I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue

[sassybird]

Mermaid AU Meme



Rules:
- Put down your character name and series in the subject header. Put down any preferences (romantic or if you're a mermaid/human) in the comment.
- Reply to other people! RNG a choice from the prompts below, or just come up with whatever on your own.
- This is not a strictly romance meme. Feel free to have whatever shenanigans you like.


Merfolk and Merfolk

1.
Little Mermaid it
♢ One of you is a merperson with something you want. (Power? Help figuring out what this weird human doodad is? Becoming human?) The other is a powerful sea mage of some sort... And for the first of you, you better hope they're the good sort as you venture forth to their lair...

2.
Exploration
♢ C'mon. What's the worst that could happen when checking out this enormous sunken ship at the bottom of the ocean? You're merpeople! What's the worst that could happen? (Besides sharks. Or giant squid. Or maybe worse.)

3.
New tides
♢ Hey... That person isn't from around these parts, are they...? Maybe one of you is from deep seas, or a swamp-mer way out of your territory, or just from simply a different ocean. Hopefully neither of you are particularly territorial...

4.
Hey there, Ariel
♢ So. Looks like one of you actually took up on some sea witch's deal and is living in some human settlement. The other? Is trying to help you deal with that. Whether it means puzzling out human culture and items with you, pleading with you to come back home, or even offering you a dagger just in case you need to stab your crush (what? it's a legitimate strategy), you two need to cope.

5.
Wildcard.


Merfolk and Humans

1.
For Science!
♢ You're a scientist, here to study a fascinating new creature. Although the 'creature' in question might take offense to you saying that... So are you searching them out for the first time in the open ocean? Keeping them in some sort of containment? It's up to you.

2.
Stranded
♢ There was a shipwreck, and you're the sole survivor... Although you very nearly weren't. Whether you've just woken up or have been trying to puzzle things out on this deserted island, well... It seems you're not alone, although they're not exactly on the island with you.

3.
Siren Song
♢ Merpeople aren't always good signs... Sometimes they lure sailors out onto rocks, or extinguish their stamina and drown them in the ocean's tumultuous waters. Is this another encounter that will end in tragedy?

4.
Chance Encounter
♢ You're nothing extraordinary, just a regular person in a beach town, and one way or another... You find something that's very much not regular. Maybe you just walked into the cove at the right time, or found something- someone- trapped or injured that needed your help. So now what?

5.
Wildcard

Comments

[naggysa]

Maybe...but you almost didn't.

[Nagisa hasn't been up close and personal with very many predators caught in the jaws of bloodlust. It's...frightening.

He glances down when he feels Rin suddenly touch his flipper, the appendage twitching reflexively at the contact.]

The hard parts were the heavy things. It had like...rocks or something tied to parts of it, so I couldn't really swim. It had a buncha fish trapped inside. I just didn't notice the rope until I was already stuck.

[showyouthesight]

[Rin jerks his head to the side, embarrassed at having his loss of control brought up again.]

That wasn't my fault. You were bleeding!

[He draws back his clawed hand when Nagisa's flipper twitches. It looks so delicate like that, like it could crack with just the right amount of pressure.]

Yeah, you have to watch out for those big swarms. Humans like to track them just like us. It's better to stick with the frenzies that you create by yourself. Better yet, hunt in groups. That way, the other guy can bite you loose if anything goes wrong.

[Sharks always hunt in their shiver. He thought that seals hunted in groups too. Maybe selkies are different.]

[musicalmenace]

[Human insults may not be a thing she's completely familiar with, but this one is so obvious that even something nonhuman can get it. Aiming with her feet is also new, but that doesn't keep MM from making a rather spirited attempt at slipping her shoe off and kicking it at the back of Mukuro's head.]

Whoops~! [As if she hadn't just tried to do that-] So what else do weird little humans like you take as a compliment then?

[naggysa]

[For as much as Rin sounds concerned about Nagisa's past predicament, Nagisa himself doesn't seem bothered. In fact, his expression doesn't change much as he finishes tying the last strip of cloth to Rin's tail, knotting it securely in place.]

I don't really think about stuff like that. I mean, I've never had trouble with it before. 'Sides, I don't really see a lot of others like me. Not recently, anyways.

[They're not extinct or anything severe like that, but a lot of them know better than to hang out so close to human civilization. Nagisa's too curious for his own good sometimes, even for a seal, which makes him too much of a liability to be around much.]

[nanaharu]

My grandmother told me that humans were the seafolk who got curious and decided to crawl onto the land. So they grew legs to walk out of the water, but they were cursed to never come back to the ocean.

[His grandmother was so old, Haruka half-wondered if she was around since before the humans left, and she saw this for herself.]

But some of their children want to come back to ocean.

[Haru snorts a bit, clearly showing little sympathy for them. Maybe it's not their fault, but still... too bad.]

[nanaharu]

[How strange... Haruka's never seen anyone swim like that before. And it seems to help him move forward faster, even if it also looks like it's harder to keep track of what's directly in front of him.

Just because he's curious, he tentatively puts out his arms and attempts swimming in the same way. Will it feel any different? He's not as sure about doing it as Rin is, but give him some time...]

[naggysa]

Woah, seriously!? That's scary!

[But also...kindof cool...but still scary since Nagisa himself likes to explore the beach so much.]

...you don't think that'd happen again, do you?

[possedere]

[The response was to be expected, and Mukuro would have caught it if his hands weren't fully of a struggling pig, but nonetheless he managed to avoid the shoe, laughing at the attempt.]

You should take better care of your things.

[The question however, had Mukuro turning to face her, amusement written all over his face.]

My, my. Preparing praise for me even before you've seen your rewards? What foresight.

[showyouthesight]

[Rin checks the knot for himself, more out of curiosity than actual critique. It's quite good and the blood seems to have stopped seeping as well.]

What do you mean not recently? Did something happen to the rest? Or did you just wander off too far? Like I said before, I haven't seen anything like you around here before. Unless they're all very good at playing seal.

[showyouthesight]

[Rin lets out a loud laugh when he notices that Haurka is mimicking his stroke and speeds up even more, so that he's almost to Haruka's side. He never thought he'd see the day when a mermaid was taking pointers from a shark. But Haruka has already proven himself to be a most unusual mermaid.]

Where do you think you're going, Haru?

[nanaharu]

It could.

[He'll just let that hang ominously.

Though Haru doubts that anything bad would happen just for a little bit of crawling around. Actually turning into a human would probably take a very strong wish-- something that's driven by the call of the unknown. Not something that Haru himself thinks about... all that much.]

[naggysa]

Nah, nothing like that. They just don't come out this far, usually. If they do, it's not like this.

[He says that with a glance down toward his mer body, his tail slapping faintly against the rocks.]

But it's too boring, being out in the open sea all the time. I like it better here.

...your tail's done, by the way.

[naggysa]

[Haru whyyyyyyy.

Nagisa frowns, quickly swimming around the statue so he can be closer to where Haru is still beside it.]

I don't want that to happen, Haru-chan!

[showyouthesight]

I think you guys look cuter in this form, less appetizing too.

[Rin pokes at the lower part of Nagisa's tail with one claw.]

And I see that. You actually did a good job with it. You used to patching things up like that?

[naggysa]

[Cute? Now that certainly catches the selkie by surprise, causing him to lift up on his elbows a little as Rin pokes his tail, causing it to twitch in response.]

Yeah! Well...not really cut up tails or anything, but other stuff. Usually I don't try to fix broken stuff I get from the beach, but I'll mess with it if it looks like something that needs to be taken apart.

[showyouthesight]

Something that needs to be taken apart? Why would you do that?

[Rin treats most of his findings like rare works of art, things that must be keep in their original condition. The only exception are the ones that look like they can be repaired. But even those require a lot of soul-searching to risk damaging them further.]

[musicalmenace]

I do, this just isn't mine~.

[So she can use it for attempted bludgeoning without guilt. Casual theft is such a great thing. Still off balance, she bends down to grab her shoe when they pass it and brandishes it like a weapon.]

Who says the praise is for you? Maybe I'll find a prettier human boy who knows when to shut his mouth.

[nanaharu]

[Somewhat miffed that Rin caught up, but more curious than anything, Haruka slows his attempt at the weird arm movements to look at the shark. It feels weird, but he feels the water in a different kind of way...]

What are you doing?

[naggysa]

Sometimes I find stuff that's already pretty broken. I like pulling the pieces apart if it's really bad so I can see them, but otherwise I just leave it how it is if it looks cool.

[He's got several broken cameras in different states of decay, one of which he did finally pull apart so he could examine the lense and inner mechanisms of the strange device.]

Just depends on what it is! Or if I have, like, a couple of that thing already and don't mind breaking it more.

[possedere]

Would it be better if it was covered in gold or jewels?

[He didn't seem too impressed or worried about her 'weapon', deciding that they had come far enough from the village to stop, tying the pig so it hung trapped from a nearby branch. He started gathering up sticks, piling them neatly and surrounding them with stones.]

Kufufufu if I knew how to shut my mouth, you wouldn't get rewarded.

[As for prettier. Well, Mukuro knew that was an impossibility but it was cute of M.M. to believe such a creature existed.]

[inspireition]

[Rin isn't making fun of him. That's Rei's immediate thought. And much to his surprise, the positive reinforcement is...working. Once he gets over the initial shock (as well as feeling Rin's touch on him), he puts all his focus on learning.]

Y-yes! [Rei does the best he can to move his tail, letting it swish horizontally while keeping himself straight. The former is easier for him to do. It's the tail that's a bit of a struggle, but the look on Rei's face clearly shows that he's trying.]

[showyouthesight]

[Rin keeps on swimming, unperturbed, finally fully catching up Haruka and grinning wickedly. He quickly swims ahead, paying no heed to the fact that he has no idea where they're supposed to be going. A race is a race, as far as he's concerned, and Rin can swim just about anywhere so the destination doesn't really matter.

Besides, he's sure Haruka won't let him hold the lead for very long.]

What do you mean? I'm obviously kicking you ass at swimming right now.

[showyouthesight]

Ah, so like you want to know how it's put together?

[He's never tried that, but now that he thinks about it, it does sound interesting. If he can bring himself to tinker with any of his collection.]

What do you have the most anyway?

[For Rin, it would probably be various things the two-legs use to decorate themselves since those are Rin's favorite, aside from the navigational trinkets. He has coral shelves full of them, either hidden or hanging on the hard pieces.]

[showyouthesight]

[Rin pulls a face. How is it even possible to swim this badly when you were born in the water? Rin just doesn't get it. Rei's seriously cursed or something.]

Man, your tail is going all over the place. Maybe you should focus on moving that normally first. Just concentrate on fluid strokes. Like this.

[Rin leans back to demonstrate smooth movements of sharper finned tail.]

You'll find it easier to keep from flipping to the side once you've got that down.

[musicalmenace]

Mmmm, that'd definitely be an improvement...

[It would also be uncomfortable to walk in, probably, if it was made out of pure gold. Still. Mammon wouldn't be walking in that kind of thing a lot. Just one more addition for the hoard.]

[As they come to a stop, she drops the shoe and nudges out of the remaining one, feeling much more at ease. Approaching the dangling pig, she gives a malicious giggle.]

Oh, is your mouth the reason you get into so much trouble?