Hello people. <3

Because I'm a bit of an ocean nerd, I've decided to just ... lay out some different kinds of merpeople or merpeople societal structures people can play around with if they want to, if they need their merpeople to be more than just humans with tails and gills. uwu 

This is - of course - all inspired by the big blue oceans themselves. <3

Matriarchal societies

As with especially killer whales, you can have your pod of merpeople live in a matriarchal society. That means that a woman (usually the grandmother or great-grandmother) is the head and the rest is - usually - her family. Matriarchal societies and pods are fun because they are easy to think of in human terms as well.

Just think of a queen and you technically have a matriarchal society. 

So perhaps, instead of having a king Triton, create a Queen instead. 

(Also, killer whales have highly functional and specialized pods so I really do recommend taking inspiration from those majestic beauties when writing merpeople fics.)

Trans merpeople

The Kobudai fish is extraordinary. When a female reaches a certain size, her body transforms from female to male. Yes, I'm serious. So having your merpeople in a territory where only one male reigns until a female transform into a male and - perhaps - steals the territory from the former reigning king?

That's a story. 

Not only does it combine the sea and it's fascinating facts but it also brings in 1) the possibility to write both gay and straight with the same character and 2) the possibility for a story that solely happens underneath the surface.

(I personally am a big fan of stories without the merpeople x human interaction). 

Deep sea merpeople / reef merpeople / arctic merpeople

The oceans are vast and extraordinary. Create your merpeople so they fit the environment they live in. It's not just one big lump of water. Honestly, the eco-systems of the ocean are pretty difficult to figure out if not studying it vastly so I totally understand if you're not feeling it.

But it would make for a great story so here's a few pointers of how you could create your merpeople.

1) Deep sea merpeople mostly live in the dark. I mean, complete darkness. Absolute blackness. They may even be transluminescent to lure their prey towards them. They may be blind because vision isn't good for use in the darkness and their hearing may be heightened due to their environment. They certainly won't find their way to the surface all that often and if they do, I can imagine the change in pressure will affect them some way. It definitely should.

2) Reef merpeople live in colorful environments so they are likely colorful as well. As to blend in. Venomous and poisonous fish also reside in the reef so the merpeople may have created a defense mechanism against this. Hey, they may even be poisonous themselves. I believe reef merpeople are also the most likely to use tools for food if needed like they could eat clams and sea urchins primarily - needing a tool to get to the food. They are also most likely to be hunted by big predator fish like the marlin and the barracuda as well as sharks. And hey, not being King of the Ocean is a good thing sometimes. It's nice to show vulnerability too.

3) Arctic merpeople live in coooooold water. Seriously. Up there and down there with all the ice. These merpeople may be a little thicker than the usual slim Disney-mermaid (or maybe it's just me that think of merpeople as slim and beautiful. Maybe it's because of our idols ;) ). Anyway, these merpeople may have more fat because they need it to keep warm. They're likely also really fast swimmers because the water is too cold to dwell in. They may get trapped underneath a layer of ice so when creating them decide how they breathe and if it's a problem. I can imagine these merpeople either eat krill or other mammals and birds like penguins, seals, walruses etc. They are probably likely to be hunted by arctic killer whale pods, leopard seals and perhaps also polar bears.

Merpeople without fish tails

There are a lot of creatures in the ocean, many of which are fish. But what if you're creating a new species - why don't you use shark tails? Or perhaps whales? What about sea dragons and sea horses? 

Create a blowfish merperson. Or use dragon fish scales and fins to create a monster-looking merperson. 

Use the tail of a ray to give your merperson a new fin, a weapon even. 

There are honestly a lot of opportunity and only fantasy is the limit uwu

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So right, like I said, I'm an ocean nerd. I love merpeople AU's for all that they are but I love them even more when they're not humans in water. When people take the time to create something that also just slightly allows them to use the environment in which their merpeople reside.

Honestly, I don't know the use of this blogpost... I just wanted to ... talk? 

You can also come back for reference if you want to. 

Also, you can always send me a pm (not just for ocean facts, lmao) and if you write or have written a merpeople au - please send me a link. 

Seriously, I urge you. Send me a link to merpeople au's you've read or written because it's my favorite kind of story ;;