Mutton is Great for Mermaid Bait

Mermaids are known and feared as fast, powerful predators. Akin to Nagas and Lamias, they swallow prey whole and alive. But, despite their tremendous predatory prowess, did you know that mermaids can also be preyed upon?

Their meat is divine in its full, rich, savoury taste. Try some mermaid sushi and you'll know!

It takes skill, and a certain misguided bravery to hunt them. Most of a mermaid's strength is in her tail, and because of its shape, they're notoriously difficult to restrain. Difficult, but not impossible.

Elle is a perky bunny-girl, who's masterful in the art of ropework, and brave enough to embark on such a perilous fishing trip.
Granted, her skill-set is more suited for willing prey, but the basic principles remain the same.
Knowing how to bind your catch is only part of it, so how do you actually catch your very own mermaid...?

It's almost like trying to catch regular fish, right? Dangling some hapless, helpless prey on the end of a fishing line, and tipping them overboard makes sense.
Once they sink down deep enough, all that's left is to wait for a mermaid to take a little taste.

Turns out... mermaids love mutton o///o

I mean, that's certainly what it seems like! Elle's sheepy submissive wasn't underwater long, before a small group of mermaids excitedly descended on her! Was it because Elle is using a Sheep-girl, or did she just happen upon an especially hungry pack of mermaids? She couldn't be sure.

Either way, her wriggling bait is being greedily swallowed by one of them. She can reel at least this single mermaid in, but what is Elle gonna do about the others? How can it be safe to try and subdue a mermaid, while all her friends are still winding and gliding around?

Suddenly, Elle feels a lot like prey herself. She's a bunny-girl, after all. What if they make a meal out of her instead...?

...maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

✿ ✿ ✿ ♥ ✿ ✿ ✿

This was a livestreamed drawing based on my very first Patreon Poll! \o3o/ I'm super happy with the way this pic came together. If you like, you can view the results of the voting here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-poll-2-15309933

The poll helped me make an informed decision on which elements to include in the pic. Initially I didn't plan to livestream it, but I'm also really happy I decided to! The audience's feedback helped a lot, to refine my original idea :3

In terms of artistic approach, I decided on a lineart-only style again, and it ended up working better than I expected ^o^ The only special effect is that slight shading for the water's lower depths and surface.

Let me know what you think! Does Elle have any chance of actually catching this mermaid? Or, does she even have a chance of getting away from the rest of them?
Muehehe, whatever's in store for Elle, her (un)fortunate sheep-girl's done for~ <3

An additional version of this image can be viewed for free on my Pixiv page below. It shows off the mermaid's bulges without the internal view of the sheep-girl:
https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=66154162

Now I'm really in the mood for sushi =3c

Certain characters appear in this drawing! Their owners are as follows:

Elle (Bunny-Girl in the boat) © ElleAdeline
Azul (Mermaid-Maid in the lower left) © Chaotiquos
Anita (sheep-Girl being eaten~) © Flame6742 a.k.a SeraphimKitsune

Artwork © Maximignon! :D