#tdp mermaid au

[honeii-puff]

Sea foam woman on the shore

In which Corvus talks to Callum. Read on ao3!

Corvus took his time walking back up the stairs, along the side of the cliff. He didn’t have anywhere to be, as far as he was aware, but the beach, the place he went to get away from people, felt oddly lonely.

He snorted lightly at the irony as he reached the top. The sun was still stuck behind a blanket of clouds, but it was warmer up here than it was on the beach.

“Corvus!” He turned and saw Prince Callum jogging down the brick street towards him, several books stashed in his arms. “Hi!” He said once he caught up to Corvus, breathing heavily.

“Hello, Prince Callum.” He nodded in greeting, and he waved him off.

“Please just call me Callum.” 

“I don’t think I’m legally allowed to do that.”

“Well, I’m giving you permission to.” Callum gave him a half-smile as he walked alongside Corvus. “Tomorrow’s going to be your first Night of the Sun in Katolis, right?”

“More of first one ever.” he responded. “I’m not around water often, so I’ve never really partaken in its celebration.”

The prince’s eyes brightened. “Then I’m glad you’re here. It’s so much fun.”

Corvus gave him a small smile, pulling out his notebook. “Tell me about it.”

Callum glanced at the notebook in his hands“Are you gonna write it down?”

He nodded. “Just in case I need a refresher later.”

“Alright. Well, it starts at sunset, when the moon starts coming up, since that’s when the magic starts working due to it being the only night where the full moon and the sun are seen fully in the sky. It’s all in the castle, everyone’s invited and it lasts until the sun rises, which is when the magic ends, I think.

“Seafood is served, which I used to think was insensitive, considering they’re half fish-”

“Half orca.” Corvus corrected gently, writing down what Callum was saying.

“Half what?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Half orca. Or mollusk.”

“What the hell’s an orca?”

He shrugged. “No clue.”

“What book d’you find that in?” Callum asked him.

“Oh- uh, not a book.” He glanced over at the ocean beside them. “I talked to a mer earlier. Apparently it’s a common misconception.”

His eyes brightened. “Did she have a teal tail and purple eyes?”

Corvus frowned lightly. “Uh… no. He had a red tail and blue eyes. Nice company though.”

“Oh.” Callum glanced at the ocean before looking ahead, sounding a bit disappointed.

“...Is there someone you were hoping on seeing?” He gave the prince an amused look.

“What! No, I-”He sighed. “...Yeah. But please don’t tell Aunt Amaya, I’ll never hear the end of it from her and Gren.”

“I promise.” He gave him a small smile. “So… who is she?”

“Well, her name is Rayla,” Callum started. “She’s a midsea mer. A bit scary, but she’s really nice to talk to. She has good jokes.”

“I’m glad you made a friend, Callum.”

“Is she really a friend if I’ve only met her once?”

Corvus looked out back at the ocean a final time before answering.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so.”

——————————————————————

“So, are you gonna tell me about the mer you met?” Callum asked him a bit later. They were now walking through the town marketplace, a colorful and bustling area that Corvus didn’t find himself in all that often outside the necessary trips.

“What do you want to know?” He answered, picking up an orange and looking at it for dark spots.

“What was his name?”

“Soren.”

“Age?”

“Around mine, I think.” He shrugged, putting the orange back. “I didn’t ask.”

“What color were his fins?”

“Red. Like his tail.”

“Really?” Callum tilted his head in thought.

Corvus looked at him. “What?”

“The only mers around Katolis with the normal tails are midsea, which have silver, and surface, which have gold. I don’t think he was from around here.”

He raised his eyebrows, flipping open his notebook to the mer page.

-Midsea mers have silver fins

-Surface mers have gold fins

“Which do you think he was, then?” He asked the prince.

He paused a moment to think. “Lagoon? Or cave spring, but that seems a bit more unlikely.” He bit his lip. “Oh! He could be a reef mer also. Was his tail one solid color or more of an ombre?”

Corvus thought back to Soren and his blood red tail. “Definately solid.”

“Lagoon mer, then. Reef mers have more veriety in their tails to blend in with the coral better.”

-Lagoon mers have fins that match their tails

-Reef mers have multicolored tails (blends in with coral reefs)

“What else d’you want to know about him?” Corvus asked the prince.

“Was he nice?” Callum asked, and he nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah, he was nice.” I think he was trying to flirt with me. “He said he had to leave because he was meeting up with his sister.”

“I wonder why there are lagoon mers near Katolis…” His lips pursed in thought. “Maybe you’ll see him tomorrow night.

Corvus shrugged. “Maybe.”

Part of him hoped that he would. He liked talking to Soren. He was funny. Like, genuinely funny. Not one of those times where you feel forced to laugh because everyone else was laughing or because you felt bad.

He hadn’t felt like that in a long time. Longer than Corvus cared to admit out loud.

Out loud, he said. “Maybe you’ll see Rayla.”

Callum’s face flushed red, hiding behind one of his books before looking at one of the stands, something catching his eye. He picked it up, and Corvus peered over his shoulder to look at it.

It was a hairpin, with the end shaped like a crescent moon, made from a spotted sea shell. The prongs were made from silver, and looked like it was made to hold up a lot of hair.

“You gonna get it for her?”

“Maybe.”

He gave the prince a knowing look, and he sighed. “Yeah, yeah. But, only if you get Soren something.”

Corvus rasied his eyebrows. “You’re the one with a crush here.”

Callum gave him the same knowing look. “Really?”

“Shush.” His eyes scanned the market table in front of them before noticing a small ceramic statue of a sheep. It was a creamy white with dark brown horns that curled like a ram, and very cute.

Corvus picked up the small statue, and Callum raised an eyebrow. “Sheep?”

“Uh– Yeah. He told me about how they herd fish, and compared it to herding sheep.” he explained to the prince. “I think he’ll like it.”

“Well, then I guess I’m getting this.” He gestured to the hairpin, and Corvus gave him a small smile.

“I guess you are.”

[iztopher]

WIP ask meme!

tagged by @patron-saints , thank you!!!

Rules: in a new post, post the names of the files in your wip folder regardless of how nondescriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet and tell us about it! If you don't write, list your art wips!

alright here's the list:

five times divorce

georgia rooney

i want all that is not mine

little mermaid au

magpie

sawveyond

stella and galahad

TDP rewrite

te'ijal weather fic

tagging @ghostzvne & @satohqbanana !

[chimpukampu]

So I know it been a long while since you've talked about it or drawn anything for it, but I suddenly remember your Rayllum x Mermaid AU and wondered if you ever made any more artwork of that AU you didn't get around to posting?

I do! Sadly, they got purged (along with my other old wips) when my PC got reformatted by accident 😥

I was actually planning to make a short fanfic about it (coz making it as a comic will take lots of time) but decided to drop it for a number of reasons - (1) I don't have enough free time and head space to create a series and stick with the schedule, (2) I'm still suffering from a writer's block. I can't write a coherent narrative lol, (3) I have too many art WIPS and I prefer to focus on them than writing, (4) It ain't short anymore XD

The drafts that I wrote for this Mermaid AU goes like this:

It's a modern AU where Rayla, who was about to get home from a club activity, witnessed a 'crime scene' & almost died escaping. The suspect shot her with a tranq dart, but there was something laced in the tranq that transformed her into a mermaid

Callum, a young fisherman from Evenere, saw an unconscious Mermaid!Rayla on the shore & brought her to his home.

Callum and Ez's parents died in a boat accident a year ago, so they've been living alone since then.

Rayla wasn't able to tell the boys about the truth coz the boys were blabbering about The Little Mermaid stuff, so she decided to roll with it lol

Rayla doesn't know how to swim using her tail, and she has a thalassophobia, so she's pretty much a failure of a mermaid lmao

Which confuses the boys coz what kind of mermaid is afraid of deep water?

Rayla wanted to leave the boys coz she doesn't want to become a burden, how Callum was nothing but a gentleman and Ez was the sweetest person in the world, but at the same time she doesn't want to coz they suck at household chores XD

They can't even survive a single day in the wild! - Rayla, presumably

The boys were so amazed that Rayla knows about plumbing to operating appliances like microwaves and washers. And Rayla was like "I just pushed the buttons", or "I just followed the instructions."

Rayllum will become a thing eventually. Only if they stopped being idiots

Claudia is a practicing vet in Drakewood & she often gets calls from Callum asking how to take care of a 'fish he rescued' to 'how can I tell my fish that she's cute?'

They found out about Rayla's true identity when they saw a news on TV about a missing girl who looks uncannily like Rayla...

[tylerdashart]

Have a Mer-Rayllum!!! 🧜‍♂️🧜🏼‍♀️

💜💚💜💚💜💚💜💚

[learties]

mermaid assassin seducing a human prince au??

[funkytoesart]

had a migraine this week so bad I ended up in the hospital so today literally all i had the energy for art wise was to do this lil' study--which quickly turned into a Pirate Amaya doodle! I might finish it but also I'm beat y'all migraines ain't fun

[sidecharactersdomatter]

WIP Wednesday

“Well, I was thinking Alma; It’s commonly used in Spain.”

“He has his father’s eyes.”

“THREE DAYS! WOULD-YOU-LIKE-TO-MAKE-IT-A-WHOLE-WEEK?”

“You know if your sister Rebecca were here, she would never treat you the way the Superiors do.”

“At the end of the day, I’m not taking her advice for granted, I just don’t know if it’s really that helpful.”

“I guess they’re just being nice to everyone…”

“Percy, Cass!  Hurry up she’s right on our tails!”

“Rookie mistake…”

“Yeah we could, but does anybody want some Citrus Lokum?”

“I need to tell you about the fight I had with Sasha and I think I know where she might be.”

[rendou-art]

Merman Ethari from @thenerdyalchemist ‘s Pirate AU. i just love his design so much ;-; 

[thenerdyalchemist]

A few of you wanted to see mermaid Ethari and well I could not resist. Even more stuff added to the pirate Au

[random-fandom-ramble]

Does old artwork work too?

If anyone knows of any Dragon Prince Mermaid AUs or mermaid/ocean elf fanfics pls shoot them my way cuz I’m obsessed with this au/theory but I haven’t seen anyone do anything with it🥺

[nestikogarana]

Mermaid AU 

[honeii-puff]

I thought that I was hungry for love

In which Corvus meets someone new Find it on ao3!

Corvus wasn’t a big fan of the ocean.

It was vast, larger than any land mass he’d ever been on, and deep. 

He also got seasick very easily.

And he was pretty sure that mermaids bit people with very sharp teeth (and not in a kinky way, like Amaya usually implies).

Something he was a fan of, however, was being left alone. And living in the bustling shoreside kingdom of Katolis, both people and the ocean were never in short supply.

Ironically, the only place he ever seemed to get true peace and quiet was the beach. Not the main beach, though. 

There was a smaller, stony shore that nobody visited, on the side of one of the cliffs next to the castle. The rocks were sharp, and the water was colder since the sun was blocked by the cliffside for the majority of the day.

Corvus wasn’t a big fan of the ocean, but it had one hell of a view at times.

Gooseflesh prickled along his forearms as he descended the steep stairs down the cliffside, a cold breeze blowing towards the cliff from the water. It was the beginning of July, but the chill would’ve made you think it was closer to the beginning of spring instead.

He reached the bottom of the cliff, onto the small pebbles that made up the small beach. There were larger, darker rocks near the far edge of the beach, waves lapping against them, eroding away at the smooth surface.

The waves were gentle that morning, more of a groggy blue to match the cloudy sky, in contrast to the bright cerulean it was usually this time of year. He could see the small outlines of ships in the distance, along the horizon, making him grateful to be on solid ground and not a wobbly wooden deck. 

Corvus glanced down at the worn leather book in his hand. His notebook, which he used to note down newer things in the environment. Originally, it was for the woods, when he was a scout outside of Katolis, before getting reassigned to Crownguard by General Amaya and moving closer to the shore. Now, it was filled more with interesting crustaceans and other sea creatures that he’d seen. The ones that Prince Callum had taught him to draw, anyways (much to his argument; but the young prince had insisted, a bright glimmer in his eye). The rest just had brief descriptions jotted down, along with whatever other information he could find about them.

He settled down near one of the large rocks, parallel to the edge of the shore and the cliff, and opened his notebook, flipping through the worn pages. His latest page had a sketch of a large sea snail he saw stuck to one of the boats the other day. It was upside down (so was his subject), and the linework was a bit wobbly, but it was good enough. It wasn’t the most important part anyway; more of a visual aid.

“Nice snail.” Corvus’ head snapped up at the voice from behind him. He hadn’t seen or heard someone come down the stairs built into the cliff face. Or walk across the beach. 

He glanced up onto the rock he was leaning against and saw a guy. A very pretty guy, lying on his stomach and looking over the edge of the rock at him, his chin rested on his arms. He was shirtless (Corvus couldn’t see how,  as he was still shivering in his two layers of shirts.), and instead of legs, he had a dark red tail. The red matched the fins behind his ears, and the bits of scale on his neck under his gills.

A very pretty mer, then. He noted to himself

“...Hi?” Corvus raised his eyebrows high enough that he wouldn’t have been surprised if they had popped off his forehead and started doing a jig.

The mer grinned. “Hi. Don’t worry, I don’t bite.”

“That’s exactly what someone who bites would say.” Corvus shifted so he was fully facing the mer, though still sitting on the small rocks, craning his head up slightly to look at him.

“Y’know what, that’s fair.” His earfins flicked slightly, as well as the small red scales under his eyes, which Corvus now recognized as smaller, light red fins. They weren’t as vibrant as his tail, closer to the shade of his skin, but they stood out, contrasting his baby blue eyes. The whites of his eyes were a bit darker though, as if there was a film over it. “I stand by what I said though. Nice snail.”

“Well, thank you…” He trailed off.

“Soren.” The mer– Soren– supplied.

“Corvus.”

He frowned slightly. “Bird?”

“No- that’s my name.” He clarified.

“Ohhh.” Soren paused. “Yeah, that makes more sense than what I originally thought.”

“Well, thank you, Soren.”Corvus closed his notebook, tucking it away.

“No problemo.” Soren clicked his tongue quietly, glancing around the empty shore. “So uh– you come here often?”

Was that a pickup line?

“A bit, yeah.” he replied. “It’s quiet. Nice escape.”

“No kidding.” The blonde grinned, drumming his fingers against the rock lightly. Corvus noticed webbing between his fingers, in the same shade of red as the fins under his eyes; more of a blush color than the deep red of his tail.

Almost like blood.

“What about you? D’you come here often?” He asked Soren.

The mer shrugged. “Every now and then. Usually earlier, though. Got caught up in something this morning.”

“Want to talk about it?” 

“Nah. It’s boring stuff.”

Corvus tilted his head slightly, crossing his arms. “Try me.”

Soren blew a strand of blonde hair out of his face. “Fish herding. Standing in for a friend.”

That opened a large door of questions in Corvus’ mind, which must have been very evident on his face, because the mer laughed. “You have a cute thinking face.”

What?

“What?” He looked at him.

“What?” Soren echoed. “You do.”

Okay, maybe thats like, a normal compliment in mer culture. Moving on.

“Why were you herding fish?” Corvus asked him.

“The same reason you guys herd…” He trailed off, pausing to think. “Sheep? You guys herd sheep right?”

He nodded.

“Right. Yeah, same reason. Food. Not necessarily the scales, most herding fish don’t have big enough scales to do anything with.” 

Corvus frowned slightly. “Isn’t that a bit weird with you being half fish?”

“Half orca. Common misconception.” Soren shifted into a sitting position, his crimson tail curled under him. “Or half mollusk. It depends. Plus, fish eat other fish all the time, so it wouldn’t be as weird as you’d think.”

He wasn’t quite sure what an orca was, but filed the information away in his brain to research later. “Good to know.”

Soren’s ear fins flicked lightly before a look of realization crossed his face. “Oh shit. I- uh- I gotta go, I was supposed to meet up with my sister a few minutes ago. Shit, Claudia’s going to kill me.”

Corvus let out a small laugh. “I’ll see you around?”

“Hopefully!” Soren gave him a small thumbs-up before sliding into the cloudy blue water and out of sight.

He watched the ripples in the water where he had disappeared, before opening his notebook to the blank page next to the drawing of the sea snail and starting to write.

MERS:

-Part Orca (or Mollusk), not part fish (note: do research on Orcas)

-Omnivores?? Definately not herbivores.

-Small fins under the eyes are not scales. Move usually in sync or before ear fins do.

-Fins on forearms, possibly to help with swimming

-They don’t bite (supposedly, still not convinced)

-Webbed fingers, no claws/talons 

-Possible double eyelid?

Corvus paused. He hadn’t gotten as much information as he had thought. Not that it was what he was looking for, but it did feel like a bit of a disappointment.

He’ll have to ask Prince Callum about them later.

[tina-ducking-tiny]

I totally did not spent the whole night thinking about a The Little Mermaid! Rayllum AU with @szultan02 ...

Totally did not-

(In this AU Callum and Erzran are merman princes, with Callum being obsessed with Elves and Magic. Also he signs to Rayla right away who he is and how he saver her. Their relashionship developes later on.)

[chimpukampu]

Because some people have noticed the scarf on my previous art post ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)

[shallitickleyournerdbutton]

The Oceans Have Eyes (Mermaid Raydia AU, MerMay 2020)

The sea was never meant for us. 

Stories from lucky survivors tell all sorts of fantasies - of monsters with tails that wind down, down so far into the depths you cannot tell where they begin. Of teeth, sharp and myriad, gleaming in the pale light of the moon. Of eyes, reflective under the water surface, in colours not at all earthly. 

Those who return often bear wounds that do not heal even with a lifetime to do so, magical burns on their skin from hands far too close to human.

There are rules for the few stubborn enough to dwell by the oceans, told to children while young, too young to understand the fear woven in the stories: respect the ocean and all its children, and never draw too much of its attention. For those who are bold enough to venture to sea, never look past the protection of your vessel after night. You most certainly do not answer any call from the water, neither with anger or with welcome. 

And if ever you see eyes gazing back at you from below the surface, it is too late. 

The seas are not meant for us. They belong to something else - that fact has been clear for longer than history records, etchings scribed into stones around the coast the world over, depicting those who live where we cannot follow. Beings so close to human it can only be intentional, but an intent that serves as a means to lure their prey closer. 

Then there are stories, rarer still, of those who went willingly into the ocean. Whispered echoes caught on the wind, telling tales about missing souls who paved their own path into the deep waters and were welcomed by its embrace. 

"Fairytales", her father had said. "Do not become smitten with lies. Those souls drowned, like all the others."

She had never had any reason not to believe him. He had always been right before. And she had always listened to him, to the warnings from the others. 

Yet, when no one was watching, the urge to peer over the edge and into the waves crashing against their ship would press itself against her. Ebbing and flowing with the motions of the sea that calls to her. 

Just one little peek. 

But then one became two. And three. And four. And on and on, for years. 

Tempting fate, with each little indiscretion. 

When you hold a conch to your ear, you hear the sea in your head. Most children have done it, she certainly had while growing up. But when the sea looks back at you, no matter how hard the waves may crash, you do not hear them. 

The first time her gaze was met equally, her body lurched itself away from the side of her father's ship and tossed her far away, further than she would have been able to without the spike of fear driving her motions. The cold shock of the cabin wall as it hits her back freezes her gasp, forces her to cover her mouth with a shaking hand and wait out the seconds for anyone within to come investigating the noise. Thin, sea-battered walls do not take much impact to signal anyone sitting on the other side, but the seconds tick by and she remains alone on the deck. 

She does not look back into the water again that night, or any night after. 

She does not need to. 

Full fic link in comments!

[learties]

Sea monster and mermaid Rayla