happilyeverbeginning | MERMAY 2023

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Nita continued to hold herself very, very still.

But she met Morgana's eyes, fear, worry, and yet hope alike chief on her mind.

"-Let me go with you."

The words fall out of her mouth, and the oh, SHIT of it dawns on her face-

Just in time for the 'voice' to speak again.

Good. At least some of you are willing to learn more, BECOME more. But lest the rest of you forget - I shall return your kin, but I am not finished. I am not yet at peace

What happens to the ships that come upon here, matters not to me. But how you conduct among yourselves... that DOES matter.

Morgana could see the look of instant regret on Nita's face, and her heart ached. She closed her eyes, and then - snap - her arms were free... showing they never could have truly held her against her will to begin with. She then ran her fingers through Nita's hair and kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry for dragging you down with me... but I will always be grateful you came here."

With a sad smile, she pulled back, and began to walk towards the shore.

"I'll... I'll wait for you," she says, something like ice settling on her spine.

This was Morgana's journey, not hers. She'd leaned right back into the kind touch, tears coming to her own eyes.

The inky mass would not touch Morgana at all - in fact, where she passed, other sirens would begin to be freed.

But, they would notice, the mass itself was not retreating, or dissipating.

The freed sirens desperately clawed their way to shore, wanting to get as far away from the darkness as possible. This had been a living nightmare, one they'd repeat in their minds for many nights to come.

Morgana herself didn't show a shred of fear. She merely closed her eyes, accepting whatever her fate would be, if it was death or otherwise, as her body began to disappear underneath the waves and ink.

Nita absently sidestepped the fleeing sirens - at least they'd leave her alone, now, after what they'd seen her do, and they would need some time for recovery regardless - and tried to pull herself back together enough to watch Morgana leave.

When Morgana entered the water, the 'voice' spoke again: just to her.

Be quiet; you are not here to die, and I do not require the cessation of your existence. Now, let me provide cover.

And Morgana would be able to swim afar, outside of anyone's watchful gaze, with no one being the wiser.

That... was unexpected. Here she'd been ready to ready to die, only to be told otherwise? A little disappointing, as she'd actually been looking forward to the peace and serenity death would bring...

Still, what else could she do? After a small nod of acknowledgement, she allowed her body to relax further, and swam as elegantly as the finest dancer on the stage. Being a siren, she could breathe naturally underneath the waves, so she could go as far as she wanted.

Problem was, where was she to go?

The mass had no more to say to her; Morgana could be left to her own thoughts, at least. And possibly her own desires...

Meanwhile, as Nita and the other sirens watched, it spread - along the coast, and all around their home.

While it would not trap anyone further, it served as a reminder and warning. I am here. I am watching.

Will you change?

MERMAY 2023

Rest assured, this is not necessarily the final word on if Nita actually goes with. ;)

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Aaaand wrap! (?)