MerMay 2020: Ever at Your Tide

Time for something a little self-indulgent! 😉 I have a lot of love for Final Fantasy series, but my top three favorite installments are often labeled the "black sheep" of the franchise: VIII, XII, and XV. I first played XV during a particularly stressful and sad time of my life and, even though the game was a bit of a hot mess when it was first released, it managed to be a bright spot in my gloom. XV introduced me to the genre of "homoerotic cosmic horror story boy band road trip" (a genre that really feels like it was tailor-made just for me) and a whole cast of characters that I instantly fell in love with. I related especially to Prompto (the merman you see here; unfortunately he is bipedal in-game)—as I played, the relationship between him and his "best friend" Noctis (the lucky human pictured above) became one of my favorite aspects of the game's story. And even though I'm not one to really care about ships all that much, I ship Promptis with the same fervor as I ship Mario and Peach (what can I say, I grew up with those two). Thus is how we wound up with this piece, a blending of two of my favorite things: pretty video game characters... and mers! Who are your favorite factual, famous, or fictional couples, romantic or otherwise? Tell me in the comments below or in my Instagram story!

(You know what they say: if you've ever played a Final Fantasy game, you're a little bit gay. Sorry, I don't make the rules.)
Credit to @izuumii on Tumblr for the inspiration for Prompto's tail design.