#pool comic

Comic drawn by @davidox822

Concept by @fegal

I feel like basically everyone but Raine can swim. Raine is the only character who shows a fear of water. While this doesn’t necessarily mean lack of fear of water means the characters can swim, I feel like most of them can. Iselia isn’t as coastal as, say, Palmacosta, Sybak, or Altamira, but it’s near enough to the coastline that I feel like Colette, Genis, and Lloyd could have gone to the beach pretty often. Often enough to have learned to swim a bit.Raine’s fear of water comes from the fact that when she was young and traveling with her parents, she fell off the ship they were traveling on and nearly drowned. So it makes sense that she probably never would have learned to swim. Genis wasn’t born at this time, or if he was, he was an infant, thus, he either doesn’t remember or wasn’t alive for Raine’s traumatic experience and probably doesn’t have that same aversion to water. Mizuho is near water according to maps of Aselia, so it makes sense if Sheena knows how to swim, especially since she’s a ninja and would probably need to be able to sneak into places. Especially with the number of holes she falls into, it would make sense that she would need to swim, both to sneak into places with moats or other watery areas and so she can get herself out of any traps she falls into.Zelos frequently vacationed in Altamira to get away from the snow in Meltokio, and since he’s the chosen he was probably taught a lot of skills he’d need to, you know, not die? Because being the Chosen makes you important. Plus he’s a spoiled rich kid, so I’m sure his caretakers would have paid for swimming lessons.Presea I’m not sure of. She seems very capable, and Ozette is close to water, but she spent most of her time helping her Father until he died, I think, so Presea is one I’m not sure about. Regal is shown swimming in the OVA, I think? He’s also rich so presumably he had lessons. Plus Altamira is an island so knowing how to swim is probably important. Not to mention his title for the Altamira swimsuit event is literally “Swimmer.” Yeah. I bet he’s the best swimmer out of the group.Emil is a summon spirit, technically, so he should be able to do almost anything. Marta grew up in Palmacosta so she can probably swim.Richter lived in Sybak for a significant amount of time but... Him I’m not sure on. He’s a water elemental and Aqua likes him so... even if he can’t swim, I doubt he’s in danger but...Someone did do a comic I liked hypothesizing that he can swim and that he swims well. (This comic no longer appears online, so if someone could find the source or knows the artist, I would be eternally grateful. Posting for posterity and so a copy survives because this is too cute to fade into oblivion.) Also, this reads from right to left like a Manga because that’s how Japanese stuff works, just in case you don’t know already.

(I don’t speak Japanese, and I translated this ages ago, so it might not be fully accurate but...)Aster: Awesome! A pool! Ratatosk: Hey, aren't you going to change clothes?Emil: B-but...E: Ha... having my nipples showing (in public)...would be embarrassing...A: Well, there's also swimwear available that will cover (up to) your chest... (sound effect: Cute! )Don't worry, Emil...Ra: Please, they're all the same! (Oh please, it doesn’t matter!)[The Change of Clothes]E:Wah! This way I'm all covered up!Thanks, Aster-sa...(SFX: Dash)E: Th-this is a bathing suit for women! Now I'm even more embarrassed!Ah! Everyone is staring at me...(SFX : Dash, again... )E: And I just got hit on/catcalled by a man!A: Yeah, that figures...

(SFX: Gya! [Generic shouting, I guess])(Also, OMG, Richter's so sexy on this page I just can't...! I’m DEAD!)Richter: Hmph... Sure is noisy.A: Hey! Somebody's looking cool, huh?!E: Come on, Richter-san! Let's swim!(SFX: Doom! )(SFX: Splash, splash...)(SFX: Bubble bubble...)A: Come to think of it, I'm not really sure if Richter even can swim! (He never said...)E: Uwaaah! Richter-saaaaaan!

E: Richter-san! Don't worry, I'll save you!(SFX: Grab)A: Wait, Emil!E: Please, let me go, Aster-san! If I don't do something now, we'll need a miracle to save him! (Creative license on this one... Emil mentions something about Doraemon, a popular Japanese cartoon character [drawn in the speech bubble]. I'm not entirely sure what the reference is, and the literal translation makes no sense apart from "Aster, please let go"...  Doraemon is a robotic cat [with no ears because they were eaten off by robotic mice, apparently,] who travels back in time to help his masters' great grandfather. Doraemon's pouch is said to hold an infinite number of useful gadgets, and Doraemon himself is so popular in Japan that he's sort of a symbol of hope. So, I'm just guessing that, since Doraemon has a reputation as a "miracle worker", that this was what was intended in the dialogue...)A: No, no, think about it! If you help him now, you'll get - what? - maybe one, little "thank you" in the end?A: The key is to wait to help him until he's on the verge of dying! Then:1) Rescue (aka, Hug from Behind)2) Artificial Respiration (aka, Kiss)3) Heart Massage (aka, Body-touching)E: B-bu-but...R: Emil, you saved my life! Let's get married!E: Yes! Let's get married!E: Right! Let's wait, Aster-san!A: Yeah! Ra: These guys are hopeless... What the hell're they thinking? I guess I better do something before something bad happens...