#MerGay

[brunneraleo]

[oc] every year i draw Cara and Azriel for Mermay, so here's this year's iteration.

this makes 5 years of Mermay. I've been doing this since I was like 16 which is kinda crazy. Previous iterations below the cut.

Cara is a Carribean Reef Octopus, Azriel is a Shortfin Mako Shark.

Mermay (Mergay..?) 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021!

[bloodmoonlich]

I'm free

Unknown Quote

Collen by Joanna Newsom / Lauren Michelle in Ten-Cent Daisy: A Lost Mermaid Tale (2021) / Alex Consari photographed for W Magazine China (2024) / Ju Jingyi for L'Officiel China (2025)

Eline Powell in Siren (2018-2020) / Quote by April Mae Monterrosa

What the Water Gave Me by Florence + the Machine / Margaret Laurena Kemp in Ten-Cent Daisy: A Lost Mermaid Tale (2021)

Lady Gaga in You and I

Under the Water by AURORA / What the Water Gave Me by Florence + the Machine / Florence Welch promotional video for Mermaids

Water Witch by The Secret Sisters / Kristen McMenamy photographed by Tim Walker for W Magazine (2013)

Atlantis by Bridgit Mendler

Illustration by H.J. Ford

Mermaids by Florence + the Machine / Mika Lesha in Casual by Chappell Roan

The Odyssey by Homer / John Yuyi photographed by Zhong Lin for Vogue Singapore (2023)

Wild Sea by Phildel / Americae Sive Quartae Orbis Partis Nova Et Exactissima Descriptio by Hieronymus Cock & Diego Gutiérrez (1562)

Hylas and the Nymphs by John William Waterhouse (1896)

Water Witch by The Secret Sisters

Mermaids by Florence + the Machine / Michalina Olszańska in The Lure (2015)

Ocean Eyes by Billie Eilish / Sara Paxton in Aquamarine (2006)

Siren by Kailee Morgue

Mermaids by Florence + the Machine Gemma Ward in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Ju Jingyi for L'Officiel China (2025) / Over Dark Water by Mount Eerie

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) / H2O: Just Add Water (2006-2010)

Underwater by HANA

Undine by Laura Marling / Unknown actress in The Mermaid (1904)

Dita Von Teese / Illustration by Gordon Ross in Puck (1911)

Venus in the Sea by Ha Vay

Collen by Joanna Newsom / Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid (2023)

Aquamarine by Addison Rae / Chappell Roan and Mika Lesha in Casual by Chappell Roan

[jackkatzz]

Hey look at that, a mermay post from me!

This is totally a hug. Don't worry about it.

My fish boy Serpent, and the navy boy Eon, who belongs to @solunest

Our two very gay, kinda angsty, sea boys having a splendid treat of a time just off the coast.

So a happy Mermay (merlay? mergay?) to you all ^^

Catch the uncensored version on my personal smut Bluesky page @/suspiciousjacket

[spurionage]

some gay fish for poolverine nation (mermay!)

[cristal-lights]

Mermay 🧜‍♀️ in June

[elidee-art]

New May, new mermay piece

Having pirate ocs really gives me a lot of space to play in

[buninabottle]

"And what have you decided?" he asked softly, lips grazing a warm ear as Vash pulled back. The blond straightened his shoulders, meeting his eye. Roderich swore he saw flecks of real gold in shimmering emeralds.

"That I want." Vash glanced around briefly, fins flicking, before looking back. "I just want."

[cleverhumancostume]

Ngl, the candy stripe, pink haired, bakery boi is doing it for me.

[kn96artworks]

i'm bored so have a random list of things i picks up from chn orb fics i read

- they all seem to hc that both gai and jug are immortals

- they're technically both married AND divorced

- juggler is kinky and sadistic (this is canon tbh)

- gai is secretly kinky all thanks to being exposed to juggler

- orb/ring of light is technically a deity

- gai is simultaneously aware and oblivious to things

- also gai has a functioning uterus by ultra magic and juggler knows

- they're both idiots™

- haruki has a crush on gai (yeah)

- they all have a thing for his tids

[tremendoussheepsoup]

Illustrations from a uni project from last year, tried experimenting a bit

[brunneraleo]

mergay 2024

a very last minute mermay illustration that i made. i redraw this image every year as a lil tradition. i hope you enjoy this years version!

characters are: Azriel (any pronouns, shark mermaid) Cara (she/her, pink mermaid)

(they're not usually mermaids, this is more of an AU)

[ionomycin]

mermay mergay

[vkelleyart]

That is AMAZING, @willowbird! 🥹 Thank you so much for purchasing my book and supporting your local indie bookshop! I hope you enjoy reading it!

Happy release day (and belated birthday) to my dear friend @vkelleyart!

I was so happy to be able to get an early release of this book at Awesome Con a few weeks ago. I haven’t had a chance to dive in yet (wordplay intended), but I still wanted to take a moment to share this absolutely gorgeous book on my feed. I mean, just look at all of these wonderful details. This is definitely one of the most unique books on my shelves (and I have a crap load of books, y’all).

Venessa, I am so proud of you. I know how much work you put into the creation of this book. You deserve every bit of success I’m sure will come from these beautiful characters.

[indimiart]

more mergay🩵 this time with betta Astarion and guppy Nievan :>

[schmooplesboop]

OH!? Mergays? MLM?? Mermen loving mermen???

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

[loremaster]

happy belated mermay! i drew that final pic after i went with my family to the new england aquarium recently, and picked out something they had there for each of the nocturnal detectives - plus kurumi! more description (spoilers) under the cut:

kurumi - piranha! it fits her color scheme, and her little freckles… and well, you know *bites you*

yuma - emperor tetra. actually i lied this one wasn’t at the aquarium i had to look it up

yakou - anemone man. ouughhh so sillyyyy

desuhiko - tried to ID the guy I took a picture of and it looked closest to the crosshatch butterflyfish. could be wrong though.

halara, fubuki - i could not find the labels for either of these fish unfortunately

vivia - electric eel (yeah he’s there, look again)

———-

the mermaids were kinda based off these species, except fubuki changed to a betta fish. bred for glamour, not for function. she is out there living her best life tho!!! nothin gets this mermaid princess down!!!!

obviously squid shinigami (squidigami) is based off ursula. but also i liked her having squid tentacle hair. woomy!

i imagine it would actually be kind of a reverse ursula situation though (reversula?). poor unfortunate amnesiac yuma would go up to sea witch shinigami asking her for his memories back, but she reveals she was the one who took his memories in the first place, and they’ve actually already made a deal. which she’s not going back on, sorrynotsorry lol!!! of course he’s actually not a mermaid at all but a human under a spell to go investigate…. something underwater. idk. maybe the mystery labyrinths are still a thing in this universe?

vivia, i’m sorry to say, would be a hundred times more miserable than we ever see him in canon, because guess what. no books. he’d still have some sort of coping mechanisms like watching other fish, watching stuff above the surface of the water, wanting nothing more to join them and fly someday. (the dragonflies, of course, are a reference to the famous water bugs and dragonflies story.) he’d still find something to get distracted by… although if he had his forte he probably would ghost up to the surface and read whatever the humans are reading up above. i guess this would make him the real ariel of the story.

kurumi of course is still based on a piranha, because it’s cute. of course these fish shouldn’t all live together but whatever. it’s mermaids. she probably is still some kind of informant, and probably hangs out near yakou’s place a bunch.

i could see yakou running some sort of shop. or if he’s still into detective work, he’d probably need kurumi as an assistant since he’s uh. not much of a swimmer. (he claims he can too swim, but it’s really silly looking. google swimming anemone. you’ll thank me.) he considers those little teeny fish to be pests (or at least claims they are. they’re probably helping him hide some sort of secret in there.)

desuhiko is a wandering trader with a keen sense of fashion. he’s great at repurposing sunken sails into mer-clothing, not so great at making sales. also the fact that his hair is gelled is way more obvious when everything is underwater. he’s basically got a helmet.

halara of course puts up an intimidating front, but has a secret soft spot for cute sea creatures. i asked my irl friend what she’d consider ‘the cat of the sea’ and she said pufferfish. i do think they are very cute and make a lot of sense as an allergen. but i don’t think halara’s taste is limited to pufferfish only, no no no. they like anything cute.

fubuki has got to have been kept captive before the story - by humans? or other mermaids? but either way, now she’s free and having a blast exploring the deep blue ocean. she really wants to know what kind of exciting creatures live in the deep!!!

and that’s it. hopefully all this description makes up for being 2 days late to mermay LMAO. i guess now it’s merGAY