#i wanted to do at least ONE mermay thing | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

stellamancer · 11 months

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pairing: fem!reader x merman!satoru gojo

summary: you were excited to return home for the summer, but all that excitement is quickly thrown out the window and you nearly resign yourself to a quiet and lonely summer.

the insufferable merman you rescued, however, has other plans.

contents: degrees of social anxiety from the reader, fem!reader (no pronouns used, reader is referred to as physically smaller than gojo)

notes: uh. this was written for the teahouse mermay collab! but, uh, gonna probably spend the summer writing this because somehow plot happened. will happen. this work will end up being a roommates to friends to maybe lovers fic so please look forward to it. uh. not sure what else to say. i usually don’t post multi-part fics to tumblr, but since i don’t expect this fic to get too long i figured it would be okay this time around lmao. i expect to eat my words. anyway this fic can also be found on ao3!

word count: 4.3k

masterlist

It’s the first time you’ve been home in a while, and honestly speaking, you don’t know how you feel about it.

At first, you were excited. As much as you enjoyed city life in Tokyo, you still missed your little seaside hometown. It was your parents’ idea to come home to visit, not so much because they missed you too, but because they wanted you to watch the house while they went on a summer long trek across Europe. As luck would have it, the time of their departure coincided with the expiration of your apartment’s lease. With no intent on renewing it, you figured you might as well return home for the summer and save a little bit on rent before moving into your new place.

Once your plans were settled, you’d texted your best friend, Minori, to let her know you were coming back, but… there was something a little off about her response. It’s not like you were expecting her to drop everything at the news of your homecoming, but you thought she’d at least be a little more excited. It did bother you a bit, but you merely chalked it up to being absolutely horrendous about keeping in touch while you were away. You’re almost positive that once you see each other it’ll be like you never even left.

Besides, if she really felt that awkward about seeing you, then she wouldn’t have agreed to hang out tomorrow.

Nor would she have forgotten to mention that there was a big hangout thing that was happening at the beach tonight.

Probably anyway.

It’d been one of your old high school classmates Kyohei Shinomiya who had mentioned the beach thing. You’d run into him working at the grocery store and while you really wouldn’t have considered Shinomiya a close friend, you were acquainted enough to chat amicably as he rang up your things. Most people you’d run into upon your return had asked about your life in Tokyo, but Shinomiya was oddly excited to hear about it. You’d gotten the feeling that not much had changed in your absence— but was the city really all that interesting? Shinomiya looked almost disappointed when all your things were bagged up, his face twisted almost as if he was debating something serious. Just as you were about to walk out the door he spoke up, and you realized that was what he’d been contemplating on all along.

“Are you gonna be at the hangout tonight?”

You’d tilted your head in confusion. “Hangout?”

“Yeah! On the beach at sunset!” He’d answered, his enthusiasm renewed. “If… if you’re not doing anything, then you should totally come by! Everyone from high school will be there!”

You’d immediately thought of Minori. She hadn’t mentioned anything of the sort. Had it slipped her mind? Or maybe she forgot? Either way, with no one waiting for you at home, and no other plans to speak of, your night was woefully free.

So, of course you showed up.

Shinomiya hadn’t been kidding when he said that everyone from high school would be here. You recognize basically every person on some level— not just people in your own year, but upperclassmen and underclassmen as well. Some of them recognize you too, a few of them even stop to chat a little, politely asking where you’ve been and what you’ve been up to, just like everyone else. Once you’ve made a lap around the group, you awkwardly park yourself near the barbeque where one of the upperclassmen is grilling skewers for everyone, unsure of where else to go.

Of all the people you’ve seen, Minori is not among them. Is it possible that maybe she wasn’t invited? You’ve seen some of her other friends here, though, so it wouldn’t make sense to leave her out. You start to reach for your phone to message her to ask if she knows, if she’s coming. Given how Shinomiya invited you, in the odd case she didn’t know, it probably wouldn’t be a problem if she showed up.

Probably.

Just as you start typing, you hear someone nearby yell. “About time you showed up! You’re late!”

You happen to look up to see who this latecomer is and it’s… Minori. But she’s not alone; at her side is someone else you recognize instantly: Hayato Tsuji. It’s been a while since you last saw him, but your heart stutters at the sight, your body remembering the feelings you harbored for him in your high school years. He’s grown even more handsome now; his features sharper and more mature now than when you were teenagers. Something about the two of them together nags at your mind, but you push the thought to the side, more relieved to see your friend here than anything.

Minori’s gaze moves from the person who called out to her, scanning the area before finally landing on you. There’s no missing the way her eyes widen in clear and obvious surprise, making it apparent that not telling you about this whole thing was a conscious choice on her part.

Still, she makes her way over to you, smiling sheepishly. her eyes now avoiding yours. “Hey! Didn’t expect to see you here."

"Shinomiya invited me," you explain almost flatly.

Minori hums as if you've said something very interesting. "Is that so…?"

"Yeah?"

"I thought you'd be doing something with your parents tonight," she offers, the reason of why she didn't tell you about this hangout threaded between her words.

"No, they left this morning."

"Oh."

You could have sworn you told her that, but maybe she got the day wrong or something. It’s no big deal; Minori was probably just trying to be considerate since it’s been a while since you’ve seen your parents, but still something feels… off. It’s fine. A little awkwardness is to be expected, you tell yourself.

“Minori!” Someone else calls and she whips her head around toward the voice to see who it is. You recognize it as one of her other friends, waving wildly to get her attention. Minori glances back at you, looking a little unsure.

“It’s fine,” you say, smiling, though it feels hollow. “We can catch up later. We’re hanging out tomorrow, aren’t we?”

She stares at you, the hesitation still flickering in her eyes before nodding. “Yeah.”

You wave her off as she heads toward the person calling her and you don’t miss how her expression looks considerably lighter as she walks off. Sighing, you turn back to the barbeque, thinking to busy yourself with some food. Will it be like that tomorrow? Awkward? Weird?

You shake your head. It’ll be fine.

“Skewer?” the upperclassman manning the grill offers you one, and though you thought to occupy your anxious hands by eating you find that you actually don’t feel all that hungry.

“No thanks,” you tell him, smiling apologetically. He doesn’t seem to take any offense, though, and nods. You move away from the barbeque so that you’re not in the way of anyone who might actually want to eat, but once again you’re not sure where to go. You feel like finding Minori again is out of the question, the earlier weirdness repelling you. Maybe Shinomiya then?

You make your way around and spot Shinomiya joking with some underclassmen, laughing jovially. Should you approach? You don’t want to interrupt anything though, so you lurk off to the side, teetering back and forth on your feet. Maybe you can come back later when there’s a lull in the conversation or something.

The only other person you can think of seeking out is… Hayato. Your heart skips a beat at the thought. You can’t say you’re friends but you’d talked a few times in high school, even worked on a few group projects together. It wouldn’t be all that weird to say hi, would it?

You look around again, your eyes straining to pick him out in the crowd. While you look, your thoughts get ahead of you. He was just a high school crush, but wouldn’t it just be something, if you guys ended up talking and it just… picked up from there? Reconnecting with something akin to an old flame and things developing into something more over the course of one fateful summer… You’re sure you’ve read a story like that somewhere before and the sheer possibility of fiction becoming reality makes your heartbeat accelerate in your chest.

When you find Hayato, your entire body goes still, nerves seizing control of your motor functions. It's fine, it's cool, you try to tell yourself. You are just saying hi. You can do that. You can say hi.

And if it goes beyond that… you’ll figure it out later.

You take a deep breath and take a step forward toward Hayato, then another, then… You stop short— breath catching in your chest when you notice, when you see.

There's someone standing next to Hayato, leaning intimately into him while his arm slung snuggly over their shoulder. You know them— recognize them, because there's no way you wouldn't. There's no way you wouldn't recognize your best friend.

It shouldn't surprise you, it really shouldn't . After all, they showed up here together, you saw them show up together and yet…

You feel absolutely gutted. Questions race through your mind. How long has Minori liked Hayato? Why didn’t she tell you? Are they dating already? For how long? Why didn’t she tell you?

Why didn’t she tell you?

Minori says something to whoever she’s talking to and laughs. Hayato leans his head down to whisper something in her ear and she blushes and swats at him, embarrassed, but still with a fond smile plastered to her face. You feel like you’re a whole world away— an outsider peering in. The contents of your stomach are flipping like they’re competing in the Olympics and you realize that you’re very, very glad you didn’t accept that skewer.

Eventually, you turn away, even though you really just want to walk over there and find out for yourself what exactly is going on. The last thing you want is to start a scene though. You can just ask Minori what’s going on tomorrow; find out if this is why she’s been acting weird. She knew you had a crush on Hayato, and even though he’s still really handsome now, that was in high school. If they're dating now, it’s not like you’d hold it against her.

You start to walk off, but you bump into someone instead.

“Oh hey!”

It’s Shinomiya.

You look at him and catch his expression shift, from a smile to something of a concerned frown.

“You okay?” he asks.

“Oh, uh.” Your shock must show on your face. You try to smile, but it feels far too strained to be convincing. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

He doesn’t believe you.

“I’m, uh… gonna… go over there.” You feel so awkward that you want to disintegrate.

Shinomiya’s mouth opens slightly, brows furrowed, looking like he’s struggling to say something. “...do you want me to come with?”

You laugh in an attempt to alleviate his concern, but the sound is mechanical, fake. “Nah, I’m fine.”

Shinomiya doesn’t seem convinced, his mouth set in a frown. His expression is contemplative again, like it was when you were at the store. You take a step back, away from him and wave him off a little.

“Really,” you say, before whatever he’s thinking about just spews out of his mouth. “Just… gonna take a little walk. The... smoke from the barbeque is getting to me.”

It sounds like an excuse, but it seems reasonable enough you think. Shinomiya still seems doubtful, but he doesn’t press the issue as you take another step away from him. You give him one more smile, this one feeling a little more natural, to reassure him that you’re fine.

Because you are.

No one else seems to notice as you slip away from the group, heading toward the shoreline. The tide ebbs back and forth, the water coming up to gently lap at the soles of your shoes. You stare out at the sea, the sun nearly set over the horizon, dyeing the sky in oranges and purples. Some of the people at the hangout are probably setting up a bonfire or two so that the get together can continue into the night. You could probably go help out to keep your hands busy, but you don’t particularly feel like it.

Instead, you continue walking down the beach, further away from the chatter of all the people you grew up with, their conversations sounding more and more like a foreign language with each step. Even when you were younger, when you still lived here, you could never slot yourself perfectly among your peers. Minori was the only one who really felt like a friend to you, so her silence weighs heavy on your heart. If you had done a better job at keeping in touch with her, then would she have been more forthcoming about what was going on in her life? At the same time, it’s not like she was any better at keeping in contact with you, but…

You sigh. You’ll talk to her tomorrow. There’s no need to keep mulling over it now.

The sun has completely set now and you realize you’ve actually walked quite a distance from the hangout spot on the beach; you can’t even see anyone anymore. In fact, you’re actually probably only a few minutes from your parent’s house now, their home almost practically on the beach itself. You’re just better off going home, rather than going back. It does feel a little bit bad to have left without saying anything though, so you pull out your phone and send off a quick message to Shinomiya apologizing for leaving without saying anything and thanking him for inviting you in the first place.

You turn, with the intent of heading home, but something on the beach catches your eye.

Something unnaturally shiny.

People are generally pretty good about picking up their trash when they’re on the beach; it's a rule, after all. Sometimes, though, there are some people who forget, or just don’t care. As you approach, you figure whoever left this mound of garbage on the shore is part of the latter group, simply not caring enough to pick up after themselves.

But someone cared enough to cover it up in sand and seaweed.

You lean over, prepared to dig out whatever can and other trash has been buried when you notice, when you see.

It’s not a beer can that’s half buried here.

It’s some kind of fish and it’s huge.

You’ve heard of the very, very rare instances of beached whales, but this thing has scales, shiny, pretty iridescent scales that remind you of opals and you wonder distantly if there’s a fish this big, this pretty, really out there. More than that, though, you wonder how in the world it ended up on the beach like this. When you’ve finally cleared everything away, you realize that this thing isn’t a fish.

It’s a person.

Or half of one at least.

You gawk at the sight, your eyes traveling down the length of their body. From the waist down, they’re all fish, tail and fins and all, but from the waist up they look like a man, with arms, and a torso and a human head.

Merman.

The word echoes in your mind over and over. You shake your head. This has to be a dream. There’s no way. Merpeople aren’t real. If they were, surely there’d be some kind of record or something of them.

You raise a trembling hand, to confirm what you see with your own two eyes. Very, very quietly, you murmur an apology as your fingers reach out, brushing against this being’s waist, where their human skin meets their fish-like scales. Maybe it’s some kind of… swimsuit or something. You’ve seen stuff like that on TV. If that’s the case there should be some kind of waistband or something, but you find none. The junction between their human half and fish half is completely seamless.

The merman is real.

You gasp softly and look around. It’s only the two of you on the beach right now. What do you do? Should you just leave him here? In a few hours the tide will be high enough to pull the merman back into the water, but… what if someone comes between now and then? If they realize it’s a merman, there’s no guarantee that they’ll let him return to the sea. He could be sold off as a research subject or some kind of exotic pet. The thought disgusts you. Shouldn’t you put him back then? Make sure that he returns to where he belongs? He seems to be unconscious though, but surely he can breathe underwater while sleeping, right? You have absolutely no idea how it works.

The merman groans beneath you and you look back at him. His face is scrunched up like he’s in some kind of pain. Is he hurt, maybe? Is that how he ended up on the beach? Using your phone’s flashlight, you check his body, trying to find some kind of injury, but you don’t find anything. Could he be sick or something then?

You reach up toward his head, brushing some of the snow white hair sticking to his forehead out of the way before you press the back of your hand to his skin. It’s slightly warm to the touch, so he probably doesn’t have a fever.

Wait. Can merfolk even get fevers?

Is he maybe having a bad dream then? Or is he uncomfortable? You don’t know. You could try to wake him up, but if he’s in pain wouldn’t that make it worse?

The panic is starting to settle in your nerves. What do you do? You've never encountered anything like this before. Do you attend to him as if he were an animal? Or as if he were human? You start to reach for your phone to call someone for help, for advice but—

Who could you possibly call?

Your parents are on an airplane right now, hundreds of kilometers in the air and out of reach. You couldn’t possibly bother Shinomiya with this and Minori— The image of her laughing amongst her other friends, Hayato snuggling up next to her flashes in your mind, sudden and almost disorienting. Something ugly and frustrating wells up in your stomach at the thought but you do your best to dismiss it.

You can’t bother her with this either.

You’re all you’ve got right now.

With that thought in mind, you force yourself to take a deep, deep breath. Before you can do anything else, you need to calm down. Once the anxiety has dislodged itself from your chest, you go over the options once more. You can’t leave him here because someone else with far worse intentions than you might find him. You can’t toss him back in the ocean because there’s no guarantee that he’ll be okay if you do that. Then what else can you do?

Take him somewhere else? You glance down at the merman; his body is longer than you are tall and you’re sure that he probably weighs a ton. You wouldn’t be able to take him very far on your own, so if you take him somewhere it has to be close.

A lightbulb goes off in your head. It seems kind of crazy, but you could take him home; a year or two ago your parents renovated the bathroom so now the tub is disgustingly huge. You think it’s big enough to house this monster of a merman until you can ensure that you can return him to the sea without the fear that he might get eaten by a shark or something.

Now the question is… how do you transport him? If you had a wheelbarrow or some kind of cart then you could put him in it and just wheel him to your parents house, but…

A particularly large wave crashes against the beach and another lightbulb goes off. Your father has a really big longboard he used to use when he was a teen. Maybe you could roll the merman onto it and pull it kind of like a sled?

The idea sounds absolutely insane, but you can’t think of anything else. If it doesn’t work… Well, you’ll figure it out later.

“I’ll be right back,” you tell the sleeping merman before bolting off toward your parents’ house. You get there in almost no time flat and easily locate the longboard, tucked away in a storage room. The board’s leg rope probably won’t be able to support the merman’s weight so you grab some regular rope your father has in the storage and wedge it in with the leg rope, using it to secure the rope to the board. When you’re satisfied with it, you dash back to the beach.

The merman is luckily where you left him, unconscious and undisturbed. You toss the longboard onto the sand next to him, shoving it as close to him as you can before bending over and rolling him face up onto the board, taking great care to make sure his entire tail is on.

Like this you’re able to get a better look at his face and— he’s handsome, breathtakingly so. The sharpness of his jaw, the angle of his nose, the width of his shoulders, his collarbone, the sight of them all assembled together like this ups your pulse a bit.

You’re getting distracted.

With the merman in place, you grab the rope and start to tug your makeshift sled toward your parents’ house but, god, he’s heavy. You don’t get very far before you stop to take a break, your arms and shoulders screaming. A different tactic would probably be better. You move to the other end of the board and bend down, gripping both sides of the long board as you push.

This method works much, much better until you get to the house itself. You knew the board would only get you so far, but from here on out you’ll have to carry him. There’s no way a bridal carry will work, so you brace yourself, and after a fair bit of struggling you manage to sling this massive merman over your back.

Each step toward the bathroom is absolute agony and you’re so damn grateful that the house is only a single story. It feels like hours have passed when you finally get to the tub. You rip off the cover and toss it haphazardly to the side, but now you have a new problem: how do you get him in there like this?

You could attempt to shrug him in, but his weight combined with the fact you can’t see might result in him accidentally hitting his head on the wall or something. That wouldn’t be good. Instead, you step into the tub, nearly slipping as you step over the wall of it, but luckily you manage to keep yourself from falling. Then, slowly, you free one of your hands gripping the merman’s body to reach down and tuck his tail into the tub.

He weighs too much for your one hand to handle and this time you lose your balance.

Both you and the merman tumble backwards into the tub. You manage to angle your legs out of the way of the faucet and land against the merman’s body with a thud, the hand that was holding onto him twisted into an uncomfortable angle. Quickly, you roll around to make sure he didn’t didn’t get hurt or hit his head against anything.

Miraculously, he seems perfectly fine— as if you had gently lowered him into the bathtub.

You breathe out a heavy sigh; it feels like you just ran a marathon, but you’re not quite done yet. As much as you’d like to leave it where it is, you pull yourself up to retrieve your father’s longboard from outside. Leaving it could possibly lead to questions from the neighbors and the last thing you want to deal with is gossiping aunties.

Especially with a merman under your roof.

You drag yourself back to the bathroom after you’ve put the longboard away and he’s still asleep, grimacing a little, but still asleep. It’s absolutely wild to you that he hasn’t woken up at all. You wonder if you should fill the tub with some water. Would that make him more comfortable?

You reach over and start the faucet, making sure to lower the temperature. As the tub fills itself, you feel a wave of exhaustion wash over you, and you slump down next to the tub. Carrying the merman home really, really took a toll on you. Your eyelids feel heavy and you think it should be fine to close them.

Just for a minute or two.

It feels like the second your eyes flutter shut, they pop open again, your whole body awakening with a start. Your thoughts are all jumbled up. Why are you in the bathroom? Did you actually fall asleep here? Wasn’t the water running? Thank god your parents bought one of those super fancy bathtubs that regulates the amount of water in the tub. Surely the merman wouldn’t mind if the water overflowed but—

Right. The merman!

You sit up straight and turn your head toward the merman and sure enough he is still there. He wasn’t just some crazy dream you concocted; he’s real and, more than that, he’s awake.

He watches you, his lips curved up into an amused smile that reaches his eyes— bluer than the sunshine on the sea. Your heart hammers wildly in the cage of your chest as you rediscover, all over again, how supernaturally stunning this being you’ve brought into your house is. He tilts his head, his grin widening almost impossibly as he speaks, his voice a melodic timbre that you would almost swear resonates with your very soul.

“Well, good morning.”

next chapter →

#satoru gojo x reader #satoru gojo x you #satoru gojou x reader #satoru gojou x you #jjk x reader #nikuniku fics #not sure what else to tag this as always tags are hard #reader is very anxious and emotional i think but #it will get better for them!!#sots fic tag

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brownsugarwrites · 1 year

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heard it was mermay ;) 🙈 also writing this on my phone so no one say anything about formatting

black!siren!reader x leon kennedy

You had been singing all night. It was your favorite thing to do when you knew no one was awake and you could come up to your rock and sing your heart out.

But what you didn’t know was that someone recently moved into that usually vacant beach house.

Leon was up… he couldnt sleep. it was one of those nights where his insomina caught up to him. Turning off his tv he could hear your voice from his home.

Was someone outside his house singing very early Christmas carols?

Walking onto his balcony to see what the hell was going on he saw you sitting on the rock. Your singing becoming even louder to his ears.

He could only see your glittery tail reflecting from the moonlight and you sat singing your hymn.

He was drawn to you immediately. putting on his sandals he made his way to the sand to see what and who you were.

Coming close the water he stopped in his tracks. Seening your figure enhanced by my moon. Your curly hair decorated with pearls, brown skin adorned by your blue/green scales on parts of your arms. Your stomach holding a belly piercing as ur torso meshed into your tail.

Feeling a looming presence you stopped your singing you opened your eyes to see a human standing and staring at you. Your webbed ears shot up in fear as you quickly went back into the water scared he was going to harm you.

“shit I scared her” leon grumbled watching you go away in fear

“I dont mean to scare you. If you’re still out there please come back” he would say in desperation to see you

You wanted to go back up but you were petrified. Youve never seen a human up close and personal. going against your gut you decided to swim back up to meet the stranger.

Your head peaked from the water shyly. looking at him in his eyes.

“Hi there beautiful. Im Leon, thanks for coming back up” he said kneeling onto the sand to meet your eyes

You felt your cheeks heat up in embarrassment at his compliment.

“Hello…leon” you greeted nervously “Its late. why are you out here.”

“Couldn’t sleep. then I heard your pretty voice so I had to come and see”

You felt your tail flap at his deep voice serenading you. You wondered if he was a siren in disguise. He was handsome to say the least. his blond hair covering his cold blue eyes and his structured jaw catching your attention

“You’re gorgeous.” he would say breaking you out your thoughts

Sinking into the water trying to hide the way your cheeks went into a smile

“Its nice meeting you leon. But I have to go. Promise you wont tell anyone about me.” you pleaded

His heart clinched seeing you come out the water further revealing your upper body.

“I promise you sweetheart. This will be our secret.” he said getting up off his knees still making eye contact with you

Smiling you thanked him before splashing him teasingly with your tail.

Telling him goodnight as he watch you swim away tail still shining from the light of the moon.

#leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy x black reader #resident evil x reader #resident evil 4 x reader #fantasy au #mermaid au #leon kennedy x siren!reader #<- new tag!

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crescencestudio · 9 months

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Devlog #33 | 07.26.23

Hi everyone!

It's only been a month (per usual) since the last devlog. But it feels like so long ago! Very weird that last devlog I hadn't even released Intertwine yet. But here we are, back with another one!

Before we get into things, I want to extend the biggest thank you to everyone who has played and supported intertwine!

if you havent played yet, here it is. this is me on my knees asking because i am quite proud of it and what our team accomplished in two months!

in the almost month it's been out, we stand at almost 15k total plays and 200+ reviews which is so crazy to me. i never would've expected that kind of reception for our little game and when i say it has been so motivating for alaris!!! u dont even know!!!

thank you again for all the kind words---i know you are all Sick of me talking about it but i don't know how else to express my gratitude <3 it means so much to me ;_;

I wanted to make sure I inserted an official section for it in the Devlog just to really thank you all for the support. But with that, I shall get into the updates!

But not before a quick belated happy birthday to Fenir!

Writing

I posted it earlier this week, but I HAVE!!! THE MOST EXCITING NEWS!!! At least for me.

I FINISHED DRUK'S FIRST DRAFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We all know how long this has been in the making. I've been talking about his route for what feels like an eternity. Evidently, it's Very Normal to experience burnout, struggles with motivation, creative ruts, etc. etc. at this point in development. The initial and final stages of development are easier because your motivation is up. In the beginning, it's like Wow!! This is Fun!! And towards the end, it's like Wow!!! I actually Fckn Made It!!!!

And so the middle part of development, aka the stage I just entered with Druk's route, is the slog.

Now that I've overcome that initial hurdle, while I'm not near the end of development, I do feel like I will have a better handle of progress on the following routes since I have a better set of expectations and tools on how to get through this stage (compared to when I initially started Druk's route, and I was like what are all these Feelings?? Why am I Struggling so much??).

That being said, WE ARE OVER HALFWAY DONE WITH THE SCRIPT! It currently stands at 200k words including the demo, and with how each of the routes have been shaping up, we have about 150k left to go. Wow!!!!! It is crazy to know I've written that much for Alaris, and this feels like such an exciting milestone to know that I'm over halfway there for the script!

We also have just about wrapped up Fenir's developmental edits, so that makes Kayn and Fenir's foundational versions of their routes done (all that would be left at this point is line tweaking and/or revisions based on beta feedback)!! Overall, this was a really exciting month for writing updates, and I'm so happy to feel back on track with Alaris development <3 I also finished my dissertation proposal in case anyone is keeping track of that HEEHOO

Art

Most of my attention for art was (un?)fortunately on Intertwine this month AGAIN. I really had anticipated being able to dive right into Alaris and irl work this month after Otojam ended. But the reception to Intertwine made it so I needed to dedicate some time to "marketing" artwork aka the artwork I like to make when reaching certain milestones of support (e.g., 1k downloads, etc.). Obviously these aren't necessary, but I like to show my thanks and appreciation in some way, and the artwork is what feels best conveys my gratitude.

Because we hit milestones relatively quickly, I ended up having to make those pieces faster than I anticipated prior to release. So I spent the first half of this month mostly on intertwine "promotional/apprecation" artwork. Near the tail end of this month though, I've prioritized Alaris artwork and have made progress on both the Kickstarter physical rewards and some CG sketches!

sneaky peeky of pretty mermay Aisa

Vui continues to hit it out of the park with the backgrounds. Most of them are spoilers at this point. But I do have one that isn't too bad of a spoiler! And because you all have been so supportive and patient with me, I show hehe

vui and his bg mastery: a preview of the dragon springs

The demo mentions dragon springs (I..... think......... LMAO), and here is a preview of what those dragon springs can look like. Wonder what the context will be in which we visit them, teehee! I'm in love with the way Vui brings the fantasy world of Alaris to life. I am so grateful for him ^^

Market Research

My wrist was feeling ~delicate~ this month due to Otojam crunch and then post-release pieces. So I don't have any actual art pieces to showcase this month for market research. I did play Otojam games and started Cupid Parasite (ryuki and allan my beloveds). But crescence's wrist needs to relax LOL. So no art pieces more than necessary for this month!

I will send some love to my besties over at Ravenstar Games though! If you haven't heard, they have a game currently in development called Lost in Limbo. It looks sick as hell, and the team is unbelievable talented and hardworking. This month to celebrate Barbie, they were able to sneak this promotional piece in, even while working on their Master's ((Do you see...... a familiar group of people..... heh))

Alaris x Lost in Limbo x Barbie the collaboration of the century

That's all from me for now. Thank you again for all the support and love on Intertwine! I've truly cherished all the fanwork, reviews, kind messages, etc.

That being said, while it was a bit of a struggle getting back returning to the Alaris world initially (I was literally like what.... was the plot of this again... LMAOsazodujf), it's been so rewarding to return to my OG gang. The intertwine release and return to Alaris work has also been strangely sentimental since it's reminded me how far I've come in the two years I've been in this dev Thang. As always thank you for your continued support (and for supporting Alaris since it's inception when I was a Wee Dev), and I look forward to bringing you more updates in the future <3

See you all next month, and stay safe!

#devlog #alaris

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coopigeoncoo · 9 months

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Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤

Thank you for the tag, @andypantsx3! I am both delighted and horrified to have my work regarded in a positive fashion because apparently my emotions are just like reaching blindly into a bag of trail mix; you get what you get.

But as my homeboy Socrates said, 'The unexamined life is not worth living', so it's probably beneficial for me to slow down and do some reflection on my work as a writer and appreciate the journey of growth I've been on.

So, in no particular order, here are 5 stories I've written and why I'm proud of them.

The Cardinal Rule (Hawks x Gender Neutral Reader)

A story where Hawks learns that while humans might be awed by his flying skills, the bird population is decidedly less impressed. --- "The birds are refusing to work until their demands are met," you explained, trying to subtly slide your body between Hawks and the birds who were quite literally calling for bloodshed. "Which are?" Hawks asked as he lifted the bottle of water to his mouth and took a long sip. "They, ah, want you held accountable for your numerous bird crimes." Hawks abruptly choked, water spurting from the corner of his lips as he attempted to swallow the remaining liquid as he sputtered helplessly. "My what?" He coughed, thumping solidly on his chest with a closed fist.

This one started with a late night passing thought: 'What if birds hated Hawks?' and it spiraled out of control for there. I entered into some sort of fugue state and wrote and edited the entire thing in like, three days (which is very likely a person record for me). But everything just clicked together so easily on this one- my scenes flowed well, my jokes seemed to set themselves up, and I honestly had an absolute blast writing this. This is likely the story I reread the most because I have so much fun coming back to it.

2) An Itch to Scratch (Creature!Kirishima x AFAB Reader)

Kirishima Eijiro is everything you never thought you'd find when you packed up your car and moved to a dilapidated fishing town. He was handsome, funny, and kind; the sort of man who took your breath away. And that might actually be a bit of a problem. --- "Good girl ," Eijiro praised, his hands like a vice on your hips as he pulled away from your mouth with a satisfied grin. You returned his smile with one of your own; the vibrant joy that had churned in your belly unfurled throughout your body, leaving you feeling breathless and lightheaded. "Eiji," you gasped, eyes widening in panic as your lungs seemed to seize in your chest. "I- can't breathe!"

I knew going in that if I was going to write a Mermay story I would want to write one that subverted expectations and common tropes. I removed the story from the typical tropical setting and plopped the Reader down into an dilapidated New England-ish fishing town, and threw in an additional surprise plot twist that I'm incredibly proud of.

I focused a lot on the world building here; on making the town and the people in it feel real and fleshed out. I really wanted to make the Reader feel connected to the situation they were dropped into and feel like I managed to do that successfully and even fell in love with the aging fishing town a bit myself.

3) Hot Dish (Shigaraki x AFAB Reader)

Down on his luck and scrambling for survival, Shigaraki Tomura was just looking for a place to score a hot meal. Instead, he ended up scoring a hot date. --- "You want gravy?" You asked, waggling the ladle of onion sauce enticingly, some of it sloshing over the edge of the spoon and falling back into the pot with a wet squelch. Tomura glared at the chunky sauce disdainfully before closing his eyes and sighing. "Whatever." "Gravy it is!" You cheer, pouring the sauce over the meat patty before passing it to him. "There you go! A hunk of meat for my favorite hunk." --- A slow, domestic romance between a volunteer at a soup kitchen and the newly destitute leader of a notorious villain organization.

Hot Dish is most popular story by far, which was honestly very surprising for me! I didn't realize how big Shigaraki's fan base was heading in because I wrote this for a server gift exchange and hadn't really read too many LOV centric stories. But I really enjoyed the challenge of trying to craft a soft romance for such a difficult character and think I managed to write a believable scenario where Shigaraki would be receptive to romance.

4) A Persistent Lack of Follow Through (Shouto x AFAB Reader)

Shouto had learned a lot from his Father; how to take a hit, how to pull himself back up, and how to hold a grudge. But one thing Endeavor could never teach his children was how to be a good partner. Shouto had to learn that particular skill the hard way. --- He had spent long, sleepless nights reflecting on the things you had told him; the reasons you left. Every moment of your acquaintance was turned over repeatedly in his head and examined until one devastating conclusion was reached: "I was a bad boyfriend," Shouto muttered dejectedly, idly picking at the label of the shochu bottle in the middle of the table. --- A story where Shouto loves, loses, and learns.

I'm very much a happy ending sort of person, so it was a real challenge crafting a story around the prompt of 'heartbreak'. Hearts, obviously, needed to get broken; but then I wanted to try and write a believable healing journey would look like for two people in a shattered relationship. It was equal parts satisfying and frustrating building the same relationship up twice, but ultimately I feel like the relationship I depicted is stronger because of that struggle.

It was also my first time writing Todoroki Family shenanigans, which is honestly now one of my all time favorite things to do.

5) The 3-Cs of 3-A (eventual Bakugou x AFAB Reader)

This one links to Ao3 because I'm still in the process of crossposting it to Tumblr.

Mineta Minoru is a perverted misogynist whose antics should have had him expelled from UA long ago. But he wasn’t. And now it’s your job to fix him. May God have mercy on your soul. --- “Well then, I’ll leave myself in your capable hands,” Mineta purred before popping open the top two buttons on his shirt, sending you a coy look from under his lashes. “Mold me into the perfect hero, Pygmalion! Make me your Galatea!” he screamed as he ripped open his shirt, buttons flying haphazardly through the air and pinging off the walls and floor. You throw your arms up to cover your eyes, as though blinded by the pale skin of his belly. “Why do you always have to make this weird?” you moan forlornly, already bending down to search along the floor for the missing buttons.

Aaaah, my passion project. This was my first foray into writing MHA fiction and my only continual WIP. I'm constantly editing and working to improve this one because it's so important to me.

I noticed very early on that Mineta is a character that authors tend to ignore or replace entirely, so his character really appealed to me because I hadn't really ever seen it explored very thoroughly before. 3-Cs is, at it's core, a Mineta redemption story where I try to mold him into the character he could have been; but it's also a place where I get to explore a lot of my ideas about what it's like for an average person to live in a Hero-centric society.

My absolute favorite moments as a writer are when people comment on chapter 1 with messages like 'I really hate Mineta, let's see how this goes' and then 10 chapters later are posting comments like 'What have you done? I actually like this grape-flavored weirdo now.' I actually had someone mention last chapter that they now were interested in a Mineta x Reader story, so I'm putting some weird vibes out into the universe and proud of it!

I think a lot of the people that I would tag have likely already been tagged, but just in case here are some no pressure tags! @confused-red-head @grxywxrrxnn @auraxins @pikatsum @lou-struck @stellamancer @namodawrites @sipsteainanxiety

#pigeoncoos🕊

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acupofqueercoffee · 1 year

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“Star-crossed”

Siren Alcina Dimitrescu x Reader

ao3 — https://archiveofourown.org/works/39024159

just wanted to save it here too. a little something i wrote for mermay 2022

──────── ･･ ✶ ･･ ────────

The ocean is a beautiful, mysterious place, but the creatures lurking in the darkest depths of the ocean are far more mysterious.

Evil, enchanting creatures that are known to bring men to their downfall.

There are two golden eyes glowing in the dark, visible just above the surface of the ocean, akin to the predatory eyes of a crocodile scrutinising its prey.

Pointy ears half submerged, Alcina listens meticulously — from each flap of a fly’s wings above the ocean to each pop of air bubble beneath the water surface. Her fins and scales alert her to every tiny little movement in the sea.

Somewhere in the safe distance is an outline of an anchored ship. The sharp tips of her ears twitch at the sudden sound of her daughter’s wails, and her lips pull into a snarl — sharp teeth gleaming under the soft, silvery shine of the crescent.

Alcina does not waste another second investigating from afar. Immediately, she dives down, swims directly towards peril without hesitation.

Her daughter needs her.

The closer she gets to the ship, the stronger the scent of blood becomes. It is not just anyone’s blood. It is her darling daughter’s.

So, when she finally arrives at the ship, and sees the only seaman with a weapon in hand, she has no reasons not to leap out of water and strike him with her clawed hand.

Alcina does not know that you are a woman disguised as a man. In fact, you are a researcher embarking on countless sea adventures to investigate the myths of Alcina’s very species — mysterious and magnificent sirens.

The captain of the ship is well known in the black market for selling rare, peculiar sea creatures. After many fruitless endeavors on your own leave you with no leads whatsoever, you have disguised as one of his minions, and boarded the ship in hopes of coming across the object of your fascination.

On the night of only the second day out in the ocean, something unexpected is caught in the net.

Excitement bubbling in your stomach, you have rushed to the deck, but when you see the beautiful creature being poked and prodded, the sharp metal of harpoons and knives penetrating skin and drawing dark purple blood, it is replaced by ire.

You have known that these men are merciless. From the beginning, you have a grand ploy devised in your head.

It is simple, easy, and on paper at least, almost flawless — disguise yourself as a seaman, do not bring unnecessary attentions and, lo and behold the grand finale of your plan, surreptitiously release whatever they have caught back into the ocean.

By the time the ship docks, and they notice that their precious cargo has gone missing, you will have long disappeared without a trace.

But of course, things don’t always go as planned, do they?

One stab in particular makes her screech. The pitiful creature is thrashing about, struggling in vain to scramble away from dirty boots and sharp, unforgiving objects.

The man is clearly enjoying damaging such beautiful being. The sickly sweet grin on his face is a testament to how disgustingly vile he is. It makes you want to wipe it off his face — whatever the cost, no matter the consequence.

Disguise be damned!

The ploy be damned!

If you can send her back into the ocean right away, then you will.

Your facade falls together with the man torturing the trembling creature. You do not even realise that it is the captain himself until after you have forcefully yanked the offending object out of his hand, and punched him square in the face. His nose breaks with an audible crack.

Fuck!

All of a sudden, pain blossoms in your arm. You have half a mind to believe that a mere punch has rendered your arm broken. But then, you see red seeping into the fabric of your ruined shirtsleeve.

The harpoon has long left your hand, falling with a clatter onto the sole, and your body, too, joins it on the cold, hard wood as you are unceremoniously shoved.

Sirens are said to be deadly gorgeous, the personification of dark and dangerous, the pinnacle of femme fatale. Although you have little doubt about them, you have always suspected their allure described in myths to be exaggerations.

Now, with the solid proof visible to your very naked eyes, it is safe to say that the myths, correct though they are, are in fact lacking in some aspects. The one that is caught in the net is beautiful, very beautiful indeed, but this one whom you are pinned beneath, oh, she is the most magnificent thing your eyes have ever had the pleasure of beholding!

For a moment, the reality that she is claws deep inside your chest totally slips your mind, for it is busy singing praises of the very thing that does not seem hesitant to rip your heart out.

Out of the corner of your eye, you catch sight of the captain approaching, sword in hand. Without thinking, your hands grasp her ribcage, for a fleeting moment unconscious of the gills that are located there.

The surprised little gasp that tumbles out of her plump lips, and directly down the canals of your ears, is the reason behind the colossal eruption of butterflies inside your stomach.

The shadow looming over the two of you is the only sign you need to hastily roll the two of you over, missing by a whisker, the sword that comes striking down. The force with which it is thrown is brutal, sure to pierce scales, flesh and bone. The paper thin edge of the sword manages to catch you, leaving a crimson slash across your back while a good inch of the tip lodges itself in the sole of the boat.

In lieu of the wood, it could very well have been her body. Strangely, the mere idea of it forces ice down your spine.

On the other hand, it only encourages the claws already buried deep in your chest to sink even deeper, and you wince, let out a whimper. You are not expecting her to appreciate your help, but you are also not expecting her to kill you right then and there.

Just why is she so hell-bent on hurting you?

Have you offended her somehow?

You don’t stay on her face long enough to see the look of bewilderment on her face, a flicker of recognition dancing behind those shimmering golden pools.

Before you can ponder any longer, you hear the captain commanding his men to make certain that the two creatures do not flee the ship. It forces you to your feet, and picking up the discarded sword, you quickly cut the net in which the wounded one is entangled.

“Go! Leave now!”

As soon as the words leave your mouth, one after another of the crewmates comes running towards you, and you strike them with the back of your sword. You do your best to redirect their attentions to you, buying enough time for the other two to escape.

And just like that, you are your own undoing, left to eat your own empty words.

It is one against many. Of course, you are bound to lose. But by the time you have no energy left, and the sword is eventually knocked out of your hand, the two mysterious creatures are thankfully but regretfully long gone.

──────── ･･ ✶ ･･ ────────

Why has she returned anywhere near this godforsaken eyesore of a ship? Alcina is none the wiser.

Perhaps a part of her feels bad.

She has learnt from her daughter that contrary to what she believes, you have been the one to save her daughter. If it is not for you to intervene, Bela has said, the bastard who is having fun inflicting pain upon her would have actually maimed her.

In the scheme of things, as wrong as it is to immediately point the finger at you, considering the situation she has found herself in, wrongfully accusing you is understandtable. Her little Bela has been suffering after all, and she cannot afford the luxury of dawdling.

She does admit however that she has done you a great wrong by wounding you, not to mention her daughter’s saviour, so terribly.

Still, she lies.

She knows very well why she has returned here. Because you remind Alcina of her.

Could it be— no.

Absolutely not! She chides herself. Clearly, you are a stupid man-thing. There is not a ghost of a chance that you are her darling girl.

Peeved at this ceaseless delusion of hers, she is on the cusp of swimming back to her daughters, and more than ready to disregard everything about today, when all of a sudden, the tranquilility of the night is spoiled by a booming splash.

Underwater, the ripples tickle the gills, and scales on her tail.

An invisible but a profoundly palpable force compells her to swim towards the source. The brain tells her that it is a bad idea; its endless lectures, she ignores in favour of the heart’s desire.

What awaits her on the other end is you. Hands bound behind your back, you are being dragged into the bottomless abyss of the ocean. The culprit is the large anchor attached to the very end of the same rope that is tied to your shackled feet.

Her heart stutters.

Your movements have left the head scarf floating away in the water. All this time, it has been hiding your lustrous silky strands.

The awful mustache she has very clearly seen on your face has simply fallen off. It, too, has been a fake all along.

It goes without saying that the twin parallel moles on your shoulder are indeed real. It is not just her treacherous eyes playing awful tricks on her.

With both of the additions gone, and that one little detail, you and her darling girl become the same person.

The same soul in the same body. Only different lives during different times.

In this life, they have merely crossed paths, and the endless circle has already begun. You are not only hurt as a consequence of helping Alcina and her daughter escape, but injured further by her very own hands.

She feels a sharp stab deep within her chest.

Her darling girl is as selfless as she has remembered her to be.

Kind faced and gentle souled.

With tender hands and a heart of gold.

There is a sudden profound wave of nostalgia that sweeps over her, all-consuming — a beautiful voice that sweetly calls her name, feather-soft fingers that tentatively explore her body, nauseatingly velvety lips that touches her everywhere.

Warm, sunny days filled with stolen kisses and sugary smiles.

Chill and gloominess brought by rainy evenings and cold, winter nights, but they just cannot compare with the warmth and brightness that is you, her sweet girl.

In this bitter, foredoomed tale, Alcina’s grieving heart takes refuge in those little delectable bits that the two of you have so lovingly crafted together.

Because, what awaits them in the end is blood.

So much blood. Every. Single. Time.

And here you are. They have not even begun, and yet, your exquisite frame is already battered and bruised.

Alcina cradles you close against her chest. It is as delightful as it is excruciating to have you in her arms once again. Her bright, shining light, oh how she has missed you!

There is nowhere in this world where she would rather see you than in her arms. Here is where you belong.

Oh but she knows it to be false. She knows it all too well in fact.

To her tremendous relief, you are only unconscious. She has gotten you out of the chains, and enchanted you so that you will be able to breathe underwater. She has also taken the liberty of reading your mind for some much needed informations.

Then, in her human form, Alcina carries you to the cottage you are currently staying at, which is not very far from the ocean.

Tentative fingers glide across your face, as if one real touch from her would turn you to dust. She traces the outline of your every delicate feature that is eternally engraved in her very heart.

One wave of her hand makes the wounds and cuts on your body vanish.

The tears and stains in your shirt repairs themselves, leaving no traces of having ever been ruined, or for that matter, sullied with your own blood.

“It is only wishful thinking but I do want you to know somewhere in here-” A hand rests on your chest, your heartbeat a soft, serene thump beneath her palm. “-that I love you so much....an echo of the past mayhap. But, it is because I love you, my darling, that I have to do this.”

Lips meet your temple, devastatingly tender, and a thumb caresses your cheek, the gesture painfully gentle in contrast to the rough, calloused texture of her skin.

She speaks your name oh so softly with an ache in her heart, a quaver in her voice.

“Unless I cease to exist, there will never be a moment in my life where I stop loving you. Sleep well, precious girl,” A lonesome tear falls. “ …and forget everything about today, about me.”

There is a tale among bards that is notably famous far and wide. Their poems tell us of a human girl who has captured the attention of a creature of the ocean, and in turn befriended her.

With voices so jovial, bards would sing of their beautiful beginning: two entirely different souls that, little by little, find love in each other.

However, the ocean is not always calm, nor is the weather perpetually pleasant.

The creature is a taker, and the girl, a giver.

Kindness, warmth, tenderness: staggering affections and delicate sensations the creature has never experienced before, the human shows her for the very first time.

Kind eyed and gentle souled, her human promises her everything. She gives, and gives and gives until she can give no more because for her darling creature, she has given up her life.

In every life, one way or another, the human chances upon the immortal creature.

But, no matter the time and place, she is destined to an untimely death.

Her fate can be prevented....if, and only if, the two of them never fall in love.

For the creature, the human is her past, present and future. She is her entire life.

Although the human has no recollections of her past lives, the soul knows. It feels.

Without warning, without limitation, each time she beholds the peculiar, magnificent creature, she falls for her all over again.

There is no happy ending to their story. Tragedy is bound to strike.

With voices woefully melancholic, the bards croon of the creature’s enchanted kiss bestowed upon the human.

The creatures of the ocean are magical beings. Such a kiss from them is said to erase one’s memories. One will remember not a trace of ever encountering them.

There would always be a day in the human girl’s life where she would feel particularly empty inside, as if the most vital piece of herself has gone missing — a hollow shell.

Waking up with wet cheeks, and an aching heart, she would always find, held tightly in her hand, a lone curious pearl.

──────── ･･ ✶ ･･ ────────

It’s either my beloved sacrificing herself to save me, or I sacrificing our love to save her.

I have learnt after all this time that watching my darling human have her own happily ever after, even in the arms of someone who is not me, is a less painful outcome than having to witness, yet another time, my sweet, precious girl perish in my very arms.

How many times do I have to hold her cold, unmoving body within these very arms that have promised her warmth and safety?

I will never be able to keep her safe within my arms. I have tried, and tried and tried only to fail miserably every time. Having no knowledge of me will promise her a much safer, happier life.

You, my dearest, will be able to live your life to the fullest as long as you are far away from me.

It is excruciating, yes. But sometimes, if you truly love someone, you have to release them.

Because what is love, if not the most exquisite form of suffering.

Through blurry vision, I gaze down at the shimmering pearl resting on the palm of my hand.

Behind its bony cage, the stupid organ throbs excruciatingly.

Fist collides with my chest.

Fingers dig into my flesh.

Anything....

Anything to numb this heartache.

Amidst all the jumbled thoughts and confused murmurs, the one word that leaves my mouth with intense clarity as teardrops wet my cheeks has been....

“Oh, Alcina.”

#alcina dimitrescu angst #alcina dimitrescu x reader #alcina dimitrescu #resident evil alcina #re8 alcina #alcina x female reader #alcina x reader #lady alcina dimitrescu #lady dimitrescu #siren #character x reader #fanfic #angst #resident evil #mermay 2022 #human x monster

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istanmyman · 11 months

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Imagine: Pirate!Soap x Siren!Ghost

I know it's the end of Mermay but i just really want to write some merm AU Soapghost

A story about Pirate Soap and Siren Ghost where Soap gets betrayed by his crew, put in a little rowboat with no peddles and is tied up and gagged, serving as bait for the monster.

Soap is fearful, because he knows how dangerous the creature is that his fellow pirates are trying to catch(and how valuable). Ghost would see the tiny rowboat and circle around it. He's toying with his prey, thinking another group of humans is trying to catch a glimpse of him. He surfaces and peaks over the side of the boat. He sees a human, bound and silenced with something blocking his mouth.

Soap would try to scream through the fabric that's been tied over his mouth. He wants to warn the creature about his old crews plan, because he won't let them get away with betraying him, having him eaten and getting rich in the process. Ghost is quick to react and evades a harpoon shot his way. He is pissed, knew that the humans would try something again...exept for the human in the boat who clearly does not want to be there. He breaks the ship with a slap of his tail, the force of it sends Soap into the water.

Ghost grabs the human and frees his mouth, pressing his lips to the human's to give him air before swimming away with the still tied up man in his arms. Eventually they arrive somewhere where large rocks stick out of the water. The rocks are big enough for them to sit on and Soap is quickly hauled onto one by the Siren. He fears he's going to get eaten, but the Siren merely talks to him; asks him why he was in the boat, why he's tied up and what his name is.

After that nerve-wreaking conversation, Soap gets untied by the Siren, much to his surprise. He pushes his luck and asks to be helped back to shore. "No." Ghost tells him. "I'm taking you with me." He's finally found a human who's not for once trying to harm or kill him, at least not anymore, so he intends to keep the cute, nervous thing that has entered his hunting ground.

Ghost is used to being alone, but that doesn't mean he wants to be. Soap will serve as either entertainment, a mate or as a backup meal for him. Maybe all three. It's the least the human can do for initially trying to hunt after him.

#ghost x soap #ghoap #soapghost #ghostsoap #mermay #soap mw2 #ghost mw2 #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish

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yonemurishiroku · 11 months

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So I was gonna just post this myself but then I thought: nah it's s mermaid au so it has to come via yone's ask. that's the law

Nico is a prince, Jason is his deeply devoted naval captain. One day Nico is sailing out on the seas and he disappears. Jason obviously is distraught, and goes to look for him. (Idk why he wasn't with him in the first place maybe he had a cold or smth) After many months he finds the spot Nico's ship was last seen and he is lulled beneath the waves by the voice of a siren. This siren (Percy) had taken Nico and was keeping him in his underwater palace, and Nico had fallen in love with him. To twist things further, Jason realises Siren!Percy is actually his first love whom he lost at sea 15 years ago.

Idk if it ends with tragedy or polyamory or both. Do they break the spell on Percy or do they all become fish people ever after? I don't know but I thought you might enjoy <3

From Feb 6 to May 20 because it's Mermay!!!

No that's just a lie I'm so sorry I got carried away. adksadkasda pls know that my love's present even when I'm not. 😭😭😭

Firstly just let me say a million thank yous because I indeed love this. Well I've always loved Perjasico. Moreso when it's just a mess and none of them is requited---- I love you too so there's that

This prompt hides so many things. I'm delusional just looking at it.

I like the way you make it that Percico, compared to Jasico, appears very fabricated - idk if it's your intention but just let me explain.

As it is, I'm assuming Nico and Percy come together because Percy uses his siren magic (sinking his ship, luring him to the palace, etc...), which implies that the feelings might not be completely willing from Nico's side. There's the interference of magic - and I'm all for magical but untruthful love (hello Jason and Piper----)

On the other hand, let's just say that I prefer more complicated feelings, I think it should be that Percy only keeps Nico because he feels lonely. As in: his requirement for Nico's presence stems from loneliness, not fascination/infatuation. This implies that Percy isn't technically interested in Nico as a person - he's only using him to abate his painful isolation. That's why he's actively using his magic to bind him.

Now, to complicate things further (because I've always been in love with emotional baggage), I think Percy should become a siren because of the heartbreak over Jason.

Now, here's the fun part. What if Percy was a merman who - in a typical The Little Mermaid fashion - came to the land for Jason? Their story was of that Disney movie - a merman overcoming difficulties, signing a contract to reach his love. And they did have their happy ending!

But then that happy ending all broke up because of some reason. I have yet to come up with one but I just need it. Idk maybe there was a strife/ a misunderstanding/ idk! and Percy fell into the ocean, subsequently suffering the curse of heartbreak and becoming a siren - as the witch's way for the sea to reclaim its child. to say that the people on land are nothing good. only the sea would love you.

And now, 15 years later, it all came back to Jason, now with his new love in danger.

I'm vibrating with joy and I'm not even ashamed (I'm so sorry Jason).

But wait. All of this just makes Percy the antagonized antagonist of a Jasico story. Eh. Where's the fun in that? So anyway. I say we put Nico in as the reason for Jercy's breakup.

Yes, I'm having too much fun with this.

Anw. I have yet to come up with one logical reason.

I have some dramatic ones though - like maybe Nico had a crush on Percy when the two were together and something happened that made him the indirect catalyst to a fighting (bc here I'm assuming Jason has his own duties of serving the prince (or the royal family at least) which means Nico has some semblance of power over him)).

Jesus Christ this is all a mess and I'm still cackling. I haven't even touched the ending yet. I just want them all in pain and in blood. jasdhadka

Anyway this is everything I can come up with in the mean time LMAO Your idea never fails to enrapture me 😭🥺🥺🥺 I'm just too incompetent to reply on time askdjakdaajdsahk i love u with everything in me

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bigoltrashpile · 11 months

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I’m been trying to wrack my brain for a proper MerMay prompt but it’s the last day and I still have nothing so uh freebie I suppose it just has to be mermaid related lmaooo

OH SHIT LAST DAY OF MERMAY LET'S DO IT

As long as you could remember, you'd been fascinated by the ocean. Its so beautiful, yet terrifying. Endless, dark, and full of absolutely fascinating life. So, as soon as you were old enough, you immediately began your marine biology degree.

College was hard, but you loved learning about the different ways animals and plants could survive in such an extreme environment. You loved it! But you really wanted to be out on the ocean, instead of just in the classroom. So after years of pinched pennies, searching your couch cushions, and a swear jar, you finally got together enough money to buy your own boat.

It wasn't anything fancy. Just a little sailboat, equipped with a motor, a cramped cabin below decks, and a bit of a leak. It was small, but it was yours. As soon as you had the chance, you took it out on the sea.

Your hands were practically shaking in excitement as you unfurled the sails. It was a cloudy day, with a storm predicted for later that evening, but that wasn't about to stop you. If worse came to worst, you could always stay in the cabin until it blew over.

Finally, you were underway. You stood on the bow, the wind whistling through your hair and the sail above you billowing. You took in a deep breath, relishing the slight sting of salt. This was where you belonged, on the open sea.

You spent most of the day sailing, just enjoying being out on the water. After a while, you couldn't even see the land anymore! Around sunset, you finally decided to head back, when-

CRASH!

You yelped as a bolt of lightning struck the water. It was about a mile away from you, but it still felt incredibly close. You looked up at the sky. The rain was beginning to fall now. "Shit," you muttered. You frantically began to put the sail up. It would be useless in a storm, and you didn't want it to get struck by lightning. It seemed like you would have to rely on the motor. The old, shitty, half-broken motor. Great.

You dashed to the back of the boat, already soaked to the bone. The rain was coming down in sheets now, and the lightning seemed to be coming closer. You reached the motor and-

It didn't start.

"Come on!" you groaned in frustration. You tried to start it again. Nothing. Third time's the charm, and...

It started! It sounded like it had smoked a pack a day for thirty years, but it was working! No sooner did you feel relief, when-

A horrible sound. A mix between a crunch, a scream, and a squelch. The sky was dark now, but in the brief flashes of lightning, you could see a horrible red staining the water.

You gasped. Immediately, you turned off the motor. It wasn't important now. Something was hurt! You leaned over the side of the boat, desperate to see what had happened.

The light from the setting sun was completely blocked by the heavy clouds. You squinted, trying to see through the dark and the pouring rain.

CRASH!

The lightning and the thunder were almost inseparable now. In the flash, you saw something.

A skeleton.

Or, at least, the skull of one. You could just see their eyesockets peeking above the water, glaring right at you with burning red lights. It was alive! With a gasp, you fell back, your ass hitting the deck hard.

A skeletal hand appeared on top of the gunwale. The skeleton...thing's sharp claws dug in so hard that you were sure you heard the wood splinter. The other hand appeared, and then the rest of it.

Another flash of lightning lit up the sky, just as the skeleton pulled itself onto the deck. It had wickedly sharp teeth, and a long, angled face. Scars covered its bones, but the three claw marks over its eye socket were especially noticeable. You couldn't move. You couldn't scream. All you could do was stare as your certain doom drew closer.

You managed to tear your eyes away from the skeleton's teeth (the teeth that would probably tear out your throat, you thought) and noticed its lower half. It was...a fish. Bloody scales and a tough, muscular tail replaced the legs of the skeleton. Finally, you knew where the blood in the water came from.

"Y-you're hurt," you managed to squeak out. "I can help! Please don't kill me!"

That seemed to give the skeleton, or, mer-skeleton, pause. It glared at you, eyes full of malice. You met its gaze, trying hard not to be intimidated. If it could understand you, maybe you could find a way out of this. If not, well, at least you would go with some dignity.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the skeleton collapsed. Its arms couldn't seem to hold the rest of its body up anymore. The blood loss and shock was getting to him. You jumped up and ran over to his side.

There was a huge gash in the skeleton's tail, but you couldn't get a proper look with the blood covering it, and the rain obscuring your vision. "I'm going to take you inside, okay?" you finally said.

The skeleton snarled weakly, but didn't fight when you threw his arms over your shoulder. With a lot of effort, and a bit of help from your unexpected guest, you managed to drag him into the cabin.

Now that you were inside, and a lot closer, you could see a lot more details. You carefully laid the skeleton down on the floor. The first thing you noticed was how big he was. The torso was a bit above average, for a human, but the lower half was easily seven feet long. Looking closer, the tail seemed to be that of a tiger shark, littered with more scars. You couldn't worry about that, though. The gash in its side was more pressing than just admiring him.

Wait. When did you start thinking of it as a him?

You quickly pushed that thought away. "Stay here," you told him gently. You gave him the best smile you could manage, before racing off to get some supplies.

You quickly gathered towels, a tub of warm water, and the first aid kit that you had, thankfully, remembered to put under the sink when you first bought the boat. You returned to find the skeleton, now leaning heavily against the wall, looking ready to fight his way out. His head was held high, teeth bared, and arms out, making himself look bigger.

You approached carefully, trying to give him a wide berth in the cabin that was barely bigger than he was. "It's okay," you said soothingly. You tried to keep your voice calm and low. You lowered yourself to the wound. "I'm here to help. Don't worry."

"YOU? HELP?" The voice that came out of his mouth made you jump. He could talk??? "YOU'RE THE ONE THAT TRIED TO KILL ME IN THE FIRST PLACE."

"I-I-" you stammered. "You can talk?"

"I'M NOT AN IDIOT."

"I never said you were!" you tried to defend yourself. "I just...thought you were a fish...skeleton...thing. But that's not important!" You shook your head. "I study fish! I know how to help!"

Before you could blink, the skeleton's hand was around your neck. Your instincts kicked in, and you tried to pull his hand away. It was no use, his grip was like a vice! "Don't Try Anything, I Won't Hesitate To Rip You Apart," he growled low in your ear.

You swallowed hard, feeling the claws prick your neck slightly. Frantically, you nodded. After another long moment, the skeleton let go of your neck. "GOOD."

Shaking, you knelt down to his side. Now that you were close, you could see that the gash wasn't too deep. It hadn't hit bone, at least, but there was no sign that the bleeding was slowing. You carefully soaked a towel in the water, before beginning to clean the wound.

For about five painfully awkward minutes, the skeleton stared down at you in silence. The only sound was the rain pounding against the deck above you, and the slosh of water as you soaked the towels. After a while, you cleared your throat awkwardly. "So, um...what's your name?"

"....NOIR."

"Nice to meet you," you said awkwardly. How do you make conversation with a mermaid skeleton thing while trying to heal a wound that you caused? "Do you...live around here?"

Noir rolled his red eyelights, finally looking away for a moment. "YES, I 'LIVE AROUND HERE.' I WAS SIMPLY HUNTING IN THE RAIN, BEFORE YOU SO RUDELY TRIED TO MURDER ME."

"I didn't try to murder you!" Now that you weren't about to die, you could appreciate his voice. It was rough, but not grating, and a pleasing tenor. "It was an accident! I was trying to get out of the storm, but...it didn't work. Obviously."

You sighed. "Okay, the blood is slowing down, but I think I'm going to need to suture it. Is...that okay?"

"OF COURSE. I CAN HANDLE A FEW MEASLY SUTURES."

You smiled. "Alright! Just hold still, please."

Very carefully, you began to stitch the wound shut. Noir sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. As if to play it off, he spoke again. "WHY WERE YOU OUT HERE IN SUCH A STORM?"

"Oh! Well, I really like the ocean," you admitted. "I'm actually studying marine biology..." That seemed to pique his interest. "And I finally managed to buy this boat, but...I guess I picked a bad day for a test run," you laughed weakly.

"I SEE." He looked away, finally. "WELL....THANK YOU." The words seemed like they were a struggle to get out.

You beamed up at him. "Of course! It is my fault you got hurt." You finally finished the stitches. They looked crooked and honestly kind of shitty, but not too bad for your first attempt, and on a shark skeleton no less! "Well, you're all patched up."

Noir seemed surprised, like he hadn't noticed. "AH. THAT WAS QUICK."

The two of you sat in silence for a moment. "You might not be able to swim well for a while...do you...want to stay the night?" Noir's eyes were back on you, but his bone brows (?) were high in surprise. "I-I'm not going anywhere tonight, obviously, but you're welcome to sleep here. Get your strength back up, I don't know, you can take the bed, of course, and..." You trailed off, incredibly awkward.

"I...I GUESS IT CAN'T HURT. I WILL STAY FOR THE NIGHT!"

You smiled. "Great!" You carefully helped him into the bed, trying hard not to jostle him too much. Even though his tail hung over most of the bed, he seemed okay, if a bit awkward. It was probably his first time in a bed, you thought to yourself absently.

You tried to make yourself comfortable on the floor, but...it was hard. The deck leaked, so you kept getting hit by raindrops. The floor was hard and cold, and you only had the spare blanket to cover yourself. As soon as you were about to fall asleep, you would get snapped back awake by the water or by a large wave.

"OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE." Noir's voice made you jump once again. "THIS IS PATHETIC. GET IN HERE."

"But...you're in the bed?"

"WE CAN SHARE, AND YOUR CONSTANT MOVING AND SHIVERING IS KEEPING ME AWAKE!"

"How is me shivering keeping you awake-"

"JUST GET IN HERE!"

You giggled before carefully climbing into bed. You tried to keep your distance, but the bed was too small. Almost half of you was hanging off the bed, until-

Noir's arm wrapped around your shoulders and tugged you closer. "Relax, I Won't Kill You."

"O-oh. That's a relief." You were glad it was dark, or else he could see how flustered you were. "Um...I'll try to not bother you again."

"Good." Even though you were no longer hanging off the edge of the bed, Noir's arm didn't move. If you didn't know better, you would think you were...cuddling. Now that you were close, you could really appreciate Noir's face. Now that he was relaxed (and no longer about to murder you), he was very handsome. His sharp cheekbones, the scratches over his eye, the deadly teeth...

Finally, you closed your eyes. You could worry about those feelings in the morning. For now, you were just going to relax, and share a bed with your new friend.

#writing #papyrus #papyrus x reader #noir #undertale #undertale imagines #mermay #underfell #my garbage #i kind of went overboard with this one #lmao overboard #like boats #anyway i hope you enjoy!

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huffle-dork · 29 days

Text

Swap Across the CrystalVerse Chapter 6: Merms

Read Swapboys | Crystal’s AUs | Read MerMay Stories

Read SITCV | SATCV Masterpost | AO3 Link

The boat is crossing a stretch of open ocean. The sea floor beneath them is mostly sand with clusters of rocks and kelp.

As the merms continue swimming, Chase dives down to grab some of the kelp, yanking it free and chewing on it.

"Hey, can I have some?" Jack asks. Chase nods and hands it over.

Jackie is getting better as he moves, hiccupping here and there but at least getting into a stride. He blinks down at Jack and Chase and tilts his head. "...does that taste good?"

"It does to us," Chase says. "I don't know if it will to you, since you're human even if you're technically a merm right now. My kids say that it tastes like salad? And they're halflings which I think is similar to what you are right now. So... take what you want from that."

"You can't eat fish, though," Jack says.

"Right, yeah, even halflings need to have the fish cooked, they can't just eat them like we do," Chase agrees.

"Oh really? Huh... that's interesting." Jackie says with a hum.

"Are you all enjoying yourselves?" Schneep asks, tentacles clinging to the bottom of the boat. The bag he's wearing--human-made by the look of it--hangs upside down from his shoulder.

Alt can't help but laugh. "Are you, Schneep? cuz you look like a grumpy gills-"

"Boooo!" Bro calls to Alt. Alt flicks him with his tail.

"Me? Oh, I am fine," Schneep says.

Jackie swims back around to say, "That's just his face," before heading back to the front of the pack.

"Hey!" Schneep snaps.

Alt giggles.

"Oh just like Alt!" Bro grins.

"Hey! I've been getting better!" Alt snaps.

Bro looks back to Schneep and then tries to swim upside down so he can look him in the face. "Does that make you dizzy or anything? You're also gripping on so well- but I guess that makes sense- cuz... octopus."

Schneep chuckles. "The non-octos are always so surprised." One of the tentacles peels away, showing the suckers on the other side. "It does take effort to grip, but I can hold on for a while before I need to stop."

Jackie circles back around again. "Careful, Chase. If you swim with your dorsal upside down for too long it messes up your balance."

"Oh? Really?" Bro rights himself and shakes a bit of vertigo off, dipping in the water before gaining his height. He laughs, "Thanks for the warning man."

Mer-Jackie looks at Schneep. "Talking about how great it is to be an octo again? How's it feel to be slow?"

"Oh shut up." Schneep rolls his eyes.

"Some octos can change color, y'know," Jackie says to Bro. "Like Schneep's neighbor." He looks at Schneep and grins. "Vea."

"Yes, she can do that." Schneep's face is straight, but strangely, his tentacles shift color to a lighter blue.

Bro looks very interested in this and then blinks at Schneep's tentacles and points. "Oh!! They kinda changed colors! woahhh"

"Y-yes, that happens sometimes," Schneep says.

"But it's not like what Vea can do," Jackie says, grinning. "She can camoflague into anything. Isn't that cool?"

"V-very cool." The shade of blue is deepening now... like a blush.

"Oh that is cool!" Bro says excitedly. He eyes the color with a slight knowing look. "That'd be such a useful skill!"

"Like Peeta in the hunger games!" Jackieboy says, catching up to them. Bro laughs.

Schneep blinks. "I don't know what that means. Chase? What human stuff is this 'hungry games'?"

Chase frowns. "I don't know everything about humans. It's been years since I was one, things change so fast up there. Don't get me started on the way phones went from colorful flippy things to slabs."

"Woahhh you were human once??" Jackie asks, looking at Chase with fascination. "Wait no okay that makes sense- cuz you said you had halflings- dude though that so crazy! It's like- real life little mermaid!"

Bro bonks Jackie on the head, "Stop dropping pop

culture references we gotta explain!"

"Oh we know about The Little Mermaid," Jack says. "Stacy showed us."

Chase gives a little laugh. "It was more like the fairy tale than the animated movie with the redhaired girl. I-I saw a cute human on the beach one day, a-and I kept coming back to see her. Until I decided I had to get to know her so I got Marvin to cast a spell on me to make me human for a year and a day. I-it was tough. Walking was hard, and I didn't know any human knowledge. But w-we got really close, and started going out, a-and um..." That blush is back. "But, uh, w-we were just seventeen so when the spell wore off she said I probably shouldn't turn human permanently until she finished school. And then stuff happened, and... now I have two kids."

Mer-Jackie circles back again. "So romantic!" And back to the front.

Jackie awwws, "That is the sweetest story I've ever heard!!"

"I thought you always said nothing would beat how you met Zara-" Bro teases, bumping into him.

"Well- getting my ass kicked isnt really romantic on my part-" Jackie snickers. "She did look like an angel that day though~!"

"She beat you up?" Chase asks. "Oh, was it like--like a fight class?"

"I'd like a partner who could kick my tail!" Jackie contributes.

"Not many people can do that, though," Schneep mutters.

"Oh!" Jack looks over at Jackie. "What about that orca? Margaret?"

"Maggie likes girls, but she could kick my tail, so that's the idea."

"Yeah it was a martial arts class." Jackie laughs, "First day- she and me were the only ones with fighting experience and I wanted to seem tough because well- I had recently decided I wanted to be more of a guy. That was a mistake and she humbled me realll quick. But... looking at her look at me so smug- ah... it was love right there." He sighs, looking up at the light filtering through the ocean. "So yeah- I guess you liking to be beat up by strong women is a universal thing!"

Bro giggles. "The heart wants what the hearts wants, dude!"

"Be more of a guy?" Jackie asked. "What do you mean? Just change to a guy."

"I may not know as much about humans as Chase," Schneep says. "But even I know that they cannot change their gender so easily."

Jackieboy bursts into laughter, "Oh man! If only it was that easy!"

"I mean- technically it was for you- and Alt." Bro points out.

"Shush- we still went through most of the things other people do! We just- skipped the surgeries." Jackieboy adds, touching the light purple scars on his chest- ones that were very similar to the ones Alt has.

"All it takes for us is some will and a good night's sleep," Jackie says. "It just kinda... happens. We're very different."

"No, what gave it away?" Schneep drawls. "Was it the tails or the fins?"

"No, I get where Jackie's coming from," Chase says. "Humans think that merms are just like them, but underwater, but it's not like that at all. But you guys can probably feel the differences, right?"

Bro chuckles at the sarcasm before looking to his other self. He swishes his tail as he thinks. "..Yeah- it's weird. You don't really think about how it would be, living underwater. But- even the way you breathe is different. The weight of the water and ebb and flow of everything around you. It's... really cool. But so so different from how things on land work."

"Tell me about it," Chase mutters. "Balance is hard on legs."

"It's hard even if you're used to having legs." Jackie grins.

"Only for you, clumsy." Bro snorts, knocking into Jackie.

The two of them start playfully bumping into each other, trying to throw the other off course.

Meanwhile, Anti is swimming sort of near Alt, still trying to figure out if he should approach.

Alt feels a presence near him and he tilts his head, deciding to look back. He smiles slightly as he sees Anti. "Doin' alright?" He asks.

Anti blinks. He opens his mouth, closes it again. Blinks again. "You've... been... giving off... waves since you transformed," he says slowly. "Do you... know that? I-is it helping you... see?"

Alt blinks back and then looks down at his tail. He... kinda felt that. ...is that how he knew Anti was near? "...huh... I... I think I kinda noticed but... I didn't realize what that was." He tilts his head at Anti, "...see?"

Anti nods. He's sort of awkwardly playing with his hands, claws clicking together. "I can pulse electricity and... it helps me see. When I can't. M-my eyes aren't good. I'm supposed to be in dimmer light. But I can tell where things are. Is that what's happening?"

Alt looks thoughtful as he takes stock of himself. Experimentally, he tries to pulse some electricity out as well- though he's not quite sure what he's supposed to see. "Huh... like- echolocation almost. But, with electricity." He grins, fascinated. "I didn't know it could do that! I wonder if you could do that on land or- does it only work cuz we're underwater? dudeee that's so cool!"

"I-I don't know, I've never tried it on land," Anti says. "M--maybe? You need the inside parts to work." He gestures at his tail. "That's, um, all stuff to make electricity. So... if you turn human, pr-probably not."

Alt hums in thought, "I'll have to try that some time... I can generate electricity normally. hm..."

"Oh right. I forgot." Anti smiles a little. He pauses. "It... probably doesn't really come through with your eyes open."

Alt blinks down at Anti and then laughs, "Oh yeah- I guess that makes sense. Lemme see..." Alt closes his eyes and tries again to pulse out his electricity.

Alt is momentarily blind, but then he realizes--the faint wave he's been giving off is bouncing back to him. It's like a sixth sense, like radar on a submarine, telling him the shape of the ocean floor below him, the outline of the boat above him, and the movement of the merms and fish around him. When he actively pulses out, the range increases.

Alt is almost tempted to open his eyes, not liking the fact that he can't see when... he feels it. The wave of his senses reaching out, making sense of the darkness.

"So... you can still see, see?" Anti says.

Alt starts to give off a bit more electricity in his excitement, laughing breathlessly. "Y-Yeah! Oh wow this is- this is so cool!"

"Y-y-yeah, it--I guess it is, I never... thought about it. It's always how it's been for me. I-I don't think you can shock like I can. Or... if you can, i-it's with your magic, not your insides. Right?"

Alt opens his eyes back up to look at Anti and smiles. "uhh no I don't think so... seems like I can do that to see but still- that's so crazy. I like it-" He grins. "I can't wait to see if I can still do that on land! ...thanks for showing me, Anti."

Anti blinks. Then he grins slowly. "Y-you're welcome. Gl-glad I could help." He clacks his claws together some more. "I... think I like... helping."

Alt's expression softens and he loops to be a bit closer to Anti. It's... weird. This Anti seems... more like him than the others he's seen recently. One that's grumpy and prickly but deep down... there's something good in there. He smiles at Anti. "...it's hard at first- but helping is kinda an awesome feeling. Especially if you have good friends who help you too."

Anti stares at Alt. "Friends..." He glances at the others. "I'm... not sure if I'm one of those. I, um... hurt them. A while ago. I was... scared. But I still did... more than I needed. But... they don't hate me. I-it's hard to understand."

Alt's expression softens more and turns sympathetic. He looks up at Bro and Jackie and breathes, "...I know how that feels. I hurt my friends too. My brother, even. I was... angry. And confused. And I took things way too far. But... despite all that... they're still here." Alt laughs, shaking his head. "Somedays... I don't get it. Why they stick around... why they don't see me as... just a bad person. A monster. But... if somebody wants to see the good in you... I think you should let them." He looks back at Anti and smiles. "I think they can see that in you, Anti. That want to help. And that makes them friends. Cuz they're still here."

Anti listens to this intently. He lets out a breath, the gills on his neck visibly opening. "I... have a hard time understanding this," he says quietly. "I-I didn't think any of that was possible... for a long time. H-helping people, I mean. But... I like it. A-and I like that they're... willing to... help. I can... I can try. To be 'better.' I think I'm doing better. I-if they see that, I sh-shouldn't push that away." He nods. "Thank you. Not... I-I don't talk about this a lot. I don't think others understand."

Alt smiles more and lightly bumps his tail against Anti's. "... I get it. I didn't think it'd ever be possible for me to help people but... I'm here. Trying to be a hero like Chase is. It's... insane. But deep down, anyone can change for the better- especially if they have people willing to stick around for the journey."

Anti pauses. "Can you feel that? When you pulse. The land is sloping up. That means the coast is coming. We're getting close."

Alt pauses too and blinks trying to feel the slope. "Oh yeah- I do feel it." His eyes pulse with his magic as he starts to focus back at the task at hand.

"We're getting close," Anti announces to the others.

"Really?" Chase says. He swims up to the surface, only his tail showing for a while, and then comes back down. "Ollie says he'll try to find somewhere on the coast to dock safely but it's pretty swampy."

"Swampy? Sounds like we are getting close," Jackie says.

Schneep detaches from the boat, flipping around right ways and swimming along with the others. "We are either going to find Jameson, or, perhaps, Marvin and that stranger. They may have beat him here."

"What was his name again?" Jack asks. "Excellent, or something like that?"

The swaps laugh. "Magnificent," Alt says, grinning. He then looks at the water and squints. "...I don't know what to expect of him here... from what I knew- he hated water."

"oh my god- could he be anymore like a cat?" Jackie groans. "Like- I get it, it's his thing but C'monnn"

"Jameson's message said he transformed into a merm," Chase recalls. "So, uh, I guess he knows the same sort of spell you guys do."

"I wonder what he would become," Jackie muses. "You all didn't choose your merm forms, did you? Because if you did, he could become something pretty bad."

"I can take him," Anti says. This doesn't sound like a brag, more like he's stating a fact.

"We'll see," Schneep mutters.

“Hmm… I wonder…” Alt muses, thinking. “He probably has more freedom… I wasn’t thinking when the spells were cast- I think it’s based off the soul. That’s usually how animal transformation works. Unless you’re mag and you deal in black magic.”

The sea floor begins to slope upwards around them, but they stay in a slight dip of an area. Beneath them is a sandy floor with lots of green plants shooting up. The boat pulls to the side, not wanting to head down the river.

Bro swims forward, momentarily fascinated at seeing the boat pulling off.

Jackie looks down at the sandy floor and tilts his head. He dives down curiously.

Is there something moving down there? Beyond just the plants and fish.

Alt blinks at this and uses his new skill as he follows after Jackie. Closing his eyes he- he senses a human like shape. “Oh! I think there’s a mer down here!” He announces.

"Huh, what?" Jackie says. The others all look down.

"Jameson!" Chase gasps, and everyone dives down.

Jameson jumps in surprise at the strange merms appear--but then relaxes when the others do. He swims up to meet them. The swaps see a merm styled after a stingray, with wings stretching from his arms to his torso and a narrow tail. His belly is pale yellow-white while his back is brown and speckled. He clutches a bag in his hands.

"Are you okay?" Jack asks.

"Do not worry, these are our friends," Schneep adds. "They are here to help." He pauses, then continues in a softer voice. "We are here to help. So... how are you?"

Jameson tenses slightly, then rushes forward and wraps his arms around Schneep, squeezing him tightly. He looks visibly shaken.

The swaps all exchange worried glances. Alt approaches and adds in a quiet voice, “…I’m so sorry he took Marvin… but I swear- we’re gonna do whatever we can to get him back. I promise.”

Jameson looks at Alt curiously. He backs away from Schneep and starts making gestures. It’s lucky that Alt’s translation spell now works for non-spoken languages. The swaps see subtitles in their mind as Jameson speaks. Who are you? Do you know about that strange human?

Alt looks timid as he answers, “oh yeah s-sorry. I’m Alt- and this is Chase and Jackie. We’re actually from a different world- the same one that the strange human came from. And we know all about him… he’s hurt all of us before.” His eyes glow with anger, “We’ll make him pay for taking Marvin.“

Jameson blinks. World?

“It’s complicated, we can talk about it later,” Chase says. “The point is, they know this guy. He’s called Magnificent.”

Jameson laughs—it sounds strained, and it’s not clear if that’s from the stress or if it’s just how his voice sounds. How arrogant. Well, he did seem the type to act like that.

Bro and Jackie laugh. “Man I love how everyone points out his name is stupid and shallow. Ohh the vindication!” Jackie cackles.

“So this guy is coming down the river soon?” Jackie asks. “And he’s bringing Marvin, who’s hypnotized?”

“Oh they’re not even in the ocean yet? Okay good! We can get the jump on them!” Bro says cheerfully.

“Yeah, let’s jump them!” Jackie agrees, whooping.

Nodding, Jameson says, I brought some things that might help. He reaches into the bag and pulls out a couple things. A pair of round stones, some sharp, bone-like objects, and something pale red partially wrapped in a woven kelp blanket.

“I know you said you were bringing the siren stone, but are you sure?” Jack asks.

Maybe we can combat his hypnotism with it.

Alt looks down curiously at all the objects Jameson brought. He swims closer, “A siren stone? What’s that? Are these all magic?”

No, not all of these, Jameson says. He picks up one of the bone like objects. These aren’t. I brought them for the merms who don’t have natural weapons.

Schneep makes a face. “Those are made from stingers, aren’t they?”

They don’t have venom in them after they fall off, but they’re sharp!

“Oh, you all are going to love that,” Schneep says, glancing at the visitors.

“Ohhh neat!” Jackieboy says, reaching to grab one. He experimentally jabs it through the water then giggles. “Like a knife!”

“I’ll just stick with the stone.” Chase picks up the siren stone. For a moment, he touches it without the blanket acting as a barrier, and patterns of green light appear on its surface. So pretty… Then he realizes what’s happening and quickly adjusts his grip, the light fading as soon as he stops touching it.

“The siren stone is something that merms with siren blood can use,” Jack explains. “It lets them have the hypnotic powers sirens did. Only Chase and Anti have siren ancestors, so only they can use it.”

“N-not that I will,” Anti mutters, folding his arms. He seems a little… guilty?

Alt’s eyes widen at the explanation, glancing at the stone. He blinks at Anti then smiles softly at him, as if he understood. He nods to the others, “Mag isn’t used to others having mental magic- or using hypnosis. We should be able to catch him off guard!”

Jack grabs one of the stinger-knives as well, and hands another to Schneep with an insistent look.

Schneep sighs, gills fluttering, and takes it. “If we are to catch them off guard, we should hide ourselves. Especially the brighter colored ones of us.”

Bro nods, “Jackie that means you should hide- you’re like super bright.”

Jackieboy grumbles but nods.

“I could be a distraction,” Chase offers. “Maybe try to catch them with the stone.”

What if his hypnotism is faster than you can speak? Jameson asks.

“Well… that’s why you guys hide!”

“Sounds like as good a plan as anything to me,” Jackie says.

Alt looks nervous but nods too, “an ambush… that could work. Just- tips for dealing with Mag- his magic is very powerful and is like a tidal wave… it’s very hard to resist. But like- if you try to fight it think of like random things! I do colors to help me- it makes it harder for him to latch onto something.” He looks around trying to see if there’s any hints of them coming. “…me and Anti could get closer to the mouth and warn y’all when we feel them coming.”

The other merms nod at Alt’s advice.

“That’s a good idea,” Anti agrees. “I know where there are small alcoves in the rock. We can hide inside.”

The brighter merms should find clusters of plants to hide inside, Jameson says. The rest of us can hide behind rocks, we’ll blend in more there.

“Let me guess, you’re going to bury?” Jackie says.

Jameson grins a little. It’s what I do.

“Alright, that’s a plan, then,” Chase says. “What signal should we look for, Alt, Anti?”

Alt hums in thought, flicking his tail.

Bro perks up, “What if we use Sam? She’s small enough that she can swim around to start alerting the others? Or-at the very least- I have very good hearing. Any knock or signal you all make I can probably hear- I can stick by other me to make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”

“Oh, uh… thank you,” Chase says.

Jack blinks. “But I didn’t bring—”

And then his bag starts fluttering in an unusual way. He looks down at it. “…no. No, you didn’t.”

He opens it up and out swims Sam.

“Seriously?”

She bumps against him.

“Oh- I wondered where she went.” Bro laughs, messing with his hair and looking embarrassed.

“Awww she’s so cute though!” Jackieboy says.

“Well I don’t want to put you in danger. So back in the bag you go.” Jack says to Sam.

“Besides, Sam can’t swim that fast, right?” Jackie says.

“Here, let’s test how good your hearing is. Anti, can you go find one of those alcoves and make some sort of noise?”

Anti nods, darting away. He’s soon out of sight. After a moment, Bro picks up a faint—very faint—clicking noise that the spell translates as “Hey! Listen!”

Bro nods and listens. He perks up and then grins, “Yes! I heard it! Ha- you sounded like Navi-“

“Nerd-“ Alt coughs with a laugh.

"Alright, if that's sorted, let's all get into position, then," Jackie says.

Good luck, everyone, Jameson adds.

And the merms scatter. Jack takes Jameson's advice and hides in a patch of kelp where his green color won't stand out as much. Jackie and Schneep crouch together behind a rock, Schneep's darker tentacles helping them hide into the shadows. Anti stays where he is. Jameson finds a patch of sand and partially buries himself under it. And Chase hovers around, unsure where exactly to go.

The swaps all nod and scatter too. Alt follows Anti into one of the alcoves, closing his eyes and settling into the dark. Jackie searches around and finds a deep enough patch in the kelp to hopefully hide most of his tail.

Bro rounds up next to Chase and puts a hand on his shoulder, smiling confidently. “Don’t worry- we got this! He won’t expect all of you- especially with that stone thingy!”

Chase smiles back at Bro. “Thanks. I-it has come in handy. Now you should get somewhere out of sight. I don’t think the distraction will work if there’s two of us and one is a shark. No offense. You’re just more intimidating than a clownfish like me.”

“Oh- you know what that’s fair. I’ll be close by though! Just in case.” Bro grins and then ducks down to go hide by some of the rocks.

Some time passes. Thankfully not too much. Hidden in the small alcove, Anti sends out regular pulses… and eventually two large shapes swim into range. “I think that’s them,” he whispers to Alt.

Alt feels the pulse and studies the new shapes closer, trying to see if he recognizes the feeling. The waves coming off one of them feels almost sinister- like the water is afraid of him. That could only be one person. He opens his eyes and nods to Anti.

“It is. Get ready-“

Anti nods back and makes that same “Hey! Listen!” clicking noise to alert the others.

Marvin has been perfectly complacent for Magnificent ever since that brief encounter with Jameson. He hasn’t said a word until now, when he simply says, “That’s the ocean in there.”

Magnificent can see the widening of the river as the shore on either side turns away. And he’s been able to feel it coming for a while, too, as the tight feeling of freshwater fades away when more salt enters the picture.

Magnificent giggles and stretches out his tail, enjoying the feeling of the salt water. Much better.

"Very good~! Now- how much further to this source? Should we pick up the pace? Or can you not handle that, little fish?" He asks with a hint of sweetness, almost mimicking concern. But, his condensation is palpable in his voice.

Alt growls quietly, bunching up and feeling electricity bright in his veins. But, he needs to wait. Bro and Jackie brace themselves too, watching the water and Chase warily.

Magnificent can faintly sense magic in the distance, but it’s hard to gauge how close it is.

“We should pick up the pace,” Marvin says. “It’s still far.”

“Hm, alright- try to keep up-“ He starts to order Marvin before he slows and stops in the water- who is…?

Chase takes a deep breath. He’s been thinking about what to do, and decides the best approach us to just swim up to them. Which he does. “Hey Marvin, I was just coming to see you, who’s your—whoa!” And yet he stalls for a moment, taken aback by Magnificent’s appearance. He wasn’t expecting this stranger to look like a deep dweller! He clutches the wrapped siren stone close to his chest. “Uh—h-hi?”

Marvin blinks. “…Chase?”

Mag glares at Chase and bares his sharp teeth for a second before his expression eases into a charming and charismatic one. “Oh! Marvin, is this a friend of yours? Chase is it? Well- how fun to run into you! Marvin was just helping me find some magic nearby~” He chuckles. His eyes flash briefly with spiraling magic, trying to subtly influence Chase to back down. “Nothing to worry about.”

Chase blinks. Is he... supposed to be feeling something right now? Is Magnificent trying his magic? Well, he doesn't want to be too suspicious right away so he'll play along a bit.

"Oh. Yeah. Of course. Well... if you want to find some magic, I have something right here." He moves the kelp blanket away from the stone, not quite touching it yet but revealing its surface.

Magnificent raises an eyebrow skeptically. A chase? Knowing magic? Hard to believe… But he can’t deny the pull of whatever magic is coming from that stone so he swims a bit closer, tilting his head at it curiously. “Oh? Is that so?”

"Yeah. Watch this." Chase presses a hand against the stone, and the green light appears, dancing across its surface. "And if you keep watching, that'll be great."

Magnificent tilts his head more, gazing at the stone. For just an instant- he seems almost captivated. But, that quickly fades as he throws his head back with laughter. The pressure around them in the water starts to increase- and magic starts to bloom behind Mag is a bright spiral pattern. He shakes his head as he chuckles sinisterly,

"Oh Chase... You're playing a dangerous game~" He looks up at Chase fully now- the same magic spiraling his eyes as he slams his magic down on Chase's will. "I think you'll find that watching and obeying me will be much more favorable for you~"

Chase is smart enough to not look directly at the pretty lights, but he does gasp at the wave of magic. He blinks for a moment, then struggles through. Alright, time for Plan B! He dives down to the ground. "Guys! Now!"

Immediately Jackie bursts out from his hiding place and darts for Mag.

"What?!" Magnificent snarls, backing up and then growls for Marvin. "Marvin! Keep your friends from interfering!" He orders.

But, then, Bro comes rushing out with the same speed and roars in anger, diving to try to stop Mag too.

Marvin's attention darts to the side and he fires off a beam of pale green light--but he's not holding a power stone so it's weak and Jackie powers right through, shoving Marvin to the side. He gasps, drifting for a bit before recovering, reaching into his bag for a stone.

Alt gasps and narrows his eyes and goes to try to help Marvin and Jackie.

Bro for a second, startles Mag who whips to look at him with surprise. "Fantastic?!" He then whips out some magic to knock him back, making Bro summersault through the water. He soon rights himself and tries to charge at Mag again. Magnificent blasts Bro in the face with his magic, sending Bro back again as he curls up and holds it- the water around his face burning.

While Bro is distracting him, Magnificent feels something grab his tail. It's Schneep, gritting his teeth with determination.

Mag startles at being grabbed and growls at Schneep, flicking him off and back down towards one of the rocks.

Marvin grabs a power stone and flings out a wave of magic, strong enough that it causes a current.

Alt tries his best to fight the current and tries to grab Marvin's tail- trying to give him a small shock to hopefully wake him up.

Schneep lands on the rocky ground, silt flying into the air. Jameson rushes over to check on him but luckily he recovers quickly and gestures for Jameson to go on. Jameson nods and quickly swims over to Marvin.

Jack hands his bag--with Sam inside--to Chase and decides to rush Magnificent with the stinger blade. While Jackie is pushed back by the magic and the current,

Alt reaches Marvin and grabs him. He yelps at the shock but his eyes don't even flicker as he looks down and blasts Alt with magic.

The magic hits Alt and he yells out in surprise and pain and tumbles away, disoriented by the water.

Jack manages to stick Mag in the tail and he yells in anger, blasting magic towards him.

Jameson tries to grab Marvin from behind, his eyes glowing slightly blue, but Marvin whirls around and throws him off before he can do whatever he's trying to do.

Meanwhile, Jackie helps stop Alt from tumbling, then rushes for Marvin as well. "Snap out of it!" he shouts as he tackles him. "He's in your head, Marvin! Like a siren!"

Alt oofs and then thanks Jackie, following after him to try to stop Marvin too.

Jack gets thrown back by the magic, landing next to where Schneep did earlier. "We're gonna get nowhere if we're separated!" he gasps.

Chase looks at Jack. "I-I'll see if I can help get Marvin free!" he says, swimming over.

While Mag is distracted, Anti darts for him, grabbing him from behind.

Magnificent laughs and then seems to feel the water shift as Anti darts out and he dodges out of the way. He growls and then snaps, making another big swirl of magic appear behind him, humming with power- lighting him up from behind in an eerie light. He growls, "You simple minded little fish aren't worth the water you swim in! You all will bow to me!"

But the merms know the ways of sirens by now. All of them looking at Mag--Jack, Anti, Jameson, and Schneep--quickly look away.

Schneep's a bit slow, as he's too busy shouting "You cannot* bow in the water, idiot!" but he remembers.

Anti laughs. "Let me tell you something you clearly don't understand. You're fucking outnumbered!" And all at once, the four of them rush Magnificent.

Magnificent growls at Schneep and the others, trying to back away. Jackie- still hiding, springs up and throws his stringer blade and its slices across Mag's arm- distracting him as he yells out. Bro grins and headbutts him from behind- pushing him into the frenzy of the other merms that tackle Magnificent into the sand. Magnificent screeches like an angry cat, flailing and clawing to try to get free.

Marvin throws Jackie off--something he normally wouldn't be able to do, but Jackie just can't bring himself to use too much force against his friend.

"Marvin! Chase shouts, grabbing the siren stone. "Look at me!" And Marvin does. "Don't listen to Magnificent! He doesn't control you!"

Alt sees the others have things with Mag handled and goes to help Chase, leaning down by Marvin. "Hey yeah- l-listen to Chase, you don't ever wanna work for that psycho- trust me! Your friends need you, Marvin."

"Fr-friends...?" Marvin repeats. "Friends..."

"Your friends," Chase repeats. "Us!" He swims closer, pointing to the side. "Look, we need help!"

Marvin follows Chase's pointing finger. He sees the others all tackling Magnificent to the ground. And suddenly, everything snaps back into place.

"No!" Marvin screeches, darting on over. The power stone in his hand glows brighter and brighter, and as Marvin plunges into the pile the others back away from Magnificent to make room for him.

The water suddenly gets very cold and there's a flash of bright light--

When the light recedes- Mag is trapped, squirming on the sandy ground, his arms frozen to his sides. He growls and snaps like an cornered predator.

"Miserable whelp! Unhand me! I'll fry you for this!" He hisses at Marvin.

Jackie cheers and pumps his hand into the air. "Yeahh!! Go Marvin!!"

Bro laughs and looms over Mag- "Best watch you say, Mag- a lot of us have veryyy sharp teeth." He playfully chomps towards Mag- making the mad magician flinch ever so slightly.

Alt sighs in relief, letting himself sag in the water.

"Fucker," Marvin snaps, trembling with rage and adrenaline. "Fucking fucker fuck--oof!" He's cut off as Jameson suddenly tackles him, knocking him to the side. "Who--Jameson? Jameson!" Marvin laughs and hugs him back, the two of them flying head over tail through the water.

I'm sorry I couldn't help you, Jameson says. I tried but he was too strong and I was so scared I'm sorry I'm sorry--

"No, no, it's okay! I would've felt horrible if he hurt you! O-or if I hurt you." They land in the sand, their tails wrapped around each other.

Chase watches the two of them and chuckles, smiling fondly.

Anti stares at Mag. "Can I shock him? Just a little?"

Alt grins, "Go for it, make it hurt." He tells Anti.

"Just... don't kill him?" Bro asks timidly.

"I can stun him?" Anti offers.

"That'd be helpful probably-" Jackie giggles, "We gotta get him back onto the boat to get him back home, right?"

"Oh fuck right... we gotta get home." Alt sighs.

Anti grins. "Got it." He swims up to Mag, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Back away," he tells the others. And once they're out of range--ZAP! Magnificent slumps unconscious.

The swaps all watch Anti shock him with wide eyed but impressed expressions.

"I underdid it a bit to avoid killing him," Anti says. "So he might wake up quickly. Get him on land soon, then."

"Got it." Jackie grabs Magnificent--not touching him, just holding him by the ice--and starts hauling him up to the surface.

"Man... that was satisfying to see." Jackie grins.

Bro laughs and then swims after Jackie, "I'll go help Jackie!"

Alt looks down and then slowly goes to swim over to Marvin and Jameson. He hesitates then settles down in the sand next to them. "Um... hey Marvin- I know we didn't really get a chance to meet... I'm Alt and uh... I just wanted to see if you were okay?"

Marvin looks at Alt, then at Jameson. Jameson nods and scoots a little bit to the side but keeps one arm around Marvin, the connected wing acting like a blanket. "Hi, Alt. I'm not hurt. If I'm okay, though... l-let's say that I-I'll have to think a lot about what happened."

Alt looks very sympathtic and he nods. "Yeah... I get it... it's not a great feeling."

Marvin shivers. "But not now. You, um... know that stranger, then? He was human at first." His eyes dart up and down Alt then land on his bracelet. "Are... you, too?"

Alt blinks at Marvin's questions and then nods again. "Yeah... Mag comes from where he came from. We're human but... me and him are magic. Like you and Jameson. That's why he wanted to... to use you. I'm so sorry that he did..."

Marvin nods. "It's not your fault. W-we never expected something like that. You must come from somewhere very far, I've never seen a human with magic before."

Jameson squeezes Marvin from the side supportively. Sorry, he signs again.

"It's really not your fault. I know how you are with nets like the one he conjured."

Jameson nods slowly, then looks at Alt and smiles. Thank you for help saving my life friend.

Alt looks surprised and then flushes slightly but grins. "I-It's so problem really... that's... that's what I do. Me and my brother, of course. G-Gotta try to use my magic for good, right?" He glances up at the water and deflates a bit before looking back at them. "... If we didn't have to deal with him... it'd be so cool to learn about all the magic and stuff you guys have here. You seriously havent seen any human magicians? All the magic is underwater? And that- that siren stone thing?? That's... so cool-" He grins, bouncing a bit. "Plus... swimming around like a merman is... really really brilliant." He laughs, "... gonna be hard to go back to being just- human."

Just behind him, you can see Jackie just swimming around the area, like he's trying to make the most of the time they have left.

"My teacher told me that once, humans knew how to draw magic from the water like we do," Marvin says. "But they stopped around the shipwreck era--um, a-about four hundred human years ago. Maybe they can learn how to do it again." He laughs a little. "I-I'm happy you're enjoying it. I think merms don't have nearly as much fun when we turn human. Or at least, Chase and Anti didn't."

Alt blinks, "Woah... that's so fascinating..."

Speaking of Chase, he swims down to join the others. "Hey... i-if you guys are okay, we're all going to the surface now," he says slowly.

Marvin nods. "We'll be right up there."

Alt looks back towards Chase and smiles, "Yeah... coming." He sighs and floats up, flicking his tail. "Welp- guess it's time." He smiles at them then whistles for Jackie.

"Hey speedy! We gotta get going!" Alt calls.

Jackieboy stops a little bit aways, "What??"

"WE GOTTA GET GOING!"

"AWWW REALLY??"

"YES REALLY YOU DORK- C'MON!"

"FINNEEE"

Alt rolls his eyes with a small laugh and then he surges up to the surface and Jackieboy reluctantly follows.

Back on the surface, Bro and Jackie have helped Ollie haul the unconscious Magnificent back onto the boat.

"I hope you all have magic to dry people's clothes and stuff," Ollie is saying. "This is dripping all over my deck."

Alt laughs and grabs Bro and Jackie and glitches all of them onto the boat's deck. They all still have some of their scales and fishy aspects but they at least have their legs again. Alt mutters a quick spell word and all of them get dried off and he beams at Ollie. "There you go! No issue!"

One by one, everyone else surfaces.

"Ahlee!" Marvin says, delighted.

"Hey there." Ollie smiles at him. "The others said you went through some stuff. So here. I know this probably won't help much but here." He crouches down and hands something out for Marvin. A paper bowl of ice cream with a spoon.

"Oooo." Marvin takes it. "Than' yoo than' yoo!" he says in English.

Alt crouches down by Mag and pokes him slightly. "... guess Mag is stuck as a fish until he wakes up."

"Can we leave him to suffoc-" Jackie almost says excitedly before Bro bops him on the head. "No Jackie-"

"He'll probably wake up soon," Anti says. "I didn't shock him that hard."

"You know we can breathe air, right?" Jackie says.

Schneep nods. "There are gills, but there are also lungs, though the airways close instinctively once the gills submerge."

"Ohhh yeah- that makes sense." Jackie says.

"Does that mean technically fish can breathe a bit of air?" Bro asks curiously.

"Some can! Upwards of 30 minutes!" Jackie beams. "Just gotta keep their gills wet."

"We're not fish, though, we're merms," Jackie says. "So we can breathe air for as long as we want!... but we'll dry out eventually. Like whales."

Poor whales, Jameson comments sadly.

"So... you guys are really leaving now?" Jack asks. "Are you... going to come back? W-we don't have too many human friends. It's just Ollie, Stacy and Roxy, and Lise... They all end in 'ee' sounds, weird."

Alt smiles sadly and then nods. "Yeah... we gotta go. This one is real squirmy." He lightly kicks Mag, who grumbles a bit. But, his expression does light up. "...I... I wanna come back- someday. For sure this was... really fun."

"I wanna take Zara and the kids sometime!!" Jackie shouts, stimming.

"You'll need to get me sooo much food and energy for that to happen," Alt responds, but he does smile. "...but that would be awesome."

"Do you guys need me to drop you off somewhere?" Ollie asks.

Alt then blinks and looks at Ollie before shaking his head. "Nah, we should be good. All we need is-" He finds his bag and digs out the TRVLR, "-this. Though- we should all change back into our clothes and shit." He giggles.

"Well, we'd love to see you again!" Chase says. "If you ever have a hard time finding us, I'm around Maya Beach a lot. That's where I met Stacy.”

"Oh! Was that the beach I showed up on? Sweet! That'll be easy to remember then!" Bro grins.

"Oh, no you showed up at the lagoon where I live," Jack says. "I don't know if it has a human name. None of them have showed up there... uh... ever?"

"That one's called Brightwave Lagoon," Chase adds. "Because the waves glow bright with all the phytoplankton. It's hard to get to but they know about it."

"Or if you want to stop by Jameson and me, we live in Lough Baintrie," Marvin says.

Just wait on the beach, we'd rather come up to you, Jameson adds.

“We, um... can't exactly call you. Phones don't work underwater." Chase says.

"I have a tablet," Anti says. "I can make the screen go white if I pulse." Not sure what that has to do with this. Maybe he just wanted to mention it.

Jackie blinks at Anti, "That'sss great?" He tries to say encouragingly.

"Don't get near my tablet!" Alt says, slipping on his hoodie and shoes again. He grabs his marker and scribbles out the runes and soon enough his fishy scales and stuff turn blue then disappear.

Bro and Jackie follow his lead, getting back on the clothes they took off and Alt makes quick work of getting rid of their runes too.

Pretty soon they're all back to normal. Around the time they finish, Mag suddenly gasps loudly and then coughs, flailing like the caught fish he is.

Alt glitches down by him and grins sinisterly. "Oh look guys! We caught a catfish~!"

Mag growls and with a snap of his magic- he's back to his normal self but he's still caught up in Marvin's magic.

Bro makes quick work of picking him up and holding him on his shoulder as Magnificent spits profanities and threats.

Jackie leans over the rails and grins. "We'll be back to see you all again, for sure! And next time, we can all just have some fun, alright?"

Alt grins and nods, "Yeah, for sure."

Bro leans over Alt and looks at the screen as he sets up the TRVLR. "...any idea what got us sent here instead of home last time, Alt?"

Alt frowns, "No idea... I was sure I had the right address." He makes sure to mark this one down in their favorites before finding theirs again. "Maybe... Anti-Virus just- shorted it out or something. I'm sure it'll work this time."

"I do hope your device works," Schneep says. "I do not understand it, but I am sure it was just a mistake."

"Maybe pulse it extra hard," Anti suggests.

"But not too hard, you don't want to break it," Jackie says.

Alt can't help but laugh at Anti's suggestion but he nods, "I'll try."

Jack laughs lightly. "Well. I hope we'll see you again, wherever you find us."

"Um... bye, I guess," Ollie adds with a wave. "Nice to meet you."

Alt takes a second to smile at Ollie, his expression softening. "Yeah... nice to meet you too."

"And we'll remember all those places!" Jackie says, tapping his forehead. "Got it all up here!"

"So it'll be gone in 5 minutes!" Bro jokes.

"Hey! You're one to talk!" Jackie pouts, hitting Bro.

"Hey careful! Holding a very squirmy villain here!"

"I will cut all of you to ribbons!" Magnificent spits.

Alt rolls his eyes and grabs the others, "Yeah yeah- we've heard that before."

"We'll make sure to find you again next time too, Ollie!" Bro grins cheekily.

Alt elbows him in the ribs. "Okay we should go! Bye you guys!" And Alt tries to add a bit more of his energy and magic into the TRVLR as he pushes the jump button.

And they fall into the darkness and greenlight once again. But, just as last jump, their fall shifts slightly. Like leaves caught in a breeze, their course is diverted for a second time.

#SATCV #SATCV Merms #alt anti #swap magnificent #bro fantastic #jackie mann #i love mag getting his fishy ass kicked #he deserves some humbling XD #also i loveee all them interacting #especially anti and alt :')#alt needs to meet more uh semi-nice antis ajghak #new world tomorrow! another familiar one for cry's fans :)

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