#giant mers

[arc852]

18. Pirates

Definition: a person who attacks and robs ships at sea.

Summary: Joel is a pirate with a crew of just one, himself. He finds trouble one day when a pirate ship boards his and threatens to kill him. He didn't think he would be saved by another pirate, let alone by one who has a giant mer in his crew.

G/t: Joel and Grian are normal-sized, Gem is a giant

Warnings: Being threatened, off-screen killing (not of our main characters), and mention of a tragic backstory

Word Count: 2313

AO3 Link

This is part 2 to Shipwreck! It takes place quite a few months after. I hope you enjoy!

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 Joel’s crew had abandoned him ages ago.

 Which was fine! If they couldn’t handle how he ran things, then that was on them. He didn’t need them anyway. He was perfectly capable on his own and he knew, eventually, he would get a crew that understood him enough to stick by him. A crew with the same morals as he had.

 Of course, he knew how hard that was. Especially within the ‘pirate’ business. See, Joel wasn’t really what would be considered a ‘normal’ pirate. He didn’t pillage or steal or kill unless it was toward other pirate crews. It was the whole reason he became a pirate after all. To get revenge on them for burning down his village and killing his family.

 Yeah, he knew it was cliche. But at least he was spicing it up a bit by becoming a pirate himself instead of joining the navy. That’s what people usually did if they wanted revenge against pirates anyway.

 Joel had amassed a crew for a short amount of time before he forbade them from pillaging a coastal town. When they realized Joel wouldn’t let them do anything ‘fun’ they left. Which, again, was fine. Joel didn’t want crewmates that acted like that anyway. 

 Having no crew was fine, until it wasn’t.

 Joel had been sailing along the ocean, heading toward another town in the hopes of finding someone to join his crew when he noticed another ship in the distance. At first, Joel wasn’t worried. There were trade ships out and about as he had gone along and they usually steered clear of him when they realized the flag he was waving.

 But as the ship grew closer, Joel realized a similar flag waved on the other ship.

 He did not need pirates coming after him right now. Without a crew, they would make quick work of him. He turned the ship a bit, trying to head down a different path and hoping to put more distance between them and him. If he managed enough, maybe they would give up and leave him alone.

 Of course, these were pirates he was talking about and trying to run only made things worse. It had been miles already and the ship was still following him. The scariest thing though, was that it was actually catching up to him.

 Joel was helpless to do anything as the ship pulled alongside him. He winced as hooks with ropes shot out of their cannons and hooked onto his ship, reeling him closer. He had seen this trick countless times before and he knew there was really no fighting against the pull. Joel backed away as a pirate placed a plank across both ships and, a guy Joel could only assume was the captain, walked across on to his ship.

 “Well, well, well, what have we here?” The captain asked, sneering at Joel. Joel sneered back.

 “I don’t want any trouble.” Joel bit out. Normally, he would love it, but without a crew to back him up, that would not be a smart thing to do.

 “Heh, well with that flag you're waving there, you sure are asking for it.” The captain said, amused. Joel clenched his jaw. He knew he should have taken it down for this journey.

 “Where’s your crew? Hmm? Lost at sea? Cowering in fear below deck?” The captain banged his heavy boot on the ground and laughed. His crewmates, who were still on their own ship, laughed with him.

 “I don’t have one.” Joel said, seeing no reason to lie when a quick search would show how alone he was. 

 “Oh really?” The captain raised a brow at that but his grin didn’t drop. “Shame. For you, that is.” The captain chuckled and unsheathed his sword, stepping closer to Joel with it. Joel backed away in turn, cursing himself for not having his weapon on him. “This is going to be the easiest plundering of my life.”

 “Not so fast!” A voice shouted, causing confusion among Joel and the other pirate crew. They looked around for the source when Joel spotted it. A ship, that seemed to have come out of nowhere, was coming up beside them. A man was aboard, the one who had shouted, with his arms crossed and looking back and forth between the two ships. Although, like Joel, his ship also seemed to be empty otherwise.

 The captain seemed to have spotted him too because he laughed. “Oh this is rich. Another lone pirate.” The captain’s laugh turned to a sneer. “You might want to get out of here laddie. Or else I’ll run my sword through you after I’m done with him.” He motioned toward Joel, who winced.

 The other lone pirate only smirked. “See, that’s where you’re mistaken. I’m not alone.” 

 “Your ship seems pretty empty to me!” A pirate from the other ship shouted.

 “Yeah, small too! Ain’t no way you’re fitting a decent crew on that thing anyway!” Another jabbed and they all laughed.

 The man shrugged. “I tried to warn you.”

 Joel could only briefly wonder what the heck this guy's plan was before the water around them began to shake and wave. He nearly lost his balance as it made his ship bounce around a bit. And then, suddenly, a…head popped out from the water. And then arms. And a torso and…

 Oh. It was a giant mer.

 They were all screwed.

 She was glaring down at them, making Joel feel weak in his knees. The others seemed to be feeling the same. He saw the captain's crew cowering in fear, unable to keep their eyes off the giant mer. The captain, too, also seemed to be at a loss for what to do.

 “Grian?” She spoke, eyes glancing down toward the other lone pirate. Though, Joel was now thinking that wasn’t a good way to refer to him anymore, considering he seemed to be in cahoots with the giant mer.

 Grian simply pointed toward the other pirate ship and that seemed to be all the giant mer needed. She nodded and then reached for the other ship. The crew jolted out of their frozen state and started running around maniacally in fear. It would be funny if Joel didn’t think he was next.

 She lifted the ship out of the water, which Joel could only stare in awe about. And then, more amazingly, she shifted the ship to just one hand and then reached toward Joel’s own ship. Joel’s eyes widened and then he shut them tight, bracing for the feeling of his own ship getting lifted. But instead of that, he heard the sound of the captain screaming. He opened his eyes back up in time to see the mer’s hand lifting the captain up in a pinched grip.

 She lifted him up to her face and for a moment, Joel thought she was going to throw him into her mouth. But instead, she just glared at him and set him back onto his ship. With the whole pirate crew now on the ship, Joel watched as the giant mer wounded back and then threw the ship into the horizon.

 Joel followed it as it flew with wide eyes. But eventually, it launched out of sight. The mer had managed to throw it so far that he hadn’t even been able to see it land. It was lost to the horizon and Joel knew they would not make the landing.

 “Are you okay?” A voice said from right behind him and Joel jumped with a yelp. He turned around only to find that Grian had boarded his ship. And with the giant mer hovering behind him, it created a menacing aura.

 “I-I…” Joel stammered out, backing up a few steps. His eyes shifted between the giant mer and Grian, not knowing what to do. He was pretty trapped here.

 “Don’t worry, we aren’t going to hurt you.” This time, Grian wasn’t the one to speak, but the giant mer. Joel’s gaze went to look at her and he noticed that she was smiling. But not in a creepy malicious way or anything like that. It appeared to be friendly.

 “Then…what about…” Joel trailed off, looking back toward where the giant mer had thrown the ship. When he looked back, she was frowning and Joel tensed.

 “They deserved it. They were ganging up on you, 20 to one. I don’t think that’s very fair.” She huffed and Grian nodded in agreement.

 “What’s your story, by the way?” Grian asked, arm crossed. He looked at him with a slight head tilt. “You’re very clearly a pirate but you’re alone. What happened?”

 “I could ask you the same thing…” Joel muttered to himself, wondering how someone like Grian got a giant mer working for him. He took a deep breath. “My crew left me ages ago. I’m not really the kind of pirate captain they were looking for.”

 Grian raised an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

 Joel sighed. “Because I only steal from and kill other pirates. I want revenge for them burning down my village and killing my family when I was a kid.” He explained his tragic backstory or whatever, wondering where that was going to get him.

 Grian blinked and looked at him for a moment. Then he smiled and let out a small sigh. “Looks like we made the right choice then.” He turned towards the mer. “Good work Gem!”

 Gem grinned and lowered herself so that only her head was peeking out of the water. She was more eye level with them and the ship now. 

 Joel shook his head, now more confused than anything. “Okay, what on earth is going on?”

 Grian placed a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry about the scare. I’m Grian and this is Gem. We’re an…unconventional pirate duo, you could say.” He said this with a grin.

 “I would definitely say that, yeah.” Joel said, eyes still darting back and forth between the two. “I’m…I’m Joel.”

 “It’s nice to meet you Joel.” Gem chimed in and Joel startled a bit at her voice. But he nodded at her.

 “So…what. You two help people in need or something?” Joel asked, trying to get a read on this whole situation. Grian waved his hand in a so-so manner.

 “Or something. Really, we keep people out of Gem’s territory.”

 “Our territory.” Gem said and Grian huffed. 

 “Alright, fine. Our territory. And we kill pirates when we can but we also try to save who we can too. That’s my job. I go out and gauge the situation, see if they are good people or not or if they have prisoners. And then Gem comes in and takes care of them.” Grian and explained. Joel blinked.

 “Huh.” That sounded…well, great honestly. It seemed they had a really good thing going here. “It sounds like you’re kinda doing what I am. Or, what I’m trying to do anyway.” Joel hadn’t really been successful yet. What with his lack of crew and all.

 Grian nodded. “Yeah, it does. So don’t worry. Gem isn’t one to eat people even if we don’t like them. And you seem great, so you’re safe here with us.”

 Joel finally let himself relax, believing what they said.

 “Do you need any more help?” Gem asked, her face coming a bit closer when she saw that Joel believed them. Joel was still a bit wary of her size but he tried to keep himself from tensing back up. “I can’t take you all the way to the mainland, but I can take you across our territory.”

 “Or…” Grian started and Gem looked down at him with a raised eyebrow. Joel turned to look at him. Grian smirked. “Maybe…since our goals are so similar anyway…you could join us?”

 Joel blinked. “Uh…” Before he could say anything, a giant hand reached down and scooped Grian out of the boat. Grian and Joel both yelped, Joel scrambling back as he watched Grian get lifted into the sky.

 Gem smiled at him, though it looked a bit more forced. “One second Joel, I gotta talk to Grian real quick.” 

 Joel then watched Gem swim far enough he could only barely make out whispers but not at all what they could be saying. Gem was turned around as well, so he couldn’t see her facial expressions either. He could guess what it was they were talking about though. It probably had something to do with Grian’s sudden invitation to join their little crew. 

 He wasn’t sure if the invitation would still be open when they were done talking but he thought about it anyway. Grian was right, their goals were similar. And Joel did need a crew. He would also be lying if he said he wasn’t curious on how Grian and Gem became a team in the first place. 

 If he joined them, all his questions and problems pretty much disappeared.

 It really was a no-brainer then.

 He just hoped the invitation was still valid.

 Gem swam back, an unreadable expression on her face. She brought her hand back down on the ship, letting Grian off. Grian dusted himself off, not looking all too bothered by having been suddenly picked up and held. Grian smiled at Joel and offered his hand. “Offer is still on the table.”

 Joel’s eyes widened and he looked at Gem. When she saw this, her expression softened a little and she chuckled. “Well, at least you know who's really in charge.” She joked, causing Grian to sputter a bit and Joel to laugh. “It was just sudden but I’m not against it.” She said and then smiled. “I think the three of us could be a really great team actually.”

 “So?” Grian said, still holding his hand out. “What do you say?”

 Joel grinned and took Grian’s hand, shaking it. “I’m in.”

[ayyy-imma-ninja]

the boyos are curious by human things

[skumhuu]

🦈🦈 Megalodontale First Meetings 🦈🦈

[muppenthings]

Look I put some effort in his design so I'm gonna draw it again.

They tried to cut the net around his fin while he was sleeping. Unlucky for both of them it's extremely sore so he jolted awake, resulting in the biologist getting flung on top of him. His flight or freeze responses are currently duking it out. For the biologists' sake, I hope freeze wins. xD

[guaxinimraccoon]

WE HAVE OUR MERMAY BEFORE MAY ENDS YIPPIEEEE

I know usually ppl make the all the gang as merpeople, but I thought it'd be cute if Brad was a giant mermaid pesting a human Toby

I love them so much ❤️❤️❤️

I'll be doing an Alelisa version of mermay too!!! Not sure if it'll be out till the end of the month, but we shall see it for sure :>

[imagine-darksiders]

To Hell with it. Big humpback whale Ulthane for Mermay.

Y/n is the survivor of a shipwreck and Ulthane, a mer who's lost his entire pod, finds them clinging to a large piece of driftwood, barely staying afloat in the open ocean.

Understanding that humans are predominantly a land-dwelling species, he brings them to a deserted island within his territory, pleased to at last have some company to stave off his isolation.

Y/n is just trying to get off the island, perplexed as to why this gruff, enormous mer keeps leaving them beautiful but functionless seashells, catching fish for them to eat, and otherwise thwarting any attempts they make to swim out into deeper waters.

[mariposita24]

✨my mer-may addition✨

brining back the giant merman au from 2021 with a messy doodle

[gt-squirrel]

That tiny lil octopus-mer you saved from being stranded in a tide pool and released back into the ocean? Remember them?

Whelp, flash forward a couple years later, you’re at that same beach you found the lil mer at. One problem though, that lil octopus mer is now the size of a massive kraken, looming over you with a happy look in their eye.

[vladdyissues]

Day 12: Seafood

[a-chaotically-small-lunta]

Tiny mer that, giant mer this. Where’s my size shifter mers?

The mermaid who gets caught in a net and after the captain starts being all proud and everything and the mermaid just shrinks and slips through the net’s holes, much to the captain’s disappointment.

A merman who grows big enough for all the other mers to cling on as the group travels. Perhaps he also grows to distract predators or fight off threats to his non-shifter mer friends.

What about the classic trope of someone finding a merperson on the shore and taking them back to their beach house / lighthouse, putting them in their Tub. Maybe the merperson is unconscious for a bit but the lighthouse keeper comes to check on them and notices that they’re gone. Panicking they check around but the floor isn’t wet, then they see a small movement from the bath. Hiding behind a rubber duck is the merperson all tiny, not knowing what else to do but hide. Perhaps the keeper calms them down and calms them down, allowing the mer to grow to the size the keeper originally saw. Perhaps the keeper helps them heal and let’s them go after making a beautiful friendship only to one day meet the merperson again, but this time the roles are reversed. The keeper is saved by the merperson, and having been put on an unknown island. The keeper has no clue how they are gonna make it back but thinks the merperson can help them, the mer nods and grows bigger to make the journey faster, much to the keepers surprise.

Long story short, giant mers and tiny meds are great, but give me the shifters!

[reborrowing]

The land-maid giant had been sitting there for a while, staring into the little oasis of ocean she’d placed them in. They felt…very exposed, with nowhere to hide but a few sparse patches of grass. They kept telling themself that it didn’t matter how much light there was or how open the waters were, no hunters could reach them here. There was a long stretch of land between themself and the sea.

The thought was as terrifying it was reassuring.

She lit up as they worked up the courage to peek back out at her from the grass. Her words were muffled, but not so much that they couldn’t understand her. She was bubbling over with questions—what they were, who they were, if they were alright, did they need anything else, were they hungry, what did they even eat, where did they come from, how did they get here…?

They waved and smiled, but kept silent. Bad things happened when sirens spoke. Their voice was dangerous, the magic hard to control, and the land-folk were particularly susceptible to its curses.

This one had saved them from a horrible death drying out in the sun. What sort of thank you would it be to answer her?

[ayyy-imma-ninja]

The Celestial Moon Giant

-

he is finished at last!

[fiber-optic-alligator]

for the Halloween prompts, how about...

Depths

Anon, I provide you with mer Rodimus being a total idiot :D

WARNING: THIS STORY INCLUDES SAFE VORE. THIS THIS IS SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE, THEN PLEASE DO NOT READ.

The late-day sun sparkles against the water, sending a scattering of light shimmering everywhere one might look. The boat charges through the waves with steady determination, rocking ever-so-slightly as it sails away from the little island sitting on the horizon. The vessel’s name, the Alcor, is painted on its side, but it’s faded from the constant exposure to the watery elements of the Atlantic, its gold coloring scuffed and chipping away in some places. The fancy dragon’s head painted on the bow’s side is no better: the coloring was obviously once a vibrant gold, but is now a dull version of its former self. The fishing boat is old, it isn’t difficult to realize. But according to her captain, old does not mean useless, and she still runs like a champ.

  The Captain is an eccentric woman. You’ve known her since childhood, and it’s honestly a miracle that the two of you have been able to keep in touch ever since. You first met her when you were playing in the sand of one of the many beaches bordering the coastside town the two of you grew up in. Both of you shared a love for the sea, and would spend summer days among the waves and the sand, picking up rocks to search for little crabs and pretending to be sea dragons battling over territory within the water. The Captain is boisterous and proud, making friends everywhere she goes. You grew up to be her exact opposite: introverted and quiet and not at all the type of person she is today. Sometimes you wonder just how exactly you have managed to keep up with her for all of these years.

  “How’re you holding up over there?” she yells to you from the cockpit. “Haven’t thrown up yet, have you?”

  You look over your shoulder to shoot her a grin. Through the open window of the boat’s little room, you can see her hair waving in the soft breeze. Her skin is tanned from many days at sea, and the way she sways with the Alcor’s motions shows she is a true sailor. You admire how comfortable she is on the ocean. The Captain has always been called to the sea, destined to master the ways of boats and ships. Your skills lie in a different direction, however, and it’s apparent that you are not on the same level of experience as she is when it comes to this sort of thing.

  “Not yet,” you shout back to her. “The water’s pretty calm today. I thought I would’ve hurled my lunch by now.”

  The Captain laughs. “Don’t get used to it! The ocean has a mind of its own. I guess it’s feeling pretty decent today, but that’s sure to change. You’ll get your moment of seasickness soon enough!”

  “That’s…not really something I’m anticipating.”

  The Captain laughs again. “Ah, you landlubbers crack me up!”

  There is a rocky outcropping rapidly coming into view with short spires popping up from the waves. The Alcor slows to a more leisurely pace as it approaches. You look down at the water and see your own warped reflection staring back at you. The ocean is so blue here. It’s so deep, so rich, so beautiful. You could stand here and look at it all day long.

  The boat putters to a stop a good distance from the rocks, and the Captain drops the anchor. You feel the vibration of her heavy footsteps in the soles of your boots, and you can’t help but smile fondly when she claps a hand on your shoulder. “Whatchya lookin’ at?” she asks.

  “The ocean,” you reply. “It’s so pretty here.”

  “That it is.” She sighs. “It’s a fickle thing, the ocean. Sometimes it’s as nasty as a bull shark, and other times it’s as calm as a sea turtle. But one thing that never changes is its beauty.” She pats your shoulder again. “Well, you’re here to see the whales, aren’t you? They should be up at any moment now. Get that camera ready!”

  “R-Right.” You fumble with the camera around your neck, raising it to your eye in order to calibrate it into focus. The Captain watches you with a grin. “You sure do love that thing, don’t you?”

  “Well, it’s my job,” you say. “The theme for this month is the ocean. I thought some whales might be a good option.”

  “They are. Whales are beautiful. I think it’s a great choice.” Her eyes light up. “Hey, I have some equipment down below that we can use for this! We can boot up the old hydrophone from back in my tour days. You wanna try it out?”

  You look surprised. “We can use one of those?”

  “Of course! Commercial whale watching companies use them all the time! Wait right here, I’ll be right back!” She descends the rickety stairs leading into the Alcor’s interior, leaving you alone. You huff goodnaturedly, smiling. That’s the Captain for you. When she has an idea, she goes with it, no matter what.

  You listen to the water lapping gently against the boat’s sides, methodically, rhythmically. It is a peaceful evening, one where the sun hangs lazily in the sky and the clouds drift by like oddly-shaped marshmallows in the expanse of dark blue. You inhale deeply, tasting the scent of salt that the ocean provides. It stings your lungs and wakes you up. It’s a good feeling. Comforting. 

  The sun continues to dip down, until it’s gone for good and the ocean is cast in darkness. The Alcor’s lights automatically turn on, offering limited light that pierces through the vale. It’s a bit uneasy to be so isolated like this, with nothing but the ocean surrounding you. But the Captain is knowledgeable, and her boat is reliable. Civilization isn’t far away, and it won’t be difficult to return. You don’t feel in danger here.

  You ready your camera, excited. There’s a pod of whales out here who only tend to breach during twilight. You plan on capturing their beauty and submitting it to the nature magazine you work for. It’s a steady job, one that pays well and grants you the opportunity to take in the sights you love to observe. You may not be like the Captain, but you certainly appreciate the ocean in your own way.

  A splash draws your attention away from your camera and to the water. Looking over, you see some ripples not too far away that look like they were made by a jumping fish. Curious, you peer closer…and that’s when the boat rocks.

  It’s not a violent movement, but it’s enough to make you sway and nearly lose your balance. Instinctively you reach out and grab the railing. It felt like something brushed against the Alcor’s underbelly. You go to the other side and peer down, just in time to see a flash of red before it’s gone.

  “What the fuck?” you murmur. What was that? A fish? You don’t think you’ve ever seen a fish that color in these waters before. You pick up your camera, ready for a snapshot at any moment. Suddenly the twilight whales are far from your mind.

  The boat rocks again. This time, you do fall over, landing on your bottom with an “Oof.” You wince, rubbing your lower back when you stand up. What the hell is going on? Could the whales be here now? It’s not unknown for them to be curious about boats. Perhaps one is brushing up to the Alcor in order to find out what exactly it is.

  You decide to look over the boat, hoping you’ll catch sight of one. Instead, you find yourself meeting the gaze of a giant eye.

  A scream is ripped from you. You stumble backwards, pressing yourself against the cockpit’s side. Boots pound against the boat’s stairs not long after as the Captain bursts from the interior, eyes wide. “What happened!?” she exclaims. “Y/N! Are you okay!?”

  You point a shaking hand. “There…There was…a-a-”

  “What? There was a what?”

  “An…An eye.”

  You’re expecting a much different reaction from her than what she displays. Maybe bewilderment. Maybe disbelief. Perhaps even amusement and a brushing off of what you saw as a poor joke. But when you look at the Captain and you see the fear in her eyes, you know for a fact that what you just witnessed in the water was not a mere figment of your imagination.

  “Fuck,” she says. “Shit. That thing isn’t supposed to be back until next month.”

  “Huh?” You have no idea what she is talking about. “What do you mean?”

  She rushes for the cockpit and grabs the wheel. The boat fires up, engine roaring as she raises the anchor and begins driving. “It’s some sort of deep-sea creature that periodically comes to the surface to hunt! It messes with our fishing and enjoys toying with our boats, so we’ve developed a schedule for when it appears! But it’s way too early!”

  “What the-are you serious?! I’ve never heard about this!”

  “That’s because you’ve been gone for so long!” she yells. “It only started showing up a year ago! Just stay away from the water! Don’t go near it!”

  “How am I supposed to do that?” you exclaim. “We’re surrounded by water!”

  Something hits the boat hard. You reel forwards, arms splaying out in a desperate search for balance. The Alcor skips across a wave; you hit the railing and shriek when everything tilts and you find yourself falling over the edge.

  “Y/N!” The Captain howls your name. Then all sound dies as you submerge beneath the water and a rushing of bubbles engulfs your senses completely.

  Your first instinct is to cry out, but you catch yourself and slap your hands over your mouth to prevent any loss of oxygen. Opening your eyes, you can hardly see as you float beneath the waves. The water is murky and dark. You look up and you catch sight of the Alcor wheeling around to search for you. Lungs already burning, you start to go up, hoping you’ll make it in time before you lose air.

  There’s something swimming beneath you. You feel the water ripple over your feet. You look down, and there it is. The eye you saw earlier. Only now there are two of them, connected to a face. A massive face staring at you, lingering just to the point where only the creature’s upper half is visible. It’s some sort of sea monster with accents of bright red, orange, and yellow. It reminds you of a lion fish, with the multiple spikey finials branching from the sides of its face, back, and arms. It looks at you, and makes a soft warbling sound, teeth bared. You can’t tell if it’s trying to smile or show aggression.

  Well, you certainly aren’t going to stick around to find out. You start to swim again, heading for the waiting Alcor. Your chest aches, and you’re beginning to feel lightheaded. The sea monster keens; you don’t look back to see if it’s following. When you breach the surface and throw your head back to gulp down lungfuls of air, you hear the Captain yell your name.

  “Y/N!” She’s leaning against the railing, panicked. “Are you okay!?”

  “THERE’S A FUCKING SEA MONSTER DOWN THERE!” you gasp breathlessly.

  “I know! Come on, get back on the boat!” She urgently gestures for you to swim.

  You start to. You’re so close to making it. You see the boat’s little ladder in sight and you know you’ll be okay, you’ll get on the Alcor and get the hell out of here, never to see what you saw beneath the waves ever again.

  Unfortunately, it has other plans for you. Before you know it, you feel yourself being lifted, water pooling beneath you and falling down the cupped hands of the beast as it rises up, bringing you close. You scrabble at the webbing between its fingers as you watch the Alcor grow distant with the height you are gaining. The Captain watches on in absolute horror. She looks like she doesn’t know what to do. You don’t blame her. There’s not much anyone can do when you’re being scooped up by a giant sea monster.

  The creature peers down at you with a curious, almost excited gaze. Cooing softly, it brushes its thumb over your head, ruffling your already-soaked hair. You cringe away from its touch, covering your head as terror overtakes you. “No! Let me go!” you demand. “Please!”

  It tilts its head, finned ears drooping as it watches you cower. It leans in and purrs, bumping its nose against your middle. You don’t budge, too scared to do much of anything.

  Warm air whooshes over you as it huffs. You peek your eyes open just in time to watch it part its lips, showing off a mouthful of shark teeth and a waiting tongue that immediately licks you, spreading saliva all over your body. You sputter and squirm.

  Dear lord. It’s going to eat you.

  You don’t have time to react. It’s just too quick with it. Before you know it, you’re being shoved into its mouth, dexterous tongue curling around you and dragging you back towards its waiting throat. You scream, thrashing with all of your strength, reaching out a shaking, saliva-covered hand towards the last sliver of the outside world you might ever see. The sea monster slams its jaws shut, sealing you inside its maw. It gives you no moment of reprieve; already, you feel your legs catching in the powerful ring of muscle waiting behind you. A gulp resounds through your skull and makes your ears ring.

  With one last cry for help, you are sucked in, disappearing behind layers of skin and scales, swallowed down into its depths.

[muppenthings]

This is very out of the blue but I'm just going with my motivation at this point. So have some mer!Elmer lore in nightmare form.

Elmer's sister is like Uncle Ben, her ultimate fate is the same in every universe. Which was a very traumatizing event for Elmer leaving him with a lot of guilt and fear.

The marine biologist originally came to see if they could sneak into the water and remove the net that's still tangled around a fin. But they couldn't ignore those tears. They didn't expect him to wake up however so they got a little nervous; Elmer usually bolts when they get a little too close.

This time, the offered comfort overrode the fear response. :,)

[wendy130]

Thinking about

Thinking about how a giant shows off their power to a tiny (a mer shredding a fish with their claws; a human cracking a pistachio open; a giant uprooting trees) in order to convey “I am powerful.” 

And they show how gentle they can also be (a mer handing the now small pieces of meat to a smaller mer so they can eat easier; a human sliding the pistachio over to a borrower/fairy as a sign of peace; a giant holding their human in a gentle fist with so so much care) in order to convey “but I will never hurt you.”

But the tiny only sees, only hears, them say “I am powerful.” The tiny cannot hear them say “I will not hurt you,” because they’re too busy filling in the rest of the sentence with “I could easily overpower you without a second thought.”

(The smaller mer only sees the claws tearing into their own flimsy scales; the borrower/fairy only sees them being torn apart; the human only sees their roof being pulled off. 

They all see themselves being crushed.)

[olivexing]

The tension is palpable….

big fish, small sailor :)