Shrimpmer!Reader
Floyd Leech X GN!Shrimpmer!Reader X Jade Leech
Warnings: Mild Violence, Brief Mentions of Accurate Shrimp Cleaning Methods (kind of gross)
I literally had written up a mini fic showcasing the tweels first meeting Shrimper!Reader… and lost it. Have no idea where it is. Searched through my drafts and got pissed, so just started over from scratch.
Can be read as platonic but with a lot of sus behavior ngl
The Basics (aka an Introduction to Shrimpmer!Reader)
Shrimpmer!Reader is a cleaner shrimp, a type of shrimp known for cleaning off parasites, algae, insects, and other bad stuff from fish. They’ve even been known to eat the mucus and infectious material around a fish’s wound to reduce infection and aid in healing. There are different species of cleaner shrimp, ‘scarlet skunk’ or ‘white-striped’ cleaner shrimps being known for cleaning the mouths of moral eels specifically.
Shrimpmer!Reader specifically comes from a family of cleaner shrimps that have a long-standing business partnership with the Leeches. Their family provides their cleaning and patch-up services to better the mereels’ health and heal any injuries, and in turn, the Leeches provide protection. It’s a mutualistic relationship where both benefit. And congrats, they were assigned to the tweels when they were but a mere fry and twins were still little elvers.
But what is it that Shrimpmer!Reader does exactly? Well, they have a cleaning station set up (i.e. a flat rock for the tweels to lay on while they work) and they go over the twins’ body, ridding it of any parasites and other debris. Picking at their scales and skin like a fine-tooth comb. They’ll even clean their sharp teeth using specialized brushes and tools to make sure nothing is stuck and strengthen the dentin (real shrimp physically go inside eel’s mouths, but shrimpmers are too big for that). Whenever the twins come to them with an injury after one of their scuffles, Shrimpmer!Reader will clean and disinfect the wound, being sure to remove any parasites, then wrap up the wound to heal faster.
In terms of anatomy and size difference, Shrimpmer!Reader is much smaller compared to the twins, but not on the same scale difference as real shrimps and moray eels. They’re not tiny enough to fit in their mouths but are small enough to be carried with ease. The best comparison I can give is like with the dwarves and Neige, but the tweels’ eel forms are much bigger compared to regular humans, so Shrimpmer!Reader would be shorter compared to a human as well. Floyd would joke about them being “child-sized.” Just like the Octatrio, their bottom half is that of a white-striped cleaner shrimp while the rest of their body has the matching miscolored skin, fin ears, and a pair of long, white antenna on the top of their head. No, their hands aren’t claws/pincers, but they do have sharp nails that aid in cleaning.
The Shrimp and the Eels Headcanons
Like mentioned above, Shrimpmer!Reader was assigned to Floyd and Jade back when they were all still children. Each new generation of Leech ends up being assigned a cleaner shrimp who are around the same age so that they can grow together and build a proper symbiotic bond. You just ended up unlucky ‘cause Mr. and Mrs. Leech had twins and you were the only available one in your family at the time. A two for one deal, as it were.
Rough first meet (the twins are asses even back then), but you eventually adjusted and they learned how much they actually enjoy getting all those nasties off of them. You were gentle and efficient, it was very soothing, almost therapeutic to them. But it was only after one particular cleaning where Floyd came to you, a week after he got into a fight, wound infected and riddled with parasites, that they fully realized just how much they needed you. Neither twin skipped a cleaning or wound treatment after that.
You are tiny and not built for fighting, so the twins are more than happy to do so for you!~ Some predator is stalking you, trying to get a taste? Floyd is already grabbing them by the tail, pulling them away from you and towards his own dangerously sharp jaws. Another merperson is bulling you, picking on your smaller size? Jade’s looming right behind, tail at the ready to squeeze the life out of them. Most of your patch-up work was from attending to their wounds sustained in fights defending you.
Floyd and Jade both have their tails wrapped around some poor, unfortunate soul who was pulling on your antenna. Jade is taunting the crying fry while Floyd is “playfully” biting their tail fins.
“Jade, Floyd, let them go already. You’re going to get in trouble…”
You do meet Azul later on, though never quite befriend him per say. His contracts made you uncomfortable and untrusting of his intentions. In turn, Azul was stiff and reserved around you on the account of the overly protective eels threatening to chew his tentacles off if he tried anything.
You’re not a student at NRC nor a student of RSA. Magic isn’t your forte (or your concern really), the tweels are. Which is why you do visit the schoolgrounds frequently, especially after the two (mainly Floyd) start complaining about “needing their shrimp.” They’re not even in their eel forms most of the time, but they do still get into fights and the nurse on staff isn’t good enough.
Congrats, you’re now the Leech’s designated Health Support Cleaner Shrimp, or whatever bullshit the twins pulled out of their tails when forcing requesting to Crowley that you be allowed to stay at Octavinelle! Double congrats, because you also work at Mostro Lounge as a janitor because you literally clean for a living!
In your human form, you are much shorter than most of the other students and you have two long cowlicks that resemble your antenna. You aren’t the biggest fan of this form, finding two legs to be difficult to navigate, especially since you kind of skipped the prep class. Floyd was impatient and claimed him and Jade would just teach you themselves. An unwise decision really.
I mean, you could also just request to have the potion adjusted so you can be taller too, I guess idk the twins aren’t going to tell you that.
You sometimes turn back into your merform with the tweels and swim together because you miss it. Floyd definitely missed curling his tail around his little shrimp and pinning you down with his much bigger size. He especially loves to flip you on your back and watch your little feetsies wiggle around in a panic.
Jade misses the cleanings more than anything else. Being a vice dormleader while also working at a lounge and doing schoolwork is stressful for one eel. So, being able to just relax and have you attend to him while he prattles on about mushrooms is absolute heaven. That’s not to say he doesn’t mess with you either. Jade will gladly use your height against you by putting your cleaning supplies on a higher shelf, so you’re forced to ask him for help, teasing you all the while.
No, you can’t clean anybody else, merfolk or otherwise. Only them. Azul almost lost a tentacle after suggesting such a thing when he noticed business was running slower.
You’re their cleaner shrimp, and they’re your eels. Anybody aware of the Leech’s influence know to back off lest they end up missing under mysterious circumstances.
Oh yeah, and the tweels, at some point, made it a habit to kiss you after you finished cleaning them under the guise of you “cleaning their teeth.” It’s become something so casual between you three now that when Azul caught sight of the twins and you locking lips, he nearly fell over at not realizing the three of you were (supposedly) an item.
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tbh It was more annoying that Kanaya was skipped for me. Cause as annoying as it is to have something skipped with the idea that fans will fill in the gap, along with bc's obsession with not seeming like its going too slow like people complained for 2, so instead its speedrunning everything and missing the real problem, its more annoying that they skipped something they were building themselves. Like as annoying as Kan's pq route and part of her bit in the candy epilogue is due to being weighed down by Vriska, its more aggrivating having it be tossed out in a throw away. A real "hold on, this whole operation was your idea", you get me (and hopefully won't twist what I'm saying)?
More saddening that Kanaya was not even mentioned for it. Guess Vriska's arc doesn't count acknowledging or having been aware that Kanaya had a crush on her. This is Post Retcon Vriska too, where she would have been punched by her and realize she likes her. But because of John's interference and letting her live, she doesn't get that moment. Did it ever cross Vriska's mind on why Rose or Kanaya adopt a grub and name it Vrissy? It's not because of honoring her as a hero or any of that crap. She would have to realize it was because Kanaya STILL wants Vriska and Kanaya can't let go unless she herself acknowledges she does not need Vriska OR Vriska herself needs to tell Kanaya that she can't return her feelings.
If it's not mentioned because crushing on Vriska is Kanaya's arc, I can sort of get it. But it really shows that in the meta narrative, both in-universe and the team itself behind it, really hate Kanaya after all the bullshit she went through by the time Epilogues and HS2/Beyond Canon hits. As well as that Vriska is still oblivious about other people's feelings even as she grows older.
Even if by some chance that last person she wants to meet was Kanaya, nothing that we had seen from her or on-screen shows she was thinking of Kanaya, when it is most likely Terezi because Vriska's arc mostly ties around her relationship with her.
At worst they will do about Kanaya's crush on Vriska is that Vriska still remains unaware, never meets with Kanaya (both Candy and Meat versions), Candy timeline dies without the two facing each other, and if by some chance Omega Kids live, Vrissy still keeps her name as it is as a reminder of Kanaya's unrequited crush for a woman she could never have and being stuck with a sister who was part of the infidelity that ruined Rose and Kanaya's relationship.
The only Space Player that gets spared from this really is Calliope. Both Jade and Kanaya get fucked over. Why does the team hate those two Space Players? And I don't want to hear about "them being alone is part of their arc" bullshit. We don't see Calliope being alone as she is with Roxy 24/7. And if we take account to Alt Calliope, it's not really alone if she had hung out with Aradia and Davebot whenever taking over Jade's body. And don't say that was retcon'd when the pages of it STILL EXIST on that website.
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i know im a bit late for the plagiarism video, but i thought id toss my thoughts to sea of what other people have said already.
while a lot of the essay had me angered and frustrated about the creators discussed, i lost it at the section titled ‘the cost.’
creative work is some of the most valuable things humankind has to offer. it is genuine, moving, and comes from the soul. it takes time - hours, days, months, years of work. all that effort and yet, most of the time, its not even recognized.
because even if creative work is valuable, people don’t treat it as such. instead, they treat it as if its replaceable. as if it never mattered in the first place. people steal work all the time. it perpetuates this idea that it doesn’t matter if you steal creative art, that the time, effort, and heart put into those projects don’t matter. that all that work is just a public commodity. but it isn’t. and yet no one seems to understand that but creatives - whose voices are constantly drowned out and silenced.
people who put their soul into those works won’t ever make the money that james did. they won’t ever get the amount of fame he did - the amount of credit. no, they might just stay in the pool of people who have been stolen from. and that’s what’s so incredibly frustrating. we need to think about the lives involved in the work - the people. we need to think about the people’s whose work has been stolen and profited from. we need to think about queer & minorities creators who have their work used by others as a stepping stone, erasing queer and minority presence in the creative world.
creative work is human. it is special. it can never be replaced. and yet there’s a concerning rise in the amount of people fighting against these facts.
in the end of the day, there are millions, if not billions, of people who have been stepped on, abused, stolen from, and left to rot throughout the course of history - and their stories are never told. their names aren’t remembered. but we remember the thieves - the abusers.
the cost of what james did & plagiarism as a whole is people. people who some will forget. but you shouldn’t forget. you should remember them - the people who are beautiful, talented, and deserve to been seen. uplift them and support them. remember them.
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