y’all i just had the buzziest idea holy shit (i’m so sorry if this exists already) but elmax except it’s in a little mermaid au where el’s the mermaid and max is a princess or just a part of the royal family ->
The royal family’s on a ship, ship gets wrecked, max nearly drowns but el saves her. fast forward to later, she trades her voice to become a human like the story goes, but when she washes up on shore, max or someone who’s hopper equivalent finds her and brings her back to the palace where the king and queen instantly love her because she’s gorgeous and invite the strange foreign girl to stay. however, i can’t do a sappy love story without angst personally so then, surprise! the king and queen “politely” encourage their son, the prince, and el to get married, going on and on about how beautiful they’d be together and you get the gist. this whole time, max and el are getting closer, spending time together, max is teaching her all about living on land (without knowing she was a mermaid) and they’re falling in love.
bonus points if you include any of these:
• canon el has a complicated relationship with femininity and looking pretty which is why i think it would be so beautiful to include a quote that goes “i think you’d make a beautiful bride” or something along those lines when el’s trying on her wedding dress
• if the prince is mike as fits canon (don’t villainize him please, that’s no fun and so overdone) it would be so fun if he was queer coded in this as well
• also if mike is included, if he makes an effort to fulfill his obligation of marriage but not of being a husband (getting to know the woman he’s about to marry) then big fat gold star for you
• keep max’s less gender conforming character traits like her hobbies and the clothes she likes to wear but in a medieval context like horse racing for fun or even fencing (bonus bonus point if she’s training buddies with lucas or something)
• her home in the ocean resembles the lab to some degree
-> relationship that challenges social norms/conformity
that’s all, someone please write this, make mood boards, whatever! (if you do, tag me because i would absolutely read it!) i’m sure some version of this concept already exists but i wanted to add to it if it does!
