Rehabilitation AU (Primary) An AU in which OC's/Sonas Ayala (mine) and Tari (Chimkin's) run a specialized rehab center and sanctuary focused on Merfolk. In the context of the AU, Ayala is the owner with a lot of knowledge on mer and is the one in charge of arranging for the various specimen to be brought to the location. Tari is a "veterinarian" and caretaker. Other human characters include Crysta (mine) who is a biologist that routinely does lab-work to monitor the overall health of the specimens, and eventually Kinger; one of Caine's creators who eventually reached out. Caine is specified as being an experimental recreation of an extinct species of mer, who is deemed a failure due to being born deformed. He was kept around and used as a basis to eventually create Abel; a much more successful variant. Things take a negative turn for Caine following Abel's creation, and Chimkin's art tells the story from there. Ultimately Caine is due to be culled and vivisected for research purposes due to not being a major problem that has cost them more than he could ever be worth. He's kept around long enough to provide what is needed to make the next desirable experiment, but is both neglected and abused during that process (the muzzle plays a key role here). Through Kinger's timely intervention, Caine is rescued by the Rehab center before he can officially be culled. But not before more physical damage can be done (the vivisection process had already started by the time the emergency payment was offered). Caine is saved, moved to the rehab center, and then the long care/recovery process starts. During which he becomes very close to Tari. A while later Bubble winds up coming into play. He is a 2nd failed experiment born lacking "scales". He is bald. Only having the thick armor plating on his head (and the teeth) while otherwise lacking all forms of armor. In addition to this he as leucism. He is very pale, with very delicate skin, and develops a lot of issues as a result. He is easily wounded, has no protection from skin parasites, and requires specialized care/housing. Bubble's creators reach out to Ayala to sell him, effectively strongarming the purchase because she'll know that he'll ALSO be culled if she doesn't buy him. And considering that she perceives Mer to be effectively the same as people, she can't in good conscious just allow him to be murdered. (Bubble is noted as desperately wanting to be around Caine but largely can't be due to risks. Not just because of Caine's history, but because Caine is sharp.) Other mer noted as being in the facility are Sun, Moon, and Eclipse. All of whom are rescued circus performers. Eclipse is specifically noted as having been born wild and poached, whereas Sun and Moon were born in captivity. None can be returned to the wild. All of them are brought to the facility with severe problems (health wise and mental health wise) brought on by poor care and the abuse that went into conditioning them to be circus performers. Sun and Eclipse are "Bettas". I have yet to decide for Moon (I'm more inclined to make him an eel). Personal OC's that are mers include Scorpius and Hollow (Blood Moon OC). Scorpius is a Lionfish and Hollow is a giant eel hybrid that was also created in a lab setting. In some variants of the AU, Abel is actually noted as SURVIVING the attack but is left maimed. He is also eventually sold to Ayala for rehab purposes, and there's lots of fun drama in that regard.

Sea-Witch AU's (there are a bunch) There are multiple variants of this AU. Named this way because they all involve a focus on sea-witches and in pretty much all of them, someone has been turned into a mer. There is a variant of the AU where Tari is a human princess who abandoned her role to become a mermaid and has to try and integrate herself into an underwater world that is largely designed to reject her or judge her (due to current conflicts with human and her father in specifics). In this one she winds up developing relationships with Sun (Lionfish), Moon (Shark), and Eclipse (Orca) and there's some fun drama. There is a variant of the same AU where all of the details are the same, only instead of encountering the DCA inspired mer, Tari winds up encountering Caine. Who is ALSO a human that was turned into a mer... Only the sea witch in question intentionally turned him into a malformed monster and tortured him, leading to him becoming a highly dangerous entity. She tames him and rehabilitates him with the power of friendship. Yet another variant of the AU where Tari is actually born a mer but was born into a not-great family that treated her like property and put her in bad situations (which would've eventually led to her dying). She is Confiscated and then adopted by a Sea Witch (Crysta) and taught magic alongside Ayala (Sea-witch in training). Tari very specifically is NOT a Sea Witch in this setting (due to lore related reasons and rules) and is instead something called a Vorlocc. Which is a magic user trained by a witch who failed to undergo all of the rituals that are required to create a witch. This AU is in turn broken up into at least 2 variants. One where Tari encounters and helps a Human Caine, who then goes on to get himself transformed into a monstrous and deformed mer by a human magic user; and another where Caine was formerly human but was transformed into a monstrous mer by an entirely different Sea Witch out of spite due to having wronged the merfolk. In both of these settings, Caine largely forgets who he was as a human. He is much more dangerous in one than the other. But Tari winds up being there for him regardless. In all variants of this AU, Ayala is a Sea Witch (and the one that transforms human Tari into a mer) and she is very specifically an Octopus. Crysta is the witch that made Ayala; and Crysta's mentor is the one responsible for Caine's creation in certain iterations.