Help Me Find Lost (??) Media

I just want you to know who I am.

And I'd give up forever to touch you

'Cause I know that you feel me somehow

You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be

And I don't wanna go home right now

If you told your self 8 months ago that you wouldn't be on the road anymore, you would've considered yourself delirious from hunger.

But you were, there was a relatively safe place to return home to, no longer on surveillance 24/7 for any danger while looking for a place to rest. It still wasn't easy, suddenly there were new people everywhere.

Sure it was hard to get used to, having to adapt to surviving outside, constant risk, not knowing when the next meal is or if you'll even see tomorrow. And then on a random day you have to unlearn everything to fit in.

And all I can taste is this moment

And all I can breathe is your life

And sooner or later, it's over

I just don't wanna miss you tonight

Daryl and you shared a room, Carol lived in the house too, it was your suggestion, not wanting to leave her alone in a new place, your condition for trying to get used to Alexandria.

It was weird, you and Daryl had been sleeping in the same space since The Prison, when on the road you "slept" side by side, most of the time one of you was on watch unless another member practically forced you both to get some sleep. But this was different. You had a house, a room, a bed. It was intimate.

It was a point of contention at the beginning, Alexandria already felt suffocating and then this advancement was an added pressure. Once you both had moved past it everything was good. It sort of felt like everything was back to normal, a partner, a house, jobs, family.

"You okay?" Daryl's voice broke you out of your thoughts.

"I am now."

Breaking protocol all by yourself, Handsome?

Y/N: What the hell happened to your ankle?!

Daryl: Ya see them porch stairs?

Y/N: Yes.

Daryl: I didn't.

Carol, snickering: Because he was looking at you.

Y/N: 😳

Daryl, blushing and elbowing Carol: Y’ain’t helpin’.

daryl w himbo bf? 🤔

daryl dixon & his himbo boyfriend! i tried:c

after meeting you, he wanted to hate you so badly. at first glance, he chalked you up to a good addition to the group. afterall, you had all that height and muscle to you- perfect for taking down walkers. then he quickly realized exactly how wrong he was. you were an absolute airhead. he thought he was starting to grow a permanent bump on his forehead from the amount of times he’s face palmed at your actions.

despite your constant tripping and bumping into things, he did admire one thing about you: your blind kindness. he had fell victim to your antics ages ago, and grew fond over time.

but it was still rough dealing with you..

youre always bumping into things and making noise- earning you disapproving looks from others; everyone besides daryl. he’d come up behind you, ruffling your hair affectionately and encouraging you to do better next time.

daryl observes you constantly, finding you almost comical. he’d silently swoon as you make friends with everyone (he tells you that you were his friend first- to not forget about him).

he decides to try and teach you how to use his crossbow, bringing you out deep into the woods. hes patient with you as you take aim, but fail every time. eventually, youve given up and admire him even more for his skill. daryl only chuckles, settling in besides you and leaning into your stockier build. even if you werent precise and careful like the others, you knew you always had your size going for you. it was great whenever you wanted to hold daryl close.

although you werent the best in combat or hunting, you had charm. theres been countless times where youve talked your way out of a bad situation, leaving daryl speechless and wanting to kiss you. he realizes how well you compliment each other.

the rest of the group dont expect the two of you to get together. all daryl can say is that you make him happy- simple as that(he doesnt tell them about the moments where youre enveloping him in a hug, when youre searching high and low for a pack of cigarettes, or how you pick flowers for him. youre the only one who gets him).

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].

i made a playlist based on what I think daryl would listen to when he was younger, there’s no specific genre this is kinda scrambled and rushed, I’ll probably add to it

thinking abt posting to ao3...

Ok! Could I please get (fic or shorter) Daryl and Male reader where his boyfriend teaches him how to do bj? Basically instructing Daryl what to do, all soft and kind and sickly sweet.

Thank you~.

your gentle touch.

top male reader x daryl dixon.

summary: a nice surprise turns into a learning experience for daryl.

era: prison.

note: literally before u requested this i was writing something like this so its perfect

after taking in all of the governors people, the tombs and other cell blocks were quick to be cleared of walkers with the extra hands. you figured that with all the space, a room or two could be put to good use.

it took about three months to get it cleaned up and add some decorations- all whilst keeping it a secret from daryl. you had wanted to give the room to him as a surprise. with all the new additions to the group, you knew he was inclined to keep to himself and wasnt as comfortable showing affection to you like he is with rick and the others. the room wasnt just for him, but for the both of you.

hes got a tight grip on your hand, following you deeper into the darkness.

"cant ya just tell me what it is?" he huffs, at a complete loss as to why youve pulled him aside- not that he was doing anything.

"daryl, thats what a surprise is. i promise its a good one."

with him trailing after you, you miss the way he smiles softly, eyes tracing your broader figure. yeah, he'd follow you anywhere, good surprise or not.

he lingers in the doorway, eyes darting all over the room. a mattress in the corner, a mirror on the other end- how did you get these down there without him seeing? and a stack of books and markers.

he glances at you. "when the hell'd you do all this?"

you flop back onto the bed, gesturing him forward. he closes the door behind him and gets comfortable in your strong arms. its one of the things he was crazy about- how they flexed as you helped hershel plant some seeds, how they were almost the same size as his fucking head. it was insanely attractive to him.

"when you werent looking? it took a few months, actually. bringing back a mirror on a run and convincing everyone else not to tell you is easier than it sounds." you chuckle softly, fingers running through his thick hair.

he tilts his head to look at you, the effects of the four walls working almost instantly. he leans in for a kiss, his little beard tickling your chin. its not like you havent kissed before. in fact, you stole one from him any chance you could get. but here: with zero chance of someone walking in on you, you were warranted a make out session.

his lips were always a bit chapped but quick to warm up under your touch. they parted just slightly, allowing your tongue to slip inside. his firm hands come to rest atop your chest, body fitting against yours perfectly.

with blood rushing both to your heart and cock, you pull away to sit up a little. "guess this is perfect, huh? all this room with no one else to hear us..."

daryls eyes seem to widen a bit, a blush coming to his cheeks. he swallows thickly before nodding, his fingers dancing across your skin. every time he touched you, it sent sparks through you- time and time again.

"wanted to ask you somethin'," he rasps out, hair falling into his face. your hand comes up to brush the strands away from his face, showing you millions of expressions hidden away just for you. "i want you to teach me how to do something."

"uh, teach you what?" you reply, forcing your attention away from his open lips, still wet from where youve kissed them.

he ducks his head, and you immediately recognize that trait. hes shy.

"what?" youre laughing softly, trying to match his gaze. "what is it? yknow ill do it, whatever you want. ill teach you."

"i mean," he groans, rubbing at his eyebrow in frustration, "shit, how am i 'sposed to just say it? i wanna... y'know, be able to go down on you. ive never done that before."

you nod, amused by his words. it was so easy to forget how much of a virgin he was next to you; hes never been with a man before. what else could you expect? "alright, ill teach you. you wanna be on your knees?"

he blinks once, then twice, and then a third time. "man, i dunno. i guess.." his voice is quieter now, softer.

"youve gotta speak up around me," you reaffirmed, leaning in to press a kiss to his forehead. "wanna hear what youve got to say."

daryl sighs, always overwhelmed by the gentleness you had for him. "yeah. wanna be on the floor."

hes malleable in your hands, sinking to his knees before you and getting comfortable. just seeing him like this made your cock twitch.

you reached out, a thumb slipping inside his open mouth. and he lets you: his mouth opening wider and wider.

"take my pants off." you instructed, breathless.

he pulls off of your thumb, firm hands at your belt, and then tugging at your boxers. daryl swallows thickly, familiarizing himself with the shape of you so close.

your hand snakes around the base of your dick, guiding it to daryls lips. "open. wider. mhm, like that. now rest your tongue on the bottom of your mouth."

you consider how easy it would be to shove your cock inside that mouth, how he'd take it anyways. a feverish heat blossoms inside your chest, and you want to fill every inch of him.

"go on, take it slowly." you hum out instead, watching your cock slowly disappear into his warm mouth. his eyes fluttered shut in concentration, barely getting the tip down his throat before hes choking.

"alright, hold on," your hand comes up to brush the hair away from his face, letting you see his face more clearly. he was flushed all the way down to his neck, fists balled to the side like he was restraining himself. "youre too stiff. just relax your jaw, and take your time."

daryl nods, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. his mouth falls open again, and he returns with more passion. instead of simply trying to take swallow your cock all at once, hes sucking gently at the head- tongue swirling around you. you have to put all your effort into not bucking into that heat, into suppressing your shudder. daryl notices, his hand guiding your own to his shoulder.

you want to kiss him them, ravage him, tuck yourself into him and hear him cry for you.

"youre doing good, sweetheart," is all you can manage, your touch traveling up his neck to feel his pulse there. the trust he had for you was obvious, and nothing turned you on more than that, "making me feel so good."

your words spur him on, his throat relaxing around you as he breathed in deep before moving down, and down- nose shoved into the dark hair at the base.

you cant hold back now, a firm grip on the back of his head as he struggled to adjust to your size. through a lust filled gaze, you catch sight of his gaze staring right back at you, pupils blown wide and mouth stuffed.

maybe thats what sends you over the edge. or maybe it was his hands gripping onto your thighs, or his own erection pressed against your leg.

here daryl dixon was: cold and rough and strong, learning how to blow a guy for the first time.

"im gonna- gonna cum. cmon." youre gently pushing at his shoulder, trying to get him off.

he pulls away with a loud pop, lips plump and red. "just cum in my mouth." his voice is wrecked, throat sore. but you couldnt deny him.

his mouth is left ajar, tongue resting against his bottom mouth as he watched you jerk off in front of him.

"didnt think youd get this desperate," you mused, just teetering over your release, "this pathetic for a taste of my cock."

and hes whining, something low and soft that you could barely pick up. "but you know im just as fucking pathetic for you too, huh? thats why 'm gonna cum on your face, and then suck you off till youre crying. you want that, angel?"

hes nodding, one eye shut as he inches closer and closer to your twitching cock, a hand closing around the tip as hes teasing your orgasm out of you.

your back arches, breathes falling out of you in ragged patterns, a hand still clenched in daryls hair as you held him in place before jetting your release onto his mouth.

hes licking at his mouth, then at your cock again, cleaning up. a thumb pushes into his mouth again, exploring the wet heat thats been so eager this whole time. you push against his tongue, affectionate and proud, letting him swirl around it like he previously did.

"youre a quick learner," you mumble, tugging him back onto the bed, "but ive still got some tricks to show you."

he swallows thickly, reaching for a kiss. "m'kay. go ahead, mister."

so lets ignore how fast u came i feel like im so bad at writing smut!!

Hey, just so you know, Garma-mom is actually racist and openly says the N-Word, going as far as to refer to people who they dislike as one (they're white). They're also extremely lgbt-phobic. If you search Garma-mom you can find the post by Guzma-hates-CGL. They interacted with one of your posts recently

thank you for informing me about this. i can't believe a DARYL fan of all would be a massive scumbag.