Lore :

Asks: Hiding in shell? , Abilities , Mermaid Pearls , Abilities & Effect of the moon ( With art) , About Mermaids , Leo's Transformation , Random Headcanons , Swimming/Siren Voice/ Memories after the full moon, Swimming/First night as a memaid , Other mermaids (+ art from the upcoming comic) , Everyone else's ( Family/Friends/Villains) reaction to Leo's curse, Effects of the Siren Voice

Comics: (Coming soon)

The beginning (mini series) :

Mermaid Curse Twins' Bond Tribe

Random :

Siren Voice

Good People are Like Candles:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Art:

Drying is a big no no! Mermaids can only breathe out of water if the air is very moist. In case if they are not near any water source the water on their skin/scales will evaporate and provide them with moisture for a while, but as soon as it runs out they will choke on air.  But they actually can turn into a “normal” form with their pearls. So yea, that’s why they are so concerned with their pearls.( it still grows back in 3 weeks tho) It works like a naturally grown cloaking brooch. If used they also avoid the whole need of moisture to breath problems.

Raph: He feels the most guilty about the thing because when they went on the “mission” Leo was strongly against meeting face to face with the mermiads and asking for a pearl nicely,  given that Draxum warned them about their hostile attitude towards land dwellers. But Raph was stubborn about being a hero and heroes are not stealing any creature's body parts regardless if they need it or not. Then his “asking nicely” plan failed and Leo had to lure away the mermaids (and snatch a pearl if he can) chasing them so the rest of them could escape (Mikey and Raph are not good swimmers in this AU. They can swim but not too fast and definitely not “shaking off angry mermaids underwater” fast.) So Raph feels directly and not just “Raph’s the big brother,  Raph should’ve tried harder!” way responsible as him ignoring Leo’s suggestion led to all of this mess. And Raph being guilty,  he tries to avoid Leo. He’s highly uncomfortable with the sight of his shortcomings,  which from Leo’s point of view looks like his big bro is disgusted by him. At the beginning Raph was forcing himself to stay around Leo as he thought his strength was required to  move his merturtle younger brother around. This was sort of an atonement in his point of view,  staying and helping Leo even if that upset him every time.  But turns out nearly everyone in the family can manhandle Leo so after that he feels useless and tries to avoid interacting with  Leo as much as he can,  using the excuse of taking care of their dad. Raph also develops quite the anxiety regarding Leo being out of his pool. He always fears his little brother will suffocate on dry land so he pretty much tries to keep Leo in his pool until his pearl develops and he can take on a lang form.

Donnie: He’s the most affected in the family after Leo,  because he’s the one who’s bonded with his twin first therefore there is a time when he’s Leo’s only lifeline. So unlike Raph who tries to avoid and Mikey who doesn’t yet figure out what could he do for Leo, Donnie is constantly present and constantly reminded of the changes. And we all know Donnie and changes don’t mix well. Having a harder time to show emotions and understand/respond to them correctly yet being stuck as the main comfort person of his newly turned very clingy merturtle twin completely tires him mentally. Not to mention that at the beginning as the only one bonded with Leo he carries the additional weight that if he ever -even accidentally- makes Leo feel like he’s unloved/abandoned that could cost his twin’s life. So between acquiring all kinds of knowledge of mermaids/ keeping company of his twin and inventing stuff for him, he’s working himself until he drops unconscious from sleep deprivation and a high fewer.

Mikey: He’s surprisingly fast to accept the change,  in fact a little part of him even thinks it’s cool at first. The only thing that takes Mikey aback about MerLeo is the siren voice. Usually Mikey is the one who falls victim to it which is a very scary experience. Still the thing that actually puts an end to Mikey’s “ let’s see the bright side” attitude is the obvious suffering his older brother endures. Mikey wants to help but sadly his imaginary therapist degree does not include how to deal with a brother who was forcefully turned into another species. Mikey’s big issue is that he’s not just worried about Leo,  but about everyone. Their family should stick together to become a stable “tribe” for Leo,  but instead Raph is trying to hide away, Donnie working himself to death, Splinter is basically on his death bed,  April is visiting relatives so she's out of town, and he’s stuck having no idea how to fix things. But despite all issues,  Mikey is the third one (number two will surprise you) to bond with Leo and finally sharing the burden with Donnie.

Splinter: Yes, he will feel very guilty about this event. But he’s not present for the worst of it so he somewhat sheltered from the ugly truth. What I mean is that during the hardest times AKA the first month  (the time where Leo struggles the most with body dysphoria and the mermaid kind of depression) Splinter is either unconscious, high on mystical meds or delirious. So he is not aware that his sons went to get a cure for him let alone  what happened with Leo. By the time Splinter recovers enough to be off meds Leo has already been through the first loss of his pearl and his first Full moon. ( Both are the hardest experiences of a new mermaid) Also despite (once he’s made aware of the situation) he reassures Leo that what he is doesn't change the fact that he is his beloved son,  he struggles to look at Leo because it reminds him of when he was turned into a rat against his will.

Draxum: He’s the first to be aware of the situation after the brothers. He tries to help with his limited knowledge of mermaids. He’s the one who tells the turtles that the curse can’t be undone and that Mercreatures need their tribe or they die. Due to lacking in mermaid knowledge (like all land yokai) he assumes Leo needs mermaids to bond with and despite Leo’s protest he suggests the brothers ask their ex pirate friend AKA Hueso, where the Hidden City Sea mermaids live,  since pirates are the ones most acquainted with aquatic folks. Other than that Draxum doesn’t show deep concern towards Leo. He once mentions he’d love to research Leo but that idea quickly gets rejected. After that Draxum doesn’t really show up. 

Hueso: Hueso is well accustomed to mermaids from the time he used to be a pirate. According to him as a young lad he even dated a mermaid who lives in Lunar and Rosey’s tribe. Therefore despite he’s aware of the hardships of being a mercreature he’s not taken aback in the slightest by their presence. In fact he’s the person who’s most normal about Leo’s situation and his casual way of treating this poor turtle whose life turned upside down is highly appreciated by our merturtle. 

CJ: This is a pre-movie AU,  so there is no CJ although I might make some time skip mini comics where he is present but for now CJ is not planned to appear.  

Cass: But fear not,  we won’t be lacking a Casey Jones in this AU! Cass is actually a pretty important character. After the first week of Leo transformation he’s stable enough to be left alone for a few hours. And crime does not sleep so the brothers have to go and fight bad guys. However they can’t completely leave Leo - who's been pretty much imprisoned in his pool by an overprotective Raph-  alone due to fearing that he will try to escape his pool and get hurt. And with Draxum off the grid,Spilter out of commission and April out of town,  they get the next best person for turtle sitting… April’s girlfriend Cass. Except they forgot that Cass is the agent of chaos and as soon as they are out of the door she’s like “You,  Blue one! You need some change of scenery!" And she pretty much picks up Leo and they portal to Hueso for a pizza. Of course the bros freak out when they find Leo gone and no longer let Cass turtle sit,  except she just pops up at their place and busts Leo out to go to most random places. Including a Hot Spring in Japan where while they played in the water ended up bonding. This makes Cass the second person to ever have a mermaid bond with Leo. The reason why Leo gets so attached to the ex foot recruit is because she’s not treating him like he’s broken nor trying to fix him. 

April: She was out of town for the first two weeks and definitely felt bad when she found out that she can only be the fourth one to bond with Leo. After that she put on a bikini and declared that she’s taking Leo with her ( or well Leo takes her with a portal) to Hawaii because size wanna do the bonding thing with style ( She might be a bit competitive because Cass bonded with Leo in a Japanese Hot Spring ad that is cool…) Raph is against her idea, being worried about Leo but April is the oldest sibling and no one can stop an O’Neil so the big guy just has to give up. April is not intimidated by Leo’s situation the slightest saying if she could accept giant talking turtles a merturtle won’t be where she draws the line. She’s very understanding with Leo, but does not pity him. Sadly due to the end of her summer break and the start of school she has less time to hang with the boys and bail Leo out from his “pool prison".

Villains: Hypno definitely knows as he one time snatched the pretty jewelry AKA Leo’s  pearl and he lowkey got traumatised by the fact that it was not a brooch but part of Leo. He also helps Leo who’s now in mermaid form into some water till his brothers get there so he doesn’t suffocate. Also since a pearl taken off can not be put back onto the mercreature so Leo has no use of the pearl if it’s already snatched he lets Hypno keep it with the conditions that he keeps his mouth shut about where he got it from and after selling his pearl (it worth a fortune) he quits being a villain and lives happily ever after with his worm boyfriend from the money. This is where Hypno goes from enemy to weird gay uncle.