springfallendeer

Biology:

The merfolk can be broken up into 3 primary sexes. Male, Female, and Intersex (also known as Hermaphrodites). With the Intersex individuals being broken down into two sets: Male dominant and Female dominant; which is the means of differentiating dominant characteristic expression.

Intersex individuals cannot swap their dominant sex expression. The ones that one up looking more like males will always look more like males; and the same applies to the ones that look like females. They simply have a wider range of options when it comes to breeding.

Roughly 25-3-% of Merfolk are Intersex. So it is, at least compared to humans, INCREDIBLY common.

Merfolk do express sexual dimorphism, much like humans. This sexual dimorphism, however, is not uniform. As in the rules of dimorphism cannot be applied to the whole or considered to be a standard. Genetics do play a role; but the Beastial Expression (animal comparison) is more dominant. So as an example, with Clownfish Mer, the females are larger and more dominant than the males almost all of the time. Because for clownfish, the females are larger and more dominant with the males being smaller and more submissive.

Female (or Female Dominant Intersex) Merfolk primarily reproduce by laying eggs. Live birth IS possible, but is far more demanding on the parent and at this point bypasses social norms. So it is incredibly rare for a Mer to give live birth. (Also, important to note, the live birth route is comparable more to certain sharks - where there's babies eating one another in utero.)

A Female Mer can produce anywhere between 3 and 15 (with more than that being a rarity) eggs, with that range largely being dependent on things like age and the number of breeding cycles that have passed. So an older individual who has laid eggs before will produce more than a first time egg-layer.

The eggs are highly gelatinous in nature, with a thick mucous membrane surrounding the developing embryo. This membrane actually expands when exposed to water, thus creating more room for the developing infant to develop while also saving on internal space.

Eggs are kept in utero long enough to partly begin development. Following which they will be laid. "The "Internal Incubation" period lasts around 3-4 weeks.

Reproductive cycles for Merfolk are synchronized. There is a set period of time in which breeding is possible. Different regions of mer will go into season at different points during the year, with those points being dictated by changes in the water chemistry (largely reliant on temperature). As a result of this, large populations of Mer will reproduce at a time.

Mass migrations of Pregnant mer (often accompanied by their mates) will take expectant parents to designated "birthing zones". Generally being warmer, shallow waters where fever predators are present. These zones have been utilized for centuries, which has only strengthened the migration habits of the merfolk inhabiting different regions.

Partly developed eggs are laid in these birthing zones. Following which, they are promptly abandoned.

Brutal as it may be, mer simply produce too many offspring to reasonably care for all that hatch. Attempting to salvage every newborn life would only lead to unsustainable population growth. So clutches of eggs are abandoned and left to hatch (Which can take 2-3 months), then the hatchlings are left alone in the breeding zone for a period of 2-3 months (region dependent). During which point the very small (compared to human babies) merfolk infants will grow and mature.

This "isolation period" is what I affectionately refer to as the Cannibal Infant Free For All. Because, yes. Newly hatched mer are incredibly cannibalistic. The stronger individuals who are better at hunting cannibalize their peers, and the meek who fail to properly hide are promptly devoured.

Siblings are able to instinctively avoid preying on one another and are even known to protect one another. Outside of that, there is rarely a sense of mercy. Unrelated individuals that avoid attacking one another aren't doing so out of compassion, but out of a mutual understanding that the outcome of the confrontation could end poorly on both sides.

Following the end of this Cannibalistic Swarming period, surviving babies are promptly adopted by returning adults.

This is a very disorganized situation. While siblings automatically recognize one another, the odds of an adult finding their own children (if any have survived) aren't exactly guaranteed. There is a margin of error; but also sometimes just play out in interesting ways. So roughly 30-40% of mer will wind up taking home and raising kids that they share no blood with.

Additionally, sometimes siblings wind up separated. Particularly in instances where too many spawn belonging to one bloodline have survived the swarm, meaning that the adults would struggle to properly maintain them all (2 is the comfortable average, with 3 being a big strain).

The adoption process triggers psychological changes in baby merfolk. Which leads to these previously murderous infants suddenly becoming shy, withdrawn, and incredibly fearful. This is very much a trauma response brought about by a prolonged period of existing in a "Kill or be killed" state.

Adopted babies will spend an extended period of time just hanging out in the pouch of one of their parents. This provides them a secure place, close to a trusted adult, and is essential for bonding. Babies who are denied access to the pouch struggle to grow out of their skittish stage, leading to other developmental issues down the line.

All mer have pouches. These pouches take up a huge portion of the torso. The entrance of the pouch is often mistaken for a bellybutton. The opening of the pouch is often kept closed by default with contracted muscles (these muscles are contracted when at rest) and it takes conscious effort to loosen them.

Yes, adult mer would appear to be pregnant (from a human perspective) when there are juveniles hanging out in the pouch. Yes, it looks freaky when the babies are in there squirming around.

Female Mer DO produce breast milk! But only in small amounts, with it acting more as a nutritional supplement. The milk of a mermaid is thick, with a consistency comparable to heavy cream, and it will thicken even further when exposed to water. Which can cause it to sort of float absently in the water like oil.

For the TMI aspects; it is more common than not for a male mer to have two penises, for ease of mating. Females, however, only have one vaginal opening. Sexual fluids, likewise, are also incredibly thick and sticky (even if slippery) in order to maintain functionability in an underwater setting.

Yes, merfolk will mate for pleasure outside of breeding seasons. This is incredibly common and a bonding activity.

There are no strict expectations or even social norms relating to things like mates. A promiscuous female is judged no more than a female who prefers to take only one mate. Individuals who elect to mate long-term are treated no differently from those who treat the arrangement as a one-and-done situation. The only things that are judged are whether or not someone is irresponsibly spreading disease, and whether or not they will take proper care of any children that they take as their own. Literally all that is expected is that you be responsible for the health of your partner and for any life you take guardianship over.

Circling back to something mentioned waaaay above. Beastial Expression. This is just my fancy way of saying "What aquatic creature an individual mer can best be compared too". Because in the context of the AU - this is NOT a genetic trait.

Different Beastial Expressions do not mean different SPECIES of mer. All of the merfolk that exist today belong to the same species, and are the surviving descendants of a far more primal species of mer that existed an incredibly long time ago (Pointing at Dunkleosteus Caine), which has long since gone extinct. Largely due to changes in environment; but not for the reason that one might expect.

Context here is that Merfolk, as Mystic Creatures, are innately magic. They are magical entitles. They resemble existing aquatic species because they are, in effect, an embodiment of ocean magic. As a result, the Primal Mer (Dunkleosteus as an example) don't go extinct directly as a result of changes in the environment that make it impossible for THEM to exist. These forms of mer go extinct because the environment changes and makes it impossible for Dunkleosteus the animal to survive. The extinction of the comparable animal entity dictates the loss of Beastial Expression in a mer. Which means that no more can naturally attain that shape (though human fuckery has apparently found the way to reignite long dormant capabilities).

So, again. The type of "fish" (or aquatic animal) that a mer is born as has nothing to do with genetics. It has everything to do with the existence of that type of organism in the current time; with the local animal population having more of an effect than anything else. It is very rare for a mer to be born resembling an animal that can't be found anywhere in its environment. Hence we often find the mer of one area strongly resembling the wildlife of their ecosystem. This in turn leads to a huge range in physical diversity.

This is how you can wind up with an "Octopus" mer and a "Stingray" mer being full blooded siblings from the same clutch, and that just being a normal thing to have happen. This is also the real reason behind Bubble and Caine being sterile. It actually has very little to do with the fact that they've been artificially created. They have a Beastial Expression that is extinct, and so their innate magic is damaged to the point that it just doesn't know what to do in terms of children. Though we can always fool around with the idea of them somehow producing kids and those kids are just born as modern-day "fish", baffling everyone involved.

Color, however, IS a genetic trait! Which can lead to fun situations where you get a "Great White Shark" with clownfish colors (and sometimes even the pattern). Children are highly likely to inherit colors that are present in their parents and grandparents. Which is also another fun byproduct of that innate water magic.

Beastial Expression can lead to fun differences in individual mer, outside of appearances. An example being than an Octopus mer is capable of changing all of the pigment in their body in order to blend into the background and hide (and despite having bones in their more humanoid parts... They can somehow change their biology in order to squeeze into unnaturally tight spaces. Even their head can be slightly squished without damage). Unique adaptive traits common to the animal comparison are very commonly seen in the Mer.

Because I forgot to share it here but it is an important detail, newly hatched Merfolk are semi-transparent. Meaning that you can often see their internal organs (contents of their stomachs/intestines) and their still developing bones through their very thin, pale skin. Their eyes are often not fully developed either. Yet they have teeth and claws that are just sturdy enough to be used to cannibalize their peers!

Yes, the merfolk can suffer from a range of genetic defects. Albinism, Melanism, Gigantism, Dwarfism - the list goes on. There are even fun fucked up things that can happen which would lead to body parts appearing in the wrong place. Nature isn't perfect and magic can make nature unstable.

Mer!Bubble, aka the "Bald Dunkleosteus Merman"

Created after Caine, largely by the same people that created Caine (sans Kinger, who has quit, though his research is still being utilized).

"Born" with a series of birth defects or genetic mutations. The primary of which has rendered him "Bald", aka scaleless. Save for having a properly armored head (which is arguably more external bone plating than scales), he has no natural armor. The feel of his skin is comparable to that of an eel. Very smooth.

His skin is a bit on the thick side (due to being designed to act as an anchor for thick scales and armor plating), it is still easily penetrated. His body can be easily cut just by rubbing against rough rocks. Lack of scales also means that he has 0 protection from aquatic skin parasites. Which technically isn't a huge problem considering that he lives in fully treated and maintained water that is largely parasite free. But it does mean that a lot of extra care needs to go into his care, especially in regards to his environment.

He DOES have his claws and teeth. So there is nothing to prevent him from reliably eating his food. Which is good, because he has a preference for live prey items. He has an excellent prey drive (desire to hunt) and being given food to chase/catch is good enrichment.

While he (and other artificially created, hybridized mers) cannot EVER be released into the wild, it is important to note that his odds of survival in the wild would be incredibly low. His lack of scales leaves him vulnerable. He would suffer frequent infections as a result of skin injury and he would easily become overrun by skin parasites. Any attempts he could make to remove those parasites would also damage him further. So in the theoretical situation in which he is born in the wild, he suffers a very early and incredibly unpleasant death at the hands of overwhelming infections (parasitic and otherwise).

His pale coloration is the result of Leucism. Which is effectively, diet albinism. He is largely lacking in pigmentation, but it is not 100% gone (as it would be if he were albino). He is easily mistaken for albino, due to his pale coloration and pink tint; but his dark pupils are the dead giveaway.

Were he NOT Leucitic, his body would have been very vibrantly colored! His pink tint is actually a result of this! His primary colors would have ranged from red to orange (with splashes of white) with the hues being darker o his top/back with his stomach area having brighter tones. Almost comparable to the patterns found on some koi fish/goldfish. (Which may seem strange, but coloration is not "uniform" among merfolk in my AUs. Nor is body form! These are details I might expand upon later if asked.)

Moving on to his history; Bubble is more the result of scientists wanting to research an abnormality than anything else. His unique genetic defects were noticed very early on during his "Gestational" period (it is important to note that he, Caine, and Abel were "born" in their full adult forms and required a lot of socialization/education once the woke up). It was understood that he was an entity that would require intensive care. Rather than cull and start on the next specimen; he was allowed to fully gestate and then was "born" all so that the team could gather data pertaining to his unique series of defects.

He was, in essence, a Cadaver. Born not with the intention of being kept alive in the long term, but born for the sake of bettering scientific understanding. The plan was to cull him as soon as enough information was gathered. Very little was put into socializing and educating him once he actually became an actively animated and conscious entity; because it would have been a waste of resources when the plan would be to kill him after a few months to a year. He would have been vivisected and his parts preserved for study, had they failed to sell him to the rehabilitation facility that purchased Caine.

His "Sale" was very much a strongarm. The result of a company with HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE ethics being aware of the empathy of people in a completely different area. Not unlike the people who irresponsibly breed or catch horses and strongarm empathetic people into buying them, because "if they don't get bought, they're going to Mexico to be killed for their meat". The knowledge of Ayala's empathy was used to effectively say "You either buy him to save his life or we kill him". And it worked. Which, unfortunately, means that there is now an incentive to intentionally bring deformed/sickly specimen into the world; because there's a sucker out there that will be willing to buy and care for them.

Some fun additional byproducts of his genetic defects means that he will burn easily in direct sunlight and needs to be kept in darker environments/provided lots of shade (even after being given some experimental melanin treatments. He can't be out of the water for long because if his skin dries out, it will crack and peel (and bleed) like human lips in winter. He also requires weekly full-body rubdowns with specialized lotions that help his body resist infections (and reduces the potential of sunburn).

Now to move on to personality, behavior, and any additional traits!

Bubble is full grown, but he is smaller than Caine. I'd ray roughly 2/3rds Caine's size. Which doesn't mean that Bubble is small, per say. Caine is just a large boi.

Bubble very obviously has 0 awareness of what Caine has done to Abel (regardless of if we're talking about a variant of the AU where Abel survives the attack or not). He also has 0 fear of Caine, despite the fact that Caine is larger and very much a hazard (in the sense that trying to cuddle with him would be like trying to cuddle with a rock).

That lack of fear extends to a desire for companionship. Which is less of an "instinctive" thing and more, a natural byproduct of being an unnatural freak. There's not really anything else like you in the world, so finding someone that IS (mostly) like you triggers a sort of innate sense of illogical kinship. He very earnestly wants attention from Caine. But Caine, for a range of reasons, doesn't want to interact with Bubble. Which in turn leads to Bubble, like an annoying younger sibling, taking whatever attention he can get. So he starts to take actions that intentionally irritate/piss off Caine. Such as getting overly cuddly with Caine's favorite handler in a performative way.

He is a male dominant hermaphrodite (like Caine). Which is just a fancy way of saying that he technically has both reproductive parts, but he primarily expresses male characteristics. This, surprisingly, it not actually a genetic defect! Though it is not the standard, many merfolk are born with both parts but express one sex dominantly (appearing to be male or female). This likely has something to do with the fact that an asinine amount of fish are also hermaphrodites.

He can lay eggs! Those eggs, however, are 100% sterile with little to no yolk. This IS a defect, and an unavoidable one, brought about by flaws in his genetic code. It is the downside of being a man-made abomination meant to re-create a long extinct subspecies.

Those eggs often wind up being used as food for all of the mer. Its not weird. They can't hatch so the only reasonable thing to do with them is eat them!

This part is mostly for fun and I don't fully consider it canon, but Bubble is a bit of a whore with 0 sexual preference. Full on pansexual. DTF pretty much anyone or anything that shows interest, with 0 interest in monogamy. Also he's a bit of a size queen.

That's pretty much everything of relevance that I can think of for Bubble!

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.

Which doesn’t mean that it's bad. It is just a very specific type of pudding. One that she honestly isn’t all that familiar with. So she isn’t sure if she’ll like it. Though, to be perfectly honest, she has a strong feeling that she won’t.

Mostly because the pudding in question resembles a fruit-cake.

She does not like fruit cake. Fruit cake is a dessert of deceit.

Its name alone brings promises of a fruit filled delight. Something light, sweet, and juicy. While the reality is that it is a dense loaf of strongly spiced nuts and fruits which have been tortured and brainwashed to the point that they have lost all memory of their former selves.

Then, as if to emotionally numb the tortured remnants of any fruity memory, the cake is often soaked in booze.