#grace d writes

[echo-stimmingrose]

I have funny but first a quick history lesson

In Ancient Athens they had things called ostracons. Basically every year everyone would carve a name of someone they didn't like into a small stone tablet and then submit it. Then they would look at all of the ostracons and if there were too many of one person then they told that person to get tf out. They had ten days to flee Athens and couldn't come back for ten years.

So now I would like you to imagine Dionysus doing a pseudo version of this at Camp Half-blood every month because we all know he LIVES for the drama. (He's stuck there for a hundred years he might as well have some fun)

He would hand out stone tablets (it was very important to him that the names were carved don't ask why) and every person at camp would write a name.

Whoever had their name written down the most would be sent to live in a cabin in the woods for two weeks. If they survived they would be allowed to return to camp.

Mr. D always makes sure there's a crowd around to witness their walk of shame and he takes a picture of said person every month. He keeps them hung up on a wall in the big house.

[reachingforaspark]

hello, just wanted to drop in and tell you that i just read graded exposure! so so in love w the way you write eddie (how he's so obviously moments away from breaking, putting himself together through sheer force of will bc the idea that he's allowed to be any other way is unthinkable) and his perpetual tension w Everything esp w buck, so incredibly enamoured by the way you portray chris and buck's relationship as independent from where they stand w eddie. i just [clenches fist] they love each other so damn much. divorced parents coded i'm obsessed

Oh my goodness!! Thank you so much, you've totally made my day💕

I loved writing Eddie in this story, at the point he was at the end of 5A, I think I entered a bit of a fugue state and wrote this chapter in 24hrs because I just had this urgency to express some of that overwhelming tension and weight he was experiencing. It is so hard to believe where he was at this time last season to this season. Seeing him free himself from some of that expectation, acknowledge his trauma to first to himself and then more freely to his friends and family, it makes me want to cry all the time!!

And the divorced dad's era was definitely a central vibe of this story! I loved the way the show went in 5b, but gosh I had fun planning out and working through Eddie and Buck negotiating their situation.

Thank you so much for reading it, even though it is incomplete and has remained that way for a long time.

I do have some ~10,000 words from the next two chapters, so if you're interested here's a scene from later on in the story below the cut!

“Yeah, Dad, go have some fun!” Chris, ever Carla’s little mimic, pipes in. “Carla and I need to get my homework done.”

“In my own home!” Eddie says, but goes to change his shirt.

He shoots Buck a quick text, asking if he’s free to grab a drink. It’s fine, it’s fine. They’ve never had a problem before that couldn’t be worked out over a beer or two.

“Go,” Carla shoos at him again, “say hi to Buck for me.”

He’s in the car already when Buck replies.

Sorry, on a 24.

Eddie’s not sure what is more telling, the use of punctuation or lack of emojis, or the fact that Buck hasn’t even suggested an alternative evening, like tomorrow when he’s off shift. Well, it’s not that Eddie can go back inside now. Too many questions, or a knowing look from Carla. He contemplates for a moment. If Buck was on shift, Bobby was probably on shift, Hen too. He starts the car, resolved to go… somewhere, and pulls onto the street and starts driving.

Eddie hadn’t even known Buck was working today.

Eddie finds himself sitting in a room with a tray of glass beads in front of him. One of the more bewildering turns of his life in recent months, and there have been a few more curveballs lately for sure.

There’s a woman in the corner braiding cloth into a rug, another knitting a pot holder. There’s some wool thing happening at the end of the table he can’t even guess at, fluff spread about the place. The woman sitting beside Pepa has a scrap booking toolbox packed so tightly and efficiently it puts his old med kit to shame.

Unfortunately for Eddie, Pepa’s community craft group are as serious about their gossip as they are their crafts.

“Eddie,” A woman whose name he possibly was given earlier asks, “how is your new job going?”

He gives Pepa the side eye as he responds. She raises an eyebrow back, like, you crashed my evening, remember?

“And Christopher, any new pictures?”

He does, in fact, have pictures. Buck sent through some from when he took Chris to the library yesterday, Chris sitting in a beanbag, Chris scanning the mountain of books to be brought home, Chris in the back of the Jeep, new book already cracked open in his lap. They got out far too many for him to get through in the next month, not that Buck ever says no.

“Did Buck take him to the library?” Pepa asks.

“Ah, Buck.” The ladies around the table say Buck’s name in unison and cross themselves.

It’s a little creepy. Pepa clocks his reaction to that too. He concentrates on shifting the little beads into little groups, bluer ones here, greener ones there.

“Eddie, he saved your life on that street.” Pepa pats his hand on her way to picking up needle nose pliers. “I’m grateful for him everyday.”

“Yeah.” Eddie says.

He gestures at the wires in front of him. “Pepa, I don’t know what this is supposed to look like.”

“It can look however you want, Eddie. It doesn’t matter, as long as you like it.”

Eddie has to squint one eye closed to thread the tiny beads onto the wiring, one after the other, as the chatter settles around him. It’s mostly harmonious. There’s the occasional mutter of discontent.

“Did I get that right?” He whispers over to Pepa, his Spanish not quite up to the rapid exchange Rita and Paloma are engaged with at the end of the table. “Her son’s first wife’s brother?”

“Hush, Eddie, don’t be rude.” Pepa hisses back, as though her ear isn’t tilted in that direction too.

Eddie makes a pair of earrings. The dangling kind, with loops of tiny seed beading in a deep blue. They remind him of the kind of thing Shannon would wear when they were twenty, loose floral dresses and earrings that made gently clicking noises when she walked, and got tangled up in her hair by the end of the day.

Eddie’s version are crooked though, and that makes him think about the pinched little look Ana would get when Chris would make her a drawing and she’d coo a suggestion that he write a story to go along with it. And the one time Eddie had thought that maybe she preferred stories because she could get away with putting them away into a drawer, not keeping them pinned up on her very neat fridge.

It’s probably unkind, but he knows Ana would never wear these earrings.

He feels strangely proud of them.

[kazoosandfannypacks]

Camp Half Blood Halloween Lookalike Shenanigans Headcanon

My little brother and I decided it would be funny if there was a Camp Half-Blood halloween party where everyone came dressed as a different member of the camp. Our ideas include:

Grover dresses as Percy, borrowing one of his flannel shirts and putting a streak of gray in his hair.

Nico also dresses as Percy, but in the most stereotypical way possible. He keeps pulling massive amounts of blue candy out of his pockets and threatening to fight people with a ballpoint pen.

Annabeth dresses as Grover. She finds a way to get food to look like tin cans and candy wrappers, and spends the whole time eating those while stopping everyone who keeps accidentally littering.

Percy and Jason dress as each other and swear they didn't plan it in advance. Piper also dresses as Annabeth and she and Jason call each other seaweed brain and wise girl the whole time.

Mr. D complains that the whole thing is stupid and he's not participating, up until the day of the party, when he's seen walking around with an orange t-shirt and a nametag that says "PETER JOHNSON"

Connor and Travis are dressed as themselves. They keep saying things like "CLEARLY I'm dressed as my brother," and "can't you tell? We switched necklaces!" when in actuality they did not at all and came dressed as themselves (or as each other pretending to be themselves I guess?)

Will plays the greatest Nico DiAngelo imaginable, wearing all black, carrying around a Happy Meal box, and walking around complaining about how "everyone hates me even though I have no evidence to support this claim" and "oh maybe those Apollo kids are right and I should start actually taking care of myself, but alas! I shall not!"

Leo dresses as Jason. Actually, he's wearing a superman costume and a blonde wig, but it gets the point across. He keeps walking up to Percy, who is also dressed as Jason, and saying "oh great, ONE of us is gonna have to change," and also finding random places to pretend to pass out and knock himself unconscious. He's having the time of his life....

That is, until Hazel shows up from Camp Jupiter in a dirty white buttondown shirt and suspenders, grease staining her face and hair, wearing a cheap dollar tree toolbelt with plastic tools. She peppers a pun into every conversation and jokingly flirts with half the girls there, and even though Leo acts unimpressed, everyone else agrees she almost makes a better Leo than he does.

Frank comes with her. Having mastered his powers of shapeshifting, he manages to shapeshift only his lower half into a horse, thus making a pretty good centaur, and he wears a suit jacket and speaks in a cryptic manner, making for a pretty convincing Chiron. At first, Frank wasn't sure if it was such a good idea. Maybe Chiron would think it was rude, or in poor taste? He ends up very glad that Hazel and Leo convinced him to do it when he sees how much everyone appreciates his costume.

And, of course, Frank realizes he had nothing to worry about when Chiron comes in wearing a hawaiian shirt, with a diet coke in hand, as he calls every single camper by the wrong name.

[capn-twitchery]

buttercup for twitch and grace

Buttercup - Does your OC have any odd quirks/habits?

OOO let me think >:3c twitch up first but honestly it would be quicker to list what Isn't odd about twitch

obvious one is refusing to be seen without their glasses, those are very important!!

since they spend so much time at zee, they tend to walk oddly and sway when they're on dry land. zee legs too strong, ruined their real legs. (i wish i could find an irl example but this incredibly low quality jack sparrow video will have to do)

they are never, ever, still. if they're talking, they're gesturing. if they're thinking, they're pacing. if they're sitting, they're fidgeting around. if they're sleeping they are swinging the hammock. perpetual motion machine

terrible habit of hopping over the ship railing and just hanging over the side of the ship, for no reason whatsoever. yes they have fallen off before, yes they will fall off again, no this will not stop them

they make way too intense eye contact. you can't really tell, since you can't see their eyes, but i'm not sure if that makes it better or worse actually

not sure if this counts as a quirk but they 100% laugh way too loud. laugh you can pick out across a crowded bar

for grace:

he hums & whistles to himself a lot when he's alone working on tasks--mostly sea shanties the crew used to sing on expeditions

he won't go to zee (on the rare occasions he does now) without a sketchbook, some watercolours + something to read. he's seen cabin fever at its worst and wants to keep his mind busy

a semi-rich upbringing & navy training affect all of his mannerisms--he was there for a long time. perfectly pressed clothes, perfectly made bed, walk like you have so much purpose everyone gets out of your way instinctively even though he looks like a sad wet dog

he's Very still & calm, doesn't gesture much when he talks & is very good at staying stoically polite & approachable. (you can tell when he's stressed bc this starts to crack. if he's pacing he's 0.2 seconds away from a breakdown)

when he's nervous, he kind of obsessively attends to "duties." on a ship that means keeping extra tabs on crew & supplies, constantly making sure everything is accounted for, offering help to anyone within range. otherwise, it means cleaning. a lot.

internalised enforced politeness also means he greets almost everyone with a handshake like it's a goddamn business meeting. this is the only physical contact you will ever get out of him bc he values his personal space too much otherwise

has a habit of just kind of hanging around, in case he can help. he finds it difficult to know what to do with himself when he's not needed

Flowery OC Asks

[that-was-anticlimactic]

one of the worst feelings ever is wanting to write but your hands hurt too much or the words just don’t want to work so you just sit there staring at a half finished doc with tears in your eyes bc you want to write and you need to write but everything is telling you that you can’t

[meggydolaon]

hey mesa!! looking very intently at your wip titled "rockrose and thistle". i am an amazing devil fan first and a human being second. anything you wanna share from that?

also love to see that the cursed bird au has a working title now. got anything else new from that au?

Hi Rainey!! :D

So Rockrose and Thistle is a Berniegard fic from fe3h and I know you don't go here so I will Provide Context

The Rockrose and the Thistle in question:

Edelgard (red lady) and Bernadetta (purple girl). So just from the colors they're already pretty rockrose and thistle coded but the themes/lyrics of the song is important too!!

Fe3h is a game revolving around a war and it has multiple (4) routes depending on which faction the player sides with. This fic takes place where Edelgard loses ;( whump whump 🎺

As the spearhead of the war, Edie's got a lot of weight on her shoulders. Meanwhile Bernie, the local shut in, has been largely avoiding direct involvement. But as the tides take a turn for the worst, Bernie musters the resolve to stand by her emperor 😤

I really want to lean heavily on the parts in the song where it goes from "I know the kindest thing is to leave you alone" to "I know the kindest thing is to never leave you alone" ;w;

Cursed Bird AU is a pile of paper clippings and conspiracy yarn rn but I'm having fun with it XD the title "Making Noise" is inspired by Hozier's To Noise Making (Sing) as well as a double entendre referring to being vocal, disruptive, or popular. So basically perfect for Grace >;3c

To the uninformed, Cursed Bird AU is my Stray Gods wip where the Idols steadily regain power after the events of the game. Following the ending where Grace punched Athena, the goddess curses her to become a bird monster that can't speak, and therefore can't sing >:0 !!

A resurgence for Idols and insurgence from Athena means higher stakes god conflict!! This also means an expanded cast and one of the developments I like so far is the new Artemis. Name pending but she's blind!! Which I think will make her interactions with Medusa interesting, and also Laelaps will be more than happy to be a guide dog uwu 🦮

The real question is: do you trust her with a bow 🤨

Ask game in question btw

[silkhy-john]

The story is finally storying :D

[meadow-roses]

WIP! WIP! WIP!

please :D

:D :D :D

Here is a section from the second book of Felix's backstory, secret identity reveal jailbreak scenario :D

I chose this one mainly cause I've got some art for this scene coming up in my queue 😂

Uhhh Felix is not doing too hot, Grace is fighting down a panic attack, and Erin is being MVP like usual. It's a whumpy scenario lol

They were paused for the moment, tucked into an alcove that was storing some kind of generator. The bulky machine served not only as a visual buffer from the rest of the hallway, but also to drown out the noise of their hushed conversation.

Grace needed to catch her breath- a result of her stubbornly insisting that it only needed to take one person to carry him. Erin and Tychus were reviewing the map Erin had drawn over her arm, and coming to the conclusion that they were, in fact, lost.

Felix was slumped against the wall thinking about the fact that this would be a perfect time to be throwing up, since they were already at a stop, but there seemed to be nothing ready to come up yet.

Maybe this meant he was finally done.

They were discussing their getaway route, he realized, and none of them were familiar with the base's layout. Felix still had it memorized.

"Erin," he said, as loud as he could force his voice to go, "Where are you trying to get to?"

She looked up at him in surprise, then back down at her arm. "I don't exactly know. It was this room Tychus and I came across on our way to find you guys. There was a window in it I think we can use to get out so we can avoid doors with security cameras and coded locks. The problem is the hallways aren't adding up to my notes."

She sighed in defeat and sat on the floor next to him.

"Are you feeling better?"

He nodded.

"Can I see your notes? I might know where it is."

Erin seemed confused, but she complied, holding out her arm in front of him and tracing over the theoretical route with her finger as she explained.

Grace leaned in to join the conversation, one arm looped around Felix's torso to help him stay upright.

Felix listened closely, letting his body slump against her so he could put all his willpower into visualizing the route.

After Erin had finished, he nodded.

"Yeah, there's a hallway between these two that's not marked on the map, so we got mixed up when we took the first left instead of the second. The rest of the map looks pretty accurate."

"How do you know the layout so well?" Tychus demanded as Erin added in the missing hallway to her arm.

"I've been here before," Felix replied.

He realized that really didn't answer the question, but he was too exhausted to want to go into detail.

"I hope you're planning on explaining things later," Erin muttered.

Felix swallowed. "I- I'm sorry guys. For not telling you sooner."

Grace gave him a reassuring squeeze as Tychus turned away, shoving his hands into his pockets and biting down on the edge of his lip.

Erin watched him, concerned, then addressed Felix with a sigh.

"It's fine I guess. It's probably not something anyone would want to talk about. I'm just confused why none of this showed up on your government record at all."

"You looked up my record?" Felix asked with a hint of amusement in his tone.

"Yeah," Erin pouted.

[pinestripe37]

If you’re still doing the WIP sentence ask game:

Blue, wind, sigh, eyes, and tree!

Thank you for the words, my friend! :D

Yup, still doing it and honestly feel free to send in words whenever. Lol I don't mind even if I'm not. 😅

Gonna post large-ish paragraphs for you because why not :D Also putting two snippets for a few of the words!

"A green fly and a blue fly are eating a piece of dirt together," Mistkit described the scene from where she lay watching the two shiny creatures. Her littermates exchanged disturbed glances. "That's.. uh.. interesting, Mistkit." Frostkit replied warily, seeming to force her whiskers to twitch in a gesture of cautious amusement. "That's disgusting," Graykit's flat mew cut in. Mistkit purred, no longer feeling bothered or left out as her siblings shared the carp near by but content to just be near them, listening to the purrs of exasperation and amusement that drifted into chatter. She took another glance at the flies, thinking that honestly, no matter what Graykit may say, the peaceful and close coexistence between the two insects was really rather sweet. She looked up. "They remind me of us," she purred. "That's it," Frostkit stood up abruptly, dropping her prey with a swish of her tail, "I'm not hungry anymore." Mistkit watched her stalk off to the medicine den before exchanging a glance with Graykit. "I don't blame her," he huffed.

~~~

A flurry of oak leaves outside the window. The wind lets them flutter inside. One lands on your desk across me… and I'm grateful for the company. But the sight of a leaf makes me somehow mourn them… Despite one being right within my reach.

"Maybe it's the way we used to chase them, and paste them to a board for a collage. We'd write on them the things for which we're grateful. Your list of blessings always beautifully large. I think it taught me how to thank the Lord genuinely. And if I made another I'd be sure to write you in."

I reach for the leaf as I figure it's never too late, and trail my pen across it, spelling out her name.

~~~

"I'm here for it," Olivia purred with a half-grin before holding me close with a sigh, "..I'm here for you."

~~~

The small cat then sighed. "I'm just saying we can care for each other regardless of clan of circumstance…" she glanced softly at Berryheart. "The way I'm not ShadowClan, nor you a WindClan cat, and yet it's my responsibility to be here for you now." "Your responsibility?" Berryheart scoffed. "Dragging herbs for a despised exile who wants nothing more than to have you out of her sight? I struggle to see how this waste of time contributes to your clan loyalty." "This has nothing to do with clan loyalty." Whistlepaw returned with a glance upward, "This has to do with a loyalty far higher. And it's never, ever a waste of time. May I look at your wound again?"

~~~

Hazel wasn't in the room as I opened my eyes, and I knew my friend was baking. Chocolate chip cookie scents wafted from the kitchen along with the soft sound of my friend humming the tune of a hymn.

~~~

As Mistpaw and Whistlepaw arrived near the Windclan camp they were met by a group consisting mostly of Whistlepaw's family, as well as the two ThunderClan cats. Mistpaw was surprised to see Appleshine among them, dashing up at Myrtlebloom's side. "Are you  two alright?" Oatclaw's mew was firm but his amber eyes revealed warm relief as he gazed at his daughter for a moment before the younger warriors pushed past from behind him and Featherpelt. "We were so concerned about you!" Fernstripe gasped out, her quietness sounding forgotten and brushed aside by emotion as her squeaky yowl trembled. Placing a tail-tip on the frantic she-cat's shoulder, Appleshine nodded beside her. "We've been praying for you," the ginger tabby added.

~~~

With a cold night wind blowing at my wool, the howl of wolves echoing beyond the trees, I angled my ears, listening to instead hear my Shepherd's soft hum.

"I will both lie down and sleep in peace…" With a sigh I settled down and tucked my legs beneath myself, breathing in gratefully as I leaned my weary head against His lap. "For You alone, O my Shepherd, make me dwell in safety."

[graces-mindscape]

Soooo...

I just got back from a trip, and I've REALLY been wanting to work on my original story, so! I've decided to write a short prologue and see how that does. My goal is if it gets to about 20 likes or overall comments, I'll post the next part and so on (eventually I also want to make it a comic as well) ^^

Just some quick facts ^^

Just for a quick bit of info and clarification, I'm currently working on an original story based in Undertale's universe, so while there are a few characters from the original game (most notably Sans, Frisk, Papyrus and Gaster) the story itself actually focuses on a lot of NEW characters with their own unique personalities and backstories! My world also introduces new concepts/headcannons, a few of which I've already written about ^^

In a nutshell, the "Prologue" part of the story takes place roughly ten years after the events of the Pacifist ending, with the main storyline taking place about four years after the prologue

The main characters of this story are my OCs, Conner (aka Conlith) and Verdana with characters such as Gaster, Sans, Papyrus and Frisk (and a few new faces) playing supporting roles

Anyway, rant over lol

Let me know what you all think and if you have any questions about anyone/anything feel free to ask! (And of course support this by reacting and reblogging! I could really use the support since I'm having trouble getting things off the ground ^^' )

Thanks for reading and I can't wait to share more!!!

Check out the first teaser of the prologue here!

[forgetmenot-mymoon]

The Hunt For The Abominable Snowman

----- Authors note:

For context, this is the second fanfic I’ve like ever written and uh so this was supposed to be romance- yeah shit happened. I am planning to eventually make a part 2(which will hopefully actually have romance) but I have like 4 other things I wanna write so that’ll be a while. Enjoy.

TW: death

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

“The snow falls every year here.” Jack's trying to be the “adult one," he’s the babysitter for Orpheus.

“I think the snow falls here every day” Wujiu, the black guard retorted. He had a whole puffy coat over him. Before we left he said it was for the white guard, not him. However, the man was curled up, his knees to his chest, even shivering a bit while holding onto the umbrella like always.

Orpheus always needed more hunters however the summoning ritual wasn’t as simple as everyone would like. He needed an item from the dead -usually a weapon- Or even better a body. So who better to send the dead themselves? Maybe he thinks we would be like sniffer dogs. The same people weren't always picked, except Jack always came along, he loved fresh blood. Along with Jack, this trip was me, Joseph, Wujiu, and Bi'an.

This is my first time out! The air outside the manor smells so much cleaner even with the icy drops of the plateau threatening my gills.

You may be wondering how a bunch of ghosts snuck into towns to find bodies, well it was all handled by Orpheus “associates," They provided transportation and shelter for us. We had passed through and stayed at the village before the forest. We weren't allowed outside where people could see, the associates kept us locked up. the place had a reputation for cult activities and witch hunts, i couldn't focus my eyes on anything but outside for the time we were there. It was similar to my village in ways... I had seen symbols of worship hung all around... Less than I would’ve expected from a town with a cult reputation and from the rumors from outside the town they even participated in witch hunts.

After we finally got to the end to the town and the beginning of the barren forests, not even birds sung. while I’m more of a fish person, bird song is always welcomed. Bird songs are calm like gentle waves.

“Here, now you walk.” the old gruff associate gruffed out.

“Okay I think this would be faster if we spilt up” then Jack was gone, I turned,

Wu Chang was gone.

Joseph stood there and stared for a few seconds. “Well Lady Grace, I’m going to take some pictures. This scenery is delightful."

The cold air blew in my face. I was alone.

Looking at the footprints, Jack had gone to the south, opposite way of the wind. Joseph to the east- why did he wear his pointed shoes even out here?- There’s no sign of where Wu Chang went. I guess I'll go north. The coldest way would probably not have anyone, so I wouldn’t have to worry about running into anyone or talking.

Thankfully the manor gave us coats, it was even colder than the water was on snowy days, even after it turned to ice. Being able to float only helped a bit with my speed, not my temperature. I hated those days when it was too cold to swim, there were no splashes, almost no life. it was a horrible idea to go north. The snow had already gotten in my boots even though I was floating, it hasn't even been 10 minutes. If I got lost how would they even find me…it’s not like I could scream- well I’m sure one of them would figure it out…right? I feel like those thoughts jinxed myself, as they always do.

I step more and more into the dark woods, birds fly by every now and then, but I don’t sense anything amiss. The winds got more rough as I pulled my hood over my head, making sure to tuck my braid inside it. It gets worse and worse as if a god is doing it, finally I stumble across a cabin. A neatly decorated one, a songbirds nest on the roof. Birds flying around nearby. My gills felt like the ice was about to break them open, It was too frigid to care whether there were people inside. I knocked, no answer so I jiggled the knob and there it went, opened.

The cottage is similar to the village buildings, it doesn’t have any religious decor but it’s as modest if not more as towns like this are. The first room is a kitchen, looks like no one has cooked for a long time but I open the fridge and there’s fresh meat? Do hunters live here? The next room is a living room, I see a sofa on the left, and on the right side, there are two more doorways. There's a rocking chair in the back, creaking. This cabin is so far from the town, at least a 30-minute walk since it was a 20-minute float. I do wonder why anyone would live this far away. Perhaps to get out of the cult? I would’ve preferred an island over a snowy taiga. I wish I could’ve escaped to an island, I wonder if whoever lived here did- oh well they didn’t.

That is a skeleton.

Years of decay at least- it has flowers all over it surrounded by candles. I really hope this isn’t a sacrifice or murder, I don’t need more of those. The skeleton is tucked in next to the couch on the floor, chains on her wrist covertly hidden with blankets. birds sang softly outside, like music to a goodbye. The body is pretty fully decayed so maybe more of a shrine? Does the cult of the village do this?

The wind blows in the cabin, and my body shakes from the sudden drop. I don’t really know how to light a fire but I’m dead so I should be fine.

I jinxed myself again,

The door near the rocking chair on the grade opens, I didn’t notice it. Must be the back door. a man steps in, a living man.

He looks at me, blue dots behind a white mask. The shivers start up again. His eyes are that of a dead man’s, of an inhuman creature- but he’s living, I hear his deep breaths. As he approaches the small flesh I can make out is the normal color, not grey. it has blood pumping behind- and if he was dead he wouldn’t be able to be here, he wouldn’t be so solid, he wouldn’t have that axe.

Is this the guy we’re suppose to find? He looks like a hunter- but he’s not dead- Oh he has an axe-

He’s not dead.

I’m locked against the wall, next to a dead body -which still vaguely smells even with all the flowers- with an axe to my neck.

“Why the fuck are you here.” His voice is like a shark circling its prey- or in this case a wolf? Or are those rabbit ears on his hood? For a living man his hair is almost as pale as Joseph's, much more unhealthy looking though.

His statement was more of a threat than a question I lift my hand slowly praying- well not praying- hoping that he wouldn’t cut my head off and try to gesture to my lips to try to say I’m mute.

After what feels like five minutes of him staring and me gesturing and opening my mouth and even shaking my head. He cautiously takes away the axe.

“Don’t touch or go near her again.” He says as I step as far away from the dead body and closer to the door he came in, which I assume is the back door.

He hands me a cup of water, thankfully a good thing about being dead is I can, one, not die (still feel pain though) so I can’t die from poison, second I’m naiad, I can tell it’s clean water. Just in case I put a drop on my gills, it doesn’t sting. I take a much-needed sip after all the traveling. I missed being anywhere near water, even a few drops are nice. Snow is much different more confining, trapping like a cage. It traps water. Water is more gentle freeing, it flows, ice is hard and frozen. Both will kill you but water fills you up, ice traps you. I prefer suffocating rather than being trapped as I die, slowly crawling, trying to escape- even if I did that in the water too-

“Are you okay? Why are you here? Who are you?”

It seems he was waiting for that- he was really holding all those questions in. I’m guessing that the "Are you okay?" question is because of how much I was staring. He taps his claws on the counter behind him near the sink, I didn’t even notice the scratch marks when I came in.

I open my mouth and shake my head, in response, he walks up to me and shoves a book and pen in my hand, he picks them up from the kitchen counter. By book I mean an already written book called “Born of the Winds” It's been heavily annotated it seems by the same pen he shoved in my hand.

While I despised my life before this, at least I know how to write, even in cursive.

However I don’t write in cursive in case he doesn’t know it, he looks on head tilted a bit like a dog. I’m unsure of how much info to give him so I just write the basic “Yes, to find a new hunter, Grace,”

He reads it slowly, I wonder if my handwriting is bad until he finally gives it back

Out of anxious impulse of the silence I write “Why this book?”

“Oh- it reminds me of myself, the character has the power of wind like me.”

He has powers but he’s still alive, this is strange. Where’s the others to talk when I need them.

“Are you dead?”

His head tilts again and he takes off his glove and puts a finger to his artery. We make very awkward eye contact until he's satisfied with what he's found.

“My heart’s beating,”

I’ll take that as a very very much alive.

“We are suppose to find a hunter, who has an item and is dead. How do you have powers but not dead?”

“Who’s we?” His voice darkens- I think I’ve said- or written too much.

I scribble quickly hoping I don’t get an axe to my throat (again)

“My fellow hunters

My friends

coworkers?

Joseph, Wu Chang, and Jack, three of them.

There’s more back at the manor

I decided not to mention Wu Chang was technically two.

“Ah Oletus manor? I’ve heard of that.”

He looked up at the roof, it seemed it was starting to decay.

“I got an invite months ago, I don’t fall for such foolish tricks. I don’t even know how it got to me, I don’t have a mailbox. I just found it on the counter one night.”

“We weren’t told about that, just told to retrieve and the manors owners associates got us here,”

“Where are the ones you mentioned scaley fish girl?”

“I don’t know, we spilt up.”

“Well I guess I’ll have to find them.”

“We all went different directions.” I scribble trying to grab his attention, i cant let him hurt the others.

“Did you?”

“Yes,”

He looks at me a long time…

if I could see his face I’m assuming it would be a suspicious squint.

My spear is in my backpack, it’s been sticking out, I haven’t wanted to use it but I might.

I feel my stance stiffened with his stare. He’s wondering what to do with me, this has happened far too many times.

“You stay here, do not touch her.” His voice makes a growling noise at the end, he really does seem feral-I hear a quiet burst of wind that turns louder and louder like a siren. I back away out of impulse and trip- the floor was my comfort. When I look up he’s gone, but the wind isn’t. Dammit, that’s how he’s trapped me, the wind outside would definitely tear me apart, it sounds like a hurricane.

Okay, okay Grace don’t panic. You’re stuck in a small cabin with a dead body and there’s a very dangerous person with magic that could come back and kill you. There’s still water nearby. I turn on the faucets. it doesn’t work well but it’s still some water I can control. Maybe I could use the water to make a path in the wind? No, It looks too powerful. And far too dangerous even for a dead person. Okay okay, maybe I can use the water to get me above the wind? That might still be too dangerous, especially with how thick the wind is screaming. I ease the door- the wind immediately slams it the henges shriek like a dying cow.

Suddenly a woosh comes behind me, Wu Chang seems to have teleported.

“Why the hell is there a tornado?” The black guard speaks with malice. He's still shaking like a leaf even in the coat that weights more than he or B'ian combined. I grab the book off the couch and flip to a new page, the last clean page before the writing of the novel.

“The hunter were suppose to find did it. He’s alive not dead Wu Chang! They’re suppose to be dead what the hell happened!?”

He turned his hand on his chin, “hm”

“Maybe one of Orpheus’s “tests”?” When test was spoke he did air quotes while trying to keep the umbrella in his right hand.

I pick up the pen again,

“Well what are we gonna do?”

“Kill him?”

“Is that the right thing to do?”

“Well considering there’s a dead body right there, yes”

“I don’t know, I think we should ask Orpheus

“How do you propose we do that?”

"I don't know" I sign after a few moments of silent, remembering i don't have to write with Wuiju

“Exactly, I’ll wait here with you and we’ll both dispose of the thing when it comes back.”

That was not a question.

----

There were tea bags so I busied myself with making tea, the white guard had switched in and was rambling about…uh I wasn’t particularly listening….

“Grace,”

I move to face him,

“The wind has stopped”

“I don’t see anyone outside, do you?”

I shake my head as I try to survey the outside

“Hmmm should we make a run for it,”

"It might be a trap," I sign

They switch again,

“I’ll risk it,” Wujiu states stomping out the door before I can stop him.

I hear a thump, “FUCK”

I think that confirms my guess was right.

I race outside with my spear ready

“Hi there again,” that voice is not in front of me. My spear hits a body as the bunny-hoodied man tries to jump down-

Oh shit -

I immediately drop my spear- which is still in him- well maybe he won’t bleed out. I hear the umbrella in the air and then a hand on my shoulder.

“Well…”

While the guy is shocked- I didn’t even learn his name oh god oh god I just killed someone who wasn’t a survivor oh god-

All the voices sound like they’re underwater, I want to go back I want the water I want the fish-

——-

“We should just kill him”

“I could always just take a picture,”

“He needs to be dead to be a hunter so let’s end him now.”

I awake, groggy, This is what happens when you’re the only- I felt it's a bony shoulder on me- They sat me next to the damn skeleton i realize as I swim up.

“Oh-“

“Grace, could you not almost hit the umbrella? That’s technically us” Bi'an complained after dodging me. If he knew sign language they would know I’m signing why the fuck put my sleeping body next to the dead body,

Joseph hands me the book and pen I was using earlier,

“Why did you sit me next to the dead body????” The multiple question marks were purposeful.

Jack shrugs, I assume he’s the culprit.

“Grace we’re trying to plan what to do with that one.” Jacks razors point at the dead asleep guy on the ground.

“Orpheus might get angry if we kill him prematurely” I quickly note,

“I think he wouldn’t mind.” Jack said looking at his claws.

“Maybe a serial killer shouldn’t be included in this discussion?” Joseph, being the only sane one here.

“Would you like me to list your sins, Mr. Desaulniers? I’m sure Claude would be happy.” Jack baits.

Joseph's brows furry at his twin's name, he closes his eyes briefly and fidgets with his sword.

“Why don’t we take this outside Ripper?”

Joseph took the bait.

"Gladly,”

The umbrella followed them, I was just left there, looking at the boy on the floor

I poked him with my harpoon gently and he shook a bit.

I’m glad he’s still alive…I don’t think anyone deserves this life and Orpheus didn’t tell us to kill anyone….

“What the fuck.”

“They aren’t very smart” I scribble quickly before he sees me- and possible attacks I push the book below his now risen head.

“Mm you’re running out of room…there’s a notepad over there in the drawer next to the fridge, he tries to point but his arm just falls back down...Why didn't he just give me that earlier?

“Could you get me some bandages? I’ve lost…a good amount of blood,”

“In the bathroom,” he adds on after a few seconds, before letting his head mop to the floor once more.

I float to the bathroom behind him, it's tiny and barely fits the shower and everything else…I open the cabinets…that’s where my parents kept bandages- ah here! I grab some cloth disinfection as well.

“Let me help” I scribble over my words, already ran out of room on the dirt mostly-blank pages, he’s right but I’ll fix him up before grabbing the notepad.

He just groans a bit as I sit him down to inspect the wound, I hit his side, it’s not that deep, he would’ve already been dead if it was.

I gently pull his shirt up a bit, I use the cloth to stop the bleeding- at least mostly- disinfect it then bandage it just as mother taught me once- before they realized my power-

“Better?” I have to resort to writing over other words,

“You should get the notepad,”

I nod- unsure if he’s even eyeing me and float over to it.

I come back and sit in front of him while he tries to sit up from his laying-face-first position.

“Feeling better?” I write

“A bit…Could you get me a glass of water?”

I nod and rush off again, I grab two incase- which was the right move he gulps them both down only picking up his mask a fraction.

“Tic tac toe?”

“You want me to play….that with you?”

I nod as I draw boxes in a box for it.

“I’ll go first,” he goes O’s I go X’s

I end up winning, I’m very experienced after all. Back in the village in the rare cases kids came up to me, this is what we would play- plus Robbie always enjoys playing tic tac toe with me.

“Again”

I draw the box on another page

Then another

I end up getting comfy and lie on my stomach

“I have a lot of experience!” I write,

“How much experience lands you this much wins in a game of chance?”

“It’s not chance!!” I argue

“I think it is, you must be lucky”

“I’m dead I don’t think I can be that lucky!”

“Hmm maybe it’s the luck saying 'sorry you’re dead'- wait you guys are all dead? How does that work?”

“I don’t know for sure but the manor owner brings us back and then we participate in matches”

“Do I wanna know?”

“...no?”

“That was rhetorical Grace” He said my name.

“Well we the undead are hunters” I pause my pen as he shifts so he’s laying next to me so he can stare as I write.

“There are four survivors each match and we hunt them. They don’t die they are always revived.”

“So you’re trapped?”

I nod solemnly. I always try to avoid that line of thought. The man of winds just hums, thinking of this information like a hunter who saw tracks. Suddenly the air got thick like fog rolled in,

“Grace” Jack returned with a snarl.

The bunny-eared man sat up -unsteadily- ready to flee if needed.

“We must kill him, manor orders” he stated as if he had just received a letter of devotion. While he had blood running down his claws, Grace stared, “The coward ran to the cameras.”

Jack stepped forward towards him. Grace floated up in front and cocked her head, innocently. She had learned even in village life men will do what you ask if you act dumb, if you show your wits or give them a stare they will show their claws and use their teeth. However cute ditzy women please them, sometimes they even pity.

The quiet bird chirping outside suddenly ceased, she hadn’t even noticed the silent song until it was gone.

Fog appeared in the cabin rising up from hell itself.

“We must do what the manor says Grace”

Wujiu teleports behind him as backup.

--

With a knock of a claw, Grace was out, and after some….difficulties Night Watch of the Plateau of Leng was dead.

The legends did not die with him though. Those followed the village in fear that no hunts would happen for long after the death of The Night Watch.

They returned to the manor with a weapon, clothes, and a furious spirit. Grace didn’t wake up till they were back, Jack always had drugs in case. For he was always prepared for a chase.

----- Authors Note part 2

While editing this I got the image of just Joseph in the camera world, while this was happening in Hawaii, sitting on a beach chair drinking wine, just chiling. and maybe crying about his dead brother

Also, I apologize for how bad this probably is, it wasn't as rushed as my other works have been though so I am semi-proud of it.

[dirtyoldmanhole]

> FEH gacha new heroes banner coming this weekend with bets on tellius or fates + fallen banner (my favorite seasonal regardless of entry) coming up: no fear

> realizes there's a non zero chance i'd get zihark + possessed!gunter in the same month: one fear

[thebirdandhersong]

@imissthembutitwasntadisaster thank you for recommending Charlie Bone :') continuing on with my ongoing procrastination (rage, rage against the dying of the light by procrastination is really a terrible approach to school stress, but it happened), I finished the audiobook for book 1 today while crocheting myself an orange stomach warmer and really enjoyed it!!! (Both the book and the crocheting.) Was quite astounded by how strongly Jenny Nimmo puts across "choose to do good in a world so fraught with evil--there will be so much opposition and at times much peril, but it is a just, necessary, and joyful task"....... was really touched by the development of Charlie's friendships.

[mxscorpiostrange]

⸻ my color coded tbr ♡

[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].

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

I didn't have internet for an hour so I opened my most recently-created playlist in my laptop's music library and went, "Is anyone going to psychoanalyze this man?" and didn't wait for an answer.