Original subtitles

[radio host] You're listening to 97.1, The Point.

One of the reasons why I love living here so much

is that we get this amazing weather well into the fall season.

Temperature high of 104 degrees today in the greater Las Vegas area.

Tonight, a high of 66 degrees and clear.

[Sparkles] Morgana has offered me a guest performance spot

to perform in the tank in Vegas.

This is the opportunity I've been dreaming of.

[engine starts, revs]

But it could also mean,

"I've given you this chance

and you blew it again, kid."

-["Black Sea" by Natasha Blume plays] -♪ Come down to the Black Sea ♪

♪ Swimming with me ♪

♪ Ah-ooh-ooh ♪

♪ Ooh-ooh ♪

♪ Come down to the Black Sea Swimming with me ♪

♪ Ah-ooh-ooh ♪

♪ Go down with me, fall with me Let's make it worth it ♪

♪ Ah-ooh-ooh ♪

♪ You rise, I fall ♪

♪ I stand, you crawl ♪

♪ You twist, I turn ♪

♪ Who's the first to burn? ♪

♪ You sit and stay ♪

♪ I don't obey ♪

♪ Where do we land? ♪

♪ In the Black Sea ♪

♪ Ooh-ooh ♪

♪ In the Black Sea ♪

♪ Where do we land? ♪

♪ In the Black Sea ♪

[song fades out]

[mermaid 1] Let's get it.

Um… Hello?

[indistinct overlapping chatter]

-Um, wait. What do I get? -I don't know.

Something sweet and… What about--

-Can I take a picture of y'all? -[mermaids] Uh, yeah.

Love the Pride flag in the background. Three, two, one.

["Fluorescent" by Russell Chimes playing]

-I'm gonna get a Cocksucker next. -[bartender 1] Perfect.

-Can I have a Caribbean Tea? -[bartender 1] Perfect.

Jameson, rocks.

-We're gonna need the Rainbow Show shots. -[bartender 2] Okay.

-Yeah. Okay. -Yay!

Oh, does it change color? What? Magic!

-Ah! -Wow!

["Fluorescent" continues playing]

All right, so, to our first time in Vegas

and to many, many happy returns.

-Whoo-hoo! -Cheers.

I was actually having that conversation in the airport.

This is the first time in a long time

I've been to Vegas without a bag full of weapons.

-[mermaid] Yes. -And I got to the airport and felt naked.

I'm like, I forgot something.

Like, where is… Where is my golf bag full of swords?

[laughter]

["Fluorescent" continues playing]

[glasses clink]

[song ends]

[pensive music playing]

So, my seaster, Chè Monique, tagged me on Instagram.

There is a King and Queen of the Sea pageant

on the Virgin Voyage Mermaiden cruise ship.

"This exclusive event will feature mermaids and mermen from around the world

as they sail the Caribbean to compete in underwater skills and pageantry

for the honor to be crowned King of the Seas and Queen of the Seas."

[Blix] First, it's the first cruise with a mermaid on it,

and she's brown-skinned.

Like, come on, I have to be on there.

I have my phone. I'm doing the application.

Underwater contest in tails.

Uh, talent show. Definitely doing that.

"Intro. Who are you? And where are you from?"

"Why should you be chosen?"

"And Platform. What cause is important to you,

and how are you working towards a solution?"

Ooh!

Splish-splash on 'em. It's The Blixunami.

Ah, I messed up. Let me re-record.

I should be chosen to be one of the 20 for this competition

because I'm The Blixunami.

Messed up again. Goddamn!

All right, take 35,000.

We gonna do this again. Come on, dolls.

[Blix laughs]

The competition's gonna be fierce

because I do have some sea-blings out there

that always slay everything, but I'm ready to be fierce just as much.

Oh, I didn't see you there.

Hello. My name is Merman Andy. I'm from sunny Southern California.

I would love to be a contestant,

since this would open up so many doors for my community.

Why should I be chosen?

I'm the current Miss Mermaid Nevada,

a sailor, a free diving and mermaid instructor,

and a professional mermaid stunt performer and fire entertainer.

I think I should be chosen for this pageant

because mermaiding is my greatest passion in life.

To me, it's more than just an art form or a sport. It's a lifestyle.

I'm an attorney, a professional mermaid, a competitive swimmer,

and also Miss Mermaid Arizona.

I think that's the one.

[upbeat music playing]

-[laughter] -[mermaid 1] My hair was fine, and then…

[mermaid 2] Is anyone bringing their makeup kit for touch-ups?

[mermaid 3] Oh, yeah.

[mermaid 4] This is the only eyeshadow palette I have.

[mermaid 5] No, that's not gonna work.

[Morgana] Mmm.

[both] We should have brought rum.

-They probably deliver. -[both laughing]

[mermaid 3] Probably.

[Kira] So I went to the Silverton eight or nine years ago with a friend,

we saw the mermaid show, and I was like,

-"This is cool. I want to do that." -[Morgana] Really?

-Yeah. -This is gonna be amazing.

[music ends]

[soft music plays]

[Sparkles] These mermaids are used to swimming in deep cold water tanks.

I practice in a nine-foot-deep pool every day.

Cold water is my mermaid weakness.

Any time I get in cold water, I tend to clam up,

and it affects my breath holds.

They've got so much more experience just entertaining people,

being underwater, interacting through the glass.

I have none.

[door shuts]

-Hi! -Hey.

Come on in. Hey, baby girl.

-Sparkles is here. -[mermaids] Yay!

It's nice to meet you, fellow sparkle fish.

Yes! I'm so happy to be here.

-We are so excited to have you. -I'm very honored.

We're a bit behind schedule. So we gotta get going.

No one's wearing glitter.

-You got the memo? Fantastic. -Yes.

And then everyone has their eyes, ears, sinuses health kit?

All right. We're good to go.

-[exhales] -[Morgana] Everybody over here.

Okay, let's go two to a seat. Try getting body first, then bag.

[mermaid 5] If you're gonna sit, you're gonna need to sit.

-[Sparkles] Okay. Sorry. -I can't hold this very long like this.

Trying to make sure I was getting in the right spot.

Okay, sorry.

There we go. I'm in.

[Kira] Do you do your rainbowness yourself, or do you have…?

-Had a friend-- These are extensions. -Oh, they're extensions!

[Sparkles] Yes, and I had a friend dye them for me.

-I hope you're not attached to the color. -[Sparkles] Oh no, I'm not.

[Kira] 'Cause it'll be gone after one dive.

[Morgana] Everybody in?

[Kira] Please keep all legs and fins inside the vehicle at all times.

[Morgana] Fasten your seat belts. Off we go.

[Tristan] So, I'm at Mertailor, and it's my birthday.

And while I love when I'm inside of those walls,

life became very lonely for me.

And then I get a message from somebody that I used to use with.

And he invited me to a Memorial Day party.

And in the first hour, out come the drugs.

I took just one hit,

and then the instant shame.

And it got bad very, very quickly. [chuckles]

It got so bad. Um…

I didn't go home to where I was living. I was living in my truck for weeks.

And I'm seeing, like, my phone is blowing up from Eric, Candy,

all the mermaids.

And I didn't know what to do,

and I finally just, like, threw my hands up in desperation

and I talked to Eric's mom, Candy.

I wanted to afford him an opportunity to get back to the place

and the person that he was.

That he is.

[Eric] I was concerned about Tristan.

And I wasn't sure what was going to happen with him.

But I'm a believer in second chances.

And because he is such a "I'm going to do better" person,

"I want to do better,"

you know, why not give somebody the opportunity to do better if you can?

And that woman and that man, together,

are the only reason that I may be alive right now.

[steam whistle blows]

[Blix] I was living with Merma Naja in the middle of Georgia.

But Naja's living situation changed, and I basically had to move out.

It's been super stressful because I need somewhere to go.

Well, I reached out to my mom,

and I asked if I could stay for a couple of weeks.

And the response I got was basically a, "No, you can't."

"But live your best life and good luck."

[chill lo-fi music playing]

I got more friends that I can go to.

So, I hit up Gabi, and now I'm here in the big city.

-I'm going to make some tea. -[Blix] Thank you, sis.

Financially, I am very low on funds.

So right now, I am couch-surfing.

Couch-swimming.

[Gabi] I've known Blix for 12 years.

He's helped me in the past, and so now I'm here to help him.

His family is pushing him to the side.

You'd think this is the time he needs them the most,

and actually they just kind of left them out in the dry.

[Blix] I gotta keep swimming.

[big band music playing]

[Kira] Ah, look at the fish!

-Wow! -[Sparkles] So pretty!

[Morgana] The Silverton Aquarium is a crazy place to perform.

You almost have to work harder to draw that audience in, to take them away

from the slot machines and bright lights and be even more magical

than everything else going on in Vegas.

[mermaid 1] Wow!

Look at the ray. Look.

Oh my God. He's so cute.

[Sparkles] As aquarium gigs go, this one is harder than most

because casinos are open 24/7.

So you don't get a practice dive before being on display.

Take inspiration. Gonna make me emotional.

-[Morgana] Too early to get emotional. -[Sparkles] I know.

-[Morgana] You ready? -[Sparkles] I think so.

All right, guys. We gotta head up.

[big band music fades out]

I love this smell.

[Sparkles] Wow.

[Morgana] All right, circle up.

Welcome to the 117,000-gallon Silverton saltwater tank.

-Whoo! -[Morgana] Yes.

[Kira] Yay!

[Morgana] Working in a live stocked aquarium

can be very dangerous, very fast.

Hypothermia is a constant risk with aquarium work.

In less than 80 degrees, we want to really limit our time in the water

in order to make sure no one gets too cold

to the point where they have a loss of motor control.

Gonna be doing 20-minute sets to make sure no one goes hypothermic.

As far as hazards and animal life, you guys need to move slow.

This is a heavily stocked tank.

If you're gonna go to the bottom,

land nice and slow, and don't land on a ray.

There is also a porcupine puffer fish. Everybody see him?

Don't try to pet him.

-He gets a little nippy. -[Sparkles] Hm.

We're going to start tailing up and put on a show.

-Awesome. Exciting. -[excited chatter]

I tend to wake up on show days already having the nightmare

that something's gone horrifically wrong.

That something has busted or broken or is leaking somewhere.

If the pump has failed, if the filter has failed.

What if the entire thing explodes catastrophically, the glass breaks,

and the mermaid shoots out the side

while lacerating all her major arteries on the way out,

dies, and traumatizes 47,000 children?

There's so many members of this team that have trusted me with their journey,

that trusted me with their safety, trusted me with their livelihood,

and if I make the wrong calls,

all of that goes away.

♪ It's a new day It's time for a new slay ♪

["Funk and Strut" by Robert W. Lamond playing]

If I get selected for this cruise, I have to have money to get to Miami.

Because that's where the cruise ship is docked.

So, it's hustle time.

["Funk and Strut" continues]

Imma be back here. Mark my words. Radio City Music Hall.

It's gonna say, "The Blixunami World Tour. Sold out."

[photographer] Big arms, Blix.

Is this your real job? Or do you have a day job too?

Yeah. This it.

-This is your real job? Cool. -Uh-huh. [laughs]

[Gabi] Bring on the tail.

[Blix] A lot of mermaids have one pirate,

but The Blixunami needs a crew.

[photographer] The transformation.

Then just get the buttons.

In New York, friends are willing to help me get to be where I want to be.

-Your lips look good, honey. -Okay.

Since I'm in New York, I'm going to make sure I get Instagram followers.

Getting the brand out there and doing my thing.

[camera clicking]

Going to make sure everybody knows who The Blixunami is.

-Yes! -Gorgeous!

Thank you! Make sure y'all tag me on Instagram.

Flip that fin.

[camera clicking]

[laughter]

[Blix] Excuse me! Merman coming through!

[photographer] He just splashed in the city. Making big waves.

The Blixunami!

[Blix] A lot of people see me with a smile on my face,

but deep down inside, a lot of the times, I'm--

I have a sad face that I'm hiding.

[soft, somber music plays]

And I try to mask it with, "Oh, that's the past."

But deep down inside,

little eight-year-old Eric still is hurting.

And it's lingering to 30-year-old Eric.

My parents still haven't accepted me fully for who I am.

I got to keep swimming.

[birds chirping]

[radio host] The Fox, 96.7. Good afternoon. It's Kelly Wright.

With me, got a special guest, Eric Ducharme,

from Mertailor's Mermaid Aquarium Encounter.

You're doing something wonderful for Halloween. What's going on?

We have our first, what we call, Underwater Spooktacular,

where we transform the entire aquarium to a little spookiness.

And, uh, basically we're inviting all of our guests to come in

and be transformed into this underwater world.

Then we'll have a special performance in our underwater theater

with our mermaids and underwater skeletons.

So we're gonna dry practice for a little bit,

and we're gonna get in the water and run through this.

The Mertailor Halloween Show is a very big investment.

This was a very big move for me.

The financial stress is… Is tough.

And this is when we all push off.

[Candy] We are very dependent

on this being successful.

We hope that people are gonna come to see these new mermaid shows,

but the recovery from the investment in that tank alone will take years.

If this doesn't work, you could potentially lose everything.

[bus driver] No speakerphone conversations.

Please keep your phone conversations at a minimal tone

so you don't disturb other passengers.

The restroom is in the back of the coach for your convenience.

If you need to move throughout the coach, use the handrail

by the overhead compartment,

or use the headrests at the back of the seating area.

[Blix] So, even though my real family doesn't really accept me,

my mermaid family accepts all of me.

And I can't wait to see them and meet them all at Afro Mermaid Summit.

["Clear Path" by Joe McGuire playing]

So, we made it. We are here in Miami.

My seaster, Carrie Wata,

she's the first Black woman to host a mermaid event.

She is Sea-yoncé.

[camera clicking]

-[knocking at door] -Shello!

-[excited chattering] -Hey! Hi!

[both laughing excitedly]

[Carrie Wata] Hi, guys!

[woman] Hi, sis!

Growing up, there was never really much representation of Black princesses,

of Black mermaids, or just anything Black and beautiful.

[upbeat music playing]

I created Afro Mermaid because Afro Mermaids

didn't have a pod or a place to call home.

-Yes, hi! -Hey, welcome to your own party.

-Hi, everyone! -Come on, girl.

Rolling through. We want to really see…

Afro Mermaid is a lot more intimate than MerMagic Con,

and therefore, everyone feels more connected.

Like, it really does feel like a family reunion.

Pulling your arms like you're twisting a rope,

but you want to keep spinning, spinning.

We'll practice it a little more. Probably… We'll do a little bit today.

We'll do a little more tomorrow. Hello! Hello! Shello!

[Carrie Wata] At Afro Mermaid, everyone's welcomed,

and we're all just teaching each other how to grow and be great together.

[Ché] This is like the unlearn-your-bad-habits class.

[mermaid 7] Yes.

[Ché] That's why I'm hoping more people do this

within their, like, first six months of mermaiding

so that they don't create the bad habits in the first place.

-Ready? All right, let's go. -I'll go.

["Shake, Shake, Shake" by Photronique playing]

[Blix] We've never had a place where we could be ourselves

and swim as brown mermaids.

The fact that we now have something catering to us just means the world.

♪ Shake, shake, shake, shake ♪

[singers vocalizing]

♪ One style with the gas, racecar… ♪

At Afro Mermaid, me and Mermaid Naja are going to be filming my music video.

[Naja] Three, two, action.

Oh, that's perfect!

Just flip your fins and stay in one place.

And I plan on having all the Black and brown mermaids

from Afro Mermaid at my video shoot.

[Naja] Mermaids, can I get a "Shell yeah!"

[mermaids] Shell yeah!

[overlapping chatter]

[mermaid 8] Go, Kelsey, go!

There she goes!

[mermaids] Five, four, three, two, one!

[all cheering]

[Blix] Okay, y'all, so right now, for the video,

I want all of us to gather over here and be lined up,

so we can do the one shot.

Then we're going to film just us, B-footage, just dancing.

Then we're gonna swim about and just flip tails.

Just do all that. And it'll be-- Yeah, just like that.

♪ Let me fix my crown Before I hit your pool now ♪

♪ The Blixunami live I make my rules, yeah ♪

[Naja] Splish-splash on 'em! Whoever's in the water, splash your tails.

♪ Conch shell blowing bubbles Puff, puff, puff… ♪

[song fades out]

She's so sparkly.

Make your instructor proud.

-Yes, always. -[chuckling]

[Morgana] Tuck your leggings in the back.

-[mermaid 1] Well, the… -[Morgana] Tuck anyway.

Sit up. Thank you. Better.

You got 15 minutes to be a magical, magical fish.

Just go down and find your zen. Go see your friends.

[tense instrumental music builds slowly]

Oh, there she goes. Oh, that's my girl. Oh my God, look at her!

God, she's got a great backflip.

That's my girl.

Yes, full extension. Watch your head. And perfect!

You're nailing it.

[Sparkles sighs]

[Sparkles] I'm so afraid that they're going to be

so flawlessly free diving down to the bottom of that tank.

Her depth is perfect.

[Sparkles] Hitting their beautiful, elegant poses.

[Morgana] I love it so much.

Hey, Michelle, one more time, go through the arch.

Anything worth doing is worth doing twice.

[Sparkles] And I'm scared I'm going to be flailing at the surface.

Gasping for air.

[breathes deeply]

[tense music fades]

[Morgana] You gotta breathe at some point.

Maybe they don't.

-[chuckles softly] -[water splashes]

Gorgeous. Amazing.

Warm shower. Hypothermia bad, warm shower good.

-Tasha, you did eyes, ears, and sinuses? -[Tasha] Yep.

[Morgana] Okay. Sparkles, go get your tail.

[Sparkles] Okay.

[inhales deeply]

[exhales sharply]

[creepy atmospheric music playing]

[Eric] Blue is fascinated by Halloween.

The way he treats Halloween is like most people would treat Christmas.

And this is an example of what he does.

[recorded roaring]

See? Every time.

[recorded laughter]

It's phenomenal. He's gotten so awesome at creating this Halloween world.

We were replacing the toilets next door for our neighbor,

and I had this great idea to use it for a prop.

And I had to have someone throwing up this year.

So I have the guy puking in the bucket.

Aw, It didn't go off.

-[creepy atmospheric music plays] -[chuckling]

[Candy] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Magic Palace.

Tonight's performance, by Magic Eric…

Oh, Eric Ducharme.

He was always building. He was always making.

He would build stages at the house

and figure out how to produce these magic shows.

Hello, folks. Ladies and gentlemen,

I'm Eric Ducharme, and first of all, I would like to welcome you

to the Magic Palace.

Now, today we have a first wonderful trick…

I'm not talking about the typical little kid stages.

My entire back porch was a stage.

Voilà!

Then, for a little while, we were into clowning.

Clown!

[Candy] Everything was entertainment and artistic.

I would come home and find my mother dressed up in the silliest outfits.

And my father dressed up, sitting in a chair,

not looking as happy as my mother would be.

Part one of The Invaders,

where real invaders come to this Earth and destroy people on Halloween night.

Thank you. I hope you enjoyed this show. Bye.

[pensive music playing]

[Eric] It's because I really wanted it so bad that I made it happen.

-Okay, we got four minutes to open. -[woman] All righty.

We're very excited about of our first ever event, the Halloween Spooktacular.

[mermaid 9] I feel like I'm looking a little raccoony.

This is more stressful than doing the shows.

The shows I got down.

Okay. Are we ready, guys? Doors open?

[woman] Can we open doors? Are we ready?

Hi, how are you? Welcome.

Go left and have a seat in the theater.

A full house per show is only 40 people.

We have sold 15 tickets.

This has been a little scary. Of course, we went over budget.

[Eric] I never got to do a Halloween show at Weeki Wachee.

I really wanted the first Halloween performance at Mertailor

to be beyond my wildest dreams.

I am a cursed pirate for the Halloween show.

I get to act up and be silly, in the best way.

[Candy] We're not gonna wait any longer. Doors are closing.

[woman on radio] One minute to show, guys.

-Do we have a lot of people? -[woman] Uh…

I want to say 20.

[groans]

[Eric] I'm building a life at Mertailor for a whole new type of history to happen,

and I want everybody to experience that.

["Secrets" playing]

♪ Let me pull you in ♪

♪ Let me take you over ♪

♪ Let me pull you in ♪

[spectator] That's so cool.

That's beautiful.

["Secrets" continues playing]

[song ends]

[applause and cheers]

Whoo!

[Candy] People have to come through the door

in order for us to be able to continue to do this.

But now we know what we're capable of,

this is just a very small piece of what I know he wants to come.

-[Ché] Thank y'all for your patience. -[mermaids chattering]

I know, that's why…

Fat fishies, gather!

Let's take a Society of Fat Mermaids group photo.

I think everybody is here.

-Who is holding it? -Oh, I had one end.

-Gonna hold an end. -That's your side.

All right, all right. Let's get tight like we like each other.

I think because I started Society of Fat Mermaids,

I think I just kinda popped up at a moment where people were ready to see who I am.

So, even though I don't feel I've been doing this long,

I feel very known and very present.

-Fat Mermaids! -[all] Make waves!

-Fat Mermaids! -[all] Make waves!

-Fat Mermaids! -[all] Make waves!

[all cheering]

[Ché] There really aren't a lot of merfolk my size.

I'm on the bigger side of, like,

the plus-size you're gonna find in not a specifically plus-size shop.

I really want a silicone tail because those experiences where kids touch it,

and it's like, "Ooh! You really are real." That does seem absolutely magical.

I've got 60-inch hips, so it's hard to find a mermaid tail.

Mermaid Kariel has agreed to make me a silicone tail.

She's been working on more plus-size stuff lately.

And we've been talking about having, like, a partnership.

Totally blindsided me. Like… I didn't really know she knew I existed.

She's like a legend in our industry.

I kinda thought that Kariel represented

that thin, white, Barbie-like mermaid dream.

I never thought that Kariel and I would have any type of partnership,

but we talked waiting for coffee at MerMagic Con.

And she just really wanted to work with me.

[line ringing]

[computer chimes]

-Shello! -[Kariel] Hi, Chè, how's it going?

Beyond excited for this moment.

I need to take all your measurements so that I can make you

your very first silicone mermaid tail.

Yay!

So you can take those amazing mermaid dreams of yours just a little bit further.

-Babe? -[man] Yeah.

-Could you come here, please? -[man] Okay.

-Supportive husband. -I am ready.

[laughing]

[Kariel] Oh yeah! All right.

You have to tell me too. Like…

I think part of this is I don't want to be offensive in any way.

Okay, that's fair. Say what you need to say.

I'm comfortable in my skin.

I want to do the largest part of your butt area.

-["Keep On" by Muszette playing] -♪ They told me to stand still ♪

♪ So Imma keep on runnin' They try to bring me down ♪

♪ But I'm the one that's huntin' ♪

♪ And every day I see the sun rise Out of the darkness ♪

[Kariel] That's it.

-All right. Talk soon. -[Kariel] Bye.

♪ Wanna give me reasons Want me to stay the same ♪

♪ But I ain't losin' nothin' From what I got to gain ♪

♪ Better for it on the other side Stronger than my weakness ♪

-[cheers and applause] -♪ I will not surrender ♪

♪ Can't break my soul ♪

♪ I will always remember ♪

♪ What I am to the core ♪

Shake, shake.

-[all cheering] -♪ Keep on, keep on ♪

-[song ends] -Who's next?

[laughing]

[Blix] My seaster, Carrie Wata,

asked me if I could perform "Splish-Splash on 'Em,"

and I immediately told her yes.

This'll be my first performance. It's going to be amazing.

And I hope when everybody sees me perform this song they see the magic,

and the passion, and the sparkles, and the glitter, and everything!

All the dramatics, and the bubbles. I'm about to kill it!

It's gonna be everything.

-Y'all got no more bubbles? -We do. You're good. You're divine.

-I need the mic too. -You want the mic now?

-I don't know where it's at. -Right here.

Hey. Hi. No, I need the real mic, girl.

[laughs]

uh-uh. What are you doing? Where the mic at?

[Carrie Wata] Now we have… Blix!

[audience cheering]

[spectator] Blix, Blix, Blix, Blix!

-[audience cheering] -Go, go, go, go, go, go.

[Carrie Wata] Ladies and gentlemen,

The Blixunami!

[woman] Whoo!

Yes!

Afro Mermaid! What's up? What's up?

♪ Imma be the main event, yeah ♪

♪ Swimmin' on your screens In a pretty fin, yeah ♪

♪ The Blixunami Will never be pretend, yeah ♪

♪ Let me fix my crown Before I hit your pool now ♪

♪ The Blixunami live I make my rules, yeah ♪

♪ Amaretto Sour in my shell cup, cup ♪

♪ Conch shell blowing bubbles Puff, puff, puff ♪

♪ Imma be the main event, yeah… ♪

[crowd] Go, Blix! Go, Blix! Go, Blix! Go, Blix!

♪ The Blixunami Will never be pretend, yeah ♪

[cheering continues]

Shello, everyone. The results of who is accepted to participate

in the King and Queen of the Seas pageant will be coming up very soon.

We're going to be announcing the top 20 Kings and Queens of the Sea.

So, keep your fins crossed and check your notifications.

You don't want to miss this.

-[whimsical music playing] -[repeating excitedly] Oh my God!

Okay…

[exhales sharply]

[laughing excitedly] Ah! Goddamn! Ah!

[repeating excitedly] Oh my God!

[squeals] Oh my God!

[shouting excitedly]

Oh, sh-- [laughs]

-I got selected. -[partner] You got it?

-I got it. -I just got accepted.

Yes!

[exhales]

Whoa.

It says they want me to be on their… Finperial Council.

Like… a judge, except they're not having "judges."

They're having a "council" 'cause it says, "Mermaids don't judge."

It's on now, y'all. It's on now.

Oh, I'm so excited!

It's gonna be so good!

[repeating] Oh my God!

[groans]

[whimsical music ends]

-Hey, Sparkles. -Uh-huh.

-Breathe. -[chuckles]

-Yes. -Okay, this isn't a race.

Deep breaths. Take your time getting into your tail.

-Keep your heart rate down. -Okay.

[chuckles] My heart rate has been out of control all day, so thank you.

[Morgana] You have an ankle wrinkle.

You want to get it or do you want me to get it?

-[mermaid 5] You're a little twisted too. -Yeah. I see. I see.

If you do that again, I'll have a heart attack.

When you grab this tail, I need you to grab it from the actual tail,

not just the hip fins, 'cause they are gonna come off one day.

[shuddering breath]

My bad. Honestly, I was not paying attention.

-[mermaid 1] It's your tail. -[Morgana] It's a beautiful tail.

-Let's be nice to it. -[Sparkles] I'd hate to rip a fin.

[Morgana] All right, Anna, she's coming in.

Whenever you're ready, fly free, little fishy.

[dramatic music builds slowly]

You're gonna swim underwater to Anna.

Let go, and you're gonna swim over there.

All right.

Come here.

Look at me.

You're gonna duck dive under and swim to that sparkle fish right there.

She's gonna meet you underwater. You can do this.

I'm watching you get in your head. We're not gonna do that. Ready?

[Sparkles] Yes, ma'am.

[Morgana] We're gonna do a one, two, three.

You're gonna take a deep breath on three, then you're gonna go swim to her.

-Okay? -Okay.

[Morgana] All right.

One, two, three.

Breathe in.

Go get her.

There we go.

[soaring instrumental music playing]

She's good. She just had to let go.

[mermaid 1] Yeah.

[spectator] Yay!

[mermaid 1] Look at her still going. Nice.

[Morgana sighs] There it is.

Beauteous. Beauteous. Beauteous.

Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Yes!

[light applause]

Yes, sparkle fish!

[mermaids cheering]

[soaring music continues]

[Morgana] Stunning.

[chattering]

[Morgana] Getting past the nerves and getting to who you are. Love it.

I'm gonna go down there and watch. Have my proud mama moment.

[soaring music builds slowly]

[soundscape muffles]

-[mermaid 1] Are you okay? -I'm fine. I'm fine. I just…

[exhales, chuckles]

…need a second, I think.

[breathing deeply]

-[mermaid 2] Okay? -[shivering]

Are you starting to shiver?

[Sparkles chuckling]

-I'm all right. Thank you. -You're welcome.

-[chuckles] This is amazing. -Yeah.

But you cannot be cold in the water.

-It's all worth it. -I know.

But also, no dead mermaids.

-I know. No dead mermaids. You're right. -[chuckling]

[exhales, shivering]

She's hypothermic. She's hypothermic. I gotta pull Sparkles.

[dramatic music builds]

Can't wait. She's hypothermic.

We have to pull Sparkles.

[dramatic stinger]

-["Before I'm Dust and Bone" plays] -♪ Save my soul ♪

♪ Take me home ♪

♪ Save my soul ♪

♪ Take me home ♪

♪ Save my soul ♪

♪ Take me home ♪

♪ Save my soul ♪

♪ Before I'm dust and bone ♪