#but then I have the mer and the royal AUs so planned out already...

[luckyartdrawer]

Oh no...

The moment I started working on my follower milestone was the moment all the Eclipse AU ideas started attacking me.

[theravencawsatmidnight]

blue bird anon: Can I request fantasy au with human Prince Todoroki and mermaid!reader? Thanks!

Secrets in the Water.

“Shoto!!!!” Yelled the King

“Father..” Natsu rubbed his head in irritation.

“Hes right here!!!” Fuyumi said, tugging the young prince into the room.

“Finally. I have something i need to tell you all.” The King told them. “The summer is approaching and as you all know the village will open its shops and what not. We have other kingdoms visiting us for our goods and talks of marriage to bind families.”

Shoto rolled his eyes, he was 16 and already his life was in his fathers hands. Natsu was 17 and already to be wed along with Fuyumi who was 18. ‘Its best for the kingdom’ he said. When in reality it was just a way to expand and bring more money in for the family. He was more interested in getting to know the villagers, helping them with whatever they needed, talking about taxes and whats affordable and whats not . He just wanted to help, he had no plans to marry.

Enji, the King was not having it though. He took care of all those things .. well he said he did.the Kingdom was flourishing but .. the village down below was just getting by. It was not his first priority so he did not care too much.

“Any news?” Enji asked Natsu.

“Well uhmnn. The nearby river , the one that connects to the sea? Our fishing net got lose and we lost the catch.”

“Oh thats right! Our people were talking about that. Something about a man cutting our traps lose” Fuyumi added.

The King was not pleased. “Shoto, i need you to go down there to find the problem and get rid of it”

“..okay..” hopefully a ‘please stop’ would be enough.

**

Shoto had to go down the trail from his Kingdom into the woods and past the village to get to where the river connects to the sea. And sure enough the net was tossed to the side all cut up making it un useable. The young prince sat down by the net looking out to the water wondering who did this.

Meanwhile, you were peaking over a rock swishing your tail around watching from the sea. A man had reached down to pat your head and you gave him a worried look. “Do you think he knows?” You asked the man.

“Nope. I dont think he would do anything about it anyway.” The man sighed blowing smoke into the air from his cigar. “Wheres my boat fishy?”

“Are you going to confront him?!?” You pushed off the rock swimming to the front to look at the man.

“Maybe.” He was a tall slender man, he had black hair and scales all over his body from legs to chest. He was a special kind of mer man . He could walk the land and swim the sea. “Do you wanna ask him? He is taking your friends Fishy”

You pulled your tail to your front to hold it while you floated. “Kind of.. but you never told me why you wanted to do this with me. Have the Todorokis done somthing to you?”

The man glanced down extending his arm to tap the cigar into the sea.

“H-hey!!!” You dropped your tail and cupped the ashes placing them on the rock. “Dont do that to our home!!! “

Shoto heard a odd noise and got up looking for the source. Was someone yelling?

“Fishy you dont need to know why im doing this. All that matters is this gets that damn Kings attention.” He reached down to grab your head pulling you on the rock.

“Let go!!!” You whined slapping your tail around.

“Do as i say, or ill cut that tail off. Remember who took you in” he dropped you and you swam off elsewhere to calm down.

Shoto saw the splash and chased after whatever it was along the ground. “Hey! Are you okay?!?” He yelled out to the creature.

You swam to a little shady spot with a drooping tree above a rock . You pulled yourself up on it laying your chest on it with a whimper.

“You okay?”

Your tail slapped the water splashing him. “Whos there?!?”

“Ahh uhm..!” Shoto wiped his face and stepping into the water. “Are you alright? I heard a scream”

“I..” he was so handsome.. you gazed up at this prince .

“You look like your alright. “ he brushed your face free of water and kelp. “Pretty…, my name is Shoto..”

You got red in the face. “I.. y/n, im y/n.. uhm.. why are you taking my friends?”

“Friends?” He was confused.

“The fish..”

“Well.. my people eat them , we dont have much food”

“But you look like royalty!!!”

Shoto sat down on the ground with his legs still in the water. Thats true.. he is royalty, he could provide food another way.. but his father . “Ill see what i can do, im sorry i did not know.” 

You were taken aback by this. “You.. you will?” The fish man said all the royals were mean.. but this one… “thank you…” you swam over to him watching the water.

“Sure, you seen very upset about it.” He laid back on the grass to watch the clouds leaving you confused on what to do.

Meanwhile, the fish man was on land and watching all of this unfold from behind a tree, his hands in fists.

[creamecream]

Arcana AUs

Names are based off of specific things, or are honestly just because I thought they sounded good.

-Dancer AU-

-Premise

Former member of an dancing/entertainment troupe, Rinina is bought from their troupe by king Lucio to be a royal consort after he became smitten with them while they were preforming for the king and queen’s anniversary. Rinina rejects Lucio’s advances and instead falls for the court wizard, Asra. they currently spend their days hiding from Lucio, scared to death of what he’ll do to them once he gets bored of actually waiting for their consent.

Asra is currently brewing up a way to kill Lucio and secret Rinina away at the same time.

Alverio is the palace gardener, whom queen Nadia is lusting after, but who Nadia won’t let herself have because she is afraid of corrupting his innocent soul.

Pirouette was a medicinal healer who made the only thing that could cure queen Nadia’s headaches, up until when Valerius, a high ranking member of the royal court, became smitten with him when he went to retrieve the queen’s medicine, and had him kidnapped and shackled in his bedroom. Pirouette is now constantly locked in Valerius’ room, kept like a pet. his one saving grace is the times he manages to slip out into the gardens and spend time with Muriel.

Muriel is Asra’s herb supplier. and he wishes to whisk Pirouette away once Asra puts into action the murder of Lucio.

-Ships: Asra x Rinina. Primrose x Rinina. Muriel x Pirouette. Lycoris x Pirouette. forced Lucio x Rinina. forced Valerius x Pirouette.

-Infected Plague Doctor AU-

-Premise

AKA: Bad End AU

Rinina, in an effort to cure the plague, makes several deals with different Arcana and loses their mind. the deals involve Rinina needing to remove all the current plague infection from Vesuvia, which means to them that they need to remove all infected body parts from all civilians. this includes Julian’s visibly infected eye, which they managed to remove before he escaped. they now keep the eye in a jar on their shelves and talk to it as if it were Julian himself.

Valdemar is Rinina’s partner, both in the medical field and romantically/sexually. Valdemar is extremely pleased and impressed with the amount of plague and arcana energy Rinina holds in their body, and is currently looking into a way to combine Rinina and their own, particularly hoping by forcing Rinina to bare their child.

Alverio, in order to keep his plague infection at bay, lures people and then steals their souls/arcane energy. the plant magician leaves a slew of empty bodies/husks in his wake who have flowers protruding from where he stole their energy from. Rinina extremely appreciates this as they clean up the bodies in the mornings and uses the husks as experimental cadavers.

Pirouette is kept ignorant and unaware of the horrors occurring around him. he is kept obsessively safe by Valerius, locked in his room and not allowed to leave. he is basically kept as a blissfully unaware pet.

Once Vesivua went to shambles, Daphne ran away with Asra. Daphne is currently working on a cure with Asra and Primrose, but she doesn’t dip into Rinina’s dreams as the other two do, instead opting to work quietly.

-Ships: Valdemar x Rinina. confused Alverio x Calypso. Valerius x Pirouette

-Modern AU-

-Premise

Rinina works at a company owned by Lucio, and suffers constant sexual harassment from him. Rinina lives with Asra and Primrose, who have noticed Rinina’s mood dropping ever since they started working under Lucio, even though Rinina tells them nothing is wrong and they refuse to quit. Rinina works closely with Julian, and one time ends up breaking down to him and confessing all their concerns and worries, the two have been becoming noticeably closer ever since.

Alverio runs the flower shop down the street from Rinina’s work. the man has currently not noticed how his cousin’s boss’ wife and the local internet celebrity come nearly everyday to retrieve more flowers than they could possibly need.

Daphne works at a quiet bookstore and helps in Alverio’s flower shop whenever she has time. she is currently unaware of the small ginger haired girl who frequents the caf�� across the street and seems to stare at her while she works.

Pirouette works for the same company as Rinina, but he is lower in position so he doesn’t have much interaction with Lucio. he does however spend a lot of time with Lucio’s personal assistant, Valerius, as well as his co-worker, Muriel, and he hasn’t seemed to be aware of how the two appear to be competing for his affections and attention.

-Ships: Julian x Rinina. unaware Alverio x Calypso x Nadia. forced Lucio x Rinina. unaware Valerius x Pirouette. unaware Muriel x Pirouette.

-Gladiator AU-

-Premise

After rejecting Lucio’s advances, Rinina is placed in the arena to fight for their life, or until they agree to be with Lucio.

Asra and Rinina met after a match while Asra was tending to Muriel, and the two of them seem to be becoming closer.

-Ships: Asra x Rinina

-Merpprentice AU-

-Premise

Rinina is a merperson who has fallen in love with a wizard, a human.

Asra frequently uses his magic to transform himself into a merperson to spend time in the sea with Rinina, but it takes a lot out of him, and Rinina is a deep water mer, so it takes a lot out of the both of them to try to spend time together.

-Ships: Asra x Rinina

-Phantom of The Opera AU-

-Premise

Pirouette is Christine, hierophant!Valerius is Erik.

-Ships: Valerius x Pirouette. Lycoris x Pirouette. Muriel x Pirouette.

-Dragon Age AU-

-Premise

What it says on the tin, an AU set in Dragon Age. Rinina features as a half elf rogue.

-Ships: Primrose x Rinina.

-Four Kingdom Heirs AU-

-Premise

Alverio is the crown prince of a kingdom, his cousins are as well but he is the crown prince. thus he spends the most time dealing with others and he has a guard unit trailing him, particularly guard captain Evanna. Alverio has fallen in love with a queen from another kingdom, but Nadia is already married to Lucio.

Rinina is about to be married to Asra when traveler/ambassador Primrose arrives in their kingdom, and both Rinina and their betroth both instantly fall for Primrose, and both are currently trying to woo Primrose, but they seem to have forgotten to mention to Prim that they are open to polyamories relationships, as Primrose is scared they are breaking a marriage up if they take either of them up on their offers.

Princess Daphne has fallen for a lowly servant Portia, and is currently trying to make her way out of an arranged marriage and convince her mother that Portia is worthy of her hand instead.

Pirouette is forced to dress and use feminine pronouns by his parents, and in order to spite them he has begun an scandalous relationship with his teacher, Valerius. and as well he sneaks out frequently, donning the clothes he actually wants to wear and using the pronouns he actually prefers. passing himself off as a ordinary young thief and spending time with Muriel.

-Ships: Asra x Rinina x Primrose. Nadia x Alverio. Lucio x Nadia. Muriel x Pirouette. Valerius x Pirouette. Portia x Daphne.

-Monster AU-

-Premise

Everyone is a cryptid creature!

-Ships: Unknown currently.

-Witch Hunt AU-

-Premise

Magicians are witches. all the witches in Vesuvia belong to a coven.

Following Rinina’s rejection of his advances, and then finding them kissing Asra, Lucio starts lynching all the witches in Vesuvia, trying to force Rinina into obeying him by destroying the coven.

Before the lynches started, Rinina was trapped by Lucio and shoved into the dungeons, and they are constantly starved and beaten as Lucio tries to break their resolve.

Lucio once mentioned how much he loves Rinina’s hair whilst stroking it, so to spite him, they yanked a sharp object off of his outfit and cut their hair off to throw it in their face. they were beaten for it, but they don’t regret it.

Daphne ran from Vesuvia once Portia refused to leave with her when the lynches started. currently her whereabouts are unknown.

Portia refused to leave in order to watch over and take care of Nadia, but she has just recently discovered her own magic prowess, and is terrified of being discovered

Alverio has secreted himself away into the woods, hoping to build up an army of plants and animals in order to stage a coop on Vesuvia and safe his cousin. he only leaves the forest to continue his affair with Vesuvia’s countess.

Asra is planning to overthrow Lucio and kill him to save Rinina.

Pirouette is undercover as a medical tea producer, as he refused to leave Vesuvia once the lynches started, unable to remove himself from the suffering going on around him. Pirouette passes out his calming teas for free nearly everyday, trying to ease some of the worries of the Vesuvian people. Pirouette is committed to Muriel, and didn’t notice the hungry glances he started to get from a high ranking member of Lucio’s court. Valerius is threatening to out Pirouette as a witch if he doesn’t leave Muriel and come to his bed instead.

-Ships: Asra x Rinina. Julian x Callisto. forced Lucio x Rinina. forced Valerius x Pirouette. Muriel x Pirouette. Nadia x Alverio.

-Courtly Servant AU-

-Premise

The apprentices are the assistances/apprentices of the couriers.

Rinina is Valdemar’s apprentice, and is nearly just as scared of them as in canon they don’t scream at the sight of them, but Valdemar takes a sick delight in frightening them and sneaks up on them and corners them frequently to terrify them.

Pirouette is Vulgora’s assistant, and is visibly frightened by them. Valerius is very intent on getting Pirouette transferred to him instead.

Daphne is Vlastomil’s assistant, being chosen by him because of her connection with the earth, which gives her an uncanny ability to find and extract worms from the earth. Daphne seems to take great delight in these worm related ventures.

-Ships: Valdemar x Callisto. unaware Valerius x Pirouette.

[rai-knightshade-art]

Mac Ever After Metas

(With a bonus Lily Story doll of Bradán!)

(Warning: long post)

Don't have any art at the moment so here's some metas I had for the Mac x Ever After High crossover au I've been playing with, divided into Character Metas and Story Metas. Enjoy!

Character Metas

Macgyver characters at EAH:

Mac: Professor Angus Mac Cumhaill (pronounced mack-cool), the latest Fionn Mac Cumhaill and the Science and Spells teacher at EAH. Has received several warnings over "accidentally" blowing up parts of his lab (infinite wisdom but he's still kinda a dumbass). Is generally the preferred science teacher of the students. Is also nicknamed Blondie, presumably for the irony (because Fionn just means light haired).

Jack: Sir Jack Dinadan, the latest Sir Dinadan of Arthurian legend. He runs a home security business located in Bookend that serves many of the area's royalty. There's rumors that he's the mysterious "boyfriend" that Professor Mac has mentioned in passing but no student has ever seen. Got turned into a stag once, did not enjoy it, Mac just laughed at him.

Riley: professor of experimental fairy math by day, white hat hacker by night. The next Paul Bunyan (she hacks trees). Was previously rumored to be dating professor Mac before he put the rumor to rest and mentioned the infamous boyfriend. She helps Jack with his business by testing security systems for their hackability

Bozer: Drama teacher, professor Mac's best friend, role unknown. He's the faculty advisor for the costume department during play/musical season. Might be Dr. Coppelius??

Matty: advisor to the Royal Student Council by day, leader of the Phoenix Round Table team by night. The current Goll Mac Morna (aka the guy who killed Fionn's dad) with the Phoenix as the Fianna. She's actually still in charge even though it should technically be Mac cause of the story but he wants to be in the field more than he wants to be the leader at HQ (Oversight doesn't exist in this one cause he actually did get killed and instead Sam and Desi taught Mac how to improvise).

Sam: witchness management 101 teacher, is Druid mom from Fionn Mac Cumhaill (played more of a protective older sister role in this telling)

Leanna: creative storytelling teacher, Bozer's girlfriend, role unknown

Desi: works at Jack's security firm, is Warrior mom from Fionn Mac Cumhaill (played more of a protective older sister role in this telling)

Murdoc as that one bad dude that cursed Fionn's wife? Fer Doirich? Maybe? Plot twist he's the one that cursed Jack temporarily ("When I said I was going stag tHIS ISNT WHAT I MEANT MURDOC!")

Nikki: offscreen character cause she already completed her role as Sadhbh and got turned back into a deer, was in love with Mac but left to complete her story and because she wasn't ready for the married life (which. Fair enough I suppose)

Bradán: Mac and Nikki's kid aka the next Oisín; he showed up in the Enchanted Forest one day while Mac was gathering potion ingredients. Approx. 7 years old (Nikki left about 8 years in the past and he would have been born sometime in that first year) and more than a little feral but he's learning. Can escape pretty much anything (Jack wants to put a bell on him cause he keeps escaping to visit Mac). Is learning English and asl congruently because he wasn't really taught how to speak before coming to Mac.

Some Dialogue Snippets:

Mac: No Brady you can't have a knife, they're dangerous.

Brady: but daaaddd! Papa Jack says you gave a knife to a monkey once!

Mac: one) that was a monkey, if it gets hurt it doesn't matter as much to me as if you get hurt, and two) that was a Swiss army knife. You had a SHIV. One of those is significantly more dangerous than the other in your hands

Mac: Brady you really need to stop ditching Jack; he knows I don't mind you visiting me, he'll bring you over if you want him to.

Brady: yeah but sneaking out is more fun!

Mac: *sigh* I know but you're gonna give him a heart attack one of these days and then he won't give either of us cuddles

Brady: ....no Papa Jack cuddles?

Mac: nope

Brady: ....ok maybe I'll let him bring me over

Mac: that's my boy. Now let's blow some stuff up

Brady: YAY!!!

Alternately--

Mac: stop that

Brady: shan't

Story Metas:

(or, how the plot of Mac Ever After goes)

Slice of life story featuring Mac finding Bradán and learning how to raise him, but before we reach the end--psych! This is still action adventure and now eah is under attack. Again. Not sure on a villain yet, maybe Captain Hook? Murdoc as Mac's villain gone hardcore? Not a wonderlandian again there's been too many. Anyways the school's under attack and now Mac and Jack have to do their thing (probly with help from Riley and the others from outside) and save all the students, teachers, themselves and Brady. The students get out with the help of Arion's little magic pool (portals are closed but the villain didn't realize this one existed and so didn't think to check if it was closed) and the power of merpeople kisses (Arion and the other mers kiss each non-aquatic student so they can breathe underwater; Tempis goes first as a guinea pig and so she can warn Pacifica that they're coming cause the telescreen is down). Meanwhile the teachers are fighting goons, Mac's improvising and Jack's guarding the kids. But towards the trail end of the kids suddenly they get attacked and Brady gets taken by the villain themself, with Jack helpless to stop it. (Cue super emotional moment where for the first time Brady calls Jack Papa but it's while he's being torn kicking and screaming from the man himself.) Mac comes in immediately after to find several very shaken up kids (who he tells to continue leaving and not to stop until every last kid is out) and a distraught Jack. Cue another emotional moment where Mac affirms that Jack isn't at fault for Brady's kidnapping and that he IS Brady's Papa just as much as Mac is the kid's Dad. They vow to get their kid back by any means necessary and start making a plan while the other kids continue leaving. Arion and Anteros are the last to leave, with a passionate life-affirming kiss of course, so now it's just the teachers, the villain/minions, and Bradán caught in the middle of it all. All the teachers plus Jack bind together and come up with a plan that involves several distractions, more than a few explosions, and Mac and Jack personally fighting the villain, which they do and succeed. Now cue the heart warming moment when they gather Brady in their arms and just. Just hold him. Their little family has been through a lot in a few hours it's what they deserve. They then go to work fixing the comm room so they can start sending messages, starting with Pacifica and then extending to the families of the students.

Meanwhile speaking of Pacifica, Tempis arrives breathless to tell King Aeolus about the attack and the mass of teenagers coming for the kingdom, to which he responds by immediately making accommodations for all of them. Arion meanwhile leads everyone home, where they're welcomed warmly and given temporary tails by the court alchemists so they'll be a little more comfortable. Arion finds and hugs his dad and stepmom tightly, needing the comfort (they've all been through an ordeal and his parents are right there, can you blame him?), and then sheepishly introduces his boyfriend to them for the first time (possible subplot from earlier about meeting the parents). Soon the telescreen crackles to life and shows Mac and Jack with Brady, banged up but grinning in relief that the fight is over and that comms are back up. They explain the situation, when it should be close to resolved, and thank the king profusely, to which he informs them that HE should be thanking THEM for sending his son back home safely to him. Everyone's happy and relieved to be safe and go back to ever after high and the day is saves thanks to the Powerpuff girls--wait. Wrong show.

(explanation available upon request for those who don't know the backstory and stuff for my Ever After High OC's. Or ever after high in general.)

[narukuwrites]

002. Part 5

Words: 2,292 Tags: Merman AU, Mild Angst, Drama, Implied Incest, Questionable Parenting, Fluff, Flashbacks Summary: Kamski discovers Connor has gone missing and takes action, Connor and Ralph use the slipstream/currents to make their way to see Hank, and Markus still cannot figure out what it all means.

Authors Note:  I had a pretty crappy weekend dealing with stuff so I’m not too sure how well this reads and I hope it hasn’t affected my writing too much. I may make some changes perhaps later. But definitely next chapter Markus and Connor shall finally meet.

When Connor hadn't come back in a timely manner, Eljiah, of course, had naturally gone to see just what was taking his beautiful son so long. Connor wasn't the type to fawn or focus too much on his aesthetics, and well his son was just naturally beautiful and soft to the touch. So perhaps something had happened, the young brunette mer wasn't just his son through - no he had greater plans for his son.

The bracelets his son wore were made by Amanda and had served to make sure that all of his physical touches and closeness with his son, was something that would not be something Connor would dwell or think too much upon - no it would be seen as perfectly natural. And something that began to build more over time - Elijah wasn't a monster of course. He would wait until the time was right - when his beautiful son was on the cusp of fully maturing and indeed he had.

He could still feel how deep he had buried himself and how willingly Connor's body had taken all of his sperm sacks, he wouldn't get pregnant yet of course but to see how responsive and wanton his son had been to his ministrations and touches - he had committed that to memory. And he could not wait to partake of his son's willing flesh again and again - when his heat would arrive. Which would be very soon the change in Connor's scent had been subtle but when it came to his son - Elijah noticed everything. Then he would breed his son and help him through the most difficult period of a becoming an adult.

Making his way to the part of the palace where the private royal sleeping chambers lay he had called out Connor's name and had gotten no response, he moved with a sense of urgency. Perhaps Connor had fallen asleep? Did something maybe has happened... but when he found his son's room empty and a mess compared to what it had been earlier. He felt a wave of panic and worry run through him? Had someone taken his darling boy?

 "Guards!.." he said loudly in a booming voice as he swam from his son's room and several mers of the royal guard had arrived awaiting his orders. "My son has gone missing, I want all of the guards to search the entirety of the palace and the surrounding gardens  Let everyone in within the palace know that I will be personally questioning every one of them...."

"At once my liege.." the guards said in unison before swimming off into various different directions. He would get the answers he needed, there had to have been someone who had seen or heard something, the crown prince couldn't just vanish without a trace. There was a possibility that he could have been kidnapped but there wasn't anyone foolish enough to even attempt such a thing. Elijah was a just and fair king and ruled his people well but to those who wronged him or tried to take what was his. They were the ones he would make suffer beautifully. After all, Amanda had taught him so much, as had his mother's books also.

And then a thought came to him, Ralph his son's best friend perhaps he could be of help and so he took one of his personal guards aside and sent him to find the blonde mer, and his parent's as well. Everyone was suspect now and he would get to the bottom of all of this. No matter the cost he would find Connor...

--

When Ralph had woken up from his nap, they ate a little more of the crab making sure not to let any of it go to waste before making sure that no signs of their being here, were visible as best they could, hopefully, the shift in the currents that would be upon them soon, both he and Ralph had sensed it - as all mer could detect the changes and making use of the sea’s currents and slipstreams was a way they moved from place to place with relative ease. It was primarily however used by sea creatures, very rarely mer.

They decided to take advantage of that it would help to make getting to "Hank's Place" a little easier and put yet more distance between them and his father's kingdom. Had his absence been noted yet? It was highly likely that it would by now and that meant time was of the essence and so when they had were ready to go, taking one final sweep of the area to make sure nothing was left they swam upwards and towards the current they would hitch a ride upon.

"Ralph hasn't ever used the currents, Ralph is excited.." the blonde said his scarred face lighting up in a happy manner as his movements because excited and less elegant than Connor's as it came into view.

"It's alright, neither have I so it'll be a first time for both of us. I hope we can get some directions from those already within it.." he said before letting out a gasp of surprise as they came into sight of the current streams.

The current streams were fairly busy of course and Connor noticed that it was mainly used by creatures such as sea turtles and dolphins which wasn't an issue, mer could communicate with all the intelligent species within their kingdom - whales and dolphin's primarily, but sea-turtles also and so he took Ralph's hand tightly and the two of them swam into the current laughing as they tumbled a little but managed to find their balance as the current took them at a rather fast speed and Connor felt a little dizzy at first but soon felt alright as he felt the soft body of a dolphin brush against him playfully nudging him closer to Ralph.

“You're very playful, are you familiar with somewhere called "Hank's Place" we're trying to get there.." he said addressing the playful dolphin,

"What luck, I am going there as well. You and your friend stay close to me and we'll be there before you know it. Seeing those of your kind make use of the currents, is quite an unusual sight but a welcome one nevertheless." it replied before letting out playful clicks and whistles as it swam, playfully and coaxed both Ralph and him to join in.

"Ralph like this, Ralph is very happy..." the blond mer said and Connor smiled at his friend and nodded.

"Yes me too." this moment right here, was nice and it was the first time he'd felt a some of the stress of earlier events slowly drifting away into the undercurrent behind them.

 --

It was hard for Markus to focus, Lucy's words for some reason had struck a chord inside of him and thinking back to the reactions his friends had given him when they found out - it hadn't made anything clearer.

Markus felt himself wince at the glare that North gave Simon as they both entered the large room near the very top of Jericho which served perhaps as a room to discuss things over, as there were still maps pinned albeit tattered to the walls and a large table which they had used to lie down upon as they discussed and organised everything that needed to be seen to and figured out. North's usually calm voice had taken on an angry and almost betrayed one, as she immediately attacked Simon and Josh had to hold her back from reaching out and physically doing damage to the mer.

"Listen please North, it wasn't anything that could hurt anyone. Lucy was doing this to help Jericho.." Simon said keeping his voice calm and steady and not doing anything that would provoke or cause North to become even more enraged.

Mermaids were quite lethal and deadly in their own right, they unlike the male of the species were quick to anger and woe betide anyone when they were the target of that. But North had every right to be upset her aura shifting from an angry one to a distressed one before she let out a choked sob.

"I can't believe you would do something like this Simon, you know how dangerous magick and witchery are  - you saw what it did to our parents, how can you - "

"Don't be too harsh on Simon please North, he was just doing something to help ensure that those who need refuge find us a little easier.," Markus said coming to the blonde mer's defense and he put his hands up non-threateningly as North glared at him, with narrowed eyes before letting out a hiss and pulling herself from Josh's hold and leaving the room so it was just Josh, Markus and himself.

"Give it some time she'll come around.." Josh said reassuring Simon as he maneuvered himself and lay down on the table and glanced up at Markus. "What exactly happened down there? You weren't gone for a long time but I know something happened, you both look a little unsettled.."

Out of his circle of friends, Josh was always the one who would listen and be the voice of reason and that calm helped with mellowing out North, but also Simon and himself also.

"Simon was helping Lucy enchant some potions to help those who need to find Jericho easier and poisoning those who seek to harm us..." he paused and looked at Josh who had a contemplative look on his face before nodding and silently asking him to continue. " She also me a prophecy concerning the future of Jericho and indeed myself. Someone will come here to Jericho and will shift things in our favor, but it was pretty cryptic and confusing.."

And of course that was how it went with such things but the latter part, about the trick and losing that person forever - just who was this being? How would he lose something he didn't even know existed as now?

"Markus we can hear you thinking over here.." Simon said teasingly pulling Markus from his thoughts as the blonde's kept speaking. "..I think the only thing we can do right now is keeping an eye open for anything unusual with newcomers.."

"Simon's idea sounds good. We'll take turns swapping shifts and I'm sure the ones responsible for it would enjoy the break and it will only serve to make you be more admired Markus. You, unlike many others, work with the community we have here and endeavor to do your best for everyone - including us.." Josh told him before pushing off the table and giving his arm a reassuring squeeze.

"We'll figure it out together alright? You're not alone Markus - all of us are here with you.." the darker skinned mer said before giving both Simon and he a nod and leaving just the two of them alone.

--

Slipping out of the current had been a little rough Connor had to admit but they managed it safely enough, Ralph however seemed in his element and it made the crown prince happy that his friend was enjoying himself and he had been more animated and excited in the last few hours then he had in all the times that he has known the other mer. And he didn't want to think about what would have happened to Ralph if he had left his friend behind. No, he didn't dwell on that for a second longer.

"Hank's Place" wasn't something Connor had been expecting. It was a rather, large sunken boat, he'd seen many in the past of course whilst he'd been adventuring and exploring with Ralph but this one seemed vintage and old. And he looked at the dolphin that playfully nudged at him with its beak and melon and circled around them both in a playful, happy manner. "Don't be too intimidated by Hank, he's a little gruff and rough around the edges but he'll help you get where you need to go..”

"Thank you, I can't tell you how grateful I am for your help.," Connor told the dolphin and glanced to Ralph who had reached out and gently placed himself against the entirety of the dolphin, that happily accepted the blondes gentle touches. "Ralph was happy to meet you. Ralph hopes to meet you again.."

"I was happy to meet you both too, take care and I hope you find what it is you are looking for.." the dolphin replied before nuzzling the both of them once more and swimming off into the depths of the water surrounding Hank's Place and joining the pod of dolphin's that were playing and communicating with each other nearby.

"Come on Ralph, lets see if this Hank can help us find Jericho.," he said to his friend who pulled his gaze away from the pod of dolphins before nodding and accompanying him as they approached the sunken ship and were greeted by a Walrus that was swimming towards then at some speed and then coming to a halt when a gruff voice came from the boat

"Dammit Sumo! No, don't go scaring away customers.." came a gruff voice that matched the grizzled features of a mer, that was clearly older and had a rather hard-boiled exterior and Connor was a little bit unsure of how to react around this "Hank" and decided to just ask him outright, and he let Ralph hide behind him as he did so.

"My name is Connor and this my friend Ralph. We need your help to find Jericho. I heard that you have dolphins we can hire to take us there..."

[ohdizzy]

Holy Poseidon (I’m Hooked on You)

Title: Holy Poseidon (I’m Hooked on You) Pairing: Taehyung/Jeongguk Rating: Mature Genre: The Little Mermaid AU, Romance, Fluff, Comedy, Wordcount: 5,500+  Chapter: 3/?

Summary:

Prince Jeon Jeongguk of Busan (better known as South Korea’s Sexiest Prince, crowned not once, but three times by GQ Korea) is in love. Stupidly, undeniably, irrevocably in love.

The object of his affection is, however, questionable.

A tale (tail?) of shitty haikus, even shittier fish puns, accidental hair dyeing, cursing entire bloodlines, and Jeongguk passing out so often it can’t be good for his health.

Read at: ao3 or under the cut! 

Taehyung is watching Hoseok play with the mer-children when he is struck with a Genius Idea.

It so happens that Taehyung is sitting gloomily by the flowerbed watching the mer-children mess up his moon flowers with their little human figurines they found at the bottom of a sunken ship. He’s been thinking a lot lately about how great it would be to be able to go on land, above The Surface and be with Jeongguk when he is suddenly struck with the idea—the Genius Idea.

He’s always known that he was a genius.

He sits up suddenly, staring at those tiny little human figurines intently. It takes every last shred of his dignity not to snatch the toys from the mer-children’s hands. The longer he stares at those tiny little legs, the more the hazy idea starts to slowly form and take shape.

“Hoseok,” He says loudly, startling Hoseok.

“What?” Hoseok looks as if he’s expecting terrible news.

“I’ve been thinking—”

“Oh Poseidon—”

“If I trade my tail for legs,” Taehyung continues forcefully, ignoring Hoseok’s growingly worried expression, “I could become human and then I could really be with Jeongguk!”

Hoseok’s eyes bug out of his face and he splutters as if choking on water. Which is really saying something. Taehyung watches on mildly impressed.

“I—what—are you insane—” Hoseok chokes out.

He carries on spluttering incoherently for several more moments before he realises that he is the royal advisor to the Prince of Atlantica and manages to compose himself with several slaps to his cheeks. By then the mer-children have also fallen silent and they watch Hoseok with an alarmed kind of interest.

Hoseok takes a deep breath. “Sujin, Seojun, you two should head inside. Your lessons are starting soon.”

They groan in unison.

“Aw, no fair!”

Hoseok doesn’t budge, shaking his head resolutely. After a few more seconds of grumbling, the children swim towards the palace, their human figurines clutched tightly in their small hands. Hoseok turns to Taehyung and seizes him by the shoulders, his eyes wild with panic, an expression completely different his relaxed smile a few seconds ago.

“In all that is sacred and beloved to the ocean, with all due respect, Prince Taehyung, what the fuck?!” Hoseok lets go of him in favour of seizing his hair in a deranged manner.

“I—”

“Are you crazy?!” Hoseok sounds dangerously close to shouting—or tears—both of which is bad, bad, bad.

He’s doing that whisper-shout thing that sounds more like a shout than a whisper while pointing a finger threateningly in Taehyung’s direction, getting all up in Taehyung’s personal space.

“First of all, that’s against The Ancient Laws—which I’m sure you are very aware of—and secondly, you’re already breaking the most important rule: don’t be seen by humans! And now—now you want to become one? Are you high?! What jellyfish toxins have you been ingesting?!”

“Oh Poseidon help me,” Hoseok moans. “If your—”

“If my father knew, I’d be done for, et cetera, et cetera,” Taehyung interrupts, rolling his eyes. “I know, Seok-ah. I’ve heard it all before.”

“Do you not grasp the severity of this situation?” Hoseok sounds incredulous. “By knowingly going against the Ancient Laws, being done for is the least of your problems. Heck, it’d make the sea-witches’ curse sound like child’s play! Besides, how do you even plan on getting human legs?”

Taehyung frowns. Oh shit. He hadn’t thought that far. “Um… I’ll—I’ll go to Yoongi! He’ll know what to do,” Taehyung beams.

Hoseok gulps, all trace of colour leaving his face.

“Y—Yoongi?” He whispers faintly. “The… sea witch?”

Taehyung ignores Hoseok. “No, wait, he’ll never say yes. C’mon Taehyung, think.”

Taehyung hums thoughtfully, continuing to ignore Hoseok’s frightened squeaks.

He brightens. “Oh, I know! I’ll go see Seokjin!”

“He’s the cousin of a sea witch,” Hoseok bellows, wringing his hands together. “You can’t trust him!”

“As humans say, chill,” Taehyung says, waving his hand dismissively. “He’s really nice. C’mon.”

Taehyung swims off in the direction of the city, leaving Hoseok behind. He pauses, turning around.

“Hoseok, are you coming or not?” He tilts his head to the side. “Not going to leave your poor prince to fend for himself, are you?”

It’s a low blow, but it seems to work. Hoseok moans, looking around before swimming after Taehyung.

“We’re going to die.”

“That’s the spirit!”

Seokjin lives in a small sea-cave on the outskirts of the city.

On the account of Not Actually Being A Sea Witch, Seokjin isn’t exiled from Atlantica, per se. He is, by textbook definition, free to roam the city to his heart’s content. However, on the account of not only being directly related to Yoongi, an actual sea witch, but also having learnt magic, merpeople tend to avoid him like the plague.

Thus, Seokjin is rarely seen in public. Plus, it doesn’t really help that he somehow had cursed his own tail (yeah, Seokjin’s a special one) and turned it a bright, flaming red that scared the living Poseidon out of everyone whenever he had emerged from his sea-cave with a tail that looked as though it had somehow caught fire underwater.

“Oh come on Hoseok, Seokjin isn’t even a sea witch,” Taehyung coaxes Hoseok, who’s still swimming hesitantly at the entrance of the cave.

“Yeah but he’s related to him,” Hoseok shudders. “The sea-witch taught him magic. Who knows what kind of stuff he gets up to?!”

Taehyung thinks of the endless anti-aging potions and facial tonics Seokjin’s brewed lined up prettily against the walls of his home. He has some sort of idea what Seokjin gets up to.

Taehyung sighs. “I won’t let him do anything to you, Hoseok. Besides, you’re my advisor. And before you’re my advisor you’re my best friend. You can’t leave me alone at times like this, Seokseok!”

Taehyung uses his childhood nickname for Hoseok, hoping that it’ll somewhat appease him.

Hoseok makes a face but hesitantly swims up to where Taehyung waits for him and clutches onto his arm tightly. “Just so you know, I am so, so against this idea. And I might tell your father.”

Taehyung pats his arm. “Sure you will.”

They swim in through the entrance together, Taehyung peering into the cave.

“Seokjin hyung! It’s me, Taehyung!”

“Taetae! Come in, I’m just rearranging some ingredients!” Seokjin calls from inside.

Seokjin is by his cabinet, putting away a few vials. He turns, catching sight of Taehyung, and makes a delighted noise, swimming up to him immediately and pulling him into a hug.

“It’s been too long since you’ve visited me,” Seokjin chides, ruffling his hair. He catches sight of Hoseok lurking awkwardly behind Taehyung and raises his eyebrows. “And you’ve brought a friend!”

Taehyung smiles sheepishly. “Sorry, I’ve been… busy. Hyung, this is Hoseok. He’s my advisor and my best friend. Hoseok, this is Seokjin hyung.”

“Hello,” Hoseok squeaks. Seokjin appraises him.

Seokjin laughs. “You don’t have to act so frightened. I won’t bite; I’m not as scary as you think I am. I’m harmless, really.”

Seokjin pats Hoseok’s back kindly before diverting his attention back to Taehyung. “Been so busy that you couldn’t even visit me? I’ve been so bored by myself. Yoongi’s always busy with something or another. No time to play with me.”

Seokjin pouts.

“Well, that’s why I’ve come today, hyung. I—I have a favour to ask of you. A huge favour, really.”

“Oh?” Seokjin raises an eyebrow. “Go on.”

Taehyung quickly gives him a rundown of how he met Jeongguk and how they became closer, choosing wisely to omit certain parts that would otherwise give Hoseok either a raging migraine or make him pass out cold.

By the time Taehyung’s finished debriefing him, Seokjin has floated down to sit on some human chair he must’ve found somewhere, clutching his chest with a dreamy expression on his face.

“Hyung, I know it’s a huge favour to ask,” Taehyung implores, eyes begging. “But please, I want to be able to somehow trade my tail for legs.”

“Oh my,” Seokjin gushes. “That’s just so… so romantic. True love always prevails!”

Taehyung splutters indignantly. “When—what—who said anything about true love?!”

“Ah, but Taehyung,” Seokjin pats his back knowingly with a purpose of completely leaving Taehyung’s question unanswered, before getting up abruptly. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you. Of course I’ll help you.”

He swims towards his cupboard, waving his hand over his cauldron as he passes it. It immediately springs to life, a magical fire kindling underneath the cauldron. Seokjin hums to himself, rummaging through the cupboard, pulling out seemingly random vials and tubes and throwing them behind his shoulder in the general direction of the cauldron.

They float slowly towards the cauldron, and Taehyung pushes a tube filled with tiny black fish out his face. Hoseok wrings his hands anxiously, before bringing his face close to Taehyung’s ear.

“Taehyung, this is a really bad idea. Please listen to me. Let’s go,” Hoseok whispers into Taehyung’s ear. “It’s my responsibility as your advisor to stop you from doing these kinds of things. I’ll—I’ll tell your father if I have to.”

Taehyung turns to Hoseok. “Is it because Seokjin has a reputation for screwing up his potions and spells? He’s not that bad! And besides, he’s quite nice, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he’s quite harmless compared to what I had expected,” Hoseok admits. He frowns. “But that doesn’t excuse the fact that he’s abusing his powers to turn you into a human! That’s breaking the Ancient Laws! Taehyung, you are the prince of Atlantica. What would become of your father if he knew that you out of all people were breaking so many of the Ancient Laws?”

Taehyung grasps Hoseok’s hand tightly between his own. “Hoseok. Can you just… let me do this? Just once? I know it’s crazy and it’s against the Ancient Laws but I… want to be human. I’ve wanted to be human for so long; since the first time I swam up to The Surface. But that reason alone was never enough for me to gather the courage to go on land. And then I met Jeongguk and suddenly—suddenly I have a reason. Can you try to understand just this once not as an advisor, but as my friend?” Taehyung pleads earnestly.

Hoseok’s eyes search Taehyung’s face long and hard before he sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. When he looks back at Taehyung, he looks defeated.

“This goes against everything I’ve grown up believing and knowing, but… okay. Just—just this once. As your best friend,” Hoseok says quietly. He gives Taehyung a tiny smile.

Taehyung lets out a huge whoop, throwing his arms around Hoseok and hugging him tightly. “Thank you, thank you!”

“Taehyung?” Seokjin’s voice comes from behind him and Taehyung pulls himself away to look at Seokjin.

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m done. Come here.”

Taehyung swims over, practically vibrating with excitement.

“I’m going to recite a spell and then you need to drink this elixir, I think that should split your tail into legs,” Seokjin says, handing Taehyung a small vial of silver liquid.

“You think it should split his tail?” Hoseok squeaks in a tiny voice.

Seokjin frowns. “Well, I’m convinced I put in everything I was supposed to, but…”

“But what?” Hoseok asks, his voice full of dread.

Seokjin hesitates for a second before shaking his head and smiling brightly. “Nothing. I’m sure I got it right. Now, Taehyung. This elixir will only last you three days, and it’s going to hurt when the elixir goes down, so be prepared for that. Ready?”

Taehyung takes a deep breath. Taehyung, the human. Human Taehyung. It has a nice ring to it.

“I’m ready.”

Seokjin clears his throat, a look of concentration taking over his features before he starts uttering words in an ancient language that’s completely foreign to Taehyung’s ears. Despite that, the words sound like music, rolling off Seokjin’s tongue fluidly. Taehyung watches, entranced, as water swooshes from Seokjin’s cauldron. It’s almost as if a rip has been condensed underwater, swirling ominously as it makes its way towards Taehyung.

“Taehyung, now!” Seokjin’s voice sounds over the loud roaring of the water. Taehyung uncorks the vial and tips it back in one smooth motion. It burns like liquid fire as it runs down the back of Taehyung’s throat and Taehyung coughs violently, his hands flying to his throat.

He can’t see anything past the storm of bubbles that swirl around him and his eyes fall shut automatically. The burning in his throat doesn’t let up and he thinks he makes a pained noise that sounds garbled and unnatural to his ears.

Eventually, the burning in his throat settles to a muted pain and Taehyung opens his eyes slowly. He turns to Seokjin and Hoseok, who are staring at him with identical expressions of bewilderment.

“I don’t understand… why didn’t it work?” Seokjin says in a tiny voice, starting to swim forward.

Taehyung looks down, and to his utter disappointment, his tail is still well and truly there, swishing back and forth. Taehyung’s eyebrows pinch together in a frown before he brightens up.

He opens his mouth to tell Seokjin that it’s alright and that he can just try again when—

Nothing.

Nothing comes out of his mouth. No words, no voice, nothing. Zilch, zero, nada.

Taehyung gasps—well, tries to—his hands flying up to his mouth. His head snaps up to look at the elder in utter betrayal. Seokjin is frozen to the spot, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, and Taehyung would be laughing at the irony—if he could.

“Your—your voice,” Seokjin stammers. “I—I—what—”

It seems Seokjin is at a loss for words. Taehyung, too, is quite literally at a loss for words.

Taehyung can feel his puzzlement turning into dread and anxiety and he clutches at his throat, opening his mouth in a silent scream. He gestures frantically at Hoseok who looks just as panicky as Taehyung feels.

“It’s—it’s not a big deal, right?” Seokjin laughs nervously. “I mean, who even uses their voice these days, pssh!”

Hoseok turns to Seokjin, his mouth wide open in disbelief, his previous fear of Seokjin clearly forgotten.

“Not a big deal? Taehyung has the gift of music! He—he literally has to speak; his gift is singing! Oh my carp. Oh, holy Poseidon. Oh Poseidon.” Hoseok looks as though he is on the verge of a meltdown. A meltdown at this stage, Taehyung thinks, is completely warranted and justified.

“It’s—oh my Poseidon. It’s a big deal,” Seokjin says, his handsome face turning an ashen grey. He turns to Taehyung, clutching him tightly. “It’s okay!” Seokjin laughs somewhat hysterically. “I’ll make it up to you! I… I can turn your scales pink! Do you want that, Taehyung? You want pink scales?”

Oh boy. Taehyung doesn’t want to end up a Seokjin 2.0 with a flaming red tail and he desperately tries to make that clear to Seokjin, frantically making a huge cross sign with his arms but Seokjin isn’t even looking at Taehyung anymore.

His eyes are clenched shut and he raises his hands up, chanting in that goddamn ancient language no one but Seokjin understands.

There’s a huge red cloud that poofs around Taehyung and his eyes fly shut on instinct. When the cloud dissipates he cracks one eye open, hardly daring to glance down at his tail, heart thumping anxiously.

To his immense relief, his tail is still a vibrant rainbow, all his pearls and crystals are still intact. Taehyung heaves a sigh, hands settling over his chest. But he catches sight of Hoseok, who looks like he’s seen a ghost, trembling hands raised to cover his mouth in shock.

Hoseok? Taehyung mouths. He tilts his head to the side quizzically.

Hoseok peels a hand from his mouth to point shakily at Taehyung’s head.

“Your—your hair!” He screeches loudly.

Taehyung’s eyes widen and his hands fly to his head. Thankfully, his hair seems to be intact. He darts to the huge mirror Seokjin hangs above his vanity and to his immense shock—seriously, it’s a wonder his heart is still beating—his hair is red.

A flaming, bright red. Just like Seokjin’s tail.

Taehyung stares at his hair in astonishment before slowly turning towards Seokjin who’s actually crying and carrying on like an idiot. Like he’s the one who’s lost his voice and gotten his hair changed to a hideous shade of red brighter than the crystals bedazzling Taehyung’s tail.

Taehyung glares at Seokjin, shaking him off when he reaches out pitifully towards Taehyung. He gestures to Hoseok. We’re leaving, he means to say. Taehyung swims towards the entrance of the sea-cave, trying his best to ignore a pathetically blubbering Seokjin.

“Taehyuuuung,” Seokjin bawls. “Don’t be mad at hyung, I’m sooooorrrry.”

Taehyung swims out of Seokjin’s cave, followed by Hoseok who seems to be muttering words of encouragement to himself.

Onto Plan B, then.

“Taehyung, Taehyung, no,” Hoseok pleads, clutching at Taehyung’s arm and yanking on it as Taehyung swims determinedly towards the Garden of Polyps. “Please, I’m—I’m scared. We can go back to your father and beg for forgiveness and maybe he won’t kill us or something. I’d rather take my chances with your father than with the sea witch.”

Taehyung stops swimming to glare at Hoseok in a manner he hopes conveys the I’m not giving up this close to succeeding look. He rolls his eyes at Hoseok’s dramatic whimpers. Yoongi is as harmless as a sea slug, he wants to yell at Hoseok. But he can’t. So he settles with beckoning for Hoseok forcefully with a single crook of his finger. Moaning pitifully, Hoseok follows.

When they reach the Garden of Polyps, Hoseok lets out a high shriek, clutching onto Taehyung for dear life as the Polyps stretch upward towards them moaning hideously in pain, and even Taehyung has to admit that they are rather disgusting, with their bulging eyes and grotesque tentacles.

Hoseok is heaving pitifully by the time they’ve successfully crossed the Garden of Polyps and Taehyung is exhausted from basically having to yank a frightened Hoseok across whilst simultaneously fending off any Polyp that came too close for comfort. Taehyung is going to have to have a word with Yoongi about them.

Oh wait, that’s right. He can’t.

Goddamn Seokjin.

Come on, Taehyung mouths to Hoseok, whose eyes have widened comically at the sight of the giant skeleton.

“Oh my Poseidon,” Hoseok whispers. “This is how I go.”

Hoseok, to his credit, does follow Taehyung inside, holding Taehyung’s arm so tightly Taehyung fears for his left arm. There is a chance that the blood circulation may completely cut off.

Swatting past the pink leaves that drape down, Taehyung and Hoseok find themselves in the main hall. Its usual occupant is nowhere to be seen. Hoseok turns to Taehyung with wide eyes and Taehyung gesture for him to speak.

“H—Hello?” Hoseok calls out hesitantly.

There’s silence for a moment and then—

“You’re a little far from home, aren’t you little one?” It’s a cold, menacing voice that sounds nothing like the soft Yoongi Taehyung knows and—oh. This must his I’m a sea witch fear me spiel Taehyung has never received. It feels rather odd to be on the receiving end of it, he must say.

If he didn’t know Yoongi, Taehyung thinks there is a small possibility he would’ve passed out. The way Hoseok is making terrified whimpering noises alerts Taehyung that Hoseok is two seconds away from passing out.

Ribbons of red liquid pours out from the darkness and it looks so alarmingly like human blood even Taehyung recoils for a second. Yoongi appears from the darkness, looking every bit an evil sea witch with his two pet eels circling him slowly, the fishermen hooks in his tail reflecting the red. Wow. Yoongi is really pulling all the stops today, really amping up his sea witch performance.

He must’ve smelled the fear off Hoseok from miles away.

Yoongi stops in his tracks when he spots Taehyung swimming with his arms crossed looking severely unimpressed.

“Taehyung?” Yoongi says in his normal voice, and the red smoke disappears immediately, his two creepy eels swimming off somewhere. “What—”

Taehyung can pinpoint the exact moment Yoongi properly sees Taehyung—if the way his eyes bug out of his head is any indication. Taehyung taps his throat and then makes a cross with his arms to indicate he can’t speak, and the rate in which the alarm in Yoongi’s eyes is replaced with a knowing glint frightens Taehyung a little.

Taehyung hopes that Yoongi will let this pass, that he won’t say anything and that he’ll just brew something up to put Taehyung back to normal, but no. Of course not.

“You idiot,” Yoongi thunders, swimming up to Taehyung. “Why the fuck would you go to Seokjin, possibly the most useless excuse for a magical being to ever goddamn exist? What in the holy name of Poseidon were you thinking?”

Hoseok squeaks in terror, cowering behind Taehyung. But Taehyung just pouts at Yoongi, crossing his arms across his chest once again and shaking his head petulantly. Yoongi is scoffing, as if he can’t wrap his head around the fact that Taehyung chose Seokjin over him.

“Holy Poseidon, you are stupid,” Yoongi chokes out, before straightening up suddenly, raising a finger in an all stop motion. “Wait! I feel another haiku coming on.”

“Haiku?” Taehyung hears Hoseok whispering in confusion behind him, but he’s too busy rolling his eyes to acknowledge him.

Yoongi clears his throat dramatically:

“Seokjin is useless Taehyung has bright red hair now Karma is a bitch”

Taehyung turns to Hoseok, whose mouth is open in disbelief, his eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. Taehyung just grimaces at pats Hoseok’s shoulder comfortingly—Taehyung’s been through it all. He’s just glad to know that at least Hoseok is there to lessen the burden of having to listen to shitty haikus.

“Okay, I’m done now,” Yoongi says gleefully. “I’m assuming that you’ve come to grovel and ask for my help. And yes, I will help your sad, pathetic ass. But since you can’t talk—” He turns to Hoseok, pointing to him with finger guns, “you’re going to have to help me out. Let me see.” Yoongi rubs his chin, circling a petrified Hoseok. “Looks like he’s about to shit himself, two pearls on your tail… You’re Hoseok, aren’t you?”

“Hey—I’m not about to shit myself!” Hoseok says defensively.  “You’re scaring me, okay?”

“I’m supposed to be scary. I’m a sea witch,” Yoongi replies with a scoff.

“You don’t seem that scary after that haiku,” Hoseok mutters. Yoongi ignores him.

“Anyways, since Taehyung is mute as a result of my good-for-nothing cousin, you’re gonna have to do the talking. Why the fuck was Taehyung at Seokjin’s?”

“Taehyung’s got it in his head that he wants to be a human, so he went to Seokjin-ssi’s, uh, cave because he was afraid you were going to say no. But now he’s lost his voice and his hair is red, and it’s a disaster,” Hoseok groans.

“Well. There’s good news and bad news,” Yoongi says. “What do you want to hear first?”

Taehyung shows him a thumbs up.

“Well, the good news is, Seokjin’s spell, or whatever the fuck he’s cast on you, is going to wear off in three days. He hasn’t cursed you, so there’s that,” Yoongi says.

“And—and the bad news?” Hoseok says hesitantly. After hearing Yoongi’s shitty haiku, Hoseok’s fear of Yoongi has all but dissipated. Ah, the power of shitty haikus, Taehyung thinks fondly to himself.

“The bad news is that he has to go around looking like that for three days,” Yoongi says, gesturing to Taehyung. “Good luck explaining that to your father.”

Taehyung’s eyes widen and he gestures furiously to Hoseok who turns back around to Yoongi.

“Can’t you help Taehyung? Can’t you turn him into a human?”

“Obviously I can. I just don’t know if I want to.”

Taehyung’s jaw drops open. Why not, he mouths furiously at Yoongi, jabbing him in the chest.

Yoongi rubs his chest with a scowl. “Well, first of all, that poke hurt. Secondly, I’m annoyed you even thought of going to Seokjin before coming to me. And thirdly, my life is at stake. Your father would literally gut me if he knew what I did.”

Taehyung purses his lips before turning to Hoseok and rubbing his thumb, index and middle fingers together in the universal sign of money. He doubts there would be a single person on this planet who didn’t understand what that meant.

“We—Taehyung can pay you,” Hoseok says. “Gold? Pearls? Ingredients?”

“I don’t have any use for gold, nor do I need any pearls,” Yoongi say, inspecting his fingernails. “As for ingredients, well, I have the people of Atlantica to do that for me, don’t I?”

Hoseok grits his teeth. “That’s illegal.”

Yoongi raises an eyebrow, a hand coming up to rest on the side of his hip. “You’re really gonna preach to me about shit being illegal when you’ve got Taehyung here, your beloved prince, breaking about fifty of the Ancient Laws? I think you need to settle down, Hojun.”

“Hoseok.”

“Whatever.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes at the pair bickering like an old married couple and pouts cutely at Yoongi, opting to cuddle up to him instead. If asking nicely doesn’t work, then he supposes he’s going to have to fight dirty to get what he wants.

Yoongi grumbles, weakly attempting to shove Taehyung away. Taehyung’s always known that Yoongi’s been a bit of a sucker for physical affection—does he blame him? He’s been starved of physical affection for Poseidon knows how long.

Please? He mouths to Yoongi. He can see Yoongi physically melting under the cute act and Taehyung tries not to let his winning smirk show on his face. He’s got him hook, line, and sinker.

“Ugh, fine,” Yoongi mutters, successfully shoving Taehyung away. Taehyung crows victoriously. “Poseidon, you’re so annoying.”

Yoongi snaps his fingers and a purple devil-fire lights up underneath his cauldron. Taehyung swims back to Hoseok, smiling victoriously and Hoseok shakes his head. Yoongi heads for his cupboard and starts yanking out ingredients, throwing them over his shoulder in a careless manner, before heading back and mixing them into his cauldron.

Hoseok and Taehyung swim forward cautiously to peer into the cauldron, which is now bubbling a pleasant pinkish liquid.

“I’m going to need a scale of yours, Taehyung,” Yoongi says, eyes never leaving the cauldron. He mutters a few words in a language familiar to what Seokjin was speaking in before and the liquid inside the cauldron changes into an ominous black colour.

Taehyung braces himself before yanking out a scale closer to his fins, wincing as the sharp pain shoots up his tail. It’s a light periwinkle colour and Taehyung watches in amazement as Yoongi crushes it with an inhumane strength before sprinkling it into the cauldron. The elixir inside turns into a shimmering gold and Hoseok lets a small noise of surprise.

“Since this is a… risky potion, you know that you must sign a contract, right?” Yoongi says seriously. Taehyung nods. “This potion will last for three days. I’ve tweaked it a little, since you’re convinced that your prince is your True Love or some bullshit like that. By sundown on the third day, the spell will wear off and you will turn back into a merman. However, it can be made permanent by True Love’s Kiss. Following me so far?”

“Ah—and also!” Yoongi tacks on as an afterthought. “Since I’m a sea witch and therefore must uphold my evilness”—Taehyung and Yoongi both roll their eyes while Hoseok whimpers—“if you fail to do so you must… clean my lair for a month. And give me three of your scales. And a pearl. And feed the Polyps. And… fifty starcakes, ‘cause that shit is delicious.”

Scales and a pearl Taehyung can do, no problems. Even the starcakes are no problem (problem for Yoongi’s health, sure, but no problem nonetheless) and even feeding the Polyps Taehyung can do. But cleaning Yoongi’s skeletal home for a month? Taehyung looks around the great hall. The place is a goddamn labyrinth, with seven or eight corridors leading god knows where, the corridors lined with used potions, ingredients, and general debris littered everywhere.

He swears he sees something move in the third corridor to the right. He shudders.

“Yeah…” Yoongi says dryly, picking at a loose scale on his tail. “There are rooms here that even I’m scared to go into.”

When Taehyung whimpers, Yoongi sighs, swimming up to him, and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Taehyung,” Yoongi says gently, jerking Taehyung out of his reverie. He lays a hand on Taehyung’s arm. “It’s going to hurt. A lot. Your tail is going to feel as though it’s ripping in half. Are you sure you want to do this?”

Taehyung shudders at the mental image it paints. But then he thinks of Jeongguk. Kind, lovely Jeongguk and his enthusiasm when he had spoken about all the things he did on land. You’d love it. I wish you could come up here with me, Jeongguk had said wistfully, reaching out for Taehyung’s hand. I don’t have many friends.

Taehyung swallows bravely. He turns to Yoongi and nods his head.

Yoongi smirks, the corners of his mouth quirking up. With the dim light casting strange shadows across Yoongi’s face, coupled with the dull glint that reflects off his hook earrings, Taehyung shivers, reminded for a split second just why Yoongi is so feared.

“Well then, let’s get on with it, shall we?”

Yoongi snaps his fingers and conjures up a magical scroll. He hands Taehyung a fish bone dipped in golden ink. The ink is magical, Yoongi says. It’s binding. Unbreakable. Taehyung ignores Hoseok’s whispered pleas for Taehyung to rethink it and signs the contract with a shaking hand, and Yoongi snaps his hand shut and the contract disappears with a puff and only then does Taehyung feel the finality of his decision.

Yoongi speaks in an ancient tongue, a language forgotten by all but those who have magic running in their veins, and both Hoseok and Taehyung watch in enchantment as the gold liquid swirls out of the cauldron, guided by Yoongi’s hands, and around Taehyung’s tail.

Taehyung wishes there is a proper word to describe how it feels. It starts off with a warm, tingling sensation around his tail, as if something is hugging it tightly—squeezing around it with an increasing pressure like a vice. Then the sensation grows hotter and hotter, and soon, it’s unlike anything Taehyung’s ever felt.

His mouth opens in a silent scream of agony. Yoongi was right—it feels as though Taehyung’s tail is ripping in half. It’s as though a huge, serrated knife is being plunged into Taehyung’s tail and dragged down, cutting through the bone and sinew and muscle. His whole body is twisting and convulsing, and he thinks he hears Hoseok cry his name out in panic but the pain overwhelms him, and it’s too much too fast.

That’s not all though; he feels as though he’s being suffocated slowly, as though someone is clogging up his airways and when he opens his mouth to breathe, the saltwater chokes him and he realises that he can’t breathe. The saltwater is stinging his eyes and nose, something that’s never happened to Taehyung before and he blinks furiously at the pained stinging. His eyesight is blurring too, and Hoseok and Yoongi become nothing but blurry figures in a sea of black and Taehyung has never been so terrified in his life.

“Holy Poseidon,” He hears Hoseok breathe. It’s muffled, and there’s an almost unbearable pressure on his ears. “Taehyung your father is going to murder me, oh sweet Poseidon I—Taehyung? Taehyung? Yoongi, what’s wrong with him?!”

“Shit!” The black and white blob Taehyung assumes is Yoongi exclaims. Taehyung can feel his eyes drifting shut. “He can’t breathe, he’ll drown! Quick—grab his arms!”

Two pairs of strong arms grab Taehyung and he can feel himself shooting upward. He’s getting closer to The Surface; he can tell by the way the brightness grows bigger and bigger. Taehyung’s lungs feel as though they’re about to burst and he’s not sure how long he can hold his breath and suddenly—

Fresh air.

Taehyung inhales sharply, coughing up water and gulping in air. Blinking water out of his eyes, he turns to Hoseok and Yoongi who are wearing simultaneous expressions of shock.

“Taehyung,” Yoongi breathes. “You’re—you’re—”

Taehyung leans back and kicks upwards. And there, instead of an enormous, rainbow coloured tail like he’s used to, are a pair of long, tanned human legs. His legs. His lovely human legs.

Oh Holy Poseidon.

[preciousmetals0]

Hong Kong Fluey; Airlines Clash; Chip Hopes Dashed

Hong Kong Fluey; Airlines Clash; Chip Hopes Dashed:

Hong Kong Fluey

It’s no secret that I like being right, dear readers. But not like this … not like this.

The Wuhan coronavirus has spread to nearly 3,000 confirmed infections and close to 80 deaths. China has now quarantined 16 cities, issued a group-travel ban and a ban on eating wild meat in Wuhan.

Yes, that last point seems rather bizarre to many of us who reside in the States. Why are the Chinese eating wild meat? But just think for a second if the U.S. government issued a ban on eating deer meat in the Midwest to prevent a virus spreading. That hits a bit closer to home, doesn’t it?

But I digress…

Outside of China, there are five confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S., and a handful of cases in countries such as France, Japan and South Korea.

Wall Street is reacting to the rapid spread of the coronavirus as I expected. Heading into the midday, losses were nearly 2% across the board for all of the major market indexes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 500 points at its lowest levels of the day. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index shed some 2.2% at its lowest levels, as traders took profits on China-exposed chip stocks.

All in all, it was a really rough way to start the week.

The Takeaway:

I woke up this morning looking forward to researching the glut of corporate earnings slated to arrive this week. I was even somewhat excited about December’s durable goods orders, consumer confidence figures and housing data. (Yes, I know I have a problem. It’s why I write Great Stuff. Welcome to my therapy sessions.)

The economic data seem pretty moot at this point. The potential economic impact of a global pandemic kind of throws all that data out the window. Any takeaways we could’ve drawn from last month’s housing or durable goods orders is now less than conjecture.

Corporate earnings reports also seem a bit less important than before for many of the same reasons. With the advent of the Wuhan coronavirus, the future is once again more uncertain than it was before. Prior-quarter results will be cheered, but not as much as they would’ve been. Guidance will be heavily scrutinized and any signs of weakness punished harshly.

And, as I’ve said many times before, Wall Street absolutely hates uncertainty.

In all honestly, this is exactly how investors should’ve operated before the coronavirus. It’s no secret that Wall Street is in an easy-money bubble. The recent surge higher since New Year’s was a relief rally brought on by the U.S.-China trade deal.

But it wasn’t just the China trade deal. The Nasdaq had hit 28 record highs since November — the most since February 2000. The S&P 500 Index had gone 71 days without a 1% move. Even in a bull market, that’s quite a run higher.

In short, here’s what I’m saying: The market was itching for a reason to sell, and this deadly virus outbreak was the perfect excuse.

What we see in the market right now is a profit-taking sell-off … tinged with a bit of fear. If the current outbreak runs the same course as others — SARS, MERS, Ebola, et cetera — this sell-off is a buying opportunity. That said, there are too many unknown factors still out there:

How will this impact the Chinese economy?

Will it affect global trade?

Will the new coronavirus spread in Western countries?

The best thing you can do right now is not panic. Hunker down, hold what you can and wait. There’s no way to plague-proof your portfolio other than holding stable, well-run companies.

If this pandemic turns out to be a big nothing-burger, you still own stock in growing businesses. Well done.

If it’s going to heck … then it’s time for a Wall Street fire sale! Panicked investors will dump their shares at the littlest signs of trouble, and that’s our best buying opportunity.

Banyan Hill expert Jeff Yastine is able to tell the stock market’s diamonds from the falling rough. Bullish or bearish, Jeff has a trained eye for spotting rock-solid businesses that are best positioned to grow in any market — pandemic or bust.

If you feel unprepared for a market crash gone viral, Jeff just uncovered one stock that should be added to every portfolio … no matter where the market’s headed.

Click here to learn how to get details on the one stock Jeff recommends you buy today.

The Good: The Au Wu-Flu Rally

If you’ve been picking up what Great Stuff has been putting down, you likely hold a little gold in your portfolio somewhere. The malleable metal is nowhere near as hip as it used to be, but it’s still among the best investments for occasions such as these.

With today’s flu-panic sell-off, gold prices are edging in on six-year closing highs. Well, at least bullion prices are, according to FactSet data.

Last I saw, Gold for February delivery (GC=F) was up $10.70, less than 1% away from its January 7 highs. If you remember, those highs were driven by heightened tensions with Iran, after the U.S. killed a top Iranian general.

For those keeping track, that’s two potential black swan events in less than a month. Man, 2020 is shaping up to be a real doozy, isn’t it?

The bottom line here is that, if you don’t already hold gold in some form in your portfolio, you seriously need to consider it.

The Bad: Group Travel Banned

If you and several of your China-based friends had flight plans this week … I have some bad news for you. Effective this morning, China banned international group travel.

The move is designed to help contain the coronavirus outbreak, but the fallout is hitting the airline industry hard … China is the world’s largest outbound travel market, after all. But not all outbound traffic is banned — just group travel. Forbes has an informative article on the ban here, if you want to read more.

And it’s not just the Chinese government. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) both restricted employee travel to Wuhan, China.

Still, just the mention of a travel ban tanked airline stocks today.

The biggest losers are those with international reach, such as American Airlines Group Inc. (Nasdaq: AAL), Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) and United Airlines Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: UAL). Overall, the U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSE: JETS) is down roughly 3% today.

Unfortunately, the airline industry already struggles with the fallout from Boeing Co.’s (NYSE: BA) 737 Max debacle. The addition of a pandemic coronavirus and travel bans will pressure the airline industry even more. This weakness will linger for a while.

The Ugly: Sick Chips

If you thought the airline industry was in a bad way today, you haven’t seen semiconductors. Chip stocks have been red-hot in the wake of the U.S.-China trade deal — mostly because many semiconductor companies have crucial manufacturing and supply chains in China.

Those supply chains are called into question once again with the Wuhan coronavirus. Companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM), Xilinx Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX) and Micron Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) are getting hammered as the outbreak spreads like wildfire across China.

Unlike the airline industry, however, semiconductors will bounce back quickly from this latest setback.

Why? Take your pick: cloud computing growth, Big Data processing, the mobile device upgrade cycle, the 5G revolution, next-gen consoles … there are so many reasons that semiconductor stocks will rebound from today’s losses that it’s not funny.

When Great Stuff talks about holding on to well-run companies in a mega trend market, this is what we’re talking about … the Intel Corp.s (Nasdaq: INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.s (Nasdaq: AMD) of the market. These are the companies that you’ll want to own while riding out this latest round of volatility.

Even 5% corrections are not fun. … They tell you they’re “buying opportunities” and they are. They don’t tell you that down 5% the news turns bad and then you’re afraid the 5% turns to 10% or 15%.

— Frank Gretz of Wellington Shields.

This quote comes from a Barron’s article that I linked to above. If you followed that link, you’re probably a bit more worried than usual today. It was very doom-and-gloomy.

When we link to articles like this, our goal isn’t to make you panic. It’s to make you aware of the situation. There’s good, actionable information in that article … but the best piece of advice isn’t the fearmongering by Frank Gretz — it’s the takeaway by author Ben Levisohn:

This drop is likely not the big one, even if it may feel that way. … So far, it’s hardly a 5% drop. But brace yourselves, just in case.

Great Stuff: Opportunities in the Crisis

The trade war is over. World War III is averted. Harry and Meghan renounced their royal status. For a brief moment in time, all was right with the world…

And then the coronavirus came along and messed everything up.

Much like the Spanish Inquisition, no one expects these black swan events. That’s why they’re called black swan events.

But that doesn’t mean it’s time to run around panic selling. Nor does it mean that you should try to catch every falling knife you see. (Ouch!)

So, how do you find opportunities when the world appears to have gone mad?

Well … that’s what Great Stuff and the gurus at Banyan Hill are here for!

Today, Ted Bauman and Clint Lee of The Bauman Letter have the inside scoop on two sectors to avoid and three opportunities to take advantage of in this crisis. Click below to watch this week’s edition of Your Money Matters:

[embedded content]

If you’d rather cut straight to the chase and learn how to get access to Ted Bauman’s exclusive market research, click here now!

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing

[goldira01]

Hong Kong Fluey

It’s no secret that I like being right, dear readers. But not like this … not like this.

The Wuhan coronavirus has spread to nearly 3,000 confirmed infections and close to 80 deaths. China has now quarantined 16 cities, issued a group-travel ban and a ban on eating wild meat in Wuhan.

Yes, that last point seems rather bizarre to many of us who reside in the States. Why are the Chinese eating wild meat? But just think for a second if the U.S. government issued a ban on eating deer meat in the Midwest to prevent a virus spreading. That hits a bit closer to home, doesn’t it?

But I digress…

Outside of China, there are five confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S., and a handful of cases in countries such as France, Japan and South Korea.

Wall Street is reacting to the rapid spread of the coronavirus as I expected. Heading into the midday, losses were nearly 2% across the board for all of the major market indexes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 500 points at its lowest levels of the day. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index shed some 2.2% at its lowest levels, as traders took profits on China-exposed chip stocks.

All in all, it was a really rough way to start the week.

The Takeaway:

I woke up this morning looking forward to researching the glut of corporate earnings slated to arrive this week. I was even somewhat excited about December’s durable goods orders, consumer confidence figures and housing data. (Yes, I know I have a problem. It’s why I write Great Stuff. Welcome to my therapy sessions.)

The economic data seem pretty moot at this point. The potential economic impact of a global pandemic kind of throws all that data out the window. Any takeaways we could’ve drawn from last month’s housing or durable goods orders is now less than conjecture.

Corporate earnings reports also seem a bit less important than before for many of the same reasons. With the advent of the Wuhan coronavirus, the future is once again more uncertain than it was before. Prior-quarter results will be cheered, but not as much as they would’ve been. Guidance will be heavily scrutinized and any signs of weakness punished harshly.

And, as I’ve said many times before, Wall Street absolutely hates uncertainty.

In all honestly, this is exactly how investors should’ve operated before the coronavirus. It’s no secret that Wall Street is in an easy-money bubble. The recent surge higher since New Year’s was a relief rally brought on by the U.S.-China trade deal.

But it wasn’t just the China trade deal. The Nasdaq had hit 28 record highs since November — the most since February 2000. The S&P 500 Index had gone 71 days without a 1% move. Even in a bull market, that’s quite a run higher.

In short, here’s what I’m saying: The market was itching for a reason to sell, and this deadly virus outbreak was the perfect excuse.

What we see in the market right now is a profit-taking sell-off … tinged with a bit of fear. If the current outbreak runs the same course as others — SARS, MERS, Ebola, et cetera — this sell-off is a buying opportunity. That said, there are too many unknown factors still out there:

How will this impact the Chinese economy?

Will it affect global trade?

Will the new coronavirus spread in Western countries?

The best thing you can do right now is not panic. Hunker down, hold what you can and wait. There’s no way to plague-proof your portfolio other than holding stable, well-run companies.

If this pandemic turns out to be a big nothing-burger, you still own stock in growing businesses. Well done.

If it’s going to heck … then it’s time for a Wall Street fire sale! Panicked investors will dump their shares at the littlest signs of trouble, and that’s our best buying opportunity.

Banyan Hill expert Jeff Yastine is able to tell the stock market’s diamonds from the falling rough. Bullish or bearish, Jeff has a trained eye for spotting rock-solid businesses that are best positioned to grow in any market — pandemic or bust.

If you feel unprepared for a market crash gone viral, Jeff just uncovered one stock that should be added to every portfolio … no matter where the market’s headed.

Click here to learn how to get details on the one stock Jeff recommends you buy today.

The Good: The Au Wu-Flu Rally

If you’ve been picking up what Great Stuff has been putting down, you likely hold a little gold in your portfolio somewhere. The malleable metal is nowhere near as hip as it used to be, but it’s still among the best investments for occasions such as these.

With today’s flu-panic sell-off, gold prices are edging in on six-year closing highs. Well, at least bullion prices are, according to FactSet data.

Last I saw, Gold for February delivery (GC=F) was up $10.70, less than 1% away from its January 7 highs. If you remember, those highs were driven by heightened tensions with Iran, after the U.S. killed a top Iranian general.

For those keeping track, that’s two potential black swan events in less than a month. Man, 2020 is shaping up to be a real doozy, isn’t it?

The bottom line here is that, if you don’t already hold gold in some form in your portfolio, you seriously need to consider it.

The Bad: Group Travel Banned

If you and several of your China-based friends had flight plans this week … I have some bad news for you. Effective this morning, China banned international group travel.

The move is designed to help contain the coronavirus outbreak, but the fallout is hitting the airline industry hard … China is the world’s largest outbound travel market, after all. But not all outbound traffic is banned — just group travel. Forbes has an informative article on the ban here, if you want to read more.

And it’s not just the Chinese government. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) both restricted employee travel to Wuhan, China.

Still, just the mention of a travel ban tanked airline stocks today.

The biggest losers are those with international reach, such as American Airlines Group Inc. (Nasdaq: AAL), Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) and United Airlines Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: UAL). Overall, the U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSE: JETS) is down roughly 3% today.

Unfortunately, the airline industry already struggles with the fallout from Boeing Co.’s (NYSE: BA) 737 Max debacle. The addition of a pandemic coronavirus and travel bans will pressure the airline industry even more. This weakness will linger for a while.

The Ugly: Sick Chips

If you thought the airline industry was in a bad way today, you haven’t seen semiconductors. Chip stocks have been red-hot in the wake of the U.S.-China trade deal — mostly because many semiconductor companies have crucial manufacturing and supply chains in China.

Those supply chains are called into question once again with the Wuhan coronavirus. Companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM), Xilinx Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX) and Micron Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) are getting hammered as the outbreak spreads like wildfire across China.

Unlike the airline industry, however, semiconductors will bounce back quickly from this latest setback.

Why? Take your pick: cloud computing growth, Big Data processing, the mobile device upgrade cycle, the 5G revolution, next-gen consoles … there are so many reasons that semiconductor stocks will rebound from today’s losses that it’s not funny.

When Great Stuff talks about holding on to well-run companies in a mega trend market, this is what we’re talking about … the Intel Corp.s (Nasdaq: INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.s (Nasdaq: AMD) of the market. These are the companies that you’ll want to own while riding out this latest round of volatility.

Even 5% corrections are not fun. … They tell you they’re “buying opportunities” and they are. They don’t tell you that down 5% the news turns bad and then you’re afraid the 5% turns to 10% or 15%.

— Frank Gretz of Wellington Shields.

This quote comes from a Barron’s article that I linked to above. If you followed that link, you’re probably a bit more worried than usual today. It was very doom-and-gloomy.

When we link to articles like this, our goal isn’t to make you panic. It’s to make you aware of the situation. There’s good, actionable information in that article … but the best piece of advice isn’t the fearmongering by Frank Gretz — it’s the takeaway by author Ben Levisohn:

This drop is likely not the big one, even if it may feel that way. … So far, it’s hardly a 5% drop. But brace yourselves, just in case.

Great Stuff: Opportunities in the Crisis

The trade war is over. World War III is averted. Harry and Meghan renounced their royal status. For a brief moment in time, all was right with the world…

And then the coronavirus came along and messed everything up.

Much like the Spanish Inquisition, no one expects these black swan events. That’s why they’re called black swan events.

But that doesn’t mean it’s time to run around panic selling. Nor does it mean that you should try to catch every falling knife you see. (Ouch!)

So, how do you find opportunities when the world appears to have gone mad?

Well … that’s what Great Stuff and the gurus at Banyan Hill are here for!

Today, Ted Bauman and Clint Lee of The Bauman Letter have the inside scoop on two sectors to avoid and three opportunities to take advantage of in this crisis. Click below to watch this week’s edition of Your Money Matters:

[embedded content]

If you’d rather cut straight to the chase and learn how to get access to Ted Bauman’s exclusive market research, click here now!

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing