Premise • Environment & Character Update

 

Some aspects were deemed not cute enough, so the red was the not quite cute enough parts.

I kinda like the bottom side view of the head it appears kind of cat-like to me.

Without looking into it I was messing about in photoshop to see if I could get a drawing of a possible underwater environment.

I consider early concept art for now.

Then looking into visual research, there are a lot to focus on.

                

https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-how-was-the-ocean-formed-where-did-all-the-water-come-from-98382

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ocean-species.html

https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/348747564865336118/ (The link on Pinterest to its origin was broken)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anemone_and_seastar_in_kelp_forest.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Callyspongia_sp._(Tube_sponge).jpg

https://www.studyabroad101.com/programs/the-school-for-field-studies-sfs-turks-and-caicos-islands-marine-resource-studies?page=3

https://www.treehugger.com/largest-living-creatures-sea-4859211
https://www.lemonicks.com/asia/thailand/the-underwater-world/

https://theconversation.com/how-many-undiscovered-creatures-are-there-in-the-ocean-86705

https://www.redbookmag.com/life/g32765185/weirdest-things-in-the-ocean/ (all three of the Above)

https://viralnova.com/ocean-facts/ (the first two)
https://grist.org/ask-umbra/can-we-just-drown-our-carbon-emissions-in-the-ocean/

A lot of Jellyfish came up

https://newatlas.com/ocean-floor-starvation/48100/

https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2019/07/30/Jellyfish-A-new-sustainable-nutritious-and-oyster-like-food-for-the-Western-world

https://rockymountainhospitalforchildren.com/blog/entry/what-happens-when-a-jellyfish-stings-you-

https://grist.org/living/forget-zombies-we-should-be-fighting-jellyfish/
https://abcnews.go.com/International/monsters-deep-jellyfish-threaten-worlds-seas/story?id=19647213

https://www.science101.com/scary-ocean-photos/

I'm thinking with the jellyfish, to make them merge with the plants much like a leafy sea dragon.
With the earlier image the fluffy blob on the upper left would be a jellyfish.
I know jellyfish are from earths oceans but they do look pretty alien, it could be a little joke that they are not brainless, but an intelligent hivemind.
But we're not focusing on the Jellyfish, they could just be an ambient creature.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leafy_seadragon#/media/File:Leafy_Seadragon_on_Kangaroo_Island.jpg

A black Dragonfish or Ribbon sawtail, the searches were mixed of the two, but searching Idiacanthus the genus of the species gave good results, might be a good inspiration for the Multi-mouths, the way the body moves.

I'll need to explore it in more depth.

https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/455527/view/scaleless-black-dragonfish
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/4-deep-sea-dragonfish-dant-fenolio.html

https://www.naturepl.com/stock-photo-idiacanthus-antrostomus-nature-image00135232.html

An Angler fish is also a good idea for the teeth and how its eyes could be, deep-sea creatures seem to be a good choice for something creepy, a predator to the cute hero.

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/angler-fish-large-mouth-teeth-parasitic-1039006918?src=GDaGWcpaK5p9cJOKgEPIJw-1-7

https://www.sportfishingmag.com/25-deep-sea-creatures-that-will-creep-you-out/