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]

...they don't like the boats.

[Nagisa says as he looks over to the shore far off in the distance.]

They're not like the one we found all that stuff at. They're...smaller. Louder. They're always surrounded by fish, but I've heard people say seals get hurt real bad by the noise all the time. I don't really get it.

[showyouthesight]

Just the noise hurts you? How?

[Rin glances in the direction Nagisa's staring.

Rin's always had better hearing than most of his shiver. They say it's due to the type of mershark he is. Nowhere near as big as Sousuke but able to detect things from a lot further away through their vibrations in the water. Using that skill against him sounds terrifying.]

[naggysa]

I dunno. Seems pretty weird to be scared of that, doesn't it? They've never hurt me, and I hear 'em all the time.

[What Nagisa doesn't know is that it's not the sound that hurts...but what makes the sound.]

[showyouthesight]

What do they even sound like? I want to know if I've ever heard them before.

[naggysa]

They're like...real loud. They sound like monsters or something.

[showyouthesight]

Have you ever seen them? How big are they?

[They'd have to be huge to make noises like that, unless Nagisa is exaggerating. Which he wouldn't put above the selkie. Aren't seals easily startled?]

[naggysa]

[They are, and it's very possible that Nagisa's exaggerating just a little.]

They're pretty big. But big or small, they all make the same, weird noise...all rumbly and growly.

[showyouthesight]

I kind of want to see one. We don't have to get too close. Just enough to see what all this fuss is about. All of the ones I've seen are the ones with the big kelp pulling them across the water of the ones that have already sunk.

[naggysa]

You do? You'd be the first I've heard of to say that...

I kinda wonder about 'em too, though...I mean, they can't be all that scary.

[No scarier than a mershark, anyway.]

[showyouthesight]

Well, that's the kind of guy I am. I'm going to be the first to do a lot of things!

[He pauses for a moment, studying Nagisa more thoroughly than he has so far.]

We should track one down together. Once my tail recovers.

That is, if you're not too scared.

[naggysa]

Scared? Me? I'm not scared.

I'd go find one all by myself if I had to.

[showyouthesight]

[Rin laughs and very nearly slaps his tail in enthusiasm.]

Don't get carried away. It was my idea!

[naggysa]

Fine then! Whenever your tail is better, we'll go find one. Then we'll see who the real scardey catfish is.

[showyouthesight]

[Rin cracks up, falling over on his back.]

Scardey catfish? Where'd you come up with that one? Though, man, now I want a catfish.

[naggysa]

[Nagisa frowns, slapping the water with his tail when Rin starts to laugh.]

Too bad, you already ate up all the fish I got you. You can't be hungry again that quick!

[showyouthesight]

I'm a shark. We're ALWAYS hungry.

[naggysa]

Don't you ever sleep?

[showyouthesight]

Well, kind of. It's weird. It's more like resting, but you're still half-awake.

[Rin's never really thought about it since everyone in the shiver does the same thing. He knows land animals like seals work differently. In fact, sharks use that to their advantage, to sneak up on some of them while they're napping and not have to worry about them dashing off.]

[naggysa]

That's weird. Don't sharks have to like...keep swimming or they can't breathe?

[Maybe that's a myth; Nagisa doesn't really know.]

[showyouthesight]

That's what I mean. We kind of nap while we're still moving. I don't really know how it works. It's not something we really think about. We just don't need to think to swim. It just happens. It's our nature, after all.

You're meant more for flopping around on land so you have to sleep.

[naggysa]

...what if you swam away in your sleep? Like, all the way across the ocean?

[Nagisa no.]

[showyouthesight]

That's not actually possible. We don't even swim that fast when we rest. The ocean's huge!

[naggysa]

Hey, it could happen, you don't know!

[HE KNOWS MORE THAN YOU...]

[showyouthesight]

It hasn't happened yet. And sharks have been resting like that since before I was born.