I may also have just destroyed it too much with effects, so there's a clearer version included.
This image was inspired by a picture by phantom-inker with a picture that- actually is also called "No Swimming" appropriately enough, (https://www.deviantart.com/phantom-inker/art/No-Swimmin...) , which in itself inspired by a picture by Ric Quiroz. (The link in PI's description doesn't work but here's the picture https://gyazo.com/9a2cbc3fa743d3d477581e7a603b0ef2) The original image by Ric is about a girl on her way to the beach, and finds a pool with a sign saying "Danger - Mermaid Transformation Pool - NO SWIMMING!, but not believing it, she goes for a dip anyway and, surprise surprise, she is transformed into a mermaid. Phantom Inker's picture is about a girl who is hiking in the forest and has grown tired, sore and hot, and decides to cool off in a pool, only to transform into a centaur! And then realises after the fact there was the sign warning of it being a "Centaur transformation pool - No swimming!" which was buried in foliage.
In Ric's picture, the girl saw the warning sign and, not thinking it was real, jumped right in anyway. In PI's picture, the poor girl didn't even see the sign because it was buried under all the foliage! Well, in my picture here, a new link in the chain, this poor young man saw the sign, and did believe it. Well, he wasn't planning on going for a random swim, but unfortunately, the third or so stepping stone he was using to get across the pond had other ideas, as the ground under it collapsed and he fell into the water by accident Hey, at least his sore-from-walking feet aren't... a problem any more.
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This picture is tied to a story I have been daydreaming about in my head over the last couple months that I'll probably never have the drive to write (like all the other hundreds of stories in my head). The story is set on an island that once was a large jungle but over several decades has seen part of the island flourish into a modestly sized city. This young man, Kamal, was exploring the jungle part of the island a little ways away from the city and found some old ruins of a civilisation he couldn't quite place based on the architecture. It was there that he attempted to cross this pond, fell in because of unstable ground under one of the stones, and emerged soaking wet from the water to find his lower body heavy as he dragged it behind him. After turning around, he saw that, just as the sign had foretold, his body had transformed into this twisting scaly form emerging from his torso.
He eventually climbs his way back out of the pond the way he came, and was perplexed as to how this could have happened, how he could have been transformed into this snake creature... this... 'naga'? that's what the sign said. Who put it there anyway? The sign was rudimentary and had broken away from the bank where it was supposedly hammered into, but was still easily visible as it now rested against the bank wall. I won't get into the whole thing now because... we'll be here all day. but it's a story about this kid learning about the heritage he's now just inherited by force. He has to learn how to live as a naga, and he also has to discover where all the naga have gone! the city is in ruins, with damage that was done not by time, not by weather and by no human weapon... and furthermore, there are no bodies to be found! (bar one, but that's a spoiler!) there's a dangerous jungle nearby full of strange creatures, and a human town where the secrets he's looking for might just be buried somewhere under the surface. But can he keep the city from finding out HIS secret? And who can he learn to rely upon during all of this.
It is a pretty fun and exciting story honestly, and I do need to write it up some time if I can, though it'll be a bit of an involved project. But hey, I'm invested!
Let me know what you all think down below in the comments :3 And thanks for reading.
