#I miss my merfolk AU so bad

[a-spookys-doodles]

Every May I think of the Merthieves and how I miss them.

[coralinnii]

Hi! I just wanna say I love your villain/ness au 😍 especially leonas part thank you for giving me this story as I was finding stories like this💕💕so I was wondering can I request about the tweel? Their my most favorite in twisted wonderland 🙏 it will be my outmost joy to see you write them!

and sorry if im wrong in writing this request because this is actually my first time writing a request 😅 so thank you for the understanding 😁

Being Reincarnated into a New World as the Bad Guy feat: Jade genre: drama note: set in the same universe as previous works (Azul’s ver specifically), no pronouns were used, villain/ess!reader is not a merfolk, roughly 2k word count 

series masterlist

I know there's someone missing but Jade's portion got longer than I expected so I cutting it into separate posts. Floyd's part will be released soon so in the meantime, enjoy as we welcome the fourth vice-housewarden to this surprisingly popular AU.

Sorry 3aemidnight, that this is slightly subverted from the request but Floyd's part has that aspect more played into

You’re screwed. Absolutely screwed. Why did you end up in this situation?? You didn’t even read the webtoon! Your classmate was gushing over a popular webtoon and like a good friend, you lent an ear to her excited ramblings. Her favorite characters seem to be a pair of devilish merfolk brothers. It was that rambling that helped you realize where you were because you didn’t bother remembering the main cast but you couldn’t forget the name “Jade Leech” nor his partner, you. 

Or at least the character you possessed that your classmate kept wishing she could be. The lucky duck that became Jade’s betrothed but you couldn’t really agree with that sentiment when she mentioned how that same partner was left behind by the Leech heir and prosecuted as an accomplice to the Leech family’s underground activities. 

“What’s so great about the hopeless love trope?!” 

Unfortunately, the proceedings for your engagement to the suave marquis heir was set. Putting a wrench into the plans now would cause too many issues to both families. Still, you were determined to leave this crazy story unscathed no matter what. 

“Let’s make a contract” were your first words to your soon-to-be partner to which he responded with a curious quirk of his eyebrow. “a prenuptial to be precise” 

“But my dear,” a shiver ran down your spine when Jade used that supposedly endearing name, a superficial one of course. “What ever could have scared you to have such worries?” 

“Because I know what you and your family are trying to do” 

Oh, you have piqued Jade’s interest now.

Your listening skills have paid off as you remembered the plot of the Leech family. The brothers were working to extend their family’s power above the waters and to have an “organized system of connections” with the help of the newly appointed count Ashengrotto. With their intelligence and charm, they wanted to monopolize the marine market from local fishing rights to overseas trading. Unfortunately, the main leads stood in their way and forced the native merfolk to flee to their home, leaving those associated with them to answer for their crimes. 

You have no interest in being caught in the crossfire but becoming an enemy to the Leech family is not a favourable situation either. So your best option was… 

“I’ll help you” 

If you’re going to be accused as an accomplice, better be the best accomplice so neither of you get caught. 

The greatest challenge for merfolk on land was the discrimination that was still prevalent, even after the human-merfolk alliance. No matter how charming Jade was, it was hard for the merman to converse with the more narrow-minded noblemen. It was why the Leech heir agreed to the engagement as your family was beloved and highly respected in the kingdom. Your character was just an oblivious, lovestruck pawn to his plans. 

“I’ll play the perfect partner, give you the backing you need, the intel you want” you stated your terms, with no room for negotiation. “But, we’re publicly in an arranged engagement only, nothing else. We only meet when necessary and once your family secure the Triton ocean trade route, we’re breaking our engagement and never to speak to each other again” 

If the Leech family weren’t caught, they would have returned to their native home anyway and controlled the trading from the safety of the ocean. Either way, Jade would have been out of your life regardless, so you should at least escape prosecution. 

You weren’t falling for his gentleman facade, and you definitely refuse to be the one on the short end of the stick in his crazy family’s schemes. 

You and Jade were locked in a silent stare down, waiting for either one of you to break the silence. You kept your mouth shut, not letting your nerves talk yourself down. It was this or nothing. 

Your gamble paid off. Jade chuckled with a slight peek of his sharp teeth and extended his hand out, piercing your figure with a pair devilish eyes. 

“If that is what my dear wishes, how can I decline?” 

So sealed your deal with the devil your future ex-fiancé 

Some time passed since your agreement, you joined a soirée your family was invited to. As a newly engaged couple, it was expected for you to bring Jade to which he was happy to escort his precious person (you hid your scoff). True to your word, you agree to chat with some of the daughters and wives of certain families for certain intel that Jade needed. While the ladies were more tolerant of the merfolk, they held certain prejudices over them which would affect the conversation greatly should Jade attempt to speak with them. 

So off you go. 

It was surprisingly easy with the chatty ladies to gather what you needed to know. They were happy to brag about the wealth and connections their families had and the businesses they controlled. The number of employers, the unknowing dissatisfaction of their workers that went over their heads, the obvious limited knowledge over the sea routes…everything came loose from their lips and will inevitably be used against them later on. Once you mentally checked off what Jade requested you to find out, you were patiently waiting to take your leave when someone decided to steer the conversation to something else. 

“But enough about our families. How is your life as a newly betrothed, darling?” One of the wives brought the attention to you, which took you slightly by surprise. 

“Well, our families were growing close so we decided a union would be beneficial” you smiled as convincing as you could. “While we were arranged, I’m sure it will be an amiable alliance” 

“Oh, how lucky you are” one of the younger daughters congratulated as convincingly as her eyelashes were. “To be engaged to someone as distinguished and exotic as Jade Leech, your family connections must have been more impressive than I realize. I knew how enamored you were with the young heir, but to think a frumpy wallflower such as yourself managed to capture him. Good for you” 

Any semblance of tolerance you had for these women had just been thrown out the window. Even if you were detached from your host character in every sense, you felt anger building in your body from their haughty words. You quickly glanced to where Jade was and he was standing but with his signature smile and charming eyes engaging in conversation with other attendees, so you assumed he couldn’t hear from where he stood.

It’s not good to hold in your anger… so you don’t. 

“Interesting…if I’m a frumpy wallflower as you say, what would you be?” You pondered aloud with innocent tone of voice “bottom feeders?” 

Gasps and stuttering replies were let out from the flushing women, flabbergasted by your undignified words, but they haven’t heard anything yet. 

“Before my engagement, I often chatted with the current Marquis Leech and he was telling me how he was flooded by persistent engagement proposals for his heir that there wasn’t a day that a messenger wouldn’t visit the Leech residence.” 

That was a bold-faced lie about your meetings with the Marquis head but you recalled your classmate’s words of the mountains of proposals the Leech brothers would get, proving their in-universe popularity despite being discriminated against. Well, it’s not as though anyone would question your source, you were engaged to a Leech afterall.

The wives may have been confused but the younger ladies were visibly shaking as they watched you with nervous eyes, either praying you didn’t know the families that proposed or if you did, you’d keep silent over it. 

But you offer no such salvation from their humiliation 

“Out of the countless proposals, I seem to have been chosen over the ones who reached out first. In fact, some of the interested ladies are here in attendance today, such as Lady-“ 

You paused abruptly as you quickly back away as one of the single daughters reached for a drink and prepared to throw it into your face in desperation to avoid being exposed. Seems like you pushed a line too far. You closed your eyes, braced for a rude splash…

but nothing came. 

Surprised muttering and gasps compelled you to reopen your eyes but you were met with a lean chest and tall looming figure blocking you from the women. You leaned to the side and was shocked to see a large wet spot on Jade's pristine suit jacket, his back and shoulder drenched in champagne. You peeked at Jade's face as he wore his signature smile, appearing calm but you could have swore his jaw seemed more tight and strained as though he’s fighting something internally. 

Maybe you’re just reading too much into it. 

Any semblance of annoyance you thought you saw disappeared the moment the eel merman turned to face the ladies before. He placed his gloved hand over his heart and smiled as usual. 

“I believe this conversation may have gone on too long. Everyone is getting a little too tired and reckless. Perhaps we should cut the night short tonight, do you agree?” Jade proceeded to rest his hand on your shoulder, looking at you with faux concern. “Shall we take our leave, my dear?” 

Stomping down the involuntary shiver, you nodded and turned to walk away without saying goodbye to the ladies or even waited for Jade to walk with you. At least Jade had some strength to offer a bow and a smile before joining you. However, you didn't notice the way the ladies silently flinched in fear when they saw the dangerous glint in the young merman's mismatched eyes.

“I never realized you had such a fiery tongue,” Jade commented as the two of you make your way to your carriage, to which you clicked your tongue in annoyance. 

“So you were able to hear everything” you chose to change the topic. “You better not say anything to your father about what I said today. I needed to use an excuse” 

“You needn’t worry, my dear. I’m simply impressed you knew about the proposal letters.” Jade ended his words there, but you knew he was curious to know your sources, especially since it pertains to the ongoings in the Leech residence. 

“I heard some things, that’s all I’ll say” you held your tongue beyond that, your eyes relaying to Jade not to prod further, which he conceded. 

“Of course. I would never want to upset you, my dear.” Jade smiled at the slight shiver in your shoulders. 

“Alright, my turn to ask questions” you stopped in your tracks, forcing Jade to do the same, enticing his curiosity as you always seem to. Your eyes stared at the stained jacket that hung over Jade's arm, having taken it off to avoid the rest of his attire getting dirty. A sense of guilt pinched your heart as you questioned him, “Why did you save me? Sure, I’ll be slightly humiliated but I can just play the victim and ruin them further” 

Jade silently stood in his spot, as though he was seriously contemplating his previous actions. But you doubt that because Jade Leech does not do things impulsively. He’s calculating, his movements always premeditated and intentional. 

Right?

Then, the ocean-haired man slowly walked closer to you. Carefully, he reached out his gloved hand towards your cheek and wiped a small drop of champagne from your hairline. A minuscule drop must have made its way to your face without your awareness. But Jade noticed. The cold leather glided from your forehead to your ear, to which he crept closer as he leaned down and whispered to you. 

“We made a deal, my dear” his smooth voice vibrated clearly into your head and your instinctive shiver came once more from his name for you. “I plan to make good use of you and I will not permit anyone from ruining you before I’m done” 

You sealed your fate with Jade, so you must commit to the end.

[earthbovndmisfit]

Yay you're anwering asks again! Which seem to be old ones lol.

On the idea of mer Jonawagon where Jonathan is the human and Speedwagon is the merman, perhaps the rest of the Ogre Street gang could be mers as well, living in tightly-knit pods like orcas and coming into conflict with seagoers who see them as "monsters"? And with Jonathan as a human Dio would make a great human antagonist too, perhaps being a hunter of the mers who despises Jonathan for empathizing with them.

Perhaps Jonathan's meeting with them could play out like it did in canon PB, with them initially attacking him as an intruder to their turf before he shows mercy and kindness to their leader, thus earning their friendship.

Last one seemed to be from a couple weeks ago, but there are a lot that are a year old or more…. (sorry!!! bad brain has been an absolute bitch all of 2024 so far)

I really like your idea nonny!! I feel like the Ogre Street guys don't get the love and appreciation they deserve and I'm more than happy to be able to include them in these AUs too! I like the idea of them all being a gang still. They already have some intimidating appearances in the og, and that would definitely add to their mer versions as well. Seagoers would think of them at monsters at first sight, especially if they aren't familiar with merpeople or other "non-conventional" sea creatures, I'm sure 😔️ They -along with Speedwagon- would probably be outcasts on land at best (probably back at home too if they happen to be criminals or other types of "pariah"), and I think that could add to their bond with Jonathan, who thinks of them as friends (and more, in Speedwagon's case of course 🤭️💕️).

Idk if this idea was thought to be part of the Sailor Jona/Mer Speedwagon scenario?? But if so, then we can mesh both ideas and have Jona and Spw meet the way mentioned in the other post. They start getting to know each other and maybe arrange to meet again near land in the next port the ship is scheduled to visit.

The day comes and it so happens that Speedwagon's gang is hanging around that area before either Spw or Jonathan get there, not knowing about Spw's new human friend. Jonathan is the first one to show up at the meeting spot by the shoreline (and away from privy eyes, in the case of a universe where merpeople are not common knowledge? idk). Dear Jojo even brought some trinkets and things he thought Spw might find interesting and that no one onboard will miss. That's when Spw's gang notice him and jump into action, not only because he's entering their domains, but also because they have eyed those trinkets and want to rip them away from him. A fight ensues then. As limited as my knowledge on merfolk is, I'm pretty sure they are way stronger than humans (correct me if I'm wrong please!). I'm also guessing there would be no hamon in this AU, and so it's very likely that Jonathan would be overpowered eventually despite his superhuman strength from the og (can't imagine Jonathan not being buff and built like a brickwall, so he keeps his og massive size and frame). It's right there when Speedwagon shows up and scolds and shouts at his friends to leave the man alone. He was reaching the spot when he saw everything as it started going down, making him rush over to them as fast as he could. Spw's friends realize they kinda fucked up and apologize, helping Jonathan up and back on his feet. The idea kinda breaks my heart, but maybe some of the trinkets got broken during the confrontation and now Jonathan feels bad about it, although, he's happy that Speedwagon saved him from what would have very likely been a much worse outcome.

And of course Speedwagon is moved, not only by Jonathan's kindness since he really was under no obligation or whatever to bring him anything, and yet he did, but he's also moved by that faintest of pouts on Jojo's lips upon seeing what just happened to the little presents he brought for Speebs. Being mostly outcasts, I'm sure neither Spw or his friends are used to show or being shown love in any of its forms outside of their little group, so it comes as a surprise even to Speedwagon himself when he pulls Jonathan into a hug to make him feel better and stop worrying about the now broken presents. All this surprises Spw's gang too for the previously stated reasons, but it is clear to them now that their boss sees something special in that man and that, judging by his gesture of bringing him a present, he seems to be genuine in his intentions, and so they ease up on him, genuinely apologizing for the incident and what they have unknowingly caused. They are all wary of humans due to past bad experiences, but Jonathan continues to prove over time that he's someone they can fully trust and rely on, and so Speebs and his gang often follow him closely during his journeys across the sea.

[vodika-vibes]

Hi again! I’m SoulMer anon. Thank you for answering my questions! I only have one more: what exactly is with the magic and humans touching their tails? Was the reader in Mereel’s story only safe because she was his soulmate? Or does the magic just not activate if the human that touches their tail has good intentions?

No problem! I'm happy to answer questions about it!

So to explain this properly, I need to explain a little more about how merpeople work in this AU. There's breeding and tail-twisting. Breeding is the act of creating a merbaby, it's very clinical, I suppose. It's soft and loving and leaves the pairing gooey and clingy to each other.

Tail-twisting is sex. It's hormones and heated, it's basically what humans would consider fucking.

Tail-twisting is a part of the ritual that turns the mate into a mer. So if a merperson's mate touched their tail because both partners are all hot and bothered the Deep Magic would view it as rushing the ritual, and a punishment would be levied. Normally, it means that the mate drowns, even on dry land.

So the merpeople are very careful about making sure that their mates can't touch their tails, the possibility of losing their mate to the magic too horrifying to put into words.

Now, the important thing for magic is that intention is key.

Mereel's mate is a doctor. She saw a person in distress and her intention was to help. To heal. So even though she touched his tail, the magic would have taken her intention into account and nothing would have happened to her.

Generally speaking, merfolk get treated by other merfolk, so Mereel had no way of knowing what might happen if she touched his tail with her bare hands, hence him being overly cautious. And she didn't know that she needed to be cautious, because her only concern was getting him into surgery as fast as possible.

I'm also going to tag @the-bad-batch-baroness @kimiheartblade @mire-draws-things just in case they have anything to add that I missed out on.

Because I'm sure I did, lol

[ollieollieoxenfree-483-gallery]

Some things I've been working on for my Muppets Twisted Wonderland AU, idk if I want them to be humanoid or Funky Creatures so I was working on both

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Twisted Wonderland: The Muppets AU*

(**idk if I want the puppets to be “twisted”/humanoid or kept in their Muppet-y fashion)

*AU name ideas: Rainbow Connection, Light the Lights, Role Call, The Show Must Go On, etc.

(The backstory is essentially the same as the first Muppets movie with a little bit of changes for plot and its Yuu instead of Walter, I'll write it out more later.)

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(If Muppets are a separate creature in Twisted Wonderland:)

   These creatures look vastly different as the magic they’ve been exposed to leading to their appearances being changed in drastic ways. They live in a little town called ‘Storybrooke’ (<- reference to OUAT lol) where the magic is in abundance, altering not only their appearances, but how they live their lives in general. From the smallest mouse to the biggest bird, the creatures are not only very magically inclined but also some of the friendliest and nicest creatures. But not every tree is without at least one bad apple, which is why the Muppets tend to stay in their little community and keep to themselves.

   The smallest of these creatures are the Fraggles and are closer related to fae than people or beastman or merfolk, having been around for centuries, and tend to stay underground in their colonies rather than reside aboveground. The colonies the Fraggles inhabit are known for producing Mage Stones, oftentimes harvesters will scavenge what’s salvageable after the colonies have been abandoned for disrupting the Fraggles can lead to natural magic depletion aboveground.

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Twisted version names:

Kermit “Kermie” Paddington (Kermit the Frog) (UM Encore: Music of a style him chooses fills the air around him, the music spreads around corners and can be heard all around. The music moves with him, centered on him for the duration of the song, and anyone in the vicinity gets a buff on their own unique magic.)

Frankie “Fozzie” Bearly (Fozzie Bear) (UM Punchline: He unleashes a string of jokes laced with subtle enchantments at a person/creature you can see within range. If the target can hear you (though it need not understand you), it can reduce them to uncontrollable laughter and block their/its magic.)

Peter Hoover (Miss Piggy) (UM Spotlight: Everyone in a certain radius is forced to gaze upon him (almost hypnotically) until focus/gaze is broken.)

Gonzales “Gonzo” Davidson (Gonzo the Great) (UM Curtain Call: Able to “perform mass feats” (i.e. jumping from a high window, falling down a flight of stairs, etc) and do so and return unscathed.)

Andy Mal Erics (Animal) (UM Keep the Beat: Once cast, those a part of the “band”/those the spell is cast upon must remain in sync to build the buff. The longer they remain so, the stronger and more powerful the buff gets and the “band’s” own unique magic in turn.) 

(Some of the names are either inspired by their animal/things relating to their animal (Paddington -> Lily pad) or by the puppeteers (Gonzo and Animal))

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That's all I have this far, let me know if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them! :)

[awkwardgtace]

I Wonder how Melody would react if Kyrie or anyone for that matter asked if they were to have children or how the future would be between them. Like would she joke about it, have no idea, be upset or some other . You could just answer it or make a short story someone Asks, completely up to you! (Didn’t mean for this to be sexual in any way, just Wondering how Melody will handle the future with Kyrie in different au’s)

Dear anon this has rambled in my head since i read it. I was like oh I could answer... or write a few things. I wound up writing something which is more or less Melody's reaction to kids being brought up by someone.

Read more cause it's a couple little stories i put together :D

Melody's Asked About Kids (Mer, Guardian, and Knight au)

Mer AU:

“You’ve talked about that man you’re seeing a lot lately,” Melody’s mom said in their latest call. She still wouldn’t come to visit. That was better, Kyrie would give the woman a heart attack. “When do we get to meet him? What are you two planning? Any wedding bells or grandkids?”

“Mom!” Melody shouted, a rare time her cheeks turned red. “Kyrie… doesn’t think like that.” The right words were failing her. It wasn’t like she didn’t like the idea of a wedding and maybe even kids, but that didn’t seem possible. He was over fifty times her size. That wasn’t going to work out.

“You always used to talk about how you wanted kids. Did that change?” She could hear the disappointment in her mother’s voice. That made it a bit easier to talk about.

“If he doesn’t then it’s fine. I’ve been less interested since the whole cursed family line thing anyway.”

“I had you and things went fine! I know you like to blame us, but your father and I-”

“Mom enough! I’m not blaming you, but I don’t want a kid to go through what I did.” She didn’t mention Caprice’s life either. It wasn’t like they’d even attempted to tell them about his tail. It wouldn’t end in a happy family discussion. She didn’t need a kid secretly able to cast magic once they touch the water. 

“Right because your childhood was so bad.”

“Let’s just drop it mom. For now Kyrie and I aren’t talking about kids and I’m not bringing it up.”

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Melody sighed as she sat on the hill staring out over the horizon. Kyrie’s tail breached the water.  She’d never brought it up to him. It wasn’t like she could have a wedding with all her friends. Merfolk had to be a secret. It wasn’t likely he thought about those things either. Slowly the massive head of blue hair came closer. She still couldn’t name the shade.

“Melody!” he chirped as he came close. His nose crashed into her chest, making her laugh. She loved this feeling now, even when her fear of his size came back. The rumble from him came quickly, a purr that didn’t feel like a purr. “Missed you.”

“It’s been half a day,” she laughed. It didn’t take long for her to wrap her arms as best she could around his nose. He chirped more as he knocked her off her feet. “I missed you too.”

“Love you.” Kyrie chirped loud enough her bones vibrated. She laughed again.

“I love you too.” Weddings and kids didn’t matter. She was happy, happier than she had been in a long time. Although someday he’d have to meet her family, that was something she could put off for a long time.

Knight AU:

“You two are cute together,” the woman said. 

Melody had removed her armor before entering the town. They needed supplies and had to keep a low profile. No one could know they were knights. Kyrie didn’t mind the act, he liked the illusion she put on his armor. That when he leaned against her it looked like just two normal humans together.

“Thank you, I love her a lot,” Kyrie grinned. She buried her head in his arms.

“How long have you two been married?” Melody squeaked. She could feel the beam on Kyrie’s face.

“We aren’t-”

“A few months.” He cut her off. It made more sense to lie like that, but she couldn’t. It had probably been a good idea. Knights weren’t liked around here, but still it made her cheeks red.

“Any kids on the way yet?”

“No!” she yelled. Both Kyrie and the woman stared at her. The arms she’d liked wrapped around her pulled away. The woman’s face morphed to a pitying look as she looked up at Kyrie.

“Don’t worry, I had nerves too. She’ll come around fast.”

The woman’s face changed. Melody looked up, Kyrie was glaring at her. All too quickly the woman left and she was alone with the giant she loved. For the first time when they weren’t in danger he grabbed her hand and dragged her away. Quick steps that made it hard to keep up. She wound up stumbling as he pulled her from the town back into the woods they’d come from.

“Kyrie what are you-” Melody tried. 

The sharp look in his eyes stopped her. She… she must have upset him. Screaming no to the idea they had kids. That they were going to. It was just too much she hadn’t thought about it at all. They’d never talked about it. He let go as they reached their camp. She hugged herself. Of course she’d messed up again. They hadn’t even talked about her secrets yet.

“Kyrie I…” she tried. There was nothing she could think of to say really.

“That woman in the village was nosy,” he laughed. She could hear the strain in his voice. Not something she wanted to hear. It was too familiar, he was trying not to be hurt. “I said we were married thinking that would stop her from saying more. I wasn’t expecting to ask about kids. That was too far-”

“Stop.” She grabbed his wrist and made him look at her. His eyes were shining. “I… was embarrassed. It’s not like we talked about any of that. I mean how could we? I’m half fae you’re a giant… it’s not like we have options.”

“Melody…” She was pulled into his arms. Almost without thinking she reached up with both hands and unlocked his armor. The arms holding her moved. The armor fell, the crash almost reassuring. As his arms grew she could hear more of his heart beat. Racing and calming all at once. “It’s ok, we don’t have to. You can just say-”

“No! I… I’ve thought about it. Having kids I mean.” She forced herself to look up at him. One of his hands bigger than her head cupped her face. “Just, it’s unheard of. Giants don’t usually walk around as humans and half fae don’t usually stay around others. I… I was scared to ask about…”

“If you want to have kids someday, we’ll find a way.” Kyrie lifted her up. She squeaked as he tightened his hold on her just before he fell to the ground. She started laughing as his hands moved to hold her head against his heart. It made her smile. She’d almost forgotten his words.

“I just want to be with you. Everything else can come later.” The massive hand started to pet her. It made her laugh, he liked the feeling of her hair. The day he learned her secret was getting closer. She wasn’t ready to lose him.

They sat in silence after that. Kids were a topic for later. When they knew everything about each other, when secrets were gone. Next time someone asked she’d try not to panic. A voice in the back of her mind liked the idea, but it made her shiver. Kids may not even be an option, a safe option, in the future. That was something to worry about later.

Guardian au:

“So how have things been since you moved out here?” they asked. Melody was out with her closest friend. They’d gone out for bubble tea. Their favorite and easy enough to send a bigger one back to the house. She couldn’t pick one up to surprise Kyrie when she got back on her own anymore.

“Good, Kyrie knows about my thing with heights now,” she smiled. “We’re working on that. He can’t take the medicine, it’s painful.  He’s his full height most of the time.”

“Does that mean you two aren’t thinking about kids anymore?” Melody choked on the tea she was drinking, thankful she’d missed any bubbles. 

“Where did that come from!?” 

“I mean you were talking about kids before weren’t you? You were the one telling me about it.” 

“Well we… we haven’t really talked about it.” Melody looked down at her tea, avoiding her friend’s face. Of course they had before he grew. She wanted to raise kids, maybe not her own. It would be harder now, Kyrie wouldn’t be able to help a lot. 

“Oh my god your face is red!” Their shout made her slide down in her chair.

“Shut up!” She focused on her tea for a bit. “You’re the one here on vacation, we're not talking about that right now!”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Melody sighed as she walked into the house. Empty on her side, she could still picture the times he’d jump up to grab her things from her. When she could walk in with something she’d seen hidden behind her for him. It made her sad in a way, the things they couldn’t do anymore. Of course the loud thump from nearby knocked her from those thoughts.

Looking over, Kyrie’s eye was staring at her. Her face softened as her bag fell to the ground and she approached him. She could see the moment he realized she was walking forward. The joy in that sparkling blue iris. A different shade from the one she knew before he grew. From the one that made her talk to him in the first place.

“You have blue eyes,” she smiled. The eye widened before his laughter boomed around her. It was the same response she got when they met. When the words slipped from her back then too.

“My hair is closer to blue now too,” his booming voice made her heart pound. She kept walking until she could see more than just his eye. He wasn’t even that close to the smaller house. When she was at the entrance to his half she saw the mostly blue hair lazily tied back. She wanted to play with his hair again. “How was bubble tea?”

“It was fun, they asked me how you and I are doing.” Melody walked up and put a hand on Kyrie’s nose. The kids didn’t matter, the future didn’t matter. Once they were truly comfortable together again they’d talk. If they wanted kids they would figure it out. “I told them we’re figuring it out.”

“Just how we’re doing?” She could hear it in his voice. A bit of anger slipped into her heart.

“You told them to ask me about kids, didn't you!?” The nod knocked her back, but she glared at him. “Why didn’t you ask me yourself!”

“In case you were scared to tell me…” His voice was quiet. “I mean, we talked before this and you were worried about everything else. I didn’t want to scare you…”

“Kyrie, you aren’t going to scare me.” Her anger died just as quickly as it boiled up. “I told them to shut up, but for you.” She paused and kissed his nose. He shuddered and made her laugh. “We’ll figure it out when we want to decide. For now, we need to figure us out. Kids can be later. We have time.”

“If you want them I can take the medicine to help. I can learn to handle it. We talked before all of this. I still want to-”

“Kyrie, it’s not out of the question. We’ll just worry about it later. Maybe once I can sit in your hand when you walk around.”

“Are you sure? I mean I know you wanted-”

“I want a life with you, whatever that means. There will be options that work with both of us when we’re both ready, ok?”

Melody squeaked as fingers pinched her sides. She hadn’t even noticed his hand coming near her. He lifted her quickly, the racing of her heart a mixture of fear and joy. The fear disappeared as she was dropped onto his massive chest. Beneath her his heart pounded. 

“Are you sure?” he asked. His voice a deep rumble she felt more than heard.

“I’m positive,” she shouted. It was always hard to be sure he heard her. The subtle laugh gave her more than enough of an answer. “I love you Kyrie.”

The hand that hovered nearby froze. She didn’t look at the face she knew would be facing her. He was looking at her, she didn’t often say she loved him first. She was pressed firmly against his heart as fingers wrapped around her. She didn’t mind this, it was getting easier. She knew he’d keep her on solid ground.

“I love you too,” he said. He made sure to speak louder than usual, it left her in awe. They’d work things out eventually. For now it was best they focused on their own lives.

[rabbithub]

Part of Your World (Merfolk!AU, One shot)

(It's Mermay, and I figure I should at least write something for it. It's not much but it's honest work.)

~

Doppio could remember when he had first met his 'boss'; it was after he had been separated from his pod after he had left briefly after noticing a shipwreck, almost entranced by the construction of the wreck. He had been somewhat considered a bit odd by other merfolk, but he hadn't minded; while it felt a bit lonely, most of the time he hadn't noticed it. As he swam around to observe the wreck, the rest of his pod swam off without noticing he had been missing.

It was almost dark when Doppio had noticed he was alone, having looked the whole wreck over for anything interesting already. A bit confusing, but not entirely unexpected; they sometimes left him behind when he was exploring such things, and usually, they would come back for him.

Although, Doppio worried that this time, they would not come back for him at all...

Shaking his head, Doppio decided to find shelter; sleeping for the night by a shipwreck seemed like a good idea, but there were fish that hunted merfolk at night- or worse, tougher merfolk, so it was too big a risk. Swimming aimlessly for a bit, Doppio eventually found a cave- which was not exactly a good sign, as he heard stories about sea witches living in caves.

Then again, it was just for one night. Doppio darted inside, looking around; disturbingly enough, the cave was dark and empty save for a few sparse items. He continued to swim, looking for a small cavern he could sleep in until morning; he manages to find a small enough space, quietly curling up to sleep.

At some point, Doppio woke up in the middle of the night; he seemed to hear something or someone swim by, and he sat up slightly, trying to see in the dark; there seemed to be something glowing a few feet away. As much he was curious to see what was glowing, Doppio stayed still enough to not give away his hiding place; usually things that could glow meant...bad things. He heard a sort of deep, powerful voice speaking to someone else as well.

Doppio quietly decided to pretend to sleep, waiting for the strange merfolk to either be out of eyesight or asleep to leave. He could fight the other merfolk as well, but if they were stronger than him, it might be futile. Time passed in a agonizingly slow manner, making Doppio somewhat anxious. Eventually, it quieted enough for him to attempt to leave; he moved out and swam trying to locate the exit-

The merfolk managed to catch up to him, staring at him more... curiously than threateningly. Doppio backed up into one of the cave walls, shaking in fear; the merfolk had swam closer, empty jade eyes focused on Doppio.

As Doppio tried to stammer out an apology, the merfolk gently cupped his face. "Not many other merfolk come out to this cave, let alone this late at night." The merfolk's voice rumbled, full of curiosity and wariness. "I suppose you're looking for a sort of magic spell or anything else of the sort, I'm afraid you're out of luck-"

"N-no, that's, um. That's not it." Doppio answered, stammering as he realized this was a merman confronting him. "I'm not here for any of that- my pod sort of... left me behind. I just needed a place to sleep for the night-"

The merman blinked, somewhat understanding the situation. "Do you think they are looking for you?" He asked, keeping his tone gentle.

Doppio swallows heavily. "I would hope so- they usually do." He answers, looking guilty.

"I see." The merman answers, letting go of Doppio's face. "And there is no other place you can spend the night?"

Doppio shook his head, still a bit terrified. The merman sighs, seemingly tired. "Very well, you may sleep here for tonight." The merman answered with a nod. "However, I expect you to be gone by the morning."

Doppio nodded, trying to decipher the merman's shape; it was much too long to be similar to a normal merfolk's, with a long spinal fin trailing along the back and silvery patterns criss-crossing along its length. He wanted to ask something, but decided to leave it until morning or if they met again.

~

Diavolo had felt puzzled by the appearance of this delicate looking merman- but then again, he hadn't even noticed that the merman had been sleeping somewhere in the cave until he tried to swim away; Diavolo himself had been trying to practice with divination and was too deeply entrenched in his practice to suspect something was amiss.

Yet, if he had been left behind, Diavolo could not really leave him out in the open sea at night, now could he?

'He's not a prattling fool asking for whatever magic favor to solve their problem, so it is a welcome surprise.' he mused, swimming to a quiet corner and curling up a bit. While he couldn't exactly fathom why the merman's pod hadn't searched for him almost immediately, it wasn't a good situation either way.

Although, Diavolo wasn't used to the concept of living in such a way; his earlier memories were of being brought up by other merfolk briefly, only to purposely be left alone and being called a 'bad omen' or a 'cursed child'. It didn't matter in the present, but for a child to hear such things-

Diavolo shook his head to dismiss the thought. It was a much meeker time for him, nothing more. He had long since entrenched himself deeply in practicing magic, trying to gain more than enough power to rule over the seas as King of Kings. However, with a few brave few fools wanting to waste his time and energy for some reason, he pulled away from other merfolk as a whole.

Yet, a merman seeking shelter had entered his cave, his sanctuary, all for some sleep. Again, it wasn't an annoyance, but Diavolo would rather be alone than play host to a stranger.

Quietly, Diavolo curled up more to sleep, deciding to forget about it for now. It was a small trifle, but it was immediately be resolved in the morning.

~

When morning broke, Doppio woke up and quietly left the cave. As much as he wanted to ask the merman about what he had meant by 'magic spells', Doppio felt it was best to leave for now.

As he swam, Doppio tried to locate his pod, but so far couldn't see anyone he could recognized. 'They'll look for me, they always do- then they'll laugh about me wandering off again, and we'll go hunting for food like we usually do.' he told himself, more to calm himself down more than anything.

For a few nights, Doppio fell asleep in small areas of kelp and behind rocks. Still, he hadn't given up- his pod would be looking for him, of course, he just had to look for them!

~

One night, Doppio had caught the attention of a shark and managed to bite and claw a few bloody wounds in its sides before hiding in a patch overgrown kelp. Sure, he could hold his own, but he was getting tired, and that alone was a recipe for disaster. 'I need some help, but I'm not sure where or how-'

Doppio barely finished his thought before something swam past him, stunning him for a second before he tried to look around to see what was going on.

Doppio was somewhat surprised to see the merman from the cave trying to fend off the injured shark, a dagger held in his hand; Doppio could see that the other merman's tail as a considerate length- somewhat like an oarfish tail, sort of reddish and crossed over with a silvery pattern in a lighter environment.

Doppio quietly watched the fight, still as a statue. 'How did he know where I was?' he asked himself. 'I didn't think he even remembered or thought about me...'

Eventually, the shark swam off, too injured to fight. The merman sighed tiredly, before seeing Doppio and swam over. Doppio worried for a moment, at least until the other merman gently cupped his face again, being careful not to have the blade touch Doppio's face. "You're not hurt, are you?" The merman asked, voice quiet.

"Not really- I got a few scratches on it before you came." Doppio sheepishly replied, earning him an intrigued look from the other merman.

"Rather impressive." The other merman answered in a approving tone. "I never expected that from you."

Doppio blushes, grinning a bit of a dopey smile. "I mean, I'm kind of... tougher than I look?" He explained. "Everyone assumes I can't do much, but they usually find out the hard way, you know?"

The other merman chuckled at Doppio's answer- not maliciously, but almost as if proud of him.

Although, there was a question Doppio had...

"Why were you looking for me? I didn't think you wanted to see me again..."

The other merman looked at bit embarrassed, remaining silent for a moment as his hands let go of Doppio's face. "As much as you possibly suspected, I am one of those rumored 'sea witches' that everyone tries to seek out for assistance- however, most things asked of me are... rather petty, for lack of a better word." He explained. "However, while I was relieved when you left, I couldn't stop seeing you."

Doppio seemed confused. "What do you, um, what do you mean-"

"Let me rephrase that." The merman continues, looking away somewhat sheepishly. "Whenever I tried to practice with divination, visions of you kept appearing. It was as if fate wanted us to be-"

"... Together?" Doppio asked, finishing the other merman's sentence. "I'm not really much into anything like magic and stuff, but if you're worried about me, you don't have to be ashamed to tell me."

The other merman blinked in surprise, before gently taking Doppio's hands in his. "I decided to look for you, if not to ease my worries, and that's when I saw that shark hunting you." He quietly continued. "If I hadn't..."

Doppio understood what the other merman was trying to say, squeezing his hands. "Well, I'm relieved you looked for me." He said, voice soft. "Anyway, I should get going-"

"Actually, it would be best if you lived with me; on the off chance your pod isn't able to find you, you can have somewhere to return to." The merman offered, gently pulling his hands away from Doppio's hands.

"Are you sure?" Doppio asked, surprised. "I mean, I won't be in the way?"

The merman nods, gently smiling. "It wouldn't do to leave you alone, would it?"

~

Diavolo carefully led Doppio to the entrance to the cave, letting the other merman almost rush in. It would be a bit of adjustment living with another merfolk, but it wouldn't be too much of a challenge. He watched Doppio hurriedly swim around, as if trying to see every nook and cranny of his new home. 'He tried to ask for my name, but eventually settled for calling me 'Boss'- it's rather endearing.' he mused, a soft smile on his face.

Doppio would eventually curl up happily in a cozy corner of the cave, dozing off slightly as Diavolo approached. "It's nice that you're letting me stay, Boss." He said in a half sleepy tone. "I promise I'll make it up to you-"

"I wouldn't worry about that for now." Diavolo answered, curling up close to Doppio. "We'll take it one day at a time for now."

Doppio nodded, yawning and closing his eyes. Diavolo carefully held Doppio's hand, starting to drift off himself. Maybe, no longer living alone wouldn't be so bad; perhaps he could teach Doppio a few spells after some time, maybe even take him on as a sort of apprentice-

Maybe. For now, both of them could rest and await the morning.

[writing-nebula]

To Land Above (Mer AU)

Kaimana looked around one more time, making sure she wasn’t followed, before she sped up the last few feet and broke the surface of the water, gasping in a sharp breath of fresh, open air.

Her ears twitched, catching a voice on the breeze, and she turned to it with a smile, brushing her hair from her face.

“Minato!”

The human was waiting for her, an easy smile on his face. He waved a hand in greeting, and she swam right over, fins fluttering in excitement. “Sorry I’m late! My sisters were being extra watchful today.”

“It’s no problem,” he chuckled, grabbing her hand to help pull her up on shore. “We still have plenty of time- you wanted me to show you movies today, right?” “Yes!” She felt the magic swirl around her tail, and then she was standing on shaky legs, her usual blue sundress settling and her wet hair now sticking uncomfortably to her skin.

“Yes,” she said again, taking a moment to adjust to standing again and wring out her hair as best as she could, before taking the offered hair tie and tossing it up into a messy ponytail. “You said you’d show me a- a superhero movie? And a horror one, if we can, and then- it was, um-” she struggled to remember the Japanese word for it, frowning to herself.

“The comic book store?” Minato guessed, and she nodded, trying to commit the word to memory. “Yeah, I figured it’s an easy way to start you reading, and since you seem to like action…”

At that point, her legs were staying steady enough to use, so she took his hand and started pulling him towards the human town. “We’ll figure it out on the way, come on! I don’t want to miss anything!”

Lucky for her, Minato just chuckled and hurried along beside her. “I’m coming, Kai, I’m coming!”

—

Really, she owed Minato a lot more than she’d like to admit.

The first time she’d come up on land, discovered she could trade her tail and fins for a pair of legs, she’d been absolutely clueless- could barely walk on the unfamiliar limbs, couldn’t understand a single word of the human language, either. She was lost before she knew it, struggling to find her way back to the ocean.

And then he’d stopped by her side, his worry clear in his face, and she’d been so frustrated by that point, she just started talking, even knowing he wouldn’t understand. She wanted to know about humans so bad, but how could she learn anything now if she’d have to blindly figure out the language first!?

He’d stopped her, then, holding her gently by the shoulders, and before she could push him away-

“Want to… Help,” he said haltingly, his words accented strangely, but by some miracle, understandable.

“Know a little, I- I know,” he said firmly, looking pointedly to her legs, then back to her face with a smile. “Can- can I help?”

It was like a blessing from the goddess herself, and Kai wasn’t going to take it for granted- so she quickly agreed, thrilled to have somebody on her side up here.

And she kept meeting up with him. Found out that he once had a friend who was half mer, a hybrid- she didn’t even know that could happen!

And that was why he knew some of the language, though he didn’t know much about merfolk themselves.

So at first it was just a deal, she taught him about merfolk, their language and what culture they had, and he would teach her about humans- at least humans in this ‘country’, this ‘Japan’.

At first, it was just talking, learning.

…But really, who could blame her for wanting more?

Talking turned to showing her around town, letting her try human food, teaching her to read.

It led to her going shopping, and seeing where he lived, and him introducing her to ‘technology’, which she still struggled to understand.

…It led to staying on shore later and later, cuddled up on his couch, exchanging simple words at first, then soft kisses, then more.

And she wanted to tell her sisters, she wanted to tell them everything she’d learned about humans, and the world they lived in. She wanted to tell them why she’d been so happy lately, why she was gone so often, why she was always talking to herself in words they couldn’t understand.

…When she found out, she wanted nothing more than to tell them, tell them the truth, tell them the kind of person she was.

But in the end, she never had the courage. She couldn’t bear to tell them anything but the safety of a lie.

She told them she was leaving. That she was ready to strike out on her own and follow the waves where they took her, explore the oceans beyond their reef.

She smiled as they wished her well, gave her countless hugs, shoved a pile of shells and good luck charms into her bags. Agreed when they made her swear to come visit when she got the chance.

…She hated lying to them, but it was for the best. They didn’t deserve to have that kind of worry.

Maybe she’d even be able to fulfill her promise to visit, some day.

So Kaimana took her bags, smiled along with their excited plans, and waved along with them until the three could no longer see each other.

And then, when she was alone, she clutched her bags close, flared her fins, and shot upwards, making a break for the shimmering surface of the water.

I’m sorry, both of you- I really am. But this isn’t just about me anymore. I have to do what’s best for all three of us.

She put a hand to her stomach, trying to push back the pang of fear that tried to rise up.

…Please, oh goddess, let this be the right thing…

—

“Kaimana?”

Minato stared at her in shock, still in the fuzzy clothes humans slept in, and she could only smile nervously at her human, holding the strap of her bag in a tight grip.

“I’m sorry to bother you so suddenly, Minato, but I- I need to talk to you.” She paused, trying to read his expression beyond the confusion, and softly added, “It’s important, I couldn’t wait until my next visit.”

He seemed to realize that it was, in fact, serious, and took her hand, gently tugging her in. “Of course, you’re welcome any time.”

She followed him inside, as she’d done many times before, and soon they were sitting in his living room, on that couch they so often shared- only, they were much farther apart than usual.

Kai hated how nervous that made her feel.

“So what’s up?” Minato asked as he sat down beside her, giving that easygoing smile he always did, trying to calm her. “I mean- I’m always thrilled to have you here, really, but I don’t think you’ve ever come up this early.”

Just get it over with, just tell him, hiding it won’t do either of you any good-Kai let out a breath and leaned against him, closing her eyes.

A moment later, his arm came up around her shoulders, tugging him closer, and the warmth helped her relax- he always helped her, in more ways than she would’ve thought possible.

“...Remind me of the word humans use for us?” she spoke up softly, closing her eyes. “For us together?”

“Dating,” he hummed, voice tinged with gentle amusement and a hand coming up to comb through her damp hair. “You’re my girlfriend, and I’m your boyfriend.”

She smiled, nuzzling her face into his skin. “Right. Somehow, they sound so much nicer in your language…” “Mmmhm, you said that last time I told you, too…” Minato kissed her head. “I’m glad you like it so much. I love being able to call you my girlfriend.”

Tell him.

Just tell him.

Kaimana sighed, taking a moment to muster up the courage, and forced herself away from his hold, looking him in the eyes as she took his hand and tugged it down to rest on her stomach.

“I’m- I’m with child, Minato.”

For a moment, he just stared- and then his eyes went wide, quickly darting to her bags, then back up to her face. “You’re- I’m-?”

“Yes,” she confirmed softly. “You are. And I would… I’d like your help, if-”

“Of course-”

Minato pulled her into a hug before she could even finish, holding her as close as he possibly could. “I’m not going anywhere, Kai- this is our kid, and I want to be with you every step of the way…”

Faintly, she realized tears were welling up in her eyes, all the worry and fear she’d been trying to ignore lifting away as she nuzzled in close. “...Thank you, Minato,” she whispered, closing her eyes and pressing her face into his neck. “I- I can’t wait to meet them…”

—

Living on the surface was… Different.

There was still so much she had to learn, about their jobs and medicine and schooling- so much she still struggled to understand.

But she had Minato by her side, every step of the way, and that- along with her child, their child- made it all worth it.

For the two of them, she’d deal with any hardship, any struggle the surface brought her.

A deafening burst of sound, the unbearable screech of metal grinding against itself-

“LOOK OUT! KAIMANA!”

…She’d go through anything, no matter how painful it was to process, to protect their child. To honor the memory of the kindest man she’d ever known.

—

It had only been three days since he was ripped away from her.

The ‘hospital’ still held his body, awaiting some instruction on what to do with it- instruction she didn’t know how to give.

She didn’t know anything about human death rites- mers dropped their fallen loved ones into deep trenches, or left them as an offering to the larger creatures of the sea. Honoring the goddess by returning their bodies to help the ocean.

What did humans do? Did they bury each other in the dirt? Throw them into gorges? Put them in those ‘zoos’ she’d heard about to feed the land animals? She was clueless, and without Minato she had nobody, nobody there to teach her about this confusing world she now lived in.

This world that she would bring a child into, and raise on her own.

…She didn’t know if she could manage it, honestly. Just these three days without him, she’d been lost, unsure of how to even start moving forward from this.

And then there came a knock on the door.

“Ah, you must be Minato’s girlfriend?”

Two men stood on the other side of the door, both smiling at her, and she was so caught off guard she barely heard what the first one had said-

Minato? They knew Minato?

“...Yes,” she said uncertainly, keeping one hand on the door. “Can I help you..?”

“Oh, my apologies!” The first one said quickly, looking sheepish. “I forgot he probably wouldn’t have mentioned me- my name is Akito. Minato was my cousin, you see. I’m his next of kin, so when he was in that accident…”

…He had family?

“...Oh,” she murmured, loosening her grip. “I’m- I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It seems you’ve lost more than us, miss,” the second man spoke in accented Japanese, stepping over to enter the conversation. “I know his passing was quite sudden- are you doing alright? Do you need our help with anything?”

Now she was confused- they were asking if she needed help? But they didn’t even know her…

…Minato did that, too…

When she didn’t respond right away, Akito spoke up again, his tone gentle. “We didn’t talk often, I’ll admit- but he got in touch with me a couple weeks ago, and he was so excited. He told me he’d met the love of his life, and that they were going to have a child together.”

Kaimana looked away, putting a hand to her stomach. “...Yes, he was so excited to meet them…”

“Yeah, he said that, too,” Akito chuckled softly. “And he asked a favor of us, too.” “He asked if we’d take care of you, if something happened to him,” the second piped up again. “I don’t think any of us expected to lose him so soon, but that doesn’t mean we’ll go back on our promise.”

…he asked them to…?“...He really said that?” she asked softly, looking between them with wide eyes, and Akito nodded, taking her hand in a light grip. “Minato was a good man, and he thought the world of you- I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving you on your own. So please, if you’ll accept it, we’d like to help however we can.”

Tears were welling up in her eyes, and she had to struggle to speak past the lump in her throat, squeezing his hand as relief washed over her like a wave. “Yes, y-yes, please, thank you…”

“Of course,” the second smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll help you get back on your feet, miss…?”

…Her name drew attention, she knew that. Attention she didn’t want, not up here, not when she was trying so hard to make it work.

And when looking at baby names, there was one she saw that she couldn’t get out of her head- not for her child, but… She lifted her free hand, wiping the tears from her eyes, and smiled at the men, hoping it showed just how grateful she was. “Akiko. My- my name is Akiko.”

[voidendron]

Mermaid AU rambling while I take a break from coloring yeet

My Main Eight + some others are all merfolk, but some of my other OCs are actually human. A few of them are marine biologists and part of a research team studying mermaids because A Lot of humans think they're just nuisances and should be dealt with as such, but the team is pretty sure they're highly intelligent and have cultures and stuff of their own and it's just a language (and location) barrier making communicating with them difficult

Charlie (Chakem) is actually the researcher who discovered that mermaids evolved to fit certain niches in their ecosystems and ones in different areas seem to have different traditions. Some even went through convergent evolution, with sharklike merfolk often hunting with sharks and orcas like members of a pod. He thinks that the only reason they're aggressive with humans was because humans started it, and over the generations merfolk began to instinctively target them to protect themselves.

He's most closely been studying the pair sailors have named "Life" and "Death" - and has found that despite Life missing an arm to make it difficult to pry open the shells of his primary food source of mollusks, Death has learned how to do so for him despite having a vastly different diet.

Charlie's one of the only humans (along with his team) who the pair will let get anywhere close to them, and over his two years of studying them they've even begun bringing him gifts and speaking to him in their form of chirps, clicks, and chitters. Charlie's actually started being able to tell what certain sounds mean due to his time spent around them. The rest of his team consists of father-daughter pair "Kitty" and Jessi, as well as Cody (Kidak).

---------

The type Xaerez is evolved for rough waters and was hunted to near-extinction, so they adapted a potent venom and good camouflage for staying just beneath the surface, making it much harder for humans to kill them.

The survivors tended to start tracking ships, learning that attacking them during bad storms was an easy way to get food. They have four fingers with webbing between all of them, suggesting they don't use their hands for much besides swimming and holding food still while they eat. It's likely they mostly rely on their powerful jaws for catching and tearing into things.

They have thick scales that are almost leather-like.

It's likely they originally adapted to poison their prey, then follow until it eventually died, though changed hunting methods rapidly in response to their environment.

Loners are common due to their extremely endangered status.

----------

Synnda's type is adapted for eating mollusks. They have extremely long, hooked fingers that make tool-usage difficult but are perfect for scooping the meat out of a shell. There's no webbing between the thumb and forefinger, making it easy for them to hold things like clams while prying them open, or to use their thumb to do so without webbing catching. It's not unusual for their thumb to be their longest digit.

They adapted with sandy colors, mostly sticking along the ocean floor in fairly shallow areas - though as they've been hunted they've begun going deeper or into color areas to avoid humans, more recent generations have started developing more fat/darker colors to make colder/deeper waters more survivable.

Their faces are typically much less "human" than a lot of other merfolk, consisting of horns and crests. The reason for this is unknown, though Kitty speculates it may have been a fighting/courting method in earlier generations that younger ones no longer partake use to find partners.

Their mouths and teeth are small, making it nearly impossible for them to eat other types of prey outside their usual mollusks. They're typically peaceful and shy, though can use their powerful tails to cause serious injury to would-be attackers.

Loners are common, though it's also not unusual for one to pair with one or two other merfolk. They seem to avoid large groups and get anxious when too many - human or merfolk - are around.

----------

Qizulth's fills the same niche as vultures, scavenging carcasses to keep the ocean clean. They tend to be small with eel-like tails, allowing them to easily fit into tight spaces, with dark red or pink colors to make them hard to see in deeper areas - their coloring likely being self-defense rather than a hunting method considering they're scavengers.

Their jaws are extremely powerful, able to bite through bones and shells with ease, while their sharp claws make it easy to claw open carcasses. Like Synnda's type, they lack the webbing between their thumb and forefinger. They seem to like making tools, and are typically very curious and intelligent but also cowardly.

They have horn-like cartilage structures, and Kitty believes they're a status thing, with older matriarchs/patriarchs having longer "horns" than others. Those who have been cast out of their circles often have damaged or missing horns, further supporting Kitty's hypothesis.

They like to be with groups, though it's unusual for them to group with types of merfolk outside of their scavenger type. The team is unsure why Life and Death are paired, but attempting to figure it out. Cody thinks it may have been for mutual survival - possibly while they were both captive by humans - but that they developed a bond and didn't wish to separate after escaping or being freed.

[sweet-little-dude]

hey hello taku dear <3 gahh once again we haven’t spoken in too long :( anyways it mostly was bc there was zero tokrev brainrot in me buut there is now!! so i’m back here hehe.

also funfact i just fiNALLY started rereading tokrev and i’m doing it in french bc. idk i just felt like it?? i hate french but i’m actually practicing it now lol. and ngl i understand more than i thought i would-

anyways on saturday i watched la gardiennes de la planète (a movie abt whales) in the cinema and idk how but. like halfway through a merfolk concept just popped into my head n bc i obviously couldn’t just forget abt it i decided to write a tokrev merfolk au. so guess who’s writing their fourth moshion fic? me. idek why but they have a chokehold on me and i keep writing abt them. tho it’s fun so no complaints <3

well i insaned abt the fic a little... okay that’s a lie i wrote 3.5k of fic in the span of 22 hrs, beating my preccious record of 2.7k in 24 hrs. so okay i’m more than a little insane abt it- so so so plot and lore bc i cannot contain myself. firstly shion’s a merman n mochi is human. then it’s also a college au but mochi isn’t studying rn bc for plot conveniences his last semester of highschool n his 1st semester of college don’t line up so he’s got a few months of free time. i still hc that his parents are rich af but imo he lives alone in a rather small flat he pays with his own money as best he can bc he wants to. idk. well okay so basically what i’ve written so far: mochi finds shion injured n tangled in a fishers’ net at the beach while on a late night walk, and takes him to his flat to help. there he fills the bathtub with water for him, and gets the rope off his body. lastly, he treats his injuries. then he goes to sleep bc it’s the middle of the night- and when he wakes up again the next day, the bathtub is empty and shion’s lying on the floor in his corridor. and he suddenly has legs. bc in this au merfolk just transform into a human form into drying out (n then transform back when they’re wet enough. which is very wet) and shion my fav idiot tried to go back to the ocean on his own but got stuck in the hallway and got too dry. also bc i think that’s the most realistic version of transformation it hurts like a bitch bc i mean your tail literally splits to form two legs- well mochi patches shion up agAIN and they finally talk n exchange names bc my merfolk have diff vocal chords in ther mer form bc they commumicate like whales underwater. tho they can just. speak human language too in their human form for some reason. i mean they understand it bc they watch n listen to humans talk but i haven’t figured out why they can SPEAK it if they lile never do. anyways that’s small enough of a plot hole :) so yeah that’s basically where i’m at in my writing.

i still need to make them fall in love and do more things together and god what else but. i hope i’ll manage somehow bc this is gonna be longer than my usual works aj dgk gkfjsj i mean i’m already at 3.5k and they barely know each other. guess they’ll have to fall for each other quickly idk

but yeah. that ramble is a lot longer than planned n i already shortened it- well. i hope you enjoy merfolk aus as much as i do bc you’ll probs get more rambles abt them while i continue writing lol

and hello to you elys my love !!! so true best friend, I MISS WHEN WE USE TO TALK ALL THE TIME </3333 ig both of our tokyrev hyperfixation have kinda died down for a second- but glad urs is back!!! i might try and get back into it but my bandom hyperfixation just keeps eating me up more and more like help 😭😭

OH FRENCH!! THATZ SO FUCKIN RAD DUDE but yeah go you!!! thatz fuckin sick!

whales :3 oooh! im not too much into fantasy aus tbf but that sounds cool!! YEAHHH GIVE IT UP FOR MOSHION (their shipname is so cutie patootie.....) but yes as you should ngl they are so blorbo scrimbli i need to write for them so fucking bad my god

oh my god you literal beast WHAT damn bro already sounds like he wants to be part of your world /j im sorry i had to. but true i could mochi as being loaded ngl

eeeeeee im so excited for this !!! it sounds good i cant wait for u to finish it. but istg if u randomly turn this into an angst i will fIGHT you

[izupie]

1 and 21 for the fanfic ask game, and 🕯️ and 🌸 for the wip game!!!

aaaa thank you for the questions !! ❤️❤️❤️

game 1:

1. favorite fanfiction trope?

okay at the moment (because it changes often) probably mutual pining with something like there was only one bed or fake dating. (I'm picking multiple tropes because they have to be together sshhhh) the pining must be mutual they must be oblivious idiots and they must be put into a situation that makes their pining almost painful to read because they both love each other and don't. even. realise. it. to be truly *chefs kiss* delicious. But if it doesn't end in with them getting together I don't want to see it - I need requited love and resolved sexual tension to go with all that pining yearning crying.

21. what fandom/pairing do you keep going back to?

No matter how long I've been away I always seem to go back to the Izuocha corner of the MHA fandom. I don't interact with the fandom at large, and I don't really interact much with that little pocket fandom either - but I can't help myself from writing the odd Izuocha fic from time to time. They're a comfort pair to write and I miss them when I haven't written them in a while.

game 2:

🕯️: Share a scene in your latest WIP

“Are you kidding? Izuku, you’re famous – you could ask anyone if you could sit next to them and they’d be happy to have you there. See? Everyone keeps looking at you – I think they’d be excited if you sat with them.”

Panic flashed briefly across Izuku’s face and Ochako waved her hands in the air as she added in a fluster, “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean that to freak you out! Not something to say to someone who’s only just revealed their identity, huh? Probably why you stayed anonymous in the first place, and I go and put my foot in my mouth again!”

“I-It’s okay.”

“No it’s- wait! I know a place we can go! Here, come with me.” Ochako didn’t wait for a reply before she leaned forwards, gripped Izuku’s wrist with a brief encouraging smile, and tugged gently.

Izuku allowed himself to be pulled along as Ochako turned around and led him through the room. She was right about the employees – she could see them watching Izuku as they went. Not that she blamed them. But Izuku was nervous enough without the extra attention right now.

She kept her grip to his wrist as they wound back through the stacks of books in the warehouse, though she had to resist the impulse to slide it down to his hand.

🌸 - What’s your favorite AU?

ohhh that's a tough one. I can be extremely picky about AUs. I do love a good coffee shop AU (doesn't everyone?) because I just think they're always cosy and cute. But I also like the occasional Wildly Different AU - something like, one of the characters is some kind of creature like a werewolf or merfolk or something. they're always fun. oooh! Witch/Familiar AUs are always good. Loooove that dynamic and the magic and stuff.

omg I just had an epiphany. literal galaxy brain moment. if I combined all of these into one that would be my ultimate AU. oh heck !!!!! now I want to write that so so so bad. I'm just gonna. gonna grab some paper. and make some notes immediately asdfghjklk;

[arielxlazarus]

I almost forgot about that fanfic appreciation week, but I wanted to at least do something for it! So here's a rec list for some of my favorite fics in the one piece fandom!

This list is not at all exhaustive btw (there's still loads of other fics in the fandom that I love), so please don't feel bad if you weren't included! Also if anyone wants more recommendations from me, you can check out my bookmarks on my ao3!

Who Knows (what could happen) by Chromi

Rating: T

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: For as long as he could remember, he had wanted to set out to sea as an adventurer. His father, unfortunately, dictated that he was to follow the family tradition and become a doctor instead.

Following a lifetime of hurt and sorrow at the hands of his family, he eventually breaks free and takes to the sea alone - determined to keep it that way. Fate has other ideas in store for him; fate crosses his path with Portgas D. Ace's, a brand new pirate.

And what does he hate more than pirates?

Nothing.

Or: from Sixis to the Moby Dick - the lives of the Spade pirates.

First Time by Chromi

Rating: E

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: "Because it is Ace, and it will only ever be Ace, that he wants to see like this, and he wants to be responsible for unravelling him down to his core and loving him to his very center."

In which Ace and Deuce go all the way for the first time.

@chromiwrites

Seabound by AnkhPosts

Rating: T

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Ace is a selkie, making one of his periodic stops on land to catch a breather and get some ridiculously tasty human food, maybe see some sights if there are any. His pelt is safely hidden, he'll stay a day or two at most and be on his way.

Deuce is a mer, alone on the sea and traveling as he pleases for the first time in his life, and while he might not be terribly interested in actually interacting with humans it's hard not to see them as fascinating.

Ace meets Deuce. Deuce meets Ace. Neither knows the other isn't human.

@ankhposts

Death is only the beginning by Chizyk

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: “Ankhreshet?” he whipped his head round at the sound of a raspy voice so fast he almost got whiplash. He could feel his body going completely cold as he saw the mummy’s empty eye sockets staring right at him.

@chizyk

I'm Still Here (part of a series) by theprodigypenguin

Rating: M

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace (also Izou/Sabo later in the series)

Summary: "When I do die, don't bother burying me in that empty grave. Put my body in a boat and set me out to sea. Let me sleep eternal on the ocean that my father loved so much; because before everything else in this world, I am a child of the sea, and when I die, I want to return to it. Put me in a boat and set it aflame so I can go down in the same fire I lived."

Forget-Me-Not Fall by theprodigypenguin

Rating: M

Pairing: Izou/Sabo

Summary: “Most of the nobles I’ve met tonight look meticulously put together. They look like they were built to portray a certain image paralleled a hundred times over. People who were copied and pasted. Flawless clothes, flawless faces, flawless makeup, flawless hair.”

“Not me though,” Sabo stated, and Izou hummed.

“It’s comforting.”

“Huh?”

Izou met Sabo’s eye. “Everyone else in this place hides their worst attributes with a mask they modified to fit their faces. They don’t seem to comprehend that those perfect masks only make their worst characteristics more pronounced and defined.” His expression was terribly gentle as his eyes wandered across Sabo’s face. “It’s comforting to be approached by someone not trying to be something else.”

Sabo tilted his head. “How do you know I’m not manipulating you like some common Goa aristocrat?”

Izou smiled. “There are a few reasons.”

@theprodigypenguin

A Light To Guide You Home by TheSkyIsMyHome

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: In a world that despises mutants, Ace lives purely to protect his little brother.

Until the flames inside him find their perfect match and opposite, and he doesn't know what to feel anymore.

The Phoenix's Mate by TheSkyIsMyHome

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Marco is a handsome man. Ace really can't be blamed for being attracted to him. Nobody minds, either.

But Marco isn't always a man. Ace still loves him regardless, and his sexual urges are catching up to that fact.

Marco indulges him, but he might just find himself enjoying it more than he thought he would.

@evvazi

ASL in Red (series) by Kereea

Rating: G-T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law (both asexual), Koala/Sabo, Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Benn Beckman, Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante/Aokiji | Kuzan, Roronoa Zoro/Sanji, and several other minor ones

Summary: In an alternate universe, forces conspired to put Ace, Sabo, and Luffy in the care of the Red Hair pirates as children.

The Grand Line would never know what hit it.

Mates (part of a series) by Deubatty

Rating: E

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Deuce just wanted to go searching for plants! A nice walk in the woods. Except, he ends up becoming the mate to a very persistent naga

His First Mate The Mermaid (part of a series) by Deubatty

Rating: T

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Instead of finding another person on Sixis, Ace finds a mermaid

@masked-writer

Being Human by MaiKusakabe

Rating: E (no smut)

Pairing: None (heavy focus on the platonic relationships between Marco, Whitebeard, and the rest of the crew as they form)

Summary: The line that differentiates human from object appears to be clear, but sometimes it blurs to the point where it is impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins.

The Unknown Devil by MaiKusakabe

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Ace hadn’t expected his last week of imprisonment before his execution to be any different from all the years preceding it. Then again, he hadn’t expected to have Marco the Phoenix as a cellmate for that week, or that Marco’s presence would shake his bleak world so much.

Ripple Effect by MaiKusakabe

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: After the incident with Shanks, Garp didn't take Luffy to Dadan's, unaware of how much that would change the life of his other grandson.

@maisstories

To Build a Home by endlessblankpages

Rating: G

Pairing: None (heavy focus on the platonic relationships between the ASL bros and the Whitebeard Pirates)

Summary: The ASL pirates are used to being accused of crimes they didn't commit. But when they're accused of destroying a small village in the New World, it sends them hurtling toward a deadly confrontation with the strongest man in the world, Whitebeard. The results are not what they were expecting.

Persistence & The Impossible (part of a series) by dragonsfall

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: In order to keep himself from losing his job, Ace takes on an impossible story. Get an interview with the ever-elusive Phoenix. Guess he might as well kiss his job goodbye.

Self Discovery (part of a series) by dragonsfall

Rating: E

Pairing: Izou/Sabo (sort of, it's technically masturbation)

Summary: Sabo has been waiting for a day like this for a while but it doesn’t go quite how he planned it.

@clockworkpanic

A Breach of Intention by Depths

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: It was unspoken, but some pirate crews and mermaids had an unspoken solidarity. Pirates throw their enemies overboard, and the merfolk will take care of them.

mer!ace au

@leviathiane

Running on All Sixes by lunarshores

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace, minor Izou/Thatch

Summary: The Whitebeard gang might be one of the most influential in the city, but to Marco they're just his family. Though he sometimes wishes they'd just leave him alone, especially when Izo's playing matchmaker, and Ace is his usual oblivious self. When a brother betrays them, they'll have to fight to show why no one ever messes with their family.

nothing is impossible with you by lunarshores

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Five times Ace and Marco accidentally mixed their flames on accident and one time that was entirely on purpose.

@lunarshores

I Want You to Look at Me by shockandlock

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: One night, Marco is missing from dinner, so Ace decides to bring dinner to him. He's surprised to see Marco wearing glasses and now he can't stop thinking about the way he looks. Now with additional chapter(s) including more miscellaneous MarcoAce PWP!

To My Dear Fire (part of a series) by shockandlock

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Living in the city is a new thing for Ace. After being raised near a cozy coastal mountain town through his childhood, it's definitely a change of pace, but it doesn't help when he loses his new job after an unfortunate encounter with actor Marco Newgate. He just wants to live-- and meet his long time pen pal, Phoenix.

Marco knows that being an actor is hard, so he takes the little things when he can: writing his pen pal (and honestly one of his best friends) Fire Fist, flirting with the cute new waiter at his favorite café-- not that he has a chance after a disaster on social media. But maybe fate really does give him a second chance when Ace shows up at Four Emperor Studios...

@shockandlock

Uncharted Territory by silverwolf_fox

Rating: E

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: This was by far one of Ace's most ridiculous ideas.

When Deuce keeps getting flustered everytime he tries to dominate Ace, they created an opportunity where he didn't have to be afraid of messing up.

Now he's free to do and try whatever he wants...

...so long as Ace doesn't wake up.

Watching the Sunrise (part of a series) by silverwolf_fox

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Many years have passed since Rouge gave up her life for her son’s...except she didn’t die, but she thinks Ace did. Living her life on Baterilla, she’s mourned each and every day until the morning she receives his bounty poster. She sets off immediately to find him, but finds their meeting isn’t as easy as she’d imagined.

@the-devil-fruit-tree

never shall i forget, how you climbed out of a dream by siojo

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: “Kaido,” Ace smirks, flames burning around his feet as he shifts in preparation for Kaido’s next attack, already trying to decide what he’s going to do in response. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? You’ve seemed to have been enjoying yourself here.”

“I thought you would be smarter than this, Portgas. You’ve never tried to fight another Yonko before, your bounty won’t matter much when you lose.”

Ace barks a laugh, his teeth bared in a facsimile of a grin, “You must have missed out on the brawl I had with Big Mom after she sent two of her daughters and a son for me to consider marrying. This is a bit more personal than that.”

@wordsdrippinginink

Reborn in Fire by aerle

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Fireman Marco has earned the nickname 'the Phoenix' by saving numerous people from a certain death. After an accident however, he has to relearn to walk and gets a new job as arson inspector at a different fire station. There he gets confronted with a boy from his past, now all grown up and gorgeous.

Three's a Crowd, Four's a Double Date by aerle

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace (main), Izou/Thatch (secondary)

Summary: "We're not dating," Marco said definitively. "That we're sharing a bed tonight is a total coincidence."

@aerle

Universal Dive by EmpressKira

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Ace had been making his way through the city to go to one of his favorite cafes. Well, that was until this hole ripped in the sky and some pirate fell out with the flaming bird guy following. Getting targeted, he is dragged into a different world with pirates and everything defying the reality he is used to. Will he make it home? Will he go back when the time comes?

@empresskira

Blue moon (series) by de_Winter

Rating: T-M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Urban fantasy AU, werewolf Marco and witch Ace

Red Velvet by de_Winter

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Ace already knew their routine by heart, just from observing them for a couple of mornings when he had early delivery, and from Izou’s daily long winded—and probably sexually frustrated—rants. Big Blond would come out of the bakery wearing a shirt too tight for him and too thin for the weather as soon as he was done setting up the tables inside the storefront, holding a take out cup and a small box in his big hands. They looked really, pleasantly big from where Ace was standing, and he honestly wished he wasn't standing that far away.

@dee-de-winter

We'll Look Back and Laugh at Ourselves by JuHuaTai

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace, minor Gol D. Roger/Portgas D. Rouge

Summary: Between his new boyfriend and his workaholic boss, Marco felt like he was surrounded by family issues of the father and son dispute variety. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

Or maybe he should've listened to the office gossip more. Maybe then he'd figure it out sooner.

Gratitude of the Phoenix (part of a series) by JuHuaTai

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: [Based on 'The Crane Wife' Folklore]

One day, he saved a bird from freezing to death in a trap. Then, a stranger saved him from suffering the same fate, and a request to stay for one night turned into having someone to fill the void left in the small cottage and in his heart ever since his brothers left.

These two incident doesn’t seem to be related to one another, but they both changed Ace’s life in ways he could never have imagined.

Watashitachi wa Roger kaizoku desu (we still stand proud) by stereden

Rating: T

Pairing: None (heavy focus on Buggy, Shanks, and Crocus)

Summary: The Roger Pirates disappeared after their Captain's death, and were happy enough to let the Marines forget about them.

Until the Marines decide to execute their Captain's son, that is.

@stereden

This Bites! by Xomniac

Rating: M

Pairing: None (heavy focus on a main character oc and the strawhat pirates)

Summary: Sea Kings, sea-sickness, sunburns, a 95% genocidal Navy and more than a million and one other assorted ways to die. It's official: Being inserted into an anime sucks ass... Buuut I guess it could be worse. I mean, look on the bright side: At least I'm sailing with the future king of the pirates.

A Fortune that Never Grows Old by imperialmint

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: It's one thing to get butterflies in your stomach when you seen an attractive person but it's another thing entirely for Marco to want to stomp out a courtship ritual and lay foundations for a nest when he meets the navy's new (hot) secret weapon.

@imperialmint

Most of the authors on this list have many other excellent one piece fics I'd definitely suggest checking out! Enjoy your reading and try to show them all some love if you can!

[broken-synchronicity]

Im just going to say i love the Biology AU, and all the thought everyone is putting into it, it interested me since i got into the fandom but im horrible at putting things into to writing let alone words.

Ngl i was confused when the tag had AU in it, but besides that everything in the Biology AU can also be taken from the MC/Yuu's point of view thinking and reading about Twisted Wonderland's World with fae, merfolk, beastmen and even monsters.

And the of things that would be common knowledge in Twst that MC/Yuu dont know crap about but noone bothered to tell them becuase its so common they thought MC/Yuu already knew, and vice versa in some other cases.

thought/ example:

I remember reading somewhere that it was implied MC/Yuu was better in studies than Adeuce and Grim, if not diligent in them, so imagine if they studied really hard for lets say a history test, and got in the 70%s-80%s purely because they missed something that was common knowledge maybe even Grim knew, imagine how bad they wanted to go back in that moment.

Im sorry for this long ask its my first time sending one lmao-

Do not apologize for long asks! 90% of the asks I get for all this science stuff are super long or in multiple parts! That's part of the fun of it!

And it's fine! Go ahead an dump whatever you can into an ask! It doesn't have to make the most sense, I'll post it anyways!

The "AU" part of the tag was because this whole big discussion started as a discussion of an AU where Yuu/MC's biology was vastly different from the Twst residents by human standards, which in turn lead to a discussion on the standard biology of the non-humans in twst, then on to evolution, and now we're here! With this big mess of science! I'm actually quite proud of it!

Now, poor MC getting a poorer grade than Adeuce and Grim because they didn't have some particular common knowledge would be devastating.

No one knows how to adjust education at that level for a person who knows nothing about anything in twst. MC is probably found studying anything they can get their hands on after that. They can't be caught out like that again. Doing good in this school is all they will have if they can't go home. If they do badly, how are they supposed to support themself when they supposedly graduate?

(I'm sorry for turning this into Angst, you probably meant for that to be funny-)

[youarejesting]

Wash Out.21 (Sope Special)

[Master List]

Banners: @purpleskies1999 Pairings: Dolphintrainer!Taehyung x SharkDiver!Jin,  Mer!Jimin x Reader, Scientist!Namjoon x MerKing!Jungkook, Mer!Yoongi x Mer!Hoseok. Rating: 16+ Genre: Mystery, Romance, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, little bit of Action, Slice of life, Enemies2Lovers, Friends2lovers, Social media au, Fake Texts, Fake Subs.

Summary: Taehyung and his best friend Y/N are Dolphin trainers at Wash Out; Marine Wildlife and Theme Park. When the nerdy marine biologist and resident veterinarian Doctor Kim Namjoon goes missing; the two friends form a ragtag team with Taehyung’s rival Seokjin and a…. Fish?

[Prev] [Next]

Yoongi stood still, his legs shaking. It was not normal for him to be standing for this length of time. They were mermaids used to having tails their strength in the water. Swimming was like breathing. Of course their legs only appeared on their sacred land under the ocean.

They couldn’t walk on human land, could never compare to their leg strength. Most Mermaids spent their days in the water only entering the sacred land for celebrations. Yoongi being one of many guards would protect the royal family, albeit there was no longer a royal family. Jungkook was all that was left, a prince forced to be a king before he was ready. 

Guards were the most common of the merfolk to adorn legs. Jungkook was confined to the sacred land, his time in the water limited. Anything to keep him safe from the threat of other merclans. Each guard embellished in the silk of the clams. Byssus was woven finely like silk, the light material was surprisingly warm enough to protect the guards and King whilst in their more vulnerable form.

Yoongi looked across the crystal throne room, the love of his life standing just as tall, his stature stronger than Yoongi’s. A feat as Jungkook tore the room apart, bioluminescent vines and lanterns ripped from the walls. Food and wine splattered on the floor of their ancestors.

Hoseok’s mouth turned down, the sight unnatural for his usually cheerful disposition. The hardest part of their job was raising Jungkook, it seemed no matter how hard they tried to teach him right and wrong, politics and history they still came up short. He didn’t have a family, not anymore, he didn’t know how to share and never had to work for relationships. 

Everyone adored him, feared him, doted on his every whim. He was given the finest foods and all the newest technology Merfolk could offer. Anything to keep him content in his prison. It surprised Yoongi that Jungkook hadn’t questioned his confines, that he was complacent with their level of control over his freedom.

Jungkook no longer understanding, why his new found friend was so reluctant to stay. He extended all his riches and gifts to the human, something other merfolk would cherish. 

“Why does he still want to leave, with me he could be treated as a king,” Jungkook seethed, throwing a leg over the arm of his throne massaging his temples. “Leave me.”

Hoseok marched dutifully to Yoongi, supporting the older merman as they made their exit. Walking him to the entrance of the underwater cove, the air though damp enough to keep their lungs from feeling dry, they much preferred sinking into the cool water. Doing so allowed the power of the sacred land to slip away leaving only their natural form. 

The two transformed their black and blue tails wrapping around each other, a romantic gesture Yoongi enjoyed more than he wished to admit. They relaxed in eachothers arms peacefully, sinking further until they landed on the floor of the large network of caves. This is where most of the merfolk lived as they were still protected from the open ocean.

Under the cove was wide and besides a few stalagmite and stalactite the surface was predominantly flat. However the local life was anything but, everyone bustling around the settlement enjoying tending to the seaweed, crafting and protecting the sealife. 

“Jungkook, is struggling. He doesn’t understand how to handle rejection. He doesn’t understand that people value the same things,” Hoseok mumbled, massaging Yoongi’s lower back to help relieve tension from standing for such a long time.

“That human cannot survive long under the ocean, he grows weaker by the day, barely eating.” Yoongi huffed, “If Jungkook doesn’t let him go, the poor thing will die, Jungkook isn’t ready to experience something like that so close to him.”

“I think he has gotten too attached, losing this human might break him,” Hoseok bit his lip, “Dare I say he is in love with him, he could be his promised.”

Yoongi scoffed, the idea that Jungkook happened to find his promised one and he was a human, the first human he had ever met. Yoongi and Hoseok were unaware they were each other's promised until Yoongi had a week off from guard duty and started to get really sick. The two had met in the infirmary wasting away and only in one another's company did their condition improve. “Hoseok, that’s a bit much.”

A figure swam down the path quickly, heading straight to the sacred cove entrance, carrying something large. Was someone trying to attack their home? The two fell apart taking up offensive stances, each lurching forward when they spotted Jimin holding an unconscious human.

“Not another one,” Yoongi chastised, eyes sweeping over Jimin trying to be inconspicuous. Though he cared he showed it silently, not fond of open praise. The kind to listen and assist others out of sight.

“I have to make sure he is alright,” Jimin gave no further explanation, swimming up into the cove entrance dragging the human onto the sacred land. Jimin’s gold tail disappearing, leaving behind two bare legs. 

Wrapping himself in a cloth, the two followed. Yoongi strained to lift himself into an upright position. Hoseok brought out their usual transport, especially for Jungkook’s deliveries. In this case they threw the unconscious human across the shell of the crustacean and they headed to their king.

“Are all humans this big?” Yoongi asked, eyeing the figure draped beside Jimin. The two crab-pooling wasn’t the issue, the way Jimin looked genuinely concerned for the human was. It was no good for humans and Merfolk to fall in love, the dynamic wouldn’t end well. 

“No, they aren’t all this big, some of them are small, delicate and beautiful. They are magnificent, fascinating beings. Some are scary and mean and others are innocent and protective, just trying to do the right thing.” Jimin whispered, checking the humans breathing once more. 

“Is he your promised?” Hoseok asked softly, not knowing how to approach the topic sensitively. Jimin smiled, shaking his head. The thought appeared to have amused him.

“He is someone else’s promised,” Jimin said, “But I think I met her, she was beautiful and strong, never letting anyone stop her, never letting bad things keep her down. She would swim head first into enemy waters to save someone she barely knows.

The human groaned, “Where am I?” Jimin let out a sigh of relief, this human was waking up and didn’t seem to be physically hurt, at least there were no wounds they could see upon his flesh. “Am I dead?”

“No, you are not dead, you are in our settlement.” Jimin grinned at the disorientation present in Seokjin’s words. He was struggling to enunciate his words, each more like a whine drawn out.

Upon entering the crystal throne room the group tried their best to support the sluggish human inside. Gaining the attention of Jungkook, ceasing his brooding long enough to assist the three struggling mermen. As if hearing the commotion or perhaps Seokjin’s terrible jokes Namjoon emerged from where he had been staying.

“Jin! Are you okay?” Namjoon grabbed his friend, checking him over for injury, “What are you doing here?”

“Rescuing you and avoiding the police, I ran my car off the cliff and also may have destroyed the letter box outside your beach house.” He laughed, “Never really liked it anyway.”

“You did what?” Namjoon said, concerned, “Are you crazy?”

“Listen, we were being chased. It was all for you, and Jimin of course, returning Jimin and rescuing you.” Seokjin smiled at his friend. Yoongi thought these humans were weird, they were reckless and too odd for his liking. “I even teamed up with Taehyung and Y/n in order to save you. Do you know how hard that was?”

“Didn’t seem hard at all, you and Taehyung seemed to get along really well.” Jimin pushed the human with a smile, it was weird to see Jimin acting so comfortable with the humans. “We will return you so that the issue can be resolved, I am starting to grow worried about how we left.”

“What do you mean?” Seokjin asked confused

“Humans tackled Y/n and Taehyung dragged me into the water. Right before you and your car contraption fell into the water I killed the man who scared you all.” Jimin said proudly, this didn’t seem to go over well with the human’s. Yoongi hoped Jimin didn’t do something stupid turf war wasn’t on his to do list.

Yoongi didn’t understand the words coming from Seokjin’s face, if he had to liken it to anything, it sounded like vulgar slang, curse words. The human looked panicked.

“We have to go back, they are probably being sent to prison,” Seokjin said, trying to leave unsure which direction to go, “They are in big trouble.”

“Can’t you just talk to your king and explain and they will be removed from prison?” Jimin said

“Prison doesn’t work the same as it does here,” Namjoon explained, “Very Very bad people go to prison, Murderer’s, thieves and other despicable humans put in one place.”

“Yeah and if they go to prison, they may be beaten or worse,” Seokjin huffed. Jimin looked up at Jungkook who nodded, bringing out a small mirror and handing it to Jimin.

Looking over Jimin’s shoulder, Yoongi noticed a human different to the two infront of him, she was feminine delicate and leaking. “What is happening to her?”

“She is crying,” Jimin explained, “Humans do that when they are hurt or in despair, from what I have been told they do the same when they are happy too.”

“Confusing and a little stupid.” Hoseok laughed, “How do you know the difference?”

The charges have been dropped, Namjoon breathed listening to the interrogator, explaining that they couldn’t record the phenomenon that occurred on the beach. “They are being let go,” He smiled, a sight Yoongi hadn’t seen since he first laid eyes on their large domestic crustaceans.

“There is Taehyung,” Seokjin called out looking down, the two humans looked void of any emotion, they collected their things and climbed into the police car getting an escort to their homes. “They are safe and that’s all that matters.” 

Seokjin smiled, his eyes leaking much to Yoongi’s disgust. Namjoon smiled, he seemed a little amused by the older human. “I remember distinctly you saying you hated Taehyung with a passion and wanted him to choke on a sardine.” They two laughed for a moment, “When did things change?” 

“I guess when you are working as a team to save someone you develop an understanding.” Seokjin shrugged his large shoulders, “It also didn’t help that he was living in my house for almost a week.”

“You like him,” Namjoon poked him, “Admit it you have feelings for him.”

“We can head back when you are ready, we have returned Jimin home safely.” Seokjin smiled, looking around at the group and smiling, “I am Seokjin by the way, you can call me Jin.”

The man was goofy, reminding Yoongi of Jungkook himself, the two so alike in their childlike nature, letting themself play without hesitation. It was almost admirable that people could act so carefree, unaffected by how they could be perceived.

“I don’t know if I am allowed to leave?” Namjoon said, his smile falling, eyes fixed on the ground before him. 

Yoongi looked at his king, the spoiled young man reflecting on his actions, it had been many days since they saw the young man smile. Almost expecting him to refuse, Yoongi schools his expression when he doesn’t. 

“You should go, You don’t belong down here?” Jungkook took the mirror before walking away from the group to sit on the throne. He lowered his head looking at his reflection trying to distract himself from the pain. Letting your promised go was the hardest thing a merperson could do. Under normal circumstances, promises are only parted by death.

Namjoon walked over, placing a hand on the king's head and smiling at him, “If ever you want to visit, I would be happy to show you some great places, places you would love.” Jungkook’s broken heart warmed at the human’s dimples appearing softly in the flesh of his cheeks.

That was the last thing they needed, their king running off for a romance on the coast line. Seokjin swung his arm around Jimin playfully, the merman giggling whilst his legs almost buckled. “Yeah Jimin knows the private beach by Namjoon’s house, he can show you the way if you ever want to visit.”

Tags: @backinblack1967 @miriamxsworld @moccahobi @simplymemyself @a-gayish-unicorn @ella-mella @vjinfan23​

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[attllhak]

@lu-sky-lian Hey! Here’s more Sky fic, as promised. (Sorry it took so long I got busy today.)

This is for the merAU I can up with during the last week of May because MerMay. It was way easier to find this than the WingAU fic, it turns out. I’ll still find that and post it maybe tomorrow.

Regardless, a bit of background for the merAU first: I am of the firm opinion that merfolk should be less human and so everyone here has way more fins and scales. Because that’s way cooler. Also, the communicate using bioluminescence because I think glowy mermaids are cool. My best friend did draw Warriors for this AU, so if you need/want a better idea of how they look, lemme know and I’ll ask said artist best friend about posting that at some point. Oh! And also there are three types of merfolk here: Mer, which are like ‘standard’ mermaids, Merrow, which can freely switch between having a tail or legs, and Half-Mer, which I’ll go into more detail for when I finally get around to writing the fic introducing Hyrule and Legend to this AU. Also, Knight is what I nicknamed pre-Calamity/AoC Wild, so that’s who I’m referring to when that name comes up.

There’s more to the details than this, but they aren’t really relevant and this is getting ramble-y already. If you want to know more about my worldbuliding for this AU then shoot me an ask and I can elaborate more.

-----------------------

Sky frowned, watching a crab waddle around the reef.

The crab, which he’d named Crabbert about five minutes ago, had shown up a short while ago and had been just waddling around since then. Sky had decided to watch it.

He didn’t have much else to do, after all.

He knew that Artemis and General were busy trying to figure out how to deal with the recent poachings, but he wasn’t exactly helpful on that front.

Their pod had never been the safest, it’s why their matriarchs were so young, but even he knew that two poachings focused on their guard was bad.

He missed Warriors and Knight. The two other Links had trained with him to join the guard, and it just seemed, dull without them. He missed Knight coming up with a stupid idea and Warriors arguing about how to do it safely and without getting caught. He missed then doing the stupid thing with them and promptly getting caught, though only sometimes hurt.

He missed the excited way Knight would shoot up to the surface when he saw the marine research ship that came by now and then. He missed running after Warriors when one of the girls would decide to flirt with him, only to get mad when he decided to dissuade them by flirting back, but worse.

He missed his friends.

He couldn’t do anything to help though, so he just kept watching Crabbert amble around.

He turned when he saw the flashing of another mer, and smiled and waved at his girlfriend. She smiled back at him, floating just a bit above him.

‘So, what are you doing?’ She asked, floating down next to him.

‘Watching Crabbert,’ he replied, twisting to point at the crab in question.

Sun folded her arms on his shoulder and they both watched Crabbert for a while.

She tapped his shoulder after a while, and he twisted to look at her again.

‘There’s talk of moving the pod,’ she told him.

Sky frowned, thinking. On the one hand, he understood that choice. This reef wasn’t safe for them, so it made sense to move. But on the other, what if Warriors or Knight came looking for them and they weren’t here?

Sun, thankfully, didn’t say more than that, just swimming down to wrap her arms around one of his. He was so lucky to have her.

They floated there for a long while, absentmindedly watching Crabbert putter around and do it’s thing while they thought.

(---)

‘Sky, I have a mission for you,’

Sky gripped his spear tightly, drawing comfort from the soft hum of the trident in support. It was never a good sign when General called someone in to request a mission. Shield, the almost ancient former matriarch, floating behind her was an equally daunting sight.

‘Yes, Lady Impa?’ Sky said, swallowing. They may have given out nicknames to everyone who shared names in the pod, but you always addressed a matriarch with her real name.

Plus, Sky was a little bit scared of the lionfish mer.

‘Our pod cannot stay here,’ General pointed out to him, looking away. 

‘I understand that,’ he said, once it was clear she wanted prompting.

General sighed. ‘Sky, you were good friends with Warriors and Knight, yes?’

Sky furrowed his brow, confused, but nodded.

‘We have asked the marine researchers that knew Knight to look for him, but we have no one we can send to find Warriors,’ General took a deep breath. ‘What I’m about to ask you is dangerous. It’s risky, and there is no guarantee of success. Not guarantee that you’ll even make it back to us,’

‘You want me to go after Warriors,’ Sky guessed, setting his jaw. ‘I’m in,’

General blinked at him. ‘I…’ she trailed off, then sharply shook her head. ‘I hadn’t expected you to agree so quickly,’

Sky straightened up, holding his trident tightly next to him. ‘With all due respect, my Lady, it was never even a question. I’d go after Knight too, if you asked me to,’

‘You might not come back,’

‘I know,’

‘It will be dangerous,’

‘Living here is dangerous,’

‘More dangerous,’

‘I’m not scared,’

General looked him up and down, and he swore he saw her smile.

‘Lady Impa the First will brief you on everything you need to know,’ she waved an arm and the old mer swam up, eying Sky herself.

She was very intimidating, harsh and unforgiving in her expectations, but Sky didn’t even twitch as she approached.

‘Come.’ Was all she said, and Sky followed.

(---)

The next day, Sky had a bag that contained a map to the new home they’d found and a few supplies, his trident on his back as he pressed his forehead to Sun’s, the closest form of intimacy between mer. He accepted a hug from Groose, and then he turned and swam in the direction the ship that had stolen Warriors went in.

He just hoped he found his friend in the water, and wouldn’t need to find a merrow to chase the poachers inland.

He was going to bring his friends home.

[vivilove-jonsa]

Don't know if you're still doing the July Prompts, but in case you feel like it... Treasure Hunt, please? 😁🤗

Hello, my dear!

I love this prompt and I had more than one idea for it honestly but settled on a Mermaid AU. It needs a continuation at some point before I think I'll post it on ao3 but I hope you'll enjoy the start anyway!

(and this will be the last of the July prompts I'll be able to do)

**

A foggy morning upon the southern sea and a lone cutter with sixteen souls aboard ghosts across the surface where a tired, young sailor rubs his eyes.

The captain rises from his bunk and joins him on the bridge. “Where’s Thorne?”

Jon jerks his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the head. “Hobb’s chili’s not agreeing with him, captain.”

Mormont winces in sympathy for his second in command but Jon secretly hopes Thorne stays there another half hour. He hates my ass and the feeling is mutual at this point.

“Very well. Anything on radar, Snow?”

“No, sir. Clear and quiet.”

“Not been any sirens tempting you to jump ship then?”

Jon’s surprised that the old man is pulling his leg this early as Mormont is far from a morning person. There are legends surrounding these waters but it’s all a load of horseshit. Of course, the sunken treasure they’re seeking off this coast may well be one too but men are known to risk much for even a bit of gold.

“No, sir. No sirens, giant krakens or merfolk so far. I’ll let you know if any pay us a call though.”

Jon anticipates a wry grin in answer to his sarcasm but Mormont looks to be in deadly earnest when he says, “Don’t mock things you don’t understand, boy.”

He softens the scolding tone with a pat on the shoulder though and makes to leave again when Jon cannot help asking, “Do you think we’ll find my uncle out here?”

He’s told ‘maybe’ but the old man’s sorrowful look says ‘no.’

Benjen had commanded the first expedition out here last year looking for the Wolf’s Eye, the fabled shipwreck from years past with a ruby the size of a man's fist reportedly part of its treasure. The ship never returned and neither has any of the crew.

Alone again, Jon looks back over the water and his eyes begin to grow heavy once more. It’s been a long night on duty.

A sudden, steady beeping from the radar has him sitting up straight. What is that? It’s huge, twice as big as the ship. It’s not possible that a vessel that size could’ve snuck up on them so quickly and quietly, is it? Must be a whale or an uncharted reef.

He cuts the engines, sounds the alert and lets the ship begin to drift to a stop. The captain will probably be back up in a minute.

Stepping out from the bridge, he goes to the rail for a look and sees her. There’s a girl in the water! Where did she come from?!

“Man overboard!” he shouts with all his might as he reaches for a life preserver.

He takes aim and tosses it skillfully towards her. It lands less than three feet from her but she makes no move to grab it. She continues treading water and looking up at him with curiosity.

“Grab the float, miss! I’ll haul you in!” he cries.

A confused smile, a shrug. She gingerly taps the life preserver, a look of frank suspicion. Then, she seems to understand and waves at him.

And even in the early morning light and fog, Jon can tell her eyes are a lovely cerulean blue and her hair is a blaze of red. It’s not the shade of the ruby which they seek but more of an auburn, like a cozy fire in one’s hearth on a cold night, a more tangible sort of treasure to Jon's way of thinking.

She’s smiling up at him and…gods, she’s beautiful.

The ship is coming to life. Men race along the deck trying to figure out what’s going on. He can hear Thorne bellowing at him from the bridge but he keeps staring at the girl in the water who seems concerned by all the hullabaloo she and the radar has caused. She still makes no move towards the ship.

“If you won’t save yourself, I guess I’ll be saving you,” Jon grumbles with conviction as he begins to tug off his boots.

The girl in the water laughs at that. She seems to want him to jump into the water with her.

What sort of game is this? What had Mormont teased him of just a short time ago? Should he be more cautious than this? That's what he's most often being rebuked for aboard, flying headlong into an uncertain situation without giving it enough thought.

But his hands are already on the railing, preparing to climb over…when an almighty jarring crash knocks him to his knees. Have they struck the reef?! Is there an invisible ship out there they’ve run square into?

No, there’s a tentacle coming up over the side. An enormous tentacle, as big around as a pig! There’s more than one! It’s wrapping around the ship and pulling. The bloody thing seems to be intent on taking the ship under!

His eyes find the girl’s again and those big blue eyes are frightened. She gestures wildly for him to jump, to come to her. (And her gesturing brings Jon’s attention to the fact that she’s not wearing any sort of clothing or swimsuit on her top half at least. Seven hells.)

Regardless of her state of dress, there’s bigger problems at hand. Panicked and not knowing what else to do, Jon jumps towards the girl in the water, barely clearing one of those huge tentacles.

Perhaps it’s the impact of hitting the water or perhaps something hit his head as he jumped but Jon feels pain and the blackness is closing in and he immediately gulps in a mouthful of seawater.

Sputtering and disoriented, he’s briefly aware of the girl wrapping one thin, cool arm around his torso and pulling him rapidly away from the cutter. They move so quick, like dolphins through the water. She's stronger and faster than he would've ever guessed.

There’s shouts and cries from the men aboard the ship and subconsciously Jon knows something very bad is happening but in his drifting, foggy state, he can’t seem to comprehend it all.

"Who are you?" he asks the girl...or maybe he just thinks it.

She looks so worried over him and he wants to tell her not to worry. He may find his uncle here.

She shakes her head and gently kisses his aching brow and gives him what he thinks is an attempt at a reassuring smile.

One of his hands is tangled in her wet hair and Jon would swear there’s a silvery fin beating against his dangling, useless legs before consciousness leaves him completely.

*TBC*