#one piece mer people au

[squisheycat]

Happy Lawlu day! 06/6

I don’t remember if I posted this already or not

[schoenpepper]

Isekai'd Chronicles 4

Intro: Octavinelle in an isekai AU.

Warnings: bad writing, awful grammar, proofread by quillbot, the fish mafia deserve their own warning, mentions of death in all of them, Floyd in his mer form

A/N: Floyd's one of my favorite characters, but I must admit that Jade's part is probably my favorite one that I've written.

Masterlist

It seems like you have the braincell in your trio today. When your idiots come to you with tears in their eyes and a sea anemone on their heads, there's a little part of you that wants to tell them to deal with it on their own. But you don't do that because sadly, you're a good friend. Instead, you trudge on over to the cafe run by the shadiest people on campus, and you meet the second shadiest person on campus.

Shady, sleazy little octopus, the man is. Another duke-in-line, this one to the merfolk, so he has the same status as you really, Azul Ashengrotto is another hard mode capture target and one you can't afford to cross. You sit down in his fancy VIP room and he tells you that he wants to make a deal with you. He'll shorten your friends' time working at the lounge if you work alongside them! Isn't he such a benevolent soul? You agree of course, and reading through the contract, there's not a lot of pitfalls that can even be made with such straightforward terms. You realize pretty early on that getting you on board was only Azul's road to getting Kalim and Leona to blow way too much money on the lounge, and according to the contract, you can't ask them to stop even if you wanted to.

He's not a bad boss at least. You stomp over to his office and demand to eat lunch there, because the break room has a certain pair of mers you'd be smart to avoid. He doesn't stop you, and he even makes for good conversation while you eat. You share the littlest bits and pieces of your life with him for the same crumbs he's willing to give out. You force him to stay and chat with you when you're on a closing shift because the ADeuce combo are in the back washing dishes. Slowly, it starts to feel like you're more than just acquaintances, and you start to think he's quite a nice guy if he just stopped trying to pull you into stupid deals.

Really nice—he even ends your and your friends' contracts with the lounge earlier, in exchange for you coming by often and hanging out with him.

The octopus won't kill you. You're not a hundred percent sure, but it's enough to cross him off the list of capture targets who might kill you without blinking.

At the very least, Azul will shed mock tears for you.

"Azul senpai, I brought you some snacks!" You saunter into his office comfortably, proudly presenting a wicker basket full of baked goods. He raises an eyebrow and sets down his pen, a questioning look on his face. "And what do you want in return?"

You pout at him, faking an expression of hurt. "I don't want anything!"

"Liar. Tell me what you came for."

You laugh and the facade breaks, cracking into pieces as you pick up your phone and show him some pictures. "This weekend, there's a festival in the sea, right? I got permission from the headmaster and my parents, so can you play tour guide for me, senpai?" Azul's smile stiffens slightly, and he coughs into his fist as he turns away. "Fine. But only if it's just the two of us. My services won't be bought with pastries if you want to bring someone else."

You still don't have a club! That's a shame, don't you think? No. You don't think it's a shame, because you don't have an interest in any club when your friends seemed clingier and clingier recently, barely even getting you time to yourself. Not that you minded of course, but wait, why are clubs mandatory now?

Let’s see…gargoyles? You'd rather avoid the fae prince. Basketball with Ace and Jamil and— no, the mer is there. Film research has that elf, maybe spelldrive with Leona, but oh? What's this? A mountain lover's club? That was never mentioned in the game, but it sure peaked your interest. You submit the papers to Kalim because he's the leader of the dorm it's more Jamil but whatever, and when you reach the club room for your very exciting first club meeting, who do you see but the shadiest person on campus? The best thing to do would be to close the door on this guy, but he...looks so happy? And he trained you as a server at the lounge anyway, so you know he's not too bad.

Jade Leech tells you he's been looking forward to having another member in the club, and when he looks at you with that sharp toothed smile, your dumb little human heart forces you to sit down and complete your club registration.

Yay, you?

The game itself was vague regarding the tweels' family background, but they were nothing to sneeze at for sure. The danger is swept to the back of your mind when the club president is so giddily talking about terrariums and mushrooms and when he asks if he's saying too much, you can only shrug and reply that you don't mind listening. You even jot down notes every once in a while, and it's really nice to see him so happy. Even if he is the shadiest guy in school. Thus, every Friday after class, you two go on hikes up hills and mountains, and you play assistant as he looks for new mushrooms or different things to use in his terrariums. When the sun sets, you have yourselves a little bonfire and roast some random food that maybe shouldn't be roasted, looking up at the stars and talking about everything and anything.

You still don't doubt he'd likely kill you if he must, but you think he'd rather not lose the only other member of his club and would thus warn you first before murdering you.

The stars are beautiful, but the moon is hidden away by conveniently placed clouds in the sky. "I wish I could see the moon." You whisper to Jade, sighing wistfully. When you look at him, there's an oddly dreamy look in his eyes as he replies.

"I wish I could have the moon closer to me. I wish the moon would let me touch it, run my fingers over its grooves and imperfections. I wish...I could hide the moon away so that no one else would yearn for it the way that I do."

Floyd Leech has something out for you, you just know it! He's been following you around and teasing you and calling you names, and you can't do anything because just remembering the way the villain died in Floyd's route has shivers going down your spine. He's whining that Azul and Jade have been acting all weird recently, but what does that have to do with you?! Your friends try to shield you from his bone crushing squeezes every once in a while, but they're all so busy these days that you can't even use them as sacrifices anymore. So you pop yourself into the school's store and pick up a cute little keychain. It's shiny and pretty and you decide to buy one for yourself and one for Floyd as an offering, praying to whatever deity existed that he'd chill and leave you alone. But with the way he looks at you after, with stunned, wide eyes and all, it makes you think you don't really know what exactly you did. He does kind of calm down after that. Emphasis on kind of.

He tells you he finds you real funny, and he now sort of listens when you tell him you can't breathe in between squeezes. He serves you at the lounge whenever you come by, giggling and gossiping about stupid customers even when he's supposed to be working his shift. He badgers you to attend his basketball games and practices, and you suck it up and go the extra mile by bringing sports drinks and towels for everyone in the team, if only because Ace and Jamil were there too. He's not awful once you've gotten to know him, and you've managed to wrap your head around his idea of fun enough to actually find it fun, running around in the school to find places to parkour and even going incognito outside campus to shop for shoes. You think you've found a way to maybe coexist peacefully with him, even having the guts to lightly scold him as you wrap up his injuries from grabbing some poor kid for Azul.

Well, to be honest, you still see him killing you as a possibility, if only a smaller one. At the very least, you think you're close enough that he would choose a more painless death for you should he want to get it done. Fingers crossed.

You find him mesmerizing in this form. All muscle and shiny teal skin, even his razor sharp teeth look so beautiful like this, and the webbing between his fingers were so cool, and his claws were so awesome, and his tail was downright majestic!

"Neh, Shrimpy, you've gone all quiet. Don't tell me you're scared~?"

You shake your head and come closer to the glass wall, pressing your hands up against the glass.

"Floyd senpai, you're so pretty." You whisper in a daze, eyes chasing after the flick of his tail. He freezes for a few seconds before laughing, swimming closer to you.

"Hey Shrimpy, you're real funny, ain'tcha? I think I'll keep ya'."

[liloinkoink]

[art by @martynsimp69]

hello to the, uh, 200+ new followers i've gained from trivia. im finally remembering to throw out a quick pitch for some of my fics to you lot. can i interest you in some lanterns

Lamplight AU

Lamplight a DnD-inspired fantasy renchanting/treebark au in which Martyn is a paladin-by-desperation and Ren is his god. if you've ever seen fanart of Martyn with a lantern / staff around, that's this!

Ren has lost his body and been left in the form of living fire, and Martyn has been separated from his adventuring party. the two of them are looking for a way to restore both of these, and doing a lot of arson in the interim. the fic is about 50k, most of which is "canon" storyline and the rest of which is "non-canon" ship fic. there's also plenty of cool art and even some animatics for the fic, all of which i absolutely recommend trawling thru the "lamplight au" tag for (on here or on my writing blog, @driflew, or checking the fanart tab on my blog). there are even a pair of spin off fics written by close friends of mine for desert duo and boat boys!

lamplight is written out of chronological order and uploaded whenever. work on it lately has been slow, but it's still ongoing

lamplight isnt my only fic (tho it is my favorite). i write a lot more renchanting/treebark aus, some of which ill list off here:

A Romance Route for the Doomed Villain?!?

(for the record. that title was NOT my idea). this au is also known as treesekai, or the treebark isekai dating sim parody oneshot. martyn is a normal man far too obsessed with the main antagonist of a poor-quality dating sim, the very same dating sim he's isekai's into. silly crack treated seriously parody fic as a love/hate letter to the many, many isekai webcomics ive read on webtoon originals over the years. it has a lot of rlly cool art and fic based of it, which you can find in the "treesekai" tag here or my writing blog

Treebark Week 2023

i also have a handful of oneshots from participating in every single day of treebark week around this time last year. these oneshots are for a bunch of different aus, such as a One Piece au, a beauty and the beast au, a lamplight roleswap au, a hero/villain au, a king/pirate au, and a mer au. all of these aus were developed with the help of other people (Rev for the One Piece au, and Cherri for the rest) and have other fics or art attached!

you can find bonus scenes from all of these aus, fanart or fan writing (including several page long comics or animatics), and even scenes from other aus i havent posted on ao3 over at my writing blog, @driflew, under the "lew writes" tag

uhhhhh. not sure how to wrap this one up. welcome to my home? woe treebark be upon ye

[rungssparemodelpieces]

Enrichment

Takes place in @tinydefector Merformers AU either as a side story or separate continuity! Thank you for the inspiration!

The scent of salty brine filled the air as it was just another quiet day at the marine centre. With few eyes to observe the Oceanides at the center, be it for research or recreationally, a pair of blue eyes decided to take up the mantel as Rung observed the few humans that were wandering around, finding their interactions quite assuming as he liked to compare how similar their behaviors were to Oceanides. He liked watching people and would sometimes try to mimic some of their mannerisms such as a hand wave or a grin though these have been met with mixed results or confusion from the caretakers feeding or observing him. He knew from experience furrowed brows weren’t a good sign but he was still trying to learn how to at least communicate back in a way they could understand.

With Rung being an older Mer, he would stay back more at the center, balancing the solace he got in his alcove with hunting and interacting with his pod. Though he didn’t seem like the most active member, he did show a habit of decorating his area with an odd array of trinkets, some assumed to be from previous hunts such as large and unknown bones or manmade items like used car parts or toys that were either lost or dumped into the ocean. The marine centre has tried to remove or replace the pollutants but Rung has been rather shown to have an attachment towards these items. To counteract this, you were instructed to work on finding other items for him to collect and display that were found in his natural environment.

It was enrichment, or so that’s what Dr. Quin called it and for an Oceanides so old, it was a good way to keep his skills sharp and to give him exercise while staying around the area. When Rung went out hunting with his pod, you would dive in and scatter these trinkets for him to find. You’ve even buried or hid a few to see if he could find them and problem solving how to get them out. Rung seems excited to find new treasures for his trove, chirping and showing you when he found one before going back for more.

This arrangement has been your personal project for months as others focused more on the lone baby and the next generation of Oceanides. So far you’ve found success with shells, bones, coral, and oddly shaped rocks but it seemed as of recent, he was struggling to find items that were near him or even in plain sight, feeling around until he eventually found the object in question. In light of this new problem, you’ve been taking the day to observe him, wondering what you could do to help his decline in his quality of life here.

It seemed the answer was closer than you speculated as while adjusting some rocks around Rung’s sleeping area, a small splash caught his attention as he saw a strange piece of plastic flutter down, swimming over cautiously as the object hit the sandy floor with a poof. Once the sand settled, he noticed the item was an odd contraption he noticed some humans wore on their faces, perhaps to assist with their vision or to distinguish one from another.

Carefully, Rung picked up the glasses and out of curiosity, placed them on his face. It took a few tries as the sides of the frame poked at his gills but eventually, he was able to place them comfortably on his face. Looking through the clear glass, it became very apparent to him that the theory this device helped with vision was correct as he looked around, seeming the lagoon around him in better detail.

The stones and shells that lined the sand became more defined and he was able to notice more of the colorful details the small fish that fluttered in and out displayed. With this realization, Rung started to happily swim around and look around the lagoon with a new, clearer perspective.

~~

Meanwhile, you were helping an intern at the marine centre pick up some papers as she bumped into you, barely able to see over their own papers. The fledgling intern, Donna, squinted hard as she tried to find all the notes that had scattered in the collision.

“Is something wrong?” You asked as she seemed to be panicked, scrambling to find something more important than her notes.

“I- I can’t find my glasses,” Donna muttered as she tried her best to find them, her searching more erratic before she turned towards the open water, fear clear on her face, “I think- I think they might have fallen in when I bumped into you.”

You gave her a pat on the shoulder in an attempt to reassure her there was nothing to worry about. “It’ll be fine, we can get them back, Shrimp’s easy going and won’t mind if we pop in to retrieve them.”

With that, you leaned over the railing briefly, trying to get a hint of where Shrimp was before noting the flash of orange and white darting the water below, deciding to call out to him to see if he would respond or if he was in distress.

“Shrimp!” With the call of his name, Rung poked his head out of the water, his blue eyes appearing much larger due to the glasses he was wearing. A small chuckle escaped your lips as you called him over, finding the image quite humorous.

“It seems Shrimp decided to try on your glasses,” you commented to Donna before leaning down closer to Rung’e eye level, a bittersweet smile on their face as you held out your hand. “I’m sorry I have to ask but I need those glasses back.”

Rung dipped his head mostly in the water at this request, not wanting to lose this tool that he was just starting to enjoy. A rumble of his gills caused the water to ripple out around him as he pouted in disapproval.

“Look, I’ll ask Quin if we can find you another pair but Donna needs those back so she can see,” you asked him, the Mer still not relenting as a burb of bubbles left his mouth as if sighing.

“I promise I’ll get you another pair, you have my word.” A few moments later, he conceded, handing the glasses back before retreating under the water before you could thank him, obviously sad about returning the glasses but seemingly understood that Donna needed them back.

Returning the glasses, Donna thanked you before scurrying away, your focus returning to the lagoon for a brief moment before returning back to the facility proper.

~~

“You’re requesting glasses, is that correct?” Dr. Quin attempted to clarify as she looked at your request for numerous pairs of waterproof glasses. The request was odd, to say the least, but she wanted to hear you out first before making her decision.

“Yes,” you stated before explaining yourself, “Earlier today, Donna’s glasses ended up near Shrimp in the lagoon and looking the video feed from that time, it seemed he not only enjoy playing with them but benefited from wearing them. He was swimming around excitedly and interacting like he could fully see his environment! I think giving him the option to choose and wear some would help him greatly… and I did promise him I would give him another pair to wear.”

You rubbed your arm nervously, knowing it was a long shot, but seeing at least one Mer so happy, especially with priorities being with the future generations of Oceanides, it made you feel like you could at least help one in the long run, a minor victory on the road ahead.

“Then we better find him a pair that works,” Dr. Quin stated as she signed her name for approval, a hum in her voice before being cut off by a hug and thank you from you, a pat on the back signaling you to lighten up on the embrace, “And besides, I don’t want you to break a promise.”

Excited, you thanked her once more before starting the process of finding glasses that might fit an Oceanides more comfortably.

~~

Rung poked at the sand that lined the floor of the lagoon, prodding under the dark blur he assumed was a rock or perhaps an clam before he heard you call him by the nickname you gave him, curious as it wasn’t feeding time yet. Perhaps it was another medical check, especially given his age.

Either way, he swam to the surface to find you kneeling down by the shore, a strange box in hand and an excited look on your face. “Hey, Shrimp, remember that promise I made about the glasses? Well, I kept it,” you mused before handing him a pair, “I hope these work for you.”

Upon realizing what you had, Rung excitedly took the glasses, putting them on and… frowning it seemed these frames made his vision worse, taking them off as the blurriness hurt his head.

“Oh, it seems those don’t work for you,” he mused, offering a different pair to him, “I have a few pairs until we find the right ones for you.” Through some trial and error, it seemed he found the perfect pair, big blue orbs staring at you as he swished his tail happily, the air being filled with a few melodic hums of excitement.

Though through your eyes, Shrimp was excited to see clearly again, Rung was ecstatic that the first thing he saw clearly again was your face. The way that your hair clung around your face, the light crisp from the sea water, the smile on your lips, slightly chapped from working outside and in the water, it was all so incredible to him. You were incredible to him and it made him feel something, something deep and primal that stirred inside him as he trilled in thanks before diving back down to the depths. He was searching for something, something that would interest you, something that would show he had interest in you, and maybe, just maybe, be able to communicate what you mean to him.

[haunting-heroes-creative-games]

One Year Playing DPxDC Creative Games: A Masterlist

At the Haunting Heroes Discord Server, we’ve been having lots of fun playing writing and art games around DP and DC content. There have been so many drabbles, indulgent collabs, artistic reinterpretations, and many incredible stories and pieces of art, with chaos as the cherry on the top.

If you want to see everything that’s been created this year, take a look at this masterlist:

Banner created by @jazzinjuke

Who Wrote That? (WWT)

A writing game where a host shares a prompt, writers submit their stories to be shared anonymously and have people guessing who the author of each piece was.

Zoning Laws hosted by @chromatographic | Tumblr Masterpost

Tumblr Prompt hosted by @arzuera | Tumblr Masterpost 1 | Masterpost 2 | Masterpost 3

Winter Advent hosted by @summerssixecho | AO3 Collection

12 Days hosted by @arzuera & @chromatographic | Available on the Haunting Heroes Discord Server

Wingfic hosted by @finemeal | Tumblr Masterpost

First Meetings hosted by @theredshirtsarecoming | AO3 Collection

Reverse Robins hosted by @leithlovesyou | AO3 Collection

Self-Indulgent hosted by @chromatographic & @summerssixecho | AO3 Collection

Vampires hosted by @mynewhyperfixation | AO3 Collection

NSFW: I Need You hosted by @ectoentity | AO3 Collection

Teams hosted by @oliveofvanders | AO3 Collection

Mer AU hosted by @disillusioneddanny & @nightshiftshenanigans | AO3 Collection

Anniversary hosted by @arzuera | AO3 Collection

Olympics hosted by @leithlovesyou | AO3 Collection

Chaos hosted by @castrian-amore | AO3 Collection

Demon Twins hosted by @thewritingowl & @tourettesdog | AO3 Collection

Soulmates hosted by @theredshirtsarecoming & @pennerjones | AO3 Collection

Lightning Round (Drabbles) by @redskyeatnight | AO3 Collection

"YOU!" Emoji created by TourettesDog & Jazzinjuke

Guess That Artist (GTA)

An art game based on the same principle as WWT, where artists submit art pieces instead to be guessed by players.

Through The Screen hosted by @noir-renard | Tumblr Masterpost

Lesser Known hosted by @arzuera | Available on the Haunting Heroes Discord Server

Other Creative Games

Our server has also had many different games hosted by both our modding team and members alike. Some of these include our Anniversary Games, Frantic Fanfic, Robin’s Art Relay, Crime Mystery Games, Art Prompt Sprints, DPxDC Jeopardy, and many more.

If you wish to see more of our games, you can join our 18+ safe for work server. You can find all the details in this link

[ashensgrotto]

Never Had a Friend (like Me) - Part 1

Original art piece by pfbatakopd on twitter (Used only for Header. Do NOT REPOST ORIGINAL ART)

Part 1 (You Are Here) Part 2 Part 3

YandereSoulmate! AU:

Part 1 (Am I Feeling Love?)

Part 2 (Protective)

Part 3A & Part 3B (Poor Unfortunate Souls)

Characters: Azul Ashengrotto X F!Reader

Word Count: 9,105

Synopsis: A chance for redemption comes in the form of a wish…

Author’s Notes: Ok, here we go. I received an anonymous message in my inbox for the next part of the Yandere!Soulmate series and I was actually going to work on it - but with the arrival of GloMas, working on the next part of ‘Raison D’être,’ wanting to finish “Weren’t You Aware, Angelfish?”, AND the holidays, time got away from me and I forgot about Scarabia’s segment for a short while. 

However, because you all seem to enjoy this and want to know if the tako has redeemed himself - I figured I would work to get this part done. Now, warning - Pompefiore’s part is going to take a bit of time to complete because I will have to wiggle my way through my memory bank and replay a few parts of it (which is approx 76 chapters in length for those players who haven’t made it that far into the game yet) since I’m working so deep into Ignihyde’s chapter right now (which is a doozy - I’m still in chapter 67-tower 1, oof help).

This one is also going to be split into three parts - I promise it will not be a long wait for the second & third parts as this is my Christmas gift to all of my readers <3

Thank you all for your continued support!

Warnings are as follows: yandere behaviors, manipulation, imprisonment, & hypnosis

***

I’m in the mood, to help you dude

You ain’t never had a friend like me.

***

It had been weeks since the last overblot incident… and just as long since Azul last saw you.

He sat in his office, looking over paperwork for the last quarter and rubbing his brow with worry.

The profits had started to steadily decrease following his overblot, causing the Monstro Lounge to slowly suffer the loss, like an infection slowly eating away a mer’s life. He had no one really to blame but himself for that… Azul had lost control, let his obsession get out of hand and had hurt the people closest to him.

Jade… Floyd… you.

Azul let out another large sigh and set the report down, taking his glasses off and rubbing his face. He had considered going back to the Coral Sea for holiday, but was unable to due to two reasons; one, the ice floes would’ve made the journey too dangerous to travel alone - especially since Jade and Floyd had already prepared to stay at NRC for the holidays, and two… you were still here.

Not in Octavinelle where Azul had wanted you to be, but in a rundown shack on the school property.

The building had been a dorm, once upon a time, but ghosts had moved in and scared the students to the point that the building was deemed ‘unsafe.’ However, with your charms and personality, the ghosts were easily persuaded and welcomed you in with open arms - though Azul had a sneaky suspicion that both the headwardens of Savanaclaw and Heartslabyul had likely persuaded the otherworldly spirits in exchange for access to both of their dorms. Regardless, with you no longer in Octavinelle and now at the mercy of the headmage’s “generous” nature, Azul could only watch from the shadows as you now tended to the school property in a janitorial role.

Azul leaned back in his chair, his thoughts plagued by you before an obnoxious ringing noise filled the office.

He grumbled, picking the phone up, “Monstor Lounge, this is Azul speaking.”

“Hello baby, how are you?” the familiar voice of his mother on the other end made Azul jump in surprise.

“Mother,” Azul coughed, “Hello - I apologize I hadn’t had a chance to call you. We’ve been busy lately.”

“Oh, I know, sweetheart,” his mother answered, “It’s been busy here too… but everything’s been calming down since the ice floes came - though I was surprised to see your letter that you were considering coming home for the holidays.”

‘Shit…’ Azul had completely forgotten about that - when (Y/N) had lived in the Octavinelle at the beginning of the year, Azul had entertained the idea of potentially inviting her to his home for the holiday, slowly and suringly getting her accustomed to the idea of staying with him - although it would prove to be a difficult task, especially now.

“However, I’m assuming that you changed plans at the last minute,” his mother continued.

“Y-yes, I was indeed planning on coming… however, Jade and Floyd both decided to stay behind so I chose to stay as well,” Azul answered, the lie slipping easily off his silver tongue, “Someone has to keep those two in line, after all.”

His mother snickered, “Don’t be saying that in front of their father though. Sevens knows what the moray will do if you say anything like that.”

Azul nodded, clearing his throat, “Um, well… What's going on with you, then? The restaurant still alright? How’s Finn?”

“Finn’s well - busy as always,” his mother answered, “Business has been getting better - hired several new staff members as well… a few sweet mers around your age, Zully.”

Azul rolled his eyes, “Mother… we’ve had this talk. I’m… not interested.”

“You might not be, but it will happen one day,” his mother’s voice was calm and soothing before she sighed on the end of the phone, “However… I have a sneaky feeling that you’re still upset about what I told you all those years ago.”

Azul bit his lip, answering, “Of course not… Soulmates? That’s ridiculous.”

“Azul…” his mother’s voice turned into a scolding tone, “There are plenty of fish out there - I know you’re still pretty young to be thinking about it, considering a mer’s life is longer than most, but shorter than a fae’s… but I only want you to be happy.”

“I am, mother,” Azul tried to smile, “I’m content where I am - I’ve gotten stronger, my business is growing, and… I’ve learned so much.”

“Perhaps, but allow me to give you a little insight - it’s something I learned long ago,” his mother prompted, “Happiness, though may be defined as ‘the state of joy or contentment,’ is typically filled by three main parts of life; success, dedication, and personal. Dedication and success go hand in hand with each other - if you work hard and are dedicated, you achieve success - even if the tasks prove to be difficult to the point that you might fail over and over again. Personal can mean time for yourself - spending time with your hobbies or doing what you love… spending time with those you care about even.”

Azul listened to his mother’s words, thinking.

“I know that you are successful and you’re dedicated,” his mother continued, “But you won’t achieve happiness if you just focus on those two things - take time for yourself now and again, look for stronger connections within your friendships… and look for someone that will want to support you and you support them.”

“I… I think I understand…” Azul answered, “I’ll… take your words into consideration.”

“I hope so - your grandmother taught me that when I was still a little octo fry many years ago,” his mother answered, a teasing tone caught in her voice.

Azul couldn’t help but smile, “Yes… Nanna always did know what was best.”

“Yes, she did, still does even… Well, I should probably let you go, then - you have a lot of stuff going on there,” his mother let out a sigh, “Just remember… I love you, baby. Merry Christmas.”

“I love you too… momma. Merry Christmas and I’ll see you at the end of the year.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Zully. Stay safe.”

Azul smiled and hung the phone up, sitting back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling. 

“Finding that so-called ‘other half’ is like - well - like the story of the mermaid princess and her longing to be with a human. It’s a rare occurrence that only happens once in a millennium if not longer. Anyone can be happy with or without their soulmate, Azul. There’s no reason you should go to such lengths to be with someone who may not even exist…”

Azul shook his head at the memory of that day years ago - he wanted to forget… but sevens knows he couldn’t forget you.

A sudden loud crash had Azul bolting upright, his features twisting in annoyance. As far as he knew, the only ones in the lounge were Jade and Floyd… which could only mean one thing. 

Trouble.

“Those two morons…” Azul gritted his teeth, standing from his chair, “If I catch the lounge in a disarray again…”

He grabbed his jacket, tossing it over his shoulders, before placing his hat upon his head, the magestone pen morphing into the headwarden’s silver octopus topped cane. He hurried from his office and headed into the lounge.

Entering the lounge, Azul’s eyes widened at the sight.

The lounge was damaged - several tables and chairs were overturned, marred by huge cracks and scratches while lamps lay in pieces on the floor, the glass orbs scattered into a thousand fragments on the carpeted flooring and the magestones cracked and shattered as well. Azul’s eyes narrowed on Jade and Floyd’s figures, but realized they weren’t alone after all. Several students from the Scarabia dorm were there as well, their wands out and at the ready - pointing them at Jade and Floyd, who seemed to be guarding something on the floor.

Azul’s eyes widened in surprise at seeing Kalim’s magic carpet as well as Grim hiding behind the remaining two members of Octavinelle - and they weren’t alone.

You were there as well, cowering behind Jade and Floyd’s intimidating heights as the Scarabia students glared daggers at you.

“There’s no escape for you now, thieves!” 

“Surrender quietly!”

“Mrow?!” Grim held his paws up, “You chased us all the way here?! You guys are seriously stubborn, you know that?”

Azul remained quiet for a moment, his eyes shifting to look you over - noticing how you had one arm close to your body. Were you hurt?

Azul’s eyes narrowed as he approached, his shoes echoing in the lounge as his stern voice addressed the situation, “What is all the commotion at this late hour?”

The students turned to look at Azul, one of them speaking quietly, “Y-you’re… Azul Ashengrotto, the housewarden of Octavinelle!”

“Would you care to explain what is going on?” Azul asked calmly, moving to stand in front of you with Jade and Floyd behind him.

“It’s none of Octavinelle’s business,” another student tsked, “Just hand over the two of them quietly.”

Azul crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head as he eyed you and Grim out of the corner of his eye, “Now that I’m looking closer at it - it appears to be (Y/N) and Grim sprawled out on our floor, quivering and covered in dust. Heh - I almost thought they were a pair of dust cloths.”

“Azul, please,” Azul met your gaze, “save us with your spirit of benevolence.”

“Hmm…” Azul turned back to the group of Scarabia before him.

“If you refuse to hand them over, you’ll be blamed for their wrongdoings as well,” the student warned.

“Hey - are ya yankin’ my tail here?!” Floyd’s eyes widened dangerously, his teeth peering out from behind his lips, “Who do ya think yer talkin’ to?!”

“No fighting of any kind is permitted in the Monstro Lounge,” Azul kept his arms crossed over his chest, his focus reshifting to address the situation at hand, “This is a place for gentlemen.”

“What was that? Are you interfering?” one of the students asked, “Fine, we’ll just do this the hard way.”

“Hmph, I think it’s time we asked these ill-mannered patrons to leave,” Azul growled, clicking his tongue in annoyance, “Jade. Floyd. Show them the door.”

The eel twins grinned as they moved quickly, going after the Scarabia students like the set of predators that they were. Azul was quick to move and cover (Y/N), his overcoat covering your form to protect you from the fighting, “Don’t look, my dear, I do not wish for you to see such behavior.”

“Azul - I’ve seen worse,” your voice rattled him to the core as he huffed.

“I... don’t need the reminder.”

It didn’t take long for the Scarabia students to fall back, Jade and Floyd repocketing their pens.

“Go on an’ scatter, ya bunch of minnows!” Floyd laughed eagerly.

“We’ll be eagerly awaiting your next visit to our lounge,” Jade smiled.

As the last of the students disappeared, Grim jumped for joy, “Mya-haha! We did it! You see that?! That’s what you get, you bunch of jerks!”

“We, Grim? I think you mean they - Floyd and Jade - did it,” you ask before shaking your head and turning toward the trio, “Thank you, all three of you - I don’t want to think what they would’ve done if you hadn’t stepped in.”

“Thanks are unneeded, my dear,” Azul answered, standing and offering his hand, “However, I’m afraid we’ll have to bill you for repair fees for the tables and chairs - not to mention the lamps and assorted dishwear that was damaged in that fight. Not to mention our own labor rates, since we were dragged into this affair.”

“WHAT?! You’re charging us for that?!” Grim asked, throwing his paws up in the air.

“Surely it’s a small price to pay for us rescuing the both of you from the inky depths of peril? After all, (Y/N) did ask for my spirit of benevolence.”

“Azul, please,” you asked quietly, “There’s a reason that the Scarabia students were after us.”

“I’m assuming it has something to do with Kalim’s magic carpet.”

“... Not really,” you answer, “We were being held hostage.”

Azul frowned, not liking the word one bit, “Explain, (Y/N).”

***

Azul muddled over what you had just told him, Grim piping up every so often to include details about the Scarabia situation to add more information as the cunning octopus thought deeply. As Azul thought, his eyes kept shifting to you, his thoughts going deeper into self-loathing; if you had remained in Octavinelle, none of this would have happened - you would’ve been safe, not having to walk to an oasis down and back again every morning before even eating, or sleeping in a closet under lock and key, or even doing battles with other students of magic when you couldn’t even cast a spell yourself.

His poor little angelfish…

Azul’s eyes widened, an idea appearing in his mind… a chance of a lifetime had just been given to him and he would be damned to let it go to waste.

A knowning smile spread across his features, “...It sounds like we should go to their aid.”

“Myra?! Did you hit your head or something when I wasn’t looking?!” Grim asked.

“Of course not!” Azul feigned harm, lifting his gloved hand to his chest, “I’ll have you know, my dear Grimmy, that the last incident forced me to reflect on my greed. I came out a changed man!”

“Oh, really?” You asked, folding your arms across your chest, “Care to explain?”

“I decided to contribute to the school as a whole, in honor of the Sea Witch’s spirit of benevolence,” Azul explained, his features turning coy, “It’s common knowledge that the housewardens are typically the ones their students go to in times of need or struggle - even the vice wardens are responsible for that as well. However, the power has to be shared equally between both the house and vice wardens - and Scarabia’s all over the place. It’s faced with a crisis now and my own classmate is in need of help - I can hardly ignore them in their time of need.”

You watched Jade and Floyd give each other knowing smiles before the twins looked at Azul, Jade asking, “What is the plan?”

“Here’s my idea,” Azul proposed, “The five of us head to Scarabia tomorrow - we’ll go under the guise that we are returning Kalim’s carpet as well as offering assistance with the dorm’s studies, this will ensure our stay especially since Octavinelle did overwhelmingly well on their finals before break…”

“No thanks to your study guides,” Grim huffed.

“Grim,” You warned.

Azul coughed and continued, “Once we’ve secured our spot within Scarabia, we’ll be able to do a bit of sneaking around to figure out what’s really going on.”

“And I’m assuming you have an idea on how to do so?” Jade asked.

“Let’s get to that point before we make any rash decisions,” Azul answered.

“I think that is a wonderful idea,” you agreed.

“(Y/N)?! Are you crazy?!” Grim asked, “We can’t go back there!”

“Grim, we really have no other options,” you turned to the feline demon, “We’ve tried contacting the Headmage, the other students can’t get into the school because the dark mirror is closed off, we have no way of contacting Riddle or Leona either… Azul’s plan is the best we have right now. Personally, I’d rather not go back, but with the way things are looking for Kalim…”

“You’re afraid there’s going to be another overblot, aren’t you, pearl?” Jade asked.

Azul blinked, the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. Yes, Kalim’s behavior was erratic, but it couldn’t be enough for the headwarden to go into an overblot… would it?

“I’m afraid so,” you admit, looking over at Azul, “I noticed that… when things got a little out of control, someone overblotted. I can’t bare to see another student go through that, much less a housewarden again. I’d like to try and prevent it from happening again, if possible.”

Azul nodded, “No worries, angelfish - I’ll make sure mine was the last one you saw.”

You give the housewarden a small smile of relief - thankful that he seemed to understand.

Azul remembered during his blot how the memories of his childhood came forward; the root cause of his pain and suffering that eventually became his thirst for power that festered and grew until it snapped - and you had seen it all. Whatever this strange magical gift was and how you received it, Azul was certain that it was your own form of unique magic - one that was so powerful that it may even make Malleus Draconia afraid if he knew about it; the power to look into one’s past and see everything that shaped them into who they eventually became was strong powerful magic indeed - but, of course, Azul didn’t want anyone else to know about it, considering he was victim number three to the overblot crisis that appeared to be happening this year.

Azul reaches out, offering his hand to you, “(Y/N), as headwarden of Octavinelle - allow myself and Jade and Floyd to help you and Grim solve the mystery of Kalim’s strange behavior. I’m certain the five of us plus Jamil will be able to ease Kalim’s troubles and bring back the peace Scarabia so desperately needs. Do we have a deal?”

You look at his hand, the memory of the first day you met him and the day you lost your legs both playing in your mind - but what choice did you have? You look at him and take his hand, squeezing it.

“Promise - this will make us even?”

“Indeed. I promise.”

[goldenocie]

Hey, do you have any more thoughts about the fable/mer pirates?

And also, can I write a fic with them?

When it comes to fics containing aus I make I’m always okay with people utilizing the characters as long as I get a minor credit!!! Feel free to change stuff too, if I'm sending things out into the world I'm assuming they'll be changed as people get ideas for them

As for thoughts I did a lot of thinking for the guys of the "Wolfs pirates" on my art stream last night but here’s some basics:

Mer!Centross is somehow related to Nel but doesn’t have almost any mer traits besides purple coloring. He’s a violent pirate and the ships gunner and shipwright. I definitely see him as being a notorious pirate who got caught up with wolf somehow. Mer!Wolf goes by wolf because like in Fable he is a prince but the kingdom actually still exists and something happened that made him unable to return home. He got castawayed and stuck with this one dipshit pirate who he got unreasonably attached to and now is a pirate captain. The mask is to hide his face so people don't recognize him. He is the ships Captain and Helmsman Mer!Ari chat and i talked about being part regular mer (soraza, a flying fish mer) and part exorian. Ari was partially raised in the nether by Soraza so she has some exorian beliefs and behaviors but also doesn't lean fully into them. Overall if I had to describe her personality- she is sort of like Vexxed Ari but uses it as a front to survive. The way she genuinely acts and thinks is more akin to normal Arisanna. Shes the ships Navigator and quartermaster. She also gets gun rights Mer!Oscar is still a regular piglin. Ari picked him up when still living in the nether sometime after they lost Soraza and he becomes the crews cabin boy. he's still heavily impulsive like in fable (centross probably gave him a musket instead of a crossbow) and he likely is sort of a glue that helps them together when times are rough.

Overall I didn't think about anything beyond this. A lot of this got fueled by missing mer and fable respectively and watching a lot of One Piece recently. I'd love for them to have more members (Aax would have been added had he not already had a mersmp counterpart and I heavily considered Neveah)

[fandom-go-round]

Sea Salt Like Glitter: Part One

Summary: You’re a forest ranger. Trees and mammals are your specialty. Mermaids in the ocean? Way outside your area of expertise. Good News: They like you. Bad News: They like you a lot

Mer! Sun x  Plus Sized! Reader x Mer! Moon

Part One (Here!), Part Two ,Part Three

Enjoy the first of the wedding month stories! I’m guessing this is going to be around 3-4 parts. I’m a sucker for Sun and Moon and couldn’t leave the Mer AU alone. I hope everyone enjoys!

Warnings: Trapped in Rocks, Blood, Dehydration, Different Species, Threats of Bodily Harm

           The best time to go to your beach is around twilight. It’s not technically your beach but your house is the closest one to the water for miles. And technically it’s a ranger station, not a house, but it feels like home after a year of working. You enjoy the calmness of the ocean, gulls screaming and diving overhead. The air smells like salt but you appreciate the burn now. Part of the job is that you have to patrol the waterfront at least once a week and you do that at twilight.

           Fredrick Fitzgerald Beach and Forest. One of the most treasured pieces of nature in the country. Nicknamed ‘Pizza Beach’ after the restaurant chain started under the same family, the protected land is looked over by a special kind of warden. A cross between forest ranger, ocean rescue and PR personality, they have the job of living on site full time and making sure people leave the animals alone. And right now, that’s you.

           There are other people of course, tour guides and rangers that help at the nature center. You wave at the groups on the hiking trails and listen to the animal facts that you’ve heard 100 times. What you do is different, more secluded. You’re on the other side of the ‘Do Not Cross’ sign and you take your job seriously.

           The last few days have been quiet and you’re hoping that the weekend stays that way. Thunderstorms are going to start later in the evening and you’re hoping to be done by then. You had chased some kids off earlier, teenagers looking for ‘a cool place to hang’ and the weather would hopefully deter anyone else from sneaking in.

           The water is starting to darken, deep blue going navy. You take a deep breathe, scanning the sand for any trash or people. There isn’t anything as far as the eye can see and you relax, smiling to yourself. Some people think that it’s lonely, being out here for weeks and sometimes months at a time. You enjoy it; you’d rather be with nature than people any day.

            You start to hum, watching as the sun finally slips below the horizon. Now your favorite part of the night starts. There are a few moments of darkness before lights begin to flicker under the water. The underwater bioluminescence becomes visible to the naked eye; even after all this time it’s hard to believe that it’s real. The water is much, much deeper than it looks and there’s something in the water that promotes the creatures to glow. Scientists come to study sometimes and you stay out of their way, you’re more of a forest person.

           Everything in the water looks normal and you watch the fish dart around, smiling as you stroll part of the beach. You jump as thunder rolls overhead and speed up, calves burning with trying to move quickly through sand. You don’t want to get poured on, walking up the path towards your cabin. The climb is steep and you’re panting by the end of it. The cliffs gives a great view of the water, large rocks creating an outcropping off shore. They jut high out of the water, the largest shaped like an arch. Lazy glowing turns into streaks, fish scattering; must be something bigger under there.

           Another clap of thunder bellows and you take off, rain falling in waves. You swear to yourself; your boots had finally just dried out. It’s a struggle to get the cabin door open and you’re glad you know your way around; it’s hard to see anything with the rain and wind. You watch the trees sway for a bit before going to get changed. There’s nothing to do now but wait out the storm.

♥

           It’s a couple days before you head back to the beach. Lightening hit one of the larger trees and you’ve spent the last couple days making sure none of the forest caught fire. It’s not ideal but the job can change quickly. After making sure the nature center was alright, you finally head down to the beach. It’s mid-day, much earlier than you would normally go but you’re tired and want to head back early.

           The beach is a mess. Seaweed and branches still cover the sand, the waves calm as if nothing had happened. These are some dead smaller fish but nothing too large and you’re thankful for that. Without thinking you begin to clean things up, gathering the sticks closest to you. You half watch a diving gull, seeing it swoop low and then fly off towards the large rock outcrop.

           The air leaves your lungs as a gasp, wood falling to the ground at your feet. You can feel your heart starting to pound faster, brain trying to catch up to your eyes. It’s hard to see from the beach but there’s something in the rocks. You curse at yourself for not having your binoculars on you and turn to the stairs, taking a deep breath. It’ll be easier to see up from the cliffs and you’ll be able to tell what it is. Hopefully.

           You curse the stairs once you’re at the top, knees aching. You love your job but it’s not made for fat people, even if you’re damn good at it. The sun is hot on your skin and you place your hand over your eyes, squinting at the rocks. It’s a better angle but farther away and you think you see something in the rock arch. It looks like another rock? Or maybe a log? It’s gray and part of you wonders if it’s some kind of ship that’s gotten stuck. The thought quickly leaves as something dark rises out of the water and slams hard against the surface. The gulls scatter with loud screaming and you feel like your eyes are going to pop out of your head.

           Some sort of animal is stuck. Maybe a sea lion? A baby whale? Or a dolphin? You go over the possibilities as you rush back to the cabin. There’s a small boat you take out sometimes, mostly to chase fishing boats off. It’s nothing huge but the engine works and it should get you to the rocks.

           At least you hope so. Being on the water makes you nervous; you can swim just fine but the boat rocking makes you sick. You don’t think about any of this as you take it to the water, putting it into the back of your truck. There isn’t a direct ride down to the beach but it’s better than nothing.

           It takes an hour before you’re in the water heading to the rocks. You made sure to bring as many tools as you could, along with a camera, an emergency phone and gloves. You have no idea what kind of animal that you’re dealing with but if this creature has been stuck since the storm, it’s going to be in rough shape.

           The rocks loom high overhead, casting dark shadows on the water. The sun is just starting to sink, even if it’ll take a few more hours. You have a water bottle and resist the urge to drink; you want to see what you’re dealing with first. You turn the boat off about 20 feet away and try to come to terms with what you’re seeing.

           The hole in the rocks is about as big as a basketball hoop backboard, the edges not completely smooth but close enough. It’s about two feet above water and something is stuck. Scales so navy they look black are scrapped against the stone, bits of blood smeared as well. It doesn’t move as you get closer, swinging yourself around to get a better look.

           You think that you’re looking at its back half. This side of the rocks is shaded by higher formations and it’s a bit difficult to see clearly under the water. Something that you guess must be a tail is slumped into the water but you can’t make out the shape. You grab an oar and paddle closer, letting the waves move you mostly.

           Something hits the bottom of the boat and you jump; it was a brush more than anything and of course there are fish out here. The next hit is harder and the boat sways. You place your oar in the water to try to turn and something yanks. You yell as the oar is ripped from your hand and disappears into the water.

           A loud rumble fills the air and you watch, horrified and full of awe, as the creature in the rocks moves. The tail rises and you realize that it’s not a tail, it’s webbing. Tentacles shoot out, some grabbing onto the rocks and others into the water. You quickly grab the other oar and move backwards, barely missing the flailing tentacles. Gulls on the rocks take to the sky and the creature begins to shift again.

           It doesn’t take long to realize that it’s not doing well, whatever it is. It only struggles for a moment before sagging once more, the tentacles barely holding on. They push against the rocks but it’s weak and the longer you look, the worse it gets. The scales that are out of the water look dull and are starting to crack; it really has been stuck here since the storm.

           You know that this isn’t a normal fish. First off, it looks like either a squid or an octopus but both of those would be able to get out of a hole. Also, the hissing and growling coming from the other side of the rock is ominous. You’ve never heard anything like it. You want to head back but you can’t ignore the suffering in front of you. Taking a deep breath, you count to five before paddling to the other side. You ignore the way your hands shake and hope that whatever it is won’t kill you.

           Immediately the hissing turns into snarling and you meet blood red eyes. You flinch, holding the oar across your chest like it’ll help you defend yourself. Sharp teeth snap at your and you can feel the waves from the tentacles behind the rock. You’re not in the line of fire and you take a moment to understand what you’re looking at.

           A furious face is set on a head coverd in fins, gills fluttering around the neck. The strong torso is covered in navy scales and two arms are digging into the rockface. You look the creature over once and then twice, your eyes always going back up to its face. It looks pissed and like it wants to break you in half. Blood red eyes stare out from a gunmetal gray face and keeps you in it sights.

           “Holy shit.” Your voice makes the snarling quiet down, almost like it’s waiting for you to say something. “You’re a mermaid?” You phrase it as a question and the creature, honest to fuck, rolls its mother fucking eyes at you.

           At the same time you take it in, the creature looks you over. You’re not much to look at, between your sad little boat and ranger uniform. It eyes you for a little longer between settling back down and looking exhausted. It’s hands, covered in long claws, detangle from the rock and lay against the surface. That’s when you realize it’s pinned.

           There’s a log wedged between the rocks, washed up from the storm. The creature is half wrapped around it, the log pushing hard against it’s chest and forcing it’s torso out of the water. One of it’s arms can touch the water but the other is pinned too high up, it’s shoulders pushed far back. It looks painful and you wince in sympathy. You get a snarl for your look, the creature sending you a glare.

           It’s eyes close with what you guess is exhaustion, not deeming you a threat. You want to argue but don’t; no need to push your luck. It looks worse from the front, scales dull and patches missing. The rockface has be gauged deeply in the mers struggle to be free.

           It’s beautiful. Navy fins on its head and arms lay low, curled up and dull. It’s torso is lighter, the color of sand in moonlight. It’s clearly built for hunting; it might be lean but it’s covered in muscles. Darker scales cover the torso like stars and you know that you can’t leave it here, even if it wants to kill you.

           “Hey.” Your voice has the creature opening it’s eyes again but only halfway. It takes you a second to get that they’re squinting at you; the sun must be bothering them. You lick your lips, knowing that it’s crazy to be talking to something this big. “Do you uh, want me to help you?” You wince at how uncertain you sound and the creature looks even more unimpressed than before. You hear something hit the water and assume it’s a tentacle.

           You hold up a length of rope and then gesture ot the log. Eyes flicker between rope, your face and log. Some sort of spark comes into its face and it’s claws curl into the rocks slowly. You put the rope down and grab the oar, slowly moving closer.

           It’s hard to get a good judge of size because of how it’s stuck but you guess that it’s at least eight feet long, maybe closer to nine. It doesn’t move as you get closer, eyes locked on you. The log is wedged in two places, one part under the water and the other above. When you look down, the bottom half seems to be covered in rocks, probably from the struggling. The only real option is to loop the rope of the top and yank.

           “I’m going to go for the top.” You talk and gesture as you move closer, trying to be transparent in your movements. “The bottom half looks too stuck.” You would be concerned by the lack of response if it wasn’t for the red pinned on your face. It takes a little bit to get the boat maneuvered just right and the scrapping of its claws gets louder. You do your best to ignore the impatience; you don’t want to end up in the water today. Not now that you know things like this exist.

           There’s a splash in the other direction and you flinch hard, almost falling from where you’re standing. The creature snarls, sharp teeth flashing in the sun and you look over the water. Nothing breaches the surface again and you shake your arms, trying to get rid of the tension. As long as there isn’t another predator you should be alright.

           You have to throw the rope a few times before it’s looped just right and you can feel the waves of judgment coming out of the mermaid. Mer creature? You’re not stupid enough to pretend this isn’t some sort of intelligent creature; you’ve been pinching yourself too much for it to be a dream. That doesn’t mean that you want it commenting on your physical abilities and ignore how embarrassed you’re getting. Finally, you get the rope secured and you tug it to make sure. You can sense the growing impatience behind you and vow silently to go faster. It’s already in rough shape and you don’t want it to suffer.

           Sending one last silent plea inside your mind, you start the boat engine back up. The creature flinches inside the rock and the gentle rumblings turn more into a hiss. You glance over and it flashes it’s teeth with a ‘get on with it’ feeling. You don’t hesitate, afraid that you’re going to lose your nerve. You throw the engine into reserve and gun it back, the boat taking off as fast as it can.

           The rope is pulled taught quickly and you jerk, almost going into the water. Creaky rumbles come from the creature and you want to swear when you realize it’s laughing at you. You ease the boat back forward before going in reverse again, your eyes locked on the log. The first time it didn’t move but the second it seemed to slip. Gritting your teeth you repeat the actions, the log slowly becoming free.

           The creature must feel it moving because it begins to push, well as much as it can with it’s chest. It looks painful with the open wounds but it doesn’t care, eyes getting brighter as the log shifts. You give it one last tug and the log comes free, the creature letting out an ear-piercing shriek.

           A few things happen at once. Your boat, tugging with all it’s might, flies back once the resistance is gone and you scramble to not turn over. The creature slides backwards into the hole, sliding into the shadow covered water. Lastly, bright red fins crest the water in front of you, darting behind the rock.

           Your boat spins for an embarrassingly long time; your arms ache and it takes everything in you to prevent it from flipping. The bottom of the boat has a good couple inches of water but you’re upright. A miracle. The clicking and hissing sounds are all gone now and it’s just you and the gulls. You watch the water once your heart calms down, eyes darting around to see if you can spot the creature in the water.

           You wait for ten minutes before slapping your cheeks and turning the boat back towards shore. Your mission was officially done and you need to lay down, maybe have a drink, maybe get high. There was a lot you have to think about and you don’t want to do it in the open water. Two pairs of eyes, one red and one blue, watch as you make your way back to shore and share a silent look. The water barely ripples as they sink below the waves, determined to pay you back in some way.

[lace4forest]

The Legend of Zelda Forgotten Songs

We've recently been drawing on Stream, so we ended up making a Legend of Zelda AU. (I'll post the stream vods on my channel later)

Basically Din and Farore decide to mess with Nayru, and shuffled the Triforce pieces.

Anyway! Zelda, the Hero of Songs, needs to search for the Forgotten Songs lost to Hyrule, to bring light back to the Kingdom. She teams up with Link the bard and the two travel together. The Scholar King Ganondorf of the Gorudo is trying to take over the Kingdom of Hyrule and bring silence and darkness to keep the Kingdom under his control.

The Nicknames Zelda - Song (Songs) Link - Lute Ganondorf - Cacophony

Rabbit hole time!

Zelda is the Hero of Songs. She has the Hero's Spirit, and was given the Triforce of Courage!

Zelda is a menace to society. Yes. She fights in this dress, and she is GOOD AT IT. Her "Roll" is a little jump and spin. She also is a very physical character, she doesn't use a lot of magic Items, and don't let her looking frail fool you, she is very strong. (Yes Zelda has the Master Sword)

Link has been nicknamed Lute. He isn't fully Hylian, he is only half! The other half is Siren! He is a Bard. He also has the Triforce of Power! (Think of Zelda 2 btw) So the Northern Palace? Everyone remember that place? Yeah, Link's house is on the beach north of there, he has a cute little beach house, and also has an under water one (Because Siren/mer fun stuff)

Now Link here is a little Uncanny, right? Well, literally EVERYONE in town think's that. That's why he lives out by himself on the beach. He does go into town and play music for money, and he's really good! (Because Siren) and people ALWAYS PAY HIM- (Because SIREN) He doesn't do anything bad tbh. Lastly, Link uses the magic Items here, he is also holding onto the Interments and sheet music they get from the Dungeons! (Looking for the Forgotten Songs of old to save Hyrule)

Now, Link and Zelda are besties, Zelda was traveling past his house, and she just wanted to see who lived there, met Link, liked his weird vibes (Literally all her guards were like NOOOOO SIREN BOY- But Zelda doesn't know) Also, Zelda gave Link Anxiety. (Zelda "No Fear" Hero of Songs traveling with the Siren Bard Link the Lute player)

OH! One last thing, Zelda doesn't know Link is half Siren. She just knows he has funky vibes and she likes the funky vibes. Someone (Villager) will be like "That is a Monster" and Zelda will be like "THAT IS MY BEST FRIEND" (Holds Link's face) "NOW SAY SORRY TO HIM" Villager - "....sorry" Zelda doesn't care.

(another link thing, sorry, that hair? that short hair? Yeah, No. That's an under cut, he has long hair, its just brained and stuffed into the hat)

LASTLY we have Ganondorf! He is cousins with Zelda, and he holds the Triforce of Wisdom! Ganondorf want's to take Hyrule, and he knows he is right behind Zelda for the throne, so all he needs to do is Kill Zelda! (He tried to just hire a guy to shoot her with a cross bow, the guy shot, Zelda cause the arrow, AND THREW IT BACK- NO BOW- and Killed that man.) Ganondorf had to think a little outside the box. His list of Priorities goes 1) Kill Zelda, 2) Kill Link and 3) Take over Hyrule.

Now, Ganondorf here is SMART. (Nicknamed Cacophony) Ganondorf and Zelda are Cousins, and they are pretty close. Their relationship is VERY complicated. Like - Someone talking crap about Zelda in front of Ganondorf "HOW DARE YOU SAY THOSE THINGS!" Person - "That is your Mortal Enemy!" Ganon - "THAT IS MY COUSIN!" (Zelda does the same thing)

Link and Ganondorf also have a complex relationship, they have an emotional support group for talking about the crazy things Zelda did and the two just need a moment to reassure they are normal and it's just Zelda being weird.

Also Ganondorf is a magic user in this AU. He tries to outsmart his opponents when need be. And in this game he is fighting Zelda and Link, who share a single braincell. (I love those two so much oh my gosh XD)

The Dungeon's in the game would be actually kinda hard, relying on your ability to remember things and a LOT of Puzzles. The beginning you can just switch between Link and Zelda to figure stuff out, one being in another room and yelling the answers to the other type of thing. But as the game goes on (After Dungeon 3) Link will become unable to get into the Dungeon without Zelda finding the Interment inside and summoning him inside. (There will also be a Dungeon where you do mainly play as Link in, it's the water temple.)

Now, Dungeon's 1 through 6 you can get Link inside to help, but less and less. By Dungeon 7 Link is unable to be summoned inside. Again, you would need the Dungeon Item to summon Link, BUT Ganondorf is SMART. He figured this out, and went and TOOK THE ITEMS OUT- They are now in other Dungeons (You may find 2 Items inside one dungeon) You might need to return to a Dungeon for a Door you were unable to unlock with a new Item/song/sheet music.

But During Dungeon 7, when Zelda leaves she can tell a fight happened, the area is destroyed, and Link is nowhere to be seen. Ganondorf and his men ambushed Link, and Kidnapped him. (Along with all your stuff.) Zelda heads to Dungeon 8, learning that Link is somewhere inside.

(Our reasoning on why Link get's Kidnapped- "WELL ZELDA GETS KIDNAPPED ALL THE TIME! IT'S LINK'S TURN!")

Now Dungeon 8. Ganondorf is Smart. Zelda and Link Share a SINGLE Braincell. Each room is one of three things. 1) A previous Mini Boss (Link Dungeon 8(?) in Link's Awakening) 2) A Puzzle to get a key or something (Normal Dungeon stuff) OR 3) A Puzzle from a previous Dungeon, but the hint isn't in the Dungeon and Link isn't here to yell the answers for you.

So you will have to do one of three things for those rooms, Look up a guide online, Have a good memory and know what to do, Or go back to the Dungeon it was in, and write it down.

But if you leave you'll have to restart/run through the Dungeon again! AND THIS ONE DOESN'T HAVE A MAP- HAHAHA-

WELCOME TO DUNGEON 8 HELL.

We wanted to create the hardest/funnest Dungeon. (Ganondorf is SMART, HE WANT'S ZELDA DEAD.)

Also, Ganondorf convinces the King to send Gaurds after Zelda and Link. (Kinda like Lttp, but instead of "YOU KIDNAPPED THE PRINCESS" It's more like "Zelda Please, You Need To Come Home!" and Zelda is like "GANONDORF IS EVIL" "No HE ISN'T!" "HIS VIBES ARE RANK!")

I might draw some short comics of them later tbh! (I think it's fun to make stories with everyone on stream, it was good, 10/10 will draw on stream again XD)

If you have any questions, just ask.

[ihaveatheoryonthat]

No Mer is An Island

I didn't go out intending to revisit @monsoon-of-art's Mer AU this month, but seeing this piece in full really hit on something, and I had to get the words down. Happy MerMay, guys!

---

When they’d first met, the girl had stopped him to say that he looked kind of like someone she knew.

Given that Emmet had come all this way trying to find his brother, it sounded promising on its face, but looking past the initial wording, revealed itself to be a shallow hope. If she’d been talking about Ingo, she would have been more decisive. He wouldn’t look kind of like this person, but exactly. He’d been through the cycle of leads surfacing and then sinking often enough to know that the odds weren’t good, but it was the best he’d heard since arriving in Hisui and he couldn’t afford not to give it some cursory exploration.

As they moved away from the shaky hope of a rebuilding village, her story became more and more outlandish, but… somehow not less believable; unprompted, she’d mentioned the torn remnants of a subway car, and in a land that lacked rail transport, it lent her version of events a great deal of credence. Something much more worrisome was the claim that his twin had been found pinned beneath the wreck, trapped and slowly wasting away, before being discovered.

It was strange. When, inevitably, Emmet’s questions about a missing person failed, his next strategy was always the train car. People could move on and be forgotten, but an effigy of twisted metal should have been noteworthy.

The matter of physical resemblances had been both explained and complicated as Dawn led them to a rocky outcropping by the sea.

“Well, that’s… why I wasn’t totally sure at first.” She said, scouring the horizon. Eventually, her attention settled in one specific direction, and Emmet idly followed it to a dark little island in the distance. “The thing is, the parts of you that look the same totally look the same. It’s just that Ingo’s… not really human?”

...what.

She held her hands up in placation, grimacing at her own words. “I know, I know. Just hear me out. So the Pearl Clan found him under that big wreck and took him home to heal, only he… kind of sucks at being a merperson? The same ways I suck at it. We both keep getting hung up when we swim, and neither of us distrusted humans the way the other mers did, and you couldn’t pay us to eat raw fish or seagulls or anything like that. I've been wondering about it for a long time, but maybe Ingo was human, too?”

There was a ringing in Emmet’s ears. It took him a moment to realize that it was an actual sound coming from somewhere over the water. Something in the back of his head told him he should recognize it, but it seemed unimportant compared to the information Dawn had just dumped over his head.

“That is my brother’s name.” He eventually choked out, to the exclusion of the rest of it.

Dawn’s expression cracked into a smile. “Worth a shot! I’ll go grab him and come back-- just don’t worry, okay? Most people think he’s kind of scary.”

Despite the amount of time it had been since he’d had to field that particular criticism, Emmet felt himself bristle. “He cannot help it. His face is just like that.”

The girl paused in the middle of digging through her bag and tilted her head, “I thought it was just because he always seems kind of down, but that makes sense, too.”

Unsure what to say to that, Emmet remained silent as she took something out, unlashed the satchel from around her waist, and then brought a vibrant shell to her lips.

The notes resonated, briefly, with whatever it was coming from across the waves.

“What is that?”

“It’s a special flute,” Dawn said, adjusting her grip on it now that she was no longer playing, “I’ve had it since I got here, but I can’t remember why.”

“Not the instrument. The sound. What is causing it?”

“The… flute?” She asked, baffled, and slapped her tail against the rocks.

It took a second for Emmet to rewind and process that fact.

She had implied that before, hadn’t she? Back when she’d confirmed Ingo’s name. Strange how one piece of information could be so much more pertinent than the rest and simultaneously so much less important.

Emmet consciously had to rein himself in. If humans could turn into merpeople, this could be it. He might be about to see his twin for the first time in years.

Dawn departed shortly thereafter, handing him the flute as a gesture of goodwill, and took off in the direction she’d originally scouted. Emmet pocketed the strange shell for safekeeping and then moved her satchel to somewhere the waves couldn’t sweep it away.

The sound continued that entire time, carried from somewhere far away. When several minutes passed without interruption, he finally figured out what it was: whale song. He didn’t profess to be an expert in the matter, but now that he was listening properly, he was relatively certain of that.

After some time, it stopped, and he immediately found that he missed it.

In its absence, he returned to the water’s edge, wondering if the dark island in the distance wasn’t where Dawn was headed, where his brother lingered. It seemed too much to think that he might catch a glimpse of either when it was so far away, but the reassurance would be welcome. He had little doubt that Dawn would return, particularly given that he held the key to her humanity, but the low crooning over the water proved that there were predators about, and he wouldn’t want haste to lead her into danger.

When he scanned the ocean, however, he found that the island, too, had vanished.

---

Ingo spent a great deal of his time alone.

It was by choice, but at times, it also felt involuntary.

The Pearl clan was more gracious than he could have asked for, worried that his continued stints on his own might reignite the loneliness that had left him so fragile upon their first meeting; while he was happy for their company, it wasn’t what he was missing. That was the problem, though: he didn’t know what would fill the void in his heart. Their camaraderie was close-- had been rejuvenating when he’d first been ushered into the fold-- but only to a point. He felt that it was the right track, just veering ever so slightly off course; if he could figure out where his destination lay, he could course correct to reach it.

It had been years, though, and while he was no longer soul-sick, the ache of it refused to leave him.

When it became too much to bear, he would leave for the surface, to float on his back and close his eyes. The ocean air had become familiar, but it went deeper than that, the churning sea so close to making a connection somewhere in the recesses of his being. He was put in the mind of the artificial reef he’d awoken in-- pinned, scared and without a trace of memory-- but had no idea how they could be related. More than anyone, he knew how heavy the construct was; it seemed wholly antithetical to the gentle rocking that only occurred above the waterline.

Frustrated with his lack of progress, but not surprised, he let out a heavy sigh and pitched it halfway through, low in his throat. He didn’t know what purpose this ability served, as none of the other merfolk could hear when he dipped into this range, but it was cathartic; he could cry for the fact that the clan had been so kind, so welcoming, and he still didn’t belong. He could lament that there was something wrong with him, that he still felt sickness in between the beating of his heart, and he feared he would never escape it.

He could admit, in tones no one would ever hear, that he didn’t know how much longer he could bear the solitude before it consumed him whole.

Though he knew perfectly well that she was unable to parse his voice like this, it died in his throat as Dawn poked her head up from the waves. Unwilling to have a conversation with her in such an undignified position, he turned over and dipped back below the water so they could speak properly.

“Is rebuilding going well?” He asked, following up from the last topic they’d touched upon, “Has there been any recovering from the salt water?”

The humans weren’t bad, he knew-- and had known for as long as he could recall-- they were just scared. For as disastrous as the region’s flooding had been, the one silver lining was that it had given the clans cause to cooperate with the villagers and, slowly, the merfolk were beginning to make progress. He couldn’t be certain how the humans looked upon the situation, but they accepted aid, at least, and that was something.

“It’s...” There was a conspicuous pause. “Going. That’s not why I came to talk, actually.”

“No?” He asked, unable to find it in himself to be surprised. Dawn was like the sea itself at times, ever shifting, just shy of capricious.

“No. I don’t want to jump the gun or anything, but I think I met someone who knew you before! He’s waiting for us at the bluff.”

He blinked at her, the words sitting at the surface of his thoughts for several seconds before sinking in, “What makes you believe that this individual and I share any sort of connection? I don’t mean to cast doubt, but if even I’m unable to say with any certainty...”

“He was looking for someone called Ingo.” She said, and while there was a twitch of her tail that suggested it wasn’t the whole truth, Ingo was too caught up in that declaration to catch it. “He looks like you, too. A scary amount.”

“He’s also an orca?” It might be nice, he thought, to physically be on the same level as someone for a change-- unmarked as the odd man out in this regard, on top of everything else that made him feel so detached from the clan.

“Well… no, it’s mostly in the face. But your coats are basically the same!”

Interesting. That, more than anything else, lent credence to her theory. As strongly as he felt about his name, his complete lack of any other personal details meant that he couldn’t be entirely sure it was what he’d used prior to waking up beneath the ruins. The fact that this person was seeking someone of the same name was noteworthy, but not conclusive. The resemblance was also compelling, but could be explained by a mimic octopus or the like.

His clothes, however, had been a subject of bewilderment among the clan for some time. Drag caused his coat to hinder his movement and speed, and it was constantly becoming caught on bits of rock or other hazards. His hat was somewhat more practical, helping him see above the water on bright days, but beneath the waves, all it did was threaten to fly away if caught in the mildest of currents. Even if this was a misunderstanding and Dawn’s contact didn’t know of him, perhaps he could ask what the utility was.

“I see.” He narrowly refrained from breathing it out as a sigh; there was little use in speculating if confirmation or denial really was so near, “If he’s waiting, we ought not to leave him at the station. Are you ready to depart for the Clamberclaw Bluffs?”

Dawn took him by the forefinger and smiled at him-- and where he occasionally saw a flash of pity in it, there was nothing but anticipation.

“Let’s go!” She said, tugging him forward, a current all her own.

Ingo allowed it to happen, allowed her to be the force driving his tired cab onward. Maybe, when they reached their destination, there would be someone there to meet it.

---

The first indication that Emmet was no longer alone on the rocky outcropping was Dawn hefting herself up onto the edge with the grace of someone still adjusting to that specific workout. He refrained from commenting on that fact both because he liked to think himself polite and because something else stole his attention away shortly thereafter.

Offset from where she’d appeared, the water warped unnaturally, and it took a second for him to realize that it was because it was something else was surfacing, something massive enough to distort the water as it rose.

“Oh,” Said his brother’s voice, loud as one of his directing calls whilst somehow maintaining a sort of gentle surprise, “You’re human.”

Even though he’d been warned as much, as he blinked upwards, trying to process the reality he’d found himself living, he said, “You’re… not.”

“Was… was I supposed to be?” Ingo turned his head as he said it, a hand curling to rest against his lips-- and it was so achingly familiar that, for just a second, it was possible to overlook the fact that his forearm had to be longer than Emmet’s full height.

“Yes?” He half-asked, trying to keep his expression from dipping into anything too ridiculous in his incredulity, “To my knowledge, identical siblings are usually the same species.”

The animate half of Ingo’s face scrunched, puzzled, and he leaned over on his arms to put them on the same level. He spent several seconds silently assessing Emmet, before returning with, “We do look quite similar, don’t we?”

“Identical.” Emmet repeated, insistent, and he couldn’t keep his voice from crackling on it, “We are-- we’re supposed to be identical twins.”

“And I take it from your response that you were never an orca?” His brother said, a little helplessly.

“No.” At that, however, he stepped forward, emboldened both by the certainty that this was somehow his missing twin-- all but confirming that he had never been in any danger-- and a suddenly-consuming curiosity.

Ingo watched his approach, but did nothing to stop him. The only movement was that of one enormous, clawed hand tucking itself into the tattered remains of the opposite sleeve and, abruptly, Emmet realized he was still wearing his uniform’s hat and coat. The hat and coat that had been commissioned in tandem with the ones Emmet wore right now. Emmet, who was notably human-sized.

How?

The nearer he drew, the more clearly he could make out the black mass in the water beyond, a shadow that stretched and curved into an undeniably fish-shaped tail, floating just high enough for a dorsal fin to cut through the surface.

With a new clarity, he looked up, taking in the black patches that both camouflaged the actual lines under his brother’s eyes and made his weariness look orders worse, and asked, “Was the whale song your doing?”

The too-pale skin of Ingo’s face went faintly pink. “You were able to hear that?”

Emmet felt his face crack into a grin, “You are not quiet.”

“No, no, you misunderstand,” He tried, though the flush only intensified at the comment, “The frequency is inaudible to the other merfolk. I didn’t think anyone else was physically able to hear it.”

“Wait,” Said a mildly-familiar voice and, with a start, Emmet remembered they weren’t alone, “Is that what you’re doing when you float on the surface like a dead fish? You’re just screaming into the sky?”

“That is-- no. Not in the slightest!”

“If he yelled, you would know. Even as a human.” The commentary earned him a downward glance through narrowed eyes.

“Regardless,” Ingo said, transparently trying to get them back on a track that didn’t lead to further teasing, “I’m surprised that you were able to discern it without being a mer yourself.”

Emmet hummed, considering that, and then turned his head. “I’m not. Other people cannot read your face, but I can. It makes sense that I can understand you now, too.”

“Because you’re… my twin brother.” Ingo said haltingly, testing the words for himself as if to see if they were any more convincing in his own voice.

Emmet smiled, though not without an edge of melancholy, letting him reach a conclusion in his own time. That wasn’t disbelief, he knew, but it was plain to see how lost his brother was, and hurrying him wouldn’t help.

He wouldn’t push, but… but maybe it would be okay to make sure this was real, that he hadn’t hit his head upon arriving in Hisui and managed to fool himself into thinking this might finally be it.

Holding one hand up to indicate a lack of aggression-- as if something so small could do anything to hurt someone with the proportions of a killer whale-- he took a tentative, questioning step forward and asked, “Can I touch?”

Ingo blinked at him, focused momentarily on his palm, and then back on his face. In lieu of an answer, he rested his head on his arms in full, putting himself in range to reach more comfortably. His bright, bright eyes tracked the motion until he couldn’t any longer, and he breathed out, slow and impossibly long.

The skin beneath Emmet’s hand was dark, the stripe of it trailing up to a floppy ear and down below the line of a collar, but still warm and still undeniably human. He’d half expected it to feel rubbery under his touch, but the biggest difference was the subtle grit of drying salt. He was reminded intensely of the summer their family visited the Decolore Islands and specifically of when, as a joke, he’d tried to push his brother into the water, only for Ingo to clutch his hand that much more tightly and send the both of them tumbling in. Having to go on in wet clothes had been bad enough until they began to dry, contrasting outfits stiff with the residual salt on their persons. As children, it had been unbearable. He could only hope it didn’t itch the same way, now.

He only realized he’d spaced out at the renewed rumble as his twin began to speak again, “--not sure. Are you still with us, Emmet?”

For a second, he froze in place, and then drew his hand back, breaking out into an unburdened smile. Beaming up at his brother, he said, “Ingoooooo, I never told you my name.”

Ingo’s brow furrowed as he mentally played the conversation back, and then he glanced to Dawn, who held her hands up and shook her head. When that failed to yield any plausible explanation, his gaze flitted back over to Emmet, uncertain, as if he’d done something wrong.

“It’s good!” Emmet said before his twin could start to reverse down the tracks, “I do not know what happened, but you’re still you. That is all that matters to me.”

As quietly as he was physically capable of with such robust lungs, Ingo repeated “My brother,” to himself, already coming to terms with the idea, and Emmet stepped forward again.

He leaned into his twin’s shoulder, heedless of the water that immediately soaked through his coat, and, as best he could, pressed the side of his face to Ingo’s. Against his own side, he felt a pulse speed up, powered by a heart that was finally large enough to match the outpouring of love its owner had always put into the world.

A hand moved to cradle his back, painstaking in the care behind it, and within two beats of that massive heart, the whale song began anew.

[squisheycat]

MER! MER COMIC!

1/? OKAY SO I’m not going to spoil much but we’re gonna go meet the straw hats in the next one if you couldn’t tell already! :DD I’m so HYPE so stay tuned!

[themintman]

May I request some Mermal lore 🐟

Of course you can! Here's a little run down of some Merm (Mer! Nurm) lore 😁

SO basically, in this au, the admins are aquatic. Romeo is an Elder guardian, Fred is a sea monster (the one from the first mob vote.. The barnacle I believe?), Xara is a shark. Each admin decided to create their own people. Naturally, these beings were modeled after themselves. Romeo created Guardian merfolk, Fred Glow Squids, Xara Dolphins. These were the Neathfolk, and their world was once a beautiful ocean, full of small islands. But, of course, the admins had their fight, and they bedrock over this world, leaving the water to dry up into a sticky swamp. 

In this new world, Romeo creates a new species - Villagers. They Are similar to the previous merfolk, but far smaller and less powerful. Also, there's more types now! Cod, clownfish, even fish not seen before in Minecraft, like eels. He also created regular fish versions of these merfolk to accompany them, like dogs. 

Nurm is a Guardian merman. Guardians hold the strongest belief for Romeo, and also the strongest loyalty. They know he's real, and they will do everything they can to avoid angering him. Often, they will guard his temples in the sea. These temples are an ocean paradise, they're naturally filled with water, coral, kelp, the works. When people enter, sponges pop out from the walls and absorb all the water, which slowly starts to refill the temple after a month or two. Here is where the trouble starts for our little fish.. 

Nurm isn't a part of Jack's squad, he never was. He roams the inner halls of the temple alone, with his two elder guardians by his side like guard dogs. So, when three intruders enter the temple, he panics. He's alone, how can he stop them from reaching the temple's vault and potentially angering the admin? So, he stalks them from a distance, hiding behind stones and statues until they reach the guardians’ room. The fish see Jack, Sammy and Vos, and attack. Of course, the squad fights back, landing a few blows on the giant fish until Nurm has enough. He scampers out from his hiding spot and tries to scare them away! …only to be met with an arrow to the tail. A fight breaks out, and in the scuffle Nurm pretty much shreds Sam to pieces with his trident.. Of course, Jack and Vos start freaking tf out, and Nurm sees this as an opportunity to finally make them GO AWAY. He chases Jack out, but unfortunately for him, Vos’s clumsy ahh trips over a trap in the floor and is hoisted up into the air in a fishing net. 

Once Jack leaves, Nurm turns his attention to Vos. and he is PISSED, i mean, the guy broke into his temple! The nerve.. He starts going off on this CRIMINAL until he notices him sniffling and curling in on himself in his net, and Nurm feels guilty. He calms down and they start chatting, and over time a friendship blossoms. Though, this might not last long-

As i stated before, the water is slowly beginning to rise 🙁however, Nurm being a naive little fish, he doesn't realise how bad this is. Day by day, he watches as Vos becomes more tired, more nervous, withdrawn, teary-eyed… he brushes it off as homesickness. Finally, one morning Nurm swims up to vos. They can talk comfortably now, the water is up to vos’s chin, Nurm can look him in the eyes easily. He tells his new friend that he will be gone for a week, he’s going to go explore the new coral reefs that were discovered, and hopefully help map them out! Vos doesn't share his joy.. He begs him to stay, and he sobs and wails in Nurm’s arms, clinging onto him like he will disappear if he lets go as Nurm assures him that it'll all be okay. Finally, vos goes quiet. Nurm pats him on the shoulder and swims off into the sea. 

A week later, Nurm returns to the temple full of joy. He rushes back to Vos and the guardians, eager to show Vos what he brought him: a gorgeous chunk of coral from the reef, sea green. When he approaches the net, Vos doesn't respond, he hangs limply in the water, and no amount of poking or shaking from the fish will awaken his beloved friend.. 

A few years later, a sad adventurer is out fishing when a snappy guardian is caught up in his net. He helps the merman and they become friends, perhaps more, eventually settling in BeaconTown in their cute little shop 😋😋🐟🐟

[hetalianskywalker]

Day 1: The Courtyard

Pairing: Merman Rex x Harpy Reader

Summary: A merman and a harpy plan an escape

Authors Notes: Mermaid AU. This is my first Mermay fic and longest fic ever. So sorry if it’s a bit rough. Partly inspired by a scene in the The Last Unicorn.

Warnings: So with them being a Harpy and a Merman, I go with old school myths so drowning and eating people is vaguely discussed. There is also some blood and it gets consumed. Minor Violence. Death, but not anyone we care about. The villain is manipulative and says some controlling creepy stuff.

Word Count: 2791

Prompt: The kingdom by the sea is cruel. A captured mermaid being carried through the castle gates briefly caught the eye of a harpy in a cage above, a glance full of rage and compassion.

Prompt 3243 by deepwaterwritingpromts

The rage in the brown eyes of the merman below you is just as much a comfort as the compassion is. Even when the brief moment ends, the complicated way they make you feel doesn’t vanish. You cast the blonde one last glance as the stormtroopers carry his coffin-like tank into the witch’s workshop.

A part of you worries as the doors shut, leaving you with no access to the only other inhuman in the castle. Perhaps they have brought him for fresh ingredients for the witch’s potions, but you have a feeling he would already be missing pieces of his blue and white fishtail if that were the case. Your talons dig into your perch branch waiting to hear sounds from the workshop as your mind plays through what might happen next. The silence only makes you more queasy.

It is late into the night when a tank, big enough for him to swim around a few feet, is carried out with magic. He looks exhausted, but that’s what having the magic drained out of you so you can’t fight or escape does to a mythical creature. At least he isn’t dead; it has been a long time since you had decent company other than the birds.

“They won’t be able to find you.” The witch simply states. “Especially now that you can’t summon a storm.” Tired brown eyes glare, but he doesn’t come to the surface to speak to her. She raises her hand and you can all feel the spark of magic in the air. You let out an ear piercing screech and the stormtroopers all around cover their ears. Your tormentor’s attention turns to you with a sharp glare, but the spell dies in her hand.

“Do you have something to add, harpy?” She walks till she is right under your cage. “You have been stuck here for years unable to escape. And I plan to keep it that way till the day I die. Perhaps you can explain it to the Mer.”

All rational thought leaves you for a moment. You had been asleep when her and her private soldiers, back before her island had been part of the empire, had stumbled upon you. If you had been awake and not put into an even deeper slumber by the old power hungry witch, this situation would be far different.

Your massive wings stretch as far as they can go within the cage as the wind begins to pick up. You screech as you summon forth all the magic you can at the moment, trying to shatter the iron bars. They bend before your might and for a moment a part of you hopes they will shatter this time. You can see the Mer look up at you in awe and surprise as the stormtroopers shake in fear.

But this is as far as you always come. The sleep spell once again starts to sap your energy no matter how hard you try to fight it.

“Why can’t you get rid of that damn harpy!?” One stormtrooper hisses. “It will be the death of us all.”

The stormtrooper is tossed against a wall in retaliation with a quick flick of the witch’s wrist. The others quickly fall back in line as the witch catches her breath still staring at you. You have now wrapped your wings around yourself on your perch, barely able to keep your eyes open.

“I… caught the last wild harpy. All on my own. No massive hunting party. No army. Just me. And I have held her. I may be mortal…” She moves her eyes to the Mer for a moment before turning back to you. “But my efforts and power shall never been forgotten by creatures held under it. When I am long gone, my memory will live on.”

As sleep finally takes you, you wish she was wrong. You want to say you’ll forget her after finally tearing her to pieces, but you know you will carry these years of captivity like a badge of shame. You wonder what the Mer thinks of you now.

The next few weeks are a struggle. The witch is being careful to drain as much magic as possible from the both of you while still alive. This has made getting to know the Mer, who you found out is named Rex, a bit difficult with one or both of you fighting falling asleep before the night shift guards come out. During the night patrols, there are windows of time where you can speak to each other without being overheard.

However, you both manage to remain awake tonight. News reached the castle that Lord Vader himself is coming. And he has been asking around about Rex. He had bared his sharp teeth at the witch with a growl making bubbles in the water and his claws slowly scratching down the magically fortified glass when your captor informed you both.

“I won’t ask for details.” You speak softly, laying on your stomach at the bottom of your cage. Your chin rests on your forearms as you look down at your Mer friend. He mirrors your position with his arms on the edge of his tank, looking up at you. “But we need an escape plan now. Your brothers won’t track you here in time.”

“I don’t have any details to give you anyway.” Rex bitterly grumbles. “Other than the fact he took over my battalion after the General died, I don’t know why he’s so interested in getting here to me.” This whole situation bothers both of you like there is something more going on. But whatever it is, it is safer to leave than to seek answers.

“I’m still not powerful enough to take human form and whatever storm magic I can perform right now isn’t going to be strong enough to free you or get my brothers’ attention.” He continues, glaring bitterly down at his clawed hands. You watch the powerful blue and white fin swish back and forth in the water and his sharp teeth clench together. Under normal circumstances, being a storm summoner is one of the most powerful subgroups of Mer there are; both of you would be more than a match for the people around you. You understand the frustration.

“I have an… idea.” He looks up at you again after you say that, curious and wary.

“I don’t like how you said that, senaar.” The blunt reply makes you softly smile just as much as the nickname does.

“Have you consumed?” Rex’s brown eyes squint at you before widening in shock. He quickly shakes his head with a look of disgust. You’re surprised to say the least. “You haven’t.”

“We were soldiers for the Jedi Order and the Republic for 3 years and before that I never had the need to.” He answers just above a whisper. Was eating a species weaker than your own so dispised now? It was strange hearing it from a species you had once heard stories of dragging harpies, who hunted too close to the sea, down below the depths. Perhaps Mer traits and instincts were far more affected by the kaminoan alchemists and the Jedi Knights than you initially thought.

“Do you know why your kind once drowned and ate humans?” You move the topic in a slightly different direction.

“It was a deterrent and…”

“And?”

“It strengthens our magic.” He stops to think and then suddenly looks like he would be sick. “And that happens even more so with other magical beings. You’re not suggesting…”

“It’s exactly what I’m suggesting.” You give him a guilty look. “If I could trade spots and have you give your blood instead, I would.”

He looks oddly relieved and it’s your turn to be confused as you begin to make a cut on your arm. You let the blood begin to trickle down toward his tank.

“What did you think I was gonna cut off my hand and throw it to you for a second?” You grumble sarcastically as he takes the first swallow of your blood.

“You did have me worried.” Rex smiles up at you as you both feel the air sizzle with magic. There was once a time where a Mer’s smile would make your blood run cold, but now the sharp teeth just fills you with hope and excitement for what is to come.

The raging storm has the guards and witch scurrying to hold everything down. Your cage swings to the point it’s dizzying, but you don’t care. You don’t need magic to feel that the Mer are coming.

Rex is exhausted after mustering that strong of a storm. The rain slams into both you and there is thunder and lightning everywhere. All there is left to do is wait, basking in the might of a storm summoner.

“Captain!” You jump, startled at a voice being the same as Rex’s. Suddenly there are dozens of Mer scattered throughout the courtyard and on top of the castle gate. They scatter almost as fast as you see them, but a good handful go for Rex. A mix of the Mer language, Mando’a, and basic immediately fills the air as his brothers pull him from the tank.

Magic is exchanged through a simple touch and Rex quickly changes to human form. While he still doesn’t have the energy to walk, it makes him a lot easier for his brothers to carry. Two of them hold him up while a third checks him over. Three more stand guard around them as fighting can be heard in the distance even with the hallowing wind.

“I’m alright, Kix.” You can’t help but grin along with the rest of the men at the tired remark. The medic, that you have already heard one or two stories about, rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, I’ll be the judge of that when we get home, but you’re good enough to be moved.” Kix sighs goodnaturedly. They begin to head for the exit and fear begins to bubble inside you.

“Yeah, Commanders Wolffe and Bly are tearing up the ocean looking for you.” You identify him as Jesse from the massive republic symbol on his helmet, helping carry Rex’s left side. He says it like it’s a joke, but it also has an undercurrent of worry to it.

“Wait. Free the harpy.” Rex orders; his men all stop before staring at Rex and then at you. You watch a couple of them gulp.

“You can’t be serious,” the arc mer with an intricate helmet design, who you are pretty sure is Fives, hisses.

“I wouldn’t have made it this far without her.” Rex stares up at you as he says it. You smile back and nod before pointing at the enchanted lock on your cage.

“Please let me out.” You beg, looking to the rest of the men. They all shuffle uncomfortably, caught between feeling obligated to let you out and the fear of the damage you could cause.

“What if she goes berserk!?” You glare at the one with the massive arrow pattern on his helmet, definitely Dogma.

“I can hear you.” You hiss at him causing all of them but Rex to flinch.

“The storm is lifting.” Tup says with a hint of worry as the winds begin to die down; you can see the painted teardrop on his helmet as he tilts up to look at the sky. Even with the fighting still going on in another part of the castle, it was best to leave now.

“I’m not leaving without her.” Rex pulls himself out of Jesse and Five’s grasp only to have Kix stop him from falling flat on his face.

“I’ll do it!” The final clone of the group announces, a little too excited, having already began pulling the lever to bring your cage to the ground. It comes down a little too fast, but you catch yourself on the bars.

“Sorry!”

“Hardcase!” He gives a slightly embarrassed laugh in response, scratching the back of his head.

A part of you wants to be mad; the majority of the Mer around stiffen with the expectancy you will be. However, the quick laugh that leaves your mouth serves to only make Hardcase nervously smile and Rex looks at you understandingly. Your freedom is so close.

Hardcase slices through the enchanted lock and you spring out into the sky, bearly giving him the chance to jump out of the way. You cackle at the feeling of the wind before circling back around to them.

You smile at them. Upon seeing your weren’t going to fall into the legendary harpy rage, they all seem to finally relax. They use their claws to scale back over the wall and the rest of the Mer retreat, having gotten what they came for.

“You never would have gotten out on your own, Harpy!” You freeze at the top of the courtyard wall. Rex turns to look back at you from his place on the ground with the rest of his group. He shakes his head; your mind registers the plea, but you can feel the fury of years of torment take over.

“You are always going to be mine! There is no way for you to ever be completely rid of me!” The witch’s words take hold and you turn around in a blind rage. There she stands, wounded and possibly already dying. It does not stop you from swooping down and ripping her apart. You proceed to do the same for every living person in the castle that night.

You don’t come out of it till dawn breaks. Covered in blood, you rise high above your old prison. You know the Mer and Rex are long gone, but you look around anyway. It was safer this way after all you remind yourself; if any of them had tried to stop you while you were like that, you probably would have killed them. There is a reason, after all, harpies are mostly solitary creatures.

You look toward the ocean and consider flying to the islands of Mandalore. Rex had made the home of the Mer sound like a paradise and you would be welcome to visit when you were both free. You smile sorrowfully before flying in the opposite direction.

It would take you months to gather the courage. You found yourself traveling from island to island, finding the world much changed by imperial rule especially with the Jedi Order gone. It was now your safest option to go live on one of the many outer rim islands.

You found yourself flying toward the home of the Mer without even completely comprehending it. Being a harpy they could always turn you away or even kill you for entering their territory, but you had to see Rex. The last look he gave you still ties your stomach in knots. And you miss him. You deeply miss him.

You meet no resistance as you make it to the massive island. They eye you warily, but none make a move to make you leave. You begin to grow frustrated as the hours pass; there are so many of the Sea Alor’s clones on this island intermixed with the original Mer population and even more spread throughout the island chain, not to mention under the water. How were you ever going to find him?

“Senaar!?” You stop and look down. Rex stands on the beach; his armor gleaming in the sun. It looks like he had just returned.

On pure instinct, you swoop down and crash into him. You wrap him in the tightest hug you can and his own arms squeeze you in turn as he falls backward into the water. You quickly let out apology after apology for everything, but he just smiles as you both sit up.

It is then you finally notice that there are way too many eyes on you. The renegade 501st members and some other rouge mer clones seem to swarm around the two of you and you become too embarrassed to talk.

“I missed you too.” The gentleness of his voice brings you comfort just like it did back in the courtyard. He gently leans his forehead to yours and his hands cup your face.

In that moment, you finally found what you had been searching for since you had been apart. You didn’t care about the witch's curse of haunting you, what the empire wanted, the old wounds between your species, or even your own kind’s long held belief in solitude. You understood one another and the sense of belonging made you feel at peace. You should have come sooner, but you're happy to be here with him now.

[kit-williams]

Kit, I love reading all your writings. From the quality of what you've written, the posts of WIPS you've shared, and the overall general musings you've given about what you're working on, it is beyond clear that you're passionate and care about what you write.

From Perty and Penelope to Roland and Bäckerin, it's all genuinely so good. I see you post something and get beyond excited to get the chance to read it; even if it's a quick one of reply to build off another post.

THAT'S NOT EVEN GET INTO HUSBANDRY SENTIENCE! You helped kick off genuinely one of the most enjoyable pieces of collective fanfiction that I have read in such a long time; it's to the point where I point my friends to your page like, "Look at this! Look at how good it is!" And they agree because it really is! I used to gate fandoms, I thought my time in them was done, but you've made me actually want to interact with one again with this collective you've been encouraging.

You've done great work, and that's all well and good to say, but it's harder to make oneself believe that. As a fellow artist and writer, I also understand where you're coming from. Sometimes, you look at something you've made (especially as it gets older) and wonder if it was ever any good in the first place. The answer is yes, it was and still is. The truth of the matter is that as you grow as a writer, your expectations for yourself do as well. You see every mistake, every way it could have been better. That's natural. But to us, your audience, we see a wonderful piece every time. We go back and reread things you've written no matter how old because we love what you wrote.

It's okay to be self-critical, but know you never need to doubt your abilities. You've written wonderful things, and I can personally say I am very excited to read whatever you write next.

I really hope you feel better soon, be kind to yourself.

- Tired College Anon

I never came back to tumblr to make what I've made. Sentience was never a thought I had... but it evolved so much further than what I thought it would be... I never saw myself doing anything more than just posting my silly D&D crossover idea and then Roland came into existence.

As for Husbandry Sentience... I really do try to understand the characters that I have been so graciously been allow to help make or to take to interact with my boys and girls. I never had made something like this before... honestly Sentience is just an AU of an AU... and then how much I feel honored to see people making AUs of my AU like the mer fics... making a collaborative fic beyond just my ask box people was not on my bingo card guys (gn)...

And then I was convinced, guided, somehow some way this beautiful community I had suddenly found myself in told me they wanted to see my take on Canon Characters far more fleshed out then old Ovary Thief Tyberos

I hate talking about myself because I dont feel like what I accomplish is much to write home about because its just this is my standard. What I give to you all is just my normal... my normal quick and dirty only occasionally beta read/reviewed before I post it... its me not trying me not worrying

I should feel better soon... everyone has been so unbelievably kind... everyone has been so nice and supportive

[instexcamera]

droolinf over merman kanata.

hear me out, Fantasy AU where you're a solo pirate taking a break on this secluded island you found. Kanata comes around and is like "why the fuck is there a massive ship in my territory" then he sees you and now hes like "now theres an attractive pirate here, what do i do" You accidentally spot him and he ran away. Initially, he didn't want you there. But after days, almost a week now, he's starting to see some perks to letting you stay.

Ever since you saw him, you've been leaving out part of your huntings for him. Since he wasn't the strongest swimmer even for a merman, sometimes it was hard for him to catch food, often eating seaweed instead of that yummy lobster that ran away.... As a thank you for the food you provided him, he decided to give you a little gift.

suprise! the gift is him. he goes up to shore when he knows youll be there, and strikes up a conversation with you. You're elated you finally get to talk to the merman you saw, and hes happy because you agreed to keep feeding him. for a price of course. He keeps you company and lets you stay on his island for who knows how long, (please be forever, hes started to grow attached to you) and you keep hunting for him and keeping his tummy full!

anyways you both agree to the deal and now its been what, weeks? you both grow closer and closer, but now all he thinks about is you. talking with you, eating with you, mating with you, fucking you(or fucking him, hes not opposed) ... He doesn't want you to leave anymore and mating season for him is coming soon,,

ajjdhsn i have many thoughts on this (him) nd one of them is getting him pregnant... mfgh keeping his tummy full in more ways than one...

god this is so long i apologize

Wuah! No it's ok I really liked this! I just can't respond quickly to things currently!

I've also been getting quite a lot of fantasy au things in my inbox and now I'm imagining something for everyone. I also accidentally made this much longer than I originally thought I would

But yes Kanata, seeing a island in the distance one day after a while of searching, knowing you can't return back to your main land for a while because their at war (thanks Eichi). So finding a pretty good little island filled with fruits, woodland creatures, and marine life is perfect

Kanata notices right away, chilling on the shoreline however he splashes back in the water before you spot him. He keeps watch diligently and hopes he isn't spotted since he wouldn't be able to swim as fast he would want to get away

Claiming the land, setting up small houses, and eating the food, he watches it all attentively. He can understand you relatively well however he struggles a little, the mers have a different language. Sometimes when you went fishing you'd accidentally drop a fish, crab, or lobster. As soon as you're away he grabs it, overjoyed he can finally get them quick enough since you either killed it or stunned it

A month later he works up the courage to approach you. Secretly you had known the mer was watching but had never expected a interaction. He looks like he might dart with any surprising movement from you yet you hold a good conversation with him. Him asking you about food and eventually making a deal, you can stay if you give him food.

The longer you stay the more attached he gets, finally bringing you a pretty piece of sea glass he found. He meant it as a proposal but he didn't tell you, expecting you to know but obviously you didn't. Accepting the glass happily, he assumes you accept his proposal

He becomes more attached, showing up more often. You think it's cute not knowing in his eyes he sees you as his partner, or mate. And when heat season rolls around he expects you to help him. So when you act confused he has to explain. The thought of having a merman husband and not knowing made you laugh but you agreed to help him

You didn't know how mer people had sex. Never something which interested you yet you knew of people who had relationships with them. So when a slit on his tail opened up to reveal a long cock, almost like a tentacle, it surprised you

It didn't take long for you to get over it, not wanting to upset Kanata or make him feel self conscious. He can't prep you, his webbed hands make it basically impossible so you have to deal with the pure stretch of him

It's not that bad, being in the water with him and his cock having a sort of a aphrodisiac making it close to painless, only feeling pleasure. Of course you feel the way he forced you open, the feeling of fullness and when his tip hit your most sensitive area, making you squirm on his cock

Except when you move, he growls, fingers digging into your body as he bites down on whatever area he could, he had you now and you couldn't do anything. He would have let you go if you wanted him too, except that was the farthest thought from your mind, only wanting him to fulfill his needs and reach your own orgasm

He'd eventually have you crying and over stimulated on him, full of his cum which makes your stomach glow a slight light blue. When he'd finally pull out and his cum is leaking out, it's a sign to him you're fully his, if the marks on your body didn't already prove that point

He would lay with you on the shore until you decided to leave, shaking legs making it a little hard to leave him but you must before someone in your crew gets suspicious, they don't know about your relationship with Kanata. That's the one thing he hates about being with you, he can't always be there, of course no one would shun the relationship yet he was a little scared

[ohno-the-sun]

Sooo... here are my theories for your luca au... or what I theories about to happen :3

(Rather more question)

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

I am really interested what Moon thinks about his mother. Ofc it could be not his mother(with Moon's logic), but what if she was? And now he doesn't even have a chance to get to know her. But Sun had her all the time... I hope this will be not a conflict between the boys~ 👀👀

And also I am so interested how this all mer-things work. Like what abilities Sun have? Can he also sing lullabies? Or his song has other effects? Do their song has the same effect on land if they want?

And what is with the hatching? I am a little bit surprised Moon is not asking more about Sun, and Sun is not asking more about how this could have happened, and why "broke the curse" specifically after his mother died. Is her mother really a human? Or another powerful siren, who somehow found a loophole to live in land? Is this common? Why did they split Sun and Moon?... there is still so much mystery around this topic.

Monty and Moon is kinda cute, but ohohohoo~ I am waiting for the scene, where Sun and Moon somehow both meet up with Bright. And I assume it will be somehow that Bright will see one of their mer-form. And freak out. Then so so so much distrust. That slowly could be build back up🥺

Because at one point they have to tell Bright that they go for a trip alone... or Bright will find about it themself.

And also the townsfolk. I mean... Sun and Moon's apperance as humans are not so...inconspicuous... so I am curious what the towsfolk think about the twins. And if there are more mers around, or just them.

And also Fazco! What do they already know about mers? How loyal Monty is? How much do he know? Is he really so stupid to not connect the dots about Moon (sry for the wording)😅 or just play along and wait for Moon to tell him himself that he is the mer. ... I mean... Moon literally showed up exactly after the mer "attack". And not like he showed up every day... it was unusual why then... so Monty really not see the connection, or think it was suspicious, that not only then showed up, but also told him to stop hunting for mers?

...if he really knows Moon as close as I think... he never wondered why Moon has those scars... and always after he hunted for the mer, Moon got a new scar?

AAAAA!!! I am so excited about where this go >:D ♡♡♡♡ either way you choose, I wanna see where this goes♡

Ooo hohohoh I love these thoughts

For the first question, wait and see ;)

Second question has been a little bit answered already in the fic

Third is a big part of the mystery so wait and see!

Hehe hoho wonder what Bright will do

The twins certainly are an oddity!

I will say about them not figuring it out, a lot of the characters (sans Moon) are a little dense. Bright notices things but puts the pieces together in the wrong way, Monty has a very strong division between the people he likes and the people (or things) he hates. Monty especially doesn't like to think that his friends could lie to him, even if signs point to the contrary