#two mer au's in one day!

[icy-gendango]

Jumpscare!!! I had fun with this one

[vivianquill]

Jimmy hoisted himself onto the edge of the pool, keeping half an eye on the fiery mer laying where Jimmy had left him. Martyn was still laying an arms-reach away from the edge of the water, soaking wet and chest heaving.

Jimmy was just thankful that he was still breathing.

With what the other mer had been yelling about, Jimmy was all too aware just how close Martyn had come to being murdered right in front of him.

He felt guilty for not pushing harder to come back out here alone. If the other mer hadn't seen Scott or Martyn until after Jimmy had made friends with him, then this probably wouldn't have happened.

"Martyn. . . ?" Jimmy questioned, reaching out with a dripping hand to nudge his leg, "Are you-- are you gonna be okay?"

It took a moment, but Martyn pushed himself up to a sitting position, letting out another stream of coughs, "Yeah-- yeah. I'll be okay."

Jimmy glanced back down at the red mer at the bottom of the pool. He still hadn't moved, beyond his fins twitching every now and again. Jimmy knew that the sedatives Martyn had used were strong, but--

He just wished that none of this would have happened this way.

"You-- uhm. I don't think that you getting in the water was a very smart idea. . ."

"In hindsight? Yeah." Martyn took a deep breath, suppressing a cough, "That was probably the dumbest thing i could've done."

Scott walked out of the house a moment later with a small stack of towels, and their first aid kit. He set them down on one of the pool chairs nearby the door, before walking over to help Martyn to his feet and over.

Jimmy just watched from the edge of the pool as Scott sat Martyn down, draping a towel around his shoulders.

"Jimmy, did he manage to bite you too?" Scott called, turning to look over at him.

"No." Jimmy shook his head, "He didn't get me. He tried, though."

"Alright. Good." Scott gave a little nod of his head, before turning back to his own bites.

The mer had given Scott quite the thrashing, it looked like. Jimmy had still been able to taste the blood in the water, before he'd come up to check on Martyn.

But they looked like they were fine. And Jimmy didn't like the thought of what might happen if they left their guest alone again.

Jimmy hadn't been able to figure out everything that the mer had been chattering about, but from what he knew about his own kind, and how the mer had reacted to Martyn and Scott, and the bits and pieces Jimmy picked up-- well. Let's just say that it didn't seem pretty. He'd been chirruping a child's call, mostly. One that Jimmy himself had yelled himself hoarse with, when he'd been freshly stolen.

Jimmy might've been taken from his pod young, but it seemed like the opposite had happened to this mer. Maybe. He obviously had a different pod now, because of what he'd said about not telling the humans at the marine rescue about them. And it wasn't uncommon for mer to change pods without anything bad happening.

But--

It didn't feel right to leave him alone.

Not now, not after what had just happened. Not after Jimmy could see just how quickly things had spiraled out of control.

Jimmy could understand. The other mer had not only been hurt in that nasty storm, but he'd also been stolen by humans and from what Martyn said, he'd been stuck in a tiny little shallow pool barely big enough to stretch out in! And then, once he'd gotten attached to those humans, Jimmy's pod had come in and took them and the mer had thought they'd killed someone.

It was an overreaction, what the mer had done, but it was an understandable one. Jimmy would probably have done the same, if their positions were switched.

Jimmy slipped back into the water. Right now the best thing he could do was make sure the mer was okay too, because he didn't have anyone looking out for him and also Jimmy sort of wanted to make sure that the splint hadn't come loose. From what Jimmy had seen, the cuts in the other mer's fins hadn't impacted his ability to swim. at least, not in this size of a pool. Lizzie would be able to tell better, once she got here.

Jimmy spread his sails as he got close, drifting above the mer, "Hey, uhm. . ."

Gosh he didn't want to just manhandle the mer to check on the splint but he didn't know how to ask.

The mer flinched, curling into himself as he glanced up at Jimmy. It was almost fascinating, how quickly his mood could change-- where before he was all puffed up and posturing, now he was doing the exact opposite.

Then again, he was sorta drugged right now.

Jimmy suppressed a shudder of regret, settling himself on the tiles next to the mer, "I just wanted-- can I touch you? I need to check the splint."

To Jimmy's surprise, the mer shifted closer, holding out his injured hand to Jimmy. Which, after a quick check to make sure everything was still in place, Jimmy let go of. But when he went to scoot back, to give the mer a bit of space, it was answered by a soft whine.

It wasn't really words? The closest thing it meant was "don't go." So Jimmy moved back, surprised to have the mer press his tail gently against Jimmy's.

Oh, poor thing. He was probably so touch starved, Jimmy knew firsthand how important physical contact was to mer.

"Oh, c'mere. . ." Jimmy warbled, pulling the mer against him in a hug and draping his tail over the other mer's. It wasn't a surprise to him when the other mer reciprocated, tucking his head against Jimmy's chest and curling his tail around Jimmy's.

Surely this would help calm him down. Whenever Jimmy got too stressed, he always felt better after some cuddles.

It didn't take long for the mer to fall asleep on Jimmy, but that was probably more from the sedatives than Jimmy himself.

It wasn't until Jimmy was running his hand through the sleeping mer's hair that he realized he hadn't told Martyn or Scott that he was gonna spend some time down here with their guest. Oh well. If they really wanted to know, Scott would come down to talk to him.

Looking down at the mer, Jimmy also realized that they still didn't know his name. Maybe he'd be able to get it from the mer when he woke up.

[softquietsteadylove]

could we possibly get a little angsty mermaid au action? missing that one! thank you for continuing to share your masterpieces with us!

I almost didn't recognise you, it's been so long.

Thena blinked, the only time needed for her friend to go from being a speck in the distance to right in front of her. She sighed, bubbles rising from her mouth. Sorry.

What's wrong? Makkari asked, despite her feelings about Thena spending more time on land than in the water, these days. She swam around her friend, resting on a sandbank like a beached whale. It must be bad for you to leave your precious human.

Thena snarled her lips, letting her fangs poke out. She turned over in the sand, her tail dusting it up around them. "Leave it alone."

Makkari swam around to her other side, though, real concern on her face now. Hey, it was a joke. Is there something I should know?

Thena's lip wobbled. If she were on land, her eyes would be pouring salt. They had done so a few times, like when she was sick, or when she watched a heartbreaking movie with Gil that felt very much like how they had come to fall in love.

But underwater, the vacuum of it swallowed her sorrows. Her gills expanded and contracted with her heavy heart. "We are quarrelling."

You and the land walker? Makkari tilted her head a few times, the gold charms she liked on the ends of her hair floating with the motion. What did he do?

Thena swiped at her eyes, another human habit she had picked up. She sighed again, adjusting herself on her sand bed. He didn't do anything. I...I learned something.

Makkari - against any mer's instincts and natural inclination - also settled herself on the sand. She rested her chin on her arms folded in front of her, the red sparkle of her scales reflecting on the beautiful tone of her skin. She raised her brows.

Thena smiled at her friend. There was nothing about the ocean she missed quite so much as Makkari. We were out walking in town. A woman approached Gil, and he knew who she was. They spoke for some time, and he introduced me. She seemed nice.

Makkari nodded along with her very factual recounting of the story. She was used to it with her, after all. She would ask her questions as they came.

I asked Gil who she was when we got back to the boat. Thena blinked, laying her head on the sand again like a pathetic guppy lost in a strange reef. She was his mate.

Makkari shot up again, her tail swishing and her hands poised as if she had the human man's throat there for the strangling. His what?!

Thena nodded, feeling the rush of foolishness and resentment and anger and envy all over again. Humans don't mate for life. Apparently, it is not uncommon for them to have numerous partners.

It wasn't that it was impossible for mers to have multiple mates. Sometimes things didn't work out, that wasn't so incomprehensible. But it wasn't something taken lightly, to become bound mates at all. Certainly it wasn't common to encounter someone's past mate and strike up pleasantries.

She nuzzled the sand, pressing her temple to it in a poor substitute for the soft but firm feeling of Gil's chest under her. He said it was a long time ago. That they had been young and parted amicably. That they were 'still friends'.

Makkari watched the way she punctuated his verbatim statement. She lifted her lips around her fangs. That sounds like a clown who wants more than one anemone.

She agreed. It was hard to communicate that to him, though, when all she had felt was rage. Anger with him for smiling at his past mate wit her right there, on his arm no less! How dare he greet this woman so normally as if they hadn't been entangled from the inside out?!

She knew it was normal for them. She knew Gil didn't mean to hurt her and she knew that she shouldn't have thrown herself right over the side of the boat to avoid him. But just the sight of him made her want to shatter coral right off his thick skull.

Humans actually had very thin skulls compared to theirs, Sersi said.

What else did he say?

Thena shook her head. The sun moved above them, or a cloud did, and she lost her comforting warm spot. She let herself drift off the sand and listlessly ride the currents around them.

Hey, Makkari nudged her arm as she began swimming next to her. I never thought I'd see the day you were limping around because of some bull.

Nor did she, in all honesty. But she had never felt quite like this, either. She let herself drift down and down until some shelves of coral made themselves known. Her tail flopped limply after her; the tail Gil said was so beautiful.

Makkari swam to face her again. Now I'm really worried.

"Sorry," Thena squeaked out. She couldn't help it. She wanted to be in a bed and to tug the covers up over her head. She wanted to run a hot bath and fold herself up in it, letting just her tail hang out in the open air.

Okay, Makkari also sighed, moving to lean against the edge of her coral refuge. I may not be the biggest admirer of your...human. But I know how much you care about him. Are you going to go back to him?

Of course--of course she would. She just came to get out her feelings. The question of going back or not was not even an option. But maybe that was part of the problem. Thena looked at her oldest and dearest friend in all the seas. Kari, I can't leave him. We're...

Makkari's eyes widened. Perhaps she'd had some inkling of things, but this was a damning admission nonetheless. She waved her fingers. You, and him, you're...you mated with him?!

Thena pursed her lips, tempted to roll over again as if she were in bed at home. "You don't have to make that face."

How is that...how? Makkari concluded, rather mildly all things considered.

How humans do it, Thena sufficed to say. She didn't have to go over the gruesome details.

To her credit, Makkari restrained herself from further reaction. She crossed her arms again. Do you feel different?

She did, but she also didn't. She had never taken a mate of her own kind, but she had never even desired to. With Gil...it had happened so naturally, come of natural events. Perhaps she had experienced new mate-hood, in which she had become so infatuated that she had nary desired to leave Gil's side.

But then she thought of the human woman again, of her hanging on Gil's arm, and kissing him and eating his food. And it made her stomach clench like when she had fallen ill with a human 'bug'.

Thena blinked as she felt the touch of a hand on her arm. Makkari gave her a sympathetic look. Mers were not the type to exchange physical gestures meaninglessly, and they in particular were not partial to it. But she smiled, "thanks."

Makkari patted her arm before fiddling with the gold on her fingers (also stolen little trinkets). Well, you'll go back, you said. When?

She was asking if Thena would stay in the water for some time. But she hadn't considered it. For all she had done to storm off and leave poor Gil all alone in the small motorboat, she hadn't considered staying past the height of the moon. For how miserable she was feeling, she still wanted to return to his arms to sleep.

How foolish mating with a partner made someone.

I don't know, Thena answered more properly. She at least lifted herself from the coral. I wanted time to think clearly.

Makkari shrugged. Bulls--what can be done about them?

Thena offered a somewhat sardonic but genuine smile. She was inclined to agree, but she still wished to return to her bull in question. I promise I will return soon, and in better spirits.

Makkari followed her as she began swimming upward again. As soon as she had tossed herself from the boat, she had swam straight down, desiring nothing more than getting Gil out of her sight. Does Ikaris know?

Thena rolled her eyes. No, and he never can. I had to worry about him drowning Gil before they had even met. This will not help.

Fine, but I can't say I'm completely against it, Makkari offered neither her complete support nor condemnation. But it was support either way, and Thena appreciated it.

Thena eyed the bait that was hanging in the water. They weren't deep enough for mers yet, but it was deep enough that most wouldn't be fishing with a regular manual rod in such an odd spot.

Makkari beat her to it, of course, swimming right up to it. There's something tied around it.

Thena floated next to it, undoing the strip of cloth tied around the line. The ink was already being eaten at by the salt, but the sloth was scrawled with a very sad SORRY on it in horrific lettering. "Oh, Gil."

Has he just been sitting here? Makkari asked, looking up at the bottom of the boat.

That was exactly what he had been doing. Because that was Gil; he wouldn't have gone home without her. Even if she had, she would have discovered he wasn't back and come to find him. So he had stayed put, cast the line with a message for her to come back to him, unable to come after her properly.

Okay, fine, he's not bad for a human, Makkari conceded with minimal eye rolling. She gave Thena's fin a friendly smack with her own on her way past. Come back another time you don't want to just cry about your boyfriend and his legs?

Thena waved to her friend's swiftly retreating image before Makkari truly put her power into her tail and shot off with blinding speed. She did owe her more visits, and it was nice to truly swim completely uninhibited for a time.

She poked her head up slowly, the water lapping around her. It was dusk, and soon would be completely dark. She rose until she could peek over the side of the boat.

Gil was tearing another strip of fabric off his emergency canvas, writing the word over and over and over to get the ink to penetrate the cloth properly.

Oh, her sweet, sweet human man. Thena sighed, once again feeling the air in her lungs, even with her gills in her neck. She brought her hands up to the boat's edge, "Gil?"

"Th-Thena!" he startled, but his head whipped up to her. He had been crying. "Angelfish!"

The boat tipped dangerously as he rushed over to her. As much as she could get them back home, she wasn't strong enough to tip over a boat by herself. "Gil!"

He stopped his rush to hug her, or lift her out of the water and back onboard with him. His shoulders sagged, "oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry. I should have explained more--a-about my ex. I didn't mean for you to find out that way."

She still didn't enjoy the concept of Gil and his ex-mate, doing mating things. But she pulled herself up and into the boat for herself, settling on the bench, still with her tail on. "I know you were put in a difficult position, Gil. I...I shouldn't have swam off."

He plunked himself back down to the other seat by the motor. "No, I don't blame you for being mad. I probably wouldn't want to find out about any ex of yours by running into him on a date."

Yes, exactly! She had her vindication, which did soothe the stubborn part of her. But she split her tail into legs again, leaning forward. "Gil."

He let her lift his chin, happy to accept her kiss. He slipped his fingers into her hair. "I'm sorry, Angelfish. I didn't want you to get hurt like that."

It had hurt, in an odd way. Humans had such interesting concepts of pain--so internal and self reflective. But Thena smiled, running her thumb over his cheek, "I know."

He accepted her acceptance. He wasn't forgiven, but he wasn't asking for that. He reached behind him, putting his jacket over her, "let's get home, okay?"

Thena nodded, pulling the jacket up and zipping it. It was cold in the air, even as the salt beaded off her skin. "I'm sorry, I don't know where the dress ended up."

"It's okay, Cuddlefish, we can get you another one," he smiled, eager to maintain their lifted spirits. He held his arm out, inviting her to sit next to him for the boat ride home.

She obliged him, settling herself in the crook of his arm. She pressed her temple to his chest, finally soothed after the sand failed where he was succeeding. "I want that seafood stew you make for dinner."

What he called 'Jjampong' was one of her favourites, not only for the seafood, but for the pleasant spiciness it possessed.

He kissed her hair, speeding ahead and back to their home, on the island, with Titania waiting for them at the dock. "Anything you want, Thena."

She wanted him to swear to be her one and only mate from now on. But dinner would suffice for now.

[aquacomet]

Here's a Mermay Eclipse design I've been working on for a bit! (He's a big fish, people are just around hand-sized to him.)

Originally based on a Inktober design I made back last year here I decided to work on a full design for him! (Might tweek a few things in the future but this is where he's at for now.)

A few more doodles and details about Mer Eclipse below! (Warning for spooky fish and eye contact)

Eclipse has a predator side he uses to hunt down and intimidate his prey since the sea can be a rough place if he can't defend himself when in his younger years, it's how he's stayed alive to grow the size he has. He also likes use his scare tactics to creep out unsuspecting divers.

He likes to collect things he finds cool, though after finding many things in the ocean he now has a specific interest for things from the surface, especially so if they're shiny. (He'll look at it and be like 'I have no idea what that is but it's new and I like it. Mine now.')

Bonus - Colour flats without the effects. (He's mainly a mix of red, pale-ish gold and turquoise, some of these looked better on my drawing screen asdf)

[nix-illustrating]

Oh god this is so adorable!!! And Dick holding Damian is just-

batfam ? i only know merfam

(lowkey inspired by @symeona ’s mermay art :0 !!!! go check them out!!!!!)

[harzilla]

ohh. Brain rot time.

Long lost sibling AU. Except Yuu is the lost sibling of one of our dear Twst boys. Like through magically shenanigans Yuu is pulled from the twst verse as an infant or toddler(or in Malleus' case an egg) and ends up in a magicless world. The world has no magic so they're forced to fit whatever the constraints of that universe are. So if for example, they were Riddle's sibling. They simply lack magic. But if they were a mer, beastman, or fae, then they not only lack magic but they were forced to become human. Yuu has no memories of twisted wonderland, no memories of their previous life. They only know the life they've lived with their adoptive family. Things like fairies, mermaids, and magic are nothing but fairy tales.

Until the day they woke up in the coffin at NRC. Okay, so turns out magic is actually real! Hey, Yuu's actually handling it okay(I swear game Yuu is extremely mentally stable if they're handling all the shit so well). The mirror, for whatever reason can't accurately read their soul. So they still think they don't have magic and want to go home to their magicless world.

Even if Yuu looks strikingly similar to their sibling, maybe nobody makes the connection because, duh, Yuu is from another world. Like even if Yuu looks like Leona or Azul for example, it must be a coincidence because duh, Yuu is human not a beastman or a mer. Nobody actually figures out Yuu is actually from the twst universe until whatever magic that caused them to be sent to another world as an infant and stripped them of their original identity finally wears off.

Like maybe something triggers it. Maybe fighting their sibling's overblot and saving their life(since an overblot can kill the mage it's attached to) is what triggers the magic to break.

Book two, after Yuu is knocked out by the spell driver disk and wakes up in the infirmary. Everybody is so focused on Leona that they don't notice that Yuu has sprouted a pair of lion ears on their head. Yuu doesn't even notice until they realize that everything is so much LOUDER and why does the room stink of medication so much?

Imagine book 3 and Azul's overblot has been defeated. Everybody's beat up and then Yuu suddenly collapse and they're having trouble breathing. People are panicking and then somebody notices that their skin is starting to change to grey and black and that the seams of their pants are starting to tear because SOMETHING is moving inside Yuu's pants. Maybe it's one of the twins who figures it out and yanks up Yuu's shirt and sees that they're sprouting GILLS on their torso. Poor Yuu is picked up and tossed into one of Octavinelle's tank where they finish transforming and surprise. Yuu almost looks like a carbon copy of Azul in that form. Even their hair changed color to the same shade as his in this form. Like maybe Azul and Yuu were the only two survivors of their clutch, but Yuu was lost or stolen and the lost of one of the only two children they have left was what finally triggered their parent's divorce.

Oh oh. Like imagine with Malleus. Insert shenanigans where Yuu ends up in their world much more down the line so they age at the rate of a human instead of a fae(or maybe they age like a fae but still look like a human so their family thinks they have some kind of medical condition that makes them age slowly, poor Yuu is the big family secret until they're old enough to be on their own). Let's say there's some shenanigans and Yuu and Malleus were twin eggs. The two of them when the eggs are close together they can communicate with each other(maybe if you listened closely you could hear the faint cooing or squeaks of the baby dragons in their eggs as they talk to each other). Yuu's egg is stolen and has just disappeared. Poor Malleus spends so long calling out to his other half, he's just a tiny baby in his egg and he doesn't understand why his sibling won't answer him anymore. Maybe as he grew he always knew something was missing. Even if he wasn't told about his sibling. He just KNOWS somebody should be there. Maybe that's why Yuu in that universe doesn't fear him. Because the both are naturally drawn to each other as their other half. Perhaps Yuu ends up waking up one day with their head hurting because somehow they're sprouting horns and their skin peeling because surprise! They've got scales starting to sprout all over their body.

Maybe book 6 Poor Yuu's hair just suddenly burst into flame when facing Idia's overblot because they're in S.T.Y.X. and there's so many phantoms and so much blot around that it finally overloads their system and triggers the curse to finally manifest in them. Poor Yuu went from a normal haircut to a ball of blue fire for hair.

Imagine going from being an only child or having maybe one other sibling to finding out you're actually Kalim's sibling and oh yeah, You actually have 30 other siblings. Kalim's taking it great and can't wait to introduce Yuu to their long lost family but it might take them a bit longer to process.

Being Riddle's sibling, Yuu might actually feel grateful they ended up in another world if they have decent parents because they're not sure they're ready to face Mrs. Rosehearts when they find out she's their bio mother.

Can y'all see my vision here? So much angst potential but so much comedy potential as well.

The shenanigans from the more emotionally constipated cast trying to navigate this new found relationship. Or trying to figure out how they're going to introduce Yuu to their family.

Then you got ones like Rook. Poor Yuu, hope they're good at learning French.

Edit: I've expanded on the idea more here https://www.tumblr.com/harzilla/761475981811777536/original-post-found-here?source=share

[nyoomerr]

May I request another mer AU drabble but this time Shen Qingqiu is a merman? Whether Binghe is a human, merman or octobing is up to you

aye aye cap'n 🫡 warnings on this one for what is definitely a more violent sort of atticwifing

(also i still have like 3 more mer related drabble requests in my inbox, y'all are really into the mer AUs rn huh?? very nice)

---

There’s a mer following Luo Binghe. 

He’s been following Luo Binghe since he was a child, a guardian angel of the sea. Luo Binghe used to throw himself overboard just to feel the mer’s gentle touch as he’d drag him back to the surface; at night he’d poke at the little pinpricks in his skin from where the mer’s claws had made him bleed despite the gentle way he was held. 

That was years ago, though. Luo Binghe hasn’t seen the mer in a long, long time. One time he fell into the ocean - a genuine accident, that time - and the mer wasn’t there, and then the mer was never there, ever again. 

For a kid who hadn’t felt a kind touch from a human since his mother had died, the loss of that mer’s rescues had been a devastating loss. 

When Luo Binghe had realized the mer was still there, and still following Luo Binghe - occasionally leaving out little shells for him, or scaring off sharks when Luo Binghe had to get in the water to scrape barnacles off the ship - the loss had begun to feel more like a betrayal.

The mer hadn’t abandoned Luo Binghe - he’d only grown distant, only decided that helping Luo Binghe was only worth it if he never had to touch him. 

Was the mer’s assistance only out of pity, then? Or perhaps just some sort of animal curiosity? 

The friend that Luo Binghe had imagined himself to have, as a kid struggling to survive the life of an orphan on a pirate ship - did he ever exist, or had it just been a foolish projection of human motivation onto a creature acting on whims that Luo Binghe could never understand?

It wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to Luo Binghe; not by a long shot. For as long as the mer would keep following him, though, it would itch at him, a problem that was never quite resolved.

Fine, then. Luo Binghe is a long way away from the little orphan kid just trying to survive the high seas, now. If there’s a problem that itches at him, he’ll scratch it until it bleeds.

Once he sets his mind on it, it only takes three days before his crew manages to catch the mer. 

Luo Binghe stands over him now, taking in the sight of him. Before now, he’d only ever managed glimpses, and his memories of being held by the mer as a child had grown fuzzy. Dragged onto the deck of the ship, the mer is far larger than Luo Binghe had thought: the human head and torso were roughly the same size as Luo Binghe’s, but the mer’s tail was so long it seemed more like a serpent’s than a fish’s. 

He’s pretty, too - more than just the way his scales glint in the light, or the way the rope of the net digs into his skin in a way that makes him look so soft Luo Binghe could take a bite out of him.

The delicate bridge of his nose, the slant of his eyes, the sharp line of his jaw - Luo Binghe wants to cut him into little pieces to eat almost as badly as he wants to have him stuffed in one beautiful, elegant piece.

The mer had stopped thrashing in the net when he’d seen Luo Binghe approach, though his chest is still heaving with the exertion of it. Luo Binghe watches the frantic rise and fall of it for a long, hypnotizing moment before deciding he’d like to inspect the mer even closer before deciding what is done with him.

“Hello there,” Luo Binghe croons, kneeling down in front of the mer. 

The mer watches him with intelligent, panicked eyes, but makes no sound in return.

“You’ve known me for a long time, now,” Luo Binghe says evenly. “Do you remember my name, from back when I used to try and speak with you?”

The mer licks his lips, a nervous tick that reveals what looks like two separate rows of needle-sharp teeth.

“...Binghe,” the mer says eventually. His voice has a reedy, inhuman quality to it, but the tone of it does not surprise Luo Binghe nearly as much as the sound of his name does.

So you didn’t forget me, he thinks almost viciously. You didn’t forget, and you were listening.

He doesn’t give the mer the satisfaction of hearing those thoughts, though.

“And you? Do you have a name, or should I call you as I please?”

This time, the mer remains silent. 

Luo Binghe hums, assessing the mer from beneath lazy, half-lidded eyes. “I’ll give it some thought, then,” he says. “I’ve got all the time in the world with you now, after all.”

The mer’s fins twitch, his eyes slipping away from Luo Binghe to look for some means of escape.

Luo Binghe decides quite quickly that he doesn’t care for the mer to look away from him.

“You seem able to breathe air just fine,” he says, louder than the soft voice he’d been using before. “And you can speak like a human, too.”

The mer’s eyes flick to him again, then back away. Luo Binghe narrows his eyes.

Slowly, he leans towards the mer, reaching out with one hand. The net keeps the creature pinned to the deck of the ship, but it wouldn’t stop him from snapping Luo Binghe’s fingers off if he got too close.

Luo Binghe brings his hands to the mer’s gills anyway. The mer does not try to bite.

“If you can breathe air just fine,” Luo Binghe says, his fingers tracing the delicate lines of the mer’s gills. “I wonder: what do you need these for?”

The mer makes an aborted, panicked movement to jerk away from Luo Binghe’s hand. Luo Binghe catches him by the throat, his fingers sinking into the mer’s gills to keep the hold firm, and the mer goes entirely limp. 

“...Binghe,” The mer says, his voice soft and nearly pleading. 

Luo Binghe relaxes his grip. He does not pull his fingers away from the mer’s gills. Instead, he runs his fingers along them, his touch firmer than before, and slowly - so, so slowly - pushes one finger inside. 

“I think,” Luo Binghe says softly, “that I could take these away, and then you’d never have the chance to hide from me again.”

Luo Binghe flicks his gaze up from the mer’s gills, stretched painfully around Luo Binge’s finger, to meet his eyes. 

The mer’s pupils are blown huge. He looks more human like this, without his eyes peering at Luo Binghe through a snake’s slitted pupils.

Slowly, Luo Binghe withdraws his hand. 

“Well,” he says. “I have time to think about it.”

[orbital-inclination]

🦈 the boys are scheming

Ramble under cut!

Killer: based on the Black-tipped Reef Shark and a Thrasher Shark. His tail is long and whip like but you can’t appreciate it’s length bc it’s out of frame. He uses it to give his prey a concussion.

Horror: is a whale shark because he is a big softie, a gentle giant. I can only have so many octopi, and next to a shark of some kind that’s my second choice for him.

Dust: manta ray. My logic behind this choice works like this; hoodie = soft + covers you = blanket. Blanket + fish = stingray. Manta Rays don’t have stingers. But I gave Dust one anyway.

Dream/Molt: I was torn between a classic fish tail for him or something with tentacles. So I drew three forms for him. his designs are loosely inspired by cuttlefish and a specific killifish I’ve lost the name of.

Because Molt’s goop is tied to his role as a Guardian of Positivity of the multiverse, I was torn about whether not his mer-form should be goopy. I’m still indecisive about this.

If we went with his cuttlefish form, just like real cuttlefish he would be able change the color and texture of his body and tentacles. He can’t change the color of his bones or magic, of course.

This also one of the few AUs that you get to see the damage done to his ribcage. If only bc he doesn’t have three layers of fabric to hide it.

Regardless of the kind of mer-skele, Molt steers clear of deep open water. The scars across his ribs are a literal beacon in the dark, as his magic glows, and are just as likely to attract a predator as they are to attract curious small fish. As dusk falls, Molt hides himself away in caves and crevices in the reef or cliffs. He is a day time hunter by choice, but his brother still prefers to hunt at night.

Nightmare/Rem: i had two ideas for Rem, Octopus or Orca. Orca, because of the general importance that family plays in their social dynamic. And Octopus for classic fandom interpretation reasons.

If we are using the octopus type mer for Rem; like his brother, he can change the pattern and color of his body but not his bones or magic. Though he can change his color to almost any hue he wants, he prefers dark colors.

The dark markings on his bones may or may not be natural, and may or may not be caused by the same incident that nearly shattered his brother’s bones. :)

[snickerdoodlles]

@fawndlyvenus oh man okay so,

howl's moving castle AUs

kinnporsche: heart burdened, currently one of my active WIPs because im an absolute clown

bad buddy: listen with your heart (preview), on the backburner. i haven't posted much about it yet, but it's one of those AUs i still think about quite a lot and do really want to return to when i have more time to write and a few more things finished

svsss: if i have a name for it already, i don't remember it. don't think i've posted about this one at all anywhere, someone should remind me to break out the notes for it when i get back home actually 😂

haikyuu: shining dishonesty, written and posted! it features the msby4+osamu because they are everything <3333 i have notes for a sequel fic to it more focused on atsumu and osamu's relationship called try, try, try again, but i haven't really figured it out beyond a few scenes of their childhood

yoi: called rising sun AU, haven't posted on it at all iirc. honestly, probably won't? looking through my old notes, there are some pieces i like but a lot i'd do very differently now so ehhhh

as for mermaid AUs, anything posted is several years old and im shy about linking those 😂 i have at least 2 for haikyuu!!, but i cant remember if i have anything more recent than those? oh wait yes i do, a tgcf mer AU inspired by some art featuring hua cheng dumping his shiny treasure overboard all the time to attract xie lian's attention lol.

but hmmm lets see *counts fingers* 2 mer AUs for haikyuu!!, miraculous ladybug, and voltron: legendary defender, a series heavily featuring space mers (star gliders) for treasure planet, one for yoi, that one for tgcf, a very old one for fairy tail, and that's just the 10 i can remember off the top of my head lol. there's a lot of untapped potential for mermaids imo 🤣

*edit: OH MY GOD i have THIS BAD BUDDY MER AU i was literally thinking about the final part to this series the other week *smacks face*

*edit edit: patpran luca AU. *smacks face aGAIN*

*edit edit ediT: I am just. going to go lay on my face until I stop being embarrassing. I am definitely going to remember more mermaid AUs by the end of the night oh my god @ me

feeling odd scrolling through my long untouched writing folders and seeing the frequency at which certain tropes reoccur. i always knew my predisposition to mermaid AUs, howl's moving castle AUs, and AUs that deal with time in some way (time travel, timeloop, etc), but i have...a lot of soulmate AU wips in here too..

weird.

[oobbbear]

Since there's one person who keeps being a jerk to you the positivity fairy has come to say that she really enjoys your Pirate Deadendia AU and to give you an open invitation to share anything from it that you've been hoping somebody would ask or you really want to share but haven't had the chance

If there's any question you've been hoping for, imagine it's here, and if not, then have a great day regardless and I'm glad you got your luggage sorted out (^.^)

Ohoh okay here’s som random facts and doodles

This is Pael’s design, he’s a white peacock

These two doodles mirror each other, the second one is Cour first time meeting Dan, it’s a fight between some angels and Cour’s boat. Dan’s on angel’s side, he’s not a fighter but he got caught in the fire and left behind by the angels on the boat

Basically, Courtney: “Oh this one looks like me, can we keep it” The others: “ Um yeah sure” ✨Danny has joined the party✨*insert rpg game sound effect*

I find this story kinda silly and don’t make much sense so I stopped working on it

I dont have the designs yet but Barney and Log are shark mers. Barney is great white and Log is nurse shark

Some birb Cahdan because ye

I probably mentioned it before but here it goes again Cah has bigger chest fluff cause I said so

theres some keychains I want to make

I think that’s all for now! Feel free send me asks about this au, brainstorming is fun

[starwrighter]

A DpxDc prompt because I <3 all of you but am too shy to talk in the discord.

The Subnautica au I promised! (I might make two of them)

Okay, so Danny is around 14 or 15 in this. He is still a halfa but the portal has been temporarily closed for plot reasons. So the portal is closed and Danny has no clue what to do now. Due to the portal being closed Danny's grades have improved exponentially enough that he gets an work offer from Altera (ignore the child labor it's the Giw/Altera's shady business practices fault)

Danny is ecstatic because he's finally getting the opportunity to go to space! He knows if he waits the portal will be reopened and he'll never have a chance like this again so he takes it. In less than a month Danny has been trained and is shipped off to the Aurora. He's heading towards planet 4546b with very little information on the planet itself.

The crash happens and Danny doesn't use his powers to save the ship because something around the atmosphere was preventing full accessing his powers in full. Danny scrambles to the life pods and ends up being the only one in life pod five. The whole life pod scene happens with Danny being knocked out by the panel flying off the wall.

He wakes up with the life pod on fire and quickly uses what he can of his ice powers to put it out not realizing there's a fire extinguisher. Danny exits the life pod and realizes that a lot of people he talked to on the ship not even a day ago were probably dead. Judging by his inability to go ghost, he wouldn't be reuniting with them in the ghost zone any time soon.

He is devastated but goes about exploring and trying to find any other survivors. His hope of finding survivors near the crash zone dies when the ship explodes and starts leaking deadly radiation. Danny of course rushes to try and fix this. It's easier for him to get there because he can stay under water for an inhuman amount of time and has a built up immunity to radiation as a halfa.

Now to the DC part of this. Let's stick with only the batfam existing in this universe. The entire batfam are classified as leviathan's. All of them have two forms with one of said forms being semi humanoid mer like appearance. They are still pretty big in this form, think 7-8ft at the smallest (aka Damian) The other form is something I like to call

Big f-ken fish™

Which is full on terrifying reapers (we'll decide what each of the fam specifically look like later) and a lot of them are chilling in the crash zone when Danny is fixing the Aurora's reactor. Danny has not yet been spotted by the reapers.

Now they're already pissed off because a big arse ship just crashed into their planet and destroyed a great deal of it. They don't exactly know what a space ship is but they do know that the technology is advanced and the only thing remotely close on their planet is from the precursors who were a bunch of pricks.

Before the explosion the fam kept an eye on the weird creatures that crawled out of the metal eggs They watch them almost immediately start dying from predators or Kharaa. They were there when the ship exploded and started leaking radiation and killing the local wild life much to Damian's despair.

So the Fam are pretty pissed off at this point and are circling the ship. They immediately noticed when the ship stops leaking radiation and spot Danny swimming away from the reck quicker than any of the other ones that crawled out of the eggs.

Granted most of the other ones from the eggs immediately died and didn't have faces (the wet suits looked weird and Danny refuses to wear them no matter how much easier they would make things >:(

They start watching him because obviously there's something odd about this thing it looks kinda like a much smaller version of their smaller forms. Danny is getting pretty ticked off that his PDA keeps making false alarms of leviathan's. Duke, and tim are the ones monitoring Danny in the safe shallows. Jason and Dick in the crash zone. Barbra and Stephanie in the kelp forest. Cass and Bruce are patrolling the grassy plateaus.Damian is by himself at the quarantine gun/ sunbeam landing sight.

Danny sets up base near the quarantine gun™ because for some reason even though he's not infected he can't turn the damn thing off. So Damian is the only one currently capable of watching him. Damian has a theory that he 100% sure is correct. As a 1600 year old leviathan he's not a baby he's almost an adult and doesn't remember being a baby. This thing crawled out of an egg and is super tiny so it is obviously a baby and a very smart one at that. While it didn't have the claws, gills, tail, or scales they had it was super fast, could freeze things, had super strong hands despite looking dull and frail, it could take useless scraps and rocks and turn them into complex structures. It was obviously a new type of leviathan the ship carrying eggs. Danny was the smallest of the babies but he was also the strongest, and smartest; surviving long enough to have eyes and hair. This baby was young enough that he still needed to surface for air he needed to be protected.

Danny has no clue he's now being stalked by a group of reapers that decided he was their new baby brother/son

[doveywovy]

tobiizu mermaid au for @slurmdog in which izuna is an extremely rare kind of mermaid. the Aquarium has him (Wild caught, but he's happy about the way less stressful environment) and is taking exceptionally special care with him because he's so rare. They've never been able to study one in captivity before!

He's a squid/octopus kind of mermaid, particularly small compared to most mers, and gets his own special tank to keep him from getting bullied or injured by territorial mers in their larger main mer tank. And like real Octopi in aquariums, he makes his own fun when the environment doesn't meet his standards- or when he notices a fish in another tank and decides it looks tasty. The staff haven't yet figured out that he sneaks out of his tank at night to eat the other exhibits, and otherwise go exploring. They actually haven't figured out he's capable of traveling on land, considering they don't have any experience with mers that have tentacles instead of a singular fish tail.

Izuna has the run of the place to himself, and is enjoying the experience immensely, when he runs into Tobirama's tank. Tobirama is also isolated, despited being larger than most mer species (he's a great white shark mer, maybe?). Partially because his species means they're worried he would attack the other mer, and partially because when they tried to keep him in the big tank he got ostracized so bad he was in danger of starving from the other mer keeping the food away from him. He's also got terrible eyesight, which would make his survival more difficult- and means while Izuna sees him, he doesn't see Izuna.

Izuna is smitten. Tobirama has such sharp teeth and such pretty markings and Izuna is soooo going to win him over, he just knows he can do it!

This causes some problems for the aquarium, because a smitten izuna has some unfortunate instincts. For one: he gets immensely territorial, and his territory is much larger than anyone assumed. So now he's going to fight half the mers in this building. For two: he's going to try and feed Tobirama. starting with the largest (most expensive/rare) fish in the building, and working his way up to feeding Tobirama other Mer. On a more positive note, his body markings/colorations change to try and attract tobirama, which is pretty neat to look at! the scientist can't figure out why it's happening but they are studying it carefully.

Izuna can't get into Tobirama's tank (there's a lock on it with a keycode because people apparently get very weird about shark mer specifically.) He can shove bits of stuff through the top grating on a portion of the tank; it's actually just barely large enough for him to fit an arm through, or the lower half of one of his smaller tentacles.

Tobirama's used to being babied by hashirama, so when fancy food smelling repeatedly of one mer drops into his tank, he takes it as the gift it's meant as and eats it up. Izuna is pleased his courting is so well, Tobirama likes he's getting some nice food, the caretakers are confused where the fuck their nice fish are disappearing to- and why their great white shark mer is eating way less than usual.

Izuna is actually venomous, which the scientists as of yet don't know; it takes him a while to successfully kill another mer without using his venom. obviously he can't give Tobirama a food gift covered in venom! So instead, for a while, the mer deaths are considered part of the standard deaths for the larger tank- territory disputes, food fights, courting displays.

Then one day the scientists come in to find Tobirama's tank filled with blood and very small pieces of mermaid, apparently shoved through the grate on top. and a very pleased looking tobirama inside.

[crocodilenjoyer]

op fic recs...2!

g

feed your plants a little sunlight by swordsmans | ambiguous setting, post-timeskip | zolu | 4.2k | complete

Instead of napping, Zoro helps. It is his job, after all.

Trochilus by stealth-black-leg | ambiguous setting, post-wano | gen, robin & crocodile-centric | 2.5k | complete

The trochilus, sometimes called the crocodile bird, is a legendary bird which was supposed to have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with the Nile crocodile.

how to talk without speaking by swordsmans | post-shells town through pre-baratie | gen straw hats, luffy-centric | 6.9k | complete

In the beginning, Luffy does not know how to read. In the grand scheme of things, this does not matter.

Little Monsters by blue_wonderer | post-wano | gen, straw hats-centric | 7.7k | complete

Vinsmoke breathes out, a smirk on his swollen, bloody face.

“Our captain is here.”

Or

Post-Wano, some lucky (or not-so-lucky) Marines capture the still-injured Sanji and Usopp. Naturally, the rest of the crew casually rips the world apart to get them back. One lone warship never stood a chance.

The Many Marriages of the Straw Hat Pirates by LadyCrimsonAndBlack | across canon, pre- and post-timeskip | gen, straw hats-centric | 2.9k | complete

There are a lot of strange traditions to be found on the Grand Line. Sometimes, the Straw Hats get caught up in them.

(Or: The Straw Hats get married to each other. Repeatedly.)

so much like stars by blue_wonderer | post-dressrosa, pre-zou | zolu, pre-zolawlu | 12.1k | complete

“Why are you the way you are?” Law asks, gesturing to Zoro and Luffy in their entirety. “You look pathetic.”

“Luffy fell in,” Zoro shrugs. Law thinks he may be the only person in the world who can convey both “Luffy fell in, he’s such a fucking idiot” and “Luffy fell in, what else was I supposed to do but follow?” in one line.

“I’m very sorry.” Luffy reaches up and pats Zoro on the chest.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

Luffy wheezes a short laugh. “I like swimming with Zoro.”

“Shut up, you little shit.”

“How about you both shut up and let me work,” Law grouses.

OR

Stargazing and snow, festivals and dreams, and the quiet change in the dynamic between Law, Luffy, and Zoro during a few cold nights on the way to Zou.

t

Seabound by AnkhPosts | au; canon timeline n/a | deuceace | 8k | complete

Ace is a selkie, making one of his periodic stops on land to catch a breather and get some ridiculously tasty human food, maybe see some sights if there are any. His pelt is safely hidden, he'll stay a day or two at most and be on his way.

Deuce is a mer, alone on the sea and traveling as he pleases for the first time in his life, and while he might not be terribly interested in actually interacting with humans it's hard not to see them as fascinating.

Ace meets Deuce. Deuce meets Ace. Neither knows the other isn't human.

The Jester whose nickname is Fate by stealth-black-leg | pre-canon | dragodile | 2.5k | complete

Crocodile believes in luck, gambling, coincidence, but not fate. He believes in free will, and that every person can choose any future they’d like for themselves, if they’re strong enough to build it.

He didn’t choose this for himself though, and if there indeed is a fate, then Fate, pardon his French, is a fucking little bitch.

By Any Other Name by ginger_snappin | au with information from wci | sanlu | 10k | complete

Sanji should stop doing this.

He recalls Lucy’s earnest smiles, the insatiable physicality of him. The tugging Sanji can feel in his gut toward his friend, an urge to follow him blindly that Sanji cannot resist.

He thinks of Lucy’s full fat stomach after a meal, sated, the murmured, “thanks for the food,” and the mismatched HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY that Lucy’s soul exclaims whenever those warm brown eyes meet his own blue ones.

Sanji cannot stop.

-

A young king comes to power, and his hungry suitors follow… even the reluctant ones.

You've Got A Friend In Me by Hazel_Athena | post-timeskip, pre-egghead | zosan, perona & zoro | 19.1k | complete

Zoro grunts, likely because she hits him with more force than either of them are expecting, and then returns her surprise with one of his own by wrapping his arms around her and hugging her back.

“They hurt you?” He murmurs, and she shakes her head.

“Nothing I couldn’t handle.” She insists, although which of them she’s trying to reassure, she isn’t certain.

Interim Arrangements by Hazel_Athena | au, post-wano | zosan | 43k | complete

It’s so quiet in the war room that you could hear a pin drop. Not a single person dares to say a word - not even the favored princes - and all eyes remain fixed on the head of the table, where a large figure sits hunched over in its chair, clutching the latest newsreel between two massive fists.

Having been forewarned of some of the contents of said newsreel, Sanji does his best to keep anything from showing on his face, to maintain his expression in an implacable facade. He thinks he largely succeeds in controlling himself outwardly, but inwardly his gut is churning with emotion.

The newsreel twitches, and the five people not holding the paper sit up a little straighter in their seats, each of them bracing for impact without actually meaning to as slowly, oh so slowly, the paper is lowered down until it’s resting flat on the table.

“Well,” Judge says, his mouth working like he wants to spit. “This is certainly an … unexpected development.”

Stakes by CaptainJojo | post-wano | gen, luffy & zoro | 4.2k | complete

Zoro has a good grasp of what fights are- and are not- worth his time.

Or: Zoro gets lost and gets in one (1) fight about it.

(The real fight begins in chapter 2 but I'm leaving 1 in because I wrote it so it gets posted and that's the rule)

lion-skinned by kurgaya | ambiguous setting, post-timeskip | zolu | 10.6k | complete

If there was ever a reason to eat a Devil Fruit, Zoro supposes it would be in the process of saving his idiotic buffoon of a captain from a certain and most horrible death.

Familiar by NothingSoDivine | pre-canon | smoker/benn beckman | 1k | complete

"You look familiar."

The stranger chuckles. The sound warms Smoker down to his boots. "I get that a lot."

Years before being stationed in Roguetown, Smoker runs into a familiar face in a bar on the Grand Line. Unfortunately, Smoker can't quite place where he's seen the guy before...

A Little Assurance by nocturneequuis | ambiguous setting, post-timeskip | frobin | 1.1k | complete

Robin wonders how much further Franky will take himself. When does the man end and the machine begin?

e

Arctic Birds by LibbyLune | pre-canon with information from water 7 | mihawk/iceburg | 15k | complete

“Oh yeah, you want Water 7,” Shanks declares, kicking the hull of Mihawk’s small sailboat with a careless boot. “Sailing around in this piece of crap doesn’t suit the World’s Greatest Swordsman, Hawksy.”

Mihawk is a man of high standards, but the expert shipbuilding is not the only feature of Water 7 that he ends up impressed by.

The Onigiri Story by leghair | post-alabasta through the end of wano | zosan | 40.1k | complete

It had been bad enough trapped on a boat with Zoro, body and face and voice sending Sanji's imagination racing, bitter-knowing he was straight as his swords and half as sharp. So Sanji had ignored the attraction - maybe allowed himself a greedy little peek now and then, but he’d never let it become a problem. He’d never let it become anything. He'd known that's how things were going to stay and he was fine with it, he had been dealing with it, this wasn't his fault. It's not like he'd ever wanted Zoro to know.

A canonverse getting-together fic with lots of porn, some plot, and plenty of feelings, following the progression of their relationship and the canon events that impact it. A couple of common zosan tropes get flipped, there's a smidge of angst for good measure, but with a very happy ending.

Finally updated post-Wano and WCI!

nr

Chasing Flowers by taizi | probably g or t | ambiguous setting, post-timeskip | gen straw hats | 4.7k | complete

"It's an old tradition in our town; on the second week of the second month of the year, you leave flowers for the one you love, for them to follow back to you. By their house, where they work, nooks and corners that are special secrets between just the two of you."

(Luffy's crew leaves him flowers, and an old innkeeper gets drawn into the chase.)

Clinical Practice by taizi | probably t | ambiguous setting, post time-skip | chopper-centric | 2.4k | complete

"I'm his doctor!" Chopper all but shrieked, closer to hysterical than he'd ever been- because in four days time those people could really have hurt Luffy, and he was so tired of being treated like a kid. "I'm his doctor, and I'm going to find him right now!"

Inanition by taizi | probably g | ambiguous setting, post-timeskip | gen straw hats | 1.9k | complete

in·a·ni·tion, noun; lack of mental or spiritual vigor and enthusiasm; exhaustion caused by lack of nourishment.

(In which Luffy's metabolism is faster than his doctor understands.)

[thedemonscrawler]

Call/Response

A lil' oneshot for @bloo-the-dragon of a branch of their mer AU cos we kept talking about it in Discord and then I got brainworms OwO

----

When Eclipse wakes up, Ruin isn't on the bed.

That was… unusual, but not overly alarming. Even though Eclipse's ‘just this once’ had extended by nearly two months now, with the slender mer curling up in a nest made of stolen blankets or wriggling under the sheets almost every night, there was still the occasional exception. His current favorite jacket, claimed just before laundry day and which wouldn't be surrendered until the next laundry day, is also missing, which soothes Eclipse’s mild anxiety further. Clearly Ruin had decided to move to a different sleeping spot during the night, that was all. 

Eclipse stretches, feeling cables pull and worn joints scrub, before he leans over to look off the other side of the bed. No sleeping fish here, just a pillow that had gotten knocked to the floor. The door to the closet is wide open, which leaves either the couch or the tub as options.

He hopes it's the couch this time. He's getting really tired of hanging soggy sheets out to dry.

“Rue? You get overheated or something?” Eclipse listens, a faint frown pulling at his mouth when he doesn't hear anything. No scratch of scales against the tub, nor any sleepy chirps. Standing, he heads to the bathroom, poking his head inside.

The shower curtain is pulled back, revealing the tub to be as empty of mers as the bed. There aren't even any puddles on the floor to suggest Ruin might have been here earlier, only to move when it got closer to morning. 

Faint unease coils in his chest, but Eclipse tamps down on it, turning towards the living room instead. Things were fine, there was no need to panic. Maybe the fish was feeling sick or something, and that was why he was hiding.

“Ruin?” His boots thud against the worn hardwood floor. From this angle he can't see the couch, nor if anyone is on it. He crosses the threshold of the bedroom–

– and stumbles as his foot comes down on a swaying deck.

Automatically his optics adjust to the change in light levels, from a darkened room to mid-morning sun, with the added bonus of glare thrown back back by cresting waves. There’s activity around him, men with heavy coats and heavier beards lugging coils of rope and net to the ship’s edge, checking that the hauling chains were in good order. Gulls call to one another in their shrill voices, the background soundtrack for most of his life.

He was… back on the ship?

Eclipse’s ventilations hitch, and he immediately turns on his heel. He shouldn’t be on the ship, he’d left it (brilliant red flames leaping into a sky filled with smoke, the distant sound of sirens) but through the door is nothing but his pitiful little closet, too small to even be called a room. 

“Well there you are!” The harsh voice pulls him out of his stupor, and he looks over to see the captain glaring at him. “Come on, Sleeping Beauty, get your tools and go check out the No. 2 winch.”

“No, I…” His head feels like it’s full of fog, smothering his thoughts under a blanket of panic, but he manages to force words through the static haze. “Wasn’t I guarding the mer?”

“Hm?”

Eclipse shakes his head, fixing the captain with his best level look and trying to keep the distress out of his voice. “The– the mer that we picked up, the one that was all– all mangled. I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on h– it?” 

And the captain tilts his head in that way, scorn and impatience under heavy brows, and it sparks a nervousness in Eclipse that he hasn’t felt since he was a boot just learning what his new life would be. The device at the base of his neck weighs heavily with malicious potential.

“You flush your memory after breakfast or something?” The captain snorts, gesturing towards the stern. “We offloaded it this morning! Nearly wasn’t worth the effort of keepin’ it fed on the way back– I would have made twice as much if we’d just gone ahead and skinned it for a pair of boots!”

Offloaded…?

Eclipse isn’t listening anymore. He pushes past the human and rushes to the stern of the ship, catching himself against the railing.

Just on the horizon is a grey smudge, and something in Eclipse twists with despair when he realizes how far they are from shore. Any wild ideas about jumping ship are immediately dashed; he can’t swim, and trying to grab one of the life rafts would get him shut down before he even got it inflated.

Something rises in his throat, bitterly cold and covered in sharp edges, but it’s only when the half-static sound falls from his mouth that he recognizes the feeble cheep for what it is.

A call for help, or to locate companions.

(Where are you?)

His ventilations hitch again. It feels like his chest is crumpling in, like some uncaring god has reached out and started wadding him up like aluminium foil. He can hear the men moving around the ship, low conversation and boisterous laughter and nothing connected to him. Eclipse was a toy, a machine: on the records as barely sentient, the mockery of life constructed from metal. Of no use and no importance to anyone.

Except, maybe, a mangled little mer, who had met his assigned vigil with tolerance and curiosity. Who hadn’t yelled at him, hadn’t dismissed him as a thing just because he was made of metal and there was a hole where his past should be.

Who had heard Eclipse, and called back.

Another cheep rises in his throat.

(Where are you?)

“Hey! Shut up and get back to your station!”

The railing creaks under his grip, metal fingers leaving shallow dents in the aluminium. Conditioning has his voice faltering for a second, the habit of just enough obedience to buy him another day– but the despair is stronger. The longing is stronger. 

Eclipse slams his volume to max and shrieks. 

(Please, answer me.)

The echoes fade, shrill sound thrown back by countless cresting waves. Land was so, so far away, but surely something would make it the vast distance, and all he had to do was listen. Past the calls of gulls circling the ship, the slap of water against the hull, the complaints of the men behind him.

Listening for the faintest hint of a response. A whisper, a breath. 

Anything to let him know he’d been heard, for once.

“I said knock that crap off!” 

Heavy boots against the deck, jingling buckles and the snarl of promised punishment. Eclipse turns just in time to catch the blur of metal before something impacts his face.

Everything goes dark.

—

When Eclipse wakes up, it takes his panic-addled mind several seconds to recognize his surroundings.

The soft surface under his cheek and clenched hands is a blanket, a bed, and when he sits up he can feel the gentle tug and sway of a charging cable. Shadows gradually resolve themselves into doorways and furniture, a pile of clothes on top of a shabby dresser, his boots by the door. His roaring fans are loud in the darkness of so-late-it’s-early-morning, yet he can’t seem to get them to quiet.

Something gently touches his arm.

Still on edge, Eclipse can’t help flinching away from the contact, head whipping around to stare down at the culprit. The mer stares back up at him with wide, mismatched eyes, looking nearly as alarmed as Eclipse himself.

“Eclipse…? Are you alright?” 

The British accent is still jarring to hear, even now– some hysterical part of him wants to laugh, or snap at the mer in misplaced irritation. The rest of him is struggling to form words, to figure out how to dismiss this or reassure the mer or just get him to forget about it. Everything feels brittle, like the soft blankets draped over his legs will shatter if he moves, but surely he can get himself back under control. 

He can’t do it. The words won’t come. Expression crumpling in misery, he stops trying to swallow back the lump in his throat and cheeps.

(Where are you?) 

And Ruin blinks, ragged frills flaring out like the rays of a tattered sun, and chirps back.

(I’m here.)

The pitch is a little flat, with a layer of complexity his own chirps lack. It still hits that hollow place inside him, covering near-constant anxiety with a soft blanket of reassurance, a cool hand on a feverish forehead. The rest of his self control breaks and Eclipse buries his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with sobs that are equal parts relief and fading fear, interspersed with pitiful cheeps.

Ruin chirps back every time. A constant stream of reassurance, an unignorable reminder that there was someone here, that they hadn’t left. That he wasn’t alone. 

(I’m here. You’re safe. We’re together.)

Eventually the sobbing trails off, then stops. Eclipse spares a moment to be glad that he’s not organic, otherwise his hands and face would probably be covered in tears and snot and it would just be even more embarrassing. It’s bad enough he just broke down over a stupid nightmare, of all things. Huffing through his vents, Eclipse finally drops his hands from his face, and finds that Ruin has built a nest around him. 

That’s what it looks like, anyway. The blankets have been arranged so that they more or less encircle him, with Ruin’s current favorite jacket tucked in closest to his body. The mer himself forms the outermost layer of the nest: head pillowed on his arms, body curled in such a way that his crooked tail goes all the way around behind Eclipse and comes back to nearly touch his cap thing.

“Thanks…” The gratitude just slips from him, rough and scraping like gravel. He doesn’t even know if a ‘thank you’ is the appropriate response to this kind of thing.

With how Ruin’s eyes light up, the barely visible patting of his hands against the sheets, he can guess that the mer is probably fine with it. “You’re welcome! I hoped– are you feeling better?”

He can’t help the bitter laugh, looking down at the hands that sit limply in his lap. Scratched, dented, scuffed: the marks of a life spent clawing for anything he could hold on to, and having it ripped away anyway. “Yeah… I guess? I’m not– …yeah. I’m fine.” 

Out of the corner of his eye he can just barely see how Ruin’s head tilts. His voice is soft, hesitant. “Did you have a bad dream?”

Well, there was no sense in hiding it, was there? Ruin could sometimes lack what Eclipse considered common sense, or made some bizarre leaps of logic– but it didn’t take a genius to figure out why Eclipse might have gone from peaceful slumber to outright sobbing.

“Just… stupid stuff. Like being back on the boat, working for that asshole again. We were already pretty far out at sea– and it’s dumb, right? That hasn’t been my life for months now, and I made sure that it wouldn’t be ever again.”

Soft tugs on the blanket, a pair of webbed hands slowly inching their way across his legs. It’s easier to watch their progress towards his own hands than it is to look Ruin in the face and see those big, gentle eyes. Eclipse takes a deep breath, trying to keep his voice flippant and steady.

“We were out at sea, and– and I guess I chickened out or something because you weren’t… there. I’d left you in that cage on shore.” The lump is back in his throat, scraping the edges off of his words so that they emerge laced in static, barely more than a whisper. “I tried to call out, but we were too far away, I think. You didn’t answer.”

“Oh. I see.” Soft, organic fingers close over his own, covering the scratched metal with cerulean blue and buttery gold. It always took him by surprise that Ruin’s hands were so warm; all of an animatronic’s warmth was centered in their chest, with the extremities left to range from ‘room temperature’ to ‘christ that’s cold!’. The tail behind him shifts as the coil of Ruin’s body gets a little smaller, the mer doing his best to scootch closer while refusing to let go of Eclipse’s hands.

“I understand. Believe me, I do understand,” he says quietly. There is a deep sorrow behind the words, scars matching the ones that cover Ruin’s body from top to tailtip. The marks of a life spent clawing for anything to hold on to. “However…”

Organic fingers tighten their grip, a reassuringly solid presence. The mer flattens himself against the bed, trying to catch Eclipse’s downcast eyes, and he offers a small smile when the animatronic finally relents. 

“However, I am here. You are here.” His smile widens, showing razor sharp teeth, and he makes a musical, trilling sound that Eclipse has no hope of reproducing. It’s soothing, a sound that doesn’t pull at his programming like the chirps do, but it makes him feel better in a way that he can’t quite nail down. He’s hearing it because Ruin is here, because they’re both here.

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right, bud.” Eclipse tries a small smile himself, though he knows it's still pretty wobbly on the edges. The tattered remains of the nightmare cling to him like cobwebs, but Ruin is still holding his hands, and it’s surprisingly easy to focus on that warmth instead. 

This hasn’t been taken away from him. Ruin won’t suddenly disappear into the morning mist. Eclipse has his own home and a companion that wants to be here, and stupid nightmares can’t change that. 

“Come on, we might as well get up now and start the day early.” The small grin gets wider when Ruin whines dramatically, flopping over onto his side and covering his face with his tail in protest. He knows that it’s all for show, and he reaches over to pat what he can see of Ruin’s head, his other hand unplugging the charger. “I’ll make you some waffles, how’s that?” 

“...fish waffles?”

“Yeah, I’ll cut ‘em into fish shapes, too.”

[justpoliteconversations]

Comfort [Mer!Warriors + Reader]

All it takes is a single moment for everything you think you know to flip on its head.

I originally had different plans for this AU continuation, but I came across a post of someone asking for a comfort fic and thought I'd try.

Masterlist

Part: 1 / 2

TW: Maybe? Hard to tell sometimes.

Disclaimer: Don't own The Legend of Zelda franchise. Linked Universe is the fan creation of jojo56830.

---

It had been a long day. Between back breaking work and the weariness of too long spent fighting to maintain your composure, the weight of all your hardships seemed to have finally caught up to you. You were just so tired, but even the promise of escape sleep offered seemed impossible to achieve.

Not with this overly spoiled creature screeching (elegantly, somehow. God damned elegantly. like a fully accompanied angel's choir) for your attention. As though this was something you two routinely did (for the record, it wasn't. you didn't know what his damned problem was). And ignoring him wasn't working, as it was going on the second hour now and he had somehow only gotten louder.

You honestly just wanted to cry. You just wanted to sleep.

You just wanted a break that didn't make you feel guilty. Guilty for not wanting to live up to everyone's expectations for once. For just wanting to sit down, eat something horrendously unhealthy, and then maybe nap for a few hours before dinner. And then go right back to sleep without everyone expecting you to fix every damned problem that blew their way.

The perfect day (but it wouldn't be. not really. because you couldn't even imagine closing your eyes when there was still so much to do). And it was being thoroughly destroyed (it was never something that existed anyway) by the unceasing, unholy (ethereal) screeching of the Center's resident golden boy.

How the mer knew just when to start acting up when no one but you was around, you'd probably never know. But it was damned concerning, and annoying. Especially when he decided to be difficult. Like now (oh God. why'd it have to be now when you were at your lowest).

You'd give in eventually, you knew. It was inevitable, and both him and you knew this. You couldn't afford to leave him to his own devices for too long, especially when he had a habit of taking out his frustration on your co-workers when ignored (and not even in an obvious way either. but underhandedly. like 'accidently' splashing water on their phones and equipment during his more enthusiastic performances).

You heard his screech again, but this time you could hear the low edge that entered his cry. Like the threat of a blade gliding delicately under a silk cloth, smooth and lilting and deadly in its sharpness. A dark, foreboding promise all wrapped up in a beautiful symphony of sweet nothings.

"I'm coming! Just give me a moment!" You finally called out, wincing at the way your voice nearly wobbled. Frustration and exhaustion mixing together into a singular moment of weakness.

It was silent then, and a form of primeval dread filled your stomach at the sudden stillness in the air. Because there was no way he hadn't heard the shake of your voice, nor the emotions that caused it. There was absolutely no way he didn't realize how vulnerable you were at the moment.

Numb. Suddenly, you were numb all over. From your ears to your toes, you could feel the cold pinprick of tingling nothingness itching just below your skin. But through it all, even as your feet took you to the bottom of War's tank ladder, you felt oddly detached from your body.

Ah. You were afraid. As tired and as emotionally drained as you were, you still somehow managed to drudge up enough self-preservation to be afraid of Wars. And you weren't sure how to feel about that. You hadn't really thought about it in a long time. Just how much power he now had over you, after that fateful day you'd come to his tank and cut him a deal.

You still didn't want to think about it. You just wanted to get this over with and go to sleep. You didn't even care that you'd regret this later, when you could finally think past the numbness that had settled over your limbs.

And there he was, from one step on the ladder to the next. Quiet, still as death and submerged up to his eeriely shining, dilated eyes in the dark water of his sleeping tank. The inky blackness of the night around him fading the long, billowing ends of his fins into a smoky wisp of shimmering starlight.

You'd forgotten how beautiful he was at night, when the faint luminescence of his fins and scales ran golden fireflies across the darkened navy of his elegant blue fins. How his enchanting, predatory eyes caught even the faintest hints of starlight and built entire galaxies along the darks of them. How he smiled so prettily when he rose from the water, even if you knew it was a lie (fake. dangerous).

The smile was different this time though. There was something sharper about it, so similar yet so different from the charming upturn of plush lips he so often used to entice the unwary into his clutches.

It was enough to unnerve you, this unknown expression that had settled so distinctly upon his pretty face. Enough even to pull you from your exhausted haze and into something almost approaching alertness. Your nerves firing with renewed unease, even several meters above the water and (allegedly, though you didn't believe that for a second) out of War's reach.

And then he lifted a single, elegant hand. Raised a single, elegant finger. And beckoned you to him in a gesture so human it nearly drew a blush to your cheeks (much to your shame).

If you ever discovered who taught him that gesture, you'd skin them yourself. You swore it. But that was for later, because right then you were frozen in shock. Not even because of the connotations behind such a gesture while an attractive male such as him was behind it.

No. It was the meaning behind the gesture.

"No." You said, so pumped full of adrenaline you didn't even feel the exhaustion that'd been weighing down your bones just moments before. "I'm not that far gone, Wars. No matter what you think you heard."

His eyes narrowed just the slightest bit, condescending and frustrated both. Flickering. Dilating. Contracting.

It would be almost funny, to see a mer as smug and put together as Wars showing anything other than slight annoyance (and honestly, it usually is). But right now, with the darkness closing in from all sides and the weight of everything haunting your every step, it was a reminder. A reminder that for all you had managed to keep your composure around this predator, you were still afraid.

You were afraid. And you always had been. From the moment you set eyes on him and knew (just knew, when no one else could see it) that this creature was hunting you and everyone else around him. Even bloodied and mangled and trapped as he was, he had never stopped hunting. That he watching you, just as you were watching him. Always.

He gestured again, tilting his head slightly. Another gesture that sent warning signals straight into your brain, causing your breathing to pick up and a light sheen of cold sweat to start forming on your shoulders, back and forehead. His eyes had fully dilated by now as well, adding an even more alien quality to his unnaturally beautiful features.

You swallowed, trapped between your self-preservation instincts screaming at you to turn tail and run, and the logic of your mind quietly reminding you that this predator would have killed you already had he wanted (that he could kill someone else too, if he felt the need to call your bluff). Because he would. You knew that. Accidents happened all the time. What was one more? (He'd probably fake tears too. the bastard.)

You glanced off to the side, the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end under his unnatural stare. "Wars I- You know that's not how this works."

You were met with silence. You were too shaken (too compromised) to even think of meeting his gaze. The sharp, unfaltering, stunningly inhuman gaze.

The faint rippling of water. A slight swoosh. And then.

A great, echoing splash. The catwalk under you shaking and nearly tilting as a great weight was suddenly upon it. The flash of shimmering gold across a sea of dark blue. And suddenly he was in your face, so close you could see the ring of blue, blue, blue encircling the dark pools of his eyes.

You couldn't move. You couldn't scream. You couldn't even breathe. Not when he leaned further into your space (so close now you could see the glitter of scales under his eyes. like gold dust). Not when a clawed, webbed hand came up to your fear stricken face. Not when your skin touched for the first time (warm. soft. supple. nothing like your mind had always imagined it).

Not when his powerful (deadly. predator's. killer's) arms gently (so gently. almost tenderly. but that can't be it because he's him and you're you) pulled you into his chest. Not when he pulled you both down until he was laying along the catwalk with you laying flush on top of him. And not when he buried his face (his mouth. his lips. his teeth. teeth. teeth.) into your hair and just...breathed.

In. Out. In. Out. Steady. Even. Inevitable. His large, warm hands on your back, claws delicately kneading into your clothes. His chest rumbling, so faint you'd have missed it entirely had you not been tucked up under his chin (had he not been pressing you into the place in his chest the vibrations were strongest).

Slowly, your breath returned to you. You began to calm. Your mind begun to clear. And you realized, with sudden clarity, what it was that was happening. What this behavior was.

The gentle nipping at your hair. The tender kneading of his (sharp) claws into the thick ruffles of your clothes. The way he had cradled your significantly smaller body into his larger form and curled his silky (thick, powerful) tail fins around you as best he could with so little space.

The way his whole chest seemed to vibrate. The sound so low it was nearly nonexistent. An action you hadn't known Wars was even capable of, let alone willing to utilize. For a human of all things.

You swallowed, not daring to take your eyes off the gleam of his collarbone (shimmering, even in the dark). "Are you trying to comfort me?"

He pushed you harder into his chest, under his chin. His face nuzzling deeper into your hair, until his mouth was pressed softly against the shell of your ear. His hot breath fanning against your sensitive skin.

"Mine." He cooed (disjointed and raw, unnatural but hauntingly beautiful), one hand having found its way up into the fine hairs at your nape. Just holding them between gentle fingers, thumb caressing your exposed neck. "Strong. Brave." He hummed.

He nosed at the delicate lining of your ear. Nuzzling you. "Beautiful." He purred, pulling away just enough to force you to meet his eyes. His gaze so black you saw yourself reflected in them. "Always mine. Give me. Everything bad."

Looking into his liquid night, blue-mooned eyes. Feeling his hands cradling you protectively, possessively, trying to separate you from the world beyond. You finally understood. Everything.

Wars was territorial after all. Of his space. Of his food. Of his resources. Of anything, everything that was his. That he'd claimed.

Knowing that, how could you have forgotten the most important resource a mer can ever possess? When it had been staring you in the face this whole time?

Warmth began to build behind your eyes, and try as you might, you felt the gates you had held so tightly closed for so long beginning to slip from your grasp. And you just couldn't believe it. That this was really about to happen.

In front of Wars of all creatures. The one predator that had everyone fooled.

But that was the thing, wasn't it. From the very beginning, for all his smiles and sweet nothings, never had he truly tried to hide his fangs from you. Never you. Even as he kept the rest of the world at an arms length away.

He had let you in (had reeled you in). He had let you see (had forced you to see) the dark shaded colors of his heart. His truest self.

Honesty, completely and utterly, from a creature that thrives off deception. How could you have been so blinded by your fear you'd not noticed.

The first few tears finally escaped down the curve of your cheek, and when a gentle, tender, loving thumb came to wipe them away. You broke, and it all came pouring out. In the arms of the predator you still feared so much, but knew, without question, would never allow harm to befall you.

Because he is a territorial mer. And there is nothing a mer covets more than their pod. Their family. Their reason for everything else that follows after.

And Wars, the mer who never wanted to leave. Who, after all was said and done, was still a mer like any other. Had no one but you. Only you. By choice. By fate.

By design.

You'd been hunted. And you'd been caught. And now he would never let you go. And he would protect you from everything.

For as long as he lived.

---

Back to the shadows.

[harzilla]

Original post found here. https://www.tumblr.com/harzilla/760718001365549056/ohh-brain-rot-time-long-lost-sibling-au-except

Expanding on the idea. I want to thank @achromaticbibliophile for a lot of these ideas

Riddle and Yuu growing up in complete opposite lives. Riddle under strict parentage while Yuu grows up in a family similar to the Robinson's in Meet the Robinson's. A chaotic but loving family that sees failure not as a bad thing, but as a way to learn. Who finds a baby on their doorstep and adopts without hesitation. The two butting heads at first. Until the truth of Yuu being Riddle's sibling is revealed. Perhaps Yuu's hair is platinum blonde or even white. Perhaps Riddle is the Red Queen to Yuu's White Queen. Riddle who is introduced to Yuu's adopted family and it's all so chaotic, dinner nearly a food fight and afterwards he's brought into the kitchen to help make the dessert. Messing it up and he thinks it'll be another oyster sauce incident. But instead everybody cheers and ohh. It's actually okay. Yuu and him sharing the story of him messing up the tart after his overblot The family turns it into a silly joke. The dessert is missing something, why not oyster sauce? The family, having a contest to see who can create the weirdest dessert, and Riddle winning by making a traditional Queendom of Roses star gazey pie. Riddle, who finds himself laughing along with the rest of the family. Welcome to the family Riddle.

Leona, who has always been the unfavored. Who is brought to meet Yuu's adoptive parents. Leona, who had to convince Falena not to come but instead sends a note thanking the parents for raising the third Kingscholar child. Yuu's parents shocked to see their lost child come home sporting ears and a tail and bringing home a brother. Leona, who finds himself at ease when they ask him about his aspirations, his plans for the future, he's just Leona to them.

Jade and Floyd. Who grew up with a mother who was always worried about them. Eventually learning about a third eelver who was lost to the tides. One day a kid runs up to their parents with a baby wrapped in a towel. The adults panic but the couple eventually adopt the child. Yuu who doesn't have a clue until the day they go to the coral sea to retrieve the photo and transform into an eel mer. Jade immediately separating Yuu and bombarding them with questions while Floyd keeps the others away. Jade and Floyd who drag Yuu back to NRC.

J&F: Found our lost sibling.

Azul: What?

J&F: *dumping them into a tank* Found our lost sibling.

Rollo, who hates magic. Magic lost him not one but two siblings. Rollo, who plans to rid the world of magic. The masquerade invitation to NRC. Rollo, who is shocked when the previously uninvited Prefect looks strikingly similar to himself and his deceased brother. Perhaps he sees Yuu as an even bigger motivator for his plans. Magic took his siblings from him, and if he destroys it, then magic can never take Yuu from him again. Yuu who at the end tells him that yes, magic may have separated them but magic also brought them back together and perhaps magic may allow him to see the world they grew up in.

Malleus' was expanded on a lot and is practically a fanfic in onto itself.

This idea is actually thanks to @kitsun369

The Spade family, a set of baby paternal twins. One that looks like their father, and the other who looks like their mother Dilla. The parents separate after a particularly nasty divorce. Only for the baby with dad to disappear after their father is attacked and injured. The parents, but especially Dilla spend years mourning the loss of one child. One day, Deuce overhears his mom on the phone crying to his grandmother because she's afraid something will happen to Deuce if he doesn't get on the right path. She's already mourned one child. She can't bare to mourn another. That day Deuce decides to turn his life around, he never wants to see his mom cry like that again.

Deuce who becomes friends with the prefect. They're like peas in a pod. They're each other's biggest supporters. The day they go to the White Rabbit festival and Deuce introduces his mom to Yuu, she's shocked because this child is practically the spitting image of her ex-husband when he was that young, even down to the same hair color. She doesn't want to get her hopes up but could it be?