MerMarch because i said so

[blackmagicduck]

 

Types Of Mermaid:
1.Good: Everything said about merfolks is wrong. They are reclusive, but not evil. Especially not this one. Maybe they even saved you. No matter what, they love you, absolutely. And, were you to be honest, it was love at first sight on your end, too. But that doesn't mean you can be together...at least, not easily.
2. Bad: Come, jolly sailor bold. Come into the arms of a mermaid, and you will not regret it. They will hold you, and you cannot resist, even as you're dashed against the rock.
3. Wild: Good and evil cannot be applied to mermaids here, for they are like any other wild creature, more beast than man. Yet the more they're exposed to the kindness of humans or others who live on land, the more fond they grow towards it - and those who show them that kindness.
4. Ignorant: The mermaid's intentions are good, yet he or she doesn't realize what they could do to hurt their land dweller lover.
5. The Mermaid Dilemma: What can be done if someone wants to do more with a mermaid than give them kisses or sweet words? Not much, it seems. At first glance, that is, though who knows what can happen if one puts their mind to it.
6. Not What Was Expected: Beauty is always expected of a mermaid, but what if such a creature looked more like this? Who could care for such a beast? Well, there's still charm there, and with enough personality, appearances can be looked past.

Scenarios:
1 ♢ Little Mermaid
♢ Mer
♢ One of you is a mer person with something you want. The other is a powerful mage who can possibly give it to you. Can an arrangement be made...?

2 ♢ Exploration
♢ Mer and/or Human
♢ Whatever you are, your curiosity has gotten the best of you. Whether it's a sunken shipwreck on the bottom of the ocean or a mysterious cove hidden away along the cliffside... Venturing with a friend or running into something unexpected... What will you find?

3 ♢ Exchange
♢ Mer and/or Human
♢ Sometimes, territories are broached, but it's not always a bad thing. Whether you're of entirely different species, or just from different seas, you've met in peaceful circumstances- perhaps as a direct result of those! So it's time for a cultural exchange. Just ignore the fresh water mer. 

4 ♢ For Science
♢ Mer and Human
♢ This is a one in a lifetime chance.... for at least one person. Are you on an isolated island? A ship far out to sea? A highly funded aquarium? Or perhaps even a laboratory with more than questionable methods... Either way, you have the chance now to study something rarely seen before. How will it turn out for both of you?

5 ♢ Ariel's Dream
♢ Mer and/or Human
♢ Some say it's impossible for a mer to live on dry land... except that's been quietly proven wrong. One of you has taken to living among humans, whether for years or still learning the ropes. As for the other... Are you a concerned friend, checking in on them from the sea? Or are you a landdweller, stumbling onto a great secret?

6 ♢ Sea Life
♢ Mer and Human
♢ While they have the legs for landdwelling, some humans seem to have more saltwater in their veins than blood, and those are the kinds of humans that end up with dealing with the mysteries of the sea the most. A surfer catching waves with shark mer? A pirate bartering with sirens for safe passage? A fisherman working together with those who know fish best? There's all sorts. 

7 ♢ Stranded
♢ Mer and Human
♢ Well, carp. Good job. One way or another, you're stuck where you shouldn't be. Whether that's a human lost in the tides, or a mer trapped against the land, you need help.... So don't be picky with what you do get. 

8 ♢ Siren Song
♢ Mer and Human
♢ Sometimes, there's a good reason people fear the too wide expanse of the sea, or how deep its depths an reach... Strange songs which string through coastal towns and cause disappearances... The sound of something slipping through the water around a ship in the dead of night... Unexplained shapes which flicker outside of deep-sea vessels or submarines or installations. Do you want to know what's out there? 

9 ♢ Capture
♢ Mer and Human
♢ Sometimes, there's a good reason why people fear humans. You don't belong here, being gawked at through thick aquarium glass or trapped in a too-small freakshow tank, but what can you do? Is there anyone who cares for your plight, or are there only people responsible for it?

10 ♢ Chance Encounter
♢ Mer and Human
♢ Well, this is awkward. You didn't mean to stumble onto a mer just... there, doing whatever, on the beach or by the docks or tangled up in your fishing net, but, well. It's happened. Now what?

11 ♢ Transformation
♢ Mer and/or Human
♢ For one reason or another, you want to go where you've never gone before... A mer, venturing on the land either as a rare chance or every day business? Or a human, accepting some sort of trade or just to run away from the life you have now? Either way, it might get messy.... Feel free to mix in with other scenarios. 

12 ♢ Fantasy Meets Fantasy
♢ Mer and OTHERS!
♢ Who's to say that humans are the only other creatures in the world? Maybe people living beneath the sea's waves aren't the only strange things. Maybe there are centaurs who travel along coastal roads to watch the night sky along with mer astronomers. Perhaps selkies are just distant cousins. Or who's to say that mer can't be a host of things unto themselves? The ocean's the limit. 

13 ♢ Sci-fi
♢ Mer and Human
♢ Some say astronauts are nothing more than sailors venturing off into another unexplored sea, one that's above instead of below. And, befitting those same sailors of older days, they seem to tell tails of strange melodic frequencies coming in over the radio to their ears, and strange comets that look like tails passing them by on a landed planet. Do they not know what's accompanying them in space, or is that what they're actively chasing?

14 ♢ Divinity
♢ Mer and Human
♢ There are stories told of what exactly it is that could be both human and fish... So it's not surprising that, eventually, one would land upon calling them divine entities, either gods of the sea or lakes, or just their messengers. Is that true, or just a very clever, long lasting ruse?

15 ♢ Afterlife
♢ Mer and/or Human
♢ Some say mer are just humans, wrongfully forced overboard by superstition or cruelty and welcomed by the sea into something more. Others say that they're the spirits, haunting a particular sea or lake town for a wrongful death. What's the truth? Time to find out. 

16 ♢ Peaceful Living
♢ Mer and/or Human
♢ Not everything has to be a dramatic mess. Sometimes, things just... work out for the best. These are better times, and mer are just another part of life. Water-side towns where everything is built around those that share the waters with them, or huge metropolises with water tubes and sprouts for mer to travel through. How will you imagine this sort of life?

17 ♢ Wildcard
♢ follow your dreams, make up whatever

Mix and Match the two, or pick one!  Pick one of my characters to play with! 

Comments

[blackmagicduck]

"You do everything wrong, you fool!" She snapped, always finding it easy to be bitter.

"You waste your time here getting fish when there's plenty of hot meals waiting for you in the village, you forget to spend your own money, and you choose to associate with the outcast whose done nothing but berate you!"

[richestduck]

"I like you," he told her plainly.

Which was really the only answer he felt he needed to give. He liked her. He was staying for her.

[blackmagicduck]

"There is nothing about me to like!" She almost broke the stick in her hand holding the fish.

[richestduck]

"You cook well, you're pretty, you're strong and brave, and you're smart," he told her bluntly. "What isn't to like?"

[blackmagicduck]

"I'm not any of those things!" After being hated for her mere existence for so long, she couldn't comprehend being liked, much less loved. "Anything I am, I was forced to be! Anything you see, is just a delusion! You have no idea who or what I really am! If you did, you'd leave and never come back, just like everyone else!"

[richestduck]

"I'll always keep coming back," he told her softly.

One way or another he would. He knew it in his very soul.

[blackmagicduck]

"There is nothing for you here!" If he wouldn't leave of his own volition, she'd have to make him see, for his own safety and sanity. "Just an old witch who prays for death!"

[richestduck]

"You're here and that's more than enough," he told her.

[blackmagicduck]

Goddammit, goddammit, goddammit! She grunted, and got up - if he wouldn't leave, she would!

"I have to make preparations for the sacrifice and offering, stay here and pig out!"

[richestduck]

He watched her go before picking up some of the cooked food to carry out with him. An offering could be many things, after all, and he himself needed to pay his respects to the gods that watched over them all.

Some of the cooked meal she'd made was an excellent offering. And though he typically carried nothing of value, there was more than one kind of offering that could be given to the gods.

[blackmagicduck]

Even though her rabbit rope trap was barely ready, and it was much earlier than she planned, off she headed to the forest out of sheer spite.

Nothing about this made any sense! He had to be stupid, his brain had to be mush! She was a petty, spiteful, hateful hag, and he was a handsome, rich, kind man. What moron thought they belonged together? She huffed and hawed about it as she set the trap and climbed into a tree, willing to wait for hours for it to work.

[richestduck]

Some distance away, Scrooge made a small campfire, laying the bits of cooked meat into it to burn on his makeshift altar. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back towards the sky then began to sing.

The haunting melody carried in the quiet of the night, softly echoing in time with the ebb and flow of the sea.

[blackmagicduck]

Magica thought she heard something... Whatever it was, it was rather soothing, and it settled her nerves, cooling her anger.

It appeared to work on the animals as well - a lazy rabbit wandered into her trap, and she almost missed it, the song capturing her. Thankfully, she snapped out of it just in time, and snatched the rabbit up. That was... surprisingly easily. Just like the fish, as of late.

She headed back to the cottage, gathering the right herbs and one of the broken shards of glass. She drew symbols in the dirt, making an open flame for the rabbit, followed by the plants, and lastly... She drew the glass upon her arm - not too deep for a permanent scar, but enough to draw blood.

A prayer to the gods, thanking them for all they gave her.
A prayer for the village, wishing it well despite all that had happened to her.
A prayer for the dead, hoping the spirits of her family were at peace.

[richestduck]

The song was Scrooge's own prayers, his offering to the gods. As soon as he finished one iteration, he repeated it and then again to sing a third time. He offered up his voice and his very heart in the tune, thanking the gods for leading him to this shore even if he should somehow become Magica's husband and pine for the sea until the end of his days.

A selkie's voice wasn't like their distant cousins', the sirens', voices. They didn't hold the same amount of power that could lure men to their deaths, but they could soothe and calm well enough. Perhaps that was why their songs made such good offerings to the gods: They could help soothe their wrath.

[blackmagicduck]

She sat in the dirt, watching the meat and plants burn until there there was nothing left but ash. Yet even still she heard the song, and the usual wave of loneliness that came with these offerings - which used to be a family tradition - eased without going away completely.

The sky began to darken with night. Magica watched the fire die, and then went to the door of her cottage, leaning on it without entering it.

[richestduck]

He wasn't in her cottage, but she would likely spot the fire from his makeshift altar if she looked in the right direction. He was in the middle of his third iteration, lost in the music itself. The bits of food she'd cooked that he'd brought for a physical offering were already ash.

It wouldn't be long until he was done. After which he wanted to at least bid her goodnight.

[blackmagicduck]

She watched him, and while the continuous thoughts of 'fool, idiot' didn't stop, they were filled with less vitriol and annoyance. She held herself, cold and confused.

Who was this man, really? Maybe he really was some lost prince, like she jested some time ago.

[richestduck]

He finished the song and doused the fire, walking back towards her cottage and pausing to see her in the doorway. He stared at her before he gave a soft smile.

"If I pay, may I join you tomorrow night for dinner?" he asked.

[blackmagicduck]

She looked away, rubbing one of her arms.

"Fine." No insults, no barbs, just tired acceptance.

[richestduck]

"Thank you," he told her. "I'll see you then."

[blackmagicduck]

"... Goodnight." She went inside, quietly closing the door behind her. Was he a gift from the gods as well?

... Surely not. Now she was being ridiculous.

[richestduck]

"Goodnight," he called softly after her.

Feeling as light as a cloud, he walked back to where he'd hidden his seal skin, putting it on. The chill of the night ceased to bother him, and he scooped out a small "nest" of sand to curl up in.

He dreamed of presenting her with a seal skin of her own. She'd be the prettiest seal in the ocean, of course, and he'd have to fight off all the other young bulls who'd missed their chance.

[blackmagicduck]

Magica had no dreams that night, and she was rather grateful for it.

She had no idea if her offering was accepted or rejected - it had always been almost impossible to tell - but the day after seemed sweet and sunny. A breakfast of fish, a lunch of fish, but he was coming for dinner.

... She wasn't making it special because he came or something stupid like that, of course not. She took her coin and headed into the village to buy bread because she wanted to, and resented any implication otherwise!

[richestduck]

He was tempted to follow her, but a seal guardian would only raise issues again. That and he wasn't sure if she'd be happy to see him.

So he compromised. He removed and hid his seal skin but used magic to make himself too uninteresting to take note of. Then he followed her.

[blackmagicduck]

Once again, she got hated glares, and some spit at her feet, and once again she ignored it all, heading right for the bakery. The shopkeeper was greatly startled to see her, even more that she wasn't there to threaten or curse anyone. One loaf for one coin, that was all.

The shopkeeper was hesitant - was the coin cursed? Where did she even get it from? - but eventually they relented, and wrapped up a left loaf. Pleased, Magica tucked it into her basket.

But others in the shop began to whisper - the witch had gold...? Had she been keeping it all this time? Did she have more, hidden away?