Matias.
❝ a mari usque ad mare. ❞
➳ Merman.
Matias Sterling is an original character created by yours truly, #cerulean.
➳ faceclaim.
Matias' faceclaim is Matt Chris Wood.
➳ basic info.
Name: Matias Sterling ( Muh-TEE-us )
Aliases: Mat, Fish Boy, Fishsticks, Ariel
Relatives:
— Mother: Ruth Sterling | deceased
— Father: Charles Sterling | deceased
— Younger sister: Anna Sterling | deceased
— Younger brother: Robert Sterling | deceased
— Younger sister: Emily Sterling | deceased
— Boyfriend: Blake Ackermann ( faceclaim: Bryan Scamman )
Date of birth: February 2, 1906 ( 112 years old, immortal )
Place of birth: Manhattan, New York
Place of residence: New York, New York
Species: Merman
Gender: Male
Height: 6’0’’
Weight: 170 lbs.
Eye color: Super blue
Hair color: Dark brown
Status: Alive
Sexual orientation: Bisexual, male lean
Occupation: Varies
Theme song: 'No Light, No Light' - Florence + the Machine
Faceclaim: Matt Chris Wood
➳ merpeople.
Merpeople or merfolk, are beings that are hybrids between humans and fish. Their upper half is human, and their lower half is fish. They reside in the world's oceans.
Merfolk originate in two different ways, being claimed by the sea ( Matias' case ) or being born a merperson. In order to be born one, at least one of their parents would have to be a merperson.
Their abilities include aquatic respiration ( ability to breathe underwater ), aquatic adaptation ( smooth and agile movements in water, immune to water currents unless caused by another merperson ), hydrokinesis, zoopathy ( ability to control and speak to sea animals ), transformation to human and back, and immortality ( do not age, although they can be killed just like a human ).
Their basic diet includes fish, which they can choose to hunt with their teeth, claws, or with weapons they construct with stolen metals from humans combined with elements found in the ocean.
They typically travel alone, though a few find others and they create makeshift pods similar to dolphins and orcas.
The basic anatomy of a merperson includes three slits/gills on each side of their neck in order to breathe underwater, sharp teeth that are close to canine teeth, finned ears, webbed hands and clawed fingers with fins on the forearms, long dorsal fin from their neck to the small of the back, and a long tail.
Their transformation to human form and back to merform is excruciatingly painful due to their blood vessels tearing apart and reconnecting after their tail splits in half to form legs, or vice-versa. In their human form, their gills close up and are replaced with scars, and any rips in their finned ears will carry onto their human form.
In order for a transformation to be provoked from merperson to human, one must be out of the water and dry for at least ten minutes. In order to go from human to merform, one must touch saltwater. Fresh water will not initiate a transformation.
➳ personality.
Before he was turned, Matias was the epitome of a spoiled brat. He had everything he wanted, when he wanted it. His father's fame as one of the best lawyers of his time in New York allowed his family to gain riches, and Matias got used to being pampered, which turned him into a stuck-up child and eventually into a stuck-up and arrogant young man who threw money around like it was nothing. He was the 'pretty boy' of the family, and was the oldest so he held central authority and was the apple of his parents' eyes.
However, after he was turned, he struggled to adjust to his new life, and began growing much more humble, and resilient, learning to take care of himself and rely on himself for survival, losing any social skills and charm he had acquired from his life as a human, and essentially becoming more solitary and closed off.
➳ matias' story.
Matias Sterling was born to his father, world-class lawyer Charles Sterling and his mother, Ruth Sterling on February 2, 1906. He is the oldest of four children. His younger brother, Robert, and twin sisters, Emily and Anna. Mat resented his siblings, because they were all essentially competing to be the next heir to the great Sterling bloodline in being successful, though it was mostly between him and his younger brother, as women didn't work in this time.
The men in their family had a long history in being the best lawyers and law enforcement officers in the country, and Matias strived to be great, but ended up with his head in the clouds in the process throughout his life, putting himself before everyone else, even his family.
His family was a bit dysfunctional, and everyone kept secrets from each other, and it turned out his father had multiple affairs with other women unbeknownst to his wife or family, until Matias had overheard one night about one of his father's mistresses, though he kept his mouth shut in order to have his father's favor.
Following his father's footsteps, he attended university in order to pursue the career of being a lawyer. During this time, he was both admired and despised by his peers, since he had an advantage over the rest of them through his bloodline.
One night, during a rainstorm, he got caught in the rain, which he was less than pleased about, and since the fastest way home was walking through the docks, that's what he did. However, what he was oblivious to, was that he was being followed by a group of men from his university, one of which, Mat's father had their brother put away in prison on a false accusation.
They ambushed him after they had discerned that nobody would be there to witness this assault and report it, and Mat was taken off guard. Despite his best efforts to fight back against his pursuers, they overpowered him and he ended up being stabbed through the stomach with a pocketknife one of the attackers had.
In order to get rid of the 'evidence,' the group pushed Matias off balance and off the edge of the pier and into the ocean. Due to his strength being sapped from attempting to defend himself and the wound which was gushing out blood and dying the water red, he couldn't swim back up to the surface and save himself, leaving him to accept his imminent demise, regretting everything wrong he had done in his life spent bossing others around or being selfish.
It turns out, the sea held pity for him and decided the human deserved redemption and claimed him as one of its own. However, it would hold back on allowing him the ability to shift between his merman and human forms until he proved worthy.
That was the moment in which Matias' life changed for the better or worse, and he began his metamorphosis into one with the sea. At first, he was astounded and scared out of his mind, how he could suddenly respirate underwater and that he had a tail, like those mermaids in the fairytales did. It overwhelmed him and caused him to go into a wave of anxiety, unable to walk upon land anymore.
When his family received the news that Matias had seemingly gone missing, his father paid large sums of money to continue searching for any sign of him, but to no avail, and he was deemed deceased after weeks of search parties scoping out the New York area.
Though it took him a long time to adjust, his pristine and elegant manners and personality dissipated and left with a merman who would do anything to survive. At times, if he was bored throughout his years in the ocean, he would seek out humans were happened to be at the wrong place in the wrong time, and lure them into the water and strangle them with his tail or rip their throats out for sport.
He earned a reputation as one of the most feared mermen in the Atlantic, and for good reason.
Many years passed, and it wouldn't be until he could barely remember anything about his human life or what it was like to walk again in the year 2018, that the sea granted him with the ability to transform back into his human form when he pleased, which he discovered accidentally when caught in a scuffle with another merman, and it ended up beaching him after being swept away by a large tidal wave created by the other.
The transformation, as expected, was painful and caught Matias off guard, however when he could wriggle his toes and stand on his own two feet again, all the pain seemed worth it.
Everything seemed so different in New York, that Matias was overwhelmed once again, and felt helpless just as he was when adjusting to life out on the open sea.
However, with the help of Blake Ackermann ( see next section: 'Blake' for story of how they met ) he felt loved and needed again after for so long, and learned he could lean on somebody for support again. Even though he was an outcast, Blake taught him the ropes and he became skilled in technology quickly and any slang he needed to know, so he could adapt and fit in with the rest of the people during the present time period, though he made no effort to contact any living relatives he may have had, deciding to start over as a whole.
When in one form or another, he wants to avoid changing back unless he absolutely has to, because he hates enduring the pain of the transformation.
➳ blake.
Blake Ackermann is an ambitious and lighthearted marine biologist who also does photography on the side. He is known for his happy-go-lucky and playful nature, loving yoga and living his best life.
He's a certified scuba diver and a talented surfer, and met Matias when he was stranded on the beach when he had first reverted back into human form.
Curious as to why he was there alone, Blake didn't hesitate to approach him, even though he was met with a cold shoulder at first from Matias, who had been isolated from his former kind for so long he didn't even know where to start.
However, somehow, Mat had a good feeling about Blake and if something went awry, he could flee back into the ocean again. So he ended up telling Blake everything, and addressing the scars on his neck and what they truly were.
As expected, Blake thought Matias was crazy, as accepting and kind as the marine biologist was, but when Mat demonstrated by dipping his fingers in salt water and changing back, Blake was convinced and eager to help his new companion.
With a spare room in his apartment, he was able to keep Matias stowed away and pass him off as his new roommate, and Mat ended up being glued to his side. Blake dedicated a night teaching Matias everything he needed to know and got a hang of everything relatively quickly, and the fashion resonated with him and he easily picked up a style.
Slowly but surely, Blake began falling for Mat, and expressed this in many different ways but Mat was still oblivious to them until one night, they were at a party of one of Blake's friends', and he managed to get himself and Mat alone enough to where he confessed his feelings.
At first, Mat was petrified, as he felt the same way, but had been alone for so long that he didn't want to do something wrong that would end up hurting Blake, and under the stimulus that two men in love was still something unaccepted in this world, he was reluctant. And he had vowed never to love, since he would not age, anyone he cared for would pass away before he'd even age a day, but he decided Blake was worth it.
➳ Merman reference.
Mat's merman form design, designed and drawn by me.
➳ Scars reference.
Scars of his gills on his neck in human form ( also edited on by me ) - whenever someone asks him about them, he makes up a ridiculous story and sees if they believe him for shits and giggles.