Chapter Text
"May the tides rise..."
"And fall in your favor."
"Good luck, Puffer."
Everyone loves a good mer AU, and this one couldn't be more fun to experiment with!
Essentially, this world takes place in roughly the present day in terms of human technology. Millenia prior, humans chased off a population that fled into the sea, harnessing the ocean's hidden magic to survive. And, at first, that's solely what they fought to do.
The adjustment period was horrific, but eventually Mers began to develop, branching off into species and harnessing unique powers. Atlantis grew to be the most powerful oceanic kingdom, its sheer number of Shark Mers the reason for its success.
As of now, the concept would be Puffer-centric, and would mostly consist of those below, along with a cast of original characters and cameos, if I'm comfortable with writing them.
Puffer: HumanPufferfishHuman..wait..no...Pufferfish? WTF is happening?
Grizzy: Human
Pezzy: Dolphin
Droid: Dolphin
SMii7Y: Octopi
Blarg/Matt: (TBD, potentially Human)
Kryoz/John: (TBD, potentially Human)
The abilities of each species is below, described by somewhat-in-character Pezzy and Droid. This dialogue is likely to change in the real fic when the exposition is necessary.
Sharks: Illusions and Tracking
“The Sharks know they’re the weakest. They know they wouldn’t last two seconds against an Orca, or last against a Dolphin pod. So, they join together. They hide, like the cowards they are, and build up their numbers. They win because there are too many of them for us to even hope to combat.”
“Their magic isn’t as advanced as ours became, you could say. The Sharks were some of the first Mers. They harnessed the magic just to try survive, and, over time, the skills they had developed into what some of us can do. We advanced, while they couldn't. It infuriated them.”
"Deserved, honestly."
Whales: Resizing and Communication
“Whales are terrifying, they could be anywhere. They live in pods, not Kingdoms, usually, so when Atlantis manages to recruit a whale to spy for them, honestly everyone's fucked."
“They’re freaky . Like, one of them could be in the Pacific and know intel from all the way here just from like, hearing them speak their language, or something.”
“And don’t even try out maneuvering them, or hiding somewhere small. They may seem huge, but they can shrink to, like, the size of an actual pufferfish.”
Dolphins: Telepathy and Speed
“Oh, yeah, we’re cool, aren’t we? We’re Dolphins. Simple thing you need to know about us? Don’t try to outrun us.”
“Oh, and if you see a pod of us? Yeah, good luck. We can't read your minds, but together we're basically a hivemind.”
"..."
"Droid do NOT say that!"
Orcas: Sight (Echolocation) and Strength
“There’s a reason Orcas are the ones usually in the Arctic. They can see super long distances with their echolocation, and they are strong as hell. Never try to fight an Orca.”
"Yeah you'll just die. Stay in warmer places and you should be fine, that's what Atlantis does to get away from them."
Pufferfish: Poison and Shapeshifting (aka, a second Human form)
“Oh, uh, Pufferfish? We don’t know much about them, they were one of the only actual kingdoms other than Atlantis. Like, Dolphins and Whales and Orcas, they’re pod Mers, and usually stick with family or friends or something like that. Pufferfish aren’t like that. They settled usually by the coasts.”
“Yeah, but a few years ago, they all just disappeared. Just like that. Nobody really…knows what happened to them. Their kingdom just sort of scattered. Nobody really talks about them anymore.”
"I mean why would you, in case their curse is fucking contagious or something? I'm good, thanks."
Octopi: Camouflage and Empathy/Intelligence
“Octopi are honestly pretty crazy intelligent. They’re either master criminals or, like, doctors and therapists. I swear they can read my mind sometimes.”
“Hate them. They're like floating lie detectors, I swear to god.”
"They're either the most petty or the most terrifying, there's no in-between."
"If you're back, there's no saving them. "
"Well what if I want to fucking try?"
"You try, you die."
"And what, not try and let everyone I love die? You're insane."
"It's how we stay alive. It's our curse."
"Fuck the curse. I'm leaving."