#after writing to seth

[loveletterstothepast]

Dear Zach,

I want to skip over all the pleasantries and cut right to the chase. I had a huge crush on you when I was in middle school and never approached you. When you saw me and my friends in the mall being perfectly normal you always rolled your eyes and scoffed at us. It used to make me so upset and feel so unbelievably confused. Your friends liked me well enough why couldn’t you. I knew you were older, I think that’s why I always tried to make you notice me back then. I spoke to Micheal R as a friend and never once did I imply I liked you. Never once did I lead him on either even though he would beg me to marry him. Looking back that’s pretty creepy of some highschool boy to talk to me. It was all fair game though since I was young enough to not understand.

When I got into highschool it opened up a whole field of vision for him and you hated me even more which confused me when you added me on Facebook. If you didn’t like me you didn’t have to be in my life.. but that’s not true. Micheal wanted all of his friends to know exactly who he had his eyes on and exactly who they couldn’t touch. I wasn’t even cute. I didn’t even have a great personality. I was a copy pasted girl who was stuck in 2014 tumblr grunge era and wanted nothing more than to enjoy my peaceful emo phase.

He started dating Hennessy. I liked her so much I’d send my then boyfriend to their shared class to give her candy, snacks, and soda. She was so sweet I hadn’t even realized that most of that candy was being shared amongst the group of you misfits. Taking my act of kindness to her as one for all of you. I stopped liking you, I’m not sure why completely. One of the guys from your friend group moved to our school Nathan or something like that.. and he told me everything. From the moment you laid eyes on me you hated me because I made your friend act stupid and you took it for a weakness. Then when he demanded everyone stay away from me but be at least civil towards me, you hated me even more because he put me on a pedestal and you didn’t see the value or my worth just yet.

I lost track of all of you guys. It’s like you all stopped mattering once all of our graduations lined up. Until you started liking my posts on Facebook.

With the deepest dread I will never understand how we happened. You just kept liking my posts until I caved and messaged you like you were some hot catch. When we started talking often and I told you of my little crush back in the day you acted as if you had always known. It really grossed me out but I tried to remember that you had always been this weird cocky guy who thought that the world owed you. I think you expected me to fall for your charm and maybe for a little bit I was interested in it but.. I wasn’t buying what you were selling.

You told me some secrets that will always haunt me and gross me out. I’ll never repeat them except for the one time I spilled the beans about you to my partner. It never leaves my mind though. You also told me how you only dated me because you fell off with Micheal. You didn’t even like me for who I was just yet.. and when I asked you to repeat what you had just said you looked at me like I was the dumb one in our conversation. You based a relationship off of something so petty and expected me to want to stay interested in you. Sex with you was bland and basic and I don’t even know if I did it because I still wanted to try with you or if it was because I was also petty and wanted to say I at least had the guy I mooned over for most of my middle school and highschool life. It wasn’t even worth it though.. it was so awkward and I dried up so fast that I felt like I was going to die of embarrassment. You talked a good game when we would flirt walking around places. We’d giggle until I realized.. you smelled like old spice but not in a good way.. in a ‘I never grew up’ way. You use axe body spray and considered it a cologne and would wear it so thick that it was hard to breathe next to you in the car.

Your cocky demeanor is all an act for the way you lack in other departments. You have a boring personality. You disrespect the people around you and have no regard for their feelings. The only person in your would that exists to you, is you. You got mad when I stopped responding but what woman with morals and values would waste their time on someone like you.

You’re more than a fixer upper. You would be a build from the base up and I’m no construction worker so I was never going to bother once I got to know the real you.

I just wanted to clear the air for my own well being. You disgusted me beyond belief. I was repulsed at every stage of us getting to fully know one another. I regret my decision of pursuing you and you are NOT all that and a bag of chips. What truly set the tone for our relationship was when you told me outright you only did this because it would break Micheal’s heart. That crush he had on me was in 2014-2015. You waited 5-6 years to act out your revenge plot all for that man to have a successful marriage and career. To have two kids and be perfectly fine. You did ALL that to feel like you were above it all.. only to be the grossest man I had ever dated.

I’d like to say, I’ve dated several and most I leave with fondness. The ones that leave sour tastes in my mouth always act like they were the bees knees. If I could erase the thought of ever speaking to you from my brain I would. I wasted time on you when I had other men who valued and cherished me for who I was. Not the alternative aesthetic a 14year old boy fell in love with.

You will always be and always have been a total creep.

Love Izzy

[sternutaries]

Do you ever think about who hurt Nora?

[whumpbug]

okay okay okay so I held back on this one because I asked alternate already BUT. can you put Gene and Cassidy in a sci-fi story. what would they wear what are their roles do you have scene snippets or dialog? sci-fi is my favorite thing ever and as always feel free to ignore if this isn't the vibe!!! i love you bug /p!!!!!

OHOHOHOHOHHOH SETH I LOVE U /P

i am all for a sci-fi vibe. even if star wars is TECHNICALLY a space opera, i love love love the space setting and i would be DELIGHTED to talk about it.

im gonna word vomit on the page first and them ill try my hand at a few drabbles in this au. strap in for ANOTHER very long post. THANK U AGAIN SETH I LOVE UR ASKS I TRULY CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THEM /GEN

okay so. since i'm only really well-versed in star wars sci-fi concepts, this is going to be a vaguely star wars inspired au but i'll try to phrase it in a way thats more applicable to sci-fi in General (its always so fun to translate their jobs and personalities into different settings)

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we'll start with gene. idk why but i'm getting very much a bounty hunter vibe from him. like someone who maybe works for a larger organization or guild hunting down notorious criminals (i mention that he works for an Entity bc i think its sort of important that he doesnt choose his bounties himself. he gets them assigned)

i think he would still do it out of a sense of responsibility because he doesn't think bad people should just be running around like that, but also because. a man's gotta make a living. he's gotta pay the bills.

i can see him having his own little ship that he practically lives out of considering how much he travels, and i feel like he'd get very attached to his ship (much like calliope. sorry calliope you've become a spaceship in this au)

OMG AND ALSO A THOUGHT IS BEING BEAMED INTO MY HEAD.

he wears a mask. you can't see his face when he's out doing jobs. he conceals his face, partially because he doesn't want people to see when hes scared or smug or anything like that and partially for the Swag.

that brings me to his overall outfit. i believe in my heart of hearts that gene would wear something like this (i wish i could credit the artist but i couldnt find it)

except instead of an entire helmet, it would be more of just a black piece of cloth pulled loosely over his mouth and nose. and im also seeing him in a very wide brimmed hat that he can tilt down to Brood pls tell me you guys see the vision.

he'd have a little revolver-looking blaster and knowing him, it'd be set to stun. i don't think he really enjoys bringing people in cold, and does his best to avoid it when he can

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OK now onto cassidy. my beautiful darling boy silver. my sweetiepie.

it was kind of difficult to translate his profession into this setting because. it involves more people other than him.

ultimately i decided that, similar to the modern au, he is a part of an underground business, kind of like a rebellion of sorts, that fight against the injustices of the galaxy robin-hood style. of course, montana is the leader (unfortunately) and cassidy is essentially his right hand man

i can see cassidy traveling planet to planet, dismantling corrupt governments, providing for the needy, and having an absolute blast doing it, but his methods are. very illegal. and there is a growing bounty on his head.

nearly every major government wants specifically him locked away for life because of the destruction he's caused, and of course they hire the very best bounty hunter around to track him down.

and of course cassidy is a slippery fellow

cue their little cat and mouse thing they've got going on. gene wants to catch him because if he does, he'd practically be set for life. cassidy runs away because, well. he has a job to do. he can't get caught, especially by the weirdly attractive masked dude that talks to his spaceship.

and lastly, here is what i think cassidy's fit would vaguely look like:

he loves ponchos he can't help it. they're too comfy.

he too would have a little revolver-blaster thing and of course, his knife and hat. one thing that it different is the stolen jewelry. i decided that instead of stealing jewelry from the awful people, he takes mechanical/droid parts for his little buddy that he keeps around named SC-071-1 (haha. ahaha get it. please tell me someone gets it.)

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OK ONTO THE DRABBLES AND SNIPPETS! you get 3 because im feeling Generous /pos. here in the first little snippet for you. this is the two meeting in a bar and not wanting to make a scene (gene tracked him there) (i just wanted to write a silly tense scene)

༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶

Cassidy heard Gene before he saw him.

The man was always stomping around in a way no one could quite replicate. His footsteps were deliberate, cold, and unmistakable.

And they were right behind him.

The business end of a blaster was suddenly pressed into Cassidy's ribs and his mouth went dry.

"I'll have a Jet Juice. On the rocks."

Gene tossed the bartender a coin, to which he grumbled indignantly and began on the drink.

Cassidy risked a sideways glance at the bounty hunter. His expression was unreadable and hidden as always, and he didn't even turn to look at Cassidy. Instead, Gene leaned close and spoke lowly into his ear.

"Make a scene and you're dead. Try to run and you're dead. Turn on your comm and you're dead. Am I clear?"

Cassidy smirked, and mocked a salute. "Loud 'n clear, sir."

Gene gave a curt nod and turned to the bar. The bartender slid him his drink, which he downed in one go, and he was just about to order another when--

He sputtered when he felt something pressed into a certain.. important area. He blanched.

"Didn't say anything about fightin' fire with fire, did you, cowboy?" Cassidy grinned. The sight of the big bad bounty hunter squirming because his family jewels were threatened never got old.

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DRABBLE 2 HERE WE GO. this one is gene finding cassidy after a mission gone sour. cassidy was effectively abandoned by montana with the promise that he would come back for him.

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The whole mission was a bust from the beginning.

Cassidy should have known. He had a gut feeling-- that it was some sort of trap specifically designed for the organization. When he brought it up to Montana, he said that it was just Cassidy being paranoid. And, of course, he believed him. He always did

And now, there he was, beaten within an inch of his life and left to the elements by the government higher-ups.

They really didn't like people messing with their system.

Cassidy took a labored breath for what felt like the millionth time. Each time it was getting harder. His arms were pinned awkwardly above his head and to fill his lungs, he had to pull himself up. It quickly became exhausting.

The worst part was the cold. Montana had mentioned that this planet's average temperature was a little below what Cassidy was used to, but he didn't mention that the city they were infiltrating was located near the northern pole of the planet.

It was freezing.

Cassidy had long since stopped shivering.

He let his head loll forward. He wasn't sure he had the strength to wait for Montana anymore. He wasn't sure he had the strength for anything anymore. Even keeping his eyes open seemed a monumental task.

So, he let them fall shut.

••••

When he woke up, it was because he registered his center of gravity tilting on it's axis.

There was a body pressed against his. And it was warm.

If he had any remaining strength, he would have clung to his rescuer like there was no tomorrow. Instead, he settled for letting his head fall against the person's chest as he let out a pitiful whine.

A hand chafed up and down his shoulder. "Just relax. We'll get you warm. Don't you dare try to run off, Silver."

He wouldn't dream of it. Not when he could feel himself melting to putty in the arms of this stranger.

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LAST DRABBLE it's gene's turn. in this au he has spasthma (space asthma) and sometimes it hinders his job in Not good ways. and cassidy isn't heartless.

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Cassidy really wasn't thinking when he threw the smoke bomb. All he knew was that the damned bounty hunter was catching up and he needed to throw him off.

He did not expect him to fall to his knees with a guttural coughing fit.

It would have been so easy to leave him there to rot, to hop in his ship and escape without looking back.

But when did Cassidy ever take the easy way out?

"Shit," He hissed, darting back to where Gene was kneeled with a palm supporting him on the ground.

He was clutching at his chest, choked gasps leaving him intermittently. His eyes looked vaguely panicked.

"C-Can't--" He wheezed, getting cut off by another coughing fit. He looked as if he was about to topple over.

Cassidy caught him by the arm and dragged him away from the busy street. He propped him up against an wall tucked into an alleyway and began rummaging around in his bag.

One of the younger kids with the Montana's crew had the same condition with all the same symptoms Gene was having right now. The kid was pretty forgetful, and Cassidy always made sure he had an extra rebreather on him. Just in case.

Gene was going to owe him big time.

His fingers finally grazed what he was looking for and he yanked it out, fumbling to get it open. He shook the small canister and pressed it to Gene's lips.

"You have to puff. Just try, okay? Just a little." Cassidy grabbed Gene's hand and placed it on his chest, exaggerating his own breathing to show him what to strive for.

Gene hiccuped slightly before taking a flimsy inhale. He breathed out and tried at it again, and found it gradually got easier.

When he could finally take a deep breath, he collapsed against the wall, panting. His hand didn't leave Cassidy's chest.

"Thank-- thank you," He whispered.

Cassidy smiled.

"Does this mean I get a headstart now?"

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SETH thank you SO VERY MUCH for this ask and this au. i think i may like it more than their original au GOD i love them so so so much FHDJKFH. thank u for the requests and as always PLS dont be afraif to send more if the mood striked you but no pressure ofc! /gen

hope you enjoy my rambling bc this post was LONGGGGG

[mae-i-scribble]

Summary:

“Seth, you’d better start explaining right now or else.” Lucy snaps, fisting her brother’s suit collar in one hand. Chise walks towards them, hands up appeasingly as she says, “Lucy, it’s okay-” Lucy glares at her friend, keeping her brother tight in her grip. “And you, what is this about being sold? Don’t tell me that my brother-” “Lucy, it’s not like that,” Seth says hurriedly. “I can’t say my hands are completely clean but any sales I make-” “So you did sell her,” she growls, jabbing an accusing finger in her brother’s chest. “Which means you’re not better than that thing back there. Some low-life, no good, rotten piece of-” “Lucy!” Chise’s sharp cry surprises her enough to let go of her brother, blinking as her friend gently places a hand on her arm. “Lucy it really wasn’t like that. I wanted to be auctioned.” “You…” Lucy doesn’t have anything to say to that, she’s too flabbergasted to snap a retort. Or: A day out leads to Lucy learning the unsavory truth behind how Chise knows her brother. She takes it about as well as expected.

[bluberimufim]

I just discovered that there's a biblical figure named Seth who has absolutely nothing to do with the Seth that I named my protagonist, Seth, after

[shmorp-mcdurgen]

Alternate AU: Turning Point

Seth had hit rock bottom, barely making it by and feeling lost. Yet he, with the unfortunate help of his old “friend”, somehow manages to dig himself even deeper.

TW: blood, violence, hinted childhood trauma, references to alcoholism and manipulation

Notes: Seth standalone story yippie! this is nearly 2,500, being decently short. Basically. Before the BPS Seth got into trouble. A lot. This being one of those instances

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March 14th 1993.

Seth missed his birthday again.

It was a simple slip of the mind of course, but it had been happening nearly every year; going for around a week after his birthday before realizing he missed the chance to celebrate it at all. He supposed it didn’t matter anyway, as no one was there to celebrate with him. He had spent the last few birthday’s drinking himself into a blackout with people he barely knew nor liked, though this year the option didn’t seem as fun as it used to, and he was tired of feeling like he could barely stand every morning.

Seth thought to himself as he smoked a cigarette, waiting silently as he sat on the cold bench at the bus stop. He was wearing an unbuttoned, black, cheap hoodie, along with a grey shirt and jeans. His black hair was long, draping slightly over his shoulders, and strands of it hung over his face. His facial hair was messy, and his dark brown eyes had dark circles around them. He had a few piercings, being two silver earrings and a nose ring. He knew very well he looked as tired and haggard as he felt, though he didn’t care. He just needed to get home, hoping he had enough money in his pocket for the bus there.

When he saw the bus rolling down the street, he stood up, feeling an all too familiar pain in his legs. Every single time he felt his joints pop and sting, he remembered how he should’ve gone to the hospital years ago and be given a diagnosis for once. Alas, no one believed his child self when he complained, so there he was; wondering if he was going to have to use a walker before he was thirty.

He walked onto the bus, handing the money to the driver before sitting near the back, seeing that there was no one else sitting nearby. He sighed, supporting his head with his hand as he waited for the bus to move, wondering when the last time he slept well was. After a little while, the bus stopped elsewhere in town, Seth stepping off before continuing his walk. He saw the bus pass by, seeing it roll down the street before grabbing his pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lighting up another one as he passed under the orange-yellow streetlights.

As he walked down the street, his natural limp somewhat apparent as he moved, he passed by the local junkyard, seeing the beat up cars and metal scrap lying around the large lot. He remembered he and a few of his “friends” would hang out there after drinking at the bar, breaking random junk and talking about whatever they got into since they last spoke to each other. Now that Seth thought about it, he realized he hadn’t seen any of them in a while, and he wasn’t necessarily hoping to see them again.

He wondered if he should cut through the junkyard like he normally would, as it was quicker than going around the block to get to his apartment. However, as he thought to himself, staring at the chain-link fence, he began to hear something from somewhere down the street.

“Hello?!” The voice sounded as if it was coming from a radio of some sort, discordant and unnatural. “Can…c-can anyone help me?!”

Seth felt a pit in his stomach grow as he listened close to the sounds of whatever was down the street, suddenly feeling…afraid. He didn’t want to entertain the idea of it being one of the so called “alternates” that have been popping up frequently around that time, though when he caught a glimpse of it, he realized he should.

The thing was stumbling around, partially covering its grotesque face, which from what Seth could see, was mostly jagged teeth in a large maw. It was wearing what seemed like a police uniform, which was stained in splotches of red. It was screaming, groaning in either pain or general discomfort. When Seth saw it appear from behind one of the buildings, he backed away, looking towards the fence to his right before realizing that the shortcut was the better alternative.

He hastily climbed over it, landing on the dirt before turning around, still hearing the faint screaming as he backed away into the junkyard. He didn’t think it saw him, though despite that, he decided to walk further into the yard, weaving in between rusted cars as he tried to shake off the feeling of dread in his chest; the feeling that something bad was about to happen to him. He was almost at the opposite edge of the junkyard, seeing the other fence before he prepared to climb over it.

“HEY!”

Seth felt his soul get startled out of him before he turned around and let his breath out. Luckily, or unluckily for him, it wasn’t the owner of the property; instead…it was arguably worse. It was one of his aforementioned…“friends;” a man he couldn’t remember the last name of, though from what he remembered, the man’s name was Holt.

“Jesus Christ…” Seth sighed, staring at Holt, who seemed particularly pissed off. “The hell do you want?”

“Where were you?” Holt asked with a hint of aggression in his voice. “We haven’t seen you in over a month.”

“So what? I stopped drinking a while ago.” Seth answered. “Thought you’d figure that out.”

Seth glanced behind Holt, seeing two other goons standing to the side of him; unlike Holt, Seth couldn’t remember their names at all. He mentally called them Fuckwad 1 and 2.

“You know how many drinks I bought for you?” Holt asked. “I was just trying to be your friend, yet you never thought to pay me back.”

“Oh…this is what this is about?” Seth asked, taking his cigarette out of his mouth and throwing it in front of Holt’s feet. He stared down at the man in front of him, suddenly remembering how much shorter Holt was than he remembered. “Listen, if you’re gonna beg someone for money, go find someone else to bother, alright? I’ve had a long night.”

Seth turned to walk away, but was stopped when Fuckwad 1 and 2 stood in front of him, stopping him in his tracks; oh boy.

“Listen Seth, you don’t just fucking…abandon your friends like that.” Holt stated as Seth turned back towards him.

“First off, none of you bastards are my friends,” Seth stated, his nose twitching slightly. “And secondly, I never abandoned you. I left cause I’d rather not live off of booze and end up on the street again, okay? Why don’t you and your group leave me be instead of acting like a sorry piece of shit that deserves my money.”

Holt seemed slightly intimidated by Seth’s steely gaze, though decided to push further despite it. “What kind of pathetic, cheap piece of shit are you?” He questioned. “Look, you were nothing before we met you. We helped you get on your feet; I mean, so many people fear you now! You’re a monster in a fight against those losers, yet you thank me like this?”

“I only fought cause I needed the money, no other reason.” Seth stated, leaning over Holt slightly. “I’m not doing it for fucking glory; if anything, those fights made my life worse. I don’t care about the fights, I don’t care about you or your friends, and I sure as hell don’t need you to make things worse for me by bringing me back to that fucking bar.”

Seth leaned away, backing up and pushing the other two out of the way, preparing to head home. “You used me. I don’t think you deserve thanks.”

“Look at this sack of shit.” Holt said, looking for approval from his friends. “No wonder no one loves you.”

Seth froze when he heard that statement.

“Fuck this dude, man.” One of the other men said. “It’s not worth it.”

“What did you say?” Seth turned slightly, seeing that Holt was still staring at him.

“You think I never listened to your rambles when you were drunk off your ass?” Holt continued, despite one of his friends being visibly uncomfortable about it. “I mean…I’m sure people would like to know about your past, right?”

“For fucks sake man, let’s get out of this dump.” The other man’s statement didn’t even register in Seth’s mind.

“What the hell do you know?” Seth asked, his voice low and gravely.

“Oh…I don’t know…remember when you told me about the closet?”

That

Mother

Fucker.

Seth’s fists curled as he approached Holt, fire in his eyes. “How the fuck do you know about that?” He questioned.

Holt had a stupid cocky look on his face. “You want me to tell them about it?”

Seth’s nose twitched again before he curled his fist even harder, his knuckles popping; that’s it. He slammed his fist against Holt’s nose, breaking it almost instantly. He stepped back, groaning as he held his hand over it, his eyes watering and blood seeping through his fingers. Seth grasped the front of Holt’s jacket, holding him closer. “Listen to me, and listen close…” Seth growled. “If I catch you in my sight again, I won’t be so nice, you hear? You pull any shit, and I’ll gut you like a fucking fish, you understand?”

Holt didn’t respond, but instead gave a slight nod, his hand reaching into his pants pocket. “U-Uh huh…” He said, flicking open the switchblade in his hand. “I get it.”

Seth barely caught a glimpse of the weapon before Holt slashed at him, lightly grazing Seth’s face. He yelled in surprise, stumbling back and hunching over as he held the slash with his hand. It luckily didn’t seem to hit anything important; though it did leave a large gash in his top lip, and it lightly grazed his bottom lip and nose. It stung like hell as the cool night air hit the open wound, blood pouring down his face and staining his clothes.

“DUDE!” One of Holt’s friends ripped the knife from his hand as the other scratched the back of his head. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“He attacked me first! You guys fucking saw it!” Holt yelled.

“Yeah, but a fucking knife?!” The second friend asked.

“Dude, we need to get out of here before the cops get called…” The first friend sighed.

“YOU SHITHEAD!”

Holt glanced back at Seth, barely processing that he was holding a steel bar in his hand, lunging towards him with it. He didn’t have the chance to react before Seth slammed it against the side of his head, a loud yell coming from Holt as he fell to the ground, his stunned friends backing away.

“Oh fuck this—” One of them muttered before high-tailing it out of there.

Holt felt immensely disoriented, and his head throbbed from the large gash on the side of his skull, though didn’t have the time to recuperate before Seth bashed his shin with the pipe, it audibly cracking. Holt screamed again, Seth staring down at him before raising the pipe, his eyes wide and bloodshot before hands grasped the pipe in his hand. He looked to see one of Holt’s friends trying to prevent him from delivering another blow before Seth let go of the pipe and elbowed him as hard as he could in the stomach, causing him to fall nearly immediately after.

Holt saw his knife lying on the ground, grasping it before weakly standing up, nearly passing out when he felt the sharp pain in his cracked leg. Seth stared at him, storming towards him before Holt slashed at him, causing a long gash to appear in Seth’s chest, tearing the clothes over it and staining them with blood. Seth punched Holt in the stomach as he yelled, grasping Holt’s hand before wrestling the knife out of it, throwing it to the dirt below.

Seth slammed Holt against one of the old cars, cracking the side window as he began to throw punch after punch, bloodying up his knuckles and causing blood to pour down Holt’s face and chest from the gashes. Seth wrapped his bruised hands around the man’s neck, squeezing until his yells were nothing but choked groans. Holt stared up at Seth’s fury-filled eyes, though when Seth met his gaze his gaze began to soften.

Seth could sense something emitting from Holt’s stare; not cockiness, not malice, nothing even close.

He was scared.

He was fucking terrified.

Holt believed whole-heartedly that he was about to die. Seth was feared, just like he had said.

He really was a monster, huh?

Seth let go of Holt’s neck as he slinked to the ground, falling on his side as he gasped, coughing as he held his now red throat. Seth glanced up, seeing his friend on the ground around ten feet away, staring at him with pure fear in his eyes; Seth hated it. Seth focused his gaze on the man lying next to his boots before grimacing. “Get up.” He growled, half wanting to prove to himself Holt was alright, and that he didn’t hurt him as badly as it seemed. Holt didn’t budge however, barely moving at all. “G…GET UP!” Seth shouted.

Holt, whether out of fear or desperation, stood up, and limped away, his friend helping him stand when Holt made it to him. Seth stared at the two, trembling as he felt the fear coming from them. “…get out of my fucking sight.” He said quietly. Holt hurried as much as he could on a cracked leg, luckily being helped by his one remaining friend before they disappeared out of sight.

Seth’s furious expression softened as he sat on the ground, leaning against the car behind him. His elbows stung, and he could feel blood running from his chest and lip, but when he saw the blood that wasn’t his own staining his hands, he felt…sadness. He furrowed his brows, beginning to breathe heavily before grasping his hair in his hands and bouncing his leg up and down.

He felt adrenaline coursing through his veins, though could still feel the exhaustion creeping up on him. He hurt, and he had no clue how to even begin to process how he was feeling emotionally. The discomfort and pain in his body only made everything he felt more unbearable; even the cool dirt under him felt like he was sitting on cold pushpins. It was all too much, and the guilt that was beginning to set in forced the tears out of his eyes, despite how much he wanted to keep them inside.

Maybe Holt was right. Maybe there was a reason no one loved him.

[imjustli]

I'm so fucking funny

[yeoldenews]

A Guide to Historically Accurate Regency-Era Names

I recently received a message from a historical romance writer asking if I knew any good resources for finding historically accurate Regency-era names for their characters.

Not knowing any off the top of my head, I dug around online a bit and found there really isn’t much out there. The vast majority of search results were Buzzfeed-style listicles which range from accurate-adjacent to really, really, really bad.

I did find a few blog posts with fairly decent name lists, but noticed that even these have very little indication as to each name’s relative popularity as those statistical breakdowns really don't exist.

I began writing up a response with this information, but then I (being a research addict who was currently snowed in after a blizzard) thought hey - if there aren’t any good resources out there why not make one myself?

As I lacked any compiled data to work from, I had to do my own data wrangling on this project. Due to this fact, I limited the scope to what I thought would be the most useful for writers who focus on this era, namely - people of a marriageable age living in the wealthiest areas of London.

So with this in mind - I went through period records and compiled the names of 25,000 couples who were married in the City of Westminster (which includes Mayfair, St. James and Hyde Park) between 1804 to 1821.

So let’s see what all that data tells us…

To begin - I think it’s hard for us in the modern world with our wide and varied abundance of first names to conceive of just how POPULAR popular names of the past were.

If you were to take a modern sample of 25-year-old (born in 1998) American women, the most common name would be Emily with 1.35% of the total population. If you were to add the next four most popular names (Hannah, Samantha, Sarah and Ashley) these top five names would bring you to 5.5% of the total population. (source: Social Security Administration)

If you were to do the same survey in Regency London - the most common name would be Mary with 19.2% of the population. Add the next four most popular names (Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah and Jane) and with just 5 names you would have covered 62% of all women.

To hit 62% of the population in the modern survey it would take the top 400 names.

The top five Regency men’s names (John, William, Thomas, James and George) have nearly identical statistics as the women’s names.

I struggled for the better part of a week with how to present my findings, as a big list in alphabetical order really fails to get across the popularity factor and also isn’t the most tumblr-compatible format. And then my YouTube homepage recommended a random video of someone ranking all the books they’d read last year - and so I present…

The Regency Name Popularity Tier List

The Tiers

S+ - 10% of the population or greater. There is no modern equivalent to this level of popularity. 52% of the population had one of these 7 names.

S - 2-10%. There is still no modern equivalent to this level of popularity. Names in this percentage range in the past have included Mary and William in the 1880s and Jennifer in the late 1970s (topped out at 4%).

A - 1-2%. The top five modern names usually fall in this range. Kids with these names would probably include their last initial in class to avoid confusion. (1998 examples: Emily, Sarah, Ashley, Michael, Christopher, Brandon.)

B - .3-1%. Very common names. Would fall in the top 50 modern names. You would most likely know at least 1 person with these names. (1998 examples: Jessica, Megan, Allison, Justin, Ryan, Eric)

C - .17-.3%. Common names. Would fall in the modern top 100. You would probably know someone with these names, or at least know of them. (1998 examples: Chloe, Grace, Vanessa, Sean, Spencer, Seth)

D - .06-.17%. Less common names. In the modern top 250. You may not personally know someone with these names, but you’re aware of them. (1998 examples: Faith, Cassidy, Summer, Griffin, Dustin, Colby)

E - .02-.06%. Uncommon names. You’re aware these are names, but they are not common. Unusual enough they may be remarked upon. (1998 examples: Calista, Skye, Precious, Fabian, Justice, Lorenzo)

F - .01-.02%. Rare names. You may have heard of these names, but you probably don’t know anyone with one. Extremely unusual, and would likely be remarked upon. (1998 examples: Emerald, Lourdes, Serenity, Dario, Tavian, Adonis)

G - Very rare names. There are only a handful of people with these names in the entire country. You’ve never met anyone with this name.

H - Virtually non-existent. Names that theoretically could have existed in the Regency period (their original source pre-dates the early 19th century) but I found fewer than five (and often no) period examples of them being used in Regency England. (Example names taken from romance novels and online Regency name lists.)

Just to once again reinforce how POPULAR popular names were before we get to the tier lists - statistically, in a ballroom of 100 people in Regency London: 80 would have names from tiers S+/S. An additional 15 people would have names from tiers A/B and C. 4 of the remaining 5 would have names from D/E. Only one would have a name from below tier E.

Women's Names

S+ Mary, Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah      

S - Jane, Mary Ann+, Hannah, Susannah, Margaret, Catherine, Martha, Charlotte, Maria

A - Frances, Harriet, Sophia, Eleanor, Rebecca

B - Alice, Amelia, Bridget~, Caroline, Eliza, Esther, Isabella, Louisa, Lucy, Lydia, Phoebe, Rachel, Susan

C - Ellen, Fanny*, Grace, Henrietta, Hester, Jemima, Matilda, Priscilla

D - Abigail, Agnes, Amy, Augusta, Barbara, Betsy*, Betty*, Cecilia, Christiana, Clarissa, Deborah, Diana, Dinah, Dorothy, Emily, Emma, Georgiana, Helen, Janet^, Joanna, Johanna, Judith, Julia, Kezia, Kitty*, Letitia, Nancy*, Ruth, Winifred>

E - Arabella, Celia, Charity, Clara, Cordelia, Dorcas, Eve, Georgina, Honor, Honora, Jennet^, Jessie*^, Joan, Joyce, Juliana, Juliet, Lavinia, Leah, Margery, Marian, Marianne, Marie, Mercy, Miriam, Naomi, Patience, Penelope, Philadelphia, Phillis, Prudence, Rhoda, Rosanna, Rose, Rosetta, Rosina, Sabina, Selina, Sylvia, Theodosia, Theresa

F - (selected) Alicia, Bethia, Euphemia, Frederica, Helena, Leonora, Mariana, Millicent, Mirah, Olivia, Philippa, Rosamund, Sybella, Tabitha, Temperance, Theophila, Thomasin, Tryphena, Ursula, Virtue, Wilhelmina

G - (selected) Adelaide, Alethia, Angelina, Cassandra, Cherry, Constance, Delilah, Dorinda, Drusilla, Eva, Happy, Jessica, Josephine, Laura, Minerva, Octavia, Parthenia, Theodora, Violet, Zipporah

H - Alberta, Alexandra, Amber, Ashley, Calliope, Calpurnia, Chloe, Cressida, Cynthia, Daisy, Daphne, Elaine, Eloise, Estella, Lilian, Lilias, Francesca, Gabriella, Genevieve, Gwendoline, Hermione, Hyacinth, Inez, Iris, Kathleen, Madeline, Maude, Melody, Portia, Seabright, Seraphina, Sienna, Verity

Men's Names

S+ John, William, Thomas

S - James, George, Joseph, Richard, Robert, Charles, Henry, Edward, Samuel

A - Benjamin, (Mother’s/Grandmother’s maiden name used as first name)#

B - Alexander^, Andrew, Daniel, David>, Edmund, Francis, Frederick, Isaac, Matthew, Michael, Patrick~, Peter, Philip, Stephen, Timothy

C - Abraham, Anthony, Christopher, Hugh>, Jeremiah, Jonathan, Nathaniel, Walter

D - Adam, Arthur, Bartholomew, Cornelius, Dennis, Evan>, Jacob, Job, Josiah, Joshua, Lawrence, Lewis, Luke, Mark, Martin, Moses, Nicholas, Owen>, Paul, Ralph, Simon

E - Aaron, Alfred, Allen, Ambrose, Amos, Archibald, Augustin, Augustus, Barnard, Barney, Bernard, Bryan, Caleb, Christian, Clement, Colin, Duncan^, Ebenezer, Edwin, Emanuel, Felix, Gabriel, Gerard, Gilbert, Giles, Griffith, Harry*, Herbert, Humphrey, Israel, Jabez, Jesse, Joel, Jonas, Lancelot, Matthias, Maurice, Miles, Oliver, Rees, Reuben, Roger, Rowland, Solomon, Theophilus, Valentine, Zachariah

F - (selected) Abel, Barnabus, Benedict, Connor, Elijah, Ernest, Gideon, Godfrey, Gregory, Hector, Horace, Horatio, Isaiah, Jasper, Levi, Marmaduke, Noah, Percival, Shadrach, Vincent

G - (selected) Albion, Darius, Christmas, Cleophas, Enoch, Ethelbert, Gavin, Griffin, Hercules, Hugo, Innocent, Justin, Maximilian, Methuselah, Peregrine, Phineas, Roland, Sebastian, Sylvester, Theodore, Titus, Zephaniah

H - Albinus, Americus, Cassian, Dominic, Eric, Milo, Rollo, Trevor, Tristan, Waldo, Xavier

# Men were sometimes given a family surname (most often their mother's or grandmother's maiden name) as their first name - the most famous example of this being Fitzwilliam Darcy. If you were to combine all surname-based first names as a single 'name' this is where the practice would rank.

*Rank as a given name, not a nickname

+If you count Mary Ann as a separate name from Mary - Mary would remain in S+ even without the Mary Anns included

~Primarily used by people of Irish descent

^Primarily used by people of Scottish descent

>Primarily used by people of Welsh descent

I was going to continue on and write about why Regency-era first names were so uniform, discuss historically accurate surnames, nicknames, and include a little guide to finding 'unique' names that are still historically accurate - but this post is already very, very long, so that will have to wait for a later date.

If anyone has any questions/comments/clarifications in the meantime feel free to message me.

Methodology notes: All data is from marriage records covering six parishes in the City of Westminster between 1804 and 1821. The total sample size was 50,950 individuals.

I chose marriage records rather than births/baptisms as I wanted to focus on individuals who were adults during the Regency era rather than newborns. I think many people make the mistake when researching historical names by using baby name data for the year their story takes place rather than 20 to 30 years prior, and I wanted to avoid that. If you are writing a story that takes place in 1930 you don’t want to research the top names for 1930, you need to be looking at 1910 or earlier if you are naming adult characters.

I combined (for my own sanity) names that are pronounced identically but have minor spelling differences: i.e. the data for Catherine also includes Catharines and Katherines, Susannah includes Susannas, Phoebe includes Phebes, etc.

The compound 'Mother's/Grandmother's maiden name used as first name' designation is an educated guesstimate based on what I recognized as known surnames, as I do not hate myself enough to go through 25,000+ individuals and confirm their mother's maiden names. So if the tally includes any individuals who just happened to be named Fitzroy/Hastings/Townsend/etc. because their parents liked the sound of it and not due to any familial relations - my bad.

I did a small comparative survey of 5,000 individuals in several rural communities in Rutland and Staffordshire (chosen because they had the cleanest data I could find and I was lazy) to see if there were any significant differences between urban and rural naming practices and found the results to be very similar. The most noticeable difference I observed was that the S+ tier names were even MORE popular in rural areas than in London. In Rutland between 1810 and 1820 Elizabeths comprised 21.4% of all brides vs. 15.3% in the London survey. All other S+ names also saw increases of between 1% and 6%. I also observed that the rural communities I surveyed saw a small, but noticeable and fairly consistent, increase in the use of names with Biblical origins.

Sources of the records I used for my survey: 

Ancestry.com. England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1988 [database on-line].

Ancestry.com. Westminster, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935 [database on-line].

[crazyk-imagine]

Hi, I was thinking Jacob Black x Reader. Where Jacob was waiting for Reader to come out of school till he heard commotion in front of the school and saw Reader fighting a bully who is a guy. She has a bruised lip and bleeding nose. Jacob hurriedly pick up Reader and take her to Emily’s so she can chill out and so Emily can patch her up. The pack saw her and they started asking questions till Emily started lecturing her.

Jealousy and Pack Scolding's

Pairing: Jacob Black x Uley!reader

Characters: Jacob Black, Uley!reader, Paul Lahote, Jared Cameron, Embry Call, Leah Clearwater, Seth Clearwater, Quil Ateara V, Brady Fuller, Collin Littlesea

Warnings: Angst, fluff, Paul being an idiot, Sam not liking the imprinting, this was actually kind of cute, I think I made Jake a likable character (for me), Emily is an angel, Sam and Emily are my fav, reader has avoided making eye contact with Jake bc she has a crush, Sam knows whats up, Embry just wants his imprint, Paul is such a big brother here, love writing for the wolfpack, it's so much fun, reader knows about imprints

Word Count: 2,431

A/N: Ask and you shall receive... this was fun and totally not inspired by Jake fics where he's a little jealous shit

I've aged probably everyone sooo, Sam is 26, Emily is 25. Leah is 23. Jared and Paul are 19 (in a nearby community college) and just one semester from graduating. Jake, Reader and Embry are 18. Quil, Seth, Brody are 17. Cam and Seth are 16

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He kicks his bike stand up, so it stays upright while he waits for you to exit the school. He crosses his arms, not wanting anyone to talk to him, hoping he looks “menacing” enough for his classmates to get the hint and steer clear of him.

He knows Quil and Embry made their way back to Emily's since Sam wants them to do their patrol shift as soon as they can once they finished with their last class.

He couldn't complain much considering he was able to go home and change before heading back to pick you up so he could successfully switch shifts with Embry, which annoys him since Sam basically ordered him to pick you up.

He’d be more okay with it if you two were friends- or even talking; he doesn’t know why he was put to the job since you two aren’t close- or at least, compared to Jared and Paul.

Jake did recently find out (after complaining to the guys when their alpha wasn’t around) you’re Sam's niece and Emily has taken a light to you, thinking of you as her own daughter.

And the only reason he thinks that is because of how she treats you; it always reminds him of the way his mom took care of him and his sisters when they were younger.

Don't get him wrong, he has no problem with that or the way she treats you, he's more curious than anything since you haven't been talking to him.

It kind of bugs him that you talk to Paul and Jared more than him and isn't sure why. He gets the two shifted before everyone, but you've started talking to Embry and Quil so why not him too? Hell, you’ve even started making small talk with the newest shifters Brady and Collin.

He thinks this is why Sam sent him here, so he'll stop moping around about you and not just because the pack is tired of hearing how sad he is with you not talking to him.

The chanting, "fight, fight, fight," overtakes his sense in waiting for you and he steps closer.

He stops behind the wall of people, checking on who's fighting, curious as to who's stupid enough to fight on school property.

The fist flies to your face and he starts fighting his way to get past the people blocking him from getting to you.

You spit, not wanting the copper taste to remain in your mouth. You turn your head back to David, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of feeling like he won.

You kick his upper thigh, right above his knee and knock him down before pulling your arm back and drive your fist as hard as you can into his cheek.

He falls and cups his cheek, whining about the pain and the fact that he's bleeding.

"Talk about my family again and you'll be bleeding more."

Jacob finally breaks through the crowd and pushes David's friend away before the guy could grab you. "Back off," he growls.

The friend raises his hands in defense and backs away, noticing how buff he'd gotten and knows better to not fight Jacob.

He turns to you, smelling blood on you and cups your face, searching to find the damage, ignoring your eyes as the blood from your lip drips further down your chin. "Come on."

He puts you on the back of his bike and starts it before kicking the kickstand.

-

You unwrap your arms and get off the bike, trying to put distance between you, Jacob, and your home.

He grabs your wrist, "where do you think you're going?"

"Away."

"Just because you want to hide your face from Emily and Sam, doesn't mean you can run away."

"I can still try." You tug on his arm. "Let me go."

"No, you need to go in there and face them."

You stop fighting and he lets go of you, trusting that you won't leave. "I don't want Sam to be disappointed."

"Did you pick a fight with David on purpose?"

You shake your head, "of course not."

"Then he won't be disappointed... as long as you talk to him."

"Says the guy who fights him every chance he gets."

That earns a chuckle from Jake. "Says the mousy niece."

You scoff, shoving his arm. "Hey, I'm not mousy."

"This is the longest conversation we've ever had."

"That's your fault, you're always mopey."

"I am not."

"Are so."

"Am"- You walk through the door.

Emily's voice interrupts yours and everyone else's conversations. "I'm happy to see the two of you are talking." She smiles with a twinkle shining in her eye that quickly dies as soon as she catches sight of your face.

"Oh my- what the hell happened to you?" She grabs your chin, tilting so she can look at your face. "Who did this?"

Paul tenses, Jared tries to see over her shoulder.

Embry and Quil walk through the back door and glance at one another with concern evident on their faces once they realize what’s happened.

"Don't tell, Sam," you reply, staring into her eyes, practically begging her not to tell him.

"Don't tell me what?"

You grimace and then wince because your adrenaline has worn off and the pain has surfaced. "How much I love you?" You say without turning.

"I don't buy it." He wraps an arm around Emily, pecking her cheek. "Did you cut your finger again?" He asks with the scent of blood wafting through the room.

"Uh-" She catches your eye as she glances down at her hands. "Maybe, I don't know."

You attempt to sneak away while he's distracted and fail.

"Turn around."

You pout, keeping your head low as you turn.

"Lift your head."

"I like staring at my shoes while they're clean."

He grumbles your name under his breath.

You lift your head and sigh. "I may have gotten into an altercation at school."

"What the hell happened?"

"That's what I was asking before you got here?" Emily chimes in. "And I was avoiding it then."

"What did you do?"

You scoff, "I didn't do anything, you dick."

"That is no way to talk to your uncle," she tells you.

You stare at her, "I'm going to give him the same respect he gives me," and turn to him. "Which is none."

You exit the room when you realize none of you are going to be able to have a proper conversation and make your way to your room, slamming the door behind you.

-

"What happened while you were waiting for her?" Sam towers over Jacob, attempting to search through his mind to figure out what could have happened.

"I don't- I don't know. I was waiting and then I heard the other kids chanting, fight and then I saw her get hit and then take down David-"

"Wait- she was fighting David?" Jared chimes in with a smile.

"He deserves it," Paul adds.

"Guys a grade A asshole," Embry says before snacking on a muffin.

"So, this fight was valid?" Sam asks, wanting to understand everything he's learned within the last five minutes.

"No, it wasn't valid because fighting isn't the solution, is it boys?" Emily turns to the boys at the table.

"No," everyone answers.

"Good," she smiles.

"But this hasn't happened before? What's happened? This David- or whoever clearly said something for her to act out."

"He was talking about my family," you tell them, leaning against the wall with your arms crossed.

"That doesn't give you enough reason to fight," she tells you.

"It does when they start making fun of your dead parents and uncle who's running a cult."

They purse their lips.

"How do you feel?"

You shrug, "my fist and face are aching, so I'd say I did something right."

She sighs. "Fighting isn't the answer."

"I know that!"

"Then why did you do it?"

Your emotions cause you to snap. "I was tired of him thinking he could still bully me!"

She takes a few steps closer to you. "This has been going on for a while now. Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't want either of you to walk into the principal's office thinking you could stop it when it'd only make things worse," you grumble.

"We could have found another way to stop him from making comments."

"I took care of it the only way I could."

"There's always more than one way-"

"I know," you run your fingers through your hair in a frustrated manner. "I wasn't thinking but he wouldn't shut up. He waited a few months, giving me a grievance period but then he started talking shit again and today he wouldn't leave me alone."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Jared asks.

"Yeah," you scoff, "because I wanted you guys to help when the hothead is one fight away from being expelled. Everyone still thinks those two," you point to Embry and Quil. "Are weird because they suddenly got buff and had a haircut. Don't even mention the fact that Jake along with Brody and Cam are the new talk of the pack."

Sam sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. "Just, go clean the blood off as best you can, and Emily will wrap your wounds."

"I already did."

"Then go get the first aid kit and bring it in here."

You walk back into the bathroom throwing everything you’d laid out on the counter back into the bag and aim for the kitchen. "Heal me with your magical powers, Em."

She smiles and wraps an arm around your shoulders as she guides you to the island so she can use the natural light to check over you. "Does this hurt?"

"Not yet."

"Okay, let me know when it-"

You suck in a deep breath through your teeth.

"Hurts. You okay?"

"Peachy, Em."

"I know you had to defend yourself today, but fighting isn't always the answer."

"Yeah, I know," you reply with an attitude.

"I'm just reminding you, so you don't continue hurting yourself. You're not like the others, and I don't like seeing you get hurt."

"Thanks, Emily," you wrap your arms around her and pull her in for a long hug.

She smiles, returning the hug. "Don't go getting into fights again or else I'm going to bubble wrap you."

You chuckle. "As long as you save me from a Sam lecture."

"Deal." She slides the plate with muffins, closer to you. "Eat something first."

The guys shake their heads at your behavior.

"Does this mean I can hang out with you guys?"

"You hang out with us already," Jacob points out.

"Cliff diving." You unwrap your muffin.

"Absolutely not," your uncle tells you.

"Come on."

"No,” Sam shakes his head.

"Guys," you beg, turning around to look at the others.

"We're not getting involved in that," Paul raises his hands, heading towards the couch.

- Extra -

"Wha-"

"I'm with Paul," Embry tells you, pulling Quil with him as they sit beside Jared.

You turn to face your knight in shining armor. “Jake-”

He turns away from the others and glances back at you, the humor falling from his face.

“Oh, shit,” Jared mutters.

“Are you serious?” Embry whines.

You owlishly blink trying to figure out what’s happened when he falls to his knees. You set your muffin down and push yourself off the stool to stand in front of him. You poke his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“It’s you,” he mutters.

You raise your head and face the others with a scared and confused expression. “Guys, what the hell just happened?”

Paul smirks and looks away.

Jared buries his face with a muffin.

Embry and Quil face the tv, not wanting to see how things plays out.

Brady and Collin walk through the door.

“Holy shit,” the former says.

“Congrats, Jake. You finally got your imprint,” the latter adds.

“What?” You spin around to face Emily. “Imprint? That’s what just happened?”

Sam rubs a hand over his face. This was the last thing they needed.

“Did we- did you not know?” Brady asks you.

“Does this look like the face of someone who’s in the know? Does it. Brady?”

Collin pulls his buddy away before you can rip their heads off.

“I think we need to talk,” Sam says, pulling Jacob off the ground. “Outside.”

You three stand on the porch, trying to wrap your heads around the whole situation.

-

“I don’t know what this means,” you tell them.

“This means, no being alone in your room. No sneaking out after curfew. No-”

“Sam, we’re not dating. This doesn’t apply to us.”

“It could,” he says, finally snapping out of his mind.

“What?”

“It- the imprint bond doesn’t happen by accident, it’s the joining of when two soulmates find each other.”

“So, we’re soulmates?”

He nods.

“I thought you were in love with Bella?”

“I was.”

“And now you’re not? You couldn’t have moved on that fast just because of this bond.”

He sighs, “I know this is going to be a lot of work, but I want to get to know you whether we go out or not… even though dating you-”

The clearing of someone’s throat cuts him off.

He sheepishly smiles, rubbing the back of his head. “We’ll talk more later.”

You can’t help but giggle and wince soon after.

He’s kneeling in front of you in seconds, searching for any sign of pain. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. My lip is going to be the kill joy of my existence for a few days but I’m fine.” You place a hand on his shoulder, “thanks for pulling me out of there when you did.”

He shakes his head, “it was nothing.”

“It was more than you know, and I know you were only there because Uncle Sam made you, but I still wanted to thank you.”

He can’t help the wide smile that stretches across his lips. “I’ll always be there for you.”

-

Sam throws you over his shoulder. “Babe, where’s the extra wood I keep for the winter?”

“Back room, why?” She asks, watching as you beat on his back.

“I’m locking some doors.”

“Sam, no!” You screech. “Boys, help me.”

“He’s the alpha, what he says go,” Paul tells you.

“You suck, Lahote.”

“You’re gonna be swallowing, princess.”

Paul has never shifted and ran out of his alpha’s place as quickly as he did today.

The others lose their minds as he runs all around, nearly bumping into the clearwater siblings as they head towards the place.

-

Tag list (if you'd like to be added or removed, don't hesitate to ask)

@kmc1989 @gilbertgirl13

[kalira]

My filenames this week:

Leaving the World

Deft

Dreaming in Daylight, Drowning in Darkness

[redacted]

D4 is, like [redacted], unshareable, so feel free to pick a second for shareable sentences, or I'll decide at random.

Snippet (from Deft):

A ripple in the crowd drew Kei’s attention, and he frowned, eyes narrowing as he tried to track it without being able to see the pattern of people moving clearly. Still . . . how clearly did he need to see it? It was gradually surging this way, from the same - or close - origin point as his children, and Kei could guess. ‟. . .someone is chasing you, aren’t they.” Kei glanced down at Sho. It wasn’t a question. Sho grinned at him, hopeful more than honest. ‟Nooo?” he tried. Kei sighed, turning back to the woman he’d been haggling with and turning over the agreed payment, tucking the wrapped parcel he got in return into the mesh bag he had been slowly stocking with food for the children. He nodded absently to the woman and stepped away from her stall, Sho nudging up against Kei’s hip and Toshi bouncing restlessly on his heels nearby. ‟We didn’t do anything!” Toshi said, then paused mid-bounce. ‟Uhh. . . Nothing real big!” he corrected.

WIP Wednesday Game

It’s WIP Wednesday, time for a little accountability, sharing your work, and getting a kick in the pants.

Here’s how it works:

In a reblog of this post (so people can find you in the notes) or new thread (w/ rules attached) if you want to play on your own, post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to play!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event or gift fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. I’ll be searching the reblogs to find people to send asks to!

If you’re reading this, you’re invited!

If you see someone posting a WIP Wednesday Game snippet, send them an ask! Make them write.

Requested/Friend event mentions under the cut! If you'd like to be pinged next week, let me know via ask!

@fiore-della-valle @redbirdblogs @greenbergsays @idkfandomwhatever @luckyspike

@obaewankenope @mad-madam-m @anonymousdandelion @geometricfractal @prettybirdy979

@eriquin @aparticularbandit @madnessfromthemountains @makeroftherunes @1attheedge

@whimsicalmeerkat @kidsomeday @lizhly-writes @skyderman @adhdavinci

@owlbearwrites @anachronismstellar @anyctibius @rilannon @lazinesswrites

@zyrafowe-sny @dreaminghour @blue-eyedbeta @candyskiez @dreamerking27

@kalira @virgulesmith @i-want-delfeur @selkies-world @exceedinglygayotter

@oitreewrites @post-and-out @writingattheedge @qqaba @ykthefancyclamwiththepearlinside

@princescar @tigerdragon1001

[bitterbutblue]

jane doe with a cat thiren...

come get me, baby~ ☆ jane doe x reader

~ guys do u want more x reader i can do x reader but for girls i think. i think i cant write men. also i wrote this for my pookie dearest friend if she sees this she knows who she is this is for u bbg

edit: i made part two for yall ~

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────

⤷ what a CHAOTIC relationship

⤷ you both met at the N.E.P.S. and you honestly never talked much at first because she was a rat thiren and you were a cat thiren. every time you two were in a room together the tension was goddamn unbearable

⤷ but it wasn't because if you. it was because of HER. it was like as if she was the cat thiren with the way she eyed you up and down like you were her next prey to catch. and you always felt very flustered under her gaze

⤷ you guys played this game of cat and mice except the roles were reversed because you were the one scrambling away in embarrassment and she was the one flirting and cornering you to ask you the dumbest questions because she knows just talking to you will have you blushing

⤷ because you're both thirens you do have VNOs and can detect pheromones... although it's cross species the thiren breeds in general all have a heightened sense of smell and she can always tell when you're flustered or... you know....

⤷ zhu yuan told her to stop playing with you like you're a toy but she just finds it so fun!

⤷ you know how in genshin, yae miko is tormenting gorou? this is exactly how jane torments you.

⤷ asks to pet your ears often, which is a very sensitive spot on your body so you always sputter out an embarrassed 'no!'

⤷ asks to pet your tail, which is even worse and more embarrassing so at that point you just run away

⤷ eventually zhu yuan is like "dude this is NAWT how u pick a girl up" and she was like oh :/

⤷ can be very sincere when she needs to be. is a very loving girl deep down and prepared for weeks on how to ask you out. you could sort of tell something was off the day she was going to confess because her usual charm and confidence had wavered

⤷ her ears were flopped down the entire day, eyeing the area around her so anxiously. you thought there was a stalker.

⤷ then she confessed and you became the one with folded ears and had eye contact issues.

⤷ confessed very simply but also very sincerely. it was just the two of you in the parking lot of the N.E.P.S. and you thought she was gonna tease you again. instead she pulls out sunflowers (because they're safe for cats) and asks you so softly if you wanted to go on a date with her

⤷ combusted on the spot btw. you evaporated. gone. out of the world. she just giggled at you.

⤷ the most loving girlfriend you can ask for. she will murder anyone who even dares to look at you in a slightly off putting way. you guys balance each other out in that sense

⤷ kisses are always very soft and passionate. every time she kisses you it's like she's kissing you for the last time with how much love she tries to convey through a simple act.

⤷ has a very good way of making you blush all the time and getting you worked up for her.. (i could try writing a separate thing for that if you guys are interested)

⤷ loves calling you "darling" or "honey" to get you blushing around your coworkers. people love teasing you because of how shy you get around her too. but she just has a way of charming people

⤷ you do get jealous of her and seth, because they seem so close- especially after the latest mission. but she always assures you that you're the only one she loves and will go out of her way to show you that.

[trumpkinhotboy]

Little critters

Pairing: paul lahote x fem!reader

Type: requested

Warnings: nothing, pure fluff!!

Word count: approx 800

Requests: open! for twilight wolfpack, narnia and heartstopper

A/n: loved loved this request it's so cute and I think the vibes are adorable hehe seeing sam being so soft for emily🥺 so thank you again for this nice request I always love writing for you guys

"Aren't you the most adorable little creatures I have ever seen?" "You're so cute. I want to keep you forever!"

Passersby probably took Emily and you for some deranged ladies when they saw you crouched in an alley, apparently talking to the ground.

But they couldn't see the adorable little balls of fur meowing back at you with impressive intelligence lighting their eyes. You were leaving the grocery store when you had heard plaintiff meowing sounds and discovered kittens shivering in an old cardboard box.

There was two of them, a fiery black one, who hissed when you first came close, and a grey one who immediately approached you, looking for pets. It had been 10 minutes, and since then, you had dug in your bags to give them water and food. By the way they devoured the bit of ham you gave them, you knew they had been there for a while.

"We can't leave them here," sighed Emily as she petted the black cat on her thighs. The grumpy cat had seemed to take a liking to her incredibly quickly.

"But where can we bring them? I'm scared if we leave them at the pound, they'll be forgotten," you pondered while delicately petting the gray head of the little critter bundled up in your lap.

As if you had just communicated telepathically, you and Emily looked up with a knowing light in your eyes.

Without having a plan, you brought the kittens back to Emily's to give them proper shelter and a long-awaited bath.

The four of you were now on the couch, extenuated after this eventful day. Junior and Paulie, the names you had settled on because of their resemblances with your boyfriends, were sprawled before the fire.

You had just started preparing dinner when you heard familiar howls from the forest. Seconds later, the seven members of the pack entered the cabin. Distracted by the smell of food, they didn't seem to notice the new presence of the two fur balls. Sam immediately headed for Emily to hug her and kiss her cheek. You smiled at the happy couple as you felt a pair of warm hands grab your hips. You smiled and melted into the muscular arms wrapped around your figure.

"Hey, you." "Hey," you answered, a smile in your voice. "What have you been up to?" he sweetly asked.

You tensed at his question, your eyes immediately finding Emily's. Through all your excitement, you didn't have a plan on how to tell seven werewolves you were planning on keeping two kittens.

"Well, actually, it's pretty funny," you started as you turned to face your boyfriend's suspicious expression. You tried delaying your explanation when you heard Seth's excited scream.

"Oh my god! Where do those kittens come from?! They're so adorable!!" he cooed before dropping on his tummy to try and pet them.

"Kittens?!" exclaimed Sam with a questioning look at Emily.

The pack gathered in the living room, observing the two cats, unbothered as ever, lying in front of the fire.

"We found them across the grocery store. We couldn't leave them there to fend for themselves!" explained Emily as she walked to little Sam Junior. The antisocial cat lifted a heavy eyelid at the disruption of his nap, only to meow and lift his head in search of pets when he noticed who it was. She grabbed the kitten in her hands, bringing him close to her chest with an adoring smile. The little beast softly purred in her arms. It was impossible to deny the special bond they already shared.

You looked at Sam with a glimmer of hope. The look he gave Emily as he saw how happy she was told you everything you needed to know.

"What's his name?" he asked with a defeated sigh as he neared the pair. The little kitten carefully sniffed his hand before allowing him to scratch his head.

"Actually," Emily looked at you with a conniving smile. "With his black fur and protective instinct, he made me think of you, I thought we could call him Sam Junior."

Your little crowd chuckled at the name and the resemblance between the two.

"Junior, eh? Sounds about right." He smiled softly. Whenever Emily was concerned, Sam was as docile as the cat in her arms.

Suddenly, a soft nudge on your shins surprised you. You looked down to realize it was the gray kitten. You felt your heart melt at the display of affection and lifted him carefully from the floor.

"Oh, don't even think about it," uttered Paul as he noticed how you looked at each other.

You pouted your lower lip, bringing the little kitten next to your cheek. "Please, please, please, please," you pleaded. "His name's Paulie," you added with a cheeky smile.

Your boyfriend looked at you with incredulous eyes.

"I see it, Paul. He looks like you," added Sam with a teasing grin and a lift of his shoulders, as if to say 'You know they've already won bud'

He stayed silent, observing your pouty face and the sleepy kitten in your arms. Before finally saying, "Werewolves with kittens?"

You gave him a little nod. "Yeah, I guess that can work," he conceded with a grin.

[midnightsslut]

A Guide to Red - The Quintessential Taylor Swift Album

After the release of The Manuscript, the role of Red and Red (Taylor’s Version) in Taylor’s life and discography has been highly discussed. A lot of people have referred to it as her magnum opus and most formative album. I have decided to compile a condensed list of about a dozen key interviews, performances, speeches, posts, and videos from 2011 all the way until 2024 that illustrate the importance of this record for Taylor’s personal life and career. I’m putting the list under a cut because it got pretty long. You don’t have to go through all of these, obviously, but I would suggest at least one per era. The bolded ones are essential in my opinion.

Pre-Red - These interviews hint at Taylor’s emotional state at the time and thus the content that will be explored on the Red album

2011 The New Yorker profile

Taylor Swift reveals new album is all about heartbreak - Extra TV

Bonus: an article going through Taylor’s arm lyrics on the Speak Now World Tour, which she described as mood rings for any particular show

Lover diary entries from the making of Red (credit to @cabincreaking for the scans)

- All Too Well lyrics first draft (February 2011)

- Random bursts of happiness and anxiety during the Speak Now Tour (June 17, 2011)

- Red (September 8, 2011)

- Holy Ground (February 2012)

- Nothing New (March 2, 2012)

- Working with Max Martin (June 10, 2012)

Red era - Listen to the original sixteen songs on the Red album at this point.

Red announcement livestream + Q&A

Red prologue

2012 Rolling Stone interview

2012 The Guardian interview

2012 Billboard interview

2012 Esquire interview

Sirius XM Town Hall - an hourlong interview from the day Red came out

Good Morning America - this is the first mention of the ten-minute version of All Too Well

Red track-by-track descriptions

Random interview where she discusses the connection between writing Speak Now and Red

I Knew You Were Trouble music video

Diary entry about how love is fiction and she might move to New York after all (January 6, 2014)

Diary entry from Grammy night (January 25, 2014)

Red Tour London performance of All Too Well - any performance of this song from 2013-14 will work here, but this one has a pretty comprehensive speech

Final performance of All Too Well on the Red Tour - just listen to the speech here

Post-Red era - Over the course of these interviews, you’ll see her relationship to the album evolve.

Taylor’s description of Clean (skip to 11:18)

2014 BBC Live Lounge interview

1989 World Tour interview where she mentions thinking she’d never sell as many albums as she did with Red before 1989 came out

Clean speech - a lot of these will work, but these two best describe her relationship with the Red era and heartbreak in general

All Too Well (The 1989 World Tour live)

2015 GrammyPro interview

All Too Well Super Saturday Night performance

Reputation Tour All Too Well speech

Red into Daylight performance - 2019 City of Lover concert in Paris

Re-recordings era - at this point, listen to the red vault

2020 Rolling Stone podcast

Red (Taylor’s Version) prologue

2021 Saturday Night Live performance

All Too Well: The Short Film + Behind the Scenes

Seth Meyers interview

2022 Tribeca film talk OR TIFF (both are equally good. I have a slight preference for the former, but there are some interesting new details in the latter). You could also watch directors on directors from the same year as a bonus, but it’s less comprehensive.

2022 Graham Norton - How All Too Well (10 Minute Version) came about + how the re-recordings inspired Midnights

Also listen to Midnights

The Eras Tour

All Too Well speech (Glendale Night 2 & Atlanta Night 1) - any of the speeches from March and April 2023 will work, but these two really illustrate how she feels about this time in her life now and how the fans changed the Red album for her. Obviously credit to @cages-boxes-hunters-foxes for the transcripts!

Maroon first ever live performance (‘This is a song about something that happened a long time ago, but it took place in New York’)

Aaaand finally listen to The Tortured Poets Department, especially The Manuscript

This is a lot, but it’s worth it. Enjoy!

[whumpbug]

SETH I'M GOING TO SOB.

guys. mutuals. friends. how do you get over the inherent HUMILIATION of writing fanfiction for the first time. it feels SO WRONG. i feel like every characterization im writing is SO WRONG (˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥)

i think i'm having Internalized Cringe. i LOVEEE reading fanfiction but why am i literally nauseous writing it GUYS HELP

[bluberimufim]

Your suffering is a price too steep for me

Hello! I took out a wisdom tooth today and after such a tragic ordeal (it was extremely easy and quick), I have decided to ease my pain (I'm literally fine) by posting a new snippet!

This is the biggest one yet (about 1k words) but I love this scene so so much and I want to share it with you! It was in the snippet poll a couple of weeks ago. It was the "Seth and Theo arguing about the war" one.

taglist: @little-mouse-gardens @wildswrites

No trigger warnings today!

Now, every time she and Theo strolled through the hospital, she felt the other healers’ eyes on her. Their voices lowered to whispers as she passed, but she could hear them rattle on enthusiastically when they walked out of her field of vision. Theo found it very funny. “Ever since I healed that soldier, they won’t leave me alone,” Seth grumbled. “They’re giving me a headache.” “Well, I think they’re adorable,” Theo replied, looking over her shoulder to make sure the healers they’d run into were no longer within earshot. “I like their enthusiasm.” Seth looked away, her eyes fixed on the windows that filled the corridor with light. She could barely wait to return to camp. “They’re healers,” she sighed. “I have… complicated feelings about that.” Theo placed a hand on her shoulder and they both stopped in the middle of the empty corridor. The sunlight made her eyes shine, like two red stars. “I know,” Theo said. “I know how you feel about them.” “I don’t want them to feel the need to heal people. I’d have preferred it if they’d never discovered the potential of their own magic. So many of them are so young…” Seth paused, furrowing her brow. “But also… I can’t stop thinking about how things were when I was on their side. I still remember the Master Healer Lady, encouraging all those girls to give up their souls to any soldier that needed them. And seeing Asha do the same, knowing that, despite it all, she’s still enforcing it, makes me feel… small.” Theo squeezed her shoulder. “I can’t say I fully understand what you feel, but-” “Even if a single healer can prevent dozens of deaths, I’d prefer it if none of them ever saved any lives. No one deserves to have magic like this.” Theo stretched her arms out to hug her, but Seth stepped back, grabbing one of her wrists. “Why aren’t you ever like this at camp?” she asked. She was neither angry nor sad, just put off by her behaviour. “Why have you suddenly stopped ignoring me?” “Seth…” “No, Theo. Why are you behaving as if the past few months never happened?” Theo sighed, ripping her wrist from Seth’s hand. The small medal she wore over her chest jingled with the sudden movement. “Can’t I spend time with you? Can’t we talk normally anymore?” “Why do you only do that when we’re here?” Theo sighed. She looked to the side, avoiding Seth’s gaze. “When we’re here, I can pretend that we’re not in the middle of the war.” “You’re the one who wanted to come!” “I know!” Theo shot out. When she turned to Seth, her eyes seemed to spark for an instant. “I know it was me! I know I dragged you here with me! You don’t think I think about that every day?” “I chose to come! I came for you! If you’re so desperate to pretend you’re not in a war, why don’t you go home? It’s not as if the Goddess of Time can find you there.” Theo’s shoulders lowered with a sigh. She choked on her next words. “I… I hate the war too,” she murmured. Her hand flew to her medal, and she turned to look at how it glistened in the light. “I hate it so much…” “Then go back home.” “I can’t!” “Of course you can! If we ran right now, the Goddess of Time wouldn’t be able to catch us.” She reached towards Theo’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “We’d be safe from her. At home.” “And the rest of the time?” “Extend your dominion to the whole town. Make all the people subject to your divinity. I don’t care. Come home.” Theo shook her head, but she still held Seth’s hand, hidden in the fabric of her embroidered healer’s cloak. “I can’t.” Her voice was weak, as if she was on the precipice of tears. “I can’t. They need me. I believe I can end this war.” “By killing more people?” “More people would die without me. At least like this, they have an advantage, even if it is… even if it hurts me a lot.” “Screw them! Let’s go home!” “And let the war go on? And let more people die?” Seth sighed.

“I don’t give a damn about the war. Let them all die. Let the war go on forever. I don’t care.” She brought Theo’s hand closer. “As long as you’re with me, in peace, I couldn’t care less. I don’t mind the war if I’m not looking at it. It isn’t hard.” Theo pushed her away and took a step back. “You’d let this violence continue for years and years just because it’s not directly in front of you?” Seth straightened her spine. She knew that Theo hated what she was saying, and it felt like being stabbed through the chest “Yes. As long as you’re with me and the war is far away from us. Yes.” “I can’t believe you’d let the war go on for such a selfish reason! We finally have a chance to win, to stop the deaths of all these soldiers and healers, and you say you want none of that because you want me by your side. Don’t you see that, for the first time in decades, we can be, finally, once and for all, at peace?” Seth looked into her flaming red eyes, now covered in shadow. “At the cost of your suffering?” “My suffering is nothing compared to theirs. My Mother created me with her own hands to fight in this war and this is what I’ll do.” “Even if it kills you?” She took a step closer. “Even if you end up like Dora?” “Yes. Because I’ll have ended this war.” “What about me.” “I’ll spend the rest of my life with you. As soon as the war is over.” With no reply, Seth began walking in the opposite direction. She held her cane more tightly than usual, pressing it against the marble floor with such force she thought it would crack. She felt as if she was going to fall at any moment. “Your suffering is a price too steep for me,” she said, turning back, already a few steps away. “To me, it can compare to nothing.”

(Sorry for the weird break in the text. Tumblr wasn't letting me post otherwise...)

First time Seth's cane gets featured in a snippet?? Iconic

Also, Theo saying "I'll spend the rest of my life with you once the war is over"??? Sure you will, girl. All 5 minutes of it.

I genuinely love this snippet!! It was so fun to write!!! Seth is such a selfish character and she's got a kind of... unhealthy attachment to Theo, I'd say? And this has already been shown extensively (i.e. Seth hunting down a goddess for 30 pages to look for Theo), but this is the first time she's verbalizing the extent of her possessiveness. Literally, her only motivation is "be with Theo".

I hope you enjoyed today's snippet! Because I did! Have a great whatever time of day!

[shmorp-mcdurgen]

Idea time!!!! Random idea I’ve had for a little while time!!

Okay so. I thought of a possible (albeit not really canon) epilogue kinda thing to the alt au. A few years after the aus main events, Seth decides to finally go back to Mandela and kill alt mark.

There’s of course a fight, Seth gets injured, but somehow is able to break mark enough for him to “die”. He cry-laughs hard after that, and then decides to go back to Gabriel’s place to tell them about what he did.

After seeing Seth’s wounds, Gabriel let’s him inside and goes to call an ambulance. As they do so, seth smiles, approaching them with a knife from behind