#many mers

[staff]

Tumblr Tuesday: Mermay

Well, chaps, Mermay is in full swing, and we thought we'd share a little selection of its masterpieces. Who knows, maybe you, too, will feel moved to immortalize the noble merperson. Call it inspo. Call it appreciation. Whatever you do, please do feast thine eyes and enjoy.

(As is often the way with the beasties, some of these have fins, eyes, bones, and other potentially upsetting sticky-out bits. Please proceed with caution if any of this squicks you out). 

@yuumei-art:

@ionomycin:

@adalheidis:

@greenfinchg:

@iliothermia:

@chips-are-great:

@liss-art:

@ekbelsher:

@shpepyao:

@flightlessartist:

@wendylianmartin:

@sygnin:

@nerdvolutionkurisu:

@tyiart:

@artist-ellen:

@theftshrubbery:

@emihotaru:

@kororobus:

@mentoskova:

@wellnoe:

[moonliched]

they're having a gossip! happy mermay🐠🫧

[all-purpose-dish-soap]

real quick. to the the anon in my inbox a few weeks back asking about how free use medic came to be the agreed-upon method of stress relief for the whole of 141: i love you, you're perfect, i'm not ignoring you; i am drafting in direct response. several things.

at the anon who sent me the ask minutes ago about a particular au with Soap: good god. good god. i have 8 solid hours of meetings tomorrow and that's all i'm gonna be thinking about. thank you for the brain rot. rip.

[aerknight]

biG fisH

[nyoomerr]

For the drabble request, could I ask for a post-canon snippet from "shallow water weather"? Maybe some Bingqiu daily life fluffy snippet or maybe Shen Jiu's reaction to finding out that his baby brother now has a surprise courtship going on?

here's a lil drabble of lbh trying very, very hard to get his laoshi to consider taking their courtship to the next stage(s)!

(original fic here)

---

Luo Binghe wants something. Shen Qingqiu isn’t sure what, exactly, but whatever it is must be a larger ask than the things Luo Binghe usually wants - pretty trinkets, play wrestling, or other such things that very naturally come with being the spoiled mate of a pod lead. 

(Shen Qingqiu has to take a moment’s pause there, as he usually does when he accidentally lets himself think of Luo Binghe as his mate instead of just a very successful courtship partner. Stop stretching out your fins in such a disgusting display of pleased showboating, Shen Qingqiu, there’s nothing to brag about just yet!! No such official mate has actually been secured!!)

Ahem. Luo Binghe wants something, and it’s a big enough ask that he’s very clearly been buttering Shen Qingqiu up for it for days, now, which is especially alarming coming from a mer that Shen Qingqiu is quite used to simply taking whatever he wants and then asking forgiveness later.

Perhaps - does he need more enrichment? Would he like to go visit some deeper waters? Shen Qingqiu could come, but he’d have to prepare both his body for the higher pressure of deep waters and his pod for his absence, and -

After the fourth time that Shen Qingqiu nearly destroys the fragile Bone Eater’ Fish he’s trying to carefully disassemble for parts, he resigns himself to the fact that he’s far too distracted to work in the lab today, and slinks back to his cave early. 

Unfortunately, Luo Binghe is already there waiting for him.

“Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu greets, flicking his tail in mild embarrassment at the sound of his own voice, layered with a pleased trill that seems impossible to get rid of when he’s around Luo Binghe.

“Laoshi,” Luo Binghe greets in turn, with far less shyness. “I’ve missed you!”

Shen Qingqiu’s ear fins flare in smug satisfaction - he missed me, he missed me, my mate thought of me while I was away! - and smiles softly as Luo Binghe swims a lazy lap around Shen Qingqiu in the cave, looping his tail around Shen Qingqiu possessively. 

“I was hardly gone that long,” Shen Qingqiu says, even as he returns Luo Binghe’s greeting with a quick curl of his tail around Luo Binghe’s. Then, more indulgently: “If you missed me, you could have come and seen me.”

“Laoshi always kicks me out of his lab when I visit,” Luo Binghe whines, draping his arms over Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders so he can lean in close and nip at Shen Qingqiu’s cheek. 

Shen Qingqiu tugs on his hair in mild protest, but doesn’t move his face out of the danger zone of Luo Binghe’s teeth.

“You could have come and seen me if you were capable of being in the lab without distracting me,” Shen Qingqiu amends. 

Luo Binghe clicks his teeth at Shen Qingqiu, but his expression is still bright and happy, so Shen Qingqiu doesn’t bother to placate him.

Instead, Shen Qingqiu straightens up a bit and bites the bullet.

“Binghe,” he starts, perhaps with a bit too much hesitancy for what is really a very capable pod lead simply asking if his courtship partner wants something specific. “Recently, you’ve been…”

“Very good?” Luo Binghe suggests, gently butting his head against Shen Qingqiu’s. 

Shen Qingqiu flicks a fin at him in mild scolding, but returns the head butt anyway.

“Too good,” Shen Qingqiu agrees. “So: what is it that you want?”

“Laoshi sees right through me,” Luo Binghe says, clearly pleased. “Mm, I want something, and Laoshi has to consider it properly before answering, because I’ve been very good for him recently.”

Against Shen Qingqiu’s will, his fins flare slightly at the challenge. “I always consider Binghe’s requests.”

“Yes,” Luo Binghe agrees, “so you must also consider this one.”

Suspicious, Shen Qingqiu pulls back slightly to get a better look at Luo Binghe. Luo Binghe lets himself drift slightly downwards, so that he’s looking up at Shen Qingqiu through his lashes. Shen Qingqiu’s suspicion doubles.

“Laoshi,” Luo Binghe says sweetly, “would you give me guppies?”

Shen Qingqiu’s fins flare out far wider than they had before, and his mouth opens to instinctively refuse. 

“You promised you’d consider it!” Luo Binghe whines before Shen Qingqiu can get even a single word out, and Shen Qingqiu, reluctantly, has to close his mouth before letting his knee jerk reaction take over.

Little guppies with Luo Binghe, would be - troublesome. They’d undoubtedly be too energetic and curious and sticky, and they’d probably latch onto Shen Qingqiu’s tail to be dragged around behind him all day, and Luo Binghe would teach them awful habits that would only make their teething phases way worse. 

Shen Qingqiu, horrifyingly, finds that he quite likes the idea of it.

Still, he won’t go down that easily!

“Guppies are -” Shen Qingqiu swallows thickly, tries again. “Guppies are a lot of responsibility, especially for an unmated pair…”

Luo Binghe’s expression turns bullied. 

“We’re only unmated because Laoshi won’t ask me,” he says mulishly. “Laoshi was so bold when he announced our courtship, and yet in the last year he hasn’t even tried to ask this mer of his to spend a mating season together!”

“You could ask too!” Shen Qingqiu cries, ignoring the way his voice cracks on the words.

He pauses, fighting all manner of embarrassing and very physical responses that would surely give himself away to Luo Binghe, who is still watching quite closely.

“...You’d - not be opposed?” Shen Qingqiu asks after a long moment.

“I’ve been trying to get Laoshi to mate me properly since before he announced our courtship,” Luo Binghe says with no small amount of pettiness, his gills flaring in a sigh.

“Ah,” Shen Qingqiu says, feeling a bit faint.

“So guppies are a perfectly reasonable thing to discuss,” Luo Binghe concludes.

“Ah,” Shen Qingqiu says again. Then, finding some of his old resolve: “I - can’t carry them. It would put the pod in danger, if their lead was in such a precarious state…”

“Naturally, I’d carry them,” Luo Binghe says, coiling his tail tighter around Shen Qingqiu’s possessively. “In fact, if Laoshi had suggested I didn’t carry them, I’d have been very cross with you.”

Shen Qingqiu despairs inwardly. This little guppy of his, asking for more little guppies, and so neatly taking care of all of Shen Qingqiu’s worries!!

Still, guppies were - a lot. To think about. For a mer that had only just realized he could formalize his mate as such, even! But… a couple sticky little guppies really… really didn’t sound so bad…

Shen Qingqiu’s gaze dips down to Luo Binghe’s navel. 

“I’m not familiar with how your deep sea blood might affect the process,” he admits. “On average, for a deep sea mer - do you know how many eggs would be viable?”

Would they have to try for awhile to get one to take? Shallow water mers could have clutches of up to five, but only a couple would be viable at once, so for mers that live in more treacherous waters - 

“We can have clutches of up to thirty,” Luo Binghe says, clearly smug.

“Thirty -!”

Luo Binghe’s expression turns sorrowful. “Though, it’s really only ten or so that will be viable,” he adds apologetically.

“Oh,” Shen Qingqiu says, and then promptly passes out.

[vectorisheree]

I really like your Eclipse, could you maybe draw him hugging Y/N? (If you don’t do Y/N stuff I’m sorryy) your art is so epic <3

Not quite a hug but he wouldn't have enough room for all his arms!

Drawing soft Eclipse feels so wrong like who is this man and why is he smiling like that

[emry-stars-art]

Baby shark Andrew was cranky and Aaron said “okay it’s nap time”

Shark facts and lore/worldbuilding under the cut

So shark mers can’t actually stop moving for long periods of time but baby mers aren’t born with the ability to swim while sleeping. So they sleep on various pod mates or really anyone that will carry them. Being steadied like this is important for their development since it teaches them to sleep on their own as the get older.

Andrew was separated from his pod/school not too long after birth, and the only reason he made it past the infancy and toddler stages was the kindness of other mers. Other pods of sharks and whales, or mothers with their own children, or a very kind lone gray whale carried him around and took care of him when they found him, for as long as he would let them. Until he got spooked or upset and swam off again. Because of the lack of consistency in his care and the countless times he nearly suffocated in his sleep, Andrew to this day has a harder time sleeping on his own than most grown mers, not for lack of trying. Luckily, once he’s reunited with Aaron and a manta ray Nicky that Aaron tells him is essentially an adopted cousin, it doesn’t take long for Aaron to realize why Andrew is so tired all the time. It’s no harder for him to pull Andrew around on his back now than it was when they were little. And while they’re there, Aaron realizes that yeah, it is kind of nice to have someone he can sleep on, too. Even if he doesn’t really need it. (Nicky offers to piggyback the twins but he is far too smooth and slippery. Which doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue when Andrew takes little power naps on Neil but shh.)

Im sure it’s not uncommon for adult mers to sleep on each other at any age, but if anyone questions why Andrew is always sleeping on Aaron, Aaron gives them a death glare and makes sure Andrew never hears their stupid questions.

[littleguy-bigthoughts]

Oh the woes of wanting to be apart of fandom community but alas you are anxious

[pr0ng3ls]

Have Feesh, who will take you for soft tacos for simply looking in his direction. I have not a damn clue where he has come from, but he's my new baby boy who is just a big ol sweety. Did I accidentally give him both hands in the doodle? Yes, oops -u-

Doodle below cut <33

[sinn-bee]

Happy mermay I bring Bingliu(Shen) nonsense

Full uncensored art here ⬇️

Lab assistant Luo Binghe is taking diligent notes on his observations during his studies of mer reproductive anatomy and behaviors >:3c Lead scientist Shen Yuan has no idea this is happening yet but he won’t be too upset since Binghe did such a good job writing down his scientific observations…right?

[thatmooncake]

Soup Delivery! A tiny Moon runs over with a bowl of warm soup and happily offers it to you. Would you accept it?

Hello! Sending a lil' Moon to send a bowl of warm soup. Hope you're having a good day and remember to hydrate/eat if you haven't yet!

Oh- also! Since it's Mermay, what's some of your favourite mer-related things/au's?

Awww yay!

When it comes to mermay there are so many mer AUs I enjoy! I’ve filled a page full of sea creatures and there are still so many more to love:

(Mer designs by:

@starswimmingart @crystalmagpie447 @ayyy-imma-ninja @maudiemoods @oobbbear @bloo-the-dragon @sinnabee @reaurelynios @xitsensunmoon @local-diavolo-anon @moonliched @bibsies @crow-n-tell @cipher-the-sidhe @castercassette @bamsara @jack-o-phantom @zus-a-fungi ✨)

Close up versions under the cut (sorry for bad cropping)

[inkyucu]

So... This is the picture I've been having a rough time with.

Do I know how this happened? No.

Do I want to know how this happened? No.

Am I glad to finally just post this and move on with my life? Absolutely.

Hopefully I'll be able to post art more often now

[moonliched]

some mer au shenanigans. rascality, if you will

[salparadiselost]

Has How to Train Your Mers Dickie ever been mistaken as a mermaid by new guests at the aquarium because of his long hair and pretty face?

Like as female? I would guess so yes! Though his name is Dick which is very... male.

But! Male and females don't have a ton of species dimorphism in the HTTYM-verse.

Males are larger, mainly to provide better protection for their young and because their tails need to accommodate a pouch. Females are smaller, slimmer and often have a lot for scarring from fights. Females are also almost always living on their own, while males tend to form a pod. Male mer tails tend to be wider and they have the pouch seam, whereas female mer tails are slimmer. However, the difference between their tails isn't so great that untrained eyes can tell. Because female mers are often aggressive towards pups that aren't their own and may try to kill the pup a male is pouching to make room for her own, male mers have an incentive to hide their pups inside their pouches and keep it looking as normal as possible.

Female mers also do not have any form of breasts like human females do. Neither males or females have nipples visible on their chests. Males have a single nipple inside of their pouch, which the mer pup will suckle on until they are weaned. This is also one of the reasons that twins are extremely rare for mers. There's only one pouch and one nipple, so dad really only has room for one. In the rare instances were twins do occur, the dad would need to transfer the pup over to another male with an empty pouch who is willing to pouch them.

So! Although there are physical differences between male and female Mers, they tend to be pretty nuanced or not visible to the naked eye. This would increase the chance that Dick gets called a girl lol

[scarlett-ink]

Artfight attack against @moonliched ! Seriously, please go and devour their au it’s awesome.

[d4rksusuke]

Hello it's me again with my monthly appearence hehehe today I offer you a drawing inspired by the fanfiction "There Are Many Benefits" by moonliched on AO3

you can also check out their Tumblr accounts @moonliched/@moonliched-art!!

I hope you enjoy my little doodle heheheh