Every Freaking MerMay Its Found Family - Tumblr Posts

MERMAY 2024 MAIN CAST- look at my stupid, idiot little children, I love them so much. If I can keep up, this year is gonna be fun; I have angsty plots >:3

MerMay 2024 Masterpost

Relative size reference and anatomical ramblings below cut.

Here’s a vague size comparison thing for all of them. And a human for perspective

I really, desperately want to make an illustrated guide to my merfolk lore, because it’s extensive and I’m really proud of it. But that sounds slightly overwhelming, so idk, but here are some random scraps that pertain to these four. My fish mers aren’t allowed to have hair; they have a variety of different fins on their head to mimic it instead. Oviparous fish (e.g. remora) lay their eggs and their mer counterparts do likewise, and therefore don’t have nipples and/or breasts. Eggs of ovoviviparous fish (e.g. manta ray) hatch shortly before giving birth and do not consume anything resembling milk, so their mer counterparts do not have nipples and/or breasts. Viviparous fish (e.g. lemon shark) essentially nurse when in the womb, so their mer counterparts nurse after having given birth and have nipples and/or breasts. Mammals (e.g. monk seal) are self explanatory.

Also most animals hatch or are born with navels, because even in eggs, there’s a cord from the embryo to the yolk sack. Oviparous and ovoviviparous creatures just tend to be better at healing the scar. However, I’ve decided that mers are not as good at healing the scar, and thus, have bellybuttons.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.