#Mermaid Viktor

[nonverbalnaji]

Merfolk Anatomy and Worldbuilding for my Jayvik Mermaid AU

Cross posting from the threads I did over on Bluesky into one place for ease with some wording adjusted for clarity. This is what I've done for my fic The Ebb and Flow of You which is on Ao3.

Please note before you read on that I will be discussing physical speculative anatomy, the impacts of that on society, culture, and gender, as well as information about reproduction. Additionally, in my fic I tweak how Viktor's disabilities present, and he doesn't have a terminal illness. (Tooth-rotting Fluff is a big tag for my fic aha).

Setting - Undercity Underwater

So in this story, Zaun is the underwater city/region for merfolk and Piltover is much the same but spanning over both sides of the bridge. Topside/Bottomside and Undercity are still used as terms between them

Zaun is made up of three levels in Runeterra and Arcane. The Promenade (where the warehouse is), the Entresol level (the lane), and the Sump (the fissures and mines). Fissures were easy to nod to underwater, while the Promenade and Entresol is more about proximity to the city than levels of depth.

While Vander isn't a Baron in the show, he still holds a position of power that felt analogous to here. He and Silco still had a fight, but in a slightly different context with the scarring becoming promenant due to Gray toxins which is a mixture of underwater gases and pollutants from Topside.

While I figure an air-based and water-based pollutant would work differently, I've gone with the assumption that the Gray is still trapped in certain areas or zones that affect the livability due to the toxicity affecting food sources and farming potential, as well as being a risk to construction.

Merfolk Anatomy and Viktor

A thread on the merfolk anatomy I have in The Ebb and Flow of You. While this was based on the amazing art by Snow Le Art, it was as early as chapter 1 that I realized that there would be some differences that I wanted to make logical sense (or at least to me) in regards to fins and organs.

As a quick aside, Silco is half merfolk and half Sharfin (shak fin with constant elision) hence why he has a sharp sense of smell. It's also thanks to discussing logisitics of mpreg with my partner that 'seataurs' were coined since we were talking about how seahorses aren't actually viviparous.

We'll get to that topic in another thread but this will be covering fins and why Viktor has hearing issues. When I wrote this thread initially, I realize I've hit a bit of a plot hole perhaps, but I'm going with he learnt to talk and the issues were a later development from being born in the Gray.

In my mind, merfolk have: a pair of pelvic fins, one on each hip; an underfin that starts at the edge of their 'seam' or 'pouch' and ends where their tail has a knee-like bone (idk maybe); their dorsal fin extends from their scales and there's a slight colouration there and where scales end.

Viktor was born with a twisted spine, and as such this is shown with his dorsal fin. One of the important functions of a dorsal fin is to keep fish from rolling belly up, so Viktor needed to compensate for this, he swims slower than other mer and with a tilt if he's not moving his hips as he swims

This was to nod to his leg like in the show, even though the injury to his tail fin is also analogous. While he won't be dying in this fic, the delayed impact of breathing the Gray was a usable reason for what I will get to in the fic regarding his hearing which might sound strange buuuttttt

There are some Amazonian fish that have enlarged swim bladders (used to breathe and buoyancy) that have evolved to have *lung tissue* and so they breathe air. Perfect for merfolk! THEN I came across something called the Weberian Apparatus, which connects the swim bladder to the auditory system...

This apparatus uses the swim bladder as a kind of resonance chamber, so my logic here is that it's either not fully developed for Viktor or there's some issues that need investigating perhaps, you'll have to read on to find out but it was a neat find to adapt his lung issues to hearing issues

When I word it like that it sounds weird XD Worldbuilder things though.

Merfolk Reproduction - the Hear Me Out

So. Cloacas. Hear me out. In part, it was from a 'Why Not Both' moment but also because I was trying to figure out if merfolk would have a similar separation of uh, passages like we humans do. For fish, their anal or cloacal fin (which I've dubbed as underfin) can separate these passages.

It also made sense that even without a cloaca that there would be a pouch or sorts to protect uh, appendages. While it's more so amphibians and non-bony fish that can have cloacas, technically by definitions, merfolk *are* a kind of amphibian, being able to breathe both under water and in air.

It also made sense that even without a cloaca that there would be a pouch or sorts to protect uh, appendages. While it's more so amphibians and non-bony fish that can have cloacas, technically by definitions, merfolk *are* a kind of amphibian, being able to breathe both under water and in air.

In the previous thread I mentioned Seataurs or Seahorses being ovoviviparous. Instead of this live birth like mammals, this means that they hold eggs that develop internally before birthing them. Otherwise, fish are ovoparous, in that they lay eggs and either fertilized before or after.

I decided to have both as an option, taking into account environmental and social safety as both can have advantages and disadvantages. While carrying an egg can make sure it's safe, it does put the birthing parent at risk, but laying eggs is also risky depending on where the eggs are laid.

The other thing I wanted to explore was the impact of this physiology on gender identity and expression. And at least in a fantasy setting, accessibility for transfolks and any diversity is a no-brainer to me. So while this story won't focus on the humans, the city of progress is progressive here.

This is also nodding to what I've read about fish that change their reproductive anatomy in response to environmental circumstances as well as some fish like clown fish who literally transition from male to female as part of maturing. So in this fic, merfolk are androgynous and change as they grow

This means that modelling of diversity and education is important for understanding. It wouldn't be a sudden change say from the ages of roughly 12-25, and experimentation with pronouns and expression would be a norm. Viktor's case, he has leant masculine but not too far from androgyny out of choice

The flexibility and choice in part is because I like the idea of Viktor being able to have a space where he can experiment and explore, living his best life vibes. Even when he falls pregnant, that won't make him any less masculine, just like with any seahorse dad. Hopefully I can write this well <3

And if this all sounds interesting, you can find this fic over on Ao3 here:

[waywardsou2]

Ok I have more ideas so I have another poll. Help me pick my projects for new year!

Some more info before you vote

The tide comes really high up after a storm and Viktor gets pulled in by the current and beached on the front step of Jayce's house (beach holiday house or his seaside house) and realising he is hurt, and he can't safely get him down to the sea he brings him inside to his bathtub to save him before he can swim in the ocean again

Jayce's convoy was ambushed by pirates and he was kidnapped. In the ended they threw him overboard, hands and feet tied, to drown but Viktor takes him and saves him instead

Viktor is an Eldritch Sea Creature that is enamored by a young scientist (Jayce) that researching on his boat in the middle of the ocean about the creatures living off the coast and Viktor wants to keep him by the ocean with him so he enchants him to stay (Viktor is basically a yandere siren creature thing)

Jayce is on a boat fishing boat as part of a research project to document the environment of the ocean off the coast of his home town and Viktor gets pulled up in the fishing net and Jayce has to cut him loose when the fisherman were going to take him home to become famous. They end up forming a bond after Jayce saves Viktor and Viktor comes to meet him at the shore often

[sentient-trash]

Jayvik Mermaid au!!1!

Jayce just wants to give Viktor some courting gifts :((

With a closeup on some of Viktor’s personal notes and drawings of mermaid Jayce… he’s just curious

[lost-opium-artblog]

Mermaid AU: Jayce freed the merman from the fishnet and cleaned his wounds, but his injuries were too severe... He brought him home.

[thevalleygh0ul]

🦋Jayvik Week🦋

Day 4: free day

A mermaid stuff for your enjoyment today!

Viktor is born with a defect in his fin which makes it significantly difficult to swim. When he runs into a band of fishermen, they try to catch him for with hopes of trading him for gold.

After getting scraped (rather badly) by a harpoon, he slips away and is found unconscious near the shore by Jayce, a local blacksmith/forger.

Jayce brings him onto the shore to fix him up real quick before letting him back into the ocean.

Strangers to friends to lovers ensues.

[emperor-ofthe-sun]

[alternate-universe-archivist]

concept sketch for jayvik tragic mermaid AU because I like torturing myself mentally apparently

tumblr post with the AU idea ⬇️

[azrael-arryn]

i completely forgot to post this on here

anyways, i made and au where jayce is a mermaid and viktor is a marine biologist :3

tumblr ruined the quality of this though lmao

[kantantk]

jayvik mermaid au!

виктор русал аушка

[shinobi-illuminator]

Poor Unfortunate Souls

Since if Singed were to have a villain song, it’s this one. Ursula vibes and all.

[fhtagn-and-tentacles]

SERPENT GIRL

by Viktor Titov

[arttsuka]

jayvik but merman

🧜‍♂️

[arcanebutterfly]

[sentient-trash]

Uhhhh so ummm Jayvik mermaid au???!! With merman Jayce and marine biologist Viktor

Let me know if y'all are interested in this (cause I may have some silly little interaction ideas brewing up to be sketched and doodles)

[lost-opium-artblog]

A mermaid AU where Jayce still tries to survive with his mother in a cold land. One day, as he is at his lowest, ready to throw himself in the sea from the highest cliff, he sees a merman (Viktor) trashing in the shallow water, trapped in a fishnet and injured.

Little close-up

[thevalleygh0ul]

🦋Jayvik Week🦋

Day 5: AU/missing scene

All of these are AUs I’ve made!

Top left: hockey player Jayce/fan Viktor

Top right: mermaid Viktor/blacksmith Jayce

Bottom left: The Dragon Prince — human mage Jayce/startouch elf Viktor

Bottom right: vampire Viktor/hunter Jayce