Sapphire the Blue-Ringed Cecaelia

## Sapphire

Artwork

"**All obstacles have a solution, if you're clever enough.**"
—Sapphire
"'**And that my friends, is how the octopus do***"*
—Sapphire to his friends after demonstrating that he can fit into very small places
"**WHAT IN THE HALIBUT!?!**"
—A phrase Sapphire often says as an exclamation
"**COD CLAM IT!**"
—A phrase Sapphire often says as an exclamation
"**Holy cuss...**"
—Sapphire
"**It can be hard, but sometimes you have to let go.**"
—Sapphire
"**We may not be able to choose what we enter this world as, but we can decide on the type of people we want to be, and for that, I am grateful.**"
—Sapphire, in short: It's not what you are, it's who you are.

**Sapphire the Cecaelia** is an original character designed by **Frostybites16.** Sapphire resides in the Oceania universe.

This is Sapphire, he's a shy but very friendly fellow from a dystopian world called Oceania, in which seas are inhabited by merfolk of all shapes, and sizes.

## Biography

Sapphire hatched out of an egg, but unfortunately for him some other creatures must've ate all of his sibling's eggs, and perhaps even his parents too, because when he hatched he was all alone. no parents, no siblings, no family to speak of, and had to figure life out by himself. he was able to stay hidden from predators and such by using his camo ability and hiding under large boulders and rocks for much of his young life, but even despite this, he was very curious about the world, and with no parents to learn from, he quietly started observing the things other merfolk would do, for example one time he saw a hermit crabmaid changing her shell and then decided it was pretty smart to have armor like that, so he did the same thing and started wearing a shell too, although he wears it on his head and not on his back because that just felt natural to him for whatever reason. And also, he doesn't have the curly tail they do.

when he was 17 one of his tentacles got bitten off in a run-in with a moray eelmaid attack, but luckily it grew back. that's how he learned he can regenerate, that being said it was still one of the worst and most painful things he had ever experienced in his life. and lastly, I did mention that he's an octopus mermaid but he's specifically of the blue-ringed variety, which is one of the most venomous things in the ocean, up there with lionfish merfolk, and stonefish merfolk, however he is unaware that he is venomous and has such an ability.

he currently lives in a sunken RV which he calls home, One day he was wondering outside the reef and stumbled upon an ancient big rusty RV. Sapphire was curious and decided to check it out, he opened the door and peered in, and to his relief, it seems no one has made it their home yet, So he decided he was gonna move in there, it was away from everything else, but not super far incase he needed to stock up on things. He put his shell down and started decorating the inside of the RV, and soon, in a few weeks, it wasn't just any ol random RV, it was home.

One day he decided to go and explore the area, in the direction opposite to the reef, and not too long, he stumbled upon an area that was Covered in ancient relics from times long gone, but there seemed to be nothing living there and there was little vegetation, but what it *did* have was tons and tons of clams, berried in the sand, in the area, with so many of em, it practically like a lifetime supply! there was also some striped eel merfolk that lived in the junkyard there, but they retreated into their holes when sapphire went up to greet them. Cecaelias dont best reputation, but gradually, he gained their trust through music. for the next two and half years, Sapphire's routine consists of waking up, heading over to the junkyard area, spending the day messing around with and collecting new and cool items and also grabbing clams too, before heading home when the sun starts going down, sort through his new items and putting them in their designated places in his van, finding ways to entertain himself at home, go to sleep and start all over again. He visits the reef every now and again as well, to stock up on supplies as well as trading with some of the residence. in exchange for other things. over those two years he befriended a sea whelk who now lives with him.

## Appearance

Sapphire is a cecaelia, which is a common term for a mermaid that has cephalopod limbs rather than a fish tail. Another frequently used name is "octomaid" specifically, he is a southern blue-ringed cecaelia, or lesser blue-ringed cecaelia. He is very feminine in appearance, with a curvaceous but slim body, and long lashes on his eyes. atop his head, he has eight thick curly tentacles which resemble hair, suction cups are located on the underside of these hair-tentacles, along with having a few suckers on the top side too, he has tentacles for hair and no *actual* hair to speak of. on the left side of his head, he has a siphon where an ear would be on a human, but it is usually covered by his hair tentacles, and he has no visible nose. His octopus half connects to his humanoid half in such a way that it looks like he's wearing a halter dress, with opera gloves. he has two stretchy arms as well as 8 squid-like feet, dotted by many small rings. He has two big eyes with horizontal pupils and no visible irises, albeit white irises do occasionally appear when he is excited. Instead of having teeth, he has a beak under his lips.

He has light tan skin, with is head, upper arms, and some of his chest being slightly darker tan, and his body is covered head to toe (or tentacle rather) in small iridescent blue rings. He has a ring on each of his cheeks, and a big ring on his forehead with small ring between his eyes. And more rings scattered throughout his body. his eyes have blue sclera, with occasionally visible white irises, and black pupils,

Sapphire changes color when feeling strong emotions, He turns red when angry, yellow when really happy or excited, blue when sad, white when he's shocked, honeynut when disgusted, cyan when silly, rose when he feels love, speckled when titillated, and when he's lying he turns a pale green color, but that last one is more subtle then the others and you need to be really paying attention to notice.

lastly, he often wears a large shell on his head which very often gets him confused for a nautilus mermaid. It has a bag strapped on that has "snacks" incorrectly spelled as "snacs" on the left side of the shell, and another one on the left side that reads "Randum Stupph". as well as a compass, among with other things on the shell. the shape and color of his shell varies because he has multiple stored in his home, but the one he seems to favor the most is a purple spikey shell that gets lighter as the spiral goes and has white speckles.

## Personality

Sapphire doesn't have a bad bone in his body, actually, in fact he has *no* bones in his body except for his beak. This feminine fellow's very smart, resourceful, and observant. usually avoiding conflict using his brilliant camouflage. Sapphire is shy at first, but once you get to know him and he really opens up, he is generally talkative, optimistic, and a little naïve, but is friendly and well-meaning. He also finds enjoyment in learning about the fauna and the other merfolk that live in Oceania, or at least just the ones that live in his area, since he usually doesn't travel very far from his home. He keeps a little notebook made out of coral in his shell and he writes down all of the things he's learned about the world around him to help him remember these things in the future through quiet observation and taking notes. In addition to being informational It's also a sort of diary, where he writes his thoughts, feelings, and experiences. He knows very little about octopus/squid merfolk despite being one, likely due to the fact that they are a *mostly* solitary race of merfolk.

He can also show a bit of bravery if someone he cares about is in danger. He proceeds to continue forward, even in the most serious situations or when he is hurt or damaged. Sapphire cares deeply for all of his friends and often putting the needs of others before himself and despite his size, will do anything to help those friends. He's friendly and means well but is startled easily, and while he does want social interaction, he doesn't really know how to go about doing it, so instead of living in more populated areas like the reef, seaweed fields, or kelp forests, he lives on the outskirts of the seaweed field, where there is trash and sand everywhere. it may not look like a nice place to live, but it is pretty safe because few dwell there, and not many merfolk or other creatures decide to make their home there. there are however a few, there are striped-garden-eel merfolk who are his neighbors, and the area is rich in clams. Due to years of living alone he tends to overthink how others perceive him, and does whatever he can to make others happy, this is most likely out of fear of losing new friends he makes.

Sapphire tends to blush quite easily, and usually it doesn't take much to make him flustered. He can also be kind of a jokester as well, often using his squishiness and camouflaging abilities for emphasize on a joke, or for visual gags. overall, a pretty fun person to be around once you've gotten him to break out of his shell (no pun intended). he's also a good singer, often singing about what he's thinking when he is alone, and he can dance pretty well too, using all 8 of his legs to do some pretty cool dance moves. But behind his cute exterior, there is a bit of a lecher, as such Sapphire spends most of his free time fantasizing and pleasuring himself in various ways. He also tends to have frequent, sometimes intrusive, lewd thoughts at times, but despite this Sapphire never attempts to do anything remotely lewd towards anyone intentionally. He's as shy as he is slutty, but at the end of the day he really is just a lil sweetheart who wants the best for his friends. He is a peaceful, self-reliant, and introverted mermaid.

## Abilities

**Natural Abilities:**

* **Camouflage:** As a master of disguise, Sapphire uses the ability of camouflage By using his chromatophores and changing the texture of his skin (yes, he can do that too) He can seamlessly blend into any environment
* **Flexibility** - Sapphire can contort his body into numerous unnatural poses. he is very squishy, giving Sapphire the amazing ability to squeeze through tiny crevices, cracks holes and impossibly small nooks and crannies, as long as the holes are not smaller then his beak, which is roughly the size of his fist.
* **Ink:** Sapphire can produce ink. He does this using a large ink sack from within his body. He usually produces either black ink or blue ink, but can also produce other colors if he so pleases.
* **Amphibious:** Sapphire can inhale both air and water.
* **Jet Propulsion:** Sapphire can squirt jets of water from his body. He draws water into his body then expels it through a small tube on his head called a siphon. The force of the water squirting out pushes Sapph, allowing him to swim through the ocean via jet propulsion, with a top speed of 25mph.
* **Strength:** Despite his stature, Sapphire's tentacles are very strong, and can lift about 5 pounds with one sucker. And if he was really **really** trying, he has enough strength to move around 700 pounds. He's got 8 tentacles that can grasp surfaces, pull apart objects, and unscrew jars and bottles, you name it. each one lined with many strong suction cups, as well as having suction cups on his fingers and palm of his hand. Sometimes he does struggle a little bit when lifting things, but that's just because he doesn't **think** he's very strong, but before you say that's stupid, remember mind over body is a powerful thing whether it be positive or negative.
* **Regeneration:** Sapphire, like all other cecaelia, Sapphire has the unique ability to regenerate a fully functional limb in about 1 to 3 weeks if one ever gets severed, with the new appendage being just as good as the original
* **Darkvision:** Sapphire can see in the dark
* **Venom:** Despite his small size, Sapph carries enough venom to kill 26 adult humans. He has special glands in his mouth that can produce tetrodotoxin (TTX). This substance is potently neurotoxic, blocking the transmission of nerve impulses. This stops muscles from being able to contract and has potentially deadly consequences. But Sapphire doesn't actually know that he is venomous.
* **Climb:** Sapphire has the ability to move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and upside down along ceilings, all still while still being able to leave his hands free if he so chooses.
* **Ocular illumination:** Sapphire has the ability to project light from his eyes when he is in dimly lit areas

**Unique Abilities:**

* **Hypnosis:** In addition to his ability to use camouflage, he can flash several colors and waves of light toward an enemy to hypnotize them, but Sapphire doesn't know about this ability.
* **Bioluminescence:** Sapphire doesn't know it yet, but he is capable of bioluminescence, being able to emit blue light from photophores in his skin.

**Skillset:**

* **Resourcefulness**: Sapph is very resourceful, being able to use his surroundings very well to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties.
* **Combat & Weapon Proficiency:** Sapphire isn't generally a fighter, but when he needs to, has an electric tennis racket that though originally unintended as a weapon, Sapphire has become skilled at using it as one. He also has a very powerful water gun that he has converted into an ink gun, using blobs of his own naturally-produced ink as his ammunition. This means he has an unlimited supply of ammunition.
* **Ink Cloud:** Sapphire can squirt out a cloud of ink used to create distractions or cover escapes.
* **Ink-Bubble Grenades: Sapphire can** create distractions by launching a number of ink-filled bubbles that release a blinding cloud at enemies, blinding them long enough for Sapph to flee.
* **Musical Talent:** Sapphire can use his many tentacles to grab sound producing objects all sorts of things and making music and melodies with them, he also can play a variety of instruments. Even the shy garden eelmaids came out to listen one day while he was being a little musician and he enjoyed playing it for them
* **Songwriting**: Sapphire is able to compose music
* **Mimicry:** Sapphire can arrange his tentacles and change his textures and colors in certain ways to resemble other merfolk.
* **Singing & dancing:** Sapphire is a good singer and dancer, he loves to dance when when the situation calls for it, but he is very shy about the singing part, he usually does that alone and doesn't want anyone to see him when he does so.
* **Withdraw:** All his extremities — arms, tentacles, and head — retract back into his shell for protection, becoming more inconspicuous, or for easier storage, Which Sapphire refers to as "Shelling"
* **Storage:** Sapphire is able to store many items in his shell. So much so that it defies logic how much stuff he's able to cram in there
* **Tuck & Roll:** if sapphire retracts into his shell and leans forward, he can roll away in his shell along the ocean floor, this mode of transportation is quick and requires much less energy then swimming. He learned this technique from his buddy Steen. Although afterwards it can leave him feeling pretty dizzy, he's still getting used to it.

## Relationships

### Family

* **Unnamed Parents & Siblings:** (Deceased)
* **Barnacle the Whelk:** friend and pet
* **Bubbles the Giant Seahorse:** friend and pet

### Allies

* **Steen the Hermit Crabataur:** Good Friend and occasional neighbor. even though sometimes he talks a bit too fast for Sapph to keep up with, Things are never not fun when he's hanging out with Steen, he's glad he met him.
* **Halenine the Cecaelia:** Good friend (and crush)
* **Isura the** **Shortfin Mako Sharkmaid:** Isura is someone who joined the journey and Someone who hangs out with him and the others sometimes. Sapphire didn't trust him at first, but after getting to know him, he realized he's just a big softy, and he has grown to really like him.
* **Heikala the Lobstermaid:** Good Friend and Neighbor
* **Ima the Garden Eelmaid:** Good friend and Neighbor
* **Rosu the Mantamaid:** Good friend (also has a bit of a crush on her)
* **Kelly the Cecaelia:**

### Enemies

* **Rea the Whitetip Sharkmaid:** A sharkmaid that ripped off one of Sapph's tentacles.
* **Unknown moray eelmaid:** A friend of Rea's that aided in the attack against Sapphire and Steen.
* **Unknown barracuda mermaid:** a random predatory mermaid that attacked Sapphire and Steen upon their initial meeting, but it ultimately worked out, the situation causing Steen to see Sapph as a potential friend rather then a foe.
* **Unknown moray eelmaid:** a moray that bit off one of Sapphire's tentacles when he was 17
* **Abysia the eelmaid:** yet *another* eel mermaid that attacked him
* **Normis the Groupermaid:** A friend of Abysia and her hunting partner, also tried to eat him

## Trivia

* Sapphire was created on January 17, 2022.
* I always like to imagine if my OC's had voice actors/actresses, and for Sapph, I think LineChu would be a great fit
* Sapphire is actually a hybrid, having ancestry from Ammonitemaids, and cuttlefishmaids. This is due to interbreeding that happened at some points during his bloodline, which is why he is capable of certain things other blue ring cecaelia aren't, getting his bioluminescence from ammonitemaids, while getting the hypnosis from the cuttlefishmaid part of his ancestry. and the slight bit of ammonite is part of the reason why he feels the urge to wear a shell which other octomaids just don't usually do, he may not have one himself, but it's in his genetic memory.
* Sapphire can change color when he's under extreme emotion.
	+ Red = angry.
	+ Yellow = happy or excited.
	+ Blue = sad.
	+ White = shocked
	+ Honeynut = disgusted
	+ Cyan = silly
	+ Rose = love.
	+ Speckles = titillated
	+ Pale Green = lying
* Sapphire is often seen storing and pulling fairly large objects out of his shell that look like they should not be able to fit, along with a few other things, with his shells acting more like a videogame inventory then an actual
* Sapphire's choice of weapons is a waterproof Bug-zapping Tennis Racket, and a Spyra2 inspired Watergun.
* The type of van Sapphy lives in isnt a model that can be found in real life, I imagine it being a mix of a 1988 Chevy Astro and a Class-A RV
* When Sapphire is with his larger friends such as Rosu or Isura, he can usually be seen hitching a ride on them, usually on their backs behind the shoulder or holding on to their tails or fins when moving somewhere so it's easier for him to tag along and keep up with them.
* Sapphire is left-handed
* Sapphire is a little colorblind
* Sapphire's hair is based off octolings
* Sapphire's theme is Work Day, With his other themes being Run Right Back, Gary Go Wonderful, Bittersweet Symphony, Ocean Base Camp, and whatever song this is
* A cool short video I watched about blue ringed octopuses while making this page https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD7YBFcrQN4&t=313s

## Gallery

New Sapphire ArtworkNew Sapphire sheetSapphire with his updated blushSapphire hiding in his shellSapphire Riding on his friend Isura's back.I don't speak BOTTOMRosu hugging Sapphire after both of them suffer traumatic experiences. By my good friend Julianthedinoman on DeviantartSapphire and Steen first encountering RosuSapphire mimicking his friend SteenSapphire mimicking his friend IsuraSapphire and Rosu have a chatSapphire and Rosu at the surface of the ocean on a moonlit night to go stargazing but Sapphire ends up falling asleepSapphire wearing a funny shirtSapphire seen through Isura's electroreceptionSapphire first encounters IsuraFanart of Sapphire a friend made for me, its for the most part what I imagine him looking like in real lifeOld Sapphire Page thumbnailSapphire hiding in one of his shells (With an outdated blush)Sapphire thinking emojiSapphire playin musicDrawing requested by a friend of Sapphire being lewd and flirtySapphire in a jarA funny comic implying that Isura doesnt know Rosu has 2 eyes based off her hairstyleSapphire shortly after finding KellyShitpost joke drawing of Sapphire ordering boneless pizza and Steen as the pizza man and Rosu just there like wtf? (the scaling of the characters is a bit off, but how about we just say that's due to perspective)Fanart of Sapphire a friend made for me