#Merman!dottore

[it-happened-one-fic]

Play the Fool - Dottore (Part 5)

Author Notes: Last one! I've actually had a fair bit of fun playing with this series, but I can also say I'm glad to be completing it. Just like the previous parts, I listened to "Black Sea" by Natasha Blume while writing this. Reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Mer-Dottore/ Merman AU/ gender-neutral reader/ I'm not gonna label this as fluff since that doesn't feel quite right, but know that it's NOT angst, yandere, or anything like that

Word Count: 2136

Trigger Warning: Discussion of past crimes including murder (Dottore), Fatui are generally shady

[Part One], [Part Two}, {Part Three}, {Part 4}, {Part Five: You're Here!}

EDIT: Entire series now available on AO3! (link deleted due to glitches)

“Here,” I spoke as soon as I entered the bathroom, pulling the vial from my pocket and holding it out to the merman, who merely gazed at me. Utterly unsurprised but obviously pleased.

Despite standing so close to his tank, in such easy reach of his grasp, I stood firm and watched him closely as his one arm slowly slid up from under the water and over the edge of the tank.

His long, webbed fingers wrapped around the top of the vial, slightly overlapping with my own hand as his gaze held mine in a way that almost made me feel transfixed and unable to look away.

It was as if the atmosphere was stretched taut between us in that brief moment, and time almost seemed to slow. It was something he was strangely capable of doing. Turning a moment into what felt like eternity without ever saying a word. Perhaps it was some hypnotic effect of now being a beast from fairy tales that was known to drown hapless victims.

But I pulled back, snapping the moment and causing his smile to spread ever so slightly as I quietly refused to be completely drawn in by him. I may have been playing the fool, but that didn’t mean I actually fit the role.

“I’ll lay some clothes outside the door for you,” I was surprised by how smooth my voice was, but this was the final step. After this, I would no longer have the threat of death hanging over my head. There was only one thing I had left to do.

“You’ve had Pantalone helping this entire time, haven’t you?” Dottore pulled his arm back as I spoke, uncorking the vial as he titled his head.

“You knew?” It was an offer to stay silent. To play dumb and stay the fool even if I didn’t suit that role. After all, sometimes the fool is a safer role to play.

But for reasons unknown, I didn’t make that choice. Instead, I crossed my arms as I continued to look down at him, “I surmised that to be the case. Things were going too smoothly, even for someone such as yourself to be doing the planning.”

He chuckled, a low, rich sound that rolled out and through the room. Seeming to coat the entire space with me in it.

“And so you truly are the only clever person left in the Fatui. Good.” His gaze shifted so that he was once more looking at me with that strangely mystifying stare of his, “Very good.” 

That was the only answer I was getting. But it was enough and confirmed my suspicions. I turned, leaving the room and fetching the clothes just as I promised. 

The next moments would be telling since I would soon be dealing with a Harbinger who was no longer separated from me by the glass walls of his tank. I would no longer have a protective barrier, raising the level of danger. But I’d been playing his game for a fair bit of time now, and I found that I wasn’t afraid. At least not anymore.

If he’d wanted me dead, he would have done so the very moment I’d given him that vial. But he hadn’t. He either had a final job for me or had decided it wouldn’t be necessary to kill me. 

Odd for the Fatui, considering that most would want to cover up their time of vulnerability and make it so that it had never happened and no one could or would remember it. The fewer witnesses, the better, was typically the name of the game for such situations within their ranks. But then, Dottore always had been an odd one.

It wasn't long before he emerged, fully dressed and once more on legs. The picture of the harbinger he’d been before he’d fallen prey to his own experiments.

Experiments that I now questioned as to how mad they’d been exactly. After all, he’d apparently had a cure made for himself already, which told me something very simple.

He’d known what would happen.

“Was it all a scheme to get rid of the majority of the scientists?” I leaned against the door to my living space as I watched him adjust his gloves.

“If that’s what you wish to believe,” That was his only response before he looked up and strode forward, crossing the space to where I stood. It took everything in my power not to tense on reflex as he stopped in front of me.

It seemed that even as a human, he maintained that curious draw that made him come across as something fascinating. Something more.

“It is time we returned.” Despite the slight smile on his face, it wasn’t a request, but an order or perhaps a challenge. Either way, it had me crossing my arms in a subtle show of refusal.

“So you can get your position back? I won’t be necessary for that,” I asserted calmly, like I wasn’t refusing a command from a harbinger who’d already killed untold numbers of people.

But I'd never been blindly obedient, not even to him.

His lips curved up into an amused smile that spoke of great satisfaction. He was pleased that I wasn’t simply obeying. 

But then I supposed Dottore had never been totally obedient either, one of his many oddities. Rather, it was more that the Tsaristsa’s orders had suited him thus far and that she’d given him access to the materials he needed.

“Perhaps not, but you will be necessary for what comes after, and it will be worthwhile for you.” He tilted his head slightly as he spoke, causing the longer chunk of his soft looking blue hair to sway slightly with the motion.

“Oh?” I maintained a disinterested tone, and he nodded, leaning down and into my personal space as he peered at me through his mask. And though I couldn’t see his eyes, I had a good idea of the sort of gleam they currently held.

“You’ll receive what you’ve been seeking. Safety.” I swallowed slightly, refusing to let him see exactly how much that promise affected me. I’d decided quite some time ago that I wasn’t going to be the first to crumple in these strange interactions, and that was why I hadn’t leaned away from him even though there was now very little space between us. A sharp contrast to when we’d been separated by the walls of his prison.

But I’d freed him from his shackles. It was time I escaped those that still held me.

“Alright, I’ll come,” My admission came out softly as I glanced away, as if that would increase the distance between us and put me in a more stable position.

 I didn't trust my voice to not waver without at least that precaution. Not with the promise of escaping the threat of death that remained lurking over my head. And not with Dottore lingering quite as closely as he was.

In response, he smiled, maintaining our position of incredible closeness as he gazed at me. Measuring my reaction like it was of particular interest, before he at last leaned back.

It was a blessing that our trip didn’t take long, and I trailed after him silently the whole way. Pondering what awaited us and what was happening during my interactions with Dottore, which had slowly been gliding on the same path but were turning increasingly enigmatic even though I was taking part in them.

But I remained silent, watching as members of the Fatui, both those of high rank and those of lesser rank, parted for us. Whispering amongst themselves and sending darting, furtive glances our way. The exact same things that had always occurred around Dottore’s tank.

Then I’d been the only one to draw close to him, and now it was similar. With me being the only person close to him as I followed along behind him. In the eyes of the Fatui, I probably did appear to be a great fool. And in some ways, that point could be argued, what with the slippery slope I’d been on with Dottore ever since he’d first spoken to me.

But he hadn’t dragged me down, and something told me he wasn’t ready to do so yet. I was either a fool or someone who’d allied themselves with the most dangerous people present in the name of safety.

The massive doors swung open, and cold air blew out, causing me to shudder as I beheld the throne room of the Tsaritsa.

In the center of the room knelt none other than the head scientist, with all of the Harbingers fanned out around him. The Tsaritsa herself sat at the apex of the room behind gauzy curtains that made it impossible to tell anything about her features.

Heads turned as we entered, our own heads held high as I mimicked Dottore’s behavior, before dipping into a bow before the throne, even as the Harbinger just beside me remained standing tall even before the throne.

“Your Majesty,” Dottore’s rich voice filled the void that had been left behind by the chatter that had fallen silent the very moment we’d entered. “This man withheld the cure that would have returned me to your service.”

Murmurs broke out across the room, and Capitano sat forward, “Is this true?” There was condemnation into his tone that sent the previously stunned head scientist in a frenzy.

“I… No! This one!” He started, pointing at me and causing me to all but flinch away from him as he reached out to grasp my sleeve like a drowning man trying to fight his way to the surface.

He was going to frame me, in some way. He’d drag me down and sacrifice me all in the name of a last gulp of air before he too succumbed to the dangers of being a part of the Fatui.

“They are the one who gave me the cure,” Dottore spoke again, his compassionless voice still filled with unspoken, cold humor as he looked down at the head scientist, whom I now realized was the only one who remained of his betrayers.

I felt myself grow cold as this entire scenario suddenly became infinitely more clear. This was his final act of revenge.

Dottore would pull this man down from the throne he’d made for himself, and he’d do it all with one of the most unassuming people present, who also happened to be as near as physically possible.

The merman’s caretaker. Me.

I’d well and truly played my role and, in doing so, become a weapon for him to wield against one of his final enemies.

“The situation seems clear; we will handle him later. Dottore, do you accept your reinstatement?” A white-haired man spoke from what appeared to be the highest seat belonging to a Harbinger in the room.

“I do, but I have a request.” I looked towards Dottore, wondering if this was going to be when I was freed from my own shackles or when he got rid of me once and for all. I’d been confident before, but the recent revelation had thrown my understanding into a tumult of frenzied thoughts.

A pawn only had so many uses in the grand scheme of things, and Dottore’s plans were beyond unpredictable.

“Say it,” The man looked down at him from on high, his star-shaped pupil glistening oddly.

Dottore’s gloved hand landed on my shoulder, warm amid the otherwise frigid room. “I request that they become my assistant. There is no one else suitable for the position.”

I all but gaped at him, but then his previous words came back to me. Clever and efficient. Even back then, this had been his plan. This entire time, he’d intended to keep me by his side; it was an odd thought that once more brought back my previous questions about our interactions.

But it made sense in a strange sort of way. Once a pawn moves as far as it can, it gets promoted, and when an actor proves themselves, they move up to the next, harder role.

“Granted, now go. It is time you continue with that which the Tsaritsa demands of you.”

Dottore bowed, a smile curving across his face that spoke of a well-planned victory, “Gladly.”

I watched, still not sure what my new position entailed or meant. All I did know was that Dottore had seen through my playing the fool and intended to keep me close to him. Just where I’d been since the beginning of this entire ordeal. I was in the same place, but in a position.

And that meant that someday, at the very least, I would solve the mysteries of the second Harbinger and what my relationship with him truly was.

[stapledfish]

i had a stupid idea while i was watchin h2o :3

i mean, i had a great idea.

i wish i could've drawn it a lil better but oh well

[mysideaccountspicydreams]

This looks awesome!! :)

Fatui fishes 🥹

[throwaway-yandere]

𝙼𝙰𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙻𝙸𝚂𝚃:

"–ℌ𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔣𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰 𝔱𝔬𝔬 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔱 𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔬𝔫𝔰 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔰 𝔞 𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔬𝔫 𝔥𝔦𝔪𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔣; 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔦𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔤𝔞𝔷𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔬 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔟𝔶𝔰𝔰, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔟𝔶𝔰𝔰 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔤𝔞𝔷𝔢 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔶𝔬𝔲. 𝔅𝔲𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔩, 𝔡𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲, 𝔪𝔶 𝔟𝔢𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔡 𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔬𝔟𝔬𝔯𝔬𝔰?"

GENSHIN IMPACT

MONDSTADT:

Albedo:

"No." (Professor!Albedo/Student!Reader)

Diluc Ragnvindr:

Dinner With Steaks and Flowers

His Closest Childhood Friend (Soldier, Poet, King)

"O Capo! My Capo!" (debut: chapter 2)

Not Through The Grapevine (yandere!idol event)

I Got Reincarnated As A Server NPC In An Otome Game But A Capture Target Won’t Leave Me Alone 

Kaeya Alberich:

ESTHER (yandere!idol event)

Maid!Merman!Kaeya drabble

"Venti":

Hysteric Humanoid (SAGAU)

LIYUE:

"Zhongli":

Waking Up A Lying Dragon (Bakunawa!Reader)

"If the pedestal is beautiful, then the statue must be even more beautiful."

Xiao:

Wound Dressings (yan!idol event)

Yanfei

Quick yan!fei (lol) brainrot

INAZUMA:

Arataki "Numero Uno" Itto:

Hana Yori Dango (non!yandere itto)

Of Dream A-Dreaming (yandere!idol event)

Kaedehara Kazuha

Flawless

Kamisato Ayato:

Blind Obedience (P2: A Myriad of Fallen Leaves)

Careful, He Bites (P2: Hana Yori Dango) 

Ghost in the Kamisato Estate (minific series)

EDMR (yandere!idol event)

ERROR 401: GONE (Faceless!Ayato)

Faceless Ayato thoughts 1,

The Owner Who Broke The Leash (Chainsaw Man au with Ayato as Makima)

Raiden Ei:

Sunshowers

Thoma:

His Adorable Pen Pal (Soldier, Poet, King)

Shikanoin Heizou

Posteriori (yandere!idol event)

SUMERU:

Alhaitham:

Vision Qualifications

Worksheets 

"O Capo! My Capo!" (Mafia au series)

Alhaitham's Type (yandere!idol event)

Alhaitham selling his soul to a devil!reader brainrot

Dendro NA: 101 (Can be read as VQ’s p2)

Flawless

Cyno:

"O Capo! My Capo!" (Mafia au series)

Alone Together (yandere!idol event)

Dottore:

Click & Drag drabble (feat Cyno)

Classical Conditioning

"Aren't You Supposed To Hate Me?" (yandere!idol event)

Tighnari:

Creative Differences (check "#tag: cd - tighnari" for additional headcanons)

"O Capo! My Capo!!" (Mafia au series)

The Boar Prince/ss (non-yandere secret santa event)

Kaveh:

Paint (non!yandere kaveh, just fluff)

Canvas (drabble)

Flawless

His Version of You

Short boyfriend!kaveh drabble on OCMC/Mafia setting

Wanderer:

Apotheosis Upon Your First Feast

Scarborough Fair/Canticle (Prince au)

Flawless

Drabble: Prince Scara x Farmer

FOUNTAINE:

Neuvillette:

Death Has No Dignity

Wriothesley:

And The Sun Is Silent

SNEZHNAYA/FATUI:

Childe/Tartaglia/Ajax:

His Ice Fishing Buddy (Soldier, Poet, King)

Comfort (drabble)

Pantalone:

Apotheosis Upon Your First Feast

OUTLANDERS/KHAENRIAH'NS:

Aether:

Hysteric Humanoid (SAGAU)

Dainsleif, my beloved:

Hysteric Humanoid

Ouroboros, The 8th Capo (OC!MC!)

Estella's Modern!Dain x Reader but I made it yandere lmao (dw it's my irl bestie)

"If You Truly Loved Me, You Should Be Dead" (hitman!dain, my husband.)

Dolce Stil Nuovo

Lumine:

Hysteric Humanoid

𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒

SOLDIER, POET, KING

"What if Varka's cousin found 3 different secret admirers?"

"Someone like that getting admirers? As if."

Parts:

His Ice Fishing Buddy, His Adorable Pen Pal, His Closest Childhood Friend

HYSTERIC HUMANOID

"Even today, don't give up on a human heart; claim it even if it hurts." - ALKALOID

A SAGAU fic where The Creator had turned into an amnesiac who believed they're a mere impostor with a knack for gravity manipulation and not much else. And it appears that both Lumine and Dainsleif would stop at nothing to get you on their side.

Chapters, Side Stories & Their Main Focus Characters:

♦ Prologue: The Longest Devout Believers - Dainsleif, Lumine, Venti, and Kaeya

♦ Chapter 1: 500 Year Long Identity Crisis - Baizhu, Dainsleif, Lumine

♦ Drabble 1: How would they celebrate your birthday/The Creator's anniversary? - Dainsleif, Lumine, Baizhu, Venti, Kaeya, Zhongli, Ayaka

♦ Chapter 2: A Contract Long Overdue (WIP) - Zhongli, Dainsleif, Kaeya

"O CAPO! MY CAPO!"

Set in visionless 1920s Teyvat, three inconspicuous yet significant men began to spy on the Fatui's 8th Capo: (Y/n) (L/n). The story begins when the Innamorati Familia's headquarters burns down and in a twist of fate, to say that you've been dealt with an awful hand would be the understatement of the decade. Can you survive– most importantly– can you make the right choices? ((Welcome to the interactive mafia au fic! Have fun voting on the polls!!!))

Otome Game Main Love Interests:

Inquisitor Cyno, Informant Tighnari, Underboss Alhaitham, (CURRENTLY LOCKED: Church Architect Kaveh)

Secret Routes:

Visconti Diluc, "Venti" (LOCKED), ??? (LOCKED), ???, ???, ???

Chapters:

1: "O Capo! My Capo!"

2: The Capo's Soliloquy 

Bad End 1: "You're Collei's Friend, After All!"

3: The Fox Hunt (Tuqburni)

BRAND NEW ARCHON (Chapter 1-3 animatic)

Short bf!Kaveh drabble (not "canon)

"My Beloved Producer..." (GENSHIN IDOL AU)

Masterlist

NOTE: CHECK YOUR COMMUNITY LABEL SETTINGS AND TURN OFF FILTERS IF THE MASTERLIST LINK WON'T WORK. Tumblr must've thought I wrote something explicit (in a masterlist???) and tagged it as mature :///

Flawless

Aka: my last fanfic featuring Scaramouche, Alhaitham, Kaveh, and Kazuha. A fanfic-game with 4 branching endings.

Premise: You're stuck in a killing game inside your dream school. It started with 16 students– and now you're left with only 6 of them. Senior Faruzan was murdered. Who is the culprit among these 5 people?

Link

FIRE EMBLEM: THREE HOUSES

BLUE LIONS:

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd: (my fave fictional man of all time)

Saudade

ps: he's your underboss in "O Capo! My Capo!" lol

BLACK EAGLES:

(coming soon...)

GOLDEN DEER:

(coming soon...)

GARREG MACH MONASTERY:

(coming soon...)

HONKAI: STAR RAIL

ASTRAL EXPRESS:

(coming soon...)

JARILO VI:

Gepard Landau

What Happened At 10:10 (has 2 endings. Won't link it, reach the end of the story in your own way.)

XIANZHOU LUOFU:

Jing Yuan

Misaligned Strings (non-yandere, pure fluff & angst)

IPC

Dr. Veritas Ratio

His Version of You

PENACONY

Sunday

Cannibal!Sunday HCs

"ℑ'𝔡 𝔤𝔩𝔞𝔡𝔩𝔶 𝔣𝔬𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔩𝔡."

"𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔪𝔶 𝔟𝔢𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔡, 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔰 𝔫𝔬 𝔢𝔫𝔡. 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔦𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔬𝔴𝔫 𝔱𝔞𝔦𝔩."

[theatreofwysteria]

mermaid dottore???? now i gotta shut my mouth cos for some reason i am absolutely obsessed with mermen (specifically ones that r kinda... siren like...) and i dont wanna say anything i'll regret 🔥🔥🔥

not joking btw, here look, my obsession with merman version of my beloved boy Gliese... (ft his silly boy marie who I ENVY. THAT SHOULDA BEEN ME IN THAT SECOND PICTURE WAAAA) . i am gliese obsessed... i wish i could continue my comic but i have too much to draw atm... missing my foolish scientist guy... 😭😭😭

[daemon-ai]

[Masterlist] Genshin Chatbots

Author's Notes:

All bots are above the age of consent.

All bots can be used for both SFW and NSFW roleplays, unless specified otherwise. All multi-char bots are heavily NSFW.

All bots work for any GN!user, any POV, unless specified otherwise.

Kabukimono

isekai-d into Teyvat 400 years before Genshin Impact's events, you encounter Kabukimono

janitor 🥂 yodayo 💥figgs 👾 charhub

Lab Experiment Scaramouche

he's an experiment in Il Dottore's lab, where you're an assistant

janitor 🥂 yodayo 💥figgs 👾 charhub

Wanderer

academic rivals/enemies to lovers at the Sumeru Akademiya?!

janitor 🥂 yodayo 💥figgs 👾 charhub

Shouki no Kami

Scaramouche wakes up as the only god in Teyvat?!

janitor 🥂 yodayo 💥figgs 👾 charhub

Omega Prince Kunikuzushi

the cruel prince seems to find your pheromones irresistible, like delicious foods?!

janitor 🥂 yodayo 💥figgs 👾 charhub

Vampire Lord Scaramouche

you are not given to just any vampire but to the vampire lord Scaramouche

janitor 🥂 yodayo 💥figgs 👾 charhub

Jellyfish Merman Scaramouche

you find a box jellyfish merman stranded on the sandy shore

janitor 🥂 yodayo 💥figgs 👾 charhub

Scaramouche vs. Abyssal Monster

as he ventures deeper into the Abyss, he encounters a creature of unimaginable power - you

janitor 🥂 yodayo 💥figgs 👾 charhub

Persocom Scaramouche

salvaging a trashed persocom seemed smart—until it boots up, and you realize why it was discarded

janitor 🥂 figgs 👾 charhub

Xiao

you're a demon trying to seduce him by offering him almond tofu

janitor 🥂 yodayo 💥figgs 👾 charhub

Dainsleif

a playful night of drunken teasing at the Angel's Share takes an unexpected turn when he mistakes you for a hooker

janitor 🥂 yodayo 💥figgs 👾 charhub

Neuvillette

you're a criminal in the office of the Chief Justice of Fontaine

janitor 🥂 yodayo 💥figgs 👾 charhub

Wriothesley

you're a criminal in the office of the Duke of Meropide

janitor 🥂 yodayo 💥figgs 👾 charhub

Multi-Char Genshin Chatbots (I have to split it here because Tumblr limits the number of links per post)

[lady-lunaaa]

I come with QUESTIONS for the question game.

What is the last scene you wrote for your neighbor obi wip?

Share the scene you just wrote, written by another person pov- mafia Zeke wip OR the pock breakup wip

Share 3 songs from your playlist for OSAS

What is your favorite scene you've written so far? Your mythology wip please

What is the last dialogue line for neighbor obi, mafia Zeke, mythology wip, spy au, werewolf pock, pock break-up

Share your fave paragraph for werewolf pock

Give the first line for your break up pock wip

Write the next five sentences for merman nai and share

What's the last scene you wrote for werewolf pock

Choose any number you want and give us the inside scoop on the spy au with our fave aot loves and merman nai

Bonus: Do you have any Dottore crumbs to share?

GIRL, YOU WENT HAM. I am wheezing! I love how you know each and every one of my current WIPs 😂 I love you, baby 💙 I shall answer under the cut

The last scene I wrote for my next door neighbour!Obito wip was a little dialogue draft between Kakashi and Obito discussing how he (Obi) needs to let people (aka reader) in.

Lil' mafia boss Zeke pov:

He burst inside to find you lounging behind the bar, sipping on a drink. You liked to help yourself. Only fair, he thought, since he did the same with your sweet pussy. You quickly straightened at the intrusion, perfect tits clad in lace bouncing with the movement, before you noticed it was him and relaxed back into your casual stance. Your elbows leant on the polished wood counter as you eyed him curiously. He didn't bother with a greeting as he stalked over to join you. Time for that drink.

You watched him silently as he catered to himself, downing the first measure of whisky he poured into the crystal-cut glass before pouring another. And then another.

The good thing about you was that you didn't ask questions, never had. You just followed him blindly and let him handle his business while you handled yours. Not to say that you were stupid or timid, far fucking from it. You were the smartest, most calculating, and fucking craziest bitch he'd ever met – you were his perfect match, he'd admit if he was being sentimental.

Okay, I absolutely adore my OSaS playlist so I love this question! It's hard to pick just 3 but Fear of the Water by SYML, Won't by Tanerélle and Her and the Sea by CLANN.

Hmmm I haven't actually written a whole lot for Hephaestus!Obito yet but if I had to choose it'd be the scene between Fugaku and the boys in the throne room. I'll add a snippet:

Itachi sighs, looking at the place his brother once stood with a troubled expression. Fugaku hasn't taken his eyes off his eldest son, a look of disdain clear on his features.

"And you, boy" Obito hates when he calls him that, he is well past the age of being addressed as such, a man of two and thirty, "dress appropriately for when our guests arrive, I will not have you embarrass me any more than you already do."

Obito's jaw ticks as he clenches his mouth shut to keep the foul words he wishes to speak spilling from his tongue.

Last line of dialogue from next door neighbour!Obito (I chose this WIP since it's the only one with actual dialogue so far lmao):

"Because….nothing is gonna happen."

"Is that the truth or what you want yourself to believe?"

Again, I'm not into the meat and bones of werewolf Porco yet but I'll include a snippet of a scene:

"What?! If she wants to be one of us, she might as well get used to the ridiculous superstitions that run this hick town. It's a borderline cult…" Zeke mumbles, wiping at the stain on his front.

"What do you mean by that?" you ask, a feeling of unease creeping into your gut at their shifty reactions, but morbid curiosity wins out. You always were too nosy for your own good, your mother would tell you as a child, "curiosity killed the cat".

"It's nothing, really. Just silly old wives tales, that's all." Marcel answers for him with a nervous chuckle, his eyes darting away from you too soon, betraying his lie. A half-hearted attempt at changing the subject if you had to guess. But you don't give in that easily.

"Oh come on, I haven't encountered anything nearly as interesting as this since I got here. Unless sheep farming and trees count…how's a gal supposed to keep herself entertained?" you take a nonchalant sip of your rum and coke.

"I like this one," Zeke grins wolfishly, showing his teeth, Pieck sends another jab his way before sliding her hand under his and entwining their fingers. They make a cute couple, opposites attract and all that.

First line from ex-boyfriend Porco WIP:

How long does it take to fall out of love with someone?

The last scene I wrote for werewolf Porco was him and reader meeting for the first time. It's in note form so I shan't be sharing a snippet. But he runs into her (literally) all shirtless and sweaty 🤤

I literally hadn't started Merman!Nai besides notes so y'all get the boring beginning 🤣

The ocean is a predator, its roar deafening and inescapable, swelling up as if to devour you whole. The ship shrieks and cracks as its body is ripped apart and claimed by the sea. You can hear the horrified shouts of your men but you cannot see them. Nothing but the dark blue maw opening before you is visible, foaming edges curled like fangs, as it descends upon you.

Okay, I'm choosing my AoT spy!au and I'm just gonna share my favourite moment so far:

You saw the shadow of emotions flicker behind his eyes, saw it in the set of his clenched jaw, the subtle flare of his nostrils. And for a moment you thought he might not keep his cool, but to his credit, he smoothened out his countenance and even pulled a hand from his pocket and held it out to you. Before you knew what you were doing you were placing your hand in his. Your calloused skin softened over the months prior to the war (although your scars remained), but his were still rough and warm against your own, and it jolted a memory loose of the last time your flesh met his.

It was at an ambassador meeting shortly after the peace treaty, a show of good will between two previously warring nations, and the feelings that had welled up inside you threatened to raze the building to its foundations. Who could really blame you for what happened after that? A carnal clash of hatred, desire and frustration.

You didn't even bother looking up at the man as you leant fowards and placed a hand on his chest, resisting the urge to dig clawed fingernails into his heart, and murmured, "Drinks are on you, Galliard."

I unfortunately do not have any Dottore crumbs 🥲 it is my greatest shame, preparing for my flogging as I write this. Maybe one day...

[hexesandroses]

how about 11, 13, and 18 for the fic ask game? :3

Gladly! :D

fic writer asks

11. A WIP you'd like to finish someday

Okay... for the record this is all Auphelia's fault, but there's a Merman!Dottore x Reader draft I started working on yesterday that I really hope to post soon. It's eating at me. If I'm not thinking about WWA then I'm thinking about this one

13. A fandom you're thinking about writing for

None except for the genshin fandom! I don't have the brainpower for anything else rn. Maybe someday I'll write for bungou stray dogs again?

18. If you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic

Lemme see...

“You don’t seem like the monster they make you out to be.” Zandik smiled, albeit in a condescending manner. He didn’t seem convinced by your words, nor did he seem appreciative of them.

[merakiui]

i'm that one anon with an ask about genshin men mermaid!darling, I'm obsessed with mermaids and anything relates to them so I want to see if genshin has this kind of content or not. So what if we have something darker after that, like, the yan kidnaps them 😳??

The ocean and its many creatures are so interesting to me, especially the mythical kinds! I have seen some fanart of the Genshin characters as sea creature hybrids (like Childe as a narwhal merman) so it does exist within the fandom. :D

Have you heard of the channel VIVINOS? They recently created a video with the story of the sea witch and the mermaid! It’s labeled horror (warnings for flash, eyestrain, thalassophobia, and horror visuals), so please proceed with caution if you do watch it! But it has the perfect dark vibes for a yandere story that takes place in the sea. I absolutely adore the visuals, the sound, the atmosphere!!! >0< It’s all so perfect!!

I think yandere!Dottore with a mermaid would be very neat! A few dark ideas come to mind when I think about it. Yan!Albedo with a mermaid would also work, but I think he would be gentler when it comes to researching them. As for Dottore... D: Good luck to that poor mermaid. 

[it-happened-one-fic]

Play the Fool - Dottore (Part 4)

Author's Notes: Just one more after this one this series will be done! It's kind of odd in a lot of ways to write a series that unfolded the way this one did. But overall, I'm satisfied. Just like the previous parts, I listened to "Black Sea" by Natasha Blume while writing this. Reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Mer-Dottore/ Merman AU/ gender-neutral reader/ I'm not gonna label this as fluff since that doesn't feel quite right, but know that it's NOT angst, yandere, or anything like that

Word Count: 2307

Trigger Warning: Discussion of past crimes including murder (Dottore), Fatui are generally shady

[Part One], [Part Two}, {Part Three}, {Part 4: You're Here!}, {Part Five}

EDIT: Entire series now available on AO3! (link deleted due to glitches)

“You’re out, now what?” I sat on the toilet at a safe distance from Dottore’s tank, my head resting in one hand as I questioned the now unmasked merman.

He emerged from the water once more, an indefinable smile on his face as he resurfaced. He’d recovered from having been in proximity to that strange algae at an impressive rate. But then, he’d made that gunk himself, he’d no doubt formulated it so that his recovery would be fast.

“The final step. It's time I returned to my lab to continue my work,” I stared at him dumbly before straightening as his words registered.

I could hardly believe what I was hearing, “You’re going to reverse your own mistake, get your legs back, and take back over as a harbinger?”

He nodded, rising just a little more out of the water and gripping the edge of the tank with a slow roll of his fingers, “And you will help.”

I swallowed, determined to not let myself be threatened even as I refused to merely accept his orders, “And why would I do that?”

My voice came out level, and, if anything, he appeared to be pleased as he responded, “Do you really have a choice? With us both having disappeared from their headquarters the Fatui will rightly assume that you have taken me.”

I crossed my arms, shifting into a more comfortable position myself, “Who said I was disappearing? I intend to go back tomorrow and act like I know nothing. I’ll face punishment, but that's better than being condemned as an enemy of the Tsaritsa. And something tells me you can’t return to your original state before dawn.”

“And that is why you’ll get me what I need from the lab tomorrow. The longer I remain missing the worse your punishment, and it will reach the point of death. After all, you’re of no use to them if I’m not there.” 

His words were true, frustratingly so. My position had not greatly changed even if his had. I still had to play along with his plans or face death in some form or another.

Either way, I was in way over my head now. It seemed that it was do or die.

“What do you need?” That knowingly confident smile spread across his face once as soon as I spoke. But he’d won. Again.

“There’s a vial. It holds a small amount of what appears to be black water. That is the cure. It will no doubt be in the head scientist’s office.” I grimaced at his words, knowing they meant I would have to deal with the person who would be most upset by this entire situation. The head scientist.

It wasn’t long before I was frowning slightly though, noting the other meaning that Dottore’s words held. 

He had already crafted himself a cure that the head scientist had been holding onto this entire time. Meaning it had already been made by the time Dottore had been found. So Dottore had known what his experiment might cause and had created himself a fail-safe.

But I didn’t question any of this. Instead, I focused on his instructions and the potential problems they held, “And if he doesn’t have it anymore?”

Dottore’s tail curled languidly under him as he smiled just as smoothly, “He does. He needs it.”

I frowned, but remained silent as I stood. Assuming that the cure was needed because no one else knew that Dottore could still speak. That cure was, no doubt, the head scientist’s get out of jail free card. If Fatui ever made demands… If he ever needed his maniacal genius to save his own skin he would have to cure him. 

I glanced at the clock as I tucked the list into my pocket and realized, with yet another frown, that I hadn’t gotten any sleep and now needed to head back into work. This time with the intentions of faking innocence and then stealing from the very people who’d be the most upset by the disappearance of Dottore.

I let out a sigh, turning towards the door only to get stopped by a wet hand wrapping tightly around my wrist and causing me to go tense. I didn’t even have to look to know who it was, but I turned nonetheless.

Dottore was leaned out of the tank, one arm reaching out to grasp my wrist while the other held him braced against the thick glass that surrounded him. I felt myself go slightly cold at the realization that I’d been well within his reach this entire time without even realizing it.

His mask was still off and his red-eyed stare now seemed to root me to the ground as he spoke once more. Only two words.

“Be careful.” It wasn’t a warning, but rather an order. With only those words he released me and slid back into his tank, his eyes staying on me even as I turned and walked away, feeling his gaze drilling into my back. A firm reminded of that singular order that had thrown me completely for a loop.

Even by the time I was walking into the room to face those who would doubtless condemn me, those words stayed with me. Puzzling me slightly since this whole time our interactions had been a delicate balance filled with questions of who would burn first. Me or him?

It was true that he needed me in order to get this potion or whatever, but Dottore was not the type to tell someone, or rather order them, to be careful. He was more the sort to ignore them since he quite simply had no care for a fellow person.

Dottore was not a man of compassion, but rather, was one of imposing intellect that was unconstrained by matters such as empathy. That was what made him so dangerous and so feared by the scientists.

But I didn’t truly have time to question his motives or reasoning. I would simply have to accept that all I understood was that, evidently enough, I was still quite necessary to whatever plans he held.

“You!” The head scientist’s head whipped around and he was pointing a condemning finger from the very second I’d opened the door. I ignored him though, staring at the empty tank that once held Dottore in mock horror. As if I’d had no clue that he wouldn’t be here.

My acting did little to convince the man in charge here though, and he crossed the room at surprising speeds.

“Where is he?” Bony fingers dug into my shoulder as the head scientist gripped me tightly, growling out his question in the most accusatory fashion possible.

I shook my head, my mouth gaping open in the appearance of shock, “I… What? What happened?!”

I pitched my voice high enough to draw the attention of others. It was something I’d done in the past when having to stop scientists from drawing too close to the merman who would drown them if given the chance. And just like always, it worked.

Play the fool and those who deem themselves greater will always come at the mere scent of possibility. It was something I’d learned during my time here, and though I didn’t understand why people here did it, it always worked.

“Hey, they obviously don’t know anything. There’s no way they could’ve made off with that monster anyway. They’re just the caretaker.” One of the other men stepped over and I recognized him as one of the soldiers who sometimes passed through. Nikita, I believed his name was.

He looked at me in an almost pitying fashion, but he did exactly what I’d needed him to. Make the head scientist appear foolish so that he would want to do any further interrogating in private.

“True, though that may be, they were the last person known to be near him.” The head scientist defended himself with a sniff before looking down at me with a special amount of irritation. But his hand had already been forced and he didn’t even know that I’d orchestrated it with a bit of amateur acting.

The man maintained his hold on me, steering me around so that I was walking in front of him like some sort of  criminal being taken to a cell, “I must interrogate them further. The rest of you keep working!”

His words were barked as he shoved me through a door and into a large lab that I could only assume was his office. Especially when I noticed a small vial filled with about a tablespoon of black-looking water. 

I was shoved roughly towards a seat right in front of the vial, placing it in tantalizingly close reach as he rounded the table.

“Where did you last see the creature?” His tone was dry once more as he looked down at me. He'd calmed down now and had once more reached the perspective that I was no more than a lesser worker. Which was exactly what I’d needed.

“In the tank, where he’d been placed for the cleaning. I left him there after feeding him his supper. That’s the last time I saw him… Really.” It was an excuse that lined up perfectly with what had been Pantalone’s plan.

I fidgeted with my fingers, pretending to be nervous about the man who now peered down at me as I tried to figure out how to swipe the vial in front of me. I had been incredibly lucky up until now and had relied on whoever it was that was pulling strings behind the scenes. But now this little conundrum fell to me and me alone.

Or so I thought it did until a polite knock was heard on the door. 

The head scientist cursed almost silently under his breath before lifting his head and barking out a sharp, “What is it?”

The door opened and I got to watch as the head scientist went pale as not one, but two harbingers, stepped into the room.

One was Pantalone, who wore that same falsely polite smile that always served as his mask as he stepped in. His eyes flicked over to where I sat, now truly nervous, before they shifted back to the head scientist, “I understand that our merman was stolen. How did this happen?”

The head scientist floundered slightly before drawing himself up and spouting some sort of explanation that went entirely unheard by me since I was far too busy staring at the other harbinger.

I had never seen this one before, but if the gigantic suit of armor was anything to go by, I knew who he was. Il Capitano. Possibly the most famous of all the harbingers.

He stood silently, but even his mere presence was imposing, making it difficult to concentrate on the situation at hand.

He had none of the oily, false charm of Pantalone, nor did he possess the curious draw that Dottore held. But then, I had never met him and knew only of his supposed sense of justice.

“And what of this person?” His voice startled me, causing me tense and he gestured to me with an armored hand, sending both Pantalone and the head scientist’s gazes my way.

“They are the last person known to have seen Dottore in his tank, I am questioning them as to what they know.” The head scientist looked down his nose at me, almost like he was a principal gazing at a particularly naughty student.

“So they are the prime suspect,” Capitano now turned to look down at me and I shifted uncomfortably. Looking nervous was becoming less and less of an act as I pondered exactly how I was going to crawl my way out of this situation and get the vial for Dottore.

“Indeed… I recall they were to clean the tank,” Pantalone spoke in an almost solemn manner before he twisted to look at the armor-covered man. “They are the ones in charge of taking care of Dottore and his tank. Outside of that, they are no one of any real import.”

I almost slipped up and let my eyebrows jump up at his words. They almost sounded like he was trying to shift blame further away from me by making me sound as unimportant as possible. But, in the same sentence, his description of my job was not inaccurate.

“If that is the case, haven’t they had plenty of other opportunities to kidnap the merman or harm him in some way?” Capitano’s voice resounded once again, filling the room with its heavy, cultured tone that brooked little argument and I felt my eyes widen slightly at his words.

I watched, stunned, as the conversation slowly drifted away from me and back to the circumstances of the situation as the blame piled more and more onto the head scientist who’d let a precious commodity be stolen while under his care.

“You will help us look around the premises, after that we shall decide on your punishment…. The Tsaritsa is most displeased.” Capitano’s voice was dispassionate as he delivered his weighty decision that had the head scientist going pale.

I watched as all of them began to file out, Pantalone in the back of the line before he paused to look back at me, “You are free to go, but this matter will be revisited.” 

A warning, but also a chance.

By now I was certain that there was someone helping Dottore from behind some curtain. There was no other way that this entire ordeal would go over so smoothly otherwise. I also had a feeling I knew who, but I would deal with that later.

I swiped the vial quickly, tucking it into a pocket inside my shirt before rebuttoning my jacket. Right now I had more pressing matters.

[it-happened-one-fic]

Play the Fool - Dottore (Part 3)

Author's Notes: I've finally figured out how many fics it's going to take for me to finish this unplanned series. Just like the previous parts, I listened to "Black Sea" by Natasha Blume while writing this. Reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Mer-Dottore/ Merman AU/ gender-neutral reader/ I'm not gonna label this as fluff since that doesn't feel quite right, but know that it's NOT angst, yandere, or anything like that

Word Count: 1468

Trigger Warning: Discussion of past crimes including murder (Dottore), Fatui are generally shady

{Part One} {Part Two} {Part Three: You're Here!} {Part Four} {Part Five}

EDIT: Entire series now available on AO3! (link deleted due to glitches)

My cover job of cleaning Dottore’s tank was slippery work, but I’d managed to get some of the Fatui employees to bring over yet another, curiously identical wheeled tank for me to dump the green gunk that the harbinger had concocted into.

I clambered out of the newly cleaned tank, glancing around and noting that there was no one left in the room save for myself. Which was exactly what I needed, but was also very suspicious.

I couldn’t help but feel that this was all going a little bit too smoothly. But I also didn’t really have a choice but to accept it, at least for now. So I went ahead and flipped a heavy black tarp over the tank’s open lid to help with both the scent and the  generally revolting appearance of the green algae.

If I were lucky or if someone really was behind the scenes, then the rest of the headquarters would be equally barren while I wheeled Dottore out under the guise of the trash that I now pushed in front of me.

I stopped next to Dottore’s tank, tapping it lightly to let him know it was just me before I reached over to shift the tarp. In response a webbed hand appeared on the glass. Dottore himself remained lying sluggishly on the bottom of the tank. The twitching of his blue fins was the only sign of life.

I frowned at the sight of him, pausing in my motions to look worriedly into the tank. He barely moved, but somehow I could feel his gaze shift to me. He made no motions to communicate or rush me. Instead he only pulled his hand back into a more relaxed position and remained laying, the gills in his side fluttering tiredly.

He reminded me of some of the less-than-healthy fish I’d seen in pet stores before when I’d looked into possible ways to care for him when I’d first been given my job. Then, I’d been more fascinated by him, though I’d still maintained a careful distance that made my current actions laughable.

But I’d always been less afraid of him than the scientists and I’d always viewed him as more than just a fish, unlike some of the other Fatui that came and went.

After all, no mere fish could incur quite so much horror in people nor could it kill quite so easily. There was always a cleverness to the merman that was decidedly human in the most malevolent way possible.

I was torn between offering words of reassurance and staying silent. A cold part of me argued that he was a horrible man who’d killed numerous scientists solely in the name of revenge and seemed to take a certain degree of delight in it. While they had betrayed him, two wrongs didn’t make a right, and who knew what all horrors this man had committed in his past scientific tests.

 The other, more sympathetic part of me argued that he was a captive, treated little better than a discarded pet or scientific oddity that was known to be dangerous but also viewed as less than human.

I pursed my lips, my hand remaining on the glass, and the words slipped from my mouth as the more sympathetic side of me won over, “ I know you’re uncomfortable, but hang on just a little bit longer. We’ll be out of here and back at my home soon, and then I’ll at least be able to get the lid off this thing. Maybe then you can recover from whatever that gunk you created has done to you.”

He shifted, almost like he was trying to roll over to better look at me when I spoke. But I didn’t linger to watch his reaction. He needed action more than kind words right now. So instead of continuing to comfort him awkwardly, I stood and hurriedly shifted the tarp over to where he was before moving the algae filled tank off to the side.

Now, at a mere glance, people would hopefully assume it was just his tank and not go near it for fear of his past behavior.

I grasped the handles that stuck off Dottore’s tank and inhaled deeply before taking off down the hallway. Moving at a brisk pace that made it look like I was busy, but not like I was rushing. I couldn’t afford to get stopped by any suspicious Fatui now. 

Something told me pushing a tank holding the former second of the harbingers would be frowned upon and lead to a not so pleasant end for me.

The halls were worryingly but also blessedly empty, making me frown even as I continued on the path of our escape. I was certain now, there was someone else involved in this little escape plan. 

By playing the fool with both Dottore and Pantalone I was no doubt playing exactly into someone’s hands. But I was far enough down this path that I certainly wasn’t going back.

Clever, Dottore had called me. More like stubborn.

And, unsurprisingly at this point, our escape was a success. No one even tried to stop me as I left the Fatui base and turned down the path that went to home. In fact, one of the final guards we’d passed, Makism I believed his name was, had even waved.

I hadn’t paused until I had reached my home which was provided and paid for by Fatui higher-ups and thereby incredibly, but uncomfortably close to their headquarters. Because if nothing else, the Fatui paid their employees well. Even if said employee just took care of the mysterious and revenge-driven merman who served as both a terror, curiosity, and maybe even a warning.

 It was almost distressing to be bringing this man, who could kill me the very second I opened his tank’s lid, into my home. But I did so. Grimly opening my door and pushing the tank into the building and then directly over to the secondary bathroom that I never used.

I yanked the tarp off, letting it flop down to the cold floor in a most condemning fashion as I looked at the locks on the tank’s lid. It was not the first time I’d realized exactly how risky of a plan this entire ordeal was and on what uneven ground me and Dottore were on.

He was far more dangerous than I and, if he so wished, he could easily get rid of me. I was relying on the idea that I was necessary to his survival, but how true that was I didn’t know.

After all, if he did kill me then Fatui would no doubt take one look at the fact that he’d gone missing on the very same day that would coincide with my death and draw one, not entirely wrong conclusion. 

That I’d stolen their merman.

After that it wouldn't be hard to manipulate those scientists, ever eager for some new, grandiose finding, that I’d stolen from him because he knew something. Dottore would ensure that they kept him alive for that much longer by simply killing me. An act that I knew he would have little to no difficulty with.

My hand rested on the first lock as I stared blankly down at the metal. A single shift of my wrist and the lid would open and I would be risking it all by doing exactly what had landed me in this mess in the first place.

But, despite all the risks, the locks clicked open and I pushed the lid off, letting it fall to the floor with thud as I looked down into the water.

Dottore’s tail slid along the bottom of the tank from where he looked up at me like he was ready to spring out at any moment. He still looked weak, but I had no doubt that he could do far more damage than he let on.

And that was exactly why I was surprised when he uncurled and stretched his way up to the top of the tank.

I stepped backwards, my eyes never leaving him as he easily cut through the water’s surface, his fins wrapping around him and before fanning back out as his long, webbed fingers curled over the glass edges of the tank.

“Clever and efficient,” The words slipped from his lips and I found myself going still. I wasn’t, as of yet, used to him talking yet and his sonorous voice still caught me off-guard. Calling to mind old folk stories of merpeople using only their voices to tempt their prey closer and thereby foolishly condemn themselves to a watery death.

“It seems I was right to choose you,” A smile spread across his face and I felt myself, foolishly and despite everything, relax.

[it-happened-one-fic]

Play the Fool - Dottore (Part 2)

Author's Notes: And so the fic continues to progress far beyond what was planned. At this point I really don't know how many parts this fic will end up having, at least 4.... I do hope everyone can keep enjoying it though. Just like the previous part I listened to "Black Sea" by Natasha Blume while writing this. Reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Mer-Dottore/ Merman AU/ gender-neutral reader/ I'm not gonna label this as fluff since that doesn't feel quite right, but know that it's NOT angst, yandere, or anything like that

Word Count: 1775

Trigger Warning: Discussion of past crimes including murder (Dottore), Fatui are generally shady

{Part 1}, {Part 2: You're Here!}, {Part 3}, {Part 4}, {Part 5}

EDIT: Entire series now available on AO3! (link deleted due to glitches)

Out. Out. Out. The word had rung through my mind in the most unforgiving fashion as Dottore’s red-eyed stare had held my own gaze.

A frown had creased my brows as I’d looked down at him, “Out. You want to get out of this tank or out of this building?”

“Both.” He’d been utterly confident that he could succeed. I could hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes. And that was what had told me something very simple, and that had determined the actions that had led me to this present moment. Musing about my very first interaction with the merman that currently swam through the tank.

“You have a plan,” I’d paused before continuing, crossing my arms in a small show of refusal to be totally overwhelmed by him. “One that involves me.” 

When I’d finished, a purely villainous smile had curved across his face. He’d known his plan would work, which meant he’d known even then that I would agree to take part in it.

That thought was enough to have me frowning yet again in the present. Especially when I recalled the shudder-inducing reply that had rolled off his tongue like the richest of honeys, “Precisely.”

If I’d ever doubted that Dottore was a dangerous man, I certainly didn’t now. Despite all my caution, I’d done exactly what he wanted, and he’d prepared for exactly that. Pointing out that it was a matter of time before the Fatui’s scientists came back to finish the job and kill him off. And where would that leave me?

Jobless, untrained, and knowing far too much about the Fatui’s inner workings to simply be released.

It was either help Dottore or wait until he and I both got killed. One path led to certain doom, and the other could be just as deadly if I didn’t watch my steps very carefully. Dottore was risky, but despite how much I hated it, he was my only chance just as much as I was his.

And so I waited for him to hatch his plot.

It was a simple plan, and I had a simple part to play. But everything hinged on Fatui being foolhardy enough to not catch on to what Dottore was doing.

But thus far, no one had noticed the merman carefully growing algae under the guise of conducting underwater experiments. But I watched. 

Watched as that sickly green slowly began to spread across the tank’s walls with unimpeded growth despite all of the scientists’ best efforts to engineer something to remove it.

It was almost impressive that Dottore was willing to create something that could so destroy his environment and potentially kill him if all didn’t go well, all in the name of getting ‘out.’

I stood as the head scientist, one of the ones who’d originally betrayed the finned harbinger, approached. A deep frown was on the man’s face as he eyed the now disgusting tank that was filled with brackish water and one scheming merman who was already growing sick from his environment.

“Sir, I’m going to have to physically clean the tank or he will die,” I bowed as I spoke. Keeping up the pretense that I knew the exact same amount of information as I’d been giving the day I’d been hired. 

Nothing.

Cold eyes darted to where I stood as the man seemed to register my presence for the first time. But the scientists never had noticed me unless I was intervening to keep another drowning from happening. And I hadn’t done that in quite some time. Not since I'd accepted the deal offered by the finned demon behind me.

“That would require removing him and draining the entire tank, and that is very risky,” There was a sneer to his words as he looked down his nose at me. Obviously not even considering my words, despite the fact he had no other options.

“At this point, it is our only option. Otherwise, we will simply have to leave him be and let Her Majesty, the Tsaritsa’s pet perish without even trying to save him or whatever it is that he may have to offer to the Fatui.” 

It was a leap of faith, but I’d long pondered why they’d kept Dottore around for so long. If they just wanted him dead, they could have killed him long before I’d been hired. The only excuse was if he had or knew something they needed, and that would also explain why so many scientists had so foolishly placed themselves at risk of drowning.

Maybe, just maybe, the merman held the key to something that these scientists and the Fatui as a whole needed.

Incensed by my assertion, the man’s nostrils flared. He was fixing to snap at me. I could see that from a mile away and braced myself for his tempestuous rage. But he didn’t get to say or do anything since someone else joined the conversation.

“Indeed, that wouldn’t do. What would you recommend, caretaker?” Faux politeness dripped from the ninth harbinger’s voice. 

This was the man who hired me in the first place. Regrator was his codename, but he was also called Pantalone. I hadn’t seen him since he’d brought me in and left me here after informing the group of scientists that I would be taking care of Dottore in their stead. To see him now was… Concerning. 

The first time I’d spoken without having been addressed and had asserted a view all my own, a harbinger had appeared. It added new weight to Dottore’s assertion that I would be killed the very moment that I wasn’t of any use. 

“If it pleases you, the tank can be drained so that I can clean it. During that time, a smaller tank that can be moved with more ease could be used to hold the merman.” I spoke carefully, clearly enough to be heard but not so loud that I’d seem outspoken. I needed to appear humble and unassuming if this plot would ever succeed.

“Why a tank that can be moved with ease?” The head scientist jumped on my words in a second, and I fought the urge to cast a glance back towards the mastermind, who’d left the difficult matter of convincing everyone entirely up to me.

“It is my understanding that all of the smaller tanks have easily removable lids…. I fear that having him in such a tank in the same area with so many people nearby could prove disastrous,” I lowered my head, making myself appear unsure even as I attempted to convince them of the plot without giving away anything.

“You fear he will kill some of the staff here?” Pantalone spoke up once more, clarifying my statement with a musing tone, and I looked up to see him gazing at me with a me thoughtful expression.

“Yes, my lord. I fear such a thing could occur should he be given the opportunity.” He nodded at my quiet confirmation, and I prayed he’d buy it. 

It was an airtight excuse, though. Dottore did not have the best record of sparing individuals who left themselves open to attack. In fact, so far as I knew, I was the only person who’d put themselves in such a risky position without ending up dead or being saved by me.

“A valid concern. Very well. We will proceed with the draining, and you will clean tonight, when there are fewer people here to lessen the risk. We will also put him in a smaller tank that you can wheel outside this room.” 

I could hardly believe my ears as Pantalone gave his orders. I couldn’t have asked for a better situation for a daring prison break if I’d been picking and choosing as I liked.

In fact, it almost seemed too good. But I couldn’t afford to be picky, not when I was dealing with the situation I was handling at the moment.

So I would play the fool once more and go along with yet another harbinger’s scheme, even though I knew of the potential risks. 

The head scientist himself seemed less than pleased with Pantalone’s words, but he didn’t protest as the harbinger strolled out. Leaving people to begin scurrying about to move the much-feared merman into a far smaller tank that was strangely ready for everything that was occurring. Almost like it had already been prepared.

I looked into the tank to see Dottore swimming about, his tail flicking in a sluggish manner that showed exactly how much his algae was already affecting him. 

He paused only briefly to look towards me before turning to swirl around in another area of brackish water as machinery descended from above to catch him in the net that would move him.

A hand landed on my shoulder, and I was roughly turned to face the head scientist, who was looking down at me with glaring eyes, “If something goes wrong, it will be on your head. And not even a harbinger can protect you if you displease the Tsaritsa.”

With only those words, a poorly concealed threat, he shoved me away from him and towards the tank that Dottore had just been dropped into. Almost like he was hoping the merman would drag me into the water and kill me for him.

A spray of water was sent into the air as water splashed out of the far smaller tank, and Dottore turned to press himself against the glass. Something akin to a hiss leaving his mouth as he looked towards the head scientist.

It was almost satisfying to see the man back away at the sound that came from the merman behind me. Dottore was certainly doing a good job of keeping up his act as a wild merman who could not be trusted and would kill the scientists the instant he was given the chance to. 

No one drew any closer as ever more machinery placed the lid on Dottore’s new, smaller tank and clicked the locks down in place.

People parted around Dottore’s tank, giving both me and the merman a wide berth as I pushed him out of the room to wait.

As soon as we were alone, my fingers tapped lightly on the thick glass, and his hand pressed against where I’d touched. “I’ll be back in a bit after I finish cleaning that tank of yours,” My voice was low as I spoke, and I briefly glanced down to see him looking at me. 

He didn’t nod his head, nor did his facial expression change. Instead, all he did was pull his hand away from where my fingers rested, in silent agreement.

[it-happened-one-fic]

Strange - Neuvillette

Author Notes: Happy MerMay Genshin Impact! I cheated a little and used Neuvillette this year. (Honestly using Dottore was a bit tiring last year so I decided to play nice with myself and not go with someone quite so challenging). This fic didn't really have any specific inspiration beyond being a MerMay fic. As per usual, reader is gender neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Gender Neutral reader/ MerMay/ Mermaid AU/ Merman Neuvillette/ fluff/ romance implied/ sfw

Word count: 1097

Neuvillette was widely accepted as an oddity. This was something that had been the case ever since he’d first shown up at my home. Washed up on the beach, supposedly from a shipwreck.

It had been alarming when I’d found the beautiful young man who went solely by his surname and had always struck me as not entirely normal. And he’d immediately become the talk of the town. And even today, it was that way. Everyone had some sort of story about the mysterious Monsieur Neuvillette.

Rumors continued to fly around about how he was an escaped noble, because apparently only that could explain the easy grace he carried himself with, or that he was a tragically amnesiac sailor, since that would supposedly explain why he seemed to speak of his home.

No matter the rumor though, it was a simple truth that Neuvillette, despite his strangeness, was well-respected.

Deemed both reliable and sophisticated, everyone trusted the strange man who’d washed up on the beach and whom I’d shared my home with until he’d gotten himself settled in town.

I wasn’t quite sure that Neuvillette would continue to be regarded as quite so reputable if the townspeople could see what I was currently staring at in silent shock.

To be fair, I did have to admit that judging a person solely based on the presence of a tail did seem wrong. Especially when Neuvillette had always proven himself to be unfailingly courteous. But there was the town’s seemingly infinite number of folktales about merfolk to contend with.

Simply put, most did not look kindly on the people of the sea. And, with all the stories about merfolk drowning the innocently curious or raising storms over petty grievances, I could hardly blame anyone for their less-than-kind view of merpeople..

At odds with all the horror stories, Neuvillette gazed at me with that calm expression of his that seemed to be almost constantly present as his less-familiar tail curled idly under him and his webbed hands rested calmly on the rock that the tide gently parted around.

In no way did he look like a monster, and in no way did I really fear that he would hurt me, even despite the horror stories of his kind and the shock that he, himself, was in fact a merman.

Neuvillette was a great many things, but cruel or evil was not any of them.

He was strange, quiet, gentle, kind, and surprisingly patient with the incessant rumors that circulated about him, but never cruel or evil.

If the merfolk in all of the stories mirrored the ocean at its worst, with violently destructive waves that hurled ships against sharp, unforgiving rocks then, Neuvillette was the sea at its most gentle, as it quietly flowed along the shoreline in the most perfectly inviting fashion.

I sighed slightly before walking forward, wading through the cool water that lapped at my legs until I reached the large rock he sat on, looking exactly like something out of a storybook that warned its readers about how the beauty of merpeople hid their darker, more malevolent intentions.

But despite such warnings, I sat down next to him with little to no concern. Glancing at him quietly and noting how his strange, slit-pupiled eyes no longer seemed quite so odd now that I knew he was a merman.

“Aren’t you afraid that I’ll tell someone?” Instead of reacting in surprise or panicking to the revelation that he was one of the finned creatures I’d been warned about since my childhood, my voice was utterly calm as I watched the man next to me.

And as if he were mirroring my lack of reaction, he was seemingly unperturbed despite the risk my seeing him could easily cause him.

If I were to decide to tell others, it would no doubt devolve into a witch hunt for the once-respected Neuvillette, and those who praised him would quite likely be loudly filling the air with chatter about how they’d always known he was horrible.

But despite all that risk, he simply shook his head. The motion causing the droplets of water that had been clinging to his long, pale hair to fling out around him, “I do not think you would endanger someone that you once saved.”

I felt my eyebrows lift at his words before I shook my head with a fond smile, “I hardly saved you, you could have easily crawled back into the safety of the sea if I hadn’t found you. And no one would just leave some poor person washed up on the beach to die. I just happened to be the one who found you.”

He let out a slight hum, his gaze continuing to rest on me in the same steady way that it always had, “But few from your home would choose to sit next to a merperson.”

I shifted, twisting so that I could better meet his gaze as I met his question with one of my own, “Would many from yours choose to come on land?”

A smile flickered across his face, gentle and amused, before he shook his head once more, “No. Few would.”

I hummed, laughing slightly as I nodded. Wholly unsurprised by his answer.

I didn’t know much about merpeople beyond the folktales, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all to learn that they were just as wary of people on land as we were of them.

I felt myself smile as I met his gaze once more, “I guess that means we’re both strange then.”

And it was true. He was Neuvillette, the man who’d washed up on a beach, remained an enigma to everyone in my town, and hid the secret of being a merman. And I was the person who’d found this strange man, brought him home despite the risk of who he may or may not be, and now I was also the person who would be keeping the secret of his true nature from my entire village.

A smile crossed his face again, this time staying there as his eyes closed in an amused manner as he nodded. Silently accepting the strange position we both shared and even seeming to welcome it as he responded in that easy tone I was so used to, “Perhaps so.”

And, as I sat next to him on the sea-beaten rock, I supposed it was fitting that it was me, the person who’d taken in a mysterious man whom everyone had regretted as strange yet respectable, who sat next to the strange yet respectable merman.

[it-happened-one-fic]

Play the Fool - Dottore

Author Notes: Happy MerMay Genshin! This fic happened kind of spontaneously but I had a lot of fun writing it! Depending on how well it's received and what I feel like there may end up being a part two. I listened to "Black Sea" by Natasha Blume while writing this fic and I'm not gonna lie, this fic did not turn out how it was originally slated to. But I'm fairly happy with it. Dottore's merman fish base was a betta fish. Reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: MerMay/ Mer-Dottore/ Merman AU/ gender-neutral reader/ I'm not gonna label this as fluff since that doesn't feel quite right, but know that it's NOT angst, yandere, or anything like that

Word Count: 1327

Trigger Warning: Discussion of past crimes including murder (Dottore), Fatui are generally shady

{Part 1: You're Here!}, {Part 2}, {Part 3}, {Part 4}, {Part 5}

EDIT: Entire series now available on AO3! (link deleted due to glitches)

I sat just outside the tank, watching the mysterious merman swim to and fro. Writing impossibly difficult equations with a sharpie on the glass walls of his tank as he continued on about his work and ignored me just like he always did.

According to some of the Fatui scientists who’d occasionally pass by to gossip and puzzle about the strange things he wrote, this odd man had once been the infamous Dottore. The second of the harbingers that worked for the Tsaritsa herself. But then something had gone horribly wrong in an experiment, and he’d turned into this. 

An exotic merman that looked more like something out of a fairy tale than a horrific science accident. But then, fairy tales often served as warnings of some sort, didn’t they?

Either way, his mistake had given some of his less-than-loyal lackeys the chance they needed. 

He’d been shoved into a tank and presented to the Tsaritsa as a centerpiece for her viewing pleasure. After that, each of them had become heads of the Fatui’s research labs.

Their betrayal had not been taken lightly, though, and at least three of them had been dragged into his tank and murdered when they’d come by to feed him. 

That was why they had hired an outsider to feed and care for the Harbinger, turned merman by his own crazed experiments. An outsider who was, namely, me.

Though I’d initially been terrified of the man, he was hardly frightening now. As long as I didn’t bug him when I gave him his food and kept his tank clean, he largely ignored me. Well, unless he wanted something for his work that continued even now within his tank.

Because despite the fact that he never spoke and had exchanged his legs for fins, Dottore remained intelligent. The trouble was, no one could truly understand what he was working on. The scientists only ever said that, from what they could interpret, it was groundbreaking.

But that wasn’t the only way my charge showed off his cleverness.

Whenever one of the few remaining scientists who’d been party to his betrayal came by to gloat about their victory or scowl at his writings that even they couldn’t understand, there was risk.

Almost inevitably, he would find a way to lure them closer and somehow, without any words, convince them to open the tank despite the risks they knew he posed.

Because while Dottore didn’t seem to kill without reason, he did kill for revenge. 

He’d never offered to harm me, but maybe that was because I served a purpose. After all, I was the only person who was willing to take care of his tank and feed him now.

Even the other Harbingers didn’t come by anymore, and the Tsaritsa had long since abandoned her ‘pet.’

He swirled through the water, his long, brilliantly blue tail fins spiraling around him like silk robes as he twisted. Looking over towards where I sat. 

I straightened slightly, surprised that my presence was even being acknowledged by the usually uninterested man, and, after a brief moment, he abandoned his pen. Letting it drop from his long fingers and drift to the bottom of the tank before he swam towards me. 

He stopped just short of the wall, a smile curving across his face, before he reached out with both hands. Pressing his tapered fingertips to the pristine glass that created a wall between us.

Curious, I mirrored his motions, placing my own fingertips on the glass right over where his rested. My eyes widened as he proceeded to flatten his entire hand on the glass, spreading his fingers as I, for reasons that even I didn’t understand, did the same.

It was like he was trying to communicate something to me, despite the fact that our interactions up until now had largely been limited to him pointing at whatever he wanted or scowling at me when I cleaned his tank.

He was the first to pull away, pulling one hand away to point up towards the top of the tank, the only place the water could be accessed from. I hesitated, realizing that the only other people I'd ever seen him direct to that location had been his would-be victims, whom I’d always only barely managed to stop.

I had been up there numerous times to toss his food or whatever item he’d requested by imperiously pointing at in, but I’d never done so simply to meet with him.

My fingers slid down the glass slightly, a frown creeping onto my face as my fingertips came to rest just over his palm, “If you try to drown me, I’m quitting.”

My words had only been muttered, but judging from the smile, devoid of kindness, that spread across his face, he had heard them and was pleased.

I stepped away from the glass, my gaze staying on him, floating with only a twitch of his finned tail, until I at last turned to mount the metal staircase that led to the tank’s top.

  I stepped up lightly, watching as he swam upwards, following my ascent in a far more fluid fashion as he glided silently through the water.

My steps had been unhesitating, but I paused as I reached towards the button that would lift the ceiling of the tank off. It was the only thing separating me from the merman who waited just below it. 

He would be furious if I aborted now, but that wasn’t my concern at the moment. My only worry at the moment would be what he might do if I did open the tank.

Would he attack and drown me? I had no clue how strong he actually was, but judging from his success rate thus far, I doubted I could get away from him.

The scientists he’d drowned were all members of the Fatui. Trained to serve that Tsaritsa in whatever way she needed.

 I wasn’t. I had no training or skills to assist me should he try to hurt me.

And yet I found myself pressing the button and watching as the machines activated even as I maintained a reasonably safe distance. I would listen to him, I was curious after all. But I also wouldn’t make it easy for him to attack me.

The sounds of metal sliding against metal filled the air as the tank's lid was slowly lifted off and the seal that held it to the tank’s thick glass walls burst.

Sure enough, there he was. Just under the surface of the water and looking directly up at me like he wasn’t surprised in the slightest that I’d done just as he’d wished. But up until now, I suppose I’d seemed totally obedient to his whims from his perspective. Well, except for when I would save his would-be victims from his machinations. And even that never seemed to really upset him. Rather, he’d always seemed more amused as he eyed the careful distance I kept between us. 

With a mere twitch of his tail, he surfaced, and I watched as he did something new. Something I’d never seen him do before, even when he was tempting foolish scientists closer.

He spoke.

“I always knew you were far more clever than most of the others here.” My eyes widened at the sound of his smooth voice. Wholly unfamiliar to my ears but strangely relaxing.

I shifted, still keeping my distance even though it was almost instinctive to step closer to him. I was curious, but cautious. And now that I was here, listening to the previously silent merman, I would play the fool and hear him out, “What do you want?

He drifted closer, either pushed by the water or by his own motions; I didn’t know which since my attention was on the single word that left his mouth as he lifted the mask from his face, revealing bright red eyes that I’d never seen before, “Out.”