inborn ([personal profile] inborn) wrote in [community profile] bakerstreet2018-01-02 01:52 pm

Jolly sailor bold


mermaids & land dwellers
a possibly (au) mermaid ❝shipping❞ meme

Few fantastical creatures have captured the imaginations of those of us stuck in the mundane quite like mermaids. It's understandable: the ocean provides an endless canvas for us. Who knows what may live in those deep, seemingly endless depths? There's something intriguing about the mermaid, too, as a being that exists between two worlds. Beautiful human up top, dangerously alien down below, a mix between the comforting and the unknown. Such a combination is all very alluring, speaking perfectly of both the sense of freedom and adventure and and the impending doom offered by the high seas.

Because of the mystery and excitement provided by mermaids, people have been considering what the relationships between those who live on land and those who dwell in the sea would be like. For as long as there have been mer-tales, there have been stories of lucky or unlucky seafarers who earn the attention of mermaids. In some cautionary tales, merfolk are said to be little more than sirens who relish in driving sailors to their doom, luring them to the waters with gorgeous songs so that ships may be crashed, blood spilt, and flesh rend to fill the bellies of sea-demons. In other, more optimistic tales, there are lonely mermaids who fall in love with sailors, fishermen, and princes and will do anything to be with their objects of affections, even if it means turning to sea foam. Of course, earning a mermaid's love may not be better than becoming their prey; after all, in their ignorance of the children of earth, they may pull a person under the water and forget that air is a necessity for some.

Perhaps you are a human or other offspring of the land who has grown up with the tales of mermaids. You know that caution must be taken should you go on the ocean, lest you become nothing more than a meal. If you were in that situation, you would never fall for the merfolk's charms. However, that's so much easier said than done.

On the other hand, you could be a mermaid. Whether you are "good" or "bad" depends entirely on upbringing, just like with anyone else. Finally, you've come upon a land dweller. Will you be infatuated with them, look at them as a sweet morsel, or be more scared of them than they are of you?

how to play;
- Comment with your character and preferences. This meme allows for characters to be the one who lives on land or the mermaid. Feel free to do a mermaid AU for your character!
- Reply to others. Use the RNG to get your prompt.

prompts;
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.
salchows: (y202)

Yuri Plisetsky | Yuri!!! On Ice

[personal profile] salchows 2018-01-02 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
(( I would love to play him as a mermaid who probably won't seriously try to drown you??? maybe??? unless you deserve it??? or he's in a mood???

m/m preferred for anything shippy (I think that was a pun), but I'll happily play gen too, ota ))
flowerbucho: (a natural smile)

ooc

[personal profile] flowerbucho 2018-01-04 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh, I would love to see Yukimura fall for a mer-Yuri. Any suggestions on how to go about it?]

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Esther Moreau | OC | OTA

[personal profile] lessthan_loveless 2018-01-02 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Either role! ]
questionablemethods: (One)

Jessica Jones | MCU | f/m

[personal profile] questionablemethods 2018-01-02 08:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Either role works! ]
badluckwithplanes: (what comes next)

Owen Shaw | Fast & the Furious films | OTA

[personal profile] badluckwithplanes 2018-01-02 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[interested in playing him as a mer, but lbr he'd also make one hell of a pirate]
preciousbrat: (wet)

Eren Jaeger | Shingeki no Kyojin | M/M

[personal profile] preciousbrat 2018-01-02 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
(either role is fine)
fragilesoul: (Default)

Yoon Bum ▻ Killing Stalking ▻ M/M

[personal profile] fragilesoul 2018-01-02 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[can be either role, especially interested in 1 or 6]
eyried: (Default)

sansa stark | asoiaf/got | ota

[personal profile] eyried 2018-01-02 09:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[ mermaid! ]
stoleabangle: (a soft boy)

Levy | OC | OTA

[personal profile] stoleabangle 2018-01-02 09:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He's a merman in a temporary human form, but I'm down to have him in either role. Another character knowing mer!sign though would be A+ ]
nepharious: (Up High)

If we're working within the confines of this meme, then...3?

[personal profile] nepharious 2018-01-03 07:06 am (UTC)(link)
People - human people - 've got no business hanging around in the ocean. It's fuck-knows-how-deep and full'a fuck-knows-what-creatures, all of them better adapted to maneuvering and hunting and hiding in that environment than an anxious monkey on stilts. Circumstances helped shape this belief when Neph was twelve, and nothing much has happened to change her mind in the five years since.

Yet she finds herself picking her way across the rocky coastline anyway, half her attention on the slick rocks underfoot, half on the crashing waves to her right. White foam paints a sinuous latticework over the heaving surface of the water. There is no beach here, just a tumble of boulders at the base of a smallish cliff and the inkdark ocean bisecting the stone wall. Local lore has it more than one ship's made the mistake of trying to shelter in this cove, only to be picked up and smashed against the rock. Neph's got no intention of going the same way, even if all those stories landed her this job.

There's a wealthy old dude back in town who's spent his whole life hunting the nearby coastline for a chest of cursed pearls. Through the usual network of contacts and rumors, he reached out to her - the girl who can see and retrieve magic - and posted the job listing. She kinda didn't think through the whole 'sunken treasure = proximity to drowning' thing until she'd already accepted.

Neph spiders her way around a sharp 90-degree cut in the stone, clinging with her fingertips as she reaches around it for another foothold, another ledge. A few pebbles dislodge and strike the water below, minute splashes lost in the rhythmic surge.

"Ohhh first I was afraid, I was petrified," she sings to herself, off-key, as she eases her weight over. No metal here to anchor herself, nosiree. "Wonderin' why I didn't stay on land all high and dry. Wait, no, that doesn't rhyme..."

Once she's sure her footing's nice and steady, she turns in place to squint out over the newly revealed stretch of water. It cuts under a rocky overhang, reaching back into the cliff itself, vanishing into shadow. Neph rubs a little Bronze into her eyes and squints, squints, squints--

Yes! There! A little flicker of something red-and-orange beneath the swirling foam. It could almost be a trick of tired eyes, a dull glow like sunspots dancing across her vision, but Neph's a practiced hand at reading the telltale traces of magic, and there's definitely something down there.

Now she just has to...figure out how to get to it. At the bottom of this cove. Down in the deep, fuckoff-cold water.

No, no she really didn't think this through at all.

Sounds good to me!

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words are MY FAVORITE in fact

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shieldofrohan: Katheryn Winnick (No longer desire to be a queen)

Éowyn | Lord of the Rings | OTA

[personal profile] shieldofrohan 2018-01-02 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[[Could play either role!]]
swimangry: (What a gill-gaper)

Izumo || OC || F/F

[personal profile] swimangry 2018-01-02 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[Well, she's more of a mershark, so... Yeah. Safe bet she's not the land-dweller here.]
bloodbaroness: (♥ glamorous queen)

Sara Shirabuki | Vampire Knight | OTA

[personal profile] bloodbaroness 2018-01-02 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[ ...But if you're male she will try to drown you after sensuous times (unless you're a "cute" type) ]
tenkillrecord: (Default)

chuck hansen | pacific rim | m/m

[personal profile] tenkillrecord 2018-01-03 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
mermaid.
thebooty: (005)

Francis Drake | Fate/ | OTA

[personal profile] thebooty 2018-01-03 12:30 am (UTC)(link)
[one adventurous pirate queen ]
immortalbird: (Princess - captured)

3!

[personal profile] immortalbird 2018-01-03 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ Gwendolyn hated humans. Her father hated them and her sister hated them, so she hated them, because that was what she was supposed to do. That is how it had always been. But bringing back strange human "treasures" was a sort of right of passage as a warrior. It was her turn. She had to prove herself to her father. Her elder sister, Griselda, had passed only weeks before due to a disgusting human. She had to show her worth now more than ever. ]

[ She got the chance in the form of a ship sailing along their shallow waters. She knew the coast close to them was full of strange things humans liked. "Riches" in their eyes. Worthless rocks and bits of metal, to her. Plenty of them to be found deep in the ocean. So she followed it, stalking--and had seen the most wondrous-looking human upon it. So marvelous that she had to get closer... ]

[ ...Too close, because she'd gotten caught in a net. She was calm at first, trying to break free... only to realize she was getting more entangled. In terror, she thrashed... and unfortunately, was lifted, and dumped right onto the deck for all to see. ]

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eternalmagic: (Default)

Mordred | Arthurian legend | M/F

[personal profile] eternalmagic 2018-01-03 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
[Land-dweller - let me know your preferred setting.]
ecotemptress: (pic#11930099)

Poison Ivy | DC | OTA

[personal profile] ecotemptress 2018-01-03 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
[hey so yeah she's probably gonna try to eat and/or drown you]
nebbish_fish: (Default)

Robert Gilman Olmstead / The Shadows Over Innsmouth / M/F

[personal profile] nebbish_fish 2018-01-03 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
[Dude's metamorphosing into a kind of reverse merperson (think like the fish dude in "The Shape of Water"). Is a bit shy, but can be gently drawn out with some TLC.]
houseofel: (Default)

Clark Kent | DCEU | m/m

[personal profile] houseofel 2018-01-03 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ either role ]
asgardsthunder: (Default)

Thor Odinson | MCU | m/m

[personal profile] asgardsthunder 2018-01-03 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ either role ]
doctorder: (Default)

Trafalgar Law | One Piece | M/M

[personal profile] doctorder 2018-01-03 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
[The pirate. For OP characters, I'll make him a mermaid if you want.]
shrugging_edgelord: (Shrug)

Gabriel Reyes // Overwatch // OTA25+

[personal profile] shrugging_edgelord 2018-01-03 05:15 am (UTC)(link)
[Either. Would love canonmates but OTA]
doctor_terror: (Default)

Scarecrow | Batman Arkham Knight | ota

[personal profile] doctor_terror 2018-01-03 05:20 am (UTC)(link)
[Eldrich Crane anybody?]
syrenity: (Default)

Syrena | Pirates of the Caribbean

[personal profile] syrenity 2018-01-03 05:41 am (UTC)(link)
((Mermaid, m/f for shipping))
wouldilietoyou: (Default)

Varian | Tangled TV series | m/f unless I know you, ota for gen

[personal profile] wouldilietoyou 2018-01-03 02:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[Either role! Also, I'm finally up to date, so spoilers are fine. :)]
paged: pls dnt (Default)

karen page | daredevil

[personal profile] paged 2018-01-03 05:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[ the mermaid ]
flyingknight: (Default)

Clyde Blackburn | BF1 | M/F

[personal profile] flyingknight 2018-01-03 06:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[The land dweller.]

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