it's gunna, gunna, gunna... it's gunna be MERMAY (2022 OPEN)

[melplayspersonal]

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

Comments

[ricebird]

[A light nod.]

About the same. It's been a couple years in my world; I'm almost done with culinary school. It's nice to be back though.

[Even if quite a few of the old recruits were gone now. It was a bit sad, seeing so few faces she remembered from before, close friends, Roxas... gone, hopefully to live peacefully at home.]

[tempredmental]

Almost done, huh?

[Keith nodded.]

So what do you plan to do with your degree? Are you going to start your own restaurant or take over your mom's?

[ricebird]

Definitely take over my mom's. [A soft laugh.] She and Dad were both really skeptical when I said that, given now scared I was of knives, but eventually I got them to realize how serious I was, and I've been working really hard.

Anyway, what about you? How have things been in your world?

[tempredmental]

It's been... it's been okay. [He nodded.] There's still a lot of work to do to make sure people are really safe. But we're getting there, I think. I hope. It's not going to be easy, but when is anything, really? [He managed a weak chuckle at that, but humorless, sounding almost a little resigned.] I just hope we get there.

[ricebird]

[Oh... she noticed the lack of cheer... and after a moment or two of deciding goes with a soft, solemn nod.]

I'm sure you will. From what I've heard, all of you have been working really hard to make that happen.

[tempredmental]

[Keith looked up at her for a moment and then managed a small smile in return.]

Thanks. I appreciate that.

[ricebird]

[Oh... something in that smile stirs a spark of warmth in her--QUICK DISTRACTION.]

S-SO! We're uh... we're supposed to be collecting pearls again?

[tempredmental]

[Was she-... blushing...?]

Oh! Uh... yeah. Yeah, we are.

[Ahem... just gonna... clear his throat and get back to looking for those... pearls... yeah. He held up his basket for her to see.]

I have an extra basket if you need one.

[ricebird]

[Blushing? Who's blushing? She's not blushing YOU'RE blushing.]

Ah, th-thanks. This one was getting a bit full anyway.

[She gives a light nod as she reaches out to take it... aaand the tips of her fingers might accidentally brush against his.]

[tempredmental]

[Keith froze as they touched, staring at their hands on the basket.]

Uh...

[Brain.exe has stopped working.]

[ricebird]

[Ah, that... sure is a handhold.]

K-Keith-san...? A-are you okay...?

[After all, HE'S the one blushing here, not her. Not at all. Phew, is the water warming up?]

[tempredmental]

Um. Am I...? Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine!

[Letting go now!]

Sorry! Didn't mean to grab your hand like that... I uh... I don't know...

[ricebird]

N-no, you're fine! You're fine, I just...

[She just WHAT, how DOES she finish that sentence?!]

[tempredmental]

[He blushed even more.]

Um.

Maybe we should... continue... searching? For pearls?

[Yeah... that was... safe... right?]

[ricebird]

[Welp, if Keith wanted to move on...]

Y-yeah... Yeah, pearls... those things...

[Awkwaaaaard...]

[tempredmental]

[Heh... not that he wanted to... but she probably wanted to move on, too, right?]

Yeah. I mean... that's what we're here for, right?

[ricebird]

Y-yup... that's... what we're here for...~

[... So they gathered in silence for a few more moments, but... the silence became unbearable even to her after a while.]

Is... everything okay?

[tempredmental]

Hm? [Keith looked a little startled at her question, and then nodded.] Oh, yeah! Yeah. It's fine. [He smiled.] I'm great. Are you okay?

[ricebird]

I.. yeah, I guess? ... You just seem... uneasy now? [Like she is inside.] Did... did I do something wrong, or...?

[tempredmental]

N-no! No! Not at all! [That might have come out a little fast.] Really, it's not you. I uh... I just thought... Was... I wrong?

[ricebird]

Wrong? About what?

[This oblivious tuna-birb.]

[tempredmental]

A-about... you know... what was... going on?

[Was he blushing? It felt like he was blushing. Dang it.]

I mean... we're... gathering the pearls and...

[Wow, he was off track...]

You didn't mind? You know... us touching hands?

[ricebird]

[Oh. Ohhh. Now it starts to click.]

I... no, I don't... I don't think I did... You um... d-did you...?

[tempredmental]

Oh. [He swallowed. He hadn't expected her to be okay with it.]

N-no. No, I didn't.

[Which he kind of realized might seem odd for him. He generally wasn't the touchy feely type. So, grabbing on to someone or holding their hand... it was kind of A Thing.]

I didn't mind at all.

[Huh... was there a warm current going through the water? Because his face was feeling a bit warm right about now.]

[ricebird]

[Okay, that's... that's good to establish.]

Then um... I... how... how do you...????

[How does he feel about her? Does he LIKE her? But nope, words not wanting to come out.]