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Description
A cute little pic I did, depicting everyone's favorite fish from folklore, the mermaid! This is meant to be a fat-positive character, and bring body diversity to the usually skinny realm of mermaids. It has a very basic story to it.

Puddly the Mermaid loves clams, every week she comes to a small, well hidden bay, far from any of the swimming beaches on the island to collect shallow water clams and eat to her hearts content. One day a young, shy, unpopular boy is swimming with his friends when he gets swept away by an undertow. He finally escapes the dangerous current, miles away from where he started and begins to look around and try to find his way home. As he is wandering he happens upon a hidden lagoon and sees something impossible, a mermaid is laying upon the beach eating clams. He's too astonished to come closer so he quickly runs away to tell his friends what he saw.

Nobody believes the boy, saying his imagination got the better of him but he would prove to them that mermaids WERE real. For the next few weeks he tries to find the bay where he saw the mermaid again, and finally finds it. Then he thinks of a plan, he sets some "bait" on the beach, a pile of clams to attract the mermaid again so that he can photograph her and prove that she is real. Eventually the plan works, and he sees a large shadow moving through the bay waters, and the mermaid lunges upon the shore and begins to binge her newfound snack. He quickly snaps a picture, and the mermaid disappears into the water as the flash goes off, he then runs off to hell his friends, but they once again refuse to believe him, saying that it is very mean of him to photoshop and lie to them, and they tell him to grow up.

So the boy runs off and begins to cry, but he is approached by a man. He reveals himself to be the ringmaster for the travelling circus in town, and tells the boy that he believes in mermaids as well and will help him catch it so that there can be no doubt that the mermaid is real. The boy quickly accepts the ringmaster's offer, and they begin to hatch a plan to catch the mermaid. The boy says that the mermaid is very skittish, and she ran away at the first sign of his camera flash, but he will try to find a way to catch her.

The boy begins to visit the bay frequently, learning when, and on what days the mermaid comes to the bay. He always leaves clams for the mermaid to find, and one day he leaves a message with the clams telling her that he has been leaving presents for her, and would like to meet her. The boy curses himself as the mermaid disappears for many days after he leaves the note, day after day his clam bait is left untouched, and on the day when the boy is finally going to give up, the mermaid returns. As she leaves the boy notices a small sand castle with a little flag in it, on the flag is scribbled a little note "My name is Puddly, I was scared when I found your note. Mermaids are not supposed to talk to humans. But I would like to meet you anyway."

The boy grows excited, and returns to the ringmaster with his report, telling him how the clam bait has worked and the mermaid has agreed to meet him so their plan can move forward. The next day the boy sheepishly emerged from the trees, coming face to face with the mermaid he has been stalking. She smiles at him and says "So you're the one who has been leaving me these wonderful snacks? You are quite cute, for a human at least." The boy stared at her, her blue and cream colored skin sparkled beautifully in the sunlight, as he replied "I- I have been leaving treats for you, because I wanted to see you, nobody believed me when I said I saw a mermaid" She reached down pulling something from the water as she replied " That is because we mermaids must be very careful, we are taught from birth that humans are very dangerous. But you do not seem dangerous to me, I am glad to meet you my friend. I did not feel right eating your presents and giving nothing in return, so I made you this necklace from clam shells, they are very shiny and pretty, I hope you like it" The boy took the necklace and as he placed it around his neck he felt something strange, his face grew warm, his stomach felt uneasy, and something tingled within his heart. He realized that he could not catch the mermaid, no Puddly was her name, he could not catch Puddly just to prove a point anymore. As he he had been watching her snack on clams all those days during the summer, he had grown to love her, even though he had only seen her from afar. They talked for hours that day, and as the sun was setting Puddly waved goodbye and heaved herself into the surf to disappear beneath the waves.

That night the boy returned to the Ringmaster, and told him that they could not catch the mermaid, that it was wrong to do so. The Ringmaster seemed sad he had always wanted to prove the existence of mermaids since he had had a similar experience to the boys when he was young, and everyone had laughed at him when he said he had seen mermaids, but he acknowledged the boys decision. On the next day Puddly came to visit, the boy met her once again and they talked about fish, swimming and what life was like in the other's world. However all of a sudden nets sprung up from the sand and many men burst forth from the foliage, the Ringmaster and his men had caught the mermaid and they carried her away. The boy beat his young hands on the Ringmaster's leg telling him to let Puddly go, but he pushed the boy away saying "Thanks for being the bait kid, now the whole world will see this mermaid, you and I will be famous."

The boy's heart shattered as he looked into Puddly's eyes as the truck began to carry her away. The terror, the betrayal, and heartbreak in her eyes pierced his heart. He had ruined something beautiful, he had betrayed the trust and friendship of someone dear to him. He knelt there in the sand, crying for a long time as the trucks drove away, but eventually he picked himself up and carried on. He knew he had to do anything and everything he could to save her. He ran to his friends' houses and begged them to help him, the sincerity and determination in his eyes convinced them that he was not lying or imagining things. So the children hatched a plan to free Puddly from the Ringmaster and his circus. That night they snuck into the circus tent, they set loose all of the trained animals, and lost the Ringermaster's thugs in the hall of mirrors, and they came to Puddly's cage and set her free. They were just children so they did not know how to drive the truck, but the boy did not let that stop him and he drove the truck straight into the water. The vehicle sank beneath the waves and his friends looked on with sadness. As the final bubbles from the sinking vehicle began to fade, something erupted from the water, Puddly pulled the unconscious boy onto shore and saved his life. The two of them hugged each, soaking wet in the moonlight "I am sorry Puddly, I lied to you and betrayed you, I do not deserve to be your friend!" the boy sobbed, "No, no my friend. You were willing to give your life to save me, that makes you the greatest friend of all. I forgive you, do not be sad my friend" she replied with tears on her eyes.

The Ringmaster and the circus left town the next day, news of the unsafe conditions of their animal cages had spread, and nobody wanted them in their town anymore. Puddly and the boy's friendship lived on despite the rocky start. They did not see her very often, as more people began to try to find the rumored mermaid population of the island, but the seed of friendship planted that summer would always grow no matter how far apart they were.

Description
A cute little pic I did, depicting everyone's favorite fish from folklore, the mermaid! This is meant to be a fat-positive character, and bring body diversity to the usually skinny realm of mermaids. It has a very basic story to it.

Puddly the Mermaid loves clams, every week she comes to a small, well hidden bay, far from any of the swimming beaches on the island to collect shallow water clams and eat to her hearts content. One day a young, shy, unpopular boy is swimming with his friends when he gets swept away by an undertow. He finally escapes the dangerous current, miles away from where he started and begins to look around and try to find his way home. As he is wandering he happens upon a hidden lagoon and sees something impossible, a mermaid is laying upon the beach eating clams. He's too astonished to come closer so he quickly runs away to tell his friends what he saw.

Nobody believes the boy, saying his imagination got the better of him but he would prove to them that mermaids WERE real. For the next few weeks he tries to find the bay where he saw the mermaid again, and finally finds it. Then he thinks of a plan, he sets some "bait" on the beach, a pile of clams to attract the mermaid again so that he can photograph her and prove that she is real. Eventually the plan works, and he sees a large shadow moving through the bay waters, and the mermaid lunges upon the shore and begins to binge her newfound snack. He quickly snaps a picture, and the mermaid disappears into the water as the flash goes off, he then runs off to hell his friends, but they once again refuse to believe him, saying that it is very mean of him to photoshop and lie to them, and they tell him to grow up.

So the boy runs off and begins to cry, but he is approached by a man. He reveals himself to be the ringmaster for the travelling circus in town, and tells the boy that he believes in mermaids as well and will help him catch it so that there can be no doubt that the mermaid is real. The boy quickly accepts the ringmaster's offer, and they begin to hatch a plan to catch the mermaid. The boy says that the mermaid is very skittish, and she ran away at the first sign of his camera flash, but he will try to find a way to catch her.

The boy begins to visit the bay frequently, learning when, and on what days the mermaid comes to the bay. He always leaves clams for the mermaid to find, and one day he leaves a message with the clams telling her that he has been leaving presents for her, and would like to meet her. The boy curses himself as the mermaid disappears for many days after he leaves the note, day after day his clam bait is left untouched, and on the day when the boy is finally going to give up, the mermaid returns. As she leaves the boy notices a small sand castle with a little flag in it, on the flag is scribbled a little note "My name is Puddly, I was scared when I found your note. Mermaids are not supposed to talk to humans. But I would like to meet you anyway."

The boy grows excited, and returns to the ringmaster with his report, telling him how the clam bait has worked and the mermaid has agreed to meet him so their plan can move forward. The next day the boy sheepishly emerged from the trees, coming face to face with the mermaid he has been stalking. She smiles at him and says "So you're the one who has been leaving me these wonderful snacks? You are quite cute, for a human at least." The boy stared at her, her blue and cream colored skin sparkled beautifully in the sunlight, as he replied "I- I have been leaving treats for you, because I wanted to see you, nobody believed me when I said I saw a mermaid" She reached down pulling something from the water as she replied " That is because we mermaids must be very careful, we are taught from birth that humans are very dangerous. But you do not seem dangerous to me, I am glad to meet you my friend. I did not feel right eating your presents and giving nothing in return, so I made you this necklace from clam shells, they are very shiny and pretty, I hope you like it" The boy took the necklace and as he placed it around his neck he felt something strange, his face grew warm, his stomach felt uneasy, and something tingled within his heart. He realized that he could not catch the mermaid, no Puddly was her name, he could not catch Puddly just to prove a point anymore. As he he had been watching her snack on clams all those days during the summer, he had grown to love her, even though he had only seen her from afar. They talked for hours that day, and as the sun was setting Puddly waved goodbye and heaved herself into the surf to disappear beneath the waves.

That night the boy returned to the Ringmaster, and told him that they could not catch the mermaid, that it was wrong to do so. The Ringmaster seemed sad he had always wanted to prove the existence of mermaids since he had had a similar experience to the boys when he was young, and everyone had laughed at him when he said he had seen mermaids, but he acknowledged the boys decision. On the next day Puddly came to visit, the boy met her once again and they talked about fish, swimming and what life was like in the other's world. However all of a sudden nets sprung up from the sand and many men burst forth from the foliage, the Ringmaster and his men had caught the mermaid and they carried her away. The boy beat his young hands on the Ringmaster's leg telling him to let Puddly go, but he pushed the boy away saying "Thanks for being the bait kid, now the whole world will see this mermaid, you and I will be famous."

The boy's heart shattered as he looked into Puddly's eyes as the truck began to carry her away. The terror, the betrayal, and heartbreak in her eyes pierced his heart. He had ruined something beautiful, he had betrayed the trust and friendship of someone dear to him. He knelt there in the sand, crying for a long time as the trucks drove away, but eventually he picked himself up and carried on. He knew he had to do anything and everything he could to save her. He ran to his friends' houses and begged them to help him, the sincerity and determination in his eyes convinced them that he was not lying or imagining things. So the children hatched a plan to free Puddly from the Ringmaster and his circus. That night they snuck into the circus tent, they set loose all of the trained animals, and lost the Ringermaster's thugs in the hall of mirrors, and they came to Puddly's cage and set her free. They were just children so they did not know how to drive the truck, but the boy did not let that stop him and he drove the truck straight into the water. The vehicle sank beneath the waves and his friends looked on with sadness. As the final bubbles from the sinking vehicle began to fade, something erupted from the water, Puddly pulled the unconscious boy onto shore and saved his life. The two of them hugged each, soaking wet in the moonlight "I am sorry Puddly, I lied to you and betrayed you, I do not deserve to be your friend!" the boy sobbed, "No, no my friend. You were willing to give your life to save me, that makes you the greatest friend of all. I forgive you, do not be sad my friend" she replied with tears on her eyes.

The Ringmaster and the circus left town the next day, news of the unsafe conditions of their animal cages had spread, and nobody wanted them in their town anymore. Puddly and the boy's friendship lived on despite the rocky start. They did not see her very often, as more people began to try to find the rumored mermaid population of the island, but the seed of friendship planted that summer would always grow no matter how far apart they were.