#uhhhh not gonna tag this with the usual tags cos i'm gonna link it to the fic post

[glassworkspiderlilies]

a song of the sea (additional notes)

a mess of notes/comments/ideas/expansion on my day 3 fic for giyushinoweek, a song of the sea. :)

- the original idea was to base shinobu off of a stonefish, due to those being one of the most venomous fish in the world, and also their use of spines and stings to administer that venom. They’re not the prettiest fish--maybe a lionfish or something would be more appropriate (lionfish being my second choice) but the lethal spines of the stonefish appealed to me more as shinobu’s weapon, due to her sword/fighting style in canon. i also didn’t do that much research, so if i were to expand the fic i’d probably look into it at least a little more haha.

-giyu is what others in the fic call “sea-touched”; the abilities of those called at such kind of vary, but essentially they all have superior water-related abilities of some kind. giyu has especially good navigation skills and is very good at predicting currents and whatnot. he lives alone by the sea and makes his living as a fisherman and being hired onto bigger ships for his abilities. 

-sabito and makomo are alive, but live far away for some reason. urokodaki taught giyu, but is also no longer around (physically, he’s not dead) for some reason too. hadn’t thought this part out that much, even though i’m like, convinced they’re alive here haha. another vein might be that sabito and makomo are also merpeople, hence why giyu lives alone. 

-in the same vein of canon, kanao doesn’t speak very much due to trauma, and so she doesn’t use her natural abilities that much. 

-the natural abilities of the mermaids/sirens refer to their voice; despite physical combat (which shinobu and kanao are very skilled at) in relation to what kind of mermaid they are, their voices are extremely powerful and can distort the sea and the weather. their voices can lure, and also kill, if the intent is there. this would need more exploration of mechanics and probably something to temper the OP-ness of it. i was also playing with the idea of consequences of using the voice for deeds like what shinobu did--severe interference and destruction. didn’t really have time to fully delve into that possibility.

-oyakata-sama lives in a large house/mansion extremely close to the sea, like he has a private dock kind of thing. he helps when shinobu/mermaids in general come onto land, his family has been sea-touched and particular friends of the sea for generations, and they’ve always assisted in these supernatural affairs. he and his family are also why shinobu is able to integrate fairly easily, to an extent, into human society. he and his family teach her a bunch of things. they’re like....what’s the word....bridgekeepers between the two worlds?? that’s not the word, but you get it.

-kanae is dead in this au, killed by humans. i guess there’s a lowkey parallel of humans in this fic vs the demons in canon. buuuut since shinobu offers giyu her protection, i was thinking the reason why the sister don’t hate humans entirely is because kanae had been friends or in love with a human, but was found out by other humans who had more malicious intentions for her. another vein, in a much more expanded setting, would be that shinobu does hate humans and does hate giyu at first and is far more grudging about offering her protection, but he did save kanao, and so it’s much more of a slow burn.

-if i were to be completely self indulgent, i think it’d be neat if like, shinobu/the sisters were mermaid princesses haha. this also might be why there aren’t really consequences to her using her abilities??

-regardless, the sisters would be the last of their clan/school/type, and they are of the more powerful, if not most powerful, mermaids/sea creatures. 

-if you’ve read xxxholic by CLAMP, ideally the protection that shinobu offers would play out like the smaller, episodic stories there, where people come to get their wish granted but it ends up being granted in like...not a way they expect. this would be why shinobu says that giyu may come to regret protection from one such as her; being a mermaid, and a particularly powerful one, she doesn’t have the same values (those i suppose she’d be aware of them, via interaction with oyakata-sama) and perhaps, a certain lack of control over the way protection is granted. like, “magic does not follow the same constraints” kind of thing. although i did really one at least one really dramatic scene where people come to bully/attack/kill giyu because of the wealth he’s accumulating, and shinobu appears and like. rips them apart and it’s really dramatic and kind of gory lmao. the deep sea isn’t a kind place, and shinobu is.....protective. 

-also ideally is that this fic would kind of play out like a grimm fairy tale style wise? i kind of didn’t want to run with the threads of like...giyu and shinobu falling in love and one becoming entirely human or mer, or “the little mermaid” esque story where shinobu has to give up her voice to be on land, or the one where she’s captured and kept in a tank and interacted with that way before she’s freed somehow, etc. (all of these are good, i just didn’t want to write them LOL) i guess i wanted more of a coexistence kind of thing? i want there to be a cool exciting dramatic plot, but like, i don’t actually have one. i guess this would end up being like, my usual giyushino bonding exploration except mermaid AU LMAOOOOO

-shinobu appears and goes into town with giyu sometimes. she’s not exactly fascinated by human culture, but she finds it interesting enough. maybe she also begins to sell remedies and stuff, in accordance with her canon doctor position. sea secrets. people probably assume that this mysterious girl has also become giyu’s mysterious wife. (they’re kind of baffled and sort of like, talk around it, so giyu is oblivious to the assumption until much much later. shinobu catches on faster than he does.)

-i think mermaid aus are another thing, like soulmate aus, that i love reading but like, don’t actually want to write myself LMFAO

-wow a lot of this is shinobu focused. again. i just love her ;__;

-that’s all i got for now if for some reason you want to hear more of this.......send me an ask i guess LMAO for something i came up with really quickly to work with the prompt there were a lot of things i considered and wanted as backstory........but i really doubt that i’m going to write this au out in full.......it’s too long in my head for the way i want it to build up and i just..........don’t have the willpower for that................