Mermay aka thinking of little mermaid Steve who loves to lie in the sun till his long hair is dry and feel the wind blow through it, wishing he could run through fields and forests, watching the humans Make Things. When he feels brave, he swims close to a small fishing town at night and watches as the lights flicker in windows and laughter and music spills from houses he can only imagine what they look inside.
He rarely gets close during the day to avoid the fishermen spotting his shiny scales. One of them in particular, who he knows is his own age. He remembers the man, has watched him grow up as Steve's tail grew longer as well, always keeping track of what was once a little boy he saved from drowning. 'Billy' the others call him. He's already spotted Steve once, when he wasn't careful enough! His entire face lit up, a childlike wonder that made Steve's stomach do little somersaults in his belly.
But no matter how much he wants to talk to Billy, learn all about the jokes he tells the other fishermen, the evenings he spends at the tavern, the few times Steve has spotted Billy walking by the shore, bare feet in the water and curls wild around his head... He can't. He has to keep his and his kind's existence a secret.
Until one day, he hears whispers among the sirens. That a sea witch has set up shop in the crevasse far out at sea. That she offers potions and spells that can fulfill any wish you could think of. For the right price.
And sure, Steve owns pearls and jewels, shiny trinkets and stones he could offer in exchange for time spent on land. But he knows that's not an equivalent payment for his wish. So he brings nothing but himself when he sets out for the journey into the depths. He follows a trail of eerily glowing glass bulbs, to the stall of a being shrouded in flowing algae and whispy fabric. The sea witch has no hands, no face, it offers no assurances or comfort. Only a green pearl, swirling with the shades of a tree canopy where the sun shines through the leaves, set on a seashell saucer.
Silently, Steve accepts the offer. He knows the price he has to pay before he even takes the pearl and carries it up, up, up, to the surface and a rocky beach near the town. He holds the pearl to the light and delights in how it catches and refracts the sun onto his face.
Then he swallows it.
On a hike to his favorite reading spot by the shore, where the trees hang over the cliffs and you can catch a hint of the rose hip blossoms on the breeze, Billy Hargrove finds a beautiful man with no clothes and no memory. But when the man smiles at him, he knows. Somehow he knows that they have met before.
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played the game ok boomer at my family party today, ended up explaining to a room of ~20 of my relatives what fanfiction is so they could understand the question, “in fanfiction, what does AU stand for?”. and then the card’s definition of “AU” was wrong so i also had to get into the concept of “canon”.
can u believe. in front of my whole family. a room full of people, aged 3 to 80. all staring at me intently as i explain the difference between an alternate universe and canon divergence. at one point my mom was like “daina i think we get it” and a cousin and two aunts were like “wait no we’re interested please continue” and i had to say to my own mother in front of god and my i am kenough sweatshirt “sorry but unlike you the rest of them DON’T have to listen to me talk about fanfiction on the regular”. my uncle is a retired judge. my one cousin worked for the federal government in a job that was so classified that for years he literally couldn’t legally tell us about ANYTHING he was working on. and today those men sat and patiently listened to me define “coffee shop AU”.
also, not one, not two, but THREE of the answers for the young folks, i knew solely because they were either plot points on stranger things or they were things i found out whilst reading stranger things fanfics. and then i was the only person in our age bracket (10 people, ranging from ages 9 to 42) that knew who anne rice was, and had to explain yet again that the reason i had this knowledge was because… fanfic.
it was surreal. also my aunt, aged 68, may or may not begin attempting to read fanfic now because, according to her, “there are so many stories where there are these small side characters and i’d just KILL to hear their backstory or like what was going through their minds during the main action!” i’m very happy for her. today was wild.
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keeping soup/stew bases on hand is truly the most useful thing for cooking. like, if you have a thing of miso paste and/or a thing of gochujang and/or a can of tomatoes and/or a box of curry roux suddenly your cooking repertoire suddenly expands exponentially. not only can u make soup but u can also suddenly make super easy flavorful marinades. a bunch of sauces. add a little zing to ur carb of choice. instantly make any meal less sad. transform one meal into three so u dont get bored. the possibilities are endless.
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