remember this moment

Vera Lynn. 22. Selkie.

[vera-lynns]

character basics • skeleton: Undertow • character name: Vera Lynn • age & birthdate: August 2, 1998 • gender & pronouns: Female, she/her • birthplace: Northern Pacific Ocean • length of time in port vale: Arrived Nov. 2021 • occupation: Circulation Assistant at the Port Vale Library • fc: Lana Condor

THE OCEAN

Like most Spotted seals, Vera was born in the northern Pacific Ocean, although she doesn’t remember exactly where, having called many of it’s seas home. She’s always been a curious and adventurous creature, always trying to play with the other young of her pod. It was this playful, inquisitive nature that has gotten her separated from her pod on more than one occasion. When she was just a pup they kept as close an eye on her as they could, but she still managed to make mischief, always testing the limits, pushing at boundaries. One day she was so caught up in chasing the other sea life, in a made up game, she didn’t realize how far away she had swum until she realized that she didn’t recognize her surroundings, or how she had gotten there. It was a few days before she came upon another pod of her kind. They didn’t know anything about the group that she had become separated from, but welcomed her with open arms. She stayed with them for a while but once again her sense of adventure got the best of her. She was on her own for a while, but eventually found another pod to join.

She decided that she rather liked this almost nomadic way of life, following her sense of adventure and swapping pods as she desired. She knew that she came off a strange to the rest of her kind, with her daring and adventurous lifestyle, letting herself get swept up in the current.

Vera understands that she needs to keep a certain distance from humans, but that doesn’t mean that she isn’t curious. She’d always liked to watch them, study them. What strange creatures that they are. One day, however, she went far too close, getting caught up in a trap. She managed to escape, but not without injury. That’s how Scylla found her.

ON LAND

Vera loves life on land. There was a learning curve, to everything, and she was often covered in a myriad of bruises in those early days, learning how do to everything with new, uncooperative limbs. But she didn’t let that get her down and found that she came to love all of it. This was just another adventure, and she was going to make the most of it. She also felt like she had to prove herself to the others, being smaller and younger. She always has a skip in her step, a twinkle in her eye, a laugh on her lips. For a wandering spirit such as herself this is exactly the adventure that she’s been craving. She got to know her ocean well, now it’s time to get to know the land. She loves to explore and learn new things and this is the perfect chance for that.

There’s a bit of distance and disconnect between her and the other selkies, so Vera is very excited to get the assignment from Scylla and head to Port Vale. She takes to the streets with wide eyed wonder, drinking in every new experience and person that she encounters.

PERSONALITY

Vera has always been adventurous, and gaining the ability to walk on land in a human shape has only fueled that. She can finally get up close and personal, after all these years of watching from afar. She’s never met a challenge that she wasn’t up for, even if it meant that she was getting into scrapes and trouble. She’s willing to try everything once. She tries to be kind to everyone that she crosses paths with, because you never know what you’re going to be able to learn from them.

It’s why Vera loves books so much, and why she sought out a job at the library. She drinks in any knowledge that she can get her hands on, and she loves to read about all the different adventures contained within all the stories. She doesn’t care what’s fact and what’s fiction, it’s all about the adventure for Vera.

[mayaofthemoon]

@vera-lynns​

Location: North Star Lighthouse

Deciding to take a day off, Maya pulled out her messenger bag and put together a small picnic.  She included a notebook and some pens in case an inspiration hit her, but she wasn’t going out to work today. No, today she wanted to explore another part of the island.  As of yet, she had not been to the North Star Lighthouse for any length of time. So she would go take a look at the grounds and find some peace in the scents and sounds of her home – both land and sea.

Less than an hour later, Maya made her way around the rocks near the lighthouse.  She’d already found a couple of shells to add to her collection – something she would turn into a craft or a piece of art sooner or later.  A soft laugh escaped her.  Probably later – she’d get caught up in something else and the shells would join the others in the small basket on one of her tables.

Finding a good-sized rock with a perfect view of the sea, Maya closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath.  All the weight on her shoulders fell away.  “Time for breakfast,” she decided, hauling the strap of her bag over her head. Folding her legs beneath her, she sat and began to pull out her food.

The sound of steps drew her attention.  She looked around as she repressed a sigh of disappointment at the interruption of her solitary morning. At the sight of the young female, Maya managed a smile. “Good morning.”

[vera-lynns]

Vera had been reading through a new craft book at the library, and she’d marked a couple of different projects that she’d decided that she wanted to try out. This, of course, meant that she had to go out and gather the materials that she needed. She was going to need a lot of seashells for this one, it looked like.

And so she found herself getting up early, making her way around the island, scooping up any good shells, and other tidbits, that she could find. She’d already gotten a rather good little collection together in her basket so far, but she still didn’t have enough. And she didn’t know if what she had was right for the project either. She wouldn’t know until she started working on it. Still, it would be better all around if she collected more. Which brought her to the lighthouse.

“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t expect to find anyone else here.” Vera said, apoligizing to the woman that she’d startled. Taking a quick glance in at how the woman had settled into her rock, it was clear she hadn’t been expecting any company. “I’m sorry, again, for disturbing you. I’m just looking for interesting things.” She held out the basket, giving it a careful little shake.

[vera-lynns]

theluminousnorth​:

-

she cast a long look at the plant, but she eventually decided that it seemed safe where vera had placed it. lumi had no idea what the plant might reveal, but she was convinced there was at least one person in town who did not want her to figure it out. “no, that’s all i need for now,” she replied and eagerly followed vera, maybe a little too eagerly as she tripped a little and accidentally stepped on vera’s heel. “sorry!” she took a step back and kept a little distance. lumi desperately wanted to figure out what this plant was, if it meant something more than what was obvious. she tapped her foot in impatience, but said nothing as vera went on the hunt for the books.

xx

“Okay, great!” Vera said, picking up the slip she’d jotted the information that they needed to find the books down one and stepped out from behind the desk, leading Lumi through the stacks. “Don’t worry about it.” Vera said, balancing herself so she didn’t fall flat on her face in the middle of the library when Lumi stepped on her shoe. “Right, here we are, this should be the right row.” Vera said, referencing her sticky note with the sign on the end of the bookshelf. She made her way down the aisle, scanning the shelves until she found the section that she was looking for. She muttered the number that she was looking for under her breath. “Aha!” She said, when she finally spotted the first book on their list, holding it out to Lumi with a triumphant grin.

[vera-lynns]

karina-hutchensen​:

.

The redhead hummed at that. Not all, but most things, the other was probably right. The gloom had its own vibe, completely different to a sunny day, and certainly interesting in its own right, but perhaps not what either of the visitors had been expecting. “I guess we’ll both have to make another trip out here when the weather is better.” Karina mused, flashing a smile at the other woman. “But that’s not easy on the coast, when the storms blow in off the water so quickly.” But hopefully it would be a bit more predictable in the summer. “As long as it doesn’t rain.” 

xx

“I guess so.” Vera said, letting out a sigh. She’d been hoping to get to experience it today, so that she could finally join in on the conversations that Aylin tried to have about the lighthouse. She really didn’t understand the fascination with it. She’d read about lighthouses, they were interesting but it didn’t seem like there was much adventure to be had in them in this current day and age. “I don’t mind the rain.” Well, she didn’t like that it made her have to stay cooped up indoors, but if it wasn’t raining too heavily she rather enjoyed being out in it, at least briefly. Dancing and spinning around, jumping into puddles, that sort of thing. “Although rain does get in the way of exploring. Did anything in particular bring you out to the lighthouse today?”

[vera-lynns]

ronandelgado​:

Ronan replied to the comment about keeping track of how late he was with a noncommittal shrug. “Maybe next time.” One hour really didn’t feel like much, in the grand scheme of things, and he really didn’t care nearly enough to worry about it.

More importantly, she was talking about where they first met and about them telling her about his kind being all dead. “There’s not that few of us left” he said, but it immediately felt wrong, or like a lie. As much as he didn’t like to think about it so he wouldn’t feel like he should take some responsibility, you could count how many hippos were left with only one hand. “But tell me, where exactly did we first meet?” He changed the subject, not wanting to keep going down that train of thought.  The first time he met someone who had been told the hippocampi were all extinct, she had been a seal person and now Ronan couldn’t help but wonder if this girl was also a seal person and if really all seal people believed the same thing.

xx

There couldn’t be a whole lot of his kind, if he was the only one that Vera had ever run into. She wasn’t going to say that to his face, however, that wasn’t fair. It’s not like there was a whole ocean full of selkies, either. At least not that Vera knew. Maybe there was. “Well, you wouldn’t remember our first meeting. I didn’t look like this.” She gestured towards her human form, the pink dress covered in hearts that she was wearing. She paused, took a breath, held it, and then let it out, her next words slipping out with it. “I had less fingers and more flippers.” That was the first time that she had ever said that aloud to someone before. But, she did know his secret, she hoped that she could trust him with hers.

[karina-jouralist]

open starter - at north start light house 

When they’d left the house that morning, it had been sunny, seemingly the perfect day for a visit to the lighthouse. But, the thing about coastal towns was that the weather blew in off the ocean so quickly, and so what had started as a lovely day was now overcast and dark. Less than ideal for taking in the view of the coastline, which Karina had been hoping to do. Still, she’d taken pictures of all the plaques around the site so she could properly read them later, and adding them to the collection of information she was accumulating about the town. The redhead felt like she couldn’t properly write for the townspeople if she didn’t know its history, its people. So she was doing her research, and enjoying every moment of it. 

“Do you think the view is better on a sunny day?” She mused, humming at the person who joined her at the lookout. The cloudy view was certainly something, and pretty in its own right. But the greys all blended together for Karina, shapes less distinct and harder to make out. 

[vera-lynns]

“Most things are better on sunny days.” Vera replied. Sure, there was always adventure to be had regardless of the weather, but there was something about gloomy days that just took some of the spark out of it. Like her foray to the lighthouse today. She certainly wouldn’t have come if she had known that it wasn’t going to stay sunny. She knew she’d have to come eventually, and was rather surprised that she hadn’t come already, honestly. Aylin was, for some reason, obsessed with the place, and it was a common topic of conversation for a lot of the townsfolk, as well. “Can’t say that I’ve been here when it’s sunny, though.”

[vera-lynns]

ronandelgado​:

-

Riiiight. He was late for the date. He had forgotten about that detail. “Has it really been an hour already?” he asked, just to be sure. He was sure it had been that long yet. “Oh well, my bad.” He didn’t really sound all that apologetic – because he wasn’t – but that should be enough for now, right? “At least I’m here now?” Considering earlier he was thinking about not even showing up, that sounded like a small victory for her.

More importantly, she started to explain the pointing finger, and that made Ronan confused and slightly aggravated. “Ok, stop. Go back.” He tried to make sense of what she said. It wasn’t much, but it was significant enough. “First, I don’t really care if you call us horses, but my brothers might take some offense to that.” Nor really the most important issue, but he’d forget about it if he didn’t take that out of the way first. “Second, what do you mean they told you I don’t exist? Is this about hippocampi being dead again? Why is there someone out there telling people we’re all dead?” 

xx

“Possibly more than. I stopped keeping track a while ago. You should really be aware of how late you are, when you’re showing up this late.” Vera said, resisting the urge to cross her arms or stomp her foot or turn up her nose or any of those behaviors she’d seen women use towards their late dates in movies. She didn’t actually care all that much about the date. “Yes, by some miracle.”

“I guess it’s a good thing that I’m not talking to your brothers then. Besides, it’s not like I had the word what you were when we first met. I didn’t have many words at all, really.” Vera was treading dangerous waters now, she knew. Sure, it would probably be okay for her to let her secret slip to him, and she didn’t think that there was anyone around in the library. But it felt risky to say too much in a public space like this. “I’m... not at liberty to discuss that.” No way was she blabbing about Scylla, nope. “But, yes. They implied that your kind didn’t exist. I don’t know why, but it’s probably because there aren’t many of you? I know you were the only one that I ever came across, and I came across a lot of creatures in my travels.”

[vera-lynns]

blackseariddle​:

   xx

     The ingenuity of the other was inspiring - for ages, Ridley had been an admirer of those with the ability to create, but it wasn’t until coming to land, to Port Vale, that Ridley had felt the absence of her own such talents. She wanted to breathe life into something, too, and have the ownership of creation. Be admired for a talent; and the idea of books having a plethora of options was encouraging. Usually Ridley avoided the library, but Vera did say video… maybe she needed to conduct another search on the YouTube. How to be creative and how to have a hobby and what to make for a beginner popped into mind, and Ridley almost wished she was alone to jot them down. 

   “That’s pretty cool, actually. Like having a hobby for hobbies, you can do basically anything, and it all counts as your favorite thing,” Ridley laughed a little, enjoying the playful wording of it. “I bet you know how to make a lot of cool stuff by now. I watched a video the other day all about cool ways to braid hair… actually, I would love try to some of the techniques out. I guess that’s my hobby- I really like all the, like, makeup and beauty stuff out there. I want to do all of it someday. Do you… would you let me braid your hair?” Ridley’s head tilted, still riding on the hope that the compliments to Vera’s hair would win her points. “You’ll love it, I promise, and if you don’t, we’ll just undo it. I can weave in green and red ribbon, for Christmas spirit.” 

xx

“I’m glad that you think so! A lot of people have said it’s a bit weird, a bit ‘jack of all trades’.” Vera only partially understood that metaphor, but understood it to mean that you had basic skills in a lot of different areas, but weren’t an expert at any of them. She didn’t understand why this was a bad thing, she’d always thought that it was important to have a broad understanding of things, and a wide range of skills. Maybe it’s because they were all hobbies and people were only supposed to have a couple of those? But how were you supposed to figure out what hobbies you wanted if you didn’t try some and then discard them? Maybe that’s what childhood and human school was for? Figuring that out? That would make some sense. “It’s just so hard to pick one for a favorite, they’re all so fun. And you make things! I think that’s my favorite part, having something to hold in your hand as physical proof of having done something.”

Vera had made some cool things by now, it was true. “Oh, um, sure.” She was caught a bit off guard by Ridley’s offer. She hadn’t come here expecting anything in return, just a chance to make a friend. But she could let her braid her hair. Vera wasn’t that good at braids, herself. Most days she didn’t do anything with her hair, actually. “Yes. Let’s do that. You can tell me about it, while you do it? Braiding is one of the things I haven’t read many books on. And, the ribbon idea sounds cool, too.”

[vera-lynns]

ronandelgado​:

-

Well, it seemed like he had found his date, if the angry book shoving and the accusatory finger were anything to go by. Ronan just didn’t expect the look of recognition on her face, mostly because he himself had no idea of who this was. The smell told him that she wasn’t human, though, so her reaction at seeing him wasn’t all that surprising. There was a good chance it shouldn’t be very surprising if she was a human. Depending on what he did, people reacted like that sometimes.

“Hi. I’m sure that whatever I did it wasn’t that bad” he said, gently pushing her finger away from his face. He stopped to think for only a second before continuing. “Actually, no. It probably was. But are you sure it was recent enough to still be mad?” That sounded like a better question. Some people could hold a grudge for so long. “Or is it about that time with the sperm whales again? Look, it’s not my fault that they decided to go directly into a mermaids’ settlement, okay? I don’t control them, I just annoyed them a little on… a few occasions and one of them didn’t end very well for onlookers.” 

x

“Am I mad? Of course I’m mad! You’ve kept me waiting for an hour! You’re just lucky that we’re in the library and that I like books. I might have just left otherwise.” Really, being in the library was pretty much the only reason that Vera had waited as long as she did. She didn’t care what the others would say about her bailing, you don’t keep someone waiting for an hour.

“That’s not why I’m pointing though. Just so that we’re clear. These are totally unrelated issues.” She wanted to make that perfectly clear. “It’s you. You’re the horse! They told me that you didn’t exist, so I always just assumed that I was seeing things, but you’re here. You’re real.” Vera was aware that she was rambling, but how else were you supposed to act when your past, that you swear you’d dreamed up, just walks into the library after keeping you waiting for an hour? None of her books had prepared Vera for this! None of them.

[luckythings]

[ronandelgado]

The Library; Blind date event Closed for @vera-lynns​

Ronan wasn’t really planning to participate in the blind dates. He signed his brothers up as a joke, deciding to also put his name there just so they wouldn’t be able to complain too much, but he never expected they’d actually go with it. And Stella – sweet Starfish – also decided to go on one of the dates out of her own volition, and now Ronan had no one to play with him.  So, he ended up going on the date set up for him by the event’s organizers. He decided to do so and arrived at the place almost an hour late, but he went there anyway. But why couldn’t it have been a place more exciting than the library?

He didn’t have anything against books per say. In fact, once every couple decades, he’d have his phases of a few months in which he’d try to find in the books the excitement and the new experiences he craved in real life, but he wasn’t in one of those phases right now. He could only hope the person he was matched with would at least be fun.

Arriving at the library, he didn’t see anyone who could be waiting for their blind date – would they even still be waiting? – so he just walked aimlessly around the isles. Every so often, he’d pick up a book, just to put it back on the shelf upside down and facing backwards. When he passed by someone on their own, he’d approach them and ask: “Hey, you here for the date?”

[vera-lynns]

Her date was a no show. Of course they were. That’s what Vera got for signing up only because Aylin and Silas had nagged her about it. At least they were meeting up at the library, so she wasn’t stuck sitting at a table in a restaurant with everyone looking at her with pity. She’d given up on waiting at the front, and went towards her current favorite section: the craft and hobby books. There was a running joke that she’d probably already read every book in the section, but that was far from true.

Vera didn’t look up at first when she heard someone approaching. When they spoke she angrily shoved the book that she’d been looking at back on the shelf, whirling around. She was going to give him a piece of her mind. Of course, any retort that she had died on her lips when she saw who was actually in front of her. It couldn’t be. Yet she blinked and he was still there. “You!” She said, pointing an accusing finger at him.

[lonemoose]

LANA CONDOR via Instagram

[vera-lynns]

mason-beck​:

It made him happy to see she liked the flower. He liked to think that he was pretty good at gauging which flower suited each person, but… he had run into some mishaps. He wasn’t the most educated in floral symbolism.

Still grinning, he said, “So what are you doing around here today? Got anything good?

x

Vera knew a lot about symbolism and metaphors, thanks to all of the books that she read. She hadn’t looked up much on the meaning of flowers, however. She didn’t really care, flowers were pretty and it was a nice gesture from Mason. She was sure that there were people who cared about that, the different meanings behind all of the flowers, but she just liked that someone was thoughtful enough to give her a flower. That was all the meaning that she needed.

“I found some things that would make some good gifts. I bought some, and I made arrangements to come back later for others. But, oh, I got this!” Vera said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a thin brown paper bag . She opened it carefully, so that the contents didn’t spill everywhere. “It’s some new scrapbooking supplies, paper and decorations and washi tape and stuff. And some pens! Look at how cool these are!”

[vera-lynns]

mason-beck​:

He grinned as Vera came over, always finding her positivity so contagious. He didn’t find that very often in Port Vale until recently. He was definitely enjoying the influx of new people, ideas, and influences. 

“Vera,” he sang in greeting. He already had a flower in mind. He had been trying to give out as many in-season flowers as he could since they had plenty to choose from. He turned and spotted a perfect, light pink Gerbera daisy, giving it a good fluff before holding it out to her. “For you, Madame… I don’t know much about auras but I feel like this color is right for you.”

x

“Mason.” Vera parroted his greeting back towards him. She always had a fun time with Mason. She always left sporting a smile, especially if she hadn’t been wearing one when they first ran into each other. There was just something about him, that made him easy for her to get along with. She felt comfortable around him, in a way that was rare for her to be around most of the other residents of Port Vale. Oh, she got along with pretty much everyone she crossed paths with, part of her friendly nature. But there was a difference between getting along with someone and being friends with them. (She felt she could count her non-selkie friends on both of her hands.)

“Well, I do like pink,” Vera grinned, holding the flower up to her face to sniff for a moment, before pulling it back to admire it. It was a lovely shade of pink, and she thought that it complimented her skirt rather well. “It’s lovely, thank you.”

[mason-beck]

open

Most of the work at the store today was taking phone orders and Mason was getting a bit sick of being locked in the office so he'd opted to set up a stand at the market today. They had gotten some good business so far this morning and, as per usual, he offered a free flower that he thought suited each pretty face that walked by. His mother hated that as a marketing technique but Mason was fine with a little taken out of his paycheck to keep the community happy and involved with the business.

"Hi there, hope you're having a good day... Would you like a flower?"

[vera-lynns]

Vera had been writing down note in her notebook about the market, but looked up when she heard someone talking to her. “Oh, well, if it’s from you then I guess I can take it.” She said, smiling when she recognized Mason. She moved out of the flow of the foot traffic and closer to his stall, no need to create a blockage while she chatted with a friend, afterall. She’d been at the market for a while now, visiting different stalls, making some purchases and writing notes to come back to some other stalls later, making lists of things that she thought the other selkies would like. Some she would tell them about so they could see them for themselves but others she would keep to herself, get them as gifts.

[vera-lynns]

theluminousnorth​:

-

lumi was a bit hesitant to hand over the plant, but since vera was being nice enough to take the time to help her out, she decided to put the plant down. “it’s important that no one takes it,” she reiterated seriously. if she had been on land longer, she would probably have known not to be such protective over a plant. lumi looked lost as vera listed all the options for her, she had no idea where to start. “it’s not a local plant,” she answered thoughtfully. she almost asked for books about plants in the arctic, but lumi was almost confident the plant was not native to the arctic. even if it had been rare, she knew that someone would have recognised it and identified it. she knew it had appeared in antarctica too. “do you have a book about rare plants but not limited to locality?” lumi asked after a long moment of silence while she thought. 

xx

“Of course. I promise that no one will take it.” Vera said. She’d never really seen anyone like this about a plant before, but she’d also never met anyone who’d brought a plant into the library. Maybe it meant a lot to her. Vera wasn’t one to judge. She picked up her pen and a pad of sticky notes, writing Lumi’s name on the note and then sticking it to the plant. She carefully picked it up and put it on the hold shelf behind the desk. “There, nice and safe and everyone knows that it’s yours.” She said, pointing towards the shelf when she came back over.

“Books on rare, non-native plants. Let’s see.” Vera said, pecking out the necessary letters on the keyboard to input the search into the catalog. “Ah! You’re in luck, it looks like we have a couple of those and they’re available!” Vera picked up her pen again, writing down the call numbers onto another sticky note. “Anything else you want me to look for, before we head into the stacks to find these?”

[vera-lynns]

nereidamalik​:

-

Nereida remembered learning about poetry, and how it was all about how the words rhymed or sounded together. It immediately went over her head. She barely understood reading or English in general, there was no way she would enjoy something that was less about the story and more about the words. No wonder she wasn’t connecting to this strange Christmas book. 

“What’s the point in that?” Nereida sighed. “Aren’t books supposed to be about telling stories? Why go through the effort of writing one otherwise?” She didn’t expect Vera to actually give her an answer. It was more of a hypothetical question–a way for her to express how annoying she thought land was. 

“That’s what I assumed from the title,” she shrugged as she held out the book for Vera to take if she wanted. “So far, it’s just about how much that green man hates Christmas and the Whos, which are the people who live in Whoville. A very weird name for a town…” She wondered if you were meant to refer to people by the town they lived in. Was she now a “Port?” Or a Port Valean? She didn’t like the sound of either of those.  

xx

“No, there are stories too. In some of them, at least. Some of them are about words, and how they relate to one another.” Vera said, thinking of the different books that she’d seen in the children’s room, plus the ones she’d read when she was first learning to read. “In the case of the books that don’t really have stories it’s to teach you how to read. There might be a joke carried throughout or a theme, but not really a plot.”

Vera took the offered book, flipping through it. “It looks like this one does have a story.” She said, handing it back to Nereida. “It sounds like you might just need to read more to understand it. As much as Seuss can be understood, at least.”

Whoville was a strange name for a town, there were no two ways around it. But she was sure that there were plenty of real towns that had equally weird names. Besides, it was a rather descriptive name. “It might be a bit weird, but it’s descriptive. It’s the Who’s village. Whoville.”