#but Poll's very confused because ... Heathcliff looks human

[throughpatchesofviolet]

OMG a new OC for your Mer AU? I would like to hear more ✨️w✨️ (if you get the time/energy to talk about it)

@thedragonlover Yeah, a new OC for the Mermaid AU!! I'd be happy to talk more about him, actually! Putting it under a "read more" because I typed a lot--

I've been thinking of my Mermaid AU on and off since last May because I am super invested in it--I mean, I drew Heathcliff's Mer form and poured hours into his scales, so of course I'm invested--and one of the things that was holding me back from actually writing more was the lack of characters I had to work with. Ishmael is obviously the first mate of the Evangeline (the logic there being that she's grown since the Pequod was destroyed by the White Whale, but didn't lose her way like in canon Limbus), Sherry's a passenger, and Heathcliff is our Mer, but three characters does not make a crew! This ship's going to flounder if we don't get her some proper sailors.

So, to remedy this, I spent the last couple months looking into other classic novels that involve seafaring. I actually found three that were in my parents' collection: Gulliver's Travels, Treasure Island, and Robinson Crusoe. My OC is inspired by the last one!!

I have yet to draw him properly, so I hope this L. Corp Picrew icon suffices ... the left (or top) is when he was younger, and the right (or bottom) is how he'd appear in the AU (at least, with what the Picrew can do--I want to sketch him out, eventually)!

Anyway, allow me to officially introduce you to the Evangeline's second mate, Robinson Crusoe--or Crusoe, as he's usually called.

I read through his entire source novel, and while it certainly has some issues, I don't regret it (fun fact: I tried to read it as a preteen and couldn't get past page one, so this is a grand achievement for me).

For his lore, Crusoe takes a lot from his counterpart: from an early age, he wanted to sail, but his parents wanted him to become an attorney. However, he stole away one night to join a crew disembarking, and experienced a shipwreck pretty much immediately. He was saved by a passing vessel (as was the rest of the crew he joined), and for a time he debated returning home--but, because he was ashamed of going against his parents' wishes, he chose not to, and instead kept on sailing.

He learns a lot from a captain who takes him in, so he isn't a terrible sailor by any means, and he has a number of misadventures--most of which end up with him being captured by a Syndicate known as the Twinhook Pirates, and most others ending in shipwreck.

His last shipwreck of course lands him on the island he ends up surviving on for 28 years--in the book, anyway. He gets off it a bit earlier in my lore, but he's got scars and scruff and gray hairs (not in the Picrew options, sadly) that show he's been through it.

Even now, well over a decade later, Crusoe refuses to return home because he's afraid to face his family (this ties into the theme in Ishmael's Canto about how those who join ships that hunt Whales are all fleeing from something), so he keeps sailing--that's how he ends up on the Evangeline.

He has a dog and a parrot in the source, but I fused the two pets so Crusoe has a dog named Poll (pronounced Paul ... it was the name of the parrot) who has a taste for Mermaids ... I like imagining the awkward dynamic the animal has with Heathcliff.

Anyway!! Crusoe got a lot of experience fending off Mermaids while on his island, so he is certainly in favor of killing them on sight (Heathcliff is just walking--or, perhaps, swimming--right into a place where everyone wants him dead, huh--).

Also, because of (almost) every ship he's sailed on meeting misfortune, it's become a running gag to blame any problem a crew encounters on Crusoe. He takes it well enough, though.

And that's pretty much it? The only other thing is I imagine Crusoe is the one who leads most of the shanties! He and Ishmael have an interesting dynamic, as well, but that's for another day--

Crusoe is one of those OCs who, once I had a name for him, he just manifested in my brain and began filling the role he felt fit for. Very fun character, and I have a soft spot for him since he's existed in my brain for a while, but he didn't have lore or a name until I read Robinson Crusoe.

#goodness me I have a lot about him-- #he's been on my mind for two months so I guess it makes sense #I'm planning to read Gulliver's Travels and hopefully get another OC out of that though!! #also I want to skim Moby Dick again and maybe steal a captain from there ... #I want a decent sized cast so!! #anyway--Crusoe is very dear to me #he's very mistrusting of Heathcliff from the start and his dog can just *smell* the Mer on him #but Poll's very confused because ... Heathcliff looks human #OH YEAH #one more thing-- #Poll is a Schnauzer #because I say so /lh #the Book of Dragon 🐉 #oc: [Crusoe tag] #AU: Taste the Salt Upon My Breath 🌊 #don't forget to write #scattered pages