* giddy up

selin temel. twenty-six. equestrian & riding instructor.

[selintemel]

hello, hello again! i’m back with my third bby, selin! more about my horse girl can be found under the cut!

[ özge yağız, cis woman, she/her ] - was that SELIN TEMEL i saw by the lighthouse today? i heard that the TWENTY-SIX year old who has been in nightrest for A MONTH and works as an EQUESTRIAN & RIDING INSTRUCTOR has a reputation of being HARD-WORKING, but also CLOSED OFF. they reside in LOW POINT & people in town usually associate them with SPENDING HOURS WITH HER HORSE OUT ON THE OPEN FIELD, KEEPING HER CIRCLE TIGHT & WATCHING THE SUNRISE. let’s hope the killer doesn’t go after them next.

trigger warning: physical abuse mention

BASICS

full name: selin temel

nickname: sel

date of birth: february 6, 1997

gender: cis woman

pronouns: she/her

occupation: equestrian & riding instructor

birthplace: salem, massachusetts

sexuality: bisexual

height: 5′3″

relationship status: uhhh it’s very complicated

BACKGROUND

she’s part of a rich af family who owns the biggest stables in salem that breeds and trains horses and hosts the horse race every year (it's gambling free but lbr her family has this underground betting ring that people only with big bucks can wager in)

her family is all about one thing and one thing only: their image

they’re the picture perfect southern, horse and football-loving family but there’s so much that happens behind closed doors

(physical abuse tw) outwardly, her father is a very joyous, domineering personality (has the vibes of a local politician, if you will) but behind closed doors, he lays his hands on her mother sometimes when she says something out of turn or does something he doesn’t like

selin never understood why she never left??? and there’s definitely some resentment in there because while her father has never actually hit her as she grew up (just held onto her arms too tightly or yanked her back roughly a couple of times) and even though she was younger, she knew that wasn’t okay

this image that they’re trying to show the world is so FAKE and selin hates everything about it

it doesn’t help that her mother sometimes takes out her frustration on her, making selin feel like she’s drowning in her mother’s expectations. she has to be the smartest, the prettiest, the wittiest, the nicest in the room and it’s exhausting

she’s an award-winning equestrian and has been since she was younger but doesn’t compete as much anymore

a year ago, she got back with her ex-boyfriend, adler barnes, eventually getting married. it was a very simple (slightly secret because not a lot of people knew) ceremony 

(physical abuse tw) she came clean to her parents about it and her dad laid his hands on her because he did not approve of any of it. of adler, of the marriage. it was this big mess and she was battered and bruised until her older brother got her out of there

with her brother’s help, they took pictures of everything. with her brother having been a witness and with her mother also willing to testify, they had a case against their dad 

it was an incredibly public trial and because of it, selin was just tired

she pushed everyone away. gone was the sweet, timid woman who just wanted to spend time with her horses and her friends. her heart is now locked up. her dad laying hands on her changed everything for her 

she doesn’t care who she hurts in the process as long as she doesn’t get hurt again

and the fact that the trial was so public because their family name is well-known in the equestrian and horse breeding community just made her revert into herself even more

she handed adler divorce papers, moved away from home (just to nightrest which is just like a 15 minute drive away but still) because she needed to distance herself from what had just happened to her family

PERSONALITY TRAITS

+ devoted, passionate, responsible

- unforgiving, standoffish, selfish

ANYTHING ELSE

she used to be such a southern belle who just wants to ride her horses, watch football, have fun and be with her friends

she’s definitely not that anymore. she still loves her horses A LOT but she’s really... mean now

she feels very unsettled about what happened with her family and WILL get incredibly mad if the trial or her dad (who’s now locked up for domestic battery) is mentioned

definitely a morning person and wakes up early to go to the stables

their stables offers horseback riding lessons and she teaches that sometimes too

she travels a lot !!!! because her family is still incredibly rich even with her dad locked up

also went to wardwell academy!!

coffee is absolutely everything. she inhales it

is technically still married because the divorce papers haven’t been signed yet but she’s already living with someone else oops

used to sleep around sO

WANTED PLOTS

her bestie/ride or die !!!!

girl gang

family friends

her older brother (will be sending a wc to the main)

ex-friends

enemies

one night stand

ex-flings

childhood best friends

what could have been but she bailed on them pretty quickly

high school sweetheart

first time/first kiss, etc

drinking buddies

bad influence

people who took up horseriding lessons

i’m more than willing to plot more things !!!!!

[selintemel]

trigger warnings: mentions of physical abuse, death mentioned: @jieunparks @shadaeokoro @deanhadwin @nam-daeeun @jacoboh

As Selin moved out of the main room and into the night air, she had a sense of... peace. She hadn’t felt it in such a long time, but she thought about Jacob’s words and how a fresh start just might be exactly what she needed. Having grown up in Salem, moving just to the edge of it to Nightrest, probably hadn’t been the smartest move on her end, but she had come to accept that maybe she had just been scared.

Scared to completely start over, despite the fact that so much about her life had already changed.

She was no longer married. She was no longer the sweet girl people believed she still was. She was no longer under the illusion that everything would be okay.

The world was a dark, dark place, but the least she could do is make the most out of it with the people who still held a place in her heart. Jieun, Shadae, Dean. Dae.

She told him she no longer loved him, but maybe that wasn’t completely the truth. He’d always have a piece of heart, a part that was solely his, but maybe moving away would give him the solace he needed. It can’t be easy having your ex-wife around all the time. Plus, it would probably do her some good to go somewhere nobody knew who she was. A place where she didn’t know anybody.

A fresh start. It was exactly what she needed.

As she took in a deep breath, making peace with her decision from the balcony, her eyes moved down to rest on two lifeless figures, and Selin merely blinked, her brain not connecting what she was seeing, none of it making sense.

She knew that gown, she realized belatedly. She had talked about how gorgeous it looked on... Shadae. Selin knew that she had been with... Dean.

Oh my god, Selin thought, her heart hammering in her chest as she shakily backed away from the balcony, wanting to be as far away from that harrowing image as possible. It couldn’t be real, right? Two of her best friends were just fine, and her mind was probably just tired and playing tricks on her. Maybe they were just laying down on the deck for a moment.

It didn’t make sense, though.

All that blood.

She was thrown back to another moment, another place, another time.

Rhee’s. Surrounded by people then, a stark contrast to how alone she was now. Surrounded by yells and cheers, a stark contrast to the silence she was in now, only for the hammering in her chest to overpower everything else. She was breathing heavily, too wrapped up in what she had seen that she hadn’t felt the presence behind her until she found herself struggling as a hand clasped down on her mouth.

Selin thrashed, until she was able to release herself from the grip, only to be faced with someone that had her snarling immediately. The look in their eyes a familiar one. She’d seen the same one in her father’s before he had hurt her. It was the look of someone who had done unspeakable things, and would be willing to do them all again.

“I knew it was fuckin' you. There’s somethin’ seriously wrong about you,” she spat out. “I never liked you,” Selin added, before she was tugged back, and before she could even raise her hand to defend herself, she could feel a sharp, painful sting on her throat that didn’t seem to stop.

She could feel something dripping down her neck, and an absurd thought moved through her mind. My dress. My pretty dress is ruined.

Selin’s hands reached up then to hold onto her throat, trying to staunch the bleeding from the slit made across it, a part of her starting to connect the dots about what had happened, and tears sprang to her eyes then, not out of sadness but of anger.

This wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. She deserved a better ending than this. She was supposed to get out of here. She deserved that fresh start.

Maybe you should talk less, the killer said with a laugh, and with a slight push, Selin’s body dropped down to the ground. She let the tears fall from her eyes as moments from her life flashed before her eyes then while she choked on her own blood.

Her brothers letting her play with them when she was younger. Her parents’ wedding photo. Her first time being up on a horse, how at peace she had felt. Fancy events such as this one she spent mostly with Jacob. Her cheerleading outfit at Wardwell, as she watched all those basketball and football games. Strawberry, her 14-year old mare. Waking up bright and early every morning to do her chores, feeling completely at peace. Cleaning the stables then preparing her horses for their daily exercises. Jieun and Shadae during their spa days and sleepovers, the complete trust between the women she thought of as the sisters she never had. Her pact with Dean about avenging the other’s death, all their jokes and moments he’d let her rest her head on his shoulder. Letting her rest. Brooks’ laughter. Her wedding with Dae. The coffee and companionable silence during their married days. The look on his face when she told him she didn’t love him anymore. The fights she’d been in when she felt like she wasn’t inside her body, but instead watching someone else do and say the things she never thought she would. Being called damaged goods.

A part of her broke the day her father laid his hands on her. She’d been struggling since then to try and piece herself back together. She changed herself completely, believing that was better. Easier.

She was wrong. She had been so wrong.

Because Selin could feel the old her struggling to get out, wanting to do better. Be better.

Let me better, she begged in her head but as her fingers twitched when her blood-covered hands dropped down to the floor, the last sign of life within her, all she could think of was that she was too late.

[aubri-ibrag]

ÖZGE YAĞIZ via instagram

[cowboyhudsons]

[ruyabaykam]

( @shadaeokoro / @selintemel )

[selintemel]

jacoboh​:

He wasn’t blind, immediately noticing the way Selin’s demeanor changed. Even if they weren’t in each other’s lives anymore, there was a large part of Jake that still cared for the woman in front of her, worried about her. Anything he’d said to her had always been the truth, especially about her going through so much. When you’d known someone for so long, it was hard to forget about them completely. His eyes glanced down to Selin’s fist, and with giving it much thought he found himself reaching for it, taking her enclosed hand into his palm. “I know it hurts, but this… it just makes things worse, Selin,” he let out, tone softening with a look of concern on his face because she clearly wasn’t okay in the slightest. “Yeah… me too.” It still hurt to think about Monty, remembering that someone who’d been such a big part of his life was gone now too much at times. “I think I just take things day by day. Some are better, some are worse.”

Selin’s first instinct was to rip her hand away from him, to push everyone away as she had gotten used to doing ever since what happened with her father. She stubbornly believed she didn’t need his comfort, didn’t need anyone’s comfort, or their damn pity, and Selin could feel herself tensing before she looked up, remembering that this was Jacob. Sweet, kind Jacob she’d known practically her entire life, who she had already pushed away once before. Selin could feel herself start to tear up because the look of concern on his face showed that as hard as she was trying to conceal it, she was still struggling so hard to deal with all of this loss, and it was getting harder and harder everyday to pretend that none of this fazed her, that waking up every morning wasn’t a struggle knowing there was a huge part of her now that was missing, a huge part that she could now never get back. She blinked rapidly as she looked away, still never allowing anyone to see her cry but squeezed Jacob’s hand in thanks. Selin knew she didn’t deserve this kindness, not from him, but he was giving it anyway. “I’m... tryin’,” she said, still unable to look at him, hating how shaky her voice was. “I just... I don’t want to deal with all of this anymore, Jake. I don’t... I don’t think I can,” Selin admitted, exhaling deeply as she finally, finally allowed herself to voice out something that she deemed as weakness, which immediately meant it was unacceptable to show to other people. Clearing her throat, she stood up a little straighter, making sure she was no longer on the verge of crying before turning to face him, her expression soft. “You’ll take care of yourself here?” Selin asked, a silent admission that she was throwing in the towel. This town won. Whoever was doing the killings won. She couldn’t be here anymore.

[selintemel]

jacoboh​:

Once upon a time, when they were both younger, Selin had been the person Jake liked being around, especially during the fancy events that both of their parents would force them to attend. Now, a part of him wondered if the girl he knew back then was ever real. Jake didn’t contest her words, knowing it would lead to some kind of back and forth. “I’m doing alright, yeah,” he answered, eyes flickering across the room to a certain blonde before glancing back at Selin, remembering that much like him, she’d lost people close to her too. “I’m sorry about Brooks. He was a good guy, and I know the two of you were close.”

The small smile on Selin’s face was wiped off the second Brooks was mentioned. Memories of the blood that had turned into a pool, her shaky hands as she begged for Brooks to stay with her, the yells from the people around her then but for completely different reasons, the panic that ensued once people started noticing. Selin clenched her hands into fists, grateful for the sting when her nails dug into her palm because it distracted her from all those graphic thoughts she didn’t want to dwell on. “Thank you,” Selin managed to let out before drowning the rest of her drink. She placed it on one of the trays a server that had just passed by was holding before quickly replacing it with a flute of champagne, struggling not to down that one too. “I’m... I’m really sorry about Monty,” Selin said, knowing the two had been best friends for as long as she knew them. “How are you holdin’ up?” She softly asked.

[selintemel]

deanhadwin​:

closed to — @selintemel​​

   —   “thank you for making sure i don’t suffer through this on my own,” it was no secret dean’s friends around nightrest can be counted on one hand, and obviously he was glad selin showed up. “how you’ve been holding up?” though he didn’t show it before dean appreciated selin’s effort to reach out to him when he went through his own loss and he wanted to do the same for her, even if there wasn’t anything he could do to be honest. 

“never,” selin immediately said, showing dean a small smile. now, this definitely was the usual. being around each other at fancy events was something that had become a pastime for these childhood best friends, and nothing would have changed, if it wasn’t for the heaviness of grief that rested on their shoulders. as they walked around the main room, selin moved to rest her hand in the crook of dean’s arm, squeezing it gratefully. she didn’t have all that many friends left, but the ones that stayed are the ones she was so grateful for. “not that well,” she admitted, her voice soft before she shrugged. “but it’s not like there’s anythin’ any of us can do now, you know? honestly, it’s probably not the healthiest way but i’m just tryin’ not to think about it,” selin murmured before looking up at him. “and you? how’ve you been holdin’ up?” she asked quietly. “gettin’ excited about that vacay we all deserve to have?”

[nam-daeeun]

open starter / @nightreststarters location : royal cove yacht club

"This is quite the turnout, honestly—really more than I expected." The main room of the yacht club was packed with people, almost as full as Rhee's had been for the game. Shaking off the nerves, Dae smiled slightly, turning to the person next to him. "Looks like Mama's will be back on their feet in no time, from what I can see."

[selintemel]

“It for sure will,” Selin said, with a nod of her head. “You look nice,” she added as she turned towards her ex-husband with a hint of a smile. Selin was making her rounds around the place, completely in her element and she figured it would be rude of her to not at least give Dae a quick conversation, even if it was just to make sure he was feeling comfortable at this fancy event. “You holdin’ up okay out here?” 

[selintemel]

jieunparks​:

open starter : @nightreststarters​​

location : royal cove yacht club .

“Well, you dress up nicely.” Her smile only growing wider as she gave them a once over—dress up events always being her weakness. “I didn’t think you had it in you. With an outfit like this, I wish you put in more effort day to day.” It was a compliment coming from her and once given, her attention directed toward the sea of people that crowded the main room. “Do you think they’re going to raise enough for all those businesses?”

“Bitch,” Selin said, letting out a laugh before she took a sip from her drink. “You look amazin’, as always,” she added, showing her best friend a smile before she looked at the main room too. “Personally? I definitely think so. All those businesses would be thrivin’ in no time, just from our donations alone,” Selin said with a cocky smile. “I don’t think this is a good idea, though,” she added, her voice turning into a low murmur. “The last time we were all gathered together like this... Well,” Selin shrugged. “It endin’ the way that it did? It’s probably not the wisest decision for all of us to gather together again, you know?”

[selintemel]

jacoboh​:

for @selintemel​

location: royal cove yacht club

Stepping away from the bar, the last person he expected to step face to face with was Selin. Truthfully, their friendship was over, as long as it had lasted, and Jake had accepted that. Still, it was instinctual for him to be polite, offering the younger a gentle smile before speaking. “Sorry, I should watch where I’m going,” he said, fully intending to step away and excuse himself. His words weren’t entirely true, but it was easier to make himself a little smaller in the situation, figuring she wouldn’t fight him on it that way.

Maybe it was the fact that this was something she was used to -- fancy events where they’d be talking together by the side when they needed a break -- or maybe it was because she had lost someone again that made her the tiniest bit more sentimental than usual but she nodded her head at Jacob, even offered him a smile. “No, it’s okay. I should’ve been the one to watch where I was going,” Selin said, before taking a deep breath. “You enjoyin’ yourself tonight?” 

[selintemel]

Selin hadn’t been dealing with the deaths in the best way, constantly just looking for a way to distract herself. She had her people on speed dial if she needed someone to talk to, and none of them had mentioned coming over, so she was surprised to see Dae, of all people, on her doorstep. “That’s... sweet,” Selin said, blinking in surprise before opening the door more to let him in. “Been a minute, huh?” She mused out loud with a small smile. “How’ve you been?” 

[selintemel]

“I’m good,” Selin sharply said with a shrug. It was a lie and they both knew it, but she didn’t really care to talk about it more. She’d never been one to dwell on her feelings, and that really hadn’t changed much, especially now. She’d already lost Vivi, and allowed herself one moment of weakness there, but she wasn’t allowing herself to fall apart ever again. No matter what. “You want me to heat this up for you? Maybe get you some coffee? You workin’ on anythin’ new lately?”

[selintemel]

Selin 📲 Deany weany

Dean: i have a better idea

Dean: let's do that, but never come back.

Dean: this is one little fucked up town.

Selin: you know what, that's a really good idea

Selin: i think jieun's gonna take some convincing but she can visit anytime she wants anyway

Selin: i really fucking hate this town, dean

Selin: i'm starting to wonder why i didn't just move to texas or something

[nam-daeeun]

closed / @selintemel location : selin's house

The door swung open. "Hey." Dae held up the bag of takeout, giving her a half-hearted smile. After a sigh, he let it fall back to his side. "This isn't my place anymore—I know that. But I know you, and I know you've likely been avoiding everyone and everything, including food, so..." He trailed off with a shrug. "Just wanted to make sure you were okay."

[selintemel]

Selin hadn’t been dealing with the deaths in the best way, constantly just looking for a way to distract herself. She had her people on speed dial if she needed someone to talk to, and none of them had mentioned coming over, so she was surprised to see Dae, of all people, on her doorstep. “That’s... sweet,” Selin said, blinking in surprise before opening the door more to let him in. “Been a minute, huh?” She mused out loud with a small smile. “How’ve you been?” 

[selintemel]

shadaeokoro​:

shadae: definitely do both like what?? the best of both worlds shadae: do you know what you’re going to wear to it? i was thinking red but idk

selin: both it is selin: tell dean to come with  selin: probably black tbh because yknow selin: you’d look so hot in red

[tvandfilm]

STARSTRUCK (2021 - ) S01E06 - Christmas

[selintemel]

Selin 📲 Sundae

Selin: Jieun and I can't decide

Selin: Cabo or Japan?

Selin: Or both?

Selin: for after the charity ball thingy

[selintemel]

Selin 📲 Deany weany

Selin: after this charity gala thing, we're going out of the country to travel, okay?

Selin: we need to get the hell out of this murder town