#abyssal_zone

ABYSSAL_ZONE is back again for MerMay 2026! This year we explore the different forms of marine life, drawing inspiration from the diversity of the ocean.

How it works: Every eight days we release a set of writing prompts, for a total of four 'weeks'. Each set of prompts contains eight unique one-word prompts, one for each day, as well as one line of poetry. Do a prompt per day, stack them all up to make something fun over the course of the week, or just pick and choose what prompts you like over the course of the month - there are no rules, so just go wild and have fun!

The purpose of this event is just to get the creative juice flowing and spend some time appreciating the eerie atmosphere of the ocean. You don't have to make fanfic or fanart either - original fiction, poetry, crochet, do whatever strikes your fancy. Just send us a pic and we'll add it to the blog 🐋🐋🐋

Add the fics to the ABYSSAL_ZONE Ao3 Collection or @ this blog to see them added to the ranks.

"Not that one, don't you dare take that one-" "Shishishi, but it's the right colour! It's gotta be this one-" "Not that one. Choose something else. Not the earrings either, are you kidding, those are diamond- No! Not that! That statue is solid gold, put that down."

ABYSSAL_ZONE is returning for MerMay the for third year running, offering a slightly darker take on your usual mermaid fluff. This year's theme explores the trophic levels of the ocean, taking us up through the levels of the food chain. Throughout May, we’ll be running two events:

Weekly Prompt Releases Same last the last two years, we have four(-ish) weeks of writing prompts. These will be released every eight days, consisting of eight unique one-word prompts and a line of poetry. Do a prompt per day, stack them all up to make something fun over the course of the week, or just pick and choose what prompts you like over the course of the month - as long as you're having fun there are no rules. The idea is just to get the creative juices flowing and spend some time appreciating the eerie atmosphere of the ocean. It doesn't have to be only fanfic or fanart either! Original fiction, poetry, heck even crochet, do whatever feels right. Just send us a pic and we'll add it to the blog 🐙🪸🪸🐠

Add the fics to the ABYSSAL_ZONE Ao3 Collection or @ this blog to see them added to the ranks.

MerMay Readers Bingo The MerMay Reader's Bingo from last will be making a reappearance, shuffled around and with some new entries. Read mermaid (or siren, or selkie, or sea monster or really any sort of ocean related) fics and cross tropes off the the bingo. Connect five crosses in any direction, and win immense bragging rights.

May 9 - May 17. Second week of MerMay prompts 🐠🐠