a soap bar from who knows where @softlysoapy - Tumblr Blog

places where i'm active on

ORV twitter | art twitter | AO3 | instagram | carrd.co

the links above will be updated as needed but otherwise welcome!! i will be fumbling in the background trying to figure out how everything works

teal-deer

As a reminder: libraries, museums, zoos, etc are NOT brand accounts! As an example, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Tumblr is very cool & they support ocean conservation and education! I believe the National Archives and Smithsonian Libraries are also around here somewhere. Support public institutions!

bloodtroth

I was today years old when I learned that when you type “otp: true” in AO3 search results it filters out fics with additional ships, leaving only the fics where your otp is the main ship

djinnhatescold

Gamechanger

downtroddendeity

Here’s a cheatsheet of all the available hidden search functions. “-creators:[whatever]” is another exclusion that can be particularly useful.

huntersoftheapocalypsis

rt, to make my life easier

#this is a thing???#useful damn

illusionedwhite

Joongdok Mermaid AU

Pairing: Joongdok

Mermaid AU ft. human Yoo Joonghyuk x mermaid Kim Dokja Established Relationship.

Genre: Soft Fluff/Comfort

*****

The ocean was a dangerous place, or at least that’s what Yoo Joonghyuk was led to believe.

Since birth, the village elders shared tales of underwater creatures that lurked in the night, stories of sirens and monsters who preyed on unsuspecting targets.

At first, Yoo Joonghyuk believed them to be cautionary tales, all superstition. The stories were generational, and their primary audience was children, warning them of the dangers so they would stay clear of the waters lest they fall in and be consumed by their depths.

Years later, Yoo Joonghyuk would discover the most precious secret of them all. The truth had been buried in the old stories, their secret lost over time. The truth was that there were creatures of the sea who lived in a civilization unknown to all but a select few.

And somehow, Yoo Joonghyuk happened to stumble upon it.

Walking towards the edge of the pier, Yoo Joonghyuk watched as the waves crashed upon the nearby shore. To a stranger, it might have been a startling sight for Yoo Joonghyuk to be waiting alone in the near darkness, but to Yoo Joonghyuk, it was just another part of his daily routine.

Only the faintest glimpse of the moonlight guided his way alongside the steady glow of a lantern’s light. Still, Yoo Joonghyuk leaned towards the water, placing an oil-lit lantern beside him.

Yoo Joonghyuk was striking in the night, curly hair falling over a handsome face. His dark eyes gazed over the expanse of water, watching the distant skyline. Gentle shadows were cast upon his face, dancing under the lantern light.

The warm flames flickered, illuminating the dark, rolling waves that splashed gently upon his bare ankles. His legs were folded over the edge of the wooden pier, dipped in the calm waters.

Alone with his thoughts, the smell of seawater wafted past.

Yoo Joonghyuk was waiting for someone. These clandestine meetings were always exercised with a degree of caution, and always under the presence of the moon.

A faint glimmer of light gleamed underneath the rolling waves. Then the faint echo of a splash reached Yoo Joonghyuk’s ears before he sighed.

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk said irritably, though his heart beat a hummingbird’s pulse in his chest. “Must you do this every time?”

At Yoo Joonghyuk’s call, webbed fingers gently grabbed a hold of Yoo Joonghyuk’s ankle. A playful chuckle, like a ringing bell, was next to follow, and a burst of cold water sprayed his cheek.

Before he could properly react, Yoo Joonghyuk was suddenly caught in a deluge of water. Ocean water dripped down his hair, drenching his shirt. Bubbles formed at the water's surface, as if there were someone laughing beneath the surface.

Yoo Joonghyuk scowled, and he lightly dragged his feet through the water once, sending out a small wave to disperse the bubbles.

From the depths of the water, a figure emerged. Wet raven hair framed an otherwise unassuming face and pale cheeks that had seldom seen the sun.

Under the lantern light, the mermaid’s eyes shone like jewels, equally mesmerizing and dangerous. There was a gleam there that spoke of untold depths just as mysterious as his origin.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” the voice of Kim Dokja replied nonchalantly, not at all apologetic as he slowly waded over to where Yoo Joonghyuk sat. “You make it too easy.”

How annoying. A smile stretched across the mermaid's face, Kim Dokja's eyes turning into crescents once he steadied his gaze upon Yoo Joonghyuk.

Despite the lingering annoyance, Yoo Joonghyuk leaned in close until their lips brushed together in a chaste kiss. Kim Dokja tasted like the sea, like the ocean; there was a faint saltiness in his lips that was chased away by the softness of his tongue.

When Yoo Joonghyuk drew away, leaning his forehead against the mermaid’s, he was secretly pleased with the pretty red flush that bloomed on Kim Dokja’s face.

Yoo Joonghyuk cradled the mermaid’s jaw for moments longer, fanning his fingers around the delicate fins that stretched above each pointed ear like wings.

“Mmm, Yoo Joonghyuk,” Kim Dokja said, reaching up to gently brush at Yoo Joonghyuk’s neck. The mermaid’s sharp glowing eyes seemed content to study the planes of Yoo Joonghyuk’s face. “Have you become even more handsome since the last time we met?”

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk sighed, the annoyance clear in his voice. Even so, he did nothing to stop the cold, questing fingers that drifted along his chin to his neck where they rested comfortably on his shoulders.

Like this, Yoo Joonghyuk could reach around the mermaid’s bare waist, carefully dragging Kim Dokja out of the water until the mermaid’s long, twisting tail was draped over his legs, the remainder of the mermaid’s weight braced along Yoo Joonghyuk’s body.

Yoo Joonghyuk let his eyes travel down the mermaid’s exposed skin, to the silver necklace wrapped around Kim Dokja’s neck, and the matching hoops that circled his nipples, all connected by a sparkling silver chain. Along his smooth skin, patterned along his torso, were individual scales that shimmered under the firelight.

Kim Dokja was unfairly beautiful, Yoo Joonghyuk thought, like a siren who cast enchantments on wayward travelers.

In the sunlight, Kim Dokja’s tail must have shone like sparkling diamonds, just like his existence as a treasure of the sea. Such precious things should be safeguarded, kept safe under a watchful gaze, but Yoo Joonghyuk knew of others who would seek such riches for fame, uncaring of the cost.

It was safer for Kim Dokja to stay hidden in the deep, vast oceans, far below the surface where not even the light could touch. There, miles below, a vast civilization lived where the sea reached endless bounds, untouched by the world above.

Only Kim Dokja, clever, smart, and witty, was brave enough to explore the world above ground, past the edges of the world that he knew. There, along the shore, Yoo Joonghyuk had first met Kim Dokja.

He had thought of him beautiful then too, glowing under the setting sun, and he had grown even more beautiful as time passed. Years later, they had steadily grown closer with the mermaid eagerly learning the ways of the humans who lived above ground.

Over time, their relationship had developed into a slow, kindling romance–soft, sweet kisses shared in secret, hushed conversations swallowed by the sea, as Yoo Joonghyuk quietly read passages to Kim Dokja, who often drifted lazily near the shore.

“Miss me?” the mermaid asked then, softly, shivering as a chill fell over his skin.

Yoo Joonghyuk tenderly thumbed at the mermaid’s flesh, along the bright scales at his hip, humming in answer. His palms easily settled over the uncovered skin just above the mermaid’s tail.

“Always,” Yoo Joonghyuk replied, wrapping his arms around the mermaid. He didn’t mind the cold that seeped into his skin or the lingering touch of the sea that wrapped around him. Not even the chilly autumn breeze could not chase him from being here.

It was enough, Yoo Joonghyuk thought, to have Kim Dokja here in his arms, well within reach. It was enough to taste Kim Dokja’s lips and listen quietly as the mermaid recalled stories of the sea, or recount human tales that made Kim Dokja’s eyes sparkle in unconcealed interest.

Asking for more already felt like an impossibility. And yet, it was always there–the selfish thought of asking Kim Dokja to stay.

As if reading his thoughts, the mermaid smiled mysteriously. At the edge of the pier, his long tail shone brilliantly, still radiant in the darkness. Each pristine aquamarine scale was lit by the dying embers of lantern light.

“You’re thinking again,” Kim Dokja teased, amused. His tail lazily swung against Yoo Joonghyuk’s thigh. The motion was oddly rhythmic as if Kim Dokja were still treading underwater.

Yoo Joonghyuk wanted to kiss him again. Instead, he murmured under his breath, fondly into Kim Dokja's skin, “You’re not thinking enough, Kim Dokja.”

The mermaid lapsed into silence. His fingers, webbed between each finger, played with the edges of Yoo Joonghyuk’s wet shirt, before Kim Dokja quietly spoke once more, a shy request falling from his lips. “Let’s stay like this for a while longer?”

Yoo Joonghyuk nodded, burying his face in the mermaid’s shoulder. There would be time later to discuss their plans for the future, a rolling sea and an adventure that would take them across foreign lands.

For now, Yoo Joonghyuk sat, a mermaid in his arms, and dreamed of an impossible future.

#orv #fanfic #joongdok