#yuuazu

[blanketorghost]

Octomer Baby Development: A guide for new parents (Part 2)

Right after your bundle of joy is newly hatched, it may need some special attention that other mer babies may not need. Often clingy and fussy when left alone, Octomer hatchlings have interesting differences that make raising them an entirely unique experience.

PHASE 2─THE HATCHLING:

0-2 Months:

Your baby has just hatched, and the first thing to note is its absolutely tiny size. Don't fret, as Octomers grow rapidly and will soon surpass your palm. At this stage, octomers can barely crawl around and will cling to their parents' hand for support and mobility. As they get exposed to light, their chromatophores develop and more colored speckles/marks will continue to appear all throught their body.

3-5 Months:

Your child should be slowly introduced to mushed foods instead of relying on liquids. It is recommended to also start introducing them to different kinds of meat, like clams (de-shelled) and shrimp.

An octomer baby is slowly starting to gain stength in all its arms, which include their suckers. They will start crawling around and grabbing things, and though slow in their movements, they have quite a strong grip on things. If parents are worried about their children grabbing onto something potentially dangerous, it is recommended to lather on a thin layer of whale fat onto things so they aren't able to grip it with their suckers.

6-8 Months:

Big developments will be happening around this timeframe, not only your octomer baby will get (and will continue to get) a growth spurt from being about 6 1/2" (16.5 cm) to a whopping 19" (50cm) ! Their appetite will also increase accordingly, so be sure to stock up on plenty of foods like kelp, plankton juice, and crab meat.

Their syphon and ink sac are fully developed, too, so expect a couple of accidental ink spewings from your baby.

9-11 Months:

At this point, your healthy octomer baby will be around 25.20" (64cm) and, if they are a hybrid between any landfolk type, they'll start transforming into their other species type. If that is the case, it is recommended that you start introducing your mer to land and the respective aspects of it, like crawling, breathing air, and, eventually, walking and eating warm foods.

Your baby's chromatophores will also be fully developed, and as such, the distinct markings that they'll have for the rest of their life will be fully visible─though still faded. Their water jet and arms will also be fully mobile and your octomer will start to swim around and even 'walk' upright.

BONUS:

Yuu especially struggled with this phase.

[soulreaper]

GL: YuuJade, MalYuu

NL: YuuVil, FloydYuu, YuuKali

BL: YuuJami, AceYuu, YuuAzu, SilYuu, YuuIdia

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Octomer Baby Development: A guide for new parents (Part 3)

After a year taking care of your Octomer hatchling, you may notice how quickly they're developing and gaining independence. This may be a bit bittersweet, especially if yours was especially clingy, but this only means your hatchling is happy and healthy! After their 1st year of life, they also officially graduate from hatchling to a proper baby, and their growth will start slowing down to that of an average mer.

PHASE 3─THE BABY:

12-14 Months:

Now that their chromatophores are fully developed, you may notice that your baby will start to mimic the colors of their enviroment. As they start experimenting with cammouflage, parents are encouraged to introduce more bright and vivid colors and a variety of textures to stimulate your child.

15-17 Months:

Teething! Like most caecalea, your baby's teeth will start growing, with one big frontal beak-like tooth always coming out first. this first tooth is made entirely of keratin and is slightly weaker than your regular baby teeth, which helps your octomer crack hard shells before their other, more specialized chitin teeth set start growing. Many parents choose to keep this first 'beak tooth' as a memento. Interestingly, mer-snakes (like the Naga subspecies) have a similar tooth that's used to pip out of their egg. This is the perfect time to introduce your baby to various types of shellfish. In fact, there's quite a large amount of toothing toys made out of shells to help with that annoying itch that comes with this phase.

18-20 Months:

As they grow up, your baby will not only start developing their personality, but will also start to babble and chirp. Especially as they start growing more teeth, it's imperative that parents start talking to their child more often and incentivise them to vocalize various sounds and words. Wonder what your baby's first word will be?

21-23 Months:

Now that your baby is starting to learn how to talk and communicate with others, their brain will start to develop a more complex memory and start to understand their relationships with others and the world. Socialization and play with other babies their age will help your child understand how to interact with others and develop their grasp on both body language and spoken words.

24 Months and Onwards ─ Toddler stage

Congratulations! Your baby has grown up to become a toddler, and now new and exciting developments will occur as they continue growing up! We hope this guide has helped you understand your baby's growth better, and that your newest family member continues growing up happy and healthy.

[...] - [There's a photo inside one of the pages.]

[blanketorghost]

adult domestic fluff 🥺🥺🥺 The twins were such clingy babies, rip Yuu's hair

I feel like Azul would take a rly rly long time to come to terms with his natural weight, so he'd only start getting chubbier in his 30s. It does help that Yuu hypes him up all the way, though

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OMG TUMBLR NOW ALLOWS MORE THAN 10 IMAGES YIPPEE //throws myself off window

plsplspls ignore the extremely inconsistent Azul i legit draw some of these right after I flew back to Colombia after a 13 hr trip <3

ANYWAYS recovery isn't a straight line and I feel like sometimes Azul would have his weak moments and think maybe he looked better back when he was still struggling with his ed //sobs

good thing he has Yuu aka his #1 fan to quell his worries

uuuh I did a couple more doodles to put in the frames w/o knowing that most of it would be covered/not visible HAHAHA;;; I'll post them right after this

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Kabedon.

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A sudden ACNH Update!

@nakunatta-fujihana commissioned me to draw him and his boyfriend as ACNH Villagers 😌

ig this is a soft launch to saymy commissions are open again HAHAH

dm me for prices xoxo (the ones in my website are outdated)

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yada yada that one episode when their future kids somehow end up in NRC and they have to take care/keep them on check while their ~mystery parents~ to come get them except its valentines day and yuu was planning to confess that day but whoops! surprise babysitting

Floyd starts calling the twins lil' barnacles because of how they latch onto Azul 🥺also, unlike the leech twins, the girls' purple strands that differentiate them are actually dyed. they are 100% identical without them. Shizuka (on shoulder) is more rowdy and enjoys making this weird bite-sized papa panic when she climbs onto him, while Aria (standing) is just more regular clingy and doesnt have any antics... for the most part.

also Kei is super small. He is a v small kid. It's totally not because I don't know how a 5 year old looks beside an adult so I just made him toddler-sized

Grown up Azul is the first one to find Kei and he is trying to reassure his husband on the phone while the young version of him is literally teehee twirling his hair and eyeing him up because Azul really did age like fine wine 😌

After more searching Grown up Yuu finds the twins in Azul's old stomping grounds and Azul is currently mulling over the reason as to why this older, hotter version of Yuu seems so content about letting his spawn nap over him?? ALSO WHY IS HE TALKING ABOUT A FOURTH KID?? (they do not get a fourth kid)

Yuu figures out pretty quickly this is him and azul's kids but Azul does need a little bit of nudging to really figure things out

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Post Valentines photoshoot with Azuyuu 💕

Azul is not very happy with how his boyfriend had his chest exposed... but he was wearing a tank top underneath. Yes yes we get it that only you can look at Yuu in that way 🙄

Besides, Yuu looked very pretty in that outfit and he can't deny that 😌

I love boyfriends with wildly different aesthetics and that are very much in love

[blanketorghost]

comfy!

Yuu and Azul often have sleepovers in each other's dorms. Grim, of course, always has to be included 😌

[blanketorghost]

(continuation of the 1 min kiss challenge)

Yuu really thinks he's being slick by sneaking up on Azul to kiss his moles and mess up his carefully curated appearance??

He should know by now that these kinds of stunts come with a steep price, tsk.

At least there's a silver lining. He finally got to kiss the boy he wanted for this trend 😌 (and he kissed him back!)

TAGLIST: @the-trinket-witch

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Clingy...

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An idea I wanted to do when the Azul art would be released....

They canonly went on a valentines date with those outfits fr 🥺🥺🥺

They wanted to surprise the other with roses but little did they know they both have the same idea lmaoooo

some details I wanted to talk abt was their respective valentines gifts.... Yuu gave Azul the locket you see on the pic + golden shell earrings that look like Ursula's + flowers + chocolate covered strawberries (yk to be healthy) As well as his attempt at a tiramisu which he only gave Azul after he made him pinkie promise that he wouldnt make fun of his cooking (with the help of Trey) + a song he wrote for him

Azul gave Yuu the earrings he's wearing rn + flowers + the chocolate box + a custom-made cologne that smells like seabreeze and eucalyptus so Yuu could remember him while on earth + a candlelit dinner with Yuu's fave foods from twst

It was their first Valentine's day together so they went all in with being extra abt it....

Of course in the end all that mattered was that they had a good time and they ended their night just cuddling and watching movies while eating the strawberries for dessert 💕

[blanketorghost]

get you someone who loves you as badly as Yuu Fujisaki loves Azul Ashengrotto (It's literally impossible)

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they are the couple ever

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HEHEHEHE AzuYuu masquerade kiss >:^)

As I said before this is a scene of a certain fanfic that's written from Yuu's POV but since I'm insane I took a small snippet and wrote Azul's perspective <3

Full thing under cut✨️

Azul clicks his tongue in disapproval, crossing his arms once more as his eyes scan Yuu's body for more injuries. So far, nothing else was visible. "Isn't Grim worried?"

Maybe if he changed his approach, Yuu would willingly give up some information. He wasn't even sure that would work either. Yuu had this way of frustratingly weaving around the subject of himself that almost felt natural to him. Even in nights when they slept over, and Azul poured his heart out to Yuu as he laid on his lap despite his brain telling him not to, Yuu never reciprocated with the same openness save for one time. He trusted Yuu. He really, truly did. But he knew deep down Yuu didn't trust him back. It was partially his fault and he knew that, but no matter how much he pried and dug into him, Yuu just seemed to slip further and further away from him.

... Why?

Interrupting Azul's line of thought, Yuu speaks again. He looks down with a small smile and tugs at the edges of his shirt, fiddling with his cufflinks. Would it hurt him to look him in the eye? "I just told him I'd get some cool scars in return. It really isn't that big of a deal."

Azul bites his lips. He didn't expect much in the first place, but he'd hoped to get some leverage by bringing up the little direbeast. He was the closest to Yuu, arguably knowing him the best. The fact that his worries were quelled by something so simple made Azul's blood boil. He thought, if anyone, Grim would be the most fussy about Yuu's wellbeing.

Obvously, that wasn't the case. But no matter, Azul would make up for the two of them if only to prevent Yuu from doing anything as stupid again.

With a deep breath, Azul steels himself and looks down once more at Yuu's hands, which are still stubbornly toying with the buttons at his cuffs. A part of himself wants to reach out and button them just for the sake of stopping his fidgeting.

Another, more impulsive side of his, just wants to take Yuu's hands instead and hold them close.

"...If anything, I'm more embarrassed at the trouble I caused the tailors per this wardrobe malfunction." Yuu continues, and Azul feels his heart drop.

Did Yuu really think that? How could he, when his arms were wrapped in bandages and were stained by ointment? Did Yuu simply not care? Did the burns not hurt, or the bruises left by the scuffle make him uncomfortable in any way? Azul refused to believe that.

In a flash, Azul's memories from the fight came back to him. The smell of smoke and ash crawling up his nostrils and burning his lungs in a way he had never experienced before at sea. The suffocating weight of his clothes and the bright, garrish flowers creeping towards him from every corner. The quiver of his legs and the numbness on his fingertips as each and every spell he cast became weaker than the last, all the while Rollo stood there, mocking his ever weakening magic. Then, Yuu, somehow, appeared and grabbed Rollo from behind. The flames lapped at his skin, caught and burned his sleeves, and the oppressive heat made it hard for Azul to breathe, yet Yuu seemed to handle everything just fine as he wrangled Rollo into submission.

He wanted to scream, to run out and do something, anything to help Yuu out, but before he was able to cast a single spell or utter a word, Malleus had already landed the final shot and Yuu had rung the bell, killing those dreaded flowers in an instant.

Did it not hurt?

It must've. After all, Yuu's entire entire forearm was tightly bandaged up. Yet he laughed nonchalantly in relief, pulled Azul into a tight hug and praised his bravery in battle without a single complaint. Sevens, he even asked him if he was wounded!

And the worst part was that Azul didn't notice it. He did notice the burnt fabric and torned up sash, of course. But how could he not tell Yuu was injured in the first place?

"Is that it?" Azul swallows and tries to keep his voice from breaking. How could he not notice? "Do you think that's the only thing to care about? A... a wardrobe malfunction?"

"Is there anything to else to care about?" Yuu shrugs, and Azul can feel all three off his hearts being ripped apart from his chest. He could've died! The risk Yuu took back then could've killed him, and Azul wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. He couldn't have. Even when his brain screamed at him back then to cast a water spell when he saw Yuu's garments catch aflame, or when he saw Rollo's fury being redirected at Yuu— completely disarmed and magicless, his body completely froze up.

He could've lost him.

"I—" Azul's voice is caught in his throat in frustration as he surges forward to grab at Yuu's collar with an angry, concerned gaze. "Are you not hearing yourself?! I-... I don't know how you can be so dense- no, willingly ignorant of what I'm trying to say. Of what I need you to understand."

"W-what... are you trying to say?" Yuu whispers, and the merman can easily discern in the dark how Yuu's cheeks brighten up with a furious flush.

Was it not obvious? Was it really not? Even when Azul's chest felt tight and tears pricked his eyes, didn't Yuu realize how much valuable he was to him? What did he even have to do to make Yuu understand how important— no, vital he was to everyone in NRC, so much so that no harm should've come his way in the first place?

"Yuu..." Azul lets out a small growl, clenching his fists and tugging at the fabric, and Yuu gulps. His voice breaks, and he has to stop himself from talking anymore lest he starts crying— a feeling he had so desperately tried to avoid ever since he left the Coral sea.

Slowly, he lifts up a hand and cups Yuu's cheek. One that just half an hour ago was covered in soot and ash. Azul shakes a little, lowering his gaze to the floor for a second, struggling to get the image out of his head.

With a deep breath, he lifts his face back up to look at Yuu's face once more, studying his features carefully. His mauve eyes, one of which had eyeshadow half applied. To his nose, with only a dot of highlighter dusted on and yet to be blended. To his cheeks, which held a vivid natural blush that no makeup product could ever achieve. To the three moles at the corner of his face and the small triangle they formed. His hair, loosely braided with a small golden ribbon weaved between it. His neck, decorated with a black velvet choker that almost hid the way his throat bobbed up and down. Azul allows his eyes to roam as much as they wished, taking in every detail, every single mark, pore and strand of hair, committing everything to memory. After all, what if this was the last time they saw each other? What if the next stunt Yuu pulled would be the last one?

Azul feels his eyes well up at the mere thought and he has to look back down, pitifully trying to calm himself down despite the situation, but it is just too much for him.

How could he make Yuu understand? How could he even put these feelings into words when just trying to scramble the words inside his head was enough to make him want to hide and cry in his octopot for days?

The only thing he knew for certain, though, is that he no longer wanted to have Yuu out of his sight. Feelings or crushes be damned. It was too risky to stay away if the result was to never see Yuu again.

So, he takes a long breath. Shaky and deliberate, then surges forward. His lips press against Yuu's. First hesitantly, then his contact becomes more firm as he gains more confidence.