selkies and scales au sally! shes a fierce lil fish!!
i ramble about mermaid thoughts a little bit under the cut
while i drew her relatively colourful here, i kinda imagine her colours to be more silvery/iridescent so when she moves, her scales glint red and green.
also, even though her teeth and claws are sharp, they would made for gripping the shells of shrimp and prying her claws underneath the shell so she can use her teeth to pull it away to reach the meat, or just straight up crunching the whole thing if they are small enough. basically thats just to say that her teeth and claws aren't meant for cutting or slicing, and as such she got into a lot of trouble with the net
i have so many thoughts about mermaids in this au hdvjhndknjxbjhd
hey anon i need you to know this ask has plagued my mind since i got it, i love wilbur and sally so much,,,
also usually people go for sally being the mermaid but like......... orca wilbur...................
ive been thinking abt wilbur and sally so much since i got this ask help /lh i imagine sally as a marine biologist or something along those lines in this
oh also:
small doodle of wilbur holding mermaid sally because i also love mermaid sally wjkbkjbsmjbdbvddb
he is enamoured but she would bite him <3
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if u would like to know abt either of the aus i have in mind.............. my askbox is open,, (just be aware itll take me a bit to get to your ask, im working thru my backlog rn!)
selkies and scales - characters and locations infodump
these characters reside/frequent places in the seaside town that is the setting for this AU, ranging from the fabulous Las Nevadas Casino, to the tourist trap Diamond in the Rough, and even all the way out to the old lighthouse.
[ some of the pieces of information about the characters may not be... "correct". lets just say, not everyone is as human as they seem. (if you ask the right questions you might just find out who!) ]
[ The Lighthouse ]
Perched up on a cliff is the Lighthouse, a warning beacon to sailors, and an iconic landmark in the town.
Phil (Human)
The widowed lighthouse keeper. Some of the younger kids around town say he's been there forever, and that he will stay there waiting for his wife to return until the end of time. The older townsfolk who remember him running though the streets as a kid let them have their fantasies. Phil seems to enjoy the legends that have built up around him.
He seems cheery enough, even as a widow and single father. He wants to give his boys a normal life. Unfortunately one of them is a selkie and the other constantly gets into trouble so ehh, we will see how that goes.
Phil also owns a beat up yellow pickup! It's awful, and Wilbur uses it more than Phil does.
Wilbur (Selkie)
I've written so much abt him already, you probably know his deal, but here's a recap+more:
Wilbur was seperated from his herd and washed up on shore when he was younger, resulting in being adopted by Phil. He does not like to take on his seal form often, and even less so after meeting Sally.
After catching Sally, he quickly gains a crush oh her that is eventually reciprocated, but he ends up sad and pining for a while. He feels as if he is a danger to her in his seal form.
He and Quackity are often at odds with each other, as Quackity suspects that Wilbur is not quite human (correct). They have a sort of strange antagonistic relationship that ends up with them being sort of friends. If friends are constantly trying to get you to confess your mythical nature.
Tommy (Human)
Phil's son and local menace. He helps out with errands and mostly spends a lot of time chatting to people and charming his way out of trouble.
Wilbur is often busy out on the water or doing errands in town, so Tommy spends a lot of time with Phil's seagulls, and has trained them to steal chips for him.
He's a bit lonely, honestly. Lucky for him there's a new kid in town, as well as the strange voice in the cave near the rockpools...
Tubbo (Mermaid)
Got stuck in a cave under the lighthouse after the tide went out one day, and made friends with Tommy. He visits every day, but never lets Tommy see him. He meets Ranboo and becomes fast friends with him as well, much to Tommy's chagrin.
Tommy and Ranboo try to sneakily carry him around in a bucket to show him places around town at some point.
Sally (Mermaid)
She was caught in Wilbur's net, and at first hated him with a passion. Once she is aware he is a selkie she becomes way more relaxed around him, and after they begin to get along, she becomes a bit of an enabler (which is why they ended up keeping Fundy ;D). She eventually coaxes him to don his seal-skin again and go swimming with her.
Tommy is sad that his brother "has a cool fish wife" before he does. Sally likes him, and thinks Tommy is hilarious. Sally meets Tubbo later, and decides he is a small fry she wants to protect.
Fundy (Selkie)
A baby!!! He baby!!!!!!! A selkie seal pup that Wilbur and Sally found and ended up keeping after they couldn't find his parents. They don't realise he's a selkie until he grows up a little though ;P!!
[ Syndicate Sweets]
A small shop along the boardwalk. It's cozy, and has ample room to host customers.
Niki (Selkie)
She runs a seaside bakery/cafe! Niki also hosts a book club that has only 4 members. Some of the people in town joke that she's the most likely person to be a mermaid. Ranboo finds those discussions stressful, but Niki just laughs.
Niki bonded with Wilbur over being a selkie, and is the only other selkie he knows of.
Ranboo (Mer-selkie)
Niki's half brother from the city. Despite being a mer-selkie, he is scared of the ocean after an incident when he was younger. He was sent here to live with Niki in hopes that he would learn to swim. Currently he is supposed to help Wilbur out on his fishing boat but has yet to actually do so. (Niki called in a favour with Phil. She hopes Ranboo will make friends with Wilbur or Tommy).
Most of his clothes are ones from Skeppy's tourist trap store, not out necessity but by choice. As such he owns many hawaiian shirts.
[ The Las Nevadas Casino ]
Quackity (Human)
The owner of the Las Nevadas casino! The shining star of the Boardwalk. He treats every customer like an old friend, if an old friend were also actively cheating you out of your money. He seems uncommonly lucky.
Sometimes he mentions a... business partner. The identity of this person is unknown to most, and it is unclear whether this is the same person as the "mysterious benefactor" that is rumoured to fund many of the casino's events.
It is unclear as to what exactly Quackity wants from Wilbur, but he certainly is determined. They meet up on the pier in the early hours of the morning to talk and banter.
Sam (Human)
Quackity's right hand man. As he was formerly part of a hunters guild for a time he works as the head of security. He is also in charge of the hotel section of the casino, and gave Tommy a summer job as a bellboy for a time.
He used to hang out with Ponk before coming to work with Quackity, but after a... workplace accident that resulted in Ponk's arm requiring amputation, Ponk gives the casino a wide berth. Nobody is quite sure as to what happened save for the pair, and they certainly won't talk about it.
Foolish (Selkie)
He is a shark-selkie who lost his shark-skin in game of blackjack against Quackity. Foolish gambled and he lost.
He works on the main floor of the casino as well as helping to plan events that the casino hosts. Foolish does not know about the other selkies in town, and even if he did he would not want to put them in danger by letting them know of his nature.
Purpled (Human)
He just works there. Please leave him alone, he's just doing this for the money so he can fix his bike and LEAVE this stupid town.
Charlie (...?)
He's definitely human! Bartender and really strange local. Probably knows too much. He has a knack for identifying of someone is human or not.
... nobody is really sure where he came from, but he's nice enough.
Jack (Human)
Close friends with Niki, they met when they were kids! He works in the casino hotel, and has a grudge against Tommy who almost got him fired once.
[ Diamond in the Rough ]
A tacky souvenir shop that teeters on stilts out over the ocean.
Skeppy (Human)
The sole proprietor of the tacky souvenir shop/tourist trap, Diamond in the Rough. He can often be found talking up some local rumours about mermaids or sea serpents to tourists. His store is always stocked with beautiful shells and terrible awful airbrushed shirts.
He claims that sometimes real actual diamonds wash ashore, and thats where he got the money to start the business (and as such, the name) but nobody really believes him. Skeppy thinks watching the occasional tourist going hunting for diamonds in the sand is hilarious.
Bad (Human...?)
He is the one who supplies Skeppy with the beautiful shells! He formerly was part of a hunters guild in the area, and now just seems to spend time helping out in Skeppy's store or just sitting around chatting. Bad dissapears for days on end sometimes, and returns with various interesting trinkets for Skeppy's shop.
He also took care of Sapnap when he was younger, and acts as a sort of a mentor to him. Bad also stops by and bakes muffins at Niki's place that he gifts to people. He tells Skeppy off when he begins trying to tell people about mermaids.
[ Other characters + locations ]
miscellaneous characters and locations that house only a single character most of the time.
Technoblade (Human...?)
Commonly seen in the library or tending to the community garden's potato patch. He is also often seen walking with Phil on cold days. He seems to travel a lot, and disappears from time to time.
There is a lot of speculation as to what he does, but the a common theory among some of the children is that he is a monster hunter. Some people say he might not even be human himself...
Ponk (Human)
Local doctor and unofficial owner of the community garden! They take care of the lemon trees in the garden and sets up a stall for visitors to buy them as a side income. He banned Sapnap and George from the community garden after an incident with some fireworks when they were kids.
The community garden sits nestled up next to the doctor's clinic. Many people around town come to the garden to tend to the plants and harvest them, the members of the book club (plus Tommy) are the most common to be seen here other than Ponk.
Ponk lost his arm in a workplace accident when giving Sam a surprise visit. They don't talk about it.
Karl (Mermaid)
He's just chilling out in the ocean. He's got many friends in town! Karl was discovered by Sapnap who discovered him while out swimming one time, and found him caught on a tangle of seaweed. Bad day for Karl. Except he has friends now, so it worked out in the end!
Puffy (Human)
A sailor who works offshore and does things with shipping and cargo. She stops by Niki's bakery when she's in town, and works a lot with importing and exporting goods.
She's friends with Eret, who she brought to this town after meeting them abroad.
Eret (Human...?)
Voted the second most likely to be a mermaid by the town. They are the curator of the local museum, and makes a lot of money via the gift shop. Puffy is the one who brings them new artifacts to include in the museum.
They have stayed in town for a long time now, and know the most about the town's history.
Sapnap (Human)
He works part time at Skeppy's some days, and volunteers as a lifeguard on others. Bad convinced Skeppy to give him the job, after the hunters guild disbanded. Goes swimming in his free time to hang out with Karl. He lives with George, and is close with Quackity, but he avoids the casino and won't say why.
George (Human)
Lives with Sapnap. After the hunters guild disbanded he's been mostly without purpose, save for bothering Sapnap. Sometimes he volunteers as a lifeguard as well. George sleeps all day but never seems rested. At night he seems to linger around the doors of the casino, but never enters.
Dream (???)
Missing.
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[ Mysteries ]
nobody in particular...
(some of these characters are more flavour/extra info, and others are more relevant.)
Winter Whisper (???)
Some people say in the middle of winter you may hear what the locals refer to as the Winter Whisper- a mysterious voice that can sometimes be heard carrying over the wind. The words are never quite clear, but they are soft and sweet.
Mysterious Benefactor (???)
It is unknown whether this is the same person as Quackity's business partner. He seems to use the terms interchangeably, but has also used both terms in the same sentence to refer to two different people.
Las Nevadas Business Partner (???)
It is unknown whether this is the same person as Quackity's mysterious benefactor.
under the cut you will find: general info on selkies and mermaids in this au, as well as some information on the currently revealed selkies/mermaids (... and also ranboo)
this ended up getting away from me, so a post about characters and their relations will be made later when it's not 4am (im dying to talk about the dynamics between characters here, but I need sleep unfortunately)
(also dw im. im getting to the requests ive got in my askbox, i just had to get this out of my brain while i work on those)
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Selkies
A general rundown about selkies for those who don't know what they are: Selkies are Scottish mythological creatures that can shift between a seal form and a human form.
When shifting to their human form, selkies shed their seal-skin, and must wear that same skin to return to being a seal. In stories they often have an urge to return to their seal form after some amount of time.
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In this AU many selkies choose to stay in their seal form and just... never leave the water. Other selkies may move between the two carefully, and even fewer choose to live life mostly on land. Those who live on land don't need to turn into seals, and can permanently live on land if they so wish, but they will still feel that itch to return to the sea. Other ocean-dwelling selkies will also be more wary of land-dwelling selkies.
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Selkies may take on a human partner, and their children will either be fully human or a selkie. If the birthing parent was a human the child will be human, and if they were a selkie- it depends on what form they are in when they give birth. If a selkie takes on a seal partner, the child will be a selkie regardless of the birthing parent.
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Wilbur is based on a harbour seal! His seal form is larger than his human form, around 7'5" (226cm) or so in length. Harbour seals are usually only around 6ft long, but Wilbur is TALL so he gets to be Extra Long.
He was seperated from the rest of his herd from when he was a kid, and was found washed up on the shore by the local lighthouse keeper, Phil. He took care of Wilbur and decided to raise him alongside his own son (Tommy). Wilbur made the decision to stay on land, having grown attached to the strange man and his son, and basically took the role as Tommy's older brother. As he grew older he began working as a fisherman (and that's how he met Sally!)
Wilbur doesn't return to his seal form often, and even less after meeting Sally. He wishes he was not split between the ocean and the land. Instead of wesring his sealskin on him, he wears a heavy coat which gives him some of the same comfort, without the weight of the ocean on his shoulders.
Mermaids
In the selkies and scales au, mermaids are creatures that mimic certain fish, and school with them. They protect the school, and in return gain protection via camouflage. It's rare for a mermaid to mimic a non/rarely-schooling fish, but they do exist! Mers inherit what species of fish they mimic, and as such, display traits that benefit the diet/lifestyle of that particular species.
Sally for example has sharp teeth that are meant for gripping and crunching shrimp shells, rather than cutting through flesh. Tubbo has webbed fingers as his lifestyle is more suited to foraging while stirring up the seabed. His ventral fins are stiffer and further up his body, which allows him to "perch" or kinda. float just above the ocean floor as he scavenges. His claws aren't quite as sharp as Sally's, so he makes use of a bone knife to crack open shellfish and stab food, as well as for self defence.
Many mer tend to keep weapons or tools similar to that in order to escape from nets or for aiding hunting and defense. Sally just happened to lose hers at an inopportune time :P!!
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Mermaids vary wildly in size, and is largely dependent on the size of the fish they mimic. There are two main scales (ha) of mermaid that determine the size of a mer in relation to their mimicked species, one that depends on the overall (average) length of a fish to determine overall length, while the other depends on the overall size of a fish to determine the size of the tail. Both Sally and Tubbo are on the smaller scale of their species, Sally is around 48cm long (1'7"), and Tubbo is around 25cm (10 inches) I spent too long debating whether or not scales could interbreed or not then decided its not important to this AU and I have an exam in a couple days so I'm leaving it for now ahskfhj
Mermaids can live out of the water for a while by breathing air, similar to fish with labyrinth organs! They still require to be moist. (thank u to bio anon for bringing up the idea in a seperate discussion abfjfbd)
It's like 3am so I will save talking about the concept flex-fluid lungs/gills (lungills..???) for later because I need to do more research and thinking, and well. I am also. not a biologist, so instead I will move onto...
Muirie (Selkie-Mermaids) sorry i dont have a name for them rn
(Merkies. Selmaids. I really don't know what to call them hsjsvfjfbfk)
AKA Ranboo! Thank you to anon for giving me the idea/inspiration for what to do with him!
Ranboo has a mermaid form and a human form! While he sheds his. f.... fish skin(?) he retains some of the scales on his face, arms, legs and back. He also still has strange colourful mermaid eyes, and as such he wears a mask and glasses to hide his fishy aspects.
His mer form is... a lot larger than his human form, magically his coat/skin is rather normal sized though. He is based on a black marlin, and his total length is around 4 1/2 m (a little under 15ft)! (He is not the biggest mer I have planned by far, but that scale is... a little skewed by one character so. Overall Ranboo is a big boy.)
Much like traditional selkies, Ranboo can also permanently live on land! He actually spent most of his childhood on land, and only moved to this seaside town recently, moving in with his half-sister Niki at her bakery! He meets Tommy first, then later Tubbo when he goes poking around the beach. Ranboo knows he is a mer-selkie, and is excited to experience more of his mermaid form, and later gets into shenanigans with the other two :]!!
Wait, more about selkies
In this AU selkies are not only seals! Other ocean dwelling creatures can also be selkies/selkie-adjacent creatures, but more often those who are, tend to be selkie-mermaids like Ranboo rather than true "selkies". I want to figure out another name for non-seal selkies but for now you get the point. Some examples of possible creatures are: sharks (sharkies? shjdhf), dolphins and whales.
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as mentioned earlier i will make a seperate post about characters and how they play into this au, but i hope this was entertaining also!
have this picture of wilbur and sally again as a thank you
if you have any questions about this, or about specific characters feel free to drop an ask!!
if you got here ! congrats and thank you for reading! or skimming. i respect that.
Please do spill more on the mer aus im already in love
:D!!!!! ALRIGHT so i have 2 aus in mind! the dynamics are pretty different between the two, and ive still gotta fully work out a design for sally in both aus ejhjhdguidj
1. orca wilbur and marine biologist sally
they met when they were kids, wilbur had beached himself in order to try catch seals and sally just basically went "D: OH NO WHALE" and ran up to him and tried to pull him into the water
wilbur tries to tell her incorrect whale facts. she is not having this. she can Tell hes lying but she cant REALLY refute it because... what if all belugas do hate each other. he also intersperses these "facts" with ACTUAL facts about him and the ocean rhdjcbdj
(this is part of why she goes on to become a marine biologist, she wants to know what he got right- as well as it allows her to spend more time with wilbur ehdjfbdk)
(also yes shhh orcas arent as big as i drew wilbur let me have the big orca man)
im very tempted to call him whalebur in this au but orcas are NOT actually whales!!! aabdndkdjdmdbfkfb
2. tiny mermaid sally!
i have. thought about this one so much,, in this au wilbur is actually a selkie! he works as a fisherman in a shoreside town and accidentally catches sally in his net!
wilbur stays with the local lighthouse keeper and his son who found him after he came ashore during a storm many years ago (i... i dont know whether i want them to know hes a selkie or not yet fbdkchdjfbdj) wilbur already knows about the existence of merfolk! i imagine hes met a few in his time, but they arent too common, especially around more populated areas
he only realises he caught a mermaid when hes sorting through his catch, she got tangled in the net trying to escape and hurt herself. wilburs just like. OH NO SHES REALLY CUTE 😳🥺 and then OH NO SHES HURT OH SHIT
HRNEMFKDNSKFBKFBFKE BASICALLY YEAH he ends up taking her home to try treat her wounds and i imagine sally just being absolutely pissed off at wilbur while also being terrified out of her mind because 1. shes been CAUGHT 2. why does wilbur remind her of a seal he is a shoredweller SO WHY?? (... did you know a large part of many seals diet is made up of salmon :]? ofc she would be scared of her natural predator!)
and im so glad u agree he deserves to be bitten HHJHHDHBKFBHF please have some selkie wilburs i doodled the other day, look at this bitable man /lh ... it was just an excuse to draw seals hjfbhshjd
there are other mer in the this au as well as some other selkies! :D
WIFE, INFORM ME ABOUT TINY SALLY AND MR GIANT BITCH MAN.
I am very curious.
Love your wife.
EHDIUDIOJDJBDIIJDBHJS I JUST SAW THIS AFTER I POSTED THE OTHER POST AHJNJDJBF
thank u for the ask my platonic partner!! have some headcanons/extra info instead :'D
orca wilbur + marine biologist sally
- sally plays the guitar! wilbur sings along :]
- when they first met wilbur was more scared of sally than she was of him, and she also didnt realise he was a mer until his hands were surrounding her
- sally works with a small crew who also know about wilbur! shes currently researching beluga sociability ;D
- also dolphin mer tommy exists in this au hes just a lil guy
selkie wilbur + mermaid sally
- if it wasnt obvious: the lighthouse keeper and his son are phil and tommy
- wilbur taught tommy how to swim!
- phil often sneaks out in the middle of the night during winter to go to the cliffside! for some reason ;]]
- instead of crows phil has somehow befriended the seagulls oh god theyr so noisy
- later wilbur and sally find an abandoned seal pup and decide to keep him (they only realise fundy is ALSO a selkie a bit later)
