#he’s a sort of siren mermaid combination

[bloodybloob]

He got big toothses

@cloudninetonine

[raviosprovidence]

So the first character I want y'all to be introduced to for Current: Distant echos is....

Arel! (they/them). Drawn by the lovely and talented @decaying-lambx who you guys are probably gonna see a lot of because their work is so GOOOOOOOD and I highly encourage (if you have the time) send them a pack of candles in sky and you will get an amazing work of art

Before I get into who they are + their function, I'd like to talk about their design as an octomaid. I love octomaids. I really do. I think they're versatile and fun and you don't see them a lot in mermaid related works/drawings. With that being said, unfortunately, I don't think a mermaid tail could be a viable option for the player character simply because of how differently the tail it would operate. And not to mention skin color + markings (they're combined) will be harder to program on octomaids along with more traditional single tailed mermaids. So unfortunately, octomaids/squidmaids will be relegated to other npc's where you can't get the tail

Which brings us to Arel's function: they're a guide!

like sky, Current will also have seasons (and i'll get into those down the line). Arel's presence in the home base area will signify that there is a long term event starting or currently going on that involves new sirens coming to the realms of neptune, and they will give you hints on where the new sirens are, because unlike sky, they're going to be scattered in all the realms. There won't be a specific home base or area for these types of seasons, considering they might have specific ties with the already established NPC's. In addition, you can also unlock Arel's memories as well as their cosmetics. Their skin pattern will be permanently available to purchase, but they will have different accessories/hair colors every time they come around. Don't worry, though; their accessories/hair will rotate, and new players will be able to get their old cosmetics.

As for Arel's lore, they were a denizen of the coral fields, the second area within the game. They did, however, travel through the realms as a sort of messenger, delivering letters to whoever needed it. They grew up with their mother, father, and multiple siblings, though didn't see them that often due to their job. They also didn't have too many friends, but cherished memories of people they met during their job.

While the Exalted was making their plans (i know i used he/him for them, im still figuring out their gender gimme time), Arel still kept their head down and did their job. They tried to ignore the erasure of their culture and attempted to keep it alive, but after watching one of their siblings lose in a duel with the Exalted's protégé, they decided not to rock the boat anymore.

The Great Blight came suddenly for them, while they were out on the job. They had traveled to Great Ralo University to deliver a message on a routine day when suddenly, everything went to shit. A conclave beast emerged, enraged and on a path of destruction. Arel fled the area as fast as possible and managed to get outside Neptune to safety. They wandered around aimlessly, surviving off small fish and crabs they got until they found their father and a few of their siblings. As a group, they found Hydros, another area with realms similar to neptune, and they managed to settle there.

For years they laid low, thinking that all had been destroyed within Neptune and that the rest of their family was dead. However, they received news that nymphs (the players!) emerged from underground, signaling that not all was lost. What's more, they learned some of the sirens actually survived too, though they were petrified into stones. Arel decided to head back to Neptune, intent on helping the new generation rebuild and thrive.

If you have any questions on them/the world, just send an ask!

[unravellingsilencehq]

"Oh, Merlin, tell me, does THE LOVER get what he deserves?” He is NEUTRAL & CLOSED to finding out.” 

— he walks through the world as ;

name → edward “ted” tonks pronouns → he/him identification → cis-male year of birth → september 1957 - september 1958 face claim → tom holland blood status → muggle-born (metamorphmagus) sexual orientation → up to applicant occupation → photographer for the daily prophet  future information → member of the order of the phoenix, husband of andromeda black, father of nymphadora tonks

— he is best described as ;

SALT TAFFEY, as he passes by, the strong SWEET smell fills your nostrils which can only be associated with the pure HAPPINESS he brings, like a piece of whitby rock in all of it’s twiriling BRIGHT COLOURS, combined with the SALT of the SEA which reminds you he’s not one to be UNDERESTIMIATED. He is the COLOURS of the SKY, CHANGING & TRANSFORMING with the day, showing off it’s BEAUTY & INDIVIDUALITY even during a CALM MORNING or a STORMY NIGHT.

— his story starts with ;

tw: death

Edward Tonks lived what muggles would consider a normal life, until strange things began to happen. Growing up in the seaside town of Whitby in North Yorkshire, Ted spent his childhood down by the sea with friends, his memories stuck lovingly on his bedroom walls, taken on the polaroid camera his parents carried at all times. The extra family member in Ted’s life, The Little Mermaid Inn was owned by his parents and sat proudly by the seafront. The most popular spot for fish and chips in the town and tourists far and wide travelled the country just to taste their famous dish. Nothing in the world had made his parents wonder if their child was anything more than their perfect normal little boy. Until unusual things began to plague The Little Mermaid. Sliver trouts rained from the ceiling in the kitchen, crabs began to sing as they moved around in their tank and one day he miraculously transformed his head into a codfish as he was eating fish fingers with a girl from his school he’d had a crush on at table twenty-three, which caused her to run away and scream in terror. 

The word at The Little Mermaid was that a sea witch’s curse had been placed on the building or that the noise of the fryer late into the night had disturbed sirens that were rumoured to sing by the rocks just beyond the sea front. When his letter arrived to study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, both he and his parents thought it was a joke, but the more they read the letter and the more they considered the strange goings on that had occurred, it seemed less and less like a clever practical joke. He was grateful they tried their best to understand his new world, giving his hand a squeeze as they ventured to Diagon Alley and telling friends he’d been accepted to a culinary school for gifted children to explain why he’d ever have left the only home he adored. Hogwarts School was incredibly different to Whitby, though thankfully they did at least serve fish and chips. The strange names for things were incredibly confusing and when he was sorted into Hufflepuff he was glad of the sorting due to the people around him, but he had little idea what the hell a Huffepuff was or how it differed from any other houses everyone seemed to be so passionate about. 

GORKEM POLAT [close friend] and his twin brother FURKAN POLAT [close friend] were more than happy to show him the ropes at Hogwarts, explaining what needed to be explained, though he found them to unreliable narrators about anything other than quidditch. Life in Hufflepuff was easy and relaxing for Ted, cleaning up on the quidditch pitch and attending parties in the common room, all under the nose of hopeful head girl and prefect AMELIA BONES [former best friend]. Aside from his BOOKER BAGNOLD [former close friend] who he’d met in his dorm, Ted’s main group of friends he found at The Hogwarts Gazette where he got a position in third year as the school’s photographer, being the best at working a camera due to his many years playing with his parent’s. The paper felt like the best environment for him to stretch himself creatively and his photo essays did not go announced by those around him. Younger Ravenclaw EMILIA GREY [close friend/colleague/housemate], quickly became quite jealous of his talents and upon realising he was able to transform himself into different forms to help get better pictures and better contacts, she changed her tune and demanded they work together on most of her stories. 

Ted was happy to oblige, he was always in the business of making friends rather than being divisive, which lead to him forming long lasting bonds with ELIZABETH BRAITHWATE [close friend/colleague/housemate], BENEDICT MISSLETHORPE [close friend/colleague/housemate], QUIRINUS QUIRRELL [close friend/colleague/housemate] and IRIS HOOKUM [close friend/housemate] whilst working at the paper. His friends came from various backgrounds and whilst people like Amelia and Iris came from established pure-blood families within the wizarding world, Ted soon discovered not everyone was like them. Ted had the displeasure of being in the same year group as RABASTAN LESTRANGE [adversary] and his group of friends, CAIUS BURKE [adversary], XERXES ZABINI [adversary], AURELIA ROOKWOOD [adversary] and KERVENS BORGIN  [adversary] who thought they were entitled to everyone’s time and attention because they were pure-bloods, which to Ted just meant their parents were more interested in furthering pointless long standing agreements than their children’s happiness. There was one pure-blood in their group who intrigued him however, who seemed different from her friends. Ted had noticed ANDROMEDA BLACK [potential love interest] when he was seated behind her in a Potions lesson. 

A quiet witch, she was easily the smartest person in the room, which he suspected was why Amelia was so adamant he kept away from her, though he knew it was because she longed to simply protect him. But Ted was a curious soul and somewhere between talking in class and  bumping into her at random they established some form of friendship. Ted was very fond of Andromeda and although he had meaningful relationships with other witches she was always the constant crush in his life. Leaving school and having made Head Boy in his final year to Amelia’s Head Girl, Ted moved to London and secured a job at The Daily Prophet, moving in with the friends he had made at school. A talented boy who was quick on his feet, Ted quickly made an enemy of fellow photographer ADRIAN CAVERLEY [rival] who had gone for a job in Investigative Reporting working under ELIAS SPENCER-MOON [boss] that ultimately went to Ted. Working with Elias has been a huge step in Ted’s career, though it has come at the expense of his personal life as it meant long hours and taking constant owls from the very demanding Elias. Working under such a big name, Ted has managed to stay out of the spotlight, until his job suddenly threw him into it. The night Booker died, Ted had been taking pictures of the event as a favour when it suddenly turned into a crime scene. 

Working during the period was incredibly hard for him, due to his close relatiosnhip with Booker and Ted was invested in finding his killer. When SILAS CRUMP [person of interest] was discovered and imprisoned Elias couldn’t have been happier but the verdict didn’t sit right with Ted, he had been reseraching the werewolves of London for some time and a family man down on his luck didn’t seem like the right person to attack a known advovate for creature equality. Though Booker’s death had rocked Ted, it was the passing of Amelia that broke his heart. Grief stricken, Ted took a leave of abscence to return to his hometown but the more he was away the more he was consumed in her’s and Booker’s case. Back in London, Ted is adamant he will proove if MASON TREMBLEY [person of interest] and Silas Crump conspired to kill two known advocates for justice and their motive behind the attacks. With his photo evidence on his side, Ted plans to use the photos and the word of the people who knew the defendants. The person who put Mason away, CLARICE FARIBAULT [person of interest] and an old friend of his who defended Silas, Andromeda Black.

— he is a LEVEL 6 WIZARD & a LEVEL 4 METAMORPHMAGUS readied for war ;

[monocytogenes]

Hi fam! For DA Pravin: 🐉 DRAGON, 🖊️ BALLPOINT PEN, 🤍 WHITE HEART. For SWTOR Pravin: 💜 PURPLE HEART, 😊 SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES, 🍃 LEAVES FLUTTERING IN WIND

Pravin Talavera

🐉 what is your oc’s favorite mythical creature?

Probably something that isn't too monstrous or akin to darkspawn, lol, since he's all NOPE about that sort of thing. I imagine there's some fun mythological creatures in Antivan culture, often related to wild and weird stuff sailors witness out at sea--Pravin would be fond of sirens or mermaids, given the combination of sexiness and danger and the absolute numbers they would do in songs, poetry and theatrical works.

🖊️ does your oc have any tattoos? do they want any (more) tattoos?

(IS METRION OFFERING LOL)

I imagine tattoos are not really a thing in Orlesian culture--they're viewed as either primitive or potentially criminal, given associations with the Dalish and transient types like sailors. Matters are a bit different in Antiva, where you have some cultural cross-pollination from Rivain, but they still tend to be associated with particular professions like the Crows, who have their own sets of designs and associated meanings. They're much less common among the nobility on the whole due to their conscious imitation of Orlesian norms.

So no, Pravin doesn't have any tattoos. I'm sure he's painted them on from time to time when playing certain Antivan and Riviani characters, but he finds the notion of having actual tats kind of low class and demonstrably foreign in his adopted homeland. As an actor and bard, he values adaptability in his appearance besides; putting something permanent and identifying on his skin rather stands in the way of that intention.

🤍 what are three of your oc’s neutral/questionable traits?

(1) His paranoia. It's a natural consequence of his trauma, and one that's unquestionably rewarding in his illicit line of work--much of why he's such a talented bard, apart from his impressive ability to intuit people's feelings and desires and lie accordingly, is his anxiety-driven compulsion to really think through potential contingencies and plan around them. He's always double-checking locks, sitting with his back to a wall, disclosing just enough in conversations to keep the powerful from exercising too much leverage over him. He's got blackmail atop blackmail in the hands of various friends, ready to be whispered into the right ears should someone consider taking him out. He holds people at arms' length in the most pleasant way possible until they prove themselves reliable, and even then, there's few individuals he's truly willing to trust.

The flipside of this is that it not infrequently hampers his intimate relationships. He can be too harsh and protective in his assessments--as with Thalia, whose apparent dearth of self-preservation instincts freaks him out--and too unwilling to voice his true thoughts and feelings when that means putting himself in a vulnerable position. He's loath to admit when he's in pain, hesitant to confess his more unpalatable impulses, and uses sex as a coping mechanism because Maker forbid he submit to the ordeal of being known. It's very much a "in loving you, I show you exactly where to cut me" sort of thing--sometimes one just has to take the risk to enjoy the benefits, and striking that balance is difficult for him.

(2) His judginess with respect to his art. He holds himself to high standards, and he's benefited from that drive--while the Orlesian theater community was warm and welcoming to him from the get-go, actually making it to roles like those he played at the Grande Royeaux required copious technical skill and deep cultural understanding, something he needed to cultivate through intent observation and days upon weeks of practice. The fact that he was able to impress Orlais' most discerning audiences has really been the pride of his life.

It did, however, also make him more intolerant of divergent takes and beginners' stumbles than he probably should be. He reminds himself that he, too, was an amateur once, and can largely keep himself in check when actual ignorance is involved, but Maker, there's some interpretations of roles by players who Ought to Know Better that he'll get super bitchy about. (Gaubert likes to give him a hard time when he's really taking personal offense to a performance as an insult to the craft. Like, settle down, just pass over it in silence…)

(3) His attitude towards sexuality. He's good about it on several counts--highly giving, conscious of consent, excellent at communication throughout, accepting of different sexualities and preferences while forward about his own. He gets his pleasure largely through satisfying his partners, and really frames his encounters around that.

He does, however, use sex as a tool, both in the service of bard work and to generally ignore his own troubles. While he's honest about his attraction--he won't sleep with people he finds physically repulsive--he has lied about his ultimate intentions and feigned attachment to get information or access to a space. He knows leading someone on isn't kind, but he'll nevertheless do it if it'll help him complete a job. Apart from that, as previously mentioned, he'll focus on getting a partner off so he doesn't have to think over his own messy feelings or discuss stuff he's going through--it's a high as much as anything chemical, a bandage to slap over wounds that really need suturing, just so he can avoid looking at them for a bit. (Really, is he even bleeding if he can't see it?)

Pravin Winscliff II

💜 what is your oc’s ancestry/genetic background?

So! In the Empire you've got a few basic ancestral groups: people who can (or claim they can) trace their ancestry back to the oldest families (sith and immigrant Jedi), human families who were enslaved/vassals of the above before the Great Hyperspace War, humans from territories conquered after the Great Hyperspace War, and aliens of whatever type. The dominant narrative of course is that the foremost are the most genetically ideal and have the most natural aptitude with the Force, and things get worse down from there due to greater outbreeding or straight up being an inferior species. While it is true that Force sensitivity tends to run in families, there are also plenty of bloodlines that have picked up rare diseases through inbreeding (this is a substantial part of why genetic engineering technology is so advanced in the Empire), as well as far more examples of aliens with astonishing Force ability than the powers-that-be are comfortable with.

Pravin's from a postwar human family, probably originating in the Outer Rim; their story is essentially an Imperial version of the American dream--they immigrated to Dromund Kaas and came up from service work, taking advantage of all that free public education to break into the upper echelons of industry. Pravin's great-grandfather co-founded a defense contracting company; most of his immediate relatives either work in that, the military, or some branch of the civil service. His name carries a certain amount of recognition--they don't really have branded products, but the average Imperial citizen's aware of it the way one might be aware of, say, General Dynamics or Northrop Grumman--and it certainly gave him access to elite spaces below the Force-sensitive glass ceiling, albeit not without some nominal snobbery from the "old money" folks from time to time. (I highkey have a headcanon that he went to boarding school with Quinn, child of a venerable old prewar military lineage, and that Quinn's Downton Abbey-esque relatives definitely talked some shit about Those Winscliff Upstarts who are only three generations removed from poverty. Like you do.)

I'll note too that Pravin's looks alone don't carry any real class character to Kaasian eyes. People note traits common to particular family lines in a "this person looks like their parent" sort of way, but there's such diversity among human immigrants that species means far more than skin tone or hair texture in their racial calculus. (Interestingly, Pravin does have a verrrry small amount of sith ancestry in his genes--like 5%--but it's not enough to alter his looks beyond a human baseline, and is frankly common among any human family that's spent more than a few generations marrying in Imperial space.)

😊 what are your oc’s career/general life desires? what do they want to get the most out of life?

He wanted to be an actor once, in a different life. It's a 'what if' that haunts him sometimes, when he's shaking off the nightmares and struggling with the pain of withdrawal--what if he'd been brave enough to defy his parents and follow that dream? What if his greatest worries had been confined to auditions and performances, if he'd never set foot on Hutta or Jadus' dreadnought, never had to fight his way out of his own head?

(Maybe the agent in his place would've activated the Eradicators. Maybe he would've been a victim himself, incinerated on Kaas. Maybe, in some horrible, cosmic way, it needed to be him in that place, at that moment.)

He chose to be an agent because it seemed thrilling and adventuresome and it was, despite everything. He's felt regrets about it, but more over what was done to him than anything he did; he stumbled here and there, but made the right choices when it mattered.

All that said, he isn't totally sure what he wants now. He's the dog who caught the car, in a way, with his freedom in hand but no clear plan on what to do with it beyond his slow revenge against the remaining members of the Cabal. Prior to the events of All the Times We've Said Goodbye, he's more or less been a spy-for-hire doing his damnedest to avoid attaching himself to any particular causes and ignoring the fact that it doesn't mean anything to him beyond the satisfaction of a job well done. The work is steady, and it pays for his ship and his drugs and his dates with one-night stands, and he should be grateful to not have to answer to any authority beyond customs officers and ATC, but…it's hollow. Despite himself, he misses the stakes of his old life, the accomplishments that saved lives, the deep trust relationships he nurtured.

Despite himself, he misses being in love.

It's hard for him to admit any of that, to even conceptualize it, but he gets around to voicing his feelings to Shara at least. He wants her, however she'll have him, and I imagine they get together despite the difficult logistics, which gives his life a bit more purpose. He ends up getting dragged slowly, somewhat kicking-and-screaming back into intelligence work too. :)

🍃 what is/was your oc’s favorite subject in school?

He liked the extracurriculars more than the classes--he was a theater kid and also did fencing, getting good enough to actually win some regional competitions! (It helped that those were both very sexy endeavors that got him a lot of tail as well, lol.)

In terms of actual courses, I imagine he was always inclined towards the social sciences; he ultimately wound up with a polisci degree at university after his parents forbade him from majoring in performing arts. He finds policy stuff particularly interesting; I have a recurring headcanon that he'll often watch the Republic equivalent of C-SPAN in his downtime because he thinks senators going at it over legislation is both hilarious and fascinating--there is, after all, no equivalent to that for the Dark Council.

[seashellblue]

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (Part 4)

Part four of posting old ideas for new uses! Anyone who wants 'em can use 'em. Click here if you want more thoughts on the matter.

Story under the cut!

Alrighty! This is the first of three upcoming mermaid stories. I'm posting them in the order they were written, so this is the oldest one.

One thing I want to preface this with, is that the plan for this story was an urban fantasy with mermaids featuring mermaids and mermaid-like creatures from all around the world. But since I stopped working on this story so early on in development, I can't say I fact checked every cultural element to be accurate to the source material.

Feel free to ignore or correct cultural elements as you see them, and I'll be quick to put them in this foreword so they're the first thing you see.

Story below, with it's own prewritten summary for itself:

Hydrokinesis is a previous iteration (the first, in fact) of a mermaid story I seem to constantly be updating, modifying etc. The story is an urban fantasy set in a coastal town and the Mer town right around the corner (which is to say, hidden and several hundred feet beneath the water). Part of what made the story unique and interesting to me was the opportunity to structure Mer myths from around the world into political factions that featured real life factors like imigration and found realistic solutions to fantastical problems like sirens, underwater technology and half-mer. Oddly enough, all plot elements I developed feature little to no amount of what made the world so intriguing to me, maybe that’s why I scrapped it in favour of later editions.

Main characters, so the cast was 3/5ths Mer, with one Siren and one half-mer (actually that character might have been the fully human adopted child of mer-related people, undecided). There was Intei and Sier, like always, but also Aoife, Jaci and Nessie.

I’ll detail them one by one.

Intei was the main character, and always has been since she was Shui (from Kaiso, remember that?). In this version, she was born with the ability to control water, hence the title Hydrokinesis. Since underwater that would be an extremely powerful ability, the specific Mer “country” she lived in had a policy that all Hydrokinetics were to be relocated onto land settlements. This is a problem because both of her parents are part of a group known as the Red Fin, which are sort of clandestine spies who deal with the upkeep of the masquerade via a type of mind control that only works on humans. Because they can mind control humans, they aren’t allowed to interact with them outside of approved missions and stuff. All this culminates in Intei’s family being ripped apart (for sadly unstandable reasons), and her being sent to live with her aunt and uncle in a coastal town.

Sier was the catalyst of the actual fun part of the story. He was part of the Antarctic Mer tribe, as far removed from human society as one could be. At some point, he’s kidnapped by a secret human organization the name of which I can’t seem to remember, transported halfway across the world, and in their laboratories is experimented on and purposefully turned into a Siren. He escapes the lab, and is later found by Intei, the circumstances surrounding his illegal existence kicking off the entire story.

Entries for Nessie, Aoife and Jaci I’m going to combine, as they didn’t get much development or survive to later versions of the mermaid story. Regarding Nessie, they were sarcastic, quippy, and a massive computer nerd. Nonbinary too! Aoife was a Merrow, a subtype of Mer native to Ireland, and despite it never being relevant to the story I believe she was a recent immigrant to North American waters. Unlike Intei, who was ripped away from Mer society before ever really understanding it, Aoife spends most of her time below water, interacting with them as much as the average Canadian does with America, a decent amount, but with an outside perspective. Jaci was probably the least developed out of all of them, even when I spent time thinking about the content of the story, all I really had for him was a love of classical monster movies, and his subtype of Mer was based on the legend of the Iara.

Worldbuilding elements, I actually like a lot of them, they hold up pretty well all things considered:

World history was very fun, the story went that Mer didn’t hide themselves from humans in the past, until the Sirena (a Mer subspecies) began purposefully consuming human flesh in order to gain magic powers, this plagues of Sirens spreading across the oceans of the old world, even causing ancient Romans to change their sirens myths from birdlike creatures to the more traditional mermaid. Eventually though the evil Siren nation was destroyed by [insert cool mermaid warrior-queen here who could probably also be revealed to have been a hydrokinetic if you want to]. And then all the remaining sirens had their fins stained red for all eternity or whatever. After the fall of the Siren nation Mer decided to go into hiding, so that they couldn’t take advantage of humans, and humans couldn’t wipe them out in retaliation.

Siren mechanics, Sirens are created from eating flesh. A minor version of their power can be obtained via consuming a small amount of human blood, which is how the Red Fin were created (one thing I remember noting about the Red Fin is that the blood they consume is ethically sourced from humans in on the Mer secret). For true Sirens, the initial consumption of flesh causes a change in Mer, giving them more monstrous traits like spines, increased strength and the vertical tail fins of fish, as opposed to the horizontal tails of sea mammals. From there, additional flesh increases their power as well as change the colour of their fins, the darker the shade of red, the more powerful they are, supposedly up to the point where they become a Black Fin, a Mer so powerful they can control other Mer. Though Black Fins are only a theoretical concept, many believe the leader of the ancient Siren empire was one such Mer.One last thing I remember about the Mer world, is that they called the Indian ocean the Sindhu Mahasagara, as they refuse to use a term that makes it sound as if their ocean belongs to a human country. But that’s like… really ambiguous and needs so much more history research into it to make sure all the facts are straight.

As for plotline, I believe it began with Intei finding Sier on a regular sailing trip, him desperately trying to hide from her that he’s a Mer, thinking she’s human, only for her to reveal that she’s also Mer and laughing at him. I know after that Intei and the rest of the main characters learn that Sier is Siren, at which point he is immediately arrested and there’s a bunch of arguing over what to do with him. I think the final verdict was that as a powerful hydrokinetic, Intei would be able to keep him in line, and as such he was allowed to stay with her. After that, at some point, they break into the super secret underground organization where Sier is injured, and then sometime after that there’s a climactic battle with Anticlea where she drinks a concoction to try and turn herself into a human Siren, which goes horribly wrong and the result mutant fish monster slinks away to the bottom of the ocean.

[iam93percentstardust]

Haaaapppy Birthday Month!!! A prompt!: Mermen!Stony! Do they have to be actualfax mermen? Nien! They could be a mermaid bar au ( see Dive Bar in sacramento) or perhaps it is the 1970’s and Disneyland still has cast members as mermaids in their lagoon but now it also includes mermen. Or they are possibly actualfax mermen and and they meet and fall in love. Idk, I just know merpeople. Happy Birthday again <3

I loved this prompt so much that I sort of combined all three ideas? Also I'm very ashamed of myself for not knowing Dive Bar exists because that is right up my alley (and now I definitely need to make a trip out to California)

Anyway thanks for the birthday wishes. This prompt definitely got away from me so here are 5000 words of shapeshifting mermaids that you can find on ao3 here:

~

Steve is of the personal opinion that if more humans knew just how many of their beloved close friends and neighbors were non-human, there would be an uproar. And not even just the people close to them—there isn’t a corner of the world left untouched by magic, from sirens topping the charts to trolls scoring touchdowns to witches making dreams come true at the Happiest Place on Earth. Nowhere is that more obvious than in the theme park industry.

Steve personally blames Walt Disney for it. What the man could do without magic was simply incredible, and it left the rest of the industry scrambling to catch up with him, frequently using magic to get an edge. Which is how Mermaidia, a horribly-named (but so chosen to play off of Mermaid Fever caused by the frequent appearance of mers in human media) and mer-owned-and-operated cousin to SeaWorld, got its start.

Mermaidia, as Steve has heard his entire life, is unique in that not only is it one of the most ethical aquatic theme parks in the world with enclosures more than large enough for  the animals they keep, but in that the entire park is owned and staffed by mermaids—not that the humans know that, of course. Mers were the first shapeshifters, born even before weres and dragons, and going from tail to legs is as simple as wishing it done.

He leaves the elevator that travels from the underwater city located just off the coast of the archipelago that makes up Mermaidia to the park headquarters located on the largest of the park’s islands. His PA, Natasha, is waiting for him just outside the elevator with a copy of the day’s schedule and a cup of tea. He accepts both and takes a sip as he glances over the schedule.

“Why am I meeting with the new performer?” he asks, gaze pausing on the little Meeting with Tony Carbonell highlighted in red at the top of the schedule. He starts walking toward his office. If he’s got a meeting with Carbonell first thing, then he wants to make sure his office is in order. “I’m not on the rota for performances for another few weeks.” Despite being the owner of the park since a decade ago when his parents, the original founders of Mermaidia, passed, Steve got his start at the park performing in one of the park’s three mer-centered shows. He still likes to perform when he has a free day, but he doesn’t have one of those coming up for a while.

Natasha replies, “There are security concerns regarding his employment.”

“What do you mean?” Steve asks, frowning at her. “He hasn’t even shown up for his first day yet. He can’t possible have gotten into trouble already.”

“It’s not him, Steve,” Natasha says. “Or—it is him, but not in the way you’re thinking.”

“Explain,” Steve says.

But Natasha shakes her head and waits until Steve’s office door has closed behind him before she says, “He’s royal.”

Steve’s hands still in tidying his desk. “Royal,” he repeats flatly.

Natasha nods. “You know the queen has been talking about the prince getting a job.”

He does know. The news has been all over the city for weeks that the spoiled heir to the throne would be getting a job after one too many public mistakes, and if Steve had had any inkling that he would be coming to Mermaidia, he would have put together the first name Tony with the queen’s childhood name Carbonell instantly. But he hadn’t. He’d assumed, evidently wrongfully, that the young Stark, well-known to be gifted with mechanics and engineering, would stay as far away from entertainment and customer service as possible.

“Alright,” he says quietly. “Send him in when he gets here. We can discuss security details then.”

Natasha opens her mouth like she’s going to ask something—she nearly always does; she likes to know things, which makes her invaluable to Steve as she always knows what’s going on in his company, but is also deeply frustrating when she turns that on him—but a pointed look at the door has her leaving without a word. Steve slumps back into his desk chair—dwarven-made and far more comfortable than anything mass-produced by humans—and groans, dropping his head into his hands.

Tony Stark, working in his park.

What’s next, his first boyfriend deciding to work here too?

Steve has never told anyone this, let alone his nosy assistant, but he remembers Tony from their shared childhood in the palace. Before he created Mermaidia, Steve’s father had been one of the king’s bodyguards. Sometimes, Steve think he must have spent most of his boyhood swimming after Tony, the younger mer having been both too intelligent and too mischievous for his own good, but he hadn’t. It was only five years before the February Uprising that left Steve’s dad permanently unable to shift into his mer form and Tony’s dad, the king, dead.

The last Steve saw Tony Stark, he’d been blaming Steve for his dad’s inability to protect the king as Steve and his ma left the palace. With Steve’s dad unable to shift, they’d retired to the archipelago above the city, left unclaimed by both humankind and mer. A decade later, they’d opened Mermaidia and five years after that, both his parents were gone and Steve was left the sole owner of the park.

With all that, he hasn’t thought of Tony other than in passing in years. He’d long since realized that Tony’s blame for what happened to his father was born out of grief and a childlike inability to understand what had happened. Now that they’re older, he has no doubt that Tony’s come to realize that the king’s bodyguards had done all they could. Steve’s dad wasn’t the only one to be injured that night, and he had been one of the few left alive.

Steve hasn’t seen Tony since that last night at the palace, not in person anyway, though he’s seen plenty of Tony in the magic bubbles that pass for news amongst mers, none of his appearances good. The pretty child had turned into a pretty man, and the combination of his looks and his inability to keep his head down has made him an attractive target for anyone looking to make a little bit of money off of selling stories. Truthfully, the only thing that surprises Steve about the queen forcing her son to find a job is that it took her so long.

“Steve,” Natasha says, poking her head into Steve’s office. “Mr. Carbonell is here.” She looks disapprovingly around his office. “I thought you were going to tidy up in here.”

“Got distracted,” Steve says, straightening his tie. He can do this. He can see his childhood best friend for the first time in twenty-five years and maintain a cool disposition. “Thanks, send him in.”

Tony must have been waiting right behind her because the words have no sooner left Steve’s mouth than Tony is shimmying past her, nearly overbalancing once he pops into the room.

“Tony,” someone exasperatedly says from behind Natasha. “You’re supposed to let me enter the room first.”

“Sorry,” Tony says cheekily, throwing a grin over his shoulder. “Got a little excited there.”

Natasha steps aside for a tall black man, who follows Tony into the office on legs that clearly aren’t used to being legs yet. Steve can’t see any weapons on him, but judging by his words, he’d be willing to bet that this is the bodyguard concerned for Tony’s safety while he’s employed by Mermaidia—Colonel Rhodes, the note on Steve’s schedule had called him. Steve stands and offers his hand to Rhodes first, shaking it in a way that’s more common to humans than mers but is long habit after years of dealing with humans in a business capacity. It’s only once the door has closed behind him that he turns to Tony and bows.

“Your Highness,” he says formally.

For the first time, the smile on Tony’s face falters.

“Please, sit down,” Steve urges the two of them, taking his own seat again while he gestures at the chairs behind them. He waits until they’re both seated before continuing. “Welcome to Mermaidia, Your Highness. I understand that you’re using a glamour to protect yourself?”

It’s an unnecessary question. Steve can see the glamour shimmering just under Tony’s skin. They’re tricky things, glamours, much more complicated than humans make them out to be. To someone who doesn’t know who’s wearing it, the glamour projects an altered version of the wearer—in Tony’s case, face a little more angular than it should be, hair a few shades lighter, and jewel blue eyes. But Steve does know who’s beneath the glamour and so he sees the dark hair and the warm brown eyes, the glamour shimmering like a mirage only when Tony moves.

“Yeah,” Tony says, giving Steve a cautious look. “I was always supposed to come here with the glamour but then Mama got worried and sent Rhodey here with me.”

“Colonel Rhodes,” Steve says politely, turning his attention to the other mer. “What do you need from us?”

“I know Tony’s working as a performer,” Rhodes replies, “so what I need is a way to stay close to him without having to be in the show itself.”

“We can arrange that,” Steve says, already thinking about possible positions they could put Rhodes in. “You will, of course, be paid as an employee.” Rhodes looks surprised about that and starts to open his mouth, but Steve waves him off. “It wouldn’t feel right, asking you to work here as a cover and not paying you. We take care of our employees here. Anything else?”

“I’d like to take a look at your existing security.”

“Of course. I can hook you up with Bucky Barnes, our current head of security, to go over the finer details with you.”

“And I’d like additional security at each of Tony’s shows.”

Steve nods. “That’ll need to be something you arrange with Bucky. Are there any other questions?”

“Yeah, actually,” Tony pipes up. “Rhodey, can you give us the room for a second?” Rhodes looks dubious. “Oh, come on, it’s Steve, he’s not going to hurt me.”

This does not make Rhodes appear any less dubious, but he stands up. “I’ll leave the door open.”

“I owe you an apology,” Tony says, leaning forward in his chair. “I said some pretty terrible things the last time we saw each other—”

“You were a child,” Steve protests automatically, even though it’s nothing he hasn’t thought before.

“Yeah, but that’s not an excuse. You had your life turned upside down by the attack too, and we should have grown closer together. I shouldn’t have let my anger get the best of me. So, I’m sorry.”

Steve blinks. “Apology accepted.”

“Great!” Tony says, smiling brightly. Steve’s breath catches at how the smile lights up his face. The news bubbles hadn’t been lying; he really is very pretty. “Now, I think you owe me an apology too.”

“Oh, I do, do I?” Steve asks nonplussed.

“Yeah. How come you never invited me to your park, Stevie? Really, I’m hurt.”

Steve laughs and points at the door. “I think you’ve got paperwork to fill out, Mr. Carbonell. Better get going.”

Tony makes a face, but stands. “I’m going to get that apology from you.”

“How about this?” Steve offers. “I’ll come see you in the show once you’ve finished training.”

Tony’s eyes light up. “I’ll take you up on that offer, Mr. Rogers.”

~

For all that Steve had had great intentions of staying far away from the pools Tony’s shown practiced in—he’d accepted Tony’s apology and they’re at least friendly now, but once burned and all that—he can’t resist ducking down there the first time the show’s director sends him a report of how the practices are progressing. By rights, Steve shouldn’t be getting any of these reports; they should just be going straight to the department heads. But his parents had taken a hands-on approach when running the park, and Steve has every intention of maintaining that legacy, so he oversees operations as personally as he can.

The director’s review comes to him with glowing praise for Tony, which doesn’t actually surprise Steve. He would imagine that Tony’s life would be full of public faces versus private faces. Sliding into another role, especially one so close to his own, must feel very easy. Even so, it’s effusive enough that Steve can’t help but feel curious and wander down to the pools to see for himself.

The show is simple enough and based on a mer legend to boot: an attractive palace guard sent to rescue the mer ruler from an evil sea witch. The genders of the characters are easily changed out to suit whoever winds up with the role, a decision that was unpopular with the humans at first though none of the mer staff have ever cared about such a thing. One of the park’s veterans, a friend of Steve’s named Sharon, who’s been here almost as long as he has, has been cast in the role of the palace guard for the season. Tony, in a twist of irony, was cast as the young ruler.

The practice pools are located on the back halves of the islands, well out of sight of the guests, and take a bit of a hike to get to—if one has to walk. Fortunately, Steve is mer, and he swims around the island instead, a much easier way to get to the pools.

He emerges from the water, seamlessly transitioning from tail to legs, idly wondering at the magic that transitions his clothes as well so that he doesn’t lose them every time he shifts. The show, he realizes as he approaches the stage and pool—one of the largest they have and yet still requires set changes—is in the middle of a run-through. The entire show is performed underwater with only a few early scenes performed on land, namely the opening chorus performed by a few mers acting as sailors. The pool itself, unlike the one they’ll perform in for guests of the park, is set in the ground so that the only way to view it is from a platform above, which is where Rhodes is currently standing, arms crossed. Steve wanders over to join him. From their vantage point, he can make out the jewel-bright flashes of the performers’ tails. It takes him a moment to locate Tony. He’s looking for the bright gold and red of the royal family, but Tony’s glamour must be stronger on his tail because he sees the mer with the dark blue and white tail several times before realizing that the reason it looks so odd is because it’s not real.

“Rogers,” Rhodes says quietly so as not to disturb the performers.

“Rhodes,” Steve replies, nodding at him.

“Come to check out the show?” Rhodes asks, raising an eyebrow in a way that makes Steve feel that he knows exactly why Steve is here—and that it has little to do with the show itself. “You know, he talks about you all the time.”

“He does?” Steve asks, only realizing too late that he sounds hopeful. Rhodes grins at him.

“Yeah. I’ve been his bodyguard for most of a decade, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard him talk about anyone half as much as he talks about you. He’s really proud of all the work you’ve put into this place. Feels bad about what he said to you last time you saw each other.”

“He could have said something earlier,” Steve says, annoyed.

Rhodes shrugs. “I don’t think he thought he had the right to.”

Which, huh. Combined with what Steve is learning about this older Tony from the reports the director’s sent in—that he’s a hard worker who’s easily made friends with his costars, always shows up on time, and never once complains about the long rehearsal hours—it paints a very different picture than the news bubbles do.

He says as much to Rhodes, who gives him an approving look, but any further discussion stops when a sharp bosun’s whistle pierces the air, signaling for breaktime.

“I’ll never get used to that,” Rhodes says casually, moving to the edge of the platform and looking straight down. Steve follows him and spots Tony swimming towards them parallel to the pool’s walls. Moving as fast as he is, it’s easier to parse through the glamour to the glimmers of gold and red beneath. “Better move. He likes to show off.”

Tony bursts out of the water, using the extra push from his tail to clear the water and leap onto the platform. He transitions from tail to legs halfway through the jump—much easier than most mers can manage, even ones who work on land—and tucks himself into a roll, somersaulting past Steve and Rhodes, and comes to his feet.

“Ta-da!” he exclaims.

“Yes, yes, you’re very impre—” Rhodes begins dryly, but Tony catches sight of Steve then.

His face lights up. “You came!” he says, looking positively delighted that Steve is there.

Steve feels his own face blush bright red. “Ah,” he says awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. “It was—I like to keep an eye on everything in the park.”

Tony looks like he sees right through Steve’s bluffing, but he doesn’t do anything other than give him a knowing look. “So what do you think?”

“You look good,” Steve says without thinking, which is true. Tony is shirtless in this form other than the gold jewelry he wears for his role, and it offsets his slender, toned body in a very distracting way. He wears a bright turquoise gem around his neck that all but screams magic. This, Steve suspects, is the source of the glamour. He suddenly realizes what he just said. His blush deepens as a delighted smile spreads across Tony’s face. “I mean—the show. The show looks good. What do you tell everyone that’s for?”

Tony continues beaming at him for a moment before he looks down at the gem Steve’s gesturing to. “Oh, I just say it’s for heart problems. Do you think I look good, Steve?”

Steve glares at him. “You know you do.”

“Yeah, but—” Tony takes a step closer to him, and suddenly, he’s in Steve’s space and Steve is finding it hard to breathe. He hadn’t anticipated this when Natasha told him who Tony Carbonell really was. How could he have? He hadn’t seen Tony in years. How could he have expected the bright burst of attraction every time their paths crossed. “Do you think I look good?”

Steve looks at him, at his dark brown eyes sparkling in the morning sun and his pink mouth begging to be kissed red. “Yeah,” he says hoarsely. “I do.”

Tony’s smile softens. “I missed you, Big Blue.”

“Big—what?”

Tony’s gaze flickers down to Steve’s legs. “That’s a pretty big tail you’ve got there,” he murmurs, pupils blowing wide. “Makes me wonder—”

“Mr. Rogers!” Janet, the show’s director, exclaims. She joins them on the raised platform and throws her arms around Steve. Tony steps back, heated stare fading as he turns and looks back over the pool. Janet is a little older than Steve’s mom would have been, and she had become like a second mother to him in the days after his parents’ deaths. He adores her to pieces for all that he’s been unable to get her to stop calling him Mr. Rogers. “Making friends with the new star?”

“Something like that,” Steve says.

“Have you had a chance to go over the new blocking yet?” Janet asks him.

Steve says truthfully, “No, I’ve been busy.” One of the emails Janet had sent him earlier in the week had involved the minute changes she’d made to the show since last tourist season, but Steve hasn’t had a chance to come down to the pools and go over them yet. Natasha has kept him busy with meetings and visiting the other departments. And since he isn’t on the performance rota for another few weeks once the season opens, he hasn’t worried about it.

“Are you busy now?”

He thinks he knows where this is going, but he’s never been able to lie to Janet before, and he doubts he’ll be able to now. “No.”

“Good. Get your costume and gear from Sharon and get in the pool. We’ll run through it a few times with you.”

“Wait, what?” Tony asks.

“Sometimes, I do the performances,” Steve says, trying to seem more casual than he feels. He strips off his suit jacket and shirt, knowing better than to argue with Janet. “It’s a good way to stay up to date with everything going on in the park.”

“Is that so?” Tony asks lowly, smirking at him. Steve shivers and turns away, diving into the pool, transforming the instant he hits the water.

~

Even with the changes, Steve could do most of the show in his sleep, which is good because the moment he takes in the sight of Tony chained to the rock, angrily snapping at the sea witch that his loyal guard is coming for him, Steve’s brain decides to take a hike southward and stays there.

It’s not that he hadn’t known that Tony’s mer form is gorgeous because he had. Anyone with eyes and access to a news bubble knows that. Even with the glamour, Tony is handsome. Without it—with his sinuous tail and its golden scales around his stomach giving way to bright red—he’s stunning. But he hadn’t anticipated that the way Tony’s tail lashes angrily against the rock and his wrists twist in their chains, catching the dappled sunlight filtering through the water, would make him feel.

He goes through the motions, barely noticing when Janet stops them to correct his movements according to the new script. He says the lines, wondering if he’s ever meant them as much as he does now. He will rescue Tony, no matter that he isn’t truly in any danger.

And when he’s defeated the sea witch and taken Tony into his arms, Tony gazing up at him like he never wants to look away, he realizes that he’s never felt so right as he does now.

Oh.

Oh.

~

“Have lunch with me,” he asks Tony after they’re done with rehearsal, to which Tony readily agrees. Steve takes him to one of the higher end restaurants in the park. He’s needed to go by there anyway to approve the final menu for this year’s season. Tony just gives him an excuse to go there sooner than his scheduled visit next week, which he’s sure the chefs are grateful for since it’ll give them more time to prepare if he asks them to make any changes.

They spend hours in the restaurant talking, far longer than Tony’s lunch break should have allowed for (though he doubts that Janet will complain; she and Natasha have been trying to set him up for ages). They work their way through every item on the menu, talking about everything and nothing and all the things in between. Tony proves himself to be just as smart as everyone says he is and as funny as he is smart and as kind as he is funny. Steve wonders at the disconnect between everything he’s read about Tony and the person he sees in front of him, but he has enough experience with that disconnect as well to know that not everything he reads can be accurate. After all, he himself isn’t nearly the recluse human media tries to paint him as.

Their lunch is only the first of many. Every day, Steve finds himself swimming over to the pools just before lunch, hoping to catch Tony before he joins the rest of the cast for his break. And every day, even if Steve is running late, Tony waits for him, clearly more interested in spending that time with Steve. They’ve grown as close as they once were as children and more than, and Steve often wishes that he could work up the courage to even just take Tony’s hand as it rests on the table, but he hasn’t managed to yet.

Mermaidia opens for the season, and they both get busier than they have been before. They still meet up when they can, but with six shows each day, Tony is frequently exhausted at the end of the day. In addition to his duties as the owner the park, Steve takes shifts whenever he can—in the gift shops, in the restaurants, as a tour guide in the aquariums. His turn to work Tony’s show hasn’t come up yet, but he counts down the days. Between Tony’s exhaustion and Steve’s busy schedule, their meetings grow briefer and briefer though Steve still tries his best to make time for Tony and it’s clear that Tony does the same for him.

A few days before Steve is supposed to take over Sharon’s role for the day, Natasha informs him that he has no meetings scheduled and she’s blocked his calendar. He frowns at her. He was supposed to have an interview with one of those human television shows. Every few years, one of them gets it into their heads that they’ll be the ones to figure out the secrets of Mermaidia—both Steve and his parents have always said that the mermaids of Mermaidia work through magic—and he’s come due for another one.

“They cancelled,” Natasha says unconcernedly. He takes that to mean as she scared them off. Natasha can be terrifying when she wants to be. “If I were you, I’d recommend going out to the waterfall.”

The waterfall is Steve’s favorite place on any of the islands. Located on one of the smaller islands that make up the park, the waterfall empties into the bay, which the island forms a natural barrier around. Protected from human eyes by some magic that Steve’s parents had put in place, it’s the one place in Mermaidia outside of the show pools where he can feel free to change into his mer form without worrying about someone spotting him.

“Thanks,” he says, then narrows his eyes suspiciously. “Why?”

“Just thought it might be nice,” Natasha says innocently. She doesn’t crack under his glare, and Steve eventually gives up. He’s sure she’s got some sort of secret reason for making him go, but he can’t deny that he wants to.

“Alright,” he says eventually. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He swims over to the waterfall, wholly unsurprised to find Tony there when he arrives. Tony’s sitting on one of the rocks lining the beach, red and gold tail flashing in the sun. He’s removed the jewel from around his neck, so that Steve doesn’t have to fight past the glamour to see just him. Steve swims right up to him. Tony must spot the blue and silver of Steve’s own tail from a way off because he doesn’t seem surprised at all when Steve pops out of the water even though he couldn’t possible have heard him over the sounds of the waterfall.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Tony says, twisting to drape across the rock, putting his face very close to Steve’s, whose breath catches.

“So,” Steve says, sounding strangled. He clears his throat and tries again. “So, which one put you up to this?”

“Janet,” Tony replies. “She told me she thought one of the understudies was slacking off and she wanted to sub him in to catch him off guard.”

“I pity whoever comes to see the show today,” Steve remarks.

Tony laughs, his breath puffing across Steve’s mouth. “We both know Sharon is more than talented enough to make up for it.” His gaze drops to Steve’s lips, going dark and heated.

Steve’s tongue darts out to wet his mouth. “Ah, where’s Rhodes?”

“Around,” Tony murmurs, waving a casual hand. “He won’t bother us, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Well, in that case,” Steve begins and then reaches up, grabbing Tony’s arms and hauling him over his head and into the water. Tony hits the water with a huge splash, screeching loud enough that Steve can still hear him above water.

He dives too, darting away from Tony’s teasing grab. They chase each other through the bay, shouting taunts back and forth. Tony is a dirty cheat, gathering up sand from the bottom of the bay to toss back in Steve’s eyes, though he could have expected that—even as a boy, Tony hated to lose. In retaliation, Steve uses his knowledge of the bay to dart through one of the caves lining the stone walls of the island. If he times it right, he’ll exit the other side either just ahead of Tony or practically on top of him.

He emerges right as Tony swims by and manages to catch Tony’s hand, spinning him around and into the rock. Tony’s back hits the wall with a soft “Oof.” He doesn’t try to escape now that Steve’s got him pinned, only relaxes his wrist into Steve’s grip.

“Caught you,” Steve breathes, bubbles streaming from his mouth.

“Sure did,” Tony says easily, twining his tail around Steve’s, drawing a shiver from Steve. “We match, you know.”

“Hmm?”

“Look at our tails, Steve.”

Steve does. He wouldn’t have thought that Tony’s red and gold could be considered as matching with his own blue and silver, but they look good together, intertwined as they are. His heart beats faster. He puts his free hand at Tony’s waist and slides it around to his back, the rough scales catching against the skin of his hand as he pulls Tony into him.

“Tony,” he says helplessly, not entirely sure what he’s asking for. Tony must get it, however—he always seems to know what Steve is looking for—because he smiles at Steve and puts his other hand around the back of Steve’s neck and tugs him down.

Their lips meet, sliding against each other as they float there, suspended in the water, in this moment. Tony’s mouth tastes like the unique blend of fresh and saltwater that comes from the waterfall pounding into the bay. Steve pulls him even closer and kisses him again, opening his mouth for Tony’s questing tongue. Tony is whispering something into his mouth, something that Steve can’t hear over the rushing in his ears—or maybe that’s the sound of the waterfall filtering through the bay.

They pull apart and come together again and again, Tony’s hand drifting down from Steve’s neck to his shoulder to his bare chest. Steve kisses his way across the line of Tony’s jaw to his throat. Tony gasps his name, and Steve returns to his mouth, kissing him again.

He doesn’t notice when they start to drift upwards, only when they break the surface and they suddenly gasp in air instead of water. He strokes Tony’s face and slides his tail up and down Tony’s.

“I really like you,” Steve says, kissing the salt from Tony’s cheeks.

“Good,” Tony says, sliding his hand back up and twisting his fingers into Steve’s hair. “I really like you too.”

“I’m glad you decided to work here,” Steve says, possibly too honest since Tony pulls away from him, eyes searching Steve’s face. It’s a long moment before Tony’s face softens into a warm smile.

“Best job I’ve ever had,” Tony replies.

Steve laughs. “Only job you’ve ever had.”

“Makes the choice easy then, doesn’t it?”

Steve kisses him again, Tony’s fingers tightening in his hair to keep him there. “I want to see you more often.”

“Abandon your duties,” Tony says immediately. “Take over Sharon’s role. Spend every day with me.”

“I was thinking we could start with dinner,” Steve suggests instead.

Tony thinks about it. “Yeah, okay, dinner sounds good too.”

“I’m so glad you approve,” Steve says dryly, but he thinks his words are undercut by the way he pulls Tony back to him.

From the way Tony kisses him, he thinks Tony knows it too.

[goleb]

Woahhhh who's peacock Roy? Sounds cool

Great question! Thank you for asking 🥺 One I'm not sure I'm properly equipped to answer, because truly, who IS peacock Roy? A man of mystery, very handsome, very... feathery. 

Imagine if you will a sliding scale of bird to person. A whole bird, no person, followed by - well, presumably anyway - a siren (the mythological bird-woman sort, not, y'know, mermaids) at mostly bird, slightly person, then perhaps a harpy at half bird, half person, then... well, I don't know. An angel of the humanoid sort? Slightly bird, mostly person? And, well, finally there'd be just a whole person, no bird. Roy at his most regular is, of course, at the whole person side of that scale. Well, peacock Roy isn't, because peacocks are, as you know, inherently birds. So let's take a quick slide down this scale, shall we? 

At whole bird, no person, peacock Roy is exactly that, a peacock with Royish traits. He originates from a drawing my bes friend V drew once, and it hasn't left my mind since. His feathers resembled a cloud of eyes - very stylish, deeply intimidating. 

You'd think the next step would be the siren - a bird with a human head, as it were, but no. That'd just be silly. Instead, we move straight to the half/half and the slightly/mostly - which are strikingly similar (the difference is in the legs). So in this case peacock Roy is regular Roy with a handful of peacocky features. Wings, most notably, in shades of blue, teal, green... Tail feathers. Perhaps talons, if we're speaking harpy. A thousand eyes you swear follow your every move. Human, yet very much not. 

And why? Simple, really. It's rule of cool all the way down. Peacocks are most aesthetically pleasing birds. Roy is a most aesthetically pleasing man. It only makes sense to combine the two. 

And for the trouble of wait, I drew this! 

[maddiefriendlovesbilly]

How well do Johnny Toast and Gavin get along in the mermaid au— also how do mermaids and people usually think of each other? Are human-mermaid relationships common??

Hmmm, okay so first question! I like to think that the combined chaos of the Toast twins would be fucking DISASTROUS. Also?? I genuinely think they should get along. Its so much more fun to have them be the terror twins than to be enemies! (Also I honestly forgot that they don’t get along in canon I headcannon this so hard lmaoooo)

Anyway, I like to think that the role of first mate being assigned to Toast is more to keep people from questioning Gavin’s authority, since he’s better at handling the crew. But technically they both do the captainly duties, Toast just works more behind the scenes :)

Onto your second question: I think that human’s see sirens as a sort of myth for the most part! Only sailors/pirates really truly believe in them, and even then there’s a bit of doubt unless you’ve seen one with your own eyes. Gavin has seen one, and while Toast has not before all this, he believes his brother.

Most who have seen sirens call them dangerous, vile creatures who will lure you to your death with their voice, but Gavin insists to those close to him that the rumor is preposterous slander.

(I wonder who he met?)

[juuls]

YESSSSSSSSssssssSSSSSSsssssss! *fist pump*

YES YES YES yEs yES Yessssss!

I asked my dad if (and he said yes and would tell my mom on his own—certainly helps she’s in another province for 7 months, minus Christmas break), for a combined Christmas/birthday present (they’re only 3 weeks apart), pending shops are open and have availabilities… so I’m going to make an appointment now before it’s too late, and hopefully Covid fuckers don’t fuck things all up again, still, constantly, every moment of the day still… *sighs exasperatedly*

But!!!!!! Dad agreed and even liked the idea (!!!) that my gift (I’ll be near 32; I don’t need anything whatsoever but if I want something I want it to be one or two things and no more ; I mean come on) could be getting my little alto clef tattoo retouched behind my ear AND get either a large dragon or large unicorn on the back of one of my shoulders on the shoulder blade, to one side of the flower (shown below the cut further down alongside examples/ideas). So they’d gift that to me and hopefully they don’t buy me anything else or I’ll feel bad, hah—

I’m looking at YOU, mom 👀, who shops like 8 months in advance—you’re ridiculous but I still love you—it IS nice and I’m always grateful. I’ll simply ask her to donate the new items to a charity asking for new goods, or save it for another time, a later year, but I’d talk to my mom first about that, of course. I just refuse to be that greedy type, but I also don’t want to be an ungrateful little brat—because I an aware that I have and have access to more privilege than many others.

Dad’ll talk to her about my new, planned tattoo first, then I’ll bring up the Mother’s Day one…….. because tattoos are not something you want to surprise people into getting. That’s almost as weird as getting your guaranteed-to-be-an-ex-partner’s-name tattooed in a highly visible spot. 😅

And then I mentioned that for mother’s day I wanted to save up my own paltry stipend and buy a mother-daughter outing of (maybe a manicure-pedicure too, maybe not) getting tattoos on our ankles because apparently mom has always liked those but has never gone through with it. There are some REALLY pretty music tattoos with the watercolour splash style over it which I think she’d adore. Not sure for mine but we’ll see haha. But dad seemed approving and even supportive and excited because he knows mom would quite likely really like that.

I’m sooooooooo psyched!!!

Alto clef needing touchup: (I sing alto, don’t play viola or bassoon or oboe so don’t ask me to read the clef music lmao — also, funnily enough, this is the only tattoo of mine my mom approves of….. she’s a music teacher. 🎶 hehehehe)

Latest tattoo, on right, is a crocus — it has many meanings but in this colour and context implies “abuse me not/no more” with the date I left my abusive ex tucked into the bottom of the stems and leaves (left him, and the USA, on July 4th, 2017 because I’m a dramatic bitch like that hahaha) when I packed my things and left the gaslighting bitch. The phoenix was my first tat ever and its only meaning is I love mythological creatures (and sometimes they have deeper meanings).

But for this next one and when I get more tats later, I’ve decided I want to have them on my back over my shoulder blades and/or curved around my ribcage (no tramp stamps though beh). My dad’s always been cool with my tats even though I lied and them from my family for like 8 years lmao, but it’s because he trusts me and knows I’m smart and won’t tat up, like…. My face or hands or arms unless I’ve thought of a way of making it tasteful first or easily hidden.

So now I’m stuck trying to figure out if I want a dragon or a unicorn for the first shoulder blade tat. Or perhaps there’s a mythological creature that would suit me better? Here are a few that caught my eye! Ribs or shoulder blades though, hmmm…. i have more options but Tumblr is mean and limits 10 pics booooooo.

Yeah, the paw prints are the odd one out, but due to losing Nala this summer and an earlier dog, Trip, to cancer when he was just 2.5yo… I love dogs. The dog paws, or something (else) to do with music may be the one I get with mom if she agrees and doesn’t chicken out. 😜

Other mythological creatures I like…. sirens/mermaids, angels (especially the weird ones that take actual inspiration from the bible—fucking creepy), fairies of all sorts, sad and pining ghosts, pegasus, hellhounds, were-creatures or even just spooky, eerie, supernatural animals, probably tons more honestly hehe.

But yo!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!! Dad is even going to come to the consult next week, and yes I was the one to offer because a) it’s a gift/not my money, b) I respect him and my mother as well, c) I dislike discord and wish him to approve, d) my anxiety disorder demands it lmao.

[snowflake-of-destruction]

~gives you an excuse to infodump about mermaid aus~

How does it feel to be my current favorite?

FIRST WORLDBUILDING, I SWEAR IT’S NECESSARY TO SET THE SCENE

Okay, in this world, merfolk and aquatic sirens are seen as two separate species. This is mostly perpetuated by the merfolk themselves who are peaceful versus man-eating and don’t have the same mystical vocal powers sirens use to hypnotize or paralyze prey. There are also other differences, such as jaw/tooth structure. Mermaids--many of them at least, may have sharp, interlocking, predator teeth, but sirens have a specific fang structure in the front of their mouth. Protruding fangs for causing wounds that will bleed the most with the least “effort,” the “puncture teeth” for quicker kills. There are also curved fangs for skinning/descaling prey. 

These latter fangs are important for more than hunting. The siren society has a culture of scarification. Each family has a crest, with individuals therein creating their own variant when they come of age. Who you are is branded/bitten/scarred into your skin, and then you mark your mate and children. There can also be specific circumstances for marks, such as a lifelong debt. For the most part though, you only bare 1 to 2 marks (depending on if you keep your family crest and make your new tattoo separate or if you bare both a mate and an individual mark) and these are taken super seriously in both who you are and who belongs to you until the day they die.

READ MORE FOR LENGTH

Sirens dwell in the deeper trenches of the ocean for the most part and have adapted for it, and who are known to not only drown humans and eat them, but to even sometimes sneak up on a merperson swimming alone, drag them to depths where the pressure starts interfering with their ability to fight back with a clear head, overpower them, and turn (basically) cannibal. 

Why do I say basically cannibal? Because the sirens are taught that really they are one common people, just adapted differently as the merfolk denied some of their true nature and excommunicated those that did not want to live oppressed. There are subsets of mers who have all sort of different tails, sizes, and talents and are still called merfolk, so why should those that “have the song” (and the taste for more than fish) be treated differently? They would also say that more merfolk (senselessly) kill sirens than the opposite, and this hate combined with the fact that Sirens hunt the surface less and less as humans grow more creative and vicious, means they are dying out.

Humans (the ones that have seen these sea creatures and believe in them at all)  just know pretty-half fish= probably dangerous and don't distinguish between merfolk and sirens at all. If you’re close enough to study their teeth it’s probably too late.

Adam and Tadashi= sirens

Langa and Shadow=mermen

Miya- Either a merman or just straight up I make him a salt-water catfish to be funny. He is identified as “sidekick” more than an actual species in my mind so far

Cherry, Joe and Reki= human sailors

Oka= a human but not a sailor, someone who runs a store in a port the Matchablossom ship often restocks and Reki's former boss before he left to sail with Joe and Cherry

ARE YOU WITH ME SO FAR? GOOD, BECAUSE HERE COMES PLOT PREMISE[

THE BACKSTORIES

So we have Adam and Tadashi when they were but tiny things playing around, exploring where they were not supposed to go, and they get attacked by some other dangerous sea creature with things only getting worse when they almost get caught in a net when they flee to the shallow. The net gets very badly wrapped around tiny Tadashi’s throat and he suffers vocal cord damage and loses his main power as a siren before he even grows into it--a consequence of curiosity, Tadashi views it, and though he escapes the net, does he ever really?

Adam learns zero lessons, and a bit later in life he dabbles in a Little Mermaid type narrative with Cherry and Joe when they were younger and dumber...until they discover Adam  luring more weak minded sailors to their doom and prove some people just aren't down with murder for fun and food.

PRESENT DAY

 Captain Kaoru and first mate Kojiro (Though Kaoru and Kojiro keep saying Carla, Kaoru's really fancy nautical compass is the first mate, and Kojiro is just hanging around) take on the plunky Reki as a new crew mate. Reki spots Langa or vice versa and the love at first sight strikes hard. They continue to find ways to interact, but mostly moon over each other in typical teen star-crossed fashion. The “true” Little Mermaid narrative vibes begin. Joe and Cherry find out about their little meetups and warn Reki about the “dangers and demons of the deep” but Reki can’t fathom Langa being like the stories they tell. 

Langa’s mother would not be thrilled with him revealing himself to a human, but the real danger for Langa, though he doesn’t know it, is when Adam hears Langa happily singing to himself about a day spent with Reki. He becomes convinced Langa has “the song” and can bend the world to his will, and runs far with the implications, convinced that he’ll somehow unite mer kingdoms, bringing the sirens out of the depths to the more hospitable merfolk territory and plentiful hunting grounds. 

The only thing standing in the way is Reki and all that needs to happen is to get rid of him or have Langa do it through a little bit of trickery in saying that if Reki's love is true when Langa sings he'll grow gills.

Well, not the only thing, because then we have Matchablossom, already feeling like it's their burden to kill Adam.

And maybe I have some other tricks planned, but I feel like this is enough of an explosion of info.

Unless anyone wants to ask more questions...

[brazilspill]

My headcanon for Brazilian wand magic in Harry Potter

So this is  my headcanon about Brazilian wand magic. Since the creatures aren’t well-known outside Brazil, I have the info on the wand core then a blurb about the real-life folklore behind it. 

I’m still developing my headcanon for the wood part of the wands; I’ll post about it once it’s finished.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Unlike European wand cores, which can cause harm to the “donor” (such as in the case of dragons, for example), Brazilian wand cores are either bartered for or freely given. The only exceptions are in the case of the Mula and Cuca, although care is made that the extraction not permanently injure or debilitate the “donor”. Though heartstrings could also be used, their use is traditionally (and more recently, legally) forbidden. 

We know from some wands crafted by early European arrivals that heartstrings of Brazilian magical creatures make exceedingly powerful wands, however the practice was considered taboo by Indigenous Brazilian magical beings (sorcerers included), as it is considered wasteful and needless when less harmful methods satisfy the wandmaker’s needs. As such, uses of heartstrings were not tolerated and severely dealt with, leading European-Brazilians to cease such practices fairly early on.

Due to the less hostile nature of how wand cores are collected in Brazil, Brazilian wandmakers enjoy a much wider array of wand core options. It has been theorized that Brazil’s propensity for strong wands may be linked to the wand cores being freely given.

It is also worth noting that Brazilian magic performed by Indigenous sorcerers uses a form of wandless magic which may or may not use objects infused with what Europeans would recognize as wand cores and wood to help focus and channel the magic. 

Wand Cores

NOTE: All of the following creatures are extremely intelligent and/or dangerous and can be deadly if not approached properly. 

Iaras, Sacis, Curupiras and Caiporas are ranked as dangerous in that they deserve respect, not that they are overly violent per se, and are only classified as beasts at their own request (much like centaurs and sirens in Europe, though Curupiras participate much more actively in human governmental institutions by comparison).

Iara hair strand or scale - Powerful, particularly good at charms, not half bad at offensive spells either. Slightly temperamental. Not overly loyal but not prone to accepting a new owner either.

About Iaras: Overall very similar to European sirens and mermaids, especially since the influence of European culture to the myth. They have green hair and live in rivers rather than the ocean, and sit on rocks singing and brushing their hair to lure men to the depths of the river. 

Saci Pererê hair strand - Temperamental and unpredictable. Extremely good at transfiguration and spells having to do with deceit or travel (apparition, concealment of things, etc). May work well for those other than its owner, but it’s a bit of a Russian roulette gamble, as the consequences of a claimed wand with a Saci hair core rejecting a new user can be severe and… unfortunate.

About Sacis - Trickster figures and universally recognized by Brazilians as the icon of Brazilian folklore and culture. They look like a young one-legged black boy who wears a red cap. Extremely powerful, they’re generally benevolent in the sense that they don’t intentionally seek out to hurt people, but as their chief concern is amusing themselves, they can often pull tricks that are harmful without intending harm (e.g. making the milk go sour, thus causing someone to go hungry). They travel by way of dust clouds  and mini dust tornados. Kind of vaguely similar to a mix of a genie and a selkie,as you can capture them, take away their cap, and they’ll have to do your bidding.

Curupira tooth - Extremely good for protective spells (both defensive and offensive), very loyal to its owner. Least likely to accept the use of dark magic. Second rarest wand core.

About Curupiras: The Brazilian icon for environmentalism, they look like a boy with his feet on backwards and hair made of fire (I’m pretty sure that it was originally intended to be a metaphor for “he’s a ginger”, because gingers are so rare in Brazil I legit thought the Wealeys’ hair colour was like an anime-style thing where they have funky hair ‘cause they’re magic). 

They are harmless and neutral when you need to take from the forest for survival, but utterly terrifying forces to be dealt with when you take beyond your fair share. They’re basically like immensely powerful forest spirits that protect the balance of nature. You really really don’t wanna piss one off.

Caipora hair strand - Particularly good at hexes, jinxes and offensive spells at large. Not opposed to dark magic. Due to the temperamental nature of the core, its loyalty ranges from fairly flexible to fiercely loyal based on the individual wand (loyal wands also happen to be excellent at defensive spells as they are fiercely protective of their owner). While it is not entirely known why the wand loyalty can vary so wildly from wand to wand, recent studies suggest it may be due to a mix of the core-wood personality combination as well as the personality of the individual donor.

About Caiporas: Similar to the Curupira, they’re humanoid forest beings of extreme power. While Curupiras are neutral unless angered, Caiporas are often portrayed as more malevolent in nature. 

Cuca scale or hair strand - Particularly good at hexes, jinxes, and offensive spells at large. Most prone to accept dark magic use. 

About Cucas: The  Cuca is  basically the Brazilian boogie man. Usually portrayed as an alligator with hair on its head. Cucas are always female.

Mboiúna scale - The rarest and most powerful of wand cores. In this sense it is not unlike phoenix feathers used throughout Eurasia, although that’s where the similarities end. 

Mboiúna cores are rare mostly because few are willing (or able) to approach these gigantic water snakes to collect a scale or two (or rather, to approach them and survive), as well as because they are also prized ingredients for potions and certain kinds of Indigenous wandless magic. Full-grown male mboiúna are the size of a female basilisk, while females can easily grow to twice the size of males.

About Mboiúnas: Sort of the Amazonian equivalent of a sea serpent/monster, their name literally means “black snake”. They’re often blamed for capsizing boats and eating fishermen. Likely sprung from the fact that some Brazilian water snakes can (and do) capsize boats and attack people. In fact, a few years ago a corrupt politician was eaten by such a snake. Like, for realsies. There’s photos and everything.

[anoramactir]

when you wish.

i wrote fic! can you believe it? because i can’t, i literally never finish anything. but it’s kana from @speakergame​‘s birthday today, and there was a small event in the official server.

i rewrote this like.... eighty times because i couldn’t figure out how to go about it, and eventually i settled on mini fills for each prompt that kind of go together. and then i combined prompts 2 & 3 because i couldn’t figure out 2 individually. the end result is something i’m not entirely pleased with, but whatever. love you, kana! <3

PROMPTS TWO & THREE: candles & music.

The day starts, rather inauspiciously, with the blaring of a fire alarm just after sunrise. Just last year, Kana had slept till noon, wandered into the nearest bakery, & purchased the fluffiest red velvet cupcake they’ve ever had. This year  -  spent leaning against the kitchen door as Finn swears at the alarm, Cricket barking furiously at her feet  -  is somehow better. They’ve gone soft, it seems, and Lily will never let them live it down. “Well,” they start, blowing lightly at the yet-smoking pancakes, “I guess I’ve heard worse birthday songs. And the candles are rather creative.”

It’s actually the (generous) truth, but Finn still pouts as she clambers off the counter. “Don’t be mean,” she says, “I was trying to do something nice.” And it was a sweet thought  -  red velvet pancakes, coffee from Greta’s, a tiny present badly hidden behind the fruit bowl. But the best of intentions can’t change facts, and the fact is Fiona Demir can barely be trusted to boil water. Kana’s not any better themself, admittedly, but at least they can admit their weaknesses.

“It would have been nicer to let me sleep.” Despite the chiding words, there’s only fond laughter in Kana’s voice, and Finn’s ire visibly eases.

“Next year,” she promises. Rising to her tiptoes, she tries to press a kiss to Kana’s cheek. Instead, Kana turns to meet her mouth with their own, and the both of them are smiling by the time they pull apart. “Happy birthday, by the way,” Finn says, slightly out of breath, “I meant to say it first thing, but... like I said, I’ll do better next year.”

It sends a thrill through Kana, the easy way she says it. Next year, as if it’s a given. As if Kana’s place is in Finn’s home, in her bed, in her life, and that will never change. Perhaps that should scare them, after so much uncertainty. Precious few things in their life have proven permanent. It is frightening, a little. But today is their birthday, and they refuse to spend it worrying. “I'll hold you to that,” they tease. “Now- what exactly are we going to do about breakfast?”

Finn eyes the charred remains of her pancakes, apparently judging them inedible. (Thank the gods for that. Kana would have forced them down, but they weren’t looking forward to it.) “The drow next door wanted opinions on her 4th of July menu. How do you feel about taste-testing?”

“Lead the way, sweetheart.”

PROMPT ONE: balloons.

“That is a terrible idea.” It should be a protest, but Lily sounds almost eager, delighted at watching disaster unfold. But in all fairness, none of them have tried to stop Rory. Sebastian seems to think it’d be hopeless, Azalea is too shy, and Kana... Kana has a pretty girl in their lap, and that’s much more interesting than a helium tank and some balloons.

It had been a lovely party, but by now most of the guests have filtered out (their ribs still ache from Ana Leighton’s goodbye hug) and only the usual suspects remain. Kana can see their own contentment reflected on Finn’s face, an easy sort of joy from giving them a good day. They can’t help it. They kiss her. The taste of buttercream icing still lingers in Finn’s mouth, and Kana presses closer without concious thought. The chatter fades into the background, everything hazy and almost dreamlike, and-

POP!

Finn topples to the side, and nearly takes Kana down with her. They just barely catch themselves, blinking dazedly at the bits of plastic raining across the room. “Roderick Kane.”

“It’s not my fault!” But even he doesn’t seem to believe it. There’s no shame on his face, though, just a stifled grin. “Shit, that was the mermaid balloon. Do you think that’s bad luck for you?”

Maggie scoffs. “Don’t be so superstitious,” she says, which seems a tad hypocritical coming from the psychic. "It just means we need to keep you away from anything breakable. Also, you’re cleaning this up.”  

Deciding to leave them to it, Kana turns back to Finn. She’s already climbing off the floor, seemingly more amused than anything. Still, they reach out to check.  “Sweetheart, are you alright?”

“I’m in unspeakable pain and will need a gorgeous nurse,” she cheerfully replies, which roughly translates into I’m fine, just obnoxious. Kana rolls their eyes, but can’t quite hide a smile. Finn, sensing weakness, pounces. Her puppy dog eyes really are unfairly cute. Cricket can hardly compare.

“Isn’t that Lily’s job? I don’t want to put her out of work.”

Yet Finn is - unsurprisingly - undeterred. “But Bas will be jealous! Besides, the doctor specifically said it had to be a siren.”

It’s a hopeless fight. They give in. Wrapping their hands around Finn’s waist, Kana pulls her back into their lap.  “Well,” they muse, “then I guess I have to care for you.” They brush their fingers lightly against Finn’s temple, against the beginnings of a faint bruise.

Something must show in their expression- some dangerous affection, because Finn’s teasing fades into something soft. “You take care of me,” she says quietly,  “and I’ll take care of you.”

PROMPT FOUR: gifts.

It’s earlier than Kana usually sleeps, but they’re exhausted all the same. A good sort of exhaustion, though, the kind that only comes from a day spent well. They’re wrapping their hair up, humming idly to themselves, when Finn pads into the room. There’s a wrapped box in her hand, apprehension in her face, and Kana raises an eyebrow in surprise.  “You already gave me concert tickets, remember?”

Finn shakes her head as she takes a seat, saying, “Those were from Maggie and me. This is... Maggie agreed to it, but it’s really from me.” At last she hands it over, and Kana tracks the way she fiddles with her bracelet, the way she can’t quite meet their eyes. They could ask, but it’ll be faster to just open the present.

Their breath catches. “...A key?”

“To the house,” she answers, almost before Kana has finished their question. “I know we never lock the door anyway, and you’re already here most of the time, but- it’s symbolic, I guess. I’m asking you to stay.”

Kana hadn’t needed the clarification (there’s only so many ways to interpret a key) but they almost ask Finn to repeat herself, anyway. They’d known they were wanted here, truly. A designated seat at the kitchen table, their name on the chore wheel, their favorite CDs stored in the car. Their welcome has never been in doubt. 

‘I’m asking you to stay.’ Somehow, it’s different hearing it out loud.

“I love you.”

It’s not an answer, not really. But from the way Finn beams, maybe it’s as good as. “Good,” she says, “because next year, I’ll probably get you a ring.”

[ironwoman359]

Love Song for a Siren

Summary: Life aboard the pirate ship The Sea Serpent is as perfect as Roman, Patton, and Logan could hope for, but a startling discovery turns their lives...and their hearts...upside down. 

Ships: Established Moralogince, eventual LAMP, side Dukeceit

Content Warnings: Mentions of whaling, piracy (the swashbuckling kind), sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus, general fear/anxiety, being trapped/captured.

Word Count: 5,407

Read on AO3 here

My Fic Masterlist Commission Info Ko-fi

A/N: @vintage-squid, surprise! I’m your secret santa! I’m so glad you enjoyed the story, I had a blast writing it! Thank you to @theinvisiblespoon for beta reading this fic, you’re the absolute best! I have at least two more fics for this AU planned, a prequel that tells the story of Roman and Remus coming to be crew members aboard the Sea Serpent (cuz boy howdy is that a tale), and a sequel that pits our now established LAMP boys against an external threat. Both elements were ideas that I had for this story/universe that just didn’t make it into the final version due to time/length, so let me know if you’d like to be tagged in those future stories, or if you’d like to be on my general writing taglist. As always, comments/reblogs are greatly appreciated. Love you guys! -Taylor <3

--- --- ---

“All hands on deck!”

Roman grinned and scampered down from his perch in the crow’s nest, his boots hitting the deck with a satisfying *thud.* The sky above him was clear and bright, and a cool ocean breeze rustled through his hair, granting him a reprieve from the heat of the sun. The gentle sway of the ship, once so strange and foreign to him, was now a familiar, soothing motion, and Roman’s chest swelled with confidence. He pulled his rapier from his belt and swiped it through the air with a flourish, winking at the ship’s navigator who was standing nearby.

“Just once, I’d like to see you answer Patton’s call without all your typical fanfare,” the man said, raising an eyebrow at Roman.

“What? My brother, pass up a chance to be dramatic?” a cheerful squawk called out, and then Remus was beside them, throwing one arm around Roman and jostling him playfully. “That’ll be the day.”

“Indeed, the one that we all long for,” the navigator agreed, and Roman pouted before letting his features slide into a smirk.

“Oh, come on Logan, you know you love me,” Roman crooned, and his smile widened as Logan’s cheeks became dusted with pink.

“Unfortunately, yes,” he said as Roman wriggled out from Remus’s grip to peck him on the lips. “However did I let that happen?”

“Okay you two, cut it out!” Patton chided as he walked over. “You’re both too adorable and it’s not fair, ‘cause I very much want to kiss you both, but we don’t have time right now!”

“Later, my love,” Roman promised, blowing the ship’s quartermaster a kiss of his own. Patton pretended to catch it out of the air and held it close to his heart, winking before he turned and addressed the larger crowd of sailors that had gathered on deck. 

“We’ve adjusted course to intercept a ship, prepare for boarding!” Patton called. “And standby for the captain’s orders!”

As if on cue, the captain stepped out onto the deck, surveying his crew at work for a moment before turning to Patton.

“What’s the target?”

“It looks like a whaling ship,” Patton said with a grimace, and the captain snarled.

“Right. The captain should be worth a half decent ransom then, plus there should be plenty of valuable cargo on board. We’ll disable the ship when we’re finished then leave the rest of the crew to their own devices, if they aren’t idiots they should be able to survive long enough to make whaling seem like a very unattractive occupation to their buddies back home.”

Patton nodded, then turned back to the crew.

“Ready about!” he called to them, then nodded to Roman. “Ro, take point on the first raiding crew.”

“Oooh, Dee, your mask!” Remus suddenly cried, before dashing into the captain’s quarters without another word. He emerged a moment later, handing over the mask before planting a kiss on the captain’s cheek.

“Oh, so you have time for kisses, but I don’t,” Roman teased, and Remus stuck his tongue out at him.

“Captain’s privileges,” Dee said with a smirk before sliding the mask down over the left side of his face, carved features and painted green scales covering the burn that marred his skin.

“Ro, come on!” Patton called again, and Roman turned his attention to the whaler that was still approaching them, not yet realizing that the innocuous looking Sea Serpent was actually a pirate vessel.

“Heave to!” Patton shouted, and Logan pulled on the ship’s wheel until the Sea Serpent was directly in the path of the approaching whaler.

“Ready canons!” Dee called, and Patton relayed the order to the gunmen below deck. “On my command! Ready?”

Roman gripped his sword hilt, a smile growing on his face despite himself. Right here, standing on the deck of his ship with a sword in his hand and his two loves by his side, was exactly where Roman wanted to be.

“Fire!”

--- --- ---

It didn’t take long for the crew of the whaler, called The Carlotta, to surrender, and before long, Patton was leading a small party through the ship to look for anything worth looting. As soon as he stepped below decks, however, he had to stop. He waved the other crew members on ahead of him and leaned against a nearby support beam, taking in several deep gulps of air through his mouth. Unfortunately, that didn’t do much to alleviate the stench.

The cargo hold was full of dozens upon dozens of barrels, and a foul, fishy scent clung to the air around them like mold. The smell was bad enough, but that combined with the thought of what was actually in the barrels was enough to make Patton gag on the spot. He, like Dee, was not fond of the practice of whaling, but while Dee would still bring the whale blubber onboard the Sea Serpent so they could sell it themselves and turn a profit, Patton would just as soon dump the whole batch back into the ocean so he didn’t have to think about it for too long. He was just grateful that they hadn’t come upon The Carlotta when she’d taken a fresh kill; money or no, message or no, Patton was not about to deal with looting a ship floating beside a dead whale carcass.

“Quartermaster!”

Patton looked up to see one of the younger crew members coming towards him, their eyes as round as saucers.

“What is it, kiddo? And I’ve told you, just Patton is fine.”

“Right, yessir–I mean, Patton. But, um, you need you see this!”

“What is it?” Patton asked again, following the young sailor deeper into the hold.

“I...I don’t know, sir, you’re just...going to have to see for yourself.”

Thoroughly intrigued now, Patton let himself be led into the back corner of the cargo hold where he was met with a peculiar sight. What appeared to be a large iron kettle, which Patton recognized as part of the tryworks that whalers would use to boil the whale blubber down into oil, was sitting in the middle of the open space. The kettle itself wasn’t what struck Patton as odd though, it was its placement below decks. The ship had clearly recently brought in a new whale, and Patton remembered seeing the other kettle in its proper place on top of the furnace up on deck. What on earth was this doing down here?

The other thing that was confusing was the large slat of crisscrossed iron bars that had been laid haphazardly over the top of the kettle. If Patton had to guess, he’d say that the whalers had taken the door off the ship brig and used it as a sort of cap, and for extra measure, a few canon balls had been placed on top to provide additional weight. Three other crew members were standing around the kettle, looking inside with something akin to awe on their faces.

“What’s going on?” Patton asked as he approached, and the crewmen just pointed, stepping back so Patton could peer into the kettle himself.

He didn’t know whether to be amazed or horrified.

“Get the captain,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “He needs to see this.”

The sailors nodded and hurried off to find Dee, leaving Patton alone to stare at what they’d found in growing disbelief.

Lying tangled in a net at the bottom of the kettle in about a half-foot of water was...some sort of creature. At first glance, Patton had thought the long, slippery tail belonged to a strange fish or eel, but as his eyes traveled upward, that thought was quickly dismissed from his mind. Halfway up the creature’s body, the scales gave way to smooth purple skin and a surprisingly human shaped torso, despite the fins on the creature’s sides and elbows. A set of gills was visible on the side of its neck, and a shock of dark hair fell around the creature’s ears, or at least, the wide, fan-shaped fins that protruded from where the ears would be on a human. It’s chest was rising in short, quick bursts, and Patton didn’t need to be a medical expert to tell that it was having trouble breathing.

Despite growing up in a port town and being around seamen for most of his life, Patton had never really put much stock into superstition, or the wild tales of sea monsters and magic that sailors brought back from their ventures out onto the open ocean. Sailors in his hometown tended to drink as much as they talked, and while their stories made for good entertainment, he’d never really believed any of them. And yet, staring down at the creature in the kettle, he knew now that some of the tales had to be true.

“What is it?”

Patton turned at the sound of Dee’s voice, and he found that there was only one thing he could say.

“Dee...they have a mermaid.”

As if on cue, the mermaid stirred, twisting in the kettle and letting out a muffled hiss as it strained against the net that had its arms pinned against its sides. Dee and Patton looked down, and Patton bit his tongue to keep himself from whimpering.

The eyes that met their gaze were wide with fear, but they narrowed in an instant as the mermaid hissed again, flaring out its fins in warning. Patton was sure that if it were able, the creature would be baring its teeth at them, but somehow the net had gotten tangled in such a way that it was wrapped around its face and digging into its mouth. If Patton had to guess, the mermaid had tried to bite its way out of the net and only succeeded in trapping itself further.

Patton looked up at Dee, who still hadn’t said anything and was staring into the kettle with a blank expression, which Patton knew meant he didn’t want to give away what he was thinking.

“Dee, we can’t just leave him here,” Patton said quietly.

“What other choices do we have?” Dee asked, raising an eyebrow. “Cut it loose and throw it back into the ocean?”

Patton glanced down at the creature again, his eyes traveling over the places where the net was digging into its skin. One of the sections was wrapped so tightly around its tail that it was cutting into the flesh, and Patton shook his head.

“He’s hurt...if we just threw him back into the ocean as is who knows what could happen to him? He needs time to recover.”

“So what do you propose? We can’t haul the tryworks onto the Sea Serpent while on the open ocean. And even if we could, if healing is the main goal, I don’t think curled up tight in a pot would be the best place to keep it.”

Patton chewed on his bottom lip, thinking.

“They haven’t finished fixing that damaged dinghy belowdecks yet,” he offered. “But she should hold water.”

Dee blinked.

“Are you suggesting that we fill the dinghy up with water like it’s some rich landlubber’s bathtub and...what, just keep a pet mermaid in it?”

“Not pet,” Patton insisted. “More like...patient.”

“You’re deflecting the rest of the question, Quartermaster,” Dee said, raising an eyebrow, and Patton raised one right back.

“And you’re avoiding giving me an order, Captain.”

Dee chuckled, then his eyes flicked back and forth between the kettle and Patton before he sighed.

“Alright, have it your way then. But Patton...if this creature turns out to be dangerous...if he ends up hurting one of the crew? That’ll be your responsibility, you understand?”

Patton nodded firmly.

“I do.” Then he grinned, and threw his arms around Dee in a quick but tight hug. “Thanks Dee!”

He let go and hurried above deck, hearing Dee mutter something about “reputation” as he went, and stopped when he ran into Remus sticking his head to look inside the (thankfully) unlit furnace the whalers kept on deck.

“Remus! I need you to do something for me,” he called, and Remus grinned.

“Anything you say, Mr. Quartermaster sir!”

“Can you get a couple of the crew to fill the dinghy belowdecks with buckets of seawater?”

“How many buckets?” Remus asked cheerfully, and Patton shrugged.

“As many as will fit. Oh, and Remus. I want the water dumped out into the dinghy. I’m not asking for a boat filled with buckets, I want a boat filled with water, okay?”

“Aww, now you’ve spoiled my fun,” Remus said in a mock pout, but then he winked and practically pranced back towards the Sea Serpent, nearly knocking over Roman as he skipped past.

“What’s he so happy about?” Roman asked, frowning as he watched Remus leave the deck of the The Carlotta.

“I gave him a weird order,” Patton said, sliding up next to Roman and sighing happily when Roman snaked an arm around his waist and planted a kiss on top of his head.

“Anything interesting in the cargo hold?” Roman asked, and Patton froze. “What?” Roman asked, pulling back and frowning down at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Patton said quickly, pressing a kiss to Roman’s cheek. “It’s just…” he glanced back towards the cargo hold, chewing on his bottom lip. “You’re going to want to see this.”

--- --- ---

“You found a what?” Logan asked, staring at his boyfriends in growing disbelief.

“A mermaid, Specs,” Roman said, and Logan resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“We’re serious, Lo!” Patton insisted. “Why would we make something like that up?”

Logan raised an eyebrow.

“I saw Remus looking entirely to happy to be carrying buckets of water back and forth from the cargo hold, and you expect me not to be at least a little bit suspicious.”

“Okay, maybe I should have had someone else supervise setting up the dinghy, but to be fair, I knew that Remus wouldn’t waste a lot of time asking me why I wanted him to do that,” Patton said with a shrug.

“Listen, while ordinarily your suspicion might be slightly warranted–”

“Slightly?” Logan asked, and smirked when Roman spluttered indignantly.

“Really, Logan,” Patton said, his voice quiet and earnest. “We found a mermaid, and he needs our help. Come and see, okay?”

Logan frowned at Patton’s sudden shift in tone before he nodded slowly. Patton flashed him a grateful smile, then turned and led the way into the cargo hold. Logan had to admit, he wasn’t sure quite what he was expecting to see as he followed Patton down the stairs, but the Sea Serpent’s beat up dinghy filled with water hadn’t been high on the list. He opened his mouth, but as they approached the side of the boat, the question died in his throat. His eyes traveled over the purple skin, gills and fins, and wide eyes with slit pupils.

“Oh.”

“You can say that again,” Roman said, raising an eyebrow.

Logan elected not to speak again, noting the way the creature shrunk back at Roman’s loud voice, choosing instead to take a step closer and get down on one knee beside the dinghy so he was eye level with the creature. It thrashed and hissed as he approached, though whether the hiss was a sign of aggression or an expression of pain as the net dug deeper into its flesh, Logan couldn’t be sure. Either way, the first move clearly had to be removing the net.

Logan pulled his knife from his belt and the creature thrashed again at the sight of the blade, and it bumped the side of the dinghy, sloshing some of the water over the side.

“Be still,” Logan said in as soothing a voice as he could manage. “We need to get that net off you, and if you struggle you could become injured.”

Logan had been speaking more with tone in mind than with words, but to his surprise, the creature cocked its head at the words before hissing again, more deliberately this time. Logan froze, staring into the creature’s eyes.

“Can...can you understand me?” he asked, and the creature moved its head up and down.

“Did he just nod?” Patton breathed, and the creature tried to nod again, hissing in pain as the net around its face dug deeper into its jaw.

“Don’t try to move,” Logan said, holding up his empty hand in what he hoped was a placating gesture. “You’ll only hurt yourself further. Could you blink your eyes once for yes, twice for no? If you can really understand us?”

There was a beat of silence as they all held their breaths, and then the creature slowly blinked once.

“Was that a yes?” Logan asked to confirm, and the creature blinked once again. “Wonderful. I’m going to cut this net off of you, is that alright?”

The creature didn’t respond at first, eyeing Logan warily, and Logan frowned.

“Do you wish to remain tangled in the net?”

Two blinks.

“Are you currently in pain?”

One blink.

“If you let me remove the net, we can see about tending to your wounds. But if you continue to thrash about, I may accidentally hurt you...and I do not want that to happen.”

The creature eyed his knife again, and Logan tried to imagine things from its perspective. It had been captured by humans and transported from ship to ship like so much cargo, and now a human was crouching next to it brandishing a knife...all things considered, Logan supposed he would react similarly if he were in such a situation.

“Are you worried that I will hurt you?” he asked.

One blink, and Patton made a quiet, distressed noise behind them. Logan ignored the urge to soothe his boyfriend, knowing that Roman was there to provide comfort if needed. Right now, getting this creature to trust him was the top priority.

“We have had ample opportunity to do so already,” Logan pointed out bluntly.

“Lo…” Roman’s voice was uneasy, hesitant, but Logan pressed onward. He could only hope that this creature was capable of logical reasoning.

“Whether it was on the ship you initially were held captive on, or in transporting you here, my comrades and I have had the opportunity to cause you pain intentionally. Have we taken it?”

Two blinks.

“Would it not make more sense, if hurting you was my intention, to simply move forward in an attack rather than wait for your permission.”

One blink. Logan smiled.

“So logically, we must not want harm to come to you. Quite the opposite. But if you don’t hold yourself still, more harm may occur. Now, may I approach?”

Time stretched out between them, and Logan waited patiently as the creature’s eyes flicked back and forth between Logan, the knife, and Roman and Patton standing behind him. Eventually, he blinked once, and Logan smiled again.

“Alright. Keep very still now…”

The mermaid (or merman, if the top half of his anatomy was comparable to that of a human) squeezed its eyes shut, long webbed fingers curling into fists as Logan began to cut away at the net. He’d scarcely been working a minute before a soft, pleasant sound filled the cargo hold, and the merman’s eyes snapped open.

Roman was humming, a quiet, soothing tune that Logan recognized as one of the lullabies that Roman would sometimes sing to either of his boyfriends if they were having trouble sleeping. The merman’s face changed from one of shock, to curiosity, to something bordering on contentment, and by the time Logan had managed to cut away the last bit of rope, the tension had drained from the merman’s shoulders almost completely.

“There, finished,” Logan said with a small smile, standing up slowly and taking a step back.

The merman took a moment to stretch his limbs out, opening and shutting his jaw (which, Logan noted, had rows of sharp, needle-like teeth) and swishing his tail.

Patton made a cooing sound, and Logan knew that the shorter of his partners was completely enamored by the creature.

“Better?” Logan asked, and the merman looked up at him. For a moment, Logan was expecting another blink, but then the creature opened his mouth.

“Yes. Thank you.”

His voice was low, slightly raspy rumble from the back of his throat, and Logan told himself that the flash of excitement that ran through him was because of the discovery that such a creature could talk and nothing more.

“Are you hurt very badly?”

A quick glance at Patton revealed that Logan was not the only one who had suddenly been struck with a reminder of just how gay he was, but to Patton’s credit, he seemed to recover quickly.

“I…don’t know.” The merman ran his hands over the gash in his tail, wincing, and Logan hummed in sympathy.

“I think it would be best for you to remain here for the time being, at least until you have healed sufficiently.”

“What?” the merman’s head snapped up, his eyes growing wide. “No, you can’t just keep me here, I–”

“It would not be permanent,” Logan assured quickly. “Only until we are sure that you’re well enough to return to the ocean. If you were to return now, in your weakened state, your chances of fully recovering would be slim.”

“Yes, we wouldn’t dream of imprisoning you here like some sort of animal,” Roman chimed in. “Not like those dreadful whalers did.”

“If you really don’t want to stay, kiddo, we won’t force you,” Patton added. “You can make your own choices, after all...we just want to make sure you’re okay.”

The merman looked between the three of them warily, before glancing down at the cuts on his body and nodding slowly.

“Alright then.”

“Oh, yay!” Patton squealed happily, causing the merman to jump slightly. “My name’s Patton, and these are my partners Roman and Logan, do you have a name?”

For a moment, Logan thought the merman wasn’t going to speak, but after a long moment of silence, he opened his mouth again.

“Virgil.”  

Logan gave him a small smile.

“Well Virgil, welcome aboard the Sea Serpent.”  

--- --- ---

Virgil was very confused. When he’d initially been caught by the human whalers, he’d been sure he was going to die. He saw what they were doing to that whale corpse, and when the humans had hauled him onto their ship and thrown him into a cramped metal pot, he was certain that he would be the next to be chopped into pieces. For three days, he’d tried to untangle himself to no avail, and by the time that Patton had found him, he’d all but given up hope on making it out alive.

But instead of hurting, these three, strange humans were helping him. He’d been on this ship for what was close to a month now, and not once had any one of the crew been hostile towards him. The boat, while not the most spacious of homes, gave him enough room to get himself in virtually any position he wanted to, and he found himself now floating on his back and absently sucked on a fish bone, (the last remnant of the food that Patton had brought him that day) reflecting on the three humans he tended to see the most.

Patton had been the first to visit him frequently. Virgil had honestly been so hungry directly after Logan had gotten the net off of him that he would have accepted anything offered to him, but Patton had asked him what he ate, and when he simply said “fish” brought him three different kinds to choose from, even apologizing for not having more choices. Patton was like a sunbeam incarnate, warm and bright and full of the promise of life, and despite how terrified Virgil had been when they’d first locked eyes, he found himself looking forward to all the times Patton would drop by to see him, not just the ones where he was bringing food.

More confusing was Logan, who should be far more intimidating, with his blunt way of speaking and his detached approach to the world. And yet, Virgil found his words calming, an anchoring grip in the middle of a current, and Virgil began to miss Logan’s soothing, steady voice when he wasn’t around. Even the numerous questions about everything from what Virgil ate to how he learned to talk to whether there were other mermaids besides himself and what their societies were like, were somehow endearing instead of unsettling when they came from Logan. Virgil knew Logan didn’t want to hunt his kind down or dissect them, he was just...curious. Brightly, passionately curious, and that curiosity was infectious.

Virgil found himself asking Logan questions about humans, which Logan was all too happy to answer.

And then there was Roman, loud, boisterous, impossible Roman. If Virgil were honest, the first few times he’d dropped by, Virgil had been annoyed. Roman talked too loud, too fast, and Virgil shouldn’t enjoy his company, he really shouldn’t...except Roman sang nearly everywhere he went, and Virgil couldn’t help but be drawn to the sound. His own song was bottled up inside of him, itching to be released into the world, but Virgil didn’t want to know what might happen to the crew of the Sea Serpent if they suddenly heard siren song coming from inside their own ship. But one day, Roman was packing something up at the other end of the cargo hold, singing a soft and familiar tune as he worked, and Virgil couldn’t help himself.

He sang softly so that none of the crew would hear him, closing his eyes and losing himself in the harmony, ducking and weaving around Roman’s voice as it steadily grew louder–

Virgil’s eyes flew open and Roman was only a few feet away, his work forgotten in the corner.

“Roman, snap out of it!” Virgil cried, and Roman blinked at him in confusion.

“Snap out of what, Vee?”

“I...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Virgil said hurriedly. “I didn’t think you would hear me, I didn’t mean to lure you, I promise–”

“Lure me?”

“My song,” Virgil explained. “You heard me singing.”

“Yes I did,” Roman said with a smile. “It was lovely.”

“Yeah, well, if a human hears my song they get sort of...bewitched? You’ll see your heart’s desire, and have no choice but to follow it. So I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Hurt me?” Roman asked with a laugh. “Newsflash Virgil, I was only coming over because I wanted to hear you sing more. I didn’t see my heart’s desire or anything, I just saw you in your boat, like always.”

Virgil’s heart just about stopped beating right then and there, but he forced his face to remain blank.

“Oh...alright then, I’m uh. I’m glad you’re okay.”

Roman smiled his big, boisterous smile at him, but it suddenly turned shy, and Virgil frowned.

“Do you think you could...do it again?” Roman asked, and Virgil raised an eyebrow.

“Sing with you?”

Roman nodded, and slowly a smile spread across Virgil’s face.

“I’d love to.”

--- --- ---

It had been just over a month, and Virgil’s wounds finally seemed to be completely healed. Logan had looked them over and declared them sufficiently healed, and Virgil swore up and down that the cuts no longer pained him, though there were thin lines of scar tissue up and down his pale purple skin that would forever serve as a reminder to the terrifying ordeal he’d been through. Roman had half a mind to find the crew of The Carlotta again and exact vengeance on behalf of his beloved siren.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Roman’s face turned bright red, and he tried to push it back down into whatever crevice in his heart it had crawled out of, but it was too late. The thought was released into his mind, and now that it was free it was determined to be as loud and noticeable as possible.

Beloved, beloved, beloved.  

It was the day Virgil was going to back to the ocean, and Roman didn’t want him to go.

One look at the expressions on his love’s faces as they all gathered on the deck to say goodbye was all he needed to know that they felt the same as him. They had been together long enough to easily tell what the others were feeling, and they all three were painfully aware of how much they would miss Virgil when he was gone. A tiny selfish part of Roman said that he should stay here on the Sea Serpent forever, but unlike his first unbidden thought of the day, this one passed like a wave across the sea before he even had time to process it. For as much as he might want Virgil to stay, he wanted him to be happy much more. And Virgil could never be happy living confined on a ship like this. He deserved his freedom, and Roman’s heart would count itself privileged to have known Virgil while it could.

“Are you ready?”

Logan’s tone was careful and even, but Roman knew his boyfriend well. His voice was too clipped, too measured. He may not be as obvious as Patton trying to hold back tears, but he was just as upset that Virgil was leaving as Roman himself was.

“I think so,” Virgil said. He spoke with so much more confidence now than he had the day they had met, and Roman let himself feel proud that they’d been able to break through Virgil’s rough exterior in the time they’d had to know him.

“Thank you. For everything,” Virgil added, and Roman nodded.

“We’ll miss you, Virgil,” Patton said tearfully, and Virgil smiled softly at him.

“I’ll miss you too, Pat.”

Patton knelt down to hug him, then stepped back so Logan could grasp his hand.

“Thank you for teaching me so much, Virgil. I must admit, I will miss our talks.”

“Me too, Lo,” Virgil said, and then he looked at Roman.

Roman stooped and pressed a kiss to Virgil’s cheek before he could stop himself.

“So long, Dark and Gloomy.”

Virgil looked stunned, but he managed a smile back.

“So long, Princey.”

Virgil looked at the three of them one last time before he turned and pulled himself up over the railing of the ship and disappeared with a splash into the ocean below.

“Oh gee, I’m gonna miss him so much,” Patton sighed, leaning onto Logan’s chest.

“As am I, Patton,” Logan agreed quietly.

Roman did not speak, but he knew he didn’t need to. He turned instead to go help his brother haul the water out of the cargo hold, hoping that the distraction would keep his mind off his feelings.

But before he made it very far, there was a great *splash* behind him, and he turned just in time to see Virgil land back on the deck with a rather comical flopping sound.

“Virgil!” Patton cried, and Virgil took a deep breath.

“Ifitsallthesametoyouguysidliketostayhere,” he rushed out, and Roman’s heart leaped with hope.

“I...I’m sorry, did you say…?” Logan looked confused, but a teensy bit hopeful as well, and Patton was outright beaming.

“Did you say you wanna stay here, kiddo?” he asked, and Virgil nodded, his cheeks flushing a dark purple.

“It...it doesn’t have to be in the dinghy all the time,” he said. “I can swim in the ocean sometimes, catch my own food, that kinda thing. But um...yeah. I’d like to stay with the Sea Serpent. With...with you guys, if that’s okay with–”

“Nothing would make us happier,” Roman said firmly, and Virgil looked up, a shy smile spreading across his face.

“Really?”

“Really,” Roman said, just as Patton squealed and dropped to the deck to wrap Virgil in another hug.

“Get down here, you two,” he ordered, and Roman smiled as he and Logan knelt beside them and allowed themselves to be pulled into the hug.

It was a little bit crowded, and Roman’s shirt was getting wet from where he was pressed against Virgil’s back, but he didn’t care. Right here, sitting on the deck of his ship with the sun overhead and his three loves in his arms, was exactly where Roman wanted to be.

--- --- --- 

Sanders Sides Taglist (pt.1): @lizethemotherlycat,  @coffeestudylive, @logically-asexual,  @migraine-marathon, @princeyssash,  @idontevenfreakingknow22, @tree4life25, @spacevirgil, @virgiltheanxious, @thebaagelboy,  @msu82, @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2, , @thesleepyraziel, @bobolovesoze,  @littlemiracle05, @pattson,  @nerd-in-space, @thesides,  @stay-in--place​, @ravenclawunicorn1​, @at-least-seven-pretty-potatoes​, @michealawithana​, @anotherfandomtrasher​ , @fandomsofrandom​,  @a-deliciouslyfadingcollection​, @nightmarejasmine​, @xxfoxit​, @quoth-the-sparrow​, @katatles-the-fish​, @misty-the-mysterious​, @alyssadashrub​, @punkassplonker​, @noctisvalex​, @i-sold-my-soul-to-thefandom​, @funsizedgremlin​, @vigilantvirgil​, @nonamefightergirl​, @thomasbemyfriend​, @starsinger​ , @milomeepit​, @justabookworm39​, @shortandfantastic​, @thesilentbluesparrow​, @royallyanxious​, @mirror2thespirit​, @coffee-stains-paper-and-ink​, @silverrhayn​, @mooksie01​, @backatthebein​, @nye275​, @anastasialestina​, @callboxkat​, @a-lexicon-of-words​, @emeraldfoxface​, @peachie-keeen​, @llamaly​, @witch19​,  @heythereprincey​, @bring-it-on-perra​, @nienna14​, @bubblycricket​, @thomasfandersunite​, @slightlyobssesive​,  @logicallyanxious​, @apologetically-anxious​, @keys117​, @digitally-analog​, @ocotopushugs​, @warping-reality​,  @grey-lysander​, @your-username-is-unavailable​, @hikariyukino​, @theresneverenoughfandoms​, @virgil-sanderssss​, @violetmcl​, @thatfandomfollower​, @nothingelsemattersme​, @cdragontogacotar​, @narniasfinestavengingsociopath, @absentmindedproff​, @fantasyandfairfolk​, @virgilsblogofanxietys​, @your-average-outcast​, @sanderstalker​, @galaxy-warping​, @queen-of-all-things-snuggly​ @a-little-bit-of-ace​, @faithfreedom-art​ @therealhmmlingle​ @xxladystarlightxx​, @morgan-the-art-girl​, @stormcrawler75​ @wowitsmyblog​, @romanssippycup​, @lunalikesgamesandstuff, @lamp-calm-sanders​, @musikasworld​ @cyberpunkjinx​, @mauvelavender​ @samathekittycat​ @black-out-wonder​ @i-read-by-lamp​ @ravenclawicecream​ @nashiraneko​ @lucifer-in-my-head​ @ladyartemisia28​ @awesome-and-unique-username​ @zoalis @entpscarleharrrr @raygelkitty @zeldahadasword @gubbalupagus @musicphanpie-b @virgilssweaterpaws, @faacethefacts @a-simple-fryingpan @pinkeasteregg @punknerdmusings @imantisocialgetoverit @anuninspiredpoet  @awkward-avocado-of-death, @poison-lyra @modcarbz, @thisrandomperson102,  @skydiamcnds @just-another-starfish, @thepoolofthedead,  

[katuquipuqui]

I don't know how much of a crack head canon this is, but I've been thinking about this for a while now, and it's kept my mind busy all day today.

This got a little long, so I might add images later.

Here goes:

The whole mv is about desire and what one is willing to do/give/take in order to get what they want.

The moon symbolizes said desire. I think we can fit the sun concept here. The moon is also a character in of itself in this mv. Its size shows how meaningful this desire is for our boys. It starts pretty big and ends up incredibly small as time passes. The way it changes color may also show how it goes from a positive thing to something that has a negative impact in their lives.

The water (or the overarching concept of being underwater) symbolizes the suffocating abyss that one's life may become by focusing on only this desire alone. Which I think we can fit into the moon concept.

The eclipse concept is symbolized by the obsession of chasing said desire. The sickening repetition of wanting more and more of the same thing, which we hear in the chorus.

There is also another set which is very interesting. The green set of shots, where we only see the characters that seem to be human, such as Donghun, Jun, Chan, and Wow. We never see Byeonkwan in this set, but rather in front of a sickly green and purple banner, with a mockup of the moon, which I think symbolizes how he is either some sort of supernatural creature, or has some kind of power or hold on the rest of the members.

And this sequence exists in the mv: sun (showing us their desire) - eclipse vs green set (obsession over said desire vs uncertainties brought by obsessing over their desire aka their humanity coming to the surface) - moon (falling into the lonely abyss brought by said obsession) - eclipse (their obsession winning over their humanity) - sun (inability to let go of their desires)

First off, I think each member plays two different roles: One is more visual, in the sense that they are of course, playing a character, the other is mmore symbolic, of what I think these characters might represent when we take their stories into consideration.

I think Beyonkwan plays the siren version of an angler fish and an agent of misfortune. This may also explain why he's the only one to wear a long coat and is the only one to have such a harsh solo part in the choreography (maybe?). And also why he's the most associated with shadows and death in the mv. He traps Channie. We see his silhouette blinding Chan. I also think the angler fish thing fits because of that scene where we see Chan's heart symbolized by a glowing circle in his chest, as well as when he is holding a dark sphere in his mouth, which then transitions to Kwannie with one at the end of a string. I think this symbolizes how he trapped Channie, by tricking him into thinking his sphere was the actual reflection of the moon (which we see Channie being entranced by throughout the mv and finally swallowing it, showing how Kwannie trapped him). Which is why, try as he may, he is the only one that can't take his veil off by the end of the mv (I think this also has another meaning, but bear with me for now). Also, I think this is why Kwannie is mostly shown in a central position in relation to the rest of the members - the members confuse his light for the light of the moon (aka something they deeply desire) Jun is probably someone who's lost a loved one to the sea. I mainly think this because of that shot with the veil. It gives me widow (in this case maybe widower) vibes. Combined with his lines in the song (speaking of longing and wanting to be with someone and never being able to reach them) gives me the impression that they're going for an emotion of not only longing but loss as well. There is also a scene in the mv where he seems to be struggling to breathe, which I think we should interpret not as a mermaid coming out of the water and not being able to breathe, but as a person going into the water and struggling for air. I think the lyrics "more and more I'll be even more thirsty/drier" kind of show that he isn't a being of the water, but rather that he is outside of it. As if the water itself was acting as an obstacle between him and what it is that he desires, establishing how distant he really is from this object as time passes. Sehyoon I think is a depiction of narcissus, as someone else has posted before. The mirror scenes fit really well with this theory. As so, I think his character symbolizes someone who is chasing some selfish or self-centered desire, as opposed to Jun, who is chasing one focused on another. Donghun is the one I can't really put a finger on. The way he is characterized seems very ethereal to me, so I think that he may be a ghost of someone who died at sea. Some of his lines also fit with this theory "the deeper you dive, the deeper you sink, we are stuck in a tragedy" (I'm going off of the English lyrics available in the video), and the transition from Chan to him in the beginning also shows that Donghun is underwater (and since I think he is a human character, he can't possibly be alive underwater). This being said, maybe he symbolizes regret? Someone that regrets how chasing one's desire has impacted their life? I mostly think this because of both his part in the green set followed by a set that seems to be unique to him, where he is lying down and trying to reach up (I was going to say us, but maybe the most accurate word is someone/anyone that is going through the same thing his character has). The lyrics here make me think they are calling someone back "calling you, but you don't answer / because you keep living inside your dreams" All this being said, I think Chan's character is the only one that still has that apprehension to bring himself back from blindly chasing what he desires. The mention of rewinding the red thread, as well as speaking of memories I think can attest to this. And that scene that Chan and Sehyoon share? Maybe Chan trying to bring Wow back from his "curse". So, in conclusion, I think Beyonkwan's character is the reason for all the misfortune in this mv that, in the end, brings them all together, i.e. He ensnared Chan,

tricked Donghun and Jun's loved one (if these two people aren't the same person) into drowning and cursed Seyhoon into falling in love with his reflection (I think Byeonkwan is the one the chorus is referring to with the lyrics "the silence calling you/can you hear me/let's do it, let's do it again", which is them being entranced by Byeonkwan/the prospect of attaining their desires). Which, in turn, may mean that Byeonkwan may represent selfishness? The selfishness one shows when trying to obtain their desires? And if that's the case, then Chan represents the voice of reason that has been silenced by such strong desires. This is why they are the only ones who share the seashells set (which I think represents death and loss and the inability of going back to what was). This relationship is also represented by how Chan is the only one not being able to free himself from whatever is holding him down (aka not taking off the veil, whereas the rest of the members are disposing of their sense of reason in benefit of these selfish feelings, making them able to get rid of the veil) and being stuck in the eclipse set in the end of the mv. I think the way they show this is how, when Chan (the voice of reason) is in the middle of the members, they completely disregard him and, as he is switched for Byeonkwan (the selfishness of chasing one's desires), the members are all kneeling around him, almost in a venerating and helpless manner. Idk... Maybe I went too deep 😅

[lover-of-skellies]

New concept

Featuring a skeleton who’s like some freaky combination of a kelpie, a siren/mermaid, and a wendigo

-He dresses like Sans Classic minus the jacket and slippers, though he’s got a naturally cute face just like Blueberry and can be found roaming the woods

-If you approach him and try to make conversation, at some point he’ll offer you his hand and say he’s got something to show you

-The cuteness he displays is intentionally to make a person trust him and let down their guard. If you make the mistake of trusting him and take his hand, you’ll find that you physically can’t make yourself let go

-Even if you try to fight him, he’s a monster; monsters are almost always physically stronger than humans, regardless of their appearance

-He walks at his normal speed as he drags you toward the water because he genuinely enjoys scaring people, and he thinks it’s funny when they realize that he plans on drowning them

-Once you’re in the water, you’re pulled under the surface rather forcefully. He won’t hold you down, he just continues taking you deeper and deeper, knowing you’ll drown and die on your own if he waits long enough

-Underwater, he goes from looking like Blueberry to looking more like Blackberry, minus the facial scars

-His straight, standard teeth become sharp and serrated, and he may have two rows of them; his fingertips also become more like claws

-His eye lights vanish and his sockets aren’t black. They’re solid white and appear to glow underwater

-His clothes become drenched and stick to his body as he moves. If you remain conscious long enough to get a good look at him, you’ll see a bunch of cracks all over his ribs through his shirt

-He has an injury that very closely resembles the slash wound that Geno has. He’s also got some cracks along the top and sides of his skull. He moves freakishly fast underwater, even without the use of magic. None of his injuries were from humans. They were all caused by other monsters

-Snowdin still exists, but it’s completely underwater. Back when Snowdin was still on land and everything was fine, the monsters believed in a deity of sorts. The deity only had one rule, and it was that under no circumstances was there ever to be any spilling of human blood. Other than the “no murdering/harming humans” rule, they could do pretty much whatever they wanted

-They got all their food either from the surrounding woodland areas or from humans (as in food that humans ate, not the humans themselves), since humans frequently visited. Humans stopped coming to the forest during a bad season once though, which cut off one of their food sources. When the land stopped providing edible food that the animals hadn’t already eaten, the monsters began to starve. They relied on Sans to find a solution to their problem, and because of so much stress and anxiety paired with his extreme hunger, he cracked first, breaking the one cardinal rule and devouring a human

-The deity was angered and began to flood Snowdin. When the other monsters found Sans covered in the blood of a human, they blamed him for their situation and attacked him. Being a good brother, Papyrus tried to protect Sans. Because he sided with Sans though, he became hated and cursed too

-When the whole town was sunk, a lot of the monsters died. Sans ended up killing whoever survived

-In one instance where he’s successfully removed from the water and housed in a facility of some sort in a large glass tank filled with water, he becomes more and more irritable the longer he’s away from his home

-He pretends to be dead, and once he’s gained the attention of whoever’s nearby, he suddenly jerks his head up and locks eyes with them. Once you make eye contact with him, you’re stuck in a trance like state where you begin to hallucinate all sorts of horrible things. The only way to be released from this state is to have someone else block your view of him

-When he can’t get actual physical food, he feeds on fear in the same way the Nightmare feeds on negativity, and he’ll do whatever he needs to in order to cause fear

-If you’re bit or scratched enough to break skin and draw any blood, you have to immediately clean the injury and get it bandaged up. You need to keep a close eye on the healing process, because if an infection occurs, it’s too late

-The more the infection develops, you begin to feel hungrier and hungrier; which is the same way he felt, that eventually led him to eating his first human. If the infection spreads to any of the surrounding skin and becomes something that could probably only be fixed with amputation, you’ll hear his voice in your head

-He sounds like Blueberry and will either remain sweet and innocent as he tries convincing you to set him free, or he’ll sound like he’s crying, pleading with you to take him home. If you’re strong willed enough to resist him, he becomes like some sort of demon, giving you a sharp toothed, cheshire cat like grin and promising that he knows how to put a end to the hunger you’re feeling. The only catch? You need to release him first

-If you actually do take him back to the lake he came from, his idea of putting an end to your hunger is essentially pulling you underwater and eating you alive

-While Axe appears to only target adults, teens, and children, this Sans will take whatever he can get his hands on. If that happens to be a toddler or a baby, then so be it

-He displays some pretty intense food aggression, so there’s no getting your children back if he’s got them. If you try to save your child, you’ll either be dragged under too or you’ll be leaving the forest in a body bag. The best outcome you can hope for is broken bones or blindness, should he go for your face when you try to get your child away from him

-With Papyrus, it’s rare for him to come out of the water any longer than ten to twenty minutes at a time. He also continues patrolling Snowdin, just like he did back when the town was still on land and everything was fine and normal

-His little cape thing he’s sometimes seen with is actually part of a fisherman’s net. He got caught once and had to cut himself free

-The only way to stop either of the skeleton brothers from drowning or hurting anyone is to collar them and bind their hands

[8ptates]

Batfamweek2020 day 6: Magic/Fantasy au

Mer royalty! I wanted to do a royalty or mermaid au but then I just decided to combine them. This took soooo long cause I had to figure out how to color gold and gems.

Anyway here some tidbits

-Jason and Dick are both generals in the royal army and bruce is the head general in addition to being the king 

-Dick is a siren which are nomadic in this au and Bruce took Dick in after an attack on his clan 

-There is a stigma around sirens in this au so people in the kingdom thought Bruce had been bewitched when he takes Dick in. Bruce having none of that declares in front of everyone that Dick is his son and heir.

-Jason is caught stealing from the palace  and has a pretty similar origin to his original

-Tim was also originally from a nomadic tribe but at a young age was left behind (I can’t decide on a reasoning) Bruce finds him when returning from a battle

-Bruce is spying on David Cains operations and while undercover he comes across a gathering of bandits. In the middle of it all is David Cain, a hostage, and Cass. David forces Cass to kill the hostage before Bruce knows what’s happening. Cass swims away in horror after she sees the man die. Bruce searches for her and when he finds her takes her back to the palace to seek refuge. She remains there as his daughter no one knows what happened to David Cain.

-Talia is a sort of sorceress and does some magic mumbo jombo to have Damian. And like Damian’s original origin Talia leaves him with Bruce.

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