digital piece in cel shading style with eight panels featuring Lx and IN. Lx, still terrified from his nightmare, spins around, grabs the flintlock pistol on his side table and aims it at IN. IN doesn't react except to say and show that he'd already disabled the pistol, so Lx's threat is useless. Lx asks why he is there. IN immediately asks what they have on the ship

TIES pg60!!

bum Bum BUM!!!

Looks like Lx is more scared than we thought😅and Jngn with that master-level intimidation🤭

Get ready for some MAJOR info drops in the next *looks at layouts* seven pages

#TIESau #shkywatersART

digital piece in cel shading style with six panels featuring Lx and IN. Lx jumps from sleep from his intense nightmare, panicking and grabbing his head before IN's voice shocks him out of it. Lx's eyes rush to the corner of his bedroom at the inn to see IN sitting there next to a candle

TIES pg59!!!

That nightmare was intense to say the least😅

But what could've made it happen? Could MerBn really be capable of that after all this time? And why the hell is Jngn here?!

Luckily answers are coming👀

#TIESau #shkywatersART

digital piece in cel shading style with six panels featuring Lx and MerBn. Lx is sinking into an endless ocean when MerBn appears over him and gently puts his hands on the side of his face

digital piece in cel shading style with eight panels featuring Lx and MerBn. Lx opens his eyes, sees MerBn above him in the water, and gently moves a hand to touch one of MerBn's on his face. MerBn's claws then suddenly dig into the sides of Lx's head. Lx screams underwater before MerBn gives and deadly glare and rushes him, fangs bared

TIES pg57 and 58!!

I AM SO EXCITED TO FINALLY GET TO THE NIGHTMARE SCENE Y'ALL HAVE NO IDEA!!!!!

Anyways🤭We did switch from meeting Jngn to here pretty quick (there are reasons), but mainly its just bypassing unnecessary filler. Soooooo much plot incoming!!

#TIESau #shkywatersART

digital piece in cel shading style with seven panels featuring Lx, Sung, Chris, and IN. IN surprises the group and introduces himself enthusiastically to Lx and Sung. Both are on edge and when IN and Chris walk away, Sung signs to Lx that IN is a mer just as IN glances back to them over his shoulder with a smirk

TIES pg56!!

Enter Immie!! And ooooooooooooo new mer in the building🧜‍♂️👀things are definitely gonna get interesting soon!!

#TIESau #shkywatersART

digital piece in cel shading style with six panels featuring Lx, Sung, Chris, and a few background characters. Sung pulls Lx excitedly to a market booth full of shells. Lx says they should be looking for the inn so they can find Marquet's nephew when Chris shows up and introduces himself as the person they're looking for

digital piece in cel shading style with five panels featuring Lx, Sung, Chris, and many background characters. Chris leads them to the inn, asking pleasant questions, while Lx and Sung whisper to each other about being careful and not say too much

TIES pg54 and 55!!

Enter Christopher!!! Soooooooo excited to get more of them in here and I gotta say I loved designing him😏

And wooooooo Chrs you sweet summer child. The wakeup call he's about to get😬😅

Another new character coming next!!!

#TIESau #shkywatersART

digital piece in cel shaded style with seven panels featuring Lx and Sung. Lx jumps off the rowboat into the water at the beach, then Sung comes up behind him excitedly, asks how it feels, then they look toward the town

TIES pg53!!

And here's the first page in the new style!

As with anything, time and practice will help me refine things, but so far I LOVE how things are turning out! The final goal is to have every panel look like a screenshot of an animation💙

#TIESau #shkywatersART

digital art with six panels featuring Lx, Sung, and Mnho. Mnho is comforting Lx and ensuring everything will be alright, then Lx and Sung climb off the ship and start riding the small boat towards land

TIES pg52!

And with this page, this arc is done!

Next page onward will be in the new style and start us off on land! Super excited with how the new style is working out💙

#TIESau #shkywatersART

digital comic page featuring five panels. first - lix, sung, and min talking about sireans traveling. second - lix, sung, and min continue talking about if merbin could've made it to lix's home before their interrupted by the first mate. third - lix is yelling at marquet while sung holds him back. fourth - marquet looks over his shoulder telling lix and sung they will be going to shore to meet his nephew. fifth - lix yells at marquet more, marquet lowers his head and says those are his orders

digital comic page with six panels. first - lix begging marquet that he can't leave. second - lix, now furious, yelling that every time he leave bad things happen to merbin, min interrupts saying marquet is right. third - min and sung try to tell lix that it will be best for him if he leaves for a few days. fourth - sung keeps trying to convince lix. fifth - sung continues to plead with lix, saying it's just two days and merbin will be fine. sixth - min says he'll ensure nothing happens to merbin while they are away and to trust him

TIES pg50 & 51!

After a short, but needed, respite on deck, the mood shifts when Lx finds out he's being forced to leave the ship

He can't leave! And no one seemed to be on his side either!
*style change coming in two pages!!!

#TIESau #shkywatersART

Character sheet of Merbin’s full body (mermaid design reference sheet). Left side, hands, right side, relaxed tail, front, top and bottom of hip fins, back

Comparison between original Merbin design on left and updated design on right. Original with soft shades and highlights. New with cell shading

Merbn’s redesign!!

Soooooooo happy I did this! Got to simplify things, streamline his body shape, and just overall make my brain happy with the refs😭🩵🩷

You can really see the differences in that comparison pic. Woooo buddy😂

really makes me want to animate him more now😭

#shkywatersART #TIESau

My most recent MerBin piece🩵🩷🌙

I had a ton of fun on this even if that splash nearly drove me insane😅

#shkywatersART #TIESau

TIES pg48 & 49!!

The Winged Lady sails into port, her sheer size impossible to ignore

All is going smoothly, but ominous undertones lie under the bright morning sun☀️
#tiesAU #shkywatersART

*also…surprise cameo!!!!💙

I made a cute…💓💓💓💓

#TIESau #shkywatersART #seadwaekki

TIES pg46 & 47!

Lx's enthusiasm when he saw they were nearing land surprised him. He shouldn't be this excited, especially after what Mnho said could be waiting for them there

Luckily, Bn's encouraging smile brought this excitement back, at least until Lx was out of sight
#tiesAU #shkywatersART

Sirean (sai-ree-uhn) anatomy diagrams “Sireanus trahothanas”
- Basic muscles/flexibility
- Basic skeletal
- Internal organs, reproduction, aquatic and terrestrial form differences

Loooooots of info smashed onto these pages, so I hope it makes sense
#tiesAU #creaturedesign #mermaids

TIES pg43-45!

They reached the hold just as Hn hit the floor, soaked from a huge splash sent by Bn over the top of the tank

Lx couldn’t keep up after that. 1st he was scared, then surprised, then worried, then angry, then…

Then those eyes found him and it all faded away
#tiesAU #shkywatersART

TIES pg41 & 42!

Lx wasn't expecting to have new clothes thrown at him the second he opened the door, but he definitely wasn't expecting to learn just how rare Bn truly was and just how much danger they were sailing into

And then there was Mnho's reaction when he voiced his fears
#TIESau

TIES pg40!

Lx was so excited that he initially didn't register the surprise & uneasiness coming from Hn when he came down into the hold, nor the angry annoyance from Bn when he was told he'd have to leave them alone

Why was there still so much animosity between them?
#TIESau

TIES pg39!

Lx's awed stare only broke when Bn's clawed hand came up to his lip, pointing the the place where Gunin had struck Lx

Lx tried telling him to not worry and that it meant nothing, but what surprised him more was how Bn responded
#tiesAU #shkywatersART

TIES pg37&38

Of all things Lx thought he’d wake up to, looking up and seeing Bn’s face mere cm away from the glass staring right at him was not one of them

What followed was annoyance, joy, caution, fear, then just sheer awe

#TIESau #shkywatersART

TIES pg36!

Mnho's words were those Lx didn't want to hear, but they were what he needed. Even if he was willing to risk his life trying to free Bn, he wasn't willing to risk those of his friends

He would have to keep his distance. No matter how much his heart didn't want to
#TIESau #shkywatersART

TIES pg35!

Flx's feet drove him forward. His mess of emotions were fighting within his mind and there was only one place he thought would bring out a victor

Unfortunately, the emotion that won made him feel like his heart had turned to lead
#TIESau #shkywatersART

Here's the link to the fic
🩵The Most Beautiful Thing I Ever Saw (TIES) #TIESau

🩵. chnglx (side mnsng)
🩷. in progress
🩵. 32.6k words
🩷. rated E
🩵. mermaids, enemies to lovers, graphic violence, torture, body horror, slow burn, gets way worse before it gets better

archiveofourown.org/works/45449740

TIES pg33 & 34!

Flx didn't, couldn't, believe what he was hearing, but Marquet was laying everything out so perfectly that it was like he'd been down in the hold with him and Bn the whole time

But it was warnings of the future that scared and confused him the most
#TIESau #shkywatersART

TIES pg32!!

Finding Mnho in Marquet's cabin was both worrisome and comforting. But any hope at having someone else there with him vanished when he was left alone

However, it was in the captain's last words that Flx's world got ripped out from under him in an instant
#TIESau #shkywatersART

TIES pg31

Flx saw through Jsng's try at hiding his fear easily, but the reason behind this fear had both anger and confusion rising quickly

Why was hearing Bn's call still so important? And why were Jsng's words suddenly making Flx question everything?
#TIESau #shkywatersART

Round 3 DONE!!!

Next four pages coming tomorrow (with pg 35 hopefully coming not too far after)

So happy that TIES is getting love here. Y'alls support and love for it really means the world🥲
#TIESau

TIES pg30

The hold was quiet until Marquet called for Gunin and the others to clear out, the finner clearly unhappy for being the target of his wrath

Flx's attention was on something else though, for the arms that held him through Bn's change were far from steady

Why?
#TIESau #shkywatersART

cw// gore , body horror
TIES pg28 & 29

The transformation was bloodily brutal. Yet the look of peace coming from Bn when he finally took a breath in his true body was enough to calm Flx’s terrified heart, if only for a moment

#TIESau #shkywatersART
*still the most proud I am of any pages so far😭

cw// blood , body horror , nails
TIES pg27

Fangs extended and sharpened through jaws, scales began to puncture through skin like tiny needles, and when claws forced through fingertips, Flx felt his body retreat in horror

Luckily Jsng was there
#TIESau #shkywatersART
lots of body horror/gore coming

tw// drowning
TIES pg26

Flx's fury rose with every word coming out of Cpt Marquet's mouth

How could they do this? Lock Bn underwater to drown knowing it could kiII him?! Did they really think sireans were so monstrous that they could...

BAM!!!
#TIESau #shkywatersART
And here we goooo!!!