#1700s classified au

[volturialice]

stronghold of light

/kɑːɹˈlaɪl/ 

full name: Carlisle Cullen

born: London, England, circa 1640 C.E.

au counterparts: Carine, Carlton, Claudius, Carrick

origins and meaning: from the Brythonic element ker, “fort, stronghold” and the (probably) Celtic name Lugus, “light, brightness.” Carlisle is a city in Cumbria, England, originally called Luguvalium by the Romans. “Ker Luguvalium” somehow* evolved into “Carlisle,” which then evolved into a geographic surname, which has since been appropriated for use as a first name. What a journey.

commentary: “stronghold of light?” For the kind, peaceful, enlightened, and sparkly dad/doctor who’s been making the world a better place since the 1640s? Yeah I’d say it’s pretty damn suitable

us popularity over time: Carlisle made a few brief appearances in the US top 1000** in the 1880s and 90s, peaking at #615 in 1893. It hasn’t been back since.

the twilight effect: in 2004, the year before Twilight was published, there were 0 baby boys and 12 baby girls*** named Carlisle in the US. The book helped Carlisle make the tiniest of comebacks for boys—there were 6 little Carlisles born in 2007. But it was the movies that really put the name back on the map: since 2009 there have been an average of 33 American boys named Carlisle per year (40 in 2017!) Not a bad increase considering there were zero in the pre-Twilight era.

how did stephenie do: Carlisle wouldn’t quite have been the Renesmee of his day since it was familiar as a place name and surname, but it would certainly have been unusual as a first name—especially considering that something like 70% of all men from his time had one of ten or so super common names (think John, William, Richard, etc.) A deep dive of digitized records from 13-1600s England revealed plenty of surname Carlisles, but not one first name Carlisle until the 1700s. Whomst can say where stephenie came across it? We may never know. 

verdict: it fits the character well in meaning and overall vibe, if not in geographical/historical context.

* various old names for the city include Caer Liwelydd, Cardeol, Karlioli, and Cærleoil

** since Twilight is an American franchise, I’ll be focusing on US stats

*** since US name data is classified by gender, I have retained that here. It is of course possible that any or all of these people could grow up to identify as a different gender

names masterpost

contribute info or request a name!

[writermich18]

Good Omens Writing Prompt: AU

Reincarnation au requirements:

- Crowley is still a demon, the same demon as canon

- Aziraphale is a reincarnated angel/human soul.

- they were assigned the job of being Earth's Agent for Heaven (reasons classified, level: God only)

- Aziraphale, however, decided to change things up and requested for themself to be turned human and reincarnated through every era or every other era, citing that it is easier to do your job when you're not only in the thick of it but also seeing and recognizing the problem for what it was. They claimed basically that if they don't know what it is like to be human, how can they help the humans if they don't know what the problem is? As an angel, they certainly aren't going to recognize the more mental damages that simple words or actions can bring because they aren't designed with that aspect in mind.

- (there is a more personal reason that Aziraphale admitted to God in the silence of their mind: they wanted to forget, just for a little while, about the War in Heaven. They still couldn't go to sleep without hearing their siblings' breathing or comforting arms around them, and they know the moment they let their siblings go that the nightmares will come and on Earth they won't be able to go their siblings' rooms or pile up in a dog pile to comfort each other and remind each other that the War is over - ignoring the fact that it has simply transferred to Earth. They know that won't happen on Earth because their siblings can't reach them in time while they're on Earth so Aziraphale decides that they will go to therapy when their job us done and will just simply go through reincarnation, do their job that way, and forgot for a while. Aziraphake may be stubborn but the nightmares and PTSD are definitely something Aziraphale is willing to admit to having, especially when everybody else has it as well. They know their limits.)

- Each of Aziraphale's reincarnations are different in appearance and personality and decisions.

- Crowley meets at least 3 of those reincarnations during ancient times, 4 times during the Middle Ages (1100s-1400s, enough time for somebody to die and be reincarnating only 2 generations after), and once - maybe twice - during the 1700s-1800s. It is now the 21st century and the Apocalyspe is brewing.

- to Crowley, he hasn't met his Angelic counterpart yet but he was hoping to meet and then possibly avoid them for the rest of the Apocalyspe possibly convince his counterpart to help him stop it.

- Aziraphale, meanwhile, has been reincarnated as Adam Young's younger sister and is ready to throw hands at all of these bitches. She doesn't know why but some locked away part of her rebels against everything, screaming that she has worked and suffered through too much these past 6000 years and for once could she have a normal life. One hidden deep deep deep part of her rebelled at the idea of losing her home and older brother to the fate.

- that part was enough for the 6 year old little sister of Adam Young, Azla Young, to run to the abandoned airbase, jump in front of her big brother between a tall strange glowing being and a smaller but still tall strange glowing being, and scream at them.

- "NO!" "Wh-?" "NO!" "Azla! Get away from them!" "No!" "Who is this little kid?" "She's my little sister and her name is Azla." "No hurtin'! No more fightin'! TIRED! I'M TIRED! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO ADD TO MY NIGHTMARES? WHY DO YOU HAVE TO FIGHT? I WANNA GO HOME BUT I CAN'T! 'CAUSE YOU'RE FIGHTING! BILLIOND OF INNOCENT PEOPLE ACROSS THE WORLD ARE DYING OR DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU! THEY HAVE TO BURY THEIR LOVED ONES WHEN THEY SHOULD'VE BEEN SPENDING TIME AND JOINING EACH OTHER'S COMPANY! GO HOME! TALK IT OUT! STOP DRAGGING PEOPLE DOWN! YOU'RE ANNOYING AND IT'S ANNOYING BECAUSE I HAVE TO FIX YOUR MISTAKES AND I HAVE MY OWN LIFE TO SORT OUT! GOOD SIDE, BAD SIDE - WHO CARES?! I WANT TO HOLD AND BE HOLD AND LOVE AND BE LOVED BY MY SIBLINGS BUT I CAN'T! BECAUSE YOU DECIDED THAT SIDES ARE A THING AND EARTH IS THE BATTLEGROUND! THIS ISN'T A VATTLEGROUND, THIS IS A HOME WITH PEOPLE AND ANIMALS AND PLANTS! AND YOU'RE DESTROYING IT WITH YOUR STUPID CAT FIGHT! WOMEN UP ALREADY AND TALK IT OUT LIKE REAL WOMEN, YOU COWARDS!" Azla stomped home in a tantrum, dragging her older brother by the arm with her.

- it took the child talking about siblings holding and loving her that made the Metatron realize that the six year old who had just berated it and its demon counterpart was the reincarnated soul of their long missed sibling, Cherubim Aziraphale. Michael will be glad and proud to learn that Aziraphale, her old protege, despite having a different personality, was still the same sassy and spitfire strong willed spirit they were Before.