Nothing gained, nothing ventured .

INTRODUCING aylin topal !

character name: aylin topal

species: selkie

character title: typhoon

age & birthdate: 26 & 4 jan

gender & pronouns: cis female & she/her

birthplace: mediterranean sea

length of time in port vale: nov. 2021

occupation: housekeeper at the mermaid inn 

pinterest !

time: evening

status: closed for @allegra-weaving

          Aylin didn’t really like drinking, but there were days when people were just rude. Tourists somehow seemed to be allowed to be rude to her for doing her job and there were days when she wanted to scream at them. She didn’t want to not have a job though because she needed to stay in Port Vale and staying in town meant that she needed money. So Aylin found herself annoyed at them, unable to yell at them. And it was days like today that she found herself at the bar. It depended on what kind of atmosphere she was feeling as to what bar she choose. When she wanted to feel a bit more upscale and classy, she choose the Houseboat. Today she was pissed and wanted the gritty feel of the Seaman. 

          “I’ve had a very bad day, but I did not yell at anyone. So, I feel like I deserve one of those fancy cocktails. Hit me with whatever one is the easiest to make?” she asked Allegra, tilting her head to the side with a smile. 

Status: Open to all

Where: Starboard Parks and Recreation; just after sunset

Weldon didn’t know how long he had been away from Port Vale. When more mers started getting sick, he wanted to look into it. He didn’t want to put any of his brothers in danger, or any mer for that matter. As soon as he arrived, he grabbed some of his old clothes from Isidore’s place. Which didn’t go as well as he had hoped. The fact of the matter is, Weldon didn’t tell anyone he was leaving, where he was going, or why. In retrospect, not such a good idea.

Weldon figured a stroll through the park would ease his guilty conscience, though he would never openly admit to feeling guilty. He liked taking a narrow trail that winded through a wooded patch, but didn’t expect to see anyone else on the path at this time. He saw their silhouette about 4 meters in front of him, but couldn’t make out who it was. “Uhhh.. Who is that?” Weldon hollered.

          Port Vale was small enough that even Aylin was starting to recognize some of the local people. She did her best to remember different names, but that had never been a strong suit for her. The selkie knew that there were some recent seafolk that had come to land and while she didn’t know the identities of these people just yet, she did recognize some faces. She wanted to know more about what was going on in the sea because that seemed more interesting than whatever the heck Scylla wanted with the lighthouse. Of course she was not going to say that to Scylla’s face even if she wanted to. While she didn’t have much self preservation, she didn’t want to piss off the one person that could prevent her from getting her fur back.

          While it was late at night, Aylin found herself at the park. She wasn’t ready to go home and the park seemed like the best place for her to walk around since she didn’t want to be tempted by the water down by the beach. It was, after all, dangerous for her to swim in the water at night as a human. “It’s Aylin. Are you a ghost?” she asked. The selkie recognized the voice, but hadn’t heard it in a while. 

time: afternoon 

status: closed for @gabidrake​

          Fish. So many fish.

          Aylin loved the research center because she loved getting to see the different fish they had. And there were other seals! She loved looking at the seals. It sort of sucked that they were not able to talk to the seals... like as a seal. But that was the point, she supposed. It was a bit weird if she just had a fur coat made out of seal fur. Still, Aylin wanted her own fur back at some point. So on days when she missed the sea, missed seeing the different fish, she found herself going to the research center, watching the different creatures in their different habitats. 

          “How much do you think I’d have to pay to swim with the fishes?” 

~

Adrian’s lips twitched as he smiled at the younger selkie. “Never a ruin to my day to see you, Aylin,” he corrected.  Again all the protective instincts welled up within him. He wished harm to none, hoping all would learn to get along and support one another, but the selkies came first in his protection.  “And fortunately I still have some donuts for you.” Pulling out a napkin, he reached for one. “How have you been?” 

          That was not some of the opinions of people in my pod, she thought, but didn’t say aloud. Honestly she was better than them anyways. That’s why she was here on land and they were back in the sea. If she thought like that then she wouldn’t miss that life. But of course, she was trying to fit in here. And doing an okay job of it. “Aw, you saved some just for me, that’s so nice of you.” She grinned. “Um, adjusting, I guess. Things are different here. But I like it!” Aylin weirdly enjoyed her job and she liked the people she had met, although things were still a bit strange. “How have you been?” 

@typhoonaylin​

Location: Starboard Park

Being out of season, the park proved to be empty as Maya had expected. She’d needed to get out of her house and clear her head. The villain of her new book had begun to be too personable … which was actually one of her goals, but she needed it to happen later, not so soon.  It would require a massive restructuring of her outline to change the timeframe. Not something she looked forward to doing. Thus the need for fresh air. Too many people had been on the docks, sending her towards the park.  Walking its pathways, she argued with herself over how she wanted to deal with her storyline.

With her mind so focused on the story, Maya didn’t actually notice much about her surroundings.  A truth of which came into sharp focus as she turned with the path and almost walked into another figure. “Oh.” Rocking back on her heels, she almost lost her balance, but managed to catch herself. She took a step back.  “My apologies.”

          Aylin had decided she really liked the park. It was a fun place for her to chill out and just relax in the sun. When she’d lived in the sea, she had loved to sunbath, but it was even more enjoyable as a human. She had always been a relatively active person, even when in the sea, so it was no surprise that whenever she wasn’t working, Aylin preferred to spend all her time outside. These days, she seemed to frequent the park, watching people or at the lighthouse, looking for... whatever she was supposed to be finding there. Today she didn’t have work until later, so she was fine with spending her morning in the park, watching whatever people were there this time of day. 

-

“Oh, really? I’ve met both - they seem nice,” Gemma answered, carefully considering what to say next here. Out of the two, she’d met Vera first. The woman had struck her as somewhat odd, but not really enough to draw conclusions any which way… Silas, though? She was pretty sure the guy was a selkie. “They aren’t from around here either, are they? Have you known each other long?” 

          “They are very nice, yes. Both much nicer than me.” Okay that wasn’t entirely true. Aylin was nice enough, but she also wasn’t entirely trusting of people. And some people didn’t exactly like that. Aylin just knew that she had to be cautious around all the people that lived here. That’s kind of the vibe she had gotten from Scylla. Or maybe well, she was projecting her distrust of Scylla onto everyone else. “No, they are not. Neither am I. We all met a few months back.” She liked most of the selkies. At least the ones that weren’t annoyingly trusting of Scylla. “But you know those people that you just meet and automatically get along with? They’re like my family. And no one messes with my family.” It wasn’t a very veiled threat, but it covered how she felt. 

“Yeah, people back home always had something to say about me too. There’s always assholes.” Piper shrugged, understanding where Aylin was coming from. “But I make a point to not be an asshole as much as possible.” She chuckled and winked at Aylin. “Thanks! There’s a lady who’s lived here a long time, she helped me out. I watch her granddaughter for her sometimes while she does Bingo.” She took a seat as well. “I think alcohol is allowed.”

          “That’s because they have no sense of adventure! Adventure is everything and it’s boring when they tell me not to go on adventures. Like they expect me to sit around all the time,” she sighed. “Where’s the fun in that? If people are going to be assholes, just be assholes back. Only nice people deserve you to be nice back.” She did believe that too. “That’s nice! What’s bingo?” Aylin asked, tilting her head to the side in curiosity. She hadn’t heard that term before. “Okay, well then I think I’d like one of those fancy cocktail things. I saw one with a mini umbrella.” 

-

A friend who didn’t live here, and yet Aylin still saw them… Gemma wondered if that friend was a human, or if the woman had been sent from Assyria. She really didn’t have enough to go on to form decisive conclusions here - but the way Aylin referred to the other people she was here with as friends and then in turn as family certainly gave her pause. Wouldn’t a human know which of those descriptors to use to identify the people they were with? She wasn’t actually positive on that front, but it seemed likely. “Oh? Well, that sounds nice,” she agreed. “Who are they, if you don’t mind me asking? Maybe I’ve met some of them.”

          Aylin didn’t know how to talk to people. Talking to people was very strange and she didn’t think she was very good at it so far. Everyone was just... different than she expected. Her only interaction with humans had been poachers and occasionally fishers that went further into the sea. Her pod had always been far too cautious to send anyone super close to where the humans were, choosing to stay further in the ocean. Aylin knew she wasn’t doing a good job at blending in, but hopefully people just thought she was really weird and nothing else. “I guess, yeah. Uh, well I’m very close with Vera and Silas.” 

Aster regarded her curiously. She’s definitely seen this one around recently, and she couldn’t really put a finger on it but there was something rather different about her. Then again, aside from merfolk, this town didn’t get a lot of newcomers. “Do you come to the museum often?” She asked instead. As much as she thought a lot of the items there were pointless, the place brought a sense of peace to her. Maybe it was the marble walls that seemed to stretch on endlessly or the feeling that she was in a completely different place, completely far away from Port Vale. “Lovely. I was just walking around since it is quite a nice day out. How about we head to the lighthouse?”

          “I just got to town not too long ago. This is my first time visiting the museum,” Aylin answered. It didn’t seem like a bad thing to admit that or give that information away to someone because it wasn’t information that she wanted to use. Aylin was trying to get the upper hand on people here. She didn’t want to tell people any information about herself. Well, not anything that was true. “Have you ever been to the museum? What do you think about it? About all this...” Aylin pointed around her at all the random mermaid things there were. “Do you do that kinda of thing often? Just walking around since it’s nice.” The selkie nodded at the idea of going to the lighthouse. She had yet to really go over there for anything other than seeing it from afar. But she wanted to know more about it. 

Stella knew she could be reckless sometimes, but she didn’t know how to deal with it when other people she didn’t quite understand it were reckless in a way that told her that they didn’t know what they were doing. Maybe Ronan had some unearned confidence, but she liked to think that he at least acted confident about problems. Stella just didn’t get the impression that everything was going to be fun and not a problem in this context. “I’ve also done worse things before! I just don’t want to have to watch someone else go through them!” It was okay if Stella embarrassed herself in private. It got dicey when anyone noticed her doing this sort of thing. Wasn’t so bad. This was very bad!

“I can’t- That doesn’t-” She covered her mouth, and did her best to center her thoughts because they were all over the place. “I can’t help you down from above you. That’s not- It doesn’t make sense.” If she knew what ‘spot’ meant in context, she would have used this phrase, but she didn’t. Stella wondered if maybe there was some third person hiding that she had missed that would be able to help out. It didn’t seem like it, so now all she could do was worry from up high. “It seems pretty high up from here. Falling is bad.”

          Aylin was not very good at thinking things through before she did something. But the good thing was that she had her phone with her, so if they both did get stuck, she could call someone and have them come help her. Hopefully her friends wouldn’t leave her up here for eternity or if they did, hopefully they’d bring her a jacket because it was kind of chilly. Recklessness had been what made Scylla choose her in the first place. If she didn’t do reckless things then she would have never gotten on the sea witch’s radar and she might possibly still be back home with her pod begging them to let her to something fun. “Me too! There was a time with a fish. You know that’s not a good story to tell though. It’s less funny these days.” But Aylin grinned anyways. “I’ll be fine. This seems like so much fun and I could use some fun. And I doubt that we’ll get stuck.” They could just fall off it. 

          “No, no, you’d just.... help me with where I put my feet. I climbed up here somehow, so...” she climbed closer to the other. Climbing was fun and she liked having the legs to be able to climb. Aylin wanted to see the world from this high vantage point... or at least... the park. There weren’t too many people out here on such a cold day, thankfully. “I bet it just feels high. But also I have my cell phone for calling someone if we do get stuck. I doubt my boss would like it if I didn’t come to work because I was climbing and got stuck.” She glanced around. “Hell, I’m Aylin.” 

Status: Open to All Location: Baked by the Deep Bakery

Adrian wiped his hands as he came out to the front of the bakery.  Someone had called in sick, so he would take over the customer service for the morning.  That didn’t bother him.  Sure, he preferred to be doing the hands-on work to create the food, but he also enjoyed meeting the customers and getting to interact with people.  So many people seemed to enjoy coming in for fresh and homemade – probably so they didn’t have to do it for themselves. He didn’t mind doing the work; it felt good to help people by providing food.

“Good morning,” he greeted, his smile warming as the person walked up to the counter. “What can I get you today?”

          Aylin liked to bother the other selkies when they were working or at their places of employment. She enjoyed talking to them and seeing them in their natural habitats on land. It made her feel close to a group of people and she liked that more than she wanted to admit. Back home she was the outcast to a degree. She was the one that didn’t fit in. So she made her way to the bakery, hoping to spot Adrian doing something. She smiled when she saw him. 

          “No need for all the pleasantries. I’m here to ruin your day,” Aylin teased. “Can I have a chocolate donut with sprinkles or have you sold out of all of them.” 

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. 

          Aylin was supposed to be curious about the lighthouse, according to Scylla. But every time she made it over here, Aylin had no idea what was so interesting about a dumb old building that kept ships for sinking. The selkie made her way over to the place again, hoping that something would just... reveal itself to her. She was very tired of looking for clues after all. But she got distracted by someone instead who she’d seen taking photos of all the plaques and stuff around the lighthouse. Aylin should do the same. Maybe that’s where the clue was. Maybe that’s what she was supposed to be looking for. Whatever it was, she was not going to find it sitting around doing nothing. She cautiously approached the person. 

          Looking out at the view, she shrugged at the question. “It’s probably okay when it’s sunny. I haven’t really looked. Every time I’m here I’m more curious about the lighthouse.” She looked at the top of the lighthouse. “I bet the best view is at the top no matter what weather it happens to be outside.” 

   xx

    “Yeah… super small,” Ridley remarked. She’d been pretty sure when she researched Turkey that it was a safe cover story, because who else would be able to call her on it? Port Vale was more of a melting pot than it boasted of being, and she still couldn’t quite shake her nerves at the possibility of being caught as a fraud. Another nervous churn flopped her stomach over at the mention of mermaids, and Ridley gave a light laugh. “So many mermaids… it’s almost weird,” She added, still laughing, but a bit of strain was heard in her tone all the same. “I left because… I wanted to help out a friend, and there was some trouble at home, so it just- it felt, like, a good idea to do, and yeah, it’s- it’s nice here, so… it worked out.”

    Even though they were nowhere closer to figuring out the problems in Assyria. Except every day, Ridley risked turning to seafoam by meeting people just like this. 

   Ready to agree, Ridley nodded - “They are annoying, for sure,” But then it dawned on her, and her hyper-awareness of her failure of appearing totally human, and the threats so near at hand… how many humans, from Turkey, would have had hands-on experience with the suckers of an octopus? Ridley’s mind was literally going to explode. 

    “So, wow, this has been super great meeting you!” She exclaimed, ready to wrap up the meet-cute. Pulling out her phone, she looked expectantly at Aylin. “We should totally hangout again sometime, maybe do more… shopping. Or just, like, whatever, really. Wanna give me your number, we can link again?” 

          Tiny. Aylin had cultivated her fake story with Scylla but now that she was using it, there were tons of gaps in it. She didn’t know how she was going to fill them or learn to fill them. She supposed she’d have to do more research. But that was a problem for the future when she had a chance to look up the information on one of those fancy human machines. “Yeah, so many mermaids.” It was a problem or maybe it wasn’t. That’s why she was here anyways. To gather information on things here in town. “Oh, well you sound like a good friend to have then.” 

          There was obviously more going on in Port Vale than she had been told and it made her angry with Scylla. Not enough to cause problems with the woman, but enough that she was going to have to be more cautious than ever. 

          It would be good to have a friend. Especially someone she knew was into some of the more shady stuff that she needed to get done here in town. She didn’t want to get caught doing something she shouldn’t because that wouldn’t be beneficial. Plus who would she call to help get her out of trouble. Aylin did not want that to be Vera. 

          At the sudden exclamation, she nodded pulling out her cellular device. “Oh, sure! That sounds like a lot of fun.” She put her number in the phone and handed it back over. “I’ll see you around for sure.” 

“I do.” Piper assured with a chuckle. She wouldn’t insult someone to their face. Unless it was Allegra and she’d still only be joking. “It’s a nice dress. You look nice. I had a little help picking out my outfit.” She gestured to her nice pants and blouse. “This would a terrible town to live in if you hated fish.”

          “People back home used to say that to me and mean it in a  bad way. But I never listened to them.” She had thick skin... or well, fur. “You also look lovely. That color really suits you. Oh, who helped you pick out your outfit?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. “It really would be. Also life would generally suck because fish are my favorite food.” The selkie took a seat at the table. “Is it appropriate to order alcohol? Are we allowed to do that? I think a glass of wine sounds nice.” 

     xx

    His brows crinkled in confusion. “What-” Isidore started, wondering if she thought he sold tattooed limbs, like on some sort of DarkNet or whatever was popular with the kids these days. Surely not- but she waved it off, and he let it pass, but a brow stayed furrowed over his dark eyes. “Well, it has to be. Aside from tourists, we have to support each other to make it through the winter. We are… like a pod of seals, or dolphins.” Isidore was pleased with his comparison. 

    There was a pause before Aylin’s attention focused on him, and her defensive posture in return to his question was telling. Isidore’s lips quirked up in a smile. “Of course I am. Everyone is, everyone has something they would rather nobody know. Little secrets, here and there,” His arms crossed as well, mirroring her stance. Isidore shouldn’t toy this way… he shouldn’t, but there was a line to where his patience extended, and selkies existing out of nowhere with him knowing nothing about it had definitely crossed said line. Especially when they came into his damn town. 

   “You want to know things, but you do not want a tattoo. I run a tattoo shop. Usually, paying customers come in, wanting to know things; prices, styles, you see?” He cocked his head to the side. “What sort of things do you want to know, that you think I could help with? I will give you answers, if you give me some, too. Does this sound fair?”

          Aylin was confused now. Why did so many people have to talk weird? Humans always expected everyone to already have a huge working knowledge of a bunch of things. Clearly she had a lot more to learn. She was very confused as to what this person was talking about and she wanted to figure out what it was all about. “But going with the group is never a good idea. It’s better to stand out. Well, not if someone is trying to attack you, but in general. Blending in is not good.” She had never been what her pod considered a team player. Aylin liked to stand out and do what she thought was the best in a situation even if it meant that she was causing trouble. “Chaos... is always an option.” 

          She blinked. Not liking that anyone knew more than she did. The whole point of being here was to know more than anyone. Aylin needed to know more than Scylla and she needed to know more than this man standing before her. She relaxed a little, but continued to narrow her eyes. “I’m an open book,” she responded, knowing for sure that wasn’t the case. The whole life she was building here was fake and she was trying to blend in as best as possible. “Secrets are for people who are just afraid of the truth.” 

          Well, yeah, obviously she wanted to know things. She wanted to know things about this shop and the people that came in here. She wanted to know more about the human world. Aylin needed to know the things that Scylla wanted to know. “Here,” Aylin pulled out a $20 bill and stuck it on the counter. “How about you tell me the things I want to know and I tell you nothing?” 

“You’re an interesting one, Aylin.” Piper laughed and shook her head. Aylin was at least entertaining. “I don’t know the first thing about dating either. I say we just wing it.” She shrugged. “Fish is fine.” If Piper didn’t like fish she’d have a serious problem.

          “I hope you mean interesting in a good way,” she said, crinkling her nose at the compliment. It sounded like a compliment like she’d make. “The internet said that most people wear stuff like this. I had to go get a new dress for it, but I think I look cute.” She twirled around and then took a seat at the booth they were led to. “Good. I also like fish! Kinda have to in a place like this.” Or like the ocean.