I have FIN-ally FIN-ished a custom that I have been wanting to finish for a long long time in my Disney figure series.
I present, Ariel the little mermaid.

For centuries, throughout the realms, sea fairing men have told tales of mysterious creatures that swim the briny deep, mermaids. They are the seas loveliest creatures, with voices like liquid moon light. Mermaids are occasionally glimpsed by passing ships, lounging on rocks or basking in tide pools, singing and combing their hair. A few sailors even claim to have been saved from drowning by a mermaid and others claim that they are as likely to drown you as they are to save you should you encounter one as they are capricious by nature. Mermaids and even mermen are said to live in a coral Kingdom on the ocean floor. Most people pass such tales off as nautical nonsense, just the rum soaked imaginings of men too long at sea, but it’s not nonsense, it’s the truth.

The Coral Kingdom of Atlantica is home to Triton, ruler of the merpeople, and his seven beautiful daughters. King Triton and the merfolk take little interest in the affairs of man, thinking that mortals are clumsy, strange creatures that lead short, graceless lives and are foolish and greedy for trying to tame the seas with their ships and reap its bounty. In short they are not to be trusted and are best left alone. However the King’s youngest daughter, Ariel, is fascinated with the land dwellers and collects their gadget and gizmos, treasures and trinkets from the hulls of sunken ships and keeps them in her grotto.
It was whilst day dreaming in her grotto one day that a shadow passed overhead. Too small to be a whale, it was instead the hull of ship on the surface above, cutting through the water at a steady pace. Ariel curiously swam up to the surface so as to take a closer a look. It was a modest sized double mast schooner, golden lettering emblazoned on the side spelled the words “The H.C. Anderson”, the figure head of a mermaid at its prow pointing boldly forward. Ariel found this to be most amusing, observing how inaccurately they had carved the tail. She could hear the sound of men at work on deck, singing shanties and shouting orders, she dared to swim closer to observe, hiding in the waves of the ships wake.

On the deck was a man that took the young mermaid’s breath away. The salty breeze rustled his dark hair and his piercing grey eyes scanned the horizon. He had the regal baring of a noble as he stood proudly at the helm. She followed the ship for some distance, enjoying the sights and sounds of the men on board, and captivated by the handsome man, whom she learned to indeed be a Prince and Captain of the ship. Suddenly her peaceful observations where shattered by the sound of whistling air, a loud explosion and the cracking of timber. From the clouds above, much to Ariel’s surprise, a mighty galleon descended amid a hail of cannon fire. One of the sails shimmered and sparkled in the light, the ship itself glittered with a golden dust. Fairy dust, Ariel recognized it straight away, but how and why? The schooner returned fire and Ariel found herself in the midst of a fierce battle. Pirates dropped onto the deck of “The H. C. Anderson” and began attacking the crew. Swords clashed and pistols fired, the prince she saw, fighting bravely alongside his crew. But he was fighting a losing battle and there was nothing she could do to help. An aggressive volley of gun fire caused the schooner to pitch and roll and diving deep to ovoid the debris, splintered wood, barrels and rigging raining down around her, Ariel saw beneath her a large, monstrous dark shape rising from the depths. It was the one being that all merpeople feared and only sought by those desperate or foolish to seek her help. The Witch of the Sea, Ursula, had grown to kraken sized proportions and stretching out her long black tentacles towards the schooner. Ariel surfaced at a distance in time to see the Prince lying on the deck drawing his flintlock and aiming at a particularly vicious looking giant of a pirate clad in scarlet with a large hook for a hand being winched back up onto the deck of the flying galleon.
Ariel could do nothing but watch as the Sea Witches giant tentacles erupted from the sea and wrapped around the ship tearing it in two and dragging the bulk of the wreckage down under the waves. Hurriedly Ariel sped toward the remaining debris and searched for the Prince hoping he wasn't lost to her. She spotted him clinging to the broken figurehead barely able to keep his head above water he was so weak. Not taking her eyes off him, she navigated the tattered sails, floating barrels and tangled rigging and reached his side just as he slipped under the waves. Cradling him in her arms, keeping his head above the water, she swam swiftly to the nearest shore and there the mermaid laid the prince on the sand. His was breathing was soft and his eyes flickered and twitched as he struggled with consciousness. Ariel sung soothingly to him and stroked his brow and he smiled as his eyes closed and he slipped into sleep. It was then that she spotted something gleaming at his neck. A golden chain and on the end was a small golden trinket. It was a key, but having never really seen a key before the curious mermaid unfastened the chain to study it closer. In the distance she suddenly heard voices shouting and calling the name “ERIC” and she spotted a group of mortal men running down the beach towards them. Taking the chain and key as a memento, she slipped into the deeper sea and watched from a distance as the group reached the prince, who upon gaining consciousness was aided to his feet by an elderly dignified looking gentleman and slowly they walked back along the shore.
Back in Atlantica, Ariel’s dreams were haunted by the fierce looking hooked pirate, the ship with the fairy wing sail and the ferocious battle but she also dreamed of the Prince whose life she saved and the way he looked cradled in her arms as she sung to him. She longed to see him again.

It was the day before a full moon and Never Land had descended onto the seas surface and Ariel and her sisters swam to its lagoon, for mermaids and fairies are the only ones with the ability to find it, and they were shocked to see a boy, Peter Pan, weeping on skull rock. Ariel’s sisters turned fin and left, they didn't wish to get close to a human boy, even one that wouldn't grow up. Ariel, always curious, swam up to Peter and asked why he was crying? Never Land had greatly changed Peter explained. He told the mermaid what had befallen there and what had happened to the fairies wings. He had sent his fairy Tinker Bell for help but she hadn't come back yet and he feared for her. Ariel told Peter she had seen the ship with the wing sail, “The Jolly Roger”, and said she will try to get some help herself and returned to Atlantica. Ariel tried beseeching her father, but he said merfolk do not medal in the affairs of those above the waves and refused to hear more of it. Back in her grotto she clutched at the Prince’s chain around her neck and toyed with the key. She had to get help and then she had an idea, if no one below the sea would help her, how about someone above the sea? The Prince! She had saved his life after all, and he had encountered “The Jolly Roger” and he may know the pirates whereabouts. But in order to get that help, she would need to be able to go on land, walk as a human walks. She could think of one person in her realm with the powers to help her, and it made her shiver to her scales. Ursula.

Recipe:
Head - Katniss Everdeen
Hair - Galadriel and sculpt
Body - Strangefate 7inch female
Hands - Monster High
Tail - Sculpt
Bikini - Sculpt
Necklace - Aquaman
Base - Pirates of the Caribbean with sculpted coral, rocks, added treasure chest, shells and dingle hopper (fork) and crab Sebastian painted from a playmobil set.

I am super proud of this one. I hope you like her, thanks for looking.

**UPDATE** New Pictures