Sea Beast art contest !! ‼️‼️ CONTEST CLOSED, HOPE YOU ALL HAD FUN !! ‼️‼️

so I’m writing a fic (Darker Waters on ao3 for those wondering) and I’ve attempted at fixing plot holes for the film which I’ll add and weave into the story later. Here are my rough notes:

Fixing plot holes for fic 

Sea beasts are killed and eaten but it’s often smaller ones. Also their horns are very valuable and sold overseas and used in the kingdom to make beautiful jewellery and furniture legs, etc. 

Certain species of sea beast are eaten as delicacies overseas but given those ones in particular are native to the (England) region the film is set that’s another major trading opportunity. For other species, namely gentler ones, it’s more like poaching than defending by hunting them. 

The royals pay the hunters to kill sea beasts for that reason but also to open up trading routes overseas. Every hunting ship is funded for by the royal family (basically they have a licence to kill) and are under their control, and ones that go rogue or aren’t registered are decommissioned/arrested. 

So the Inevitable is licensed by the kingdom to hunt, repairs itself when out at sea, but any repairs are paid for by the kingdom when they return to land at certain locations (Three Bridges included). So they are employed, but the bounty they receive is split between each member and covers food/extra equipment/whatever. Usually a bit left over for personal use. 

The new wave of hunting ships that come directly from the kingdom (Imperator) is a situation where they’re trying to ensure they do all the killing themselves so they don’t have to pay large bounties for horns but instead pay cheaper wages and the horns are part of the job, so they can continue to farm them effectively. Also to further push the rhetoric they’re the protectors/saviours and to dampen attempts of uprising. Hunters were also largely lower to middle class, and having a new wave of upper class hunting ships acts to serve as social cleansing and keeping systems of tighter social power/hierarchy. 

Sea beasts do attack humans, many do. Larger ones attack ships mistaking them for food or rivals or for simply being in their territory, and smaller ones eat humans as a source of food. Larger ones do too, but it’s more because humans are just there not that they’d actively seek them out. 

Historically Black Death’s (my fictional species in my fanfic) were often kept in zoos or as pets by the wealthy in the past, but they were so few and far between there’s little records on their existence in the wild given how elusive they are normally, even more so after being hunted to near extinction. They’re basically the aquatic version of keeping a peacock or zebra or lion or monkey. 

The royals have a very well run kingdom, however they do oversee the education and information of the people so they do alter it in their favour and fabricate lies to push further hate towards sea beasts so they can continue trade and farming of rare materials. And so they can keep hunters in their power and in their favour. Selective history, public monuments/statues, and folklore play into this. 

Horns themselves are seen as symbols of status and also look aesthetically pleasing as well as often being made from rare materials (ie. Ivory/other chemicals or whatever narwhal horns are made from). Also certain species horns are believed to have magical or healing properties so items made from them or simply owning the horn itself is like a major thing. Also probably have different meanings in foreign countries. 

Overseas demand funds wars, creates black markets, and is one of the strongest sources of income for a country lacking in its own resources already. No spices, no overly extravagant and expensive animals,  and a relatively cold climate which hinders farming exotic foods. I mean it’s clear the film isn’t geographically sound given there’s a tropical island (probably undiscovered) that Red takes them too so it’s not too much of a stretch to suggest that where this fictitious England is has moved down a tad to be closer to where Spain might be or Madeira. 

Sea beasts aren’t farmed either given it weakens that pushed idea of danger and keeping the seas under their control. If they become domesticated and soft, it means that they could realistically gain more money but then loose the power and status they worked so hard for. Also that sea beasts are generally hard to farm given they require massive enclosures and it would be too expensive to fund at an industrial scale. 

I know this is random and is something that’s been plaguing me for ages… but is the Red Bluster a whale? I don’t know if it’s meant to be biologically accurate in the Sea Beast film with their monster designs, but her tail suggests she’s a mammal. And along with her body shape too somewhat. Although she could also just be an entirely separate classification defined by various other unseen species of sea beast too.

I gave my sea beast OC species, Shae, a shark tail because I thought it would be plausible given the somewhat absurd biology of the beasts in the film. Realistically, given she’s a reptile, she’d have a tail like a Marine Iguana, what she’s descended from. I’m just using the fact that she’s part of the films universe to justify somewhat odd biology. Also her fins, too, wouldn’t be accurate.