#I’m imagining the Concern when people notice the cannibalism tag and I’m cackling

[moonfurthetemmie]

Slaps mer AU on the table

This is going to need a little bit of Lore, and I’ll probably ramble on more than I need to, but this is Soft(ish) Supernova Propaganda.

So this thing has existed for aaaaages, this isn’t new.

Within the mer AU, we got:

- DINTIS and Jade and Obsidian

- wholesome JMV/DINTIS in its entirety, very soft very fruity

- Dreamswap

- Horror!Dreamswap

- weird royalty AU that would take way too long to explain right now. It explains a bit of lore, but that’s not really relevant right now.

The mer AU is also technically part of the very large Supernatural AU, but it’s treated as its own thing most of the time.

Mer come in many different shapes and sizes. Their fish half is a specific species of a fish, or other aquatic creature. The W!JMV/DINTIS part is the exception, because we wanted to commit to the fruit thing, but again that’d take too long to explain. It’ll make sense when the fruitverse stuff comes out

There are eels, jellyfish, crabs, and hagfish which I think aren’t technically fish. There may be whales also but I’m not sure

But there’s also leviathans.

Specific families (taxonomy) and species of mer are insanely huge, for reasons unknown to pretty much everyone.

These are:

- Sea dragons

- Whale sharks

- Hermit crabs

- Sea snails

- Crabs (not hermits)

Within the great big ocean, there’s a lot of mer. Including in the deepest depths of the ocean, where food is scarce.

This is where we decided the H!DS Idiots would live.

Due to reasons that boil down to “we said so”, they all get along well. Some of them still bicker constantly (in particular, Byte and Hunter’s relationship is just starting to be repaired), but they’re still friends.

Pluto is a Dumbo octopus

Byte is a Bluntnose sixgill Shark

Gouge is an Angel shark

Hunter is a Frilled Shark

Delusion’s also a shark, though we never figured what species.

Slash was originally a bull shark. And then we created the leviathans and said “what if Crab Slash?”

So she’s a giant fucking crab. Probably a bit like a crab centaur. I don’t think we figured out whether she human-like hands or actual crab claws, but in this exact instance I’m imagining both?

The sharks are only just bigger than her hands, and Pluto’s slightly smaller. We didn’t figure out her species either, I don’t think

Since she can’t travel as fast as them, or hunt the same, she, Byte, and Pluto do a little better with separation, but for the most part they stick especially close together.

If I remember right we said that her podmates had made sling/hammock things on her legs for when they’re all resting, and there were at least a couple of more permanent slings for carrying stuff. Mostly bones. For chewing. Because sharks are just sea puppies and all six of these guys are feral little shits.

Delusion’s emotional state is similar to normal H!DS, but since he’s not magically filling the void of his emotions with a happy aura he’s a little more expressive. He’s just actually emotionally constipated now.

It’s very easy to piss Slash off, but since she could easy kill everyone even if she wasn’t trying, her impulse control is…Impressive, actually. She could break another crab’s shell though. Or a sea snail’s. Quite easily.

On a much darker note…since food is so rare in the deep dark down deep down, a lot of mer down there will eat other mer if given the chance. Generally not of their own kind (other sharks, other jellyfish, etc. It’s not species-specific), but it’s not unheard of. It’s much rarer to see mixed pods down there, just because so many of them are incredibly mistrustful of others

The horror pod is not an exception. They will also hunt other mer. Very quickly, in fact.

The fact that Pluto’s with all these sharks, and the fact that all five of them are with Slash, says a lot about how much they trust each other. And how much Slash, who could easily grab ‘em and monch, cares for them.

Now. what we’re really here for:

Please. Please imagine a leetol shark Delusion and a giant crab Slash.

She hol gentol and smooches his head. He curls up on her shoulder when they all go to sleep. gentol nuzzles. bringing each other food.

They still bicker almost constantly, but it’s not as bad. At least in the sense that Slash isn’t actively trying to hurt him, and he’s not manipulating her to get his way.

…well. Sometimes hell convince her to give him a teeny (for her) fish like “It’s far too small to be satisfying for you.”

And then she calls him a greedy little bastard, but gives it to him.

They almost definitely hated each other when they first met so their friends pick on them for ending up together like this.

tiny shark and lorge crab. And they smoomch

Some additional AU trivia, unrelated to Supernova:

- Hunter is, surprisingly, the most aggressive. He needs to protect the others. Being passive isn’t going to help any of them. When it’s just him and his pod, though, it’s like a switch flipped and he’s really cuddly and sweet and flirty.

- Slash, as a crab, is a little less aggressive than her bullshark version, but only because a creature her size really needs to conserve energy. She and Gouge are still not that far behind Hunter in regards to aggression.

- Pluto is slow. Cecelia generally are slower than other mer. He’s mostly an ambush predator, though he does use the bioluminescent lures from some of his prey to lure in more creatures. They die after a while, with no nutrients coming to them anymore, but they usually attract other creatures with lures, so he has a fairly steady supply.

- Delusion and Byte are more cautious, but will still tear a bitch to shreds.

- whale falls. They love whale falls. Most mer do but whale falls are generally one of the few times they can all eat their fill in one sitting. Also bones

- sometimes the more bitey ones will chew on Slash’s legs. So long as they don’t crack the shell, she hardly feels it at all.

- unrelated to the H!DS part entirely, cecelias tend to experience a lot of racism. This was originally just a plot device. Now there’s lore.

- Cecelias also have three hearts, and can survive if one is damaged. With a more enhanced healing speed, they can recover from a lot of injuries. Pluto has a lot of scars.

- Jet and obsidian, cecelias, also have a lot of scars but that’s a story for another time