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

[showyouthesight]

[Rin laughs and nudges the merman hard so that he flips back over and then immediately snatches his wrist, pulling him closer.]

What's the rush? These things usually take time, you know. And I have plenty today. By looks of it, so do you.

[inspireition]

[It's true with what they say when one's life flashes before their eyes when having a near death experience. (This is Rei's 5th one today.) As soon as his wrist is grabbed, he instantly expects those teeth to clamp down on his neck or something and winces...

...they're still talking. Oh.

That gives Rei some time to gather himself and yank his wrist away, gills slightly flared from being so flustered.]

Are you suggesting that you are going to help me... [Well, the notion crossed his mind once, but can you blame him for believing that he was going to be eaten first?]

...swim?

[showyouthesight]

Well, you are pretty desperate. And since I can't eat you, I might as well make you a productive member of mer society.

[Plus, Rin loves to teach, not that he'll admit that to the flustered mermaid. He has a reputation to uphold. Can't be letting the other sharks think he's soft on non-sharks.]

You're going to have to stop freaking out whenever I try to touch you though. I'm probably going to have to do that a lot to make sure you're holding yourself properly.

[That's what he usually does with the pups he takes under his wing from time to time.

He playfully swats Rei's tail with the flat of his fin.]

Think you can manage that?

[inspireition]

[Rin knows just the right words that pushes Rei's buttons. It's not as if he hasn't considered himself as an inadequate member of his school several times before. For the most part, it has fueled his own desire to keep trying. It's just through the unluckiness of today that he feels like things seem to have hit bottom as soon as he crossed paths with Rin. But to think a shark will actually help him with his problem is...unreal, but it is.

It's not like he has much options anyway. Maybe this is nature's way of giving him another chance with its strange sense of humor.]

I think it is understandable why I would be wary of your touch! [A gasp follows as he speaks the last word. That swat, thankfully, doesn't send him off balance but he knows Rin very well could do worse if he wanted to already.]

Very well...Rin-san, is it? [He uncrosses his hands finally and lowers his arms to bow - though not as low as he'd like to lest he ends up spinning again.] My name is Rei. I will do my best to learn from you.

[showyouthesight]

[Rin laughs again but he swims back to give Rei enough room to right himself for a moment, looking curiously intrigued by the bow. He's never had anyone do that around him before. Sharks weren't in the habit of showing that kind of a respect. You were either the one flashing your teeth and asserting your size or you were the one backing away with your head down.]

Yeah, yeah. Scary shark. All these awesome teeth.

Don't worry. They won't get too close to you. I'm a professional, you know.

Rei, huh? How about we start with your posture, Rei?

[He wastes no time in reaching out that clawed hand and pulling Rei forward. But he remains horizontal this time so it's less pulling Rei toward him and more pulling Rei onto his front so that he's also positioned horizontally.]

I had to stop myelf from saying jawsome.............dammit.

[inspireition]

[Rei wouldn't call them awesome...but everyone has their own aesthetics. His own tastes lean more towards things that shine and are more colorful...not that having a beautiful tail means anything as far as actual skill goes, as evident here. He's got no basis to be flashy now and he's still uncertain about all this. It really shows when he lets Rin pull him to float horizontally as he keeps his gaze to the seemingly bottomless ocean floor.

Maybe it's from their brief exchanges just now, but there's still a lot of fight left in Rei as he meets Rin's eyes with his, cleared of doubt.]

Like this?

Jawesome is perfect

[showyouthesight]

Yeah! It works a hell of a lot better when you're not trying to swim upright. You can worry about that once you've mastered the main technique first.

Now, start moving your tail and try to keep the rest of your body straight.

[Rin illustrates his point but running a surprisingly smooth palm down the length of Rei's side, stopping at his tail. This time the touch seems more purposeful than just teasing.]

[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 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.

[inspireition]

I am...aware that my tail is the biggest issue. [Rei says that quietly, more self-conscious than actually indignant. He keeps his cool for the most part, as he watches Rin show him how he flips his. He nods in understanding, though his brows furrow in deep thought.]

Would it be different for me because I am of a different species? Our tails are similar but [here he goes, going on about numbers and whatever jargon that might as well be a different language to most.]

[showyouthesight]

[Rin tunes most of that out. While he's hardly a sloucher when it comes to matters of anatomy and physiology, now is not the time. In fact, it comes across as of an excuse for the lack of progress. And there's no way he's going to let Rei use that as a crutch.]

Ah, knock all that off. It doesn't matter that we're different species, the concept is the same. You have to move it smoothly. Hell, even eels can pull that off.

Just do what I told you.

[inspireition]

[Rei gets tuned out by others more often than he'd like to admit, but he can't help it sometimes when he feel that compulsion to put thing that are out of order into order. Things that don't make sense need to make sense and what have you. With all those sorts of thoughts and amount of overthinking going on in his head, it really is a miracle that he's been able to float at all.]

...okay. Could you show me again, please? [He wants to get it right.]

[showyouthesight]

One last time. But you need to stop overthinking it. Sure, part of swimming is being aware how you're moving everything. But part is also about being comfortable where you are. Focus on one thing at a time. In this case, only concentrate on your tail and nothing else. Close your eyes if you need to.

[He flips himself onto his back again and demonstrates the movements one more time, trying to perform the strokes as slowly as possible so Rei can properly study them. He just doesn't know how to make this any easier. This sort of thing has always come naturally for him.]