The Selkie Man by DarkBlueBella

Official Description:

AU. A summer studying Scottish folktales leads to Bella Swan meeting a stranger unlike anyone she has ever met. Can she let herself believe that myth and legend might also be reality?

The thing I love most about reading fanficton is the variety of stories available. Different genres, period pieces, supernatural fics, aliens, zombies – I love reading them all. So when I stumbled across a conversation on Twitter regarding a fic with Edward as a merman, I paid attention. During that particular conversation, someone mentioned ‘The Selkie Man,’ and I jumped over to FFn to find it. Best decision of that day.

What’s a Selkie? DarkBellaBlue describe them this way:

The selkies were seals in the sea but transformed into humans on land. They could shed their skins and live as a human for a year and a day. Humans sometimes stole their seal skins and hid them to prevent them from leaving. The selkie women could bear children with their human husbands and would stay until they recovered their skins and slipped back into the sea. The selkie men were handsome and charming, bewitching the women they met on land.

This story is told primarily from Bella’s point of view as she moves to the Orkney Islands off the northern coast of Scotland for the summer. DarkBlueBella does a great job describing the land, the homes, and the city without burying us in details. But the really interesting stuff starts happening when Bella notices what she assumes is a seal swimming out at sea…watching her. A few gifts left on her doorstep and a naked man standing naked in her garden (and no, that’s not a euphemism) later, we finally meet Edward.

He walked until he was a step away from her window. Then he smiled at her, and Bella felt her world slide on its axis. The effect of this stranger’s crooked smile was magical. That was the only way to describe it. Bella knew with unexpected certainty that there was no reason to fear him. She loosened the catch on the window frame and it swung open, removing the barrier between them.

There was a moment’s silence as they observed each other.

Then Bella could bear it no longer and blurted out, “Who are you? What do you want?”

The man smiled and gently tilted his head to one side. “Do ye no ken, lass?” he said in a soft lilting voice that calmed Bella and soothed her.

I can’t be the only person out there that loves the lilt of Edward with a Scottish accent murmuring in my ear.

DarkBlueBella writes a story thick with exposition, but the words never become heavy or dull. Her Bella is confident and independent (thank goodness for that!), and her Edward is sweet and mysterious. I found myself wanting to Google terms and places while I was reading, yet I couldn’t tear myself away from the world DarkBlueBella created. And the interactions between Bella and Selkie Edward…totally swoon-worthy.

“We selkies hope to find our true love, our other half. Some never do and always keep looking. But I have found ye. Ye are mine, if ye will hae me.” With that he kissed her fingers and all over the palm of her hand. Then he leaned down and kissed her gently on each cheek and Bella instantly felt calmer. She was still astonished, mystified by his declaration. And now there were new questions about their future. But she looked into his eyes, shining brightly with promises and calm assurances. The questions could wait. She ran her fingers down his face and sighed deeply. In the night light she saw him smile and then she saw nothing at all as he kissed her slowly and intensely.

Yeah, those tender moments grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go…even after the scary foreshadowing of the mythical Finmen. This fic is lovely and has such an original premise. It’s one I’ll be looking forward to seeing in my box!

[dcs_p][/dcs_p]