inukagome15:

All right but PICTURE THIS.

Small seaside town? Everyone knows everyone? Maybe a lighthouse? Craggy rocks? Waves crashing against the shore? Misty mornings? Cold winds?

And our intrepid hero comes into this town, looking for something that they’re missing but they don’t know what. They fall in love with the town, with the people, and everything about the sea and decide to stay. But there’s an especially intriguing person that keeps hanging around the lighthouse and they want to get to know them!

Only asking questions doesn’t get them anywhere. Answers are vague and evasive, and people seem to know something about that attractive person.

The hero gets to know this person, slowly and gradually, but they also seem to realize that something’s not quite normal with them. The other person seems to like them, too, but they’re still rather secretive and stare off into the sea longingly at strange points. Like a raging storm.

But as things go they grow closer and like each other more and more! And fall in love!

And that’s when folks in town start warning our hero that hey, maybe you want to be careful? Things might go wrong! You never know with people like them.

Our hero already has some of the hints from having spent so much time with this lovely, mysterious person. They’ve seen a gorgeous coat in their house. They’ve seen this person disappear at the ocean and then reappear with no explanation. Even during storms!

The library has some good books to look at, and they all warn readers to beware of selkies. That romance is doomed and you should hide their coats if you want them to stay because they’re flighty and will leave forever after a certain point. Because the sea will always call them home.

Even the town folk warn our hero about selkies once they realize it’s not quite a secret anymore. That maybe they should keep an eye out for any pretty coats and make sure they’re safely locked away?

Our hero doesn’t like that kind of talk. They go to their love and they’re intending on talking to them, but the selkie gets there first.

I love you and trust you, the selkie tells our hero. I have something to tell you. What do you know of selkies?

The selkie listens to everything our hero has to say and corrects any

misassumptions

made. And then the selkie tells our hero what it means for a human and selkie to be in love. That the selkie will have to return to the sea at some points, but the selkie will return after a certain point. And the coat is important; the coat is the selkie. That any children (depending on whether our couple is male/female or same-sex) will likely also be part selkies and also have to return to the sea.

Our hero understands, and they still want to be in a relationship with this beautiful, amazing being that fell in love with them as well. That wants to stay on land for as long as possible to build a relationship with them.

The first time the selkie leaves for an extended time, the town folks tell our hero that they should’ve locked the coat away. That the selkie won’t return. That our hero should move on.

But they wait. They wait and trust that their love will return. They know practically everything a human can know about a selkie. How can they not have confidence?

And the selkie returns and they resume their lives. Even decades later, the two can still be seen walking the beach come rain or shine, hand-in-hand and always together.

All because a selkie and a human actually communicated what it meant to be in a relationship with a magical being.