#i probably couldve posted this tmrw instead of 10 pm. but im impatient

[sunflowerseraph]

Ok i couldnt get around to drawing more but i DO have doodles and some concept stuff for it! Its an au @plutoprojectors and i are vaguely working on :D

It *is* a sort of seperate bodies au, not something id say singlet au but well i cant really explain them being in one body and having different animal traits. Anyways they all come from nearly the same regions but its a world in which Merfolk are known by the human populace but they arent exactly treated the same? Theyre mostly seen as just a step above animals (They have speech, culture, etc) but seen as lesser enough to be in aquarium exhibits. Theres a mer aquarium run by people who are loosely based off the Ennead, and the boys are specifically overseen by Khonshu. He'd have a different name and role and everything but yknow this is bare bones.

LAYLA is also in it :) she works as a marine biologist/conservationist and she (along with Frenchie) wants to study the merfolk and to fight for their rights to be seen as, well more than just animal exhibits.

Steven is a Harbor Seal with an injured fin whos mostly been in captivity! Hes sort of convinced that he "likes" it there and doesnt mind being seen as one of the more "docile" exhibits. Donna is one of his handlers and he hates her ♡. He also is friendly to common/non-Mer fish so doesnt like to eat them!! He was taken in by the enneads group after getting his flipper caught in a net and permanently injured! He was also mostly studied in the UK area, so his exposure to language is heavily based on the english there (explains why hes got an accent!) He loves human culture and mythos!

Heres a picture of some of my notes and the inspo for his design :] ! (In this AU Stevens story and look is credited to @plutoprojectors btw ♡ i just got to draw him ^0^ ) click to see the full things! Theres also alt text for them i hope i did it right

He only discovers the other boys after Jake stops by his tank! Jake is based after a great pacific octopus but i dont have any drawings for him yet besides a silly one ☹️ ill add it to this post though teeehee. His octo arms are purplish red and he likes to pickpocket random people and explore the aquarium when hes not supposed to be. Thats based off how octopi are very smart and escape their enclosures and scientists all the time 🫶 he's been to several different places, labs, etc before ending up at this aquarium! He and Marc briefly have known eachother from being in the same labs and studied :( theres more angst to that too but i wont get into it yet ♡ besides that though he doesnt mind humans. He doesnt TRUST them but he doesnt mind them. He likes to travel and he likes learning about human culture to a degree. He pickpockets and steals from guests to give Steven gifts for his little stash :D and to connect with him bc he thinks steven is strange ♡

Marc is based off an oceanic whitetip shark too! He is SUPER untrusting of the humans / scientists / ennead in particular. He and jake have been subjected to bad things via people who didnt see them as sentient living beings and not just animals they could test! He isnt just aggresive to be aggresive, rather he knows that harm can come from the humans so he has a natural distrust and distaste for them. He recognizes Jake but doesnt know alot about him! His exhibit is closer to Stevens though and hes a bit curious about him but cant understand why Steven *likes* the humans. Heres a messy sketch and some concept stuff abt him too!

Anyways thats like the bases of the au we have so far ! Im open to questions and @plutoprojectors might add on :3 so keep a look in the replies / tags! But other than that thats our very bare bones aqauatic mer whatever AU :D i love marine bio and aquatic animals and its fun to draw these things even if its for like self indulgent aus between us ♡

(Also tagging @spicyboelives ^_^ thank u for taking an interest this au is so fun)

I love drawing self indulgent AU art its so fun ♡