Updated as of 8/4/22, here is the latest iteration of the Submas Selkie AU timeline! You can also find the fanfic series here, or check out the Submas Selkie AU tag!
What Is the Submas Selkie AU?
In this AU, Subway Bosses Ingo and Emmet have a secret. Well, several. Turns out they’re the last surviving Selkies, beings who can shift between human and Pokemon forms through use of their magical pelt. They’re legendaries that are roughly three-thousand years old. Oh, and not only are they skilled trainers, but they’re equally skilled with a sword and shield, or even in their own Pokemon forms.
This AU follows their various adventures, from their initial journey from home through the events of Pokemon Legends Arceus, their adventures during and after the Black and White series of games, and more. While this series can get fairly dark, it is overall a tale of hope and healing, and how the bonds we build can save us from trauma and repeating patterns.
Plus, train seals. Can’t go wrong with train seals.
For those of you curious about the Selkie Pokemon line, click here! And to read up on the timeline and all the fics written so far for the AU, click on the Read More below!
Original Shores
Three thousand years ago in Galar, the twins are born to a tribe of Selkie, beings who can shift between human and Pokemon form with the help of their mythical pelts. Raised by a storyteller father and a legendary warrior mother known as the Blizzard Hunter, the twins have a happy childhood of adventure. But when conflict arises due to the Darkest Day, the twins are forced to run as the other Selkies are slaughtered.
Forced to flee Galar with nothing but their pelts and their first partner Pokemon, the twins find themselves in ancient Kalos. They face ancient legendaries, an eccentric sage, and stranger mysteries still. But is this land one they can call home?
Thus begins their endless journey in search of a place where they can be safe...
(Read the main fic, “When Home Is Far Behind”, here! Though reading it is not required to enjoy the rest of the series.)
The Hisui Incident
A freak storm and a spatial rift separates the twins, transporting Ingo to Hisui and damaging his coat to the point of amnesia, while Emmet is trapped by an unknown civilization and kept as a living battery. Both unaware of the other’s condition, Emmet spends most of the time unconscious while Ingo joins the Pearl Clan as Lady Sneasler’s Warden.
Things change with the arrival of the Chosen of Arceus, an amnesiac trainer called Bedlam who slowly gains Ingo’s trust and discovers his secret. While the clans slowly come together to save Hisui, trouble rears its head once Galaxy Team discovers Ingo’s true form and tries to capture him...unaware that Emmet, recently escaped and with a freshly toppled nation at his back, will stop at nothing to rescue his twin. Can Bedlam and the clans save the day before any more blood is shed?
(Find out in the main fic, “(If You Hurry You Can) Still Catch The Tide” here! Can be read without having read the Origins fic above.)
Additional ficlet that might be incorporated into the main fic: Trembling Hands (heed angst and tw here)
Modern Days and Sprite’s Spite
A few years after the events of Black and White 2, and Unova is at relative peace...save for the rise of DittoDesigns, a company that promises tailor-made Pokemon bred to order, led by celebrity businessman Sprite and ex-Team Rocket scientist Professor Manchineel. The rise of Pokemon specifically bred for stats and IV/EVs (but without the love involved with raising a Pokemon) is wrecking havoc on the battle scene in Unova, and the rumors of cast-off “failures” in the wild isn’t helping either.
Ingo and Emmet try not to get overly involved in human affairs, but this hits close to home...and then closer still when Sprite reveals to them that he’s figured out their identities, and offers to “help” rebuild the Selkie race with his Dittos and cloning tech.
The twins refuse and attempt to take down DittoDesigns on their own, but during their attempt, Emmet is captured, his coat hidden away as Sprite shows off “the poor injured legendary” he promises to nurse back to health.
In order to save his brother, Ingo has to call in all his favors with the Unovan League members, the various friends and contacts he’s made throughout the years, a certain time traveler he’s waited for since Hisui, and the surprise assistance of N (who is trying to liberate the Pokemon trapped in DittoDesigns). And while they are all successful in bringing DittoDesigns to a halt and bringing Sprite to justice...two things go wrong.
One, Professor Manchineel escapes, and unbeknownst to everyone, she has a patch of Ingo’s fur to work with. She’d helped create Mewtwo, and her newest creation will be her magnum opus.
Two, Emmet is rescued, but too late. There is now also an egg, the first new Selkie in three thousand years. Everyone, but most of all Emmet, is terrified about what the future holds for this new Selkie.
Recovery is rocky while the Selkies and their friends track down the remnants of DittoDesigns and face the twins’ thousands of years of trauma. But at the end of it all, the egg hatches, and baby Emil is born into the world.
No multi-chapter fanfic for it yet, but we have the following fics that may be later re-incorporated into the multi-chapter fic: Filthy and Shimmer (take heed of angst and trigger warnings for these!)
A Fragile Peace
Emil grows up. Emmet and Ingo recover from their past with the help of their friends and their respective partners (Emmet falling for N after his help with the rescue, while Ingo and Bedlam pick up where their relationship in Hisui left off). Everything seems like it’s slowly but surely getting better.
Then Professor Manchineel rears her head again, and this time, she has her newest creation in tow: Leslie, a genetically modified Selkie child cloned from Ingo. The Selkie family races to stop Manchineel and rescue the child before the little one gets hurt by her own powers.
Also no multi-chapter fanfic yet, but here are some fics with a younger Emil: Hide and Seek, Nightfall, A Place For Us (It’s In My Arms) (these are light and fluffy fics!)
Homecoming
Emil is now old enough to receive a blessing from Calyrex, as the twins did at his age, and soon Leslie will be too. But the twins haven’t returned to Galar since they first left as children, and they’re still too haunted by their own past to return...
...Until the ghost of a Gigantimaxed Selkie in white begins wreaking havoc, and the twins realize that something has disturbed the spirit of their mother. Thus the family heads to Galar to put the legendary Blizzard Hunter to rest...before the second Darkest Day can drive the Selkies mad with power.
A New Generation’s Journey
Future-state fics of the Selkie children as they grow up, starting with Emil and Leslie as they tackle their own Pokemon journey in Kalos, facing the lands and legends their fathers encountered so many years ago. Not much set in stone here yet; we still have a lot of fics to write before we reach this point!
Assorted Selkie Info
Curious for more Selkie lore? Learn more about:
Who their Trusted Friends in each region are!
Who in Unova knows about the Selkies before the DittoDesigns incident?
Headcanons on the twins’ human forms
What can Selkies eat?
Facts about Selkie teeth!
How do the twins handle a baby Emil?
The twins and their opinions on romancing humans
A bit about their parents, The Blizzard Hunter and The Seaside Bard
Plus, a non-canonical but hilarious take on the twins fighting Reshiram and Ghetsis, then staging fights against fellow legendaries for charity.
you know what. I think I should be allowed to temporarily turn into a seal and go swimming around in the ocean for a while. just submit a little note to work that says "sorry, I need to take some sick time, I am becoming a seal" and leave for a week
On an unrelated note, steampunk Emmet is going to take a while. It was suppose to be a simple character design thing. But then lore happened. And then perspective happened. And a background happened. So.
Chapter 2: Nearing Drayden prepares for his journey back into the past. Clay wonders if he made a mistake.
Chapter 2: Nearing
Drayden prepares for his journey back into the past.
Clay wonders if he made a mistake.
Chapters: 2/3
Fandom: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Nobori | Ingo & Shaga | Drayden, Kudari | Emmet & Nobori | Ingo & Shaga | Drayden, Kudari | Emmet & Shaga | Drayden, Shaga | Drayden & Yakon | Clay
Characters: Shaga | Drayden, Yakon | Clay, Nobori | Ingo, Kudari | Emmet, Iris (Pokemon)
Additional Tags: Uncle Shaga | Drayden, Drayden is the twin’s uncle, Drayden is a very good uncle, Old man friendships, Family Reunions, Reunions, Light Angst, Wholesome outside of that first chapter, Drayden rescues his nephew, Mild alcohol use (they have a drink in the first chapter)
Series: Part 25 of Subway Master Brainrot
Summary:
Drayden looks down at the photograph, confused and concerned as he stares at it. Why would- oh Dragons. Almost immediately after spotting that face, his body decides that he’s having a metaphorical heart attack. He clutches at his chest, gasping, as he scans the photo again. It looks normal enough, at first. Just a picture of some old members of Clay’s clan, but there-
There, near the edge, wearing ragged but oh so recognisable workwear is…
“Ingo,” Drayden breathes, horror taking hold of his very being as he gazes at what should not be real, but undoubtedly is, “that’s Ingo.”
Alright! Sorry for being so absent today! I was building a tool so you can all check your own names on demand.
I am asking that you not talk about it on Hugging Face. I'm sure word will get there eventually, but I'd like to avoid them accessing this as much as possible. Feel absolutely free to spread around Tumblr.
AO3 search tool is here! Use page 1 to search scraped fics by username. Use page 2 to search by work ID (which you'll need to do if you're looking for an anonymous work).
Or you can use this version, which is strongly recommended if you've published more than about 20 fics on the username you're searching.
If you're unsure which to use:
The first link is better if your entire username is a common word. For example, if you're username is just "bread" then you probably can't search yourself in the second link. The first version is way slower, so I recommend trying the second link first and using the first link as a backup option if the second fails.
The first link contains a page to search by work ID. This is good if you have an anonymous or orphaned fic, since that's not going to appear by searching your username.
The second link is better if you have a LOT of fics. It will give you a count of fics so you don't have to add them up. It will show the top 2,000 work results found.
If you have more than 2,000 published works, first off, I am jealous of your motivation. But second, that won't display right on the public version of the tools. You can send an ask or DM to have me do a custom search for you if you have more than 2,000 total works under 1 username.
You can also ask or DM if your entire username is a common word, because you're likely to get drowned out of the search results in that case. Try the tool first, but if it returns a lot of author results for your search, and YOUR name isn't in the results, ask me! There's a decent chance you're in there, but one of the tool's weak points is searching extremely common words.
In case this post breaches containment: this is a tool that only has access to the work IDs, titles, author names, chapter counts, and hit counts of the scraped fics for this most recent scrape discovered in April 2025. There is no other work data in this tool. This never had the content of your works loaded to it, only info to help you check if your works were scraped. If you need additional metadata, I can search my offline copy for you if you share a work ID number and tell me what data you're looking for. I will never search the full work text for anyone, but I can check things like word counts and tags.
Please come yell if the tool stops working, and I'll fix as fast as I can. Version 1 is slow as hell, but it does load eventually. Give it up to 10 minutes, and if it seems down after that, please alert me via ask! Anons are on if you're shy. Version 2 typically loads results within 1 minute and handles most users well.
On mobile, enable screen rotation and turn your phone sideways. It's a litttttle easier to use like that. It works better if you can use desktop.
Some FAQs below the cut:
"What do I need to do now?": At this time, the main place where this dataset was shared is disabled. As far as I'm aware, you don't need to do anything, but I'll update if I hear otherwise. If you're worried about getting scraped again, locking your fics to users only is NOT a guarantee, but it's a little extra protection. There are methods that can protect you more, but those will come at a cost of hiding your works from more potential readers as well.
"I don't want to know!": This tool is 100% optional. If you don't want to know, simply don't click the link. You are totally welcome to block me if it makes you feel more comfortable.
"Can I see the exact content they scraped?": Nope, not through me. I don't have the time to vet every single person to make sure they are who they say they are, and I don't want to risk giving a scraped copy of your fic to anyone else. If you really want to see this, you can find the info out there still and look it up yourself, but I can't be the one to do it for you.
"Are locked fics safe?": Not safe, but so far, it appears that locked fics were scraped less often than public fics. The only fics I haven't seen scraped as of right now are fics in unrevealed collections, which even logged-in users can't view without permission from the owner.
"My work wasn't a fic. It was an image/video/podfic.": You're safe! All the scrape got was stuff like the tags you used and your title and author name. The work content itself is a blank gap.
"It's slow.": Unfortunately, a 13 million row data dashboard is always going to be on the slow side. I think I've done everything I can to speed it up, but it may still take up to 10 minutes to load. It's faster if you can use desktop, but it should work on your phone too.
"My fic isn't there.": If it was published after March 15th, 2025, that was likely after all of the scraping took place. Otherwise, from what I can tell so far, the scraper's code just... wasn't very good, so most likely, your fic was missed by random chance. I am continuing to look for methods to reduce the chances of a work getting scraped anyway, and I will share on this blog if/when I find something that works.
Thanks to everyone who helped with the cost to host the tool! I appreciate you so so so much. As of this edit, I've received more donations than what I paid to make this tool so you do NOT need to keep sending money. (But I super appreciate everyone who did help fund this! I just wanna make sure we all know it's all paid for now.)
(Made some quick edits to the post on 04-May-2025 to update information a bit!)
