Chapter 43:
SING!! The Mermaid Needs the Shiny Necklace ✧˖°.
I'm Winter, the author. 'Tis a pleasure.
First of all, to all those who read and supported SING!!, I am incredibly grateful to you. Every view makes my heart flutter, and every like brings more joy to my life, because it's proof that the child I created and raised with all my might is receiving some love (୨୧•͈ᴗ•͈)◞ᵗʱᵃᵑᵏઽ*♡side note: I might publish one last Bonus Chapter with some deleted scenes, so keep an eye out for that ～ ♡
⋆⁺₊❅. ⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ ⋆⁺₊❅. ⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ ⋆⁺₊❅. ⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ ⋆⁺₊❅. ⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ ⋆⁺₊❅.The person who actually came up with the idea behind SING!! was my partner.
As I was bouncing ideas with my brother, trying to figure out the best one I could try, my partners suggested one day:
Make a story with a mermaid and a deaf sailor. There.
My brother really wanted something more on the funny side.
I had never written a 1000% romance story, much less comedy, and thought this was a great opportunity to challenge myself.
So I loved the idea ♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡
At the very start, it was never my intention to make this a retelling of The Little Mermaid. Yet the more I planned and developed the story, the more I noticed all the similarities and thought 'a fun retelling' was the best way I could quickly define SING!!, so that's how it went.
One of my greatest challenges, however, was not trying to make things 'funny' and 'cute' (those were also quite difficult), but actually writing something short. It was an unending struggle to keep a wordcount of 1500 words or less for each chapter (I failed multiple times), since writing 'short' is the most unnatural form of writing to me ((⇀‸↼))
Which is why this story was a great challenge for me, in many different ways.
The planning stage was actually lots of fun, and perhaps what I spent the most time on was the characters' names ( 〃▽〃)
Believe me when I say that a lot of thought was put into each single name that appears. It was a thorough process:
1 - Researched the kanji that can be used to compose names
2 - Searched up for kanji and their particular meaning in Jisho.org
3 - Compared kanji with similar meanings, trying to understand where they differed
4 - Checked the 'On' and 'Kun' pronunciation in order to compose the names
5 - Picked the one that both sounded the best, and had the most meaningful significance to the character
Apart from step 1, all the others were done repeatedly whenever a new character appeared.
For example, a few kanji I considered for Okihiro before settling with his name were 潮 (Tidal, Opportunity) and 勇 (Bravery, Courage). In the end, I liked 'Okihiro' the best, and thought the name really fitted not only Okihiro himself but his arc.
I did my best to honor the themes I had for the story and its elements, like using only sea/sound-inspired words for the chapter titles, and carefully choosing the names for the Palaces and the seas.
That said, I am very excited to explore more each Palace in the following seasons, and I'm also curious which one would intrigue readers the most (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡
There were a few themes I really wanted to express throughout this series, and I hope I was able to send their message across. Things like loneliness, the different ways one can express themselves, and the importance of understanding how those close to you 'communicate'.
I wanted Okihiro and Eirin's first arc to be the beginning of their self-journey. As they fell in love and learned more about each other, I wanted them to also discover things about themselves. Hopefully, I was able to do justice to this first phase of theirs.
My plan for the next season is to focus on this new stage of their relationship—as they learn to better express their feelings toward each other and state what they want. With that said, I actually want to focus [a lot more] on a particular thing...
Seikan and Yūritsu (a.k.a Eirin's mom).
I cannot express just how excited I am to truly start working on their story, and explore more not only Seikan's feelings but also the queen's heart. I can only hope the readers will love these two as much as I do (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
I also want to write even more scenes with Kei and the twins, as well as have more participation of the Sea Witch and both the King and Queen of Corals.
There are a few characters I want to explore a bit more, too, yet I will see how things will go from here.
Once again, I thank everyone who supported and showed SING!! your love. You have no idea how much it means to me.
Now! Since 'SONG' is one of the story's themes, I wanted to share with you some of the songs I listened to (relentlessly) while writing. Some characters have themes of their own (be it for their vibe, their lyrics, or both), while some songs became themes of a particular chapter.
So, without further ado, here it is!
♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ﾟ. OFFICIAL SOUNDTRACK ♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ﾟ.
⋆｡♪ COUPLES THEMES𝄞 Seikan x Yūritsu = SPICA - Rokudenashi / ダンスホール (Dance Hall) - Mrs. GREEN APPLE
⋆｡♪ CHARACTERS THEMES𝄞 Eirin = セブンティーン (Seventeen) - YOASOBI / 好きだ (sukida) - YOASOBI
𝄞 Queen Yūritsu = Mou Ichidou - Tani Yuuki
𝄞 Prince Seikan = コロンブス (Columbus) - Mrs. GREEN APPLE
𝄞 Princess Reika = 17さいのうた - 『ユイカ』 (Yuika)
⋆｡♪ OST
1. 「スパークル」 (Sparkle) - Lilas [12th Wave Theme]2. 「ハルカ」 (Haruka) - YOASOBI
3. Myra - Tai Yuuki
4. Children of Stars - Uki Violeta [16th Wave Theme]
5. The Flame of Love - Rokudenashi
6. Deja Vu - Uki Violeta, PrettyPatterns
7. へび (Hebi) - Yorushika
8. 夜撫でるメノウ (Yoru naderu menō) - Ayase
9. ただ声一つ (Tada koe hitotsu) - Rokudenashi [Epilogue Theme]
10. 春泥棒 - Yorushika
11. ソラゴト (Soragoto) - 明透 [ᴀsᴜ]
12. もう少しだけ (Mōsukoshidake) - YOASOBI
13. 知らないままで (As You Don’t Know) - Rokudenashi
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