#oc: Meara Kailani

[charlies-storybook]

Pleased to Fish You

Meara swam through the tides as usual, feeling the pressure of the water against her skin.

It was one of those days when she left the familiar comfort of her pond to explore the deep ocean next to her home. She sang a happy tune to herself, her humming creating bubbles around her lips.

Meara's journey wasn't long, soon enough the water around her felt different - she entered the waters of the Ocean of the Instruments. The energy of the place was uneasy and she quickly became cautious. Meara tried to push those thoughts into the back of her head, keeping on singing her happy melody to chase that gloom away.

One thing she wondered, though. Why was the ocean called the 'Ocean of the Instruments'? Meara swam farther and farther through the ocean, she had a feeling she'd find out, and pretty soon.

Meara flapped her fin, pushing herself through the ocean. The farther she was getting away from her home pond, the darker and colder the water began to feel.

There was some suspicious movement. Meara looked around but didn’t see anyone or anything. She shrugged it off as the creatures of the ocean.

But then suddenly she looked up, and what she saw was a... fin? It resembled a fin, it was fin-shaped, it had scales, and it was definitely too big for an ocean creature or a regular fish. Maybe it was a fellow siren? She was intrigued and was in the mood to make a friend.

Meara swam up towards what she supposed was another siren. But the closer she swam, the clearer the picture of the supposed siren became. The "siren" had a human skin tone, no scales, and normal ears - the only thing that could resemble similarities with Meara was the "siren's" blonde hair.

Meara stopped swimming a few feet below the creature, suddenly wary and worried she might be a mermaid. Her relationship with mermaids wasn’t that pleasant, mermaids didn’t tend to like her or sirens in general. So she kept her distance.

Suddenly the creature flapped her tail and she looked directly into Meara’s eyes. Meara looked startled, trying to hide behind the distorted sight of the water.

The girl then dived in, landing perfectly just a few inches away from Meara’s face. “Boo!” The girl chuckled. “I don’t bite, you know, drown maybe, but bite no.”

“Drown?” Meara asked, trying to keep her distance from her new companion as much as possible.

“Sailors, pirates, hunters. You name it.” The other girl answered.

“I didn’t know mermaids drown.”

"Mermaid? I'm far from that, honey." The girl gave Meara a cheeky grin.

Meara must have looked puzzled since the girl sighed, and shook her head, and her expression along with her voice softened. "What's your name?"

"Meara," Meara answered simply.

“Meara.” The girl repeated. “Welcome to the Ocean of the Instruments, I’m Lyra.”

“Ocean of the Instruments? The home of the -”

Lyra interrupted Meara to finish the sentence for her, “- sirens.”

Meara’s eyes widen in surprise, “then you must be  -”

Lyra interrupted Meara again with a smile, “ - a siren.”

@writeblrcafe

[lexiklecksi]

Aesthetic of the siren sisters (tag game)

Thanks for tagging me Elda @betweenthetimeandsound to search on Pinterest for the aesthetic of my characters. Lately I made so many aesthetic moodboards for my characters. For this one, I chose the Kailani siren sisters and I really like how it turned out!

I'm tagging @charlies-storybook @linaket @basalamander-corner @writingbyricochet @betweenthetimeandsound @writinglyra @asa-writes-stuff @sugar-phoenix

[lexiklecksi]

Last line (tag game)

Thanks for tagging me @hippiewrites to post the last line I wrote. I'm tagging @the-down-upside-finch. Bad English translation beneath (my word plays don't translate).

Die sternenklare Nacht trügt, denn in mir bahnt sich eine Sturmflut an. Wenn ich könnte, würde ich das Meer für sie teilen. Am liebsten würde ich sie schütteln und anschreien: Bitte gib mir ein Zeichen, dass du mich liebst, weil ich mich verliere. Es hilft nichts. Ich ertrinke in ihr.

The starry night is deceptive, because a storm surge is brewing inside me. If I could, I would part the sea for her. I would love to shake her and scream at her: Please give me a sign that you love me because I'm losing myself. It doesn't help. I'm drowning in her.

[lexiklecksi]

Find the vibe (tag game)

Thanks for tagging me @poetinprose to find an excerpt with the vibe of "How could you?" The excerpt I've found is near the end of my ya fantasy novel "Drachenbrut". Enya is fighting with her girlfriend Meara about finally getting her revenge and setting her home town on fire and potentially killing all people living there, while Meara pleads for her to stay and forgive. I'm not gonna bother to translate this, sorry to the English readers.

Erneut erschüttert ein Schluchzen ihren Körper. Besänftigend umarme ich sie von hinten und halte sie an mich gedrückt, bis das Schluchzen nur noch ein leises Wimmern ist. Schließlich dreht sie ihr tränenüberströmtes Gesicht zu mir und klagt: „Warum tust du mir das an?“ Kopfschüttelnd wende ich mich ab. Was denkt sie denn von mir? Ich plane das doch nicht, um sie zu verletzen. „Du verstehst es nicht“, flüstere ich bedrückt. Ihre großen blauen Augen laufen über vor Kummer. „Enya… ich verstehe dich“, setzt sie zögernd an, doch ich unterbreche sie sogleich.

„Nein Meara, du verstehst mich nicht. Mein ganzes Leben lang habe ich Angst gehabt! Nun ist endgültig Schluss damit. Ich bin schon zu lange auf der Flucht. Auf der Flucht vor allen anderen, auf der Flucht vor der Welt, auf der Flucht vor mir selbst!“ Hitzig steigt die Wut hoch, die schon zu lange in mir brodelt. Sie streckt ihre Finger nach mir aus, streichelt mir sanft über den Arm. Eine Geste der Versöhnung, doch ich bin untröstlich. Eindringlich erkläre ich ihr: „Ich werde nicht mehr davonfliegen. Ich werde mich von meiner Angst befreien!“

Nachdenklich beißt sie auf ihre Unterlippe. „Es gibt einen anderen Weg, Enya. Wir werden ihn finden. Wir werden das gemeinsam durchstehen.“ Ihr Angebot klingt verlockend. Beinahe gebe ich nach, gebe mich ihrer zuversichtlichen Stimmung hin. Doch das verdiene ich nicht. Ich verdiene ihre Liebe nicht. „Ich muss das alleine machen“, sage ich schroff und wende ihr den Rücken zu. „Ich werde dich aber nicht alleine lassen“, säuselt sie und greift nach meiner Hand. Es schmerzt mich, wie sehr sie an uns glaubt. Ich kann ihr nicht in die Augen sehen, der Sog würde mich mitreißen und ich würde in ihrer Hingabe ertrinken. Es kostet mich meine ganze Willenskraft, meine Hand aus ihrer Umklammerung zu befreien. „Lass mich in Ruhe! Ich muss nachdenken“, fahre ich sie an.

I'm tagging @charlies-storybook @holdenmarrswritings @writinglyra @rkmoriyama @dontjudgemeimawriter @ghost-town-story @thewritersplace to find an excerpt with the vibe of "Idiot, I don't hate you! I love you!"

[lexiklecksi]

"They are a 10, but ..." (oc tag game)

Thanks for tagging me @squarebracket-trick to list my OCs as “tens, but…” to give a not-at-all comprehensive scope of their personalities.

Enya: She's a 10, but she could set you on fire.

Talib: He's a 10, but he will whine about his unrequited love.

Meara: She's a 10, but she will dive deep into the water at any sign of conflict.

Saoirse: She's a 10, but she's a crazy cat lady.

Isobel: She's a 10, but she knows it.

Dietbert: He's a 10, but he is pure chaotic good.

I'm tagging @writinglyra @thewritersplace @ajnata @sourrcandy @lettersandinkstains @charlies-storybook and I'm excited to read your takes!

[lexiklecksi]

Happy STS! You need a housesitter while you're away. Which one of your OCs DONT you choose for the job and why?

Thanks for your funny question and sorry for the very late reply, your STS ask got buried in my inbox. :-/

The real question is, which oc DO I choose because I wouldn't trust most of my characters for house-sitting. Enya might accidentally set my flat on fire, Meara would flood the whole flat while taking a bath. Talib would bring so much dirt on the carpets and stamp the parquet floor with his hooves. Maybe my safest option would be Saoirse, but her feral cat Aibhilin might bring some chaos and tear down the couch. Well they all live in the wild, so I can't blame them for not knowing how to take care of a flat.

[lexiklecksi]

Hi

It's blorbsday. If your ocs are participating in a group project, how helpful are they? Who takes charge? Who does the bulk of the work, who has ideas, who shirks, etc.?

Hey thanks for asking about my ocs ♡

Today, I actually had a presentation of two group projects, so I gained enough introspection to project it on my ocs.

Meara Kailani: She would be the mediator of the group. While the others are fighting, she is desperately trying to hold the group together with her kind words. When getting the focus of the group back to the assignment doesn't work, she starts singing a calming song. They have all heard horror stories about the powerful magic of a siren song, so they will put their conflict aside and get back to work.

Enya Arati: She hates group projects. Teamwork to her is a very frustrating process since she rather works alone. So she will pick the part that is most interesting to her and work on that away from the others. If anyone still dares to ask her to share her work, she will growl at them or even spit out a spark of fire. Nevertheless, a good result is also her goal so she will put in a lot of effort and takes all the credit for it.

Talib: He would be so chill about the group project. Most would assume he doesn't care about it at all, but secretly he will do his part of the assignment. Unlike Enya, it's not important to him to take credit for his work. His jokes are keeping the group morale up. Right before the presentation, his relaxed presence will calm Meara, who is very nervous and looking for the nearest body of water to dive into.

Thanks for reading this rambling. If you want to read more about my wip and my ocs, feel free to check out my master post here.

[lexiklecksi]

Happy STS! I hope you’ve had a great week :D If you were to create a “comfort corner” for your OC, what would you put in it? Who deserves one the most?

Ooooh that is an excellent question! (criminal side-eye to the unanswered wbw ask which prompted me to brainstorm traditions and will post soon) I think most of my characters need a comfort corner except my comfort feel-good character Dietbert, the funny dwarf. And some characters have created their own comfort corner where they feel at peace with themselves.

Saoirse: Her tent is her comfort corner, the only place where she feels home, even though she constantly moves to where her service is needed most. Her tent consist of colourful fabrics. There are herbs hanging from a hook in the centre, a box with crystals and jewellery, flickering candles which light the little tent and make it feel warm and fuzzy, her comfort blanket on a carpet and her favourite gowns in a suitcase. When she comes home from an exhausting day, e.g. of healing soldiers on a battlefield, she lies down, lights some candles and meditates or writes in her diary. Enya: A dark place where she can exist in peace like a cave (not only because she is half dragon haha). Basically, her comfort corner needs to be hidden away from society, a cavern which can be just reached by flying would be ideal. There would be warm blankets and maybe something to play with like dices by a little fire she breathes out. Meara: In a way, her pond is her comfort corner. She loves to chill at the bottom of the pond or sunbathe on the rocks. She confined herself to this little pond to get as far away as possible from her family's home in the deep sea, but she still feels homesick. Her pond is her safe space (her own body of water) but in some way also her prison because she can't swim away. Talib: He always dreamed of settling down away from his herd in a little hut with Milena. Maybe have a little garden where they grow vegetables and some animals like sheep, goats or bunnies to get milk and meat from. He just wants to live happily ever after with his wife (or husband? hehe gay lovestory in the making) and stop roaming the forest.

[lexiklecksi]

For the not so nice oc questions: Bound and Failure

Thanks for asking (and sorry it still took me a day to answer)!

bound: Has your OC ever been imprisoned or captured? What happened? How did they get out? Did the experience leave any scars?

Enya was imprisoned in her hometown because she wasn't allowed to go out in public. The other villagers saw her as a monstrosity, so her abusive adoptive parents hid her away from sight. When she breaks free and escapes into the magical forest Avni, the Mayor sends a bounty hunter after her, who tries to capture her. Luckily, the elafid Talib saves her. That experience left mostly emotional scars, but she also has some physical scars from her adoptive father, who has beaten her while in a drunk state.

failure: What's your OC's greatest failure? Have they been able to move past it? Does anyone else know about it?

Meara Kailani's greatest failure is that she couldn't seduce seamen with her siren singing voice during her ceremony. After a siren turns mature, she is expected to serve the family by helping to pirate goods from ships. But a siren's singing voice only attracts the gender the siren is sexually attracted to, which in Meara's case are women. A siren who won’t seduce seamen has no value in the Kailani family. Therefore, she was abandoned by her family. Her later girlfriend Enya knows about this. Maybe some day she will make peace with this and move past it.

[lexiklecksi]

💌💐 for the hot oc asks :)

Thanks for the asks! I will answer them for Meara. 💌 : How would they plan a romantic evening for a significant other? She would try to find a beautiful and secluded place, because she knows Enya doesn't like to be near people. It would have to be near water, because she is a siren, but also give Enya some ground to sit on, like a pond or a lake. Then she would catch fish and algae and prepare dinner for them to eat. Then she would just spend the golden hours with Enya and watch the sunset together.

💐 : What is their courting style? How would they woo someone?

She makes many compliments, is even more kind than she is to people generally and would tell them she loves them very much on a daily basis. When that love is unrequited, she gets sulky and frustrated, but would never give up.

[lexiklecksi]

Alright! Do you have any memorable quotes in your WIP? You can keep them in German, I can manage!

That is an excellent question, thank you! I've only written about 25% of the first draft and it's a mess, but there are some lines that will probably make it through the editing process. Maybe I'll translate them into English for the readers who are interested. Buckle up, this will be a long post cause even though I have "find the word" and "last line" tag games piled up until the roof, I've never shared the following excerpts. I will put the 5 excerpts under the cut, I hope you enjoy them and feel free to give me feedback on them!

This is the ending of the scene in which Enya falls from the sky into Meara's pond. I don't want to admit it but their gay lovestory is an enemies to lovers trope with the exception that Meara falls in love with Enya from the first sight (told from Meara's pov)

Flucht war mein erster Instinkt. Das war kein Mädchen. Vor mir lag ein gefährliches Raubtier. Zwar geschwächt, aber dennoch in der Lage, mich tief zu verletzen. Alles in mir spannte sich zum Abtauchen an, doch dann veränderte sich ihr Blick. Die Flamme wandelte sich zu einem warmen Leuchten und ihre spröden Lippen teilten sich wie einst das Meer meiner Urahnen. Sie flüsterte nur ein einziges Wort. Hauchte ein Rauchwölkchen aus, das verpuffte, bevor die Bedeutung des Gesagten mich erreichte. Nur ein Wort, das hohe Wellen in meinem Innersten schlug: "Danke."

This is a flashback Enya has of her chilhood trauma (told from her pov):

Mein Zuhause brannten sie nieder. Es pocht in meinen Schläfen im Takt der Trommeln. Sie nannten es Feuertaufe. In mancher Nacht höre ich immer noch ihre Schreie. Sie rufen nach Hilfe. Flehen mich an. Doch ich konnte nicht helfen. Ich war noch zu klein. Und allein. So allein. Meine Tränen verdampften im Feuer. Flammen, entfesselt, loderten haushoch. Doch ich lag gefesselt am Boden. Getauft durch das Feuer. Es brennt noch in mir. Eine kleine Flamme. Ich warte auf den Funken, der sie zum Lodern bringt.

So the following dialogue is when my mc Enya, the dragon girl, makes a big decision in a fight with her girlfriend Meara, the siren, and abandons her again.

Enya: „Nein, Meara, du verstehst mich nicht. Mein ganzes Leben lang habe ich Angst gehabt! Nun ist endgültig Schluss damit. Ich bin schon zu lange auf der Flucht. Auf der Flucht vor allen anderen, auf der Flucht vor der Welt, auf der Flucht vor mir selbst!“

This was a difficult scene to write, because it involves the three siren sisters Nerida, Kairi and Mira talking about why Meara left their family. I wanted to incorporate Meara being a lesbian in the siren lore and why that would cause problems (told from Kairi's pov, the oldest sister):

"An dem Tag, als Meara verbannt wurde, kam sie noch einmal zu uns. Sie hat sich uns anvertraut und angefleht, es niemandem zu sagen." Nun ist mein Interesse doch geweckt. Was wissen sie, was ich nicht weiß? Ein Zittern durchfährt Nerida, obwohl uns lauwarmes Meerwasser umgibt. "Sie hat geweint und gesagt", sie schluckt schwer. "Meara hat uns gesagt, dass sie nicht singen möchte. Nein, dass sie nicht singen kann." Soweit stimmt es, Meara hat uns nie geholfen, Seemänner anzusingen. Sie hat wenig zum Familienreichtum beigetragen, hat unser Erbe verraten. Aber ich habe Stillschweigen geschworen. "Unsere liebe Schwester … Meara kann nicht für Seemänner singen, weil ihr Gesang sie nicht anziehen wird." Verwirrung breitet sich in mir aus. Sie beherrscht sehr wohl den Sirenengesang, ich habe viele Lieder mit ihr geübt. Flossenringend wendet sich Nerida an Mira, die neben dem Algenbeet zusammengekauert auf einem Felsen sitzt. "Meara ist … Meara hat", setzt Mira an. Sie zieht tief Wasser durch ihre Kiemen. "Mearas Gesang wirkt nur auf Frauen anziehend." Wie bitte? "Was wollt ihr mir damit sagen? Dass Meara …?" Ich beende meine Frage nicht, denn in dem Moment realisiere ich die Tragweite dieses gelüfteten Familiengeheimnisses. Ungläubig schüttle ich den Kopf. "Aber … es gibt keine Seefrauen. Nicht eine einzige Schiffsbesatzung, die sich auf unsere Insel verirrt, hat eine Frau an Bord", denke ich laut nach. Die beiden nicken. "Genau das ist ja das Problem", stimmt Neri mir zu. "Genau das ist der Grund, warum Aisu unsere geliebte Schwester verbannen wollte."

Yggdrasil, the sentient tree that is worshipped by some beings, reflects on the environmental destruction of the magical forest Avni. (My wip is loosely set in the industrialization.)

Seht ihr denn nicht, was ihr angerichtet habt? Meine Heimat stirbt. Vögelchen haben mir gezwitschert, dass Wälder überall sterben. Doch die Erdlinge sind zu gierig. Erst wenn der letzte Baum gefällt, das letzte Grün zu Braun geworden und der letzte Vogel an seinem Gesang erstickt ist. Dann, erst dann werdet ihr begreifen, wie sehr ihr uns zum Leben braucht. Nur wir können Leben erhalten. Wer uns Bäume fällt, nimmt sich die Luft zum Atmen.

You've made it till the end! Thank you for reading!

WIP only tag list (comment + if you want to be added or - to be removed): @matcha-chai @callmepippin @zettelkaestchen @silversynthesis @ladywithoringes @stargazingandpoetry @scaevolawrites @lyra-brie @constellationapex @eos109 @azriel-alexander-holmes

[lexiklecksi]

Happy STS! I hope you’ve had a good week :D what would be a “perfect day” for your OC? (answer for as many as you like!)

Thanks for the ask and sorry it took me a while to answer :-/

Enya's perfect day: flying high above the tree tops, wind in her hair and without a destination in mind; joking around with friends/ frenemies like Talib Meara's perfect day: swimming with her sisters on a bet; sun-bathing on a rock; kissing Enya Dietbert's perfect day: playing with his four children; telling his family his favourite tales; foraging for mushrooms in the forest Talib's perfect day: spending time with Milena while she is in love with him, but since that is impossible; kickboxing some strangers or joking around with friends like Enya

[lexiklecksi]

✨️🍀🍎 for the OC of your choice!

Thanks for your ask (and thanks a lot for resending it)!

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

Saoirse Dearbháil: Saoirse [pronounced sir-sha, Gaelic for “freedom”] Dearbháil [pronounced dsher-vil, Gaelic for “daughter of fate”]

I wanted her name to have a deep meaning that shows how independent she is as a mage. After a lot of research, I found these Gaelic words and they were a perfect match. The only downside is that I constantly have to look up how her name is spelled.

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

Enya Arati: In 2018, I wrote a flash fiction piece about a dragon girl seeking revenge for her murdered family. I can't remember what originally inspired me to write that, but the idea stuck with me. I couldn't stop thinking about her, so I decided to write a fantasy novel with her as the protagonist to tell her story. With some minor edits, the original flash fiction piece can now be found as the prologue to my novel.

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship with their parents like?

Meara Kailani: She was sent into exile by her parents after they found out she is a lesbian and therefore can't seduce seamen (a siren who can't seduce seamen has no value in her family). She hates her father, but still wishes that her mother will understand her and welcome her back.

OC ask game (feel free to send me an ask, too!)