MERFORMERS MATING BEHAVIOR
(i may add to this/change things in the future! the au belongs to my friend @muletia ! some merformers don’t have special mating rituals, so if you see one without a courtship ritual, this is why, and they simply court like regular merformers.)
OPTIMUS PRIME (BLUE WHALE/SPERM WHALE)
in real life, male blue whales produce complex songs to attract females and establish dominance! this carries onto Optimus himself, making a unique song for his fated mate! as a human, while you may not understand his language nor his intentions, it’s flattering he’d want to sing for you! if you hum/whistle back, expect to be dragged into the water, since you accepted the whales courting song <3
in real life, sperm whale mating involves males competing for females through "jousting" or "sperm whale fencing," where they clash heads to establish dominance, and females may choose the strongest male. Males migrate to warmer waters to breed, but Optimus doesn’t participate in this because he has you <3 he will also fight off any Decepticons or Autobots (he always apologizes to his comrades after) trying to court you until you accept his mating attempts.
RATCHET (SEA LION/WALRUS/CLOWNFISH)
in real life, female sea lions initiate courtship and copulation by displaying submissive postures in front of the male, and males are polygamous, mating with more than one female, and maintain territories during the breeding season of May to August, with territorial behavior. merformers however only have one mate, so theirs is a little different. males often fight for territory and protect it, waiting for their mates. usually in their territories are their dens, where they will protect their pups once their mates gives birth, and will protect that den with their lives, especially if they have a mate and pups to protect! if you so happen to be in a submissive posture in front if Ratchet, he may take it as a mating invitation and mount you.
In real life, adult males make taps, knocks, pulses, and bell sounds underwater to attract females and show superiority. Fighting occur/ between males who “joust” with their tusks, with mating takes place in the water. So for Ratchet, he’ll fight off any other ‘potential mates’ until you accept his mating attempts, where he’ll take you under the water to mate, before taking you to his den.
Males attract females through courting behavior characterized by extended fins, biting, and chasing. During spawning, the males become increasingly aggressive. When spawning begins, the male will chase the female to the nest at which time the female will make several passes over the nest until she releases her eggs. In merformers, the female usually passes out after spawning due to exhaustion, where their mate will care for them and the eggs or young (if they give live birth) until they wake up, watching over the eggs/young is shared between parents, one protecting them while the other hunts. For Ratchet, expect him to be following or chasing you around the island and in water, gently nipping and biting at you until you accept his mating attempts!
In real life, Mating is aquatic and often involves violent and prolonged copulations during which the male approaches the female from behind and grasps her face and nose with his teeth, sometimes pulling her head underwater while attempting to subdue her, and will mate with her near taking and on a haulout rock of the female's choosing. So once its mating season, beware of entering the water with Arcee, as she may approach you from behind and begin her mating behavior, even dragging you towards a rock to mate. She’ll make it up to you after, however <3
SMOKESCREEN & BUMBLEBEE (SEALS)
In real life, males initiate true mating behavior by chasing, neck- and flipper-biting, and embracing. When approached, females respond by growling, head-thrusting, and flipper-waving. Copulation usually takes place in the water. For Smokescreen, he may be more or less aggressive, constantly biting, chasing, and embracing you until you accept his advances, with Bumblebee being a bit more gentle since he’s afraid of actually hurting you.
BULKHEAD (MANATEE/SEA TURTLE)
Mating takes place in the water in a variety of postures. Breeding herds consist of one cow in estrus accompanied by several bulls. An estrus female can be pursued for weeks by several males. The cow often twists and turns violently, apparently to escape her suitors. While Bulkhead isn’t in a breeding herd since almost everyone left the island, during mating season, expect Bulkhead to mate with you as soon as you enter the water, he will apologize after though.
In real life, The male sea turtle climbs onto the female turtle’s back and holds on to her carapace with the long, sharp claws of his front flippers. The way he hooks on to the edge of the female’s shell often results in a scratched shell and bleeding wounds in the soft parts of her body. Copulation can take place on the surface or under water. Because of this, you aren’t safe on land, so be careful! While Bulkhead will try to be gentle with you, it’s hard with his claws.. after mating, he will tend to any wounds he may have left behind.
In real life, males use their gonopodium to fertilize females, who can store sperm for later use, enabling multiple births from a single mating session. However, since merformers only have one mate for their entire lives, swordsfish merformers will fight for their mates to ward off any potential mates but also as a show of strength, so expect Wheeljack to fight with the others often, to showing off his strength as a potential mate. Please just accept his courtship advances, the poor Autobots already have to fight off the Decepticons they don’t need to deal with a horny and aggressive swordsfish merformer </3
MEGATRON (LEOPARD SEAL/ORCA)
In real life, during mating season, the females and males make long-distance mating calls to each other, and during mating, growl at each other continuously, sometimes the male even bites the other. So be careful humming or whistling too close to Megatron during mating season, as he may think of it as a mating call and you’ll end up being bred by the horny seal.
In real life, mating behavior involves both males and females having multiple partners, with mating occurring within stable social groups (pods) and often appearing similar to general play behavior, including chasing, physical contact, and fluke slaps! Since Megatron considers the Decepticons his ‘pod’, expect them to be around most of the mating process, and with Megatron chasing or touching you until you accept his advances!
In real life, unlike other billfish, sailfish have a unique mating ritual where females attract males by waving their sails above the surface. Spawning occurs with males and females swimming in pairs or with two or three males chasing a single female, male-female pairs form and reproduce through external fertilization, where the female releases her eggs into the water column while the male releases his sperm, which some sailfish may do if they don’t feel like carrying the eggs to term. At first, after ‘courting’ you (aka you just showing off something to Starscream and him mistaking it for courting), Starscream may at first attempt said external fertilization, only to be confused when you don’t produce eggs. Eventually he mates with you regularly after recovering from his embarrassment.
SOUNDWAVE (OCTOPUS/STRINGRAY)
In real life, when it’s mating time, the male will stand in an arched posture and use a pumping action to maneuver their spermatophore (a along the length of the arm which holds rows of sperm called a spermatophore) down their arm till it lands safely in their hectocotylus (basically the ‘sex arm’, since octopi have no genitals) Their sperm packets travel down their arm about every 15 minutes during an hour-long mating period. Then, a male will mount a female’s mantle in the hopes of making a quick getaway in case she changes her mind while he’s making his sperm deposit. Males must proceed with caution and be tactical in their approach because some female octopuses have cannibalistic tendencies. Because of such, expect Soundwave to be very cautious during mating you, as he also would not want to be eaten, so he will pin you down and restrain you during mating, but will be very gentle as to not cause you harm. After mating however, expect him to be very attentive, at times forcing you to eat if he must. This is because female octopuses usually die after the eggs hatch (in real life female octopuses protect the eggs she lay, but for merformers carey eggs most of the time until they hatch or lay them a week or two before) because she doesn’t eat, and Soundwave doesn’t want you to die! You’re his mate, after all…
in real life, stingray mating behavior involves males pursuing females, often biting their fins and body, with some bites preceding copulation to maintain contact, and females may flee from persistent males. So if you’re in water, beware of Soundwave, as he will bite and pursue you until you agree to mate.
SHOCKWAVE (JELLYFISH/ANGLERFISH)
In real life, while most jellyfish reproduce by releasing sperm and eggs into the water, some species, like Copula sivickisi, have a more elaborate mating ritual involving a "courtship dance" where the male uses his tentacles to grab a female, drag her around, and then transfer a sperm packet to her, which she then stores in her stomach. When Shockwave realizes you can’t just release eggs like his species can, he’s fine with doing it the ‘regular way’, being careful not to sting you. He’s not embarrassed like Starscream, since he realized more quickly than the other did.
In the bizarre mating ritual of some deep-sea anglerfish species, tiny males latch onto much larger females, often permanently fusing with them, becoming a sexual parasite and relying on the female for nutrients, while providing sperm for fertilization. While Shockwave is.. aware of his species “un logical” way of reproducing, he may have some small, unique traits even if he won’t.. “fuse” with you. For example, if you were to eventually carry the creatures (affectionate) eggs, expect him to latch onto you and be a bit more clingy (in his own ‘cold’ way), and barely leaving your side, only leaving to hunt for food for the both of you.
KNOCKOUT (LIONFISH/"BLUE DRAGON" or Glaucus atlanticus)
in real life, lionfish mating involves males initiating courtship by searching for females, resting beside them, and then circling before ascending to the surface with the female, where they release two mucus-coated egg clusters that are then fertilized by the male. Knockout, since he’s more familiar with humans than the other Decepticons, knows this won’t work, so he settles for simply doing it the other way. He will, however, still circle around you anytime you’re in water, both because he’s happy to see you but also to show you’re his mate, not anyone else’s!
Blue dragons, being hermaphroditic sea slugs, require mating with another individual to produce viable eggs, and their mating behavior involves careful navigation to avoid stinging each other, resulting in strings of eggs laid on floating objects. Knockout is very careful not to accidentally poison or sting you while mating, and if you are hurt when mating, he will be quick to tend to you.
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