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Proteus in his human form has brown hair, and average looks. But in his merman form, because he is 'the old man of the sea' (prophetic shapeshifting god of Greek mythology) I made his hair grey and gave him more of an octopus form. I can't take too much credit for Phoenicia, her parents did most of the work.
Female Simmer from Australia (she/her)
I had one of my Sims marry the Grim Reaper & now they have a lot of kids.
Announcing their engagement to the parents.
Grim agrees to be the Wedding Officiant (not sure how this is gonna work, wedding officiants haven't worked yet for me, and technically Grim doesn't exist in the game even when he's part of a household and has populated a large portion of the sim worlds)
Female Simmer from Australia (she/her)
I had one of my Sims marry the Grim Reaper & now they have a lot of kids.
Merfolk (Or the plural term that represents all variants of mermaids, mermen, mergirls, merboys, and merlings) are depicted in several different ways across several different cultures around the world.
In the Sims 4, CAS comes with a lot of ways to customize the appearance of merfolk and from how we create them in CAS, it says a lot about the merfolk we include in our game.
Furthermore, Build Mode also has items that allow for the creation of homes that simulate being underwater. While many build items require cheats to access, they are there.
With Custom Content (CC) and Mods, both options are expanded significantly.
If it helps, I want to share my own breakdown of what I do with my merfolk and my designs for them. Later, I’ll share some builds I created.
Naturally Born Merfolk
The merfolk born in the sea, grew up in the sea as merlings and grew up to be adult Mermen and Mermaids.
Mermen
These mermen represent the normal appearance of all mermen that were born and raised in the sea.
All merfolk are immune to extreme weather and spend most of their time away from humans. It’s pretty standard for mermen to be shirtless.
They neither have a practical nor functional need for a shirt. And, most apparel can make swimming more challenging and uncomfortable. Most fabrics absorb water and become too heavy as well.
While extremely uncommon, some mermen will wear fishnets recovered from sunken ships. This, however, is outside what is normal for mermen.
Mermen do have accessories they often wear. Bracelets, Necklaces, and Rings don’t impair their ability to swim.
If they go on land, they wear a piece of fabric around their waist. More often than not, these wraps are made from seaweed, seagrass, beach grass, and the torn sails from sail boats. Because a surplus of water can force them back into their natural form, they do not wear apparel that will get destroyed when they shapeshift into a human form.
All of my mermen fit the image of handsome men from the waist up with a fish tail from the waist down. They have fins extending around their waist where their torso meets their tail.
This image of a merman is most like the Havmand from Norwegian Myths and Fairytales. Should be noted that most mermen are depicted as ugly monsters or gloomy in comparison to their mermaid counterparts.
Merfolk have a Patriarchal Society with a single merman leading a pod, or family group of merfolk. The Patriarch of a Pod often has a larger build, more muscular and have a larger tail. This build will decrease if they leave the role as Patriarch.
Mermaid
Apologies for including Reef in the picture. I haven’t rotated to my Kailani Household and don’t have good screenshots of Sarah Kailani alone.
Right now, Sarah Kailani represents the normal appearance of mermaids born and raised in the sea.
Mermaids have apparel for their torso that they created from seashells. Mermaids are very similar to mermen in regards to apparel and take a more minimalist approach to any apparel they wear. Like mermen, they will wear Bracelets, Necklaces, and Rings.
From the waist up, mermaids are beautiful women, and from the waist down, they have fish tails. Around their waist, they have fins extending from where their torso meets their tail.
Unlike human children, merlings are not born via pregnancy. In fact, all mermen are incapable of making a mermaid pregnant via Woohoo and Mermaids are incapable of becoming pregnant via Woohoo with males of other mythical races.
Instead, it’s the Love between merfolk and a Woohoo in Mua Pel’Am’s waterfall that all natural born merfolk are born from.
Merlings
Currently, I’m only able to share screenshots of the youngest variant of merboys, the male merlings. But female merlings have a lot in common with male merlings. The only real difference between the male and female merlings is that only female merlings wear tops.
The youngest of the merfolk race are the merlings.
As merlings, they are incapable of taking a human form and can never leave the ocean. In the family group, merlings tend to be the most heavily protected. Mermen and Mermaids are extremely devoted to their family groups and focus most of their energy looking after the youngest in the pod.
When merlings come of age, they become the juvenile merfolk known as merboys and mergirls. Coming of age is different for all merlings, but it almost always comes after a certain amount of time and growth. Possible milestones and circumstances are required before aging up. A merling’s “childhood,” is significantly longer than a human’s childhood.
It’s extremely rare for merfolk to have multiples when merlings are born, but it’s not uncommon for pods to have more than one merling. Multiple, twin and triplets, merlings are physically identical to each other when they are born. For multiples, the merlings might have different hairstyles and/or accessories. For those outside of the pod, this helps with telling them apart from their identical twin or triplet.
Reborn Merfolk
Reborn Merfolk have the same attributes as their natural born variants, but the biggest difference is how they are born.
A human, vampire, or etc must first die before they are reborn. Once reborn, they will often have their memories from their past life. These are the merfolk that will try to blend in with human society and choose to spend more time on land.
Because they want to integrate with human society, they tend to be more willing to wear apparel more often. The apparel they decide to wear is often extremely limited due to functional and practical limitations.
Humans Turned into Merfolk
The only merfolk that can be turned into humans were once humans themselves.
Like the naturally born variants, they are human from the waist up and fish tails from the waist down.
Unlike the naturally born variants there is no guarantee that their human half will be beautiful or handsome. Their tails are also different in appearance.
Like their other variants, they are no longer able to become pregnant or get others pregnant.
Humans turned into merfolk are also the merfolk that are most likely to try and integrate into human society.
Cursed Merfolk
Merfolk turned into monsters by an evil sea witch. They failed to uphold their end of a contract and their forms have been permanently twisted into that of a monster from the deep.
Their tails gain spiny fins and their torsos turn green and sickly. Their teeth become razed sharp, gills form on their neck, and their eyes look opaque and cloudy.
Once they become cursed, there is no going back to what they once were and how they once looked. This Davy Jones Curse is the cruelest punishment from a Sea Witch for a merman or mermaid.
All of my occults are treated like regular folk, in that they go to work, have hobbies, have friends and family, etc. I don't do a lot of drama in my game, so generally speaking all of my sim families (all occults) are stable, loving and happy.
In terms of Spinning Plumbobs mod that I've just started using.
The only two weakness I give my mer-people are 'Call of the Ocean' and 'Restless Fins'. All of my born in game mer-people are given call of the ocean and restless fins, and prefer to be in merfolk form (although they will happily adopt human form temporarily if needed). I also give these two weaknesses to any of my made in CAS or chose to become merfolk sims if I've also given them the 'child of the ocean' trait. I generally don't like to have my Sims struggle too much, so I don't tend to choose weaknesses that really inhibit them to any great degree.
In terms of what powers they have, that is pretty random, but for example if a sim likes gardening, or has the 'enjoys the outdoors' trait then I'm more likely to give them a power like 'harvest kelp' sooner rather than later. If a spellcaster has reached a high level before becoming a mermaid/man then I'm more likely to give them a power that allows them to perform more stuff akin to magic, and so on.
Female Simmer from Australia (she/her)
I had one of my Sims marry the Grim Reaper & now they have a lot of kids.
I also have a tip if you wanna have one less mod.
MCC has an option to allow all the kisses at anytime, so the passionate kiss mod, you could get rid of.
-Go to a computer, then click on MCC tuner, then go to Change Interactive Behavior, it should be in there!~
Also that is FANTASTIC merfolk lore for in game! You fleshed them out like EA could not be bothered! Wonderful.
I was wondering however your opinion on scales? I'm so downcasted on how little the newborn, infant and toddler and child stages have for merfolk.
Other occults mainly werewolfs gave all life ages something, but a lot of occults are still lacking especially merfolk.
In the Sims 3 I loved the scales on the merfolk, and underwater lots but that is a whole new story.
Anyways, I found scales for infants and onward and wonder if you had any lore for those? I can fit in my game?
Their is no scale CC for newborns but I could work around that, I feel.
Anyways again, good lore, I wish to use it as best as possible just with maybe the extra life stages you skipped. I love that meres are made from love, song and seafoam!
Here is the mod for scales infant and onward: https://claudiasharon.tumblr.com/post/186721598162/hello-with-permission-i-have
Here is a mod for tails for toddlers no infant ones sadly: https://sims4studio.com/post/126137]]
I think there is one for kids but the mod you use has that too right?
@GrimlyFiendish
I love your lore for your merfolk in your save!
Currently, only my oldest merfolk have every ability unlocked.
The Ancient Merfolk with complete mastery of all mermadic powers in my save are:
Fun Fact: The three brothers actually come from my 3 original households I played on the console.
Reef was a Legacy Founder I couldn’t part from. Part of his Legacy Challenge was living with the Cursed Lot challenge, so he successfully survived in a home that had stereos braking, random fires starting, and volcanic eruptions that also started fires… Reef’s Character is one that gets into trouble but always finds a way out of it… that part of his characterization came from his origin as a Legacy Founder.
Calum was originally created with the Child of the Island trait so I could create Dylan and Zephyr with the Sulani Mana trait without cheats.
The Sea Witch: Damian Vatore
But, for a small summary, he’s a descendant of a Shadow Elemental that specializes in Dark Sea Sorcery. And yes, Damian has the Sulani Mana Trait. He was born from his Shadow Elemental’s Love, or possibly lack of Love, and the song that made merfolk from seafoam.
Currently, Damian’s Parents are not around and could have potentially passed away. Merfolk in my game can’t die from old age, but they aren’t completely invulnerable. An unfortunate encounter with a sea monster is just one of many different ways a mer could die in the ocean.
The Water Elemental: Arihi Zalrian
Sarah Kailani, Ukupanipo Hekkekia, Makoa Keahloha, Nalani Mahi’Ai and Kalamainu’u Iona are also Ancient Merfolk with complete mastery of all Mermadic Magic.
Planned Powers for Younger Merfolk
I plan on giving Dylan Mastery of Water Mermadic Magic and Zeph Mastery of Air Magic. As direct descendants of an Elemental, they will also experience moon spells.
For Kylen, I’m thinking of giving him Thermokinetic Power, or the power to heat water into water vapor and start fires.
Lir, I’m thinking of giving him Hydrokinetic Power, or Mastery of Water Mermadic magic.
For all my merfolk born in game, I’m going to stick with 1 of the 3 powers that relate to water in its 3 different forms. Hydro Kinetic, Thermal Kinetic, and Frigid Kinetic (Power over Liquid Water, Water Vapor, and Ice). Zeph is a descendant of an Elemental so instead of Thermal Kinetic Power, I’m giving him Aero Kinetic Magic, power over wind and air.
I’m probably going to give the triplets Hydro Kinetic Magic. At first, I thought about giving them a different ability, but I decided that triplets and twins will normally develop the same abilities.
The Twins, Dylan and Zeph, are different from the Triplets because their mom is an elemental.
The powers for merfolk aren’t the only things that might be worth exploring. Have you thought about giving former spellcasters the Sea Sorcery Skill?
@Lyrie
Something I’d Love to See with the Expanded Mermaid Mod
Well, something that might be only possible with mods is having merchildren learn how to swim like their parents.
And, because the parents can coach their children with swimming, I’d love to see them get the adult swimming animation after the parents coach them on their swimming.
A merchild could progressively swim more like their parents after a few coaching sessions. It could be a 5 level skill. I have no experience creating mods nor do I have the experience to convert the animations.
Infants and Toddlers in My Game
There is no lore because I do not play that life stage with any of my merfolk.
I won’t play a life stage without a tail. More info in the spoiler:
I don’t have my human toddlers do much exploring around the world either. I normally can’t spend very much time with my toddlers in the open world before I end up sending them home with their parents.
I think it would be cool if the parents could carry toddlers while swimming, but I know from personal experience that an attempt to do that ends up getting the sims stuck. And, yes, I’ve actually gotten Arihi to jump into the ocean while carrying Zeph… I have screenshots I can share later, but I know it just doesn’t seem to work.
Considering that I treat my merfolk homes like underwater caves, that would be the space I limit them too.
Regardless, I’m not going to play those life stages if they don’t have a complete mermadic form, with a tail. So, for now, I’m not even entertaining in game lore for those life stages in my game.
My Opinion of Leg Scales
I really never liked them, and it made me happy that they got rid of them in the Sims 4.
More info in the Spoiler:
Also, largely because child occults are too human and merfolk seriously got the short end of the trident, I approached my in game lore directly opposite of what EA did. Instead of the merchildren essentially being human with no mermadic form or abilities until their teens, I made them the furthest thing from human as children.
So, my merfolk younger than teen will never have a human form as long as they don’t have a mermadic form without mods.
I probably won’t have any of my households with merfolk include Infants and Toddlers.
That’s generally my opinion on scales.
Mermadic Lore for the Life Stages I Skipped
Examples from Nature
The Family led by a Matriarch or Patriarch. At least, Orcas being an example of a Matriarchal Social Structure. I gave my merfolk a Patriarchal Social Structure and focus on my mermen because mermaids have historically taken the spotlight to the point that mermen are mistakenly called mermaids.
Stories Involving Family
In Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” and Disney’s adaptation, there is definitely a family representation whether you look at King Triton and Ariel or The Little Mermaid and her Sisters exchanging their beautiful hair for a way to save their sister.
I think there’s a danish story called Agnete and the Merman. A woman joins a merman in the Sea and has seven sons with him. The story does have a sad ending because Agnete chooses to return to her life on land and is unable to return to the sea and see her husband and sons again. Everything Agnete does in this story is ultimately a choice she made. While Agnete loved her family under the sea, she missed her family on land.
There are more examples you can find of this, but the take away is that much like humans, merfolk have a deep devotion to their family.
Any lore I imagine for younger life stages will come from how important family is to merfolk.
Other Lesser Known Merfolk and Merfolk Stories
Interestingly, merfolk often aren’t innately malevolent beings and the negative elements of the stories are tied to humans and their greed.
Might be worth noting that a story called “The Little Merman” does exist. Essentially, the Little Merman goes to a mountain dwarf and exchanges his fish tail for a human body. He does this in pursuit of a princess and probably fills the role of a heroic prince and has a happier ending than The Little Mermaid… the story has illustrated pictures and was written in the 1900s. Info about this book is significantly harder to find than the Little Mermaid.
Some merfolk to look into include:
German: Nix and Nixie
Scottish or Irish: Merrow
Scandinavian: Finfolk
European: Neck and Fossgrim
African: Mami Wata (Possibly spelt that wrong)
Japanese: Ningyo
There are more, but those terms lead to a lot of the stories that came after the Dark Ages. Prior to the Dark Ages, Greece, Rome, and Celtic cultures have some interesting stories.
I wish I knew more about African and Spanish variations of merfolk… there are some worth noting.
At the end of the day, the version of merfolk depicted by Disney in all versions of the Little Mermaid, including the 2023 version are most similar to the Havmand and Havfrue from Scandinavian Countries. Merfolk that are depicted with beauty and/or handsome attributes largely come from those stories. The human element is much more monstrous, especially with the mermen, in many other stories (with some exceptions).
My Sims 4 Lore
For merfolk in my story, the original and oldest merfolk, this includes: Kemps, Reef, Calum, Sarah, Nalani Mahi’Ai, Kalamainu’u Iona, Ukupanipo Hekkia, Damian Vatore (formerly Morbius), and Makoa Keahloha, they were all born from a Song that turned Seafoam into their Physical Form. Their Magic and the thing that gave them life was Love between powerful beings from the magic realm. They aren’t the only possible original merfolk, but they are some of the major ones that will appear in my story.
Most merfolk born after the originals are born from the love between 2 mer.
Because of the origin of my merfolk, I don’t exactly have lore for any merfolk that have scales on their legs… they always start out as merlings, or the child life stage, merboy/mergirl, or the teen life stage, and ends at a sim’s peak, merman/mermaid life stage.
Because my merfolk are the variants that are born with attractive attributes like beauty and handsomeness… I treat them very similarly to immortals that have eternal youth but can still die via other means.
My best suggestion is to really focus on the importance of family and a mere’s natural element: water. Water changes its form, passing through multiple states of being.
Possible Ideas
If I think about Dylan and Zeph… they were born under the sea, from the expression of their parents love. They are merlings and they know what they are. In my lore, they don’t have legs and never will have a human form until they become a teen. For Dylan and Zeph, this isn’t a problem. They don’t want to be something other than what they are. The sea is their home and it is something they love to be a part of. I truly don’t think Dylan and Zeph are in a hurry to go on land. Sure, they love their older brother and father’s stories about the human world, but loving to hear stories about humans isn’t the same as wanting to be a part of the human world.
If I did give them scales on their legs, I would imagine that they would know what they are, and I still think they might stay in the sea. I kind of think of Luca. They can go on land, maybe even take interest in the human world.
As toddlers, life might be about curiosity and knowing a lot less about the world. They might get too close to the dangers of the human world, and as a toddler, this could be a greater risk for them.
Having scales on their legs also means they will never truly be hidden from the human world. I’m almost certain a human would notice the scales without an explanation for why they wouldn’t.
Rick Riordan that wrote the Percy Jackson Series offers an excellent explanation for why the average human wouldn’t notice the mythical world around them. A mist causes most humans to see what they want to see instead of something that might make them question their own reality. Like, instead of seeing a Satyr, they see a human with bad legs, maybe a rare disease that affects their legs. A satyr might walk with crutches to help humans believe what they want to see. An explanation like that isn’t magic hand waving, it actually plays on how humans do fill in the gaps where they don’t understand something with something they can understand.
My starting point for building mermadic lore for Infants and Toddlers would start with choosing milestones that happen as they grow up and skills unique to those life stages. I would probably explore the family interactions and how the parents and older siblings help the youngest learn and grow.
I wish I could give better information and insights. I’ll be thinking about this more and hopefully give you a better answer tailored to those life stages. It’s been a long time so I don’t have all the info committed to memory that might help.
In comparison to the child life stage, the infant and toddler life stages would be significantly more vulnerable life stages in an underwater world and would probably require more involved parents.
The Adult Life Stage might be more of a mermadic life stage and the peak of a Matriarch or Patriarch’s Leadership of the pod.
The Elder Life Stage could be the end of a Matriarch or Patriarch’s Leading a pod.
The Matriarch and Patriarch system could work extremely well with a “heir” system in a legacy.
I formatted and typed all this info, mostly from memory, on my phone. I hope I shared enough info to help people tell their stories about merfolk. There is a lot more lore and many more stories I can dig up if the opportunity presents itself. The lore and how different cultures depict merfolk has always been something that I thought was fascinating.
@Lyrie despite my personal feelings about the Sims 3 scales, I do want to do my best to share anything that might help adapt my current lore for merlings to the younger life stages.
Female Simmer from Australia (she/her)
I had one of my Sims marry the Grim Reaper & now they have a lot of kids.
My first address is the scales, I guess in sims 4, I am looking for way to identify younger stages as merfolk, the game is so lacking, even vanilla no mods merfolk have no difference from regular sims, it is disappointing, so I try to find a way to prove merfolk are merfolk. Maybe though I don't need the scales to do that.
And don't worry your opinions did not sway me from the scales again just looking for idenity but you gave me so many good ideas, but I really wanna follow your lore because I love it.... just making adjustments for newborns, infants and toddlers for my game.
You gave me lots of information to work with though, so thank you, I have some thinking to do, as I've been wanting to find lore for each occult, and EA provides with most of that lore for occults except merfolk and aliens but aliens even have a bit more lore at least a home plant.
Thank you again you've been a big help!
After Dylan and Zeph were born with the Sulani Mana trait without cheats, I cheated the trait.
After getting the satisfaction traits without cheats, I started cheating satisfaction points to give them some of the traits.
After maxing the singing and fitness skill for my merfolk without cheats, I started cheating the skill to max.
Basically, I do most things without cheats before cheating it.
@Lyrie
It is disappointing that merfolk younger than teens are exactly the same as humans in the same life stage. I think infants get a unique moodlet, but that’s not really enough to make them different enough from the human infants.
I know that the Expanded Mermaids Mod from Spinning Plumbob gives the player the option to allow merfolk to hide their tail or not. It gives the player an option to select a MerSim and have them hide their tail. This allows the player to choose when AND where merfolk reveal their tail. So, you can have child, teen, and adult MerSims swimming without their tail if you want them to hide their tail.
Sims that see merfolk with their tail, using the mod, will learn that a MerSim is a mermaid or merman. So, the mod will put the player to work if they want to hide a mer’s identity as a mer.
And, I definitely recommend the lore the Expanded Mermaid Mod adds to the game too. Spinning Plumbob added a lot of well written bits of text that appear in the notification while reading mermadic lore books and after a mer dives underwater.
For Infants and Toddlers, the leg scales might be your most reliable option for a mermadic form. I think there is a mod that can give toddlers a tail too, but the Expanded Mermaid Mod does an excellent job with child merfolk and that will save you some cpu space with CC since child merfolk with a tail is built into the mod.
You might have seen these details, but here are a few things that I do to make my sims lore work.
My Merfolk’s Abilities and Weaknesses
Just a short outline of things I do differently with my merfolk. These things are made possible with mods. A lot of these rules are creative decisions I made for my story.
2. Merchildren don’t have a human form until the teen life stage
3. Prolonged use of a human form gives my merfolk the Dagger Walker moodlet. This can make all merfolk very uncomfortable while in their human form.
4. Merfolk that can shapeshift into a human form can get forced back into their natural form if they get soaked long enough.
5. Merfolk feel the Call of the Sea. They are drawn to places to swim.
6. Certain skills like singing and playing most instruments are set to the maximum difficulty for developing those skills. The eternal life of merfolk makes it possible for them to both sing and play instruments better than most humans. They have the time to perfect the skill.
7. My merfolk are the only sims that get the Child of the Ocean Trait and Clumsy Trait. The Clumsy Trait causes my merfolk to occasionally stumble which fit very well with a life that is primarily aquatic.
I have started to expand on this.
When my merfolk get the dagger walker moodlet, they will eventually get forced back into their mermadic form. I’m treating the dagger walker moodlet like a timer. My merfolk need to either get somewhere hidden or back into the water before they experience a forced transformation.
I use a combination of the pose player, MCCC, and the Expanded Mermaid Mod to make the forced transformation happen.
My approach to Sea Sorcery is something that might be a little different too, and I’ve been brainstorming that periodically.
Sea Witch’s learn new spells and potions with this skill, and the lore surrounding contracts with a Sea Witch has been something I’ve been taking quite a bit of time to think about.
There are 2 parts to a Sea Witch’s Contract, the part where the Sea Witch takes payment for their services, and the part where a Sea Witch casts their spell.
One good example of this would be Alex’s Deal with Damian.
There isn’t a “protection” spell that Sea Witch’s can cast to prevent the kind of things I imagined for my story. The spell Damian actually cast on Alex was the Poseidon’s Luck Charm.
But, for my story, the magic Damian Performed for Alex was a spell that would ensure the safety of his pod, and his human girlfriend Ember, from the dangers of the human world. The spell also prevents the Pod Patriarch, Kemps, from interfering in his relationship with Ember.
This Magic Charm gives Alex the freedom to explore the human world without worrying about his pod being at risk.
For a Sea Witch’s Spell, the price is whatever the Sea Witch wants, but the individual that receives the Spell or Potion from the Sea Witch does get anywhere from 1 day to 1 week to pay for the Sea Witch’s Spell.
Now, in my story, I have 2 different types of Sea Sorcery, Dark Sea Sorcery and Light Sea Sorcery. Dark Sea Sorcery requires the one paying for a spell to make a sacrifice. Light Sea Sorcery does not require a sacrifice from the one paying for a spell, but it isn’t necessarily free either.
I definitely like the phrase from “Once Upon A Time”: All Magic Comes With A Price
Dark Sea Sorcery
The three forms of payment a Dark Sea Witch might take is
1. Their Voice
2. Their Love
3. Their Youth
4. A Soul
This might be unique to Damian’s Character but he values his collection and is very protective of it. Anyone that steals from his Shell collection will suffer his wraith.
Anyways, Damian became the owner of Alex’s Voice after he signed it away for a spell.
For Damian, the individual that signs a contract with him has 2 options. Pay the price or their body and soul belongs to Damian.
The conditions that allow a Dark Sea Witch to change the terms of a contract are two things:
1. The Signer has not paid for the spell
2. A unique situation in which 1 person signs for 2 happens. Every party involved in a deal can have a say. Option 2 almost never happens.
3. Someone takes the signer’s place
For Damian to go back on a spell he cast:
1. The Signer should still owe Damian a debt
Getting cursed by Damian counts as payment because they essentially run out of time and become Damian’s servant or suffer whatever fate he has planned for the individual.
To be fair, Damian only needs so many servants and might settle for simply taking the signers soul. The signer will then find themselves trapped inside a nautilus shell AND cursed.
Because Damian cast his spell and Alex gave him his voice. Alex is now stuck without his voice and Damian is bound by the contract to protect Alex’s Pod from the dangers of the human world.
The only hope for Alex to regain his voice is dependent on the clause Damian added to the contract. Alex regaining his voice is dependent on Damian choosing to return it to him.
One of the things I’m debating on is whether or not Alex can ever be the owner of his voice again.
There isn’t anything in his contract that specifically says that Damian returning Alex’s Voice means he’s also returning ownership.
Rather, it might be that Damian simply created a clause that allows him to loan the voice he took from Alex. In that scenario, Damian would most definitely take back whatever belongs to him when it suits him.
Alternatively, the clause that allows Damian to return Alex’s Voice could void the contract when Damian returns it. Essentially, Damian would no longer be contractually bound to protect Alex’s Pod.
For merfolk that exchange Love for a spell, they lose the ability to bring new merfolk into the world. For most merfolk couples, the recipe for the creation of new merlings is much the same as how the original merfolk were born.
Merfolk that sing their Charmer’s Lullaby to another are essentially solidifying their eternal devotion to their partner. This is actually a big deal for any of my merfolk. Sure, merfolk can serenade perfectly, but once they sing their Charmer’s Lullaby to another, they will not take another partner. They only sing a Charmer’s Lullaby when they are 100% sure that they intend to spend eternity with their partner.
Once they Woohoo in Mua Pel’Am’s Waterfall, the final two parts required for a merling to be born happen. It’s their expression of love and the Seafoam that gets stirred up in the waterfall.
Merfolk that exchange their voice or love tend to make themselves incapable of completing the necessary steps for a merling to be born.
For perspective, Stevie’s reason for going to Damion is likely because he sang his Charmer’s Lullaby to a Mermaid and the mermaid did not sing hers to him. For Stevie, he established that he would not pick any other partner. Unfortunately for him, the mermaid he sang to did not share the same feelings.
For Kari, her reasoning was much more vain. She exchanged her love for fame and popularity.
Light Sea Sorcery
A Light Sea Witch will use their power to help others.
During my hiatus I’ve been doing a lot to brainstorm the lore I plan to create for my sea witch’s and it’s still a work in progress.
I have very different ideas planned for the books I want to write. Those ideas will not be limited by what is possible in a game.
I will do the scales for the infants and toddlers as you suggest then used the merfolk mod for the rest! Ah! This all gets me excited to play with these sea creatures again!
Also I did know all that lore heh big fan of it but it is a good list to keep so thank you!
A few curious questions.
1. Are your merefolk vegan or vegetarian?
2. Do you have any of your merfolk on the gallery? I would love to use them in my main story when Hazel and Rainbow go to Sulani, Rainbow is a big occult fan heh.
3. Are there under the sea rooms on the gallery? Do you have any phrases or words or tags to search for them? I don’t build, very bad at it actual.
I am going to make a save for this merfolk lore to have a fresh start with the Maxis premades! Thanks so much helping me bring meaning back to one of my favorite occults sans Fairy!
Female Simmer from Australia (she/her)
I had one of my Sims marry the Grim Reaper & now they have a lot of kids.
Edit: Honestly, the stuff I’ve shared is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to merfolk lore. That’s largely because every single culture that had significant contact with significant bodies of water have a myth, fairytale, folklore, or story about merfolk.
I definitely love getting the chance to exchange information with someone that’s heard of some of these… I had to do a LOT of digging to find some of this information.
Answer to Question 1
My merfolk tend to have the Fish are Friends Weakness. So, they don’t eat fish.
Answer to Question 2
Now, the cursed merfolk in my save… they tend to eat fish. I think it makes them a bit more monstrous when they stop being friends to other marine life.
Answer to Question 3
I can’t see exactly what I have on the gallery until the end of next week, BUT I did share an excellent beach that can be several different venues on the gallery. That build should not use or be dependent on any mods.
Now, for the venues that simulate underwater… You’ll definitely need the same core mods I use if you are going by my lore or include the twins or any of my other merlings in your save.
Mods I use in my Builds
I do not share my builds that use content by Serinion nor do I share links to those mods because of a paywall. Needless to say, I chose to support Serinion because he created content I want to use with my merfolk. This is content that EA did not make available for merfolk.
All of Spinning Plumbob’s Custom Content is available for free, and I have no problem sharing the links. A lot of the mods he’s created have become essential to my gameplay.
I have no problem ensuring that my underwater builds use only free content when I share them. But, I will need time to make sure that the modded builds use custom content that is publicly accessible. I believe that I’ve done a good job only sharing content to the gallery that uses only free content, but I will need to double check that.
Conditions for Using My Households
Here’s where things get a bit more tricky. I’ve shared households that are modded, but I would like to create some different households for certain circumstances before you add them to your save.
Conditions for when my Child Merfolk Age Up
In my own save, I fully intend to update their appearance as they age up. My merlings, the merchildren, are intended to be different in appearance from humans and other occult children.
Before you include any of my households with merchildren, I ask that you give me a chance to share template households that you can copy and paste their appearance for the teen and young adult life stages. And if you do include them in your game, I ask that you update their appearance as they age up. It shouldn’t be too challenging for me to create versions of my merlings as Teens and Young Adults so they continue to look as I intend for them to look.
Alex’s Voice
My core mods are the Atlantica Set, The Down Under Set, Sea-nery Stuff, and the Expanded Mermaids Mod.
MCCC has an option for easily updating the appearance of my merchildren as they age up.
Question
If you need me to, I can create a version of my merlings with a human form. Otherwise, they will need to only appear in the water or in a simulated underwater space.
Per the Lore in my Save, none of the merlings in my game have a human form, but they would be seen walking around with their tail. Because of this, they do need a bit more micro management since they don’t have a human form.
Are there any households with merchildren you’d want me to add to the gallery.
Personally, if you’re up for it, I’d love to see Cameos of my twins in a save.
I also can add the triplets, Lir, Kylen, and Lucian.
The Households I can Add to the Gallery
For each household, I have no problem creating the templates for the merlings so you can copy and paste their appearance with MCCC. I’ve learned that, after copying their appearance, they will keep their appearance if you enter CAS immediately after updating their appearance.
Lir and Kylen will come with Reef and Sarah. For Lir, you need to select the Green Atlantica Tail. For Kylen, you need to select the Orange Tail. You can do this by entering the household in live mode.
Lucian will include Damian and a Merman Version of Caleb Vatore. For Lucian, you will need to enter live mode and select the Red Atlantica Tail.
The Triplets will include Makoa. For the triplets, you will need to go to the household in live mode and select the betta stripe tail from the Atlantica Set.
@GrimlyFiendish
Nooo!
I know that the White Tail from the Atlantica Set is bugged for Merchildren, and the Expanded Mermaids Mod was updated for the patch in July.
I wish I was in a position to help troubleshoot what could be wrong. The Expanded Mermaid Mod is so awesome!
I have learned that Sea Witches need to be merfolk and the spell that turns sims into humans is bugged.
Is it a conflict with occults? Might be worth telling Spinning Plumbob. He’s great about updating his mods when there is a problem.
One more question, if I create a version of my merlings that have a human form, do you want me to also make a human disguise or stick with just the grass skirts like their parents wear. My merfolk tend to stand out because they don’t dress the same way humans do. In fact, my mermen, with the exception of Alex, stick to the grass skirts and wrap skirts only. They are always shirtless.
The mermaids have their swimsuit and seashell tops they stick with.
If that apparel is something you want me to change, I can definitely do that for you.
Lore wise, the only reason any of my merfolk would dress any differently is if they are going on land and spending a significant amount of time around humans on land. I’m talking about spending weeks or months around humans if they disguise themselves with human apparel.
1. The Dogon Dommo
2. Ifá Orisa, Yemoja
3. The Zimbabwe Mondao
4. The South African Karoo
5. Ethiopian Coptic Mami Wata
For my story, I definitely want to expand the cultural representation of merfolk, so there are definitely plans to have merfolk with different skin colors, and etc. However, I’m probably going to be sticking to Scandinavian and Norwegian lore for merfolk.
Maybe, I’ll eventually know enough about the merfolk lore from other cultures to create a composite of lore from around the world, but I am most definitely using the lore I am most familiar with for the foundation of whatever I imagine.
Source: https://www.tor.com/2021/11/09/black-mermaids-the-waters-beyond-eurocentric-mythology/
There are comments debating the exact origin of all these African Merfolk in the comments, but this link had a few good leads for merfolk from African Lore.
Edit: Edited in some clarifying details.
1. Sabawaelnu from the Micmacs’ lore
http://www.native-languages.org/sabawaelnu.htm
2. Lumpeguins from Wabanaki Mythology
http://www.native-languages.org/lumpeguin.htm
3. Nibiinaabe from Anishinabe folklore
Mermaids and mermen are also used as a clan symbol in the Ojibwe tribe (whose Mermaid Clan and its totem are called Nibiinaabe or Nibanaba.)
Their temperament is timid and can get scared off by loud noises.
http://www.native-languages.org/nibiinaabe.htm
4. Ne Hwas from the Passamaquoddy
http://www.native-languages.org/ne-hwas.htm
5. Water Babies from California and Western North American Tribes
These mer are extremely dangerous. Hearing their cry is an omen of death. Alternatively, responding to the crying Merbaby by picking up will result in catastrophe.
http://www.native-languages.org/water-babies.htm
The Link that leads to the other links.
http://www.native-languages.org/mermaids.htm
6. Mo’o from Hawaii
Mo’o is an umbrella term for Polynesian Water Spirits.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/mythsandfolklore/2023/03/mermaids-in-polynesian-myths-legends/
7. Qalupalik from Inuit Mythology (Alaska)
In some stories, it keeps children in a cave and drains their life force. As it drains their life force, it grows younger and more beautiful. Through this process, it can live forever and maintain eternal youth.
https://yamunahrodvitnir.medium.com/qalupalik-the-monstrous-inuit-mermaid-3a72d937d1f8
That’s Seven Different Types of Merfolk from North America, primarily the United States.
My Accurate Merfolk Lore Household
My Semi-Accurate Merfolk Lore Household
My Non-Accurate Merfolk Lore Household
I plan on updating my main household with the twins in the Gallery first. I also plan on including the templates for the merboy and merman life stages for the twins. MCCC makes it very easy to copy and paste sim physique and appearances.
@Lyrie If you want me to update a different household, I can definitely do that. I expect this week to go by much faster than the last one.
I’m already thinking about what I’m going to do next and mapping out a game plan to pick up after my story’s hiatus.
Required Mods for My Merfolk Households
1. Atlantica Set
2. The Expanded Mermaid Mod.
I can share links if you need me to.
Only my Vatore Household with Damian requires:
Spinning Plumbob’s
1. The Down Under Set
It has cursed merfolk in the household.
How to find me in the Gallery
Edit: While I can’t update the gallery right now, I was able to confirm that the recommended search terms will get you to where my gallery is.
Self-promoting aside, if you look for those lots, you should be able to find my Gallery under Metior_Ice.
My Lots that use Custom Content
Spinning Plumbob’s
1. Expanded Mermaid Mod
2. Sea-nery Stuff CC
When I get to it, I will be creating simulated underwater builds using that CC.
My Sand Bar has a basement that simulates an underwater cave… but I’m not sure if I used CC from Serinion in that build… Serinion took debug coral and gave it different colors. There’s a good chance I used their CC to make the room a bit more colorful. I also think I handed the coral rocks that merfolk can sit on. If I did, the rooms might not look as intended without that CC.
So, for underwater builds, I might need to update them without CC from Serinion.
Edited in spoilers and bold subtitles to make it easier to read and user friendly. I do not have the ability to see previews before posting with my mobile device.
Yeah it is, I've removed it and things are better. I think it's a clash with one of my other mods, but I haven't been able to determine which one. Stuff that was happening was like my Spellcasters were randomly humanised, but still retained the ability to transportalate, and once I cheated them back to being spellcasters all of their levels and powers remained intact. The most annoying thing was after I installed the mod my game began to randomly crash.
Female Simmer from Australia (she/her)
I had one of my Sims marry the Grim Reaper & now they have a lot of kids.
I actually try to keep my mods to the bare minimum so I never had my game crash because of a conflict. Very strange?
Despite the few things I’ve encountered… I never had a crash because of mod conflicts?
I use two mods to make Grim a fully playable character, the Grim Reaper actionsunlocker mod and the Soul Reaper career. Both of those are by Gauntlet101010. I have MCCC installed as well, plus No University housing restrictions by Zerbu, Interior Decorator resolve error fix by thunder1143, faster Uni homework by LittleMsSamScarlett, no constant phone by lazarus in ashes, Carl's Dine Out mod, Invite any guests, 20 sims max remover, Longer parties more guests by weerbesu, and no autonomous serenade by Candyd.
Female Simmer from Australia (she/her)
I had one of my Sims marry the Grim Reaper & now they have a lot of kids.
For some of those mods, like the sim limit, I actually use MCCC for that.
I think my households and the number of sims that can appear on a lot has been increased using MCCC.
Also, MCCC can be used to change the difficulty of University Homework and has a metric you can change for how long Uni homework takes.
Can you share a link to the No Phone? My merfolk constantly take out their phones in the water. Personally, I can’t think of where they keep their phones? They don’t have pockets in their tails.
Took a quick look at the Expanded Mermaid Mod’s compatibility. It does override how sims drown. Is it possible that this is where the mod conflicts with the Grim Reaper career?