so we all know that Disney’s Little Mermaid didn’t take human form just “for a man,” she was outright obsessed with the human world before she even knew that specific man existed, she probably fell in love with him BECAUSE she was a freakin humankin leg-chaser

And a lot of us also know how the Hans Christian Andersen version of the story ALSO has her interested in the human world apart from just that one guy, except in that version she’s more focused on how humans have eternal souls that can go to heaven, while merfolk live longer in the mortal world but have no afterlife

her desire to be part of that world is based not in gadgets and gizmos, but in a craving for immortality and a place in the realm of the divine, which she’s been told are things only humans get

and there’s a lot to be said about semi-closeted same-sex attraction being involved creatively in both versions of the story… And there’s also probably a lot to speculate about why Andersen put such a religious spin on that fish-out-of-water feeling

But when I think about it, my own mind keeps getting sidetracked into in-universe world building shit

Like. Why does merfolk society believe in Christianity? Or whatever set of cosmic beliefs they hold, in which it’s understood that humans have heaven-bound immortal souls, and mermaids themselves are just temporarily-animate, ultimately-doomed worthless seafoam?

Who the fuck taught them this?

What missionary had the sick idea to torture all of merfolk that way, and what possible incentive did they have to go along with it? How do you gain converts without the promise of divine favor? Was it pure military force, conversion-by-the-harpoon? Do any of them really believe it at all?

Or did Jesus manifest in mer-form too? Find a fish species sufficiently non-inclined to parthenogenesis for the virgin birth to be notable, and come out as a mer-ssiah….

Walk on water from below. Multiply loaves and fishes (the loaves being the really impressive part here, since fish multiply readily enough in the ocean, but baking underwater does take a miracle)…. Give them little Jesus-fish icons for the backs of their seahorse chariots…. Tell them they can only eat humans on Fridays in Lent…

And yet, impressive as he was, he still just told them… “Nope, heaven’s for humans? Sorry, yall don’t have souls? You can maybe buy one off a sea witch, but that’s not a thing I can help ya with, you’re on your own”

…and they all just fkin went along with it?

Like lambs in a flock? Or fish in a school?

I’m so intrigued. There has to be a way to fanfic this into making some kind of sense…..