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toppamplemousse · 8 days ago

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fairytalestappen part 4/5: the little mermaid

sorry for the delay in putting this part out, i've been feverishly writing the surprise brainworm that took over and is now a 21k fic that we'll be posting next week hehehehehe

please bear with me as a take about 1 million artistic liberties with the story of the little mermaid and also throw a bit of pirates of the caribbean in there

max is the captain of a pirate ship. traumatic upbringing, very jaded and cynical, doesn't trust anyone but himself to do things. he stole a Navy ship and became a pirate and now he's feared and admired in equal measure as the famous pirate captain Mad Max and his ship is #UnleashTheLion

one day, Max's crew capture a mermaid in their fishing net, and they're planning to kill him and stuff him and sell him to a museum. Max is initially ambivalent, but then gets a look at the mermaid, and my god he's beautiful. tanned skin, messy brown hair, the most gorgeous green eyes you've ever seen in your life (and they're filling with tears, god how tragically gorgeous) and an exquisite red tail.

while the rest of the crew is below deck for some reason, and max is alone with the mermaid, he carefully extricates the mermaid from the net and the mermaid is like "what are you going to do to me," and max is kinda surprised bc he didn't know mermaids could talk but then max is like "im going to go up to the helm and turn my back, and if you somehow manage to escape from my restraints and jump back overboard, well there would be nothing i could do to stop you" and so the mermaid escapes and when max's men come back he puts on the performance of a lifetime claiming that the mermaid escaped.

this will Become Important Later but basically at some point when max is bantering with his crew, one of them sarcastically says "yes, your highness," in response to Max and the mermaid overhears this

fast forward a few months. charles, who of course was the mermaid, is a mermaid prince, the (adopted) son of the mermaid king, maurizio arrivabene. maurizio hates humans, so he doesn't let the mermaids go above water. but charles was always curious about humans, so he would venture closer to the surface, which is what led him to getting caught up in the pirate's net a few months ago. ever since that day, charles hasn't been able to stop thinking about the man who saved him, his blonde hair and blue eyes and his kind smile. charles keeps going to the surface to follow boats, hoping they'll be max's. maurizio finds out and gets really mad at charles and says he's never allowed to go to the surface again. cue a little but daddy i love him moment.

charles goes to the evil sea witch, busty mattia binotto, and begs him to help him. charles wants to become human and go to the surface, so that he can meet max and get to know him (and hopefully fall in love and be with him forever and ever). there's just one tiny insignficant miniscule infinitesimal complication. because of the joke that Max's crew made, and because of how beautiful and regal and commanding Max looked on his ship, Charles believes that Max is the prince of the nearby seaside kingdom.

mattia (evil, spineless, grotesque monster that he is) realizes that he has the prime opportunity to trick charles. he tells charles that he will give him legs and send him to the human world. all charles has to do is get the prince to fall in love with him, and kiss him before sunset on the third day. of course only mattia knows that the prince is actually not max but CARLOS (the man is the spitting image of prince eric so this fits perfectly). if charles fails, after the third day he'll become a mermaid again and he'll be mattia's servant FOREVER. also to parallel the little mermaid, mattia takes something of charles that’s quintessential to who he is and could help him to charm the prince: his DIMPLES.

okay wow so much exposition. let's get to the STORY. so dimple-less charles goes to the surface. he is so unsure and wobbly on his new legs, like a baby deer, and it's very endearing. he comes ashore in the port and heads to the local watering hole, Sir James' Tavern

charles is so curious about everything and he's chatting up the bartender, asking where the prince lives, etc. the bartender (jenson button for those wondering) gives him directions to the castle.

just then, who should enter sir james' tavern but pirate captain mad max and his crew, in port for a few days and wanting to relax and have a good time at their favorite local tavern!

charles cannot believe his luck! the prince has come to him, he doesn't even need to go to the palace! this is going to be a piece of cake. max doesn't seem to remember that charles is the mermaid whose life he saved (this is a bit unrealistic as who could forget charles' beauty but. just go with it) but they hit it off, go to a secluded table and drink together and its very charged and they are each halfway in love with the other already and they almost kiss BUT THEY ARE RUDELY INTERRUPTED!!! by fernando and george, two of max's crew, almost getting into a pub brawl over tavern wench alex. the scuffle draws the attention of some nearby guards, who try to intervene. max and his crew decide to get out of there because they are of course wanted men, and max doesn't get the chance to say goodbye to charles or to arrange to see him again, which is very devastating

however, charles is not bothered by it! he will just go to the palace the next day (thanks jenson for the directions) and he will find max and they can spend more time together! foolproof plan charles

charles goes to the palace, and the guards initially rebuff him, bc he looks a bit like a ruffian, very dirty and wearing scavenged clothes (although still beautiful). the guards are trying to turn him away when suddenly, prince carlos shows up and immediately (i'm talking IMMEDIATELY) falls in love with charles on the spot. he tells the guards to unhand him, because he must meet this man and marry him. charles doesn't understand; this man is the prince? what about beautiful max? charles tries to explain that he's looking for the OTHER prince, carlos' brother, no you don't understand, i'm looking for max, the other prince? nobody seems to know what he's talking about, and suddenly he's being escorted to a room where he bathes, and he's given nice clothes, and he has a lovely dinner with carlos and. wait a minute. carlos has decided they're GETTING MARRIED? no wait, you don't understand, i'm looking for the other prince!!

carlos tries to kiss charles many times, but each time charles avoids him, trying to explain that there's been some kind of misunderstanding, he can't marry carlos, he's in love with someone else.

also it should be noted here that, even though they aren't a big part of the story, flounder, scuttle, and sebastian are still charles' trusty sidekicks in this fairy tail. flounder is andrea ferrari, scuttle is joris, and sebastian is.......well, sebastian. he sings kiss the girl to try to get carlos and charles to successfully kiss, and he also gets chased around the palace kitchen by head chef mark webber, who is trying to cook him for dinner. anyway that's unimportant.

in order to make everything more romantic, carlos plans to have their wedding on a ship at sunset on the third day. they sail out, it's so beautiful, charles is in a white dress (against his will but he still looks very gorgeous). then suddenly, the shadow of a mast falls across the deck where the ceremony is taking place. its the dreaded pirate Mad Max and his ship #UnleashTheLion. the pirates board the ship and max rescues charles. they kiss just as the sun slips below the horizon.

mattia binotto rises from the deep and laughs very evilly. everything went according to plan, charles did not kiss carlos, and now he belongs to mattia FOREVER. he turns charles back into a mermaid, and at this point, max realizes that the mermaid he saved all those years ago is also this beautiful man that he's in love with!!!! mattia takes charles and vanishes.

max escapes from the royal ship and goes back to his pirate ship, being chased by the royal navy. he searches high and low for charles and mattia. eventually, mattia gets fed up with this annoying pirate, and causes a huge storm. max is a great sailor so he navigates the storm, and he's a man in love so he's not going to stop looking for charles.

fine, mattia will take matters into his own hands. he turns into a giant (still busty) sea witch and brings charles with him to the surface. he tries to kill max but max stabs mattia with the prow of the ship and mattia dies. good fucking riddance mattia binotto.

max and charles are reunited and profess their love for each other. max marvels that charles is the same mermaid he saved and charles thanks him for saving his life. they kiss. but how are they going to be together, when charles is still a mermaid, and max is a human?

that turns out to be the least of their problems. as mattia's storm clears, the royal navy are upon them. max has given up his freedom as a pirate on the open seas to rescue charles. max tells charles and the rest of his crew to save themselves, and he surrenders to the royal navy to save his crew.

charles is HEARTBROKEN. he only got but a brief moment with max before max was ripped away from him. and now, max is set to be hanged for being a pirate. charles CANNOT let that happen.

charles' adopted father (maurizio arrivabene if you've forgotten) sees how heartbroken charles is, and he realizes that he must set charles free, in order for him to truly be happy. he casts a magic spell with his magic trident and charles turns back into a human.

charles goes back to shore and he goes to sir james' tavern, determined to come up with a way to save max. he finds max's crew there, miserable because their captain is going to be hanged. charles gives an impassioned speech and rallies max's men, along with jenson of course, to come up with a plan to save max

it's the day of max's hanging. as the noose is fit around max's neck, suddenly, all hell breaks loose. max's men all throw off their disguises and begin dueling the palace guards, distracting them enough for a lithe and nimble figure to dart onto the dais, undo max's bindings, and drag him through the crowd to freedom. it's charles!!! he takes max back to sir james' tavern, tends to max's injuries, and they once again profess their undying love. turns out maurizio arrivabene has given charles a gift, a la H2O: when charles is on land (or on a ship mayhaps) he will be human, but when he's in the water, he can be a mermaid.

how convenient, as max and charles decide they will be pirate captains on max's ship, scavenging and pillaging and plundering and also fucking nasty in the captains cabin every night. and whenever charles wants to, either to visit his family, or talk to his sea creature friends, or help when the pirates are battling other ships, he can turn into a mermaid and go into the sea.

and thus they lived happily ever after and whenever they're in port they go to sir james' tavern to see bartender jenson button, and carlos eventually falls in love with and marries the tavern wench lando and its such a scandal that everyone forgets about that time that the prince’s fiance turned into a mermaid on their wedding day and then a sea witch kidnapped him and then he got rescued by a pirate who got captured and then the mermaid helped him escape.