#mer!four

[theposeknowsart]

Mermay Day 6: Sweet Treat

(Mer Minish Four havin a snack!)

[theposeknowsart]

Mermay Day 11: Redraw!

I don’t have any older mermaid drawings, so I redrew an old Vio drawing but as Red!

[sprite-and-the-bunnydragons]

Soooooooooo you’ve been asked about Legend, Hyrule, Time, and Twilight’s mer designs. Might I ask about the designs for the other five Links? 👀

Also, if you have additional character concepts for this au, or notes you’re able to share, I’d love to read them!!

Warriors: metallic silver scales with microscopic iridescent ridges. He shimmers a green-blue, the more prominent color depends on the lighting. He does still have his scarf in this au (unlike Twilight, rip wolf pelt), and Legend thinks it’s the most ridiculous thing ever. Warriors’ fins are more angular than most and even look like razor blades from the right angle. He still has the burn scars on his left arm, but Volga is a sea serpent that spits boiling water in this au. Mer Wars is a bit more prone to enjoying shiny things in Linked Seas, he likes wearing bracelets and other jewelry as long as they’re not too dangly. His favorite is a cuff Artemis gave him, the sharp angled metalwork matches his scales and has inlaid emeralds and diamonds.

Wild: I forgot, he does make a couple quick cameos in the first fic! His tail is champion blue with darker highlights (like how his LU tunic design is split on the colors). The edging of his fins (dorsal, tail, and ears) fade into white. He has just as many if not more scars as he does in LU. His tail curves to the left from the scars’ tightness, and it makes it harder for him to swim in a straight line. Does that stop him from being the fastest mer in the Chain? No. No, it does not.😂 He just has to work a little harder than most to get there. He wants to learn a speed spell, but he can’t seem to find a book or a teacher to help him (Legend knows a speed spell, but is a little concerned about what Wild might do with it. Legend has elected to not volunteer his information or the fact that he knows anything in the first place🤣) Wild’s dorsal fin is a little twisted, too, but his reaction time is second to none. He refuses any and all attempts to tame his hair.

Four: second smallest in the Chain Tribe (which is honestly saying something, most of them are pretty little for mer). Instead of a Minish feather earring, it’s a Minish scale in this au. Looks similar, just scale-ified. The scale is Ezlo’s, the one mer who spoke out against Four’s banishment. Four once had a fairly straightforward, green tail, but it changed once he met Shadow (courtesy of some rather concerning magic he did to save Shadow’s life that couldn’t possibly cause problems later …😈). Now, Four’s scales glitter in every color, but there are clear lines for green, red, violet, and blue sections if you look at him head-on. Most of the time. The other guppies say they’ve seen his colors change like an octopus. Four tends to slip away whenever the guppies make these claims around the older members of the tribe. To offset his disco ball of a tail, he wears very simple clothes, just a darkish tunic with sleeves that barely cover his shoulders. And yes, he’s one of those mer who have four tail fins. I had to. The Colors are more distinct and vivid on the membrane part of each fin (each Color has one fin in the same order as Four’s LU tunic; same for the general lines on the rest of his tail)

Shadow: he and Four are identical twins, but because he used to be with the Demise Tribe, Shadow’s lost color where Four has a ton. His hair and tail are deep black, and his scales have faint white lines running through them, almost like cracks. The lines weren’t there before he defected. No one but Four knows why. 

Wind: ironically, looks more like a tetra than Tetra does🤣 Red tail (King of Red Lions colored) with a blue streak down each side. Fins fade to an orange like his pants in LU, Malon likes to say he looks like a sunset. Darker tips near the point of all his fins. He’s still smaller than the smallest adolescent (Legend), but that won’t last much longer. Wind is built to be BIG someday if he keeps getting the care he needs. Tetra gave him her red bandanna, saying he’d look better in it, anyway (she gave it to him to remember her by, and they both know it). He’s going to love jewelry he salvages/pirates from human ships once he’s big enough, especially if it’s something nice he can give Aryll. He wears a similar tunic to LU, just shorter and with hourglass designs on the tops of his short sleeves

I’ll do ones for Sky, Malon, and Aryll soon! (Lmk if you’d like me to tag you to make sure you see it when I post it)

And extra lore? Hmm … what flavor of lore did you have in mind (specific character, worldbuilding, specific tribe, fluff, angst, culture, a combo, etc.?)

These are so fun! Thank you so much!

[sprite-and-the-bunnydragons]

Linked Seas: How old are Four and Shadow REALLY? Are they really guppies or just smaller than average adoles?

Oh ho ho, you picked up on that? Nicely done!👌 The full answer to this question has some spoilers, so I’ll give you the vague version first and then the spoilery version below the cut.

There isn’t a specific age mer become adoles. Adolescence is based on when a guppy’s super soft, super delicate scales start to harden (once they’re fully hardened, the mer is considered an adult and is much more damage and disease resistant). Mer can start that process anywhere from around seven years old to twenty or even older in rare cases. It really just depends on the individual mer and their genetics.

The short, (mostly) non-spoilery version is that Four and Shadow COULD be considered adoles, but they’re actively hiding it from the rest of their tribe for the time being. They’re both fifteen, which roughly equates to twelve or so developmentally in human years.

Ok. Spoilery version. 

Four’s scales showed their first signs of hardening a few days before the tribe found Legend. But Shadow’s didn’t. Between getting super sick before he met the Chain and a lot of magical damage (a la Vaati and the botched life force spell keeping Shadow alive), Shadow’s scales feel brittle and are hypersensitive. He and Four had hoped once he became an adole, his scales would fix themselves, but they didn’t. Shadow doesn’t think the tribe will decide he’s healthy/safe enough to be with the adoles, even if Four moves up. Four’s not sure what their tribe would decide, but he doesn’t want to risk getting separated from his twin again, even though they’d still see each other tons. Four decided to not tell anyone about his hardening scales in hopes Shadow’s scales might have time to harden before they tell everyone. (They both know his scales won’t harden. Not now, not ever. But it’s nice to pretend as long as they can.) With Legend joining the tribe, it’s been easy to lay low, but if they wait too long, someone’s going to start asking questions  …

[sprite-and-the-bunnydragons]

I just binged the first installment of Linked Seas, and it is GLORIOUS. And slightly terrifying, because now I’m thinking about all the ways the current members of the Chain tribe could have ended up alone before they joined…. From the pieces we have so far, they can’t be happy stories.

I’m especially concerned for Four and Warriors, since it seems extra unnatural for them to be on their own!

eeeeeeee! I’m so glad you’re loving it!! I’m having a blast with this au, let me tell you

And you are so right on all accounts. Everyone in the Chain’s been through some ROUGH stuff, even Malon a little bit

(Long) Backstories for Four and Warriors below the cut!

Four: he grew up in the Minish Tribe, thinking he was one of them (he’s naturally small like them and has similar-ish magic), but he never grew a Minish Scale like everyone else. (He was really sad about that, he had plans to give his first Minish Scale to Ezlo for raising him.) Four heard about the Demise Tribe’s conquest and wanted his own people to help in the fight. But the Minish Tribe aren’t warriors by any means, and they live in a hidden cove far from Demise activity. They said no.

Four (begrudgingly) accepted this until he was working on his swimming one day and found another guppy tangled in a net. He saved the guppy’s life, only to discover that the guppy looked just like him … and was a scout for the Demise Tribe (who uses guppies as scouts, anyway? Four was furious, and his new friend was mostly confused. Doesn’t everyone use their smallest, most expendable members as scouts?). Four brought his new friend, Shadow, back to Ezlo’s to heal up. During this time (and with some help from Ezlo), Four and Shadow realized they were twins—they had been born into a tribe close with the Minish, but the Demise Tribe wiped them out, causing the Minish to flee somewhere safe. Before the migration, though, Ezlo found Four, the only survivor.

Shadow had been kidnapped and his biology changed to thrive off of Demise poison. They’ve never been sure why the Demise Tribe only took one of them, but they want to study it as soon as they’re old enough.

The Minish found out Four was harboring Shadow and told Shadow to leave. Four spoke out against them. Despite Ezlo’s best efforts, the rest of the Minish kicked both twins out for the safety of the tribe and migrated again, leaving them behind. But before he was forced to leave, Ezlo told the twins their connection would strengthen their magic and be unlike anything the sea has ever seen. Just as the Minish started to leave, the Demise Tribe attacked, led by Shadow’s “caretaker” Vaati (Four and Shadow still have no idea how Vaati found them😈). The twins fought to buy time for the Minish to escape, led by Ezlo. Shadow was critically injured, and only about half of the Minish survived. Still a much higher percent than normal. Four rushed Shadow somewhere safe. He only survived because Four discovered a new side to his magic. Instead of Shadow needing to breathe Demise Poison frequently, Four could transfer some of his own life force to his twin. This had the odd side effect of splitting Four into, well, four mer.

It took a few weeks before Four had enough control and Shadow was strong enough to move, they barely escaped the Demise Tribe taking over their hiding spot near the Minish ruins. They wandered for a bit, until Four discovered the Chain Tribe, who immediately accepted him. Four hid Shadow nearby, afraid they might get kicked out again if their new family realized Shadow was ex-Demise. But Shadow was still a guppy, and without constant care, guppies are super disease-prone. He got sick enough that Four’s magic couldn’t save him, so Four risked everything and told the Chain about Shadow. They were wary at first, but realized within a couple minutes that Shadow was a victim of Demise just as much as Four (and them both being guppies certainly helped the decision). Now, Shadow and Four live together with the rest of the guppies. But no one except them know the specifics of how Four’s magic keeps Shadow alive …

Warriors: one of the saddest backstories, imo. He originally came from one of the largest tribes in the ocean. They knew they were a target for the Demise Tribe’s takeover and had a strong, organized military (which Warriors joined in late adolescence, as soon as he could—a little sooner than was legal, but he’s always had unusually hard and metallic scales, so he could pass as an adult back then).

But when the chief saw the Demise Tribe starting to form up for an attack, he disbanded the military and decided to surrender the tribe, hoping Demise would have mercy. No one’s sure if the chief was bribed to do this or if he was just a coward. That decision didn’t sit right with Warriors or the chief’s daughter, Artemis. Together, the pair started a revolution to find anyone willing to fight and save their home. But it wasn’t enough.

Warriors still doesn’t know if the Demise Tribe wiped everyone out because he resisted, or if they would have done it anyway. All he knows is that the one leading the attack, Cia, looked unnervingly like an ally of his, Lana. Cia had an obsession with Warriors, which he didn’t understand because she’d never seen him before the attack, right? But she acted like she knew him. He prefers not to think too much about it. 

He killed Cia after weeks of battling, and Lana died at the same time (a hidden injury? Poison? Something he didn’t see happening across the battlefield? He doesn’t think he’ll ever know, she was far away and he never made it back to her). He collapsed from his injuries, and when he woke up, he was the only one alive on the battlefield. And inside his tribe. Demise poison crept into his home, and he was forced to flee before he could give his friends a proper burial. He never saw Artemis in the destruction. A part of him still holds out hope she escaped, but he knows the chances are slim. He knows even Impa didn’t escape, after all.

The Chain Tribe found him wandering and delirious a few days later. He was thrilled to find out that Artemis had wound up in the same situation as him, just that the Wisdom Tribe found her instead of the Chain. But he avoids Artie whenever the Chain and Wisdom get together. He feels like he failed her, and he couldn’t even get her to safety. Artemis feels the same way about him. They didn’t survive without several helpings of stubbornness, though, so their new families hold out hope that the two will come together again …

[sprite-and-the-bunnydragons]

quick question about the multiple fins.

is it that there's extra fins on the tail like

or just multiple fins at the tip at the tail?

or something else?

(also I've never drawn mers before this is so much fun hahaha)

multiple at the tip! But I could easily see some other 4-fin mer as having it the other way, they both look super cool

glad you’re enjoying it! This is so awesome to see, thanks!!!